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coming, leading up to the order of Moses. But perhaps someone will say: And for what reason was it said then, if what was said was not going to be clear to them? So that it might become useful to those who came after. For this is the nature of prophecy, not when it reports present events, but when it proclaims future ones. But when a prophecy is spoken obscurely, after the outcome of the events it becomes clearer, but before the outcome, not at all. So, since it was then spoken obscurely, it was unclear; but when the events have come to pass, for this reason what was said was clearer. And that you may learn that a prophecy, even if spoken a long time before, but spoken obscurely, becomes more obscure while awaiting the outcome from the events, I will make this clear to you from the disciples themselves. Destroy this temple, Christ said to the Jews. For since he was driving out those who were profaning the temple through merchandising, they said: What sign do you show us, that you do these things? And to this he says: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. But he was speaking about the temple of his body. This is a prophecy; for the cross had not yet come to pass, nor the destruction of the temple, nor the three-day resurrection, which he himself brought about. And see how he hinted at both with precision, both their audacity, and his own power. But nevertheless they did not know what was being said. And that the Jews did not know is not at all surprising; but it says that not even his disciples understood, until he rose from the dead; And then they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had spoken. 2. Do you see that they needed the outcome through events, in order that the prophecy might become clearer, and that the Jews were not at fault for not understanding those prophecies about Christ before the coming of Christ? For by his coming they were going to become plain and clear. Hear Christ himself saying: If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin. Why would they not have sin, if the prophecies foretold? Because they did foretell, but they were not clear, nor plain before the coming of the one who was foretold. For if even then they were clear and plain to them, it is plain that even before his coming they would have sin; but if they did not have sin, it is very clear that it was because of their obscurity and the veiled nature of what was said. For faith in Christ was not required of them before the coming of Christ. For what reason, then, was it foretold at that time? So that, when he should come, they might have teachers from among themselves convicting them, and might know that what was happening was not an innovation, nor a recent economy, but that these things were proclaimed from of old and many ages before; and this is no small thing for drawing them to the faith. This, then, is one reason for the obscurity, which we also demonstrated through many testimonies in the previous discourse. So that we may not trouble you again by saying the same things, it is necessary to desist from this, and to speak of another which does not make the Old Testament obscure and unknown, but more difficult for us. For it is one thing to know nothing at all of what is contained, and to see a veil lying 56.178 over it, but another to find what is said, but to find it with labor. What, then, is the second reason for which the Old Testament is more difficult than the New? We do not have the Old Testament written in our own language; but it was composed in one language, and we have it read in another. For from the beginning it was written in the Hebrew tongue, but we received it in the Greek tongue; and when a tongue is translated into another tongue, it has much difficulty. And those who are experienced in many languages know precisely how it is not possible to transfer all the clarity of the language lying in its own nature when translating into another language. This

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παρουσία, εἰς τὴν τάξιν ἀνάγουσα Μωϋσέως. Ἀλλ' ἴσως ἐρεῖ τις· Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν ἐλέγετο τότε, εἰ μὴ ἔμελλεν αὐτοῖς σαφῆ εἶναι τὰ λεγόμενα; Ἵνα τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα γένηται χρήσιμα. Προφητείας γὰρ ἀξίωμα τοῦτό ἐστιν, οὐχ ὅταν τὰ παρόντα ἀπαγγείλῃ πράγματα, ἀλλ' ὅταν τὰ μέλλοντα προαναφωνήσῃ. Προφητεία δὲ ὅταν συνεσκιασμένως λέγηται, μετὰ τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων ἔκβασιν γίνεται σαφεστέρα, πρὸ δὲ τῆς ἐκβάσεως οὐδαμῶς. Ὥστε, ἐπειδὴ τότε μὲν ἐλέγετο συνεσκιασμένως, ἀσαφῆ ἦν· ὅτε δὲ ἐκβέβηκε τὰ πράγματα, διὰ τοῦτο σαφέστερα ἦν τὰ λεγόμενα. Καὶ ἵνα μάθητε, ὅτι προφητεία, κἂν πρὸ πολλοῦ λέγηται τοῦ χρόνου, συνεσκιασμένως δὲ λέγηται, ἀσαφεστέρα γίνεται ἀναμένουσα τὴν ἐκ τῶν πραγμάτων ἔκβασιν, ἀπ' αὐτῶν τῶν μαθητῶν ὑμῖν τοῦτο ποιήσω φανερόν. Λύσατε τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον, τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἔλεγεν ὁ Χριστός. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐδίωκε τοὺς διὰ τῆς καπηλείας εἰς τὸν ναὸν ἐνυβρίζοντας, λέγουσιν ἐκεῖνοι· Τί σημεῖον δεικνύεις ἡμῖν, ὅτι ταῦτα ποιεῖς; Καὶ πρὸς τοῦτό φησι· Λύσατε τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον, καὶ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγερῶ αὐτόν. Ἐκεῖνος δὲ ἔλεγε περὶ τοῦ ναοῦ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ. Τοῦτο προφητεία τίς ἐστιν· οὔπω γὰρ ἦν ἐκβεβηκὼς ὁ σταυρὸς, οὐδὲ ἡ λύσις τοῦ ναοῦ, οὐδὲ ἡ τριήμερος ἀνάστασις, ἢν αὐτὸς ἐποιήσατο Καὶ ὅρα πῶς τὰ ἀμφότερα μετὰ ἀκριβείας ᾐνίξατο, καὶ τὴν τόλμαν τὴν ἐκείνων, καὶ τὴν οἰκείαν αὐτοῦ δύναμιν. Ἀλλ' ὅμως οὐκ ᾔδεισαν τὰ λεγόμενα. Καὶ τὸ μὲν Ἰουδαίους ἀγνοεῖν, οὐδὲν θαυμαστόν· λέγει δὲ, ὅτι οὐδὲ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ συνῆκαν, ἕως ἀνέστη ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν· Καὶ τότε ἐπίστευσαν τῇ Γραφῇ, καὶ τῷ λόγῳ, ᾧ εἶπεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς. βʹ. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι ἐδεήθησαν τῆς διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐκβάσεως, ἵνα σαφεστέρα γένηται ἡ προφητεία, καὶ ὅτι ἔγκλημα οὐκ εἶχον οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι μὴ συνιέντες τὰς προφητείας ἐκείνας τὰς περὶ Χριστοῦ πρὸ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας; Τῇ γὰρ παρουσίᾳ δῆλαι ἔμελλον γίνεσθαι καὶ σαφεῖς. Ἄκουσον αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ λέγοντος· Εἰ μὴ ἦλθον, καὶ ἐλάλησα αὐτοῖς, ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ εἶχον. ∆ιὰ τί οὐκ εἶχον ἁμαρτίαν, εἰ αἱ προφητεῖαι προέλεγον; Ὅτι προέλεγον μὲν, οὐκ ἦσαν δὲ σαφεῖς, οὐδὲ δῆλαι πρὸ τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ προλεγομένου. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τότε σαφεῖς ἦσαν αὐτοῖς καὶ δῆλαι, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ πρὸ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ ἁμαρτίαν εἶχον· εἰ δὲ ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ εἶχον, εὔδηλον ὅτι διὰ τὴν ἀσάφειαν αὐτῶν καὶ τὸ συνεσκιάσθαι τὰ λεγόμενα. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀπῃτοῦντο τὴν εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν πίστιν πρὸ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν προελέγετο τότε; Ἵν', ὅταν παραγένηται, οἴκοθεν ἔχωσι τοὺς διδασκάλους ἐνάγοντας αὐτοὺς, καὶ εἰδῶσιν ὅτι οὐ καινοτομία τὰ γινόμενα, οὐδὲ πρόσφατος ἡ οἰκονομία, ἀλλ' ἄνωθεν ταῦτα καὶ πρὸ πολλῶν προανεκηρύττετο χρόνων· οὐ μικρὸν δὲ τοῦτο εἰς τὸ ἐπισπάσασθαι πρὸς τὴν πίστιν αὐτούς. Μία μὲν οὖν αὕτη τῆς ἀσαφείας αἰτία, ἣν καὶ διὰ πλειόνων ἀπεδείξαμεν μαρτυριῶν ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ διαλέξει. Ἵν' οὖν μὴ πάλιν ὑμᾶς ἐνοχλῶμεν τὰ αὐτὰ λέγοντες, ἀναγκαῖον μὲν ταύτης ἀποστῆναι, ἑτέραν δὲ εἰπεῖν τὴν οὐκ ἀσαφῆ καὶ ἄγνωστον, ἀλλὰ δυσκολωτέραν ἡμῖν ποιοῦσαν τὴν Παλαιὰν ∆ιαθήκην. Ἄλλο γάρ ἐστι μηδὲν ὅλως εἰδέναι τῶν ἐγκειμένων, καὶ ὁρᾷν κάλυμμα ἐπικεί56.178 μενον, ἄλλο δὲ εὑρεῖν μὲν τὰ λεγόμενα, μετὰ πόνου δὲ εὑρεῖν. Τίς οὖν ἐστιν ἡ δευτέρα αἰτία, δι' ἣν δυσκολωτέρα ἡ Παλαιὰ ∆ιαθήκη τῆς Νέας ἐστίν; Οὐχὶ τῇ ἐγχωρίῳ φωνῇ ἔχομεν τὴν Παλαιὰν ∆ιαθήκην παρ' ἡμῖν γεγραμμένην· ἀλλ' ἑτέρᾳ μὲν συνετέθη γλώττῃ, ἑτέρᾳ δὲ ἔχομεν αὐτὴν ἀναγινωσκομένην ἡμεῖς. Τῇ γὰρ Ἑβραίων φωνῇ παρὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν συνεγράφη, ἡμεῖς δὲ αὐτὴν τῇ Ἑλλήνων παρελάβομεν γλώττῃ· ὅταν δὲ γλῶττα ἑρμηνευθῇ εἰς ἑτέραν γλῶτταν, πολλὴν ἔχει τὴν δυσκολίαν. Καὶ ἴσασιν ἀκριβῶς, ὅσοι πολλῶν γλωσσῶν εἰσιν ἔμπειροι, πῶς οὐ δυνατὸν πᾶσαν τὴν σαφήνειαν τῆς φωνῆς τῆς ἐν τῇ οἰκείᾳ φύσει κειμένης μετενεγκεῖν εἰς τὴν ἑτέραν μεταβάλλοντας γλῶσσαν. Τοῦτο