Sophia Scriptura

Church History 1.3.2

Eusebius of Caesarea · Church History · ca. 300–325 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: Moses first gave the title “Christ” (anointed) to the high priest, showing the name's divine honour.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:11–12

σεπτὸν ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα καὶ ἔνδοξον τὸ Χριστοῦ ὄνομα πρῶτος αὐτὸς γνωρίσας Μωυσῆς, τύπους οὐρανίων καὶ σύμβολα μυστηριώδεις τε εἰκόνας ἀκολούθως χρησμῷ φήσαντι αὐτῷ “ὅρα, ποιήσεις πάντα κατὰ τὸν τύπον τὸν δειχθέντα σοι ἐν τῷ ὂρει ” παραδιδοὺς, ἀρχιερέα θεοῦ, ὡς ἐνῆν μάλιστα δυνα- τὸν, ἄνθρωπον ἐπιφημίσας, τοῦτον Χριστὸν ἀναγορεύει. καὶ ταύτῃ γε τῇ κατὰ τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην ἀξίᾳ, πᾶσαν ὑπερβαλλούσῃ παρʼ αὐτῷ τὴν ἐν ἀνθρώποις προεδρίαν, ἐπὶ τιμῇ καὶ δόξῃ τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ περιτίθησιν ὄνομα. οὕτως ἄρα τὸν Χριστὸν θεῖόν τι χρῆμα ἠπίστατο.

English · Claude translation

Moses himself was the first to make known the name of Christ as supremely august and glorious. When he delivered types of heavenly things and symbols and mysterious images, in accordance with the oracle that told him, “See, you shall make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain,” and consecrated a man as high priest of God, as far as was possible, he calls him Christ. And to this dignity of the high priesthood, which in his view surpassed all precedence among men, he attaches the name of Christ for honour and glory. So he understood Christ to be something divine.

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:11–12 · Wilhelm Dindorf, ed., Eusebii Caesariensis Opera, vol. 4: Historiae ecclesiasticae libri I–X (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871) · Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 4. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1 (1890) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)
Scripture
Topics
Christology

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotation is Exod 25:40 (compare Heb 8:5). “The anointed priest” (ὁ ἱερεὺς ὁ χριστός) is in Lev 4:5, 16 LXX.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 1.3.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/1/3/2/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 1.3.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/1/3/2/).

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