Chapter XXII.—Oath Used by the Justinian Heretics; The Book of Baruch; The Repertory of Their System.

Hence575    ἐντεῦθεν: this word stands at the end of the last chapter in the text of Miller, who suspects that there is here some hiatus. In this opinion the Abbe Cruice concurs. Schneidewin, however, transfers ἐντεῦθεν to the beginning of this chapter as above. also, in the first book inscribed “Baruch,” has been written the oath which they compel those to swear who are about to hear these mysteries, and be initiated with the Good One.576    παρὰ τῶ ἀγαθῷ: or rather, we should expect, into a knowledge of the Good One. And this oath, (Justinus) says, our Father Elohim sware when He was beside the Good One, and having sworn He did not repent (of the oath), respecting which, he says, it has been written, “The Lord sware, and will not repent.”577    Ps. cx. 4; Heb. vii. 21. Now the oath is couched in these578    ουὐτως: some read οὗτος. terms:  “I swear by that Good One who is above all, to guard these mysteries, and to divulge them to no one, and not to relapse from the Good One to the creature.” And when he has sworn this oath, he goes on to the Good One, and beholds “whatever things eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man;”579    1 Cor. ii. 9. and he drinks from life-giving water, which is to them, as they suppose, a bath,580    λουτρὸν: the ecclesiastical use of this word makes it stand for baptism. a fountain of life-giving, bubbling water.581    John iv. 14.  For there has been a separation made between water and water; and there is water, that below the firmament of the wicked creation, in which earthly and animal men are washed; and there is life-giving water, (that) above the firmament,582    Gen. i. 6, 7. of the Good One, in which spiritual (and) living men are washed; and in this Elohim washed Himself. and having washed did not repent. And when, he says, the prophet affirms, “Take unto yourself a wife of whoredom, since the earth has abandoned itself to fornication, (departing) from (following) after the Lord;”583    Hos. i. 2. that is, Edem (departs) from Elohim.  (Now) in these words, he says, the prophet clearly declares the entire mystery, and is not hearkened unto by reason of the wicked machinations of Naas. According to that same manner, they deliver other prophetical passages in a similar spirit of interpretation throughout numerous books. The volume, however, inscribed “Baruch,” is pre-eminently to them the one in which the reader584    ἐντυχὼν: some read εὐτυχῶν, i.e., one who is fortunate enough to meet with the book. will ascertain the entire explanation of their legendary system (to be contained).  Beloved, though I have encountered many heresies, yet with no wicked (heresiarch) worse than this (Justinus) has it been my lot to meet. But, in truth, (the followers of Justinus) ought to imitate585    Literally “ought, according to his Hercules, by imitating,” etc. the example of his Hercules, and to cleanse, as the saying is, the cattle-shed of Augias, or rather I should say, a ditch,586    ἀμάραν. This word means a trench or channel in a field, for the purpose either of irrigation or drainage. Schneidewin and Cruice render it by the Latin Sentinam, an expression applied, for example, to bilge water. into which, as soon as the adherents of this (heresiarch) have fallen, they can never be cleansed; nay, they will not be able even to raise their heads.

[27] Γέγραπται δὲ καὶ ὅρκος ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ [αὐτῶν] βιβλίῳ τῷ ἐπιγραφομένῳ Βαρούχ, ὃν ὁρκίζουσι τοὺς κατακούειν μέλλοντας τούτων τῶν μυστηρίων καὶ τελεῖσθαι [παρὰ] τῷ ἀγαθῷ. ὃν ὅρκον, φησίν, ὤμοσεν ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν [ὁ] Ἐλωεὶμ παρὰ τῷ ἀγαθῷ γενόμενος καὶ οὐ μετεμελήθη ὀμόσας: περὶ οὗ γέγραπτα(ι), φησίν: «ὤμοσε κύριος καὶ οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται». ἔστι δὲ ὁ ὅρκος οὗτος: «ὀμνύω τὸν ἐπάνω πάντων, τὸν ἀγαθόν, τηρῆσαι τὰ μυστήρια ταῦτα καὶ ἐξειπεῖν μηδενί, μηδὲ ἀνακάμψαι ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν κτίσιν». ἐπειδὰν δὲ ὀμόσῃ τοῦτον τὸν ὅρκον, εἰσέρχεται πρὸς τὸν ἀγαθὸν καὶ βλέπει «ὅσα ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδε καὶ οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσε καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη», καὶ πίνει ἀπὸ «τοῦ ζῶντος ὕδατος», ὅπερ ἐστὶ λουτρὸν αὐτοῖς, ὡς νομίζουσι, «πηγὴ ζῶντος ὕδατος ἁλλομένου». διακεχώρισται γάρ, φησίν, ἀνὰ μέσον ὕδατος καὶ ὕδατος, καὶ ἔστιν ὕδωρ τὸ ὑποκάτω τοῦ στερεώματος τῆς πονηρᾶς κτίσεως, ἐν ᾧ λούονται οἱ χοϊκοὶ καὶ ψυχικοὶ ἄνθρωποι, καὶ ὕδωρ ἐστὶν [τὸ] ὑπεράνω τοῦ στερεώματος τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ, ζῶν [ὄν], ἐν ᾧ λούονται οἱ πνευματικοὶ ζῶντες ἄνθρωποι, [καὶ] ἐν ᾧ ἐλούσατο [ὁ] Ἐλωεὶμ καὶ λουσάμενος οὐ μετεμελήθη. καὶ ὅταν λέγῃ, φησίν, ὁ προφήτης: «λαβεῖν ἑαυτῷ γυναῖκα πορνείας, διότι [ἐκ]πορνεύουσα ἐκπορνεύσει ἡ γῆ ἀπὸ ὄπισθε τοῦ κυρίου»_τουτέστιν ἡ Ἐδὲμ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἐλωείμ_, ἐν τούτοις, φησίν, ὁ προφήτης σαφῶς λαλεῖ τὸ ὅλον μυστήριον, καὶ οὐκ ἀκούεται διὰ τὴν κακίαν τοῦ Νάας. Κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον τρόπον καὶ τὰς ἄλλας προφητικὰς [γραφὰς] ὁμοίως παρῳδοῦσι διὰ πλειόνων βιβλίων: ἔστι δὲ αὐτοῖς προηγουμένως βιβλίον ἐπιγραφόμενον Βαρούχ, ἐν ᾧ ὅλην τὴν τοῦ μύθου αὐτῶν διαγωγὴν ὁ ἐντυχὼν γνώσεται. πολλαῖς μὲν οὖν αἱρέσεσιν ἐντυχών, ἀγαπητοί, οὐδενὶ τούτου κακῷ χείρονι ἐνέτυχον. ἀληθῶς δέ, ὥσπερ [αὐτὸς] λέγει οἰκειότατα, τὸν [αὐτοῦ] Ἡρακλέα δεῖ μιμησαμένους [ἡμᾶς] ἐκκαθᾶραι τὴν Αὐγείου κόπρον, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀμάραν, εἰς ἣν ἐμπεσόντες οἱ τούτου ἀνεχόμενοι οὐ [μόνον οὐ] πώποτε ἀποπλυθήσονται, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἀνακύψαι δυνήσονται.