nor when the teachers were many, "to be preached everywhere in the world," so that "Greeks and barbarians, wise and foolish" were added to the worship of God through Jesus, we will not hesitate to say that the matter is greater than human, with all authority and persuasion of the one who taught concerning the establishment of the word of Jesus; so that one might reasonably consider his words oracles, such as that "you will be brought before kings and governors for my sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles" and "many will say to me on that day: 'Lord, Lord, did we not eat in your name and drink in your name and cast out demons in your name?' And I will say to them: 'Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you.'" For to have said these things, uttering them in vain, so that they did not come true, was perhaps likely; but when the things spoken with such authority have come to pass, it shows that God, truly become man, has delivered doctrines of salvation to men. 4.1.3 What need is there to say also that it was prophesied [Christ] then that "the rulers from Judah" would fail, spoken of as "and leaders from his loins, when he comes for whom it is reserved," that is, the kingdom, "and the expectation of the nations shall arrive"? For it is clear from history and from what is seen today, that from the time of Jesus there were no longer any kings of the Jews, all the Jewish institutions in which they prided themselves having been abolished, I mean those concerning the temple and the altar and the worship performed and the garments of the high priest. For the prophecy was fulfilled which says: "For many days the children of Israel shall sit without a king and without a ruler, without a sacrifice and without an altar, and without a priesthood and without manifestations." And we use these sayings against those who are troubled by the words spoken in Genesis by Jacob to Judah, who say that the ethnarch, being of the tribe of Judah, rules the people, with those from his seed not failing, until the advent of Christ which they imagine. For if "for many days the children of Israel shall sit without a king and without a ruler, without a sacrifice and without an altar, and without a priesthood and without manifestations," and since the temple was destroyed, there is no sacrifice nor altar nor priesthood, it is clear that "a ruler has failed from Judah, and a leader from his loins." But since the prophecy says: "A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his loins, until the things reserved for him shall come," it is clear that "he has come for whom the things are reserved, the expectation of the nations." And this is clear from the multitude of the nations who through Christ have believed in God. 4.1.4 And in the song of Deuteronomy it is prophetically declared that there will be a choosing of the foolish nations on account of the sins of the former people, which has come about through none other than Jesus. For it says, "They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. And I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a nation; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation." And it is possible to understand very clearly in what way the Hebrews, who are said to have "moved God to jealousy with that which is not God" and to have "provoked him to anger with their idols," were "provoked to jealousy" by "that which is not a nation," by the "foolish nation," which God "chose" through the advent of Christ Jesus and his disciples. Therefore "we see our calling, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the base things and the things which are despised, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that formerly were, so that" "Israel according to the flesh" (called "flesh" by the apostle) "might not boast" "before God." 4.1.5 What need is there to speak of the prophecies in the psalms concerning Christ, of a certain song inscribed "for the beloved," whose "tongue" is said to be "the pen of a ready scribe. Fair in beauty beyond the sons of men," since
οὐδὲ τῶν διδασκάλων πλεοναζόντων, «πανταχόσε κηρυχθῆναι τῆς οἰκουμένης», ὥστε «Ἕλληνας καὶ βαρβάρους, σοφούς τε καὶ ἀνοή τους» προσθέσθαι τῇ διὰ Ἰησοῦ θεοσεβείᾳ, μεῖζον ἢ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον τὸ πρᾶγμα εἶναι λέγειν οὐ διστάξομεν, μετὰ πάσης ἐξουσίας καὶ πει θοῦς τῆς περὶ τοῦ κρατυνθήσεσθαι τὸν λόγον τοῦ Ἰησοῦ διδά ξαντος· ὥστε εὐλόγως ἂν χρησμοὺς νομίσαι τὰς φωνὰς αὐτοῦ, οἷον ὅτι «ἐπὶ βασιλέων καὶ ἡγεμόνων ἀχθήσεσθε ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ, εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἔθνεσι» καὶ «πολλοὶ ἐροῦσί μοι ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ· κύριε, κύριε, οὐ τῷ ὀνόματί σου ἐφάγομεν καὶ τῷ ὀνόματί σου ἐπίομεν καὶ τῷ ὀνόματί σου δαιμόνια ἐξεβάλομεν; καὶ ἐρῶ αὐτοῖς· ἀποχωρεῖτε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν, οὐδέποτε ἔγνων ὑμᾶς». εἰρηκέναι μὲν γὰρ ταῦτα ἀποφθεγγόμενον μάτην, ὥστε αὐτὰ μὴ ἀληθῆ γενέσθαι, τάχα εἰκὸς ἦν· ὅτε δὲ ἐκβέβηκε τὰ μετὰ τοσαύτης ἐξουσίας εἰρημένα, ἐμφαίνει θεὸν ἀληθῶς ἐνανθρωπήσαντα σωτηρίας δόγματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις παραδεδωκέναι. 4.1.3 Τί δὲ δεῖ λέγειν καὶ ὅτι προεφητεύθη [ὁ Χριστὸς] τότε «ἐκλεί ψειν τοὺς ἐξ Ἰούδα ἄρχοντας» εἰρημένους «καὶ ἡγουμένους ἐκ τῶν μη ρῶν αὐτοῦ, ὅταν ἔλθῃ ᾧ ἀπόκειται», δηλονότι ἡ βασιλεία, «καὶ ἐπι δημήσῃ ἡ τῶν ἐθνῶν προσδοκία»; σαφῶς γὰρ ἐκ τῆς ἱστορίας δῆλον καὶ ἐκ τῶν σήμερον ὁρωμένων, ὅτι ἀπὸ τῶν χρόνων Ἰησοῦ οὐκέτι βασιλεῖς Ἰουδαίων ἐχρημάτισαν, πάντων τῶν Ἰουδαϊκῶν πραγμάτων ἐν οἷς ἐσεμνύνοντο, λέγω δὲ τῶν τε κατὰ τὸν ναὸν καὶ τὸ θυσια στήριον καὶ τὴν ἐπιτελουμένην λατρείαν καὶ τὰ ἐνδύματα τοῦ ἀρ χιερέως, καταλελυμένων. ἐπληρώθη γὰρ ἡ λέγουσα προφητεία· «ἡμέρας πολλὰς καθήσονται οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ οὐκ ὄντος βασιλέως οὐδὲ ὄντος ἄρχοντος, οὐκ οὔσης θυσίας οὐδὲ ὄντος θυσιαστηρίου οὐδὲ ἱερα τείας οὐδὲ δήλων». Καὶ τούτοις χρώμεθα τοῖς ῥητοῖς πρὸς τοὺς ἐν τῷ θλίβεσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν τῇ Γενέσει ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰακὼβ πρὸς τὸν Ἰούδαν εἰρημένων φάσκοντας τὸν ἐθνάρχην, ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰούδα γένους τυγχάνοντα, ἄρχειν τοῦ λαοῦ, οὐκ ἐκλειψόντων τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτοῦ, ἕως ἧς φαντάζονται Χριστοῦ ἐπιδημίας. εἰ γὰρ «ἡμέρας πολλὰς καθήσονται οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ οὐκ ὄντος βασιλέως οὐδὲ ὄντος ἄρχοντος, οὐκ οὔσης θυσίας οὐδὲ θυσιαστηρίου οὐδὲ ἱερατείας οὐδὲ δήλων», ἐξ οὗ δὲ κατεσκάφη ὁ ναός, οὐκ ἔστι θυσία οὐδὲ θυσιαστήριον οὐδὲ ἱερατεία, δῆλον ὅτι «ἐξέλιπεν ἄρχων ἐξ Ἰούδα καὶ ἡγούμενος ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ». ἐπεὶ δὲ ἡ προφητεία φησίν· «οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἄρχων ἐξ Ἰούδα οὐδὲ ἡγούμενος ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ τὰ ἀποκείμενα αὐτῷ», δῆλον ὅτι «ἐλήλυθεν ᾧ τὰ ἀποκείμενα, ἡ προσδοκία τῶν ἐθνῶν». καὶ τοῦτο σαφὲς ἐκ τοῦ πλήθους τῶν ἐθνῶν τῶν διὰ Χρι στοῦ πεπιστευκότων εἰς τὸν θεόν. 4.1.4 Καὶ ἐν τῇ τοῦ ∆ευτερονομίου δὲ ᾠδῇ προφητικῶς δηλοῦται ἡ διὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα τοῦ προτέρου λαοῦ ἐσομένη τῶν ἀσυνέτων ἐθνῶν ἐκλογή, οὐ δι' ἄλλου τινὸς ἢ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ γεγενημένη. «αὐτοὶ» γάρ φησι «παρεζήλωσάν με ἐπ' οὐ θεῷ, παρώργισάν με ἐν τοῖς εἰδώλοις αὐτῶν· κἀγὼ παραζηλώσω αὐτοὺς ἐπ' οὐκ ἔθνει, καὶ ἐπὶ ἔθνει ἀσυνέτῳ παροργιῶ αὐτούς». καὶ ἔστι σφόδρα σαφῶς καταλαβεῖν δυνατόν, τίνα τρόπον οἱ λεγόμενοι «παρεζηλωκέναι τὸν θεὸν» Ἑβραῖοι «ἐπὶ τῷ οὐ θεῷ» καὶ «παρωργικέναι αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς εἰδώλοις αὐτῶν» «παρωργίσθησαν» εἰς ζηλοτυπίαν «ἐπὶ τῷ οὐκ ἔθνει», τῷ «ἀσυνέτῳ ἔθνει», ὅπερ ὁ θεὸς «ἐξελέξατο» διὰ τῆς ἐπιδημίας Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ. «βλέπομεν» οὖν «τὴν κλῆσιν ἡμῶν, ὅτι οὐ πολλοὶ σοφοὶ κατὰ σάρκα, οὐ πολλοὶ δυνατοί, οὐ πολλοὶ εὐγενεῖς· ἀλλὰ τὰ μωρὰ τοῦ κόσμου ἐξελέξατο ὁ θεός, ἵνα καταισχύνῃ τοὺς σοφούς, καὶ τὰ ἀγενῆ καὶ τὰ ἐξουθενημένα ἐξελέξατο ὁ θεὸς καὶ τὰ μὴ ὄντα, ἵνα ἐκεῖνα τὰ πρότερον ὄντα καταργήσῃ, καὶ μὴ καυχήσηται» «ὁ κατὰ σάρκα Ἰσραήλ» (καλούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀποστόλου «σάρξ») «ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ». 4.1.5 Τί δὲ δεῖ λέγειν περὶ τῶν ἐν ψαλμοῖς προφητειῶν περὶ Χρι στοῦ, ᾠδῆς τινος ἐπιγεγραμμένης «ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ», οὗ «ἡ γλῶσσα» λέγεται εἶναι «κάλαμος γραμματέως ὀξυγράφου. ὡραῖος κάλλει παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων», ἐπεὶ