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with a ransom shall the firstborn of men be redeemed, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem; And its redemption: From a month old you shall redeem it, the valuation being five shekels of silver, according to the holy shekel. But the firstborn of calves, and the firstborn of sheep, and of goats you shall not redeem; for they are holy; and their blood you shall pour out toward the altar. Now then, the divine voice has yoked and numbered the firstborn of Israel with the unclean animals; as not having that which is truly purified and holy in the worship according to the Law, even if they were considered to be sanctified by the allotment of the legislation. For in like manner to things rejected for the sacrifice of God, it was decreed among them that a ransom be given for men; as the more irrational condition among the Jews was unworthy to offer rational worship, and to be brought to the most mystical altar of the New Covenant for a spiritual whole burnt offering. But a ransom, as it was accustomed to offer sacrifices of blood according to the Law suitable to itself (which the prophet Isaiah, as from the person of God, determines that He had not even required from their hands), as seeing, that is, the spiritual perfection of the legislator's aim. But those things brought for sacrifice, whose blood 46.1161 was customarily poured out at the altar, have been distinctly named Holy; and in this, that is, the truth is prefigured in the type. For he who offered himself to God the Father as a sacrifice and an offering for a fragrant aroma, our Lord Jesus Christ, he alone properly and truly is and is called holy. But perhaps the disobedient Jew will say, that since the firstborn of his unclean animals cannot be offered in the sacrifice according to the law, they are usually exchanged for a ransom; similarly also the human firstborn, not being slaughtered for a sacrifice (for this is indeed unbecoming, and foreign to divine legislation), are likely consecrated by the exchange of a ransom. But let him consider, if indeed he is not hindered by the veil that lies over the eyes of their soul, how already in another law Holy Scripture taught that the Levites were taken for consecration instead of the firstborn, speaking thus in Numbers, word for word: And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Behold, I have taken the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel, instead of every firstborn that opens the womb among the sons of Israel; they shall be their ransom, and the Levites shall be mine. For to me I have consecrated every firstborn in Israel, on the day that I struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt. Then the law, specifying the exactness of the exchange, says, The Lord said to Moses, saying: Number every firstborn of the sons of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names. And you shall take the Levites for me instead of all the firstborn of the sons of Israel. Then, when the numbering of the firstborn was found to be in surplus compared to the number of the Levites, it says: The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Take the ransom for those who are in excess of the Levites from the firstborn of the sons of Israel, and you shall take five shekels per head according to the holy didrachma.

If, then, according to the Holy Scripture, the Levites are a ransom for the firstborn of the sons of Israel, as the accuracy of the numbering shows, so that for those who are in excess among them a weight fixed by the law was given in exchange; by what reason did the law prescribe that a ransom be given for each of the firstborn? For in the case of animals unacceptable for sacrifice, the law says either to exchange them, or that a ransom be given for them; but in the case of men, we learn both that a ransom is to be given, and that the exchange has already been made through the Levites; which appears discordant even with the letter of the law itself, as the legislation concerning animals shows, and as the very nature of the matter suggests. For if after the allotment of the Levites for the service of God instead of the firstborn 46.1164 it is prescribed that a ransom be given for them, it is clear

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λύτροις λυτρωθήσεται τὰ πρωτότοκα τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ τὰ πρωτότοκα τῶν κτηνῶν τῶν ἀκαθάρτων λυ τρώσῃ· Καὶ ἡ λύτρωσις αὐτοῦ· Ἀπὸ μηνιαίου λυτρώσῃ, ἡ συντίμησις ἀργυρίου πέντε σίκλων, κατὰ τὸν σίκλον τὸν ἅγιον. Πλὴν τὰ πρωτότοκα τῶν μόσχων, καὶ τὰ πρωτότοκα τῶν προβάτων, καὶ τῶν αἰγῶν οὐ λυτρώσῃ· ἅγια γάρ ἐστι· καὶ τὸ αἷμα αὐτῶν προσέχεις πρὸς τὸ θυσιαστήριον. Ἤδη μὲν οὖν τοῖς ἀκαθάρτοις τῶν κτηνῶν συμπαρ έζευξέ τε καὶ συγκατέλεξε τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ τὰ πρωτότοκα ἡ θεία φωνή· ὡς τὸ ὄντως κεκαθαρμένον καὶ ἅγιον ἐν τῇ κατὰ Νόμον λατρείᾳ οὐκ ἔχοντα, εἰ καὶ ἁγιά ζεσθαι αὐτὰ τῇ ἀποκληρώσει τῆς νομοθεσίας ἐνομίζετο. Ὁμοίως γὰρ εἰς θυσίαν Θεοῦ ἀποβλήτοις, λύτρα δίδοσθαι ἀντὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων παρ' αὐτοῖς ἐτεθέσπιστο· ὡς τῆς παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις ἀλογωτέρας καταστάσεως ἀναξίας ὑπαρχούσης τὴν λογικὴν ἀναφέρειν λατρείαν, καὶ τῷ τῆς Καινῆς ∆ιαθήκης μυστικωτάτῳ εἰς πνευματικὴν ὁλοκάρπωσιν προσάγεσθαι θυσιαστηρίῳ. Λύτρα δὲ, ὥσπερ ἑαυτῇ κατάλληλα εἰθισμένῃ προσάγειν τὰς κατὰ Νόμον δι' αἱμάτων θυσίας (ἃς ὁ προφήτης Ἡσαΐας, ὡς ἐκπροσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ, μηδὲ ἐξῃτη κέναι παρὰ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν διορίζεται), ὡς πνευματικὴν δηλαδὴ τελείωσιν τοῦ σκοποῦ νομοθέτου ὁρῶντος. Τὰ δὲ εἰς θυσίαν προσαγόμενα, ὧν τὸ αἷμα 46.1161 προχεῖσθαι τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ ἐνενόμιστο, Ἅγια δι εσταλμένως ὠνόμασται· κἀν τούτῳ δηλαδὴ τῆς ἀλη θείας προδιαγραφομένης τῷ τύπῳ. Ὁ γὰρ ἑαυτὸν προσαγαγὼν τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶθυσίαν, καὶ προσφορὰν εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας, ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστὸς, οὗτος μόνος κυρίως καὶ ἀληθῶς ἅγιος ἔστι τε καὶ ὀνομάζεται. Ἀλλ' ἴσως ἐρεῖ ὁ ἀπειθὴς Ἰουδαῖος, ὡς τῇ κατὰ νόμον θυσίᾳ οὐ δυνάμενα προσάγεσθαι τῶν κατ' αὐ τὸν ἀκαθάρτων κτηνῶν τὰ πρωτότοκα, λύτροις ἀντι καταλλάσσεσθαι εἴωθεν· ὁμοίως καὶ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων πρωτοτόκων εἰς θυσίαν μὴ κατασφαττομένων (καὶ γὰρ ἀπεικὸς τοῦτό γε, καὶ θείας νομοθεσίας ἀλλό τριον), ταῦτα τῇ τῶν λύτρων ἀμείψει καθιεροῦσθαι εἰκός. Ἀλλ' ἐπισκεψάσθω, εἴγε μὴ τῷ ἐπιπροσθοῦντι ταῖς τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτῶν ὄψεσι καλύμματι ἐμποδίζεται, ὡς ἤδη ἐν ἑτέρᾳ νομοθεσίᾳ τοὺς Λευΐτας εἰληφέναι εἰς ἀφιέρωσιν ἀντὶ τῶν πρωτοτόκων, τὸ ἱερὸν ἐδίδαξε Γράμμα, οὑτωσὶ φάσκον ἐν τοῖς Ἀριθμοῖς ἐπὶ λέξεως· Καὶ ἐλάλησε Κύριος πρὸς Μωϋσῆν λέγων· Ἰδοὺ εἴληφα τοὺς Λευΐτας ἐκ μέσου τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ, ἀντὶ παντὸς πρωτοτόκου διανοίγοντος μήτραν παρὰ τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ· λύτρα αὐτῶν ἔσονται, καὶ ἔσονταί μοι οἱ Λευῗται. Ἐμοὶ γὰρ πᾶν πρωτότοκον ἡγίασα ἐν Ἰσραὴλ, ἐν ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ἐπάταξα πᾶν πρωτότοκον ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ. Εἶτα τὸ ἀκριβὲς τῆς ἀμείψεως διαγορεύων ὁ νόμος, Εἶπεν Κύριος, φησὶ, πρὸς Μωσῆν λέγων· Ἐπίσκεψαι πᾶν πρω τότοκον τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ ἀπὸ μηνιαίου καὶ ἐπ άνω, καὶ λαβὲ τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἐξ ὀνόματος αὐτῶν. Καὶ λήψῃ τοὺς Λευΐτας ἐμοὶ ἀντὶ πάντων τῶν πρωτοτόκων τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ. Εἶτα τῆς συναριθμήσεως τῶν πρωτοτόκων πρὸς τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν Λευϊτῶν ἐν πλεονασμῷ εὑρημένης, φησίν· Ἐλάλησε Κύριος τῷ Μωϋσῆ λέγων· Λάβε τὰ λύτρα τῶν πλεο ναζόντων παρὰ τοὺς Λευΐτας ἀπὸ τῶν πρωτοτό κων τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ λήψῃ πέντε σίκλους κατὰ κεφαλὴν κατὰ τὸ δίδραχμον τὸ ἅγιον.

Εἴπερ οὖν κατὰ τὸ ἱερὸν Γράμμα οἱ Λευῗται λύτρα εἰσὶ τῶν πρωτοτόκων τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ, ὡς καὶ ἡ τῆς συναρι θμήσεως ἀκρίβεια δηλοῖ, ὥστε τῶν πλεοναζόντων ἐν αὐ τοῖς στάθμιον ὡρισμένον τῷ νόμῳ ἀντιδοθῆναι· ποίῳ λόγῳ καθ' ἕκαστον τῶν πρωτοτόκων λύτρα δίδοσθαι ὁ νόμος διηγόρευσεν; Ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῶν ἀπροσδέκτων εἰς θυσίαν κτηνῶν, ἢ καταλλάττεσθαι, ταῦτα, ἢ λύτρα ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν δίδοσθαι ὁ νόμος φησίν· ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ἀν θρώπων, καὶ λύτρα δίδοσθαι, καὶ ἤδη τὴν ἀντάμειψιν διὰ τῶν Λευϊτῶν γενέσθαι μανθάνομεν· ὅπερ ἀσύμφωνον καὶ αὐτῷ νομικῷ γράμματι φαίνεται, ὡς ἡ ἐν τοῖς κτήνεσι νομοθεσία δηλοῖ, καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ φύσις ὑφηγεῖται τοῦ πράγματος. Εἰ γὰρ μετὰ τὴν τῶν Λευϊ τῶν πρὸς λειτουργίαν Θεοῦ ἀντὶ τῶν πρωτοτόκων 46.1164 ἀποκλήρωσιν λύτρα δίδοσθαι ἀντ' αὐτῶν διηγόρευται, δῆλον