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the Lord your God shall choose.” 1.3.29 But that it is not possible for this to be fulfilled by all the people on earth, the lawgiver himself, perceiving it accurately, pointed out, not putting forth the law indefinitely against all, but adding: “if a soul from the people of the land should sin unintentionally.” 1.3.30 And he lays down a second law, which runs thus: “And if a soul hears a voice of adjuration, and he is a witness, whether he has seen or known of it, if he does not report it, he shall bear the sin.” What then must this man do, but take the victim in his hands and hasten to the purifications? Where again, but in the place where they slaughter the whole burnt offerings? 1.3.31 And a third again: “A soul,” he says, “whoever touches any unclean thing, either the carcasses of unclean beasts, and takes from it, and he is defiled, and has transgressed, or touches the uncleanness of a man, from any of his uncleanness by which being touched he may be defiled, and it was hidden from him, but after this he knew it and has transgressed.” 1.3.32 What then was it fitting for the defiled man to do but to go again to the place, and to offer for his sin which he sinned a female from the flock, either a ewe lamb or a she-goat from the goats for a sin offering? 1.3.33 And the same was the law also for a soul, who might swear, “pronouncing with his lips to do evil or to do good, according to all that a man may pronounce with an oath, and it is hidden from him, and he knows it and sins in one of these things, and he shall confess the sin concerning which he has sinned,” and this man indeed, he says, taking the same victim, let him hasten to the place, and “the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and his sin shall be forgiven him.” 1.3.34 And another law besides those mentioned defines it thus: “A soul who has become unaware through forgetfulness, and has sinned unintentionally against the holy things of the Lord, shall also bring a ram for his transgression to the Lord.” And he shall bring it again to the high priest in the place, that is, the chosen one. 1.3.35 And he adds a sixth law to these, saying: “If a soul sins and does one of all the commandments which ought not to be done, and did not know, and has transgressed, and has taken his sin upon him, he shall bring again a ram to the high priest, and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his ignorance in which he was ignorant and he did not know, and it shall be forgiven him.” 1.3.36 Now he states a seventh: “If a soul sins, and utterly despises the commandments of the Lord, and lies to his neighbor concerning a deposit, concerning a partnership or robbery, or has wronged his neighbor in any way, or has found a lost thing, and lies about it, and swears unjustly concerning one of all the things which a man may do, so as to sin in these things; and whenever he sins and transgresses and restores the thing taken by robbery which he has seized, or the unjust gain which he has gained, or the deposit which was entrusted to him, or the lost thing which he found, from any matter about which he swore unjustly, he shall both pay it back in full and the fifth part.” 1.3.37 And it was necessary, after confessing the sin and after making restitution, to hasten again, putting all else aside, to the place “which the Lord God shall choose,” and to offer for the transgression a blameless ram, “and the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and it shall be forgiven him.” 1.3.38 These things and concerning these the wonderful Moses, concerning both those who have sinned unintentionally and those in ignorance, has carefully defined, far from the transgressions by choice, for which he also sets inexorable punishments, restraining his own people. 1.3.39 For he who, in the case of unintentional sins, did not grant pardon before the confession of the sin, and then, having exacted as it were a small punishment from the sinner through the prescribed sacrifice, and through the undelayed journey to the holy place having intensified both the zeal and the reverence of those who had chosen to be pious according to his rule, how would he not much more restrain the impulses of those things done intentionally? What then ought one to conclude from these things, when indeed, as has been said, Moses, summing up all things, commands, saying: “Cursed is everyone who

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ἐκλέξηται κύριος ὁ θεός σου». 1.3.29 Τοῦτο δ' ὅτι μὴ δυνατὸν πρὸς ἁπάντων τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ἀνθρώπων ἐκτελεῖσθαι καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ νομοθέτης συνιδὼν ἀκριβῶς ἐπεσημήνατο, οὐκ ἀορίστως κατὰ πάντων προαγαγὼν τὸν νόμον, ἀλλ' ἐπειπών· «ἐὰν ψυχὴ ἁμάρτῃ ἀκουσίως ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ τῆς γῆς». 1.3.30 καὶ δεύτερον δὲ νόμον τίθησιν οὕτως ἔχοντα· «ἐὰν δὲ ψυχὴ ἀκούσῃ φωνὴν ὁρκισμοῦ, καὶ οὗτος μάρτυς ἢ ἑώρακεν ἢ σύνοιδεν, ἐὰν μὴ ἀπαγγείλῃ, λήψεται τὴν ἁμαρτίαν». τί οὖν χρὴ τοῦτον ποιεῖν ἀλλ' ἢ λαβόντα μετὰ χεῖρας τὸ ἱερεῖον σπεύδειν ἐπὶ τὰ καθάρσια; ποῦ πάλιν ἀλλ' ἢ ἐν τῷ τόπῳ οὗ σφάζουσι τὰ ὁλοκαυτώματα; 1.3.31 καὶ τρίτον πάλιν· «ψυχή», φησίν, «ἥτις ἂν ἅψηται παντὸς πράγματος ἀκαθάρτου, ἢ τῶν θνησιμαίων τῶν κτηνῶν τῶν ἀκαθάρτων, καὶ λάβῃ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ αὐτὸς μεμίανται, καὶ πλημμελήσῃ, ἢ ἅψηται ἀκαθαρσίας ἀνθρώπου, ἀπὸ πάσης ἀκαθαρσίας αὐτοῦ ἧς ἂν ἁψάμενος μιανθῇ, καὶ ἔλαθεν αὐτόν, μετὰ τοῦτο δ' ἔγνω καὶ πλημμελήσῃ». 1.3.32 τί δὴ οὖν καὶ τὸν μιανθέντα προσῆκον ἦν ποιεῖν ἀλλ' ἢ ἀπαντᾶν πάλιν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ, καὶ προσφέρειν περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ ἧς ἥμαρτε θῆλυ ἀπὸ τῶν προβάτων ἢ ἀμνάδα ἢ χίμαιραν ἐξ αἰγῶν περὶ ἁμαρτίας; 1.3.33 ὁ δ' αὐτὸς ἦν νόμος καὶ ἐπὶ ψυχῆς, ἣ ἂν ὀμόσῃ «διαστέλλουσα τοῖς χείλεσι κακοποιῆσαι ἢ καλῶς ποιῆσαι, κατὰ πάντα ὅσα ἂν διαστείλῃ ἄνθρωπος μεθ' ὅρκου καὶ λάθῃ αὐτόν, καὶ οὗτος γνῷ καὶ ἁμάρτῃ ἕν τι τούτων, καὶ ἐξαγορεύσῃ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν περὶ ἧς ἥμαρτεν», καὶ οὗτος δῆτα, φησίν, τὸ αὐτὸ λαβὼν ἱερεῖον σπευδέτω ἐν τῷ τόπῳ, καὶ «ἐξιλάσεται περὶ αὐτοῦ ὁ ἱερεὺς περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ ἡ ἁμαρτία». 1.3.34 καὶ ἄλλος παρὰ τοὺς εἰρημένους νόμος ὧδέ πη διορίζει· «ψυχὴ ἣ ἂν λάθῃ αὐτὸν λήθῃ, καὶ ἁμάρτῃ ἀκουσίως ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων κυρίου, καὶ εἰσοίσει κριὸν τῆς πλημμελείας αὐτοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ». οἴσει δὲ πάλιν παρὰ τὸν ἀρχιερέα ἐν τῷ τόπῳ δηλαδὴ τῷ ἐξειλεγμένῳ. 1.3.35 καὶ ἕκτον δὲ νόμον τούτοις προστίθησι λέγων· «ψυχὴ ἂν ἁμάρτῃ καὶ ποιήσῃ μίαν ἀπὸ πασῶν τῶν ἐντολῶν ὧν οὐ δεῖ ποιεῖν, καὶ οὐκ ἔγνω, καὶ πλημμελήσῃ, καὶ λάβῃ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν αὐτοῦ, καὶ οἴσει πάλιν κριὸν τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ, καὶ ἐξιλάσεται περὶ αὐτοῦ ὁ ἱερεὺς περὶ τῆς ἀγνοίας αὐτοῦ ἧς ἠγνόησεν καὶ οὗτος οὐκ ᾔδει, καὶ ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ». 1.3.36 ἤδη δὲ ἕβδομόν φησιν· «ψυχὴ ἂν ἁμάρτῃ, καὶ παριδὼν παρίδῃ τὰς ἐντολὰς κυρίου, καὶ ψεύσηται πρὸς τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ ἐν παρακαταθήκῃ, περὶ κοινωνίας ἢ ἁρπαγῆς, ἢ ἠδίκησέ τι τὸν πλησίον, ἢ εὗρεν ἀπώλειαν, καὶ ψεύσηται περὶ αὐτῆς, καὶ ὀμόσῃ ἀδίκως περὶ ἑνὸς ἀπὸ πάντων ὧν ἐὰν ποιήσῃ ἄνθρωπος, ὥστε ἁμαρτεῖν ἐν τούτοις, καὶ ἡνίκα ἂν ἁμάρτῃ καὶ πλημμελήσῃ καὶ ἀποδῷ τὸ ἅρπαγμα ὃ ἥρπασεν, ἢ τὸ ἀδίκημα ὃ ἠδίκησεν, ἢ τὴν παρακαταθήκην ἥτις παρετέθη αὐτῷ, ἢ τὴν ἀπώλειαν ἣν εὗρεν, ἀπὸ παντὸς πράγματος οὗ ὤμοσε περὶ αὐτοῦ ἀδίκως, καὶ ἀποτίσει αὐτὸ τὸ κεφάλαιον καὶ τὸ ἐπίπεμπτον». 1.3.37 ἐχρῆν δ' ἂν μετὰ τὸ ἐξαγορεῦσαι τὸ ἁμάρτημα καὶ μετὰ τὸ ἀποτῖσαι σπεύδειν πάλιν πάντα ὑπερθέμενον εἰς τὸν τόπον «ὃν ἂν ἐκλέξηται κύριος ὁ θεός», καὶ προσφέρειν γε περὶ τῆς πλημμελείας κριὸν ἄμωμον, «καὶ ἐξιλάσεται περὶ αὐτοῦ ὁ ἱερεὺς ἔναντι κυρίου, καὶ ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ». 1.3.38 Ταῦτα καὶ περὶ τῶνδε ὁ θαυμάσιος Μωσῆς, περί τε τῶν ἀκουσίως ἡμαρτηκότων καὶ περὶ τῶν κατ' ἄγνοιαν, ἐξηκριβώσατο πόρρωθεν τῶν κατὰ προαίρεσιν πλημμελημάτων, ἐφ' οἷς καὶ ἀπαραιτήτους ὁρίζει τιμωρίας, τοὺς οἰκείους ἀναστέλλων. 1.3.39 ὁ γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀκουσίοις μὴ πρότερον νείμας συγγνώμην ἢ ἐξαγορεῦσαι τὸ ἁμάρτημα, κἄπειτα ὥσπερ μικρὰν τιμωρίαν διὰ τῆς προστεταγμένης θυσίας εἰσπραξάμενος τὸν ἡμαρτηκότα, διά τε τῆς ἐπὶ τὸν ἁγνὸν τόπον ἀμελλήτου πορείας τὴν σπουδὴν ὁμοῦ καὶ τὸ εὐλαβὲς ἐπιτείνας τῶν κατ' αὐτὸν θεοσεβεῖν προῃρημένων, πῶς οὐχὶ τῶν ἑκουσίως δρωμένων πολὺ πρότερον ἐπίσχοι ἂν τὰς ὁρμάς; τί δὴ οὖν πρὸς ταῦτα συλλογίζεσθαι χρῆν, ὅτε δή, ὡς εἴρηται, συγκεφαλαιούμενος τὰ πάντα ὁ Μωσῆς ἐπισκήπτει λέγων· «ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὃς