Eusebius History Book 1

Introduction

Τάδε ἡ πρώτη περιέχει βίβλος τῆς Ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ἱστορίας

This is the first of ten books of Church History which contains the following chapters:

Chapter 1 Τίς ἡ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ὑπόθεσις .
The plan of the work.

Chapter 2 Ἐπιτομὴ κεφαλαιώδης περὶ τῆς κατὰ τὸν σωτῆρα καὶ κύριον ἡμῶν τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ προυπάρξεώς τε καὶ θεολογίας .
Summary view of the pre-existence and divinity of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ.

Chapter 3 Ὡς καὶ τὸ Ἰησοῦ ὄνομα καὶ αὐτὸ δὴ τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἔγνωστό τε ἀνέκαθεν καὶ τετίμητο παρὰ τοῖς θεσπεσίοις προφήταις .
The name Jesus and also the name Christ were known from the beginning, and were honoured by the inspired prophets.

Chapter 4 Ὡς οὐ νεώτερος οὐδὲ ξενίζων ἦν ὁ τρόπος τῆς πρὸς αὐτοῦ καταγγελθείσης πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν εὐσεβείας
The religion proclaimed by him to all nations was neither new nor strange.

Chapter 5 Περὶ τῶν χρόνων τῆς ἐπιφανείας αὐτοῦ τῆς εἰς ἀνθρώπους .
The Time of His Appearance Among Men.

Chapter 6 Ὡς κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους αὐτοῦ ἀκολούθως ταῖς προφητείαις ἐξέλιπον ἄρχοντες οἱ τὸ πρὶν ἐκ προγόνων διαδοχῆς τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους ἡγούμενοι πρῶτός τε ἀλλόφυλος βασιλεύει αὐτῶν Ἡρῴδης
About the Time of Christ, in Accordance with Prophecy, the Rulers Who Had Governed the Jewish Nation in Regular Succession from the Days of Antiquity Came to an End, and Herod, the First Foreigner, Became King.

Chapter 7 Περὶ τῆς ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις νομιζομένης διαφωνίας τῆς περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ γενεαλογίας
The Alleged Discrepancy in the Gospels Regarding the Genealogy of Christ.

Chapter 8 Περὶ τῆς Ἡρῴδου κατὰ τῶν παίδων ἐπιβουλῆς καὶ οἵα μετῆλθεν αὐτὸν καταστροφὴ βίου .
The Cruelty of Herod Toward the Infants, and the Manner of His Death.

Chapter 9 Περὶ τῶν κατὰ Πιλᾶτον χρόνων .
The Times of Pilate.

Chapter 10 Περὶ τῶν παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις ἀρχιερέων καθ’ οὓς ὁ Χριστὸς τὴν διδασκαλίαν ἐποιήσατο .
The High Priests of the Jews under Whom Christ Taught.

Chapter 11 Τὰ περὶ Ἰωάννου τοῦ βαπτισμῷ καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μεμαρτυρημένα .
Testimonies in Regard to John the Baptist and Christ.

Chapter 12 Περὶ τῶν μαθητῶν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν .
The Disciples of our Saviour.

Chapter 13 Ἱστορία περὶ τοῦ τῶν Ἐδεσσηνῶν δυνάστου .
Narrative Concerning the Prince of the Edessenes.

Note: at the end of the Table of Contents, one manuscript adds:

ὅρα ὁ ἀναγινώσκων μὴ συναρπαγῇς τῇ αἱρετικῇ ὑπολήψει τοῦ συγγραφέως · εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὰ μάλιστά ἐστιν ὠφελιμωτάτη κατὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν ἡ παροῦσα βίβλος , ἀλλ’ ὃμως ὃπου μὲν ἀπολύτως περὶ Θεοῦ φαίνεται θεολογῶν , οὐ δοκεῖ τισὶ κακοδοξεῖν , ὃπου δὲ περὶ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος λέγει τι , πανταχοῦ ὑποβεβηκότα καὶ δεύτερον καὶ ὑπουργὸν τοῦ πατρὸς ἐμφαίνει τὸν υἱόν , Ἀρειανὸς ὢν καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δόξαν ἐπικεκρυμμένως ἐπιδεικνύων ἐπιδεικνύων .

“Beware, reader, of being caught by the heretical tendency of the writer, for though his present book is peculiarly valuable as history, nevertheless though in some places he speaks unconditionally concerning God and attributes divinity to him, and here to some his opinions seem sound, yet in others he speaks of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and everywhere represents the Son as subordinate and secondary and the servant of the Father, for he was an Arian and guardedly manifest his opinion.”

Chapter 1

1-1 Τὰς τῶν ἱερῶν ἀποστόλων διαδοχὰς σὺν καὶ τοῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς διηνυσμένοις χρόνοις , ὅσα τε καὶ πηλίκα πραγματευθῆναι κατὰ τὴν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν ἱστορίαν λέγεται , καὶ ὅσοι ταύτης διαπρεπῶς ἐν ταῖς μάλιστα ἐπισημοτάταις παροικίαις ἡγήσαντό τε καὶ προέστησαν , ὅσοι τε κατὰ γενεὰν ἑκάστην ἀγράφως ἢ καὶ διὰ συγγραμμάτων τὸν θεῖον ἐπρέσβευσαν λόγον ,

It is my purpose to write an account of the lines of succession of the holy apostles, as well as of the times that have elapsed from the days of our Saviour to our own; and to relate the many important events that are said to have occurred in the history of the Church; and to mention those who have governed and presided over the Church in the most prominent parishes, and those who in each generation have been the senior reporter of the divine word either orally or in writing.

1-2 τίνες τε καὶ ὅσοι καὶ ὁπηνίκα νεωτεροποιίας ἱμέρῳ πλάνης εἰς ἔσχατον ἐλάσαντες , ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως εἰσηγητὰς ἑαυτοὺς ἀνακεκηρύχασιν , ἀφειδῶς οἷα λύκοι βαρεῖς τὴν Χριστοῦ ποίμνην ἐπεντρίβοντες ,

It is my purpose also to give the names and number and dates of those who through love of innovation have run into the greatest errors, and, proclaiming themselves discoverers of knowledge falsely so-called¹ were like fierce wolves mercilessly rubbing out the flock of Christ.

¹1 Timothy 6:20

1-3 πρὸς ἐπὶ τούτοις καὶ τὰ παραυτίκα τῆς κατὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπιβουλῆς τὸ πᾶν Ἰουδαίων ἔθνος περιελθόντα , ὅσα τε αὖ καὶ ὁποῖα καθ’ οἵους τε χρόνους πρὸς τῶν ἐθνῶν ὁ θεῖος πεπολέμηται λόγος , καὶ πηλίκοι κατὰ καιροὺς τὸν δι’ αἵματος καὶ βασάνων ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ διεξῆλθον ἀγῶνα , τά τ’ ἐπὶ τούτοις καὶ καθ’ ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς μαρτύρια καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ πάσιν ἵλεω καὶ εὐμενῆ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν

It is my intention, moreover, to recount the misfortunes that immediately came upon the whole Jewish nation in consequence of their plots against our Saviour, and to record the ways and the times in which the divine word has been attacked by the Gentiles, and to describe the character of those who at various periods have contended for it in the face of blood and of tortures, as well as the confessions which have been made in our own days, and finally the gracious and kindly succor which our Saviour has afforded them all.

1-4 ἀντίληψιν γραφῇ παραδοῦναι προῃρημένος , οὐδ’ ἄλλοθεν ἢ ἀπὸ πρώτης ἄρξομαι τῆς κατὰ τὸν σωτῆρα καὶ κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστὸν [ τοῦ Θεοῦ] οἰκονομίας .¹

Since I propose to write of all these things I shall commence my work with the beginning of the dispensation¹ of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ.

¹Several manuscripts, editors, and translators include τοῦ θεοῦ (of God) after Χριστὸν (Christ). But the best manuscripts and sources, including Rufinus, do not.

1-5 ἀλλά μοι συγγνώμην εὐγνωμόνων ἐντεῦθεν ὁ λόγος αἰτεῖ , μείζονα ἢ καθ’ ἡμετέραν δύναμιν ὁμολογῶν εἶναι τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν ἐντελῆ καὶ ἀπαράλειπτον ὑποσχεῖν , ἐπεὶ καὶ πρῶτοι νῦν τῆς ὑποθέσεως ἐπιβάντες οἷά τινα ἐρήμην καὶ ἀτριβῆ ἰέναι ὁδὸν ἐγχειροῦμεν ,	But at the outset I must crave for my work the indulgence of the wise, for I confess that it is beyond my power to produce a perfect and complete history, and since I am the first to enter upon the subject, I am attempting to traverse as it were a lonely and untrodden path.
1-6 Θεὸν μὲν ὁδηγὸν καὶ τὴν τοῦ κυρίου συνεργὸν σχήσειν εὐχόμενοι δύναμιν , ἀνθρώπων γε μὴν οὐδαμῶς εὑρεῖν οἷοί τε ὄντες ὄντες ἴχνη γυμνὰ τὴν αὐτὴν ἡμῖν προωδευκότων , μὴ ὅτι σμικρὰς αὐτὸ μόνον προφάσεις , δι’ ὧν ἄλλος ἄλλως ὧν διηνύκασι χρόνων μερικὰς ἡμῖν καταλελοίπασι διηγήσεις , πόρρωθεν ὥσπερ εἰ πυρσοὺς τὰς ἑαυτῶν προανατείνοντες φωνὰς καὶ ἄνωθέν ποθεν ὡς ἐξ ἀπόπτου καὶ ἀπὸ σκοπῆς βοῶντες καὶ διακελευόμενοι , ᾗ χρὴ βαδίζειν καὶ τὴν τοῦ λόγου πορείαν ἀπλανῶς καὶ ἀκινδύνως εὐθύνειν .	I pray that I may have God as my guide and the power of the Lord as my aid, since I am unable to find even the bare footsteps of those who have traveled the way before me, except in brief fragments, in which some in one way, others in another, have transmitted to us particular accounts of the times in which they lived. From afar they raise their voices like torches, and they cry out, as from some lofty and conspicuous watchtower, admonishing us where to walk and how to direct the course of our work steadily and securely.
1-7 ὅσα τοίνυν εἰς τὴν προκειμένην ὑπόθεσιν λυσιτελεῖν ἡγούμεθα τῶν αὐτοῖς ἐκείνοις σποράδην μνημονευθέντων , ἀναλεξάμενοι καὶ ὡς ἂν ἐκ λογικῶν λειμώνων τὰς ἐπιτηδείους αὐτῶν τῶν πάλαι συγγραφέων ἀπανθισάμενοι φωνάς ,	Having gathered therefore from the matters mentioned here and there by them whatever we consider important for the present work, and having plucked like flowers from a meadow the appropriate passages from ancient writers,
1-8 δι’ ὑφηγήσεως ἱστορικῆς πειρασόμεθα σωματοποιῆσαι , ἀγαπῶντες , εἰ καὶ μὴ ἁπάντων , τῶν δ’ οὖν μάλιστα διαφανεστάτων τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἀποστόλων τὰς διαδοχὰς κατὰ τὰς διαπρεπούσας ἔτι καὶ νῦν μνημονευομένας ἐκκλησίας ἀνασωσαίμεθα .	we shall endeavor to embody the whole in a historical narrative, content if we preserve the memory of the lines of succession of the apostles of our Saviour; if not indeed of all, yet of the most renowned of them in those churches that are the most noted, and which even to the present time are held in honor.
1-9 ἀναγκαιότατα δέ μοι πονεῖσθαι τὴν ὑπόθεσιν ἡγοῦμαι , ὅτι μηδένα πω εἰς δεῦρο τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν¹ συγγραφέων διέγνων περὶ τοῦτο τῆς γραφῆς σπουδὴν πεποιημένον τὸ μέρος · ἐλπίζω δ’ ὅτι καὶ ὠφελιμωτάτη τοῖς φιλοτίμως περὶ τὸ χρηστομαθὲς τῆς ἱστορίας ἔχουσιν ἀναφανήσεται.	This work seems especially important to me because I know of no ecclesiastical¹ writer who has devoted himself to this subject. I hope that it will appear most useful to those who are fond of historical research.

¹The use of the word “ecclesiastical” [ ἐκκλησιαστικῶν] has also been translated “Christian” because the antithesis is either “heathen” or “heretical.”

1-10 ἤδη μὲν οὖν τούτων καὶ πρότερον ἐν οἷς διετυπωσάμην χρονικοῖς χρονικοῖς κανόσιν ἐπιτομὴν κατεστησάμην , πληρεστάτην δ’ οὖν ὅμως αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ὡρμήθην τὴν ἀφήγησιν ποιήσασθαι .	I have already given a summary of these things in the Chronological Canons that I have composed, but notwithstanding that, I have undertaken in the present work to write as full an account of them as I am able.
1-11 Καὶ ἄρξεταί γέ μοι ὁ λόγος , ὡς ἔφην , ἀπὸ τῆς κατὰ τὸν Χριστὸν ἐπινοουμένης ὑψηλοτέρας καὶ κρείττονος ἢ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον οἰκονομίας¹ τε καὶ θεολογίας .²	My work will begin, as I have said, with the dispensation¹ of the Saviour Christ — which is loftier and greater than human conception — and with a discussion of his divinity.²

¹The use of the word οἰκονομία translated “dispensation” is a semi-technical term regarding Christ as the incarnation of the divine Logos.

²The use of the word θεολογία is the ascription of divinity to him. Thus this passage might be more freely translated as “the divine and human natures of Christ, which pass man’s understanding.”

1-12 καὶ γὰρ τὸν γραφῇ μέλλοντα τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ὑφηγήσεως παραδώσειν τὴν ἱστορίαν , ἄνωθεν ἐκ πρώτης τῆς κατ’ αὐτὸν τὸν Χριστόν , ὅτιπερ ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς προσωνυμίας ἠξιώθημεν , θειοτέρας ἢ κατὰ τὸ δοκοῦν τοῖς πολλοῖς οἰκονομίας ἀναγκαῖον ἂν εἴη κατάρξασθαι .

For it is necessary, inasmuch as we derive even our name from Christ, for one who proposes to write a history of the Church to begin with the very origin of Christ’s dispensation, a dispensation more divine than many think.

Chapter 2

2-1 Διττοῦ δὲ ὄντος τοῦ κατ’ αὐτὸν τρόπου , καὶ τοῦ μὲν σώματος ἐοικότος κεφαλῇ , ᾗ Θεὸς ἐπινοεῖται , τοῦ δὲ ποσὶ παραβαλλομένου , ᾗ τὸν ἡμῖν ἄνθρωπον ὁμοιοπαθῆ τῆς ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ἕνεκεν ὑπέδυ σωτηρίας ,	Since in Christ there is a twofold nature, and the one — in so far as he is thought of as God — resembles the head of the body, while the other may be compared with the feet — in so far as he, for the sake of our salvation, put on human nature with the same passions as our own.
2-2 γένοιτ’ ἂν ἡμῖν ἐντεῦθεν ἐντελὴς ἡ τῶν ἀκολούθων διήγησις , εἰ τῆς κατ’ αὐτὸν ἱστορίας ἁπάσης ἀπὸ τῶν κεφαλαιωδεστάτων καὶ κυριωτάτων τοῦ λόγου τὴν ὑφήγησιν ποιησαίμεθα ·	The following work will be complete only if we begin with the chief and most important events of all his history.
2-3 ταύτῃ δὲ καὶ τῆς Χριστιανῶν ἀρχαιότητος τὸ παλαιὸν ὁμοῦ καὶ θεοπρεπὲς τοῖς νέαν αὐτὴν καὶ ἐκτετοπισμένην , χθὲς καὶ οὐ πρότερον φανεῖσαν , ὑπολαμβάνουσιν ἀναδειχθήσεται .¹	In this way will the antiquity and divinity of Christianity be shown to those who suppose it of recent and foreign origin, and imagine that it appeared only yesterday.¹

¹One of the principal objections raised against Christianity was that it was a recent religion. A true religion needed to have ancient origens. Therefore the Church Fathers laid great stress on the antiquity of Christianity and emphasized the Old Testament as a Christian book.

2-4 Γένους μὲν οὖν καὶ ἀξίας αὐτῆς τε οὐσίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ φύσεως οὔτις ἂν εἰς ἔκφρασιν αὐτάρκης γένοιτο λόγος , ᾗ καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ θεῖον ἐν προφητείαις “ τὴν γενεὰν αὐτοῦ” φησὶν “ τίς διηγήσεται ;” ὅτι δὴ οὔτε τὸν πατέρα τις ἔγνω , εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱός , οὔτ’ αὖ τὸν υἱόν τις ἔγνω ποτὲ κατ’ ἀξίαν , εἰ μὴ μόνος ὁ γεννήσας αὐτὸν πατήρ ,

No language is sufficient to express the origin and the worth, the being and the nature of Christ. Wherefore also the Holy Spirit says in the prophecies, “Who shall declare his generation?”¹ for none knows the Father except the Son, neither can any one know the Son adequately except the Father alone who has begotten him.

¹ Isaiah 53:8

2-5 τό τε φῶς τὸ προκόσμιον καὶ τὴν πρὸ αἰώνων νοερὰν καὶ οὐσιώδη¹ σοφίαν τόν τε ζῶντα καὶ ἐν ἀρχῇ παρὰ τῷ πατρὶ τυγχάνοντα Θεὸν λόγον τίς ἂν πλὴν τοῦ πατρὸς καθαρῶς ἐννοήσειεν , πρὸ πάσης κτίσεως καὶ δημιουργίας² ὁρωμένης τε καὶ ἀοράτου τὸ πρῶτον καὶ μόνον τοῦ Θεοῦ γέννημα , τὸν τῆς κατ’ οὐρανὸν βαλλομένης λογικῆς καὶ ἀθανάτου στρατιᾶς ἀρχιστράτηγον , τὸν τῆς μεγάλης βουλῆς ἄγγελον , τὸν τῆς ἀρρήτου γνώμης τοῦ πατρὸς ὑπουργόν , τὸν τῶν ἁπάντων σὺν τῷ πατρὶ δημιουργόν , τὸν Δεύτερον μετὰ τὸν πατέρα τῶν ὅλων αἴτιον , τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ παῖδα γνήσιον καὶ μονογενῆ , τὸν τῶν γενητῶν ἁπάντων κύριον καὶ Θεὸν καὶ βασιλέα τὸ κῦρος ὁμοῦ καὶ τὸ κράτος αὐτῇ θεότητι καὶ δυνάμει καὶ τιμῇ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑποδεδεγμένον , ὅτι δὴ κατὰ τὰς περὶ αὐτοῦ μυστικὰς τῶν γραφῶν θεολογίας “ ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος , καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν , καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος · πάντα δι’ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο , καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν .”

For who beside the Father could clearly understand the Light which was before the world, the intellectual and essential
¹ Wisdom which existed before the ages, the living Word which was in the beginning with the Father and which was God, the first and only begotten of God which was before every creation and fabrication² visible and invisible, the commander-in-chief of the rational and immortal host of heaven, the messenger of the great counsel, the executor of the Father’s unspoken will, the creator, with the Father, of all things, the second cause of the universe after the Father, the true and only-begotten Son of God, the Lord and God and King of all created things, the one who has received dominion and power, with divinity itself, and with might and honor from the Father; as it is said concerning him in the mystical passages of Scripture which speak of his divinity: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
³ “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made.”⁴

¹The word οὐσιώδη indicates “substantial” but not in the sense of “material.”

²The two words of the expression κτίσεως καὶ δημιουργίας are almost synonyms. κτίσεως means making out of nothing. δημιουργίας means making something out of existing matter.

³John 1:1

⁴John 1:3

2-6 τοῦτό τοι καὶ ὁ μέγας Μωυσῆς , ὡς ἂν προφητῶν ἁπάντων παλαιότατος , θείῳ πνεύματι τὴν τοῦ παντὸς οὐσίωσίν τε καὶ διακόσμησιν ὑπογράφων , τὸν κοσμοποιὸν καὶ δημιουργὸν τῶν ὅλων αὐτῷ δὴ τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ οὐδὲ ἄλλῳ ἢ τῷ θείῳ δηλαδὴ καὶ πρωτογόνῳ ἑαυτοῦ λόγῳ τὴν τῶν ὑποβεβηκότων ποίησιν παραχωροῦντα διδάσκει αὐτῷ τε κοινολογούμενον ἐπὶ τῆς ἀνθρωπογονίας ·

This, too, the great Moses teaches, when, as the most ancient of all the prophets, he describes under the influence of the divine Spirit the creation and arrangement of the universe. He declares that the maker of the world and the creator of all things yielded to Christ himself, and to none other than his own clearly divine and firstborn Word, the making of inferior things, and communed with him respecting the creation of man.

2-7 “ εἶπεν γὰρ” φησὶν “ ὁ Θεός · ‘ πλεῖστοι ἄνθρωπον κατ’ εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ καθ’ ὁμοίωσιν .’ ”

“For,” says he, “God said, ‘Let us make man in our image and in our likeness.’ ”¹

¹ Genesis 1:26

2-8 ταύτην δὲ ἐγγυᾶται τὴν φωνὴν προφητῶν ἄλλος , ὧδέ πως ἐν ὕμνοις θεολογῶν “ αὐτὸς εἶπεν , καὶ ἐγενήθησαν · αὐτὸς ἐνετείλατο , καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν ,”

And another of the prophets confirms this, speaking of God in his hymns as follows: “He spoke and they were made; he commanded and they were created.”¹

¹The point of this quotation is obscured by its shortness. Eusebius is really influenced by Psalm 32:6 LXX [τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ κυρίου οἱ οὐρανοὶ ἐστερεώθησαν] “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made firm.” He takes “word” as meaning Logos, and thus connects the “he” of the verse which he actually quotes with the Logos, not the Father. This was a traditional Christian interpretation and was probably so familiar to Eusebius that he overlooked his omission of the connecting link in the argument.

2-9 τὸν μὲν πατέρα καὶ ποιητὴν εἰσάγων ὡς ἂν πανηγεμόνα βασιλικῷ νεύματι προστάττοντα , τὸν δὲ τούτῳ δευτερεύοντα θεῖον λόγον , οὐχ ἕτερον τοῦ πρὸς ἡμῶν κηρυττομένου , ταῖς πατρικαῖς ἐπιτάξεσιν ὑπουργοῦντα .	He here introduces the Father and Maker as Ruler of all, commanding with a kingly nod, and second to him the divine Word, none other than the one who is proclaimed by us, as carrying out the Father’s commands.
2-10 τοῦτον καὶ ἀπὸ πρώτης ἀνθρωπογονίας πάντες ὅσοι δὴ Δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ θεοσεβείας ἀρετῇ διαπρέψαι λέγονται , ἀμφί τε τὸν μέγαν θεράποντα Μωυσέα καὶ πρό γε αὐτοῦ πρῶτος Ἀβραὰμ τούτου τε οἱ παῖδες καὶ ὅσοι μετέπειτα δίκαιοι πεφήνασιν καὶ προφῆται , καθαροῖς διανοίας ὄμμασι φαντασθέντες ἔγνωσάν τε καὶ οἷα Θεοῦ παιδὶ τὸ προσῆκον ἀπένειμαν σέβας , αὐτός τε , οὐδαμῶς ἀπορρᾳθυμῶν τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς εὐσεβείας , διδάσκαλος τοῖς πᾶσι τῆς πατρικῆς καθίστατο γνώσεως .	All that are said to have excelled in righteousness and piety since the creation of man, the great servant Moses and before him in the first place Abraham and his children, and as many righteous men and prophets as afterward appeared, have contemplated him with the pure eyes of the mind, and have recognized him and offered to him the worship which is due him as Son of God. But he, by no means neglectful of the reverence due to the Father, was appointed to teach the knowledge of the Father to them all.
2-11 ὦφθαι γοῦν κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἀνείρηται οἷά τις κοινὸς ἄνθρωπος τῷ Ἀβραὰμ καθημένῳ παρὰ τὴν δρῦν τὴν Μαμβρῆ ·	For instance, the Lord God, it is said, appeared as a common man to Abraham while he was sitting at the oak of Mambre.
2-12 ὁ δ’ ὑποπεσὼν αὐτίκα , καίτοι γε ἄνθρωπον ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρῶν , προσκυνεῖ μὲν ὡς Θεόν , ἱκετεύει δὲ ὡς κύριον , ὁμολογεῖ τε μὴ ἀγνοεῖν ὅστις εἴη , ῥήμασιν αὐτοῖς λέγων “ κύριε ὁ κρίνων πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν , οὐ ποιήσεις κρίσιν ;”	And he, immediately falling down, although he saw a man with his eyes, nevertheless worshipped him as God, and sacrificed to him as Lord, and confessed that he was not ignorant of his identity when he uttered the words, “Lord, the judge of all the earth, will you not execute righteous judgment?”¹

¹ Genesis 18:25

2-13 εἰ γὰρ μηδεὶς ἐπιτρέποι λόγος τὴν ἀγένητον καὶ ἄτρεπτον οὐσίαν Θεοῦ τοῦ παντοκράτορος εἰς ἀνδρὸς εἶδος μεταβάλλειν μηδ’ αὖ γενητοῦ μηθενὸς φαντασίᾳ τὰς τῶν ὁρώντων ὄψεις ἐξαπατᾶν μηδὲ μὴν ψευδῶς τὰ τοιαῦτα πλάττεσθαι τὴν γραφήν , Θεὸς καὶ κύριος ὁ κρίνων πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν καὶ ποιῶν κρίσιν , ἐν ἀνθρώπου ὁρώμενος σχήματι , τίς ἂν ἕτερος ἀναγορεύοιτο , εἰ μὴ φάναι θέμις τὸ πρῶτον τῶν ὅλων αἴτιον , ἢ μόνος ὁ προὼν αὐτοῦ λόγος ;¹

For if it is unreasonable to suppose that the unbegotten and immutable essence of the almighty God was changed into the form of man or that it deceived the eyes of the beholders with the appearance of some created thing, and if it is unreasonable to suppose, on the other hand, that the Scripture should falsely invent such things, when the God and Lord who judges all the earth and executes judgment is seen in the form of a man, who else can be called, if it be not lawful to call him the first cause of all things, than his only pre-existent Word?¹

¹Eusebius accepts the common view of the early Church that the theophanies of the Old Testament were Christophanies. In other words, they are not only the appearance of God, but the appearance of Christ. Augustine seems to have been the first of the Church Fathers to take a different view, maintaining that such Christophanies were not consistent with the identity of essence between Father and Son, and that the Scriptures themselves teach that it was not the Logos, but an angel, who appeared to the Old Testament individuals on various occasions. Augustine’s opinion was widely adopted, but in modern times the earlier view, which Eusebius reprents, has been the prevailing one.

2-14 περὶ οὗ καὶ ἐν ψαλμοῖς ἀνείρηται “ ἀπέστειλεν τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ , καὶ ἰάσατο αὐτούς , καὶ ἐρρύσατο αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν διαφθορῶν αὐτῶν .”

Concerning whom it is said in the Psalms, “He sent his Word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.”

¹ Psalm 107:20

2-15 τοῦτον Δεύτερον μετὰ τὸν πατέρα κύριον σαφέστατα Μωυσῆς ἀναγορεύει λέγων “ ἔβρεξε κύριος ἐπὶ Σόδομα καὶ Γόμορρα θεῖον καὶ πῦρ παρὰ κυρίου ·”

Moses most clearly proclaims him second Lord after the Father, when he says, “The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrha brimstone and fire from the Lord”¹.

¹ Genesis 19:24

2-16 τοῦτον καὶ τῷ Ἰακὼβ αὖθις ἐν ἀνδρὸς φανέντα σχήματι , Θεὸν ἡ θεία προσαγορεύει γραφή , φάσκοντα τῷ Ἰακὼβ “ οὐκέτι κληθήσεται τὸ ὄνομά σου Ἰακώβ , ἀλλ’ Ἰσραὴλ ἔσται τὸ ὄνομά σου , ὅτι ἐνίσχυσας μετὰ Θεοῦ”

The divine Scripture also calls him God, when he appeared again to Jacob in the form of a man, and said to Jacob, “Your name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel shall be your name, because you have prevailed with God.”¹

¹ Genesis 32:28

2-17 ὅτε καὶ “ ἐκάλεσεν Ἰακὼβ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ τόπου ἐκείνου Εἶδος Θεοῦ ,” λέγων “ εἶδον γὰρ Θεὸν πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον καὶ ἐσώθη μου ἡ ψυχή .”

Wherefore also “Jacob called that place ‘Vision of God’ — saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.’ ”¹

¹ Genesis 32:30 LXX

2-18 καὶ μὴν οὐδ’ ὑποβεβηκότων ἀγγέλων καὶ λειτουργῶν Θεοῦ τὰς ἀναγραφείσας θεοφανείας ὑπονοεῖν θέμις , ἐπειδὴ καὶ τούτων ὅτε τις ἀνθρώποις παραφαίνεται , οὐκ ἐπικρύπτεται ἡ γραφή , ὀνομαστὶ οὐ Θεὸν οὐδὲ μὴν κύριον , ἀλλ’ ἀγγέλους χρηματίσαι λέγουσα , ὡς διὰ μυρίων μαρτυριῶν πιστώσασθαι ῥᾴδιον .	Nor is it admissible to suppose that the theophanies recorded were appearances of subordinate angels and ministers of God, for whenever any of these appeared to men, the Scripture does not conceal the fact, but calls them by name not God nor Lord, but angels, as it is easy to prove by numberless testimonies.
2-19 τοῦτον καὶ ὁ Μωυσέως διάδοχος Ἰησοῦς , ὡς ἂν τῶν οὐρανίων ἀγγέλων καὶ ἀρχαγγέλων τῶν τε ὑπερκοσμίων δυνάμεων ἡγούμενον καὶ ὡς ἂν εἰ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑπάρχοντα δύναμιν καὶ σοφίαν καὶ τὰ δευτερεῖα τῆς κατὰ πάντων βασιλείας τε καὶ ἀρχῆς ἐμπεπιστευμένον , ἀρχιστράτηγον δυνάμεως κυρίου ὀνομάζει , οὐκ ἄλλως αὐτὸν ἢ αὖθις ἐν ἀνθρώπου μορφῇ καὶ σχήματι θεωρήσας .	Joshua, also, the successor of Moses, calls him, as leader of the heavenly angels and archangels and of the supramundane powers, and as lieutenant of the Father, entrusted with the second rank of sovereignty and rule over all, captain of the host of the Lord, although he saw him not otherwise than again in the form and appearance of a man.
2-20 γέγραπται γοῦν “ καὶ ἐγενήθη , ὡς ἦν Ἰησοῦς ἐν Ἱεριχώ , καὶ ἀναβλέψας ὁρᾷ ἄνθρωπον ἑστηκότα κατέναντι αὐτοῦ , καὶ ἡ ῥομφαία ἐσπασμένη ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ , καὶ προσελθὼν Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν , ‘ ἡμέτερος εἶ ἢ τῶν ὑπεναντίων;’	For it is written: “And it came to pass when Joshua was at Jericho that he looked and saw a man standing over against him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went unto him and said, ‘Are you for us or for our adversaries?’
2-21 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ , ‘ ἐγὼ ἀρχιστράτηγος δυνάμεως κυρίου · νυνὶ παραγέγονα .’	And he said to him, ‘As captain of the host of the Lord am I now come.’
2-22 καὶ Ἰησοῦς ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ , ‘ δέσποτα , τί προστάσσεις τῷ σῷ οἰκέτῃ ;’	And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and said to him, ‘Lord, what do you command your servant?’
2-23 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ ἀρχιστράτηγος κυρίου πρὸς Ἰησοῦν , ‘ λῦσαι τὸ ὑπόδημα ἐκ τῶν ποδῶν σου · ὁ γὰρ τόπος , ἐν ᾧ σὺ ἕστηκας τόπος ἅγιός ἐστιν .’ ”	And the captain of the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Loose your shoe from off your feet, for the place whereon you stand is holy.’ ”
2-24 ἔνθα καὶ ἐπιστήσεις ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν ῥημάτων ὅτι μὴ ἕτερος οὗτος εἴη τοῦ καὶ Μωυσεῖ κεχρηματικότος , ὅτι δὴ αὐτοῖς ῥήμασι καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ δέ φησιν ἡ γραφή ‘ ὡς δὲ εἶδεν κύριος ὅτι προσάγει ἰδεῖν , ἐκάλεσεν αὐτὸν κύριος ἐκ τοῦ βάτου λέγων , ‘Μωυσῆ Μωυσῆ ,’	You will perceive also from the same words that this was no other than he who talked with Moses. For the Scripture says in the same words and with reference to the same one, “When the Lord saw that he drew near to see, the Lord called to him out of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses.’
2-25 ὁ δὲ εἶπεν , ‘ τί ἐστιν ;’ καὶ εἶπεν , ‘ μὴ ἐγγίσῃς ὧδε · λῦσαι τὸ ὑπόδημα ἐκ τῶν ποδῶν σου · ὁ γὰρ τόπος , ἐν ᾧ σὺ ἕστηκας ἐπ’ αὐτοῦ , γῆ ἁγία ἐστίν .’	And he said, ‘What is it?’ And he said, ‘Draw not near hither; loose your shoe from off your feet, for the place whereon you stand is holy ground.’
2-26 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ , ‘ ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ πατρός σου , Θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Θεὸς Ἰακώβ .’	And he said to him,‘ I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’
2-27 καὶ ὅτι γέ ἐστιν οὐσία τις προκόσμιος ζῶντος καὶ ὑφεστῶσα , ἡ τῷ πατρὶ καὶ Θεῷ τῶν ὅλων εἰς τὴν τῶν γενητῶν ἁπάντων δημιουργίαν ὑπηρετησαμένη , λόγος Θεοῦ καὶ σοφία χρηματίζουσα , πρὸς ταῖς τεθειμέναις ἀποδείξεσιν ἔτι καὶ αὐτῆς ἐξ ἰδίου προσώπου τῆς σοφίας ἐπακοῦσαι πάρεστιν , διὰ Σολομῶνος λευκότατα ὧδέ πως τὰ περὶ αὐτῆς μυσταγωγούσης “ ἐγὼ ἡ σοφία κατεσκήνωσα βουλήν , καὶ γνῶσιν καὶ ἔννοιαν ἐγὼ ἐπεκαλεσάμην . δι’ ἐμοῦ βασιλεῖς βασιλεύουσιν , καὶ οἱ δυνάσται γράφουσι δικαιοσύνην · δι’ ἐμοῦ μεγιστᾶνες μεγαλύνονται , καὶ τύραννοι δι’ ἐμοῦ κρατοῦσι γῆς ·”	And that there is a certain substance which lived and subsisted before the world, and which ministered unto the Father and God of the universe for the formation of all created things, and which is called the Word of God and Wisdom, we may learn, to quote other proofs in addition to those already cited, from the mouth of Wisdom herself, who reveals most clearly through Solomon the following mysteries concerning herself: “I, Wisdom, have dwelt with prudence and knowledge, and I have invoked understanding. Through me kings reign, and princes ordain righteousness. Through me the great are magnified, and through me sovereigns rule the earth.
2-28 οἷς ἐπιλέγει “ κύριος ἔκτισέν με ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ εἰς ἔργα αὐτοῦ , πρὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος ἐθεμελίωσέν με · ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸ τοῦ τὴν γῆν ποιῆσαι , πρὸ τοῦ προελθεῖν τὰς πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων , πρὸ τοῦ ὄρη ἑδρασθῆναι , πρὸ δὲ πάντων βουνῶν γεννᾷ με .	To which she adds: “The Lord created me in the beginning of his ways, for his works; before the world he established me, in the beginning, before he made the earth, before he made the depths, before the mountains were settled, before all hills he begot me.
2-29 ἡνίκα ἡτοίμαζεν τὸν οὐρανόν , συμπαρήμην αὐτῷ , καὶ ὡς ἀσφαλεῖς ἐτίθει πηγὰς τῆς ὑπ’ οὐρανόν , ἤμην σὺν αὐτῷ ἁρμόζουσα .	When he prepared the heavens I was present with him, and when he established the fountains of the region under heaven I was with him, disposing.
2-30 ἐγὼ ἤμην ᾗ προσέχαιρεν καθ’ ἡμέραν , εὐφραινόμην δὲ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ , ὅτε εὐφραίνετο τὴν οἰκουμένην συντελέσας .”	I was the one in whom he delighted; daily I rejoiced before him at all times when he was rejoicing at having completed the world.”
2-31 ὅτι μὲν οὖν προῆν καὶ τισὶν , εἰ καὶ μὴ τοῖς πᾶσιν , ὁ θεῖος λόγος ἐπεφαίνετο , ταῦθ’ ἡμῖν ὡς ἐν βραχέσιν εἰρήσθω .	That the divine Word, therefore, pre-existed and appeared to some, if not to all, has thus been briefly shown by us.
2-32 Τί δὴ οὖν οὐχὶ καθάπερ τὰ νῦν , καὶ πάλαι πρότερον εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους καὶ πᾶσιν ἔθνεσιν ἐκηρύττετο , ὧδε ἂν γένοιτο πρόδηλον .	But why the Gospel was not preached in ancient times to all men and to all nations, as it is now, will appear from the following considerations.
2-33 οὐκ ἦν πω χωρεῖν οἷός τε τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ πάνσοφον καὶ πανάρετον διδασκαλίαν ὁ πάλαι τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίος .	The life of the ancients was not of such a kind as to permit them to receive the all-wise and all-virtuous teaching of Christ.
2-34 εὐθὺς μέν γε ἐν ἀρχῇ μετὰ τὴν πρώτην ἐν μακαρίοις ζωὴν ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος ἧττον τῆς θείας ἐντολῆς φροντίσας , εἰς τουτονὶ τὸν θνητὸν καὶ ἐπίκηρον βίον καταπέπτωκεν καὶ τὴν ἐπάρατον ταυτηνὶ γῆν τῆς πάλαι ἐνθέου τρυφῆς ἀντικατηλλάξατο , Οἵ τε ἀπὸ τούτου τὴν καθ’ ἡμᾶς σύμπασαν πληρώσαντες πολὺ χείρους ἀναφανέντες ἐκτὸς ἑνός που καὶ δευτέρας , θηριώδη τινὰ τρόπον καὶ βίον ἀβίωτον ἐπανῄρηντο ·	For immediately in the beginning, after his original life of blessedness, the first man despised the command of God, and fell into this mortal and perishable state, and exchanged his former divinely inspired luxury for this curse-laden earth. His descendants having filled our earth, showed themselves much worse, with the exception of one here and there, and entered upon a certain brutal and insupportable mode of life.
2-35 ἀλλὰ καὶ οὔτε πόλιν οὔτε πολιτείαν , οὐ τέχνας , οὐκ ἐπιστήμας ἐπὶ νοῦν ἐβάλλοντο , νόμων τε καὶ δικαιωμάτων καὶ προσέτι ἀρετῆς καὶ φιλοσοφίας οὐδὲ ὀνόματος μετεῖχον , νομάδες δὲ ἐπ’ ἐρημίας οἷά τινες ἄγριοι καὶ ἀπηνεῖς διῆγον , τοὺς μὲν ἐκ φύσεως προσήκοντας λογισμοὺς τά τε λογικὰ καὶ ἥμερα τῆς ἀνθρώπων ψυχῆς σπέρματα αὐτοπροαιρέτου κακίας ὑπερβολῇ διαφθείροντες , ἀνοσιουργίαις δὲ πάσαις ὅλους σφᾶς ἐκδεδωκότες , ὡς τοτὲ μὲν ἀλληλοφθορεῖν , τοτὲ δὲ ἀλληλοκτονεῖν , ἄλλοτε δὲ ἀνθρωποβορεῖν , θεομαχίας τε καὶ τὰς παρὰ τοῖς πᾶσιν βοωμένας γιγαντομαχίας ἐπιτολμᾶν , καὶ γῆν μὲν ἐπιτειχίζειν οὐρανῷ διανοεῖσθαι , μανίᾳ δὲ φρονήματος ἐκτόπου αὐτὸν τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσιν πολεμεῖν παρασκευάζεσθαι ·	They thought neither of city nor state, neither of arts nor sciences. They were ignorant even of the name of laws and of justice, of virtue and of philosophy. As nomads, they passed their lives in deserts, like wild and fierce beasts, destroying, by an excess of voluntary wickedness, the natural reason of man, and the seeds of thought and of culture implanted in the human soul. They gave themselves wholly over to all kinds of profanity, now seducing one another, now slaying one another, now eating human flesh, and now daring to wage war with the Gods and to undertake those battles of the giants celebrated by all; now planning to fortify earth against heaven, and in the madness of ungoverned pride to prepare an attack upon the very God of all.
2-36 ἐφ’ οἷς τοῦτον ἑαυτοῖς εἰσάγουσι τὸν τρόπον κατακλυσμοῖς αὐτοὺς καὶ πυρπολήσεσιν ὥσπερ ἀγρίαν ὕλην κατὰ πάσης τῆς γῆς κεχυμένην Θεὸς ὁ πάντων ἔφορος μετῄει , λιμοῖς τε συνεχέσι καὶ λοιμοῖς πολέμοις τε αὖ καὶ κεραυνῶν βολαῖς ἄνωθεν αὐτοὺς ὑπετέμνετο , ὥσπερ τινὰ δεινὴν καὶ χαλεπωτάτην νόσον ψυχῶν πικροτέροις ἀνέχων τοῖς κολαστηρίοις .	On account of these things, when they conducted themselves thus, the all-seeing God sent down upon them floods and conflagrations as upon a wild forest spread over the whole earth. He cut them down with continuous famines and plagues, with wars, and with thunderbolts from heaven, as if to check some terrible and obstinate disease of souls with more severe punishments.
2-37 τότε μὲν οὖν , ὅτε δὴ καὶ πολὺς ἦν ἐπικεχυμένος ὀλίγου δεῖν κατὰ πάντων ὁ τῆς κακίας κάρος , οἷα μέθης δεινῆς , τὰς ἁπάντων σχεδὸν ἀνθρώπων ἐπισκιαζούσης καὶ ἐπισκοτούσης ψυχάς , ἡ πρωτόγονος καὶ πρωτόκτιστος τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφία καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ προὼν λόγος φιλανθρωπίας ὑπερβολῇ τοτὲ μὲν δι’ ὀπτασίας ἀγγέλων τοῖς ὑποβεβηκόσι , τοτὲ δὲ καὶ δι’ ἑαυτοῦ οἷα Θεοῦ δύναμις σωτήριος ἑνί που καὶ δευτέρῳ τῶν πάλαι θεοφιλῶν ἀνδρῶν οὐκ ἄλλως ἣ δι’ ἀνθρώπου μορφῆς , ὅτι μηδ’ ἑτέρως ἦν δυνατὸν αὐτοῖς , ὑπεφαίνετο .	Then, when the excess of wickedness had overwhelmed nearly all the race, like a deep fit of drunkenness, beclouding and darkening the minds of men, the first-born and first-created wisdom of God, the pre-existent Word himself, induced by his exceeding love for man, appeared to his servants, now in the form of angels, and again to one and another of those ancients who enjoyed the favor of God, in his own person as the saving power of God, not otherwise, however, than in the shape of man, because it was impossible to appear in any other way.
2-38 Ὡς δ’ ἤδη διὰ τούτων τὰ θεοσεβείας σπέρματα εἰς πλῆθος ἀνδρῶν καταβέβλητο ὅλον τε ἔθνος ἐπὶ γῆς θεοσεβείᾳ προσανέχον ἐκ τῶν ἀνέκαθεν Ἑβραίων ὑπέστη , τούτοις μέν , ὡς ἂν εἰ πλήθεσιν ἔτι ταῖς παλαιαῖς ἀγωγαῖς ἐκδεδιῃτημένοις , διὰ τοῦ προφήτου Μωυσέως εἰκόνας καὶ σύμβολα σαββάτου τινὸς μυστικοῦ καὶ περιτομῆς ἑτέρων τε νοητῶν θεωρημάτων εἰσαγωγάς , ἀλλ’ οὐκ αὐτὰς ἐναργεῖς παρεδίδου μυσταγωγίας ·	And as by them the seeds of piety were sown among a multitude of men and the whole nation, descended from the Hebrews, devoted themselves persistently to the worship of God, he imparted to them through the prophet Moses, as to multitudes still corrupted by their ancient practices, images and symbols of a certain mystic Sabbath and of circumcision, and elements of other spiritual principles, but he did not grant them a complete knowledge of the mysteries themselves.
2-39 ὡς δὲ τῆς παρὰ τούτοις νομοθεσίας βοωμένης καὶ πνοῆς δίκην εὐώδους εἰς ἅπαντας ἀνθρώπους διαδιδομένης , ἤδη τότε ἐξ αὐτῶν καὶ τοῖς πλείοσιν τῶν ἐθνῶν διὰ τῶν πανταχόσε νομοθετῶν τε καὶ φιλοσόφων ἡμέρωτο τὰ φρονήματα , τῆς ἀγρίας καὶ ἀπηνοῦς θηριωδίας ἐπὶ τὸ πρᾶον μεταβεβλημένης , ὡς καὶ εἰρήνην βαθεῖαν φιλίας τε καὶ ἐπιμιξίας πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἔχειν , τηνικαῦτα πᾶσι δὴ λοιπὸν ἀνθρώποις καὶ τοῖς ἀνὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἔθνεσιν ὡς ἂν προωφελημένοις . καὶ ἤδη τυγχάνουσιν ἐπιτηδείοις πρὸς παραδοχὴν τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς γνώσεως , ὁ αὐτὸς δὴ πάλιν ἐπιστρέψας ἐκεῖνος ὁ τῶν ἀρετῶν διδάσκαλος , ὁ ἐν πᾶσιν ἀγαθοῖς τοῦ πατρὸς ὑπουργός , ὁ θεῖος καὶ οὐράνιος τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγος , δι’ ἀνθρώπου κατὰ μηδὲν σώματος οὐσίᾳ τὴν ἡμετέραν φύσιν διαλλάττοντος ἀρχομένης τῆς Ῥωμαίων βασιλείας ἐπιφανείς , τοιαῦτα ἔδρασέν τε καὶ πέπονθεν , οἷα ταῖς προφητείαις ἀκόλουθα ἦν , ἄνθρωπον ὁμοῦ καὶ Θεὸν ἐπιδημήσειν τῷ βίῳ παραδόξων ἔργων ποιητὴν καὶ τοῖς πᾶσιν ἔθνεσιν διδάσκαλον τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς εὐσεβείας ἀναδειχθήσεσθαι τό τε παράδοξον αὐτοῦ τῆς γενέσεως καὶ τὴν καινὴν διδασκαλίαν καὶ τῶν ἔργων τὰ θαύματα ἐπί τε τούτοις τοῦ θανάτου τὸν τρόπον τὴν τε ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς	But when their law became celebrated, and, like a sweet odor, was diffused among all men, as a result of their influence the dispositions of the majority of the heathen were softened by the lawgivers and philosophers who arose on every side, and their wild and savage brutality was changed into mildness, so that they enjoyed deep peace, friendship, and social association. Then, finally, at the time of the origin of the Roman Empire, there appeared again to all men and nations throughout the world, who had been, as it were, previously assisted, and were now fitted to receive the knowledge of the Father, that same teacher of virtue, the minister of the Father in all good things, the divine and heavenly Word of God, in a human body not at all differing in substance from our own. He did and suffered the things which had been prophesied. For it had been foretold that one who was at the same time man and God should come and dwell in the world, should perform wonderful works, and should show himself a teacher to all nations of the piety of the Father. The marvelous nature of his birth, and his new teaching, and his wonderful works had also been foretold; so likewise the manner of his death, his resurrection from the dead, and, finally, his divine ascension into heaven.
2-40 ἔνθεον ἀποκατάστασιν αὐτοῦ προκηρυττούσαις . τὴν γοῦν ἐπὶ τέλει βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ Δανιὴλ ὁ προφήτης θείῳ πνεύματι συνορῶν , ὧδέ πῃ ἐθεοφορεῖτο , ἀνθρωπινώτερον τὴν θεοπτίαν ὑπογράφων · “ ἐθεώρουν γὰρ” φησίν “ ἕως οὗ θρόνοι ἐτέθησαν , καὶ παλαιὸς ἡμερῶν ἐκάθητο . καὶ τὸ ἔνδυμα αὐτοῦ ὡς εἰ χιὼν λευκόν , καὶ ἡ θρὶξ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ ὡς εἰ ἔριον καθαρόν · ὁ θρόνος αὐτοῦ φλὸξ πυρός , οἱ τροχοὶ αὐτοῦ πῦρ φλέγον · ποταμὸς πυρὸς εἷλκεν ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ . χίλιαι χιλιάδες ἐλειτούργουν αὐτῷ , καὶ μύριαι μυριάδες παρειστήκεισαν ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ . κριτήριον ἐκάθισεν , καὶ βίβλοι ἠνεῴχθησαν .”	For instance, Daniel the prophet, under the influence of the divine Spirit, seeing his kingdom at the end of time, was inspired thus to describe the divine vision in language fitted to human comprehension: “For I beheld,” he says, “until thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was a flame of fire and his wheels burning fire. A river of fire flowed before him. Thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. He appointed judgment, and the books were opened.”¹

¹ Daniel 7:9-10

2-41 καὶ ἑξῆς “ ἐθεώρουν ,” φησίν “ καὶ ἰδοὺ μετὰ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὡς εἰ υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενος , καὶ ἕως τοῦ παλαιοῦ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἔφθασεν , καὶ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ προσηνέχθη · καὶ αὐτῷ ἐδόθη ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ ἡ τιμὴ καὶ ἡ βασιλεία , καὶ πάντες οἱ λαοὶ φυλαὶ γλῶσσαι αὐτῷ δουλεύσουσιν . ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτοῦ ἐξουσία αἰώνιος , ἥτις οὐ παρελεύσεται · καὶ ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ οὐ διαφθαρήσεται .”

And again, “I saw,” says he, “and beheld, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he hastened unto the Ancient of Days and was brought into his presence, and there was given him the dominion and the glory and the kingdom; and all peoples, tribes, and tongues serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed.”¹

¹ Daniel 7:13-14

2-42 ταῦτα δὲ σαφῶς οὐδ’ ἐφ’ ἕτερον , ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ τὸν ἡμέτερον σωτῆρα , τὸν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν Θεὸν λόγον , ἀναφέροιτο ἄν , υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου διὰ τὴν ὑστάτην ἐνανθρώπησιν αὐτοῦ χρηματίζοντα .

It is clear that these words can refer to no one else than to our Saviour, the God Word who was in the beginning with God, and who was called “Son of man” because of his final appearance in the flesh.

2-43 ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐν οἰκείοις ὑπομνήμασιν τὰς περὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ προφητικὰς ἐκλογὰς συναγαγόντες ἀποδεικτικώτερόν τε τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ δηλούμενα ἐν ἑτέροις συστήσαντες , τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἀρκεσθησόμεθα .

But since we have collected in separate books the selections from the prophets which relate to our Saviour Jesus Christ, and have arranged in a more logical form those things which have been revealed concerning him, what has been said will suffice for the present.

Chapter 3

3-1 Ὅτι δὲ καὶ αὐτὸ τοὔνομα τοῦ τε Ἰησοῦ καὶ δὴ καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρ’ αὐτοῖς τοῖς πάλαι θεοφιλέσιν προφήταις τετίμητο , ἤδη καιρὸς ἀποδεικνύναι .

It is now the proper place to show that the very name Jesus and also the name Christ were honored by the ancient prophets beloved of God.

3-2 σεπτὸν ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα καὶ ἔνδοξον τὸ Χριστοῦ ὄνομα πρῶτος αὐτὸς γνωρίσας Μωυσῆς τύπους οὐρανίων καὶ σύμβολα μυστηριώδεις τε εἰκόνας ἀκολούθως χρησμῷ φήσαντι αὐτῷ “ ὅρα , ποιήσεις πάντα κατὰ τὸν τύπον τὸν δειχθέντα σοι ἐν τῷ ὄρει ”¹ παραδούς , ἀρχιερέα Θεοῦ , ὡς ἐνῆν μάλιστα δυνατὸν ἄνθρωπον , ἐπιφημίσας , τοῦτον Χριστὸν ἀναγορεύει , καὶ ταύτῃ γε τῇ κατὰ τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην ἀξίᾳ , πᾶσαν ὑπερβαλλούσῃ παρ’ αὐτῷ τὴν ἐν ἀνθρώποις προεδρίαν , ἐπὶ τιμῇ καὶ δόξῃ τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ περιτίθησιν ὄνομα ·

Moses was the first to make known the name of Christ as a name especially august and glorious. When he delivered types and symbols of heavenly things, and mysterious images, in accordance with the oracle which said to him, “Look that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you in the mount,”
¹ he consecrated a man high priest of God, in so far as that was possible, and him he called Christ. And thus to this dignity of the high priesthood, which in his opinion surpassed the most honorable position among men, he attached for the sake of honor and glory the name of Christ.

¹ Exodus 25:40

3-3 οὕτως ἄρα τὸν Χριστὸν θεῖόν τι χρῆμα ἠπίστατο . ὁ δ’ αὐτὸς καὶ τὴν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ προσηγορίαν εὖ μάλα πνεύματι θείῳ προϊδὼν πάλιν ἐπιστρέψας τινὸς ἐξαιρέτου προνομίας καὶ ταύτην ἀξιοῖ . οὔποτε γοῦν πρότερον ἐκφωνηθὲν εἰς ἀνθρώπους , πρὶν ἢ Μωυσεῖ γνωσθῆναι , τὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ πρόσρημα τούτῳ Μωυσῆς πρώτῳ καὶ μόνῳ περιτίθησιν , ὃν κατὰ τύπον αὖθις καὶ σύμβολον ἔγνω μετὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ τελευτὴν διαδεξόμενον

He knew so well that in Christ was something divine. And the same one foreseeing, under the influence of the divine Spirit, the name Jesus, dignified it also with a certain distinguished privilege. For the name of Jesus, which had never been uttered among men before the time of Moses, he applied first and only to the one who he knew would receive after his death, again as a type and symbol, the supreme command.

3-4 τὴν κατὰ πάντων ἀρχήν . οὐ πρότερον γοῦν τὸν αὐτοῦ διάδοχον , τῇ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ κεχρημένον προσηγορίᾳ , ὀνόματι δὲ ἑτέρῳ τῷ Αὐσῆ , ὅπερ οἱ γεννήσαντες αὐτῷ τέθεινται , καλούμενον , Ἰησοῦν αὐτὸς ἀναγορεύει , γέρας ὥσπερ τίμιον , παντὸς πολὺ μεῖζον βασιλικοῦ διαδήματος , τοὔνομα αὐτῷ δωρούμενος , ὅτι δὴ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ τοῦ Ναυῆ Ἰησοῦς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν τὴν εἰκόνα ἔφερεν , τοῦ μόνου μετὰ Μωυσέα καὶ τὸ συμπέρασμα τῆς δι’ ἐκείνου παραδοθείσης συμβολικῆς λατρείας , τῆς ἀληθοῦς καὶ καθαρωτάτης εὐσεβείας τὴν ἀρχὴν διαδεξαμένου .

His successor, therefore, who had not hitherto borne the name Jesus, but had been called by another name, Auses, which had been given him by his parents, he now called Jesus, bestowing the name upon him as a gift of honor, far greater than any kingly diadem. For Jesus himself, the son of Nave,¹ bore a resemblance to our Saviour in the fact that he alone, after Moses and after the completion of the symbolic worship² which had been transmitted by him, succeeded to the government of the true and pure religion.

¹In the LXX of Numbers 13:16-17 (which relates the changing of the name of Hoshea, son of Nun, to Joshua) the name Hoshea is spelled Αὐσής (Auses), Joshua is spelled Ἰησοῦς (Jesus), and Nun is spelled Ναυή (Nave).
²i.e., the Jewish worship symbolized the future Christianity.

3-5 καὶ Μωυσῆς μὲν ταύτῃ πῃ δυσὶ τοῖς κατ’ αὐτὸν ἀρετῇ καὶ δόξῃ παρὰ πάντα τὸν λαὸν προφέρουσιν ἀνθρώποις , τῷ μὲν ἀρχιερεῖ , τῷ δὲ μετ’ αὐτὸν ἡγησομένῳ , τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ προσηγορίαν ἐπὶ τιμῇ τῇ μεγίστῃ περιτέθειται ·

Thus Moses bestowed the name of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, as a mark of the highest honor, upon the two men who in his time surpassed all the rest of the people in virtue and glory; namely, upon the high priest and upon his own successor in the government.

3-6 σαφῶς δὲ καὶ οἱ μετὰ ταῦτα προφῆται ὀνομαστὶ τὸν Χριστὸν προανεφώνουν , ὁμοῦ τὴν μέλλουσαν ἔσεσθαι κατ’ αὐτοῦ συσκευὴν τοῦ Ἰουδαίων λαοῦ , ὁμοῦ δὲ καὶ τὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν δι’ αὐτοῦ κλῆσιν προμαρτυρόμενοι , τοτὲ μὲν ὧδέ πως Ἱερεμίας λέγων “ πνεῦμα προσώπου ἡμῶν Χριστὸς κύριος συνελήφθη ἐν ταῖς διαφθοραῖς αὐτῶν , οὗ εἴπομεν ‘ ἐν τῇ σκιᾷ αὐτοῦ ζησόμεθα ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ,’ ” τοτὲ δὲ ἀμηχανῶν Δαυὶδ διὰ τούτων “ ἵνα τί ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη καὶ λαοὶ ἐμελέτησαν κενά ; παρέστησαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς , καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό κατὰ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ”· οἷς ἑξῆς ἐπιλέγει ἐξ αὐτοῦ δὴ προσώπου τοῦ Χριστοῦ “ κύριος εἶπεν πρός με ‘ υἱός μου εἶ σύ , ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε . αἴτησαι παρ’ ἐμοῦ , καὶ δώσω σοι ἔθνη τὴν κληρονομίαν σου , καὶ τὴν κατάσχεσίν σου τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς .’ ”

And the prophets that came after also clearly foretold Christ by name, predicting at the same time the plots which the Jewish people would form against him, and the calling of the nations through him. Jeremiah, for instance, speaks as follows: “The Spirit before our face, Christ the Lord, was taken in their destructions; of whom we said, under his shadow we shall live among the nations.”¹ And David, in perplexity, says, “Why did the nations rage and the people imagine vain things? the kings of the earth set themselves in array, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ”² to which he adds, in the person of Christ himself, “The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son, this day have I begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.’ ”³

¹ Lamentations 4:20
² Psalm 2:1-2
³ Psalm 2:8

3-7 οὐ μόνους δὲ ἄρα τοὺς ἀρχιερωσύνῃ τετιμημένους , ἐλαίῳ σκευαστῷ τοῦ συμβόλου χριομένους ἕνεκα , τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ κατεκόσμει παρ’ Ἑβραίοις ὄνομα , ἀλλὰ και τοὺς βασιλέας , οὓς καὶ αὐτοὺς νεύματι θείῳ προφῆται χρίοντες εἰκονικούς τινας χριστοὺς ἀπειργάζοντο , ὅτι δὴ καὶ αὐτοὶ τῆς τοῦ μόνου καὶ ἀληθοῦς Χριστοῦ , τοῦ κατὰ πάντων βασιλεύοντος θείου λόγου , βασιλικῆς καὶ ἀρχικῆς ἐξουσίας τοὺς τύπους δι’ ἑαυτῶν ἔφερον .	And not only those who were honored with the high priesthood, and who for the sake of the symbol were anointed with especially prepared oil, were adorned with the name of Christ among the Hebrews, but also the kings whom the prophets anointed under the influence of the divine Spirit, and thus constituted, as it were, typical Christs. For they also bore in their own persons types of the royal and sovereign power of the true and only Christ, the divine Word who rules over all.
3-8 ἤδη δὲ καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν προφητῶν τινὰς διὰ χρίσματος χριστοὺς ἐν τύπων γεγονέναι παρειλήφαμεν , ὡς τούτους ἅπαντας τὴν ἐπὶ τὸν ἀληθῆ χριστόν , τὸν ἔνθεον καὶ οὐράνιον λόγον , ἀναφορὰν ἔχειν , μόνον ἀρχιέρεα τῶν ὅλων καὶ μόνον ἁπάσης κτίσεως βασιλέα καὶ μόνον προφητῶν ἀρχιπροφήτην τοῦ πατρὸς τυγχάνοντα .	And we have been told also that certain of the prophets themselves became, by the act of anointing, Christs in type, so that all these have reference to the true Christ, the divinely inspired and heavenly Word, who is the only high priest of all, and the only King of every creature, and the Father’s only supreme prophet of prophets.
3-9 τούτου δ’ ἀπόδειξις τὸ μηδένα πω τῶν πάλαι διὰ τοῦ συμβόλου κεχρισμένων , μήτε ἱερέων μήτε βασιλέων μήτε μὴν προφητῶν , τοσαύτην ἀρετῆς ἐνθέου δύναμιν κτήσασθαι , ὅσην ὁ σωτὴρ καὶ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς ὁ μόνος καὶ ἀληθινὸς Χριστὸς ἐπιδέδεικται .	And a proof of this is that no one of those who were of old symbolically anointed, whether priests, or kings, or prophets, possessed so great a power of inspired virtue as was exhibited by our Saviour and Lord Jesus, the true and only Christ.
3-10 οὐδείς γέ τοι ἐκείνων , καίπερ ἀξιώματι καὶ τιμῇ ἐπὶ πλείσταις ὅσαις γενεαῖς παρὰ τοῖς οἰκείοις διαλαμψάντων , τοὺς ὑπηκόους πώποτε ἐκ τῆς περὶ αὐτοὺς εἰκονικῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ προσρήσεως Χριστιανοὺς ἐπεφήμισεν · ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ σεβάσμιός τινι τούτων πρὸς τῶν ὑπηκόων ὑπῆρξε τιμή · ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν τοσαύτη διάθεσις , ὡς καὶ ὑπεραποθνῄσκειν ἑτοίμως ἔχειν τοῦ τιμωμένου · ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ πάντων τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐθνῶν περί τινα τῶν τότε τοσαύτη γέγονε κίνησις , ἐπεὶ μηδὲ τοσοῦτον ἐν ἐκείνοις ἡ τοῦ συμβόλου δύναμις οἵα τε ἦν ἐνεργεῖν , ὅσον ἡ τῆς ἀληθείας παράστασις διὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐνδεικνυμένη ·	None of them at least, however superior in dignity and honor they may have been for many generations among their own people, ever gave to their followers the name of Christians from their own typical name of Christ. Neither was divine honor ever rendered to any one of them by their subjects; nor after their death was the disposition of their followers such that they were ready to die for the one whom they honored. And never did so great a commotion arise among all the nations of the earth in respect to any one of that age; for the mere symbol could not act with such power among them as the truth itself which was exhibited by our Saviour.
3-11 ὃς οὔτε σύμβολα καὶ τύπους ἀρχιερωσύνης παρά του λαβών , ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ γένος τὸ περὶ σῶμα ἐξ ἱερωμένῶν κατάγων , οὐδ’ ἀνδρῶν δορυφορίαις ἐπὶ βασιλείαν προαχθεὶς οὐδὲ μὴν προφήτης ὁμοίως τοῖς πάλαι γενόμενος , οὐδ’ ἀξίας ὅλως ἤ τινος παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις τυχὸν προεδρίας , ὅμως τοῖς πᾶσιν , εἰ καὶ μὴ τοῖς συμβόλοις , ἀλλ’	He, although he received no symbols and types of high priesthood from any one, although he was not born of a race of priests, although he was not elevated to a kingdom by military guards, although he was not a prophet like those of old, although he obtained no honor nor pre-eminence among the Jews, nevertheless was adorned by the Father with all, if not with the symbols, yet with the truth itself.
3-12 αὐτῇ γε τῇ ἀληθείᾳ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς κεκόσμητο , οὐχ ὁμοίων δ’ οὖν οἷς προειρήκαμεν , τυχών , πάντων ἐκείνων καὶ Χριστὸς μᾶλλον ἀνηγόρευται , καὶ ὡς ἂν μόνος καὶ ἀληθὴς αὐτὸς ὢν ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ , Χριστιανῶν τὸν πάντα κόσμον , τῆς ὄντως σεμνῆς καὶ ἱερᾶς αὐτοῦ προσηγορίας , κατέπλησεν , οὐκέτι τύπους οὐδὲ εἰκόνας , ἀλλ’ αὐτὰς γυμνὰς ἀρετὰς καὶ βίον οὐράνιον αὐτοῖς ἀληθείας δόγμασιν τοῖς θιασώταις παραδούς ,	And therefore, although he did not possess like honors with those whom we have mentioned, he is called Christ more than all of them. And as himself the true and only Christ of God, he has filled the whole earth with the truly august and sacred name of Christians, committing to his followers no longer types and images, but the uncovered virtues themselves, and a heavenly life in the very doctrines of truth.
3-13 τό τε χρῖσμα , οὐ τὸ διὰ σωμάτων¹ σκευαστόν , ἀλλ’ αὐτὸ δὴ πνεύματι θείῳ τὸ θεοπρεπές , μετοχῇ τῆς ἀγεννήτου καὶ πατρικῆς θεότητος ἀπειλήφει · ὃ καὶ αὐτὸ πάλιν ἐπιστρέψας Ἡσαΐας διδάσκει , ὡς ἂν ἐξ αὐτοῦ ὧδέ πως ἀναβοῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ “ πνεῦμα κυρίου ἐπ’ ἐμέ , οὗ εἵνεκεν ἔχρισέν με · εὐαγγελίσασθαι πτωχοῖς ἀπέσταλκέν με , κηρῦξαι αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν καὶ τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν .”	And he was not anointed with oil prepared from material substances,¹ but, as befits divinity, with the divine Spirit himself, by participation in the unbegotten deity of the Father. And this is taught also again by Isaiah, who exclaims, as if in the person of Christ himself, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore has he anointed me. He has sent me to preach the Gospel to the poor, to proclaim deliverance to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind.”

¹if ἀρωμάτων is read for σωμάτων it could read as “with spices.”

3-14 καὶ οὐ μόνος γε Ἡσαΐας , ἀλλὰ καὶ Δαυὶδ εἰς τὸ αὐτοῦ πρόσωπον ἀναφωνεῖ λέγων “ ὁ θρόνος σου , ὁ Θεός , εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος · ῥάβδοις εὐθύτητος ἡ ῥάβδοις τῆς βασιλείας σου . ἠγάπησας δικαιοσύνην καὶ ἐμίσησας ἀνομίαν · διὰ τοῦτο ἔχρισέν σε ὁ Θεός , ὁ Θεός σου ἔλαιον ἀγαλλιάσεως παρὰ τοὺς μετόχους σου”· ἐν οἷς ὁ λόγος ἐν μὲν τῷ πρώτῳ στίχῳ Θεὸν αὐτὸν ἐπιφημίζει , ἐν δὲ τῷ δευτέρῳ σκήπτρῳ βασιλικῷ τιμᾷ ,

And not only Isaiah, but also David addresses him, saying, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and have hated iniquity. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.” Here the Scripture calls him God in the first verse, in the second it honors him with a royal scepter.

3-15 εἶθ’ ἑξῆς ὑποβὰς μετὰ τὴν ἔνθεον καὶ βασιλικὴν δύναμιν τρίτῃ τάξει Χριστὸν αὐτὸν γεγονότα , ἐλαίῳ οὐ τῷ ἐξ ὕλης σωμάτων , ἀλλὰ τῷ ἐνθέῳ τῆς ἀγαλλιάσεως ἠλειμμένον , παρίστησιν · παρ’ ὃ καὶ τὸ ἐξαίρετον αὐτοῦ καὶ πολὺ κρεῖττον καὶ διάφορον τῶν πάλαι διὰ τῶν εἰκόνων σωματικώτερον κεχρισμένων ὑποσημαίνει .¹

Then a little farther on, after the divine and royal power, it represents him in the third place as having become Christ, being anointed not with oil made of material substances, but with the divine oil of gladness. It thus indicates his special honor, far superior to and different from that of those who, as types, were of old anointed in a more material way.¹

¹Eusebius means that this is the significance of “above thy fellows.”

3-16 καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς ὧδέ πως τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ δηλοῖ λέγων “εἶπεν ὁ κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου · ‘κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου , ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου ,’ ” καὶ “ἐκ γαστρὸς πρὸ ἑωσφόρου ἐγέννησά σε . ὤμοσεν κύριος καὶ οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται · σὺ εἶ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ .”	And elsewhere the same writer speaks of him as follows: “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool; and, Out of the womb, before the morning star, have I begotten you. The Lord has sworn and he will not repent. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
3-17 οὗτος δὲ εἰσάγεται ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς λόγοις ὁ Μελχισεδὲκ ἱερεὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ὑψίστου , οὐκ ἐν σκευαστῷ τινι χρίσματι ἀναδεδειγμένος , ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ διαδοχῇ γένους προσήκων τῇ καθ’ Ἑβραίους ἱερωσύνῃ · δι’ ὃ κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ τάξιν , ἀλλ’ οὐ κατὰ τὴν τῶν ἄλλων σύμβολα καὶ τύπους ἀνειληφότων Χριστὸς καὶ ἱερεὺς μετ’ ὅρκου παραλήψεως	But this Melchizedek is introduced in the Holy Scriptures as a priest of the most high God, not consecrated by any anointing oil, especially prepared, and not even belonging by descent to the priesthood of the Jews. Wherefore after his order, but not after the order of the others, who received symbols and types, was our Saviour proclaimed, with an appeal to an oath, Christ and priest.
3-18 ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν ἀνηγόρευται · ὅθεν οὐδὲ σωματικῶς παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις χρισθέντα αὐτὸν ἡ ἱστορία παραδίδωσιν , ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ἐκ φυλῆς τῶν ἱερωμένων γενόμενον , ἐξ αὐτοῦ δὲ Θεοῦ πρὸ ἑωσφόρου μέν , τοῦτ’ ἐστὶν πρὸ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου συστάσεως , οὐσιωμένον , ἀθάνατον δὲ καὶ ἀγήρω τὴν ἱερωσύνην εἰς τὸν ἄπειρον αἰῶνα διακατέχοντα .	History, therefore, does not relate that he was anointed corporeally by the Jews, nor that he belonged to the lineage of priests, but that he came into existence from God himself before the morning star, that is before the organization of the world, and that he obtained an immortal and undecaying priesthood for eternal ages.
3-19 τῆς δ’ εἰς αὐτὸν γενομένης ἀσωμάτου¹ καὶ ἐνθέου χρίσεως μέγα καὶ ἐναργὲς τεκμήριον τὸ μόνον αὐτὸν ἐξ ἁπάντων τῶν πώποτε εἰς ἔτι καὶ νῦν παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις καθ’ ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου Χριστὸν ἐπιφημίζεσθαι ὁμολογεῖσθαί τε καὶ μαρτυρεῖσθαι πρὸς ἁπάντων ἐπὶ τῇ προσηγορίᾳ παρά τε Ἕλλησι καὶ βαρβάροις μνημονεύεσθαι , καὶ εἰς ἔτι νῦν παρὰ τοῖς ἀνὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην αὐτοῦ θιασώταις τιμᾶσθαι μὲν ὡς βασιλέα , θαυμάζεσθαι δὲ ὑπὲρ προφήτην , δοξάζεσθαί τε ὡς ἀληθῆ καὶ μόνον Θεοῦ ἀρχιερέα , καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις , οἷα Θεοῦ λόγον προόντα καὶ πρὸ αἰώνων ἁπάντων οὐσιωμένον τὴν τε σεβάσμιον τιμὴν παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑπειληφότα , καὶ προσκυνεῖσθαι ὡς Θεόν ·	But it is a great and convincing proof of his incorporeal¹ and divine unction that he alone of all those who have ever existed is even to the present day called Christ by all men throughout the world, and is confessed and witnessed to under this name, and is commemorated both by Greeks and Barbarians and even to this day is honored as a King by his followers throughout the world, and is admired as more than a prophet, and is glorified as the true and only high priest of God. And besides all this, as the pre-existent Word of God, called into being before all ages, he has received august honor from the Father, and is worshipped as God.

¹The use of the word ἀσωμάτου as a technical term meaning “immaterial” has a long history, but it was popularized in Christian metaphysics, especially by Origen.

3-20 τό γε μὴν πάντων παραδοξότατον , ὅτι μὴ φωναῖς αὐτὸ μόνον καὶ ῥημάτων ψόφοις αὐτὸν γεραίρομεν οἱ καθωσιωμένοι αὐτῷ , ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσῃ διαθέσει ψυχῆς , ὡς καὶ αὐτῆς προτιμᾶν τῆς ἑαυτῶν ζωῆς τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν μαρτυρίαν .

But most wonderful of all is the fact that we who have consecrated ourselves to him, honor him not only with our voices and with the sound of words, but also with complete elevation of soul, so that we choose to give testimony unto him rather than to preserve our own lives.

Chapter 4

4-1 Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἀναγκαίως πρὸ τῆς ἱστορίας ἐνταῦθά μοι κείσθω , ὡς ἂν μὴ νεώτερόν τις εἶναι νομίσειεν τὸν σωτῆρα καὶ κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστὸν διὰ τοὺς τῆς ἐνσάρκου πολιτείας αὐτοῦ χρόνους .	I have of necessity prefaced my history with these matters in order that no one, judging from the date of his incarnation, may think that our Saviour and Lord Jesus, the Christ, has but recently come into being.
4-2 ἵνα δὲ μηδὲ τὴν διδασκαλίαν αὐτοῦ νέαν εἶναι καὶ ξένην , ὡς ἂν ὑπὸ νέου καὶ μηδὲν τοὺς λοιποὺς διαφέροντος ἀνθρώπους συστᾶσαν , ὑπονοήσειέν τις , φέρε , βραχέα καὶ περὶ τούτου διαλάβωμεν .	But that no one may suppose that his doctrine is new and strange, as if it were framed by a man of recent origin, differing in no respect from other men, let us now briefly consider this point also.
4-3 τῆς μὲν γὰρ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ παροιμίαι νεωστὶ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐπιλαμψάσης , νέον ὁμολογουμένως ἔθνος , οὐ μικρὸν οὐδ’ ἀσθενὲς οὐδ’ ἐπὶ γωνίας ποι γῆς ἱδρυμένον , ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν πολυανθρωπότατόν τε καὶ θεοσεβέστατον ταύτῃ τε ἀνώλεθρον καὶ ἀήττητον , ᾗ καὶ εἰς ἀεὶ τῆς παρὰ Θεοῦ βοηθείας τυγχάνει , χρόνων προθεσμίαις ἀρρήτοις ἀθρόως οὕτως ἀναπέφηνεν , τὸ παρὰ τοῖς πᾶσι τῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ προσηγορίᾳ τετιμημένον .	It is admitted that when in recent times the appearance of our Saviour Jesus Christ had become known to all men there immediately made its appearance a new nation; a nation confessedly not small, and not dwelling in some corner of the earth, but the most numerous and pious of all nations, indestructible and unconquerable, because it always receives assistance from God. This nation, thus suddenly appearing at the time appointed by the inscrutable counsel of God, is the one which has been honored by all with the name of Christ.
4-4 τοῦτο καὶ προφητῶν κατεπλάγη τις , θείου πνεύματος ὀφθαλμῷ τὸ μέλλον ἔσεσθαι προθεωρήσας , ὡς καὶ τάδε ἀναφθέγξασθαι “ τίς ἤκουσεν τοιαῦτα , καὶ τις ἐλάλησεν οὕτως ; εἰ ὤδινεν γῆ ἐν μιᾷ ἡμέρᾳ , καὶ εἰ ἐτέχθη ἔθνος εἰς ἅπαξ .” ὑποσημαίνει δέ πως καὶ τὴν μέλλουσαν ὁ αὐτὸς προσηγορίαν , λέγων “ τοῖς δὲ δουλεύουσίν μοι κληθήσεται ὄνομα καινόν , ὃ εὐλογηθήσεται ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς .”	One of the prophets, when he saw beforehand with the eye of the Divine Spirit that which was to be, was so astonished at it that he cried out, “Who has heard of such things, and who has spoken thus? Hath the earth brought forth in one day, and has a nation been born at once?”¹ and the same prophet gives a hint also of the name by which the nation was to be called, when he says, “Those who serve me shall be called by a new name, which shall be blessed upon the earth.”²

¹ Isaiah 68:8
² Isaiah 65:15-16

4-5 ἀλλ’ εἰ καὶ νέοι σαφῶς ἡμεῖς καὶ τοῦτο καινὸν ὄντως ὄνομα τὸ Χριστιανῶν ἀρτίως παρὰ πᾶσιν ἔθνεσιν γνωρίζεται , ὁ βίος δ’ οὖν ὅμως καὶ τῆς ἀγωγῆς ὁ τρόπος αὐτοῖς εὐσεβείας δόγμασιν ὅτι μὴ ἔναγχος ὑφ’ ἡμῶν ἐπιπέπλασται , ἐκ πρώτης δ’ ὡς εἰπεῖν ἀνθρωπογονίας φυσικαῖς ἐννοίαις τῶν πάλαι θεοφιλῶν ἀνδρῶν κατωρθοῦτο , ὧδέ πως ἐπιδείξομεν .	But although it is clear that we are new and that this new name of Christians has really but recently been known among all nations, nevertheless our life and our conduct, with our doctrines of religion, have not been lately invented by us, but from the first creation of man, so to speak, have been established by the natural understanding of divinely favored men of old. That this is so we shall show in the following way.
4-6 οὐ νέον , ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἀρχαιότητι τετιμημένον ἔθνος , τοῖς πᾶσι καὶ αὐτὸ γνώριμον , τὸ Ἑβραίων τυγχάνει .	That the Hebrew nation is not new, but is universally honored on account of its antiquity, is known to all.
4-7 λόγοι δὴ παρὰ τούτῳ καὶ γράμματα παλαιοὺς ἄνδρας περιέχουσιν , σπανίους μὲν καὶ ἀριθμῷ βραχεῖς , ἀλλ’ ὅμως εὐσεβείᾳ καὶ Δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ πάσῃ τῇ λοιπῇ διενεγκόντας ἀρετῇ , πρὸ μέν γε τοῦ ὡς διαφόρους , μετὰ δὲ καὶ τοῦτον ἑτέρους , τῶν τε τοῦ Νῶε παίδων καὶ ἀπογόνων ἀτὰρ καὶ τὸν Ἀβραάμ , ὃν ἀρχηγὸν καὶ προπάτορα σφῶν αὐτῶν παῖδες Ἑβραίων αὐχοῦσι .	The books and writings of this people contain accounts of ancient men, rare indeed and few in number, but nevertheless distinguished for piety and righteousness and every other virtue. Of these, some excellent men lived before the flood, others of the sons and descendants of Noah lived after it, among them Abraham, whom the Hebrews celebrate as their own founder and forefather.
4-8 πάντας δὴ ἐκείνους ἐπὶ Δικαιοσύνῃ μεμαρτυρημένους , ἐξ αὐτοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἐπὶ τὸν πρῶτον ἀνιοῦσιν ἄνθρωπον , ἔργῳ Χριστιανούς , εἰ καὶ μὴ ὀνόματι , προσειπών τις οὐκ ἂν ἐκτὸς βάλοι τῆς ἀληθείας .	If any one should assert that all those who have enjoyed the testimony of righteousness, from Abraham himself back to the first man, were Christians in fact if not in name, he would not go beyond the truth.
4-9 ὃ γάρ τοι δηλοῦν ἐθέλοι τοὔνομα , τὸν Χριστιανὸν ἄνδρα διὰ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ γνώσεως καὶ διδασκαλίας σωφροσύνῃ καὶ Δικαιοσύνῃ καρτερίᾳ τε βίου καὶ ἀρετῆς ἀνδρείᾳ εὐσεβείας τε ὁμολογίᾳ ἑνὸς καὶ μόνου τοῦ ἐπὶ πάντων Θεοῦ διαπρέπειν , τοῦτο πᾶν ἐκείνοις οὐ χεῖρον ἡμῶν ἐσπουδάζετο .	For that which the name indicates, that the Christian man, through the knowledge and the teaching of Christ, is distinguished for temperance and righteousness, for patience in life and manly virtue, and for a profession of piety toward the one and only God over all — all that was zealously practiced by them not less than by us.
4-10 οὔτ’ οὖν σώματος αὐτοῖς περιτομῆς ἔμελεν , ὅτι μηδὲ ἡμῖν , οὐ σαββάτων ἐπιτηρήσεως , ὅτι μηδὲ ἡμῖν , ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τῶν τοιῶνδε τροφῶν παραφυλακῆς¹ οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων διαστολῆς , ὅσα τοῖς μετέπειτα πρῶτος ἁπάντων Μωυσῆς ἀρξάμενος ἐν συμβόλοις τελεῖσθαι παραδέδωκεν , ὅτι μηδὲ νῦν Χριστιανῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα ·	They did not care about circumcision of the body, neither do we. They did not care about observing Sabbaths, nor do we. They did not avoid¹ certain kinds of food, neither did they regard the other distinctions which Moses first delivered to their posterity to be observed as symbols; nor do Christians of the present day do such things.

¹Literally “observation,” i.e., in order to avoid.

4-11 ἀλλὰ καὶ σαφῶς αὐτὸν ᾔδεσαν τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ , εἴ γε ὦφθαι μὲν τῷ Ἀβραάμ , χρηματίσαι δὲ τῷ Ἰσαάκ , λελαληκέναι δὲ τῷ Ἰσραήλ , Μωυσεῖ τε καὶ τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα προφήταις ὡμιληκέναι προδέδεικται ·

But they also clearly knew the very Christ of God; for it has already been shown that he appeared unto Abraham, that he imparted revelations to Isaac, that he talked with Jacob, that he held converse with Moses and with the prophets that came after.

4-12 ἔνθεν αὐτοὺς δὴ τοὺς θεοφιλεῖς ἐκείνους εὕροις ἂν καὶ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ κατηξιωμένους ἐπωνυμίας , κατὰ τὴν φάσκουσαν περὶ αὐτῶν φωνήν ‘ μὴ ἅψησθε τῶν Χριστῶν μου , καὶ ἐν τοῖς προφήταις μου μὴ πονηρεύεσθε ·’

Hence you will find those divinely favored men honored with the name of Christ, according to the passage which says of them, “Touch not my Christs, and do my prophets no harm.”¹

¹ 1 Chronicles 16:22 ; Psalm 105:15

4-13 ὥστε σαφῶς πρώτην ἡγεῖσθαι δεῖν καὶ πάντων παλαιοτάτην τε καὶ ἀρχαιοτάτην θεοσεβείας εὕρεσιν αὐτῶν ἐκείνων τῶν ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ θεοφιλῶν ἀνδρῶν τὴν ἀρτίως διὰ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ διδασκαλίας πᾶσιν ἔθνεσιν κατηγγελμένην .

So that it is clearly necessary to consider that religion, which has lately been preached to all nations through the teaching of Christ, the first and most ancient of all religions, and the one discovered by those divinely favored men in the age of Abraham.

4-14 εἰ δὲ δὴ μακρῷ ποθ’ ὕστερον περιτομῆς φασι τὸν Ἀβραὰμ ἐντολὴν εἰληφέναι , ἀλλὰ πρό γε ταύτης δικαιοσύνην διὰ πίστεως μαρτυρηθεὶς ἀνείρηται , ὧδέ πως τοῦ θείου φάσκοντος λόγου “ ἐπίστευσεν δὲ Ἀβραὰμ τῷ Θεῷ , καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην .”

If it is said that Abraham, a long time afterward, was given the command of circumcision, we reply that nevertheless before this it was declared that he had received the testimony of righteousness through faith; as the divine word says, “Abraham believed in God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.”¹

¹ Genesis 15:6

4-15 καὶ δὴ τοιούτων πρὸ τῆς περιτομῆς γεγονότι χρησμὸς ὑπὸ τοῦ φήναντος ἑαυτὸν αὐτῷ Θεοῦ ( οὗτος δ’ ἦν αὐτὸς ὁ Χριστός , ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγος)0 περὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς μετέπειτα χρόνοις τὸν ὅμοιον αὐτῷ δικαιοῦσθαι τρόπον μελλόντων ῥήμασιν αὐτοῖς προεπήγγελται λέγων “ καὶ ἐνευλογηθήσονται ἐν σοὶ πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς ,” καὶ ὡς ὅτι “ ἔσται εἰς ἔθνος μέγα καὶ πολύ , καὶ ἐνευλογηθήσονται ἐν αὐτῷ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη¹ τῆς γῆς .”

And indeed unto Abraham, who was thus before his circumcision a justified man, there was given by God, who revealed himself unto him (but this was Christ himself, the word of God), a prophecy concerning those who in coming ages should be justified in the same way as he. The prophecy was in the following words: “And in you shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed.”¹ And again, “He shall become a nation great and numerous; and in him shall all the nations² of the earth be blessed.”³

¹ Genesis 12:3
²As usual, it is impossible to represent in English the fact that in Christian Greek the same word means “nations” or “heathen.” the Church took over from Hellenistic Judaism the usage of calling itself “the people” (ὁ λαός) as distingukished from “the nations” (τὰ ἔθνη).
³ Genesis 18:18

4-16 τούτῳ δὲ καὶ ἐπιστῆσαι εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐκπεπληρωμένῳ πάρεστιν .	It is permissible to understand this as fulfilled in us.
4-17 πίστει μὲν γὰρ ἐκεῖνος τῇ εἰς τὸν ὀφθέντα αὐτῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγον τὸν Χριστὸν δεδικαίωτο , πατρῴας μὲν ἀποστὰς δεισιδαιμονίας καὶ πλάνης βίου προτέρας , ἕνα δὲ τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων ὁμολογήσας Θεὸν καὶ τοῦτον ἔργοις ἀρετῆς οὐχὶ δὲ θρησκείᾳ νόμου τοῦ μετὰ ταῦτα Μωυσέως θεραπεύσας , τοιούτων τε ὄντι εἴρητο ὅτι δὴ πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐν αὐτῷ εὐλογηθήσεται ·	For he, having renounced the superstition of his fathers, and the former error of his life, and having confessed the one God over all, and having worshipped him with deeds of virtue, and not with the service of the law which was afterward given by Moses, was justified by faith in Christ, the Word of God, who appeared unto him. To him, then, who was a man of this character, it was said that all the tribes and all the nations of the earth should be blessed in him.
4-18 ἔργοις δὲ λόγων ἐναργεστέροις ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος παρὰ μόνοις Χριστιανοῖς καθ’ ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἀσκούμενος αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος ὁ τῆς θεοσεβείας τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἀναπέφηνε τρόπος .	But that very religion of Abraham has reappeared at the present time, practiced in deeds, more efficacious than words, by Christians alone throughout the world.
4-19 τί δὴ οὖν λοιπὸν ἐμποδὼν ἂν εἴη , μὴ οὐχὶ ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν βίον τε καὶ τρόπον εὐσεβείας ἡμῖν τε τοῖς ἀπὸ Χριστοῦ καὶ τοῖς πρόπαλαι θεοφιλέσιν ὁμολογεῖν; ὥστε μὴ νέαν καὶ ξένην , ἀλλ’ εἰ δεῖ φάναι ἀληθεύοντα , πρώτην ὑπάρχειν καὶ μόνην καὶ ἀληθῆ κατόρθωσιν εὐσεβείας τὴν διὰ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ διδασκαλίας παραδοθεῖσαν ἡμῖν ἀποδείκνυσθαι . καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ὧδε ἐχέτω .	What then should prevent the confession that we who are of Christ practice one and the same mode of life and have one and the same religion as those divinely favored men of old? Whence it is evident that the perfect religion committed to us by the teaching of Christ is not new and strange, but, if the truth must be spoken, it is the first and the true religion. This may suffice for this subject.

Chapter 5

5-1 Φέρε δὲ ἤδη , μετὰ τὴν δέουσαν προκατασκευὴν τῆς προτεθείσης ἡμῖν ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ἱστορίας ἤδη λοιπὸν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐνσάρκου τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπιφανείας οἷά τινος ὁδοιπορίας ἐφαψώμεθα , τὸν τοῦ λόγου πατέρα Θεὸν καὶ τὸν δηλούμενον αὐτὸν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν τὸν σωτῆρα καὶ κύριον ἡμῶν , τὸν οὐράνιον τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγον , βοηθὸν ἡμῖν καὶ συνεργὸν τῆς κατὰ τὴν διήγησιν ἀληθείας ἐπικαλεσάμενοι

And now, after this necessary introduction to our proposed history of the Church, we can enter, so to speak, upon our journey, beginning with the appearance of our Saviour in the flesh. And we invoke God, the Father of the Word, and him, of whom we have been speaking, Jesus Christ himself our Saviour and Lord, the heavenly Word of God, as our aid and fellow-laborer in the narration of the truth.

5-2 ἦν δὴ οὖν τοῦτο Δεύτερον καὶ τεσσαρακοστὸν ἔτος τῆς Αὐγούστου βασιλείας ,¹ Αἰγύπτου δ’ ὑποταγῆς καὶ τελευτῆς Ἀντωνίου καὶ Κλεοπάτρας , εἰς ἣν ὑστάτην ἡ κατ’ Αἴγυπτον τῶν Πτολεμαίων κατέληξε , δυναστεία , ὄγδοον ἔτος καὶ εἰκοστόν , ὁπηνίκα ὁ σωτὴρ καὶ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστὸς ἐπὶ τῆς τότε πρώτης ἀπογραφῆς , ἡγεμονεύοντος Κυρινίου0Κυρινίου τῆς Συρίας , ἀκολούθως ταῖς περὶ αὐτοῦ προφητείαις ἐν Βηθλεὲμ γεννᾶται τῆς Ἰουδαιας .

It was in the forty-second year of the reign of Augustus¹ and the twenty-eighth after the subjugation of Egypt and the death of Antony and Cleopatra, with whom the dynasty of the Ptolemies in Egypt came to an end, that our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea, according to the prophecies which had been uttered concerning him.² His birth took place during the first census, while Cyrenius was governor of Syria.

¹That is, 1 BC, the next year being the annus Domine. The same date is given by Clement of Alexandria, but Irenaeus and Tertullian place the nativity on year earlier. Neither date can be reconciled with the statement of Matthew 2:1 that Jesus was born in the reign of Herod the Great who died in 4 BC.
² Micah 5:2

5-3 ταύτης δὲ τῆς κατὰ Κυρίνιον¹ ἀπογραφῆς καὶ ὁ τῶν παρ’ Ἑβραίοις ἐπισημότατος ἱστορικῶν Φλάυιος υἱός Ἰώσηπος μνημονεύει , καὶ ἄλλην ἐπισυνάπτων ἱστορίαν περὶ τῆς τῶν Γαλιλαίων κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἐπιφυείσης χρόνους αἱρέσεως , ἧς καὶ παρ’ ἡμῖν ὁ Λουκᾶς ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσιν μνήμην ὧδέ πως λέγων πεποίηται “ μετὰ τοῦτον ἀνέστη Ἰούδας ὁ Γαλιλαῖος ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τῆς ἀπογραφῆς , καὶ ἀπέστησε λαὸν ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ · κἀκεῖνος ἀπώλετο , καὶ πάντες ὅσοι ἐπείσθησαν αὐτῷ , διεσκορπίσθησαν .”

Flavius Josephus, the most celebrated of Hebrew historians, also mentions this census, which was taken during Cyrenius' term of office.¹ In the same connection he gives an account of the uprising of the Galileans, which took place at that time, of which also Luke, among our writers, has made mention in the Acts, in the following words: “After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away a multitude after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.”²

¹Eusebius assumes that the census mentioned by Josephus, which led to a revolt, is the same as that referred to in Luke and in Acts. If he is right, Luke and Matthew cannot be reconciled, for the census of Quirinius referred to by Josephus and also in Acts 5:37 was in AD 6. Sir W. M. Ransay thinks that there may have been an earlier census in the reign of Herod during a former governorship of Quirinius in Syria, which did not then include the domain of Herod. There is good evidence for the former governorship of Quirinius, but none for a census in Judaea during his governorship by (or for) Herod.
²Acts 5:37

5-4 τούτοις δ’ οὖν καὶ ὁ δεδηλωμένος ἐν ὀκτωκαιδεκάτῳ τῆς Ἀρχαιολογίας συνᾴδων ταῦτα παρατίθεται κατὰ λέξιν · “Κυρίνιος δὲ τῶν εἰς τὴν βουλὴν συναγομένων , ἀνὴρ τάς τε ἄλλας ἀρχὰς ἐπιτετελεκὼς καὶ διὰ πασῶν ὁδεύσας ὕπατος γενέσθαι τά τε ἄλλα ἀξιώματι μέγας , σὺν ὀλίγοις ἐπὶ Συρίας παρῆν , ὑπὸ Καίσαρος δικαιοδότης τοῦ ἔθνους ἀπεσταλμένος καὶ τιμητὴς τῶν οὐσιῶν γενησόμενος .”	The above-mentioned author, in the eighteenth book of his Antiquities, in agreement with these words, adds the following, which we quote exactly: “Cyrenius, a member of the senate, one who had held other offices and had passed through them all to the consulship, a man also of great dignity in other respects, came to Syria with a small retinue, being sent by Caesar to be a judge of the nation and to make an assessment of their property.”
5-5 καὶ μετὰ βραχέα φησίν · “Ἰούδας δέ , Γαυλανίτης ἀνὴρ ἐκ πόλεως ὄνομα Γαμαλά , Σάδδοκον Φαρισαῖον προσλαβόμενος , ἠπείγετο ἐπὶ ἀποστάσει , τὴν τε ἀποτίμησιν οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ ἄντικρυς δουλείαν ἐπιφέρειν λέγοντες καὶ τῆς ἐλευθερίας ἐπ’ ἀντιλήψει παρακαλοῦντες τὸ ἔθνος .”	And after a little he says: “But Judas, a Gaulonite, from a city called Gamala, taking with him Sadduchus, a Pharisee, urged the people to revolt, both of them saying that the taxation meant nothing else than downright slavery, and exhorting the nation to defend their liberty.”
5-6 καὶ ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ δὲ τῶν ἱστοριῶν τοῦ Ἰουδαϊκοῦ πολέμου περὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ταῦτα γράφει · “ ἐπὶ τούτου τις ἀνὴρ Γαλιλαῖος Ἰούδας ὄνομα εἰς ἀποστασίαν ἐνῆγε τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους , κακίζων εἰ φόρον τε Ῥωμαίοις τελεῖν ὑπομενοῦσιν καὶ μετὰ τὸν Θεὸν οἴσουσι θνητοὺς δεσπότας .” ταῦτα ὁ Ἰώσηπος .	And in the second book of his History of the Jewish War, he writes as follows concerning the same man: “At this time a certain Galilean, whose name was Judas, persuaded his countrymen to revolt, declaring that they were cowards if they submitted to pay tribute to the Romans, and if they endured, besides God, masters who were mortal.” These things are recorded by Josephus.

Chapter 6

6-1 Τηνικαῦτα δὲ καὶ τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους Ἡρῴδου πρώτου τὸ γένος ἀλλοφύλου διειληφότος τὴν βασιλείαν ἡ διὰ Μωυσέως περιγραφὴν ἐλάμβανεν προφητεία “οὐκ ἐκλείψειν ἄρχοντα ἐξ Ἰούδα οὐδὲ ἡγούμενον ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ” φήσαοα , “ ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ᾧ ἀπόκειται ,”¹ ὃν καὶ ἀποφαίνει προσδοκίαν ἔσεσθαι ἐθνῶν .

When Herod, the first ruler of foreign blood, became King, the prophecy of Moses received its fulfillment, according to which “there should not be wanting a prince of Judah, nor a ruler from his loins, until he come for whom it is reserved.”¹ the latter, he also shows, was to be the expectation of the nations.

¹ Genesis 49:10 The Hebrew text of this passage is, accurately rendered, “until Shiloh come,” but has no discoverable meaning. The text of the LXX varies between “until there come him for whom it is reserved” and “until there come the things reserved for him.”

6-2 ἀτελῆ γέ τοι τὰ τῆς προρρήσεως ἦν καθ’ ὃν ὑπὸ τοῖς οἰκείοις τοῦ ἔθνους ἄρχουσι διάγειν αὐτοῖς ἐξῆν χρόνον , ἄνωθεν ἐξ αὐτοῦ Μωυσέως καταρξαμένοις καὶ εἰς τὴν Αὐγούστου βασιλείαν διαρκέσασιν , καθ’ ὃν πρῶτος ἀλλόφυλος Ἡρῴδης τὴν κατὰ Ἰουδαίων ἐπιτρέπεται ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων ἀρχήν ,	This prediction remained unfulfilled so long as it was permitted them to live under rulers from their own nation, that is, from the time of Moses to the reign of Augustus. Under the latter, Herod, the first foreigner, was given the Kingdom of the Jews by the Romans.
6-3 ὡς μὲν Ἰώσηπος παραδίδωσιν , Ἰδουμαῖος ὢν κατὰ πατέρα τὸ γένος Ἀράβιος δὲ κατὰ μητέρα , ὡς δ’ Ἀφρικανός ( οὐχ ὁ τυχὸν δὲ καὶ οὗτος γέγονε συγγραφεύς ), φασὶν οἱ τὰ κατ’ αὐτὸν ἀκριβοῦντες Ἀντίπατρον ( τοῦτον δ’ εἶναι αὐτῷ πατέρα) Ἡρῴδου τινὸς Ἀσκαλωνίτου τῶν περὶ τὸν νεὼ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος ἱεροδούλων καλουμένων γεγονέναι ·	As Josephus relates, he was an Idumean on his father’s side and an Arabian on his mother's. But Africanus, who was also no common writer, says that they who were more accurately informed about him report that he was a son of Antipater, and that the latter was the son of a certain Herod of Ascalon, one of the so-called servants of the temple of Apollo.
6-4 ὃς Ἀντίπατρος ὑπὸ Ἰδουμαίων λῃστῶν παιδίον αἰχμαλωτισθεὶς σὺν ἐκείνοις ἦν , διὰ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι τὸν πατέρα πτωχὸν ὄντα καταθέσθαι ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ , ἐντραφεὶς δὲ τοῖς ἐκείνων ἔθεσιν ὕστερον Ὑρκανῷ τῷ Ἰουδαίων ἀρχιερεῖ φιλοῦται .	This Antipater, having been taken a prisoner while a boy by Idumean robbers, lived with them, because his father, being a poor man, was unable to pay a ransom for him. Growing up in their practices he was afterward befriended by Hyrcanus, the high priest of the Jews.
6-5 τούτου γίνεται ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἡρῴδης .	A son of his was that Herod who lived in the times of our Saviour.
6-6 εἰς δὴ οὖν τὸν τοιοῦτον τῆς Ἰουδαίων περιελθούσης βασιλείας , ἐπὶ θύραις ἤδη καὶ ἡ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀκολούθως τῇ προφητείᾳ προσδοκία παρῆν , ἅτε διαλελοιπότων ἐξ ἐκείνου τῶν παρ’ αὐτοῖς ἐξ αὐτοῦ Μωυσέως	When the Kingdom of the Jews had devolved upon such a man the expectation of the nations was, according to prophecy, already at the door. For with him their princes and governors, who had ruled in regular succession from the time of Moses came to an end.
6-7 κατὰ διαδοχὴν ἀρξάντων τε καὶ ἡγησαμένων . πρὸ μέν γε τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας αὐτῶν καὶ τῆς εἰς Βαβυλῶνα μεταναστάσεως ἐβασιλεύοντο , ἀπὸ Σαοὺλ Σαοὺλ πρώτου καὶ Δαυὶδ ἀρξάμενοι · πρὸ δὲ τῶν βασιλέων ἄρχοντες αὐτοὺς διεῖπον , οἱ προσαγορευόμενοι κριταί , ἄρξαντες καὶ αὐτοὶ μετὰ Μωυσέα καὶ τὸν τούτου διάδοχον Ἰησοῦν ·	Before their captivity and their transportation to Babylon they were ruled by Saul first and then by David, and before the kings leaders governed them who were called Judges, and who came after Moses and his successor Jesus.
6-8 μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος ἐπάνοδον οὐ διέλιπον πολιτείᾳ χρώμενοι ἀριστοκρατικῇ μετὰ ὀλιγαρχίας ‘ οἱ γὰρ ἱερεῖς . προεστήκεσαν τῶν πραγμάτων’, ἄχρι οὗ Πομπήιος Ῥωμαίων στρατηγὸς ἐπιστὰς τὴν μὲν Ἱερουσαλὴμ πολιορκεῖ κατὰ κράτος μιαίνει τε τὰ ἅγια μέχρι τῶν ἀδύτων τοῦ ἱεροῦ προελθών ,	After their return from Babylon they continued to have without interruption an aristocratic form of government, with an oligarchy. For the priests had the direction of affairs until Pompey, the Roman general, took Jerusalem by force, and defiled the holy places by entering the very innermost sanctuary of the temple.
6-9 τὸν δ’ ἐκ προγόνων διαδοχῆς εἰς ἐκεῖνο τοῦ καιροῦ διαρκέσαντα βασιλέα τε ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀρχιερέα , Ἀριστόβουλος ὄνομα ἦν αὐτῷ , δέσμιον ἐπὶ Ῥώμης ἅμα τέκνοις ἐκπέμψας , Ὑρκανῷ μὲν τῷ τούτου ἀδελφῷ τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην παραδίδωσιν , τὸ δὲ πᾶν Ἰουδαίων ἔθνος ἐξ ἐκείνου Ῥωμαίοις ὑπόφορον	Aristobulus, who, by the right of ancient succession, had been up to that time both king and high priest, he sent with his children in chains to Rome; and gave to Hyrcanus, brother of Aristobulus, the high priesthood, while the whole nation of the Jews was made tributary to the Romans from that time.
6-10 κατεστήσατο . αὐτίκα γοῦν καὶ Ὑρκανοῦ , εἰς ὃν ὕστατον τὰ τῆς τῶν ἀρχιερέων περιέστη διαδοχῆς , ὑπὸ Πάρθων αἰχμαλώτου ληφθέντος , πρῶτος , ὡς γοῦν ἔφην , ἀλλόφυλος Ἡρῴδης ὑπὸ τῆς συγκλήτου Ῥωμαίων Αὐγούστου τε βασιλέως τὸ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνος ἐγχειρίζεται ,	But Hyrcanus, who was the last of the regular line of high priests, was very soon afterward taken prisoner by the Parthians, and Herod, the first foreigner, as I have already said, was made King of the Jewish nation by the Roman senate and by Augustus.
6-11 καθ’ ὃν ἐναργῶς τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ παροιμίαι ἐνστάσης , καὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἡ προσδοκωμένη σωτηρία τε καὶ κλῆσις ἀκολούθως τῇ προφητείᾳ παρηκολούθησεν ·	Under him Christ appeared in bodily shape, and the expected Salvation of the nations and their calling followed in accordance with prophecy.
6-12 ἐξ οὗ δὴ χρόνου τῶν ἀπὸ Ἰούδα ἀρχόντων τε καὶ ἡγουμένων , λέγω δὲ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους , διαλελοιπότων , εἰκότως αὐτοῖς καὶ τὰ τῆς ἐκ προγόνων εὐσταθῶς ἐπὶ τοὺς ἔγγιστα διαδόχους κατὰ γενεὰν προϊούσης ἀρχιερωσύνης παραχρῆμα συγχεῖται .¹	From this time the princes and rulers of Judah, I mean of the Jewish nation, came to an end, and as a natural consequence the order of the high-priesthood, which from ancient times had proceeded regularly in closest succession from generation to generation, was immediately thrown into confusion.¹

¹The high-priestly lineage had been carefully followed until Hyrcanus II, the last of the regular succession. However, his grandson, Aristobulus, was high-priest for a year under Herod, but was then slain by him. After Hyrcanus, the high-priest was appointed and changed at pleasure by the secular ruler. Herod the Great first established the practice of removing a high-priest during his lifetime. Under him, there were no less than six different ones.

6-13 ἔχεις καὶ τούτων ἀξιόχρεων τὸν Ἰώσηπον μάρτυρα , δηλοῦντα ὡς τὴν βασιλείαν παρὰ Ῥωμαίων ἐπιτραπεὶς Ἡρῴδης οὐκέτι τοὺς ἐξ ἀρχαίου γένους καθίστησιν ἀρχιερεῖς , ἀλλά τισιν ἀσήμοις τὴν τιμὴν ἀπένεμεν · τὰ ὅμοια δὲ πρᾶξαι τῷ Ἡρῴδῃ Ἡρῴδῃ περὶ τῆς καταστάσεως τῶν ἱερέων Ἀρχέλαόν τε τὸν παῖδα αὐτοῦ καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον Ῥωμαίους , τὴν ἀρχὴν τῶν Ἰουδαίων παρειληφότας .	Of these things Josephus is also a witness, who shows that when Herod was made King by the Romans he no longer appointed the high priests from the ancient line, but gave the honor to certain obscure persons. A course similar to that of Herod in the appointment of the priests was pursued by his son Archelaus, and after him by the Romans, who took the government into their own hands.
6-14 ὁ δ’ αὐτὸς δηλοῖ ὡς ἄρα καὶ τὴν ἱερὰν στολὴν τοῦ ἀρχιερέως πρῶτος Ἡρῴδης ἀποκλείσας ὑπὸ ἰδίαν σφραγῖδα πεποίηται , μηκέτ’ αὐτὴν τοῖς ἀρχιερεῦσιν ἔχειν ὑφ’ ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιτρέψας · ταὐτὸν δὲ καὶ τὸν μετ’ αὐτὸν Ἀρχέλαον καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον Ῥωμαίους διαπράξασθαι .	The same writer shows that Herod was the first that locked up the sacred garment of the high priest under his own seal and refused to permit the high priests to keep it for themselves. The same course was followed by Archelaus after him, and after Archelaus by the Romans.
6-15 καὶ ταῦτα δ’ ἡμῖν εἰρήσθω εἰς ἑτέρας ἀπόδειξιν προφητείας κατὰ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ πεπερασμένης . σαφέστατα γοῦν ἐν τῷ Δανιὴλ ἑβδομάδων τινῶν ἀριθμὸν ὀνομαστὶ ἕως Χριστοῦ ἡγουμένου περιλαβὼν ὁ λόγος , περὶ ὧν ἐν ἑτέροις διειλήφαμεν , μετὰ τὸ τούτων συμπέρασμα ἐξολοθρευθήσεσθαι τὸ παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις χρῖσμα προφητεύει · καὶ τοῦτο δὲ σαφῶς κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ γενέσεως ἀποδείκνυται συμπεπληρωμένον . ταῦτα δ’ ἡμῖν ἀναγκαίως εἰς παράστασιν τῆς τῶν χρόνων ἀληθείας προτετηρήσθω .	These things have been recorded by us in order to show that another prophecy has been fulfilled in the appearance of our Saviour Jesus Christ. For the Scripture, in the Book of Daniel,¹ having expressly mentioned a certain number of weeks until the coming of Christ, of which we have treated in other books, most clearly prophesies, that after the completion of those weeks the unction among the Jews should totally perish. And this, it has been clearly shown, was fulfilled at the time of the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ. This has been necessarily premised by us as a proof of the correctness of the time.

¹ Daniel 9:26

Chapter 7

7-1 Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὴν περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ γενεαλογίαν διαφόρως ἡμῖν ὅ τε Ματθαῖος καὶ ὁ Λουκᾶς εὐαγγελιζόμενοι παραδεδώκασι διαφωνεῖν τε νομίζεται τοῖς πολλοῖς τῶν τε πιστῶν ἕκαστος ἀγνοίᾳ τἀληθοῦς εὑρησιλογεῖν εἰς τοὺς τόπους πεφιλοτίμηται , φέρε , καὶ τὴν περὶ τούτων κατελθοῦσαν εἰς ἡμᾶς ἱστορίαν παραθώμεθα , ἣν δι’ ἐπιστολῆς Ἀριστείδῃ γράφων περὶ συμφωνίας τῆς ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις γενεαλογίας ὁ μικρῷ πρόσθεν ἡμῖν δηλωθεὶς Ἀφρικανὸς ἐμνημόνευσεν , τὰς μὲν δὴ τῶν λοιπῶν δόξας ὡς ἂν βιαίους καὶ διεψευσμένας ἀπελέγξας , ἣν δ’ αὐτὸς παρείληφεν ἱστορίαν τούτοις αὐτοῖς ἐκτιθέμενος τοῖς ῥήμασιν ·	Matthew and Luke in their gospels have given us the genealogy of Christ differently, and many suppose that they are at variance with one another. Since as a consequence every believer, in ignorance of the truth, has been zealous to invent some explanation which shall harmonize the two passages, permit us to subjoin the account of the matter which has come down to us, and which is given by Africanus, who was mentioned by us just above, in his epistle to Aristides, where he discusses the harmony of the gospel genealogies. After refuting the opinions of others as forced and deceptive, he give the account which he had received from tradition in these words:
7-2 “ Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν γενῶν ἐν Ἰσραὴλ ἠριθμεῖτο ἢ φύσει ἢ νόμῳ , φύσει μέν , γνησίου σπέρματος διαδοχῇ , νόμῳ δέ , ἑτέρου παιδοποιουμένου εἰς ὄνομα τελευτήσαντος ἀδελφοῦ ἀτέκνου ‘ ὅτι γὰρ οὐδέπω δέδοτο ἐλπὶς ἀναστάσεως σαφής , τὴν μέλλουσαν ἐπαγγελίαν ἀναστάσει ἐμιμοῦντο θνητῇ , ἵνα ἀνέκλειπτον τὸ ὄνομα μείνῃ τοῦ μετηλλαχότος ·’	“For whereas the names of the generations were reckoned in Israel either according to nature or according to law — according to nature by the succession of legitimate offspring, and according to law whenever another raised up a child to the name of a brother dying childless; for because a clear hope of resurrection was not yet given they had a representation of the future promise by a kind of mortal resurrection, in order that the name of the one deceased might be perpetuated —
7-3 ἐπεὶ οὖν οἱ τῇ γενεαλογίᾳ ταύτῃ ἐμφερόμενοι , οἱ μὲν διεδέξαντο παῖς πατέρα γνησίως , οἱ δὲ ἑτέροις μὲν ἐγεννήθησαν , ἑτέροις δὲ προσετέθησαν κλήσει , ἀμφοτέρων γέγονεν ἡ μνήμη , καὶ τῶν γεγεννηκότων καὶ τῶν ὡς γεγεννηκότων .	whereas then some of those who are inserted in this genealogical table succeeded by natural descent, the son to the father, while others, though born of one father, were ascribed by name to another, mention was made of both of those who were progenitors in fact and of those who were so only in name.
7-4 οὕτως οὐδέτερον τῶν εὐαγγελίων ψεύδεται , καὶ φύσιν ἀριθμοῦν καὶ νόμον .	Thus neither of the gospels is in error, for one reckons by nature, the other by law.
7-5 ἐπεπλάκη γὰρ ἀλλήλοις τὰ γένη , τό τε ἀπὸ τοῦ Σολομῶνος καὶ τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ναθάν , ἀναστάσεσιν ἀτέκνων καὶ δευτερογαμίαις καὶ ἀναστάσει¹ σπερμάτων , ὡς δικαίως τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἄλλοτε ἄλλων νομίζεσθαι , τῶν μὲν δοκούντων πατέρων , τῶν δὲ ὑπαρχόντων ·	For the line of descent from Solomon and that from Nathan were so involved, the one with the other, by the raising up¹ of children to the childless and by second marriages, that the same persons are justly considered to belong at one time to one, at another time to another; that is, at one time to the reputed fathers, at another to the actual fathers.

¹“Resurrection” is the only possible translation of the Greek; but it appears to be a mistake in copying on the part of Eusebius, and according to cod. q of the Quaestiones ad Stephanum, Africanus wrote “the deaths of the childless.”

7-6 ὡς ἀμφοτέρας τὰς διηγήσεις κυρίως ἀληθεῖς οὔσας ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰωσὴφ πολυπλόκως μέν , ἀλλ’ ἀκριβῶς κατελθεῖν .	So that both these accounts are strictly true and come down to Joseph with considerable intricacy indeed, yet quite accurately.
7-7 ἵνα δὲ σαφὲς ᾖ τὸ λεγόμενον , τὴν ἐναλλαγὴν τῶν γενῶν διηγήσομαι .¹	But in order that what I have said may be made clear I shall explain the interchange of the generations.¹

¹The point of this obscure argument is that among the Jews if a man died childless, his brother was charged with the duty of begetting children by the widow, who was still reckoned as the wife of the deceased. Such children were legally regarded as the sons of the dead brother, though known to be actually the children of the living one. This happened in the case of Joseph. He was legally the son of Eli, physically of Jacob. A further complication was that Eli and Jacob were only half-brothers. They were the sons of the same mother, Estha, but Eli was the son of her second husband, Melchi, descended from Nathan the son of David, and Jacob was the son of her first husband Matthan, descended from Solomon the son of David. Thus Matthew giving the physical descent of Jesus traces it through Jacob to Solomon; but Luke (who avoids the word “begat”) giving the legal descent traces it through Eli to Nathan.

7-8 ἀπὸ τοῦ Δαυὶδ διὰ Σολομῶνος τὰς γενεὰς καταριθμουμένοις τρίτος ἀπὸ τέλους εὑρίσκεται Ματθάν , ὃς ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἰακώβ , τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ τὸν πατέρα · ἀπὸ δὲ Ναθὰν τοῦ Δαυὶδ κατὰ Λουκᾶν ὁμοίως τρίτος ἀπὸ τέλους Μελχί · Ἰωσὴφ γὰρ υἱὸς Ἡλι τοῦ Μελχί .	If we reckon the generations from David through Solomon, the third from the end is found to be Matthan, who begot Jacob the father of Joseph. But if, with Luke, we reckon them from Nathan the son of David, in like manner the third from the end is Melchi, whose son Eli was the father of Joseph. For Joseph was the son of Eli, the son of Melchi.
7-9 σκοποῦ τοίνυν ἡμῖν κειμένου τοῦ Ἰωσήφ , ἀποδεικτέον πῶς ἑκάτερος αὐτοῦ πατὴρ ἱστορεῖται , ὅ τε Ἰακὼβ ὁ ἀπὸ Σολομῶνος καὶ Ἡλὶ ὁ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ναθὰν ἑκάτερος κατάγοντες γένος , ὅπως τε πρότερον οὗτοι δή , ὅ τε Ἰακὼβ καὶ ὁ Ἡλί , δύο ἀδελφοί , καὶ πρό γε , πῶς οἱ τούτων πατέρες , Ματθὰν καὶ Μελχί , διαφόρων ὄντες γενῶν , τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ ἀναφαίνονται πάπποι .	Joseph therefore being the object proposed to us, it must be shown how it is that each is recorded to be his father, both Jacob, who derived his descent from Solomon, and Eli, who derived his from Nathan; first how it is that these two, Jacob and Eli, were brothers, and then how it is that their fathers, Matthan and Melchi, although of different families, are declared to be grandfathers of Joseph.
7-10 καὶ δὴ οὖν ὅ τε Ματθὰν καὶ ὁ Μελχί , ἐν μέρει τὴν αὐτὴν ἀγαγόμενοι γυναῖκα , ὁμομητρίους ἀδελφοὺς ἐπαιδοποιήσαντο , τοῦ νόμου μὴ κωλύοντος χηρεύουσαν , ἤτοι ἀπολελυμένην ἢ καὶ τελευτήσαντος τοῦ ἀνδρός , ἄλλῳ γαμεῖσθαι ·	Matthan and Melchi having married in succession the same woman, begot children who were uterine brothers, for the law did not prohibit a widow, whether such by divorce or by the death of her husband, from marrying another.
7-11 ἐκ δὴ τῆς Ἐσθὰ ‘ τοῦτο γὰρ καλεῖσθαι τὴν γυναῖκα παραδέδοται ' πρῶτος Ματθάν , ὁ ἀπὸ τοῦ Σολομῶνος τὸ γένος κατάγων , τὸν Ἰακὼβ γεννᾷ , καὶ τελευτήσαντος τοῦ Ματθὰν Μελχί , ὁ ἐπὶ τὸν Ναθὰν κατὰ γένος ἀναφερόμενος , χηρεύουσαν , ἐκ μὲν τῆς αὐτῆς φυλῆς , ἐξ ἄλλου δὲ γένους ὤν , ὡς προεῖπον , ἀγαγόμενος αὐτήν , ἔσχεν υἱὸν τὸν Ἡλί .	By Estha then (for this was the woman’s name according to tradition) Matthan, a descendant of Solomon, first begot Jacob. And when Matthan was dead, Melchi, who traced his descent back to Nathan, being of the same tribe but of another family, married her as before said, and begot a son Eli.
7-12 οὕτω δὴ διαφόρων δύο γενῶν εὑρήσομεν τόν τε Ἰακὼβ καὶ τὸν Ἡλὶ ὁμομητρίους ἀδελφούς , ὧν ὁ ἕτερος , Ἰακώβ , ἀτέκνου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ τελευτήσαντος Ἡλί , τὴν γυναῖκα παραλαβών , ἐγέννησεν ἐξ αὐτῆς τρίτον¹ τὸν Ἰωσήφ , κατὰ φύσιν μὲν ἑαυτῷ ( καὶ κατὰ λόγον , δι’ ὃ γέγραπται ‘Ἰακὼβ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰωσήφ’), κατὰ νόμον δὲ τοῦ Ἡλὶ υἱὸς ἦν · ἐκείνῳ γὰρ ὁ Ἰακώβ , ἀδελφὸς ὤν , ἀνέστησεν σπέρμα .	Thus we shall find the two, Jacob and Eli, although belonging to different families, yet brothers by the same mother. Of these the one, Jacob, when his brother Eli had died childless, took the latter’s wife¹ and begot by her a son Joseph, his own son by nature and in accordance with reason. Wherefore also it is written: ‘Jacob begot Joseph.’² But according to law he was the son of Eli, for Jacob, being the brother of the latter, raised up seed to him.

¹That is, the third from Estha.
² Matthew 1:6

7-13 δι’ ὅπερ οὐκ ἀκυρωθήσεται καὶ ἡ κατ’ αὐτὸν γενεαλογία · ἣν Ματθαῖος μὲν ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς ἐξαριθμούμενος ‘Ἰακὼβ δέ’ φησίν ‘ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἰωσήφ .’ ὁ δὲ Λουκᾶς ἀνάπαλιν ‘ ὃς ἦν , ὡς ἐνομίζετο ( καὶ γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο προστίθησιν) τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ τοῦ Ἡλὶ τοῦ Μελχί .’ τὴν γὰρ κατὰ νόμον γένεσιν ἐπισημότερον οὐκ ἦν ἐξειπεῖν , καὶ τὸ ‘ ἐγέννησεν ' ἐπὶ τῆς τοιᾶσδε παιδοποιίας ἄχρι τέλους ἐσιώπησεν , τὴν ἀναφορὰν ποιησάμενος ἕως ‘ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ τοῦ Θεοῦ’ κατ’ ἀνάλυσιν . οὐδὲ μὴν ἀναπόδεικτον ἢ ἐσχεδιασμένον ἐστὶν τοῦτο .

Hence the genealogy traced through him will not be rendered void, which the evangelist Matthew in his enumeration gives thus: ‘Jacob begot Joseph.’¹ But Luke, on the other hand, says: ‘Who was the son, as was supposed’ (for this he also adds), ‘of Joseph, the son of Eli, the son of Melchi’;² for he could not more clearly express the generation according to law. And the expression ‘he begot’ he has omitted in his genealogical table up to the end, tracing the genealogy back to ‘Adam the son of God.’³ This interpretation is neither incapable of proof nor is it an idle conjecture.

¹Matthew 1:16
¹Luke 3:23-24
¹Luke 3:38

7-14 τοῦ γοῦν σωτῆρος οἱ κατὰ σάρκα συγγενεῖς , εἴτ’ οὖν φανητιῶντες εἴθ’ ἁπλῶς ἐκδιδάσκοντες , πάντως δὲ ἀληθεύοντες , παρέδοσαν καὶ ταῦτα · ὡς Ἰδουμαῖοι λῃσταὶ Ἀσκάλωνι πόλει τῆς Παλαιστίνης ἐπελθόντες , ἐξ εἰδωλείου Ἀπόλλωνος , ὃ πρὸς τοῖς τείχεσιν ἵδρυτο , Ἀντίπατρον Ἡρῴδου τινὸς ἱεροδούλου παῖδα πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις σύλοις αἰχμάλωτον ἀπῆγον , τῷ δὲ λύτρα ὑπὲρ τοῦ υἱοῦ καταθέσθαι μὴ δύνασθαι τὸν ἱερέα ὁ Ἀντίπατρος τοῖς τῶν Ἰδουμαίων ἔθεσιν ἐντραφείς , ὕστερον Ὑρκανῷ φιλοῦται τῷ τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἀρχιερεῖ ·

For the relatives of our Lord according to the flesh, whether with the desire of boasting or simply wishing to state the fact, in either case truly, have handed down the following account: Some Idumean robbers, having attacked Ascalon, a city of Palestine, carried away from a temple of Apollo which stood near the walls, in addition to other booty, Antipater, son of a certain temple slave named Herod. And since the priest was not able to pay the ransom for his son, Antipater was brought up in the customs of the Idumeans, and afterward was befriended by Hyrcanus, the high priest of the Jews.

7-15 πρεσβεύσας δὲ πρὸς Πομπήιον ὑπὲρ τοῦ Ὑρκανοῦ καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν ἐλευθερώσας αὐτῷ ὑπὸ Ἀριστοβούλου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ περικοπτομένην , αὐτὸς ηὐτύχησεν , ἐπιμελητὴς τῆς Παλαιστίνης χρηματίσας · διαδέχεται δὲ τὸν Ἀντίπατρον , φθόνῳ τῆς πολλῆς εὐτυχίας δολοφονηθέντα , υἱὸς Ἡρῴδης ,¹ ὃς ὕστερον ὑπ’ Ἀντωνίου καὶ τοῦ σεβαστοῦ συγκλήτου δόγματι τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐκρίθη βασιλεύειν οὗ παῖδες Ἡρῴδης² Οἵ τ’ ἄλλοι τετράρχαι . ταῦτα μὲν δὴ κοινὰ καὶ ταῖς Ἑλλήνων ἱστορίαις ·

And having been sent by Hyrcanus on an embassy to Pompey, and having restored to him the kingdom which had been invaded by his brother Aristobulus, he had the good fortune to be named procurator of Palestine. But Antipater having been slain by those who were envious of his great good fortune was succeeded by his son Herod,¹ who was afterward, by a decree of the senate, made King of the Jews under Antony and Augustus. His sons were Herod² and the other tetrarchs. These accounts agree also with those of the Greeks.

¹i.e., Herod the Great
²i.e., Herod Antipas and his brothers

7-16 ἀναγράπτων δὲ εἰς τότε ἐν τοῖς ἀρχείοις ὄντων τῶν Ἑβραϊκῶν γενῶν καὶ τῶν ἄχρι προσηλύτων ἀναφερομένων , ὡς Ἀχιὼρ τοῦ Ἀμμανίτου καὶ Ῥοὺθ τῆς Μωαβίτιδος , τῶν τε ἀπ’ Αἰγύπτου συνεκπεσόντων ἐπιμίκτων , ὁ Ἡρῴδης , οὐδέν τι συμβαλλομένου τοῦ τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν γένους αὐτῷ καὶ τῷ συνειδότι τῆς δυσγενείας κρουόμενος , ἐνέπρησεν αὐτῶν τὰς ἀναγραφὰς τῶν γενῶν , οἰόμενος εὐγενὴς ἀναφανεῖσθαι τῷ μηδ’ ἄλλον ἔχειν ἐκ δημοσίου συγγραφῆς τὸ γένος ἀνάγειν ἐπὶ τοὺς πατριάρχας ἢ προσηλύτους τούς τε καλουμένους γειώρας , τοὺς ἐπιμίκτους .

But as there had been kept in the archives up to that time the genealogies of the Hebrews as well as of those who traced their lineage back to proselytes, such as Achior the Ammonite and Ruth the Moabitess, and to those who were mingled with the Israelites and came out of Egypt with them, Herod, inasmuch as the lineage of the Israelites contributed nothing to his advantage, and since he was goaded with the consciousness of his own ignoble extraction, burned all the genealogical records, thinking that he might appear of noble origin if no one else were able, from the public registers, to trace back his lineage to the patriarchs or proselytes and to those mingled with them, who were called Georae.

7-17 ὀλίγοι δὴ τῶν ἐπιμελῶν , ἰδιωτικὰς ἑαυτοῖς ἀπογραφὰς ἢ μνημονεύσαντες τῶν ὀνομάτων ἢ ἄλλως ἔχοντες ἐξ ἀντιγράφων , ἐναβρύνονται σῳζομένῃ τῇ μνῄμῃ τῆς εὐγενείας · ὧν ἐτύγχανον οἱ προειρημένοι , Δεσπόσυνοι καλούμενοι διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸ σωτήριον¹ γένος συνάφειαν ἀπό τε Ναζάρων καὶ Κωχαβα κωμῶν Ἰουδαϊκῶν τῇ λοιπῇ γῇ ἐπιφοιτήσαντες καὶ τὴν προκειμένην γενεαλογίαν ἔκ τε τῆς Βίβλου τῶν ἡμερῶν ,² ἐς ὅσον ἐξικνοῦντο , ἐξηγησάμενοι .

A few of the careful, however, having obtained private records of their own, either by remembering the names or by getting them in some other way from the registers, pride themselves on preserving the memory of their noble extraction. Among these are those already mentioned, called Desposyni, on account of their connection with the family of the Saviour.¹ Coming from Nazara and Cochaba, villages of Judea, into other parts of the world, they drew the aforesaid genealogy from memory and from the book of daily records as faithfully as possible.

¹Because he is the Lord or “Despot.”
²Book of Chronicles, literally, “the book of days.”

7-18 εἴτ’ οὖν οὕτως εἴτ’ ἄλλως ἔχοι , σαφεστέραν ἐξήγησιν οὐκ ἂν ἔχοι τις ἄλλος ἐξευρεῖν , ὡς ἔγωγε νομίζω πᾶς τε ὃς εὐγνώμων τυγχάνει , καὶ ἡμῖν αὕτη μελέτω , εἰ καὶ ἀμάρτυρός ἐστιν , τῷ μὴ κρείττονα ἢ ἀληθεστέραν ἔχειν εἰπεῖν · τό γέ τοι εὐαγγέλιον πάντως ἀληθεύει .” καὶ ἐπὶ τέλει δὲ τῆς αὐτῆς ἐπιστολῆς προστίθησι ταῦτα · “Ματθὰν ὁ ἀπὸ Σολομῶνος ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἰακώβ .	Whether then the case stand thus or not no one could find a clearer explanation, according to my own opinion and that of every candid person. And let this suffice us, for, although we can urge no testimony in its support, we have nothing better or truer to offer. In any case the Gospel states the truth.” And at the end of the same epistle he adds these words: “Matthan, who was descended from Solomon, begot Jacob.
7-19 Ματθὰν ἀποθανόντος , Μελχὶ ὁ ἀπὸ Ναθὰν ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς γυναικὸς ἐγέννησε τὸν Ἡλί . ὁμομήτριοι ἄρα ἀδελφοὶ Ἡλὶ καὶ Ἰακώβ . Ἡλὶ ἀτέκνου ἀποθανόντος ὁ Ἰακὼβ ἀνέστησεν αὐτῷ σπέρμα , γεννήσας τὸν Ἰωσήφ , κατὰ φύσιν μὲν ἑαυτῷ , κατὰ νόμον δὲ τῷ Ἡλί . οὕτως ἀμφοτέρων ἦν υἱὸς ὁ Ἰωσήφ .”	And when Matthan was dead, Melchi, who was descended from Nathan begot Eli by the same woman. Eli and Jacob were thus uterine brothers. Eli having died childless, Jacob raised up seed to him, begetting Joseph, his own son by nature, but by law the son of Eli. Thus Joseph was the son of both.”
7-20 Τοσαῦτα ὁ Ἀφρικανός . καὶ δὴ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ ὧδέ πως γενεαλογουμένου , δυνάμει καὶ ἡ Μαρία σὺν αὐτῷ πέφηνεν ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς οὖσα φυλῆς , εἴ γε κατὰ τὸν Μωυσέως νόμον οὐκ ἐξῆν ἑτέραις ἐπιμίγνυσθαι φυλαῖς · ἑνὶ γὰρ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ δήμου καὶ πατριᾶς τῆς αὐτῆς ζεύγνυσθαι πρὸς γάμον παρακελεύεται , ὡς ἂν μὴ περιστρέφοιτο τοῦ γένους ὁ κλῆρος ἀπὸ φυλῆς ἐπὶ φυλήν . ὡδὶ μὲν οὖν καὶ ταῦτα ἐχέτω .	Thus far Africanus. And the lineage of Joseph being thus traced, Mary also is virtually shown to be of the same tribe with him, since, according to the law of Moses, intermarriages between different tribes were not permitted. For the command is to marry one of the same family and lineage, so that the inheritance may not pass from tribe to tribe. This may suffice here.

Chapter 8

8-1 Ἀλλὰ γὰρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ γεννηθέντος ταῖς προφητείαις ἀκολούθως ἐν Βηθλεὲμ τῆς Ἰουδαίας κατὰ τοὺς δεδηλωμένους χρόνους , Ἡρῴδης ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν ἐξ ἀνατολῆς μάγων ἀνερωτήσει ὅπῃ εἴη διαπυνθανομένων ὁ τεχθεὶς βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων , ἑορακέναι γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὸν ἀστέρα καὶ τῆς τοσῆσδε πορείας τοῦτ’ αἴτιον αὐτοῖς γεγονέναι , οἷα Θεῷ προσκυνῆσαι τῷ τεχθέντι διὰ σπουδῆς πεποιημένοις , οὐ σμικρῶς ἐπὶ τῷ πράγματι , ἅτε κινδυνευούσης , ὥς γε δὴ ᾤετο , αὐτῷ τῆς ἀρχῆς , διακινηθείς , πυθόμενος τῶν παρὰ τῷ ἔθνει νομοδιδασκάλων ποῦ τὸν Χριστὸν γεννηθήσεσθαι προσδοκῷεν , ὡς ἔγνω τὴν Μιχαίου προφητείαν ἐν Βηθλεὲμ προαναφωνοῦσαν , ἑνὶ προστάγματι τοὺς ὑπομαζίους ἔν τε τῇ Βηθλεὲμ καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ὁρίοις αὐτῆς ἀπὸ διετοῦς καὶ κατωτέρω παῖδας , κατὰ τὸν ἀπηκριβωμένον αὐτῷ χρόνον παρὰ τῶν μάγων , ἀναιρεθῆναι προστάττει , πάντως που καὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν , ὥς γε ἦν εἰκός , τῆς αὐτῆς τοῖς ὁμήλιξι συναπολαῦσαι συμφορᾶς οἰόμενος .

When Christ was born, according to the prophecies, in Bethlehem of Judea, at the time indicated, Herod was not a little disturbed by the enquiry of the magi who came from the east, asking where he who was born King of the Jews was to be found — for they had seen his star, and this was their reason for taking so long a journey; for they earnestly desired to worship the infant as God, — for he imagined that his kingdom might be endangered; and he enquired therefore of the doctors of the law, who belonged to the Jewish nation, where they expected Christ to be born. When he learned that the prophecy of Micah¹ announced that Bethlehem was to be his birthplace he commanded, in a single edict, all the male infants in Bethlehem, and all its borders, that were two years of age or less, according to the time which he had accurately ascertained from the magi, to be slain, supposing that Jesus, as was indeed likely, would share the same fate as the others of his own age.

¹ Micah 5:2

8-2 φθάνει γε μὴν τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν εἰς Αἴγυπτον διακομισθεὶς ὁ παῖς , δι’ ἐπιφανείας ἀγγέλου τὸ μέλλον προμεμαθηκότων αὐτοῦ τῶν γονέων . ταῦτα μὲν οὖν καὶ ἡ ἱερὰ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου διδάσκει γραφή ·	But the child anticipated the snare, being carried into Egypt by his parents, who had learned from an angel that appeared unto them what was about to happen. These things are recorded by the Holy Scriptures in the Gospel. (Matthew 2)
8-3 ἄξιον δ’ ἐπὶ τούτοις συνιδεῖν τἀπίχειρα τῆς Ἡρῴδου κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τῶν ὁμηλίκων αὐτῷ τόλμης , ὡς παραυτίκα , μηδὲ σμικρᾶς ἀναβολῆς γεγενημένης , ἡ θεία δίκη περιόντα ἔτ’ αὐτὸν τῷ βίῳ μετελήλυθεν , τὰ τῶν μετὰ τὴν ἐνθένδε ἀπαλλαγὴν διαδεξομένων αὐτὸν ἐπιδεικνῦσα προοίμια .	It is worth while, in addition to this, to observe the reward which Herod received for his daring crime against Christ and those of the same age. For immediately, without the least delay, the divine vengeance overtook him while he was still alive, and gave him a foretaste of what he was to receive after death.
8-4 ὡς μὲν οὖν τὰς κατὰ τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτῷ νομισθείσας εὐπραγίας ταῖς κατὰ τὸν οἶκον ἐπαλλήλοις ἠμαύρωσεν συμφοραῖς , γυναικὸς καὶ τέκνων καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν τῶν μάλιστα πρὸς γένους ἀναγκαιοτάτων τε καὶ φιλτάτων μιαιφονίαις , οὐδὲ οἷόν τε νῦν καταλέγειν , τραγικὴν ἅπασαν δραματουργίαν ἐπισκιαζούσης τῆς περὶ τούτων ὑποθέσεως , ἣν εἰς πλάτος ἐν ταῖς κατ’ αὐτὸν ἱστορίαις ὁ Ἰώσηπος διελήλυθεν ·	It is not possible to relate here how he tarnished the supposed felicity of his reign by successive calamities in his family, by the murder of wife and children, and others of his nearest relatives and dearest friends. The account, which casts every other tragic drama into the shade, is detailed at length in the histories of Josephus.
8-5 ὡς δ’ ἅμα τῇ κατὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων νηπίων ἐπιβουλῇ θεήλατος αὐτὸν καταλαβοῦσα μάστιξ εἰς θάνατον συνήλασεν , οὐ χεῖρον καὶ τῶν φωνῶν τοῦ συγγραφέως ἐπακοῦσαι , κατὰ λέξιν ἐν ἑπτακαιδεκάτῳ τῆς Ἰουδαϊκῆς Ἀρχαιολογίας τὴν καταστροφὴν τοῦ κατ’ αὐτὸν βίου τοῦτον γράφοντος τὸν τρόπον ·	How, immediately after his crime against our Saviour and the other infants, the punishment sent by God drove him on to his death, we can best learn from the words of that historian who, in the seventeenth book of his Antiquities of the Jews, writes as follows concerning his end:
“Ἡρῴδῃ δὲ μειζόνως ἡ νόσος ἐνεπικραίνετο , δίκην ὧν παρηνόμησεν ἐκπρασσομένου τοῦ Θεοῦ .	“But the disease of Herod grew more severe, God inflicting punishment for his crimes.
8-6 πῦρ μὲν γὰρ μαλακὸν ἦν , οὐχ ὧδε πολλὴν ἀποσημαῖνον τοῖς ἐπαφωμένοις τὴν φλόγωσιν , ὅσην τοῖς ἐντὸς προσετίθει τὴν κάκωσιν , ἐπιθυμία δὲ δεινὴ τοῦ δέξασθαί τι , οὐδὲ ἦν μὴ οὐχ ὑπουργεῖν , καὶ ἕλκωσις τῶν τε ἐντέρων καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ κόλου δειναὶ ἀλγηδόνες καὶ φλέγμα ὑγρὸν περὶ τοὺς πόδας καὶ διαυγές ·	For a slow fire burned in him which was not so apparent to those who touched him, but augmented his internal distress; for he had a terrible desire for food which it was not possible to resist. He was affected also with ulceration of the intestines, and with especially severe pains in the colon, while a watery and transparent humor settled about his feet.
8-7 παραπλησία δὲ καὶ περὶ τὸ ἦτρον κάκωσις ἦν , ναὶ μὴν καὶ τοῦ αἰδοίου σῆψις , σκώληκας ἐμποιοῦσα , πνεύματός τε ὀρθία ἔντασις , καὶ αὐτὴ λίαν ἀηδὴς ἀχθηδόνι τε τῆς ἀποφορᾶς καὶ τῷ πυκνῷ τοῦ ἄσθματος , ἐσπασμένος	He suffered also from a similar trouble in his abdomen. Nay more, his privy member was putrefied and produced worms. He found also excessive difficulty in breathing, and it was particularly disagreeable because of the offensiveness of the odor and the rapidity of respiration.
8-8 τε περὶ πᾶν ἦν μέρος , ἰσχὺν οὐχ ὑπομενητὴν προστιθέμενος .	He had convulsions also in every limb, which gave him uncontrollable severity.
8-9 ἐλέγετο γοῦν ὑπὸ τῶν θειαζόντων καὶ οἷς ταῦτα προαποφθέγγεσθαι σοφία πρόκειται , ποινὴν τοῦ πολλοῦ καὶ δυσσεβοῦς ταύτην ὁ Θεὸς εἰσπράττεσθαι παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως .”	It was said, indeed, by those who possessed the power of divination and wisdom to explain such events, that God had inflicted this punishment upon the King on account of his great impiety.”
8-10 Ταῦτα μὲν ἐν τῇ δηλωθείσῃ γραφῇ παρασημαίνεται ὁ προειρημένος · καὶ ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ δὲ τῶν Ἱστοριῶν τὰ παραπλήσια περὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ παραδίδωσιν , ὧδέ πως γράφων ·	The writer mentioned above recounts these things in the work referred to. And in the second book of his History he gives a similar account of the same Herod, which runs as follows:
8-11 “ Ἔνθεν αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα πᾶν ἡ νόσος διαλαβοῦσα ποικίλοις πάθεσιν ἐμέριζεν . πυρετὸς μὲν γὰρ ἦν χλιαρός , κνησμὸς δ’ ἀφόρητος τῆς ἐπιφανείας ὅλης καὶ κόλου συνεχεῖς ἀλγηδόνες περί τε τοὺς πόδας ὡς ὑδρωπιῶντος οἰδήματα τοῦ τε ἤτρου φλεγμονὴ καὶ δι’ αἰδοίου σηπεδὼν σκώληκα γεννῶσα , πρὸς τούτοις ὀρθόπνοια καὶ δύσπνοια καὶ σπασμοὶ πάντων τῶν μελῶν , ὥστε τοὺς ἐπιθειάζοντας ποινὴν εἶναι τὰ νοσήματα λέγειν .	The disease then seized upon his whole body and distracted it by various torments. For he had a slow fever, and the itching of the skin of his whole body was insupportable. He suffered also from continuous pains in his colon, and there were swellings on his feet like those of a person suffering from dropsy, while his abdomen was inflamed and his privy member so putrefied as to produce worms. Besides this he could breathe only in an upright posture, and then only with difficulty, and he had convulsions in all his limbs, so that the diviners said that his diseases were a punishment.
8-12 ὁ δὲ παλαίων τοσούτοις πάθεσιν ὅμως τοῦ ζῆν ἀντείχετο , σωτηρίαν τε ἤλπιζεν , καὶ θεραπείας ἐπενόει . διαβὰς γοῦν τὸν Ἰορδάνην τοῖς κατὰ Καλλιρόην θερμοῖς ἐχρῆτο · ταῦτα δὲ ἔξεισιν μὲν εἰς τὴν Ἀσφαλτῖτιν λίμνην , ὑπὸ γλυκύτητος δέ ἐστι καὶ πότιμα .	But he, although wrestling with such sufferings, nevertheless clung to life and hoped for safety, and devised methods of cure. For instance, crossing over Jordan he used the warm baths at Callirhoë, which flow into the Lake Asphaltites, but are themselves sweet enough to drink.
8-13 δόξαν ἐνταῦθα τοῖς ἰατροῖς ἐλαίῳ θερμῷ πᾶν ἀναθάλψαι τὸ σῶμα χαλασθὲν εἰς ἐλαίου πλήρη πύελον , ἐκλύει καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὡς ἐκλυθεὶς ἀνέστρεψεν .	His physicians here thought that they could warm his whole body again by means of heated oil. But when they had let him down into a tub filled with oil, his eyes became weak and turned up like the eyes of a dead person.
8-14 θορύβου δὲ τῶν θεραπόντων γενομένου , πρὸς μὲν τὴν πληγὴν ἀνήνεγκεν , εἰς δὲ τὸ λοιπὸν ἀπογνοὺς τὴν σωτηρίαν , τοῖς τε στρατιώταις ἀνὰ δραχμὰς πεντήκοντα ἐκέλευσεν διανεῖμαι καὶ πολλὰ χρήματα τοῖς ἡγεμόσι καὶ τοῖς φίλοις .	But when his attendants raised an outcry, he recovered at the noise; but finally, despairing of a cure, he commanded about fifty drachms to be distributed among the soldiers, and great sums to be given to his generals and friends.
8-15 αὐτὸς δ’ ὑποστρέφων εἰς Ἱεριχοῦντα παραγίνεται , μελαγχολῶν ἤδη καὶ μόνον οὐκ ἀπειλῶν αὐτῷ τι τῷ θανάτῳ · προέκοψεν δ’ εἰς ἐπιβουλὴν ἀθεμίτου πράξεως . τοὺς γὰρ Ἀφ’ ἑκάστης κώμης ἐπισήμους ἄνδρας ἐξ ὅλης Ἰουδαίας συναγαγὼν εἰς τὸν καλούμενον ἱππόδρομον ἐκέλευσεν συγκλεῖσαι ,	Then returning he came to Jericho, where, being seized with melancholy, he planned to commit an impious deed, as if challenging death itself. For, collecting from every town the most illustrious men of all Judea, he commanded that they be shut up in the so-called hippodrome.
8-16 προσκαλεσάμενος δὲ Σαλώμην τὴν ἀδελφὴν καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα ταύτης Ἀλεξᾶν ‘ οἶδα’ ἔφη ‘Ἰουδαίους τὸν ἐμὸν ἑορτάσοντας θάνατον , δύναμαι δὲ πενθεῖσθαι δι’ ἑτέρων καὶ λαμπρὸν ἐπιτάφιον σχεῖν , ἂν ὑμεῖς θελήσητε ταῖς ἐμαῖς ἐντολαῖς ὑπουργῆσαι . τούσδε τοὺς φρουρουμένους ἄνδρας , ἐπειδὰν ἐκπνεύσω , τάχιστα κτείνατε περιστήσαντες τοὺς στρατιώτας , ἵνα πᾶσα Ἰουδαία καὶ πᾶς οἶκος καὶ ἄκων ἐπ’ ἐμοὶ δακρύσῃ .’ ”	And having summoned Salome, his sister, and her husband, Alexander, he said: 'I know that the Jews will rejoice at my death. But I may be lamented by others and have a splendid funeral if you are willing to perform my commands. When I shall expire surround these men, who are now under guard, as quickly as possible with soldiers, and slay them, in order that all Judea and every house may weep for me even against their will.'
8-17 καὶ μετὰ βραχέα φησίν “ αὖθις δέ , καὶ γὰρ ἐνδείᾳ τροφῆς καὶ βηχὶ σπασμώδει διετείνετο , τῶν ἀλγηδόνων ἡσθεὶς φθάσαι τὴν εἱμαρμένην ἐπεβάλλετο · λαβὼν δὲ μῆλον , ᾔτησε καὶ μαχαίριον · εἰώθει γὰρ ἀποτέμνων ἐσθίειν · ἔπειτα περιαθρήσας μή τις ὁ κωλύσων αὐτὸν εἴη , ἐπῆρεν τὴν δεξιὰν ὡς πλήξων ἑαυτόν .”	And after a little Josephus says, “And again he was so tortured by want of food and by a convulsive cough that, overcome by his pains, he planned to anticipate his fate. Taking an apple he asked also for a knife, for he was accustomed to cut apples and eat them. Then looking round to see that there was no one to hinder, he raised his right hand as if to stab himself.”
8-18 ἐπὶ δὲ τούτοις ὁ αὐτὸς ἱστορεῖ συγγραφεὺς ἕτερον αὐτοῦ γνήσιον παῖδα πρὸ τῆς ἐσχάτης τοῦ βίου τελευτῆς , τρίτον ἐπὶ δυσὶν ἤδη προανῃρημένοις , δι’ ἐπιτάξεως ἀνελόντα , παραχρῆμα τὴν ζωὴν οὐ μετὰ σμικρῶν ἀλγηδόνων ἀπορρῆξαι .	In addition to these things the same writer records that he slew another of his own sons before his death, the third one slain by his command, and that immediately afterward he breathed his last, not without excessive pain.
8-19 καὶ τοιοῦτο μὲν τὸ πέρας τῆς Ἡρῴδου γέγονεν τελευτῆς , ποινὴν δικαίαν ἐκτίσαντος ὧν ἀμφὶ τὴν Βηθλεὲμ ἀνεῖλεν παίδων τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπιβουλῆς ἕνεκα ·	Such was the end of Herod, who suffered a just punishment for his slaughter of the children of Bethlehem, which was the result of his plots against our Saviour.
8-20 μετ’ ἣν ἄγγελος ὄναρ ἐπιστὰς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ διατρίβοντι τῷ Ἰωσὴφ ἀπᾶραι ἅμα τῷ παιδὶ καὶ τῇ τούτου μητρὶ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἰουδαίαν παρακελεύεται , τεθνηκέναι δηλῶν τοὺς ἀναζητοῦντας τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ παιδίου . τούτοις δ’ ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς ἐπιφέρει λέγων “ ἀκούσας δὲ ὅτι Ἀρχέλαος βασιλεύει ἀντὶ Ἡρῴδου τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ ἐφοβήθη ἐκεῖ ἀπελθεῖν · χρηματισθεὶς δὲ κατ’ ὄναρ ἀνεχώρησεν εἰς τὰ μέρη τῆς Γαλιλαίας .'	After this an angel appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and commanded him to go to Judea with the child and its mother, revealing to him that those who had sought the life of the child were dead. To this the evangelist adds, “But when he heard that Archelaus reigned in the place of his father Herod he was afraid to go there; notwithstanding being warned of God in a dream he turned aside into the parts of Galilee.”¹

¹Matthew 2:22

Chapter 9

9-1 Τῇ δ’ ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν μετὰ τὸν Ἡρῴδην τοῦ Ἀρχελάου καταστάσει συνᾴδει καὶ ὁ προειρημένος ἱστορικός , τόν τε τρόπον ἀναγράφων , καθ’ ὃν ἐκ διαθηκῶν Ἡρῴδου τοῦ πατρὸς ἐπικρίσεώς τε Καίσαρος Αὐγούστου τὴν κατὰ Ἰουδαίων βασιλείαν διεδέξατο , καὶ ὡς τῆς ἀρχῆς μετὰ δεκαέτη χρόνον ἀποπεσόντος οἱ ἀδελφοὶ Φίλιππός τε καὶ ὁ νέος Ἡρῴδης ἅμα Λυσανίᾳ τὰς ἑαυτῶν διεῖπον τετραρχίας .	The historian already mentioned agrees with the evangelist concerning the fact that Archelaus succeeded to the government after Herod. He records the manner in which he received the kingdom of the Jews by the will of his father Herod and by the decree of Caesar Augustus, and how, after he had reigned ten years, he lost his kingdom, and his brothers Philip and Herod the younger, with Lysanias, still ruled their own tetrarchies.
9-2 Ὁ δ’ αὐτὸς ἐν ὀκτωκαιδεκάτῳ τῆς Ἀρχαιολογίας κατὰ τὸ δωδέκατον ἔτος τῆς Τιβερίου βασιλείας ( τοῦτον γὰρ τὴν καθ’ ὅλων ἀρχὴν διαδέξασθαι ἑπτὰ ἐπὶ πεντήκοντα ἔτεσιν τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἐπικρατήσαντος Αὐγούστου) Πόντιον Πιλᾶτον τὴν Ἰουδαίαν ἐπιτραπῆναι δηλοῖ , ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἐφ’ ὅλοις ἔτεσιν δέκα σχεδὸν εἰς αὐτὴν παραμεῖναι τὴν Τιβερίου τελευτήν .	The same writer, in the eighteenth book of his Antiquities, says that about the twelfth year of the reign of Tiberius, who had succeeded to the empire after Augustus had ruled fifty-seven years, Pontius Pilate was entrusted with the government of Judea, and that he remained there ten full years, almost until the death of Tiberius.
9-3 οὐκοῦν σαφῶς ἀπελήλεγκται τὸ πλάσμα τῶν κατὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ὑπομνήματα χθὲς καὶ πρῴην διαδεδωκότων , ἐν οἷς πρῶτος αὐτὸς ὁ τῆς παρασημειώσεως χρόνος τῶν πεπλακότων ἀπελέγχει τὸ ψεῦδος .	Accordingly the forgery of those who have recently given currency to acts against our Saviour is clearly proved. For the very date given in them shows the falsehood of their fabricators.
9-4 ἐπὶ τῆς τετάρτης δ’ οὖν ὑπατείας Τιβερίου , ἣ γέγονεν ἔτους ἑβδόμου τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ , τὰ περὶ τὸ σωτήριον πάθος αὐτοῖς τολμηθέντα περιέχει , καθ’ ὃν δείκνυται χρόνον μηδ’ ἐπιστάς πω τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ Πιλᾶτος , εἴ γε τῷ Ἰωσήπῳ μάρτυρι χρήσασθαι δέον , σαφῶς οὕτως σημαίνοντι κατὰ τὴν δηλωθεῖσαν αὐτοῦ γραφὴ ὅτι δὴ δωδεκάτῳ ἐνιαυτῷ τῆς Τιβερίου βασιλείας ἐπίτροπος τῆς Ἰουδαίας ὑπὸ Τιβερίου καθίσταται Πιλᾶτος .	For the things which they have dared to say concerning the passion of the Saviour are put into the fourth consulship of Tiberius, which occurred in the seventh year of his reign; at which time it is plain that Pilate was not yet ruling in Judea, if the testimony of Josephus is to be believed, who clearly shows in the above-mentioned work that Pilate was made procurator of Judea by Tiberius in the twelfth year of his reign.

Chapter 10

10-1 Ἐπὶ τούτων δὴ οὖν , κατὰ τὸν εὐαγγελιστὴν ἔτος πεντεκαιδέκατον Τιβερίου Καίσαρος ἄγοντος τέταρτον δὲ τῆς ἡγεμονίας Ποντίου Πιλάτου , τῆς τε λοιπῆς Ἰουδαίας τετραρχούντων Ἡρῴδου καὶ Λυσανίου καὶ Φιλίππου , ὁ σωτὴρ καὶ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ , ἀρχόμενος ὡς εἰ ἐτῶν τριάκοντα , ἐπὶ τὸ Ἰωάννου βάπτισμα παραγίνεται , καταρχήν τε ποιεῖται τηνικαῦτα τοῦ κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον κηρύγματος .¹

It was in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, according to the evangelist, and in the fourth year of the governorship of Pontius Pilate, while Herod and Lysanias and Philip were ruling the rest of Judea, that our Saviour and Lord, Jesus the Christ of God, being about thirty years of age, came to John for baptism and began the promulgation of the Gospel.¹

¹Eusebius reckons the baptism of Christ as taking place in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, dating his accession from the death of Augustus. As he was then in his thirtieth year he was born in the 42nd year of Augustus, fourteen years before his death. There is the reckoning of time known as the Christian era.

10-2 Φησὶν δὲ αὐτὸν ἡ θεία γραφὴ τὸν πάντα τῆς διδασκαλίας διατελέσαι χρόνον ἐπὶ ἀρχιερέως Ἄννα καὶ Καϊάφα , δηλοῦσα ὅτι δὴ ἐν τοῖς μεταξὺ τῆς τούτων ἔτεσιν λειτουργίας ὁ πᾶς τῆς διδασκαλίας αὐτῷ συνεπεράνθη χρόνος . ἀρξαμένου μὲν οὖν κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Ἄννα ἀρχιερωσύνην ,¹ μέχρι δὲ τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ Καϊάφα παραμείναντος οὐδ’ ὅλος ὁ μεταξὺ τετραέτης παρίσταται χρόνος .

The Divine Scripture says, moreover, that he passed the entire time of his ministry under the high priest¹ Annas and Caiaphas, showing that in the time which belonged to the priesthood of those two men the whole period of his teaching was completed. Since he began his work during the high priesthood of Annas and taught until Caiaphas held the office, the entire time does not comprise quite four years.

¹The singular “highpriest” is somewhat harasher in English than in Greek, but represents the fact that according to Jewish custom there was never more than one highpriest at the same time. Luke’s statement seems to contradict this fact, and Eusebius tries to explain it by interpreting the difficult phrase as meaning the period between the high priesthoods of Annas and Caiaphas.

10-3 τῶν γάρ τοι κατὰ τὸν νόμον ἤδη πως καθαιρουμένων ἐξ ἐκείνου θεσμῶν , λέλυτο μὲν ᾧ διὰ βίου καὶ ἐκ προγόνων διαδοχῆς τὰ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ θεραπείας προσήκοντα ἦν , ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν Ῥωμαϊκῶν ἡγεμόνων ἄλλοτε ἄλλοι τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην ἐπιτρεπόμενοι , οὐ πλεῖον ἔτους ἑνὸς ἐπὶ ταύτης διετέλουν .	For the rites of the law having been already abolished since that time, the customary usages in connection with the worship of God, according to which the high priest acquired his office by hereditary descent and held it for life, were also annulled and there were appointed to the high priesthood by the Roman governors now one and now another person who continued in office not more than one year.
10-4 δ’ οὖν ὁ Ἰώσηπος τέσσαρας κατὰ διαδοχὴν ἐπὶ Καϊάφαν	Josephus relates that there were four high priests in succession from Annas to Caiaphas.
10-5 ἀρχιερεῖς μετὰ τὸν Ἄνναν διαγενέσθαι , κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν τῆς Ἀρχαιολογίας γραφὴ ὧδέ πως λέγων “Οὐαλέριος Γρᾶτος , παύσας ἱερᾶσθαι Ἄνανον , Ἰσμάηλον ἀρχιερέα ἀποφαίνει τὸν τοῦ Φαβι ,	Thus in the same book of the Antiquities he writes as follows: “Valerius Gratus having put an end to the priesthood of Ananus appoints Ishmael, the son of Fabi, high priest.
10-6 καὶ τοῦτον δὲ μετ’ οὐ πολὺ μεταστήσας , Ἐλεάζαρον τὸν Ἀνάνου τοῦ ἀρχιερέως υἱὸν ἀποδείκνυσιν ἀρχιερέα .	And having removed him after a little he appoints Eleazer, the son of Ananus the high priest, to the same office.
10-7 ἐνιαυτοῦ δὲ διαγενομένου καὶ τόνδε παύσας , Σίμωνι τῷ Καμίθου τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην παραδίδωσιν . οὐ πλέον δὲ καὶ τῷδε ἐνιαυτοῦ τὴν τιμὴν ἔχοντι διεγένετο χρόνος , καὶ Ἰώσηπος , ὁ καὶ Καϊάφας , διάδοχος ἦν αὐτῷ .”	And having removed him also at the end of a year he gives the high priesthood to Simon, the son of Camithus. But he likewise held the honor no more than a year, when Josephus, called also Caiaphas, succeeded him.”
10-8 οὐκοῦν ὁ σύμπας οὐδ’ ὅλος τετραέτης ἀποδείκνυται τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν διδασκαλίας χρόνος , τεσσάρων ἐπὶ τέσσαρσιν ἔτεσιν ἀρχιερέων ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἄννα καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ Καϊάφα κατάστασιν ἐνιαύσιον λειτουργίαν ἐκτετελεκότων . τόν γέ τοι Καϊάφαν ἀρχιερέα εἰκότως τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ , καθ’ ὃν τὰ τοῦ σωτηρίου πάθους ἐπετελεῖτο , ἡ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου παρεσημήνατο γραφή , ἐξ ἧς καὶ αὐτῆς οὐκ ἀπᾴδων τῆς προκειμένης ἐπιτηρήσεως ὁ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ διδασκαλίας ἀποδείκνυται χρόνος .	Accordingly the whole time of our Saviour’s ministry is shown to have been not quite four full years, four high priests, from Annas to the accession of Caiaphas, having held office a year each. The Gospel therefore has rightly indicated Caiaphas as the high priest under whom the Saviour suffered. From which also we can see that the time of our Saviour’s ministry does not disagree with the foregoing investigation.
10-9 ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὁ σωτὴρ καὶ κύριος ἡμῶν οὐ μετὰ πλεῖστον τῆς καταρχῆς τοῦ κηρύγματος τοὺς δώδεκα ἀποστόλους ἀνακαλεῖται , οὓς καὶ μόνους τῶν λοιπῶν αὐτοῦ μαθητῶν κατά τι γέρας ἐξαίρετον ἀποστόλους ὠνόμασεν , καὶ αὖθις ἀναδείκνυσιν ἑτέρους ἑβδομήκοντα , οὓς καὶ αὐτοὺς ἀπέστειλεν¹ ἀνὰ δύο πρὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ εἰς πάντα τόπον καὶ πόλιν οὗ ἤμελλεν αὐτὸς ἔρχεσθαι .	Our Saviour and Lord, not long after the beginning of his ministry, called the twelve apostles, and these alone of all his disciples he named apostles, as a special honor. And again he appointed seventy others whom he sent¹ out two by two before his face into every place and city whither he himself was about to come.

¹It is impossible in English to bring out the fact that the word “sent” is the same as that implied by the word “apostle.”

Chapter 11

11-1 Οὐκ εἰς μακρὸν δὲ τοῦ βαπτισμῷ Ἰωάννου ὑπὸ τοῦ νέου Ἡρῴδου τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποτμηθέντος μνημονεύει μὲν καὶ ἡ θεία τῶν εὐαγγελίων γραφή ,	Not long after this John the Baptist was beheaded by the younger Herod, as is stated in the Gospels.
11-2 συνιστορεῖ γε μὴν καὶ ὁ Ἰώσηπος , ὀνομαστὶ τῆς τε Ἡρῳδιάος μνήμην πεποιημένος καὶ ὡς ἀδελφοῦ γυναῖκα οὖσαν αὐτὴν ἠγάγετο πρὸς γάμον Ἡρῴδης , ἀθετήσας μὲν τὴν προτέραν αὐτῷ κατὰ νόμους γεγαμημένην ‘Ἀρέτα δὲ ἦν αὕτη τοῦ Πετραίων βασιλέως θυγάτηρ ,’ τὴν δὲ Ἡρῳδιάδα ζῶντος διαστήσας τοῦ ἀνδρός ·	Josephus also records the same fact, making mention of Herodias by name, and stating that, although she was the wife of his brother, Herod made her his own wife after divorcing his former lawful wife, who was the daughter of Aretas, king of Petra, and separating Herodias from her husband while he was still alive.
11-3 δι’ ἣν καὶ τὸν Ἰωάννην ἀνελὼν πόλεμον αἴρεται πρὸς τὸν Ἀρέταν , ὡς ἂν ἠτιμασμένης αὐτῷ τῆς θυγατρός , ἐν ᾧ πολέμῳ μάχην γενομένης πάντα φησὶν τὸν Ἡρῴδου στρατὸν διαφθαρῆναι καὶ ταῦτα πεπονθέναι τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς ἕνεκεν τῆς κατὰ τοῦ Ἰωάννου γεγενημένης .	It was on her account also that he slew John, and waged war with Aretas, because of the disgrace inflicted on the daughter of the latter. Josephus relates that in this war, when they came to battle, Herod’s entire army was destroyed, and that he suffered this calamity on account of his crime against John.
11-4 ὁ δ’ αὐτὸς Ἰώσηπος ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα δικαιότατον καὶ βαπτιστὴν ὁμολογῶν γεγονέναι τὸν Ἰωάννην , τοῖς περὶ αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὴν τῶν εὐαγγελίων γραφὴ ἀναγεγραμμένοις συμμαρτυρεῖ , ἱστορεῖ δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἡρῴδην τῆς βασιλείας ἀποπεπτωκέναι διὰ τὴν αὐτὴν Ἡρῳδιάδα , μετ’ ἧς αὐτὸν καὶ εἰς τὴν ὑπερορίαν ἀπεληλάσθαι , Βίενναν τῆς Γαλλίας πόλιν οἰκεῖν καταδικασθέντα .	The same Josephus confesses in this account that John the Baptist was an exceedingly righteous man, and thus agrees with the things written of him in the Gospels. He records also that Herod lost his kingdom on account of the same Herodias, and that he was driven into banishment with her, and condemned to live at Vienne in Gaul.
11-5 καὶ ταῦτά γε αὐτῷ ἐν ὀκτωκαιδεκάτῳ τῆς Ἀρχαιολογίας δεδήλωται , ἔνθα συλλαβαῖς αὐταῖς περὶ τοῦ Ἰωάννου ταῦτα γράφει “ Τισὶ δὲ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐδόκει ὀλωλέναι τὸν Ἡρῴδου στρατὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ , καὶ μάλα δικαίως τιννυμένου κατὰ ποινὴν Ἰωάννου τοῦ καλουμένου βαπτισμῷ .	He relates these things in the eighteenth book of the Antiquities, where he writes of John in the following words: It seemed to some of the Jews that the army of Herod was destroyed by God, who most justly avenged John called the Baptist.
11-6 κτείνει γὰρ τοῦτον Ἡρῴδης , ἀγαθὸν ἄνδρα καὶ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις κελεύοντα ἀρετὴν ἐπασκοῦσιν καὶ τὰ πρὸς ἀλλήλους Δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν εὐσεβείᾳ χρωμένους βαπτισμῷ συνιέναι · οὕτω γὰρ δὴ καὶ τὴν βάπτισιν ἀποδεκτὴν αὐτῷ φανεῖσθαι , μὴ ἐπί τινων ἁμαρτάδων παραιτήσει χρωμένων , ἀλλ’ ἐφ’ ἁγνείᾳ τοῦ σώματος , ἅτε δὴ καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς Δικαιοσύνῃ προεκκεκαθαρμένης .	For Herod slew him, a good man and one who exhorted the Jews to come and receive baptism, practicing virtue and exercising righteousness toward each other and toward God; for baptism would appear acceptable unto Him when they employed it, not for the remission of certain sins, but for the purification of the body, as the soul had been already purified in righteousness.
11-7 καὶ τῶν ἄλλων συστρεφομένων ( καὶ γὰρ ἤρθησαν ἐπὶ πλεῖστον τῇ ἀκροάσει τῶν λόγων) , δείσας Ἡρῴδης τὸ ἐπὶ τοσόνδε πιθανὸν αὐτοῦ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις , μὴ ἐπὶ ἀποστάσει τινὶ φέροι ( πάντα γὰρ ἐοίκεσαν συμβουλῇ τῇ ἐκείνου πράξοντες ), πολὺ κρεῖττον ἡγεῖται , πρίν τι νεώτερον ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι , προλαβὼν ἀναιρεῖν , ἢ μεταβολῆς γενομένης εἰς πράγματα ἐμπεσὼν μετανοεῖν . καὶ ὁ μὲν ὑποψίᾳ τῇ Ἡρῴδου δέσμιος εἰς τὸν Μαχαιροῦντα πεμφθείς , τὸ προειρημένον φρούριον , ταύτῃ κτίννυται .”¹	And when others gathered about him (for they found much pleasure in listening to his words), Herod feared that his great influence might lead to some sedition, for they appeared ready to do whatever he might advise. He therefore considered it much better, before any new thing should be done under John’s influence, to anticipate it by slaying him, than to repent after revolution had come, and when he found himself in the midst of difficulties. On account of Herod’s suspicion John was sent in bonds to the above-mentioned citadel of Machaera, and there slain.¹

¹Eusebius has slightly altered the text of Josephus. This ran: “For Herod killed him, a good man and one who commanded the Jews training themselves in virtue and practising righteousness toward one another and piety toward God to come together for baptism.” It would seem to mean that John was preaching to ascetics and suggested baptism as a final act of perfection. This explains the reference to “when the rest collected.” So long as John preached to ascetics, Herod did not mind but was disturbed when the rest of the public manifested interest. Whiston’s translation of Josephus and an unnecessary emendation in the text of Niese’s edition of Josephus have conspired to obscure these facts.

11-8 Ταῦτα περὶ τοῦ Ἰωάννου διελθών , καὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν τοῦ συγγράμματος ἱστορίαν ὧδέ πως μέμνηται “ Γίνεται δὲ κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον Ἰησοῦς , σοφὸς ἀνήρ , εἴ γε ἄνδρα αὐτὸν λέγειν χρή . ἦν γὰρ παραδόξων ἔργων ποιητής , διδάσκαλος ἀνθρώπων τῶν ἡδονῇ τἀληθῆ δεχομένων , καὶ πολλοὺς μὲν τῶν Ἰουδαίων , πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ ἐπηγάγετο . ὁ Χριστὸς οὗτος ἦν .	After relating these things concerning John, he makes mention of our Saviour in the same work, in the following words: and there lived at that time Jesus, a wise man, if indeed it be proper to call him a man. For he was a doer of wonderful works, and a teacher of such men as receive the truth in gladness. And he attached to himself many of the Jews, and many also of the Greeks. He was the Christ.
11-9 καὶ αὐτὸν ἐνδείξει τῶν πρώτων ἀνδρῶν παρ’ ἡμῖν σταυρῷ ἐπιτετιμηκότος Πιλάτου , οὐκ ἐπαύσαντο οἱ τὸ πρῶτον ἀγαπήσαντες · ἐφάνη γὰρ αὐτοῖς τρίτην ἔχων ἡμέραν πάλιν ἐπιστρέψας ζῶν , τῶν θείων προφητῶν ταῦτά τε καὶ ἄλλα μυρία περὶ αὐτοῦ θαυμάσια εἰρηκότων . εἰς ἔτι τε νῦν τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἀπὸ τοῦδε ὠνομασμένων οὐκ ἐπέλιπε τὸ φῦλον .”	When Pilate, on the accusation of our principal men, condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him in the beginning did not cease loving him. For he appeared unto them again alive on the third day, the divine prophets having told these and countless other wonderful things concerning him. Moreover, the race of Christians, named after him, continues down to the present day.
11-10 Ταῦτα τοῦ ἐξ αὐτῶν Ἑβραίων συγγραφέως ἀνέκαθεν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ γραφῇ περί τε τοῦ βαπτισμῷ Ἰωάννου καὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν παραδεδωκότος , τίς ἂν ἔτι λείποιτο ἀποφυγὴ τοῦ μὴ ἀναισχύντους ἀπελέγχεσθαι τοὺς τὰ κατ’ αὐτῶν πλασαμένους ὑπομνήματα ;¹ ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἐχέτω ταύτῃ .	Since an historian, who is one of the Hebrews themselves, has recorded in his work these things concerning John the Baptist and our Saviour, what excuse is there left for not convicting them of being destitute of all shame, who have forged the acts against them?¹ But let this suffice here.

¹The reference is again to the heathen Acts of Pilate.

Chapter 12

12-1

Τῶν γε μὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἀποστόλων παντί τῳ σαφὴς ἐκ τῶν εὐαγγελίων ἡ πρόσρησις · τῶν δὲ ἑβδομήκοντα μαθητῶν κατάλογος μὲν οὐδεὶς οὐδαμῇ φέρεται , λέγεταί γε μὴν εἷς αὐτῶν Βαρναβᾶς γεγονέναι , οὗ διαφόρως μὲν καὶ αἱ Πράξεις τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐμνημόνευσαν , οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ καὶ Παῦλος Γαλάταις γράφων .

The names of the apostles of our Saviour are known to every one from the Gospels. But there exists no catalogue of the seventy disciples. Barnabas, indeed, is said to have been one of them, of whom the Acts of the Apostles makes mention in various places, and especially Paul in his Epistle to the Galatians.

12-2 τούτων δ’ εἶναί φασι καὶ Σωσθένην τὸν ἅμα Παύλῳ Κορινθίοις ἐπιστείλαντα · ἡ δ’ ἱστορία παρὰ Κλήμεντι κατὰ τὴν πέμπτην τῶν Ὑποτυπώσεων · ἐν ᾗ καὶ Κηφᾶν , περὶ οὗ φησιν ὁ Παῦλος “ ὅτε δὲ ἦλθεν Κηφᾶς εἰς Ἀντιόχειαν , κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτῷ ἀντέστην ,” ἕνα φησὶ γεγονέναι τῶν ἑβδομήκοντα μαθητῶν , ὁμώνυμον Πέτρῳ τυγχάνοντα τῷ ἀποστόλῳ .

They say that Sosthenes also, who wrote to the Corinthians with Paul, was one of them. This is the account of Clement in the fifth book of his Hypotyposes, in which he also says that Cephas was one of the seventy disciples, a man who bore the same name as the apostle Peter, and the one concerning whom Paul says, “When Cephas came to Antioch I withstood him to his face.”¹

¹Galatians 3:11

12-3 καὶ Ματθίαν δὲ τὸν ἀντὶ Ἰούδα τοῖς ἀποστόλοις συγκαταλεγέντα τόν τε σὺν αὐτῷ τῇ ὁμοίᾳ ψήφῳ τιμηθέντα τῆς αὐτῆς τῶν ἑβδομήκοντα κλήσεως ἠξιῶσθαι κατέχει λόγος .	Matthias, also, who was numbered with the apostles in the place of Judas, and the one who was honored by being made a candidate with him, are likewise said to have been deemed worthy of the same calling with the seventy.
12-4 καὶ Θαδδαῖον δὲ ἕνα τῶν αὐτῶν εἶναί φασι , περὶ οὗ καὶ ἱστορίαν ἐλθοῦσαν εἰς ἡμᾶς αὐτίκα μάλα ἐκθήσομαι .	They say that Thaddeus also was one of them, concerning whom I shall presently relate an account which has come down to us.
12-5 καὶ τῶν ἑβδομήκοντα δὲ πλείους τοῦ σωτῆρος πεφηνέναι μαθητὰς εὕροις ἂν ἐπιτηρήσας , μάρτυρι χρώμενος τῷ Παύλῳ , μετὰ τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἔγερσιν ὦφθαι αὐτὸν φήσαντι πρῶτον μὲν Κηφᾷ , ἔπειτα τοῖς δώδεκα , καὶ μετὰ τούτους ἐπάνω πεντακοσίοις ἀδελφοῖς ἐφάπαξ , ὧν τινὰς μὲν ἔφασκεν κεκοιμῆσθαι , τοὺς πλείους δ’ ἔτι τῷ βίῳ , καθ’ ὃν καιρὸν αὐτῷ ταῦτα συνετάττετο , περιμένειν ·	And upon examination you will find that our Saviour had more than seventy disciples, according to the testimony of Paul, who says that after his resurrection from the dead he appeared first to Cephas, then to the twelve, and after them to above five hundred brothers at once, of whom some had fallen asleep;¹ but the majority were still living at the time he wrote.

¹1 Corinthians 15:5-7

12-6 ἔπειτα δ’ ὦφθαι αὐτὸν Ἰακώβῳ φησίν · εἷς δὲ καὶ οὗτος τῶν φερομένων τοῦ σωτῆρος ἀδελφῶν ἦν · εἶθ’ ὡς παρὰ τούτους κατὰ μίμησιν τῶν δώδεκα πλείστων ὅσων ὑπαρξάντων ἀποστόλων , οἷος καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Παῦλος ἦν , προστίθησι λέγων “ ἔπειτα ὤφθη τοῖς ἀποστόλοις πᾶσιν .” ταῦτα μὲν οὖν περὶ τῶνδε .

Afterwards he says he appeared unto James, who was one of the so-called brothers of the Saviour. But, since in addition to these, there were many others who were called apostles, in imitation of the Twelve, as was Paul himself, he adds: “Afterward he appeared to all the apostles.”¹ So much concerning these persons. But the story concerning Thaddeus is as follows.

¹1 Corinthians 15:7

Chapter 13

13-1 Τῆς δὲ περὶ τὸν Θαδδαῖον ἱστορίας τοιοῦτος γέγονεν ὁ τρόπος . ἡ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ θειότης , εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους τῆς παραδοξοποιοῦ δυνάμεως ἕνεκεν βοωμένη , μυρίους ὅσους καὶ τῶν ἐπ’ ἀλλοδαπῆς πορρωτάτω ὄντων τῆς Ἰουδαίας νόσων καὶ παντοίων παθῶν ἐλπίδι θεραπείας	The divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ being reported abroad among all men on account of his wonder-working power, he attracted countless numbers from foreign countries lying far away from Judea, who had the hope of being cured of their diseases and of all kinds of sufferings.
13-2 ἐπήγετο . ταύτῃ τοι βασιλεὺς Ἄβγαρος , τῶν ὑπὲρ Εὐφράτην ἐθνῶν ἐπισημότατα δυναστεύων , πάθει τὸ σῶμα δεινῷ καὶ οὐ θεραπευτῷ ὅσον ἐπ’ ἀνθρωπείᾳ δυνάμει καταφθειρόμενος , ὡς καὶ τοὔνομα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ πολὺ καὶ τὰς δυνάμεις συμφώνως πρὸς ἁπάντων μαρτυρουμένας ἐπύθετο , ἱκέτης αὐτοῦ πέμψας δι’ ἐπιστοληφόρου γίνεται , τῆς νόσου τυχεῖν ἀπαλλαγῆς ἀξιῶν .	For instance the King Abgarus, who ruled with great glory the nations beyond the Euphrates, being afflicted with a terrible disease which it was beyond the power of human skill to cure, when he heard of the name of Jesus, and of his miracles, which were attested by all with one accord sent a message to him by a courier and begged him to heal his disease.
13-3 ὁ δὲ μὴ τότε καλοῦντι ὑπακούσας , ἐπιστολῆς γοῦν αὐτὸν ἰδίας καταξιοῖ , ἕνα τῶν αὐτοῦ μαθητῶν ἀποστέλλειν ἐπὶ θεραπείᾳ τῆς νόσου ὁμοῦ τε αὐτοῦ σωτηρίᾳ καὶ τῶν προσηκόντων ἁπάντων ὑπισχνούμενος .	But he did not at that time comply with his request; yet he deemed him worthy of a personal letter in which he said that he would send one of his disciples to cure his disease, and at the same time promised salvation to himself and all his house.
13-4 οὐκ εἰς μακρὸν δὲ ἄρα αὐτῷ ἐπληροῦτο τὰ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας . μετὰ γοῦν τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἄνοδον Θωμᾶς , τῶν ἀποστόλων εἷς τῶν δώδεκα , Θαδδαῖον , ἐν ἀριθμῷ καὶ αὐτὸν τῶν ἑβδομήκοντα τοῦ Χριστοῦ μαθητῶν κατειλεγμένον , κινήσει θειοτέρᾳ ἐπὶ τὰ Ἔδεσσα κήρυκα καὶ εὐαγγελιστὴν τῆς περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ διδασκαλίας ἐκπέμπει ,	Not long afterward his promise was fulfilled. For after his resurrection from the dead and his ascent into heaven, Thomas, one of the twelve apostles, under divine impulse sent Thaddeus, who was also numbered among the seventy disciples of Christ, to Edessa, as a preacher and evangelist of the teaching of Christ.
13-5 πάντα τε δι’ αὐτοῦ τὰ τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν τέλος ἐλάμβανεν ἐπαγγελίας . ἔχεις καὶ τούτων ἀνάγραπτον τὴν μαρτυρίαν , ἐκ τῶν κατὰ Ἔδεσσαν τὸ τηνικάδε βασιλευομένην πόλιν γραμματοφυλακείων ληφθεῖσαν · ἐν γοῦν τοῖς αὐτόθι δημοσίοις χάρταις , τοῖς τὰ παλαιὰ καὶ τὰ ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἄβγαρον πραχθέντα περιέχουσι , καὶ ταῦτα εἰς ἔτι νῦν ἐξ ἐκείνου πεφυλαγμένα εὕρηται , οὐδὲν δὲ οἷον καὶ αὐτῶν ἐπακοῦσαι τῶν ἐπιστολῶν , ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρχείων ἡμῖν ἀναληφθεισῶν καὶ τόνδε αὐτοῖς ῥήμασιν ἐκ τῆς Σύρων φωνῆς μεταβληθεισῶν τὸν τρόπον ·	And all that our Saviour had promised received through him its fulfillment. You have written evidence of these things taken from the archives of Edessa, which was at that time a royal city. For in the public registers there, which contain accounts of ancient times and the acts of Abgarus, these things have been found preserved down to the present time. But there is no better way than to hear the epistles themselves which we have taken from the archives and have literally translated from the Syriac language in the following manner.
ἀντίγραφον ἐπιστολῆς γραφείσης ὑπὸ Άβγάρου τοπάρχου τῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ πεμφθείσης αὐτῷ δι’ Ἀνανιου ταχυδρομου εἰσ Ἱεροσολυμα¹	Copy of an epistle written by Abgarus the ruler to Jesus, and sent to him at Jerusalem by Ananias the swift courier.¹

¹The text is in all upper case: ΑΝΤΙΓΡΑΦΟΝ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗΣ ΓΡΑΦΕΙΣΗΣ ΥΠΟ ΑΒΓΑΡΟΥ ΤΟΠΑΡΧΟΥ ΤΩΙ ΙΗΣΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΠΕΜΦΘΕΙΣΗΣ ΑΥΤΩΙ ΔΙ’ ΑΝΑΝΙΟΥ ΤΑΧΥΔΡΟΜΟΥ ΕΙΣ ΙΕΡΟΣΟΛΥΜΑ

13-6 “Ἄβγαρος Οὐχαμα τοπάρχης Ἰησοῦ σωτῆρι ἀγαθῷ ἀναφανέντι ἐν τόπῳ Ἱεροσολύμων χαίρειν . ἤκουσταί μοι τὰ περὶ σοῦ καὶ τῶν σῶν ἰαμάτων , ὡς ἄνευ φαρμάκων καὶ βοτανῶν ὑπὸ σοῦ γινομένων . ὡς γὰρ λόγος , τυφλοὺς ἀναβλέπειν ποιεῖς , χωλοὺς περιπατεῖν , καὶ λεπροὺς καθαρίζεις , καὶ ἀκάθαρτα πνεύματα καὶ δαίμονας ἐκβάλλεις , καὶ τοὺς ἐν μακρονοσίᾳ βασανιζομένους θεραπεύεις , καὶ νεκροὺς ἐγείρεις .	Abgarus, ruler of Edessa, to Jesus the excellent Saviour who has appeared in the country of Jerusalem, greeting. I have heard the reports of you and of your cures as performed by you without medicines or herbs. For it is said that you make the blind to see and the lame to walk, that you cleanse lepers and cast out impure spirits and demons, and that you heal those afflicted with lingering disease, and raise the dead.
13-7 καὶ ταῦτα πάντα ἀκούσας περὶ σοῦ , κατὰ νοῦν ἐθέμην τὸ ἕτερον τῶν δύο , ἢ ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ Θεὸς καὶ καταβὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ποιεῖς ταῦτα , ἢ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ Θεοῦ ποιῶν ταῦτα .	And having heard all these things concerning you, I have concluded that one of two things must be true: either you are God, and having come down from heaven you do these things, or else you, who does these things, are the Son of God.
13-8 διὰ τοῦτο τοίνυν γράψας ἐδεήθην σου σκυλῆναι πρός με καὶ τὸ πάθος , ὃ ἔχω , θεραπεῦσαι . καὶ γὰρ ἤκουσα ὅτι καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι καταγογγύζουσί σου καὶ βούλονται κακῶσαί σε . πόλις δὲ μικροτάτη μοί ἐστι καὶ σεμνή , ἥτις ἐξαρκεῖ ἀμφοτέροις .”¹	I have therefore written to you to ask you if you would take the trouble to come to me and heal the disease which I have. For I have heard that the Jews are murmuring against you and are plotting to injure you. But I have a very small yet noble city which is great enough for us both.¹

¹In some manuscripts the following is added:

in place of ἀμφοτέροις· they have: ἀμφοτέροις· καὶ ταῦτα μὲν οὗτος [οὗτως] ἔγραψεν τῆς θείας τέως μικρὸν αὐγασάσης ἐλλάμψεως· ἄξιον δὲ καὶ τῆς πρὸς τοῦ ιυ αὐτῶ διὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ γραμματοκομιστοῦ ἀποσταλείσης ἐπακοῦσαι ὀλιγοστίχου μὲν πολυδυνάμου δὲ ἐπιστολῆς τοῦτον ἐχούσης καὶ αὐτῆς τὸν πρόπον.

“And he wrote thus when the divine illumination had but a little shined on him. But it is also worth while to hear the letter sent to him by Jesus by the same bearer of the letter; it has only a few lines but great power, and runs as follows.”

3-9 τα ἀντιγράφεντα ὑπὸ Ἰησου διὰ Ἀνανιου ταχυδρομου τοπαρχῃ Ἀβγαρωι¹

The answer of Jesus to the ruler Abgarus by the courier Ananias.¹

¹The above was all in uppercase: ΤΑ ΑΝΤΙΓΡΑΦΕΝΤΑ ΥΠΟ ΙΗΣΟΥ ΔΙΑ ΑΝΑΝΙΟΥ ΤΑΧΥΔΡΟΜΟΥ ΤΟΠΑΡΧΗΙ ΑΒΡΑΡΩΙ

13-10 “ Μακάριος εἶ πιστεύσας ἐν ἐμοί , μὴ ἑορακώς με . γέγραπται γὰρ περὶ ἐμοῦ τοὺς ἑορακότας με μὴ πιστεύσειν ἐν ἐμοί , καὶ ἵνα οἱ μὴ ἑορακότες με αὐτοὶ πιστεύσωσι καὶ ζήσονται . περὶ δὲ οὗ ἔγραψάς μοι ἐλθεῖν πρὸς σέ , δέον ἐστὶ πάντα δι’ ἃ ἀπεστάλην ἐνταῦθα , πληρῶσαι καὶ μετὰ τὸ πληρῶσαι οὕτως ἀναληφθῆναι πρὸς τὸν ἀποστείλαντά με . καὶ ἐπειδὰν ἀναληφθῶ , ἀποστελῶ σοί τινα τῶν μαθητῶν μου , ἵνα ἰάσηταί σου τὸ πάθος καὶ ζωήν σοι καὶ τοῖς σὺν σοὶ παράσχηται .”	Blessed are you who hast believed in me without having seen me. For it is written concerning me, that they who have seen me will not believe in me, and that they who have not seen me will believe and be saved. But concerning what you have written me, that I should come to you, it is necessary for me to fulfill all things here for which I have been sent, and after I have fulfilled them thus to be taken up again to him that sent me. But after I have been taken up I will send to you one of my disciples, that he may heal your disease and give life to you and yours.
13-11 Ταύταις δὲ ταῖς ἐπιστολαῖς ἔτι καὶ ταῦτα συνῆπτο τῇ Σύρων φωνῇ ·	To these epistles there was added the following account in the Syriac language.
13-12 “ Μετὰ δὲ τὸ ἀναληφθῆναι τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀπέστειλεν αὐτῷ Ἰούδας , ὁ καὶ Θωμᾶς , Θαδδαῖον ἀπόστολον , ἕνα τῶν ἑβδομήκοντα · ὃς ἐλθὼν κατέμενεν πρὸς Τωβίαν τὸν τοῦ Τωβία . ὡς δὲ ἠκούσθη¹ περὶ αὐτοῦ , ἐμηνύθη τῷ Ἀβγάρῳ ὅτι ἐλήλυθεν ἀπόστολος ἐνταῦθα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ , καθὰ ἐπέστειλέν σοι .	After the ascension of Jesus, Judas, who was also called Thomas, sent to him Thaddeus, an apostle, one of the Seventy. When he had come he lodged with Tobias, the son of Tobias. When the report of him got abroad, it was told Abgarus that an apostle of Jesus had come, as he had written him.

¹In place of αὐτοῦ, some manuscripts have:

αὐτοῦ καὶ δῆλος γένονε διὰ τῶν ἐπιτελουμένων παρ’ αὐτοῦ θαυμασίων.

And he had become manifest by the wonders wrought by him.

13-13 ἤρξατο οὖν ὁ Θαδδαῖος ἐν δυνάμει Θεοῦ θεραπεύειν πᾶσαν νόσον καὶ μαλακίαν , ὥστε πάντας θαυμάζειν · ὡς δὲ ἤκουσεν ὁ Ἄβγαρος τὰ μεγαλεῖα καὶ τὰ θαυμάσια ἃ ἐποίει , καὶ ὡς ἐθεράπευεν , ἐν ὑπονοίᾳ γέγονεν ὡς ὅτι αὐτός ἐστιν περὶ οὗ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐπέστειλεν λέγων ‘ ἐπειδὰν ἀναληφθῶ , ἀποστελῶ σοί τινα τῶν μαθητῶν μου , ὃς τὸ πάθος σου ἰάσεται .’

Thaddeus began then in the power of God to heal every disease and infirmity, insomuch that all wondered. And when Abgarus heard of the great and wonderful things which he did and of the cures which he performed, he began to suspect that he was the one of whom Jesus had written him, saying, 'After I have been taken up I will send to you one of my disciples who will heal you.'

13-14 μετακαλεσάμενος οὖν τὸν Τωβίαν , παρ’ ᾧ κατέμενεν , εἶπεν ‘ ἤκουσα ὅτι ἀνήρ τις δυνάστης ἐλθὼν κατέμεινεν ἐν τῇ σῇ οἰκίᾳ · ἀνάγαγε αὐτὸν πρός με .’¹ ἐλθὼν δὲ ὁ Τωβίας παρὰ Θαδδαίῳ , εἶπεν αὐτῷ ‘ ὁ τοπάρχης Ἄβγαρος μετακαλεσάμενός με εἶπεν ἀναγαγεῖν σε παρ’ αὐτῷ , ἵνα θεραπεύσῃς αὐτόν .’ καὶ ὁ Θαδδαῖος , ‘ ἀναβαίνω ,’ ἔφη , ‘ ἐπειδήπερ δυνάμει παρ’ αὐτῷ ἀπέσταλμα .’

Therefore, summoning Tobias, with whom Thaddeus lodged, he said, I have heard that a certain man of power has come and is lodging in your house. Bring him to me.¹ And Tobias coming to Thaddeus said to him, the ruler Abgarus summoned me and told me to bring you to him that you might heal him. And Thaddeus said, ‘I will go, for I have been sent to him with power.’

¹In place of ἀνάγαγε αὐτὸν πρός με some manuscripts have : καὶ πολλὰς ἰάσεις ἐπ’ ὀνόματι ιυ ἐργάζεται· ὁ δὲ εἶπεν ναὶ κε ξένος τις ἐλθὼν ἐνώκησεν παρ’ ἐμοὶ καὶ πολλὰ θαύματα ἐπιτελεῖ· ὁ δὲ ἀνάγαγε αὐτὸν ἔφη πρός με

13-15 ὀρθρίσας οὖν ὁ Τωβίας τῇ ἑξῆς καὶ παραλαβὼν τὸν Θαδδαῖον ἦλθεν πρὸς τὸν Ἄβγαρον . ὡς δὲ ἀνέβη , παρόντων καὶ ἑστώτων τῶν μεγιστάνων αὐτοῦ , παραχρῆμα ἐν τῷ εἰσιέναι αὐτὸν ὅραμα μέγα ἐφάνη τῷ Ἀβγάρῳ ἐν τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ ἀποστόλου Θαδδαίου · ὅπερ ἰδὼν Ἄβγαρος προσεκύνησεν τῷ Θαδδαίῳ , θαῦμά τε ἔσχεν πάντας τοὺς περιεστῶτας · αὐτοὶ γὰρ οὐχ ἑοράκασι τὸ ὅραμα , ὃ μόνῳ τῷ Ἀβγάρῳ ἐφάνη ·	Tobias therefore arose early on the following day, and taking Thaddeus came to Abgarus. And when he came, the nobles were present and stood about Abgarus. And immediately upon his entrance a great vision appeared to Abgarus in the countenance of the apostle Thaddeus. When Abgarus saw it he prostrated himself before Thaddeus, while all those who stood about were astonished; for they did not see the vision, which appeared to Abgarus alone.
13-16 ὃς καὶ τὸν Θαδδαῖον ἤρετο εἰ ‘ ἐπ’ ἀληθείας μαθητὴς εἶ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ , ὃς εἰρήκει πρός με “ ἀποστελῶ σοί τινα τῶν μαθητῶν μου , ὅστις ἰάσεταί σε καὶ ζωήν σοι παρέξει .” ’ καὶ ὁ Θαδδαῖος ἔφη ‘ ἐπεὶ μεγάλως πεπίστευκας εἰς τὸν ἀποστείλαντά με , διὰ τοῦτο ἀπεστάλην πρὸς σέ . καὶ πάλιν ἐπιστρέψας , ἐὰν πιστεύσῃς ἐν αὐτῷ , ὡς ἂν πιστεύσῃς ἔσται σοι τὰ αἰτήματα τῆς καρδίας σου .’	He then asked Thaddeus if he were in truth a disciple of Jesus the Son of God, who had said to him, 'I will send you one of my disciples, who shall heal you and give you life.' and Thaddeus said, Because you have mightily believed in him that sent me, therefore have I been sent unto you. And still further, if you believe in him, the petitions of your heart shall be granted you as you believe.
13-17 καὶ ὁ Ἄβγαρος πρὸς αὐτόν ‘ οὕτως ἐπίστευσα ,’ φησίν , ‘ ἐν αὐτῷ , ὡς καὶ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους τοὺς σταυρώσαντας αὐτὸν βουληθῆναι δύναμιν παραλαβὼν κατακόψαι , εἰ μὴ διὰ τὴν βασιλείαν τὴν ‘Ῥωμαίων ἀνεκόπην τούτου .’ καὶ ὁ Θαδδαῖος εἶπεν ‘ ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ πεπλήρωκεν καὶ πληρώσας ἀνελήφθη πρὸς τὸν πατέρα .’	And Abgarus said to him, ‘So much have I believed in him that I wished to take an army and destroy those Jews who crucified him, had I not been deterred from it by reason of the dominion of the Romans.’ And Thaddeus said, ‘Our Lord has fulfilled the will of his Father, and having fulfilled it has been taken up to his Father.’ And Abgarus said to him, ‘I too have believed in him and in his Father.’
13-18 λέγει αὐτῷ Ἄβγαρος ‘ κἀγὼ πεπίστευκα εἰς αὐτὸν καὶ εἰς τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ .’ καὶ ὁ Θαδδαῖος ‘ διὰ τοῦτο ,’ φησί , ‘ τίθημι τὴν χεῖρά μου ἐπὶ σὲ ἐν ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ .’ καὶ τοῦτο πράξαντος , παραχρῆμα ἐθεραπεύθη τῆς νόσου καὶ τοῦ πάθους οὗ εἶχεν .	And Thaddeus said to him, ‘Therefore I place my hand upon you in his name.’ And when he had done it, immediately Abgarus was cured of the disease and of the suffering which he had.
13-19 ἐθαύμασέν τε ὁ Ἄβγαρος ὅτι καθὼς ἤκουσται αὐτῷ περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ , οὕτως τοῖς ἔργοις παρέλαβεν διὰ τοῦ μαθητοῦ αὐτοῦ Θαδδαίου , ὃς αὐτὸν ἄνευ φαρμακείας καὶ βοτανῶν ἐθεράπευσεν , καὶ οὐ μόνον , ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἄβδον τὸν τοῦ Ἄβδου , ποδάγραν ἔχοντα · ὃς καὶ αὐτὸς προσελθὼν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ ἔπεσεν , εὐχάς τε διὰ χειρὸς λαβὼν ἐθεραπεύθη , πολλούς τε ἄλλους συμπολίτας αὐτῶν ὁ αὐτὸς ἰάσατο , Θαυμαστὰ καὶ μεγάλα ποιῶν καὶ κηρύσσων τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ .	And Abgarus marvelled, that as he had heard concerning Jesus, so he had received in very deed through his disciple Thaddeus, who healed him without medicines and herbs, and not only him, but also Abdus the son of Abdus, who was afflicted with the gout; for he too came to him and fell at his feet, and having received a benediction by the imposition of his hands, he was healed. The same Thaddeus cured also many other inhabitants of the city, and did wonders and marvelous works, and preached the word of God.
13-20 μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ὁ Ἄβγαρος ‘ σὺ Θαδδαῖε ,’ ἔφη , ‘ σὺν δυνάμει τοῦ Θεοῦ ταῦτα ποιεῖς καὶ ἡμεῖς αὐτοὶ ἐθαυμάσαμεν · ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ τούτοις δέομαί σου , διήγησαί μοι περὶ τῆς ἐλεύσεως τοῦ Ἰησοῦ πῶς ἐγένετο , καὶ περὶ τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ , καὶ ἐν ποίᾳ δυνάμει ταῦτα ἐποίει ἅτινα ἤκουσταί μοι .’	And afterward Abgarus said, You, O Thaddeus, do these things with the power of God, and we marvel. But, in addition to these things, I pray you to inform me concerning the coming of Jesus, how he was born; and concerning his power, by what power he performed those deeds of which I have heard.
13-21 καὶ ὁ Θαδδαῖος ‘ νῦν μὲν σιωπήσομαι ,’ ἔφη , ‘ ἐπεὶ δὲ κηρῦξαι τὸν λόγον ἀπεστάλην , αὔριον ἐκκλησίασόν μοι τοὺς πολίτας σου πάντας , καὶ ἐπ’ αὐτῶν κηρύξω καὶ σπερῶ ἐν αὐτοῖς τὸν λόγον τῆς ζωῆς , περί τε τῆς ἐλεύσεως τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καθὼς ἐγένετο , καὶ περὶ τῆς ἀποστολῆς αὐτοῦ , καὶ ἕνεκα τίνος ἀπεστάλη ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός , καὶ περὶ τῆς δυνάμεως καὶ τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ καὶ μυστηρίων ὧν ἐλάλησεν ἐν κόσμῳ , καὶ ποίᾳ δυνάμει ταῦτα ἐποίει , καὶ περὶ τῆς καινῆς αὐτοῦ κηρύξεως , καὶ περὶ τῆς μικρότητος καὶ περὶ τῆς ταπεινώσεως , καὶ πῶς ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀπέθετο καὶ ἐσμίκρυνεν αὐτοῦ τὴν θεότητα , καὶ ἐσταυρώθη , καὶ κατέβη εἰς τὸν Ἅιδην , καὶ διέσχισε φραγμὸν τὸν ἐξ αἰῶνος μὴ σχισθέντα , καὶ ἀνήγειρεν νεκροὺς καὶ κατέβη μόνος , ἀνέβη δὲ μετὰ πολλοῦ ὄχλου πρὸς τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ .’¹	And Thaddeus said, ‘Now indeed will I keep silence, since I have been sent to proclaim the word publicly. But tomorrow assemble for me all your citizens, and I will preach in their presence and sow among them the word of God, concerning the coming of Jesus, how he was born; and concerning his mission, for what purpose he was sent by the Father; and concerning the power of his works, and the mysteries which he proclaimed in the world, and by what power he did these things; and concerning his new preaching, and his abasement and humiliation, and how he humbled himself, and died and debased his divinity and was crucified, and descended into Hades, and burst the bars which from eternity had not been broken, and raised the dead; for he descended alone, but rose with many, and thus ascended to his Father.’¹

¹In place of αὐτοῦ some manuscripts add : αὐτοῦ καὶ πῶς κάθηται ἐν δεξιᾶ τοῦ θυ καὶ πρσ μετὰ δόξης ἐν τοῖς οὐνοις καὶ ἐλεύσεσθαι μέλλει πάλιν μετὰ δθνάμεως κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς.

¹“And how he is seated on the right hand of God and the Father with glory in the Heavens, and how he will come again with power to judge the living and the dead.”

13-22 ἐκέλευσεν οὖν ὁ Ἄβγαρος τῇ ἕωθεν συνάξαι τοὺς πολίτας αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκοῦσαι τὴν ὅραμα κήρυξιν Θαδδαίου , καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα προσέταξεν δοθῆναι αὐτῷ χρυσὸν καὶ ἄσημον . ὁ δὲ οὐκ ἐδέξατο , εἰπών ‘ εἰ τὰ ἡμέτερα καταλελοίπαμεν , πῶς τὰ ἀλλότρια ληψόμεθα ;’

Abgarus therefore commanded the citizens to assemble early in the morning to hear the preaching of Thaddeus, and afterward he ordered gold and silver to be given him. But he refused to take it, saying, ‘If we have forsaken that which was our own, how shall we take that which is another's?’

13-23 ἐπράχθη ταῦτα τεσσαρακοστῷ καὶ τριακοσιοστῷ ἔτει .”¹

These things were done in the three hundred and fortieth year.”¹

¹The 340th year of the Edessene era, which began 310 BC, would be AD 30, which agrees with the date of the crucifixion given by Tertullian but is one year earlier than the date given in Jerome’s version of the Chronicle of Eusebius and two years earlier than that given in the Armenian version of the same book.

13-24 Ἃ καὶ οὐκ εἰς ἄχρηστον πρὸς λέξιν ἐκ τῆς Σύρων μεταβληθέντα φωνῆς ἐνταῦθά μοι κατὰ καιρὸν κείσθω .

I have inserted them here in their proper place, translated from the Syriac literally, and I hope to good purpose.

Eusebius of Caesarea
Historia Ecclesiastica
BOOK 1

Introduction

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Eusebius of CaesareaHistoria EcclesiasticaBOOK 1

Introduction

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

chap=13;

Eusebius of Caesarea
Historia Ecclesiastica
BOOK 1