§1.13Τά γε μὴν ἄλλα σου ἐπαπορήματα ἐδόκει μοι ἀσεμνότερον εἰρῆσθαι, καὶ οὐκ ἔχεσθαι τῆς πρεπούσης σοι εὐλαβείας·
Indeed, your other difficulties seemed to me to have been spoken rather irreverently, and not to hold to the reverence that is fitting for you.
οὐ χεῖρον δὲ θεῖναι τὸ αὐταῖς λέξεσιν ὑπὸ σοῦ γεγραμμένον οὕτως· « Ἔπειτα μετὰ (76) τὸ θαυμασίως πως οὕτως ἀποφθέγξασθαι, καὶ παραδοξότατά πως αὐτοὺς ἀπελέγχει, ὡς οὐδὲ Φιλιστίων ὁ μἴμος· οὐ γὰρ ἐξήρκει ἡ διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐπίπληξις, ἀλλʼ ἰδίᾳ διαστήσας ἑκάτερον αὐτῶν, ἐρωτᾷ ποῦ θεάσαιτο αὐτὴν μοιχωμένην.
But it is not a bad thing to set down what was written by you in your exact words, as follows: "Then, after (76) uttering such a cry in some wonderful manner, he refutes them in some most paradoxical way, as not even Philistion the mime would do; for the rebuke through the Spirit was not sufficient, but having separated each of them privately, he asks where he saw her committing adultery.
Ὡς δὲ ὁ μὲν ὑπὸ πρῖνον ἕφασκεν, ἀποκρίνεται πρίσειν αὐτὸν τὸν ἅγγελον· τῷ δὲ ὑπὸ σχῖνον εἰρηκότι, σχισθῆναι παραπλησίως ἀπειλεῖ. » Ὥρα γὰρ παραβάλλειν ἄλλο τούτῳ παραπλήσιον εἰρημένον ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ τῶν Βασιλειῶν, ὅπερ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁμολογήσεις ὑγιῶς ἀναγεγράφθαι, τῷ Φιλιστίωνος μίμῳ.
And when one said 'under a holm-oak,' he replies that the angel will saw him; and to the one who said 'under a mastich-tree,' he threatens in a similar way that he will be split." For it is time to compare another similar thing spoken in the Third Book of Kings, which you yourself will admit was soundly recorded, to Philistion's mime.
Ἔχει δὲ οὕτως ἡ ἀπὸ τῶν Βασιλειῶν λέξις· « Τότε ὤφθησαν δύο γυναῖκες πόρναι τῷ βασιλεῖ, καὶ ἔστησαν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ.
The passage from Kings is as follows: "Then there appeared two women that were harlots unto the king, and stood before him.
Καὶ εἶπεν ἡ γυνὴ μία· Ἐν ἐμοὶ, κύριέ μου. Ἐγὼ καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὕτη οἰκοῦμεν ἐν οἵκῳ ἑνὶ, καὶ ἐτέκομεν ἐν τῷ οἵκῳ.
And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child in the house.
Καὶ ἐγενήθη ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ τεκούσης μου, καὶ ἔτεκε καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὕτη. Καὶ ἡμεῖς κατὰ τὸ αὐτό. Οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲ εἷς ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ ἡμῶν παρὲξ ἀμφοτέρων ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ οἵκῳ.
And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger in the house with us, save we two in the house.
Καὶ ἀπέθανεν ὁ υἱὸς τῆς γυναικὸς ταύτης τὴν νύκτα, ὡς ἐπεκοιμήθη ἐπʼ αὐτόν.
And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.
Καὶ ἀνέστη μέσης τῆς νυκτός· καὶ ἔλαβε τὸν υἱόν μου ἐκ τῶν ἀγκαλῶν μου· καὶ ἡ δούλη σου ὕπνουν. Καὶ ἐκοίμισεν αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ αὐτῆς, καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς τὸν τεθνεῶτα ἐκοίμισεν ἐν τῷ κόλπῳʼ μου.
And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.
Καὶ ἀνέστην τὸ πρωῒ θηλάσαι τὸν υἱόν μου· κἀκεῖνος ἦν τεθνηκώς. Καὶ ἰδοὺ κατενόησα αὐτὸν τὸ πρωΐ, καὶ ἰδοὺ οὐκ ἦν ὁ υἱός μου ὅν ἕτεκον.
And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.
Καὶ εἶπεν ἡ γυνὴ ἡ ἑτέρα· Οὐχί· ἀλλ᾿ ὁ υἱός σου ἐστὶν ὁ νεκρὸς, ὁ υἱὸς δὲ ὁ ἐμὸς ὁ ζῶν.
And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son.
Ἡ δὲ. ἄλλη καὶ αὐτὴ ἔλεγεν· Οὐχὶ, ἀλλʼ ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ζῶν· ὁ δὲ υἱός σου ὁ τεθνηκώς.
And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son.
Καὶ ἐλάλησαν ἐνώπιον τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεὺς αὐταῖς·
Thus they spake before the king.
Σὺ λέγεις· Οὗτός μου ὁ υἱὸς ὁ ζῶν, καὶ ὁ υἱὸς ταύτης ὁ τεθνηκώς. Καὶ σὺ λέγεις Οὐχὶ, ἀλλʼ ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ζῶν· ὁ δὲ υἱός σου ὁ τεθνηκώς.
Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.
Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεύς· Λάβετέ μοι μάχαιραν.
And the king said, Bring me a sword.
Καὶ προσήνεγκαν τὴν μάχαιραν ἐνώπιον τοῦ βασιλέως.
And they brought a sword before the king.
Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεύς· Διέλετε τὸ παιδίον τὸ ζῶν εἰς δύο, καὶ δότε τὸ ἥμισυ αὐτοῦ ταύτῃ, τὸ ἥμισυ αὐτοῦ ταύτῃ.
And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.
Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη ἡ γυνὴ ἦς ὁ υἱὸς ἦν ὁ ζῶν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, ὅτι ἐταράχθη ἡ μήτρα αὐτῆς ἐν τῷ υἱῷ αὐτῆς, καὶ εἶπεν· Ἐν ἐμοὶ, Κύριε· δότε αὐτῇ τὸ παιδίον τὸ ζῶν, καὶ θανάτῳ μὴ θανατώσητε αὐτό.
Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it.
Καὶ αὕτη εἶπε· Μήτε ἐμοὶ, μήτε κὺτῇ ἕστω· διέλετε.
But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.
Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη ὁ βασιλεὺς, κσὶ εἶπε· Δότε τὸ παιδίον τῇ εἰπούσῃ Δότε αὐτῇ τοῦτο, καὶ θανάτῳ μὴ θανατώσητε αὐτό· αὕτη γὰρ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ.
Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.
Καὶ ἤκουσε πᾶς Ἰσραὴλ τὸ κρῖμα ὅ ἔκρινεν ὁ βασιλεὺς, καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ βασιλέως, ὅτι εἶδον, ὅτι φρόνησις Θεοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ τοῦ ποιεῖν δικαίωμα. » Εἵπερ γὰρ χρὴ περὶ τῶν φερομένων ἐν ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις ἀποφαίνεσθαι χλευαστικῶς, μᾶλλον τὴν περὶ τῶν δύο ἑταιρῶν ἱστορίαν τῷ Φιλιστίωνος μίμῳ, ἢ τὴν περὶ τῆς σεμνῆς Σωσάννης ὁμοιῶσαι ἐχρῆν.
And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment." For if indeed one must declare mockingly about the things received in the Churches, it would have been more fitting to liken the story about the two harlots to Philistion's mime than the one about the chaste Susanna.
Καὶ ὥσπερ οὐκ ἤρκει πρὸς πειθὼ τοῦ λαοῦ τὸ εἰπεῖν Σολομῶντα· « Δότε τῇδε τὸ ζῶν παιδίον· αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ· » οὕτως οὐκ ἤρκει ἡ πρὸς τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους ἐπίπληξις τοῦ Δανιὴλ, μὴ προσπαραλαμβανομένου τοῦ ἐκ στόματος αὐτῶν ἐλέγχου· εἰπόντων μὲν ὑπό τι δένδρον αὐτὴν ἑωρακέναι κοιμωμένην μετὰ τοῦ νεανίσκου, μὴ μὴν συμφωνησάντων περὶ τοῦ τί δένδρον ἦν.
And just as it was not sufficient for the persuasion of the people for Solomon to say, "Give her the living child, for she is its mother," so the rebuke of Daniel against the elders was not sufficient without also including the refutation out of their own mouths—they having said that they saw her lying with the young man under some tree, yet not agreeing on what tree it was.
Καὶ ἐπείπερ ὡς καταλαβὼν ἔφασκες ἐξ ἐπιπνοίας (77) τὸν Δανιὴλ κεκρικέναι τὰ περὶ τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους, τάχα μὲν οὕτως ἐλέγχοντα, τάχα δὲ ἑτέρως, πρόσχες καὶ ταῦτα παραπλήσια δοκεῖ μοι εἶναι τὰ κατὰ τὸν Δανιὴλ τῇ κρίσει τοῦ Σολομῶντος· περὶ οὗ μαρτυρεῖ ἡ Γραφὴ, ὅτι εἶδεν ὁ λαὸς, ὅτι φρόνησις Θεοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ τοῦ ποιεῖν δικαίωμα.
And since, as if understanding it, you asserted that Daniel judged the matter of the elders by inspiration (77), perhaps refuting them in this way, or perhaps in another, attend to this also: the events concerning Daniel seem to me to be very similar to the judgment of Solomon, concerning whom the Scripture testifies that the people saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.
Τοῦτο ἄν δύναιτο λέγεσθαι καὶ περὶ τοῦ Δανιήῦλ· ὅτι φρονήσεως οὕσης ἐν αὐτῷ τοῦ ποιεῖν (78) δικαίωμα, τὰ ἀναγεγραμμένα περὶ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων.
This could also be said concerning Daniel: that, there being wisdom in him to do (78) justice, the things recorded concerning the elders took place.