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to constitute all the nations of men; first, that they might know the sameness of their nature, having sprung from a single pair; then also that they might be joined together in harmony, having blossomed from a single root. For if, even when these things were ordained by the God of all, countless slaughters are dared, what would they not have done if they thought they had sprung from different fathers? For this reason he fashioned one man from the earth, and from him he created one woman; 43 and from these he filled the whole inhabited world with the race. For this reason, therefore, he permitted at the beginning the intermarriage of siblings, but when the race had increased, he forbids this marriage as unlawful. For this very reason, along with Noah and his sons, he also saved their wives in the ark, so that their children might be joined with their cousins. XLIV Whom did Lamech kill? Not two, as some have supposed, nor Cain, as others have fabled, but one, and he a young man. "For I have killed a man," he says, "for wounding me, and a young man for hurting me"; that is, a man in the prime of his life. He escaped punishment, however, through the confession of his sin; and having passed sentence against himself, he prevented the divine sentence. XLV Where did the God of all translate Enoch? One must not seek what has been kept silent; rather, one ought to be content with what has been written. But I think the God of all did this for the encouragement of the athletes of virtue; for since Abel, the first fruit of righteousness to be born, was cut off prematurely and torn up by the roots, and the hope of resurrection did not yet encourage men; the God of all translated "Enoch who had pleased God," and separated him from the life of mortals, so that each of those who choose to be pious might reckon that He who honored this one, being himself just and justly directing all things, will not leave Abel unrewarded. For this very reason, He overlooked the one being killed, but translated the other, so that by this man's translation He might announce 44 the resurrection to come; for he who has not obtained the rewards of virtue in this life, it is clear that he will enjoy them in another life. XLVI Why, when Adam had sinned, did Abel the just die first? He willed the foundation of death to become unsound. For if Adam had died first, it would have had a strong foundation, having received as its first dead the one who had sinned; but since it first received the one unjustly killed, it has a shaky foundation. XLVII Whom did Moses call sons of God? Some thunderstruck and utterly foolish men have supposed these to be angels, thinking perhaps to have an excuse for their own licentiousness if they could make such accusations against the angels. But they should have heard the God of all saying: "My Spirit shall not abide in these men forever, because they are flesh; but their days shall be one hundred and twenty years"; and understood from this that the nature of incorporeal beings has no flesh, nor do they have a life limited by a stated time; for they were created immortal. And what follows has the same meaning: "For," it says, "the Lord God saw that the wickednesses of men were multiplied upon the earth and that every one imagines in his heart diligently upon evil things all the days, and God considered that he had made man on the earth, and God said: I will wipe out the man whom I made 45 from the face of the earth, from man to beast, and from creeping things to the birds of the sky, for I considered that I had made them." And again to Noah he said: "The time of every man has come before me, for the earth is filled with injustice from them; and behold, I am destroying them and the earth." All these things show that they were men who had loved the lawless life. But if angels had mingled with the daughters of men, then men were wronged by the angels; for clearly they would have corrupted their daughters by force. And they were also wronged by God their maker, being punished themselves for the lechery of angels. But these things I do not think he himself would say

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ἅπαντα συστῆ σαι τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὰ ἔθνη· πρῶτον ἵνα τὸ ταὐτὸν τῆς φύσεως γινώσ κωσιν, ὡς ἐξ ἑνὸς ζεύγους βεβλαστηκότες· ἔπειτα καὶ εἰς ὁμόνοιαν συνάπ τωνται, ὡς ἐκ μιᾶς ῥίζης ἠνθηκότες. εἰ γὰρ καὶ τούτων παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων πρυτανευθέντων μυρίαι τολμῶνται σφαγαί, τί οὐκ ἂν ἔδρασαν εἰ ἐκ διαφόρων βεβλαστηκέναι πατέρων ᾠήθησαν; τούτου χάριν ἕνα μὲν ἐκ τῆς γῆς διέπλασεν ἄνδρα, ἐκ δὲ τούτου μίαν ἐδημιούργησε γυναῖκα· 43 ἐκ δὲ τούτων πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην τοῦ γένους ἐπλήρωσε. διὰ τήνδε τοίνυν τὴν αἰτίαν, συνεχώρησεν ἐν ἀρχῇ τῶν ἀδελφῶν τὴν ἐπιμιξίαν, ἐπειδὴ δὲ ηὐξήθη τὸ γένος, ὡς παράνομον τοῦτον ἀπαγορεύει τὸν γάμον. διά τοι τοῦτο σὺν τῷ Νῶε καὶ τοῖς υἱέσι, καὶ τὰς ἐκείνων γυναῖκας διέσω σεν ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ, ἵνα ταῖς ἀνεψιαῖς οἱ ἐκείνων συναφθῶσι παῖδες. XLIV Τίνας ἀνεῖλεν ὁ Λάμεχ; Οὐ δύο καθά τινες ὑπειλήφασιν, οὐδὲ τὸν Κάϊν ὡς ἕτεροι μεμυθολογήκασιν, ἀλλ' ἕνα καὶ τοῦτον νέον· " ἄνδρα, γάρ φησιν, ἀπέκτεινα εἰς τραῦμα ἐμοὶ καὶ νεανίσκον εἰς μώλωπα ἐμοί "· του τέστιν ἄνδρα νέαν ἄγοντα τὴν ἡλικίαν. διέφυγε μέντοι τὴν τιμωρίαν διὰ τὴν τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁμολογίαν· καὶ καθ' ἑαυτοῦ τὴν ψῆφον ἐξενεγκών, τὴν θείαν διεκώλυσε ψῆφον. XLV Ποῦ μετατέθεικε τὸν Ἐνὼχ ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεός; Οὐ δεῖ ζητεῖν τὰ σεσιγημένα· στέργειν δὲ προσήκει τὰ γεγραμμένα. ἐγὼ δὲ οἶμαι τοῦτο πεποιηκέναι τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεὸν εἰς ψυχαγωγίαν τῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀθλητῶν· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὁ Ἄβελ πρῶτος γεγονὼς τῆς δικαιοσύνης καρπὸς πρόωρός τε καὶ πρόρριζος ἐξεκόπη, ἐλπὶς δὲ τῆς ἀναστάσεως οὐδέπω τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐψυχαγώγει· μετέθηκεν " εὐαρεστήσαντα τὸν Ἐνὼχ " ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεός, καὶ τῆς τῶν θνητῶν ἐχώρισε βιοτῆς, ἵνα ἕκαστος τῶν εὐσεβεῖν προαιρουμένων λογίζηται, οἷα δὴ λόγῳ τετιμημένος, ὡς ὁ τοῦτον τετιμηκώς, ἀγέραστον οὐκ ἐάσει τὸν Ἄβελ, ἅτε δὴ δίκαιος ὢν καὶ δικαίως ἰθύνων τὰ σύμπαντα. τούτου δὴ χάριν, τὸν μὲν παρεῖδεν ἀναιρούμενον, τὸν δὲ μετατέθεικεν ἵνα τῇ ἀναρρήσει τῇ τούτου μηνύσῃ 44 τὴν ἐσομένην ἀνάστασιν· ὁ γὰρ κατὰ τόνδε τὸν βίον τῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς μὴ τετυχηκὼς ἀντιδόσεων, δῆλον ὡς ἐν ἑτέρῳ τούτων ἀπολαύσεται βίῳ. XLVI Τί δή ποτε τοῦ Ἀδὰμ ἡμαρτηκότος Ἄβελ ὁ δίκαιος ἐτελεύτησε πρῶτος; Σαθρὸν ἠβουλήθη γενέσθαι τὸν τοῦ θανάτου θεμέλιον· εἰ γὰρ Ἀδὰμ πρότερος ἐτελεύτησεν ἔσχεν ἂν ἐκεῖνος ἰσχυρὰν τὴν κρηπῖδα, πρῶτον νεκρὸν τὸν ἡμαρτηκότα δεξάμενος· ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὸν ἀδίκως ἀνῃρημένον ἐδέξατο πρῶτον, σφαλερὸν τὸ θεμέλιον ἔχει. XLVII Τίνας υἱοὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ κέκληκεν ὁ Μωϋσῆς; Ἐμβρόντητοί τινες καὶ ἄγαν ἠλίθιοι ἀγγέλους τούτους ὑπέλαβον, τῆς οἰκείας ἴσως ἀκολασίας ἀπολογίαν σχήσειν ἡγούμενοι, εἰ τῶν ἀγγέλων τοιαῦτα κατηγοροῖεν. ἔδει δὲ αὐτοὺς ἀκοῦσαι τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων λέγον τος· " οὐ μὴ καταμείνῃ τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐν τοῖς ἀν θρώποις τούτοις εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτοὺς σάρκας· ἔσονται δὲ αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτῶν ἕκατον εἴκοσι ἔτη "· καὶ συνιδεῖν ἐντεῦθεν, ὡς οὔτε σάρκας ἔχει τῶν ἀσωμάτων ἡ φύσις, οὔτε χρόνῳ ῥητῷ περιωρισμένην ἔχουσι τὴν ζωήν· ἀθάνατοι γὰρ ἐκτίσθησαν. καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς δὲ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχει διά νοιαν· " ἰδών, γάρ φησι, Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ὅτι ἐπληθύν θησαν αἱ κακίαι τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ πᾶς τις διανοεῖται ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ ἐπιμελῶς ἐπὶ τὰ πονηρὰ πάσας τᾶς ἡμέρας καὶ ἐνεθυμήθη ὁ Θεὸς ὅτι ἐποίησε τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· ἀπαλείψω τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὃν ἐποίη 45 σα ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς, ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου ἕως κτήνους καὶ ἀπὸ ἑρπετῶν ἕως πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐ ρανοῦ, ὅτι ἐνεθυμήθην ὅτι ἐποίησα αὐτούς ". καὶ τῷ Νῶε πάλιν ἔφη· " καιρὸς παντὸς ἀνθρώπου ἥκει ἐναντίον μου, ὅτι ἐπλήσθη ἡ γῆ ἀδικίας ἀπ' αὐ τῶν· καὶ ἰδοὺ καταφθείρω αὐτοὺς καὶ τὴν γῆν ". ταῦτα δὲ πάντα ἀνθρώπους εἶναι δηλοῖ, τοὺς τὸν παράνομον βίον ἠγα πηκότας. εἰ δὲ ἄγγελοι ταῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπεμίγησαν θυγατράσιν, ἠδίκηνται μὲν οἱ ἄνθρωποι παρὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων· βίᾳ γὰρ δηλονότι τὰς τούτων θυγατέρας διέφθειραν· ἠδίκηνται δὲ καὶ παρὰ τοῦ πεποιηκότος Θεοῦ, ὑπὲρ ἀγγέλων λελαγνευκότων αὐτοὶ κολαζόμενοι. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα οὐδὲ αὐτὸν οἶμαι φάναι