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to plants and the things upon them. 23. 9Thus says God, the king of Israel, God Sabaoth who delivered him: I am the first, and I am after these things. Besides me there is no God. Who is like me? Let him stand, and call, and declare, and prepare for me, since I made man for eternity9, etc. From another beginning, the discourse is to the idolaters of the Jews. And of which Israel he is king, he added, saying, God Sabaoth who delivered him. For he is king of those who were delivered, not of those accused of impiety. Whom indeed, having gone astray, he turns back to the one God. Before whom and after whom it is not possible to find another. But if 'he who delivered him' is understood of all Israel, he exhorts them to remember their freedom from Egypt, and so many wonders, showing no other besides the God by nature, without beginning and without end; but if you think there is another, let him say what work of his he shows in the universe. For since the world is one, and connate, and joined to itself, its crea 2405 tor would also be one, understood from the greatness and beauty of the things created. But if there were another God, another world would also be conceived; which has been refuted from many quarters as absurd. And 'let him stand,' that is, let him first show his own existence, and that he is in the hypostasis of a substance, and that he abides and stands by himself. Then, uttering a rational voice and one befitting God, let him announce the first and the last things, from when I formed man, until the present time, or even of the future, just as I announced the first things through Moses, and the things of the coming of Christ, through him and the other prophets. For to the God by nature all things are present in indivisible knowledge, even those separated by time. But do not put on a guise, being veiled, as if knowing something, but not willing to speak. For you have not heard, he says, from the beginning, nor have you known any such thing, as I have shown both my foreknowledge and divine deeds. Of which you are witnesses, as many of you as have known the oracles of Moses and those after him, the wonders in Egypt, and the things announced after this, and of creation itself as moved together with me as its Master. For these he called his own virtues, and while I was working them, none of these was with me, nor even before the flood, when there were not even makers of idols, as you also know, that in the beginning of this mortal life there was none of these. But those who come after these things will cease from their error, being veiled. But those who persist will perish at the time of vengeance. But in the meantime, why do you not consider what is the nature of the lifeless statues? For if they had any power, they would have sufficed for the Egyptians, and for the Amorites for salvation, opposing my workings. But now it was captured along with those who worship it and has been handed over to fire by you. How then have you, who have condemned them, become their makers, and this after hearing Moses, that you shall worship God alone, and you shall not make for yourself an idol? have you thus become futile, desiring things that are not? And 'they were dried up,' if it is understood of the carved things, it will stand for 'they perished'. But if of the craftsmen, it would be said as of fruitless plants being dried up, whose end is for burning. And 'deaf from men' instead of 'contributing in no way to men, but insensible,' according to: "May those who make them become like them." Then he says, let them all be gathered together, that the worshippers of idols might be commonly ashamed, being unable to concur in their impiety. Then he mentions the tools, by which they constructed the idols, in order that he might show that they worship 2408 the art concerning these things. For if the wood itself were God, it would be God even without art. Therefore they deified the art of a weak and mortal man. For he would not need food and drink. For we shall read 'Shall he not drink water' by punctuating it as a question. How then could the corruptible make incorruptible, and the mortal, immortal things? but some have understood the whole thing of the idols. For you offer sacrifices to these. Therefore, if you do not sacrifice, will the god within it hunger and grow weak? therefore also water

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φυτοῖς καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις. κγʹ. 9Οὕτως λέγει ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἰσραὴλ, ὁ ῥυσάμενος αὐτὸν Θεὸς Σαβαώθ· Ἐγὼ πρῶτος, καὶ ἐγὼ μετὰ ταῦτα. Πλὴν ἐμοῦ οὐκ ἔστι ὁ Θεός. Τίς ὥσπερ ἐγώ; Στήτω, καὶ καλεσάτω, καὶ ἀναγγειλάτω, καὶ ἑτοιμασάτω μοι, ἀφ' οὗ ἐποίησα ἄνθρωπον εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα9, κ.τ.λ. Ἐξ ἑτέρας ἀρχῆς πρὸς τοὺς εἰδωλολάτρας τῶν Ἰουδαίων ὁ λόγος. Ποίου δὲ Ἰσραήλ ἐστι βασιλεὺς, ἐπήνεγκε λέγων, ὁ ῥυσάμενος αὐτὸν Θεὸς Σαβαώθ. Τῶν γὰρ ῥυσθέντων ἐστὶ βασιλεὺς, οὐ τῶν κατηγορουμένων ἐπ' ἀσεβείᾳ. Οὓς δὴ καὶ πλανηθέντας ἐπιστρέφει πρὸς τὸν ἕνα Θεόν. Πρὸ οὗ καὶ μεθ' ὃν οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλον εὑρεῖν. Εἰ δὲ καὶ περὶ παντὸς νοοῖτο τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ τὸ ὁ ῥυσάμενος αὐτὸν, τῆς ἐλευθερίας αὐτῶν τῆς ἐξ Αἰγύπτου μεμνῆσθαι παρακαλεῖ, καὶ τῶν τοσούτων θαυμάτων, παρὰ τὸν φύσει Θεὸν ἄναρχόν τε καὶ ἀτελεύτητον ἕτερον οὐδένα δεικνύς· εἰ δὲ νομίζεις ἄλλον εἶναι, λεγέτω ποῖον ἔργον αὐτοῦ δείκνυσιν ἐν τῷ παντί. Ἑνὸς γὰρ ὄντος τοῦ κόσμου, καὶ συμφυοῦς, καὶ ἑαυτῷ συνημμένου, εἷς ἂν εἴη καὶ ὁ τούτου δημιουρ 2405 γὸς, ἐκ μεγέθους καὶ καλλονῆς κτισμάτων νοούμενος. Θεοῦ δὲ ὄντος ἑτέρου, καὶ κόσμος ἕτερος νοηθήσεται· ὅπερ ἐκ πλειόνων ὡς ἄτοπον ἐξελήλεγκται. Τὸ δὲ στήτω, τοῦτ' ἔστι πρῶτον ὕπαρξιν δεικνύτω τὴν ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ ὡς ἐν οὐσίας ἐστὶν ὑποστάσει, καὶ ὡς ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ μένει καὶ ἕστηκεν. Εἶτα φωνὴν ἀφεὶς λογικὴν καὶ Θεῷ πρέπουσαν, ἀναγγειλάτω πρῶτα καὶ ἔσχατα, ἀφ' οὗ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἔπλασα, μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος καιροῦ, ἢ καὶ ἔτι τοῦ μέλλοντος, καθάπερ ἐγὼ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα διὰ Μωσέως, τὰ δὲ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας, δι' αὐτοῦ τε καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐμήνυσα προφητῶν. Θεῷ γὰρ τῷ κατὰ φύσιν πάντα πάρεστιν ἐν ἀμερίστῳ γνώσει καὶ τὰ χρόνῳ διεστηκότα. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ μὴ συσχηματίζεσθε ἐγκαλυπτόμενοι, ὡς εἰδότες μέν τι, μὴ βουλόμενοι δὲ λέγειν. Οὐ γὰρ ἠκούσατε, φησὶν, ἀπ' ἀρχῆς, οὐδὲ ἔγνωτε τοιοῦτον οὐδὲν, ὡς ἐγὼ πρόγνωσίν τε τὴν ἐμὴν καὶ θεϊκὰς ἐπέδειξα πράξεις. Ὧν ὑμεῖς μάρτυρες, ὅσοι τὰ Μωσέως καὶ τῶν μετ' αὐτὸν ἐγνώκατε λόγια, τὰ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ θαύματα, καὶ μετὰ ταύτην ἀγγέλλοντα, καὶ τῆς κτίσεως αὐτῆς ὡς δὴ ∆εσπότῃ συγκινηθείσης ἐμοί. Ταῦτα γὰρ ἰδίας ἐκάλεσεν ἀρετὰς, ἃς ἐνεργοῦντι τούτων ἦν οὐδεὶς σὺν ἐμοὶ, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ πρὸ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ, ὅτε μηδὲ τῶν εἰδώλων ἦσαν δημιουργοὶ, καθάπερ ἴστε καὶ ὑμεῖς, ὡς ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ θνητοῦ βίου τούτων ὑπῆρχεν οὐδέν. Οἱ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα γενόμενοι παύσονται τῆς πλάνης ἐγκαλυπτόμενοι. Ἐπιμένοντες δὲ κατὰ τὸν τῆς ἐκδικήσεως ἀπολοῦνται καιρόν. Ὑμεῖς δὲ τέως τί μὴ λογίζεσθε, τίς τῶν ἀψύχων ἀγαλμάτων ἡ φύσις; Εἰ γὰρ εἶχόν τινα δύναμιν, ἤρκεσαν ἂν τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις, καὶ τοῖς Ἀμοῤῥαίοις εἰς σωτηρίαν ταῖς ἐμαῖς ἐνεργείαις ἀντιταττόμενα. Νυνὶ δὲ σὺν αὐτοῖς ἥλω τοῖς προσκυνοῦσι καὶ πυρὶ δι' ὑμῶν παραδέδοται. Πῶς οὖν ὑμεῖς οἱ κατεγνωκότες γεγόνατε τούτων δημιουργοὶ, καὶ ταῦτα Μωσέως ἀκούσαντες, ὡς Θεῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις, καὶ οὐ ποιήσεις σεαυτῷ εἴδωλον; οὕτω γεγόνατε μάταιοι τὰ μὴ ὄντα ποθήσαντες; Τὸ δὲ ἐξηράνθησαν, εἰ μὲν ἐπὶ τῶν γλυπτῶν νοοῖτο, ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀπώλοντο κείσεται. Εἰ δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν τεκταινόντων, ὡς ἐπὶ φυτῶν ἀκάρπων ῥηθείη ξηραινομένων, ὧν τὸ τέλος εἰς καῦσιν. Τὸ δὲ κωφοὶ ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπων ἀντὶ τοῦ τελοῦντες μὲν οὐδαμῶς εἰς ἀνθρώπους, ἀναίσθητοι δὲ, κατὰ τό· "Ὅμοιοι αὐτοῖς γένοιντο οἱ ποιοῦντες αὐτά." Εἶτά φησι, συναχθήτωσαν πάντες, ὡς ἂν κοινῶς ἐντραπεῖεν οἱ τῶν εἰδώλων θεραπευταὶ τῇ δυσσεβείᾳ συνειπεῖν οὐκ ἰσχύοντες. Εἶτα μέμνηται τῶν ὀργάνων, δι' ὧν τὰ εἴδωλα κατεσκεύαζον, ἵνα τὴν περὶ ταῦτα τέχνην προσκυ 2408 νοῦντας αὐτοὺς ἀποφήνῃ. Εἰ γὰρ ἦν αὐτὸ τὸ ξύλον Θεὸς, καὶ χωρὶς ἂν τέχνης ὑπῆρχε Θεός. Οὐκοῦν τὴν τέχνην ἐθεοποίησαν ἀσθενοῦς οὖσαν ἀνδρὸς καὶ φθαρτοῦ. Οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐδεῖτο τροφῆς καὶ ποτοῦ. Ἐν ἐρωτήσει γὰρ ὑποστίζοντες τὸ, Οὐ μὴ πίῃ ὕδωρ, ἀναγνωσόμεθα. Πῶς οὖν ὁ φθαρτὸς ἄφθαρτα, καὶ ἀθάνατα ποιήσειεν ὁ θνητός; τινὲς δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν εἰδώλων τὸ ὅλον ἐδέξαντο. Προσαγάγετε γὰρ τούτοις θυσίας. Ἄρα οὖν μὴ θυόντων ὑμῶν, πεινάσει καὶ ἀσθενήσει ἐνυπάρχων Θεός; οὐκοῦν καὶ ὕδωρ