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It is necessary to distinguish these questions with precision. The first question, therefore, is this: why did God name some of the saints, but not others? For He did not name all the saints Himself, neither in the New nor in the Old Testament; and what happened in the New, this also happened in the Old, so that you may learn that the Lord of both testaments is one. Therefore, in the New Testament, Christ named Simon Peter, and the sons of Zebedee, James and John, Sons of Thunder, these only; but none of the other disciples, but He left them with the names which their parents had given them from the beginning; but in the Old Testament, God renamed Abraham and Jacob; but not Joseph, nor Samuel, nor David, nor Elijah, nor Elisha, nor the other prophets, but He let them remain with the name they had from the beginning. This, then, is the first question, why some of the saints were renamed, but others were not; and the second after that, why some of these were renamed in the middle of their life, but others from the beginning, and before their birth pangs. For Christ renamed Peter and James and John in middle age; but John the Baptist before his birth pangs. For an angel of the Lord came and said: Fear not, Zacharias; behold your wife Elisabeth shall bear a son, and you shall call his name John. Do you see how the naming was before the birth pangs? This also happened in the Old Testament. For just as in the New Testament Peter and James and John were renamed when they had reached manhood, and became two-named, but John the Baptist received his name before his birth pangs and birth; so also in the Old Testament Abraham and Jacob were renamed in middle age; for the one was called Abram, and was called Abraham; and the other was called Jacob, and was called Israel. But Isaac not so, but receives his name before his birth pangs; and just as there the angel said: Your wife will conceive in her womb, and shall bear a son, and you shall call his name John; so also here God said to Abraham: Your wife Sarah will bear a son, and you will call his name Isaac. So this is one question, for what reason some were renamed, but others not; and the second after that, why some in middle age, but others before their birth pangs, and these things in both Testaments. But let us go to the second question first; for in this way the other will also be clearer; and let us see those who were named from the beginning, and ascending little by little, let us come to the first man named by God, so that from the beginning the questions may receive their solution. Whom, then, did God name first? Who else, but the first one formed? For there was no other man, to give him a name. What then did He name him? Adam in the Hebrew tongue; for the name is not Greek, but translated into Greek, it signifies nothing other than the earthly one; for Eden signifies the virgin earth; and such was that place, in which God planted paradise. For God planted paradise, it says, in Eden, in the east; so that you may learn that paradise was not the work of human hands; for the earth was virgin, and had received neither plow, nor was it opened into furrows, but being untouched by agricultural hands, from a command alone it sprouted those trees. For this reason He called it Eden, which is virgin earth; this virgin was a type of that Virgin. For just as this earth, not having received seeds, sprouted paradise for us; so also that one, not having received the seed of a man, sprouted Christ for us. When, therefore, a Jew says to you, How did the virgin give birth? say to him, How did the virgin earth sprout those wondrous trees? For Eden is called virgin earth in the Hebrew tongue; and if anyone disbelieves,

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ἀνάγκη αὐτὰ τὰ ζητήματα διακρῖναι μετὰ ἀκριβείας. Ζητεῖται τοίνυν πρῶτον μὲν, διὰ τί τῶν ἁγίων τοὺς μὲν ὠνόμασεν ὁ Θεὸς, τοὺς δὲ οὐκ ὠνόμασεν. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους αὐτὸς ὠνόμασεν, οὔτε ἐν τῇ Καινῇ, οὔτε ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ· καὶ ὅπερ γέγονεν ἐν τῇ Καινῇ, τοῦτο καὶ ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ, ἵνα μάθῃς, ὅτι εἷς ἐστιν ὁ ∆εσπότης ἑκατέρων τῶν διαθηκῶν. Ἐν μὲν οὖν τῇ Καινῇ τὸν Σίμωνα ὁ Χριστὸς Πέτρον ὠνόμασε, καὶ τὰ τέκνα Ζεβεδαίου Ἰάκωβον καὶ Ἰωάννην Υἱοὺς βροντῆς, τούτους μόνους· τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν μαθητῶν οὐδένα, ἀλλ' ἀφῆκεν αὐτοὺς ἐν ταῖς προσηγορίαις, ἐν αἷς ἔθεντο αὐτοὺς οἱ γονεῖς ἐξ ἀρχῆς· ἐν δὲ τῇ Παλαιᾷ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ ὁ Θεὸς μετωνόμασε καὶ τὸν Ἰακώβ· οὔτε δὲ τὸν Ἰωσὴφ, οὔτε τὸν Σαμουὴλ, οὔτε τὸν ∆αυῒδ, οὔτε τὸν Ἠλίαν, οὔτε τὸν Ἐλισσαῖον, οὔτε τοὺς λοιποὺς προφήτας, ἀλλ' ἀφῆκεν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς προσηγορίας μένειν τῆς ἐν ἀρχῇ. Ἓν μὲν τοῦτο πρῶτον ζήτημά ἐστι, διὰ τί τῶν ἁγίων οἱ μὲν μετωνομάσθησαν, οἱ δὲ οὔ· δεύτερον δὲ μετ' ἐκεῖνο, διὰ τί τούτων οἱ μὲν ἐν μέσῃ τῇ ἡλικίᾳ μετωνομάζοντο, οἱ δὲ ἐξ ἀρχῆς, καὶ πρὸ αὐτῶν τῶν ὠδίνων. Τὸν μὲν γὰρ Πέτρον καὶ Ἰάκωβον καὶ Ἰωάννην ἐν μέσῃ τῇ ἡλικίᾳ μετωνόμασεν ὁ Χριστός· Ἰωάννην δὲ τὸν Βαπτιστὴν πρὸ αὐτῶν τῶν ὠδίνων. Ἦλθε γὰρ ἄγγελος Κυρίου, καὶ εἶπε· Μὴ φοβοῦ, Ζαχαρία· ἰδοὺ ἡ γυνή σου Ἐλισάβετ τέξεται υἱὸν, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰωάννην. Εἶδες πῶς πρὸ τῶν ὠδίνων ἡ προσηγορία; Τοῦτο καὶ ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ γέγονεν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν τῇ Καινῇ ὁ μὲν Πέτρος καὶ Ἰάκωβος καὶ Ἰωάννης εἰς ἄνδρας τελοῦντες μετωνομάσθησαν, καὶ διώνυμοι γεγόνασιν, Ἰωάννης δὲ ὁ Βαπτιστὴς πρὸ αὐτῶν τῶν ὠδίνων καὶ τῶν τόκων ἔλαβε τὴν προσηγορίαν· οὕτω καὶ ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ ὁ μὲν Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰακὼβ ἐν μέσῃ τῇ ἡλικίᾳ μετωνομάζοντο· ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐκαλεῖτο Ἀβρὰμ, καὶ ἐκλήθη Ἀβραάμ· ὁ δὲ ἐκαλεῖτο Ἰακὼβ, ἐκλήθη δὲ Ἰσραήλ.Ὁ δὲ Ἰσαὰκ οὐκ ἔτι οὕτως, ἀλλὰ πρὸ αὐτῶν τῶν ὠδίνων τὸ ὄνομα δέχεται· καὶ καθάπερ ἐκεῖ ὁ ἄγγελος εἶπεν· Ἡ γυνή σου λήψεται ἐν γαστρὶ, καὶ τέξεται υἱὸν, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰωάννην· οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα ὁ Θεὸς εἶπε πρὸς τὸ Ἀβραάμ· Ἡ γυνή σου Σάῤῥα τέξεται υἱὸν καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰσαάκ. Ἓν μὲν οὖν τοῦτο ζήτημα, τίνος ἕνεκεν οἱ μὲν μετωνομάσθησαν, οἱ δὲ οὐκέτι· δεύτερον δὲ μετ' ἐκεῖνο, τί δήποτε οἱ μὲν ἐν μέσῃ τῇ ἡλικίᾳ, οἱ δὲ πρὸ αὐτῶν τῶν ὠδίνων, καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἐν ἑκατέραις ∆ιαθήκαις. Ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ δεύτερον ἴωμεν πρότερον· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ἐκεῖνο σα 51.129 φέστερον ἔσται· καὶ ἴδωμεν τοὺς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὀνομασθέντας, καὶ ἀναβαίνοντες μετὰ (f. κατὰ) μικρὸν ἐπὶ τὸν πρῶτον ὀνομασθέντα ἄνθρωπον παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἔλθωμεν, ἵνα ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς τὰ ζητήματα τὴν λύσιν λαμβάνῃ. Τίνα οὖν πρῶτον ὠνόμασεν ὁ Θεός; Τίνα δὲ ἄλλον, ἀλλ' ἢ τὸν πρῶτον πλασθέντα; Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἦν ἄλλος ἄνθρωπος οὐδεὶς, ὥστε ἐπιθεῖναι αὐτῷ προσηγορίαν. Τίνα οὖν τοῦτον ὠνόμασεν; Ἀδὰμ τῇ Ἑβραίων φωνῇ· οὐ γάρ ἐστιν Ἑλληνικὸν τὸ ὄνομα, εἰς δὲ τὴν Ἑλλάδα μεταβαλλόμενον, οὐδὲν ἄλλο δηλοῖ, ἀλλ' ἢ τὸν γήϊνον· τὸ γὰρ Ἐδὲμ τὴν παρθένον σημαίνει γῆν· τοιοῦτον δὲ ἦν τὸ χωρίον ἐκεῖνο, ἐν ᾧ τὸν παράδεισον ἐφύτευσεν ὁ Θεός. Ἐφύτευσε γὰρ τὸν παράδεισον ὁ Θεὸς, φησὶν, ἐν Ἐδὲμ κατὰ ἀνατολάς· ἵνα μάθῃς, ὅτι οὐκ ἀνθρωπίνων χειρῶν ἔργον ἦν ὁ παράδεισος· παρθένος γὰρ ἦν ἡ γῆ, καὶ οὔτε ἄροτρον δεξαμένη ἦν, οὔτε εἰς αὔλακα διανοιγεῖσα, ἀλλ' ἄπειρος οὖσα γεωργικῶν χειρῶν ἀπὸ ἐπιταγῆς μόνον ἐβλάστησε τὰ δένδρα ἐκεῖνα. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο Ἐδὲμ αὐτὴν ἐκάλεσεν, ὅπερ ἐστὶ παρθένος γῆ· αὕτη ἡ παρθένος ἐκείνης τῆς Παρθένου τύπος ἦν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ αὕτη ἡ γῆ μὴ δεξαμένη σπέρματα ἐβλάστησεν ἡμῖν τὸν παράδεισον· οὕτω καὶ ἐκείνη μὴ δεξαμένη σπέρμα ἀνδρὸς ἐβλάστησεν ἡμῖν τὸν Χριστόν. Ὅταν οὖν εἴποι σοι ὁ Ἰουδαῖος, Πῶς ἔτεκεν ἡ παρθένος; εἰπὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν, Πῶς ἐβλάστησεν ἡ παρθένος γῆ τὰ δένδρα ἐκεῖνα τὰ παράδοξα; Τὸ γὰρ Ἐδὲμ παρθένος γῆ λέγεται τῇ Ἑβραίων γλώττῃ· καὶ εἴ τις διαπιστεῖ,