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Their account, beginning from the beginning of theology, presents the creative and demiurgic power of all things, not with syllogisms nor with plausible arguments, but rather dogmatically and didactically, inspired by the Holy Spirit; by whom Moses, being divinely inspired, thus began 7.11.2 his theology: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Then he says: “God said: Let there be light, and there was light.” And again: “God said: Let there be a firmament, and it was so.” And again: “God said: Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed after its kind and after its likeness, and the fruit tree yielding fruit, whose seed is in itself, after its kind upon the earth, and it was so.” And again: “God said: Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to give light upon the earth, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years, and it was so.” And again: “God said: Let the waters bring forth creeping things with living souls after their kind, and all the fowl of the air after their kind, and it was so.” And again: “Let the earth bring forth four-footed beasts and creeping things and wild beasts of the 7.11.3 earth after their kind, and it was so.” In these passages, then, the scripture, saying “God said,” presents the divine nod and that God willed existing things to come into being in this way, it is not, however, necessary to suppose that he spoke with voice and syllables, but summarizing the whole account, he says: “This is the book of the generation of heaven and earth, in the day that God made the heaven and the earth 7.11.4 and all things in them.” Such then is the theology of the Hebrews, teaching that all things were established by the creative Word of God. Then it teaches not that the whole world was thus left desolate by its framer, as an orphan left by a father, but that it is forever governed by the providence of God, so that God is not only the creator of all things and maker, but also savior and administrator and king and ruler, supervising for ever the sun itself and moon and stars and the whole heaven and world, and overseeing all things with a great eye and divine power, and being present to all things heavenly and earthly and arranging and administering all things in the world; 7.11.5 just as, indeed, the prophets after this, they too being likewise inspired, sometimes cried out, speaking from the divine person himself: “I am a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off. If a man shall do anything in secret, shall I not know 7.11.6 it? Do not I fill heaven and earth? says the Lord;” and at other times theologizing in this way: “Who has measured the water in the hollow of his hand, and the heaven with a span, and the whole earth in a handful? Who has weighed the mountains in a balance, and the valleys in a scale? Who has known the mind of the Lord, and who has been his counselor?” And again: “He who establishes the heaven as a vault, and stretches it out as a tent to dwell in.” And again: “Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has showed all these things.” And what follows: “The Lord God who made the heaven and established it, who made the earth firm and the things in it, and gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk on it, I am the Lord God.” And what follows: “I alone stretched out the heaven and made the earth firm; I am the Lord God and 7.11.7 there is none besides me.” And again: “Thus shall you say to them: The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, let them perish from the face of the earth, and from under heaven. The Lord who made the earth by his might, has set up the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has stretched out the heaven, and has brought up clouds from the end of the earth, he has made lightnings for rain, and has brought forth winds out of his treasures. Every man is become a fool 7.11.8 by his knowledge.” And again: “Whither shall I go from thy spirit, and

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Τὴν μὲν δὴ τῆς θεολογίας ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν ὅλων ποιητικῆς τε καὶ δημιουργικῆς δυνάμεως ἀρχόμενος ὁ κατ' αὐτοὺς λόγος παρίστησιν, οὐ συλλογισμοῖς οὐδὲ πιθανολογίαις, δογματικώτερον δὲ καὶ διδασκαλικώτερον ἐπι θειάζων τῷ ἁγίῳ πνεύματι· ὑφ' οὗ θεοφορούμενος ὧδέ πως ὁ Μωσῆς ἀπήρξατο 7.11.2 τῆς θεολογίας· «Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν.» εἶτά φησιν· «Εἶπεν ὁ θεός· γενηθήτω φῶς, καὶ ἐγένετο φῶς.» καὶ πάλιν· «Εἶπεν ὁ θεός· γενηθήτω στερέωμα, καὶ ἐγένετο.» καὶ πάλιν· «Εἶπεν ὁ θεός· βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου, σπεῖρον σπέρμα κατὰ γένος καὶ καθ' ὁμοιότητα καὶ ξύλον κάρπιμον ποιοῦν καρπόν, οὗ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ, κατὰ γένος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἐγένετο.» καὶ αὖθις· «Εἶπεν ὁ θεός· γενηθήτωσαν φωστῆρες ἐν τῷ στερεώματι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ὥστε φαίνειν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἔστωσαν εἰς σημεῖα καὶ εἰς καιροὺς καὶ εἰς ἡμέρας καὶ εἰς ἐνιαυτούς, καὶ ἐγένετο.» καὶ πάλιν· «Εἶπεν ὁ θεός· Ἐξαγαγέτω τὰ ὕδατα ἑρπετὰ ψυχῶν ζωσῶν κατὰ γένος καὶ πάντα τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κατὰ γένος, καὶ ἐγένετο.» καὶ πάλιν· «Ἐξαγαγέτω ἡ γῆ τετράποδα καὶ ἑρπετὰ καὶ θηρία τῆς 7.11.3 γῆς κατὰ γένος, καὶ ἐγένετο.» ἐν δὴ τούτοις φάσκουσα ἡ γραφὴ «εἶπεν ὁ θεός» τὸ θεῖον νεῦμα καὶ τὸ ὡδί πως γενέσθαι τὰ ὄντα βουληθῆναι τὸν θεὸν παρίστησιν, οὐ μὴν φωνῇ καὶ συλλαβαῖς φάναι αὐτὸν ἐπινοεῖν ἀναγκαῖον, ἀλλὰ τὸν πάντα λόγον ἀνακεφαλαιούμενος «Αὕτη», φησίν, «ἡ βίβλος γενέσεως οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν 7.11.4 καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς.» τοιαύτη μὲν ἡ καθ' Ἑβραίους θεολογία, λόγῳ θεοῦ δημιουργικῷ τὰ πάντα συνεστάναι παιδεύουσα. ἔπειτα δὲ οὐχ ὧδε ἔρημον ὡς ὀρφανὸν ὑπὸ πατρὸς καταλειφθέντα τὸν σύμπαντα κόσμον ὑπὸ τοῦ συστησαμένου διδάσκει, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸ ἀεὶ ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ προνοίας αὐτὸν διοικεῖσθαι, ὡς μὴ μόνον δημιουργὸν εἶναι τῶν ὅλων καὶ ποιητὴν τὸν θεόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ σωτῆρα καὶ διοικητὴν καὶ βασιλέα καὶ ἡγεμόνα, ἡλίῳ αὐτῷ καὶ σελήνῃ καὶ ἄστροις καὶ τῷ σύμπαντι οὐρανῷ τε καὶ κόσμῳ δι' αἰῶνος ἐπιστατοῦντα μεγάλῳ τε ὀφθαλμῷ καὶ ἐνθέῳ δυνάμει πάντ' ἐφορῶντα καὶ τοῖς πᾶσιν οὐρανίοις τε καὶ ἐπιγείοις ἐπιπαρόντα καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν κόσμῳ δια7.11.5 τάττοντά τε καὶ διοικοῦντα· ὥσπερ οὖν ἀμέλει καὶ οἱ μετὰ ταῦτα προ φῆται, ἀκόλουθα καὶ αὐτοὶ θειάζοντες, τοτὲ μὲν ἀνεφώνουν ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ θείου λέγοντες προσώπου· «Θεὸς ἐγγίζων ἐγώ εἰμι, λέγει κύριος, καὶ οὐ θεὸς πόρρωθεν. εἰ ποιήσει τι ἄνθρωπος ἐν κρυφαίοις, κἀγὼ οὐ γνώσομαι 7.11.6 αὐτό; οὐχὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐγὼ πληρῶ; λέγει κύριος·» τοτὲ δὲ ὧδέ πη θεολογοῦντες· «Τίς ἐμέτρησε τῇ χειρὶ τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν σπιθαμῇ καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν δρακί; τίς ἔστησε τὰ ὄρη σταθμῷ καὶ τὰς νάπας ζυγῷ; τίς ἔγνω νοῦν κυρίου καὶ τίς σύμβουλος αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο;» καὶ πάλιν· «Ὁ στήσας ὡς καμάραν τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ διατείνας ὡς σκηνὴν κατοικεῖν» καὶ αὖθις· «Ἀναβλέψατε εἰς ὕψος τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὑμῶν καὶ ἴδετε τίς κατέδειξε ταῦτα πάντα» καὶ ἑξῆς· «Κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ ποιήσας τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ πήξας αὐτόν, ὁ στερεώσας τὴν γῆν καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ διδοὺς πνοὴν τῷ λαῷ τῷ ἐπ' αὐτῆς καὶ πνεῦμα τοῖς πατοῦσιν αὐτήν, ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεός» καὶ ἑξῆς· «Ἐξέτεινα τὸν οὐρανὸν μόνος καὶ ἐστερέωσα τὴν γῆν· ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς καὶ 7.11.7 οὐκ ἔστι πλὴν ἐμοῦ» καὶ πάλιν· «Οὕτως ἐρεῖτε αὐτοῖς· θεοὶ οἳ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν οὐκ ἐποίησαν, ἀπολέσθωσαν ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς καὶ ὑποκάτωθεν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. κύριος ὁ ποιήσας τὴν γῆν ἐν τῇ ἰσχύϊ αὐτοῦ ἀνώρθωσε τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν τῇ φρονήσει αὐτοῦ ἐξέτεινε τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ ἀνήγαγε νεφέλας ἐξ ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς, ἀστραπὰς εἰς ὑετὸν ἐποίησε, καὶ ἐξήγαγεν ἀνέμους ἐκ θησαυρῶν αὐτοῦ. ἐμωράνθη πᾶς 7.11.8 ἄνθρωπος ἀπὸ γνώσεως» καὶ πάλιν· «Ποῦ πορευθῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματός σου καὶ