Ancient Syriac Documents; A Homily on Guria and Shamuna, Composed by Mar Jacob.

Shamuna and Guria, martyrs who made themselves illustrious in their afflictions,

Have in love required of me to tell of their illustrious deeds.

To champions of the faith the doctrine calleth me,

That I should go and behold their contests and their crowns.

Children of the right hand, who have done battle against the left,

Have called me this day to recite the marvellous tale of their conflicts: – 

Simple old men, who entered into the fight like heroes,

And nobly distinguished themselves in the strife of blood:

Those who were the salt of our land, and it was sweetened thereby,

And its savour was restored, which had become insipid through unbelief:

Candlesticks of gold, which were full of the oil of the crucifixion,

By which was lighted up all our region, which had turned to darkness:

Two lamps, of which, when all the winds were blowing

Of every kind of error, the lights were not put out;

Good labourers, who from the spring of day laboured

In the blessed vineyard of the house of God right duteously:

Bulwarks of our land, who became to us as it were a defence

Against all spoilers in all the wars that surrounded us:

Havens of peace, a place also of retreat for all that were distressed,

And a resting-place for the head of every one that was in need of succour:

Two precious pearls, which were

An ornament for the bride of my lord Abgar, the Aramæan’s son.

Teachers they were who practised their teaching in blood,

And whose faith was known by their sufferings.

On their bodies they wrote the story of the Son of God

With the marks of combs and scourges which thickly covered them.

They showed their love, not by words of the mouth alone,

But by tortures and by the rending of their limbs asunder.

For the love of the Son of God they gave up their bodies: 

Since it beseemeth the lover that for his love he should give up himself.

Fire and sword proved their love, how true it was;

And more beautiful than silver tried in a furnace of earth were their necks.

They looked on God, and, because they saw His exalted beauties,

Therefore did they look with contempt upon their sufferings for His sake.

The Sun of righteousness had arisen in their hearts;

And they were enlightened by it, and with His light chased they away the darkness.

At the idols of vanity, which error had brought in, they laughed,

Instinct with the faith of the Son of God which is full of light.

The love of the Lord was as a fire in their hearts;

Nor could all the brambles of idolatry stand before it.

Fixed was their love on God unchangeably:1

And therefore did they look with scorn upon the sword,2 all athirst as it was for blood.

With guilelesshess and yet with wisdom stood they in the judgment-hall,

As they had been commanded by the Teacher of that which is true.

Despising as they did kindred and family, guileless were they;

Forasmuch, also, as possessions and wealth were held in no account by them.

Nor guileless only: for in the judgment-hall with the wisdom of serpents too

They were heedful of the faith of the house of God.

When a serpent is seized and struck, he guards his head,

But gives up and leaves exposed all his body to his captors:

And, so long as his head is kept from harm, his life abideth in him;

But, if the head be struck, his life is left a prey to destruction.

The head of the soul is men’s faith;

And, if this be preserved unharmed, by it is also preserved their life:3

Even though the whole body be lacerated with blows,

Yet, so long as faith is preserved, the soul is alive;

But, if faith is struck down by unbelief,

Lost is the soul, and life has perished from the man.

Shamuna and Guria of the faith as men4

Were heedful, that it should not be struck down by persecutors:

For they knew that, if faith is preserved,

Both soul and body are preserved from destruction.

And, because of this, touching their faith were they solicitous,

That that should not be struck down in which their very life was hidden.

They gave up their bodies both to blows and to dislocation,5

Yea to every kind of torture, that their faith should not be stricken down;

And, even as the serpent also hides his head from blows,

So hid they their faith within their hearts;

And the body was smitten, and endured stripes, and bore sufferings:

But overthrown was not their faith which was within their hearts.

The mouth betrayeth the soul to death when it speaks,

And with the tongue, as with a sword, worketh slaughter.

And from it spring up both life and death to men:

Denying a man dies, confessing he lives, and the mouth hath power over it.

Denial is death, and in confession is the soul’s life;

And power hath the mouth over them both, like a judge.

The word of the mouth openeth the door for death to enter in;

This, too, calleth for life, and it beameth forth upon the man.

Even the robber by one word of faith

Won him the kingdom, and became heir of paradise,6 all fraught with blessings.

The wicked judges too, from the martyrs, the sons of the right hand,

Demanded that by word of mouth only they should blaspheme;

But, like true men holding fast the faith,

They uttered not a word by which unbelief might be served.

Shamuna, beauty of our faith, who is adequate to tell of thee?

All too narrow is my mouth for thy praise, too mean for thee to be spoken of by it.

Thy truth is thy beauty, thy crown thy suffering, thy wealth thy stripes,

And by reason of thy blows magnificent is the beauty of thy championship. 

Proud of thee is our country, as of a treasury which is full of gold:

Since wealth art thou to us, and a coveted store which cannot be stolen from us.

Guria, martyr, staunch hero of our faith,

Who shall suffice thee, to recount thy beauties divine?

Lo! tortures on thy body are set like gems of beryl,

And the sword on thy neck like a chain of choice gold.

Thy blood upon thy form is a robe of glory full of beauty,

And the scourging of thy back a vesture with which the sun may not compare.

Radiant thou art and comely by virtue of these thy sufferings, so abounding;

And resplendent are thy beauties, because of the pains which are so severe upon thee.

Shamuna, our riches, richer art thou than the rich:

For Io! the rich stand at thy door, that thou mayest relieve them.

Small thy village, poor thy country: who, then, gave thee

That lords of villages and cities should court thy favour?

Lo! judges in their robes and vestments

Take dust from thy threshold, as though it were the medicine of life.

The cross is rich, and to its worshippers increaseth riches;

And its poverty despiseth all the riches of the world.

Shamuna and Guria, sons of the poor, lo! at your doors

Bow down the rich, that they may receive from you supplies for their wants.

The Son of God in poverty and want

Showed to the world that all its riches are as nothing,

His disciples, all fishermen, all poor, all weak,

All men of little note, became illustrious through His faith.

One fisherman, whose “village” too was a home of fishermen,7

He made chief over the twelve, yea head of the house.8

One a tentmaker, who aforetime was a persecutor,

He seized upon, and made him a chosen vessel for the faith.

Shamuna and Guria came from villages that were not wealthy,

And lo! in a great city became they lords;

And its chief men, its judges also, stand before their doors,

And they solicit their charity to satisfy their wants.

From their confession of the faith of the Son of God

These blessed men acquired riches beyond compute.

Poor did He Himself become, and the poor made He rich;

And lo! enriched is the whole creation through His poverty.

The chosen martyrs did battle against error,

And in the confession of the Son of God stood they firm like valiant men.

They went in and confessed Him before the judge with look undaunted,9

That He too might confess them, even as they confessed Him, before His Father.

There arose against them the war of pagans like a tempest;

But the cross was their helmsman, and steered them on.

They were required to sacrifice to lifeless images,

But they departed not from their confession of the Son of God.

The wind of idolatry blew in their faces,

But they themselves were as rocks piled up against the hurricane.

Like a swift whirlwind, error snatched at them;

But, forasmuch as they were sheltered by the crucifixion, it hurt them not.

The Evil One set on all his dogs to bark, that they might bite them;

But, forasmuch as they had the cross for a staff, they put them all to flight.

But who is sufficient to tell of their contests,

Or their sufferings, or the rending asunder of their limbs?

Or who can paint the picture of their coronation,10

How they went up from the contest covered with glory?

To judgment they went in, but of the judge they took no account;

Nor were they anxious what they should say when questioned.

The judge menaced them, and multiplied his words of threatening;

And recounted tortures and all kinds of inflictions, that he might terrify them.

He spake great words,11 that by fright and intimidation,

By menaces too, he might incline them to sacrifice. 

Yet the combatants despised the menaces, and the intimidations,

And the sentence of judgment, and all bodily deaths;

And they prepared themselves for insult and stripes, and for blows,

And for provocation, and to be dragged along, and to be burnt;

For imprisonment also, and for bonds, and for all evil things,

And for all tortures, and for all sufferings, rejoicing all the while.

They were not alarmed nor affrighted, nor dismayed,

Nor did the sharpness of the tortures bend them to sacrifice.

Their body they despised, and as dung upon the ground accounted they it:

For they knew that, the more it was beaten, the more would its beauty increase;

And, the more the judge increased his menaces to alarm them,

The more did they show their contempt of him, having no fear of his threats.

He kept telling them what tortures he had prepared for them;

And they continued telling him about Gehenna which was reserved for him.

By those things which he told them he tried to frighten them to sacrifice;

And they spoke to him about the fearful judgment yonder.

Truth is wiser than wise words,

And very hateful, however much it may be adorned, is falsehood.

Shamuna and Guria went on speaking truth,

While the judge continued to utter falsehood.

And therefore were they not afraid of his threatening,

Because all his menaces against the truth were accounted by them as empty sound.12

The intercourse of the world they despised, they contemned and scorned, yea they abandoned;

And to return to it they had no wish, or to enter it again.

From the place of judgment they set their faces to depart

To that meeting-place for them all, the life of the new world.

They cared neither for possessions nor for houses,

Nor for the advantages of this world, so full of evil.

In the world of light was their heart bound captive with God,

And to “that” country did they set their face to depart;

And they looked to the sword, to come and be a bridge

To let them pass over to God, for whom they were longing.

This world they accounted as a little tent,

But that yonder as a city full of beauties;

And they were in haste by the sword to depart hence

To the land of light, which is full of blessing for those who are worthy of it.

The judge commanded to hang them up by their arms,

And without mercy did they stretch them out in bitter agony.

A demon’s fury breathed rage into the heart of the judge,

And embittered him against the stedfast ones, inciting him to crush them;

And between the height and the depth he stretched them out to afflict them:

And they were a marvel to both sides, when they saw how much they endured.

At the old men’s frame heaven and earth marvelled,

To see how much suffering it bore nor cried out for help under their affliction.

Hung up and dragged along are their feeble bodies by their arms,

Yet is there deep silence, nor is there one that cries out for help or that murmurs.

Amazed were all who beheld their contests,

To see how calmly the outstretched forms bore the inflictions laid upon them.13

Amazed too was Satan at their spotless frames,

To see what weight of affliction they sustained without a groan.

Yea, and gladdened too were the angels by that fortitude of theirs,

To see how patiently it bore that contest so terrible that was.

But, as combatants who were awaiting their crowns,

There entered no sense of weariness into their minds.

Nay, it was the judge that grew weary; yea, he was astonished:

But the noble men before him felt no weariness in their afflictions.

He asked them whether they would consent to sacrifice;

But the mouth was unable to speak from pain.

Thus did the persecutors increase their inflictions,

Until they gave no place for the word to be spoken. 

Silent was the mouth from the inflictions laid on their limbs;

But the will, like that of a hero, was nerved with fortitude from itself.

Alas for the persecutors! how destitute were they of righteousness!

But the children of light – how were they clad in faith!

They demand speech, when there is no place for speaking,

Since the word of the mouth was forbidden them by pain.

Fast bound was the body, and silent the mouth, and it was unable

To utter the word when unrighteously questioned.

And what should the martyr do, who had no power to say,

When he was questioned, that he would not sacrifice?

All silent were the old men full of faith,

And from pain they were incapable of speaking.

Yet questioned they were: and in what way, if a man is silent

When he is questioned, shall he assent to that which is said?

But the old men, that they might not be thought to assent,

Expressed clearly by signs the word which it behoved them to speak.

Their heads they shook, and, instead of speech, by a dumb sign they showed

The resolve of the new man that was within.

Their heads hung down, signifying amidst their pains

That they were not going to sacrifice, and every one understood their meaning.

As long as there was in them place for speech, with speech did they confess;

But, when it was forbidden them by pain, they spake with a dumb sign.

Of faith they spoke both with the voice and without the voice:

So that, when speaking and also when silent, they were alike stedfast.

Who but must be amazed at the path of life, how narrow it is,

And how straight to him that desires to walk in it?

Who but must marvel to see that, when the will is watchful and ready,

It is very broad and full of light to him that goeth therein?

About the path are ditches; full also is it of pitfalls;

And, if one turn but a little aside from it, a ditch receives him.

That dumb sign only is there between the right and the left,

And on “Yea” and “Nay” stand14 sin and righteousness.

By a dumb sign only did the blessed men plainly signify that they would not sacrifice,

And in virtue of a single dumb sign did the path lead them to Eden;

And, if this same dumb sign had inclined and turned down but a little

Toward the depth, the path of the old men would have been to Gehenna.

Upwards they made a sign, to signify that upwards were they prepared to ascend;

And in consequence of that sign they ascended and mingled with the heavenly ones.

Between sign and sign were Paradise and Gehenna:

They made a sign that they would not sacrifice, and they inherited the place of the kingdom.

Even while they were Silent they were advocates for the Son of God:

For not in multitude of words doth faith consist.

That fortitude of theirs was a full-voiced confession,

And as though with open mouth declared they their faith by signs;

And every one knew what they were saying, though silent,

And enriched and increased was the faith of the house of God;

And error was put to shame by reason of two old men, who, though they spake not,

Vanquished it; and they kept silence, and their faith stood fast.

And, though tempestuous accents were heard from the judge,

And the commands of the emperor were dreadful, yea violent,

And paganism had a bold face and an open mouth,

And its voice was raised, and silent were the old men with pain,

Yet null and void became the command and drowned was the voice of the judge,

And without speech the mute sign of the martyrs bore off the palm.

Talking and clamour, and the sound of stripes, on the left;

And deep silence and suffering standing on the right;

And, by one mute sign with which the old men pointed above their heads,

The head of faith was lifted up, and error was put to shame. 

Worsted in the encounter were they who spoke, and the victory was to the silent:

For, voiceless they uttered by signs the discourse of faith.

They took them down, because they had vanquished while silent;

And they put them in bonds, threatening yet to vanquish them.

Bonds and a dungeon void of light were by the martyrs

Held of no account – yea rather as the light which has no end.

To be without bread, and without water, and without light,

Pleased them well, because of the love of the Son of God.

The judge commanded by their feet to hang them up

With their heads downwards, by a sentence all unrighteous:

Hanged up was Shamuna with his head downwards; and he prayed

In prayer pure and strained clear by pain.

Sweet fruit was hanging on the tree in that judgment-hall,

And its taste and smell made the very denizens of heaven to marvel.

Afflicted was his body, but sound was his faith;

Bound fast was his person, but unfettered was his prayer over his deed.

For, prayer nothing whatsoever turneth aside,

And nothing hindereth it – not even sword, not even fire.

His form was turned upside down, but his prayer was unrestrained,

And straight was its path on high to the abode of the angels.

The more the affliction of the chosen martyr was increased,

The more from his lips was all confession heard.

The martyrs longed for the whetted sword affectionately,

And sought it as a treasure full of riches.

A new work has the Son of God wrought in the world – 

That dreadful death should be yearned for15 by many.

That men should run to meet the sword is a thing unheard of,

Except they were those whom Jesus has enlisted in His service by His crucifixion.

That death is bitter, every one knoweth lo! from earliest time:

To martyrs alone is it not bitter to be slain.

They laughed at the whetted sword when they saw it,

And greeted it with smiles: for it was that which was the occasion of their crowns.

As though it had been something hated, they left the body to be beaten:

Even though loving it, they held it not back from pains.

For the sword they waited, and the sword went forth and crowned them:

Because for it they looked; and it came to meet them, even as they desired.

The Son of God slew death by His crucifixion;

And, inasmuch as death is slain, it caused no suffering to the martyrs.

With a wounded serpent one playeth without fear;

A slain lion even a coward will drag along:

The great serpent our Lord crushed by His crucifixion;

The dread lion did the Son of God slay by His sufferings.

Death bound He fast, and laid him prostrate and trampled on him at the gate of Hades;

And now whosoever will draweth near and mocketh at him, because he is slain.

These old men, Shamuna and Guria, mocked at death,

As at that lion which by the Son of God was slain.

The great serpent, which slew Adam among the trees,

Who could seize, so long as he drank not of the blood of the cross?

The Son of God crushed the dragon by His crucifixion,

And lo! boys and old men mock at the wounded serpent.

Pierced is the lion with the spear which pierced the side of the Son of God;

And whosoever will trampleth on him, yea mocketh at him.

The Son of God – He is the cause of all good things,

And Him doth it behove every mouth to celebrate.

He did Himself espouse16 the bride with the blood which flowed from His wounds,

And of His wedding-friends He demanded as a nuptial gift17 the blood of their necks.

The Lord of the wedding-feast hung on the cross in nakedness,

And whosoever came to be a guest, He let fall His blood upon him. 

Shamuna and Guria gave up their bodies for His sake

To sufferings and tomes and to all the various forms of woe.18

At Him they looked as He was mocked by wicked men,

And thus did they themselves endure mockery without a groan.

Edessa was enriched by your slaughter, O blessed ones:

For ye adorned her with your crowns and with your sufferings.

Her beauty are ye, her bulwark ye, her salt ye,

Her riches and her store, yea her boast and all her treasure.

Faithful stewards are ye:19

Since by your sufferings ye did array the bride in beauty.

The daughter of the Parthians, who was espoused to the cross,20

Of you maketh her boast: since by your teaching lo! she was enlightened.

Her advocates are ye; scribes who, though silent, vanquished

All error, whilst its voice was uplifted high in unbelief.

Those old men21 of the daughter of the Hebrews were sons of Belial,22

False witnesses, who killed Naboth, feigning themselves to be true.

Her did Edessa outdo by her two old men full of beauty,

Who were witnesses to the Son of God, and died like Naboth.

Two were there, and two here, old men;

And these were called witnesses, and witnesses those.

Let us now see which of them were witnesses chosen of God,

And which city is beloved by reason of her old men and of her honourable ones.

Lo! the sons of Belial who slew Naboth are witnesses;

And here Shamuna and Guria, again, are witnesses.

Let us now see which witnesses, and which old men,

And which city can stand with confidence23 before God.

Sons of Belial were those witnesses of that adulterous woman,

And lo! their shame is all portrayed in their names.

Edessa’s just and righteous old men, her witnesses,

Were like Naboth, who himself also was slain for righteousness’ sake.

They were not like the two lying sons of Belial,

Nor is Edessa like Zion, which also crucified the Lord.

Like herself her old men were false, yea dared

To shed on the ground innocent blood wickedly.

But by these witnesses here lo! the truth is spoken. – 

Blessed be He who gave us the treasure-store of their crowns!

Here endeth the Homily on Guria and Shamuna. 

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Or “who changes not.” – Tr.

2 Σαμψηρά. – Tr.

3 Or “salvation:” a different word that used in speaking of the serpent. – Tr.

4 Lit. “as a man.” – Tr.

5 Or “rending asunder.” – Tr.

6 Lit. “the garden.” – Tr.

7 i.e., “Bethsaida.” – Tr.

8 Or “steward.” – Tr.

9 Lit. “with openness of countenance.” – Tr.

10 Lit. “portray the image of their crowns.” – Tr.

11 Lit. “magnifies his words.” – Tr.

12 Lit. “as breath.” – Tr.

13 Lit. “how much the outstretched forms bore in consequence of the inflictions.” – Tr.

14 Or “depend.” – Tr.

15 Or “beloved.” – Tr.

16 Lit. “purchase.” – Tr.

17 This word, though not in the lexicons, is the same word that appears in Castel in another form.

18 Lit. “to the forms (σχήματα) of all afflictions.” – Tr.

19 This seems preferable to Cureton’s “Ye are the stewards of (her) faith.” The expression exactly corresponds in form to that in Luk_16:8 (Peshito): “the steward of injustice” = “the unjust steward.”

20 Lit. “the crucifixion.” – Tr.

21 Or “elders.” – Tr.

22 By this name men referred to (not, however, the elders, but the two false witnesses suborned by them) are called in 1Ki_21:10, 1Ki_21:13. The expression in the text is literally “sons of iniquity,” and is that used by the Peshito. – Tr.

23 Or “have an open countenance.” – Tr.



Ancient Syriac Documents; Introduction

1. The preceding Memoirs of Edessa and Syriac Documents were inserted in vol. 20 of the Edinburgh series, quite out of place as it seems to me; and the more so, as other Syriac fragments were to follow.

 

2. In vol. 22, equally out of place, and mixed up with incongruous material, followed the very interesting work of Bardesanes, to which I now assign a natural collocation with the Edessene Memoirs.

 

3. In vol. 24, with the Liturgies and other mixed material, comes the third Syriac fagot, another valuable and very interesting contribution severed from its due connections.

 

The reader of this volume will rejoice to find Mr. Pratten’s scattered but most instructive translations here brought together, and arranged in less confused sequence and relations one with another. The several announcements prefixed to each have, in like manner, been here gathered and set in order.

It may be worth while, just here, to direct attention to the latest views of scholarship upon Syria, its language and its antiquities. A learned critic, who often supplies one of our weekly newspapers with articles on the Oriental languages worthy of the best reviews, has directed attention1 to a searching critique of Mommsen’s recent addition to his Roman History, of a chapter which “deals with Bible-lands in New-Testament times.” Professor Nöldke of Strasburg, a leading Semitic scholar, in the Zeitschrift of the German Oriental Society, thus takes him to task: — 

 

“Syria enjoyed a higher prosperity under the Romans than Mommsen concedes, and this continued down into the Christian period. The Hellenization made rapid strides, but not in such a manner that the Greek language or Greek culture spread to a considerable degree; but rather, in such a way that European arts and manners of life were established, and that a number of elements of Occidental culture became powerful in the thinking and language of the educated. Mommsen, according to my conviction, considers the Hellenization of Syria to have advanced much farther than it actually had. That the language of the country had been entirely banished from the circles of the educated, and that it had assumed the position in reference to the Greek which the Celtic in full had assumed over against the Latin, is certainly an exaggerated view. The Aramaic was an old developed language (Cultursprache), which was already written before a single letter was seen in Latium. In the days of the Achæmenidian rulers this was the official language of Egypt, and even of Asia Minor, and was accordingly spread far beyond the original territory. Again we find this language in the days of the Roman emperors not only in Palmyra, but spread also in the whole country of the Nabatheans, and down to almost Medina; here again beyond its native limits, as the official written language. And that this was not merely a remnant of the former political supremacy is evident from the fact that the documents of Palmyra and those of the Nabatheans, in an equal manner, show a younger stage of development of language than that of the Achæmenidian period; this stage being virtually the same as is seen in the various Jewish literary works of that time.”

As Mommsen is continuing his irreligious elaborations of history, it may be well to bear in mind his superficial ideas on such subjects, especially when he is reaching the affairs of early Christianity.

 

1. Our translator (Mr. Pratten) makes the following announcements: — 

 

“The translation of the Syriac pieces which follow2 is based on a careful examination of that made by Dr. Cureton, the merits of which are cordially acknowledged. It will, however, be seen that it differs from that in many and important particulars.

“Many thanks are due to the Dean of Canterbury for his kindness in giving much valuable help.” 

 

2. He thus introduces the treatise of Bardesanes: — 

 

“Bardesan, or Bardesanes, according to one account, was born at Edessa in 154 a.d., and it is supposed that he died sometime between 224 and 230. Eusebius says that he flourished in the time of Marcus Aurelius. He was for some time resident at the court of Abgar VI., King of Edessa, with whom he was on intimate terms. He at first belonged to the Gnostic sect of the Valentinians; but abandoning it, he seemed to come nearer the orthodox beliefs. In reality, it is said, he devised errours of his own. He wrote many works. Eusebius attributes the work now translated, The Book of Laws, or On Fate, to Bardesanes. Many modern critics have come to the conclusion that it was written by a scholar of Bardesanes, but that it gives us the genuine opinions and reasonings of Bardesanes. The question is of interest in connection with the Clementine Recognitions, which contain a large portion of the work. The Syriac was first published by Cureton in his Spicilegium.”

 

3. In introducing the Mara bar Serapion and the Ambrose,3 he thus refers to his friend Dr. Payne Smith: — 

 

The text of the two following short pieces4 is found in the Spicilegium Syriacum of the late Dr. Cureton. This careful scholar speaks of the second of these compositions as containing “some very obscure passages.” The same remark holds good also of the first. Dr. Payne Smith describes them both as “full of difficulties.” So far as these arise from errors in the text, they might have been removed, had I been able to avail myself of the opportunity kindly offered me by Dr. Rieu, Keeper of the Oriental mss. at the British Museum, of inspecting the original ms. As it is, several have, it is hoped, been successfully met by conjecture.

To Dr. R. Payne Smith, Dean of Canterbury, who, as on two previous occasions, has most kindly and patiently afforded me his valuable assistance, I beg to offer my very grateful acknowledgments. 

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 New-York Independent, June 24, 1886.

2 That is, in vol. xxii. of the Edinburgh edition.

3 Vol. xxiv., ed. Edinburgh. The latter was formerly ascribed to Justin Martyr.

4 The Ambrose and the Serapion.



Ancient Syriac Documents; Bardesan.

The Book of the Laws of Divers Countries.2

Some days since we were calling3 to pay a visit to our brother Shemashgram, and Bardesan came and found us there. And when he had made inquiries after his health,4 and ascertained that he was well, he asked us, “What were you talking about? for I heard your voice outside as I was coming in.” For it was his habit, whenever he found us talking about anything before he came,5 to ask us, “What were you saying?” that he might talk with us about it.

“Avida here,” said we to him,” was saying to us, ‘If God is one, as ye say, and if He is the creator of men, and if it is His will that you should do that which you are commanded, why did He not so create men that they should not be able to do wrong, but should constantly be doing that which is right? for in this way His will would have been accomplished.’”

“Tell me, my son Avida,” said Bardesan to him, “why it has come into thy mind that the God of all is not One; or that He is One, but doth not will that men should behave themselves justly and uprightly?”

“I, sir,” said Avida, “have asked these brethren, persons of my own age, in order that ‘they’ may return me an answer.”

“If,” said Bardesan to him, “thou wishest to learn, it were for thy advantage to learn from some one who is older than they; but if to teach, it is not requisite for ‘thee’ to ask ‘them,’ but rather that thou shouldst induce ‘them’ to ask ‘thee’ what they wish. For teachers are ‘asked’ questions, and do not themselves ask them; or, if they ever do ask a question, it is to direct the mind of the questioner, so that he may ask properly, and they may know what his desire is. For it is a good thing that a man should know how to ask questions.”

“For my part,” said Avida, “I wish to learn; but I began first of all to question my brethren here, because I was too bashful to ask thee.”

“Thou speakest becomingly,”6 said Bardesan. “But know, nevertheless, that he who asks questions properly, and wishes to be convinced, and approaches the way of truth without contentiousness, has no need to be bashful; because he is sure by means of the things I have mentioned to please him to whom his questions are addressed. If so be, therefore, my son, thou hast any opinion of thy own7 respecting this matter about which thou hast asked, tell it to us all; and, if we too approve of it, we shall express our agreement with thee; and, if we do not approve of it, we shall be under obligation to show thee why we do not approve of it. But if thou wast simply desirous of becoming acquainted with this subject, and hast no opinion of thy own about it, as a man who has but lately joined the disciples and is a recent inquirer, I will tell thee respecting it; so that thou mayest not go from us empty away. If, moreover, thou art pleased with those things which I shall say to thee8 we have other things besides to tell thee concerning this matter; but, if thou art not pleased, we on our part shall have stated our views without any personal feeling.”

“I too,” said Avida, “shall be much gratified9 to hear and to be convinced: because it is not from another that I have heard of this subject, but I have spoken of it to my brethren here out of my own mind; and they have not cared to convince me; but they say, ‘Only believe, and thou wilt then be able to know everything.’ But for my part, I cannot believe unless I be convinced.”

“Not only,” said Bardesan, “is Avida unwilling to believe, but there are many others also who, because there is no faith in them, are not even capable of being convinced; but they are always pulling down and building up, and so are found destitute of all knowledge of the truth. But notwithstanding, since Avida is not willing to believe, lo! I will speak to you who do believe, concerning this matter about which he asks; and thus he too will hear something further about it.”

He began accordingly to address us as follows: “Many men are there who have not faith, and have not received knowledge from the True Wisdom.10 In consequence of this, they are not competent to speak and give instruction to others, nor are they readily inclined themselves to hear. For they have not the foundation of faith to build upon, nor have they any confidence on which to rest their hope. Moreover, because they are accustomed to doubt even concerning God, they likewise have not in them the fear of Him, which would of itself deliver them from all other fears: for he in whom there is no fear of God is the slave of all sorts of fears. For even with regard to those things of various kinds which they disbelieve, they are not certain that they disbelieve them rightly, but they are unsettled in their opinions, and have no fixed belief,11 and the taste of their thoughts is insipid in their own mouth; and they are always haunted with fear, and flushed with excitement, and reckless.

“But with regard to what Avida has said: ‘How is it that God did not so make us that we should not sin and incur condemnation?’ – if man had been made so, he would not have belonged to himself, but would have been the instrument of him that moved him; and it is evident also, that he who moves an instrument as he pleases, moves it either for good or for evil. And how, in that case, would a man differ from a harp, on which another plays; or from a ship, which another guides: where the praise and the blame reside in the hand of the performer or the steersman,12 and the harp itself knows not what is played on it, nor the ship itself whether it be well steered and guided or ill, they being only instruments made for the use of him in whom is the requisite skill? But God in His benignity chose not so to make man; but by freedom He exalted him above many of His creatures, and even made him equal with the angels. For look at the sun, and the moon, and the signs of the zodiac,13 and all the other creatures which are greater than we in some points, and see how individual freedom has been denied them, and how they are all fixed in their course by decree, so that they may do that only which is decreed for them, and nothing else. For the sun never says, I will not rise at my appointed time; nor the moon, I will not change, nor wane, nor wax; nor does any one of the stars say, I will not rise nor set; nor the sea, I will not bear up the ships, nor stay within my boundaries; nor the mountains, We will not continue in the places in which we are set; nor do the winds say, We will not blow; nor the earth, I will not hear up and sustain whatsoever is upon me. But all these things are servants, and are subject to one decree: for they are the instruments of the wisdom of God, which erreth not.

“Not so, however, with man: for, if everything ministered, who would be he that is ministered to? And, if everything were ministered to, who would be he that ministered? In that case, too, there would not be one thing diverse from another: yet that which is one, and in which there is no diversity of parts, is a being14 which up to this time has not been fashioned. But those things which are destined15 for ministering have been fixed in the power of man: because in the image of Elohim16 was he made. Therefore have these things, in the benignity of God, been given to him, that they may minister to him for a season. It has also been given to him to he guided by his own will; so that whatever he is able to do, if he will he may do it, and if he do not will he may not do it, and that so he may justify himself or condemn. For, had he been made so as not to be able to do evil and thereby incur condemnation, in like manner also the good which he did would not have been his own, and he could not have been justified by it. For, if any one should not of his own will do that which is good or that which is evil, his justification and his condemnation would rest simply with that Fortune to which he is subjected.17

“It will therefore be manifest to you, that the goodness of God is great toward man, and that freedom has been given to him in greater measure than to any of those elemental bodies18 of which we have spoken, in order that by this freedom he may justify himself, and order his conduct in a godlike manner, and be copartner with angels, who are likewise possessed of personal freedom. For we are sure that, if the angels likewise had not been possessed of personal freedom, they would not have consorted with the daughters of men, and sinned, and fallen from their places. In like manner, too, those other angels, who did the will of their Lord, were, by reason of their self-control, raised to higher rank, and sanctified, and received noble gifts. For every being in existence is in need of the Lord of all; of His gifts also there is no end.

Know ye, however, notwithstanding what I have said, that even those things of which I have spoken as subsisting by decree are not absolutely destitute of all freedom; and on this account, at the last day, they will all be made subject to judgment.”

“But how,” said I to him, “should those things which are fixed and regulated by decree be judged?”

“Not inasmuch as they are fixed, O Philip,” said he, “will the elements be judged, but inasmuch as they are endowed with power. For beings19 are not deprived of their natural properties20 when they come to be fashioned, but only of the full exercise of their strength,21 suffering a decrease22 of power through their intermingling one with another, and being kept in subjection by the power of their Maker; and in so far as they are in subjection they will not be judged, but in respect of that only which is under their own control.”

“Those things,” said Avida to him, “which thou hast said, are very good; but, lo! the commands which have been given to men are severe, and they cannot perform them.”

“This,” said Bardesan, “is the saying of one who has not the will to do that which is right; nay, more, of him who has already yielded obedience and submission to his foe. For men have not been commanded to do anything but that which they are able to do. For the commandments set before us are only two, and they are such as are compatible with freedom and consistent with equity: one, that we refrain from everything which is wrong, and which we should not like to have done to ourselves; and the other, that we should do that which is right, and which we love and are pleased to have done to us likewise. Who, then, is the man that is too weak to avoid stealing, or to avoid lying, or to avoid acts of profligacy, or to avoid hatred and deception? For, lo! all these things are under the control of the mind of man; and are not dependent on23 the strength of the body, but on the will of the soul. For even if a man be poor, and sick, and old, and disabled in his limbs, he is able to avoid doing all these things. And, as he is able to avoid doing these things, so is he able to love, and to bless, and to speak the truth, and to pray for what is good for every one with whom he is acquainted; and if he be in health, and capable of working,24 he is able also to give of that which he has; moreover, to support with strength of body him that is sick and enfeebled – this also he can do.

“Who, then, it is that is not capable of doing that which men destitute of faith complain of, I know not. For my part, I think that it is precisely in respect to these commandments that man has more power than in anything else. For they are easy, and there are no circumstances that can hinder their performance. For we are not commanded to carry heavy loads of stones, or of timber, or of anything else, which those only who have great bodily strength can do; nor to build fortresses25 and found cities, which kings only can do; nor to steer a ship, which mariners only have the skill to steer; nor to measure and divide land, which land-measurers only know how to do; nor to practise any one of those arts which are possessed by some, while the rest are destitute of them. But there have been given to us, in accordance with the benignity of God, commandments having no harshness in them26 – such as any living man whatsoever27 may rejoice to do.28 For there is no man that does not rejoice when he does that which is right, nor any one that is not gladdened within himself if he abstains from things that are bad – except those who were not created for this good thing, and are called tares.29 For would not the judge be unjust who should censure a man with regard to any such thing as he has not the ability to do?”

“Sayest thou of these deeds, O Bardesan,” said Avida to him, “that they are easy to do?”

“To him that hath the will,” said Bardesan, “I have said, and do still say, that they are easy. For this obedience I contend for is the proper behaviour of a free mind,30 and of the soul which has not revolted against its governors. As for the action of the body, there are many things which hinder it: especially old age, and sickness, and poverty.”

“Possibly,” said Avida,” a man may be able to abstain from the things that are bad; but as for doing the things that are good, what man is capable of this?”

“It is easier,” said Bardesan, “to do good than to abstain from evil. For the good comes from the man himself,31 and therefore he rejoices whenever he does good; but the evil is the work of the Enemy, and therefore it is that, only when a man is excited by some evil passion, and is not in his sound natural condition,32 he does the things that are bad. For know, my son, that for a man to praise and bless his friend is an easy thing; but for a man to refrain from taunting and reviling one whom he hates is not easy: nevertheless, it is possible. When, too, a man does that which is right, his mind is gladdened, and his conscience at ease, and he is pleased for every one to see what he does. But, when a man behaves amiss and commits wrong, he is troubled and excited, and full of anger and rage, and distressed in his soul and in his body; and, when he is in this state of mind, he does not like to be seen by any one; and even those things in which he rejoices, and which are accompanied with praise and blessing from others, are spurned from his thoughts, while those things by which he is agitated and disturbed are rendered more distressing to him because accompanied by the curse of conscious guilt.

“Perhaps, however, some one will say that fools also are pleased when they do abominable things. Undoubtedly: but not because they do them as such, nor because they receive any conmendation for them, nor because they do them with a good hope;33 nor does the pleasure itself stay long with them. For the pleasure which is experienced in a healthy state of the soul, with a good hope, is one thing; and the pleasure of a diseased state of the soul, with a bad hope, is another. For lust is one thing, and love is another; and friendship is one thing, and good-fellowship another; and we ought without any difficulty to understand that the false counterfeit of affection which is called lust, even though there be in it the enjoyment of the moment, is nevertheless widely different from true affection, whose enjoyment is for ever, incorruptible and indestructible.”

“Avida here,” said I to him, “has also been speaking thus: ‘It is from his nature that man does wrong; for, were he not naturally formed to do wrong, he would not do it.’”

“If all men,” said Bardesan, “acted alike,34 and followed one bias,35 it would then be manifest that it was their nature that guided them, and that they had not that freedom of which I have been speaking to you. That you may understand, however, what is nature and what is freedom, I will proceed to inform you.

“The nature of man is, that he should be born, and grow up, and rise to his full stature, and produce children, and grow old, eating and drinking, and sleeping and waking, and that then he should die. These things, because they are of nature, belong to all men; and not to all men only, but also to all animals whatsoever,36 and some of them also to trees. For this is the work of physical nature,37 which makes and produces and regulates everything just as it has been commanded. Nature, I say, is found to be maintained among animals also in their actions. For the lion eats flesh, in accordance with his nature; and therefore all lions are eaters of flesh. The sheep eats grass; and therefore all sheep are eaters of grass, The bee makes honey, by which it is sustained; therefore all bees are makers of honey. The ant collects for herself a store in summer, from which to sustain herself in winter; and therefore do all ants act likewise. The scorpion strikes with its sting him who has not hurt it; and thus do all scorpions strike. Thus all animals preserve their nature: the eaters of flesh do not eat herbage; nor do the eaters of herbage eat flesh.

“Men, on the contrary, are not governed thus; but, whilst in the matters pertaining to their bodies they preserve their nature like animals, in the matters pertaining to their minds they do that which they choose, as those who are free,38 and endowed with power, and as made in the likeness of God. For there are some of them that eat flesh, and do not touch bread; and there are some of them that make a distinction between the several kinds of flesh-food; and there are some of them that do not eat the flesh of any animal whatever.39 There are some of them that become the husbands of their mothers, and of their sisters, and of their daughters; and there are some who do not consort with women at all. There are those who take it upon themselves to inflict vengeance, like lions and leopards; and there are those who strike him that has not done them any wrong, like scorpions; and there are those that are led like sheep, and do not harm their conductors. There are some that behave themselves with kindness, and some with justice, and some with wickedness.

“If any one should say that each one of them has a nature so to do, let him be assured40 that it is not so. For there are those who once were profligates and drunkards; and, when the admonition of good counsels reached them, they became pure and sober,41 and spurned their bodily appetites. And there are those who once behaved with purity and sobriety; and when they turned away from right admonition, and dared to set themselves against the commands of Deity and of their teachers, they fell from the way of truth, and became profligates and revellers. And there are those who after their fall repented again, and fear came and abode upon them, and they turned themselves afresh towards the truth which they had before held.42

“What, therefore, is the nature of man? For, lo! all men differ one from another in their conduct and in their aims,43 and such only as are of44 one mind and of one purpose resemble one another. But those men who, up to the present moment, have been enticed by their appetites and governed by their anger, are resolved to ascribe any wrong they do to their Maker, that they themselves may be found faultless, and that He who made them may, in the idle talk of men,45 bear the blame. They do not consider that nature is amenable to no law. For a man is not found fault with for being tall or short in his stature, or white or black, or because his eyes are large or small, or for any bodily defect whatsoever; but he is found fault with if he steal, or lie, or practise deceit, or poison another, or be abusive, or do any other such-like things.

“From hence, lo! it will be evident, that for those things which are not in our own hands, but which we have from nature, we are in no wise condemned, nor are we in any wise justified; but by those things which we do in the exercise of our personal freedom, if they be right we are justified and entitled to praise, and if they be wrong we are condemned and subjected to blame.”

Again we questioned him, and said to him: “There are others who say that men are governed by the decree of Fate, so as to act at one time wickedly, and at another time well.”

“I too am aware, O Philip and Baryama,” said he to us, “that there are such men: those who are called Chaldæans, and also others who are fond of this subtle knowledge,46 as I myself also once was. For it has been said by me in another place,47 that the soul of man longs48 to know that which the many are ignorant of, and those men make it their aim to do this;49 and that all the wrong which men commit, and all that they do aright, and all those things which happen to them, as regards riches and poverty, and sickness and health, and blemishes of the body, come to them through the governance of those stars which are called the Seven;50 and that they are, in fact, governed by them. But there are others who affirm the opposite of these things, – how that this art is a lying invention of the astrologers;51 or that Fate has no existence whatever, but is an empty name; that, on the contrary, all things, great and small, are placed in the hands of man; and that bodily blemishes and faults simply befall and happen to him by chance. But others, again, say that whatsoever a man does he does of his own will, in the exercise of the freedom which has been given to him, and that the faults and blemishes and other untoward things which befall him he receives as punishment from God.

“For myself, however according to my weak judgment,52 the matter appears to stand thus: that these three opinions53 are partly to be accepted as true, and partly to be rejected as false; – accepted as true, because men speak after the appearances which they see, and also because these men see how things come upon them as if accidentally; to be set aside as fallacious, because the wisdom of God is too profound54 for them – that wisdom which rounded the world, and created man, and ordained Governors, and gave to all things the degree of pre-eminence which is suited to every one of them. What I mean is, that this power is possessed by God, and the Angels, and the Potentates,55 and the Governors,56 and the Elements, and men, and animals; but that this power has not been given to all these orders of beings of which I have spoken in respect to everything (for He that has power over everything is One); but over some things they have power, and over some things they have not power, as I have been saying: in order that in those things over which they have power the goodness of God may be seen, and in those over which they have no power they may know that they have a Superior.

“There is, then, such a thing as Fate, as the astrologers say. That everything, moreover, is not under the control of our will, is apparent from this – that the majority of men have had the will to be rich, and to exercise dominion over their fellows, and to be healthy in their bodies, and to have things in subjection to them as they please; but that wealth is not found except with a few, nor dominion except with one here and another there, nor health of body with all men; and that even those who are rich do not have complete possession of their riches, nor do those who are in power have things in subjection to them as they wish, but that sometimes things are disobedient to them as they do not wish; and that at one time the rich are rich as they desire, and at another time they become poor as they do not desire; and that those who are thoroughly poor have dwellings such as they do not wish, and pass their lives in the world as they do not like, and covet many things which only flee from them. Many have children, and do not rear them; others rear them, and do not retain possession of them; others retain possession of them, and they become a disgrace and a sorrow to their parents. Some are rich, as they wish, and are afflicted with ill-health, as they do not wish; others are blessed with good health, as they wish, and afflicted with poverty, as they do not wish. There are those who have in abundance the things they wish for, and but few of those things for which they do not wish; and there are others who have in abundance the things they do not wish for, and but few of those for which they do wish.57

“And so the matter is found to stand thus: that wealth, and honours, and health, and sickness, and children, and all the other various objects of desire, are placed under the control of Fate, and are not in our own power; but that, on the contrary, while we are pleased and delighted with such things as are in accordance with our wishes, towards such as we do not wish for we are drawn by force; and, from those things which happen to us when we are not pleased, it is evident that those things also with which we are pleased do not happen to us because we desire them; but that things happen as they do happen, and with some of them we are pleased, and with others not.

“And thus we men are found to be governed by Nature all alike, and by Fate variously, and by our freedom each as he chooses.

“But let us now proceed to show with respect to Fate that it has not power over everything. Clearly not: because that which is called Fate is itself nothing more than a certain order of procession,58 which has been given to the Potentates and Elements by God; and, in conformity with this said procession and order, intelligences59 undergo change when they descend60 to be with the soul, and souls undergo change when they descend60 to be with bodies; and this order, under the name of Fate and γένεσις,61 is the agent of the changes62 that take place in this assemblage of parts of which man consists,63 which is being sired and purified for the benefit of whatsoever by the grace of God and by goodness has been benefited, and is being and will continue to be benefited until the close of all things.

“The body, then, is governed by Nature, the soul also sharing in its experiences and sensations; and the body is neither hindered nor helped by Fate in the several acts it performs. For a man does not become a father before the age of fifteen, nor does a woman become a mother before the age of thirteen. In like manner, too, there is a law for old age: for women then become incapable of bearing, and men cease to possess the natural power of begetting children; while other animals, which are likewise governed by their nature, do, even before those ages I have mentioned, not only produce offspring, but also become too old to do so, just as the bodies of men also, when they are grown old, cease to propagate: nor is Fate able to give them offspring at a time when the body has not the natural power to give them. Neither, again, is Fate able to preserve the body of man in life without meat and drink; nor yet, even when it has meat and drink, to grant it exemption from death: for these and many other things belong exclusively to Nature.64

“But, when the times and methods of Nature have had their full scope, then does Fate come and make its appearance among them, and produce effects of various kinds: at one time helping Nature and augmenting its power, and at another crippling and baffling it. Thus, from Nature comes the growth and perfecting of the body; but apart from Nature, that is by Fate, come diseases and blemishes in the body. From Nature comes the union of male and female, and the unalloyed happiness of them both; but from Fate comes hatred and the dissolution of the union, and, moreover, all that impurity and lasciviousness which by reason of the natural propensity to intercourse men practise in their lust. From Nature comes birth and children; and from Fate, that sometimes the children are deformed, and sometimes are cast away, and sometimes die before their time. From Nature comes a supply of nourishment sufficient for the bodies of all creatures;65 and from Fate comes the want of sustenance, and consequent suffering in those bodies; and so, again, from the same Fate comes gluttony and unnecessary luxury. Nature ordains that the aged shall be judges for the young, and the wise for the foolish, mid that the strong shall be set over66 the weak, and the brave over the timid; but Fate brings it to pass that striplings are set over the aged, and the foolish over the wise, and that in time of war the weak command the strong, and the timid the brave.

“You must distinctly understand67 that, in all cases in which Nature is disturbed from its direct course, its disturbance comes by reason of Fate; and this happens because the Chiefs68 and Governors, with whom rests that agency of change69 which is called Nativity, are opposed to one another. Some of them, which are called Dexter, are those which help Nature, and add to its predominance,70 whenever the procession is favourable to them, and they stand in those regions of the zodiac which are in the ascendant, in their own portions. 71 Those, on the contrary, which are called Sinister are evil, and whenever they in their turn are in possession of the ascendant they act in opposition to Nature; and not on men only do they inflict harm, but at times on animals also, and trees, and fruits, and the produce of the year, and fountains of water, and, in short, on everything that is comprised within Nature, which is under their government.

“And in consequence of this, – namely, the divisions and parties which exist among the Potentates, – some men have thought that the world is governed by these contending powers without any superintendence from above. But that is because they do not understand that this very thing – I mean the parties and divisions subsisting among them, – and the justification and condemnation consequent on their behaviour, belong to that constitution of things rounded in freedom which has been given by God, to the end that these agents likewise, by reason of their self-determining power,72 may be either justified or condemned. Just as we see that Fate crushes Nature, so can we also see the freedom of man defeating and crushing Fate itself, – not, however, in everything, – just as also Fate itself does not in everything defeat Nature. For it is proper that the three things, Nature, and Fate, and Freedom, should be continued in existence until the procession of which I before spoke be completed, and the appointed measure and number of its evaluations be accomplished, even as it seemed good to Him who ordains of what kind shall be the mode of life and the end of all creatures, and the condition of all beings and natures. “

“I am convinced,” said Avida, “by the arguments thou hast brought forward, that it is not from his nature that a man does wrong, and also that all men are not governed alike. If thou canst further prove also that it is not from Fate and Destiny that those who do wrong so act, then will it be incumbent on us to believe that man possesses personal freedom, and by his nature has the power both to follow that which is right and to avoid that which is wrong, and will therefore also justly be judged at the last day, “

“Art thou,” said Bardesan, “by the fact that all men are not governed alike, convinced that it is not from their nature that they do wrong? Why, then, thou canst not possibly escape the conviction73 that neither also from Fate exclusively do they do wrong, if we are able to show thee that the sentence of the Fates and Potentates does not influence all men alike, but that we have freedom in our own selves, so that we can avoid serving physical nature and being influenced by the control of the Potentates.”

“Prove me this,” said Avida, “and I will be convinced by thee, and whatsover thou shalt enjoin upon me I will do.”

“Hast thou,” said Bardesan, “read the books of the astrologers ,74 who are in Babylon, in which is described what effects the stars have in their various combinations at the Nativities of men; and the books of the Egyptians, in which are described all the various characters which men happen to have?” 

“I have read books of astrology,”75 said Avida, “but I do not know which are those of the Babylonians and which those of the Egyptians.”

“The teaching of both countries,” said Bardesan, “is the same.”

“It is well known to be so,” said Avida. “Listen, then,” said Bardesan, “and observe, that that which the stars decree by their Fate and their portions is not practised by all men alike who are in all parts of the earth. For men have made laws for themselves in various countries, in the exercise of that freedom which was given them by God: forasmuch as this gift is in its very nature opposed to that Fate emanating from the Potentates, who assume to themselves that which was not given them. I will begin my enumeration of these laws, so far as I can remember them, from the East, the beginning of the whole world: – 

“Laws of the Seres. – The Seres have laws forbidding to kill, or to commit impurity, or to worship idols; and in the whole of Serica there are no idols, and no harlots, nor any one that kills a man, nor any that is killed: although they, like other men, are born at all hours and on all days. Thus the fierce Mars, whensoever he is ‘posited’ in the zenith, does not overpower the freedom of the Seres, and compel a man to shed the blood of his fellow with an iron weapon; nor does Venus, when posited with Mars, compel any man whatever among the Seres to consort with his neighbour’s wife, or with any other woman. Rich and poor, however, and sick people and healthy, and rulers and subjects, are there: because such matters are given into the power of the Governors.

“Laws of the Brahmans who are in India. Again, among the Hindoos, the Brahmans, of whom there are many thousands and tens of thousands, have a law forbidding to kill at all, or to pay reverence to idols, or to commit impurity, or to eat flesh, or to drink wine; and among these people not one of these things ever takes place. Thousands of years, too, have elapsed, during which these men, lo! have been governed by this law which they made for themselves.

“Another Law which is in India. – There is also another law in India, and in the same zone,76 prevailing among those who are not of the caste77 of the Brahmans, and do not embrace their teaching, bidding them serve idols, and commit impurity, and kill, and do other bad things, which by the Brahmans are disapproved. In the same zone of India, too, there are men who are in the habit of eating the flesh of men, just as all other nations eat the flesh of animals. Thus the evil stars have not compelled the Brahmans to do evil and impure things; nor have the good stars prevailed on the rest of the Hindoos to abstain from doing evil things; nor have those stars which are well ‘located’ in the regions which properly belong to them,78 and in the signs of the zodiac favourable to a humane disposition,79 prevailed on those who eat the flesh of men to abstain from using this foul and abominable food.

“Laws of the Persians. – The Persians, again, have made themselves laws permitting them to take as wives their sisters, and their daughters, and their daughters’ daughters; and there are some who go yet further, and take even their mothers. Some of these said Persians are scattered abroad, away from their country, and are found in Media, and in the country of the Parthians,80 and in Egypt, and in Phrygia (they are called Magi); and in all the countries and zones in which they are found, they are governed by this law which was made for their fathers. Yet we cannot say that for all the Magi, and for the rest of the Persians, Venus was posited with the Moon and with Saturn in the house of Saturn in her portions, while the aspect of Mars was toward them.81 There are many places, too, in the kingdom of the Parthians, where men kill their wives, and their brothers, and their children, and incur no penalty; while among the Romans and the Greeks, he that kills one of these incurs capital punishment, the severest of penalties.

“Laws of the Geli. – Among the Geli the women sow and reap, and build, and perform all the tasks of labourers, and wear no raiment of colours, and put on no shoes, and use no pleasant ointments; nor does any one find fault with them when they consort with strangers, or cultivate intimacies with their household slaves. But the husbands of these Gelæ are dressed in garments of colours, and ornamented with gold and jewels, and anoint themselves with pleasant ointments. Nor is it on account of any effeminacy on their part that they act in this manner, but on account of the law which has been made for them: in fact, all the men are fond of hunting and addicted to war. But we cannot say that for all the women of the Geli Venus was posited in Capricorn or in Aquarius, in a position of ill luck; nor can we possibly say that for all the Geli Mars and Venus were posited in Aries, where it is written that brave and wanton82 men are born.

“Laws of the Bactrians. – Among the Bactrians, who are called Cashani, the women adorn themselves with the goodly raiment of men, and with much gold, and with costly jewels; and the slaves and handmaids minister to them more than to their husbands; and they ride on horses decked out with trapping of gold and with precious stones.83 These women, moreover, do not practise continency, but have intimacies with their slaves, and with strangers who go to that country; and their husbands do not find fault with them, nor have the women themselves any fear of punishment, because the Cashani look upon84 their wives only as mistresses. Yet we cannot say that for all the Bactrian women Venus and Mars and Jupiter are posited in the house of Mars in the middle of the heavens,85 the place where women are born that are rich and adulterous, and that make their husbands subservient to them in everything.

“Laws of the Racami, and of the Edessæans, and of the Arabians. – Among the Racami, and the Edessæans, and the Arabians, not only is she that commits adultery put to death, but she also upon whom rests the suspicion86 of adultery suffers capital punishment.

“Laws in Hatra. – There is a law in force87 in Hatra, that whosoever steals any little thing, even though it were worthless as water, shall be stoned. Among the Cashani, on the contrary, if any one commits such a theft as this, they merely spit in his face. Among the Romans, too, he that commits a small theft is scourged and sent about his business. On the other side of the Euphrates, and as you go eastward, he that is stigmatized as either a thief or a murderer does not much resent it;88 but, if a man be stigmatized as an arsenocoete, he will avenge himself even to the extent of killing his accuser.

“Laws…. – Among89 … boys … to us, and are not … Again, in all the region of the East, if any persons are thus stigmatized, and are known to be guilty, their than fathers and brothers put them to death; and very often90 they do not even make known the graves where they are buried.

“Such are the laws of the people of the East. But in the North, and in the country of the Gauls91 and their neighbours, such youths among them as are handsome the men take as wives, and they even have feasts on the occasion; and it is not considered by them as a disgrace, nor as a reproach, because of the law which prevails among them. But it is a thing impossible that all those in Gaul who are branded with this disgrace should at their Nativities have had Mercury posited with Venus in the house of Saturn, and within the limits of Mars, and in the signs of the zodiac to the west. For, concerning such men as are born under these conditions, it is written that they are branded with infamy, as being like women.

“Laws of the Britons. – Among the Britons many men take one and the same wife.

“Laws of the Parthians. – Among the Parthians, on the other hand, one man takes many wives, and all of them keep to him only, because of the law which has been made there in that country.

“Laws of the Amazons. – As regards the Amazons, they, all of them, the entire nation, have no husbands; but like animals, once a year, in the spring-time, they issue forth from their territories and cross the river; and, having crossed it, they hold a great festival on a mountain, and the men from those parts come and stay with them fourteen days, and associate with them, and they become pregnant by them, and pass over again to their own country; and, when they are delivered, such of the children as are males they cast away, and the females they bring up. Now it is evident that, according to the ordinance of Nature, since they all became pregnant in one month, they also in one month are all delivered, a little sooner or a little later; and, as we have heard, all of them are robust and warlike; but not one of the stars is able to help any of those males who are born so as to prevent their being east away.

“The Book of the Astrologers. – It is written in the book of the astrologers, that, when Mercury is posited with Venus in the house of Mercury, he produces painters, sculptors, and bankers; but that, when they are in the house of Venus, they produce perfumers, and dancers, and singers, and poets. And yet, in all the country of the Tayites and of the Saracens, and in Upper Libya and among the Mauritanians, and in the country of the Nomades, which is at the mouth of the Ocean, and in outer Germany, and in Upper Sarmatia, and in Spain, and in all the countries to the north of Pontus, and in all the country of the Alanians, and among the Albanians, and among the Zazi, and in Brusa, which is beyond the Douro, one sees neither sculptors, nor painters, nor perfumers, nor bankers, nor poets; but, on the contrary, this decree of Mercury and Venus is prevented from influencing the entire circumference of the world. In the whole of Media, all men when they die, and even while life is still remaining in them, are cast to the dogs, and the dogs eat the dead of the whole of Media. Yet we cannot say that all the Medians are born having the Moon posited with Mars in Cancer in the day-time beneath the earth: for it is written that those whom dogs eat are so born. The Hindoos, when they die, are all of them burnt with fire, and many of their wives are burnt along with them alive. But we cannot say that all those women of the Hindoos who are burnt had at their Nativity Mars and the Sun posited in Leo in the night-time beneath the earth, as those persons are born who are burnt with fire. All the Germans die by strangulation,92 except those who are killed in battle. But it is a thing impossible, that, at the Nativity of all the Germans the Moon and Hora should have been posited between Mars and Saturn. The truth is, that in all countries, every day, and at all hours, men are born under Nativities diverse from one another, and the laws of men prevail over the decree of the stars, and they are governed by their customs. Fate does not compel the Seres to commit murder against their wish, nor the Brahmans to eat flesh; nor does it hinder the Persians from taking as wives their daughters and their sisters, nor the Hindoos from being burnt, nor the Medes from being devoured by dogs, nor the Parthians from taking many wives, nor among the Britons many men from taking one and the same wife, nor the Edessæans from cultivating chastity, nor the Greeks from practising gymnastics, … , nor the Romans from perpetually seizing upon other countries, nor the men of the Gauls from marrying one another; nor does it compel the Amazons to rear the males; nor does his Nativity compel any man within the circumference of the whole world to cultivate the art of the Muses; but, as I have already said, in every country and in every nation all men avail themselves of the freedom of their nature in any way they choose, and, by reason of the body with which they are clothed, do service to Fate and to Nature, sometimes as they wish, and at other times as they do not wish. For in every country and in every nation there are rich and poor, and rulers and subjects, and people in health and those who are sick – each one according as Fate and his Nativity have affected him.”

“Of these things, Father Bardesan,” said I to him, “thou hast convinced us, and we know that they are true. But knowest thou that the astrologers say that the earth is divided into seven portions, which are called Zones; and that over the said portions those seven stars have authority, each of them over one; and that in each one of the said portions the will of its own Potentate prevails; and that this is called its law?”

“First of all, know thou, my son Philip,” said he to me, “that the astrologers have invented this statement as a device for the promotion of error. For, although the earth be divided into seven portions, yet in every one of the seven portions many laws are to be found differing from one another. For there are not seven kinds of laws only found in the world, according to the number of the seven stars; nor yet twelve, according to the number of the signs of the zodiac; nor yet thirty-six, according to the number of the Decani.93 But there are many kinds of laws to be seen as you go from kingdom to kingdom, from country to country, from district to district, and in every abode of man, differing one from another. For ye remember what I said to you – that in one zone, that of the Hindoos, there are many men that do not eat the flesh of animals, and there are others that even eat the flesh of men. And again, I told you, in speaking of the Persians and the Magi, that it is not in the zone of Persia only that they have taken for wives their daughters and their sisters, but that in every country to which they have gone they have followed the law of their fathers, and have preserved the mystic arts contained in that teaching which they delivered to them. And again, remember that I told you of many nations spread abroad over the entire circuit of the world,94 who have not been confined to any one zone, but have dwelt in every quarter from which the wind blows,95 and in all the zones, and who have not the arts which Mercury and Venus are said to have given when in conjunction with each other. Yet, if laws were regulated by zones, this could not be; but they clearly are not: because those men I have spoken of are at a wide remove from having anything in common with many other men in their habits of life. 

“Then, again, how many wise men, think ye, have abolished from their countries laws which appeared to them not well made? How many laws, also, are there which have been set aside through necessity? And how many kings are there who, when they have got possession of countries which did not belong to them, have abolished their established laws, and made such other laws as they chose? And, whenever these things occurred, no one of the stars was able to preserve the law. Here is an instance at hand for you to see for yourselves: it is but as yesterday since the Romans took possession of Arabia, and they abolished all the laws previously existing there, and especially the circumcision which they practised. The truth is,96 that he who is his own master is sometimes compelled to obey the law imposed on him by another, who himself in turn becomes possessed of the power to do as he pleases.

“But let me mention to you a fact which more than anything else is likely97 to convince the foolish, and such as are wanting in faith. All the Jews, who received the law through Moses, circumcise their male children on the eighth day, without waiting for the coming of the proper stars, or standing in fear of the law of the country where they are living. Nor does the star which has authority over the zone govern them by force; but, whether they be in Edom, or in Arabia, or in Greece, or in Persia, or in the north, or in the south, they carry out this law which was made for them by their fathers. It is evident that what they do is not from Nativity: for it is impossible that for all the Jews, on the eighth day, on which they are circumcised, Mars should ‘be in the ascendant,’ so that steel should pass upon them, and their blood be shed. Moreover, all of them, wherever they are, abstain from paying reverence to idols. One day in seven, also, they and their children cease from all work, from all building, and from all travelling, and from all buying and selling; nor do they kill an animal on the Sabbath-day, nor kindle a fire, nor administer justice; and there is not found among them any one whom Fate compels,98 either to go to law on the Sabbath-day and gain his cause, or to go to law and lose it, or to pull down, or to build up, or to do any one of those things which are done by all those men who have not received this law. They have also other things in respect to which they do not on the Sabbath conduct themselves like the rest of mankind, though on this same day they both bring forth and are born, and fall sick and die: for these things do not pertain to the power of man.

“In Syria and in Edessa men used to part with their manhood in honour of Tharatha; but, when King Abgar99 became a believer he commanded that every one that did so should have his hand cut off, and from that day until now no one does so in the country of Edessa.

“And what shall we say of the new race of us Christians, whom Christ at His advent planted in every country and in every region? for, lo! wherever we are, we are all called after the one name of Christ – Christians. On one day, the first of the week, we assemble ourselves together, and on the days of the readings100 we abstain from taking sustenance. The brethren who are in Gaul do not take males for wives, nor those who are in Parthia two wives; nor do those who are in Judges circumcise themselves; nor do our sisters who are among the Geli consort with strangers; nor do those brethren who are in Persia take their daughters for wives; nor do those who are in Media abandon their dead, or bury them alive, or give them as food to the dogs; nor do those who are in Edessa kill their wives or their sisters when they commit impurity, but they withdraw from them, and give them over to the judgment of God; nor do those who are in Hatra101 stone thieves to death; but, wherever they are, and in whatever place they are found, the laws of the several countries do not hinder them from obeying the law of their Sovereign, Christ; nor does the Fate of the celestial Governors compel them to make use of things which they regard as impure.

“On the other hand, sickness and health, and riches and poverty, things which are not within the scope of their freedom, befall them wherever they are. For although the freedom of man is not influenced by the compulsion of the Seven, or, if at any time it is influenced, it is able to withstand the influences exerted upon it, yet, on the other hand, this same man, externally regarded,102 cannot on the instant liberate himself from the command of his Governors: for he is a slave and in subjection. For, if we were able to do everything, we should ourselves be everything; and, if we had not the power to do anything, we should be the tools of others.

“But, when God wills them, all things are possible, and they may take place without hindrance: for there is nothing that can stay that Great and Holy Will. For even those who think that they successfully withstand it, do not withstand it by strength, but by wickedness and error. And this may go on for a little while, because He is kind and forbearing towards all beings that exist,103 so as to let them remain as they are, and be governed by their own will, whilst notwithstanding they are held in check by the works which have been done and by the arrangements which have been made for their help. For this well-ordered constitution of things104 and this government which have been instituted, and the intermingling of one with another, serve to repress the violence of these beings,105 so that they should not inflict harm on one another to the full, nor yet to the full suffer harm, as was the case with them before the creation of the world. A time is also coming when this propensity to inflict harm which still remains in them shall be brought to an end, through the teaching which shall be given them amidst intercourse of another kind. And at the establishment of that new world all evil commotions shall cease, and all rebellions terminate, and the foolish shall be convinced, and all deficiencies shall be filled up, and there shall be quietness and peace, through the gift of the Lord of all existing beings.”

Here endeth the Book of the Laws of Countries.

Bardesan, therefore, an aged man, and one celebrated for his knowledge of events, wrote, in a certain work which was composed by him, concerning the synchronisms106 with one another of the luminaries of heaven, speaking as follows : – 

Two revolutions of Saturn,107 60 years;

5 revolutions of Jupiter, 60 years;

40 revolutions of Mars, 60 years;

60 revolutions of the Sun, 60 years;

72 revolutions of Venus, 60 years;

150 revolutions of Mercury, 60 years;

720 revolutions of the Moon, 60 years.

And this,” says he, “is one synchronism of them all; that is, the time of one such synchronism of them. So that from hence it appears that to complete 100 such synchronisms there will be required six thousands of years. Thus : – 

200 revolutions of Saturn, six thousands of years;

500 revolutions of Jupiter, 6 thousands of years;

4 thousand revolutions of Mars, 6 thousands of years;

Six thousand revolutions of the Sun, 6 thousands of years;

7 thousand and 200 revolutions of Venus, 6 thousands of years;

12 thousand revolutions of Mercury, 6 thousands of years;

72 thousand revolutions of the Moon, 6 thousands of years.”

These things did Bardesan thus compute when desiring to show that this world would stand only six thousands of years. 

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Lit, “Son of Daisan,” from a river so called near Edessa. – Hahn. [Elucidation I “The Laws of Countries” is the title. For “Various Countries” I have used “Divers.”]

2 Called by Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. iv. 30, The Discourse of Fate (Ὀ περὶ εἱμαρμένης διάλογος). This is more correct than the title above given: the “Laws” are adduced only as illustrations of the argument of the piece. The subject would, however, be more properly given as “The Freedom of the Will.”

3 Lit. “going in.” Cureton renders, “we went up.”

4 Lit. “felt him.”

5 Lit. “before him.” Merx: “ehe er kam.”

6 The word used informed from the Greek εὐσχημόνως. [Here observe what is said (in Elucidation I.) by Nöldke on the Hellenization theory of Mommsen, with reference to this very work.]

7 Lit. “hast anything in thy mind.”

8 Lit. “there are for thee other things also.”

9 Another word is here substituted for the word in the text, which yields no sense.

10 Lit. “the wisdom of the truth.”

11 Lit. “are not able to stand.”

12 Or, “in the hand of the operator:” but it is better to employ two words.

13 Or, “and the sphere.”

14 The Syriac word here used, occurs subsequently as a designation of the Gnostic Æons. Here, as Merx observes, it can hardly go beyond its original meaning of ens, entia, Wesen, that which is. It evidently refers, however, in this passage to a system of things, a world.

15 Lit. “required.” [It is a phenomenon to find this early specimen of “anthropology” emanating from the far East, and anticipating the Augustinian Controversies on “fixed fate, free-will, foreknowledge absolute.” Yet the West did not originate the discussion. See vol. 4. p. 320, sec. 18. See the ethical or metaphysical side of free-will discussed in Eaton’s Bampton Lectures for 1872, p.79, ed. Pott, Young, & Co., New York, 1873. On St. Augustine, see Wordsworth’s valuable remarks in his Bampton Lectures for 1881.]

16 Gen_1:27. The Hebrew itself, لِىي àىنéي is given in Syriac characters, without translation.

17 Cureton renders, “for which he is created.” Merx has, “das ihn gemacht hat.”

18 The Greek στοιχεῖα.

19 That which exists, especially that which has an independent existence, is used here of the Gnostic Æons. They were so called in respect of their pre-existence, their existence independent of time or creation. When they came to be “created,” or more properly “fashioned,” they were “emanations.”

20 Lit. “of their nature.”

21 Lit. “the strength of their exactness,” i.e., their exact (or complete) strength. Cureton has, “their force of energy.”

22 “being lessened,” or “lowered.”

23 Lit. “do not take place by.”

24 Cureton renders, “have the use of his hands.” Merx gives “etwas erwirbt.”

25 Or “towns.”

26 Lit. “without ill-will.”

27 Lit. “every man in whom there is a Soul.”

28 Lit. “can do rejoicing.”

29 The Greek ζιζάνια.

30 Lit. “a mind the son of the free.”

31 Lit. “is the man’s own.”

32 Lit. “in not sound in his nature.”

33 Cureton, “for good hope.” But the Syriac here is a common expression for “in hope,” as in Rom_8:20.

34 Lit. “did one deed.”

35 Lit. “used one mind.”

36 Lit. “in whom there is a soul.”

37 Φύσις.

38 Lit. “as children of the free.”

39 Lit. “in which there is a soul.”

40 Lit. “let him see.”

41 Lit. “patient,” i.e., tolerant of the craving which seeks gratification

42 Lit. “in which they had stood.”

43 Or “volitions.”

44 Lit. “have stood in.”

45 So Merx, “in either Rede.” Cureton, “by a vain plea.”

46 Lit. “this knowledge of art (or skill).”

47 To what other work of his he refers is not known.

48 Cureton, “is capable.” Dr. Payne Smith (Thes. Syr., s.v.) says, referring to the Syriac as used in this passage; “eget, cupit, significare videtur.”

49 So Dr. Payne Smith. Merx renders, “Even that which men desire to do.” Cureton has, “and the same men meditate to do.”

50 Lit. “the sevenths.”

51 Lit. “Chaldæans.”

52 Lit. “my weakness.”

53 Or “sects” (αἱρέσεις).

54 Lit. “rich.”

55 Shlitâne. [Of Angels, see vol. 1. p.269.]

56 Medabhârne. Merx, p. 74, referring to the Peshito of Gen_1:16, thinks that by the Potentates are meant the sun and moon, and by the Governors the five planets.

57 [The Book of Job and the Book of Ecclesiastes, with the eloquent and pathetic remonstrance (chap. iii. 18-22) “concerning the estate of the sons of men,” are proofs that God foresaw the struggles of faith against the apparently unequal ways and rulings of Providence. For popular answers see Parnell’s Hermit, and Addison, Spectator No 237. But a valuable comment may be found in Wordsworth’s Bampton Lectures (for 1881) on the one Religion, p.5, Oxford, Parker, 1881.]

58 Merx renders the Syriac by “emanation,” quoting two passages from Eph. Syr. where the root is used of the issuing of water from a fountain. Dr. Payne Smith says: “The word seems to mean no more than cursus: cf. Euseb., Theoph., l. 31.5, 55. 1, 83. 22, where it is used of the stars; and i. 74. 13, where it means the course of nature.”

59 A different reading has been substituted for the Syriac of the printed text.

60 Lit. “in their descents.”

61 Or “nativity,” “natal hour” ( = place of birth, “Geburtshaus;” Merx).

62 Lit. “this agent of change. Cureton, “this alternation.” “Das diese Veränderung bewirkende Agens” is the rendering of Merx.

63 Dr. Payne Smith thinks the reference to be to the Gnostic νοῦς, ψυχή, and σῶμα, which seem to be spoken of just before. This difficult passage is rendered by Cureton; “And this alternation itself is called the Fortune and the Nativity of this assemblage, which is being sifted and untied for the assistance of that which,” etc. Merx has, “… zur Unterstützung des Dinges, welches… unterstützt worden ist und unterstützt bleibt bis zur Vernichtung des Weltalls.”

64 Lit. “are Nature’s own.”

65 Lit “a sufficiency in measure for all bodies.”

66 Lit. “be heads to.”

67 Lit. “know ye distinctly.”

68 Or “heads.”

69 Lit. “agent of change,” as above. Merx: “das Veränderungsprincip.”

70 Lit. “excellence.”

71 i.e., zones of the earth. See Bardesan, footnote 93.

72 Or, “power as to themselves”

73 Lit. “the matter compels thee to be convinced.”

74 Lit, “Chaldæans.”

75 Lit.” Chaldaism.”

76 The Greek κλίμα, denoting one of the seven belts (see p. 732, below) into which the earth’s latitude was said to be divided. The Arabs also borrowed the word.

77 Or “family.”

78 That is, their own “houses,” as below. Each house had one of the heavenly bodies as its “lord,” who was stronger, or better “located” in his own house than in any other. Also, of two planets equally strong in other respects, that which was in the strongest house was the stronger. The strength of the houses was determined by the order in which they rose, the strongest being that about to rise, which was called the ascendant.

79 Lit. “the signs of humanity.”

80 The text adds another word.

81 Lit. “while Mars was witness to them.”

82 This difficult word is not found in the lexicons. Dr. Payne Smith suggests, doubtfully, that the right reading is from the root which is used occasionally for appetite, and forms such an adjective in the sense of animosus, aninoâ præditus and that if so, it may be = ψυχικοί, having an animal nature, sensual. Eusebius and Cæsarius have σπατάλους, a word of similar force.

83 Cureton’s rendering. “and some adorn themselves,” etc., is not so good, as being a repetition of what has already been said. It is also doubtful whether the words can be so construed. The Greek of Eusebius gives the sense as in the text; κοσμοῦσαι πολλῷ χρυσῷ καὶ λίθοις βαρυτίμοις τοὺς ἵππους. If horses, be masc., or masc. only, as Bernstein, gives it, the participle should be altered to the same gender. But Dr. Payne Smith remarks that Amira in his Grammar makes it fem. Possibly the word takes both genders; possibly, too, the women of Bactria rode on mares.

84 Lit. “possess.”

85 The zenith.

86 Lit. “name,” or “report.”

87 Lit. “made.”

88 Lit. “is not very angry.”

89 Eusebius has, Παρα Ἕλλησι δὲ καὶ οἱ σοφοὶ ἐρωμένους ἔχοντες οὐ ψέγονται.

90 Lit. “how many times.”

91 The text of Eusebius and the Recognitions is followed, which agrees better with the context. The Syriac reads “Germans.”

92 So Eusebius: ἀγχονιμαίῳ μόρῳ. Otherwise ”suffocation.”

93 So called from containing each ten of the parts or degrees into which the zodiacal circle is divided. Cf. Hahn, Bardesanes Gnosticus, p.72..

94 Lit. “who surround the whole world.”

95 Lit. “have been in all the winds.”

96 Lit. “for.”

97 Lit. “able.”

98 Lit. “commands.”

99 According to Neander, General Church History, i. 809, this was the Abgar Bar Manu with whom Bardesan is said to have stood very high. His Conversion is placed between 160 and 170 a.d.

100 For the Syriac, Merx, by omitting one letter, gives “readings.” But what is meant is not clear. Ephraem Syrus ascribes certain compositions of this name to Bardesanes Cf. Hahn, Bard. Gnost., p. 28.

101 Or “Hutra.”

102 Lit. “this man who is seen.”

103 Lit. “all natures.”

104 Lit. “this order.”

105 Lit. “natures.”

106 The Greek σύνοδοι.

107 The five planets are called by their Greek names, Κρόνος, κ.τ.λ.



Ancient Syriac Documents; A Letter of Mara

A Letter of Mara, Son of Serapion.1

Mara, son of Serapion, to Serapion, my son: peace.

When thy master and guardian wrote me a letter, and informed me that thou wast very diligent in study, though so young in years, I blessed God that thou, a little boy, and without a guide to direct thee, hadst begun in good earnest; and to myself also this was a comfort — that I heard of thee, little boy as thou art, as displaying such greatness of mind and conscientiousness:2 a character which, in the case of many who have begun well, has shown no eagerness to continue.

On this account, lo, I have written for thee this record, touching that which I have by careful observation discovered in the world. For the kind of life men lead has been carefully observed by me. I tread the path of learning,3 and from the study of Greek philosophy4 have I found out all these things, although they suffered shipwreck when the birth of life took place.5

Be diligent, then, my son, in attention to those things which are becoming for the free,6 so as to devote thyself to learning, and to follow after wisdom; and endeavour thus to become confirmed in those habits with which thou hast begun. Call to mind also my precepts, as a quiet person who is fond of the pursuit of learning. And, even though such a life should seem to thee very irksome, yet when thou hast made experience of it for a little while, it will become very pleasant to thee: for to me also it so happened. When, moreover, a person has left his home, and is able still to preserve his previous character, and properly does that which it behoves him to do, he is that chosen man who is called “the blessing of God,” and one who does not find aught else to compare with his freedom.7 For, as for those persons who are called to the pursuit of learning, they are seeking to extricate themselves from the turmoils of time; and those who take hold upon wisdom, they are clinging to the hope of righteousness; and those who take their stand on truth, they are displaying the banner of their virtue; and those who cultivate philosophy, they are looking to escape from the vexations of the world. And do thou too, my son, thus wisely behave thyself in regard to these things, as a wise person who seeks to spend a pure life; and beware lest the gain which many hunger after enervate thee, and thy mind turn to covet riches, which have no stability. For, when they are acquired by fraud, they do not continue; nor, even when justly obtained, do they last; and all those things which are seen by thee in the world, as belonging to that which is only for a little time, are destined to depart like a dream: for they are but as the risings and settings of the seasons.

About the objects of that vainglory, too, of which the life of men is full, be not thou solicitous: seeing that from those things which give us joy there quickly comes to us harm. Most especially is this the case with the birth of beloved children. For in two respects it plainly brings us harm: in the case of the virtuous, our very affection for them torments us, and from their very excellence of character we Suffer torture; and, in the case of the vicious, we are worried with their correction, and afflicted with their misconduct.

Thou hast heard,8 moreover, concerning our companions, that, when they were leaving Samosata, they were distressed about it, and, as if complaining of the time in which their lot was cast, said thus: “We are now far removed from our home, and we cannot return again to our city, or behold our people, or offer to our gods the greeting of praise.” Meet was it that that day should be called a day of lamentation, because one heavy grief possessed them all alike. For they wept as they remembered their fathers, and they thought of their mothers9 with sobs, and they were distressed for their brethren, and grieved for their betrothed whom they had left behind. And, although we had heard that their10 former companions were proceeding to Seleucia, we clandestinely set out, and proceeded on the way towards them, and united our own misery with theirs. Then was our grief exceedingly violent, and fitly did our weeping abound, by reason of our desperate plight, and our wailing gathered itself into a dense cloud,11 and our misery grew raster than a mountain: for not one of us had the power to ward off the disasters that assailed him. For affection for the living was intense, as well as sorrow for the dead, and our miseries were driving us on without any way of escape. For we saw our brethren and our children captives, and we remembered our deceased companions, who were laid to rest in a foreign12 land. Each one of us, too, was anxious for himself, lest he should have disaster added to disaster, or lest another calamity should overtake that which went before it. What enjoyment could men have that were prisoners, and who experienced things like these?

But as for thee, my beloved, be not distressed because in thy loneliness thou hast13 been driven from place to place. For to these things men are born, since they are destined to meet with the accidents of time. But rather let thy thought be this, that to wise men every place is alike, and that in every city the good have many fathers and mothers. Else, if thou doubt it, take thee a proof from what thou hast seen thyself. How many people who know thee not love thee as one of their own children; and what a host of women receive thee as they would their own beloved ones! Verily, as a stranger thou hast been fortunate; verily, for thy small love many people have conceived an ardent affection for thee.

What, again, are we to say concerning the delusion14 which has taken up its abode in the world? Both by reason of toil15 painful is the journey through it, and by its agitations are we, like a reed by the force of the wind, bent now in this direction, now in that. For I have been amazed at many who cast away their children, and I have been astonished at others who bring up those that are not theirs. There are persons who acquire riches in the world, and I have also been astonished at others who inherit that which is not of their own acquisition. Thus mayest thou understand and see that we are walking under the guidance of delusion.

Begin and tell us, O wisest of men,16 on which of his possessions a man can place reliance, or concerning what things he can say that they are such as abide. Wilt thou say so of abundance of riches? they are snatched away. Of fortresses? they are spoiled. Of cities? they are laid waste. Of greatness? it is brought down. Of magnificence? it is overthrown. Of beauty? it withers. Or of laws? they pass away. Or of poverty? it is despised. Or of children? they die. Or of friends? they prove false. Or of the praises of men? jealousy goes before them.

Let a man, therefore, rejoice in his empire, like Darius; or in his good fortune, like Polycrates; or in his bravery, like Achilles; or in his wife, like Agamemnon; or in his offspring, like Priam; or in his skill, like Archimedes; or in his wisdom, like Socrates; or in his learning, like Pythagoras; or in his ingenuity, like Palamedes; — the life of men, my son, departs from the world, but their praises and their virtues abide for ever.

Do thou, then, my little son, choose thee that which fadeth not away. For those who occupy themselves with these things are called modest, and are beloved, and lovers of a good name.

When, moreover, anything untoward befalls thee, do not lay the blame on man, nor be angry against God, nor fulminate against the time thou livest in.

If thou shalt continue in this mind, thy gift it not small which thou hast received from God, which has no need of riches, and is never reduced to poverty. For without fear shalt thou pass thy life,17 and with rejoicing. For fear and apologies for one’s nature belong not to the wise, but to such as walk contrary to law. For no man has even been deprived of his wisdom, as of his property.

Follow diligently learning rather than riches. For the greater are one’s possessions, the greater is the evil attendant upon them. For I have myself observed that, where a man’s goods are many, so also are the tribulations which happen to him; and, where luxuries are accumulated, there also do sorrows congregate; and, where riches are abundant, there is stored up the bitterness of many a year. 

If, therefore, thou shalt behave with understanding, and shalt diligently watch over thy conduct, God will not refrain from helping thee, nor men from loving thee.

Let that which thou art able to acquire suffice thee; and if, moreover, thou art able to do without property, thou shale be called blessed, and no man whatsover shall be jealous of thee.

And remember also this, that nothing will disturb thy life very greatly, except it be the love of gain; and that no man after his death is called an owner of property: because it is by the desire of this that weak men are led captive, and they know not that a man dwells among his possessions only in the manner of a chance-comer, and they are haunted with fear because these possessions are not secured to them: for they abandoned that which is their own, and seek that which is not theirs.

What are we to say, when the wise are dragged by force by the hands of tyrants, and their wisdom is deprived of its freedom18 by slander, and they are plundered for their superior intelligence, without the opportunity of making a defence? They are not wholly to be pitied. For what benefit did the Athenians obtain by putting Socrates to death, seeing that they received as retribution for it famine and pestilence? Or the people of Samos by the burning of Pythagoras, seeing that in one hour the whole19 of their country was covered with sand? Or the Jews by the murder of their Wise King, seeing that from that very time their kingdom was driven away from them? For with justice did God grant a recompense to the wisdom of all three of them. For the Athenians died by famine; and the people of Samos were covered by the sea without remedy; and the Jews, brought to desolation and expelled from their kingdom, are driven away into Every land. Nay, Socrates did “not” die, because of Plato; nor yet Pythagoras, because of the statue of Hera; nor yet the Wise King, because of the new laws which he enacted.

Moreover I, my son, have attentively observed mankind, in what a dismal state of ruin they are. And I have been amazed that they are not utterly prostrated20 by the calamities which surround them, and that even their wars21 are not enough for them, nor the pains they endure, nor the diseases, nor the death, nor the poverty; but that, like savage beasts, they must needs rush upon one another in their enmity, trying which of them shall inflict the greater mischief on his fellow. For they have broken away from the bounds of truth, and transgress all honest laws, because they are bent on fulfilling their selfish desires; for, whensoever a man is eagerly set on obtaining that which he desires, how is it possible that he should fitly do that which it behoves him to do? and they acknowledge no restraint,22 and but seldom stretch out their hands towards truth and goodness, but in their manner of life behave like the deaf23 and the blind. Moreover, the wicked rejoice, and the righteous are disquieted. He that has, denies that he has; and he that has not, struggles to acquire. The poor seek help, and the rich hide their wealth, and every man laughs at his fellow. Those that are drunken are stupefied, and those that have recovered themselves are ashamed.24 Some weep, and some sing; and some laugh, and others are a prey to care. They rejoice in things evil, and a man that speaks the truth they despise.

Should a man, then, be surprised when the world is seeking to wither him with its scorn, seeing that they and he have not one and the same manner of life? “These” are the things for which they care. One of them is looking forward to the time when in battle he shah obtain the renown of victory; yet the valiant perceive not by how many foolish objects of desire a man is led captive in the world. But would that for a little while self-repentance visited them! For, while victorious by their bravery, they are overcome by the power of covetousness. For I have made trial of men, and with this result: that the one thing on which they are intent, is abundance of riches. Therefore also it is that they have no settled purpose; but, through the instability of their minds, a man is of a sudden cast down from his elation of spirit to be swallowed up with sadness. They look not at the vast wealth of eternity, nor consider that every visitation of trouble is conducting us all alike to the same final period. For they are devoted to the majesty of the belly, that huge blot on the character of the vicious.

Moreover, as regards this letter which it has come into my mind to write to thee, it is not enough to read it, but the best thing is that it be put in practice.25 For I know for myself, that when thou shale have made experiment of this mode of life, it will be very pleasant to thee, and thou wilt be free from sore vexation; because it is only on account of children that we tolerate riches.26

Put, therefore, sadness away from thee, O most beloved of mankind, — a thing which never in anywise benefits a man; and drive care away from thee, which brings with it no advantage whatsoever. For we have no resource or skill that can avail us — nothing but a great mind able to cope with the disasters and to endure the tribulations which we are always receiving at the hands of the times. For at these things does it behove us to look, and not only at those which are fraught with rejoicing and good repute.

Devote thyself to wisdom, the fount of all things good, the treasure that faileth not. There shalt thou lay thy head, and be at ease. For this shall be to thee father and mother, and a good companion for thy life.

Enter into closest intimacy with fortitude and patience, those virtues which are able successfully to encounter the tribulations that befall feeble men. For so great is their strength, that they are adequate to sustain hunger, and can endure thirst, and mitigate every trouble. With toil, moreover, yea even with dissolution, they make right merry.

To these things give diligent attention, and thou shalt lead an untroubled life, and I also Shall have comfort,27 and thou shalt be called “the delight of his parents.”

For in that time of yore, when our city was standing in her greatness, thou mayest be aware that against many persons among us abominable words were uttered; but for ourselves,28 we acknowledged long ago that we received love, no less than honour, to the fullest extent from the multitude of her people: it was the state of the times only that forbade our completing those: things which we had resolved on doing.29 And here also in the prison-house we give thanks to God that we have received the love of many: for we are striving to our utmost to maintain a life of sobriety and cheerfulness;30 and, if any one drive us by force, he will but be bearing public testimony against himself, that he is estranged from all things good, and he will receive disgrace and shame from the foul mark of shame that is upon him. For we have shown our truth — that truth which in our now ruined kingdom we possessed not.31 But, if the Romans shall permit us to go back to our own country, as called upon by justice and righteousness to do, they will be acting like humane men, and will earn the name of good and righteous, and at the same time will have a peaceful country in which to dwell: for they will exhibit their greatness when they shall leave us free men, and we shall be obedient to the sovereign power which the time has allotted to us. But let them not like tyrants, drive us as though we were slaves. Yet, if it has been already determined what shall be done, we shall receive nothing more dreadful than the peaceful death which is in store for us.

But thou, my little son, if thou resolve diligently to acquaint thyself with these things, first of all put a check on appetite, and set limits to that in which thou art indulging. Seek the power to refrain from being angry; and, instead of yielding to outbursts of passion, listen to the promptings of kindness.

For myself, what I am henceforth solicitous about is this — that, so far as I have recollections of the past, I may leave behind me a book containing them, and with a prudent mind finish the journey which I am appointed to take, and depart without suffering out of the sad afflictions of the world. For my prayer is, that I may receive my dismissal; and by what kind of death concerns me not. But, if any one should be troubled or anxious about this, I have no counsel to give him: for yonder, in the dwelling-place of all the world, will he find us before him.

One of his friends asked Mara, son of Serapion, when in bonds at his side: “Nay, by thy life, Mara, tell me what cause of laughter thou hast seen, that thou laughest.” “I am laughing,” said Mara, “at Time:32 inasmuch as, although he has not borrowed any evil from me, he is paying me back.”

Here endeth the letter of Mara, son of Serapion. 

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 [Elucidation I. See Introduction to Ancient Syriac Documents, announcement 2]

2 Lit. “good conscience.

3 Or, “my daily converse is with learning.” So Dr. Payne Smith is inclined to take these difficult words, supplying, as Cureton evidently does, the pronoun. The construction would be easier if we could take the participle as a passive, and render. “It (the kind of life men lead) has been explored by me by means of study.”

4 Lit. “Græcism.”

5 The meaning probably is, that the maxims referred to lost their importance for him when he entered upon the new life of a Christian (so Cureton), or their importance to mankind when Christianity itself was horn into the world. But why he did not substitute more distinctive Christian teaching is not clear. Perhaps the fear of persecution influenced him.

6 That is, the matters constituting “a liberal education”

7 Cureton’s less literal rendering probably gives the true sense: “wit the whose liberty nothing else can be compared.”

8 Cureton: “I have heard” The unpointed text is here ambiguous.

9 A substitution has been made for the original Syriac “peoples.”

10 Perhaps “our” is meant.

11 Cureton: “and the dark cloud collected one sighs.” But the words immediately following, as well as the fact that in each of the clauses the nominative is placed last, favours the rendering given.

12 Lit., “borrowed.”

13 Lit., “because thy loneliness has.”

14 Or “error.” He may refer either to the delusion of those who pursue supposed earthly good, or to the false appearances by which men are deceived in such pursuit.

15 A substitution has been made for the original Syriac of the printed text.

16 Cureton: “A sage among men once began to say to us.” This would require the substitution of a different Syriac word.

17 

18 Lit., “made captive.”

19 A substitution has been made for the original Syriac of the printed text.

20 No verb is found in the lexicons to which this word can be referred. It may perhaps be Eshtapel of a verb cognate with “to be bent.”

21 A substitution has been made for the original Syriac of the printed text.

22 Or “moderation.”

23 Cureton: “dumb,” The word has both senses.

24 Or “penitent.”

25 So Dr. Payne Smith, who is inclined to take the phrase in the sense, “it goes before, it is best, with respect to it.” Cureton translates, “it should also proceed to practice,” whereas Dr. Smith renders it thus: “but that it should be put in practice is best with respect to it.”

26 This appears to show that the life of learned seclusion which he has been recommending is one of celibacy — monasticism.

27 Or, “and thou shalt be to me a comfort,” as Cureton.

28 That is, “myself.”

29 Such appears to be the sense of this obscure passage. The literal rendering in, “We acknowledged of old that we received equal love and honour to the fullest extent from bee multitude” (or, from her greatness); “but the time forbade our completing those things which were already accomplished in our mind.” What things he refers to (for his words seem to have a particular reference) is not clear. The word rendered” greatness,” or “multitude,” is in reality two words in pointed mss. Here it does not appear, except from the sense which is intended.

30 Lit., “We are putting ourself to the proof to see how far we can stand in wisdom,” etc.

31 “This is a very hopeless passage…. Perhaps the codex has, ‘the kingdom of our ruin,’ i.e., the ruined country in which we used to dwell. For possibly it refer to what he has said before about the ruined greatness of his city, captured by the Romans. I suppose Mars was a Persian.” — Dr. Payne Smith

32 Or, “the time.”



Ancient Syriac Documents; Ambrose

Ambrose.1

A memorial2 a which Ambrose, a chief man of Greece, wrote: who became a Christian, and all his fellow-senators raised an outcry against him; and he fled from them, and wrote and pointed out to them all their foolishness.

Beginning his discourse,3 he answered and said: – 

Think not, men of Greece, that my separation from your customs has been made without a just and proper reason. For I acquainted myself with all your wisdom, consisting of poetry, of oratory, of philosophy; and when I found not there anything agreeable to what is right, or that is worthy of the divine nature, I resolved to make myself acquainted with the wisdom of the Christians also, and to learn and see who they are, and when they took their rise, and what is the nature of this new and strange wisdom of theirs,4 or on what good hopes those who are imbued with it rely, that they speak only that which is true.

Men of Greece, when I came to examine the Christian writings, I found not any folly sin them, as I had found not any folly5 in them, as I had found in the celebrated Homer, who has said concerning the wars of the two trials:6 “Because of Helen, many of the Greeks perished at Troy, away from their beloved home.”7 For, first of all, we are told8 concerning Agamemnon their king, that by reason of the foolishness of his brother Menelaus, and the violence of his madness, and the uncontrollable nature of his passion, he resolved to go and rescue Helen from the hands of a certain leprous9 shepherd; and afterwards, when the Greeks had become victorious in the war, and burnt cities, and taken women and children captive, and the land was filled with blood, and the rivers with corpses, Agamemnon himself also was found to be taken captive by his passion for Briseis. Patroclus, again, we are told, was slain, and Achilles, the son of the goddess Thetis, mourned over him; Hector was dragged along the ground, and Priam and Hecuba together were weeping over the loss of their children; Astyanax, the son of Hector, was thrown down from the walls of Ilion, and his mother Andromache the mighty Ajax bore away into captivity; and that which was taken as booty was after a little while, all squandered in sensual indulgence.

Of the wiles of Odysseus the son of Laertes, and of his murders, who shall tell the tale? For of a hundred and ten suitors did his house in one day become the grave, and it was filled with corpses and blood. He, too, it was that by his wickedness gained the praises of men, because through his pre-eminence in craft he escaped detection; he, too, it was who, you say, sailed upon the sea, and heard not the voice of the Sirens only because he stopped his ears with wax.10

The famous Achilles, again, the son of Peleus, who bounded across the river, and routed11 the Trojans, and slew Hector, – this said hero of yours became the slave of Philoxena, and was overcome by an Amazon as she lay dead and stretched upon her bier; and he put off his armour, and arrayed himself in nuptial garments, and finally fell a sacrifice to love. 

Thus much concerning your great “men;”12 and thou, Homer, hadst deserved forgiveness, if thy silly story-telling had gone so far only as to prate about men, and not about the gods. As for what he says about the gods, I am ashamed even to speak of it: for the stories that have been invented about them are very wicked and shocking; passing strange,13 too, and not to be believed; and, if the truth must be told,14 fit only to be laughed at. For a person will be compelled to laugh when he meets with them, and will not believe them when he hears them. For think of gods who did not one of them observe the laws of rectitude, or of purity, or of modesty, but were adulterers, and spent their time in debauchery, and yet were not condemned to death, as they ought to have been!

Why, the sovereign of the gods, the very “father of gods and men,” not only, as ye say, was an adulterer (this was but a light thing), but even slew his own father, and was a pæderast. I will first of all speak of his adultery, though I blush to do so: for he appeared to Antiope as a satyr, and descended upon Danaë as a shower of gold, and became a bull for Europa, and a swan for Leda; whilst the love of Semele, the mother of Dionysus, exposed both his own ardency of passion and the jealousy of the chaste Hera. Ganymede the Phrygian, too, he carried off disguised as an eagle, that the fair and comely boy, forsooth, might serve as cup-bearer to him. This said sovereign of the gods, moreover killed his father Kronos, that he might seize upon his kingdom.

Oh! to how many charges is the sovereign of the gods amenable,15 and how many deaths does he deserve to die, as an adulterer, and as a sorcerer,16 and as a pæderast! Read to the sovereign of the gods, O men of Greece, the law concerning parricide, and the condemnation pronounced on adultery, and about the shame that attaches to the vile sin of pæderasty. How many adulterers has the sovereign of the gods indoctrinated in sin! Nay, how many pæderasts, and sorcerers, and murderers! So that, if a man be found indulging his passions, he must not be put to death: because he has done this that he may become like the sovereign of the gods; and, if he be found a murderer, he has an excuse in the sovereign of the gods; and, if a man be a sorcerer, he has learned it from the sovereign of the gods; and, if he be a pæderast, the sovereign of the gods is his apologist. Then, again, if one should speak of courage, Achilles was more valiant that this said sovereign of the gods: for he slew the man that slew his friend; but the sovereign of the gods wept over Sarpedon his son when he was dying, being distressed for him.

Pluto, again, who is a god, carried off Kora,17 and the mother of Kora was hurrying hither and thither searching for her daughter in all desert places; and, although Alexander Paris, when he had carried off Helen, paid the penalty of vengeance, as having made himself her lover by force, yet Pluto, who is a god, when he carried off Kora, remained without rebuke; and, although Menelaus, who is a man, knew how to search for Helen his wife, yet Demeter, who is a goddess, knew not where to search for Kora her daughter.

Let Hephæstus put away jealousy from him, and not indulge resentment.18 For he was hated,19 because he was old and lame; while Ares was loved, because he was a youth and beautiful in form. There was, however, a reproof administered in respect of the adultery. Hephæstus was not, indeed, at first aware of the love existing between Venus20 his wife and Ares; but, when he did become acquainted with it, Hephæstus said: “Come, see a ridiculous and senseless piece of behaviour – how to me, who am her own, Venus, the daughter of the sovereign of the gods, is offering insult – to me, I say, who am her own, and is paying honour to Ares, who is a stranger to her.” But to the sovereign of the gods it was not displeasing: for he loved such as were like these. Penelope, moreover, remained a widow twenty years, because she was expecting the return of her husband Odysseus, and busied herself with cunning tasks,21 and persevered in works of skill, while all those suitors kept pressing her to marry them; but Venus, who is a goddess, when Hephæstus her husband was close to her, deserted him, because she was overcome by love for Ares. Hearken, men of Greece: which of you would have dared to do this, or would even have endured to see it? And, if any one “should” dare to act so, what torture would be in store for him, or what scourgings!

Kronos, again, who is a god, who devoured all those children of his, was not even brought before a court of justice. They further tell us that the sovereign of the gods, his son, was the only one that escaped from him; and that the madness of Kronos his father was cheated of its purpose because Rhea his wife, the mother of the sovereign of the gods, offered him a stone in the place of the said sovereign of the gods, his son, to prevent him from devouring him. Hearken, men of Greece, and reflect upon this madness! Why, even the dumb animal that grazes in the field knows its proper food, and does not touch strange food; the wild beast, too, and the reptile, and the bird, know their food. As for men, I need not say anything about them: ye yourselves are acquainted with their food, and understand it well. But Kronos, who is a god, not knowing his proper food, ate up a stone!

Therefore, O men of Greece, if ye will have such gods as these, do not find fault with one another when ye do such-like things. Be not angry with thy son when he forms the design to kill thee: because he thus resembles the sovereign of the gods. And, if a man commit adultery with thy wife, why dost thou think of him as an enemy, and yet to the sovereign of the gods, who is like him, doest worship and service? Why, too, dost thou find fault with thy wife when she has committed adultery and leads a dissolute life,22 and yet payest honour to Venus, and placest her images in shrines? Persuade your Solon to repeal his laws; Lycurgus, also, to make no laws; let the Areopagus repeal23 theirs, and judge no more; and let the Athenians have councils no longer. Let the Athenians discharge Socrates from his office: for no one like Kronos has ever come before him. Let them not put to death Orestes, who killed his mother: for, lo! the sovereign of the gods did worse things than these to his father. dipus also too hastily inflicted mischief on himself, in depriving his eyes of sight, because he had killed his mother unwittingly: for he did not think about24 the sovereign of the gods, who killed his father and yet remained without punishment. Medea, again, who killed her children, the Corinthians banish from their country; and yet they do service and honour to Kronos, who devoured his children. Then, too, as regards Alexander Paris – he was right in carrying off Helen: for he did it that he might become like Pluto, who carded off Kora. Let your men be set free from law, and let your cities be the abode of wanton women, and a dwelling-place for sorcerers.

Wherefore, O men of Greece, seeing that your gods are grovelling like yourselves, and your heroes destitute of courage,25 as your dramas tell and your stories declare – then, again, what shall be said of the tribulations of Orestes; and the couch of Thyestes; and the foul taint in the family of Pelops; and concerning Danaus, who through jealousy killed his sons-in-law, and deprived them of offspring; the banquet of Thyestes, too, feeding upon the corpse set before him by way of vengeance for her whom he had wronged; about Procne also, to this hour screaming as she flies; her sister too, warbling, with her tongue cut out?26 What, moreover, is it fitting to say about the murder committed by dipus, who took his own mother to wife, and whose brothers killed one another, they being at the same time his sons?

Your festivals, too, I hate; for there is no moderation where they are; the sweet flutes also, dispellers of care, which play as an incitement to dancing;27 and the preparation of ointments, wherewith ye anoint yourselves; and the chaplets which ye put on. In the abundance of your wickedness, too, ye have forgotten shame, and your understandings have become blinded, and ye have been infuriated28 by the heat of passion, and have loved the adulterous bed.29

Had these things been said by another, perhaps our adversaries would have brought an accusation against him, on the plea that they were untrue. But your own poets say them, and your own hymns and dramas declare them.

Come, therefore, and be instructed in the word of God, and in the wisdom which is fraught with comfort. Rejoice, and become partakers of it. Acquaint yourselves with the King Immortal, and acknowledge His servants. For not in arms do they make their boast, nor do they commit murders: because our Commander has no delight in abundance of strength, nor yet in horsemen and their gallant array, nor yet in illustrious descent; but He delights in the pure soul, fenced round by a rampart of righteousness. The word of God, moreover, and the promises of our good King, and the works of God, are ever teaching us. Oh the blessedness of the soul that is redeemed by the power of the word! Oh the blessedness of the trumpet of peace without war! Oh the blessedness of the teaching which quenches the fire of appetite! which, though it makes not poets, nor fits men to be philosophers, nor has among its votaries the orators of the crowd; yet instructs men, and makes the dead not to die, and lifts men from the earth as gods up to the region which is above the firmament. Come, be instructed, and be like me: for I too was once as ye are. 

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 This piece has much in common with the Discourse to the Greeks (Λόγος πρὸς Ἕλληνας), ascribed by many to Justin, which is contained in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1. pp.271-272 of this series. Two things seem to he evident (1) That neither of the two pieces is the original composition: for each contains something not found in the other: (2) That the original was in Greek: for the Syriac has in some instances evidently mistranslated the Greek.

2 The Greek ὑπομνήματα.

3 Lit., “and in the beginning of his words.”

4 Lit. “what is the newness and strangeness of it.”

5 The word also means “sin;” and this notion is the more prominent of the two in what follows.

6 It is difficult to assign any satisfactory meaning to the word, which appears, however, to be the reading of the ms., since Cureton endeavours to justify the rendering given. “Calamities,” a sense the word will also bear seems no easier of explanation. If we could assume the meaning to be “nations” (nationes). a word similar in sound to that found in the text, explaining it of heathen peoples. Gentiles (comp. Tertullian, de Idol., 22, “per deos nationum”), this might seem to meet the difficulty. But there is no trace in this composition of a Latin influence: if a foreign word must he used, we should rather have expected the Greek ἔθνη.

7 Il., ii. 177 sq.

8 Lit., “they say.”

9 It has been proposed to substitute in the Greek copy λιπαροῦ, “dainty,” for λεπροῦ. But the Syriac confirms the ms. reading. The term is thought to he expressive of the contempt in which shepherds were held. See vol. 1. p.271, note 1.

10 In the Greek this is adduced as an evidence of his weakness: because he was unable to stop his ears by his self-control (φρονήσει).

11 The reading of the text, which can only mean “fled,” is manifestly incorrect. The Aphel of this verb, “caused to flee,” is suggested by Dr. Payne Smith, who also proposes, “exstirpavit.”

12 Or, “your heroes.”

13 This is not intended as a translation of the Syriac, which is literally “conquered.” Dr. Payne Smith thinks it just possible that there was in the Greek some derivative of ὑπερβάλλω = “to surpass belief,” which the Syrian translator misunderstood.

14 This is conjectured to be the meaning of what would he literally rendered, “et id quod coactum est.”

15 Lit., “of how many censures is… full.”

16 Since he could change his form to suit his purpose.

17 That is, “the Daughter” (namely, of Demeter), the name under which Proserpine was worshipped in Attica.

18 Because the behaviour of which he had to complain was sanctioned by the highest of the gods.

19 For “was tried,” the Greek has μεμίσητο. Cureton: “forgotten.”

20 The word is “Balthi.”

21 Dr. Payne Smith makes a substitution which, as Cureton says, is not in the lexicons.

22 The reading of the Greek copy, ἀκολάστως ζῶσαν, is here given. The Syrian adapter, misunderstanding ἀκολάστως, renders: “and is without punishment”

23 Cureton, “break.”

24 Lit. “look at.”

25 So in the Greek copy. The Syriac which has “valiant,” appears to have mistaken ἄνανδροι for ἀνδρεῖοι.

26 The tradition seems to be followed which makes Procne to have been changed into a swallow, and her Sister (Philomela) into a nightingale.

27 Cureton: “play with a tremulous motion.” But the Syriac very well answers to the Greek ἐκκαλούμενοι πρὸς οῖστρώδεις κινήσεις, if we take the word to denote result: q.d., “so as to produce movement.”

28 Greek, ἐκβακχευόμενοι.

29 Lit. “bed of falsity.” [Compare notes on vol. 1. pp.271-272.]

 

Elucidations

I.

(Mara, son of Serapion)

I cannot withhold from the student the valuable hints concerning “the dialect of Edessa” by which Professor Nöldke1 corrects the loose ideas of Mommsen, more especially because the fresh work of Mommsen will soon be in our hands, and general credit will be attached to specious representations which are sure to have a bearing on his ulterior treatment of Christianity and the Roman Empire.

 

Of the Syriac language Professor Nöldke says: – 

 

“It was the living language of Syria which here appears as the language of writing. In Syria it had long ago been compelled to yield to the Greek as the official language, but private writings were certainly yet to a great extent written in Aramaic. We cannot lay much stress upon the fact that the respectable citizen in the Orient would have the schoolmaster of the village compose a Greek inscription for his tomb, of which he undoubtedly understood but little himself. And what a Greek this often was! That no books written by Aramaic Gentiles have been preserved for us, does not decide against the existence of the Aramaic as the language of literature in that day; for how could such Gentile works have been preserved for us? To this must be added, that that particular dialect which afterward became the common literary language of Aramaic Christendom – namely, that of Edessa – certainly had in the Gentile period already been used for literary purposes. The official report of the great flood in the year 201, which is prefixed to the Edessa Chronicles, is written by a Gentile. To the same time must be ascribed the letter, written in good Edessan language by the finely educated Marâ bar Serapion, from the neighbouring Samosata, who, notwithstanding his good-will toward youthful Christianity, was no Christian, but represented rather the ethical stand-point of the Stoicism so popular at that time. The fixed settling of Syriac orthography must have taken place at a much earlier period than the hymns of Bardesanes and his school, which are for us very old specimens of that language, since these hymns represent a versification much younger than the stage of development which is presupposed in this orthography. In general, it must be granted that the dialect of Edessa had been thoroughly developed already in pre-Christian times; otherwise, it could not have been so fixed and firm in writing and forms of expression. And the Syriac Dialogue on Fate, which presupposes throughout the third century, treats of scientific questions, according to Greek models, with such precision that we again see that this was not the beginning, but rather the close, of a scientific Syriac literature, which flourished already when there were but few or possibly no Christians there. Of course I recognise, with Mommsen, that Edessa offered a better protection to the national language and literature than did the cities of Syria proper; but circumstances were not altogether of a different nature in this regard in Haleb, Hems, and Damascus than they were in Edessa and Jerusalem. If, as is known, the common mass spoke Aramaic in the metropolitan city of Antiochia, it cannot safely be accepted that in the inland districts the Greek was not the language of the ‘educated,’ but only of those who had specially learned it. The Macedonian and Greek colonists have certainly only in a very small part retained this language in those districts down to the Roman period. In most cases they have been in a minority from the beginning over against the natives. Further, as the descendants of old soldiers, they can scarcely be regarded as the called watchmen of Greek custom and language.”

 

II.

(No verb is found in the lexicons, etc., See A Letter to Mara, footnote 20.)

The study of Syriac is just beginning to be regarded as only less important to the theologian than that of the Hebrew. The twain will be found a help, each to the other, if one pursues the study of the cognate languages together. In fact, the Book of Daniel demands such a preparation for its enjoyment and adequate comprehension.2 Let the commend to every reader the admirable example of Beveridge, who at eighteen years of age produced a grammar of the Syriac language, and also a Latin essay on the importance of cultivating this study, as that of the vernacular of our Lord Himself. This little treatise is worthy of careful reading; and right worthy of note is the motto which he prefixed to it, – “Estote imitatores mei, sicut et ego sum Christi” (1Co_11:1).

When one thinks of the difficulties even yet to be overcome in mastering the language, – the want of a complete lexicon, etc.,3 – it is surprising to think of Beveridge’s pioneer labours in extreme youth. Gutbir’s Lexicon Syriacum had not yet appeared, nor his edition of the Peshito, which preceded it, though Brian Walton’s great name and labours were his noble stimulants. Nobody can read the touching account which Gutbir4 gives of his own enthusiastic and self-sacrificing work, without feeling ashamed of the slow progress of Oriental studies in the course of two centuries since the illustrious Pocock gave his grand example to English scholarship. All honour to our countryman Dr. Murdock, who late in life entered upon this charming pursuit, and called on others to follow him.5 May I not venture to hope that even these specimens of what may be reaped from the field of Aramaic literature may inspire my young countrymen to take the lead in elucidating the Holy Scriptures from this almost unopened storehouse of “treasures new and old”? 

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 For previous quotations refer to Introduction to Ancient Syriac Documents.

2 It must not be inferred that I speak as a Syriac scholar. I have laboured unsuccessfully, and late in life, to repair my sad neglect at an earlier period; and I speak only as a penitent.

3 Dean Payne Smith has assumed the unfinished task of Bernstein.

4 See his Preface to the Testament, published at Hamburg a.d. 1664. He had the type cut at his personal expense, and set up the press and lodged the printers in his own house.

5 See his translation of the Peshito Syriac version, Stanford & Swords (Bishop Hobart’s publishers), New York, 1855.



Remains of the Second and Third Centuries; Introductory Notice to Remains of the Second and Third Centuries.

Under the title of Fragments of The Second and Third Centuries are grouped together, in the Edinburgh series, a mass of valuable illustrative material, which might have been distributed with great advantage through the former volumes, in strict order of chronology. Something is due, however, to the unity of authorship, and to the marked design of the editors of the original edition to let these Fragments stand together, as the work of their accomplished collaborator, the Rev. B. P. Pratten, with whose skill and erudition our readers are already familiar.1

I have contented myself, therefore, with giving approximate order and continuity, on chronological grounds, to the series of names subjoined. Bardesanes has been eliminated here, and placed more appropriately with the Syriac authors. The reader will find references which may aid him in seeking further information. Some of these names are of lasting value and interest in the Church. I prefer to call these “Fragments” their “Remains.”

To each of the following names I have prefixed some details of information, with such dates as the learned supply.

 

The following is the Translator’s Introductory Notice.

 

The fragments that follow are the productions of writers who lived during the second century or the beginning of the third. Little is known of the writers, and the statements made in regard to them are often very indefinite, and the result of mere conjecture.

 

1. Quadratus was one of the first of the Christian apologists. He is said to have presented his apology to Hadrian while the emperor was in Athens attending the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries.

2. Aristo of Pella, a Jew, was the author of a work called The Disputation of Jason and Papiscus. Nothing further is known of him. He flourished in the first half of the second century.

3. Melito was bishop of Sardis, and flourished in the reign of Marcus Aurelius. He wrote many works, but all of them have perished except a few fragments. The genuineness of the Syriac fragments is open to question.

4. Hegesippus also flourished in the time of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is the first ecclesiastical historian; but his book was rather notes for an ecclesiastical history, than a history.

5. Dionysius was bishop of Corinth in the reign of Marcus Aurelius. He wrote letters to various churches.

6. Rhodon went from Asia to Rome, and became a pupil of Tatian. After the lapse of his master into heresy he remained true to the faith, and wrote against heretics.

7. Maximus flourished about the same time as Rhodon, under the emperors Commodus and Severus.

8. Claudius Apollinaris was bishop of Hierapolis, and presented a defence of the Christians to Marcus Aurelius. He wrote many important works, of which we have only a few fragments.

9. Polycrates was bishop of Ephesus. He took part in the controversy on the Passover question. He died about 200 a.d.

10. Theophilus was bishop of Cæsarea. He was a contemporary of Polycrates, and, like him, engaged in the Passover controversy.

11. Serapion was ordained bishop of Antioch a.d. 190, but almost no other fact of his life is known. He wrote several works.

12. Apollonius wrote a work against the Montanists, probably in the year a.d. 270. This is all that is known of him.

13. Pantænus, probably a Sicilian by birth, passed from Stoicism to Christianity, and went to Judæa to proclaim the truth. He returned to Alexandria, and became president of the catechetical school there, in which post he remained till his death, which took place about the year 212 a.d.

14. The Letter of the Churches in Vienne and Lyons was written shortly after the persecution in Gaul, which took place in a.d. 177. It is not known who is the author. Some have supposed that Irenæus wrote it, but there is no historical testimony to this effect.

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 See vol. 2. (p. 125), etc.



Remains of the Second and Third Centuries;Quadratus, Bishop of Athens.1

[a.d. 126.] Quadratus2 is spoken of by Eusebius as a “man of understanding and of Apostolic faith.” And he celebrates Aristides as a man of similar character. These were the earliest apologists; both addressed their writings to Hadrian, and they were extant and valued in the churches in the time of Eusebius.

From the Apology for the Christian Religion.3

Our Saviour’s works, moreover, were always present: for they were real, consisting of those who had been healed of their diseases, those who had been raised from the dead; who were not only seen whilst they were being healed and raised up, but were afterwards constantly present. Nor did they remain only during the sojourn of the Saviour on earth, but also a considerable time after His departure; and, indeed, some of them have survived even down to our own times.4

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 But see Lightfoot, A. F., part ii. vol. i. p. 524.

2 On Quadratus and Aristides, consult Routh, R. S., p. 71; also Westcott, On the Canon, p. 92.

3 In Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., iv. 3.

4 [Westcott supposes the Diognetus of Mathetes (vol. 1. p. 23.) may be the work of Quadratus; Canon, p. 96.]



Remains of the Second and Third Centuries; Aristo of Pella.

[a.d. 140.] Aristo of Pella1 is supposed to have been a Jew, whose work was designed to help the failing Judaism of his country. Though his work is lost, alike the original and the Latin translation of one “Celsus,” it seems to have been a popular tract among Christians of Cyprian’s time, and the Latin preface is often suffixed to editions of that Father.

The work of Aristo is known as the Disputation of Papiscus and Jason, and Celsus tells us that Jason was a Hebrew Christian, while his opponent was a Jew of Alexandria. Now, Papiscus owns himself convinced by the arguments of Jason, and concludes by a request to be baptized. Celsus, who seems to have been a heathen or an Epicurean, derides the work with scornful commiseration; but Origen rebukes this, and affirms his respect for the work. All this considered, one must think Aristo was “almost persuaded to be a Christian,” and deserves a place among Christian writers.

 

From the Disputation of Jason and Papiscus.

“I remember,” says Jerome (Comm. ad Gal., cap. iii. comm. 13), “in the Dispute between Jason and Papiscus, which is composed in Greek, to have found it written: ‘The execration of God is he that is hanged.’”

 

From the Same Work.

Jerome likewise, in his Hebrew Questions on Genesis, says: “In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. The majority believe, as it is affirmed also in the Dispute between Jason and Papiscus, and as Tertullian in his book Against Praxeas contends, and as Hilarius too, in his exposition of one of the Psalms, declares, that in the Hebrew it is: ‘In the Son, God made the heaven and the earth.’ But that this is false, the nature of the case itself proves.”

 

Perhaps from the Same Work.

…And when the man himself2 who had instigated them3 to this folly had paid the just penalty (says Eusebius, Hist, iv. 6), “the whole nation from that time was strictly forbidden to set foot on the region about Jerusalem, by the formal decree and enactment of Adrian, who commanded that they should not even from a distance look on their native soil!” So writes Aristo of Pella.

 

From the Same Work.

I have found this expression Seven heavens (says Maximus, in Scholia on the work concerning the Mystical Theology, ascribed to Dionysius the Areopagite, cap. i.) also in the Dispute between Papiscus and Jason, written by Aristo of Pella, which Clement of Alexandria, in the sixth book of the Outlines,4 says was composed by Saint Luke.

 

Concerning the Same Work.

Thus writes Origen:5… in which book a Christian is represented disputing with a Jew from the Jewish Scriptures, and showing that the prophecies concerning the Christ apply to Jesus: although his opponent addresses himself to the argument with no common ability,6 and in a manner not unbefitting his Jewish character.

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Routh, R. S., vol. i. p. 93. Westcott, Canon, p. 106. Grabe’s mention. Routh’s discussion, in annotations, is most learned and exhaustive.

2 Barchochebas.

3 The Jews.

4 Ὑποτυπώσῶς.

5 Contra Celsum, iv. 52.

6 Οὐκ ἀγεννῶς.



Remains of the Second and Third Centuries; Melito, the Philosopher.

[a.d. 160-170-177.] Melito1 may have been the immediate successor of the “angel” (or “apostle”) of the church of Sardis, to whom our Great High Priest addressed one of the apocalyptic messages. He was an “Apostolic Father” in point of fact; he very probably knew the blessed Polycarp and his disciple Irenæus. He is justly revered for the diligence with which he sought out the evidence which, in his day, established the Canon of the Old Testament, then just complete.

In the following fragments we find him called Bishop of Sardis, Bishop of Attica, and Bishop of Attica. He is also introduced to us as “the Philosopher,” and we shall find him styled “the Eunuch” by Polycrates. It is supposed that he had made himself a cœlebs “for the kingdom of heaven’s sake,” without mistaking our Lord’s intent, as did Origen. He was not a monk, but accepted a single estate to be the more free and single-eyed in the Master’s service. From the encyclopedic erudition of Lightfoot we glean some particulars, as follows: – 

 

1. I have adopted his date, as Lightfoot gives it, – that is, the period of his writings, – under the Antonines. The improbability of seventy years in the episcopate is reason enough for rejecting the idea that he was himself the “angel of the church of Sardis,” to whom our Lord sent the terrible rebuke.

2. His silence concerning persecutions under Vespasian, Trajan, and Antoninus Pius cannot be pleaded to exempt them from this stain, against positive evidence to the contrary.

3. A coincidence with Ignatius to the Ephesians2 will be noted hereafter.

4. Melito, with Claudius Apollinaris and even Polycrates, may have been personally acquainted with Ignatius;3 of course, one with another. These lived not far from Smyrna; Asia Minor was, in the first century, the focus of Christian activity.

5. We know of his visit to the East from his own account, preserved by Eusebius. The Christians of proconsular Asia were accustomed to such journeys. Even Clement of Alexandria may have met him, as he seems to have met Tatian and Theodotus.4

6. Melito vouches for the rescript of Hadrian,5 but his supposed reference to the edict of Antoninus does not bear close scrutiny as warrant for its authenticity.6 

7. The Apology of our author was addressed to Aurelius in his mid-career as a sovereign, about a.d. 170. Justin, Melito, Athenagoras, and Theophilus all tell the same sad story of imperial cruelty. Even when Justin wrote to Antoninus, Marcus was supreme in the councils of the elder emperor.7

8. He became a martyr, probably under Marcus Aurelius, circa a.d. 177;8 some eminent critics have even dated his Apology as late as this.

 

I. A Discourse Which Was in the Presence of Antoninus Cæsar, and He Exhorted9 the Said Cæsar to Acquaint Himself with God, and Showed to Him the Way of Truth.

He began to speak as follows: – 

“It is not easy,” said Melito, “speedily to bring into the right way the man who has a long time previously been held fast by error. It may, however, be effected: for, when a man turns away ever so little from error, the mention of the truth is acceptable to him. For, just as when the cloud breaks ever so little there comes fair weather, even so, when a man turns toward God, the thick cloud of error which deprived him of true vision is quickly withdrawn from before him. For error, like disease10 and sleep, long holds fast those who come under its influence;11 but truth uses the word as a goad, and smites the slumberers, and awakens them; and when they are awake they look at the truth, and also understand it: they hear, and distinguish that which is from that which is not. For there are men who call iniquity righteousness: they think, for example, that it is righteousness for a man to err with the many. But I, for my part, affirm that it is not a good excuse for error that a man errs with the many. For, if one man only sin,12 his sin is great: how much greater will be the sin when many sin together!

“Now, the sin of which I speak is this: when a man abandons that which really exists, and serves that which does not really exist. There ‘is’ that which really exists, and it is called God. He, I say, really exists, and by His power doth everything subsist. This being is in no sense made, nor did He ever come into being; but He has existed from eternity, and will continue to exist for ever and ever. He changeth not, while everything else changes. No eye13 can see Him, nor thought apprehend Him, nor language describe Him; and those who love Him speak of Him thus: ‘Father, and God of Truth.’

“If, therefore, a man forsake the light, and say that there is another God, it is plain from what he himself says that it is some created thing which he calls God. For, if a man call fire God, it is not God, because it is fire; and, if a man call water God, it is not God, because it is water; and, if he so call this earth on which we tread, or these heavens which are seen by us, or the sun, or the moon, or some one of these stars which run their course without ceasing by Divine command, and do not speed along by their own will, neither are these gods; and, if a man call gold and silver gods, are not these objects things which we use as we please? and, if he so call those pieces of wood which we burn, or those stones which we break, how can these things be gods? For, lo! they are for the use of man. How can ‘they’ escape the commission of great sin, who in their speech change the great God into those things which, so long as they continue, continue by Divine command?

“But, notwithstanding this, I say that so long as a man does not hear, and so does not discern or understand that there is a Lord over these creatures, he is not perhaps to be blamed: because no one finds fault with a blind man though he walk ever so badly. For, in the same manner as the blind, so men also, when they were seeking after God, stumbled upon stones and blocks of wood; and such of them as were rich stumbled upon gold and silver, and were prevented by their stumblings from finding that which they were seeking after. But, now that a voice has been heard through all the earth, (Comp. Rom_10:18) declaring that there is a God of truth, and there has been given to every man an eye wherewith to see, those persons are without excuse who are ashamed of incurring the censure of their former companions in error, and yet desire to walk in the right way. For those who are ashamed to be saved must of necessity perish. I therefore counsel them to open their eyes and see: for, lo! light is given abundantly14 to us all to see thereby; and if, when light has arisen upon us, any one close his eyes so as not to see, into the ditch he must go.15 But why is a man ashamed of the censure of those who have been in error along with himself? Rather does it behove him to persuade them to follow in his steps; and, if they should not be persuaded by him, then to disengage himself from their society. For there are some men who are unable to rise from their mother earth, and therefore also do they make them gods from the earth their mother; and they are condemned by the judgments of truth, forasmuch as they apply the name of Him who is unchangeable to those objects which are subject to change, and shrink not from calling those things gods which have been made by the hands of man, and dare to make an image of God whom they have not seen.

“But I have to remark further, that the Sibyl16 also has said concerning them that it is the images of deceased kings that they worship. And this is easy to understand: for, lo! even now they worship and honour the images of those of Cæsarean rank17 more than their former gods; for from those their former gods both pecuniary tribute and produce accrue to Cæsar, as to one who is greater than they. On this account, those who despise them, and so cause Cæsar’s revenue to fall short, are put to death. But to the treasury of other kings also it is appointed how much the worshippers in various places shall pay, and how many vesselfuls18 of water from the sea they shall supply. Such is the wickedness of the world – of those who worship and fear that which has no sensation. Many of them, too, who are crafty, either for the sake of gain, or for vainglory, or for dominion over the multitude, both themselves worship, and incite those who are destitute of understanding to worship, that which has no sensation.

“I will further write and show, as far as my ability goes, how and for what causes images were made to kings and tyrants, and how they came to be regarded19 as gods. The people of Argos made images to Hercules, because he belonged to their city, and was strong, and by his valour slew noxious beasts, and more especially because they were afraid of him. For he was subject to no control, and carried off the wives of many: for his lust was great, like that of Zuradi the Persian, his friend. Again, the people of Acre worshipped Dionysus,20 a king, because he had recently21 planted the vine in their country. The Egyptians worshipped Joseph the Hebrew, who was called Serapis, because he supplied them with corn during the years of famine. The Athenians worshipped Athene, the daughter of Zeus, king of the island of Crete, because she built the town of Athens, and made Ericthippus her son king there, whom she had by adultery with Hephæstus, a blacksmith, son of a wife of her father. She was, too, always courting the society of Hercules, because he was her brother on her father’s side. For Zeus the king became enamoured of Alcmene, the wife of Electryon, who was from Argos, and committed adultery with her, and she gave birth to Hercules. The people of Phoenicia worshipped Balthi,22 queen of Cyprus, because she fell in love with Tamuz, son of Cuthar king of the Phoenicians, and left her own kingdom and came and dwelt in Gebal, a fortress of the Phoenicians, and at the same time made all the Cyprians subject to King Cuthar. Also, before Tamuz she had fallen in love with Ares, and committed adultery with him; and Hephæstus, her husband, caught her, and his jealousy was roused against her, and he came and killed Tamuz in Mount Lebanon, as he was hunting23 wild boars; and from that time Balthi remained in Gebal, and she died in the city of Aphiki,24 where Tamuz was buried. The Elamites worshipped Nuh, daughter of the king of Elam: when the enemy had carried her captive, her father made for her an image and a temple in Shushan, a royal residence which is in Elam. The Syrians worshipped Athi, a Hadibite, who sent the daughter of Belat, a person skilled in medicine, and she healed Simi, the daughter of Hadad king of Syria; and some time afterwards, when Hadad himself had the leprosy upon him, Athi entreated Elisha the Hebrew, and he came and healed him of his leprosy. The people of Mesopotamia also worshipped Cuthbi, a Hebrew woman, because she delivered Bakru, the paternal king25 of Edessa, from his enemies. With respect to Nebo, who is worshipped in Mabug, why should I write to you? For, lo! all the priests who are in Mabug know that it is the image of Orpheus, a Thracian Magus. Hadran, again, is the image of Zaradusht, a Persian Magus. For both of these Magi practised magic at a well which was in a wood in Mabug, in which was an unclean spirit, and it assaulted and disputed the passage of every one who passed by in all that country in which the town of Mabug is situated; and these Magi, in accordance with what was a mystery in their Magian system, bade Simi, the daughter of Hadad, to draw water from the sea and pour it into the well, so that the spirit should not come up and commit assault. In like manner, the rest of mankind made images to their kings and worshipped them; of which matter I will not write further.

“But thou, a person of liberal mind, and familiar with the truth, if thou wilt properly consider these matters, commune with thine own self;26 and, though they should clothe thee in the garb of a woman, remember that thou art a man. Believe in Him who is in reality God, and to Him lay open thy mind, and to Him commit thy soul, and He is able to give thee immortal life for ever, for everything is possible to Him;27 and let all other things be esteemed by thee just as they are – images as images, and sculptures as sculptures; and let not that which is only made be put by thee in the place of Him who is not made, but let Him, the ever-living God, be constantly present to thy mind.28 For thy mind itself is His likeness: for it too is invisible and impalpable,29 and not to be represented by any form, yet by its will is the whole bodily frame moved. Know, therefore, that, if thou constantly serve Him who is immoveable, even He exists for ever, so thou also, when thou shalt have put off this body, which is visible and corruptible, shall stand before Him for ever, endowed with life and knowledge, and thy works shall be to thee wealth inexhaustible and possessions unfailing. And know that the chief of thy good works is this: that thou know God, and serve Him. Know, too, that He asketh not anything of thee: He needeth not anything.

“Who is this God? He who is Himself truth, and His word truth. And what is truth? That which is not fashioned, nor made, nor represented by art: that is, which has never been brought into existence, and is on that account called truth.30 If, therefore, a man worship that which is made with hands, it is not the truth that he worships, nor yet the word of truth.

“I have very much to say on this subject; but I feel ashamed for those who do not understand that they are superior to the work of their own hands, nor perceive how they give gold to the artists that they may make for them gods, and give them silver for their adornment and honour, and move their riches about from place to place, and then worship them. And what infamy can be greater than this, that a man should worship his riches, and forsake Him who bestowed those riches upon him? and that he should revile man, yet worship the image of man; and slay a beast, yet worship the likeness of a beast? This also is evident, that it is the workmanship of their fellowmen that they worship: for they do not worship the treasures31 while they are laid by in the bag, but when the artists have fashioned images out of them they worship them; neither do they worship the gold or the silver considered as property,32 but when the gravers have sculptured them then they worship them. Senseless man to what addition has been made to thy gold, that now thou worshippest it? If it is because it has been made to resemble a winged animal, why dost thou not worship the winged animal itself? And if because it has been made like a beast of prey, lo! the beast of prey itself is before thee. And if it is the workmanship itself that pleases thee, let the workmanship of God please thee, who made all things, and in His own likeness made the workmen, who strive to do like Him, but resemble Him not.

“But perhaps thou wilt say: How is it that God did not so make me that I should serve Him, and not images? In speaking thus, thou art seeking to become an idle instrument, and not a living man. For God made thee as perfect as it seemed good to Him. He has given thee a mind endowed with freedom; He has set before thee objects in great number, that thou on thy part mayest distinguish the nature of each thing and choose for thyself that which is good; He has set before thee the heavens, and placed in them the stars; He has set before thee the sun and the moon, and they too every day run their course therein; He has set before thee the multitude of waters, and restrained them by His word; He has set before thee the wide earth, which remains at rest, and continues before thee without variation:33 yet, lest thou shouldst suppose that of its own nature it so continues, He makes it also to quake when He pleaseth; He has set before thee the clouds, which by His command bring water from above and satisfy the earth – that from hence thou mayest understand that He who puts these things in motion is superior to them all, and mayest accept thankfully the goodness of Him who has given thee a mind whereby to distinguish these things from one another.

“Wherefore I counsel thee to know thyself, and to know God. For understand how that there is within thee that which is called the soul – by it the eye seeth, by it the ear heareth, by it the mouth speaketh; and how it makes use of the whole body; and how, whenever He pleaseth to remove the soul from the body, this falleth ta decay and perisheth. From this, therefore, which exists within thyself and is invisible, understand how God also moveth the whole by His power, like the body; and that, whenever it pleases Him to withdraw His power, the whole world also, like the body, will fall to decay and perish.

“But why this world was made, and why it passes away, and why the body exists, and why it falls to decay, and why it continues, thou canst not know until thou hast raised thy head from this sleep in which thou art sunk, and hast opened thine eyes and seen that God is One, the Lord of all, and hast come to serve Him with all thy heart. Then will He grant thee to know His will: for every one that is severed from the knowledge of the living God is dead and buried even while in his body. Therefore is it that thou dost wallow on the ground before demons and shadows, and askest vain petitions from that which has not anything to give. But thou, stand thou up from among those who are lying on the earth and caressing stones, and giving their substance as food for the fire, and offering their raiment to idols, and; while themselves possessed of senses, are bent on serving that which has no sensation; and offer thou for thy imperishable soul petitions for that which decayeth not, to God who suffers no decay – and thy freedom will be at once apparent; and be thou careful of it,34 and give thanks to God who made thee, and gave thee the mind of the free, that thou mightest shape thy conduct even as thou wilt. He hath set before thee all these things, and showeth thee that, if thou follow after evil, thou shall be condemned for thy evil deeds; but that, if after goodness, thou shall receive from Him abundant good,35 together with immortal life for ever.

“There is, therefore, nothing to hinder thee from changing thy evil manner of life, because thou art a free man; or from seeking and finding out who is the Lord of all; or from serving Him with all thy heart: because with Him there is no reluctance to give the knowledge of Himself to those that seek it, according to the measure of their capacity to know Him.

“Let it be thy first care not to deceive thyself. For, if thou sayest of that which is not God: This is God, thou deceivest thyself, and sinnest before the God of truth. Thou fool I is that God which is bought and sold? Is that God which is in want? Is that God which must be watched over? How buyest thou him as a slave, and servest him as a master? How askest thou of him, as of one that is rich, to give to thee, and thyself givest to him as to one that is poor? How dost thou expect of him that he will make thee victorious in battle? for, lo! when thy enemies have conquered thee, they strip him likewise.

“Perhaps one who is a king may say: I cannot behave myself aright, because I am a king; it becomes me to do the will of the many. He who speaks thus really deserves to be laughed at: for why should not the king himself lead the way36 to all good things, and persuade the people under his rule to behave with purity, and to know God in truth, and in his own person set before them the patterns of all things excellent – since thus it becomes him to do? For it is a shameful thing that a king, however badly he may conduct himself, should yet judge and condemn those who do amiss.

“My opinion is this: that in ‘this’ way a kingdom may be governed in peace – when the sovereign is acquainted with the God of truth, and is withheld by fear of Him from doing wrong37 to those who are his subjects, and judges everything with equity, as one who knows that he himself also will be judged before God; while, at the same time, those who are under his rule38 are withheld by the fear of God from doing wrong to their sovereign, and are restrained by the same fear from doing wrong to one another. By this knowledge of God and fear of Him all evil may be removed from the realm. For, if the sovereign abstain from doing wrong to those who are under his rule, and they abstain from doing wrong to him and to each other, it is evident that the whole country will dwell in peace. Many blessings, too, will be enjoyed there, because amongst them all the name of God will be glorified. For what blessing is greater than this, that a sovereign should deliver the people that are under his rule from error, and by this good deed render himself pleasing to God? For from error arise all those evils from which kingdoms suffer; but the greatest of all errors is this: when a man is ignorant of God, and in God’s stead worships that which is not God.

“There are, however, persons who say: It is for the honour of God that we make the image: in order, that is, that we may worship the God who is concealed from our view. But they are unaware that God is in every country, and in every place, and is never absent, and that there is not anything done and He knoweth it not. Yet thou, despicable man! within whom He is, and without whom He is, and above whom He is, hast nevertheless gone and bought thee wood from the carpenter’s, and it is carved and made into an image insulting to God.39 To this thou offerest sacrifice, and knowest not that the all-seeing eye seeth thee, and that the word of truth reproves thee, and says to thee: How can the unseen God be sculptured? Nay, it is the likeness of thyself that thou makest and worshippest. Because the wood has been sculptured, hast thou not the insight to perceive that it is still wood, or that the stone is still stone? The gold also the workman40 taketh according to its weight in the balance. And when thou hast had it made41 into an image, why dost thou weigh it? Therefore thou art a lover of gold, and not a lover of God. And art thou not ashamed, perchance it be deficient, to demand of the maker of it why he has stolen some of it? Though thou hast eyes, dost thou not see? And though thou hast intelligence,42 dost thou not understand? Why dost thou wallow on the ground, and offer supplication to things which are without sense? Fear Him who shaketh the earth, and maketh the heavens to revolve, and smiteth the sea, and removeth the mountain from its place – Him who can make Himself like a fire, and consume all things; and, if thou be not able to clear thyself of guilt, yet add not to thy sins; and, if thou be not able to know God, yet doubt not43 that He exists.

“Again, there are persons who say: Whatsoever our fathers have bequeathed to us, that we reverence. Therefore, of course, it is, that those whose fathers have bequeathed them poverty strive to become rich! and those whose fathers did not instruct them, desire to be instructed, and to learn that which their fathers knew not! And why, forsooth, do the children of the blind see, and the children of the lame walk? Nay, it is not well for a man to follow his predecessors, if they be those whose course was evil; but rather that we should turn from that path of theirs, lest that which befell our predecessors should bring disaster upon us also. Wherefore, inquire whether thy father’s course was good: and, if so, do thou also follow in his steps; but, if thy father’s course was very evil, let thine be good, and so let it be with thy children after thee.44 Be grieved also for thy father because his course is evil, so long as thy grief may avail to help him. But, as for thy children, speak to them thus: There is a God, the Father of all, who never came into being, neither was ever made, and by whose will all things subsist. He also made the luminaries, that His works may see one another; and He conceals Himself in His power from all His works: for it is not permitted to any being subject to change to see Him who changes not. But such as are mindful of His words, and are admitted into that covenant which is unchangeable, ‘they’ see God – so far as it is possible for them to see Him. These also will have power to escape destruction, when the flood of fire comes upon all the world. For there was once a flood and a wind,45 and the great46 men were swept away by a violent blast from the north, but the just were left, for a demonstration of the truth. Again, at another time there was a flood of water, and all men and animals perished in the multitude of waters, but the just were preserved in an ark of wood by the command of God. So also will it be at the last time: there shall be a flood of fire, and the earth shall be burnt up, together with its mountains; and mankind shall be burnt up, along with the idols which they have made, and the carved images which they have worshipped; and the sea shall be burnt up, together with its islands; but the just shall be preserved from wrath, like as were their fellows of the ark from the waters of the deluge. And then shall those who have not known God, and those who have made them idols, bemoan themselves, when they shall see those idols of theirs being burnt up, together with themselves, and nothing shall be found to help them.

“When thou, Antoninus47 Cæsar, shall become acquainted with these things, and thy children also with thee, then wilt thou bequeath to them an inheritance for ever which fadeth not away, and thou wilt deliver thy soul, and the souls of thy children also, from that which shall come upon the whole earth in the judgment of truth and of righteousness. For, according as thou hast acknowledged Him here, so will He acknowledge thee there; and, if thou account Him here superfluous, He will not account thee one of those who have known Him and confessed Him.

“These may suffice thy Majesty; and, if they be too many, yet deign to accept them.”48

Here endeth Melito.

 

II. From the Discourse on Soul and Body.49

For this reason did the Father send His Son from heaven without a bodily form, that, when He should put on a body by means of the Virgin’s womb, and be born man, He might save man, and gather together those members of His which death had scattered when he divided man.

And further on: – The earth shook, and its foundations trembled; the sun fled away, and the elements turned back, and the day was changed into night: for they could not endure the sight of their Lord hanging on a tree. The whole creation was amazed, marvelling and saying, “What new mystery, then, is this? The Judge is judged, and holds his peace; the Invisible One is seen, and is not ashamed; the Incomprehensible is laid hold upon, and is not indignant; the Illimitable is circumscribed, and doth not resist; the Impossible suffereth, and doth not avenge; the Immortal dieth, and answereth not a word; the Celestial is laid in the grave, and endureth! What new mystery is this?” The whole creation, I say, was astonished; but, when our Lord arose from the place of the dead, and trampled death under foot, and bound the strong one, and set man free, then did the whole creation see clearly that for man’s sake the Judge was condemned, and the Invisible was seen, and the Illimitable was circumscribed, and the Impassible suffered, and the Immortal died, and the Celestial was laid in the gave. For our Lord, when He was born man, was condemned in order that He might Show mercy, was bound in order that He might loose, was seized in order that He might release, suffered in order that He might feel compassion,50 died in order that He might give life, was laid in the grave that He might raise from the dead.51

 

 

III. From the Discourse on the Cross.52

On these accounts He came to us; on these accounts, though He was incorporeal, He formed for Himself a body after our fashion,53 – appearing as a sheep, yet still remaining the Shepherd; being esteemed a servant, yet not renouncing the Sonship; being carried in the womb of Mary, yet arrayed in the nature of His Father; treading upon the earth, yet filling heaven; appearing as an infant, yet not discarding the eternity of His nature; being invested with a body, yet not circumscribing the unmixed simplicity of His Godhead; being esteemed poor, yet not divested of His riches; needing sustenance inasmuch as He was man, yet not ceasing to feed the entire world inasmuch as He is God; putting on the likeness of a servant, yet not impairing54 the likeness of His Father. He sustained every character55 belonging to Him in an immutable nature: He was standing before Pilate, and at the same time was sitting with His Father; He was nailed upon the tree, and yet was the Lord of all things.

 

IV. On Faith.56

We have collected together extracts from the Law and the Prophets relating to those things which have been declared concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, that we may prove to your love that this Being is perfect reason, the Word of God; He who was begotten before the light; He who is Creator together with the Father; He who is the Fashioner of man; He who is all in all; He who among the patriarchs is Patriarch; He who in the law is the Law; among the priests, Chief Priest; among kings, the Ruler; among prophets, the Prophet; among the angels, Archangel; in the voice of the preacher, the Word; among spirits, the Spirit; in the Father, the Son; in God, God; King for ever and ever. For this is He who was pilot to Noah; He who was guide to Abraham; He who was bound with Isaac; He who was in exile with Jacob; He who was sold with Joseph; He who was captain of the host with Moses; He who was the divider of the inheritance with Jesus the son of Nun; He who in David and the prophets announced His own sufferings; He who put on a bodily form in the Virgin; He who was born in Bethlehem; He who was wrapped in swaddling-clothes in the manger; He who was seen by the shepherds; He who was glorified by the angels; He who was worshipped by the Magi; He who was pointed out by John; He who gathered together the apostles; He who preached the kingdom; He who cured the lame; He who gave light to the blind; He who raised the dead; He who appeared in the temple; He who was not believed on by the people; He who was betrayed by Judas; He who was apprehended by the priests; He who was condemned by Pilate; He who was pierced in the flesh; He who was hanged on the tree; He who was buried in the earth; He who rose from the place of the dead; He who appeared to the apostles; He who was carried up to heaven; He who is seated at the right hand of the Father; He who is the repose of those that are departed; the recoverer of those that are lost; the light of those that are in darkness; the deliverer of those that are captive; the guide of those that go astray; the asylum of the afflicted; the bridegroom of the Church; the charioteer of the cherubim; the captain of the angels; God who is from God; the Son who is from the Father; Jesus Christ the King for evermore. Amen.

 

V.57

This is He who took a bodily form in the Virgin, and was hanged upon the tree, and was buried within the earth, and suffered not dissolution; He who rose from the place of the dead, and raised up men from the earth – from the grave below to the height of heaven. This is the Lamb that was slain; this is the Lamb that opened not His mouth.58 This is He who was born of Mary, fair sheep of the fold. This is He that was taken from the flock, and was led to the slaughter, and was slain in the evening, and was buried at night; He who had no bone of Him broken on the tree; He who suffered not dissolution within the earth; He who rose from the place of the dead, and raised up the race of Adam from the grave below, This is He who was put to death. And where was He put to death? In the midst of Jerusalem. By whom? By Israel: became He cured their lame, and cleansed their lepers, and gave light to their blind, and raised their dead! This was the cause of His death. Thou, O Israel, wast giving commands, and He was being crucified; thou wast rejoicing, and He was being buried; thou wast reclining on a soft couch, and He was watching in the grave and the shroud.59 O Israel, transgressor of the law, why hast thou committed this new iniquity, subjecting the Lord to new sufferings – thine own Lord, Him who fashioned thee, Him-who made thee, Him who honoured thee, who called thee Israel? But thou hast not been found to be Israel: for thou hast not seen God, nor understood the Lord. Thou hast not known, O Israel, that this was the first-born of God, who was begotten before the sun, who made the light to shine forth, who lighted up the day, who separated the darkness, who fixed the first foundations, who poised the earth, who collected the ocean, who stretched out the firmament, who adorned the world. Bitter were thy nails, and sharp; bitter thy tongue, which thou didst whet; bitter was Judas, to whom thou gavest hire; bitter thy false witnesses, whom thou stirredst up; bitter thy gall, which thou preparedst; bitter thy vinegar, which thou madest; bitter thy hands, filled with blood. Thou slewest thy Lord, and He was lifted up upon the tree; and an inscription was fixed above, to show who He was that was slain. And who was this? (that which we shall not say is too shocking to hear, and that which we shall say is very dreadful: nevertheless hearken, and tremble.) It was He because of whom the earth quaked. He that hung up the earth in space was Himself hanged up; He that fixed the heavens was fixed with nails; He that bore up the earth was borne up on a tree; the Lord of all was subjected to ignominy in a naked body – God put to death! the King of Israel slain with Israel’s right hand! Alas for the new wickedness of the new murder! The Lord was exposed with naked body: He was not deemed worthy even of covering; and, in order that He might not be seen, the luminaries turned away, and the day became darkened60 because they slew God, who hung naked on the tree. It was not the body of our Lord that the luminaries covered with darkness when they set,61 but the eyes of men. For, because the people quaked not, the earth quaked; because they were not affrighted, the earth was affrighted. Thou smotest thy Lord: thou also hast been smitten upon the earth. And thou indeed liest dead; but He is risen from the place of the dead, and ascended to the height of heaven, having suffered for the sake of those who suffer, and having been bound for the sake of Adam’s race which was imprisoned, and having been judged for the sake of him who was condemned, and having been buried for the sake of him who was buried.

And further on: – This is He who made the heaven and the earth, and in the beginning, together with the Father, fashioned man; who was announced by means of the law and the prophets; who put on a bodily form in the Virgin; who was hanged upon the tree; who was buried in the earth; who rose from the place of the dead, and ascended to the height of heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father.

 

VI.62

He that bore up the earth was borne up on a tree. The Lord was subjected to ignominy with naked body – God put to death, the King of Israel slain!

 

Fragments.63

I. From the Work on the Passover.64

When Servilius Paulus was proconsul of Asia, at the time that Sagaris65 suffered martyrdom, there arose a great controversy at Laodicea concerning the time of the celebration of the Passover, which on that occasion had happened to fall at the proper season;66 and this treatise was then written.67

 

II. From the Apology Addressed to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.68

For the race of the pious is now persecuted in a way contrary to all precedent, being harassed by a new kind of edicts69 everywhere in Asia. For unblushing informers, and such as are greedy of other men’s goods, taking occasion from the orders issued, carry on their robbery without any disguise, plundering of their property night and day those who are guilty of no wrong.

If these proceedings take place at thy bidding,70 well and good.71 For a just sovereign will never take unjust measures; and we, on our part, gladly accept the honour of such a death. This request only we present to thee, that thou wouldst first of all examine for thyself into the behaviour of these reputed agents of so much strife, and then come to a just decision as to whether they merit death and punishment, or deserve to live in safety and quiet. But if, on the contrary, it shall turn out that this measure, and this new sort of command, which it would be unbecoming to employ even against barbarian foemen, do not proceed from thee, then all the more do we entreat thee not to leave us thus exposed to the spoliation of the populace.

For the philosophy current with us flourished in the first instance among barbarians;72 and, when it afterwards sprang up among the nations under thy rule, during the distinguished reign of thy ancestor Augustus, it proved to be a blessing of most happy omen to thy empire. For from that time the Roman power has risen to greatness and splendour. To this power thou hast succeeded as the much desired73 possessor; and such shalt thou continue, together with thy son,74 if thou protect that philosophy which has grown up with thy empire, and which took its rise with Augustus; to which also thy more recent ancestors paid honour, along with the other religions prevailing in the empire. A very strong proof, moreover, that it was for good that the system we profess came to prevail at the same time that the empire of such happy commencement was established, is this – that ever since the reign of Augustus nothing untoward has happened; but, on the contrary, everything has contributed to the splendour and renown of the empire, in accordance with the devout wishes75 of all. Nero and Domitian alone of all the emperors, imposed upon by certain calumniators, have cared to bring any impeachment against our doctrines. They, too, are the source from which it has happened that the lying slanders on those who profess them have, in consequence of the senseless habit which prevails of taking things on hearsay, flowed down to our own times.76 But the course which they in their ignorance pursued was set aside by thy pious progenitors, who frequently and in many instances rebuked by their rescripts77 those who dared to set on foot any hostilities against them. It appears, for example, that thy grandfather Adrian wrote, among others, to Fundanus, the proconsul then in charge of the government of Asia. Thy father, too, when thou thyself wast associated with him78 in the administration of the empire, wrote to the cities, forbidding them to take any measures adverse to us: among the rest to the people of Larissa, and of Thessalonica, and of Athens, and, in short, to all the Greeks. And as regards thyself, seeing that thy sentiments respecting the Christians79 are not only the same as theirs, but even much more generous and wise, we are the more persuaded that thou wilt do all that we ask of thee.

 

III. From the Same Apology.80

We are not those who pay homage to stones, that are without sensation; but of the only God, who is before all and over all, and, moreover, we are worshippers of His Christ, who is veritably God the Word81 existing before all time.

 

IV. From the Book of Extracts.82

Melito to his brother Onesimus, greeting: – 

As you have often, prompted by your regard for the word of God, expressed a wish to have some extracts made from the Law and the Prophets concerning the Saviour, and concerning our faith in general, and have desired, moreover, to obtain an accurate account of the Ancient Books, as regards their number and their arrangement, I have striven to the best of my ability to perform this task: well knowing your zeal for the faith, and your eagerness to become acquainted with the Word, and especially because I am assured that, through your yearning after God, you esteem these things beyond all things else, engaged as you are in a struggle for eternal salvation.

I accordingly proceeded to the East, and went to the very spot where the things in question were preached and took place; and, having made myself accurately acquainted with the books of the Old Testament, I have set them down below, and herewith send you the list. Their names are as follows: – 

The five books of Moses – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; Joshua,83 Judges, Ruth, the four books of Kings, the two of Chronicles, the book of the Psalms of David, the Proverbs of Solomon, also called the Book of Wisdom, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Job, the books of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, of the twelve contained in a single book, Daniel, Ezekiel, Esdras. From these I have made my extracts, dividing them into six books.

 

V. From the Catena on Genesis.84

In place of Isaac the just, a ram appeared for slaughter, in order that Isaac might be liberated from his bonds. The slaughter of this animal redeemed Isaac from death. In like manner, the Lord, being slain, saved us; being bound, He loosed us; being sacrificed, He redeemed us…

For the Lord was a lamb, like the ram which Abraham saw caught in the bush Sabec.85 But this bush represented the cross, and that place Jerusalem, and the lamb the Lord bound for slaughter.

For as a ram was He bound, says he concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, and as a lamb was He shorn, and as a sheep was He led to the slaughter, and as a lamb was He crucified; and He carried the cross86 on His shoulders when He was led up to the hill to be slain, as was Isaac by his father. But Christ suffered, and Isaac did not suffer: for he was but a type of Him who should suffer. Yet, even when serving only for a type of Christ, he smote men with astonishment and fear.

For a new mystery was presented to view, – a son led by his father to a mountain to be slain, whose feet he bound together, and laid him on the wood of the sacrifice, preparing with care87 whatever was necessary to his immolation. Isaac on his part is silent, bound like a ram, not opening his mouth, nor uttering a sound with his voice. For, not fearing the knife, nor quailing before the fire, nor troubled by the prospect of suffering, he sustained bravely the character of the type of the Lord. Accordingly there lies Isaac before us, with his feet bound like a ram, his father standing by, with the knife all bare in his hand, not shrinking from shedding the blood of his son.

 

VI. Two Scholia On Gen_22:13.88

The Syriac and the Hebrew use the word “suspended,”89 as more clearly typifying the cross.

The word Sabek90 some have rendered remission,91 others upright,92 as if the meaning, agreeing with the popular belief, were – a goat walking erect up to a bush, and there standing erect caught by his horns, so as to be a plain type of the cross. For this reason it is not translated, because the single Hebrew word signifies in other languages93 many things. To those, however, who ask it is proper to give an answer, and to say that Sabek denotes lifted up.94

 

VII. On the Nature of Christ.95

For there is no need, to persons of intelligence, to attempt to prove, from the deeds of Christ subsequent to His baptism, that His soul and His body, His human nature96 like ours, were real, and no phantom of the imagination. For the deeds done by Christ after His baptism, and especially His miracles, gave indication and assurance to the world of the Deity hidden in His flesh. For, being at once both God and perfect man likewise, He gave us sure indications of His two natures:97 of His Deity, by His miracles during the three years that elapsed after His baptism; of His humanity, during the thirty similar periods which preceded His baptism, in which, by reason of His low estate98 as regards the flesh, He concealed the signs of His Deity, although He was the true God existing before all ages.

 

VIII. From the Oration on Our Lord’s Passion.99

God has suffered from the right hand of Israel.100

 

IX.101

Head of the Lord – His simple Divinity; because He is the Beginning and Creator of all things: in Daniel. (Dan_7:9, Dan_7:13, Dan_7:22)

The white hair of the Lord, because He is “the Ancient of Days:” as above.

The eyes of the Lord – the Divine inspection: because He sees all things. Like that in the apostle: For all things are naked and open in His eyes.” (Heb_4:13)

The eyelids of the Lord – hidden spiritual mysteries in the Divine precepts. In the Psalm: “His eyelids question, that is prove, the children of men.” (Psa_11:4)

The smelling of the Lord – His delight in the prayers or works of the saints. In Genesis: “And the Lord smelled an odour of sweetness.” (Gen_8:21)

The mouth of the Lord – His Son, or word addressed to men. In the prophet, “The mouth of the Lord hath spoken;” (Isa_1:20) and elsewhere, “They provoked His mouth to anger.” (Lam_1:18)

The tongue of the Lord – His Holy Spirit. In the Psalm: “My tongue is a pen.” (Psa_45:1)

The face of the Lord – His manifestation. In Exodus, “My face shall go before thee;” (Exo_33:14) and in the prophet, “The face of the Lord divided them.” (Lam_4:16)

The word of the Lord – His Son. In the Psalm: “My heart hath uttered a good word.” (Psa_44:1)

The arm of the Lord – His Son, by whom He hath wrought all His works. In the prophet Isaiah: “And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” (Isa_53:1)

The right hand of the Lord – that is, His Son; as also above in the Psalm: “The right hand of the Lord hath done valiantly.” (Psa_118:16)

The right hand of the Lord – electio omnis. As in Deuteronomy: “In His right hand is a fiery law.” (Deu_33:2)

The wings of the Lord – Divine protection. In the Psalm: “In the shadow of Thy wings will I hope.” (Psa_57:1)

The shoulder of the Lord – the Divine power, by which He condescends to carry the feeble. In Deuteronomy: “He took them up, and put them on His shoulders.” (Deu_33:12)

The hand of the Lord – Divine operation. In the prophet: “Have not my hands made all these things?” (Isa_66:2)

The finger of the Lord – the Holy Spirit, by whose operation the tables of the law in Exodus are said to have been written; (Exo_34:1) and in the Gospel: “If I by the finger of God cast out demons” (Luk_11:20)

The fingers of the Lord – The lawgiver Moses, or the prophets. In the Psalm: “I will regard the heavens,” that is, the books of the Law and the Prophets, “the works of Thy fingers.” (Psa_8:3)

The wisdom of the Lord – His Son. In the apostle: “Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God;” (1Co_1:24) and in Solomon: “The wisdom of the Lord reacheth from one end to the other mightily.”102

The womb of the Lord – the hidden recess of Deity out of which He brought forth His Son. In the Psalm: “Out of the womb, before Lucifer, have I borne Thee. (Psa_110:3)

The feet of the Lord – His immoveableness and eternity. In the Psalm: “And thick darkness was under His feet.” (Psa_18:9)

The throne of the Lord – angels, or saints, or simply sovereign dominion.103 In the Psalm: “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.” (Psa_45:6; Comp. Psa_5:1-12, Psa_29:1-11)

Seat – the same as above, angels or saints, because the Lord sits upon these. In the Psalm: “The Lord sat upon His holy seat.” (Psa_47:8)

The descent of the Lord – His visitation of men. As in Micah: “Behold, the Lord shall come forth from His place; He shall come down trampling under foot the ends of the earth.” (Mic_1:3) Likewise in a bad sense. In Genesis: “The Lord came down to see the tower.” (Gen_11:3)

The ascent of the Lord – the raising up of man, who is taken from earth to heaven. In the Psalm: “Who ascendeth above the heaven of heavens to the east.” (Psa_68:33)

The standing of the Lord – the patience of the Deity, by which He bears with sinners that they may come to repentance. As in Habakkuk: “He good and measured the earth; (Hab_3:6) and in the Gospel: “Jesus stood, and bade him be called,” (Mar_10:49) that is, the blind man.

The transition of the Lord – His assumption of our flesh, through which by His birth, His death, His resurrection, His ascent into heaven, He made transitions, so to say. In the Song of Songs: “Behold, He cometh, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.” (Son_2:8)

The going104 of the Lord – His coming or visitation. In the Psalm.

The way of the Lord – the operation of the Deity. As in Job, in speaking of the devil: “He is the beginning of the ways of the Lord.” (Job_40:19)

Again: The ways of the Lord – His precepts. In Hosea: “For the ways of the Lord are straight, and the just shall walk in them.” (Hos_14:1-9:10)

The footsteps of the Lord – the signs of His secret operations. As in the Psalm: “And Thy footsteps shall not be known.” (Psa_77:19)

The knowledge of the Lord – that which makes men to know Him. To Abraham He says:” Now I know that thou fearest the Lord;” (Gen_22:12) that is, I have made thee to know.

The ignorance of God105 is His disapproval. In the Gospel: “I know you not.” (Luk_13:25)

The remembrance of God – His mercy, by which He rejects and has mercy on whom He will. So in Genesis: “The Lord remembered Noah;” (Gen_8:1) and in another passage: “The Lord hath remembered His people.” (Additions to Esther 10:12, NRSV)

The repentance of the Lord – His change of procedure.106 As in the book of Kings: “It repented me that I have made Saul king.” (1Sa_15:11)

The anger and wrath of the Lord – the vengeance of the Deity upon sinners, when He bears with them with a view to punishment, does not at once judge them according to strict equity. As in the Psalm: “In His anger and in His wrath will He trouble them.” (Psa_2:5)

The sleeping of the Lord – when, in the thoughts of some, His faithfulness is not sufficiently wakeful. In the Psalm: “Awake, why sleepest Thou, O Lord?” (Psa_44:23)

The watches of the Lord – in the guardianship of His elect He is always at hand by the presence of His Deity. In the Psalm: “Lo! He will not slumber nor sleep.” (Psa_121:4)

The sitting of the Lord – His ruling. In the Psalm: “The Lord sitteth upon His holy seat.” (Psa_47:8)

The footstool of the Lord – man assumed by the Word; or His saints, as some think. In the Psalm: “Worship ye His footstool, for it is holy.”

The walking of the Lord – the delight of the Deity in the walks of His elect. In the prophet: “I will walk in them, and will be their Lord.” (Eze_37:27)

The trumpet of the Lord – His mighty voice. In the apostle: “At the command, and at the voice of the archangel, and at the trumpet of God, shall He descend from heaven.”107

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Routh, R. S., vol. i. p. 113. And see Westcott, Canon, p. 245.

2 Lightfoot, A. F., vol. ii. p.48.

3 Lightfoot, A. F., vol. i. p. 428.

4 Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2. (Stromata) p. 301, this series.

5 Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1. p. 186, this series.

6 Lightfoot, A. F., vol. i. p. 468.

7 Lightfoot, A. F., vol. ii.

8 Lightfoot, A. F., pp.446, 494.

9 “Which was delivered in the presence… and in which etc.” This appears to be the sense intended, and is that given by M. Renan: “Sermo qui factus est.” Cureton renders, “Who was in the presence, etc.,” and supposes that Melito first saw and conversed with the emperor, and afterwards wrote this discourse. Melito speaks of it more than once as written. This view, however, does not dispose of the fact that Melito is here affirmed to have “exhorted (lit., said to) Cæsar etc.” It was clearly meant to be understood that the discourse, or speech, was spoken: the references to writing merely show that it was written, either before or after the delivery.

10 Cureton: “passion.” The word takes both meanings.

11 Lit. “sojourn beneath it.”

12 Cureton: “act foolishly.”

13 Lit. “sight.”

14 Cureton: “light without envy.” But the expression resembles the Gk. ἀφθόνως, ungrudgingly, without stint.

15 Lit. “to the ditch is his way.” Comp. Mat_15:14.

16 See Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1. p. 280, this series, where the following lines are quoted by Justin Martyr from the Sibylline Oracles: – 

“But we have strayed from the Immortal’s ways,

And worship with a dull and senseless mind

Idols, the workmanship of our own hands,

And images and figures of dead men.”

17 Cureton: “those belonging to the Cæsars.” But the Cæsars themselves are clearly meant.

18 Cureton: “sacks full.” The first word is used of a leathern pouch or wallet, as in Luk_10:4 (Peshito) for πήρα.

19 Lit., “they became,”

20 Cureton, without necessity, reads the word “Dionysius.”

21 Cureton renders “originally.” But comp. Judith 4:3, where the same word answers to προσφάτως.

22 Venus.

23 Cureton’s conjecture of has been adopted.

24 Some have identified it with Aphek, Jos_19:30. The rites observed here were specially abominable.

25 Cureton: “the patrician.” Dr. Payne Smith, Thes. Syr. s.v., regards the word as equivalent to πατὴρ τῆς πόλεως, pater civitatis, “a title of honour found in the Byzantine writers,” and is inclined to think it a term belonging to the dialect of Edessa. A similar use of the same adjectives quoted from Buxtorf, Lex. Chald. Talm., p.12: “àالاجéé cognomen R. Nachmanis, qui a celebritate familiæ sic cognomiruitus est, quasi Patritius.” This view appears to be supported by the similar use of an adjective for a substantive above: “persons of Cæsarean rank,” for “Cæsars.”

26 Lit., “be (or, get to be) with thyself” Cureton: “enter into thyself.” The meaning appears to be, “think for thyself.”

27 Cureton: “Everything cometh through His hands.” It should rather be,” into His hands,” i.e.,” He has power to do everything.” See Bardesan, footnote 23.

28 Lit., “be running in thy mind.”

29 M. Renan translates “commovetur.” This, although correct in grammar, does not suit the sense. The grammars recognise the form as a possible Eshtaphel, “tangere,” but it is not found in actual use.

30 Or, “that which is fixed and invariable.” There seems to be a reference to the derivation of “truth” from firmus (stabilis) fuit. Cureton has strangely mistranslated “that which, without having been brought into existence, does exist.”

31 Cureton: “materials.” The printed text has “drugs.”

32 Lit., “the property of the gold or silver,” if the word is rightly taken. Although no such derivative of the word is found in the lexicons, the form is possible from the Palel of that verb. See Hoffmann, Gram. Syr., sec. 87, 19.

33 Lit. “in one fashion.”

34 Or, “of what pertains to it.”

35 Lit. “many good things.”

36 Lit. “be the beginner.”

37 Cureton is probably right in so taking the words, although the construction is not quite the same as in the similar sentence a little below.

38 Lit. “hand.”

39 Lit. “into an insult of God.” So M. Renan, “in opprobrium Dei.” Cureton, admitting that this may be the sense, renders, “an abomination of God,” and refers to the circumstance that in Scripture an idol is frequently so spoken of. But the word is not used in such passages, nor does it appear ever to have the meaning which Cureton assigns to it.

40 Lit. “he.”

41 Lit, “hast made it”

42 Lit. “heart.”

43 Lit. “be of opinion.”

44 This seems preferable to Cureton’s, “and let thy children also follow after thee.”

45 So the Sibylline oracle, as quoted by Cureton in the Greek:

“And, when he would the starry steep of heaven

Ascend, the Sire Immortal did his works

With mighty blasts assail: forthwith the winds

Hurled prostrate from its height the towering pile,

And bitter strife among the builders roused.’

46 Lit. “chosen.”

47 The ms. has “Antonius.”

48 Cureton, for the last clause, gives “as thou wilt,” remarking that the sense is obscure. The literal rendering is, “if thou wilt, the consequent clause being unexpressed. “If you please, accept them,” is seems what is meant.

49 By Melito, bishop of Sardis.

50 A substitution has been made for the original Syriac of the printed text.

51 [Such passages sustain the testimony of Jerome and others, that this venerable and learned Father was an eloquent preacher.]

52 By the same.

53 Or “wove – a body from our material”

54 Lit. “changing.”

55 Lit. “He was everything.”

56 Of Melito the bishop.

57 By Melito, bishop of Attica. [Of this epigraph, which becomes Ittica below, I have never seen a sufficient explanation.]

58 Lit. “the Lamb without voice.”

59 The Greek γλωσσόκομον.

60 [For Phlegon’s testimony, see references, vol. 7. p. 257. But note Lightfoot, Ap. F., part ii. vol. i. p. 512; his remark on Origen, Celsus, vol. 4. p.437, this series.]

61 This is the rendering of the printed text; but Cureton has “fled,” as though he read another word.

62 By the holy Melito, bishop of the city of Ittica. [For Melito, in Lightfoot’s Apost. Fathers, consult part ii. vol. i. pp. 133, 328, 428, 443-446, 468-469, 494. See Lardner Credib vol. ii. 557, etc.: Westcott, Canon, p. 246. See Polycrates, infra; on which consult Schaff; History, etc., vol. ii. p.736. Above all, see Routh, R. S., tom. i. pp.113-153.]

63 The following Fragments of Melito are translated from the Greek, except No. IX., which is taken from the Latin.

64 In Eusebius, Hist. Eccl, iv. 26. [Melito wrote two boosts on the Paschal and use On the Lord’s Day (ὁ περὶ κυριακῆς λόγος), according to Eusebius. But is this On the Lord’s Day other than one of the books on the Paschal) It may be doubted. Routh refers us to Barnabas. See vol. 1. cap. 15, note 157, p. 147, this series. See also Dionysius of Corinth.]

65 He was bishop of Laodicea, and suffered martyrdom during the persecution under M. Aurelius Antoninus. – Migne.

66 The churches of Asia Minor kept Easter on the fourteenth day from the new moon, whatever day of the week that might be; and hence were called Quartodecimans. Other churches, chiefly those of the West, kept it on the Sunday following the day of the Jewish passover. In case here referred to, the 14th day of the month occurred on the Sunday in question.

67 Migne, not so naturally, punctuates otherwise, and renders, “which had happened then to fall at the proper season, and on that Occasion this treatise was written.”

68 In Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., 1. c.

69 Migne thinks that by these are meant the orders given by magistrates of cities on their own authority, in distinction from those which issued from emperors or governors of provinces.

70 The reference must be to private letters: for in any of the leading cities of Asia a mandate of the emperor would have been made public before the proconsul proceeded to execute it. – Migne.

71 Ἔστω καλῶς γενόμεϚοϚ seems to be here used in the sense of καλῶς alone. The correctness of Migne’s translation, recte atque ordinefacta sunto, is open to doubt.

72 The Jews. Porphyry calls the doctrines of the Christians βάρβαρον τόλμημα. See Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., vi. 59. – Migne.

73 Εὐκταῖος.

74 Commodus, who hence appears to have been not yet associated with his father in the empire. – Migne.

75 Εὐχάς.

76 Ἀφο  ὧν καὶ τὸ τῆς συκοφαντίας ἀλόγῳ συνηθείᾳ περΐ τοὺς τοιούτους ῥυῆναι συμβέβηκε ψεῦδος.

77 Ἐγγράφως.

78 The reading of Valesius, σοῦ τὰ πάντα συνδιοικοῦντος αὐτῷ, is here adopted.

79 Περὶ τούτων.

80 In the Chronicon Alexandrinum.

81 Ὄντως Θεοῦ Λόγου.

82 In Eusebius, 1. c.

83 Ἰησοῦς Ναυῆ.

84 From Melito of Sardis.

85 The Hebrew word ٌہلبêہ, thicket, is not found as a proper name.

86 Τὸ ξύλον.

87 Μετὰ σπουδῆς. Migne: Cum festinatione.

88 In the edition of the LXX. published by Card. Caraffe, 1581.

89 κρεμάμενος. The Hebrew is ًàçو, meaning simply “caught.”

90 See note on the fragment just before.

91 ἄφεσις.

92 ὄρθιος.

93 Lit. “when translated.”

94 ἐπηρμένος.

95 In Anastasius of Sinai, The Guide, ch. 13.

96 Or, according to Migne’s punctuation, “His soul, and the body of His human nature.” The words are, τὸ ἀληθὲς καὶ ἀφάνταστον τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῦ σώματος τῆς καθα ἡμᾶς ἀνθρωπινῆς φύσεως.

97 Οὐσίας [Comp. note 100.]

98 Τὸ ἀτέλες.

99 Anastasius, Guide, ch. 12.

100 [Ὁ Θεὸς πεπονθεν ὑπὸ δεξίας Ἰσραηλίτιδος. Compare Tatian, vol. 2. p.71, note 39; also Origen, vol. 4. p.480, note 115, this series. And see Routh, R. S., i. p. 148. So “God put to death,” See Melito, V.]

101 From The Key.

102 Sap. viii. 2.

103 Ipsa regnandi potestas.

104 Gressus.

105 Nescire Dei.

106 Rerum mutatio.

107 1Th_4:15. [The above has been shown to have no claim to be the work of Melito. It is a compilation of the sixth century, in all probability.]



Remains of the Second and Third Centuries; Hegesippus.1

[a.d. 170.] One of the sub-Apostolic age, a contemporary of Justin and of the martyrs of “the good Aurelius,” we must yet distinguish Hegesippus2 from the apologists. He is the earliest of the Church’s chroniclers – we can hardly call him a historian. His aims were noble and his character was pure; nor can we refuse him the credit due to a foresight of the Church’s ultimate want of historical material, which he endeavoured to supply.

What is commonly regarded as his defect is in reality one of his greatest merits as a witness: he was a Hebrew, and looks at the Church from the stand-point of “James the Lord’s brother.” When we observe his Catholic spirit, therefore, as well as his Catholic orthodoxy; his sympathy with the Gentile Church and Pauline faith of the Corinthians; his abhorrence of “the Circumcision” so far as it bred sects and heresies against Christ; and when we find him confirming the testimony of the Apostolic Fathers, and sustaining the traditions of Antioch by those of Jerusalem, – we have double reason to cherish his name, and to treasure up “the fragments that remain” of his works. That touching episode of the kindred of Christ, as they appeared before Domitian, has always impressed my imagination as worthy to be classed with the story of St. John and the robber, as one of the most suggestive incidents of early Christian history. We must lament the loss of other portions of the Memoirs which were known to exist in the seventeenth century. He was a traveller, and must have seen much of the Apostolic churches in the East and West; and the mere scraps we have of his narrative concerning Corinth and Rome excite a natural curiosity as to the rest, which may lead to gratifying discoveries.

 

Fragments from His Five Books of Commentaries on the Acts of the Church.

I. Concerning the Martyrdom of James, the Brother of the Lord, from Book V.3

James, the Lord’s brother, succeeds to the government of the Church, in conjunction with the apostles. He has been universally called the Just, from the days of the Lord down to the present time. For many bore the name of James; but this one was holy from his mother’s womb. He drank no wine or other intoxicating liquor,4 nor did he eat flesh; no razor came upon his head; he did not anoint himself with oil, nor make use of the bath. He alone was permitted to enter the holy place:5 for he did not wear any woollen garment, but fine linen only. He alone, I say, was wont to go into the temple: and he used to be found kneeling on his knees, begging forgiveness for the people – so that the skin of his knees became horny like that of a camel’s, by reason of his constantly bending the knee in adoration to God, and begging forgiveness for the people. Therefore, in consequence of his pre-eminent justice, he was called the Just, and Oblias,6 which signifies in Greek Defence of the People, and Justice, in accordance with what the prophets declare concerning him.

Now some persons belonging to the seven sects existing among the people, which have been before described by me in the Notes, asked him: “What is the door of Jesus?” 

And he replied that He was the Saviour. In Consequence of this answer, some believed that Jesus is the Christ. But the sects before mentioned did not believe, either in a resurrection or in the coming of One to requite every man according to his works; but those who did believe, believed because of James. So, when many even of the ruling class believed, there was a commotion among the Jews, and scribes, and Pharisees, who said: “A little more, and we shall have all the people looking for Jesus as the Christ.

They came, therefore, in a body to James, and said: “We entreat thee, restrain the people: for they are gone astray in their opinions about Jesus, as if he were the Christ. We entreat thee to persuade all who have come hither for the day of the passover, concerning Jesus. For we all listen to thy persuasion; since we, as well as all the people, bear thee testimony that thou art just, and showest partiality to none. Do thou, therefore, persuade the people not to entertain erroneous opinions concerning Jesus: for all the people, and we also, listen to thy persuasion. Take thy stand, then, upon the summit7 of the temple, that from that elevated spot thou mayest be clearly seen, and thy words may be plainly audible to all the people. For, in order to attend the passover, all the tribes have congregated hither, and some of the Gentiles also.”

The aforesaid scribes and Pharisees accordingly set James on the summit of the temple, and cried aloud to him, and said: “O just one, whom we are all bound to obey, forasmuch as the people is in error, and follows Jesus the crucified, do thou tell us what is the door of Jesus, the crucified.” And he answered with a loud voice: “Why ask ye me concerning Jesus the Son of man? He Himself sitteth in heaven, at the right hand of the Great Power, and shall come on the clouds of heaven.”

And, when many were fully convinced by these words, and offered praise for the testimony of James, and said, “Hosanna to the son of David,” then again the said Pharisees and scribes said to one another, “We have not done well in procuring this testimony to Jesus. But let us go up and throw him down, that they may be afraid, and not believe him.” And they cried aloud, and said: “Oh! oh! the just man himself is in error.” Thus they fulfilled the Scripture written in Isaiah: “Let us away with the just man, because he is troublesome to us: therefore shall they eat the fruit of their doings.” So they went up and threw down the just man, and said to one another: “Let us stone James the Just.” And they began to stone him: for he was not killed by the fall; but he turned, and kneeled down, and said: “I beseech Thee, Lord God our Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

And, while they were thus stoning him to death, one of the priests, the sons of Rechab, the son of Rechabim, to whom testimony is borne by Jeremiah the prophet, began to cry aloud, saying: “Cease, what do ye? The just man is praying for us.” But one among them, one of the fullers, took the staff with which he was accustomed to wring out the garments he dyed, and hurled it at the head of the just man.

And so he suffered martyrdom; and they buried him on the spot, and the pillar erected to his memory still remains, close by the temple. This man was a true witness to both Jews and Greeks that Jesus is the Christ.

And shortly after Vespasian besieged Judæa, taking them captive.

 

Concerning the Relatives of Our Saviour.8

There still survived of the kindred of the Lord the grandsons of Judas, who according to the flesh was called his brother. These were informed against, as belonging to the family of David, and Evocatus brought them before Domitian Cæsar: for that emperor dreaded the advent of Christ, as Herod had done.

So he asked them whether they were of the family of David; and they confessed they were. Next he asked them what property they had, or how much money they possessed. They both replied that they had only 9000 denaria between them, each of them owning half that sum; but even this they said they did not possess in cash, but as the estimated value of some land, consisting of thirty-nine plethra only, out of which they had to pay the dues, and that they supported themselves by their own labour. And then they began to hold out their hands, exhibiting, as proof of their manual labour, the roughness of their skin, and the corns raised on their hands by constant work.

Being then asked concerning Christ and His kingdom, what was its nature, and when and where it was to appear, they returned answer that it was not of this world, nor of the earth, but belonging to the sphere of heaven and angels, and would make its appearance at the end of time, when He shall come in glory, and judge living and dead, and render to every one according to the course of his life.9

Thereupon Domitian passed no condemnation upon them, but treated them with contempt, as too mean for notice, and let them go free. At the same time he issued a command, and put a stop to the persecution against the Church. 

When they were released they became leaders10 of the churches, as was natural in the case of those who were at once martyrs and of the kindred of the Lord. And, after the establishment of peace to the Church, their lives were prolonged to the reign of Trajan.

 

Concerning the Martyrdom of Symeon the Son of Clopas, Bishop of Jerusalem.11

Some of these heretics, forsooth, laid an information against Symeon the son of Clopas, as being of the family of David, and a Christian. And on these charges he suffered martyrdom when he was 120 years old, in the reign of Trajan Cæsar, when Atticus was consular legate12 in Syria. And it so happened, says the same writer, that, while inquiry was then being made for those belonging to the royal tribe of the Jews, the accusers themselves were convicted of belonging to it. With show of reason could it be said that Symeon was one of those who actually saw and heard the Lord, on the ground of his great age, and also because the Scripture of the Gospels makes mention of Mary the daughter of Clopas, who, as our narrative has shown already, was his father.

The same historian mentions others also, of the family of one of the reputed brothers of the Saviour, named Judas, as having survived until this same reign, after the testimony they bore for the faith of Christ in the time of Domitian, as already recorded.

He writes as follows: They came, then, and took the presidency of every church, as witnesses for Christ, and as being of the kindred of the Lord. And, after profound peace had been established in every church, they remained down to the reign of Trajan Cæsar: that is, until the time when he who was sprung from an uncle of the Lord, the aforementioned Symeon son of Clopas, was informed against by the various heresies, and subjected to an accusation like the rest, and for the same cause, before the legate Atticus; and, while suffering outrage during many days, he bore testimony for Christ: so that all, including the legate himself, were astonished above measure that a man 120 years old should have been able to endure such torments. He was finally condemned to be crucified.

…Up to that period the Church had remained like a virgin pure and uncorrupted: for, if there were any persons who were disposed to tamper with the wholesome rule of the preaching of salvation,13 they still lurked in some dark place of concealment or other. But, when the sacred band of apostles had in various ways closed their lives, and that generation of men to whom it had been vouchsafed to listen to the Godlike Wisdom with their own ears had passed away, then did the confederacy of godless error take its rise through the treachery of false teachers, who, seeing that none of the apostles any longer survived, at length attempted with bare and uplifted head to oppose the preaching of the truth by preaching “knowledge falsely so called.”

 

Concerning His Journey to Rome, and the Jewish Sects.14

And the church of the Corinthians continued in the orthodox faith15 up to the time when Primus was bishop in Corinth. I had some intercourse with these brethren on my voyage to Rome, when I spent several days with the Corinthians, during which we were mutually refreshed by the orthodox faith.

On my arrival at Rome, I drew up a list of the succession of bishops down to Anicetus, whose deacon was Eleutherus. To Anicetus succeeded Soter, and after him came Eleutherus. But in the case of every succession,16 and in every city, the state of affairs is in accordance with the teaching of the Law and of the Prophets and of the Lord….

And after James the Just had suffered martyrdom, as had the Lord also and on the same account, again Symeon the son of Clopas, descended from the Lord’s uncle, is made bishop, his election being promoted by all as being a kinsman of the Lord.

Therefore was the Church called a virgin, for she was not as yet corrupted by worthless teaching.17 Thebulis it was who, displeased because he was not made bishop, first began to corrupt her by stealth. He too was connected with the seven sects which existed among the people, like Simon, from whom come the Simoniani; and Cleobius, from whom come the Cleobiani; and Doritheus, from whom come the Dorithiani; and Gorthæus, from whom come the Gortheani; Masbothæus, from whom come the Masbothæi. From these men also come the Menandrianists, and the Marcionists, and the Carpocratians, and the Valentinians, and the Basilidians, and the Saturnilians. Each of these leaders in his own private and distinct capacity brought in his own private opinion. From these have come false Christs, false prophets, false apostles – men who have split up the one Church into parts18 through their corrupting doctrines, uttered in disparagement of God and of His Christ….

There were, moreover, various opinions in the matter of circumcision among the children of Israel, held by those who were opposed to the tribe of Judah and to Christ: such as the Essenes, the Galileans, the Hemerobaptists, the Masbothæi, the Samaritans, the Sadducees, the Pharisees.

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Westcott, Canon, p.228.

2 Routh, Rel. Sac., vol. i. pp.205-219. Lightfoot is culpably lax in calling Rome “the Papal throne” (temp. Anicet.), and mistaking alike the testimony of Irenæus and of our author. Ap. F., part ii. vol. i. p. 435.

3 In Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., ii. 23. [Comp. Isa_3:10, Sept.]

4 Σίκερα.

5 Τὰ ἅγια.

6 The reference appears to be to the Hebrew word ٍةôئى, a rising ground, which was applied as a proper name to a fortified ridge of Mount Zion. See 2Ch_27:3. It has bees proposed to read ἐκαλεῖτο Σαδδὶκ καὶ Ὠζλιὰμ, ὅ ἐστιν δίκαιος καὶ περιοχὴ τοῦ λαοῦ. The text, in which not only a Hebrew word but also a Greek (Δίκαιος) is explained in Greek, can hardly give the correct reading. [The translator suggests Ὠβλίας as the probable reading of the LXX., though it is corrupted as above.]

7 Πτερύγιον. [Mat_4:5]

8 Also in Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., iii. 20.

9 Τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα αὐτοῦ.

10 Ἡγήσασθαι.

11 Also in Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., iii. 32.

12 Ὑπατικοῦ. [St. John died a few years before.]

13 Τοῦ σωτηρίου κηρυγματος.

14 Also in Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., iv. 22.

15 Ἐν τῷ ὀρθῷ λόγῳ.

16 [Elucidation.]

17 Ἀκοαῖς ματαίαις.

18 Ἐμέρισαν τὴν ενωσιν τῆς ἐκκλησίας. [Act_20:29-31.]