94

the prophets would have foretold. But now they spoke of the captivity, but nowhere of the return, although they continually mix good things with punishments, 55.115 and set time limits. For Jeremiah set seventy years, and Daniel likewise three weeks and a half; and in Egypt it was said that they would serve for four hundred and thirty years. But concerning this captivity, no time is set anywhere, nor an end, but your house is left desolate, and every day your affairs proceed to the worse. 2. Considering all these things with accuracy among yourselves, and expanding the argument from them—for give an opportunity to a wise man, and he will be wiser—you will be able to refute their shamelessness and their ingratitude. Because I will see the heavens, the works of your fingers. Another, For I see the heavens. Moon and stars which you founded. Another, You prepared. Another, You established. Having said, that You have destroyed the enemies, he also provides the proof of this glorious victory. For you, he says, the one crucified, the one put to death, appeared as the creator of the world. For this reason he says: I will see the heavens; showing that previously not many knew this, but later all will know. And for what reason did he not go through all the parts of the world? Because having gone through the most important of the visible things, there was no need for teaching about the others. To such an extent, therefore, were the enemies destroyed, that the one persecuted and put to death by them appeared as the creator of all visible things. And for what reason did he not say, Of your hands, but, Of your fingers? Showing the visible things to be the work of the slightest energy, and the paradox of creation, that the stars, being suspended, do not fall; and yet it is not the nature of foundations to be suspended above, but their nature is to lie below; but the master creator, also doing paradoxical things, in the visible realm made most things follow a course beyond nature. And why does he say nothing about incorporeal powers, and from there show his creation? Because for the time being this was the important thing, for them to learn about the visible things. For this reason also his Father, speaking to the Jews again and again, does not say: I made the angels, and the Cherubim; but, I stretched out the heaven; my hand founded the earth, my right hand made it firm; and he always expends the entire argument on visible things, arranging all things for the salvation of those who hear. For being duller, they were led more by visible things than by invisible ones. For this reason Paul also, always entering and speaking publicly, begins from the visible creation, saying: The God who made the heaven, and the earth and the sea, and all things in them; and he always makes his argument from the annual rains, and from the race of men. For if I say that he made the Cherubim, I need a twofold proof, both that Cherubim exist, and that he made them; but concerning visible things, I am only compelled to prove that he made them. For this reason the argument is also easier; for it has sight as a witness of what is said. For the listener sees the size, and the beauty, the use, and the position, and the good order. So for me the one important thing is to show that God worked it. And for what reason did he not mention the sun, but the moon and the stars? Indeed, then, in saying this, 55.116 he also alluded to that. For since some separate the night from the creation of God, through the moon he revealed it, showing that he is also the creator of this. And the variety of the stars is not small, nor the proof from the courses of the moon. What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you visit him, Another, What is the individual man, that you remember him? Another

94

προεῖπον ἂν οἱ προφῆται. Νυνὶ δὲ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν εἶπον, τὴν δὲ ἐπάνοδον οὐδαμοῦ, καίτοι συνεχῶς ταῖς κολάσεσι τὰ χρηστὰ ἀναμιγνύν 55.115 τες, καὶ χρόνους ὁρίζοντες. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ Ἱερεμίας ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη ὥρισε, καὶ ὁ ∆ανιὴλ ὁμοίως τρεῖς ἑβδομάδας καὶ ἥμισυ· καὶ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ τετρακόσια τριάκοντα ἔτη ἐῤῥήθη ὅτι δουλεύσουσι. Περὶ δὲ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας ταύτης οὐδαμοῦ κεῖται χρόνος, οὐδὲ πέρας, ἀλλ' ἀφεῖται ὁ οἶκος ὑμῶν ἔρημος, καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον τὰ ὑμέτερα πρόεισι. ʹ. Ταῦτα πάντα μετὰ ἀκριβείας ἀναλογιζόμενοι παρ' ἑαυτοῖς, καὶ τὸν λόγον ἐκ τούτων πλατύνοντες ∆ίδου γὰρ σοφῷ ἀφορμὴν, καὶ σοφώτερος ἔσται, τὴν ἀναισχυντίαν αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν ἀγνωμοσύνην ἐλέγχειν δυνήσεσθε. Ὅτι ὄψομαι τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἔργα τῶν δακτύλων σου. Ἄλλος, Ὁρῶ γὰρ τοὺς οὐρανούς. Σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας ἃ σὺ ἐθεμελίωσας. Ἄλλος, Ἡτοίμασας. Ἄλλος, Ἥδρασας. Εἰπὼν, ὅτι Κατέλυσας τοὺς ἐχθροὺς, καὶ τὴν ἀπόδειξιν παρέχει τῆς λαμπρᾶς ταύτης νίκης. Σὺ γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ σταυρωθεὶς, ὁ ἀναιρεθεὶς, ἀνεφάνης τῆς οἰκουμένης δημιουργός. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησι· Ὄψομαι τοὺς οὐρανούς· δηλῶν, ὅτι ἔμπροσθεν οὐ πολλοὶ τοῦτο ᾔδεισαν, ὕστερον μέντοι πάντες εἴσονται. Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν οὐκ ἐπῆλθεν ἅπαντα τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰ μέρη; Ὅτι τὰ καιριώτερα τῶν ὁρωμένων ἐπελθὼν, οὐδὲν ἔδει τῆς περὶ τῶν ἄλλων διδασκαλίας. Εἰς τοσοῦτον τοίνυν κατελύθησαν οἱ ἐχθροὶ, ὡς τὸν παρ' αὐτῶν ἐλαυνόμενον καὶ ἀναιρεθέντα ἀναφανῆναι τῶν ὁρωμένων ἁπάντων δημιουργόν. Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν οὐκ εἶπε, Τῶν χειρῶν σου, ἀλλὰ, Τῶν δακτύλων σου; Τῆς ἐλαχίστης ἐνεργείας ἔργον δεικνὺς τὰ ὁρώμενα, καὶ τὸ παράδοξον τῆς δημιουργίας, ὅτι κρεμασθέντες οὐκ ἐκπίπτουσιν οἱ ἀστέρες· καίτοι γε οὐκ αὐτὴ τῶν θεμελίων ἡ φύσις, ἄνω κρεμᾶσθαι, ἀλλὰ κάτω κεῖσθαι πέφυκεν· ἀλλ' ὁ ἀριστοτέχνης δημιουργὸς καὶ παράδοξα ποιῶν, ἐν τοῖς φαινομένοις τὰ πλείονα ὑπὲρ φύσεως ἀκολουθίαν ἐποίησε. Καὶ διὰ τί μηδὲν περὶ ἀσωμάτων δυνάμεων διαλέγεται, καὶ ἐκεῖθεν δείκνυσιν αὐτοῦ τὴν δημιουργίαν; Ὅτι τέως τὸ σπουδαζόμενον τοῦτο ἦν, περὶ τῶν φαινομένων αὐτοὺς μαθεῖν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ αὐτοῦ ἄνω καὶ κάτω Ἰουδαίοις διαλεγόμενος, οὐ λέγει· Ἐγὼ τοὺς ἀγγέλους ἐποίησα, καὶ τὰ Χερουβίμ· ἀλλ', Ἐγὼ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐξέτεινα· ἡ χείρ μου ἐθεμελίωσε τὴν γῆν, ἡ δεξιά μου ἐστερέωσε· καὶ πάντα ἀεὶ τὸν λόγον ἐν τοῖς φαινομένοις ἀναλίσκει, πρὸς τὴν σωτηρίαν τῶν ἀκουόντων ἅπαντα πραγματευόμενος. Παχύτεροι γὰρ ὄντες, ἀπὸ τῶν φαινομένων μᾶλλον ἐνήγοντο, ἢ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀοράτων. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ Παῦλος εἰσιὼν ἀεὶ καὶ δημηγορῶν, ἀπὸ τῆς φαινομένης κτίσεως προοιμιάζεται λέγων· Ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ποιήσας τὸν οὐρανὸν, καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς· καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ὄμβρων τῶν ἐτησίων, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ γένους τοῦ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀεὶ ποιεῖται τὸν λόγον. Ἂν γὰρ εἴπω ὅτι τὰ Χερουβὶμ ἐποίησε, διπλῆς μοι χρεία κατασκευῆς, ὅτι τε ἔστι Χερουβὶμ, καὶ ὅτι ἐποίησεν· ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ὁρωμένων μόνον ὅτι ἐποίησεν ἀναγκάζομαι ἀποδεῖξαι. ∆ιὸ καὶ εὐκολώτερος ὁ λόγος· τὴν γὰρ ὄψιν ἔχει μαρτυρίαν τῶν λεγομένων. Καὶ γὰρ τὸ μέγεθος, καὶ τὸ κάλλος, τὴν χρῆσιν, καὶ τὴν θέσιν, καὶ τὴν εὐρυθμίαν ὁρᾷ ὁ ἀκροατής. Ὥστε ἕν μοι τὸ σπουδαζόμενον, δεῖξαι ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς αὐτὸ εἰργάσατο. Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν οὐχὶ τοῦ ἡλίου ἐμνήσθη, ἀλλὰ τῆς σελήνης καὶ τῶν ἀστέρων; Μάλιστα μὲν οὖν τοῦτο εἰπὼν, 55.116 κἀκεῖνο ᾐνίξατο. Ἐπειδὴ γάρ τινες ἀποσχίζουσι τῆς δημιουργίας τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν νύκτα, διὰ τῆς σελήνης αὐτὴν ἐνέφηνε, δεικνὺς ὅτι καὶ ταύτης δημιουργός ἐστιν. Οὐ μικρὰ δὲ καὶ ἡ τῶν ἀστέρων ποικιλία, καὶ ἡ τῶν σεληναίων δρόμων ἀπόδειξις. Τί ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος, ὅτι μιμνήσκῃ αὐτοῦ, ἢ υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου, ὅτι ἐπισκέπτῃ αὐτόν, Ἄλλος, Τί ὁ κατ' ἄνδρα, ὅτι μνημονεύεις αὐτοῦ; Ἄλλος