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on the fourteenth of the first month, so also in Jerusalem he commands it to be done; and Pentecost he likewise enclosed with the observance of both time and place, commanding it to be celebrated after seven weeks, and again adding, that In the place which the Lord your God shall choose. So also the Feast of Tabernacles. But let us see which of these two, of time and of place, is more necessary, when it is not possible to keep 48.877 both, whether one must disregard the place, but keep the time, or disregarding the time, observe the place. What I mean is this: He commanded the Passover to be celebrated both in the first month and in Jerusalem, both at a designated time and in a designated place. Let us suppose, then, that there are two people keeping the Passover, and let the one transgress the place, but observe the time; and let the other observe the place, but transgress the time; and let the one who observes the time but transgresses the place do it in the first month, and somewhere far outside of Jerusalem; but let the one who observes the place but transgresses the time, keep the Passover in Jerusalem, but not in the first month, but in the second; then let us see which of these two is the one accused, and which is the one approved, the one who transgressed the time and did it in the place, or the one who left the place and kept the time. For if the one who transgressed the time in order to do it inside the city appears worthy of approval, while the one who kept the time but left the place, of charges and accusation as if having acted impiously, it is clear that these also transgress the law by not doing it in the place, even if they say ten thousand times that they keep the time. From where, then, will this be clear? From Moses himself. For when they kept the Passover outside, certain men, it says, came to Moses, saying: We are unclean because of a human soul; shall we be kept from offering the gift of the Lord at its appointed time among the children of Israel? And Moses said to them: Stand here, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the sons of Israel, saying: Any man who becomes unclean because of a human soul, or is on a long journey, either among you or in your generations, he shall keep the Passover in the second month. What he is saying is this: Whoever, he says, is on a journey during the first month, let him not do it outside the city, but in the second month, so that he may reach Jerusalem, and let him transgress the time, so that he may not fall outside the city; showing from this very thing that the observance of the place is more necessary than the observance of the time. What then could those who do it outside the city say? For when they transgress the more necessary thing, not even the observance of the lesser can make a defense for them. So that even if they seem ten thousand times not to transgress the time, they are committing the ultimate transgression. And this is clear not only from this, but also from the prophets. For when those men appear, having neither sacrificed, nor sung a song in a foreign land, nor having fasted such a fast, what excuse could these people have? And yet those men, expecting to get back such a way of life of theirs, nevertheless remained obedient to the law, and fulfilled the things of the law; for this is what the law said; but these, having not even any hope of getting back their former way of life—for where can they show this from the prophets?—not even so can they bear to keep quiet. And yet even if they expected to get it back, even so they ought to have imitated those holy men, and to fast, and not to do any other such thing.

εʹ. For that those men did none of these things, hear 48.878 what they said to those who asked them. For when the barbarians pressed upon them, forcing and compelling them to use their instruments, saying: Sing us a song of the Lord, they, knowing the law clearly did not permit these things to be done outside, said: How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? And again the three young men, living in Babylon, said: There is not at this time a prince or a prophet,

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τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῃ τοῦ πρώτου μηνὸς, οὕτω καὶ ἐν τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις αὐτὸ κελεύει ποιεῖν· καὶ τὴν πεντηκοστὴν ὁμοίως καὶ χρόνου καὶ τόπου παρατηρήσει συνέκλεισε, μετὰ ἑπτὰ ἑβδομάδας κελεύσας αὐτὴν ἐπιτελεῖν, καὶ πάλιν προσθεὶς, ὅτι Ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ᾧ ἂν ἐκλέξηται Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου. Οὕτω καὶ τὰς σκηνοπηγίας. Ἀλλ' ἴδωμεν ἀμφοτέρων τούτων, τοῦ καιροῦ καὶ τοῦ τόπου, τί ποτέ ἐστιν ἀναγκαιότερον, ὅταν ἀμφότερα μὴ ἐξῇ σῶ48.877 σαι, πότερον τοῦ τόπου δεῖ καταφρονῆσαι, τὸν καιρὸν δὲ φυλάξαι, ἢ τοῦ καιροῦ καταφρονήσαντας, τὸν τόπον τηρῆσαι. Ὃ δὲ λέγω, τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν· Ἐπέταξε καὶ ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ μηνὶ, καὶ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις τὸ πάσχα γίνεσθαι, καὶ ἐν καιρῷ καὶ ἐν τόπῳ διωρισμένῳ. Ὑποθώμεθα τοίνυν δύο τινὰς εἶναι ποιοῦντας τὸ πάσχα, καὶ ὁ μὲν παραβαινέτω τὸν τόπον, τὸν δὲ καιρὸν τηρείτω· ὁ δὲ τηρείτω μὲν τὸν τόπον, παραβαινέτω δὲ τὸν καιρόν· καὶ ποιείτω ὁ μὲν τὸν καιρὸν τηρῶν, παραβαίνων δὲ τὸν τόπον ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ μηνὶ, καὶ τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων ἔξω που μακράν· ὁ δὲ τὸν τόπον τηρῶν, παραβαίνων δὲ τὸν καιρὸν, ποιείτω μὲν ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις τὸ πάσχα, μὴ τῷ πρώτῳ δὲ μηνὶ, ἀλλὰ τῷ δευτέρῳ· εἶτα ἴδωμεν τίς τῶν δύο τούτων ἐστὶν ὁ ἐγκαλούμενος, τίς δὲ ὁ εὐδοκιμῶν, ὁ παραβὰς τὸν καιρὸν, καὶ ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ποιήσας, ἢ ὁ τὸν τόπον καταλιπὼν, καὶ τὸν καιρὸν φυλάξας. Ἂν γὰρ ὁ τὸν καιρὸν μὲν παραβὰς ἵνα εἴσω ποιήσῃ τῆς πόλεως, ἀποδοχῆς ἄξιος ὢν φανῇ, ὁ δὲ τὸν καιρὸν μὲν φυλάξας, καταλιπὼν δὲ τὸν τόπον, ἐγκλημάτων καὶ κατηγορίας ὥσπερ ἀσεβήσας, εὔδηλον, ὅτι καὶ οὗτοι παρανομοῦσιν, ἐν τῷ τόπῳ μὴ ποιοῦντες, κἂν μυριάκις λέγωσι τὸν καιρὸν τηρεῖν. Πόθεν οὖν τοῦτο ἔσται δῆλον; Ἀπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ Μωϋσέως. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐποίησαν ἔξω τὸ πάσχα, προσῆλθον, φησὶ, τινὲς τῷ Μωϋσῇ, λέγοντες· Ἡμεῖς ἀκάθαρτοί ἐσμεν ἐπὶ ψυχῇ ἀνθρώπου· μὴ ὑστερήσωμεν προσενεγκεῖν τὸ δῶρον Κυρίου κατὰ καιρὸν αὐτοῦ ἐν μέσῳ υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ; Καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτοὺς Μωϋσῆς· Στῆτε αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀκούσομαι τί ἐντελεῖται Κύριος περὶ ὑμῶν. Καὶ ἐλάλησε Κύριος πρὸς Μωϋσῆν, λέγων· Λάλησον τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραὴλ, λέγων· Ἄνθρωπος ὃς ἐὰν γένηται ἀκάθαρτος ἐπὶ ψυχῇ ἀνθρώπου, ἢ ἐν ὁδῷ μακρᾷ, ἢ ἐν ὑμῖν, ἐν ταῖς γενεαῖς ὑμῶν, ποιήσει τὸ πάσχα ἐν τῷ μηνὶ τῷ δευτέρῳ. Ὃ δὲ λέγει, τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν· Ὃς ἂν ᾖ, φησὶν, ἐν ἀποδημίᾳ κατὰ τὸν πρῶτον μῆνα, μὴ ποιείτω τῆς πόλεως ἔξω, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ μηνὶ, ἵνα φθάσῃ εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, καὶ παραβαινέτω τὸν καιρὸν, ἵνα μὴ τῆς πόλεως ἐκπέσῃ· ἀπ' αὐτοῦ δεικνὺς, ὅτι ἡ τοῦ τόπου παρατήρησις τῆς τοῦ καιροῦ παρατηρήσεώς ἐστιν ἀναγκαιοτέρα. Τί τοίνυν ἔχοιεν ἂν εἰπεῖν οἱ τῆς πόλεως ἔξω ποιοῦντες; Ὅταν γὰρ τὸ ἀναγκαιότερον παραβῶσιν, οὐδὲ ἡ ἐν τῷ μικροτέρῳ παρατήρησις ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἀπολογήσασθαι δύναται. Ὥστε κἂν μυριάκις δοκῶσι μὴ παραβαίνειν τὸν καιρὸν, ἐσχάτην παρανομίαν παρανομοῦσι. Καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐντεῦθεν δῆλον μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν προφητῶν. Ὅταν γὰρ φαίνωνται ἐκεῖνοι, μήτε θύσαντες, μήτε ᾠδὴν ᾄσαντες ἐπὶ γῆς ἀλλοτρίας, μήτε νηστείαν τοιαύτην τινὰ νηστεύσαντες, ποίαν ἔχοιεν ἂν οὗτοι συγγνώμην; Καίτοι γε ἐκεῖνοι προσδοκῶντες ἀπολήψεσθαι τὴν τοιαύτην αὐτῶν πολιτείαν, ὅμως ἔμενον τῷ νόμῳ πειθόμενοι, καὶ τὰ τοῦ νόμου πληροῦντες· τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ νόμος ἔλεγεν· οὗτοι δὲ μηδὲ ἐλπίδα τινὰ ἔχοντες τὴν προτέραν ἀπολήψεσθαι πολιτείαν ποῦ γὰρ ἔχουσιν ἀπὸ τῶν προφητῶν δεῖξαι τοῦτο; οὐδὲ οὕτως ἀνέχονται ἡσυχάζειν. Καίτοι εἰ καὶ προσεδόκων ἀπολήψεσθαι, καὶ οὕτω μιμεῖσθαι ἔδει τοὺς ἁγίους ἐκείνους, καὶ νηστεύειν, μηδὲ ἄλλο τοιοῦτον ποιεῖν.

εʹ. Ὅτι γὰρ οὐδὲν τούτων ἐποίησαν ἐκεῖνοι, ἄκουσον 48.878 τί πρὸς τοὺς ἐρωτῶντας ἔλεγον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐπέκειντο βιαζόμενοι καὶ ἀναγκάζοντες αὐτοὺς οἱ βάρβαροι κεχρῆσθαι τοῖς ὀργάνοις αὐτῶν, λέγοντες· Ἄσατε ἡμῖν τὴν ᾠδὴν Κυρίου, ἐκεῖνοι τὸν νόμον σαφῶς ἐπιστάμενοι οὐκ ἐπιτρέποντα ταῦτα ἕξω ποιεῖν, ἔλεγον· Πῶς ᾄσομεν τὴν ᾠδὴν Κυρίου ἐπὶ γῆς ἀλλοτρίας; Καὶ πάλιν οἱ παῖδες οἱ τρεῖς ἐν Βαβυλῶνι διατρίβοντες ἔλεγον· Οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τούτῳ ἄρχων καὶ προφήτης,