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would be the argument. But it is sufficient in this also to present Plato as a witness for the argument, who said that some names were established by a power more divine. For he says in these very words: 11.6.28 'For in this matter it is most fitting that the imposition of names has been taken seriously; and perhaps some of them came into being by a power more divine than that of men.' 11.6.29 This very thing, indeed, the sacred scripture of the Hebrews confirms through many examples; and first of all Moses, who taught that Abraham and his son Isaac, and also Israel, were named by a more divine power. Isaac is interpreted as 'laughter,' bringing the sym-11.6.30-bol of virtuous joy, which God has promised to give as a special prize to those who love God. And his son Israel previously bore the name of Jacob, but in place of Jacob, God bestowed on him the name of Israel, transforming him from the ascet-11.6.31-ic and practical to the contemplative. For Jacob is interpreted as 'supplanter,' as one who struggles in the contest of virtue; but Israel, 'one who sees 11.6.32 God,' such as would be the gnostic and contemplative mind in a human being. Why must I now, through countless other examples from the all-wise Moses or the sacred words of the Hebrews, set forth the correctness of the imposition of their proper names, 11.6.33 when the matters concerning this topic require longer leisure? For instance, the Greeks would not be able to state the etymologies of the first elements of grammar, nor would Plato himself say he could give the reason or rationale of the 11.6.34 vowels or the consonants. But the children of the Hebrews could state the reason for Alpha, which among them is called Aleph, and this means 'learning'; and for Beta, which they are fond of calling Beth, and so they name the 'house'; so that it signifies the thought 'learning of a house,' as if it were stated more clearly 11.6.35 'some teaching and learning of household management.' And Gamma is called Gimel among them; and so they name 'fullness.' Then, since they call tablets Daleth, they so named the fourth letter, signifying through the two letters together that 'written learning is the fullness 11.6.36 of tablets.' And if one were to go through the remaining elements of grammar, one would find each of them named among them with some reason and rationale, since they also say that the composition of the seven vowels together contains the pronunciation of a certain secret name, which the children of the Hebrews signify through four letters and attribute to the supreme power of God, having received from their fathers that this is something unspoken and secret to the many. 11.6.37 And one of the wise men among the Greeks, I know not from where he learned this, alluded to it, saying something like this in verse: 'Seven vowel letters praise me, the great, immortal God, the unwearying father of all. I am the immortal tortoise of all, who tuned the lyre-like strains of the celestial vault.' 11.6.38 And you would find the meanings of the remaining letters among the Hebrews too, if you paid attention to each; and this has already been established by us through the preceding arguments, when 11.6.39 we demonstrated that the Greeks have been benefited in all things by the barbarians. And one could learn, by studying the Hebrew language, that a great correctness of names is current among those men, since even the denominative name of the whole nation has taken its derivative from Eber; and this means 'the one who crosses over,' since both 'crossing' and 'one who crosses' are called 'Eber' in the Hebrew language. 11.6.40 And the argument teaches to pass and cross over from things here to things divine, and in no way to remain and stand still at the sight of visible things, but from these to cross over to the unseen and invisible things of the theology concerning the maker and creator of the universe. For this reason, they called the first men Hebrews, those who were dedicated to the sole universal ruler and cause of all things, and who held to pure and true piety, calling such men 'crossers' and those who had 11.6.41 crossed over in their minds. Why

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ἂν εἴη λόγος. ἀπαρκεῖ δὲ κἀν τούτῳ τὸν Πλάτωνα μάρτυρα τοῦ λόγου παραθέσθαι, ὑπὸ θειοτέρας δυνάμεως ἔνια τῶν ὀνομάτων τεθεῖσθαι φάμενον. λέγει δ' οὖν αὐτοῖς ῥήμασιν· 11.6.28 «Ἐσπουδάσθαι γὰρ ἐνταῦθα μάλιστα πρέπει τὴν θέσιν τῶν ὀνομάτων· ἴσως δὲ ἔνια αὐτῶν καὶ ὑπὸ θειοτέρας δυνάμεως ἢ τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐγενήθη.» 11.6.29 Τοῦτό γέ τοι αὐτὸ διὰ πλειόνων καὶ ἡ παρ' Ἑβραίοις ἱερὰ πιστοῦται γραφή· πρῶτός τε Μωσῆς ἁπάντων, ὃς ἐκ θειοτέρας δυνάμεως τὸν Ἁβραὰμ καὶ τὸν τούτου παῖδα τὸν Ἰσαὰκ καὶ ἔτι τὸν Ἰσραὴλ ἐπωνομάσθαι ἐδίδαξε. γέλως δὲ ὁ Ἰσαὰκ ἑρμηνεύεται, τὸ τῆς ἐναρέτου χαρᾶς ἐπαγόμενος σύμ11.6.30 βολον, ἣν τοῖς θεοφιλέσι γέρας ἐξαίρετον δώσειν ὁ θεὸς ἐπήγγελται. ὁ δὲ τούτου παῖς Ἰσραὴλ ἦν μὲν τὸ πρὶν τὸ τοῦ Ἰακὼβ ὄνομα ἐπενηνεγμένος, ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ Ἰακὼβ ὁ θεὸς αὐτῷ τὸ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ὄνομα δωρεῖται, τὸν ἀσκη11.6.31 τὴν καὶ πρακτικὸν ἐπὶ τὸν θεωρητικὸν μεταστησάμενος. πτερνιστὴς γὰρ ὁ Ἰακὼβ ἑρμηνεύεται ὡς τὸν ἀρετῆς ἐναθλῶν ἀγῶνα· Ἰσραὴλ δὲ ὁρῶν 11.6.32 θεόν, ὁποῖος ἂν εἴη ὁ γνωστικὸς καὶ θεωρητικὸς ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ νοῦς. τί με δεῖ νῦν τοῦ πανσόφου Μωσέως ἢ τῶν παρ' Ἑβραίοις ἱερῶν λόγων διὰ μυρίων ἄλλων τὴν ὀρθότητα τῆς τῶν οἰκείων ὀνομάτων θέσεως ἐξαπλοῦν, 11.6.33 μακροτέρας σχολῆς δεομένων τῶν κατὰ τὸν τόπον; αὐτίκα δὴ καὶ τῶν πρώτων τῆς γραμματικῆς στοιχείων Ἕλληνες μὲν οὐκ ἂν ἔχοιεν τὰς ἐτυμολογίας εἰπεῖν, οὐδ' αὐτός γ' ἂν φαίη Πλάτων τὸν λόγον ἢ τὸν λογισμὸν τῶν 11.6.34 φωνηέντων ἢ τῶν συμφώνων. Ἑβραίων δ' ἂν εἴποιεν παῖδες τοῦ τε Ἄλφα τὴν αἰτίαν, ὃ παρ' αὐτοῖς καλεῖται Ἄλφ, τοῦτο δὲ σημαίνει «μάθησιν»· καὶ τὸ Βῆτα, ὅπερ Βὴθ φίλον αὐτοῖς προσαγορεύειν, οὕτω δὲ τὸν «οἶκον» ὀνομάζουσιν· ὥστε δηλοῦν τὴν διάνοιαν «μάθησις οἴκου», ὡσεὶ σαφέστερον 11.6.35 ἐλέγετο «διδαχή τις καὶ μάθησις οἰκονομίας». καὶ τὸ Γάμμα δὲ παρ' αὐτοῖς κέκληται Γίμελ· οὕτω δὲ τὴν «πλήρωσιν» ὀνομάζουσιν. εἶτ' ἐπειδὴ τὰς δέλτους ∆ὲλθ καλοῦσι, τὸ τέταρτον στοιχεῖον οὕτω προσεῖπον, ὁμοῦ διὰ τῶν δύο στοιχείων σημαίνοντες ὡς ὅτι «ἡ ἔγγραφος μάθησις πλήρωσίς 11.6.36 ἐστι δέλτων». ἐπιὼν δέ τις καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς γραμματικῆς στοιχεῖα, μετά τινος αἰτίας καὶ λογισμοῦ εὕροι ἂν ἕκαστα παρ' αὐτοῖς ὠνομασμένα, ἐπεὶ καὶ τῶν ἑπτὰ φωνηέντων τὴν ἐπὶ ταὐτὸ σύνθεσιν μιᾶς τινος ἀπορρήτου προσηγορίας περιέχειν φασὶν ἐκφώνησιν, ἣν διὰ τεσσάρων στοιχείων παῖδες Ἑβραίων σημειούμενοι ἐπὶ τῆς ἀνωτάτω τοῦ θεοῦ δυνάμεως κατατάττουσιν, ἄλεκτόν τι τοῖς πολλοῖς καὶ ἀπόρρητον τοῦτ' εἶναι παῖς παρὰ 11.6.37 πατρὸς εἰληφότες. καὶ τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησι δὲ σοφῶν οὐκ οἶδ' ὁπόθεν τις τοῦτο μαθὼν ᾐνίξατο, ὧδέ πη δι' ἐπῶν φήσας· ἑπτά με φωνήεντα θεὸν μέγαν ἄφθιτον αἰνεῖ γράμματα, τὸν πάντων ἀκάματον πατέρα. εἰμὶ δ' ἐγὼ πάντων χέλυς ἄφθιτος, ἣ τὰ λυρώδη ἡρμοσάμην δίνης οὐρανίοιο μέλη. 11.6.38 εὕροις δ' ἂν καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν παρ' Ἑβραίοις στοιχείων, ἐπιστήσας ἑκάστῳ, τὰ σημαινόμενα· τοῦτο δὲ ἤδη καὶ διὰ τῶν πρόσθεν ἡμῖν συνέστη, ὁπηνίκα 11.6.39 παρὰ βαρβάρων τὰ πάντα ὠφελῆσθαι τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἀπεδείκνυμεν. πολλὴν δ' ἄν τις καταμάθοι, τὴν Ἑβραίων γλῶτταν πολυπραγμονῶν, ὀνομάτων ὀρθότητα παρὰ τοῖς ἀνδράσι φερομένην, ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦ παντὸς ἔθνους τὸ προσηγορικὸν ὄνομα ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἕβερ τὸ παρωνύμιον εἴληφε· σημαίνει δὲ τοῦτο τὸν «διαπερῶντα», ἐπεὶ καὶ διάβασις καὶ διαπερῶν τῇ Ἑβραίων φωνῇ 11.6.40 «Ἕβερ» ὀνομάζεται. διδάσκει δὲ ὁ λόγος περᾶν καὶ διαβαίνειν ἀπὸ τῶν τῇδε ἐπὶ τὰ θεῖα μηδαμῶς τε ἐναπομένειν καὶ ἵστασθαι ἐπὶ τῇ θέᾳ τῶν ὁρωμένων, ἀπὸ δὲ τούτων ἐπὶ τὰ ἀφανῆ καὶ ἀόρατα τῆς περὶ τοῦ τῶν ὅλων ποιητοῦ τε καὶ δημιουργοῦ θεολογίας διαβαίνειν. ταύτη τοι τοὺς πρώτους μόνῳ τῷ πανηγεμόνι καὶ αἰτίῳ τῶν ὅλων ἀνακειμένους εὐσεβείᾳ τε καθαρᾷ καὶ ἀληθεῖ προσανέχοντας Ἑβραίους ἐφώνουν, περατικούς τινας καὶ διαβεβη11.6.41 κότας τῇ διανοίᾳ τοὺς τοιούσδε ἀποκαλοῦντες. τί