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to unfold arguments. But Joachim, the son of Joakim, the divine Jeremiah calls Jechonias; but the book of Chronicles [calls him] Joakim. This man, Evil-merodach, having released from prison, had as a table-companion and shared his meals with him. For he who strikes and heals, having given him over to his enemies, again deemed him worthy of freedom. 80.801

ON THE FIRST BOOK OF CHRONICLES. The title indicates the subject of the book of Chronicles. Whatever things

for the author of the books of Kings omitted, these things he who undertook this labor has composed, gathering them from many prophetic books. And he also fitted many of the things written there to these, in order to preserve the harmony of the history; And he began from the beginning with the genealogy, in order to show concisely how from one man all the tribes of men have sprung. And since he makes mention only of the kingdom of Judah, he teaches what their cities and villages were, and from whom they received their names. From this we learn that Nathan, from whom the wonderful Luke traced the genealogy of our Savior and Lord, was both a son of David and a brother of Solomon by the same mother. "For these," he says, "were born to David in Jerusalem: Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four sons of Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam." And this book shows that Rechab, who is praised in many places in Scripture, was from the tribe of Judah. And it teaches more clearly the reason for which Reuben was deprived of the birthright, and Joseph obtained it, while the tribe of Judah enjoyed greater honor. "For the sons," he says, "of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, for he was the firstborn. But when he defiled his father's couch, he gave his birthright to the sons of Joseph, and Reuben was not reckoned in the genealogy for the birthright, because Judah prevailed mightily among his brothers, and a leader came from him, but the birthright belonged to Joseph." And the account shows that Joseph received the privileges of the birthright, but Judah received the leadership on account of the Lord who sprang from him according to the flesh. For this is what is intimated by "a leader came from him." For the account indicates not only the kings from him, but also the eternal king, who had no beginning of days, nor 80.804 will he receive an end. And it teaches how the tribes beyond the Jordan, that of Reuben, and of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, engaged in battle with the Hagrites, and with the Ituraeans and Naphishites, and with the others arrayed with them, and how, when a fierce battle took place, they won a decisive victory and drove out the Hagrites. And it also states the reason for the victory: "Because," it says, "they cried out to God in the war, and he heard them, because they trusted in him." And he also recorded the number of the spoils: "For fifty," it says, "thousand camels they took, and two hundred and fifty thousand sheep, and two thousand donkeys, and one hundred thousand human souls. For there were many wounded, because the war was from God, and they settled in their place until the captivity." And it also gives the genealogy of the priests and the Levites; and it says that Zadok, who was high priest in the time of David, was the eleventh from Aaron; And that Azariah, who was a descendant of Zadok, was the first to serve as priest in the temple built by Solomon. Among these was also Jozadak, who was carried away captive to Babylon with the others. His son was Joshua the high priest, who with Zerubbabel brought back the captives and built the divine temple. From this we learn that Korah, who stirred up the sedition against the great Moses, was a descendant of Izhar; who was the son of Kohath, and the brother of Amram the father of Aaron and Moses; therefore he was the cousin of

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ἀνελίττειν λόγους. Τὸν δὲ Ἰωαχὶμ, τὸν τοῦ Ἰωακεὶμ υἱὸν, ὁ θεῖος Ἱερεμίας Ἰεχονίαν καλεῖ· ἡ δὲ τῶν Παραλειπομένβίβλος Ἰωακείμ. Τοῦτον ὁ Εὐϊλὰτ Μερωδὰχ τῆς εἱρκτῆς ἀπαλλάξας, ὁμοδίαιτον εἶχε καὶ ὁμοτράπε ζον. Ὁ τύπτων γὰρ καὶ ἰώμενος τοῖς πολεμίοις ἐκδεδωκὼς, πάλιν αὐτὸν ἐλευθερίας ἠξίωσεν. 80.801

ΕΙΣ ΤΗΝ ΠΡΩΤΗΝ ΤΩΝ ΠΑΡΑΛΕΙΠΟΜΕΝΩΝ. Τῆς βίβλου τῶν Παραλειπομένων τὴν ὑπόθεσιν ἡ προσηγορία δηλοῖ. Ὅσα

γὰρ παρέλιπεν ὁ τὰς Βασι λείας συγγεγραφὼς, ταῦτα συντέθεικεν ὁ τόνδε τὸν πόνον ἀναδεξάμενος, ἐκ πολλῶν αὐτὰ προφητικῶν βιβλίων συναγαγών. Πολλὰ δὲ καὶ τῶν ἐκεῖ συγγε γραμμένων τούτοις συνήρμοσεν, ἵνα φυλάξῃ τῆς ἱστορίας τὴν ἁρμονίαν· Ἄνωθεν δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς γενεα λογίας ἤρξατο, ἵνα δείξῃ συντόμως, ὡς ἐξ ἑνὸς ἀν θρώπου πάντα τὰ φῦλα τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐβλάστησεν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ μόνης τῆς Ἰούδα βασιλείας ποιεῖ τὴν μνήμην, διδάσκει τίνες αἱ τούτων πόλεις καὶ κῶμαι, καὶ ἐκ τίνων τὰς προσηγορίας ἐσχήκασιν. Ἐντεῦθεν μανθάνομεν ὡς Νάθαν, ἐξ οὗ τὸν Σωτῆρα καὶ Κύριον ἡμῶν ἐγενεαλόγησεν ὁ Λουκᾶς ὁ θαυμάσιος, καὶ τοῦ ∆αβὶδ ἦν υἱὸς, καὶ τοῦ Σολομῶντος ὁμομήτριος ἀδελφός. "Οὗτοι γὰρ, φησὶ, τῷ ∆αβὶδ ἐτέχθησαν ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, Σαμαὰ, καὶ Σωβὰβ, καὶ Νάθαν, καὶ Σολομὼν, υἱοὶ τέσσαρες τῆς Βηρσαβεὲ θυγατρὸς Ἠλᾶ." Καὶ τὸν Ῥηχὰβ δὲ, τὸν πολλαχοῦ τῆς Γραφῆς ἐπαινούμενον, αὕτη δείκνυσιν ἡ βίβλος ἐκ τῆς Ἰούδα ὄντα φυλῆς. ∆ιδάσκει δὲ σαφέστερον τὴν αἰτίαν, δι' ἣν ὁ μὲν Ῥουβεὶμ τῶν πρωτοτο κίων ἐξέπεσεν, ὁ δὲ Ἰωσὴφ τούτων τετύχηκεν, ἡ δὲ Ἰούδα φυλὴ τιμῆς ἀπήλαυσε πλείονος. "Υἱοὶ γὰρ, φησὶ, Ῥουβεὶμ πρωτοτόκου Ἰσραὴλ, ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ πρωτότοκος. Ἐν δὲ τῷ βεβηλῶσαι τὴν στρωμνὴν τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ, ἔδωκε τὰ πρωτοτόκια αὑτοῦ τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰωσὴφ, καὶ οὐκ ἐγενεαλογήθη εἰς πρωτοτόκια ὁ Ῥουβεὶμ, ὅτι Ἰούδας δυνατὸς ἰσχύει ἐν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἰς ἡγούμενον ἐξ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰ πρωτοτόκια τῷ Ἰωσήφ." ∆ηλοῖ δὲ ὁ λόγος, ὡς τὰ μὲν πρεσβεῖα τῶν πρωτοτοκίων ὁ Ἰωσὴφ ἐκομίσατο, τὴν δὲ ἡγεμονίαν Ἰούδας ἐδέξατο διὰ τὸν ἐξ αὐτοῦ κατὰ σάρκα βλαστήσαντα Κύριον. Τοῦτο γὰρ αἰνίτ τεται τὸ εἰς ἡγούμενον ἐξ αὐτοῦ. Οὐ γὰρ μόνους τοὺς ἐξ αὐτοῦ βασιλέας ὁ λόγος δηλοῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν αἰώνιον βασιλέα, ὃς οὔτε ἀρχὴν ἔσχεν ἡμερῶν, οὐδὲ 80.804 τέλος λήψεται. ∆ιδάσκει δὲ, ὅπως καὶ αἱ πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου φυλαὶ, ἡ τοῦ Ῥουβεὶμ, καὶ ἡ τοῦ Γὰδ, καὶ τὸ ἥμισυ τῆς Μανασσήτιδος φυλῆς, συνεπλά κησαν τοῖς Ἀγαρηνοῖς, καὶ τοῖς Ἰτουραίοις καὶ Ναφισαίοις, καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῖς μετὰ τούτων παρατασσομένοις, καὶ ὡς μάχης καρτερᾶς γενο μένης κατακράτος ἐνίκησαν, καὶ τοὺς Ἀγαρηνοὺς ἐξήλασαν. Λέγει δὲ καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς νίκης, "Ὅτι τῷ Θεῷ, φησὶν, ἐβόησαν ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ, καὶ ἐπήκουσεν αὐτῶν, ὅτι ἐπεποίθεισαν ἐπ' αὐτῷ." Συνέγραψε δὲ καὶ τῆς λείας τὸν ἀριθμόν· "Πεντή κοντα γὰρ, φησὶ, χιλιάδας καμήλων ἔλαβον, καὶ προβάτων διακοσίας καὶ πεντήκοντα χιλιάδας, καὶ ὄνους δισχιλίους, καὶ ψυχὰς ἀνθρώπων ἑκατὸν χιλιά δας. Τραυματίαι γὰρ πολλοὶ ἦσαν, ὅτι παρὰ Θεοῦ ἦν ὁ πόλεμος, καὶ κατῴκισαν ἀντ' αὐτῶν ἕως τῆς ἀποικίας." Γενεαλογεῖ δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἱερέας, καὶ τοὺς Λευΐτας· καὶ λέγει τὸν Σαδοὺκ, τὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ ∆αβὶδ ἀρχιερατεύσαντα, ἑνδέκατον ἀπὸ Ἀαρὼν γεγενῆ σθαι· Ἀζαρίαν δὲ, ὃς ἔκγονος ἦν τοῦ Σαδοὺκ, πρῶτον ἐν τῷ ναῷ οἰκοδομηθέντι ὑπὸ τοῦ Σολο μῶντος ἱερατεῦσαι. Ἐκ τούτων ἦν καὶ Ἰωσεδὲκ, ὃς δορυάλωτος εἰς Βαβυλῶνα μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἀπήχθη. Τούτου υἱὸς ἦν Ἰησοῦς ὁ ἱερεὺς ὁ μέγας, ὃς σὺν τῷ Ζοροβάβελ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν ἐπανήγαγε, καὶ τὸν θεῖον ναὸν ᾠκοδόμησεν. Ἐντεῦθεν μανθά νομεν, ὡς Κορὲ ὁ κατὰ Μωσῆ τοῦ μεγάλου τὴν στάσιν ἐγείρας, τοῦ Σισαὰρ ἦν ἔκγονος· ὃς τοῦ μὲν Καὰθ ἦν υἱὸς, ἀδελφὸς δὲ Ἀμρὰμ τοῦ πατρὸς Ἀαρὼν καὶ Μωσῆ· τοιγάρτοι ἀνεψιδοῦς ἦν τοῦ