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outward they found a plain in the land of Shinar. And since all were of one language, they reasoned with one accord, saying: 'The men before us God destroyed with a flood; if it seems good to him to be angry with us again and to destroy us with a flood, we will all perish. But come, let us make bricks and bake them with fire, that they may withstand the waters, and having built with asphalt let us make a high tower, whose top shall be to heaven, so that, being delivered from the flood, we may be saved in the tower. And we shall easily array ourselves against him for war, being very near to him, while we are all together, before we are scattered.' For this is what it means to say: "And let us make a name for ourselves, before we are scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth." 3.3 Beginning therefore to build and wishing in a tyrannical manner to ascend into heaven, the philanthropic and compassionate God, knowing and foreknowing the man he created with free will and self-determination—the power of reason in him, and the weakness of his flesh—being moved with compassion rather than with anger, again made a great dispensation, not allowing them to toil and labor in vain. For besides being crushed by the toil, they were being utterly destroyed as they reached a height, being both thrown down from above by the violence of the winds and scorched by the nearness of the sun and again being dizzied by the shock of the height and falling down. Therefore he divides and confuses their language into many and puts a stop to their godless madness, and he scatters them and settles them over all the earth. This is the cause of the division of the nations and of the settlement upon the earth. 3.4 In the last days, therefore, God being well-pleased in men, as it is written: "Good will among men," by his own counsel and goodness to lead them up into heaven, led up our first-fruits into heaven forty days after the resurrection. And foretelling again also the ascent of the rest of mankind, on the day of Pentecost, having gathered through the Holy Spirit the tongues which he had once divided, he gives them from heaven to the apostles, and they spoke in tongues "the mighty works of God," "as the Spirit gave them utterance," so that all those present, gathered from all nations, each heard in his own language "the mighty works of God" and knew the good pleasure of God, which he was pleased to show among men, that whereas men of old who acted tyrannically and wished to ascend into heaven remained unsuccessful, now by the good pleasure of God the faithful are carried up into heaven. Marginal Note 3.5 Here, having reached a height, the first men were building the tower, and frequently surmising from the stars and seeing some of the stars rising and others setting, they suspected in a way that it was turning as if on a machine, to the effect that the heaven is spherical. For they were ignorant both of the shape of the earth and that they are moved by angels in the air. For this reason they had this suspicion. They made these gates piercing the tower, contriving from every side, so that the tower might not, forsooth, be overthrown by the waters of the flood; likewise they also built the brick, so that it might, forsooth, withstand the waters. For this is the tower being built. And they say that the extent of the foundations in width occupies three by three miles. And they say that it has the ascent on the outside in a circle, so that the ascent might receive light through the windows. The Text 3.6 While the Israelites were still living in Egypt, Moses, having been born and raised in the royal courts of Egypt, was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, having himself also received by sight the sphere and astronomy, or even magic, and the hieroglyphic letters, or rather symbols of letters—for letters did not yet exist—and, simply put, having become a partaker of all their wisdom. As the divine Scripture relates, when he became a man and being more a zealot for his ancestral nation, he kills the Egyptian, and being afraid

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ἐπὶ τὰ ἔξω εὗραν πεδίον ἐν γῇ Σενναάρ. Μιᾶς δὲ γλώττης ὄντες οἱ πάντες ὁμοθυμαδὸν διελογίζοντο λέγοντες ὅτι· Τοὺς πρὸ ἡμῶν ἀνθρώπους ὁ Θεὸς κατακλυσμῷ διέφθειρεν· εἰ δοκήσει αὐτῷ πάλιν ὀργισθῆναι καὶ ἡμῖν καὶ κατακλυσμῷ διαφθεῖραι, ἀπολλόμεθα πάντες. Ἀλλὰ δεῦτε, πλινθεύσωμεν πλίνθους καὶ ὀπτήσωμεν αὐτὰς πυρί, ἵνα τοῖς ὕδασιν ἀντέχωσι, καὶ ἀσφάλτῳ οἰκοδομήσαντες ποιήσωμεν πύργον ὑψηλόν, οὗ ἡ κεφαλὴ ἔσται ἕως τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ἵνα τοῦ μὲν κατακλυσμοῦ ῥυσθέντες σωθῶμεν ἐν τῷ πύργῳ. Εὐχερῶς δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν παραταξώμεθα εἰς πόλεμον, ἐγγύτατοι αὐτοῦ ὄντες, ἕως ἐσμὲν ὁμοῦ πάντες, πρὶν ἢ διασκορπισθῶμεν. Τοῦτο γὰρ δηλοῖ τὸ λέγειν· "Καὶ ποιήσωμεν ἑαυτῶν ὄνομα πρὸ τοῦ διασπαρῆναι ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ προσώπου πάσης τῆς γῆς." 3.3 Ἀρξάμενοι τοίνυν οἰκοδομεῖν καὶ τυραννικῷ τρόπῳ βουλόμενοι εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνελθεῖν, ὁ φιλάνθρωπος καὶ εὔσπλαγχνος Θεός, εἰδὼς καὶ προειδὼς ὃν ἔκτισεν αὐθαίρετον καὶ αὐτεξούσιον ἄνθρωπον, τὴν δύναμιν μὲν τοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ λογικοῦ, τὴν ἀσθένειαν δὲ τῆς αὐτοῦ σαρκός, σπλαγχνισθεὶς μᾶλλον ἤπερ ὀργισθείς, πεποίηκε πάλιν οἰκονομίαν μεγάλην, μὴ ἐάσας αὐτοὺς ἀνόνητα κάμνειν καὶ μοχθεῖν. Μετὰ τοῦ γὰρ συντρίβεσθαι τῷ καμάτῳ διεφθείροντο παντελῶς ἐφ' ὕψους γινόμενοι ἔκ τε τῆς σφοδρότητος τῶν ἀνέμων ἄνωθεν καταβαλλόμενοι καὶ τῇ ἐγγύτητι τοῦ ἡλίου κατακαυματούμενοι καὶ τῇ ἐκπλήξει τοῦ ὕψους σκοτούμενοι πάλιν καὶ καταφερόμενοι. ∆ιαιρεῖ οὖν αὐτῶν καὶ συγχεῖ τὴν γλῶτταν εἰς πολλὰς καὶ παύει μὲν τῆς ἀθέου μανίας, διασκορπίζει δὲ αὐτοὺς καὶ κατοικίζει εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν. Αὕτη ἡ αἰτία τοῦ διαμερισμοῦ τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ τῆς κατοικίας τῆς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. 3.4 Ἐπ' ἐσχάτων οὖν τῶν ἡμερῶν εὐδοκήσας ὁ Θεὸς ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, καθὰ γέγραπται· "Ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκία", ἰδίᾳ βουλῇ καὶ ἀγαθότητι ἀναγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, τὴν ἡμετέραν ἀπαρχὴν μετὰ τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἀνήγαγεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν. Προμηνύων δὲ πάλιν καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν ἄνοδον, ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς Πεντηκοστῆς διὰ Πνεύματος ἁγίου συνάξας, ἅς ποτε διεῖλε γλώσσας, οὐρανόθεν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις δίδωσι, καὶ ἐλάλουν γλώσσαις "τὰ μεγαλεῖα τοῦ Θεοῦ", "καθὼς τὸ Πνεῦμα ἐδίδου αὐτοῖς ἀποφθέγγεσθαι", ὥστε τοὺς παρισταμένους πάντας ἐκ πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν συνηγμένους ἀκούειν ἕκαστον τῇ ἰδίᾳ διαλέκτῳ "τὰ μεγαλεῖα τοῦ Θεοῦ" καὶ γνῶναι τὴν εὐδοκίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἣν ηὐδόκησεν ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ὅτι ποτὲ οἱ τυραννοῦντες καὶ βουλόμενοι ἄνθρωποι εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνελθεῖν ἄπρακτοι μεμενήκασιν, εὐδοκίᾳ δὲ Θεοῦ νῦν εἰς οὐρανὸν οἱ πιστοὶ ἀναφέρονται. Παραγραφή 3.5 Ἐνταῦθα ἐφ' ὑψηλοῦ γενόμενοι οἱ πρῶτοι ἄνθρωποι τὸν πύργον ᾠκοδόμουν, καὶ συχνῶς τοῖς ἄστροις ὑπονοοῦντες καὶ ὁρῶντες τὰ μὲν τῶν ἄστρων ἀνερχόμενα, τὰ δὲ κατερχόμενα, τρόπον τινὰ ὡς ἐπὶ μηχανῆς στρεφόμενον ὑπώπτευσαν πρὸς τὸ σφαιροειδῆ εἶναι τὸν οὐρανόν. Ἠγνόησαν γὰρ καὶ τὸ σχῆμα τῆς γῆς καὶ ὅτι ὑπὸ ἀγγέλων κινοῦνται ἐν τῷ ἀέρι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τὴν ὑπόνοιαν ταύτην ἔσχον. Τὰς πύλας ταύτας τὰς διαπερώσας τὸν πύργον ἐποίησαν, μηχανώμενοι πάντοθεν, ἵνα μὴ δῆθεν ἐκ τῶν ὑδάτων τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ καταβληθῇ ὁ πύργος· ὁμοίως καὶ τὴν πλίνθον ᾠκοδόμουν, ἵνα τοῖς ὕδασι δῆθεν ἀντέχῃ. Οὗτος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ πύργος οἰκοδομούμενος. Φασὶ δὲ κατέχειν τοῦ πλάτους τὸ διάστημα τῶν θεμελίων τρία ἐπὶ τρία μίλια. Λέγουσι δὲ καὶ τὴν ἄνοδον ἔξωθεν αὐτὸν κύκλῳ ἔχειν, ἵνα διὰ τῶν θυρίδων φῶτα δέχηται ἡ ἄνοδος. Τὸ κείμενον 3.6 Ἔτι δὲ διατριβόντων τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν ἐν τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ, γεννηθεὶς ὁ Μωϋσῆς καὶ ἀνατραφεὶς ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις Αἰγύπτου ἐπεπαίδευτο πᾶσαν τὴν σοφίαν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων, παραλαβὼν διὰ τῆς ὄψεως καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν σφαῖραν καὶ τὴν ἀστρονομίαν, ἢ καὶ μαγείαν, καὶ τὰ ἱερογλυφικὰ γράμματα, μᾶλλον δὲ σύμβολα γραμμάτωνγράμματα γὰρ οὔπω ἦν, καὶ ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν, πάσης αὐτῶν τῆς σοφίας μέτοχος γεγονώς. Καθὰ διηγεῖται ἡ θεία Γραφή, ἀνδρωθεὶς καὶ ζηλωτὴς ὑπάρχων μᾶλλον τοῦ πατρίου ἔθνους φονεύει τὸν Αἰγύπτιον, καὶ φοβηθεὶς