their cattle also. From this water drawn from the wells the magicians made the blood, and in no way is the account falsified. And the miracles performed by Moses, since they occurred by divine power, occurred through a change of nature of the subject into the nature of that which was being accomplished; but those performed by the magicians occurred by the power of demons, who made the sight of the observers see what was not a snake as a snake, and what was not blood as blood, and what were not frogs as frogs. Question 27. Did Moses not teach things contrary to himself, on the one hand carrying along the bones of Joseph, and on the other hand abominating the one who touches a corpse as unclean? And if there was some reasonable cause for this with him, let us now learn it. For what reason did scripture not say for what cause Moses, doing those things, taught these things? Answer. Since Joseph, when he was dying, made the sons of Israel swear an oath concerning the transport of his bones, and it was set before Moses to keep both—not to transgress the oath and not to touch a corpse—for this reason, by breaking the law which says not to touch a corpse, he kept the oath inviolable; for it was impossible for him to keep both inviolable, both the law and the oath. Therefore, by the greater observance of the oath, he broke the lesser observance of the law; for everywhere a lesser evil is preferable to a greater one. And many such things are found in divine scripture, which God does not reckon as a sin for those who transgress them because of the necessity that has occurred in them, such as the eight-day circumcision and the seven-day circling of Jericho and the offering of sacrifices on the sabbath, which things involve the breaking of the sabbath. Furthermore, if the prophet ordered those who in succession carried the bones of Joseph, and were unclean for seven days, to be purified through the observance of this number in the purification according to the law of Moses, then the prophet did nothing contrary to what he said. But to ask why the prophet did not state the reason for these things is similar to saying, why were not all the scriptures handed down interpreted by those who set them forth; since in the narrative of the matter the meaning of the matter is contained implicitly. Therefore scripture did not see fit to declare this explicitly. Question 28. If the Lord, reproving the feigned piety of the Pharisees, said that they are whitewashed tombs, filled with the bones of the dead and all uncleanness, and in the law he who touches a corpse was reckoned unclean, as one doing something amiss, and we abominate the dead and their tombs, since the dead are called unclean under both the old and the new [covenant]; how did Christ not act contrary to both, in that, when raising the widow's son, he touched the bier and the

αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ θρέμματα. Ἐκ τούτου τοῦ ὕδατος τοῦ ἐκ τῶν φρεάτων ἀντλουμένου ἐποίησαν οἱ ἐπαοιδοὶ τὸ αἷμα, καὶ οὐ δαμῶς διέψευσται ὁ λόγος. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὑπὸ Μωϋσέως γενό μενα θαύματα, ἅτε κατὰ τὴν θείαν γεγενημένα ἐνέργειαν, κατὰ μεταβολὴν γεγένηνται φύσεως τοῦ προκειμένου εἰς τὴν φύσιν τοῦ ἐκτελουμένου, τὰ δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπαοιδῶν γενόμενα κατὰ τὴν ἐνέργειαν ἐγένοντο τῶν δαιμόνων, τῶν φαντασάντων τὰς ὄψεις τῶν ὁρώντων, τὸν μὴ ὄφιν ὁρᾶν ὡς ὄφιν, καὶ τὸ μὴ αἷμα ὡς αἷμα, καὶ τοὺς μὴ βατράχους ὡς βατράχους. Ἐρώτησις κζ. Eἰ ἐναντία ἑαυτῷ Μωϋσῆς οὐκ ἐδίδασκε τὰ μὲν ὀστέα τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ ἐπαγόμενος, τὸν δὲ ἁπτόμενον νεκροῦ ὡς ἀκάθαρ τον μυσαττόμενος; Καὶ εἰ ἦν τις εὔλογος παρὰ τούτῳ αἰτία, ταύτην μὲν νυνὶ μάθωμεν. Τίνος δὲ ἕνεκεν ἡ γραφὴ οὐκ εἶπε, δι' ἣν αἰτίαν ἐκεῖνα ποιῶν Μωϋσῆς ταῦτα ἐδίδασκεν; Ἀπόκρισις. Ἐπειδὴ τελευτῶν ὁ Ἰωσὴφ περὶ τῆς μετακομιδῆς τῶν ὀστέων αὑτοῦ ὥρκισε τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραήλ, καὶ ἦν ἀμφότερα τῷ Μωϋσῇ εἰς φυλακὴν προκείμενα, τὸ μὴ παραβαίνειν τὸν ὅρκον καὶ τὸ μὴ ἅπτεσθαι νεκροῦ, διὰ τοῦτο τῇ λύσει τοῦ νόμου λέ γοντος μὴ ἅψασθαι νεκροῦ ἐφύλαξε τὸν ὅρκον ἀπαράβατον· ἀδύνατον γὰρ ἦν αὐτῷ ἀμφότερα φυλάξαι ἀπαράβατα, καὶ τὸν νόμον καὶ τὸν ὅρκον. Τῇ μείζονι οὖν φυλακῇ τοῦ ὅρκου ἔλυσε τὴν ἐλάττονα φυλακὴν τοῦ νόμου· πανταχοῦ γὰρ τὸ ἔλαττον κακὸν αἱρετώτερον τοῦ μείζονος. Καὶ τοιαῦτα πολλὰ εὑ ρίσκεται ἐν τῇ θείᾳ γραφῇ, ἅτινα οὐ λογίζεται ὁ θεὸς εἰς ἁμαρτίαν τῶν παραβαινόντων αὐτὰ διὰ τὴν ἐν αὐτοῖς συμβεβη κυῖαν ἀνάγκην, ὡς τὴν ὀκταήμερον περιτομὴν καὶ τὴν ἑπτα ήμερον περικύκλωσιν τῆς Ἱεριχὼ καὶ τὴν ἐν σαββάτῳ προσ αγωγὴν τῶν θυσιῶν, ἅτινα περιέχουσι τοῦ σαββάτου τὴν λύσιν. Ἔτι εἰ ἔταξεν ὁ προφήτης τοὺς ἐκ διαδοχῆς βαστάζοντας τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ τὰ ὀστέα καὶ κατὰ ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας ἀκαθάρτους ὄντας διὰ τῆς ἐν τῷ καθαρσίῳ κατὰ τὸν νόμον τοῦ Μωϋσέως τού του τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ διατηρήσεως καθαρίζεσθαι, οὐδ' ἐναντίον ὧν εἶπέ τι διεπράξατο ὁ προφήτης. Τὸ δὲ ζητεῖν, διὰ τί οὐκ εἶπεν ὁ προφήτης τούτων τὴν αἰτίαν, ὅμοιόν ἐστι τῷ λέγειν, διὰ τί μὴ πᾶσαι αἱ γραφαὶ ἡρμηνευμέναι παρεδόθησαν παρὰ τῶν ἐκτεθεικότων αὐτάς· ἐπειδὴ ἐν τῇ τοῦ πράγματος διηγήσει ἐμφαντικῶς περιέχεται ἡ τοῦ πράγματος ἔννοια. ∆ιότι οὐκ ἐδοκίμασεν ἡ γραφὴ τὸ ἐκθετικῶς ταύτην δηλῶσαι. Ἐρώτησις κη. Eἰ τὴν τῶν Φαρισαίων ἐσχηματισμένην εὐλάβειαν ἐλέγχων ὁ κύριος ἔλεγεν ὅτι τάφοι κεκονιαμένοι εἰσίν, πεπληρωμένοι ὀστέων νεκρῶν καὶ πάσης ἀκαθαρσίας, καὶ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ ὁ ἁπτόμενος νεκροῦ ἀκάθαρτος ἐλογίζετο, ὡς ἄτοπον ἐργαζό μενός τι, τούς τε νεκροὺς καὶ τοὺς τούτων μυσαττόμεθα τά φους, ὑπό τε παλαιᾶς καὶ καινῆς ἀκαθάρτου τοῦ νεκροῦ κα λουμένου· πῶς ἀμφοτέρων ὁ Χριστὸς ἐναντίως οὐκ ἔπραξεν, ὅτι τὸν υἱὸν τῆς χήρας ἀνιστῶν ἥψατο τῆς σοροῦ καὶ τὴν