having become eyewitnesses of the events, they declare certain things soundly, having seen the suffering and the action of those who have suffered or acted, or having heard from those who are in no way the cause of what has happened, they know certain things. But let it now be excluded from the discussion that those who have acted or suffered, by recounting what they have done or suffered, are able to bring into knowledge of the deeds one who was not present. If, therefore, the one being taught by someone who is in no way the cause of the events, that certain things have happened or will happen to these people, does not distinguish that the one teaching about something as having happened or as being about to happen is not in every case the cause of the event being of such-and-such a kind, he will think that the one who set forth that certain things have happened, or that certain things will be, has done or will do the things about which he teaches; and he will think this, clearly, mistakenly; as if someone, encountering a prophetic book that reveals beforehand the things concerning Judas the betrayer, should think, having learned what was to be and seeing it fulfilled, that the book is the cause of this certain thing having happened later, since it was from the book that he learned the things that would later be done by Judas; or again, should suppose that not the book is the cause, but the one who first wrote it, or the one who brought it about, for instance, God. But just as in the case of the things prophesied concerning Judas, the very words when examined show that God was not the author of Judas's betrayal, but only that He, having foreknown, had revealed the things that would be done from his wickedness, apart from His being the cause; so if someone were to delve deeply into the principle of God's foreknowing all things, and into those things in which He has, as it were, imprinted the accounts of His 12.57 foreknowledge, he would understand that neither is the one who foreknows in every case the cause of the things foreknown, nor are the things which have received the impressions of the accounts of the foreknowledge of the one who foreknew. That God, therefore, knows long beforehand that each of the things that will be will come to pass, is clear to one who understands the dignity of the power of the mind of God, even apart from Scripture, from the very concept of God. But if it is necessary to establish this also from the Scriptures, the prophecies are full of such examples; and the story of Susanna, of God knowing all things before their beginning, speaks thus: “O eternal God, who knows secret things, who knows all things before they come to be, you know that these men have borne false witness against me.” But most clearly in the third book of Kings both the name of one who would be king and his deeds were recorded, being prophesied many years before they came to pass, thus: “And Jeroboam made a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that was in the land of Judah. And he went up to the altar in Bethel, which he made to sacrifice to the calves which he had made.” Then after a little: “And behold, a man of God came from Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel, and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense. And he cried against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said: O altar, thus says the Lord: Behold, a son is born to the house of David, Josiah is his name, and he will sacrifice upon you the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and he will burn the bones of men upon you. And he gave a sign on that day, which the Lord spoke, saying: Behold, the altar shall be torn apart, and the fat that is upon it shall be poured out.” And after a little it is shown that the altar was also torn apart, and the fat was poured out from the altar according to the sign which the man gave by the word of the Lord. And in Isaiah, who lived long before the captivity in Babylon, after which captivity Cyrus the king of the Persians later appears, who cooperated in the building of the temple, which took place in the time of Ezra, these things are prophesied concerning Cyrus by name: “Thus says the Lord God to my anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, that nations might hearken before him, and I will break the strength of kings; I will open doors before him, and gates shall not be shut; I will go before you, and I will level mountains; I will break in pieces the doors of bronze, and I will shatter the bars of iron. And I will give you the hidden treasures,

αὐτόπται τῶν πραγμάτων γενόμενοι, ἀποφαίνονται τάδε τινὰ ὑγιῶς, τὸ πάθος καὶ τὴν ἐνέργειαν τῶν πεπονθότων, ἢ ἐνεργησάντων θεασάμενοι, ἢ ἀπαγγελλόντων τῶν οὐδαμῶς αἰτίων τοῖς γεγενημέ νοις ἀκούσαντες, τάδε τινὰ γινώσκουσιν. Ὑπεξ ηρήσθω δὲ νῦν τοῦ λόγου τὸ δύνασθαι τοὺς δεδρα κότας ἢ πεπονθότας, διηγουμένους ἃ δεδράκασιν, ἢ πεπόνθασιν, ἐνάγειν εἰς γνῶσιν τῶν πεπραγμένων τὸν μὴ παρατετυχότα. Ἐὰν οὖν ὁ διδασκόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ μηδαμῶς αἰτίου τῶν γινομένων, τὸ τάδε τινὰ τοῖσδε γεγονέναι ἢ συμβήσεσθαι, μὴ διακρίνῃ ὅτι οὐ πάντως ὁ διδάσκων περί τινος ὡς γενομένου ἢ ἐσο μένου, αἴτιός ἐστι τοῦ τὸ πρᾶγμα τοιόνδε τι τυγχά νειν, οἰήσεται τὸν παραστήσαντα περὶ τοῦ τάδε τινὰ γεγονέναι, ἢ τάδε τινὰ ἔσεσθαι, πεποιηκέναι ἢ ποιήσειν τὰ περὶ ὧν διδάσκει· οἰήσεται δὲ δηλονότι ἐσφαλμένως· ὡς εἴ τις, ἐντυχὼν προφητικῇ βίβλῳ, προδηλούσῃ τὰ περὶ Ἰούδαν τὸν προδότην, νομίσαι μαθὼν τὸ ἐσόμενον, ὁρῶν αὐτὸ ἀποτελούμενον, τὴν βίβλον αἰτίαν εἶναι τοῦ τόδε τι γεγονέναι ὕστε ρον, ἐπεὶ ἀπὸ τῆς βίβλου μεμάθηκε τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰούδα πραχθησόμενα ὕστερον· ἢ πάλιν μὴ τὴν βίβλον ὑπο λάβοι εἶναι αἰτίαν, ἀλλὰ τὸν πρῶτον γράψαντα αὐτὴν, ἢ τὸν ἐνεργήσαντα, φέρε εἰπεῖν τὸν Θεόν. Ὥσπερ δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν περὶ τοῦ Ἰούδα προφητευομένων αὐταὶ αἱ λέξεις ἐξεταζόμεναι ἐμφαίνουσι τὸν Θεὸν ποιητὴν μὴ γεγονέναι τῆς τοῦ Ἰούδα προδοσίας, ἀλλὰ μόνον δε δηλωκέναι προεγνωκότα τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς τούτου κακίας πραχθησόμενα παρὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ αἰτίαν· οὕτως εἴ τις ἐμβαθύναι τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ προειδέναι τὰ πάντα τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ τοῖς ἐν οἷς οἷον ἐνετύπωσε τῆς ἑαυτοῦ 12.57 προγνώσεως τοὺς λόγους, κατανοήσαι ἂν, ὅτι οὔτε ὁ προγνοὺς πάντως αἴτιος τῶν προεγνωσμένων, οὔτε τὰ τοὺς τύπους τῶν λόγων τῆς προγνώσεως τοῦ προεγνωκότος δεξάμενα. Ὅτι μὲν οὖν ἕκαστον τῶν ἐσομένων πρὸ πολλοῦ οἶδεν ὁ Θεὸς γενησόμενον καὶ χωρὶς μὲν Γραφῆς αὐτόθεν ἐκ τῆς ἐννοίας τῆς περὶ Θεοῦ, δῆλον τῷ συνιέντι ἀξίωμα δυνάμεως νοῦ Θεοῦ. Εἰ δὲ δεῖ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν Γραφῶν τοῦτο παραστῆ σαι, πλήρεις μέν εἰσιν αἱ προφητεῖαι τοιούτων παρα δειγμάτων· καὶ τὰ κατὰ τὴν Σωσάνναν δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ γινώσκοντος τὰ πάντα, πρὶν γενέσεως αὐτῶν, οὕτω λέγουσαν· «Ὁ Θεὸς ὁ αἰώνιος, ὁ τῶν κρυπτῶν γνώστης, ὁ εἰδὼς τὰ πάντα πρὶν γενέσεως αὐτῶν, σὺ ἐπίστασαι, ὅτι ψευδῆ μου κατεμαρτύρησαν οὗτοι.» Σαφέστατα δὲ ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ τῶν Βασιλειῶν καὶ ὄνομα βασιλεύσοντος, καὶ πράξεις ἀνεγράφησαν, πρὸ πλειόνων ἐτῶν τοῦ γενέσθαι προφητευόμενα, οὕτως· «Καὶ ἐποίησεν Ἱεροβοὰμ ἑορτὴν ἐν τῷ μηνὶ τῷ ὀγδόῳ, ἐν τῇ πέμπτῃ καὶ δεκάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ μηνὸς, κατὰ τὴν ἑορτὴν τὴν ἐν γῇ Ἰούδα. Καὶ ἀνέβη ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον ἐν Βαιθὴλ, ὃ ἐποίησε τοῦ θύειν ταῖς δαμάλεσιν, αἷς ἐποίησεν.» Εἶτα μετ' ὀλίγα· «Καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄνθρωπος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐξ Ἰούδα παρεγένετο ἐν λόγῳ Κυρίου ἐν Βαιθὴλ, καὶ Ἱεροβοὰμ εἱστήκει ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον τοῦ ἐπιθῦσαι. Καὶ ἐπεκάλεσεν ἐπὶ τὸ θυ σιαστήριον ἐν λόγῳ Κυρίου, καὶ εἶπε· Θυσιαστήριον, τάδε λέγει Κύριος· Ἰδοὺ υἱὸς τίκτεται τῷ οἴκῳ ∆αυῒδ, Ἰωσίας ὄνομα αὐτῷ, καὶ θύσει ἐπὶ σὲ τοὺς ἱερεῖς τῶν ὑψηλῶν τῶν ἐπιθυόντων ἐπὶ σὲ, καὶ ὀστᾶ ἀνθρώ πων καύσει ἐπὶ σέ. Καὶ ἔδωκεν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ τέρας, ὃ ἐλάλησε Κύριος λέγων· Ἰδοὺ τὸ θυσιαστή ριον ῥήγνυται, καὶ ἐκχυθήσεται ἡ πιότης ἡ ἐπ' αὐ τῷ.» Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα δηλοῦται, ὅτι καὶ τὸ θυσιαστή ριον ἐῤῥάγη, καὶ ἐξεχύθη ἡ πιότης ἀπὸ τοῦ θυσιαστη ρίου κατὰ τὸ τέρας ὃ ἔδωκεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐν λόγῳ Κυρίου. Καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἡσαΐᾳ γενομένῳ πρὸ πολλοῦ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας τῆς εἰς Βαβυλῶνα, μεθ' ἣν αἰχμαλω σίαν ὕστερόν ποτε γίνεται Κῦρος ὁ Περσῶν βασιλεὺς, συνεργήσας τῇ οἰκοδομῇ τοῦ ναοῦ, γενομένῃ κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους Ἔσδρα, ταῦτα περὶ Κύρου ὀνο μαστὶ προφητεύεται· «Οὕτω λέγει Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τῷ χριστῷ μου Κύρῳ, οὗ ἐκράτησα τῆς δεξιᾶς αὐ τοῦ ἐπακοῦσαι ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ ἔθνη, καὶ ἰσχὺν βα σιλέων διαῤῥήξω· ἀνοίξω ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ θύρας, καὶ πύλαι οὐ συγκλεισθήσονται· Ἐγὼ ἔμπρο σθέν σου πορεύσομαι, καὶ ὄρη ὁμαλιῶ· θύρας χαλκᾶς συντρίψω, καὶ μοχλοὺς σιδηροῦς συνθλάσω. Καὶ δώσω σοι θησαυροὺς σκοτεινοὺς,