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Commentarius in hexaemeron [Sp.]

OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS EUSTATHIUS ARCHBISHOP OF ANTIOCH

AND MARTYR, A COMMENTARY ON THE HEXAEMERON Clement, then, and Africanus, and in addition to these, Tatian, and of those from the circumcision, Josephus and Justus, have recorded that the divine Moses flourished in the time of Inachus, each one individually promising proof from ancient history. But Inachus precedes the Trojan war by seven hundred years. But one of the saints, having made a most accurate account of the times, found that the most holy Jacob flourished at the same time as the times of Inachus; and Moses at the same time as Joseph. For having devised a composition of a chronological canon in parallel, he set alongside each other the ruler in each nation. And he brought together the times of the kingdoms of the Chaldeans, Assyrians, Medes, Persians, Lydians, Hebrews, Egyptians, Athenians, Argives, Sicyonians, Lacedaemonians, Corinthians, Thessalians, Macedonians, Latins, who were later called Romans. And the times of these .....ing the times of the kings of each nation together....., placing the years of the reign of the Assyrian queen, that is, of Semiramis, alongside the years of Abraham. For the blessed Abraham was known in the time of Semiramis; and Joseph in the time of Inachus; and Moses in the time of Cecrops, whom three hundred years before the Trojan events ......... first of Attica the sons of the Hellenes, so that Moses is the most ancient of the ancient wise men among the Greeks, I mean, older than Homer and Hesiod, and the Trojan events, and Heracles, and Musaeus, and Linus, and moreover Chiron, Orpheus, the Dioscuri, Asclepius, Dionysus, Hermes, Apollo, and the Hellenic mysteries, and rites, and the very deeds of Zeus; moreover, than the flood of Deucalion's time, and the conflagration in the time of Phaethon, and the birth of Erichthonius from Hephaestus and the earth, and the rape of Kore. For all these 709 existed after Cecrops, whom Homer and Hesiod followed by many years. But if they are younger than these in years, they are surely far inferior to the age of Moses. This man, therefore, was shown to be the most divine teacher of the truth of all the wise. For having spat out the so-called wisdom of the Egyptians, he related in the best way concerning the constitution of this world, having been inspired with the truth by none other than the God over all and creator of the universe. For he says: In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. And many among the Greeks, having dared to recount the opposite of these things, were hurled into an abyss of ignorance. For the dogmas brought forth from human thought clear .... and without foundation. For among them no argument stands unshaken, the second always overthrowing the one before it; so that it is no task for the faithful to refute their arguments, since they suffice for one another for their own overthrow. But of what sort the heaven is in shape and substance, Isaiah teaches us, saying: He who establishes the heaven like a vault; intimating that it is thin, and not solid, nor thick, as he also says elsewhere: He who made the heaven firm like smoke. And the psalm says that the earth is supported upon the waters, saying: He has founded it upon the seas, and prepared it upon the rivers. And how one must not be overly curious, but believe. For the simplicity of faith is stronger than logical proofs; for unreachable and incomprehensible

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Commentarius in hexaemeron [Sp.]

ΤΟΥ ΕΝ ΑΓΙΟΙΣ ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΕΥΣΤΑΘΙΟΥ ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΕΙΑΣ

ΚΑΙ ΜΑΡΤΥΡΟΣ ΕΙΣ ΤΗΝ ΕΞΑΗΜΕΡΟΝ ΥΠΟΜΝΗΜΑ Κλήμης μὲν οὖν, καὶ Ἀφρικανὸς καὶ πρὸς τούτοις Τατιανὸς, τῶν δὲ ἐκ περιτομῆς Ἰώσηπος, καὶ Ἰοῦστοςκατὰ Ἴναχον ἀκμάσαι τὸν θεσπέσιον Μωϋσέα ἱστόρησαν, ἰδίως ἔκαστος ἐκ παλαιᾶς ἱστορίας ὑποσχὼν τὴν ἀπόδειξιν. Ἴναχος δὲ ἑπτακοσίοις ἔτεσι τὸ Ἰλιακὸν προτερεῖ πόλεμον. Τῶν δὲ ἁγίων τις ἀκριβεστάτην τῶν χρόνων ποιησάμενος τοῖς χρόνοις Ἰνάχου, τὸν μὲν ἁγιώτατον εὗρεν Ἰακὼβ συνακμάσαντα· Μωϋσέα δὲ Ἰώσηπος. Χρονικοῦ γὰρ κανόνος σύνταξιν ἐπινοήσας ἐκ παραλλήλου, ἀντιπαρέθηκε τὸν παρ' ἑκάστῳ ἔθνει δυναστεύοντα. Συνήγαγε δὲ χρόνους τῆς βασιλείας Χαλδαίων, Ἀσσυρίων, Μήδων, Περσῶν, Λυδῶν, Ἑβραίων, Αἰγυπτίων, Ἀθηναίων,Ἀργείων, Σικυωνίων, Λακεδαιμονίων, Κορινθίων, Θετταλῶν, Μακεδόνων, Λατίνων, τῶν ὕστερον κληθέντων Ῥωμαίων. Καὶ τούτων τοὺς χρόνους ἐπὶ ταυτ.....σας ἑκάστου ἔθνους τῶν βασιλέων συνεκ..... χρόνους, ἀντιπαρατιθεὶς τὰ ἔτη τῆς βασιλείας Ἀσσυρίων βασιλίδος, τουτέστι τῆς Σεμιράμεως Ἀβραὰμ τοῖς ἔτεσι. Κατὰ γὰρ τὴν Σεμίραμιν Ἀβραὰμ ὁ μακάριος ἐγνωρίζετο· ὁ δὲ Ἰώσηππος κατὰ Ἴναχον· Μωϋσῆς δὲ κατὰ Κέκροπα, ὃν πρὸ τῶν Ἰλιακῶν ἔτεσι τριακοσίοις ......... πρῶτον τῆς Ἀττικῆς Ἑλλήνων παῖδες, ὡς εἶναι τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησιν ἀρχαίων σοφῶν τὸν Μωϋσέα πρεσβύτατον, Ὁμήρου λέγων καὶ Ἡσιόδου, καὶ τῶν Τρωϊκῶν, Ἡρακλέους τε, καὶ Μουσαίου, καὶ Λίνου, ἔτι τε Χείρωνος, Ὀρφέως, ∆ιοσκούρων, Ἀσκληπιοῦ, ∆ιονύσου, Ἑρμοῦ,Ἀπόλλωνος, καὶ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν μυστηρίων, καὶ τελετῶν, καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν ∆ιὸς πράξεων· ἔτι δὲ τοῦ κατὰ ∆ευκαλίωνα κατακλυσμοῦ, καὶ τῆς ἐπὶ Φαέθοντος ἐκπυρώσεως, Ἐριχθονίου τε γενέσεως ἐξ Ἡφαίστου καὶ γῆς, καὶ Κόρης ἁρπαγῆς. Οὗτοι γὰρ πάντες 709 ὑπῆρξαν μετὰ Κέκροπα, ὃν πολλὰ Ὅμηρος καὶ Ἡσίοδος τοῖς χρόνοις ὑποβεβήκασιν. Εἰ δὲ τούτων ἐλαττοῦνται τοῖς ἔτεσι, πολὺ δήπου τῆς Μωϋσέως ὑπάρχουσιν ἡλικίας κατώτεροι. Οὗτος τοίνυν τῶν σοφῶν πάντων διδάσκαλος ἀνεδείχθη τῆς ἀληθείας θειότατος. Τὴν γὰρ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων λεγομένην διαπτύσας σοφίαν, ἄριστα περὶ τῆσδε τοῦ κόσμου διεξῆλθε συστάσεως, ὑπ' αὐτοῦ δηλονότι τοῦ ἐπὶ πάντων Θεοῦ καὶ δημιουργοῦ τοῦ παντὸς ἐμπνευσθεὶς τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Λέγει γάρ· Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν. Καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησι τἀναντία τούτων διεξιέναι τολμήσαντες εἰς βυθὸν ἀγνοίας κατηκοντίσθησαν. Τὰ γὰρ ἐξ ἀνθρωπίνης διανοίας προφερόμενα δόγματα σαφῆ ....άνει καὶ ἀνερμάτιστα. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ παρ' αὐτοῖς ἕστηκε λόγος ἀκίνητος, ἀεὶ τοῦ δευτέρου τὸν πρὸ αὐτοῦ καταβάλλοντος· ὥστε μηδὲν ἔργον εἶναι τοῖς πιστοῖς, τἀκείνων ἐλέγχειν, ἀρκούντων ἐκείνων ἀλλήλοις πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀνατροπήν. Ὁποῖος δὲ τὸ σχῆμα καὶ τὴν οὐσίαν ὁ οὐρανός ἐστι, διδάσκει ἡμᾶς Ἡσαΐας λέγων· Ὁ στήσας τὸν οὐρανὸν ὡσεὶ καμάραν· αὐτοῦ λεπτὴν, καὶ οὐ στερεὰν, οὐδὲ παχεῖαν αἰνιττόμενος εἶναι, ὡς καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ φησιν· Ὁ στερεώσας τὸν οὐρανὸν ὡσεὶ καπνόν. Τὴν δὲ γῆν φάσκει ὁ ψαλμὸς ἐπὶ τῶν ὑδάτων ἐνηρεῖσθαι, λέγων· Αὐτὸς ἐπὶ θαλασσῶν ἐθεμελίωσεν αὐτὴν, καὶ ἐπὶ ποταμῶν ἡτοίμασεν αὐτήν. Καὶ τὸ πῶς οὐ δεῖ πολυπραγμονεῖν, ἀλλὰ πιστεύειν. Τὸ γὰρ ἁπλοῦν τῆς πίστεως ἰσχυρότερον ὑπάρχει λογικῶν ἀποδείξεων· ἀνέφικτα γὰρ καὶ ἀκατάληπτά