Four books of Maccabees, Ptolemaica, Psalms and the Ode of Solomon, Susanna. These are the disputed books of the Old Testament. And again, the apocrypha of the Old Testament are these. Enoch, Patriarchs, Prayer of Joseph, Testament of Moses, Assumption of Moses, Abraham, Eldad and Modad, the prophet Elijah, the prophet Zephaniah, Zechariah the father of John, Baruch, Habakkuk, Ezekiel, and Daniel pseudepigrapha. Again, the disputed books of the New Testament are these. The Circuits of Peter, the Circuits of John, the Circuits of Thomas, the Gospel according to Thomas, the Teaching of the Apostles, the Clementines, from which were translated the selections that are truer and divinely inspired. These are the books that are read. All these have been set forth for the sake of information, but they are in every way spurious and illegitimate, and to be rejected. And none of these, especially of the apocrypha, is approved or profitable, particularly those of the New Testament; but all, apart from those mentioned above and approved by the ancient wise men and fathers, are truly worthy of being hidden rather than being read; both the others, and the so-called Gospels among them, except for these four which have been handed down to us. For the sacred canons of the holy, catholic, and apostolic Church have decreed for us four Gospels: that according to Matthew, that according to Mark, that according to Luke, and that according to John, according to the prophecy of the vision which Ezekiel the prophet saw concerning the four cherubim. For this prophet saw four cherubim: the one like a man, that is, the Gospel according to Matthew; the second like a calf, that is, the Gospel according to Mark; the other like a lion, that is, the Gospel according to Luke; and the fourth like an eagle, that is, the Gospel according to John. And besides these four, there is no other Gospel. Now the Gospel according to Matthew was written by Matthew himself in the Hebrew dialect, and was published in Jerusalem, and it was translated by James, the brother of the Lord according to the flesh, who was also first 28.433 ordained bishop by the holy apostles in Jerusalem. The Gospel according to Mark was dictated by Peter the apostle, in Rome, and published by Mark the blessed apostle, and was preached by him in Alexandria and in Egypt and in Pentapolis, and Libya. The Gospel according to Luke was dictated by Paul the apostle, and was written and published by Luke the blessed apostle and physician; just as also the Acts of the Apostles was likewise dictated by Peter the apostle, and written by the same Luke. And the Gospel according to John was dictated by the holy John himself, the apostle and beloved, while he was an exile on the island of Patmos, and was published by the same in Ephesus, through Gaius the beloved and host of the apostles, concerning whom Paul also, writing to the Romans, says: “Gaius, my host and the host of the whole church, greets you.” What and how many traditions there are of the divine Scripture, that is, interpretations from Hebrew into Greek, and who translated it, and when. The first is that of the 72 translators. These, being Hebrews, were chosen, six from each tribe, and translated the divine Scripture in the time of King Ptolemy Philadelphus, two hundred and thirty years before the birth in the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ. The second is that of Aquila. This man, being from Sinope in Pontus, and being a Greek, was baptized in Jerusalem. And again, having rejected Christianity and gone over to the Jews, he translated the divine Scripture with a perverse mind in the time of King Hadrian who was afflicted with leprosy after 330
58
Μακκαβαϊκὰ βιβλία δʹ, Πτολεμαϊκὰ, Ψαλμοὶ καὶ Ὠδὴ Σολομῶντος, Σωσάννα. Ταῦτα τὰ ἀντιλεγόμενα τῆς Παλαιᾶς ∆ιαθήκης. Τὰ δὲ ἀπόκρυφα πάλιν τῆς Παλαιᾶς ∆ιαθήκης ταῦτα. Ἐνὼχ, Πατριάρχαι, Προσευχὴ Ἰωσὴφ, ∆ια θήκη Μωϋσέως, Ἀνάληψις Μωϋσέως, Ἀβραὰμ, Ἐλδὰδ καὶ Μωδὰδ, Ἡλίου προφήτου, Σοφονίου προφήτου, Ζαχαρίου πατρὸς Ἰωάννου, Βαροὺχ, Ἀμβακοὺμ, Ἐζεχιὴλ, καὶ ∆ανιὴλ ψευδεπίγραφα. Τῆς Νέας πάλιν ∆ιαθήκης ἀντιλεγόμενα ταῦτα. Περίοδοι Πέτρου, Περίοδοι Ἰωάννου, Περίοδοι Θωμᾶ, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Θωμᾶ, ∆ιδαχὴ ἀποστόλων, Κλημέντια, ἐξ ὧν μετεφράσθησαν ἐκλεγέντα τὰ ἀλη θέστερα καὶ θεόπνευστα. Ταῦτα τὰ ἀναγινωσκό μενα. Ταῦτα πάντα ἐξετέθησαν μὲν ὅσον πρὸς εἴδησιν, παραγεγραμμένα δέ εἰσι πάντως καὶ νόθα, καὶ ἀπό βλητα. Καὶ οὐδὲν τούτων, τῶν ἀποκρύφων μάλιστα, ἔγκριτον ἢ ἐπωφελὲς, ἐξαιρέτως τῆς Νέας ∆ιαθήκης· ἀλλὰ πάντα δίχα τῶν ἀνωτέρω διαληφθέντων, καὶ ἐγκριθέντων παρὰ τοῖς παλαιοῖς σοφοῖς καὶ πατρά σιν, ἀποκρυφῆς μᾶλλον ἢ ἀναγνώσεως ὡς ἀληθῶς ἄξια· τά τε ἄλλα, καὶ αὐτὰ τὰ καλούμενα ἐν αὐτοῖς Εὐαγγέλια, ἐκτὸς τῶν παραδοθέντων ἡμῖν τεσσάρων τούτων. Εὐαγγέλια γὰρ τέσσαρα ἐθέσπισαν ἡμῖν οἱ ἱεροὶ κανόνες τῆς ἁγίας καθολικῆς καὶ ἀποστολικῆς Ἐκκλησίας· τὸ κατὰ Ματθαῖον, τὸ κατὰ Μάρκον, τὸ κατὰ Λουκᾶν, καὶ τὸ κατὰ Ἰωάννην, κατὰ τὴν προ φητείαν τῆς ὀπτασίας, ἧς ἐθεάσατο Ἰεζεχιὴλ ὁ προ φήτης περὶ τῶν τεσσάρων χερουβίμ. Τέσσαρα γὰρ εἶδε χερουβὶμ οὗτος ὁ προφήτης· τὸ ἓν ὅμοιον ἀν θρώπῳ, τουτέστι τὸ κατὰ Ματθαῖον Εὐαγγέλιον· τὸ δεύτερον ὅμοιον μόσχῳ, τουτέστι τὸ κατὰ Μάρκον Εὐαγγέλιον· τὸ ἄλλο ὅμοιον λέοντι, τουτέστι τὸ κατὰ Λουκᾶν Εὐαγγέλιον· τὸ δὲ τέταρτον ὅμοιον ἀετῷ, τουτέστι τὸ κατὰ Ἰωάννην Εὐαγγέλιον. Παρὰ δὲ ταῦτα τὰ τέσσαρα ἕτερον Εὐαγγέλιον οὐδέν. Τὸ μὲν οὖν κατὰ Ματθαῖον Εὐαγγέλιον ἐγράφη ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ Ματθαίου τῇ Ἑβραΐδι διαλέκτῳ, καὶ ἐξ εδόθη ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἡρμηνεύθη δὲ ὑπὸ Ἰακώβου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου τὸ κατὰ σάρκα, ὃς καὶ πρῶ 28.433 τος ἐχειροτονήθη ἐπίσκοπος ὑπὸ τῶν ἁγίων ἀποστό λων ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις. Τὸ δὲ κατὰ Μάρκον Εὐαγγέλιον ὑπηγορεύθη μὲν ὑπὸ Πέτρου τοῦ ἀποστόλου, ἐν Ῥώμῃ, ἐξεδόθη δὲ ὑπὸ Μάρκου τοῦ μακαρίου ἀποστόλου, καὶ ἐκηρύ χθη ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ καὶ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ ἐν Πενταπόλει, καὶ Λιβύῃ. Τὸ δὲ κατὰ Λουκᾶν Εὐαγγέλιον ὑπηγορεύθη μὲν ὑπὸ Παύλου τοῦ ἀποστόλου, συνεγράφη δὲ καὶ ἐξεδόθη ὑπὸ Λουκᾶ τοῦ μακαρίου ἀποστόλου καὶ ἰατροῦ· ὥσπερ καὶ Πράξεις τῶν ἀποστόλων ὑπηγόρευσε μὲν ὁμοίως Πέτρος ὁ ἀπόστολος, συνεγράψατο δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς Λουκᾶς. Τὸ δὲ κατὰ Ἰωάννην Εὐαγγέλιον ὑπηγορεύθη τε ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰωάννου τοῦ ἀποστόλου καὶ ἠγαπημένου, ὄντος ἐξορίστου ἐν Πάτμῳ τῇ νήσῳ, καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐξεδόθη ἐν Ἐφέσῳ, διὰ Γαΐου τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ καὶ ξενοδόχου τῶν ἀποστόλων, περὶ οὗ καὶ Παῦλος Ῥωμαίοις γράφων φησί· «Ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς Γάϊος ὁ ξένος μου καὶ ὅλης τῆς Ἐκκλησίας.» Ποῖαι καὶ πόσαι παραδόσεις εἰσὶ τῆς θείας Γραφῆς, εἴτε οὖν ἀπὸ Ἑβραϊκοῦ εἰς τὸ Ἑλληνικὸν ἑρμηνεῖαι, καὶ τίνες οἱ ταύτην ἑρμηνεύσαντες, καὶ πότε. Πρώτη ἐστὶν ἡ τῶν οβʹ ἑρμηνευτῶν. Οὗτοι, Ἑβραῖοι ὄντες, ἐξελέγησαν ἀπὸ ἑκάστης φυλῆς ἓξ, καὶ ἡρμήνευσαν τὴν θείαν Γραφὴν ἐπὶ Πτολεμαίου βασιλέως τοῦ Φιλαδέλφου πρὸ διακοσίων τριάκοντα ἐνιαυτῶν τῆς κατὰ σάρκα γεννήσεως τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. ∆ευτέρα ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ Ἀκύλα. Οὗτος ἀπὸ Σινώπης τοῦ Πόντου ὑπάρχων, καὶ Ἕλλην ὢν, ἐβαπτίσθη ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις. Καὶ πάλιν τὸν Χριστιανισμὸν ἀθετήσας, καὶ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις προσδραμὼν, ἡρμήνευσε τὴν θείαν Γραφὴν διεστραμμένῳ λογισμῷ ἐπὶ Ἁδριανοῦ βασιλέως τοῦ λεπτωθέντος μετὰ τλʹ
58