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Haran, and he came to a certain place and slept there; for the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place, and put it at his head, and slept in that place, and he dreamed, and behold, a ladder fixed on the earth, whose top reached to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 1.5.13 And the Lord was set upon it, and said, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; fear not, the land on which you sleep, to you will I give it, and to your seed, and your seed shall be as the dust of the earth.” 1.5.14 To which he adds next: “And Jacob rose up in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, and set it up for a pillar.” 1.5.15 Then, going on, this very one who appeared to him as God and Lord he calls an angel of God. For Jacob says: “And the angel of God said to me in a dream, Jacob; and I said, What is it?” 1.5.16 And next: “I have seen,” he says, “all that Laban does to you. I am the God who appeared to you in the place of God where you anointed a pillar to me there, and vowed a vow to me there.” 1.5.17 This same one, having appeared also to Abraham, is proclaimed God and Lord, initiating the God-loving one into the authorities concerning the Father, and teaching certain things as if concerning another God, which we will examine at the proper time. 1.5.18 But it is also right to say that it was none other than this one who spoke to Job after his sufficient exercise. For at first, appearing to him “through a whirlwind and clouds,” he presented himself as being the God of all things, but proceeding next he revealed himself, so that Job said: “Hear me, Lord, that I also may speak. I had heard the report of your voice before, but now my eye has seen you.” 1.5.19 But if it is not possible for the God beyond all, the invisible and unbegotten and all-sovereign king, to be seen by mortal nature, who could be the one indicated but the Word of God, who is called Lord by us after the Father? And why is it necessary to collect more on this subject, when it is possible to take the proofs of these things from the sacred books, which we ourselves will gather at our leisure according to the proposed hypothesis, for the demonstration that it was none other than the Word of God who was seen by the God-loving forefathers? 1.5.20 Therefore, after the conception of the Creator of all things, the things concerning the Christ have been delivered in common both to us and to them. From this you might find that those very God-loving men before Moses were called Christs, just as we are called Christians. And hear this, how the oracle in the psalms speaks concerning them: “When they were few in number, very few and strangers in it, and they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people, he suffered no man to do them wrong, and he reproved kings for their sakes, saying, Touch not my Christs, and do my prophets no harm.” 1.5.21 For that these things were said of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the whole context of the passage shows; so that they also shared in the name of Christ, in the same way as we. 1.6.1 But also the life of virtue and the conduct of piety, just as it has been preached to all the nations through the teaching of Christ apart from the ordinance of Moses, so also for those ancients the same way of piety was rightly practiced. 1.6.2 Therefore, they were not concerned with circumcision of the body, just as we are not; nor with abstinence from the eating of such animals, just as we are not. For example, Moses introduces Melchizedek as “a priest of the most high God,” not circumcised in the body, not anointed with prepared ointment according to Moses, not knowing what the sabbath is, nor understanding at all any of the things afterwards commanded to the whole nation of the Jews through Moses, but living openly according to the gospel of Christ. 1.6.3 But nevertheless Moses says that he became “a priest of the most high God,” and greater than Abraham; for he is introduced as blessing Abraham. Such a one also was Noah, “a just man in his generation,” whom also a living spark of a seed for the race of

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Χαράν, καὶ ἀπήντησεν τόπῳ καὶ ἐκοιμήθη ἐκεῖ· ἔδυ γὰρ ὁ ἥλιος· καὶ ἔλαβεν ἀπὸ τῶν λίθων τοῦ τόπου, καὶ ἔθηκε πρὸς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐκοιμήθη ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἐκείνῳ, καὶ ἐνυπνιάσθη, καὶ ἰδοὺ κλῖμαξ ἐστηριγμένη ἐν τῇ γῇ, ἧς ἡ κεφαλὴ ἀφικνεῖτο εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ ἀνέβαινον καὶ κατέβαινον ἐπ' αὐτήν. 1.5.13 ὁ δὲ κύριος ἐπεστήρικτο ἐπ' αὐτῆς, καὶ εἶπεν, ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ τοῦ πατρός σου καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰσαάκ· μὴ φοβοῦ, ἡ γῆ, ἐφ' ἧς σὺ καθεύδεις ἐπ' αὐτῆς, σοὶ δώσω αὐτὴν καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου, καὶ ἔσται τὸ σπέρμα σου ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς γῆς». 1.5.14 οἷς ἑξῆς ἐπιλέγει· «καὶ ἀνέστη Ἰακὼβ τὸ πρωί, καὶ ἔλαβε τὸν λίθον ὃν ὑπέθηκε πρὸς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔστησεν αὐτὸν στήλην». 1.5.15 εἶτα προϊὼν αὐτὸν δὴ τοῦτον τὸν ἐπιφανέντα αὐτῷ θεὸν καὶ κύριον ἄγγελον ὀνομάζει θεοῦ. φησὶν γοῦν ὁ Ἰακώβ· «καὶ εἶπέν μοι ὁ ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ καθ' ὕπνον, Ἰακώβ· ἐγὼ δὲ εἶπα, τί ἐστίν»; 1.5.16 καὶ ἑξῆς· «ἑώρακα», φησίν, «πάντα ὅσα Λάβαν ποιεῖ σοι. ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ θεὸς ὁ ὀφθείς σοι ἐν τόπῳ θεοῦ οὗ ἤλειψάς μοι ἐκεῖ στήλην, καὶ ηὔξω μοι ἐκεῖ εὐχήν». 1.5.17 Ὁ δ' αὐτὸς οὗτος καὶ τῷ Ἀβραὰμ παραφανεὶς θεὸς καὶ κύριος ἀνηγόρευται, μυσταγωγῶν τὸν θεοφιλῆ τὰς περὶ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐθεντίας, καί τινα ὡς περὶ ἑτέρου θεοῦ διδάσκων, ἃ καὶ κατὰ καιρὸν ἐπισκεψώμεθα. 1.5.18 ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ Ἰὼβ οὐδένα ἢ τοῦτον εἶναι τὸν χρηματίσαντα μετὰ τὴν αὐτάρκη διαγυμνασίαν θεμιτὸν εἰπεῖν. πρότερον μὲν γὰρ «διὰ λαίλαπος καὶ νεφῶν» ἐπιφανεὶς αὐτῷ τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεὸν ἑαυτὸν ὄντα παρίστη, προϊὼν δὲ ἑξῆς ἑαυτὸν ἐπιδείκνυσιν, ὥστε φάναι τὸν Ἰώβ· «ἄκουσον δέ μου, κύριε, ἵνα κἀγὼ λαλήσω. ἀκοὴν μὲν φωνῆς ἤκουόν σου τὸ πρότερον, νυνὶ δὲ ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου ἑώρακέ σε». 1.5.19 Εἰ δὲ μὴ οἷόν τε τὸν ἐπέκεινα θεόν, τὸν ἀόρατον καὶ ἀγέννητον καὶ παμβασιλέα τῶν ὅλων, θνητῇ φάναι θεωρεῖσθαι φύσει, τίς ἂν ὁ δηλούμενος εἴη πλὴν τοῦ πρὸς ἡμῶν μετὰ τὸν πατέρα κυριολογουμένου θεοῦ λόγου; καὶ τί δεῖ πλείονα περὶ τούτου συναγαγεῖν, παρὸν ἐκ τῶν ἱερῶν βίβλων τὰς τούτων συστάσεις λαμβάνειν, ἃς καὶ αὐτοὶ κατὰ τὴν προκειμένην ὑπόθεσιν ἐπὶ σχολῆς ἀναλεξόμεθα, εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τοῦ μηδὲ ἄλλον ἢ τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον εἶναι τὸν τοῖς θεοφιλέσιν προπάτορσιν ἑωραμένον; 1.5.20 οὐκοῦν μετὰ τὴν περὶ τοῦ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργοῦ διάληψιν καὶ τὰ περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ κοινῶς ἡμῖν τε κἀκείνοις παραδέδοται· ἔνθεν καὶ Χριστοὺς αὐτοὺς δὴ ἐκείνους τοὺς πρὸ Μωσέως θεοφιλεῖς, ὥσπερ οὖν ἡμᾶς Χριστιανούς, εὕροις ἂν κεκλημένους. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ ἐπάκουσον ὥς φησι περὶ αὐτῶν ἐν ψαλμοῖς τὸ λόγιον· «ἐν τῷ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἀριθμῷ βραχεῖς, ὀλιγοστοὺς καὶ παροίκους ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ διῆλθον ἐξ ἔθνους εἰς ἔθνος, καὶ ἐκ βασιλείας εἰς λαὸν ἕτερον, οὐκ ἀφῆκεν ἄνθρωπον ἀδικῆσαι αὐτούς, καὶ ἤλεγξεν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν βασιλεῖς λέγων, μὴ ἅπτεσθε τῶν χριστῶν μου καὶ ἐν τοῖς προφήταις μου μὴ πονηρεύεσθε». 1.5.21 ταῦτα γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ τοῦ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ τοῦ Ἰακὼβ ἀνειρῆσθαι ἡ πᾶσα σύμφρασιςτοῦ λόγου παρίστησιν· ὥστε καὶ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ προσηγορίας ἡμῖν ὁμοίως ἐκοινώνουν. 1.6.1 Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ κατ' ἀρετὴν βίος ἥ τε κατὰ εὐσέβειαν πολιτεία ὥσπερ τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἅπασι διὰ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ νουθεσίας κεκήρυκται δίχα τῆς κατὰ Μωσέα διαταγῆς, οὕτως καὶ τοῖς παλαιοῖς ἐκείνοις ὁ αὐτὸς τῆς εὐσεβείας κατωρθοῦτο τρόπος. 1.6.2 οὔτ' οὖν σώματος αὐτοῖς περιτομῆς ἔμελεν, ὅτι μηδ' ἡμῖν· οὔτε ἀποχῆς τῶν τοιῶνδε ζῴων βρώσεως, ὅτι μηδὲ ἡμῖν. αὐτίκα τὸν Μελχισεδὲκ ὁ Μωσῆς εἰσάγει «ἱερέα τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ὑψίστου», οὐ τὸ σῶμα περιτετμημένον, οὐ μύρῳ σκευαστῷ κατὰ Μωσέα κεχρισμένον, οὐ σάββατον τί ποτ' ἐστὶν εἰδότα, οὐδ' ὅλως τι τῶν μετὰ ταῦτα τῷ παντὶ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνει διὰ Μωσέως παρηγγελμένων ἐπαΐοντα, ἄντικρυς δὲ κατὰ τὸ Χριστοῦ εὐαγγέλιον βιοῦντα. 1.6.3 πλὴν ἀλλ' ὅμως «ἱερέα τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ὑψίστου» φησὶν αὐτὸν ὁ Μωσῆς γεγονέναι, καὶ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ κρείττονα· εἰσῆκται γοῦν τὸν Ἀβραὰμ εὐλογῶν. τοιοῦτός τις ἦν καὶ Νῶε, «ἄνθρωπος δίκαιος ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ αὐτοῦ», ὃν καὶ ζώπυρον σπέρμα τῷ γένει τῶν