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of the appellation of the Son of God. Ps. Of the same. 44. In the visions Daniel says: I saw in a vision of the night, and behold, upon the clouds of heaven 149 one like a son of man was coming, and he came to the Ancient of Days, and was brought before him, and to him was given the authority and the honor and the kingdom; and all the peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve him; his authority is an everlasting authority, which shall not pass away; and his kingdom shall not be destroyed. These things are in harmony with the prophecy of the same Daniel, which foretold concerning the kingdom of Christ according to the stone cut out of a mountain without hands; for who else, who as a son of man comes upon the clouds, and reaches the Ancient of Days, than our Lord Jesus Christ, who for our sake took the form of a servant, and became a son of man, who said, I came forth from the Father, and I go to God? who also in the presence of his own disciples, as they were watching, was taken up, and a cloud received him, at which time, as they were gazing into heaven, behold, two men in bright apparel appeared, teaching them the things concerning his second coming, foretelling that he would come again in a cloud. To Christ alone, therefore, was given by the Father the authority and the honor and the kingdom, so that all nations should worship him, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Ps. Of the same. 45. When Daniel prayed concerning the captivity of the whole people in Babylon, and concerning the desolation of Jerusalem, the archangel Gabriel appeared and at the same time 150 indicated to him the conclusion of the seventy-year captivity, and the renewal of Jerusalem, and the time from the renewal until the coming of Christ, and the second capture of the city that would happen after these things, and the subsequent enslavement of the whole nation, which was accomplished after the coming of Christ. His words are in this manner: Daniel, I have now come forth to give you understanding; at the beginning of your supplication a word went forth, and I have come to declare it to you, for you are a man of desires, and consider the word, and understand the vision. Seventy weeks are determined upon your people, and upon the holy city, to finish sin, and to seal up sins, and to wipe away iniquities, and to make atonement for injustices, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint a holy of holies. And you shall know and understand from the going forth of the words for the answer and for the building of Jerusalem until Christ the ruler shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks; and it shall return, and the street and the wall shall be built, and the times shall be emptied. And after the sixty-two weeks, the anointing shall be destroyed, and there is no judgment in him; and he shall destroy the city, and the sanctuary with the coming ruler, and they shall be cut off in a flood, and until the end of a shortened war by desolations. And one week shall confirm a covenant with many; and in the midst of the week sacrifice and libation shall be taken away, and upon the temple shall be the abomination of desolations, and until the consummation of time a consummation shall be given upon the desolation. 151 Of those who have studied the aforementioned weeks, we know only Africanus to have contemplated them most accurately and more successfully than the rest; and indeed it seems necessary to me first to bring forth his exposition on these passages, and then to examine whether we ourselves might also be able to contribute something to the argument. He writes, then, in the fifth book of the Chronographies, word for word, thus: Ps. Of Africanus. 40. The passage, therefore, being such as it is, signifies many and paradoxical things; but now we shall make our argument concerning the times and the things related to them, as is needed. That these things, then, are said concerning the coming of Christ, who was to appear after seventy weeks, is clear; for in the time of the
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τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ προσηγορίας. Ψ. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ. Μ∆ʹ. Ἐν τοῖς ὁράμασιν ὁ ∆ανιὴλ φησίν· Ἐθεώρουν ἐν ὁράματι τῆς νυκτὸς, καὶ ἰδοὺ, ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ 149 ὡς υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενος καὶ ἕως τοῦ παλαιοῦ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἔφθασε, καὶ προσηνέχθη αὐτῷ, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ ἡ ἐξουσία καὶ ἡ τιμὴ καὶ ἡ βασιλεία· καὶ πάντες οἱ λαοὶ, φυλαὶ, γλῶσσαι δουλεύσουσιν αὐτῷ· ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτοῦ, ἐξουσία αἰώνιος, ἥτις οὐ παρελεύσεται· καὶ ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ οὐ διαφθαρήσεται. Συνᾴδει ταῦτα τῇ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ∆ανιὴλ προφητείᾳ προθεσπιζούσῃ περὶ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ βασιλείας κατὰ τὸν λίθον τὸν ἀποτμηθέντα ἐξ ὄρους ἄνευ χειρῶν· τίς γὰρ ἂν ἄλλος, ὁ ὡς υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενος ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν, καὶ ἕως τοῦ παλαιοῦ τῶν ἡμερῶν φθάνων, ἢ ὁ εἰπὼν Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, ὁ δι' ἡμᾶς μορφὴν δούλου λαβὼν, καὶ υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου γενόμενος, ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐξῆλθον, καὶ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ὑπάγω; ὃς καὶ παρόντων τῶν ἑαυτοῦ μαθητῶν, βλεπόντων αὐτῶν, ἐπήρθη, καὶ νεφέλη ὑπέλαβεν αὐτὸν, ὅτε καὶ ἀτενιζόντων εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν, ἰδοὺ δύο ἄνδρες ἐν ἐσθήσεσι λαμπραῖς ὀφθέντες, τὰ περὶ τῆς δευτέρας αὐτοῦ παρουσίας αὐτοὺς ἐδίδασκον, αὖθις ἐν νεφέλῃ παραγενήσεσθαι αὐτὸν προλέγοντες. Τῷ οὖν Χριστῷ μόνῳ ὑπὸ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐδόθη καὶ ἡ ἐξουσία καὶ ἡ τιμὴ καὶ ἡ βασιλεία, ὥστε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη λατρεύειν αὐτῷ, καὶ πᾶσαν γλῶσσαν ἐξομολογεῖσθαι, ὅτι Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χρίστος εἰς δόξαν Θεοῦ πατρός. Ψ. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ. ΜΕʹ. Εὐξαμένῳ τῷ ∆ανιὴλ περὶ τῆς εἰς Βαβυλῶνα αἰχμαλωσίας τοῦ παντὸς λαοῦ, περί τε τῆς ἐρημώσεως τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ, Γαβριὴλ ἐπιφανεὶς ἀρχάγγελος ὁμοῦ 150 τε αὐτῷ σημαίνει τὸ συμπέρασμα τῆς ἑβδομηκονταετοῦς αἰχμαλωσίας, καὶ τὴν ἀνανέωσιν τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ, τόν τε ἀπὸ τῆς ἀνανεώσεως ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίαν χρόνον, καὶ τὴν μετὰ ταῦτα γενησομένην δευτέραν ἅλωσιν τῆς πόλεως, καὶ τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἀνδραποδισμὸν τοῦ παντὸς ἔθνους, τὸν μετὰ τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίαν ἐπιτελεσθέντα. Ἔχουσι δὲ αὐτοῦ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον αἱ λέξεις· ∆ανιὴλ, νῦν ἐξῆλθον συμβιβάσαι σε σύνεσιν· ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς δεήσεώς σου ἐξῆλθεν λόγος, καὶ ἐγὼ ἦλθον τοῦ ἀναγγεῖλαί σοι, ὅτι ἀνὴρ ἐπιθυμιῶν σὺ εἶ, καὶ ἐννοήθητι ἐν τῷ ῥήματι, καὶ σύνες ἐν τῇ ὀπτασίᾳ. Ἑβδομήκοντα ἑβδομάδες συνετμήθησαν ἐπὶ τὸν λαόν σου, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἁγίαν, τοῦ συντελεσθῆναι ἁμαρτίαν, καὶ τοῦ σφραγίσαι ἁμαρτίας, καὶ ἀπολεῖψαι τὰς ἀνομίας, καὶ τοῦ ἐξιλάσασθαι ἀδικίας, καὶ ἀγαγεῖν δικαιοσύνην αἰώνιον, καὶ τοῦ σφραγίσαι ὅρασιν καὶ προφήτην, καὶ τοῦ χρῖσαι ἅγιον ἁγίων. Καὶ γνώσῃ καὶ συνήσεις ἀπὸ ἐξόδου λόγων ου τοῦ ἀποκριθῆναι καὶ τοῦ οἰκοδομῆσαι Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἕως χριστοῦ ἡγουμένου ἑβδομάδες ζʹ, καὶ ἑβδομάδες ξβʹ· καὶ ἐπιστρέψει, καὶ οἰκοδομηθήσεται πλατεία, καὶ τεῖχος, καὶ κενωθήσονται οἱ καιροί. Καὶ μετὰ τὰς ἑβδομάδας τὰς ξβʹ ἐξολοθρευθήσεται χρίσμα, καὶ κρίμα οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῷ· καὶ τὴν πόλιν, καὶ τὸ ἅγιον διαφθερεῖ σὺν τῷ ἡγουμένῳ τῷ ἐρχομένῳ, καὶ κοπήσονται ἐν κατακλυσμῷ, καὶ ἕως τέλους πολέμου συντετμημένου ἀφανισμοῖς. Καὶ δυναμώσει διαθήκην πολλοῖς ἑβδομὰς μία· καὶ ἐν τῷ ἡμίσει τῆς ἑβδομάδος ἀρθήσεται θυσία καὶ σπονδὴ, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἱερὸν βδέλυγμα τῶν ἐρημώσεων, καὶ ἕως συντελείας καιροῦ συντέλεια δοθήσεται ἐπὶ τὴν ἐρήμωσιν. 151 Τῶν εἰς τὰς προκειμένας ἑβδομάδας ἐπιβεβληκότων μόνον ἴσμεν Ἀφρικανὸν ἀκριβέστατα καὶ μᾶλλον παρὰ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἐπιτετευγμένως τεθεωρηκότα· καὶ δή μοι δοκεῖ ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι πρῶτον αὐτοῦ τὴν εἰς τοὺς τόπους διήγησιν εἰς μέσον ἀγαγεῖν, εἶθ' οὕτως ἐπισκέψασθαι, εἴ τι ἄρα καὶ αὐτοὶ δυναίμεθα συμβαλέσθαι τῷ λόγῳ. Γράφει δὴ οὖν ἐν πέμπτῳ τῶν Χρονογραφιῶν κατὰ λέξιν οὕτως· Ψ. Ἀφρικανοῦ. Μʹ. Ἡ μὲν οὖν περικοπὴ οὕτω πῶς ἔχουσα πολλά τε καὶ παράδοξα σημαίνει· νῦν δ' ὧν χρεία περί τε τοὺς χρόνους καὶ τὰ τούτοις συντείνοντα τὸν λόγον ποιησόμεθα. Ὅτι μὲν οὖν περὶ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας λέγεται ταῦτα μετὰ ἑβδομάδας οʹ μέλλοντος ἐπιφαίνεσθαι, δῆλον· ἐπὶ γὰρ τοῦ