Moses, then, who was the first of the prophets, spoke in these very words: "There shall not fail a ruler from Judah, nor a leader from his loins, until he come for whom it is reserved; and he shall be the expectation of the nations, binding his colt to the vine, washing his robe in the blood of the grape." It is therefore yours to inquire carefully and learn up to what time there was a ruler and king of the Jews who was their own — namely, up to the manifestation of Jesus Christ, our teacher and the expounder of the prophecies not understood, as it was foretold by the divine holy prophetic Spirit through Moses that a ruler would not fail from among the Jews until he should come for whom the kingdom is reserved. For Judah was the forefather of the Jews, from whom they have also received the name of being called Jews; and you, after his manifestation came to pass, both ruled over the Jews and gained mastery over all their land. Now the words "He shall be the expectation of the nations" signified that out of all the nations they would expect him to come again — which you can now see with your own eyes and be convinced of by the fact; for out of all the races of mankind they look for him who was crucified in Judea, immediately after whom the land of the Jews was handed over to you as spoil of war. And the words "binding his colt to the vine and washing his robe in the blood of the grape" were a symbol declaring beforehand the things that were to happen to Christ and the things to be done by him. For a colt of an ass stood tethered to a vine at the entrance of a certain village, which he then commanded his acquaintances to bring to him; and when it was brought, he mounted and sat upon it and entered into Jerusalem, where stood the greatest temple of the Jews, which was afterward destroyed by you; and after this he was crucified, that the rest of the prophecy might be fulfilled. For the words "washing his robe in the blood of the grape" foretold the passion which he was about to suffer, cleansing by his blood those who believe in him. For what the divine Spirit through the prophet calls the robe is the men who believe in him, in whom dwells the seed from God, the Word. And the "blood of the grape" that is mentioned signified that he who was to appear would indeed have blood, yet not from human seed but from divine power. And the first power after God the Father and Master of all, even the Son, is the Word; in what manner he became man by taking flesh we shall tell in what follows. For just as the blood of the vine is not made by man but by God, so too this signified that the blood would come not from human seed but from the power of God, as we said before. And Isaiah too, another prophet, prophesying the same things in other words, spoke thus: "A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a flower shall spring up from the root of Jesse; and in his arm shall the nations hope." And a shining star did rise, and a flower did spring up from the root of Jesse — this is Christ. For through a virgin descended from the seed of Jacob, who was the father of Judah, the declared father of the Jews, he was brought forth by the power of God; and Jesse was his forefather according to the oracle, while according to the succession of lineage he was a son of Jacob and of Judah.