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but Joshua the son of Nun, having sprinkled dust along with the elders, and thus the guilty one, having been detected by lot, paid the aforesaid penalty. But perhaps someone will say that these were reasonably suspected of other sins as well, on account of which they were also caught in these; but that the Holy Scripture made mention of these alone, as being more grievous and worthy of death. But even if such a person should be too bold to add or take away anything, will he not then accuse Miriam, the sister of Moses, of a multitude of sins, whose virtue, I think, escapes none of the faithful?

She, since 31.664 she said only one thing against Moses by way of condemnation, and that was true (For, it says, he took an Ethiopian woman for himself), experienced such great indignation from God, that not even when Moses himself pleaded was the penalty for her sin remitted. So then when I see Moses himself, the servant of God, that great man, who was deemed worthy of so great and so much honor from God, and who so often received testimony from Him, as to hear, "I have known you above all, and you have found grace in my sight"; when I see this man, at the water of strife, for no other reason than that he only said to the people who were murmuring from lack of water, "Shall we bring forth water for you from this rock?"; for this alone immediately receiving the threat that he would not enter the land of promise, which was at that time the chief of the promises to the Jews; when I see this man entreating, and not being forgiven; when I see him deemed worthy of no pardon for that brief word, despite his so many good deeds, truly I see the severity of God, according to the Apostle, and truly I am persuaded that this is true: "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" And why do I say these things? When I hear that fearful decision of God, which He pronounces even against one who has transgressed one commandment in ignorance, I do not know how to fear worthily the magnitude of His wrath. For it is written: "And if a soul sins, and does one of all the commandments of the Lord, which ought not to be done, and did not know it, and has transgressed, and has borne the sin, he shall bring a ram without blemish from the flock, of the price of silver, for a trespass offering to the priest. And the priest shall make atonement for him, concerning his ignorance, in which he was ignorant, and he himself did not know, and it shall be forgiven him. For he trespassed a trespass before the Lord."

But if in the case of sins of ignorance the judgment is so inexorable, and the sacrifice for purification is necessary, which even the righteous Job is attested to have offered for his sons, what might one say about those who sin knowingly, or of those who are complacent toward them? And lest we should seem to be reckoning the indignation against these by mere plausible conjectures, it is necessary again to make mention of the God-inspired Scripture, which is sufficient for the present, even through a single story, to set forth the judgment of such persons. And the sons, it says, of Eli the priest, were pestilent sons. And since they were such, because their father did not punish them more severely, he provoked such wrath in the long-suffering of God, that, when the Philistines rose up, his sons were slain by them in the war on a single day, and 31.665 all the people were defeated, and a sufficient number of them fell, and things happened concerning the ark of the holy covenant of God which had never been heard of before, so that that which it was lawful neither for Israelites, nor indeed for all the priests themselves, nor at all times to touch, nor did any ordinary place receive it, this was moved from place to place by the hands of impious men, and instead of the holy places, was deposited in the temples of idols. On account of which things, it is possible to conjecture how much laughter and mockery resulted, even against the very name of God, among the Philistines. In addition to these things, Eli himself is also recorded as having met a most pitiful end; having received the threat that also his seed

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δὲ ἅμα τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις καταπασσάμενος χοῦν Ἰησοῦς ὁ τοῦ Ναυῆ, καὶ οὕτω διὰ κλήρου φωραθεὶς ὁ ἔνοχος τὴν εἰρημένην ἔδωκε δίκην. Ἄλλ' ἴσως ἐρεῖ τις ὑποπτεύεσθαι μὲν τούτους εἰκότως καὶ ἐπ' ἄλλοις ἁμαρτήμασιν, ἀφ' ὧν καὶ ἐν τούτοις ἑάλωσαν· μόνων δὲ τούτων, ὡς χαλεπω τέρων καὶ θανάτου ἀξίων, ἐπιμνησθῆναι τὴν ἁγίαν Γραφήν. Ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ λίαν εἴη ὁ τοιοῦτος τολμηρὸς προστιθέναι τι καὶ ὑφαιρεῖν, μὴ καὶ Μαρίας ἄρα τῆς ἀδελφῆς Μωϋσέως κατηγορήσει πλῆθος ἁμαρτημάτων, ἧς τὴν ἀρετὴν οὐδένα τῶν πιστῶν οἶμαι διαλανθάνειν;

Αὕτη κατὰ Μωϋσέως ἐπειδὴ 31.664 εἶπέ τι μόνον ἐν καταγνώσεως μέρει, καὶ τοῦτο ἀληθὲς (Γυναῖκα γὰρ, φησὶν, Αἰθιόπισσαν ἔλαβεν ἑαυτῷ), τοσαύτης ἐπειράθη τῆς ἀγανακτήσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὡς μηδὲ αὐτοῦ Μωϋσέως ἱκετεύοντος συγχωρη θῆναι αὐτῇ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὸ ἐπιτίμιον. Αὐτὸν τοί νυν ὅταν ἴδω Μωϋσέα, τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ θεράποντα, τὸν μέγαν ἐκεῖνον, τὸν τοσαύτης μὲν καὶ τηλικαύτης ἀξιωθέντα τιμῆς παρὰ Θεοῦ, οὕτω δὲ πολλάκις ὑπ' αὐτοῦ μαρτυρηθέντα, ὡς ἀκοῦσαι· Οἶδά σε παρὰ πάντας, καὶ εὕρηκας χάριν ἐνώπιόν μου· τοῦτον ὅταν ἴδω ἐπὶ τοῦ ὕδατος τῆς ἀντιλογίας οὐδενὸς ἕνε κεν ἑτέρου, ἢ ἵνα μόνον εἴπῃ τῷ λαῷ γογγύζοντι διὰ ἀπορίαν ὕδατος, Μὴ ἐκ ταύτης τῆς πέτρας ἐξάξομεν ὑμῖν ὕδωρ; τούτου μόνου ἕνεκεν εὐθὺς ἀπειλὴν δεχόμενον, εἰς τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπ αγγελίας οὐκ εἰσελεύσεσθαι, ἥτις ἦν τότε τῶν πρὸς Ἰουδαίους ἐπαγγελιῶν τὸ κεφάλαιον· ὅταν ἴδω τοῦ τον παρακαλοῦντα, καὶ μὴ συγχωρούμενον· ὅταν ἴδω μηδεμιᾶς συγγνώμης διὰ τὰ τοσαῦτα κατορ θώματα ἐπὶ τῷ βραχεῖ ἐκείνῳ ῥήματι καταξιούμε νον, ὄντως μὲν ὁρῶ Θεοῦ ἀποτομίαν, κατὰ τὸν Ἀπό στολον, ὄντως δὲ ἐκεῖνο ἀληθὲς εἶναι πείθομαι τό· Εἰ ὁ δίκαιος μόλις σώζεται, ὁ ἀσεβὴς καὶ ἁμαρ τωλὸς ποῦ φανεῖται; Καὶ τί ταῦτα λέγω, Ἐκείνης ὅταν ἀκούσω τῆς φοβερᾶς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀποφάσεως, ἣν καὶ κατὰ τοῦ μίαν ἐντολὴν ἐπ' ἀγνοίᾳ παρα βεβηκότος ἀποφαίνεται, οὐκ ἔχω πῶς ἐπαξίως φο βηθῶ τῆς ὀργῆς τὸ μέγεθος. Γέγραπται γάρ· Καὶ ψυχὴ ἐὰν ἁμάρτῃ, καὶ ποιήσῃ μίαν ἀπὸ πα σῶν τῶν ἐντολῶν Κυρίου, ὧν οὐ δεῖ ποιεῖν, καὶ οὐκ ἔγνω, καὶ πλημμελήσῃ, καὶ λάβῃ τὴν ἁμαρ τίαν, οἴσει κριὸν ἄμωμον ἐκ τῶν προβάτων, τιμῆς ἀργυρίου, εἰς πλημμέλειαν πρὸς τὸν ἱερέα. Καὶ ἐξιλάσεται περὶ αὐτοῦ ὁ ἱερεὺς, περὶ τῆς ἀγνοίας αὐτοῦ, ἧς ἠγνόησε, καὶ αὐτὸς οὐκ ᾔδει, καὶ ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ. Ἐπλημμέλησε γὰρ πλημ μέλειαν ἔναντι Κυρίου.

Εἰ δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν κατὰ ἄγνοιαν οὕτως ἀπαραίτητον τὸ κρῖμα, καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς καθάρ σεως ἡ θυσία ἀναγκαία, ἣν καὶ ὁ δίκαιος Ἰὼβ μαρ τυρεῖται προσφέρειν ὑπὲρ τῶν υἱῶν, τί ἄν τις εἴποι περὶ τῶν ἐν γνώσει ἁμαρτανόντων, ἢ τῶν τούτοις ἐφησυχαζόντων; Καὶ ἵνα μὴ δόξωμεν στοχασμοῖς αὐτὸ μόνον εἰκόσιν ἀναλογίζεσθαι τὴν κατὰ τούτων ἀγανάκτησιν, αὐτῆς πάλιν ἀναγκαῖον μνημονεῦσαι τῆς θεοπνεύστου Γραφῆς, ἀρκούσης ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος καὶ διὰ μιᾶς ἱστορίας παραστῆσαι τὸ κρῖμα τῶν τοιούτων. Καὶ υἱοὶ, φησὶν, Ἠλεὶ τοῦ ἱερέως, υἱοὶ λοιμοί. Τούτοις δὲ τοιούτοις οὖσιν, ὅτι μὴ ἐπεξῆλθε σφοδρότερον ὁ πατὴρ, τοιαύτην ἐκίνησεν ὀργὴν τῇ μακροθυμίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὥστε, ἐπαναστάντων τῶν ἀλλοφύλων, τοὺς μὲν υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐκείνοις ἀναιρεθῆ ναι κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ, ἡττηθῆναι δὲ 31.665 σύμπαντα τὸν λαὸν, καὶ τούτων πεσεῖν ἱκανοὺς, γε νέσθαι δὲ καὶ περὶ τὴν κιβωτὸν τῆς ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ διαθήκης, ἃ μήτε ἠκούσθη ποτὲ πρότερον, ὥστε, ἧς οὔτε Ἰσραηλίταις, οὔτε μὴν αὐτοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ἅπασιν, οὐδὲ πάντοτε ἅπτεσθαι θεμιτὸν ἦν, οὐδὲ τόπος αὐτὴν ὁ τυχὼν ὑπεδέχετο, ταύτην ὑπὸ χειρῶν ἀσεβῶν ἄλλοτε ἀλλαχόθεν μετακομίζεσθαι, καὶ ἀντὶ τῶν ἁγίων, εἰδώλων ναοῖς ἐναποτίθεσθαι. Ἐφ' οἷς πόσον τινὰ συνέβαινεν εἶναι, καὶ κατ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ Θεοῦ, γέλωτα καὶ χλεύην παρὰ τοῖς ἀλλοφύλοις, στοχάζεσθαι πάρεστιν. Ἐπὶ τούτοις καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Ἠλεὶ τέλει χρησάμενος οἰκτροτάτῳ ἀναγέγραπται· δεξάμενος ἀπειλὴν τοῦ καὶ τὸ σπέρμα