Church History 2.13.4

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

Summary: Justin (quoted): the Samaritans worship Simon as the first god, and call his companion Helena, a former prostitute, his first Thought.

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Greek text · Dindorf 4:61

“ καὶ σχεδὸν μὲν “πάντες Σαμαρεῖς, ὀλίγοι δὲ καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις ἔθνε- “ σιν, ὡς τὸν πρῶτον θεὸν ἐκεῖνον ὁμολογοῦντες “προσκυνοῦσι. καὶ Ἑλένην τινὰ, τὴν συμπερινο- “ στήσασαν αὐτῷ κατʼ ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ, πρότερον ἐπὶ “τέγους σταθεῖσαν ἐν Τυρῷ τῆς Φοινίκης, τὴν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ πρώτην ἔννοιαν λἐγουσιν.’’

English · Claude translation

And almost all the Samaritans, and a few also among other nations, confess and worship him as the first god. And a certain Helena, who went about with him at that time, who had formerly stood in a brothel in Tyre of Phoenicia, they call the first Thought that came from him.”

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:61 · 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)

Extrabiblical texts

Justin, 1 Apol. 26 (First Apology) · quotation, high confidence

Topics

Heresy

Notes

Translation notes

Quotation from Justin, 1 Apol. 26.3. “First Thought” (πρώτη ἔννοια) is a term of Simonian doctrine.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 2.13.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/2/13/4/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 2.13.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/2/13/4/).

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