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who said, "I am the one who is"? For he himself taught that he appeared to Abraham. How 2.21.3 he himself was "the one who is," has been said. And the great apostle Paul knows the Son of God became the mediator of the legislation through Moses, in what he teaches, saying, "the law was ordained through angels in the hand of a mediator. But a mediator is not of one." Therefore, the one who gave the oracle to Moses was the mediator, mediating from that time for the salvation of humanity, 2.21.4 before he took on flesh. And the same apostle showed this to be Jesus Christ, saying, "one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ." Whether, then, the phrase "I am the one who is" was said in Moses from his own person, or whether it was the Father who uttered this voice through him, in either case 2.21.5 the statement would be true. So let Marcellus not be perplexed, using a syllogism, as he thinks, inescapable, through which he says: whom, then, does Asterius think the one saying "I am the one who is" is, the Son or the Father? Then he continues, inferring that if the Father is the one who is, the Son will no longer be God; because the one who is says he is himself, in contradistinction to that which is not. But if he were to say that the Son, distinct in hypostasis, says this, "I am the one who is," the same would then be thought to be said about the Father; and each of these is impious. 2.21.6 But in saying these things, he himself has fallen into both absurdities, defining one to be the one who is, and denying the other. And whom would he himself know this one to be. For either by granting the Father, he will deny the Son, or by accepting the Son alone, he will reject the Father; or rather, he will be convicted of knowing neither Father nor Son, granting only one and removing the other from the way. And even if he hears God saying, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bond2.21.7 age. You shall have no other gods before me," again, here too, let him not be troubled in soul, but let him also hear the connected things that follow; for after saying, "You shall have no other gods before me," he added, "You shall not make for yourself an idol, nor a likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I 2.21.8 am the Lord your God, a jealous Lord." Do you see how he was commanding not to be led away by the polytheistic error of the nations, but to know only him as God and Lord? And who was this? The Son, having the image of the Father in himself, and by his authority commanding these things to those who were sick with idolatry. For just as "all things were made through him," with the Father establishing the substance of all created things through the Savior, so it was the Father himself who delivered the knowledge 2.21.9 and piety toward himself to men through the mediator, the Son. And this the apostle also taught in these very words, writing to the Galatians, through which he said, "the law was ordained through angels in the hand of a mediator. But a medi2.21.10 ator is not of one, but God is one." And if he says, "See, see that I am, and there is no god besides me," again it was the Father, as through an image and mediator, saying this through the Son. For if, when the prophet Isaiah says, "I have begotten and raised up sons," and again, "but Israel did not know me, and the people did not understand me," and again, "I have commanded all the stars, and with my hand I established the heaven," and other such things, we will not say that Isaiah is saying these things, but God speaking in him through him, would it not indeed be fitting for the Father also, in the case of the only-begotten Son of God, to testify these things through him to those who need such commands? And these were idolaters, as the same scripture teaches, saying, "And the Lord said: Where are their gods, in whom they trusted? of whose sacrifices you ate the fat, and drank the wine of their libations; let them arise and help you, and be your protectors." For to these is connected, "See, see that I am, and there is no god besides me." 2.22.1 Therefore, even if ten thousand times through the prophet he shouts and says, "besides me there is no God," and "besides me there is no righteous one and savior," and "you shall know no god besides me, and there is no one who saves

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εἰρηκότα «ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν»; αὐτὸς γὰρ τῷ Ἀβραὰμ ὦφθαι ἑαυτὸν ἐδίδαξεν. ὅπως 2.21.3 δὲ ἦν αὐτὸς «ὁ ὤν», εἴρηται. καὶ ὁ μέγας δὲ ἀπόστολος Παῦλος οἶδεν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ μεσίτην γενόμενον τῆς διὰ Μωσέως νομοθεσίας, ἐν οἷς διδάσκει λέγων «ὁ νόμος διαταγεὶς δι' ἀγγέλων, ἐν χειρὶ μεσίτου. ὁ δὲ μεσίτης ἑνὸς οὐκ ἔστιν». οὐκοῦν ὁ χρηματίσας τῷ Μωσεῖ ὁ μεσίτης ἦν, ἐξ ἐκείνου μεσιτεύων τῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων 2.21.4 σωτηρίᾳ, πρὶν ἢ τὴν σάρκα ἀναλαβεῖν. τοῦτον δὲ εἶναι Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ὁ αὐτὸς ἀπόστολος παρέστησε φήσας «εἷς θεός, εἷς καὶ μεσίτης θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων, ἄνθρωπος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός». εἴτ' οὖν ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ προσώπου λέγοιτο παρὰ Μωσεῖ τὸ «ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν», εἴθ' ὁ πατὴρ ἦν ὁ δι' αὐτοῦ ταύτην προϊέμενος τὴν φωνήν, ἑκατέρως 2.21.5 ἀληθεύοι ἂν ὁ λόγος. μὴ δὴ οὖν ἀπορείτω Μάρκελλος συλλογισμῷ χρώμενος, ὡς οἴεται, ἀφύκτῳ, δι' οὗ φησὶν τίνα τοίνυν τὸν «ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὢν» λέγοντα Ἀστέριος εἶναι οἴεται, τὸν υἱὸν ἢ τὸν πατέρα; εἶθ' ἑξῆς συνάγων, ὡς εἰ μὲν ὁ πατὴρ εἴη ὁ ὤν, οὐκέτ' ἔσται ὁ υἱὸς θεός· ὅτι κατὰ ἀντιδιαστολὴν τοῦ μὴ ὄντος ὁ ὢν ἑαυτὸν εἶναί φησιν. εἰ δὲ τὸν υἱὸν ὑποστάσει διῃρημένον τοῦτο φάσκοι λέγειν τὸ «ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν», ταὐτὸν αὖθις περὶ τοῦ πατρὸς λέγειν νομι σθήσεται· ἑκάτερον δὲ τούτων ἀσεβές. 2.21.6 ταῦτα δὲ λέγων ὁ αὐτὸς ἑκατέρῳ περιπέπτωκεν τῷ ἀτόπῳ, ἕνα μὲν ὁριζόμενος εἶναι τὸν ὄντα, θάτερον δὲ ἀρνούμενος. καὶ τίνα τοῦτον αὐτὸς ἂν εἰδείη. ἢ γὰρ τὸν πατέρα δοὺς τὸν υἱὸν ἀρνήσεται, ἢ τὸν υἱὸν μόνον παραδεξάμενος ἀθετήσει τὸν πατέρα· μᾶλλον δὲ οὔτε πατέρα οὔτε υἱὸν εἰδὼς ἐλεγχθήσεται, ἕνα μόνον διδοὺς τὸν δ' ἕτερον ἐκποδὼν μεθιστάς. κἂν ἀκούῃ δὲ λέγοντος τοῦ θεοῦ «ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεός σου, ὁ ἐξαγαγών σε ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, ἐξ οἴκου δου2.21.7 λείας. οὐκ ἔσονταί σοι θεοὶ ἕτεροι πλὴν ἐμοῦ», πάλιν κἀνταῦθα μὴ ταραττέσθω τὴν ψυχὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἑξῆς συνημμένων ἀκουέτω· εἰπὼν γὰρ «οὐκ ἔσονταί σοι θεοὶ ἕτεροι πλὴν ἐμοῦ», ἐπήγαγεν «οὐ ποιήσεις σεαυτῷ εἴδωλον οὐδὲ παντὸς ὁμοίωμα, ὅσα ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω καὶ ὅσα ἐν τῇ γῇ κάτω καὶ ὅσα ἐν τοῖς ὕδασιν ὑποκάτω τῆς γῆς. οὐ προσκυνήσεις αὐτοῖς οὐδὲ μὴ λατρεύσεις αὐτοῖς· ἐγὼ γάρ 2.21.8 εἰμι κύριος ὁ θεός σου, κύριος ζηλωτής». ὁρᾷς ὅπως διεστέλλετο μὴ τῇ τῶν ἐθνῶν πολυθέῳ πλάνῃ συναπάγεσθαι, μόνον δὲ αὐτὸν εἰδέναι θεὸν καὶ κύριον. τίς δ' ἦν οὗτος; ὁ υἱὸς τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ πατρὸς ἔχων ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἐξ αὐθεντείας τε αὐτοῦ τοῖς εἰδωλολατρείαν νοσοῦσιν ταῦτα διαταττόμενος. ὡς γὰρ «πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο», τοῦ πατρὸς διὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος τὴν τῶν γενητῶν ἁπάντων οὐσίαν ὑποστησαμένου, οὕτως αὐτὸς ἦν ὁ πατὴρ τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν γνῶσίν 2.21.9 τε καὶ εὐσέβειαν διὰ μεσίτου τοῦ υἱοῦ παραδιδοὺς ἀνθρώποις. τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος αὐτοῖς ῥήμασιν Γαλάταις γράφων ἐδίδασκεν, δι' ὧν ἔφη «ὁ νόμος διαταγεὶς δι' ἀγγέλων, ἐν χειρὶ μεσίτου. ὁ δὲ με2.21.10 σίτης ἑνὸς οὐκ ἔστιν, ὁ δὲ θεὸς εἷς ἐστιν». κἂν λέγῃ «ἴδετε ἴδετε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν θεὸς πλὴν ἐμοῦ», πάλιν ὁ πατὴρ ἦν ὡς διὰ εἰκόνος καὶ μεσίτου διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦτο φάσκων. εἰ γὰρ δὴ λέγοντος μὲν Ἡσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου «υἱοὺς ἐγέννησα καὶ ὕψωσα» καὶ πάλιν «Ἰσραὴλ δέ με οὐκ ἔγνω, καὶ ὁ λαός με οὐ συνῆκεν» καὶ αὖθις «ἐγὼ πᾶσιν τοῖς ἄστροις ἐνετειλάμην, καὶ τῇ χειρί μου ἐστερέωσα τὸν οὐρανὸν» καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα τοιαῦτα, οὐ τὸν Ἡσαΐαν ταῦτα λέγειν φήσομεν, δι' αὐτοῦ δὲ τὸν ἐν αὐτῷ λαλοῦντα θεόν, οὐχὶ δὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ μονογενοῦς υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ πρέποι ἂν τὸν πατέρα δι' αὐτοῦ χρῆναι ταῦτα διαμαρτύρασθαι τοῖς τῶν τοιῶνδε παραγγελμάτων δεομέ νοις; εἰδωλολάτραι δ' ἦσαν οὗτοι, ὡς ἡ αὐτὴ διδάσκει γραφὴ λέγουσα «καὶ εἶπεν κύριος· ποῦ εἰσιν οἱ θεοὶ αὐτῶν, ἐφ' οἷς ἐπεποίθεισαν ἐπ' αὐτοῖς; ὧν τὸ στέαρ τῶν θυσιῶν αὐτῶν ἠσθίετε, καὶ ἐπίνετε τὸν οἶνον τῶν σπονδῶν αὐτῶν· ἀναστήτωσαν καὶ βοηθησάτωσαν ὑμῖν, καὶ γενηθήτωσαν ὑμῶν σκεπασταί». τούτοις γὰρ συνῆπται τὸ «ἴδετε ἴδετε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν θεὸς πλὴν ἐμοῦ». 2.22.1 κἂν μυριάκις τοίνυν διὰ τοῦ προφήτου βοῶν φάσκῃ «πλὴν ἐμοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν θεὸς» καὶ «πλὴν ἐμοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν δίκαιος καὶ σωτὴρ» καὶ «θεὸν πλὴν ἐμοῦ οὐ γνώσῃ, καὶ σῴζων οὐκ ἔστιν