59

at all the resting places, all the stones there, those broken off from the mountains, were inscribed with carved Hebrew letters, as I myself, having traveled the places on foot, bear witness. Which some Jews, having read, related to us, saying that it was written thus: "Departure of so-and-so, from such-and-such tribe, in such-and-such year, in such-and-such month," just as among us often some people write in the inns. 5.54 And they, as having newly learned letters, continuously made use of it and wrote in abundance, so that all those places were full of carved Hebrew letters preserved even now for the sake of the unbelievers, as I at least think. And it is possible for one who wishes to go to the places and see, or rather to ask and learn about this, that we have spoken the truth. So first the Hebrews, having been made wise by God and having received and learned letters through those stone tablets for forty years in the desert, handed them on at that time to their neighbors the Phoenicians, first to Cadmus, the king of the Tyrians; from him the Greeks received them, then in succession all the nations. 5.55 And they camped in the desert according to the order given to them by God, the priests and Levites encircling the tent, and around them the twelve tribes: to the east of the tent three, among which the tribe of Judah was in the middle with Moses and Aaron, leading the rest; and to the south three, and to the west three, and to the north three. Thus resting and thus departing and marching according to this arrangement. Thus therefore camping in the desert at each stop. 5.56 So when Aaron and Moses had died and Joshua, the son of Nun, had taken over their command and had miraculously brought them across the Jordan, he made them inheritors of the land of promise according to the prophecies and ordinances from God. And the tribe of Judah held the metropolis, Jerusalem, until the one who was awaited and proclaimed through the law and the prophets came forth from them, through whom God worked out the great and eternal salvation and restoration for the world, I mean of the Lord Christ according to the flesh, according to the promises of God made to Abraham, and his purpose from above and from the beginning; 5.57 just as the Apostle also in the Epistle to the Galatians, as if asked by someone saying: "Why then the law?" as if to say, Why then was the law given? most quickly answers and says: "It was added because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator," so that he might say that: For this reason the law was added, so that through it and the priesthood the nation that received the promises might be preserved and guarded, that is, Abraham's, and that no mixing of it with another nation might occur, so that the one proclaimed from it might be known to all, through whom the world is renewed and the purpose and economy of God from above is fulfilled. 5.58 For it was the purpose of God from above and from the beginning to impart to others being and to have them share in his goodness, of reason and of knowledge and of immortality and of blessedness and of every good, as much as it is possible for the participant to share. And since the divine alone is unteachable and is true knowledge in and of itself, while it is characteristic of irrational beings to be moved by natural impulses without reason and true knowledge, and likewise of inanimate things to be entirely devoid of movement and natural impulse and knowledge, the benevolent God made rational beings to be in a certain middle state, as was possible, and made and approved them receptive of knowledge through learning and experience, according to his purpose from above, the future state, that is, the place above. 5.59 But having first ordained this state, in which, using it as a useful school for our benefit, he made it mortal and changeable so that we might be able by a discerning and rational faculty to acquire participation in good things, and to turn away from evil things. Therefore the present state has both pleasant and painful things, so that

59

πάσαις ταῖς καταπαύσεσι πάντας τοὺς λίθους τῶν αὐτόθι, τοὺς ἐκ τῶν ὀρέων ἀποκλωμένους, γεγραμμένους γράμμασι γλυπτοῖς ἑβραϊκοῖς, ὡς αὐτὸς ἐγὼ πεζεύσας τοὺς τόπους μαρτυρῶ. Ἅτινα καί τινες Ἰουδαῖοι ἀναγνόντες διηγοῦντο ἡμῖν λέγοντες γεγράφθαι οὕτως· "Ἄπαρσις τοῦδε, ἐκ φυλῆς τῆσδε, ἔτει τῷδε, μηνὶ τῷδε", καθὰ καὶ παρ' ἡμῖν πολλάκις τινὲς ἐν ταῖς ξενίαις γράφουσιν. 5.54 Αὐτοὶ δὲ καί, ὡς νεωστὶ μαθόντες γράμματα, συνεχῶς κατεχρῶντο καὶ ἐπλήθυνον γράφοντες, ὥστε πάντας τοὺς τόπους ἐκείνους μεστοὺς εἶναι γραμμάτων ἑβραϊκῶν γλυπτῶν εἰσέτι καὶ νῦν σῳζομένων διὰ τοὺς ἀπίστους, ὡς ἔγωγε οἶμαι. Ἐξὸν δὲ τῷ βουλομένῳ ἐν τοῖς τόποις γενέσθαι καὶ θεάσασθαι, ἤγουν ἐρωτῆσαι καὶ μαθεῖν περὶ τούτου ὡς ἀλήθειαν εἴπαμεν. Πρώτως οὖν Ἑβραῖοι παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφισθέντες καὶ γράμματα διὰ τῶν λιθίνων πλακῶν ἐκείνων παραλαβόντες καὶ μεμαθηκότες τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ γειτνιῶσι τοῖς Φοίνιξι παραδεδώκασι κατ' ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ, πρώτῳ Κάδμῳ τῷ Τυρίων βασιλεῖ, ἐξ ἐκείνου παρέλαβον Ἕλληνες, λοιπὸν καθεξῆς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. 5.55 Ἐστρατοπέδευον δὲ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ κατὰ τὴν τάξιν τὴν δοθεῖσαν αὐτοῖς παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, κυκλοῦντες τὴν σκηνὴν ἱερεῖς τε καὶ Λευῖται καὶ πέριξ αὐτῶν αἱ δώδεκα φυλαί, εἰς ἀνατολὰς τῆς σκηνῆς τρεῖς, ἐν αἷς μέση ἐτύγχανεν ἡ τοῦ Ἰούδα φυλὴ σὺν Μωϋσῇ καὶ Ἀαρὼν ἐξάρχουσα τῶν λοιπῶν, καὶ εἰς νότον τρεῖς, καὶ εἰς δυσμὰς τρεῖς, καὶ εἰς βορρᾶν τρεῖς. Οὕτως καταπαύοντες καὶ οὕτως ἀπαίροντες καὶ βαδίζοντες κατὰ τὴν διαγραφὴν ταύτην. Οὕτως οὖν στρατοπεδεύοντες ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ καθ' ἑκάστην. 5.56 Τελευτήσαντος λοιπὸν τοῦ Ἀαρὼν καὶ τοῦ Μωϋσέως καὶ παραλαβόντος αὐτῶν τὴν στρατηγίαν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, τοῦ υἱοῦ Ναυή, καὶ διαβιβάσαντος αὐτοὺς τὸν Ἰορδάνην παραδόξως, κληρούχους αὐτοὺς κατέστησε τῆς γῆς τῆς ἐπαγγελίας κατὰ τὰς θεόθεν προρρήσεις τε καὶ διατάξεις. Κατεῖχε δὲ ἡ τοῦ Ἰούδα φυλὴ τὴν μητρόπολιν, τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ, μέχρις οὗ ὁ προσδοκώμενος καὶ προκηρυττόμενος διὰ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐλήλυθε, δι' οὗ τὴν μεγάλην καὶ αἰωνίαν σωτηρίαν καὶ ἀνάκτισιν ὁ Θεὸς τῷ κόσμῳ εἰργάσατο, λέγω δὴ τοῦ ∆εσπότου Χριστοῦ κατὰ σάρκα, κατὰ τὰς ἐπαγγελίας τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰς πρὸς τὸν Ἀβραὰμ γεγενημένας, καὶ τὸν ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς αὐτοῦ σκοπόν· 5.57 καθὰ καὶ ὁ Ἀπόστολος ἐν τῇ πρὸς Γαλάτας Ἐπιστολῇὡς ἐρωτώμενος ὑπό τινος καὶ λέγοντος· "Τί οὖν ὁ νόμος;" ὡσανεί· Τί οὖν ἐδόθη ὁ νόμος; ταχύτατα ἀποκρίνεται καί φησι· "Τῶν παρα βάσεων χάριν προσετέθη, ἄχρις οὗ ἔλθῃ τὸ σπέρμα, ᾧ ἐπήγγελται, διαταγεὶς δι' ἀγγέλων, ἐν χειρὶ μεσίτου", ἵνα εἴπῃ ὅτι· ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὁ νόμος προσετέθη, ἵνα φυλαχθῇ δι' αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς ἱερατείας φρουρούμενον τὸ ἔθνος τὸ τὰς ἐπαγγελίας λαβόν, τουτέστι τὸ τοῦ Ἀβραάμ, καὶ μὴ μίξις τις γένηται αὐτοῦ μετὰ ἑτέρου ἔθνους, ὅπως ὁ προκηρυττόμενος ἐξ αὐτοῦ γνώριμος τοῖς πᾶσιν ὑπάρχῃ, δι' οὗ κόσμος ἀνακαινίζεται καὶ ὁ σκοπὸς καὶ ἡ ἄνωθεν οἰκονομία τοῦ Θεοῦ πληροῦται. 5.58 Σκοπὸς γὰρ ἦν ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς τῷ Θεῷ ἑτέροις μεταδοῦναι τοῦ εἶναι καὶ μετασχεῖν τῆς αὐτοῦ ἀγαθότητος λόγου τε καὶ γνώσεως καὶ ἀθανασίας καὶ μακαριότητος καὶ παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ, ὅσον ἐνδέχεται μετασχεῖν τὸν μετέχοντα. Καὶ ἐπειδήπερ τὸ θεῖον μόνον ἀδίδακτον καὶ αὐτόχρημα ἀληθὴς γνῶσίς ἐστι, τῶν δὲ ἀλόγων ἴδιον φυσικαῖς ὁρμαῖς κινεῖσθαι ἄνευ λόγου καὶ ἀληθοῦς γνώσεως, ὁμοίως καὶ τῶν ἀψύχων ἀμοιρούντων τὸ παράπαν κινήσεώς τε καὶ ὁρμῆς φυσικῆς καὶ γνώσεως, μέσους τινάς, ὡς ἐνεδέχετο, εἶναι τοὺς λογικοὺς ποιήσας ὁ φιλάνθρωπος Θεὸς δεκτικοὺς ἐπιστήμης διὰ μαθή σεως καὶ πείρας ἐδοκίμασε καὶ πεποίηκε κατὰ τὸν μὲν ἄνωθεν αὐτοῦ σκοπὸν τὴν μέλλουσαν κατάστασιν, τουτέστι τὸν ἄνω χῶρον. 5.59 Πρῶτον δὲ ὁρίσας ταύτην τὴν κατάστασιν, ἐν ᾗπερ καὶ παιδευτηρίῳ χρησίμῳ χρησάμενος πρὸς τὸ ἡμῖν συμβαλλόμενον, θνητήν τε καὶ τρεπτὴν ἀπειργάσατο πρὸς τὸ δύνασθαι ἡμᾶς διακριτικῇ καὶ λογικῇ ἕξει τῶν καλῶν τὴν μετουσίαν κτᾶσθαι, τῶν δὲ κακῶν ἀποστρέφεσθαι. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἡδέα καὶ λυπηρὰ ἔχει ἡ νῦν κατάστασις, ἵνα