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to speak to those who are called, he next teaches, saying: then let them declare judgment; for he wants the nations, having learned the word concerning the judgment, also to report it to others. But he also commands the same to learn this, to know: who has raised up righteousness from the east? For it was a work of righteousness that not only the Jews but also the rest of the nations should be called to the knowledge of God. Who then is the one who from the east of the light raised up this righteousness, and called him to follow him? And who is the one who has given it before all the nations, so that the kings of the nations were amazed at the command and were troubled at first, and were tempted to stir up persecutions and wars against the word of righteousness, but were conquered by the God of righteousness, who fought for those who had received it. He made the warlike things of the enemies of righteousness disappear like kindling, and made a way for himself for his feet to pass through in peace. Who then is the one who accomplished all these things but the God over all? Therefore he adds next: He called it, that is, righteousness, the one who calls it from the beginning of generations, I am God first, and for the things to come, I am, instead of which Symmachus translated: I am the Lord first, and with the last, I am; for he was the one known to the first, long ago and from the beginning, who became God-loving, and the one entrusted to the church from the nations after the former people. Therefore he adds: The nations saw and were afraid. But the word testifies of no ordinary benefit to the nations, if indeed, having changed their former blindness of polytheism, they should see the one who said: I am God first, and for the things to come, I am. And having seen, they were afraid, having come to be in the "beginning of wisdom"; "for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." But also the ends of the earth were astonished; for this was the paradox, that even the barbarian tribes and those settled farthest from the land of Judea, in which alone God was thought to be known in ancient times, have received knowledge of godliness so as to be astonished at the righteousness of God, and hastened to come to the grace according to the proclamation that said: "Let them draw near and speak together." But there they were commanded to meet and to speak, clearly to glorify God, but here the word says: They drew near and came together, each one judging to help his neighbor. For those who were called came not only to save themselves, but also their neighbors according to the laws of philanthropy. Therefore, wishing to minister to their neighbors and their own brothers and acquaintances who were still in error, they said these things to them. There was once a time when a craftsman, who fashioned idolatry, prevailed even over us, and a smith striking his own gods with a hammer; but now we have known that those are nothing and we have condemned the ancestral error, which it is fitting for you also to learn and be benefited. And a sign of the inertness of those formerly considered gods by us is that they cannot even stand, unless they are fastened with certain dowels and nails. And when, set up by others, it stands, another proof of their lifelessness is that they can no longer be moved; when, therefore, they are able neither to stand by themselves nor, having been fixed by others, to be moved. How could they be gods? The word proclaims that the nations will one day say these things to their neighbors, and since above the same nations were commanded not only to "draw near" to God but also to "speak"; for it was said: "Let them draw near and speak together." it is fitting that when they "drew near" through the aforementioned things, and having come, what sort of things they once said to their acquaintances is told through the prophecy. 2.20 In the preceding, God found fault with Jacob and Israel for saying: "My way has been hidden from God, and God has taken away my judgment and departed," but through the things at hand he names Israel his child and says that Jacob has been chosen, the word clearly presenting two orders of the

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λαλεῖν τοὺς καλουμένους, ἑξῆς διδάσκει λέγων· τότε κρίσιν ἀναγγειλάτωσαν· τὸν γὰρ περὶ τῆς κρίσεως λόγον βούλεται μαθόντα τὰ ἔθνη καὶ ἑτέροις ἀπαγγέλλειν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτο μαθεῖν τοῖς αὐτοῖς προστάττει τὸ γνῶναι· τίς ἐξήγειρεν ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν δικαιοσύνην; δικαιοσύνης γὰρ ἔργον ἦν τὸ μὴ Ἰουδαίους μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ἔθνη καλεῖσθαι ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ γνῶσιν. τίς οὖν ἐστιν ὁ ἐκ τῶν ἀνατολῶν τοῦ φωτὸς ταύτην ἐγείρας τὴν δικαιοσύνην, καλέσας τε αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ ἕπεσθαι αὐτῷ; τίς δὲ ὁ δεδωκὼς αὐτὴν ἐναντίον πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν ὡς ἐκστῆναι ἐπὶ τῷ προστάγματι τοὺς τῶν ἐθνῶν βασιλεῖς καὶ θορυβηθῆναι τὰ πρῶτα, πειραθῆναί τε διωγμοὺς καὶ πολέμους κινῆσαι κατὰ τοῦ λόγου τῆς δικαιοσύνης, νικηθῆναι δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ τῆς δικαιοσύνης θεοῦ, ὃς ὑπερμαχῶν τῶν ὑποδεδεγμένων αὐτήν. τὰ μὲν πολεμικὰ τῶν τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἐχθρῶν φρυγάνων τρόπον ἠφάνισεν, ἑαυτῷ δὲ ὁδὸν ἐξωμάλισεν ἐν εἰρήνῃ διελθεῖν τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ. Τίς οὖν ὁ ταῦτα πάντα κατεργασάμενος ἀλλ' ἢ ὁ ἐπὶ πάντων θεός; διὸ ἐπιλέγει ἑξῆς· ἐκάλεσεν αὐτήν, δηλονότι τὴν δικαιοσύνην, ὁ καλῶν αὐτὴν ἀπὸ γενεῶν ἀρχῆς, ἐγὼ θεὸς πρῶτος, καὶ εἰς τὰ ἐπερχόμενα ἐγώ εἰμι, ἀνθ' οὗ ὁ Σύμμαχος ἡρμήνευσεν· ἐγὼ κύριος πρῶτος, καὶ μετὰ τῶν ἐσχάτων ἐγώ εἰμι· αὐτὸς γὰρ ἦν ὁ καὶ τοῖς πρώτοις πρόπαλαι καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς θεοφιλέσι γενομένοις γνωσθεὶς καὶ ὁ μετὰ τὸν πρότερον λαὸν τῇ ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐκκλησίᾳ πεπιστευμένος. διὸ ἐπιλέγει· εἴδοσαν ἔθνη καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν. μαρτυρεῖ δὲ ὁ λόγος ὠφέλειαν οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, εἴ γε μεταβαλόντα τὴν προτέραν ἀβλεψίαν τῆς πολυθεΐας ἴδοιεν τὸν εἰρηκότα· ἐγὼ θεὸς πρῶτος, καὶ εἰς τὰ ἐπερχόμενα ἐγώ εἰμι. καὶ ἰδόντα ἐφοβήθησαν ἐν «ἀρχῇ» γενόμενα «σοφίας»· «ἀρχὴ γὰρ σοφίας φόβος κυρίου». ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς ἐξεπλάγησαν· τὸ γὰρ παράδοξον τοῦτ' ἦν, ὅτι καὶ τὰ βάρβαρα φῦλα καὶ τὰ πορρωτάτω ἀπῳκισμένα τῆς Ἰουδαϊκῆς χώρας, καθ' ἣν μόνην γνωρίζεσθαι ἐνομίζετο τὸ παλαιὸν ὁ θεός, γνῶσιν ἀνείληφε θεοσεβείας ὡς ἐκπλαγῆναι τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιοσύνης, τὴν χάριν σπεῦσαί τε καὶ ἐλθεῖν ἀκολούθως τῷ φήσαντι κηρύγματι· «ἐγγισάτωσαν καὶ λαλησάτωσαν ἅμα». ἀλλ' ἐκεῖ μὲν ἐκελεύοντο ἀπαντᾶν καὶ λαλεῖν, δῆλον δ' ὅτι δοξάζειν τὸν θεόν, ἐνταῦθα δέ φησιν ὁ λόγος· ἤγγισαν καὶ ἦλθον ἅμα, κρίνων ἕκαστος τῷ πλησίον βοηθῆσαι. οὐ γὰρ μόνον ἑαυτοὺς σῴζειν οἱ κεκλημένοι ἦλθον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς πλησίον κατὰ τοὺς τῆς φιλανθρωπίας νόμους. διὸ τοὺς πλησίον θεραπεύειν καὶ τοὺς ἑαυτῶν ἀδελφοὺς καὶ γνωρίμους ἐθέλοντες τοὺς ἔτι ἐν ἀτοπίᾳ ὄντας ταῦτα πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἔλεγον. Ἦν ποτε χρόνος ὅτε καὶ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν κατίσχυσεν ἀνὴρ τέκτων, ὁ τὴν εἰδωλολατρίαν κατεργασάμενος, καὶ χαλκεὺς τύπτων σφύρᾳ τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ θεούς· ἀλλὰ νῦν ἔγνωμεν τὸ μηθὲν ὄντας ἐκείνους καὶ τῆς πατρικῆς κατέγνωμεν πλάνης, ὃ δὴ καὶ ὑμᾶς προσήκει μανθάνοντας ὠφελεῖσθαι. δεῖγμα δὲ τῆς ἀδρανείας τῶν πάλαι νομισθέντων ἡμῖν θεῶν τὸ μηδὲ ἑστάναι δύνασθαι, εἰ μὴ γόμφοις τισὶ καὶ ἥλοις ἐμπαρεῖεν. ἐπειδὰν δὲ δι' ἑτέρων ἱδρυθέντα στῇ, ἄλλος ἔλεγχος αὐτῶν τῆς ἀζωΐας γίνεται τὸ μηκέτι κινεῖσθαι αὐτὰ δύνασθαι· ὅτε τοίνυν οὔτε ἑαυτοῖς ἑστάναι οὔτε ὑπὸ ἑτέρων ἑδρασθέντα κινεῖσθαι οἷά τέ ἐστι. πῶς ἂν εἶεν θεοὶ ταῦτα πρὸς τοὺς πέλας φησί ποτε τὰ ἔθνη ὁ λόγος θεσπίζει, καὶ ἐπειδήπερ ἀνωτέρω προστέτακτο τὰ αὐτὰ ἔθνη μὴ μόνον «ἐγγίζειν» τῷ θεῷ ἀλλὰ καὶ «λαλεῖν»· ἐλέγετο γάρ· «ἐγγισάτωσαν καὶ λαλησάτωσαν ἅμα». εἰκότως ὅτε «ἤγγισαν» διὰ τῶν προκειμένων καὶ ἐλθόντα τινά ποτε καὶ ὁποῖα τοῖς γνωρίμοις αὐτῶν διείλεκται, εἴρηται διὰ τῆς προφητείας. 2.20 Ἐν μὲν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω τῷ Ἰακὼβ καὶ Ἰσραὴλ ἐμέμφετο ὁθεὸς διὰ τὸ λέγειν· «Ἀπεκρύβη ἡ ὁδός μου ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ὁ θεὸς τὴν κρίσιν μου ἀφεῖλε καὶ ἀπέστη», διὰ δὲ τῶν μετὰ χεῖρας παῖδα αὐτοῦ ὀνομάζει τὸν Ἰσραὴλ καὶ τὸν Ἰακὼβ ἐκλελεγμένον εἶναί φησι, σαφῶς τοῦ λόγου δύο τάγματα παριστῶντος τοῦ ἐκ