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βʹ. We must cite the things recorded about him in Kings in these words: "And king Solomon was a lover of women; and he took many foreign women; and the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabites, and Ammonites, and Idumeans, Syrians, Hittites, and Amorites, 22.904 from the nations of which the Lord God said to the sons of Israel: You shall not go in to them." To which he adds: "And his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father." And a little after: "Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the idol of Moab in the mountain before Jerusalem; and for Moloch the idol of the sons of Ammon, and for Astarte the abomination of the Sidonians; and so he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their idols; and the Lord was angry with Solomon, because he turned his heart away from the Lord God of Israel." If such things are alleged of Solomon, how then will you apply to him the words of the oath, in which it is said among other things: "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son?" but indeed these things are clearly alien to Solomon; but they would be referred to the Christ of God, prophesied to come from the seed of David, who was raised from the seed of David.

ςʹ. Why after David does he not bring it down to the successive heirs of the line, but runs back to Abraham, and not to Adam, nor to any other of the ancient men beloved of God.

Because again to Abraham first were various oracles given concerning the calling of the gentiles; for before the legislation of Moses, and before the Jewish nation, and indeed also before circumcision, Abraham, being a foreigner, and coming from the land of the Chaldeans, left his father's house, and having known the God over all, it is testified that he believed in God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness; and he has been shown to be righteous and beloved of God, not through circumcision of the body, nor through observance of the Sabbath day, or of feasts, new moons, nor indeed through any other voluntary worship mentioned in Moses, but through knowledge of the God over all, and through the appearance of the Lord who was seen by him—and this was our Savior, the Word of God—and through a solemn and virtuous life; therefore to him, who was perfecting this manner of piety, was the promise concerning the gentiles given, that they too, at some time being pious according to the zeal of Abraham, would be deemed worthy of the same blessing as the one beloved of God; this being the case, it was fitting that Abraham, being the forefather of the calling of the gentiles, should be taken up second by the evangelist after David; for of these two illustrious men who were first deemed worthy of the promise of God, concerning both the birth of Christ and the calling of the gentiles, it was surely necessary that the one who had received the promises concerning the birth of the Savior of all men should be preferred in order to the one who had accepted the promises concerning the gentiles; and that the leader of the gentiles should be taken up second in the genealogy; wherefore the book of Jesus Christ is dedicated first to the forefather of Jesus Christ according to the flesh, and second to the 22.905 Father according to the spirit of those who will be saved through Christ; for the one saving led the nations being saved.

Ζʹ. Why did Matthew make mention of Tamar, and not of another woman testified to for good deeds?

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βʹ. Παραθετέον δὲ τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐν Βασιλείαις ἱστορούμενα ἐν τούτοις· «Καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς Σολομῶν ἦν φιλογύνης· καὶ ἔλαβε γυναῖκας ἀλλοτρίας πολλάς· καὶ τὴν θυγατέρα Φαραὼ, Μωαβίτιδας, καὶ Ἀμμανίτιδας, καὶ Ἰδουμαίας, Σύρας, Χετταίας, καὶ Ἀμοῤ 22.904 ῥαίας, ἐκ τῶν ἐθνῶν ὧν ἀπεῖπεν Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ· Οὐκ εἰσελεύσεσθε εἰς αὐτούς.» Οἷς ἐπιφέρει· «Καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἡ καρδία αὐτοῦ τελεία μετὰ Κυρίου Θεοῦ αὐτοῦ, καθὼς ἡ καρδία ∆αβὶδ τοῦ Πατρὸς αὐτοῦ.» Καὶ μετὰ βραχύ· «Τότε ᾠκοδόμησε Σολομῶν ὑψηλὸν τῷ Χαμὼς εἰδώλῳ Μωὰβ ἐν τῷ ὄρει ἐπὶ πρόσωπον Ἱερουσαλήμ· καὶ τῷ Μολχὼν εἰδώλῳ υἱῶν Ἀμμὼν, καὶ τῇ Ἀστάρτῃ βδελύγματι Σιδωνίων· καὶ οὕτως ἐποίησε πάσαις ταῖς γυναιξὶν αὐτοῦ ταῖς ἀλλοτρίαις, αἳ ἐθυμίων καὶ ἔθυον τοῖς εἰδώλοις αὐτῶν· καὶ ὠργίσθη Κύριος ἐπὶ Σολομῶν, ὅτι ἐξέκλινε καρδίαν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ Κυρίου Θεοῦ Ἰσραήλ.» Εἰ δὲ τὰ τοιαῦτα τοῦ Σολομῶνος κατηγορεῖται, πῶς οὖν ἐφαρμόσεις αὐτῷ τὰ τοῦ ὅρκου, ἐφ' ᾧ εἴρηται πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις καὶ τό· «Ἐγὼ ἔσομαι αὐτῷ εἰς πατέρα, καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται μοι εἰς υἱόν;» ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἄντικρυς Σολομῶνος μὲν ἀλλότρια ταῦτα· ἀνάγοιτο δ' ἂν ἐπὶ τὸν ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αβὶδ ἥξειν θεσπιζόμενον Χριστὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὃς ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αβὶδ ἀνέστη.

ςʹ. ∆ιὰ τί μετὰ τὸν ∆αβὶδ οὐκ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἑξῆς διαδό χους τοῦ γένους

κατάγει, ἀνατρέχει δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀδὰμ, οὐδ' ἐφ' ἕτερόν τινα τῶν πάλαι θεοφιλῶν ἀνδρῶν.

Ἐπειδὴ πρώτῳ πάλιν τῷ Ἀβραὰμ περὶ τῆς κλήσεως τῶν ἐθνῶν διάφοροι

ἐδέδοντο χρησμοί· πρὸ γὰρ τῆς Μωϋσέως νομοθεσίας, καὶ πρὸ τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸ τῆς περιτομῆς, ἀλλοεθνὴς ὢν ὁ Ἀβραὰμ, καὶ τῆς Χαλδαίων γῆς ὁρμώμενος, ἀπολείπει μὲν τὰ πατρῷα, Θεὸν δὲ γνοὺς τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων, μεμαρτύρηται ὡς ἄρα ἐπίστευσε τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην· δίκαιός τε καὶ θεοφιλὴς ἀποπέφανται, οὐ διὰ περιτομὴν σώματος, οὐδὲ διὰ φυλακὴν ἡμέρας σαββάτου, ἢ ἑορτῶν, νουμηνιῶν, οὐδέ γε δι' ἄλλης τινὸς παρὰ Μωϋσεῖ φερομένης ἐθελοθρησκείας, ἀλλὰ δι' ἐπιγνώσεως τοῦ ἐπὶ πάντων Θεοῦ, ἐπιφανείας δὲ τοῦ ὀφθέντος αὐτῷ Κυρίου οὗτος δὲ ἦν ὁ ἡμέτερος Σωτὴρ, ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, διά τε σεμνοῦ καὶ ἐναρέτου βίου· τοῦτον δ' οὖν αὐτῷ κατορθοῦντι τῆς θεοσεβείας τὸν τρόπον, ἡ περὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν δέδοτο ἐπαγγελία, ὡς καὶ αὐτῶν ποτε κατὰ τὸν τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ζῆλον θεοσεβῶν ὄντων καὶ τῆς ἴσης τῷ θεοφιλεῖ καταξιωθησομένων εὐλογίας· ὧν οὕτως ἐχόντων, ἀκόλουθον ἦν τῆς τῶν ἐθνῶν κλήσεως προπάτορα ὄντα τὸν Ἀβραὰμ, ὑπὸ τοῦ εὐαγγελιστοῦ δεύτερον παραληφθῆναι μετὰ τὸν ∆αβίδ· δυοῖν γὰρ τούτων ἐπιφανῶν ἀνδρῶν πρώτων ἠξιωμένων τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπαγγελίας περί τε τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ γενέσεως καὶ περὶ τῆς κλήσεως τῶν ἐθνῶν, χρῆναι δήπου τὸ μὲν περὶ τῆς γενέσεως τοῦ πάντων ἀνθρώπων Σωτῆρος τὰς ὑποσχέσεις εἰληφότα, προτιμηθῆναι τῇ τάξει τοῦ τὰς περὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἐπαγγελίας καταδεξαμένου· δεύτερον δὲ ἐν τῇ γενεαλογίᾳ παραληφθῆναι τὸν τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀρχηγόν· διόπερ ἡ βίβλος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ πρώτῳ μὲν ἀνάκειται τῷ κατὰ σάρκα Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ προπάτορι, δεύτερον δὲ τῷ 22.905 κατὰ πνεῦμα Πατρὶ τῶν διὰ Χριστοῦ σωθησομένων· ἡγεῖτο γὰρ ὁ σώζων τῶν σωζομένων ἐθνῶν.

Ζʹ. ∆ιὰ τί τῆς Θάμαρ, οὐχὶ δὲ καὶ ἑτέρας ἐπ' ἀγαθοῖς κατορθώμασι μαρτυρουμένης γυναικὸς ἐμνη μόνευσεν ὁ Ματθαῖος.