to her a sign, saying: This is the sign which the Lord spoke, saying: Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the fat that is upon it shall be poured out.’” And after a little it is shown that “and the altar was rent, and the fat was poured out from the altar according to the sign, which the man of God gave by the word of the Lord.” 23.5 And in Isaiah, who lived long before the captivity in Babylon, after which captivity Cyrus the king of the Persians later appeared, who assisted in the building of the temple which took place in the times of Ezra, these things are prophesied about Cyrus by name: “Thus says the Lord God to my anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before you and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, which call you by your name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel my elect, I have even called you by your name: I have surnamed you.” For from these things it is also clearly shown that for the sake of the people whom Cyrus benefited, God granted him, though he did not know the Hebrew religion, to rule over many nations; and it is possible to learn these things also from the Greeks who wrote about the prophesied Cyrus. Moreover, also in Daniel, when the Babylonians were then ruling, the kingdoms that would be after him are shown to Nebuchadnezzar. They are shown through the image: of gold, the Babylonian rule being named; of silver, that of the Persians; of bronze, that of the Macedonians; of iron, that of the Romans. And again in the same prophet, the things concerning Darius and Alexander, and the four successors of Alexander king of the Macedonians, and Ptolemy who ruled Egypt, who was called Lagus, are thus prophesied: “And, behold, a he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth; and the goat had a horn between his eyes. And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the Ulai, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. And the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four other horns under it toward the four winds of heaven. And out of one of them came forth a mighty horn, and it waxed exceeding great, toward the south and the west.” And what need is there to speak of the prophecies concerning Christ, such as the place of his birth, Bethlehem, and the place of his upbringing, Nazareth, and his withdrawal into Egypt, and the wonders which he performed, and in what manner he was betrayed by Judas who was called to the apostolate? For all these things are signs of the foreknowledge of God. But also the Savior himself says, “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.” For he foretold the end that later came to pass, the razing of Jerusalem. 23.6 Since, then, it has been demonstrated by us, not unseasonably, concerning God being a foreknower, in order that we may relate how the stars become signs, it must be understood that the stars have been so ordered to move, with the so-called wandering stars moving opposite to the fixed stars, so that they might know signs from the configuration of the stars of all things that happen to each and in general, not men (for it is far too great for man to be able to truly apprehend from the motion of the stars the things concerning each of whatever is acting or suffering), but the powers, which it is necessary for many reasons to know these things, as we will show as far as we are able in what follows. But men being deluded from

ἐκείνῃ τέρας, λέγων· Τοῦτο τὸ τέρας ὃ ἐλάλησε κύριος λέγων· Ἰδοὺ τὸ θυσια- στήριον ῥήγνυται, καὶ ἐκχυθήσεται ἡ πιότης ἡ ἐπ' αὐτῷ.» Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα δηλοῦται, ὅτι «καὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον ἐρράγη, καὶ ἐξεχύθη ἡ πιότης ἀπὸ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου κατὰ τὸ τέρας, ὃ ἔδωκεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν λόγῳ κυρίου». 23.5 Καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἠσαΐᾳ γενομένῳ πρὸ πολλοῦ τῆς αἰχ μαλωσίας τῆς εἰς Βαβυλῶνα, μεθ' ἣν αἰχμαλωσίαν ὕστερόν ποτε γίνεται Κῦρος ὁ Περσῶν βασιλεὺς συνεργήσας τῇ οἰκοδομῇ τοῦ ναοῦ γενομένῃ κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους Ἔσδρα, ταῦτα περὶ Κύρου ὀνομαστὶ προφητεύεται· «Οὕτω λέγει κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῷ χριστῷ μου Κύρῳ, οὗ ἐκράτησα τῆς δεξιᾶς αὐτοῦ ἐπακοῦσαι ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ ἔθνη, καὶ ἰσχὺν βασιλέων διαρρήξω, ἀνοίξω ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ θύρας, καὶ πόλεις οὐ συγκλεισθήσονται· Ἐγὼ ἔμπροσθέν σου προ πορεύσομαι καὶ ὄρη ὁμαλιῶ, θύρας χαλκᾶς συντρίψω καὶ μοχλοὺς σιδηροῦς συνθλάσω· καὶ δώσω σοι θησαυροὺς σκοτεινούς, ἀποκρύφους, ἀοράτους ἀνοίξω σοι, ἵνα γνῷς ὅτι ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ καλῶν τὸ ὄνομά σου θεὸς Ἰσραήλ. Ἕνεκεν τοῦ παιδός μου Ἰακὼβ καὶ Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ ἐκλεκτοῦμου, ἐγὼ καλέσω σε τῷ ὀνόματί σου καὶ προσδέξομαί σε.» Σαφῶς γὰρ καὶ ἐκ τούτων δεδήλωται, ὅτι διὰ τὸν λαόν, ὃν εὐεργέτησεν ὁ Κῦρος, ὁ θεὸς μὴ γινώσκοντι αὐτῷ τὴν καθ' Ἑβραίους θεοσέβειαν ἐδωρήσατο ἐθνῶν πλειόνων ἄρξαι· καὶ ἔστι ταῦτα μαθεῖν καὶ ἀπὸ Ἑλλήνων τῶν ἀναγραψάντων τὰ περὶ τὸν προφητευθέντα Κῦρον. Ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἐν τῷ ∆ανιήλ, Βαβυλωνίων βασιλευόντων τότε, τῷ Ναβουχοδονόσορ δείκνυνται αἱ ἐσόμεναι βασιλεῖαι μετ' αὐτόν. ∆είκνυνται δὲ διὰ τῆς εἰκόνος· χρυσίου μὲν τῆς Βαβυλωνίων ἀρχῆς ὀνομαζομένης, ἀργυρίου δὲ τῆς Περσῶν, χαλκοῦ δὲ τῆς Μακεδόνων, σιδήρου δὲ τῆς Ῥωμαίων. Καὶ πάλιν ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ προφήτῃ τὰ περὶ ∆αρεῖον καὶ Ἀλέξανδρον, καὶ τοὺς τέσσαρας διαδόχους Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Μακεδόνων βασιλέως, καὶ Πτολεμαῖον τὸν τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἄρξαντα τὸν ἐπικαλούμενον Λαγών, οὕτω προφητεύεται· «Καὶ ἰδοὺ τράγος αἰγῶν ἤρχετο ἀπὸ λιβὸς ἐπὶ πρόσωπον πάσης τῆς γῆς· καὶ τῷ τράγῳ κέρας ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν. Καὶ ἦλθεν ἕως τοῦ κριοῦ τοῦ τὰ κέρατα ἔχοντος, οὗ εἶδον ἑστῶτος ἐνώπιον τοῦ Οὐβάλ, καὶ ἔδραμε πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐνώπιον τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ. Καὶ εἶδον αὐτὸν φθάνοντα ἕως τοῦ κριοῦ, καὶ ἐξηγριώθη πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶ ἔπαισε τὸν κριὸν καὶ συνέτριψεν ἀμφότερα τὰ κέρατα αὐτοῦ· καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἰσχὺς τῷ κριῷ στῆναι ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἔρριψεν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ συνεπάτησεν αὐτόν, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὁ ἐξαιρούμενος τὸν κριὸν ἐκ χειρὸς αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ὁ τράγος τῶν αἰγῶν ἐμεγαλύνθη ἕως σφόδρα· καὶ ἐν τῷ ἰσχῦσαι αὐτὸν συνετρίβη τὸ κέρας αὐτοῦ τὸ μέγα, καὶ ἀνέβη ἕτερα κέρατα τέσσαρα ὑποκάτω αὐτοῦ εἰς τοὺς τέσσαρας ἀνέμους τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. Καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἐξῆλθε κέρας ἓν ἰσχυρόν, καὶ ἐμεγαλύνθη περισσῶς πρὸς τὸν νότον καὶ τὴν δύσιν.» Τί δὲ δεῖ λέγειν τὰς περὶ Χριστοῦ προφητείας, οἷον τόπον γενέσεως αὐτοῦ Βηθλεέμ, καὶ τόπον ἀνατροφῆς αὐτοῦ Ναζαρά, καὶ τὴν εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἀναχώρησιν, καὶ τεράστια ἃ ἐποίησε, καὶ τίνα τρόπον ὑπὸ Ἰούδα τοῦ εἰς ἀποστολὴν κεκλημένου προεδόθη; πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα σημεῖά ἐστι τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ προγνώσεως. Ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ σωτήρ, «Ὅταν, φησίν, ἴδητε κυκλουμένην ὑπὸ στρατοπέδων τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ, τότε γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἤγγικεν ἡ ἐρήμωσις αὐτῆς.» Προεῖπε γὰρ τὸ ὕστερον συμβεβηκὸς τέλος τῆς κατασκαφῆς Ἱερουσαλήμ. 23.6 Ἀποδεδειγμένου τοίνυν ἡμῖν περὶ τοῦ προγνώστην εἶναι τὸν θεὸν οὐκ ἀκαίρως, ἵνα διηγησώμεθα πῶς οἱ ἀστέρες γίνονται εἰς σημεῖα, νοητέον τοὺς ἀστέρας οὕτω τετάχθαι κινεῖσθαι, ἐναντιοφορούντων τῶν καλουμένων πλανωμένων τοῖς ἀπλανέσιν, ἵνα σημεῖα ἀπὸ τοῦ σχημα τισμοῦ τῶν ἀστέρων πάντων τῶν περὶ ἕκαστον γινομένων καὶ τῶν καθόλου λαμβάνοντες γινώσκωσιν, οὐχὶ οἱ ἄνθρωποι (πολλῷ γὰρ μεῖζον ἢ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον τὸ δύνασθαι κατὰ ἀλήθειαν ἐκλαμβάνειν ἀπὸ τῆς κινήσεως τῶν ἀστέρων τὰ περὶ ἑκάστου τῶν ὅ τί ποτε ἐνεργούντων ἢ πασχόντων), ἀλλ' αἱ δυνάμεις, ἃς ἀναγκαῖον διὰ πολλὰ ταῦτα γινώσκειν, ὡς κατὰ δύναμιν ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς δείξομεν. Σανθέντες δὲ οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἔκ