Preparation for the Gospel 10.7.1–10.9.28

Eusebius of Caesarea · Preparation for the Gospel · ca. 313–324 · Caesarea · 68 passages

Greek text: Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 1 (Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 1–2 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1867), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: E. H. Gifford, Eusebii Pamphili Evangelicae Praeparationis libri XV (Oxford, 1903), vol. 3 (English).

Preparation 10, chapter 7

10.7.1Dindorf 1:550–551

Πρῶτον οὖν ἐπέρχεταί μοι πάνυ θαυμάζειν τοὺς οἰομένους δεῖν περὶ τῶν παλαιοτάτων ἔργων μόνοις προσέχειν τοῖς Ἕλλησι, καὶ παρὰ τούτων πυνθάνεσθαι τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἡμῖν δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις ἀπιστεῖν.

Prōton oun eperchetai moi pany thaumazein tous oiomenous dein peri tōn palaiotatōn ergōn monois prosechein tois Hellēsi, kai para toutōn pynthanesthai tēn alētheian, hēmin de kai tois allois anthrōpois apistein.

“My first impulse, then, is to be utterly amazed at those who think that on the most ancient events one should attend to the Greeks alone and learn the truth from them, but disbelieve us and the rest of mankind.

Notes and citation

Summary: Josephus: it is strange to trust only the Greeks about antiquity.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.6; the quotation runs through 10.7.21.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): παλαιτάτων → παλαιοτάτων.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.6 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.1 (Dindorf 1:550–551; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.

10.7.2Dindorf 1:551

πᾶν γὰρ ἐγὼ τοὐναντίον ὁρῶ συμβεβηκὸς, εἴ γε δεῖ μὴ ταῖς ματαίαις δόξαις ἐπακολουθεῖν, ἀλλὰ ἐξ αὐτῶν τὸ δίκαιον τῶν πραγμάτων λαμβάνειν. τὰ μὲν γὰρ παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἅπαντα νέα καὶ χθὲς καὶ πρώην, ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις, εὕροι γεγονότα· λέγω δὲ τὰς κτίσεις τῶν πόλεων καὶ τὰ περὶ τὰς ἐπινοίας τῶν τεχνῶν καὶ τὰ περὶ τὰς τῶν νόμων ἀναγραφάς· πάντων δὲ νεωτάτη σχεδόν ἐστι παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἡ περὶ τοῦ συγγράφειν τὰς ἱστορίας ἐπιμέλεια.

pan gar egō tounantion horō symbebēkos, ei ge dei mē tais mataiais doxais epakolouthein, alla ex autōn to dikaion tōn pragmatōn lambanein. ta men gar para tois Hellēsin hapanta nea kai chthes kai prōēn, hōs an eipoi tis, heuroi gegonota; legō de tas ktiseis tōn poleōn kai ta peri tas epinoias tōn technōn kai ta peri tas tōn nomōn anagraphas; pantōn de neōtatē schedon esti parʼ autois hē peri tou syngraphein tas historias epimeleia.

For I see the very opposite to be the case, if one is not to follow empty opinions but to take what is right from the facts themselves. For among the Greeks one would find everything new, done, as one might say, yesterday or the day before: I mean the founding of their cities, the invention of the arts, and the writing down of their laws; and the newest of almost all among them is their concern with writing history.

Notes and citation

Summary: Everything Greek is recent, and their history-writing most of all.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.7.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.7 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.2 (Dindorf 1:551; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.3Dindorf 1:551

τὰ μέντοι παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις τε καὶ Χαλδαίοις καὶ Φοίνιξιν—ἐῶ γὰρ νῦν ἡμᾶς ἐκείνοις συγ- καταλέγειν—αὐτοὶ δήπουθεν ὁμολογοῦσιν ἀρχαιοτάτην καὶ μονιμωτάτην ἔχειν τῆς μνήμης τὴν παράδοσιν.

ta mentoi parʼ Aigyptiois te kai Chaldaiois kai Phoinixin—eō gar nyn hēmas ekeinois syg- katalegein—autoi dēpouthen homologousin archaiotatēn kai monimōtatēn echein tēs mnēmēs tēn paradosin.

Yet the records of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Phoenicians (for I now forbear to count ourselves with them) have, as they themselves admit, the most ancient and most lasting tradition of memory.

Notes and citation

Summary: Egyptian, Chaldean, and Phoenician records are the most ancient.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.8.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.8 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.3 (Dindorf 1:551; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.4Dindorf 1:551

καὶ γὰρ τόπους ἅπαντες οἰκοῦσιν ἥκιστα ταῖς ἐκ τοῦ περιέχοντος φθοραῖς ὑποκειμένους, καὶ πολλὴν ἐποιήσαντο πρόνοιαν τοῦ μηδὲν ἄμνηστον τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῖς πραττομένων παραλιπεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἐν δημοσίαις ἀναγραφαῖς ὑπὸ τῶν σοφωτάτων ἀεὶ καθιεροῦσθαι.

kai gar topous hapantes oikousin hēkista tais ek tou periechontos phthorais hypokeimenous, kai pollēn epoiēsanto pronoian tou mēden amnēston tōn parʼ autois prattomenōn paralipein, allʼ en dēmosiais anagraphais hypo tōn sophōtatōn aei kathierousthai.

For they all inhabit places least exposed to destruction from the surrounding climate, and they took great care to leave nothing done among them unremembered, but to have it always consecrated in public records by their wisest men.

Notes and citation

Summary: These peoples kept public records in safe lands.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.9.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.9 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.4 (Dindorf 1:551; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.5Dindorf 1:551

τὸν δὲ περὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα τόπον μυρίαι μὲν φθοραὶ κατέσχον, ἐξαλείφουσαι τὴν μνήμην τῶν γεγονότων· ἀεὶ δὲ καινοὺς καθιστάμενοι βίους τοῦ παντὸς ἐνόμιζον ἄρχειν ἕκαστος τὸν ἀφʼ ἑαυτῶν·

ton de peri tēn Hellada topon myriai men phthorai kateschon, exaleiphousai tēn mnēmēn tōn gegonotōn; aei de kainous kathistamenoi bious tou pantos enomizon archein hekastos ton aphʼ heautōn;

But countless destructions overtook the region of Greece, wiping out the memory of past events; and as they kept establishing new ways of life, each people thought that the world began with themselves.

Notes and citation

Summary: Greece suffered destructions that erased its memory.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.10.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.10 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.5 (Dindorf 1:551; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.6Dindorf 1:551

ὀψὲ δὲ καὶ μόλις ἔγνωσαν φύσιν γραμμάτων. οἱ γοῦν ἀρχαιοτάτην αὐτῶν τὴν χρῆσιν εἶναι θέλοντες παρὰ Φοινίκων καὶ Κάδμου σεμνύνονται μαθεῖν.

opse de kai molis egnōsan physin grammatōn. hoi goun archaiotatēn autōn tēn chrēsin einai thelontes para Phoinikōn kai Kadmou semnynontai mathein.

Late and with difficulty did they learn the nature of letters. Those, at any rate, who would have their use of them be most ancient pride themselves on having learned them from the Phoenicians and Cadmus.

Notes and citation

Summary: The Greeks learned writing late, from the Phoenicians.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.10.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (words run together in the digital text): οἱγοῦν → οἱ γοῦν.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.10 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.6 (Dindorf 1:551; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.7Dindorf 1:551–552

οὐ μὴν οὐδʼ ἀπʼ ἐκείνου τοῦ χρόνου δύναιτό τις ἂν δεῖξαι σωζομένην ἀναγραφὴν, οὔτʼ ἐν ἱεροῖς οὔτʼ ἐν δημοσίοις ἀναθήμασιν· ὅπου γε καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐπὶ Τροίαν τοσούτοις ἔτεσι στρατευσάντων ὕστερον πολλὴ γέγονεν ἀπορία καὶ ζήτησις εἰ γράμμασιν ἐχρῶντο· καὶ τἀλη- θὲς ἐπικρατεῖ μᾶλλον περὶ τοῦ τὴν νῦν οὖσαν τῶν γραμμάτων χρῆσιν ἐκείνους ἀγνοεῖν.

ou mēn oudʼ apʼ ekeinou tou chronou dynaito tis an deixai sōzomenēn anagraphēn, outʼ en hierois outʼ en dēmosiois anathēmasin; hopou ge kai peri tōn epi Troian tosoutois etesi strateusantōn hysteron pollē gegonen aporia kai zētēsis ei grammasin echrōnto; kai talē- thes epikratei mallon peri tou tēn nyn ousan tōn grammatōn chrēsin ekeinous agnoein.

Yet no one could show a record preserved even from that time, either in temples or in public monuments; for even about those who campaigned against Troy so many years later there has been much doubt and inquiry whether they used letters; and the truth rather prevails that they did not know the present use of letters.

Notes and citation

Summary: No Greek records survive from that time; even the Trojan War heroes may not have written.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.11.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.11 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.7 (Dindorf 1:551–552; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.8Dindorf 1:552

ὅλως δὲ παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν οὐδὲν ὁμολογούμενον εὑρίσκεται γράμμα τῆς Ὁμήρου ποιήσεως πρεσβύτερον· οὗτος δὲ καὶ τῶν Τρωϊκῶν ὕστερος φαίνεται γενόμενος. καί φασιν οὐδὲ τοῦτον ἐν γράμμασι τὴν αὑτοῦ ποίησιν καταλιπεῖν, ἀλλὰ διαμνημονευομένην ἐκ τῶν γραμμάτων ὕστερον συντεθῆναι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πολλὰς ἐν αὐτῇ σχεῖν τὰς διαφωνίας,

holōs de para tois Hellēsin ouden homologoumenon heurisketai gramma tēs Homērou poiēseōs presbyteron; houtos de kai tōn Trōïkōn hysteros phainetai genomenos. kai phasin oude touton en grammasi tēn hautou poiēsin katalipein, alla diamnēmoneuomenēn ek tōn grammatōn hysteron syntethēnai, kai dia touto pollas en autę̄ schein tas diaphōnias,

In general no writing agreed to be older than the poetry of Homer is found among the Greeks; and he too evidently lived after the Trojan War. And they say that not even he left his poetry in writing, but that it was preserved by memory and later put together from the songs, and that for this reason it contains many inconsistencies.

Notes and citation

Summary: Homer is the oldest Greek writing, and even his poems were first kept by memory.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.12. The digital text reads “from the letters” (ἐκ τῶν γραμμάτων); Josephus’s text has “from the songs” (ἐκ τῶν ᾀσμάτων), which the sense requires.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.12 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.8 (Dindorf 1:552; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.9Dindorf 1:552

οἱ μέντοι τὰς ἱστορίας ἐπιχειρήσαντες συγγράφειν παρʼ αὐτοῖς, λέγω δὲ τοὺς περὶ Κάδμον τε τὸν Μιλήσιον καὶ τὸν Ἀργεῖον Ἀκουσίλαον καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον εἴ τινες ἄλλοι λέγονται γενέσθαι, βραχὺ τῆς Περσῶν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα στρατείας τῷ χρόνῳ προύλαβον.

hoi mentoi tas historias epicheirēsantes syngraphein parʼ autois, legō de tous peri Kadmon te ton Milēsion kai ton Argeion Akousilaon kai meta touton ei tines alloi legontai genesthai, brachy tēs Persōn epi tēn Hellada strateias tǭ chronǭ proulabon.

Those among them who undertook to write histories, I mean such as Cadmus of Miletus, Acusilaus of Argos, and any others said to have come after him, lived only a little before the Persian invasion of Greece.

Notes and citation

Summary: The first Greek historians lived just before the Persian Wars.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.13.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.13 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.9 (Dindorf 1:552; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.10Dindorf 1:552

ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τοὺς περὶ τῶν οὐρανίων τε καὶ θείων πρώτους παρʼ Ἕλλησι φιλοσοφήσαντας, οἷον Φερεκύδην τὸν Σύριον καὶ Πυθαγόραν καὶ Θάλητα, πάντες συμφώνως ὁμολογοῦσιν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Χαλδαίων γενομένους μα- θητὰς ὀλίγα συγγράψαι· καὶ ταῦτα τοῖς Ἕλλησιν εἶναι δοκεῖ πάντων ἀρχαιότατα, καὶ μόλις αὐτὰ πιστεύουσιν ὑπʼ ἐκείνων γεγράφθαι.”

alla mēn kai tous peri tōn ouraniōn te kai theiōn prōtous parʼ Hellēsi philosophēsantas, hoion Pherekydēn ton Syrion kai Pythagoran kai Thalēta, pantes symphōnōs homologousin Aigyptiōn kai Chaldaiōn genomenous ma- thētas oliga syngrapsai; kai tauta tois Hellēsin einai dokei pantōn archaiotata, kai molis auta pisteuousin hypʼ ekeinōn gegraphthai.”

Moreover, all agree that the first among the Greeks to philosophize about heavenly and divine things, such as Pherecydes the Syrian, Pythagoras, and Thales, were pupils of the Egyptians and Chaldeans and wrote little; and these writings the Greeks think the most ancient of all, and they scarcely believe that they were written by those men.”

Notes and citation

Summary: The first Greek philosophers learned from Egyptians and Chaldeans.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.14.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.14 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.10 (Dindorf 1:552; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.11Dindorf 1:552

“Πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλογον τετυφῶσθαι τοὺς Ἕλληνας ὡς μόνους ἐπισταμένους τἀρχαῖα καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν περὶ αὐτῶν ἀκριβῶς παραδιδόντας; ἢ τίς οὐ παρὰ τῶν αὐτῶν συγγραφέων μάθοι ῥᾳδίως ὅτι μηδὲ ἓν εἰδότες βεβαίως συνέγραφον, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἕκαστοι περὶ τῶν πραγμάτων εἴκαζον;

“Pōs oun ouk estin alogon tetyphōsthai tous Hellēnas hōs monous epistamenous tarchaia kai tēn alētheian peri autōn akribōs paradidontas? ē tis ou para tōn autōn syngrapheōn mathoi rhądiōs hoti mēde hen eidotes bebaiōs synegraphon, allʼ hōs hekastoi peri tōn pragmatōn eikazon?

“How then is it not absurd for the Greeks to be puffed up as the only ones who know antiquity and hand on the truth about it accurately? Or who could not easily learn from the writers themselves that they wrote nothing from sure knowledge, but as each guessed about the facts?

Notes and citation

Summary: The Greek historians wrote by guesswork.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.15.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent slip in the digital text): ὧς μόνους → ὡς μόνους.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.15 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.11 (Dindorf 1:552; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.12Dindorf 1:552–553

πλέον γοῦν διὰ τῶν βιβλίων ἀλλήλους ἐλέγχουσι καὶ τἀναντιώτατα περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν λέγειν οὐκ ὀκνοῦσι. περίεργος δʼ ἂν εἴην ἐγὼ τοὺς ἐμοῦ μᾶλλον ἐπισταμένους διδάσκων, ὅσα μὲν Ἑλλάνικος Ἀκουσιλάῳ περὶ τῶν γενεαλογιῶν διαπεφώνηκεν, ὅσα δὲ διορθοῦται τὸν Ἡσίοδον Ἀκουσίλαος ’ ἢ τίνα τρόπον Ἔφορος μὲν Ἑλλάνικον ἐν τοῖς πλείστοις ψευδόμενον ἐπιδείκνυσιν, Ἔφορον δὲ Τιμαῖος, καὶ Τιμαῖον οἶ μετʼ ἐκεῖνον γεγονότες, Ἡρόδοτον δὲ πάντες.

pleon goun dia tōn bibliōn allēlous elenchousi kai tanantiōtata peri tōn autōn legein ouk oknousi. periergos dʼ an eiēn egō tous emou mallon epistamenous didaskōn, hosa men Hellanikos Akousilaǭ peri tōn genealogiōn diapephōnēken, hosa de diorthoutai ton Hēsiodon Akousilaos ’ ē tina tropon Ephoros men Hellanikon en tois pleistois pseudomenon epideiknysin, Ephoron de Timaios, kai Timaion oi metʼ ekeinon gegonotes, Hērodoton de pantes.

At any rate they refute one another in their books more than anything, and do not hesitate to say the most contradictory things about the same events. It would be superfluous for me to teach those who know better than I how often Hellanicus disagrees with Acusilaus about the genealogies, how often Acusilaus corrects Hesiod, or how Ephorus shows Hellanicus to be lying in most things, Timaeus Ephorus, those after him Timaeus, and everyone Herodotus.

Notes and citation

Summary: Greek historians contradict and correct one another.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.15–16.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.15–16 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.12 (Dindorf 1:552–553; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.13Dindorf 1:553

ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ περὶ τῶν Σικελικῶν τοῖς περὶ Ἀντίοχον καὶ Φίλιστον ἢ Καλλίαν Τιμαῖος συμφωνεῖν ἠξίωσεν, οὐδʼ αὖ περὶ τῶν Ἀττικῶν οἶ τὰς Ἀτθίδας συγγεγραφότες, ἢ περὶ τῶν Ἀργολικῶν οἶ τὰ περὶ Ἀργὸς ἱστοροῦντες ἀλλήλοις ἠκολουθήκασι.

allʼ oude peri tōn Sikelikōn tois peri Antiochon kai Philiston ē Kallian Timaios symphōnein ēxiōsen, oudʼ au peri tōn Attikōn oi tas Atthidas syngegraphotes, ē peri tōn Argolikōn oi ta peri Argos historountes allēlois ēkolouthēkasi.

Nor did Timaeus see fit to agree about Sicilian history with Antiochus, Philistus, or Callias; nor again have the writers of the Atthides followed one another about Attic history, nor the historians of Argos about Argive history.

Notes and citation

Summary: Local historians of Sicily, Attica, and Argos disagree.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.17.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.17 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.13 (Dindorf 1:553; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.14Dindorf 1:553

καὶ τί δεῖ λέγειν περὶ τῶν κατὰ πόλεις, καὶ βραχυτέρων, ὅπου γε περὶ τῆς Περσικῆς στρατείας καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ πραχθέντων οἶ δοκιμώτατοι διαπεφωνήκασι; πολλὰ δὲ καὶ Θουκυδίδης ὡς ψευδόμενος ὑπό τινων κατηγορεῖται, καίτοι δοκὼν ἀκριβεστάτην καθʼ ἑαυτὸν ἱστορίαν συγγράφειν.’’

kai ti dei legein peri tōn kata poleis, kai brachyterōn, hopou ge peri tēs Persikēs strateias kai tōn en autę̄ prachthentōn oi dokimōtatoi diapephōnēkasi? polla de kai Thoukydidēs hōs pseudomenos hypo tinōn katēgoreitai, kaitoi dokōn akribestatēn kathʼ heauton historian syngraphein.’’

And why speak of the histories of cities and smaller matters, when about the Persian invasion and what was done in it the most esteemed writers have disagreed? Even Thucydides is accused by some of many falsehoods, although he is thought to have written the most accurate history of his time.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Even on the Persian Wars and Thucydides there is disagreement.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.18.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): δοκμώτατοι → δοκιμώτατοι.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.18 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.14 (Dindorf 1:553; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.15Dindorf 1:553

“ Αἰτίαι δὲ τῆς τοιαύτης διαφωνίας πολλαὶ μὲν ἴσως ἂν καὶ ἕτεραι τοῖς βουλομένοις ζητεῖν ἀναφανεῖεν, ἐγὼ δὲ δυσὶ ταῖς ἐκτεθησομέναις αἰτίαις τὴν μεγίστην ἰσχὺν ἀνατίθημι.

“ Aitiai de tēs toiautēs diaphōnias pollai men isōs an kai heterai tois boulomenois zētein anaphaneien, egō de dysi tais ektethēsomenais aitiais tēn megistēn ischyn anatithēmi.

“Many other causes of such disagreement might perhaps appear to those who wish to look for them, but I attach the greatest weight to the two I shall set out.

Notes and citation

Summary: Josephus will give two causes of Greek disagreement.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.19.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (word broken and repeated across a line in the digital text): ἀναφανεἶεν, φανεῖεν, → ἀναφανεῖεν,.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.19 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.15 (Dindorf 1:553; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.16Dindorf 1:553

καὶ προτέραν ἐρῶ τὴν κυριωτέραν εἶναί μοι δοκοῦσαν. τὸ γὰρ ἐξ ἀρχῆς μὴ σπουδασθῆναι παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι δημοσίᾳ γίνεσθαι τὰς περὶ τῶν ἑκάστοτε πραττομένων ἀναγραφὰς, τοῦτο μάλιστα δὴ καὶ τὴν πλάνην καὶ τὴν ἐξουσίαν τοῦ ψεύδεσθαι τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα βουληθεῖσι περὶ τῶν παλαιῶν τι γράφειν παρέσχεν.

kai proteran erō tēn kyriōteran einai moi dokousan. to gar ex archēs mē spoudasthēnai para tois Hellēsi dēmosią ginesthai tas peri tōn hekastote prattomenōn anagraphas, touto malista dē kai tēn planēn kai tēn exousian tou pseudesthai tois meta tauta boulētheisi peri tōn palaiōn ti graphein pareschen.

I will state first the one that seems to me the more important. That from the beginning the Greeks took no care to keep public records of what was done at each time: this above all gave rise to error and to licence to lie for those who later wished to write anything about ancient times.

Notes and citation

Summary: First cause: the Greeks kept no public records.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.20.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.20 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.16 (Dindorf 1:553; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.17Dindorf 1:553

οὐ γὰρ μόνον παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις Ἕλλησιν ἠμελήθη τὰ περὶ τὰς ἀναγραφὰς, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ παρʼ αὐτοῖς ’ Αθηναίοις, οὓς αὐτόχθονας εἶναι λέγουσι καὶ παιδείας ἐπιμελεῖς, οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον εὑρίσκεται γενόμενον· ἀλλὰ τῶν δημοσίων γραμμάτων ἀρχαιοτάτους εἶναί φασι τοὺς ὑπὸ Δράκοντος αὐτοῖς περὶ τῶν φονικῶν γραφέντας νόμους, ὀλίγῳ πρότερον τῆς Πεισιστράτου τυραννίδος ἀνθρώπου γεγονότος.

ou gar monon para tois allois Hellēsin ēmelēthē ta peri tas anagraphas, allʼ oude parʼ autois ’ Athēnaiois, hous autochthonas einai legousi kai paideias epimeleis, ouden toiouton heurisketai genomenon; alla tōn dēmosiōn grammatōn archaiotatous einai phasi tous hypo Drakontos autois peri tōn phonikōn graphentas nomous, oligǭ proteron tēs Peisistratou tyrannidos anthrōpou gegonotos.

For not only among the other Greeks were records neglected; even among the Athenians themselves, who claim to be sprung from the soil and careful of learning, nothing of the kind is found to have existed. They say that the oldest of their public writings are the laws on homicide written for them by Draco, a man who lived a little before the tyranny of Pisistratus.

Notes and citation

Summary: Even Athens’ oldest records are Draco’s laws.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.21.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.21 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.17 (Dindorf 1:553; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.18Dindorf 1:553–554

περὶ μὲν γὰρ Ἀρκάδων τί χρὴ λέγειν αὐχούντων ἀρχαιότητα; μόλις γὰρ οὗτοι καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα γράμμασιν ἐπαιδεύθησαν.”

peri men gar Arkadōn ti chrē legein auchountōn archaiotēta? molis gar houtoi kai meta tauta grammasin epaideuthēsan.”

As for the Arcadians, who boast of antiquity, what need is there to speak? They were scarcely taught letters even later.”

Notes and citation

Summary: The Arcadians learned letters still later.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.22.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.22 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.18 (Dindorf 1:553–554; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.19Dindorf 1:554

“Ἅτε δὴ τοίνυν οὐδεμιᾶς προβεβλημένης ἀναγραφῆς, ἣ καὶ τοὺς μαθεῖν βουλομένους διδάξειν ἔμελλε καὶ τοὺς ψευδομένους ἐλέγξειν, ἡ πολλὴ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐγένετο διαφωνία τοῖς συγγραφεῦσι.

“Hate dē toinyn oudemias probeblēmenēs anagraphēs, hē kai tous mathein boulomenous didaxein emelle kai tous pseudomenous elenxein, hē pollē pros allēlous egeneto diaphōnia tois syngrapheusi.

“Since, then, no record had been laid down beforehand that would teach those wishing to learn and refute those who lied, the great disagreement among the writers arose.

Notes and citation

Summary: Without records, historians disagreed.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.23.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.23 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.19 (Dindorf 1:554; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-19). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.20Dindorf 1:554

δευτέραν δὲ πρὸς ταύτῃ θετέον ἐκείνην αἰτίαν. οἱ γὰρ ἐπὶ τὸ γράφειν ὁρμήσαντες οὐ περὶ τὴν ἀλή- θειαν ἐσπούδασαν — καίτοι τοῦτο πρόχειρον αὐτοῖς ἐστιν ἀεὶ τὸ ἐπάγγελμα — λόγων δὲ δύναμιν ἐπεδείκνυντο· καὶ καθʼ ὅντινα τρόπον ἐν τούτῳ παρευδοκιμήσειν τοὺς ἄλλους ὑπελάμβανον, κατὰ τοῦτον ἡρμόζοντο, τινὲς μὲν ἐπὶ τὸ μυθολογεῖν τραπόμενοι, τινὲς δὲ πρὸς χάριν ἢ τὰς πόλεις ἢ τοὺς βασιλέας ἐπαινοῦντες· ἄλλοι δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ κατηγορεῖν τῶν πράξεων ἢ τῶν γεγραφότων ἐχώρησαν, εὐδοκιμήσειν ἐν τούτῳ νομίζοντες.

deuteran de pros tautę̄ theteon ekeinēn aitian. hoi gar epi to graphein hormēsantes ou peri tēn alē- theian espoudasan — kaitoi touto procheiron autois estin aei to epangelma — logōn de dynamin epedeiknynto; kai kathʼ hontina tropon en toutǭ pareudokimēsein tous allous hypelambanon, kata touton hērmozonto, tines men epi to mythologein trapomenoi, tines de pros charin ē tas poleis ē tous basileas epainountes; alloi de epi to katēgorein tōn praxeōn ē tōn gegraphotōn echōrēsan, eudokimēsein en toutǭ nomizontes.

Besides this a second cause must be set down. Those who set out to write did not take pains about the truth, although this profession is always ready on their lips, but displayed their power of speech; and in whatever way they supposed they would surpass the others in this, they adapted themselves to it, some turning to fables, some praising cities or kings to win favour, while others went on to find fault with the events or with the historians, thinking to win a reputation that way.

Notes and citation

Summary: Second cause: historians sought eloquence and favour, not truth.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.24–25.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.24–25 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.20 (Dindorf 1:554; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-20). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.21Dindorf 1:554

ὅλως δὲ τὸ πάντων ἐναντιώτατον ἱστορίᾳ πράττοντες διατελοῦσι. τῆς μὲν γὰρ ἀληθοῦς ἐστι τεκμήριον ἱστορίας, εἰ περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ἅπαντες τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ λέγοιεν καὶ γράφοιεν· οἱ δὲ, εἰ μὴ τὰ αὐτὰ γράψειαν ἑτέροις, οὕτως ἐνόμιζον αὐτοὶ φαίνεσθαι πάντων ἀληθέστατοι.”

holōs de to pantōn enantiōtaton historią prattontes diatelousi. tēs men gar alēthous esti tekmērion historias, ei peri tōn autōn hapantes ta auta kai legoien kai graphoien; hoi de, ei mē ta auta grapseian heterois, houtōs enomizon autoi phainesthai pantōn alēthestatoi.”

In short, they go on doing what is most contrary of all to history. For it is a proof of true history if all say and write the same things about the same events; but they thought that if they wrote differently from others, they would themselves appear the most truthful of all.”

Notes and citation

Summary: True history agrees; Greek historians sought difference.

Josephus, Against Apion 1.26.

Extrabiblical texts: Josephus, C. Ap. 1.26 (Josephus (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.21 (Dindorf 1:554; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-21). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.7.22Dindorf 1:554

Τοσαῦτα καὶ ὁ Ἰώσηπος. εἴη δʼ ἂν τῶν εἰρημένων ἐπισφράγισμα καὶ ἡ Διοδώρου μαρτυρία, ἣν ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου τῆς συναχθείσης αὐτῷ Bιβλιοθήκης παραθήσομαι, οὕτως ἔχουσαν πρὸς λέξιν

Tosauta kai ho Iōsēpos. eiē dʼ an tōn eirēmenōn episphragisma kai hē Diodōrou martyria, hēn apo tou prōtou tēs synachtheisēs autǭ Bibliothēkēs parathēsomai, houtōs echousan pros lexin

So much Josephus. The seal on what has been said may be the testimony of Diodorus, which I shall set out from the first book of his Library, word for word as follows:

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius introduces Diodorus’s testimony.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.7.22 (Dindorf 1:554; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-7-22). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Preparation 10, chapter 8

10.8.1Dindorf 1:554–555

“Τούτων δʼ ἡμῖν διευκρινημένων ῥητέον ὅσοι τῶν παρʼ Ἕλλησι δεδοξασμένων ἐπὶ συνέσει καὶ παιδείᾳ παρέβαλον εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἐν τοῖς ἀρχαίοις χρόνοις, ἵνα τῶν ἐνταῦθα νομίμων καὶ παιδείας μετάσχωσιν.

“Toutōn dʼ hēmin dieukrinēmenōn rhēteon hosoi tōn parʼ Hellēsi dedoxasmenōn epi synesei kai paideią parebalon eis Aigypton en tois archaiois chronois, hina tōn entautha nomimōn kai paideias metaschōsin.

“These things having been settled by us, we must state which of those esteemed among the Greeks for understanding and learning visited Egypt in ancient times in order to share in the customs and learning there.

Notes and citation

Summary: Diodorus: Greek sages who visited Egypt.

Diodorus Siculus, Library 1.96.1; the quotation runs through 10.8.16 (with omissions).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): ἔνα τῶν ἐνταῦθα → ἵνα τῶν ἐνταῦθα.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.96.1 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.8.1 (Dindorf 1:554–555; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-8-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.8.2Dindorf 1:555

οἱ γὰρ ἱερεῖς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἱστοροῦσιν ἐκ τῶν ἀναγραφῶν τῶν ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς βίβλοις παραβαλεῖν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς Ὀρφέα τε καὶ Μουσαῖον καὶ Μελάμποδα καὶ Δαίδαλον, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις Ὅμηρόν τε τὸν ποιητὴν καὶ Λυκοῦργον τὸν Σπαρτιάτην, ἔτι δὲ Σόλωνα τὸν Ἀθηναῖον καὶ Πλάτωνα τὸν φιλόσοφον· ἐλθεῖν δὲ καὶ Πυθαγόραν τὸν Σάμιον καὶ τὸν μαθηματικὸν Εὔδοξον, ἔτι δὲ Δημόκριτον τὸν Ἀβδηρίτην καὶ Οἰνοπίδην τὸν Χῖον.

hoi gar hiereis tōn Aigyptiōn historousin ek tōn anagraphōn tōn en tais hierais biblois parabalein pros heautous Orphea te kai Mousaion kai Melampoda kai Daidalon, pros de toutois Homēron te ton poiētēn kai Lykourgon ton Spartiatēn, eti de Solōna ton Athēnaion kai Platōna ton philosophon; elthein de kai Pythagoran ton Samion kai ton mathēmatikon Eudoxon, eti de Dēmokriton ton Abdēritēn kai Oinopidēn ton Chion.

For the priests of the Egyptians relate from the records in their sacred books that Orpheus, Musaeus, Melampus, and Daedalus visited them, and besides these Homer the poet and Lycurgus the Spartan, and also Solon the Athenian and Plato the philosopher; and that Pythagoras of Samos and Eudoxus the mathematician came, as well as Democritus of Abdera and Oenopides of Chios.

Notes and citation

Summary: The Egyptian priests list famous Greek visitors.

Diodorus Siculus, Library 1.96.2.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing slip in the digital text): οἶ γὰρ ἱερεῖς → οἱ γὰρ ἱερεῖς.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.96.2 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.8.2 (Dindorf 1:555; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-8-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.8.3Dindorf 1:555

πάντων δὲ τούτων σημεῖα δεικνύουσι τῶν μὲν εἰκόνας, τῶν δὲ τόπων ἢ κατασκευασμάτων ὁμωνύμους προσηγορίας. ἔκ τε τῆς ἑκάστῳ ζηλωθείσης παιδείας ἀποδείξεις φέρουσι, συνιστάντες ἐξ Αἰγύπτου μετενηνοχέναι πάντα διʼ ὧν παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐθαυμάσθησαν.

pantōn de toutōn sēmeia deiknyousi tōn men eikonas, tōn de topōn ē kataskeuasmatōn homōnymous prosēgorias. ek te tēs hekastǭ zēlōtheisēs paideias apodeixeis pherousi, synistantes ex Aigyptou metenēnochenai panta diʼ hōn para tois Hellēsin ethaumasthēsan.

Of all these they show signs: likenesses of some, and places or buildings named after others. And from the learning each pursued they bring proofs, establishing that they carried over from Egypt everything for which they were admired among the Greeks.

Notes and citation

Summary: The Egyptians show evidence of these visits.

Diodorus Siculus, Library 1.96.3.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.96.3 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.8.3 (Dindorf 1:555; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-8-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.8.4Dindorf 1:555

Ὀρφέα μὲν γὰρ τῶν μυστικῶν τελετῶν τὰ πλεῖστα, καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ πλάνην ὀργιαζόμενα, καὶ τὴν τῶν ἐν Ἅιδου μυθοποιίαν παρʼ Αἰγυπτίων ἀπενέγκασθαι. τὴν μὲν γὰρ Ὀσίριδος τελετὴν τῇ Διονύσου τὴν αὐτὴν εἶναι· τὴν δὲ τῆς Ἴσιδος τῇ τῆς Δήμητρος ὁμοιοτάτην ὑπάρχειν, τῶν ὀνομάτων μόνων ἐνηλλαγμένων· τὰς δὲ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἐν Ἅιδου τιμωρίας, καὶ τοὺς τῶν εὐσεβῶν λειμῶνας, καὶ τὰς παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς εἰδωλοποιίας ἀναπεπλασμένας παρεισαγαγεῖν, μιμησάμενον τὰ περὶ τὰς ταφὰς τὰς κατʼ Αἴγυπτον.

Orphea men gar tōn mystikōn teletōn ta pleista, kai ta peri tēn heautou planēn orgiazomena, kai tēn tōn en Haidou mythopoiian parʼ Aigyptiōn apenenkasthai. tēn men gar Osiridos teletēn tę̄ Dionysou tēn autēn einai; tēn de tēs Isidos tę̄ tēs Dēmētros homoiotatēn hyparchein, tōn onomatōn monōn enēllagmenōn; tas de tōn asebōn en Haidou timōrias, kai tous tōn eusebōn leimōnas, kai tas para tois pollois eidōlopoiias anapeplasmenas pareisagagein, mimēsamenon ta peri tas taphas tas katʼ Aigypton.

For Orpheus brought from the Egyptians most of the mystic rites, the orgies celebrated about his own wandering, and his mythology of those in Hades. The rite of Osiris is the same as that of Dionysus, and that of Isis most like that of Demeter, only the names being exchanged; and the punishments of the impious in Hades, the meadows of the pious, and the fanciful images common among the many he introduced in imitation of the burial customs of Egypt.

Notes and citation

Summary: Orpheus took his mysteries and his picture of Hades from Egypt.

Diodorus Siculus, Library 1.96.4–5.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (words run together in the digital text): ἐνἍιδου → ἐν Ἅιδου.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.96.4–5 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.8.4 (Dindorf 1:555; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-8-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.8.5Dindorf 1:555–556

τὸν μὲν γὰρ ψυχοπομπὸν Ἑρμῆν, κατὰ τὸ παλαιὸν νόμιμον παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις, ἀναγαγόντα τοῦ Ἄπιδος τὸ σῶμα μέχρι τινὸς παραδιδόναι τῷ περικειμένῳ τὴν τοῦ Κερβέρου προτομήν. τοῦ δὲ Ὀρφέως τοῦτο καταδείξαντος παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι τὸν Όμηρον ἀκολούθως τούτῳ θεῖναι κατὰ τὴν ποίησιν, Ἑρμῆς δὲ ψυχὰς Κυλλήνιος ἐξεκαλεῖτο ἀνδρῶν ἡρώων· ἔχε δὲ ῥάβδον μετὰ χερσίν.᾿

ton men gar psychopompon Hermēn, kata to palaion nomimon parʼ Aigyptiois, anagagonta tou Apidos to sōma mechri tinos paradidonai tǭ perikeimenǭ tēn tou Kerberou protomēn. tou de Orpheōs touto katadeixantos para tois Hellēsi ton Omēron akolouthōs toutǭ theinai kata tēn poiēsin, Hermēs de psychas Kyllēnios exekaleito andrōn hērōōn; eche de rhabdon meta chersin.᾿

For Hermes the conductor of souls, according to the ancient custom among the Egyptians, brings up the body of Apis to a certain point and hands it over to one wearing the mask of Cerberus. And when Orpheus had shown this among the Greeks, Homer followed him and put it in his poetry: ‘And Cyllenian Hermes called forth the souls of the heroes; and he held a wand in his hands.’”

Notes and citation

Summary: Homer’s Hermes guiding souls comes from Egyptian funeral practice.

Diodorus Siculus, Library 1.96.6, quoting Homer, Odyssey 24.1–2 (with “heroes” for Homer’s “suitors”).

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.96.6 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation); Homer, Od. 24.1–2 (Homer, Odyssey; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.8.5 (Dindorf 1:555–556; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-8-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.8.6Dindorf 1:556

Εἶτα πάλιν προβὰς ἐπιλέγει ῾᾿Μελάμποδα δέ φασι μετενεγκεῖν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου τὰ Διονύσῳ νομιζόμενα τελεῖσθαι παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι, καὶ τὰ περὶ Κρόνου μυθολογούμενα, καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς Τιτανομαχίας, καὶ τὸ σύνολον τὴν περὶ τὰ πάθη τῶν θεῶν ἱστορίαν.

Eita palin probas epilegei ῾᾿Melampoda de phasi metenenkein ex Aigyptou ta Dionysǭ nomizomena teleisthai para tois Hellēsi, kai ta peri Kronou mythologoumena, kai ta peri tēs Titanomachias, kai to synolon tēn peri ta pathē tōn theōn historian.

Then going on further he adds: “They say that Melampus brought from Egypt the rites customarily performed for Dionysus among the Greeks, the myths about Cronus and about the battle of the Titans, and in general the history of the sufferings of the gods.

Notes and citation

Summary: Melampus brought Dionysian rites and myths from Egypt.

Diodorus Siculus, Library 1.97.4.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.97.4 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.8.6 (Dindorf 1:556; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-8-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.8.7Dindorf 1:556

τὸν δὲ Δαίδαλον λέγουσιν ἀπο- μιμήσασθαι τὴν τοῦ λαβυρίνθου πλοκὴν, τοῦ διαμένοντος μὲν μέχρι τοῦ νῦν καιροῦ, οἰκοδομηθέντος δὲ, ὡς μέν τινές φασιν, ὑπὸ Μένδητος, ὡς δʼ ἔνιοι λέγουσιν, ὑπὸ Μάρου τοῦ βασιλέως, πολλοῖς ἔτεσι πρότερον τῆς Μίνω βασιλείας· τόν τε ῥυθμὸν τῶν ἀρχαίων κατʼ Αἴγυπτον ἀνδριάντων τὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι τοῖς ὑπὸ Δαιδάλου κατασκευασθεῖσι παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι.

ton de Daidalon legousin apo- mimēsasthai tēn tou labyrinthou plokēn, tou diamenontos men mechri tou nyn kairou, oikodomēthentos de, hōs men tines phasin, hypo Mendētos, hōs dʼ enioi legousin, hypo Marou tou basileōs, pollois etesi proteron tēs Minō basileias; ton te rhythmon tōn archaiōn katʼ Aigypton andriantōn ton auton einai tois hypo Daidalou kataskeuastheisi para tois Hellēsi.

They say that Daedalus copied the maze of the labyrinth, which survives to the present time and was built, as some say, by Mendes, or as others say, by King Marrus, many years before the reign of Minos; and that the proportions of the ancient statues in Egypt are the same as those made by Daedalus among the Greeks.

Notes and citation

Summary: Daedalus copied the Egyptian labyrinth and statues.

Diodorus Siculus, Library 1.97.5–6.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.97.5–6 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.8.7 (Dindorf 1:556; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-8-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.8.8Dindorf 1:556

τὸ δὲ κάλλιστον πρόπυλον ἐν Μέμφει τοῦ Ἡφαίστου Δαίδαλον ἀρχιτεκτονῆσαι, καὶ θαυμασθέντα τυχεῖν εἰκόνος ξυλίνης κατὰ τὸ προειρημένον ἱερὸν, ταῖς ἰδίαις χερσὶ δεδημιουργημένης· πέρας δὲ, διὰ τὴν εὐφυΐαν ἀξιωθέντα μεγάλης δόξης, καὶ πολλὰ προσεξευρόντα, τυχεῖν ἰσοθέων τιμῶν. κατὰ γὰρ μίαν τῶν πρὸς τῇ Μέμφει νήσων ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἱερὸν εἶναι Δαιδάλου τιμώμενον ὑπὸ τῶν ἐγχωρίων.

to de kalliston propylon en Memphei tou Hēphaistou Daidalon architektonēsai, kai thaumasthenta tychein eikonos xylinēs kata to proeirēmenon hieron, tais idiais chersi dedēmiourgēmenēs; peras de, dia tēn euphyïan axiōthenta megalēs doxēs, kai polla prosexeuronta, tychein isotheōn timōn. kata gar mian tōn pros tę̄ Memphei nēsōn eti kai nyn hieron einai Daidalou timōmenon hypo tōn enchōriōn.

And that Daedalus designed the very beautiful gateway of the temple of Hephaestus at Memphis, and, being admired, was granted a wooden statue of himself in that temple, made with his own hands; and finally, judged worthy of great fame for his genius and having invented much besides, he received honours equal to the gods. For on one of the islands near Memphis there is still a shrine of Daedalus honoured by the inhabitants.

Notes and citation

Summary: Daedalus worked in Memphis and was honoured there.

Diodorus Siculus, Library 1.97.6.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.97.6 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.8.8 (Dindorf 1:556; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-8-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.8.9Dindorf 1:556

τῆς δʼ Ὁμήρου παρουσίας ἄλλα τε σημεῖα φέρουσι καὶ μάλιστα τὴν τῆς Ἑλένης γενομένην παρὰ Μενελάῳ Τηλεμάχῳ φαρμακείαν καὶ λήθην τῶν συμβεβηκό- των κακῶν.

tēs dʼ Homērou parousias alla te sēmeia pherousi kai malista tēn tēs Helenēs genomenēn para Menelaǭ Tēlemachǭ pharmakeian kai lēthēn tōn symbebēko- tōn kakōn.

Of Homer’s visit they bring forward other signs, and especially the drug given by Helen to Telemachus at Menelaus’s house, and the forgetting of the evils that had happened.

Notes and citation

Summary: Helen’s drug in Homer shows Homer knew Egypt.

Diodorus Siculus, Library 1.97.7; Homer, Odyssey 4.219–232.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.97.7 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation); Homer, Od. 4.219–232 (Homer, Odyssey; allusion)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.8.9 (Dindorf 1:556; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-8-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.8.10Dindorf 1:556

τὸ γὰρ νηπενθὲς φάρμακον, ὃ λαβεῖν φησιν ὁ ποιητὴς τὴν Ἑλένην ἐκ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων παρὰ τῆς Πολυδάμνης, τῆς Θῶνος γυναικὸς, ἀκριβῶς ἐξητακὼς φαίνεται.

to gar nēpenthes pharmakon, ho labein phēsin ho poiētēs tēn Helenēn ek tōn Aigyptiōn para tēs Polydamnēs, tēs Thōnos gynaikos, akribōs exētakōs phainetai.

For the poet evidently had accurately investigated the drug that banishes grief, which he says Helen received in Egypt from Polydamna, the wife of Thon.

Notes and citation

Summary: Homer knew the Egyptian origin of the drug.

Diodorus Siculus, Library 1.97.7.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.97.7 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.8.10 (Dindorf 1:556; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-8-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.8.11Dindorf 1:556–557

ἔτι γὰρ καὶ νῦν τὰς ἐν ταύτῃ γυναῖκας χρῆσθαι τῇ προειρημένῃ δυνάμει λέγουσι, καὶ παρὰ μόναις ταῖς Διοσπολίτισιν ἐκ πα- λαιῶν χρόνων ὀργῆς καὶ λύπης φάρμακον εὑρῆσθαί φασι· τὰς δὲ Θήβας καὶ Διόσπολιν τὴν αὐτὴν ὑπάρχειν· τήν τε Ἀφροδίτην ὀνομάζεσθαι παρὰ τοῖς ἐγχωρίοις χρυσῆν ἐκ παλαιᾶς παραδόσεως· καὶ πεδίον εἶναι· καλούμενον χρυσῆς Ἀφροδίτης περὶ τὴν ὀνομαζομένην Μώμεμφιν.

eti gar kai nyn tas en tautę̄ gynaikas chrēsthai tę̄ proeirēmenę̄ dynamei legousi, kai para monais tais Diospolitisin ek pa- laiōn chronōn orgēs kai lypēs pharmakon heurēsthai phasi; tas de Thēbas kai Diospolin tēn autēn hyparchein; tēn te Aphroditēn onomazesthai para tois enchōriois chrysēn ek palaias paradoseōs; kai pedion einai; kaloumenon chrysēs Aphroditēs peri tēn onomazomenēn Mōmemphin.

For they say the women there still use this power, and that from ancient times a remedy for anger and grief has been found among the women of Diospolis alone; and that Thebes and Diospolis are the same; and that by ancient tradition Aphrodite is called “golden” by the natives, and there is a plain called “of golden Aphrodite” near the place named Momemphis.

Notes and citation

Summary: Egyptian women still use the drug; “golden Aphrodite” is Egyptian too.

Diodorus Siculus, Library 1.97.7–8.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent slip in the digital text): ἐκ παλαιὰς παραδόσεως → ἐκ παλαιᾶς παραδόσεως.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.97.7–8 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.8.11 (Dindorf 1:556–557; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-8-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.8.12Dindorf 1:557

τά τε περὶ τὸν Δία καὶ τὴν Ἥραν μυθολογούμενα περὶ τῆς συνουσίας καὶ τὴν εἰς Αἰθιοπίαν ἐκδημίαν ἐκεῖθεν αὐτὸν μετενεγκεῖν. κατʼ ἐνιαυτὸν γὰρ παρὰ τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις τὸν νεὼν τοῦ Δῖός περαιοῦσθαι τὸν ποταμὸν εἰς τὴν Λιβύην, καὶ μεθʼ ἡμέρας τινὰς πάλιν ἐπιστρέφειν, ὡς ἐξ Αἰθιοπίας τοῦ θεοῦ παρόντος. τήν τε συνουσίαν τῶν θεῶν τούτων, ἐν ταῖς πανηγύρεσι τῶν ναῶν ἀνακομιζομένων ἀμφοτέρων εἰς ὄρος ἄνθεσι παντοίοις ὑπὸ τῶν ἱερέων κατεστεμμένον.’

ta te peri ton Dia kai tēn Hēran mythologoumena peri tēs synousias kai tēn eis Aithiopian ekdēmian ekeithen auton metenenkein. katʼ eniauton gar para tois Aigyptiois ton neōn tou Dios peraiousthai ton potamon eis tēn Libyēn, kai methʼ hēmeras tinas palin epistrephein, hōs ex Aithiopias tou theou parontos. tēn te synousian tōn theōn toutōn, en tais panēgyresi tōn naōn anakomizomenōn amphoterōn eis oros anthesi pantoiois hypo tōn hiereōn katestemmenon.’

And he took from there the myths about Zeus and Hera’s union and his journey to Ethiopia. For every year among the Egyptians the shrine of Zeus is carried across the river into Libya and after some days brought back again, as though the god had come from Ethiopia; and the union of these gods is shown when at the festivals both shrines are carried up a mountain decked by the priests with flowers of every kind.

Notes and citation

Summary: Homer’s stories of Zeus and Hera come from Egyptian rites.

Diodorus Siculus, Library 1.97.9.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): τὴν Πρὰν → τὴν Ἥραν.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.97.9 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.8.12 (Dindorf 1:557; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-8-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.8.13Dindorf 1:557

Καὶ Λυκοῦργον δὲ καὶ Πλάτωνα καὶ Σόλωνα πολλὰ τῶν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου νομίμων εἰς τὰς ἑαυτῶν κατατάξαι νομοθεσίας, Πυθαγόραν τε τὰ κατὰ τὸν ἱερὸν λόγον, καὶ τὰ κατὰ γεωμετρίαν θεωρήματα, καὶ τὰ περὶ τοὺς ἀριθμοὺς, ἔτι δὲ τὴν εἰς πᾶν ζῷον τῆς ψυχῆς μεταβολὴν μαθεῖν παρʼ Αἰγυπτίων.

Kai Lykourgon de kai Platōna kai Solōna polla tōn ex Aigyptou nomimōn eis tas heautōn katataxai nomothesias, Pythagoran te ta kata ton hieron logon, kai ta kata geōmetrian theōrēmata, kai ta peri tous arithmous, eti de tēn eis pan zǭon tēs psychēs metabolēn mathein parʼ Aigyptiōn.

And that Lycurgus, Plato, and Solon put many Egyptian customs into their own legislation; and that Pythagoras learned from the Egyptians the doctrines of his sacred discourse, the theorems of geometry, the theory of numbers, and also the transmigration of the soul into every living creature.

Notes and citation

Summary: Lawgivers and Pythagoras took their teachings from Egypt.

Diodorus Siculus, Library 1.98.1–2.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): ἑαυτῶυ → ἑαυτῶν.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.98.1–2 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.8.13 (Dindorf 1:557; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-8-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.8.14Dindorf 1:557

ὑπολαμβάνουσι δὲ καὶ Δημόκριτον παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἔτη διατρῖψαι πέντε καὶ πολλὰ διδαχθῆναι τῶν κατὰ ἀστρολογίαν· τόν τε Οἰνοπίδην ὁμοίως συνδιατρίψαντα τοῖς ἱερεῦσι καὶ ἀστρολόγοις μαθεῖν ἄλλα τε καὶ μάλιστα τὸν ἡλιακὸν κύκλον, ὡς λοξὴν μὲν ἔχει τὴν πορείαν, ἐναντίαν δὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἄστροις τὴν φορὰν ποιεῖται.

hypolambanousi de kai Dēmokriton parʼ autois etē diatripsai pente kai polla didachthēnai tōn kata astrologian; ton te Oinopidēn homoiōs syndiatripsanta tois hiereusi kai astrologois mathein alla te kai malista ton hēliakon kyklon, hōs loxēn men echei tēn poreian, enantian de tois allois astrois tēn phoran poieitai.

They suppose that Democritus too spent five years among them and was taught much of astronomy; and that Oenopides, who likewise spent time with the priests and astronomers, learned among other things especially that the sun’s circle has an oblique course and moves in the direction opposite to the other stars.

Notes and citation

Summary: Democritus and Oenopides learned astronomy in Egypt.

Diodorus Siculus, Library 1.98.3.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.98.3 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.8.14 (Dindorf 1:557; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-8-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.8.15Dindorf 1:557

παραπλησίως δὲ καὶ τὸν Εὔδοξον ἀστρολογήσαντα παρʼ αὐτοῖς καὶ πολλὰ τῶν χρησίμων εἰς τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐκδόντα τυχεῖν ἀξιολόγου δόξης.

paraplēsiōs de kai ton Eudoxon astrologēsanta parʼ autois kai polla tōn chrēsimōn eis tous Hellēnas ekdonta tychein axiologou doxēs.

Similarly Eudoxus, having studied astronomy among them and published much that was useful to the Greeks, gained notable fame.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eudoxus gained fame from Egyptian astronomy.

Diodorus Siculus, Library 1.98.4.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.98.4 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.8.15 (Dindorf 1:557; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-8-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.8.16Dindorf 1:557–558

πάντων δὲ τῶν παλαιῶν ἀγαλματοποιῶν τοὺς μάλιστα διωνομασμένους διατετριφέναι παρʼ αὐτοῖς, Τηλεκλέα καὶ Θεόδωρον, τοὺς ῾Ροίκου μὲν υἱοὺς, κατασκευάσαντας δὲ τοῖς Σαμίοις τὸ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος τοῦ Πυθίου ξόανον.”

pantōn de tōn palaiōn agalmatopoiōn tous malista diōnomasmenous diatetriphenai parʼ autois, Tēleklea kai Theodōron, tous ῾Roikou men huious, kataskeuasantas de tois Samiois to tou Apollōnos tou Pythiou xoanon.”

And of all the ancient sculptors the most famous, Telecles and Theodorus, the sons of Rhoecus, who made for the Samians the statue of Pythian Apollo, spent time among them.”

Notes and citation

Summary: The famous sculptors also studied in Egypt.

Diodorus Siculus, Library 1.98.5.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.98.5 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.8.16 (Dindorf 1:557–558; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-8-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.8.17Dindorf 1:558

Τοσαῦτα δὲ καὶ Διόδωρος. ἀλλʼ οὗτος μὲν ὁ λόγος ὧδέ πως ἀποδεδειγμένος ἐνταῦθά μοι εἰληφέτω τέλος. οὐ δεῖ δὴ λοιπὸν ἀλογίας ἡμῶν κατηγορεῖν, εἰ δὴ τοὺς τῶν σοφῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ αὐτῶν γε τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῖς φιλοσόφων διδασκάλους, τοὺς βαρβάρους λέγω, πόθῳ τῆς ἀληθοῦς εὐσεβείας καὶ αὐτοὶ μετήλθομεν, εἴ γε βάρβαροι Ἑβραῖοι.

Tosauta de kai Diodōros. allʼ houtos men ho logos hōde pōs apodedeigmenos entautha moi eilēphetō telos. ou dei dē loipon alogias hēmōn katēgorein, ei dē tous tōn sophōn Hellēnōn kai autōn ge tōn parʼ autois philosophōn didaskalous, tous barbarous legō, pothǭ tēs alēthous eusebeias kai autoi metēlthomen, ei ge barbaroi Hebraioi.

So much Diodorus too. But let this argument, thus proved, end here. No one should accuse us any longer of unreason if we too, from longing for true piety, have gone over to the teachers of the wise Greeks and of their very philosophers, I mean the barbarians, since the Hebrews are barbarians.

Notes and citation

Summary: Christians follow the barbarians who taught the Greeks; the Hebrews are such barbarians.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.8.17 (Dindorf 1:558; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-8-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.8.18Dindorf 1:558

ὧν τοὺς χρόνους, καθʼ οὓς ἤκμασαν Μωσῆς τε καὶ οἱ μετὰ Μωσέα προφῆται, εὖ ἂν ἔχοι διελθεῖν, ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῦτʼ ἂν εἴη ἕν τι τῶν μάλιστα συνεκτικωτάτων τῇ προκειμένῃ πραγματείᾳ, τὸ μέλλοντας τῶν παρὰ τοῖς ἀνδράσι λογίων ἐφάπτεσθαι προδιαλαβεῖν περὶ τῆς ἀρχαιότητος αὐτῶν, ἵνʼ, εἰ φανεῖεν τοῖς Ἑβραίων προφήταις τε καὶ θεολόγοις οἱ παρʼ Ἕλλησιν ὁμοδοξοῦντες, μηκέτʼ ἀμφιβάλλοις τίνας ἦν εἰκὸς τὰ παρὰ τίνων ἀναλέξασθαι, πότερα τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους τὰ τῶν νέων, Ἑβραίους τε τὰ Ἑλλήνων, καὶ βαρβάρους τὰ φιλοσόφων, ὧν οὐδὲ τῆς γλώσσης εἰκὸς ἐπαΐειν· ἢ, ὅπερ καὶ μᾶλλον εἰκὸς, τοὺς νέους τὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων, καὶ τοὺς τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν ἐθνῶν περιειργασμένους Ἓλληνας καὶ τὰ Ἑβραίων μὴ ἀγνοῆσαι, ἀρχῆθεν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα φωνὴν μεταβεβλημένα.

hōn tous chronous, kathʼ hous ēkmasan Mōsēs te kai hoi meta Mōsea prophētai, eu an echoi dielthein, epei kai toutʼ an eiē hen ti tōn malista synektikōtatōn tę̄ prokeimenę̄ pragmateią, to mellontas tōn para tois andrasi logiōn ephaptesthai prodialabein peri tēs archaiotētos autōn, hinʼ, ei phaneien tois Hebraiōn prophētais te kai theologois hoi parʼ Hellēsin homodoxountes, mēketʼ amphiballois tinas ēn eikos ta para tinōn analexasthai, potera tous presbyterous ta tōn neōn, Hebraious te ta Hellēnōn, kai barbarous ta philosophōn, hōn oude tēs glōssēs eikos epaïein; ē, hoper kai mallon eikos, tous neous ta tōn presbyterōn, kai tous ta pleista tōn ethnōn perieirgasmenous Hellēnas kai ta Hebraiōn mē agnoēsai, archēthen epi tēn Hellada phōnēn metabeblēmena.

It would be well to go through the times at which Moses and the prophets after Moses flourished, since this too would be one of the most essential points for the present work: before touching their oracles, to settle first their antiquity. Then, if those among the Greeks are seen to agree with the prophets and theologians of the Hebrews, you would no longer doubt who probably gathered what from whom: whether the elder took from the younger, Hebrews from Greeks and barbarians from philosophers whose language they probably did not even understand; or, what is much more likely, the younger from the elder, and the Greeks, who had busily explored most of the nations, were not ignorant of the Hebrews’ writings either, which had been translated into the Greek language from early on.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius turns to the antiquity of Moses and the prophets to show who borrowed from whom.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.8.18 (Dindorf 1:558; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-8-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Preparation 10, chapter 9

10.9.1Dindorf 1:558

Μωσέως πέρι καὶ τῆς τῶν μετʼ αὐτὸν προφητῶν ἀρχαιότητος πλεῖστοι μὲν ἄλλοι διὰ σπουδῆς τὴν ἀπόδειξιν ἐν οἰκείοις καταβέβληνται συγγράμμασιν, ἀφʼ ὧν αὐτίκα μάλα σμικρὰ ἄττα παραθήσομαι.

Mōseōs peri kai tēs tōn metʼ auton prophētōn archaiotētos pleistoi men alloi dia spoudēs tēn apodeixin en oikeiois katabeblēntai syngrammasin, aphʼ hōn autika mala smikra atta parathēsomai.

On Moses and the antiquity of the prophets after him very many others have earnestly set down the proof in their own writings, from which I shall shortly set out a few small extracts.

Notes and citation

Summary: Others have proved the antiquity of Moses; Eusebius will quote them.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.1 (Dindorf 1:558; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.2Dindorf 1:558–559

κἀγὼ δὲ καινοτέραν παρὰ τοὺς εἰρημένους ὁδεύσας ταύτῃ χρήσομαι τῇ μεθόδῳ. συντρεχόντων ὁμολογουμένως τῶν χρόνων Αὐγούστου Ῥωμαίων αὐτοκράτορος καὶ τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν γενέσεως, ἀρχήν τε τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς διδασκαλίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ ποιησαμένου κατὰ τὸ πεντεκαιδέκατον ἔτος Τιβερίου Καίσαρος, εἴ τις ἀπὸ τούτου συναγαγεῖν ἐθέλοι τὸν τῶν ἐτῶν ἀριθμὸν, προιὼν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀνωτέρω χρόνους, τοὺς μέχρι Δαρείου τοῦ Περσῶν βασιλέως, καὶ τῆς κατʼ αὐτὸν ἀνανεώσεως τοῦ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις νεὼ, ἣ γέγονε μετὰ τὴν ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος ἐπάνοδον τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους, εὕροι ἂν ἀπὸ Τιβερίου ἐπὶ τὸ δεύτερον ἔτος Δαρείου ἔτη φμή.

kagō de kainoteran para tous eirēmenous hodeusas tautę̄ chrēsomai tę̄ methodǭ. syntrechontōn homologoumenōs tōn chronōn Augoustou Rhōmaiōn autokratoros kai tēs tou sōtēros hēmōn geneseōs, archēn te tēs euangelikēs didaskalias tou Christou poiēsamenou kata to pentekaidekaton etos Tiberiou Kaisaros, ei tis apo toutou synagagein etheloi ton tōn etōn arithmon, proiōn epi tous anōterō chronous, tous mechri Dareiou tou Persōn basileōs, kai tēs katʼ auton ananeōseōs tou en Hierosolymois neō, hē gegone meta tēn apo Babylōnos epanodon tou Ioudaiōn ethnous, heuroi an apo Tiberiou epi to deuteron etos Dareiou etē phmē.

I too, travelling a newer road than those writers, shall use this method. Since it is agreed that the times of Augustus, emperor of the Romans, and the birth of our Saviour coincide, and that Christ began the teaching of the gospel in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, if anyone wishes to reckon the number of years from this point, going back to the earlier times as far as Darius king of the Persians and the rebuilding in his reign of the temple in Jerusalem, which took place after the return of the Jewish nation from Babylon, he would find 548 years from Tiberius to the second year of Darius.

Luke 3:1 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: From the fifteenth year of Tiberius back to the second year of Darius is 548 years.

Luke 3:1 dates the start of John’s (and so Christ’s) ministry to Tiberius’s fifteenth year.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.2 (Dindorf 1:558–559; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.3Dindorf 1:559

Δαρείου μὲν γὰρ τὸ δεύτερον κατὰ τὸ πρῶτον ἔτος τῆς ξέ Ὀλυμπιάδος καταντᾷ, Τιβερίου δὲ τὸ πεντεκαιδέκατον τῆς Ῥωμαίων βασιλείας κατὰ τὸ δʼ τῆς σὰ Ὀλυμπιάδος συμπίπτει.

Dareiou men gar to deuteron kata to prōton etos tēs xe Olympiados katantą, Tiberiou de to pentekaidekaton tēs Rhōmaiōn basileias kata to dʼ tēs sa Olympiados sympiptei.

For the second year of Darius falls in the first year of the 65th Olympiad, and the fifteenth year of Tiberius’s reign over the Romans coincides with the fourth year of the 201st Olympiad.

Notes and citation

Summary: The dates in Olympiads.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.3 (Dindorf 1:559; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.4Dindorf 1:559

γίνονται τοίνυν αἱ μεταξὺ Δαρείου τοῦ Περσοῦ καὶ Τιβερίου τοῦ Ῥωμαίων βασιλέως Ὀλυμπιάδες ρλζ΄, αἳ συνάγουσι χρόνον ἐτῶν φμή, τετραετίας τῇ Ὀλυμπιάδι λογιζομένης.

ginontai toinyn hai metaxy Dareiou tou Persou kai Tiberiou tou Rhōmaiōn basileōs Olympiades rlz΄, hai synagousi chronon etōn phmē, tetraetias tę̄ Olympiadi logizomenēs.

So between Darius the Persian and Tiberius emperor of the Romans there are 137 Olympiads, which make a total of 548 years, reckoning four years to an Olympiad.

Notes and citation

Summary: 137 Olympiads make 548 years.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.4 (Dindorf 1:559; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.5Dindorf 1:559

ἐπεὶ δὲ κατὰ τὸ δεύτερον ἔτος Δαρείου τὸ ἑβδομηκοστὸν ὑπῆρχε τῆς ἐρημίας τοῦ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις νεὼ, καθὼς τὰ τῆς ἱστορίας παρίστησι, κἀντεῦθεν πάλιν ἀνατρεχόντων ἀπὸ μὲν τοῦ δευτέρου ἔτους Δαρείου ἐπὶ τὴν πρώτην Ὀλυμπιάδα ἔτη συνάγοιτʼ ἂν σνςʼ, Ὀλυμπιάδες ξδʼ· τοσαῦτα δʼ ἂν εὕροις τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὑστάτου ἔτους τῆς ἐρημίας τοῦ δηλωθέντος ἱεροῦ ἐπὶ τὸ ’ν ἔτος Ὀζίου τοῦ τῶν Ἰουδαίων βασιλέως ἀνιὼν, καθʼ ὃν ἐπροφήτευον Ἠσαίας καὶ Ὠσηὲ, ὅσοι τε τούτοις γεγόνασι σύγχρονοι, ὥστʼ εἶναι τὴν πρώτην καθʼ Ἕλληνας Ὀλυμπιάδα σύνδρομον Ἡσαΐᾳ τῷ προφήτῃ καὶ τοῖς τούτῳ συγχρόνοις.

epei de kata to deuteron etos Dareiou to hebdomēkoston hypērche tēs erēmias tou en Hierosolymois neō, kathōs ta tēs historias paristēsi, kanteuthen palin anatrechontōn apo men tou deuterou etous Dareiou epi tēn prōtēn Olympiada etē synagoitʼ an snsʼ, Olympiades xdʼ; tosauta dʼ an heurois ta apo tou hystatou etous tēs erēmias tou dēlōthentos hierou epi to ’n etos Oziou tou tōn Ioudaiōn basileōs aniōn, kathʼ hon eprophēteuon Ēsaias kai Ōsēe, hosoi te toutois gegonasi synchronoi, hōstʼ einai tēn prōtēn kathʼ Hellēnas Olympiada syndromon Hēsaïą tǭ prophētę̄ kai tois toutǭ synchronois.

And since the second year of Darius was the seventieth of the desolation of the temple in Jerusalem, as the history shows, if we run back again from there, from the second year of Darius to the first Olympiad would be 256 years, or 64 Olympiads; and you would find as many going back from the last year of the desolation of the said temple to the fiftieth year of Uzziah king of the Jews, in whose time Isaiah and Hosea prophesied, and those who were their contemporaries; so that the first Olympiad of the Greeks falls in the time of Isaiah the prophet and his contemporaries.

Zech 1:12 (allusion, low confidence) · Isa 1:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · Hos 1:1 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The first Olympiad coincides with Isaiah and Hosea in the reign of Uzziah.

On the seventy years of desolation, compare Zech 1:12 and Jer 25:11; on Isaiah and Hosea under Uzziah, Isa 1:1 and Hos 1:1.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (syllables repeated across a line in the digital text; word repeated in the digital text): ἱστορίας ἱστορίας → ἱστορίας; Δαρείου ρείου → Δαρείου.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.5 (Dindorf 1:559; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.6Dindorf 1:559–560

πάλιν δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης Ὀλυμπιάδος ἐπὶ τοὺς ἔμπροσθεν ἀνιὼν χρόνους μέχρι τῆς Ἰλίου ἁλώσεως εὑρήσεις ἔτη συγκεφαλαιούμενα υη΄, ὡς αἱ παρʼ Ἕλλησι τῶν χρόνων ἀναγραφαὶ περιέχουσι.

palin de apo tēs prōtēs Olympiados epi tous emprosthen aniōn chronous mechri tēs Iliou halōseōs heurēseis etē synkephalaioumena yē΄, hōs hai parʼ Hellēsi tōn chronōn anagraphai periechousi.

Again, going back from the first Olympiad to the earlier times as far as the capture of Troy, you will find a total of 408 years, as the Greek chronological records contain.

Notes and citation

Summary: From the fall of Troy to the first Olympiad is 408 years.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.6 (Dindorf 1:559–560; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.7Dindorf 1:560

καὶ καθʼ Ἑβραίους ἀπὸ πεντηκοστοῦ ἔτους Ὀζίου τοῦ Ἰουδαίων βασιλέως ἀνιὼν ἐπὶ τὸ τρίτον ἔτος Λαβδὼν παρʼ Ἑβραίοις γενομένου κριτοῦ τὸν ἴσον συνάξεις ἀριθμὸν ἐτῶν υη΄· ὥστʼ εἶναι τὴν Ἰλίου ἅλωσιν κατὰ τοὺς Λαβδὼν τοῦ κριτοῦ χρόνους, ἑπτὰ ἔτεσι πρότερον ἢ Σαμψὼν ἄρξαι Ἑβραίων, ὃν κατὰ τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἀλκὴν ἀνυπόστατον γενέσθαι φασὶν, ἐοικότα τῷ βοωμένῳ παρʼ Ἓλλησιν Ἡρακλεῖ.

kai kathʼ Hebraious apo pentēkostou etous Oziou tou Ioudaiōn basileōs aniōn epi to triton etos Labdōn parʼ Hebraiois genomenou kritou ton ison synaxeis arithmon etōn yē΄; hōstʼ einai tēn Iliou halōsin kata tous Labdōn tou kritou chronous, hepta etesi proteron ē Sampsōn arxai Hebraiōn, hon kata tēn tou sōmatos alkēn anypostaton genesthai phasin, eoikota tǭ boōmenǭ parʼ Hellēsin Hēraklei.

And according to the Hebrews, going back from the fiftieth year of Uzziah king of the Jews to the third year of Labdon, who was a judge among the Hebrews, you will reckon the same number of years, 408; so that the capture of Troy falls in the time of Labdon the judge, seven years before Samson ruled the Hebrews, who, they say, was irresistible in bodily strength, like the celebrated Heracles of the Greeks.

Judg 12:13 (allusion, medium confidence) · Judg 15:20 (allusion, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The fall of Troy falls in the time of the judge Abdon, shortly before Samson.

Labdon is Abdon (Judg 12:13–15); Samson, Judg 13–16.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.7 (Dindorf 1:560; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.8Dindorf 1:560

καὶ ἐντεῦθεν δὲ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀνωτέρω βαδίζων, σαυτῷ τε συναγαγὼν ἀριθμὸν ἐτῶν υ΄, εὕροις ἂν κατὰ μὲν Ἑβραίους Μωσέα, κατὰ δὲ Ἕλληνας Κέκροπα τὸν γηγενῆ.

kai enteuthen de epi tous anōterō badizōn, sautǭ te synagagōn arithmon etōn y΄, heurois an kata men Hebraious Mōsea, kata de Hellēnas Kekropa ton gēgenē.

And going on from there to earlier times, and reckoning for yourself a number of 400 years, you would find Moses among the Hebrews and Cecrops the earth-born among the Greeks.

Notes and citation

Summary: Four hundred years earlier, Moses and Cecrops are contemporaries.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.8 (Dindorf 1:560; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.9Dindorf 1:560

κατώτερα δὲ τῶν Κέκροπος ἱστορεῖται χρόνων τὰ παρʼ Ἕλλησι θαυμαζόμενα. γίνεται γὰρ μετὰ Κέκροπα ὁ κατὰ Δευκαλίωνα κατακλυσμὸς, καὶ ἡ ἐπὶ Φαέθοντος ἐκπύρωσις, Ἐριχθονίου τε γένεσις, Κόρης τε ἁρπαγὴ, καὶ Δήμητρος μυστήρια, Ἐλευσινίων ἵδρυσις, Τριπτολέμου γεωργία, Εὐρώπης ὑπὸ Διὸς ἁρπαγὴ, Ἀπόλλωνος γένεσις, Κάδμου ἐπὶ Θήβας παρουσία, καὶ ἔτι τούτων νεώτεροι Διόνυσος, Μίνως, Περσεὺς, Ἀσκληπιὸς, Διόσκουροι, Ἡρακλῆς.

katōtera de tōn Kekropos historeitai chronōn ta parʼ Hellēsi thaumazomena. ginetai gar meta Kekropa ho kata Deukaliōna kataklysmos, kai hē epi Phaethontos ekpyrōsis, Erichthoniou te genesis, Korēs te harpagē, kai Dēmētros mystēria, Eleusiniōn hidrysis, Triptolemou geōrgia, Eurōpēs hypo Dios harpagē, Apollōnos genesis, Kadmou epi Thēbas parousia, kai eti toutōn neōteroi Dionysos, Minōs, Perseus, Asklēpios, Dioskouroi, Hēraklēs.

The things admired among the Greeks are recorded as later than the times of Cecrops. For after Cecrops came the flood in the time of Deucalion, the conflagration in the time of Phaethon, the birth of Erichthonius, the rape of Kore, the mysteries of Demeter, the founding of the Eleusinian rites, the farming of Triptolemus, the carrying off of Europa by Zeus, the birth of Apollo, the arrival of Cadmus at Thebes; and later still Dionysus, Minos, Perseus, Asclepius, the Dioscuri, and Heracles.

Notes and citation

Summary: The famous events of Greek myth all come after Cecrops.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.9 (Dindorf 1:560; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.10Dindorf 1:560–561

τούτων δʼ ἁπάντων πρεσβύτερος γεγονὼς συνίσταται Μωσῆς, ὡς ἂν κατὰ Κέκροπα τὴν ἡλικίαν ἀκμάσας. ἀπὸ δὲ Μωσέως πάλιν ἀνιὼν ἐπὶ τὸ πρῶτον ἔτος ζωῆς Ἁβραὰμ εὑρήσεις ἔτη φε΄. τοσαῦτα δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ δηλωθέντος ἔτους τῆς Κέκροπος βασιλείας τὸν ἀνωτέρω χρόνον ἀπαριθμούμενος ἐπὶ Νίνον ἥξεις τὸν Ἀσσύριον, ὃν πρῶτόν φασιν ἁπάσης τῆς Ἀσίας πλὴν Ἰνδῶν κεκρατηκέναι· οὗ Νίνος ἐπώνυμος πόλις, ἣ Νινευὶ παρʼ Ἑβραίοις ὠνόμασται, καθʼ ὃν Ζωροάστρης ὁ μάγος Βακτρίων ἐβασίλευσε. Νίνου δὲ γυνὴ καὶ διάδοχος τῆς βασιλείας Σεμίραμις· ὥστʼ εἶναι τὸν Ἁβραὰμ κατὰ τούτους.

toutōn dʼ hapantōn presbyteros gegonōs synistatai Mōsēs, hōs an kata Kekropa tēn hēlikian akmasas. apo de Mōseōs palin aniōn epi to prōton etos zōēs Habraam heurēseis etē phe΄. tosauta de apo tou dēlōthentos etous tēs Kekropos basileias ton anōterō chronon aparithmoumenos epi Ninon hēxeis ton Assyrion, hon prōton phasin hapasēs tēs Asias plēn Indōn kekratēkenai; hou Ninos epōnymos polis, hē Nineui parʼ Hebraiois ōnomastai, kathʼ hon Zōroastrēs ho magos Baktriōn ebasileuse. Ninou de gynē kai diadochos tēs basileias Semiramis; hōstʼ einai ton Habraam kata toutous.

Moses is shown to be older than all these, since he flourished in the age of Cecrops. And going back again from Moses to the first year of Abraham’s life, you will find 505 years. Counting as many years back from the said year of Cecrops’ reign, you will come to Ninus the Assyrian, who they say was the first to rule all Asia except the Indians; after him the city Ninus was named, which among the Hebrews is called Nineveh; in his time Zoroaster the magus reigned over the Bactrians. The wife of Ninus and successor to his kingdom was Semiramis; so that Abraham lived in their time.

Notes and citation

Summary: Abraham was contemporary with Ninus and Semiramis, 505 years before Moses.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent slip in the digital text): τὸν Ἁβραάμ κατὰ → τὸν Ἁβραὰμ κατὰ.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.10 (Dindorf 1:560–561; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.11Dindorf 1:561

Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἀποδεικτικῶς ἐν τοῖς πονηθεῖσιν ἡμῖν Χρονικοῖς Κανόσιν οὕτως ἔχοντα συνέστη. ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ παρόντος πρὸς τοῖς εἰρημένοις μάρτυρι τῆς Μωσέως ἀρχαιότητος χρήσομαι τῷ πάντων δυσμενεστάτῳ καὶ πολεμιωτάτῳ Ἑβραίων τε καὶ ἡμῶν, φημὶ δὲ τῷ καθʼ ἡμᾶς φιλοσόφῳ, ὃς τὴν καθʼ ἡμῶν συσκευὴν ὑπερβολῇ μίσους προβεβλημένος οὐ μόνους ἡμᾶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἑβραίους, αὐτόν τε Μωσέα καὶ τοὺς μετʼ αὐτὸν προφήτας ταῖς ἴσαις ὑπηγάγετο δυσφημίαις. οὕτω γὰρ διὰ τῆς τῶν ἐχθρῶν ὁμολογίας ἀναμφηρίστως ἡγοῦμαι τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν πιστώσασθαι.

Tauta men oun apodeiktikōs en tois ponētheisin hēmin Chronikois Kanosin houtōs echonta synestē. epi de tou parontos pros tois eirēmenois martyri tēs Mōseōs archaiotētos chrēsomai tǭ pantōn dysmenestatǭ kai polemiōtatǭ Hebraiōn te kai hēmōn, phēmi de tǭ kathʼ hēmas philosophǭ, hos tēn kathʼ hēmōn syskeuēn hyperbolę̄ misous probeblēmenos ou monous hēmas, alla kai Hebraious, auton te Mōsea kai tous metʼ auton prophētas tais isais hypēgageto dysphēmiais. houtō gar dia tēs tōn echthrōn homologias anamphēristōs hēgoumai tēn epangelian pistōsasthai.

These things were established with proof, as they stand, in the Chronological Canons on which we laboured. For the present, in addition to what has been said, I shall use as a witness to the antiquity of Moses the most hostile and bitter enemy of all, both of the Hebrews and of us: I mean the philosopher of our own day, who, putting forward his compilation against us out of excess of hatred, subjected not only us but also the Hebrews, Moses himself, and the prophets after him to the same slanders. For in this way, through the admission of enemies, I think the promise will be confirmed beyond dispute.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius will use Porphyry, the enemy of Christians, as witness to Moses’ antiquity.

The Chronological Canons are the second part of Eusebius’s Chronicle. The philosopher is Porphyry.

Extrabiblical texts: Chron. Canons (Eusebius and Jerome, Chronicle; allusion)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.11 (Dindorf 1:561; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.12Dindorf 1:561

γράφει τοίνυν ἐν τῷ τετάρτῳ τῆς καθʼ ἡμῶν συσκευῆς ὁ Πορφύριος ῥήμασιν αὐτοῖς τάδε “Ἱστορεῖ δὲ τὰ περὶ Ἰουδαίων ἀληθέστατα, ὅτι καὶ τοῖς τόποις καὶ τοῖς ὀνόμασιν αὐτῶν τὰ συμφωνότατα, Σαγχωνιάθων ὁ Βηρύτιος, εἰληφὼς τὰ ὑπομνήματα παρὰ Ἱερομβάλου τοῦ ἱερέως θεοῦ Ἰευὼ, ὃς Ἀβελβαλῷ τῷ βασιλεῖ Βηρυτίων τὴν ἱστορίαν ἀναθεὶς, ὑπʼ ἐκείνου καὶ τῶν κατʼ αὐτὸν ἐξεταστῶν τῆς ἀληθείας παρεδέχθη. οἱ δὲ τούτων χρόνοι καὶ πρὸ τῶν Τρωϊκῶν πίπτουσι χρόνων καὶ σχεδὸν τοῖς Μωσέως πλησιάζουσιν, ὡς αἱ τῶν Φοινίκης βασιλέων μηνύουσι διαδοχαί. Σαγχωνιάθων δὲ, ὁ κατὰ τὴν τῶν Φοινίκων διάλεκτον φιλαλήθως πᾶσαν τὴν παλαιὰν ἱστορίαν ἐκ τῶν κατὰ πόλιν ὑπομνημάτων καὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἀναγραφῶν συναγαγὼν καὶ συγγράψας, ἐπὶ Σεμιράμεως γέγονε τῆς Ἀσσυρίων βασιλίδος.”

graphei toinyn en tǭ tetartǭ tēs kathʼ hēmōn syskeuēs ho Porphyrios rhēmasin autois tade “Historei de ta peri Ioudaiōn alēthestata, hoti kai tois topois kai tois onomasin autōn ta symphōnotata, Sanchōniathōn ho Bērytios, eilēphōs ta hypomnēmata para Hierombalou tou hiereōs theou Ieuō, hos Abelbalǭ tǭ basilei Bērytiōn tēn historian anatheis, hypʼ ekeinou kai tōn katʼ auton exetastōn tēs alētheias paredechthē. hoi de toutōn chronoi kai pro tōn Trōïkōn piptousi chronōn kai schedon tois Mōseōs plēsiazousin, hōs hai tōn Phoinikēs basileōn mēnyousi diadochai. Sanchōniathōn de, ho kata tēn tōn Phoinikōn dialekton philalēthōs pasan tēn palaian historian ek tōn kata polin hypomnēmatōn kai tōn en tois hierois anagraphōn synagagōn kai syngrapsas, epi Semirameōs gegone tēs Assyriōn basilidos.”

In the fourth book of his compilation against us, then, Porphyry writes these words: “The most truthful account of the Jews, because most in agreement with their places and names, is given by Sanchuniathon of Berytus, who received the records from Hierombalus, priest of the god Ieuo. He dedicated his history to Abelbalus king of Berytus, and it was accepted by him and by the examiners of truth in his time. Their times fall even before the Trojan War and come close to those of Moses, as the successions of the kings of Phoenicia show. And Sanchuniathon, who in the Phoenician language collected and wrote the whole ancient history in a truth-loving way from the city records and the registers in the temples, lived in the time of Semiramis, queen of the Assyrians.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Porphyry: Sanchuniathon, who wrote truthfully about the Jews, lived near Moses’ time.

Porphyry, Against the Christians, Book 4 (fragment). The same passage is quoted at Praep. ev. 1.9.21.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent slip in the digital text): Τρωϊκὠν → Τρωϊκῶν; φιλαλήθῶς → φιλαλήθως.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Chr. Book 4 (Porphyry, Against the Christians (fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.12 (Dindorf 1:561; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.13Dindorf 1:561–562

Ταῦτα ὁ Πορφύριος. δεῖ δὴ συλλογίσασθαι τὰ προκείμενα ὧδέ πως. εἴπερ ὁ Σαγχωνιάθων ἐπὶ Σεμιράμεως γέγονεν, ἡ δὲ μακρῷ πρόσθεν τῶν Τρωϊκῶν ὁμολογεῖται, εἴη ἂν καὶ ὁ Σαγχωνιάθων τῶν Τρωϊκῶν παλαίτερος.

Tauta ho Porphyrios. dei dē syllogisasthai ta prokeimena hōde pōs. eiper ho Sanchōniathōn epi Semirameōs gegonen, hē de makrǭ prosthen tōn Trōïkōn homologeitai, eiē an kai ho Sanchōniathōn tōn Trōïkōn palaiteros.

So Porphyry. The premises must be reasoned out somewhat as follows. If Sanchuniathon lived in the time of Semiramis, and she is admitted to have lived long before the Trojan War, Sanchuniathon too would be older than the Trojan War.

Notes and citation

Summary: Sanchuniathon is older than the Trojan War.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.13 (Dindorf 1:561–562; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.14Dindorf 1:562

ἀλλʼ οὗτος παρʼ ἑτέ- ρων πρεσβυτέρων αὐτοῦ τοῖς χρόνοις εἰληφέναι λέγεται τὰ ὑπομνήματα· οἱ δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀρχαιότεροι ὄντες αὐτοῦ σχεδὸν τοῖς Μωσέως πλησιάζειν χρόνοις εἴρηνται, οὐδὲ αὐτοὶ κατὰ Μωσέα γενόμενοι, ἀλλὰ σχεδὸν τοῖς ἐκείνου χρόνοις πλησιάζοντες· ὡς τοσοῦτον πρεσβύτερον εἶναι τὸν Μωσέα τοῦ Σαγχωνιάθωνος ὁπόσον ἂν οὗτος λείπηται τῶν αὐτοῦ πρεσβυτέρων, οἳ Μωσεῖ πλησιάζειν ὡμολογήθησαν.

allʼ houtos parʼ hete- rōn presbyterōn autou tois chronois eilēphenai legetai ta hypomnēmata; hoi de kai autoi archaioteroi ontes autou schedon tois Mōseōs plēsiazein chronois eirēntai, oude autoi kata Mōsea genomenoi, alla schedon tois ekeinou chronois plēsiazontes; hōs tosouton presbyteron einai ton Mōsea tou Sanchōniathōnos hoposon an houtos leipētai tōn autou presbyterōn, hoi Mōsei plēsiazein hōmologēthēsan.

But he is said to have received the records from others older than himself; and these, being more ancient than he, are said to come close to the times of Moses: not themselves contemporary with Moses, but coming close to his times. So Moses is older than Sanchuniathon by as much as Sanchuniathon falls short of his predecessors, who were admitted to come close to Moses.

Notes and citation

Summary: Moses is older than Sanchuniathon’s own sources.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.14 (Dindorf 1:562; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.15Dindorf 1:562

πόσοις δὲ ἄρα ἔτεσιν εἰκὸς ἦν Μωσέα ὑπεράγειν τοὺς δηλουμένους ἄπορον εἰπεῖν· διόπερ τοῦτό μοι δοκῶ παρήσειν. δοὺς δὲ κατʼ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον τὸν Σαγχωνιάθωνα Μωσέα γεγονέναι, καὶ μὴ πρότερον, ὧδε τὸν ἔλεγχον ἐφοδεύσω.

posois de ara etesin eikos ēn Mōsea hyperagein tous dēloumenous aporon eipein; dioper touto moi dokō parēsein. dous de katʼ auton ekeinon ton Sanchōniathōna Mōsea gegonenai, kai mē proteron, hōde ton elenchon ephodeusō.

By how many years Moses probably surpassed them it is hard to say; so I think I shall pass this over. Granting that Moses lived in the time of Sanchuniathon himself, and not earlier, I shall pursue the proof thus.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius concedes, for argument, that Moses was Sanchuniathon’s contemporary.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.15 (Dindorf 1:562; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.16Dindorf 1:562

εἴπερ ἐπὶ Σεμιράμεως τῆς Ἀσσυρίων βασιλίδος ὁ Σαγχωνιάθων ἐγνωρίζετο, ἔστω δὲ καὶ Μωσῆς μηδὲν προάγων, κατὰ δὲ τοῦτον ἠκμακὼς, γένοιτʼ ἂν οὖν καὶ αὐτὸς κατὰ Σεμίραμιν.

eiper epi Semirameōs tēs Assyriōn basilidos ho Sanchōniathōn egnōrizeto, estō de kai Mōsēs mēden proagōn, kata de touton ēkmakōs, genoitʼ an oun kai autos kata Semiramin.

If Sanchuniathon was known in the time of Semiramis queen of the Assyrians, and let Moses be no earlier but flourishing at the same time, then he too would be of the time of Semiramis.

Notes and citation

Summary: Then Moses too belongs to Semiramis’s time.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.16 (Dindorf 1:562; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.17Dindorf 1:562

ἀλλʼ ὁ μὲν ἡμέτερος λόγος ἐπὶ ταύτης ἐδήλου γενέσθαι τὸν Ἁβραὰμ, ὁ δὲ τοῦ φιλοσόφου παλαίτερον τὸν Μωσέα συνίστησιν. ἡ δὲ Σεμίραμις τῶν Τρωϊκῶν ὀκτακοσίοις ὅλοις ἔτεσι δείκνυται προγενομένη. καὶ Μωσῆς ἄρα ἔσται τοσούτοις τὰ Τρωϊκὰ προάγων κατὰ τὸν φιλόσοφον.

allʼ ho men hēmeteros logos epi tautēs edēlou genesthai ton Habraam, ho de tou philosophou palaiteron ton Mōsea synistēsin. hē de Semiramis tōn Trōïkōn oktakosiois holois etesi deiknytai progenomenē. kai Mōsēs ara estai tosoutois ta Trōïka proagōn kata ton philosophon.

Our own account showed that Abraham lived in her time, while the philosopher’s makes Moses older still. And Semiramis is shown to have lived a full eight hundred years before the Trojan War; so Moses too, according to the philosopher, will precede the Trojan War by as many years.

Notes and citation

Summary: On Porphyry’s own terms Moses precedes Troy by eight hundred years.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.17 (Dindorf 1:562; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.18Dindorf 1:562–563

πρῶτος δὲ βασιλεύει Ἀργείων Ἴναχος, οὔπω τότε Ἀθηναίων οὔτε τὴν πόλιν οὔτε τὴν προσηγορίαν ἐχόντων. ὁ δὲ πρῶτος Ἀργείων ἡγεῖται κατὰ τὸν πέμπτον μετὰ Σε- μίραμιν Ἀσσυρίων βασιλέα, ν΄ καὶ ρ΄ ὕστερον ἔτεσιν αὐτῆς τε καὶ Μωσέως, ἐν οἷς οὐδὲν ἐπίσημον γεγονὸς ἱστορεῖται παρʼ Ἕλλησι. κατὰ τοῦτο δὲ τοῦ χρό- νοῦ παρʼ Ἑβραίοις ἡγοῦνται οἱ Κριταί.

prōtos de basileuei Argeiōn Inachos, oupō tote Athēnaiōn oute tēn polin oute tēn prosēgorian echontōn. ho de prōtos Argeiōn hēgeitai kata ton pempton meta Se- miramin Assyriōn basilea, n΄ kai r΄ hysteron etesin autēs te kai Mōseōs, en hois ouden episēmon gegonos historeitai parʼ Hellēsi. kata touto de tou chro- nou parʼ Hebraiois hēgountai hoi Kritai.

The first to reign over the Argives was Inachus, when the Athenians had as yet neither their city nor their name. This first ruler of the Argives ruled in the time of the fifth Assyrian king after Semiramis, 150 years later than her and Moses, during which nothing notable is recorded to have happened among the Greeks. At this time the Judges ruled among the Hebrews.

Notes and citation

Summary: Inachus, first king of Argos, came 150 years after Semiramis and Moses.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing slip in the digital text): ἡγοῦνται οἶ Κριταί → ἡγοῦνται οἱ Κριταί.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.18 (Dindorf 1:562–563; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.19Dindorf 1:563

εἶτʼ αὖ πάλιν τριακοσίοις ἐτῶν ἄλλοις κατώτερον χρόνοις, ἤδη που πλέον ἢ ὒ ἐτῶν ὅλων συμπληρουμένων ἀπὸ Σεμιράμεως, πρῶτος Ἀθηναίων βασιλεύει Κέκροψ ὁ βοώμενος παρʼ αὐτοῖς αὐτόχθων, Ἄργους ἡγουμένου Τριόπα, ὃς ἦν ἕβδομος μετὰ τὸν πρῶτον Ἀργεῖον Ἴναχον.

eitʼ au palin triakosiois etōn allois katōteron chronois, ēdē pou pleon ē y etōn holōn symplēroumenōn apo Semirameōs, prōtos Athēnaiōn basileuei Kekrops ho boōmenos parʼ autois autochthōn, Argous hēgoumenou Triopa, hos ēn hebdomos meta ton prōton Argeion Inachon.

Then again three hundred years later, when more than four hundred full years had been completed since Semiramis, the first king of the Athenians was Cecrops, celebrated among them as earth-born, while Triopas ruled Argos, the seventh after Inachus, the first Argive king.

Notes and citation

Summary: Cecrops, first king of Athens, came more than four hundred years after Semiramis.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.19 (Dindorf 1:563; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-19). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.20Dindorf 1:563

μεταξὺ δὲ τούτων ὁ ἐπὶ Ὠγύγου μνημονεύεται κατακλυσμὸς, πρῶτός τε Ἆπις ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ θεὸς ὠνομάσθη, καὶ Ἰὼ θυγάτηρ Ἰνάχου, ἣν Ἴσιν Αἰγύπτιοι μετονομάσαντες σέβουσι, Προμηθεύς τε καὶ Ἄτλας ἐγνωρίζοντο.

metaxy de toutōn ho epi Ōgygou mnēmoneuetai kataklysmos, prōtos te Apis en Aigyptǭ theos ōnomasthē, kai Iō thygatēr Inachou, hēn Isin Aigyptioi metonomasantes sebousi, Promētheus te kai Atlas egnōrizonto.

Between these, the flood in the time of Ogyges is recorded; Apis was first named a god in Egypt; and Io the daughter of Inachus, whom the Egyptians worship under the changed name Isis, and Prometheus and Atlas were known.

Notes and citation

Summary: Other mythical events of this interval.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.20 (Dindorf 1:563; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-20). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.21Dindorf 1:563

ἀπὸ δὲ Κέκροπος ἐπὶ τὴν Ἰλίου ἅλωσιν ἄλλα συνάγεται μικρῷ δέοντα ἔτη ὒ, ἐν οἶς τὰ ἐν Ἕλλησι θαυμάσια μυθολογεῖται, ὁ ἐπὶ Δευκαλίωνος κατακλυσμὸς καὶ ὁ ἐπὶ Φαέθοντος ἐμπρησμὸς, πολλῶν, ὡς εἰκὸς, φθορῶν γῆς κατὰ τόπους γεγενημένων.

apo de Kekropos epi tēn Iliou halōsin alla synagetai mikrǭ deonta etē y, en ois ta en Hellēsi thaumasia mythologeitai, ho epi Deukaliōnos kataklysmos kai ho epi Phaethontos emprēsmos, pollōn, hōs eikos, phthorōn gēs kata topous gegenēmenōn.

From Cecrops to the capture of Troy are reckoned another almost four hundred years, during which the marvels of the Greeks are told in myth: the flood in the time of Deucalion and the burning in the time of Phaethon, when, as is likely, many local destructions of the earth took place.

Notes and citation

Summary: Deucalion’s flood and Phaethon’s fire fall between Cecrops and Troy.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.21 (Dindorf 1:563; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-21). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.22Dindorf 1:563

πρῶτος δὲ Κέκροψ λέγεται Ζῆνα κεκληκέναι τὸν θεὸν, μὴ πρότερον οὕτω παρʼ ἀνθρώποις ὠνομασμένον· ἔπειτα βωμὸν παρʼ Ἀθηναίοις ἱδρῦσαι πρῶτος, καὶ πάλιν πρῶτος ’Αθηνᾶς ἄγαλμα στήσασθαι, ὡς οὐδὲ τούτων ἐκ παλαιοῦ ὑπαρχόντων.

prōtos de Kekrops legetai Zēna keklēkenai ton theon, mē proteron houtō parʼ anthrōpois ōnomasmenon; epeita bōmon parʼ Athēnaiois hidrysai prōtos, kai palin prōtos ’Athēnas agalma stēsasthai, hōs oude toutōn ek palaiou hyparchontōn.

Cecrops is said to have been the first to call God “Zeus,” a name not used among men before; then the first to set up an altar among the Athenians, and again the first to erect a statue of Athena, as none of these things existed from of old.

Notes and citation

Summary: Cecrops first named Zeus and set up altar and statue.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.22 (Dindorf 1:563; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-22). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.23Dindorf 1:563

μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον καὶ οἱ παρʼ Ἕλλησι θεοὶ πάντες γενεαλογοῦνται. παρʼ Ἑβραίοις δὲ ἐν τούτῳ οἱ ἀπὸ γένους Δαβὶδ ἐβασίλευον καὶ οἱ μετὰ Μωσέα διέλαμπον προφῆται· ὥστε τὰ πάντα ἀπὸ Μώσεως ἐπὶ τὴν Ἰλίου ἅλωσιν συνάγεσθαι πλέον ἢ ἔτη ὢ κατὰ τὴν ἐκτεθεῖσαν τοῦ φιλοσόφου μαρτυρίαν.

meta de touton kai hoi parʼ Hellēsi theoi pantes genealogountai. parʼ Hebraiois de en toutǭ hoi apo genous Dabid ebasileuon kai hoi meta Mōsea dielampon prophētai; hōste ta panta apo Mōseōs epi tēn Iliou halōsin synagesthai pleon ē etē ō kata tēn ektetheisan tou philosophou martyrian.

After him all the gods of the Greeks have their genealogies. Among the Hebrews at this time those of David’s line were reigning and the prophets after Moses were shining forth; so that from Moses to the capture of Troy more than 800 years in all are reckoned, according to the philosopher’s testimony set out above.

Notes and citation

Summary: From Moses to Troy is more than 800 years on Porphyry’s testimony.

The statement that David’s line reigned at this time does not fit Eusebius’s own dating of Troy (in the period of the Judges, 10.9.7); the text is so.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing slip in the digital text): καὶ οἶ μετὰ Μωσέα → καὶ οἱ μετὰ Μωσέα.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.23 (Dindorf 1:563; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-23). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.24Dindorf 1:563–564

ἔτι δὲ πολὺ τῶν Τρωϊκῶν νεώτερα τὰ κατὰ Ὅμηρον καὶ Ἡσίοδον καὶ τοὺς μνημονεύεται. χθὲς δὲ καὶ πρώην μετὰ τούτους περὶ τὴν πεντηκοστὴν Ὀλυμπιάδα οἱ ἀμφὶ Πυθαγόραν καὶ Δημόκριτον καὶ τοὺς μετὰ ταῦτα φιλοσόφους ὠνομάσθησαν, ἐγγύς που μετὰ τὰ Τρωϊκὰ ἔτεσιν ἑπτα- κοσίοις.

eti de poly tōn Trōïkōn neōtera ta kata Homēron kai Hēsiodon kai tous mnēmoneuetai. chthes de kai prōēn meta toutous peri tēn pentēkostēn Olympiada hoi amphi Pythagoran kai Dēmokriton kai tous meta tauta philosophous ōnomasthēsan, engys pou meta ta Trōïka etesin hepta- kosiois.

And much later than the Trojan War is the time of Homer, Hesiod, and those mentioned with them. Yesterday and the day before, after these, about the fiftieth Olympiad, Pythagoras, Democritus, and the philosophers after them became famous, about seven hundred years after the Trojan War.

Notes and citation

Summary: Homer and Hesiod were later, the philosophers later still.

The words “and those mentioned” are damaged in the digital text; translated by sense. “Seven hundred” is so in this text; Gifford’s text reads “five hundred.”

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing slip in the digital text): Ὀλυμπιάδα οἶ ἀμφὶ → Ὀλυμπιάδα οἱ ἀμφὶ.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.24 (Dindorf 1:563–564; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-24). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.25Dindorf 1:564

προτερεῖν ἄρα Μωσῆς καὶ οἱ μετʼ αὐτὸν Ἑβραίων προφῆται συνίστανται τῶν παρʼ Ἕλλησι φιλοσόφων χιλίοις πεντακοσίοις ἔτεσι κατὰ τὴν τοῦ δηλωθέντος ἀνδρὸς ὁμολογίαν.

proterein ara Mōsēs kai hoi metʼ auton Hebraiōn prophētai synistantai tōn parʼ Hellēsi philosophōn chiliois pentakosiois etesi kata tēn tou dēlōthentos andros homologian.

Moses, then, and the prophets of the Hebrews after him are shown to precede the philosophers of the Greeks by fifteen hundred years, by the admission of the man in question.

Notes and citation

Summary: Moses and the prophets precede the Greek philosophers by 1,500 years.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.25 (Dindorf 1:564; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-25). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.26Dindorf 1:564

Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἡμεῖς ἐπιτόμως. σκέψασθαι δὲ καιρὸς καὶ τὰς τῶν πρὸ ἡμῶν περὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ὑποθέσεως ἀποδείξεις. γεγόνασι δὴ παρʼ ἡμῖν λόγιοι ἄνδρες καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ παιδείας οὐδενὸς δεύτεροι, τοῖς τε θείοις οὐ παρέργως καθωμιληκότες, οἳ καὶ τὴν παροῦσαν ὑπόθεσιν ἐπʼ ἀκριβὲς διευκρινήσαντες τῇ παρʼ Ἑβραίοις συνέστησαν ἀρχαιολογίᾳ, πλουσίᾳ καὶ ποικίλῃ κατασκευῇ κεχρημένοι τῆς ἀποδείξεως.

Kai tauta men hēmeis epitomōs. skepsasthai de kairos kai tas tōn pro hēmōn peri tēs autēs hypotheseōs apodeixeis. gegonasi dē parʼ hēmin logioi andres kai tōn apo paideias oudenos deuteroi, tois te theiois ou parergōs kathōmilēkotes, hoi kai tēn parousan hypothesin epʼ akribes dieukrinēsantes tę̄ parʼ Hebraiois synestēsan archaiologią, plousią kai poikilę̄ kataskeuę̄ kechrēmenoi tēs apodeixeōs.

This we have said briefly. It is time to consider the proofs of those before us on the same subject. There have been learned men among us, second to none in education, and closely conversant with the divine writings, who examined the present subject accurately and established the antiquity of the Hebrews, using a rich and varied apparatus of proof.

Notes and citation

Summary: Christian scholars before Eusebius proved Hebrew antiquity.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.26 (Dindorf 1:564; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-26). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.27Dindorf 1:564

οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἔκ τινων ὁμολογουμένων ἱστοριῶν τοὺς χρόνους συνελογίσαντο, οἱ δὲ παλαιτέροις ἀναγνώσμασι τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἐπιστώσαντο. καὶ οἱ μὲν Ἑλληνικοῖς, οἱ δὲ καὶ τοῖς τὰ Φοινίκων τά τε Χαλδαίων καὶ Αἰγυπτίων ἀναγράψασι συν- εχρήσαντο· ὁμοῦ δὲ οἱ πάντες, τὰ Ἑλληνικὰ καὶ τὰ βάρβαρα τά τε παρʼ αὐτοῖς Ἑβραίοις συναγαγόντες καὶ τὰς παρὰ πᾶσιν ἱστορίας παραθέντες, θατέρᾳ τε τὴν ἑτέραν συγκρούσαντες, τὰ παρὰ τοῖς πᾶσιν ὑπὸ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους πραχθέντα συνεξητάκασιν.

hoi men gar ek tinōn homologoumenōn historiōn tous chronous synelogisanto, hoi de palaiterois anagnōsmasi tēn martyrian epistōsanto. kai hoi men Hellēnikois, hoi de kai tois ta Phoinikōn ta te Chaldaiōn kai Aigyptiōn anagrapsasi syn- echrēsanto; homou de hoi pantes, ta Hellēnika kai ta barbara ta te parʼ autois Hebraiois synagagontes kai tas para pasin historias parathentes, thaterą te tēn heteran synkrousantes, ta para tois pasin hypo tous autous chronous prachthenta synexētakasin.

Some reckoned the times from certain agreed histories, others confirmed the testimony from more ancient writings; some used Greek writers, others those who recorded the history of the Phoenicians, Chaldeans, and Egyptians. And all together, gathering the Greek and barbarian records and those of the Hebrews themselves, setting the histories of all side by side and testing one against the other, examined together what was done among all peoples at the same times.

Notes and citation

Summary: They compared Greek, barbarian, and Hebrew histories.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.27 (Dindorf 1:564; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-27). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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10.9.28Dindorf 1:564

εἶθʼ ἕκαστος οἰκείαις μεθόδοις τὴν τῶν ἀποδεικνυμένων κατασκευὴν πεποιημένος σύμφωνον καὶ ὁμολογουμένην τὴν ἀπόδειξιν εἰσηνέγκαντο. διὸ καὶ μάλιστα ταῖς αὐτῶν ἡγησάμην δεῖν παραχωρῆσαι φωναῖς τὸν παρόντα λόγον, ὅπως ὁμοῦ τῶν οἰκείων μὴ ἀποστεροῖντο καρπῶν οἱ τῶν λόγων πατέρες, καὶ διὰ πλειόνων μαρτύρων, ἀλλὰ μὴ διʼ ἑνὸς, ὁμοῦ ἡ σύστασις τῆς ἀληθείας ἀναμφίλεκτον λάβοι τὴν ἐπικύρωσιν.

eithʼ hekastos oikeiais methodois tēn tōn apodeiknymenōn kataskeuēn pepoiēmenos symphōnon kai homologoumenēn tēn apodeixin eisēnenkanto. dio kai malista tais autōn hēgēsamēn dein parachōrēsai phōnais ton paronta logon, hopōs homou tōn oikeiōn mē aposterointo karpōn hoi tōn logōn pateres, kai dia pleionōn martyrōn, alla mē diʼ henos, homou hē systasis tēs alētheias anamphilekton laboi tēn epikyrōsin.

Then each, having made his construction of the proofs by his own methods, brought forward a consistent and agreed proof. For this reason above all I thought I should give over the present discussion to their own words, so that the fathers of these works might not be robbed of their own fruits, and so that, through several witnesses and not one, the establishment of the truth might receive undisputed confirmation.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius will quote these writers in their own words.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 10.9.28 (Dindorf 1:564; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/10-7-1/#p-10-9-28). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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