Against Heresies 4.28.1–4.32.2

Irenaeus of Lyons · Against Heresies · ca. 180–190 · Lyons · 14 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 4, chapter 28

4.28.1Harvey 2:205

Cum ergo hic et illic eadem sit in vindicando Deo justitia Dei, et illic quidem typice et temporaliter et mediocrius; hic vero vere et semper et austerius; ignis enim aeternus, et quz a caelo revelabitur ira Dei a facie Domini nostri, quemadmodum et David ait, Vultus autem Domini super facientes mala, ut perdat de terra memoriam ipsorum, majorem poenam praestat iis qui incidunt in eam; valde insensatos ostendebant presbyteri eos, qui ex his quze acciderunt his, qui olim Deo non obtemperabant, tentant alterum Patrem introducere, e contrario opponentes, quanta Dominus ad salvandos eos qui receperunt eum veniens fecisset, miserans eorum; tacentes autem de judicio ejus, et quaecunque provenient his qui audierunt sermones ejus, et non fecerunt, et quoniam expediebat eis si non essent nati, et quoniam tolerabilius Sodomae et Gomorrae erit in judicio, quam civitati illi quae non recepit sermonem discipulorum ejus.

Since, then, there and here the justice of God is the same when God takes vengeance, there typically, temporarily, and more moderately, here truly, everlastingly, and more severely (for the fire is eternal, and the wrath of God that will be revealed from heaven from the face of our Lord, as David also says, “But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to destroy their memory from the earth,” brings a greater punishment on those who fall into it), the elders showed that those are utterly senseless who, from what happened to those who of old did not obey God, try to bring in another Father, setting against it how great things the Lord did when he came to save those who received him, having pity on them; but keeping silent about his judgment and all that will come upon those who heard his words and did not do them, and that it would be better for them not to have been born, and that it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the judgment than for the city that did not receive the word of his disciples.

Matt 25:41 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 1:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 34:16 (33:17 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 7:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 26:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 10:15 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: God’s justice is the same in both covenants but more severe in the new; those who set Christ’s mercy against the Old Testament ignore his warnings of judgment.

Harvey’s chapter title (that the Word of God, judge of old and new, is one and the same) and note debris were removed. Part of the last clause, displaced by the OCR into 4.28.2, has been restored here. Quotations and allusions: Matt 25:41; Rom 1:18; Ps 34:16 (LXX 33:17); Matt 7:26; Matt 26:24; Matt 10:15.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Harvey's note and margin debris inside a word; OCR slip; editor's chapter title; line displaced by the OCR into 4.28.2, restored here; margin reference): Ostensio quod unum et idem sit Verbum Dei, dispunctor velerum et novorum. Cum ergo → Cum ergo; reternus → aeternus; quemadmodum et Pe xxxii. 17. David → quemadmodum et David; quanta Doται, revelabitur; much less, as panam. M. 266. minus → quanta Dominus; Sodomae monem discipulorum → Sodomae et Gomorrae erit in judicio, quam civitati illi quae non recepit sermonem discipulorum.

Topics: Eschatology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.28.1 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-28-1/#p-4-28-1).

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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).

4.28.2Harvey 2:205

Quemadmodum enim in novo Testamento ea qus est ad Deum fides hominum aucta est, additamentum accipiens Filium Dei, ut et homo fieret particeps Dei; ita et diligentia conversationis adaucta est, cum non solum a malis operibus abstinere jubemur, sed etiam ab ipsis malis cogitationibus, et otiosis dictionibus, et sermonibus vacuis, et verbis scurrilibus: sic et poena eorum qui non credunt Verbo Dei, et contemnunt ejus adventum, et convertuntur retrorsum, adampliata est; non solum temporalis, sed et aeterna facta. Quibuscunque enim dixerit Dominus: Discedite a me maledicti in ignem perpetuum, isti erunt semper damnati; et quibuscunque dixerit: Venite benedicti Patris mei, percipite hereditatem regni, quod praeparatum est vobis in sempiternum; hi semper percipiunt regnum, et in eo proficiunt: cum sit unus et idem Deus Pater et Verbum ejus, semper assistens humano generi, variis quidem dispositionibus, et multa operans, et salvans ab initio eos qui salvantur; sunt enim hi qui diligunt Deum, et secundum suum genus sequuntur Verbum Dei; et adjudicans eos qui adjudicantur, id est, eos qui obliviscuntur Deum, et sunt blasphemi, et transgressores ejus Verbi.

For as in the new covenant human faith in God has been increased, receiving in addition the Son of God, so that man too might share in God, so too the carefulness of conduct required has been increased, since we are commanded to abstain not only from evil works but also from evil thoughts, idle talk, empty words, and scurrilous speech; so too the punishment of those who do not believe the Word of God, despise his coming, and turn back has been increased, becoming not only temporal but also eternal. For to whomever the Lord says, “Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire,” they will be always condemned; and to whomever he says, “Come, blessed of my Father, receive the inheritance of the kingdom prepared for you,” they receive the kingdom for ever and advance in it; since there is one and the same God the Father and his Word, always present to the human race, by various dispensations, working many things, saving from the beginning those who are saved (for these are they who love God and follow the Word of God according to their kind), and condemning those who are condemned, that is, those who forget God, blaspheme, and transgress his Word.

Matt 12:36 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 5:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 25:41 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 25:34 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: In the new covenant both faith and the demands of conduct are greater, and the punishment of unbelief is eternal, not temporal.

A displaced line belonging to 4.28.1 was removed from the middle of the section and restored there. Eternal punishment: translated as written. Quotations and allusions: Matt 12:36; Eph 5:4; Matt 25:41, 34.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; line belonging to 4.28.1 displaced by the OCR; margin debris inside a word; margin debris; margin reference inside a word; stray mark): accipiens ! Filium → accipiens Filium; otiosis dic118, IV. et Gomorra erit in judicio, quam civitati illi quze non recepit serMat. s. 15 xix tionibus → otiosis dictionibus; poena 96— eorum → poena eorum; DisceMatt. xxv. 41. dite → Discedite; 1gnem → ignem; Patris met, percigite → Patris mei, percipite.

Topics: Eschatology, Ethics

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.28.2 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-28-1/#p-4-28-2).

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4.28.3Harvey 2:205

Etenim hi ipsi qui a nobis predicti sunt haeretici exciderunt sibi, accusantes Dominum, in quem dicunt se credere. Quae enim denotant in Deo, qui tunc temporaliter judicaverit incredulos, et percussit Aegyptios, salvavit autem obedientes; eadem dicantem quos adjudicat, et in sempiternum dimittentem eos quos dimittit: et invenietur, secundum illorum verba, maximi peccati causa factus his qui in eum immiserunt manus, et pupugerunt eum. Si enim non ita venisset, utique illi Domini sui interfectores facti non fuissent: et si non misisset prophetas ad eos, non utique occidissent eos, et Apostolos quoque similiter. His igitur qui imputant nobis, et dicunt: si non Aegyptii plagati fuissent, et persequentes Israel praefocati fuissent in mari, non poterat Deus salvare populum suum, occurret illud: nisi igitur Judaei interfectores Domini facti fuissent, (quod quidem abstulit ab eis aeternam vitam) et Apostolos interficientes, et persequentes Ecclesiam, in iracundiae incidissent profundum, nos salvari non poteramus. Quemadmodum enim illi per Aegyptiorum, sic et nos per Judaeorum caecitatem accepimus salutem: siquidem mors Domini eorum quidem qui cruci eum fixerunt, et non crediderunt ejus adventum, damnatio est, salvatio vero eorum qui credunt in eum. Nam et Apostolus ait in secunda ad Corinthios: Quoniam Christi suavis odor sumus Deo, et in his qui salvi fiunt, et in his qui pereunt: quibusdam quidem odor mortis in mortem; quibusdam autem odor vitae in vitam. Quibus ergo est odor mortis in mortem, nisi his qui non credunt, neque subjecti sunt Verbo Dei? Qui sunt autem qui et tunc semetipsos morti tradiderunt? Hi scilicet qui non credunt, neque subjiciuntur Deo. Rursum autem qui salvati sunt, et acceperunt haereditatem? Hi scilicet qui credunt Deo, et eam quze est erga illum dilectionem custodierunt; quemadmodum Chaleb Jeffone, et Jesus Nave, et pueri innocentes, qui neque malitiae sensum habuerunt. Qui sunt autem qui hic salvantur, et accipiunt vitam aeternam? Nonne hi qui diligunt Deum, et qui pollicitationibus ejus credunt, et malitia parvuli effecti sunt.

For these very heretics we spoke of have cut themselves off, accusing the Lord in whom they say they believe. For what they censure in God, who then temporally judged the unbelieving, struck the Egyptians, and saved the obedient, … condemning those whom he condemns and releasing for ever those whom he releases; and he will be found, by their words, to have been the cause of the greatest sin to those who laid hands on him and pierced him. For if he had not come so, they would surely not have become the murderers of their Lord; and if he had not sent prophets to them, they would surely not have killed them, nor the apostles either. To those, then, who reproach us and say, “If the Egyptians had not been struck by plagues and drowned in the sea while pursuing Israel, God could not have saved his people,” this will be the answer: then unless the Jews had become the murderers of the Lord (which indeed took eternal life away from them), and by killing the apostles and persecuting the Church had fallen into the depth of wrath, we could not have been saved. For as they received salvation through the blindness of the Egyptians, so we through the blindness of the Jews; since the death of the Lord is condemnation for those who nailed him to the cross and did not believe in his coming, but salvation for those who believe in him. For the apostle too says in the second letter to the Corinthians: “For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ to God, among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: to some a fragrance of death unto death; to others a fragrance of life unto life.” To whom, then, is there the fragrance of death unto death, if not to those who do not believe and are not subject to the Word of God? And who were those who then gave themselves over to death? Those, of course, who do not believe and are not subject to God. And again, who were saved and received the inheritance? Those, of course, who believe God and kept their love for him, like Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun, and the innocent children who had no sense of evil. And who are those who are saved here and receive eternal life? Are they not those who love God, believe his promises, and have become little children in malice?

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

John 19:37 (allusion, medium confidence) · Exod 14:28 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 2:15 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 2:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Num 14:30 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 14:31 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 14:20 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The heretics’ objections to the God of the Old Testament would equally condemn Christ; as Israel was saved through Egypt’s blindness, so the Gentiles through the Jews’ unbelief.

Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition in the quotation of 2 Cor 2:15–16 are supplied from Stieren's edition. Words also lost earlier, which Stieren's scan does not show clearly, remain marked “…” (ANF: “these same [facts] shall nevertheless repeat themselves in the Lord, who judges for eternity those whom He doth judge”). The statements about the Jews are translated as written. Quotations and allusions: John 19:37; Exod 7–14; 2 Cor 2:15–16; Num 14:30–31; 1 Cor 14:20.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip; margin debris inside a word; line number; line numbers; OCR slip; margin debris; margin debris inside a word; margin reference; note marker; stray mark; stray mark; OCR slip): Qus enim denotant → Quae enim denotant; 5judicaverit incredulos, et 5percussit /Egyptios → judicaverit incredulos, et percussit Aegyptios; 5dimittit → dimittit; non utique 118. Iv. occidissent → non utique occidissent; qui imGR. M xli. putant → qui imputant; /Egyptii plagati fuissent, et perseLx quentes → Aegyptii plagati fuissent, et persequentes; Judai → Judaei; abstulit ab eis seternam → abstulit ab eis aeternam; “enim illi per 7Egyptiorum, sic et nos per Judaeorum ezceitatem → enim illi per Aegyptiorum, sic et nos per Judaeorum caecitatem; Nam et 2 Cor. 18, Apostolus → Nam et Apostolus; Quontam Christi suavis → Quoniam Christi suavis; neque “subjiciuntur → neque subjiciuntur; quemadmodum Num. xiv.30. Chaleb → quemadmodum Chaleb; qui 1 pollicitationibus → qui pollicitationibus; odor mortis tn mortem → odor mortis in mortem.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.28.3 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-28-1/#p-4-28-3).

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Against 4, chapter 29

4.29.1Harvey 2:205

Sed induravit, inquiunt illi, Deus cor Pharaonis et famulorum ejus. Qui ergo haec imputant, non legunt in Evangelio, ubi discipulis dicentibus Domino, Quare in parabolis loqueris eis? respondit Dominus: Quoniam vobis est datum nosse mysterium regni colorum; illis autem in parabolis loquor, ut videntes non videant, et audientes non audiant, intelligentes non intelligant, ut adimpleatur erga eos prophetia Esaiae dicens: Incrassa cor populi hujus, et aures eorum obtura, et oculos eorum excaeca. Vestri autem beati oculi, qui vident quae vos videtis, et aures vestrae, quae audiunt que auditis. Unus enim et idem Deus, his quidem qui non credunt, sed nullificant eum, infert caecitatem; quemadmodum sol, qui est creatura ejus, his qui propter aliquam infirmitatem oculorum non possunt contemplari lumen ejus: his autem qui credunt ei, et sequuntur eum, pleniorem et majorem illuminationem mentis praestat. Secundum hunc igitur sermonem et Apostolus ait in secunda ad Corinthios: In quibus Deus seculi hujus excaecavit mentes infidelium, uti non fulgeat illuminatio evangelii glorie Christi. Et iterum in ea que est ad Romanos: Et quemadmodum non probaverunt Deum habere in notitia, tradidit illos Deus in reprobum sensum, facere que non conveniunt. In secunda autem ad Thessalonicenses manifeste ait, de Antichristo dicens: Et ideo mittet eis Deus operationem erroris, uti credant mendacio, uti judicentur omnes qui non crediderunt veritati, sed consenserunt iniquitati,

“But God,” they say, “hardened the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants.” Those, then, who raise this objection do not read in the Gospel where, when the disciples said to the Lord, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”, the Lord answered: “Because to you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven; but to them I speak in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not hear, and understanding they may not understand, so that the prophecy of Isaiah may be fulfilled in them, saying: Make the heart of this people fat, and stop their ears, and blind their eyes. But blessed are your eyes, which see what you see, and your ears, which hear what you hear.” For one and the same God brings blindness on those who do not believe but set him at nought, as the sun, his creature, does to those who because of some weakness of the eyes cannot look at its light; but to those who believe him and follow him he gives a fuller and greater illumination of mind. In accordance with this word the apostle also says in the second letter to the Corinthians: “In whom the God of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ may not shine.” And again in the letter to the Romans: “And as they did not see fit to have God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do what is not fitting.” And in the second letter to the Thessalonians he says plainly, speaking of the Antichrist: “And therefore God will send them a working of error, so that they may believe the lie, so that all may be judged who did not believe the truth but consented to iniquity.”

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Exod 10:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 13:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 6:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:16 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 4:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 1:28 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Thess 2:11 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Thess 2:12 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: God blinds those who reject him, as the sun dazzles weak eyes, but gives fuller light to believers, as the Gospel and Paul show.

Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition; Harvey’s notes were removed. Irenaeus takes “the God of this age” (2 Cor 4:4) to be the true God. Quotations: Exod 9:12 (10:1); Matt 13:10–11, 13–16; Isa 6:10; 2 Cor 4:4; Rom 1:28; 2 Thess 2:11–12.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Harvey's notes leaked into the text; OCR slip; OCR slip; margin debris; line number; margin debris; OCR slip; margin reference; margin reference inside a word; split word): loqueris eis? Mate, xil respondit → loqueris eis? respondit; videntes non 1 occurrit. is sufficient; cf. end 7 Ci., Vo. vero, MERO.II. hasneither. * eum videant, et audientes non audiant, \intelligentes → videntes non videant, et audientes non audiant, intelligentes; ut tm. vv. 2adimpleatur erga eos prophetia Esaic dicens: Incrassa cor dk I. populi → ut adimpleatur erga eos prophetia Esaiae dicens: Incrassa cor populi; excacca. Vestri MASS. IV. autem → excaeca. Vestri autem; aures vestra, quo Via audiunt → aures vestrae, quae audiunt; nullificant 5eum → nullificant eum; Á postolus → Apostolus; hujus 3 C 2 Cor ιν 4 excaecavit → hujus excaecavit; quemadBom. i. se. modum → quemadmodum; Deus tn reprobum → Deus in reprobum; judi2 m1. centur → judicentur.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.29.1 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-28-1/#p-4-29-1).

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4.29.2Harvey 2:205

Si igitur et nunc, quotquot scit non credituros Deus, cum sit omnium praecognitor, tradidit eos infidelitati eorum, et avertit faciem ab hujusmodi, relinquens eos in tenebris, quas ipsi sibi elegerunt, quid mirum, si et tunc nunquam crediturum Pharaonem cum his qui cum eo erant, tradidit eos suze infidelitati? Quemadmodum Verbum ait de rubo ad Moysen: Ego autem scio quoniam non dimittet vos Pharao rex Aegypti abire, nisi cum manu valida. Et qua ratione Dominus in parabolis loquebatur, et caecitatem faciebat Israel, ut videntes non viderent, sciens incredulitatem eorum, eadem ratione et cor Pharaonis indurabat, ut videns, quoniam digitus Dei est qui educit populum, non crederet, sed in infidelitatis praecipitaretur pelagus, per magicam operationem opinatus fieri exitum eorum, et rubrum mare non ex virtute Dei transitum praestitisse populo, sed naturaliter sic se habere.

If, then, now too God, since he foreknows all things, has handed over to their unbelief as many as he knows will not believe, and turned his face away from such people, leaving them in the darkness they have chosen for themselves, what wonder is it if then too he handed over to his unbelief Pharaoh, who would never believe, together with those who were with him? As the Word said from the bush to Moses: “But I know that Pharaoh king of Egypt will not let you go, except by a strong hand.” And for the same reason for which the Lord spoke in parables and brought blindness on Israel, so that seeing they might not see, knowing their unbelief, he also hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that, seeing that it was the finger of God that led the people out, he might not believe, but be plunged into the sea of unbelief, supposing that their departure was brought about by magic, and that the Red Sea gave the people passage not by the power of God but because it was naturally so.

Exod 3:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 8:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 14:21 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: As God hands over to unbelief those he foreknows will not believe, so he hardened Pharaoh, who would never have believed.

Divine foreknowledge and hardening: translated as written. Quotations and allusions: Exod 3:19; Matt 13:13; Exod 8:19.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray mark; stray mark): infidelitati?* Quemadmodum → infidelitati? Quemadmodum; scio quontam non " dimittet vos Pharao rex Egypti abire, nisi Scum manu → scio quoniam non dimittet vos Pharao rex Aegypti abire, nisi cum manu.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.29.2 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-28-1/#p-4-29-2).

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Against 4, chapter 30

4.30.1Harvey 2:205

Qui vero exprobrant et imputant, quod profecturus populus, jussu Dei, vascula omnis generis et vestimenta acceperit ab Aegyptiis, et sic abierit, ex quibus et tabernaculum factum est in eremo, ignorantes justificationes Dei et dispositiones ejus, semetipsos arguunt, sicut et presbyter dicebat. Si enim non in typica profectione hoc consensisset Deus, hodie in vera nostra profectione, id est, in fide in qua sumus constituti, per quam de numero gentilium exemti sumus, nemo poterat salvari. Omnes enim nos aut modica aut grandis sequitur possessio, quam ex mammona iniquitatis acquisivimus. Unde enim domus in quibus habitamus, et vestimenta quibus induimur, et vasa quibus utimur, et reliqua omnis ad diuturnam vitam nostram ministratio, nisi ex his, quze, cum ethnici essemus, de avaritia acquisivimus, vel ab ethnicis parentibus aut cognatis aut amicis, de injustitia acquirentibus percepimus? ut non dicamus, quia et nunc in fide exsistentes acquirimus. Quis enim vendit, et non lucrari vult ab eo qui emit? Quis autem emit, et non vult utiliter secum agi ab eo qui vendit? Quis autem negotians non propterea negotiatur, ut inde alatur? Quid autem et hi qui in regali aula sunt fideles, nonne ex eis quie Caesaris sunt habent utensilia, et his qui non habent unusquisque eorum secundum suam virtutem praestat? Aegyptii populi erant debitores non solum rerum, sed et vitae suse, propter patriarche Joseph praecedentem benignitatem: nobis autem secundum quid debitores sunt ethnici, a quibus et lucra et utilitates percipimus? quaecunque illi cum labore comparant, his? nos, in fide cum simus, sine labore utimur.

Those who reproach and blame the people because, by God’s command, as they were about to set out, they took vessels of every kind and garments from the Egyptians and so went away (and from these the tabernacle was made in the desert), not knowing the righteous acts and dispensations of God, refute themselves, as the presbyter also said. For if God had not agreed to this in the typical exodus, today in our true exodus, that is, in the faith in which we have been established, by which we have been taken out of the number of the Gentiles, no one could be saved. For all of us are followed by possessions, small or great, which we have acquired from the mammon of unrighteousness. For where do the houses in which we live come from, the clothes we wear, the vessels we use, and all the rest that serves our daily life, if not from what we acquired by greed when we were pagans, or received from pagan parents, relatives, or friends who acquired it unjustly? Not to mention that we acquire such things even now, being in the faith. For who sells and does not want to profit from the buyer? And who buys and does not want to be dealt with advantageously by the seller? And what trader does not trade in order to live from it? And what of the faithful who are in the royal court: do they not have their goods from what is Caesar’s, and does not each of them give to those who have not, according to his ability? The Egyptians were the people’s debtors not only for property but for their very lives, because of the earlier kindness of the patriarch Joseph; but in what way are the pagans debtors to us, from whom we receive both gain and profit? Whatever they acquire with labour, we, being in the faith, use without labour.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Exod 3:22 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 12:35 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 12:36 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 16:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 47:12 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Israel’s taking of the Egyptians’ goods was just and a type; Christians too live on goods acquired from pagans, who owe them far less than Egypt owed Israel.

Harvey’s chapter title (why the people took vessels from Egypt by God’s command) and his notes were removed. Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Christians “in the royal court”: an early witness to believers in the imperial household. Allusions: Exod 3:22; Exod 12:35–36; Luke 16:9; Gen 41–47.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Harvey's note leaked into the text; OCR slip; editor's chapter title; margin references; line number; margin debris; stray marks; OCR slip): Quare secundum jussum Dei vasa ab /£gyptus sumsit Tert.c. Qui vero exprobrant et imputant, quod profecturus populus, 11. 90. jussu Dei → Qui vero exprobrant et imputant, quod profecturus populus, jussu Dei; ab ZEgyptiis, et sic abierit → ab Aegyptiis, et sic abierit; qui 5non habent → qui non habent; praestat?* —7Egyptii Spopuli → praestat? Aegyptii populi; nobis autem 1 Hoc...professione. Octo has voces scribe prabuere sequentia: id est, in fide ex V ET. Cod. restituit FEU. quas et V0. Àasecundum quid → nobis autem secundum quid; et 1B, 1Vv. utilitates → et utilitates; qu:ecunque → quaecunque.

Topics: Ethics, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.30.1 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-28-1/#p-4-30-1).

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4.30.2Harvey 2:205

Ad hoc populus pessimam servitutem serviebat Aegyptiis, quemadmodum Scriptura ait: Et cum vi potestatem exercebant operibus duris, luto et latere, et omnibus operibus que faciebant in campis, per omnia opera quibus eos deprimebant cum vi: et edificaverunt eis civitates munitas, multum laborantes, et augentes eorum substantias annis multis, et per omnem modum servitutis, cum illi non solum ingrati essent adversus eos, verum et universos eos perdere vellent. Quid igitur injuste gestum est si ex multis pauca sumserunt, et qui potuerunt multas substantias habere si non servissent eis, et divites abire, paucissimam mercedem pro magna servitute accipientes inopes abierunt? Quemadmodum si quis liber, abductus ab aliquo per vim, et serviens ei annis multis, et augens substantiam ejus, post deinde aliquod adminiculum consecutus, putetur quidem modica quaedam ejus habere, revera autem ex multis laboribus suis, et ex acquisitione magna pauca percipiens discedat, et hoc ab aliquo imputetur ei, quasi non recte fecerit? ipse magis injustus judex apparebit ei qui per vim in servitium fuerat deductus. Sic ergo sunt et hujusmodi, qui imputant populo parva de multis accipienti sibi; et ipsis non imputant, qui nullam gratiam ex merito parentum debitam reddiderunt; imo et in gravissimam servitutem redigentes, maximam ab eis consecuti sunt utilitatem: et illos quidem non signatum aurum et argentum in paucis vasculis, de suis laboribus, quemadmodum prediximus, accipientes, injuste fecisse dicunt; semetipsos autem (dicetur enim quod verum est, licet ridiculum quibusdam esse videatur) ex alienis laboribus insigne aurum et argentum et aeramentum, cum inscriptione et imagine Caesaris, in zonis suis ferentes, juste se facere dicunt.

Until then the people had served the Egyptians in the worst slavery, as Scripture says: “And the Egyptians exercised power over them with hard labour, in mud and brick and all the work they did in the fields, in all the works by which they oppressed them with force”; and they built them fortified cities, labouring greatly and increasing their wealth for many years and by every kind of slavery, while the Egyptians were not only ungrateful to them but wanted to destroy them all. What injustice was done, then, if they took a little out of much, and those who could have had great wealth if they had not served them and gone away rich, went away poor, receiving very small wages for great slavery? It is as if a free man, carried off by someone by force and serving him many years and increasing his wealth, afterwards obtained some help, and seemed to have a few small things of his master’s, but in reality went away receiving little from his many labours and from great gains, and someone accused him as if he had not acted rightly: the judge would rather appear unjust toward him who had been forced into slavery. Such are these people too, who blame the people for taking a little out of much, and do not blame those who returned no thanks owed for the merit of their fathers, but even reduced them to the heaviest slavery and gained the greatest profit from them. And they say that these acted unjustly in taking unstamped gold and silver in a few vessels, from their own labours, as we said; while they themselves (for the truth shall be told, though to some it may seem laughable) say that they act justly in carrying in their belts, from other people’s labours, coined gold and silver and bronze with Caesar’s inscription and image.

Exod 1:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 1:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 1:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 22:20 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Israel took only a small wage for long, cruel slavery; the heretics who blame them carry Caesar’s coin earned by others’ labour.

Margin references and debris were removed. Quotation and allusion: Exod 1:13–14, 11.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip; margin debris; margin reference inside a word; note marker; running head; OCR slip): /Egyptiis, xxx. 2 quemadmodum → Aegyptiis, quemadmodum; Et cwm 8 ei potestatem. exercebant → Et cum vi potestatem exercebant; latere, οἱ omnibus → latere, et omnibus; magna 9pauca → magna pauca; qui imCf. Tertuil c. Marc. putant → qui imputant; et 118. Iv. seramentum → et aeramentum; Cesaris, in zonis suis On IV. ax. ferentes, juste se facere dicunt. mE xxx.3 ` 3. → Caesaris, in zonis suis ferentes, juste se facere dicunt..

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.30.2 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-28-1/#p-4-30-2).

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4.30.3Harvey 2:205

Si autem et comparatio fiat nostra et illorum, qui justius apparebunt accepisse? utrumne populus ab Aegyptiis, qui erant per omnia debitores, an nos a Romanis et reliquis gentibus, et a quibus nihil tale nobis debeatur? Sed et mundus pacem habet per eos, et nos sine timore in viis ambulamus et navigamus quocunque voluerimus. Adversus igitur hujusmodi aptus erit sermo Domini: Hypocrita, dicens, exime primo trabem de oculo tuo, et tunc perspicies auferre festucam de oculo fratris tui. Etenim si is qui tibi haec imputat, et gloriatur in sua scientia, separatus est a gentilium caetu, et nihil est alienorum apud eum, sed et simpliciter nudus, et nudis pedibus, et sine domo in montibus conversatur, quemadmodum aliquod ex his animalibus qui herbis vescuntur, veniam merebitur, ideo quod ignoret necessitates nostre conversationis. Si autem ab hominibus qui dicuntur aliena esse participatur, et arguit typum eorum, semetipsum injustissimum ostendit, retorquens in se ejusmodi accusationem. Invenietur enim aliena circumferens, et ea quz ejus non sunt, concupiscens; et propter hoc dixisse Dominum: Nolite judicare, ne judicemini: in quo enim judicio judicabitis, judicabitur de vobis. Non utique ut peccantes non corripiamus, nec ut his que male fiunt consentiamus; sed ut Dei dispositiones non judicemus injuste, cum ille omnia juste profutura providerit. Quoniam enim sciebat nos de nostra substantia, quam ab alio accipientes haberemus, bene acturos, Qui enim habet, inquit, duas tunicas, det ei qui non habet: et qui habet escam, similiter faciat. Et, Esurivi enim, et dedistis mihi manducare: et nudus fui, et vestistis me. Et, Cum facis eleemosynam, non sciat sinistra tua quid faciat dextra tua; et reliqua quaecunque benefacientes justificamur, velut de alienis nostra redimentes: de alienis autem ita dico, non quasi mundus alienus sit a Deo, sed quoniam hujusmodi dationes ab aliis accipientes habemus, similiter velut illi ab Aegyptiis qui non sciebant Deum, et per haec ipsa erigimus in nobismetipsis tabernaculum Dei: cum bene enim facientibus habitat Deus; quemadmodum Dominus ait: Facite vobis amicos de mammona iniquitatis, ut hi, quando fugati fueritis, recipiant vos in aeterna tabernacula. Quaecunque enim cum essemus ethnici de injustitia acquisivimus, haec, cum crediderimus, in dominicas utilitates convertentes, justificamur;

And if a comparison is made between us and them, who will appear to have received more justly? The people from the Egyptians, who were in every way their debtors, or we from the Romans and the other nations, by whom nothing of the kind is owed us? Indeed, through them the world has peace, and we walk the roads without fear and sail wherever we wish. Against such people, then, the Lord’s word will fit: “Hypocrite, first take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” For if the one who reproaches you with these things and glories in his knowledge has separated himself from the company of the Gentiles, has nothing of others’ goods, but goes simply naked and barefoot and lives without a house in the mountains, like one of the animals that feed on grass, he will deserve pardon, because he does not know the necessities of our life. But if he shares in what people call others’ goods and yet attacks their type, he shows himself most unjust, turning such an accusation against himself. For he will be found carrying about what is others’ and coveting what is not his. And for this reason the Lord said: “Do not judge, lest you be judged; for with the judgment you judge you will be judged.” Not, of course, that we should not rebuke sinners or consent to what is done wrongly, but that we should not judge unjustly the dispensations of God, since he has provided that all things will turn out justly for good. For since he knew that we would do good with our substance, which we have by receiving it from another, he says: “Whoever has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and whoever has food, let him do likewise.” And: “For I was hungry and you gave me to eat; and I was naked and you clothed me.” And: “When you give alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” And by all the other good works we are justified, as it were redeeming what is ours from what is others’. I say “others’,” not as if the world were foreign to God, but because we have such gifts by receiving them from others, as they did from the Egyptians who did not know God; and by these very things we raise up in ourselves the tabernacle of God; for God dwells with those who do good, as the Lord says: “Make friends for yourselves with the mammon of unrighteousness, so that, when you are put to flight, they may receive you into eternal tabernacles.” For whatever we acquired from unrighteousness when we were pagans, we are justified when, having believed, we turn it to the Lord’s uses;

Matt 7:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 7:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 7:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 3:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 25:35 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 25:36 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 6:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 16:9 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christians enjoy the peace and goods of the Roman world; using what came from pagans for almsgiving builds God’s tabernacle in us.

Margin references and Harvey’s note debris were removed. The positive remark on Roman peace is Irenaeus’s own. Quotations: Matt 7:5; Matt 7:1–2; Luke 3:11; Matt 25:35–36; Matt 6:3; Luke 16:9.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip; Harvey's note; line number; margin debris; margin debris inside a word; margin reference; margin reference; OCR slip; margin references inside a word; OCR slip; running head; margin debris inside a word; split word; stray mark; page number of Massuet; OCR slip): fiat ! nostra et illorum, qui justius M- 368. apparebunt accepisse? utrumne populus ab /Egyptiis → fiat nostra et illorum, qui justius apparebunt accepisse? utrumne populus ab Aegyptiis; sermo matt. vi. 6. Domini → sermo Domini; her. bis vescuntur → herbis vescuntur; ab 5hominibus → ab hominibus; sunt, 1,2. Concupiscens → sunt, concupiscens; judicomini → judicemini; habereLuc. iii. 11. mus, bene acturos, Qui enim habet, inquit, duas tuntcas, det ei qui Matt xxv. 10% habet → haberemus, bene acturos, Qui enim habet, inquit, duas tunicas, det ei qui non habet; Mat. vis σέ dedistis mili manducare → et dedistis mihi manducare; Et, Cum T facis → Et, Cum facis; quzecunque-benefacientes → quaecunque benefacientes; ab ZEgyptiis qui non sciebant → ab Aegyptiis qui non sciebant; eum bene enim facientibus habitat Deus; quemadmodum 1 f. ]. nostri. 4 est, but Dominus ait → cum bene enim facientibus habitat Deus; quemadmodum Dominus ait; ut hi, 118. 1v. quando ! fugati fueritis, recipiant vos in aterna tabernacula. QuaeGEHE ty cunque → ut hi, quando fugati fueritis, recipiant vos in aeterna tabernacula. Quaecunque; '** * heec, cum crediderimus, in dominicas utilitates convertentes, justi*¥! 9. ficamur; → haec, cum crediderimus, in dominicas utilitates convertentes, justificamur;.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.30.3 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-28-1/#p-4-30-3).

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4.30.4Harvey 2:205

necessarie igitur haec in typo praemeditabantur, et tabernaculum Dei ex his fabricatur: illis quidem juste accipientibus, quemadmodum ostendimus; nobis autem praeostensis in ipsis, qui inciperemus per aliena Deo deservire. Universa enim quae ex Aegypto profectio fiebat populi, a Deo typus et imago fuit profectionis Ecclesie, qus erat futura ex gentibus: propter hoc et in fine educens eam hinc in suam haereditatem, quam non Moyses quidem famulus Dei, sed Jesus Filius Dei in hereditatem dabit. Si quis autem diligentius intendat his quae a prophetis dicuntur de fine, et quaecunque Johannes discipulus Domini vidit in Apocalypsi, inveniet easdem plagas universaliter accipere gentes, quas tunc particulatim accepit Aegyptus.

necessarily, then, these things were prepared beforehand in a type, and the tabernacle of God was made from them: they receiving justly, as we have shown, and we being shown beforehand in them, who would begin to serve God by means of what belongs to others. For the whole departure of the people from Egypt, which took place under God, was a type and image of the departure of the Church that was to come from the Gentiles; for this reason he also, at the end, leads her out from here into his inheritance, which not Moses the servant of God but Jesus the Son of God will give as an inheritance. And if anyone pays closer attention to what the prophets say about the end, and to all that John the disciple of the Lord saw in the Apocalypse, he will find that the nations receive universally the same plagues which Egypt then received in part.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Heb 3:5 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rev 16:1 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The exodus was a type of the Church’s departure from the Gentiles to the inheritance Jesus gives; the end-time plagues will repeat Egypt’s on all nations.

Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Allusions: Heb 3:5–6; Rev 15–16.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip; split word; small capitals; OCR slip; stray mark): necessarie igitur hzec in typo praemeditabantur, et taber. naeulum → necessarie igitur haec in typo praemeditabantur, et tabernaculum; nobis'autem → nobis autem; UnIvERsa enim que ex ZEgypto → Universa enim quae ex Aegypto; quidein → quidem; his quze ἃ prophetis → his quae a prophetis; particulatim accepit /Egyptus → particulatim accepit Aegyptus.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.30.4 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-28-1/#p-4-30-4).

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Against 4, chapter 31

4.31.1Harvey 2:205

Talia quaedam enarrans de antiquis presbyter, reficiebat nos, et dicebat: De his quidem delictis, de quibus ipse Scripture increpant patriarchas et prophetas, nos non oportere exprobrare eis, neque fieri similes Cham, qui irrisit turpitudinem patris sui, et in maledictionem decidit; sed gratias agere pro illis Deo, quoniam in adventu Domini nostri remissa sunt eis peccata: etenim illos dicebat gratias agere, et gloriari in nostra salute. De quibus autem Scripture non increpant, sed simpliciter sunt positae, nos non debere fieri accusatores, non enim sumus diligentiores Deo, neque super magistrum possumus esse, sed typum queerere. Nihil enim otiosum est eorum quecunque inaccusabilia posita sunt in Scripturis.” Quemadmodum et Lot, qui eduxit de Sodomis filias suas, quze conceperunt de patre suo, et qui reliquit in circumfinio uxorem suam statuam salis usque in hodiernum diem. Etenim Lot non ex sua voluntate, neque ex sua concupiscentia carnali, neque sensum neque cogitationem hujusmodi operationis accipiens, consummavit typum. Quemadmodum Scriptura dicit: Et intravit major nata, et dormivit cum patre suo nocte illa: et non scivit Lot cum dormiret illa, et cum surgeret. Et in minore autem hoc idem: Et non scivit, inquit, cum dormisset secum, nec cum surrexisset. Nesciente igitur homine, neque libidini serviente, dispensatio perficiebatur, per quam duae filiae, id est duae synagogae, ab uno et eodem patre in sobolem adoptate significabantur sine carnis libidine. Nec enim alter erat aliquis qui semen vitale et filiorum fructum posset dare eis, quemadmodum scriptum est: Dicit autem major ad minorem: Pater noster senior est, et nemo est super terram qui intret ad nos, ut oportet omni terre: veni, potionemus patrem nostrum vino, et dormiamus cum eo, et suscitemus de patre nostro semen.

Recounting things of this kind about the ancients, the presbyter used to refresh us, and he would say: “As for those offences for which the Scriptures themselves rebuke the patriarchs and prophets, we ought not to reproach them, nor become like Ham, who mocked his father’s shame and fell under a curse; but we should give thanks to God for them, because their sins were forgiven at the coming of our Lord; for he said that they give thanks and glory in our salvation. But as for the things for which the Scriptures do not rebuke them, but which are simply set down, we ought not to become accusers (for we are not more exact than God, nor can we be above the master), but seek the type. For nothing is idle among the things set down in the Scriptures without blame.” So with Lot, who led his daughters out of Sodom, who conceived by their father, and who left his wife in the border region, a pillar of salt to this day. For Lot, not by his own will nor by his own carnal desire, nor receiving any sense or thought of such an act, fulfilled a type. As Scripture says: “And the elder went in and slept with her father that night; and Lot did not know when she slept or when she rose.” And of the younger the same: “And he did not know,” it says, “when she had slept with him, nor when she rose.” So, the man not knowing and not serving lust, the dispensation was carried out by which the two daughters, that is, the two synagogues, adopted as offspring by one and the same father, were signified, without the lust of the flesh. For there was no one else who could give them the seed of life and the fruit of children, as it is written: “The elder said to the younger: Our father is old, and there is no one on earth to come in to us as is the way of all the earth; come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us sleep with him, and raise up seed from our father.”

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Gen 9:22 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 9:25 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 10:24 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 19:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 19:33 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 19:35 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 19:31 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 19:32 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The presbyter taught not to reproach the ancients for sins Scripture rebukes, and to seek types where it does not, as in Lot and his daughters, a figure of the two synagogues.

Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Lot’s daughters as a type: translated as written. Quotations and allusions: Gen 9:22–25; Matt 10:24; Gen 19:26, 33, 35, 31–32.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; margin debris; OCR slip; page number of Massuet; stray mark; stray marks): dicebat: * De his → dicebat: De his; pro ilis Deo → pro illis Deo; et ^gloriari → et gloriari; de patre suo, ! et qui reliquit in ! circumfinio → de patre suo, et qui reliquit in circumfinio; major o. sa nata, et dormivit cum patre suo nocte illa: σὲ mon scivit Lot cum dormiret sila → major nata, et dormivit cum patre suo nocte illa: et non scivit Lot cum dormiret illa; surrexisset. Μ. se Nesciente → surrexisset. Nesciente; duse filie, 510 est duse synagoge → duae filiae, id est duae synagogae; ®ut oportet → ut oportet.

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.31.1 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-28-1/#p-4-31-1).

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4.31.2Harvey 2:205

Illae quidem filiae secundum simplicitatem et innocentiam putantes universos homines periisse, quemadmodum et Sodomitas, et in universam terram iracundiam Dei supervenisse, dicebant haec. Quapropter et ipsae excusabiles sunt, arbitrantes se solas relictas cum patre suo ad conservationem generis humani, et propter hoc circumveniebant patrem. Per verba autem earum significabatur, neminem esse alterum qui possit filiorum generationem majori et minori synagogae prestare, Pater autem generis humani Verbum Dei: quemadmodum Moyses ostendit dicens: Nonne hic ipse Pater tuus qui possedit te, et fecit te, et creavit te? Quando igitur hic vitale semen, id est, Spiritum remissionis peccatorum per quem vivificamur, effudit in humanum genus? nonne tunc cum convescebatur cum hominibus, et bibebat vinum in terra? Venit enim, inquit, Filius Hominis manducans et bibens: et cum recubuisset obdormivit, et somnum cepit. Quemadmodum ipse in David dicit: Ego dormivi et somnum cepi. Et quoniam in nostra communicatione et vita hoc agebat, iterum ait: Et somnus meus suavis mihi factus est. Totum autem significabatur per Lot, quoniam semen patris omnium, id est, Spiritus Dei, per quem facta sunt omnia, commixtus et unitus est carni, hoc est, plasmati suo: per quam commixtionem et unitatem duae synagogae, id est duae congregationes, fructificantes ex patre suo filios vivos vivo Deo.

Those daughters, in their simplicity and innocence, thinking that all human beings had perished like the Sodomites and that God’s anger had come upon the whole earth, said these things. Therefore they too are excusable, thinking that they alone were left with their father to preserve the human race, and for this reason they deceived their father. But through their words it was signified that there is no one else who can give the begetting of children to the elder and the younger synagogue; and the Father of the human race is the Word of God, as Moses shows, saying: “Is not this same one your Father, who acquired you, and made you, and created you?” When, then, did he pour out the seed of life, that is, the Spirit of the forgiveness of sins, through whom we are made alive, upon the human race? Was it not when he ate with human beings and drank wine on the earth? “For the Son of Man came,” it says, “eating and drinking”; and when he had lain down he fell asleep and took rest. As he himself says in David: “I slept and took rest.” And since he did this sharing our life, he says again: “And my sleep was sweet to me.” The whole was signified through Lot: that the seed of the Father of all, that is, the Spirit of God, through whom all things were made, was mingled and united with flesh, that is, with his own handiwork; through which mingling and union the two synagogues, that is, the two congregations, bear from their father living sons to the living God.

Deut 32:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 3:5 (3:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 31:26 (38:26 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Lot’s daughters, who acted in innocence, signify the two synagogues that receive the life-giving Spirit from the Word, the true Father of mankind.

Allegory: translated as written. Quotations and allusions: Deut 32:6; Matt 11:19; Ps 3:5 (LXX 3:6); Jer 31:26 (LXX 38:26).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip; margin reference; stray stops; margin reference; margin reference; stray mark; note marker; OCR slip; stray mark): llle quidem filie → Illae quidem filiae; 1Dei supervenisse, dicebant hsc. Quapropter et ipse excusabiles → Dei supervenisse, dicebant haec. Quapropter et ipsae excusabiles; JVonne hic ipse Pater tuus qui Deut xxxiie. possedit. te, et. fecit te → Nonne hic ipse Pater tuus qui possedit te, et fecit te; semen, ^id est → semen, id est; Venit, enim inquit, Filius Matt xt. 19. Hominis → Venit enim, inquit, Filius Hominis; dormivi Ps it 6. et " somnum → dormivi et somnum; unitatem 01100 synagogae → unitatem duae synagogae.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.31.2 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-28-1/#p-4-31-2).

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4.31.3Harvey 2:205

Et cum haec fierent uxor remansit in Sodomis, jam non caro corruptibilis sed statua salis semper manens, et per naturalia ea quse sunt consuetudinis hominis ostendens, quoniam et Ecclesia, que est sal terrae, subrelicta est in confinio terre, patiens que sunt humana: et dum saepe auferuntur ab ea membra integra, perseverat statua salis, quod est firmamentum fidei, firmans et praemittens filios ad Patrem ipsorum.

And while these things were happening, the wife remained in Sodom, no longer corruptible flesh but a pillar of salt, always remaining, and showing by natural things what belongs to human life: that the Church too, which is the salt of the earth, has been left behind in the border region of the earth, suffering what is human; and while whole members are often taken away from her, the pillar of salt endures, which is the foundation of the faith, strengthening and sending children ahead to their Father.

Gen 19:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 5:13 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Lot’s wife, a lasting pillar of salt, signifies the Church, the salt of the earth, which endures through suffering and sends her children to the Father.

Allusions: Gen 19:26; Matt 5:13.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; margin debris; note marker): uxor 1remansit → uxor remansit; salis c. ass semper → salis semper; dum &epe auferuntur → dum saepe auferuntur.

Topics: Martyrdom

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.31.3 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-28-1/#p-4-31-3).

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Against 4, chapter 32

4.32.1Harvey 2:205

Hujusmodi quoque de duobus Testamentis senior Apostolorum discipulus disputabat, ab uno quidem et eodem Deo utraque ostendens, Nec enim esse alterum Deum preter eum qui fecit et plasmavit nos, nec firmitatem habere sermonem eorum qui dicunt aut per angelos, aut per aliam quamlibet virtutem, aut ab alio Deo factum esse hunc mundum qui est secundum nos. Si enim semel quis transmoveatur a factore omnium, et concedat ab aliquo altero, aut per alium factam conditionem quse est secundum nos, multam incongruentiam et plurimas contradictiones necesse est incidat hujusmodi: ad quas nullas dabit rationes, neque secundum verisimile, neque secundum veritatem. Et propter hoc hi qui alias doctrinas inferunt, abscondunt a nobis quam habent ipsi de Deo sententiam, scientes quassum et futile doctrinae suse, et timentes ne victi salvari periclitentur. Si autem credat quis unum Deum, et qui Verbo omnia fecit, quemadmodum et Moses ait: Dixit Deus, fiat lux, et facta est lux; et in Evangelio legimus: Omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil; et Apostolus Paulus similiter: Unus Dominus, una fides, unum baptisma, unus Deus et Pater, qui est super omnes et per omnia, et in omnibus nobis; hic primo erit tenens caput, ex quo totum corpus compactum et connexum et per omnem juncturam subministrationis in mensura uniuscujusque partis, incrementum corporis fecit, in aedificationem sui in caritate. Post deinde et omnis sermo ei constabit, si et Scripturas diligenter legerit apud eos qui in Ecclesia sunt presbyteri, apud quos est Apostolica doctrina, quemadmodum demonstravimus.

In this way too the elder, a disciple of the apostles, used to discourse about the two covenants, showing that both are from one and the same God. For there is no other God besides him who made and formed us, and the talk of those who say that this world of ours was made either through angels or through any other power or by another God has no firmness. For if once someone is moved away from the maker of all things and grants that our creation was made by some other or through another, he must fall into much inconsistency and very many contradictions of this kind, for which he will give no reasons either probable or true. And for this reason those who bring in other doctrines hide from us the opinion they themselves hold about God, knowing how shaky and worthless their doctrine is, and fearing that, if defeated, they may be in danger of salvation. But if someone believes in one God, who also made all things by the Word, as Moses says, “God said, Let there be light, and there was light,” and as we read in the Gospel, “All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made,” and as the apostle Paul says likewise, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father, who is above all and through all and in us all,” such a one will first hold the head, from which the whole body is joined and knit together through every joint of supply in the measure of each part, makes the growth of the body to its own building up in love; and then every word will be consistent for him, if he also reads the Scriptures carefully with those who are presbyters in the Church, with whom is the apostolic doctrine, as we have shown.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Gen 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 4:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 4:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 2:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 4:16 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The elder taught that both covenants come from the one Creator; whoever believes this and reads the Scriptures with the Church’s presbyters will find them consistent.

Harvey’s chapter title (that one and the same God is our Father and theirs) and margin debris were removed. Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Quotations and allusions: Gen 1:3; John 1:3; Eph 4:5–6; Col 2:19; Eph 4:16.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; editor's chapter title; small capitals; margin debris; running head; OCR slip; margin debris; stray mark; stray marks): Ostensio unum et eundem esse Deum Patrem nostrum et allorum. Hvsusmop1 quoque → Hujusmodi quoque; incongruentiam e£ plurimas → incongruentiam et plurimas; Verbo omnia Liv. fecit, quemadmodum et Moses ait: JDirit Deus, fat luae, et GR ἀν. M. facta est lux → Verbo omnia fecit, quemadmodum et Moses ait: Dixit Deus, fiat lux, et facta est lux; facta 555}. sunt → facta sunt; similiter: Μ 170. Unus Dominus → similiter: Unus Dominus; Deus et Pater*, § qui → Deus et Pater, qui; connezum → connexum; si οὐ Scripturas → si et Scripturas; demonstravimus. — → demonstravimus..

Topics: Scripture and canon, Church office

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.32.1 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-28-1/#p-4-32-1).

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4.32.2Harvey 2:205

Apostoli enim omnes duo quidem Testamenta in duobus populis fuisse docuerunt: unum autem et eundem esse Deum, qui disposuerit utraque ad utilitatem hominum, secundum quod Testamenta dabantur, qui incipiebant credere Deo, ex ipsa demonstravimus Apostolorum doctrina in tertio libro: et quoniam non otiose, nec frustra, aut ut obvenit, datum est prius Testamentum; sed illos quidem quibus dabatur, in servitutem Dei concurvans ad utilitatem eorum, non enim indiget Deus ab hominibus servitutem, typum autem coelestium ostendens, quoniam nondum poterat homo per proprium visum videre quae sunt Dei: et imagines eorum quze sunt in Ecclesia praefigurans, ut firma ea quze secundum nos est fiat fides, et prophetiam futurorum continens, ut disceret homo praescium esse omnium Deum.

For all the apostles taught that there were two covenants in two peoples, but that it is one and the same God who arranged both for the benefit of human beings, according as the covenants were given to those who were beginning to believe God; this we showed from the very teaching of the apostles in the third book. And we showed that the first covenant was not given idly, nor in vain, nor by chance, but that it bent those to whom it was given to the service of God for their benefit (for God does not need service from human beings), showing a type of heavenly things, since man could not yet see the things of God by his own sight; prefiguring images of what is in the Church, so that our faith might be made firm; and containing a prophecy of things to come, so that man might learn that God foreknows all things.

Notes and citation

Summary: The apostles taught two covenants for two peoples from one God; the first covenant served Israel, foreshadowed the Church, and prophesied the future.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray mark; OCR slip): homo: per proprium visum videre quiz sunt Dei → homo per proprium visum videre quae sunt Dei.

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.32.2 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-28-1/#p-4-32-2).

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