53
And this very flesh that was assumed from the pure Theotokos herself was not from the woman but from Adam, having been built into a woman, Christ is said to have worn Adam and it is written that He became and is called the second Adam from the first, being the Son of God and son not of the woman but of Adam. But where is this written? It says in the Gospel according to Luke; and, if you please, investigate and you will find Him genealogized thus. For after saying of Him that He was supposed to be the son of Joseph, he adds: "of Heli, of Matthan" and tracing the lineage in order and going through it, he says later: "of Enos, of Seth, of Adam, of God." Ascending from Joseph in reverse order to Adam, not mentioning the woman at all, and he left this entirely to lie in mystery.
Therefore God, taking this portion, as having in itself the seed of faith, as has been said, became man. The whole Adam, that is, his entire race cast out from the portion and, as it were, cast out of the new paradise and of the portion and of the vineyard, He judged to justify again through the (125) seed of faith in faith towards Himself, just as He also promised this to Abraham, not that God thought of this then, as one of the excessively gnostic might suppose, when Abraham showed his faith by sacrificing Isaac, but as knowing this before the foundation of the world and having predestined the portion through faith, and that through the faith according to purpose in the portion all those previously separated from this portion would be saved, later, as it were, He revealed in Himself to Abraham, who was found faithful, His will that had long been predestined; which we, hearing, reckon that because Abraham believed God, for this reason we have received this blessing and the adoption through faith, since He said to him that "in you all the nations will be blessed," wrongly suspecting that this promise was given to us as a reward for Abraham's faith, and not rather through the ineffable economy predestined before the ages, which was promised in Abraham through faith and revealed to us. But this is not so, it is not. For this portion, in the division of the sons of Adam, of the nations themselves, became the Lord's portion according to the oracle, He planted as a certain other, second paradise, having in its midst the tree of life, that is, faith in God and the Spirit from God. But since this portion was from the side of Adam, which was also fashioned into a woman, and the woman transgressed first, and God foreknew that this portion too would not keep the faith in Him, when He foreknew this before the ages, then He was pleased also that all the nations that were cast out, (126) that is, those colonized and alienated from this portion, be recalled and brought in instead and be added to and united with the portion from the portion.
But attend intelligently to what is being said, because the meaning in these things is difficult to understand. When, therefore, the Jewish people, also called Israel (for this is the portion from the side of the man) transgresses the commandment given to it by God (for it says, hear, Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord), when it transgresses this, it will serve demons and worship idols and eat from the libations of their sacrifices, then from it again, as from one body built up from many members of this into one people, God, taking His own portion, will preserve it intact for Himself; but the remaining body, that is, the part torn away from this portion and turning to idolatry, He will reject and banish it from this paradise, that is, from the vineyard of His portion; and from the faith according to election and His portion, which is from the side of Adam, assuming, as it were, a small amount of seed, God the Word becomes man, that is, so that I may say again, a second Adam, son of the first, as from his side without
53
καί αὐτή ἡ προσληφθεῖσα σάρξ ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς ἁγνῆς Θεοτόκου οὐκ ἐκ τῆς γυναικός ἦν ἀλλ᾿ ἐκ τοῦ Ἀδάμ εἰς γυναῖκα οἰκοδομηθεῖσα, τόν Ἀδάμ φορέσαι λέγεται ὁ Χριστός καί δεύτερος Ἀδάμ ἐκ τοῦ πρώτου γεγονέναι καί καλεῖσθαι γέγραπται, υἱός ὤν τοῦ Θεοῦ καί υἱός οὐ τῆς γυναικός ἀλλά τοῦ Ἀδάμ. Τοῦτο δέ ποῦ γέγραπται; Ἐν τῷ κατά Λουκᾶν εὐαγγελίῳ φησί· καί, εἰ δοκεῖ, ἐρεύνησον καί εὑρήσεις γενεαλογούμενον αὐτόν οὕτως. Εἰπών γάρ περί αὐτοῦ ὅτι ἐνομίζετο υἱός Ἰωσήφ, ἐπάγει· "τοῦ Ἠλί, τοῦ Ματθᾶν" καί καθεξῆς γενεαλογῶν τό λῆμμα καί διελθών, ὕστερόν φησι· "τοῦ Ἐνώς, τοῦ Σήθ, τοῦ Ἀδάμ, τοῦ Θεοῦ". Ἀπό τοῦ Ἰωσήφ κατά ἀναποδισμόν εἰς τόν Ἀδάμ ἀνελθών, τῆς γυναικός ὅλως μή μνημονεύσας, καί τοῦτο εἴασεν ὅλως ἐν μυστηρίῳ κεῖσθαι.
Τό λῆμμα οὖν, ὡς ἔχον ἐν ἑαυτῷ τό τῆς πίστεως σπέρμα, λαβών, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, ὁ Θεός ἄνθρωπος γέγονεν. Ὅλον τόν Ἀδάμ, ἤτοι τό γένος ἅπαν αὐτοῦ τό ἐκ τοῦ λήμματος ἀποβληθέν καί ὡς ἐκ τοῦ νέου παραδείσου καί τῆς μερίδος καί τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος ἔξω βληθέν, διά τοῦ (125) τῆς πίστεως σπέρματος ἐν πίστει καί αὖθις τῇ πρός αὐτόν ἔκρινε δικαιῶσαι, καθάπερ καί τῷ Ἀβραάμ τοῦτο ὑπέσχετο, οὐ τότε τοῦτο ἐνθυμηθείς ὁ Θεός, ὡς ἄν τις οἰηθείη τῶν λίαν γνωστικῶν, ὅτε καί τήν πίστιν ὁ Ἀβραάμ ἐπεδείξατο θύσας τόν Ἰσαάκ, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς πρό καταβολῆς κόσμου τοῦτο γινώσκων καί προορίσας διά πίστεως τό λῆμμα καί διά τῆς κατά πρόθεσιν ἐν τῷ λήμματι πίστεως πάντας τούς ἐκ τούτου τοῦ λήμματος πρότερον χωρισθέντας σωθήσεσθαι, ὕστερον οἱονεί τῷ πιστῷ εὑρεθέντι Ἀβραάμ τήν πάλαι προορισθεῖσαν αὐτοῦ βουλήν ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἐφανέρωσεν· ἥν ἀκούοντες ἡμεῖς, λογιζόμεθα ὅτι, ἐπειδή ἐπίστευσεν ὁ Ἀβραάμ τῷ Θεῷ, διά τοῦτο τήν εὐλογίαν ταύτην καί τήν διά πίστεως υἱοθεσίαν ἐλάβομεν, εἰπόντι πρός αὐτόν ὅτι "ἐν σοί ἐνευλογήσονται πάντα τά ἔθνη", οἱονεί ἀντίχαριν τῆς τοῦ Ἀβραάμ πίστεως δοθεῖσαν ἡμῖν τήν ἐπαγγελίαν ταύτην κακῶς ὑποπτεύοντες, καί οὐχί μᾶλλον διά τῆς προορισθείσης πρό τῶν αἰώνων ἀπορρήτου οἰκονομίας, τῆς ἐν τῷ Ἀβραάμ διά τῆς πίστεως ἐπαγγελθείσης καί φανερωθείσης ἡμῖν. Ἀλλ᾿ οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο, οὐκ ἔστι. Τό γάρ λῆμμα τοῦτο ἐν τῷ διαμερισμῷ τῶν υἱῶν Ἀδάμ, αὐτῶν τῶν ἐθνῶν, γενόμενον εἰς μερίδα Κυρίου κατά τό λόγιον, ὡς ἄλλον τινά δεύτερον παράδεισον ἐφύτευσε, μέσον τό τῆς ζωῆς ξύλον ἔχοντα ἑαυτοῦ, ἤγουν τήν πίστιν τήν εἰς Θεόν καί τό Πνεῦμα τό ἐκ Θεοῦ. Ἐπεί δέ τό λῆμμα τοῦτο ἐκ τῆς πλευρᾶς ἦν τοῦ Ἀδάμ, ὅ καί εἰς γυναῖκα ἐκτίσθη, ἡ δέ γυνή παρέβη πρώτη, προεγίνωσκε δέ ὁ Θεός ὅτι καί τοῦτο πάλιν τό λῆμμα οὐ μή φυλάξῃ τήν πίστιν τήν εἰς αὐτόν, ὅτε τοῦτο προέγνω πρό τῶν αἰώνων, τότε καί τά ἔθνη πάντα τά ἐκβληθέντα, (126) ἤτοι τά ἀποικισθέντα καί ἀπαλλοτριωθέντα τούτου τοῦ λήμματος, ἀνακληθῆναι καί ἀντεισαχθῆναι καί τῷ ἐκ τοῦ λήμματος λήμματι προστεθῆναι καί ἑνωθῆναι εὐδόκησεν.
Ἀλλά τοῖς λεγομένοις πρόσεχε νουνεχῶς, ἐπειδή δυσνόητόν ἐστι τό ἐν τούτοις νόημα. Ὅταν οὖν ὁ ἰουδαϊκός λαός ὁ καί Ἰσραήλ κληθείς (οὗτος γάρ ἐστιν ἡ μερίς ἡ ἐκ τῆς πλευρᾶς τοῦ ἀνδρός) τήν δοθεῖσαν αὐτῷ παρά τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐντολήν παραβῇ (ἄκουε γάρ, φησίν, Ἰσραήλ, Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου Κύριος εἷς ἐστιν) , ὅτε ταύτην παραβῇ δαιμονίοις λατρεύσει καί εἰδώλοις προσκυνήσει καί ἐκ τῶν σπονδῶν τῶν θυσιῶν αὐτῶν φάγῃ, τότε ἐξ αὐτῆς πάλιν, οἱονεί ἐξ ἑνός σώματος τοῦ ἐκ ταύτης ἐκ πολλῶν μελῶν εἰς ἕνα λαόν οἰκοδομηθέντος, τήν ἑαυτοῦ μερίδα λαβών ὁ Θεός ἀκέραιον ἑαυτῷ ταύτην διατηρήσει· τό δέ λοιπόν σῶμα, ἤτοι τό ἐκ τῆς μερίδος ταύτης ἀποσπασθέν μέρος καί εἰς εἰδωλολατρείαν ἐκκλῖναν, ἐκ τοῦ παραδείσου τούτου, τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος δηλονότι τῆς μερίδος αὐτοῦ, ἀπώσεται καί ἐξώσει αὐτό· ἀπό δέ τῆς κατ᾿ ἐκλογήν πίστεως καί μερίδος αὐτοῦ, τῆς οὔσης ἀπό τῆς πλευρᾶς τοῦ Ἀδάμ, ὡς ὀλίγου τινός προσλαβόμενος σπέρματος, ὁ Θεός Λόγος γένηται ἄνθρωπος, ἤγουν, ἵνα πάλιν εἴπω, Ἀδάμ δεύτερος τοῦ πρώτου υἱός ὡς ἐκ τῆς πλευρᾶς αὐτοῦ δίχα