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knowing all things before their genesis, does not need the teaching of number for the knowledge of the things that exist. But indeed he is said by David to number; evidently for our instruction, with the word condescending to clarity in a way we can grasp, David indicated by the meaning of number 2.1.432 that He knows accurately what is unknown to us. Therefore, just as he is said to number, needing nothing of the process of arithmetic for the knowledge of existing things, so also prophecy says he calls them all by names, not signifying, I think, this calling that is by voice. For the argument would proceed and end in something absurd and unworthy of the conception of God, if it were to say that these names current in our usage were given to the 2.1.433 stars by God. For if one were to grant that these were called by God, it would be entirely necessary to think that the naming of the Greek idols was also proclaimed from there upon the stars, and to consider as true all that is said in mythical history concerning the stellar names, as if God were ratifying such words for them. Thus the seven-day period of those things contained in the whole celestial sphere, having been divided among the Greek idols, will make those who have been deceived concerning these things beyond reproach, if this were believed to have been ordained 2.1.434 by God. Thus the myth concerning Orion and Scorpio is brought to belief, and the narratives about the Argo, and the Swan, the Eagle, and the Dog, and the mythology concerning the Crown of Ariadne; and it will establish that God is supposed to be the inventor of the names conceived for the phenomena according to some configuration of the zodiacal circle, if Eunomius rightly thinks that David says God places these names on them. 2.1.435 Since, therefore, it is absurd to think God is the inventor of such names, so that the names of the idols might not also seem to have had their origin from there, it would be well not to accept what was said without examination, but to understand the meaning in this also, according to the likeness of what we have understood concerning number. For since among us the calling of an acquaintance by name is a testimony of accurate knowledge, it teaches us through these things that of the things incomprehensible to us, He who contains all things not only comprehends in knowledge the fullness of the quantity gathered in sum, but also 2.1.436 knows the individual things with precision. For this reason, the word says not only that he has numbered the multitudes of the stars, but also that he calls each by name, which signifies that his precision extends to the smallest details, and that he knows the individual things as accurately as a man knows someone recognized by him by name. But if someone should say that there are other names placed on the stars by God, which he thinks human usage does not know, about which he supposes David spoke, such a person 2.1.437 wanders far from the truth. For if there were other names for the stars, divine Scripture would not have made mention of these names, which are in the common use of Greek custom, with Isaiah saying *He who makes Pleiades and Hesperus and Arcturus and the chambers of the South*, and Job naming Orion and Asharoth, so that from this it is clear that divine Scripture has made use of the names well-worn in life for our instruction. Thus we have also heard of the horn of Amaltheia in Job and Sirens in Isaiah, the one so naming the all-bearing nature of good things from the Greek concept, and Isaiah indicating pleasure from hearing by the name of the 2.1.438 Sirens. Therefore, just as here the divinely inspired word made use of the names from mythical narratives, looking to what is useful for the hearers, so there too the word spoke without shame the names called upon the stars from human invention, teaching that every thing whatsoever named by men has its existence from 2.1.439 God, the thing, not the name. For it is not the one who names, but, he says, *the one who makes Pleiades and Hesperus and Arcturus*. Therefore, I think sufficiently through what has been said and

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πάντα εἰδὼς πρὸ γενέσεως ἀριθμοῦ διδασκάλου πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὑποκειμένων γνῶσιν οὐκ ἐπιδέεται. ἀλλὰ μὴν ἀριθμεῖν λέγεται παρὰ τοῦ ∆αβίδ· δηλονότι πρὸς τὴν ἡμετέραν διδασκαλίαν κατὰ τὸ ἡμῖν χωρητὸν τοῦ λόγου πρὸς σαφήνειαν κατιόντος τὸ ἀκριβῶς εἰδέναι τὰ ἡμῖν ἄγνωστα διὰ τῆς τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ 2.1.432 σημασίας ὁ ∆αβὶδ ἐνεδείξατο. ὥσπερ οὖν ἀριθμεῖν λέγεται οὐδὲν τῆς ἀριθμητικῆς περιόδου πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὄντων γνῶσιν ἐπιδεόμενος, οὕτως καὶ πᾶσιν αὐτοῖς ὀνόματα καλεῖν ἡ προφητεία λέγει, οὐ ταύτην οἶμαι τὴν διὰ τῆς φωνῆς κλῆ σιν ὑποσημαίνουσα. ἦ γὰρ ἂν εἰς ἄτοπόν τι καὶ ἀνάξιον τῆς περὶ θεοῦ ὑπολήψεως ὁ λόγος προϊὼν καταλήγοι, εἴπερ ταῦτα λέγοι τὰ ὀνόματα παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τεθεῖσθαι τοῖς 2.1.433 ἄστροις τὰ ἐν τῇ συνηθείᾳ ἡμῶν ἀναστρεφόμενα. εἰ γὰρ ταῦτά τις δοίη θεόθεν ἐπικεκλῆσθαι, ἀνάγκη πᾶσα καὶ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν εἰδώλων ἐκεῖθεν οἴεσθαι τὴν κλῆσιν ἐπι πεφημίσθαι τοῖς ἄστροις καὶ ὅσα τῆς μυθικῆς ἱστορίας ἐπιλέγεται τοῖς ἀστρῴοις ὀνόμασιν ἀληθῆ νομίσαι, ὡς τοῦ θεοῦ τὰς τοιαύτας αὐτοῖς ἐπικυροῦντος φωνάς. οὕτως ἡ ἑβδομὰς τῶν ἐμπεριεχομένων τῷ παντὶ πόλῳ τοῖς Ἑλληνι κοῖς εἰδώλοις ἐπιμερισθεῖσα ἔξω μέμψεως τοὺς πρὸς ταῦτα πεπλανημένους ποιήσει, εἴπερ ἐκ θεοῦ πιστευθείη τοῦτο 2.1.434 διατετάχθαι. οὕτως ὁ κατὰ τὸν Ὠρίωνα καὶ Σκορπίον μῦθος εἰς πίστιν ἄγεται καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς Ἀργοῦς διηγήματα καὶ ὁ Κύκνος καὶ ὁ Ἀετὸς καὶ ὁ Κύων ἥ τε κατὰ τὸν Στέφανον τῆς Ἀριάδνης μυθοποιΐα, καὶ τοῦ ζῳοφόρου κύ-κλου τῶν κατά τινα σχηματισμὸν ἐπινοηθέντων τοῖς φαινο μένοις ὀνομάτων θεὸν εὑρετὴν ὑπονοεῖσθαι κατασκευάσει, εἴπερ καλῶς ὁ Εὐνόμιος οἴεται τὸν ∆αβὶδ λέγειν ὅτι ταῦτα αὐτοῖς τὰ ὀνόματα ὁ θεὸς ἐπιτίθησι. 2.1.435 Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἄτοπον τῶν τοιούτων ὀνομάτων τὸν θεὸν εὑρετὴν οἴεσθαι, ὡς ἂν μὴ καὶ τὰ τῶν εἰδώλων ὀνόματα ἐκεῖθεν τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐσχηκέναι δοκοίη, καλῶς ἂν ἔχοι μὴ ἀνεξετάστως τὸ ῥηθὲν παραδέξασθαι, ἀλλὰ καθ' ὁμοιότητα τῶν κατὰ τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἡμῖν νενοημένων καὶ τὸν ἐν τούτῳ νοῦν κατανοῆσαι. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν ἡμῖν μαρτύριον τῆς ἀκριβοῦς ἐστι γνώσεως τὸ ἐξ ὀνόματος παρ' ἡμῶν προσκαλεῖσθαι τὸν γνώριμον, διδάσκει διὰ τούτων ἡμᾶς ὅτι τῶν ἡμῖν ἀλήπτων οὐ μόνον τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς ἐν κεφαλαίῳ ἀθροιζομένης πο σότητος διαλαμβάνει τῇ γνώσει ὁ τὸ πᾶν περιέχων, ἀλλὰ 2.1.436 καὶ τὰ καθ' ἕκαστον δι' ἀκριβείας ἐπίσταται. τούτου χάριν οὐ μόνον ἐξηριθμηκέναι τὰ πλήθη τῶν ἄστρων αὐτὸν ὁ λόγος φησίν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξ ὀνόματος ἕκαστον προσκαλεῖσθαι, ὅπερ σημαίνει τὸ μέχρι τῶν λεπτοτέρων διήκειν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀκρίβειαν καὶ οὕτως ἀκριβῶς ἐπιγινώσκειν τὰ καθ' ἕκαστον, ὡς ὁ ἄνθρωπος τὸν δι' ὀνόματος αὐτῷ γνωριζόμενον. εἰ δέ τις λέγοι ἄλλας εἶναι τὰς παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῖς ἄστροις ἐπικειμένας φωνάς, ἃς ἀγνοεῖν οἴεται τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην χρῆσιν, περὶ ὧν ὑπολαμβάνει τὸν ∆αβὶδ εἰρηκέναι, πόρρω 2.1.437 τῆς ἀληθείας ὁ τοιοῦτος ἀποπλανᾶται. εἰ γὰρ ἦν ἕτερα ἐπὶ τῶν ἄστρων ὀνόματα, οὐκ ἂν ἡ θεία γραφὴ τούτων ἐποιεῖτο μνήμην τῶν ὀνομάτων, ἃ ἐν τῇ καταχρήσει τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς συνηθείας ἐστίν, Ἠσαΐου μὲν λέγοντος Ὁ ποιῶν Πλειάδα καὶ Ἕσπερον καὶ Ἀρκτοῦρον καὶ ταμεῖα Νότου,τοῦ δὲ Ἰὼβ τὸν Ὠρίωνα καὶ τὴν Ἀσηρὼθ ὀνομάζοντος,ὡς ἐκ τούτου δῆλον εἶναι, ὅτι τοῖς ἐν τῷ βίῳ τετριμμένοις ὀνόμασι πρὸς διδασκαλίαν ἡμῶν συγκέχρηται ἡ θεία γραφή. οὕτω καὶ Ἀμαλθείας κέρας ἐν τῷ Ἰὼβ ἀκηκόαμεν καὶ παρὰ τῷ Ἠσαΐᾳ Σειρῆνας, τοῦ μὲν τὸ πάμφορον τῶν ἀγα θῶν ἐκ τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς ὑπονοίας οὕτω κατονομάζοντος, Ἠσαΐου δὲ τὴν ἐξ ἀκοῆς ἡδονὴν τῷ τῶν Σειρήνων παρα 2.1.438 δηλοῦντος ὀνόματι. ὥσπερ οὖν ἐνταῦθα τοῖς ἐκ τῶν μυθι κῶν διηγημάτων ὀνόμασιν ὁ θεόπνευστος συνεχρήσατο λόγος, πρὸς τὸ τῶν ἀκουόντων χρήσιμον βλέπων, οὕτω κἀκεῖ τὰς ἐκ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἐπινοίας τοῖς ἄστροις ἐπικληθείσας φωνὰς εἶπεν ἀνεπαισχύντως ὁ λόγος, διδάσκων ὅτι πᾶν πρᾶγμα τὸ ὁπωσοῦν παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὀνομαζόμενον ἐκ 2.1.439 θεοῦ τὴν ὕπαρξιν ἔχει, τὸ πρᾶγμα, οὐχὶ τὸ ὄνομα. οὐ γὰρ ὁ ὀνομάζων, ἀλλ' ὁ ποιῶν, φησί, Πλειάδα καὶ Ἕσπερον καὶ Ἀρκτοῦρον. οὐκοῦν ἱκανῶς οἶμαι διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων καὶ