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of the former 57, and of the 62 upon these, a prophecy, -in which it is fitting to understand the high priesthood according to the succession of the family, and of the history up to the times of Herod showing the high priests in succession throughout their entire life, when a certain anointed one and high priest was leading the people, so that for this reason it was said in the oracle, until an anointed leader, -has reached its end in the times of Herod, as we have been able to show; And how after these things, after the completion of the aforementioned time of the weeks, anointing was destroyed, because there was no judgment in it, just as the oracle indicates, signifying that with a reasonable judgment the anointing according to the high priesthood will be brought to an end at the indicated time, it would become clear to those who pay attention both to the ordinance of the law, in which it is commanded that those to whom it falls by succession of family are to hold the high priesthood for life until their very death, and to the history up to the times of Herod, showing that the high priests in succession were deemed worthy of the honor throughout their entire life in accordance with the legislation concerning them, and how in the time of Herod himself not only are the matters of such an ordinance concerning the high priests confused and corrupted, but also of the holy robe, which the high priest was permitted to have alone (sic), because it was not lawful for another than he alone to minister in it, Herod, taking away their authority, places it under himself, and this though he was a foreigner. But if it is necessary to present proofs of these things as well, receive then the words of the witness 160 which Josephus, one of the Hebrews themselves, himself also having been deemed worthy of the honor of the priests, and of a most distinguished family among them, has set down in the twentieth book of his Antiquities. Concerning the perversion of the high priests, then, he writes somehow thus, word for word: But Herod, having been entrusted with the kingdom by the Romans, no longer appointed high priests from the Asamonaean family, but bestowed the honor on certain obscure men and those not of priestly lineage, except for one, Aristobulus; And having appointed Aristobulus, who was the son of Hyrcanus who had been taken captive by the Parthians, as high priest, he married his sister Mariamne, seeking the goodwill of the multitude toward himself on account of the memory of Hyrcanus; then, fearing that all might turn to Aristobulus, he killed him in Jericho, contriving for him to be drowned while swimming, as we have already shown. After him, he no longer entrusted the high priesthood to the descendants of the sons of Asamonaeus; and Archelaus his son acted similarly to Herod concerning the appointment of the high priests, and after him the Romans, having taken over the rule of the Jews. Thus Josephus on these matters; and concerning the high priestly robe, in the eighteenth book of the Antiquities he relates these things: And Herod, after becoming king, having built this fortress, which was situated in a suitable place, lavishly, called it by the name Antonia, and he held the high priestly robe just as he received it, lying there, believing that the people would not start a revolution against him on account of it. And King Archelaus, his son, who was appointed after him, did things similar to Herod, from whom the Romans, succeeding to the rule, held 161 the robe of the high priest which was stored in a house built of stone under seal. From these things, then, there would be an indisputable proof, that indeed at the indicated times the things of the prophecy reached their conclusion; but if those of the circumcision do not agree with these things, we must ask them for an interpretation of the scripture other than ours, and it must be shown that according to them the prophecies of so great a one as Gabriel are necessarily proven false, if nothing of what was proclaimed beforehand by him has come to pass even up to now, with nearly a thousand years having passed; but for us, at least, the account is clearly proven true according to the interpretations set forth by us without violence, in accordance with which it is easy to explain in what way also the one last week coming after all the others confirmed a covenant for many, the new covenant

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προτέρων νζʹ, καὶ τῶν ἐπὶ ταύταις ξβʹ, προφητεία, -ἐν αἷς τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην κατὰ τὴν τοῦ γένους διαδοχὴν προσήκει διαλαμβάνειν, καὶ τῆς μέχρι τῶν Ἡρώδου χρόνων ἱστορίας δηλούσης τοὺς κατὰ διαδοχὴν ἀρχιερεῖς διὰ πάσης τῆς αὐτῶν ζωῆς, ὅτε χριστός τις καὶ ἀρχιερεὺς ἡγεῖτο τοῦ λαοῦ, ὡς διὰ τουτὶ εἰρῆσθαι τῷ χρησμῷ τὸ, ἕως χριστοῦ ἡγουμένου, -πέρας εἴληφεν εἰς τοὺς κατὰ Ἡρώδην χρόνους, ὡς δύναμις ἡμῖν, δεδήλωται· πῶς δ' ἐπὶ τούτοις μετὰ τὴν συμπλήρωσιν τοῦ προδηλωθέντος τῶν ἑβδομάδων χρόνου ἐξωλοθρεύθη χρίσμα, ὅτι μὴ κρίμα ἦν ἐν αὐτῷ, ὥσπερ δ' οὖν τὸ λόγιον μηνύει, σημαῖνον ὅτι μετὰ κρίσεως εὐλόγου τὸ χρίσμα τὸ κατὰ τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην ἐπὶ τοῦ δηλουμένου καιροῦ συντελεσθήσεται, σαφὲς ἂν γένοιτο τοῖς ἐπιστήσασι τῇ τε τοῦ νόμου διατάξει, ἐν ᾗ διὰ βίου μέχρις αὐτῆς τελευτῆς προστέτακται τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην τοὺς οἷς κατὰ τὴν τοῦ γένους διαδοχὴν προσήκει διαλαμβάνειν, καὶ τῇ μέχρι τῶν Ἡρώδου χρόνων ἱστορίᾳ, δηλούσῃ τοὺς κατὰ διαδοχὴν ἀρχιερεῖς διὰ πάσης τῆς αὐτῶν ζωῆς ἀκολούθως τῇ περὶ αὐτῶν νομοθεσίᾳ τῆς τιμῆς ἠξιῶσθαι, ὅπως τε κατ' αὐτὸν Ἡρώδην οὐ μόνον τὰ τῆς τοιαύτης περὶ τοὺς ἀρχιερεῖς διαταγῆς συγχεῖταί τε καὶ διαφθείρεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἁγίας στολῆς, ἣν ὑπομόνον (sic) ἐξῆν εἶναι τὸν ἀρχιερέα, ὅτι μὴ δ' ἑτέρῳ ἢ αὐτῷ μόνῳ ἐν ταύτῃ λειτουργεῖν ἐξὸν ἦν, τὴν ἐξουσίαν αὐτοὺς Ἡρώδης ἀφελόμενος ὑφ' ἑαυτὸν, καὶ ταῦτα ἀλλόφυλος ὢν, ποιεῖται. Εἰ δὲ χρὴ καὶ τούτων παραθέσθαι ἐλέγχους, δέχου δὴ τοῦ μάρτυρος 160 τὰς φωνὰς ἃς ὁ ἐξ αὐτῶν Ἑβραίων Ἰώσηπος, τῆς τῶν ἱερέων καὶ αὐτὸς ἠξιωμένος τιμῆς, καὶ γένους τοῦ παρ' αὐτοῖς διαφανεστάτου, ἐν εἰκοστῷ τῆς Ἀρχαιολογίας κατατέθειται συγγράμματι. Περὶ μὲν οὖν τῆς τῶν ἀρχιερέων παρατροπῆς ὧδέ πως κατὰ λέξιν γράφει· Τὴν δὲ βασιλείαν Ἡρώδης παρὰ Ῥωμαίων ἐγχειρισθεὶς, οὐκέτι τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ Ἀσαμωναίου γένους καθίστησιν ἀρχιερεῖς, ἀλλά τισιν ἀσήμοις καὶ οὐκ ἐξ ἱερέων οὖσιν, πλὴν ἑνὸς Ἀριστοβούλου, τὴν τιμὴν ἀπένεμεν· τὸν δὲ Ἀριστόβουλον Ὑρκανοῦ τοῦ ἀπὸ Παρθῶν αἰχμαλωσιασθέντος υἱὸν ὄντα καταστήσας ἀρχιερέα, τῇ ἀδελφῇ αὐτοῦ συνώκησεν Μαριάμμῃ, τὴν τοῦ πλήθους πρὸς ἑαυτὸν θηρώμενος εὔνοιαν διὰ τὴν Ὑρκανοῦ μνήμην· εἶτα φοβηθεὶς μὴ πρὸς τὸν Ἀριστόβουλον πάντες ἀποκλίνωσιν, ἀνεῖλεν αὐτὸν ἐν Ἰεριχῷ, πνιγῆναι μηχανησάμενος κολυμβῶντα, καθὼς ἤδη δεδηλώκαμεν. Μετὰ τοῦτον οὐκέτι τοῖς ἐγγόνοις τῶν Ἀσαμωναίου παίδων τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην ἐπίστευσεν· ἔπραξεν δὲ ὅμοια τῷ Ἡρώδῃ περὶ τῆς καταστάσεως τῶν ἀρχιερέων Ἀρχέλαός τε ὁ παῖς αὐτοῦ, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον τὴν ἀρχὴν Ῥωμαῖοι τῶν Ἰουδαίων παραλαβόντες. Ταῦτα μὲν περὶ τούτων ὁ Ἰώσηπος· περὶ δὲ τῆς ἀρχιερατικῆς στολῆς ἐν τῷ ὀκτωκαιδεκάτῳ τῆς Ἀρχαιολογίας ταῦτα ἱστορεῖ· Ἡρώδης δὲ βασιλεύσας τήν τε βάριν ταύτην ἐν ἐπιτηδείῳ κειμένην κατασκευάσας πολυτελῶς, Ἀντωνίαν καλεῖ ὄνομα, καὶ τὴν στολὴν τὴν ἀρχιερατικὴν ὥσπερ καὶ λαμβάνει τῇδε κειμένην κατεῖχεν, πιστεύων οὐδὲν νεωτεριεῖν ἐπ' αὐτῷ τὸν λαὸν δι' αὐτήν. Ἔπρασσε δὲ τὰ ὅμοια τῷ Ἡρώδῃ καὶ ὁ ἐπικατασταθεὶς αὐτῷ βασιλεὺς Ἀρχέλαος, υἱὸς ὢν, παρ' οὗ Ῥωμαῖοι διαδεξάμενοι τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐκρά 161 τουν τῆς στολῆς τοῦ ἀρχιερέως ἀποκειμένης ἐν οἴκῳ λίθου οἰκοδομηθέντι ὑπὸ σφραγῖδι. Ἐκ δὴ τούτων ἀναμφίλεκτος γένοιτ' ἂν ἀπόδειξις, ὅτι δὴ κατὰ τοὺς δηλουμένους χρόνους τὰ τῆς προφητείας περιγραφῆς ἔτυχεν· εἰ δὲ μὴ συνομολόγοιεν τούτοις οἱ ἐκ περιτομῆς, αἰτητέον αὐτοὺς ἑτέραν παρὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν τῆς γραφῆς διήγησιν, καὶ δεικτέον ὡς ἄρα κατ' αὐτοὺς ψευδεῖς ἀνάγκη τὰς τοῦ τηλικούτου Γαβριὴλ ἀπελέγχεσθαι προρρήσεις, εἰ μηδὲν τῶν προαναπεφωνημένων ἐξ ἐκείνου καὶ εἰς δεῦρο χιλίων ἤδη πλησιαζόντων ἐτῶν γεγένηται· ἀλλ' ἡμῖν γε σαφῶς ἀληθὴς ὁ λόγος ἀποδείκνυται κατὰ τὰς ἀβιάστως παρατεθείσας ἡμῖν διηγήσεις, αἷς ἀκολούθως εὐχερὲς ἀποδοῦναι τίνα τρόπον καὶ ἡ μετὰ πάσας ὑστάτη ἐπιφερομένη ἑβδομὰς μία ἐνεδυνάμωσεν διαθήκην πολλοῖς, τὴν καινὴν διαθήκην