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having been left in the tabernacle from evening until morning. For to them, with labors, the living trees, through twelve months at the completion of the year's cycle, bear fruit, with the sun warming, rains watering, dews spreading, and night and 95.2 day nourishing, but in a single night God made the difficult easy. For the dry rod budded and put forth leaves and ripe fruits. For God showed similar things of the resurrection 95.3 that was to be by him. But when children are conceived according to the holy marriage, which the Lord indicated, first the seed of succession is cast, as the Lord showed, into the generative wombs; and as the times unfold, what was cast into the belly is brought to term over a nine-month period; I mean that in the number of nine months 95.4 that which is conceived is brought to completion and is born. But in the resurrection it is not so; for the work is in an instant. “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible.” As the Lord showed in the tabernacle of witness that the nuts on living trees, being conceived over twelve months, on the dry wood are formed and sprouts 95.5 come forth even in a single night, and not only that but in the instant of one hour he accomplished what, as has been said, comes about in twelve months; and likewise the infant formed over nine months in the womb, which is perfected being gathered over much time, but in the resurrection it is raised, having been completed in an instant. 96.1 Let the power of the Lord persuade the unbelievers, whose “will no one resists.” Let Moses hear and show. “What is in your hand?” says the Lord; and he said, “A rod.” And this rod was of wood, and certainly dry. And he says, “Cast it on the 96.2 ground. And he cast” the dry rod. And God made the dry thing moist, and not only moist, but also living, and also changed in its nature 96.3 and formed differently in its substance. The work was not an illusion; for truth is worked by the command of God and not fantasy. For in all things he presented our understanding as being corrected 96.4 towards the truth through Moses. For the prophet knew that what happened was not in appearance, but in truth, in that he fled; for if he had known what was happening to be a fantasy, he would not have fled from the face of the 96.5 serpent. But lest this again become a stumbling block for the contentious and they say: that it was another rod, but “God gave” it a different “body, as he wished.” And first, then, let them learn that 96.6 he did not give life to another in place of another, but he gave life to that very one which was dry; that this body given to the rod and this kind or form moved by it, God did not call to judgment, nor did he wish to judge the serpent in place of the 96.7 rod, but through the rod he worked a full assurance of the resurrection, and God was showing his own power, so that no one might disbelieve in him who is powerful in all things. And he did this with all certainty; for he did not raise some part of the rod, but changed the whole rod as he wished. 97.1 And that these things are so and that the dead have hope of eternal life and that “those in the tombs will rise,” call for me again as a witness the trustworthy Moses. For when Reuben sinned, his father, the holy patriarch Jacob, curses him and says, “Reuben, my firstborn and the beginning of my children, you were insolent like water; may you not boil over. For you went up to your father's bed and revealed, 97.2 he says, where you went up.” But in the Hebrew elthothar, which is interpreted not to

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ἐν σκηνῇ ἀφ' ἑσπέρας καὶ ἄχρι τῆς ἕω καταλειφθεῖσα. αὐτοῖς γὰρ μετὰ καμάτων τὰ ζῶντα δένδρα διὰ δεκαδύο μηνῶν κατὰ περίοδον ἐνιαυτοῦ πληρουμένου καρποὺς γεννᾷ, ἡλίου τε θάλποντος ὑετῶν ἀρδευόντων δρόσων πεταννυουσῶν νυκτός τε καὶ 95.2 ἡμέρας τρεφουσῶν, ὑπὸ μίαν δὲ νύκτα τὸ δυσχερὲς εὐχερὲς ὁ θεὸς εἰργάσατο. ἐβλάστησε γὰρ ἡ ξηρὰ ῥάβδος καὶ φύλλα ἐκβάλλει καὶ καρποὺς πεπείρους. τὰ ὅμοια γὰρ ὑπέδειξεν ὁ θεὸς τῆς μελλούσης 95.3 ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ἔσεσθαι ἀναστάσεως. συλλαμβανομένων δὲ τῶν παίδων κατὰ τὸν σεμνὸν γάμον, ὃν ὁ κύριος ὑπέδειξε, πρῶτον καταβάλλεται σπέρμα τῆς ἀκολουθίας, ὡς κατέδειξεν ὁ κύριος, κατὰ τὰς γεννητικὰς μήτρας· χρόνων δὲ ἀνακυλιομένων τὸ καταβληθὲν ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ τελεσφορεῖται διὰ χρόνου ἐνναμηνιαίου· φημὶ δὲ ὑπὸ ἐννέα μηνῶν τὸν 95.4 ἀριθμὸν τελεσιουργεῖται τὸ κυϊσκόμενον καὶ γεννᾶται. ἐν δὲ τῇ ἀναστάσει οὐχ οὕτως· ὑπὸ θῆξιν γὰρ τὸ ἔργον. «σαλπίσει γάρ, καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐγερθήσονται ἄφθαρτοι». ὡς ἔδειξεν ὁ κύριος ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ τοῦ μαρτυρίου ὅτι τὰ κάρυα τὰ ἐν τοῖς ζῶσι δένδροις διὰ δεκαδύο μηνῶν ἐγκυμονούμενα ἐν τῷ ξηρῷ ξύλῳ πυκάζονται καὶ βλαστοὶ 95.5 γίνονται καὶ ὑπὸ μίαν νύκτα, οὐ μόνον δὲ ἀλλ' ὑπὸ θῆξιν μιᾶς ὥρας ἐτελεσιούργησε τὸ διὰ δεκαδύο μηνῶν ὡς εἴρηται γινόμενον· καὶ ὡσαύτως τὸ δι' ἐννέα μηνῶν ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ γενόμενον βρέφος, ὃ διὰ πολλοῦ τοῦ χρόνου συναχθὲν τελειοῦται, ἐν δὲ τῇ ἀναστάσει ὑπὸ θῆξιν πληρωθὲν ἀνίσταται. 96.1 Πεισάτω τοὺς ἀπίστους ἡ δύναμις τοῦ κυρίου, οὗ οὐδεὶς «ἀνθίσταται τῷ βουλήματι». ἀκουσάτω Μωυσῆς καὶ ἐπιδεικνύτω. «τί ἐν τῇ χειρί σου;» φησὶν ὁ κύριος· ὁ δὲ εἶπε «ῥάβδος». ἡ δὲ ῥάβδος ξυλίνη ἦν αὕτη, ξηρὰ δὲ πάντως. καί φησι «ῥῖψον αὐτὴν ἐπὶ τῆς 96.2 γῆς. καὶ ἔρριψε» τὴν ξηρὰν ῥάβδον. καὶ τὸ ξηρὸν ὁ θεὸς ὑγρὸν ἐπετέλει καὶ οὐ μόνον ὑγρόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔμψυχον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ φύσει 96.3 παρηλλαγμένον καὶ τῇ οὐσίᾳ ἑτέρως ἐσχηματισμένον. οὐκ ἦν φάντασμα τὸ ἔργον· ἀλήθεια γὰρ θεοῦ προστάγματι ἐργάζεται καὶ οὐ φαντασία. ἐν ἅπασι γὰρ διορθουμένην τὴν ἡμῶν διάνοιαν παρέστησε 96.4 διὰ Μωυσέως πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν. ἔγνω γὰρ ὁ προφήτης ὅτι τὸ γινόμενον οὐκ ἦν δοκήσει, ἀλλ' ἀληθείᾳ ἐν τῷ ἀποδρᾶσαι· εἰ γὰρ φαντασίαν ᾔδει τὸ γινόμενον, οὐκ ἀπεδίδρασκεν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ 96.5 ὄφεως. ἀλλὰ μὴ πάλιν τοῦτο εἰς σκάνδαλον γενήσεται τοῖς φιλονείκοις καὶ εἴπωσιν· ὅτι ἄλλη ἦν ἡ ῥάβδος, «ὁ δὲ θεὸς ἔδωκεν» αὐτῇ ἀλλοῖον «σῶμα, ὡς ἠθέλησε». καὶ πρῶτον μὲν οὖν μαθέτωσαν ὅτι 96.6 οὐκ ἄλλην ἀντὶ ἄλλης ἐψύχωσεν, ἀλλ' αὐτὴν ἐκείνην τὴν ξηρὰν οὖσαν ἐψύχωσεν· ὅτι τοῦτο τὸ δοθὲν τῇ ῥάβδῳ σῶμα καὶ κινούμενον ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γένος ἢ εἶδος εἰς κρίσιν ὁ θεὸς οὐκ ἐκάλει οὐδὲ ἀντὶ τῆς 96.7 ῥάβδου τὸν δράκοντα ἠθέλησε δικάζειν, ἀλλὰ πληροφορίαν μὲν διὰ τῆς ῥάβδου ἀναστάσεως εἰργάσατο, τὸ δὲ ἴδιον δυνατὸν ὁ θεὸς ἀπεδείκνυ, ἵνα μή τις ἀπιστήσῃ τῷ δυνατῷ ἐν πᾶσι. καὶ αὐτὸ δὲ μετὰ πάσης ἀσφαλείας ἐποιήσατο· οὐ γὰρ μέρος τι τῆς ῥάβδου ἤγειρεν, ἀλλ' ὅλην τὴν ῥάβδον μετέβαλεν ὡς ἠθέλησε. 97.1 Καὶ ὅτι μὲν ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχει καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐλπίδα ἔχουσι ζωῆς αἰωνίου καὶ «οἱ ἐν μνήμασιν ἀναστήσονται», κάλει μοι πάλιν μάρτυρα τὸν ἀξιόπιστον Μωυσέα. πλημμελήσαντος γὰρ τοῦ Ῥουβεὶμ ἐπαρᾶται αὐτῷ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ ὁ ἅγιος Ἰακὼβ ὁ πατριάρχης καί φησι «Ῥουβεὶμ πρωτότοκός μου καὶ ἀρχὴ τέκνων μου, ἐξύβρισας ὡς ὕδωρ· μὴ ἐκζέσῃς. ἀνέβης γὰρ εἰς τὴν κοίτην τοῦ πατρός σου καὶ ἀπεκά97.2 λυψας φησίν, οὗ ἀνέβης». ἐν δὲ τῷ Ἑβραϊκῷ ἐλθωθάρ, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἑρμηνευόμενον μὴ