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76

comes out of your nostrils," he added, "and it will become loathsome to you," or as Symmachus has it, "to the point of indigestion." For gluttony brought on the sickness, and the plague from God brought death to many. Wherefore also divine David added, "While their food was still in their mouths, the wrath of God rose against them, and he killed their strongest." Rightly therefore the all-wise Paul exhorts, "make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." 6 XX For what reason did the seventy, when they were first appointed, prophesy, but after this no longer? Because he appointed them not for the sake of prophecy, but for administration; but this too is one of the gifts of the Spirit. whence the blessed Paul ranked helps and administrations with the apostles and prophets and teachers and gifts of healing, the seventy were deemed worthy of this gift; but so that they might be manifest to the people, that they indeed had enjoyed the divine gift, they immediately foretold certain things. XXI Why did Eldad and Medad prophesy, not having been numbered with the seventy? It is likely that they were equal in worth to the seventy, and for this reason enjoyed the gift. But the account hints that often those considered unapproved by men are known to be approved by him who knows hidden things. Thus in the case of Cornelius, divine generosity anticipated the ministry of men; for before baptism he gave him the grace of the Spirit. And here too the lawgiver's lack of envy was shown. For when Joshua said, "My lord Moses, forbid them," he replied and said, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, when the Lord puts his Spirit upon them." And the all-praised Joshua did not entertain the passion of envy, but thinking the matter to be presumption and tyranny, used these words. That he was free from this passion, the praise testifies. For thus it says, "And Joshua the son of Nun, who ministered 7 to Moses, one of his chosen men, answered and said, 'My lord Moses, forbid them.'" XXII Who should we understand the Ethiopian woman to be, whom Moses took? Josephus said that when he was being raised in the palace, he was appointed general for the war against the Ethiopians, then having conquered, he took that king's daughter. But Apollinarius fabricated a myth much more mythical than this one; for he said that after Zipporah he married another, an Ethiopian woman, so that, he says, he might become a type of the Lord Christ, who after the Israelite woman espoused the church from the nations. But Zipporah too was a foreigner. Therefore, to fabricate myths is not of the divine Spirit, but of the adversary. For the lawgiver took such care for purity after his calling, that he even left Zipporah behind when entering Egypt. But after the exodus from there, his father-in-law came to him, bringing her with the children, and it added that "after her dismissal, he brought her." He therefore called Zipporah an Ethiopian; for the nation of Sheba is Ethiopian. For the evangelist says, "The queen of the Ethiopians will rise up and condemn this generation." But the history of the Kingdoms called her the queen of Sheba. And the nation of the Homerites is called Sheba; the Midianites are neighbors to these. Since, therefore, Aaron took an Israelite woman, but Moses a foreigner, when small-mindedness arose, they brought this reproach against him. And the drunken insolence of the siblings testifies to the most perfect virtue of the lawgiver; for clearly being at a loss for another accusation, they brought the censure of his wife against him. And the verdict of the most just judge also testifies 8 to my argument; for he said, "If there is a prophet among you, I will make myself known to him in a vision, and I will speak to him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I will speak mouth to mouth, in appearance, and not in riddles, and he has seen the glory of the Lord. And why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?" True, then, is that saying, which states, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."

76

ἐξέλθῃ ἐκ τῶν μυκτήρων ὑμῶν ", ἐπήγαγε· " καὶ ἔσται ὑμῖν εἰς χολέραν ", ἢ ὡς ὁ Σύμμαχος, " εἰς ἀπε ψίαν ". ἡ γὰρ ἀδηφαγία τὴν νόσον ἐπήγαγε, καὶ πολλοῖς τὸν θάνατον ἡ θεήλατος πληγή. διὸ καὶ ὁ θεῖος ἐπήγαγε ∆αβίδ· " ἔτι τῆς βρώ σεως οὔσης ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτῶν, καὶ ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀνέβη ἐπ' αὐτούς, καὶ ἀπέκτεινεν ἐν τοῖς πλείοσιν αὐτῶν ". εἰκότως τοίνυν ὁ πάνσοφος παραινεῖ Παῦ λος· " μὴ ποιεῖσθε τῆς σαρκὸς πρόνοιαν εἰς ἐπι θυμίαν ". 6 XX Τίνος χάριν εὐθὺς μὲν προβληθέντες οἱ ἑβδομήκοντα προεφήτευσαν, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα οὐκέτι; Ὅτι οὐ προφητείας χάριν, ἀλλ' οἰκονομίας αὐτοὺς προὐβάλετο· τῶν δὲ τοῦ πνεύματος χαρισμάτων καὶ τοῦτο. ὅθεν ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος τοῖς ἀποσ τόλοις καὶ τοῖς προφήταις καὶ τοῖς διδασκάλοις καὶ τοῖς χαρίσμασι τῶν ἰαμάτων, τὰς ἀντιλήψεις καὶ κυβερνήσεις συνέταξε, τούτου οἱ ἑβδομή κοντα τοῦ χαρίσματος ἠξιώθησαν· ἵνα δὲ δῆλοι γένωνται τῷ λαῷ, ὅτι δὴ τῆς θείας ἀπήλαυσαν δωρεᾶς, εὐθύς τινα προηγόρευσαν. XXI Ἐλδὰδ καὶ Μωδὰδ τί δήποτε προεφήτευσαν μὴ συναριθμηθέντες τοῖς ἑβδομήκοντα; Εἰκὸς αὐτοὺς ἴσους εἶναι τὴν ἀξίαν τοῖς ἑβδομήκοντα, καὶ τούτου χάριν ἀπολαῦσαι τῆς δωρεᾶς. αἰνίττεται δὲ ὁ λόγος, ὅτι πολλάκις τοὺς ἀδο κίμους παρὰ ἀνθρώποις νομιζομένους δοκίμους οἶδεν ὁ τὰ κεκρυμμένα γι νώσκων. οὕτως ἐπὶ τοῦ Κορνηλίου προὔλαβε τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων δια κονίαν ἡ θεία φιλοτιμία· πρὸ γὰρ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ τὴν χάριν τοῦ πνεύματος. ἐδείχθη δὲ κἀνταῦθα τοῦ νομοθέτου τὸ ἄφθονον. τοῦ γὰρ Ἰησοῦ εἰρηκότος, " Κύριε Μωϋσῆ, κώλυσον αὐ τούς ", ὑπολαβὼν ἔφη, " μὴ ζηλοῖς σύ μοι; καὶ τίς ἂν δῴη πάντα τὸν λαὸν Κυρίου προφήτας, ὅταν δῷ Κύριος τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ ἐπ' αὐτούς ", καὶ ὁ πανεύφημος δὲ Ἰησοῦς οὐ τοῦ φθόνου τὸ πάθος ἐδέξατο, ἀλλ' αὐθάδειαν καὶ τυραννίδα τὸ πρᾶγμα νομίσας, τοῖσδε τοῖς λόγοις ἐχρήσατο. ὅτι γὰρ τούτου τοῦ πάθους ἐλεύθερος ἦν, ὁ ἔπαινος μαρτυρεῖ. οὕτω γὰρ ἔφη· " καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς Ἰησοῦς ὁ τοῦ Ναυῆ ὁ παρεσ 7 τηκὼς Μωϋσῇ ὁ ἐκλεκτὸς εἶπεν, Κύριε Μωϋσῆ, κώλυσον αὐτούς ". XXII Τίνα χρὴ νοῆσαι τὴν αἰθιόπισσαν γυναῖκα, ἣν ἔλαβε Μωϋσῆς; Ἰώσηπος μὲν εἶπεν, ὡς ἡνίκα ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις ἐτρέφετο, στρατηγὸς εἰς τὸν κατὰ αἰθιόπων χειροτονηθεὶς πόλεμον, εἶτα νικήσας, ἠγάγετο τοῦ βασιλέως ἐκείνου τὴν θυγατέρα. Ἀπολινάριος δὲ μῦθον ἀνέπλασε πολλῷ μυθωδέστερον τούτου· ἔφη γὰρ μετὰ τὴν Σεπφώραν ἄλλην αὐτὸν αἰθιό πισσαν γῆμαι, ἵνα, φησί, γένηται τύπος τοῦ δεσπότου Χριστοῦ, ὃς μετὰ τὴν ἰσραηλῖτιν τὴν ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐκκλησίαν ἐμνήστευσεν. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ Σεπφώρα ἀλλόφυλος ἦν. τὸ τοίνυν πλάττειν μύθους, οὐ τοῦ θείου πνεύματος, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἐναντίου. τοσαύτης γὰρ ἁγνείας μετὰ τὴν κλῆσιν ὁ νομοθέτης ἐφρόν τισεν, ὅτι καὶ τὴν Σεπφώραν κατέλιπεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον εἰσιών. μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἐκεῖθεν ἔξοδον, ἀφίκετο πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ κηδεστὴς ἄγων ἐκείνην μετὰ τῶν παιδίων, καὶ προστέθεικεν ὅτι " μετὰ τὴν ἄφεσιν ἤγαγεν αὐτήν ". τὴν Σεπφώραν τοίνυν ὠνόμασεν αἰθιόπισσαν· τὸ γὰρ Σαβὰ ἔθνος αἰθιοπικόν ἐστιν. ὁ γὰρ εὐαγγελιστής φησιν· " βασίλισσα αἰθιόπων ἀναστήσεται, καὶ κατακρινεῖ τὴν γε νεὰν ταύτην ". ἀλλ' ἡ τῶν βασιλειῶν ἱστορία βασίλισσαν Σαβὰ προσηγόρευσε ταύτην. Σαβὰ δὲ καλεῖται τῶν ὁμηριτῶν τὸ ἔθνος· τού τοις οἱ μαδιηναῖοι πελάζουσιν. ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ὁ Ἀαρὼν ἰσραηλῖτιν ἠγάγε το, ἀλλόφυλον δὲ ὁ Μωϋσῆς, μικροψυχίας γενομένης, ταύτην αὐτῷ τὴν λοι δορίαν προσήνεγκαν. καὶ μαρτυρεῖ δὲ τῇ τελειοτάτῃ ἀρετῇ τοῦ νομοθέτου τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἡ παροινία· ἀπορήσαντες γὰρ δηλονότι κατηγορίας ἑτέρας, τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτῷ τὸν ψόγον ἐπήνεγκαν. μαρτυρεῖ δέ μου τῷ λόγῳ καὶ 8 ἡ ψῆφος τοῦ δικαιοτάτου κριτοῦ· ἔφη γάρ· " ἐὰν γένηται προ φήτης ὑμῖν, ἐν ὁράματι αὐτῷ γνωσθήσομαι, καὶ ἐν ὕπνῳ αὐτῷ λαλήσω. οὐχ οὕτως ὡς ὁ θεράπων μου Μωϋσῆς· ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ οἴκῳ μου πιστός ἐστι· στόμα κατὰ στόμα λαλήσω αὐτῷ, ἐν εἴδει, καὶ οὐ δι' αἰνιγμάτων, καὶ τὴν δόξαν Κυρίου εἶδε. καὶ διὰ τί οὐκ ἐφοβήθητε καταλαλῆσαι κατὰ τοῦ θεράποντός μου Μωϋσῆ "; ἀληθὴς ἄρα ὁ λόγος ἐκεῖνος, ὁ φάσκων· " ἐμοὶ ἐκδίκησις, ἐγὼ ἀνταποδώσω λέγει Κύριος ".