§1.11Ἀλλʼ εἰκὸς πρὸς ταῦτά σε ζητήσειν (57) τί δήποτε οὐ φέρεται παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἐν τῷ Δανιὴλ ἡ ἱστορία, εἰ, ὡς φῂς, τοιαῦτα περὶ αὐτῆς οἱ σοφοὶ αὐτῶν παραδιδόασι.
But it is likely that, in response to these things, you will ask (57) why on earth the story is not found among them in Daniel, if, as you say, their wise men hand down such traditions about it.
Λεκτέον δὲ πρὸς ταῦτα, ὅτι ὅσα δεδύνηνται τῶν περιεχόντων κατηγορίαν πρεσβυτέρων, καὶ ἀρχόντων, καὶ κριτῶν, περιεῖλον ἀπὸ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ λαοῦ, ὧν τινὰ σώζεται ἐν ἀποκρύφοις.
And to this it must be said that, as far as they were able, they removed from the knowledge of the people all those things that contained accusations against elders, rulers, and judges, some of which are preserved in apocryphal writings.
Καὶ τούτου παράδειγμα δώσομεν τὰ περὶ τὸν Ἡσαΐαν ἱστορούμενα. καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς πρὸς Ἑβραίους Ἐπιστολῆς μαρτυρούμενα, ἐν οὐδενὶ τῶν φανερῶν βιβλίων γεγραμμένα· περὶ γὰρ τῶν προφητῶν διεξερχόμενος, καὶ ὧν πεπόνθασιν, ὁ τὴν πρὸς Ἑβραίους γράψας φησίν· « Ἐλιθάσθησαν, ἐπρίσθησαν, ἐν φόνῳ μαχαίρας ἀπέθανον. » Πευσόμεθα (58) γὰρ ἐπὶ τίνα ἀναφέρηται τὸ, « ἐπρίσθησαν, » κατὰ τι ἕθος ἀρχαῖον οὐ μόνον Ἑβραῖκὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἑλληνικὸν, πληθυντικῶς λεγόμενον περὶ ἑνός.
And as an example of this, we shall adduce the things recorded concerning Isaiah, which are witnessed to by the Epistle to the Hebrews, though written in none of the public books; for in discussing the prophets and what they suffered, the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews says: "They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were slain with the sword." For we shall inquire (58) to whom the words "they were sawn asunder" refer, spoken in the plural of a single person according to an ancient custom, not only Hebrew but also Greek.
Σαφὲς δʼ ὅτι (59) αἱ παραδόσεις λέγουσι πεπρίσθαι Ἡσαΐαν (60) τὸν προφήτην· καὶ ἕν τινι ἀποκρύφῳ τοῦτο φέρεται· ὅπερ τάχα ἐπίτηδες ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων ῥερᾳδιούργηται, λέξεις τινὰς τὰς μὴ πρεπούσας παρεμβεβληκότων τῇ γραφῇ, ἵνʼ ἡ ὅλη ἀπιστηθῇ (61) ἀλλʼ εἰκός τινα, θλιβόμενον ἀπὸ τῆς εἰς ταῦτα ἀποδείξεως, συγχρήσασθαι τῷ βουλήματι (62) τῶν ἀθετούντων τὴν Ἐπιστολὴν, ὡς οὺ Παύλῳ γεγραμμένην· πρὸς ὅν ἅλλων λόγων κατʼ ἰδίαν χρῄζομεν εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τοῦ εἷναι Παύλου τὴν ἐπιστολήν.
And it is clear (59) that the traditions say that Isaiah (60) the prophet was sawn asunder; and this is recorded in a certain apocryphal book, which has been perhaps been intentionally corrupted by the Jews, who inserted certain unbecoming words into the writing, so that the whole might be discredited (61). But it is likely that someone, hard pressed by the proof from these things, might fall back on the opinion (62) of those who reject the Epistle as not having been written by Paul; against whom we need other arguments in private to prove that the Epistle is indeed Paul's.
Παραθήσομαι οὖν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἀπὸ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου τὰ ὑπὸ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ περὶ τῶν προφητῶν μαρτυρούμενα, καὶ ἱστορίαν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ μὲν λεγομένην, ἐν δὲ ταῖς παλαιαῖς Γραφαῖς μὴ φερομένην, ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτὴ κατηγορίαν περιέχει τῶν ἀνόμων ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ κριτῶν ἕχει δὲ οὕτως ἡ ὑπὸ τοῦ Σωτῆρος εἰρημένη λέξις. « Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταὶ, ὅτι οἰκοδομεῖτε τοὺς τάφους τῶν προφητῶν καὶ κοσμεῖτε τὰ μνημεῖα (63) τῶν δικαίων, καὶ λέγετε· Εἰ ἦμεν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν, οὐκ ἄν ἧμεν κοινωνοὶ αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ αἵματι τῶν προφητῶν. Ὥστε μαρτυρεῖτε ἑαυτοῖς, ὅτι υἱοὶ ἐστὲ τῶν φονευσάντων τοὺς προφήτας.
For the present, therefore, I will produce from the Gospel the testimonies of Jesus Christ concerning the prophets, and a story told by Him but not found in the ancient Scriptures, since it also contains an accusation against the lawless judges in Israel; and the passage spoken by the Savior is as follows: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchers (63) of the righteous, and say, 'If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.' Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
Καὶ ὑμεῖς πληρώσατε τὸ μέτρον τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν.
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
Ὄφεις, γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν, πῶς φύγητε ἀπὸ τῆς κρίσεως τῆς γεἐννης;
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Διὰ τοῦτο ἰδοὺ ἀποστέλλω πρὸς ὑμᾶς προφήτας, καὶ σοφοὺς, καὶ γραμματεῖς. Ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀποκτενεῖτε, καὶ σταυρώσετε, καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν μαστιγώσετε ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς ὑμῶν, καὶ διώξετε ἀπὸ πόλεως εἰς πόλιν, ὅπως ἔλθῃ ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς πᾶν αἷμα δίκαιον ἐκχυνόμενον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος Ἄβελ τοῦ δικαίου ἕως τοῦ αἵματος Ζαχαρίου υἱοῦ Βαραχίου, ὅν ἐφονεύσατε μεταξὺ τοῦ ναοῦ καὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου.
Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅτι ἥξει ταῦτα πάντα ἐπὶ τὴν γενεὰν ταύτην. » Καὶ τὸ ἐξῆς δὲ τούτων, οὐκ ἀπᾴδει τῶν προκειμένων οὕτως ἕχον· Ἰερουσαλὴμ, Ἰερουσαλὴμ, ἡ ἀποκτείνασα τοὺς προφήτας, καὶ λιθοβολοῦσα τοὺς ἀπεσταλμένους πρὸς αὑτήν· ποσάκις ἠθέλησα ἐπισυναγαγεῖν τὰ τέκνα σου, ὅν τρόπον ὄρνις συνάγει τὰ νοσσία ἑαυτῆς ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας, καὶ οὐκ ἐθελήσατε·
Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." And the words that follow these are not out of harmony with what has been proposed, being as follows: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
ἰδοὺ ἀφίεται ὑμῖν ὁ οἶκος ὑμῶν ἕρημος. » Καὶ ἵδωμέν γε εἰ μὴ λεκτέον, ἐν τούτοις, τὸν μὲν Σωτῆρα ἀληθεύειν, οὐχ εὑρίσκεσθαι δὲ τὰς Γραφὰς, ὅσαι δηλοῦσι τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἱστορούμενα· οἱ γὰρ οἰκοδομοῦντες τοὺς τάφους τῶν προφητῶν, καὶ κοσμοῦντες τὰ μνημεῖα τῶν δικαίων, καταγνόντες τῶν ὑπὸ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων εἰς ἐπὶ πολλοῖς (67), καὶ ταῦτα λέγει· « Τίνα τῶν προφητῶν οὐκ ἐδίωξαν οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν, καὶ ἀπέκτειναν τοὺς προκαταγγείλαντας περὶ τῆς ἐλεύσεως τοῦ Δικαίου, οὗ νῦν ὑμεῖς προδόται καὶ φονεῖς ἐγένεσθε; » Ἀληθεύειν μὲν γὰρ τὸν Στέφανον πᾶς ὁστισοῦν τῶν προσιεμένων τὰς Πράξεις τῶν ἀποστόλων ὁμολογήσει ἀποδεῖξαι δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς παλαιᾶς Διαθήκης, πῶς εὐλόγως μέμφεται τοῖς πατράσι τῶν εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀπιστούντων, ὡς διώξασι τοὺς προφήτας καὶ ἀποκτείνασιν, οὐ δυνατὸν ἀπὸ τῶν φερομένων βιβλίων τῆς Καινῆς (68) Διαθήκης·
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." And let us see whether we must not say that, in these things, the Savior indeed spoke the truth, but that those Scriptures are not to be found which manifest the history told by the Savior; for those who build the tombs of the prophets and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous, having condemned the things done by the elders to... in many things, (67) and he says this: "Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers." For everyone who accepts the Acts of the Apostles will confess that Stephen spoke the truth; but to prove also from the Old Testament how justly he blames the fathers of those who disbelieve in Jesus, as having persecuted and slain the prophets, is not possible from the current books of the New (68) Testament.
καὶ ὁ Παῦλος ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ τῆς πρὸς Θεσσαλονικεῖς ἐπιστολῆς ταῦτα περὶ Ἰουδαίων μαρτυρῶν φησίν· « ῾ Υμεῖς γὰρ μιμηταὶ ἐγενήθητε τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ, τῶν οὐσῶνὲν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ· ὅτι καὶ ὑμεῖς τὰ αὐτὰ ἐπάθετε ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων (69) συμφυλετῶν, καθὼς καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων, τῶν καὶ τὸν Κύριον ἀποκτεινάντων, καὶ τοὺς προφήτας, καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐκδιωξάντων (70), καὶ Θεῷ μὴ ἀρεσκόντων, καὶ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐναντίων· κωλυόντων ἡμᾶς τοῖς ἔθνεσι λαλῆσαι, ἵνα σωθῶσι. » Καὶ οἶμαι δὲ ἀποδεδειχέναι ἐν τοῖς προκειμένοις, ὅτι οὐδὲν ἄτοπόν (71) ἐστι, γεγονέναι μὲν τὴν ἱστορίαν, καὶ τὴν μετὰ πολλῆς ἀκολασίας ὠμότητα τετολμῆσθαι τοῖς τότε πρεσβυτέροις κατὰ τῆς Σωσάννης, καὶ γεγράφθαι μὲν προνοίᾳ τοῦ Πνεύματος, ὑπεξαιρεῖσθαι δὲ, ὡς ἂν εἵποι τὸ Πνεῦμα, ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχόντων Σοδόμων.
And Paul, in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, testifying these things concerning the Jews, says: "For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own (69) countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us (70); and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved." And I think I have demonstrated in what has been laid down that there is nothing absurd (71) in [holding] that the history indeed occurred, and that such cruelty with much licentiousness was dared by the elders of that time against Susanna, and was written by the providence of the Spirit, but was suppressed, as the Spirit would say, by the rulers of Sodom.