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by their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, in order to make them jealous. For just as a father, when his children are turning away from him, takes one of them and sits him on his knees, and does this not for that child's sake, but much more for the others, so that they, being stung by the honor, might run to the father to enjoy the same care; so also God did in the case of the Jews. For taking them not upon His knees, but upon His arms, as the prophet says, and upon His back He took them up, He bestows the things that were desirable to them: a temple, sacrifices, which they especially sought with greater exactness, protection in wars, victories, trophies, the abundance from the earth, the prosperity of nature, both adorning them with these things, and leading the others to jealousy. But since they were always going to become wicked by being flattered, He also disciplines them through punishments. For great is the wisdom of God, and He finds ways out of impossible situations. 4. And see the Prophet's understanding; having led the discourse from the universal to these things, so that no one of the foolish might think God to be partial, when he came to the universal, then he takes up these words, and says: Who smote the firstborn of Egypt. Does it not seem to you that these things happened rather for the sake of the Jews? If, then, I show that these things also happened for the sake of others, what will they say who do not speak of the universal providence of God? How then is it possible to show this? For most of all, the declaration of God is sufficient, which clearly reveals it, saying: That I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Did you see death becoming good news, and that God-sent plague a proclamation, going about everywhere, and heralding the power of God? He provides, therefore, for the whole inhabited world, even when he is administering the affairs of the Jews. And yet He made His power known also long ago, as in the case of Joseph, in the case of Abraham, but nevertheless now more clearly. How? Then through benefits; but later also through a plague; and he does not cease, as I have often said before, continually and in every generation revealing and making himself known through his deeds. But he does not always do this in the same way, but in various and different ways; for at that time through the wife of Abraham, having maimed the pangs of nature, but later through fa 55.393 mine, and through prosperity; and after these things through successive plagues. Since, therefore, they condemned God for weakness, and they themselves were destroying the firstborn, and had made the river red with blood; He shows them His strength, even at that very time, through more obscure means. For the Egyptian midwives, having despised those cruel commands, and having outwitted the harsh decree of the king, enjoyed great prosperity. Both of these things were of God's providence; for to show women to be braver than those who wear diadems, and to give rewards to these women, and to extend them into a great multitude. For, 'He dealt well with the midwives,' means this: their kinship was extended; for through the ways they benefited the Jews, through these they received their rewards from God. Since, therefore, they did not destroy their children, God also granted them many children. But since they remained insensate, He brought a sharper plague, and the inhabited world learned, and the Egyptians also learned; and the former by hearing, but the latter in their own sufferings, and by sight, and by experience saw the power of God. For because of this He also foretold it to them, so that the plague might not be thought to be some chance occurrence and a spontaneous death. What, therefore, has been said elsewhere about the Savior, this indeed can also be said here. What is that? And rule in the midst of your enemies. For not into a desert

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αὐτῶν παραπτώματι ἡ σωτηρία τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, εἰς τὸ παραζηλῶσαι αὐτούς. Καὶ γὰρ ὥσπερ πατὴρ ἐπὶ παιδίων ἀφισταμένων αὐτοῦ, λαβὼν ἓν ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τῶν γονάτων καθίζει, καὶ οὐ δι' ἐκεῖνο τοῦτο ποιεῖ, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ μᾶλλον διὰ τὰ ἄλλα, ὥστε δηχθέντα αὐτὰ τῇ τιμῇ προσδραμεῖν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα τῆς αὐτῆς ἀπολαύσοντα θεραπείας· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἐπὶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐποίησε. Λαβὼν γὰρ αὐτοὺς οὐκ ἐπὶ τῶν γονάτων, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῶν βραχιόνων καθάπερ ὁ προφήτης φησὶ, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν μεταφρένων ἀνέλαβεν αὐτοὺς, χαρίζεται τὰ ἐκείνοις ποθεινὰ, ναὸν, θυσίας, ἃ μάλιστα ἐζήτουν μετὰ πλείονος τῆς ἀκριβείας, προστασίας τὰς ἐν πολέμοις, νίκας, τρόπαια, τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς εὐθηνίαν, τὴν τῆς φύσεως εὐετηρίαν, τούτοις τε τούτους καλλωπίζων, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους εἰς ζῆλον ἄγων. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ἔμελλον φαῦλοι γίνεσθαι διαπαντὸς κολακευόμενοι, καὶ διὰ τῶν τιμωριῶν αὐτοὺς ῥυθμίζει. Πολλὴ γὰρ ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφία, καὶ ἐξ ἀμηχάνων εὑρίσκει πόρους. δʹ. Καὶ ὅρα Προφήτου σύνεσιν· ἀπὸ τῶν καθόλου εἰς ταῦτα τὸν λόγον ἐξαγαγὼν, ἵνα μή τις τῶν ἀνοήτων μερικὸν νομίσῃ τὸν Θεὸν εἶναι, ὅτε ἐπὶ τὰ καθόλου ἦλθε, τότε τούτων ἅπτεται τῶν λόγων, καί φησιν· Ὃς ἐπάταξε τὰ πρωτότοκα Αἰγύπτου. Ἆρα οὐ δοκεῖ μᾶλλον ὑμῖν διὰ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους γεγενῆσθαι ταῦτα; Ἂν τοίνυν δείξω, ὅτι καὶ δι' ἑτέρους ταῦτα ἐγένετο, τί ἐροῦσιν οἱ μὴ καθόλου τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν πρόνοιαν λέγοντες; Πῶς οὖν ἔστι δεῖξαι; Μάλιστα μὲν γὰρ ἀρκεῖ ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπόφασις, ἡ σαφῶς αὐτὸ δηλοῦσα, καὶ λέγουσα· Ὅπως ἐνδείξωμαι ἐν σοὶ τὴν δύναμίν μου, καὶ ὅπως διαγγελῇ τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ. Εἶδες εὐαγγέλιον τὸν θάνατον γινόμενον, καὶ κήρυγμα τὴν θεήλατον πληγὴν ἐκείνην, πανταχοῦ περιιοῦσαν, καὶ ἀνακηρύττουσαν τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ δύναμιν; Προνοεῖ τοίνυν τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁπάσης, καὶ ἡνίκα τὰ Ἰουδαίων διοικεῖ. Καίτοι γε ἐγνώρισε τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῦ καὶ πάλαι, οἷον ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ, ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ, ἀλλ' ὅμως νῦν σαφέστερον. Πῶς; Τότε μὲν δι' εὐεργεσίας· ὕστερον δὲ καὶ διὰ πληγῆς· καὶ οὐ διαλιμπάνει, ὃ καὶ πολλάκις ἔφθην εἰπὼν, συνεχῶς καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην γενεὰν ἀναδεικνὺς ἑαυτὸν διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων, καὶ γνωρίζων. Οὐχ ὁμοίως δὲ ἀεὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖ, ἀλλὰ ποικίλως καὶ διαφόρως· τότε μὲν γὰρ διὰ τῆς γυναικὸς τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ, πηρώσας τὰς ὠδῖνας τῆς φύσεως, ὕστερον δὲ διὰ λι 55.393 μοῦ, καὶ δι' εὐετηρίας· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα διὰ τῶν πληγῶν τῶν ἐπαλλήλων. Ἐπειδὴ οὖν ἀσθένειαν τοῦ Θεοῦ κατεψηφίζοντο, καὶ ἀνῄρουν αὐτοὶ τὰ πρωτότοκα, καὶ τὸν ποταμὸν ἐφοίνιξαν· δείκνυσι μὲν αὐτοῖς καὶ παρ' αὐτὸν τὸν καιρὸν δι' ἀμυδροτέρων αὐτοῦ τὴν ἰσχύν. Αἱ γὰρ μαῖαι τῶν Αἰγυπτίων καταφρονήσασαι τῶν ἐπιταγμάτων τῶν ὠμῶν ἐκείνων, καὶ παραλογισάμεναι τὸ ἀπηνὲς τοῦ βασιλέως δόγμα, πολλῆς ἀπέλαυσαν τῆς εὐετηρίης. Ταῦτα δὲ ἀμφότερα τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ προνοίας ἦν· τό τε γὰρ γυναῖκας ἀνδρειοτέρας ἀποφῆναι τῶν τὰ διαδήματα φορούντων, τό τε ἀμοιβὰς ταύταις ἀποδιδόναι, καὶ εἰς πλῆθος αὐτὰς ἐκτεῖναι πολύ. Τὸ γὰρ, Εὖ ἐποίει ταῖς μαίαις, τοῦτό ἐστιν, ἐξετάθη αὐτῶν ἡ συγγένεια· δι' ὧν γὰρ εὐηργέτουν τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, διὰ τούτων ἐλάμβανον παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰς ἀμοιβάς. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν οὐκ ἀνῄρουν αὐτῶν τὰ τέκνα, καὶ αὐταῖς πολυπαιδίαν ὁ Θεὸς ἐχαρίσατο. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐπέμενον ἀναισθήτως διακείμενοι, ὀξυτέραν ἐπήγαγε τὴν πληγὴν, καὶ ἐμάνθανε μὲν ἡ οἰκουμένη, ἐμάνθανον δὲ καὶ οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι· καὶ ἐκεῖνοι μὲν ἐξ ἀκοῆς, οὗτοι δὲ ἐν τοῖς οἰκείοις πάθεσι, καὶ ὄψει, καὶ πείρᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν δύναμιν ἑώρων. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο καὶ προέλεγεν αὐτοῖς, ἵνα μὴ συντυχίας τινὸς εἶναι νομισθείη ἡ πληγὴ καὶ αὐτομάτου θανάτου. Ὅπερ οὖν ἀλλαχοῦ εἴρηται περὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος, τοῦτο δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἔστιν εἰπεῖν. Ποῖον δὴ τοῦτο; Καὶ κατακυρίευε ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου. Οὐ γὰρ εἰς ἔρημον