Dispute between Simon the Jew and Theophilus the Christian 1.0–2.44 (Dispute between Simon the Jew and Theophilus the Christian)

Evagrius of Gaul

Dispute between Simon the Jew and Theophilus the Christian 1.0–2.44

Evagrius of Gaul · Dispute between Simon the Jew and Theophilus the Christian · ca. 400 · place unknown · 47 passages

Latin text: CSEL 45 (Latin text: E. Bratke (CSEL 45, 1904), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).

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Chapter 1

1.0CSEL 45:1

Domino fratri Valerio Euagrius salutem. Gratissimam tibi referam quaestionem factam nuper sub oculis nostris, quam tu quoque, cum cognoueris, gratanter accipies. fuit igitur altercatio legis inter quendam Simonem Iudaeum et Theophilum Christianum.

Evagrius to his lord and brother Valerius, greeting. I shall relate to you a most welcome debate that took place lately before our eyes, which you too, when you have learned it, will receive gladly. There was, then, a debate about the law between a certain Simon, a Jew, and Theophilus, a Christian.

Notes and citation

Summary: Evagrius dedicates to Valerius his account of a debate between the Jew Simon and the Christian Theophilus.

The Altercation is a literary dialogue in which the Christian side prevails; its account of Jewish arguments and practices is the author’s and is translated as written.

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 1.0 (CSEL 45:1; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/1-0). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/1-0

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

1.1CSEL 45:2

Iudaeus igitur sic ait: Crucicola, signifer, Christianae legis te profiteris esse doctorem. habes et me patientem auditorem, si modo interrogationibus meis non lenocinio sermonum nec argumentis uerborum sed legis praesentia conprobes ueritatem. aut, si tu me hodie reuiceris, facito Christianum; aut, ego te cum superauero, faciam Nazoraeum Iudaeum.

The Jew, then, spoke thus: “Worshipper of the cross, standard-bearer, you profess yourself a teacher of the Christian law. You have me too as a patient hearer, provided that you prove the truth in answer to my questions not by the seductions of speech or by the arguments of words, but by the presence of the law. Either, if you refute me today, make me a Christian; or, when I have overcome you, I will make you a Jew of the Nazarene kind.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon challenges Theophilus to prove his faith from the law, staking conversion on the outcome.

“A Jew of the Nazarene kind” (Nazoraeum Iudaeum): the sense is uncertain; perhaps a Jew who keeps the law, as the Nazarenes did, or simply “a Jew”.

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 1.1 (CSEL 45:2; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/1-1

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

1.2CSEL 45:2

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Non glorietur gibberosus sicut rectus.

Theophilus the Christian said: “Let not the hunchback boast as if he were upright.”

1 Kgs 20:11 (echo, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus answers with a proverb against premature boasting.

Cf. 1 Kgs 20:11, “Let not him who puts on armour boast like him who takes it off”; the form here is proverbial.

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 1.2 (CSEL 45:2; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/1-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/1-2

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

Chapter 2

2.1CSEL 45:2

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Quem colis?

Simon the Jew said: “Whom do you worship?”

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon asks whom Theophilus worships.

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.1 (CSEL 45:2; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-1

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.2CSEL 45:2

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Deum.

Theophilus the Christian said: “God.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus answers: God.

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.2 (CSEL 45:2; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-2

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.3CSEL 45:2

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Ego tecum de Christo crucifixo contendo, quem uos dominum dicitis.

Simon the Jew said: “I am contending with you about the crucified Christ, whom you call Lord.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon states the question: the crucified Christ whom Christians call Lord.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.3 (CSEL 45:2; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-3

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.4CSEL 45:2

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Sane dicimus et audenter probamus dominum deum esse.

Theophilus the Christian said: “Certainly we say it, and boldly we prove that he is Lord and God.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus affirms that Christ is Lord and God.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.4 (CSEL 45:2; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-4

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.5CSEL 45:2

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Sacri uenerandique libri Deuteronomii uox resultans dicit: uidete, quoniam ego sum, et non est alius praeter me deus. Esaias dicit: ego primus et ego nouissimus, et praeter me non est deus.

Simon the Jew said: “The voice of the sacred and venerable book of Deuteronomy rings out, saying: See that I am, and there is no other god besides me. Isaiah says: I am the first and I am the last, and besides me there is no god.”

Deut 32:39 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 44:6 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon cites Deuteronomy and Isaiah for the oneness of God.

Deut 32:39; Isa 44:6.

Topics: Trinity

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.5 (CSEL 45:2; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-5

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.6CSEL 45:3

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Sacratissima Christi uox est. quam si tu uolueris cognoscere, oportet te primum credere. tunc demum poteris intellegere. Esaias enim redarguit te dicens: nisi credideritis, non intellegetis. indubitanter igitur deum omnipotentem, inuisibilem, inmensum, inconprehensibilem nouimus et scimus et colimus, deinceps Christum deum et dei filium profitemur. quod autem dicit: ego primus et ego nouissimus, duos aduentus Christi significat.

Theophilus the Christian said: “It is the most sacred voice of Christ. If you wish to know it, you must first believe; then at last you will be able to understand. For Isaiah rebukes you, saying: Unless you believe, you will not understand. Without doubt, then, we know and are sure of and worship God almighty, invisible, immeasurable, incomprehensible; and next we confess Christ as God and Son of God. But when he says, I am the first and I am the last, it signifies the two comings of Christ.”

Isa 7:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 44:6 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus says the words are Christ’s and refer to his two comings; faith must precede understanding.

Isa 7:9 in the Septuagint form (“unless you believe, you will not understand”).

Topics: Christology, Trinity, Faith

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.6 (CSEL 45:3; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-6

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.7CSEL 45:3

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Quid illud, quod ait: praeter me non est deus?

Simon the Jew said: “What of what he says: Besides me there is no god?”

Isa 44:6 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon asks about “besides me there is no god”.

Isa 44:6.

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.7 (CSEL 45:3; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-7

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.8CSEL 45:3

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Christus deus, dei filius, de se dixit, quia praeuidebat Antichristum uenturum et se deum dicturum. de quo Zacharias propheta dicit: ecce suscito pastorem in terram, et quod deficiet non denotabit et disparsum non requiret et contribulatum non saluabit et integrum non consummabit et carnes electorum comedet et talos eorum euertet, et gladius eorum super brachium eius est et super oculum dextrum ipsius. brachium ipsius arefiens arefiet, et oculus ipsius dexter obcaecatus obcaecabitur. proinde Christus dicit: ego primus et nouissimus, et praeter me non est deus.

Theophilus the Christian said: “Christ, God, Son of God, said it of himself, because he foresaw that the Antichrist would come and call himself god. Of him the prophet Zechariah says: Behold, I am raising up a shepherd in the land, and what fails he will not mark, and what is scattered he will not seek, and what is crushed he will not save, and what is whole he will not bring to completion, and he will eat the flesh of the chosen and turn over their ankles; and their sword is upon his arm and upon his right eye. His arm will wither utterly, and his right eye will be utterly blinded. Therefore Christ says: I am the first and the last, and besides me there is no god.”

Zech 11:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Zech 11:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 44:6 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus reads the words as Christ’s warning against the Antichrist, citing Zechariah’s worthless shepherd.

Zech 11:16–17 (Old Latin, close to the Septuagint).

Topics: Christology, Eschatology, Antichrist

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.8 (CSEL 45:3; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-8

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.9CSEL 45:4

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Ergo tu duos deos facis?

Simon the Jew said: “So you make two gods?”

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon objects that Theophilus makes two gods.

Topics: Trinity

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.9 (CSEL 45:4; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-9

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.10CSEL 45:4

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Deus unus est, ex quo Christus et in quo deus, sicut Abrahae ad ilicem Mambre tres uisi sunt, quibus occurrens unum salutauit dicens: domine, si inueni gratiam ante te, accipiam aquam, et lauentur pedes uestri, et refrigerate sub arbore — quod tres scilicet uidebantur — ex praescientia diuinitatis, quod arbor crucis Christi credentibus tegmen refrigerii praestaret. aequo enim propheta in psalmo LXXXI dicit: deus stetit in synagoga deorum, in medio autem deos discernens. utique de Christo dicit, qui in synagogis uestris docuit et uirtutes magnas fecit. proinde in psalmo XLIIII dicit: thronus tuus, deus, in saecula saeculorum, uirga aequitatis uirga regni tui. dilexisti iustitiam et odisti iniquitatem, propterea unxit te, deus, deus tuus oleo laetitiae plus quam participes tuos. quis deus uel quem deum dixit, Iudaee? utique deus pater de Christo filio suo, pro quo et de quo receptissimus prophetarum Hieremias dicit: hic est deus noster et non est alius nec aestimabitur absque illo, qui inuenit omnem uiam prudentiae et dedit eam Iacob puero suo et Israel dilecto suo. post haec in terris uisus est et cum hominibus conuersatus est. item in psalmo XLV dicit: uacate et uidete, quoniam ego sum deus, exaltabor in gentibus et exaltabor in terra. et in psalmo LXVII: cantate domino, psallite nomini eius, iter facite ei, qui ascendit in occasum; dominus nomen est illi. longum erit, ut exempla prosequar plura; his paucis ueritas conprobatur.

Theophilus the Christian said: “God is one, from whom is Christ, and in whom is God; just as three appeared to Abraham at the oak of Mamre, and running to meet them he greeted one, saying: Lord, if I have found favour before you, I will take water, and let your feet be washed, and refresh yourselves under the tree. That three were seen points to the foreknowledge of the Godhead; that the tree points to the tree of Christ’s cross, which would provide believers with the covering of refreshment. For likewise the prophet says in Psalm 81: God stood in the assembly of gods, and in the midst he judges gods. Surely he speaks of Christ, who taught in your synagogues and did great mighty works. Likewise in Psalm 44 he says: Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the sceptre of equity is the sceptre of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions. What God, or which God, did he name, Jew? Surely God the Father, of Christ his Son; for whom and of whom Jeremiah, the most accepted of the prophets, says: This is our God, and there is no other, nor will any be reckoned besides him, who found every way of prudence and gave it to Jacob his servant and to Israel his beloved. After this he was seen on earth and lived among men. Again in Psalm 45 he says: Be still and see that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted on the earth. And in Psalm 67: Sing to the Lord, sing psalms to his name, make a way for him who ascends over the west; the Lord is his name. It would be long to go through more examples; by these few the truth is proved.”

Gen 18:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 18:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 18:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 82:1 (81:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 45:6 (44:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 45:7 (44:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 46:10 (45:11 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 68:4 (67:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus argues from the three visitors at Mamre and several psalms, and from the passage of Baruch he ascribes to Jeremiah, that Christ is God beside the Father.

Gen 18:3–4; Ps 82:1 (LXX 81:1); Ps 45:6–7 (LXX 44:7–8); Ps 46:10 (LXX 45:11); Ps 68:4 (LXX 67:5). The passage “This is our God … lived among men” is Bar 3:36–38, which the author, like many early writers, cites under Jeremiah’s name. Psalm numbers in the text follow the Greek and Latin numbering.
A stray asterisk in the digital text is removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): de * quo → de quo.

Extrabiblical texts: Bar 3:36-38 (Baruch [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)

Topics: Trinity, Christology, Prophecy and fulfilment

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.10 (CSEL 45:4; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-10

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.11CSEL 45:5

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Recte quidem accumulent testimonia unito spiritu fruentes, operi tuo consentientes. sed illud uolo edisseras mihi, sicubi in loco deus per semetipsum deum Christum constituit. tunc demum Christum deum et dei filium credere cogitabo.

Simon the Jew said: “Those who enjoy a united spirit may well pile up testimonies, agreeing with your work. But I want you to explain to me whether anywhere God by himself established Christ as God. Then at last I will consider believing Christ to be God and the Son of God.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon asks for a passage where God himself makes Christ God.

The first sentence is obscure in the Latin (accumulent … unito spiritu fruentes); translated by sense.

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.11 (CSEL 45:5; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-11

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.12CSEL 45:5

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Incredule Iudaee, iam et de prophetis disputas? accipe tamen interrogationi tuae responsum. deus ad Moysen loquitur dicens: ecce dedi te deum Pharaoni, et Aaron frater tuus erit tuus propheta. peruide hunc Moysen typum Christi fuisse, gentium incredibilium deum; quanto magis Christus credentium est deus! sicut Moyses populum de Aegypto, de durissima Pharaonis seruitute liberauit, ita et Christus populum suum de idolorum seruitute et de diaboli potestate liberauit.

Theophilus the Christian said: “Unbelieving Jew, are you now disputing even about the prophets? Yet take the answer to your question. God speaks to Moses, saying: Behold, I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. See that this Moses was a type of Christ, the god of the unbelieving nations; how much more is Christ the God of believers! As Moses freed the people from Egypt, from the very harsh slavery of Pharaoh, so Christ also freed his people from slavery to idols and from the power of the devil.”

Exod 7:1 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus cites Exodus, where God makes Moses a god to Pharaoh, as a type of Christ.

Exod 7:1.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.12 (CSEL 45:5; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-12

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.13CSEL 45:6

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Si ergo Christus deus est et dei filius, quomodo ergo in Genesi scriptum est: in principio fecit deus caelum et terram? poterat utique dixisse: in principio fecit deus pater et deus filius caelum et terram.

Simon the Jew said: “If, then, Christ is God and the Son of God, how is it written in Genesis: In the beginning God made heaven and earth? He could surely have said: In the beginning God the Father and God the Son made heaven and earth.”

Gen 1:1 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon objects that Genesis names only God as Creator.

Gen 1:1.

Topics: Trinity, Creation

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.13 (CSEL 45:6; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-13

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.14CSEL 45:6

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Erras, Iudaee, nec umquam inuenies ueritatem, nisi ueritatis intellegas originem. nam si uelis credere, poteris et principium eius inuenire, qui est Christus, dei filius. sic enim: in principio, ait, fecit deus caelum et terram, hoc est in Christi arbitrio et ad eius uoluntatem et ad cuius imaginem et similitudinem [nostram] - hominem facere dignatus est. dicit enim: faciamus hominem (ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram)! et rursus infra dicit: fecit deus hominem ad imaginem dei, masculum et feminam fecit eos.

Theophilus the Christian said: “You are wrong, Jew, and you will never find the truth unless you understand the origin of the truth. For if you are willing to believe, you will be able to find his beginning too, who is Christ, the Son of God. For so he says: In the beginning God made heaven and earth, that is, by Christ’s judgment and according to his will, and in whose image and likeness he deigned to make man. For he says: Let us make man (in our image and likeness)! And again further on he says: God made man in the image of God; male and female he made them.”

Gen 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:27 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus reads “in the beginning” as “in Christ” and points to “Let us make man”.

Gen 1:1; 1:26; 1:27. The editor (Bratke) deletes a repeated “our” after “likeness” (bracketed in the text, left out here); the words in round brackets are his supplement, translated.

Topics: Trinity, Christology, Creation

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.14 (CSEL 45:6; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-14

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.15CSEL 45:7

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Potuit hoc et ad angelos dixisse.

Simon the Jew said: “He could have said this to the angels.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon suggests God spoke to the angels.

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.15 (CSEL 45:7; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-15

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.16CSEL 45:7

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Erras, Iudaee. cui enim angelorum dixit deus: filius meus es tu, ego hodie genui te? et rursus in psalmo dicit: ponam principem illum, excelsum prae omnibus regibus terrae. angelis autem iubet, ut Christum adorent. et iterum in cantico Deuteronomii dicit: laetamini, gentes, cum eo, et adorent eum omnes angeli dei.

Theophilus the Christian said: “You are wrong, Jew. For to which of the angels did God say: You are my Son, today I have begotten you? And again in a psalm he says: I will make him prince, exalted above all the kings of the earth. But he commands the angels to worship Christ. And again in the song of Deuteronomy he says: Rejoice, nations, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him.”

Ps 2:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 1:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 89:27 (88:28 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 32:43 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 1:6 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus answers that God never called an angel his Son, and commands the angels to worship Christ.

Ps 2:7 (cf. Heb 1:5); Ps 89:27 (LXX 88:28); Deut 32:43 (Septuagint form; cf. Heb 1:6).

Topics: Christology, Angels

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.16 (CSEL 45:7; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-16

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.17CSEL 45:7

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Proba mihi Christum principem esse.

Simon the Jew said: “Prove to me that Christ is prince.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon asks for proof that Christ is prince.

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.17 (CSEL 45:7; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-17

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.18CSEL 45:7

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Iam dixi. nunc accipe aliam probationem, si poteris uel sic credere. nam cum Iesus filius Naue staret trans Iordannem, uidit uirum stantem, et gladius utraque parte acutus in manu eius. dicit illi Iesus: noster es aut aduersariorum? at ille respondit: ego sum princeps militiae maiestatis domini.

Theophilus the Christian said: “I have already said it. Now take another proof, if even so you can believe. For when Joshua the son of Nun stood across the Jordan, he saw a man standing, and a sword sharp on both sides in his hand. Joshua says to him: Are you ours or our enemies’? And he answered: I am the prince of the host of the majesty of the Lord.”

Josh 5:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Josh 5:14 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus cites the commander of the Lord’s army who appeared to Joshua.

Josh 5:13–14 (Old Latin form). Joshua is “Iesus filius Naue” in the Latin.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.18 (CSEL 45:7; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-18

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.19CSEL 45:8

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Et hoc modo uolo mihi edisseras, quomodo est filius dei Christus. nam et omnes sancti filii dei dicti sunt. proinde sicut mihi probasti principem illum esse, proba mihi nunc illum dei filium ex deo natum. longe enim remota est diuinitas a coitibus humanis nec miscetur conplexui.

Simon the Jew said: “I also want you to explain to me in this way how Christ is the Son of God. For all the saints too have been called sons of God. So, just as you have proved to me that he is prince, prove to me now that he is the Son of God born of God. For the Godhead is far removed from human intercourse and is not mingled in embrace.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon asks how Christ is Son of God, since God does not beget by intercourse.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.19 (CSEL 45:8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-19). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-19

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.20CSEL 45:8

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Loqueris quasi Iudaeus. nam Christus deus, dei filius, primogenitus, uerbo editus, ore prolatus, uuluae intaminatae iaculatus. sicut enim deus in principio, cum hominem e limo terrae faceret, flatum suum in eundem spirauit, et factus est homo in animam uiuam—, ita et uerbum suum, hoc est Christum, ex utero cordis sui genuit, sicut in Basilion libro secundo dicit: et fuit uerbum domini ad Natham prophetam dicens: uade et dic seruo meo Dauid: non tu aedificabis mihi domum ad inhabitandum, sed, cum inpleti fuerint dies tui et dormieris cum patribus tuis, excitabo semen tuum post te. hic aedificabit domum nomini meo, et erigam thronum illius usque in saecula, et ego ero illi in patrem, et ipse mihi erit in filium, et fidem consequetur domus eius. item in psalmo II dicit: quare fremuerunt gentes et populi meditati sunt inania? adstiterunt reges terrae et populi conuenerunt in unum aduersus dominum et aduersus Christum eius: disrumpamus uincula eorum et proiciamus a nobis iugum ipsorum. qui habitat in caelis inridebit eos et dominus subsannabit eos. tunc loquetur ad eos in ira sua et in furore suo conturbabit eos. ego autem constitutus sum rex ab eo super Sion montem sanctum eius, praedicans praeceptum domini. dominus dixit ad me: filius meus es tu, ego hodie genui te. pete a me, et dabo tibi gentes hereditatem tuam et possessionem tuam terminos terrae. reges eos in uirga ferrea et tamquam uas figuli confringes eos. item in psalmo XLIIII: eructauit cor meum uerbum bonum, dico ego opera mea regi. et Esaias dicit: consummatas quidem et breuiatas res audiui, quoniam uerbum breuiatum faciet deus in omni terra. hoc est uerbum, quod uerbera nostra sanauit, de quo in psalmo CVI dicit: misit uerbum suum et sanauit eos. item in alio psalmo deus testimonium perhibet per prophetam dicens, quod caelum, de quo supra diximus, de Christo et in Christo, quod est uerbum dei, fecerit: uerbo domini caeli solidati sunt et spiritu oris eius omnis uirtus eorum. hoc est uerbum, quod uelociter mundum percucurrit et animas errantium per legem nouam ad dominum conuertit, de quo in psalmo CXLVII dicit: qui emittit uerbum suum terrae, uelociter currit uerbum eius. et Esaias dicit: ecce uerbum domini factum est illis in maledictum, et noluerunt illud. nam, si uelis Iohannem nostrum audire prophetico ore clamantem, in principio erat uerbum, et uerbum erat apud deum, et deus erat uerbum. hoc erat in principio apud deum. omnia per illum facta sunt, et sine illo factum est nihil. et rursus filius pari genere testimonium reddit patri et natiuitatis suae exordia testatur dicens apud Salomonem: ego ex ore altissimi prodiui primogenitus ante omnem creaturam. ego in caelis feci, ut oriretur lumen indeficiens. ego in altis habitaui, et thronus meus in columna nubis. uides ergo, Simon, exeuntibus patribus tuis de Aegypto quia Christus erat, qui in columna nubis praecedebat eos. item illic in Prouerbiis eiusdem: dominus condidit me initio uiarum suarum, in principio, in opera sua, antequam terram faceret et antequam abyssos constitueret, et ante omnes colles genuit me. cum pararet caelos, aderam cum illo, et cum secerneret sedem suam, quando fortia faciebat fundamenta terrae, eram simul cum illo disponens. ego eram, cui adgaudebat, cottidie autem laetabar in faciem eius, cum laetaretur orbe perfecto.

Theophilus the Christian said: “You speak like a Jew. For Christ, God, the Son of God, is the firstborn, brought forth by the word, uttered by the mouth, sent forth from an undefiled womb. For as God in the beginning, when he made man from the clay of the earth, breathed his breath into him, and man became a living soul, so too he begot his Word, that is, Christ, from the womb of his heart; as he says in the second book of Kingdoms: And the word of the Lord came to Nathan the prophet, saying: Go and say to my servant David: You shall not build me a house to dwell in; but when your days are fulfilled and you sleep with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you. He will build a house for my name, and I will set up his throne for ever; and I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to me, and his house will obtain faithfulness. Again in Psalm 2 he says: Why have the nations raged, and the peoples meditated vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the peoples gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ: Let us break their bonds and cast their yoke from us. He who dwells in heaven will laugh at them, and the Lord will mock them. Then he will speak to them in his anger and trouble them in his fury. But I have been established king by him over Zion his holy mountain, proclaiming the decree of the Lord. The Lord said to me: You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession. You will rule them with a rod of iron and break them like a potter’s vessel. Again in Psalm 44: My heart has uttered a good word; I speak my works to the king. And Isaiah says: I have heard of things completed and cut short, for God will make a word cut short in all the earth. This is the Word that healed our wounds, of which he says in Psalm 106: He sent his word and healed them. Again in another psalm God bears witness through the prophet that the heaven of which we spoke above he made from Christ and in Christ, who is the Word of God: By the word of the Lord the heavens were made firm, and by the breath of his mouth all their power. This is the Word that ran swiftly through the world and turned the souls of the wandering to the Lord through the new law, of which he says in Psalm 147: He who sends forth his word to the earth; his word runs swiftly. And Isaiah says: Behold, the word of the Lord has become a curse to them, and they did not want it. For if you are willing to hear our John crying out with prophetic mouth: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made. And again, the Son in like manner bears witness to the Father and testifies to the beginnings of his birth, saying in Solomon: I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, firstborn before every creature. I made an unfailing light to rise in the heavens. I dwelt in the heights, and my throne was in a pillar of cloud. You see, then, Simon, that when your fathers came out of Egypt, it was Christ who went before them in the pillar of cloud. Again there, in the Proverbs of the same author: The Lord created me at the beginning of his ways, in the beginning, for his works; before he made the earth and before he established the deeps, and before all the hills he begot me. When he was preparing the heavens, I was present with him; and when he set apart his seat, when he made strong the foundations of the earth, I was with him arranging. I was the one in whom he rejoiced; and daily I was glad before his face, when he rejoiced in the completed world.”

Gen 2:7 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 7:4 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 7:5 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 7:12 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 7:13 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 7:14 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 7:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 2:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 2:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 2:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 2:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 2:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 2:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 2:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 2:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 2:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 45:1 (44:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 10:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 9:28 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 107:20 (106:20 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 33:6 (32:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 147:15 (147:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 6:10 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:2 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 13:21 (allusion, high confidence) · Prov 8:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 8:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 8:25 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 8:27 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 8:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 8:30 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 8:31 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus argues from Nathan’s oracle, Psalms 2, 45, 107, 33 and 147, Isaiah, John’s prologue, Sirach and Proverbs that Christ is the Word begotten from the Father’s heart.

Gen 2:7; 2 Sam 7:4–16 (“the second book of Kingdoms”); Ps 2:1–9; Ps 45:1 (LXX 44:2); Isa 10:22–23 / Rom 9:28 (the “word cut short”); Ps 107:20 (LXX 106:20); Ps 33:6 (LXX 32:6); Ps 147:15 (LXX 147:4); Jer 6:10 (“the word of the Lord has become a curse to them”); John 1:1–3; Sir 24:3, 6, 4 (ascribed to Solomon); Prov 8:22–31 (Old Latin form; “the Lord created me”). The pillar of cloud: Exod 13:21.
“Firstborn … uttered by the mouth, sent forth from an undefiled womb”: the author’s language for the Word’s generation; translated as written.
Digitization slips corrected: eundemspirauit-et → eundem spirauit, et; fuit u uerbum → fuit uerbum; a stray full stop after rursus.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): eundemspirauit-et → eundem spirauit, et; fuit u uerbum → fuit uerbum; et rursus . filius → et rursus filius.

Extrabiblical texts: Sir 24:3-6 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)

Topics: Christology, Trinity, Prophecy and fulfilment

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.20 (CSEL 45:8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-20). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-20

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.21CSEL 45:12

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Potest hoc pro sapientia dixisse.

Simon the Jew said: “He could have said this of wisdom.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon objects that the passage speaks of wisdom.

Digitization slip corrected: discit → dixit.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): Iudaeus discit → Iudaeus dixit.

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.21 (CSEL 45:12; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-21). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-21

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.22CSEL 45:12

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Erras, Iudaee, et uelamine ignorantiae sensus tuus contectus est. non inmerito sanctissimus Moyses uelaminis tegmine faciem uelabat, quod uelamen corda uestra contexit. accede proinde ad dominum et crede Christum deum et dei filium, et auferetur de sensibus tuis tegmen ignorantiae. sapientiae dictum existimas; ignoras, quoniam Christus est ipse dei uirtus et dei sapientia. adeo reges uestri, qui per successionem regnabant, non poterant sapientiam et uirtutem accipere, nisi per uocabulum nominis Christi dicerentur. huius rei auctorem Danihelum dabo dicentem: signabitur uisus et propheta, orietur iustitia sempiterna, et unguetur sanctus sanctorum. et scies et intelleges ab exitu sermonis in respondendo et aedificando Hierusalem usque ad Christum regnantem. a deo ueniente Christo Christorum et domino dominorum et rege regum uestrorum unctio Samariae defecit et cornu illud, de quo reges uestri unguebantur, et omnes prophetae siluerunt, quia de quo loquebantur uenit, sicut Esaias ait: ego sum, qui loquebar, et ueni, ut euangelizem. proinde, ut diximus, ipse est Christus Christorum et dominus dominorum. auctorem Esaiam dabo dicentem: dicit dominus Christo meo domino, cuius tenui dexteram, ut exaudiant eum gentes: fortitudinem regum disrumpam, aperiam ante eum portas aereas, et ciuitates non claudentur, et portas aereas aperiam et uectes ferreos confringam et dabo tibi thesauros occultos. cui ergo tenuit dexteram pater nisi Christo filio suo, quem et omnes gentes exaudierunt, sicut in psalmo dicit: semper tu mecum, tenuisti manum dexteram meam? aut quae ciuitas illi clausa est? et cui omnes portae aereae patent hoc est praecordia singulorum fide Christi reserata, qui doctrina sua corda et praecordia singulorum reserauit? aut numquid et de natiuitate eius audebis disputare, cum idem propheta dicat: factum est uerbum domini ad Achaz dicens: pete tibi signum a domino deo tuo in profundum aut in excelsum. et dicit Achaz: non petam neque temptabo dominum. et ait: audite nunc domus Dauid: non pusillum uobis certamen erit cum hominibus, et ideo uos praestabitis certamen cum deo? quoniam dominus dabit uobis signum: ecce uirgo in utero concipiet et pariet filium, et uocabitis nomen eius Emmanuhel, quod interpretatur Nobiscum deus.

Theophilus the Christian said: “You are wrong, Jew, and your understanding is covered with the veil of ignorance. Not without reason did the most holy Moses veil his face with the covering of a veil, a veil that has covered your hearts. Come, then, to the Lord and believe Christ to be God and the Son of God, and the covering of ignorance will be taken from your understanding. You think it was said of wisdom; you do not know that Christ himself is the power of God and the wisdom of God. So true is this that your kings, who reigned by succession, could not receive wisdom and power unless they were called by the name of Christ, the anointed. I will give you Daniel as authority for this, who says: Vision and prophet will be sealed, everlasting righteousness will arise, and the holy of holies will be anointed. And you will know and understand, from the going out of the word for answering and building Jerusalem, until Christ the ruler. From the time that Christ came from God, the Christ of Christs and Lord of lords and King of your kings, the anointing of Samaria ceased, and that horn with which your kings were anointed, and all the prophets fell silent, because he of whom they spoke had come; as Isaiah says: I am he who was speaking, and I have come to proclaim good news. Therefore, as we have said, he himself is the Christ of Christs and Lord of lords. I will give you Isaiah as authority, who says: The Lord says to my Christ the Lord, whose right hand I have held, that the nations may hear him: I will break the strength of kings, I will open before him the bronze gates, and the cities will not be shut; and I will open the bronze gates and break the iron bars and give you hidden treasures. Whose right hand, then, did the Father hold but that of Christ his Son, whom all the nations have heard, as he says in the psalm: You are always with me; you have held my right hand? Or what city has been shut to him? And to whom do all the bronze gates lie open, that is, the hearts of each one unlocked by faith in Christ, who by his teaching unlocked the hearts and inmost parts of each? Or will you dare to dispute even about his birth, when the same prophet says: The word of the Lord came to Ahaz, saying: Ask for yourself a sign from the Lord your God, in the depth or in the height. And Ahaz says: I will not ask, nor will I tempt the Lord. And he said: Hear now, house of David: is it a small contest for you with men, and therefore will you offer a contest with God? For the Lord will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will conceive in the womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel, which is interpreted, God with us.”

2 Cor 3:13 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:16 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Dan 9:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Dan 9:25 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 52:6 (quotation, medium confidence) · Isa 61:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · Isa 45:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 45:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 45:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 73:23 (72:23 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 7:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 7:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 7:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 7:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 7:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 1:23 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus argues that Christ is God’s wisdom and power, that Daniel’s seventy weeks and Isaiah 45 point to him, and that Isaiah 7:14 foretells his virgin birth.

2 Cor 3:13–16 (the veil); 1 Cor 1:24; Dan 9:24–25; Isa 52:6 with 61:1 (“I am he who was speaking …”); Isa 45:1–3 (the Septuagint and Old Latin read “to my Christ the Lord” for “to his anointed, to Cyrus”); Ps 73:23 (LXX 72:23); Isa 7:10–14 with Matt 1:23.
The claim that Israel’s anointing and prophecy ceased at Christ’s coming is the author’s argument; translated as written.

Topics: Christology, Prophecy and fulfilment, Jews and Judaism

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.22 (CSEL 45:12; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-22). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-22

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.23CSEL 45:15

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Ego prophetis credo, praeterea Esaiam receptissimum accipio. sed de alia uirgine eum dixisse arbitror. cum enim Salmanassar rex Assyriorum ducem suum misisset ad Hierusalem exprobrare deum uiuum, tunc Esaias prophetauit aduersus Salmanassar regem dicens: spreuit te et subsannauit te uirgo filia Sion, caput suum mouit aduersus te filia Hierusalem. quando angelus de castris Assyriorum centum octoginta milia percussit, in hoc fuit nobiscum deus.

Simon the Jew said: “I believe the prophets, and besides I accept Isaiah as the most accepted. But I think he spoke of another virgin. For when Shalmaneser king of the Assyrians had sent his general to Jerusalem to reproach the living God, then Isaiah prophesied against King Shalmaneser, saying: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and mocked you; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head against you. When the angel struck a hundred and eighty thousand in the camp of the Assyrians, then there was God with us.”

Isa 37:22 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Kgs 19:21 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 37:36 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon proposes that Isaiah’s virgin is the daughter of Zion who mocked the Assyrians.

Isa 37:22 (2 Kgs 19:21); Isa 37:36 (the Hebrew and Septuagint have a hundred and eighty-five thousand). The Assyrian king of that siege was Sennacherib; the author has Shalmaneser.
Digitization slips corrected: arbi- ) tror → arbitror, a stray full stop before nobiscum.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): arbi- ) tror → arbitror; fuit . nobiscum → fuit nobiscum.

Topics: Prophecy and fulfilment

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.23 (CSEL 45:15; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-23). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-23

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.24CSEL 45:15

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Erras, Iudaee, necdum remoues incredulitatem. si ergo filiam Sion uirginem dicis, quem filium peperit? uel quis butyrum et mel manducauit? aut quis infans fuit, qui, priusquam cognosceret patrem uel matrem, spolia Samariae detraxit? aut quem filium de semine Dauid habuit? Esaias enim dicit: ecce uirgo in utero accipiet et pariet filium, et uocabitur nomen eius Emmanuhel. butyrum et mel manducabit; et, priusquam cognoscat puer uocare patrem uel matrem, accipiet uirtutem Damasci et spolia Samariae contra regem Assyriorum.

Theophilus the Christian said: “You are wrong, Jew, and you do not yet put away unbelief. If, then, you call the daughter of Zion a virgin, what son did she bear? Or who ate butter and honey? Or who was the infant who, before he knew father or mother, took away the spoils of Samaria? Or what son of the seed of David did she have? For Isaiah says: Behold, a virgin will conceive in the womb and bear a son, and his name will be called Emmanuel. He will eat butter and honey; and before the child knows how to call father or mother, he will receive the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria against the king of the Assyrians.”

Isa 7:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 7:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 8:4 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus replies that the daughter of Zion bore no son who ate butter and honey or took the spoils of Samaria.

Isa 7:14–15 combined with 8:4.
Digitization slips corrected: stray marks = and + and a semicolon inside co;gnoscat.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): quem = filium → quem filium; matrem, + spolia → matrem, spolia; co;gnoscat → cognoscat.

Topics: Christology, Prophecy and fulfilment

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.24 (CSEL 45:15; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-24). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-24

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.25CSEL 45:16

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Enarra ergo mihi ista qui se habeant, ut credere possim, quid mel aut butyrum intellegitur, aut quae spolia Samariae Christus acceperit.

Simon the Jew said: “Explain to me, then, how these things stand, so that I can believe: what is meant by honey or butter, or what spoils of Samaria Christ received.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon asks what the butter, honey and spoils of Samaria mean.

The text has qui for quomodo (“how”); translated by sense.

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.25 (CSEL 45:16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-25). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-25

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.26CSEL 45:16

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Si remoueas incredulitatem, audies ueritatem, ne forte in te inpleatur illud, quod in psalmo scriptum est: sicut aspidis surdae et obturantis aures suas, quae non exaudiet uoces incantantium. audenter etiam Esaias aduersus incredulitatem uestram clamat dicens: erint uobis uerba libri huius sicut uerba libri signati, quem si dederis homini scienti litteras ad legendum, dicit: non possum legere, signatum est enim. aut si detur liber iste homini non scienti litteras, et dicas: lege, et dicit: non didici. primum quidem Christus secundum natiuitatem infantium omnium butyrum et mel manducauit; hoc credimus et sic fidem nostram custodimus, et quia die octauo circumcisus est. butyrum autem unctio spiritus intellegitur; mel autem dulcedo est doctrinae eius, quam nos adsequimur et sic fidem consequimur. spolia autem Samariae hoc genere detraxit, quod, cum infans esset, munera a magis accepit, aurum, thus et murram, et postea, adultus cum doceret et omnem ueritatem dei demonstraret, relictis idolis Samaria et Damascus bene crediderunt, relinquentes Assyrium id est diabolum.

Theophilus the Christian said: “If you put away unbelief, you will hear the truth; lest perhaps that be fulfilled in you which is written in the psalm: Like a deaf asp that stops its ears, which will not hear the voices of the charmers. Isaiah too cries out boldly against your unbelief, saying: The words of this book will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which, if you give it to a man who knows letters to read, he says: I cannot read, for it is sealed. Or if this book is given to a man who does not know letters, and you say, Read, he says: I have not learned. First, then, Christ, according to the birth of all infants, ate butter and honey; this we believe and so we keep our faith, and that he was circumcised on the eighth day. But butter is understood as the anointing of the Spirit; and honey is the sweetness of his teaching, which we attain and so obtain faith. And he took away the spoils of Samaria in this way: when he was an infant he received gifts from the Magi, gold, frankincense and myrrh; and afterwards, when as a grown man he taught and showed all the truth of God, Samaria and Damascus, leaving their idols, believed well, leaving the Assyrian, that is, the devil.”

Ps 58:4 (57:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 58:5 (57:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 29:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 29:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 2:21 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 2:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 7:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 8:4 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus explains: butter and honey are the Spirit’s anointing and his sweet teaching; the spoils of Samaria are the Magi’s gifts and the conversion of the nations.

Ps 58:4–5 (LXX 57:5–6); Isa 29:11–12; Luke 2:21 (circumcision on the eighth day); Matt 2:11 (the Magi’s gifts).

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.26 (CSEL 45:16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-26). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-26

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.27CSEL 45:17

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Bene quidem per omnia interrogationibus meis patefacis mysteria. sed quia Christum deum, dei filium, ore dei prolatum, uerbo genitum et ex uirgine natum probasti, quomodo ergo ex semine Dauid in Bethleem ciuitate natum esse adseueras?

Simon the Jew said: “In all things you are indeed opening the mysteries well in answer to my questions. But since you have proved that Christ is God, the Son of God, uttered by the mouth of God, begotten by the Word, and born of a virgin, how then do you assert that he was born of the seed of David in the city of Bethlehem?”

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon asks how Christ is of David’s seed and born in Bethlehem.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.27 (CSEL 45:17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-27). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-27

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.28CSEL 45:18

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Auctorem Esaiam dabo dicentem: exiet uirga de radice Iesse et flos de radice eius ascendet, et requiescet super eum spiritus dei. uirga enim Maria uirgo fuit, quae ex semine Dauid processit, ex qua Christus flos patriarcharum secundum carnem nascitur. deus enim, qui in Numeris signum fecit, ut asina loqueretur, multo maiorem signum facere uoluit, ut Christus ex uirgine nasceretur. aut quid mihi et tibi esset certamen, nisi uirgo pareret?

Theophilus the Christian said: “I will give you Isaiah as authority, who says: A rod will come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower will rise up from his root, and the Spirit of God will rest upon him. For the rod was the virgin Mary, who came from the seed of David, from whom Christ, the flower of the patriarchs, is born according to the flesh. For God, who in Numbers made a sign so that an ass should speak, willed to make a much greater sign, that Christ should be born of a virgin. Or what contest would there be between me and you, unless a virgin gave birth?”

Isa 11:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 11:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Num 22:28 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus reads the rod of Jesse as Mary, of David’s line, and the flower as Christ.

Isa 11:1–2 (virga, “rod”, is read as virgo, “virgin”); Num 22:28 (Balaam’s ass).

Topics: Christology, Mary, mother of Jesus

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.28 (CSEL 45:18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-28). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-28

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.29CSEL 45:18

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Credo uirginem, ut dicis, de spiritu concipere. agitur, si uirgo potuit parere.

Simon the Jew said: “I believe that a virgin, as you say, conceives by the Spirit. The question is whether a virgin could give birth.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon grants conception by the Spirit but doubts a virgin could give birth.

The text has agitur, “it is debated”; translated by sense.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.29 (CSEL 45:18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-29). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-29

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.30CSEL 45:18

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Incredule, saxum deus rumpere potuit et aquam in satietatem producere; quanto magis deus iubere potuit, ut uirgo partum ederet! et adhuc tibi adduco alium testimonium, si tamen credas, Baruch Neriae filium, qui in Babylonia prophetauit.

Theophilus the Christian said: “Unbeliever, God could split a rock and bring out water to satisfaction; how much more could God command that a virgin bring forth offspring! And I bring you still another testimony, if only you believe: Baruch the son of Neriah, who prophesied in Babylon.”

Exod 17:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 20:11 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus argues from the water from the rock and introduces Baruch as a witness.

Exod 17:6; Num 20:11.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.30 (CSEL 45:18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-30). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-30

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.31CSEL 45:19

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Ergo me tam infidelem existimas, ut Baruch discipulum Hieremiae non recipiam, qui ab Hieremia totiens missus populum adlocutus est, qui et prophetiam suam Baruch conscribere iussit? et quia sciebat illum Hieremias prophetaturum, adeo post Hieremiam populo praefuit in captiuitate et prophetauit, sed de Christo nihil meminit.

Simon the Jew said: “Do you think me so faithless that I do not accept Baruch, the disciple of Jeremiah, who, sent so often by Jeremiah, addressed the people, and whom Jeremiah ordered to write down his prophecy? And because Jeremiah knew that he would prophesy, he led the people after Jeremiah in the captivity and prophesied; but he made no mention of Christ.”

Jer 36:4 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon accepts Baruch but says he said nothing of Christ.

Jer 36:4 (Baruch writes Jeremiah’s words).

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.31 (CSEL 45:19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-31). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-31

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.32CSEL 45:19

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Quomodo ergo prope finem libri sui de natiuitate eius et de habitu uestis et de passione eius et de resurrectione eius prophetauit dicens: hic unctus meus, electus meus, uuluae intaminatae iaculatus natus et passus dicitur? quoniam et tunicam illius desuper contextam et omnia haec, Simon, si credideris ita, cum ueneris in plenitudinem euangeliorum nostrorum, inpleta cognosces. quod autem in Bethleem natus est, audi Michaeam prophetam dei dicentem: et tu Bethleem Iuda, domus illius Efratha, non eris exigua, ut constituaris in milibus Iuda. ex te enim mihi prodiet, ut sit princeps in Israel, et possessio eius a principio et diebus saeculi.

Theophilus the Christian said: “How then did he prophesy near the end of his book about his birth and the fashion of his garment and his passion and his resurrection, saying: This is my anointed, my chosen, sent forth from an undefiled womb; he is said to be born and to suffer? For his tunic woven from the top, and all these things, Simon, if you believe so, you will recognize as fulfilled when you come to the fullness of our Gospels. And that he was born in Bethlehem, hear the prophet of God Micah, saying: And you, Bethlehem of Judah, house of Ephrathah, you will not be small, so as to be set among the thousands of Judah. For from you will come forth for me one who is to be prince in Israel, and his possession is from the beginning and from the days of the age.”

John 19:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Mic 5:2 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus cites a prophecy he ascribes to Baruch on Christ’s birth and passion, and Micah on Bethlehem.

The words ascribed to Baruch (“This is my anointed, my chosen …”) are not in the canonical book of Baruch; they come from an apocryphal Baruch text, also cited by other early writers (e.g. Cyprian, Testimonies 2.10; cf. the Rest of the Words of Baruch). Source uncertain.
John 19:23 (the seamless tunic); Mic 5:2 (Old Latin form).
Digitization slip corrected: mili- bus → milibus.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): mili- bus → milibus.

Topics: Christology, Prophecy and fulfilment

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.32 (CSEL 45:19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-32). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-32

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.33CSEL 45:20

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Multa quidem legimus, sed non ita intellegimus. proinde ita uolo per singula, quae te interrogo, cognoscere conprobata testimonia ueritatis. praeterea quia deus circumcisionem celebrari praecepit, quam primum patriarchae Abrahae tradidit, quam circumcisionem Christum habuisse superius professus es, quomodo ergo mihi credere persuades, qui circumcisionem prohibes?

Simon the Jew said: “We read many things, but we do not understand them so. So I want to learn, point by point, the proven testimonies of truth on what I ask you. Moreover, since God commanded circumcision to be observed, which he first handed down to the patriarch Abraham, and which you professed above that Christ had, how then do you persuade me to believe, when you forbid circumcision?”

Gen 17:10 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon asks why Christians forbid circumcision, which God commanded and Christ received.

Gen 17:10.

Topics: Circumcision

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.33 (CSEL 45:20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-33). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-33

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.34CSEL 45:20

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Circumcidere carnem prohibemus, circumcisos autem credere libenter habemus. Abraham enim, credimus, priusquam circumcideretur, amicus dei effectus est per fidem et iustitiam adeptus est per fidem, non per circumcisionem. sic enim dicit: quia patrem multarum gentium posui te ante dominum, cui credidisti. proinde dicit: credidit Abraham deo, et deputatum est ei ad iustitiam. hoc enim, priusquam circumcideretur, audiuit et postea circumcisionem accepit, ostendens duos populos ad fidem Christi uenturos, unum ex circumcisione et unum ex praeputio. nam si Christus circumcisus non fuisset, quomodo mihi hodie crederes aut prophetis, quod ex semine Dauid ueniret? circumcisio enim signum est generis, non salutis.

Theophilus the Christian said: “We forbid circumcising the flesh, but we gladly have the circumcised believe. For Abraham, we believe, before he was circumcised, became the friend of God through faith and obtained righteousness through faith, not through circumcision. For so he says: Because I have made you father of many nations before the Lord, in whom you believed. Therefore he says: Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. This he heard before he was circumcised, and afterwards he received circumcision, showing that two peoples would come to the faith of Christ, one from the circumcision and one from the uncircumcision. For if Christ had not been circumcised, how would you today believe me, or the prophets, that he would come from the seed of David? For circumcision is a sign of race, not of salvation.”

Jas 2:23 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 4:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 17:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 15:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 4:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 4:11 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus argues from Abraham’s faith before circumcision that circumcision is a sign of descent, not of salvation.

Jas 2:23 (friend of God); Rom 4:17 (Gen 17:5); Gen 15:6 (Rom 4:3, 9–11).

Topics: Circumcision

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.34 (CSEL 45:20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-34). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-34

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.35CSEL 45:21

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Ergo quomodo, filius Moysi cum esset in praeputio, angelus suffocabat, nisi Seffora, mater eius, accepto calculo circumcidisset puerum, et, cum sanguis inmineret, orabat dicens: stet sanguis circumcisionis pueri?

Simon the Jew said: “Then how was it that, when Moses’ son was uncircumcised, the angel was choking him, until Zipporah his mother, taking a pebble, circumcised the boy, and, when the blood was flowing, prayed, saying: Let the blood of the boy’s circumcision stop?”

Exod 4:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 4:25 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 4:26 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon cites Zipporah’s circumcision of Moses’ son as proof of its necessity.

Exod 4:24–26 (the form of the saying follows the Septuagint and Old Latin).

Topics: Circumcision

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.35 (CSEL 45:21; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-35). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-35

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.36CSEL 45:21

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Contra te loqueris, Iudaee. nam et superius tibi ostendi, quomodo Moyses typum Christi fuit et omnia, quaecumque fecit, in imaginem Christi praecurrebat. nam Seffora mulier, quae puerum circumcidit, synagoga intellegitur. quod autem dicit: stet sanguis circumcisionis pueri, hoc est, quod adueniente Christo restitit circumcisio puerorum. adeo deus ad Moysen sic ait: aedifica mihi altarem de lapidibus non circumcisis et ferrum non inicies in eis, quod scilicet adueniens Christus ecclesiam aedificaturus erat de populo incircumciso.

Theophilus the Christian said: “You speak against yourself, Jew. For I showed you above too how Moses was a type of Christ, and everything he did ran ahead as an image of Christ. For the woman Zipporah, who circumcised the boy, is understood as the synagogue. And when she says, Let the blood of the boy’s circumcision stop, this means that at Christ’s coming the circumcision of boys stopped. So too God said to Moses: Build me an altar of uncut stones, and you shall not put iron on them; that is, Christ at his coming would build the church out of an uncircumcised people.”

Exod 20:25 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 27:5 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus reads Zipporah as the synagogue and the altar of uncut stones as the church built from the uncircumcised.

Exod 20:25 and Deut 27:5–6; the Latin non circumcisis (“uncut”, literally “uncircumcised”) carries the wordplay.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): circum cisis → circumcisis.

Topics: Circumcision

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.36 (CSEL 45:21; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-36). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-36

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.37CSEL 45:22

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Proba mihi Christum neminem circumcidisse.

Simon the Jew said: “Prove to me that Christ circumcised no one.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon asks for proof that Christ circumcised no one.

Topics: Circumcision

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.37 (CSEL 45:22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-37). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-37

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.38CSEL 45:22

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Crede, et ipse tibi probabis, cum coeperis plenitudinem euangeliorum reuoluere. ibi inuenies Matthaeum apostolum publicanorum et Zacchaeum principem publicanorum et multos inuenies incircumcisos, qui cum Iudaeis crediderunt. nam sicut sacrificia et hostiae taurorum et hircorum et arietum et agnorum iussa inmolabantur et prohibita sublata sunt, et populus minor id est noster maiori populo praelatus, et testamentum nouum ueteri praepositum, ita et circumcisionem iam non carnis sed cordis celebrari deus praecepit. dicit enim deus ad Rebeccam in Genesi: duae gentes in utero tuo sunt, et duo populi de uentre tuo diuidentur, et populus populum superabit, et maior seruiet minori. et in Deuteronomio dicit: eritis, gentes, in caput, incredulus autem populus in caudam. et Iacob benedicens Efrem et Manassen, inmutans manum, dexteram minori superponens, inmutationem creaturae demonstrabat. pro testamento autem nouo sic dicit Esaias: ecce facio noua, quae nunc oriuntur, et ponam in deserto flumina, hoc est in ecclesia euangelia. et Hieremias dicit: ecce dies ueniunt, dicit dominus, et consummabo domui Israel et domui Iuda testamentum nouum, non tale testamentum, quod disposui patribus uestris in die, qua eduxi eos de terra Aegypti. audi nunc de circumcisione! lator legis Moyses dicit: in nouissimis diebus circumcidet deus cor tuum et cor seminis tui ad dominum deum tuum amandum. et Hieremias dicit: uiri Iuda et qui inhabitatis Hierusalem, renouate inter uos nouitatem et ne seminaueritis in spinis. circumcidite uos deo uestro et circumcidite praeputium cordis uestri, ne exeat ira mea et exurat, et non sit, qui extinguat. ad Iesum Naue dixit deus: fac tibi gladios petrinos et nimis acutos et sede secundo et circumcide filios Israel. numquid tunc ferrum non erat? sed deus ad Iesum Christum nostrum loquebatur, quod per apostolum suum spiritaliter corda circumcideret. adeo apostolus noster Simon dictus est et postea Petrus nomen accepit.

Theophilus the Christian said: “Believe, and you will prove it to yourself, when you begin to unroll the fullness of the Gospels. There you will find Matthew the apostle of the tax collectors, and Zacchaeus the chief of the tax collectors, and you will find many uncircumcised who believed together with the Jews. For just as sacrifices and victims of bulls and goats and rams and lambs were offered when commanded, and when forbidden were taken away; and the younger people, that is, ours, was preferred to the elder people, and the new testament set above the old; so also God commanded circumcision to be kept now not of the flesh but of the heart. For God says to Rebecca in Genesis: Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be divided from your belly; and people will overcome people, and the elder will serve the younger. And in Deuteronomy he says: You, nations, will be the head, but the unbelieving people the tail. And Jacob, blessing Ephraim and Manasseh, crossing his hands and laying the right on the younger, showed the change of creation. And of the new testament Isaiah says thus: Behold, I make new things, which now spring up, and I will put rivers in the desert; that is, the Gospels in the church. And Jeremiah says: Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will complete for the house of Israel and the house of Judah a new testament, not such a testament as I made with your fathers on the day when I led them out of the land of Egypt. Hear now about circumcision! The lawgiver Moses says: In the last days God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed, to love the Lord your God. And Jeremiah says: Men of Judah and you who dwell in Jerusalem, renew newness among you and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to your God and circumcise the foreskin of your heart, lest my anger go forth and burn, and there be none to quench it. God said to Joshua the son of Nun: Make yourself knives of stone, very sharp, and sit down a second time and circumcise the sons of Israel. Was there no iron then? But God was speaking to our Jesus Christ, that through his apostle he would circumcise hearts spiritually. So too our apostle was called Simon, and afterwards received the name Peter.”

Matt 9:9 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 19:2 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 25:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 28:13 (quotation, medium confidence) · Deut 28:44 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 48:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 43:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 31:31 (38:31 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 31:32 (38:32 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 30:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 4:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 4:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Josh 5:2 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:42 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus argues that Christ calls the uncircumcised, that the younger people supersedes the elder, and that the prophets foretold a new covenant and circumcision of the heart.

Gen 25:23; Deut 28:13, 44; Gen 48:14; Isa 43:19; Jer 31:31–32 (LXX 38:31–32); Deut 30:6; Jer 4:3–4; Josh 5:2 (the stone knives, petrinos, linked with Peter, petra). Matthew and Zacchaeus are given as uncircumcised; the author’s claim, translated as written.
The supersession of the elder people by the younger is the author’s argument; translated as written.

Topics: Circumcision, The church and Israel

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.38 (CSEL 45:22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-38). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-38

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.39CSEL 45:24

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Manifestam quidem mihi probationem per scripturas ostendisti. sed circumcisio cordis quae esse potest? aut quod praeputium de corde circumcidendum est?

Simon the Jew said: “You have shown me a clear proof from the Scriptures. But what can circumcision of the heart be? Or what foreskin must be circumcised from the heart?”

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon asks what circumcision of the heart is.

Topics: Circumcision

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.39 (CSEL 45:24; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-39). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-39

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.40CSEL 45:24

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Omnis concupiscentia libidinis de corde concipitur. proinde circumcisio noui testamenti talis est, quam deus Christus, filius dei, ostendit, ut circumcidamus nos libidinem, auaritiam, malitiam, cupiditatem, furta, fraudes, fornicationem, et omne, quod tibi non uis fieri, alio ne feceris. haec est circumcisio Christianorum, quam et primi sanctorum habuerunt, scilicet Enoch, Noe, Iob, Melchisedech, qui non carnis sed circumcisionem cordis habuerunt. potuerat autem deus, si uellet, Adam circumcisum formare.

Theophilus the Christian said: “Every craving of lust is conceived from the heart. So the circumcision of the new testament is of this kind, which God Christ, the Son of God, has shown: that we circumcise from ourselves lust, avarice, malice, greed, thefts, frauds, sexual immorality, and that whatever you do not wish to be done to you, you do not do to another. This is the circumcision of Christians, which the first of the saints also had, namely Enoch, Noah, Job, Melchizedek, who had not circumcision of the flesh but of the heart. God could, if he had wished, have formed Adam circumcised.”

Mark 7:21 (allusion, medium confidence) · Mark 7:22 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 7:12 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus defines circumcision of the heart as cutting away the vices, kept by Enoch, Noah, Job and Melchizedek before the law.

Mark 7:21–22; the Golden Rule in its negative form (cf. Tob 4:15; Matt 7:12).

Extrabiblical texts: Tob 4:15 (Tobit [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)

Topics: Ethics, Circumcision

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.40 (CSEL 45:24; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-40). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-40

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.41CSEL 45:25

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Aestuo uehementer cogitatione potuisse Christum tam maledictam et ludibriosam sustinere passionem, si tamen uera sunt, quae dicitis, a patribus nostris crucis patibulo esse suffixum. scimus plane Aman maledictum a patribus nostris pro merito suo esse crucifixum, qui genus nostrum petierat in perditionem, in cuius morte pereuoluto anno gratulamur et sollemnia uotorum facta celebramus, quod a patribus tradita accepimus. et Abessalon, qui ad caedem patris parricida fuit, pependisse illum in arbore legimus. Christus autem si patibulum mortis huius sustinuit et in cruce pependit, cur non hoc ipsum a patribus accepimus ++++ nec passum in scripturis nostris inuenimus, ut, si inimicus genti nostrae esset, gauderemus? erubescere poteris, Theophile, si hoc dictum minime conprobaueris. nam scriptum est in Deuteronomio: maledictus omnis, qui pendet in ligno.

Simon the Jew said: “I burn vehemently in thought whether Christ could have endured so accursed and shameful a passion, if indeed what you say is true, that he was fixed to the gibbet of the cross by our fathers. We know for certain that Haman, accursed, was crucified by our fathers for his deserts, because he had sought the destruction of our race; at whose death, when the year comes round, we rejoice and celebrate solemnities of vows, as we received it handed down from our fathers. And we read that Absalom, who was a parricide toward his father for murder, hung on a tree. But if Christ endured the gibbet of this death and hung on a cross, why did we not receive this very thing from our fathers … nor do we find him suffering in our Scriptures, so that, if he was an enemy of our nation, we might rejoice? You will be able to blush, Theophilus, if you do not prove this saying. For it is written in Deuteronomy: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.”

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Esth 7:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Esth 9:21 (allusion, medium confidence) · 2 Sam 18:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Deut 21:23 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon objects that one who hangs on a tree is cursed, citing Haman and Absalom, and that Jewish tradition knows nothing of Christ’s crucifixion.

Esth 7:10 (Haman); the yearly festival is Purim (Esth 9:20–28). 2 Sam 18:9 (Absalom). Deut 21:23.
The marks ++++ in the digital text stand for a corrupt or lost passage; shown as “…”.

Topics: Christology, Passion and death of Christ

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.41 (CSEL 45:25; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-41). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-41

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.42CSEL 45:26

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Primo huius dicti accipe rationem, recole superius Deuteronomii lectionem. de quibus dictum est? sic enim ait Moyses: si quis peccauerit in iudicium mortis, punietur, et suspendetis eum in ligno, et maledictus erit omnis, qui pendet in ligno. sed hoc pro peccatore dixit, qui mortale peccatum admiserit. Christus autem peccatum non habuit, sicut omnes prophetae testantur. sed pati necesse habuit, ut scripturae conplerentur. dicit enim Esaias: quia peccatum non fecit nec dolus inuentus est in ore eius, sed dominus tradidit illum pro peccatis nostris. nam et alibi dixisse prophetam ostendimus: ecce uerbum domini factum est illis in maledictum, et noluerunt illud. et iterum dicit: inter maledictos deputatus est. audi et Hieremiam in Lamentatione Hierusalem dicentem: Christus dominus conprehensus est in interitum eorum, sub cuius umbra uiuimus inter gentes. scimus autem sanctissimum Dauid plenum annis in pace requieuisse nec aliquam passionem mortis aut crucis sustinuisse. audi ergo in psalmo XXI dicentem Christum: effoderunt manus meas et pedes meos, dinumerauerunt omnia ossa mea. ipsi autem considerauerunt et conspexerunt me, diuiserunt sibi uestimenta mea et super uestimentum meum miserunt sortem. tu autem, domine, ne longe facias auxilium tuum, in defensionem meam aspice, libera de gladio animam meam et de manu canis unicam meam, saluum me fac de ore leonis et a cornibus unicornuorum humilitatem meam! narrabo nomen tuum fratribus meis, in medio ecclesiae laudabo te. item apud Esaiam: expandi manus meas ad plebem non credentem sed et contradicentem mihi, qui ambulabant uias non bonas sed post peccata sua. item apud Hieremiam: uenite, mittamus lignum in panem eius et eradicemus a terra uitam eius. item in Deuteronomio: et erit uita tua pendens ante oculos tuos, et timebis die ac nocte et non credes uitae tuae. item in psalmo CXVIII: confige clauis a timore tuo carnes meas. item in psalmo CXL: dirigatur oratio mea sicut incensum in conspectu tuo et eleuatio manuum mearum sacrificium uespertinum. item apud Zachariam: et intuebuntur in me, in quem transfixerunt. item in psalmo LXXXVII: et exclamaui ad te, domine, tota die extendi manus meas ad te. item in Numeris: nunc quasi homo deus suspenditur et sicut filius hominis minas patitur. et in Canticis Canticorum ex persona ecclesiae dicit: frater meus candidus et rubeus et lancea conpunctus a militibus. quod candorem, quid aliud quam fidem populi demonstrabat? rubeum autem passionem significat. ad hoc enim uenit in primo aduentu suo, ut omnem humilitatem et deformitatem usque ad mortem crucis ostentaret. audi denique in psalmo XXI: ego autem sum uermis et non homo, opprobrium hominum et abiectio plebis, omnes, qui conspiciebant me, deridebant me, locuti sunt labiis et mouerunt caput. item illic: exaruit uelut testa uirtus mea, et lingua mea adhaesit faucibus meis, et in puluerem mortis deduxisti me. item in psalmo LXVIII: placebit domino super uitulum nouellum cornua producentem et ungulas. quid dicis, Iudaee, numquid Dauid cornutus fuit? age, nunc intellege botrum illum in Numeris, quem de terra repromissionis in palanga duo uectantes reportabant, quod utique figura fuit Christi pendentis in ligno, aduenientis de terra repromissionis id est de Maria, quae ex genere terrigeno fuit. subuectantes autem palangam duorum populorum figuram ostendebat: unum priorem, scilicet uestrum, terga uersum Christo dantem, alium uero posteriorem, botrum respicientem; scilicet noster populus intellegitur.

Theophilus the Christian said: “First take the reason for this saying; recall the earlier reading of Deuteronomy. Of whom was it said? For Moses says thus: If anyone sins in a judgment of death, he will be punished, and you will hang him on a tree, and everyone who hangs on a tree will be cursed. But he said this of a sinner who has committed a mortal sin. But Christ had no sin, as all the prophets testify; yet he had to suffer, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. For Isaiah says: Because he did no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth; but the Lord handed him over for our sins. For we have shown that the prophet said elsewhere too: Behold, the word of the Lord has become a curse to them, and they did not want it. And again he says: He was reckoned among the accursed. Hear Jeremiah too in the Lamentation of Jerusalem, saying: Christ the Lord was taken for their destruction, under whose shadow we live among the nations. We know that the most holy David rested in peace full of years and endured no passion of death or of cross. Hear, then, Christ speaking in Psalm 21: They dug my hands and my feet; they numbered all my bones. They themselves considered and looked at me; they divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. But you, Lord, do not put your help far off; look to my defence; deliver my soul from the sword and my only one from the hand of the dog; save me from the mouth of the lion, and my lowliness from the horns of the unicorns. I will tell your name to my brothers; in the midst of the church I will praise you. Again in Isaiah: I have stretched out my hands to a people not believing but even contradicting me, who walked in ways not good but after their sins. Again in Jeremiah: Come, let us put wood into his bread and root out his life from the earth. Again in Deuteronomy: And your life will be hanging before your eyes, and you will fear day and night, and you will not believe in your life. Again in Psalm 118: Pierce my flesh with nails from fear of you. Again in Psalm 140: Let my prayer be directed like incense in your sight, and the lifting up of my hands an evening sacrifice. Again in Zechariah: And they will look on me, whom they have pierced. Again in Psalm 87: And I cried to you, Lord; all day I stretched out my hands to you. Again in Numbers: Now God is hanged like a man, and like a son of man he suffers threats. And in the Song of Songs he says in the person of the church: My brother is white and ruddy, and pierced with a lance by the soldiers. What did the whiteness show but the faith of the people? The ruddiness signifies the passion. For he came in his first coming for this, to display all humility and disfigurement, even to the death of the cross. Hear, then, in Psalm 21: But I am a worm and not a man, a reproach of men and the outcast of the people; all who saw me mocked me, they spoke with their lips and shook the head. Again there: My strength has dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue has stuck to my jaws, and you have brought me down into the dust of death. Again in Psalm 68: It will please the Lord more than a young calf putting forth horns and hoofs. What do you say, Jew? Was David horned? Come now, understand that cluster in Numbers, which two men carried back on a pole from the land of promise: it was surely a figure of Christ hanging on the tree, coming from the land of promise, that is, from Mary, who was of earthly race. And those carrying the pole showed a figure of the two peoples: one in front, namely yours, turning its back to Christ; the other behind, looking at the cluster; namely our people is meant.”

Deut 21:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 21:23 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Pet 2:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 53:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 53:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Jer 6:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 53:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Lam 4:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 22:16 (21:17 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 22:17 (21:18 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 22:18 (21:19 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 22:19 (21:20 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 22:20 (21:21 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 22:21 (21:22 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 22:22 (21:23 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 65:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 11:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 28:66 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:120 (118:120 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 141:2 (140:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Zech 12:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 88:9 (87:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Num 23:19 (echo, low confidence) · Song 5:10 (quotation, high confidence) · John 19:34 (allusion, medium confidence) · Phil 2:8 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 22:6 (21:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 22:7 (21:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 22:15 (21:16 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 69:31 (68:32 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Num 13:23 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus answers that the curse falls on sinners, while the sinless Christ suffered as the prophets foretold, citing many passages on the cross, and reads the grape cluster of Numbers as Christ on the tree.

Deut 21:22–23; 1 Pet 2:22 with Isa 53:9, 6; Jer 6:10; Isa 53:12; Lam 4:20; Ps 22:16–18, 19–22 (LXX 21:17–23); Isa 65:2; Jer 11:19; Deut 28:66; Ps 119:120 (LXX 118:120); Ps 141:2 (LXX 140:2); Zech 12:10; Ps 88:9 (LXX 87:10); Song 5:10. The sentence “Now God is hanged like a man …” is not in Numbers (perhaps a Christian reworking of Num 23:19); source uncertain. The added phrase “pierced with a lance by the soldiers” is not in the Song; it echoes John 19:34. Ps 22:6–7 (LXX 21:7–8); Ps 22:15 (LXX 21:16); Ps 69:31 (LXX 68:32); Num 13:23 (the cluster).
The reading of the two carriers as Jews and Christians is the author’s argument; translated as written.
Digitization slips corrected: stray punctuation (plebis., mortis,).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): abiectio plebis., omnes → abiectio plebis, omnes; in puluerem mortis, deduxisti → in puluerem mortis deduxisti.

Topics: Christology, Passion and death of Christ, Prophecy and fulfilment

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.42 (CSEL 45:26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-42). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-42

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.43CSEL 45:30

Simon Iudaeus dixit: Quid de malagranata dicturus es, quae ad Moysen adlata est cum eodem botro? ++

Simon the Jew said: “What will you say about the pomegranates, which were brought to Moses with the same cluster? …”

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Num 13:23 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Simon asks about the pomegranates brought with the cluster.

Num 13:23. The marks ++ at the end in the digital text indicate a corrupt or lost passage; shown as “…”.

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.43 (CSEL 45:30; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-43). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-43

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

2.44CSEL 45:31

Theophilus Christianus dixit: Rectissime malagranata botrum secuta est. figura scilicet ecclesiae fuit habens intra se populum rubeo sanguinis Christi censitum.

Theophilus the Christian said: “Most rightly the pomegranate followed the cluster. It was a figure of the church, having within it a people enrolled by the red of Christ’s blood.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus reads the pomegranate as the church, marked by Christ’s blood.

Topics: The church

Cite (SBL): Evagrius, Alterc. 2.44 (CSEL 45:31; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-44). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/evagrius-altercatio/2-44

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-evagrius-altercatio-2-44) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (Migne's Patrologia Latina digital text, or Bratke, CSEL 45, 1904; leaked notes, Migne's Scripture references and OCR slips corrected by logged corrections). No public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.