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of the cedar, and he was strong as an oak ", and concerning Goliath that " he was four cubits and a span in height ", I think that some very large men have been born. God wisely ordained this too, so that 48 they might know that the creator, not being weak, assigned such a measure to men; for it was easy for him to create even larger ones, but cutting off pride and preventing arrogance, he did not give very large bodies to men. For if in small bodies they boast not against each other but against the maker himself, what would they not have done if they had partaken of the largest bodies? XLIX Why did the ancients live a long time? So that the race might be increased in the longer time; for this reason they were also joined to many women. Indeed, at once even after the flood until the patriarchs they were long-lived; but when they had filled the inhabited world, the number of years was then diminished. L Why did he destroy the multitudes of men by the flood? He wished to wipe out the race of Cain; but the tribe of the pious was also mixed with it; wherefore it also partook of the punishment. But wishing to make a certain beginning of a new life, he preserved Noah and his children with their wives, since he was both pious and just, having sprung from the kinship of the pious and hating the intermingling of lawlessness. He did not, however, as some say, do these things out of some anger and repentance; for these are human passions; but the divine nature is free from passions. Besides, repentance is suitable for those who learn the nature of things after experience; for, being ignorant of what will be, they deliberate; then, learning by experience that they did not deliberate correctly, they repent. But God 49 sees things that will be after many generations as if they have already happened; therefore, as foreseeing and foreknowing, so he directs all things. Why then does he repent, managing all things according to his own foreknowledge? Therefore, in God's case, repentance is a change of economy; " I repent, he says, that I have anointed Saul as king, " instead of 'I have decided to depose this one, and to appoint another.' So also here, " I considered that I made man ", I decided to destroy the human race; but being a lover of mankind, he preserved Noah as a seed for the race. And since the species of irrational animals were also created for the need of men, these too were destroyed with men, except for those saved in the ark with Noah. For the Lord God commanded that two of each kind of what were considered unclean should be saved, and seven of the clean; for since he was about to allow men to partake of meat, and the disciples of piety were also about to offer sacrifices to him, he commanded that more of the clean be kept; the three pairs for the increase of the kind, and the one odd one for sacrifice. For immediately Noah, after the cessation of the punishment, offered a thank-offering sacrifice to God; " from all, he says, the clean cattle and from all the clean birds ", so that it is clear that for this reason he commanded seven of each kind of the clean to be brought into the ark, so that Noah, offering the one animal from each kind, might not destroy the pairs. 50 LI What did the wild beasts eat in the ark? Clearly, both fodder and seeds; for God said to him: " But you shall take for yourself from all the foods which you eat, and you shall gather it to yourself and it will be for you and for them to eat ". But from the beginning God did not legislate for men to eat meat; " Behold, for he said, I have given to you every seed-bearing herb sowing seed which is upon all the earth, and every tree which has in itself the fruit of a seed-sowing seed shall be for you for food, and to all the beasts of the earth and to all the birds of the sky, and to every creeping thing that creeps on the earth which has in itself a living soul, and every green herb for food "; so that it is clear that both men and animals abstained from eating meat, and had for food the fruits growing from the earth. And " sowing seed, " Aquila [has] " seeding seed "

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κέδρου, καὶ ἰσχυρὸς ἦν ὡς δρῦς ", καὶ περὶ τοῦ Γολιὰδ ὅτι " τεσσάρων πήχεων καὶ σπιθαμῆς τὸ μῆκος εἶχεν ", ἡγοῦμαι γεγενῆσθαι τινὰς παμμεγέθεις ἀνθρώπους. τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τοῦτο σοφῶς πρυτανεύσαντος, ἵνα 48 γνῶσιν ὡς οὐκ ἀσθενῶν ὁ δημιουργὸς τοσοῦτον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀπέν ειμε μέτρον· ῥᾴδιον γὰρ ἦν αὐτῷ καὶ μείζους δημιουργῆσαι, ἀλλὰ τὸν τύφον ἐκκόπτων καὶ τὴν ἀλαζονείαν κωλύων, μέγιστα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις οὐκ ἔδωκε σώματα. εἰ γὰρ ἐν σμικροῖς σώμασιν οὐ κατ' ἀλλήλων, ἀλλὰ κατ' αὐτοῦ μεγαλαυχοῦσι τοῦ ποιητοῦ, τί οὐκ ἂν ἔδρασαν εἰ μεγίστων σωμάτων μετέλαχον; XLIX ∆ιὰ τί πολὺν χρόνον ἔζων οἱ παλαιοί; Ὥστε αὐξηθῆναι τὸ γένος τῷ πλείονι χρόνῳ· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ πολλαῖς συ νήπτοντο γυναιξίν. αὐτίκα γοῦν καὶ μετὰ τὸν κατακλυσμὸν μέχρι τῶν πατριαρχῶν μακρόβιοι ἦσαν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐπλήρωσαν, ἠλαττώθη λοιπὸν ὁ τῶν ἐτῶν ἀριθμός. L Τί δήποτε τῷ κατακλυσμῷ τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων πλήθη διέφθειρεν; Ἐξαλεῖψαι τοῦ Κάϊν τὸ γένος ἠθέλησεν· ἀνεμίγη δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ τῶν εὐσε βῶν ἡ φύλη· διὸ καὶ τῆς τιμωρίας μετέσχηκεν. ἀρχὴν δέ τινα καινοῦ βίου ποιήσασθαι βουληθεὶς τὸν Νῶε καὶ τοὺς ἐκείνου παῖδας σὺν ταῖς γυναιξὶ διετήρησεν, εὐσεβῆ τε ὄντα καὶ δίκαιον, ἐκ τῆς τῶν εὐσεβῶν συγγενείας βλαστήσαντα καὶ τὴν τῆς παρανομίας ἐπιμιξίαν μισήσαντα. οὐ μήν, ὥς τινές φασιν, ὀργῇ τινι ταῦτα καὶ μεταμελείᾳ πεποίηκε· ταῦτα γάρ τοι ἀνθρώπινα πάθη· ἡ δὲ θεία φύσις ἐλευθέρα παθῶν. ἄλλως τε ἡ μεταμέ λεια τοῖς μετὰ τὴν πεῖραν μανθάνουσι τῶν πραγμάτων τὴν φύσιν κατάλ ληλος· ἀγνοοῦντες γὰρ τὸ ἐσόμενον, προβουλεύονται· εἶτα τῇ πείρᾳ μανθάνοντες, ὡς οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἐβουλεύσαντο, μεταμέλονται. ὁ δὲ Θεὸς οὕτως 49 ὁρᾷ τὰ μετὰ πολλὰς ἐσόμενα γενεάς, ὡς ἤδη γεγενημένα· ὡς προορῶν τοίνυν καὶ προγινώσκων, οὕτως ἅπαντα πρυτανεύει. τί δήποτε τοίνυν μεταμελεῖται, ἅπαντα πρὸς τὴν πρόγνωσιν τὴν οἰκείαν οἰκονομῶν; οὐκοῦν ἐπὶ Θεοῦ μεταμέλεια οἰκονομίας μεταβολή· " μεταμεμέλη μαι, φησίν, ὅτι κέχρικα τὸν Σαοὺλ εἰς βασιλέα ", ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐδοκίμασα μὲν παῦσαι τοῦτον, ἕτερον δὲ χειροτονῆσαι. οὕτω κἀνταῦθα, " ἐνεθυμήθην ὅτι ἐποίησα τὸν ἄνθρωπον ", ἐδοκίμασα διολέσαι τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸ γένος· ἀλλὰ φιλάνθρωπος ὢν σπέρμα τὸν Νῶε τῇ φύσει τετήρηκεν. ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀλόγων τὰ γένη τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἕνεκα δεδημιούργηται χρείας, καὶ ταῦτα τοῖς ἀν θρώποις συνδιεφθάρη, πλὴν τῶν ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ σὺν τῷ Νῶε διασωθέν των. ἐκέλευσε γὰρ ὁ δεσπότης Θεὸς ἀνὰ δύο μὲν ἐξ ἑκάστου γένους τῶν δοκούντων ἀκαθάρτων διασωθῆναι, ἀνὰ ἑπτὰ δὲ τῶν καθαρῶν· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἤμελλε συγχωρεῖν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις μεταλαμβάνειν κρεῶν, ἤμελλον δὲ καὶ θυσίας αὐτῷ προσφέρειν τῆς εὐσεβείας οἱ τρόφιμοι, πλείονα τὰ καθαρὰ φυλαχθῆναι προσέταξε· τὰς μὲν τρεῖς συζυγίας εἰς τὴν αὔξησιν τοῦ γένους τὸ δὲ ἓν τὸ περιττὸν εἰς θυσίαν. εὐθὺς γὰρ ὁ Νῶε, μετὰ τὴν παῦλαν τῆς τιμωρίας, θυσίαν τῷ Θεῷ χαριστήριον προσενήνοχεν· " ἀπὸ πάντων, φησί, τῶν κτηνῶν τῶν καθαρῶν καὶ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν πετεινῶν τῶν καθαρῶν ", ὡς εἶναι δῆλον, ὅτι τούτουγε χάριν ἀνὰ ἑπτὰ προσέταξεν ἐξ ἑκάστου γένους τῶν καθαρῶν εἰς τὴν κιβωτὸν εἰσαχθῆναι, ἵνα τὸ ἓν ζῷον ἐξ ἑκάστου γένους ὁ Νῶε προσφέρων μὴ διαφθείρῃ τὰς συζυγίας. 50 LI Τί ἤσθιεν ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ τὰ θηρία; ∆ῆλον ὅτι χιλόν τε καὶ σπέρματα· ἔφη γὰρ πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ Θεός· " σὺ δὲ λήψῃ σεαυτῷ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν βρωμάτων ὧν ἔδεσθε, καὶ συνάξεις πρὸς ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἔσται σοὶ καὶ ἐκείνοις φαγεῖν ". ἐξ ἀρχῆς δὲ ὁ Θεὸς οὐ κρέον φαγεῖν ἐνο μοθέτησε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις· " ἰδού, γὰρ ἔφη, δέδωκα ὑμῖν πάν τα χόρτον σπόριμον σπεῖρον σπέρμα ὅ ἐστιν ἐπάνω πάσης τῆς γῆς, καὶ πᾶν ξύλον ὃ ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῷ καρπὸν σπέρματος σπόριμον ὑμῖν ἔσται εἰς βρῶσιν, καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς θηρίοις τῆς γῆς καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς πετεινοῖς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ παντὶ ἑρ πετῷ ἕρποντι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὃ ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῷ ψυχὴν ζωῆς καὶ πάντα χόρτον χλωρὸν εἰς βρῶσιν "· ὡς εἶναι δῆλον, ὅτι καὶ οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ τὰ ζῷα κρεωφαγίας ἀπείχοντο, τροφὴν δὲ εἶχον τοὺς ἀπὸ γῆς φυομένους καρπούς. τὸ δὲ " σπεῖρον σπέρμα ", " σπερμαῖνον σπέρμα " ὁ Ἀκύλας