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thought 25 The meaning of the aforementioned sayings is something like this: The rulers and leaders from the Jews established over the Jewish people will not cease, until he comes who is the cause of the expectation of the nations, that is, Christ, upon whose arrival it is necessary that the aforementioned will fail. Since these things are so, let us examine our own times, if indeed it is now possible to find kings and leaders. But it is clear to all that, along with the rest, the nation of the Jews is also subject to the Roman governors in the provinces, with not one of them having been entrusted with the authority to rule. And this began from the time of the birth of our Savior; at any rate, until King Herod we find in the histories that Hebrews from the Hebrews ruled their whole nation, having led in succession from Moses himself, first the so-called judges, then in order the kings until the captivity in Babylon, after which the high priests, succeeding to the rule, continued until the reign of Augustus; during which reign, when Herod, first of a foreign race, was entrusted by the Romans with the kingdom over them, our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ was born. Now therefore, from that time until the present, a ruler and leader among the Jews is clearly shown to have failed; it is clear that our prophesied Savior has come, from whose time not only have the rulers of the Jews ceased, but also all the worship performed by them in Jerusalem according to the law of Moses. And 26 clearly the expectation of the nations who through him have fled for refuge to the God of all began to be fulfilled in deed from the time of his coming, according to the prophecy of Jacob. And this is if we should read the words from, a ruler shall not fail from Judah; but if we connect the passage at hand as following the thought before it, it would be next in order, with Christ being understood as Judah according to what was previously demonstrated, to take "a ruler shall not fail from Judah" as referring to the rulers and leaders of the church after Christ, whom the prophecy says shall not fail until the things laid up for him shall come; as if it were said more clearly, until the things laid up for him shall come, when the end has arrived, he might receive the kingdom over all things. And that the divine spirit also calls the disciples of Christ leaders is clear from what is said concerning Judas, "But you, a man of like soul, my leader and my acquaintance." And attending to these things, those who have believed the sacred words as divine and true must not be alarmed at all, nor indeed have their faith shaken by the persecutions from time to time, and especially by the present one, which has blown against us more vehemently than any ever before, and has displayed such things against both the churches and all the people, the likes of which no one has recorded either from scripture or from the tradition of the ancients. But we say these things, since perhaps during the present persecution it might seem that the opposite of what has been said has occurred, because it seems neither an assembly now convenes, nor the 27 list of the rulers of the church. Therefore, since the divinely inspired scripture is true, one must be persuaded that the aforementioned have not failed completely, even if to some they might seem to have failed; for the God who said to the prophet, "I have left for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed a knee to Baal," when he supposed that he alone was left, the rest having been destroyed, this same God now also watches over those worthy of his providence, preserving for us a remnant according to the election of grace, those who are guarded by him, and seen by him alone; concerning whom we ourselves might also say, "Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah." For to think that the leaders of the word, named by the prophecy as rulers and leaders, have utterly failed, is one of the impossible things, because

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διάνοιαν ὁ 25 τῶν προκειμένων ῥητῶν νοῦς τοιόσδε τις· οὐ πρότερον παύσονται οἱ ἐξ Ἰουδαίων ἄρχοντες καὶ ἡγούμενοι ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰουδαίων λαὸν καθιστάμενοι, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ὁ τῆς τῶν ἐθνῶν προσδοκίας αἴτιος, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ὁ Χριστὸς, οὗ παραγενομένου ἐκλείψειν ἀνάγκη τοὺς προειρημένους. Τούτων δ' οὕτως ἐχόντων, ἐπισκεψώμεθα τοὺς καθ' ἡμᾶς χρόνους, εἴγε νῦν βασιλεῖς καὶ ἡγουμένους ἐστὶν εὑρεῖν. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ πᾶσι πρόδηλον ὡς μετὰ τῶν λοίπων καὶ τὸ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνος τοῖς κατεπαρχιῶν κατ' ἐπαρχίας Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμόσιν ὑποτέτακται, μὴ δ' ἑνὸς αὐτῶν τὴν τοῦ ἄρχειν ἐξουσίαν ἐπιτετραμμένου. Καὶ τοῦτό γε ἀπὸ τῶν χρόνων τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν γενέσεως ἤρξατο· μέχρι γοὖν Ἡρώδου βασιλέως Ἑβραίους ἐξ Ἑβραίων τοῦ παντὸς αὐτῶν ἔθνους ἄρξαντας ἐν ταῖς ἱστορίαις εὑρίσκομεν, ἐξ αὐτοῦ Μωσέως κατὰ διαδοχὴν ἡγησαμένων πρῶτον μὲν τῶν λεγομένων κριτῶν, εἶθ' ἑξῆς τῶν βασιλέων μέχρι τῆς εἰς Βαβυλῶνα αἰχμαλωσίας, μεθ' ἣν οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς τὴν ἀρχὴν διαδεξάμενοι ἐπὶ τὴν Αὐγούστου διήρκεσαν βασιλείαν· καθ' ὃν Ἡρώδου πρώτου τὸ γένος ἀλλοφύλων λου τὴν κατ' αὐτῶν βασιλείαν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων ἐγχειρισθέντος ὁ Σωτὴρ καὶ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ἐγεννήθη. Ἤδη τοίνυν ἐξ ἐκείνου καὶ μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος χρόνου σαφῶς ἐκλελοιπὼς ἄρχων τε καὶ ἡγούμενος ἐν Ἰουδαίοις ἀποδείκνυται· δῆλον ὡς ἐλήλυθεν ὁ πεπροφητευμένος Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν, οὗ ἀπὸ τῶν χρόνων οὐ μόνον οἱ Ἰουδαίων ἐπιλελοίπασιν ἄρχοντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσα ἡ πρὸς αὐτῶν ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἀποτελουμένη κατὰ τὸν Μωσέως νόμον λατρεία. Σα 26 φῶς δὲ καὶ ἡ προσδοκία τῶν δι' αὐτοῦ καταπεφευγότων ἐπὶ τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεὸν ἐθνῶν ἔργῳ πληροῦσθαι ἤρξατο ἀπὸ τῶν τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ χρόνων, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Ἰακὼβ προφητείαν. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν εἰ ὡς ἀπὸ ἰδίας ἀρχῆς ἀναγινώσκοιμεν τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ, οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἄρχων ἐξ Ἰούδα· εἰ δ' ὡς ἀκόλουθον τῇ πρὸ αὐτῆς διανοίᾳ καὶ τὴν μετὰ χεῖρας συνάπτομεν, ἑξῆς ἂν εἴη, τοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἰούδα νενοημένου κατὰ τὰ προαποδεδόμενα, τὸ οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἄρχων ἐξ Ἰούδα ἐπὶ τοὺς μετὰ τὸν Χριστὸν ἄρχοντας καὶ ἡγουμένους τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐκλαμβάνειν, οὓς ἡ προφητεία φησὶν μὴ ἐκλείψειν ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ τὰ ἀποκείμενα αὐτῷ· ὡς εἰ σαφέστερον ἔλεγεν, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ τὰ ἀποκείμενα αὐτῷ τῆς συντελείας ἐπιστάσης, κομίσηται τὴν κατὰ τῶν ὅλων βασιλείαν. Ὅτι δὲ καὶ ἡγουμένους τοὺς τοῦ Χριστοῦ μαθητὰς τὸ θεῖον ἀποκαλεῖ πνεῦμα σαφές ἐστιν ἐκ τοῦ λέγεσθαι περὶ τοῦ Ἰούδα, σὺ δὲ ἄνθρωπε ἰσόψυχε ἡγεμών μου καὶ γνώστα μου. Καὶ τούτοις δὲ χρὴ προσέχοντας τοὺς ὡς θείοις καὶ ἀληθέσι τοῖς ἱεροῖς λόγοις πεπιστευκότας μηδαμῶς θροεῖσθαι, μὴ δὲ μὴν σείεσθαι τὴν πίστιν ὑπὸ τῶν κατὰ καιροὺς διωγμῶν, καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος ὑπὲρ τοὺς πώποτε σφοδρότατα καθ' ἡμῶν πνεύσαντος, καὶ τοιαῦτα ἐπιδειξαμένου κατά τε τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν καὶ παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ, ὅποια οὔτε ἀπὸ γραφῆς οὔτε μὴν ἐκ παραδόσεως ἀρχαίων τίς ἐμνημόνευσεν. Ταῦτα δὲ φαμὲν, ἐπεὶ τάχα δόξειεν ἄντικρυς κατὰ τὸν ἐνεστῶτα διωγμὸν τἀναντία συμβεβηκέναι τοῖς εἰρημένοις, διὰ τὸ μὴ δὲ ἄθροισμα νῦν συνεστάναι δοκεῖν, μήτε τὸν 27 κανόνα τῶν τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἀρχόντων. Ἀψευδοῦς τοιγάρτοι τυγχανούσης τῆς θεοπνεύστου γραφῆς, πεπεῖσθαι χρὴ ὅτι μὴ πάντως ἐξέλειπον οἱ προειρημένοι, εἰ καὶ δοκοῖεν τισὶν ἐκλελοιπέναι· ὁ γὰρ εἰπὼν τῷ προφήτῃ Θεὸς, Κατέλιπον ἐμαυτῷ ἑπτακισχιλίους ἄνδρας, οἵτινες οὐκ ἔκαμψαν γόνυ τῇ Βάαλ, ὑπειληφότι μόνον αὐτὸν περιλελεῖφθαι τῶν λοιπῶν ἀνῃρημένων, ὁ αὐτὸς καὶ νῦν τοὺς ἀξίους τῆς αὐτοῦ προνοίας ἐφορᾷ, λεῖμμα κατ' ἐκλογὴν χάριτος καὶ ἡμῖν διαφυλάττων τοὺς πρὸς αὐτοῦ φρουρουμένους, καὶ πρὸς αὐτοῦ μόνου θεωρουμένους· περὶ ὧν εἴποιμεν ἂν καὶ αὐτοὶ τὸ, Εἰ μὴ Κύριος Σαβαὼθ ἐγκατέλιπεν ἡμῖν σπέρμα, ὡς Σόδομα ἂν ἐγενήθημεν, καὶ ὡς Γόμορρα ἂν ὡμοιώθημεν. Τὸ γάρ τοι εἰς τὸ παντελὲς ἐκλελοιπέναι νομίζειν τοὺς τοῦ λόγου προεστῶτας, ἄρχοντας καὶ ἡγουμένους ὑπὸ τῆς προφητείας ὠνομασμένους, ἕν τι τῶν ἀμηχάνων τυγχάνει, διὰ