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he said he had accomplished the things that had been foretold. Therefore, in the 42nd year of the reign of Augustus, in the year #225500 from the creation of the world, the counting of years according to Antioch began. And Herod 1.316 a man from the gentiles, having already been proclaimed king of Judea, and our Lord Jesus Christ having been born according to the flesh, and Herod having ended his life miserably, the prophecy was fulfilled: "a ruler shall not fail from Judah until he comes for whom it is reserved, who is the Christ." For since Herod himself, being a foreigner, was circumcised and ruled the Jews, and appointed a foreigner, Ananilus, as high priest, immediately, according to the divine prophecy, the rule from Judah, which had prevailed until then, ceased. For the priests had been in charge of affairs, until Pompey the Roman general appeared, besieged Jerusalem by force, defiled the holy places, and after sending Aristobulus—who had continued as both king and high priest from the succession of his ancestors until that time—as a prisoner to Rome, he made the entire nation of the Jews tributary to the Romans. And thus Herod, a foreigner, was the first, as I said, to take charge of the Jewish nation. At which time, with the coming of Christ being clearly at hand, the high priests and leaders of the Jews came to an end. Therefore, Christ, when he was born, did not himself sit upon the physical throne of David, but it calls the throne of David the indestructible and eternal kingdom. For he is the expectation of the nations, not of the smallest part of the world. For it says, "There shall be the root of Jesse, and he who arises to rule the nations; in him shall the nations hope." And "I have set you for a covenant of the race, for a light to the nations." 1.317 And "I will make his seed to endure forever and ever, and his throne as the days of heaven." He therefore remained king of all the earth, even if he did not receive the scepter of Judea, and God is king of all the earth. And the freedom of Jacob was confirmed, and in his seed all the tribes of the earth were blessed, and all the nations will call Christ blessed.

So that it may be clearer how the priestly tribe was mixed with the royal, we shall speak thus. Judah begot Perez, and Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab, and Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon, and Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed, and Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king. Since, therefore, Nahshon was the son of Amminadab, his sister Elisabet was taken as wife by the great high priest Aaron, the brother of Moses, who was from the tribe of Levi. And indeed also the divine high priest Jehoiada, being of the Levitical tribe, took as wife the sister of Ahaziah, who was of the tribe of Judah. And from there, the royal tribe having been mixed with the Levitical, very fittingly the Lord, being genealogically descended from Mary the virgin and his mother according to the flesh, is thus shown to men as king and priest in things pertaining to God, as I said, and is clearly proclaimed eternal king and priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. 1.318 From this point, therefore, begins the fourth kingdom, which Daniel, in the vision of the four beasts, figuratively names the fourth beast, different from the others, during which also Jesus Christ, the creator of the first four elements and the one who bound the four-cornered world with them, was incarnated for our salvation. Whence fittingly Augustus, having become a great and renowned and powerful king above all, subjugated all the partial kingdoms, on account of the king and Lord of all who was born in his days, according to the prophecy of Isaiah; for he says "and in the last days the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest, and the house of God on the top of the mountains. And it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall come to it, and many peoples shall go, and they shall say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob. And he will announce

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τοῦ ταῦτα προειρηκότος ἔφη κατωρθωκέναι. τοιγαροῦν ἐν τῷ μβʹ τῆς Αὐγούστου βασιλείας, ἐν τῷ #22εφʹ ἔτει ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου, ἤρχθη ὁ κατὰ Ἀντιόχειαν τῶν ἐτῶν ἀριθμός. καὶ Ἡρώ 1.316 δης μὲν ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἤδη βασιλεὺς τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἀνηγορευμένος, καὶ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ κατὰ σάρκα γεννηθέντος, καὶ τοῦ Ἡρώδου κακῶς τὸν βίον διαλλάξαντος, πεπλήρωται τὸ "οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἄρχων ἐξ Ἰούδα ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ὃ ἀπόκειται, ὅς ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός." ἐπειδὴ γὰρ αὐτὸς ὁ Ἡρώδης ἀλλόφυλος ὢν περιτμηθεὶς ἦρξε τῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ ἀρχιερέα κατέστησεν ἀλλογενῆ τὸν Ἀνάνιλον, εὐθὺς ἐπαύθη κατὰ τὴν θείαν πρόρρησιν ἡ ἐξ Ἰούδα ἀρχὴ μέχρι τότε κρατήσασα. οἱ γὰρ ἱερεῖς προειστήκεισαν τῶν πραγμάτων, ἄχρις οὗ Πομπήϊος ὁ Ῥωμαίων στρατηγὸς ἐπιστὰς τὴν μὲν Ἱερουσαλὴμ κατὰ κράτος πολιορκεῖ, μιαίνει δὲ τὰ ἅγια, τὸν δὲ ἐκ τῆς προγόνων διαδοχῆς μέχρις ἐκείνου τοῦ καιροῦ διαρ κέσαντα βασιλέα τε ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀρχιερέα Ἀριστόβουλον δέσμιον ἐπὶ Ῥώμην ἐκπέμψας τὸ πᾶν Ἰουδαίων ἔθνος Ῥωμαίοις ὑπόφορονκατέστησε. καὶ οὕτω πρῶτος ἀλλόφυλος Ἡρώδης, ὡς ἔφην, τὸ Ἰουδαῖον ἔθνος ἐγχειρίζεται. καθ' ὃν καιρὸν ἐναργῶς τῆς Χρι στοῦ παρουσίας ἐνστάσης ἐξέλιπον οἱ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ ἡγούμενοι. Γεννηθεὶς τοίνυν ὁ Χριστὸς οὐδ' αὐτὸς ἐπὶ τοῦ αἰσθητοῦ θρόνου ∆αβὶδ ἐκάθισεν, ἀλλὰ θρόνον λέγει ∆αβὶδ τὴν ἀκαθαίρε τον καὶ αἰώνιον βασιλείαν. αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστι προσδοκία ἐθνῶν, οὐχὶ τοῦ ἐλαχίστου μέρους τῆς οἰκουμένης. "ἔσται" γάρ φησιν "ἡ ῥίζα τοῦ Ἰεσσαὶ καὶ ὁ ἀνιστάμενος ἄρχειν ἐθνῶν· ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσι." καὶ "τέθεικά σε εἰς διαθήκην γένους, εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν." 1.317 καὶ "θήσομαι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ ὡς τὰς ἡμέρας τοῦ οὐρανοῦ." οὗτος οὖν καὶ βα σιλεὺς πάσης τῆς γῆς διέμεινεν, εἰ καὶ μὴ τὰ σκῆπτρα τῆς Ἰου δαίας παρέλαβε, καὶ βασιλεὺς πάσης τῆς γῆς ἐστὶν ὁ θεός. καὶ ἡ ἐλευθερία τοῦ Ἰακὼβ ἐβεβαιώθη, καὶ ἐνευλογήθησαν ἐν τῷ σπέρματι αὐτοῦ πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη μα καριοῦσι τὸν Χριστόν.

Ἵνα δὲ σαφέστερον γένηται πῶς ἡ ἱερατικὴ φυλὴ ἐμίγη τῇ βασιλικῇ, λέξομεν οὕτως. ὁ μὲν Ἰούδας ἐγέννησε τὸν Φαρές, ὁ δὲ Φαρὲς τὸν Ἐσρώμ, ὁ δὲ Ἐσρὼμ τὸν Ἀράμ, ὁ δὲ Ἀρὰμ τὸἈμιναδάμ, ὁ δὲ Ἀμιναδὰμ τὸν Ναασσών, ὁ δὲ Ναασσὼν τὸν Σαλμών, ὁ δὲ Σαλμὼν τὸν Βόοζ, Βόοζ δὲ τὸν Ὠβήδ, Ὠβὴδ δὲτὸν Ἰεσσαί, ὁ δὲ Ἰεσσαὶ ∆αβὶδ τὸν βασιλέα. ἐπεὶ οὖν ὁ Ναασσὼν υἱὸς ἦν τοῦ Ἀμιναδάμ, τούτου τὴν ἀδελφὴν Ἐλισάβετ ἠγάγετο γυναῖκα ὁ μέγας ἀρχιερεὺς Ἀαρών, ἀδελφὸς Μωϋσέως, ἐκ φυλῆς ὑπάρχων τοῦ Λευΐ. καὶ μέντοι καὶ ὁ θεσπέσιος ἱεράρχης Ἰωδαέ, φυλῆς ὢν τῆς Λευιτικῆς, ἠγάγετο γυναῖκα τὴν ἀδελφὴν Ὀχοζίου, φυλῆς οὖσαν τοῦ Ἰούδα. κἀντεῦθεν λοιπὸν τῆς βασιλικῆς φυλῆς συμμιγείσης τῇ Λευιτικῇ, μάλα γε εἰκότως ὁ κύριος ἐκ Μαρίας τῆς παρθένου καὶ κατὰ σάρκα μητρὸς αὐτοῦ γενεαλο γούμενος οὕτω βασιλεὺς καὶ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὰ πρὸς θεόν, ὡς ἔφην, ἀν θρώποις ἀναδέδεικται, καὶ προδήλως κηρύττεται βασιλεὺς αἰώνιος καὶ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ. 1.318 Ἐντεῦθεν τοίνυν ἄρχεται ἡ τετάρτη βασιλεία, ἣν ὁ ∆ανιὴλ ἐν τῇ τῶν τεσσάρων θηρίων ὀπτασίᾳ τέταρτον θηρίον διαφέρον τῶν ἄλλων τροπικῶς ὀνομάζει, ἐφ' οὗ καὶ ὁ τῶν πρώτων τεσσά ρων στοιχείων δημιουργὸς καὶ τὸν τετραπέρατον κόσμον συνδήσας ἐν τούτοις Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ἐσαρκώθη διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν. ὅθεν εἰκότως μέγας βασιλεὺς καὶ ἐπίσημος ὑπὲρ πάντας ὁ Αὔ γουστος καὶ δυνατὸς γενόμενος ὑπέταξε τὰς μερικὰς βασιλείας πάσας, διὰ τὸν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ βασιλέα τοῦ παντὸς καὶ κύριον τεχθέντα, κατὰ τὴν Ἠσαΐου προφητείαν· φησὶ γάρ "καὶ ἔσται ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις ἐμφανὲς τὸ ὄρος κυρίου, καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπ' ἄκρων τῶν ὀρέων. καὶ ὑψωθήσεται ὑπεράνω τῶν βουνῶν, καὶ ἥξουσιν ἐπ' αὐτὸν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ πορεύ σονται λαοὶ πολλοί, καὶ ἐροῦσι δεῦτε ἀναβῶμεν εἰς τὸ ὄρος κυρίου καὶ εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ Ἰακώβ. καὶ ἀναγγελεῖ