44. Even ye yourselves, I imagine, will concede, that they who prophesy are inspired by nothing else but the divine word. Hear also how another prophet, Micah, predicted the very place where CHRIST should be born. For he spake thus: "And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah for out of thee shall come a governor, that shall rule my people Israel." Now Bethlehem is a village in the country of the Jews, five and thirty furlongs distant from Jerusalem; as ye may also learn from the taxing, which took place under Cyrenius who was your first prefect in Judea.

Hear, again, what was foretold, to show that JESUS, when he was born, should not be known by other men, until he came to man's estate, even as it came to pass. The prophecies are these.'

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45."Unto us a child was born: unto us a young man was given: whose government is upon his shoulders." This is a prophecy of the power of the cross, against which he placed his shoulders when he was crucified, as shall be more clearly shown as we proceed. And again the same prophet Isaiah, inspired by the Spirit of prophecy, declared, "I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gain-saying people, unto those who walked in a way that was not good." "They ask of me now justice and dare to draw nigh unto GOD."b And again in other words he saith by another prophet, "They pierced my feet and my hands, and cast lots for my vesture." Now David, the king and prophet who said thus, suffered none of these things; but the hands of JESUS CHRIST were stretched out, when he was crucified by the Jews who spake against him, and said that he was not the CHRIST. For, as the prophet said, they in derision placed him upon a judgment seat, and said, "Judge over us."

u Micah v. 2, as quoted Matt. ii. 6.

Entrponos-GROTIUS, on Luke ii. 2, shows that Cyrenius could not have been procurator. The word ènírporas is of general signification. There is here probably an omission of some passages from the prophets.

z Isa. ix. 6.

Isa. lviii. 2.

* Isa. lxv. 2. Rom. x. 21.

Ps. xxii. 16, 18.

The words also, "They pierced my hands and my feet," were a reference to the nails, which were fixed in his hands and feet upon the cross. And, after his crucifixion, they who crucified him cast lots for his vesture, and divided it among themselves. And that these things were done, ye may learn from the records of what took place under Pontius Pilate. To show that it was expressly predicted, that he should sit upon the foal of an ass, and come into Jerusalem, we will mention the prophetic writings of another prophet, Zephaniah. The words are these: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem : behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.'

46. Now, when ye hear the sayings of the prophets, as if they were delivered by some one person, imagine not that they are said by the inspired writers themselves, but by the divine word which moved them. For sometimes it prophetically declares what shall come to pass hereafter; sometimes it speaks as in the person of God the Father, and Lord of all; sometimes as in the person of CHRIST; and sometimes as in the person of the people who answer to the LORD, or to his Father. In the same manner as ye may see also in your own writers, that one person writes the whole, but introduces different persons as holding discourse. The Jews who had the books of the prophets, not observing this, knew not CHRIST, when he came; and moreover hate us, who say that he is come, and prove that he was crucified by them, as it was predicted.

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47. And that this also may be plain to you; these words were spoken, in the person of the Father, by Isaiah the prophet, whom we have before mentioned: "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib but Israel doth not know me: and my people

Compare Section 63. TERTULLIAN, Apol,, Sect. 5, 21, appeals to the information respecting JESUS CHRIST Conveyed to the Emperor Tiberius by Pontius Pilate. These acts, or records, of Pilate were the memoranda of the daily transactions of his government.

Zech. ix. 9. Matt, xxi. 5. Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue with Trypho, p. 273, quotes this prophecy correctly, from Zechariah, not from Zephaniah, as here,

doth not consider. Ah, sinful nation, a people full of iniquity, an evil seed, wicked children: ye have forsaken the LORD." And again in another place, where the same prophet speaks in like manner in the person of the Father. "What house will ye build me, saith the LORD. Heaven is my throne, and earth my footstool." And again in another place; "Your new moons and your sabbaths my soul hateth, and the great day of fasting and rest I endure not; even if ye come to present yourselves before me, I will not hear you. Your hands are full of blood: even if ye bring fine flour and incense, it is an abomination unto me. I desire not the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls. For who hath required this at your hands." "But loosen every band of wickedness, rend asunder the ties of violent contracts: cover the naked and him that hath no house deal thy bread to the hungry." Thus, then, may ye understand what kind of precepts are delivered from GoD by the prophets.

48. When, again, the prophetic spirit speaks in the person of CHRIST, it expresses itself thus: "I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people, unto those who walked in a way that was not good." And again, "I gave my back to stripes, and my cheeks to buffetings: I turned not away my face from the shame of spitting. And the LORD was my helper. Wherefore I turned not but I set face as a solid rock; and I knew that I should not be ashamed, for he is near that justifieth me." And again, when he saith, "They cast lots for my vesture; and pierced my feet and my hands."m "But I lay

my

down and slept and rose up again: for the LORD sustained me." And again, when he saith, "They spake with their lips, they shook the head, saying, let him save himself.". All which things, as ye may learn, were done to CHRIST by the Jews. For when he was crucified, they pouted their lips, and shook their heads, saying, Let him that raised the dead save himself.P

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49. Moreover, when the prophetic spirit speaks to foretell things to come, it is in this manner. "For out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people. And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks. And nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. And that it did so come to pass, ye may readily learn. For from Jerusalem twelve men went forth into the world, and they unlearned, not knowing how to speak. But by the power of God they preached to every nation of men, that they were sent by CHRIST to teach all men the word of God. Wherefore we who formerly killed one another, now not only abstain from fighting against our enemies, but are ready to meet death with cheerfulness, confessing the faith of CHrist, rather than lie, or deceive those who persecute us. For we might, on such an occasion, have acted according to that saying (of the poet),'

"My tongue alone hath sworn, and not my mind."

However it would be absurd, while soldiers, once engaged and enrolled by you, adhere to the oath which they have made, in preference even to their own lives, their parents, their country, and all their families, when ye can offer them nothing immortal; that we, ardently desirous of immortality, should not endure every thing, in order to obtain the object of our wishes, from him who is able to fulfil them.

50. Hear also in what manner prophecy was made concerning those who preached his doctrine, and declared his appearing; the aforesaid prophet and king having thus spoken by the prophetic spirit: "Day unto day uttereth speech; and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language whose voices are not heard. Their sound is gone out through all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. In the sun he hath placed his tabernacle: and he (is)

Isa. ii, 3, 4.

idi@rai. Acts iv. 13. 1 Cor. ii. 1, 4, 6, 13; 2 Cor. xi. 6.
EURIPIDES Hippolytus, 608.

as a bridegroom going out of his chamber: he will rejoice as a giant to run his course.

51. In addition to these, we have thought it right and appropriate to mention some other prophecies, delivered by the same David; whence ye may learn in what manner the prophetic spirit exhorts men to live: and how it speaks of the conspiracy which was formed against CHRIST by Herod, king of the Jews, and the Jews themselves, and Pilate who was your procurator among them, with his soldiers: declaring that all 79 nations of men should believe in Him; showing that God calls him his Son, and hath promised to put all his enemies under him: in what manner the devils endeavor, as far as is possible, to escape the power of God the Father and LORD of all things, and that of CHRIST himself: and how God calls all men to repentance, before the day of judgment shall come. The words are to this effect:" "Blessed is the man, who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and hath not stood in the way of sinners, and hath not sat upon the seat of the scornful. But his will is in the law of the LORD, and in his law will he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the watercourses, which shall give its fruit in its season: and the leaf whereof shall not fall off, and all which it beareth' shall prosper. Not so the wicked, not so; but (they are) even as the chaff, which the wind scattereth from the face of the earth. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the council of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous, and the way of the ungodly shall perish.” "Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the LORD, and against his Anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yoke from us. He that dwelleth in the heavens shall laugh them to scorn; and the LORD shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and in his anger he shall trouble them. But I am set up by him as a king, upon

Ps. xix. 2-5. Rom. x. 18. *λouwv. Of pestilences.

■ Ps. i. ii.
• ὅσα 2 ποιῇ.