§1.3γ.
γ.
Καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις δὲ πολλοῖς ἀγίοις βιβλίοις εὕρομεν. πὴ μὲν πλείονα παρʼ ἡμῖν κείμενα ἢ παρʼ Ἑβραίοις, πὴ δὲ λείποντα.
And in many other holy books we have found this to be the case: in some places more is written among us than among the Hebrews, and in other places less.
Παραδείγματος δὲ ἕνεκεν, ἐπεὶ μὴ πάντα οἶόν τέ ἐστι περιλαβεῖν (28), ὀλίγα ἐκθησό
By way of example, since it is not possible to include everything (28), we shall set out a few instances.
§1.4Καὶ δτε « ἧλΘον οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ Θεοῦ παρατῆναι ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ (33), καὶ ὁ διάβολος ἦλθε μετʼ αὐτῶν, » τό· « Περιελθὼν τὴν γῆν καὶ ἐμπεριπατήσας ἐν αὐτῇ Ἔτι δὲ οὐκ ἦν παρʼ Ἑβραίοις μετὰ τό· Ὁ Κύριος ἔδωκεν, ὁ Κύριος ἀφείλετο· « Ὡς τῷ Κυρίῳ ἕδοξεν, οὕτω καὶ ἐγένετο.
And when "the angels of God came to present themselves before God (33), and the devil came with them," [what is missing in the Hebrew is] the phrase: "having gone around the earth and having walked in it." And further, after "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away," the words "as it seemed good to the Lord, so it came to pass" were not among the Hebrews.
» Πλείονα δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἡμετέροις παρὰ τὰ Ἑβραῖκὰ, ὅτε εἶπε τῷ Ἰὼβ (34) ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ, ἀπὸ τοῦ· « Μέχρι τίνος καρτερήσεις; λέγων· Ἰδοὺ, ἀναμενῶ χρόνον ἕτι μικρὸν προσδεχόμενος τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς σωτηρίας μου, » ἕως τοῦ· « ἵνα ἀναπαύσωμαι τῶν μόχθων μου καὶ τῶν ὀδυνῶν, αἵ με νῦν συνέχουσι» μόνον γὰρ τὰ ῥητὰ τῆς γυναικὸς ἀναγέγραπται· τό· « Ἀλλʼ εἶπόν τι ῥῆμα πρὸς Κύριον, καὶ τελεύτα. »
But there is more in our copies than in the Hebrew where his wife said to Job (34), from: "How long wilt thou hold out, saying: Behold, I will wait yet a little longer, expecting the hope of my salvation," down to: "that I may rest from my labors and my pains which now encompass me." For only the wife's spoken words: "But say some word to the Lord and die" are recorded [among them].
§1.5Πάλιν τε αὖ πλεῖστά τε ὅσα διὰ μέσου ὅλου τοῦ Τὼβ παρʼ Ἑβραίοις μὲν κεῖται, παρʼ ἡμῖν δὲ οὐχί· καὶ πολλάκις μὲν ἔπη (35) τέσσαρα ἢ τρία, ἔσθʼ ὅτε δὲ καὶ δεκατέσσαρα καὶ δεκαεννέα καὶ δεκαέξ.
And again, on the other hand, very many things through the middle of the whole of Job are found among the Hebrews, but not among us; and often (35) three or four verses, and sometimes even fourteen, nineteen, and sixteen.
Καὶ τί με δεῖ καταλέγειν ἃ μετὰ πολλοῦ καμάτου ἀνελεξάμεθα, ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ λανθάνειν (36) ἡμᾶς τὴν διαφορὰν τῶν παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις καὶ ἡμῖν ἀντιγράφων;
And why need I list those which we have gathered with much labor, so that the difference between the copies among the Jews and ours might not escape (36) us?
Πολλὰ δὲ τοιαῦτα καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ κατενοήσαμεν, ἐν ᾧ καὶ πολλὴν μετάθεσιν καὶ ἐναλλαγὴν(37) τῆς λέξεως τῶν προφητευομένων εὕρομεν.
And we observed many such things in Jeremiah also, in which we found much transposition and alteration (37) of the text of the prophecies.
Καὶ ἐν τῇ Γενέσει δὲ τό· « Εἶδεν ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι καλὸν, » ἐπὶ τῷ γενέσθαι στερέωμα, παρʼ Ἑβραίοις οὐχ εὑρίσκεται (38)· καὶ πρόβλημα δέ ἐστι παρʼ αὐτοῖς οὐ τὸ τυχὸν τοῦτο.
And also in Genesis, the words "God saw that it was good," on the occasion of the firmament being made, are not found among the Hebrews (38); and this is no ordinary problem among them.
Καὶ ἅλλα δὲ ἕστιν εὑρεῖν ἐν τῇ Γενέσει, οἷς σημεῖα παρε-
And there are other things to be found in Genesis, which are marked with signs...
§1.6Γραφαῖς δεδωκυῖα πάσαις ταῖς (41) Χριστοῦ Ἐκκλησίαις οἰκοδομὴν, οὐκ ἐφρόντισε « τῶν τιμῆς ἀγορασθέντων, ὑπὲρ ὦν Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν·
...[providence,] having given building to all the (41) Churches of Christ through the Scriptures, did not care for "those bought with a price, for whom Christ died"?
» οὗ Υἱοῦ ὄντος « οὐκ ἐφείσατο ὁ Θεὸς, » ἡ ἀγάπη, « ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν πάντων παρέδωκεν αὐτὸν, ἵνα σὺν αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα ἡμῖν χαρίσηται; »
Whose Son He was, "God," who is love, "spared him not, but delivered him up for us all, that with him He might freely give us all things"?
§1.7Πρὸς ταῦτα δὲ σκόπει, εἰ μὴ καλὸν μεμνῆσθαι τοῦ· « Οὐ μεταθήσεις ὅρια αἰώνια, ἃ ἔστησαν οἱ πρότεροί σου; » Καὶ ταῦτα δὲ φημὶ οὐχὶ ὅκνῳ τοῦ ἐρευνᾷν καὶ τὰς κατὰ Ἰουδαίους (42) Γραφὰς, καὶ πάσας τὰς ἡμετέρας ταῖς ἐκείνων συγκρίνειν, καὶ ὁρᾷν τὰς ἐν αὐταῖς διαφοράς.
And in response to these things, consider whether it is not good to remember the saying: "Remove not the eternal landmarks which thy fathers have set." And these things I say, not from hesitation to investigate also the Scriptures according to the Jews (42), and to compare all our copies with theirs, and to see the differences in them.
Εἰ μὴ φορτικὸν γοῦν εἰπεῖν, ἐπὶ πολὺ τοῦτο, ὅση δύναμις, πεποιήκαμεν, γυμνάζοντες αὑτῶν τὸν νοῦν ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ἐκδόσεσι καὶ ταῖς διαφοραῖς αὐτῶν (43), μετὰ τοῦ ποσῶς μᾶλλον ἀσκεῖν τὴν ἑρμηνείαν τῶν Ο΄· ἵνα μή τι παραχαράττειν δοκοίημεν (44) ταῖς ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν Ἐκκλησίαις, καὶ προφάσεις διδῶμεν τοῖς ζητοῦσιν ἀφορμὰς, ἐθέλουσι τοὺς ἐν μέσῳ συκοφαντεῖν, καὶ τῶν διαφαινομένων ἐν τῷ κοινῷ κατηγορεῖν.
At any rate, if it is not offensive to say so, we have done this for a long time as far as possible, exercising our mind in all the editions and their differences (43), along with practicing somewhat more the translation of the Seventy; so that we might not seem to forge (44) anything for the Churches under heaven, and might not give pretexts to those who seek occasions, wishing to slander those who are in the midst and to accuse those who stand out in public.
Ἀσκοῦμεν δὲ μὴ ἀγνοεῖν καὶ τὰς παρʼ ἐκείνοις, ἵνα, πρὸς Ἰουδαίους διαλεγόμενοι (45), μὴ προφέρωμεν αὐτοῖς τὰ μὴ κείμενα ἐν τοῖς ἀντιγράφοις αὐτῶν, καὶ ἵνα συγχρησώμεθα τοῖς φερομένοις παρʼ ἐκείνοις· εἰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἡμετέροις οὐ κεῖται βιβλίοις·
And we practice not to be ignorant also of the things among them, so that when we are conversing with Jews (45), we may not bring forward to them things that do not lie in their copies, and that we may make common use of the things current among them, even if they do not lie in our books.
τοιαύτης γὰρ οὕσης ἡμῶν τῆς πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐν ταῖς ζητήσεσι παρασκευῆς, οὐ καταφρονήσουσιν, οὐδ’ ὡς ἕθος αὐτοῖς, γελάσονται (46)τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν πιστεύοντας, ὡς τʼ ἀληθῆ καὶ παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἀναγεγραμμένα ἀγνοοῦντας.
For if our preparation in discussions with them is of such a kind, they will not look down on us, nor, as is their custom, will they laugh (46) at those who believe from among the gentiles, as being ignorant of the truths recorded even among themselves.
Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν εἰρήσθω πρὸς τὸ μὴ φέρεσθαι παρʼ Ἑβραίοις τὰ περὶ Σωσάννης.
Let this then be said in response to the fact that the story about Susanna is not current among the Hebrews.