Sophia Scriptura

Church History 10.4.40

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

Summary: Fountains in the courtyard offer symbolic cleansing, and the court serves as a place for those still receiving first instruction.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:462–463

ἱερῶν δʼ ἐνταῦθα καθαρσίων ἐτίθει σύμβολα, κρήνας ἄντικρυς εἰς πρόσωπον ἐπισκευάζων τοῦ νεὼ, πολλῷ τῷ χεύματι τοῦ νάματος τοῖς περιβόλων ἱερῶν ἐπὶ τὰ ἔσω προιοῦσι τὴν ἀπόρρυψιν παρεχομένας. καὶ πρώτη μὲν εἰσιόντων αὕτη διατριβὴ, κόσμον ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀγλαίαν τῷ παντὶ, τοῖς τε τῶν πρώτων εἰσαγωγῶν ἔτι δεομένοις κατάλληλον τὴν μονὴν παρεχομένη.

English · Claude translation

Here he placed symbols of sacred purifications, setting up fountains directly opposite the temple, which with their abundant flow of water provided cleansing for those advancing into the interior of the sacred enclosures. And this is the first halting place of those who enter, providing at once beauty and splendor for the whole, and a fitting place of stay for those who still need their first instructions.

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:462–463 · 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)

Notes

Translation notes

  • Those needing “first instructions” are probably catechumens.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 10.4.40 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/10/4/40/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 10.4.40 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/10/4/40/).

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