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to men the use both of the things named and of the names, and that the calling of the things given is higher than the origin of those who use them20, saying all these things thus, word for word. 2.1.263 If, then, he possesses some private Moses, from whom he is taught these wise things, and starting from there is bold with such arguments, that 20God legislates20, as this man says, 20the utterances of men20, commanding in this way and forbidding in another that words be applied to things, let him use his nonsense as he sees fit, having his secret Moses as an ally. But if the only Moses is the one whose writing is a common lesson for those who have been instructed in the divine word, we will accept the condemnation, if we are refuted by the words 2.1.264 of Moses. Where, then, did he find the law concerning verbs and nouns? Let him set it forth from the very writings themselves. The creation of the world, and the genealogy of the men who followed, and the history of certain events, and the varied legislation concerning observances related to worship and those related to life—these are the main points of the writing of Moses. But if this man says there is some legislation of words, let him show the law, and I will be silent; but he would not be able 2.1.265 to say. For he would not, having abandoned the clearer proofs, have gone through those things by which he seems ridiculous rather than persuasive to his listeners. For to suppose this to be <τὸ> the main point of piety, to attribute the invention of words to God—for whom the whole cosmos and its wonders are a small thing for praise—how is it not the utmost foolishness to abandon great things and to dignify the divine with human things? He introduced a command of creation, spoken by Moses in a human way, but coming to be in a way befitting God. 2.1.266 This will, then, which is creative of the things constituted by divine power—this precise expert of the scriptures declares it to be a teaching of words, and as if God had said, "let a word come to be" or "let a phrase be constituted" or "let this thing receive such-and-such a name," this man puts forward in defense of his own words the creative movement of creation in the divine will, out of his great attention to and experience with the scriptures not even knowing this: that even an impulse of the mind is often called a voice by 2.1.267 scripture. And the witness to this is Moses himself, whom, though misinterpreting him in many ways, he was ignorant of in this respect. For who does not know, of those who are even in any way familiar with the book, that the Israelite people were suddenly terrified in the desert by the attack of the Egyptians, having just fled Egypt, and with terrors appearing to them from all sides—with the sea on that side blocking their passage, and the enemies behind them preventing their flight—having gathered against the prophet, they blamed him for this predicament. And as he was encouraging those who were cowering in fear and exhorting them to courage, a voice comes from God calling the 2.1.268 prophet by name: "Why do you cry to me?" And yet before these words, the text makes no mention of any voice of Moses, but the thought of the prophet toward God was named a voice, being cried out in its silence in the secret thought of his heart. If, then, Moses cries out without speaking, with one as witness who hears unspoken groans, what is strange if the prophet, having known the divine will, made it manifest in a way that was possible both for him to say and for us to hear, through words familiar and customary to us, describing a dialogue of God in a more bodily manner, one that takes place not in words, but is spoken through the works themselves? 2.1.269 "In the beginning," it says, "God made" not the name of the heaven and the earth, but the heaven and the earth. And he said, "Let there be light," not the name of light. "And having separated the light from the darkness," it says, "God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night." It is likely that those who oppose us rely on these things. For I will argue on their behalf and I will bring up in opposition what was omitted by them in the course of the examination, so that the doctrine might be more strongly confirmed for us, with no objection left unexamined

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ἀνθρώποις τῶν τε ὀνομαζομένων καὶ τῶν ὀνομάτων τὴν χρῆσιν, καὶ τήν γε τῶν δεδομένων κλῆσιν ἀνωτέραν εἶναι τῆς τῶν χρω μένων γενέσεως20, οὑτωσὶ πάντα κατὰ λέξιν εἰπών. 2.1.263 εἰ μὲν οὖν ἴδιον κέκτηταί τινα Μωϋσέα, παρ' οὗ τὰ σοφὰ ταῦτα διδάσκεται, κἀκεῖθεν ὁρμώμενος τοῖς τοιούτοις ἐπι θαρσεῖ τῶν λόγων, ὅτι 20θεὸς διαθεσμοθετεῖ20, καθὼς οὗτός φησι, 20τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὰς ῥήσεις20, οὑτωσί τε κελεύων καὶ ἑτέρως ἀπαγορεύων τὰς ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων κεῖσθαι φωνάς, κεχρήσθω πρὸς τὸ δοκοῦν τοῖς λήροις, σύμμαχον ἔχων τὸν κρυπτὸν Μωϋσέα. εἰ δὲ μόνος ἐστὶ Μωϋσῆς οὗ ἡ γραφὴ κοινὸν μάθημα τοῖς τὸν θεῖον λόγον πεπαιδευμένοις ἐστί, δεξόμεθα τὴν κατάγνωσιν, εἰ ὑπὸ τῶν 2.1.264 τοῦ Μωϋσέως ἐλεγχόμεθα λόγων. ποῦ τοίνυν τὸν περὶ ῥη μάτων τε καὶ ὀνομάτων εὕρατο νόμον, ἐπ' αὐτῶν ἐκθέσθω τῶν γεγραμμένων. κοσμογένεια καὶ τῶν καθεξῆς ἀνθρώ πων γενεαλογία καὶ πραγμάτων τινῶν ἱστορία καὶ ἡ ποικίλη νομοθεσία περί τε τῶν κατὰ τὴν λατρείαν καὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον παρατηρημάτων, ταῦτα τῆς Μωϋσέως γραφῆς τὰ κεφάλαια. εἰ δέ φησιν οὗτος εἶναί τινα ῥημάτων νομο θεσίαν, δειξάτω τὸν νόμον, κἀγὼ σιωπήσομαι· ἀλλ' οὐκ ἂν 2.1.265 εἰπεῖν ἔχοι. οὐ γὰρ ἂν τῶν ἐναργεστέρων ἀφέμενος ἀπο δείξεων ἐκεῖνα διεξῄει δι' ὧν καταγέλαστος μᾶλλον ἢ πιθανὸς δοκεῖ τοῖς ἀκούουσι. τὸ γὰρ οἴεσθαι τοῦτο εἶναι <τὸ> τῆς εὐσεβείας κεφάλαιον, τὸ ῥημάτων εὕρεσιν προσ μαρτυρεῖν τῷ θεῷ, ᾧ μικρὸς εἰς εὐφημίαν ὅλος ὁ κόσμος καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ θαύματα, πῶς οὐ τῆς ἐσχάτης εὐηθείας ἐστὶ τῶν μεγάλων ἀφέμενον ἐκ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων σεμνύνειν τὸ θεῖον; πρόσταγμα τῆς κτίσεως καθηγήσατο ῥηθὲν μὲν παρὰ τοῦ Μωϋσέως ἀνθρωπικῶς, θεοπρεπῶς δὲ γενόμενον. 2.1.266 τὸ τοίνυν ποιητικὸν τῶν θείᾳ δυνάμει συνεστηκότων θέλημα τοῦτο ῥημάτων διδασκαλίαν ὁ ἀκριβὴς ἐπιΐστωρ τῶν γραφῶν ἀποφαίνεται, καὶ ὥσπερ εἰπόντος τοῦ θεοῦ γενηθήτω ῥῆμα ἢ συστήτω λόγος ἢ τόδε τοιάνδε λαχέτω τὴν κλῆσιν οὗτος εἰς συνηγορίαν προβάλλεται τῶν ἰδίων ῥημάτων τὴν ὑπο στατικὴν τῆς κτίσεως ἐν τῷ θείῳ θελήματι κίνησιν, ὑπὸ πολλῆς προσοχῆς τῶν γραφῶν καὶ ἐμπειρίας οὐδὲ τοῦτο εἰδώς, ὅτι καὶ ὁρμὴ διανοίας φωνὴ πολλάκις παρὰ τῆς 2.1.267 γραφῆς ὀνομάζεται. καὶ τούτου μάρτυς Μωϋσῆς αὐτός, ὃν πολλαχῆ παρασύρων κατὰ τοῦτο τὸ μέρος ἠγνόησε. τίς γὰρ οὐκ οἶδε τῶν καὶ ὁπωσοῦν καθωμιληκότων τῇ βίβλῳ, ὅτι κατεπλάγησαν μὲν ἀθρόως ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων τὴν ἔφοδον ὁ Ἰσραηλίτης λαός, ἄρτι τὴν Αἴγυπτον ἀπο δράσαντες, πανταχόθεν δὲ προφαινομένων αὐτοῖς τῶν δεινῶν, ἐκεῖθεν τῆς θαλάσσης ἀποτειχιζούσης τὴν πάροδον, κατόπιν τῶν πολεμίων τὴν φυγὴν κωλυόντων, συστάντες πρὸς τὸν προφήτην τῆς ἀμηχανίας ταύτης ἐκεῖνον ἐπῃτιῶντο· τοῦ δὲ παραμυθουμένου τοὺς κατεπτηχότας τῷ φόβῳ καὶ εἰς προ θυμίαν παραθαρσύνοντος γίνεται θεόθεν φωνὴ ὀνομαστὶ τὸν 2.1.268 προφήτην προσκαλουμένη· Τί βοᾷς πρός με; καίτοι γε πρὸ τῶν εἰρημένων οὐδεμιᾶς ὁ λόγος ἐπιμέμνηται Μωϋσέως φωνῆς, ἀλλ' ἡ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν τοῦ προφήτου διάνοια φωνή τις ὠνομάσθη κατὰ τὸ σιωπώμενον ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ τῆς καρ δίας νοήματι βοωμένη. εἰ δὴ Μωϋσῆς βοᾷ μὴ φθεγγόμενος ὑπὸ μάρτυρι τῷ τῶν ἀλαλήτων στεναγμῶν ἐπαΐοντι, τί καινὸν εἰ καὶ τὸ θεῖον βούλημα γνοὺς ὁ προφήτης, ὡς δυνατὸν ἦν αὐτῷ τε εἰπεῖν καὶ ἡμῖν ἀκοῦσαι, διὰ τῶν γνωρίμων ἡμῖν καὶ συνήθων ἐφανέρωσε λόγων, διάλογον θεοῦ σωματικώτερον διαγράφων οὐ ῥήμασι γινόμενον, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν 2.1.269 ἐκφωνούμενον; Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησε, φησίν, ὁ θεὸς οὐ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς, ἀλλὰ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν· καὶ εἶπε Γενηθήτω φῶς, οὐχὶ προσηγορία φωτός· Καὶ διακρίνας τὸ φῶς ἀπὸ τοῦ σκότους ἐκάλεσε, φησίν, ὁ θεὸς τὸ φῶς ἡμέραν καὶ τὸ σκότος ἐκάλεσε νύκτα. Τούτοις εἰκός ἐστι τοὺς ἐναντιουμένους ἡμῖν ἐπιστηρίζε σθαι. συστήσομαι γὰρ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν τῷ λόγῳ καὶ τὰ παρεθέντα παρ' ἐκείνων ἀνθυποίσω τῇ ἀκολουθίᾳ τῆς ἐξε τάσεως, ὡς ἂν ἰσχυρότερον ἡμῖν βεβαιωθείη τὸ δόγμα, μηδεμιᾶς ἀντιθέσεως ἀνεξετάστου