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therefore has become the cause of the difficulty in the Old Testament. For three hundred years before the coming of Christ, under Ptolemy the king of the Egyptians, the Old Testament was translated into the Greek language, very usefully and necessarily. For as long as it spoke to one nation, the Jews, it remained in the Hebrew tongue. For at that time no one else was going to pay attention to it, since the rest of the human race had descended into the uttermost bestiality. But since Christ was about to come, and to call the whole world to himself, not only through the apostles, but also through the prophets—for they too guide us to the faith of the knowledge of Christ—then at last he prepared for the prophecies, like certain entrances and roads, previously closed by the obscurity of the language, to be opened on all sides through the interpretation, so that all who flocked from the nations from every direction, traveling these roads with much ease, might be able through them to come to the king of the prophets, and worship the only-begotten Son of God. For this reason, all were interpreted before the time of Christ's coming; since if they remained in the Hebrew dialect only, and David said, "Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession," how would the Syrian, or the Galatian, or the Macedonian, or the Athenian know what was said, with the Scripture remaining in obscurity? Again Isaiah cried out: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is dumb." And again: "There shall be the root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to rule over the nations; in him shall the nations hope." And again: "The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as much water covers the seas." And David again said: "God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet;" and again: "The Lord said unto my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet." 3. Since, therefore, the Old Testament foretold of the passion, and of the resurrection, and of the ascension, and of the session at the right hand, and of his second coming, and of all these things simply which are contained in the 56.179 New Testament, so that these things might not remain unknown to the nations that were to come after, and that they might not be ignorant of the power of prophecy, the grace of God ordained for the Scriptures to be interpreted before the coming of Christ, making them useful not only to those of the Gentiles, but also to the Jews scattered throughout the world who had by then lost the Hebrew language. For behold, he of the Gentiles believed, seeing the signs of the Jews. How could the apostles in turn have won over the Jew, if they were not going to provide him with a teacher from his own house, the prophet? For if Paul, having entered Athens, needed an inscription engraved on an altar, and from that made his teaching to them, expecting to capture them more easily with their own weapons, which also happened; much more when dialoguing with Jews did he need the alliance of the prophets, so that they too might not accuse him of introducing new and strange things to their ears. And why, he says, was there not one language, and we would have been rid of all the difficulty? There was one language in the old days, O man, and just as there was one nature of men, there was also one language of all. From the beginning there was no diversity of tongue, there was no diversity of speech, there was no Indian, nor Thracian, nor Scythian, but all spoke with one language. What then has become the cause? he says. We were found unworthy of this one language, we who are always ungrateful toward our benefactor. What are you saying? We were found unworthy of a language? And yet the irrational animals all have their own voice; sheep bleat, goats cry, a bull lows, a horse neighs, a lion roars, a wolf howls, a serpent hisses; each of the

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οὖν αἴτιον τῆς δυσκολίας τῆς ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ ∆ιαθήκῃ γέγονε. Πρὸ γὰρ τριακοσίων ἐτῶν τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας, ἐπὶ Πτολεμαίου τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν Αἰγυπτίων, πρὸς τὴν Ἑλλάδα μετηνέχθη γλῶσσαν ἡ Παλαιὰ ∆ιαθήκη, χρησίμως σφόδρα καὶ ἀναγκαίως. Ἕως μὲν γὰρ ἑνὶ ἔθνει τῶν Ἰουδαίων διελέγετο, ἔμενεν ἐν τῇ Ἑβραΐδι φωνῇ. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ τότε ἔμελλεν αὐτῇ προσέχειν, τοῦ λοιποῦ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένους εἰς θηριωδίαν ἐσχάτην ἐληλακότος. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἔμελλεν ὁ Χριστὸς παραγίνεσθαι, καὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην πᾶσαν πρὸς ἑαυτὸν καλεῖν, οὐχὶ διὰ τῶν ἀποστόλων μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τῶν προφητῶν καὶ γὰρ κἀκεῖνοι πρὸς τὴν πίστιν ἡμᾶς χειραγωγοῦσι τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ γνώσεως, τηνικαῦτα λοιπὸν ὡσπερεί τινας εἰσόδους καὶ ὁδοὺς τὰς προφητείας, πρότερον ἀποκεκλεισμένας τῇ τῆς γλώττης ἀσαφείᾳ, πάντοθεν ἀνοιγῆναι παρεσκεύασε διὰ τῆς ἑρμηνείας, ἵνα πάντες οἱ ἐκ τῶν ἐθνῶν πανταχόθεν συῤῥέοντες, καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς εὐκολίας ταύτας ὁδεύοντες τὰς ὁδοὺς, δι' αὐτῶν δυνηθῶσι πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα τῶν προφητῶν ἐλθεῖν, καὶ προσκυνῆσαι τῷ μονογενεῖ τοῦ Θεοῦ Υἱῷ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο πρό γε τοῦ χρόνου τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἡρμηνεύθησαν ἅπασαι· ἐπεὶ εἰ ἔμενον ἐν τῇ Ἑβραΐδι διαλέκτῳ μόνον, ἔλεγε δὲ ὁ ∆αυῒδ, Αἴτησαι παρ' ἐμοῦ, καὶ δώσω σοι ἔθνη τὴν κληρονομίαν σου, καὶ τὴν κατάσχεσίν σου τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς, πόθεν ἔμελλεν εἰδέναι τὸ λεγόμενον ὁ Σύρος, ἢ ὁ Γαλάτης, ἢ ὁ Μακεδὼν, ἢ ὁ Ἀθηναῖος, ἐν ἀσαφείᾳ μενούσης τῆς Γραφῆς; Πάλιν ὁ Ἡσαΐας ἐβόα· Ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶσφαγὴν ἤχθη, καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς ἐναντίον τοῦ κείροντος αὐτὸν ἄφωνος. Καὶ πάλιν· Ἔσται ἡ ῥίζα τοῦ Ἰεσσαὶ, καὶ ὁ ἀνιστάμενος ἄρχειν ἐθνῶν· ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσι. Καὶ πάλιν· Πλησθήσεται ἡ γῆ τοῦ γνῶναι τὸν Κύριον, ὡς ὕδωρ πολὺ κατακαλύψαι θαλάσσας. Καὶ ὁ ∆αυῒδ πάλιν ἔλεγεν· Ἀνέβη ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ, Κύριος ἐν φωνῇ σάλπιγγος· καὶ πάλιν· Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τῷ Κυρίῳ μου· Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου. γʹ. Ἐπεὶ οὖν καὶ περὶ τοῦ πάθους, καὶ περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως, καὶ περὶ τῆς ἀναλήψεως, καὶ περὶ τῆς ἐκ δεξιῶν καθέδρας, καὶ περὶ τῆς δευτέρας αὐτοῦ παρουσίας, καὶ περὶ πάντων τούτων ἁπλῶς τῶν ἐν τῇ 56.179 Καινῇ κειμένων προεῖπεν ἡ Παλαιὰ ∆ιαθήκη, ἵνα μὴ ἄγνωστα μένῃ ταῦτα τοῖς ἔθνεσι τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα μέλλουσιν ἔσεσθαι, καὶ ἀγνοῶσι τῆς προφητείας τὴν ἰσχὺν, ᾠκονόμησεν ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ χάρις πρὸ τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἑρμηνευθῆναι τὰς Γραφὰς, οὐ τοῖς ἐξ ἐθνῶν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἰουδαίων τοῖς πανταχοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης διασπαρεῖσι καὶ τὴν Ἑβραΐδα λοιπὸν ἀποβαλοῦσι γλῶσσαν χρησίμους αὐτὰς ποιῶν. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ, ἐπίστευσεν ὁ ἐξ ἐθνῶν, βλέπων τὰ σημεῖα τῶν Ἰουδαίων. Πῶς εἶχον πάλιν ἐπαγαγέσθαι τὸν Ἰουδαῖον οἱ ἀπόστολοι, εἰ μὴ ἔμελλον αὐτῷ διδάσκαλον οἴκοθεν παρέχειν τὸν προφήτην; Εἰ γὰρ εἰς Ἀθήνας εἰσελθὼν ὁ Παῦλος ἐπιγράμματος ἐδεήθη ἐγκεκολαμμένου βωμῷ, καὶ τὴν διδασκαλίαν ἐξ ἐκείνου πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐποιήσατο, τοῖς οἰκείοις αὐτῶν ὅπλοις εὐκολώτερον αἱρήσειν προσδοκῶν, ὅπερ καὶ ἐγένετο· πολλῷ μᾶλλον Ἰουδαίοις διαλεγόμενος ἐδεῖτο συμμαχίας τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν προφητῶν, ὥστε μὴ καὶ ἐκείνους ἐγκαλεῖν, ὅτι καινά τινα καὶ ξενίζοντα εἰσφέρει εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς αὐτῶν. Καὶ διὰ τί, φησὶν, οὐκ ἦν μία φωνὴ, καὶ πάσης ἦμεν ἀπηλλαγμένοι τῆς δυσκολίας; Μία φωνὴ τὸ παλαιὸν ἦν, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, καὶ ὥσπερ μία φύσις ἀνθρώπων, καὶ μία φωνὴ πάντων ἦν. Οὐκ ἦν ἑτερόγλωσσος ἀπ' ἀρχῆς, οὐκ ἦν ἑτερόφωνος, οὐκ ἦν Ἰνδὸς, οὔτε Θρᾲξ, οὔτε Σκύθης, ἀλλὰ πάντες μιᾷ διελέγοντο γλώσσῃ. Τί οὖν γέγονε τὸ αἴτιον; φησίν. Ἀνάξιοι τῆς μιᾶς ταύτης φωνῆς ἐφάνημεν ἡμεῖς, οἱ ἀγνώμονες ἀεὶ περὶ τὸν εὐεργέτην. Τί λέγεις; φωνῆς ἀνάξιοι ἐφάνημεν; καὶ τὰ μὲν ἄλογα τὴν οἰκείαν φωνὴν ἔχει πάντα· βληχᾶται πρόβατα, μηκῶνται αἶγες, μυκᾶται ταῦρος, χρεμετίζει ἵππος, βρύχεται λέων, ὠρύεται λύκος, συρίζει δράκων· ἕκαστον τῶν