Against Heresies 2.23.1–2.27.3

Irenaeus of Lyons · Against Heresies · ca. 180–190 · Lyons · 18 passages

Latin text: Harvey 1857 (Latin text: Harvey (1857), transcribed from archive.org OCR of the printed volumes; section numbers checked against Stieren (1853)).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885), Irenaeus, Against Heresies.

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Against 2, chapter 23

2.23.1Harvey 1:292

Sed et de illa muliere, que profluvio sanguinis laborans, tetigit fimbriam vestimenti Domini, et sanata est, aperta est eorum ignorantia: (dicunt enim per eam ostendi passam illam duodecimam virtutem, et in infinitum defluxam, id est, duodecimum A“onem) primum quidem, quia secundum sectam eorum duodecimus non est iste /Eon, sicut ostendimus. Ut autem ex superfluo eis et hoc detur, duodecim Aeonibus exsistentibus, undecim quidem impassibiles perseverasse dicuntur, duodecimus autem passus: mulier autem e contrario duodecimo anno sanata, manifestum est quoniam undecim quidem annis habuit perseverantem passionem, duodecimo autem sanata est. Siquidem undecim ZEones in passione insanabili fuisse dicerentur, sanatus autem duodecimus, suasorium erat dicere typum eorum esse mulierem. Quia autem heec undecim quidem annis passa est, et non est sanata, duodecimo autem anno sanata est, quonam modo potest esse typus duodecimi ZEonis, ex quibus undecim omnino nihil passi sunt, solus autem duodecimus participatus est passionem? Typus enim et imago secundum materiam, et secundum subetantiam aliquoties a veritate diversus est: secundum autem habitum et lineamentum debet servare similitudinem, et similiter ostendere per praesentia illa que non sunt praesentia.

Their ignorance is also laid bare concerning the woman who, suffering from a flow of blood, touched the fringe of the Lord's garment and was healed. For they say that through her was shown that twelfth power which suffered and flowed out into infinity, that is, the twelfth Aeon. First, according to their own sect this Aeon is not the twelfth, as we have shown. But even if this too is granted to them for argument's sake, then, there being twelve Aeons, eleven are said to have remained impassible and the twelfth suffered; but the woman, on the contrary, was healed in the twelfth year, so it is clear that for eleven years she had a lasting affliction and in the twelfth was healed. If eleven Aeons were said to have been in an incurable passion and the twelfth healed, it would be plausible to say that the woman was their type. But since she suffered for eleven years and was not healed, and was healed in the twelfth year, how can she be the type of the twelfth Aeon, when eleven of them suffered nothing at all and the twelfth alone shared in passion? For a type and image sometimes differs from the truth in material and substance, but in its form and outline it must keep the likeness, and show by things present those that are not present.

Mark 5:25–34 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The woman suffered eleven years and was healed in the twelfth, the reverse of eleven impassible Aeons and one suffering Aeon.

The woman: Mark 5:25–34; Luke 8:43–48.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; margin debris; running head and page number; stray letters; stray marks): Sep et → Sed et; ex x: superfluo → ex superfluo; Konibus → Aeonibus; mulierem. QUA FIMBRIAM TETIGIT. 333 Quia → mulierem. Quia; potest GR JI. x). esse → potest esse; nihil *"! passi → nihil passi.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.23.1 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-23-1/#p-2-23-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

2.23.2Harvey 1:292

Et non solum in hac muliere anni infirmitatis descripti sunt, quos coaptari dicunt figmento suo, sed ecce et alia mulier similiter xviii annis infirmata, sanata est, de qua Dominus ait: Hanc autem filiam Abrahae, quam alligavit Satanas decem et octo annis, non oportebat solvi in die sabbati? Si ergo illa typus erat duodecimi Atonis passi, et haec typus esse decimi octavi /Eonis passi debet. Sed non habent ostendere: alioquin prima et prineipalis eorum Ogdoas connumerabitur compassis /Eonibus. Sed et alius autem quidam sanatur a Domino xxxviii annos habens in sua passione: et trigesimum et octavum passum /Eonem dicant. Si enim que a Domino facta sunt, typos esse dicunt eorum que sunt in Pleromate, typus in omnibus debet servari. Sed neque eam quée post xviii annos curata est, nec eum qui post xxxviii annos curatus est, possunt adaptare suo figmento. Insulsum autem et inconveniens est omnimodo dicere in quibusdam quidem servasse typum Salvatorem, in quibusdam autem non servasse. Dissimilis ergo et mulieris typus negotio eorum ostenditur.

And not only in this woman are the years of illness recorded, which they say fit their fiction; but see, another woman likewise, ill for eighteen years, was healed, of whom the Lord said: “This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound for eighteen years, ought she not to be loosed on the sabbath day?” If, then, the one was a type of the twelfth Aeon who suffered, this one too ought to be a type of an eighteenth Aeon who suffered. But they cannot show this; otherwise their first and original Ogdoad will be counted among the Aeons who suffered together. And another man too is healed by the Lord, who had been thirty-eight years in his affliction: let them say that the thirty-eighth Aeon suffered too. For if they say that what was done by the Lord is a type of what is in the Pleroma, the type must be kept in all cases. But they can fit to their fiction neither the woman cured after eighteen years nor the man cured after thirty-eight years. And it is altogether foolish and unfitting to say that the Savior kept the type in some cases and not in others. So the type of the woman too is shown to be unlike their scheme.

Luke 13:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 13:16 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:5 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Other healings, after eighteen and thirty-eight years, cannot be fitted to the Aeons, so the type of the woman proves nothing.

The quotation is Luke 13:16; the man ill thirty-eight years is John 5:5.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR of the numeral; OCR of the numeral and margin debris; margin Scripture reference; stray mark): xvirr annis → xviii annis; octo Lue. xiu. 16. annis → octo annis; xxxvii. annos habens δ. in → xxxviii annos habens in; post ±¥111 annos → post xviii annos; post xxxvii annos curatus → post xxxviii annos curatus; negotio ! eorum → negotio eorum.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.23.2 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-23-1/#p-2-23-2).

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Against 2, chapter 24

2.24.1Harvey 1:292

Adhuc autem et falsum demonstrat commentum eorum et instabile figmentum eorum etiam hoc ipsum, quod per numeros aliquando quidem et per syllabas nominum, aliquando autem et per syllabarum literas, aliquando vero et per numeros, qui secundum Grecos in literis continentur, tentant inferre probationes; apertissime consternationem, sive confusionem, et instabilitatem scientie eorum et extortum demonstrat. Jesus enim nomen alterius linguae exsistens ad Graecorum numerum transferentes, aliquando quidem episemon esse dicunt, sex habens literas: aliquando autem plenitudinem ogdoadum dccclxxxviii numerum habens. Graecum autem nomen ejus, quod est Soter, id est Salvator, quia non convenit figmento eorum, nec secundum numerum, nec secundum literas, tacuerunt. Et quidem si ex providentia Patris dominica nomina accepissent per numerum et per literas significantia numerum in Pleromate, Soter nomen Graecum exsistens, secundum Grecitatem et per literas et per numeros Pleromatis debuit ostendere mysterium. Sed non ita habet, quia quinque quidem est literarum, numerus autem mccccviii. Hee autem in nullo communicant Pleromati eorum: non ergo vera est illa quz ab eis in Pleromate dicitur negotiatio.

This very fact also shows their invention false and their fiction untenable: that they try to bring proofs sometimes from numbers and the syllables of names, sometimes from the letters of syllables, and sometimes from the numbers which, among the Greeks, are contained in the letters. It shows most plainly the confusion, instability, and distortion of their knowledge. For transferring the name Jesus, which belongs to another language, to Greek numeration, they sometimes say it is the Episemon, having six letters, and sometimes the fullness of the Ogdoads, having the number 888. But his Greek name, which is Soter, that is, Savior, they have passed over in silence, because it fits their fiction neither in number nor in letters. Yet if the Lord's names had been given by the Father's providence to signify by number and letters the number in the Pleroma, Soter, being a Greek name, ought in Greek to show the mystery of the Pleroma both by letters and by numbers. But it is not so, because it has five letters and the number 1,408. These have nothing in common with their Pleroma; so the transaction they say took place in the Pleroma is not true.

Notes and citation

Summary: Their number games with the name Jesus fail, since the Greek name Soter fits nothing in their Pleroma.

The numerical value of ΙΗΣΟΥΣ in Greek letters is 888; of ΣΩΤΗΡ, 1,408. On the Episemon see 1.14.4–6.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR of the numeral; OCR of the numeral; split word; stray mark): pcccLxxxvili nu merum → dccclxxxviii numerum; mccccvill → mccccviii; dicitur * negotiatio → dicitur negotiatio.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.24.1 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-23-1/#p-2-24-1).

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2.24.2Harvey 1:292

Jesus autem nomen secundum propriam Hebraeorum linguam, literarum est duarum et dimidiae, sicut periti eorum dicunt, significans Dominum eum qui continet ccelum et terram, quia Jesus secundum antiquam Hebraicam linguam ccelum est, terra autem iterum sura usser dicitur. Verbum ergo, quod caelum et terram habet, ipse est Jesus. Falsa est ergo et episemi eorum redditio, et numerus autem eorum eversus est manifeste. Secundum enim propriam eorum linguam quinque literarum est Greco vocabulo Soter; Jesus autem iterum secundum Hebraicam linguam duas et dimidiam habet literas. Et per omnia autem Hebreorum literae non conveniunt numero Graecorum, que maxime deberent antiquiores et firmiores exsistentes, salvare supputationem nominum. Ipse enim antiqu:ze et primae Hebraeorum litere et sacerdotales nuncupate, decem quidem sunt numero; scribuntur autem per quindecim, novissima litera copulata prime. Et ideo quaedam quidem secundum subsequentiam scribunt, sicuti et nos: quaedam autem retrorsum a dextra parte in sinistram partem retorquentes literas. Et Christus autem supputationem nominis convenientem /Eonis Pleromatis eorum habere debuit, qui ad stabilitatem et correctionem Pleromatis eorum prolatus est, secundum quod dicunt. Et Pater autem similiter et per literas, et per numerum, continere debuit numerum eorum, qui ab eo prolati sunt /Eonum; sed et Bythus similiter: nihilominus autem et unigenitus, et maxime autem super omnia nomen quod dicitur Deus, quod et ipsum Hebraice Baruch dicitur, et duas et dimidiam habet literas. Ex hoc ergo quod firmiora nomina secundum Hebraicam et Graecitatis linguam, nec secundum numerum literarum, nec secundum supputationem conveniunt figmento eorum, manifesta est de reliquis impudenter extorta supputatio.

The name Jesus in the Hebrews' own language has two and a half letters, as their learned men say, and means the Lord who contains heaven and earth; for in the ancient Hebrew language Jesus is “heaven,” and “earth” in turn is called sura usser. The word, then, which contains heaven and earth is Jesus himself. So their explanation of the Episemon is false too, and their number is plainly overthrown. For in their own language the Greek word Soter has five letters, while Jesus in the Hebrew language has two and a half letters. And in general the Hebrew letters do not agree with the Greek numbering, though they especially, being older and more stable, ought to preserve the reckoning of the names. For the ancient and first letters of the Hebrews, called priestly, are ten in number, but they are written with fifteen, the last letter being joined to the first. And so they write some in order, as we do, and others backward, turning the letters from the right side to the left. And Christ ought to have had a reckoning of his name agreeing with the Aeons of their Pleroma, since according to them he was brought forth for the stabilizing and correction of their Pleroma. And the Father likewise ought to contain, by letters and by number, the number of the Aeons brought forth by him; and Bythus likewise; and no less Monogenes; and above all the name that is said to be God, which in Hebrew is called Baruch and also has two and a half letters. From the fact, then, that the more stable names in the Hebrew and Greek languages fit their fiction neither by the number of letters nor by reckoning, it is plain that their reckoning of the rest is shamelessly forced.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Notes and citation

Summary: Neither the Hebrew name Jesus nor the names of God and Christ fit the Valentinian numbers, which shows their reckonings are forced.

Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition, which also shows that nothing is lost after “two and a half letters” (the debris there is removed). Irenaeus's information about Hebrew (Jesus meaning “heaven”, sura usser for “earth”, Baruch as a name of God, ten letters written with fifteen) is translated as given; it is not accurate Hebrew and its source is unknown.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (footnote number; footnote number and OCR; garbled debris where words are lost; margin gloss leaked into the text; stray character; stray characters; word lost and OCR): quia Jesus 0 secundum → quia Jesus secundum; manifeste. Secundum enim propram eorum → manifeste. Secundum enim propriam eorum; habet literas!. est?[in] ¢¢ ± ± 111. Et per → habet literas. Et per; sacerdotales colum est (ct terra, calum est) sma, terra nuncupate, ! decem → sacerdotales nuncupate, decem; scribuntur autem quz"Ἂν que per quindecim → scribuntur autem per quindecim; Et ideo 2quse quidem → Et ideo quaedam quidem; 5conveniunt → conveniunt.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.24.2 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-23-1/#p-2-24-2).

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2.24.3Harvey 1:292

Etenim ex lege, eligentes quecunque concurrunt secte eorum numero, tentant violenter probationes facere. Si autem erat propositum Matri eorum, sive Salvatori, per Demiurgum typos eorum, quae sunt in Pleromate, ostendere, in verioribus et sanctioribus fieri typos fuissent operati: et maxime autem in ipsa arca testamenti, per quam et omne tabernaculum testimonii compositum est. Facta est autem hzec, longitudo quidem ejus cubitis duobus et dimidio, latitudo autem ejus uno cubito et dimidio, et altitudo cubito uno et dimidio: numerus autem iste cubitorum in nullo convenit figmento eorum, per quem maxime typus ostendi debuit. Et propitiatorium autem similiter in nullo convenit expositionibus eorum. Adhuc autem et mensa propositionis duobus cubitis longitudo, et unius cubiti latitudo, altitudo autem ejus unius cubiti et dimidii. Haec ante sancta sanctorum, per que ne una quidem quantitas numeri significantiam quaternationis, sive octonationis, aut reliqui Pleromatis eorum continet. Quid autem candelabrum septem quidem habens calamiscos, lucernas autem septem? etsi quidem secundum typum facta fuissent, calamiscos octo totidemque lucernas habere debuit, ad typum prime octonationis, quze praefulget in Z/Eonibus, et illuminat omnem plenitudinem. Atria autem decem exsistentia diligenter numeraverunt, typum ea dicentes decem ZEonum; pelles autem jam non numeraverunt secundum numerum undecim factas. Sed neque ipsorum atriorum magnitudinem mensi sunt, viginti et octo cubitorum longitudinem unumquodque atrium habens. Et columnarum longitudinem factam decem cubitorum exponunt propter decadem /Eonum. Latitudo autem unius et dimidii cubiti erat uniuscujusque. columna, non jam exponunt, neque numerum omnium columnarum, neque serarum earum, quoniam non communicat argumento eorum. Quid autem oleum unctionis, quod omne tabernaculum sanctificavit Fortasse latuit Salvatorem, aut dormiente Matre eorum Demiurgus a semetipso de pondere praecepit: unde et dissonat ad Pleroma eorum, smyrn:e quidem habens siclos quingentos: ireos D, cinamomi ccr, calamisci ccL, et super hee oleum, ita ut ex quinque commixtionibus subsistat. Et incensum autem similiter de stacte, et ungula, et galbano, et hedyosmo, et thure, qu in nullo communicare possunt neque commixtionibus, neque pondere, argumento eorum. Irrationabile est ergo et omnino rusticanum, in sublimibus quidem et elegantioribus legis non servatos esse typos: in ceteris autem, sicubi aliquis numerus concurrit cum his quz ipsi dicunt, typus esse asseverare eorum quie sunt in Pleromate, cum omnis numerus multifarie in scripturis sit positus: ita ut possit qui velit, non solum octonationem et decadem et duodecada, sed quemlibet ex scripturis constituere numerum, et hunc typum esse commentati a se erroris.

For choosing from the law whatever agrees with the number of their sect, they try to force proofs. But if it had been the purpose of their Mother or of the Savior that types of the things in the Pleroma should be made through the Demiurge, they would have produced the types in truer and holier things, and above all in the ark of the covenant itself, for which the whole tabernacle of the testimony was built. It was made thus: its length two and a half cubits, its breadth one and a half cubits, and its height one and a half cubits; and this number of cubits, through which above all the type ought to have been shown, agrees in nothing with their fiction. The mercy seat likewise agrees in nothing with their explanations. Further, the table of the showbread was two cubits long, one cubit broad, and one and a half cubits high. These stood before the holy of holies, and in them not a single quantity contains a meaning of the Tetrad, or the Ogdoad, or the rest of their Pleroma. And what of the lampstand, with seven branches and seven lamps? If these had been made after the type, it ought to have had eight branches and as many lamps, after the type of the first Ogdoad, which shines out among the Aeons and lights the whole Pleroma. They have carefully counted the curtains, which are ten, saying they are a type of the ten Aeons; but they have not counted the skins, made eleven in number. Nor have they measured the size of the curtains themselves, each curtain being twenty-eight cubits long. And they explain that the length of the pillars was made ten cubits because of the Decad of Aeons; but the breadth of each pillar was one and a half cubits, and this they no longer explain, nor the number of all the pillars, nor of their bars, because it has nothing in common with their argument. And what of the anointing oil, which sanctified the whole tabernacle? Perhaps it escaped the Savior's notice, or while their Mother slept the Demiurge gave orders about its weight on his own; and so it is out of tune with their Pleroma, having 500 shekels of myrrh, 500 of iris, 250 of cinnamon, 250 of calamus, and oil besides, so that it consists of five ingredients. And the incense likewise, of stacte, onycha, galbanum, mint, and frankincense, which can have nothing in common with their argument either in their mixture or in their weight. It is irrational, then, and altogether boorish to say that the types were not kept in the sublime and finer parts of the law, but in other places, wherever some number coincides with what they say, to assert that it is a type of the things in the Pleroma, when every number is set down in the Scriptures in many ways, so that anyone who wished could make up from the Scriptures not only an Ogdoad, a Decad, and a Duodecad, but any number, and say that it is a type of the error he has invented.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Exod 25:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 25:17 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 25:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 25:31–37 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 26:1–2 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 26:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 26:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 30:23–25 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 30:34 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The measurements of the tabernacle, ark, lampstand, oil, and incense fit none of their numbers, and any number at all can be found in Scripture.

Two editor's chapter titles are removed. Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. References: Exod 25:10, 17, 23, 31–37; 26:1–2, 7, 16; 30:23–25, 34. Irenaeus's figures (e.g. 500 of iris for cassia, mint for the Hebrew spice) follow the Greek and Latin Bible he used.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; editor's chapter title; OCR; margin Scripture reference; margin Scripture reference inside a word; margin debris; margin debris inside a word; running head; stray mark): Quoniam secundum Legem neque imagines, neque figura exsistunt. Plenitudinis wpsorum, sed nec figure esse possunt. 65. Erenim → Etenim; cubitis duobus zxoa. xxv. et dimidio → cubitis duobus et dimidio; altitudo " cubito → altitudo cubito; expositionibus Exod. xav. eorum → expositionibus eorum; cubitis Fxod. xxv. longitudo → cubitis longitudo; cubiti — et dimidii → cubiti et dimidii; candelabrum xoc xxv. seq. septem → candelabrum septem; secundum Exos. xxvi7. numerum → secundum numerum; unumExod. xxvi.2. quodque → unumquodque; columna, non LIBILaxxv. Jam exponunt → columna, non jam exponunt; seraMASSIL rum → serarum; dissonat ad Brod. a. Pleroma → dissonat ad Pleroma; argumento eorum. Quomodo omnis numerus constare potest ex Scripturis, et typus dici omnis argumenti: de diebus, et horis, et mensibus, et vocabulis, et syllabis; de Amen, etnonaginta novem ovibus, ex quibus una perüt et wnventa est; et quoniam non possit constare per numeros veritas. InnaTIONABILE → argumento eorum. Irrationabile; in sublimibus 9.! quidem → in sublimibus quidem; commentati ἃ se → commentati a se.

Topics: Heresy, Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.24.3 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-23-1/#p-2-24-3).

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2.24.4Harvey 1:292

Quia autem hoc verum est, numerus iste qui quinque dicitur, in nullo communicans argumento eorum, nec concurrens figmento eorum, nec conveniens eis ad typicam eorum quze sunt in Pleromate demonstrationem, ex scripturis sic suscipiet probationem. Soter nomen quinque literarum, et Pater autem habet quinque literas; sed et Agape sunt literae quinque, et Dominus noster panes quinque benedicens, satiavit hominum quinque millia: sapientes virgines a Domino sunt quinque dictae; etstultee similiter quinque. Iterum quinque viri cum Domino fuisse dicuntur, quando testimonio Patris occurrit, scilicet Petrus, et Jacobus, et Johannes, et Moyses, et Helias; quintus autem ingressus Dominus ad mortuam puellam, suscitavit eam: Nullum enim, inquit, permisit intrare, nisi Petrum, et Jacobum, et patrem et matrem puellae. Ille dives apud inferos habere se quinque fratres dixit, ad quos unum ire rogat ex mortuis resurgentem. Natatoria piscina quinque habebat porticus, unde Dominus paralyticum sanum in suam domum ire precepit. Et ipse habitus crucis, fines et summitates. habet quinque, duos in longitudine, et duos in latitudine, et unum in medio, in quo requiescit qui clavis affigitur. Unaquaeque manus nostra digitos quinque habet; sed et sensus habemus quinque: et quae in nostris sunt visceribus, in quinque possunt numerari, cor, et hepar, pulmones, splen, et renes. Adhuc etiam totus homo in hunc numerum potest dividi, caput, pectus, venter, femora, pedes. Quinque etates transit humanum genus: primum infans, deinde puer, deinde parvulus, et posthaec juvenis, sic deinde senior. In quinque libris legem populo Moyses tradidit. Unaquaeque tabula quam accepit a Deo, praecepta habebat quinque. Velamen sanctum sanctorum cooperiens columnas habebat quinque. Et holocausti altare, altitudo [latitudo] ejus erat quinque cubitorum. Sacerdotes in eremo electi sunt quinque, scilicet Aaron, Nadab, Abiud, Eleazar, et Ithamar. Talaris, et logium, et reliqua: sacerdotalis compositio de quinque contexta sunt: habebant enim aurum, et hyacinthum, et purpuram, et coccinum, et byssum. Et quinque reges Amorrhaeorum in speluncis concludens Jesus Nave, capita eorum inculcari dedit populo. Et alia quoque multa millia hujusmodi, et in hoc numero, et in quo quis voluerit, sive ex Scripturis, sive ex subjacentibus naturae operibus colligere potest: et non jam ob hoc quinque Z7Eonas esse dicimus super Demiurgum, nec quinionem quasi ut divinam rem aliquam consecramus, nec instabilia, nec deliramenta per vanum istum laborem confirmare tentamus, neque creaturam bene aptatam a Deo cogimus male in typos non exsistentium transferri, et impia et nefaria dogmata introducere, cum detectio et eversio ab omnibus sensum habentibus possit exsistere.

That this is true, the number called five, which has nothing in common with their argument, does not coincide with their fiction, and does not suit them for a typical demonstration of the things in the Pleroma, will receive proof from the Scriptures as follows. Soter is a name of five letters, and Pater also has five letters; Agape too has five letters; and our Lord, blessing five loaves, satisfied five thousand people. The wise virgins were said by the Lord to be five, and the foolish likewise five. Again, five men are said to have been with the Lord when the Father's testimony came to him, namely Peter, James, John, Moses, and Elijah. And the Lord entered as the fifth to the dead girl and raised her: “For he let no one go in,” it says, “except Peter, James, and the girl's father and mother.” The rich man in Hades said he had five brothers, to whom he asks that one rising from the dead should go. The pool had five porticoes, from which the Lord commanded the paralytic to go home healed. The very form of the cross has five ends and extremities, two in length, two in breadth, and one in the middle, on which the one fixed with nails rests. Each of our hands has five fingers; we also have five senses; and the organs within us can be counted as five: heart, liver, lungs, spleen, and kidneys. Again, the whole man can be divided into this number: head, chest, belly, thighs, feet. The human race passes through five ages: first infant, then boy, then child, after that youth, and then older man. Moses delivered the law to the people in five books. Each tablet he received from God had five commandments. The veil covering the holy of holies had five pillars. And the altar of burnt offering: its height [breadth] was five cubits. Five priests were chosen in the wilderness, namely Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. The robe, the breastpiece, and the rest of the priestly vesture were woven of five things: they had gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen. And Joshua son of Nun, shutting up five kings of the Amorites in caves, gave their heads to the people to be trampled. Many thousands of other such things, both in this number and in any number one wishes, anyone can gather either from the Scriptures or from the works of nature that lie before us. Yet we do not therefore say that there are five Aeons above the Demiurge, nor do we consecrate the pentad as something divine, nor do we try to confirm unstable things and ravings by this empty labor, nor do we force a creation well fitted together by God to be wrongly turned into types of things that do not exist, and bring in impious and wicked doctrines, whose detection and overthrow is within reach of everyone who has sense.

Matt 14:17–21 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 25:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 17:1–3 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 8:51 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 16:28 (allusion, high confidence) · John 5:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 26:37 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 27:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 28:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Josh 10:16–27 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Irenaeus shows that the number five could be ‘proved’ from Scripture and nature just as easily, yet no one builds Aeons on it.

References: Matt 14:17–21; Matt 25:2; Matt 17:1–3; Luke 8:51 (quoted); Luke 16:28; John 5:2–9; Exod 26:37; Exod 27:1 (Harvey's bracketed “breadth” corrects the printed “height”); Lev 10:1 and Num 3:2 for the priests; Exod 28:5; Josh 10:16–27.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR and margin Scripture reference; footnote number; margin Scripture reference; margin Scripture reference inside a word; margin debris; margin number and damaged word; stray characters inside a word; stray letter; stray mark; stray marks): sunt in Matt. 3-19, Pleromate → sunt in Pleromate; probatio"ἫΝ Y nem. → probationem.; habet M. igno quinque → habet quinque; Dominus 11. noster → Dominus noster; similiter 118. 1. quinque → similiter quinque; quando 75 GR. 0 x. testimonio → quando testimonio; Johannes, 4 et Moyses → Johannes, et Moyses; Dominus ad Matt ind, mortuam → Dominus ad mortuam; Vullum enim, inquit, permisit Ware ix.2, 4. intrare → Nullum enim, inquit, permisit intrare; puella. 3. lle dives → puellae. Ille dives; ad quos Lue xvi. δα, unum → ad quos unum; quinJoh. ν. 3. que habebat → quinque habebat; precepit. | Et?ipse → precepit. Et ipse; tradidit. | Unaquaeque → tradidit. Unaquaeque; Et i. holocausti → Et holocausti; habebant enim ι. aurum → habebant enim aurum.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.24.4 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-23-1/#p-2-24-4).

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2.24.5Harvey 1:292

Quis enim concedat eis ccclxv tantum dies habere annum, ut sint duodecim menses e triginta diebus in typum duodecim ZEonum, dissimili et typo exsistente? Illic enim unusquisque JEonum tricesima pars est universi Pleromatis, mensis autem duodecima pars anni ab ipsis esse dicitur. Si quidem annus in triginta divideretur, et mensis in duodecim, conveniens putaretur typus esse mendacio eorum. Nunc autem in contrarium Pleroma quidem eorum in triginta dividitur, pars autem ejus aliqua in duodecim: hic autem omnis quidem annus in duas [duodecim] dividitur partes, pars autem ejus aliqua in triginta. Insulse itaque Salvator mensem quidem universi Pleromatis typum fecit fieri, annum autem ejus que in Pleromate est duodecadis: magis enim conveniebat annum quidem in triginta dividere, sicut et totum Pleroma; mensem autem in duodecim, sicut et sunt in Pleromate eorum Aeones. Et ili quidem omne Pleroma in tres dividunt, id est, in octonationem, et decadem, et duodecadem. Hic autem annus in quatuor dividitur, id est, vernum, sestatem, autumnum, et hyemem. Sed neque menses, quos dicunt typum esse tricenarii, praefinitive triginta habent dies, sed alii quidem plures, alii autem minus, quod quinque dies superponantur eis. Et dies autem non semper praefinitas duodecim habet horas, sed a novem usque ad quindecimam ascendit, et iterum a quindecima in novem descendit. Non jam propter triginta 7Eonas facti sunt menses triginta dierum; alioquin haberent prwfinitas tricenarias dies: neque iterum dies horum, ut duodecim 7Eonas per duodecim horas figurarent: haberent enim et ipsi praefiguratas semper duodecim horas.

For who would grant them that the year has only 365 days, so that there are twelve months of thirty days as a type of the twelve Aeons, when the type is unlike? For there each Aeon is a thirtieth part of the whole Pleroma, while the month, by their own account, is a twelfth part of the year. If the year were divided into thirty and the month into twelve, it might be thought a type fitting their falsehood. But as it is, on the contrary, their Pleroma is divided into thirty and a part of it into twelve, while here the whole year is divided into twelve parts and a part of it into thirty. So the Savior foolishly made the month a type of the whole Pleroma and the year a type of the Duodecad within the Pleroma; it would have been more fitting to divide the year into thirty, like the whole Pleroma, and the month into twelve, as the Aeons in their Pleroma are. And they divide the whole Pleroma into three, namely the Ogdoad, the Decad, and the Duodecad; but here the year is divided into four, namely spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Nor do the months, which they say are a type of the thirty, have exactly thirty days, but some more and some fewer, because five days are added to them. And the day does not always have exactly twelve hours, but rises from nine to fifteen and falls again from fifteen to nine. So the months were not made of thirty days because of the thirty Aeons, or they would have exactly thirty days; nor again their days, to figure the twelve Aeons by twelve hours, or they too would always have exactly twelve hours.

Notes and citation

Summary: The calendar does not match the Pleroma: months and days vary, and the divisions run the wrong way round.

Harvey's bracketed “twelve” corrects the printed “two” and is followed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR of the numeral; margin debris inside a word; page number; stray mark; stray marks): cccrLxv → ccclxv; annus*in duas [duodecim | dividitur → annus in duas [duodecim] dividitur; Pleromatis.typum → Pleromatis typum; convec.w niebat → conveniebat; minus, 160 quod → minus, quod; & quindecima → a quindecima.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.24.5 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-23-1/#p-2-24-5).

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2.24.6Harvey 1:292

Adhuc autem materialia sinistram vocantes, et ex necessitate quz sunt sinistre in corruptionem cedere dicentes, et Salvatorem venisse ad ovem perditam, ut eam transferat ad dextram, id est ad illas quae sunt salutis nonaginta et novem oves, quiae non perierunt, sed in ovili permanserunt, sinistre manus exsistentes, levamen non esse salutis consentire eos necesse est. Et hoc quod non similiter eundem numerum habet, cogentur sinistrae, id est corruptionis confiteri: et hoc nomen quod Grece dicitur Agape, secundum Grecorum literas, per quas apud eos supputatio signatur, nonaginta et tres numerum habens, similiter sinistre manus levamen est: et Alethia quoque similiter secundum supradictam rationem sexaginta quatuor numerum habens, in parte materialium subsistit: et omnia omnino quaecunque sanctorum nomina non adimplent numerum centum, sed sinistrae tantum habent numeros, corruptibilia et materialia esse confiteri cogentur.

Further, since they call material things the left hand and say that what is on the left necessarily passes into corruption, and that the Savior came to the lost sheep to transfer it to the right hand, that is, to the ninety-nine sheep which are of salvation, which did not perish but stayed in the fold, then, since these are of the left hand, they must agree that the left hand is no support of salvation. And whatever does not likewise have the same number they will be forced to confess to be of the left hand, that is, of corruption. And this name which in Greek is called Agape, having the number ninety-three according to the Greek letters by which reckoning is marked among them, is likewise a support of the left hand; and Aletheia too, having by the same reasoning the number sixty-four, belongs to the side of material things; and they will be forced to confess that absolutely all holy names that do not fill up the number one hundred, but have only the numbers of the left hand, are corruptible and material.

Matt 18:12–13 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 15:4–7 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: By their own finger-counting scheme, ninety-nine, love, and truth all belong to the corruptible left hand.

The ancients counted up to ninety-nine on the left hand and hundreds on the right; see 1.16.2. Agape (ἀγάπη) totals 93 and Aletheia (ἀλήθεια) 64. The lost sheep: Matt 18:12–13; Luke 15:4–7. Levamen is rendered “support”; the sense of the sentence about the ninety-nine is uncertain.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (footnote number; margin debris): novem 4. e. ego - oves → novem oves; necesse 5 est → necesse est.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.24.6 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-23-1/#p-2-24-6).

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Against 2, chapter 25

2.25.1Harvey 1:292

Siquis autem ad haec dixerit, Quid ergo? an vanum est, et ut provenit et nominum positiones sunt, et Apostolorum electio, et Domini operatio, et eorum quae facta sunt compositio? Dicemus eis, Non quidem; sed magna cum sapientia et diligentia ad liquidum apta et ornata omnia a Deo facta sunt, et antiqua et quaecunque in novissimis temporibus Verbum ejus operatum est, et debent ea, non numero xxx, sed subjacenti copulare argumento, sive rationi: neque de Deo inquisitionem ex numeris, et syllabis, et literis accipere. Infirmum est enim hoc propter multifarium et varium eorum, et quod possit omne argumentum hodie usque commentatum ab aliquo, contraria veritati ex ipsis sumere testimonia, eo quod in multa transferri possint; sed ipsos numeros, et ea quae facta sunt aptare debent subjacenti veritatis argumento, Non enim regula ex numeris, sed numeri ex regula: nec Deus ex factis, sed ea quse facta sunt, ex Deo. Omnia enim ex uno et eodem Deo.

If anyone says to this, “What then? Are the giving of names, the choice of the apostles, the Lord's working, and the arrangement of created things empty and a matter of chance?” we shall answer them: Not at all. Rather, all things were made by God with great wisdom and care, clearly fitted and adorned, both the ancient things and whatever his Word has worked in the last times; and they ought to be connected not with the number thirty but with the underlying subject matter, that is, with reason. Nor should the inquiry about God be drawn from numbers, syllables, and letters. For this is a weak method, because numbers are manifold and various, and because any system devised by anyone up to the present day could draw from them testimonies contrary to the truth, since they can be turned in many directions. Rather, people ought to fit the numbers themselves, and the things that have been made, to the underlying subject of the truth. For the rule does not come from numbers, but numbers from the rule; nor does God come from the things made, but the things made from God. For all things are from one and the same God.

Notes and citation

Summary: God made all things wisely, but truth is not derived from numbers; numbers must be fitted to the rule of truth.

Harvey's chapter title at the start of the section is removed. The number thirty is the number of the Valentinian Aeons (the digital text reads xx, probably for xxx).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; editor's chapter title; margin debris; stray mark; stray mark; OCR (the number thirty)): Ostensio quod. nec secundum formam Pleromatis eorum facta sint que facta, neque rursus vane et prout evenit. | Siquis → Siquis; qu: facta sunt compositio * → quae facta sunt compositio?; non numero? xx sed → non numero xxx, sed; rationi: c.1 neque → rationi: neque; hoc ! propter → hoc propter; hodie sque → hodie usque; ea qu facta → ea quae facta.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.25.1 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-23-1/#p-2-25-1).

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2.25.2Harvey 1:292

Quia autem varia et multa sunt quae facta sunt, et ad omnem quidem facturam bene aptata, et consonantia: quantum autem spectat ad unumquodque eorum, sunt sibi invicem contraria et non convenientia: sicut citharae sonus per uniuscujusque distantiam consonantem unam melodiam operatur, ex multis et contrariis sonis subsistens. Debet ergo amator veri non traduci distantia uniuscujusque soni, nec alium quidem hujus, alium autem illius artificem suspicari et factorem: neque alium quidem acutiores, alium autem vastiores, alium vero medietates aptasse: sed unum et ipsum, ad totius operis et sapientiae demonstrationem, et justitiae, et bonitatis, et muneris. Hi vero qui audiunt melodiam, debent laudare et glorificare artificem, et aliorum quidem extensionem mirari, aliorum autem laxamentum intendere, aliorum vero inter utrumque temperamentum exaudire, aliorum autem typum considerare, et ad quid unumquodque referat, et eorum causam inquirere, nusquam transferentes regulam, neque errantes ab artifice, neque abjicientes fidem quae est in unum Deum qui fecit omnia, neque blasphemantes nostrum Conditorem.

Since created things are various and many, they are well fitted and harmonious with respect to the whole creation, yet, considered one by one, they are contrary to one another and do not agree; just as the sound of a lyre, through the interval between each note, produces one harmonious melody made up of many contrary sounds. The lover of truth, therefore, ought not to be misled by the interval of each sound, nor suppose that one artist and maker made this and another that, or that one tuned the higher notes, another the lower, and another those in between; but that one and the same made them, to show the wisdom, justice, goodness, and generosity of the whole work. Those who hear the melody ought to praise and glorify the artist: to admire the tension of some notes, to attend to the slackening of others, to listen to the blending of others between the two, to consider the pattern of others and what each refers to, and to inquire into their causes, never shifting the rule, nor straying from the artist, nor casting away faith in the one God who made all things, nor blaspheming our Creator.

Notes and citation

Summary: Like the notes of a lyre, the varied and contrary things of creation form one harmony made by one artist.

A fragment of Harvey's footnote at the end of the digital text is removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; editor's footnote and running head; footnote number): qure facta → quae facta; citharse → citharae; 5acutiores → acutiores; qué est → quae est; 1 propler. multifarium...ab aliquo, lute should be said to consist ex multis LIB, I, 3. → .

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.25.2 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-23-1/#p-2-25-2).

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2.25.3Harvey 1:292

Si autem et aliquis non invenerit causam omnium quae requiruntur, cogitet quia homo est in infinitum minor Deo, et qui ex parte acceperit gratiam, et qui nondum aequalis vel similis sit factori, et qui omnium experientiam et cogitationem habere non possit, ut Deus: sed in quantum minor est ab eo qui factus non est, et qui semper idem est, ille qui hodie factus est et initium facture accepit, in tantum secundum scientiam, et ad investigandum causas omnium, minorem esse eo qui fecit. Non enim infectus es, o homo, neque semper coexsistebas Deo, sicut proprium ejus Verbum: sed propter eminentem bonitatem ejus, nunc initium facture accipiens, sensim discis a Verbo dispositiones Dei, qui te fecit.

And if anyone does not find the cause of all the things that are inquired into, let him reflect that man is infinitely less than God; that he has received grace only in part, and is not yet equal or like to his Maker; and that he cannot have experience and understanding of all things as God has. But as much as he who was made today and received the beginning of his making is less than him who was not made and is always the same, so much is he less than him who made him in knowledge and in searching out the causes of all things. For you are not unmade, O man, nor did you always coexist with God, as his own Word did; but now, receiving the beginning of your making through his surpassing goodness, you learn little by little from the Word the dispensations of God who made you.

1 Cor 13:9 (allusion, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Man, a creature with a beginning, cannot know the causes of all things as the uncreated God does.

The Word as always coexisting with God is translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR; margin debris; margin debris; OCR): quz Gh. AL xliii requiruntur → quae requiruntur; et xxv. gui ex parte → et qui ex parte; sequalis → aequalis.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.25.3 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-23-1/#p-2-25-3).

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2.25.4Harvey 1:292

Ordinem ergo serva tuae scientiae, et ne ut bonorum ignarus super transcendas ipsum Deum, non enim transibilis est: neque super Demiurgum requiras quid sit, non enim invenies. Indeterminabilis est enim artifex tuus: neque tanquam hunc totum mensus sis, et tanquam qui per omnem ejus fabricam veneris, et omne quod est in eo profundum, et altitudinem, et longitudinem consideraveris, super ipsum alium excogites patrem. Non enim excogitabis, sed contra naturam sentiens, eris insipiens: et si in hoc perseveraveris, incides in insaniam, sublimiorem teipsum melioremque factore tuo exsistimans, et quod pertranseas regna ejus.

Keep, therefore, the order of your knowledge, and do not, as one ignorant of good things, pass beyond God himself, for he cannot be passed beyond; nor seek what is above the Demiurge, for you will not find it. For your Artificer cannot be bounded. Nor, as though you had measured the whole of him, and had gone through all his workmanship, and had considered all its depth, height, and length, should you devise another Father above him. For you will not devise one; but thinking against nature you will be foolish, and if you persist in this you will fall into madness, deeming yourself loftier and better than your Maker, as though you could pass beyond his realms.

Eph 3:18 (echo, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: No one can pass beyond the Creator to find another God above him; to try is folly and madness.

Harvey's chapter titles at the start and end of the section are removed. “The Demiurge” is the heretics' term, used here by Irenaeus of the one Creator.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (editor's chapter title (of the next chapter); editor's chapter title; OCR): Ostensio quomam Demiurgus non sit. supergressibilis mente, neque super eum alteram divinitatem, esse. OrpINEM ergo serva tus scientie → Ordinem ergo serva tuae scientiae; Quid sit quod a Paulo dictum est, Scientia inflat, 7 dilectio autem edrficat. → .

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.25.4 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-23-1/#p-2-25-4).

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Against 2, chapter 26

2.26.1Harvey 1:292

Melius est ergo et utilius, idiotas et parum scientes exsistere, et per caritatem proximum fieri Deo, quam putare multum scire, et multa expertos in suum Deum blasphemos inveniri, alterum Deum Patrem fabricantes: et ideo Paulus clamavit: Scientia inflat, caritas autem aedificat: Non quia veram scientiam de Deo culparet, alioquin seipsum primum accusaret; sed quia sciebat quosdam sub occasione scientiae elatos excidere a dilectione Dei, et ob hoc opinari seipsos esse perfectos, imperfectum autem Demiurgum introducentes, abscidens eorum ob hujusmodi scientiam supercilium, ait: Scientia inflat, caritas autem aedificat. Major autem hac non est alia inflatio, quam ut opinetur quis se meliorem et perfectiorem esse eo qui fecerit, et plasmaverit, et spiramen vite dederit, et hoc ipsum esse praestiterit. Melius itaque est, sicuti praedixi, nihil omnino scientem quempiam, ne quidem unam causam cujuslibet eorum qui facta sunt cur factum sit, credere Deo, et perseverare eos in dilectione, aut per hujusmodi scientiam inflatos excidere a dilectione, quae hominem vivificat: nec aliud inquirere ad scientiam, nisi Jesum Christum Filium Dei, qui pro nobis crucifixus est, aut per quaestionum subtilitates et minutiloquium in impietatem cadere.

It is better and more profitable, therefore, to be simple and of little learning, and to draw near to God through love, than to think we know much and, having much experience, to be found blasphemers against our own God, fabricating another God the Father. And this is why Paul cried out, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up”: not because he blamed true knowledge of God (otherwise he would accuse himself first), but because he knew that some, lifted up under the pretext of knowledge, were falling away from the love of God and for this reason thought themselves perfect, while bringing in an imperfect Demiurge. Cutting down their arrogance over such knowledge, he says, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” And there is no greater puffing up than for someone to think himself better and more perfect than he who made and formed him, gave him the breath of life, and granted him his very being. It is better, then, as I said before, for someone to know nothing at all, not even a single cause why any created thing was made, and to believe God and continue in love, than to be puffed up by such knowledge and fall away from the love that gives man life; and better to seek no other knowledge than Jesus Christ the Son of God, who was crucified for us, than to fall into impiety through subtle questions and hair-splitting.

1 Cor 8:1 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 2:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 2:7 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: It is better to be simple and abide in love than to be puffed up by knowledge into blaspheming the Creator.

The quotation is 1 Cor 8:1; “Jesus Christ … crucified” echoes 1 Cor 2:2. After “God” the digital text carries Harvey's marginal suggestion “l. Dominum” (read “Lord”), removed here.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; editor's marginal reading; footnote mark; running head): Mzrius → Melius; Deum [/. Dominum] blasphemos → Deum blasphemos; caritas autem cdificat: Non → caritas autem aedificat: Non; scientisz → scientiae; caritas autem cdificat. Major → caritas autem aedificat. Major; dilectione,? aut → dilectione, aut; LIB. 11, 2. → .

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.26.1 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-23-1/#p-2-26-1).

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2.26.2Harvey 1:292

Quid enim si per hos conatus paululum quis elatus, eo quod Dominus dixerit, quia et capilli capitis vestri omnes numerati sunt, curiose inquirere voluerit, et numerum uniuscujusque capitis capillorum, et causam exquirere, per quam hic quidem tantos, ille autem tantos capillos habeat, non omnibus ex aequo habentibus, sed multis millibus super millia aliis atque aliis numeris inventis, eo quod alii quidem majora, alii autem minora habeant capita; et alii quidem spissos capillos semper, alii autem raros, alii vero et omnino paucos capillos habeant: et hi, qui putant se numerum invenisse capillorum, tentent referre ad testimonium suae secte, quam excogitaverunt? Aut iterum si quis ob hoc quod dictum sit in Evangelio: Nonne duo passeres asse veneunt? et unus ex his non cadet super terram sine Patris vestri voluntate: enumerare voluerit captos ubique quotidie passeres sive in unaquaque regione, et causam requirere ob quam heri quidem tantos, ac pridie tantos, hodie autem iterum tanti sint qui capti sunt: et annectat passerum numerum ad suam argumentum; nonne seipsum seducit omnino, et eos qui ei acquiescunt in magnam insaniam cogit, semper promptis hominibus, ut in talibus amplius quid quam magistri eorum putentur invenisse

For what if someone, a little puffed up by such efforts, because the Lord said, “Even the hairs of your head are all numbered,” should wish to inquire curiously into the number of hairs on each head and to search out the cause why this person has so many hairs and that one so many (for not all have an equal number, but many thousands upon thousands of different numbers are found, since some have larger heads and some smaller, some always have thick hair, others thin, and others very little hair at all), and those who think they have found the number of the hairs should try to bring it as testimony for the sect they have devised? Or again, if someone, because it is said in the Gospel, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without the will of your Father,” should wish to count the sparrows caught every day, everywhere or in each region, and to inquire into the cause why so many were caught yesterday, so many the day before, and so many again today, and should attach the number of sparrows to his own system: would he not wholly deceive himself, and drive those who agree with him into great madness, since people are always eager in such matters to be thought to have discovered something more than their teachers?

Matt 10:30 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 10:29 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Counting hairs or sparrows and building a system on the numbers would be as foolish as the heretics' number games.

The quotations are Matt 10:30 and Matt 10:29. “Without the will of your Father” follows a reading found in Latin writers (Tertullian, Novatian, Cyprian), not in the Greek manuscripts.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; margin debris; margin reference; margin reference; OCR; stray mark; stray marks): eo GR. IL sl. quod → eo quod; numerati **-? sunt → numerati sunt; capitis Mat.x.3. capillorum → capitis capillorum; ex sequo → ex aequo; dictum Mat.x.9. git in → dictum sit in; super lerram → super terram; vostri → vestri; enumerare o. voluerit → enumerare voluerit; tantog → tantos.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.26.2 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-23-1/#p-2-26-2).

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2.26.3Harvey 1:292

Quid autem si quis interroget nos, si omnis numerus omnium quse sunt facta, et que fiant, scitur a Deo, et si secundum illius providentiam unusquisque eorum eam, quse secundum se est, accepit quantitatem: nobisque consentientibus et confitentibus, quia nihil omnino horum que facta sunt, et quse fiunt et fient, scientiam Dei fugit, sed per illius providentiam unumquodque eorum et habitum, et ordinem, et numerum, et quantitatem accipere et accepisse propriam, et nihil omnino neque vane, nec ut provenit factum aut fieri, sed cum magna aptatione et conscientia sublimi, et esse admirabilem rationem, et vere divinam quse possit hujusmodi et discernere, et causas proprias enuntiare: accipiens a nobis hujusmodi testimonium et consensum, pergat ad hoc, ut et arenam enumeret et calculos terre, sed et fluctus maris, et stellas coeli, et causas excogitare numeri qui putatur inventus: nonne in vanum laborans, et delirus hic talis, et irrationabilis ab omnibus qui sensum habent, juste dicetur? Et quo magis praeter ceteros in hujusmodi quaestionibus occupatur, et quo plus aliis adinvenire se existimat, reliquos imperitos, et idiotas, et animales vocans, eo quod non suscipiant ejus tam vanum laborem; hoc magis est insanus et stupidus, tanquam fulmine percussus, in nullo cedens Deo; sed per scientiam, quam invenisse se putat, ipsum mutat Deum, et jaculatur sententiam suam super magnitudinem factoris.

But what if someone asks us whether every number of all the things that have been made and are being made is known to God, and whether each of them has received, according to his providence, the quantity proper to it; and we agree and confess that nothing whatever of the things that have been made, are being made, and will be made escapes God's knowledge, but that through his providence each of them receives and has received its own character, order, number, and quantity, and that nothing at all has been or is made in vain or by chance, but with great fitness and sublime understanding, and that there is an admirable and truly divine reason which can both discern such things and declare their proper causes; and he, receiving from us such testimony and agreement, goes on to count the sand and the pebbles of the earth, the waves of the sea and the stars of heaven, and to think up causes for the number he supposes he has found: will not such a man justly be called by all who have sense one who labors in vain, deluded and irrational? And the more he busies himself beyond others in such questions, and the more he thinks he discovers beyond others, calling the rest unskilled, simple, and “animal” because they do not take up his so vain labor, the more insane and stupid he is, as if struck by lightning, yielding to God in nothing; but by the knowledge he thinks he has found he changes God himself, and hurls his own opinion above the greatness of the Maker.

Notes and citation

Summary: Though God knows the number of all things, a man who tries to count sand and stars and explain the numbers is deluded.

A long passage of Harvey's footnotes and a page heading in the middle of the digital text are removed. “Animal” (animales, Greek psychikoi) is the Valentinian term for ordinary believers.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; editor's footnotes and page heading; margin debris; margin debris; OCR; running head): et 1 Sine Patris vestri voluntate] Volun— sionem hoc glossema habuisse Latinam tate in Novi Testamenti Codd. haud legi— Italicam, dubitare nos non sinunt ΤῈΒmus; legit autem in suo exemplari Tres TULLIANUS td aliquoties ta allegans, meus, ut εἰ ex his, lib. 5, cap. 22, verbia ὀ Novam. de Trin. cap. 8, Crpr. Ep. 59, colligüur: Nolente Patre nostro, quiest — Oz. ante medium, aliique. GRABR. in codis, neque passer cadet in terram. 4 MASS. supplies, ceperit aliquis. Ante Arabicam quoquc et Persicum ver3 Ci. hea the older form, vano. IMAe EST IMBECILLITATIS. 347 Stellas → et stellas; diseernere → discernere; LIB. I, nonne → nonne; ab GR. 1. xlv. omnibus → ab omnibus; praeter EE ezteros → praeter ceteros.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.26.3 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-23-1/#p-2-26-3).

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Against 2, chapter 27

2.27.1Harvey 1:292

Sensus autem sanus, et qui sine periculo est, et religiosus, et amans verum, quae quidem dedit in hominum potestatem Deus, et subdidit nostrse scientiae, haec prompte meditabitur, et in ipsis proficiet, diuturno studio facilem scientiam eorum efficiens. Sunt autem haec, quae ante oculos nostros occurrunt, et quaecunque aperte, et sine ambiguo ipsis dictionibus posita sunt in Scripturis: et ideo parabolae debent non ambiguis adaptari. Sic enim et qui absolvit, sine periculo absolvit, et parabole ab omnibus; similiter absolutionem accipient; et a veritate corpus integrum, et simili aptatione membrorum, et sine concussione perseverat. Sed qus non aperte dicta sunt, neque ante oculos posita, copulare absolutionibus parabolarum, quas unusquisque prout vult adinvenit; sic enim apud nullum erit regula veritatis; sed quanti fuerint qui absolvent parabolas, tante videbuntur veritates pugnantes semet invicem, et contraria sibimet dogmata statuentes, sicut et gentilium philosophorum quaestiones.

A sound mind, one that is free from danger, devout, and loving the truth, will readily meditate on the things God has placed in human power and subjected to our knowledge, and will advance in them, making knowledge of them easy by daily study. These are the things that come before our eyes, and whatever is set down openly and unambiguously in the very words of the Scriptures. And therefore the parables ought to be fitted to things that are not ambiguous. For in this way he who explains them explains without danger, the parables receive a like explanation from all, and the body of truth remains whole, its members fitted alike, and unshaken. But to join things that are not openly spoken nor set before our eyes to explanations of the parables which each person devises as he pleases — in that way no one will have a rule of truth; but as many as there are who explain the parables, so many truths will appear, fighting against one another and laying down doctrines contrary to one another, like the questions of the pagan philosophers.

Notes and citation

Summary: Parables must be interpreted by the clear passages of Scripture, or there will be as many conflicting truths as interpreters.

A fragment of Harvey's footnote and margin references inside the digital text are removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; editor's footnote and running head; footnote number; margin debris; stray mark; stray mark; OCR): quz quidem → quae quidem; hzec prompte → haec prompte; Sunt autem hc, quz ante → Sunt autem haec, quae ante; posita sunt ὅ in Seripturis → posita sunt in Scripturis; parabol:e → parabolae; 7concussione → concussione; quoque proverbiali voce postea utitur cap. 5 leg. in Sacris Scripturis. L1p. 11.x1,1. → ; prout vult MASS 11. adinvenit'; sic → prout vult adinvenit; sic; sed — quanti → sed quanti.

Topics: Scripture and canon, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.27.1 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-23-1/#p-2-27-1).

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2.27.2Harvey 1:292

Itaque secundum hanc rationem, homo quidem semper inquiret nunquam autem inveniet, eo quod ipsam inventionis abjecerit disciplinam. Et cum venerit Sponsus, is qui imparatam habet lampadem, nulla manifesti luminis claritate fulgentem, recurrit ad eos qui absolutiones parabolarum in tenebris distrahunt, relinquens eum qui per manifestam praedicationem gratis donat ad eum ingressum, et excluditur a thalamo ejus. Cum itaque universe Scripture, et prophetie, et Evangelia, in aperto, et sine ambiguitate, et similiter ab omnibus audiri possint etsi non omnes credunt, unum et solum Deum, ad excludendos alios, praedicent omnia fecisse per Verbum suum, sive visibilia, sive invisibilia, sive caelestia, sive terrena, sive aquatilia, sive subterranea, sicut demonstravimus ex ipsis Seripturarum dictionibus; et ipsa autem creatura in qua sumus, per ea que in aspectum veniunt, hoc ipsum testante, unum esse qui eam fecerit et regat, valde hebetes apparebunt, qui ad tam lucidam adapertionem cecutiunt oculos, et nolunt videre lumen praedicationis, sed constringunt semetipsos, et per tenebrosas parabolarum absolutiones unusquisque eorum proprium putat invenisse Deum. Quia enim de excogitato eorum qui contraria opinantur Patre, nihil aperte, neque ipsa dictione, neque sine controversia, in nulla omnino dictum sit Scriptura, et ipsi testantur dicentes, in absconso haec eadem Salvatorem docuisse non omnes, sed aliquos discipulorum, qui possunt capere, et per argumenta, et aenigmata, et parabolas ab eo significata intelligentibus. Veniunt autem ad hoc, ut dicant, alium quidem esse qui praedicatur Deus, et alium Patrem, qui per parabolas et aenigmata significatur Pater.

So, by this method, a man will always be seeking and never finding, because he has cast away the very discipline of finding. And when the Bridegroom comes, he who has his lamp unprepared, shining with no brightness of clear light, runs off to those who tear apart the explanations of the parables in darkness, leaving him who by plain preaching freely grants entrance to him, and he is shut out of his bridal chamber. Since, then, the whole of Scripture, both the prophets and the Gospels, can be heard openly and without ambiguity and alike by all (even if not all believe), and proclaims that one and only God, to the exclusion of others, made all things through his Word, whether visible or invisible, heavenly or earthly, in the water or under the earth, as we have shown from the very words of the Scriptures; and since the creation itself in which we are testifies through the things that come into view to this very thing, that there is one who made and governs it: those will appear very dull who shut their eyes to so clear a disclosure and will not see the light of the preaching, but bind themselves fast, and each of them thinks he has found his own God through dark explanations of parables. For that nothing is said openly, in plain words, and without dispute in any Scripture at all about the Father invented by those who hold contrary opinions, they themselves testify, saying that the Savior taught these same things in secret, not to all but to some of the disciples who were able to grasp them, and that they were signified by him through arguments, riddles, and parables to those who understand. And they come to this point, that they say that the God who is preached is one, and the Father who is signified through parables and riddles is another.

Matt 25:1–12 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 7:7 (echo, low confidence) · 2 Tim 3:7 (echo, medium confidence) · Col 1:16 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Scripture plainly teaches one God who made all things; the heretics admit their Father appears only in secret, obscure teaching.

The bridegroom and the lamps: Matt 25:1–12.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; margin reference inside a word): hane → hanc; disciMatt. xxv. δ plinam → disciplinam; Saliquos → aliquos; ecnigmata → aenigmata; cenigmata → aenigmata; hzec eadem → haec eadem.

Topics: Scripture and canon, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.27.2 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-23-1/#p-2-27-2).

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2.27.3Harvey 1:292

Quia autem parabole possunt multas recipere absolutiones, ex ipsis de inquisitione Dei affirmare, relinquentes quod certum, et indubitatum, et verum est, valde praecipitantium se in perieulum et irrationabilium esse, quis non amantium veritatem confitebitur? Et numquid hoc est non in petra firma, et valida, et in aperto posita aedificare suam domum, sed in incertum effusae arene? Unde et facilis est eversio hujusmodi aedificationis.

Since parables can receive many explanations, who among lovers of the truth will not admit that to make assertions about the inquiry concerning God from them, leaving what is certain, indubitable, and true, is the mark of men who throw themselves headlong into danger and are irrational? And is this not to build one's house not on a firm and strong rock set in the open, but on the uncertainty of shifting sand? Hence such a building is easily overthrown.

Matt 7:24–27 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Building doctrine about God on parables rather than on what is certain is building on sand.

The house on rock and sand: Matt 7:24–27.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; margin debris; margin debris inside a word): absolu118. 11. αὶ 8. tiones → absolutiones; relinquentes quod ASS. I. certum → relinquentes quod certum; Mut vt $5 et in aperto → et in aperto; sedificare → aedificare.

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.27.3 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-23-1/#p-2-27-3).

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