Tertullian: Adversus Iudaeos

[1] Proxime accidit: disputatio habita est Christiano et proselyto Iudaeo. Alternis vicibus contentioso fune uterque diem in vesperam traxerunt. Obstrepentibus quibusdam ex partibus singulorum nubilo quodam veritas obumbrabatur.

[1] It happened most recently: a disputation was held between a Christian and a Jewish proselyte. By alternate turns, in a contentious tug-of-war, each dragged the day into evening. With certain persons from the parties of each being obstreperous, truth was overshadowed by a certain cloudiness.

Placuit ergo, [ut] quod per concentum disputationis minus plene potuit dilucidari, curiosius inspectis lectionibus stilo quaestiones retractatas terminare.

It has therefore been decided that what, through the concert of the disputation, could be elucidated less fully, more carefully inspected the readings, to terminate by the pen the reconsidered questions.

[2] Nam occasio quidem defendendi etiam gentibus [sibi] divinam gratiam hinc habuit praerogativam, quod sibi vindicare dei legem instituerit homo ex gentibus nec prosapia Israelitum Iudaeus.

[2] For indeed the occasion for defending that even the gentiles [for themselves] have divine grace took from this its prerogative, that a man from the gentiles, and not a Jew by the stock of the Israelites, had undertaken to vindicate to himself the law of God.

[3] Hoc enim sat est, posse gentes admitti ad dei legem, ne Israel adhuc superbiat, quod gentes velut stillicidium de urceo aut pulvis ex area deputentur. Quamquam habeamus ipsum deum idoneum pollicitatorem et fidelem sponsorem qui Abrahae promiserit, quod in semine eius benedicerentur omnes nationes terrae et quod ex utero Rebeccae duo populi et duae gentes essent processurae, utique Iudaeorum id est Israelis et gentium id est noster.

[3] For this is enough: that the nations can be admitted to the law of God, lest Israel still grow proud, since the nations are reckoned as, as it were, a drip from a pitcher or dust from the threshing-floor. Although we have God himself as a suitable promiser and faithful sponsor, who promised to Abraham that in his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed, and that from the womb of Rebecca two peoples and two nations would go forth, namely of the Jews, that is, of Israel, and of the Gentiles, that is, ours.

[4] Uterque ergo et populus et gens est appellatus, ne de nominis appellatione privilegium gratiae sibi quis audeat defendere. Duos etenim populos et duas gentes processuras ex unius feminae utero deus destinavit, nec discrevit gratiam in nominis appellatione sed in partus editione, ut qui prior esset de utero processurus minori subiceretur id est posteriori. Sic namque ad Rebeccam deus locutus est dicens:Duae gentes in utero tuo sunt, et duo populi de utero tuo dividentur, et populus populum superabit, et maior serviet minori.

[4] Therefore both have been called both people and nation, lest anyone dare to defend for himself a privilege of grace from the appellation of the name. For God destined that two peoples and two nations would proceed from the womb of one woman, nor did he discriminate grace in the appellation of a name but in the delivery of the birth, so that the one who would be first to come forth from the womb would be subjected to the lesser, that is, to the later-born. For thus God spoke to Rebecca, saying:Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from your womb shall be divided, and people shall prevail over people, and the greater shall serve the lesser.

[5] Itaque cum populus seu gens Iudaeorum anterior sit tempore et maior per gratiam primae dignationis in lege, noster vero minor aetate temporum intellegatur utpote in ultimo saeculi spatio adeptus notitiam divinae miserationis, procul dubio secundum edictum divinae elocutionis prior maior populus id est Iudaicus serviat necesse est minori et minor populus id est Christianus superet maiorem.

[5] Therefore, since the people or nation of the Jews is earlier in time and greater by the grace of the first dignation in the Law, whereas ours is understood as younger in the age of times inasmuch as, in the last span of the age, it has obtained knowledge of the divine miseration, beyond doubt according to the edict of the divine elocution, the former greater people, that is, Judaic, must needs serve the lesser, and the lesser people, that is, Christian, surpass the greater.

[6] Nam et secundum divinarum scripturarum memorias populus Iudaeorum id est antiquior derelicto deo idolis deservivit et divinitate abrelicta simulacris fuit deditus dicente populo ad Aaron:Fac nobis deos qui nos antecedant. Quod cum ex monilibus feminarum et anulis virorum aurum fuisset igne conflatum et processisset eis bubulum caput, huic figmento universus Israel abrelicto deo honorem dederunt dicentes: Hi sunt dei qui nos eiecerunt de terra Aegypti.

[6] For also, according to the records of the divine Scriptures, the people of the Jews—that is, the more ancient—having abandoned God served idols, and with the divinity abandoned were devoted to simulacra, the people saying to Aaron:Make for us gods who may go before us. And when from the necklaces of the women and the rings of the men the gold had been melted by fire and there came forth for them a bovine head, to this figment all Israel, with God abandoned, gave honor saying: These are the gods who brought us out of the land of Egypt.

[7] Sic namque posterioribus temporibus quibus reges eis imperabant et cum Hieroboam vaccas aureas et lucos colebant et Bahali se mancipabant. Unde probatur eos semper idololatriae crimine reos designatos ex instrumento divinarum scriptuarum. Noster vero populus id est posterior relictis idolis quibus ante deserviebat ad eundem deum conversus est, a quo Israel, ut supra memoravimus, abscesserat.

[7] Thus indeed in the later times, when kings commanded them, and when, with Jeroboam, they were worshipping golden cows and groves and were making themselves bondsmen to Baal. Whence it is proved that they were always marked out as guilty on the charge of idolatry from the instrument of the divine scriptures. But our people, that is, the later one, having left the idols which it had previously served, has been converted to the same God, from whom Israel, as we have recalled above, had withdrawn.

[8] Sic namque populus minor id est posterior populum maiorem superavit, dum gratiam divinae dignationis consequitur, a qua Israel est repudiatus.

[8] Thus indeed the lesser people, that is, the later, has surpassed the greater people, while it attains the grace of divine dignation, from which Israel has been repudiated.

II.

[1] Igitur gradum conseramus et summam quaestionis certis lineis terminemus. Cur etenim deus universitatis conditor mundi totius gubernator hominis plasmator universarum gentium sator legem per Moysen uni populo dedisse credatur et non omnibus gentibus adtribuisse dicatur?

[1] Therefore let us join issue and terminate the sum
of the question with sure lines. For why indeed is God, the founder of the universe, the governor of the whole world, the fashioner of man, the sower of all nations, believed to have given the law through Moses to one people, and said not to have assigned it to all the nations?

[2] Nisi enim omnibus eam dedisset, nullo pacto ad eam etiam proselytos ex gentibus accessum habere permitteret. Sed ut congruit bonitati dei et aequitati ipsius utpote plasmatoris generis humani, omnibus gentibus eandem legem dedit, quam certis statutis temporibus observari praecepit, quando voluit et per quos voluit et sicut voluit. Namque in principio mundi ipsius Adae et Evae legem dedit, ne de fructu arboris plantatae in medio paradisi ederent; quod si contra fecissent, morte morerentur.

[2] For unless he had given it to all, in no wise would he permit even proselytes from the gentes to have access to it. But, as it is congruent to the goodness of God and to his equity, as being the fashioner of the human race, he gave the same law to all gentes, which he commanded to be observed at certain set times—when he wished, and through whom he wished, and as he wished. For indeed, in the beginning of the world, he gave a law to Adam and Eve themselves, that they should not eat of the fruit of the tree planted in the midst of paradise; but if they should do contrariwise, they would die.

Quae lex eis sufficeret, si esset custodita.

Which law would have sufficed for them, if it had been kept.

[3] In hac enim lege Adae data omnia praecepta condita recognoscimus quae postea pullulaverunt data per Moysen, id est:Diliges dominum deum tuum de toto corde tuo et ex tota anima tua, et: Diliges proximum tibi tamquam te, et: Non occides, non moechaberis, non fraudaberis, falsum testimonium non dices, honora patrem tuum et matrem, et: Alienum non concupisces.

[3] In this law given to Adam we recognize all the precepts established which afterwards sprouted forth, given through Moses, that is:You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul, and: You shall love your neighbor as yourself, and: Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not defraud, do not speak false testimony, honor your father and mother, and: You shall not covet another’s.

[4] Primordialis enim lex est data Adae et Evae in paradiso quasi matrix omnium praeceptorum dei. Denique si dominum deum suum dilexissent, contra praeceptum eius non fecissent; si proximum diligerent id est semetipsos, persuasioni serpentis non credidissent atque ita in semetipsos homicidium non commisissent, excidendo de immortalitate faciendo contra dei praeceptum;

[4] For the primordial law was given to Adam and Eve in paradise as the matrix of all the precepts of God. Finally, if they had loved the Lord their God, they would not have acted against his precept; if they had loved their neighbor, that is, themselves, they would not have believed the persuasion of the serpent and thus would not have committed homicide upon themselves, by falling away from immortality by doing against the precept of God;

[5] a furto quoque abstinuissent, si de fructu arboris non clam degustassent, nec a conspectu domini dei sui sub arbore delitescere gestissent, nec falsum adseveranti diabolo participes efficerentur credendo ei quod similes dei essent futuri, atque ita nec deum offendissent ut patrem qui eos de limo terrae quasi ex utero matris figuraverat; si alienum non concupissent, de fructu inlicito non degustassent.

[5] they would also have abstained from theft, if they had not secretly tasted of the fruit of the tree,
nor would they have desired to hide away from the sight of their Lord God under the tree, nor would they have been made participants with the devil averring a falsehood by believing him that they would be similar to God; and thus they would not have offended God as a Father, who had fashioned them from the slime of the earth as if from a mother’s womb; if they had not coveted what was another’s, they would not have tasted of the illicit fruit.

[6] Igitur in hac generali et primordiali dei lege, quam in arboris fructu observari deus sanxerat, omnia praecepta legis posterioris specialiter indita fuisse cognoscimus, quae suis temporibus edita germinaverunt. Eiusdem est enim postea superducere legem qui ante praemiserat praeceptum, quoniam et ipsius est erudire postea qui ante iustos formare instituerat.

[6] Therefore, in this general and primordial law of God, which God had sanctioned to be observed in the fruit of the tree, we recognize that all the precepts of the posterior law had been specially indited, which, published in their own times, germinated. For it belongs to the same one afterwards to superadd a law who before had sent ahead a precept, since it is his as well to educate afterwards who earlier had undertaken to form the just.

[7] Quid enim mirum, si is auget disciplinam qui instituit, si is perficit qui coepit? Denique ante legem Moysei scriptam in tabulis lapideis legem fuisse contendo non scriptam, quae naturaliter intellegebatur et a patribus custodiebatur. Nam unde Noe iustus inventus, si non illi naturalis legis iustitia praecedebat?

[7] For what is there marvelous, if he augments the discipline who instituted it, if he perfects who began? Finally, before the law of Moses written on stone tablets, I maintain there was an unwritten law, which was understood naturally and was kept by the fathers. For whence was Noah found just, if the justice of the natural law had not preceded him?

Unde Abraham amicus dei deputatus, si non de aequitate et iustitia legis naturalis? Unde Melchisedech sacerdos dei summi nuncupatus, si non ante Leviticae legis sacerdotium Levitae fuerunt qui sacrificia deo offerebant?

Whence was Abraham deputed a friend of God, if not on account of the equity and justice of the natural law? Whence was Melchisedech named priest of the Most High God, if not that before the priesthood of the Levitical law there were Levites who were offering sacrifices to God?

[8] Sic etenim post supra scriptos patriarchas data lex est Moysi eo tempore, posteaquam ab Aegypto excesserunt, post [intervallum] multorum temporum spatia. Denique post quadringentos et triginta annos Abrahae data est lex.

[8] Thus indeed after the above-written patriarchs the law was given to Moses at that time, after they had departed from Egypt, after an [interval] of many spaces of time. Finally, after 430 years from Abraham the law was given.

[9] Unde intellegimus dei legem iam ante Moysen nec in Choreb tantum aut in Sina et in eremo primum, sed antiquiorem primum in paradiso, post deinde patriarchis atque ita et Iudaeis certis temporibus datam quando voluit et certis temporibus reformatam, ut non iam ad Moysi legem ita adtendamus quasi ad principalem legem, sed ad subsequentem quam certo tempore deus et gentibus exhibuit [et] repromissam per prophetas et in melius reformavit et praemonuit futurum, ut, sicuti certo tempore data est lex per Moysen, ita temporaliter observata et custodita credatur.

[9] Whence we understand that the law of God was already before Moses, not in Horeb only or on Sinai and in the desert first, but more ancient—first in Paradise; afterwards then to the patriarchs, and thus also to the Jews—given at appointed times when he willed, and at appointed times reformed, so that we should no longer attend to the law of Moses as to the principal law, but to the subsequent one which at a fixed time God also exhibited to the nations, [and] promised through the prophets and reformed for the better and fore-announced as future, so that, just as at a fixed time the law was given through Moses, so it is to be believed to have been temporally observed and kept.

[10] Nec adimamus hanc dei potestatem pro temporum condicione legis praecepta reformantem in hominis salutem. Denique qui contendit et sabbatum adhuc observandum quasi salutis medellam et circumcisionem octavi diei propter mortis comminationem, doceat in praeteritum iustos sabbatizasse aut circumcidisse et sic amicos dei effectos.

[10] Let us not take away this power of God, refashioning the precepts of the law according to the condition of the times for the salvation of man. Finally, whoever contends that the sabbath is still to be observed as a medicament of salvation, and circumcision of the eighth day because of the commination of death, let him show that in time past the just have sabbatized or have circumcised, and thus have been made friends of God.

[11] Nam si circumcisio purgat hominem, deus Adam incircumcisum cum faceret, cur eum non circumcidit vel posteaquam deliquit, si purgat circumcisio? Certe in paradiso constituens eum incircumcisum colonum paradisi praefecit.

[11] For if circumcision purges a man, when God made Adam uncircumcised why did He not circumcise him, or after he had transgressed, if circumcision purges? Surely, establishing him in paradise uncircumcised, He appointed him the cultivator of paradise.

[12] Igitur cum neque circumcisum neque sabbatizantem deus Adam instituerit, consequenter quoque sobolem eius Abel offerentem sibi sacrificia incircumcisum nec sabbatizantem laudavit, accepto ferens quae offerebat in simplicitate cordis et reprobans sacrificium fratris eius Cain, qui quod offerebat non recte dividebat.

[12] Therefore, since God instituted Adam neither circumcised nor sabbatizing, consequently he also praised his offspring Abel, offering sacrifices to him, as uncircumcised and not sabbatizing, accepting what he was offering in simplicity of heart, and rejecting the sacrifice of his brother Cain, who did not rightly divide what he was offering.

[13] Noe quoque incircumcisum deus sed et non sabbatizantem de diluvio liberavit. Nam et Enoch iustissimum non circumcisum nec sabbatizantem de hoc mundo transtulit qui necdum mortem gustavit, ut aeternitatis candidatus iam nobis ostenderet nos quoque sine legis onere Moysis deo placere posse.

[13] God delivered Noah also, uncircumcised and moreover not sabbatizing, from the Deluge. For Enoch too, most just, not circumcised nor sabbatizing, he translated from this world—who has not yet tasted death—so that, already as a candidate of eternity, he might show to us that we too, without the burden of the Law of Moses, are able to please God.

[14] Melchisedech quoque summi dei sacerdos incircumcisus et non sabbatizans ad sacerdotium dei adlectus est. Probat et Loth frater Abrahae, quod pro meritis iustitiae suae sine legis observatione de Sodomitarum incendio sit liberatus.

[14] Melchisedech too, priest of the most high god, uncircumcised and not sabbatizing, was adlected to the priesthood of god. Lot, the brother of Abraham, likewise proves that, on account of the merits of his justice, without the observation of the law, he was delivered from the conflagration of the Sodomites.

III.

[1] "Sed Abraham, inquis, circumcisus est." Sed ante deo placuit quam circumcideretur nec tamen sabbatizavit. Acceperat enim circumcisionem, sed quae esset in signum temporis illius non in salutis praerogativam. Denique sequentes patriarchae incircumcisi fuerunt ut Melchisedech, qui ipsi Abrahae iam circumciso revertenti de proelio panem et vinum obtulit incircumcisus.

[1] "But Abraham, you say, was circumcised." But he pleased God before he was circumcised, and yet he did not sabbatize. For he had received circumcision, but one which was as a sign of that time, not as a prerogative of salvation. Finally, the subsequent patriarchs were uncircumcised, such as Melchisedech, who to Abraham himself—already circumcised—returning from the battle, offered bread and wine, uncircumcised.

"Sed et filius, inquit, Moysi tum ab angelo praefocatus fuisset, si non Seffora mater eius calculo praeputium infantis circumcidisset. Unde [inquit] occisionis maximum periculum est, si praeputium carnis quis non circumciderit."

"But also the son, he says, of Moses then would have been strangled by an angel, if Seffora, his mother, with a pebble had circumcised the foreskin of the infant. Whence, [he says,] there is the greatest danger of occision, if someone does not circumcise the foreskin of the flesh."

[2] Atquin si salutem circumcisio omnimodo adferret, etiam ipse Moyses in filio suo non intermisisset, quominus octava die circumcideret eum, cum constet Sefforam coactam ab angelo id fecisse in itinete. consideremus itaque, quod non potuerit unius infantis coacta circumcisio omni populo praescribere et quasi legem huius praecepti condere in salutem.

[2] But indeed, if circumcision in every way were to bring salvation, even Moses himself would not have omitted, in the case of his son, to circumcise him on the eighth day, since it is agreed that Zipporah, compelled by the angel, did this on the journey. Let us therefore consider that the compelled circumcision of a single infant could not prescribe to the whole people and, as it were, establish a law of this precept for salvation.

[3] Nam providens deus, quod hanc circumcisionem in signum non in salutem esset daturus populo Israeli, idcirco filium Moysi ducis futuri instigat circumcidi, ut cum coepisset per eum populo dare praeceptum circumcisionis non aspernaretur populus videns exemplum istud in ducis filio iam celebratum.

[3] For, foreseeing God, that he was going to give this circumcision as a sign, not for salvation, to the people of Israel, for that reason urges that the son of Moses, the future leader, be circumcised, so that, when he had begun through him to give to the people the precept of circumcision, the people might not spurn it, seeing this example already celebrated in the leader’s son.

[4] Dari enim habebat circumcisio, sed in signum unde Israel in novissimo tempore dinosci haberet, quando secundum sua merita in sanctam civitatem ingredi prohiberetur — secundum verba prophetarum dicentium:Terra vestra deserta, civitates vestrae igni exustae, regionem vestram in conspectu vestro extranei comedent, et deserta et subversa a populis extraneis derelinquetur filia Sion, sicut casa in vinea et sicut custodiarium in cucumerario et quasi civitas quae expugnatur.

[4] For circumcision was to be given, but as a sign whereby Israel in the last time might be discerned, when according to its merits it would be prohibited to enter into the holy city — according to the words of the prophets saying:Your land desolate, your cities burned with fire, your region in your sight foreigners will devour, and desolate and overthrown by foreign peoples the daughter of Zion will be left, like a hut in a vineyard and like a watch-shelter in a cucumber-garden and as if a city that is stormed.

[5] Cur ita? Quoniam subsequens sermo prophetae exprobrat eis dicens:Filios genui et exaltavi, ipsi autem reprobaverunt me, et: Si extenderitis manus, avertam faciem meam a vobis; et si multiplicaveritis preces, non exaudiant vos; manus enim vestrae sanguine plenae sunt, et: Vae gens peccatrix, populus plenus delictis, filii scelesti, dereliquistis dominum et ad indignationem provocastis sanctum Israelis.

[5] Why so? Because the subsequent discourse of the prophet reproaches them, saying:Sons I have begotten and exalted, but they themselves have reprobated me, and: If you stretch out your hands, I will avert my face from you; and if you multiply prayers, I will not hear you; for your hands are full of blood, and: Woe, sinful nation, a people full of delicts, wicked sons, you have forsaken the Lord and have provoked to indignation the Holy One of Israel.

[6] Haec igitur dei providentia fuit, dandi circumcisionem in signum unde dinosci possent, cum adveniret tempus cum pro meritis suis supradictis in Hierusalem admitti prohiberentur; quod et quia futurum erat nuntiabatur, et quia factum videmus recognoscimus.

[6] Therefore this was the providence of God, of giving circumcision as a sign whereby they might be discerned, when the time would come when, according to their aforesaid deserts, they would be forbidden to be admitted into Jerusalem; which both, because it was going to happen, was announced, and because we see it done, we acknowledge.

[7] Sicut enim circumcisio carnalis quae temporalis erat imbuta est in signum populo contumaci, ita spiritalis data est in salutem populo obaudienti dicente Hieremia:Innovate vobis novitatem et ne seminaveritis in spinis; circumcidimini deo et circumcidite praeputium cordis vestri. Et alio loco dicit: Ecce enim dies veniunt, dicit dominus, et disponam domui Iudae et domui Iacob testamentum novum, non tale quale dedi patribus eorum in die quo eos eduxi de terra Aegypti.

[7] For just as the carnal circumcision, which was temporal, was impressed as a sign upon a contumacious people, so the spiritual was given unto salvation to an obedient people, Jeremiah saying:Innovate for yourselves a newness and do not sow among thorns; be circumcised to God and circumcise the foreskin of your heart. And in another place he says: Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will establish for the house of Judah and the house of Jacob a new testament, not such as I gave to their fathers on the day when I led them out of the land of Egypt.

[8] Unde intellegimus et priorem circumcisionem tunc datam cessaturam et novam legem, non talem qualem iam dederat patribus, processuram adnuntiari, sicut Esaias praedicabat dicens, quod in novissimis diebus manifestus futurus esset mons domini et domus dei super vertices montium.Et exaltabitur, inquit, super colles et venient super illum omnes gentes et ambulabunt multl et dicent: venite, ascendamus in montem domini et in domum dei Iacob, non in Esau prioris filii, sed Iacob sequentis id est populi nostri, cuius mons Christus, sine manibus concidentium praecisus implens omnem terram apud Danielem ostensus.

[8] Whence we understand both that the former circumcision, then given, would cease, and that a new law, not such as he had already given to the fathers, was to proceed, being announced, just as Isaiah was proclaiming, saying that in the last days the mountain of the Lord and the house of God would be manifest upon the summits of the mountains.And it shall be exalted, he says, above the hills, and all the nations will come upon it and many will walk and will say: come, let us go up into the mountain of the Lord and into the house of the God of Jacob, not of Esau the firstborn son, but of Jacob the following— that is, of our people— whose mountain is Christ, cut without the hands of hewers, filling the whole earth, shown in Daniel.

[9] Denique ex hac domo dei Iacob etiam legem novam processuram sequentibus verbis adnuntiat Esaias dicens:Ex Sion enim exiet lex et verbum domini ex Hierusalem, et iudicabit inter gentes, id est inter nos qui ex gentibus sumus vocati; et concident, inquit, gladios suos in aratra et lanceas suas in falces, et non accipiet gens super gentem gladium, et iam non discent pugnare.

[9] Finally, from this house of God of Jacob too, Isaiah announces that a new law will proceed in the following words, saying:For out of Zion shall go forth a law and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem, and he will judge among the nations, that is, among us who have been called from the nations; and they will beat, he says, their swords into plowshares and their lances into sickles, and nation will not take up sword against nation, and they will no longer learn to fight.

[10] Qui igitur intelleguntur alii quam nos qui in nova lege edocti ista observamus obliterata veteri lege cuius abolitionem futuram actus ipse demonstrat? Nam et vetus lex ultione gladii se vindicabat et oculum pro oculo eruebat et vindicta iniuriam retribuebat, nova autem lex clementiam designabat et pristinam ferocitatem gladiorum et lancearum ad tranquillitatem convertebat et belli pristinam in aemulos et hostes executionem in pacificos actus arandae et colendae terrae reformabat.

[10] Who then are understood other than we, who, taught in the new law, observe these things, the old law having been obliterated, whose abolition the very act itself demonstrates was to be? For the old law vindicated itself by the vengeance of the sword and tore out an eye for an eye and repaid injury with retribution, but the new law designated clemency and converted the former ferocity of swords and lances to tranquility,
and reformed the former execution of war against rivals and enemies into peace-making acts of plowing and cultivating the land.

[11] Igitur sicuti supra ostendimus, quod vetus lex et circumcisio carnalis cessatura pronuntiata est, ita et novae legis et spiritalis circumcisionis observantia in pacis obsequio eluxit.Populus enim [inquit] quem non noveram servivit mihi, in obauditu auris obauaivit mihi prophetae adnuntiaverunt.

[11] Therefore, just as we showed above, that the old law and the carnal circumcision were proclaimed as about to cease, so too the observance of the new law and of the spiritual circumcision has shone forth in the service of peace.A people for [he says] whom I had not known has served me; in the hearing of the ear he obeyed me the prophets announced.

[12] Quis autem populus qui deum ignorabat, nisi noster qui retro deum nesciebamus, et quis in auditu auris obaudivit ei, nisi nos qui relictis idolis ad deum conversi sumus?

[12] But what people was it who was ignorant of God, if not ours, we who formerly did not know God? And who, in the hearing of the ear, hearkened to Him, if not we who, idols left behind, were converted to God?

[13] Nam Israel, qui deo fuerat cognitus quique ab eo in Aegypto exaltatus fuerat et per Erythraeum pelagum transvectus quique in eremo manna cibatus XL annis ad instar aeternitatis redactus nec humanis passionibus contaminatus aut saeculi huius cibis pastus sed angelorum panibus [manna] cibatus satisque beneficiis deo obligatus, domini et dei sui oblitus est dicens ad Aaron:Fac nobis deos qui nos antecedant; Moyses enim ille qui nos eiecit de terra Aegypti dereliquit nos, et quid illi acciderit nescimus. Et ideo nos, qui non populus dei retro, facti sumus populus eius accipiendo novam legem supra dictam et novam circumcisionem ante praedictam.

[13] For Israel, who had been known to God and who by him had been exalted in Egypt and carried across the Erythraean sea, and who in the desert was fed with manna for 40 years, reduced to the likeness of eternity, neither contaminated by human passions nor fed by the foods of this age, but fed with the breads of angels [manna] and sufficiently bound to God by benefits, forgot his lord and his god, saying to Aaron:Make for us gods who will go before us; for that Moses who drove us out of the land of Egypt has abandoned us, and we do not know what has happened to him. And therefore we, who formerly were not the people of God, have been made his people by receiving the aforesaid new law and the afore-predicted new circumcision.

IV.

[1] Sequitur itaque ut, quatenus circumcisionis carnalis et legis veteris abolitio expuncta suis temporibus demonstratur, ita[que] sabbati quoque observatio temporaria fuisse demonstretur. Dicunt enim Iudaei, quod a primordio sanctificaverit deus diem septimum requiescendo in eo ab omnibus operibus suis quae fecit, et inde etiam Moysen dixisse ad populum:Mementote diem sabbatorum, sanctificare eum; omne opus servile non facietis in eo, praeterquam quod ad animam pertinet.

[1] It therefore follows that, insofar as the abolition of carnal circumcision and of the old law, expunged in their times, is demonstrated, so likewise the observance of the sabbath is shown to have been temporary. For the Jews say that from the primordium God sanctified the seventh day by resting on it from all his works which he made, and from that also Moses said to the people:Remember the day of the sabbaths, to sanctify it; you shall not do any servile work on it, except what pertains to the soul.

[2] Unde nos intellegimus magis sabbatizare nos ab omni opere servili semper debere et non tantrum septimo quoque die sed per omne tempus. Ac per hoc quaerendum nobis, quod sabbatum nos deus velit custodire. Nam sabbatum aeternum et sabbatum temporale scripturae designant.

[2] Whence we understand rather that we ought to sabbatize from all servile work always, and not only on the seventh day, but through all time. And therefore it must be asked by us which sabbath God wishes us to keep. For the Scriptures designate an eternal sabbath and a temporal sabbath.

Dicit enim Esaias propheta: Sabbata vestra odit anima mea. Et alio loco dicit: Sabbata mea profanastis.

For Isaiah the prophet says: My soul hates your sabbaths. And in another place he says: You have profaned my sabbaths.

[3] Unde dinoscimus sabbatum temporale esse humanum et sabbatum aeternum censeri divinum, de quo per Esaiam praedicat:Et erit, inquit, mensis ex mense et dies de die et sabbatum de sabbato, et veniet omnis caro adorare in Hierusalem, dicit dominus.

[3] Whence we discern the temporal sabbath to be human and the eternal sabbath to be considered divine, concerning which through Isaiah he proclaims:And it shall be, he says, month from month and day from day and sabbath from sabbath, and all flesh shall come to worship in Jerusalem, says the Lord.

[4] Quod intellegimus adimpletum temporibus Christi, quando omnis caro id est omnis gens adorare in Hierusalem venit deum patrem per Iesum Christum filium eius, sicut per prophetas praedicatum est:Ecce proselyti per me ad te ibunt.

[4] Which we understand to have been fulfilled in the times of Christ, when all flesh, that is, every nation, came to adore in Jerusalem God the Father through Jesus Christ his Son, just as through the prophets it was proclaimed:Behold, proselytes through me will go to you.

[5] Sic igitur ante hoc sabbatum temporale erat et sabbatum aeternum praeostensum et praeindictum, quomodo et ante circumcisionem carnalem fuit et spiritalis circumcisio praeostensa.

[5] Thus, therefore, before this temporal sabbath there was also the eternal sabbath pre-ostended and pre-announced, just as likewise before the carnal circumcision the spiritual circumcision had been pre-ostended.

[6] Denique doceant, sicuti iam praelocuti sumus, Adam sabbatizasse aut Abel hostiam deo sanctam offerentem sabbati religione placuisse aut Enoch translatum sabbati cultorem fuisse aut Noe arcae fabricatorem propter diluvium imminens sabbatum observasse aut Abraham in observatione sabbati Isaac filium suum obtulisse aut Melchisedech in suo sacerdotio legem sabbati accepisse.

[6] Finally, let them teach, just as we have already premised, that Adam kept sabbath, or that Abel, offering a holy sacrifice to God, was pleasing by the religion of the sabbath, or that Enoch, translated, was a worshiper of the sabbath, or that Noah, the fabricator of the ark on account of the impending deluge, observed the sabbath, or that Abraham, in the observation of the sabbath, offered his son Isaac, or that Melchizedek in his own priesthood received the law of the sabbath.

[7] Sed dicturi sunt Iudaei, ex quo hoc praeceptum datum est per Moysen, exinde observandum fuisse. Manifestum est itaque non aeternum sed temporale fuisse praeceptum quod quandoque cessaret.

[7] But the Jews will say, from the time this precept was given through Moses, from then on it had to be observed. It is manifest, therefore, that the precept was not eternal but temporal, one which would at some time cease.

[8] Denique adeo non in vacatione septimi diei haec sollemnitas celebranda est, ut Iesus Naue eo tempore quo Hiericho civitatem debellabat praeceptum sibi a deo diceret, uti populo mandaret, ut sacerdotes arcam testamend dei septem diebus circumferrent in circuitu civitatis, atque ita septimi diei circuitu peracto sponte ruerent muri civitatis.

[8] Finally, this solemnity is so far from being to be celebrated in the rest of the seventh day, that Joshua (Jesus Nave), at the time when he was conquering the city of Jericho, declared that a command had been given to him by God to instruct the people that the priests should carry the ark of the testament of God for seven days around the circuit of the city, and thus, with the circuit of the seventh day completed, the walls of the city would of their own accord collapse.

[9] Quod ita factum est, et finito spatio diei septimi, sicut praedictum erat, ruerunt muri civitatis. Ex quo manifeste ostenditur in numero istorum dierum septem incurrisse diem sabbati — septem enim dies, undecumque initium acceperint, sabbati diem secum concludant necesse est —, quo die non tantum sacerdotes sint operati, sed et in ore gladii praeda facta sit civitatis ab omni populo Israele;

[9] Which was thus done, and the space of the seventh day finished, as it had been foretold, the walls of the city collapsed. From which it is manifestly shown that in the number of those seven days the day of the sabbath had occurred — for seven days, whencesoever they have taken their beginning,
sabbath day it is necessary that they include with them —, on which day not only were the priests at work, but also by the edge of the sword the city became a prey to all the people of Israel;

[10] nec dubium est opus servile eos operatos, cum praedas belli agerent ex dei praecepto. Nam et temporibus Machabaeorum sabbatis pugnando fortiter fecerunt et hostes allophylos expugnaverunt legemque paternam ad pristinum vitae statum pugnando sabbatis revocaverunt;

[10] nor is there doubt that they performed servile work, when they were carrying off the spoils of war by the precept of god. For even in the times of the Maccabees, on Sabbaths they acted bravely by fighting and overpowered the foreign foes, and by fighting on Sabbaths they recalled the paternal law to its pristine state of life;

[11] nec putem aliam legem eos defendisse nisi in qua de die sabbatorum meminerant esse praescriptum. Unde manifestum est ad tempus et praesentis causae necessitatem huiusmodi praecepta convaluisse et non ad perpetui temporis observationem huiusmodi legem eis deum ante dedisse.

[11] nor would I think that they defended any other law except the one in which they remembered that there was a precept about the Sabbath day. Whence it is manifest that precepts of this kind gained force for a time, and for the necessity of the present cause, and that God had not formerly given them a law of this kind for the observance of perpetual time.

[1] Sic et sacrificia terrenarum oblationum et spiritalium [sacrificiorum] praedicata ostendimus, et quidem a primordio maioris filii id est Israelis terrena fuisse in Cain praeostensa sacrificia, sed minotis filii [Abel] id est populi nostri sacrificia diversa demonstrata.

[1] Thus also the sacrifices of earthly oblations and of spiritual [sacrifices] having been proclaimed we show, and indeed from the beginning the sacrifices of the elder son, that is, of Israel, to have been earthly, pre-shown in Cain, but of the younger son [Abel], that is, of our people, the sacrifices shown as different.

[2] Namque maior natu Cain de fructu terrae obtulit munera deo, minor vero filius Abel de fructu ovium suarum.Et respexit deus in Abel et in munera eius, in Cain autem et in munera eius non respexit. Et dixit deus ad Cain: quare concidit vultus tuus?

[2] For indeed the elder by birth, Cain, offered gifts to god from the fruit of the earth, but the younger son, Abel, from the fruit of his sheep.And god looked upon Abel and upon his gifts, but upon Cain and upon his gifts he did not look. And god said to Cain: why has your countenance fallen?

Nonne, si recte quidem offeras non recte autem dividas, peccasti? Quiesce; ad te enim conversio eius et tu dominaberis eius. Et tunc dixit Cain ad Abel fratrem suum: eamus in campum.

Is it not so: if indeed you offer rightly but do not divide rightly, you have sinned? Be still; for to you is its conversion, and you shall dominate it. And then Cain said to Abel his brother: let us go into the field.

Et abiit cum eo illic et interfecit eum. Et tunc dixit deus ad Cain: ubi est Abel frater tuus? et dixit: nescio; numquid custos fratris mei sum ego?

And he went there with him and killed him. And then God said to Cain: where is Abel your brother? and he said: I do not know; am I the custodian of my brother?

cui deus dixit: vox sanguinis fratris tui proclamat ad me de terra. Propter quod maledicta terra quae aperuit os suum ad excipiendum sanguinem fratris tui. Et gemens et tremens eris super terram, et omnis qui te invenerit occidet te.

to whom God said: the voice of your brother’s blood proclaims to me from the earth. For which reason the earth is cursed, which has opened its mouth to receive the blood of your brother. And groaning and trembling you shall be upon the earth, and everyone who finds you will kill you.

[3] Ex hoc igitur actu duplicia duorum populorum sacrificia praeostensa iam tunc a primordio animadvertimus. Denique cum per Moysen in Levitico lex sacerdotalis conscriberetur, invenimus praescriptum populo Israeli, ut sacrificia nullo alio in loco offerrentur deo quam in terra promissionis, quam dominus deus daturus esset patribus eorum, ut introducto Israele illic celebrarentur sacrificia et holocausta tam pro peccatis quam pro animabus et nusquam alibi nisi in terra sancta.

[3] From this act, therefore, we observe that the double sacrifices of two peoples were foreshown already then from the beginning we take note. Finally, when through Moses in Leviticus the sacerdotal law was being written down, we find it prescribed to the people Israel, that sacrifices be offered to God in no other place than in the land of promise, which the Lord God was going to give to their fathers, so that, Israel having been brought in, there they might be celebrated sacrifices and holocausts as much for sins as for souls, and nowhere else except in the holy land.

[4] Cur itaque postea per prophetas praedicat spiritus futurum, ut in omni loco et in omni terra offerantur sacrificia deo? Sicuti per Malachiam unum ex duodecim prophetis dicit:Non recipiam sacrificium de manibus vestris, quoniam ab oriente sole usque in occidentem nomen meum clarificatum est in omnibus gentibus, dicit dominus omnipotens, et in omni loco offeruntur sacrificia munda nomini meo. Item in psalmis David: Adferte deo, patriae gentium, indubitate quod in omnem terram exire habebat praedicatio apostolorum, adferte deo claritatem et honorem, adferte deo sacrificium nominis eius; tollite hostiam et introite in atria eius.

[4] Why therefore does the Spirit afterwards proclaim through the prophets that it will come to pass that in every place and in every land sacrifices are offered to God? Just as through Malachi, one of the twelve prophets, he says:I will not receive a sacrifice from your hands, for from the rising of the sun unto its setting my name has been glorified among all the Gentiles, says the Lord Almighty, and in every place pure sacrifices are offered to my name. Likewise in the psalms of David: Bring to God, fatherlands of the nations, indubitably indicating that the preaching of the apostles was destined to go out into all the earth, bring to God glory and honor, bring to God the sacrifice of his name; take up the victim and enter into his courts.

[5] Namque quod non terrenis sacrificiis sed spiritalibus deo litandum sit, ita legimus ut scriptum est:Cor contribulatum et humiliatum hostia deo est, et alibi: Sacrifica deo sacrificium laudis et redde altissimo vota tua. Sic itaque sacrificia spiritalia laudis designantur et cor contribulatum acceptabile sacrificium deo demonstratur.

[5] For that it is not with earthly sacrifices but with spiritual that God is to be propitiated, thus we read as it is written:A contrite and humbled heart is a sacrifice to God, and elsewhere: Offer to God a sacrifice of praise and render your vows to the Most High. Thus, accordingly, spiritual sacrifices of praise are designated, and a contrite heart is shown to be an acceptable sacrifice to God.

[6] Itaque quomodo carnalia sacrificia reprobata intelleguntur — de quibus et Esaias loquitur dicens:Quo mihi multitudinem sacrificiorum vestrorum, dicit dominus, quoniam et si adtuleritis mihi, inquit, similam, vanum supplicamentum execramentum mihi est, et adhuc dicit: Holocaustomata et sacrificia vestra et adipem hircorum et sanguinem taurorum nolo, nec si veniatis videri mihi; quis enim exquisivit ista de manibus vestris? —, ita sacrificia spiritalia accepta praedicantur, ut prophetae adnuntiant.

[6] And thus, how carnal sacrifices are understood to be rejected — about which also Isaiah speaks, saying:To what purpose to me is the multitude of your sacrifices, says the Lord, for even if you bring to me, he says, fine flour, a vain supplication, an execration to me it is, and he still says: Holocausts and your sacrifices and the fat of goats and the blood of bulls I do not want, nor, if you come, to appear before me; for who has sought out these things from your hands? —, so spiritual sacrifices are proclaimed acceptable, as the prophets announce.

[7] Carnalia vero sacrificia, de quibus praedicatum est:Non est mihi voluntas in vobis, dicit dominus, sacrificia non accipiam de manibus vestris, quoniam ab oriente sole usque in occidentem nomen meum clarificatum est in omnibus gentibus, dicit dominus. De spiritalibus vero sacrificiis addit dicens: Et in omni loco sacrificia munda offerunt nomini meo, dicit dominus.

[7] But the carnal sacrifices, about which it has been proclaimed:I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord; I will not receive sacrifices from your hands, since from the rising of the sun to the setting my name has been glorified among all the nations, says the Lord. But concerning spiritual sacrifices he adds, saying: And in every place they offer pure sacrifices to my name, says the Lord.

VI.

[1] Igitur cum manifestum sit et sabbatum temporale ostensum et sabbatum aeternum praedicatum, circumcisionem quoque carnalem praedictam et circumcisionem spiritalem praeindicatam, legem quoque temporalem et legem aeternalem denuntiatam, sacrificia carnalia et sacrificia spiritalia praeostensa, sequitur ut praecedenti tempore datis omnibus istis praeceptis carnaliter populo Israeli superveniret tempus, quo legis antiquae et caeremoniarum veterutn praecepta cessarent et novae legis promissio et spiritalium sacrificiorum agnitio et novi testamenti pollicitatio superveniret fulgente nobis lumine ex alto qui sedebamus in tenebris et inumbra mortis detinebamur.

[1] Therefore, since it is manifest both that the sabbath has been shown as temporal and the sabbath proclaimed as eternal, the carnal circumcision also foretold and the spiritual circumcision preindicated,
the temporal law likewise and the eternal law announced,
the carnal sacrifices and the spiritual sacrifices pre-shown, it follows that, with all these precepts having been given carnally to the people Israel in the preceding time, there should supervene a time when the precepts of the ancient law and of the old ceremonies would cease, and the promise of the new law and the recognition of spiritual sacrifices and the pledging of the new testament would supervene, with the light from on high shining for us who were sitting in darkness and were held in the shadow of death.

[2] Itaque necessitas nobis incumbit ut, quoniam praedicatam novam legem a prophetis praediximus et non talem, qualis iam data esset patribus eorum eo tempore quo eos de terra Aegypti produxit, ostendere et probare debeamus tam illam legem veterem cessasse quam legem novam promissam nunc operari: et quidem primum quaerendum, an expectetur novae legis lator et novi testamenti heres et novorum sacrificiorum sacerdos et novae circumcisionis purgator et aeterni sabbati cultor, qui legem veterem compescat et novum testamentum statuat et nova sacrificia offerat et caeremonias antiquas reprimat et circumcisionem veterem cum suo sabbato compescat et novum regnum quod non corrumpatur adnuntiet.

[2] Therefore a necessity presses upon us that, since we have foretold the new law preached by the prophets, and not such a one as had already been given to their fathers at the time when he led them out of the land of Egypt, we ought to show and prove both that that old law has ceased and that the promised new law is now operating: and indeed first it must be asked, whether the lawgiver of the new law is expected and the heir of the new testament and the priest of the new sacrifices and the purifier of the new circumcision and the worshipper of the eternal sabbath, who may restrain the old law and establish the new testament and offer new sacrifices and repress ancient ceremonies and restrain the old circumcision with its sabbath and announce a new kingdom which is not corrupted.

[3] Nam etiam novae legislator sabbati spiritalis cultor sacrifiorum aeternorum antistes regni aeterni dominator quaerendum an venerit an necne, ut si iam venit serviendum sit illi, si necdum venit sustinendus sit, dummodo manifestum sit adventu eius comprimi legis veteris praecepta et oriri debere novae legis exordia.

[3] For also the legislator of the new (law), the worshiper of the spiritual sabbath, the high-priest of the eternal sacrifices, the ruler of the eternal kingdom, is to be inquired whether he has come or not, so that, if he has already come, he should be served; if he has not yet come, he should be awaited, provided it be manifest that by his advent the precepts of the old law are restrained, and that the beginnings of the new law ought to arise.

[4] Et in primis definiendum est non potuisse cessare legem antiquam et prophetas, nisi venisset is qui per eandem legem et per eosdem prophetas venturus adnuntiabatur.

[4] And first of all it must be defined that the ancient law and the prophets could not have ceased, unless he had come who through that same law and by those same prophets
was being announced as about to come.

VII.

[1] Igitur in isto gradum conseramus, an qui venturus Christus adnuntiabatur iam venerit an venturus adhuc speretur. Quod ipsum ut probari possit, etiam tempora sunt nobis requirenda quando venturum Christum prophetae nuntiaverint, ut, si intra ista tempora recognoverimus venisse eum, sine dubio ipsum esse credamus quem prophetae venturum canebant, in quem nos, gentes scilicet, credituri adnuntiabamur, et cum constiterit venisse indubitate etiam legem novam ab ipso datam esse credamus et testamentum novum in ipso et per ipsum nobis dispositum non diffiteamur.

[1] Therefore at this point let us join issue, whether the Christ who was to come and was being announced has already come, or is still hoped as about to come. And so that this very point may be able to be proved, we must also inquire into the times when the prophets announced that Christ would come, so that, if within those times we recognize that he has come, we may without doubt believe him to be the very one whom the prophets were chanting as about to come, in whom we—namely, the nations—were being announced as about to believe, and when it has been established that he has come, let us also believe without doubt that a new law was given by him, and let us not deny that a new testament has been arranged for us in him and through him.

[2] Venturum enim Christum et Iudaeos non refutare scimus, utpote qui in adventum eius spem suam porrigant. Nec de isto pluribus quaerendum, cum retro omnes prophetae de eo praedicaverunt, ut Esaias:Sic dicit dominus deus Christo meo domino: cuius tenui dexteram, ut exaudiant illum gentes; fortitudines regum disrumpam, aperiam ante illum portas, et civitates non cludentur illi. Quod ipsum adimpletum iam videmus.

[2] For we know that the Jews do not refute that Christ is to come, inasmuch as they extend their hope to his advent. Nor about this must there be further inquiry, since of old all the prophets proclaimed concerning him, as Isaiah:Thus says the Lord God to my Christ, my Lord: whose right hand I have held, that the nations may hear him; the strengths of kings I will break, I will open gates before him, and cities shall not be shut to him. This very thing we already see fulfilled.

[3] Cui etenim tenet dexteram pater deus nisi Christo filio suo, quem et exaudierunt omnes gentes, id est cui omnes gentes crediderunt, cuius et praedicatores apostoli in psalmis David ostenduntur:In universam, inquit, terram exivit sonus eorum et ad terminos terrae verba eorum ?

[3] For to whom does God the Father hold the right hand, if not to Christ his Son, whom all the nations have also hearkened to, that is, to whom all the nations have believed, whose heralds the apostles are shown to be in the psalms of David:Into all the, he says,
earth their sound has gone out, and to the ends of the earth their words ?

[4] In quem enim alium universae gentes crediderunt nisi in Christum qui iam venit? Cui etenim crediderunt gentes,Parthi et Medi et Elamitae et qui habitant Mesopotamiam Armeniam Phrygiam Cappadociam, incolentes Pontum et Asiam Pamphyliam, immorantes Aegypto et regiones Africae quae est trans Cyrenen inhabitantes, Romani et incolae, tunc et in Hierusalem Iudaei et ceterae gentes, ut iam Gaetulorum varietates et Maurorum multi fines, Hispaniarum omnes termini et Galliarum diversae nationes et Britannorum inaccessa Romanis loca Christo vero subdita et Sarmatarum et Dacorum et Germanorum et Scytharum et abditarum multarum gentium et provinciarum et insularum multarum nobis ignotarum et quae enumerare minus possumus?

[4] For in whom else have the universal nations believed, if not in Christ who has already come? For in whom indeed have the nations believed—the Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and those who dwell in Mesopotamia, Armenia, Phrygia, Cappadocia, inhabiting Pontus and Asia, Pamphylia, abiding in Egypt, and the regions of Africa which is beyond Cyrene, Romans and inhabitants, then also in Jerusalem the Jews and the other nations—so that now the varieties of the Gaetuli and the many borders of the Moors, all the boundaries of the Spains and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the places of the Britons inaccessible to the Romans yet truly subjected to Christ, and of the Sarmatians and of the Dacians and of the Germans and of the Scythians, and of many hidden peoples and provinces, and of many islands unknown to us, and which we can the less enumerate?

[5] In quibus omnibus locis Christi nomen qui iam venit regnat, utpote ante quem omnium civitatium portae sunt apertae et cui nullae sunt clausae, abante quem ferreae serae sunt comminutae et valvae aereae sunt apertae.

[5] In all these places the name of Christ, who has now come, reigns, seeing that before whom the gates of all cities have been opened and to whom none are closed, before whom iron bars have been shattered and bronze doors have been opened.

[6] Quamquam ista et spiritaliter sint intellegenda, quod praecordia singulorum variis modis a diabolo obsessa fide Christi sint reserata, attamen etiam perspicue sunt adimpleta, utpote in quibus omnibus locis populus nominis Christi inhabitet. Quis enim omnibus gentibus regnare potuisset, nisi Christus dei filius qui omnibus regnaturus in aeternum nuntiabatur?

[6] Although these things are also to be understood spiritually, that the inmost hearts of individuals, beset in various ways by the devil, have been unbarred by the faith of Christ, nevertheless they have also been plainly fulfilled, inasmuch as in all those places the people of the name of Christ dwell. For who could have reigned over all the nations, except Christ the Son of God, who was being announced as about to reign over all forever?

[7] Nam si Solomon regnavit, sed in finibus Iudaeae tantum: a Bersabee usque Dan termini regni eius signantur; si vero Babyloniis et Parthis regnavit Darius, ulterius ultra fines regni sui non habuit potestatem in omnibus gentibus; si Aegyptiis Pharao vel quisque ei in hereditario regno successit, illic tantum potitus est regni sui dominium; si Nabuchodonosor cum suis regulis, ab India usque Aethiopiam habuit regni sui terminos; si Alexander Macedo, non amplius quam Asiam universam et ceteras regiones quas postea devicerat tenuit;

[7] For if Solomon reigned, yet only within the borders of Judea: from Beersheba up to Dan the boundaries of his kingdom are marked; if indeed Darius reigned over the Babylonians and Parthians, he did not have power beyond the limits of his own realm over all the nations; if over the Egyptians Pharaoh, or whoever succeeded him in the hereditary kingdom, there only did he possess the dominion of his kingdom; if Nebuchadnezzar with his petty kings, from India as far as Ethiopia he had the boundaries of his realm; if Alexander the Macedonian, he held no more than the whole of Asia and the other regions which afterward he had conquered;

[8] si Germani, adhuc usque limites suos transgredi non sinuntur. Britanni intra oceani sui ambitum clausi sunt, Maurorum gentes et Gaetulorum barbariae a Romanis obsidentur, ne regionum suarum fines excedant. Quid de ipsis Romanis dicam, qui legionum suarum praesidiis imperium suum muniunt nec trans istas gentes porrigere vires regni sui possunt?

[8] As for the Germans, even now they are not allowed to cross their own limits. The Britons are enclosed within the ambit of their own ocean, the nations of the Moors and the barbarian tribes of the Gaetuli are besieged by the Romans, so that the boundaries of their regions are not exceeded. What shall I say of the Romans themselves, who fortify their dominion with the garrisons of their legions and cannot extend the forces of their kingdom beyond those nations?

[9] Christi autem nomen ubique porrigitur, ubique creditur, ab omnibus gentibus supra enumeratis colitur, ubique regnat, ubique adoratur; omnibus ubique tribuitur aequaliter; non regis apud illum maior gratia, non barbari alicuius inferior laetitia; non dignitatum vel natalium cuiusquam discreta merita; omnibus aequalis, omnibus rex, omnibus iudex, omnibus deus et dominus est. Nec dubites credere quod adseveramus, cum videas fieri.

[9] But the name of Christ is extended everywhere, is believed everywhere, is worshiped by all the nations enumerated above, reigns everywhere, is adored everywhere; it is granted to all everywhere equally; with him there is not a greater grace for a king, nor for any barbarian a lesser joy; the merits of no one are distinguished by dignities or by birth; he is equal to all, to all king, to all judge, to all God and Lord. Nor should you hesitate to believe what we asseverate, since you see it happening.

VIII.

[1] Itaque requirenda tempora praedicta et futurae nativitatis Christi et passionis eius et exterminii civitatis Hierusalem id est vastationis eius. Dicit enim Daniel et civitatem sanctam et sanctum exterminari cum duce venturo et destrui pinnaculum usque ad interitum.

[1] Therefore the times must be sought of the aforesaid and future Nativity of Christ and of his Passion and of the extermination of the city of Jerusalem, that is, its devastation. For Daniel says both the holy city and the sanctuary to be exterminated with the leader to come, and the pinnacle to be destroyed unto annihilation.

[2] Venturi itaque Christi ducis sunt tempora requirenda, quae investigabimus in Danielo; quibus computatis probabimus venisse eum etiam ex temporibus praescriptis et ex signis competentibus et ex operationibus eius; quae probamus et ex consequentibus quae post adventum eius futura adnuntiabantur, uti iam adimpleta omnia praecepta credamus.

[2] Therefore the times of the coming of Christ the leader are to be sought, which we shall investigate in Daniel; which, when computed, we shall prove that he has come both from the times prescribed and from the appropriate signs and from his operations, which we shall also prove from the consequents which after his advent were being announced as about to be, so that we may now believe that all the precepts have been fulfilled.

[3] Sic igitur de eo Daniel praedicavit, ut quando et quo in tempore gentes esset liberaturus ostenderet et quoniam post passionem ipsa civitas exterminari haberet.

[3] Thus therefore Daniel prophesied concerning him, so that he might show when and at what time he would be about to liberate the nations, and that after the Passion the city itself was to be exterminated.

[4] Dicit enim sic:In primo anno sub Dario filio Assueri a semine Medorum qui regnavit super regnum Chaldaeorum ego Daniel intellexi in libris numerum annorum. Et adhuc me loquente in oratione ecce vir Gabriel quem vidi in visione in principio volans et tetigit me quasi hora sacrificii vespertini et intellegere fecit me et locutus est mecum et dixit: Daniel, nunc exivi imbuere te intellegentia, in principio obsecrationis tuae exivit sermo.

[4] For he says thus:In the first year under Darius, son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who reigned over the kingdom of the Chaldeans, I, Daniel, understood in the books the number of years. And while I was still speaking in prayer, behold, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, flying, touched me about the time of the evening sacrifice, and made me understand, and he spoke with me and said: Daniel, now I have come forth to imbue you with intelligence; at the beginning of your supplication the word went forth.

[5]Et ego veni ut adnuntiem tibi, quia vir desideriorum tu es, et cogita in verbo et intellege in visione: septuaginta ebdomades breviatae sunt super plebem tuam et super civitatem sanctam, quoadusque inveteretur delictum et signentur peccata et exorentur iniustitiae et inducatur iustitia aeterna et [ut] signetur visio et prophetes et unguatur sanctus sanctorum. Et scies et percipies et intelleges: a profectione sermonis in integrando et aedificando Hierusalem usque ad Christum ducem ebdomades <septem et dimidia et ebdomades> sexaginta et duae et dimidia; et convertet et aedificabitur in latitudinem et convallationem et innovabuntur tempora.

[5]And I came to announce to you, because you are a man of desires, and consider in the word and understand in the vision: seventy hebdomads have been abbreviated upon your people and upon the holy city, until the delict be antiquated and sins be sealed and iniquities be entreated-away (expiated), and eternal justice be brought in and[that] vision and prophet be sealed and the Holy of Holies be anointed. And you will know and apprehend and understand: from the going-forth of the word for restoring and building Jerusalem up to Christ the leader, hebdomads <seven and a half and hebdomads> sixty-two and a half; and it will turn back and will be built in breadth and rampart, and the times will be renewed.

[6]Et post ebdomadas has sexaginta et duas <et dimidiam> exterminabitur unctio et non erit, et civitatem et sanctum exterminabit cum duce adveniente, et concidentur quomodo in cataclysmo usque in finem belli quod concidetur usque ad interitum. Et confirmabit testamentum in multis; ebdomada una et dimidia ebdomadis auferetur meum sacrificium et libatio, et in sancto exsecratio vastationis, et usque ad finem temporis consummatio dabitur super hanc vastationem.

[6]And after these sixty-two weeks <and a half> the unction will be exterminated and will not be, and the city and the sanctuary he will exterminate with the leader who is coming, and they shall be cut down as in a cataclysm, unto the end of the war which shall be cut down unto destruction. And he will confirm a testament among many; for one week, and in half of the week, my sacrifice and libation will be taken away, and in the holy place the execration of devastation, and unto the end of time a consummation shall be given upon this devastation.

[7] Animadvertamus igitur, terminum quomodo in vero praedicit LXX ebdomadas futuras; in quibus si reciperent eum,aedificabitur in latitudinem et longitudinem et innovabuntur tempora.

[7] Let us therefore take notice how he in truth predicts the terminus of 70 weeks as future; in which, if they would receive him,it will be edified in breadth and length and the times will be renewed.

[8] Providens autem deus quid esset futurum, quoniam non tantum non recipient eum verum et insequentur et tradent eum morti, et recapitulavit et dixit intra LX et II et dimidiam ebdomadas nasci illum et ungui sanctum sanctorum, ebdomades autem VII et dimidia cum implerentur, pati habere et civitatem exterminari post I et dimidiam ebdomadam, quo scilicet VII et dimidia ebdomades completae sunt. Dicit enim sic: et civitatem et sanctum exterminari cum duce venturo [et concidentur sicut in cataclysmo] et destrui pinnaculum usque ad interitum.

[8] But God, foreseeing what would be in the future, since not only would they not receive him, but would also pursue and hand him over to death, recapitulated and said that within 62 and a half weeks that one would be born and the Holy of Holies be anointed; but that when 7 and a half weeks were fulfilled, he would have to suffer, and the city be exterminated after 1 and a half week, whereby namely the 7 and a half weeks are completed. For he says thus: both the city and the sanctuary to be exterminated with the leader who is to come [and they will be cut down as in a cataclysm] and the pinnacle to be destroyed unto destruction.

[9] Unde igitur ostendimus, quoniam venit Christus intra LX et II et dimidiam ebdomadas? Numerabimus autem a primo anno Darii, quoniam in ipso tempore Danieli visio ostenditur. Dicit enim:et intellege et conice a profectione sermonis respondere me tibi haec.

[9] Whence, therefore, do we show that Christ came within 62 and a half weeks? We will number, however, from the first year of Darius, since at that time a vision is shown to Daniel. For he says:and understand and reckon from the going-forth of the word to answer to you these things.

Unde a primo anno Darii debemus computare, quando hanc vidit visionem Daniel.

Whence from the first year of Darius we ought to compute, when Daniel saw this vision.

[10] Videamus igitur, anni quomodo implentur usque ad adventum Christi: Darius enim regnavit annis XVIIII; Artaxerxes annis XL et I; deinde rex Ochus qui et Cyrus annis XX et IIII; Argus anno I; alius Darius qui et Melas nominatus est annis XX et I; Alexander Macedo annis XII; deinde post Alexandrum, qui et Medis et Persis regnaverat quos devicerat et in Alexandria regnum suum firmaverat, quando et nomine suo eam appellavit, — post eum regnavit illic in Alexandria Soter annis XXX et V; cui succedit Philadelphus regnans annis XXX et VIII; huic succedit Euergetes annis XX et V; deinde Philopator annis XVII; post hunc Epiphanes annis XX et IIII; item alius Euergetes annis XX et VII; item alius Soter annis XXX et VIII; Ptolemaeus annis XXX et VII; Cleopatra annis XX et II mensibus V; item adhuc Cleopatra conregnavit Augusto annis XIII; post Cleopatram Augustus aliis annis XL et III imperavit — nam omnes anni imperii Augusti fuerunt L et VI —

[10] Let us therefore see how the years are fulfilled up to the advent of Christ: for Darius reigned 19 years; Artaxerxes 41 years; then king Ochus, who also [was called] Cyrus, 24 years; Argus 1 year; another Darius, who also was named Melas, 21 years; Alexander the Macedonian 12 years; then after Alexander,
who also had reigned over the Medes and Persians whom he had conquered, and had established his kingdom in Alexandria, when he also called it by his own name, — after him there reigned there in Alexandria Soter 35 years; to whom succeeds Philadelphus, reigning 38 years; to him succeeds Euergetes 25 years; then Philopator 17 years; after him Epiphanes 24 years; likewise another Euergetes 27 years; likewise another Soter 38 years; Ptolemy 37 years; Cleopatra 22 years and 5 months; likewise still Cleopatra co-reigned with Augustus 13 years; after Cleopatra Augustus ruled another 43 years — for all the years of Augustus’s imperial rule were 56 —

[11] videmus autem, quoniam in quadragesimo et primo anno imperii Augusti, quo post mortem Cleopatrae vicesimo et octavo anno imperavit, nascitur Christus. Et supervixit idem Augustus ex quo natus est Christus annis XV et erunt reliqua tempora annorum [in diem nativitatis Christi, in annutn Augusti quadragesimum et primum, qui post mortem Cleopatrae vicesimus et octavus Augusto]: efficiuntur anni CCCCXXX et VII menses V in die nativitatis Christi.

[11] we see, however, that in the 41st year of Augustus’s imperial rule, in which, after the death of Cleopatra, in the 28th year
he ruled, Christ is born. And that same Augustus survived, from when Christ was born, 15 years; and the remaining spans of years will be [to the day of Christ’s nativity, in Augustus’s 41st year, which after the death of Cleopatra was the 28th for Augustus]: there are effected 437 years and 5 months on the day of Christ’s nativity.

[12] Et manifestata est iustitia aeterna et unctus est sanctus sanctorum id est Christus et signata est visio et prophetes et dimissa sunt peccata, — quae per fidem nominis Christi omnibus in eum credentibus tribuuntur. Quid est autem quod dicit signari visum et prophetiam? Quoniam omnes prophetae nuntiabant de illo, quod esset venturus et pati haberet, igitur quoniam adimpleta est prophetia per adventum eius, propterea signari visionem et prophetiam dicebat, quoniam ipse est signaculum omnium prophetarum adimplens omnia quae retro de eo nuntiaverant.

[12] And the eternal justice has been manifested, and the Holy of holies—that is, Christ—has been anointed, and the vision and the prophecy have been sealed, and sins have been remitted, — which are granted through faith in the name of Christ to all who believe in him. But what is it that he says, that the vision and the prophecy are to be sealed? Since all the prophets were announcing about him, that he was going to come and had to suffer, therefore, since the prophecy has been fulfilled through the advent of him, for this reason he said that the vision and the prophecy are to be sealed, since he himself is the seal of all the prophets, fulfilling all the things which of old they had announced concerning him.

[13] Post enim adventum eius et passionem ipsius iam non visio neque prophetes qui Christum nuntiet venturum. Denique si non hoc ita est, exhibeant Iudaei prophetarum post Christum aliqua volumina, angelorum aliquorum visibilia miracula, quae retro patriarchae viderunt usque ad adventum Christi qui iam venit.

[13] For after his advent and his passion there is now no vision nor prophet to proclaim Christ as about to come. Finally, if this is not so, let the Jews produce some volumes of prophets after Christ, visible miracles of some angels, which the patriarchs of old saw up to the advent of Christ who has now come.

[14] Ex quo signata est visio et prophetia id est statuta, et merito evangelista:Lex et prophetae usque ad Iohannem baptizatorem. Baptizato enim Christo id est sanctificante aquas in suo baptismate omnis plenitudo spiritalium retro charismatum in Christo cesserunt signante visiones et prophetias omnes quas adventu suo adimplevit.

[14] From which the vision and the prophecy have been sealed, that is, established; and deservedly the evangelist:The Law and the prophets up to John the baptizer. For when Christ was baptized, that is, when he was sanctifying the waters in his own baptism, the whole fullness of the former spiritual charismata ceased in Christ, he sealing all the visions and prophecies which by his advent he fulfilled.

[15] Unde firmissime dicit adventum eius signare visum et prophetiam.

[15] Whence he says most firmly that his advent seals the vision and the prophecy.

Itaque ostendentes et numerum annorum et tempus LX et II et dimidiae ebdomadarum adimpleta, quibus completis venisse Christum id est natum, videamus, quid aliae VII et dimidia ebdomades quae sunt subdivisae in abscisione priorum ebdomadarum, in quo actu sint adimpletae.

Therefore, showing both the number of years and that the time of 62 and a half weeks fulfilled, with which completed Christ had come, that is, had been born, let us see what the other 7 and a half weeks, which are subdivided in the abscission of the former weeks, in what act they have been fulfilled.

[16] Post enim Augustum, qui supervixit post nativitatem Christi annis XV, efficiuntur: cui succedit Tiberius Caesar et imperium habuit annis XX et II mensibus VII diebus XX et VIII — huius quintodecimo anno imperii patitur Christus annos habens quasi XXX cum pateretur —; item Caius Caesar qui et Caligula annis III mensibus VIII diebus XIII; Nero annis XI mensibus IX diebus XIII; Galba mensibus VII diebus VI; Otho mensibus III diebus V; Vitellius mensibus VIII diebus XX et VIII. Vespasianus anno primo imperii sui debellat Iudaeos et fiunt anni L et II menses VI — nam imperavit annis XII —, atque ita in die suae expugnationis Iudaei impleverunt ebdomadas LXX praedictas in Danielo.

[16] After Augustus, who outlived the nativity of Christ by 15 years, there are made up as follows: Tiberius Caesar succeeds him and held the imperium for 22 years, 7 months, 28 days — in the 15th year of his imperium Christ suffers, being about 30 years old when he suffered —; likewise Gaius Caesar, who is also Caligula, 3 years, 8 months, 13 days; Nero 11 years, 9 months, 13 days; Galba 7 months, 6 days; Otho 3 months, 5 days; Vitellius 8 months, 28 days. Vespasian, in the first year of his own imperium, subdues the Jews, and there result 52 years, 6 months — for he reigned 12 years —, and thus on the day of their overthrow the Jews fulfilled the 70 hebdomads foretold in Daniel.

[17] Igitur expletis his quoque temporibus et debellatis Iudaeis postea cessaverunt illic libamina et sacrificia quae exinde illic celebrari non potuerunt. Nam et unctio illic exterminata est post passionem Christi; erat enim praedictum exterminari illic unctionem, sicut in psalmis erat prophetatum:Exterminaverunt manus meas et pedes.

[17] Therefore, with these times also completed and the Jews vanquished in war, afterward the libations and sacrifices ceased there, which from then on could not be celebrated there. For also the unction was exterminated there after the Passion of Christ; for it had been foretold that the anointing would be exterminated there, just as it had been prophesied in the psalms:They exterminated my hands and my feet.

[18] Quae passio Christi [huius exterminium] intra tempora LXX ebdomadarum perfecta est sub Tiberio Caesare, consulibus Rubellio Gemino et Rufio Gemino mense Martio temporibus paschae, die octavo Kalendarum Aprilium, die primo azymorum quo agnum occiderunt ad vesperam, sicut a Moyse fuerat praeceptum. Itaque omnis synagoga filiorum Israelis eum interfecit dicentes ad Pilatum, cum eum vellet dimittere:Sanguis huius super nos et super filios nostros, et: Si hunc dimiseris, non es amicus Caesaris, ut adimpleri omnia possent quae de eo fuerant scripta.

[18] Which passion of Christ [the extermination of this] was completed within the times of the 70 hebdomads under Tiberius Caesar, in the consulship of Rubellius Geminus and Rufius Geminus, in the month of March at the time of Passover, on the eighth day before the Kalends of April, on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they slew the lamb toward evening, as had been commanded by Moses. And so the whole synagogue of the sons of Israel killed him, saying to Pilate, when he wanted to release him:His blood upon us and upon our sons, and: If you release this man, you are not a friend of Caesar, so that all things might be fulfilled which had been written about him.

IX.

[1] Incipiamus igitur probare nativitatem Christi a prophetis esse nuntiatam, sicut Esaias praedicat:Audite domus David! Non pusillum vobis certamen cum hominibus, quoniam deus praestat agonem; propter hoc ipse deus dabit vobis signum: ecce virgo concipiet et pariet filium et vocabitur nomen eius Emmanuel, quod interpretatur nobiscum deus; butyrum et mel manducabit, quoniam priusquam cognoscat infans vocare patrem aut matrem accipiet virtutem Damasci et spolia Samariae adversus regem Assyriorum. "Itaque, dicunt Iudaei, provocemus istam praedicationem Esaiae et faciamus comparationem, an Christus qui iam venit, competat illi primo nomen quod Esaias praedicavit et signa eius quae de eo nuntiavit; et quidem Esaias praedicat eum Emmanuel vocitari oportere, dehinc virtutem sumpturum Damasci et spolia Samariae adversus regem Assyriorum.

[1] Let us therefore begin to prove that the nativity of Christ was announced by the prophets, just as Isaiah proclaims:Hear, O house of David! It is not a small contest for you with men, since God furnishes the struggle; for this reason God himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin will conceive and will bear a son, and his name will be called Emmanuel, which is interpreted “God with us”; he shall eat butter and honey, for before the child knows to call father or mother, he will take the strength of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria against the king of the Assyrians. “Therefore,” say the Jews, “let us challenge that proclamation of Isaiah and make a comparison, whether the Christ who has now come fits it: first, the name which Isaiah proclaimed, and the signs which he announced concerning him; and indeed Isaiah proclaims that he ought to be called Emmanuel, and thereafter that he would take the strength of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria against the king of the Assyrians.”

[2] Porro iste, dicunt, qui venit neque sub eiusmodi nomine est dictus neque re bellica functus." At nos e contrario admonendos eos existimamus, cohaerentia quoque huius capituli recognoscant. Subiuncta est enim interpretatio Emmanuel 'nobiscum deus', uti non solum sonum nominis spectes sed et sensum. Sonus enim Hebraicus quod est Emmanuel interpretationem habet quod est nobiscum deus.

[2] Moreover, this one, they say, who has come was neither called by such a name nor performed in war." But we, on the contrary, think that they should be admonished to recognize the coherence also of this chapter. For the interpretation of Emmanuel, 'God with us,' has been subjoined, so that you may look not only to the sound of the name but also to the sense. For the Hebrew sound which is Emmanuel has the interpretation which is 'God with us.'

[3] Quaere ergo, an ista vox 'nobiscum deus' quod est Emmanuel exinde quod Christus inluxit agitetur in Christo, et, puto, non negabis. Nam qui ex Iudaismo credunt in Christum, ex quo in eum credunt, Emmanuel, cum volent dicere nobiscum deum esse, significant, atque ita constat iam venisse illum qui praedicabatur Emmanuel, quia quod significat Emmanuel venit id est nobiscum deus.

[3] Therefore inquire whether that phrase 'God with us', which is Emmanuel, from the time that Christ has shone forth, is realized in Christ; and, I think, you will not deny it. For those who from Judaism believe in Christ, from the time that they believe in him, signify Emmanuel when they wish to say that God is with us; and thus it is established that he who was proclaimed as Emmanuel has already come, because that which Emmanuel signifies has come, that is, 'God with us.'

[4] Aeque sono nominis inducuntur, cum virtutem Damasci et spolia Samariae et regnum Assyriorum sic accipiunt, quasi bellatorem portendant Christum, non animadvertentes quia scriptura praemittat:Quoniam priusquam cognoscat puer vocare patrem aut matrem accipiet virtutem Damasci et spolia Samariae adversus regem Assyriorum.

[4] Likewise they are induced by the sound of the name, when they take the might of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria and the kingdom of the Assyrians in such a way as if they portended Christ as a warrior, not noticing that Scripture puts beforehand:For before the boy knows to call “father” or “mother,” he will take the might of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria against the king of the Assyrians.

[5] Ante est enim inspicias aetatis demonstrationem, an virum iam Christum exhibere ista aetas posset nedum imperatorem; scilicet vagitu ad arma esset convocaturus infans et signum belli non tuba sed crepitaculo daturus nec ex equo vel de muro sed de nutricis aut gerulae suae dorso sive collo hostem designaturus atque ita Damascum et Samariam pro mammis subacturus.

[5] For first, you should examine the demonstration of age, whether that age could already exhibit Christ as a man, not to mention an emperor; plainly, by a wail he would be about to summon to arms infant, and would give the signal of war not with a trumpet but with a rattle, and would designate the enemy not from a horse or from a wall but from the back or neck of his nurse or nursemaid, and thus would subjugate Damascus and Samaria in lieu of breasts.

[6] Aliud est, si penes vos infantes in proelia erumpunt, credo, ad solem uncti prius dehinc pannis armati et butyro stipendiati, qui ante norint lanciare quam lancinare. Enimvero si nusquam hoc natura concedit, ante militare quam virum facere, ante virtutem Damasci sumere quam patrem nosse, sequitur ut figurate pronuntiatum videatur.

[6] It is another matter, if with you infants burst into battles, I suppose, anointed to the sun first, then armed with swaddling-clothes and stipend-paid with butter, who would sooner know how to lance than to lacerate. But indeed, if nowhere does nature permit this—to soldier before to make a man, to take up the virtue of Damascus before to know a father—it follows that it seems to have been pronounced figuratively.

[7] "Sed et virginem, dicunt, parere natura non patitur et tamen credendum est prophetae." Et merito; praestruxit enim fidem incredibili rei dicendo quod signum esset futurum:Propterea, inquit, dabitur vobis signum: ecce virgo concipiet in utero et pariet filium. Signum autem a deo, nisi novitas aliqua monstruosa fuisset, signum non videretur.

[7] "But also that a virgin, they say, nature does not permit to give birth, and yet the prophet must be believed." And rightly so; for he pre-established faith for the incredible thing by saying that a sign would be forthcoming:Therefore, he says, a sign will be given to you: behold, a virgin will conceive in the womb and will bear a son. But a sign from God, unless there had been some monstrous novelty, would not seem a sign.

[8] Denique si, quando ad deiciendos aliquos ab hac divina praedicatione vel convertere simplices quosque gestitis, mentiri audetis, quasi non virginem sed iuvenculam concepturam et parituram scriptura contineat, hinc quoque revincimini, quod nihil signi videri possit res cotidiana, iuvenculae scilicet praegnatus et partus. In signum ergo nobis posita virgo mater merito creditur, infans vero bellator non aeque.

[8] Finally, if, whenever you are eager to cast down some from this divine preaching or to turn aside any of the simple, you dare to lie, as though Scripture contained not “virgin” but “young woman” as about to conceive and bear, from this too you are refuted, because an everyday thing can seem no sign—namely, the pregnancy and birth of a young woman. Therefore the virgin mother, set before us as a sign, is rightly believed; the infant warrior, however, not equally.

[9] Neque enim et hic signi ratio versaretur, sed signo nativitatis novae adscripto exinde post signum alius iam ordo infantis edicitur, mel et butyrum manducaturum. Nec hoc utique in signum; est infantiae. "Sed accepturum virtutem Damasci et spolia Samariae adversus regem Assyriorum, hoc est mirabile signum."

[9] For in this case too the rationale of a sign would not be in question, but, the sign having been ascribed to the new nativity, thereafter, after the sign, already another order of the infant is declared, that he will eat honey and butter to eat. Nor is this, assuredly, for a sign; it is of infancy. "But that he will receive the strength of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria against the king of the Assyrians—this is a marvelous sign."

[10] Servate modum aetatis et quaerite sensum praedicationis, immo reddite veritati quae credere non vultis,et intellegitur prophetia quae renuntiatur expuncta. credantur orientales illi magi infantiam Christi regem auro et ture munerantes, et accepit infans virtutem Damasci sine proelio et armis.

[10] Keep the measure of age and seek the sense of the preaching, rather render to the truth which you do not wish to believe,and the prophecy which is announced is understood as checked off. let those eastern magi be believed, presenting gifts to the infancy of Christ the king with gold and frankincense, and the infant received the might of Damascus without battle and arms.

[11] Nam praeter quod omnibus notum est orientis virtutem id est enim vires auro et odoribus pollere solitam, certe est divinis scripturis virtutem ceteram quoque gentium aurum constituere, sicut per Zachariam dicit:Et Iudas praetendet apud Hierusalem et congregabit omnem valentiam populorum per circuitum, aurum et argentum.

[11] For besides what is known to all—that the virtue of the Orient, that is, its forces, has been accustomed to excel in gold and odors—surely in the divine Scriptures virtue, as regards the other nations also, is constituted as gold, as he says through Zechariah:And Judah will stretch forth at Jerusalem and will gather all the valency of the peoples round about, gold and silver.

[12] Nam de hoc auri munere etiam David dicit:Et dabitur illi ex auro Arabiae, et rursus: Reges Arabum et Saba dona adferent illi. Et magos reges fere habuit oriens et Damascus Arabiae retro deputabatur, antequam transscripta esset in Syrophoenicen ex distinctione Syriarum. Cuius tunc virtutem Christus accepit accipiendo insignia eius, aurum scilicet et odores, spolia autem Samariae ipsos magos, qui, cum illum cognovissent et muneribus honorassent et genu posito adorassent qua dominum et regem sub testimonio indicis et ducis stellae, spolia sunt facti Samariae id est idololatriae, credentes videlicet in Christum.

[12] For concerning this gift of gold David also says:And there shall be given to him from the gold of Arabia, and again: The kings of the Arabs and of Sheba will bring gifts to him. And the East for the most part held the magi as kings, and Damascus was formerly accounted to Arabia, before it was transferred into Syrophoenicia by the distinction of the Syrias. Whose power then Christ received by receiving its insignia, namely gold and odors; but the spoils of Samaria were the magi themselves, who, when they had recognized him and had honored him with gifts, and, with knee placed, had adored him as lord and king under the testimony of the pointer and leader, the star, were made the spoils of Samaria, that is, of idolatry, namely by believing in Christ.

[13] Idololatriam enim Samariae nomine notavit, ut ignominiosae ob idololatriam quae desciverat tunc a deo sub rege Hieroboam. Nec hoc enim novum scripturis divinis, figurate uti translatione nominum ex comparatione criminum.

[13] For he marked idolatry by the name of Samaria, as ignominious on account of idolatry which at that time had seceded from God under King Jeroboam. Nor is this a new thing to the divine Scriptures, to use figuratively a translation of names from a comparison of crimes.

[14] Nam archontas Sodomorum appellat archontas vestros et populum vestrum populum Gomorrae vocat, cum iam essent istae civitates olim extinctae. Et alibi per prophetam ad populum Israelem:Pater, inquit, tuus Amorraeus et mater tua Cethaea, quorum ex genere procreati non sunt, sed ob consimilem impietatem, quos aliquando etiam filios suos dixerat: Filios genui et exaltavi.

[14] For he calls the archons of Sodom your archons and calls your people the people of Gomorrah, although those cities had long since been extinguished. And elsewhere through the prophet to the people Israel:Father, he says, your father is an Amorite and your mother a Hittite, from whose stock they were not begotten, but on account of like impiety—those whom he had once even called his sons: Sons I have begotten and exalted.

[15] Sic et Aegyptus nonnumquam totus orbis intellegitur apud illum superstitionis elogio; sic et Babylon apud Iohannem nostrum Romae urbis figura est proinde et magnae et regno superbae et sanctorum debellatricis. Hoc itaque modo magos quoque Samaritanorum appellatione titulavit dispoliatos quod habuerant cum Samaritanis, ut diximus, idololatria adversus dominum.

[15] Thus also Egypt is sometimes understood with him as the whole world by the epithet of superstition; so also Babylon, with our John, is a figure of the city of Rome, accordingly both great and proud in dominion and a conqueress of the saints. Therefore in this way he also entitled the magi with the appellation of Samaritans, despoiled of what they had had with the Samaritans—idolatry against the Lord—as we have said.

[16] Adversus regem autem Assyriorum adversus diabolum, qui adhuc se regnare putat, si sanctos a religione dei deturbet.

[16] But against the king of the Assyrians—against the devil, who still thinks himself to reign—if he should dislodge the saints from the religion of God.

Adiuvabitur haec nostra interpretatio, dum et alibi bellatorem Christum scripturae designant ob armorum quorundam vocabula et eiusmodi verba, sed ex reliquorum sensuum comparatione convincentur Iudaei. Accingere, inquit David, ense super femur.

This our interpretation will be aided, since elsewhere too the scriptures designate Christ as a warrior on account of certain vocabulary of arms and words of such a sort, but from the comparison of the remaining senses the Jews will be convinced. Gird yourself, says David, with a sword upon the thigh.

[17] Sed quid supra legis de Christo?Tempestivus decore super filios hominum, effusa est gratia in labiis tuis. Valde autem absurdum est, si, quem ad bellum ense cingebat, ei de tempestivitate decoris et labiorum gratia blandiebatur. De quo subiungens dicebat: Extende et prospera procede et regna, et adicit: Propter lenitatem et iustitiam tuam. Quis ense operabitur et non contraria lenitati et iustitiae exercet, id est dolum et asperitatem et iniustitiam propriam scilicet negotii proeliorum?

[17] But what do you read above about Christ?Seasonable in decor above the sons of men, poured forth is grace upon your lips. But it is very absurd, if the one whom he was girding with a sword for war, he were blandishing about the seasonableness of decor and the grace of lips. Concerning whom, subjoining, he was saying: Extend and prosper; proceed and reign, and he adds: Because of your lenity and your justice. Who will operate by the sword and not exercise things contrary to lenity and justice, that is, guile and asperity and injustice, proper, to be sure, to the business of battles?

[18] Videamus ergo, an alius sit ensis ille cuius est alius actus, id est dei sermo divinus bis acutus, ut duobus testamentis legis antiquae et legis novae, acutus sapientiae aequitate, reddens unicuique secundum actum suum.

[18] Let us see therefore, whether that sword be another, whose act is different, that is, the divine Word of God, two‑edged, as by the two Testaments of the ancient Law and the new Law, sharpened by the equity of wisdom, rendering to each according to his act.

[19] Licuit ergo et Christo dei in psalmis sine bellicis rebus ense sermonis dei praecingi figurato, cui praedicta tempestivitas congruat cum gratia labiorum, quem tunc cingebatur super femur apud David, quando venturus in terris ex dei patris decreto nuntiabatur:Deducet te, inquit, magnifice dextera tua, virtus scilicet gratiae spiritalis de qua Christi agnitio deducitur; sagittae tuae, inquit, acutae — pervolantia ubique dei praecepta — minantes traductionem uniuscuiusque cordis et compungentes et transfigentes conscientiam quamque; populi sub te cadent, utique adorantes.

[19] It was permitted, therefore, also for Christ of God in the psalms, without warlike matters, to be girded with the sword of the word of God in a figurative way, to whom the aforesaid timeliness accords together with the grace of the lips, who then was being girded upon the thigh with David, when he was being announced, by the decree of God the Father, as about to come upon the earth:He will lead you, he says, magnificently, your right hand, namely the power of spiritual grace from which the recognition of Christ is deduced; your arrows, he says, sharp — the precepts of God flying everywhere — threatening the translation of each heart and pricking and transfixing every conscience; the peoples will fall under you, surely in adoration.

[20] Sic bellipotens et armiger Christus est, sic accipiet spolia non solius Samariae verum et omnium gentium. Agnosce et spolia figurata, cuius et arma allegorica didicisti, atque ita in tantum Christus qui venit non fuit bellator, quia non talis ab Esaia praedicabatur. "Sed si Christus, inquiunt, qui venturus creditur non Iesus dicitur, quare is qui venit Iesus Christus appellatur?"

[20] Thus Christ is war-mighty and armiger; thus he will receive the spoils not of Samaria alone but indeed of all the nations. Recognize also the figured spoils, whose allegorical arms you have learned; and thus, to that extent, the Christ who came was not a warrior, because he was not such as was proclaimed by Isaiah. "But if the Christ, they say, who is believed to be going to come is not called Jesus, why is he who came called Jesus Christ?"

[21] Constabit autem utrumque nomen in Christo dei, in quo invenitur etiam Iesus appellatus. Disce et erroris tui morem: dum Moysi successor destinaretur Auses filius Naue, transfertur certe de pristino nomine et incipit vocari Iesus. "Certe", inquis.

[21] But both names will be established in the Christ of God, in whom he is found also to be called Jesus. Learn also the custom of your error: while the successor of Moses was being designated, Auses son of Naue is surely transferred from his former name, and begins to be called Jesus. "Certainly", you say.

Hanc prius dicimus figuram futuri fuisse.

We say that this earlier was a figure of the future.

[22] Nam quia Iesus Christus secundum populum, quod sumus nos nationes in saeculi deserto commorantes ante, introducturus esset in terram repromissionis melle et lacte manantem, id est in vitae aeternae possessionem qua nihil dulcius, idque non per Moysen id est non per legis disciplinam, sed per Iesum id est per novae legis gratiam provenire habebat circumcisis nobis petrina acie id est Christi praeceptis — petra enim Christus multis modis et figuris praedicatus est —, ideo is vir qui in huius sacramenti imagines parabatrur etiam nominis dominici inauguratus est figura, ut Iesus nominaretur. Nam qui ad Moysen loquebatur, ipse erat dei filius qui et semper videbatur; deum enim patrem nemo umquam vidit et vixit.

[22] For because Jesus Christ, as regards the people—which are we the nations, dwelling aforetime in the desert of the age—was going to introduce into the land of promise flowing with honey and milk, that is, into the possession of eternal life than which nothing is sweeter, and that this was to come about not through Moses, that is, not through the discipline of the law, but
through Jesus, that is, through the grace of the new law, with us circumcised by a rocky edge, that is, by the precepts of Christ—for the rock is Christ, proclaimed in many modes and figures—, therefore that man who was being prepared into the images of this sacrament was also inaugurated by a figure of the Lord’s name, to be named Jesus. For he who was speaking to Moses was the Son of God himself, who also was always seen; for God the Father no one has ever seen and lived.

[23] Et ideo constat ipsum dei filium Moyseo esse locutum et dixisse ad populum:Ecce ego mitto angelum meum ante faciem tuam, id est populi, qui te custodiat in itinere et introducat te in terram quam praeparavi tibi. Intendite illi et audite eum et ne inobaudiens fueris ei; non enim celabit te, quoniam nomen meum super illum est, populum enim introducturus erat Iesus in terram repromissionis, non Moyses. Angelum quidem dixit eum ob magnitudinem virtutum quas erat editurus — quas virtutes fecisset Iesus Naue, et ipsi legistis — et ob officium prophetae nuntiantis scilicet divinam voluntatem, sicuti et praecursorem Christi Iohannem futurum angelum appellat per prophetam spiritus dicens ex persona patris: Ecce ego mitto angelum meum ante faciem tuam, id est Christi, qui praeparabit viam tuam ante te. Nec novum est spiritui sancto angelos appellare eos quos ministros suae virtutis deus praeficit.

[23] And therefore it is agreed that the very Son of God spoke to Moses and said to the people:Behold, I send my angel before your face, that is, of the people, who may guard you on the journey and bring you into the land which I have prepared for you. Attend to him and listen to him, and do not be disobedient to him; for he will not hide from you, since my name is upon him, for it was Jesus who was going to lead the people into the land of promise, not Moses. He called him an angel indeed on account of the greatness of the virtues which he was about to bring forth — what virtues Jesus Nave accomplished, you yourselves have read — and on account of the office of a prophet, announcing, namely, the divine will, just as the Spirit also calls John, the forerunner of Christ, to be an angel through the prophet, speaking in the person of the Father: Behold, I send my angel before your face, that is, of Christ, who will prepare your way before you. Nor is it a new thing for the Holy Spirit to call “angels” those whom God appoints as ministers of his power.

[24] Idem enim Iohannes non tantum angelus Christi vocatus est sed et lucerna lucens ante Christum.Paravi enim lucernam Christo meo David praedicat. + quem + ipse Christus veniens adimplere prophetas dicit ad Iudaeos: Ille fuit, inquit, lucerna ardens et lucens, utpote qui non tantum vias eius parabat in eremo sed et agnum dei demonstrando inluminabat mentes hominum praeconio suo, ut eum esse intellegerent agnum quem Moyses passumm nuntiabat.

[24] For the same John was called not only angel of Christ but also a lamp shining before Christ. ForI have prepared indeed a lamp for my Christ, David proclaims. + whom + Christ himself, coming to fulfill the prophets, says to the Jews: He was, he says, a burning and shining lamp, as one who not only was preparing his ways in the desert but also, by pointing out the Lamb of God, was illuminating the minds of men by his proclamation, so that they might understand him to be the Lamb whom Moses was proclaiming as about to suffer.

[25] Sic et Iesus ob nominis sui futurum sacramentum. Id enim nomen suum confirmavit quod ipse ei indiderat, quia non angelum nec Ausen sed Iesum eum iusserat exinde vocari. Sic igitur utrumque nomen competit Christo dei, ut et Iesus appellaretur.

[25] Thus also Jesus, on account of the future sacrament of his name. For he confirmed that name of his which he himself had bestowed upon him, since he had ordered that from then on he be called not Angel nor Ausen but Jesus. Thus therefore both names are fitting to the Christ of God, that he also be called Jesus.

[26] Et quoniam ex semine David genus trahere deberet virgo ex qua nasci oportuit Christus, ut supra memoravimus, evidenter propheta in sequentibus dicit:Et nascetur, inquit, virga de radice Iesse, quod est Maria, et flos de radice ascendet et requiescet in illum spiritus dei: spiritus sapientiae et intellectus, spiritus agnitionis et pietatis, spiritus consilii et virtutis, spiritus timoris dei implebit illum.

[26] And since from the seed of David the virgin from whom Christ ought to be born should draw her lineage, as we have mentioned above, clearly the prophet in what follows says:And there will be born, he says, a rod from the root of Jesse, which is Mary, and a flower will arise from the root and will rest upon him the Spirit of God: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of recognition and piety, the spirit of counsel and virtue, the spirit of fear of God will fill him.

[27] Neque enim ulli hominum universitas spiritalium documentorum competebat nisi Christo, flori quidem ad gloriam ob gratiam adaequato, ex stirpe autem Iesse deputato per Mariam, scilicet inde censendam. Fuit enim de patria Bethleem et de domo David, sicuti apud Romanos in censu descripta est Maria ex qua nascitur Christus. Expostulo etiam, [ut] qui a prophetis praedicabatur ex Iesse genere venturus et omnem humilitatem et patientiam et tranquillitatem [esset] exhibiturus an venerit,

[27] For the universality of spiritual documents was fitting to no one of men except to Christ— to the flower indeed equated to glory on account of grace, but assigned from the stock of Jesse through Mary, namely to be reckoned thence. For she was from the native place Bethlehem and from the house of David, just as with the Romans in the census Mary— from whom Christ is born— is enrolled. I also demand, [that] he who was proclaimed by the prophets as about to come from the lineage of Jesse and as about to exhibit all humility and patience and tranquility [would be], whether he has come,

[28] atque ita is homo qui talis ostenditur ipse erit Christus qui venit. De hoc enim propheta dicit:Homo in plaga positus et sciens ferre imbecillitatem, qui tamquam ovis ad victimam ductus est et tamquam agnus coram tondente se non aperuit os suum. Si neque contendit neque clamavit neque audita est foris vox eius, qui arundinem contusam, Israelis fidem, non comminuit, qui linum ardens, id est momentaneum ardorem gentium, non restinxit, sed lucere magis fecit ortu luminis sui, non potest alius esse quam qui praedicabatur.

[28] and thus the man who is shown to be such will himself be the Christ who has come. For concerning this one the prophet says:a man set under the stroke and knowing to bear infirmity, who was led like a sheep to sacrifice, and like a lamb before his shearer he did not open his mouth. If he neither contended nor clamored nor was his voice heard outside, who the bruised reed—Israel’s faith—did not break, who the burning flax, that is, the momentary ardor of the nations, did not extinguish, but made it shine more by the rising of his light, he cannot be other than the one who was being proclaimed.

[29] Oportet itaque actum Christi eius qui venit ad scripturarum regulam recognosci; duplici enim, nisi fallor, operatione distinctum eum legimus, praedicationis et virtutis.

[29] It is therefore fitting that the activity of Christ, of him who came, be recognized according to the rule of the Scriptures; for, unless I am mistaken, we read him to be distinguished by a twofold operation, of preaching and of power.

Sed de utroque titulo sic <sit> dispositum. Itaque specialiter dispungamus ordinem coeptum docentes praedicatorem adnuntiatum Christum, ut per Esaiam:

But concerning both titles, let it be thus <sit> arranged. Therefore, let us in particular check off the order begun, teaching that Christ the preacher was announced, as through Isaiah:

[30]Exclama, inquit, in vigore et ne peperceris, exalta ut tuba vocem tuam et adnuntia plebi meae facinora ipsorum et domui Iacob delicta eorum. Me de die in diem quaerunt et cognoscere vias meas cupiunt, quasi populus qui iustitiam fecerit et iudicium dei non reliquerit et reliqua — virtutes autem facturum a patre: Ecce deus noster iudicium retribuet, ipse veniet et salvos faciet nos; tunc infirmi curabuntur et oculi caecorum videbunt et aures surdorum audient et mutorum linguae solventur et claudus saliet velut cervus et cetera.

[30]“Cry out,” he says, “in vigor, and do not spare; exalt your voice like a trumpet and announce to my people their crimes and to the house of Jacob their delicts. They seek me day by day and desire to know my ways, as though a people that has done justice and has not abandoned the judgment of God,” and the rest — but that he would do powers from the Father: “Behold, our God will repay judgment; he himself will come and will save us;” then the infirm will be healed, and the eyes of the blind will see, and the ears of the deaf will hear, and the tongues of the mute will be loosed, and the lame will leap like a stag, and so forth.

[31] Quae operatum Christum nec vos diffitemini, utpote qui dicebatis, quod non propter opera eum lapidaretis, sed quoniam ista sabbatis faciebat.

[31] Which things you too do not deny that Christ performed, seeing that you were saying that you were not stoning him on account of the works, but because he was doing these things on the sabbaths.

10.

[1] De exitu plane passionis eius ambigitis negantes passionem crucis in Christum praedicatam et argumentantes insuper non esse credendum, ut ad id genus mortis exposuerit deus filium suum, quod ipse dixit:Maledictus omnis qui pependerit in ligno. Sed huius maledictionis sensum antecedit rerum ratio.

[1] As to the outcome of his passion you plainly are in doubt, denying that the passion of the cross was proclaimed in Christ
and arguing moreover that it is not to be believed that God exposed his Son to that kind of death, since he himself said: Cursed is everyone who has hung on a tree. But the rationale of the matter precedes the sense of this malediction.

[2] Dicit enim in Deuteronomio:Si autem fuerit in aliquo delictum ad iudicium mortis et morietur et suspendetis in ligno, non manebit corpus eius in ligno, sed sepultura sepelietis eum ipsa die, quoniam maledictus a deo est omnis qui suspensus fuerit in ligno, et non inquinabitis terram quam dominus deus tuus dabit tibi in sortem.

[2] For he says in Deuteronomy:But if there shall be in someone a delict for the judgment of death, and he dies, and you will suspend him on the wood, his body shall not remain on the wood, but by sepulture you shall bury him on that very day, for accursed by God is everyone who shall have been suspended on the wood; and you shall not defile the land which the Lord your God gives you for a lot..

[3] Igitur non in hanc passionem Christum maledixit, sed distinctionem fecit, ut, qui in aliquo delicto iudicium mortis habuissetet moreretur suspensus in ligno, hic maledictus a deo esset, qui propter merita delictorum suorum suspenderetur in ligno.

[3] Therefore he did not curse Christ in this passion, but made a distinction: that whoever, in some delict, had the judgment of death and should die suspended on the wood—this one would be accursed by God, who would be suspended on the wood on account of the deserts of his own delicts.

[4] Alioquin Christus qui dolum de ore suo locutus non est quique omnem iustitiam et humilitatem exhibuit, et ut supra de eo praedictum memoravimus, non pro meritis suis in id genus mortis expositus est, sed ut ea quae praedicata sunt a prophetis per vos ei obventura implerentur, sicut in psalmis ipse spiritus Christi iam canebat dicens:Retribuebant mihi mala pro bonis, et: Quae non rapueram tunc exsolvebam, et: Exterminaverunt manus meas et pedes, et: Miserunt in potum meum fel et in siti mea potaverunt me aceto, et: Super vestem meam miserunt sortem, sicuti cetera quae in illum commissuri essetis praedicta sunt.

[4] Otherwise, Christ, who spoke no guile from his mouth and who exhibited all justice and humility, and, as above we have recalled was preannounced concerning him, was not exposed to that kind of death on account of his own merits, but so that the things which were foretold by the prophets as about to befall him through you might be fulfilled, just as in the psalms the very Spirit of Christ was already singing, saying:They repaid me evil for good, and: What I had not plundered, then I was paying back, and: They have pierced my hands and my feet, and: They put gall into my drink, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink, and: Over my garment they cast a lot, just as the rest of the things which you were going to commit against him were foretold.

[5] Quae quidem omnia ipsa perpessus non pro actu suo aliquo malo passus est, sed ut scripturae implerentur de ore prophetarum. Et utique sacramentum passionis ipsius figurari in praedicationibus oportuerat, quantoque incredibile, tanto magis scandalum futuram si nude praedicaretur, quantoque magnificum, tanto magis obumbrandum, ut difficultas intellectus gratiam a deo quaereret.

[5] All these things indeed he himself endured, not suffering for any evil act of his own, but so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled from the mouth of the prophets. And assuredly it was proper that the sacrament of his passion be figured in the predications so much the more incredible, so much the more a scandal would it be if it were preached nakedly, and the more magnificent, so much the more it had to be overshadowed, so that the difficulty of understanding might seek grace from God.

[6] Itaque imprimis Isaac, cum a patre hostia duceretur lignum[que] ipse sibi portans, Christi exitum iam tunc denotabat in victimam concessi a patre lignum passionis suae baiulantis. Ioseph et ipse Christum figuratus vel hoc solo, ne cursum demorer, quod persecutionem a fratribus passus est et venumdatus in Aegyptum ob dei gratiam, sicut et Christus ab Israele, carnaliter a fratribus venumdatus, a Iuda cum traditur.

[6] And so, in the first place, Isaac—when he was being led by his father as a victim, and he himself carrying the wood for himself—was already then denoting Christ’s exit, into the victim conceded by the Father, bearing the wood of his Passion. Joseph likewise himself prefigured Christ even by this alone, so that I may not delay my course: that he suffered persecution from his brothers and was sold into Egypt on account of God’s grace—just so also Christ by Israel, carnally sold by his brothers, by Judas when he is handed over.

[7] Nam et benedicitur a patre in haec verba Ioseph:Tauri decor eius, cornua unicornis cornua eius; in eis nationes ventilabit pariter ad summum usque terrae. Non utique rhinoceros destinabatur unicornis nec minotaurus bicornis, sed Christus in illo significabatur, taurus ob utramque dispositionem, aliis ferus ut iudex aliis mansuetus ut salvator, cuius cornua essent crucis extima — nam et in antemna navis quae crucis pars est hoc extremitates eius vocantur —, unicornis autem medio stipite palus.

[7] For Joseph also is blessed by the father in these words:The beauty of a bull is his, his horns are the horns of a unicorn; with them he will winnow the nations together unto the very extremity of the earth. Surely a rhinoceros was not designated by “unicorn,” nor a two‑horned Minotaur, but Christ was signified in him, a bull on account of the twofold disposition—fierce to some as judge, gentle to others as savior—whose horns were the extremities of the cross — for even on the yard of a ship, which is a part of the cross, these are called its extremities —, while the unicorn is the stake, the middle stipes.

[8] Hac denique virtute crucis et hoc more cornutus universas gentes et nunc ventilat per fidem auferens a terra in caelum et tunc ventilabit per iudicium deiciens de caelo in terram. Idem erit et alibi taurus apud eandem scripturam. Cum Iacob in Simeonem et Levi porrexit benedictionem, de scribis et pharisaeis prophetat; ex illis enim deducitur census illorum.

[8] By this, then, virtue of the cross, and horned in this manner, he both now winnows all the nations through faith, removing from earth into heaven, and then he will winnow through judgment, casting down from heaven into earth. Likewise elsewhere he will be a bull in the same Scripture. When Jacob extended a blessing over Simeon and Levi, he prophesies about the scribes and Pharisees; for from them their census is derived.

[9] Interpretatur enim spiritaliter sic:Simeon et Levi perfecerunt iniquitatem ex sua secta, qua scilicet Christum sunt persecuti; in concilium eorum ne veniat anima mea et in statiomm eorum ne incubuerint viscera mea, quoniam in indignatione sua interfecerunt homines, id est prophetas, et in concupiscentia sua subnervaverunt taurum, id est Christum quem post necem prophetarum interfecerunt et nervos eius suffigendo clavis desaevierunt.

[9] For it is interpreted spiritually thus:Simeon and Levi have completed iniquity from their own sect, by which namely they persecuted Christ; let not my soul come into their council, and upon their station let not my entrails have lain, for in their indignation they slew men, that is, the prophets, and in their concupiscence they hamstrung a bull, that is, Christ, whom after the slaughter of the prophets they killed, and upon his sinews they raged by affixing with nails.

[10] Ceterum vanum, si post homicidia iam ab eis commissa + aliis et non ipsis + exprobrat carnificinam. Iam vero Moyses quid utique tunc tantum, cum Iesus adversus Amelech proeliabatur, expansis manibus orabat residens, quando in rebus tam attonitis magis utique genibus positis et manibus caedentibus pectus et facie humi volutante orationem commendare debuisset, nisi quia illic, ubi nomen domini Iesu dicebat dimicaturi quandoque adversus diabolum, crucis habitus quoque erat necessarius, per quam Iesus victoriam esset relaturus? Idem rursus Moyses post interdictam omnis rei similitudinem cur aereum serpentem ligno impositum pendentis habitu in spectaculum Israeli salutare proposuit eo tempore quo a serpentibus post idololatriam exterminabantur, nisi quod hic dominicam crucem intentabat, qua serpens diabolus designabatur et laesus quisque ab eiusmodi colubris id est angelis eius a delictorum peccantia ad crucis istius sacramenta intentus salvus efficiebatur?

[10] Moreover, it is vain if, after the homicides already committed by them, he upbraids the carnage + to others and not to themselves +. Now indeed, why was it that Moses, precisely then when Jesus was warring against Amalek, prayed seated with hands outstretched, when in circumstances so astonished he ought rather to have commended prayer with knees set, and with hands beating the breast, and the face rolling on the ground, unless because there, where he was naming the Lord Jesus—who would one day fight against the Devil—the habit of the cross too was necessary, through which Jesus was going to carry back the victory? Likewise again, why did the same Moses, after the similitude of every thing had been interdicted, set forth the bronze serpent, placed upon wood in the habit of one hanging, as a saving spectacle to Israel at the time when, after idololatry, they were being exterminated by serpents, unless that here he was intimating the Lord’s cross, by which the serpent, the Devil, was designated, and each person hurt by serpents of that sort, that is, by his angels, from the sinning of delicts, with attention directed to the sacraments of this cross, was made safe?

nam qui in illam tunc respiciebat a morsu serpentium liberabatur.

for whoever then looked upon it was liberated from the bite of the serpents.

[11] Age nunc, si legisti penes prophetam in psalmis:Dominus regnavit a ligno, expecto quid intellegas, ne forte lignarium aliquem regem significari putetis et non Christum qui exinde a passione ligni superata morte regnavit. Proinde et Esaias: Quoniam puer, inquit, natus est vobis et datus est vobis filius; quid novum, si non de filio dei dicit? — Et datus est vobis cuius imperium [initium] factum est super humerum ipsius.

[11] Come now, if you have read with the prophet in the Psalms:The Lord has reigned from the tree, I await what you understand, lest perhaps you think some wooden king to be signified and not Christ, who thereafter from the passion of the tree, with death overcome, reigned. Accordingly Isaiah also: Since a boy, he says, has been born to you and a son has been given to you; what is novel, if he is not speaking about the Son of God? — And has been given to you whose imperium [beginning] has been made upon his shoulder.

[12] Quis omnino regum insigne potestatis suae humero praefert et non aut capite diadema aut manu sceptrum aut + aliqua proprietate usus nova +? Sed solus novus rex aevorum Christus Iesus novam gloriam et potestatem et sublimitatem suam in humero extulit, crucem scilicet, ut secundum superiorem prophetiam exinde dominus regnaret a ligno. De hoc enim ligno etiam deus per Hieremiam insinuat quod essetis dicturi:Venite, immittamus in pane eius lignum et conteramus eum a terra vivorum et nomen illius non memorabitur amplius. Utique in corpus eius lignum missum est. Sic enim Christus revelavit panem corpus suum appellans, cuius retro corpus in pane prophetes nuntiavit.

[12] Who among kings at all bears the emblem of his power on his shoulder, and not either a diadem on his head or a scepter in his hand, or by + some property of new usage +? But the only new king of the ages, Christ Jesus, lifted up his new glory and power and sublimity on his shoulder—namely, the cross—so that, according to the preceding prophecy, from there the Lord would reign from the wood. For about this wood God also intimates through Jeremiah that you would be going to say:Come, let us cast wood into his bread and crush him out of the land of the living, and his name shall be remembered no more. Surely into his body the wood was sent. For thus Christ revealed it, calling bread his body, whose body the prophet formerly announced in bread.

[13] Si adhuc quaeris dominicae crucis praedicationes, satis iam poterit tibi facere vicesimus primus psalmus totam Christi continens passionem canentis iam tunc gloriam suam:Foderunt, inquit, manus meas et pedes, quae propria est atrocitas crucis. Et rursus, cum auxilium patris implorat: Salvum me fac, inquit, ex ore leonis, utique mortis, et de cornibus unicornuorum humilitatem meam, de apicibus scilicet crucis, ut supra ostendimus.

[13] If you still seek the proclamations of the Lord’s cross, the 21st psalm, containing the whole Passion of Christ and already then singing his glory, will now be able to suffice you:They pierced, he says, my hands and my feet, which is the characteristic atrocity of the cross. And again, when he implores the help of the Father: Save me, he says, from the mouth of the lion, that is, of death, and from the horns of the unicorns my humility, from the apices, namely, of the cross, as we have shown above.

[14] Quam crucem nec ipse David passus est nec ullus regum Iudaeorum, ne putetis alterius alicuius prophetari passionem quam eius qui solus a populo tam insigniter crucifixus est.

[14] Which cross neither David himself suffered nor any of the kings of the Jews, lest you think the passion of some other person is being prophesied than that of him who alone was by the people so notably crucified.

Nunc si omnes istas interpretationes respuerit et inriserit duritia cordis vestri, probabimus sufficere posse mortem Christi prophetatam, ut ex hoc quod non esset edicta qualis mors intellegatur per crucem evenisse nec alii deputandam fuisse passionem crucis quam cuius mors praedicabatur.

Now, if the hardness of your heart should spit out and mock all those interpretations, we will prove that the prophesied death of Christ can suffice: namely, that from this—that the kind of death was not edicted—it is understood to have come about by the cross, and that the passion of the cross was to be assigned to no other than the one whose death was being proclaimed.

[15] Nam mortem eius et passionem et sepulturam una voce Esaiae volo ostendere:A facinoribus, inquit, populi mei perductus est ad mortem et dabo malos pro sepultura eius et divites pro morte eius, quia scelus non fecit nec dolus in ore eius inventus est; et deus voluit eximere a morte animam eius et cetera.

[15] For his death and passion and sepulture I wish to show by a single utterance of Isaiah:From the crimes, he says, of my people he was led through to death, and I will give the wicked for his sepulture and the rich for his death, because he did not do crime nor was guile found in his mouth; and God willed to take out his soul from death and the rest.

[16] Dicit etiam adhuc:Sepultura eius sublata est e medio. Nec sepultus enim est nisi mortuus nec sepultura eius sublata est e medio nisi per resurrectionem eius. Denique subiungit: Propterea ipse multos in hereditatem habebit et multorum dividet spolia — quis alius nisi qui + natus + est, ut supra ostendimus? — pro eo quod tradita est in mortem anima eius. Ostensa enim causa gratiae eius, pro iniuria scilicet mortis repensandae, pariter ostensum est haec illum propter mortem consecuturum post mortem, utique post resurrectionem, consecuturum.

[16] He says further also:His sepulture has been taken away from the midst. For neither is one buried unless dead, nor has his sepulture been taken away from the midst except through his resurrection. Finally he subjoins: Therefore he himself will have many in inheritance and he will divide of many the spoils — who else unless he who + born + is, as we showed above? — for this reason, that his soul has been handed over into death. For the cause of his grace having been shown, namely for the recompensing of the injustice of death, it has likewise been shown that he will obtain these things on account of death after death—assuredly after the resurrection—he will obtain them.

[17] Nam quod in passione eius accidit, ut media dies tenebresceret, Amos propheta adnuntiat dicens:Et erit, inquit, in die illa, dicit dominus: occidet sol media die et tenebrescet super terram dies luminis et convertam dies festos vestros in luctum et omnia cantica vestra in lamentationem et imponam super lumbos vestros saccum et super omne caput calvitium et ponam eum quasi luctum dilecti et eos qui cum illo quasi diem maeroris.

[17] For that which happened in his Passion, that midday was darkened, the prophet Amos announces, saying:And it shall be, he says, in that day, says the Lord: the sun will go down at midday, and the day of light will be darkened over the earth; and I will convert your feast days into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will put sackcloth upon your loins and baldness upon every head; and I will set it as the mourning of a beloved, and those who are with him as a day of sorrow.

[18] Hoc enim et Moyses initio primi mensis novorum facturos vos prophetavit, cum omne vulgus filiorum Israelis ad vesperam agnum esset immolaturum, et hanc sollemnitatem diei huius id est paschae azymorum cum amaritudine manducaturos praecanebat et adiecit pascha esse domini id est passionem Christi, quod ita quoque adimpletum est, ut prima die azymorum interficeretis Christum.

[18] For this too Moses prophesied that you would do at the beginning of the first month of new things, when all the multitude of the sons of Israel was going to immolate a lamb at evening; and he foretold that you would eat this solemnity of this day, that is, of the Pascha, azymorum, with bitterness, and he added that the Pascha is of the Lord, that is, the Passion of Christ, which was thus also fulfilled: that on the first day of the Azymes you killed Christ.

[19] Et ut prophetiae implerentur, properavit dies vesperam facere id est tenebras efficere, quae media die factae sunt, atque ita dies festos vestros convertit deus in luctum et cantica vestra in lamentationem. Post enim passionem Christi etiam captivitas vobis et dispersio obvenit praedicata ante per spiritum sanctum.

[19] And that the prophecies might be fulfilled, the day hastened to make evening, that is, to effect darkness, which were made at midday; and thus God turned your feast-days into mourning and your songs into lamentation. For after the passion of Christ, captivity and dispersion also befell you, having been foretold beforehand through the Holy Spirit.

XI.

11.

[1] Nam et pro istis meritis vestris cladem vestram futuram Ezechiel nuntiat, et non solum in isto saeculo quae iam evenit, sed in die retributionis quae subsequetur. Qua clade nemo liberabitur, nisi qui passionem Christi quem respuitis fuerit obsignatus.

[1] For even on account of these your merits Ezekiel announces that your calamity will be future, and not only in this age—what has already come to pass—but in the day of retribution that will follow. In which calamity no one will be freed, unless he has been sealed with the passion of Christ, whom you reject.

[2] Sic enim scriptum est:Et dixit ad me: fili hominis, vidisti quae seniores Israelis faciunt, unusquisque eorum in tenebris, unusquisque in cubiculo absconso? Quoniam dixerunt: non videt nos dominus, dereliquit dominus terram. Et dixit ad me: adhuc conversus videbis facinora maiora quae isti faciunt.

[2] For thus it is written:And he said to me: son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing, each of them in the darkness, each in his hidden chamber? Because they said: the Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land. And he said to me: yet again, turning, you will see greater crimes which these men are doing.

[3]Et introduxit me ad limina ianuae domus domini quae aspicit ad aquilonem, et ecce illic mulieres sedentes et plangentes Thamuz. Et dixit dominus ad me: fili hominis, vidisti? Numquid modica domus Iuda, ut faciant facinora quae fecerunt?

[3]And he brought me to the thresholds of the doorway of the house of the Lord which looks toward the north, and behold, there were women there sitting and lamenting Thamuz. And the Lord said to me: son of man, have you seen? Is it a small thing for the house of Judah, that they should do the abominations which they have done?

Et adhuc visurus es adfectiones maiores eorum.

And you will yet see their greater affections.

[4]Et introduxit me in aedem domus domini interiorem, et ecce in liminibus templi domini inter medium elam et inter medium altaris quasi viginti et quinque viri: posteriora sua dederunt ad templum domini et facies suas contra orientem; hi adorabant solem.

[4]And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord, and behold, at the thresholds of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and between the altar, there were about twenty-five men: they had given their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; these were adoring the sun.

[5]Et dixit ad me: vides, fili hominis? Numquid pusilla domus Iuda, ut faciant facinora quae fecerunt hic? Quoniam impleverunt impietates suas, et ecce ipsi quasi subsannantes, et ego faciam cum indignatione mea; non parcet oculus meus, sed neque miserebor; et clamabunt ad aures meas voce magna et non exaudiam eos, sed neque miserebor.

[5]And he said to me: Do you see, son of man? Is it a small thing for the house of Judah, that they should do the crimes which they have done here? For they have filled up their impieties, and behold they themselves as if sneering; and I will act with my indignation; my eye will not spare, nor yet will I pity; and they will cry with a great voice to my ears, and I will not hear them, nor yet will I pity.

[6]Et exclamavit in aures meas voce magna dicens: adproximavit vindicta civitatis huius. Et unusquisque habuit vasa exterminii in manu sua, et ecce sex viri veniebant a via portae altae quae aspiciebat ad aquilonem, et uniuscuiusque bipennis dispersionis erat in manu eius.

[6]And he cried out in my ears with a great voice, saying: the vengeance of this city has drawn near. And each man had vessels of extermination in his hand, and behold, six men were coming by the way of the high gate which looked toward the north, and in each one’s hand there was a double-axe of dispersion was in his hand.

[7]Et unus vir in medio eorum indutus podere et zona saphiri circa lumbos eius, et introierunt et steterunt proximi altaris aerei, et claritas dei Israelis ascendit a Cherubin quae fuit super ea in subdival domus.

[7]And one man in the midst of them, clad in a long robe, and a zone of sapphire about his loins; and they went in and stood near the brazen altar; and the brightness of the God of Israel went up from the Cherub, which was over it, to the threshold of the house.

[8]Et vocavit hominem qui indutus erat podere, qui habuit super lumbos suos zonam, et dixit ad eum dominus: transi mediam Hierusalem et scribe signum in frontibus virorum qui gemunt et dolent super omnia facinora quae fiunt in medio eorum, et in his dixit ad <me> audientem: ite post eum in civitatem et concidite et nolite parcere oculis vestris, et ne misereamini senioris aut iuvenis aut virginis, et parvulos et mulieres interficite omnes ut perdeleantur, ad omnes autem super quos est [Tau] signum ne accesseritis, et a sanctis meis incipite.

[8]And he called the man who was clothed in a podere, who had a girdle upon his loins, and the Lord said to him: pass through the midst of Jerusalem and write a sign on the foreheads of the men who groan and lament over all the crimes that are being done in the midst of them; and in these words he said to <me> as I was hearing: go after him into the city and cut down, and let not your eyes spare, and do not pity the elder or the youth or the virgin, and the little ones and the women kill, all of them, so that they may be utterly destroyed; but to all upon whom the [Tau] sign is do not draw near, and begin from my holy ones.

[9] Huius autem signi sacramentum, variis modis praedicatum, est in quo vita hominibus praestruebatur, in quod Iudaei non essent credituri, sicut Moyses ante nuntiabat in Exodo dicens:Eiciemini de terra in qua introibitis, et in nationibus illis non eritis in requiem, et erit instabilitas vestigii pedis tui, et dabit tibi deus cor taedians et tabescentem animam et oculos deficientes ut non videant, et erit vita tua pendens in ligno ante oculos tuos et non credes vitae tuae.

[9] But the sacrament of this sign, proclaimed in various modes, is that in which life was being prepared for men, in which the Jews were not going to believe, just as Moses was fore-announcing before in Exodus, saying:You shall be cast out of the land into which you will enter, and among those nations you shall not be in rest, and there shall be instability of the step of your foot, and God will give to you a heart loathing and a soul wasting away and eyes failing so that they do not see, and your life shall be hanging on wood before your eyes and you will not believe in your life.

[10] Itaque quoniam impletae prophetiae per adventum eius id est per nativitatem quam supra memoravimus et passionem quam evidenter ediximus, propterea et Daniel signari visionem et propheten dicebat, quoniam Christus est signaculum omnium prophetatum adimplens omnia quae retro erant de eo nuntiata; post enim adventum eius et passionem ipsius iam non visio neque prophetes. Unde firmissime dicit adventum eius signare visum et prophetiam.

[10] And so, since the prophecies have been fulfilled through his advent—that is, through the nativity which we have recalled above and the passion which we have plainly declared—for that reason Daniel also said that the vision and the prophet are to be sealed, since Christ is the seal of all things prophesied, fulfilling all the things which formerly were announced about him; for after his advent and his passion there is now no vision nor prophet. Whence he very firmly says that his advent seals the vision and the prophecy.

[11] Itaque ostendentes et numerum annorum et tempus LX et II et dimidiae ebdomadarum adimpletarum probavimus tunc venisse Christum id est natum, et septem et dimidiae ebdomadarum, quae sunt subdivisae in abscisione priorum ebdomadarum, — intra quae tempora passum ostendimus Christum atque ita LXX ebdomadibus conclusis et civitate exterminata et sacrificium et unctionem exinde cessare.

[11] Therefore, by showing both the number of years and the time of 62 and a half hebdomads fulfilled, we proved that then Christ had come, that is, been born, and of 7 and a half hebdomads, which are subdivided in the cutting-off of the former hebdomads, — within which times we have shown Christ to have suffered, and thus, with the 70 hebdomads concluded and the city exterminated, both sacrifice and anointing thereafter to cease.

Sufficit hucusque de his interim ordinem Christi decucurrisse, quod talis probatur qualis adnuntiabatur [ut] iam ex ista consonantia scripturarum, qua ex praeiudicio maioris partis adversus Iudaeos elocuti sumus; neque enim in dubium deducant vel negent quae scripta proferimus, ut ex hoc quoque paria esse scripturis divinis negare non possint, ut quae post Christum futura praecanebantur adimpleta cognoscantur.

It suffices thus far, for the time being, to have run through the order of Christ, since he is proved to be such as he was announced, so that now from this consonance of the Scriptures, by which we have spoken out against the Jews from the prejudgment of the greater part; for let them not bring into doubt or deny the things written which we bring forward, so that from this also they may not be able to deny that they are on a par with the divine Scriptures, so that the things which were to be after Christ, which were pre-proclaimed, may be known to have been fulfilled.

[12] Neque, nisi ille venisset post quem habebant expungi quae nuntiabantur, quae completa sunt etiam probarentur.XII.

[12] Nor, unless he had come, after whom the things that were being announced had to be expunged, would the things that have been completed even be proved.12.

[1] Aspice universas nationes de voragine erroris humani exinde emergentes ad dominum deum creatorem et Christum eius, et, si audes negare prophetatum, statim tibi promissio patris occurrit in psalmis dicens:Filius meus es tu, ego hodie genui te; pete a me, et dabo tibi gentes hereditatem tuam et possessionem tuam terminos terrae.

[1] Behold all the nations, emerging thence from the voragine of human error, toward the Lord God the Creator and his Christ; and, if you dare to deny that it was prophesied, immediately the promise of the Father meets you in the Psalms, saying:You are my Son; I today have begotten you; ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance and the limits of the earth as your possession.

[2] Nec poteris alium dei filium dicere quam Christum aut terminos terrae David potius promissos qui intra unicam Iudaeam regnavit quam Christo qui totum iam orbem evangelii sui fide cepit, sicut per Esaiam dicit:Ecce dedi te in dispositionem generis mei, in lucem gentium, aperire oculos caecorum, utique errantium, solvere de vinculis vinctos, id est de delictis liberare, et de domo carceris, id est mortis, sedentes in tenebris, ignorantiae scilicet. Quae si per Christum eveniunt, non in alium erunt prophetata quam per quem expuncta consideramus.

[2] Nor will you be able to call any other Son of God than Christ, or that the boundaries of the earth were promised rather to David, who reigned within a single Judaea, than to Christ, who has now taken the whole world by the faith of his gospel, just as through Isaiah he says:Behold, I have given you for the disposition of my race, for a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, namely of those erring, to loosen the bound from their bonds, that is, to free from sins, and from the house of prison, that is, of death, those sitting in darkness, namely of ignorance. If these things come to pass through Christ, they will not have been prophesied concerning another than the one through whom we consider them expunged.

XIII.

13.

[1] Igitur quoniam filii Israelis adfirmant nos errare recipiendo Christum qui iam venit, praescribamus eis ex ipsis scripturis iam venisse Christum qui praedicabatur, quamvis ex temporibus Danielis praedicantis probaverimus iam venisse Christum qui nuntiabatur. Nasci enim eum oportuit in Bethleem Iudae.

[1] Therefore, since the sons of Israel affirm that we err by receiving Christ who has already come, let us prescribe to them from the Scriptures themselves that the Christ who was being proclaimed has already come, although from the times of Daniel prophesying we have proved that the Christ who was being announced has already come. For it was necessary that he be born in Bethlehem of Judea.

[2] Sic enim scriptum est in propheta:Et tu, Bethleem, non minima es in ducibus Iudae; ex te enim exiet dux qui pascet populum meum Israelem. Si autem adhuc natus non est, qui processurus dux de tribu Iuda ex Bethleem nuntiabatur?

[2] For thus it is written in the prophet:And you, Bethlehem, are not the least among the leaders of Judah; for from you shall come forth a leader who will pasture my people Israel. But if he has not yet been born, who is the leader—announced as about to come forth from the tribe of Judah out of Bethlehem?

[3] Oportebat enim eum de tribu Iuda et a Bethleem procedere. Animadvertimus autem nunc neminem de genere Israelis in civitate Bethleem remansisse exinde quo interdictum est, ne in confinio ipsius regionis demoretur quisquam Iudaeorum, ut hoc quoque esset adimpletum, id est propheta:

[3] For it was necessary that he proceed from the tribe of Judah and from Bethlehem. But we observe now that no one of the stock of Israel has remained in the city of Bethlehem since it was interdicted that any of the Jews should linger within the confines of that very region, so that this also might be fulfilled, that is, the prophet:

[4]Terra vestra deserta, civitates vestrae igni exustae — id est quod belli tempore eis evenerit —, regionem vestram in conspectu vestro exteri comedent, et deserta et subversa erit a populis alienis, id est a Romanis. Et alio loco sic propheta dicit: Regem cum claritate videbitis, id est Christum facientem virtutes in gloriam dei patris, et oculi vestri videbunt terram de longinquo, quod vobis pro meritis vestris post expugnationem Hierusalem prohibitis ingredi in terram vestram de longinquo eam oculis tantum videre permissum est; anima, inquit, vestra meditabitur timorem, scilicet quod tempore excidii sui passi sunt.

[4]Your land is deserted, your cities burned by fire — that is, what befell them in time of war —, your region in your sight outsiders will devour, and it will be deserted and subverted by alien peoples, that is, by the Romans. And in another place thus the prophet says: You will see the king with splendor, that is, Christ performing miracles to the glory of God the Father, and your eyes will see the land from afar, inasmuch as for your deserts, after the storming of Jerusalem, being forbidden to enter into your land, you were permitted to see it from afar only with your eyes; your soul, he says, will meditate on fear, namely what they suffered at the time of their downfall.

[5] Quomodo igitur nascetur dux de Iuda et quatenus procedet de Bethleem, sicuti divina prophetarum volumina nuntiant, cum nullus omnino sit illic in hodiernum derelictus ex Israele, cuius ex stirpe possit nasci Christus? Si enim secundum Iudaeos adhuc non venit, cum venire coeperit unde unguetur?

[5] How, then, will a leader be born from Judah, and how far will he proceed from Bethlehem, just as the divine volumes of the prophets announce, when there is absolutely no one left there from Israel, from whose stock Christ could be born? For if, according to the Jews, he has not yet come, when he begins to come, whence will he be anointed?

[6] Lex enim praecepit in captivitate non licere unctionem chrismatis regalis confici. Si autem iam nec unctio est illic, ut Daniel prophetavit — dicit enimexterminabitur —, ergo iam non est illic unctio, quia nec templum ubi erat cornu de quo reges unguebantur.

[6] For the Law has commanded that in captivity it is not permitted for the anointing of the royal chrism to be prepared.
If, however, now there is not even an anointing there, as Daniel prophesied — for he says it will be exterminated —, therefore now there is not an anointing there, since neither is there the temple where the horn was from which kings were anointed.

[7] Si ergo non est unctio, unde unguetur dux qui nascetur in Bethleem aut quomodo procedet de Bethleem, cum de semine Israelis nullus omnino sit in Bethleem?

[7] If therefore there is no unction, whence will the leader who will be born in Bethlehem be anointed, or how will he go forth from Bethlehem, since from the seed of Israel there is absolutely no one in Bethlehem?

[8] Iterato denique ostendamus et venisse iam Christum secundum prophetas et passum et in caelis iam receptum et inde venturum secundum praedicationes prophetarum.

[8] Let us, then, show again that Christ has already come according to the prophets, and that he suffered, and that he has already been received in the heavens, and that from there he will come, according to the proclamations of the prophets.

[9] Nam post adventum eius secundum Danielem quod ipsa civitas exterminari haberet, legimus et ita factum recognoscimus. Dicit enim scriptura sic: civitatem et sanctum simul exterminari cum duce. Quo duce?

[9] For after his advent, according to Daniel, that the city itself was to be exterminated, we read and we recognize that it was thus done. For the Scripture says thus: that the city and the sanctuary together are to be exterminated with the leader. With which leader?

Indubitate qui de Bethleem et de tribu Iuda esset processurus.

Without a doubt, the one who was to proceed from Bethlehem and from the tribe of Judah.

[10] Unde et manifestum est, quod civitas simul eo tempore exterminari deberet, cum ducator eius in ea pati haberet secundum scripturas prophetarum dicentium:Expandi manus meas tota die ad populum contumacem et contradicentem mihi, qui ambulant via non bona sed post peccata sua. Item in psalmis: Exterminaverunt manus meas et pedes, dinumeraverunt omnia ossa mea; ipsi autem contemplati sunt et viderunt me, et: In siti mea potaverunt me aceto.

[10] Whence it is also manifest that the city likewise ought to be exterminated at that time, when its leader was to suffer in it, according to the scriptures of the prophets saying:I have spread out my hands all the day to a stubborn people and contradicting me, who walk in a way not good but after their sins. Likewise in the psalms: They have exterminated my hands and my feet, they have enumerated all my bones; but they themselves contemplated and saw me, and: In my thirst they made me drink vinegar.

[11] Haec David passus non est, ut de se merito dixisse videatur, sed Christus qui crucifixus est: manus et pedes non exterminantur nisi eius qui in ligno suspenditur. Unde et ipse David regnaturum ex ligno dominum dicebat; nam et alibi propheta ligni huius fructum praedicat dicens:Terra dedit benedictiones suas, utique illa terra virgo nondum pluviis irrigata nec imbribus fecundata, ex qua homo tunc primum plasmatus est, ex qua nunc Christus secundum carnem ex virgine natus est; et lignum, inquit, tulit fructum suum, non illud lignum in paradiso quod mortem dedit protoplastis, sed lignum passionis Christi unde vita pendens a vobis credita non est.

[11] David did not suffer these things, so as to seem rightly to have said them about himself, but Christ, who was crucified: the hands and the feet are not “exterminated” except of him who is suspended on the wood. Whence even David himself was saying that the Lord would reign from the wood; for elsewhere too the prophet proclaims the fruit of this wood, saying:The earth gave its blessings, assuredly that virgin earth not yet irrigated by rains nor made fruitful by showers, from which man was then first fashioned, from which now Christ according to the flesh was born from a virgin; and the tree, he says, bore its fruit, not that tree in Paradise which gave death to the protoplasts, but the tree of the passion of Christ, from which Life, hanging, was not believed by you.

[12] Hoc enim lignum tunc in sacramento, cum Moyses aquam amaram indulcavit unde populus qui siti periebat in eremo bibendo revixit, sicuti nos qui de saeculi calamitatibus extracti in quo commorabamur siti pereuntes, id est verbo divino probati, ligno passionis Christi per aquam baptismatis potantes fidem quae est in eum reviximus.

[12] For this wood then was in sacrament, when Moses sweetened the bitter water, whence the people who were perishing with thirst in the desert, by drinking, came back to life; just so we, who, extracted from the calamities of the age in which we were lingering, perishing with thirst— that is, proved by the divine word— by the wood of the passion of Christ, through the water of baptism, imbibing the faith which is in him, have revived.

[13] A qua fide Israel excidit secundum Hieremiam prophetam dicentem:Mittite, interrogate nimis, si facta sunt talia, si mutabunt gentes deos suos et isti non sunt dii; populus autem meus mutavit gloriam suam, ex quo nihil proderit eis; expavit caelum super isto. Et quando expavit? Indubitate quando passus est Christus.

[13] From which faith Israel fell away, according to the prophet Jeremiah, saying:Send, inquire exceedingly, whether such things have been done, whether the nations will change their gods—and these are not gods; but my people has changed its glory, whence nothing will profit them; heaven shuddered over this. And when did it shudder? Indubitably when Christ suffered.

[14]Et horruit, inquit, plurimum nimis. Et quando horruit nimis nisi in passione Christi, cum terra quoque contremuit et sol media die tenebricavit et velum templi scissum est et monumenta dirapta sunt? Quoniam, inquit, duo haec nequam fecit populus meus: me dereliquerunt fontem aquae vitae et foderunt sibi lacus contritos qui non poterunt aquam continere.

[14]And it shuddered, he says, very much exceedingly. And when did it shudder exceedingly if not in the Passion of Christ, when the earth also trembled and the sun at midday was darkened and the veil of the temple was torn and the tombs were torn open? For, he says, these two wicked things my people has done: they have forsaken me, the fountain of the water of life, and they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns which will not be able to contain water.

[15] Indubitate non recipiendo Christum fontem aquae vitae lacus contritos coeperunt habere, id est synagogas in dispersiones gentium, in quibus iam spititus sanctus non immoratur, ut in praeteritum in templo commorabatur ante adventum Christi qui est verum dei templum.

[15] Indubitably by not receiving Christ, the fountain of living water, they began to have broken cisterns, that is, synagogues in the dispersions of the nations, in which the Holy Spirit no longer dwells, as in times past he used to abide in the Temple before the advent of Christ, who is the true temple of God.

[16] Nam et istam sitim divini spiritus eos passuros praedicat propheta dicens:Ecce qui serviunt mihi manducabunt, vos autem esurietis; servientes mihi potabuntur, vos autem sitietis et a contribulatione spiritus ululabitis; remittetis enim nomen vestrum in satietatem electis meis, vos autem interficiet dominus; eis autem qui serviunt mihi nomen nominabitur novum quod benedicetur in terris.

[16] For the prophet also foretells that they will suffer that thirst of the divine Spirit, saying:Behold, those who serve me will eat, but you will hunger; those serving me will be given to drink, but you will thirst, and you will howl from the tribulation of spirit; for you will leave your name for satiety to my elect, but the Lord will slay you; but for those who serve me a new name will be named which will be blessed in the earth.

[17] Adhuc huius ligni sacramentum etiam in Regnorum legimus celebratum. Nam cum filii prophetarum super flumen Iordanem lignum securibus caederent, exsiliit ferrum et mersum est in flumine, atque ita Helisaeo propheta superveniente petunt ab eo filii prophetarum, uti ferrum flumini quod immersum fuerat erueret.

[17] Moreover, we read that the sacrament of this wood was also celebrated in the Books of Kings. For when the sons of the prophets were cutting wood with axes by the river Jordan, the iron sprang off and was submerged in the river; and so, with the prophet Elisha arriving, the sons of the prophets ask of him that he would draw out the iron from the river which had been immersed.

[18] Atque ita [Helisaeus] accepto ligno et misso in eum locum ubi submersum fuerat, ferrum statim supernatavit, quod receperunt filii prophetarum, et lignum mersum est. Ex quo intellexerunt, quod Heliae spiritus in eum sit repraesentatus.

[18] And so [Elisha], after receiving the wood and casting it into the place where it had been submerged, the iron immediately floated up, which the sons of the prophets recovered, and the wood was submerged. From this they understood that the spirit of Elijah had been represented in him.

[19] Quid manifestius huius ligni sacramento, quod duritia huius saeculi mersa in profundo erroris et a ligno Christi id est passionis eius in baptismo liberatur, ut quod perierat olim per lignum in Adam id restitueretur per lignum Christi, nobis scilicet qui successimus in loco prophetarum ea sustinentes hodie in saeculo quae semper passi prophetae propter divinam religionem;

[19] What could be more manifest than the sacrament of this wood, by which the hardness of this age, submerged in the deep of error, is freed by the wood of Christ, that is, by his Passion, in baptism, so that what once had perished through the wood in Adam might be restored through the wood of Christ, to us, namely, who have succeeded in the place of the prophets, enduring today in the age the things which the prophets have always suffered on account of divine religion;

[20] alios enim lapidaverunt, alios fugaverunt, plures vero ad necem tradiderunt, quod negare non possunt. Hoc lignum sibi et Isaac filius Abrahae ad sacrificium ipse portabat, cum sibi eum deus hostiam fieri praecepisset.

[20] for they stoned some, they put others to flight, but many indeed they delivered over to death, which they cannot deny. This wood, too, Isaac the son of Abraham himself was carrying for the sacrifice, when God had commanded that he be made a victim.

[21] Sed quoniam haec fuerant sacramenta quae temporibus Christi perficienda servabantur, et Isaac cum ligno servatus est ariete oblato in vepre cornibus haerente et Christus suis temporibus lignum humeris suis portavit inhaerens cornibus crucis corona spinea capiti eius circumdata. Hunc enim oportebat pro omnibus gentibus fieri sacrificium quitamquam ovis ad victimam ductus est et velut agnus coram tondente se sine voce sic non aperuit os suum.

[21] But since these had been sacraments which were being reserved to be perfected in the times of Christ, both Isaac, with the wood, was preserved, the ram being offered, caught by its horns in a thicket, and Christ in his own times carried the wood upon his shoulders, clinging to the horns of the cross, with a thorny crown encircled around his head. For this one had to be made a sacrifice for all the nations, whoas a sheep was led to the victim (slaughter), and like a lamb before the one shearing him, silent, so he did not open his mouth.

[22] Hic enim Pilato interroganti nihil locutus est;in humilitate enim iudicium eius sublatum est. Nativitatem autem eius quis enarrabit? Quare? Quia nullus omnino hominum nativitatis Christi fuit conscius in conceptu, cum virgo Maria a verbo dei praegnans inveniretur, et quia tolleretur a terra vita eius.

[22] For to Pilate as he questioned him he said nothing;in humility indeed his judgment was taken away. Birth however who will recount it? Why? Because absolutely no human was privy to the birth of Christ at the conception, when the virgin Mary was found pregnant by the word of God, and because his life was to be taken away from the earth.

[23] Cur ita? Quia post resurrectionem eius a mortuis quae die tertia effecta est caeli eum receperunt secundum prophetiam emissam huiusmodi:Ante lucem surgent ad me dicentes: eamus et revertamur ad dominum deum nostrum, quoniam ipse eripiet et liberabit nos post biduum die tertia, quae est resurrectio eius gloriosa, cuius neque nativitatem neque passionem Iudaei agnoverunt: de terra in caelos eum recepit, unde et venerat ipse spiritus ad virginem.

[23] Why so? Because after his resurrection from the dead, which was effected on the third day, the heavens received him according to a prophecy sent forth of this sort:Before dawn they will rise saying to me: let us go and let us return to the Lord our God, since he himself will rescue and deliver us after two days, on the third day, which is his glorious resurrection, whose nativity and passion the Jews did not acknowledge: from the earth into the heavens received him, whence also the Spirit himself had come to the virgin.

[24] Igitur quoniam adhuc contendunt Iudaei necdum venisse Christum quem tot modis adprobavimus venisse, recognoscant [Iudaei] exitum suum quem post adventum Christi relaturi praedicabantur ob impietatem qua eum et despexerunt et interfecerunt. Primo enim ex qua die secundum dictum Esaiae proiecit homo abominamenta sua aurea et argentea quae fecerunt adorare vanis et nocivis, id est ex quo gentes nos dilucidati pectora per Christi veritatem proiecimus idola, vident Iudaei et quod sequitur expunctum.

[24] Therefore, since the Jews still contend that Christ has not yet come, whom we have proved to have come in so many modes, let [the Jews] recognize their outcome which, after the advent of Christ, they were proclaimed they would undergo on account of the impiety with which they both despised him and slew him. For first, from the day on which, according to the saying of Isaiah, man cast away his abominations of gold and silver which they made to adore things vain and noxious, that is, from the time when we the nations, our breasts elucidated through the truth of Christ, cast away idols, the Jews see even that which follows checked off. Primo enim ex qua die secundum dictum Esaiae proiecit homo abominamenta sua aurea et argentea quae fecerunt adorare vanis et nocivis, id est ex quo gentes nos dilucidati pectora per Christi veritatem proiecimus idola, vident Iudaei et quod sequitur expunctum.

[25] Tulit enim dominus Sabaoth a Iudaeis et ab Hierusalem inter cetera et sapientem architectum qui aedificat ecclesiam, dei templum et civitatem sanctam et domum domini. Nam exinde destitit apud illos dei gratia et mandatum est nubibus, ne pluerent imbrem super vineam Sorech, id est caelestibus beneficiis, ne provenirent domui Israelis.

[25] For the Lord Sabaoth took away from the Jews and from Jerusalem, among other things, even the wise architect who builds the ecclesia, the temple of God and the holy city and the house of the Lord. For from then on the grace of God ceased among them, and it was commanded to the clouds not to rain a shower upon the vineyard Sorech, that is, with heavenly benefits, lest they should accrue to the house of Israel.

[26] Fecerat enim spinas ex quibus Christum coronaverat et non iustitiam sed clamorem quo in crucem eum extorserat. Et ita subtractis charismatis prioribus lex et prophetae usque ad Iohannem fuerunt et piscina Bethsaida usque ad adventum Christi: [valetudines ab Israele curare] desiit a beneficiis deinde, cum ex perseverantia furoris sui nomen domini per ipsos blasphemaretur, sicut scriptum est:Propter vos nomen domini blasphematur in gentibus. Ab illis enim incepit infamia, et tempus medium a Tiberio usque ad Vespasianum. Qui cum ista commisissent nec intellexissent Christum in tempore suae visitationis venientem, facta est terra eorum deserta et civitates eorum igni exustae; regionem ipsorum sub eorum conspectu extraneis devorantibus derelicta est filia Sion tamquam specula in vinea, velut in cucumerario casula, ex quo scilicet Israel dominum non cognovit et populus eum non intellexit, sed dereliquit magis et ad indignationem provocavit sanctum Israelis.

[26] For it had produced thorns with which it crowned Christ, and not righteousness but the clamor by which it forced him onto the cross. And thus, with the prior charismata withdrawn, the Law and the Prophets were until John, and the pool Bethsaida until the advent of Christ: [to cure ailments for Israel] it ceased thereafter from benefits, since by the perseverance of their frenzy the name of the Lord was through them blasphemed, just as it is written:Because of you the name of the Lord is blasphemed among the nations. For from them the infamy began, and the interval was from Tiberius to Vespasian. They, when they had committed these things and had not understood Christ coming at the time of his visitation, their land was made desolate and their cities were consumed by fire; their region, with foreigners devouring it under their very eyes, the daughter of Zion was left like a watchtower in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber-field, from the time, namely, that Israel did not know the Lord and the people did not understand him, but rather forsook and provoked the Holy One of Israel to indignation.

[27] Sic et machaerae condicionalis comminatio:Si nolueritis nec obaudieritis, gladius vos comedet. Ex quo probamus machaeram Christum fuisse, quem non audiendo perierunt, qui et in psalmo dispersionem eis postulat a patre dicens: Disperge eos in virtute tua. Qui et rursus per Esaiam in exustionem eorum perorans: Propter me, inquit, haec facta sunt vobis; in anxietate dormietis.

[27] Thus also the conditional commination of the machaera threat:If you are unwilling and do not obey, the sword will devour you. From which we prove that the machaera was Christ, by not listening to whom they perished, who also in the psalm asks dispersal for them from the Father, saying: Scatter them in your might. Who also again through Isaiah, toward their burning he declaims: Because of me, he says, these things have been done to you; in anxiety you will sleep.

[28] Haec igitur cum pati praedicarentur Iudaei propter Christum et passos eos inveniamus et in dispersionem demorari cernamus, manifestum est propter Christum Iudaeis ista accidisse conspirante sensu scripturarum cum exitu rerum et ordine temporum.

[28] Therefore, since the Jews were being proclaimed to suffer these things on account of Christ and we find that they have suffered them, and we discern them lingering in dispersion, it is manifest that these things have happened to the Jews on account of Christ, the sense of the Scriptures conspiring with the outcome of events and the order of times.

[29] Aut si nondum venit Christus propter quem haec passuri praedicabantur, cum venerit ergo patientur. Et ubi tunc filia Sion relinquenda quae in Iudaea hodie est? Ubi civitates exurendae quae iam in tumulis?

[29] Or if Christ, on account of whom they were being foretold to suffer these things, has not yet come, then when he comes they will suffer. And where then is the daughter of Zion to be abandoned, who today is in Judaea? Where are the cities to be burned, which already are in tumuli?

Ubi dispersio gentis quae iam extorris est? Redde statum Iudaeae quem Christus inveniat et alium contende venire.

Where is the dispersion of the nation which is already an exile? Restore the status of Judaea which Christ may find, and contend that another is to come.

XIV.

14.

[1] Discite nunc ex abundantia erroris vestri ducatum. Duos dicimus Christi habitus a prophetis demonstratos, totidem adventus eius praenotatos: unum in humilitate, utique primum, cum tamquam ovis ad victimam deduci habebat et tamquam agnus ante tondentem sine voce sic non aperiens os, ne aspectu quidem honestus.

[1] Learn now, from the abundance of your error, guidance. We say that two forms of Christ were demonstrated by the prophets, and just as many of his advents were pre-noted: one in humility, assuredly the first, when he had to be led like a sheep to the sacrifice, and like a lamb before the shearer, without a voice, thus not opening his mouth, not even honorable in aspect.

[2]Adnuntiavimus enim, inquit, de illo: sicut puerulus, sicut radix in terra sitienti, et non erat ei species neque gloria, et vidimus eum et non habebat speciem neque decorem, sed species eius inhonorata, deficiens citra filios hominum, homo in plaga positus et sciens ferre infirmitatem, scilicet ut positus a patre in lapidem offensionis et minoratus ab eo modicum citra angelos,vermem se pronuntians et non hominem, ignominiam hominis et abiectionem populi.

[2]We announced, for, he says, concerning him: like a little boy, like a root in thirsty land, and there was not to him appearance nor glory, and we saw him and he had no appearance nor decorum, but his appearance dishonored, deficient short of the sons of men, a man set under a stroke and knowing to bear infirmity, namely, as placed by the Father as a stone of stumbling and made lower by him a little short of the angels, proclaiming himself a worm and not a man, the ignominy of man and the abjection of the people.

[3] Quae ignobilitatis argumenta primo adventui competunt sicut sublimitatis secundo, cum fiet iam non lapis offensionis nec petra scandali, sed lapis summus angularis post reprobationem adsumptus et sublimatus in consummationem et petra sane illa apud Danielem de monte praecisa quae imaginem saecularium regnorum comminuet et conteret.

[3] The evidences of ignobility suit the first advent just as those of sublimity the second, when he will be no longer a stone of offense nor a rock of scandal, but the supreme corner-stone, after reprobation assumed and exalted unto consummation, and indeed that rock in Daniel cut from the mountain which will crumble and crush the image of the secular kingdoms.

[4] De quo secundo adventu eius prophetes:Et ecce cum nubibus caeli tamquam filius hominis veniens venit usque ad veterem dierum et aderat in conspectu eius et qui adsistebant adduxerunt illum; et data est ei potestas regia et omnes nationes terrae secundum genus et omnis gloria serviens illi et potestas illius aeterna quae non auferetur et regnum eius quod non corrumpetur.

[4] About which second advent of his the prophet:And behold, with the clouds of heaven, as a son of man coming, he came unto the Ancient of Days and was present in his sight, and those who stood by brought him in; and royal power was given to him, and all the nations of the earth according to their kind, and all glory serving him, and the power his eternal, which shall not be taken away, and his kingdom which shall not be corrupted.

[5] Tunc scilicet speciem honorabilem et decorem habiturus est indeficientem supra filios hominum —tempestivus enim decore ultra filios hominum; effusa est gratia [inquit] in labiis tuis, propterea benedixit te deus in saecula; accingere ensem tuum circa femur tuum, potentissime tempestivitate et pulchritudine tua —, cum et pater, posteaquam diminuit illum modicum quid citra angelos, gloria et honore coronavit illum et subiecit omnia sub pedibus eius.

[5] Then, namely, he will have an honorable aspect and an unfailing decor above the sons of men — forseasonable in decor beyond the sons of men; grace has been poured out [he says] upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you unto the ages; gird your sword around your thigh, most mighty, by your seasonableness and your pulchritude —, since the Father also, after he diminished him a little bit short of the angels, has crowned him with glory and honor and has subjected all things under his feet.

[6] Et tunc cognoscent eum quem pupugerunt et caedent pectora sua tribus ad tribum, utique quod retro non agnoverint eum in humilitate condicionis humanae constitutum.Et homo est, inquit Hieremias, et quis cognoscet illum, quia et nativitatem eius, inquit Esaias, quis enarrabit?

[6] And then they will know him whom they pierced, and they will smite their breasts, tribe by tribe, namely because formerly they did not acknowledge him, set in the humility of the human condition.And he is man, says Jeremiah, and who will know him, because even his nativity, says Isaiah, who will recount?

[7] Sic et apud Zachariam [ait] in persona Iesu, immo et in ipsius nominis sacramento verissimus sacerdos patris Christus ipsius duplici habitu in duos adventus deliniatur: primo sordibus indutus id est carnis passibilis et mortalis indignitate, cum et diabolus adversabatur ei, auctor scilicet Iudae traditoris qui eum etiam post baptismum temptaverat, dehinc spoliatus pristinas sordes, exornatus podere et mitra et cidari munda id est secundi adventus, quoniam gloriam et honorem adeptus demonstratur.

[7] So also in Zechariah [he says], in the person of Jesus—nay rather, even in the sacrament of his very name— the most true priest of the Father, Christ himself, is delineated in a double habit for two advents: first clothed with filth, that is, with the indignity of passible and mortal flesh, while the devil also was opposing him—the instigator, namely, of Judas the betrayer—who had even tempted him after baptism; then, stripped of his former filth, adorned with the podere and the miter and a clean cidaris, that is, of the second advent, since he is shown to have obtained glory and honor, he is demonstrated.

[8] Nec poteritis eum Iosedech filium dicere qui nulla omnino veste sordida sed semper sacerdotali fuit exornatus nec umquam sacerdotali munere privatus, sed Iesus iste Christus dei patris summi sacerdos qui primo adventu suo humanae formae et passibilis venit in humilitate usque ad passionem, ipse effectus etiam hostia per omnia pro omnibus nobis, qui post resurrectionem suam indutus podere sacerdos in aeternum dei patris nuncupatur.

[8] Nor will you be able to call him the son of Josedech, who with no filthy garment at all but was always adorned with priestly vesture, nor ever deprived of the priestly office; but this Jesus Christ, the high priest of God the Father, who at his first advent came in human form and passible, in humility even unto the passion, he himself having been made also a sacrificial victim in all things for all of us, who after his resurrection, clothed with the podere, is called priest forever of God the Father.

[9] Sic enim et duorum hircorum qui ieiunio offerebantur faciam interpretationem. Nonne et illi utrumque ordinem Christi qui iam venit ostendunt, pares quidem atque consimiles propter eundem domini conspectum, quia non in alia venturus est forma, ut qui agnosci habet a quibus et laesus est; unus autem eorum circumdatus coccino maledictus et consputatus et convulsus et compunctus a populo extra civitatem abiciebatur in perditionem, manifestis notatus insignibus Christi passionis qui coccinea circumdatus veste et consputatus et omnibus contumeliis adflictus extra civitatem crucifixus est; alter vero pro delictis oblatus et sacerdotibus tantum templi in pabulum datus secundae repraesentationis argumenta signabat, quia delictis omnibus expiatis sacerdotes templi spiritalis id est ecclesiae dominicae gratiae quasi visceratione quadam fruerentur ieiunantibus ceteris a salute.

[9] Thus too of the two he-goats which were offered on the fast I will make an interpretation. Do they not also show both the order of Christ who has now come, equal and very similar because of the same presence of the Lord, since he is not going to come in another form, so that he is to be recognized by those by whom he was also wounded; but one of them, surrounded with scarlet, cursed and spat upon and dragged and pierced by the people, was cast outside the city into perdition, marked with the manifest insignia of Christ’s Passion—who, surrounded with a scarlet garment and spat upon and afflicted with all contumelies, was crucified outside the city; but the other, offered for delicts and given as food only to the priests of the temple, was marking the arguments of the second representation, because, all delicts expiated, the priests of the spiritual temple, that is, of the church of the Lord’s grace, would enjoy, as it were, a certain visceration, the rest fasting away from salvation.

[10] Igitur quoniam primus adventus et plurimis figuris obscuratus et omni inhonestate prostratus canebatur, secundus vero et manifestus et deo dignus, idcirco quem facile et intellegere et credere potuerunt eum solum intuentes id est secundum qui est in honore et gloria non inmerito decepti sunt circa obscuriorem certe indigniorem id est primum. Atque ita in hodiernum negant venisse Christum suum, quia non in sublimitate venerit, dum ignorant in humilitate primum fuisse venturum.

[10] Therefore, since the first advent was sung as obscured by very many figures and cast down with every dishonor, but the second as manifest and worthy of God, for that reason those who could easily both understand and believe him, by looking upon him alone—that is, the second, who is in honor and glory—were not without cause deceived with respect to the more obscure, to be sure the less worthy, that is, the first. And thus to this day they deny that their Christ has come, because he did not come in exaltation, while they are ignorant that he was first going to come in humility.

[11] Sufficit hucusque de his interim ordinem Christi decucurrisse, quo talis probatur qualis adnuntiabatur, ut iam ex ista consonantia scripturarum divinarum [intellegamus] et quae post Christum futura praedicabantur ex dispositione divina credantur expuncta. Nisi enim ille venisset post quem habebant expungi, nullo modo evenissent quae in adventu eius futura praedicabantur.

[11] It suffices up to this point, for the time being, to have run through the order of Christ concerning these things, whereby he is proved to be such as he was announced, so that now from this consonance of the divine Scriptures [let us understand] and let the things which were being foretold as future after Christ, by divine disposition, be believed expunged. For unless he had come, after whom they had to be expunged, in no way would the things which were being foretold as to be in his advent have come to pass.

[12] Igitur si universas nationes de profundo erroris humani exinde emergentes ad deum creatorem et Christum eius cernitis, — quod prophetatum non audetis negare, quia et si negaretis statim vobis in psalmis, sicuti iam praelocuti sumus, promissio patris occurreret dicentis:Filius meus es tu, ego hodie genui te; pete a me et dabo tibi gentes hereditatem tuam et possessionem tuam terminos terrae. Nec poteritis in istam praedicationem magis David filium Solomonem vindicare quam Christum dei filium nec terminos terrae David filio promissos qui intra unicam Iudaeam regnavit quam Christo filio dei qui totum iam orbem evangelii sui radiis inluminavit.

[12] Therefore, if you behold all nations emerging from the profundity of human error thence toward God the Creator and his Christ, — which you do not dare to deny was prophesied, because even if you were to deny it, immediately in the Psalms, just as we have already spoken beforehand, the promise of the Father would meet you, saying:You are my Son; I today have begotten you; ask of me and I will give you the nations as your inheritance and as your possession the ends of the earth. Nor will you be able to claim for that proclamation David’s son Solomon rather than Christ the Son of God, nor the ends of the earth as promised to David’s son, who reigned within a single Judaea, rather than to Christ the Son of God, who has already illumined the whole orb with the rays of his gospel.

[13] Denique et thronus in aevum magis Christo dei filio competit quam Solomoni, temporali scilicet regi qui solo Israeli regnavit. Christum enim hodie invocant nationes quae eum non sciebant et populi hodie ad Christum confugiunt quem retro ignorabant. Non potes futurum contendere quod vides fieri.

[13] Finally, the throne forever more befits Christ, the Son of God, than Solomon, namely the temporal king who reigned over Israel alone. For today the nations who did not know him invoke Christ, and peoples today flee for refuge to Christ whom formerly they were ignorant of. You cannot contend as future what you see taking place.

[14] Haec aut prophetata nega, cum coram videntur, aut adimpleta, cum leguntur; aut si non negas utrumque, in eo erunt adimpleta in quem sunt prophetata.

[14] Either deny these things as prophesied, since they are seen before your eyes, or as fulfilled, when they are read; or if you do not deny both, they will be fulfilled in him for whom they were prophesied.