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my statutes I made known to them," and having declared the profit from these: "Which if a man do, he shall live in them;" then he added: "And I gave them my Sabbaths." And he did not say, That having kept them they should live in them; but "That it might be a sign between me and between them, and that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." For I legislated for them the inactivity of the Sabbaths, not as able to provide them with life, but that the particularity of their way of life might separate them from the practices of the gentiles, and bring to memory my good deeds; for by inactivity from carnal things, and by devotion to God and by the hearing of the divine oracles, they received the benefit, learning from the divine oracles, both that God is creator, and benefactor; therefore, inactivity is not simply life-giving; but devotion to God is. "And I said, he says, to the house of Israel in the wilderness: Walk in my commandments." 13. And the house of Israel provoked me in the wilderness; they did not walk in my commandments, and they cast off my statutes, which if a man do, he shall live in them, and they greatly profaned my Sabbaths. Again here he mentioned the Sabbaths separately, not connecting them with the other statutes; for these are not life-giving as those are, but they contain a certain peculiar character of a way of life. For "You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal," and the other things connected with these, the law of nature also taught other men; but of the observance of the Sabbath, nature is not the teacher, but the establishment of the law; therefore, while having things in common with others in other respects, in the observance of the Sabbath, they seemed to have a certain peculiar way of life. For none of the other nations observed this inactivity. Nor did circumcision separate them from others so much as the Sabbath; for all the Idumeans also had circumcision, tracing their lineage from Esau; and the Ishmaelites likewise, and the Egyptians, having learned it from the Jews, were zealous to keep it. And this God has declared through the prophet Jeremiah, saying: "And I will visit upon all those who are circumcised in their uncircumcision, upon Egypt, and upon Edom," and so on. But only the nation of the Jews observed the keeping of the Sabbath. Therefore God said that: "I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and between them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Having therefore related their disobedience that took place in Egypt, and his long-suffering, he again mentioned the legislations and exhortations in the wilderness, and their contradiction and transgression. Then he teaches the just wrath, and he also teaches the unspeakable goodness. 81.993 14. And I said I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them. And I acted so that my name should not be profaned at all before the nations, from whom I brought them out in their sight. And the divine Moses teaches these things also, saying that God had said: "And now let me alone, that being angered with wrath I may destroy them, and I will make of you a great nation." Then he goes through his own supplication, and at the end adds that: "If you strike them, Egypt will hear, and will say: Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land which he promised to their fathers, he has consumed them in the wilderness." This he also indicated here, saying: "And I acted so that my name should not be profaned at all before the nations, from whom I brought them out in their sight." Then he relates more extensively that, wishing to subject them all to utter destruction in the wilderness, as having both trampled on the life-giving statutes, and profaned the Sabbaths. And again having mentioned the Sabbaths separately, he adds: 17. And my eye spared them, so as not to destroy them, and I did not make an end of them in the wilderness. For having delivered those lawless ones to various punishments, their children, who were going to be no better disposed than they

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δικαιώματά μου ἐγνώρισα αὐτοῖς," καὶ τὸ ἐκ τούτων δηλώσας κέρδος· "Ὃς ἂν ποιήσῃ αὐτὰ ἄνθρωπος, καὶ ζήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς·" τότε ἐπήγαγε· "Καὶ τὰ Σάββατά μου δέδωκα αὐτοῖς." Καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἵνα φυλάξαντες ζήσωσιν ἐν αὐτοῖς· ἀλλ' "Ἵνα ᾖ εἰς σημεῖον ἀναμέσον ἐμοῦ καὶ ἀναμέσον αὐτῶν, καὶ γνῶναι αὐτοὺς, ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ ἁγιάζων αὐ τούς." Τὴν γὰρ τῶν Σαββάτων αὐτοῖς ἀργίαν ἐνομοθέτησα, οὐχ ὡς ζωὴν αὐτοῖς παρέχειν δυναμέ νην, ἀλλ' ἵνα τὸ ἰδιάζον τῆς πολιτείας χωρίζῃ μὲν αὐτοὺς τῶν ἐθνικῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων, τῶν δὲ ἐμῶν εὐεργεσιῶν εἰς μνήμην ἄγῃ· τῇ γὰρ ἀργίᾳ τῶν σαρκικῶν, καὶ τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ προσεδρίᾳ καὶ τῇ τῶν θείων λογίων ἀκροάσει, τὸ κέρδος ἐλάμβανον, μαν θάνοντες ἐκ τῶν θείων λογίων, καὶ ποιητὴν εἶναι τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ εὐεργέτην· οὐ τοίνυν ἁπλῶς ἡ ἀργία ζωο ποιός· ἀλλ' ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ προσεδρία. "Καὶ εἶπον, φησὶ, πρὸς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ· Ἐν τοῖς προστάγμασί μου πορεύεσθε." ιγʹ. Καὶ παρεπίκρανάν με ὁ οἶκος τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ· ἐν τοῖς προστάγμασί μου οὐκ ἐπορεύθησαν, καὶ τὰ δικαιώματά μου ἀπώσαντο, ἃ ποιήσει αὐτὰ ἄνθρωπος, καὶ ζήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς, καὶ τὰ Σάββατά μου ἐβεβήλωσαν σφόδρα. Πάλιν κἀνταῦθα κεχωρισμένως ἐμνήσθη τῶν Σαββάτων, οὐ συνάψας αὐτὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις δικαιώμασιν· οὔτε γὰρ ζωοποιὰ ταῦτα ὡς ἐκεῖνα, ἀλλὰ πολιτείας ἰδιάζοντά τινα περιέχοντα χαρακτῆρα. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ, "Οὐ μοιχεύσεις, οὐ φονεύσεις, οὐ κλέψεις," καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τὰ τούτοις συνημμένα, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους ὁ τῆς φύσεως ἐδίδασκε νόμος· τῆς δὲ τοῦ Σαββάτου φυλακῆς οὐχ ἡ φύσις διδάσκαλος, ἀλλ' ἡ θέσις τοῦ νόμου· κατὰ τὰ ἄλλα τοίνυν τοῖς ἄλλοις κοινωνοῦν τες, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Σαββάτου φυλακὴν, ἰδίαν τινὰ πο λιτείαν ἔχειν ἐδόκουν. Οὐδὲν γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων ἐθνῶν ταύτην ἐφύλαττε τὴν ἀργείαν. Οὐδὲ ἡ περιτομὴ οὕ τως αὐτοὺς τῶν ἄλλων ἐχώριζεν, ὡς τὸ Σάββατον· τὴν γὰρ περιτομὴν καὶ Ἰδουμαῖοι πάντες εἶχον, ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἡσαῦ τὸ γένος κατάγοντες· καὶ Ἰσμαηλῖται ὡσαύτως, καὶ Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ παρὰ Ἰουδαίων ταύτην μαθόντες φυλάττειν ἐσπούδαζον. Καὶ τοῦτο ὁ Θεὸς διὰ τοῦ προφήτου Ἱερεμίου δεδήλωκεν, εἰπών· "Καὶ ἐπισκέψομαι ἐπὶ πάντας περιτετμημένους ἀκροβυ στίαν αὐτῶν, ἐπ' Αἴγυπτον, καὶ ἐπὶ Ἐδὼμ," καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Τὴν δὲ τοῦ Σαββάτου φυλακὴν μόνον τὸ Ἰου δαίων ἐφύλαττεν ἔθνος. ∆ιὸ ἔφη ὁ Θεὸς ὅτι· "Τὰ Σάββατά μου ἔδωκα αὐτοῖς, τοῦ εἶναι εἰς σημεῖον ἀναμέσον ἐμοῦ καὶ ἀναμέσον αὐτῶν, τοῦ γνῶναι ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ ἁγιάζων αὐτούς." ∆ιηγησάμενος τοίνυν τὴν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ γενομένην ἐκείνων μὲν ἀπεί θειαν, αὐτοῦ δὲ μακροθυμίαν, πάλιν τῶν κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον ἀνέμνησε νομοθεσιῶν, καὶ παραινέσεων, καὶ τῆς ἐκείνων ἀντιλογίας καὶ παραβάσεως. Εἶτα διδά σκει μὲν τὴν δικαίαν ὀργὴν, διδάσκει δὲ καὶ τὴν ἄῤ ῥητον ἀγαθότητα. 81.993 ιδʹ. Καὶ εἶπον τοῦ ἐκχέαι τὸν θυμόν μου ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, τοῦ ἐξαναλῶσαι αὐτούς. Καὶ ἐποίησα ὅπως τὸ ὄνομά μου τὸ παράπαν μὴ βεβηλωθῇ ἐνώπιον τῶν ἐθνῶν, ὧν ἐξήγαγον αὐτοὺς κατ' ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν. Καὶ ταῦτα δὲ ὁ θεσπέσιος διδάσκει Μωσῆς, λέγων εἰρηκέναι τὸν Θεόν· "Καὶ νῦν ἔασόν με, καὶ θυμωθεὶς ὀργῇ ἐκτρίψω αὐτοὺς, καὶ ποιήσω σε εἰς ἔθνος μέγα." Εἶτα τὴν οἰκείαν ἱκετείαν διέξεισι, καὶ τῷ τέλει προστίθησιν, ὅτι· "Ἐὰν πατάξῃς αὐτοὺς, ἀκού σεται Αἴγυπτος, καὶ ἐρεῖ· Παρὰ τὸ μὴ δυνηθῆναι Κύριον εἰσαγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν, ἣν ἐπηγ γείλατο τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν, κατηνάλωσεν αὐ τοὺς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ." Τοῦτο καὶ ἐνταῦθα παρεδήλω σεν εἰπών· "Καὶ ἐποίησα ὅπως τὸ ὄνομά μου τὸ παράπαν μὴ βεβηλωθῇ ἐνώπιον τῶν ἐθνῶν, ὧν ἐξ ήγαγον αὐτοὺς κατ' ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν." Εἶτα δι ηγεῖται πλατύτερον, ὅτι βουληθεὶς πανωλεθρίᾳ πάντας αὐτοὺς ὑποβαλεῖν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, ὡς καὶ τὰ ζωῆς χορηγὰ δικαιώματα πατήσαντας, καὶ τὰ Σάββατα βεβηλώσαντας. Καὶ πάλιν τῶν Σαββάτων χωρὶς μνη μονεύσας, ἐπάγει· ιζʹ. Καὶ ἐφείσατο αὐτῶν ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου, τοῦ μὴ ἐξαλεῖψαι αὐτοὺς, καὶ οὐκ ἐποίησα αὐτοὺς εἰς συντέλειαν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ. Τοὺς γὰρ παρανό μους ἐκείνους διαφόροις παραδοὺς τιμωρίαις, τὰ τέκνα αὐτῶν οὐδὲν ἄμεινον ἐκείνων διατεθήσεσθαι μέλλοντα