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the overthrow and the salvation both of us and of those who encounter it. Against the Sampsaeans, 33, but of the sequence, 53. 1. A certain heresy of some Sampsaeans in Peraea, about whom we have already made mention in the other heresies, who are indeed also called Elkesaites, exists in the region so called Peraea, beyond the Salt, that is, the so-called Dead Sea, and in the country of Moabitis around the river Arnon and beyond in Ituraea and Nabataea, as has already been declared by me many times concerning these things. for these men boast that Elxai is their teacher, and still to this day there are two women of his lineage, who are worshipped as goddesses, supposedly because they are from a blessed seed. and the Ossaeans and Ebionites and Nazoraeans also use this book, as I have already said many times. But by nature these Sampsaeans spring from this, being neither Christians nor Jews nor Greeks, but simply being in the middle, they are nothing. and they say they have another book, called Iexai, of the brother of Elxai. And they speak of one God and supposedly worship him, using certain baptisms; and they adhere to the Jews, but not in all things. and some of them abstain from living things. And they are utterly devoted to those from the lineage of Elxai. and at this time I had heard that the one woman, called Marthous, had died, but Marthana still remained, and does now, unless she too has died. And if ever such women had an outing, going somewhere, their crowds, following along, taking the dust of their feet supposedly for the sake of healing, and likewise the saliva of their spittle, being greatly deluded, used them for phylacteries and amulets. For every error first had blindness, then empty talk. and such men accept neither prophets nor apostles, and everything with them is deceived. And water is honored by them and they consider this as a god, almost saying that life is from it. But they confess Christ by name, 2.316 considering him a creature and one who appears from time to time. and that he was first formed in Adam, and that he divests himself of the body of Adam and again puts it on, when he wishes. and that he is called Christ and that the Holy Spirit is his sister, existing in female form, each of them, both the Christ and the Holy Spirit, having a height of ninety-six miles, and a breadth of twenty-four, and many other nonsensical things *. 2. And having already discoursed about these things many times in other heresies, I have made the refutations; wherefore I did not consider it necessary to make much of their destructive refutation, since we have already labored against Elxaeus himself, or rather Elxai, and those from him in the other previously mentioned heresies; for such a one and the heresy from him is visible to all, that it has been led astray. As having then struck a sun-lizard with the rod of the hope of Christ and of the cross, let us go on to the next things. For it is fitting, with the name by which these men also named themselves, to use the same riddle for the expression of their counterfeit name. For Sampsaeans is interpreted as Solarites; wherefore we also made mention of the animal. For men so call this lizard "solar". But this heresy is worse than the lizard, not even having its momentary benefit. For that one, having grown dim-sighted with time, regains its sight by turning to the sun; for in a lair facing the east, having pressed itself in and having fasted, and gazing toward the east, it casts off its dim-sightedness; but this heresy, I say, possesses in all things the foolishness of the animal, but not even the little bit of praise. Thus therefore let this heresy also, called by us a sun-lizard, and having been trampled by the truth † of him, 2.317 remain, prevailing in nothing against the truth of God; but let us, as we said, set out for the others. Against the Theodotians, 34, but of the sequence, 54. 1. There arose again a certain Theodotus, a fragment

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ἀνατροπὴν καὶ ἡμῶν καὶ τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων σωτηρίαν. Κατὰ Σαμψαίων ˉλˉγ, τῆς δὲ ἀκολουθίας ˉνˉγ. 1. Σαμψαίων τινῶν ἐν τῇ Περαίᾳ, περὶ ὧν ἤδη ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις αἱρέσεσιν ἐπεμνήσθημεν, τῶν δὴ καὶ Ἐλκεσαίων καλουμένων, αἵρεσίς 2.315 τις ὑπάρχει ἐν τῇ Περαίᾳ οὕτω καλουμένῃ χώρᾳ πέραν τῆς ἁλυκῆς ἤτοι νεκρᾶς καλουμένης θαλάσσης, ἔν τε τῇ Μωαβίτιδι χώρᾳ περὶ τὸν χειμάρρουν Ἀρνὼν καὶ ἐπέκεινα ἐν τῇ Ἰτουραίᾳ καὶ Ναβατίτιδι, ὡς καὶ ἤδη μοι πολλάκις περὶ τούτων δεδήλωται. οὗτοι γὰρ αὐχοῦσι τὸν Ἠλξαῖον αὐτῶν εἶναι διδάσκαλον, ἔτι δὲ καὶ εἰς δεῦρο τοῦ γένους αὐτοῦ ὑπαρχούσας δύο γυναῖκας, προσκυνουμένας ὡς θεὰς δῆθεν διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτὰς ἐκ σπέρματος εὐλογημένου. κέχρηνται δὲ τῇ βίβλῳ ταύτῃ καὶ Ὀσσαῖοι καὶ Ἐβιωναῖοι καὶ Ναζωραῖοι, ὡς καὶ ἤδη πολλάκις εἶπον. φύσει δὲ οὗτοι οἱ Σαμψαῖοι ἐξ αὐτῆς ὁρμῶνται, οὔτε Χριστιανοὶ ὑπάρχοντες οὔτε Ἰουδαῖοι οὔτε Ἕλληνες, ἀλλὰ μέσον ἁπλῶς ὑπάρχοντες οὐδέν εἰσι. φασὶ δὲ καὶ ἄλλο βιβλίον ἔχειν Ἰεξαὶ λεγόμενον ἀδελφοῦ τοῦ Ἠλξαΐ. θεὸν δὲ ἕνα λέγουσι καὶ δῆθεν αὐτὸν σέβουσι βαπτισμοῖς τισι χρώμενοι· πρόσκεινται δὲ Ἰουδαίοις οὐκ ἐν ἅπασιν. ἀπέχονται δὲ καὶ ἐμψύχων τινὲς ἐξ αὐτῶν. ὑπεραποθνῄσκουσι δὲ τῶν ἐκ γένους τοῦ Ἠλξαΐ. καὶ ἐν μὲν τῷ χρόνῳ τούτῳ ἠκηκόειν ὅτι τέθνηκεν ἡ μία γυνὴ ἡ Μαρθοῦς καλουμένη, ἔμεινε δὲ καὶ ἔτι νῦν Μαρθάνα, εἰ μὴ καὶ αὐτὴ τέθνηκεν. εἴ ποτε δὲ ἔξοδον εἶχον αἱ τοιαῦταί ποι βαδίζουσαι, συνεπόμενοι οἱ ὄχλοι αὐτῶν τὸν χοῦν τῶν ποδῶν λαμβάνοντες ἰάσεως ἕνεκεν δῆθεν καὶ τὸν σίελον τῶν πτυσμάτων ὡσαύτως μεγάλως ἐμπαιζόμενοι ἐχρῶντο ἐν φυλακτηρίοις τε καὶ περιάπτοις. πᾶσα γὰρ πλάνη ἔσχε πρῶτον τὴν τύφλωσιν, ἔπειτα τὴν κενοφωνίαν. καὶ οὔτε προφήτας δέχονται οἱ τοιοῦτοι οὔτε ἀποστόλους, τὰ πάντα δὲ παρ' αὐτοῖς ἠπάτηται. τετίμηται δὲ αὐτοῖς τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τοῦτο ὡς θεὸν ἡγοῦνται, σχεδὸν φάσκοντες εἶναι τὴν ζωὴν ἐκ τούτου. Χριστὸν δὲ ὀνόματι ὁμολο2.316 γοῦσι, κτίσμα αὐτὸν ἡγούμενοι καὶ ἀεί ποτε φαινόμενον. καὶ πρῶτον μὲν πεπλάσθαι αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ Ἀδάμ, ἐκδύεσθαι δὲ αὐτὸν τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Ἀδὰμ καὶ πάλιν ἐνδύεσθαι, ὅτε βούλεται. καλεῖσθαι δὲ αὐτὸν Χριστὸν καὶ εἶναι τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα ἀδελφὴν αὐτοῦ θηλυκῷ σχήματι ὑπάρχουσαν, ἐνενήκοντα ἓξ μιλίων τὸ ὕψος ἕκαστον αὐτῶν ἔχον, τόν τε Χριστὸν καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, καὶ τὸ πλάτος εἰκοσιτεσσάρων, καὶ πολλὰ ληρώδη ἕτερα *. 2. Ἤδη δὲ περὶ τούτων πολλάκις ἐν ἄλλαις αἱρέσεσι διηγούμενος τὰς ἀνατροπὰς πεποίημαι· διὸ οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον ἡγησάμην περὶ πολλοῦ ποιήσασθαι τὴν αὐτῶν κατάλυσιν τῆς ἀνατροπῆς, ὡς ἤδη ἡμῶν ἐργασαμένων εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν Ἠλξαῖον εἴτ' οὖν Ἠλξαῒ καὶ τοὺς ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις προδεδηλωμέναις αἱρέσεσι· πᾶσι γὰρ φωρατὸς ὁ τοιοῦτος καὶ ἡ ἐξ αὐτοῦ αἵρεσις ὅτι πεπλάνηται. ὡς οὖν σαύραν ἡλιακὴν πεπαικότες ῥάβδῳ ἐλπίδος Χριστοῦ καὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ ἐπὶ τὰς ἑξῆς ἴωμεν. ἄξιον γάρ ἐστιν ᾧ ὀνόματι ἑαυτοὺς καὶ οὗτοι ὠνόμασαν, τῷ αὐτῷ κεχρῆσθαι αἰνίγματι εἰς φράσιν τῆς αὐτῶν παραπεποιημένης ἐπωνυμίας. Σαμψαῖοι γὰρ ἑρμηνεύονται Ἡλιακοί· διὸ καὶ τοῦ ζῴου ἐπεμνήσθημεν. ταύτην γὰρ σαύραν οὕτω κικλῄσκουσιν ἡλιακὴν οἱ ἄνθρωποι. χείρων δὲ ἡ αἵρεσις αὕτη τῆς σαύρας, μηδὲ τὸ ἀκαριαῖον τῆς ὠφελείας αὐτῆς ἔχουσα. ἐκείνη γὰρ ἀμβλυωπήσασα χρόνῳ ἀναβλέπει διὰ ἡλιακῆς στροφάλιγγος· ἐν φωλεῷ γὰρ πρὸς ἀνατολὴν προσέχοντι ἑαυτὴν προσθλίψασα καὶ νηστεύσασα πρὸς ἀνατολήν τε κατανοοῦσα ἀποτίθεται τὴν ἀμβλυωπίαν· αὕτη δέ φημι ἡ αἵρεσις ἐν ἅπασιν τὴν ἀφροσύνην κέκτηται τοῦ ζῴου, οὐ μὴν κἂν τὸ ὀλίγον τοῦ ἐπαίνου. οὕτως οὖν καὶ αὕτη ἡ αἵρεσις, σαύρα ἡμῖν λεχθεῖσα ἡλιακή, καὶ καταπατηθεῖσα ὑπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας † αὐτοῦ 2.317 μενέτω, μηδὲν κατισχύουσα κατὰ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ ἀληθείας· ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐπὶ τὰς ἄλλας, ὡς εἴπαμεν, ἐξορμήσωμεν. Κατὰ Θεοδοτιανῶν ˉλˉδ, τῆς δὲ ἀκολουθίας ˉνˉδ. 1. Ἀνέστη πάλιν Θεόδοτός τις, ἀπόσπασμα