Chapter XI.—Further Proofs, from Ezekiel.  Summary of the Prophetic Argument Thus Far.

For, again, it is for these deserts of yours that Ezekiel announces your ruin as about to come: and not only in this age239    Sæculo.—a ruin which has already befallen—but in the “day of retribution,”240    Comp. Isa. lxi. 2. which will be subsequent. From which ruin none will be freed but he who shall have been frontally sealed241    Or possibly, simply, “sealed”—obsignatus. with the passion of the Christ whom you have rejected. For thus it is written: “And the Lord said unto me, Son of man, thou hast seen what the elders of Israel do, each one of them in darkness, each in a hidden bed-chamber: because they have said, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath derelinquished the earth. And He said unto me, Turn thee again, and thou shalt see greater enormities which these do. And He introduced me unto the thresholds of the gate of the house of the Lord which looketh unto the north; and, behold, there, women sitting and bewailing Thammuz.  And the Lord said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen? Is the house of Judah moderate, to do the enormities which they have done? And yet thou art about to see greater affections of theirs. And He introduced me into the inner shrine of the house of the Lord; and, behold, on the thresholds of the house of the Lord, between the midst of the porch and between the midst of the altar,242    Inter mediam elam et inter medium altaris: i.e., probably ="between the porch and the altar,” as the Eng. ver. has. as it were twenty and five men have turned their backs unto the temple of the Lord, and their faces over against the east; these were adoring the sun. And He said unto me, Seest thou, son of man? Are such deeds trifles to the house of Judah, that they should do the enormities which these have done? because they have filled up (the measure of) their impieties, and, behold, are themselves, as it were, grimacing; I will deal with mine indignation,243    So Oehler points, and Tischendorf in his edition of the LXX. points not very differently. I incline to read: “Because they have filled up the measure of their impieties, and, behold (are) themselves, as it were, grimacing, I will,” etc. mine eye shall not spare, neither will I pity; they shall cry out unto mine ears with a loud voice, and I will not hear them, nay, I will not pity. And He cried into mine ears with a loud voice, saying, The vengeance of this city is at hand; and each one had vessels of extermination in his hand. And, behold, six men were coming toward the way of the high gate which was looking toward the north, and each one’s double-axe of dispersion was in his hand: and one man in the midst of them, clothed with a garment reaching to the feet,244    Comp. Rev. i. 13. and a girdle of sapphire about his loins:  and they entered, and took their stand close to the brazen altar. And the glory of the God of Israel, which was over the house, in the open court of it,245    “Quæ fuit super eam” (i.e. super domum) “in subdivali domûs” is Oehler’s reading; but it differs from the LXX. ascended from the cherubim: and the Lord called the man who was clothed with the garment reaching to the feet, who had upon his loins the girdle; and said unto him, Pass through the midst of Jerusalem, and write the sign Tau246    The ms. which Oehler usually follows omits “Tau;” so do the LXX. on the foreheads of the men who groan and grieve over all the enormities which are done in their midst. And while these things were doing, He said unto an hearer,247    Et in his dixit ad audientem. But the LXX. reading agrees almost verbatim with the Eng. ver. Go ye after him into the city, and cut short; and spare not with your eyes, and pity not elder or youth or virgin; and little ones and women slay ye all, that they may be thoroughly wiped away; but all upon whom is the sign Tau approach ye not; and begin with my saints.”248    Ezek. viii. 12–ix. 6 (especially in the LXX.). Comp. adv. Marc. l. iii. c. xxii. But our author differs considerably even from the LXX. Now the mystery of this “sign” was in various ways predicted; (a “sign”) in which the foundation of life was forelaid for mankind; (a “sign”) in which the Jews were not to believe: just as Moses beforetime kept on announcing in Exodus,249    Or rather in Deuteronomy. See xxviii. 65 sqq. saying, “Ye shall be ejected from the land into which ye shall enter; and in those nations ye shall not be able to rest:  and there shall be instability of the print250    Or, “sole.” of thy foot: and God shall give thee a wearying heart, and a pining soul, and failing eyes, that they see not: and thy life shall hang on the tree251    In ligno. There are no such words in the LXX. If the words be retained, “thy life” will mean Christ, who is called “our Life” in Col. iii. 4. See also John i. 4; xiv. 6; xi. 25. And so, again, “Thou shalt not trust (or believe) thy life” would mean, “Thou shalt not believe Christ.” before thine eyes; and thou shalt not trust thy life.”

And so, since prophecy has been fulfilled through His advent—that is, through the nativity, which we have above commemorated, and the passion, which we have evidently explained—that is the reason withal why Daniel said, “Vision and prophet were sealed;” because Christ is the “signet” of all prophets, fulfilling all that had in days bygone been announced concerning Him: for, since His advent and personal passion, there is no longer “vision” or “prophet;” whence most emphatically he says that His advent “seals vision and prophecy.” And thus, by showing “the number of the years, and the time of the lxii and an half fulfilled hebdomads,” we have proved that at that specified time Christ came, that is, was born; and, (by showing the time) of the “seven and an half hebdomads,” which are subdivided so as to be cut off from the former hebdomads, within which times we have shown Christ to have suffered, and by the consequent conclusion of the “lxx hebdomads,” and the extermination of the city, (we have proved) that “sacrifice and unction” thenceforth cease.

Sufficient it is thus far, on these points, to have meantime traced the course of the ordained path of Christ, by which He is proved to be such as He used to be announced, even on the ground of that agreement of Scriptures, which has enabled us to speak out, in opposition to the Jews, on the ground252    Or, “in accordance with.” of the prejudgment of the major part.  For let them not question or deny the writings we produce; that the fact also that things which were foretold as destined to happen after Christ are being recognised as fulfilled may make it impossible for them to deny (these writings) to be on a par with divine Scriptures. Else, unless He were come after whom the things which were wont to be announced had to be accomplished, would such as have been completed be proved?253    i.e., Would they have happened? and, by happening, have been their own proof?

CAPUT XI.

Nam et pro istis meritis vestris, cladem vestram futuram Ezechiel nuntiat: et non solum in isto saeculo, quae jam evenit, sed in die retributionis, quae subsequetur. Qua clade nemo liberabitur, nisi qui passione Christi, quem respuitis, fuerit obsignatus. Sic enim scriptum est: Et dixit Dominus ad me: Fili hominis, vidisti quae seniores Israel faciunt unusquisque 0631A eorum in tenebris, unusquisque in cubiculo absconso; quoniam dixerunt: Non videt nos Dominus, dereliquit Dominus terram. Et dixit ad me: Adhuc conversus videbis facinora majora quae isti faciunt. Et introduxit me ad limina jannuae domus Domini quae aspicit ad aquilonem, et ecce illic mulieres sedentes , et plangentes Thammuz; et dixit Dominus ad me: Fili hominis, vidisti? Numquid modica domui Juda, ut faciant facinora quae fecerunt: et adhuc visurus es adfectiones majores eorum. Et introduxit me in aedem domus Domini interiorem, ecce in liminibus templi Domini, inter medium clam et inter medium altaris, quasi viginti quinque viri posteriora sua dederunt ad templum Domini, et facies suas contra Orientem, hi adorabant solem; et dixit ad me: Vides, fili hominis? 0631B Numquid pusilla domui Juda, ut faciant facinora quae fecerunt hic . Quoniam impleverunt impietates suas, et ecce ipsi quasi subsannantes. Ego faciam cum indignatione mea, non parcet oculus meus, neque miserebor. Exclamabunt ad aures meas voce magna, et non exaudiam eos, sed neque miserebor (Ezech., VIII, 12-18) . Et clamavit in aures meas voce magna dicens: Adproximavit vindicta civitatis hujus, et unusquisque habuit vasa exterminii in manu sua. Et ecce sex viri veniebant ad viam portae altae, quae respiciebat ad aquilonem, et uniuscujusque bipennis dispersionis erat in manu ejus. Et unus vir in medio eorum indutus podere, et zona saphiri in lumbis ejus. Et introierunt, et steterunt in proximis altaris aerei, et claritas Dei Israel ascendit a Cherubin quae fuit super ea 0631C in subdival domus. Et vocavit hominem qui indutus erat podere, qui habuit super lumbos suos zonam, et dixit ad eum Dominus : Transi per mediam Hierusalem, et scribe signum tau in frontibus virorum qui gemunt et dolent super omnia facinora quae fiunt in medio eorum. Et in his dixit ad audientem: Ite post eum in civitatem, et concidite, et nolite parcere oculis vestris, et ne misereamini senioris, aut virginis; et parrulos et mulieres interficite omnes, ut perdeleantur. Omnes autem super quos est tau signum, ne accesseritis. Et a sanctis meis incipite (Ezech., IX, 1-6). 0632A Hujus autem signi sacramentum variis modis praedicatum est, in quo vita hominibus praestruebatur, in quo Judaei non essent credituri; sicut Moyses ante nuntiabat in Exodo dicens: Ejiciemini de terra in quam introibitis, et in nationibus illis non eritis in requiem. Et non erit stabilitas vestigio pedis tui, et dabit tibi Deus cor taedians, et tabescentem animam, et oculos deficientes, ut non videant; et erit vita tua pendens in ligno ante oculos tuos; et non credes vitae tuae (Deut., XXVIII, 64, 65). Itaque, quoniam impleta est prophetia per adventum ejus, id est per nativitatem, quam supra memoravimus, et passionem, quam evidenter ediximus, propterea et Daniel signari visionem et prophetam dicebant, quoniam Christus est signaculum omnium prophetarum, adimplens omnia quae 0632B retro erant de eo nuntiata: post enim adventum ejus et passionem ipsius jam non visio neque prophetes. Unde firmissime dicit adventum ejus signare visum et prophetiam. Itaque ostendentes et numerum annorum, et tempus LXII et dimidiae hebdomadarum adimpletarum, probavimus tunc venisse Christum, id est natum: et septem dimidiae hebdomadarum, quae sunt subdivisae in abscissionem priorum hebdomadarum, intra quae tempora passum ostendimus Christum; atque ita LXX hebdomadibus conclusis, et civitate exterminata, et sacrificium et unctionem exinde cessare. Sufficit hucusque de his interim ordinem Christi decurrisse, quo talis probatur qualis adnuntiabatur, etiam ex ista consonantia Scripturarum, quas , ex praejudicio majoris partis adversum 0632C Judaeos, elocuti sumus. Neque enim in dubium deducant vel negent, quae scripta proferimus: ut ex hoc quoque paria esse Scripturis divinis negare non possint; ut quae post Christum futura praecanebantur, adimpleta cognoscantur. Neque enim dispositio expuncta inveniretur , nisi ille venisset post quem habebant expungi quae nuntiabantur, quae completa esse etiam probarentur.