And what need is there to speak also of the descent of the Holy Spirit that took place upon the apostles, but also upon Cornelius and upon all the faithful, concerning whom the Apostle writes:
For to one is given the word of wisdom, to another prophecy, to another kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues, to another gifts of healings, to another the word of knowledge, to another faith, to another workings of powers, to another discernment of spirits; and all these, he said, the one and the same Spirit works, distributing to each one individually as he wills. Glory to God, who through all the prophets foretold these things, unto the ages.
For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. This is said, in its obvious sense, concerning the Scythians, that is, Gog and Magog, but more properly it applies to the Lord Christ;
As Jonah remained in the belly of the sea-monster three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. For as the sea-monster vomited out Jonah uncorrupted, so also the tomb vomited out the Lord Christ into a better life.
Note. This one too, as in a type, foretold beforehand through deeds the tomb and the paradoxical resurrection and incorruption of our Lord Christ, through whom also the resurrection and recapitulation of all men is brought about.
He has gone up, breathing upon your face, delivering you from affliction. Note. How this one too, in agreement with the others, exhorts to rejoice concerning the resurrection of Christ and our own, signifying beforehand our not-growing-old, that is, incorruption and immortality.
Behold, you despisers, and look and wonder and vanish away; for I work a work in your days which you will not believe, though one tell it to you. This citation Paul fittingly applied to the resurrection of the Lord Christ in Antioch of Pisidia.
Note. Likewise this one also promises to signify beforehand things paradoxical and unbelievable to men, especially to despisers—evidently concerning the resurrection.
The Lord will appear against them, and will utterly destroy all the gods of the nations of the earth; and all the isles of the nations shall worship him, each from its own place. Again he says:
This is Haggai, the tenth, he too was deemed worthy to foretell beforehand concerning the Lord Christ, as in the person of Zerubbabel speaking the things that apply to the Lord Christ, saying:
This temple was built in forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days? Note. This one too, in the person of Zerubbabel, foretells beforehand the things concerning the Lord Christ, through whom comes the salvation of all the nations.
behold, your king comes to you, just and saving, himself gentle and mounted upon a beast of burden and a young colt. Hyperbolically he spoke this citation with reference to Zerubbabel, but it had its proper fulfilment in the Lord Christ.
1:1729
Τίαἱπληγαὶαὗταιαἱἀναμέσοντῶνχειρῶνσου;Καὶἐρεῖ·
你兩手中間是甚麼傷呢?他必回答說:
What are these wounds between your hands? And he will say:
I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered. Of this citation the Lord also made mention at the time of the passion, when he was about to be handed over, saying that it had been spoken concerning himself.
Note. This one too says nothing strange, holding to the same things as the others, foretelling beforehand the coming of the Lord Christ, who in himself showed also the beginning of the second state.
For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is glorified among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice; for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord Almighty. And again he says:
Behold, I will send forth my messenger, and he will survey the way before your face. This citation the Lord applied both to himself and to John the Baptist.
and you shall go forth and leap like calves released from bonds, and you shall trample down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under your feet on the day that I make, says the Lord Almighty;
If you are willing to accept it, concerning John the Baptist, he is Elijah who is to come. Henceforth, having with God's help completed the twelve, we shall proceed to the four great ones.
Note. But this one too foretold beforehand things not strange but similar to the other eleven, the things that would come to pass through Christ; and again the great and glorious day of the Lord, on which, he says, still-living Elijah the Tishbite will also be sent before.
1:1744
ΔόξατῷτὰπάντακτίσαντιΘεῷκαὶπάλινἀνακτίζοντι
榮耀歸於那創造萬有、又重新創造萬有的神。
Glory to God who created all things and again re-creates them.
How also they would be led captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar and would again return in glory; and how they would again suffer evils at the hands of Antiochus and the surrounding nations, and how they would prevail over these by divine power; and how then the one expected from the seed of Abraham would come for the salvation of the whole world, according to the promises given from of old.
Now some of them wrote their own books for themselves, as David, having composed the book of Psalms, and Daniel, who in the captivity was commanded to write what was revealed to him through visions, or certain others also.
And whenever a prophet was sent by God to proclaim either concerning Jerusalem, that it was about to be led captive, or concerning Samaria, or concerning other places, or concerning the return, or concerning Antiochus, or concerning the surrounding nations, or concerning the Lord Christ himself, on the very day on which he prophesied, they would write down, in the discourse of that prophet, what he proclaimed concerning one matter;
And again after a time, if he proclaimed concerning another matter, they would again write it, appending it to his discourse, making what he proclaimed the beginning of a chapter, and thus they compiled the whole of his book.
Whence it is possible to find in their books a chapter fitting the captivity of Babylon, or the return, and immediately another concerning Christ, and again once more speaking of the captivity and the return; and, simply put, unless one reads with careful attention, he will find most things confused.
Not only that, but also the Books of Kingdoms were written in this manner part by part in the temple: in the time of Saul, the things up to Saul; in the time of David, the things up to David; likewise the affairs of each king were written in his own time.
for having received the grace of wisdom from God, and admonishing every man to conduct himself wisely in this life, he had not received the grace of prophecy.
We further write also concerning the other four prophets, whatever they were deemed worthy to foretell concerning the dispensation according to the Lord Christ, unto which the whole aim of divine Scripture looks.
We bring forward, then, first the most loud-voiced Isaiah, who was deemed worthy both by type and by word to see and to foretell concerning the mystery according to Christ.
ISAIAH. This is the great Isaiah, the son of Amos, who by type foresaw the things concerning the mystery of Christ, when he saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and Seraphim stood round about him, six wings to the one and six wings to the other, covering themselves, and they cried one to another:
'Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth, the whole earth is full of his glory.' Thereupon one of the Seraphim was sent, and took with tongs a coal from the altar and touched his lips, saying:
'This will take away your iniquities' — clearly, having been taught through the vision that was shown, and the hymn, and the type, to foretell the mystery according to Christ.
'He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent.' This passage the Ethiopian eunuch, having read it, begged Philip to interpret it for him, who most swiftly interpreted to him that it had been spoken by the prophet concerning the Lord Christ.
1:1767
Ἄνθρωποςἐνπληγῇὢνκαὶεἰδὼςφέρεινμαλακίαν
一個在苦難中、且知曉忍受病痛的人。
A man in suffering, and knowing how to bear sickness.
'Behold, I will lay in the foundations of Zion a costly stone, a chief cornerstone, precious, for her foundations, and he who believes on him shall by no means be put to shame.' And again:
'Amen I say to you, today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ears.' Marginal note. And this most loud-voiced Isaiah, both through words and through visions, foretold to men both the confession of the Holy Trinity, that is, of the one God, and the resurrection of human nature, which things the Church of God now also proclaims.
1:1774
Δόξατῷπάντοτεοἰκονομοῦντισοφῶςτὸἀνθρώπειονγένος
榮耀歸於那位常以智慧治理人類的主。
Glory to him who always wisely administers the human race.
'And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the sons of Israel did value, and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me.' This passage the evangelist Matthew also mentions, as fulfilled at the time of the passion.
'Behold, the days come, says the Lord, and I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day when I took hold of their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt;'
'for this is my covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: giving my laws into their mind, and I will write them upon their heart, and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.'
'for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them; for I will be merciful to their unrighteousnesses, and their sins I will remember no more.'
And this passage the Apostle also mentions in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Marginal note. And this one likewise foretells the things concerning the Lord Christ, who is the founder of the second state;
EZEKIEL. This Ezekiel, prophesying in Babylon, was also himself deemed worthy to foretell concerning the dispensation according to Christ, and he says:
'and my servant David shall be ruler in their midst, and there shall be one shepherd of them all, for they shall walk in my commandments.' And again he says:
'This water that goes forth toward Galilee, toward the east, and went down into Arabia, and came as far as the sea, unto the water of the outlet, shall heal the waters; and every living soul of the creatures that swarm shall live, and everything to which the river shall come, there it shall live.' Marginal note. And this one likewise hints at things similar to the others, foretelling the founder and the polity of our second state.
'From the going forth of the word to answer you and to build Jerusalem, unto an anointed leader, shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks,' and the rest.
having signified both the time and the authority belonging to him and the birth from a virgin and the spreading of the teaching in all the earth, which things, by God's help, have all come to pass and shall yet come to pass.
(1) 'Now you release your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples: a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.'
1:1801
(α) Ἰδοὺγὰρἀπὸτοῦνῦνμακαριοῦσίμεπᾶσαιαἱγενεαί
(一)『看哪,從今以後,萬代要稱我有福。』
(1) 'For behold, from now on all generations shall call me blessed.'
1:1802
( α) ὉνόμοςκαὶοἱπροφῆταιἕωςἸωάννουπροεκήρυξαν
(一)『律法和先知到約翰為止』——他們已預先宣告。
(1) 'The law and the prophets were until John' — they proclaimed beforehand.
1:1803
( α) ἼδεὁἀμνὸςτοῦΘεοῦ, ὁαἴρωντὴνἁμαρτίαντοῦκόσμου
(一)『看哪,神的羔羊,除去世人罪孽的。』
(1) 'Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.'
1:1804
(α) Καὶσύ, παιδίον, προφήτηςὙψίστουκληθήσῃ
(一)『你這孩子,要稱為至高者的先知。』
(1) 'And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High.'
(1) 'And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?' This is John the Baptist, greater than all men, who while still in the womb was filled with the Holy Spirit and leaped and hastened to run before his Lord; the great one before God; the forerunner of the Lord; he who prepares for him a people made ready; who is higher than the prophets and earlier than the apostles; who stands between the Old and New Testaments; the last under the law and the receiver of the New; who points out to all the Lord Christ present; who surpasses all men in austerity and exceeds all men in ministry; who came forth in the spirit and power of Elijah, and surpasses Elijah in that he baptized the Lord; the lamp that burns before the sun of righteousness.
'Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world' — calling him a lamb as one being sacrificed, and one taking away the sin of the world as one delivering the world from sin, rendering it, through the resurrection, incorruptible and immortal and unchangeable.
Marginal note. This John, greater than all men, who had a father and a mother who were fellow-prophets, who not only points out the Lord Christ present as the founder of the second state, but also indicates him as judge of all, saying:
'Whose winnowing fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and gather the wheat into the storehouse, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.' This one again proclaims beforehand the kingdom of heaven and prepares the way for him who comes after him and who shows in himself, by his work, the kingdom of heaven, which is the second and new state.
Prologue concerning the apostles. Just as, then, we promised to show the ancient men, and all the prophets, having spoken beforehand concerning the mystery according to Christ, and that all of them, from the first-formed Adam until John the Baptist, look toward the coming state, this we have done — that very thing which the Lord Christ himself and his disciples and apostles thereafter also proclaimed plainly: that there is a certain coming state, much better than the one here, which the Lord Christ first showed us in himself, having risen from the dead and ascended into heaven; which state the first prophets also indicated somewhat obscurely, and those after them proclaim clearly; and that none of them, whether of the more recent or of the ancient, ever proclaimed or imagined any other state, either earlier or later than these two, but that God, having begun to make all creation, made only these two states, having ordained that this one should be governed first, and then thus the coming one, toward which the whole aim of God and of his prophets looks.
1:1813
καταγγέλλοντεςκαὶἀνάστασινσωμάτωνἀθετοῦντες
……宣講著,並棄絕肉身的復活。
...proclaiming it and rejecting the resurrection of bodies.
Let them also be ashamed, the followers of these, who seem to Christianize but in deed think the things of the Greeks, who say that heaven is spherical in shape.
For they themselves say nothing other than what the Greeks proclaim: that the world is always thus in the corruption of bodies, and that there is never any resurrection of bodies, nor any other state.
Let all be ashamed who set aside our flesh, and all who set aside our souls together with their mind — that is, Eutyches, Arius, Apollinarius, and all those like them.
Let all the heretics be ashamed who do not confess one God, known and worshiped in three hypostases, existing as maker of heaven and earth, and the resurrection of our flesh.
Let the unbelieving among the Jews be ashamed, who did not receive the one who was expected, and who confess not the Christian resurrection, but such a one as we now live in, marrying and being given in marriage.
Well done indeed, well done! Joy and exultation to those who are truly Christians, who obey all the divine Scripture, both Old and New Testament, who have been guided by the law and have believed in Christ and in all that he preached and still says:
1:1822
ὉνόμοςκαὶοἱπροφῆταιἕωςἸωάννουπροεκήρυξαν, καί·
律法和先知一直預言到約翰為止;又說:
The law and the prophets prophesied until John, and:
The gift of God is spread out equally to all — to rise from the dead and become incorruptible, immortal, and unchangeable; but to be honored above others is not this gift, but a preparation of God for those who believe rightly and live well.
Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you; and as to when it was prepared, he says beforehand, from the foundation of the world.
Now Moses the cosmographer, and all the rest of the prophets and men of old, spoke of these two states only and made mention of no others, but proclaimed and wrote of these alone; and not only they, but also the Lord who came, and his disciples, the evangelists and apostles, preached nothing other than these two states alone.
What ground for faith is still lacking, that these things are not true? Who will not be put to shame by the multitude of predictions, the outcomes of the prophecies, the multitude of signs and wonders and miracles, the very way of life of all the saints and of the Lord Christ and his apostles, the harmony of the Old and New Testament? Who among them disagreed with the others by explaining the heaven to be spherical, or proclaimed a pre-existence of this world, or declared the world to be eternal, or set aside the resurrection of our bodies, or the dispensation brought about through Christ for righteous men to ascend into heaven? But all of them, as guided by one divine Spirit, foretold the same things both through words and through deeds or types, and all of them look toward the state that is to come.
...of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; and concerning the impious, as when he says to those on the left:
He says, then, in the parable of the ten virgins, that the five wise ones entered with the bridegroom into the bridal chamber, that is, into heaven, since they had chosen both virginity and almsgiving:
Depart from me, I do not know you — neither having been permitted to enter, nor condemned together with the impious, but remaining outside the bridal chamber.
for it was not possible for us to hear it otherwise, not yet having received experience of certain new things; but as far as it was possible to speak in riddles, he said:
The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man, a king, who made a marriage feast for his son — choosing that which is above all the good things of this life and likening it to the good things there:
and likewise the worst things — fire, the worm, Tartarus, and the gnashing of teeth, and darkness, and whatever is similar to these — since these happen to be more terrible than the punishments here, he likened those future punishments to these.
But there is another state which is altogether much, exceedingly much, better than the things here — just as this present life is better than when we were in the womb of our mother.
For we must consider how we were living inside the womb — in darkness, in blood, in phlegm, in bile, in mire, in filth, mingled with all uncleanness and foul odor, and existing in complete ignorance; but having peered out into this life, we behold certain other things of which we had not yet had experience — the expanse of open space, the breathing of air, the enjoyment of most beautiful light, the fabric of a world crafted by a skillful and all-wise maker, and being filled with the knowledge of God — all of which it was not possible for us either to know, or to conceive, or to hear of, or to enjoy even one of them, while we were still in the womb.
So likewise, we cannot fully reckon, or conceive, or imagine the state that is to come — which is altogether better than the things here — while we are still in this life, unless we come to be within those very realities.
For what eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered into the heart of man, he says, are the things which God has prepared for those who love him. Just as, then, here God has granted as a common gift to all, making his sun rise on the just and the unjust, and sending rain on the good and the wicked, so also in the state to come he grants a common gift to all — immortality and incorruptibility and life and unchangeableness:
but according to his former deeds each one draws upon himself either the kingdom or the punishment, either ascent into heaven, or an abode around the earth, or the middle rank.