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to the God of the Hebrews, and the words declare her faith: "For I know," she said, "that the Lord your God has given you the land, for the fear of you has fallen upon us. For we have heard that the Lord God dried up the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed, and when we heard, our hearts melted and there is no more spirit in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath." True, therefore, is that word which the Lord God spoke concerning Pharaoh: "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be declared in all the earth." For through the things that happened to him, the God of the Hebrews has become manifest to all, and the agreements of the spies are very much in accord with the truth. "For everyone," they said, "who goes out the door of your house shall be responsible for himself, and we will be guiltless of this your oath." And for us also salvation comes through the church; but those outside of it do not enjoy eternal life. And the rest of the history also prefigured the truth. For when they were about to cross the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua: "On this day I begin 273 to exalt you in the sight of the sons of Israel." This also happened in the case of the truth. For just as Joshua the son of Nun was shown to be a man beloved of God by the miracle at the Jordan; so also our Jesus, after the Jordan and the baptism of John, made the beginning of his teaching and miracles. But perhaps to some it seems unfitting for "On this day I begin to exalt you" to be applied to our Lord and Savior. But let them hear him saying to the Father: "Father, glorify me with the glory that I had with you before the world existed." And the apostle also says: "Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name." And being exalted, he did not receive what he did not have, but showed what he had; for being unknown as the Son of the God of all, he was shown to be this, the Father having said at the Jordan: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And the priests who carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord also prefigure John the Baptist. For he too was a priest, and the son of a high priest. Therefore, just as when the priests were carrying the ark and first entered the Jordan, the whole people passed through with Joshua the prophet and general, so when the renowned John began to baptize, and Jesus the Savior sanctified the nature of the waters, the pious people enter into the kingdom of heaven through the all-holy baptism. And certainly also the twelve men and the equal number of stones prefigured the divine choir of the apostles, for they are both builders and foundations; "having been built," it says, "on the foundation of the apostles and prophets." And again the same apostle said: "I as a wise master builder have laid the foundation." 274 However, Symmachus translated "heap" as "waterskin." For the flow of the waters being held back was as it were bagged up and peaked; for the decree of the creator held it back more than any adamantine wall. And the crossing happened before the Passover; for having crossed on the tenth, they celebrated the feast of the Passover on the fourteenth. since in the truth also, after the saving baptism, the participation of the unblemished lamb takes place. III How one must understand, "he circumcised the sons of Israel a second time"? This saying especially prefigures the truth. For to those who had received the Mosaic circumcision the preachers of the gospels brought the spiritual circumcision; "Believe," for they said, "and let each one of you be baptized in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and you will receive the promise of the Holy Spirit." The divine apostle called this "a circumcision made without hands." And elsewhere, "circumcision," he says, "of the heart"

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τῶν ἑβραίων Θεῷ καὶ δηλοῖ τὴν πίστιν τὰ ῥήματα· " ἐπίσταμαι, γὰρ ἔφη, ὅτι παρέδωκε Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ὑμῶν τὴν γῆν, ἐπιπέπτωκε γὰρ ὁ φόβος ὑμῶν ἐφ' ἡμᾶς. ἀκη κόαμεν γάρ, ὅτι κατεξήρανε Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τὴν θάλασσαν τὴν Ἐρυθρὰν ἀπὸ προσώπου ὑμῶν, ὅτε ἐξεπορεύεσθε ἐξ Αἰγύπτου· καὶ ὅσα ἐποιή σατε τοῖς δυσὶ βασιλεῦσι τῶν ἀμορραίων, οἳ ἦσαν πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου, Σηὼν καὶ Ὤγ, οὓς ἐξωλοθρεύσατε αὐτούς, καὶ ἀκούσαντες ἡμεῖς ἐξέστημεν τῇ καρδίᾳ ἡμῶν καὶ οὐκ ἔστι πνεῦμα ἐν οὐδενὶ ἀπὸ προσώπου ὑμῶν, ὅτι Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ὑμῶν, Θεὸς ἐν οὐρανῷ ἄνω καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς κάτω ". ἀληθὴς ἄρα ὁ λόγος ἐκεῖνος, ὃν ὁ δεσπότης Θεὸς περὶ τοῦ Φαραὼ ἔφη· " εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἐξήγειρά σε, ὅπως ἐνδείξωμαι ἐν σοὶ τὴν δύναμίν μου, καὶ ὅπως διαγγελῇ τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ ". διὰ γὰρ τῶν εἰς ἐκεῖνον γεγε νημένων δῆλος ἅπασι γέγονεν ὁ ἑβραίων Θεός, καὶ αἱ συνθῆκαι δὲ τῶν κατασκόπων σφόδρα τῇ ἀληθείᾳ συμβαίνουσι. " πᾶς, γὰρ ἔφασαν, ὃς ἂν ἐξέλθῃ τὴν θύραν τῆς οἰκίας σου ἔξω, ἔνοχος ἑαυτῷ ἔσται, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀθῷοι τῷ λόγῳ σου τού τῳ ". καὶ ἡμῖν δὲ ἡ σωτηρία διὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας προσγίνεται· οἱ δὲ ταύτης ἐκτὸς οὐκ ἀπολαύουσι τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς. καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ δὲ τῆς ἱστορίας προδιέγραψε τὴν ἀλήθειαν. ἡνίκα γὰρ ἤμελλον διαβαίνειν τὸν Ἰορδάνην, εἶπεν Κύριος πρὸς Ἰησοῦν· " ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ ἄρχομαι 273 ὑψῶσαί σε κατενώπιον τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ ". τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐγένετο. ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ τοῦ Ναυῆ Ἰησοῦς ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ τὸν Ἰορδάνην θαύματος δῆλος γέγονε θεοφιλὴς ὢν ἀνήρ· οὕτως καὶ ὁ ἡμέτερος Ἰησοῦς μετὰ τὸν Ἰορδάνην, καὶ τὸ Ἰωάννου βάπτισμα, τῆςδιδασκαλίας καὶ τῶν θαυμάτων τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐποιήσατο. ἀλλ' ἴσως τισὶν ἀνάρμοστον εἶναι δοκεῖ τό, " ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ ἄρχομαι ὑψῶσαί σε ", ἐπὶ τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν τιθέμενον. ἀλλ' ἀκουσάτωσαν αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα λέγοντος· " πάτερ, δόξα σόν με τῇ δόξῃ ᾗ εἶχον παρὰ σοὶ πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσ μον εἶναι ". καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος δέ φησι· " διὸ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς αὐ τὸν ὑπερύψωσεν καὶ ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα ". ὑψωθεὶς δὲ οὐκ ἔλαβεν ὃ μὴ εἶχεν, ἀλλ' ἔδειξεν ὅπερ εἶχεν· ἀγνοούμενος γὰρ ὅτι υἱός ἐστι τοῦ τῶν ὅλων Θεοῦ, ἐδείχθη τοῦτο ὤν, τοῦ πατρὸς παρὰ τὸν Ἰορδάνην εἰρηκότος· " οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητὸς ἐν ᾧ εὐδόκησα ". προτυποῦσι δὲ καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς οἱ αἴροντες τὴν κιβωτὸν τῆς διαθήκης Κυρίου τὸν βαπ τιστὴν Ἰωάννην. ἱερεὺς γὰρ κἀκεῖνος, καὶ ἀρχιερέως υἱός. ὥσπερ τοίνυν τῶν ἱερέων τὴν κιβωτὸν φερόντων καὶ πρῶτον εἰς τὸν Ἰορδάνην εἰσελη λυθότων καὶ μετὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ προφήτου καὶ στρατηγοῦ ἅπας διελή λυθεν ὁ λαός, οὕτως Ἰωάννου τοῦ πάνυ βαπτίζειν ἀρξαμένου, καὶ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἁγιάσαντος τῶν ὑδάτων τὴν φύσιν, ὁ εὐσεβὴς λαὸς διὰ τοῦ παναγίου βαπτίσματος εἰς τὴν τῶν οὐρανῶν εἴσεισι βασιλείαν. καὶ μέντοι καὶ οἱ δώδεκα ἄνδρες καὶ οἱ ἰσάριθμοι λίθοι, τὸν θεῖον προετύπωσαν τῶν ἀποστόλων χορόν, οἱ γὰρ αὐτοὶ καὶ οἰκοδόμοι καὶ θεμέλιοι· " οἰ κοδομηθέντες, γάρ φησιν, ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποσ τόλων καὶ προφητῶν ". καὶ πάλιν ὁ αὐτὸς ἀπόστολος ἔφη· " ἐγὼ ὡς σοφὸς ἀρχιτέκτων θεμέλιον τέθεικα ". 274 τὸ μέντοι " πῆγμα" "ἄσκωμα " ὁ Σύμμαχος ἡρμήνευσεν. ἐπεχομένη γὰρ τῶν ὑδάτων ἡ ῥύμη οἷον ἠσκοῦτο καὶ ἐκορυφοῦτο· παντὸς γὰρ ἀδα μαντίνου τείχους πλέον ἐπεῖχεν αὐτὴν ὁ τοῦ δημιουργήσαντος ὅρος. καὶ πρὸ τοῦ Πάσχα δὲ γέγονεν ἡ διάβασις· τῇ δεκάτῃ γὰρ διαβάντες, ἐπετέλεσαν τῇ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῃ τοῦ Πάσχα τὴν ἑορτήν. ἐπειδὴ κἀν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ μετὰ τὸ σωτήριον βάπτισμα ἡ τοῦ ἀμώμου ἀμνοῦ μετάληψις γίνεται. III Πῶς νοητέον τό, " περιέτεμε τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραὴλ ἐκ δευτέρου "; Τὴν ἀλήθειαν μάλιστα οὗτος ὁ λόγος προδιαγράφει. τοῖς γὰρ τὴν μωσαϊ κὴν δεξαμένοις περιτομὴν τὴν πνευματικὴν προσήνεγκαν περιτομὴν τῶν εὐαγγελίων οἱ κήρυκες· " πιστεύσατε, γὰρ ἔλεγον, καὶ βαπτισθήτω ἕκαστος ὑμῶν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Κυ ρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ λήψεσθε τὴν ἐπαγ γελίαν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ". ταύτην ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος " ἀχειροποίητον περιτομὴν " προσηγόρευσε. καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ, " περιτομή, φησί, καρδίας