# Heptateuch (the first seven books of the Bible in verse)

- Author: [Cyprianus Gallus](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/cyprianus-gallus/)
- Latin title: *Heptateuchos*
- Date: early 5th cent. (approximate)
- Source: Rudolf Peiper, ed., Cypriani Galli poetae Heptateuchos, CSEL 23 (Vienna: Tempsky, 1891) (Latin text: Peiper, CSEL 23, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (csel-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0)

- Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator
- Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/
- Passages: 225

## Genesis, lines 1–24

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-1
- Source: CSEL 23:2lines 1–24
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The poem opens with the six days of creation, from heaven and earth and light to the land animals.

### Latin text

principio dominus caelum terramque locauit:
namque erat informis fluctuque abscondita tellus
inmensusque deus super aequora uasta meabat.
dum chaos et nigrae fuscabant cuncta tenebrae;
has dum disiungi iussit, a cardine fatur:
"Lux fiat !" et clare nituerunt omnia mundo.
cum dominus primi complesset facta diei,
condidit albentem nebulis nascentibus axem.
accipit inmensus errantia litora pontus,
multiplices rapiens ualidis cum tractibus amnes.
tertia lux faciem terrarum fulua retexit.
arida mox posito narratur nomine terra.
florea uentosis consurgunt germina campis
pomiferique simul procuruant brachia rami.
quarta die generat solis cum lampade lunam.
et stellas tremulo radiantes lumine figit.
haec elementa dedit subiecto insignia mundo,
tempora quae doceant uarios mutanda per ortus.
quinta die accipiunt liquentia flumina pisces
et uolucres uarias suspendunt aere pinnas.
sexta pater gelidos in spiras lubricat angues
quadrupedumque greges totos diffundit in agros
cunctaque multiplici mandauit crescere passim
germine et inmensis errare et pascere terris.

### English translation (Claude)

In the beginning the Lord set heaven and earth in place;
for the earth was formless and hidden by the flood,
and the immeasurable God was moving over the vast waters,
while chaos and black darkness dimmed all things;
when he commanded these to be parted, he speaks from heaven’s pole:
“Let there be light!” and all things shone brightly in the world.
When the Lord had completed the works of the first day,
he founded the sky, white with rising clouds.
The immeasurable sea receives its wandering shores,
sweeping in many rivers with powerful currents.
The third light uncovered the tawny face of the lands.
Soon the dry ground, its name given, is called earth.
Flowering shoots spring up in the windy fields,
and fruit-bearing branches at once bend their arms.
On the fourth day he begets the moon with the sun’s lamp
and fixes the stars, radiant with trembling light.
These elements he gave as emblems to the world beneath,
to teach the seasons that must change through their various risings.
On the fifth day the flowing streams receive fish,
and the various birds hang their wings in the air.
On the sixth the Father makes the cold serpents glide in coils
and spreads herds of four-footed beasts through all the fields,
and he commanded all things everywhere to increase with manifold
offspring and to roam and feed over the immeasurable lands.

### Scripture references

- Gen 1:1–25: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The Heptateuch poem (Latin hexameters retelling Genesis–Judges) is ascribed in the manuscripts to Cyprian; modern scholars assign it to an otherwise unknown Gallic poet, conventionally called Cyprianus Gallus (early fifth century). It is cited by book and line of Peiper’s edition (CSEL 23).
- The poet retells Gen 1:1–25 freely and compresses the days.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1 (CSEL 23:2lines 1–24; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1).

## Genesis, lines 25–49

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-25
- Source: CSEL 23:2lines 25–49–3
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God makes man in his likeness with his own hand, forms Eve from Adam’s rib, rests on the seventh day, has Adam name the animals, and blesses the couple.

### Latin text

Haec ubi constituit diuina potentia iussu,
rectorem inspiciens mundanis defore rebus,
haec memorat: "Hominem nostris faciamus in unguem
uultibus adsimilem, toto qui regnet in orbe."
et licet hunc solo posset componere uerbo,
ipse tamen sancta dignatus ducere dextra
inspirat brutum diuino a pectore pectus.
quem postquam effigie formatum ceu sua uidit,
metitur solum mordaces uoluere curas.
ilicet inriguo perfundit lumina somno,
mollius ut uulsa formetur femina costa
atque artus mixta geminos substantia firmet,
inditur et nomen, uitae quod dicitur, Aeuua.
quapropter nati linquunt de more parentes
coniugibusque suis positis cum sedibus haerent.
septima luce deus factorum fine quieuit,
sacratam statuens uenturi ad gaudia saecli.
ilicet exhibitis animantum ex ordine turbis,
uiritim cunctis nomen, quod permanet, indit
Adamus, donata sibi prudentia sollers.
quem deus adloquio, iunctam dignatur et Aeuuam:
"Crescite multimodo uentura in tempora partu,
ut polus et plenae uestro sint germine terrae,
heredesque mei uarios decerpite fructus,
quos nemora et pingui reddunt de caespite campi."

### English translation (Claude)

When divine power had established these things by command,
seeing that a ruler would be lacking to the world’s affairs,
it says: “Let us make man to the exact pattern
of our likeness, to reign in the whole world.”
And though he could have formed him by a word alone,
he deigned nevertheless to shape him with his own holy right hand
and breathes into the brute breast from the divine breast.
When he saw him formed in an image like his own,
he judges that alone he would turn over gnawing cares.
At once he floods his eyes with watering sleep,
so that from a rib plucked out a woman might be gently formed
and a mingled substance might make the twin frames firm;
and a name is given her that means life, Eve.
Therefore children leave their parents, as is the custom,
and cleave to their wives, settling their homes.
On the seventh light God rested at the end of his works,
establishing it as sacred for the joys of the age to come.
Then, when the throngs of living things had been brought in order,
to all, one by one, Adam gives a name that endures,
skilled with the wisdom granted him.
God deigns to address him, and Eve joined with him:
“Increase by manifold birth for times to come,
that the sky and the full lands may be filled with your offspring,
and as my heirs pluck the various fruits
that the groves and the fields yield from the rich turf.”

### Scripture references

- Gen 1:26–28: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 2:2–3: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 2:7: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 2:18–24: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 3:20: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet rearranges Gen 1:26–2:24: Eve’s name (Gen 3:20) and the sabbath rest (Gen 2:2–3) come before the naming of the animals (Gen 2:19–20).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.25 (CSEL 23:2lines 25–49–3; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-25).

## Genesis, lines 50–74

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-50
- Source: CSEL 23:3lines 50–74–4
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Paradise with its tree of life and death and its four rivers is described; Adam and Eve are set there and warned not to eat the forbidden fruit, and the serpent approaches.

### Latin text

Haec ubi disseruit, laeta paradisus in aula
instruitur primique adspectat lumina solis.
gignitur haec inter pomis letalibus arbos
coniunctum generans uitae mortisque saporem.
aedibus in mediis puro fluit agmine flumen.
quod rigat insignes liquidis de fluctibus hortos.
quadrifidosque secat undanti ex fonte meatus.
Phisonus auriferis praediues fluctuat undis
conspicuasque terit rauco de gurgite gemmas —
prasinus huic nomen, illi est carbunculus ardens —
perspicuisque uadis terram praelambit Euilam.
post hunc Aethiopas Geon adlapsus opimat,
tertius est Tigris, Euphrati adiunctus amoeno,
Assyriam celeri discretim flumine sulcans.
hic positus custos Adamus cum coniuge fida
atque opifex tali formatur uoce tonantis:
"Ne trepidate simul licitos praecerpere fructus,
quos nemus intonsum ramo frondente creauit,
solliciti, ne forte malum noxale legatis,
quod uiret ex gemino discreta ad munia suco."
nec minus interea caecos nox alta tenebat,
ac modo formatos uestis non texerat artus.
Has inter sedes et bacis mitibus hortos
spumeus astuto uincens animalia sensu
serpebat tacite spiris frigentibus anguis;

### English translation (Claude)

When he had spoken these things, paradise is furnished as a glad court
and looks upon the light of the first sun.
Among these a tree is begotten with deadly fruit,
producing a taste of life and death joined together.
In the midst of the dwellings a river flows with a pure stream,
which waters the splendid gardens with its liquid waves
and cuts four-forked channels from its welling spring.
The Pishon, very rich, flows with gold-bearing waves
and wears down conspicuous gems in its roaring flood —
the green prase is the name of one, of the other the glowing carbuncle —
and with clear shallows laps the land of Havilah.
After it the Gihon, gliding by, enriches the Ethiopians;
the third is the Tigris, joined to the pleasant Euphrates,
furrowing Assyria apart with its swift stream.
Here Adam is set as keeper with his faithful wife,
and as worker he is instructed by such a voice of the Thunderer:
“Do not be afraid, both of you, to pluck the permitted fruits
that the unshorn grove has produced on its leafy branch,
but take care that you do not gather the guilty fruit
that flourishes with a twofold juice for separate ends.”
Meanwhile deep night still held them blind,
and no garment yet covered the limbs just formed.
Among these dwellings and gardens of mellow berries
the foaming serpent, surpassing the animals in cunning,
was creeping silently in cold coils;

### Scripture references

- Gen 2:8–17: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 2:25: allusion, medium confidence
- Gen 3:1: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Latin malum (‘fruit’, ‘apple’) is also ‘evil’; the poet plays on the double sense. He makes the tree of life and the tree of knowledge a single tree.
- ‘Thunderer’ (tonans) is the poet’s epic title for God, borrowed from Latin poetry.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.50 (CSEL 23:3lines 50–74–4; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-50).

## Genesis, lines 75–100

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-75
- Source: CSEL 23:4lines 75–100–5
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The serpent persuades Eve, she and Adam eat, their eyes are opened, and God questions Adam, who blames the woman.

### Latin text

liuida mordaci uoluens mendacia sensu
femineo temptat sub pectore mollia corda:
"Dic mihi, cur metuas felicia germina mali?
numquid poma deus non omnia nata sacrauit?
atqui si studeas mellitos carpere uictus,
aureus astrigero ridebit cardine mundus."
illa negat uetitosque timet contingere ramos:
sed tamen infirmo uincuntur pectora sensu.
ilicet ut niueo iam mitia dente momordit,
adfulsit nulla maculatum nube serenum.
tum sapor inlecebram mellitis faucibus indens
perpulit insueto munus deferre marito.
quod simul ac sumpsit, detersa nocte nitentes
emicuere oculi mundo splendente sereni.
ergo ubi nudatum prospexit corpus uterque
quae pudenda uident, ficulnis frondibus umbrant.
Forte sub occiduo domini iam lumine solis
agnoscunt sonitum trepidique ad deuia tendunt.
tum dominus caeli maestum conpellat Adamum:
"Dic, ubi nunc degas ?" respondit talia supplex:
"O domine, adfatus pauido sub corde tremesco,
magne, tuos, nudusque metu frigente fatigor."
tum dominus: "Quis poma dedit noxalia uobis ?"
"Tradidit haec mulier, dum dicit lumina promptim
candenti perfusa die liquidumque serenum
adfulsisse sibi solemque et sidera caeli."

### English translation (Claude)

rolling livid lies with biting mind,
he tempts the soft heart in the woman’s breast:
“Tell me, why do you fear the happy shoots of the fruit tree?
Has God not hallowed all the fruits that are born?
Yet if you are eager to pluck honeyed food,
the golden world will smile on you from the star-bearing heaven.”
She refuses and fears to touch the forbidden branches;
yet her heart is overcome by its weak sense.
As soon as she bit the mellow fruit with snowy tooth,
the clear sky shone out, stained by no cloud.
Then the taste, putting allurement into her honeyed throat,
drove her to bring the gift to her husband, unused to it.
As soon as he took it, night was wiped away, and their eyes
shone forth clear, as the world grew radiant.
So when each looked upon the naked body,
they shade with fig leaves what they see is shameful.
When the sun’s light was already setting,
they recognize the Lord’s sound and in fear make for out-of-the-way places.
Then the Lord of heaven addresses the sorrowful Adam:
“Tell me, where are you now?” He answered thus, as a suppliant:
“O Lord, I tremble in a fearful heart
at your address, great one, and naked I am worn out with chilling fear.”
Then the Lord: “Who gave you the guilty fruit?”
“The woman handed it over, saying that at once the eyes,
flooded with shining day, and the clear sky
had shone upon her, and the sun and the stars of heaven.”

### Scripture references

- Gen 3:1–12: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.75 (CSEL 23:4lines 75–100–5; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-75).

## Genesis, lines 101–125

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-101
- Source: CSEL 23:5lines 101–125
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Eve blames the serpent, and God pronounces judgment on the serpent, the woman, and Adam.

### Latin text

protinus ira dei turbatam territat Aeuuam,
auctorem uetiti dum quaerit maximus acti.
illa sub haec pandit: "Serpentis suasa loquella
accepi, fallente dolo blandoque rogatu.
nam sua uipereis intexens uerba uenenis
haec mihi prae cunctis narrauit dulcia pomis."
Ilicet omnipotens condemnat gesta draconis
praecipiens cunctis inuisum uiuere monstrum,
pectore mox fuso prorepere, tum sola morsu
mandere, mansuro quaecumque in tempora bello
humanos inter sensus ipsumque labentem.
uertice ut abiecto pronus post crura uirorum
serperet et calces, dum labens comminus instat.
femina fraudigeris misere decepta suadellis
praecipitur duro discrimine ponere partum
seruitiumque sui studio perferre mariti.
"Tu uero, cui uisa fuit sententia uerax
coniugis, inmiti cessit quae uicta draconi,
deflebis miserum per tempora longa laborem.
nam tibi triticeae surget pro germine messis
carduus et spinis multum paliurus acutis,
ut cum uisceribus lassis et pectore maesto
plurima sollicitos praestent suspiria uictus,
donec in occiduo uenientis tempore mortis,
unde geris corpus, terrae reddare iacenti."

### English translation (Claude)

At once the wrath of God terrifies the troubled Eve,
as the Most High asks who was the author of the forbidden deed.
She then reveals: “I received the serpent’s persuasive
speech, through deceiving guile and coaxing request.
For, weaving his words with viper’s poisons,
he told me these fruits were sweet above all.”
At once the Almighty condemns the deeds of the serpent,
commanding the monster to live hated by all,
soon to crawl forward on its outstretched breast, then to eat
the ground with its bite, in a war to last for all times
between human minds and itself as it glides,
so that with head cast down it would creep flat behind the legs of men
and at their heels, while gliding it presses close.
The woman, wretchedly deceived by fraud-bearing persuasions,
is commanded to give birth amid harsh danger
and to bear subjection to her husband with devotion.
“But you, to whom the counsel of your wife seemed true,
who, defeated, yielded to the cruel serpent,
shall bewail your wretched toil through long ages.
For in place of the crop of wheat there will spring up
the thistle and the thorn bush with many sharp spines,
so that with wearied body and sorrowful breast
your anxious food may cost you very many sighs,
until, in the setting time of death when it comes,
you are given back to the lying earth from which you bear your body.”

### Scripture references

- Gen 3:13–19: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.101 (CSEL 23:5lines 101–125; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-101).

## Genesis, lines 126–150

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-126
- Source: CSEL 23:6lines 126–150
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Adam and Eve are expelled and clothed with skins; Cain and Abel are born and offer their gifts, Abel’s lamb pleases God, and God rebukes the angry Cain.

### Latin text

His actis dominus trepidis dat taedia uitae
deiectosque procul sacratis dimouet hortis
obuersosque locat medioque eliminat igni,
in quo perceleri Cherubin euoluitur aestu.
dum calidus deferuet apex flammasque uolutat.
quis dominus, pigro ne frigore membra rigerent.
consuit euulsas pecudum de uiscere pelles,
operiens nudos calidis de uestibus artus.
Ergo ubi coniugio sese iam fidus Adamus
esse uirum sensit, nomen genetricis amatae
exhibet uxori: binos e germine fetus
continuo genitor diuersis nuncupat orsis:
Cainis hic nomen habet, cui iunctus Abelus
innocuas multa seruabat cura bidentes:
ast alius curuo terram uertebat aratro.
hi cum perpetuo ferrent sua dona tonanti,
dissimiles fructus sensu suadente dedere.
nam prior uberibus fuerant quae prosata glaebis,
obtulit, ast alius miti se deuouet agno,
exta gerens sincera manu adipemque niualem,
confestimque placet domino pia uota tuenti.
quod propter gelida Cain incanduit ira.
quem deus adloquio dignatus talibus infit:
'Dic mihi, si rectum uiuas et noxia cernas,
degere non possis contracto a crimine purus?

### English translation (Claude)

This done, the Lord gives the frightened pair weariness of life
and drives them out far from the sacred gardens
and sets them facing away and shuts them out by a fire between,
in which the Cherub rolls forth with swift heat,
while the hot point seethes and whirls its flames.
For them the Lord, lest their limbs grow stiff with sluggish cold,
sewed skins stripped from the flesh of cattle,
covering their naked limbs with warm garments.
So when faithful Adam perceived that he was now
a husband in wedlock, he gives his wife the name
of a beloved mother: two offspring of his seed
the father forthwith names with different beginnings:
this one has the name Cain; joined with him, Abel
kept the harmless sheep with much care,
but the other turned the earth with the curved plough.
When they were bringing their gifts to the Thunderer continually,
they gave unlike fruits as their minds prompted.
For the first offered what had sprung from the fertile clods,
but the other devotes himself with a gentle lamb,
carrying in his hand the pure entrails and snowy fat,
and at once the pious offerings please the Lord as he looks on.
For this reason Cain glowed with cold anger.
God, deigning to address him, begins thus:
“Tell me, if you live rightly and discern what is harmful,
could you not live pure of the guilt you have contracted?

### Scripture references

- Gen 3:20–24: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 4:1–7: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The garments of skin (Gen 3:21) are placed after the expulsion.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.126 (CSEL 23:6lines 126–150; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-126).

## Genesis, lines 151–175

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-151
- Source: CSEL 23:7lines 151–175
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Cain murders Abel, is cursed and marked by God, goes to the land of Nod, and founds a city named after his firstborn.

### Latin text

desine mordaci fratrem disperdere sensu,
qui tibi ceu domino subiectus colla praebebit.
nec tamen his fractus fratrem deducit ad arua
atque ubi deprensum deserto in gramine uidit,
elidit geminis frendens pia guttura palmis.
quod factum dominus caelo speculatus ab alto
disquirit, quonam terrarum degat Abelus?
ille negat positum custodem se fore fratris.
cui deus effatur: "Nonne uox sanguinis eius
ad me missa sonat celsumque ascendit ad axem?"
nosce igitur mansura tibi pro crimine tanto;
nam modo quae maduit germani sanguine terra,
inuiso maledicta tibi conmissa negabit
semina et absumptis fructum non proferet herbis,
torpidus ut multo conlidens membra tremore
funere ceu iuncto semper suspiria ducas.
territus ille gemit mortemque a numine poscit:
quae tamen infenso non est concessa tonante :
nam mala promeritus signo fit notus inusto,
sternere ne ferro liceat cuicumque nocentem,
ne maius septena parent discrimina funus.
ilicet a facie domini ceu perditus exit,
aedibus obuersis Naidae in caespite terrae,
nec minus ex natis, genetrix quos fida creauit,
nomine primaeui sublimem condidit urbem.

### English translation (Claude)

Cease to destroy your brother with a biting mind;
he will bow his neck to you, subject as to a lord.”
Yet not broken by these words, he leads his brother to the fields,
and when he saw him caught in the lonely grass,
gnashing his teeth, he crushes the innocent throat with both his hands.
The Lord, having watched the deed from high heaven,
asks where on earth Abel is living.
He denies that he was set to be his brother’s keeper.
God says to him: “Does not the voice of his blood
sound, sent to me, and rise up to the lofty sky?
Know therefore what will abide for you for so great a crime:
for the earth that just now was wet with your brother’s blood
is cursed for you and will refuse the seeds entrusted to it
and will bring forth no fruit, its plants consumed,
so that, sluggish, your limbs shaking with much trembling,
you may always draw sighs as if joined to death.”
Terrified, he groans and asks death from the divine power,
but it was not granted by the angry Thunderer;
for, having deserved evil, he is made known by a branded sign,
so that no one may lay the guilty man low with the sword,
lest sevenfold perils prepare a greater death.
Then he goes out from the face of the Lord as one lost,
turning from his home, onto the turf of the land of Nod,
and from the sons whom his faithful wife bore
he founded a lofty city in the name of the firstborn.

### Scripture references

- Gen 4:7–17: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.151 (CSEL 23:7lines 151–175; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-151).

## Genesis, lines 176–201

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-176
- Source: CSEL 23:7lines 176–201–8
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The descendants of Cain to Lamech and his children are listed, then Seth and Enosh, with the ages of Adam, Enosh and Kenan.

### Latin text

Enochus Gaidada creat, hic deinde Malelum
quo Mathusalamus sensim genitore sub auras
exiit et longae produxit tempora uitae.
ast Lamech. dirum qui perculit ense Cainem,
perpetitur caeso multum grauiora nocente;
crimina nam meritum decies septena cohercent.
coniugibus hic facta gemens sese increpat ultro,
quarum prima fuit Ada atque altera Sella.
Iabelum sed prima creat, qui pastor in aruis
gramineis laeta pecudes pascebat in herba.
Iobalus quem deinde subit, qui musica plectra
repperit et uario concordes murmure chordas.
Tobelum mox Sella parit, cui fundere riuos
aeris erat moris ferrumque incude subactum
diuersis formare modis stridente camino:
quem Noemma sequens uno genitore creata est.
Haec inter uegetis Adam non languidus annis;
Sethum progenerat post mortem mitis Abelis.
Enochum is deinde creat, cui candida corda
largitus dominus. hoc se poscente rogari
adnuit et placidae suscepit munera mentis.
nongentos igitur postquam conplerat Adamus
ter denosque annos, sopitus morte quieuit.
longaeuusque dehinc nongentos quinque per annos
Enochus uixit, quem Cainanus adaequans
quinque fuit tantum protentis longior annis.

### English translation (Claude)

Enoch begets Irad; he then Mehujael,
with whom as father Methuselah in time came forth
into the air and drew out the times of a long life.
But Lamech, who struck down dread Cain with the sword,
suffers much heavier things than the guilty man he slew;
for ten times seven penalties restrain his crime.
Groaning at the deed, he reproaches himself before his wives,
of whom the first was Adah and the other Zillah.
The first bears Jabal, who as a shepherd in the grassy fields
fed the flocks in the glad pasture.
Jubal follows him, who invented the musical plectrum
and strings harmonious with varied murmur.
Soon Zillah bears Tubal, whose custom it was to pour streams
of bronze and to shape iron subdued on the anvil
in diverse ways at the hissing furnace;
after him follows Naamah, born of the same father.
Meanwhile Adam, not feeble in his vigorous years,
begets Seth after the death of gentle Abel.
He then begets Enosh, to whom the Lord granted
a pure heart; when Enosh called on him, he consented to be entreated
and accepted the gifts of a peaceful mind.
So when Adam had completed nine hundred
and thirty years, put to sleep by death, he rested.
And then, long-lived, Enosh lived nine hundred and five years,
and Kenan, equalling him,
was longer only by five extended years.

### Scripture references

- Gen 4:18–26: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 5:3–14: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet departs from Genesis: he makes Methuselah the son of Mehujael (Gen 4:18 has Methushael), has Lamech kill Cain (a later tradition, not in Genesis), and gives ‘ten times seven’ for Genesis’s seventy-seven (Gen 4:24). The son of Seth (Enosh) is called Enochus in the Latin.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.176 (CSEL 23:7lines 176–201–8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-176).

## Genesis, lines 202–227

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-202
- Source: CSEL 23:8lines 202–227–9
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The line of Seth continues through Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch (taken by God), Methuselah and Lamech, who prophesies over Noah, the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.

### Latin text

iunior hoc iterum ter quinis decubat annis
Malaleela senex: ter denis deinde Iaretus
atque tribus uixit longo constrictior aeuo.
Enochus, cui cura fuit seruire potenti
et mentem sociare deo, sat iunior istis,
ter centum explicitis si quinque adiungere cures
sexies et denos, subita caligine tectus
abditur et domino multum miserante remotus
felicem placido uiuit cum tempore uitam.
at Mathusalamus nongentos porrigit orbes
septies et denos, unum quis iungere ius est.
Lamechus, hoc patre satus. Noele creato
talia disseruit, dum uatum more futura
praeuidet et sensus uenturum mittit in aeuum:
"Hic secura dabit nobis commercia uitae
et durum remouebit onus pacemque reducet,
quae factis est pulsa malis nostroque reatu
tristibus et dextris, quarum sulcata labore
terra negat fructum, domino maledicta loquente."
septies hic centum uixit septemque per annos,
septuaginta super positis. ut summula poscit.
hoc generante probis Noelus nobilis actis
editur, innocuo daturus semina saeclo.
tresque creat natos, Sethum Chamumque laphetumque,
in numerum solitos mollitum tundere ferrum
et scintillantes promptim procudere massas.

### English translation (Claude)

Younger than him again by fifteen years
the old man Mahalalel lies down; then Jared, by thirty
and three, lived more confined in his long age.
Enoch, whose care it was to serve the Mighty One
and to join his mind to God, much younger than these —
when three hundred years were unrolled, if you take care to add five
and six times ten — covered in sudden darkness
is hidden and, removed by the Lord’s great mercy,
lives a happy life in a peaceful time.
But Methuselah stretches out nine hundred circling years
and seven times ten, to which it is right to join one.
Lamech, sprung from this father, when Noah was born,
spoke thus, as in the manner of prophets he foresees
the future and sends his mind into the age to come:
“This one will give us secure dealings of life
and remove the hard burden and bring back peace,
which was driven out by evil deeds and our guilt
and by sad right hands, by whose toil the furrowed
earth refuses fruit, since the Lord spoke the curse.”
He lived seven hundred and seven years,
with seventy added on, as the sum requires.
Of his begetting Noah, noble for upright deeds,
is born, to give seed to an innocent age.
And he begets three sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth,
who were used to beat softened iron in rhythm
and readily to forge the sparkling masses.

### Scripture references

- Gen 5:15–32: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Some of the poet’s numbers differ from Genesis: Jared is made thirty-three years shorter-lived than Mahalalel, and Methuselah lives 971 years (Gen 5:27 has 969); the sense of the Latin at both places is uncertain. Shem is called Sethus in the Latin. The last two lines, on forging iron, have no basis in Genesis.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.202 (CSEL 23:8lines 202–227–9; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-202).

## Genesis, lines 228–252

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-228
- Source: CSEL 23:9lines 228–252–10
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God limits human life to 120 years; the holy ones from heaven beget giants with women; God resolves to destroy the world by flood and orders Noah to build the ark.

### Latin text

sexies hic uates centum iam uixerat annis.
cum dominus, diri pertaesus crimina mundi
multimodosque hominum longa sub luce reatus,
constringit miserans prolixae incommoda uitae,
inposuitque modum bis sexaginta per annos.
uincere quem nullus posita sub lege ualeret.
Haec inter sanctos lactat terrena uoluptas
captiuosque tenet caelesti ex arce meantes;
dum facies pulchro ridentes corpore cernunt
femineas placitisque nimis conplexibus haerent,
progenuere sibi torua cum mole gigantes:
quorum criminibus domini patientia tandem
cogitur offendi; longam dum concipit iram
atque dolet hominem dextra formante creatum
siderea, sancto permotus pectore fatur:
"Ius delere mihi mundi peccata nocentis
fluctibus aequoreis totamque inuoluere terram
humanumque genus uastis mersare fluentis
omnigenasque simul pecudes, quae laeta per agros
gramina detondent. celsis dum collibus errant.
serpentes nex una premat uolucresque ferasque,
ut mea deletis mitescat fraudibus ira."
accipit ergo dei mandata ingentia Noe.
duplicibus cameris arcam conpangere iussus,
quae teneat uolucrum mansura ad germina nidos.

### English translation (Claude)

The prophet had now lived six hundred years
when the Lord, weary of the crimes of the dire world
and of the manifold guilt of men under long light,
in mercy restricts the troubles of a drawn-out life
and set a limit of twice sixty years,
which no one under the law laid down could surpass.
Meanwhile earthly pleasure entices the holy ones
and holds them captive as they come down from the heavenly citadel;
while they behold women’s faces smiling with beautiful bodies
and cling too closely to pleasing embraces,
they begot for themselves giants of grim bulk,
by whose crimes the patience of the Lord is at last
forced to take offence; while he conceives a long wrath
and grieves that man was created by the forming of his starry
right hand, moved in his holy breast he speaks:
“It is my right to blot out the sins of the guilty world
with the waves of the sea and wrap the whole earth
and plunge the human race in vast floods,
and with them the herds of every kind that crop the glad
grass through the fields while they roam the high hills;
let one death crush serpents and birds and beasts,
that my wrath may grow mild when deceits are blotted out.”
Noah therefore receives the mighty commands of God,
ordered to build an ark with double chambers,
to hold the nests of birds, to remain for future seed.

### Scripture references

- Gen 6:1–16: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet takes the ‘sons of God’ of Gen 6:2 as heavenly beings (‘holy ones … from the heavenly citadel’), as many early Christian writers did.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.228 (CSEL 23:9lines 228–252–10; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-228).

## Genesis, lines 253–278

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-253
- Source: CSEL 23:10lines 253–278–11
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The ark is built to God’s measurements, and God tells Noah to enter with his family, the clean animals by sevens and the unclean by pairs, and food, for the flood will come in seven days.

### Latin text

ac, ne fissilibus dissultent robora rimis,
unguine praepingui linuit bituminis arcam.
ipsa fuit plenas ter centum longa per ulnas,
quinquaginta patens transuersam lata per aluum.
at qua sublimi surgunt fastigia tecto,
edita ter denis in caelum tollitur ulnis,
assere quadrato, nullis cessura fluentis,
ad medium gestans facili cum cardine postes.
haec perfecta deus postquam despexit ab astris,
talibus adfatur mittendum in aequora uatem:
Scande citus, natique tui nataeque, fluentem
fluctibus in tumidis cumbam, quia pectora uidi
iusta tibi dudumque mihi tua nota uoluntas
emeruit maiora praesentibus; atque coactas
claude simul pecudes omni de germine mites
septenis paribus; inmundo de grege bina
esse sines tecum, escamque his omnibus infers
atque tibi suetam, ne, cum per uasta fluenta
cultio destiterit, pariter patiare molestam
prouisis non ante cibis per glauca uehendus
salsa famem; nam clara polo cum lumina solis
septima prodierint, totos diffundere nimbos
cardine ab aetherio cunctosque euoluere fontes
adlapsu maiore paro, quo grandior undis
aestuet oceanus spumosos largius amnes
accipiens fusoque oblimans omnia tractu.

### English translation (Claude)

and, lest the timbers spring apart with splitting cracks,
he smeared the ark with very rich ointment of pitch.
It was three hundred full cubits long,
opening fifty wide across its belly.
But where the gables rise with lofty roof,
it is raised high toward heaven by thirty cubits,
with squared planks, to yield to no floods,
bearing at the middle a door with an easy hinge.
When God looked down from the stars on these things completed,
he addresses thus the prophet who is to be sent onto the waters:
“Climb up quickly, and your sons and daughters,
into the boat to float on the swelling waves, because I have seen
that your heart is just, and your will, long known to me,
has deserved greater things than the present; and gather
and shut in with you the gentle herds of every kind
by sevens in pairs; of the unclean flock you shall let
two be with you, and bring in food for all these
and your own accustomed food, lest, when through the vast floods
tillage has ceased, you too suffer troublesome hunger,
borne over the grey-green salt waters
with no provisions laid up beforehand; for when the bright light of the sun
comes forth in the sky for the seventh time, I am preparing to pour out
all the rainclouds from heaven’s pole and roll out all the springs
with a greater onrush, by which the ocean
may surge larger with waves, receiving foaming rivers more abundantly
and smearing all things with mud in its poured-out course.

### Scripture references

- Gen 6:14–7:4: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.253 (CSEL 23:10lines 253–278–11; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-253).

## Genesis, lines 279–302

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-279
- Source: CSEL 23:11lines 279–302–12
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Noah enters the ark, the flood covers the earth for forty days and destroys all life, and as the waters fall Noah sends out the raven, which does not return.

### Latin text

namque quater denis iuncta cum nocte diebus
grandine perpetua nubes complebo madentes,
ut, quidquid uiuit, tumidis mergatur in undis.
haec ubi dicta, fiunt domini mandata uolente
festinoque sene, longo qui nobilis aeuo,
sescentos agitans annos, se credidit undis
coniunctosque simul natos natasque recepit,
confisus tenui quamuis foret abditus antro.
interea totos laxarunt nubila nimbos,
atque abyssus riguos dimisit in aequora fontes.
iamque quater denis stagnantur cuncta diebus.
non uolucres leuibus suspendunt corpora pinnis,
nec fera celsiiugo deuitat marmora colle,
omnia conduntur pelago, mors omnibus una est.
nec minus interea tumidum suspensa per aequor
arca fluens clausum munibat pendula uatem
uenturisque parens seruabat semina saeclis
naufragio secura suo. mox rarior aether
nubibus in piceis coepit constringere nimbos.
iamque relabenti decrescit in aequore pontus
ac, postquam modico fluitabat flumine cumba,
emittit senior nigrantem pectora coruum,
qui leuibus pinnis uolucri dum flamine fertur,
non rediit, iusti suspendens uota prophetae.

### English translation (Claude)

For through forty days joined with nights
I will fill the dripping clouds with ceaseless rain,
that whatever lives may be drowned in the swelling waves.”
When this was said, the Lord’s commands are carried out by the willing
and eager old man, who, renowned for his long life,
passing through six hundred years, entrusted himself to the waves
and received with him his sons and daughters together,
trusting, though he was hidden in a slender cavern.
Meanwhile the clouds let loose all their rains,
and the deep sent its watering springs into the seas.
And now for forty days all things are flooded.
Birds do not hold up their bodies on light wings,
nor does the beast escape the waters on a high-topped hill;
all things are buried in the sea; there is one death for all.
Meanwhile, hanging over the swelling sea,
the floating ark protected the shut-in prophet as it drifted
and, like a parent, kept seed for the ages to come,
secure amid its own shipwreck. Soon the thinning air
began to bind the rains in the pitch-black clouds.
And now the sea decreases as the water ebbs,
and when the boat was floating on a modest flood,
the old man sends out the raven, black of breast,
which, while carried by the swift wind on light wings,
did not return, leaving the hopes of the just prophet in suspense.

### Scripture references

- Gen 7:4–8:7: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.279 (CSEL 23:11lines 279–302–12; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-279).

## Genesis, lines 303–328

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-303
- Source: CSEL 23:12lines 303–328–13
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The dove returns, then brings an olive branch, then does not return; the earth dries, Noah leaves the ark and offers a pleasing sacrifice.

### Latin text

post hunc albentem mittit per stagna columbam,
quae super aequoreum campum defessa uolatu,
nusquam nancta solum, uati se reddidit almo.
cumque recurrentis fulgerent septima solis
lumina. dimittit pinna plaudente uolucrem,
quae nemore inuento ramis praepinguis oliuae
ora referta tulit, cum iam per sidera uesper
surgeret ac tremulo noctem praecurreret igni.
inde iterum septem transcursis rite diebus
mittitur in pelagus ales, quae lapsa meatu
perceleri numquam sociae se reddidit aulae.
sescentos igitur iam tum transgressus et unum
orbes erat uates. primo iam mense secuto
atque die mensis primo, cum libera tellus
uisa aperire procul montes ac uoluere fumum,
quos super undarat ter quinas pontus in ulnas:
decurso iam mense dehinc cum trina secundo
lumina restarent, toto iam libera fluctu
terra fuit propriumque ostendit laeta uirorem.
ergo ubi nudatis consedit montibus arca.
Araratum qui nomen habent sermone uetusto,
laxat claustra senex reddens noua semina terrae
exstruxitque libens sacraria festa tonanti
atque memor uoti adolet dum altaria flammis,
hostia digna fuit, mites dum gignit odores,
qui dominum coram laetis cum flatibus halant.

### English translation (Claude)

After it he sends a white dove over the waters,
which, worn out with flight over the watery plain,
finding ground nowhere, returned to the kindly prophet.
And when the seventh light of the returning sun
shone, he sends off the bird with clapping wing,
which, having found a grove, brought back its beak filled
with branches of the rich olive, when evening was already
rising among the stars and running ahead of night with trembling fire.
Then again, when seven days had duly passed,
the bird is sent over the sea, and, gliding away on swift
course, never returned to the house of its companions.
So the prophet had now passed six hundred and one
circling years. In the first month that followed,
on the first day of the month, when the freed earth
seemed far off to open up the mountains and roll out mist —
the mountains over which the sea had flooded fifteen cubits deep —
then, when the second month had run its course but three
days remained, the earth was free of the whole flood
and gladly showed its own green.
So when the ark settled on the bared mountains
that have the name Ararat in the ancient tongue,
the old man unbars the doors, giving back new seed to the earth,
and gladly built a festive sanctuary to the Thunderer,
and, mindful of his vow, as he burns the altars with flames,
the offering was worthy, since it produces gentle odours
that breathe in the Lord’s presence with glad breezes.

### Scripture references

- Gen 8:8–21: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 7:20: allusion, medium confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.303 (CSEL 23:12lines 303–328–13; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-303).

## Genesis, lines 329–353

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-329
- Source: CSEL 23:13lines 329–353–14
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God promises no more flood and sets the rainbow, blesses Noah, forbids eating blood and requires blood for blood; Noah plants a vine, becomes drunk, and Ham mocks him.

### Latin text

tum. ne consimili pereat discrimine terra,
diluuium dominus uentura in tempora tollit,
festinos menses et tempora mobilis anni
inrequieta iubens consuetos uoluere cursus:
sed croceum tantum curuandum in nubibus arcum,
candida cum sudo praerorant sidera nimbo.
prosequitur uatem domini benedictio mitem,
scilicet ut cunctis. quae tellus et mare gignit,
imperitet fidus, cum sint subiecta regenti;
admonitus pecudum carnes secernere mensis,
quae non laxato uitam liquere cruore:
idcirco quoniam multis haec indita mens est.
"Ast homo si ferro fuerit uel dente ferino
perditus, inquiram," dixit, "qui talia faxunt;
similibus dant colla modis fusura cruorem."
diuidit hinc dominus placiti mox pignora uatis
fecundasque iubet discretim sumere terras,
ut uacuum denso conplerent germine mundum.
accipit hoc meritum domino donante propheta,
vitis ut inuentor delibet candida uina.
quem propere expletum cyathis somnoque grauatum
derisit Chamus, de quo Channana iuuentus
nascitur et proceris dixit de nomine gentem,
fratribus ostentans nudatum membra parentem.
qui pariles pietate tegunt uelantque iacentem:

### English translation (Claude)

Then, lest the earth perish by a like disaster,
the Lord removes the flood for times to come,
commanding the hurrying months and the seasons of the moving year
to roll their accustomed courses without rest,
but only the saffron bow to be bent in the clouds
when the bright stars drip with rain from a clear sky.
The Lord’s blessing attends the gentle prophet,
namely that over all that earth and sea produce
the faithful man should rule, since they are subject to the ruler;
he is warned to keep from his tables the flesh of cattle
that have not given up their life with the blood let out,
because in many creatures this soul is placed.
“But if a man is killed by iron or a wild beast’s tooth,
I will inquire,” he said, “of those who do such things;
in like manner they shall give their necks to shed their blood.”
Then the Lord divides the offspring of the prophet he favoured
and orders them to take the fertile lands severally,
to fill the empty world with dense offspring.
The prophet receives this reward by the Lord’s gift,
to be the discoverer of the vine and to taste the white wine.
When he was quickly filled with cups and heavy with sleep,
Ham mocked him — from him the Canaanite youth
is born, and he named the people from his lofty name —
showing his father with his limbs bared to his brothers.
They with equal piety cover and veil him as he lies:

### Scripture references

- Gen 8:22–9:23: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 12 (‘because in many creatures this soul is placed’) is obscure; it seems to give the reason of Gen 9:4, that the life is in the blood.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.329 (CSEL 23:13lines 329–353–14; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-329).

## Genesis, lines 354–376

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-354
- Source: CSEL 23:14lines 354–376–15
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Shem and Japheth cover their father, Noah curses the offender, dies at 950, and the nations descended from his sons found their cities.

### Latin text

tergoribus studio iunctis dum lumina uertunt,
sopitum gessere senem, nec turpia dictu
membra uident, tenero flectentes colla pudore.
id pietatis opus postquam iam mente serena
cognouit uates, grassatum damnat in aeuum,
germanis faciens ut sit postremus et acro
subditus imperio fortesque exterritus oret.
inde senex functus nongentos transit in annos,
quinquies et denos, ut legis formula cauit.
cuius progenies, properat dum ducere muros,
condidit eximias uastis suspectibus urbes.
dumque operi instantes certatim moenia condunt,
nominibus signant Tharsum Citiumque Rodumque,
exstantes portis, fluctu quas adluit aequor.
Channanus hinc nomen habet, hinc Sidona surgit,
inde Iebusaeus, Cethaeo adiunctus Amorrus,
Gergessus ueget, Euaeus, Arucus, Asennus,
Samarus, Aradius Orusque, et moenia quisquis
Gaza colit, Gomorra quibus Sodomaque iugantur
atque Adama et Sebona, quis iunctim Lasa cohaeret.
quin etiam et Massam faciunt similemque Sopheram
celsiiugum et collem, nimbosas qui leuat arces,
qua primum albentis prorumpit flamma diei.

### English translation (Claude)

joining their backs with care while they turn their eyes away,
they carried the sleeping old man and do not see the limbs
shameful to speak of, bending their necks with tender modesty.
When the prophet, his mind now clear, came to know
that work of piety, he condemns the offender for all time,
making him last among his brothers and subject
to harsh rule, and, terrified, a suppliant of the strong.
Then the old man, having lived, passes nine hundred years
and fifty, as the record of the law has provided.
His descendants, hastening to raise walls,
founded outstanding cities of vast height.
And while, pressing on with the work, they build walls in rivalry,
they mark them with names, Tarsus and Citium and Rhodes,
standing out with their gates, which the sea washes with its wave.
Hence Canaan has his name, hence Sidon rises,
thence the Jebusite, the Amorite joined to the Hittite;
the Girgashite thrives, the Hivite, the Arkite, the Sinite,
the Zemarite, the Arvadite and Orus, and whoever inhabits
the walls of Gaza, to which Gomorrah and Sodom are yoked,
and Admah and Zeboiim, with which Lasha is joined.
They also make Mesha and, like it, Sephar,
and the high-ridged hill that lifts its cloudy citadels
where the flame of whitening day first bursts forth.

### Scripture references

- Gen 9:23–29: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 10:1–30: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- In Gen 9:25 the curse falls on Canaan; the poet seems to make Ham himself the one condemned. ‘Orus’ in the list of Canaan’s descendants is uncertain (perhaps the Hamathite of Gen 10:18).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.354 (CSEL 23:14lines 354–376–15; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-354).

## Genesis, lines 377–400

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-377
- Source: CSEL 23:15lines 377–400–16
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Nimrod, the giant hunter who sets himself against God, founds the cities of Babylonia and Assyria, and the builders of the tower in Shinar have their single language confused by the Lord.

### Latin text

corpore de quorum Nembrodus nascitur, acro
venatu adsuetus et membris grandibus exstans
atque deum gaudens contra se adtollere sanctum,
heroum de more ferox, quos ardua ceruix
inmensumque caput sublimes tollit in auras.
hic Babylona locat Orichamque Archata et Acallam
Sinnacheros inter saltus; Assura deinde
condit et eximiam tectis Nineua locauit
et Robotham, Calchamque dehinc. Dasemata quarum
distinguit saltus medioque in limite surgit.
Dumque alacres certant et nomina moenibus indunt,
in campum ueniunt Sennarum nomine dictum,
molitique cauas ad sidera tollere turres
non calcem faciunt, qua saxa inserta ligantur,
sed lateres tosta lutei fornace coquuntur,
ut prius inmensis fulgerent moenia tectis,
quam noua discretas faceret migratio gentes.
bitumen pro calce fuit, quod uellere molli
ducitur et lento constringit corpore cautes.
namque penes cunctos sermonis conscia lingua
per similes fatus et ciuica uerba locuta est.
denique descendit dominus et moenia uidit,
praecipiens uarias raptim prorumpere uoces
diuersosque sonos. quis gentes quaeque locuntur.

### English translation (Claude)

from their stock Nimrod is born, used to fierce
hunting and towering with huge limbs,
and rejoicing to raise himself against the holy God,
fierce in the manner of the heroes, whose lofty neck
and immense head raise them into the high air.
He founds Babylon and Erech, Accad and Calneh
amid the glades of Shinar; then he builds Asshur
and set Nineveh, outstanding for its buildings,
and Rehoboth, and then Calah; Resen
divides their glades and rises on the boundary between.
And while they eagerly vie and give names to walls,
they come into a plain called by the name of Shinar,
and, striving to raise hollow towers to the stars,
they make no lime by which the inserted stones are bound,
but bricks of clay are baked in a hot furnace,
so that the walls might shine with immense buildings
before a new migration made the nations separate.
Bitumen served for lime, which is drawn out with soft
fleece and binds the stones with its clinging body.
For among all one tongue, sharing its speech,
spoke with like utterance and common words.
At length the Lord came down and saw the walls,
commanding varied voices to burst forth suddenly
and diverse sounds, with which the nations each speak.

### Scripture references

- Gen 10:8–12: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 11:1–7: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The Latin names Orichamque Archata et Acallam, Robotham, Calchamque and Dasemata are rendered by the English Bible’s Erech, Accad, Calneh, Rehoboth, Calah and Resen.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.377 (CSEL 23:15lines 377–400–16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-377).

## Genesis, lines 401–425

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-401
- Source: CSEL 23:16lines 401–425–17
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The place of the tower is called Confusion; Abram and Lot marry, Terah leads them toward Canaan, God calls Abram with a promise, and Abram builds altars at Shechem and on a mountain.

### Latin text

ilicet impletur positis cultoribus orbis
diuiduusque locus mox est Confusio dictus.
Hos sequitur, domino multum qui credidit. Abram.
quem genuit prisco de nomine Thara uocatus.
iungitur et Lothus iuncto de sanguine frater.
hi cum iam ualidi fierent pubentibus annis,
coniugium iunxere sibi: Lod foedere Melchae
gaudet, et Abramo ditescit coniuge Sarra,
quae tamen ad senium duxit sine pignore uitam.
hos Thara sollicite Chaldaeo de grege dempsit,
dum Channana placent frondosis collibus arua.
sed deus, electi qui sensum nosceret Abrae,
imperat, ut sedes alia regione capessat:
"Heia age, festinans patriis te dimoue terris
cognatasque domus et limina sueta relinque;
nam procerem inmensae faciam te iam fore gentis.
insuper his addam, ut, te quicumque malignis
uulnerat eloquiis, domini maledictus ab ore
tristia quaeque ferat; at qui sermone benigno
commoda denarrat. sit laeto grandior actu."
mutantur sedes, Sychemis castra locantur,
quae dominus uati longum despondit in aeuum.
illic deproperans sacratas suscitat aras:
conscendens montem, fractas qui respuit undas
et rubicunda tumens prospectat lumina solis, ...

### English translation (Claude)

At once the world is filled as its settlers are placed,
and the divided place was soon called Confusion.
After these follows Abram, who greatly believed the Lord,
whom his father, called Terah by an ancient name, begot.
Lot too is joined, a brother of kindred blood.
When they had grown strong in the years of youth,
they took wives for themselves: Lot rejoices in a covenant
with Milcah, and Sarai enriches Abram as his wife,
though she led her life to old age without a child.
Terah anxiously took them away from the Chaldean flock,
since the fields of Canaan with their leafy hills pleased him.
But God, who knew the mind of chosen Abram,
commands him to take up his seat in another region:
“Come now, make haste and remove yourself from your father’s lands,
and leave your kindred’s houses and your accustomed thresholds;
for I will now make you the chief of an immense nation.
Besides this I will add that whoever wounds you
with malicious words, cursed from the mouth of the Lord,
shall bear every grief; but whoever with kind speech
recounts your benefits, let him be greater in glad fortune.”
Their seats are changed; the camp is pitched at Shechem,
which the Lord pledged to the prophet for a long age.
There, making haste, he raises sacred altars;
climbing a mountain that throws back the broken waves
and, swelling, looks out on the ruddy light of the sun, …

### Scripture references

- Gen 11:9: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 11:26–31: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 12:1–8: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet calls Lot Abram’s ‘brother’ (kinsman; Gen 11:27 makes him Abram’s nephew) and marries him to Milcah, who in Gen 11:29 is the wife of Nahor. The digital text ends the section with an ellipsis.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.401 (CSEL 23:16lines 401–425–17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-401).

## Genesis, lines 426–449

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-426
- Source: CSEL 23:17lines 426–449
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Famine drives Abram to Egypt, where Sarai, called his sister, is taken by Pharaoh, until God strikes Pharaoh, who rebukes Abram and sends them away with their wealth.

### Latin text

hic etiam positis fundatur molibus altar
oraturque deus, sola cum deinde per arua
uates agit, qua terra iacet disiuncta colonis;
quae dum perpetuo uenis sitientibus aret,
incussit ieiuna famem, cui cura cohaeret.
hoc fecunda metu Nilotica rura petuntur.
et quia conspicuo canderet corpore Sarra,
mandatur nullo nuptam se dicere uinclo,
sed fore germanam, ne fors inmanibus ausis
effrenis turbae zelum noxale marito
gigneret atque aemulum tristis riualis haberet.
hunc mirata quidem uenientem turba Canopi,
omnimodis Sarram cupido de lumine lustrat.
atque ubi per proceres laudata et tradita regi est,
dulcibus accipitur uotis uerbisque propheta.
non tamen inpositum uoluit rex aetheris illi;
nam multis magnisque simul terroribus actum
proturbat regem, noxalis qui reus ausi
obiurgat procerem, germanam cur magis esse
dixerit uxorem falsoque inluserit astu.
inde iubet laetum nuptam deducere secum,
armenti et quidquid patriis adduxerat oris.
namque deus seruo semper concordia fanti
ingentes census et maxima quaeque dicarat.

### English translation (Claude)

here too an altar is founded with stones set in place,
and God is prayed to; then through lonely fields
the prophet goes, where the land lies without settlers;
and while it is parched in its ever-thirsting veins,
the barren land brought on famine, to which care clings.
From this fear the fertile fields of the Nile are sought.
And because Sarai was radiant with conspicuous beauty,
she is told to say that she is a bride bound by no tie
but his sister, lest by chance, with monstrous daring,
the unbridled crowd should conceive a guilty jealousy against her husband
and she should have him as a grim rival’s competitor.
The crowd of Canopus marvelled at her as she came
and in every way survey Sarai with desirous eyes.
And when she was praised through the nobles and handed to the king,
the prophet is received with sweet wishes and words.
Yet the King of heaven did not will that she be given to him;
for with many and great terrors at once
he drives the king to distraction, who, charged with the guilty daring,
rebukes the chief: why had he said that his wife
was rather his sister and mocked him with false cunning?
Then he orders him gladly to lead his bride away with him,
and whatever of the herd he had brought from his native shores.
For God had dedicated to his servant, whose words always agreed with his,
huge wealth and all the greatest things.

### Scripture references

- Gen 12:8–20: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 13:2: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Canopus, a city of the Nile delta, stands for Egypt.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.426 (CSEL 23:17lines 426–449; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-426).

## Genesis, lines 450–473

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-450
- Source: CSEL 23:17lines 450–473–18
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Abram and Lot separate because their herds quarrel; Lot chooses the Jordan plain, Abram is shown the promised land and countless descendants and builds an altar at Mamre.

### Latin text

accipit et Lodus, quaecumque aduexerat illic,
et reduces patrias tandem sistuntur ad oras.
atque ibi dum gregibus intercursantibus errant,
pastores pecorum sese certamine pulsant,
pascua quod fetas artarent parua duorum.
sed pater. indomitas cupiens conponere rixas.
optulit, ut frater, quae uellet, sumeret arua.
ille libens paret, Iordanis litora poscens,
qui fluuius dudum, Nili uice dum tumet undis,
amne superfuso campos ditabat opimos.
Channanaea senex uenienti iugera sorte
accipit et uirides sistit armenta per agros.
sed non perpetuas licitum conponere sedes:
namque pater iussus terram lustrare tuendo.
flammeus e celsis quam sol utrumque recurrens
aspicit aut gemini despectant usque triones,
promissam generi tanto genitore creando.
cuius qui numerum gestit conprendere fatu,
stellarum citius turbas uel dicet harenae,
quas pelagus dubio nonnumquam litore nudat.
tendit et ad quercum prisco de nomine Mambram
perpetuoque deo praecelsum dedicat altar.
nec mora, diuiduos postquam concordia fratres
fecerat optatos conponere regna per agros.

### English translation (Claude)

Lot too receives whatever he had brought there,
and returning they settle at last in their native lands.
And there, while they wander with flocks running among one another,
the herdsmen of the cattle strike each other in quarrels,
because the small pastures cramped the breeding flocks of the two.
But the father, desiring to settle the untamed quarrels,
offered that his brother should take whatever fields he wished.
He gladly obeys, asking for the banks of the Jordan,
a river that long ago, swelling with waves like the Nile,
enriched the fertile plains with its overflowing stream.
The old man receives the Canaanite acres by lot
as he comes, and settles his herds through the green fields.
But he was not permitted to establish lasting seats;
for the father was ordered to survey with his gaze the land
that the fiery sun, returning, beholds on both sides
or the twin Bears look down upon to its farthest bounds,
promised to the race to be created by so great a father.
Whoever longs to grasp its number in speech
will sooner tell the throngs of stars or of the sand
that the sea at times lays bare on its uncertain shore.
He goes also to the oak of ancient name, Mamre,
and dedicates a lofty altar to the everlasting God.
No delay: after concord had made the brothers
separate, to establish their realms in their chosen fields,

### Scripture references

- Gen 13:1–18: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.450 (CSEL 23:17lines 450–473–18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-450).

## Genesis, lines 474–498

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-474
- Source: CSEL 23:18lines 474–498–19
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Four kings defeat the five kings of the plain and capture Lot; Abram with 318 servants routs them by night, rescues Lot, and is blessed by Melchizedek, to whom he gives a tenth.

### Latin text

consurgunt reges numerosa ex gente quaterni
et Sodomam multo pugnaces milite uastant,
quaternaeque acies bino bis principe fultae
ualle tenus Salsa ferrum per nubila torquent.
quinque fugam capiunt linquentes bella tyranni
praecipitique fuga frondosis montibus abdunt,
quod potuit superesse neci; qui nomine uero
dicuntur Ariocha, Dachar, Godolla Gomurus
atque etiam pulchris inhians Amarphalus annis.
haec inter, quae multa fiunt discrimine belli,
Lod etiam capitur tota cum stirpe domoque.
quod ubi tristifico narrauit nuntius ore,
consurgit uates, seruorum de grege multo
ter centum famulos, nouies bis auctius addens,
ad bellum dux ipse ciet ferrumque retractat.
nocte super media nil iam metuentibus instat
uictoresque fugat multosque interficit hostes.
quin etiam fratrem tanto discrimine demptum
accipit et praedam lato trahit agmine secum.
excipitur laeta Sodomorum laude procorum
pontificisque dei, sancto qui nobilis actu, —
Melchisedechus erat, princeps rectorque Salemae —
et benedixit ei panem uinumque praesentans —
et decimos fructus Abrami ex munere sumpsit. —
is petit, ut captos dignetur reddere uictor,
cetera pro meritis belli sub lege laturus.

### English translation (Claude)

four kings rise up from a numerous people
and, warlike, lay Sodom waste with many soldiers,
and four battle lines, each led by its prince,
hurl iron through the clouds as far as the Salt valley.
The five tyrants take flight, leaving the war,
and in headlong flight hide on the leafy mountains
what could survive death; the others by their true names
are called Arioch, Tidal, Chedorlaomer,
and Amraphel too, greedy for years of glory.
Amid the many things that happen in the crisis of war,
Lot too is captured with all his kin and household.
When a messenger told this with grief-bringing mouth,
the prophet rises, and from his large flock of servants
three hundred retainers, adding nine times two more,
he himself as leader calls to war and takes up the sword again.
At midnight he falls on them as they now fear nothing,
routs the victors and kills many enemies.
Moreover he receives his brother, rescued from such great peril,
and draws the spoil with him in a broad column.
He is welcomed with glad praise by the nobles of Sodom
and by the priest of God, renowned for holy deeds —
it was Melchizedek, prince and ruler of Salem —
and he blessed him, presenting bread and wine,
and received from Abram as a gift a tenth of the fruits.
The other asks that as victor he deign to return the captives,
himself to take the rest as his due under the law of war.

### Scripture references

- Gen 14:1–21: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The Latin names Ariocha, Dachar, Godolla Gomurus and Amarphalus are rendered by the English Bible’s Arioch, Tidal, Chedorlaomer and Amraphel; ‘Dachar’ for Tidal is uncertain. The digital text sets lines 21–24 off with dashes.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.474 (CSEL 23:18lines 474–498–19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-474).

## Genesis, lines 499–525

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-499
- Source: CSEL 23:19lines 499–525–20
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Abram refuses the king of Sodom’s spoil; God promises him an heir and offspring as countless as the stars, among them one who is the Son of the eternal King, and Abram believes and asks for a sign.

### Latin text

sed contenta suo uictrix moderamine uirtus
accipit optatum toto pro munere fratrem.
mox sopita deus inlustrans corda prophetae
praecipit. ut cuncta uacuet formidine pectus,
quandoquidem inuictae tutus sit tegmine dextrae.
ille alacer concessa sibi licentia fatur:
"Quid mihi pro tanta praestant tua dona loquella?
nam coniuncta quatit fessum longaeua senectus,
nec datur emeritum post mortem linquere natum.
et quia nobilibus thalamis mihi germina non sunt,
degener heres erit nobis, quem serua creauit."
confirmat uatem dominus, dum talia fatur:
"Ne time confidens; seruus tibi non erit heres.
nam si nosse ualet numero carentia quisquam
sidera uel totas pelagi percurrere harenas,
is poterit prolem solus numerare putando,
quae praestanda tibi est, totus qua tenditur orbis,
nasceturque tuo de semine, qui tua cernat
filius atque etiam natus sit regis aeterni:
namque ego sum dominus caelorum conditor, et te
auxilio tutum Chaldaea ex gente reduxi."
credidit ista senex nec quidquam defore uerbis
metitur domini sincero acumine cordis
subnixusque rogat, placidis dum supplicat orsis,
signa dei quae mente gerat, quae corde sequatur,
munere pro tanto, quo natum gignat inerti
corpore, iam gelidis decursa ob tempora membris.

### English translation (Claude)

But victorious valour, content with its own restraint,
accepts as its whole reward the brother it longed for.
Soon God, enlightening the prophet’s sleeping heart,
commands him to empty his breast of all fear,
since he is safe under the cover of an unconquered right hand.
He, eager at the freedom granted him, speaks:
“What do your gifts offer me for so great a word?
For long old age, my companion, shakes my weary frame,
nor is it given me, my service done, to leave a son after my death.
And because I have no offspring from a noble marriage bed,
a base-born heir will be ours, whom a slave woman bore.”
The Lord strengthens the prophet as he speaks thus:
“Do not fear; trust me; a slave will not be your heir.
For if anyone can know the stars that lack number
or run through all the sands of the sea,
he alone will be able to number by reckoning the offspring
that is to be given you, as far as the whole world stretches;
and from your seed one will be born who will see your days,
a son who is also the Son of the eternal King;
for I am the Lord, founder of the heavens, and I brought you back
safe by my help from the Chaldean nation.”
The old man believed this, and with the sincere keenness of his heart
judges that nothing will be lacking to the Lord’s words,
and, relying on him, asks, as he prays with peaceful words,
for signs of God to bear in mind and follow in his heart,
in return for so great a gift, by which he might beget a son with a sluggish
body, his limbs now cold and his time run out.

### Scripture references

- Gen 14:22–24: allusion, medium confidence
- Gen 15:1–8: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet makes the heir ‘whom a slave woman bore’ (Genesis: ‘one born in my house’, Gen 15:3) and reads the promised seed as including Christ, ‘the Son of the eternal King’. The sense of ‘who will see your days’ (qui tua cernat) is uncertain.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.499 (CSEL 23:19lines 499–525–20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-499).

## Genesis, lines 526–548

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-526
- Source: CSEL 23:20lines 526–548–21
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Abram prepares the covenant sacrifice, a terrifying darkness falls, and God foretells four hundred years of slavery in Egypt, the people’s return, and Abram’s peaceful death.

### Latin text

admonitus uitulam trimi iam temporis aptat,
coniungens alacrem torua cum fronte iuuencum,
uerbecem caprumque dehinc hirtamque capellam,
columbas pariles, simili cum turture iunctas.
corpora mox pecudum gemina in diuortia findit,
inlaesas tota dimittens carne uolucres;
omnia disponit sacrisque altaribus aptat.
seque locat propter, sensu uersutus et aure.
ecce autem prima sub tempora noctis opacae
candida sanctifici terrentur pectora uatis
nigrantesque ruunt confusa luce tenebrae.
his super attonitus domini solacia sumit,
dum noua uenturae praenoscit semina gentis,
per uarios casus duro sub rege locandae
Aegypti, cui nomen erit Pharaonis acerbi.
"Namque quater centum dominis subiecta per annos
seruiet, ad terras rursus reuocanda feraces;
ac uice mutata, quae quondam serua tremebat,
sceptra reget, ualida gentes uirtute cohercens.
at tu, cum fuerit metati terminus aeui,
sedibus in patriis functus mandabere busto.
nam populus infensa sibi de sede reuulsus
huc ueniet, domibus ueterum donandus auorum.

### English translation (Claude)

Warned, he makes ready a heifer now three years old,
joining a lively bullock of grim brow,
then a ram and a he-goat and a shaggy she-goat,
a pair of doves joined with a like turtledove.
Soon he splits the bodies of the cattle into two parts,
leaving the birds whole in all their flesh;
he arranges everything and fits it to the sacred altars,
and places himself nearby, alert in mind and ear.
But see, at the first hour of dark night
the bright breast of the holy prophet is terrified,
and blackening darkness rushes in, confounding the light.
Astonished at this, he takes comfort from the Lord,
as he foreknows the new seed of the nation to come,
to be placed through various misfortunes under a hard king
of Egypt, whose name will be that of the bitter Pharaoh.
“For four hundred years it will serve, subject to masters,
to be called back again to fruitful lands;
and, the turn reversed, the nation that once trembled as a slave
will wield the sceptre, restraining nations with strong valour.
But you, when the end of your measured age has come,
having lived your life, will be committed to the tomb in your fathers’ seats.
For the people, torn away from a seat hostile to it,
will come here, to be given the homes of their ancient forefathers.

### Scripture references

- Gen 15:9–16: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.526 (CSEL 23:20lines 526–548–21; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-526).

## Genesis, lines 549–574

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-549
- Source: CSEL 23:21lines 549–574–22
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God promises the land from the Nile to the Euphrates and consumes the sacrifice with fire; barren Sarai gives Hagar to Abram, Ishmael is born, and an angel sends the fleeing Hagar back.

### Latin text

nam qua Niliacis gaudet nunc incola terris
et celer Euphratis Syrorum praenatat orbes,
Cenaeos populos Cenezaeosque tenebunt,
Chedmoneos, Chettos iuncta cum gente Phereza.
et Raphana, cui manus est Iebusa cohaerens,
dilectaque sibi pellentur sede Chananni.
quin et Amorraeus, Gergesso extrusus amico,
semianimis possessa dabit uenientibus arua."
quae cum sancta dei prompsissent uerba prophetae,
sole sub occiduo clarum dat fulmine signum.
nam uelut undanti ferueret flamma camino,
caesarum pecudum uisa est delambere carnes.
Interea steriles iam pridem fessa per annos
perdiderat etiam uotum iam Sarra parentis,
et quia praegelida partum non poneret aluo,
ad secunda suum coepit lactare maritum ;
gaudia et inflexum cogit consortia seruae
noscere, quo saltim genitor sit pignore uili.
ilicet in thalamos Aegyptia ducitur Agar,
Ismahelumque nothum fecunda gignit ab aluo.
quae cum seruili dominam contemneret astu.
uerberibus duris adflicta et saucia fugit.
ac dum uicino tegeret se deuia fonte,
nuntius aetherio descendit culmine caeli
consultamque prius dominorum mittit ad aedes,
quin etiam multo gaudentem munere donat.

### English translation (Claude)

For where the inhabitant now rejoices in the lands of the Nile,
and where the swift Euphrates swims past the regions of the Syrians,
they will hold the Kenite and the Kenizzite peoples,
the Kadmonites, the Hittites with the joined nation of the Perizzites,
and the Rephaim, to whom the band of the Jebusites clings,
and the Canaanites will be driven from the seat they love;
and the Amorite too, thrust out with his friend the Girgashite,
half-dead, will give up the fields he possessed to those who come.”
When the holy words of God had declared these things to the prophet,
under the setting sun he gives a clear sign by a thunderbolt.
For as if flame were seething in a surging furnace,
it seemed to lick up the flesh of the slaughtered cattle.
Meanwhile Sarai, worn out through long barren years,
had lost even the hope of being a parent,
and because she would not bring forth a child from her ice-cold womb,
she began to coax her husband toward a second bed
and compels him, reluctant, to know the joys and partnership of the slave woman,
so that he might at least be a father by a lowly pledge.
At once the Egyptian Hagar is led into the bridal chamber
and from her fertile womb bears Ishmael, a bastard.
When she despised her mistress with slavish cunning,
afflicted and wounded by harsh blows, she fled.
And while she hid out of the way by a nearby spring,
a messenger came down from the heavenly height of the sky
and sends her, counselled, back to her masters’ house,
and also endows her, rejoicing, with a great gift.

### Scripture references

- Gen 15:17–21: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 16:1–11: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.549 (CSEL 23:21lines 549–574–22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-549).

## Genesis, lines 575–599

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-575
- Source: CSEL 23:22lines 575–599–23
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Hagar names the spring; at ninety-nine Abram receives the covenant, the new names and the promise of a son, circumcises his household, laughs at the promise, and receives three visitors at noon.

### Latin text

quae quia conspicuo fulgentem lumine sanctum
uiderat, a simili narrauit nomine fontem.
iamque nouem denos nouiesque exegerat annos
Abramus uates, cum se iam iamque parentem
agnoscit nati magno de munere dandi,
testamenta dei cui sunt concordia summi,
gentibus innumeris genitor ductorque futurus.
percipiens placidas per grandia tempora sedes.
quin etiam solito de nomine grandior exit,
dura decus adiectum uocalis littera ducit,
et Sara quae fuerat, mandatur Sarra uocari.
quin etiam patris Ismahelus pro prece diues,
bis senos princeps populos generatque regitque.
post haec gesta senex. cum sol octauus adesset,
maribus exhibitis adimit praeputia ferro.
adiungens pariter quoscumque ex plebe seorsa.
inde ubi iam tempus promissi muneris instat,
soluitur in tremulos uultu crispante cachinnos,
dum tacitus secum promissa ingentia uoluit:
"Posse deum credes, quidquid non extitit umquam,
condere et infractos robur generare per artus?"
Scandebat medium iam sol flagrantior axem,
magnificusque senex frigus captabat in umbra,
cum subito iuuenes pariter tris adfore cernit.
sedulus in cunctos unum plus ambit et orat.

### English translation (Claude)

And because she had seen the holy one shining with conspicuous light,
she named the spring by a like name.
And now the prophet Abram had completed ninety
and nine years, when he now recognizes himself
as about to be a parent through the great gift of a son,
one with whom the covenants of the most high God agree,
to be the father and leader of innumerable nations,
receiving peaceful seats through great ages.
Moreover he comes forth greater than his accustomed name:
a vowel brings added honour to the hard name,
and she who had been Sara is ordered to be called Sarra.
Moreover Ishmael, enriched at his father’s prayer,
as prince begets and rules twice six peoples.
After these deeds the old man, when the eighth sun was at hand,
takes away with iron the foreskins of the males brought before him,
adding likewise all who were of the people apart.
Then, when the time of the promised gift is at hand,
he dissolves into trembling laughter with wrinkling face,
as he silently turns over the mighty promises in himself:
“Will you believe that God can found what never existed
and bring forth strength through broken limbs?”
Now the sun, more blazing, was climbing the middle of the sky,
and the great old man was catching the cool in the shade,
when suddenly he sees three young men standing there together.
Attentive to them all, he courts one above the rest and begs

### Scripture references

- Gen 16:13–14: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 17:1–27: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 18:1–3: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet describes Abram’s change of name only as an added vowel and makes Sara become Sarra; the line on the vowel is obscure. Line 25 seems to reflect Gen 18:3, where Abraham addresses the three as one (‘My lord’).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.575 (CSEL 23:22lines 575–599–23; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-575).

## Genesis, lines 600–624

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1/#p-1-600
- Source: CSEL 23:23lines 600–624–24
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Abraham and Sarah entertain the three visitors, whom the poet calls God under a threefold image; the Lord promises a son within a year, Sarah laughs and denies it, and the visitors look toward Sodom.

### Latin text

ne puerum celeri linquat, dum praeterit, actu
pacificusque suae dignetur tegmina quercus
atque pedes geminos frigenti ut perluat unda
ac positos panes mensae dignetur amicae.
adnuitur iussaque citus ueneranda facessit.
ipse etiam properans sese dat Sarra uideri
mensurasque libens ternas ex polline profert,
quas dederat tosto cinerum torrere uapore.
tum uitulus tumida procuruans. cornua fronte
deligitur, nullo fuscatus tergora naeuo,
et modo constricti ponuntur fercula lactis.
dumque deum trina positum sub imagine pascit,
dulcia sanctificis delibat gaudia dictis:
"Quid rerum nunc Sarra gerit? (namque abdita tectis
tunc erat) et coeptas iterat lux uera loquellas:
"Euge memor uates. pleno non setius anno
mater erit;" cum laeta procul sub talia risit
femina et annoso desperat corpore partum.
quaeritur haec inter. fuerit quae causa cachinni?
illa negat facili concussam se fore risu,
dum timet et tacito uoluit sub pectore culpam.
consurgunt iuuenes parili fulgore decentes
et Sodomam toto subiectam lumine uisunt.
tum dominus uati nil promptum non fore passus,
eloquitur, quae causa graues se ducat ad urbes:

### English translation (Claude)

that he not leave his servant behind as he passes swiftly by,
but peaceably deign to accept the shelter of his oak,
and let him wash his two feet with cool water,
and deign to take the loaves set on a friendly table.
He consents, and Abraham swiftly carries out the venerable commands.
Sarah too, making haste, lets herself be seen
and gladly brings out three measures of fine flour,
which she had given to the heat of the embers to bake.
Then a calf, curving its horns on a swelling brow,
is chosen, its back darkened by no spot,
and dishes of curdled milk are just set out.
And while he feeds God, set before him under a threefold image,
he tastes sweet joys from the hallowed words:
“What is Sarah doing now?” (for she was then
hidden in the house) and the true Light continues the words begun:
“Rejoice, mindful prophet: in a full year no less
she will be a mother”; at this the woman, far off, laughed with glee
and despairs of childbirth in her aged body.
Meanwhile it is asked what was the cause of the laughter.
She denies that she was shaken by easy laughter,
since she fears and turns her fault over in her silent breast.
The young men rise, comely with equal brightness,
and view Sodom lying below in full light.
Then the Lord, not suffering anything to be hidden from the prophet,
declares what cause leads him to the heavy-laden cities:

### Scripture references

- Gen 18:3–17: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘God set under a threefold image’ (deum trina positum sub imagine) and ‘the true Light’ read the three visitors of Gen 18 as a manifestation of God; translated as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.600 (CSEL 23:23lines 600–624–24; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-600).

## Genesis, lines 625–649

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-625
- Source: CSEL 23:24lines 625–649–25
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Lord tells Abraham of the outcry against Sodom, Abraham bargains from fifty righteous men down to ten, and two visitors come to Lot, whose house the men of the city besiege.

### Latin text

"Clamore immodico Sodomae iunctaeque Gomorrae
excitus ueni uerumque inuisere curo,"
ut. quod turba nocens, quod uox horrenda laborat,
oppida bina simul caelesti ex fulmine flagrent*.
hic trepidus uates famulo sermone poposcit.
noxia qui numerus sanctorum moenia seruet?
quinquies ex denis capiens primordia summae,
a bis quinque uiris cognoscit tegmine forti
oppressum uitiis populum uitare ruinam.
ilicet ad Sodomam ueniunt duo. Natus et Altor,
hesperus umenti cum iam prorumperet igni.
illic pro foribus Lodus de more sedebat.
cumque uiros simili lustrasset corpore claros,
pronus adoratos consueta ad limina duxit,
optantes media potius habitare platea.
azyma quos tenui de polline candida pascit.
sopitaque dehinc conponunt membra cubili.
ecce furens tota procurrit turba Gomorrae.
seditione truci circumdans atria Lotis,
atque uiros poscens tumido dilitigat ore.
ille memor pacis temptat mollire frementes
atque etiam natas cupide dementibus offert,
ut licito potius luxu peruersa uoluptas
aestuet. a simili disiungens turpia sexu.
sed nil dicta mouent. franguntur limina ferro.

### English translation (Claude)

“Roused by the immoderate outcry of Sodom and of Gomorrah joined with it,
I have come and take care to see the truth,”
so that, because the guilty crowd and the horrible outcry are so laden,
the two towns together might burn with heaven’s lightning.
Here the trembling prophet asked in a servant’s words
what number of holy men would save the guilty walls.
Beginning his sum at fifty,
he learns, down to ten men, that under their strong protection
a people overwhelmed by vices would escape ruin.
At once two come to Sodom, the Son and the Nourisher,
when the evening star was already bursting forth with moist fire.
There Lot was sitting before the doors, as was his custom.
And when he had looked on the men, glorious with like bodies,
bowing low he led those he revered to his own threshold,
though they wished rather to stay in the middle of the street.
He feeds them with white unleavened bread of fine flour,
and then they lay their limbs to sleep on a couch.
See, the whole crowd of Gomorrah runs forward raging,
surrounding Lot’s halls with savage uproar,
and, demanding the men, it quarrels with swollen mouth.
He, mindful of peace, tries to soften the raging men
and even eagerly offers his daughters to the madmen,
so that perverse pleasure might rather burn with a lawful lust,
separating shameful acts from the same sex.
But the words move nothing. The doors are broken with iron.

### Scripture references

- Gen 18:20–32: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 19:1–9: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text marks a crux with an asterisk after flagrent (line 4). The poet calls the two who go to Sodom ‘the Son and the Nourisher’ (Natus et Altor); the identification is the poet’s own, and its sense is uncertain. Lines 21–24 give Lot’s motive in the poet’s words; translated as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.625 (CSEL 23:24lines 625–649–25; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625).

## Genesis, lines 650–674

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-650
- Source: CSEL 23:25lines 650–674–26
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The men of Sodom are blinded; Lot leaves with his family, his wife becomes salt, fire destroys the cities, and Lot’s daughters make their father drunk.

### Latin text

ac dum se glomerant, dum fortia claustra reuellunt,
lumina saepta sibi piceis gemuere tenebris.
his actis, auferre procul sua pignora iussus,
inuitat generos sensu torpente negantes.
quod tamen adsiduo potuit mens blanda rogare.
eduxit natas coram genetrice sequentes.
ac dum progreditur, dum scandit culmina collis
oppositi secumque putat, quid deinde sequatur,
femina postergum positas dum respicit arces,
diriguit. speciemque salis pro corpore sumpsit.
ille subit celsae securus tecta Segorae.
mox fragor horrisono de sidere fulmina torquet
sulpureaeque ruunt olido cum turbine flammae,
quae pariter muros atque ardua culmina lambunt.
omnibus in cinerem celeri cum labe reuulsis
cernebat rutilo surgentes uertice flammas
eminus Abramus, memori cum pectore tractans
in uerbis domini numquam se adiungere mendum.
nec minus et Lodus tuta conpostus in aula
solamen tenero natis praestabat amore,
quae sine coniugibus nequibant edere prolem.
hae, cum perspicerent sublatum germinis usum
maternumque decus solo genitore relicto,
conponunt epulas ac promunt uina parenti,
nescius ut uetitum natarum nosceret usum.

### English translation (Claude)

And while they crowd together and tear away the strong bars,
their eyes, walled in, groaned in pitch-black darkness.
This done, ordered to take his dear ones far away,
he invites his sons-in-law, who refuse with sluggish mind.
Yet, as far as his coaxing mind could obtain by constant asking,
he led out his daughters, following with their mother.
And while he goes forward and climbs the summit of the hill
opposite and ponders with himself what will follow next,
the woman, looking back at the citadels set behind,
stiffened and took a form of salt for a body.
He, secure, enters the roofs of lofty Zoar.
Soon a crash from the horrid-sounding sky hurls thunderbolts,
and sulphurous flames rush down with a stinking whirlwind,
licking alike the walls and the lofty roofs.
When all had been swept into ash by swift ruin,
Abraham saw from afar the flames rising with ruddy peak,
pondering with mindful heart
that no falsehood is ever joined to the words of the Lord.
And Lot too, settled in a safe hall,
offered comfort with tender love to his daughters,
who without husbands could not bring forth offspring.
They, when they saw the means of offspring taken away
and the honour of motherhood left to their father alone,
prepare feasts and bring out wine for their father,
so that, unknowing, he might have the forbidden intercourse with his daughters.

### Scripture references

- Gen 19:10–33: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.650 (CSEL 23:25lines 650–674–26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-650).

## Genesis, lines 675–699

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-675
- Source: CSEL 23:26lines 675–699–27
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Moab and Ammon are born; in Gerar Abimelech takes Sarah, is warned by God in a dream, rebukes Abraham, who explains that she is his half-sister, and makes amends with gifts.

### Latin text

nec mora, femineis concrescit sarcina fibris
et parili ambarum uitalia fomite turgent.
prima creat puerum patrio sermone Moabum,
altera disparibus Ammanum nuncupat orsis.
hic pater Ammorum, genitor Moabitibus ille est.
Interea excedit positis de sedibus Abram
et Gerarum ad terras socia cum coniuge transit.
hic Abimelechus cupiens consortia Sarrae
principis arbitrio (germanam nam fore uates
dixerat eximius, fraudem ne forma pararet
coniugis innocuo, riuales dum cauet iras)
nec tamen eualuit ualidis terroribus actus.
qui mentem adficiunt, quotiens peruersa libido est:
nam deus inmisso torsit lictore tyrannum,
qui cum terrifico rupisset somnia uisu,
prosequitur trepidus uatem uix mente reuersa,
cui Sarra sit dicta soror, ceu nulla mariti
uincla ligent nuptam, quae sit coniuncta prophetae.
ille docet causas seseque a crimine purgat,
mentitus nihilum; patris nam germine creta
Sarra fuit. iuncta deducens linea sanguem.
haec ubi constiterant, rector dat mille talenta
et famulos; his molle pecus armentaque iungit.
iugera quin etiam latos diffusa per agros,
dummodo promeritum lenirent dona reatum.

### English translation (Claude)

Without delay a burden grows in the women’s wombs,
and the bodies of both swell with an equal kindling.
The first bears a boy, Moab in their father’s speech;
the other names Ammon with a different beginning.
This one is the father of the Ammonites, that one the begetter of the Moabites.
Meanwhile Abraham departs from the seats he had set
and crosses to the lands of Gerar with his wife his partner.
Here Abimelech, desiring union with Sarah
by the prince’s will (for the eminent prophet had said
she was his sister, lest his wife’s beauty should prepare a snare
for him, innocent as he was, as he guards against a rival’s anger),
yet could not, driven back by strong terrors,
which assail the mind whenever lust is perverse:
for God tormented the tyrant by sending an avenger,
who broke his dreams with a terrifying vision;
the king, trembling, his mind scarcely recovered, pursues the prophet,
asking why Sarah was called his sister, as though no bonds of a husband
bound the bride, when she was joined to the prophet.
He explains the reasons and clears himself of crime,
having lied in nothing; for Sarah was born
of his father’s seed, a line drawing a shared blood.
When these things were settled, the ruler gives a thousand talents
and servants; to these he joins soft flock and herds,
and acres too, spread through the broad fields,
if only gifts might soften the guilt he had incurred.

### Scripture references

- Gen 19:34–38: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 20:1–16: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Gen 20:16 has a thousand pieces of silver; the poet gives a thousand talents.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.675 (CSEL 23:26lines 675–699–27; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-675).

## Genesis, lines 700–724

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-700
- Source: CSEL 23:27lines 700–724–28
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Abraham’s prayer heals Abimelech’s house; Isaac is born, circumcised and weaned with a feast, and Sarah has Hagar and Ishmael driven out into the wilderness near Beersheba.

### Latin text

namque domus regis admissa piacula pendens,
agmine morborum pariter grassante per omnes.
germina femineis dudum decusserat aluis.
uerum ubi pacificus uates pro rege poposcit
procubus ante deum, promptim se laeta per omnes
reddidit ubertas aluosque impleuit opimas.
ipse etiam insuetis postrema in tempora uotis
fit pater, et laeti reputans solacia risus.
nuncupat Isacum, mandata et numinis alti
efficit. octauo decerpens lumine tegmen
e ueretro, stabilesque uidens iam promere gressus
coniunctos inter socia de stirpe propinquos
uescitur et mensis genitor gratatur opimis;
nam desperatis maior fit gratia uotis.
iamque puer puero iunctus dum ludit alumno.
conpulit ignito matrem turgescere felle,
ut famulam inuisam pariter cum pignore pellat, —
et tamen inuitus senior, dum maxima iussa
obseruat domini, pariter detrusit utrumque.
at mulier postquam domini de sede remota est,
auia dimoto lustrat secreta recessu.
iamque panes cunctos uinumque insumpserat omne,
exanimem lasso suspirans pectore natum;
deuenit ad puteum, cui tum Iuratio nomen
indiderat, maestoque inpleuit deuia questu:

### English translation (Claude)

For the king’s house, paying for the offence committed,
with a host of diseases advancing through all alike,
had long since shaken offspring from the women’s wombs.
But when the peaceable prophet prayed for the king,
prostrate before God, fertility at once gladly returned
to all and filled the rich wombs.
He himself too, by prayers unheard of at the end of his days,
becomes a father, and, recalling the solace of glad laughter,
names him Isaac, and carries out the commands of the high
divine will, on the eighth day cutting the covering
from the member; and, seeing him now take firm steps,
among kinsmen joined from allied stock
he feasts, and the father rejoices over rich tables;
for grace is greater when prayers had been despaired of.
And now, while the boy plays with the boy, his fellow nursling,
it drove the mother to swell with fiery gall,
so that she would drive out the hated slave woman with her child;
and, though unwilling, the old man, observing the great
commands of the Lord, thrust out both together.
But after the woman was removed from her master’s house,
she wanders through pathless, secret places in a far retreat.
And now she had used up all the bread and all the wine,
sighing with weary breast over her fainting son;
she came to a well to which Oath had then
given its name, and filled the pathless places with sorrowful lament:

### Scripture references

- Gen 20:17–18: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 21:1–16: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet gives Hagar wine where Gen 21:14 has a skin of water; ‘Oath’ renders the name Beersheba (Gen 21:31).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.700 (CSEL 23:27lines 700–724–28; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-700).

## Genesis, lines 725–749

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-725
- Source: CSEL 23:28lines 725–749–29
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God comforts Hagar and Ishmael grows up an archer; Abraham makes a covenant with Abimelech over the wells, and God commands him to sacrifice his only son, whom he leads to the mountain.

### Latin text

cum deus adflictae lacrimis trans aethera motus
confirmat trepidam natoque ingentia dicit
regna parata suo, cuius tum clade gemescat.
ilicet inriguo scatebras de gurgite libans
erigitur natoque simul gaudente laetatur.
procedunt pia iussa dei; iam paruulus arcum
tendere et aligeras coepit torquere sagittas.
interea uates, ne quid clam forte pararet
ductor Abimelechus, conectit foedera pacis.
ut, quia de puteis fuerant certamina mota,
reddita securam firmarent otia uitam.
iuratur placitaeque manent concordia pacis.
inde senex curuo terram dum sulcat aratro,
ingentem laetis compleuit messibus aulam
sublimemque deum supplex per uota precatus
Philistinorum placidus consedit in aruis.
in quibus aetherii temptatur numinis orsis,
unicus ut natus gladio decumbat ad aram.
nec mora, cum tumidi conscendit culmina collis,
cornipedem ducens famulis natoque uadentem.
tertia iamque die, cum sol candentior axe
fulgeret medio, totas dum contrahit umbras,
dimittit pueros senior natumque capessit,
ut sarmenta gerens, flammarum pabula, collo
scanderet oppositi pariter fastigia collis.

### English translation (Claude)

when God, moved beyond the sky by the tears of the afflicted woman,
strengthens her in her fear and promises to her son
great realms prepared for him, over whose ruin she was then groaning.
At once, drinking from the gushing springs of a watering pool,
she rises and rejoices together with her rejoicing son.
God’s pious commands go forward; already the little boy began
to bend the bow and to shoot winged arrows.
Meanwhile the prophet, lest the leader Abimelech
should perhaps prepare something in secret, binds covenants of peace,
so that, because quarrels had been stirred up over wells,
leisure restored might make their life secure.
An oath is sworn, and the concord of the welcome peace remains.
Then the old man, while he furrows the earth with the curved plough,
filled his great hall with glad harvests,
and, praying in supplication to God on high with vows,
settled peacefully in the fields of the Philistines.
There he is tested by the words of the heavenly power:
his only son is to lie slain by the sword at the altar.
Without delay he climbs the summits of a swelling hill,
leading a horn-footed beast, his servants and his son going with him.
And now on the third day, when the sun, shining whiter
in the middle of the sky, draws in all the shadows,
the old man sends away the servants and takes his son,
so that, carrying faggots, food for the flames, on his neck,
he might climb with him the heights of the hill opposite.

### Scripture references

- Gen 21:17–34: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 22:1–6: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.725 (CSEL 23:28lines 725–749–29; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-725).

## Genesis, lines 750–774

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-750
- Source: CSEL 23:29lines 750–774
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: A lamb replaces Isaac on the altar; Sarah dies and is buried in the double cave bought from Ephron; Abraham’s servant swears to find Isaac a wife from his kin and meets Rebecca at the spring.

### Latin text

iamque adeo flammis surgentibus altar ad ipsum
sistitur, euinctus manibus posterga retortis.
dumque pater natum properat diffindere cultro,
eminus albentem prospectat sedulus agnum,
qui melius fuso compleret sacra cruore.
His actis uetulo decedit corpore Sarra.
cumque locum busto praestarent pignora Cetis,
dissensit uates, pretio taxare paratus.
quadringenta dedit sestertia diues Ephrono,
dum sociam duplici gaudet mandare sepulchro.
nomen Mambra loco ueterum narrauerat aetas.
ilicet e famulis quendam, quem uita fidesque
fecerat insignem, conceptis dicere uerbis
et iurare iubet, dextram dum subdit amicam
conectitque femur. nullam de gente Chananna
iungendam nato, quoniam de stirpe parentum
sit ducenda magis; quae si fortasse resistat,
mittendum caelo, facile qui molliat iram.
ille alacris tumidis inponit dona camelis
Assyriamque petit, iam cernens tecta Nachorae.
dumque silens secum domini mandata reuoluit,
conspicit eximiam uenientem fonte Rebeccam,
quae non tarda uiro frigentes porrigit undas
inuitatque domum. cuius sit filia, fatur;
iungitur hospitio iuuenis, mox munera promit.

### English translation (Claude)

And now, the flames rising, at the very altar
he is set, bound, his hands twisted behind his back.
And while the father hastens to cleave his son with the knife,
watchful, he sees far off a white lamb,
which would better fulfil the rite with its poured-out blood.
After these things Sarah departs from her aged body.
And when the sons of Heth offered a place for a tomb,
the prophet declined, ready to set a price.
The rich man gave four hundred sesterces to Ephron,
as he gladly commits his partner to the double tomb.
The age of the ancients had named the place Mamre.
At once he orders one of his servants, whom his life and faithfulness
had made distinguished, to speak in solemn words
and to swear, putting his friendly right hand beneath
and joining it to the thigh, that no woman of the Canaanite race
would be joined to his son, since she must rather be taken
from the stock of their parents; and if she should perhaps resist,
he who easily softens anger would be sent from heaven.
The servant eagerly loads gifts on the swelling camels
and makes for Assyria, now seeing the houses of Nahor.
And while silently he turns over his master’s commands,
he sees the outstanding Rebecca coming from the spring,
who without delay offers the man cool water
and invites him home. She says whose daughter she is;
the young man is joined to them in hospitality and soon brings out gifts.

### Scripture references

- Gen 22:9–13: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 23:1–20: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 24:1–33: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet has a lamb where Gen 22:13 has a ram, and sesterces where Gen 23:16 has four hundred shekels of silver. Line 18 seems to render the promise of an angel in Gen 24:7; its sense is uncertain.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.750 (CSEL 23:29lines 750–774; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-750).

## Genesis, lines 775–798

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-775
- Source: CSEL 23:29lines 775–798–30
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Rebecca marries Isaac; Abraham dies and is buried; after long barrenness Rebecca conceives twins and learns that two peoples are in her womb and the elder will serve the younger.

### Latin text

omnibus explicitis uadit nuptura marito.
iamque iter emensos prospectat comminus Isac,
quem Rebecca uidens dorso defluxit ab alto
obstipumque caput tenui uelamine condit.
iunguntur taciti dominoque auctore laetantur.
sed postquam senior centum transcenderat annos.
septies et denos, largitus munera cunctis
decessit, gemini donatus sede sepulchri.
interea patrias indeptus filius aedes
ad puteum degit, fuerat cui Visio nomen.
iamque quater denos illic transegerat annos;
coniuge cum dicta patriam ditauerat aulam:
quae cum praecipuo canderet sidere formae,
infecunda diu nesciuit gaudia matris.
sed cum sanctifico dominum deposceret ore,
heredem ut iustum coniunx grauidata crearet,
auditur; geminis turgescit feta Rebecca.
quae mirata diu crescentis pondera uentris,
consulit aetherii supplex responsa tonantis
agnoscitque suo populos in pectore binos
disparibus meritis ad lumina surgere uitae.
nam qui prima tenet meritae primordia lucis.
subditus imperiis agitur seruire minoris.
ergo ubi iam facili gignuntur pignora partu.

### English translation (Claude)

When all had been explained, she goes to be married to her husband.
And now Isaac sees close at hand those who have made the journey;
Rebecca, seeing him, slid down from the high back
and hides her bowed head with a thin veil.
They are joined in silence and rejoice in the Lord as author.
But after the old man had passed a hundred years
and seventy, having bestowed gifts on all,
he departed, given a seat in the double tomb.
Meanwhile the son, having obtained his father’s house,
lives by the well whose name was Vision.
And now he had spent forty years there;
with the wife we have named he had enriched his father’s hall:
but she, though she shone with an outstanding star of beauty,
was long barren and knew not the joys of a mother.
But when he begged the Lord with holy mouth
that his wife might conceive and bear a righteous heir,
he is heard; Rebecca swells, pregnant with twins.
She, long wondering at the weight of her growing womb,
as a suppliant consults the answers of the heavenly Thunderer
and learns that two peoples in her breast
are rising to the light of life with unlike merits.
For he who holds the first beginnings of the light
is made subject and driven to serve the commands of the younger.
So when the children were born by an easy birth,

### Scripture references

- Gen 24:61–67: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 25:1–24: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘Vision’ renders the name of the well Beer-lahai-roi (Gen 25:11).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.775 (CSEL 23:29lines 775–798–30; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-775).

## Genesis, lines 799–823

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-799
- Source: CSEL 23:30lines 799–823–31
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Esau and Jacob are born and grow up, Jacob buys the birthright for lentil stew, and famine sends Isaac to Gerar, where God forbids him to go to Egypt and renews the promise.

### Latin text

corpore puniceo senior se promit ad auras,
nigrantes toto consertus corpore saetas.
quem pater Esau placito de nomine dixit.
post, fraterna tenens manibus calcaria pressis,
nascitur insigni praediues mente Iacobus.
lustrabat senior uacuos uenatibus agros,
bucina raucisono dum conplet saxa tremore.
ast alius, blandi conseruans pectoris acta,
gaudebat patriis inlaesus uiuere tectis.
maiorem genitor tenero palpabat amore,
ast alium toto mulcebat pectore mater.
qui cum Niliacam lentem soluisset in unda,
conpositos fratrem nitentem sumere pastus
perpulit. ut primos sibimet deferret honores.
haec inter malesuada fames et prima malorum
conpulit a patriis uatem discedere terris.
Philistina petit rura, mox Gargara transit,
Abimelecha suo quae tum sub iure tenebat.
incedens claro dominum cum lumine uidit
arguentem dictis, adeat ne regna Canopi,
sed teneat solum, dominus quod praestitit. aruum.
"Nam licet ignotos inter uideare morari,
attamen inmensum genitor mansurus in orbem
semine multiplici gaudebis crescere gentes,
testamenta mei sument quae maxima uerbi."

### English translation (Claude)

the elder comes forth into the air with a ruddy body,
covered all over his body with blackish bristles.
His father called him Esau by a pleasing name.
Afterward, holding his brother’s heel in his clasped hands,
Jacob is born, very rich in an outstanding mind.
The elder roamed the empty fields in hunting,
while the horn filled the rocks with harsh-sounding tremor.
But the other, keeping the ways of a gentle heart,
rejoiced to live unharmed in his father’s house.
The father caressed the elder with tender love,
but the mother cherished the other with all her heart.
When he had cooked an Egyptian lentil in water,
he drove his brother, eager to take the food prepared,
to hand over to him the honours of the firstborn.
Meanwhile hunger, evil counsellor and first of evils,
compelled the prophet to leave his native lands.
He makes for the Philistine country and soon passes on to Gerar,
which Abimelech then held under his rule.
As he went he saw the Lord in bright light,
warning him with words not to go to the realms of Canopus
but to keep to the soil, the field that the Lord had given:
“For though you may seem to dwell among strangers,
yet, abiding as a father in the immeasurable world,
you will rejoice that nations grow from your manifold seed,
which will take up the greatest covenants of my word.”

### Scripture references

- Gen 25:25–34: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 26:1–4: allusion, high confidence

### Extrabiblical texts

- Virgil, Aen. 6.276 (Virgil): echo, high confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘Hunger, evil counsellor’ (malesuada fames) is a phrase of Virgil, Aeneid 6.276.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.799 (CSEL 23:30lines 799–823–31; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-799).

## Genesis, lines 824–848

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-824
- Source: CSEL 23:31lines 824–848–32
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: In Gerar Isaac calls Rebecca his sister until the king sees them together and protects her; Isaac prospers, the Philistines stop his wells out of envy, and he digs new wells and names one Strife.

### Latin text

ilicet in Geraris socia cum coniuge degens,
germanam potius paterno edisserit actu,
ne commota leui cupidine turba Philistim
coniugium uatis correptis tolleret armis.
at rex, dum patula lustrat secreta fenestra,
ludentem niuea cernit cum coniuge uatem,
conubiumque uidens cunctos sub lege cohercet,
ne sociam quisquam temptet raptare prophetae.
iamque famem dudum patriis qui fugerat oris,
hordea mollitae dum spargit credita terrae,
centenos laeto carpsit de caespite fructus.
nec minus interea placido ditescit in actu
multimodas inter pecudes terramque feracem.
continuo infelix torquet dum pectora, liuor
inriguos turbat puteos atque aggere conplet,
ut procul abscedens possessos linqueret agros.
euitans igitur tumidae discrimina rixae,
discessit mansitque diu conualle Gerarum,
et cum sollicito puteos dimitteret actu,
inuenit gelidas scatebroso e fomite lymphas.
exceptusque dolo pastorum deserit iras
inuisosque locos Litis de nomine signat.
promouet inde gradum rursusque egesta profundo
terra cauo gelidos in lucem protulit amnes.
et quia mordaci fuerat certamine trusus.

### English translation (Claude)

At once, living in Gerar with his wife his partner,
he declares she is rather his sister, as his father had done,
lest the Philistine crowd, moved by light desire,
should take up arms and carry off the prophet’s wife.
But the king, while he looks into hidden places through an open window,
sees the prophet playing with his snowy wife,
and, seeing the marriage, he restrains all under law,
that none should try to carry off the prophet’s partner.
And now he who had long before fled famine from his native shores,
while he scatters barley entrusted to the softened earth,
gathered fruit a hundredfold from the glad turf.
Meanwhile he grows rich in peaceful work
amid manifold cattle and fertile land.
Straightway unhappy envy, twisting their hearts,
fouls the watering wells and fills them with earth,
so that he would withdraw far away and leave the fields he possessed.
Avoiding therefore the dangers of swelling strife,
he departed and stayed long in the valley of Gerar,
and when with anxious work he was sinking wells,
he found cool waters from a gushing source.
And, met by the trickery of the herdsmen, he leaves their anger behind
and marks the hated place with the name of Strife.
Thence he moves on, and again earth dug from the deep
hollow brought cool streams into the light.
And because he had been thrust out by biting quarrel,

### Scripture references

- Gen 26:6–22: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.824 (CSEL 23:31lines 824–848–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-824).

## Genesis, lines 849–873

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-849
- Source: CSEL 23:32lines 849–873–33
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Isaac names the well of peace, God appears to him at Beersheba, Abimelech makes a covenant with him, and the blind Isaac sends Esau to hunt so that he may bless him.

### Latin text

conpellat meritis liuentia pectora dictis
ac, postquam tetricas fregit pax aurea lites,
nomen Habundantis studuit transcribere terrae.
dumque sagax mutat celeri noua gramina passu,
deuenit ad colles, quibus est Iuratio nomen.
illic perspicuo dominum cum lumine cernit,
tempore quo medios euoluunt sidera cursus,
admonitus tristes e pectore trudere motus,
inuicto tutante deo per bella, per hostes.
excitus gelidos post somnum colligit artus
et uenerans structa dominum mox supplicat ara.
interea reges ueniunt Abimelus et Ozas,
Phicolo comitante simul ferrumque gerente,
ut, quia pacifico uellet se adiungere uati,
necteret insertis concordia foedera dextris.
excipitur placide mensaque expletus eadem
optatam reuehit posito discrimine pacem.
hinc inter medios surgit discordia fratres;
namque pater longo iamdudum grandior aeuo,
amissum cum sole diem oculosque sepultos
mente ferens placida mortemque instare recordans,
maiorem natum, pietas quem sola uidebat,
inpellit, sumat pharetram celeresque sagittas,
exhibeatque sibi carnes de more ferinas.
sumpturus patriae confestim munera linguae.

### English translation (Claude)

he addresses the envious hearts with deserved words,
and after golden peace had broken the harsh quarrels,
he took care to give it the name of the land of Abundance.
And while, shrewd, he moves to new pastures at a quick pace,
he came to the hills whose name is Oath.
There he sees the Lord in clear light,
at the time when the stars unroll their middle courses,
and is admonished to thrust sad emotions from his breast,
since unconquered God protects him through wars, through enemies.
Roused, after sleep he gathers his cold limbs
and, revering the Lord, soon prays at an altar he built.
Meanwhile kings come, Abimelech and Ahuzzath,
with Phicol accompanying them and bearing the sword,
so that, since the king wished to join himself to the peaceable prophet,
he might bind covenants of concord with right hands clasped.
He is received peacefully and, filled at the same table,
carries back the desired peace, the danger set aside.
Hence discord arises between the brothers;
for their father, long since advanced in long age,
bearing with peaceful mind the day lost with the sun and his eyes buried,
and remembering that death was at hand,
urges the elder son, whom his affection alone saw,
to take his quiver and swift arrows
and bring him game meat in the usual way,
so that he might at once receive the gifts of his father’s tongue.

### Scripture references

- Gen 26:22–33: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 27:1–4: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘Abundance’ and ‘Oath’ render the names Rehoboth and Beersheba (Gen 26:22, 33).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.849 (CSEL 23:32lines 849–873–33; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-849).

## Genesis, lines 874–899

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-874
- Source: CSEL 23:33lines 874–899–34
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Rebecca disguises Jacob, who receives Isaac’s blessing in Esau’s place; Esau returns too late, plans revenge, and Rebecca sends Jacob to Laban in Haran.

### Latin text

id Rebecca uidens carum dat scire Iacobum,
conpellens, geminos ut promptim deferat haedos
ac pro fratre uago studeat mactare parenti.
et, ne forte dolos nudaret corpore leui,
pellibus obtegitur, hirsutum quae fore praestent,
fraternaque toga praeuelans pectus et artus,
optulit indeptas uelut in uenatibus escas.
nec tamen occuluit penitus praenuntia corda.
namque senex, iuuenem totum dum dextera lustrat,
noscitat Esaum saetis, sed uoce Iacobum.
ac postquam conpressa fames dimotaque mensa est,
admonet, ut propius sese sistatque locetque.
ille ubi demisso successit uertice dextrae,
candida sanctiloqui percepit dicta parentis,
oscula dum pressis delibat dulcia labris.
nam post optata longae commercia uitae
anterior frater minimo seruire iubetur.
interea Esaus, longis discursibus actus.
uiscera iam saturo portabat capta parenti.
et licet officio multum placuisset et actu.
intercepta tamen non quiuit sumere dona.
inde irae et lacrimae et fraus quaesita nocendi:
quam Rebecca uidens fraterno in pectore prodit
Iacobumque monet cognatas uisere Carras
Labanumque suae germanum quaerere matris,
donec longa dies conceptas mitiget iras.

### English translation (Claude)

Rebecca, seeing this, lets dear Jacob know,
urging him to bring two kids quickly
and to take care to slaughter them for his father in place of his roving brother.
And lest his smooth body perhaps betray the trick,
he is covered with skins to make him seem hairy,
and, veiling his chest and limbs with his brother’s robe,
he offered food as though gained in hunting.
Yet he did not wholly hide the heart that gave warning:
for the old man, as his right hand feels over the whole young man,
recognizes Esau by the bristles, but Jacob by the voice.
And after hunger was quelled and the table removed,
he bids him come nearer and stand close by.
When he came beneath the right hand with head bowed,
he received the bright words of his holy-speaking father,
while he tastes sweet kisses with pressed lips.
For after the longed-for dealings of a long life
the elder brother is ordered to serve the youngest.
Meanwhile Esau, driven through long wanderings,
was bringing the captured meat to his father, already full.
And though he had greatly pleased by his service and deed,
yet he could not take the gifts that had been intercepted.
Hence anger and tears and a plan sought to do harm,
which Rebecca, seeing it in the brother’s heart, reveals,
and warns Jacob to visit his kindred in Haran
and to seek Laban, his mother’s brother,
until a long time should soften the anger conceived.

### Scripture references

- Gen 27:5–45: allusion, high confidence

### Extrabiblical texts

- Juvenal, Sat. 1.168 (Juvenal, Satires): echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘Hence anger and tears’ (inde irae et lacrimae) repeats Juvenal, Satires 1.168.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.874 (CSEL 23:33lines 874–899–34; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-874).

## Genesis, lines 900–923

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-900
- Source: CSEL 23:34lines 900–923–35
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Isaac charges Jacob not to marry a Canaanite but to seek a wife from Bethuel’s house; on the way Jacob sleeps on a stone and sees the ladder with the angels and the Lord above it.

### Latin text

iungitur et matris monitis sententia uatis,
dum tranquilla docens natum communiter ornat:
"Ne pete conubium, iuuenis, de gente Chananna,
sed memor eloquiis cari genitoris adhaere.
est locus Assyriis, gemino qui cingitur amne.
hic pater est matris nobis Bathuelus amicus
Labanusque gener, totis qui praedia Carris
laeta tenet natasque fouet pubentibus annis.
illa tibi coniunx, moneo, de stirpe petatur.
quae genus egregium nostro de sanguine ducit."
at iuuenis, monitis gaudens seruire paternis,
egreditur linquens patriam multoque labore
defessus dulci declinat lumina somno.
et dum praegelido consternit saxa cubili,
praeduram fesso subponit uertice cautem.
ac dum securo refouentur membra sopore,
aspicit intrepidus toto de lumine mentis
haerentem sealam puro trans nubila caelo,
e gradibus cuius sublimis turba ruebat;
ast alia e terris superas scandebat ad arces.
ac dum praecipiti uoluuntur corpora casu,
omnipotens prona spectabat fronte ruentes,
haec super adiungens: "Ego sum rex magnus olympi,
iampridem dominusque tuus dominusque parentis:

### English translation (Claude)

And the prophet’s judgment is joined to the mother’s counsel,
while, teaching peaceful things, he equips his son together with her:
“Do not seek a marriage, young man, from the Canaanite race,
but be mindful and cleave to the words of your dear father.
There is a place among the Assyrians surrounded by a twin river.
There is your mother’s father, our friend Bethuel,
and his kinsman Laban, who holds rich estates throughout Haran
and cherishes daughters in the years of youth.
From that stock, I advise you, seek a wife
who draws noble descent from our blood.”
And the young man, glad to serve his father’s counsel,
goes out, leaving his homeland, and, wearied
with much toil, lowers his eyes in sweet sleep.
And while he spreads the rocks as an ice-cold bed,
he places a very hard stone under his weary head.
And while his limbs are refreshed with untroubled sleep,
he sees, unafraid, with the whole light of his mind,
a ladder fixed beyond the clouds in the pure sky,
down whose steps a lofty throng was rushing,
while another was climbing from the earth to the citadels above.
And while their bodies rolled down in headlong descent,
the Almighty watched them rushing down, his brow bent toward them,
adding these words above: “I am the great King of Olympus,
long since your Lord and your father’s Lord:

### Scripture references

- Gen 28:1–13: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘Olympus’ is the poet’s epic word for heaven.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.900 (CSEL 23:34lines 900–923–35; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-900).

## Genesis, lines 924–947

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-924
- Source: CSEL 23:35lines 924–947–36
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God promises Jacob the land and his return; Jacob anoints the stone at Bethel and vows a tenth, then meets Rachel at the well, waters her sheep and makes himself known.

### Latin text

pelle metus tristes; tellus, cui membra dedisti,
certa tibi sedes et cunctis te duce natis.
tu nunc perge memor coeptumque haut desere munus.
me duce dimissas iterum remeabis ad urbes."
illi somnum ingens rumpit pauor ossaque tota
concutit umenti perfundens membra fluore.
et super haec memorat: "Domus est hic magna tonantis
portaque, quae gemino reserat de cardine caelum.
mox lapidem, capiti fuerat qui subditus, unguit
atque Domum domini conpellans indice saxo
promittit decimos daturum se fore fructus.
iamque iter inceptum celerans, qua semita duxit,
peruenit ad puteum, qui uasta per auia solus
molle pecus riguis semper palpauerat undis.
hic gregibus trinis pastores sole calente
libabant tenues latices aestumque leuabant;
hisque salutatis disquirit singula uates.
incolumesque uidet cunctos, quos mente quaerebat.
haec inter niuea gradiens Rachela figura
urgebat patrias ad pocula nota bidentes.
quam promptim iuuenis fraterno e limine uisam,
castus in amplexus cognata ad pectora iungit.
deuoluens lapidem, putei qui texerat ora,
seque simul iuncto germanum sanguine pandit.

### English translation (Claude)

drive away sad fears; the land on which you have laid your limbs
will be a sure seat for you and for all your sons under your leadership.
Now go on, mindful, and do not abandon the task begun.
Under my leadership you will return again to the cities you left.”
Great fear breaks his sleep and shakes all his bones,
flooding his limbs with moist sweat.
And besides this he says: “Here is the great house of the Thunderer
and the gate that unbars heaven on its twin hinge.”
Soon he anoints the stone that had been placed under his head,
and, calling it the House of the Lord, with the stone as a marker,
he promises that he will give a tenth of his fruits.
And now, hastening the journey begun where the path led,
he came to a well that alone, through the vast wilderness,
had always cherished the soft flock with its watering waves.
Here herdsmen with three flocks, in the hot sun,
were drawing the thin waters and relieving the heat;
greeting them, the prophet asks about each thing
and learns that all whom he sought in his mind are safe.
Meanwhile Rachel, walking with snowy form,
was driving her father’s sheep to the familiar drinking place.
The young man, as soon as he saw her coming from the kindred house,
chastely joins her in an embrace to his kinsman’s breast,
rolling away the stone that had covered the mouth of the well,
and at the same time reveals himself as her kinsman by blood.

### Scripture references

- Gen 28:13–22: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 29:1–12: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.924 (CSEL 23:35lines 924–947–36; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-924).

## Genesis, lines 948–972

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-948
- Source: CSEL 23:36lines 948–972–37
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Jacob serves Laban seven years for Rachel, is given Leah instead, serves again for Rachel, and Leah bears Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun and Dinah before Rachel conceives.

### Latin text

quem procul intuitus sensu gaudente Labanus
aduolat et sueta iuuenem conponit in aula.
nec patitur gratis uatem seruire propinquum
proque labore uiri natam despondet amanti.
ergo ubi mercedem septenis traxerat annis,
desponsam thalami deposcit foedere iungi.
nec mora, mentito donatur munere Lia,
luminibus grauidis, primo sed prosata partu.
sed fraudis commenta dolens concepta Iacobus
uerba canit soceris, frustratus uirgine pacta.
rursus in alterius pretium mercede seorsa
perpetitur longae Iacobus munia uitae,
percipiens meritam pulsa iam fraude Rachelam.
sed deus aetheriae regnator maximus aulae
pignore multiplici dempsit dispendia formae.
Rubenum nam Lia creat, tum deinde Simonem;
tertius egregio Leuitis pectore natus
possedit domini sacrata altaria nostri.
hunc sequitur Iuda, tribui mox inditus auctor.
ast alios partus, utero quos Balla creauit.
scire licet; claros nunc ius est dicere natos.
post hos Issacharus paritur iam germine quino.
sexta subit proles nomen Zabulonis adepta,
nascitur et uirgo germanis congrua Dina.
tandem sera deus largitur dona Rachelae:

### English translation (Claude)

Laban, seeing him from afar with a glad mind,
flies to him and settles the young man in his own hall.
Nor does he allow the prophet, his kinsman, to serve for nothing,
and in return for the man’s labour betroths his daughter to the lover.
So when he had drawn out his wage over seven years,
he asks that his betrothed be joined to him in the covenant of marriage.
Without delay Leah is given by a false gift,
with heavy eyes, but born of the first birth.
But Jacob, grieving at the fraud contrived against him,
reproaches his in-laws, cheated of the maiden agreed.
Again, for the price of the other, by a separate wage,
Jacob endures the duties of a long life,
receiving Rachel, whom he had earned, the fraud now set aside.
But God, the greatest ruler of the heavenly hall,
made up for her lack of beauty by many offspring.
For Leah bears Reuben, then next Simeon;
the third, Levi, born with noble heart,
possessed the holy altars of our Lord.
Judah follows him, soon made the founder of a tribe.
The other births, which Bilhah brought forth from her womb,
one may know; now it is right to name the famous sons.
After these Issachar is born as the fifth offspring.
The sixth child comes next, receiving the name of Zebulun,
and a maiden, Dinah, is born, fit for her brothers.
At last God grants late gifts to Rachel:

### Scripture references

- Gen 29:13–35: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 30:1–22: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet passes over the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah (Gen 30:3–13).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.948 (CSEL 23:36lines 948–972–37; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-948).

## Genesis, lines 973–997

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-973
- Source: CSEL 23:37lines 973–997–38
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Joseph is born; Jacob arranges his wage with Laban, makes the flocks speckled with peeled rods, grows rich, and leaves while Laban is shearing, Rachel hiding her father’s household gods.

### Latin text

aetherias tenerum Iosepum gignit ad auras.
ergo ubi iam proles utraque ex coniuge parta est,
discessum a soceris et, quae quaesiuerat, orat:
qui cum pro meritis mercedem soluere uellent,
deponunt animos genero poscente rogati:
qui nihil externum cupiens, ditescere sese
muneribus domini solis testatus, abiuit,
coniuge percepta tantum contentus utraque,
enitens, ut longa sibi monumenta pararet.
decerpit uirgas rupto de corpore matrum.
myrtea prima fuit, storaci mox altera dempta est.
tertia uulsa nuci, quo sensim lana colores
diuiduos raperet uirgarum perlita suco.
nam per stagna pecus properans mersare balantum
signauit uario tinctum discrimine fuci,
inuidiam propter, uariam quia dixerat eius
esse socer mercem, multis quam dempserat annis.
hic cum diuitiis alitus praestaret inemptis,
inuidiam laeuo mouit liuore dolentum.
dumque socer dirus lanarum uellera tondit,
libertas permissa uiro, qua commoda ferret
omnia et incoctos tosta fornace penates,
quos Syrus in patriis credebat numina Carris.
haec tamen inuolucris cohibebat cauta Rachela,
ne pater inuenta puniret crimina noxa.

### English translation (Claude)

she brings tender Joseph forth into the air of heaven.
So when offspring had been born of both wives,
he asks his in-laws for leave to depart and for what he had sought;
when they wished to pay him a wage for his deserts,
they set aside their purpose at their son-in-law’s request.
He, desiring nothing of another’s, declared that he would grow rich
by the Lord’s gifts alone, and went away,
content only with having received both wives,
striving to prepare for himself lasting memorials.
He strips rods from the broken bodies of their mother trees:
the first was of myrtle, then a second was taken from the storax,
the third torn from the nut tree, so that the wool, gradually
smeared with the sap of the rods, would take on parted colours.
For, hastening to plunge the bleating flock in the pools,
he marked it, dyed with various distinctions of colour,
because of envy, since his father-in-law had said
that the variegated stock should be his wage, which he had withheld for many years.
When he, nourished with unbought riches, excelled,
he stirred the envy of those grieving with sinister jealousy.
And while the dread father-in-law shears the fleeces,
the man was free to carry off all his goods
and the household gods baked in the hot furnace,
which the Syrian in his native Haran believed to be divinities.
These, however, cautious Rachel kept hidden in wrappings,
lest her father, finding the offence, punish the crime.

### Scripture references

- Gen 30:22–43: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 31:1–21: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet’s trees (myrtle, storax, nut) differ from those of Gen 30:37 (poplar, almond, plane), and he has the rods dye the wool directly.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.973 (CSEL 23:37lines 973–997–38; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-973).

## Genesis, lines 998–1023

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-998
- Source: CSEL 23:38lines 998–1023–39
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Laban pursues Jacob, is warned by God, searches in vain for his gods, and makes a covenant at the heap of stones; Jacob sees God’s camp, sends gifts ahead to Esau, who comes with four hundred men, and prays.

### Latin text

digressus uicto conscendit flumine collem,
quem Galatum indigenae patrio sermone loquuntur.
tertia iamque die soceri peruenit ad aures
discessus generi pariter pariterque natarum.
ilicet auxilium fraterno ex agmine poscit
quaesitumque diu sexto iam lumine nanctus,
ne noceat, sancto domini terrore uetatur,
mitificusque suis, quae credit numina. poscit,
et cunctis quaesita locis non cognita maeret.
postquam depositis rediit pax certa querellis,
congeries struitur saxis crescentibus alta,
ut locus exstructo maneat munimine testis
ac positus limes litem discerneret agris.
ecce uiae medio uates uidet ardua castra,
quae deus astrigero ductat moderamine rector,
indidit et nomen testatus: "Haec deus implet."
interea electos iuuenes praecurrere iussit,
muneribusque graues, germanum quae iubet uti,
ut reditum placidus tribuat; pacemque petenti
adnuit ille libens; sociis atque agmine multo
stipatus fratrem contra nil turbidus exit,
cumque quater centum terreret turba uirorum,
plus species, quam tela nocent famulantibus armis.
discretis igitur gregibus haec prima locauit,
quae donata sibi dignetur sumere frater,
atque simul inmensus dominum ceruice poposcit:

### English translation (Claude)

Having left, he crossed the river and climbed the hill
that the natives call Gilead in their native tongue.
And now on the third day it reached the father-in-law’s ears
that his son-in-law and his daughters had departed together.
At once he asks help from his brothers’ band,
and, finding him, long sought, on the sixth day,
he is forbidden by holy terror of the Lord to harm him,
and gently asks for his own things that he believes divinities,
and grieves that, sought in every place, they are not found.
After sure peace returned and complaints were laid aside,
a high heap is built of stones piled up,
so that the place might remain a witness with its raised bulwark
and the boundary set might settle the dispute over fields.
See, in the middle of the way the prophet sees a lofty camp,
which God the ruler leads with star-bearing governance,
and he gave it a name, testifying: “God fills this.”
Meanwhile he ordered chosen young men to run ahead,
laden with gifts, which he bids his brother use,
that he might grant a peaceable return; and to his request for peace
the brother willingly assents; surrounded by companions and a large band
he goes out to meet his brother, not at all troubled,
and though the crowd of four hundred men caused alarm,
their appearance did more harm than the weapons of their attendant arms.
So, having divided the flocks, he placed these first,
which his brother might deign to take as given to him,
and at the same time, bowing low, he prayed to the Lord:

### Scripture references

- Gen 31:21–55: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 32:1–9: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘God fills this’ seems to render the name Mahanaim (‘camp of God’, Gen 32:2). The poet places Esau’s acceptance of peace before Jacob’s prayer. Inmensus in the last line is probably corrupt; translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.998 (CSEL 23:38lines 998–1023–39; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-998).

## Genesis, lines 1024–1048

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-1024
- Source: CSEL 23:39lines 1024–1048
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Jacob prays to be saved from Esau, wrestles with God through the night, is lamed and blessed, and receives the new name, interpreted ‘Seeing the Lord’.

### Latin text

"O deus, inmensi spes et substantia regni,
qui deus es semper genitoris solus auique,
cuius ab exilio faciunt me iussa reuerti,
grandia ditato largitus commoda seruo
iussisti lenta fluuium transmittere uirga
Iordanemque tuum humili transmittere gressu.
et nunc diuiduis cernis me degere castris,
ut uarios casus gemino munimine uitem.
eripe me his, inuicte, malis et spicula fratris
infracto placidus quam primum decute ferro,
ne rapidus duro feriat mea pectora telo."
ergo ubi conposuit socios somnosque petiuit,
luctantem superare deum sub nocte laborat;
femine nam presso stupuit pars corporis illa.
cumque diu uellet membrorum soluere nexus
is, qui pulsarat ualido certamine uatem,
praestita dimissum dominus post dona remisit.
nomine mutato Iacobus desinit esse,
ac "Dominum cernens" cunctorum dicitur ore,
ausus quin etiam domini condiscere nomen,
non potuit, soli quod ius est nosse tonanti.
ipse locum Domini conpellat nomine uisi,
contigerat cuius sublimes cernere uultus.
atque ubi se dominus pulsa iam nocte remouit,
egreditur longa sustentans cuspide gressus.

### English translation (Claude)

“O God, hope and substance of an immeasurable kingdom,
who alone are always the God of my father and grandfather,
whose commands make me return from exile,
you who bestowed great benefits on your enriched servant
commanded me to cross the river with a pliant staff
and to cross your Jordan with humble step.
And now you see me living in divided camps,
to avoid various misfortunes with a twofold defence.
Rescue me from these evils, unconquered one, and graciously
strike the darts from my brother’s hand as soon as may be, their iron broken,
lest in his haste he strike my breast with his harsh weapon.”
So when he had settled his companions and sought sleep,
he toils under night to overcome God, wrestling with him;
for, the thigh being pressed, that part of his body went numb.
And when he who had struck the prophet in strong contest
long wished to loose the hold of their limbs,
the Lord, once released, let him go after granting his gifts.
His name changed, he ceases to be Jacob
and is called by the mouth of all “Seeing the Lord”;
he dared even to learn the Lord’s name,
but could not, because it is the right of the Thunderer alone to know it.
He himself calls the place by the name of the Lord who was seen,
whose lofty face it had befallen him to behold.
And when the Lord withdrew, the night now driven away,
he goes out supporting his steps with a long staff.

### Scripture references

- Gen 32:9–31: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘Seeing the Lord’ renders the name Israel by a common ancient etymology (‘one who sees God’).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1024 (CSEL 23:39lines 1024–1048; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1024).

## Genesis, lines 1049–1074

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-1049
- Source: CSEL 23:40lines 1049–1074
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Israel does not eat the sinew of the thigh; Jacob and Esau are reconciled; Jacob settles at Succoth and Shechem, where Dinah is violated by the Hivite, who seeks to marry her.

### Latin text

hinc Iudaea memor deuitat mandere neruum.
qui femur adstrictum rigido munimine fulcit.
iamque uidens fratrem uallatum congrege turma,
procuruus prona dominum ceruice salutat:
congressi multo coniungunt pectora fletu...
et iam iamque magis uario sermone requirit,
qui ueniant comitante manu, quae turba sequatur.
ille docet, nuptae quo sint genitore creatae,
diuersique greges qua sint mercede parati.
confestimque nurus curuo cum poplite fusae
admorunt teneros cognata ad basia natos.
at senior praelata pie dum munera uitat.
mitificus mulcet concordis pignora uatis
atque libens fratre pariter comitante lux.
ut uice sermonum sensim sua gesta referent.
sed quia lentigrado serpebant agmine fetae,
subsedit uates gregibus famulisque regendis
paruaque frondoso posuit mapalia tecto,
nomine quae fixo placuit uocitare Tabernas.
deuenit ad Sicimas, quae sunt regione Chananna,
mercatus pretio confinis praedia terrae.
atque deum exstructis properans altaribus orat.
illic inprobius Dinam Correus amatam
polluit et tenerae praecerpsit uirginis usum
coniungique uolens procuruant praeputia dempsit,
grandia dona ferens rapta pro coniuge uati.

### English translation (Claude)

Hence Judea, mindful, avoids eating the sinew
that supports the thigh, bound with stiff strength.
And now, seeing his brother surrounded by a band,
bending low with bowed neck he greets him as lord;
meeting, they join breast to breast with much weeping …
and now, more and more, Esau asks in varied speech
who these are coming with an escort, what crowd follows.
Jacob explains from what father his wives were born
and by what wage the various flocks were acquired.
At once the wives, kneeling with bent knee,
brought the tender children to their kinsman’s kisses.
But the elder, while he graciously declines the gifts offered,
gently caresses the children of the prophet, now at peace with him,
and gladly, with his brother accompanying, leads the way,
so that by turns of talk they might gradually recount their deeds.
But because the ewes with young crept along with slow column,
the prophet stayed behind to manage the flocks and servants
and set up small huts with leafy roofs,
which it pleased him to call by a fixed name, Booths.
He came to Shechem, which is in the Canaanite region,
having bought with a price the estates of the neighbouring land,
and, making haste, prays to God at altars he built.
There the Hivite shamelessly defiled Dinah, whom he loved,
and took the tender maiden’s virginity,
and, wishing to be joined to her, had his foreskin removed,
bringing great gifts to the prophet for the bride he had seized.

### Scripture references

- Gen 32:32: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 33:1–20: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 34:1–12: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘Leads the way’ renders the corrupt ‘lux.’ of the digital text by sense. ‘The Hivite’ renders Correus (the Horite of the Greek Bible at Gen 34:2). The poet places the circumcision of the Shechemite before the negotiations of Gen 34:8–24.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1049 (CSEL 23:40lines 1049–1074; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1049).

## Genesis, lines 1075–1099

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-1075
- Source: CSEL 23:41lines 1075–1099
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Simeon and Levi kill the Shechemites; Jacob puts away the household gods, goes to Bethel, receives God’s promise, and anoints the stone; Rachel dies bearing Benjamin; the sons of the handmaids are listed.

### Latin text

tertia luce dehinc, maius qua uulnera feruent.
stellas tota pariter cum pube necatur.
natorum ferro doluit haec gesta Iacobus,
infractum foedus socia cum gente locutus.
ilicet omnipotens monuit discedere uatem
atque domum fidam B £ radiantes in sede locare.
festinat paretque deo natosque precatur,
ut delubra deum rigido formata metallo
conminuant niueoque togas sub tegmine sumant.
ipse deos nullos Terebinthi abscondit in antro
ingentemque uidet dominum depromere sueta
uerba sibi uatemque fore se numinis alti
ditibus in terris, dominus quas uouerat Abrae.
ipse loco nomen posuit saxumque sacrauit,
quod uenerans liquido totum perfundit oliuo,
erexitque domum turris sub tecta Gaderae.
haec inter flumina, graui confecta dolore,
funere facta parens Beniaminum fudit ab aluo.
namque praeter natos iustis de matribus ortos
pignora subposita uates genetrice creauit
agnouitque libens socio de germine Ballae
conspicuum Danem, quem Neptalimus adurget.
ast alios mox Zelpha creat, Gadumque Aserumque.
optinet hoc etiam, meritis quod defore norat,
ut patrios uultus tanta cum prole uideret;

### English translation (Claude)

Then on the third light, when wounds burn most,
Hamor is slain together with all the young men.
Jacob grieved at these deeds done by his sons’ sword,
saying the covenant with the allied people had been broken.
At once the Almighty warned the prophet to depart
and to place his faithful house in the seat of Bethel.
He hastens and obeys God and asks his sons
to break the shrines of the gods formed of rigid metal
and to put on garments under a snowy covering.
He himself hid the gods, now nothing, in the hollow of the terebinth,
and sees the mighty Lord bring forth his accustomed
words to him, that he will be the prophet of the high divinity
in the rich lands that the Lord had vowed to Abraham.
He himself gave the place a name and consecrated the stone,
which, revering, he drenched all over with liquid oil,
and he set up his house under the roofs of the tower of Eder.
Meanwhile, worn out with heavy pain,
the mother, dying in childbirth, brought Benjamin forth from her womb.
For besides the sons born of lawful mothers,
the prophet had begotten children by substitute mothers,
and gladly acknowledged from Bilhah, his wife’s partner,
conspicuous Dan, whom Naphtali follows close.
But soon Zilpah bears others, Gad and Asher.
He obtains this too, which he knew he did not deserve,
that he should see his father’s face with so great an offspring;

### Scripture references

- Gen 34:25–30: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 35:1–27: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The CSEL digital text of this poem often has words displaced from other lines (here stellas in line 2, the garbled ‘B £ radiantes’ for Bethel in line 6, flumina in line 17); such places are translated by the sense of Genesis.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1075 (CSEL 23:41lines 1075–1099; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1075).

## Genesis, lines 1100–1123

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-1100
- Source: CSEL 23:42lines 1100–1123
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Isaac dies at 180 and goes to the joys of the righteous; Esau settles in Seir and Jacob in Canaan, where the seventeen-year-old Joseph, outshining his brothers, arouses their envy.

### Latin text

ut. qui iam uetula fuerat genetrice creatus,
bis seno insignis posset gaudere nepote.
ergo ubi iam tandem bis nonaginta per annos
uita fuit proceris et longum ducta per aeuum,
soluitur et lasso de corpore candidus exit.
uisurus sanctas, metitur dat prudentia, sedes,
in quibus astrigero recubans per saecula fulchro
inuitat niueos secura ad gaudia iustos.
iamque iuuat fratres metatas didere sedes;
nam quia non poterant angusto in limite terrae
crescentes gregibus multis cohibere colonos.
anterior Sirum montem post arua Chananna
accipit et laeta praediues pascua sumpsit.
Chanannaea sequens non linquit regna Iacobus,
ut patrio semper gauderet mens pia ritu;
illic conspicuos Iosepus suscipit actus,
effulgens inter tanto discrimine fratres,
quanto luna nitet parua inter sidera caeli.
qui cum iam septem decemque adtingeret annos.
seruabat patrias herboso in gramine fetas,
omnibus incedens natu minor, quos generosis;
progenuit thalamis campi uel paelice serua.
et quia conspicuus germana in classe uirebat,
fraternos sensus liuoris frigore mouit.

### English translation (Claude)

so that he who had been born of an already aged mother
might rejoice, renowned, in twice six grandsons.
So when at last the chief’s life had lasted twice ninety years
and been drawn out through a long age,
he is released and goes forth shining from his weary body,
to see the holy seats that wisdom grants,
in which, reclining through the ages on a starry couch,
he invites the snow-white righteous to secure joys.
And now the brothers resolve to divide the measured lands;
for since they could not, within the narrow bounds of the land,
keep their herdsmen, growing with many flocks,
the elder receives Mount Seir beyond the Canaanite fields
and, very rich, took glad pastures.
Jacob, following, does not leave the Canaanite realms,
so that his pious mind might always rejoice in his father’s rite.
There Joseph takes up conspicuous deeds,
shining among his brothers by as great a difference
as the moon shines among the small stars of the sky.
When he was now reaching seven and ten years,
he kept his father’s breeding flocks in the grassy pasture,
going about among them all, the youngest in birth, whom Jacob begot
from noble marriage beds or from a slave concubine of the field.
And because he flourished conspicuously in the band of brothers,
he moved his brothers’ minds with the chill of envy.

### Scripture references

- Gen 35:28–29: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 36:6–8: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 37:1–4: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 6 is corrupt in the digital text (metitur dat prudentia); translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1100 (CSEL 23:42lines 1100–1123; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1100).

## Genesis, lines 1124–1148

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-1124
- Source: CSEL 23:42lines 1124–1148–43
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Jacob loves Joseph and gives him a many-coloured robe; Joseph’s dreams of the sheaves and of the sun, moon and eleven stars make his brothers hate him, and they go off with the flocks.

### Latin text

hunc pater ex toto conplectens stirpe natorum
mulcebat tenerum ualida inter corpora fratrum,
quoque magis cunctos inter conspectior esset,
uelabat uario uestis circumflua fuco.
is cum iam teneris domino inseruiret ab annis.
forte uidet placido sopitus lumina somno
fratribus admixtum sese uincire maniplos.
dum medias inter distringunt farra nouales,
atque suum recto sublimem surgere cono,
quem iuxta prona fratrum terit ruebant.
id postquam iuuenis placido sermone retexit,
commouit trepido pauitantia corda tumultu;
murmure terrifico regem dominumque loquentes,
prodebant sceleri secretum defore solum.
quoque magis gemina tristes disrumperet ira,
somnia doctiloquo pandit perspecta parenti,
omnibus admotis, quos linea sanguinis artat.
namque uidebatur roseum sibi cernere solem
coniunctamque simul tremulo cum lumine lunam
hisque decem stellas unamque adsurgere iunctas
et sibi ceu domino procurua inflectere colla.
haec postquam obliquo genitor cognouerat ore,
fassus adorandum trepidis mox fratribus esse.
ilicet excedunt iuuenes, gregibusque paternis
disquirunt flumine per florea gramina ualles;

### English translation (Claude)

His father, loving him above the whole stock of his sons,
caressed the tender boy among his brothers’ strong bodies,
and, so that he might be more conspicuous among them all,
a flowing garment of varied dye clothed him.
When he had served the Lord from his tender years,
he chanced, his eyes lulled in peaceful sleep, to see
himself among his brothers binding sheaves,
while they reaped the grain in the middle of the fields,
and his own sheaf rising lofty on an upright point,
while his brothers’ sheaves, bowing low beside it, rushed toward it.
After the young man revealed this in calm speech,
he stirred their fearful hearts with a trembling tumult;
speaking with a terrifying murmur of a king and lord,
they betrayed that only the crime itself was still lacking to their secret plan.
And, to break their gloomy hearts with a double wrath,
he tells his learned father the dreams he had seen,
with all present whom the line of blood binds.
For he seemed to see the rosy sun
and with it the moon, joined with trembling light,
and with these ten stars and one rising together
and bending their necks low to him as to a lord.
After the father had heard this with a reproving mouth,
he declared that soon he would be bowed to by his anxious brothers.
At once the young men go out and seek, with their father’s flocks,
the valleys by the river through the flowery grass;

### Scripture references

- Gen 37:3–12: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 10 is corrupt in the digital text (terit ruebant); translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1124 (CSEL 23:42lines 1124–1148–43; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1124).

## Genesis, lines 1149–1174

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-1149
- Source: CSEL 23:43lines 1149–1174–44
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Joseph finds his brothers, who plot to kill him; Reuben persuades them to cast him into a pit, Judah to sell him to traders bound for Egypt; Jacob mourns, and Joseph is bought by Pharaoh’s officer.

### Latin text

ad quos missus abit dumisque silentibus errat,
edoctus quodam iuuenum monstrante recessus,
gramine mutato fratrum quos legerat agmen;
quem procul ut uaria licuit praenoscere ueste.
consilium infaustum linguis discordibus aptant.
omnibus inuisum constat sententia fratrem
perdere et extinctum morsu narrare ferarum,
dum rapidi secum uentoso murmure mussant:
"Somnia, cernamus, poterunt si pellere letum."
respuit hoc placidis numquid mitior orsis
frendentesque monet praedurum condere ferrum,
stagnanti memorans melius mersare palude.
ilicet exuitur nudusque inuoluitur frigente.
haec inter solitus merces mutare Sabaeas
perferre graui trudebat mole camelos.
dum properat Arabum messes deferre Canopo.
ergo ubi germani spes est adflicta minoris.
Iudas ait melius Iosepum uendere nummis.
celatur genitor uestemque in sanguine tinctam
perspiciens nulla metitur fraude necatum.
discindit manibus uestem Abelus aduncis
nigrantesque sibi cilicum circumdat amictus.
adflictus luctu genitor perquirit amissum,
quem dudum acceptum semiuir Pharaonis habebat,
auratas solitus mensas onerare tyranni
lancibus et strepitu magnae gaudere culinae.

### English translation (Claude)

Sent to them, he goes and wanders among silent thickets,
taught by a young man who showed him the retreats
to which the band of brothers had moved their pasture.
When they could recognize him from afar by his varied garment,
they contrive an ill-omened plan with discordant tongues.
The decision stands among all to destroy the hated brother
and to tell that he was killed by the bite of beasts,
while, in haste, they mutter among themselves with windy murmur:
“Let us see whether dreams can drive off death.”
One, gentler, rejects this with calm words
and warns the gnashing men to sheathe their hard iron,
saying it was better to sink him in a stagnant pool.
At once he is stripped and, naked, cast into the cold pit.
Meanwhile one used to trade Sabaean wares
was driving camels to carry heavy loads,
hastening to bring the harvests of the Arabs to Canopus.
So when the hope for the younger brother was crushed,
Judah says it is better to sell Joseph for coins.
The father is deceived and, seeing the garment dyed in blood,
judges that he was killed with no deceit.
He tears his garment with hooked hands
and wraps himself in a black mantle of haircloth.
Stricken with grief, the father seeks the lost one,
whom a eunuch of Pharaoh had long since received and kept,
one used to load the tyrant’s gilded tables
with dishes and to rejoice in the din of the great kitchen.

### Scripture references

- Gen 37:13–36: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text has displaced words at several points (numquid in line 10, where Reuben is meant; Abelus in line 21, where Jacob is meant); translated by the sense of Genesis. The poet makes Potiphar Pharaoh’s chief cook, following the Greek Bible’s ‘chief cook’ (archimageiros) at Gen 37:36.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1149 (CSEL 23:43lines 1149–1174–44; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1149).

## Genesis, lines 1175–1199

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-1175
- Source: CSEL 23:44lines 1175–1199–45
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Tamar bears the twins Perez and Zerah; in Egypt Joseph prospers in his master’s house, refuses the advances of his master’s wife, and flees leaving his garment.

### Latin text

haec inter Thamara parit, dum gaudia culpae
laeta placent, geminoque impletur pignore uenter.
quorum prima puer meruit qui lumina uitae,
exeruit prompsitque manum, quam femina sollers
punicea de reste ligat; mox conditur aluo
et uice mutata confestim nascitur alter.
anteriora tenens, fuerat qui sorte secundus.
hic quoniam fuerat discretus limite quondam,
Zarae nomen habet, alium dixere Pharetem.
Seruabat domini custodia fida terrarum,
non passus durae subiectum uiuere legi.
anterius nam dictus erus dat cuncta ministro,
nec spe cassa quidem; dominus nam mitis ab alto
omnia, quae iuuenis seruabat, largius auxit.
nec tamen optinuit Petaphretae inmitis amorem;
nam quia conspicuo fulgerent lumina uultu,
exorat coitum domina male saucia serui.
sed uitat iam foeda puer seseque recusat
sacratum culpa immodica pressare cubile.
femina sed uetitis nequiquam perdita flammis
explorat molles aditus et tempora captat.
forte domum uacuam solumque ut repperit. instat
consertumque manu cogit decumbere secum.
tanto ille alacer uestemque a corpore demit
atque inter dominae geminas dilabitur ulnas.

### English translation (Claude)

Meanwhile Tamar gives birth, while the glad joys of guilt
please, and her womb is filled with twin offspring.
Of these, the boy who first earned the light of life
thrust forth and put out his hand, which the skilful woman
ties with a scarlet cord; soon it is drawn back into the womb
and, the order changed, the other is at once born,
taking the first place, who had been second by lot.
Because this one had once been separated by a boundary,
he has the name Zerah; the other they called Perez.
The faithful guardianship of the Lord kept Joseph in that land,
not suffering him to live subject to a harsh law.
For the master named before gives everything to his servant,
and not in empty hope; for the gentle Lord from on high
increased more largely all that the young man kept.
Yet he did not escape a cruel love in Potiphar’s house;
for because his eyes shone in his conspicuous face,
his mistress, sorely wounded, begs the slave to lie with her.
But the boy shuns these foul things and refuses
to press the consecrated bed with immoderate guilt.
But the woman, lost in vain in forbidden flames,
explores gentle approaches and watches for her time.
By chance, when she found the house empty and him alone, she presses on
and, seizing him by the hand, urges him to lie with her.
So much the more eagerly he takes the garment from his body
and slips away between his mistress’s two arms.

### Scripture references

- Gen 38:27–30: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 39:1–12: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet passes over the story of Judah and Tamar (Gen 38:1–26) and tells only the birth. Lines 8–9 reverse the names: in Gen 38:29–30 the child who breaks out first is Perez and the one with the scarlet thread Zerah; the explanation of the name in line 8 is obscure.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1175 (CSEL 23:44lines 1175–1199–45; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1175).

## Genesis, lines 1200–1224

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-1200
- Source: CSEL 23:45lines 1200–1224–46
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Potiphar’s wife accuses Joseph, who is imprisoned, trusted by the keeper, and asks the king’s two imprisoned servants their dreams; the cupbearer tells of the vine with three branches.

### Latin text

femina proclamat uiresque a crimine sumit,
uociferans praedulce decus temerasse pudoris
fidentem forma iuuenem, dum lubricus aeuo
feruet et erilem molitur scandere lectum.
quin etiam tristi conpellat uoce maritum
innocuumque reum placitae uult subdere poenae
quae ceu uera putans infenso carcere claudit,
in quo iam regis cohibebat poena ministros.
carceris hunc custos blando mox pectore mulcet
innocuumque uidens conmissa ergastula legat.
illic forte duo, celsa quos toruus in aula
condiderat nigro permotus felle tyrannus,
inclusi poenam trepido sub corde pauebant,
ac dum sollicitis furantur lumina curis,
somnia uenturis uiderunt nuntia rebus.
hos cum perspicuo Mathusalamus lumine maestos,
perquirit causas cogitque occulta fateri.
continuo, qui uina dabat consueta tyranno,
eloquitur, quae uisa forent sub nocte sopora:
"Cernebam uiridi frondentem palmite uitem,
dum serpit nexaque suo de uerbere pendet,
pampineos inter Sella tris adfore, fundos,
uuaque nectareo pendebat flaua racemo.
inde calix regis, quo mitia pocula libat,
spumabat tenero, quod pressit dextera. musto.

### English translation (Claude)

The woman cries out and takes strength from the crime,
shouting that the young man, trusting in his beauty, had violated
the sweet honour of her chastity, while, wanton in his youth,
he burns and tries to climb into his master’s bed.
Moreover she addresses her husband with a sad voice
and wants to subject the innocent defendant to the penalty she pleases;
he, thinking it true, shuts him in a hostile prison,
in which punishment already confined the king’s servants.
The keeper of the prison soon soothes him with a kind heart
and, seeing him innocent, entrusts the prison to him.
There by chance two, whom the grim tyrant, moved by black gall,
had shut away from the lofty court,
imprisoned, feared punishment in their trembling hearts,
and while anxious cares were stealing their sight,
they saw dreams announcing things to come.
When Joseph with clear eye saw them sad,
he asks the causes and makes them confess what was hidden.
At once the one who served the tyrant his customary wine
tells what he had seen in the drowsy night:
“I saw a vine leafy with green shoot,
creeping and hanging from its own twined lash,
and three branches standing among the vine leaves,
and the yellow grape hung in a nectar-sweet cluster.
Then the king’s cup, from which he pours mild drinks,
foamed with tender new wine that my right hand pressed,

### Scripture references

- Gen 39:13–23: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 40:1–11: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text has Mathusalamus in line 16, where Joseph is meant, and Sella in line 22; translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1200 (CSEL 23:45lines 1200–1224–46; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1200).

## Genesis, lines 1225–1250

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-1225
- Source: CSEL 23:46lines 1225–1250–47
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Joseph interprets the dreams of the cupbearer and the baker, asks to be remembered, and both are fulfilled; two years later Pharaoh dreams of seven sleek heifers.

### Latin text

quem dominus prompta susceptum palma tenebat."
omnia tum iuuenis signanter clausa reuelat.
tris fundos uitam esse dies, quibus ille secutis
amissum rursus relegat repetatque fauorem,
mixturus placido, quae uidit, pocula regi.
"Hoc tantum meritis pro talibus effice, " dicit,
"ut, cum sumpta tibi fuerit fiducia fandi,
dimoueas nostram nullo de crimine poenam.
Hebraea gens dicta mihi. nam uenditus uatum
crimine fraterno seruitum nobilis iui."
post haec uisa sibi pistorum maximus infit:
" Vertice trina meo uisus gestare canistra
regificis dapibus lautoque inpleta paratu,
unguibus innumerae uolucres quae rapta ferebant."
his dictis sat uera quidem, sed dura loquendo
mactandum duro testatur mox fore ferro
auulsumque caput figendum in stipite celso,
quod uolucres toruo discerpant protinus ore.
conplentur cuncta, iuuenis quae dixerat, et mox
redditus ille loco, caesus hic corpore trunco est.
interea geminos iam tempora lapsa per annos
rursus ad eoos torquebant sidera cursus,
somnia cum ductor uidit Niloticus ista :
namque uidebatur, fluuium dum spectat amoenum,
corporibus nitidis septem spectare iuuencas,
tondentes uiridis pubentia gramina ripis;

### English translation (Claude)

which the lord took and held in his ready palm.”
Then the young man reveals all the hidden things clearly:
the three branches are three days, after which
he will win back the favour he lost and regain it,
to mix for the pleased king the cups he saw.
“Only do this in return for such service,” he says,
“that, when confidence to speak is granted you,
you remove my punishment, due to no crime.
I am said to be of the Hebrew race; for, sold
through my brothers’ crime, though nobly born, I went into slavery.”
After this the chief of the bakers begins:
“I seemed to carry three baskets on my head,
filled with kingly dishes and sumptuous fare,
which countless birds carried off, seized in their talons.”
At these words, true indeed but harsh to speak,
he testifies that he will soon be slain by the cruel sword
and his head, torn off, fixed on a high stake,
for birds at once to tear with grim beaks.
All that the young man had said is fulfilled, and soon
the one is restored to his place, the other cut down, his body maimed.
Meanwhile, as time slipped through two years,
the stars were again turning their courses toward the east,
when the ruler of the Nile saw these dreams:
for he seemed, while he watched the pleasant river,
to see seven heifers with sleek bodies
cropping the young grass of the green bank;

### Scripture references

- Gen 40:12–23: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 41:1–2: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1225 (CSEL 23:46lines 1225–1250–47; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1225).

## Genesis, lines 1251–1276

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-625/#p-1-1251
- Source: CSEL 23:47lines 1251–1276–48
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Pharaoh dreams of the lean cows and thin ears devouring the fat; the cupbearer remembers Joseph, who is brought from prison and explains seven years of plenty and seven of famine.

### Latin text

his alias turpes macie subiungere gressus
dumque suis pigrae (mirum!) uix ossibus haerent,
eximias patulo sorbebant ore iuuencas.
somnia iunguntur paribus non dissona causis;
ecce uidet spicas fecundo e germine septem,
atque alias tenues et loquente semine cassas
(horrendum dictu!) Sethum ceu mandere fruges.
id uisum maestus nequaquam mente cohercet.
sed trepidus cunctos, qui callent, adfore iussit
disquirens, clausis quae sit sententia rebus.
atque ubi consultus tacuit Memphiticus augur,
carcere qui dudum laxatus uina praebebat,
eloquitur iuuenis sese pandente Iosepo
amisso rediisse loco sociumque necatum.
mittuntur propere, uatem qui crimine toto
exutum turpi celeres de fornice tollant
informesque genas et crines carcere pastos
tondentes prisca facerent reuirescere forma.
ergo probus dictis consultus talia reddit
atque docet uaccas annorum nuntias esse,
atque leues spicas septenos disserit orbes.
namque ita digestis uentura insignia formis,
ut septem fecunda satis sit terra per annos,
atque famem diram parili cum tempore ualeret,
quis penitus tellus sitientibus arida uenis
pallida puluereo consumat gramina sulco.

### English translation (Claude)

that others, foul with leanness, came after them,
and while, sluggish, they scarcely held together (a marvel!) on their bones,
they were swallowing the excellent heifers with wide mouths.
Dreams not unlike are joined, with like meanings;
see, he sees seven ears from fertile seed,
and others thin and empty of grain
(dreadful to tell!) devouring the crops.
Sad, he by no means keeps this vision in his mind,
but in alarm ordered all who are skilled to come,
asking what meaning lies in these hidden things.
And when the Memphian seer, consulted, was silent,
he who, long since released from prison, served the wine
says that when the young Joseph explained it
he had returned to the place he lost and his companion was killed.
Men are sent in haste to take the prophet, cleared
of every crime, swiftly out of the foul vault,
and, shearing the unkempt cheeks and the hair grown long in prison,
to make him flourish again in his former beauty.
So the upright man, consulted, gives such answers
and teaches that the cows are messengers of years,
and explains the light ears as seven circling years.
For so are the things to come signified in distinct forms:
that for seven years the earth will be fertile enough,
and that dire famine will prevail an equal time,
in which the land, wholly dry in its thirsting veins,
consumes the pale grass in the dusty furrow.

### Scripture references

- Gen 41:3–30: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 7 is garbled in the digital text (Sethum ceu mandere fruges, and loquente in line 6); translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1251 (CSEL 23:47lines 1251–1276–48; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1251).

## Genesis, lines 1277–1301

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-1-1277
- Source: CSEL 23:48lines 1277–1301–49
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Joseph advises Pharaoh to appoint a wise man to store a fifth of the harvests; Pharaoh makes Joseph ruler of Egypt, gives him Asenath as wife, Manasseh and Ephraim are born, and Joseph fills the granaries.

### Latin text

nam quae duplicibus iunguntur somnia uisis,
certa deus iuncto mandat constare tonante.
"Quin potius dum tempus adest, dum cura medendi est,
elige de captiuosque, qui praescius horum
iudicibus positis totam sublimis Aegyptum
temperet et quintas quacumque ex messe reposcat,
ut quae prima datur fecundis copia terris.
sustineat steriles consumptis frugibus annos."
accipitur plausu procerum sententia uatis.
ipse etiam tandem sedato pectore caelesti
uera renarrantem celso sublimat honore
praefectumque iubet totas se ferre per urbes.
inde anulo digitum uatis fulgente coronat.
byssina mox croceo circumdat pallia peplo,
flexilis induitur per collum circulus criminibus
atque nouus rector curru sublimior extat
clamosusque praeco cameris iudicis auget.
quin etiam legitur coniunx, cui nomen aequora(uatem.
quam genuit claro Petaphras ⟨de⟩ stemmate uates,
ex qua confestim genitor fit pignore bino.
dicitur anterior Manasses, iunior Ephrem.
exigit hinc uates suggestu nobilis alto,
quidquid uix potuit ieiunum adsumere tempus,
horrea plena tenens, ut cum res posceret uti,
proferret cunctis poscentibus abdita farra.

### English translation (Claude)

For dreams that are joined in double visions
God the Thunderer commands to stand sure, joined together.
“Rather, while the time is at hand, while there is room for remedy,
choose one who, foreknowing these things,
with judges appointed, may govern all Egypt from on high
and demand back a fifth of every harvest,
so that the plenty first given to the fertile lands
may sustain the barren years when the crops are consumed.”
The prophet’s counsel is received with the nobles’ applause.
The king himself too, his heart at last calmed,
raises to lofty honour the one who recounted heavenly truths
and orders him to be borne as governor through all the cities.
Then he crowns the prophet’s finger with a shining ring,
soon wraps him in linen cloaks with a saffron robe;
a pliant chain is put around his neck,
and the new ruler stands higher in a chariot,
and a loud herald proclaims the judge before him.
Moreover a wife is chosen, whose name was Asenath,
whom the priest Potiphera begot of noble lineage,
and by her he at once becomes father of two children.
The elder is called Manasseh, the younger Ephraim.
Hence the prophet, noble on his high platform, collects
whatever the lean time could scarcely take,
keeping full granaries, so that when need required
he might bring out the hidden grain to all who asked.

### Scripture references

- Gen 41:31–52: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text is damaged in several lines: de captiuosque (line 4), criminibus (line 15) and cameris iudicis auget (line 17) are translated by sense, and at the wife’s name (line 18) it repeats words from line 1.262 (aequora uatem); Gen 41:45 names her Asenath. In line 19 the editor supplies de.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1277 (CSEL 23:48lines 1277–1301–49; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277).

## Genesis, lines 1302–1327

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-1-1302
- Source: CSEL 23:49lines 1302–1327–50
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The famine spreads; Jacob sends ten sons to buy grain in Egypt, keeping Benjamin at home; Joseph recognizes them, accuses them of spying, and they tell him of their father and brothers.

### Latin text

post ubi dira fames totum diffusa per orbem
cogebat trepidos, poterat quod mandier, esse,
conclamat populus regemque efflagitat escas.
ille iubet procerem maestis dare farra Iosepum
parentem monitis: cunctos qui his arca.
Interea Jacobus, fleto iam funere nati,
bis quinos iuuenes numeroso e germine mittit,
qui longinqua (sibi) pretio frumenta pararent:
ac minimum cunctis Beniaminum non sinit ire,
inualidus durum nequeat ne ferre laborem.
atque ubi iam Phariae peruentum ad moenia terrae est,
submissi petiere solum fratremque salutant,
mirantes celsa sublimem sede sedentem,
nec tamen agnoscunt longo post tempore uisum.
quos ubi perspexit memori cum mente propheta,
increpat et multa proterret uoce pauentes,
flumine uenisse ferens, quae copia frugum
quique uiri pingues teneant moderamine terras.
adlegant nescire dolos seseque fatentur
bis senos quondam fratres genitore sub uno
conspicuam tenuisse domum; his omnibus unum
postremum natu patrios seruare labores,
ast alium celebri iam pridem defore leto.
se diram uitare famem terramque Chanannam
exosos, tenui damnantem semina fetu,
poscere uenales species licitataque farra.

### English translation (Claude)

Afterwards, when dire famine, spread over the whole world,
was forcing the frightened to eat whatever could be eaten,
the people cry out and demand food from the king.
He orders them to obey the warnings of the chief Joseph,
who gives grain to all from his stores.
Meanwhile Jacob, who had already wept for his son’s death,
sends twice five young men from his numerous offspring
to buy grain for themselves from afar at a price;
but he does not let Benjamin, the youngest of all, go,
lest, weak as he was, he should not bear the hard toil.
And when they had come to the walls of the Egyptian land,
they bowed to the ground and greet their brother,
marvelling at him seated high on a lofty seat;
yet they do not recognize him, seen after a long time.
When the prophet looked on them with mindful heart,
he rebukes them and terrifies them, fearful as they are, with many words,
saying that they had come to spy out what supply of crops there was
and what men held the rich lands under their rule.
They plead that they know no tricks and confess
that once twice six brothers under one father
had a conspicuous house; of all these one,
the last by birth, shares their father’s labours,
but another was long since gone to a famous death.
They were fleeing dire famine, hating the Canaanite land
that condemns the seed to thin yield,
and asking for goods for sale and grain at a price.

### Scripture references

- Gen 41:53–57: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 42:1–13: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 5 is garbled in the digital text (cunctos qui his arca) and line 17 (flumine uenisse) is uncertain; both are translated by sense. Pharian (Phariae) means Egyptian.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1302 (CSEL 23:49lines 1302–1327–50; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1302).

## Genesis, lines 1328–1352

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-1-1328
- Source: CSEL 23:50lines 1328–1352–51
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Joseph imprisons his brothers for three days and keeps Simeon as hostage; they confess their guilt toward Joseph, who weeps; on the way home they find their money returned, and Jacob laments.

### Latin text

eloquitur uates, rectoris nomine iurans
claudendos dura iuuenes custodia, donec
germanum exhibeant, genitor quem mitis habebat.
nectuntur trina nudatis sub cura tuentum
laxatique dehinc unum liquere tenendum.
nec arca occulto rumpentes corda dolore
commemorant, quam iusta sibi discrimina surgant,
quod fratrem inmeritum uetito transcribere pacto
conisi sero poenas sub iudice pendant.
ingrauat haec dictis hostia uera renarrans,
ac scelus festinos sese nolente peractum.
flectitur his uates germana et iurgia noscens
luminibus tacitis conuersus flebile plangit.
haec inter media fratrum Symeona corona
accipitur, fidus cunctis obeuntibus obses.
tum petita sibi iuuenes frumenta capessunt
inuentoque graues urgentur pondere muli.
iamque uiae medio, dum soluit uincula sacci,
fratribus inuentos quidam dat uisere nummos,
id cuncti faciunt, pretio mox deinde reperto
mirantes summo procerem certamine laudant.
iamque adeo patriae subeuntes limina sedis
gratatur reduces genitor unumque requirit.
omnia cognoscens nummosque et dona capessit,
conquestus grauiter alium iam defore natum.

### English translation (Claude)

The prophet speaks, swearing by the ruler’s name,
that the young men must be shut in harsh custody until
they bring the brother whom their gentle father kept.
They are bound for three days, stripped, under the care of guards,
and then, released, they left one to be held.
And, their hearts breaking with hidden pain,
they recall how justly these dangers rise against them,
because, having tried to sell their innocent brother by a forbidden bargain,
they pay the penalty late before a judge.
One of them makes it worse with words, recounting the true story,
and that the crime was done in haste against his will.
The prophet is moved by this and, hearing his brothers’ reproaches,
turning aside with silent eyes, he weeps tearfully.
Meanwhile Simeon is taken from the middle of the circle of brothers,
a faithful hostage for all who were going.
Then the young men take the grain they asked for,
and the mules are pressed with the heavy weight they received.
And now in the middle of the road, as he undoes the cords of his sack,
one lets his brothers see the coins he has found;
all do the same; then, the price found,
marvelling, they praise the chief, vying with one another.
And now, as they enter the threshold of their native home,
the father greets their return and asks for the one.
Learning everything, he takes the coins and gifts,
complaining heavily that another son is now gone.

### Scripture references

- Gen 42:14–36: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Lines 6 (nec arca) and 10 (hostia uera) are garbled in the digital text; translated by sense (in Gen 42:22 it is Reuben who reproaches the others).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1328 (CSEL 23:50lines 1328–1352–51; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1328).

## Genesis, lines 1353–1376

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-1-1353
- Source: CSEL 23:51lines 1353–1376
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: When the grain runs out, Reuben and Judah persuade Jacob to send Benjamin; the brothers return to Egypt with gifts and double money, are invited to Joseph’s house, and fear a trap.

### Latin text

accisi cum deinde cibi aduectaque farra
cogebant rursus pretiis alimenta parare;
sed reuocare gradum Memphis mens non erat ulli,
ni minimum fratrem secum pater ire iuberet.
quem cum plura gemens nollet dimittere quoquam,
Rubenus fido germanum postulat ore,
securus gemina committens pignora patri.
prosequitur Iudas sese nec posse reuerti
proclamat, rigidi testatus uerba Iosepi.
haec ubi grandaeuus genitor iam mitior hausit,
dat iuuenem, largo perfundens flumine uultum.
illi abeunt secumque uehunt leue olentia tura,
incensum et guttam iungentes cum terebintho,
inter odoratos portantes mella uapores,
et geminum pretium, consertus ne foret error,
condita quod clausis fuerant nomismata saccis.
quos ubi conspicua uidit Iosepus in aula,
imperat, ut laeta celebrent conuiuia secum.
fidus uenere tamen trepidoque reatu
coniciunt sese structa cum fraude uocatos,
quod numerata prius sestertia dataque uati
sarcinulis inposta suis non reddere quissent,
se tamen exsortes furtorum cuncta referre,
nec consuesse prius exterritus uiuere gaza.

### English translation (Claude)

Then, when the food was used up and the grain they had brought
forced them again to buy provisions,
no one had a mind to turn his steps back to Memphis
unless their father bade the youngest brother go with them.
When, groaning much, he refused to send him anywhere,
Reuben asks for his brother with faithful mouth,
confidently pledging his two children to his father.
Judah follows, declaring that they could not return,
and bearing witness to the words of stern Joseph.
When the aged father, now gentler, had taken this in,
he gives up the young man, bathing his face with a great flood of tears.
They go off and carry with them lightly scented frankincense,
joining incense and gum with terebinth,
carrying honey amid fragrant vapours,
and double the price, lest there be a lingering error,
because the coins had been hidden in the closed sacks.
When Joseph saw them in his conspicuous hall,
he orders them to celebrate a glad feast with him.
Yet they came in faith, and with trembling guilt
they suppose that they have been summoned by a contrived fraud,
because they had not been able to return the sesterces counted out before
and given to the prophet, which had been put in their bundles;
yet, guiltless of theft, they were bringing everything back,
nor had they been used, before this, to live in fear over money.

### Scripture references

- Gen 42:37–38: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 43:1–22: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1353 (CSEL 23:51lines 1353–1376; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1353).

## Genesis, lines 1377–1399

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-1-1377
- Source: CSEL 23:51lines 1377–1399–52
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The steward reassures the brothers and releases Simeon; Joseph greets them, asks after their father, blesses Benjamin, weeps in private, and feasts them, giving Benjamin the largest portion.

### Latin text

talia dicentes cohibet sermone minister
seque docet nullis fraudatum noscere nummis:
uerum siqua uiris donarint commoda lucrum,
nec sua, nec uatis, nec regis dicere quemquam.
occurrit cunctis Symeon seseque praesentat.
dumque uiris lymphas, dum praebet pabula mulis,
ingreditur multo stipatus milite uates,
cuius ad aspectum promunt pia munera fratres,
ille ubi per cunctos placido sermone cucurrit,
perquirit, si firma pater uirtute ualeret.
quem postquam incolumem dixere et uiuere recte,
confirmat cohaerere deo pro munere Gomorra,
Iosepus uatem semperque insistere rectis.
et ueluti notus Beniaminus non foret ipsi,
consultat iuuenes et promptim sanctum ; inde
commoda quaeque deum pueri pro laude precatur.
nec gemitus cohibere ualet nec sistere fletus,
sed tenero adfectu sese conclauibus quarum
anxius et nimio quaerit fomenta dolori.
post ubi discubuit, uictum posuere ministri.
uescitur et facili prolectat pectora fatu
diuiduasque dapes uiritim exponere gaudens!
porrigit et fratri maiorem dedicat uni.

### English translation (Claude)

As they say this, the steward checks them with his words
and tells them he knows he has been cheated of no coins:
but if any gain has brought the men benefit,
let no one call it his, nor the prophet’s, nor the king’s.
Simeon meets them all and presents himself.
And while he gives the men water and the mules fodder,
the prophet enters, thronged by many soldiers,
at whose sight the brothers bring out their dutiful gifts.
When he had gone through them all with calm speech,
he asks whether their father was well and firm in strength.
After they said he was unharmed and living well,
they affirm that the prophet clings to God for his gift
and always holds to what is right.
And as if Benjamin were not known to him,
Joseph questions the young men, and at once, holy as he is,
prays God for every blessing for the boy, to God’s praise.
He cannot hold back his groans or stop his tears,
but, deeply moved, he seeks a chamber
and, anxious, looks for relief for his excessive grief.
After he reclined, the servants set out the food.
He eats and draws their hearts with easy speech,
and, rejoicing to set out divided portions to each man,
he offers them, and assigns a larger one to one brother alone.

### Scripture references

- Gen 43:23–34: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Lines 12–13 and 15 and 18 are garbled in the digital text (Gomorra; sanctum ; inde; conclauibus quarum); translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1377 (CSEL 23:51lines 1377–1399–52; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1377).

## Genesis, lines 1400–1423

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-1-1400
- Source: CSEL 23:52lines 1400–1423–53
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Joseph has his cup hidden in Benjamin’s sack; the brothers are overtaken, return and plead, and Joseph makes himself known and sends them to bring Jacob to settle in Egypt during the famine.

### Latin text

atque ubi iam saturis amor est conpressus edendi,
ut prius inposito presserunt pondere mulos,
occulitur datum sueto iam more talentum
Iosepi imperio scyphusque absconditur ardens,
in rebus, Beniamine, tuis pretiosior arte.
iamque iter ingressi non multis milibus absunt,
cum subito incautos circumdat regia turma
conprensosque tenet fulgentia pocula poscens:
futurum increpitant, quem nectant crimina, seruum.
adnuitur cunctique simul sua pondera pandunt,
quaesitum[que] et poculum retegunt fratremque relinquunt,
Iosepumque petunt et, quae sint gesta, loquentes
euoluunt cari confestim iussa. parentis.
permotus precibus uates discedere cunctos
imperat ac sese Sennarum nomine infit.
defixi riguere metu tacitoque reatu
damnantes sese cohibent formidine uoces.
prolectat mox ille reos propiusque uocatis
exigit, ut dicta portent placitura parenti,
quae sint, quae fuerint, quae mox uentura ferantur,
instigans migrare senem, gregibusque coactis
descendit Arabum colles uenientibus offert,
ut quia continuo tellus foret arida lustro,
pasceret agnatos prorumpere orbis omnes.

### English translation (Claude)

And when, satisfied, their desire for food was quelled,
and as before they had loaded the mules with weight,
the money given is hidden in what is now the usual way
by Joseph’s order, and the gleaming cup is hidden
among your things, Benjamin, more precious for its craftsmanship.
And now, set out on their road, they are not many miles away
when suddenly a royal troop surrounds them unawares
and holds them seized, demanding the shining cup;
they threaten that the one whom the crime binds will be a slave.
They agree, and all together open their loads,
and uncover the cup sought and leave their brother behind,
and go to Joseph, and, telling what has happened,
at once unroll the charges of their dear father.
Moved by their pleas, the prophet orders all others to depart
and begins to declare himself by name.
They stiffened, rooted with fear, and, in silent guilt
condemning themselves, hold back their voices in dread.
Soon he coaxes the guilty men and, calling them nearer,
requires them to carry words that will please their father,
what is, what has been, what is soon to come,
urging the old man to migrate, and with his flocks gathered
he offers the hills of the Arabs to those who come,
so that, since the land would be dry for five years more,
he might feed all his kin.

### Scripture references

- Gen 44:1–34: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 45:1–11: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The editor deletes que in line 11 (quaesitum[que]). Lines 15 (Sennarum nomine) and 24 are garbled in the digital text; translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1400 (CSEL 23:52lines 1400–1423–53; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1400).

## Genesis, lines 1424–1447

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-1-1424
- Source: CSEL 23:53lines 1424–1447–54
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Pharaoh welcomes Joseph’s family, gifts are sent, Jacob sets out for Egypt with seventy-five souls, Judah goes ahead, Joseph meets his father, and Pharaoh settles the brothers in rich land.

### Latin text

ista et dicta uiri laeto rex pectore noscit
Thara rogat carorum adsumere turbam,
et gratuita iubet Lothus tradere farra.
dantur plaustra uiris, frumentum, pocula, panis,
magnaque gestantes desudant pondera muli.
dantur quinque togae Beniamino et quinque parenti,
tercentum et nummi signata incude notati.
ast alii iuuenes mercedis laude secunda
accipiunt Melchae niuosae uestis amictus.
haec ubi cognouit genitor, data munera sedes
respirat patria festinus cedere terra
Aegyptumque petit, Arabum quae iungitur aruis,
educens iuuenes patrio moderamine quinque
septies et denos, Genesis ut formula cauit.
ac dum festino properant conamine turbae,
procurrit Iudas et fratrum praeuolat agmen
Iosepumque docet haut longe abstare parentem.
ille alacris scandit currus atque obuius exit,
optatam excipiens uiso genitore phalangem.
regrediturque citus regisque effrenis ad aulam,
pastores properare ferens, ut turba carorum
discretis degat fecundo in gramine terris.
ipse etiam uati rector Memphiticus instat
et iubet uberibus fratres conponere in aruis.

### English translation (Claude)

The king learns of these words of the man with a glad heart,
asks him to take in the crowd of his dear ones,
and orders the grain to be handed over free.
Wagons are given to the men, grain, cups, bread,
and the mules sweat carrying great loads.
Five robes are given to Benjamin and five for his father,
and three hundred coins struck with the stamp of the die.
But the other young men, with a lesser reward,
receive the covering of a snowy garment.
When the father learned this, the gifts given, he breathes again,
hastening to leave his native land,
and makes for Egypt, which borders on the fields of the Arabs,
leading out by a father’s rule young men, five
and seventy, as the record of Genesis has set down.
And while the crowds hurry with hasty effort,
Judah runs ahead and flies before the band of brothers
and tells Joseph that his father is not far off.
He eagerly mounts his chariot and goes out to meet him,
receiving the longed-for company when he saw his father.
And he quickly returns to the hall of the king,
saying that shepherds are hastening, so that the crowd of his dear ones
might live apart in lands of fertile grass.
The Memphian ruler himself presses the prophet
and orders him to settle his brothers in rich fields.

### Scripture references

- Gen 45:16–28: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 46:1–34: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 47:1–6: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text has names displaced from elsewhere in lines 2, 3 and 9 (Thara, Lothus, Melchae); translated by sense. ‘Seventy-five’ follows the Greek Bible (Gen 46:27; Acts 7:14); the Hebrew text has seventy.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1424 (CSEL 23:53lines 1424–1447–54; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1424).

## Genesis, lines 1448–1472

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-1-1448
- Source: CSEL 23:54lines 1448–1472–55
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Jacob appears before Pharaoh; Joseph buys up the money, flocks and land of Egypt for the king, exempting the priests, and imposes the fifth; Jacob makes Joseph swear to bury him with his fathers and blesses Ephraim and Manasseh.

### Latin text

longaeuus post ista senex poscente Sarram
eloquitur sensim, quantis sit praeditus annis,
quae domus et quae sit ueniendi causa Canopum.
eximiumque ducem multa cum laude fluuius
nec minus interea uice munera mittit
digna suis magnumque duci dat ferre talentum,
quo ditata fuit distractis frugibus aula.
atque ubi iam populis derant mercantibus aera,
certatim exhibitis gregibus Memphitica turba
emit inops fruges. pretium taxante Iosepo.
his quoque nudati seque et sua praedia tradunt,
semine percepto, messes quo deinde uirerent.
sola sacerdotum non est possessio dempta,
tyranni gratuita duci placuit, non uendere farra.
inditur hinc populo quintarum pensio frugum,
quae manet et fixo servatur formula iure.
interea expletae perpendens tempora uitae,
adiurat natum Iacobus uentura reuoluens.
ut sua maiorum conponat membra sepulchris.
adnuit oranti subpostaque dextera coxae
contingit lentae spondens cacumina uirgae.
conpositosque senex alterna in parte nepotes.
permulcet dictis, dum sensim basia libat.
coepit lactare mirum! palma sacratur dextra gerit?,
anterior natu laeua contingitur Ephrem.

### English translation (Claude)

After this the long-lived old man, at Pharaoh’s request,
speaks slowly of how many years he has been granted,
what his house is, and what the cause of his coming to Egypt.
And he praises the excellent leader highly,
while meanwhile Joseph sends gifts in return
worthy of his own, and gives the leader a great talent to bear,
with which the hall was enriched when the crops were sold.
And when the buying peoples lacked money,
the Memphian crowd, eagerly bringing out their flocks,
buys crops in their need, Joseph setting the price.
Stripped of these too, they hand over themselves and their estates,
receiving seed by which harvests might then grow green.
Only the priests’ possessions are not taken away;
it pleased the leader to give them grain free, not to sell it.
Hence the payment of a fifth of the crops is imposed on the people,
which remains, and the rule is kept by fixed right.
Meanwhile Jacob, weighing the time of his completed life,
makes his son swear, turning over things to come,
that he would lay his limbs in the tombs of his ancestors.
He assents to the request and, with his right hand placed under the thigh,
promising, touches the top of the pliant staff.
And the old man soothes with words his grandsons, placed
on either side, while he gently gives them kisses.
… the right hand is laid in blessing on the younger,
while the elder by birth, Ephraim, is touched by the left.

### Scripture references

- Gen 47:7–31: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 48:1–14: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text is badly damaged here: Sarram (line 1, where Pharaoh is meant), fluuius (line 4), tyranni (line 14), and the whole of line 24, which repeats words from elsewhere; these are translated by sense or marked ‘…’. Line 25 calls Ephraim the elder, though Gen 48:14 makes Manasseh the firstborn; the text may be corrupt.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1448 (CSEL 23:54lines 1448–1472–55; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1448).

## Genesis, lines 1473–1498

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-1-1473
- Source: CSEL 23:55lines 1473–1498–56
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Jacob blesses Ephraim above Manasseh, gives Joseph Shechem, blesses his twelve sons and dies; Egypt mourns him seventy days; Joseph forgives his brothers and, dying at 110, asks that his bones be carried back.

### Latin text

praescia mente senis senior seruire minori
cogitur atque loco cedit spes prima secundo.
quamlibet obliquas cupiens diducere palmas
non potuit reuocare tamen pia dicta Iosepus.
ac postquam pueris uatis rata commoda sanxit,
dat Sicimam, gladiumque suo, dat spicula, nato,
clarior ut cunctis sublimem scandat honorem.
inde uocat natos et cunctis praemia didit
loquellas mansura diu prolique natorum
inconcessa prius longoque adiudicat aeuo.
bis senasque tribus ipsorum ex nomine condit.
omnibus explicitis, oculo iam captus utroque,
decessit solo terreno corpore ..... * * * uates
maestitiaeque dedit decies septena dierum
lumina, dum functi ueneratur turba sepulchrum.
quin etiam nati septem luxere diebus
uberibus lacrimis, pacem reddente Iosepo
fratribus innocuis, ueterem dum neglegit iram.
ipse etiam postquam iam centum triuerat annos
atque decem, iuncti metitus tempora leti
fratribus effatur, uenturus quis foret ordo.
quo reuocare gradum ualeant et linquere tumido:
dummodo conpositos cineres atque ossa reportent
et flammas secum ueterum condenda fibris.
sic demum longae post tempora candida uitae
decessit petiitque deum corpusque reliquit.

### English translation (Claude)

by the old man’s foreknowing mind the elder is compelled
to serve the younger, and the first hope yields its place to the second.
Though Joseph wished to move the crossed hands apart,
he could not call back the pious words.
And after the prophet had ratified the blessings for the boys,
he gives Shechem, and the sword, and the darts, to his son,
so that, more glorious than all, he may climb to lofty honour.
Then he calls his sons and distributes rewards to all,
words to endure long, and to his sons’ offspring
assigns things not granted before, for a long age,
and founds twice six tribes from their names.
All this done, already blind in both eyes,
the prophet departed, his earthly body alone …
and gave seventy days
to mourning, while the crowd venerates the tomb of the dead.
Moreover his sons mourned for seven days
with abundant tears, Joseph restoring peace
to his brothers as though innocent, as he passes over the old anger.
He himself too, after he had passed a hundred
and ten years, measuring the time of approaching death,
tells his brothers what order of events would come,
by which they might retrace their steps and leave the swelling Nile,
provided they carry back his ashes and bones laid to rest
…
So at last, after the bright times of a long life,
he departed, went to God, and left his body.

### Scripture references

- Gen 48:15–22: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 49:1–33: allusion, medium confidence
- Gen 50:1–26: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text marks a lacuna in line 13 (….. * * *), and line 24 is garbled (flammas secum ueterum condenda fibris); both are marked ‘…’. The poet compresses Gen 49 into three lines.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 1.1473 (CSEL 23:55lines 1473–1498–56; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1473).

## Exodus, lines 1–21

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-2-1
- Source: CSEL 23:lines 1–21
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: After Joseph’s generation dies, a new king fears the multiplying Israelites and resolves to break them with forced labour.

### Latin text

Interea uarios agitant dum tempora cursus
et noua pararet surgit de germine proles,
crimine obeunt nati prolesque sequentum.
diuersosque nouat tellus Memphitica reges.
notio cuncta Isacum nec uatum mulier prosunt
eximie dilecta prius. sed munere sancti
tutantis populum domini numerosa creantur
corpora et inmensa densentur nube phalanges.
quae metuenda sibi postquam rex uidit Aegypti,
talibus capessit socios, alacris permouet ira:
"En pubes captiua prius contentaque uictu.
porrexit quem parca manus, en longa cohortes
iam legione ciet et solis non tumet armis,
pugnaci uirtute prior, uultusque minaces
et subiecta gerit. quid, si nunc tela capessit
hostibus aut societ sese, qua mole duelli
Aegyptus uastata cadet quantasque ruinas
sublimes facient conuulsis moenibus urbes?
quin potius dura frangantur sorte laborum
inmensasque leuent substructis molibus arces,
ne redeat uacuis spes libertatis amissae."

### English translation (Claude)

Meanwhile, while the times drive their varied courses
and a new generation rises from the seed,
the sons die and the offspring of those who followed,
and the land of Memphis brings forth new and different kings.
Neither the memory of Joseph nor the merits of the prophets avail,
once dearly loved; but by the gift of the holy Lord
who protects his people, numerous bodies are born
and their ranks thicken in an immense cloud.
When the king of Egypt saw that these were to be feared,
he gathers his companions with such words, stirred by anger:
“See, a youth once captive and content with the food
that a sparing hand held out; see, it now raises cohorts
in a long legion and swells not with arms alone,
superior in warlike courage, and bears threatening looks
even while subject. What if it now takes up weapons
or allies itself with our enemies? Under what weight of war
will Egypt fall laid waste, and what great ruins
will the lofty cities make, their walls torn down?
Rather let them be broken by a hard lot of labour
and raise immense citadels on built foundations,
lest the hope of lost freedom return to them when idle.”

### Scripture references

- Exod 1:6–11: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The Heptateuch poem’s second book retells Exodus. Lines 2–3 and 5 are corrupt in the digital text (pararet surgit; crimine obeunt; notio cuncta Isacum nec uatum mulier prosunt); translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.1 (CSEL 23:lines 1–21; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1).

## Exodus, lines 22–45

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-2-22
- Source: CSEL 23:58lines 22–45
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Israelites build Pithom, Rameses and On, but grow stronger; Pharaoh orders the midwives to kill the boys, they fear God and refuse, and Pharaoh orders all boys thrown into the Nile.

### Latin text

haec ubi dicta, uiros sollertes praeficit illis,
ut muros turresque nouent portasque minaces
conisi caelo iungant. quis casibus acti
oppida sudato condunt nonnulla labore,
Ramassum, Pythona dehinc, et nomine Solis
Etonum insignem. sed mirum, quo mage tristi
laborum sub fasce fuit, hoc cuncta iuuentus
fortior emicuit, ueluti feriata maneret.
terretur magis atque magis rex toruus Aegypti
exitioque uouet nondum sua iussa timentes,
praecipiens defluxit, pariant cum germina fetae,
extinguant perdantque mares, nec poena +referre
ad maritas, si iuratae despecta relinquant:
quarum Phua fuit socia cum tenens dicta.
quae terrore dei timida inter corda locato
ductoris tempsere minas atque, adfore iussae,
Hebraeas nullo dicunt solamine fultas
maturos propere consuesse effundere fetus.
quae propter domini meruerunt dicta fauorem,
consuetis sese gaudentes condere tectis,
dum dominum toto laudantes corde uerentur.
Vertitur imperium proceris populusque monetur
progenitos Nili pueros mersare fluento.
paret turba duci nascentes flumine mergens.

### English translation (Claude)

When this was said, he sets skilful men over them,
to build new walls and towers and threatening gates
and strive to join them to heaven. Driven by these misfortunes,
they build several towns with sweating labour,
Rameses, then Pithom, and On, famous for the name
of the Sun. But a marvel: the more they were under the sad
burden of labour, the stronger the whole youth
shone forth, as though it were on holiday.
The grim king of Egypt is terrified more and more
and devotes to destruction those who did not yet fear his commands,
ordering the midwives, when the mothers bear their offspring,
to extinguish and destroy the males, with † punishment
for the midwives if, though sworn, they left the despised order undone;
of whom Puah was one, with her companion.
They, the terror of God set in their timid hearts,
scorned the leader’s threats and, ordered to appear,
say that the Hebrew women, supported by no help,
are accustomed to bring forth their ripe offspring quickly.
For this they deserved by the Lord’s word his favour,
rejoicing to settle in their accustomed homes,
while they revere the Lord, praising him with all their heart.
The chief’s order is changed, and the people are told
to drown in the stream of the Nile the boys who are born.
The crowd obeys the leader, drowning the newborn in the river.

### Scripture references

- Exod 1:11–22: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- On, ‘famous for the name of the Sun’, is Heliopolis, added to the cities of Exod 1:11 by the Greek Bible. The digital text marks a corruption (+referre) in line 12; lines 11 (defluxit) and 14 (socia cum tenens dicta) are garbled and translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.22 (CSEL 23:58lines 22–45; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-22).

## Exodus, lines 46–71

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-2-46
- Source: CSEL 23:58lines 46–71–59
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: A Levite hides his beautiful son three months, then sets him adrift; Pharaoh’s daughter finds him and, through his sister, gives him to his own mother to nurse.

### Latin text

quos inter motus Leuites coniuge ducta
progenerat pulchro candentem corpore natum
conspicuisque genis, magnaque extinguere uitat
futurum cum forma uirum, ne forte necetur,
occultumque fouet iam trinis mensibus actis.
sed metuens poenam, ne fraus admissa pateret,
expositum mittit tristis, quo rauca fluenta
in pronum deferre queunt, cum remige carent.
hunc germana procul uisu custodit acuto,
quantum acie possunt oculi seruare sequentes,
ut casum expositi possit narrare parenti.
sed senior, plausibiles dum captat laeta incedens,
pedisequis comitata suis se filia regis
flumine tinguebat placido corpusque lauabat.
adspicit haec modicam tumida super aequora lintrem
cupitamque iubet praedam deferre ministras.
illae alacres, ut laeta subest pubentibus aetas,
inpositum cymbae referunt coramque locantes
materno efficiunt sensu gaudere puellam.
quae cupiens seruare sibi tam dulcia formae
gaudia et eximiae praestantem frontis honorem
Hebraea de plebe palam, quae conforet altrix,
imperat acciri, puerique haec cura famem
inditur. illa uocat nulla iam fraude parentem
sollicitam, cui nata ducis sua pignora laetae
redderet, adposito nutricis nomine matri.

### English translation (Claude)

Amid these troubles a Levite, having taken a wife,
begets a son shining with a beautiful body
and conspicuous cheeks, and he shrinks from destroying
one who would be a great man with such beauty; lest he be killed,
he keeps him hidden until three months had passed.
But fearing punishment, lest the deceit be discovered,
he sadly sends him out exposed where the roaring streams
can carry him downstream, though they lack an oarsman.
His sister keeps watch on him from afar with sharp sight,
as far as following eyes can keep him in view,
so that she might tell the parent the fate of the exposed child.
But the king’s daughter, walking gladly,
accompanied by her attendants, was bathing
in the calm river and washing her body.
She sees a small skiff on the swelling waters
and orders her maids to bring her the desired prize.
They eagerly, as befits the glad age of youth,
bring back what was placed in the boat and, setting it before her,
make the girl rejoice with a mother’s feeling.
She, wishing to keep for herself such sweet joys of beauty
and the outstanding honour of a noble brow,
orders that a woman of the Hebrew people be summoned openly
to be his nurse, and the care of the boy’s hunger
is given to her. The sister calls, now with no deceit, the anxious
mother, to whom the leader’s daughter might give back her own child,
the name of nurse put upon the mother.

### Scripture references

- Exod 2:1–9: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 12 is corrupt in the digital text (senior, plausibiles dum captat); translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.46 (CSEL 23:58lines 46–71–59; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-46).

## Exodus, lines 72–95

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-2-72
- Source: CSEL 23:59lines 72–95–60
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Moses grows up as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, kills an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew, is challenged by a quarrelling Hebrew, and flees from Pharaoh.

### Latin text

adcreuit raptimque puer prorepsit ad annos,
primaeuo qui flore uirent, et deditus aulae
pignore pro uero natae Pharaonis habetur,
accipit et nomen Musseos, quod foret undis
exemptus querulis, modico fluitante faselo.
ille autem ingenii monitus cordisque secutus
cognatam lustrare parat circum oppida gentem,
quae duro praesente iugo se maesta coquebat.
forte uiae medio Pharia de plebe tuetur
clamosa cum uoce uirum multare gementem
Hebraeum quendam, sortemque exosus iniquam.
omnia conlustrat nullumque hic adfore cernens,
qui testis conperta loco depromere possit.
calce ferit fusumque ingesta condit harena.
inde alios Iudaea uidet de gente minantes
expletus uiros ac, dum se sedulus offert
infirmamque iuuat partem pacemque reducit,
excipit irato missas de pectore uoces:
"Quid celsa ceruice tumes, ceu principis alti
sceptra regas scriptaeque fremant, te praesule, leges?
aut fortasse paras subito me perdere leto,
ut Pharium hesterna iuuenem sub luce necasti?"
haec fuerant ut dicta, ducis deportat ad aures
fama loquax, uatemque fugat rex iuuenem ira.

### English translation (Claude)

The boy grew and quickly reached the years
that flourish with the first flower and, given to the court,
is held as a true child of Pharaoh’s daughter,
and receives the name Moses, because he had been
taken from the plaintive waves, floating in a small boat.
But he, prompted by his nature and following his heart,
prepares to visit his kindred people around the towns,
who, in sorrow, were being worn down under the present harsh yoke.
By chance in the middle of the road he sees a man of the Egyptian people
punishing with loud voice a groaning man,
a certain Hebrew; and, hating the unjust lot,
he looks all around and, seeing no one present
who could later bring out as a witness what he found there,
he strikes him with his heel and buries him, laid low, under heaped sand.
Then he sees men of the Jewish race threatening one another
and, while he eagerly offers himself
and helps the weaker side and restores peace,
he receives words sent from an angry breast:
“Why do you swell with lofty neck, as though you wielded the sceptre
of a high prince, and written laws resounded under your presidency?
Or perhaps you are preparing to destroy me with sudden death,
as you killed the Egyptian youth in yesterday’s light?”
When this had been said, talkative rumour carries it to the leader’s ears,
and the king in anger puts the young prophet to flight.

### Scripture references

- Exod 2:10–15: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 16 has a word displaced in the digital text (expletus); translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.72 (CSEL 23:59lines 72–95–60; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-72).

## Exodus, lines 96–119

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-2-96
- Source: CSEL 23:60lines 96–119–61
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Moses defends Jethro’s daughters at the well in Midian, marries Zipporah, and has two sons, Gershom and Eliezer; Pharaoh dies and the Israelites cry to God.

### Latin text

ille solum uertens puteum peruenit ad altum,
Madia quem tellus habet, qua sede sacerdos
Iothorus degens natarum germina septem
ediderat densaque domum de stirpe replerat.
haec molles commissa sibi cum cura bidentes
seruabant quiuit cauo de fonte trahebant;
infirmam sed forte manum sexumque pauentem
pastores trusere procul, quas sistere contra
nequaquam audentes promptasue opponere palmas
uindicat et riguas Moses adiungit ad undas
expletasque fouet pecudes tectisque remittit.
puellae genitore satis mirante reuersae
anterius solito promptimque ad iussa locutae
accitum iuuenem paterna ad limina ducunt.
qui procera praegelido metitus lumine membra
maioremque animum forma coniungere natae
gaudet et eximia cernit de stirpe nepotes.
Sephora nam propero Gersamum sedula partu
progenerat fratremque dehinc Eleazaron edit.
Gersamus externa signat regione creatum
ereptumque ducis rigidi Eleazarus irae.
haec inter dux morte cadit captiuaque pubes
pressa malis dominum multis plangoribus egit
intuitus conferre pios plebemque tueri:

### English translation (Claude)

He, fleeing the land, came to a deep well
in the land of Midian, where the priest
Jethro lived, who had begotten seven daughters
and filled his house with a dense stock.
They kept with care the soft sheep entrusted to them
and were drawing what they could from the hollow spring;
but by chance shepherds drove off their weak hands
and fearful sex; Moses defends them, who did not dare
to stand against them or oppose them with ready hands,
brings the flocks to the watering streams,
cares for them when they have drunk, and sends them home.
The girls, returning earlier than usual to their father’s great wonder,
and answering at once when he asked,
bring the young man, summoned, to their father’s threshold.
He, weighing the tall limbs with a cool eye,
rejoices to join a great soul with beauty in marriage to his daughter
and foresees grandsons of outstanding stock.
For Zipporah, diligent, in a quick birth bears Gershom
and then brings forth his brother Eliezer.
Gershom signifies one born in a foreign land,
Eliezer one rescued from the anger of the harsh leader.
Meanwhile the leader falls by death, and the captive youth,
pressed by many evils, moved the Lord with many laments
to look on, to bring his kindness and protect the people,

### Scripture references

- Exod 2:15–23: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 18:3–4: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The meaning of Eliezer’s name is given from Exod 18:4.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.96 (CSEL 23:60lines 96–119–61; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-96).

## Exodus, lines 120–143

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-2-120
- Source: CSEL 23:61lines 120–143
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God remembers his promises; Moses, keeping Jethro’s sheep at Horeb, sees the burning bush, is told to remove his sandals, and hides his face as God declares himself the God of the patriarchs.

### Latin text

dum memor in saeclum secum sua dona reuolui
sopore dudum promissa bonis, quae tempore coept
audierat uentura suis Abramus et una
sealam lectusque dehinc ad sancta Iacobus.
iamque deum mitem tutelam fundere caelo
gens oppressa uidet, dum pacem poscit ab altis.
Ac dum lanigeras soceri per rura bidentes
Moses solus agit, sacrati ad culmina collis
deuenit, Hebraea quem dicit lingua Chorebum.
in quo conspicua flammarum lampade cernit
procuruam fulgere rubum neque ignibus uri.
permotus nouitate rei disquirere gaudet,
fomite quo tandem tam clara incendia surgant.
dumque pauens tacite se rex tam conminus offert,
inclita siderei prohibetur uoce tonantis
incessu properare cito; sed sistere gressum
et tegumenta pedum geminis mox demere plantis
cogitur: et paret sacratae ob culmina terrae.
mox timor ingreditur sensus lumenque caligat
lumine de nimio, dominum quia cernere non est
fas cuiquam, uultumque simul atque ora retorquet.
tum uox missa sonat, qua se rex inclitus infit
esse deum procerum, dudum quos diximus esse
credentum uitaeque duces. tum talia subdit:

### English translation (Claude)

as he, mindful forever, turned over his gifts within himself,
promised long since in sleep to the good, which in time past
Abraham had heard would come to his own, and Jacob, too,
when he saw the ladder rising to holy things.
And now the oppressed race sees God pour forth gentle protection
from heaven, while it asks peace from on high.
And while Moses alone drives his father-in-law’s woolly sheep
through the countryside, he came to the summit of a sacred hill
which the Hebrew tongue calls Horeb.
On it he sees, in a conspicuous lamp of flames,
a bending bramble shining and not burned by the fire.
Stirred by the novelty of the thing, he is eager to find out
by what kindling such bright fires arise.
And while, fearful, he silently draws so near,
he is forbidden by the famous voice of the starry Thunderer
to come forward quickly, but is made to halt his step
and at once remove the coverings from both his feet;
and he obeys, because of the holy ground of the summit.
Soon fear enters his senses and his sight is darkened
by the excess of light, because it is not right for anyone
to see the Lord, and he turns away his face and mouth together.
Then a voice sent forth sounds, in which the famous King declares
that he is the God of the patriarchs, whom we have long since said to be
the leaders of believers and of life. Then he adds these words:

### Scripture references

- Exod 2:24–25: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 3:1–6: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Lines 1–4 are damaged in the digital text (sopore, sealam lectusque); translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.120 (CSEL 23:61lines 120–143; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-120).

## Exodus, lines 144–167

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-2-144
- Source: CSEL 23:61lines 144–167–62
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God declares that he has seen his people’s affliction and will bring them to the land flowing with milk and honey, sends Moses to Pharaoh with the promise of his presence, and Moses asks his name.

### Latin text

"Iam conperta mihi totoque (et) lumine uisa
plebis uota meae, uastis quae molibus urbes
extruit et duris operum sudoribus acta
Aegypti sublimat opes et non sua regna;
seruili dum mente pauet, crebroque dolore
angitur, arbitrio dudum subiecta nocentum.
atque ideo huc ueni celso degressus olympo,
ut tuear tollamque meos de sede Canopi,
magnarum largitor opum terraeque feracis,
quam nunc multimodis opimam frugibus audax
Channanaeus habet Cethaeo et iunctus Amorreus,
Pherezaea manu Gergessorumque sequente,
quamque simul perfundens colit Euaeaque pubes.
dulcibus hic scatebris opimo e flumine mella
albenti cum lacte fluunt; haec dona daturus
electis te pono ducem, te pergere mando
regis ad optutus, ut quae sunt iussa renarres.
ac ne, praetrepidus coeptu, infirmere sub actu,
tecum semper ero. qui libertate reuersa
hoc in colle mihi sensu luminibus ouanti."
Haec ubi detonuit dominus, fiducia uatem
parua tenet primum. mox nomen quaerit aeternum
quod habeat dominus, ut signum Iudaea noscat
principis inpositi. saluator talia iungit:

### English translation (Claude)

“Now the prayers of my people are known to me and seen with all my light,
who build cities of vast masses
and, driven by the hard sweat of their labours,
raise up the wealth of Egypt and realms not their own,
while they tremble with servile mind and are tormented
with frequent pain, long subject to the will of the guilty.
And so I have come here, descending from high Olympus,
to protect my own and take them from the seat of Canopus,
the giver of great wealth and of a fertile land,
which now the bold Canaanite holds, rich with manifold fruits,
and the Amorite joined to the Hittite,
the band of the Perizzites, and the Girgashites following,
and which the Hivite youth also tills.
Here from sweet springs, from a rich stream, honey flows
with white milk. Being about to give these gifts
to the chosen, I set you as leader; I command you to go
into the king’s sight and recount what is commanded.
And lest, trembling at the undertaking, you should weaken in the act,
I will always be with you; and when freedom has returned,
you shall worship me on this hill with rejoicing mind and eyes.”
When the Lord had thundered these words, little confidence
holds the prophet at first. Soon he asks for the eternal name
the Lord bears, so that Judea may know the sign
of the prince set over them. The Saviour adds these words:

### Scripture references

- Exod 3:7–13: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- In line 1 the editor supplies et.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.144 (CSEL 23:61lines 144–167–62; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-144).

## Exodus, lines 168–195

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-2-168
- Source: CSEL 23:62lines 168–195–63
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God reveals his name, ‘I am who I am’, sends Moses to ask Pharaoh for a three days’ journey, foretells the plagues and the spoiling of Egypt, and gives the sign of the rod turned into a serpent.

### Latin text

"Ille ego sum qui sum, sic dices, et super (astra)
qui uiget, estque deus uestrorum a stirpe parentum:
inmensus ubicumque deus gentesque per omnes,
uiuorum per saecla sator non luce carentum.
hoc mihi nomen inest, collem hoc fare coactis;
qui tum pacificas dimittant dicta per aures.
ingressique simul regis Pharaonis in aulam
Israhelitarum dominum iussisse superne
dicatis, ut trina die deserta per arua
incedat Iudaea phalanx et munera sancto
immolet apta deo ritumque obseruet auorum.
namque meam plebem tumidus laxare tyrannus
post cladem pestemque uolet, quae crebra profundo
mittatur caelo, multis uariata periclis.
quin etiam fuerit cum facta licentia uobis,
ut iussum carpatis iter, tum femina poscat
uicinam notamue sibi, quae diuite censu
Aegyptus nunc mollis habet, petitaque sumat,
ut legio informes heremi ducenda per agros
nobilibus spoliis uacuatam linquat Aegyptum.
Post haec signa petit uates, quae forte labantes
confirmare queant animos, si lumine cerni
non credant potuisse deum tam candida fantem,
praecipitur lentam propere dimittere uirgam
et laxare manu; quam postquam terra recepit,
spumeus in spiram tractu se colligit anguis
terrorem incutiens proceri; quem prendere cauda
iussus in antiquam redigit reuocatque figuram.

### English translation (Claude)

“I am who I am: so you shall say; and he
who lives above the stars and is God from the stock of your fathers;
God immeasurable, everywhere and through all nations,
the sower through the ages of the living who do not lack light.
This name is mine; tell this to those gathered;
let them pass the words on through peaceful ears.
And entering together into the hall of King Pharaoh,
say that the Lord of the Israelites has commanded from above
that for three days the Jewish host go through the desert fields
and sacrifice fitting gifts to the holy God
and observe the rite of their forefathers.
For the proud tyrant will be willing to release my people
after slaughter and plague, sent often from the depths
of heaven, varied with many perils.
Moreover, when leave has been given you
to take the commanded journey, then let each woman ask
her neighbour or acquaintance for the rich wealth
that soft Egypt now holds, and take what she asks,
so that the legion, to be led through the formless fields of the desert,
may leave Egypt emptied of noble spoils.”
After this the prophet asks for signs that might strengthen
wavering minds, if they should not believe that God
could have been seen with eyes speaking such bright things;
he is told quickly to let down his pliant rod
and loose it from his hand; when the earth received it,
a foaming serpent gathers itself into a coil with its trail,
striking terror into the chief; told to seize it by the tail,
he brings it back and restores it to its old shape.

### Scripture references

- Exod 3:14–22: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 4:1–4: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- In line 1 the editor supplies astra. Line 5 is garbled in the digital text (collem hoc fare coactis) and line 6 is uncertain; translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.168 (CSEL 23:62lines 168–195–63; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-168).

## Exodus, lines 196–221

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-2-196
- Source: CSEL 23:63lines 196–221–64
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God gives Moses the signs of the leprous hand and the water turned to blood; Moses pleads his slowness of speech, God is angered and gives him Aaron, and Moses takes leave of Jethro.

### Latin text

inde manum sinibus condens candore niuali
protulit, atque iterum tectam deprompsit: et olli
in speciem reuoluta suam. tum deinde monetur,
haec si parua forent, sumptam de flumine lympham
fundere et albentem rubro mutare cruore.
nec minus obniti uates tenuemque loquellam
dicere, et obstrictam nodis uix promere uocem,
quod cordis secreta uelent; nil denique dignum
esse sibi, quod mens hominum subnixa sequatur.
arguitur nullum, domino nisi dante, politis
sensibus effari, nec longa silentia mutos
rumpere, loquuntur dominus laxaret uincula linguae;
tempora qui reserat surdis, qui lumina caecis,
uidentumque aciem qui pura luce serenat.
"Vade, ait, et plena confisus fare loquella,
nobilis eloquio sensuque ad uerba rotundo."
sed dum saepe deum poscit aliumque precatur
substitui subdique sibi. conmouit in iram
insignem pietate deum, qui concitus infit:
"Germanus est ecce tuus limata facundus
ora gerens notusque mihi, Leuita creatus
ille tribu, certo quem dicunt nomine Aronem."
Ilicet abscedit uates soceroque fatetur
sese reuersurum fratresque inuisere uelle
Iudaea de gente satos. hic flectitur ille
et salua pietate iubet discedere laetum.

### English translation (Claude)

Then, hiding his hand in his bosom, he brought it out
snow-white, and covered it again and drew it out, and it
was turned back to its own appearance. Then he is told
that, if these were small things, he should pour out water taken from the river
and change its whiteness into red blood.
Yet the prophet resists and says that his speech is thin
and his voice, bound in knots, scarcely comes out,
because it veils the secrets of the heart; in short, that there is nothing
in him worthy for the minds of men to follow and rely on.
He is rebuked: no one speaks with polished understanding
unless the Lord grants it, nor do the dumb break long silences
unless the Lord loosens the bonds of the tongue,
he who opens hearing to the deaf and sight to the blind,
and clears with pure light the vision of those who see.
“Go,” he says, “and speak with full speech in confidence,
noble in eloquence and with meaning well rounded into words.”
But while he keeps asking God and begs that another
be substituted and put in his place, he moved to anger
God, outstanding in mercy, who, roused, begins:
“See, your brother is eloquent, with a polished
mouth, and known to me, born a Levite
of that tribe, whom they call by the sure name of Aaron.”
At once the prophet goes and tells his father-in-law
that he will return and wishes to visit his brothers,
sprung from the Jewish race. Here the other yields
and, with due affection kept, bids him go gladly.

### Scripture references

- Exod 4:6–18: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Lines 12–13 are garbled in the digital text (loquuntur dominus; tempora qui reserat surdis); translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.196 (CSEL 23:63lines 196–221–64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-196).

## Exodus, lines 222–248

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-2-222
- Source: CSEL 23:64lines 222–248–65
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: On the way an angel threatens Moses, and Zipporah circumcises her son; Aaron meets Moses, the elders believe the signs, but Pharaoh refuses and increases the labour.

### Latin text

ille alacris secum natis et coniuge sumpta
mandatum praecepit iter; fessusque uiando.
dum refouet uires, gelida declinis in umbra.
angelus ecce uenit domini mortemque minatur.
Sephora sed silicem digitis rimatur acutam
praeputiumque secat teneri mox sedula nati;
cumque pedes coram sancti se prona dedisset:
"Sistatur cruor iste, canit, de uulnere parui.
cuius ad eloquium sanctus discessit ad astra.
iamque inopis heremi uates calcabat harenas,
cum subito imperio domini mandantis Aronus
sacratum ad montem fraterno occurrit honori
coniunctique simul gaudentes basia figunt;
alternasque iuuat mentes sermone sequaci
pandere quemque sibi, quae sint facienda uel acta.
ilicet eloquio domini coniungit uterque
sinceram firmamque fidem, pariterque uadentes
accitis dicunt senibus, quae sit
mandatumque dei; signisque ex ordine factis
credidit optatam populus remeasse medellam.
et genua inflectens dominum subnixus adorat.
pergitur ad regem, caeco nil corde uidentem
credentemue deo, quem notum non fere dixit
esse sibi, populum dura sub lege cohercens
imperioque truci; dum crescit cura laborum
et geminatur opus pondusque adiungitur ingens
lateribus crudis, quos solis lampada tostat.

### English translation (Claude)

He eagerly, taking his sons and wife with him,
set out on the commanded journey; and, weary with travelling,
while he restores his strength, lying down in the cool shade,
see, an angel of the Lord comes and threatens death.
But Zipporah searches with her fingers for a sharp flint
and at once, diligently, cuts the foreskin of her tender son;
and when she had thrown herself prone before the feet of the holy one,
“Let this blood from the little one’s wound be stanched,” she cries.
At her words the holy one departed to the stars.
And now the prophet was treading the sands of the barren desert,
when suddenly, by command of the Lord, Aaron
met his honoured brother at the sacred mountain,
and, joined together, they rejoice and plant kisses;
and it delights them to reveal to each other in flowing talk
what must be done or what has been done.
At once both join to the Lord’s word
a sincere and firm faith, and, going together,
they tell the elders they have summoned what is
the command of God; and when the signs were done in order,
the people believed that the longed-for remedy had come back,
and, bending the knee, prostrate, worships the Lord.
They go to the king, who sees nothing with his blind heart
and does not believe God, whom he said was not known
to him, keeping the people under a harsh law
and cruel command, while the burden of labour grows
and the work is doubled and an immense weight is added
to the raw bricks, which the sun’s lamp bakes.

### Scripture references

- Exod 4:20–31: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 5:1–9: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text has a stray number (16) after line 8 and the displaced word disiungi in line 18; both are removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.222 (CSEL 23:64lines 222–248–65; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-222).

## Exodus, lines 249–271

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-2-249
- Source: CSEL 23:65lines 249–271–66
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Pharaoh withholds the straw; the people reproach Moses and Aaron; God makes Moses as God to Pharaoh with Aaron as his prophet; the rod become serpent and the Nile turned to blood do not move Pharaoh, whose magicians imitate them.

### Latin text

quin etiam paleas rimosae ad uincula terrae
madentisque luti solitas miscerier aufert,
ut plebs fessa malis animos deponere mallet
exiliumque pati. quae dum confecta maerore
uerberibus agitur duris, effudit in ipsos
iurgia pontifices, adflictam se fore clamans
acre magis, postquam inmodicis sermonibus usi
seruitium miserum pro libertate pararint.
Haec ut dicta sibi domino suggessit aeterno
mitificus uates, haec rursus uerba receptat:
"Ecce deum regis Pharaonis te fore iussi,
germanumque tuum studio seruire prophetae
et parere tibi. tu dices cognita fratri;
ille canet regi, ut plebem emittere curet.
iamque pius uates bis quadraginta per annos
pacificam uitam mortali in carne terebat.
hi dum sanctificis regem mollire loquellis
percupiunt et signa nouant, nil lubricus anguis
proiecta factus uirga, nil sanguine rubro
mutati cogunt amnes, nil mobilis unda.
piscibus extinctis tristi uitiata fetore,
idcirco quoniam cantu succincta sinistro
mens profana uirum paribus callebat in actis.

### English translation (Claude)

Moreover he takes away the straw usually mixed
as a binding into the cracking earth and wet clay,
so that the people, weary with evils, would rather lose heart
and suffer exile. While, worn with grief,
it is driven with harsh blows, it poured out reproaches
on the priests themselves, crying that it was more sharply afflicted
since, by their immoderate speeches,
they had procured wretched slavery in place of freedom.
When the gentle prophet had brought these words to the eternal Lord,
he receives these words in return:
“See, I have ordered you to be a god to King Pharaoh,
and your brother to serve the prophet with zeal
and obey you. You will tell your brother what you have learned;
he will declare it to the king, that he take care to send out the people.”
And now the pious prophet was spending twice forty years
of peaceful life in mortal flesh.
While they eagerly desire to soften the king with holy speeches
and renew the signs, the slippery serpent made
from the thrown rod achieves nothing, nor do the rivers changed
into red blood compel anything, nor the moving water
fouled with sad stench, the fish dead,
because the profane mind of men, girded with sinister chant,
was skilled in like deeds.

### Scripture references

- Exod 5:7–21: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 7:1–24: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The ‘priests’ of line 6 are Moses and Aaron.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.249 (CSEL 23:65lines 249–271–66; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-249).

## Exodus, lines 272–295

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-2-272
- Source: CSEL 23:66lines 272–295–67
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The magicians imitate the frogs, which die at Moses’ prayer; the plague of gnats makes the magicians confess the finger of God; the swarms of dog-flies spare Goshen, and Pharaoh promises to let the people go.

### Latin text

quin etiam similes faciunt prorepere ranas
qua tellus, qua fluctus erat, paribusque creantur
magorum canore modis, quas uoce crepanti
cuncta coaxantes studuit depellere uates.
fluminibus tantum non passus defore suetas.
oblatum id regi, si pestem euadere uellet
orantis per uota senis, ut deinde. liqueret
non alium regnare deum: lux crastina caelo
redditur atque eadem cunctae de morte necantur
congestaeque simul odio soluuntur acerbo.
gignuntur scinifes propere per corpora cuncta
quadrupedum hominumque ( simul) tellusque repletur.
hoc etiam Chaldaea cohors molita fatetur
esse manum domini, curamque omittit inanem.
His actis cynomyia fluit, quae musca canina
dicitur, et uatis conpleuit nutibus omnes
exspatiata locos solique haut cognita Gessae,
quae tum terra fuit Iudaeae commoda genti,
traxit inexhaustos, quacumque est acta, dolores.
tum uero uictus Pharaon abscedere mandat,
et quocumque uelint migrantes promere gressus,
ac uotis seruire deo; pariterque precatur,
ut praesens nimiumque malum discedat ab aruis
Aegypti tandemque deus clementior adsit.

### English translation (Claude)

Moreover they make frogs creep forth likewise
wherever there was land and water, and they are produced
by the magicians’ chant in like ways; these, all croaking with rattling voice,
the prophet took care to drive away,
only not allowing the rivers to lack their usual ones.
This was granted the king, if he wished to escape the plague,
through the old man’s prayers, so that it might then be clear
that no other god reigns: tomorrow’s light is given back
to the sky, and on that day all of them die
and, heaped together, dissolve in bitter stench.
Gnats are quickly born over all the bodies
of beasts and men together, and the land is filled.
This too the Chaldean band, having tried it, confesses
to be the hand of the Lord, and gives up its vain effort.
These things done, the cynomyia comes flowing, which is called
the dog-fly, and at the prophet’s nod filled every place,
spreading out, and unknown only to the soil of Goshen,
which was then the land suited to the Jewish race;
wherever it was driven, it brought inexhaustible pains.
Then indeed Pharaoh, defeated, bids them go
and, migrating, take their steps wherever they wish
and serve God with vows; and at the same time he begs
that the present and excessive evil depart from the fields
of Egypt and that God at last be present with more mercy.

### Scripture references

- Exod 8:1–28: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Cynomyia (‘dog-fly’) is the Greek Bible’s word for the swarms of Exod 8:21. The ‘Chaldean band’ are Pharaoh’s magicians. In line 12 the editor supplies simul.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.272 (CSEL 23:66lines 272–295–67; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-272).

## Exodus, lines 296–318

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-2-296
- Source: CSEL 23:67lines 296–318
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The flies depart but Pharaoh hardens again; the cattle plague spares Israel; the boils afflict men and beasts; and an unheard-of hail with fire destroys men, cattle and trees, sparing only the unripe wheat and spelt.

### Latin text

nec mora: cum subiti mittuntur funera leti
coniunctimque necant omnes. sed cornea fibra
quae fuerat in rege, redit: mox mittitur una
iumentis gregibusque lues mortesque sequentes,
Iudaea perdente nihil. tum cassa fauilla
fornacis deprompta sinu uibratur in astra
arentesque ciet papulas per membra uirorum
uesicasque cauas, nulloque exsorte relicto
omnimodis gregibus generant tormenta per agros.
sed renouata mali facies instabat inerti
nequiquam regi, quo laus sublimior esset
mutantis tot monstra dei: ecce inter et ignes,
fulgura quos iaciunt, et celsi murmura caeli
quae domino mandante crepant, decurrit ab astris
grando minax passimque rotat frigentia tela,
quae densa de caute uolant, hominesque carentes
tegmine tectorum conliso [stellas corpore trudit
atque necat cunctumque pecus; et cortice rupto
debilitat siluas libroque extinguit arente,
inuisitata prius saeclisque incognita priscis.
triticeas segetes nondum pubentibus herbis
atque alicam modo strauit humi; nam cetera mersit,
quae conspersa solo nondum deprompserat occa.

### English translation (Claude)

Without delay, when the dead of the sudden destruction are sent away
and perish all together, the horny fibre
that had been in the king returns; soon a plague is sent at once
on beasts of burden and flocks, and deaths follow,
Judea losing nothing. Then empty ash,
drawn from the bosom of a furnace, is tossed toward the stars
and raises dry pustules over the limbs of men
and hollow blisters, and, leaving no one exempt,
they bring torments through the fields on flocks of every kind.
But a renewed face of evil pressed in vain
on the sluggish king, so that the praise of God,
who works so many wonders, might be higher: see, amid the fires
that lightnings hurl and the rumblings of the lofty sky
that crash at the Lord’s command, threatening hail
runs down from the stars and whirls its freezing darts everywhere,
flying thick as from a rock, and men without
the cover of roofs it strikes with crushing blows
and kills, and all the cattle; and, breaking the bark,
it cripples the woods and kills them as the inner bark dries,
unseen before and unknown to ancient ages.
The wheat crops, since their stalks had not yet grown,
and the spelt it only laid flat on the ground; for the rest it buried,
which, sown in the soil, the harrow had not yet brought up.

### Scripture references

- Exod 8:29–32: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 9:1–32: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The editor deletes stellas in line 17 (the digital text has only the opening bracket). The digital text is uncertain in line 1 and in line 16 (de caute); translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.296 (CSEL 23:67lines 296–318; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-296).

## Exodus, lines 319–347

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-2-319
- Source: CSEL 23:67lines 319–347–68
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The hail ends at Moses’ prayer but Pharaoh hardens; he offers a limited release, Moses refuses, the locusts come and are swept into the Red Sea, three days of darkness fall on Egypt while Israel has light, and the dogs do not bark at the Israelites.

### Latin text

haec etiam amittit uires poscente propheta,
perspicuo remeante die; quia pectore fracto
debilis orarat ductor, dum crimina pandit
ipse sua iustumque deum denarrat in altis.
ecce iterum insano rigidantur pectora sensu
uiuentis ad damna ducis peiora laturi,
nec sociis credit casum pereuntis Aegypti.
sed tamen nexus modice largitur eundi
ius, uacuis rerum, uitae quas conparat usus.
non patitur uates censumque expostulat omnem
quadrupedumque greges; sed iusta oratio non est
auribus inuitis. haec propter pellitur extra.
fratre simul truso. tum uentus flamine multo
auster adest fuscatque diem noctisque per umbram
inmodico glomerat uiridantes terga locustas,
quae, quidquid madidum suco per frondea tecta
reppererant, mandunt herbasque in caespite laetas.
haec deinde metu regis poscente necantur
congestaeque simul Rubra merguntur in unda.
haec ubi pro paruis toruus rex despuit ore,
nox omnes delapsa tenet uastaeque procellae
includunt cohibentque uiros, pariterque diebus
occulti mansere tribus nullusque propinquum
uidit et ex inopi potuit consurgere lecto,
cum radiantes manus mundo frueretur aperto
nullis tacta malis. quin et cursantibus ipsis
innocui tacuere canes pressoque latratu
intrepidi lambunt caudae de uerbere crura,
nonnumquam in dominos posita formidine saeui.

### English translation (Claude)

This too loses its strength at the prophet’s request,
clear day returning, because, his heart broken,
the weakened leader had prayed, confessing
his crimes himself and declaring God just on high.
See, again his heart is stiffened with insane mind,
to bring worse things upon himself to the ruin of the living leader,
nor does he believe his companions about the fall of perishing Egypt.
But yet he grants a limited right of going,
to men stripped of the things that the use of life provides.
The prophet does not allow it and demands all their property
and the herds of four-footed beasts; but just speech is not
for unwilling ears. For this he is driven out,
his brother thrust out with him. Then the south wind arrives
with much blast and darkens the day, and through the shade of night
gathers green-backed locusts beyond measure,
which eat whatever moist and full of sap they found
through the leafy roofs, and the glad grass in the turf.
These then, at the king’s request in his fear, are killed
and, gathered together, drowned in the Red Sea.
When the grim king spat these things out as trifles,
night, gliding down, holds all, and vast storms
shut in and confine the men, and likewise for three days
they stayed hidden, and no one saw his neighbour
or could rise from his helpless bed,
while the radiant band enjoyed the open world,
touched by no evils. Moreover, as they ran about,
the dogs were silent and harmless and, holding back their bark,
fearlessly lick their legs, wagging their tails,
dogs that at times, their fear laid aside, are savage even against their masters.

### Scripture references

- Exod 9:33–35: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 10:1–23: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 11:7: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The silence of the dogs is from Exod 11:7.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.319 (CSEL 23:67lines 319–347–68; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-319).

## Exodus, lines 348–371

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-2-348
- Source: CSEL 23:68lines 348–371–69
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Pharaoh threatens Moses; God strikes the firstborn of Egypt, the Egyptians drive out the Israelites with their goods, and after 440 years God brings them out.

### Latin text

non tamen his damnis regis sententia cedit
increpitatque fremens uatem mortemque minatur,
quod pecora et totum uellet conuerrere censum.
iamque deus piceo noctem fuscarat amictu,
occultam meditans densa inter funera plagam,
cum subita intereunt morte, quos partibus almae
ediderant primis, modico discrimine leti,
ipsius (a) solio regis, cunctosque deinde
quacumque de stirpe uiros pecudesque ferasque.
ilicet horrisonas uoces dolor excitat ingens,
omnia tecta fremunt, resonant plangoribus urbes.
tum uero incumbunt omnes detrudere plebem,
Iudaeum quae nomen habet, ceu causa malorum
illa foret meritis, censusque et cuncta supellex
traditur et nullum putatur hinc fore damnum:
innumerique greges pecudum comitantur euntes.
ergo abeunt ducente deo, qui praeuius ibat,
contentisque uehunt umeris commercia uitae.
Iamque quater centum mundus consumpserat annos,
atque quater denos pariter, si summa putetur
temporis emensi, quo farris cura parandi
Iacobus Pharias uenit mansurus ad urbes;
his deus expletis tandem miseratus ab alto,
sustulit indomito plebem laudabilis hosti.

### English translation (Claude)

Yet the king’s resolve does not yield to these losses;
roaring, he rebukes the prophet and threatens him with death,
because he wanted to sweep away the cattle and all their property.
And now God had darkened the night with a pitch-black mantle,
planning a hidden blow amid thick deaths,
when suddenly all die whom kindly births
had brought forth first, with little difference in their death,
from the king’s own throne, and then all
of whatever stock, men and cattle and beasts.
At once immense grief raises horrid-sounding cries;
all the houses groan, the cities resound with lamentation.
Then indeed all press to drive out the people
that bears the name of Jew, as though by its deserts
it were the cause of the evils, and property and all furnishings
are handed over, and no loss is reckoned in this;
and countless flocks of cattle accompany them as they go.
So they depart, God leading them, who went before,
and carry on their burdened shoulders the goods of life.
And now the world had used up four hundred years
and forty more, if one reckons the sum
of the time elapsed since Jacob, in his care to obtain grain,
came to the Egyptian cities to remain;
these fulfilled, God, pitying at last from on high,
worthy of praise, took the people from the untamed enemy.

### Scripture references

- Exod 10:24–29: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 12:29–41: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- In line 8 the editor supplies a. Exod 12:40 gives 430 years; the poet gives 440.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.348 (CSEL 23:68lines 348–371–69; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-348).

## Exodus, lines 372–395

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-2-372
- Source: CSEL 23:69lines 372–395–70
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The poet describes the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread: the unblemished lamb eaten with bones unbroken, its blood on the doorposts, the rule of circumcision for those who share it, and the unleavened loaves.

### Latin text

flumina dies primo censetur munere paschae,
sacrataeque deo ducuntur gaudia noctis,
septenique dies, anno redeunte, beati
otia lenta ferunt curaque omittitur omnis;
nemo solum uertit curuique inmunis aratri
sopitur per metitur labor seruique laetantur
libertate pari omnisque est actio uitae
iungere corda deo stratisque incumbere lectis
et dubios inferre cibos, quos ditibus aruis
felix terra creat. agnusque adsumitur albens,
mensibus explicitis, bissenos quos facit annus,
integer et toto grege mollior: hoc simul omnes
mandere lex adigit sanctaeque adponere mensae
ossibus intactis, cuiusque e sanguine postes
tinguere mundificum tutamque adquirere uitam.
ius omnes commune tenet atque aere parati
et locare manus soliti praeputia ponunt
festiuosque cibos agni de uiscere sumunt.
nec quidquam superesse licet; si rara corona
omnia non carpsit, uicinum adiungere fas campi
fermento carent panes mollisque farina
fontibus admixtis tenues formatur in orbes,
azyma quos memorant patrio sermone terit.
ista haec sacra fiunt cunctis redeuntibus flumine.

### English translation (Claude)

The first day is reckoned by the gift of the Passover,
and the joys of the night consecrated to God are celebrated,
and seven blessed days, as the year returns,
bring slow leisure, and every care is set aside;
no one turns the soil, and, free from the curved plough,
labour sleeps and slaves rejoice
in equal freedom, and the whole business of life
is to join hearts to God, to recline on spread couches
and to bring in the food that the happy earth
produces in its rich fields. And a white lamb is taken,
when the months are complete that make the year twice six,
unblemished and softer than all the flock; this all together
the law compels to eat and to set on the holy table
with its bones unbroken, and with its blood to dye the doorposts
for cleansing and so to gain a safe life.
A common law binds all, and those bought with money
and those used to hire out their hands lay aside their foreskins
and take the festive food from the lamb’s flesh.
Nor may anything remain; if a small company
has not eaten it all, it is right to bring in a neighbour from the field.
The loaves lack leaven, and soft flour,
mixed with spring water, is formed into thin rounds,
which they call azyma in their native tongue.
These rites are performed by all as the years return.

### Scripture references

- Exod 12:1–20: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 12:43–49: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text has words displaced from other lines in lines 1 (flumina), 6 (per metitur), 9 (dubios), 23 (terit) and 24 (flumine); translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.372 (CSEL 23:69lines 372–395–70; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-372).

## Exodus, lines 396–419

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/1-1277/#p-2-396
- Source: CSEL 23:70lines 396–419–71
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Passover is kept with girded loins, staffs and the blood sprinkled with hyssop; the people leave with Joseph’s bones, led through the desert by Christ in the pillar of cloud and fire, and camp by the sea.

### Latin text

quattuor atque decem postquam decurrere luces
mense nouo cernunt homines ratione magistra.
sollicitaque sinus constringunt cura fluentes,
intenti, ceu signa canant bellumque geratur,
armataeque manus baculorum robora gestant.
insuper arripiunt pallentis gramen hysopi
deuotaque manu sacrato in sanguine mersant
excussumque procul foribus conspergere gaudent,
postibus ut caris concrescat nobilis unda,
quae uetat introitum temptantis sancta maligni.
iamque gradum ad quintum numquid descenderat ordo,
cum, deserta petens. Rubrum ueniebat ad aequor
cara deo pubes bustisque exempta Iosepi
ossa gerens, uero qui quondam dixerat ore
serenos domini intuitus dextramque benignam
uenturam caelo libertatemque laturam.
Sochotumque dehinc ueniunt Othumque relinquunt,
ignotas monstrante uias per deuia Christo,
qui cum mane nouo lucem pandebat ab astris,
ante uolans niuea sulcabat sidera nube
candentemque iubar fuscata per aethera solem
nocte tegens, claro fulgebat crine cometae.
Pauleum deinde petunt, cui Magdola tellus
iungitur obuerso confinis Bellisephoni.

### English translation (Claude)

After four and ten days had run their course
in the new month, which men discern with reason as teacher,
they bind their flowing garments with anxious care,
intent, as if the trumpets sounded and war were waged,
and their armed hands carry strong staffs.
Moreover they take a sprig of pale hyssop,
dip it with devoted hand in the sacred blood,
and gladly sprinkle the doors, shaking it out,
so that the noble liquid may harden on the dear posts
and forbid entry to the evil one who assails holy things.
And now the generations had come down to the fifth,
when, making for the desert, the people dear to God
came to the Red Sea, carrying the bones of Joseph
taken from his tomb, who had once said with truthful mouth
that the Lord’s serene gaze and kindly right hand
would come from heaven and bring freedom.
Then they come to Succoth and leave Etham,
Christ showing them unknown ways through the trackless waste,
who, when at new morning he opened the light from the stars,
flying before them, ploughed the sky with a snowy cloud,
and, covering the shining radiance of the sun through the darkened sky
at night, shone with a comet’s bright hair.
Then they make for Pi-hahiroth, to which the land of Migdol
is joined, bordering on Baal-zephon opposite.

### Scripture references

- Exod 12:11: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 12:21–23: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 13:17–22: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 14:1–2: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 50:25: allusion, medium confidence
- 1 Cor 10:1–4: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet makes Christ the guide in the pillar of cloud and fire (compare 1 Cor 10:4). Line 11 is garbled in the digital text (numquid); ‘the fifth generation’ is a guess from Exod 13:18 in the Greek Bible (‘in the fifth generation’). ‘Pauleum’ is rendered Pi-hahiroth by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.396 (CSEL 23:70lines 396–419–71; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-396).

## Exodus, lines 420–445

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-420
- Source: CSEL 23:71lines 420–445–72
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God hardens Pharaoh, who pursues with his chariots to the Red Sea; the terrified Israelites reproach Moses for bringing them out of Egypt.

### Latin text

hic animum regis dominus formidine priuat,
praetumidos acuens sensus mentemque ferocem;
ut populum fugitare magis, quem miserat ipse,
diceret atque suas acies in bella moueret
praecipites. facili credens conamine iungi
posse uiros, quos error agat, quos deuia tardent.
ergo alacris in bella ciet ceu parua phalanges
ferratos agitans currus, quos axe uolante
trinus miles agit, uolucrem dum surgit in hastam,
nunc humilis, nunc uentosas sublimis in auras,
terroris fraudisque capax, quia uerbere crebro
pulsati sternunt acies, quae comminus obstant,
cornipedes pulsumque rotis feruentibus addunt,
incita quas uariis adsultibus ungula uersat.
iamque (iter) adcelerans procurua ad litora Rubri
marmoris admorat frigente in bella quadrigas,
cum Iudaea manus confestim lumine uerso
respicit inmensas acies camposque per omnes
ferratos lucere uiros, geminique timoris
mole pari saepta, dum pontum cernit et hostem
oppositum, duris in uatem uocibus usa
haec memorat: "Quae tanta fuit fiducia, ductor,
roboris insueti cognatam perdere plebem
ac perferre sequi Rubrumque opponere captis
oceanum? quid maesta quidem, sed tuta ferentes
pondera ab inuisa nequiquam tollere Aegypto?

### English translation (Claude)

Here the Lord deprives the king’s mind of fear,
sharpening his swollen senses and fierce mind,
so that he says the people whom he himself had sent away
were rather fleeing, and moves his forces headlong
to war, believing that with easy effort he could catch
men whom error drives and trackless ways delay.
So eagerly he calls his phalanxes to war as to a small matter,
driving iron-clad chariots, which with flying axle
a threefold crew drives, while one rises to hurl the swift spear,
now low, now lofty into the windy air,
apt for terror and deceit, because, beaten with frequent lash,
the horn-footed horses lay low the ranks that stand against them
and add the blow of their burning wheels,
which the roused hoof turns with varied bounds.
And now, hastening his march, he had brought his four-horse chariots
to the curved shores of the Red Sea for chilling war,
when the Jewish band, at once turning its eyes,
looks back at the immense ranks and, over all the plains,
iron-clad men gleaming, and, hemmed in by an equal weight
of twofold fear, as it sees the sea and the enemy
opposed, it uses harsh words against the prophet
and says: “What great confidence was it, leader,
in unaccustomed strength, to destroy your kindred people,
to make them follow you, and to set the Red ocean
before them as captives? Why, in vain, take from hated Egypt
those who bore burdens, sad indeed, but safe?

### Scripture references

- Exod 14:3–12: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘A threefold crew’ (trinus miles) reflects the Greek Bible’s tristatai (‘third men’) at Exod 14:7. In line 15 the editor supplies iter.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.420 (CSEL 23:71lines 420–445–72; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420).

## Exodus, lines 446–467

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-446
- Source: CSEL 23:72lines 446–467
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Israelites say slavery in Egypt was better than death in the desert; Moses tells them to stand firm and see God’s salvation, for God will fight for them while they keep silent.

### Latin text

nonne fuit satius tristes Pharaonis aerumnas
funestasque pati leges? non seruitus illa
libertate fuit melior, quae subdita fraudi
praeponit tolerata prius et dulcia ducit,
inuisitata sibi quotiens peiora sequuntur?
diximus hoc dudum, cum nos ad uota uocares
inmenso reddenda deo: stat tutius illic
uiuere consuetos seruitutemque molesti
sustentare iugi. quam nunc decumbere leto
squalentes inter campos terramque relictam.
dum trepido in casu pelago terremur et hoste."
at uates nulla rerum formidine uictus
et potius uentura uidens haec terrarum ore:
"Soluite mordaces curas animosque serenos
induite, o socii, rectoque aduertite uisu.
quanta salus uobis celsis referatur ab astris,
sublimi tribuente deo. quos agmine denso
cernitis instantes, post hanc inuisere lucem
haud licitum est uobis, quos mortis tempus adurget.
namque deus celsa bellator dextera pugnat
subiectosque regit. tacita dum stringitis ora.
haec ubi disseruit prouectum dicta secuntur.

### English translation (Claude)

Was it not better to suffer Pharaoh’s sad hardships
and deadly laws? Was not that slavery
better than freedom, which, exposed to deceit,
prefers what it endured before and counts it sweet
whenever worse things, never seen, follow?
We said this long ago, when you called us to vows
to be paid to the immeasurable God: it is safer there
for those used to it to live and bear the slavery
of a troublesome yoke than now to lie down in death
amid barren plains and a land left behind,
while in trembling plight we are terrified by sea and enemy.”
But the prophet, overcome by no fear of anything,
and rather seeing what is to come, speaks these words:
“Loose your biting cares and put on serene minds,
O companions, and turn your eyes straight ahead
to see how great a salvation is brought you from the lofty stars,
given by God on high. Those whom you see
pressing on in a dense column you will not be permitted
to see after this day, for the time of death presses on them.
For God the warrior fights with his lofty right hand
and rules those subject to him, while you keep your mouths silent.”
When he had said this, deeds followed the words.

### Scripture references

- Exod 14:12–14: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.446 (CSEL 23:72lines 446–467; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-446).

## Exodus, lines 468–492

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-468
- Source: CSEL 23:73lines 468–492
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The angel and the pillar move between the camps; at Moses’ outstretched rod a wind dries the sea, Israel crosses between walls of water, and the pursuing chariots of Pharaoh are clogged.

### Latin text

ante uolans nam castra uirum sese angelus aufert
pone locans, fuluaque dehinc posterga columna
sistitur et medio discernit limite ualla
castrorumque situm, noctemque infundit opacam
candenti de sede deus bellumque frementes
pax inopina fouet motusque eliminat omnes.
o nimium felix. celsis cui misit ab astris
munimenta deus, candens cui militat aether
et coniuratae ueniunt ad proelia noctes!
hinc procerem mandata dei depromere uirgam
protenta iussere manu Rubrumque tanto
despectare fretum. quod postquam rite peractum est,
auster uentus adest. totis qui flatibus usus
per tacitam noctem feruentes ebibit undas
siccauitque fretum, medius ut trames apertus
panderet inlaesum patefacto in aequore cursum,
cum bibulas refugus nudasset pontus harenas.
ergo ubi festinum pelagus discesserat, illos
curuata in montis faciem circumstetit unda
accepitque sinu patulo misitque per altum.
quod licitum credens Pharao, dum comminus instat,
ingreditur calcatque salum; sed tarda repente
plaustra gemunt totoque in terram pectore proni
cornipedes genibus nequiquam pondera trudunt.
quae penitus uincto nequibant axe moueri.

### English translation (Claude)

For the angel who flew before the camp of the men moves
and places himself behind, and then the tawny column
stands at their back and with a boundary between divides
the ramparts and the sites of the two camps; and God pours dark night
from his shining seat, and unexpected peace soothes
those raging for war and removes all movement.
O too happy, to whom God sent defences
from the lofty stars, for whom the shining sky fights,
and the nights come sworn together to battle!
Then the commands of God bade the chief bring out his rod
with outstretched hand and look down
on the Red Sea. When this was duly done,
the south wind comes, which, using all its blasts,
drank up the seething waves through the silent night
and dried the sea, so that a path opened in the middle
might lay out an unharmed course on the parted sea,
when the retreating sea had bared the thirsty sands.
So when the hurrying sea had withdrawn, the wave,
curved into the face of a mountain, stood round them
and received them in its wide bosom and sent them through the deep.
Pharaoh, believing the way open to him, while he presses close,
enters and treads the sea; but suddenly the wagons
groan and slow down, and the horses, prone to the ground with all their breast,
push the weights with their knees in vain,
which could not be moved at all, their axles bound fast.

### Scripture references

- Exod 14:19–25: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Lines 7–9 imitate Claudian, Panegyric on the Third Consulship of Honorius 96–98 (‘O too beloved of God … for whom the sky fights and the winds come sworn together to the trumpets’). The poet has a south wind where Exod 14:21 has an east wind. Tanto in line 11 is probably corrupt.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.468 (CSEL 23:73lines 468–492; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-468).

## Exodus, lines 493–517

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-493
- Source: CSEL 23:73lines 493–517–74
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The sea returns and drowns the Egyptians; Israel fears God, believes Moses, and begins the song of Moses.

### Latin text

illicet exsangues inmensaque compede uincti
festinam temptare fugam rursumque reuerti
nitentes uano stimulant terrore iugales.
his aliud maius miseris multoque tremendum
ingeritur magis et sensus adfligit inertes.
namque fretum dubios solitum conlidere fluctus
discretas coniunxit aquas undasque tumentes
miscuit et totam fundo demersit Aegyptum.
at Iudaea cohors fluitantia corpora cernens
hostili de parte uirum currusque natantes
armaque et obliquum quidquid torquetur in hostem,
suspexit timuitque deum sensuque fideli
credidit imperio domini uatemque sacrauit,
cantica dum psallit Moysetis dulcia uerbis:
"Cantemus domino deoque nostro,
cui gloria cum honore pollens,
sese magnificis decorat actis.
dum currus celeres Aegyptiorum
iunctis equitibus grauique turba
Rubri marmoris enecat fluentis.
adiutor ualidus meae salutis
plebem de medio tulit profundo,
custos et genitor salusque uera!
hic est, hic dominus meus et altor!
ipsum conspicua sacrabo laude.

### English translation (Claude)

At once, bloodless and bound by an immense fetter,
striving to attempt hasty flight and to turn back again,
they goad their yoked teams with vain terror.
Upon them, wretched, another, greater and far more fearful thing
is heaped and strikes their sluggish senses.
For the sea, accustomed to dash its restless waves,
joined its parted waters and mingled the swelling waves
and sank all Egypt to the bottom.
But the Jewish band, seeing floating bodies
of men from the enemy’s side, and chariots swimming,
and weapons and whatever is hurled slantwise at an enemy,
looked up and feared God, and with faithful mind
believed the Lord’s command and revered the prophet,
while it sings sweet songs in the words of Moses:
“Let us sing to the Lord our God,
to whom belongs glory mighty in honour;
he adorns himself with magnificent deeds,
while the swift chariots of the Egyptians,
with their horsemen joined and the heavy crowd,
he kills in the streams of the Red Sea.
Strong helper of my salvation,
he took the people from the midst of the deep,
guardian and father and true salvation!
This is he, this my Lord and nourisher!
Him I will hallow with conspicuous praise,

### Scripture references

- Exod 14:26–31: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 15:1–2: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The Song of the Sea (Exod 15:1–18) is rendered in the Latin in hendecasyllables.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.493 (CSEL 23:73lines 493–517–74; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-493).

## Exodus, lines 518–542

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-518
- Source: CSEL 23:74lines 518–542–75
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The song continues: the Egyptians sank like lead though Pharaoh boasted of spoil; none is like God, the nations tremble, and the redeemed people will come to God’s holy mountain.

### Latin text

qui est progenitor mei parentis.
ipsum uocibus arduis fatebor,
qui bellum tulit obruitque fortes,
dignus nomine quo deus uocatur.
saxis adsimiles grauique plumbo
uastis fluctibus abdidit cohortes,
quas rex Niliacus in arma cogens
praedae participes minax canebat:
nostris dum iugulis recludit enses
et strictum rotat excutitque ferrum,
dicens: "Corripiam eos fugaces,
praedam partiar obruamque uictos
et cum gloria nobilis duelli
quaesitam meritis tenebo palmam.*
haec dum commemorat sibique fidit,
cunctis perniciem suis parauit.
nullus est similis tibi. creator,
factis maxime, principumque princeps
ingens subsidium tuis dedisti,
gentes quod metuunt Philistinorum.
Edones etiam Moabitaeque.
quorum perniciem tremunt Chananni,
donec hic populus tibi redemptus
montem conspicuum deoque sanctum
scandat perpetuis heres tropaeis."

### English translation (Claude)

who is the God of my father.
Him I will confess with lofty voices,
who bore war and overwhelmed the strong,
worthy of the name by which God is called.
Like stones and heavy lead
he hid in vast waves the cohorts
which the king of the Nile, gathering them to arms,
threatening, hailed as sharers of the spoil,
while he bares swords for our throats
and whirls and brandishes drawn iron,
saying: ‘I will seize them as they flee,
I will divide the spoil and overwhelm the conquered,
and with the glory of a noble war
I will hold the palm sought by merit.’
While he recounts this and trusts himself,
he prepared destruction for all his own.
None is like you, Creator,
greatest in deeds, and prince of princes;
you have given great help to your own,
which the nations of the Philistines fear,
the Edomites too and the Moabites;
at their ruin the Canaanites tremble,
until this people, redeemed by you,
climbs the conspicuous mountain holy to God,
heir with everlasting trophies.”

### Scripture references

- Exod 15:2–17: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text marks a crux with an asterisk after palmam (line 14).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.518 (CSEL 23:74lines 518–542–75; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-518).

## Exodus, lines 543–569

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-543
- Source: CSEL 23:75lines 543–569–76
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Miriam and the women repeat the song; Israel travels through the wilderness of Shur, finds bitter water at Marah, which Moses sweetens with a tree, and God promises freedom from Egypt’s diseases to the obedient.

### Latin text

Haec paribus iterata modis plaudente corona
cantarunt matres, uatis dictante sorore,
tympana pulsantes digitis, dum consona dicunt.
ilicet intrepidi postquam Pharaonis iniqui
subuersam uidere manum. per deuia tendunt,
quae Surum sunt dicta prius, siccumque per aestum
arentes triuere dies; quos lumine trino
feruidiore coma torrebat lampada solis.
defessi Myrram ueniunt tristique sapore
undantes cernunt latices, quos pectore fesso
libantes longe iaciunt; quia praegrauis unda
obsessas fauces sensu torquebat amaro.
quod uitium propter fontem cognomine signant
et fremitu denso uatem liquentia poscunt
flumina, quae calidos possint mollire uapores.
ille deum poscit; nam qua licentia fluctus
gigneret, astrigera dominus nisi mitteret aula?
confestimque capit quo sedat tristia lignum
pocula, et infecto perfundit melle fluores.
illic iusta deus, librato examine lancis.
iura dedit, temptans procerem, dum talia dicit:
"Si mea quaeque memor sincero in pectore dicta
sumpseris, ut facias, quae sint accommoda uitae,
corde gerens mandata dei, nil triste per aeuum
perpetiere tuum, nec te iactura grauabit
damnorum morbique trucis; distabis ab omni
clade mali, quaecumque feram uastauit Aegyptum.

### English translation (Claude)

These words, repeated in like measures by an applauding circle,
the mothers sang, the prophet’s sister leading,
beating timbrels with their fingers as they sang together.
At once, after they saw the forces of unjust Pharaoh
overthrown, they press on fearless through the wilderness
formerly called Shur, and through the dry heat
wore out parched days; for three days
the sun’s lamp scorched them with more fiery rays.
Wearied, they come to Marah and see water
flowing with a sad taste, which, tasting with weary breast,
they spit far away, because the very heavy water
tortured their parched throats with a bitter sensation.
Because of this fault they give the spring its name,
and with dense murmuring demand of the prophet flowing
streams that could soften the hot vapours.
He asks God, for by what power would the water
come forth unless the Lord sent it from his starry hall?
And at once he takes a wood by which he sweetens the sad
drink, and floods the streams with honey not mixed in.
There God gave just laws, with the scale balanced,
testing the chief, as he speaks thus:
“If you mindfully take all my words into a sincere heart
to do what is fitting for life,
bearing in your heart the commands of God, you will suffer nothing sad
all your life long, nor will the loss of goods
or cruel disease weigh you down; you will be far from every
calamity that laid waste wild Egypt.

### Scripture references

- Exod 15:20–26: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.543 (CSEL 23:75lines 543–569–76; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-543).

## Exodus, lines 570–591

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-570
- Source: CSEL 23:76lines 570–591–77
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God promises to heal; Israel camps at Elim with its twelve springs and seventy palms, then in the wilderness of Sin the people complain of hunger and wish they had died in Egypt.

### Latin text

quandoquidem ego sum dominus, qui pectora curo
et sanos praestare queo." post Elima uentum est
fontibus inriguam, bis sex qui forte meabant
frondentes inter palmas, quae uertice celso
motabant septem denos per nubila conos.
ac postquam ad Sinum positis sunt otia castris
trita uilis, quintoque dehinc decimoque uiantes
deproperant per opaca die, de mense secundo,
extremam gemuere famem, dum uocibus altis
obiurgant uexantque ducem: "Quae tanta malorum
causa fuit? quaeue esse potest? quae tristior esse
praeualeat, quam dira fames, quam spiritus ardens
arentes inter fauces mortemque praesentem,
quae dilata grauat plus quam quae comminus instat?
atque utinam nobis letum sors una dedisset
Aegypto positis tum, cum substantia uictus
larga fuit cunctis, nullo mussante seorsum,
quod desint alimenta sibi? nunc degimus istic,
est ubi uita grauis, etiam si tristia non sint.
ergo ualet quisquam squalentes inter harenas
inuisum tolerare diem. solemque calentem
siccus ferre potest, nulla quem temperat umbra?

### English translation (Claude)

since I am the Lord, who heal hearts
and can make you sound.” After this they came to Elim,
watered with springs, twelve, which flowed by chance
amid leafy palms, which with lofty tops
waved seventy crowns through the clouds.
And after they had spent their leisure with the camp set at Sin,
then, travelling on the fifteenth day of the second month,
they hasten through shadowy places;
they groaned with extreme hunger, while with loud voices
they rebuke and harass the leader: “What was the great
cause of these evils? Or what can it be? What can be
sadder than dire hunger, than burning breath
in parched throats, and death at hand,
which, delayed, weighs more heavily than death that comes at once?
Would that one lot had given us death
when we were in Egypt, when the supply of food
was abundant for all and no one muttered apart
that he lacked nourishment! Now we live here,
where life is heavy, even if there are no griefs.
Can anyone, then, endure the hated day among barren sands,
and bear, parched, the hot sun that no shade tempers?

### Scripture references

- Exod 15:26–27: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 16:1–3: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Trita uilis in line 6 is corrupt in the digital text; translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.570 (CSEL 23:76lines 570–591–77; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-570).

## Exodus, lines 592–614

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-592
- Source: CSEL 23:77lines 592–614–78
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The people ask to return to Egypt; Moses and Aaron rebuke them, for their complaints are against the Lord, and promise bread from heaven; the Lord appears in the cloud.

### Latin text

quin potius, si nostra moneat discrimina sensus,
dux grandaeue, tuos. Nilum Pharumque rogamus
redde tuis, cunctosque dehinc iterare labores
poscentes permitte uiros, quia tristius esse
accisis nil posse cibis sententia nostra est,
et saturos seruire iuuat. post talia dicta
profatur uates, socio sermonis Arone:
"Quid tantum indomito uoces iactare tumultu
et proceres uexare iuuat? quid poscere uictum,
quem solus praestare potest, qui sidera fecit?
sed tamen occidua cernetis lampade solis
esse deum, uobis cuius pro munere panis
mittitur e caelo; qui uos, Mareotide fusca
inplicitos dudum, laetos nunc mittit ad agros.
quare agite et primo redeuntis lumine solis
insuetas libate dapes mannamque caelestem.
iurgia nam populi, nostris non congrua factis,
in dominum sunt missa magis, qui pascere sueuit,
quidquid alit, longoque educit saecula pastu."
haec ubi disseruit, dominus de nube superna
emicuit meliore die uictumque caelestem
despondit cunctis, quem messis nescia fraudis
progenerat nulloque extinguit semina fuco.

### English translation (Claude)

Rather, if your senses warn you of our dangers,
aged leader, we ask you, give back to your own people
the Nile and Egypt, and then permit the men who ask it
to take up all their labours again, because our judgment is that
nothing can be sadder than food cut off,
and it is pleasant to serve when well fed.” After such words
the prophet speaks, with Aaron as partner in his speech:
“Why does it please you to hurl such words in untamed tumult
and harass the chiefs? Why ask for food,
which he alone can provide who made the stars?
Yet at the setting lamp of the sun you shall see
that there is a God, by whose gift bread
is sent you from heaven; who, though you were long entangled
in dark Mareotis, now sends you gladly to the fields.
So come, and at the first light of the returning sun
taste unaccustomed food, the heavenly manna.
For the people’s quarrels, which do not fit our deeds,
were rather sent against the Lord, who is used to feeding
whatever he nourishes and leads the ages on with long pasture.”
When he had said this, the Lord shone out from the cloud above
in a brighter day and promised heavenly food
to all, which a harvest that knows no deceit
brings forth, and whose seeds no blight destroys.

### Scripture references

- Exod 16:3–12: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Mareotis, a lake by Alexandria, stands for Egypt.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.592 (CSEL 23:77lines 592–614–78; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-592).

## Exodus, lines 615–638

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-615
- Source: CSEL 23:78lines 615–638–79
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Quail cover the camp and manna falls like coriander seed; each gathers a day’s portion, and what is kept rots, except the double portion gathered for the sabbath, on which no manna falls.

### Latin text

inde ubi iam croceo radiauit uesper ab axe,
crebra niuis ritu caelo delapsa coturnix,
congerie cumulata graui, camposque iacentes
castrorumque situm cunctis mirantibus inplet.
quin etiam primo cum se lux reddidit ortu,
niuosos dat manna cibos, quae farre minuto,
sunt coriandra uelut, totis defluxit ab astris.
quam iussi carpsere manu ratione legendi
certa uiri. ne quis forsan plus condere mallet,
quam iusti mensura cibi est. quae sufficit uno
quoque die, nec uana Sella sollertia quemquam
plus iusto posuisse domi; nam sole calente
putria multimodo uitiantur uerme polenta.
hoc solum nequeunt geminae disperdere luces,
quae festo mandenda die parasceue prompsit,
quem sanctum iubet esse deus nullumque laborem
sustentare homines, quotiens lux illa recurrit,
sabbata quae memorant lentae concessa quieti.
quin etiam cunctis penitus haec cognita res est,
septima quaque die nullum descendere uictum,
caelestis quem messis habet; quia cura sagaci
progressi per rura uiri camposque iacentes.
nil praeter undantes uentorum flatibus herbas
intuiti, sinibus uacuis referuntur ad aedes.

### English translation (Claude)

Then, when evening shone from the saffron sky,
quail, falling from heaven thick as snow,
heaped in a heavy mass, fills the open plains
and the site of the camp, to the wonder of all.
Moreover, when light returned at its first rising,
the manna gives snowy food, which, with fine grain
like coriander, flowed down from all the stars.
At the command, the men gathered it by hand by a fixed
rule of gathering, lest anyone should perhaps wish to store
more than the measure of just food, which suffices
for each day; nor did vain cleverness help anyone
who laid up more than was right at home; for when the sun grew hot
the meal rotted, spoiled by manifold worms.
Only this the two days’ light cannot spoil,
which the Preparation brought out to be eaten on the festal day,
which God commands to be holy, and that men bear
no labour whenever that day returns,
which they call the sabbath, granted to slow rest.
Moreover this was thoroughly known to all,
that on every seventh day no food comes down
from the heavenly harvest; for when, with shrewd care,
men went out through the countryside and the open plains,
seeing nothing but grass waving in the blasts of the winds,
they are carried back to their homes with empty laps.

### Scripture references

- Exod 16:13–30: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Sella in line 11 is a word displaced in the digital text; translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.615 (CSEL 23:78lines 615–638–79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-615).

## Exodus, lines 639–662

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-639
- Source: CSEL 23:79lines 639–662
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: A portion of manna is kept in a golden vessel for future generations; at Rephidim the people quarrel for water, and at God’s command Moses strikes the rock at Horeb and water flows.

### Latin text

ac ne forte dei tantum monumenta uiderent,
ad quos missa fuit melliti muneris esca,
clauditur auratae quiddam munimine thecae,
quod uideat generanda manus olimque futura
ac uenerata deum uictum miretur auorum.
post haec signa mouent longumque educitur agmen
ad uitam, quae sole calens atque indiga lymphae
mordaces populum fecit depromere uoces
in procerem, dum poscit aquam; nec murmure solo,
sed paene est grassata manu; nam saxa sacerdos
in semet iaculanda timens emittit ad altum
uerba deum siccisque implorat syrtibus amnes.
ilicet instinctus domini sententia magni
maiores pariter natu praecedere mandat;
tum uirgam capit adsuetam, qua sistere fluctus
nouerat et medio pontum diducere uallo;
Chorebumque petit montem, qui plurimus extat
sacratumque caput uicina ad nubila tollit.
illic dura silex conclusas saepserat undas, —
quam super adstabat dominus fontesque ciebat
uirtutum ratione pari, qua flumina toto
distinxit mundo inmensa et marmora fudit.
hanc iussus pulsare ferit rupesque repente
rumpitur et loquente undantibus euomit amnes.

### English translation (Claude)

And lest only those to whom the food of the honeyed gift was sent
should see the memorials of God,
some of it is shut in the protection of a gilded case,
for the band yet to be born and to come one day to see,
and, revering God, to marvel at the food of their forefathers.
After this they move the standards and the long column is led out
to a place which, burning with sun and lacking water,
made the people bring out biting words
against the chief as they demand water; and not with murmuring alone,
but they almost proceeded to violence; for the priest, fearing
stones would be hurled at him, sends words to God on high
and implores rivers for the dry sands.
At once, prompted by the great Lord, his word orders
the elders likewise to go ahead;
then he takes the familiar rod, with which he had known
how to halt the waves and divide the sea with a rampart in the middle,
and makes for Mount Horeb, which stands very high
and lifts its sacred head to the nearby clouds.
There a hard flint had enclosed imprisoned waters,
above which the Lord stood and roused the springs
by the same reckoning of his powers with which he set
immense rivers through the whole world and poured out the seas.
Ordered to strike it, he strikes, and suddenly the rock
bursts and pours forth rivers in flowing waves.

### Scripture references

- Exod 16:31–36: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 17:1–6: allusion, high confidence
- Heb 9:4: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Ad uitam in line 7 (where the place Rephidim is meant) and loquente in line 24 are garbled in the digital text; translated by sense. The gilded case recalls the golden urn of Heb 9:4.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.639 (CSEL 23:79lines 639–662; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-639).

## Exodus, lines 663–686

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-663
- Source: CSEL 23:80lines 663–686
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The place is named Temptation because the people tested God; Amalek attacks, Joshua fights, and Israel prevails while Aaron and Hur hold up Moses’ hands on the mountain.

### Latin text

curritur ad fluctus certatim congrege turba
innumeraeque ruunt pecudes aestumque resoluunt
expletisque redit defessa in corpora uirtus.
ilicet ipse locus causae de nomine nomen
Temptationis habet, populus quod pectoris anceps
ambigua cum mente fuit, an summus in illo
degeret omnipotens, et quod plebs aspera dictis
optasset maledicta duci, quae concipit ira.
istic belligeris Amalec instructa cateruis
Hebraeos fudit cuneos; quod dedecus arcens
Iesus lecta rapit bellantum robora secum :
quem ferrata manu suscepta in bella uadentem
dux uotis precibusque iuuat collemque Chorebum
conscendit celerante gradu, quem iunctus Aronus
et Hurus uallant medium artusque per aeuum
laboris refugos nec standi ad munia fortes
subposito firmant saxo durumque sedile
subiciunt sternuntque duci; tum deinde fluentes
sustentant in prona manus, ut pectoris orsis
palmarum prex iuncta foret; nam saepe cadentes
pondere grandaeuo dubium certamen agebant.
has ubi subpositae firmarunt undique dextrae,
hostiles cedunt acies campique replentur
caede uirum nullusque e tantis milibus extat.

### English translation (Claude)

The crowd runs to the waters in rivalry, in a gathered throng,
and countless cattle rush in and quench the heat,
and strength returns to the weary bodies when filled.
At once the place itself takes from the cause the name
of Temptation, because the people were doubtful in heart
and uncertain in mind whether the highest Almighty dwelt
among them, and because the harsh people had wished
curses on the leader in words that anger conceives.
There Amalek, arrayed with warlike bands,
routed the Hebrew ranks; to ward off this disgrace
Joshua takes with him the chosen strength of the fighters.
As he goes with iron hand into the war undertaken,
the leader helps him with vows and prayers, and climbs
Mount Horeb with hastening step; Aaron, joined with him,
and Hur flank him in the middle, and his limbs, through his age
shrinking from toil and not strong for the duty of standing,
they make firm with a stone placed beneath, and lay a hard seat
under him and spread it for the leader; then they hold up
his drooping hands, so that the prayer of his palms
might join the words of his breast; for often, falling
under their aged weight, they made the contest doubtful.
When right hands placed beneath them on either side had made them firm,
the enemy ranks give way, and the fields are filled
with slaughter of men, and none of so many thousands survives.

### Scripture references

- Exod 17:6–13: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Joshua is called Iesus in the Latin (the Greek and Latin form of his name).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.663 (CSEL 23:80lines 663–686; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-663).

## Exodus, lines 687–711

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-687
- Source: CSEL 23:80lines 687–711–81
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Moses records the victory and builds an altar; Jethro visits, sacrifices, and advises Moses to appoint officers to judge the people; in the third month Israel reaches Sinai and Moses climbs the mountain.

### Latin text

haec fuerant ut gesta deo mandante, propheta
conscripsit docili uentura in tempora libro;
confestimque deo sacratum construit altar.
conpellans per uerba locum fidelia sanctum;
"Spes mihi certa dei, cuius protectio semper
subsidium mihi sola dedit, qui robore clauso
absconsaque manu Sethum dispulit bellantes
Amalechas necat ⟨et⟩ tota cum pube cohortes
Interea generi Iothorus percipit acta
festinusque uenit. oculis dinoscere gaudens,
quae fuerant memorata sibi. saeptumque labore
inuenit inmodico. dum causas noscitat omnes
carentis turbae numero, magnumque precatus
ante deum mactat pecudes; tum deinde monendo
efficit, ut lecta fierent de plebe tribuni
atque alii aliique gradus, quos ordine miles
accipit, ut certa legiones lege regantur,
ac modicas pensent lites. quo iurgia magna
sint soli noscenda duci. quis rite peractis
Iothorus sua tecta petit generumque reliquit.
tertius interea sese per tempora mensis
festinus uariata dedit. cum sola per arua
Sinainum ad montem domini perducitur agmen.
quem uates propere conscendit uocibus actus
ualeret monitisque dei: mox procubus audit:

### English translation (Claude)

When these things had been done at God’s command, the prophet
wrote them in a book to teach the times to come,
and at once he builds an altar consecrated to God,
calling the holy place by faithful words:
“My sure hope is God, whose protection alone
has always given me help, who with hidden strength
and concealed hand drove off the warring Amalekites
and kills them, their cohorts and all their youth.”
Meanwhile Jethro learns of his son-in-law’s deeds
and comes in haste, rejoicing to see with his own eyes
what he had been told; and he finds him hedged in
by immoderate labour, as he hears all the cases
of a crowd past numbering; and, having prayed to the great God,
he sacrifices cattle before him; then by his advice
he brings it about that tribunes are chosen from the people
and further ranks, which the soldiers receive in order,
so that the legions may be ruled by sure law
and settle small disputes, while great quarrels
are to be judged by the leader alone. When this was duly done,
Jethro goes back to his own home and left his son-in-law.
Meanwhile the third month had hastened by
in its varied course, when the Lord’s column is led
through lonely fields to Mount Sinai.
The prophet quickly climbs it, prompted by a voice
and by God’s warnings; soon, prostrate, he hears:

### Scripture references

- Exod 17:14–16: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 18:1–27: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 19:1–3: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 7 has a displaced word in the digital text (Sethum); in line 8 the editor supplies et. Line 24 is garbled (ualeret); translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.687 (CSEL 23:80lines 687–711–81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-687).

## Exodus, lines 712–738

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-712
- Source: CSEL 23:81lines 712–738–82
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God promises that if Israel obeys it will be his treasured people, a priestly kingdom and holy nation; the people agree, and they consecrate themselves for three days, kept back from the mountain.

### Latin text

Haec. (quae) dicta tibi. cunctis narrare memento:
uidistis. quae monstra. uiri. tolerarit Aegyptus.
dum uestri me cura tenet et congrego cunctos
atque ueho, tamquam pinnarum tramite ductos.
quas pandit uolucrum princeps. dum nubila sulcat.
et nunc, si uestras ueniant mea dicta per aures,
ut, quae sunt mandata, fiant et consona iustae
corda haereant legi, plebem uos semper habebo
ditibus insignem rebus cunctisque praeponam
gentibus, ut toto fortes regnetis in orbe.
haec omnis nam terra mea est; et quidquid ubique
gignitur, id iuri subiectum semper aeterno est.
uos captiuosque regnum. mea ut quod dextera clarum,
et gens sancta mihi, longum quae prorogat aeuum."
ille memor iussi, fuerant quae dicta reuoluit
principibus plebis populusque insignibus orsis
credidit et magno submisit corda tonanti.
facturum sese mandata inlustria dicens.
his aliud maius dominus de sedibus altis
instituturus agit uatemque ad munia mittit
sueta sibi cunctosque iubet liquentibus undis
eluere infectas sordes uel ueste uel artu.
abnoctare uiros, ut mente et corpore puris
tertia luce deus celsis uideatur ab astris
monte procul positis, nullus quem comminus adstans
tanget agetque; pecus longa in deserta minare
praecipitur, ne poena foret coniuncta nocenti.

### English translation (Claude)

“Remember to tell all these words spoken to you:
you have seen, men, what wonders Egypt suffered,
while care for you holds me and I gather you all
and carry you as if led on the track of the wings
that the prince of birds spreads as it ploughs the clouds.
And now, if my words come through your ears,
so that what is commanded is done and your hearts
cling in harmony to the just law, I will always have you as a people
distinguished by rich possessions and will set you before all
nations, so that you may reign in strength in the whole world.
For all this earth is mine, and whatever anywhere
is born is always subject to eternal right.
You shall be a kingdom of priests, which my right hand makes famous,
and a nation holy to me, which prolongs a long age.”
He, mindful of the command, repeated what had been said
to the chiefs of the people, and the people believed the notable words
and submitted their hearts to the great Thunderer,
saying that they would do the illustrious commands.
The Lord, about to establish another, greater thing
from his lofty seats, sends the prophet to his accustomed duties
and orders all to wash away in flowing water
the stains from their clothing or their limbs,
and the men to spend the nights apart, so that, pure in mind and body,
they may see God from the lofty stars on the third day,
set far off from the mountain, which no one standing near
shall touch or approach; the cattle are ordered to be driven
into the far desert, lest punishment fall on them with the guilty.

### Scripture references

- Exod 19:3–15: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- In line 13 the digital text repeats the displaced word captiuosque; translated by the sense of Exod 19:6 (‘a kingdom of priests’).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.712 (CSEL 23:81lines 712–738–82; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-712).

## Exodus, lines 739–763

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-739
- Source: CSEL 23:82lines 739–763–83
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The people, purified, see the thunder, lightning, cloud and trumpet on Sinai, and God begins the Ten Commandments: no other gods, no idols, no worship of the heavenly bodies.

### Latin text

quae saxis ferro(ue) uenit, cum missile telum
torquet adacta manus aut cautem uerbera uibrant.
his actis, nullo maculatus corpora naeuo,
prospectat collem populus, cum prima ruborem
tertia luce dedit stellis aurora remotis.
fulmina iamque micant, iam celsis magnus ab astris
auditur fremitus uocum nimbosaque nubes
librata se mole tenet crepituque uerendo
terribiles sonitus iterat tuba saeptaque uallo
in castris plebs maesta tremit montisque sacrati
caelesti testata dei latera ardua fumant.
et quicumque fuit electa ex plebe sacerdos,
monte procul degit. solis quem scandere ius est
Aroni Moysique piis. tum perpete fatu
mansura dat iussa deus hoc ordine legis:
"Ille ego sum dominus. qui te discrimine priuans
Aegypti de terra tuli durumque laborem.
seruilis quem cura dabat. desistere iussi.
me tantum tua corda colant, neque idola pangas
ulla tibi fictumque deum subnixus adores;
numina nec credas, quae sunt inlustria caelo
sidera, uel quidquam in terris mirere perinde,
uel quod glauca tegunt fluitantis marmora ponti.
sum dominus zelans, peccatis criminibus reddens
in patres prolemque dehinc quae quarta creatur;

### English translation (Claude)

that comes by stone or iron, when the hand drives
and hurls the missile weapon or blows shake the rock.
These things done, the people, their bodies stained by no blemish,
look toward the hill, when dawn on the third day
first gave its redness, the stars withdrawn.
And now lightnings flash, now from the lofty stars
a great roar of voices is heard, and the stormy cloud
holds itself poised in its mass, and with awful crash
the trumpet repeats terrible sounds, and, fenced by a rampart
in the camp, the sad people tremble, and the steep sides
of the sacred mountain smoke, bearing witness to God from heaven.
And whoever was a priest from the chosen people
stays far from the mountain, which only the pious
Aaron and Moses may climb. Then in everlasting utterance
God gives commands to endure, in this order of the law:
“I am the Lord, who, freeing you from peril,
brought you out of the land of Egypt and ordered the hard labour
that servile care imposed to cease.
Let your hearts worship me alone, and do not fashion
any idols for yourself or, relying on a made god, worship it;
nor believe to be divinities the stars that shine
in heaven, nor marvel likewise at anything on earth
or what the grey-green waters of the flowing sea cover.
I am a jealous Lord, repaying sins and crimes
on the fathers and then on the offspring born in the fourth generation;

### Scripture references

- Exod 19:13–25: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 20:1–5: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- In line 1 the editor supplies ue.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.739 (CSEL 23:82lines 739–763–83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-739).

## Exodus, lines 764–788

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-764
- Source: CSEL 23:83lines 764–788–84
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The commandments continue: God’s mercy to the obedient, his name, the sabbath grounded in creation, honour to parents, and the prohibitions of adultery, murder, perjury, theft, false witness and coveting, followed by the law of the altar.

### Latin text

misericors multum, maiora et grandia reddens
quae iusti meruere uiri. qui corde sub imo
amplexi mea iussa tenent et mente sequuntur.
tu nomen uenerare dei. tu sabbata festa
cum natis seruisque cole totumque laborem
pone libens, quotiens mundo lux illa recursat.
bis ternis dominus fecit quaecumque diebus
in terris caeloque uegent pontoque tumenti:
septima perfecto uirtutum fine quieuit;
hinc festus uiget ille dies, hinc semper acerbus,
semper honoratus domino indulgente sacratur.
honorem da, nate, tuis genitoribus, ut sis
perpetuae in terris uitae, quam prorogat ingens
ingenti de sede deus. ne dilige moechas.
neue hominem perime, nec sacramenta sinistre
periurans perhibe; furtum ne feceris ullum,
neue malus testis iurgantem fraude tuere.
coniuge ab alterius animum uultumque coherce
et quidquid non esse tuum mens admonet, horre.
aggere de terrae congesta altaria surgant,
hic ubi deuotas fas sit mactare bidentes.
quae si forte sedet saxorum adtollere mole,
ferrum linque procul, quoniam sordentia fiunt
artifici leuigata manu; quae scandere gressu
non sineris prompto, ne forte obscena renudes.

### English translation (Claude)

very merciful, repaying greater and great rewards
that just men have deserved, who in the depth of their heart
embrace my commands, keep them and follow them in mind.
Revere the name of God. Keep the festal sabbaths
with your sons and servants, and gladly lay aside
all labour whenever that day returns to the world.
In twice three days the Lord made whatever
flourishes on land and in heaven and in the swelling sea;
on the seventh, the end of his mighty works complete, he rested;
hence that festal day flourishes, hence it is ever
hallowed, ever honoured by the Lord’s indulgence.
Give honour, son, to your parents, so that you may
have lasting life on earth, which mighty God prolongs
from his mighty seat. Do not love adulteresses,
nor kill a man, nor bear witness to oaths
perjuring yourself wickedly; commit no theft at all,
nor as an evil witness defend a litigant by fraud.
Keep your mind and your eyes from another’s wife,
and shudder at whatever your mind warns is not yours.
Let altars rise built from a heap of earth,
where it is right to sacrifice devoted sheep.
But if perhaps you choose to raise them with a mass of stones,
leave iron far away, since things smoothed by a craftsman’s hand
become defiled; and you shall not climb them
with ready step, lest perhaps you uncover your nakedness.

### Scripture references

- Exod 20:6–26: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The seventh commandment is rendered ‘Do not love adulteresses’ (ne dilige moechas). Acerbus in line 10 is probably corrupt.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.764 (CSEL 23:83lines 764–788–84; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-764).

## Exodus, lines 789–817

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-789
- Source: CSEL 23:84lines 789–817–85
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Laws of the Hebrew slave released in the seventh year or bound for life, of a daughter sold as a slave-wife and her rights if her master takes another, and of murder and the place of refuge for accidental killing.

### Latin text

seruus erit quisquis cognata in gente creatus,
bis ternis seruile iugum patiatur in annis;
post abeat liber, secum sua praemia portans,
coniuge missa simul, si nondum feta uidetur.
ac si iam natis paterno et nomine gaudet.
uxorem et prolem domino dimittere debet.
ipse sui compos nodoque exutus erili.
quod si non dubie mauult persistere uerna,
ante fores domino sanctas sistente locetur
uulnera passurus, tenuis quae subula pungit,
aure tenus molli, numquam cameris in aeuum.
uendere progenitam discreta in gente parenti
non licitum sociaque manet cum plebe potestas;
quam tamen ut seruam nequaquam emittere ius est.
quae si displiceat domino, cui uendita cessit,
reddentur nummi, fuerat taxatio quorum.
ut reuocare queat paterna ad limina sese.
quae si forte datur nato, sic conuenit ipsum
ut natam tractare suam. qui sumere iuste
si mauult, permissa sibi, quis membra teguntur,
indumenta palam faciet, nec deinde negabit,
si coitu sit nota sibi; uel, si rata non sunt
haec conmissa uiro, poterit laxare uadentem,
nec pretium reuocare datum. qui uulnere duro
aequora(uatem sternitque uirum, decumbat eodem,
quo perimet, leto; at si discrimina casu
sunt inlata magis, domino tradente nocentem
ictibus alterius, locus est qui condere possit
donandum uenia, domino indulgente salutem.

### English translation (Claude)

Whoever is a slave born of the kindred nation,
let him bear the servile yoke for twice three years;
then let him go free, carrying his rewards with him,
his wife sent away with him if she is not yet seen to be pregnant.
But if he already rejoices in children and the name of father,
he must leave his wife and offspring to his master,
himself his own man and released from his master’s bond.
But if he decidedly prefers to remain a slave,
let him be placed before the holy doors, his master setting him there,
to suffer the wound that a thin awl pierces
through the soft ear, never free for all time.
It is not lawful for a parent to sell a daughter to a foreign nation;
the power to sell remains with the allied people;
yet it is in no way right to send her away as a slave.
If she displeases the master to whom she passed when sold,
the coins at which she was valued shall be returned,
so that he may send her back to her father’s threshold.
But if perhaps she is given to his son, it is fitting that he
treat her as his own daughter. And if the son prefers to take another lawfully,
he shall openly provide the garments allowed her, with which her limbs are covered,
and shall not then deny her what is hers
if she is known to him by intercourse; or, if these things entrusted
to the man are not kept, he may release her to go
and not reclaim the price given. He who with a hard wound
strikes down a man, let him lie in the same death
with which he kills; but if the harm came rather by chance,
the Lord delivering the guilty man to another’s blows,
there is a place that can shelter him,
to be granted pardon, the Lord indulgently granting safety.

### Scripture references

- Exod 21:1–13: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet paraphrases Exod 21:1–13 freely; lines 18–23 render the protections of the slave-wife in Exod 21:9–11, who may go free if they are not kept. Cameris in line 11 and aequora(uatem in line 25 are displaced words in the digital text; translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.789 (CSEL 23:84lines 789–817–85; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-789).

## Exodus, lines 818–842

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-818
- Source: CSEL 23:85lines 818–842–86
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Laws on wilful murder, striking or cursing parents, kidnapping, injury in a quarrel, killing a slave, and a blow that causes a pregnant woman to miscarry an unformed child.

### Latin text

at uero qui membra dolo uiuentia ferro
disicit et studio gratatur sanguine fuso,
crimen habet mortis, nequiquam tecta requirens
sublimi sacrata deo; nam demitur inde
seiunctusque procul rigido truncabitur ense.
et qui conpellat tumide pulsatue parentes.
in crimen noxale ruit. quod morte piatur.
nec minus ad poenam petitur, qui forte doloso
perfidus ingenio paterna in plebe creatum.
cleptat et acceptis gaudet transcribere nummis.
quod si litigium fuerit per uerba paratum
pulsatusque aliquis pugno saxoque recusso
reciperet solitas uires, nil fraudis haerebit:
soluendum tamen est. sumpsit quod cura medentis.
ancillam seruumque suum qui uerbere uirgae
confestim perimit, poenam non uitat haerentem.
quod si post aliam morietur uernula lucem,
nil noxale subest, pretium quia perdidit eius.
at si forte uiris feruebit rixa duobus,
conmoto dum felle calent. nuptamque tumentem
germine concepto alius pulsarit eorum,
in plagam porrecta manu, partumque futurum
fecerit ante diem materno ex pectore trudi,
restituet pretio partum, taxante marito,
si nondum perfecta fuit expressaque forma.

### English translation (Claude)

But he who by guile severs living limbs with iron
and rejoices zealously in the blood he has shed
has a capital charge and seeks in vain the shelter
holy to God on high; for he is taken from there
and, led far off, will be cut down with the stiff sword.
And he who insolently abuses or strikes his parents
rushes into a guilty crime that is atoned by death.
No less is he sought for punishment who, with deceitful
and faithless mind, steals one born of his fathers’ people
and rejoices to transfer him for coins received.
But if a quarrel has arisen in words
and someone struck with a fist or a stone thrown
recovers his usual strength, no guilt will cling to the striker;
yet he must pay what the physician’s care has cost.
He who at once kills his maidservant or his servant
with the blow of a rod does not escape the penalty that clings to him.
But if the slave dies after another day,
there is no guilt, because he has lost his price.
But if perhaps a quarrel boils up between two men,
while they grow hot with stirred gall, and one of them
strikes a wife swelling with conceived offspring,
his hand stretched out to strike, and causes the child to come
to be thrust from the mother’s womb before its day,
he shall make good the child with a price, as the husband assesses it,
if its form was not yet complete and shaped.

### Scripture references

- Exod 21:12–22: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The distinction between a child not yet formed (a fine) and one formed (death, in the next section) follows the Greek and Old Latin Bible at Exod 21:22–23; the Hebrew text has no such distinction.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.818 (CSEL 23:85lines 818–842–86; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-818).

## Exodus, lines 843–865

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-843
- Source: CSEL 23:86lines 843–865
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The law of retaliation (eye for eye), freedom for a slave maimed by his master, and the laws of the goring ox and the negligent owner.

### Latin text

si uero explicitis decessit uultibus infans,
morte cadet merita. lumen pro lumine rapto
reddet quisque nocens, dentem pro dente resignans,
proque manu dabit ille manum pedemque uicissim,
detruncat quicumque pedem; conbustaque flammis
expiat ignis edax; dabitur pro uulnere uulnus;
liuida liuenti sedantur corpore membra.
quod si quis rapto famulum de lumine priuat
ancillamue suam, missos patiatur abire,
libertas quocumque uocat: uel fragmina dentis
si fuerint decussa manu, solacia sumat
debilitas, ut dona suo pro uulnere penset.
at si praeualida gaudens ceruice his,
expers ruris adhuc curuique inmunis aratri,
cornu ferit quemquam, saxorum mole prematur,
obrutus et. nullo carpendus dente uirorum,
membra dabit terrae liquidos soluenda per artus.
insonti nulla domino discrimina linquens.
quod si consuetum lunata fronte ferire
uicinos. dudum monitus non arca excors.
decumbat pro caede bouis taurusque necetur.
si uero extincti pretium sententia mitis
exigit. et soluat, quidquid taxatio poscit.

### English translation (Claude)

But if the infant has died with its features formed,
he shall fall by a deserved death. Eye for eye taken
each guilty man shall give back, giving up tooth for tooth,
and for hand he shall give hand, and foot in turn,
whoever cuts off a foot; burning by flames
devouring fire expiates; wound shall be given for wound;
bruised limbs are atoned by a bruised body.
But if anyone robs his servant or his maidservant
of an eye, let him let them go free
wherever freedom calls; or if fragments of a tooth
are struck out by his hand, let the injured one receive consolation,
so that gifts may make up for the wound.
But if a bull, rejoicing in its very strong neck,
still unused to the field and free from the curved plough,
strikes anyone with its horn, let it be crushed with a mass of stones,
and, buried, not to be eaten by any tooth of men,
it shall give its limbs to the earth, to be dissolved in its liquid joints,
leaving no danger to its innocent owner.
But if, used to strike its neighbours with crescent brow,
its owner, long warned, has heedlessly not shut it in,
let him die for the slaying by the ox, and let the bull be killed.
But if a milder sentence demands the price of the dead,
let him pay whatever the assessment requires.

### Scripture references

- Exod 21:23–30: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- His in line 13 and arca excors in line 20 are garbled in the digital text; translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.843 (CSEL 23:86lines 843–865; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-843).

## Exodus, lines 866–888

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-866
- Source: CSEL 23:87lines 866–888
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Further laws on the goring ox, the uncovered pit, an ox killing another ox, theft of livestock, and the thief caught breaking in by night or by day.

### Latin text

hoc etiam pro caede sui fas poscere nati
uel natae quemcumque uirum. si seruulus ictu
decubuit tauri, ter denos pendere nummos
cura tenet dominum saeuo pereunte iuuenco.
at si quis multa puteum demittere fossa
egesto uult usque solo, mox tegmine claudat,
ne, si forte pecus fuerit per prona uolutum,
damna luat, domino pretium poscente, ruentum
empturus pecudum tenui solamine carnes.
quod si forte bouem bos cornu occiderit unco,
uendatur; pretium fiat commune duorum
diuiduaque legant mactati uiscera tauri.
quod si iam uitium fuerat testatius eius,
pro pecude pecudem dominus redhibebit amissa
innocuus, strati praesumens membra iuuenci.
qui uitulum cleptat, cogatur reddere quinque;
bis binas soluat quicumque auerterit agnam.
nocturnum furem licitum prosternere ferro.
dum penetrat postes obsaeptaque limina rumpit.
si uero exorto fuerit flumine sole prehensus.
dupliciter redhibere nocens sublata iubetur.
quae si non fuerint in censu et uiribus eius,
uendetur, manuum pensurus furta labore.

### English translation (Claude)

Any man may also demand this for the killing of his son
or daughter. If a slave has fallen by the blow
of a bull, it is the master’s duty to pay thirty coins,
and the savage bullock is killed.
But if anyone wishes to sink a well by deep digging,
removing the soil to the bottom, let him close it soon with a cover,
lest, if perhaps a beast has rolled down the slope,
he pay the damages, the owner demanding the price of those that fell,
and buy the carcasses of the cattle as slight consolation.
But if perhaps an ox kills an ox with its hooked horn,
let it be sold; let the price be shared by the two,
and let them take the divided flesh of the slain bull.
But if its fault had been clearly attested before,
the owner shall give back beast for beast for the one lost,
the innocent man taking the limbs of the slain bullock.
Whoever steals a calf shall be compelled to return five;
whoever carries off a lamb shall pay twice two.
It is lawful to lay low a night thief with iron
while he breaks through the doorposts and the barred thresholds.
But if he is caught after the sun has risen,
the guilty man is ordered to return twofold what was taken.
And if this is beyond his property and means,
he shall be sold, to pay for his thefts by the labour of his hands.

### Scripture references

- Exod 21:31–36: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 22:1–4: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Flumine in line 20 is a word displaced in the digital text; translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.866 (CSEL 23:87lines 866–888; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-866).

## Exodus, lines 889–912

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-889
- Source: CSEL 23:87lines 889–912–88
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Laws on damage to another’s field by grazing or fire, and on goods and cattle given in trust and stolen.

### Latin text

cuius forte pecus segetem uitemue uirentem
nudatis aut patulo carptim arca ore,
iugera fecundi mensuret protinus agri
prouentu spatioque pari: sic damna resoluet,
quae fuerint inlata prius. haec formula nectit
hos etiam, qui tota simul noualia uerrunt
pampineasque metunt consumpto palmite uites.
ut quae magnifica proprios habuere per agros.
amittant ratione pari. nam stridulus ignis.
fomite de modico solitus conprendere uepres.
arentem stipulam et truncos cortice nudos.
si segetem alterius uitemue absumpserit aestu.
crimen ad auctoris merita per damna recurrit.
ut reddat quidquid noxalis flamma peredit.
depositum redhibere decet: quod perfida furum
si fuerit populata manus, auctore reperto
duplex summa datur: si uero est abditus ille.
auersas qui dempsit opes. hostia sola
exortem culpae faciet, quia fraude carebit.
at si mendoso fallax nudatur in astu.
depositi reddat geminum sub iudice pondus.
haec etiam in pecudum causis mensura tenenda est:
propterea ut, furto quae sunt direpta sinistro.
restituat, cuius fuerit custodia segnis.

### English translation (Claude)

If anyone’s beast has stripped another’s crop or green vine,
cropping it bit by bit with wide mouth,
let him at once measure out acres of fertile field
of equal yield and extent; so he will repay the damage
that was done before. This rule binds
those too who sweep all the fallow lands together
and reap the leafy vines, consuming the shoots,
so that they lose, by the same reckoning, what they had in plenty
in their own fields. For the crackling fire,
used to catching thorns from a little kindling,
dry stubble and trunks stripped of bark,
if it has consumed another’s crop or vine with its heat,
the guilt returns on its author through the damages he owes,
so that he repays whatever the guilty flame devoured.
It is right to return a deposit: if the faithless hand of thieves
has plundered it, when the thief is found
a double sum is paid; but if he who took the stolen wealth
remains hidden, a sacrifice alone
will make the keeper free of guilt, because he is free of fraud.
But if, deceitful, he is exposed in lying cunning,
let him return twice the weight of the deposit before a judge.
This measure too must be kept in cases of cattle:
that he whose guarding was slack
restores what was carried off by wicked theft.

### Scripture references

- Exod 22:5–12: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet has the trustee clear himself by a sacrifice where Exod 22:8 has him come before God.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.889 (CSEL 23:87lines 889–912–88; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-889).

## Exodus, lines 913–937

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-913
- Source: CSEL 23:88lines 913–937–89
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Laws on animals killed by beasts, borrowed or hired animals, the seduction of an unbetrothed virgin, sorcery, bestiality, sacrifice to demons, and care for strangers, widows and orphans.

### Latin text

at si molle pecus rabies uesana luporum
lancinat, ostensa mitescunt iurgia carne.
quod si quis geminos ducenda ad plaustra iuuencos
commodat, enormi non dicat pondere functos
idem. si fuerit praesens, stimulator euntum.
hoc etiam in reliquis, quos pressant pondera iussa.
sed si festinos accepta animalia perdit.
quisquis agit. ius est, ut damnum sentiat omne.
quae si perdiderit posita mercede locatus,
illa operae in pretio promptim taxanda locabit.
uirginis haut sponsae si quis sibi sumpserit usum,
uxorem cum dote sibi sociabit eandem.
quod si coniugio mens est non consona raptae,
munera det, thalamis quae sunt accommoda, patri.
maleficum celare nefas. mors dura necabit
permixtum pecudi coitus deformis in actu.
linquat uita uiros demonum sacella uerentes.
quandoquidem soli domino fas subdere colla.
nemo peregrinum uiolet uerboue manuue:
idcirco quoniam uosmet suscepit Aegyptus
linquentes genitale solum sedemque priorem.
femina defuncto ne sit temnenda marito,
sed palpanda magis puerique parentibus orbi.
ne paribus poenis subeant fidus nocentes
destituantque suos celeri exterritus funere rapti:

### English translation (Claude)

But if the mad rage of wolves tears the soft flock,
the quarrel is calmed when the flesh is shown.
But if anyone lends a pair of bullocks to draw wagons,
let him not claim they died under an enormous load
if he himself was present as driver as they went.
This holds also for other beasts pressed by loads put on them.
But if he who drives them loses the animals received in haste,
it is right that he bear the whole loss.
But if a man hired for an agreed wage loses them,
he shall promptly reckon them in the price of the work.
If anyone takes for himself a maiden not betrothed,
he shall join her to himself as wife with a dowry.
But if there is no agreement to marriage with the girl he has taken,
let him give her father the gifts that befit a marriage.
It is wrong to hide a sorcerer. Hard death shall kill
one who mingles with a beast in the act of shameful intercourse.
Let life leave men who revere the shrines of demons,
since it is right to bow the neck to the Lord alone.
Let no one wrong a stranger by word or hand,
because Egypt received you
when you left your native soil and former seat.
Let a woman whose husband has died not be despised,
but rather cherished, and boys bereft of parents,
lest the guilty suffer the same penalties
and, terrified by swift death, leave their own bereft:

### Scripture references

- Exod 22:13–24: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The last two lines are garbled in the digital text (fidus; rapti); translated by sense of Exod 22:24.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.913 (CSEL 23:88lines 913–937–89; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-913).

## Exodus, lines 938–962

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-938
- Source: CSEL 23:89lines 938–962–90
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Laws against usury and on returning a pledged cloak by sunset, against reviling the gods and rulers, on first fruits and the firstborn, on unclean meat, false witness and partiality, and on helping an enemy’s beast.

### Latin text

acta nam corda deus auditque iuuatque.
credito poscenti nummorum quos rogat usum.
seposita mercede procul usuraque turpi;
nec festinus age trepidantem. ut sumpta reformet.
ac si forte sui uelamen corporis idem
committit traditque tibi pro pignore nummi.
restitue. sol ante caput quam condat olympo.
misericors ego sum dominus: hos audio promptim.
externis cessate deis maledicere cuncti
praecipuisque uiris. populi qui frena tenebunt.
fructibus e primis domino pia dona referto
et quemcumque creas primo de germine nuptae,
sacrabis domino, sol postquam septimus altum
est permensus iter. ut sitis sancta propago.
extinctam pecudem raptorum dente luporum
nullus edat: mensis quae non sunt digna refutet.
non credes narrata tibi, quae nulla fidei
firmamenta iuuant. neu falsum dicere testis
iniqua cum mente uelis. nec pluribus unum
additus in coetum certes superare nocentem,
ut tenuem et modicum quaesito ex crimine damnes.
quin potius si forte pecus errare uidebis,
cum quo corda tibi non sunt coniuncta, reforma.
et si mole graui iumenta obnoxia sunt,
erige et alternis conitens subleua palmis.

### English translation (Claude)

for God hears and helps afflicted hearts.
Grant on credit to one who asks the use of the coins he requests,
putting far away interest and shameful usury;
and do not hastily press the trembling man to repay what he took.
And if perhaps he entrusts and hands over to you the covering of his body
as a pledge for the money,
return it before the sun hides its head from heaven.
I am the merciful Lord: I hear these at once.
Cease, all of you, to curse foreign gods,
and especially the men who will hold the reins of the people.
Bring pious gifts to the Lord from the first fruits,
and whatever you beget as the firstborn of a bride
you shall consecrate to the Lord after the seventh sun has measured
its high journey, so that you may be a holy race.
Let no one eat a beast killed by the tooth of ravening wolves;
let him refuse what is unworthy of tables.
You shall not believe reports made to you that no support
of good faith upholds; nor wish to speak falsely as a witness
with unjust mind; nor, joined as one to the many
in a crowd, strive to overpower the innocent
so as to condemn the weak and humble on a trumped-up charge.
Rather, if perhaps you see wandering the beast
of one whose heart is not joined to yours, bring it back.
And if beasts of burden are borne down by heavy weight,
raise them, and, straining, lift them with both hands.

### Scripture references

- Exod 22:25–31: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 23:1–5: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘Cease to curse foreign gods’ follows the Greek Bible at Exod 22:28 (‘you shall not revile gods’). Acta in line 1 is probably corrupt; translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.938 (CSEL 23:89lines 938–962–90; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-938).

## Exodus, lines 963–987

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-963
- Source: CSEL 23:90lines 963–987–91
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Laws against bribery, the sabbatical year for the poor, the three annual feasts of unleavened bread, harvest and ingathering, and the rule that no one appear before God empty-handed.

### Latin text

innocuum ne sterne uirum, nam pectore iusto est.
munera non sumes trepidi pro cura nocentis
sollicitique rei, quoniam mox lumina caecant
sermonesque uirum cunctaque examina frangunt.
uberibus glebis bis ternos cultor in annos
immineat uegetus, debet quia septimus esse
otia lenta ferens, quo pauper quisque capessat
quae fuerant generata palam. laetusque relinquat
quae superant mandenda feris, dum saltibus errant.
circite perpetua uolucris dum uoluitur annus,
diuisos in trina modos sollemnia uobis
septeno seruanda die, quo mollia ius est
azyma triticeo gaudentes sumere farre,
ut monui dudum, primo uos mense nouorum,
libertas cum plena fuit discedere Aegypto.
ante meos uultus uacuus ne prodeat ullus.
primitias operum messisque exordia nosce
festa tibi, quotiens sementem sparseris agro.
uel cum decurso requies coniungitur anno,
omnibus explicitis, generat quae cura laborum.
omnis homo trinum distinguat tempus in anno.
ante meos possit quo sese ostendere uultus.
nam cum laeta tibi fuerit possessio terrae
gentibus edomitis commissa et credita, nosce
azyma sola meis ponenda altaribus esse;

### English translation (Claude)

Do not lay low an innocent man, for he is of a just heart.
You shall not take gifts to favour a trembling guilty man
and an anxious defendant, since they soon blind the eyes
and break the words of men and every judgment.
On rich clods let the vigorous farmer labour for twice three years,
because the seventh must be one
that brings slow leisure, in which every poor man may take
what has grown openly, and gladly leave
what remains to be eaten by wild beasts as they roam the glades.
In the perpetual circle, as the winged year revolves,
festivals of three kinds are to be kept by you,
and on the seventh day it is right, rejoicing,
to take soft azyma of wheaten meal,
as I warned you long ago, in the first month of the new season,
when you had full freedom to depart from Egypt.
Let no one come empty-handed before my face.
Know that the first fruits of your works and the beginnings of the harvest
are festivals for you, whenever you scatter seed in the field,
or when rest is joined to the year’s completed course,
all things being finished that the care of labour produces.
Let every man mark three times in the year
at which he may show himself before my face.
For when the glad possession of the land
has been committed and entrusted to you, the nations subdued, know
that only unleavened bread is to be set on my altars;

### Scripture references

- Exod 23:6–18: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.963 (CSEL 23:90lines 963–987–91; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-963).

## Exodus, lines 988–1011

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-988
- Source: CSEL 23:91lines 988–1011–92
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Laws on sacrifice and the kid in its mother’s milk; God promises to send his angel before the people to bring them into the land and to drive out the nations, and forbids worship of their gods.

### Latin text

multimodas pecudes et rubram sanguinis undam
nil festis prodesse tuis adipemque Gomorra,
peruigilem et noctem durare in tempora lucis.
quae redeunt, quotiens sacrorum cura recursat.
agnus neue tener materno in lacte coquatur.
ecce ego sidereum caelesti ex arce ministrum
ad curam dimitto tuam, qui robore multo
uadentem ad terram foueat. quae pinguibus aruis
laeta uiret dulcesque euoluit nectaris undas.
hunc audire parans sacratis crede loquellis.
coniunctus est ille tibi fidusque manebit.
perpetuum retinens caelesti in uertice nomen.
heia agite sanctisque auditum iungite dictis.
mandatumque meum sincera adsumite mente;
ut sitis plebs cara mihi populusque beatus
et regnum sublime dei. gens ardua semper,
omnibus in terris, quas sol utrumque recurrens
adspicit et calido mundum conplectitur axe.
concordes palpabo tuos cunctisque resistam,
qui tecum bellare parant; tibi cedet Amorreus
Cethaeusque ferox et quos nunc optima tellus
sustinet, in saeclum te mox uertenda colono.
prouide, ne uetitis adclines colla sacellis
hostilesque deos trepide subnixus adores.

### English translation (Claude)

that manifold cattle and the red stream of blood
avail nothing for your feasts, and that the fat
shall not last through the wakeful night into the hours of light
that return whenever the care of the rites recurs.
And let not a tender lamb be cooked in its mother’s milk.
See, I send a starry minister from the heavenly citadel
to take care of you, to cherish you with much strength
as you go to the land that flourishes gladly with rich fields
and pours out sweet waves of nectar.
Prepare to hear him and trust his holy words.
He is joined to you and will remain faithful,
keeping an everlasting name at heaven’s summit.
Come now, join your hearing to the holy words
and take up my command with sincere mind,
that you may be a people dear to me and a blessed nation
and a lofty kingdom of God, a race always exalted
in all lands that the sun, returning on either side,
beholds as it embraces the world with its hot axle.
I will cherish those who agree with you and resist all
who prepare to war with you; the Amorite will yield to you,
and the fierce Hittite and those whom now the best of lands
sustains, soon to be turned over to you as its tiller for ever.
Take care not to bend your necks to forbidden shrines
or, relying on them in fear, worship hostile gods.

### Scripture references

- Exod 23:18–24: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Gomorra in line 2 is a word displaced in the digital text; translated by sense of Exod 23:18.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.988 (CSEL 23:91lines 988–1011–92; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-988).

## Exodus, lines 1012–1040

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-420/#p-2-1012
- Source: CSEL 23:92lines 1012–1040–93
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God promises blessing, health, fertility and long life, hornets to drive out the nations gradually, and borders from the Red Sea to the Euphrates; he calls Moses, Aaron and seventy elders up the mountain, and Moses builds an altar.

### Latin text

quin potius profana rue atque idola cuncta
disice cum titulis inscriptaque nomina dele,
ut possis seruire deo, quem cuncta tremiscunt.
mox uictum sacrabo tuum fontesque meantes;
morborumque tuo demam de corpore pestes.
nullus inops nati tota de plebe dolebit
paternum non esse sibi nomenque decusque.
longinquos praestabo dies. quis terminus aeui
laxior optatae producat tempora uitae.
ante tuas acies tristis formido uolabit,
atque uenenato praecurrent uulnere uespae.
ut tua belligeris metuantur signa maniplis,
perque feras gentes facilis uictoria cedat.
quas tamen edomitas faciam decrescere sensim,
ne uacua sit terra uiris, atque sanctum multo
increscat nimia rabidarum turba ferarum.
milite diffuso faciam se extendere fines
telluris sedisque tuae, qua marmore rubro.
aestuat oceanus uentosis lubricus undis.
usque Philistinum pelagus terramque carentem
humano cultore, cluens atque agmine multo
qua fluit Euphrates uitreis perlucidus undis. "
Haec ubi detonuit, dominus conscendere collem
Aronem Moysenque iubet ac nobilis aeui
septuaginta uiros longeque inflectere colla
aeterno summoque deo; nam comminus ipsum
permittit properare ducem, qui iussa facessens
sancta dei celsum confestim construit altar
monte sub eximio. uacuas qui surgit in auras:

### English translation (Claude)

Rather overthrow the profane things and scatter all the idols
with their inscriptions, and blot out the inscribed names,
so that you may serve God, before whom all things tremble.
Soon I will bless your food and flowing springs
and take away the plagues of disease from your body.
No one in all the people will grieve for lack of a child
that he has not his father’s name and honour.
I will grant long days, so that a broader term of life
may prolong the times of the life you long for.
Before your ranks sad terror will fly,
and hornets will run ahead with poisoned sting,
so that your standards may be feared by warlike companies
and easy victory may come through fierce nations.
Yet I will make them, once subdued, decrease gradually,
lest the land be empty of men and
the crowd of rabid beasts increase too greatly.
With your soldiers spread out I will make the bounds
of your land and seat extend, from where, by the Red Sea,
the slippery ocean surges with windy waves,
as far as the Philistine sea, and the land without
human tillers, renowned, and with its great flow,
where the Euphrates runs clear with glassy waves.”
When he had thundered these words, the Lord bids Aaron
and Moses climb the hill, and seventy men of noble age,
and bow their necks from afar
to the eternal and highest God; for he allows the leader himself
to hasten near, who, carrying out the holy commands
of God, at once builds a lofty altar
at the foot of the outstanding mountain that rises into the empty air:

### Scripture references

- Exod 23:24–33: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 24:1–4: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 15 is garbled in the digital text (atque sanctum multo); translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.1012 (CSEL 23:92lines 1012–1040–93; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1012).

## Exodus, lines 1041–1065

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-2-1041
- Source: CSEL 23:93lines 1041–1065–94
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Moses sets up twelve pillars, sacrifices, sprinkles the people with the blood of the covenant and reads the book; the elders see the sapphire pavement under God’s feet; Moses goes up with Joshua and the cloud covers the mountain six days.

### Latin text

bissenos lapides. tribuum quae summa uidetur.
comminus adiungens. hic nondum quarum iuuencos
exhibet armata sacrisque hos inmolat aris;
sanguine de quorum partem diffundit ad altar.
creterrae instillans aliam, plebemque frequentem
spargit rore leui, librumque euoluit aeterni
seruantem monumenta dei. quae consona postquam
dixit cara sibi docilis sententia plebis,
conscendit tumidum lento molimine collem
grandaeuosque senes fratremque in uertice sistit.
hi simul adspiciunt rutilantem fulgure gemmam.
in qua siderei steterant uestigia regis:
sapphira nomen habet; caelumque hic uisitur albens
praetentum per dorsa iugi: quae cuncta uerentes
sublimi cum laude ferunt uictumque capessunt.
interea, monitis uates senioribus illic
sidere, Iesutem secum subiungere gressus
pacato de corde Sennarum. Hurumque relinquit
Aronemque suis, certantum ut iurgia noscant
aequa lance uirum iurisque ut uerba loquantur.
ipse ubi sanctifici tenuit iuga plurima collis,
labitur aetherio propere nubs fulgida caelo
et montem conplexa tegit uatemque seorsum
occulit a sociis terno bis lumine solis.
septima iamque dies niueum patefecerat axem.

### English translation (Claude)

twelve stones, which are the number of the tribes,
joining them close. Here he brings forth bullocks never yoked
and sacrifices them on the sacred altars;
part of their blood he pours out on the altar,
lets another part drip into a bowl, and sprinkles the thronging people
with a light dew, and unrolls the book that keeps
the memorials of the eternal God. After the people dear to him
had spoken their docile and harmonious assent,
he climbs the swelling hill with slow effort
and sets the aged elders and his brother on the summit.
These together behold a gem glowing with lightning,
on which the feet of the starry King had stood;
it has the name of sapphire; and a white sky is seen here
stretched across the ridges of the mountain; revering all this,
they utter lofty praise and take food.
Meanwhile the prophet, having told the elders to remain there,
has Joshua join his steps with him
with peaceful heart, and leaves Hur
and Aaron to his people, so that they may hear the quarrels of disputing men
with an equal scale and speak the words of law.
When he himself reached the many ridges of the holy hill,
a shining cloud glides swiftly from the heavenly sky,
enfolds and covers the mountain, and hides the prophet apart
from his companions for twice three lights of the sun.
And now the seventh day had opened the snowy sky,

### Scripture references

- Exod 24:4–16: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 2–3 (quarum … armata) and line 18 (Sennarum) are garbled in the digital text; translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.1041 (CSEL 23:93lines 1041–1065–94; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041).

## Exodus, lines 1066–1089

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-2-1066
- Source: CSEL 23:94lines 1066–1089–95
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: For forty days God gives Moses the pattern of the sanctuary: the gold-covered ark with its rings, the cherubim, and the many vessels, which the poet says are too many for verse to name.

### Latin text

cum dominus media conpellat nube prophetam.
mirificas inter flammas dum fulgidus infit,
atque quater denis uati dat iussa diebus;
noscere quis posset, quae sint sacraria summo
digna deo, lignisque iubet haec ardua pangi
perpetuo ualidis. nulla quae dissipat aetas.
haec miris descendit modis mensuraque iussa
lammina conspicui praeuelat ductilis auri.
conectens geminos tereti uertigine circlos
in dextrum laeuumque latus, qua sancta coluntur.
inde leuigatis intexit frondibus arcam,
in qua perpetui maneant mandata tonantis.
quin etiam rutilo prorumpere perficit auro
diuersosque locat, qua sese altaria pandunt,
alarum splendore pari similique uolatu,
ceu moueant agiles uentosa in nubila pinnas.
multaque praeterea rerum commenta nouarum
mirificis sunt facta modis, quae dicere qui uult,
expromet citius pelagus quas uoluat harenas.
sed neque quam multae species nec nomina quae sint.
lex numeris adstricta potest depromere fando.
dum cyathos uates, phialas, mortaria pangit
caelatasque facit gestanda ad munera lances
et quae Thara subduntur fulchra lucernis.

### English translation (Claude)

when the Lord calls the prophet from the midst of the cloud,
while, shining, he begins amid wondrous flames,
and gives the prophet commands for forty days,
so that he might know what sanctuaries are worthy
of the highest God; and he orders them to be fixed with lofty timbers,
strong for ever, which no age dissolves.
It was made in wondrous ways, and a ductile sheet
of conspicuous gold covers the commanded measure,
joining pairs of rings with smooth roundness
on the right and left side where the holy things are worshipped.
Then he made an ark of smoothed wood,
in which the commands of the everlasting Thunderer might remain.
Moreover he makes cherubim come forth from ruddy gold
and places them facing apart where the altar opens,
with equal splendour of wings and like flight,
as though they moved nimble wings into the windy clouds.
And many other contrivances of new things besides
were made in wondrous ways; whoever wishes to tell them
would sooner set out the sands the sea rolls.
But neither how many kinds there are, nor what their names,
can verse, bound by metre, set out in speech,
while the prophet fashions ladles, bowls and mortars,
and makes engraved dishes to be carried for the offerings,
and the stands placed under the lamps.

### Scripture references

- Exod 24:18: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 25:1–40: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Lines 20–21 are the poet’s remark that metre (lex numeris adstricta) cannot hold the list. Thara in line 24 is a displaced word in the digital text.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.1066 (CSEL 23:94lines 1066–1089–95; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1066).

## Exodus, lines 1090–1114

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-2-1090
- Source: CSEL 23:95lines 1090–1114
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The curtains, the priestly vestments with the twelve engraved gems of the breastplate, the gold plate, the linen undergarments, and the sacrifices of atonement are described.

### Latin text

iam quaecumque tegunt sacratam desuper arcam
aut uelant postes, ardenti e Lothus tinxit.
quin etiam Melchae texuntur pallia peplo,
Aroni uatibusque piis, qui munera libant
in tectis sacrata dei, gemmaeque coruscae
inhaerent sinibus signantes nomina sena
distinctim tribuum, quarum de corpore plebs est.
singula nobilibus signantes nomina gemmis.
sedes prima loco. topazo adiuncta smaragdus:
sapphirus hanc sequitur, cum qua carbunculus ardet,
iaspisque uiget fuluoque intermicat auro:
tertia ligurio senes: effrenis Sarram fluuius
atque amethysto. fulgens quem purpura tingit.
chrysolithus quartus, berillo adnexus onychnus.
additur aetherii signum uenerabile regis,
lammina conspicui formatum quod tenet auri.
lintea quin etiam niuoso uice textu
in laxos cohibere sinus atque indere membris
praecipitur partemque obscenam condere carnis.
ne, dum sacra uehunt, denudent turpia uates.
haec inter totus sacrorum euoluitur ordo:
peccatum quae dona leuent. quaeue hostia ferro
icta cadat sanctamque dei determinat iram.
nam quicumque uirum sacrata altaria tangit,
sanctior efficitur purgatus pectora naeuo.

### English translation (Claude)

Now whatever covers the sacred ark from above
or veils the posts he dyed with burning scarlet;
moreover robes are woven with a purple mantle
for Aaron and the pious priests, who offer gifts
in the holy dwelling of God, and flashing gems
cling to the folds, marking the names
of the tribes, from whose body the people comes,
marking single names with noble gems.
The first row in its place: the emerald joined to the topaz;
the sapphire follows it, with which the carbuncle burns,
and the jasper flourishes and gleams amid tawny gold;
the third row with the ligure, the agate
and the amethyst, shining, dyed with purple;
the fourth, the chrysolite, the onyx joined to the beryl.
The venerable sign of the heavenly King is added,
formed on a sheet of conspicuous gold.
Moreover linen garments of snowy weave
are ordered to be gathered into loose folds and put on the limbs
to hide the private parts of the flesh,
lest the priests uncover what is shameful as they carry the sacred things.
Meanwhile the whole order of sacrifices is set out:
what gifts lighten sin, what victim struck by iron
falls and ends the holy wrath of God.
For whoever of men touches the sacred altar
is made holier, cleansed of the stain in his heart.

### Scripture references

- Exod 26:1–37: allusion, medium confidence
- Exod 28:1–43: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 29:1–37: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Lothus (line 2), Melchae (line 3) and Sarram fluuius (line 12) are words displaced in the digital text; translated by sense. The poet’s order of the gems differs from Exod 28:17–20.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.1090 (CSEL 23:95lines 1090–1114; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1090).

## Exodus, lines 1115–1142

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-2-1115
- Source: CSEL 23:96lines 1115–1142
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The ever-burning lamp, the anointing oil and the incense are prescribed; Bezalel and Oholiab are given skill; Moses receives the tablets written by God’s finger; and the people press Aaron for gods, and he asks for their gold earrings.

### Latin text

pendeat ut lychnus semper laquearibus altis
incensus noctemque suo de lumine uincat.
edicit censura dei. ne forte tenebrae horrificam faciant per sancta altaria noctem.
ponitur et liquidi nonnumquam sucus oliui,
sanctificans hominum carnes. dum uertice summo
liquitur et crasso perfundit unguine membra:
adice tusque, leuis cuius fit naribus aptus
halitus et dulces inrorat sensibus auras.
ilicet ut magni splenderet machina templi
ornatuque suo cunctas transcenderet aedes.
perdociles tribuit sensus et maxima fabris
ornamenta deus omnesque his indidit artes
Achisamo de Dana tribu iunctoque Beselo,
ex Iuda cui classe fuit clarigena origo.
utque forent domini populo notissima dicta.
accipit e gemina formatas caute tabellas
propheta tribuente deo, quas pollice sancto
et paribus scripsit digitis manus inclita regis.
interea populus. metata in castra locatus,
dum uatem deesse suum iam tempore multo
mordaci sub corde gemit nusquamque uideri
murmurat. adsidue deposcit numina demens
Aronem peruersa sibi; quos ille frementes
instantesque diu deferre ac tradere iussit
ornatus. quos aure gerunt nataeque nurusque,
natiua dum forma parum splendoris habere
ducitur et turpi de uulnere defluit aurum.

### English translation (Claude)

that a lamp should always hang from the lofty ceiling,
lit, and overcome the night with its light,
God’s decree declares, lest perhaps darkness
make a dreadful night through the holy altars.
The juice of liquid olive is also set there at times,
hallowing the flesh of men, as it flows from the top of the head
and drenches the limbs with thick ointment;
add incense too, whose light breath becomes fitting for the nostrils
and bedews the senses with sweet airs.
Then, so that the fabric of the great temple might shine
and surpass all buildings in its adornment,
God gave teachable minds and the greatest
skill to the craftsmen and put all arts in them,
in Oholiab of the tribe of Dan and in Bezalel joined with him,
who had a famous origin from the company of Judah.
And so that the Lord’s words might be best known to the people,
the prophet receives tablets formed from a twofold rock,
God giving them, which the King’s famous hand wrote
with holy thumb and like fingers.
Meanwhile the people, placed in the measured camp,
groaning in biting heart that their prophet has long been absent
and muttering that he is nowhere seen, madly
and constantly demand of Aaron perverse divinities for themselves;
he, as they raged and pressed long, ordered them to bring and hand over
the ornaments their daughters and wives wear in their ears,
since their native beauty is thought to have too little splendour,
and gold hangs down from a shameful wound.

### Scripture references

- Exod 27:20–21: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 30:22–38: allusion, medium confidence
- Exod 31:1–18: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 32:1–3: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text leaves line 1115 empty (a lacuna or lost line); the section begins at line 1116. Line 3 runs two lines of the poem together.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.1115 (CSEL 23:96lines 1115–1142; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1115).

## Exodus, lines 1143–1166

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-2-1143
- Source: CSEL 23:96lines 1143–1166–97
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Aaron makes the golden calf and proclaims a feast; the people revel, and God tells Moses to go down, for the people have sinned, and resolves to destroy them.

### Latin text

hoc ubi congessit populus, coniecit in ignem
mollitumque dehinc eruens flamma camini
miscuit et torua formauit fronte iuuencum
uenturumque diem sollemnem confore dixit.
ilicet albentes cum primum lucifer ignes
protulit et celso noctem seclusit olympo.
consurgit Iudaea manus damnosaque festa
laeta colit multisque infundit pectora poclis.
atque exultantes ducit furiata choreas.
aspicit haec celsa dominus sublimis in arce
innocuumque iubet propere descendere uatem.
dum memorat: "Decurre citus. montemque relinque.
peruersi ductor populi plebisque magister.
quam profana iuuant; peccauit praesule multum
te Iudaea suo, dum sanctos despicit actus.
en quibus indomiti Pharaonis soluere uincla
principe te licuit furuaque exire Canopo.
praeuaricatores taurinis uultibus adstant
proque deo celebrant mentiti membra iuuenci
et libertatis memorant id nunc suae numen.
tu motus ne flecte meos neue obuius ito,
dum meritos his mitto metus dignamque ruinam.
nec tu iacturam metuas. ne dempta potestas
culmen ad alterius confestim missa recurrat.

### English translation (Claude)

When the people had gathered this, he threw it into the fire,
and then, taking out what the furnace flame had softened,
mixed it and formed a bullock with grim brow,
and said that the next day would be a solemn feast.
At once, when the morning star first brought forth its white fires
and shut the night out from lofty heaven,
the Jewish band rises and gladly keeps the ruinous feast
and floods their breasts with many cups,
and, maddened, leads exulting dances.
The Lord on high sees these things from his lofty citadel
and orders the innocent prophet to go down quickly,
saying: “Run down quickly and leave the mountain,
leader of a perverse people and master of a crowd
that profane things please; Judea has sinned greatly
under your leadership, while it despises holy acts.
See, those whom you led, who were allowed to loose
the bonds of untamed Pharaoh and to go out from dark Egypt,
stand as transgressors before a bull’s face
and celebrate as God the limbs of a counterfeit bullock,
and now call this the divinity of their freedom.
Do not try to bend my anger, nor stand in my way,
while I send them deserved terrors and a fitting ruin.
Nor need you fear loss, as though the power taken away
would at once pass to another’s summit.

### Scripture references

- Exod 32:4–10: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.1143 (CSEL 23:96lines 1143–1166–97; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1143).

## Exodus, lines 1167–1192

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-2-1167
- Source: CSEL 23:97lines 1167–1192–98
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God offers to make a greater nation of Moses, who intercedes: the Egyptians would say God led Israel out to die, and God swore to the patriarchs to multiply their offspring.

### Latin text

dabitur in Terris multum praestantior armis
gens ignota tibi, quae sit te principe uictrix."
Territus his uates dominum subnixus adorat
talibus effatus: "Cur tantis motibus exit
in populum nunc ira tuum, quem dura gementem
imperia nimium metuens laxauit Aegyptus,
dum te, magne, timet, dum celsae robora dextrae
terrificant fracta miseram ceruice tyrannum ?
et nunc, o domine, quid dicet turba Canopi.
captiuis priuata suis infensaque plebi,
quam cernit nunc esse tuam, nisi te, deus ingens.
nequiquam consueta tibi pietate fauentem
produxisse uiros deserta in sede necandos.
dum uastos inter saltus sua funera ducunt.
sublimis indulge tuis uultumque serenum
exhibe poscenti; nam te quis uiuere moto
in terris caeloque potest ? quem currit ad unum
quod moritur uiuitque tibi. tandemque recurrat
ad sensus. uenerande. tuos. quae dona pararis
Abramo quondam, proceri quae deinde Iacobo
Isacique pio. felix quos seruitus ornat,
quod placuere tibi: iuratus per tua, sancte.
robora dum spondes prognatos his fore curae,
rex inuicte, tuae. densandos pube frequenti
innumeraque acie, ceu magni sidera caeli
stellantesque micant mundano in cardine gemmae.

### English translation (Claude)

there shall be given you on earth a nation far more outstanding in arms,
unknown to you, to be victorious under your leadership.”
Terrified by this, the prophet, prostrate, worships the Lord,
speaking thus: “Why does your anger now go out
with such great emotion against your people, which, groaning under harsh
commands, Egypt in its great fear released,
while it fears you, great one, while the strength of your lofty right hand
terrifies the wretched tyrant, his neck broken?
And now, O Lord, what will the crowd of Egypt say,
robbed of its captives and hostile to the people
it now sees to be yours, except that you, mighty God,
favouring them in vain with your accustomed kindness,
led the men out to be killed in a deserted place,
while they go to their deaths among vast wastes?
O lofty one, be gracious to your own, and show your serene face
to one who asks; for who can live on earth or in heaven
when you are moved, to whom alone runs
all that dies and lives for you? And at last let there return
to your mind, venerable one, the gifts you prepared
once for Abraham, then for the chief Jacob
and for pious Isaac, happy men whom service adorns,
because they pleased you; you swore by your own strength, holy one,
when you pledged that their offspring would be your care,
unconquered King, to be made dense with numerous youth
and countless ranks, as the stars of the great heaven
and the starry gems sparkle on the world’s pole.

### Scripture references

- Exod 32:10–13: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.1167 (CSEL 23:97lines 1167–1192–98; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1167).

## Exodus, lines 1193–1217

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-2-1193
- Source: CSEL 23:98lines 1193–1217–99
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God relents; Moses comes down with the tablets, finds the people dancing around the calf, breaks the tablets, destroys the calf, makes the people drink its powder, and rebukes Aaron, who blames the people.

### Latin text

cur promissa labant? cur ditis commoda terrae
nullus habet uatesque insistit sedibus exul.
cui mellis spondes latices et flumina lactis?"
Flectitur his dominus totamque expectorat iram.
ilicet excelso descendit colle propheta,
conscriptas referens domini de lege tabellas
introrsus extraque simul; nam pagina sancta
et tergo commissa fuit; cumque incitus exit.
uocibus inmodicis populi defigitur Auses
clamoremque putat bellantis hunc fore turbae.
sed uates non bella uidet, sed languida uino
pectora multimodas in caelum mittere uoces.
iamque adeo ingressus castrorum limina ductor
bacchantis cernit populi feruere choreas
auratumque uidet tumida ceruice iuuencum:
quem uelut aetherium spectabat turba parentem.
ilicet infensus calidam dum concipit iram.
confringit tabulas. totum dum surgit in ictum,
iniectumque focis uitulum dissoluit et exin
porricit in pelagus sumptisque exinde fluentis
attonitos libare iubet: fratremque deinde
increpat offensus ualide, quod uana petentes
audierit iustaque deum uiolauerit ira.
ille pacem poscens crimen populare fatetur.
exortem sese faciens culpabilis ausi.

### English translation (Claude)

Why do the promises waver? Why does no one possess the benefits of the rich land,
and the prophet, to whom you promise streams of honey
and rivers of milk, stand an exile in his own seats?”
The Lord is moved by this and pours all his anger from his breast.
At once the prophet comes down from the lofty hill,
carrying the tablets inscribed with the Lord’s law
inside and out together, for the holy page
was committed to the back as well; and as he goes out in haste,
Joshua is struck by the immoderate voices of the people
and thinks this is the shout of a crowd at war.
But the prophet sees not war but hearts slack with wine
sending manifold voices to heaven.
And now, when the leader had entered the threshold of the camp,
he sees the dances of the revelling people seething
and sees the golden bullock with swollen neck,
which the crowd looked on as on a heavenly father.
At once, hostile, as he conceives a hot anger,
he breaks the tablets, rising to the full blow,
and melts the calf, thrown on the fire, and then
casts it into the water and, taking from that stream,
orders the astonished people to drink; and then he rebukes
his brother, greatly offended, because he had listened to those seeking vain things
and outraged God, whose anger was just.
He, asking for peace, confesses the people’s crime,
making himself free of the guilty deed.

### Scripture references

- Exod 32:14–24: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Joshua is called Auses (the Greek Bible’s form of his earlier name Hoshea, Num 13:16).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.1193 (CSEL 23:98lines 1193–1217–99; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1193).

## Exodus, lines 1218–1241

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-2-1218
- Source: CSEL 23:99lines 1218–1241–100
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Levites kill the idolaters; Moses intercedes, offering to be blotted out of God’s book, and God answers that only the sinner will be blotted out.

### Latin text

at princeps, punire parans dementia uulgi
crimina. Leuitas totis discurrere castris
et ferrum nudare iubet atque obuia passim
corpora, cognata quamquam de plebe, ferire.
illi alacres per nota sibi diuortia currunt
oblatosque ruunt cuneos raptimque uirorum,
ultores domini, circum tria milia caedunt,
quis uicena simul studio quasi milia iungas.
his gestis propheta suis iam mitior exit
aeternumque rogat populi pro crimine regem,
talibus effatus: "Peccauit turba tuorum.
rex inuicte, uirum plus quam mortalia quaerunt
pectora, mutarum pecudum simulacra colendo.
his et uota dedit et numen credidit aurum.
et nunc, o domine, si dignum me prece ducis.
quam faciam fundamque tibi. dimitte reatum,
quem solus laxare potes. sin amplior illos
poena manet cunctosque tenet sententia mortis.
nomen, sancte, meum caelesti ex pagina dele,
quam scripsit ueneranda manus, cui subiacet orbis. "
orantem responsa dei felicia palpant:
"Quisquis me uetito peccator crimine laedit
me contra ueniens. hunc sancti pagina libri
nulla tenet nomenque nocens delebitur inde.

### English translation (Claude)

But the chief, preparing to punish the crimes of the mad mob,
orders the Levites to run through the whole camp,
bare the sword, and strike the bodies they meet everywhere,
though they were of the kindred people.
They eagerly run through the lanes they knew
and fall upon the bands in their way and swiftly,
as avengers of the Lord, slay about three thousand men,
to which you may join twenty thousand together.
These deeds done, the prophet goes out to his people, now milder,
and entreats the eternal King for the people’s crime,
speaking thus: “The crowd of your people has sinned,
unconquered King, more than mortal hearts seek,
worshipping the images of dumb cattle;
to these they made vows and believed gold a divinity.
And now, O Lord, if you count me worthy of the prayer
that I make and pour out to you, forgive the guilt
that you alone can release. But if a greater penalty
awaits them and the sentence of death holds them all,
blot out my name, holy one, from the heavenly page
that your venerable hand wrote, to which the world is subject.”
God’s favourable answers soothe him as he prays:
“Whoever, a sinner, wrongs me by forbidden crime,
coming against me, no page of the holy book holds,
and his guilty name will be blotted out from it.

### Scripture references

- Exod 32:25–33: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet gives twenty-three thousand slain, as the Latin Bible does at Exod 32:28 (the Hebrew text has three thousand).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.1218 (CSEL 23:99lines 1218–1241–100; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1218).

## Exodus, lines 1242–1264

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-2-1242
- Source: CSEL 23:100lines 1242–1264–101
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God sends the people on with an angel but will not go with them; the people mourn; Moses pitches the tent of witness outside the camp, and the cloud descends on it.

### Latin text

at tu depropera captumque hinc explica cursum
promissosque locos susceptae adscribito turbae.
ac ne sollicita tangat te cura uadentem,
nuntius anterior semper gradietur euntem.
ast illos sua facta grauant, quos crimina fuscant.
erecta ceruice uiros sensuque tumentes:
quapropter socio tecum non ambulo gressu."
Haec populus maesto suscepit dicta reatu,
inriguoque gemit ob tanta obprobria fletu,
pollutas sumens nigranti stamine uestes.
quem bonus eloquiis uates deponere tristes
indutus luctumque iubet multumque precatur,
ut uideant, ne forte dei sit grandior ira,
si fortasse pari fuerit de crimine laesus.
His actis conposta sibi tentoria promit
semotisque locat castris nomenque decenter
indidit a teste, cuius sententia uera est.
illum facta deo subeuntem limina cuncti
certatim uidere uiri ipsique uicissim
gaudebant inferre gradum uel sistere contra:
cum subito, horrendum uisu, nubs fulgida caelo
labitur et summi perfundit culmina templi;
dumque pius uates graditur. dum deinde recursat.

### English translation (Claude)

But you, make haste and pursue from here the course you have begun,
and assign the promised places to the crowd you have taken up.
And lest anxious care touch you on your way,
a messenger will always go before you as you travel.
But their deeds weigh down those whom crimes darken,
men of stiff neck and swollen mind;
therefore I do not walk with you as a companion.”
The people received these words with sad guilt
and groans with streaming tears at such reproaches,
putting on soiled garments of black thread.
The good prophet bids them in words lay aside
the sad garments and mourning, and prays earnestly
that they take care lest God’s anger perhaps grow greater
if he should be wronged by a like crime.
These things done, he brings out the tent prepared for himself
and pitches it away from the camp, and fittingly gave it a name
from the witness, whose judgment is true.
All the men eagerly watched him entering the threshold
made for God, and they themselves in turn
rejoiced to step forward or stand facing it,
when suddenly, dreadful to see, a shining cloud glides
from heaven and floods the top of the highest temple;
and while the pious prophet walks there and then returns,

### Scripture references

- Exod 32:34–35: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 33:1–10: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Lines 11–12 are garbled in the digital text (deponere tristes indutus); translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.1242 (CSEL 23:100lines 1242–1264–101; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1242).

## Exodus, lines 1265–1289

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-2-1265
- Source: CSEL 23:101lines 1265–1289–102
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Moses asks to see God’s face and that God go with them; God grants that he see his back from the cleft of the rock; Moses hews new tablets and goes up alone.

### Latin text

aedibus in domini semper se condidit Auses
nusquam progrediens. at uates dicta reuoluit
cum domino consueta sibi, quaeque antea non sunt
mortali concessa uiro, deposcit. ut ora
comminus aspiciat domini ueneranda beati.
utque deus procerem semper comitetur euntem.
quamlibet aetherius uallaret nuntius illum.
adnuitur dictisque deus sublimibus infit.
quae facienda prius, quam tanti gratia doni
obtutus pascat mundana inuisere suetos.
"Heia age, deproperans rupem conscende minacem
et gressum defige tuum, ac dum meus alto
sic rediens decurrit honor, sub fornice saxi,
umbratus mea dextra, mane, dum praepete cursu
praeteriens refero diuinae umbracula palmae.
tum tantum spectare dei postrema meantis
crura potes: uultum non fas est uisere cuiquam
spirantum ex numero, mundana quos fouet aura."
haec, fuerant ut iussa, fiunt; mox caute dolata
consimiles tabulas diuina ad iura reformat
consuetamque sibi solitis de cursibus arcem
incomitatus adit montemque accedere iuxta
non patitur cunctos ipsasque eliminat illinc
lanigeras pecudes, quia sunt contigua noxae
talia: corruptis nequaquam sancta cohaerent.

### English translation (Claude)

Joshua always kept himself in the house of the Lord,
never going out. But the prophet goes over his accustomed words
with the Lord and asks for things not granted before
to mortal man: that he might see close at hand
the venerable face of the blessed Lord,
and that God might always accompany the chief as he goes,
however much a heavenly messenger guarded him.
It is granted, and God begins in lofty words
what must be done before the grace of so great a gift
may feed eyes used to seeing worldly things:
“Come, make haste, climb the threatening rock
and plant your step, and while my glory runs down
from on high, returning thus, stay under the arch of the rock,
shaded by my right hand, while, passing by in swift course,
I take back the shade of the divine palm.
Then you can see only the back of God as he goes;
it is not right for any of the number of those who breathe,
whom the air of the world sustains, to see the face.”
These things are done as commanded; soon, with rock hewn,
he makes like tablets again for the divine laws
and goes alone to the summit familiar to him from his usual ascents,
and does not allow anyone to approach near the mountain,
and removes from there even the woolly flocks, because such things
are close to guilt: holy things never cleave to the corrupt.

### Scripture references

- Exod 33:11–23: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 34:1–3: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.1265 (CSEL 23:101lines 1265–1289–102; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1265).

## Exodus, lines 1290–1313

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-2-1290
- Source: CSEL 23:102lines 1290–1313
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Moses praises God’s mercy and justice and asks him to remain with the stiff-necked people; God forbids marriage with foreign wives who would lead them to idolatry; Moses fasts forty days.

### Latin text

ilicet optatis domini sermonibus usus
cognoscit uentura suis seque ingerit ultro:
"O domine, quem larga facit clementia magnum
in caelo terraque tuis, tu mitis in aula
aetheria solusque potens, iustissimus idem,
indulgens pariter populis, quos mundus ubique
laetus habet tota dominum cum mente fatentes:
tu cunctos de fraude leuas, tu quidquid iniquum est,
condonare potes, solus quia crimine cares;
idem mortiferos solitus damnare reatus
in prolem natosque patrum natosque natorum:
nobiscum praecelsa deus uirtute maneto.
nam plebs ista ferox rigida ceruice superbit;
crimine si cuius commissa piacula donas,
uiuemus per saecla tui." mox sanctus ab aula
effatur dominus caeli, quae iusserat ante;
ut, cum uulnifica populus post bella quiesset,
otia respiciens, tantum consortia nosset
de populo concessa suo, ne forte uirorum
incautas mentes fallaci cluderet astu
coniunx sumpta foris profanaque sacra doceret.
iamque quaterdenos celeri cum lumine soles
triuerat hic uates, nullamque adsumpserat escam,
ieiunum referens ad castra ingentia pectus.

### English translation (Claude)

At once, having enjoyed the longed-for words of the Lord,
he learns what is to come for his people and offers himself freely:
“O Lord, whom bountiful mercy makes great
for your own in heaven and on earth, gentle in the heavenly hall,
alone mighty and likewise most just,
gracious alike to the peoples whom the glad world everywhere holds
who confess the Lord with all their mind:
you lift all from their offences, you can forgive
whatever is unjust, because you alone are without crime;
you are likewise wont to condemn deadly guilt
on the offspring and children of the fathers and the children’s children:
remain with us, God, in your surpassing power.
For this fierce people is proud with stiff neck;
if you forgive the sins committed by their crime,
we shall live through the ages as yours.” Soon the holy Lord
of heaven speaks from his hall what he had commanded before:
that when the people rested after wounding wars,
turning to leisure, they should know only marriages
allowed from their own people, lest perhaps a wife
taken from outside should ensnare the unwary minds of men
with deceitful cunning and teach profane rites.
And now this prophet had spent forty suns
with their swift light and had taken no food,
bringing back a fasting breast to the vast camp.

### Scripture references

- Exod 34:4–28: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.1290 (CSEL 23:102lines 1290–1313; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1290).

## Exodus, lines 1314–1334

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-2-1314
- Source: CSEL 23:102lines 1314–1334–103
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Moses’ face shines and he veils it except when he speaks with God; the people bring gifts for the tabernacle, which is completed and filled with the cloud, and the cloud and fire guide their journeys.

### Latin text

illum conspicuae fulgentem lampade flammae
obtutus timuere uirum fraterque ueretur
mortales reuocans fulgenti a lumine uisus.
nescius at uates subitae uirtutis honorem
sacrato fulsisse sibi, formidine plebis
noscitat inmensi uelandum luminis ictum,
ne Iudaea cohors cum uisu auerteret aures.
sed cum pacifica domini se ad uerba ferebat,
lutea perspicuo tollebat lintea peplo.
ilicet exhibitis populo certante metallis
et quae Sidonio tinguntur uellera luto,
artibus eximiis sacratam perficit aedem.
quam dominus missa sublimis nube repleuit
in tantum, ut uates non posset scandere postes
sanctificos, quamuis toto se limine uelum
panderet et foribus custos non obuius esset.
Haec cum mobilibus sese dimouerat auris.
castra mouebantur; nox rursum sueta reuerti
fulgebat rubrae nimio de lumine flammae.
dum uolucris deferuet apex numenque praesentat.

### English translation (Claude)

They feared to look at him, shining with the conspicuous lamp of flame,
and his brother is in awe and turns his mortal eyes
away from the shining light.
But the prophet, not knowing that the honour of a sudden power
had shone on his consecrated person, learns from the people’s fear
that the stroke of the immense light must be veiled,
lest the Jewish band turn away their ears along with their eyes.
But whenever he betook himself to the peaceful words of the Lord,
he took off the yellow linen veil.
At once, the people eagerly bringing out their metals
and fleeces dyed with Sidonian dye,
he completes the consecrated house with outstanding arts.
The Lord on high filled it with a cloud he sent,
so much that the prophet could not pass the holy
doorposts, though the veil was spread across the whole threshold
and no guard stood in the way at the doors.
When this cloud had moved away on moving breezes,
the camp was moved; and night, wont to return,
shone with the excessive light of red flame,
while the flying point burns and shows the divine presence.

### Scripture references

- Exod 34:29–35: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 35:4–29: allusion, medium confidence
- Exod 40:34–38: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text leaves line 1330 empty (a lacuna or lost line). The poet passes quickly over Exod 35–40.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 2.1314 (CSEL 23:102lines 1314–1334–103; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1314).

## Leviticus, lines 1–29

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-3-1
- Source: CSEL 23:105lines 1–29
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The third book retells Leviticus: the sacrifices, the fire from heaven on the offering, the death of Nadab and Abihu for strange fire, the ban on mourning and on wine for the priests, and the food laws.

### Latin text

Postquam conspicuo longinqua in deuia templo
poneret et geminus quae ferret commoda turtur:
quaeue columba pari sociata et iuncta columbae
sed mirum, pecudum caesarum uiscera raptim
ignis edax celso rapiebat sidere missus.
Interea iuuenes uegeti iam fortibus annis.
esse sibi licitum stolido dum pectore credunt.
Nabdus et Abiudus, Aronis nota prophetae.
pignora, sacrilegis accendunt ritibus ignem.
haut multum dilata nece: nam fulgur ab axe
emicuit supero atque inter uota necauit
non sincera uiros. multum genitore maerente.
frigentumque dehinc tumulantur membra sepulchro.
mox tamen abstinuit genitor lugere sepultos
germanique omnes, fletum prohibente propheta.
qui populo permissus erat: namque igneus ardor.
caelesti de sede uolans. concusserat omnes
inserto terrore uiros palamque uidebant
temnendum non esse deum. qui non foret absens.
Haec inter domini cognoscit uoce sacerdos
uina negata sibi mellitaque sicera natis.
ne. quando dominum positas uenerentur ad aras.
halitus offendat uinoso ex pectore missus.
communis populo distinguit regula uictus :
et quid uel liceat uel fas adsumere non sit.

### English translation (Claude)

After he had set up the conspicuous temple in the far wilderness,
and what benefits the twin turtledove would bring,
or the dove joined and paired with a dove …
But, a marvel, fire sent from a lofty star
swiftly seized the flesh of the slaughtered cattle.
Meanwhile young men, vigorous now in their strong years,
believing in their foolish hearts that it was allowed them,
Nadab and Abihu, the known children of the prophet Aaron,
kindle fire with sacrilegious rites.
Their death was not long delayed: for lightning flashed
from the sky above and killed the men amid their insincere offerings,
while their father mourned greatly.
And then their cold limbs are buried in a tomb.
Soon, however, the father refrained from mourning the buried,
and all their brothers too, the prophet forbidding the weeping
that was permitted to the people; for the fiery heat,
flying from its heavenly seat, had shaken all
the men with the terror it brought, and they saw openly
that God, who was not absent, was not to be scorned.
Meanwhile the priest learns from the Lord’s voice
that wine and honeyed strong drink are denied to him and his sons,
lest, when they worship the Lord at the altars set up,
breath sent from a wine-filled breast should offend.
A common rule of food distinguishes for the people
what is allowed and what it is not right to take.

### Scripture references

- Lev 1:14–17: allusion, medium confidence
- Lev 9:24: allusion, high confidence
- Lev 10:1–11: allusion, high confidence
- Lev 11:1–2: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The first lines are incomplete in the digital text, probably through lost lines; translated as they stand.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 3.1 (CSEL 23:105lines 1–29; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/3-1).

## Leviticus, lines 30–50

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-3-30
- Source: CSEL 23:105lines 30–50–106
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Unclean birds are forbidden as food, and the purification of a mother after the birth of a son or daughter is prescribed.

### Latin text

eloquitur. quem nostra etiam conuiuia morem
caelesti sub lege tenent: ne uultur in escis
aut coruus picaue fiant. neu buteo fumus
accipiterue sagax aut miluus ore obunco.
et quae difficile est metato edicere uersu:
ne quae munda parum congesta in pectore sidunt.
innocuas tactu faciant sordescere fibras.
femina. quae licito uacuatur uiscera partu.
si puerum generat, septeno in lumine sordet
corpore cum toto; sed cum se uerterit axis
octauus. quo sollemne est truncare pudenda.
pelliculum demet ueretri. atque inde sedebit
ter denis tribusque dehinc iam feta diebus.
ne. quae sanctificis adolentur cultibus, audax
polluat aut uisu aut foedo altaria tactu.
quodsi concepta laxant membra puellae,
obseruans geminum tempus nil fraudis habebit,
quo deinde expleto confestim dona uouebit
turtures aut geminos. similes aut terga columbas.
aut grege de molli candentis uelleris agnum,
ut saniem precibus ualeat cohibere sacerdos.

### English translation (Claude)

he declares; a custom that our own banquets also keep
under heaven’s law: that the vulture not be among our foods,
nor the raven or magpie, nor the buzzard,
nor the keen hawk, nor the kite with hooked beak,
and other things it is hard to tell in measured verse,
lest things not clean enough, gathered and settling in the breast,
make the innocent organs foul by their touch.
A woman who empties her womb in lawful childbirth,
if she bears a boy, is unclean for seven days
in her whole body; but when the eighth day turns,
on which it is the custom to cut the private parts,
he will remove the foreskin of the member, and then she will sit
for thirty and three days after giving birth,
lest she boldly pollute, by sight or foul touch,
the altars that are honoured with holy rites.
But if the child that she brings forth is a girl,
she will keep twice the time and so incur no guilt;
then, when that is completed, she will at once offer gifts,
twin turtledoves or doves like them,
or a lamb of white fleece from the soft flock,
so that the priest may by his prayers stop the flow.

### Scripture references

- Lev 11:13–19: allusion, high confidence
- Lev 12:1–8: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet says that the food laws are kept by ‘our banquets’ too; the sense is uncertain. Fumus in line 3 is corrupt in the digital text.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 3.30 (CSEL 23:105lines 30–50–106; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/3-30).

## Leviticus, lines 51–75

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-3-51
- Source: CSEL 23:106lines 51–75
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Leprosy and its cleansing by offerings, which the poor may make with smaller gifts, are described, and the uncleanness of a nocturnal emission.

### Latin text

Morborum quoque effigies et signa docentur,
dumtaxat quos lepra creat, quae corpore toto
lutea pallenti perfundit uiscera tabo
albentemque cutem maculis feralibus implet,
ut, quia per domini nonnumquam exaestuat iram,
hoc medicante fugam capiat corpusque relinquat
orantis pro noxa uiri munusque ferentis,
paupertas quod paupertas, ouans quae uincere dites
saepe solet; dominus uotum quia simplicis haurit.
nec grandis inpensa tamen praestanda medendi:
nam pullos offerre duos agnosque gemellos,
ut uitulo coniungat ouem, ius praecipit omne,
polline cum tenui, quam sparsit riuus oliui.
haec diues offerre potest: sed munera paruum
parua manent; namque aut uitulum mactabit ad aram,
qui uiget explicito bis senis mensibus anno,
et quiddam de farre pio, quod miscit oliuo,
turtures aut geminos, similes aut forte columbas.
Quin etiam somnos hominum quia saepe uoluptas
per noctem deludit iners, si forte ueretro
semina destillant, fit corpus turpe iacentum
inmundumque manet, donec iam uesper ab aethra
conspicuus laeto praecedat lumine noctem;
nec solum foedo deturpant corpora naeuo,
sed quidquid contingit agens, quem somnia fuscant:

### English translation (Claude)

The forms and signs of diseases are also taught,
at least those that leprosy causes, which floods
the flesh of the whole body with yellowish pale corruption
and fills the white skin with deadly spots,
so that, since it sometimes boils up through the Lord’s anger,
it may take flight by this remedy and leave the body
of the man who prays for his guilt and brings a gift.
Poverty, which, rejoicing, often overcomes the rich …
because the Lord drinks in the vow of the simple.
Yet no great expense need be provided for the healing:
for every law prescribes the offering of two young birds and twin lambs,
so that a sheep is joined to a calf,
with fine flour sprinkled with a stream of olive oil.
These a rich man can offer; but small gifts remain
for the poor; for either he will sacrifice at the altar a calf
that thrives, a year of twelve months complete,
and some sacred meal that he mixes with oil,
or twin turtledoves, or perhaps doves like them.
Moreover, because sluggish pleasure often mocks men’s sleep
in the night, if perhaps seed drips from the member,
the body of the sleeper becomes foul
and remains unclean until the evening star,
conspicuous in the sky, goes before the night with glad light;
nor do such dreams disfigure only the bodies with foul stain,
but whatever he touches in his acts whom dreams have darkened.

### Scripture references

- Lev 13:1–3: allusion, medium confidence
- Lev 14:1–32: allusion, high confidence
- Lev 15:16–17: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 8 is garbled in the digital text (paupertas quod paupertas); translated as it stands, with ‘…’.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 3.51 (CSEL 23:106lines 51–75; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/3-51).

## Leviticus, lines 76–101

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-3-76
- Source: CSEL 23:106lines 76–101–107
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Laws of cleansing from bodily discharges, of vessels touched, of intercourse, and of menstruation and abnormal flows; after the death of Aaron’s sons, God appoints the times when the priest may enter before the ark.

### Latin text

id propter fluuio fas est perfundere membra,
puritas ut redeat propere cessante reatu.
testea quin etiam fas est perfringere uasa
contactu maculata uiri, at facta metallo
diluere ac uitreo sordes diducere riuo.
Hac etiam liciti coitus sub lege piantur.
ilicet exutis membrorum labe molesta
antistes praestabit opem, cum sole reuerso
septima puniceis aurora eluxerit astris,
turture si gemino ueniat subnixus ad aram
peccati uotique reus paribusque columbis
Femina, decurso quae fit iam menstrua mense.
foedatur sanie madida, quae promitur aluo.
et quidquid tangit, maculat, dum septimus exit
lucifero redeunte dies; sin auctius urget
unda nocens certique abscedit temporis ordo.
indiscreta mali facies idemque reati
finis erit, sanctam si promat munus ad aram
ex his, quas domino constat placuisse uolucres.
Interea extinctis mento sub crimine natis
Aaronis proceris dominus haec intimat ingens.
ut, quia praetentis dimissa umbracula uelis
altar habet sacraque simul praenubitur arca,
temporibus certis sese referatque locetque
sacerdos pia uota ferens, quia sanctus ibidem
consistat dominus albenti in nube uidendus.

### English translation (Claude)

For this reason it is right to bathe the limbs in a river,
so that purity may return quickly as the guilt ceases.
Moreover it is right to break earthen vessels
stained by the man’s touch, but to wash those made of metal
and draw off the dirt with a glassy stream.
Under this law lawful intercourse too is purified.
Then, the troublesome stain of the limbs removed,
the priest will give help, when, the sun returned,
the seventh dawn has shone with purple stars,
if the man comes to the altar relying on twin turtledoves,
guilty of sin and of a vow, and on paired doves.
A woman, when the month has run its course and her period comes,
is defiled by the moist discharge that comes from the womb,
and whatever she touches she stains, until the seventh day
goes out with the return of the morning star; but if the guilty flow
presses more abundantly and departs from the order of its fixed time,
the form of the evil will be the same and the same the end
of the guilt, if she brings to the holy altar a gift
of those birds that are known to have pleased the Lord.
Meanwhile, after the sons of the chief Aaron had been destroyed
for their crime, the mighty Lord makes this known:
that, because the altar has shade let down from veils stretched before it
and the sacred ark is likewise covered in cloud,
the priest should go and stand there at fixed times,
bringing pious vows, because the holy Lord
stands there, to be seen in a white cloud.

### Scripture references

- Lev 15:1–30: allusion, high confidence
- Lev 16:1–2: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Mento in line 21 is corrupt in the digital text.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 3.76 (CSEL 23:106lines 76–101–107; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/3-76).

## Leviticus, lines 102–126

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-3-102
- Source: CSEL 23:107lines 102–126–108
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Day of Atonement with the two goats, the ban on eating blood or carcasses, and the beginning of the forbidden degrees of marriage: mother, sister, granddaughter, aunt, daughter-in-law, brother’s wife, and a woman and her daughter.

### Latin text

sic tamen ut uitulum proprio pro crimine mactet.
proque synagoga similes mox immolet hircos.
sorte sub oblata, unus qua deuius erret.
peccantum delicta ferens secumque recondens.
ast alius placidam ut domino mactetur ad aram.
optima siderei laturus commoda doni.
Bestia uel uolucris, nullo quae sanguine fuso
functa fuit, nullis prandentum est congrua mensis:
idcirco, quoniam multorum in sanguine mens est.
atque etiam si forte pecus mucrone peremptum
laxant croceam sectis de faucibus undam.
debet terra tegi. ne sit non condita fraudi.
Instruit hinc dominus, quae sint consortia noxae
quaeue iuuent parili concordia pectora nexu.
quae certis digesta modis hic explicat ordo:
inprimis genetrix cubili accommoda non est.
in quo nupta iacet. nullumque agnouerit usum
excepta pietate sui mens sedula nati.
ut quae paternis nonnumquam amplexibus haesit.
hoc germana modo, eadem de matre creata.
aut neptis inspecta tibi natoue nataeue:
non amita affectu nec sit matertera foedo
iunctior inue nurum noxalis luxus oberret.
uel nuptam. quam frater habet; non nouerit usum
filia, quem genetrix. lectoue incumbat eodem.

### English translation (Claude)

yet so that he slaughters a calf for his own crime,
and for the congregation soon sacrifices like he-goats,
by a lot cast, so that one may wander off into the wild,
carrying the offences of the sinners and hiding them with itself,
but the other is slaughtered for the Lord at the peaceful altar,
to bring the best benefits of the heavenly gift.
A beast or bird that has died without its blood being shed
is fit for the tables of no diners,
because the life is in the blood of many creatures.
And moreover, if perhaps a beast slain by the blade
lets out a saffron stream from its cut throat,
the blood should be covered with earth, lest it lie unburied as an offence.
Next the Lord instructs which unions are guilty
and which hearts concord may join in an equal bond,
which this order sets out arranged in fixed ways:
first, a mother is not fit for the bed
in which a bride lies, and let no mind acknowledge such use,
but only the dutiful devotion of her son,
since she once clung to his father’s embraces.
Likewise a sister born of the same mother,
or a granddaughter, born to you of son or daughter;
let not an aunt on the father’s side or the mother’s be joined to you
in foul affection, nor guilty lust stray toward a daughter-in-law
or the wife your brother has; let not a daughter know
the use her mother knew, nor lie in the same bed,

### Scripture references

- Lev 16:3–22: allusion, high confidence
- Lev 17:10–15: allusion, high confidence
- Lev 18:6–17: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘Congregation’ renders synagoga. The incest laws of Lev 18 are paraphrased as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 3.102 (CSEL 23:107lines 102–126–108; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/3-102).

## Leviticus, lines 127–149

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-3-127
- Source: CSEL 23:108lines 127–149–109
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The forbidden unions continue (stepmother, two sisters, a neighbour’s wife), with the bans on child sacrifice, homosexual intercourse and bestiality; then the laws of gleaning, honesty, wages, and care for the deaf.

### Latin text

uni mixta uiro, coniunctaque nomina turpet.
si nouerca fiat canorum feta nepotum.
ut quae priuigno coniungitur. et duas uno
germanas cohibere sinu res absona iuri est.
uel quam coniuncta uobis de plebe capessit
proximus; haut natus detur seruire potenti.
ne uetito nomen domini uioletur in actu.
masculus obsceno ne sit permixtus amore.
neu sexum deturpa tuum. nec quadrupes ulla
nouerit informes coitus nuptaeue uiriue:
crimina quae propter dominum laesere potentem
gentes multimodae, terraque his omnibus iras
exhibet et sordes, quibus est infecta, refutat.
at cum triticeas tondet iam messor aristas.
uel cum flauentes resecat uindemitor uuas.
nemo legat totum, ut pars linquatur egenti.
quae suprema fuit. mendum ne dixerit ullus.
neu furtis seruire uelit nec perdere fratrem
nec super iniustum iurandi inponere iura.
laedere ne libeat quemquam uel rapta tenere.
neue operi pretium demat mercede locati
uel una sub nocte um: neu dicere surdo
surde uelis damnumue exprobres corporis ulli.

### English translation (Claude)

mingled with one man, and defile the names of kin;
nor take a stepmother, as one who is joined
to her stepson; and to hold two sisters
in one embrace is a thing at odds with the law;
nor the wife whom your neighbour of the people joined to you has taken;
let no son be given to serve a mighty idol,
lest the Lord’s name be profaned in a forbidden act.
Let no male be mingled in obscene love,
nor dishonour your own sex; nor let any four-footed beast
know shapeless intercourse with woman or man:
for these crimes many nations offended
the mighty Lord, and the land shows its anger at them all
and rejects the filth with which it is stained.
But when the reaper is cutting the wheaten ears,
or when the vintager cuts off the yellow grapes,
let no one gather everything, so that a part may be left for the needy,
the last part. Let no one tell a lie,
nor be willing to serve theft or ruin his brother,
nor bind himself by oath upon an unjust cause.
Let no one be pleased to harm another or keep what is stolen,
nor keep back the wage of the hired man for his work
even for one night; nor wish to curse the deaf
or reproach anyone for a bodily defect.

### Scripture references

- Lev 18:8: allusion, medium confidence
- Lev 18:18–28: allusion, high confidence
- Lev 19:9–14: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 2 is garbled in the digital text (si nouerca fiat canorum feta nepotum); translated by sense. ‘A mighty idol’ (potenti) stands for Molech (Lev 18:21). Lines 22–23 are partly garbled (um; surde).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 3.127 (CSEL 23:108lines 127–149–109; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/3-127).

## Leviticus, lines 150–173

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-3-150
- Source: CSEL 23:109lines 150–173–110
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Laws of impartial judgment, against hatred and revenge, to love one’s neighbour as oneself, against mixing kinds, and on intercourse with a betrothed slave woman.

### Latin text

iudicis arbitrium ne sit propensius umquam
in laeuum dextrumue latus. quia pauperis una
eximiique uiri debet persona uideri
illis. qui posita rectum discernere lance
mente queunt docili. mox turgida pectora frena,
inuisus ne forte fias. dum despicis omnes.
oderis aut fratrem. tacita si cogeris ira,
sed castiga magis coramque euolue locato,
ut uitet commissa prius mentemque reformet.
et cum iura tibi fuerint commissa nocendi,
motus pone libens iramque emitiga totam,
pectore quae tacito dudum contracta uigebat;
ne dominus sis ipse tui uindexque doloris.
utque tuis cupies iucunda et commoda rebus.
sic fratri deposce tuo. ne dissona mens sit.
hoc seruate uiri sanctoque insistite iuri.
Sint iumenta tuis subnixa et subdita plaustris
corpore consimili, nec taurum iunge caballo.
frena regens; uirides inter nec spargito uites
farra serens: uestisque tibi nec discolor ulla
diuerso sit texta modo filoue biformi.
diligit ancillam si quis mercede seorsa.
nondum iure dato, quod seruis missio praestat
et data libertas, mortali crimine caret.

### English translation (Claude)

Let the judge’s decision never lean
to the left or the right side, because the person of the poor man
and of the eminent man must be seen as one
by those who, with the scale set, can discern what is right
with teachable mind. Next, rein in a swollen heart,
lest perhaps you become hateful while you despise all.
Nor hate your brother if silent anger drives you,
but rather rebuke him and set it out before him openly,
so that he may avoid what he did before and reform his mind.
And when the right to do harm has been entrusted to you,
willingly lay aside your emotions and soften all your anger,
which, long gathered in a silent breast, was strong,
lest you yourself be lord and avenger of your own pain.
And as you wish pleasant and profitable things for your own affairs,
so ask them for your brother, lest your mind be divided.
Keep this, men, and stand firm in the holy law.
Let the beasts that draw your wagons be yoked
of like body; do not join a bull with a horse
in harness; nor scatter grain among green vines
when you sow; nor have any garment of different colours
woven in a mixed way or with twofold thread.
If anyone loves a slave woman bound to another for a price,
the right not yet given her that release grants to slaves
and freedom bestowed, he is free of mortal crime.

### Scripture references

- Lev 19:15–20: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 3.150 (CSEL 23:109lines 150–173–110; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/3-150).

## Leviticus, lines 174–199

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-3-174
- Source: CSEL 23:110lines 174–199–111
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The law of the betrothed slave woman continues; then laws on the first fruits of new trees, divination, cutting the hair and beard, tattoos, prostituting a daughter, respect for the aged, honest measures, mediums, and mourning rites.

### Latin text

[puella] si non iuncta uiro sensum coniunxerit unum,
si facilis nullo coitus luctamine praestat.
lenitur per uota deus. si de grege molli
uotiuus aries domini mactetur ad aram.
insita siluestri quotiens sunt germina trunco.
carpite post ternos nequaquam poma decembres.
sed summo sacrate deo; quia quintus edendi
iura dabit uobis licitis cum uictibus annus.
auguriis seruire nega atque auspicia orsa
pro ueris audire fuge; rectumque capillum
crispanti rutilare coma. uel carpere barbam.
aut ferro signare cutem, uel stigmata membris
indere corporeis haut umquam mitia membris.
filia blandiloquis ne sit te mancipe moechis
aut turpi transcripta toro; cantuque medentes
euitate uiros; dignaque accersite noxa.
si iuuenis uetulo non adsurrexerit, et si
barbato cuicumque puer, quia grandior aeuo
postulat officium, paternis quod datur annis.
sit modio mensura tuo non debilis umquam:
nec trutinam serues, cui sit semuncia fraudis.
iustus iusta deus quocumque exquirit in actu.
et qui uentriloquos poscunt responsa. refuta.
defunctum propter nullus deponere barbam
aut nudare caput studeat frontemue serenam
polluat aut quidquam, quo sit deformior, optet.

### English translation (Claude)

if, not joined to a husband, she has shared his mind,
if she grants easy intercourse without struggle,
God is appeased by vows, if a votive ram
from the soft flock is slaughtered at the Lord’s altar.
Whenever shoots are grafted on a wild trunk,
do not pluck fruit until three Decembers have passed,
but consecrate it to the highest God; for the fifth year
will give you the right to eat it with lawful food.
Refuse to serve auguries, and shun hearing
omens begun as though true; and do not make straight hair
glow red with curling locks, or pluck the beard,
or mark the skin with iron, or put brands
on the body’s limbs, never gentle to limbs.
Let not your daughter be sold by you to smooth-talking adulterers
or transferred to a shameful bed; and shun men
who heal by chants, and bring them to the penalty they deserve.
If a young man does not rise for an old man, and if
a boy for anyone bearded, he sins, because one greater in age
demands the courtesy that is given to a father’s years.
Let the measure of your peck never be short,
nor keep a balance with a half-ounce of fraud.
God, being just, requires what is just in every act.
And reject those who seek answers from ventriloquists.
Let no one take care to shave his beard for the dead,
or bare his head, or defile his serene brow,
or wish for anything that makes him more disfigured.

### Scripture references

- Lev 19:20–37: allusion, high confidence
- Lev 21:5: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The editor deletes puella at the start of line 1.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 3.174 (CSEL 23:110lines 174–199–111; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/3-174).

## Leviticus, lines 200–224

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-3-200
- Source: CSEL 23:111lines 200–224–112
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Laws of priestly marriage (no adulteress, divorced woman or widow), of priests with bodily defects, of unblemished offerings, of a priest’s daughter married to a layman, of eating holy things in error, and of the lamp.

### Latin text

femina, noctiuagus si quam possedit adulter.
coniugio est indigna uiri, quem postea sumat.
et quae de sensu, quo sunt diuortia, missa est.
nesciat alterius thalamos; purusque sacerdos
omnibus in rebus nitidum praestabit oliuum.
quo perfusa prius sacrati uerticis arx est.
huic coniunx de gente sua conpertaque soli
haereat et uiduam uitet luxuue nocentem.
ne maculosa fiat uetita de matre propago.
et si quis uitium quodcumque in corpore gestat.
(ille) haud dignus erit, qui (munia) sancta capessat.
corpora pura placent, maculis haut inlita foedis.
femineus quae luxus habet, cum uota sacrantur.
quae captu pro quisque suo deuouit ad altar.
quin et uela simul nequaquam iungere fas est;
nam maculis sordent. purus est rector in altis.
filia sanctifici fuerit si tradita uatis
externi sub iura uiri, libamina prima
nequaquam contingat edens: si coniuge functo
aedibus in patriis coepit consistere, sumat
quem genitor, secura cibum panemque uicissim.
quod si sancta manu quicumque admouerit olli
nescius, ob culpam quintas deportet ad altar.
Pendeat ante tholum lychnus laquearibus altis,
noctibus ut praestet flammatum lumen oliuum.

### English translation (Claude)

A woman whom a night-wandering adulterer has possessed
is unworthy of marriage with a man who would take her afterward;
and she who has been sent away by the decision that makes divorces,
let her not know another’s bridal chamber; and the pure priest
will in all things provide shining oil,
with which the summit of his consecrated head was first anointed.
Let a wife of his own race, known to him alone, cling to him,
and let him avoid a widow or one guilty of lust,
lest his offspring be stained by a forbidden mother.
And if anyone bears any defect in his body,
he will not be worthy to take up the holy duties.
Pure bodies please, not smeared with foul blemishes,
…
which each, according to his means, has vowed to the altar.
Moreover it is by no means right to offer blemished animals,
for they are foul with blemishes; the Ruler on high is pure.
If the daughter of a holy priest has been given
under the law of a stranger, let her by no means touch
and eat the first offerings; if, her husband dead,
she has come back to live in her father’s house, let her take
without care the food and bread her father takes, in her turn.
But if anyone has unknowingly put his hand to holy things,
for the fault let him bring a fifth more to the altar.
Let a lamp hang before the dome from the lofty ceiling,
so that the oil may give flaming light by night,

### Scripture references

- Lev 21:7–23: allusion, high confidence
- Lev 22:10–25: allusion, high confidence
- Lev 24:2–4: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Lev 21:7 and 21:14 forbid priests to marry a divorced woman. The poet’s wording of line 4 (‘let her not know another’s bridal chamber’) could be read more broadly; translated as written. Line 13 is garbled in the digital text (femineus quae luxus habet) and line 15 uncertain (uela); translated by sense or marked ‘…’. In line 11 the editor supplies ille and munia.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 3.200 (CSEL 23:111lines 200–224–112; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/3-200).

## Leviticus, lines 225–247

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-3-225
- Source: CSEL 23:112lines 225–247–113
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: A man who blasphemes the name of the Lord in a quarrel is stoned; then laws of the redemption of land and houses in the year of release and of lending without interest.

### Latin text

ne decursa dies pallentes misceat umbras
aedibus in domini sanctaque altaria condat.
Haec inter calido iuuenes duo felle mouentur:
hic Hebraeus erat. alius generatus Aegypto.
dumque alterna sibi dicunt maledicta frementes.
inmensum domini nomen fuscare querella
non timuit Iudaeus iners. dum ducitur ira.
quod facinus propter castrorum ex aggere tractus
et positus campi medio. mandante loquella
sublimis domini. saxorum concidit ictu.
percurrit pia iura deus atque omnia pandit.
Indigus alterius quotiens uult sumere nummos
pignore deposito. si rus addixerit illi,
cuius poscit opem, reddat sibi credita promptim,
cum fuerit ditata manus. atque illa receptet,
quae fuerant transcripta prius; in perpete uita
indigus extiterit. illo fit liber in anno.
quo cunctis est missa quies et dulce leuamen.
quod si forte domum media quis mancipet urbe,
restituat hic aera sibi commissa per annum.
ne post emissum dimittat praedia tempus.
sic tamen orantum danda est pecunia dextris,
exigat inplicitum ne post usura lucellum.

### English translation (Claude)

lest the day, run out, should mingle pale shadows
in the Lord’s house and hide the holy altars.
Meanwhile two young men are stirred with hot gall:
one was a Hebrew, the other born of Egypt.
And while, raging, they hurled curses at each other,
the worthless Jew did not fear to darken the immense name
of the Lord with his complaint, as he is carried away by anger.
For this deed, dragged outside the rampart of the camp
and placed in the middle of the field, at the command
of the Lord on high he fell under a blow of stones.
God goes through his pious laws and sets them all out.
Whenever a needy man wishes to take another’s money,
leaving a pledge, if he has made over his land to him
whose help he asks, let him promptly repay what was lent him
when his hand has grown rich, and receive back
what had been transferred before; if he remains needy
all his life, the land becomes free in that year
in which rest and sweet relief are granted to all.
But if perhaps someone sells a house in the middle of a city,
let him repay within a year the money entrusted to him,
lest he lose the property after the time has passed.
Yet money is to be given to the hands of those who ask
in such a way that interest may not afterwards exact an entangling gain.

### Scripture references

- Lev 24:10–23: allusion, high confidence
- Lev 25:25–37: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- In Lev 24:10 the blasphemer is the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father; the poet makes the two quarrellers a Hebrew and an Egyptian.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 3.225 (CSEL 23:112lines 225–247–113; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/3-225).

## Leviticus, lines 248–272

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-3-248
- Source: CSEL 23:113lines 248–272
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Laws on the Israelite who sells himself into service and his release or redemption in the jubilee; then the blessings of peace, plenty and victory promised to the obedient.

### Latin text

quisquis inops tenuem uitae non sustinet usum
ac duros perferre dies, meliusque putabit
subdere se domino iam libertate remota,
non ferat ille iugum ueluti de serua creatus,
sed uelut adscitus positae mercedis ad actum,
donec decurso redeat iam tempore liber,
quo cunctis concessa simul sunt otia rebus.
ac si ceu domini imperio distractus abibit,
proximus hunc redimat, aut, si non adfuit ille,
contribulis quicumque sui commercia fratris
iussus agat iugumque uiro seruile sequestret.
nam si legitimo fuerit diuenditus aere,
seruiet, optato ueniat dum tempus in anno,
quo cuncti sua iura simul dimissa resumunt.
aut, si parua fuit annorum summa, labore
conpleat hanc proprio manuum quem praestitit actu.
sic abeat, quocumque uolet, secumque reducat
libera securos pariter cum coniuge natos.
talia sincero condentem pectore iussa
pax tranquilla manet, nullo quam bella tumultu
proturbare queunt; longos sed missa per annos
otia multimodo conplebunt horrea fructu.
quin etiam si tela ferox destrinxerit hostis,
exigua. bellante manu detrusus abibit,
quam libet inmensas acies in proelia ducat.

### English translation (Claude)

Whoever, being poor, cannot sustain the thin means of life
and bear hard days, and thinks it better
to submit himself to a master, his freedom given up,
let him not bear the yoke as one born of a slave woman,
but as one engaged for work at a set wage,
until, his time having run, he goes back free
in the year when leisure is granted to all things together.
And if he goes off sold, as by a master’s command,
let his next of kin redeem him, or, if he is not there,
let anyone of his tribe be charged to transact his brother’s case
and take the servile yoke off the man.
For if he was sold for lawful money,
he will serve until the time comes in the desired year
in which all together take back their rights that were let go;
or, if the sum of years was small, let him make it up
by the labour of his hands that he has given.
So let him go wherever he will and take back with him
his children, free and safe, together with his wife.
Whoever keeps such commands with sincere heart,
tranquil peace remains for him, which wars can disturb
with no tumult; but leisure sent through long years
will fill the granaries with manifold fruit.
Moreover, if a fierce enemy draws his weapons,
he will go away thrust back by a small fighting band,
however immense the ranks he leads into battle.

### Scripture references

- Lev 25:39–55: allusion, high confidence
- Lev 26:3–8: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 3.248 (CSEL 23:113lines 248–272; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/3-248).

## Leviticus, lines 273–296

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-3-273
- Source: CSEL 23:113lines 273–296–114
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The curses on the disobedient: terror, famine, wild beasts, barren crops, parents eating their children, captivity, and the burning of cities.

### Latin text

ast illum, qui iussa dei sublimia uitat,
mortis terror aget, ceu ferrum torqueat hostis,
praecipitique fuga trepida condetur in urbe.
hinc postrema fames morbis pallentibus illum
ambiet et saturus quamuis ieiuna putabit
ora sibi semperque metu redeunte timebit.
ac si conlibitum portis bipatentibus ire,
quo sensus duxere sui, hunc maesta per agros
undique desertos heremus confundet euntem,
raptoresque lupos et quae sunt dente uel ungui
terribiles per rura ferae, plus triste timebit:
et quamuis pingui generetur caespite terrae
uerna seges, teneras culmis non promet aristas.
natorum tum membra pater ceu dulcia morsu
adpetet atque fame genetrix demittet ad aluum.
quod genuit fecunda prius. tum uincula captis
inponet iam uictor ouans flammaeque micantes
adtollent rutilos per tecta ingentia crines,
urbibus in cinerem uersis, quae foeda gerentes
ambierant ualido quondam tutamine muri.
deficient tituli, uariarum insignia laudum;
et quae pulchra prius fuerant, destructa peribunt,
ut deus in celsis semper uenerandus ametur,
idola quem nequeunt mentito adtingere cultu.

### English translation (Claude)

But him who shuns the lofty commands of God
the terror of death will drive, as though an enemy were whirling a sword,
and in headlong flight he will hide trembling in a city.
Then extreme famine with pale diseases will surround him,
and though full he will think his mouth fasting
and will always fear, his fear ever returning.
And if he wishes to go out through the double gates
where his mind has led him, the sad wilderness will confound him
as he goes through fields deserted on every side,
and he will fear yet more sadly ravening wolves and the beasts
that are terrible through the countryside with tooth or claw;
and though the spring crop springs from the rich turf of the land,
it will put forth no tender ears on its stalks.
Then the father will seek the limbs of his children
as sweet to bite, and the mother in hunger will send down into her belly
what she once fruitfully bore. Then the victor, rejoicing,
will put chains on the captives, and flashing flames
will raise their ruddy hair through the great houses,
the cities turned to ash, which, harbouring foul things,
strong walls once surrounded with protection.
The inscriptions will fail, the emblems of varied praises,
and what was beautiful before will perish, destroyed,
so that God may be loved, ever to be revered on high,
whom idols cannot touch with their lying worship.

### Scripture references

- Lev 26:14–39: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 3.273 (CSEL 23:113lines 273–296–114; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/3-273).

## Leviticus, lines 297–309

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-3-297
- Source: CSEL 23:114lines 297–309–115
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The laws of the valuation of vowed persons, houses and fields, of redemption, and of tithes conclude the book.

### Latin text

Quae deinde in uotis maneat taxatio dragmae,
femina si fuerit seu mas donatus ad altar,
perscripsit rubrica dei, seu grandior aeuo,
seu puer aut uirgo nondum pubentibus annis,
seu domus aut fundus, seu quidquid mente dicatur,
cum secura deo gaudet mens credere summo,
seu cum sollicitis agitur permota periclis,
ni quibus inplicitus ne sese inuolueret error,
pars expressa manet, pars est concredita uati,
ut decimos etiam taxet sententia fructus.
si libitum retinere pecus agrumue domumue,
donantis sub iure fuit: mox pendat ad altar
commoda quae pretiis indunt concordia nummi.

### English translation (Claude)

Then what valuation in drachmas holds in vows,
whether a woman or a male has been given to the altar,
the rubric of God has written out, whether one older in age,
or a boy or girl of years not yet grown,
or a house or a farm, or whatever is dedicated in the mind,
when the untroubled mind rejoices to trust the highest God,
or when it is driven and disturbed by anxious dangers,
lest error entangle those caught up in it;
part remains set out, part is entrusted to the priest,
so that the ruling also values the tithes of the fruits.
If one wishes to keep the beast or field or house,
it was under the right of the giver; let him soon pay at the altar
the sum that coins in agreement assign to the prices.

### Scripture references

- Lev 27:1–33: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 8 is obscure in the digital text; translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 3.297 (CSEL 23:114lines 297–309–115; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/3-297).

## Numbers, lines 1–24

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/2-1041/#p-4-1
- Source: CSEL 23:117lines 1–24
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The fourth book retells Numbers: a year after the exodus God orders a census of men of twenty and over, who number 603,550, while the Levites of Gershon, Kohath and Merari are counted separately.

### Latin text

Verterat interea solitis recursibus annus,
mensibus explicitis sua per uestigia currens,
postquam lecta deo pubes Nilotica liquit
litora et e Pharia tandem migrarat harena;
cum deus astrigera fulgens de sede locutus
imperat, ut uates tribuum mandata tribunis
certa ferat plebemque dehinc percenseat omnem,
sepositis pueris et quos iam grandior aetas
exhibet inmunes trepidi sub cura duelli,
ut, quae summa fiat, bis denis noscat ab annis.
illi alacres relegunt numero currente per omnes
turmas quisque suas cursimque inspecta locuntur
nomina, bissenis tribubus quae condita perstant.
haec sexcenta simul conplerunt et tria iunctim
milia, quingentos pariter si iungere cures
quinquies et denos, domuum cum deinde uiritim
notio perdocuit procerum bis milia sena.
Leuitas uero, domini quos cura sacrorum
sola manet, uetuit plebis coniungere summae.
hinc adlecta deo Getsonum milia septem,
quingentis pariter positis; Gaada seorsum
bis quaterna facit sexcentis comminus auctis;
tertia bis ternis sed milibus atque ducentis
exhibuit patrio dicta sermone Merara.

### English translation (Claude)

Meanwhile the year had turned in its accustomed course,
running in its own tracks as its months unrolled,
since the youth chosen by God had left the shores
of the Nile and at last migrated from the Egyptian sand,
when God, shining from his starry seat, spoke
and commands the prophet to bring sure commands to the tribunes
of the tribes and then to number all the people,
setting aside the boys and those whom a greater age
now shows exempt from the care of anxious war,
so that he might know what the sum is from twenty years up.
They eagerly go over the number running through all,
each his own squadrons, and quickly report the names inspected,
which stand set down in twelve tribes.
These together made six hundred and three
thousand, if you take care to add five hundred
and five times ten, while then the knowledge of the houses,
man by man, showed the chiefs to be twice six.
But the Levites, whom the care of the Lord’s sacred things
alone awaits, he forbade to be joined to the people’s total.
Hence seven thousand of the Gershonites were chosen for God,
with five hundred added; Kohath separately
makes twice four thousand, with six hundred added to them;
but the third, called Merari in their native speech,
showed twice three thousand and two hundred.

### Scripture references

- Num 1:1–49: allusion, high confidence
- Num 3:14–34: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 17 is uncertain in the digital text (procerum bis milia sena); translated by sense as the twelve chiefs.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.1 (CSEL 23:117lines 1–24; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-1).

## Numbers, lines 25–50

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-25
- Source: CSEL 23:117lines 25–50
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The tribes are arranged around the tabernacle with the Levites at its east; the firstborn are redeemed; 8,580 Levites are assigned to carry it; the unclean are put outside the camp; and the law of the jealous husband begins.

### Latin text

has diuersa manet quoniam custodia summas
sacrorum templique dei, sic castra sequestrant.
prima legit pelagus; alia se porgit ad austrum;
tertia praegelidas aquilonis respicit auras.
at qua prima rubet uenientis flamma diei,
maxima conspicui ponunt tentoria uatis.
hinc genitos primo pueros dinoscere partu
et domino sacrare parat, qui milia conplet
bis undena, simul bis centum si superaddas
septies et denos, pro quis adsumere dragmam
uatibus est licitum sacrisque addicere templi,
emptos cum ueluti diuina eliminet ara.
ilicet adplicitos sacrarum ad munera rerum
ex Getsona manu Gadaque et dicta Merara
bis quaterna legunt quingentis milia iunctis,
quinquaginta super positis, quos ferre seorsum
ornamenta domus domini uel promere iussit.
sic ibi iam positis sumebant otia castris;
ex quibus excludi placuit trans limina portae,
morborum quis dira tabes corruperat artus,
ne ualidos inter positi contagia ferrent,
abdita dum calidis errant discrimina uenis.
ilicet uxori tacito qui pectore zelat,
nec testem, qui prodat, habet, si serus adulter
polluerit casti quondam cubilia fulchri,
ad uatem festinus eat coramque praesentet.

### English translation (Claude)

Since a different guard over the holy things and the temple of God
awaits these numbers, so they divide the camps.
The first takes the side toward the sea; another stretches to the south;
the third looks toward the icy breezes of the north.
But where the first flame of coming day reddens,
the conspicuous prophet’s men pitch the greatest tents.
Next he prepares to single out the boys born first
and consecrate them to the Lord, which make twice eleven
thousand, if you add on top two hundred
and seven times ten; for these the priests may take
a drachma and assign it to the sacred things of the temple,
since the divine altar releases them as though bought.
At once they choose those assigned to the service of sacred things
from the band of Gershon and of Kohath and that called Merari,
twice four thousand, with five hundred joined
and fifty more on top, whom he ordered to carry separately
or bring out the ornaments of the Lord’s house.
So there they took their leisure in the camp now pitched;
from it he chose to shut out beyond the threshold of the gate
those whose limbs the dire wasting of disease had corrupted,
lest, placed among the healthy, they bring contagion,
while hidden dangers run through their hot veins.
At once, he who is jealous of his wife in a silent breast
and has no witness to betray her, if a secret adulterer
has polluted the bed of a once-chaste couch,
let him go in haste to the priest and present before him

### Scripture references

- Num 2:1–34: allusion, medium confidence
- Num 3:38–51: allusion, high confidence
- Num 4:46–49: allusion, high confidence
- Num 5:1–15: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.25 (CSEL 23:117lines 25–50; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25).

## Numbers, lines 51–75

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-51
- Source: CSEL 23:118lines 51–75
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The ordeal of the woman suspected of adultery, who drinks the water of cursing; then the beginning of the Nazirite vow, with abstinence from wine and all that comes from the vine.

### Latin text

quam credit peccasse sibi. canamque farinam,
hordea quam faciunt, sacratum promat ad altar.
quam nec ture linat, nec pingui inroret oliuo.
praeuidus hic uates undam de fonte capessat
fictilibus labris, modico quam puluere tinguat
quem capit e media pronus testudine templi.
mox illam nudare caput palmisque tenere
conpellet geminis memoris libamina sacri.
utque bibat latices secum maledicta tenentes.
conpellet senior. quae si criminis exsors,
inlaesa cum mente manet uultuque sereno.
at si sub tacitis celantur crimina fibris,
turgebit subita mulier tentigine morbi,
obscenumque femur putri cum carne liquescet.
insuper et plebis acuit maledicta iocantis.
dum facili exprobat commissa piacula risu.
Haec inter casto uitam si ducere ritu
mente parat quisquam uotique implere reatum
peruigili exoptat sensu, ne luxus in ipso
corporeus certo possit sub fine uigere:
uina neget sibi nata libens et cuncta refutet
pocula, quae calidis in uinum uertere lymphis
aut melle aut pomis consueuit cura bibentum,
cum liquidos puris renouant de fontibus haustus.
horreat hic uuas, acinum nec mordeat ullum.

### English translation (Claude)

the woman he believes has sinned against him, and bring white flour,
made from barley, to the sacred altar,
which he neither smears with incense nor moistens with rich oil.
Here the foreseeing priest takes water from a spring
in an earthen vessel and tinges it with a little dust
that he takes, bending down, from the middle of the temple floor.
Soon he will make her bare her head and hold in both palms
the offering of the sacred memorial.
And the elder will make her drink the water
that holds curses within it. If she is free of crime,
she remains unharmed in mind and serene in face.
But if crimes are hidden in her silent heart,
the woman will swell with the sudden distension of disease,
and her shameful thigh will melt with rotting flesh.
Moreover she provokes the curses of the jesting people,
as they reproach her sins with easy laughter.
Meanwhile, if anyone resolves to lead his life in a chaste rite
and desires with watchful mind to fulfil the obligation of a vow,
lest bodily luxury thrive in him within the fixed term,
let him gladly deny himself wine and refuse all
drinks that the care of drinkers is used to turning into wine
with warm water or with honey or fruits,
when they renew liquid draughts from pure springs.
Let him shudder at grapes and bite no grape,

### Scripture references

- Num 5:15–28: allusion, high confidence
- Num 6:1–4: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.51 (CSEL 23:118lines 51–75; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-51).

## Numbers, lines 76–101

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-76
- Source: CSEL 23:118lines 76–101–119
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Nazirite abstains from vinegar and raisins, lets his hair grow, and avoids the dead; if defiled by a death he shaves, offers birds, and begins again; at the end of the vow he offers lambs and a ram.

### Latin text

qui uini uel rore madet, uel solibus aret
in passum crispo concretus margine rimae;
quin etiam laticem mordacis uitet aceti.
sobria mobilibus delibans pocula riuis;
concretamque gerat toto cum tempore barbam,
qui uoto perscriptus erit; crinemque fluentem
intonsus conseruet apex; lustrare sepulchra
nesciat et patrum tumulos bustumque sororis,
ut sanctus persistat honor. si forte sub isdem
conpositus tectis aliquis laxauerit artus,
morte obita, infectum ueluti sordescere coget.
is igitur ueniam curis mordacibus oret,
tondeat et crinem squalenti in uertice pastum;
et cum clara dies septeno eluxerit ortu,
turtures aut simili candentes pluma columbas
offerat, ut uitium uatis per uerba leuetur
atque precem; iactura tamen sit temporis eius,
quo prius abstemius fuerat, rursusque capessat
principia optatis iterum currentia uotis,
quaesitam ut meritis ualeat contingere metam.
omnibus his gestis, postquam sua praemia conpos
certa tenet, similes albentis uelleris agnos
offerat, expliciti bidentes cursibus anni;
unus ut occumbat quaesitae ad praemia mercis
peccatumque leuet; nitidi iam corporis alter
atque salutiferos aries decumbat ad actus.

### English translation (Claude)

whether it is moist with the dew of wine or dries in the sun
into a raisin, shrunken with wrinkled, cracked edge;
moreover let him avoid the liquid of biting vinegar,
sipping sober cups from running streams;
and let him wear a grown beard the whole time
who is enrolled by the vow, and let his unshorn crown
keep its flowing hair; let him not visit tombs,
the graves of his fathers or his sister’s pyre,
so that his holy honour may remain. If perhaps someone
under the same roof has loosed his limbs
in death, it will make him unclean as if infected.
Let him therefore pray for pardon with biting cares
and cut the hair grown on his squalid head;
and when the bright day has shone at its seventh rising,
let him offer turtledoves or doves white with like plumage,
so that the fault may be lightened by the priest’s words
and prayer; yet let the time be lost
in which he had abstained before, and let him take up again
a beginning, running anew with the vows he desires,
so that he may reach the goal sought by his merits.
All this done, when, having gained it, he holds
his sure rewards, let him offer like lambs of white fleece,
yearlings, a year’s course complete,
so that one may fall for the reward sought
and lighten sin; the other, now of clean body,
and a ram, lie down for the acts that bring salvation.

### Scripture references

- Num 6:3–17: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.76 (CSEL 23:118lines 76–101–119; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-76).

## Numbers, lines 102–126

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-102
- Source: CSEL 23:119lines 102–126–120
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Nazirite completes his vow; the priestly blessing is given, addressed by the poet to Christ; the tabernacle and its vessels are anointed, and the wagons and oxen given by the tribal leaders are distributed among the Levites.

### Latin text

ille etiam niueos panes conspargat oliuo,
et quidquid sacri ueteris sollemnia poscunt,
ut ualeat rursum desueta adsumere pocla.
ergo agite, et plebem quotiens sacrare precatu
orantem cupitis, hoc Christum poscite fatu:
"Dextera uerticibus hominum dum prona recumbit,
candidus aetheria uobis benedicat ab aula
omnipotens, custosque fiat per saecula uester,
fulgentemque deus faciem super omnia uestrum
attollat capita, et sit miserator in aeuum;
eleuet et uultus, ut uos de sede reuisat
inclita et ingenti dominus det munere pacem."
nec minus interea uates circum omnia promptus
iussa dei primam castris socialibus aedem
exornat domini pinguique inrorat oliuo.
et quaecumque nitent argento effecta uel auro
uasa domus sanctae, simili de flumine lauit.
plaustra dehinc, tribuum dederant quae iuncta tribuni,
cornigeris bobus parilem diuisit ad usum
Leuitisque dedit; geminis bis ducta iuuencis
carra duo primae Getsonum tradita turmae;
at Merara cohors quaterno bis boue iuncta
quattuor accepit rebus carpenta ferendis,
quae sacris sunt facta dei; nam sola Gaada
inmunis donis gestauit pondera collo.

### English translation (Claude)

He also sprinkles snowy loaves with oil,
and whatever the solemnities of the ancient rite require,
so that he may again take the cups he had given up.
Come then, and whenever you wish to consecrate the people
as they pray, ask Christ in these words:
“While the right hand rests bent over the heads of men,
may the shining Almighty bless you from the heavenly hall,
and may he become your guardian through the ages,
and may God lift his shining face over all
your heads, and be merciful for ever;
and may he lift up his countenance, so that he may look on you again
from his glorious seat, and may the Lord give peace as his immense gift.”
Meanwhile the prophet, ready in all God’s commands,
adorns the first house of the Lord in the allied camp
and sprinkles it with rich oil,
and whatever vessels of the holy house gleam, made of silver or gold,
he washed with the same stream.
Then the wagons, which the tribunes of the tribes had given yoked,
he divided with horned oxen for equal use
and gave to the Levites; two carts drawn by twice two bullocks
were handed to the first band, the Gershonites;
but the Merari cohort received four carriages,
yoked with twice four oxen, to carry the things
made for the rites of God; for Kohath alone,
exempt from the gift, carried its loads on the neck.

### Scripture references

- Num 6:18–27: allusion, high confidence
- Num 7:1–9: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet tells priests to pray the priestly blessing (Num 6:24–26) to Christ; translated as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.102 (CSEL 23:119lines 102–126–120; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-102).

## Numbers, lines 127–150

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-127
- Source: CSEL 23:120lines 127–150–121
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The twelve tribal leaders bring their identical offerings on separate days, beginning with Nahshon of Judah; then God speaks to Moses from between the cherubim.

### Latin text

Interea tribuum proceres pia dona ferentes
discretos habuere dies; namque agmina plebis
sunt quingenta, simul uiginti et milia bina,
bis senis ducenda uiris, quorum ordine primo
uouit Iuda tribus donum Nassone tribuno;
in quo uasa dedit argento insignia fuluo,
quae simul expletis faciunt bis pondera centum
atque decem, niuea prorsum siligine plena,
sacrorum ex more riuo uiridantis oliui
praemadida uitulumque dehinc agnumque nitentem
arietemque simul, haedus cui iungitur albens,
qui peccata leuat, simili cum fronte iuuencas
una duas, quae sacra iuuant coniuncta saluti,
arietes quinque hircosque agnasque sequentes
consimili numero: primi sunt muneris ista.
Post haec quaeque tribus discretis laeta diebus
dona dedit nusquam fraterno in munere discors,
omnibus in uasis pariter si summa locetur.
at uero in gabatis caelato ardentibus auro
uiginti centumque fiunt per pondera librae.
Haec ubi deuouit sacrorum insignia uates,
effantem dominum sacrata audiuit in aede,
dum super eximia rutilans fastigia candet
atque (Cherubinos inter dat dogmata. legis.

### English translation (Claude)

Meanwhile the chiefs of the tribes, bringing pious gifts,
had separate days; for the columns of the people
are five hundred and twenty and two thousand,
to be led by twice six men; of whom in first order
the tribe of Judah vowed its gift through its tribune Nahshon,
in which he gave vessels outstanding with tawny silver,
which together, when filled, make weights of twice a hundred
and ten, full indeed of snowy fine flour,
soaked, according to the custom of sacrifices, in a stream
of green olive oil; and then a calf and a shining lamb
and a ram together, with which is joined a white kid
that lightens sins; two bullocks of like brow together,
which, joined, help the sacred rites for salvation;
five rams and he-goats and lambs following
in like number: these were the first gift.
After this each tribe on separate days gladly
gave gifts, nowhere differing in the brotherly gift,
if the sum of all the vessels is set out alike.
But in the dishes gleaming with engraved gold
the weight comes to a hundred and twenty pounds.
When the prophet had dedicated these emblems of the sacred rites,
he heard the Lord speaking in the sacred house,
while, glowing, he shines above the outstanding summit
and gives the teachings of the law between the Cherubim.

### Scripture references

- Num 7:10–89: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The numbers in line 3 are uncertain in the digital text; translated as they stand.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.127 (CSEL 23:120lines 127–150–121; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-127).

## Numbers, lines 151–175

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-151
- Source: CSEL 23:121lines 151–175–122
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The lamps are lit; the Levites serve from twenty-five to fifty and are cleansed; men defiled by a corpse ask about the Passover and are allowed to keep it later, while one who neglects it without cause is condemned.

### Latin text

nec minus et positae diuersa in parte lucernae
bis senas uomuere faces, quas candidus ordo
distinctim rutilare dedit, dum brachia pandit
aurea ceriforum, discreta et lumina fulcit.
Interea Leuita manus donaria tractans
a bis uicenis et quinque adsumitur annis,
et qui seruitium iam denis quinquies annis
explerit domini, uacuus sit cura parendi
inque locum uetuli iuuenis succedat et adsit.
quorum rore leui redduntur corpora pura
fluminis aut fontis, et acuti lammina ferri
caesariem comit, si crinis sorduit ingens.
indumenta dehinc studio curaque lauantur,
ne quando occultum maculent contagia corpus.
Haec inter de plebe uiri, quos criminis atrox
cura sequebatur, animo dum teste fatentur,
exorant procerem, si possent pascha sacratum
consueto celebrare die; quos ille parumper
sustinet ac domini subnixus iussa precatur
mandatumque refert, quod tinctis crimine ius est
insignem sacrare diem cultumque referre.
quem nox laeta monet, decurso cum uenit anno.
At uero innocuus populi si festa retractet,
nec procul a templo teneat hunc cura uiandi.
crimen habet mortis: lex est haec omnibus aequa.

### English translation (Claude)

And the lamps placed on the other side
put forth twice six flames, which the bright row
was set to shine separately, while the golden lampstand
spreads its arms and holds up its separate lights.
Meanwhile the Levite band handling the offerings
is taken from the age of twice twenty and five years,
and he who has completed the Lord’s service for five times ten years,
let him be free of the duty of serving,
and let the young man succeed to the old man’s place and be present.
Their bodies are made pure with a light sprinkling
from river or spring, and a blade of sharp iron
trims their hair if their thick locks are dirty.
Then their garments are washed with zeal and care,
lest contagion ever stain the hidden body.
Meanwhile men of the people who were troubled
by fierce care for a defilement, confessing it with conscience as witness,
ask the chief whether they might celebrate the sacred Passover
on the accustomed day; he holds them back a little
and, relying on the Lord’s commands, prays,
and reports the command that those stained with defilement may
hallow the notable day and renew the worship
that the glad night recalls when it comes at the year’s end.
But if an innocent man of the people turns away from the festival,
and no need of travel keeps him far from the temple,
he incurs a capital charge: this law is the same for all.

### Scripture references

- Num 8:1–26: allusion, high confidence
- Num 9:1–13: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet gives the lampstand twelve lights; Num 8:2 has seven.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.151 (CSEL 23:121lines 151–175–122; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-151).

## Numbers, lines 176–201

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-176
- Source: CSEL 23:122lines 176–201–123
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Moses makes the silver trumpets that signal the march of each camp; Israel sets out to the wilderness of Paran, and Moses asks Hobab, son of Reuel, to come with them to the promised land.

### Latin text

Postquam cuncta pius perfecit munia uates.
quae templo sunt digna dei, mox agmina mouit
terrificasque tubas ualidis clangoribus implet.
quas prius argento domini per iussa pararat.
lammina dum tenuis teretem sinuatur in orbem.
exiguum[que] signum uentosa ad murmura pandit
ordinibus positis, ut primo bucina cantu
sollicitas acies ad sancta oracula sistat.
haec properat prima castrorum portio, quae se
porrigit aurorae primaque ad lumina solis.
cumque alios sonitus iteret tuba, prodeat agmen,
quod leuis obuerso de cardine respicit auster.
tertius at crepitus litui legionibus illis
dat signum, quae castra tenent contermina ponto,
post quas uasa. legit aquiloni obiecta iuuentus.
at cum Leuitae diuina ad munia lecti
agmina. conmorant, Aronis pignora uatis,
iam tum pontifices, lituos inflare manebat
cura decens cunctaque deo transcripta ciere.
deueniunt primis longa in deserta uadentes
ad Pharana locum castris; hic uates amico
exorat generum fatu Raguele creatum
Obabum iuuenem, terrae Madanitis alumnum.
ut pariter gradiens promissa ad regna ueniret,
in quibus ubertim manarent dulcia plenis
mella fauis niuei multo cum flumine lactis.

### English translation (Claude)

After the pious prophet had completed all the duties
worthy of the temple of God, he soon moved the columns
and fills the terrifying trumpets with strong blasts,
which he had earlier made of silver at the Lord’s command,
while a thin sheet is curved into a round tube.
It gives a small signal to the windy murmurs,
the ranks being set, so that at the first call the trumpet
may halt the anxious ranks before the holy oracles.
The first part of the camp hastens at this, the part that
stretches toward the dawn and the first light of the sun.
And when the trumpet repeats other sounds, let the column go forth
that the light south wind looks upon from the opposite quarter.
But the third blast of the clarion gives the signal
to those legions that hold the camp bordering the sea,
after which the youth facing the north gathers its gear.
But while the Levites chosen for divine duties
hold back the columns, the children of the prophet Aaron,
already priests, had the fitting duty of blowing
the trumpets and of summoning all that was assigned to God.
Going into the long desert, they come with their first camp
to the place Paran; here the prophet with friendly speech
entreats his kinsman Hobab, the young man born of Reuel,
a son of the land of Midian,
to go with them and come to the promised realms,
in which sweet honey flows abundantly from full combs
with a great river of snowy milk.

### Scripture references

- Num 10:1–29: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The editor deletes que in line 6 (exiguum[que]).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.176 (CSEL 23:122lines 176–201–123; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-176).

## Numbers, lines 202–226

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-202
- Source: CSEL 23:123lines 202–226–124
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Hobab wishes to return home, and Moses urges him at length to continue with Israel to the promised land; Israel leaves the mountain of God.

### Latin text

sed piger et dubia paulisper mente moratus
ad patrias mauult cursum conuertere sedes,
nequaquam edomitus soceri sermone rogantis:
"Cur, inquit, diuersus abis? huc dirige mentem:
quo domini nos regna uocant, quae ditia semper.
semper honorata nulla sub labe uacillant.
et quae causa tamen tam dura et nescia nobis
te mouet, ut fines repetas gentemque paternam ?
quam procul et dudum, sensu meliora petente,
dimissam mediis heremus disiungit harenis:
in quo nulla tuos mouit sententia sensus.
et potuit tum causa fore, quia iustius ista
percuperes, cum nulla uagis currentia riuis
pocla forent calidoque arderent sidere solis,
cumque iter ambiguum et spes incerta futuri
ignaros quateret. at nunc iam fine sub ipsa
laboris modici, cum se felicia regna
exhibeant iungantque dei, sic mente uacillas,
ceu suadeam peiora tibi, quam sensibus opto.
quin potius, iuuenis, caro te redde parenti,
et coeptam percurre uiam munusque receptum
perfice, ut optatis cum primum sedibus omnes
condiderit dominus, quae sunt meliora capessas,
et proceres inter positus sis grandior actu."
Inde abeunt montemque dei posterga relinquunt:

### English translation (Claude)

But he, sluggish and lingering a while with doubtful mind,
prefers to turn his course back to his native home,
not at all won over by the words of his kinsman, who asks:
“Why do you go off another way? Turn your mind here,
where the Lord’s realms call us, which, ever rich,
ever honoured, waver under no fall.
And yet what cause, so hard and unknown to us,
moves you to seek again the borders of your father’s people,
which long ago, far off, when your mind sought better things,
you left, and which the wilderness separates by its sands?
In that wilderness no thought moved your mind.
And then there might have been a cause, because you would
more justly have longed for home, when there were no drinks
running in wandering streams and the hot sun burned,
and when an uncertain journey and uncertain hope of the future
shook those who did not know. But now, at the very end
of a modest labour, when happy realms
show themselves and God joins them to us, you waver so in mind,
as though I were urging you to worse than I wish in my heart.
Rather, young man, give yourself back to your dear kinsman,
finish the road you began and complete the task you took up,
so that, as soon as the Lord has settled all in their longed-for seats,
you may take up better things and, placed among the chiefs,
be greater in deed.”
Then they depart and leave the mountain of God behind them:

### Scripture references

- Num 10:29–33: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.202 (CSEL 23:123lines 202–226–124; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-202).

## Numbers, lines 227–251

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-227
- Source: CSEL 23:124lines 227–251–125
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The ark goes before the people and Moses prays, ‘Rise up, O God, and scatter your enemies’; the people murmur, fire breaks out in the camp and is quenched at Moses’ prayer, and Moses complains that he cannot bear the people alone.

### Latin text

nec minus aetherii custodem dogmatis arcam
castra sequebantur, postquam se tertius alto
lucifer extulerat caelo, iam nocte relicta,
ut sanctis domini semper praeeuntibus esset
iusta quies populo, multo sub fasce uianti
inde prius uates, dum signum sedulus offert
agminibus primis, haec supplex uerba profatur
"Sublimis consurge, deus, atque hostica promptim
milia disperge; fugiant bellare parantes
aduersum tua castra, deus, quique inpete sensu
oderunt te, summe sator; tu robora contra
quamuis firma uales uerbo sternenda perenni."
dicentem nubs clara tegit agmenque refertum
inmensasque acies obtentu uestis inumbrat.
at populus truculenta ferox dum murmura uoluit,
misit et in dominum rabiosae obprobria linguae.
quae propter sublimis apex delabitur ignis
aethere de supero plebemque et castra peredit
parte tenus certa, sed flammas triste micantes
in segetem poenae iucunda oratio sanctis
auribus extinxit canoque in puluere soluit;
dum pius obstipa uates ceruice laborat
inmensumque deum tanto pro crimine poscit,
atque iterat solum populi tolerare tumultus
adsiduos fesso nequiquam pectore uelle.

### English translation (Claude)

and the ark, guardian of heaven’s teaching,
went before the camp, after the third morning star
had lifted itself in the high sky, the night left behind,
so that, with the Lord’s holy things always going before,
the people travelling under heavy burdens might have fitting rest.
Then first the prophet, as he diligently gives the signal
to the first columns, speaks these words as a suppliant:
“Rise up on high, O God, and swiftly scatter
the enemy thousands; let those flee who prepare to fight
against your camp, O God, and those who with violent mind
have hated you, highest Sower; you are strong against
forces however firm, to be laid low by your everlasting word.”
As he speaks, a bright cloud covers him, and overshadows the crowded column
and the immense ranks with its covering like a garment.
But the people, fierce, while they rolled out savage murmurs,
also hurled the reproaches of a raging tongue against the Lord.
For this the lofty point of fire glides down
from the sky above and devours the people and the camp
in a certain part; but the flames flashing grimly
over their harvest of punishment a pleasing prayer quenched
in the holy ears and dissolved them into grey dust,
while the pious prophet labours with bowed neck
and entreats the immense God for so great a crime,
and repeats that he cannot, with his weary breast,
bear alone the constant tumults of the people.

### Scripture references

- Num 10:33–36: allusion, high confidence
- Num 11:1–15: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.227 (CSEL 23:124lines 227–251–125; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-227).

## Numbers, lines 252–277

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-252
- Source: CSEL 23:125lines 252–277–126
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God gives Moses seventy elders who prophesy; Eldad and Medad prophesy in the camp and Moses refuses Joshua’s request to stop them; at Hazeroth Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses’ Ethiopian wife, and Moses keeps silent.

### Latin text

sed dominus consueta deus solacia uati
exhibet atque senes fraterno ex agmine poscit
septuaginta simul, quorum sententia iuncta
et numero facile iurgantum frangeret iras,
cum prophetarum pariter tot consona corda
uno uelut sensu diuina oracula ferrent:
hi tamen ut pariles cunctis dixere loquellas,
se remouent suetoque prius sermone loquuntur.
nec minus et iuuenes, castrorum in parte manentes,
diuina cum mente duo certissima fantur
atque prophetali pariter sermone praesagant
Modus et Eldadus; quod postquam nuntius aures
detulit ad proceres, Iesus instantius urget,
ut uelut inlicito narrantes uera relatu
frenet et obiurget; sed uates protinus almo
arguit adfatu mentemque ex aethere missam
inuidia cohibere docet non esse fidei.
ilicet Aserotum ueniunt atque aggere uasto
castra locant, ceu bella forent nocturna timori.
hic germana pii uatis fraterque tumescunt
inuidiaque fremunt: "Cur coniunx iuncta prophetae
Aethiopissa foret, et cur praesumeret unus
germanis commune decus? nam se quoque summi
percipere monumenta dei atque inclita. iussa. "
sedulus haec uates et cunctis mitior audit
innocua cum mente silens seque abdicat irae.

### English translation (Claude)

But the Lord God gives the prophet his accustomed comfort
and calls for seventy elders from the brotherly host
together, whose joint judgment
and number might easily break the anger of the quarrelsome,
when so many prophets’ hearts in harmony together
should utter divine oracles as with one mind.
Yet when they had spoken words like the others,
they withdraw and speak in their former accustomed way.
And two young men too, remaining in a part of the camp,
speak most certain things with a divine mind
and prophesy together in prophetic speech,
Medad and Eldad; after a messenger brought this
to the chief’s ears, Joshua presses urgently
that he restrain and rebuke them, as though they spoke true things
unlawfully; but the prophet at once with kindly words
rebukes him and teaches that to restrain through envy
a mind sent from heaven is no part of faith.
At once they come to Hazeroth and pitch the camp
with a vast rampart, as though they feared war by night.
Here the pious prophet’s sister and brother swell
and roar with envy: “Why should the wife joined to the prophet
be an Ethiopian woman, and why should one man presume
to the honour common to his kin? For we too
receive the memorials and glorious commands of the highest God.”
The prophet, attentive and milder than all, hears this,
silent, with innocent mind, and renounces anger.

### Scripture references

- Num 11:16–35: allusion, high confidence
- Num 12:1–3: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet omits the quail of Num 11:18–34.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.252 (CSEL 23:125lines 252–277–126; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-252).

## Numbers, lines 278–302

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-278
- Source: CSEL 23:126lines 278–302–127
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God rebukes Miriam and Aaron: to other prophets he speaks in dreams, but to Moses, faithful in all his house, face to face; Miriam is struck with leprosy.

### Latin text

non tamen indomitos dominus procedere motus
sublimi de sede sinit coramque locatos
increpat et liquida uallatus nube profatur:
"Quisquis erit uobis cognata e gente propheta,
somnia uera magis sensu spectante uidebit
nocte super media, cum se sopita relaxant
sensa uirum sanctique deus dat gaudia uerbi;
dum loquor et paribus sermonem accommodo dictis.
qua me perspiciat, oraque et lumina cernat
iuncta sibi, quae nemo ualet dinoscere uiuens?
at non hic mos est, mea cum sententia uerax
donatur uati, tota, qui sede fidelis
est, mea dum licitis adnectit pectora sacris.
ille meos coram potis est consistere uultus
perspicuoque deum lustrare et cernere uisu.
ambiguum nihil est nullaque aenigmata uerbis
sunt inserta meis: confesso me fero uultu:
ille igitur potuit domini regnantis honorem
cernere et inuisum mortali aduertere lumen.
et uestros inter non quiuit ponere motus
mitificam pacem tristesque abolere susurros?"
uix haec ediderat, cum raptim nube remota
ira uenit domini Mariamque amplexa. trementem
perculit et toto perfundit corpore lepram.
haec exempla uidens Aaron conterritus iniit:

### English translation (Claude)

Yet the Lord does not let their untamed passions go further
from his lofty seat, but rebukes them as they stand before him,
and, walled in a clear cloud, he speaks:
“Whoever among you of the kindred race is a prophet
will rather see true dreams with watchful sense
at midnight, when the lulled senses of men
relax, and God gives the joys of the holy word,
while I speak and fit my discourse to like words;
but who could see me and discern my mouth and eyes
joined to his own, which no one living can make out?
But this is not the custom when my true judgment
is given to the prophet who is faithful in all my house,
while he joins my heart to lawful rites.
He is able to stand before my face
and survey and see God with clear sight.
Nothing is ambiguous and no riddles are set
in my words: I show myself with open face.
He, then, who could see the honour of the reigning Lord
and turn his mortal eyes to the invisible,
could he not set gentle peace among your passions
and do away with sad whispers?”
Scarcely had he said this, when suddenly, the cloud removed,
the anger of the Lord came and, enfolding Miriam,
struck her as she trembled and spreads leprosy over her whole body.
Seeing this example, Aaron, terrified, began:

### Scripture references

- Num 12:4–11: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.278 (CSEL 23:126lines 278–302–127; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-278).

## Numbers, lines 303–327

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-303
- Source: CSEL 23:127lines 303–327
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Aaron begs forgiveness, Moses prays for Miriam’s healing, and she is shut out of the camp seven days; at Paran twelve spies are sent into Canaan and reach Hebron.

### Latin text

Parce, precor, domine, iramque auerte nocentem
peccatumque meum nostraeque omitte sororis.
fecimus ignari: nostros quod percutit artus,
uerberat et sensus, id mors ne missa sequatur,
ultrix nequitiae, custodi et consule nobis!
nec mora, cum uates precibus dat corda fraternis,
supplicibus uotis domini medicamina poscens
letiferam ob pestem, totos quae sparsa per artus
germanae tristi torquebat uiscera. morsu.
talia dum clamat: Excedit poena reatum
tanta! deus, dimitte metum. morboque medere.*
ilicet adnuitur; sed castris femina trusa
exulat atque tabem septenis passa diebus
inlaesos recipit laetis cum uultibus artus
consuetoque dehinc plebis celebratur honore.
At Iudaea phalanx promissa ad praemia tendens
signa mouet castraque dehinc Pharanis in aruis
conlocat et tuto conponit moenia uallo.
illic sidereo conpulsus mittere fatu
bissenos iuuenes, tribuum quos esse tribunos
diximus anterius. qui terram urbesque Chanannas
ocius inspicerent sociisque exacta referrent.
illi abeunt saltumque petunt Ematha uocatum
permensi[que] deserta heremi Chebronaque lustrant,
quam populi tenuere feri Sesique Thalique.

### English translation (Claude)

“Spare, I pray, Lord, and turn away your harmful anger,
and pass over my sin and our sister’s.
We did it unknowing: what strikes our limbs
and lashes our senses, let not death, sent as
the avenger of wickedness, follow; guard us and take thought for us!”
Without delay the prophet gives his heart to his brother’s prayers,
asking with suppliant vows for the Lord’s remedies
for the deadly plague that, spread through all her limbs,
was torturing his sister’s flesh with its sad bite,
while he cries thus: “The punishment exceeds the guilt,
so great is it! God, take away the fear and heal the disease.”
At once it is granted; but the woman, thrust from the camp,
lives in exile, and, having suffered the wasting for seven days,
receives back her limbs unharmed with glad looks,
and from then on is held in the accustomed honour of the people.
But the Jewish host, making for the promised rewards,
moves its standards and then pitches camp in the fields of Paran
and builds its walls with a safe rampart.
There, urged by a word from the stars, Moses sends
twice six young men, whom we have said earlier
were the tribunes of the tribes, to spy out quickly
the Canaanite land and cities and report the results to their companions.
They go and make for the glade called Hamath,
and, having crossed the deserts of the wilderness, survey Hebron,
which fierce peoples held, Sheshai and Talmai.

### Scripture references

- Num 12:11–16: allusion, high confidence
- Num 13:1–22: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text marks a crux with an asterisk after medere (line 11). The editor deletes que in line 24 (permensi[que]).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.303 (CSEL 23:127lines 303–327; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-303).

## Numbers, lines 328–350

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-328
- Source: CSEL 23:127lines 328–350–128
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The spies bring back figs, pomegranates and a huge cluster of grapes, but report giant peoples and lofty walls; the people weep and wish they had died in Egypt, complaining of the manna.

### Latin text

ut uentum ad uallem, iam tum quae consita ficis,
dulcibus et malis, sed quae lapidosa uocantur
seu granata magis, laeta cum uite uirebat.
ex hac poma ferunt signum latura fidei
atque etiam ex aliis. diues quae prompserat aruum.
ingentem lenti detondent palmitis uuam
transuersoque dehinc nitentes fuste reportant:
atque quaterdenis trepida cum cura diebus
praeteritis tandem, fuerant quae uisa, reportant,
terrorem addentes, dum dicunt moenia uasto
edita suspectu gentesque inmensa. leuantes
ad caelum capita, ueluti cum plurima quercus
stipitis annosi stellatis iungitur astris.
Frangitur his populus, sensuque adfectus amaro
triste gemit largoque umectat flumine uultus.
talia dum memorat: "O semper laude ferendi
digna uiri, quos nulla mali tam grandis imago
terruit et solita functos tellure locauit!
quos nec triste solum calidis ambussit harenis,
et multum tolerata sitis mannaeque minutal:
dulce quidem. sed felle madens. quia non iuuat artus,
adfecit grauiore fame. cui sola coturnix
iungitur. et tenui consumit corpora uictu.

### English translation (Claude)

When they came to the valley, which was then planted with figs,
with sweet apples and those called stony,
or rather pomegranates, it was green with flourishing vines.
From it they bring fruits to give a sign of their faithfulness,
and also from other things the rich field had produced.
They cut a huge cluster from the pliant vine
and then, straining, carry it back on a pole across their shoulders.
And when forty days had passed in anxious care,
at last they report what they had seen,
adding terror, as they say that the walls are raised
to a vast height and the nations are immense, lifting
their heads to heaven, as when a very great oak
of aged trunk is joined to the starry heavens.
The people are broken by this and, stricken with bitter feeling,
groan sadly and wet their faces with a flood of tears,
while they say: “O men ever worthy
to be praised, whom no image of evil so great
frightened, and whom death laid in their accustomed land!
Whom neither the sad soil scorched with hot sands,
nor thirst long endured, nor the crumbs of manna —
sweet indeed, but soaked in gall, because it does not strengthen the limbs —
afflicted with heavier hunger, manna to which only quail
is added, and which wastes the body with thin food.

### Scripture references

- Num 13:23–33: allusion, high confidence
- Num 14:1–2: allusion, high confidence
- Num 11:6: echo, medium confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.328 (CSEL 23:127lines 328–350–128; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-328).

## Numbers, lines 351–375

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-351
- Source: CSEL 23:128lines 351–375–129
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The people recall the fish, melons, cucumbers, leeks and onions of Egypt, propose to appoint a leader and return, and take up stones, while Moses and Aaron fall on their faces and the chiefs tear their clothes.

### Latin text

at non in Pharia quondam regione manentes
tam tristes torsere cibi, cum uerrere pisces
ludus erat totumque in mensis ponere Nilum
uel mare uentosum uaria de plebe natantum
exuere et laeta uentres laxare sagina.
nos dites gregibus. cunctis nos pinguibus hortis
inemptos pepones aluumque inflare solentes
cucumeres auido mordaces carpsimus haustu.
nos alia et caepe. nos illic sectile porrum
pauit et expletos somno marcente refouit.
quin agite et finem iam duris ponite rebus.
uertite signa citi Niloque has reddite turmas
conspicuumque ducem cognata ex plebe create.
qui nostrae anterius ponat momenta salutis.
quam suae uel trepidi proceris. qui dicta secutus.
ut dicit. metuenda dei. deserta per arua
destituit miseros hostique obponit enormi,
ut mortis grauiora metu patiamur inertes,
dum coniunx dilecta cadit. dum filia uirgo
ducitur et tumido seruit captiua tyranno."
His dictis grauiora parant; namque incita turba
saxa capit totoque insurgens corpore librat.
sed dum praetrepidant. dum sese ad crimina firmant,
discindunt habitus proceres pronique ruentes
ad terram fluxere metu cunctosque precantur.

### English translation (Claude)

But when we lived once in the land of Egypt,
no such sad foods tormented us, when to sweep up fish
was sport, and to set the whole Nile on our tables,
or strip the windy sea of its varied swimming people
and ease our bellies with glad fattening.
We, rich in flocks, we, in all the rich gardens,
plucked unbought melons and the biting cucumbers
that swell the belly, with greedy mouths.
Garlic and onions, and the cut leek there,
fed us, and refreshed us, full, in drowsy sleep.
Come then, and put an end at last to hardships;
turn the standards quickly and give these companies back to the Nile,
and appoint a conspicuous leader from the kindred people
who will put our safety before
his own, or before that of the trembling chief, who, following the words
of God — to be feared, as he says — through desert fields
has abandoned us wretches and set us against an enormous enemy,
so that we, helpless, suffer things heavier than the fear of death,
while a beloved wife falls, while a virgin daughter
is led away and serves a proud tyrant as a captive.”
After these words they prepare worse things; for the roused crowd
takes stones and, rising with all their body, poise them.
But while they hesitate in fear and steel themselves for the crime,
the chiefs tear their clothes and, falling prone,
sank to the ground in fear and begged them all

### Scripture references

- Num 11:5: allusion, medium confidence
- Num 14:3–10: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.351 (CSEL 23:128lines 351–375–129; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-351).

## Numbers, lines 376–398

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-376
- Source: CSEL 23:129lines 376–398–130
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Caleb and Joshua urge the people to trust the spies chosen from the leaders, for God will give them the good land flowing with milk and honey despite the giants.

### Latin text

ne stolida in dubiis mittant conuicia rebus
in caelum sedemque dei, neue ardua credant
decretis promissa dei; cum deinde Chalebus,
Iesutis comitante fide, sic procubus orat:
"Tempore quo placuit terras temptare repostas
hostilesque domos uisaque expromere uobis.
omnibus e tribubus primi placuere tribuni.
quorum nota fides nequaquam dissona posset
dicere, uel ciues mendaci eludere fatu.
et nunc si parilis perstat reuerentia nostri
nominis et nullis uentosa emittimus orsa.
credite conpertis; nam quae fiducia ciues
fallere nos faciat, domini responsa sequentes
uobiscum parilique modo per cuncta uadentes?
quae quidam metuenda putant, dum uultibus albus
pallor inest sensusque labant formidine capti
uana quidem. quia iussa dei nos maxima firmant
nec uinci pelliue sinunt, licet alta gigantes
colla leuent densoque obponant milite turmas.
nobis terra patet, post quam perditibus aruis
felicem lustrasse iuuat, quae flumine multo
actis opima fluit et dulcis gurgite mellis.
uos tantum ne corda deo disiungite sancto.

### English translation (Claude)

not to hurl foolish reproaches, in uncertain matters,
against heaven and the seat of God, nor to think the promises
hard for God’s decrees; then Caleb,
with Joshua joining him in faith, prays thus, prostrate:
“When it was decided to explore the distant lands
and the enemy’s homes and set out to you what we saw,
the first tribunes of all the tribes were chosen,
whose known faithfulness could by no means speak discordantly
or deceive the citizens with lying speech.
And now, if the same reverence for our name remains
and we utter no windy speeches,
believe what has been found; for what confidence would make us
deceive our fellow citizens, when we follow the Lord’s answers
with you and go through all things in the same way?
What some think fearful, while a white pallor
is on their faces and their senses waver, seized by fear,
is vain indeed; for God’s mighty commands make us firm
and do not let us be defeated or driven out, though giants
raise their high necks and set their companies against us with dense soldiery.
The land lies open to us, which, after the barren fields,
it is a joy to have surveyed as happy, which flows rich
with a great river of milk and a flood of sweet honey.
Only do not separate your hearts from the holy God,

### Scripture references

- Num 14:6–9: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Perditibus and actis in lines 20–22 are corrupt in the digital text; translated by sense (actis for lactis).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.376 (CSEL 23:129lines 376–398–130; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-376).

## Numbers, lines 399–422

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-399
- Source: CSEL 23:130lines 399–422–131
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God’s glory appears; he decrees that the whole generation except Caleb and Joshua will die in the wilderness during forty years, despite Moses’ intercession; the people then attack the hill country on their own.

### Latin text

neu timidas cohibete manus; quia signa sequentes
numquam uicta dei famulans uictoria ditat.*
Haec ubi dicta, dei confestim sedibus altis
maiestas ueneranda uenit populumque patresque
atque synagogam miro perfudit honore.
Haec inter dominus tristes denuntiat iras
extremamque luem, qua gens inmensa necetur.
squalentes inter saltus terramque relictam,
exceptis tantum metuenda a peste duobus.
quos socium robur parili firmauerat usu,
uidentes nil posse dei confligere iussis.
quamlibet. id uates orando auertere temptans
mollibus adloquiis timida inter uerba rogaret,
ne stolida incassum mittentes uerba Chananni
perstreperent nulla populum uirtute iuuari.
qui foret optatus dominique ad praemia lectus:
nec tamen eualuit metuenda inflectere dicta,
quae firma sub lege uolant; nam uisere nulli
arua fuit licitum soli concessa fidei;
namque quaterdenis populus bellator in annis
occidit et natis sublimia regna reliquit.
Haec inter stolidis armata et incita curis,
consurgit legio summoque in uertice collis
signa locat praecepsque obliquum fertur in hostem.

### English translation (Claude)

and do not hold back timid hands; for victory, as a servant,
enriches those who follow God’s standards, never conquered.”
When this was said, the venerable majesty of God
came at once from its lofty seat and flooded the people and the fathers
and the congregation with wondrous honour.
Meanwhile the Lord announces sad anger
and an extreme plague, by which the immense nation is to be killed
amid barren glades and a land left behind,
except only two from the fearful plague,
whom a shared strength had made firm by like conduct,
seeing that nothing can contend with God’s commands.
However much the prophet, trying to avert it by praying,
asked with gentle speeches amid timid words,
lest the Canaanites, hurling foolish words in vain,
should clamour that the people was helped by no power,
the people who were desired and chosen for the Lord’s rewards,
yet he could not bend the fearful words
that fly under firm law; for no one
was allowed to see the fields granted only to faith;
for within forty years the warrior people
fell and left the lofty realms to their sons.
Meanwhile, armed and roused by foolish cares,
the legion rises, sets its standards on the very top of the hill,
and is carried headlong against the enemy on the slope.

### Scripture references

- Num 14:10–44: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text marks a crux with an asterisk after ditat (line 2).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.399 (CSEL 23:130lines 399–422–131; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-399).

## Numbers, lines 423–448

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-423
- Source: CSEL 23:131lines 423–448–132
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Israelites are routed because God was not with them; a sabbath-breaker gathering sticks is stoned; blue tassels are commanded; Korah, Dathan and Abiram rebel and are swallowed by the earth, and fire consumes the 250 who offered incense.

### Latin text

et quia pugnaces dominus non terruit alas,
uincitur et fuso conuertit milite terga.
praescius id uates castrorum in sede remansit,
sacratam cohibens uallis tutantibus arcam.
Interea e populo quidam sub lumine festo
dum sarmenta legit, legis contemptor aeternae,
corripitur sanctaque dei per iussa necatur
missilibus saxis, uetitum ne serperet ausum.
quin etiam quo saepe uiros mens cauta moneret
aeternos domini ad monitus conuertere mentes,
fimbria conserto cunctis hyacinthina nodo
nectitur et noto distinguit limite uestes.
exim causa mali uetito consurgit ab actu:
namque Coras Leuita tribu pariterque Dathamus
atque Abirus, licitum cunctis offerre tonanti
incensum cum ture pio dementibus ausis
credentes. tumida uates petiere querella.
nec longum dilata nece; nam cardine rupto
terra patens cunctos inferna ad tartara misit
cum quibus extincti pariter sua funera cernunt
bis centum, qui sacra deo non iussa ferebant,
quinquies et deni cunctorum congrege turba,
et pecora et quidquid fuerat sub iure nocentum;
ac uelut in totos pariter nex una ueniret,
dispersi trepidare metu ignemque supernum
nequiquam fugere ac sese abscondere temptant.

### English translation (Claude)

And because the Lord did not shield the fighting wings,
it is defeated and, its soldiers routed, turns its back.
Foreknowing this, the prophet stayed in the camp,
keeping the sacred ark within protecting ramparts.
Meanwhile a man of the people, on the festal day,
while gathering sticks, a despiser of the eternal law,
is seized and by God’s holy command is killed
with thrown stones, lest the forbidden daring spread.
Moreover, so that a cautious mind might often warn men
to turn their minds to the Lord’s eternal admonitions,
a hyacinth fringe with a knotted cord is fastened for all
and marks their garments with a known border.
Then a cause of evil arises from a forbidden act:
for Korah of the tribe of Levi, and with him Dathan
and Abiram, believing with mad daring that anyone might
offer incense with pious frankincense to the Thunderer,
attacked the prophet with swollen complaint.
Nor was death long delayed; for, its hinge broken,
the earth opened and sent them all to infernal Tartarus,
and with them, destroyed likewise, two hundred
and fifty, who brought rites to God that were not commanded,
see their death, from the whole gathered crowd,
and the cattle and whatever had belonged to the guilty;
and, as though one death were coming on all alike,
scattered, they tremble with fear and try in vain
to flee the fire from above and hide themselves.

### Scripture references

- Num 14:44–45: allusion, high confidence
- Num 15:32–41: allusion, high confidence
- Num 16:1–35: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 1 has terruit in the digital text; translated by sense (texit, ‘shielded’). Ei populo in line 5 is read as e populo.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.423 (CSEL 23:131lines 423–448–132; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-423).

## Numbers, lines 449–472

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-449
- Source: CSEL 23:132lines 449–472–133
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The people murmur and 14,700 die in a plague stayed by Moses’ intercession; the censers are hammered into plating for the altar; and Aaron’s rod among the twelve buds and bears almonds.

### Latin text

quin etiam reuoluta die feruere tumultu
non ueriti magna confestim clade premuntur.
atque eadem sub morte ruunt bis milia septem
sexcentique uiri : et ni discrimina uates
tanta uidens dominum blanda inter uota rogasset.
grandior infandum punisset poena reatum.
Verum ubi post trepidos redierunt otia motus,
auratas pateras, iuuenes quibus ante sinistri
obtulerant insueta deo libamina caeli,
dissipat et tenui sollerter lammina cunctas
deuouet ac domini Moyses altaribus indit;
idcirco quia sacra fiunt, quaecumque feruntur
ad dominum celsaque dei ante ora locantur.
nec minus ut uates inter discretio summos
atque tribus fieret, uirgam deposcit ab omni
principe, bissenas donec iam summa repleret;
sepositamque dehinc Aaronis nomine uates
exhibet et domini media intra tecta relinquit.
cumque reuertenti micuissent sidera sole,
res haut nota prius, populo mirante coacto,
cernitur et magnum domini patefecit honorem.
enodis nam uirga prius truncataque ferro
Aaronis proceris nullo de fomite terrae
floruit atque nuces sicco iam stipite prompsit.

### English translation (Claude)

Moreover, on the next day, those who were not afraid to seethe in tumult
are at once overwhelmed by a great slaughter,
and in the same death fall twice seven thousand
and six hundred men; and unless the prophet, seeing
such danger, had entreated the Lord with gentle vows,
a greater penalty would have punished the unspeakable guilt.
But when quiet returned after the fearful upheaval,
the gilded censers, with which the wicked young men had earlier
offered to God unaccustomed offerings of heaven,
Moses breaks up, and skilfully devotes them all as a thin sheet
and sets it on the altars of the Lord;
because whatever is brought to the Lord
and placed before the lofty face of God becomes holy.
Moreover, so that a distinction might be made between the highest priests
and the tribes, the prophet asks for a rod from every
chief, until the total reached twelve;
and the prophet then shows one set apart with Aaron’s name
and leaves it in the midst of the Lord’s dwelling.
And when the stars had faded as the sun returned,
a thing not known before is seen by the gathered people,
to their wonder, and revealed the great honour of the Lord.
For the rod of the chief Aaron, once knotless and cut off with iron,
with no nourishment from the earth
flowered and put forth nuts on the dry stick.

### Scripture references

- Num 16:36–50: allusion, high confidence
- Num 17:1–8: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.449 (CSEL 23:132lines 449–472–133; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-449).

## Numbers, lines 473–497

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-473
- Source: CSEL 23:133lines 473–497–134
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The law of the red heifer and the water of purification from contact with the dead; Miriam dies at Kadesh, the people quarrel for water, and God commands Moses to bring the rod to the rock.

### Latin text

additur ad legis monumenta et iussa sacratae,
ut uitula. cui flaua cutis per membra nitebit,
occidat ante fores domini corpusque cremetur
ignibus, utque cinis conbusto e uiscere natus
corpora purificet foedo sordentia tactu,
conspersus per membra uirum, cui gramen hysopi
iungitur. ut tenui diffundat uerbere rores
flumineos mundaque infectos diluat unda.
nam quicunque manu contingit corpora functa,
uel iacet exanimum cuius sub tecta cadauer,
sordibus afficitur templumque infuscat aeternum.
uascula quin etiam patulis sordentia. rostris
cuncta sunt, uulnusque dehinc quicumque cruentum
contingit ossaque uirum bustumue sepulti,
tertia luce potest sese uel septima. purum
reddere, si dominum tacito sub corde precatus
dona ferat medici purgatus flumine rami.
Haec inter Iudaea phalanx deserta per arua
dum graditur, Cadessa uenit procerisque sororem
extinctam tumulat multaque accenditur ira,
quod deserta siti regio non promeret ullos
fontibus e gelidis riuos; quodque arida cunctis
ora forent tostoque arderent corpora sole.
id dominus meditans uati depromere uirgam
imperat et gemino rupem contingere tactu.

### English translation (Claude)

It is added to the records and commands of the sacred law
that a heifer, whose tawny hide shines over her limbs,
should be slain before the doors of the Lord and her body burned
in the fire, and that the ash from the burnt flesh
should purify bodies soiled by foul touch,
sprinkled on the limbs of men, with a sprig of hyssop
joined to it, so that with a light stroke it may scatter
river water and wash the defiled with clean water.
For whoever touches dead bodies with his hand,
or under whose roof a lifeless corpse lies,
is stained with uncleanness and defiles the eternal temple.
Moreover all vessels with open mouths are unclean,
and whoever then touches a bloody wound,
or the bones of men, or the tomb of one buried,
can on the third and seventh day make himself
pure, if, having prayed to the Lord in a silent heart,
he brings his gifts, purified by the stream from the healing branch.
Meanwhile, while the Jewish host walks through desert fields,
it comes to Kadesh and buries the chief’s sister,
who had died, and is inflamed with great anger,
because the region, deserted through thirst, gave no streams
from cool springs, and because the mouths of all
were dry and their bodies burned in the scorching sun.
The Lord, considering this, commands the prophet to bring out the rod
and touch the rock with a double touch.

### Scripture references

- Num 19:1–22: allusion, high confidence
- Num 20:1–8: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.473 (CSEL 23:133lines 473–497–134; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-473).

## Numbers, lines 498–522

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-498
- Source: CSEL 23:134lines 498–522–135
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Moses strikes the rock in unbelief and water flows, but God forbids Moses and Aaron to lead the people into the land; Edom refuses passage, and Aaron dies on Mount Hor, Eleazar succeeding him.

### Latin text

quam tamen incutiens dubio cum pectore Moyses
obiurgat populum dicens: Heu! mente feroces
sensibus et duri, numquidnam saxa madere
ulla queunt riuis uiuosque emittere fontes?"
haec dum motus ait, lenta dat uerbera uirga.
.......... rumpuntur cotibus amnes. —
attamen omnipotens cunctantum pectora uatum
increpat obiurgans: "Quoniam sententia uobis
ancipiti sub corde fuit meque omnia posse
mens haut firma uidet paruumque inpertit honorem
sublimis domini imperio, cui credere coram "
Iudaeas acies decuit fidemque referre
nil non posse deum: id propter, ducere plebem
ad sedes dudum sponsas terramque feracem
haut licitum uobis magnaque adsumere dona."
Interea populus Edomum adiungitur aruis,
per quae pacificas acies deducere Moyses
percupiens placido regem sermone poposcit
praetumida uirtute ferum pugnamque parantem.
quem tamen euitans monti coniungitur Oro,
in quo decursae post tempora plurima uitae
conditur Aronus notaque insignia liquit
festa sacerdoti, celsis qui altaribus addit
maiorem cunctis Eleazaron, ut deus ingens
iusserat et placitis ministrum adlegerat aris.

### English translation (Claude)

Yet Moses, striking it with a doubtful heart,
rebukes the people, saying: “Alas, you fierce in mind
and hard in sense! Can any rocks be wet
with streams and send forth living springs?”
While, moved, he says this, he strikes with the pliant rod.
… rivers burst from the rocks.
Yet the Almighty rebukes the hesitant hearts of the prophets,
chiding: “Since your judgment was in a divided heart,
and your mind, not firm, does not see that I can do all things
and gives small honour to the command of the lofty Lord,
whom it befitted the Jewish ranks to believe openly
and to bear witness that God can do anything: for this reason
it is not permitted you to lead the people
to the seats long promised and the fertile land
and to take up the great gifts.”
Meanwhile the people reach the fields of Edom,
through which Moses, longing to lead his peaceful ranks,
asked with calm speech the king, wild in his swollen courage
and preparing for battle.
Avoiding him, however, the people reach Mount Hor,
on which, after very long years of a life run out,
Aaron is buried and left his well-known festal insignia
to the priest, who adds to the lofty altars
Eleazar, greater than all, as mighty God
had commanded and chosen him as minister for the altars that please him.

### Scripture references

- Num 20:10–29: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text marks a lacuna at the start of line 6.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.498 (CSEL 23:134lines 498–522–135; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-498).

## Numbers, lines 523–546

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-523
- Source: CSEL 23:135lines 523–546–136
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Israel is first routed and then defeats the Canaanites at Hormah; the people complain of leaving Egypt, fiery serpents bite them, and those who look at the bronze serpent Moses sets on a pole are healed.

### Latin text

illic multimoda fidentes pube Chananni
terrorem inmodicum ualida cum clade dedere
Iudaeis, cum terga darent nudata per agros.
sed tamen adsumunt animos dominoque fauente
hostiles sternunt cuneos atque urbibus ignem
subiciunt ualidis inmensa et laude triumphant.
Sed quamuis fluerent optatis commoda rebus,
non tamen obliqui fremitus nec murmura desunt
in uatem coniecta pium; dum quisque feroci
uoce gemit multa terrarum dote refertam
Aegyptum post terga datam Nilumque feracem
frugum et securo semper cultore colorum.
id deus omnipotens aequato examine plectens
uipereas acies uiroso ex fomite prompsit:
quae multos strauere uiros. dum tenuia quamquam
uulnera letali distendunt corpora suco.
At populus lugubre gemens, dum procubus orat
ante pedes uatis et publica funera narrat.
agnitione probri cunctorum in corde reposta
accipit optatam domino saluante medellam.
namque probus princeps tumidum formare draconem
aere flauo iussus malo suspendit ab alto.
ut, quemcumque uago fixissent, dente cerastae.
exueret letum pendentem uersus ad anguem.

### English translation (Claude)

There the Canaanites, trusting in their numerous youth,
gave immoderate terror with a heavy defeat
to the Jews, as they turned their bare backs through the fields.
But yet they take heart and, with the Lord’s favour,
lay low the enemy’s companies and set fire
to the strong cities and triumph with immense praise.
But though benefits flowed with all they desired,
sullen roars and murmurs were not lacking,
cast against the pious prophet, while each groans with fierce
voice that Egypt, full of the rich dowry of its lands,
had been left behind, and the Nile, fertile in crops
and with its ever-secure tiller.
Almighty God, punishing this with level scale,
brought forth ranks of vipers from a poisonous source,
which laid many men low, since, though the wounds were slight,
they swell the bodies with deadly venom.
But the people, groaning mournfully, while they pray prostrate
before the prophet’s feet and tell of the public deaths,
with the recognition of their disgrace laid up in the hearts of all,
receive the longed-for remedy, the Lord saving them.
For the upright chief, ordered to fashion a swollen serpent
of yellow bronze, hung it from a high pole,
so that whoever had been pierced by the wandering tooth of the horned snake
might escape death by turning toward the hanging serpent.

### Scripture references

- Num 21:1–9: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Colorum in line 12 is corrupt in the digital text.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.523 (CSEL 23:135lines 523–546–136; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-523).

## Numbers, lines 547–570

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-547
- Source: CSEL 23:136lines 547–570–137
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Israel journeys by Oboth, Iye-abarim, Zered and Arnon to Beer, where God gives water and the people sing the song of the well, and then comes to the land of Sihon.

### Latin text

Hinc populus Obetha uenit. Achina deinde
arua petit; Zaredina dehinc; mox transit ad Adar.
iam uiridi in campo, sedis ubi cultor amoenae
Amorreus agit et opimo pascitur aruo.
illic est puteus uitrea perlucidus unda.
quem iuxta dominus sancto sermone locutus
Moysetem iussit populum densare refertum.
duceret ut riguos latices undamque nitentem.
consona tunc penitus diuina in cantica cunctis
lingua fuit. domino dum laudes hoc canit hymno:
"Inmensus dominus fluenta misit
et totum populi remouit aestum.
pleno dum puteus patet profundo
et multum gelidis scatet fluentis:
quem quondam ualidi fecere reges.
gentes dum ualidas regunt habenis
et sceptris pauidos premunt clientes:
usus ceu proprius pateret ipsis.
externis procul omnibus remotis.
hic nostrae a domino datus saluti
uiuis inriguos repleuit undis."
Haec ubi sidereo dixere cantica regi
castra mouent. uariosque locos post terga relinquunt.
Seonem ad regem decurso limite ducti.

### English translation (Claude)

From there the people come to Oboth, then seek the fields
of Iye-abarim, then Zered; soon they pass on to Arnon.
Now in a green plain, where the Amorite lives
as tiller of a pleasant seat and feeds on rich fields,
there is a well, clear with glassy water,
near which the Lord, speaking with holy speech,
commanded Moses to gather the crowded people,
so that he might draw the watering streams and the shining water.
Then the tongue of all was wholly in harmony in divine songs,
as it sings praises to the Lord in this hymn:
“The immeasurable Lord has sent streams
and taken away all the heat of the people,
while the well lies open in its full depth
and gushes abundantly with cool streams;
which once mighty kings made,
while they ruled mighty nations with the reins
and pressed their fearful dependants with sceptres,
as though its use lay open to themselves alone,
all strangers kept far away.
This well, given by the Lord for our salvation,
has filled the thirsty with living waters.”
When they had sung these songs to the starry King,
they move the camp and leave various places behind,
led to King Sihon when the border was crossed.

### Scripture references

- Num 21:10–21: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Achina and Adar are rendered Iye-abarim and Arnon by sense. The Song of the Well (Num 21:17–18) is set in hendecasyllables.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.547 (CSEL 23:136lines 547–570–137; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-547).

## Numbers, lines 571–596

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-571
- Source: CSEL 23:137lines 571–596–138
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Israel defeats Sihon and takes Jazer; Balak king of Moab, terrified, sends for Balaam to curse Israel, but God forbids it in the night, and Balak sends a second embassy.

### Latin text

obpositas acies ualido certamine fundunt,
quas ille, innocui deridens dicta prophetae,
struxerat. et uana nequiquam laude ferebat
gentis Amorreae; duro quae subdita bello
decubuit ualidas iam dudum saepta per urbes.
Iazera quin etiam. simili uastata duello.
suscepit protrita iugum atque oppida multa
dedidit. optatae deposcens otia pacis.
Haec ubi sollicito dictauit fama Balaci.
qui Moabitarum populos urbesque regebat.
concutitur grauiore metu Balamque prophetam
ambit honoratis precibus. ut tanta gerentem
impediat dictis populum cursumque refrenet
bellantum penitus; quoniam. quae procubus oret,
audiat omnipotens et tristia quaeque secundet.
ille negat fas esse sibi maledicta referre
in plebem domino semper ductore uadentem
ad sedem regnumque suum. longeque uideri
iustius, ut meritis accommoda quaeque precetur.
quandoquidem dominus nocturno in tempore uisus
inhibeat reserare senem responsa Balaci.
talia sed postquam dimissus nuntius iniit,
et regem sua cura tenet, perquirit anhelus
electos proceres rursusque ad limina uatis
mittit oratores dudum iam dicta rogantes
nequiquam, quia dicta dei contraria pugnant.

### English translation (Claude)

They rout in strong combat the opposing ranks,
which Sihon, mocking the words of the innocent prophet,
had drawn up, and he boasted in vain with empty praise
of the Amorite nation; which, subdued in hard war,
lay prostrate, though long hedged in by strong cities.
Moreover Jazer, laid waste by a like war,
crushed, accepted the yoke and surrendered many towns,
asking for the leisure of the peace it longed for.
When report told these things to anxious Balak,
who ruled the peoples and cities of the Moabites,
he is shaken with heavier fear and courts the prophet Balaam
with honouring prayers, that by his words he might hinder
the people doing such deeds and wholly curb
the course of the warriors, since whatever he prays prostrate
the Almighty hears and fulfils, however grim.
He says that it is not right for him to bring curses
on a people going with the Lord always as their leader
to their seat and kingdom, and that it seems far
juster to pray for what befits their merits,
since the Lord, seen in the night,
forbids the old man to unlock answers for Balak.
But after the dismissed messenger brought back such things,
and his care holds the king, breathless he seeks out
chosen chiefs and sends envoys again to the prophet’s threshold,
asking for what was already denied, in vain,
because the words of God fight against it.

### Scripture references

- Num 21:21–32: allusion, high confidence
- Num 22:1–20: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.571 (CSEL 23:137lines 571–596–138; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-571).

## Numbers, lines 597–617

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-597
- Source: CSEL 23:138lines 597–617–139
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Balaam sets out on his ass; the angel of the Lord with drawn sword blocks the way three times, the ass turns aside, crushes his foot against a wall and lies down, and God opens her mouth.

### Latin text

sed tamen emersus uates conscendit asellam
atque praecedentes conlatis passibus aequat.
ecce uiae medio domini mox angelus offert
strinctam aciem contra pronamque obuersus et instans
cornipedem terret, celeri quae concita saltu
in partem conisa fugit campoque pererrat.
quam dum praecipiti temnentem frena timore
circumagit uates ac pressis pugnat habenis,
calcibus et fodicat uirgaque euerberat acri,
pampineas inter uites iam tegmine lapso
semirutus paries cunctanti obiectus asellae
procursum inpediit; pedem quae ad saxa recussit
oblisitque senis sensuque adfecit acerbo.
nuntius inde citus diuersa in parte resistit
calle perangusto, tenuis quo semita duxit,
circumitus nullos quacumque in parte relinquens.
quadrupes hunc strincto uidit mucrone micantem
et multum pauefacta ruit. quam surgere iussam
uerberat et multa uector uibice cohercet.
illa ubi perdoluit, subito sermone locuta est,
dum deus eloquium desueta in uerba relaxat:

### English translation (Claude)

But yet the prophet sets out and mounts his she-ass
and keeps pace with those going before him.
See, in the middle of the road the angel of the Lord soon holds out
a drawn blade against him, and, facing him and pressing on,
terrifies the beast, which, roused with a swift leap,
striving to one side, flees and wanders over the plain.
While the prophet turns her round as she scorns the reins
in headlong fear and fights her with tight reins,
digs his heels in and beats her with the sharp rod,
amid leafy vines, their covering now fallen,
a half-ruined wall set in the hesitating ass’s way
stopped her advance; she struck his foot against the stones
and crushed the old man’s foot and caused him bitter pain.
Then the messenger quickly stands in another place,
in a very narrow path where a thin track led,
leaving no way round on any side.
The four-footed beast saw him flashing with drawn sword
and, in great terror, sinks down. Ordered to rise,
she is beaten by her rider and checked with many weals.
When she felt great pain, she spoke with sudden speech,
while God loosens her speech into unaccustomed words:

### Scripture references

- Num 22:21–28: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.597 (CSEL 23:138lines 597–617–139; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-597).

## Numbers, lines 618–642

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-25/#p-4-618
- Source: CSEL 23:139lines 618–642–140
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The ass reproaches Balaam, the angel appears and tells him he would have been slain but for the ass; Balaam repents, goes on to Balak, and builds seven altars.

### Latin text

"Quid feci meruiue tibi. quod uerbere multo
labentem conixus agis? num terga negaui
sueta tibi? umquamue pauens mea pondera fugi,
praecipitemue dedi, prono dum cernuus armo
laberis et prona fusus ceruice rotaris?*
talia dicenti commotus dicta sacerdos
tristia saepe refert multaque exaestuat ira,
dumque fremens saeuit, claro mox angelus ore
emicat et sancta conpellat uoce prophetam:
"Inmeritam pecudem trino iam uerbere pulsas,
quae me prona fugit terraeque inlisa recumbit
idcirco, quoniam non est tua semita summo
grata deo longeque uagis nunc gressibus erras.
et nisi cornipedem diuersa in parte uadentem
terror abegisset. duro te uulnere ferri
strauerat ista manus crudumque exegerat ensem,
ut te deposito mihimet possessa fuisset."
desilit hic uates sanctumque inflexus adorat
delictumque dolens reditum uitamque precatur.
dimissus celerat suscepta et munia conplet,
uerba locuturus domini dictanda relatu.
iamque uiam uincens Moabae adiungitur urbi
conspicuumque uidet condenso in milite regem
auxiliumque sibi timida cum uoce rogantem
inspicit et domino septenis supplicat aris;

### English translation (Claude)

“What have I done or deserved of you, that with many blows
you drive me on, straining as I fall? Have I refused
my back, so used to you? Or have I ever, in fear, fled my burdens,
or thrown you headlong, while you, head down over my bent shoulder,
slipped and were rolled, thrown over my bent neck?”
As she speaks thus, the priest, moved, often returns
harsh words and boils with great anger;
and while, roaring, he rages, soon the angel shines forth
with bright face and addresses the prophet with holy voice:
“You beat the undeserving beast now with a third blow,
who, bowing low, flees me and lies down, struck to the earth,
because your path is not pleasing to the highest God
and you now wander far with straying steps.
And unless terror had turned the beast aside
in another direction, this hand would have laid you low
with a hard wound of iron and driven home the cruel sword,
so that, with you struck down, she would have been spared by me.”
Here the prophet leaps down and, bowing, worships the holy one,
and, grieving for his offence, asks to return and for his life.
Dismissed, he hastens and fulfils the task he had undertaken,
to speak the words of the Lord that were to be given him.
And now, completing the road, he reaches the city of Moab
and sees the conspicuous king amid dense soldiery,
sees him asking help for himself with timid voice,
and makes supplication to the Lord on seven altars;

### Scripture references

- Num 22:28–41: allusion, high confidence
- Num 23:1: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text marks a crux with an asterisk after rotaris (line 5).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.618 (CSEL 23:139lines 618–642–140; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-618).

## Numbers, lines 643–667

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643/#p-4-643
- Source: CSEL 23:140lines 643–667
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Balaam sacrifices and, instead of cursing, blesses Israel, a people dwelling apart and beyond number, and prays to die the death of the righteous; Balak takes him to another hill.

### Latin text

conspicuosque simul uitulos lectasque bidentes
inmolat et cuncta conmittit munera regi
iudiciumque dei tacita sub nocte meretur.
quod deinde euoluens his regem terruit orsis:
"Montibus e patriis Moabo a principe iussus.
unde rubet uentura dies lumenque serenum,
quaque iacet tellus geminis inclusa fluentis
Tigris et Euphratis, ut dictis saeuus acerbis
exoptem non digna uiris, quos sanctus ab alto
protegit omnipotens terraeque indicit opimae.
hos igitur de colle procul mox uisere ius est
optatosque mihi iamiam dinoscere uultus
felicis populi. quem solum magna secuntur
dona dei. gentesque procul seiunctus et exsors
percipit optatas placido de numine sedes.
quisnam igitur prisci quaesiuit clara Iacobi
pignora uel plebem numeris percurrere quiuit?
occidat hos inter potius mea uita relinquens
corpoream sedem iustisque adiuncta quiescat
progeniesque mea tali cum germine uiuat!"
Haec ubi disseruit sensu torpente Balacus
concidit et uatem diuersa et dissona fantem
increpitat. tumidum iussus conscendere collem.
ut partem exiguam populi subiecta per arua
cerneret. haec iterum digestis uocibus addit:

### English translation (Claude)

and at once he sacrifices conspicuous calves and chosen sheep
and commits all the gifts to the king,
and receives the judgment of God in the silent night.
Then, unfolding it, he terrified the king with these words:
“I was summoned by Moab’s prince from my native mountains,
where the coming day and the serene light grow red,
where the land lies enclosed by the twin streams
of Tigris and Euphrates, that, savage with bitter words,
I should wish unworthy things on men whom the holy
Almighty protects from on high and assigns to a rich land.
It is right, then, to see them soon from the hill far off
and now to make out the faces I long to see
of the happy people, whom alone the great gifts of God
follow, and who, set apart from the nations and sharing nothing with them,
receive the seats they long for from a gracious divinity.
Who, then, has numbered the famous offspring of ancient Jacob,
or could run through the people in numbers?
Rather let my life die among these, leaving
its bodily seat, and rest joined to the righteous,
and may my offspring live with such a progeny!”
When he had said this, Balak, his senses numbed,
collapsed, and rebukes the prophet for speaking contrary
and discordant words; he is told to climb a swollen hill
to see a small part of the people over the fields below.
Again Balaam adds these things in ordered words:

### Scripture references

- Num 23:2–17: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.643 (CSEL 23:140lines 643–667; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643).

## Numbers, lines 668–691

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643/#p-4-668
- Source: CSEL 23:140lines 668–691–141
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Balaam’s second oracle: God is not a man that he should lie; he blesses his people, who have no divination, and they rise like a lion that does not lie down until it has devoured its prey.

### Latin text

"Confestim mea dicta tuas demitte per aures.
Moabi rector populi, testisque uenito!
dissimilis hominum deus est nec uera locutus
inrita uerba facit quidquamue inpune minatur.
qui me magna monet subnixus dona precari.
ut facio; plebemque dei per uota sacrabo.
quam dolor effugiet totus operumque labores.
participi iunctoque deo, qui dura repellit
omnia. ditificae condonans munera pacis.
huius tu procerem sacro de sidere, rector
caelorum terraeque, uide: nam dignus honore est
ille tuo, qui pressa diu ceruice gementem
eduxit populum regno Pharaonis acerbi,
signifer et nulli uirtutum laude secundus
unica regna fouet nulloque in augure fidit.
carmina nulla canit nec quidquam captat inane.
tempore sub certo felicia dicta superni
accipiet secura dei perfectaque uirtus
Iebusaea fiet domini de robore summi.
emicat hic populus, ueluti cum sola per arua
crinigera ceruice leo sese arduus infert,
non ante adsuetae repetens cubilia siluae.
quam crassa toruus sanie praedaque refertus
terruerit uirides minaci ex murmure montes."

### English translation (Claude)

“Send my words at once through your ears,
ruler of the people of Moab, and come as a witness!
God is not like men, and when he has spoken truth
he does not make his words void or threaten anything without effect.
He warns me, as I rely on him, to pray for great gifts,
as I do; and I will consecrate God’s people with vows,
which all pain and toil of labour will escape,
with God as its partner joined to it, who repels
all hardships, granting the gifts of enriching peace.
Look, Ruler of heaven and earth, from your holy star
on this people’s chief: for he is worthy of your honour,
who led out the people groaning with neck long pressed
from the realm of bitter Pharaoh,
a standard-bearer, second to none in praise of virtues;
he cherishes a single kingdom and trusts in no augur,
chants no spells and grasps at nothing vain.
At a fixed time he will receive, secure, the happy words
of God above, and perfected power
will be accomplished from the strength of the highest Lord.
This people springs forth as when through lonely fields
the lion with maned neck advances on high,
not returning to the lairs of his accustomed wood
until, grim, full of thick gore and prey,
he has terrified the green mountains with his threatening roar.”

### Scripture references

- Num 23:18–24: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Iebusaea in line 19 is corrupt in the digital text; translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.668 (CSEL 23:140lines 668–691–141; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-668).

## Numbers, lines 692–717

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643/#p-4-692
- Source: CSEL 23:141lines 692–717–142
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Balaam’s third oracle praises the tents of Jacob, foretells one born of his seed who will rule all peoples in an eternal kingdom, and blesses those who bless Israel.

### Latin text

Haec etiam renuit multa rex saucius ira
tertia dicta rogans diuerso in colle prophetam;
uertice de cuius populum per castra locatum
ut uidit, docili deprompsit pectore uerba:
"Sublimes magnaeque domus, quascumque Iacobi
semen habet, paribusque attollunt culmina tectis,
ut cedrus siluaque nitens. quae frondis honorem
uentilat et querulis modulatur sibila ramis.
uel quae laeta uiret sub ripis fluminis acta.
has dominus struxit celsaque erexit ad astra.
semine de cuius quondam nascetur in omnes
iura ferens populos regnoque insignis aeterno.
quem deus e Pharia clemens arcessit Aegypto
conspicuum nullique parem socioque carentem.
diriget hic gentes diuersa in parte rebelles.
plurima letali contorquens spicula dextra.
adclinis cum deinde cubat similisque leoni.
se coram somno lapso explicat, inde soporem
dimouet, ad uigiles confestim redditus actus.
et quis hunc tactu faciet consistere rursum?
qui tua sanctifico laudat praeconia fatu.
felix ille fiet; at qui contraria dicit.
is male dicta sibi uentoso ex ore facessit.
haec sunt quae nostra dominus te uoce moneri
imperat, eloquio quod fas infringere nulli est
nec mutare uiro quidquamue adiungere praeter.

### English translation (Claude)

The king, wounded with great anger, refused this too,
asking the prophet for a third utterance on a different hill;
from its summit, when he saw the people encamped,
he brought forth words from a teachable breast:
“Lofty and great are the houses that the seed of Jacob
has, and they raise their roofs with buildings alike,
like the cedar and the shining wood that fans
the glory of its leaves and plays whistling tunes on plaintive branches,
or the tree that flourishes gladly, planted on the banks of a river.
These the Lord built and raised to the lofty stars.
From their seed one day will be born one
who brings laws to all peoples, notable for an eternal kingdom,
whom God, merciful, calls out of Egypt,
conspicuous, equal to none and without peer.
He will rule the nations rebellious in various lands,
hurling very many darts with his deadly right hand.
When he then lies down, reclining like a lion,
he stretches himself out, sleep slipping away, then
shakes off his slumber, at once restored to waking deeds.
And who will make him rise again by touching him?
Whoever praises your glories with holy utterance
will be blessed; but whoever speaks against you
brings curses on himself from his windy mouth.
These are the things the Lord commands you to be warned of by my voice,
which no one may break by eloquence,
nor may any man change or add anything besides.

### Scripture references

- Num 24:1–13: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet reads Num 24:7 in the form of the Greek Bible (‘a man shall come forth from his seed’) and refers it to an eternal ruler, evidently Christ.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.692 (CSEL 23:141lines 692–717–142; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-692).

## Numbers, lines 718–742

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643/#p-4-718
- Source: CSEL 23:142lines 718–742–143
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Balaam departs; Israel worships Baal of Peor, the guilty are executed, and Phinehas spears Zimri and the Midianite Cozbi, staying the plague, and receives the priesthood.

### Latin text

quamlibet argenti magnum des ferre talentum
atque tuos census inmensi pondus et auri:
munera nil prosunt; fixum quod dicitur hoc est."
His actis sua tecta petit regemque relinquit
attonitum duraque inmensum dicta gementem.
at manus interea bellis Iudaea secundis
luxuriat sanctasque putat quas uicerat aras:
idolaque inlicito celebrat gentilia cultu
Beseli deuota prius mutoque Phegoro.
hinc ingens mox ira dei consurgit et exim
patentem ad campum proceres procedere mandat.
conuersusque iubet redeuntis lumina solis
cernere et attentos factum noxale piare.
id uates festinus agit ferrumque renudat
innocuos sontesque uago mucrone secutus.
Haec inter quidam fraterna obprobria prodens,
quod sibi non licitum Madia ex gente parasset
conubium. coram cunctos uatemque praesentat
Zambrium Chasbumque pari sub fraude nocentes.
quos Phinea citus arrepta euerberat hasta
inmensamque plagam per iusta piacula sedat,
quae bis dena uirum consumpsit milia leto
atque tria. domini dum telum currit in omnes.
hoc facinus propter sacrata altaria uates
accipit et domini sublimem sumpsit honorem.

### English translation (Claude)

though you give a great talent of silver to carry
and all your wealth and a weight of immense gold:
gifts avail nothing; what is spoken is fixed.”
These things done, he goes home and leaves the king
astonished and groaning greatly at the hard words.
But meanwhile the Jewish band, after successful wars,
runs riot and thinks the altars it had conquered holy,
and celebrates gentile idols with unlawful worship,
devoted to Baal and to dumb Peor.
Hence soon the great anger of God rises, and then
he commands the chiefs to go out to an open plain
and, turned, orders them to face the light of the returning sun
and atone attentively for the guilty deed.
The prophet does this in haste and bares the sword,
pursuing innocent and guilty with roving blade.
Meanwhile a man, betraying the shame of his kin,
because he had made for himself an unlawful marriage
from the Midianite race, displays before all and before the prophet
Zimri and Cozbi, guilty in the same sin.
Phinehas quickly seizes a spear and strikes them
and stays the immense plague by just atonement,
which consumed in death twice ten thousand men
and three, while the Lord’s weapon runs against all.
For this deed the priest receives the sacred altars
and took up the lofty honour of the Lord.

### Scripture references

- Num 24:12–25: allusion, high confidence
- Num 25:1–13: allusion, high confidence
- 1 Cor 10:8: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet gives twenty-three thousand dead, as Paul does in 1 Cor 10:8; Num 25:9 has twenty-four thousand. Beseli (line 9) is rendered Baal by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.718 (CSEL 23:142lines 718–742–143; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-718).

## Numbers, lines 743–767

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643/#p-4-743
- Source: CSEL 23:143lines 743–767–144
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The new generation is numbered; twelve thousand men under Phinehas destroy Midian and kill its kings and Balaam; only the virgins are spared, the warriors are purified, and the plunder is divided.

### Latin text

Interea generata nouo de germine pubes
adlegitur numerisque dehinc subducta notatur.
primaeuo quae flore uirens iam germine molli
uestibat uultus uicenos laeta per annos.
quae deinde summa sexcenta ad milia uenit
atque bis octona. tercentum insuper auctis.
haec meruit sedes domino donante beatas;
ilicet omnipotens obliquum uertere in hostem
signa iubet uati coeptoque insistere bello.
ad quos bis senis hominum cum milibus itur.
quo se cuncta tribus miserat. dum milia quaeque
singula de propriis numerant pugnacia turmis.
Phineus haec ductor agit. dum uascula sancta
terrificasque tubas consueta in proelia portat;
atque alacris lecto confestim milite caedit
Moabas acies regesque interficit omnes:
fusorum dum terga premit uatemque Balamum
enecat et domita praedam de gente reportat.
sed quia femineas acies post bella trahebat
agmine captiuo, proceris per iussa monetur
uirginibus tantum meritam non demere uitam,
corporeasque uirum maculas purgare fluentis.
nec minus et praedam populum partitur in omnem.
Leuitisque dedit merito de munere partem.
quos domini in templo semper pia cura tenebat.

### English translation (Claude)

Meanwhile the youth born of the new stock
is enrolled and then, counted, is entered by numbers,
which, flourishing in its first flower, already with soft down
clothing its cheeks, was glad in its twenty years.
Its total then came to six hundred thousand
and twice eight, with three hundred more added.
This deserved blessed seats by the Lord’s gift.
At once the Almighty commands the prophet to turn
the standards against the hostile enemy and press on with the war begun.
Against them they go with twice six thousand men,
to which each tribe had sent its own, while each counts
its single thousand of fighters from its own companies.
Phinehas leads this as commander, while he carries the holy vessels
and the terrifying trumpets into the accustomed battles;
and eagerly, with chosen soldiers, he at once cuts down
the Moabite ranks and kills all the kings,
while he presses on the backs of the routed and kills
the prophet Balaam and brings back plunder from the conquered nation.
But because after the wars he was dragging the women
in a captive column, by the chief’s command he is told
to spare their life only to the virgins, as they deserved,
and to cleanse the bodily stains of the men with water.
He also divides the plunder among all the people
and gave the Levites a part as a deserved gift,
whom pious care always kept in the Lord’s temple.

### Scripture references

- Num 26:1–51: allusion, high confidence
- Num 31:1–47: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet calls the enemy Moabites; in Num 31 they are Midianites. His total (line 6) is uncertain; Num 26:51 has 601,730.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.743 (CSEL 23:143lines 743–767–144; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-743).

## Numbers, lines 768–777

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643/#p-4-768
- Source: CSEL 23:144lines 768–777–145
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: A share of the spoil is given to God; Reuben, Gad and half Manasseh ask for Gilead, and Moses grants it on condition that they fight with the other tribes.

### Latin text

primitiaeque deo nec non redduntur aeterno.
omnibus ex rebus domita de gente relatis.
His actis Rubena tribus mediaque Manasses
atque Gada sedes laetae Galaditis orant.
pecudibus facilis tellus: nam gramine multo
herbida Iordani fluuio coniuncta uirebat.
quos licet intrepido ductor sermone negarit.
dum mutare putat futura ob proelia mentes,
concedit praestatque tamen, si milite toto
arma gerant sociasque iuuent in bella cohortes.

### English translation (Claude)

and first fruits too are given back to the eternal God
from all the things brought back from the conquered nation.
These things done, the tribe of Reuben and half Manasseh
and Gad ask for the happy seats of Gilead,
a land easy for cattle; for, joined to the river Jordan,
it was green and grassy with abundant pasture.
Though the leader refused them with fearless speech,
thinking they were changing their minds to avoid battles to come,
he grants it nevertheless and provides it, if with their whole army
they bear arms and help the allied cohorts in war.

### Scripture references

- Num 31:48–54: allusion, high confidence
- Num 32:1–33: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 4.768 (CSEL 23:144lines 768–777–145; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-768).

## Deuteronomy, lines 1–26

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643/#p-5-1
- Source: CSEL 23:lines 1–26
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The fifth book retells Deuteronomy: at the Jordan, near death, Moses gathers the people and urges them to fear and love God, who freed them from Egypt and guided them by cloud and fire through the sea.

### Latin text

Hactenus informis heremi uexatus harenis
Iordanem ad fluuium populus promouerat arma;
qui uirides inter saltus dum lubricus errat.
eximiam Hiericho fluctu labente reliquit
et sequitur pontoque dehinc miscetur aperto.
illic sanctificus uates, dum funera cernit
aduentare sibi summamque instare dierum.
quae mundo perscripta fuit: dum degitur istic,
collectum in turmas populum numerosque frequentes
congregat et tali uerborum munere ditat:
"Si placet hostiles penitus prosternere gentes
et placidam pacem uentura in saecla tenere.
formidate deum totoque in pectora sensu
condite, ut inlaeso semper sit iunctus amore;
qui uos oppressa dudum ceruice maerentes
sustulit e uinclis et carcere soluit Aegypti;
qui nebulas inter uosmet hostemque locauit
instantem trepidis nudataque terga prementem;
qui dedit et nubem securi ad signa diei,
et piceam claro detersit lumine noctem:
ut uos ignoto terrarum in tramite positos
firmarent elementa dei, mutantia sese,
quo nox fusca uenit, quo candent sidera cursu;
ille et alterno solitum procurrere motu
oceanum semperque uagum, quo flamina uenti
indeprensa ferunt, sicca nudauit harena.

### English translation (Claude)

So far, harassed by the sands of the formless wilderness,
the people had advanced their arms to the river Jordan,
which, gliding slippery among green glades,
left outstanding Jericho with its flowing stream
and follows on, and then is mingled with the open sea.
There the holy prophet, while he sees death
coming to him and the end of his days at hand,
which had been written for the world, while he lives there
gathers the people assembled in companies and crowded numbers
and enriches them with such a gift of words:
“If you wish to lay the hostile nations wholly low
and hold calm peace for ages to come,
fear God and store him in your hearts with all your mind,
so that he may always be joined to you in unharmed love;
he who, when you mourned long with oppressed neck,
lifted you from your chains and freed you from the prison of Egypt;
who set himself in the clouds between you and the enemy
pressing on you in your fear and on your bared backs;
who also gave a cloud as a sign of secure day
and wiped away pitch-black night with clear light,
so that the elements of God, changing themselves,
might strengthen you, set on an unknown path through the lands,
by which course the dark night comes and the stars shine;
he also laid bare with dry sand the ocean,
wont to run forward with alternating motion and ever wandering,
where the blasts of the wind carry it uncaught,

### Scripture references

- Deut 1:1–5: allusion, medium confidence
- Deut 1:30–33: allusion, medium confidence
- Deut 6:4–12: allusion, medium confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 5.1 (CSEL 23:lines 1–26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/5-1).

## Deuteronomy, lines 27–52

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643/#p-5-27
- Source: CSEL 23:147lines 27–52
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Moses recalls the crossing of the sea, the water from the rock, the manna and quail, the clothes and sandals that did not wear out, and the victories, and calls heaven to witness that they must keep the law.

### Latin text

sanguineam exsudans, rubrantia litora, terram;
ut uos ancipiti constrictos clade laborum
duceret, erectis alterna ad bracchia muris,
aequore diuiduo, bifida dum pendet in unda.
uidistis. quae cura foret tum numinis alti
uos circum, dum pone uolans se concitat hostis
consimilemque uiam uentoso in marmore quaerit.
at non ille potens tumidos transmittere fluctus
concidit et madidas inter uersatur harenas.
uos, spoliis dites dederat quos mollis Aegyptus,
informes heremi terras domibusque negatas
uicistis tutante deo, dum lumina saxis
ilicet et mannam nitido demittit olympo.
grandibus et nimbis per noctem lapsa coturnix
aequora conpleuit positis circum data castris.
indumenta. pedum longus non discidit usus,
nec uestes periere situ uel corpore tritae;
omnia uos circum non perdit fessa uetustas.
hostiles cedunt acies urbesque patescunt:
signifer est dominus, celeri formidine missa
debilitans omnes, uestris qui gressibus obstant.
et nunc aequorei quoniam Iordanis ad undas
uenimus et tellus sese iam proxima iungit
ab summo transcripta deo, per sidera testor
et quidquid celsa domini praefulget in aula,
ut legem aetheriam, quam scripsit dextra tonantis.

### English translation (Claude)

sweating a blood-red earth, the reddening shores,
so that he might lead you, hemmed in by the double danger of your toils,
with walls raised on either arm,
the sea divided as it hung in a cloven wave.
You saw what care the high divinity then had
for you, while behind you the enemy, flying, rushes on
and seeks a like way through the windy sea.
But he, unable to pass the swollen waves,
fell and is rolled among the wet sands.
You, whom soft Egypt had made rich with spoils,
conquered the formless lands of the wilderness, denied to houses,
with God protecting you, while at once he brings streams from rocks
and sends down manna from shining heaven.
And quail, falling in great clouds through the night,
filled the plains around the pitched camp.
Long use did not tear the coverings of your feet,
nor did your clothes perish by decay or wear;
weary age destroys nothing around you.
Enemy ranks yield and cities lie open;
the Lord is your standard-bearer, sending swift fear
to weaken all who stand in your way.
And now, since we have come to the waters of the Jordan
and the land assigned by the highest God now lies nearest,
I call to witness the stars and whatever shines
in the lofty hall of the Lord,
that the heavenly law which the Thunderer’s right hand wrote

### Scripture references

- Deut 11:4: allusion, medium confidence
- Deut 8:3–4: allusion, high confidence
- Deut 8:15–16: allusion, high confidence
- Deut 29:5: allusion, high confidence
- Deut 4:26: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Lumina in line 12 is a slip in the digital text for flumina; translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 5.27 (CSEL 23:147lines 27–52; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/5-27).

## Deuteronomy, lines 53–77

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643/#p-5-53
- Source: CSEL 23:148lines 53–77
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Moses sums up the law as gentle and just: do not do to others what you would not wish done to you; keep the sabbaths, the Passover and honour to parents; avoid foreign marriages and idols; exempt from war the man with a new house, vineyard or bride, and the fearful; spare the suppliant.

### Latin text

sensibus et toto uelitis corde tenere.
nil durum rigidumue iubet. sunt omnia iusta,
mollia, iocunda longaeque accommoda uitae,
utpote quae iubeant. ut, quidquid non placet ulli
conmissum in sese. id nulli inferre laboret.
sabbata diligite. sincero et corde fouete,
quos lex una tenet. dominus quos exhibet unus.
nil uetitum fecisse uolet. qui diligit omnes
nascendi sub lege pares. sit pascha quotannis
peruigili cum nocte potens septemque diebus
otia lenta ferat nullique obnoxia curae.
sit pater et genetrix cari semperque uerendi.
coniugium uetitum externa in gente cauete.
idola disicite n.tumque auertite laeuum,
quem gentes peperere ferae, dum mortua curant
numina. et umbrosis statuunt donaria lucis.
quin etiam quotiens dat signum rauca cruentum
bucina et aeratas educunt classica turmas,
constructas sacrate domus uinetaque laeta
coniugium et licitum consuetis iungito festis:
nam dubios semper faciunt instantia casus
bella uiris nullusque sibi dat tempora uitae.
inbelles cohibete domi: mens saucia turbat
saepe uiros fortes. omnique in tempore belli
parcite supplicibus et debellate superbos.

### English translation (Claude)

you will be willing to hold with your senses and whole heart.
It commands nothing hard or rigid; all is just,
gentle, pleasant and fitting for a long life,
since it commands that whatever no one likes
done against himself, he should not labour to inflict on anyone.
Love the sabbaths and cherish with sincere heart
those whom one law holds and one Lord sets before you;
he who loves all, as equal under the law of birth,
will wish to have done nothing forbidden. Let the Passover be kept each year,
mighty with its night of watching, and for seven days
let it bring slow leisure, bound to no care.
Let father and mother be dear and ever revered.
Beware of forbidden marriage with a foreign nation.
Scatter the idols and turn away the sinister rite
that wild nations brought forth, while they care for dead
divinities and set up offerings in shady groves.
Moreover, whenever the hoarse trumpet gives the bloody signal
and the clarions lead out the bronze squadrons,
let a man dedicate the house he has built and his glad vineyards
and join a lawful marriage with the customary feasts;
for wars at hand always make the chances doubtful
for men, and no one gives himself the years of his life.
Keep the unwarlike at home: a wounded mind often unsettles
brave men. And at every time of war
spare the suppliant and war down the proud.

### Scripture references

- Deut 5:16: allusion, medium confidence
- Deut 7:3–5: allusion, high confidence
- Deut 12:2–3: allusion, medium confidence
- Deut 16:1–8: allusion, medium confidence
- Deut 20:1–10: allusion, high confidence
- Matt 7:12: echo, low confidence

### Extrabiblical texts

- Virgil, Aen. 6.853 (Virgil): echo, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 4–5 states the law in the form of the negative golden rule. ‘Spare the suppliant and war down the proud’ adapts Virgil, Aeneid 6.853. Line 14 (n.tumque) is damaged in the digital text.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 5.53 (CSEL 23:148lines 53–77; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/5-53).

## Deuteronomy, lines 78–102

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643/#p-5-78
- Source: CSEL 23:149lines 78–102
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Laws on sparing fruit trees in war, the heifer for an unsolved murder, the captive wife who must be freed if her husband no longer wants her, the rights of the children of an unloved wife, burial of the executed, cross-dressing, the mother bird, parapets, and mixed sowing.

### Latin text

euitete. uiri. fecundam euertere siluam
nobilibus pomis; steriles succidite saltus
tempore bellorum. corpus si forte perempti
cernitur intectum, Leuitas cura tenebit
iuuencae truncare pedem. ne maximus ultor
sit deus innocui. captiuam iungere lecto
si placuit, ius omne sinet sub tecta tenere.
crinigerum tondere caput unguesque secare
terdenosque dies lacrimis praestare maerentis
extinctos caesosque senes. quis illa creata est.
coniugioque sibi tum demum adnectere iusto.
ac si displicuit post damnum capta pudoris,
deponat seruile iugum dominumque relinquat.
uxores si forte duas uir duxerit unus
et non aequali seruat consortia cura,
pignora contemptae bissem cum iure tenebunt
omnibus ex rebus, peperit quas cura parentis.
damnatos tumulate uiros cunctosque sepulchris
condite percussos: nulli nam terra negatur.
uestimenta uiri nequaquam femina sumat
mulierumue mares; uetito fit noxia cultu.
inplumes auium si quis uult prendere fetus.
ne matrem cum prole ferat. qui culmina pangit.
prouideat. ne forte faber uoluatur ab alto.
uinea ne grauidos pariat bis feta racemos:

### English translation (Claude)

Avoid, men, overturning a wood fertile
with noble fruits; cut down the barren glades
in time of war. If perhaps the body of one slain
is seen uncovered, the Levites will be charged
to cut off the foot of a heifer, lest God be the great avenger
of the innocent. If it pleases a man to take a captive to his bed,
the whole law will let him keep her under his roof,
shear her long-haired head and cut her nails,
and grant her thirty days for tears, mourning
her elders, dead and slain, from whom she was born,
and then at last bind her to himself in lawful marriage.
And if, after the loss of her chastity, the captive displeases him,
let her lay down the servile yoke and leave her master.
If perhaps one man has married two wives
and does not keep the partnerships with equal care,
the children of the despised one shall by right hold a double portion
of all the things that the parent’s care has produced.
Bury condemned men and lay all the slain in tombs,
for earth is denied to no one.
Let a woman by no means put on a man’s clothes,
nor men women’s; guilt comes from forbidden dress.
If anyone wishes to take the unfledged young of birds,
let him not take the mother with her brood. He who builds roofs,
let him take care lest perhaps the workman roll down from on high.
Let not the vineyard, twice sown, bear heavy clusters,

### Scripture references

- Deut 20:19–20: allusion, high confidence
- Deut 21:1–23: allusion, high confidence
- Deut 22:5–9: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet has the heifer’s foot cut off where Deut 21:4 has its neck broken. Lines 12–13 render Deut 21:14, where a captive wife who is no longer wanted must be let go free and not sold. Bissem in line 16 is corrupt in the digital text; translated by sense of Deut 21:17.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 5.78 (CSEL 23:149lines 78–102; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/5-78).

## Deuteronomy, lines 103–127

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643/#p-5-103
- Source: CSEL 23:149lines 103–127–150
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Laws against prostitutes’ wages in the sanctuary, on fugitive slaves, on eating from a neighbour’s field, on the divorced wife who may not return to her first husband, on the new bride, millstones as pledges, individual responsibility, flogging, the threshing ox, and levirate marriage.

### Latin text

nec tibi duplicibus carpatur messis aristis.
gentiles uitate uiros; et quidquid abhorret
moribus aut cultu, longe lex sancta repellit.
inmundas inhibite lupas, ne praemia noctis
uenditae ad aeternam domini sacraria portent.
fugacem ne reddat ero quicumque tenebit,
ne ferus adficiat duro sub uerbere captum.
messem nemo legat alieno in rure creatam;
nec uinum pressare uelit, quod protulit uua
uicini de parte sui; praecerpere sane
racemos spicasque licet, non demere totum.
coniunx pulsa domo alio si forte marito
nupserit, amisso si post uiduetur eodem.
ne redeat spreti repetens consortia lecti.
nemo nouam nuptam infecto eliminet anno.
nec mola uendatur. gemino quae concaua saxo
in goerum sinuata uolat frumentaque frangit.
alter ob alterius ne pendat crimina. poenam.
ille quaterdena susceptet uerbera tergo,
qui stolido sermone ferox conuicia iactat.
ora triturantis fuerint ne uincta iuuenci.
pignore non genito si fors decesserit ille.
cui frater adstabit. dimissam ducat ad aedes,
qui superest. natosque creet. ne semine nullo
sit uacuata domus gentemque infuscet inanem;

### English translation (Claude)

nor let your harvest be reaped with double ears.
Avoid gentile men; and whatever is abhorrent
in morals or worship, the holy law drives far away.
Keep out unclean prostitutes, lest they bring the wages of the night
they sold to the eternal sanctuary of the Lord.
Whoever shelters a fugitive slave, let him not return him to his master,
lest the fierce master afflict the captive under a harsh lash.
Let no one gather a harvest grown in another’s field,
nor wish to press wine that the grape produced
from his neighbour’s part; it is allowed, of course, to pluck
clusters and ears, but not to take away the whole.
If a wife, driven from home, perhaps marries
another husband, if afterwards she is widowed by his death,
let her not return seeking the partnership of the bed that scorned her.
Let no one send away a new bride before the year is out.
Nor let a mill be sold, which, hollowed in twin stones,
flies round in a circle and breaks the grain.
Let one not pay the penalty for another’s crimes.
Let him receive forty lashes on his back
who fiercely hurls insults in foolish speech.
Let not the mouth of the bullock that threshes be bound.
If perhaps a man has died with no child begotten,
and a brother survives him, let the survivor take the widow
to his house and beget children, lest the house be emptied
of all seed and darken the name of the family, now empty;

### Scripture references

- Deut 23:15–18: allusion, high confidence
- Deut 23:24–25: allusion, high confidence
- Deut 24:1–6: allusion, high confidence
- Deut 24:16: allusion, high confidence
- Deut 25:1–6: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Lines 12–14 render Deut 24:1–4: the poet states the case only of the second husband’s death (Deuteronomy adds his divorcing her) and forbids her return to the first husband. Line 15 renders Deut 24:5 as a ban on sending away a new bride within the year (Deuteronomy exempts the husband from war for a year). The poet attaches the forty lashes of Deut 25:3 to insult. Translated as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 5.103 (CSEL 23:149lines 103–127–150; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/5-103).

## Deuteronomy, lines 128–151

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643/#p-5-128
- Source: CSEL 23:150lines 128–151–151
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The levirate law and the law of the woman who intervenes in a brawl; the blessings of obedience; Moses charges the Levites to read the law and keep the tablets in the ark, installs Joshua, and teaches the people a song.

### Latin text

at si uir renuit, causam mox femina dicat
ad proceres legemque citet, quae cogit inertes.
iurgia se quotiens in rixam perfida uertunt
frendentesque uiros alterna in iurgia pulsant,
inserat his mediam sese ne femina, neue
inguina corripiat alieni obscena mariti.
Haec quisquis deuotus agit. non tangitur ulla
peste mali, nec bella timet morbosque calentes,
nec sterilem sentit consumptis mensibus annum,
sed placidus toto laetatur tempore uitae,
diuitias donante deo. qui crimina mundi
despectat mitis iraeque in tempore punit."
Talibus orabat uates cunctosque monebat
Leuitas, quos cura manet uenerabilis aulae
sacrorumque dei. ut legis iussa perennis
omnibus adsidue legerent; quo promptior esset
sollicitudo dei cunctorum in corde uirorum;
utque etiam tabulas gemina de caute politas.
bis quina quae iussa tenent metuenda per orbem,
sanctificae adseruent clausas penetralibus arcae.
His actis prodire iubet Nauete creatum
iudicioque dei plebis dat iura regendae,
utque libens Iudaea manus subuerteret aras
mentitosque deos, hymno dat uerba melodo.

### English translation (Claude)

but if the man refuses, let the woman soon plead her cause
before the chiefs and invoke the law that compels the reluctant.
Whenever faithless quarrels turn into a brawl
and drive gnashing men into strife with one another,
let no woman put herself between them,
nor seize the private parts of another’s husband.
Whoever devoutly does these things is touched by no
plague of evil, nor fears wars and burning diseases,
nor feels a barren year when the months are spent,
but, calm, rejoices all the time of his life,
God granting riches, who looks gently on the crimes
of the world and punishes them in the time of anger.”
With such words the prophet prayed and warned all
the Levites, whom the care of the venerable hall
and of God’s rites awaits, to read the commands
of the everlasting law constantly to all, so that
the fear of God might be readier in the hearts of all men,
and also to keep the tablets polished from twin stone,
which hold twice five commands to be feared throughout the world,
shut in the inner chamber of the holy ark.
These things done, he bids the son of Nun come forward
and by God’s judgment gives him the right to rule the people;
and so that the Jewish band might gladly overthrow the altars
and the lying gods, he gives them words in a melodious hymn.

### Scripture references

- Deut 25:7–12: allusion, high confidence
- Deut 28:1–14: allusion, medium confidence
- Deut 31:7–30: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 5.128 (CSEL 23:150lines 128–151–151; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/5-128).

## Deuteronomy, lines 152–175

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643/#p-5-152
- Source: CSEL 23:151lines 152–175–152
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Song of Moses begins: heaven and earth are to hear; his teaching falls like rain on parched ground; God’s works are perfect and just, though a crooked generation works its own ruin.

### Latin text

Auditum tribuat deumque laudet
caelum quodque supra praetexit astra;
et tellus tumido diuisa ponto
aures conmodet et sonos receptet.
mentis nuntia quos ait loquella:
ut sueuit pluuios potare rores,
aestus cum rapidi calente flamma
messis puluereo tabescit aruo;
rident gramina parturitque mundus
et multum patulis diuisa rimis
nimbos frugiferos hiulca sorbet.
nomen nam domini mei poposci.
cuius gloriae conuenit honores
et laudes meritos referre seruos.
cuius eloquiis uerum cohaeret,
quae semper ualida uigent iuuenta.
rectum iudicium uiaeque iustae
nullis flexibus inplicant uiantes:
iniquum nihil est nihilque prauum.
beatae dominus fidelitatis
non reddit meritis pares reatus.
quamuis progenies iniqua pactis
pernix supplicium sibi laboret.
heu plebs tristificae dicanda morti.

### English translation (Claude)

Let heaven grant a hearing and praise God,
and what spreads above the stars;
and let the earth, divided by the swelling sea,
lend its ears and receive the sounds
that speech, messenger of the mind, utters:
as it is wont to drink the rainy dews
when, in the hot flame of the swift heat,
the harvest wastes away in the dusty field;
the grasses smile and the world gives birth,
and, gaping, divided by many open cracks,
it drinks in the fruitful clouds.
For I have called upon the name of my Lord,
to whose glory it befits deserving servants
to render honours and praises.
To his words truth clings,
which ever flourish in strong youth.
Right judgment and just ways
entangle the traveller in no windings;
nothing is unjust and nothing crooked.
The Lord of blessed faithfulness
does not repay guilt in equal measure,
though a generation, wicked in its covenants,
swiftly labours for its own punishment.
Alas, a people to be given over to grief-bringing death!

### Scripture references

- Deut 32:1–5: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The Song of Moses (Deut 32:1–43) is set in hendecasyllables.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 5.152 (CSEL 23:151lines 152–175–152; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/5-152).

## Deuteronomy, lines 176–199

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643/#p-5-176
- Source: CSEL 23:152lines 176–199–153
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Song continues: is this how they repay their Father and Creator? Let them ask their fathers and elders; when God divided the nations, he took Jacob as his own portion.

### Latin text

haec reddis domino deoque nostro,
illi. qui genitor mauult uocari.
seruis dum tribuit nomen natorum:
cunctos numine cum regat perenni,
ac possit subito delere leto?
hic te constituit. creauit ille.
qui nunc obtinet et tenebit olim.
memento potius aeui perennis.
et quae post obitum funusque uiuant;
annos quos series futura sumat
et quae sint iterum creanda, quaere.
aut si mens hebetat. patrem precare.
qui te continuo totum docebit:
uel de presbyteris unum rogato:
nubem discutiet dabitque lucem.
cum semper dominus in astra celsus
diuisos populos dedisset orbi.
primus quos genitor creans Adamus
terrarum trepido dedit labori:
uerbum iusserat ut dei perennis.
finem gentibus indiditque summam.
qualem sidereae tenent cohortes.
cohaesit domino plebes Iacobi.
cuius cretio conrogatur ipsi:

### English translation (Claude)

Is this how you repay the Lord our God,
him who prefers to be called Father
while he gives his servants the name of sons,
though he rules all with everlasting divinity
and could destroy them with sudden death?
He established you, he created you,
he who holds now and will hold hereafter.
Remember rather the everlasting age
and what lives after death and burial;
ask what years the series to come will take
and what is to be created anew.
Or if your mind grows dull, ask your father,
who will teach you everything at once;
or ask one of the presbyters:
he will dispel the cloud and give light.
When the Lord, ever lofty among the stars,
had given the divided peoples to the world,
whom the first father Adam begot
and gave to the anxious labour of the lands,
as the word of the everlasting God had commanded,
he set a limit and number for the nations
such as the starry hosts hold.
The people of Jacob clung to the Lord,
whose inheritance is claimed for himself:

### Scripture references

- Deut 32:6–9: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘Presbyters’ renders presbyteris (Deut 32:7, ‘your elders’). ‘Such as the starry hosts hold’ follows the Greek Bible at Deut 32:8 (‘according to the number of the angels of God’).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 5.176 (CSEL 23:152lines 176–199–153; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/5-176).

## Deuteronomy, lines 200–224

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643/#p-5-200
- Source: CSEL 23:153lines 200–224–154
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Song continues: God found Israel in the desert, guarded it like the apple of his eye and as an eagle its young, fed it with honey from the rock, oil, milk, wheat and wine, but Israel grew fat and forsook him.

### Latin text

heres nam domini deique uiuit
sola sufficiens sibique firma:
qua tellus iacet abnegata tectis
et solis calidis anhela flammis
nullis perpetuum rigatur undis.
istic eliciens deus nocentes
adfecit merita subinde plaga.
et mox sanctificae dedit medellae.
subdens dexterae. ceu laborat ales
pullos tegmine sub fouere pinnis.
lumen ut medium solemus ipsi.
per quod cernimus. abditum tenere.
ne sit fors aliqua molesta plagae.
solus quos dominus ademit hosti,
qui caelum statuit fecitque terras,
ipsis multimodum cibum parauit,
quem tellus parit inrigata nimbis;
mellis et latices dedere saxa,
et pingui pariter fluente oliuo.
lac uictum pecudum dedere mammae;
tellus triticeas fecunda messes
et uinum madidis creauit uuis.
cuius laticibus repleta pubes
gestit ebria denegare numen,
cuius muneribus ditata regnat!

### English translation (Claude)

for the inheritance of the Lord God lives
alone sufficient and firm in itself,
where the land lies denied to houses
and, panting in the hot flames of the sun,
is watered by no lasting waters.
There God, drawing out the guilty,
struck them now and again with the blow they deserved,
and soon gave them holy remedies,
putting them under his right hand, as a bird labours
to cherish its chicks under the cover of its wings;
as we ourselves are used to keeping hidden
the central light through which we see,
lest some chance blow harm it.
Those whom the Lord alone took from the enemy,
he who set up the heavens and made the lands,
for them he prepared manifold food
that the land, watered by clouds, brings forth;
and the rocks gave streams of honey,
and likewise rich flowing olive oil.
The udders of cattle gave milk for food;
the fertile land created wheaten harvests
and wine from moist grapes.
Filled with its streams, the youth
exults, drunk, to deny the divinity
by whose gifts, enriched, it reigns!

### Scripture references

- Deut 32:10–15: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 5.200 (CSEL 23:153lines 200–224–154; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/5-200).

## Deuteronomy, lines 225–249

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643/#p-5-225
- Source: CSEL 23:154lines 225–249–155
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Song continues: Israel sacrificed to demons, and God, preferring an unknown nation, sends fire, famine, beasts and the sword, so that one enemy puts a thousand to flight.

### Latin text

quin et pestiferos secuta ritus
pingues daemonibus parauit aras.
uidit haec domini deique lumen
et iustam meritis necem parauit
sontes dissocians proculque pellens,
dum rectum potius uidetur ipsi
ignotam refugis praeferre gentem.
ignis e domini coruscat ore,
qui, cum perpetuum pererret orbem,
ipsis emicat inferis timendus.
sternit pabula diruitque messes
et quae seminibus uenere iactis.
lucent sidera fulgurantque montes,
iusta cum dominus mouetur ira
et telo timidos petit calenti.
pallor corpora luridus necabit,
ieiunum solitus adire pectus.
illos pennigerae ferent uolucres;
illos bestiae mordicus uorabunt:
illos uulnera duriora ferro
consumptis facient lugere natis;
tandem desinat ut sibi uideri
diues ceu proprio Iudaea dono.
illam uulnificus delebit hostis,
unum dum fugiunt timentque mille.

### English translation (Claude)

Moreover, following pestilent rites,
it prepared rich altars for demons.
The light of the Lord God saw this
and prepared a death just for their deserts,
separating the guilty and driving them far away,
while it seems right to him
to prefer an unknown nation to the deserters.
Fire flashes from the mouth of the Lord,
which, as it wanders through the everlasting world,
flashes out, fearful even to the underworld.
It lays low the pastures and destroys the harvests
and all that came from the seed sown.
The stars shine and the mountains flash
when the Lord is moved with just anger
and attacks the fearful with his hot weapon.
Lurid pallor, wont to come upon
the fasting breast, will kill their bodies.
Some the winged birds will carry off;
some the beasts will devour with their bites;
some wounds harder than iron
will make to mourn, their children consumed;
so that at last Judea may cease to think itself
rich as if by its own gift.
The wounding enemy will destroy it,
while a thousand flee and fear one.

### Scripture references

- Deut 32:16–30: allusion, high confidence
- Rom 10:19: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘To prefer an unknown nation’ renders Deut 32:21, which Paul applies to the Gentiles in Rom 10:19.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 5.225 (CSEL 23:154lines 225–249–155; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/5-225).

## Deuteronomy, lines 250–273

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643/#p-5-250
- Source: CSEL 23:155lines 250–273–156
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Song continues: the enemies’ gods are a vine of Gomorrah; let them help if they can; God alone kills and makes alive and will whet his flashing sword; heaven is to rejoice.

### Latin text

sed rursus dominus redit serenus,
ut totam protinus [placidus] sedauit iram;
longe dissimilis deis reorum;
quorum uinea uitis est Gomorrae
fellito nimium fecunda musto.
cunctis dirior aspidum uenenis.
tempus iam properat, uidete. leti.
omnes quo dominus cohercet ultor.
et nunc pestiferos rogate diuos:
adsint, subueniant leuentque poenas.
ut uotis redeat medella uestris.
solus sum dominus, uidete: solus
uitae conditor arbiterque leti:
ius est parcere, ius mihi ferire!
nullus fortior arbiter caelorum
extat. qui ualeat leuare leto
illum, quem domini manus cohercet.
quam dum stelligera per astra tollo.
dicam: "Perpetuis mandabo saeclis
educens gladium uagina nudum:
qui dum per trepidos rotatur hostes.
lucet fulgure candidus corusco.
imis pestifer et timendus altis. "
semper cum domino laetare, caelum!

### English translation (Claude)

But again the Lord returns serene,
as he at once calmed all his anger;
far unlike the gods of the guilty,
whose vine is the vine of Gomorrah,
all too fruitful with gall-filled juice,
more deadly than all the venom of asps.
The time of death now hastens, see,
by which the Lord as avenger restrains all.
And now call on your pestilent gods:
let them be present, help, and lighten the penalties,
so that healing may return through your vows.
I alone am Lord, see: alone
the founder of life and judge of death;
mine is the right to spare, mine to strike!
No stronger judge in the heavens
exists, who could release from death
him whom the Lord’s hand restrains.
As I raise it through the starry heavens,
I will say: ‘I will command for everlasting ages,
drawing the bare sword from its sheath,
which, while it is whirled among trembling enemies,
shines white with flashing lightning,
deadly to the lowest and fearful to the highest.’
Rejoice ever with the Lord, O heaven!

### Scripture references

- Deut 32:30–43: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The editor deletes placidus in line 2.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 5.250 (CSEL 23:155lines 250–273–156; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/5-250).

## Deuteronomy, lines 274–288

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/4-643/#p-5-274
- Source: CSEL 23:156lines 274–288
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Song ends with heaven, angels and nations praising God, who strikes the wicked and spares the humble; Moses sees the land from Nebo and dies at 120, unburied by men, his sight undimmed.

### Latin text

quem cunctus polus angelique laudent
et gentes socia parique plebe.
longa nam dominus erumpit ira
et, dum percutit inprobos superne,
parcit subditis et pios reseruat.
Postquam digna deo cecinit modulamina uates,
uisurus terram Nabali e uertice montis
donatam populo, cuius moderamen agebat.
conscendit sublime iugum functusque deinde
occubuit. nullo contectus membra sepulchro.
cuius uita fuit bis sexaginta per annos
omnibus in rebus felici interrita cursu.
nullis fracta malis nullique obnoxia morbo:
quin etiam occiduo sub tempore lumina flammas
seruauere suas. uisu sincera sereno.

### English translation (Claude)

whom the whole sky and the angels praise,
and the nations with a people allied and equal.
For the Lord breaks forth in long anger
and, while he strikes the wicked from above,
spares the submissive and preserves the pious.
After the prophet had sung strains worthy of God,
about to see from the top of Mount Nebo the land
given to the people whom he had ruled,
he climbs the lofty ridge and then, his life done,
lay down, his limbs covered by no tomb.
His life lasted twice sixty years,
fearless in all things in its happy course,
broken by no evils and liable to no disease;
moreover, in the time of his setting, his eyes kept
their fire, undimmed in serene sight.

### Scripture references

- Deut 32:43: allusion, high confidence
- Deut 34:1–7: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘Angels’ and ‘nations’ (line 1–2) follow the Greek Bible at Deut 32:43. ‘Covered by no tomb’ reflects Deut 34:6, where no one knows his grave.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 5.274 (CSEL 23:156lines 274–288; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/5-274).

## Joshua, lines 1–25

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-1
- Source: CSEL 23:158lines 1–25
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The sixth book retells Joshua: God promises Joshua the land from Lebanon to the Euphrates and the sea, tells him to be strong and keep the book of the law, and Joshua orders the people to prepare to cross in three days.

### Latin text

Haec inter dominus Iesum dignatus adire
promittit ualidis sublimem confore donis,
admonitum transire uadum Iordanis amoeni
castraque metata hostili inponere ripae;
utque nouas sedes terrarum in parte reposta
constituat plebemque locis disponat opimis.
quin etiam gentes distincto ex nomine noscit
monte tenus magno, quem Libanon incola dicit.
usque tuas. prono qui laberis agmine, ripas.
Euphrates. Syrio disiungens limite Persas,
uel mare, quod tumidum uentosis fluctuat undis.
nam praeter eximium conserta in proelia robur,
terrorem late populis pallentibus indens,
Iudaicus miles domini tutamine fidit.
cui meritum insigne dominus largitus ab astris
praestitit. ut caperet dites sine uulnere terras.
"Heia age uiriles, deus intonat, arripe curas,
ut populus donata sibi mox regna capessat.
legiferoque simul uisus ne dimoue libro.
ut domino tutus numquam uiduere perenni."
ille citus scribis mandata gerentibus infit.
ut uictum populus et congrua tela capessat.
moturus ualidas uicina ad bella cohortes.
tertia puniceum signet cum linea mundum.
adfatusque tribus iuncto Iordane manentes.

### English translation (Claude)

Meanwhile the Lord, deigning to speak to Joshua,
promises that he will be exalted with mighty gifts,
and tells him to cross the ford of the pleasant Jordan
and set the measured camp on the enemy’s bank,
and to establish new seats in the remote part of the lands
and settle the people in rich places.
Moreover he learns the nations by their distinct names
as far as the great mountain the inhabitant calls Lebanon,
as far as your banks, Euphrates, who glide down in your course,
parting the Persians from the Syrian border,
or the sea that surges swollen with windy waves.
For besides the outstanding strength joined in battle,
putting terror far and wide into pale peoples,
the Jewish soldier trusts in the Lord’s protection.
To him the Lord, bestowing notable merit from the stars,
granted that he should take rich lands without a wound.
“Come now,” God thunders, “take up manly cares,
so that the people may soon take up the realms given them.
And do not turn your eyes from the book of the law,
so that, safe, you may never be bereft of the everlasting Lord.”
He at once tells the scribes who carry the commands
that the people should take food and fitting weapons,
as he is about to move strong cohorts to the wars at hand
when the third dawn marks the world with purple.
And addressing the tribes that remain by the Jordan,

### Scripture references

- Josh 1:1–12: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.1 (CSEL 23:158lines 1–25; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1).

## Joshua, lines 26–50

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-26
- Source: CSEL 23:158lines 26–50
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The eastern tribes are charged to fight with their brothers; Joshua sends spies to Jericho, Rahab hides them from the king and confesses what the Lord has done for Israel.

### Latin text

ut pecora et natos percepta in rura. relinquant,
at bellum commune gerant uictisque deinde
se referant populis. domino quos principe pulsent.
illae alacres iungunt cuneos atque agmina miscent.
aspera quaeque pares ferro uotisque petentes.
Haec inter iuuenes pugnaci ex agmine lectos.
quae loca quiue habeant homines, ubi moenia gentis,
uestigare iubet cursimque inspecta referre.
pinguia qui Medium lustrant dum praedia terrae,
inrumpunt urbis aditus custode uacantes
occultique situm lustrant et tecta Hiericho.
excipit hos meretrix, dudum quae dicta Rachaba est,
clamque tegit trepidos ac uerbis sedula mulcet.
quod postquam regi dictum, terrore minaci
exigit absconsos stabili cum mente loquentis
egressos dudum portis bipatentibus ambos.
quos tamen occultim lignorum texerat antro.
illos cura ducis per deuia quaeque requirit
et, uelut hostis agat, portarum limina claudit.
at meretrix, postquam cessauit cura tyranni,
uertitur ad iuuenes et uatis more locuta est:
"Nota mihi, fratres, dominus quae praemia uobis
deferat, ex furua cum primum dempsit Aegypto:
ut mare per medium fluctu suspensa tumenti
unda fuit uobis ueluti pro moenibus ingens.

### English translation (Claude)

that they should leave their cattle and children in the fields they had received,
but wage the common war and then, the enemy conquered,
return to the peoples they would drive out with the Lord as chief.
They eagerly join their companies and mingle their columns,
seeking every hardship alike with sword and vows.
Meanwhile he orders young men chosen from the fighting column
to track out what places there were, what men held them, where the nation’s walls stood,
and to report quickly what they had seen.
While they survey the rich estates of the land,
they burst into the approaches of the city, empty of guards,
and secretly survey the site and buildings of Jericho.
A harlot receives them, who was then called Rahab,
and secretly hides them in their fear and diligently soothes them with words.
After this was told to the king, with threatening terror
he demands those hidden; she, speaking with steady mind,
says that both had long since gone out by the double gates.
Yet she had hidden them secretly in a hollow among the wood.
The leader’s care seeks them through every byway
and, as though an enemy were coming, closes the gates.
But the harlot, after the tyrant’s search had stopped,
turns to the young men and spoke like a prophet:
“I know, brothers, what rewards the Lord
has brought you since he first took you out of dark Egypt:
how in the middle of the sea the water was suspended
with swelling wave like huge walls for you,

### Scripture references

- Josh 1:12–18: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 2:1–10: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Medium in line 9 is probably corrupt in the digital text; Josh 2:6 has stalks of flax where the poet has a hollow among the wood.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.26 (CSEL 23:158lines 26–50; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-26).

## Joshua, lines 51–75

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-51
- Source: CSEL 23:158lines 51–75–159
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Rahab says that terror has fallen on Jericho because of the Lord’s deeds and asks for an oath to spare her family; the spies agree on the scarlet cord as a sign and hide three days in the hills.

### Latin text

uel cum per uacuas heremi squalentis harenas.
caelicolum uictum niualis manna parauit.
uel cum terrifici reges. trans flumina rauca
Iordanis positi, uestro mucrone cadentes
liquerunt patrias uobis uincentibus urbes.
quid moror? obsedit mentes et pectora pallor;
nullus tela capit curuo nec fidit in arcu:
non pedes aeratas acies in proelia denset:
non quadriga uolat ferrato bellica curru.
uobis uera datur. iuuenes. uictoria, uobis
sidereo ab rege, qui terram fecit et astra.
et nunc, o iuuenes, iuratis dicite uerbis.
ut, cum depositis procumbent moenia muris.
sit salus in uestris conposta et credita dextris,
ne captiua fiam socia cum stirpe domuque
patribus et caris. quorum me cura fatigat."
adnuitur cunctosque domi seruare iubetur.
uiuere quos cupiat secum, atque indice signo
spartea uincla sua suspendat cauta fenestra:
ut, cum per captam legio se fuderit urbem.
inlita puniceo cernatur lana colore.
illi alacres superant fossas et tuta capessunt
Aisamo in colle, trina sub luce latentes.
ne, dum praepropero repetunt sua castra recursu.
incurrant aliquos diuersa ex parte sequentes.

### English translation (Claude)

or when, through the empty sands of the barren wilderness,
snowy manna supplied you the food of heaven’s dwellers,
or when terrifying kings, set beyond the roaring streams
of the Jordan, falling by your blade,
left their native cities to you as victors.
Why do I delay? Pallor has besieged minds and hearts;
no one takes up weapons or trusts in the curved bow;
no foot-soldier thickens bronze ranks for battle;
no war chariot flies with its iron-clad car.
To you, young men, true victory is given, to you,
from the starry King who made earth and stars.
And now, young men, say with sworn words
that, when the walls are laid low and fall,
my safety shall be placed and entrusted in your right hands,
lest I become a captive with my kin and house,
my fathers and dear ones, for whom my care wearies me.”
It is agreed, and she is told to keep at home
all whom she wishes to live with her, and, as a sign,
to hang her cord of broom carefully from her window,
so that, when the legion has poured through the captured city,
the wool dyed with crimson colour may be seen.
They eagerly cross the ditches and reach safety
on a hill, hiding for three days,
lest, while they hurry back to their camp,
they run into pursuers coming from another side.

### Scripture references

- Josh 2:10–22: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Aisamo in line 23 is corrupt in the digital text.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.51 (CSEL 23:158lines 51–75–159; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-51).

## Joshua, lines 76–99

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-76
- Source: CSEL 23:159lines 76–99–160
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Joshua moves from Shittim, orders the people to sanctify themselves and follow the ark at a distance; the priests step into the Jordan, twelve stones are taken from the riverbed and twelve set in it, and the eastern tribes cross armed.

### Latin text

at meretrix secura sui mandata facessit.
nec non et princeps, iuuenum sententia doctus.
raptim castra mouet Sattina ex ualle proculque
aduolat atque animos palpat dans otia cunctis
trina die; scribasque instigat dicere plebi.
ut, cum sacratam praeferri adspexerit arcam
atque sacerdotes post altar pergere celsum.
signa leuent alacres promptim spatiumque relinquant.
milia quod sensim duo conpleat: atque fluentis
corpora purificent, domini ante ora locandi.
Haec inter princeps domini dignatus honore
emicat, eximio. Moysetis stemmate dignus.
iamque sacerdotes fluuium transmittere iussi
nuda in primori mergunt uestigia ripa:
tum bissena tribus dat lectos iussa tribunos.
qui medio e fundo legerent candentia saxa,
calculus ut madidis bissenus demptus harenis.
flumina testetur populo siccata uianti.
consimiles etiam cautes numeroque modoque
in medio posuere sinu. quas mobilis unda
diluit et rauco perfundit lubrica fluctu.
at Rubena tribus nudatum transmeat amnem:
quam Gada subsequitur. media properante Manasse.
quadraginta uirum mittentes milia bello.

### English translation (Claude)

But the harlot, secure, carries out his commands.
And the chief too, taught by the young men’s report,
quickly moves the camp from the valley of Shittim and from afar
hastens on, and soothes their minds, giving rest to all
for three days, and urges the scribes to tell the people
that when they see the sacred ark carried before them
and the priests going on behind the lofty altar,
they should promptly and eagerly raise the standards and leave a space
that comes to two thousand cubits, and should purify
their bodies in streams, to be set before the Lord’s face.
Meanwhile the chief, honoured with the Lord’s favour,
shines forth, outstanding, worthy of the line of Moses.
And now the priests, commanded to cross the river,
dip their bare feet at the edge of the bank;
then the command gives twelve chosen tribunes to the tribes,
to gather shining stones from the middle of the bed,
so that twelve pebbles taken from the wet sands
might witness to the people that the streams were dried for them as they passed.
They also set like stones, in number and manner,
in the middle of the channel, which the moving wave
washes and floods, slippery, with its roaring current.
But the tribe of Reuben crosses the bared river,
followed by Gad, with the half of Manasseh hastening,
sending forty thousand men to war.

### Scripture references

- Josh 2:21: allusion, medium confidence
- Josh 3:1–13: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 4:1–13: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.76 (CSEL 23:159lines 76–99–160; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-76).

## Joshua, lines 100–124

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-100
- Source: CSEL 23:160lines 100–124–161
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Jordan’s waters stop and the people cross; the Canaanite kings lose heart; Joshua circumcises the generation born in the wilderness; the Passover is kept at Gilgal and the manna ceases.

### Latin text

cum subito eluuies, fluuio decurrere sueta,
stringitur et glacie cursus frenatur aquarum:
euolat inferius positi pars fluminis ac se
condit in oceanum uastoque inmergitur aestu
a regione, pii quae condit membra Mosetis,
usque ad inmensum dubiis cum fluctibus aequor.
atque ubi Iordanem transmeauere frequentes,
laxatur glacies solis mollita tepore
exsuctasque prius coniungit flumine ripas.
Haec ubi cognorunt diuersa in parte tyranni.
demittunt mentes; nullum constantia firmat.
hic princeps cultros bissena ex caute parauit,
de quibus. ut iussum est. populi praeputia dempsit.
nam bis uicenos heremo plebs tanta per annos
ediderat ualidos maiora in milia natos.
praebetur his lenta quies, ut tristia maestis
uulnera mitificet sensim coitura cicatrix.
pascha dehinc colitur et candens manna negatur
ditibus annona. quam passim plurima messis
exhibuit populo certatim farra metenti.
azyma. niuosa pascit de polline laetos.
noctis festa piae campo celebrantur aperto,
nouorum in mense senis bis solibus actis.
haec super e portis despectat turba pauentum,
castra modo et lecto conseruans milite muros.

### English translation (Claude)

when suddenly the flood, used to running down the river,
is checked and the course of the waters is bridled with ice;
the lower part of the river flies off and hides itself
in the ocean and is plunged into the vast tide,
from the region that holds the limbs of pious Moses
as far as the immense sea with its uncertain waves.
And when they had crossed the Jordan in their crowds,
the ice is loosened, softened by the warmth of the sun,
and joins again with its stream the banks sucked dry before.
When the tyrants on the other side learned this,
they lose heart; no constancy strengthens anyone.
Here the chief prepared knives from twelve stones,
with which, as commanded, he removed the foreskins of the people;
for through twice twenty years in the wilderness so great a people
had produced strong sons, grown to more thousands.
They are granted slow rest, so that the scar, gradually closing,
may soften the sad wounds of the sufferers.
Then the Passover is kept, and the shining manna is denied
to those rich in grain, which a very great harvest everywhere
offered to the people as they reaped the grain in rivalry.
Unleavened bread of snowy flour feeds them gladly.
The festival of the holy night is kept in the open plain
in the month of new things, when twice six suns had passed.
Above, from the gates, a crowd of the fearful looks down on this,
guarding only the camp and the walls with chosen soldiers.

### Scripture references

- Josh 3:14–17: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 4:18: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 5:1–12: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet has the waters stopped by ice. Josh 5:10 dates the Passover to the fourteenth day of the month.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.100 (CSEL 23:160lines 100–124–161; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-100).

## Joshua, lines 125–149

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-125
- Source: CSEL 23:161lines 125–149–162
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Joshua meets the commander of the Lord’s army, whom the poet makes God himself, and removes his sandals; the army and priests with the ark and seven trumpets march round Jericho for seven days.

### Latin text

interea uates quendam mucrone minantem
perspicit, et celere gaudet coniungere gressus.
talia dum memorat: "Qua te de parte praesentas?
noster es, an potius Phoenicum ex gente? fatere."
accipit optati sermonis protinus usum.
sublimi narrante deo. "Delapsus ab alto
aethere nunc ueni, totis cui militat astris
insignis legio et quo sub principe degit."
ille sub haec mixta tacitus formidine gaudet,
fusus humi ueneransque deum, dum talibus infit:
"O domine, inmensam dignatus linquere sedem,
quae famulum celerare iubes, quas sumere curas?"
dicitur, ut propere plantarum uincula soluat,
fixerat in sancta quoniam uestigia terra.
quin etiam ualidam muris atque obice firma
casuram Hiericho uidet, gentesque feroces
atque obitum regum, quibus est coniuncta ruina.
ille celer toto circumdat milite muros,
pone sacerdotes statuens arcamque sacratam.
uatibus inperitans, quo plebs audentior esset.
terrificos sonitus septem proflare tubarum.
iussa dehinc legio tacite circumuenit urbem.
ut tum belligerum tollat stipata clamorem.
terrificum dederit proceris cum tessera, signum.
septima iamque dies laetum patefecerat orbem.

### English translation (Claude)

Meanwhile the prophet sees someone threatening with a blade
and is eager to approach him quickly,
saying: “From what side do you come?
Are you ours, or rather of the Phoenician race? Speak.”
At once he receives the speech he desired,
God on high declaring: “I have now come, gliding down
from high heaven, I for whom a notable legion fights
with all the stars, and under whose leadership it lives.”
At this he silently rejoices, mixed with fear,
prostrate on the ground and worshipping God, as he begins thus:
“O Lord, who have deigned to leave your immense seat,
what do you bid your servant hasten to do?”
He is told to loose the straps of his feet quickly,
since he had set his feet on holy ground.
Moreover he sees that Jericho, strong with walls and bars,
will fall, and the fierce nations,
and the death of the kings, to which ruin is joined.
He quickly surrounds the walls with his whole army,
placing the priests and the sacred ark behind,
commanding the priests, so that the people might be bolder,
to blow out the terrifying sounds of seven trumpets.
Then the legion, as ordered, silently goes round the city,
so that then, massed together, it might raise the war cry
when the chief’s watchword had given the terrifying signal.
And now the seventh day had opened the glad world,

### Scripture references

- Josh 5:13–15: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 6:1–15: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- In Josh 5:14 the figure calls himself ‘commander of the army of the Lord’; the poet makes God speak and Joshua worship him.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.125 (CSEL 23:161lines 125–149–162; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-125).

## Joshua, lines 150–174

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-150
- Source: CSEL 23:162lines 150–174–163
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: At the shout the walls of Jericho fall and the city is destroyed except Rahab and her family; its treasures are given to the Lord and a curse laid on whoever rebuilds it; Achan leads others into sin.

### Latin text

cum iubet aeratas acies in proelia Iesus
fidentem proferre gradum uastumque fragorem
mittere pectoribus, quem promptim tela sequuntur
non aries caementa quatit turresque retundit
incessens etiam muros portasque superbas.
sed fragor et uastae concordi murmure uoces
tormentum mortale gerunt, quo moenia sidunt
nudataque suis patuerunt omnia claustris.
inrumpunt alacres subuersam protinus urbem.
omnia uertentes gladio flammaque uoraci.
femina sola fuit meritae donata saluti,
ciuili discreta neci atque abdita castris,
cognata comitante manu, ne nescius illam
interimat miles, totis dum postibus errat.
seruatur domino uirtutum lauta supellex
omnibus ex rebus. poterant quae pascere uisum.
His actis princeps populum iurare coegit,
ne studeat quisquam muros renouare iacentes
pignore multandus primo fundamina. propter,
extremo dehinc, temptet si attollere portas.
interea euentus corrumpunt praua secundos.
idola sectatur populus et pronus adorat
saxa leuata manu. dum cautes numina credit.
signifer est Acharus. Carmeli filius Ambri,
quem sectata cohors dominum legemque reliquit.

### English translation (Claude)

when Joshua orders the bronze ranks to bring forward
a confident step into battle and send a vast shout
from their breasts, which weapons promptly follow.
No ram shakes the masonry and batters down the towers,
assailing the walls and the proud gates too;
but the crash and the vast voices with harmonious roar
work as a deadly engine, by which the walls sink down,
and all lay open, stripped of their bars.
They eagerly burst at once into the overthrown city,
turning everything over with sword and devouring flame.
The woman alone was granted the safety she had earned,
set apart from the citizens’ death and hidden in the camp,
with her kin accompanying her, lest a soldier, not knowing her,
should kill her as he roams among all the doorways.
The rich furnishings won by valour are kept for the Lord,
of all the things that could feast the eye.
These things done, the chief made the people swear
that no one should try to rebuild the fallen walls;
he would be punished with his firstborn for the foundations,
then with his last if he tried to set up the gates.
Meanwhile depraved acts spoil success.
The people follow idols and worship, bowed down,
stones set up by hand, believing rocks to be divinities.
The standard-bearer is Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zimri,
following whom the band left the Lord and the law.

### Scripture references

- Josh 6:16–27: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 7:1: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet makes the sin of Achan’s band idolatry; in Josh 7 it is the taking of devoted spoil (which the poet also mentions in 6.200).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.150 (CSEL 23:162lines 150–174–163; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-150).

## Joshua, lines 175–199

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-175
- Source: CSEL 23:163lines 175–199–164
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Three thousand men are routed at Ai; Joshua and the elders mourn, and Joshua asks why God brought Israel over the Jordan only to be destroyed, and what will become of his great name.

### Latin text

in uetitis haut laeta diu: nam milia postquam
trina uirum consueta. nefas. sunt missa per arua
hostica credentum facili formidine uinci
Georum pubem, trepide dant terga per agros
praecipitique fuga repetunt sua castra ducemque.
dedecus id postquam ductoris contigit aures,
discindit uestes et prouida pectora tundit.
quem comitata senum confestim turba maerentum
supplicat, innocuis dum poscit uocibus Auses:
"O domine, quae causa fuit producere plebem
Aegypti de sede tuam? quid pendere fluctus
aequoreos cunctaque dehinc quae tradita nosti
ingenti donante manu, qua ditius est nil?
an ideo. adflictam tumidus ut sternat Amorreus?
tutius ergo fuit trans magnum degere flumen.
qui patuit nobis bibula siccatus harena.
saucia quid faciet, aut quid confusa loquetur.
quod mage seruitium cupias detrudere lectos.
atqui uera salus et certae dona medellae
te penes et quidquid mitis clementia praestat.
conuenient gentes. dederas quas uincere nobis;
mixta Iebusaeus Amorreusque phalange
aduersum te. summe sator, fera bella mouebunt.
ergo tuum nomen pateris ridere superbos
ignotaeque tibi gentes plus iuris habebunt?"

### English translation (Claude)

not glad for long in forbidden things: for after three thousand men,
the customary number (a sinful act!), were sent through enemy fields,
believing that the youth of Ai would be easily put to flight,
they turn their backs in fear through the fields
and in headlong flight seek again their camp and their leader.
After this disgrace reached the leader’s ears,
he tears his clothes and beats his foreseeing breast.
A crowd of mourning elders accompanying him at once
makes supplication, while Joshua asks with innocent words:
“O Lord, what cause was there to lead your people out
of the seat of Egypt? Why suspend the waves
of the sea and all the things you know were then handed over
by your mighty giving hand, than which nothing is richer?
Was it for this, that the swollen Amorite might lay the afflicted low?
It would have been safer to live beyond the great river,
which lay open to us, dried, with thirsty sand.
What will wounded Israel do, or what will it say in confusion,
that you should rather wish to thrust your chosen into slavery?
And yet true salvation and the gifts of sure healing
are in your power, and whatever gentle mercy provides.
The nations will gather that you had given us to conquer;
the Jebusite and the Amorite, in a mixed phalanx,
will move fierce wars against you, highest Sower.
Will you then let the proud laugh at your name,
and nations unknown to you have more right?”

### Scripture references

- Josh 7:2–9: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Georum (line 4) is rendered Ai by sense. Line 17 is damaged in the digital text; translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.175 (CSEL 23:163lines 175–199–164; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-175).

## Joshua, lines 200–223

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-200
- Source: CSEL 23:164lines 200–223
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God reveals the sin; Joshua takes the tribes by lot and finds Achan, who confesses hiding the spoil in his tent; Joshua rebukes him and Achan and his household are stoned.

### Latin text

flectitur his dominus uatemque adsurgere iussit.
commemorans sensim deformis crimina culpae
plectenda exitio capitis. quod talia suasit.
hinc ubi prima dies noctem dimouit opacam.
corripit e somno corpus sociosque fatigat
cognatasque tribus per nomina singula uisit;
deprendens noxale caput dat corpora morti
inproba, dum pariter pecudes mittuntur in ignem.
quod facinus primus conmissum dixit Acharus
infelix praedae et spoliorum accensus amore.
quae sepulta domi propria tellure tegebat.
continuo haec missi quaerunt; quae cito reperta
et coram conposta duce populoque frequenti.
ille ubi quaesitam uidit non defore praedam.
talibus eloquitur rector terretque timentem:
"Fare age nunc cunctis, quae te dementia cepit.
aut quid adiuuit rerum tibi nescius usus.
inmemor ut legis ritum sequerere nocentum?
et nisi saluasset sublimis gloria plebem,
libera colla iugo pressisset uictor Amorrus.
heia age, pro cunctis admissa piacula pende.
ut saluata. deus dominusque in castra recurrat."
haec ubi disseruit, saxorum tollitur imber
damnatumque premit stirpemque euerberat eius;

### English translation (Claude)

The Lord is moved by this and bade the prophet rise,
recounting little by little the guilt of the hideous offence,
to be punished by the death of the one who had urged such things.
Then, when the first day had removed the dark night,
he rouses his body from sleep and stirs his companions
and visits the kindred tribes name by name;
catching the guilty head, he gives the wicked to death,
while the cattle too are sent into the fire.
Unhappy Achan first said that he had committed the crime,
inflamed by love of plunder and spoils,
which he had buried at home and covered in his own earth.
At once men sent search for them; they are quickly found
and set out before the leader and the crowded people.
When he saw that the plunder sought was not missing,
the ruler speaks thus and terrifies the frightened man:
“Come now, tell everyone what madness seized you,
or what ignorant use of things helped you,
that, forgetful of the law, you followed the rite of the guilty?
And had the lofty glory not saved the people,
the victorious Amorite would have pressed our free necks with the yoke.
Come now, pay for all the guilt you have committed,
so that God and the Lord may return to the camp now saved.”
When he had said this, a shower of stones is raised
and crushes the condemned man and beats down his family;

### Scripture references

- Josh 7:10–25: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.200 (CSEL 23:164lines 200–223; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-200).

## Joshua, lines 224–247

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-224
- Source: CSEL 23:165lines 224–247
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Achan’s goods are burned; God restores Israel’s strength and Joshua sets an ambush behind Ai, draws out its men by a feigned flight, and the ambush takes and burns the city.

### Latin text

et pecora et quidquid rerum seruauerat idem,
candens flamma rapit canoque in puluere soluit.
his actis curae emotae: deus omnia mitis
respicit et cunctis pariter consueta resignat
robora, quis ualeant acies detrudere cunctas.
accipit hic domini mandata insignia rector,
instruat ut socias quaecumque in bella cohortes,
mille legens iuuenes insigni corpore et annis,
ut, belli dum furta parant, dumeta capessant,
haut procul hos tacite Gergesi a moenibus abdens,
ut cum mentita formidine uertere terga
occipiat clausosque uiros educat in aequum,
continuo celeres nemorosa cubilia linquant
nudatasque uiris studeant peruadere portas.
nec mora, propositis respondent omnia uatis.
postquam obliquo decertant agmine turmae,
princeps terga suos confestim uertere iussit,
quos inimica super denso ruit agmine turba
ac multo clamore premit ferrumque coruscat.
quod speculata cohors, quae concaua ualle latebat.
euolat et uacuis perrumpit moenia portis,
subiciens rapidos tectis sublimibus ignes.
confusus cum deinde sonus ac flebile murmur
Gergessos conferre caput uisumque coegit.

### English translation (Claude)

and the cattle and whatever things he had kept
the white flame seizes and dissolves into grey dust.
These things done, their cares were removed: God gently
looks again on all and restores to all alike their accustomed
strength, by which they could drive back every rank.
Here the ruler receives the notable commands of the Lord,
to draw up the allied cohorts for any war,
choosing a thousand young men notable in body and years,
so that, while they prepare the stratagems of war, they hide in the thickets,
hiding them silently not far from the walls of Ai,
so that when he began to turn his back in feigned fear
and draw the shut-in men out onto the plain,
they would at once quickly leave their wooded lairs
and strive to burst through the gates stripped of men.
Without delay all goes as the prophet had planned.
After the companies had fought in slanting column,
the chief ordered his men at once to turn their backs;
the hostile crowd rushes upon them in dense column
and presses on with much shouting and brandishes its swords.
Seeing this, the band that lay hidden in the hollow valley
flies out and bursts into the walls by the empty gates,
setting swift fires to the lofty roofs.
Then a confused sound and a tearful murmur
compelled the men of Ai to turn their heads and look.

### Scripture references

- Josh 7:25–26: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 8:1–20: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet has a thousand men in the ambush; Josh 8:3 and 8:12 give thirty thousand and five thousand.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.224 (CSEL 23:165lines 224–247; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-224).

## Joshua, lines 248–272

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-248
- Source: CSEL 23:165lines 248–272–166
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The men of Ai are caught between the two forces and twelve thousand fall; the king is hanged and the city burned, the cattle spared as spoil; the kings of Canaan gather against Joshua.

### Latin text

respiciunt atram in caelum uolitare fauillam
flammarumque globos, quos culmina capta uomebant,
diuersamque manum tergo frontique minantem:
deprensi horrescunt exossaque tela relinquunt.
confixa ante oculos lacrimantumque ora parentum
pars in praecipites fossas uictore ruente
truditur, aut captae portis sese arietat urbis.
sternuntur ferro iuuenum bis milia sena.
ipse quoque exultans aususque erumpere in aequum
rex primo incursu capitur uinctusque tenetur
configiturque cruci; miserum dant saxa sepulchrum.
omnibus absumptis solum non sorbuit ignis.
quod rapuit festina manus; iumentaque tantum
sunt dirempta neci, subeunt quae pondera tergo.
interea ad reges reuolat uictoria. cunctos.
audit Amorreus Iordani adiunctus amoeno
et qui dumosis posuere in montibus aulas
uel campos habitant laetos uallesque supinas,
et qui caerulei consistunt margine ponti.
Cetaeusque simul Chananaeusque susurrat
Eueusque pauet Pherezeusque labascit.
et Iebusa manus pariter Gergessaque pallent.
nec tamen infracti penitus penitusque iacentes
attollunt animos seseque in proelia firmant :
omnibus unus amor Iesum detrudere regnis.

### English translation (Claude)

They look back and see black ash flying to heaven
and balls of flame that the captured roofs belched out,
and another band threatening their rear and front;
caught, they shudder and let their useless weapons fall.
Pierced before the eyes and faces of their weeping parents,
some are driven into the steep ditches as the victor rushes on,
or dash themselves against the gates of the captured city.
Twice six thousand young men are laid low by the sword.
The king himself too, exulting and daring to burst out onto the plain,
is taken at the first onset and held in chains,
and fixed to a cross; stones give the wretch a tomb.
When all was consumed, the fire did not swallow only
what the hasty hand had seized; and only the beasts of burden,
which carry loads on their backs, were spared from death.
Meanwhile the news of victory flies to the kings. All hear it:
the Amorite joined to the pleasant Jordan,
and those who set their halls in the thorny mountains
or dwell in glad plains and sloping valleys,
and those who live on the margin of the blue sea.
The Hittite and the Canaanite whisper together,
the Hivite fears and the Perizzite wavers,
and the Jebusite and Girgashite bands grow pale alike.
Yet, not wholly broken and wholly prostrate,
they raise their spirits and steel themselves for battle;
all have one desire, to drive Joshua from their realms.

### Scripture references

- Josh 8:21–29: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 9:1–2: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Exossa in line 4 is corrupt in the digital text; translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.248 (CSEL 23:165lines 248–272–166; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-248).

## Joshua, lines 273–297

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-273
- Source: CSEL 23:166lines 273–297–167
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Joshua builds an altar of unhewn stones, writes the law, Deuteronomy, and reads its blessings and curses before the ark; the Gibeonites, seeing Israel’s victories, plan to deceive Joshua by pretending to come from far away.

### Latin text

conueniuntque Gabana, loco atque agmina sistunt.
ipse inter curas bellorum construit altar.
Moysetis de more. deo; quod uincula ferri
nulla ligant, dum saxa simul conpacta cohaerent,
aequali coeunte situ. libamina promens
grata deo. quis spirat odor iucundus in altis.
quin etiam legis discribit iura magistrae:
Deuteron est nomen, quoniam transacta reuoluit;
quam pariter totum fas est cognoscere mundum.
arca sacerdotum uehitur ceruicibus alma.
quicumque ut uideant domini donaria summi.
atque etiam uates populo benedicere suetus
percurrit, quae iussa prius, quae cauta deinde,
gestorum ratione pari atque ordine certo.
at Gabaona manus postquam successibus altis
Iudaeos creuisse uidet caesosque tyrannos
urbibus euersis nullumque obsistere posse,
callida uersuto celerant conludia facto
et, quos contiguis regio coniunxerat aruis.
confingunt discreta procul sese adfore terra
mirantes tropaea uiri palmasque recentes,
si ualeant precibus uictori adiungere dextras
et sociare domos totamque adnectere gentem
uicturam ratione data. ni dissona corda
despiciant humiles et subdita colla retractent.

### English translation (Claude)

and they gather at Gibeon in one place and halt their columns.
Joshua himself, amid the cares of war, builds an altar
to God in the manner of Moses, which no bonds of iron
bind, while the stones hold together, fitted
side by side; bringing out offerings
pleasing to God, from which a sweet odour breathes on high.
Moreover he writes out the statutes of the teaching law:
its name is Deuteronomy, since it goes over what was done before,
and it is right for the whole world alike to know it.
The life-giving ark is carried on the necks of the priests,
so that all may see the gifts of the highest Lord.
And the prophet, used to blessing the people,
runs through what was commanded before and what was later safeguarded,
with like reckoning of the deeds and in sure order.
But after the band of Gibeon saw that with lofty successes
the Jews had grown and the tyrants were slain,
the cities overturned and none able to resist,
they hasten to a cunning collusion by a crafty deed,
and, though the region had joined them to Israel in neighbouring fields,
they pretend that they have come from a land far away,
admiring the man’s trophies and fresh palms,
to see whether by prayers they could join right hands with the victor
and ally their houses and attach their whole nation,
so as to survive by an agreement given, unless discordant hearts
should despise the humble and reject the necks submitted to them.

### Scripture references

- Josh 8:30–35: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 9:3–6: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet explains the name Deuteronomy as ‘going over what was done before’.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.273 (CSEL 23:166lines 273–297–167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-273).

## Joshua, lines 298–322

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-298
- Source: CSEL 23:167lines 298–322–168
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Gibeonites come with worn sacks, wineskins, clothes and shoes and mouldy bread, win a treaty, and when the deceit is discovered are made water-carriers for the sanctuary; Adoni-zedek and four kings attack Gibeon, which appeals to Joshua.

### Latin text

utque fidis certae ualeant seruare colorem,
deprensos multo conpellant pondere mulos,
putria portantes celeri molimine farra.
quae ueteres lasso cohibebant tegmine sacci;
uinaque consuti multo cum uulnere folles
uix retinent, dum plaga negat uincire liquorem.
uestitus lacero nudabat corpora panno.
calceus adtritis misere dat tegmina plantis.
frangitur his ductor populi, dum supplice palma
uincitur et mentes credit cohaerere loquellae.
suscipit orantes ueniam castrisque receptat.
sed, ut saepe solet, non longum ficta teguntur,
conpositosque dolos aperit testatio ueri.
ilicet hos uates coram castigat amice;
et, quia iurarat domini per nomen aeterni,
mansit amica fides; sed ius commune negatum est:
lixarum officio circum sacraria iussi
conuehere exortes puris de fontibus undas.
hos Donibezelo postquam descisse relatum est.
regna Iebusaea qui tum tractabat in aula.
quinque mouet reges suscepta in proelia fidos.
acrius obliquus sociis pro foedere rupto,
quam ⟨in⟩ populum, inmensas acies qui fuderat armis.
at Gabaon coetu multorum territa regum
mittit oratores uatemque exposcit amicum.

### English translation (Claude)

And so that they might keep up the appearance of sure faith,
they drive mules loaded with heavy weight,
carrying mouldy grain with swift effort,
which old sacks held in their weary covering;
and wineskins sewn up with many a wound scarcely hold the wine,
while the gash refuses to bind the liquid.
Their clothing bared their bodies with torn rags,
and their shoes gave wretched covering to their worn soles.
The leader of the people is broken by this, while he is won
by their suppliant hands and believes their minds agree with their speech.
He receives them as they ask for pardon and admits them to the camp.
But, as often happens, feigned things are not long hidden,
and the witness of the truth uncovers the contrived deceit.
At once the prophet chastises them openly, but in friendship;
and, because he had sworn by the name of the eternal Lord,
the friendly faith remained; but common rights were denied them:
they were ordered, in the service of camp-followers,
to carry water from pure springs around the sanctuary, without a share.
After it was reported that they had gone over,
Adoni-zedek, who then ruled the Jebusite realm in his hall,
moves five kings, faithful to the war he undertook,
more fiercely hostile to the allies for breaking the treaty
than against the people who had routed immense ranks with arms.
But Gibeon, terrified by the gathering of many kings,
sends envoys and begs the friendly prophet

### Scripture references

- Josh 9:4–27: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 10:1–6: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Donibezelo (line 19) is rendered Adoni-zedek (Josh 10:1). In line 23 the editor supplies in.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.298 (CSEL 23:167lines 298–322–168; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-298).

## Joshua, lines 323–346

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-323
- Source: CSEL 23:168lines 323–346–169
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Joshua marches from Gilgal, assured by God of victory over the five kings; they are routed and more die by hailstones than by the sword, and Joshua prays for the day to be lengthened.

### Latin text

confestim toto succurrat milite maestis.
nec mora, correptis dimittit Galgala signis
hostica castra petens. domino subdente uigorem
talibus adloquiis: "Timeas ne nomina regum
multa simul ualidasque putes his esse cohortes;
quamlibet inmensa confidant nube cateruae.
nil pedes efficiet equitum nec tela ualebunt,
falcibus et curuis armatas temne quadrigas.
namque ego pallenti quatiam formidine gentes;
nusquam fronte pari concurrent comminus hostes
palantes tumida ualido cum milite caede."
haec ubi cognouit, numerosum tendit ad hostem;
namque Apaphum belli tenuerunt sede tyranni
confestimque fugam dimisso milite sumunt.
cetera turba uirum confusae stragis aceruo
occubuit camposque inpleuit fusa patentes.
nec tantum exanimes uincentum perculit ensis.
quantum praegelidi conferta ex grandine nimbi;
et licet hinc enses, hinc fulmina clara coruscent.
una dies tantis non est sat longa triumphis.
ergo hebetes cernens gladios et funera lenta.
auxilium a domino princeps, quod sueuerat. orat.
Quamlibet extentis lux haec non sufficit horis.
tempora ni iubeas noctis se adiungere luci.

### English translation (Claude)

to help the sorrowful at once with all his soldiers.
Without delay he takes up the standards and leaves Gilgal,
making for the enemy camp, the Lord giving him strength
with these words: “Do not fear the many names of kings
together, nor think their cohorts strong;
however much their bands trust in an immense cloud of men,
the infantry will achieve nothing, nor will the horsemen’s weapons prevail;
scorn the four-horse chariots armed with curved scythes.
For I will shake the nations with pale fear;
nowhere will the enemy meet you face to face with equal front,
scattered in swollen slaughter by your strong soldiers.”
When he learned this, he advances against the numerous enemy;
for the warring tyrants held the seat of Aphek,
and at once, dismissing their soldiers, they take to flight.
The rest of the crowd fell in a heap of confused slaughter
and, strewn about, filled the open plains.
Nor did the sword of the victors strike so many dead
as the ice-cold clouds dense with hail;
and though here swords, there bright lightnings flash,
one day is not long enough for such great triumphs.
So, seeing the swords grown dull and the slaughter slow,
the chief asks the Lord for the help he was used to:
“However its hours are stretched, this light is not enough,
unless you bid the hours of night be joined to the day.

### Scripture references

- Josh 10:7–12: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Apaphum in line 13 is uncertain in the digital text.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.323 (CSEL 23:168lines 323–346–169; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-323).

## Joshua, lines 347–371

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-347
- Source: CSEL 23:169lines 347–371–170
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The sun and moon stand still at Joshua’s prayer; the five kings, found in a cave, are trampled, hanged and buried under stones; Libnah, Lachish, Debir and the whole south are destroyed.

### Latin text

sit nunc flamma uagi librato in pondere solis
nec moueat tremulos lunaris circulus ignes.
ut elementa, suis ceu nescia currere metis,
tempora protelent. condensus dum ruit hostis.
auditur propere: sol sistitur et uaga luna
cohibuit faciles utroque in cardine cursus.
nec minus et reges. quos concaua saxa tegebant,
obstricta ceruice palam consistere iussit.
undique tum positis concurrit Iudaea telis
inpressoque genu conculcat colla gementum.
ilicet exsangues crucibus figuntur in altis
pendentes, donec sese nox reddidit atra.
tum suspensa uirum deponit corpora ligno.
quae super adgestis onerantur saxa ruinis.
his actis properat bellator subdere Lemnam.
grandaeuosque necat. pueris nec defuit ensis;
nil penitus tota permissum uiuere gente.
inde petita Lachis prostratis moenibus ardet;
rex etiam populi capitur ferroque necatur.
Dabira quin etiam. paribus cooperta ruinis,
extincta legione perit socioque tyranno.
et qui dumosis habuere in collibus arces
aut curuas coluit ualles camposque iacentes.
occidit, extinctis pariter cum rege maniplis.
ac dum cuncta fluunt successu laeta secundo.

### English translation (Claude)

Let the flame of the wandering sun now stand in balanced weight,
and let the circle of the moon not move its trembling fires,
so that the elements, as though not knowing how to run to their goals,
may prolong the time while the dense enemy falls.”
He is heard at once: the sun stands still, and the wandering moon
held back her easy course at either pole.
And the kings too, whom hollow rocks had hidden,
he ordered to stand openly with bound necks.
Then from every side, weapons laid down, Judea runs together
and, pressing with the knee, tramples the necks of the groaning kings.
At once the bloodless men are fixed on high crosses,
hanging until the black night returned.
Then he takes down the hung bodies of the men from the wood,
and they are loaded with stones heaped upon them.
These things done, the warrior hastens to subdue Libnah,
and kills the aged; nor was the sword spared the boys;
none at all of the whole nation was allowed to live.
Then Lachish is attacked and burns with its walls laid low;
the king of the people too is captured and killed with the sword.
Debir too, buried in like ruins,
perishes, its legion destroyed along with its allied tyrant.
And whoever held citadels on thorny hills
or dwelt in curving valleys and level plains
fell, his companies destroyed along with their king.
And while all things flow gladly with favourable success,

### Scripture references

- Josh 10:12–40: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Lemnam (line 15) is Libnah.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.347 (CSEL 23:169lines 347–371–170; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-347).

## Joshua, lines 372–396

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-372
- Source: CSEL 23:170lines 372–396–171
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Jabin of Hazor gathers the kings of the north with chariots at the waters of Merom; Joshua attacks them suddenly from a hill and destroys them.

### Latin text

Iabirus, acta uidens uictricis fortia gentis.
ditia qui populis Asorum regna regebat.
festinans flammam uicini extinguere belli,
congregat eximios reges populosque feroces.
quem Roboamus adit propere Ma[che]donis ab aula;
et Somorus factusque comes Axinus in armis.
et qui Sidonia ductor regnabat in arce.
Ceneritus Arabusque. quibus contermina regna.
firmabant animos sceptri socialis amore.
iungitur Ernadurus et qui coniuncta Chanannus
rura colit ponto. uel qui primordia solis
rubra uident, roseus cum primum panditur axis.
his super adproperat Iebuso adfinis Amorrus
Cetius Eucheusque Pherezeusque sequuntur.
qui deserta colunt squalentis deuia Thitsae.
omnibus est animus stipata incurrere turba.
exim quisque suo contorquent spicula ritu:
hic peditum incedit legio densataque nube
quadriiugique ruunt ferrato milite currus.
ut fragor ipse fuget nitentem comminus hostem.
at parte ex alia Iesus nil territus instat.
propter aquas ueniens Maronis nomine dictas;
atque ubi cum lecto conscendit milite collem,
desuper incurrens securum proterit hostem.
omnia caede madent tellusque infecta cruore est.

### English translation (Claude)

Jabin, seeing the mighty deeds of the victorious nation,
he who ruled the rich realms of Hazor for its peoples,
hastening to put out the flame of the war nearby,
gathers outstanding kings and fierce peoples.
Jobab comes to him quickly from the hall of Madon,
and the king of Shimron, and Achshaph, made a companion in arms,
and he who reigned as leader in the citadel of Sidon,
Chinneroth and the Arabah, whose neighbouring realms
strengthened their spirits by love of an allied sceptre.
Dor is joined, and the Canaanite who tills the fields
joined to the sea, and those who see the red beginnings
of the sun when the rosy sky first opens.
Besides these the Amorite hastens, neighbour to the Jebusite;
the Hittite and the Hivite and the Perizzite follow,
who dwell in the desert byways of barren Mizpah.
All are minded to charge in a massed crowd.
Then each hurls his darts in his own fashion:
here the legion of infantry advances in a dense cloud,
and four-horse chariots rush on with iron-clad soldiers,
so that the very crash may rout the enemy as he strains near.
But on the other side Joshua, not at all terrified, presses on,
coming by the waters called by the name of Merom;
and when he had climbed a hill with chosen soldiers,
rushing down from above he crushes the careless enemy.
Everything is wet with slaughter and the earth is stained with gore.

### Scripture references

- Josh 11:1–8: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The editor deletes che in line 5 (Ma[che]donis). The Latin names (Roboamus, Somorus, Axinus, Ceneritus, Arabus, Ernadurus, Thitsa) are rendered by the English Bible’s forms by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.372 (CSEL 23:170lines 372–396–171; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-372).

## Joshua, lines 397–420

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-397
- Source: CSEL 23:171lines 397–420–172
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Joshua burns the chariots, hamstrings the horses and destroys Hazor; the kings defeated are listed and the land divided, the kingdom of Og of Bashan going to Reuben, Gad and half Manasseh.

### Latin text

mox currus celeres subiectus deuorat ignis
cornipedumque pedes gladio truncantur acuto.
ipse regum princeps ferro dat pectus Asurus;
urbs etiam totis procumbit subruta muris.
communis hic praeda datur uictoribus omnis.
bis denos hac pugna duces nouemque peremit
unus ab astrigera signum qui sumpserat aula.
protinus adscribit uates populoque uiritim
diuidit ablatas tantis pereuntibus urbes
gentibus. obtentu positas et cardine terrae.
unde rubet (croceum uenientis flamma diei
trans amnem prisco Iordanem nomine dictum
usque supinatam Chebronis nomine uallem.
Hermonium ad montem. uasto qui uertice surgit,
atque ad Amar pelagus Cheneri et marmora glauca,
sepositam et Phasgam dudumque Asedota uocatum.
solus conpositis restabat praeda duellis
Bassamum rector (Ocum dixere uetusti),
gigantum uirtute ferox, quos rector agebat.
Astarota cui domus est et sedes in Aedra.
huius terra datur tribubus sulcanda duabus
et mediae, dum laeta placet atque herbida uallis,
Rubenae Gadaeque simul sociaeque Manasse.
cetera partitur sociis dux aequus in omnes.

### English translation (Claude)

Soon fire set beneath them devours the swift chariots,
and the horses’ feet are cut off with the sharp sword.
The prince of the kings himself, of Hazor, gives his breast to the sword;
the city too falls, undermined with all its walls.
Here all the plunder is given in common to the victors.
In this war he slew twice ten and nine leaders,
he alone who had received the sign from the starry hall.
At once the prophet records and divides man by man
the cities taken from such perishing nations,
set in the shelter and the pole of the land,
from where the saffron flame of the coming day reddens,
beyond the river called by the ancient name of Jordan,
as far as the sloping valley called by the name of Hebron,
to Mount Hermon, which rises with vast summit,
and to the sea of Chinnereth and its grey-green waters,
and Pisgah set apart and what was long called Ashdoth.
When the wars were settled, one prey alone remained,
the ruler of Bashan (the ancients called him Og),
fierce with the strength of the giants whom he ruled,
whose house was Ashtaroth and his seat in Edrei.
His land is given to two tribes and a half to plough,
since the glad and grassy valley pleased them,
to Reuben and Gad together and allied Manasseh.
The rest the leader divides justly among all the allies.

### Scripture references

- Josh 11:9–23: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 12:1–24: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 13:8–33: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet gives twenty-nine kings; Josh 12:24 has thirty-one. The account of Og is drawn from Josh 12–13 (and Deut 3).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.397 (CSEL 23:171lines 397–420–172; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-397).

## Joshua, lines 421–445

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-421
- Source: CSEL 23:172lines 421–445–173
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The remaining land is allotted; the Levites receive no territory; Balaam is killed; Caleb, recalling his faithful report forty-five years before, asks for and receives Hebron; then Debir, the city of letters, is attacked.

### Latin text

accedit regio qua Libanus exit in auras,
et mare Masrefatum fecundaque Sidonis arua.
Leuitas dominus uillarum nomine priuat.
Balamus occumbit uentura edicere suetus.
at socius semperque duci coniuncta Chalebus
corda gerens. placido subnixus pectore fatur:
"Nota tibi, ductor, animi sententia nostri
tempore iam ex illo, pariter quo uisere terras
hostiles missi, cunctis pauitantibus unus
te socio exprompsi nil posse obsistere nobis;
quamlibet inmensi facerent noua bella gigantes,
stare deum contra nostraeque adsistere parti.
nempe tenes, placidus ut nobis maxima quaeque
pollicitus fuerit senior ac sorte seorsa
hunc dederit collem mihimet cunctisque meorum.
et nunc, quod bellum Enachina ex gente superstat,
cognata cum pube geram. non degener aeuo.
etsi quater denus bis iam mihi uoluitur annus.
ordinis esto memor sedemque adlega petenti.
quam propriam teneant nati prolesque natorum."
talia poscentem Chebrono in colle locauit.
additur et magnis haut decolor urbibus Ardoc.
his actis properat Dabiram exscindere gentem,
cuius opus suetum dociles conscribere fatus
et elementa graues pueris dictare magistros.

### English translation (Claude)

The region is added where Lebanon rises into the air,
and the sea of Misrephoth and the fertile fields of Sidon.
The Lord withholds the title of estates from the Levites.
Balaam falls, he who used to foretell the future.
But Caleb, his companion, whose heart was always joined
to the leader, speaks, relying on a calm breast:
“You know, leader, the judgment of my mind
from that time when, sent together to see the enemy’s lands,
while all trembled, I alone, with you as partner,
declared that nothing could stand against us;
however immense the giants who might wage new wars,
God stood against them and helped our side.
Surely you remember how the old man graciously
promised us all the greatest things and by a separate lot
gave this hill to me and all mine.
And now, since war with the race of Anak remains,
I will wage it with my kindred youth, not degenerate with age,
though twice forty years are now rolling for me.
Remember the order and assign the seat to me who ask it,
for my sons and my sons’ offspring to hold as their own.”
To him, asking this, he gave the hill of Hebron,
and Arba, no less than great cities, is added.
These things done, he hastens to destroy the people of Debir,
whose usual work was to write learned speech
and for grave masters to dictate the letters to boys.

### Scripture references

- Josh 13:1–22: allusion, medium confidence
- Josh 14:6–15: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 15:13–15: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Caleb gives his age as eighty; Josh 14:10 has eighty-five. The poet takes Debir (Kiriath-sepher, ‘city of the book’) as a city of schoolmasters.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.421 (CSEL 23:172lines 421–445–173; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-421).

## Joshua, lines 446–469

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-446
- Source: CSEL 23:173lines 446–469–174
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Othniel wins Caleb’s daughter; the Jebusites and Canaanites remain; the land is allotted, cities of refuge and forty Levitical cities are set apart, Joshua receives Timnath, and he sends the eastern tribes home with a charge.

### Latin text

elicit ille uirum promissae ad foedera, natae.
prompta cui uirtus animusque in pectore praesens.
omnibus interea populis seruire coactis
Iebusaea manus patriis non cessat ab aruis.
Chananno perstante domi tectisque parentum.
cetera ter ternis tribubus metata traduntur.
Leuitis merito bis ternas segregat urbes
perfugioque dedit factum noxale timenti,
ne poena adficeret admissa piacula casu.
quae proceres mandat librata. expendere lance,
ut facto grauiore reum nex congrua damnet.
ipse quater denas Leuitis deuouet urbes
fenoris exsortes. tum plebis consona uoce
accipit Ephremum uentura in tempora collem.
urbe super iuncta, mansit cui Thamnatha nomen.
condidit hic cultros dura de caute paratos,
de quibus obscenos dictu truncauerat artus.
omnibus explicitis socios remeare uolentes
Iordanis trans stagna uagi his inbuit orsis:
Grata manus nobis sanctoque electa tonanti
fortibus e factis pariles meruistis honores,
quos dedit omnipotens cunctis. qui collibus istis
conposuere domus. et nunc remeate laetantes.
illud pro cunctis repetens uos saepe monebo.

### English translation (Claude)

He calls out a man for the covenant of the promised daughter,
one whose valour is ready and whose courage is present in his breast.
Meanwhile, though all the peoples were compelled to serve,
the Jebusite band does not leave its ancestral fields,
and the Canaanite remains at home in the houses of his fathers.
The rest of the land, measured out, is given to three times three tribes.
For the Levites he rightly sets apart twice three cities
and gave them as a refuge to one who feared for a guilty deed,
lest punishment should strike faults committed by chance;
these he charges the chiefs to weigh with balanced scale,
so that a fitting death may condemn the guilty for a graver deed.
He himself assigns four times ten cities to the Levites,
free from tribute. Then, by the harmonious voice of the people,
he receives the hill country of Ephraim for times to come,
with a city joined above it whose name remained Timnath.
Here he laid up the knives made of hard stone,
with which he had cut the parts shameful to name.
All this completed, to the allies wishing to return
beyond the waters of the wandering Jordan he gave these words:
“Band pleasing to us and chosen by the holy Thunderer,
by your brave deeds you have earned equal honours,
which the Almighty has given to all who on these hills
have built their houses. And now return rejoicing.
This above all I will repeat and often warn you:

### Scripture references

- Josh 15:16–17: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 15:63: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 16:10: allusion, medium confidence
- Josh 18:1–10: allusion, medium confidence
- Josh 19:49–50: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 20:1–9: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 21:41–42: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 22:1–5: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The burial of the circumcision knives at Timnath comes from the Greek Bible’s addition at Josh 21:42 and 24:31; the poet places it here and again at Joshua’s burial (6.571).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.446 (CSEL 23:173lines 446–469–174; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-446).

## Joshua, lines 470–494

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-470
- Source: CSEL 23:174lines 470–494–175
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Joshua urges the eastern tribes to love and serve God; they build a great altar by the Jordan, and the other tribes send Phinehas and ten leaders to accuse them of apostasy, recalling Peor.

### Latin text

ut memores sitis, quanta uos cura perennis
diligat omnipotens. dederit quae praemia uobis;
et quae constituit sanctis facienda loquellis.
noritis seruanda fore. quia uita perennis.
his quaeritur rebus, maneat si gratia legis
inoffensa dei semperque in pectore degat.
ergo deus dominusque simul timeatur, ametur
uisceribus totis totoque e pectore nostro:
sic fiet ut uestra pressentur sub iuga gentes. *
haec ubi dicta dedit cunctisque optando poposcit.
illi iter incoeptum peragunt fluuioque propinquant
conspicuamque locant turrito culmine molem.
quae tribubus ubi facta nouem monumenta patescunt.
ceu domini inmemores cupiunt conlidere bello:
ante tamen missi, certum qui noscere possent;
Phineus legitur, Aaronis candidus heres,
atque decem primi tribuum meritoque locoque,
qui memores mandata simul procerisque patrumque
euoluunt, maestis quamquam nil criminis esset:
"Dicite, quae fuerit substructi cura sacelli?
excideritne deus? sanctaene oracula legis?
ergone deserto gentilia sacra tonante.
quaeritis et uiui functorum conditis aras?
numquid parua dedit cunctis monumenta Phagorus,
exitio informi misero damnatus in ausu?

### English translation (Claude)

be mindful with how great an everlasting care
the Almighty loves you and what rewards he has given you,
and know that what he has established by his holy words
must be kept, because everlasting life
is sought by these things, if the grace of the law remains
unbroken with God and always lives in the heart.
So let God and the Lord be both feared and loved
with all our inward parts and all our heart:
so it will be that nations are pressed under your yoke.”
When he had said these words and wished all well,
they complete the journey they had begun and approach the river,
and set up a conspicuous mass with a towering top.
When this monument became known to the nine tribes,
they wish to clash with them in war as men forgetful of the Lord;
yet first men were sent who could learn the truth:
Phinehas is chosen, the shining heir of Aaron,
and ten leaders of the tribes, first in merit and place,
who, mindful, together set out the commands of the chief and the fathers,
though the sorrowful men had committed no crime:
“Say, what was the purpose of the shrine you have built?
Has God slipped from your minds? The oracles of the holy law?
Have you then deserted the Thunderer to seek gentile rites,
and do you, living, found altars of the dead?
Did Peor give little warning to all,
condemned to hideous destruction for its wretched daring?

### Scripture references

- Josh 22:5–17: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text marks a crux with an asterisk after gentes (line 9).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.470 (CSEL 23:174lines 470–494–175; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-470).

## Joshua, lines 495–519

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-495
- Source: CSEL 23:175lines 495–519
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The envoys offer the eastern tribes land west of the Jordan rather than division and recall Achan; the eastern tribes answer that the altar is a witness, not for sacrifice to other gods.

### Latin text

haec odio in gentes mandant populosque patresque,
dum bellum sociale parant atque arma resumunt.
numquid parua data sunt uobis iugera terrae.
quae placuit uobis? aut (si) producere fines
ac proferre libet, de nostris sumite campis:
dum modo sidereo semper sacrata tonanti
sit synagoga parens, nobis nec dissona distet.
conmoneat sensus factum dementis Achari,
idola cum rigidis formauit mortua saxis.
nonne malum praeceps contracti criminis egit.
unius ob noxam populum qui perculit ultor?"
illi humiles blandis respondent talia dictis:
"Nos colimus. qui cuncta pio sermone creauit
quique uidet tacitis haerentia crimina fibris;
nec opus, ut testes ad publica facta uocemus:
ipse deus nouit. quae causa extruxerit aram.
nobis cura fuit condendae ad flumina molis
perpetuae, ut captae maneat testatio terrae:
ne quandoque fiant uenturae obprobria proli
credentum sancti diuisa oracula templi.
nescimus uanis oblata libamina diuis.
ne uero. ne tanta pios dementia mutet.
ut placeat quidquam, domino quod displicet alto!
illa Nobis tantum mactare ac sternere fas est.
quae sueuit synagoga deo libare perenni."

### English translation (Claude)

These things they command, in their hatred of foreign nations, to peoples and fathers,
while they prepare a war among allies and take up arms again.
“Have you been given too few acres of land,
the land that pleased you? Or if you wish to extend
and advance your borders, take from our plains,
provided that the congregation, ever consecrated to the starry Thunderer,
is our common parent and does not stand apart from us in discord.
Let the deed of mad Achan warn your minds,
when he formed dead idols from rigid stones.
Did not the headlong evil of the crime he contracted drive on the avenger,
who struck the people for the guilt of one?”
They humbly answer with gentle words:
“We worship him who created all things by his holy word
and who sees the crimes that cling to silent hearts;
nor do we need to call witnesses to public deeds:
God himself knows why we built the altar.
Our care was to build a lasting mass by the river,
so that it might remain a testimony to the conquered land,
lest the divided oracles of the holy temple
should ever become a reproach to the coming offspring of believers.
We know of no offerings made to vain gods.
No indeed, may no such madness change the pious,
that anything should please us that displeases the Lord on high!
For us it is right to sacrifice and lay out only
what the congregation has been used to offer to the everlasting God.”

### Scripture references

- Josh 22:18–29: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- In line 4 the editor supplies si. The poet again makes Achan’s sin idolatry.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.495 (CSEL 23:175lines 495–519; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-495).

## Joshua, lines 520–545

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-520
- Source: CSEL 23:175lines 520–545–176
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The eastern tribes satisfy the envoys; the aged Joshua gathers Israel and reminds them that God, not their sword or bow, defeated the nations, sending hornets before them and opening sea and river.

### Latin text

his dictis manifesta fides placidique tribuni
laudibus ornatos meritis liquere laetantes.
interea longo uates iam senior aeuo
accitum populum. monitis fidelibus inplet:
"Cernitis ut, ciues, me iam longaeua senectus
ingrauet et motu tardentur membra supremo:
et nunc uel moneo, uel, si non displicet, oro,
ut uestra sit uita deus, lex, semper in ore,
et quae praestiterit nobis cunctisque parentum
patribus, euoluat memori sententia fatu.
namque feras gentes, quarum nunc regna tenetis,
non gladius domuit noster, non perculit arcus.
sed dominus, qui signa pius agmenque praeiuit,
praegrediens nosmet, quotiens fit comminus hostis;
qui populos tantos gelida formidine missa
subdidit ac reges uoluit succumbere nobis;
quique parans uacuos nostris cultoribus agros
post bellum atque arma feras prorumpere iussit.
ut reliquam partem conductis morsibus essent.
ergo agite et pontum siccatum discite uobis
insuetoque modo fluuium sistente meatu
concretum, tenuis si nondum desuper unda
stringitur in glaciem calidum durata per aestum:
ut deus inmensi per saecla ingentia facti
accipiat meritas laudes. dum consona plausu
lingua canit nil esse deum sublimius uno.

### English translation (Claude)

With these words their good faith was manifest, and the calm tribunes
left them rejoicing, honoured with deserved praise.
Meanwhile the prophet, now old with long age,
fills the people he has summoned with faithful warnings:
“You see, citizens, how long old age now
weighs me down and my limbs are slowed by their last movement.
And now I either warn you or, if you do not mind, I beg you,
that God and the law be your life, ever in your mouth,
and that your mind recount with mindful speech
what he has granted us and all the fathers of our parents.
For the fierce nations whose realms you now hold
our sword did not tame, our bow did not strike,
but the Lord, who graciously went before the standards and the column,
going before us whenever the enemy is near;
who subdued such peoples, sending cold fear,
and willed that kings should yield to us;
and who, preparing fields empty for our tillers,
after war and arms bade wild creatures burst forth,
to take the remaining part with their hired stings.
Come then, and learn that the sea was dried for you
and the river halted in an unaccustomed way,
frozen, though the thin water above was not usually
bound into ice and hardened in the summer heat;
so that God may receive through mighty ages the praise
due for his immense deed, while the tongue sings in harmonious applause
that nothing is more sublime than the one God.

### Scripture references

- Josh 22:30–34: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 23:1–10: allusion, high confidence
- Josh 24:2–13: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘Wild creatures’ are the hornets of Josh 24:12.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.520 (CSEL 23:175lines 520–545–176; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-520).

## Joshua, lines 546–570

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-546
- Source: CSEL 23:176lines 546–570–177
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Joshua calls the people to choose whom they will serve; they answer that they will serve the Lord who brought them out of Egypt; Joshua writes the covenant and sets up a stone under the terebinth as witness.

### Latin text

pergite, quo ducit docilis sententia legis:
ne uariis actus sub flexibus ambitus erret.
idola nulla uirum deuicta ex gente supersint.
sit dominus uobis deus arduus et deus ingens.
quod si cassa placent et mortua numina cordi.
dicite. discedam, noceant ne uana colentes.
eligite, o cuncti, quae sunt accommoda uobis.
deserit omnipotens refugas longeque refutat,
qui sub pestiferi quondam monumenta Balacis
omnia laeta magis uati despondit amico.
adspice, quae teneas, quam fortes fuderis hostes
et quam magna deus cunctis fidelibus addat.
hunc colite et ualidas legi conectite mentes."
consona respondit populi sententia uati:
"Accipe. magne ducum, quae sit fiducia nobis;
illum, Niliacis qui nos educere terris
dignatus. colimus solumque agnoscimus omnes
esse deum caeli terraeque et marmoris alti,
quo mandante maris patuerunt aequora Rubri
et qui signa dedit nostris percongrua uotis.
qui gentes nostris subiecit gressibus omnes."
haec ubi disseruit populus fidelia fatu.
pagina sanctificis legitur laudabilis orsis.
ipse senex cautem terebinthi in codice ponit.
ut sit perpetuae testis noscenda fidei.

### English translation (Claude)

Go where the teachable judgment of the law leads,
lest ambition, driven through varied turnings, go astray.
Let no idols of the men of the conquered nation remain.
Let the Lord be your God, lofty God and mighty God.
But if empty things and dead divinities please your heart,
say so; I will depart, lest worshippers of vanities harm me.
Choose, all of you, what suits you.
The Almighty deserts those who desert him and rejects them far away,
he who once, at the monuments of baneful Balak,
promised all glad things instead through the friendly prophet.
Look at what you hold, what strong enemies you have routed,
and how great the things God adds to all the faithful.
Worship him and bind strong minds to the law.”
The harmonious judgment of the people answered the prophet:
“Hear, greatest of leaders, what our confidence is:
him who deigned to lead us out of the lands of the Nile
we worship, and all acknowledge him alone
to be God of heaven and earth and of the deep sea,
at whose command the waters of the Red Sea lay open,
and who gave signs well suited to our prayers,
who has subjected all nations to our steps.”
When the people had spoken these faithful words,
a praiseworthy page of holy words is read.
The old man himself sets a stone under the terebinth, recording it in the book,
to be known as a witness of everlasting faith.

### Scripture references

- Josh 24:14–27: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.546 (CSEL 23:176lines 546–570–177; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-546).

## Joshua, lines 571–585

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-6-571
- Source: CSEL 23:177lines 571–585–178
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Joshua dies at 110 and is buried in Ephraim with the circumcision knives; Joseph’s bones are buried at Shechem; Eleazar dies; the people turn to idols and are subjected to Eglon.

### Latin text

expletis igitur uitae dux optimus actis.
cuius uita fuit centum distenta per annos
atque decem, functus merito dat membra sepulchro
Ephremo in colle, fuerat qui sedibus aptus.
iustitiae ob meritum nulli defletur amico:
cultellos tantum proceris iunxere fauillis,
circumcisa quibus fuerat Iudaea iuuentus,
ossaque in Sicimis Iosepi inposta. quiescunt,
in quibus et membra fuerant tumulata Iacobi.
post hunc terrenos linquit Eleazarus actus.
ergo uiris tantis post acta insignia functis,
gentiles populus cultus atque idola sumpsit,
defugiens dominum terrae dominumque caelorum.
subditur Eglomum quae propter facta tyrannis,
atque quaterdenos uixit captiuus in annos.

### English translation (Claude)

So, the deeds of his life completed, the best of leaders,
whose life was stretched through a hundred
and ten years, having died, gives his limbs, as he deserved, to a tomb
on the hill of Ephraim, which had been suited to his dwelling.
For the merit of his justice he is mourned by no friend,
only they joined to the chief’s ashes the knives
with which the Jewish youth had been circumcised;
and the bones of Joseph, laid at Shechem, rest
where the limbs of Jacob too had been buried.
After him Eleazar leaves the deeds of earth.
So, after such great men had died after notable deeds,
the people took up gentile cults and idols,
fleeing the Lord of the earth and Lord of the heavens.
For these deeds it is made subject to the tyrant Eglon
and lived captive for forty years.

### Scripture references

- Josh 24:28–33: allusion, high confidence
- Judg 2:6–14: allusion, medium confidence
- Acts 7:16: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 5 is obscure (‘mourned by no friend’); the sense may be that his righteousness left no cause for grief. The burial of Jacob at Shechem follows Acts 7:16 rather than Gen 50:13. The forty years under Eglon differ from Judg 3:14 (eighteen years).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 6.571 (CSEL 23:177lines 571–585–178; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-571).

## Judges, lines 1–25

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-7-1
- Source: CSEL 23:180lines 1–25
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The seventh book retells Judges: after Joshua’s death Judah and Simeon defeat the Canaanites and Perizzites, maim Adoni-bezek as he had maimed seventy kings, and take Jerusalem, Hebron and Debir.

### Latin text

Postquam conspicuo Iesus decesserat actu
reddideratque deus famulum post bella quieti,
confestim Iudaea tumens sibi poscere regem.
incipit et dominum, quae sit sententia, poscit,
ut Chanana manus, quae nondum subdita bello
aemula pugnaci uersabat corda tumultu,
suesceret imperiis excusso accedere ferro.
inditur his Iudas, qui fratre cum Simeone
inlata extinguit confestim pugna Chananos.
cum quibus admixta sternuntur caede Pherezi:
milia ferme decem fuso cecidere cruore.
ipse caput belli, magnorum causa malorum,
dux fuit et princeps Donibezecus: aberrans
corripitur meritasque luit pro crimine poenas.
nam manibus pedibusque simul sine more recisis
uberibus maeret lacrimis, quos non habet, artus,
quosue gerit, simili dum perfurit inprobus actu:
septuaginta prius truncarat corpora regum.
ergo dedit poenas, quas fecerat, et mala pendens
congrua decessit Solymis regnumque reliquit.
ipsa etiam Ieru capitur flammisque perusta
concidit, ingenti propere conuulsa ruina;
post Chebrona ruit et Chananaea iuuentus.
quae iuga celsa tenet surgentis in aethera terrae.
Dabira post capitur trepido fecunda duello.

### English translation (Claude)

After Joshua had departed with conspicuous deeds
and God had given his servant rest after his wars,
at once Judea, swelling, begins to ask for a king for itself
and asks the Lord what his judgment is,
so that the Canaanite band, not yet subdued in war,
which was stirring rival hearts in warlike tumult,
might learn to submit to commands, the sword struck from its hand.
Judah is set over them, who with his brother Simeon
at once destroys the Canaanites in the battle they began,
and with them the Perizzites are laid low in mingled slaughter:
nearly ten thousand fell, their blood poured out.
The head of the war himself, the cause of great evils,
was the leader and prince Adoni-bezek; wandering off,
he is caught and pays the deserved penalty for his crime.
For, with hands and feet cut off together against all custom,
he mourns with abundant tears the limbs he no longer has,
or those he has, while the wicked man rages in the same way:
he had once maimed the bodies of seventy kings.
So he paid the penalty he had inflicted, and, suffering fitting evils,
he died at Jerusalem and left his kingdom.
Jerusalem itself is taken and, burned by flames,
falls, quickly torn down in a mighty ruin;
after it Hebron falls and the Canaanite youth
that holds the lofty ridges of the land rising to heaven.
Debir is taken afterwards, rich in its fearful war,

### Scripture references

- Judg 1:1–11: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet says the people asked for a king; Judg 1:1 has them ask who should go up first.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.1 (CSEL 23:180lines 1–25; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-1).

## Judges, lines 26–49

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/6-1/#p-7-26
- Source: CSEL 23:180lines 26–49
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Caleb gives his daughter Achsah to Othniel for taking Debir, with fields and springs; the Kenites settle near Arad; Judah destroys Zephath but cannot take Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron and Ashdod.

### Latin text

praescia doctiloquae numeros euoluere linguae.
quoque magis celeri lapsarent moenia casu.
obtulit, ut thalamis natam coniungeret Ascham
Chalebus genitor illi. qui fortibus armis
arduus obliquas uertisset funditus arces.
ilicet incensus promissae ad coniugis usum
Gothoniezelus, proles laudata Genezae;
atque ubi perfectis conpleuit gaudia uotis.
accipit emeritam grandi cum dote parentis.
nam praecelsa dedit et collibus ardua curuis
iugera, et optatos lympharum praestitit usus.
dimissi properant Phoenicum et moenia nota
linquentes solas heremi scrutantur harenas.
deueniunt celeres, ubi concitus explicat alas
auster et umbrosis obducit sidera nimbis.
fit domus ambobus, Aradam quam nomine dicunt.
atque Amalec placitis adscita adiungitur aruis.
inde petit Iudas Sephetam cultore Chanano
et domitam tristi conpellat nomine terram,
esset ut extorris et semper facta seorsa.
solam non potuit sceptris subiungere Gazam,
Ascalon atque Accaron, nec fines subdere Azoti.
ipse deo fidens dominoque adiunctus aeterno
successus bello faciles capiebat in omni.

### English translation (Claude)

skilled in setting out the numbers of a learned tongue.
And so that its walls might fall the more quickly,
Caleb her father offered to join his daughter Achsah
in marriage to whoever, lofty in strong arms,
should overturn its frowning citadels from the base.
At once, inflamed with desire for the promised wife,
Othniel, the praised son of Kenaz, takes it,
and when he had fulfilled his joys with his vows completed,
he receives her, well earned, with her father’s great dowry.
For he gave very high acres, steep on curving hills,
and granted the use of the waters she desired.
Dismissed, the Kenites hasten, and leaving the known walls
of the Phoenicians, search out the lonely sands of the wilderness.
They come swiftly where the south wind, roused, spreads its wings
and covers the stars with shady clouds.
A home is made for both, which they call by the name Arad,
and Amalek, admitted, is joined to its pleasant fields.
Then Judah attacks Zephath, tilled by the Canaanite,
and calls the subdued land by a sad name,
that it might be outcast and always set apart.
Only Gaza he could not bring under his sceptre,
nor Ashkelon and Ekron, nor subdue the borders of Ashdod.
Trusting in God and joined to the eternal Lord,
he won easy successes in every war.

### Scripture references

- Judg 1:11–19: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet takes Debir (Kiriath-sepher) as a city of learning. He follows the Greek Bible at Judg 1:18, where Judah did not take Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron (the Hebrew text says he took them).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.26 (CSEL 23:180lines 26–49; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-26).

## Judges, lines 50–101

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-50
- Source: CSEL 23:180lines 50–101–181
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The house of Joseph takes Bethel; the Amorites are made tributary; the angel of the Lord comes from Gilgal to Bochim and rebukes Israel for its idols.

### Latin text

possedit montem, curuam quia subdere uallem
non ualuit, forti fuerat quae uota Chalebo.
his actis Iosepa cohors cum uindice Iuda
Bethelam properant pugnaci excidere ferro.
exim fusa manus redeuntem concipit iram
uulneribusque accensa suis pugnacior exit.
ac modo uictorem sublato nudat honore
inpositumque iubet uectigal pendere Amorreum
magnaque terrarum multatum parte cohercet.
nam qua plana iacet grauidae telluris Ydomea,
scrupea quaque tument pendentis saxa Crabinae,
omnia uictor habet, subiectum seruitus urget.
haec inter dominus contractas concutit iras.
et iubet aetheriis famulum descendere regnis,
qui memor aeterna domini depromeret orsa.
emicat ille uolans. Clauthmona ex Galgala uisens.
Bethelam ueniens, in qua Iudaea iuuentus
dulcia sopitis adsumpserat otia bellis,
gentiles uenerata deos, profanaque tura
sculptilibus dederat iam dudum noxia saxis.
ergo his adgreditur dictis terretque timentes:
"Inmemor imperii rerumque oblita tuarum
quo. Iudaea, ruis ? uel quae nunc numina fingis?
quaeue superstitio est terram praeponere caelo
fictilibusque deis uesano adsistere cultu?

### English translation (Claude)

He possessed the hill country, because he could not subdue the curving valley,
which had been promised to strong Caleb.
These things done, the band of Joseph, with Judah as avenger,
hastens to cut down Bethel with warlike iron.
Then the routed band of the enemy conceives returning anger
and, inflamed by its wounds, comes out more warlike,
and now strips the victor of the honour he had won;
yet the Amorite, made subject, is ordered to pay tribute
and is held in check, fined a great part of his lands.
For where level Idumea of the fruitful earth lies,
and where the rough rocks of overhanging Akrabbim swell,
the victor holds all, and servitude presses the subject.
Meanwhile the Lord shakes his gathered anger
and orders his servant to come down from the heavenly realms,
to declare, mindful, the eternal words of the Lord.
He shines out in flight, coming from Gilgal to Weeping,
coming to Bethel, where the Jewish youth
had taken sweet leisure when the wars were lulled,
having worshipped gentile gods and long since
offered profane incense, guilty, to carved stones.
So he approaches them with these words and terrifies them in their fear:
“Forgetful of the command and of your own affairs,
where, Judea, are you rushing? What divinities do you now fashion?
What superstition is this, to prefer earth to heaven
and to attend clay gods with insane worship?

### Scripture references

- Judg 1:19–36: allusion, high confidence
- Judg 2:1: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘Weeping’ renders Clauthmon, the Greek Bible’s name for Bochim (Judg 2:1). Lines 5–7 are uncertain in sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.50 (CSEL 23:180lines 50–101–181; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50).

## Judges, lines 102–128

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-102
- Source: CSEL 23:181lines 102–128–183
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The angel declares that because Israel has served other gods the nations will not be driven out; the people weep and the place is called Weeping; after Joshua’s generation they serve the Baals and are punished.

### Latin text

quo abiit. profana, deus, qui dura gementem
Niliacas inter gentes Pharaone tyranno.
per mare diuiduum, heremi per torrida saxa
exhibuit tantasque dedit tibi cedere gentes,
ut uictrix totisque simul perfuncta duellis
difflueres, alios ritus et sacra dicares,
quam quae sidereae dederat tibi regula legis.
ecce tenes terram, uatibus iurata sacratis
quae fuit atque datur lectae per saecula plebi.
testamenta mei non sunt iam cognita uerbi,
quo mixta populis gentilibus ac male suadis
exoras mutos, fabrorum pignora, diuos.
quin potius uestrae fuerat res congrua uitae
omnia conterere fictosque auertere cultus.
sed quia nulla meis data est fiducia iussis,
uictis regna dabo; uos rursum sub iuga mittam,
ut similes sitis diuis, quos creditis esse."
quae postquam Iudaea dei mandata recepit,
uertitur ad gemitus et tristia pectora tundens
uberibus lacrimis ueniam rogat; nec mora uotis
ulla fuit, sanctaque dei per templa petentes
prosequitur pietas, quae maestis laeta resignat.
dispersus igitur populus ad nota recursat
tecta libens locoque dedit plorabile nomen. ***
Rursus corda labant, redeunt ad crimina sueta
Bachalimque colunt; domino per talia laeso
sustentant meritas mentita ob numina poenas.

### English translation (Claude)

Where has God gone, profane one, who, when you groaned in hardships
among the nations of the Nile under the tyrant Pharaoh,
brought you through the divided sea and the torrid rocks of the wilderness
and made such nations yield to you,
that now, victorious and finished with all your wars,
you should melt away and dedicate other rites and sacred things
than those the rule of the starry law had given you?
See, you hold the land that was sworn to the sacred prophets
and is given to the chosen people through the ages.
The covenants of my word are no longer known,
since, mingled with gentile peoples and evil counsellors,
you entreat dumb gods, the offspring of craftsmen.
Rather it would have befitted your life
to crush them all and turn away from false cults.
But because no trust has been given to my commands,
I will give the realm to the conquered; I will send you under the yoke again,
so that you may be like the gods you believe exist.”
After Judea received these commands of God,
it turns to groaning and, beating its sad breast,
asks pardon with abundant tears; nor was there
any delay to their prayers, and mercy follows them
as they seek God through his holy temples, gladly releasing the sorrowful.
So the scattered people gladly run back to their known homes
and gave the place a name of weeping. …
Again their hearts waver; they return to their accustomed crimes
and worship the Baals; the Lord being wronged by such things,
they suffer the penalties deserved for their lying divinities.

### Scripture references

- Judg 2:1–15: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text marks a lacuna with asterisks after line 24.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.102 (CSEL 23:181lines 102–128–183; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-102).

## Judges, lines 129–153

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-129
- Source: CSEL 23:183lines 129–153–184
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God raises up judges, but the people intermarry and serve idols and are subjected to Cushan-rishathaim for eight years, until the Spirit of the Lord raises Othniel, who delivers them.

### Latin text

subduntur dominis, quos uicerat — heu dolor atrox! —
nec miseris quoquam respondet conscia uirtus.
lenitur mox ira dei proceresque creantur.
qui male praecipiti populum rapuere periclo.
his quoque despectis rabies consueta resurgit,
nec solos sociant ritus: consortia miscent
intonsosque dicant lucos arasque reformant.
nec tamen inlaesa procedunt facta: premuntur
seruitio regemque tremunt Achusa Rathomum,
qui tum iura dabat, geminos qua diuidit amnes
insula ab Assyrio disiungens limite Persas.
subiectos cohibens annis redeuntibus octo.
tandem congemuit merito Iudaea reatu
ac dominum prostrata rogat; qui fractus amico
numine restituit trepidis solamina uitae:
nam missus saluator adest populoque salutem
exhibet ac maestas deterget pectore curas
bellator. Ceneza satus, Gothozelus heros.
Chalebo cum fratre uigens, sed iunior aeuo.
spiritus hunc domini uirtutis dote cluentem
extulit et celsa sublimem sede locauit.
hic ualidus fidusque deo discrimina uictis
abstulit et regem pauidum seruire coegit.
talibus in rebus multos Iudaea per annos
eualuit nullique fuit obnoxia fraudi.

### English translation (Claude)

They are made subject to masters whom they had conquered — alas, cruel grief! —
nor does conscious valour answer the wretched anywhere.
Soon the anger of God is softened and chiefs are raised up,
who snatched the people from headlong peril.
These too despised, the accustomed madness rises again;
nor do they share rites only: they intermarry,
dedicate unshorn groves and restore altars.
Yet their deeds do not go unpunished: they are pressed
into slavery and tremble before King Cushan-rishathaim,
who then gave laws where the island between the twin rivers
parts the Persians from the Assyrian border,
holding them subject for eight returning years.
At last Judea groaned at its deserved guilt
and prostrate entreats the Lord, who, softened, in his kindly
divinity restored to the fearful the comforts of life;
for a saviour is sent and comes and brings salvation
to the people and wipes sad cares from their breasts,
a warrior, son of Kenaz, the hero Othniel,
strong with his brother Caleb, but younger in age.
The Spirit of the Lord raised him, famed for the gift of courage,
and set him on high in a lofty seat.
He, strong and faithful to God, took away the dangers from the defeated
and forced the fearful king to serve.
In such things Judea prevailed for many years
and was exposed to no deceit.

### Scripture references

- Judg 2:16–23: allusion, high confidence
- Judg 3:1–11: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet calls Othniel Caleb’s brother (as Judg 1:13 can be read), though younger.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.129 (CSEL 23:183lines 129–153–184; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-129).

## Judges, lines 154–179

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-154
- Source: CSEL 23:184lines 154–179–185
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: After Othniel the people sin again and serve Eglon of Moab with Ammon and Amalek for eighteen years; the ambidextrous Ehud brings tribute, asks to speak privately, and kills Eglon with a hidden sword.

### Latin text

sed postquam princeps decurso tramite uitae
decubuit, ritus ueteres plebs laeta reformat;
tempora mutantur bellumque et seruitus instant,
concurrunt populi, quos rex Eglonus agebat,
Ammones Moabique simul fortesque Amalechi,
Hebraeamque aciem ferrata grandine fundunt,
ipsaque Phoenicum uictores sceptra reuellunt.
deduntur proceri, qui mortem euadere quaerunt.
perpessique decem dominos ac messibus octo.
his inflexa malis natio, quae fecerat, horret
deposcitque deum, qui solus crimina donat.
ilicet adlegitur, qui sceptrum sumat, Aotus:
hic utraque manu conitens robore dextrae
degenerem nullo sensit sub pondere laeuam.
is cum uictori sociorum munera ferret,
ancipiti gladio furtim sub ueste recinctus
admissusque, dehinc regem subnixus adorat
inualidum; nam membra toris uacuata lababant
in tantum, ut modico posset procumbere pulsu.
adfirmat superesse sibi, quae dicere uellet
confertamque rogat comitum discedere turbam.
adnuitur, mediaque sedens dux barbarus aula
surgit et admotus toto se corpore iungit ;
ac postquam longe fidorum abscesserat agmen,
eripit a femine gladium, quem ueste tegebat,
perque uterum regis capulo tenus abdidit omnem.

### English translation (Claude)

But after the chief, his course of life run, lay down,
the people gladly restore the old rites;
times change, and war and slavery press upon them;
the peoples whom King Eglon led run together,
the Ammonites and the Moabites and the strong Amalekites,
and rout the Hebrew line with a hail of iron,
and the victors tear away the very sceptres of the land.
Those who seek to escape death are handed over to the chief,
and suffered masters for ten and eight harvests.
Bent by these evils, the nation shudders at what it had done
and calls on God, who alone forgives crimes.
At once Ehud is chosen to take the sceptre;
he, strong with the strength of the right hand in both hands,
felt his left in no way weaker under any weight.
When he was bringing his people’s tribute to the victor,
secretly girded under his garment with a two-edged sword,
and was admitted, he then worships the king, relying on his weakness;
for his limbs, emptied of muscle, tottered
so much that he could fall at a slight push.
He declares that he has something he wishes to say
and asks the thronging crowd of companions to withdraw.
It is granted, and the barbarian leader, sitting in the middle of the hall,
rises and, drawing near, joins himself with his whole body;
and after the column of trusted men had gone far off,
he snatches from his thigh the sword he hid under his garment
and buried it whole, up to the hilt, in the king’s belly.

### Scripture references

- Judg 3:12–22: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet makes Eglon feeble; Judg 3:17 says he was very fat.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.154 (CSEL 23:184lines 154–179–185; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-154).

## Judges, lines 180–203

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-180
- Source: CSEL 23:185lines 180–203–186
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Ehud escapes while Eglon’s servants wait, rallies Israel, seizes the fords of the Jordan and kills ten thousand Moabites; the land rests eighty years; Shamgar judges; Israel sins again and Jabin of Hazor oppresses them with Sisera and nine hundred chariots.

### Latin text

proripit hinc sese ferrumque in uulnere linquit.
limina concludens proceris postesque superbos.
at famuli dominum, prodire ad munia suetum,
mirantur tacita solum consistere cella,
uentris onus forsam subducta effundere ab aluo
secretum, sociae dum uitat lumina turbae.
iamque memor facti socios in bella lacessit
terribilesque tubae sonitus permiscet Aodus:
raptim signa mouens Iordanis litora claudit,
ne quisquam breuibus ualeat transire fluentis.
cumque decem duro fudisset milia ferro.
reddidit amissum sociis nomenque decusque.
exin bella silent, nullum dant proelia motum
bisque quater denos cessarunt tela per annos.
post haec Semegras parili uirtute superbus
Iudaeos rexit populos clarosque reliquit.
sed dum securis pascuntur gaudia rebus.
fastidit gens torua deum cassoque precatu
numinibus miseris. quas uicit. consecrat aras.
ergo exercentur poenis et crimine digna
supplicia expendunt. Iabinus regius heros
Chananaea manu ex Asuris pube coacta,
Sisara militiae ductore et principe pugnat
ferratasque acies nongentis curribus implet.

### English translation (Claude)

Then he rushes out and leaves the iron in the wound,
shutting the chief’s doors and proud doorposts.
But the servants wonder that their lord, used to coming out to his duties,
remains alone in his silent chamber,
perhaps relieving the burden of his belly
in secret, while he avoids the eyes of the company.
And now Ehud, mindful of the deed, rouses his allies to war
and mingles the terrible sounds of the trumpet;
moving the standards quickly, he closes the banks of the Jordan,
lest anyone be able to cross by the shallow streams.
And when he had routed ten thousand with hard iron,
he restored their lost name and honour to his allies.
Then wars are silent, battles stir nothing,
and weapons rested for twice four times ten years.
After this Shamgar, proud with like valour,
ruled the Jewish peoples and left them famous.
But while their joys are fed on secure prosperity,
the grim nation spurns God, and with empty prayer
consecrates altars to the wretched divinities of those it had conquered.
So they are chastised with penalties and suffer punishments
worthy of their crime. Jabin, the royal hero,
having gathered the youth of Hazor in a Canaanite band,
fights with Sisera as leader and prince of his army
and fills his iron ranks with nine hundred chariots.

### Scripture references

- Judg 3:22–31: allusion, high confidence
- Judg 4:1–3: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.180 (CSEL 23:185lines 180–203–186; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-180).

## Judges, lines 204–228

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-204
- Source: CSEL 23:186lines 204–228–187
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Israel is oppressed for twenty years; the prophetess Deborah summons Barak with ten thousand men, he will not go without her, and she leads them to the Kishon, where the Lord routs Sisera, who flees on foot.

### Latin text

et licet inmensas fido trahat agmine turmas,
plus terror quaesitus agit: namque axe uolanti
quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum.
uincuntur Solymi passim grassante Chanano
bisque decem ducunt per tristia quaeque decembres.
tempore non alio prophetis Debbora regnat.
cui coniunx Lapidotha fuit, Metibile sedes.
iura ferens populis adclinis caudice palmae.
euocat haec procerem Baracum ex urbe Cadessa
et monitis inbuta dei bis milia quina
Sisareos mandat cuneos consistere contra.
ille timet sociamque rogat in bella prophetin.
nescius ingentis coepti sibi defore palmam.
si pariter ad castra uocet. cui gloria prima est:
at mulier solo sexu noua munia sumit
delectasque mouet per barbara culta cohortes
Cisonem ad fluuium. ueniens qui gurgite prono
saxa rotat ripasque tumens euincere gaudet.
iamque intra iactum teli uenere phalanges.
cum dominus. cui uirtus inest. qua sidera mutat
quaque tremunt terrae. qua fulmen nubibus ardet.
qua monet incertum refugo molimine pontum.
terrore inmisso Sisaram fugat; is male praeceps
dimittit currus et deuia quaeque capessens
casuram medio liquit certamine pubem.

### English translation (Claude)

And though he draws immense squadrons in a faithful column,
the terror he sought does more: for, with flying axle,
the hoof shakes the crumbling plain with four-footed sound.
The men of Jerusalem are defeated everywhere as the Canaanite rages,
and they spend twice ten Decembers in every sorrow.
At that very time Deborah reigns as prophetess,
whose husband was Lappidoth,
giving laws to the peoples as she leaned on the trunk of a palm.
She calls the chief Barak from the city of Kedesh
and, taught by God’s warnings, orders twice five thousand
to stand against Sisera’s companies.
He fears and asks the prophetess as his ally in the war,
not knowing that the palm of the great undertaking would be denied him
if he called with him to the camp one to whom the first glory belonged;
but the woman, alone of her sex, takes up new duties
and moves the chosen cohorts through the barbarians’ fields
to the river Kishon, which, coming with headlong flood,
rolls rocks and, swelling, delights to overcome its banks.
And now the phalanxes had come within a spear’s throw,
when the Lord, in whom is the power by which he changes the stars
and the lands tremble, by which the lightning burns in the clouds,
by which he moves the uncertain sea with its ebbing force,
sent terror and put Sisera to flight; he, headlong in his ruin,
abandons his chariots and, taking every byway,
left the youth to fall in the middle of the contest.

### Scripture references

- Judg 4:3–16: allusion, high confidence

### Extrabiblical texts

- Virgil, Aen. 8.596 (Virgil): quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 3 repeats Virgil, Aeneid 8.596 (‘the hoof shakes the crumbling plain with four-footed sound’). Metibile in line 7 is corrupt in the digital text.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.204 (CSEL 23:186lines 204–228–187; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-204).

## Judges, lines 229–252

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-229
- Source: CSEL 23:187lines 229–252–188
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Jael gives Sisera drink, covers him, and drives a tent peg through his head; the leaders sing to God; the land rests forty years, until Israel turns again to idols.

### Latin text

conpulsusque siti. pedibus nam fugerat hostem.
pocula Ioelam poscit; mox pellis opertus
tegmine femineo festinat uiuere dono;
sed laudem Ioela uolens fastidit inertem
perrumpitque uiri properans caua tempora palo.
qui gelido captus leto fluitante cerebro
exspirat tenuem transfixo uertice uitam.
tum psallunt proceres simili sermone tonanti:
"Quisque cluis regno, magnas qui temperas urbes,
qui satrapes uel sceptra geris a rege secunda,
procuruus uenerare deum. da digna perenni
cantica; nam aliud dominus te cogere non uult,
qui terras, qui saxa quatit, qui flamine pontum
emouet et tonitru nigrantia nubila sulcat,
exiguis qui celsa leuat. qui grandia mutat.
dulcisoni cantate chori. collesque nemusque
responsent laudesque nouet tinnitibus aether.
protinus et uestrae concordent murmura uoci.
respexit dominus, quos liquerat. et male fractis
reddidit imperium medioque ex hoste recepit."
Ergo quater denos requies est mira per annos.
dumque bonis fruitur, iterum redeunte reatu,
quae fuerant damnata. placent; namque idola laeti
instituunt nomenque dei numenque relinquunt.

### English translation (Claude)

And, driven by thirst — for he had fled the enemy on foot —
he asks Jael for a drink; soon, covered with a skin,
he hastens to save his life by a woman’s gift;
but Jael, desiring praise, scorns the coward
and hastily bursts the hollow temples of the man with a stake.
He, seized by cold death, his brain flowing out,
breathes out his thin life, his head transfixed.
Then the chiefs sing psalms to the Thunderer in like words:
“Whoever is famous in a kingdom, you who govern great cities,
you who as satraps hold sceptres second to the king,
bow down and worship God; give worthy songs
to the everlasting one; for the Lord does not wish to compel you otherwise,
he who shakes the lands and the rocks, who stirs the sea with his blast
and furrows the black clouds with thunder,
who lifts the lowly on high and changes great things.
Sing, sweet-sounding choirs; and let hills and grove
respond, and the sky renew praises with ringing,
and at once let the echoes agree with your voice.
The Lord has looked again on those he had left, and to the sorely broken
has restored their rule and taken them back from the midst of the enemy.”
So there is a wondrous rest for four times ten years.
And while the people enjoys good things, its guilt returning again,
what had been condemned pleases; for they gladly set up idols
and forsake the name and divinity of God.

### Scripture references

- Judg 4:17–24: allusion, high confidence
- Judg 5:1–31: allusion, medium confidence
- Judg 6:1: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The Song of Deborah (Judg 5) is reduced to a short hymn in hexameters.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.229 (CSEL 23:187lines 229–252–188; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-229).

## Judges, lines 253–276

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-253
- Source: CSEL 23:188lines 253–276–189
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Israel serves Midian seven years, hiding in caves while its crops and cattle are plundered; a prophet rebukes them; the angel of the Lord calls Gideon as he threshes, and Gideon objects that God has abandoned them and he is weak.

### Latin text

quos dominus laesus septem disperdidit annis
ac pauidos regi iussit seruire Madiae.
non ulli dare se campo, non obuia ferre
pectora, sed solis gaudent se condere muris:
castra modo celsaque metu munimina firmant,
fornicibusque cauis absconsi sic quoque pallent.
tum pecus omne capi, tum praedia cuncta cremari
incipiunt saeptisque nihil nisi poena relinqui.
ergo inopes famemque simul ferrumque timentes
ad dominum rediere deum, qui supplice turba
flectitur ac uatem mittit pia iussa ferentem,
ut tandem memores rerum bellique recentis
respiciant dominumque colant, qui numine dextro
dilectum Pharia populum reuocauit ab urbe,
ne rursus, uetitis adolent dum altaria flammis.
non semper faciles incurrant numinis iras.
nuntius inde dei sub quercu sedit amoena
et Gedeum, dum farra terit, his uocibus urget:
"Heia age rumpe moras! dominus te sumere iussit
sceptra. quibus ualeas populum subducere fraudi."
ille docet dominum mordacibus undique dictis
infensum tristes nimium librare ruinas;
quin etiam populum, nullo iam milite, fessum
seque parum fortem non posse insistere bello.

### English translation (Claude)

Whom the Lord, wronged, ruined for seven years
and ordered, in their fear, to serve the king of Midian.
They trust themselves to no field, nor face the enemy
breast to breast, but rejoice only to hide behind walls;
they strengthen camps and lofty defences in fear,
and, hidden in hollow caves, even so they grow pale.
Then all their cattle begin to be seized, all their estates burned,
and nothing but punishment left within their enclosures.
So, destitute and fearing hunger and the sword together,
they returned to the Lord God, who is moved by the suppliant crowd
and sends a prophet bearing his holy commands,
that at last, mindful of the past and of the recent war,
they should look back and worship the Lord, who with favouring power
called back his beloved people from the city of Egypt,
lest again, while they burn altars with forbidden flames,
they always incur the anger of a divinity not easily appeased.
Then the messenger of God sat under a pleasant oak
and urges Gideon, while he is threshing grain, with these words:
“Come now, no more delay! The Lord has ordered you to take
the sceptre, with which you may rescue the people from harm.”
He argues with biting words on every side that the Lord,
hostile, is weighing out ruin all too sad,
and moreover that the people, worn out, with no soldiers now,
and he himself, not strong enough, could not press on with war.

### Scripture references

- Judg 6:1–15: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.253 (CSEL 23:188lines 253–276–189; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-253).

## Judges, lines 277–300

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-277
- Source: CSEL 23:189lines 277–300–190
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gideon brings a kid and unleavened bread, which the angel consumes with fire from his staff; Gideon builds an altar called Peace, destroys his father’s altar and grove by night, and Joash defends him: let Baal contend for himself.

### Latin text

urgetur seruire deo, qui robore celso
multimodas acies inuicto numine terret.
adnuit imperiis sanctumque ad prandia poscit;
haedulus eligitur, solo qui lacte refertus,
mollior et cunctis, errabat nescius herbae;
azyma mox niuea de polline facta locantur:
haec iuuene admonito uicino infundere saxo
ipse manum tendens summo de uertice uirgae
contigit atque uirum medio sermone reliquit.
ergo ubi dispexit Gedeon dominique ministrum
ante oculos uolitasse suos pia mente reuoluit,
continuo domino sacratum suscitat altar
atque loco nomen posuit Pacemque uocauit.
nocturnis monitus uisis gentilia templa
subruit et lucos alta ab radice reuellit.
ac ne profanus genitor contraria ferret
iurgia. per noctem tacitus male condita uertit,
constituens iuuenem subuersa ad templa iuuencum.
quae postquam conperta patent subitaeque ruinae
flammarunt animos, auctor per moenia facti
quaeritur et lucos Gedeon strauisse docetur.
poscitur ut dedat Ioas pro crimine natum.
qui renuens diuos memorat sibi uindices esse
et debere sua, si sint uiuantque, tueri.

### English translation (Claude)

He is urged to serve God, who with lofty strength
terrifies manifold armies by his unconquered power.
He assents to the commands and invites the holy one to a meal;
a kid is chosen, fed only on milk,
softer than all, which strayed not knowing grass;
soon unleavened loaves made of snowy flour are set out;
these, when the young man had been told to pour them out on a nearby rock,
the holy one himself, stretching out his hand, touched with the tip of his staff
and left the man in the middle of his speech.
So when Gideon perceived and turned over in his pious mind
that the Lord’s minister had flown before his eyes,
at once he raises an altar consecrated to the Lord
and gave the place a name and called it Peace.
Warned by visions in the night, he overthrows the gentile temples
and tears up the groves from the deep root.
And lest his profane father should raise contrary quarrels,
he silently overturns the ill-founded shrines by night,
setting a young bullock at the overturned temples.
After this was discovered and the sudden ruin
inflamed their minds, the author of the deed is sought through the town,
and they are told that Gideon laid the groves low.
Joash is asked to hand over his son for the crime;
refusing, he reminds them that the gods are their own avengers
and ought to protect what is theirs, if they exist and live.

### Scripture references

- Judg 6:16–32: allusion, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.277 (CSEL 23:189lines 277–300–190; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-277).

## Judges, lines 301–323

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-301
- Source: CSEL 23:190lines 301–323–191
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Spirit comes on Gideon; he asks for the signs of the wet and dry fleece; God reduces his army from thirty-two thousand to ten thousand and then to the three hundred who lapped the water, against the innumerable Midianites and their camels.

### Latin text

spiritus hic domini Gedeonem ad proelia firmat,
classica iamque sonant, dat cornea. bucina signum.
oratur dominus, canenti ut uellere lanae
caelestes fluitent nocturno in tempore rores:
nec mora, permaduit ac peluem pressa repleuit;
inde aliud posuit rursus. terramque madentem
sicca pruinosos nec sensit lana liquores.
additur his aliud, bis dena ut milia plebis
atque duo iubeat rursus remeare timentum,
milibus inque decem certandi ut summa locetur.
hanc etiam monitus minuit, ne turba coacta
robore fida suo domini non cerneret arma.
ut iuuenum princeps aciem deducit ad amnem,
atque canum ritu fluitantes lambere lymphas
praecipit, ut socios laetae uirtutis haberet.
ter centum placuere uiri; nam cetera turba
palma] monstratos non sumpsit languida gustus.
in sedes] reditura suas ceu nescia pugnae.
hoc fretus] cuneo bellum tot milibus infert,
quot numer]are uiri nequeunt, quibus arte magistra
porrectis] mos est digitis concludere summas:
hinc] acies equitum mixtis peditumque maniplis,
illinc] innumeros torua cum mole camellos.

### English translation (Claude)

Here the Spirit of the Lord strengthens Gideon for battle,
and now the clarions sound; the horn trumpet gives the signal.
The Lord is asked that on the white fleece of wool
heavenly dew should flow in the night;
without delay it was soaked and, wrung out, filled a basin;
then he set another out again, and the dry wool
did not feel the frosty moisture, though the ground was wet.
Another thing is added: that he should order twice ten thousand
and two thousand of the fearful people to return,
and set the number of fighters at ten thousand.
Warned, he reduced this too, lest the gathered crowd,
trusting in its own strength, should not see the Lord’s arms.
As the chief of the young men leads the line to the river,
he bids them lap the flowing water in the manner of dogs,
so that he might have companions of glad courage.
Three hundred men were approved; for the rest of the crowd,
languid, did not take the drink as shown, from the palm,
to return to their homes, as though they knew nothing of battle.
Trusting in this company he makes war on so many thousands
that men cannot count them who, taught by skill,
are used to reckon sums on outstretched fingers:
on this side lines of cavalry with mingled companies of foot,
on that side innumerable camels in a grim mass.

### Scripture references

- Judg 6:33–40: allusion, high confidence
- Judg 7:1–12: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- In lines 17–23 the digital text has a closing bracket after the first word of each line, apparently marking the editor’s restoration of damaged line openings; translated. The sense of lines 14–17 (which men were chosen) differs from Judg 7:5–6 and is uncertain.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.301 (CSEL 23:190lines 301–323–191; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-301).

## Judges, lines 324–348

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-324
- Source: CSEL 23:191lines 324–348–192
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gideon and Purah steal down to the Midianite camp and hear a dream of a barley loaf overturning the tent; Gideon divides his three hundred into three companies with trumpets, jars and torches and attacks at night.

### Latin text

at Gedeo]n properans famulo Pharane sequaci
hostica] castra petit ac nocte obtentus opaca
degredi]tur, lustransque situm mentesque animosque,
audiu]it socio narrantem somnia quendam,
quae m]ale sopitus sensu uigilante notarat.
namque] uidebatur panem sibi uisere uolui,
hord]ea quem faciunt quotiens frumenta negantur,
et ua]rios glomerare modos per castra, per agmen:
donec] per media uenit munimina ualli
et penitus] regis inuasit pondere sedes.
haec] ostenta uiri cecinerunt sanguinis esse
augurium] finemque ferunt uenisse Madiae.
hinc] postquam dominum iuuenis ueneratus abiuit,
somnia] tum conperta uiris sublimior infit
soluere, ia]mque manum trino mox agmine ducit.
cornea] tela tubas manibus et lampadas indit
exemplumque suis sese iubet esse laborum
pro]mentesque deo grates primordia pugnae
ed]ere. ne desit dominus, quo principe uincant.
iam] uigiles prima noctis mutauerat hora,
cum] rapidi incurrunt portis clausasque reuellunt
serras at]que tubas uentosis flatibus implent;
hyd]rias inde rotant, magno quae pondere quassae
dissiliunt. saltusque cient atque aere canoro
dant sonitus fractasque leuant ad sidera uoces.

### English translation (Claude)

But Gideon, hastening with his servant Purah following,
makes for the enemy camp and, covered by dark night,
goes down, and, surveying the site and their minds and spirits,
heard a man telling a companion his dreams,
which he had noted with waking sense in his troubled sleep.
For he seemed to see a loaf rolling,
such as barley makes whenever wheat is denied,
and winding in various ways through the camp, through the column,
until it came through the middle of the rampart’s defences
and with its weight broke right into the king’s seat.
The men declared these portents an augury
of a man’s blood, and say that the end of Midian has come.
Then, after the young man had worshipped the Lord and gone away,
more exalted, he begins to explain to his men
the dream he had learned, and soon leads his band in three columns.
He puts horn trumpets as weapons and torches in their hands
and bids them take him as their example in the toil,
and, giving thanks to God, to begin
the battle, lest the Lord be absent, under whose lead they conquer.
Now the first hour of the night had changed the watches,
when they swiftly rush on the gates and tear away the closed
bars and fill the trumpets with windy blasts;
then they whirl the jars, which, shaken with great weight,
burst apart; they rouse the glades and, with ringing bronze,
give forth sounds and raise broken cries to the stars.

### Scripture references

- Judg 7:9–20: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- In lines 1–22 the digital text has a closing bracket after the first word or words of most lines, apparently marking the editor’s restoration of damaged line openings; translated.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.324 (CSEL 23:191lines 324–348–192; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-324).

## Judges, lines 349–373

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-349
- Source: CSEL 23:192lines 349–373
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Midianites flee; Israel seizes the fords and kills Oreb and Zeeb; Gideon soothes the angry Ephraimites; the men of Succoth mock him; he finds the remaining enemy at Karkor and destroys them.

### Latin text

agmina flammarum laeuis protenta coruscant
et noctem multo radiantes lumine uincunt.
quo fremitu concussi animi, mens territa cunctis:
qua data porta, ruunt et territa castra relinquunt.
mox omnis Iudaea coit sequiturque palantes;
pars fontes riguos ac raucos occupat amnes.
ut dispersa metu sitientibus arida uenis
hostica turba ruens custodum incurrat in arma.
nec tanti cecidere doli; namque agmine prono
Madiae proceres ueniunt Orebus et Axes
inplacidi, ferrumque simul pro gurgite sumunt.
et licet inuidia uirtutis torserit illos.
qui procul afuerant communi et laude carebant.
attamen eloquio Gedeon et supplice fatu
leniuit, quod bina ducum monumenta tenerent.
spernitur ob reliquum medii certaminis actum.
hostilesque etiam dicuntur uiuere reges;
suspendit plectenda tamen minitansque recedit.
inde opus inceptum peragit. fugientibus haeret.
inuenit in Carris metantes castra Sabaeos;
namque quater denis stipabant milibus agmen
post cladem, centum ruerant qua milia ferro
ac bis dena simul: numerus hic bella nouabat.
sed meritis innexa suis gens concidit omnis.

### English translation (Claude)

Columns of flame held out in their left hands flash
and conquer the night, shining with much light.
At this roar their spirits are shaken, all minds terrified;
where a gate is open they rush out and leave the terrified camp.
Soon all Judea gathers and follows the scattered enemy;
part seize the watering springs and roaring rivers,
so that the enemy crowd, scattered in fear, dry in their thirsting veins,
rushing on, may run into the guards’ weapons.
Nor did such stratagems fail; for in a headlong column
come the chiefs of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb,
implacable, and meet the sword instead of the stream.
And though envy of his valour tormented those
who had been far off and lacked a share in the common praise,
yet Gideon soothed them with eloquent and humble speech,
because they held the trophies of the two leaders.
He is scorned for the remaining part of the unfinished contest,
and the enemy kings are said to be still alive;
yet he postpones the punishment and withdraws with threats.
Then he completes the work begun and presses on the fleeing.
He found the Sabaeans encamped at Karkor;
for they massed their column with four times ten thousand
after the slaughter in which a hundred thousand had fallen by the sword
and twice ten thousand more: this number was renewing the war.
But the whole nation, entangled in its deserts, fell.

### Scripture references

- Judg 7:21–25: allusion, high confidence
- Judg 8:1–12: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet gives forty thousand survivors; Judg 8:10 has fifteen thousand. ‘Sabaeans’ stands for the eastern peoples allied with Midian.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.349 (CSEL 23:192lines 349–373; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-349).

## Judges, lines 374–398

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-374
- Source: CSEL 23:192lines 374–398–194
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Gideon captures Zebah and Zalmunna, punishes Succoth with thorns and Penuel by destroying its tower, and has the kings confess they killed his brothers; then Tola judges twenty-three years and Jair after him.

### Latin text

Zebeus ductor post funera tanta suorum
et Salmana fugit; nam mens euicta periclo
haesit ad extremae ueniens ludibria sortis.
nam captos pariter Gedeon per singula ducit
ostentatque uiris. qui dudum murmure duro
poscentem uictus stolidis risere cachinnis.
nec mora, per sentes raptantur membra nocentes
intonsique uirum rorantur sanguine dumi.
quin et. nequa forent sceleris uestigia tanti.
urbs ferro subuersa ruit turresque minaces
conuulsae penitus longam traxere ruinam.
post reges iubet esse palam, quos undique turba
mirantis claudit populi; tum dicere iussit,
quos et quanta uiros strauissent caede superbi.
qua Iudaea perit. tantos dixere fuisse,
ut regum natos formarum proderet ardor.
ille suos fratres germano in pectore uersat,
caesorum speculans habitus, ceu corpore inhaeret.
tum sic motus ait: "Testor te, sancte deorum
omnipotens. et facta tuae sublimia dextrae,
femineae meritum dare te memorabile laudi."
Hunc sequitur Tholamus. bis denis qui fuit annis
atque tribus nulla uexatus peste duelli.
Iadirus inde uiget Galaditicus atque quiete
aeq]ue multa potens [sceptrum bis denis possidet annis] ...

### English translation (Claude)

The leader Zebah, after such deaths of his men,
and Zalmunna flee; for the mind, overcome by danger,
faltered, coming to the mockery of the last extremity.
For Gideon leads the captives together from place to place
and shows them to the men who earlier, with harsh murmur,
had mocked him with foolish laughter when he asked for help.
Without delay the guilty men’s limbs are dragged through thorns,
and the unshorn bushes are bedewed with men’s blood.
Moreover, lest any traces of so great a crime should remain,
the city, overthrown by the sword, falls, and its threatening towers,
torn up from the foundations, drew down a long ruin.
Afterwards he orders the kings to be shown in public, whom on every side
the crowd of the marvelling people encloses; then he orders them to say
whom and how many men, in their pride, they had laid low in the slaughter
in which Judea was perishing. They said they had been such
that their noble beauty marked them as the sons of kings.
He thinks of his brothers in his brotherly breast,
picturing the bearing of the slain as if it were before him.
Then, moved, he speaks thus: “I call you to witness, holy one,
Almighty, and the lofty deeds of your right hand,
that you give memorable merit even to a woman’s praise.”
After him comes Tola, who was judge for twice ten years
and three, troubled by no plague of war.
Then Jair the Gileadite flourishes and, in peace,
equally powerful …

### Scripture references

- Judg 8:12–21: allusion, high confidence
- Judg 10:1–3: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 21 is obscure and may be corrupt. The editor deletes the bracketed words at the end of the last line (sceptrum bis denis possidet annis); the line breaks off.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.374 (CSEL 23:192lines 374–398–194; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-374).

## Judges, lines 399–422

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-399
- Source: CSEL 23:194lines 399–422–195
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Jair judges twenty-two years; Israel serves many gods and is oppressed by Ammon eighteen years, then puts away the idols; Jephthah, son of a harlot, driven out by his brothers, lives as an outlaw.

### Latin text

praediues, genitor deno ter pignore gaudens,
nobilis. undenis regnum bis possidet annis.
cuius post obitum raptim noua idola crescunt;
nam praeter adsuetum daemonis Astaratis aras
et deos Assyriae uel Sidonis atque Moabi
nescios ante sibi ritus Iudaea parauit.
quos propter duris Ammanum pressa duellis
bis nonas hiemes traxit confecta periclis.
ex alt]o tandem recolit tandemque reuoluit
placandum] magis esse deum, qui numine summo
possit uel longum populi sedare reatum.
et renouant] pia iura dei : nam protinus aras
proiciunt] cunctosque deos et saxea frangunt
idola, ma]nsuri memores per saecla tonantis.
uertitur] interea distinctis cursibus ordo
ductor)emque legit populus, qui milite firmo
uel bello] uel pace queat moderarier urbes.
Iephthea] placuit quidam Galadite natus,
cuius no]bilitas maculam de matre trahebat,
quae pas]sim prostrata uiris sub fornice uixit.
hunc] fratres pepulere domo. quia decolor heres,
patre c]arens certo, rebus genetricis haerebat.
quos fug]it metuens et colles inter opacos
inue]nit scelerum comites raptoque potitur.

### English translation (Claude)

very rich, a father rejoicing in thrice ten children,
noble, he holds the kingdom twice eleven years.
After his death new idols spring up quickly;
for besides the accustomed altars of the demon Astarte
and the gods of Assyria, Sidon and Moab,
Judea prepared for itself rites unknown before.
For these, pressed by Ammon in hard wars,
it dragged out twice nine winters, worn down by dangers.
At last it remembers on high and at last considers
that God must rather be appeased, who by his highest power
could calm even the long guilt of the people.
And they renew God’s holy laws; for at once they throw down
the altars and all the gods and break the stone
idols, mindful of the Thunderer who abides through the ages.
Meanwhile the order turns in its distinct courses,
and the people choose a leader who with firm soldiers
could govern the cities in war or in peace.
A certain Jephthah was approved, a Gileadite by birth,
whose nobility drew a stain from his mother,
who lived prostituted to men everywhere in a brothel.
His brothers drove him from the house, because, a tarnished heir
without a known father, he belonged to his mother’s side.
Fearing them, he fled, and among the dark hills
found companions in crime and lives by plunder.

### Scripture references

- Judg 10:3–18: allusion, high confidence
- Judg 11:1–3: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- In lines 9–24 the digital text again marks the editor’s restored line openings with brackets; translated.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.399 (CSEL 23:194lines 399–422–195; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-399).

## Judges, lines 423–447

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-423
- Source: CSEL 23:195lines 423–447–196
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The elders bring Jephthah back to fight Ammon; after vain negotiations he vows to sacrifice whoever first meets him on his return, defeats Ammon, and is met by his only daughter with dancing.

### Latin text

at pa]rte ex alia Ammonus bella regebat
Iebuseo]s urgens Solymos; Iudaea carebat
nam]que duce facilesque dabat labefacta triumphos.
mittu]ntur iuuenes. qui clarum Iephthea bello
conueniant] blandoque uocent in proelia suasu.
auxilium] primum renuit: mox agmina miscet
arbit]riumque tenens Ammones submouet hostes.
sed prius] adloquio restinguere bella paratus
legatis] mandata dedit, qui deinde reuersi
nil actum referunt hostemque instare loquuntur.
sic ubi deposita est optatae gratia pacis,
in] ferrum Iephthea ruit dominumque precatus
grandia uota uouet. multum dolitura parenti.
ilicet ut. quisquis primus redeuntem adisset.
uictima perpetuo fieret condigna tonanti.
his actis procedit ouans ac milite lecto
signa mouet hostesque fugat, quos caede cruenta
conficiens propere bis denas subruit urbes:
sed dum regreditur, dum laudis nuntius ipse est
et sequitur longa ueniens uictoria pompa.
filia, quae patrios seruabat sola labores,
occurrit blandumque canit cum congrege turba
et leuis erecta consurgit ad oscula planta:
quam pater ut uidit, constrictos scindit amictus
et mala cernentes in fletum concitat orbes.

### English translation (Claude)

But on the other side the Ammonite was waging war,
pressing the Jebusite people of Jerusalem; for Judea
lacked a leader and, weakened, gave easy triumphs.
Young men are sent to meet Jephthah, famous in war,
and call him to battle with coaxing persuasion.
At first he refused help; soon he joins the columns
and, holding command, drives back the Ammonite enemy.
But first, ready to end the war by negotiation,
he gave instructions to envoys, who then return
and report that nothing was done and that the enemy presses on.
So when the hope of the desired peace was laid aside,
Jephthah rushes to the sword and, having prayed to the Lord,
vows great vows that would cause the parent great grief:
that whoever first came to meet him on his return
should become a fitting victim for the everlasting Thunderer.
These things done, he goes forth exulting and with chosen soldiers
moves the standards and routs the enemy, and, finishing them
with bloody slaughter, quickly overthrows twice ten cities.
But while he returns, himself the messenger of his glory,
and victory follows in a long procession,
his daughter, the only child to share her father’s labours,
runs to meet him and sings sweetly with a gathered crowd
and rises on tiptoe for his kisses.
When her father saw her, he tears the garments girded on him
and moves his eyes, seeing the evil, to weeping.

### Scripture references

- Judg 11:4–35: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- In lines 1–10 the digital text marks the editor’s restored line openings with brackets; translated.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.423 (CSEL 23:195lines 423–447–196; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-423).

## Judges, lines 448–472

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-448
- Source: CSEL 23:196lines 448–472–197
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Jephthah laments; his daughter accepts her fate, asks two months to mourn her youth, and is sacrificed; Jephthah defeats the Ephraimites; Ibzan judges, with many sons and brides.

### Latin text

"Heu fatis funesta meis uictoria! uotum
hoc potius hostile fuit ! quo filia curris,
quo ruis? extremum nobis, quod te adloquor, hoc est.
nam dum signa mouens dominum munimina posco,
uictima facta deo sanctas sisteris ad aras."
at uirgo, secura sui mortisque beatae,
blandius exultat interque pericula ludit.
quin etiam exorat. sua sit sententia certa
neu dubitet haereatque parens. (et parca) precatur
tempora. quis ualeat lacrimis lugere iuuentam.
adnuitur mensesque duo praestantur ouanti.
ergo aderat praescripta dies genitorque sacerdos
uirgineam domino mittebat in aethera mentem.
haec inter rabies populi concurrit ad arma
cognatasque acies urget furor. et liuor edax.
dum carpit pia facta uiri. sese ipse peremit:
nam triginta duo decumbunt milia ferro
ex populis, Ephrema. tuis uictorque duello
ciuiles etiam meruit Iephthea triumphos.
conmutat Iudaea ducem uiduata priore.
Israhelita prius Esebon. dux postea dictus.
accepit patriae lectus moderator habenas.
multorum genitor: nam quadraginta fuere
ex iustis thalamis nati. spes tanta nepotum,
ter denas cohibens uno sub tempore nuptas.

### English translation (Claude)

“Alas, victory deadly to my fate! This vow
was rather my enemy! Where are you running, daughter,
where are you rushing? This is the last time I speak to you.
For while, moving the standards, I asked the Lord for protection,
you, made a victim to God, are set before the holy altars.”
But the virgin, unconcerned for herself and her blessed death,
exults the more sweetly and plays amid the danger.
Moreover she begs that his resolve stand firm
and that her father not doubt or hesitate, and asks for a little
time in which she may lament her youth with tears.
It is granted, and two months are given her as she rejoices.
So the appointed day came, and her father, as priest,
sent the virgin’s spirit to the Lord in heaven.
Meanwhile the people’s rage runs to arms,
and fury drives kindred ranks against each other, and devouring envy,
while it carps at the man’s pious deeds, destroys itself:
for thirty-two thousand fall by the sword
of your peoples, Ephraim, and Jephthah, victor in the war,
earned triumphs in civil strife as well.
Judea, bereft of its former leader, takes another.
Ibzan, once an Israelite of Bethlehem, afterwards called leader,
was chosen and took the reins of his fatherland as governor,
the father of many: for he had forty sons
from lawful marriage beds, so great a hope of grandsons,
and kept thirty brides for them at one time.

### Scripture references

- Judg 11:35–40: allusion, high confidence
- Judg 12:1–9: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet narrates the sacrifice as carried out; translated as written. He gives thirty-two thousand Ephraimite dead (Judg 12:6 has forty-two thousand) and gives Ibzan forty sons (Judg 12:9 has thirty sons and thirty daughters). In line 9 the editor supplies et parca. Esebon in line 21 is rendered Bethlehem by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.448 (CSEL 23:196lines 448–472–197; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-448).

## Judges, lines 473–497

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-473
- Source: CSEL 23:197lines 473–497–198
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Ibzan dies after seven years; Elon judges ten years and Abdon eight; Israel serves idols and is given to the Philistines forty years; the Lord appears to Manoah’s barren wife and promises a son who is to be a Nazirite.

### Latin text

expletis septem, dum rector iudicat, annis
occidit et tectus tumulo mundana reliquit.
insequitur sceptrumque tenet Zabulonius Helon.
qui geminis rector lustris moderamina liquit.
subditur huic propere princeps Abalenius Abdon.
natarum triginta pater; nam mascula proles
quaterdena fuit, multo cum ditior esset
supposita de matre parens numeroque nothorum.
iudicium populi bis quattuor obtinet annis.
Ac dum sola dei uiguit cultura, perennis
pax laetis seruata fuit ; namque idola rursus
adorata uiris bellum mouere cruentum;
namque omnes dominus bellantum subdidit armis
et poenas fecit octono expendere lustro.
illis temporibus iuuenis Manoea uigebat
et nondum genitor; sterili nam coniuge iuncta
optabat uotis titulis gaudere natorum.
huius mulieri dominus super aethera lapsus
adstitit, insueti promittens munera partus,
imperitans, natus ne uina et sicera libet,
neu maculosa sinat patulo decerpere morsu,
idcirco quoniam cunctis felicior esset
matribus et numeri damnum pensaret in uno.
"Nam uirtus generosa fiet. nullique licebit
inuictum uiolare caput uel laedere ferro.

### English translation (Claude)

Having completed seven years as he judges as ruler,
he died and, covered by a tomb, left the things of the world.
Elon of Zebulun follows and holds the sceptre,
who as ruler left the government after two lustres.
Quickly the chief Abdon the Pirathonite is set after him,
father of thirty daughters; for his male offspring
was forty, since the father was much richer
by a substitute mother and a number of bastards.
He holds the judgment of the people for twice four years.
And while the worship of God alone flourished, lasting
peace was kept for the glad people; for idols, worshipped
again by men, stirred up bloody war;
for the Lord subjected all to the arms of warriors
and made them pay penalties for eight lustres.
In those times the young man Manoah flourished,
not yet a father; for, joined to a barren wife,
he longed in his prayers to rejoice in the name of children.
To his wife the Lord, gliding down from above the sky,
stood near, promising the gift of an unaccustomed birth,
commanding that the son should not taste wine or strong drink,
nor let unclean things be bitten with open mouth,
because she would be happier than all mothers
and would make up in one son the loss of number.
“For he will be of noble courage, and no one will be allowed
to violate his unconquered head or harm it with iron,

### Scripture references

- Judg 12:10–15: allusion, high confidence
- Judg 13:1–5: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet gives Abdon thirty daughters and forty sons; Judg 12:14 has forty sons and thirty grandsons.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.473 (CSEL 23:197lines 473–497–198; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-473).

## Judges, lines 498–523

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-498
- Source: CSEL 23:198lines 498–523–199
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The angel tells Manoah’s wife that her son will deliver Israel; she tells Manoah, who prays for the angel’s return; the angel appears again, repeats the rules, and tells Manoah to offer his kid to the Lord.

### Latin text

adlectus domini fecundo ex uiscere fetae.
ut populum] saluare queat bellumque retundens
acer in] hostiles conuertat damna maniplos."
uenit et est] confessa uiro; nam flammea dixit
ora uiri] uisumque dei fulgentis honorem,
quaerenti]que dei nomen tacuisse tonantem.
Nazaraeu]s erit, de te qui gignitur." inquit.
adiuuat] uxorem uotis Manoea iugatis,
missus qui] fuerit sanctus pia dicta retexat
accend]atque nouum lumen, quo noscere possit
quid pu]ero deceat, qui nondum natus ametur.
ilicet] et caelo dimittitur et noua pandens
adproper]at nuptamque uidens in gramine fusam,
coniuge] seposito, confestim conminus adstat.
haec sur]git cursimque uiro. quae uiderat, infit.
hic sequi]tur pauitans sanctumque inuisere gaudens,
et uidet] eximio fulgentem lumine uultum.
adgr]editur poscitque uirum, si uera loquatur,
expon]ato quae facta uelit. quibus ore sereno
angel]us expromit paribus fas esse teneri
omnibus], inmundis nec conmodet ora creandus.
neu] uinum siceramue bibat, neu pocula sumat
ulla], quibus ualeat mentem depellere sensu.
exul]tans iuuenis haedum dat sumere sancto,
mox ius]sus potius consueta offerre tonanti
munera. quae] suscepta uelit pro munere uitae.

### English translation (Claude)

chosen of the Lord from the fruitful womb of a mother,
so that he may save the people and, beating back war,
fiercely turn losses against the enemy’s companies.”
She came and told her husband; for she said
that the man’s face was fiery and that she had seen the glory of shining God,
and that, when she asked God’s name, the Thunderer was silent.
“He who is born of you will be a Nazirite,” she says.
Manoah joins his wife in vows,
that the holy one who had been sent might repeat his pious words
and kindle a new light by which they might know
what befits the boy, who is loved before he is born.
At once he is sent down from heaven and, revealing new things,
hastens and, seeing the wife lying on the grass
with her husband away, at once stands close by.
She rises and quickly tells her husband what she had seen.
He follows, trembling, and rejoicing to see the holy one,
and sees a face shining with outstanding light.
He approaches and asks the man whether he speaks truly
and bids him set out what he wishes done. To them, with serene face,
the angel declares that the same rules hold
for all, and that the child to be born must not put unclean things to his mouth,
nor drink wine or strong drink, nor take any drinks
by which the mind could be driven from its senses.
Exulting, the young man offers the holy one a kid to eat,
but is soon told rather to offer the accustomed gifts
to the Thunderer, which he might wish to be accepted for the gift of life.

### Scripture references

- Judg 13:5–16: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text marks the editor’s restored line openings with brackets in lines 2–26; translated.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.498 (CSEL 23:198lines 498–523–199; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-498).

## Judges, lines 524–547

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-524
- Source: CSEL 23:199lines 524–547–200
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The angel will not tell his name, which is wonderful, and ascends in the flame of the offering; Samson is born and the Spirit moves him; he asks to marry a Philistine woman of Timnah over his parents’ objection, and meets a lion.

### Latin text

quaerunt] quin etiam domini condiscere nomen.
scrutari] quod nemo potest: mirabile namque est.
tum iuuenis] mandata sibi libamina profert,
cap]rigenam prolem sancta ad donaria sistens.
mox] autem flammis ad candida sidera surgens
aet]hera pulsabat uertex caelumque tenebat.
per] quem conspicuus scandebat nubila sanctus.
nec mora, promisso turgescunt uiscera fetu
et proles optata datur. quam nomine certo
Samsonem dixere patres: hoc sedit utrique.
ac dum prima puer titubans uestigia figit.
incedit comitante deo; nam spiritus illi
rector erat, quem terra tremit. cui sidera parent.
quo fretus per castra fuit Danisque Thalique.
inde pubescenti uenit iam corpore Thamnam.
in qua conspicuae capitur candore puellae.
patribus eloquitur. uxorem postulat ille:
dissimulant licitumque negant, quia femina non sit
ex tribubus generata suis. hoc acrius instat
confirmans iuransque sibi placuisse parentes.
quos habeat: optatori quaesita iugatur.
ac dum per uirides laeto cum palmite uites
incedit tacitumque mouet per singula uultum.
ecce leo quasi Maxillae per auia regnat:

### English translation (Claude)

Moreover they seek to learn the Lord’s name,
which no one can search out, for it is wonderful.
Then the young man brings the offerings he was bidden,
setting the goat’s offspring among the holy gifts.
But soon the flame, rising toward the bright stars,
beat with its tip on the sky and reached heaven,
and by it the holy one, conspicuous, climbed the clouds.
Without delay the womb swells with the promised child,
and the longed-for offspring is given, whom by a sure name
the parents called Samson; this pleased them both.
And while the boy, tottering, plants his first steps,
he walks with God beside him; for the Spirit was his guide,
at whom the earth trembles, whom the stars obey.
Relying on him he moved through the camps of Dan and Eshtaol.
Then, his body now grown to youth, he came to Timnah,
where he is captivated by the fairness of a conspicuous girl.
He tells his parents; he asks for her as wife.
They demur and say it is not lawful, because the woman was not
born of their tribes. He presses the more sharply,
affirming and swearing that she pleased him.
She is sought and joined to the one who longed for her.
And while he walks through green vines with glad shoots
and turns his silent gaze on each thing,
see, a lion holds sway in the wilds of the Jawbone:

### Scripture references

- Judg 13:17–25: allusion, high confidence
- Judg 14:1–5: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text marks the editor’s restored line openings with brackets in lines 1–7; translated. Thalique in line 14 is rendered Eshtaol by sense; the line on the parents’ consent (line 20–21) is garbled (optatori).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.524 (CSEL 23:199lines 524–547–200; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-524).

## Judges, lines 548–573

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-548
- Source: CSEL 23:200lines 548–573–201
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Samson tears the lion apart, later finds honey in its carcass, and at his wedding sets thirty companions a riddle; unable to solve it, they threaten his bride.

### Latin text

rugitu horrisono stimulans se uerbere caudae
excutiensque toros. patulo uenit obuius ore.
hunc ille exceptum, neque enim labor, inpete dextra
disicit et lacero diuisum dissipat artu.
dotatus tacitae uirtutis munere factum
occulit atque animo contentus teste laetatur.
post aliquot redit ipse dies praedamque requirit:
hic uero. horrendum ac dictu mirabile monstrum,
mella uidet mediis in faucibus esse leonis
flauenti permixta fauo. quae protinus aufert
et gustu temptata suo fidentior offert
fratribus egregiis iuuenis. iamque esse timori
coeperat eximio uirtutis nomine multis.
ter denis igitur pariter comitantibus exit
praestanti uirtute uiris; tunc quaestio cunctis
ponitur et plectens ignaros multa iocatur.
ut uestes niueo confestim stamine textas
exhibeant. si uera queant non promere fatu.
incipiens uaria conuoluit uerba figura:
"Ex mandente uiri communis prodiit esca.
dulcius atque fauo ualidi de corpore fluxit."
id cum ueridico nullus depromeret ore
et septem post poena dies remearet amicis,
confusi struxere dolos sociumque perosi
ad ciuem uenere suam. quam diximus ante
conubio placuisse uiro. rogitantque minaces.

### English translation (Claude)

rousing itself with horrible roar and the lash of its tail
and shaking its muscles, it comes to meet him with open mouth.
He takes it on — for it was no labour — and with impetuous right hand
tears it apart and scatters it, its limbs rent asunder.
Endowed with the gift of silent courage, he hides the deed
and rejoices, content with his own mind as witness.
After some days he returns and looks for the prey:
here indeed — a horrible portent and wonderful to tell —
he sees honey in the middle of the lion’s jaws
mixed with yellow comb, which he at once takes away,
and, having tested it by taste, more confidently offers it
to his excellent kin. And now he had begun
to be feared by many for his outstanding renown for valour.
So he goes out with thrice ten men accompanying him,
men of outstanding valour; then a riddle is set to all,
and he jests, laying a forfeit on the ignorant,
that they must at once produce garments woven of snowy thread
if they could not utter the truth in speech.
Beginning, he wraps his words in a varied figure:
“From the eater of man came forth common food,
and from the body of the strong flowed something sweeter than the comb.”
When no one brought it forth with truthful mouth,
and after seven days the forfeit would fall on the friends,
they, confused, built a plot and, hating their companion,
came to their fellow citizen, whom we said before
had pleased the man as a bride, and ask her with threats

### Scripture references

- Judg 14:5–15: allusion, high confidence

### Extrabiblical texts

- Virgil, Aen. 3.26 (Virgil): echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 8 echoes Virgil, Aeneid 3.26 (‘horrible to tell and wonderful to see, a portent’).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.548 (CSEL 23:200lines 548–573–201; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-548).

## Judges, lines 574–600

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-574
- Source: CSEL 23:201lines 574–600–202
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Samson’s bride wheedles the answer from him and tells the companions; Samson kills thirty Philistines to pay the forfeit; his father-in-law gives his wife to another and offers him her younger sister.

### Latin text

Samsone ut luso secretum nuntiet: ac ni
id faciat. flammas testantur uindices esse.
territa femineo permulcet pectora fletu
dura uiri: nam clausa tegit. memoransque. parenti
et matri non dicta suae cur garrula poscat?
sed quid femineus non tendat cogere fletus ?
uincitur ac tacitae mentis secreta renudat.
et docet illa uiros. septena in luce diei
occiduus dubio pallebat lumine mundus:
respondent socii: "Quid melle dulcius. aut quid
fortius esse potest crines uibrante leone?
coniugis esse dolos confestim noscitat heros
et simul: "O iuuenes, non haec sententia uestra est:
nam nisi me blando lactasset femina suasu,
cognita non fuerat permixtis quaestio causis.
spiritus inde dei iuuenem dimittit in hostes;
ter denos detruncat ouans et cuncta ruentum
uictor habet uestesque suis, quas dixerat, offert.
paulatimque uiro uirtutum semina crescunt;
nam socer ambiguae ductus cupidine mentis
denegat uxorem iuueni atque ipse negatam
conloc]at externo. ne post accensus et acer
restitujat fortasse petat, natuque minorem
promittit, si] forte uelit. "Pro maximus ultor!
exclamat] toruisque [ex] oculis inmane minatur
ulturus] que diu multum pro talibus ausis
actut]um excidii. quo saeuiat. inuenit usum;

### English translation (Claude)

to find out the secret by tricking Samson; and if
she does not do it, they declare that flames will avenge it.
Terrified, she softens the man’s hard heart with womanly weeping;
for he keeps it shut, reminding her: why does she, a chatterer,
ask what was not told to his father and his mother?
But what does a woman’s weeping not strive to compel?
He is overcome and lays bare the secrets of his silent mind,
and she tells the men. On the seventh day
the setting world grew pale with doubtful light;
the companions answer: “What is sweeter than honey, or what
can be stronger than a lion shaking his mane?”
The hero at once recognizes his wife’s treachery
and says: “O young men, this answer is not yours:
for unless the woman had coaxed me with soothing persuasion,
the riddle with its tangled sense would not have been known.”
Then the Spirit of God sends the young man against the enemy;
exulting, he cuts down thirty and, victorious, holds all
that the fallen had, and gives his companions the garments he had promised.
And gradually the seeds of courage grow in the man;
for his father-in-law, led by the whim of an unsteady mind,
refuses the young man his wife and himself gives her
to a stranger, lest afterwards, inflamed and fierce,
he should perhaps ask that she be restored, and promises
his younger daughter, if he wishes. “O mighty avenger!”
he exclaims, and threatens monstrously from grim eyes,
and, about to take long and great vengeance for such daring,
at once found a means of destruction by which to rage:

### Scripture references

- Judg 14:15–20: allusion, high confidence
- Judg 15:1–3: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The editor deletes ex in line 25. The digital text marks restored line openings with brackets in lines 22–27; translated.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.574 (CSEL 23:201lines 574–600–202; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-574).

## Judges, lines 601–624

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-601
- Source: CSEL 23:202lines 601–624–203
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Samson burns the Philistine crops with three hundred foxes; the Philistines burn his wife and her father; he takes vengeance; three thousand men of Judah bind him and hand him over at Lehi.

### Latin text

ter cen]tum uulpes alacer capit hasque reuinctis
inter se] caudis binasque ex ordine iunctas
passim] perque oleas uinetaque collis amoeni
mittit] agens caudisque ardentes lampadas indit.
quae] uix dimissae campos petiere feraces.
quocumque ad]celerant incendia lata trahentes.
ilicet] ignis edax uentorum flatibus auctus
uoluitur:] exuperant flammae tractaeque secuntur.
nec lat]uere doli. cultorum conflua turba
tam] grauibus mactata malis se congregat atque
uxorem dudum iuuenes ipsumque parentem
flammis] iniciunt tectaque ussere domorum.
sic tum]ulus, quod poena, fuit; quod flamma, sepulchrum.
illum] acuit uindicta grauis. nam multa minatur.
hostibus at]que suis uasta dat strage ruinam.
inter]ea iuuenes odio ter mille calescunt
de] luda tribu, Samsonem ut milite tanto
inte]rimant unumque petant tot milia ferro.
sed] iuuenis mox arma capit sociosque precatur
in]stantes. ut bella sinant pro laude capessi.
ut] uoluit. est facta fides: tum uincula promunt
stup]pea. quae nouies conectunt bracchia nodis;
p]ellitur e saxo. Maxillae aduentat ad oram
turba]que collecta gaudebat uisere captum.

### English translation (Claude)

he eagerly catches three hundred foxes and, tying
their tails together and joining them two by two in order,
sends them out, driving them everywhere through the olive groves
and vineyards of the pleasant hill, and puts burning torches in their tails.
Scarcely let go, they made for the fertile fields;
wherever they hasten they drag wide fires behind them.
At once the devouring fire, increased by the blasts of the winds,
rolls on; the flames prevail and spread as they are drawn along.
Nor was the trick hidden. The crowd of farmers flocks together,
stricken by such heavy evils, and
the young men throw his wife and her father
into the flames and burned the roofs of their houses.
So the penalty was their burial mound, the flame their tomb.
Heavy vengeance spurs him on, for he threatens much,
and deals ruin with vast slaughter to the enemy and his own.
Meanwhile three thousand young men of the tribe of Judah
grow hot with hatred, to kill Samson with so great a force
and seek one man with so many thousand swords.
But the young man soon takes up arms and begs his allies,
as they press on, to let the war be waged for the glory.
As he wished, the pledge was given; then they bring out
bonds of tow, with which they bind his arms in nine knots;
he is driven from the rock. He comes to the edge of the Jawbone,
and the gathered crowd rejoiced to see him captured.

### Scripture references

- Judg 15:4–14: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text marks restored line openings with brackets throughout this section; translated. Lines 19–20 differ from Judg 15:11–13, where Samson makes the men of Judah swear not to kill him themselves.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.601 (CSEL 23:202lines 601–624–203; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-601).

## Judges, lines 625–648

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-625
- Source: CSEL 23:203lines 625–648–204
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Samson breaks his bonds and kills a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass; God brings water from the jawbone; he judges twenty years; at Gaza he goes to a harlot and the men of Gaza lie in wait at the gates.

### Latin text

dumque auidi intentant dextras fremituque minantur
horrisono, trahit ille manus et linea rumpit
uincula, tum curuam — nam quid non ira ministret ? —
maxillam tardi conixus stringit aselli:
hac mille (res mira) uiros pulsatque necatque.
cumque sitis sicco iuuenem pulmone moneret
auxilium sperare dei, qui semine nullo
cuncta creat, cui, cum uoluit. res torrida fons est.
qui iussu uel sicca rigat, uel flumina siccat.
qui uastos inter scopulos heremumque calentem
inriguos duris laxauit cotibus amnes:
nec mora, cum leui maxillae in osse patescens
rima fluit flumenque tremit fugiente meatu.
expletur iuuenis caelesti e gurgite potus.
mira facit et magna uidet, laudanda meretur,
cuius imperio bis denis Iudaea pollens
orbibus enituit. duce hoc et milite fidens.
inde abiit Gazamque uenit, ubi femina uilis
iuuenibus calidis uendebat saucia noctes.
hanc adiit. quae prima fuit mox causa pericli.
ecce uolat Gazaea manus atque obice duras
emunit portas et ferrea uincula subdit:
inclusum retinens ut capto ludere gestit.
nocte fere media Samsonem somnia linquunt;

### English translation (Claude)

And while greedily they stretch out their hands and threaten him
with horrible roar, he pulls his hands apart and breaks the linen
bonds; then — for what does anger not supply? —
straining, he grasps the curved jawbone of a slow ass,
and with it (a wondrous thing) strikes and kills a thousand men.
And when thirst, his lungs dry, warned the young man
to hope for the help of God, who creates all things
without seed, for whom, when he wills, the parched thing is a spring,
who at his command waters dry ground or dries up rivers,
who among vast crags and the hot wilderness
released watering rivers from hard rocks:
without delay a crack opening in the light bone of the jaw
flows, and the stream trembles in its escaping course.
The young man is filled with drink from a heavenly flood.
He does wonders and sees great things and deserves praise,
under whose command Judea, strong, shone forth
for twice ten years, trusting in this leader and soldier.
Then he went off and came to Gaza, where a cheap woman,
wounded, sold her nights to hot young men.
He went to her, who was soon the first cause of danger.
See, the band of Gaza flies and secures the hard gates
with a bar and sets iron chains under them,
keeping him shut in, as it longs to mock its captive.
At about midnight Samson’s dreams leave him;

### Scripture references

- Judg 15:14–20: allusion, high confidence
- Judg 16:1–3: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poet has the water spring from the jawbone itself, as the Latin and Greek Bibles read Judg 15:19.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.625 (CSEL 23:203lines 625–648–204; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-625).

## Judges, lines 649–673

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-649
- Source: CSEL 23:204lines 649–673–205
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Samson carries off the gates of Gaza; he loves Delilah, whom the Philistine leaders bribe to learn the secret of his strength; he deceives her with the fresh sinews and the new ropes.

### Latin text

excitus inmane furit: tum limina pulsans
conuellit geminos stridenti a cardine postes
succedensque oneri cursim super ardua defert
eminus oppositi montis iuga. atque periclis
fortior (hinc) Dalilae capitur bellator amore.
hanc omnes adiere uiri. quos liuor agebat
inuictum superare uirum, ut iuncta cubili.
dulcibus inlecebris lenitum mulceat et mox.
quae uires fomenta nouent. quae semina tantum
robur alant: natura fiat tam fortis an arte?
quae si dicta canat, donandam munere firmant.
oratus iuuenis: "Si septem uinciar una
uafer ait neruis. quos nondum deserit umor.
omne robur perdam cunctisque ignauior exstem."
instruit illa suos fallentem femina fallens.
artatur iuuenis neruorum robore duro.
quos modico adtractu ceu mollia uellera rupit.
consultusque dehinc restes fert esse timori
intactos, qui nulla fiant uei-sura soluti.
inligat illa uirum, cum iam defessa labore
proflarent tenuem marcentia pectora somnum.
ut primum sensit nodos. euerberat auras
et risit similes ceu ducit aranea casses.
bis uariis elusa modis tamen ausa precari
rursus adumbrato temptat Samsona rogatu.

### English translation (Claude)

roused, he rages monstrously; then, beating at the threshold,
he tears the two doorposts from their grating hinge
and, getting under the load, quickly carries them up
the steep ridges of the mountain far opposite. And, stronger
than danger, the warrior is then captured by love of Delilah.
All the men whom envy drove came to her,
to overcome the unconquered man, that, joined to him in bed,
she might soothe him, softened by sweet allurements, and soon learn
what nourishment renews his strength, what source feeds
such great power: whether he is so strong by nature or by art.
If she tells them, they affirm that she will be rewarded.
The young man, entreated, says craftily: “If I am bound
with seven sinews that are still moist,
I will lose all strength and become weaker than all.”
The woman, deceiving the deceiver, instructs her people.
The young man is bound with the hard strength of sinews,
which he broke with a slight pull like soft fleeces.
Asked again, he says that new ropes are to be feared,
never used, which would never be loosed.
She binds the man when, now wearied with labour,
his drooping breast breathed out thin sleep.
As soon as he felt the knots, he lashes the air
and laughed at them as at nets a spider spins.
Twice deceived in different ways, yet daring to ask,
she tries Samson again with a veiled request.

### Scripture references

- Judg 16:3–13: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- In line 5 the editor supplies hinc. Line 19 is uncertain (uei-sura).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.649 (CSEL 23:204lines 649–673–205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-649).

## Judges, lines 674–699

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-50/#p-7-674
- Source: CSEL 23:205lines 674–699–206
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Samson tells Delilah to weave his hair into the loom, then finally reveals that his strength is in his uncut hair as a Nazirite; she has him shaved, the Lord departs from him, and the Philistines blind and fetter him.

### Latin text

respondit diuersa satis nec uera petenti:
"Tu crines dissolue meos rursusque retorquens
texe memor. ulnam plectens non amplius unam;
sic fiet, ut uirtus pereat spoliata uigore."
quae fuerant praedicta. facit trepideque reuoluens
suspensa nectit dextra palisque reflectens
inligat et captum sociis Dalila resignat:
exiliens reicit palos crinemque renodat.
nil totiens periura timet totiensque repulsa
denuo] adiurat lacrimis male sana paratis
omnemque ad]sciuit. quo sit facilior, artem.
nec iam fert] fictos mens emollita maerores
et frau Idem, sed dira sibi patefecit amatae.
"Nazaraeus] ego domini sum, crede, perennis.
et uirtus] in crine mihi est nec lamna capillos
ferrato] mucrone secat: qua si quis adacta
cerui]cem faciat nudato uertice caluam.
is cer]tus mihi finis erit uirtutis inemptae."
his dict]is manifesta fides: mox munere sumpto
Samsonem] mulier gremio fouet; eximit omnes
uires at]que comas tonsor mercede locatus.
excutit]ur Samsona toro. mutatus et idem
prensatur]. unaque deus cum robore linquit.
confestim] gemino uiduatur lumine; namque
orbibus] effossis uacuas liquere lacunas
et ma]eret dura constrictus compede crura;

### English translation (Claude)

He answered things quite different and untrue to her asking:
“Loosen my hair and, twisting it again,
weave it carefully, plaiting no more than one ell;
so my strength will perish, robbed of its vigour.”
She does what had been said and, anxiously turning it,
weaves it with hanging hand, and, fastening it with stakes,
binds it, and Delilah hands the captive over to her allies;
leaping up, he throws back the stakes and unties his hair.
Perjured so often and so often repulsed, she fears nothing;
again she adjures him with tears made ready, in her madness,
and called in every art to make him yield.
His softened mind can no longer bear her feigned griefs
and deceit, but revealed to his beloved what was dire for himself:
“I am, believe me, a Nazirite of the everlasting Lord,
and my strength is in my hair, and no blade cuts my locks
with iron edge; if anyone, driving it home,
makes my head bald with bared crown,
that will be the sure end of my unbought strength.”
With these words her faith was manifest; soon, the reward received,
the woman cherishes Samson in her lap; a barber hired for a fee
takes away all his strength and hair.
Samson is shaken from the couch; changed, yet the same,
he is seized, and God departs with his strength.
At once he is bereft of both his eyes; for,
his eyeballs dug out, they left empty hollows,
and he mourns, his legs bound with a hard fetter;

### Scripture references

- Judg 16:13–21: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text marks restored line openings with brackets in lines 10–26; translated.

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.674 (CSEL 23:205lines 674–699–206; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-674).

## Judges, lines 700–720

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-700/#p-7-700
- Source: CSEL 23:206lines 700–720–207
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Samson grinds at the mill in prison and his hair grows again; at the feast of Dagon he is brought to be mocked, and, praying to the Lord, pulls down the two pillars, dying with the Philistines; his family buries him.

### Latin text

attamen] haut nouit. quam caecus possidet, umbram.
carcere] conclusus molam rotat inpete dextra:
pondere s]ic gemino laterum sibi subuenit usus.
nec mora] longa die crinis redeuntis honore
caesa]ries rediuiua fuit. quae tempore eodem
restituit] secum pariter roburque decusque.
ecce] die quodam proceres coiere frequentes
fact]uri sollemne deo, quem uana colentes
num]en habent. Dagona uocant et nomine pristim.
hic] dum depositi Samsonis clade laetantur
ads]tantis longe media testudine templi.
acciri iussere uirum iam uincere promptum.
is]que mori iussus trahitur risuque solutis
praebet nequitiae caeco de lumine causas.
forte domus tota gemina subeunte columna
pendebat: has inter agens constringit utramque
amplexuque tenet toto retroque residit.
ut nisu maiore ruat. dominumque precatus
ultricem traxit propria cum morte ruinam.
quo pater orbatus fratresque et pignora cuncta
conueniunt functumque dolent decorantque sepulchro.

### English translation (Claude)

yet he does not know the shadow that the blind man possesses.
Shut in prison, he turns the mill with his strong right hand;
so the use of his sides helps him with a double weight.
Without long delay, by the honour of returning hair,
the shorn locks revived, which at the same time
restored with them both strength and grace.
See, on a certain day the chiefs gathered in crowds
to hold a solemn feast for the god whom those who worship vain things
hold as divinity: they call him by the ancient name Dagon.
Here, while they rejoice in the downfall of the deposed Samson,
standing far off in the central vault of the temple,
they ordered the man, now ready to conquer, to be summoned.
He, ordered to die, is dragged in, and to those loosed in laughter
his blindness gives occasion for their wickedness.
By chance the whole house hung on two columns beneath it;
going between them, he grips both
and holds them in a full embrace and leans back,
so that it might fall with greater force, and, having prayed to the Lord,
he drew down an avenging ruin with his own death.
Bereaved of him, his father and brothers and all his kin
gather and mourn the dead and honour him with a tomb.

### Scripture references

- Judg 16:21–31: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The digital text marks restored line openings with brackets in lines 1–13; translated. The poet has Samson’s father among the mourners (Judg 16:31 has his brothers and his father’s household).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.700 (CSEL 23:206lines 700–720–207; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-700).

## Judges, lines 721–744

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-700/#p-7-721
- Source: CSEL 23:207lines 721–744–208
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Micah returns his mother’s silver, which she has made into an idol and shrine with teraphim; he hires a Levite from Judah as priest; the Danite spies consult him, and six hundred Danites take the ephod, idol and teraphim and the priest with them.

### Latin text

[hunc sequitur Semada ducem. qui fortibus ausis
sescentos perimit et tempora laeta reducit.]
Haec inter Micia petit pergrande talentum
argenti matrem. quod sanctum femina fidens
esse docet uotumque deo. sed tempore certo
reddendum; mox celsa facit donaria sancto
et theraphin templumque deo. sinibusque repletis,
qui minor est natus, domino fert dona sacerdos.
post ludam Micia legit. sedemque quaerentem
congesto secum donorum munere nectit
adsumptusque dei meruit sacraria uotis.
ecce tribus Dana subito noua regna requirens
mittit oratores socio de corpore quinque.
scrutantes, ut cuncta probent, quae portio terrae
sit melior, qua deinde iuuet conponere sedes.
hi dum circumeunt saltusque ac deuia lustrant.
ad ludam ueniunt socio sermone serentes,
quid faciat, quae sacra nouet? poscentibus ille
quae postquam exprompsit, conpulsus consulit, alti
et domini mandata dei ueniamque supernam
exhibuit, iussosque dehinc discedere laudat.
haec reduces docuere suos; iamque agmine denso
sescenti ueniunt. ephudem et sculptile portant
et theraphin, secumque rogant consistere ludam.

### English translation (Claude)

Meanwhile Micah asks his mother for a very large talent
of silver; the woman, trusting, explains that it is holy
and vowed to God, but to be returned at a fixed time;
soon she makes lofty gifts for the holy one,
and teraphim and a temple to God; and, his lap filled,
his younger son, as priest, brings gifts to the Lord.
Afterwards Micah chooses a young man from Judah and binds
to himself one seeking a dwelling, with a heap of gifts,
and, taken in, he earned God’s sanctuary by his vows.
See, the tribe of Dan, suddenly seeking new realms,
sends five envoys from its company,
searching, to test everything, which portion of land
is better, where then they might settle their homes.
While they go round and survey the glades and byways,
they come to the man from Judah and fall into talk,
asking what he does, what rites he practises; when asked,
after he had told them, compelled, he consults the commands
of the high Lord God, and declared heaven’s favour,
and commends them, bidding them depart.
Returning, they told this to their people; and now in a dense column
six hundred come. They carry off the ephod and the carved image
and the teraphim, and ask the man from Judah to stay with them.

### Scripture references

- Judg 17:1–13: allusion, high confidence
- Judg 18:1–20: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The editor deletes the two lines that open the section in the digital text (on Shamgar killing six hundred). ‘The man from Judah’ (Iudam) is the Levite from Bethlehem in Judah (Judg 17:7).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.721 (CSEL 23:207lines 721–744–208; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-721).

## Judges, lines 745–760

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-700/#p-7-745
- Source: CSEL 23:208lines 745–760
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Micah is driven off; the Danites burn Laish and rename it Dan; a Levite’s concubine leaves him and returns to her father, and the Levite goes to bring her back and is detained by his father-in-law. The digital text breaks off here.

### Latin text

quem cum Micias profugum reuocare pararet,
pellitur; adscitus non uult remeare sacerdos.
Laisa bello petitur tectisque crematis
amittit sedes et maestis denegat arces.
uincentumque manus studio se conlocat illic
et nomen tribule dedit; nam Dana uocatur.
Vir quidam Leuita fuit, qui coniuge nulla
concubitum de serua petit. haec dedita cessit
dissocians conmune iugum infensaque longe
auolat et spreti refugit consortia lecti.
quam cum sollicite uellet reuocare maritus.
conmunem famulum secum et iumenta ducebat
ad socerum ueniens natamque ex foedere poscit;
promittit blandeque fouet sensimque tenendo
inlicit, ut secum maneat. mox ille residens
uescitur et placida securus sede quiescit.

### English translation (Claude)

When Micah prepared to call back the fugitive,
he is driven off; the priest, now adopted, does not wish to return.
Laish is attacked in war and, its houses burned,
loses its homes and is denied its citadels in grief.
And the band of victors eagerly settles there
and gave it the tribe’s name; for it is called Dan.
There was a certain man, a Levite, who, having no wife,
seeks a concubine from among the slave women. She, given to him, yielded,
then, dissolving the shared yoke, hostile, flies far off
and flees the partnership of the scorned bed.
When her husband anxiously wished to call her back,
he was leading with him a servant they shared and beasts,
and, coming to his father-in-law, asks for the daughter according to their covenant;
the father promises and gently cherishes him and, by detaining him,
gradually entices him to stay with him. Soon he, settling down,
eats and rests untroubled in a peaceful home.

### Scripture references

- Judg 18:21–31: allusion, high confidence
- Judg 19:1–4: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The poem ends here in the surviving text, in the middle of Judg 19. The poet makes the concubine leave in hostility (Judg 19:2 Hebrew: ‘was unfaithful to him’; Greek: ‘was angry with him’).

### Citation (SBL)

Cyprianus Gallus, Hept. 7.745 (CSEL 23:208lines 745–760; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/cyprianus-gallus-heptateuchos/7-745).