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the patriarchs, after the signs and wonders, after receiving the living oracles; To which, he says, they were not willing to be obedient. And well did he say, Living oracles, to show that there are also those that are not living. Of which also Ezekiel speaks, when he says, 'And I gave you precepts that were not good.' In reference to such, then, he said 'Living.' But they thrust them away, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt; where they had groaned, where they had cried out, from whence they had called upon God. And they said to Aaron, 'Make us gods, which shall go before us.' 2. O the folly! Make, he says, that they may go before us. Where? To Egypt. Do you see how difficult it was to separate them from the customs of the Egyptians? What are you saying? You do not wait for the one who led you out, but you deny the benefit, and flee the benefactor? And see how they insult him. For 'this Moses,' he says, 'who brought us out of the land of Egypt.' Nowhere is the name of God, but they ascribed everything to Moses. And where they should give thanks, they bring Moses forward; but where they should obey the law, they no longer bring Moses. And yet he had said that he was going up to receive the law; but they did not even wait forty days. 'Make us gods.' They did not say, 'God,' but, 'Gods'; so frenzied were they, that they did not even know what they were saying. And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifices to the idol. Did you see the excess of folly? Where God had appeared to Moses, there they make a calf and sacrifice. And they rejoiced, he says, in the works of their own hands. In those things for which they ought to have been ashamed, they rejoiced. And what wonder, if you are ignorant of Christ, when you were also ignorant of Moses, and of the God who was shown through so many signs? But they were not only ignorant, but also insulted him in another way, by making idols. But God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven. From this, therefore, came these customs, from this came the sacrifices; they were the first to make sacrifices to idols. David also, signifying this, says, 'And they made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the graven image.' Since before this there is nowhere the name of sacrifice, but rather 60.137 living precepts, and living oracles; nowhere are there rites, but wonders and the showing of signs. As it is written in the book of the prophets. Here he did not bring forward the testimony simply, but in order to show that there was no need for sacrifices. And see what he says: 'Did you offer to me slain beasts and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness?' And you took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, the figures which you made to worship them. He used the word emphatically. What he says is this: You cannot say that it was from sacrificing to me that you also sacrificed to them; and this in the wilderness, where He especially watched over them. And you took up the tabernacle of Moloch. This is the cause of the sacrifices. And I will carry you away beyond Babylon. Thus the captivity also is an accusation of their wickedness. And how, he says, was it the tabernacle of witness? But it was for this reason, that they might have God as a witness. Therefore, it was for this only. For 'according to the pattern,' he says, 'which was showed thee in the mount'; so that in the mount the sketch was made; and this was portable in the wilderness, and not fixed in a place. And he calls it the tabernacle of witness, for no other reason than for the wonders and the commandments. Nevertheless, both it and they did not have a temple. Therefore the angel himself gave the pattern itself. Until the days, he says, of David. So there was no temple until then; although the nations had been driven out, concerning whom he says, 'Whom God drove out from the face of our fathers.' And he said this, showing again that there was no temple then. What am I saying? So many wonders, and nowhere a temple? Thus also first was the tabernacle, and nowhere a temple. And he desired to find favor before God. He desired, and did not build; thus the temple was not something great, even if some thought Solomon was great for having built the temple, who for this reason also preferred him to his father. But that he was not better than his father, nor even equal, but only from the opinion of the many, he made it clear by adding; Howbeit the most High dwells not in temples made with hands; as says the prophet, The

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τοὺς πατριάρχας, μετὰ τὰ σημεῖα καὶ τὰ θαύματα, μετὰ τὸ λαβεῖν λόγια ζῶντα· Ὧ οὐκ ἠθέλησαν, φησὶν, ὑπήκοοι γενέσθαι. Καλῶς δὲ Λόγια ζῶντα εἶπεν, ἵνα δείξῃ, ὅτι εἰσὶ καὶ οὐ ζῶντα. Περὶ ὧν καὶ Ἰεζεκιήλ φησιν, ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ· Καὶ ἔδωκα ὑμῖν προστάγματα οὐ καλά. Πρὸς τὰ τοιαῦτα οὖν εἶπε τὸ, Ζῶντα. Ἀλλ' ἀπώσαντο, καὶ ἐστράφησαν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν εἰς Αἴγυπτον· ἔνθα ἔστενον, ἔνθα ἐβόων, ὅθεν τὸν Θεὸν ἐκάλουν. Καὶ εἶπον τῷ Ἀαρών· Ποίησον ἡμῖν θεοὺς, οἳ προπορεύσονται ἡμῶν. βʹ. Ὢ τῆς ἀνοίας! Ποίησον, φησὶν, ἵνα προπορεύσωνται ἡμῶν. Ποῦ; Εἰς Αἴγυπτον. Ὁρᾷς, πῶς δυσαποσπάστως εἶχον τῶν ἐθῶν τῶν Αἰγυπτιακῶν; Τί λέγεις; οὐκ ἀναμένεις τὸν ἐξαγαγόντα, ἀλλὰ ἀρνῇ τὴν εὐεργεσίαν, καὶ τὸν εὐεργέτην φεύγεις; Καὶ ὅρα, πῶς ὑβρίζουσιν. Ὁ γὰρ Μωϋσῆς οὗτος, φησὶν, ὃς ἐξήγαγεν ἡμᾶς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου. Οὐδαμοῦ Θεοῦ ὄνομα, ἀλλὰ πάντα τῷ Μωϋσεῖ ἐπέγραφον. Καὶ ἔνθα μὲν αὐτοὺς εὐχαριστεῖν ἦν, Μωϋσῆν φέρουσιν εἰς μέσον· ἔνθα δὲ πεισθῆναι νόμῳ, οὐκ ἔτι Μωϋσῆν ἄγουσι. Καὶ μὴν εἶπεν, ὅτι ἄνεισιν ὥστε λαβεῖν τὸν νόμον· οἱ δὲ οὐδὲ τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας ὑπέμειναν. Ποίησον ἡμῖν θεούς. Οὐκ εἶπον, Θεὸν, ἀλλὰ, Θεούς· οὕτως ἀνεβακχεύθησαν, ὅτι οὐδὲ ἴσασιν, ἃ λέγουσι. Καὶ ἐμοσχοποίησαν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις, καὶ ἀνήγαγον θυσίας τῷ εἰδώλῳ. Εἶδες ἀνοίας ὑπερβολήν; Ἔνθα ἐφάνη Θεὸς τῷ Μωϋσεῖ, μοσχοποιοῦσιν οὗτοι καὶ θύουσι. Καὶ εὐφραίνοντο, φησὶν, ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν. Ἐφ' οἷς ἔδει ἐγκαλύπτεσθαι, ἔχαιρον. Καὶ τί θαυμαστὸν, εἴ γε ἀγνοεῖτε Χριστὸν, ὅπου καὶ τὸν Μωϋσέα, καὶ τὸν Θεὸν τὸν δειχθέντα διὰ τοσούτων σημείων; Οἱ δὲ οὐκ ἠγνόησαν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὕβρισαν ἑτέρως, τῷ εἴδωλα ποιῆσαι. Ἔστρεψε δὲ ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς λατρεύειν τῇ στρατιᾷ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. Ἐντεῦθεν λοιπὸν τὰ ἔθη ταῦτα, ἐντεῦθεν αἱ θυσίαι· αὐτοὶ πρῶτον ἐποίησαν θυσίας τοῖς εἰδώλοις. Τοῦτο καὶ ∆αυῒδ ἐπισημαινόμενος λέγει· Καὶ ἐποίησαν μόσχον ἐν Χωρὴβ, καὶ προσεκύνησαν τῷ γλυπτῷ. Ἐπεὶ πρὸ τούτου οὐδαμοῦ θυσίας ὄνομα, ἀλλὰ προσ 60.137 τάγματα ζῶντα, καὶ λόγια ζῶντα· οὐδαμοῦ τελεταὶ, ἀλλὰ θαύματα καὶ σημείων ἐπίδειξις. Καθὼς γέγραπται ἐν βίβλῳ τῶν προφητῶν. Ἐνταῦθα τὴν μαρτυρίαν οὐχ ἁπλῶς παρήγαγεν, ἀλλ' ἵνα δείξῃ τὸ μὴ εἶναι χρείαν θυσιῶν. Καὶ ὅρα τί φησι· Μὴ σφάγια καὶ θυσίας προσηνέγκατέ μοι ἔτη τεσσαράκοντα ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ. Καὶ ἀνελάβετε τὴν σκηνὴν τοῦ Μολὸχ, καὶ τὸ ἄστρον τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑμῶν Ῥεμφὰν, τοὺς τύπους, οὓς ἐποιήσατε προσκυνεῖν αὐτοῖς. Ἐμφαντικῶς ἐχρήσατο τῇ λέξει. Ὃ δὲ λέγει, τοῦτό ἐστιν· Οὐκ ἔχετε εἰπεῖν, ὅτι ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐμοὶ θύειν κἀκείνοις ἐθύετε· καὶ ταῦτα ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, ἔνθα μάλιστα αὐτῶν προειστήκει. Καὶ ἀνελάβετε τὴν σκηνὴν τοῦ Μολόχ. Ἡ αἰτία τῶν θυσιῶν αὕτη. Καὶ μετοικιῶ ὑμᾶς ἐπέκεινα Βαβυλῶνος. Οὕτω καὶ ἡ αἰχμαλωσία κατηγορία τῆς κακίας. Καὶ πῶς Ἡ σκηνὴ, φησὶν, ἦν τοῦ μαρτυρίου; Ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦτο ἦν, ἵνα μάρτυρα τὸν Θεὸν ἔχωσιν. Οὐκοῦν εἰς τοῦτο μόνον ἦν. Κατὰ τὸν τύπον γὰρ, φησὶ, τὸν δειχθέντα σοι ἐν τῷ ὄρει· ὥστε ἐν τῷ ὄρει ἡ ὑπογραφὴ γέγονε· καὶ αὕτη δὲ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ περιφορητὴ ἦν, καὶ οὐκ ἐν τόπῳ κειμένη. Μαρτυρίου δὲ σκηνὴν, οὐκ ἄλλου τινὸς χάριν, ἢ τῶν θαυμάτων καὶ τῶν προσταγμάτων καλεῖ. Ὅμως γοῦν καὶ αὕτη καὶ ἐκεῖνοι οὐκ εἶχον ναόν. Ἄρα καὶ τὸν τύπον αὐτὸν αὐτὸς ὁ ἄγγελος ἔδωκεν. Ἕως τῶν ἡμερῶν, φησὶ, ∆αυΐδ. Ὥστε οὐκ ἦν ναὸς ἄχρι τότε· καίτοι καὶ τὰ ἔθνη ἐξέωστο, περὶ ὧν φησιν· Ὧν ἔξωσεν ὁ Θεὸς ἀπὸ προσώπου τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν. Τοῦτο δὲ εἶπε, δεικνὺς πάλιν, ὅτι οὐκ ἦν τότε ναός. Τί λέγω; τοσαῦτα θαύματα, καὶ οὐδαμοῦ ναός; Οὕτω καὶ πρώτη ἡ σκηνὴ, καὶ οὐδαμοῦ ναός. Καὶ ᾔτησε εὑρεῖν χάριν ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἤτησε, καὶ οὐκ ᾠκοδόμησεν· οὕτως οὐκ ἦν μέγα τι ὁ ναὸς, εἰ καὶ ἐνόμισάν τινες μέγαν εἶναι τὸν Σολομῶντα τῷ τὸν ναὸν οἰκοδομῆσαι, οἳ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτὸν προετίθεσαν. Ὅτι δὲ οὐχὶ βελτίων ἦν τοῦ πατρὸς, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἴσος, μόνον δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν πολλῶν ὑπολήψεως, δῆλον αὐτὸ ἐποίησεν ἐπαγαγών· Ἀλλ' οὐχ ὁ Ὕψιστος ἐν χειροποιήτοις ναοῖς κατοικεῖ, καθὼς ὁ προφήτης φησίν· Ὁ