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201

there is no other besides me. But I have prophesied and foretold, since I am just and a savior, wherefore according to the principle of justice I call all the nations to the salvation that is with me. Consistent with this, he adds: Turn to me and you will be saved, you from the end of the earth, or according to Symmachus: Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth. You see how he announces a universal proclamation to all the nations. And he adds: I am God, and there is no other. By myself I swear, Surely righteousness shall go forth from my mouth. And again he puts forth righteousness with the taking of "an oath" "for confirmation" "of the promise," "that by two," says the divine Apostle, "immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong encouragement." But through the righteousness that is from him, he promises salvation to all men. And these my words, he says, shall not be turned back; what words but those by which he said: Turn to me and you will be saved, you from the end of the earth? And he adds: For to me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess to God, or: and every tongue shall swear by God according to the other interpreters. And through these things he prophesies that to him every knee shall bow, not only of the Jews, but also of the other nations, than which nothing could be more blessed. And the result of this prophecy was fulfilled in the coming of our savior Jesus Christ, after which in his church throughout the whole world all the peoples, being gathered together, were taught to bend the knee to God in their prayers, although the Jews did not know to do this. Wherefore it has been said: for to me every knee shall bow; for no longer to other gods nor to the error of idolatry, but to me every knee shall bow, says the God who foretells these things, and to me every tongue shall swear. And this was consistent; for those who have come to know me, the God, among all nations through every kind of tongue and speech, "both barbarian and Greek," "in their oaths" "will take" me as a witness, "confirming their own pledges." And these same ones shall say, Righteousness and glory will come to him, or according to Symmachus: righteousness and strength will come to him. All the virtues among men will have him as their end, and all the strength of men who have striven for piety will come to him, and they will receive the fruit of their labors and the reward for their virtue, but those who separate themselves from him will be ashamed. Wherefore it has been said in other places: "All who worship graven images, who boast in their idols, shall be ashamed." But when will these be ashamed, if not when every knee bows to God and every tongue confesses to him. Following these things it is said: And all the seed of the sons of Israel shall be justified and glorified in God. And behold the precision of the statement; for he did not say Israel nor the seed of Israel, but the seed of the sons of Israel. And the sons of Israel happened to be the first heralds of the saving gospel, whose seed and succession it is said will be justified and glorified. And at the beginning of the prophecy it was said concerning these same ones: "Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah." 2.30 Having described the things concerning the conversion of the nations and the things concerning the election of the seed of the sons of Israel, the prophecy turns the discourse again to the Jews and signifies the complete destruction of idolatry, saying: Bel has fallen, Dagon is broken to pieces, their carved images have become beasts and cattle. Now Bel was an idol, which the Greeks call El, interpreting him to be the one called Cronos among them, concerning whom the ancients were so crazed as to slaughter their dearest to him and to offer countless other human sacrifices to him in every place. And Dagon was also a wooden image of the foreigners who inhabited Ashkelon and Gaza. And indeed in part

201

ἔστιν ἄλλος πλὴν ἐμοῦ. ἐθέσπισα δὲ καὶ προεῖπον, ἐπεὶ δίκαιός εἰμι καὶ σωτήρ, διόπερ κατὰ τὸν τοῦ δικαίου λόγον πάντα τὰ ἔθνη καλῶ εἰς τὴν παρ' ἐμοὶ σωτηρίαν. Οἷς ἀκολούθως ἐπιλέγει· ἐπιστράφητε ἐπ' ἐμὲ καὶ σωθήσεσθε, οἱ ἀπ' ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς, ἢ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον· τράπητε πρός με καὶ σώθητε πάντα τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς. ὁρᾷς ὅπως καθολικὸν κήρυγμα πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι καταγγέλλει. καὶ προστίθησιν· ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ θεός, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλος. κατ' ἐμαυτοῦ ὀμνύω Εἰ μὴν ἐξελεύσεται ἐκ τοῦ στόματός μου δικαιοσύνη. καὶ πάλιν τὴν δικαιοσύνην προΐσχετε «μεθ' ὅρκου» παραλήψεως «εἰς βεβαίωσιν» «τῆς ἐπαγγελίας», «ἵνα διὰ δύο» φησὶν ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος «πραγμάτων ἀμεταθέτων, ἐν οἷς ἀδύνατον ψεύσασθαι θεόν, ἰσχυρὰν παράκλησιν σχῶμεν». διὰ δὲ τῆς δικαιοσύνης τῆς παρ' αὐτοῦ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐπαγγέλλεται σωτηρίαν. καὶ οἱ λόγοι δέ μού φησιν οὗτοι οὐκ ἀποστραφήσονται· ποῖοι δὲ λόγοι ἢ δι' ὧν ἔλεγεν· ἐπιστράφητε ἐπ' ἐμὲ καὶ σωθήσεσθε, οἱ ἀπ' ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς; καὶ ἐπιφέρει· ὅτι ἐμοὶ κάμψει πᾶν γόνυ καὶ ἐξομολογήσεται πᾶσα γλῶσσα τῷ θεῷ, ἤ· καὶ ὀμεῖται κατὰ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἑρμηνευτὰς πᾶσα γλῶσσα τῷ θεῷ. θεσπίζει δὲ καὶ διὰ τούτων, ὅτι αὐτῷ κάμψει πᾶν γόνυ, οὐχὶ τὸ Ἰουδαίων μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐθνῶν, οὗ μακαριώτερον οὐδὲν ἂν γένοιτο. καὶ ταύτης δὲ τῆς προφητείας τὸ ἀποτέλεσμα ἐπληροῦτο τῇ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίᾳ, μεθ' ἣν ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ αὐτοῦ τῇ καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης πάντες συγκροτούμενοι λαοὶ γόνυ κλίνειν τῷ θεῷ ἐν ταῖς προσευχαῖς ἐδιδάχθησαν, καίτοι Ἰουδαίων τοῦτο ποιεῖν οὐκ εἰδότων. διὸ λέλεκται· ὅτι ἐμοὶ κάμψει πᾶν γόνυ· οὐκέτι γὰρ θεοῖς ἑτέροις οὐδὲ τῇ πλάνῃ τῆς εἰδωλολατρίας, ἀλλ' ἐμοὶ κάμψει πᾶν γόνυ φησὶ τῷ ταῦτα προαγορεύοντι θεῷ καὶ ἐμοὶ ὀμεῖται πᾶσα γλῶσσα. ὅπερ καὶ ἀκόλουθον ἦν· οἱ γὰρ ἐμὲ τὸν θεὸν ἐπιγνόντες ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι διὰ παντοίας γλώσσης καὶ ὁμιλίας, «βαρβάρου τε καὶ Ἑλληνικῆς», «ἐν τοῖς ὅρκοις» ἐμὲ μάρτυρα «παραλήψονται βεβαιοῦντες τὰς ἑαυτῶν πίστεις». Οἱ δ' αὐτοὶ οὗτοι ἐροῦσι ∆ικαιοσύνη καὶ δόξα πρὸς αὐτὸν ἥξει, ἢ κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον· δικαιοσύνη καὶ ἰσχὺς εἰς αὐτὸν ἐλεύσεται. πᾶσαι αἱ ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἀρεταὶ τέλος αὐτὸν ἕξουσι καὶ πᾶσα ἰσχὺς ἀνθρώπων τῶν ὑπὲρ θεοσεβείας ἀγωνισαμένων πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐλεύσεται καὶ τὸν τῶν καμάτων καρπὸν τήν τε ἀμοιβὴν τῆς ἀρετῆς λήψονται, οἱ δὲ διορίζοντες ἑαυτοὺς ἀπ' αὐτοῦ αἰσχυνθήσονται. διὸ καὶ ἐν ἑτέροις λέλεκται· «αἰσχυνθήσονται πάντες οἱ προσκυνοῦντες γλυπτοῖς οἱ ἐγκαυχώμενοι ἐν τοῖς εἰδώλοις αὐτῶν». πότε δὲ οὗτοι αἰσχυνθήσονται ἢ ὅταν πᾶν γόνυ κάμψῃ τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἐξομολογήσηται αὐτῷ πᾶσα γλῶσσα. Ἑξῆς τούτοις λέγεται· δικαιωθήσονται καὶ ἐν τῷ θεῷ ἐνδοξασθήσονται πᾶν τὸ σπέρμα τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ. καὶ θέα τὴν ἀκρίβειαν τοῦ λόγου· οὐ γὰρ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ εἶπεν οὐδὲ τὸ σπέρμα Ἰσραήλ, ἀλλὰ τὸ σπέρμα τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ. υἱοὶ δὲ Ἰσραὴλ ἐτύγχανον οἱ πρῶτοι κήρυκες τοῦ σωτηρίου εὐαγγελίου, ὧν τὸ σπέρμα καὶ τὴν διαδοχὴν δικαιωθήσεσθαι καὶ δοξασθήσεσθαι εἴρηται. καὶ ἐν ἀρχῇ δὲ τῆς προφητείας περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν εἴρητο· «εἰ μὴ κύριος σαβαὼθ ἐγκατέλιπεν ἡμῖν σπέρμα, ὡς Σόδομα ἂν ἐγενήθημεν καὶ ὡς Γόμορρα ἂν ὡμοιώθημεν». 2.30 Περιγράψασα ἡ προφητεία τὰ περὶ τῆς ἐπιστροφῆς τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς ἐκλογῆς τοῦ σπέρματος τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ ἐπιστρέφει πάλιν πρὸς Ἰουδαίους τὸν λόγον καὶ τὴν τῆς εἰδωλολατρίας παντελῆ κατάλυσιν σημαίνει λέγουσα· Ἔπεσε Βήλ, συνετρίβη ∆αγών, ἐγένετο τὰ γλυπτὰ αὐτῶν εἰς θηρία καὶ κτήνη. Βὴλ δὲ εἴδωλον ἦν, ὅπερ Ἕλληνες καλοῦσιν ἤλ, ἑρμηνεύοντες αὐτὸν εἶναι τὸν παρ' αὐτοῖς καλούμενον Κρόνον, περὶ ὃν οὕτως ἦσαν οἱ παλαιοὶ ἐπτοημένοι ὡς κατασφάττειν αὐτῷ τὰ ἑαυτῶν φίλτατα καὶ ἄλλας μυρίας ἀνθρωποθυσίας αὐτῷ κατὰ πάντα τόπον προσφέρειν. ∆αγὼν δὲ καὶ αὐτὸ ξόανον ἦν τῶν ἀλλοφύλων τῶν τὴν Ἀσκάλωνα καὶ τὴν Γάζαν οἰκούντων. καὶ δὴ μερικῶς