Chapter XXXII.—Christ predicted by Moses.

Moses then, who was the first of the prophets, spoke in these very words: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until He come for whom it is reserved; and He shall be the desire of the nations, binding His foal to the vine, washing His robe in the blood of the grape.”60    Gen. xlix. 10. It is yours to make accurate inquiry, and ascertain up to whose time the Jews had a lawgiver and king of their own. Up to the time of Jesus Christ, who taught us, and interpreted the prophecies which were not yet understood, [they had a lawgiver] as was foretold by the holy and divine Spirit of prophecy through Moses, “that a ruler would not fail the Jews until He should come for whom the kingdom was reserved” (for Judah was the forefather of the Jews, from whom also they have their name of Jews); and after He (i.e., Christ) appeared, you began to rule the Jews, and gained possession of all their territory. And the prophecy, “He shall be the expectation of the nations,” signified that there would be some of all nations who should look for Him to come again. And this indeed you can see for yourselves, and be convinced of by fact. For of all races of men there are some who look for Him who was crucified in Judæa, and after whose crucifixion the land was straightway surrendered to you as spoil of war. And the prophecy, “binding His foal to the vine, and washing His robe in the blood of the grape,” was a significant symbol of the things that were to happen to Christ, and of what He was to do. For the foal of an ass stood bound to a vine at the entrance of a village, and He ordered His acquaintances to bring it to Him then; and when it was brought, He mounted and sat upon it, and entered Jerusalem, where was the vast temple of the Jews which was afterwards destroyed by you. And after this He was crucified, that the rest of the prophecy might be fulfilled. For this “washing His robe in the blood of the grape” was predictive of the passion He was to endure, cleansing by His blood those who believe on Him. For what is called by the Divine Spirit through the prophet “His robe,” are those men who believe in Him in whom abideth the seed61    Grabe would here read, not σπέρμα, but πνεῦμα, the spirit; but the Benedictine, Otto, and Trollope all think that no change should be made. of God, the Word. And what is spoken of as “the blood of the grape,” signifies that He who should appear would have blood, though not of the seed of man, but of the power of God. And the first power after God the Father and Lord of all is the Word, who is also the Son; and of Him we will, in what follows, relate how He took flesh and became man. For as man did not make the blood of the vine, but God, so it was hereby intimated that the blood should not be of human seed, but of divine power, as we have said above. And Isaiah, another prophet, foretelling the same things in other words, spoke thus: “A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a flower shall spring from the root of Jesse; and His arm shall the nations trust."62    Isa. xi. 1. And a star of light has arisen, and a flower has sprung from the root of Jesse—this Christ. For by the power of God He was conceived by a virgin of the seed of Jacob, who was the father of Judah, who, as we have shown, was the father of the Jews; and Jesse was His forefather according to the oracle, and He was the son of Jacob and Judah according to lineal descent.

[32] Μωυσῆς μὲν οὖν, πρῶτος τῶν προφητῶν γενόμενος, εἶπεν αὐτολεξεὶ οὕτως: Οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἄρχων ἐξ Ἰούδα οὐδὲ ἡγούμενος ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ᾧ ἀπόκειται: καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται προσδοκία ἐθνῶν, δεσμεύων πρὸς ἄμπελον τὸν πῶλον αὐτοῦ, πλύνων ἐν αἵματι σταφυλῆς τὴν στολὴν αὐτοῦ. ὑμέτερον οὖν ἐστιν ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάσαι καὶ μαθεῖν, μέχρι τίνος ἦν ἄρχων καὶ βασιλεὺς ἐν Ἰουδαίοις ἴδιος αὐτῶν: μέχρι τῆς φανερώσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοῦ ἡμετέρου διδασκάλου καὶ τῶν ἀγνοουμένων προφητειῶν ἐξηγητοῦ, ὡς προερρέθη ὑπὸ τοῦ θείου ἁγίου προφητικοῦ πνεύματος διὰ τοῦ Μωυσέως μὴ ἐκλείψειν ἄρχοντα ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ᾧ ἀπόκειται τὸ βασίλειον. Ἰούδας γὰρ προπάτωρ Ἰουδαίων, ἀφ' οὗ καὶ τὸ Ἰουδαῖοι καλεῖσθαι ἐσχήκασι: καὶ ὑμεῖς μετὰ τὴν γενομένην αὐτοῦ φανέρωσιν καὶ Ἰουδαίων ἐβασιλεύσατε καὶ τῆς ἐκείνων πάσης γῆς ἐκρατήσατε. τὸ δὲ Αὐτὸς ἔσται προσδοκία ἐθνῶν μηνυτικὸν ἦν ὅτι ἐκ πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν προσδοκήσουσιν αὐτὸν πάλιν παραγενησόμενον, ὅπερ ὄψει ὑμῖν πάρεστιν ἰδεῖν καὶ ἔργῳ πεισθῆναι: ἐκ πάντων γὰρ γενῶν ἀνθρώπων προσδοκῶσι τὸν ἐν Ἰουδαίᾳ σταυρωθέντα, μεθ' ὃν εὐθὺς δοριάλωτος ὑμῖν ἡ γῆ Ἰουδαίων παρεδόθη. τὸ δὲ Δεσμεύων πρὸς ἄμπελον τὸν πῶλον αὐτοῦ καὶ πλύνων τὴν στολὴν αὐτοῦ ἐν αἵματι σταφυλῆς σύμβολον δηλωτικὸν ἦν τῶν γενησομένων τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ τῶν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ πραχθησομένων. πῶλος γάρ τις ὄνου εἱστήκει ἔν τινι εἰσόδῳ κώμης πρὸς ἄμπελον δεδεμένος, ὃν ἐκέλευσεν ἀγαγεῖν αὐτῷ τότε τοὺς γνωρίμους αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀχθέντος ἐπιβὰς ἐκάθισε καὶ εἰσελήλυθεν εἰς τὰ Ἰεροσόλυμα, ἔνθα τὸ μέγιστον ἱερὸν ἦν Ἰουδαίων, ὃ ὑφ' ὑμῶν ὕστερον κατεστράφη: καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐσταυρώθη, ὅπως τὸ λεῖπον τῆς προφητείας συντελεσθῇ. τὸ γὰρ Πλύνων τὴν στολὴν αὐτοῦ ἐν αἵματι σταφυλῆς προαγγελτικὸν ἦν τοῦ πάθους οὗ πάσχειν ἔμελλε, δι' αἵματος καθαίρων τοὺς πιστεύοντας αὐτῷ. ἡ γὰρ κεκλημένη ὑπὸ τοῦ θείου πνεύματος διὰ τοῦ προφήτου στολὴ οἱ πιστεύοντες αὐτῷ εἰσιν ἄνθρωποι, ἐν οἷς οἰκεῖ τὸ παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ σπέρμα, ὁ λόγος. τὸ δὲ εἰρημένον Αἷμα τῆς σταφυλῆς σημαντικὸν τοῦ ἔχειν μὲν αἷμα τὸν φανησόμενον, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρωπείου σπέρματος ἀλλ' ἐκ θείας δυνάμεως. ἡ δὲ πρώτη δύναμις μετὰ τὸν πατέρα πάντων καὶ δεσπότην θεὸν καὶ υἱὸς ὁ λόγος ἐστίν: ὃς τίνα τρόπον σαρκοποιηθεὶς ἄνθρωπος γέγονεν, ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς ἐροῦμεν. ὃν τρόπον γὰρ τὸ τῆς ἀμπέλου αἷμα οὐκ ἄνθρωπος πεποίηκεν ἀλλ' ὁ θεός, οὕτως καὶ τοῦτο ἐμηνύετο οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρωπείου σπέρματος γενήσεσθαι τὸ αἷμα ἀλλ' ἐκ δυνάμεως θεοῦ, ὡς προέφημεν. καὶ Ἠσαίας δέ, ἄλλος προφήτης, τὰ αὐτὰ δι' ἄλλων ῥήσεων προφητεύων οὕτως εἶπεν: Ἀνατελεῖ ἄστρον ἐξ Ἰακώβ, καὶ ἄνθος ἀναβήσεται ἀπὸ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαί: καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν βραχίονα αὐτοῦ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσιν. ἄστρον δὲ φωτεινὸν ἀνέτειλε, καὶ ἄνθος ἀνέβη ἀπὸ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαί, οὗτος ὁ Χριστός. διὰ γὰρ παρθένου τῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ σπέρματος Ἰακώβ, τοῦ γενομένου πατρὸς Ἰούδα, τοῦ δεδηλωμένου Ἰουδαίων πατρός, διὰ δυνάμεως θεοῦ ἀπεκυήθη: καὶ Ἰεσσαὶ προπάτωρ μὲν κατὰ τὸ λόγιον γεγένηται, τοῦ δὲ Ἰακὼβ καὶ τοῦ Ἰούδα κατὰ γένους διαδοχὴν υἱὸς ὑπῆρχεν.