Sophia Scriptura

Church History 3.8.2

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

Summary: Josephus (quoted): a sword-like star, a comet, and a midnight light at the temple were portents.

Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:98

τοῦτο μὲν ὅτε ὑπὲρ τὴν πόλιν ἄστρον ἔστη ῥομφαίᾳ παραπλήσιον καὶ παρατείνας ἐπʼ ἐνιαυτὸν κομήτης, τοῦτο δὲ ἡνίκα πρὸ τῆς ἀποστάσεως καὶ τοῦ πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον κινήματος, ἀθροιζομένου τοὐ λαοῦ πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἀζύμων ἑορτὴν, ὀγδόῃ Ξανθικου μηνὸς κατὰ νυκτὸς ἐνάτην ὥραν τοσοῦτο φῶς περιέλαμψε τὸν βωμὸν καὶ τὸν ναὸν ὡς δοκεῖν ἡμὲ ραν εἶναι λαμπράν. καὶ τοῦτο παρέτεινεν ἐφʼ ἡ σειαν ὥραν· ὃ τοῖς μὲν ἀπείροις ἀγαθὸν ἐδ εἶναι, τοῖς δὲ ἱερογραμματεῦσι πρὸ τῶν ἀποβεβ κότων εὐθέως ἐκρίθη.

English · Claude translation

once when a star like a sword stood over the city, and a comet continued for a year; and again when, before the revolt and the movement toward war, as the people were gathering for the feast of Unleavened Bread, on the eighth of the month Xanthicus, at the ninth hour of the night, so great a light shone round the altar and the temple that it seemed bright day. And this lasted half an hour. To the inexperienced it seemed a good sign, but by the sacred scribes it was at once interpreted in accordance with what happened.

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:98 · 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; the problem in this passage is discussed in the notes.
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
  • Josephus, J.W. 6.289–291 (Josephus (works)) · quotation, high confidence

Notes

Translation notes

  • Quotation from Josephus, J.W. 6.289–291. The digital text is damaged at the ends of lines.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 3.8.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/3/8/2/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 3.8.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/3/8/2/).

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