Chapter LXXII.—Passages have been removed by the Jews from Esdras and Jeremiah.

And I said, “I shall do as you please. From the statements, then, which Esdras made in reference to the law of the passover, they have taken away the following: ‘And Esdras said to the people, This passover is our Saviour and our refuge. And if you have understood, and your heart has taken it in, that we shall humble Him on a standard, and271    Or, “even if we.” thereafter hope in Him, then this place shall not be forsaken for ever, says the God of hosts. But if you will not believe Him, and will not listen to His declaration, you shall be a laughing-stock to the nations.’272    It is not known where this passage comes from. And from the sayings of Jeremiah they have cut out the following: ‘I [was] like a lamb that is brought to the slaughter: they devised a device against me, saying, Come, let us lay on wood on His bread, and let us blot Him out from the land of the living; and His name shall no more be remembered.’273    Jer. xi. 19. And since this passage from the sayings of Jeremiah is still written in some copies [of the Scriptures] in the synagogues of the Jews (for it is only a short time since they were cut out), and since from these words it is demonstrated that the Jews deliberated about the Christ Himself, to crucify and put Him to death, He Himself is both declared to be led as a sheep to the slaughter, as was predicted by Isaiah, and is here represented as a harmless lamb; but being in a difficulty about them, they give themselves over to blasphemy. And again, from the sayings of the same Jeremiah these have been cut out: ‘The Lord God remembered His dead people of Israel who lay in the graves; and He descended to preach to them His own salvation.’274    This is wanting in our Scriptures: it is cited by Iren., iii. 20, under the name of Isaiah, and in iv. 22 under that of Jeremiah.—Maranus.

[72] Κἀγὼ εἶπον: Ὡς ὑμῖν φίλον, πράξω. ἀπὸ μὲν οὖν τῶν ἐξηγήσεων, ὧν ἐξηγήσατο Ἔσδρας εἰς τὸν νόμον τὸν περὶ τοῦ πάσχα, τὴν ἐξήγησιν ταύτην ἀφείλοντο: Καὶ εἶπεν Ἔσδρας τῷ λαῷ: Τοῦτο τὸ πάσχα ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν καὶ ἡ καταφυγὴ ἡμῶν. καὶ ἐὰν διανοηθῆτε καὶ ἀναβῇ ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν, ὅτι μέλλομεν αὐτὸν ταπεινοῦν ἐν σημείῳ, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐλπίσωμεν ἐπ' αὐτόν, οὐ μὴ ἐρημωθῇ ὁ τόπος οὗτος εἰς τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον, λέγει ὁ θεὸς τῶν δυνάμεων: ἂν δὲ μὴ πιστεύσητε αὐτῷ μηδὲ εἰσακούσητε τοῦ κηρύγματος αὐτοῦ, ἔσεσθε ἐπίχαρμα τοῖς ἔθνεσι. καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν διὰ Ἰερεμίου λεχθέντων ταῦτα περιέκοψαν: Ἐγὼ ὡς ἀρνίον φερόμενον τοῦ θύεσθαι. ἐπ' ἐμὲ ἐλογίζοντο λογισμόν, λέγοντες: Δεῦτε, ἐμβάλωμεν ξύλον εἰς τὸν ἄρτον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκτρίψωμεν αὐτὸν ἐκ γῆς ζώντων, καὶ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ οὐ μὴ μνησθῇ οὐκέτι. καὶ ἐπειδὴ αὕτη ἡ περικοπή, ἡ ἐκ τῶν λόγων τοῦ Ἰερεμίου, ἔτι ἐστὶν ἐγγεγραμμένη ἔν τισιν ἀντιγράφοις τῶν ἐν συναγωγαῖς Ἰουδαίων (πρὸ γὰρ ὀλίγου χρόνου ταῦτα ἐξέκοψαν), ἐπειδὰν καὶ ἐκ τούτων τῶν λόγων ἀποδεικνύηται ὅτι ἐβουλεύσαντο Ἰουδαῖοι περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἀναιρεῖν αὐτὸν σταυρώσαντες βουλευσάμενοι, καὶ αὐτὸς μηνύεται, ὡς καὶ διὰ τοῦ Ἠσαίου προεφητεύθη, ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἀγόμενος, καὶ ἐνθάδε ὡς ἀρνίον ἄκακον δηλοῦται: ὧν ἀπορούμενοι ἐπὶ τὸ βλασφημεῖν χωροῦσι. καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν λόγων τοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἰερεμίου ὁμοίως ταῦτα περιέκοψαν: Ἐμνήσθη δὲ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἀπὸ Ἰσραὴλ τῶν νεκρῶν αὐτοῦ, τῶν κεκοιμημένων εἰς γῆν χώματος, καὶ κατέβη πρὸς αὐτοὺς εὐαγγελίσασθαι αὐτοῖς τὸ σωτήριον αὐτοῦ.