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of Babylon, he and his sons, and his mother, and his eunuchs; and he led the mighty of the land into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.” This second Jehoiakim, therefore, who was led away to Babylon, was the same one called Jeconiah by Jeremiah, being a descendant of Josiah, but not his son; for which reason he would reasonably be counted in the third genealogy of the fourteen generations from Jeconiah to Christ; his father, who was the son of Josiah, being counted with his father in the preceding generations; and thus for us the number of the last fourteen generations is also established as complete.

XIV. Why our Savior was called the son of a carpenter, and not of some distinguished and glorious man.

He had not come to display His divine kingdom; since neither did He appear to us ostentatiously and for show; but His path to heaven was for this purpose, that He might purify the life of men, giving Himself as the Lamb of God from the flock of men, a ransom and a purification for us all; in order, therefore, that this might be accomplished without hindrance, He concealed and overshadowed most of His miracles, at one time advising not to report to everyone the things done by Him, at another seeking the deserts and the sojourns on the mountains; and He showed His divine transfiguration not even to all His disciples, but only to three; and He commanded these very ones to tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man should rise from the dead; for He would not have suffered the things written on our behalf, if He had come as some glorious king with a divine bodyguard and retinue; at the same time performing divine miracles, and at the same time showing Himself greater than all nature; reasonably, therefore, according to the Apostle, “He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave;” and He did not refuse to be called the son of the poor Joseph; so that in this way also He might fulfill the oracle that says of Him: “For though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”

XV. How it is said that He has sat upon the throne of David. 1. The throne of David is understood in different ways; in one way, as one might say it denotes that on which 22.929 he sat as king, made perhaps of ivory and wood, and adorned with gold and royal stones; in another way, in which we are accustomed to call the rule itself and the leadership over the whole nation, a throne of kingship; a third way besides those mentioned could be stated, in which the throne promised by God to David might be called his, not that on which he himself sat, but that which the divine oracles contain through the divinely-inspired words to him; for it is written in the eighty-eighth psalm: “As I have sworn to David my servant, I will establish your seed forever, and build up your throne to all generations.” And again: “His seed also I will make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.” And again: “Once I have sworn by my holiness that I will not lie to David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me, and as the moon established forever, and the witness in heaven is faithful.”

2. Since, therefore, God promised to David through the aforementioned words that He would give him a throne lasting as the days of heaven, and as the age, there was, on account of these things, great expectation throughout the entire Jewish nation concerning the declared throne; but David ruled for a short time, and Solomon after him, and indeed also the successors of their kingdom until Jeconiah and the captivity in Babylon

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Βαβυλῶνος, αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ παῖδες αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἡ μήτηρ, καὶ εὐνοῦχοι αὐτοῦ· καὶ τοὺς ἰσχυροὺς τῆς γῆς ἀπήγαγεν ἀποικεσίαν ἐξ Ἱερουσαλὴμ εἰς Βαβυλῶνα.» Οὗτος δὴ οὖν ὁ δεύτερος Ἰωακεὶμ εἰς Βαβυλῶνα ἀπαχθεὶς, οὗτος ἦν αὐτὸς ὁ πρὸς τοῦ Ἱερεμίου Ἰεχονίας ὠνομασμένος, ἔκγονος τυγχάνων τοῦ Ἰωσία, ἀλλ' οὐχ υἱός· διὸ εἰκότως ἂν συναριθμοῖτο ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ γενεαλογίᾳ τῶν ἀπὸ Ἰεχονία μέχρι τοῦ Χριστοῦ γενεῶν δεκατεσσάρων· τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ, ὃς ἦν τοῦ Ἰωσία παῖς, σὺν τῷ πατρὶ ἐν ταῖς ἀνωτέρω γενεαῖς καταριθμουμένου· καὶ οὕτως ἡμῖν καὶ ὁ τῶν ὑστάτων δεκατεσσάρων γενεῶν ἀριθμὸς συνίσταται πλήρης.

Ι∆ʹ. ∆ιὰ τί τοῦ τέκτονος υἱὸς ὁ Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν ἐχρημάτισεν, ἀλλ' οὐ

τινὸς ἐπισήμου καὶ ἐνδόξου ἀνδρός. Οὐ τὴν ἔνθεον αὐτοῦ βασιλείαν ἐπιδείξων ἐλήλυθεν· ἐπεὶ μηδὲ φανητικῶς

καὶ ἐπιδεικτικῶς ἡμῖν παρῄει· ἡ δὲ ὁδὸς αὐτῷ τῆς εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀφίξεως ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἐγίνετο, ἐφ' ᾧ τε τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίον περικαθάροιτο, τὸν ἐκ τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀγέλης ἀμνὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀντίψυχον καὶ καθάρσιον ὑπὲρ πάντων ἡμῶν αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν ἐπιδούς· ἵν' οὖν ἀπαραποδίστως εἰς τέλος ἀχθείη τοῦτο, τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν αὐτοῦ θαυμάτων ἀπέκρυπτέ τε καὶ ἐπεσκίαζε, ποτὲ μὲν παραινῶν μὴ εἰς πάντας ἐκφέρειν τὰ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ πραττόμενα, ποτὲ δὲ τὰς ἐρημίας διώκων καὶ τὰς ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι διατριβάς· καὶ τὴν ἔνθεον αὐτοῦ μεταμόρφωσιν οὐδὲ τοῖς αὐτοῦ μαθηταῖς ἅπασιν, μόνοις δὲ τρισὶν, ἐπεδείκνυτο· αὐτοῖς τε τούτοις παρεκελεύετο μηδενὶ φάναι τὸ ὅραμα, ἕως ἂν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐγερθῇ· οὐκ ἂν δὲ ἔπαθεν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τὰ ἀναγεγραμμένα, εἰ οἷά τις ἔνδοξος βασιλεὺς μετὰ δορυφορίας ἐνθέου καὶ παρατάξεως ἐπῄει· ὁμοῦ καὶ τὰς ἐνθέους ἐνεργῶν παραδοξοποιΐας, ὁμοῦ καὶ κρείττονα ἑαυτὸν ἐπιδεικνὺς πάσης φύσεως· εἰκότως οὖν κατὰ τὸν Ἀπόστολον, «ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε μορφὴν δούλου λαβών·» καὶ τοῦ πένητος Ἰωσὴφ υἱὸς οὐκ ἀπηνήνατο χρηματίσαι· ἵνα καὶ οὕτως ἐπαληθεύσῃ τὸ φάσκον περὶ αὐτοῦ λόγιον· «Ὅτι πλούσιος ὢν, δι' ἡμᾶς ἐπτώχευσεν, ἵνα ἡμεῖς τῇ αὐτοῦ πτωχείᾳ πλουτήσωμεν.» ΙΕʹ. Πῶς ἐπὶ τὸν θρόνον λέγεται ∆αβὶδ κεκαθι κέναι. αʹ. ∆ιαφόρως νοεῖται ὁ θρόνος ∆αβίδ· καθ' ἕνα μὲν τρόπον, καθ' ὃν εἴποι ἄν τις δηλοῦσθαι τὸν ἐφ' ᾧ 22.929 ἐκαθέζετο βασιλεύων, τάχα που ἐξ ἐλέφαντος καὶ ξύλων πεποιημένον, χρυσῷ τε καὶ λίθοις βασιλικοῖς κεκοσμημένον· καθ' ἕτερον δὲ καθ' ὂν τὴν ἀρχὴν αὐτὴν καὶ τὴν κατὰ παντὸς τοῦ ἔθνους ἡγεμονίαν, θρόνον βασιλείας εἰώθαμεν ἀποκαλεῖν· τρίτος ἂν παρὰ τοὺς εἰρημένους λεχθείη τρόπος, καθ' ὃν ὁ ἐπηγγελμένος ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῷ ∆αβὶδ θρόνος ὀνομασθείη ἂν αὐτοῦ, οὐκ ἐφ' ὃν αὐτὸς ἐκαθέσθη, ἀλλ' ὃν διὰ τῶν πρὸς αὐτὸν θεοπρεπῶν οἱ θεῖοι λόγοι περιέχουσι· γέγραπται γὰρ ἐν ὀγδοηκοστῷ ὀγδόῳ ψαλμῷ· «Ὡς ὤμοσα ∆αβὶδ τῷ δούλῳ μου, ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος ἑτοιμάσω τὸ σπέρμα σου· καὶ οἰκοδομήσω εἰς γενεὰν καὶ γενεὰν τὸν θρόνον σου.» Καὶ πάλιν· «Καὶ θήσομαι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ ὡς τὰς ἡμέρας τοῦ οὐρανοῦ.» Καὶ πάλιν· «Ἅπαξ ὤμοσα ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ μου, εἰ τῷ ∆αβὶδ ψεύσομαι, τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα μένει, καὶ ὁ θρόνος αὐτοῦ ὡς ὁ ἥλιος ἐναντίον μου, καὶ ὡς ἡ σελήνη κατηρτισμένη εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ ὁ μάρτυς ἐν οὐρανῷ πιστός.»

βʹ. Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν θρόνον ὡς τὰς ἡμέρας τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ὡς τὸν αἰῶνα διαμένοντα δώσειν ἐπήγγελτο διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων ὁ Θεὸς τῷ ∆αβὶδ, πολλὴ μέν τις ἦν διὰ ταῦτα τῷ παντὶ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνει προσδοκία περὶ τοῦ δηλωθέντος θρόνου· βραχὺν δὲ χρόνον τοῦ ∆αβὶδ ἡγησαμένου, καὶ Σολομῶνος μετ' αὐτὸν, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν διαδόχων τῆς αὐτῶν βασιλείας εἰς Ἰεχονίαν καὶ τὴν εἰς Βαβυλῶνα αἰχμαλωσίαν