Demonstrations 19.11–20.15

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

So he said to him: "Seventy weeks will remain upon your people and upon your holy city." Seventy weeks make four hundred and ninety years, from the time Daniel prayed until Jerusalem was made desolate by its last destruction, never to be restored. He also said: "After seven weeks, Jerusalem will be built again." For after the captivity was brought back through Ezra, they began to build the temple; from the days of Cyrus and Darius they laid the foundations of the temple, and in the days of Darius and Artaxerxes and the other kings of Persia they were hindered by enemies who did not let them build and finish it. I will reveal to you the meaning of the word. For thus it is written in Zechariah the prophet: "I saw a lampstand, and seven lamps on it, and seven spouts to the lamps," that is, forty-nine, which are seven weeks. And he adds in the same prophecy: "This is the word of the Lord concerning Zerubbabel: Not by an army nor by strength, but by spirit." And above he had said: "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this house, and his hands will finish it." So all the days, from the time the foundations of the temple were laid until the building of the temple was completed, are forty-nine years. There you have seven weeks out of the seventy; and this is the vision of the lampstand having seven lamps and forty-nine spouts; and see, the word of the Lord that came concerning Zerubbabel. So they are forty-nine years; and after those seven weeks of building the temple in the days of Zerubbabel, Jerusalem will be inhabited sixty-two weeks, or four hundred and thirty-four years. But why did he say above, "Seventy weeks will remain upon your people and upon your holy city," when below seven and sixty-two are given, whose sum is sixty-nine? But below he said: "After a week and half a week he will abolish the offering and sacrifices." See the one week of the seventy, the one in which the offering ceased. Reckon these as those seventy years during which they stayed in Babylon, while the land rested in its captivity all the days of its desolation; and from this be persuaded that Christ came and was killed after those weeks, so that vision and prophets might be fulfilled. Jacob our father foretold this too, blessing Judah: "The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet, until he comes to whom the kingdom belongs." So be persuaded, my beloved, and understand that the weeks have come to an end, visions and prophets have ceased, and the kingdom has been torn from Judah. For see, Jerusalem is desolate, its people is scattered among all the nations, and the children of Israel sit without sacrifice and without altar; and until the decree is fulfilled, Jerusalem lies ravaged in desolation. The vineyard has been plundered and has produced thorns; the fire has consumed both branches of the vine; the hedge of the vineyard is broken down, the tower levelled, and the winepress overturned. Rejected silver … a bill of divorce [has been sent] to Jerusalem.

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

I have written you this brief instruction, my beloved, so that you can offer a defence when you must answer, and strengthen the minds of those who listen, so that they do not follow their seditious arguments. But they will not accept persuasion, for Scripture convicts them of neither hearing nor approving that God has mercy on all. For he said against them: "This people honours me with its lips, but its heart is far from me." And they said to Jeremiah: "The word you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord we will not hear from you."

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

About these visions of Daniel, my beloved, I have written to you as far as I have understood. But know that after Gabriel had revealed to Daniel what would come to the people, then, in the third year of Cyrus, a word was revealed to Daniel, and he calls the word true; and with great effort he understood the vision. He says further: "I mourned for three weeks of days. I ate no desirable bread, and meat and wine did not enter my mouth." Notice that Daniel saw that vision in the third year of Cyrus, on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, which is Nisan, in the second year after Cyrus had sent a proclamation through his kingdom that the captivity should return to Jerusalem; but in the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus he prayed before God, when the seventy years were finished, so that the words of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. And as the matter shows, the reign of Darius the Mede was one year; for when he had killed Belshazzar and reigned in his place, he did not govern his kingdom long, but Cyrus the Persian took it. Why did Darius take the kingdom first? Surely, as it seems to us, to fulfil the vision Daniel interpreted to Belshazzar, saying to him: "This is the interpretation of the word and the reading of the writing: Mene, Tekel, Peres. Mene: God has numbered your kingdom and handed it over. Tekel: you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting. Peres: your kingdom is divided and given to the Mede and the Persian." Therefore Darius obtained the kingdom first, so that the vision might be fulfilled; but after him Cyrus the Persian received it, at the completion of the seventy years, when Daniel prayed, so that the captivity might be brought back by him. For so Isaiah had prophesied of him: "He will build my city and set my captives free." And Cyrus himself says: "God has given us the kingdom of the earth and commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judaea." See then that Daniel, after he prayed, kept the fast so that Jerusalem might be inhabited for seventy weeks; but afterwards it was laid waste and will remain in desolation for ever, until the decree …

Here ends the Demonstration against the Jews.

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

Great and praiseworthy is that gift, if it is found in a prudent man, that he gives to the needy from the labour of his hands, not from plunder of others, as God said through the prophet: "This is my rest: give rest to the weary"; and this is the path of one who obeys. Again the prophet says: "This is the acceptable fast that God loves: if you break your bread to the hungry and bring strangers into your house; when you see the naked, cover him, and do not despise the son of your own flesh. And whoever does these things will be like a rejoicing garden and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail; and his righteousness will go before him, and he will be gathered in the glory of the Lord."

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

Moses too, the great prophet of Israel, warns and commands about the poor, the needy, guests, sojourners, strangers, orphans, and widows: "When you reap your harvest, you shall not finish your fields; nor, if you forget a sheaf, shall you go back to take it; but it shall be for the poor, the sojourners, the orphans, and the widows. Remember that you too were so in Egypt." And he adds: "When you gather your vineyard, you shall not glean the clusters behind you; nor when you beat your olives shall you search behind you; but it shall be for the sojourners and the needy who are among you. And when you have done this, the Lord your God will bless you in whatever you put your hands to; and you will eat the oldest of the old, and you will throw out the old for the new." And again he says to them: "See, I will bring you into a good and rich land, flowing with milk and honey, a land whose stones are iron and from whose mountains you will dig copper; a land on which the eyes of the Lord are from the beginning of the year to its end; a land where you will eat bread without any scarcity." And though that land was good and rich, the needy will not cease from its midst. Again he warned them and said: "Six years you shall sow your land and gather its fruits. But in the seventh year you shall plough it and leave it, so that the poor among you may eat of it; and what is left the beasts of the field shall eat." He also said this to them: "In the seventh year you shall not prune its branches, and what grows of itself you shall not gather; but it shall be the poor's." And because he knew their stubbornness, he said to them: "If you say, What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we do not sow nor gather our crops? I will send you blessings in the sixth year, and it will bear fruit for three years, namely the sixth, the seventh, and the eighth; and you will eat of the crops of the sixth [year] until the ninth year."

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

And he warned them more precisely: "The wages of a hired man shall not remain with you overnight. But give him his wages the same day, lest he cry against you to God, and there be sin upon you." For if the wages of the hired man remain with you overnight, and that same night your soul is taken from you, the poor man will be cheated of his wages that are with you, for which he gave himself to you; or if he dies, you will not find here anyone to claim his wages, to whom you might repay them.

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

David too took care of the poor and needy, the orphans and widows, and set overseers over all Israel to feed and support the poor. And singing psalms and praising before his God, he declared blessed those who feed the poor. For he says: "Blessed is he who considers the needy; the Lord will deliver him in the day of calamity. The Lord will keep him and give him life, make him blessed on the earth, and not hand him over to his enemies; and in sickness he will sustain him on his bed of pain." And again in another psalm [he says: "He has scattered, he has given to the poor; his righ]teousness endures for ever." It is also written: "He who gives to the poor lends to God." He also said: "Give alms and lay up treasure; for it will be better for you than all treasures." And again it is written: "Give to God from what he has given you." And notice how he who justifies deigns to receive from the needy, so that his own need may be filled by the needy while they live. He himself could not be poor at all; but he acted so that through him the reward of the poor, which had been cheated from them, might be paid by the rich to the needy, who, when he has received it, will give thanks to the Lord of both.

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

And the Lord Jesus, giving a showing of the judgment of the last day, separated and set [people] on his right and on his left, showed kindness to the righteous, and called them the blessed of his Father, who will possess his kingdom, because they supported the poor. For he says to those on his right: "Come, blessed of my Father; possess the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was naked, and you clothed me; I was a stranger, and you took me in; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me." Then those righteous, not understanding the meaning of the Lord's word, answered and said to him: "When did we see you, Lord, in this need and do so with you?" And he said to them: "Whatever you did to one of these little brothers of mine, you did to me." And turning to those on the left, he said to them: "Depart from me, cursed ones, into that fire which is prepared for the evil one and his angels; for you did not do such things to me." Then those on the left too answered him, saying: "When, Lord, did we see you in one of those and did not serve you?" He said to them: "What you did not do to those poor, you did not do to me." And the righteous who served Christ in the needy entered eternal life; but the wicked went into fire and darkness, because they did not feed Christ in the poor.

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

Again, in another illustration he spoke of the rich man who had put his hope in his possessions and had gathered many crops from his land, and said to his soul: "See, many goods are laid up for you for many years. My soul, rest, eat, and enjoy yourself." But God said to him: "Fool, see, this night they will require your soul of you; and what you have prepared, whose will it be?" And after this he said: "So is he who lays up treasures for himself and is not rich in God."

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

He also showed us another example in that rich man who delighted in his goods, and whose end was in Sheol. But a poor man lay at his gate, longing and desiring to fill his belly with what fell from that rich man's table. And he says: "No one gave to him." And in the same place he says: "The dogs came and licked his sores." Now the rich man who delighted in good things is that people which ate, grew fat, kicked, and forgot the Lord, and cursed God, as it is written: "The children of Israel spoke unseemly words against God and Moses." And Moses called them rich, saying against them: "[When the Lord your God brings you into the land of the] Canaanites and you inherit it, you will enter houses you did not build, and cisterns dug that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees you did not plant." For they were made rich by the many good things he gave them. … For [the poor man] longed and desired to receive fruits, which he might bring back to him who had sent him; and no one gave to him. And when he says, "The dogs came and licked his sores": the dogs that came are the nations, who lick the wounds of our Savior, when they take his Body and set it before their eyes. These are dogs greedy to bark. But see that those dogs that licked the poor man's sores were not greedy; for if they had been, [they would have gone to] the rich man's table, not to the licking [of sores]. … David says: "They will bark like dogs and go around the city."

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

At the end of the story he said: "It happened that the rich man died; he was buried and cast into torment. And the poor man also died, and the angels carried him into Abraham's bosom. And the rich man, lifting up his eyes from the midst of Sheol and torment, saw Abraham, and Lazarus in his bosom, and cried with a loud voice, saying: Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to come and help me and cool my tongue from the burning by which I am greatly tormented. Abraham says to him: Son, remember that you received your good things in your life, and Lazarus his evil things. Today you ask him, but he will not help you, because there is a great abyss between us and you, and those of you cannot come to us, nor those of us to you. And he said: Then I ask you, father, to send to my father's house; for I have five brothers. Let him go and bear witness to them, that they may not sin, lest they too come to this torment. And Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. But he said: No, father Abraham; but let someone from the dead go to them, and they will repent. Abraham said to him: If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe if someone from the dead goes to them." As I said above, the rich man is the people; but the poor man is our Savior, as it is written: "The Lord willed to humble him and hand him over to torments"; and the Apostle said: "Though rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich." And again: "He humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross."

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

So he said: "The rich man died." Truly the prophet said against them: "The Lord God will kill you, and he will call his servants by another name." His servants are the people of the nations. And he called them by another name; namely, he called them Christians, that is, disciples of the Messiah, and not rulers of Sodom and people of Gomorrah, as [he had called] those; for so the preaching of the twelve apostles testifies to us: "There, namely at Antioch, the disciples were first called Christians."

[11] "And the poor man also died, and the angels carried him into Abraham's bosom." For so Mary said: "They have taken our Lord, and I do not know where they have carried him." And the angels themselves answered Mary: "He has risen and gone to him who sent him." For angels ministered to him, as is written earlier in his Gospel: "Angels came down and ministered to Jesus." And when he was born, angels praised, saying: "Glory to God in the heavens, and good hope to men." The angel Gabriel announced his birth. And he himself said to Simon his disciple: "Do you think that if I ask my Father, he will not give me an army of the angels of heaven?" He also said to his disciples: "You will see the heavens opened and the angels of God going down and coming up to the Son of Man."

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

I have written you these things because of what is written: "When the beggar died, the angels carried him into Abraham's bosom." When it says, "They carried him into Abraham's bosom," the kingdom of heaven is meant. And when Abraham said to the rich man, "There is a great abyss between us and you; neither will those of you come to us, nor those of us to you," he showed that after death and resurrection there will be no repentance. Neither will the wicked repent and enter the kingdom, nor will the righteous sin any more and go to torment. This is the great abyss. And he asked him to help him, and he was not sent to his aid; by which he showed that on that day no one can help another. And he said: "Let him go to my father's house and warn them not to sin." But he answered him: "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." And he: "Let someone from the dead go, and they will repent." It is known that that people did not listen to Moses and the prophets, nor believe Jesus, who rose from the dead.

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

It is also written that the sinner's offences are blotted out by alms, as Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar: "Redeem your sins by almsgiving and your iniquity by mercy to the poor." And the prophet says to the children of Israel: "Because you struck the poor and took choice gifts from him, you will not live in the houses of hewn stone that you have built; you will not drink the wine of the choice vineyards you have planted."

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

Now see that God himself cares for the poor. For Isaiah says: "The needy and the poor seek water, and there is none; and their tongue is parched with thirst. I the Lord will hear them, the God of Israel, and I will not forsake them; because their tongue was parched for lack of water, I will open rivers on the mountains and springs in the midst of the plains, and I will put in the wilderness cedars, thorns, myrtle, and oil trees, and I will set beautiful cypresses together in the plain." The needy and poor who seek water and have none are the people of the nations; and the water is the teaching of the holy Scriptures. Their tongue was thirsty [for praise]. And when he says, "I will open rivers on the mountains and springs in the midst of the plains," the mountains and plains are people great and small; and from them rivers and streams have flowed. And when he adds, "I will put in the wilderness cedars, thorns, myrtles, oil trees, and beautiful cypresses in the plain," the wilderness represents the nations, which were once like a dry wilderness. The cedars, thorns, myrtle, and oil trees are the priests of the people, with the holy covenant, comely in their branches like those trees which stay beautiful and thick with leaves in summer and winter. "And I will set beautiful cypresses together in the plain": from the lowliest people the word and teaching of the Spirit have gone out, whose fragrance is sweet like the most beautiful cypress, as the Apostle says: "In every place we are a good fragrance to God."

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

Job's friends spoke against him, reproaching him in his trial: "Why has this happened to you? Perhaps you sent the widow away empty and broke the arm of the orphan; you did not give water to the weary and withheld bread from the hungry; you drove off the orphan's pledge and took the widow's ox in pledge. Here is a man who sows the land for himself, and the master of violence will take it from him. Because you did these things, snares have surrounded you, and sudden fear has shaken you." When he heard this from them, pleading his own cause, he answered them: "I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. And those who had no clothing were warmed by the fleece of my sheep; nor did I lift my hand against the orphan, but when I saw him in the gate I helped him. I did not send the widow away empty; and I did not eat my bread alone, but the orphan ate of it. I broke the jaws of the wicked and took the prey from his teeth. And I said: I will save the poor people." And again he says: "I opened my door to the traveller, and I did not dim the eyes of the widow. If I did not do these things, let my shoulder fall from its socket and my arm be broken from its bone." "Have pity on me, have pity on me, my friends, for the hand of the Lord has touched me"; but these things did not happen to me because of my sins.