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the temple he was found lying on his knees and asking forgiveness for the people, so that his knees had become hard like a camel's, because he was always bending the knee in worship to God 2.23.7 and asking for forgiveness for the people. Indeed, because of his extraordinary righteousness he was called the Just and Oblias, which is in Greek, "bulwark of the people," and "righteousness," as the prophets 2.23.8 declare concerning him. Some, therefore, of the seven sects among the people, which were described by me before in the Memoirs, asked him what the door of Jesus was, and he said that this one 2.23.9 was the Savior; from which some believed that Jesus is the Christ. But the aforementioned sects did not believe either in a resurrection or in one who is coming to give to each according to his works; 2.23.10 but as many as did believe, did so because of James. Since many even of the rulers believed, there was a commotion among the Jews and Scribes and Pharisees, saying that the whole people was in danger of expecting Jesus as the Christ. Therefore, they came together and said to James: "We beg you, restrain the people, for they have gone astray toward Jesus, as if he were the Christ. We beg you to persuade all who have come for the day of the Passover concerning Jesus; for we all obey you. For we and all the people bear witness to you that you are just and that you show no partiality. 2.23.11 Persuade therefore the crowd not to be led astray concerning Jesus; for the whole people and all of us obey you. Stand therefore on the pinnacle of the temple, so that from on high you may be visible and your words may be easily heard by all the people. For because of the Passover all the tribes have come together with the Gentiles also." 2.23.12 So the aforementioned Scribes and Pharisees placed James upon the pinnacle of the temple, and cried out to him and said: "O just one, whom we all ought to obey, since the people are going astray after Jesus who was crucified, 2.23.13 tell us, what is the door of Jesus?" And he answered with a loud voice: "Why do you ask me concerning the Son of Man, when he himself is seated in heaven at the right hand of the great Power, and 2.23.14 is about to come on the clouds of heaven?" And when many were fully convinced and glorified God at the testimony of James, and said, "Hosanna to the Son of David," then again the same Scribes and Pharisees said to one another, "We have done badly in allowing such testimony to be given to Jesus. But let us go up and throw him down, so that they may be afraid and not believe 2.23.15 him." And they cried out, saying: "Oh! oh! even the just one has gone astray." And they fulfilled the scripture that is written in Isaiah: "Let us take away the just man, for he is burdensome to us. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their doings." So they went up and threw down 2.23.16 the just man. And they said to one another, "Let us stone James the Just." And they began to stone him, since when he was thrown down he did not die, but turning, he knelt and said: "I beseech you, Lord God Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And while 2.23.17 they were thus stoning him, one of the priests of the sons of Rechab, son of the Rechabites, to whom Jeremiah the prophet bears witness, cried out, saying: "Stop! What are you doing? The just one is praying for 2.23.18 you." And one of them, one of the fullers, took the club with which he presses out the clothes, and brought it down on the head of the just man. And so he bore his witness. And they buried him on the spot by the temple, and his monument still remains by the temple. He became a true witness both to Jews and to Greeks that Jesus is the Christ. And immediately Vespasian besieged them." 2.23.19 Hegesippus relates these things at length, in agreement with Clement. So wonderful a person, then, was James, and so famous among all others for righteousness, that even the wise men of the Jews thought that this was the cause of the immediate siege of Jerusalem after his martyrdom, which happened to them for no other reason than the crime dared against 2.23.20 him. Indeed, therefore, the
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τὸν ναὸν ηὑρίσκετό τε κείμενος ἐπὶ τοῖς γόνασιν καὶ αἰτούμενος ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ ἄφεσιν, ὡς ἀπεσκληκέναι τὰ γόνατα αὐτοῦ δίκην καμήλου, διὰ τὸ ἀεὶ κάμπτειν ἐπὶ γόνυ προσκυνοῦντα τῷ θεῷ 2.23.7 καὶ αἰτεῖσθαι ἄφεσιν τῷ λαῷ. διά γέ τοι τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς δικαιοσύνης αὐτοῦ ἐκαλεῖτο ὁ δίκαιος καὶ ὠβλίας, ὅ ἐστιν Ἑλληνιστὶ περιοχὴ τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ δικαιοσύνη, ὡς οἱ προφῆται 2.23.8 δηλοῦσιν περὶ αὐτοῦ. τινὲς οὖν τῶν ἑπτὰ αἱρέσεων τῶν ἐν τῷ λαῷ, τῶν προγεγραμμένων μοι ἐν τοῖς Ὑπομνήμασιν, ἐπυνθάνοντο αὐτοῦ τίς ἡ θύρα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ ἔλεγεν τοῦτον 2.23.9 εἶναι τὸν σωτῆρα· ἐξ ὧν τινες ἐπίστευσαν ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός. αἱ δὲ αἱρέσεις αἱ προειρημέναι οὐκ ἐπίστευον οὔτε ἀνάστασιν οὔτε ἐρχόμενον ἀποδοῦναι ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα 2.23.10 αὐτοῦ· ὅσοι δὲ καὶ ἐπίστευσαν, διὰ Ἰάκωβον. πολλῶν οὖν καὶ τῶν ἀρχόντων πιστευόντων, ἦν θόρυβος τῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ γραμματέων καὶ Φαρισαίων λεγόντων ὅτι κινδυνεύει πᾶς ὁ λαὸς Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστὸν προσδοκᾶν. ἔλεγον οὖν συνελθόντες τῷ Ἰακώβῳ· «παρακαλοῦμέν σε, ἐπίσχες τὸν λαόν, ἐπεὶ ἐπλανήθη εἰς Ἰησοῦν, ὡς αὐτοῦ ὄντος τοῦ Χριστοῦ. παρακαλοῦμέν σε πεῖσαι πάντας τοὺς ἐλθόντας εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ πάσχα περὶ Ἰησοῦ· σοὶ γὰρ πάντες πειθόμεθα. ἡμεῖς γὰρ μαρτυροῦμέν σοι καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ὅτι δίκαιος εἶ καὶ ὅτι πρόσωπον οὐ λαμβάνεις. 2.23.11 πεῖσον οὖν σὺ τὸν ὄχλον περὶ Ἰησοῦ μὴ πλανᾶσθαι· καὶ γὰρ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς καὶ πάντες πειθόμεθά σοι. στῆθι οὖν ἐπὶ τὸ πτερύγιον τοῦ ἱεροῦ, ἵνα ἄνωθεν ᾖς ἐπιφανὴς καὶ ᾖ εὐάκουστά σου τὰ ῥήματα παντὶ τῷ λαῷ. διὰ γὰρ τὸ πάσχα συνεληλύθασι πᾶσαι 2.23.12 αἱ φυλαὶ μετὰ καὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν». ἔστησαν οὖν οἱ προειρημένοι γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι τὸν Ἰάκωβον ἐπὶ τὸ πτερύγιον τοῦ ναοῦ, καὶ ἔκραξαν αὐτῷ καὶ εἶπαν· δίκαιε, ᾧ πάντες πείθεσθαι ὀφείλομεν, ἐπεὶ ὁ λαὸς πλανᾶται ὀπίσω Ἰησοῦ τοῦ σταυρωθέντος, 2.23.13 ἀπάγγειλον ἡμῖν τίς ἡ θύρα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. καὶ ἀπεκρίνατο φωνῇ μεγάλῃ· τί με ἐπερωτᾶτε περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, καὶ αὐτὸς κάθηται ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἐκ δεξιῶν τῆς μεγάλης δυνάμεως, καὶ 2.23.14 μέλλει ἔρχεσθαι ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ; καὶ πολλῶν πληροφορηθέντων καὶ δοξαζόντων ἐπὶ τῇ μαρτυρίᾳ τοῦ Ἰακώβου καὶ λεγόντων· ὡσαννὰ τῷ υἱῷ ∆αυίδ, τότε πάλιν οἱ αὐτοὶ γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἔλεγον· κακῶς ἐποιήσαμεν τοιαύτην μαρτυρίαν παρασχόντες τῷ Ἰησοῦ· ἀλλὰ ἀναβάντες καταβάλωμεν αὐτόν, ἵνα φοβηθέντες μὴ πιστεύσωσιν 2.23.15 αὐτῷ. καὶ ἔκραξαν λέγοντες· ὢ ὤ, καὶ ὁ δίκαιος ἐπλανήθη, καὶ ἐπλήρωσαν τὴν γραφὴν τὴν ἐν τῷ Ἡσαΐᾳ γεγραμμένην· ἄρωμεν τὸν δίκαιον, ὅτι δύσχρηστος ἡμῖν ἐστιν. τοίνυν τὰ γενήματα τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν φάγονται. ἀναβάντες οὖν κατέβαλον 2.23.16 τὸν δίκαιον. καὶ ἔλεγον ἀλλήλοις· λιθάσωμεν Ἰάκωβον τὸν δίκαιον, καὶ ἤρξαντο λιθάζειν αὐτόν, ἐπεὶ καταβληθεὶς οὐκ ἀπέθανεν· ἀλλὰ στραφεὶς ἔθηκε τὰ γόνατα λέγων· παρακαλῶ, κύριε θεὲ πάτερ, ἄφες αὐτοῖς· οὐ γὰρ οἴδασιν τί ποιοῦσιν. οὕτως 2.23.17 δὲ καταλιθοβολούντων αὐτόν, εἷς τῶν ἱερέων τῶν υἱῶν Ῥηχὰβ υἱοῦ Ῥαχαβείμ, τῶν μαρτυρουμένων ὑπὸ Ἱερεμίου τοῦ προφήτου, ἔκραζεν λέγων· παύσασθε· τί ποιεῖτε; εὔχεται ὑπὲρ 2.23.18 ὑμῶν ὁ δίκαιος. καὶ λαβών τις ἀπ' αὐτῶν, εἷς τῶν γναφέων, τὸ ξύλον, ἐν ᾧ ἀποπιέζει τὰ ἱμάτια, ἤνεγκεν κατὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς τοῦ δικαίου, καὶ οὕτως ἐμαρτύρησεν. καὶ ἔθαψαν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῷ τόπῳ παρὰ τῷ ναῷ, καὶ ἔτι αὐτοῦ ἡ στήλη μένει παρὰ τῷ ναῷ. μάρτυς οὗτος ἀληθὴς Ἰουδαίοις τε καὶ Ἕλλησιν γεγένηται ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστός ἐστιν. καὶ εὐθὺς Οὐεσπασιανὸς πολιορκεῖ αὐτούς». 2.23.19 ταῦτα διὰ πλάτους, συνῷδά γε τῷ Κλήμεντι καὶ ὁ Ἡγήσιππος. οὕτω δὲ ἄρα θαυμάσιός τις ἦν καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἅπασιν ἐπὶ δικαιοσύνῃ βεβόητο ὁ Ἰάκωβος, ὡς καὶ τοὺς Ἰουδαίων ἔμφρονας δοξάζειν ταύτην εἶναι τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς παραχρῆμα μετὰ τὸ μαρτύριον αὐτοῦ πολιορκίας τῆς Ἱερουσαλήμ, ἣν δι' οὐδὲν ἕτερον αὐτοῖς συμβῆναι ἢ διὰ τὸ κατ' αὐτοῦ τολμη2.23.20 θὲν ἄγος. ἀμέλει γέ τοι ὁ