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he, but also his wife likewise, and she, foreseeing, named him; for it says concerning her: "And she conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Seth, saying: For God has raised up for me another seed in place of Abel, whom Cain killed," she also saying this: Abel dies childless, and the seed of Cain will perish; God has given me this one as a new foundation for all mankind. And these things, indeed, Eve. 5.72 And Adam, after the writer speaks of the birth of Seth and of his son Enos, taking up again the things concerning Adam, says thus: "This is the book of the generation of men. In the day that God made Adam, in the image of God he made him; male and female he made them, and blessed them; and he called his name Adam, in the day that he made them. And Adam lived two hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness and after his own image, and called his name Seth." Here he himself also called his name Seth, as being a foundation of all mankind and bearing his own characteristics and his own dignities. And it is to be noted here that it says God gave a name to the first man, and the man to the woman, and both of them to the child. 5.73 And from the things dispensed concerning man, the invisible, rational Powers also happen to be taught the things concerning God. For man, being a kind of bond of all creation, and an image of God, the things dispensed concerning him happen to be a school both for him and for all rational beings. For when he sinned and received the sentence of death, they mourned and reckoned a despair for themselves and for the universe; but seeing God again taking care of him, they received a certain good hope concerning him and concerning themselves. And this the Lord also declares in the Gospels, saying that: "There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents," just as it is clear there is also sorrow, when someone sins to the contrary. 5.74 But the Apostle also says that the angels too were subjected to serve futility because of man, in a certain hope, which God has given, that they themselves will also be set free, when men receive the hope laid up for them, becoming sons of God in glory. And again the Apostle testifies that the angels are taught the things concerning God from the things dispensed concerning man, and says: "That now to the Principalities and the Powers might be made known through the Church the manifold wisdom of God," clearly saying that through the Church they are taught the wisdom of God. 5.75 This Abel, the righteous, who, having died unjustly, first of all men showed the foundations of death to be unsound. For this reason, even though dead, he still speaks, foretelling the resurrection of the dead, which the Lord Christ, first of all showing it in himself, destroyed the seeming power of death. This is Abel, who as in an enigma is an imitator of the passion of Christ, who through envy of good works was unjustly killed by his brother, concerning whom the apostle Paul also says in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel." Note 5.76 Here it is shown more clearly, with the death of the righteous Abel, that death was not inflicted on man in anger, because the one who did not sin died before the one who did sin; for this reason also there is from God an inquiry for the life of Abel and a vengeance for his death, and that after death he cries out, declaring by this that he will return to life. And again death, not being permitted to come first upon the one who sinned, but upon the one who did not sin, is shown to be destroyed, as having made its first assault unjustly, and not justly; for it laid its foundations on a righteous man, and not on a sinner; whence
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αὐτός, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ οὕτως, καὶ αὐτὴ προβλέπουσα προσηγόρευσεν αὐτόν· φησὶ γὰρ περὶ αὐτῆς· "Καὶ συλλαβοῦσα ἔτεκεν υἱὸν καὶ ἐκάλεσε τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Σὴθ λέγουσα· Ἐξανέστησέ μοι ὁ Θεὸς σπέρμα ἕτερον ἀντὶ Ἄβελ, ὃν ἀπέκτεινεν Κάϊν", τοῦτο καὶ αὐτὴ λέγουσα ὅτι· Ἄβελ ἄπαις τελευτᾷ, τὸ δὲ τοῦ Κάϊν σπέρμα ἀπολεῖται· τοῦτόν μοι δέδωκεν ὁ Θεὸς καινὸν θεμέλιον πάντων ἀνθρώπων. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἡ Εὔα. 5.72 Ὁ δὲ Ἀδάμ, μετὰ τὸ εἰπεῖν τὸν συγγραφέα τὴν γέννησιν τοῦ Σὴθ καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἐνώς, ἀναλαμβάνων πάλιν τὰ κατὰ τὸν Ἀδὰμ φησὶν οὕτως· "Αὕτη ἡ βίβλος γενέσεως ἀνθρώπων· ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν Ἀδάμ, κατ' εἰκόνα Θεοῦ ἐποίησεν αὐτόν· ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτοὺς καὶ ηὐλόγησεν αὐτούς· καὶ ἐπωνόμασε τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἀδάμ, ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ἐποίησεν αὐτούς. Ἔζησε δὲ Ἀδὰμ τριάκοντα καὶ διακόσια ἔτη καὶ ἐγέννησε κατὰ τὴν ἰδέαν αὐτοῦ καὶ κατὰ τὴν εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπωνόμασε τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Σήθ." Ἐνταῦθα καὶ αὐτὸς ἐκάλεσε τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Σήθ, ὡς θεμέλιον ὄντα πάντων ἀνθρώπων καὶ φέροντα τοὺς ἰδίους χαρακτῆρας καὶ τὰ ἴδια ἀξιώματα. Ἐπισημαντέον δὲ ἐνταῦθα ὅτι τὸν Θεὸν λέγει τεθεικέναι ὄνομα τῷ πρώτῳ ἀνθρώπῳ, καὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον τῇ γυναικί, καὶ ἀμφοτέρους τῷ τέκνῳ. 5.73 Ἐκ τῶν δὲ κατὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον οἰκονομουμένων καὶ αἱ ἀόρατοι ∆υνάμεις λογικαὶ τυγχάνουσαι διδάσκονται τὰ περὶ Θεοῦ. Ὁ γὰρ ἄνθρωπος σύνδεσμός τις ὢν πάσης κτίσεως, εἰκὼν δὲ Θεοῦ, παιδευτήριον τυγχάνει τὰ περὶ αὐτὸν οἰκονομούμενα καὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντων τῶν λογικῶν. Ἁμαρτήσαντος γὰρ αὐτοῦ καὶ λαβόντος τὴν ἀπόφασιν τοῦ θανάτου, οὗτοι ἐθρήνουν καὶ ἑαυτῶν καὶ τοῦ παντὸς ἀφελπιστίαν λογιζόμενοι· ὁρῶντες δὲ πάλιν τὸν Θεὸν αὐτοῦ ἐπιμελούμενον εὐελπιστίαν τινὰ προσελάμβανον περὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ περὶ ἑαυτῶν. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις δηλοῖ ὁ Κύριος λέγων ὅτι· "Χαρὰ ἐν οὐρανῷ γίνεται ἐπὶ ἑνὶ ἁμαρτωλῷ μετανοοῦντι", ὡς δῆλον καὶ λύπη, ὅταν τις τὸ ἐναντίον ἁμάρτῃ. 5.74 Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ Ἀπόστολος λέγει ὅτι καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι ὑπετάγησαν μὲν δουλεύειν τῇ ματαιότητι διὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐλπίδι τινί, ᾗ δέδωκεν ὁ Θεός, ὅτι καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐλευθεροῦνται, ὅταν οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὴν ἐλπίδα τὴν αὐτοῖς ἀποκειμένην ἀπολαμβάνωσιν υἱοὶ Θεοῦ ἐν δόξῃ καθιστάμενοι. Μαρτυρεῖ δὲ πάλιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος ὡς οἱ ἄγγελοι ἐκ τῶν περὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον οἰκονομουμένων διδάσκονται τὰ περὶ Θεοῦ καί φησιν· "Ἵνα γνωρισθῇ νῦν ταῖς Ἀρχαῖς καὶ ταῖς Ἐξουσίαις διὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἡ πολυποίκιλος τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφία", σαφῶς διὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας εἰπὼν αὐτοὺς διδάσκεσθαι τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφίαν. 5.75 Οὗτος ὁ Ἄβελ, ὁ δίκαιος, ὃς ἀδίκως ἀποθανὼν πρῶτος πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἔδειξε σαθρὰ εἶναι τοῦ θανάτου τὰ θεμέλια. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἀποθανὼν ἔτι λαλεῖ προμηνύων τὴν τῶν νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν, ἣν ὁ ∆εσπότης Χριστὸς πρῶτος πάντων ἐν ἑαυτῷ δείξας, κατέλυσε τοῦ θανάτου τὸ δοκοῦν κράτος. Οὗτός ἐστιν Ἄβελ, ὁ ὡς ἐν αἰνίγματι μιμητὴς τοῦ πάθους τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὑπάρχων, ὃς διὰ φθόνον ἀγαθῶν ἔργων ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ ἀδίκως ἀπεκτάνθη, περὶ οὗ καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος Παῦλος ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἑβραίους Ἐπιστολῇ φησιν· "Ἀλλὰ προσεληλύθατε Σιὼν ὄρει καὶ πόλει Θεοῦ ζῶντος, Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίῳ, καὶ μυριάσιν ἀγγέλων, πανηγύρει, καὶ ἐκκλησίᾳ πρωτοτόκων ἀπογεγραμμένων ἐν οὐρανοῖς, καὶ κριτῇ Θεῷ πάντων καὶ πνεύμασι δικαίων τετελειωμένων καὶ διαθήκης νέας μεσίτῃ Ἰησοῦ καὶ αἵματι ῥαντισμοῦ κρεῖττον λαλοῦντι παρὰ τὸν Ἄβελ." Παραγραφή 5.76 Ἐνταῦθα δείκνυται σαφέστερον, τοῦ δικαίου Ἄβελ τελευτήσαντος, ὡς οὐ κατ' ὀργὴν ὁ θάνατος τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐπενήνεκται, ὅτι ὁ μὴ ἁμαρτήσας πρὸ τοῦ ἁμαρτήσαντος ἔθανεδιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ζήτησις παρὰ Θεοῦ γίνεται τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ Ἄβελ καὶ ἐκδίκησις τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὅτι μετὰ θάνατον βοᾷ δηλῶν διὰ τούτου ὡς παλινδρομήσει εἰς ζωήν. Καὶ πάλιν ὁ θάνατος μὴ συγχωρηθεὶς ἐπὶ τὸν ἁμαρτήσαντα πρῶτον ἐπελθεῖν, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὸν μὴ ἁμαρτήσαντα, δείκνυται καταλυόμενος, ὡς τὴν πρώτην ἔφοδον ἀδίκως ἐπελθών, καὶ οὐ δικαίως· ἐπὶ δίκαιον γὰρ τέθεικε θεμέλια, καὶ οὐχὶ ἐπὶ ἁμαρτωλόν· ὅθεν