Chapter XXXVI.

And now, since we have touched upon the subject of the prophets, what we are about to advance will be useful not only to the Jews, who believe that they spake by divine inspiration, but also to the more candid among the Greeks.  To these we say that we must necessarily admit that the Jews had prophets, if they were to be kept together under that system of law which had been given them, and were to believe in the Creator of the world, as they had learned, and to be without pretexts, so far as the law was concerned, for apostatizing to the polytheism of the heathen.  And we establish this necessity in the following manner.  “For the nations,” as it is written in the law of the Jews itself, “shall hearken unto observers of times, and diviners;”64    Cf. Deut. xviii. 14. but to that people it is said:  “But as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.”65    Cf. Deut. xviii. 14.  And to this is subjoined the promise:  “A prophet shall the Lord thy God raise up unto thee from among thy brethren.”66    Cf. Deut. xviii. 15.  Since, therefore, the heathen employ modes of divination either by oracles or by omens, or by birds, or by ventriloquists, or by those who profess the art of sacrifice, or by Chaldean genealogists—all which practices were forbidden to the Jews—this people, if they had no means of attaining a knowledge of futurity, being led by the passion common to humanity of ascertaining the future would have despised their own prophets, as not having in them any particle of divinity; and would not have accepted any prophet after Moses, nor committed their words to writing, but would have spontaneously betaken themselves to the divining usages of the heathen, or attempted to establish some such practices amongst themselves.  There is therefore no absurdity in their prophets having uttered predictions even about events of no importance, to soothe those who desire such things, as when Samuel prophesies regarding three she-asses which were lost,67    Cf. 1 Sam. ix. 10. or when mention is made in the third book of Kings respecting the sickness of a king’s son.68    Cf. 1 Kings xiv. 12.  [See note 3, supra, p. 362.  S.]  And why should not those who desired to obtain auguries from idols be severely rebuked by the administrators of the law among the Jews?—as Elijah is found rebuking Ahaziah, and saying, “Is it because there is not a God in Israel that ye go to inquire of Baalzebub, god of Ekron?”69    Cf. 2 Kings i. 3.

Ἐπεὶ δ' ἅπαξ εἰς τὸν περὶ τῶν προφητῶν ἤλθομεν λόγον, Ἰουδαίοις μέν, τοῖς πιστεύουσι θείῳ πνεύματι αὐτοὺς λελαληκέναι, οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἔσται ἀχρήσιμα τὰ ἐποισθη σόμενα καὶ τοῖς εὐγνωμονοῦσι δὲ τῶν Ἑλλήνων. Πρὸς οὓς ἐροῦμεν ὅτι ἀναγκαῖον παραδέξασθαι ὅτι καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι προφήτας εἶχον, εἴπερ ἔμελλον συνέχεσθαι ἐν τῇ δοθείσῃ αὐτοῖς νομοθεσίᾳ καὶ πιστεύειν τῷ δημιουργῷ, καθὰ παρειλήφεισαν, καὶ ὅσον ἐπὶ τῷ νόμῳ μὴ ἔχειν ἀφορμὰς ἀποστῆναι εἰς τὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν πολυθεότητα. Τὸ δ' ἀναγκαῖον οὕτω παραστήσομεν. "Τὰ ἔθνη", ὡς γέγραπται καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ τῶν Ἰουδαίων νόμῳ, "κληδόνων καὶ μαντειῶν ἀκούσονται"· τῷ δὲ λαῷ ἐκείνῳ εἴρηται· "Σοὶ δὲ οὐχ οὕτως ἔδωκε κύριος ὁ θεός σου." Καὶ ἐπιφέρεται τούτῳ τὸ "Προφήτην ἐκ τῶν ἀδελφῶν σου ἀναστήσει σοι κύριος ὁ θεός σου." Εἴπερ οὖν τῶν ἐθνῶν χρωμένων μαντείαις εἴτε διὰ "κληδόνων" εἴτε δι' οἰωνῶν εἴτε δι' ὀρνίθων εἴτε δι' ἐγγαστριμύθων εἴτε καὶ διὰ τῶν τὴν θυτικὴν ἐπαγγελλο μένων εἴτε καὶ διὰ Χαλδαίων γενεθλιαλογούντων, ἅπερ πάντα Ἰουδαίοις ἀπείρητο, Ἰουδαῖοι εἰ μηδεμίαν εἶχον παραμυθίαν γνώσεως τῶν μελλόντων, ὑπ' αὐτῆς ἂν τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης περὶ τὴν γνῶσιν λιχνείας τῶν ἐσομένων ἀγόμενοι κατεφρόνησαν μὲν ἂν τῶν ἰδίων ὡς οὐδὲν ἐχόντων θεῖον ἐν ἑαυτοῖς καὶ οὐκ ἂν μετὰ Μωϋσέα προφήτην προσήκαντο οὐδ' ἀνέγραψαν αὐτῶν τοὺς λόγους, αὐτόμολοι δὲ ἐπὶ τὰ τῶν ἐθνῶν μαντεῖα καὶ χρηστήρια μετέστησαν ἢ ἐπεχείρησαν ἂν ἱδρῦσαί τι τοιοῦτον καὶ παρ' ἑαυτοῖς. Ὥστ' οὐδὲν ἄτοπόν ἐστι καὶ περὶ τῶν τυχόντων τοὺς παρ' αὐτοῖς προ φήτας εἰς παραμυθίαν τῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα ποθούντων προειρη κέναι, ὥστε καὶ "περὶ ὄνων ἀπολωλυιῶν" προφητεύειν τὸν Σαμουὴλ καὶ περὶ νόσου παιδὸς βασιλικοῦ τὸν ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ τῶν Βασιλειῶν ἀναγεγραμμένον. Πῶς δ' ἂν τῷ βουλομένῳ ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων μαντείαν λαβεῖν ἐπέπλησσον οἱ τὰ τοῦ νόμου Ἰουδαίων πρεσβεύοντες; Ὥσπερ εὑρίσκεται Ἠλίας τῷ Ὀχοζίᾳ ἐπιπλήσσων καὶ λέγων· "Εἰ παρὰ τὸ μὴ εἶναι θεὸν ἐν Ἰσραὴλ ὑμεῖς πορεύεσθε ἐκζητῆσαι ἐν τῇ Βαὰλ μυῖαν θεὸν Ἀκκαρῶν."