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that Sarah was kept unharmed, while in the narrative concerning Abimelech, it has clearly shown this? Sarah was about to give birth to Isaac at that time; therefore, so that the seed of Abraham might not become suspect, the divine Scripture clearly showed there that Abimelech did not touch her. And from this instance and that, it must be known that nature taught even the barbarians that adultery is wicked and worthy of punishment; for Pharaoh also showed this when he rebuked Abraham; and Abimelech said to the God of all: "Lord, will you slay a nation that is ignorant and righteous? Did he not himself say to me, 'She is my sister,' and she herself said to me, 'He is my brother'?" In a clean heart and in righteousness of hands I have done this ". And the writer has also set down God's response: "For God," it says, "said to Abimelech in a dream: And I knew that in a clean heart you did this, and I spared 60 you from touching her, from sinning against me; for this reason I did not permit you to touch her. Now therefore, return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will be saved, you and all your house. But if you do not return her, know that you shall die ". But the divine word teaches us that He does not permit the lovers of righteousness to sin through ignorance when they are about to; it is clear, therefore, that He also prevented Pharaoh from sinning, as he had taken Sarah, Abraham's sister, by the law of marriage. But since Abimelech was, as is likely, better than Pharaoh, He taught that one his transgression through chastisement; but to this one, He Himself did not grant forgiveness for the offense and the transgression, but waited for the injured one to ask for it; He deemed him worthy of a gentle appearance and with mild words pointed out the transgression that had been dared. LXV From where did Melchizedek derive his lineage? With the divine Paul saying, "without father, without mother, without genealogy," who could know the truth? But it is likely that he was from those nations inhabiting Palestine; for of them he happened to be both king and priest, but a priest of the God of all; "for he was," it says, "a priest of the most high God." Wherefore, to him even 61 Abraham the patriarch brought the tithes of the spoils; and being righteous and a friend of God, he reaps the blessing from him. For he held the type of the Lord's priesthood; for which reason he also gave bread and wine to Abraham, as perhaps being accustomed to offer such things to the God of all; for it was necessary that the type be shown even in this. LXVI How is Abraham called faithful, having said to God, "By what shall I know this, that I will inherit it"? The "By what shall I know this" is not of one who disbelieves, but of one desiring to learn the manner of the inheritance; for since he saw myriad multitudes inhabiting Palestine, he wished to learn in what manner he would take possession of that land—by the law of war, without war, with them living, being destroyed, being driven out. For this reason, after the sacrifice, the God of all said: "Knowing you shall know that your seed will be a sojourner in a land not their own; and they will enslave them and mistreat them and humble them four hundred years. But the nation which they shall serve, I will judge. And after these things they will come out from here with much property; but you will go to your fathers in peace, having been nourished in a good old age. And in the fourth generation 62 they will return here; for the sins of the Amorites are not yet filled up to this time ". From the divine response it is possible to know the manner of the question; for since he said, "By what shall I know that I will inherit it," he was taught for how long a time they would sojourn and how they would suffer, and of how much providence they would be deemed worthy, with those willing to war against them being punished, and these enjoying their possessions, and that he himself, having experienced none of these things, would end his life in peace. And he also taught the reason for the delay, so that no one might suppose that because of the multitude of the inhabitants the Lord God was unable to hand over to them the dominion of that land; and he said thus: "for the sins of the Amorites are not yet filled up to this time." Not yet,

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φυλαχθῆναι τὴν Σάρ ραν ἀλώβητον, ἐν δὲ τῷ κατὰ τὸν Ἀβιμέλεχ διηγήματι, σαφῶς τοῦτο δεδήλωκε; Ἔμελλεν ἡ Σάρρα τηνικαῦτα τίκτειν τὸν Ἰσαάκ· ἵνα τοίνυν μὴ ὕποπτον γένηται τὸ σπέρμα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ σαφῶς ἐκεῖ δεδήλωκεν ἡ θεία γραφὴ ὅτι οὐχ ἥψατο αὐτῆς ὁ Ἀβιμέλεχ. καὶ ἐντεῦθεν μέντοι κἀκεῖθεν ἰστέον, ὡς καὶ τοὺς βαρβάρους ἡ φύσις ἐδίδαξεν, ὅτι πονηρὸν ἡ μοιχεία καὶ τιμω ρίας ἄξιον· καὶ γὰρ ὁ Φαραὼ τοῦτο δεδήλωκεν ἐπιμεμψάμενος τῷ Ἀβραάμ· καὶ ὁ Ἀβιμέλεχ πρὸς τὸν τῶν ὅλων ἔφη Θεόν· " Κύριε, ἔθνος ἀγνοοῦν καὶ δίκαιον ἀποκτενεῖς; οὐκ αὐτός μοι εἶπεν, ὅτι ἀδελφή μού ἐστι καὶ αὐτή μοι εἶπεν ἀδελφός μού ἐστιν"; ἐν καρδίᾳ καθαρᾷ καὶ ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ χειρῶν ἐποίησα τοῦτο ". τέθεικε δὲ ὁ συγγραφεὺς καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ἀπόκρισιν· " εἶπε, γάρ φησιν, ὁ Θεὸς τῷ Ἀβιμέλεχ καθ' ὕπνον· κἀγὼ ἔγνων ὅτι ἐν καθαρᾷ καρδίᾳ ἐποίησας τοῦτο, καὶ ἐφεισά 60 μην σου τοῦ μὴ ἅψασθαι αὐτῆς, τοῦ μὴ ἁμαρτεῖν εἰς ἐμέ· ἕνεκεν τούτου οὐκ ἀφῆκά σε ἅψασθαι αὐτῆς. νῦν οὖν ἀπόδος τὴν γυναῖκα τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ, ὅτι προφήτης ἐστὶ καὶ προσεύξεται περὶ σοῦ καὶ σωθήσῃ σὺ καὶ πᾶς ὁ οἶκός σου. εἰ δὲ μὴ ἀπο δίδως, γνῶθι ὅτι ἀποθανῇ σύ ". διδάσκει δὲ ἡμᾶς ὁ θεῖος λόγος, ὅτι τῆς δικαιοσύνης τοὺς ἐραστὰς πλημμελεῖν ἐξ ἀγνοίας μέλλοντας οὐκ ἐᾷ· δῆλον τοίνυν, ὡς καὶ τὸν Φαραὼ κεκώλυκεν ἁμαρτεῖν, ὡς ἀδελφὴν τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ νόμῳ γάμου τὴν Σάρραν εἰληφότα. ἐπειδὴ δὲ κρείττων ἦν, ὡς εἰκὸς ὁ Ἀβιμέλεχ τοῦ Φαραώ, ἐκεῖνον μὲν διὰ παιδείας τὴν παρανομίαν ἐδίδαξεν· τούτῳ δὲ καὶ τῆς αἰκίας καὶ τοῦ πλημμελή ματος οὐκ ἔδωκεν αὐτὸς τὴν συγχώρησιν, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἠδικημένον αἰτῆσαι ταύτην ἀνέμεινεν· ἐπιφανείας τε ἡμέρως ἠξίωσε καὶ λόγοις ἠπίοις ἐπέδειξε τὴν τετολμημένην παρανομίαν. LXV Ὁ Μελχισεδὲχ πόθεν κατῆγε τὸ γένος; Τοῦ θεσπεσίου λέγοντος Παύλου, " ἀπάτωρ, ἀμήτωρ, ἀγε νεαλόγητος ", τίς ἂν γνοίη τὸ ἀληθές; εἰκὸς δὲ αὐτὸν ἐκ τῶν ἐθ νῶν ἐκείνων εἶναι τῶν τὴν Παλαιστίνην οἰκούντων· ἐκείνων γὰρ καὶ βασι λεὺς καὶ ἱερεὺς ἐτύγχανεν ὤν, ἱερεὺς δὲ τοῦ τῶν ὅλων Θεοῦ· " ἦν, γάρ φησιν, ἱερεὺς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ὑψίστου ". ὅθεν αὐτῷ καὶ 61 Ἀβραὰμ ὁ πατριάρχης προσενήνοχε τὰς τῶν λαφύρων δεκάτας· καὶ δίκαιος ὢν καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ φίλος, παρ' ἐκείνου τὴν εὐλογίαν καρποῦται. τῆς γὰρ δεσποτικῆς εἶχεν ἱερωσύνης τὸν τύπον· διὸ δὴ καὶ ἄρτους τῷ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ οἶνον ἀντέδωκεν, ὡς τοιαῦτα τυχὸν προσφέρειν εἰωθὼς τῷ τῶν ὅλων Θεῷ· ἔδει γὰρ κἂν τοῦτο δειχθῆναι τὸν τύπον. LXVI Πῶς Ἀβραὰμ πιστὸς ὀνομάζεται εἰρηκὼς τῷ Θεῷ, " κατὰ τί γνώσομαι τοῦτο ὅτι κληρονομήσω αὐτήν "; Τὸ " κατὰ τί γνώσομαι τοῦτο ", οὐκ ἀπιστοῦντός ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ μαθεῖν ποθοῦντος τῆς κληρονομίας τὸν τρόπον· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἑώρα πλήθη μυρία τὴν Παλαιστίνην οἰκοῦντα, μαθεῖν ἠβουλήθη τίνι τρόπῳ παραλήψεται τῆς γῆς ἐκείνης τὴν δεσποτείαν πολέμου νόμῳ δίχα πολέ μου ζώντων ἐκείνων, ἀναιρουμένων, ἐξελαυνομένων. τούτου χάριν μετὰ τὴν θυσίαν ὁ τῶν ὅλων ἔφη Θεός· " γινώσκων γνώσῃ, ὅτι πάροικον ἔσται τὸ σπέρμα σου ἐν γῇ οὐκ ἰδίᾳ· καὶ δουλώσουσιν αὐτοὺς καὶ κακώσουσιν αὐ τοὺς καὶ ταπεινώσουσιν ἔτη τετρακόσια. τὸ δὲ ἔθνος ᾧ ἐὰν δουλεύσωσι κρινῶ ἐγώ. μετὰ δὲ ταῦ τα ἐξελεύσονται ὧδε μετὰ ἀποσκευῆς πολλῆς· σὺ δὲ ἀπελεύσει πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας σου ἐν εἰρή νῃ, τραφεὶς ἐν γήρει καλῷ. τετάρτῃ δὲ γενεᾷ 62 ἀποστραφήσονται ὧδε· οὔπω γὰρ ἀναπεπλή ρωνται αἱ ἁμαρτίαι τῶν ἀμορραίων ἕως τοῦ νῦν ". ἐκ τῆς θείας ἀποκρίσεως ἔστι γνῶναι τὸν τρόπον τῆς ἐρωτήσεως· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶπε· " κατὰ τί γνώσομαι ὅτι κληρονομήσω αὐ τήν ", ἐδιδάχθη ὅσον μὲν παροικήσουσι χρόνον καὶ ὅπως ταλαιπω ρήσουσιν, ὅσης τε ἀξιωθήσονται προμηθείας, τῶν μὲν πολεμήσειν ἐθελόν των αὐτοῖς κολασθησομένων, τούτων δὲ τὰ ἐκείνων καρπωσαμένων καὶ ὅτι τούτων αὐτὸς οὐδεμίαν πεῖραν λαβὼν ἐν εἰρήνῃ καταλύσει τὸν βίον. ἐδίδαξε δὲ καὶ τῆς ἀναβολῆς τὴν αἰτίαν, ἵνα μή τις τοπάσῃ διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἐνοικούντων μὴ δυνηθῆναι τὸν δεσπότην Θεὸν τῆς γῆς αὐ τοῖς ἐκείνης παραδοῦναι τὴν δεσποτείαν· ἔφη δὲ οὕτως· " οὔπω γὰρ ἀναπεπλήρωνται αἱ ἁμαρτίαι τῶν ἀμορραίων ἕως τοῦ νῦν ". οὐδέπω,