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I will fill their treasuries with good things; if I declare to you the things that happen daily, I will remember to recount the things from eternity. The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways for his works, before the age he established me in the beginning, before he made the earth and before he made the abysses, 5.1.3 before the springs of the waters came forth, before the mountains were settled, and before all the hills he begets me. The Lord made lands, both uninhabited and the inhabited heights under heaven. When he was preparing ... his throne upon the winds; when he was making strong the clouds above, and as he established the secure springs under heaven, in setting his decree for the sea, and the waters will not pass his mouth; when he made strong the foundations of the earth, I was with him, fitting together; I was the one in whom he delighted, and I rejoiced in his presence every day at all times, when he rejoiced, having completed the world, and rejoiced in the sons of men.” 5.1.4 The divine and all-virtuous substance before created things, the intellectual and firstborn image of the unbegotten nature, the genuine and only-begotten Son of the God of all, being one of many names and spoken of in theology through many titles, is honored at present with the dignity and title of wisdom; but we have learned to call him Word of God, and light, and life, and truth, and above all “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” 5.1.5 Now therefore, in the text before us, he himself speaks about himself, as the living and self-subsistent Wisdom of God, through the most wise Solomon, he relates: “I, wisdom, have made counsel my dwelling, and I have called upon knowledge and understanding,” and saying the things that follow these. 5.1.6 But also, as having undertaken the administration and providence of all things, he adds: “By me kings reign, and rulers decree justice; by me princes are magnified.” Then, after saying that he would recount the things from eternity, he adds, saying: “The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways for his works, before the age he established me.” Through these words he teaches that he is at once created, and not the same as the uncreated, having been brought into being before every age, and set forth in the manner of a foundation for all created things. 5.1.7 Whence it is likely that the divine apostle, starting from this, said of him: “who is the image of the invisible, the firstborn of all creation, for in him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth.” For he is called firstborn of all creation according to the saying, “The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways for his works.” And he would rightly be understood as the image of God, as being an offspring of the unbegotten nature; 5.1.8 This, therefore, he confesses in the text before us through the words he says: “before the mountains were settled,” and “before all the hills he begets me,” from which we proclaim him only-begotten Son and firstborn Word of God, being the same as the Wisdom which is indicated. But how we say that he is the offspring of God would require its own examination, since we do not conceive of his ineffable generation either by projection, or by extension, or division, or diminution, or cutting, or in any way whatsoever according to the things which take place in mortal generation. 5.1.9 For it is not right to liken his unspoken and unnameable generation and coming-into-being to any of the things among created beings, nor to compare any temporal and mortal image to him, since it is not even holy to say that the Son has come forth from the Father according to the generations of animals among us, a divisible and separable substance from substance through passion or division. 5.1.10 For the divine is without parts and indivisible, not being cut, not being divided, not being extended, not being contracted, not becoming less, nor greater, nor worse, nor better than itself, not having in itself anything other than itself, so that it might put this forth. 5.1.11 For everything that is in something is either as an accident, such as white in a body, or it happens to be as one thing in another, as that which is carried in the womb of one who is pregnant, or as a part in the whole, as in a body a hand or a foot or a finger are parts of the whole, of which a cutting off or some section or

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θησαυροὺς αὐτῶν ἐμπλήσω ἀγαθῶν· ἐὰν ἀναγγείλω ὑμῖν τὰ καθ' ἡμέραν γινόμενα, μνημονεύσω τὰ ἐξ αἰῶνος ἀριθμῆσαι. κύριος ἔκτισέν με ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ εἰς ἔργα αὐτοῦ, πρὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος ἐθεμελίωσέν με ἐν ἀρχῇ, πρὸ τοῦ τὴν γῆν ποιῆσαι καὶ πρὸ τοῦ τὰς ἀβύσσους ποιῆσαι, 5.1.3 πρὸ τοῦ προελθεῖν τὰς πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων, πρὸ τοῦ ὄρη ἑδρασθῆναι, πρὸ δὲ πάντων βουνῶν γεννᾷ με. κύριος ἐποίησεν χώρας καὶ ἀοικήτους καὶ ἄκρα οἰκούμενα τῆς ὑπ' οὐρανόν. ἡνίκα ἡτοίμαζεν ... τὸν ἑαυτοῦ θρόνον ἐπ' ἀνέμων· ἡνίκα ἰσχυρὰ ἐποίει τὰ ἄνω νέφη, καὶ ὡς ἀσφαλεῖς ἐτίθει πηγὰς τῆς ὑπ' οὐρανόν, ἐν τῷ τιθέναι τῇ θαλάσσῃ ἀκριβασμὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὕδατα οὐ παρελεύσεται στόμα αὐτοῦ· ἡνίκα ἰσχυρὰ ἐποίει τὰ θεμέλια τῆς γῆς, ἤμην παρ' αὐτῷ ἁρμόζουσα· ἐγὼ ἤμην ᾗ προσέχαιρεν, καθ' ἡμέραν δὲ εὐφραινόμην ἐν προσώπῳ αὐτοῦ ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ, ὅτε ηὐφραίνετο τὴν οἰκουμένην συντελέσας καὶ ἐνηυφραίνετο ἐν υἱοῖς ἀνθρώπων.» 5.1.4 Ἡ πρὸ τῶν γενητῶν θεία καὶ πανάρετος οὐσία, ἡ νοερὰ καὶ πρωτότοκος τῆς ἀγενήτου φύσεως εἰκών, ὁ γνήσιος καὶ μονογενὴς τοῦ τῶν ὅλων θεοῦ υἱός, πολυώνυμός τις ὢν καὶ διὰ πλείστων προσρήσεων θεολογούμενος, τῷ τῆς σοφίας ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἀξιώ ματί τε καὶ προσηγορίᾳ τετίμηται· λόγον δὲ θεοῦ αὐτὸν καὶ φῶς καὶ ζωὴν καὶ ἀλήθειαν καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσι «Χριστὸν θεοῦ δύναμιν καὶ θεοῦ σοφίαν» προσαγορεύειν μεμαθήκαμεν. 5.1.5 ἤδη οὖν τὰ μετὰ χεῖρας αὐτὸς περὶ ἑαυτοῦ, ὡς ἂν θεοῦ σοφία ζῶσα καὶ καθ' αὑτὴν ὑφεστῶσα, διὰ τοῦ σοφωτάτου Σολομῶνος διεξέρχεται· «ἐγὼ ἡ σοφία κατεσκήνωσα βουλήν, καὶ γνῶσιν καὶ ἔννοιαν ἐγὼ ἐπεκαλεσάμην», καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἐπαγόμενα λέγων. 5.1.6 ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς τὴν τῶν ὅλων διοίκησιν καὶ πρόνοιαν ἀναδεδεγμένος ἐπιφέρει· «δι' ἐμοῦ βασιλεῖς βασιλεύουσι, καὶ οἱ δυνάσται γράφουσι δικαιοσύνην· δι' ἐμοῦ μεγιστᾶνες μεγαλύνονται». εἶτα εἰπὼν μνημονεύσειν τὰ ἐξ αἰῶνος, ἐπάγει λέγων· «κύριος ἔκτισέν με ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ εἰς ἔργα αὐτοῦ, πρὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος ἐθεμελίωσέν με». δι' ὧν ὁμοῦ καὶ γενητὸν ἑαυτόν, οὐχὶ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν ὄντα τῷ ἀγενήτῳ διδάσκει, πρὸ παντὸς αἰῶνος οὐσιωμένον, θεμελίου τε τρόπον τῶν γενητῶν ἁπάντων προβεβλημένον. 5.1.7 ὅθεν τὸν θεῖον ἀπόστολον εἰκὸς ὁρμώμενον περὶ αὐτοῦ φάναι· «ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως, ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα τὰ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς». πρωτότοκος μὲν γὰρ πάσης ἀνείρηται κτίσεως κατὰ τὸ «κύριος ἔκτισέν με ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ εἰς ἔργα αὐτοῦ». νοοῖτο δ' ἂν εἰκότως εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ, ὡς ἂν γέννημα τῆς ἀγεννήτου φύσεως τυγχάνον· 5.1.8 τοῦτο δ' οὖν ἐν τοῖς μετὰ χεῖρας ὁμολογεῖ δι' ὧν φησιν· «πρὸ τοῦ ὄρη ἑδρασθῆναι», καὶ «πρὸ δὲ πάντων βουνῶν γεννᾷ με», ἔνθεν αὐτὸν υἱὸν μονογενῆ καὶ πρωτότοκον τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον ἀναγορεύομεν, τὸν αὐτὸν ὄντα τῇ δηλουμένῃ σοφίᾳ. Ὅπως δὲ γέννημα θεοῦ αὐτὸ εἶναι φαμέν, ἰδίας ἂν δέοιτο ἐξετάσεως, ἐπεὶ μήτε κατὰ προβολὴν μήτε κατὰ διάστασιν ἢ διαίρεσιν ἢ μείωσιν ἢ τομήν, ἢ κατά τι ὅλως τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς θνητῆς γενέσεως ἐπιτελουμένων, τὴν ἀπόρρητον αὐτοῦ γενεσιουργίαν ἐπινοοῦμεν. 5.1.9 οὐδὲ γὰρ θέμις τῶν ἐν γενητοῖς τισιν τὴν ἄρρητον καὶ ἀκατονόμαστον αὐτοῦ γένεσίν τε καὶ οὐσίωσιν ἀφομοιοῦν, οὐδέ τινα τῶν ἐπικαίρων καὶ θνητῶν παραβάλλειν αὐτῷ εἰκόνα, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ κατὰ τὰς παρ' ἡμῖν τῶν ζῴων γενέσεις, οὐσίαν ἐξ οὐσίας κατὰ πάθος ἢ διαίρεσιν μεριστὴν καὶ χωριστήν, ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς προσεληλυθέναι τὸν υἱὸν φάναι ὅσιον. 5.1.10 ἀμερὲς γὰρ καὶ ἄτομον τὸ θεῖον, οὐ τεμνόμενον, οὐ διαι ρούμενον, οὐκ ἐκτεινόμενον, οὐ συστελλόμενον, οὐ μειούμενον, οὐ μεῖζον, οὐ χεῖρον, οὐ κρεῖττον αὐτοῦ γινόμενον, οὐκ ἔχον ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἕτερόν τι αὐτοῦ, ἵνα καὶ πρόηται τοῦτο. 5.1.11 πᾶν γὰρ τὸ ἔν τινι ὂν ἢ ὡς συμβεβηκός, οἷον λευκὸν ἐν σώματι, ἢ ὡς ἕτερον ἐν ἑτέρῳ τυγχάνει, ὡς τὸ ἐν τῇ κυοφορούσῃ κατὰ γαστρὸς κυοφορούμενον, ἢ ὡς μέρος ἐν τῷ ὅλῳ, ὡς ἂν ἐν σώματι χεὶρ ἢ ποὺς ἢ δάκτυλος τοῦ παντὸς ὄντα μέρη, ὧν ἀποκοπὴν ἤ τινα τομὴν ἢ