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what has been proclaimed concerning the times and seasons before the flood, from when the world was created until now, how the years are composed, in order to demonstrate the nonsense of the falsehood of the writers, that the things spoken by them are not true. For Plato, as we have said before, having declared that a flood had occurred, said that it happened not to all the earth but only to the plains, and that those who escaped to the highest mountains were saved. And others say that Deucalion and Pyrrha existed, and that they were saved in a chest, and that Deucalion, after coming out of the chest, threw stones behind him and that men were born from the stones; whence they say that the multitude of people are called laoi. And still others said that Clymenus existed in a second flood. That those, then, who have written such things and philosophized in vain are found to be wretched and very impious and senseless, is clear from what has been said before. But our prophet and servant of God, Moses, relating the history concerning the creation of the world, narrated in what manner the flood came upon the earth, and not only that but also how the flood happened, not fabling about Pyrrha nor Deucalion or Clymenus, nor indeed that only the plains were flooded, and that only those who escaped to the mountains were saved. But he does not even declare that a second flood occurred; but rather he said that there would no longer be a flood of water upon the world, such as has neither happened nor will ever be. But he says that eight human souls in all were saved in the ark, which was built by the commands of God, not by Deucalion, but by Noah in Hebrew, which is interpreted in the Greek tongue as rest, just as we also showed in another discourse how Noah, announcing to the men of that time that a flood was about to happen, prophesied to them, saying: Come, God calls you to repentance; for which reason he was fittingly called Deucalion. And this Noah had three sons, as we also showed in the second book, whose names are Shem and Ham and Japheth, who also had three wives, one for each of them, and he himself, and his wife. Some have called this man Eunuchus. Therefore, eight human souls in all were saved, those who were found in the ark. And Moses indicated that the flood occurred for forty days and forty nights, with the cataracts of heaven being opened and all the fountains of the abyss gushing forth, so that the water was raised fifteen cubits above every high mountain. And thus the race of all men of that time was destroyed, and only those were saved who were kept safe in the ark, the eight whom we have mentioned before; the remains of which ark are shown to this day to be in the Arabian mountains. The history of the flood, therefore, in summary, is of such a kind. But Moses, having led the Jews, as we have already said,

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κεκηρυγμένα περί τε χρόνων καὶ καιρῶν τῶν πρὸ κατακλυσμοῦ, ἀφ' οὗ ἔκτισται ὁ κόσμος ἕως τοῦ δεῦρο, ὡς συνέστηκε τὰ ἔτη, εἰς τὸ ἐπιδεῖξαι τὴν φλυαρίαν τοῦ ψεύδους τῶν συγγραφέων, ὅτι οὐκ ἀληθῆ ἐστιν τὰ δι' αὐτῶν ·ηθέντα. Πλάτων γάρ, ὡς προειρήκαμεν, δηλώσας κατακλυσμὸν γεγενῆ- σθαι, ἔφη μὴ πάσης τῆς γῆς ἀλλὰ τῶν πεδίων μόνον γεγενῆσθαι, καὶ τοὺς διαφυγόντας ἐπὶ τοῖς ὑψηλοτάτοις ὄρεσιν αὐτοὺς διασεσῶσθαι. ἕτεροι δὲ λέγουσι γεγονέναι ∆ευκαλίωνα καὶ Πύρραν, καὶ τούτους ἐν λάρνακι διασεσῶσθαι καὶ τὸν ∆ευκαλίωνα μετὰ τὸ ἐλθεῖν ἐκ τῆς λάρνακος λίθους εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω πεπομφέναι καὶ ἀνθρώπους ἐκ τῶν λίθων γεγενῆσθαι· ὅθεν φασὶν λαοὺς προσαγορεύεσθαι τὸ πλῆθος ἀνθρώπων. ἄλλοι δ' αὖ Κλύμενον εἶπον ἐν δευτέρῳ κατακλυσμῷ γεγονέναι. Ὅτι μὲν οὖν ἄθλιοι καὶ πάνυ δυσσεβεῖς καὶ ἀνόητοι εὑρίσκονται οἱ τὰ τοιαῦτα συγγράψαντες καὶ φιλοσοφήσαντες ματαίως, ἐκ τῶν προειρημένων δῆλόν ἐστιν. ὁ δὲ ἡμέτερος προφήτης καὶ θεράπων τοῦ θεοῦ Μωσῆς περὶ τῆς γενέσεως τοῦ κόσμου ἐξιστορῶν διηγήσατο τίνι τρόπῳ γεγένηται ὁ κατακλυσμὸς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ ᾧ τρόπῳ γέγονεν, οὐ Πύρραν οὔτε ∆ευκαλίωνα ἢ Κλύμενον μυθεύων, οὐδὲ μὴν τὰ πεδία μόνον κατακεκλύσθαι, καὶ τοὺς διαφυγόντας ἐπὶ τοῖς ὄρεσι μόνους διασεσῶσθαι. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ δεύτερον κατακλυσμὸν γεγονέναι δηλοῖ, ἀλλὰ μὲν οὖν ἔφη μηκέτι τῷ κόσμῳ κατακλυσμὸν ὕδατος ἔσεσθαι, οἷον οὔτε γέγονεν οὔτε μὴν ἔσται. ὀκτὼ δέ φησιν τὰς πάσας ψυχὰς ἀνθρώπων ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ διασεσῶσθαι, ἐν τῇ κατασκευασθείσῃ προστάγμασι θεοῦ, οὐχ ὑπὸ ∆ευκαλίωνος, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ τοῦ Νῶε ἑβραϊστί, ὃς διερ- μηνεύεται τῇ ἑλλάδι γλώσσῃ ἀνάπαυσις, καθὼς καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ λόγῳ ἐδηλώσαμεν ὡς Νῶε, καταγγέλλων τοῖς τότε ἀνθρώποις μέλλειν κατακλυσμὸν ἔσεσθαι, προεφήτευσεν αὐτοῖς λέγων· ∆εῦτε, καλεῖ ὑμᾶς ὁ θεὸς εἰς μετάνοιαν· διὸ οἰκείως ∆ευκαλίων ἐκλήθη. τούτῳ δὲ τῷ Νῶε υἱοὶ τρεῖς ἦσαν, καθὼς καὶ ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ τόμῳ ἐδηλώσα- μεν, ὧν τὰ ὀνόματά ἐστιν Σὴμ καὶ Χὰμ καὶ Ἰάφεθ, οἷς καὶ γυναῖκες τρεῖς ἦσαν τὸ καθ' ἕνα αὐτῶν, καὶ αὐτός, καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ. Τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα ἔνιοι Eὐνοῦχον προσηγορεύκασιν. ὀκτὼ οὖν αἱ πᾶσαι ψυχαὶ ἀνθρώπων διεσώθησαν, οἱ ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ εὑρεθέντες. Τὸν δὲ κατακλυσμὸν ἐσήμανεν ὁ Μωσῆς ἐπὶ ἡμέρας τεσσαρά- κοντα καὶ νύκτας τεσσαράκοντα γεγενῆσθαι, ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρα- νοῦ τῶν καταρακτῶν ·υέντων καὶ πασῶν τῶν πηγῶν τῆς ἀβύσσου βλυσάντων, ὥστε τὸ ὕδωρ ὑψωθῆναι ἐπάνω παντὸς ὄρους ὑψηλοῦ πεντεκαίδεκα πήχεις. καὶ οὕτως διεφθάρη τὸ γένος πάντων τῶν τότε ἀνθρώπων, μόνοι δὲ διεσώθησαν οἱ φυλαχ- θέντες ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ, οὓς προειρήκαμεν ὀκτώ· ἧς κιβωτοῦ τὰ λείψανα μέχρις τοῦ δεῦρο δείκνυται εἶναι ἐν τοῖς Ἀραβικοῖς ὄρεσιν. Τὰ μὲν οὖν τοῦ κατακλαυσμοῦ κεφαλαιωδῶς τοιαύτην ἔχει τὴν ἱστορίαν. Ὁ δὲ Μωσῆς ὁδηγήσας τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, ὡς ἔφθημεν εἰρηκέναι,