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John was 31 years old when he came out of the desert. And many followed him as he was preaching, among whom were also Andrew and John. And while some were saying that he is the Christ and others that he is a prophet, on one of the days many came beyond the Jordan in the region of Bethabara, and were being baptized. And when Jesus came, when John saw him, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God." And hearing this, Andrew and John followed Jesus. And after he returned to Nazareth, Joseph died at 110 years of age. And when Zebedee also died, John and James brought their mother, and she was with the Theotokos; and having sold their property to Caiaphas, they bought Zion, where Christ made the mystical Passover and entered while the doors were shut. After the Lord's ascension, the Theotokos stayed in Zion until her death. And fifteen days before, she knew of her departure. And 1.330 three days before, the archangel came to her, bringing the prize. And she gave over her holy soul to her Lord and Son and God, being 72 years old, but some say 58, so that after the ascension of Christ she lived for twenty-four years. That in the 11th year of Herod the tetrarch, the high priest Annas died; after whom annual high priests were appointed, as Josephus relates. And the divine gospels bear witness to him speaking the truth in what they say concerning Caiaphas. This he did not say of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied. That since the wondrous resurrection of our Savior and his ascension into heaven had already become famous to most people, Pilate, being distressed that he had not reported to the emperor that such wonders had occurred, finally, being compelled so that it not be hidden, communicated to the emperor Tiberius the matters concerning the resurrection from the dead of our Savior Jesus Christ, and his other miracles, and that after his death, having risen from the dead, he is already believed by many to be God. Tiberius therefore, in whose time the name of the Christians entered the world, having learned of it, communicated it to the senate, he being clearly pleased with the teaching. But the senate, since it had not approved it itself, rejected it, but in truth, because the saving teaching of the divine proclamation had no need of human judgment and approval. Tertul 1.331 lian says these things. This Tiberius threatened death to the accusers of Christians. That in the 19th year of Tiberius, John the Baptist had his head removed by the young Herod and Cleopatra on account of Herodias, as Josephus relates in the 18th book of the Antiquities. where also a war was raised against Aretas, as his daughter had been dishonored by him; in which war, he says, the entire army of Herod was destroyed because of John's death. That our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the prophecies about him, went to his passion in the 19th year of the reign of Tiberius. At which time we have found these things related word for word also in other Greek commentaries. There occurred the greatest eclipse of the sun of those formerly known, and it became night at the sixth hour of the day, so that stars appeared in the sky, and a great earthquake that occurred in Bithynia destroyed much of Nicaea. Phlegon says these things. And Africanus relates that on that very day of the passion a most fearful darkness occurred over the whole world. And by an earthquake the rocks were rent, and many places of the earth were thrown down. This darkness the Jews call an eclipse of the sun, irrationally, as it seems to me and to the truth; for the Hebrews celebrate the Passover according to the moon, and the events concerning the Savior happened before the first day of the Passover, but an eclipse of the sun happens when the moon passes under it, and it is impossible for it to happen at another time except in the interval between the new moon and the 1.332 one before it, at the conjunction itself; how then could it be considered an eclipse when the moon was almost diametrically opposite the sun? But let the event be considered fitting by many, and let the eclipse of the sun be supposed a cosmic portent, at least from the one according to the

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Ἦν δὲ Ἰωάννης λαʹ χρόνου, ὅτε ἐξῆλθε τῆς ἐρήμου. καὶ κηρύσσοντι ἠκολούθησαν αὐτῷ πολλοί, ἐν οἷς ἦν καὶ Ἀνδρέας καὶ Ἰωάννης. καὶ τῶν μὲν λεγόντων ὅτι ὁ Χριστός ἐστι τῶν δὲ ὅτι προφήτης, ἐν μιᾷ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἦλθον πολλοὶ πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου ἐν χώρᾳ Βηθαβαρᾷ, καὶ ἐβαπτίζοντο. ἐλθόντος δὲ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ὡς εἶδεν αὐτὸν ὁ Ἰωάννης, εἶπεν "ἴδε ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ." καὶ ἀκούσας Ἀνδρέας καὶ Ἰωάννης ἠκολούθησαν τῷ Ἰησοῦ. μετὰ δὲτὸ ὑποστρέψαι αὐτὸν εἰς Ναζαρὲτ ἐτελεύτησεν Ἰωσὴφ ἐτῶν ριʹ. τελευτήσαντος δὲ καὶ Ζεβεδαίου ἤγαγεν Ἰωάννης καὶ Ἰάκωβος τὴν μητέρα αὐτῶν, καὶ συνῆν τῇ θεοτόκῳ· τὴν δὲ κτῆσιν αὐτῶν πω λήσαντες Καϊάφᾳ ἠγόρασαν τὴν Σιών, ἔνθα τὸ μυστικὸν πάσχα ὁ Χριστὸς ἐποίησε καὶ τῶν θυρῶν κεκλεισμένων εἰσῆλθε. μετὰ τὴν τοῦ κυρίου ἀνάληψιν ἡ θεοτόκος ἐν Σιὼν διέτριβεν ἕως τῆς τελευ τῆς αὐτῆς. πρὸ δὲ ἡμερῶν ιεʹ ἔγνω τὴν ἔξοδον αὐτῆς. πρὸ δὲ 1.330 τριῶν ἡμερῶν ὁ ἀρχάγγελος παρεγένετο πρὸς αὐτήν, τὸ βραβεῖον κομίζων. παρέδωκε δὲ τὴν ἁγίαν αὐτῆς ψυχὴν τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ υἱῷ τῷ θεῷ αὐτῆς ἐτῶν οὖσα οβʹ, οἱ δέ φασι νηʹ, ὥστε μετὰ τὴν ἀνά ληψιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰκοσιτέσσαρας χρόνους ἐπεβίωσεν. Ὅτι ἐν τῷ ιαʹ ἔτει Ἡρώδου τοῦ τετράρχου ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς Ἄνανος ἐτελεύτησε· μεθ' ὃν ἐνιαυσιαῖοι ἀρχιερεῖς καθίστανται, ὡς Ἰώσηπος ἱστορεῖ. καὶ τὰ θεῖα εὐαγγέλια αὐτῷ μαρτυρεῖ ἀλη θεύοντι ἐν οἷς περὶ τοῦ Καϊάφα λέγει. τοῦτο δὲ ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ οὐκ εἶπεν, ἀλλ' ἀρχιερεὺς ὢν τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ἐκείνου προεφήτευσεν. Ὅτι τῆς παραδόξου τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἀναστάσεώς τε καὶ εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀναλήψεως τοῖς πλείστοις ἤδη περιβοήτου καθεστώ σης, Πιλᾶτος ἀγωνιάσας ὡς μὴ ἀνενέγκας τῷ βασιλεῖ τοιαῦτα γενόμενα θαύματα, τέλος ἀναγκασθείς, ὡς μὴ λάθῃ, ἀνεκοινώ σατο τῷ βασιλεῖ Τιβερίῳ τὰ περὶ τῆς ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστάσεως τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τάς τε ἄλλας τερατουργίας αὐ τοῦ, καὶ ὡς ὅτι μετὰ θάνατον ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστὰς θεὸς ἤδη παρὰ πολλοῖς εἶναι πιστεύεται. Τιβέριος οὖν, ἐφ' οὗ τὸ τῶν Χριστια νῶν ὄνομα εἰς τὸν κόσμον εἰσελήλυθεν, μαθὼν τῇ συγκλήτῳ ἀνε κοινώσατο, δῆλος ὢν ἐκεῖνος ὡς τῷ δόγματι ἀρέσκοιτο. ἡ δὲ σύγκλητος, ἐπεὶ οὐκ αὐτὴ δεδοκιμάκει, ἀπώσατο, τῇ δὲ ἀληθείᾳ, ὅτι μηδὲ τῆς ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἐπικρίσεώς τε καὶ συστάσεως ἡ σωτή ριος τοῦ θείου κηρύγματος ἐδεῖτο διδασκαλία. ταῦτά φησι Τερτυ 1.331 λιανός. οὗτος ὁ Τιβέριος θάνατον ἠπείλησε τοῖς Χριστιανῶν κατηγόροις. Ὅτι ἐν τῷ ιθʹ ἔτει Τιβερίου Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτιστὴς ἀφαιρεῖ ται τὴν κεφαλὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ νέου Ἡρώδου καὶ Κλεοπάτρας διὰ Ἡρωδιάδα, καθὼς ἱστορεῖ Ἰώσηπος ἐν τῷ ιηʹ τῆς ἀρχαιολογίας. ἔνθα καὶ πόλεμος αἴρεται πρὸς τὸν Ἀρέταν, ὡς ἀτιμασθείσης αὐ τῷ τῆς θυγατρός· ἐν ᾧ πολέμῳ πάντα φησὶ τὸν Ἡρώδου στρατὸν διαφθαρῆναι διὰ τὸν Ἰωάννου θάνατον. Ὅτι ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς κατὰ τὰς περὶ αὐτοῦ προφητείας ἐπὶ τὸ πάθος προῄει ἔτους ιθʹ τῆς Τιβερίου βασιλείας. καθ' ὃν καιρὸν καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις μὲν Ἑλληνικοῖς ὑπομνήμασιν εὕρο μεν ἱστορούμενα ταῦτα κατὰ λέξιν. ἐγένετο ἔκλειψις ἡλίου μεγί στη τῶν ἐγνωσμένων πρότερον, καὶ νὺξ ὥρᾳ ἕκτῃ τῆς ἡμέρας ἐγέ νετο ὡς καὶ ἀστέρας ἐν οὐρανῷ φανῆναι, σεισμός τε μέγας κατὰ Βιθυνίαν γενόμενος τὰ πολλὰ τῆς Νικαίας κατεστρέψατο. ταῦτα Φλέγων φησί. καὶ Ἀφρικανὸς δὲ ἱστορεῖ κατ' αὐτὴν τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ πάθους σκότος καθ' ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου φοβερώτατον γενέσθαι. σεισμῷ τε αἱ πέτραι διερρήγνυντο, καὶ πολλὰ τῆς γῆς κατερρίφη. τοῦτο τὸ σκότος ἔκλειψιν ἡλίου οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι καλοῦσιν, ἀλόγως, ὡς ἐμοὶ καὶ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ δοκεῖ· Ἑβραῖοι γὰρ ἄγουσι τὸ πάσχα κατὰ σελήνην, πρὸ δὲ τῆς μιᾶς τοῦ πάσχα τὰ περὶ τὸν σωτῆρα συνέβη, ἔκλειψις δὲ ἡλίου τῆς σελήνης αὐτὸν ὑπελθούσης γίνεται, ἀδύνατον δὲ ἐν ἄλλῳ χρόνῳ πλὴν ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ νουμηνίας καὶ τῆς 1.332 πρὸ αὐτῆς κατὰ τὴν σύνοδον αὐτὴν ἀποβῆναι· πῶς οὖν ἔκλειψις νομισθείη κατὰ διάμετρον σχεδὸν ὑπαρχούσης τῆς σελήνης ἡλίῳ; ἔστω δὲ συναρμόζον πολλοῖς τὸ γεγενημένον, καὶ κοσμικὸν τέρας ἡλίου ἔκλειψις ὑπονοείσθω ἔκ γε τῆς κατὰ τὴν