Chapter CXXXVIII.—Noah is a figure of Christ, who has regenerated us by water, and faith, and wood: [i.e., the cross.]

“You know, then, sirs,” I said, “that God has said in Isaiah to Jerusalem: ‘I saved thee in the deluge of Noah.’532    Isa. liv. 9 comes nearer to these words than any other passage; but still the exact quotation is not in Isaiah, or in any other part of Scripture. [It is quite probable that Isa. liv. 9 was thus misunderstood by the Jews, as Trypho seems to acquiesce.] By this which God said was meant that the mystery of saved men appeared in the deluge. For righteous Noah, along with the other mortals at the deluge, i.e., with his own wife, his three sons and their wives, being eight in number, were a symbol of the eighth day, wherein Christ appeared when He rose from the dead, for ever the first in power. For Christ, being the first-born of every creature, became again the chief of another race regenerated by Himself through water, and faith, and wood, containing the mystery of the cross; even as Noah was saved by wood when he rode over the waters with his household. Accordingly, when the prophet says, ‘I saved thee in the times of Noah,’ as I have already remarked, he addresses the people who are equally faithful to God, and possess the same signs. For when Moses had the rod in his hands, he led your nation through the sea. And you believe that this was spoken to your nation only, or to the land. But the whole earth, as the Scripture says, was inundated, and the water rose in height fifteen cubits above all the mountains: so that it is evident this was not spoken to the land, but to the people who obeyed Him: for whom also He had before prepared a resting-place in Jerusalem, as was previously demonstrated by all the symbols of the deluge; I mean, that by water, faith, and wood, those who are afore-prepared, and who repent of the sins which they have committed, shall escape from the impending judgment of God.

[138] Γινώσκετε οὖν, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἔφην, ὅτι ἐν τῷ Ἠσαίᾳ λέλεκται ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ πρὸς τὴν Ἰερουσαλήμ, ὅτι Ἐπὶ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ τοῦ Νῶε ἔσωσά σε. τοῦτο δέ ἐστιν ὃ ἔλεγεν ὁ θεός, ὅτι τὸ μυστήριον τῶν σωζομένων ἀνθρώπων ἐπὶ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ γέγονεν. ὁ δίκαιος γὰρ Νῶε μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων ἐπὶ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ, τοῦτ' ἔστι τῆς τε γυναικὸς τῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν τριῶν τέκνων αὐτὼν καὶ τῶν γυναικῶν τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ, οἵτινες ἀριθμῷ ὄντες ὀκτώ, σύμβολον εἶχον τῆς ἀριθμῷ μὲν ὀγδόης ἡμέρας, ἐν ᾗ ἐφάνη ὁ Χριστὸς ἡμῶν ἀπὸ νεκρῶν ἀναστάς, δυνάμει δ' ἀεὶ πρώτης ὑπαρχούσης. ὁ γὰρ Χριστός, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως ὤν, καὶ ἀρχὴ πάλιν ἄλλου γένους γέγονε, τοῦ ἀναγεννηθέντος ὑπ' αὐτοῦ δι' ὕδατος καὶ πίστεως καὶ ξύλου, τοῦ τὸ μυστήριον τοῦ σταυροῦ ἔχοντος, ὃν τρόπον καὶ ὁ Νῶε ἐν ξύλῳ διεσώθη ἐποχούμενος τοῖς ὕδασι μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων. ὅταν οὖν εἴπῃ ὁ προφήτης: Ἐπὶ Νῶε ἔσωσά σε, προέφην, τῷ ὁμοίως πιστῷ λαῷ πρὸς θεὸν ὄντι καὶ τὰ σύμβολα ταῦτα ἔχοντι λέγει. καὶ γὰρ ῥάβδον ἔχων ὁ Μωυσῆς μετὰ χεῖρα διὰ τῆς θαλάσσης διήγαγεν ὑμῶν τὸν λαόν. ὑμεῖς δὲ ὑπολαμβάνετε ὅτι τῷ γένει ὑμῶν μόνων ἔλεγεν ἢ τῇ γῇ. ὅτι γὰρ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ, ὡς ἡ γραφὴ λέγει, κατεκλύσθη, καὶ ὑψώθη τὸ ὕδωρ ἐπάνω πάντων ὀρέων πήχεις δεκαπέντε, ὁ θεὸς οὐ τῇ γῇ φαίνεται εἰρηκώς, ἀλλὰ τῷ λαῷ τῷ πειθομένῳ αὐτῷ, ᾧ καὶ ἀνάπαυσιν προητοίμασεν ἐν Ἰερουσαλήμ, ὡς προαποδέδεικται διὰ πάντων τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ συμβόλων: εἶπον δέ, δι' ὕδατος καὶ πίστεως καὶ ξύλου οἱ προπαρασκευαζόμενοι καὶ μετανοοῦντες ἐφ' οἷς ἥμαρτον ἐκφεύξονται τὴν μέλλουσαν ἐπέρχεσθαι τοῦ θεοῦ κρίσιν.