6

The father of the nations considered none of these things; but he was commanded, and he consented to the separation; he received commands, and he longed to seek the unknown things. For faith kindled this love in him. For having completely understood the things that were promised, he was all the more eager for the departure from his fatherland. For "Go out," he says, "from your land." From your loins I am about to be born, from you according to the flesh. Therefore I promise you nothing; for it is enough for you only that you be called my father. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Then, having narrated the things concerning Abraham, that he obeyed the one voice of God calling him, that he foretold the bondage of his seed, and that they would be in bondage in Egypt for four hundred years, and that by the right hand of God they would be delivered from the necessity, and that he gave him the covenant of circumcision, he speaks next of the miraculous birth of Isaac, and that on the eighth day he circumcised him, as he was commanded. He also speaks of the birth of Jacob from Isaac, and that Jacob was shown to be the father of twelve patriarchs. He speaks also of the envy of the relatives toward Joseph, and of his sale by his brothers in Egypt, and that he found favor and wisdom with the king of Egypt, and that after his servitude he was shown to be lord and wise. He says also that a famine, so to speak, appeared over the whole world, and that Canaan, in its lack of food, gave up its own dearest, and that in glory Joseph revealed himself to his own relatives, and that Joseph summoned Jacob the patriarch into Egypt, and that Jacob went down there with seventy-five souls, and that Israel multiplied beyond measure in Egypt, and that another king arose, who did not know Joseph, and that having dealt shrewdly, he mistreated the nation of Israel, and that he sent the male infants to be exposed in the river Nile. And he speaks of the birth of Moses the lawgiver, and that he was cast into the ark by his parents, and that the daughter of Pharaoh the king took him up, and that he was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and that he was shown to be mighty in words and deeds, and that after his fortieth year he went up to visit the nation, and that he saw an Israelite being wronged, and he avenged him against the Egyptian, and that he advised the fighting Israelites to be reconciled, and that he was insulted by one of his own people, as having committed murder, and that he fled to the land of Midian for this reason, and that there he was shown to be the father of two sons, and that an angel appeared to him on Mount Sinai, and that he saw the irreconcilable friendship of fire and bush, 59.507 and that he heard a divine voice from heaven, and that he became trembling, not daring to perceive the wonder, and that he was commanded to loosen the sandal of his own feet, and that the place on which he stood, he heard was holy ground, and that with signs he led the people out of Egypt, and that through the Red Sea, as through the dry land, he led the army of Israel.

And he speaks also of the idolatry of the lawless on the mountain, that the wayfarers of the sea likened the Divine to a calf, that they attributed to the idol the victories over the Egyptians. He tells them also of the captivity of the nation in Babylon, and of the pleasing of David before God, that he found favor in the sight of God, and was called the father of Christ. And he speaks also of the house built by Solomon, and that God does not dwell in places made with hands. Thus, therefore, having gone through the histories of the fathers, having taken the Holy Spirit for cooperation, he begins from that point with insults against them, and says: "Stiff-necked, unbending and untamed; for what pain has bent your nape? what necessity has bowed your neck? Did you not serve Pharaoh for four hundred years in Egypt? Did not Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Syria, possess you for eight years? Were you not under the kingdom of the Moabites for eighteen years? Were you not again enslaved by the Canaanites for twenty years? Did you not again submit to the Midianites for seven years? Were you not again ruled by the Ammonites for eighteen years? Not to the Philistines

6

οὐδὲν τούτων ὁ πατὴρ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἐλογίσατο· ἀλλὰ προσετάγη, καὶ τῷ χωρισμῷ συνετίθετο· ἐντολὰς ἐλάμβανε, καὶ τὰ ἄδηλα ζητεῖν ἐπεπόθει. Πίστις γὰρ αὐτῷ τοῦτον ἀνέκαιε τὸν ἔρωτα. Τὰ γὰρ ἐπαγγελλόμενα τελείως κατανοήσας, πλέον πρὸς τὴν ἔξοδον τῆς πατρίδος ἐσπούδαζεν. Ἔξελθε γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐκ τῆς γῆς σου. Ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν σου μέλλω, ἐκ σοῦ κατὰ σάρκα γεννᾶσθαι. Οὐδέν σοι τοιγαροῦν ὑπισχνοῦμαι· ἀρκεῖ σοι γὰρ μόνον, ἵνα πατήρ μου χρηματίσῃς. Βίβλος γενέσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ υἱοῦ ∆αυῒδ, υἱοῦ Ἀβραάμ. Εἶτα τὰ κατὰ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ διηγησάμενος, ὅτι μιᾷ φωνῇ Θεοῦ ὑπήκουσε καλοῦντος, ὅτι προεῖπε τὴν τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτοῦ δουλείαν, καὶ ὅτι τετρακοσιοστὸν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ δουλεύσουσιν ἔτος, καὶ ὅτι τῇ δεξιᾷ τοῦ Θεοῦ λυτρωθῶσι τῆς ἀνάγκης, καὶ ὅτι ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ περιτομῆς διαθήκην, λέγει λοιπὸν τὸν τοῦ Ἰσαὰκ παράδοξον τόκον, καὶ ὅτι τῇ ὀγδόῃ αὐτὸν περιέτεμε, καθὼς προσετάχθη. Ἔτι λέγει καὶ τὴν τοῦ Ἰακὼβ ἐκ τοῦ Ἰσαὰκ γένεσιν, καὶ ὅτι ὁ Ἰακὼβ δώδεκα πατριαρχῶν πατὴρ ἀνεδείχθη. Λέγει καὶ τὸν φθόνον πρὸς τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ τῶν συγγενῶν, καὶ τὴν πρᾶσιν αὐτοῦ τὴν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, καὶ ὅτι εὗρε χάριν καὶ σοφίαν παρὰ τῷ βασιλεῖ τῆς Αἰγύπτου, καὶ ὅτι μετὰ τὴν δουλείαν κύριος καὶ σοφὸς ἀνεδείχθη. Λέγει καὶ, ὅτι λιμὸς καθ' ὅλου, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ἀνεδείχθη τοῦ κόσμου, καὶ ὅτι Χαναὰν τῇ ἀπορίᾳ τῶν βρωμάτων τὰ οἰκεῖα φίλτατα προεδίδου, καὶ ὅτι ἐν δόξῃ ἐνεφάνισεν ἑαυτὸν Ἰωσὴφ τοῖς ἰδίοις συγγενέσι, καὶ ὅτι μετεκαλέσατο Ἰωσὴφ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ Ἰακὼβ τὸν πατριάρχην, καὶ ὅτι ἐν ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε ψυχαῖς ὁ Ἰακὼβ ἐκεῖσε κατῆλθε, καὶ ὅτι ἐπληθύνθη Ἰσραὴλ εἰς ἄμετρον ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, καὶ ὅτι ἕτερος ἀνέστη βασιλεὺς, τὸν Ἰωσὴφ ἀγνοήσας, καὶ ὅτι κατασοφισάμενος τὸ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἐκάκωσεν ἔθνος, καὶ ὅτι τὰ ἄῤῥενα βρέφη ἔκδοτα παρέπεμπε τῷ Νείλῳ ποταμῷ. Λέγει δὲ καὶ τὴν γένεσιν Μωϋσέως τοῦ νομοθέτου, καὶ ὅτι παρὰ τῶν γονέων ἐν τῇ θήκῃ ἐῤῥίφη, καὶ ὅτι ἀνείλετο αὐτὸν ἡ θυγάτηρ Φαραὼ τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ ὅτι πάσῃ τῇ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἐπαιδεύθη σοφίᾳ, καὶ ὅτι δυνατὸς ἐν λόγοις ἐδείχθη καὶ ἔργοις, καὶ ὅτι μετὰ τὸ τεσσαρακοστὸν ἔτος ἀνῆλθεν εἰς ἐπίσκεψιν τοῦ ἔθνους, καὶ ὅτι εἶδεν Ἰσραηλίτην ἀδικούμενον, καὶ ἠμύνατο τὸν Αἰγύπτιον, καὶ ὅτι μαχομένοις Ἰσραηλίταις συνεβούλευσε φιλιάσαι, καὶ ὅτι ὑβρίσθη παρὰ ὁμοεθνοῦς, ὡς ἐργασάμενος φόνον, καὶ ὅτι ἔφυγεν εἰς γῆν Μαδιὰν διὰ τοῦτον τὸν λόγον, καὶ ὅτι ἐκεῖ δύο υἱῶν πατὴρ ἀνεδείχθη, καὶ ὅτι ἄγγελος αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ ὄρει Σινᾷ ὤφθη, καὶ ὅτι εἶδε πυρὸς καὶ βάτου ἄμαχον φιλίαν, 59.507 καὶ ὅτι φωνῆς οὐρανόθεν ἐπήκουσε θείας, καὶ ὅτι σύντρομος ἐγένετο μὴ τολμῶν κατανοῆσαι τὸ θαῦμα, καὶ ὅτι ἐκελεύσθη τῶν οἰκείων ποδῶν λῦσαι τὸ ὑπόδημα, καὶ ὅτι τὸν τόπον ἐν ᾧ ἔστη, γῆν ἤκουσεν ἁγίαν, καὶ ὅτι μετὰ σημείων τὸν λαὸν ἐξήγαγεν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, καὶ ὅτι διὰ τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς, ὡς διὰ τῆς ξηρᾶς, τὸν Ἰσραὴλ ἐστρατήγησε.

Λέγει δὲ καὶ ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῶν ἀνόμων εἰδωλολατρείαν, ὅτι οἱ τῆς θαλάσσης ὁδοιπόροι μόσχῳ παρωμοίωσαν τὸ Θεῖον, ὅτι τῷ εἰδώλῳ τὰς κατ' Αἰγυπτίων ἀνέθηκαν νίκας. Λέγει αὐτοῖς καὶ τὴν ἐν Βαβυλῶνι αἰχμαλωσίαν τοῦ ἔθνους, καὶ τὴν τοῦ ∆αυῒδ παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ εὐαρέστησιν, ὅτι εὗρε χάριν ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ πατὴρ Χριστοῦ ἐχρηματίσθη. Λέγει δὲ καὶ τὸν ὑπὸ Σολομῶντος οἶκον κτισθέντα, καὶ ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἐν χειροποιήτοις οὐκ αὐλίζεται τόποις. Οὕτω τοιγαροῦν διεξελθὼν τὰς τῶν πατέρων ἱστορίας, λαβὼν εἰς συνεργίαν τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, τῶν κατ' αὐτῶν λοιπὸν ἀπάρχεται ὕβρεων, καί φησι· Σκληροτράχηλοι, ἀκαμπεῖς καὶ ἀδάμαστοι· ποία γὰρ ὀδύνη τὸν ὑμέτερον ἔκαμψεν αὐχένα; ποία ἀνάγκη τὸν ὑμέτερον ἔκλινε τράχηλον; οὐχὶ τετρακόσια ἔτη Φαραὼ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἐδουλεύσατε; οὐχὶ ὄγδοον ὑμᾶς ἔτος ὁ Συρίας βασιλεὺς Χουσαρσὰθ εἰσεκτήσατο; οὐκ ὀκτωκαιδέκατον ἔτος ὑπὸ τὴν τῶν Μοαβιτῶν γεγόνατε βασιλείαν; οὐ πάλιν εἴκοσιν ὑπὸ τῶν Χαναναίων ἐδουλώθητε χρόνους; οὐχ ἕβδομον ἔτος αὖθις πάλιν Μαδιανίταις ὑπεκύψατε; οὐχὶ πάλιν ὀκτωκαιδέκατον ἔτος ὑπὸ Ἀμμωνιτῶν ἐκυριεύθητε; οὐχὶ τοῖς Φιλιστιεὶμ