Sophia Scriptura

Against Heresies 3.5.1–3.9.3

Irenaeus of Lyons · Against Heresies · ca. 180–190 · Lyons · 16 passages

Latin text: Harvey 1857 (Latin text: Harvey (1857), transcribed from archive.org OCR of the printed volumes; section numbers checked against Stieren (1853)).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885), Irenaeus, Against Heresies.

Against 3, chapter 5

3.5.1Harvey 2:18–19

Traditione igitur quae est ab Apostolis, sic se habente in Ecclesia, et permanente apud nos, revertamur ad eam, quae est ex Scripturis ostensionem eorum qui et Evangelium conscripserunt Apostolorum, ex quibus conscripserunt de Deo sententiam, ostendentes quoniam Dominus noster Jesus Christus veritas est, et mendacium in eo non est. Quemadmodum et David eam quae est ex Virgine generationem ejus, et eam que est ex mortuis resurrectionem prophetans ait: Veritas de terra orta est. Et Apostoli autem discipuli veritatis exsistentes, extra omne mendacium sunt: non enim communicat mendacium veritati, sicut non communicant tenebre luci; sed presentia alterius excludit alterum. Veritas ergo Dominus noster exsistens, non mentiebatur: et quem sciebat labis esse fructum, non utique Deum confiteretur et Deum omnium et summum Regem et Patrem suum, perfectus imperfectum, spiritalis animalem, is qui in Pleromate esset eum qui extra Pleroma. Neque discipuli ejus alium quemdam Deum nominarent, aut Dominum vocarent preter eum, qui vere esset Deus et Dominus omnium: quemadmodum dicunt hi, qui sunt vanissimi sophiste, quoniam Apostoli cum hypocrisi fecerunt doctrinam secundum audientium capacitatem, et responsiones secundum interrogantium suspiciones, caecis caeca confabulantes secundum caecitatem ipsorum, languentibus autem secundum languorem ipsorum, et errantibus secundum errorem eorum: et putantibus Demiurgum solum esse Deum, hunc annuntiasse; his vero qui innominabilem Patrem capiunt, per parabolas et aenigmata inenarrabile fecisse mysterium: uti non quemadmodum habet ipsa veritas, sed et in hypocrisi, et quemadmodum capiebat unusquisque, Dominum et Apostolos edidisse magisterium.

Since, then, the tradition from the apostles stands thus in the church and remains among us, let us return to the proof from the Scriptures of those apostles who also wrote the Gospel, in which they wrote down the teaching about God, showing that our Lord Jesus Christ is the truth and that there is no lie in him. As David too, prophesying his birth from the Virgin and his resurrection from the dead, says, “Truth has sprung from the earth.” And the apostles, being disciples of the truth, are beyond all falsehood; for falsehood has no fellowship with truth, as darkness has none with light, but the presence of one excludes the other. Our Lord, then, being the truth, did not lie; and him whom he knew to be the fruit of a defect he would certainly not have confessed as God, the God of all, the supreme King, and his own Father — he the perfect confessing the imperfect, he the spiritual the animal, he who was in the Pleroma him who was outside the Pleroma. Nor would his disciples have named any other God or called any other Lord than him who was truly God and Lord of all. Yet these most empty sophists say that the apostles hypocritically framed their teaching according to the capacity of their hearers, and their answers according to the suspicions of their questioners, telling blind things to the blind according to their blindness, to the sick according to their sickness, and to the erring according to their error; that to those who thought the Demiurge alone was God they announced him, but to those who grasp the unnameable Father they made known the unspeakable mystery through parables and riddles; so that the Lord and the apostles gave their teaching not as the truth itself is, but in hypocrisy and as each was able to receive it.

John 14:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 85:11 (84:12 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 John 2:21 (echo, medium confidence) · 2 Cor 6:14 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ is the truth and could not have called a defective god his Father; the apostles did not adapt their teaching hypocritically to their hearers.

  • Harvey's chapter title at the start of the section is removed, and a misplaced sentence and footnote fragment in the middle (about someone who “secretly spread the poison of his error”), which do not belong to this passage. References: John 14:6; Ps 85:11 (84:12 LXX); 1 John 2:21; 2 Cor 6:14.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR; footnote mark; editor's chapter title; OCR; margin debris; margin debris inside a word; margin reference inside a word; misplaced text and editor's footnote; split word): Ostensio quod et Dominus οἱ Apostoli in veritate ediderint doctrinam, et non secundum audientiumn Trapitione igitur → Traditione igitur; qui est ex Seripturis → quae est ex Scripturis; ostenJoh. xiv.6 dentes → ostendentes; eam quze eat ex Virgine → eam quae est ex Virgine; resuro.9 ix» rectionem → resurrectionem; pestiferum virus erroris sui occulte spar— there, H for O. geret, penitus se ab Ecclesia removit. Id labis → labis; Deum om118. nr. v.i. nium → Deum omnium; imperfectum, MASS. in spiritalis → imperfectum, spiritalis; extra Ple— ——— roma → extra Pleroma; guspiciones → suspiciones; smnigmata inenarrabile? fecisse → aenigmata inenarrabile fecisse.

Topics: Christology, Scripture and canon, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.5.1 (Harvey 2:18–19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/3-5-1/#p-3-5-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.5.2Harvey 2:19–20

Hoc autem non est sanantium, nec vivificantium, sed magis gravantium, et augentium ignorantiam ipsorum: et multo verior his Lex invenietur, maledictum dicens omnem, qui in errorem mittat caecum in via. Qui enim ad inventionem missi erant errantium Apostoli, et ad visionem eorum qui non videbant, et ad medicinam languentium, utique non secundum praesentem opinionem colloquebantur eis, sed secundum veritatis manifestationem. Nec enim quilibet homines recte facient, si caecos jamjamque per precipitium ferri incipientes, adhortentur insistere illi periculosissimae viae, quasi vere rectae, et quasi bene perventuri sint. Quis autem medicus volens curare aegrotum, faciet secundum concupiscentias egrotantis, et non secundum quod aptum est medicinae? Quoniam autem Dominus medicus venit eorum qui male habent, ipse testificatur, dicens: Non est opus sanis medicus, sed male habentibus. Non veni vocare justos, sed peccatores ad poenitentiam. Quomodo ergo qui male habent confirmabuntur? et quomodo peccatores poenitentiam agent? Utrum perseverantes in eisdem ipsis; an e contrario, magnam commutationem et transgressionem prioris conversationis accipientes, per quam et aegritudinem non modicam, et multa peccata sibimetipsis importaverunt? Ignorantia autem mater horum omnium per agnitionem evacuatur. Agnitionem ergo faciebat Dominus suis discipulis, per quam et curabat laborantes, et peccatores a peccato coercebat. Non igitur jam secundum pristinam opinionem loquebatur eis, neque secundum suspicionem interrogantium respondebat eis; sed secundum doctrinam salutarem, et sine hypocrisi, et sine personae acceptatione.

But this is not the way of those who heal or give life, but rather of those who burden people and increase their ignorance; and the law will be found much truer than these, which says that everyone is accursed who sends a blind man astray on the road. For the apostles, who were sent to find the wanderers, to give sight to those who did not see, and to heal the sick, certainly did not speak to them according to their opinion at the time, but according to the manifestation of the truth. For no one would act rightly who urged blind men already beginning to fall over a precipice to keep to that most dangerous path, as though it were truly right and they would arrive safely. And what physician who wishes to cure a sick man will act according to the sick man's desires and not according to what suits medicine? That the Lord came as physician of those who are ill he himself testifies, saying, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are ill. I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” How, then, will those who are ill be made strong, and how will sinners repent? By persisting in those same things, or, on the contrary, by undergoing a great change and turning away from their former way of life, through which they brought on themselves no small sickness and many sins? And ignorance, the mother of all these, is done away with by knowledge. So the Lord gave knowledge to his disciples, by which he also healed the suffering and restrained sinners from sin. He did not, then, speak to them according to their former opinion, nor answer according to the suspicions of his questioners, but according to saving teaching, without hypocrisy and without respect of persons.

Deut 27:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 5:31–32 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Like a true physician, the Lord and his apostles taught saving truth rather than flattering their hearers' errors.

  • References: Deut 27:18; Luke 5:31–32.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR; running head; margin debris; margin reference; margin reference inside a word; split word): maledietum → maledictum; in erroDevt. xavit. rem mittat → in errorem mittat; errantium A postoli → errantium Apostoli; periculosissimse → periculosissimae; male Lue. v.i, s. habentibus → male habentibus; peceatores → peccatores; agent ^ Utrum → agent? Utrum; segritudinem non LIB. 111. ν.8, modicam → aegritudinem non modicam; importaverunt Ignorantia MASS, HI. autem → importaverunt? Ignorantia autem; Agnitio— —— nem → Agnitionem; curabat wu. 16 laborantes → curabat laborantes.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.5.2 (Harvey 2:19–20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/3-5-1/#p-3-5-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.5.3Harvey 2:20

Quod etiam ex Domini sermonibus ostenditur: qui quidem his qui erant ex circumcisione ostendebat Filium Dei, eum qui per prophetas praedicatus fuerat Christum, hoc est semetipsum, manifestabat, qui libertatem hominibus restauraverit, et attribuerit incorruptelae haereditatem. Gentes autem iterum docebant Apostoli, ut relinquerent vana ligna et lapides, quze suspicabantur esse deos, et verum colerent Deum, qui constituisset et fecisset omne humanum genus, et per conditionem suam aleret et augeret et constabiliret, et eis esse praestaret; et ut exspectarent filium ejus Jesum Christum, qui redemit nos de apostasia sanguine suo, ad hoc ut essemus et nos populus sanctificatus, de caelis descensurum in virtute Patris, qui et judicium omnium facturus est, et ea quze a Deo sunt bona donaturus his, qui servaverint precepta ejus. Hic in novissimis temporibus apparens, lapis summus angularis, in unum collegit, et univit eos qui longe, et eos qui prope, hoc est, circumcisionem et praeputium, dilatans Japhet, et constituens eum in domo Sem.

This is shown also from the words of the Lord, who to those of the circumcision showed the Son of God, the Christ who had been foretold by the prophets; that is, he revealed himself, who restored freedom to men and granted them the inheritance of incorruption. And the apostles in turn taught the Gentiles to leave vain sticks and stones, which they supposed to be gods, and to worship the true God, who established and made the whole human race, and by his creation nourishes, increases, and strengthens it and grants it existence; and to await his Son Jesus Christ, who redeemed us from apostasy by his blood so that we too might be a sanctified people, who will descend from heaven in the power of the Father, will judge all, and will grant the good things that come from God to those who have kept his commandments. He, appearing in the last times as the chief cornerstone, gathered into one and united those who were far off and those who were near, that is, the circumcision and the uncircumcision, enlarging Japheth and settling him in the house of Shem.

1 Thess 1:9–10 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 2:20 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 2:17 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 9:27 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 20:28 (echo, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ revealed himself to the Jews, and the apostles taught the Gentiles the true God; in Christ both are united.

  • References: 1 Thess 1:9–10; Eph 2:13–20; Gen 9:27. Japheth stands for the Gentiles and Shem for Israel.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.5.3 (Harvey 2:20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/3-5-1/#p-3-5-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

Against 3, chapter 6

3.6.1Harvey 2:20–22

Neque igitur Dominus, neque Spiritus sanctus, neque Apostoli eum qui non esset Deus, definitive et absolute Deum nominassent aliquando, nisi esset vere Deus; neque Dominum appellassent aliquem ex sua persona, nisi qui dominatur omnium Deum Patrem, et Filium ejus qui dominium accepit a Patre suo omnis conditionis, quemadmodum habet illud: Dixit Dominus Domino meo, Sede a dextris meis, quoadusque ponam inimicos tuos suppedaneum pedum tuorum. Patrem enim Filio collocutum ostendit: qui dedit ei haereditatem gentium, et subjecit ei omnes inimicos. Vere igitur cum Pater sit Dominus, et Filius vere sit Dominus, merito Spiritus sanctus Domini appellatione signavit eos. Et iterum in eversione Sodomitarum Scriptura ait: Et pluit Dominus super Sodomam et Gomorrham ignem et sulfur a Domino de celo. Filium enim hic significat, qui et Abrahae collocutus sit, a Patre accepisse potestatem judicandi Sodomitas propter iniquitatem eorum. Similiter habet illud: Sedes tua Deus in aeternum; virga directionis, virga regni tui. Dilexisti justitiam, et odisti iniquitatem, propterea unxit te Deus, Deus tuus. Utrosque enim Dei appellatione signavit Spiritus, et eum qui ungitur Filium, et eum qui ungit, id est Patrem. Et iterum: Deus stetit in synagoga Deorum, in medio autem deos discernit; de Patre, et Filio, et de his qui adoptionem perceperunt, dicit: hi autem sunt Ecclesia. Haec enim est synagoga Dei, quam Deus, hoc est Filius ipse per semetipsum collegit. De quo iterum dicit: Deus deorum Dominus locutus est, et vocavit terram; quis deus? de quo dixit: Deus manifeste veniet, Deus noster, et non silebit: hoc est Filius, qui secundum manifestationem hominibus advenit, qui dicit: Palam apparui his qui me non quaerunt. Quorum autem deorum? quibus dicit: Ego dixi, Dii estis, et filii Altissimi omnes. His scilicet qui adoptionis gratiam adepti sunt, per quam clamamus: Abba Pater.

Therefore neither the Lord, nor the Holy Spirit, nor the apostles would ever have named as God, definitely and absolutely, one who was not God, unless he were truly God; nor would they in their own person have called anyone Lord except God the Father, who rules over all, and his Son, who received from his Father dominion over all creation, as this passage has it: “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.” For it shows the Father speaking with the Son, he who gave him the inheritance of the nations and subjected all his enemies to him. Since, then, the Father is truly Lord and the Son is truly Lord, the Holy Spirit rightly marked them with the title of Lord. And again, at the overthrow of the Sodomites, Scripture says, “And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah fire and sulfur from the Lord out of heaven.” For it signifies here that the Son, who had also spoken with Abraham, received from the Father power to judge the Sodomites for their wickedness. Likewise this passage: “Your throne, O God, is for ever; the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you.” For the Spirit marked both with the title of God, both him who is anointed, the Son, and him who anoints, that is, the Father. And again: “God stood in the assembly of the gods; in their midst he judges gods.” He speaks of the Father and the Son and of those who have received adoption; and these are the church. For this is the synagogue of God, which God, that is, the Son himself, gathered by himself. Of him it says again: “The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken and called the earth.” Which God? He of whom it said, “God will come openly, our God, and will not keep silence”: that is, the Son, who came openly to men, who says, “I appeared openly to those who did not seek me.” And of which gods? Those to whom he says, “I said, You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High”: namely, those who have obtained the grace of adoption, by which we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Ps 110:1 (109:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 2:8 (echo, medium confidence) · Gen 19:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 45:6–7 (44:7-Ps LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 82:1 (81:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 50:1 (49:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 50:3 (49:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 65:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 82:6 (81:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:15 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Scripture calls only the true God, the Father and the Son, God and Lord in the proper sense; others called gods are the adopted children.

  • Harvey's chapter title at the start of the section and margin references are removed. The readings of these texts as speaking of the Father and the Son are Irenaeus's and are translated as written. References: Ps 110:1 (109:1 LXX); Ps 2:8; Gen 19:24; Ps 45:6–7 (44:7–8 LXX); Ps 82:1 (81:1 LXX); Ps 50:1, 3 (49:1, 3 LXX); Isa 65:1; Ps 82:6 (81:6 LXX); Rom 8:15.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR; margin reference; OCR; margin reference inside a word; OCR; stray mark; editor's chapter title; footnote mark; OCR; margin debris; margin debris; margin debris; OCR; margin reference; margin reference; OCR; running head; split word; stray mark; split word; stray marks; stray marks): Ostensio quod in Scripturis nemo alius Deus nominatur, nec Dominus muncupatur, nisi solus verus Deus Neque igitur → Neque igitur; Apo¢ 9X stoli → Apostoli; omnis LIB Ur vi. conditionis → omnis conditionis; illud: ! Dizit Dominus Domino MASS, Yt. meo → illud: Dixit Dominus Domino meo; suppe—— ——— daneum pedum tuorum. | Patrem → suppedaneum pedum tuorum. Patrem; Ef pluit DoGen. xix. 4 minus → Et pluit Dominus; Frium enim → Filium enim; Deus im Ps. xliv.7 eternum → Deus in aeternum; regni tui. — Dilexisti justitiam, T et odisti → regni tui. Dilexisti justitiam, et odisti; unzit te Deus, Deus tuus. * Utrosque → unxit te Deus, Deus tuus. Utrosque; Deus stetit ps ixxxt. 1. in synagoga → Deus stetit in synagoga; sunt 11...1. Ecclesia. Haee enim → sunt Ecclesia. Haec enim; hoc est × 8. 111. Filius → hoc est Filius; Deus — — — deorum → Deus deorum; de 17 quo dixit → de quo dixit; ventet → veniet; qui Eu.1v.l. dicit → qui dicit; querunt. Quorum autem Ps. Ιχχχὶ, & deorum? → quaerunt. Quorum autem deorum?; Ego dizi, Dii estis, et filit → Ego dixi, Dii estis, et filii; omnes. Bom. vii.15. His → omnes. His.

Topics: Trinity, Christology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.6.1 (Harvey 2:20–22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/3-5-1/#p-3-6-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.6.2Harvey 2:22

Nemo igitur alius, quemadmodum predixi, Deus nominatur, aut Dominus appellatur, nisi qui est omnium Deus et Dominus, qui et Moysi dixit: Ego sum, qui sum. Et sic dices filiis Israel: Qui est, misit me ad vos: et hujus Filius Jesus Christus Dominus noster, qui filios Dei facit credentes in nomen. Et iterum, loquente Filio ad Moysen: Descendi, inquit, eripere populum hunc. Ipse est enim qui descendit, et ascendit propter salutem hominum. Per Filium itaque, qui est in Patre et habet in se Patrem, is Qui est, manifestatus est Deus, Patre testimonium perhibente Filio, et Filio annuntiante Patrem. Quemadmodum et Esaias ait: Et ego, inquit, testis, dicit Dominus Deus, et puer quem elegi, ut cognoscatis, et credatis, et intelligatis, quoniam ego sum.

Therefore no other, as I said before, is named God or called Lord except him who is God and Lord of all, who also said to Moses, “I am who I am. And thus you shall say to the children of Israel: He who is has sent me to you”; and his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who makes those who believe in his name children of God. And again, when the Son speaks to Moses, he says, “I have come down to deliver this people.” For it is he who descended and ascended for the salvation of men. Through the Son, then, who is in the Father and has the Father in himself; He Who Is, God, has been made manifest, the Father bearing witness to the Son and the Son proclaiming the Father. As Isaiah too says, “I too am witness, says the Lord God, and the servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe and understand that I am.”

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Exod 3:14 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 3:8 (quotation, high confidence) · John 3:13 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 14:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 43:10 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Only the God who said “I am who I am”, and his Son who makes believers God's children, are called God and Lord.

  • Margin references are removed. Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. References: Exod 3:14; John 1:12; Exod 3:8; John 3:13; John 14:10; Isa 43:10.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR; margin reference; margin debris; margin reference; running head; line lost in the OCR): qui es& omnium Deus et Exod. iit. 14, Dominus → qui est omnium Deus et Dominus; nomen Exod iii. 3. 1 Et iterum → nomen. Et iterum; o. so. eripere → eripere; ascendit LIB. IIl.vi2. propter → ascendit propter; E ego, inquit → Et ego, inquit; Esai. xtui. 10. Deus → Deus; ult cognoscatis → ut cognoscatis; $ntelligatis → intelligatis.

Topics: Trinity, Christology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.6.2 (Harvey 2:22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/3-5-1/#p-3-6-2).

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-irenaeus-adversus-haereses-3-6-2) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.6.3Harvey 2:22–24

Quum autem eos, qui non sunt Dii, nominat, non in totum, quemadmodum praedixi, Scriptura ostendit illos deos, sed cum aliquo additamento et significatione, per quam ostenduntur non esse dii. Quemadmodum apud David: Dii Gentium, idola daemoniorum. Et Deos alienos non sectabimini. Ex eo enim quod dicit, dii Gentium, Gentes autem verum Deum nesciunt, et alienos deos nominans eos, abstulit quod sint dii. A sua autem persona quod est dicit de ipsis: Sunt enim idola, inquit, daemoniorum. Et Esaias: Confundantur omnes qui blasphemant Deum, et sculpunt inutilia, et ego testis, dicit Dominus. Abstulit quod sint dii; solo autem utitur nomine, ad hoc, ut sciamus de quo dicit. Hoc autem ipsum et Jeremias: Dii, inquit, qui non fecerunt coelum et terram, pereant de terra que est sub colo. Ex eo enim quod perditionem eorum adjecit, ostendit non esse eos Deos. Et Helias autem convocato universo Israél in Carmelum montem, volens eos ab idolatria avertere, ait eis: Quousque claudicabitis vos in ambabus suffraginibus? Si unus est Dominus Deus, venite post eum. Et iterum super holocaustum sic ait idolorum sacerdotibus: Vos invocabitis in nomine deorum, vestrorum, et ego invocabo in nomine Domini Dei mei; et Deus qui exaudiet hodie, ipse est Deus. In eo enim quod haec dicebat propheta qui quidem apud ipsos putabantur dii, arguit deos non esse. Convertit autem eos ad eum Deum qui et credebatur ab eo, et qui vere erat Deus, quem et invocans clamabat: Domine Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac, et Deus Jacob, exaudi me hodie: et intelligat omnis populus hic, quoniam tu es Deus Israel.

When it names those who are not gods, Scripture does not, as I said before, show them to be gods in every sense, but with some addition and indication by which they are shown not to be gods. As in David: “The gods of the nations are idols of demons,” and, “You shall not follow other gods.” For by saying “gods of the nations” — and the nations do not know the true God — and by calling them “other gods,” he took away their being gods; and in his own person he says what they are: “For they are,” he says, “idols of demons.” And Isaiah: “Let all be put to shame who blaspheme God and carve useless things; and I am witness, says the Lord.” He took away their being gods and uses only the name, so that we may know whom he speaks of. Jeremiah says the same thing: “The gods that did not make heaven and earth, let them perish from the earth under heaven.” For by adding their destruction he showed that they are not gods. And Elijah, when he had called all Israel together to Mount Carmel, wishing to turn them from idolatry, said to them, “How long will you limp on both hams? If the Lord God is one, come after him.” And again, at the burnt offering, he spoke thus to the priests of the idols: “You will call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord my God; and the God who hears today, he is God.” For by saying these things the prophet proved that those who were thought gods among them are not gods. And he turned them to that God in whom he believed and who was truly God, calling on whom he cried, “Lord God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, hear me today, and let all this people understand that you are the God of Israel.”

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Ps 96:5 (95:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 6:14 (quotation, medium confidence) · Isa 44:9 (allusion, medium confidence) · Jer 10:11 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 18:21 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 18:24 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 18:36 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: When Scripture calls idols gods, it adds words showing that they are not gods, as David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Elijah do.

  • Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Margin references are removed. References: Ps 96:5 (95:5 LXX); Deut 6:14; Isa 44:9–11 (loosely); Jer 10:11; 1 Kgs 18:21, 24, 36.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR; stray mark; footnote numbers; stray mark; margin debris; margin reference; OCR): Dit Gentium, idola δ. demontorum → Dii Gentium, idola daemoniorum; quod Ps xxx. 10. dicit, dis Gentium → quod dicit, dii Gentium; idola, inquit, damontorum → idola, inquit, daemoniorum; ef sculpunt → et sculpunt; fecerunt Ye. x. ni. calum → fecerunt coelum; percant → pereant; vos 3 in ambabus * suffraginibus? 5Si unus → vos in ambabus suffraginibus? Si unus; invocabo in 3: up.urvie nomine → invocabo in nomine; οἱ Deus qui exaudiet hodie, ipse. est → et Deus qui exaudiet hodie, ipse est; σέ Deus Jacob → et Deus Jacob.

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.6.3 (Harvey 2:22–24; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/3-5-1/#p-3-6-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.6.4Harvey 2:24

Et ego igitur invoco te Domine Deus Abraham, et Deus Isaac, et Deus Jacob et Israel, qui es Pater Domini nostri Jesu Christi, Deus qui per multitudinem misericordiae tuae bene sensisti in nobis, ut te cognoscamus; qui fecisti coelum et terram, qui dominaris omnium, qui es solus et verus Deus, super quem alius Deus non est; per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum dominationem quoque dona Spiritus Sancti: da omni legenti hanc scripturam, cognoscere te quia solus Deus es, et confirmari in te, et absistere ab omni heretica et que est sine Deo et impia sententia.

Therefore I too call on you, Lord God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob and of Israel, who are the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God who in the abundance of your mercy have been well disposed toward us, that we should know you; who made heaven and earth, who rule over all, who are the only and true God, above whom there is no other God: through our Lord Jesus Christ grant also the governing power of the Holy Spirit; grant to everyone who reads this writing to know you, that you alone are God, to be strengthened in you, and to keep away from every heretical, godless, and impious opinion.

1 Kgs 18:36 (echo, medium confidence) · John 17:3 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Irenaeus prays to the God of Abraham, Father of Jesus Christ, that every reader may know him as the only God and avoid heresy.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR; joined words): Etego → Et ego; squi es → qui es; misericordie tus → misericordiae tuae; solus Set verus → solus et verus; hane scripturam → hanc scripturam; gententia → sententia.

Topics: Prayer, Trinity

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.6.4 (Harvey 2:24; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/3-5-1/#p-3-6-4).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.6.5Harvey 2:24–25

Et Apostolus autem Paulus, dicens: enim his qui non erant dii servistis, nunc cognoscentes Deum, immo cogniti a Deo, separavit eos qui non erant, ab eo qui est Deus. Et iterum de Antichristo dicens: Qui adversatur et extollit se, inquit, super omne quod dicitur deus, vel quod colitur, eos qui ab ignorantibus Deum dii dicuntur significat, id est idola. Etenim Pater omnium Deus dicitur, et est: et non super hunc extolletur Antichristus; sed super eos qui dicuntur quidem, non sunt autem dii. Quoniam autem hoc verum est, ipse Paulus ait: Scimus autem, quoniam nihil est idolum, et quoniam nemo Deus, nisi unus. Etenim si sunt qui dicuntur dii, sive in colo, sive in terra, nobis unus Deus Pater, ex quo omnia, et nos in illum; et unus Dominus Jesus Christus, per quem omnia, et nos per ipsum. Distinxit enim, et separavit eos qui dicuntur quidem, non sunt autem dii, ab uno Deo Patre, ex quo omnia, et unum Dominum Jesum Christum ex sua persona firmissime confessus est. Quod autem sive in coelo, sive in terra, non quemadmodum exponunt hi, dicere eum mundi fabricatores; sed simile est ei quod a Moyse dictum est: Non facies tibi omnem similitudinem in Deum, quaecunque in caelo sursum, et quaecunque in terra deorsum, et quecunque in aquis sub terra. Quae autem in caelo sunt, que sint ipse exponit: Ne quando, inquit, respiciens in caelum, et videns solem et lunam et stellas, et omne ornamentum cali, errans adores ea et servias eis. Et ipse autem Moyses homo Dei exsistens, Deus quidem datus est ante Pharaonem: non autem vere Dominus appellatur, nec Deus vocatur a prophetis, sed fidelis et Moyses famulus et servus Dei, dicitur a Spiritu, quod et erat.

And the Apostle Paul, saying, “For you served those who were not gods; but now, knowing God, or rather being known by God,” separated those who were not from him who is God. And again, speaking of the Antichrist, “Who opposes and exalts himself,” he says, “above everything that is called god or is worshipped,” he means those who are called gods by people ignorant of God, that is, idols. For the Father of all is called God and is God; and the Antichrist will not exalt himself above him, but above those who are called gods but are not. That this is true Paul himself says: “We know that an idol is nothing, and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we unto him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him.” For he distinguished and separated those who are called gods but are not from the one God the Father, from whom are all things, and in his own person he most firmly confessed one Lord Jesus Christ. And by “whether in heaven or on earth” he does not mean, as these people explain, the makers of the world; it is like what was said by Moses: “You shall not make for yourself any likeness for God, of whatever is in heaven above, and whatever is on the earth below, and whatever is in the waters under the earth.” And what the things in heaven are, he himself explains: “Lest,” he says, “looking up to heaven and seeing the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the adornment of heaven, you go astray and worship them and serve them.” And Moses himself, being a man of God, was indeed given as a god before Pharaoh; but he is not truly called Lord, nor named God by the prophets, but is called by the Spirit “Moses, the faithful attendant and servant of God,” which he also was.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Gal 4:8–9 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Thess 2:4 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 8:4–6 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 20:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 4:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 7:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 12:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 3:5 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Paul too distinguishes the so-called gods from the one God the Father and one Lord Jesus Christ.

  • Stray marks at the start of the quotation and margin references are removed. Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. References: Gal 4:8–9; 2 Thess 2:4; 1 Cor 8:4–6; Exod 20:4; Deut 4:19; Exod 7:1; Num 12:7; Heb 3:5.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR; margin reference; footnote mark; margin debris; stray marks): 95$; enim his → enim his; tmo cogniti → immo cogniti; nthil est idolum, ef quoniam → nihil est idolum, et quoniam; Etenim δὲ sunt qui dicuntur dit → Etenim si sunt qui dicuntur dii; em quo omnia, et nos tn illum → ex quo omnia, et nos in illum; sive in σοῖο → sive in coelo; dicere eum ! mundi fabricatores; 118. 4 sed → dicere eum mundi fabricatores; sed; Quse autem Deut iv. 19. in caelo → Quae autem in caelo; respiciens an calum → respiciens in caelum.

Topics: Trinity, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.6.5 (Harvey 2:24–25; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/3-5-1/#p-3-6-5).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

Against 3, chapter 7

3.7.1Harvey 2:25–26

Quod autem dicunt, aperte Paulum in secunda ad Corinthios dixisse: In quibus Deus seculi hujus excaecavit mentes infidelium; et alterum quidem Deum esse saeculi hujus dicunt, alterum vero qui sit super omnem principatum, et initium, et potestatem: non sumus nos in causa, si hi qui quae super Deum sunt mysteria scire se dicunt, ne quidem legere Paulum sciunt. Si enim quis secundum Pauli consuetudinem, quemadmodum ex multis et alibi ostendimus hyperbatis eum utentem, sic legerit: In quibus Deus, deinde subdistinguens et modicum diastematis faciens, simul et in unum reliqua legerit, seculi hujus excecavit mentes infidelium, inveniet verum; ut sit quod dicitur, Deus excecavit mentes infidelium hujus secult, Et hoc per subdistinctionem ostenditur. Non enim Deum hujus seculi dicit Paulus, quasi super illum alterum aliquem sciens; sed Deum quidem Deum confessus est: infideles autem saeculi hujus dicit, quoniam venturum incorruptelae non hereditabunt seculum. Quemadmodum autem Deus excecavit mentes infidelium, ex ipso Paulo ostendemus, proficiente nobis sermone, ut non nunc in multum avocemus mentem nostram a proposito.

As to their saying that Paul said plainly in the second letter to the Corinthians, “In whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers,” and their saying that there is one God of this age and another who is above every principality, beginning, and power: we are not to blame if those who say they know the mysteries above God do not even know how to read Paul. For if anyone reads it according to Paul's custom (for we show elsewhere from many examples that he uses transpositions), thus: “In whom God,” then making a pause and a slight interval, and reads the rest together as one, “has blinded the minds of the unbelievers of this age,” he will find the true sense, namely that what is said is, “God has blinded the minds of the unbelievers of this age.” And this is shown by the pause. For Paul does not say “the God of this age” as though he knew of some other above him; but he confessed God as God, and he speaks of the unbelievers of this age, since they will not inherit the coming age of incorruption. How God has blinded the minds of the unbelievers we shall show from Paul himself as our discourse proceeds, so as not now to draw our mind far away from the matter in hand.

2 Cor 4:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 1:21 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: In 2 Cor 4:4 “of this age” belongs with “unbelievers”: God has blinded the unbelievers of this age; there is no separate god of this age.

  • Harvey's chapter title and margin debris are removed. Irenaeus's punctuation of 2 Cor 4:4 is translated as he gives it. References: 2 Cor 4:4; Eph 1:21.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR; editor's chapter title; OCR; margin debris; margin debris; word restored (mentes); stray mark; stray marks): Quid sit quod a Paulo dicitur, In quibus Deus mundi hujus excecavit mentes infidelium. Qvop autem → Quod autem; qui que super Deum Sunt → qui quae super Deum sunt; legerit: ἐπ quibus → legerit: In quibus; inveniet. verum → inveniet verum; excecavit M. 189. LIBET vit infidelium → excecavit mentes infidelium; subdistinctionem ΜΑΒΒ. 111. ostenditur → subdistinctionem ostenditur; quasi — —— - super → quasi super; infideles autem sseculi → infideles autem saeculi.

Topics: Scripture and canon, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.7.1 (Harvey 2:25–26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/3-5-1/#p-3-7-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.7.2Harvey 2:26

Quoniam autem hyperbatis frequenter utitur Apostolus, propter velocitatem sermonum suorum, et propter impetum qui in ipso est Spiritus, ex multis quidem aliis est invenire. Sed et in ea quie est ad Galatas, sic ait: Quid ergo lex factorum? posita est, usquequo veniat semen cui promissum est, disposita per angelos in manu Mediatoris. Ordinatio enim sic est: Quid ergo lex factorum? disposita per angelos in manu Mediatoris posita est, usquedum veniat semen cui promissum est: ut sit homo interrogans et Spiritus respondens. Et iterum in secunda ad Thessalonicenses, de Antichristo dicens, ait: Et tunc revelabitur iniquus, quem Dominus Jesus Christus interficiet spiritu oris sui, et destruet praesentia adventus sui illum, cujus est adventus secundum operationem Satana, in omni virtute et signis et portentis mendacii, Etenim in his ordinatio dictorum sic est: Et tunc revelabitur iniquus, cujus est adventus secundum operationem Satane, in omni virtute, et signis, et portentis mendacii, quem Dominus Jesus interficiet spiritu oris sui, et destruet praesentia adventus sui. Non enim adventum Domini dicit secundum operationem Satanae fieri; sed adventum iniqui, quem et Antichristum dicimus. Si ergo non attendat aliquis lectioni, et intervalla aspirationis manifestet in quo dicitur, erunt non tantum incongruentia, sed et blasphemat legens, quasi Domini adventus secundum operationem fiat Satan. Sicut ergo in talibus oportet per lectionem hyperbaton ostendi, et consequentem Apostoli servari sensum; sic et ibi non Deum saeculi hujus legimus, sed Deum, quem vere Deum dicimus: incredulos autem et excaecatos saeculi hujus audiemus, quoniam venturum vitae non hereditabunt saeculum.

That the Apostle frequently uses transpositions, because of the speed of his words and the impetus of the Spirit within him, can be found from many other passages. In the letter to the Galatians he says, “Why then the law of works? It was laid down until the seed should come to whom the promise was made, ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator.” For the order is this: “Why then the law of works? Ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator, it was laid down until the seed should come to whom the promise was made,” so that it is a man asking and the Spirit answering. And again, in the second letter to the Thessalonians, speaking of the Antichrist, he says, “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus Christ will slay with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the presence of his coming, him whose coming is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders.” For the order of the words here is this: “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whose coming is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the presence of his coming.” For he does not say that the coming of the Lord takes place according to the working of Satan, but the coming of the lawless one, whom we also call the Antichrist. If, then, someone does not pay attention in reading and does not mark the pauses for breath where they belong, there will be not only incongruities, but he will even blaspheme as he reads, as though the Lord's coming took place according to the working of Satan. As, then, in such passages the transposition must be shown by the reading, and the Apostle's meaning kept consistent, so there too we do not read “the God of this age”, but God, whom we truly call God; and we shall hear of the unbelievers and the blinded of this age, that they will not inherit the coming age of life.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Gal 3:19 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Thess 2:8–9 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 4:4 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Paul often transposes words, as in Gal 3:19 and 2 Thess 2:8–9; read correctly, 2 Cor 4:4 speaks of the true God.

  • Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Margin debris is removed. References: Gal 3:19; 2 Thess 2:8–9.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR; margin debris; margin debris; margin reference; line lost in the OCR; stray letter; OCR): usquequo ventat → usquequo veniat; lex Jactorum → lex factorum; ΕἾ tunc revelabitur iniquus, o. m. quem → Et tunc revelabitur iniquus, quem; est: E tunc revelabitur → est: Et tunc revelabitur; interfictet → interficiet; destruet prasentia → destruet praesentia; operationem Satan: fieri → operationem Satanae fieri; ostendi, et Gal.iii. 19. consequentem → ostendi, et consequentem; dicimus: 1B-1Lviis 27 incredulos → dicimus: incredulos; excsecatos → excaecatos; quoniam M venturum vitae non hereditabunt szxculum → quoniam venturum vitae non hereditabunt saeculum.

Topics: Scripture and canon, Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.7.2 (Harvey 2:26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/3-5-1/#p-3-7-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

Against 3, chapter 8

3.8.1Harvey 2:26

Soluta igitur et hac illorum calumnia, manifeste ostensum est, quoniam nunquam neque prophete neque Apostoli alium Deum nominaverunt, vel Dominum appellaverunt, praeter verum et solum Deum. Multo magis ipse Dominus, qui et Caesari quidem, quae Caesaris sunt reddi jubet, et quae Dei sunt Deo: Cesarem quidem Caesarem nominans, Deum vero Deum confitens. et illud quod ait, Non potestis duobus dominis servire, ipse interpretatur, dicens: Non potestis Deo servire, et Mammone; Deum quidem confitens Deum, Mammonam autem nominans, hoc quod et est. Non Mammonam dominum vocat, dicens: Non potestis duobus dominis servire; sed discipulos docet servientes Deo, non subjici Mammonae, neque dominari ab eo. Qui enim, inquit, facit peccatum, servus est peccati. Quemadmodum igitur servientes peccato servos peccati vocat, non tamen ipsum peccatum Deum appellat, sic et eos qui Mammonae serviunt, servos Mammone appellat, non Deum appellans Mammonam. Mammonas autem est secundum Judaicam loquelam, qua et Samaritae utuntur, cupidus, et plus quam oportet habere volens. Secundum autem Hebraicam, adjunctive dicitur Mamuel, et significat gulosum, id est qui non possit a gula continere. Secundum utraque igitur, quae significantur, non possumus Deo servire, et Mammonae.

With this slander of theirs refuted as well, it has been clearly shown that neither the prophets nor the apostles ever named another God or called another Lord than the true and only God. Much more the Lord himself, who commands that the things that are Caesar's be rendered to Caesar and the things that are God's to God, naming Caesar as Caesar but confessing God as God. Likewise the saying, “You cannot serve two masters,” he himself interprets, saying, “You cannot serve God and Mammon,” confessing God as God, but naming Mammon as what it is. He does not call Mammon lord when he says, “You cannot serve two masters,” but teaches his disciples, who serve God, not to be subject to Mammon nor to be ruled by it. For “Whoever commits sin,” he says, “is a slave of sin.” Just as he calls those who serve sin slaves of sin, yet does not call sin itself God, so he calls those who serve Mammon slaves of Mammon, not calling Mammon God. Mammon, in the Jewish speech, which the Samaritans also use, means a covetous person who wants to have more than he ought. In Hebrew, with an added syllable, it is called Mamuel, and means gluttonous, that is, one who cannot restrain himself from gluttony. In both of the things signified, then, we cannot serve God and Mammon.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Matt 22:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 6:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 16:13 (quotation, medium confidence) · John 8:34 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ called only God God; Caesar and Mammon he named for what they are, not as gods or lords.

  • Margin references are removed. Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. The meanings given for “Mammon” are Irenaeus's own. References: Matt 22:21; Matt 6:24; Luke 16:13; John 8:34.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR; margin reference; footnote mark; margin debris; margin debris inside a word; margin debris; line lost in the OCR; margin reference and displaced word inside a word): SorvrA → Soluta; Cesari quidem, Matt xxier. que Casaris → Caesari quidem, quae Caesaris; que Det sunt → quae Dei sunt; interMatt. vi. 24, Similiter pretatur → interpretatur; facté son. vit.a4. peccatum → facit peccatum; Mammonas autem 118. 1. est → Mammonas autem est; cupivill. 1. GR. III. vii. dus → cupidus; dicitur ! Mamuel → dicitur Mamuel; gulosum, id vill. 1. 01120 est → gulosum, id est.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.8.1 (Harvey 2:26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/3-5-1/#p-3-8-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.8.2Harvey 2:26–29

Sed et Diabolum cum dixisset fortem, non in totum, sed velut in comparationem nostram; semetipsum in omnia et vere fortem ostendit Dominus, dicens: non aliter aliquem posse diripere vasa fortis, si non prius ipsum alliget fortem, et tunc domum ejus diripiet. Vasa autem ejus et domus nos eramus, cum essemus in apostasia: utebatur enim nobis quemadmodum volebat, et spiritus immundus habitabat in nobis. Non enim adversus eum qui se alligabat, et domum ejus diripiebat, fortis erat; sed adversus eos qui in usu ejus erant homines, quoniam abscedere fecerat sententiam eorum a Deo, quos eripuit Dominus. Quemadmodum et Jeremias ait; Redemit Dominus Jacob, et eripuit eum de manu fortioris ejus. Si igitur non significasset eum qui alligat, et diripit ejus vasa, hoc autem solum eum fortem dixisset, esset fortis invictus. Sed et adjecit obtinentem; tenet enim qui alligat, tenetur autem qui alligatus est. Et hoc sine comparatione fecit, ut non comparetur Domino servus apostata exsistens: non enim tantum hic, sed nec quidquam ex his quae constituta sunt, et in subjectione sunt, comparabitur Verbo Dei, per quem facta sunt omnia, qui est Dominus noster Jesus Christus.

And when he called the devil strong — not absolutely, but as compared with us — the Lord showed himself to be strong in every respect and truly, saying that no one can plunder the vessels of the strong man unless he first binds the strong man himself, and then he will plunder his house. And we were his vessels and his house when we were in apostasy; for he used us as he wished, and the unclean spirit dwelt in us. For he was not strong against him who bound him and plundered his house, but against the people who were in his use, since he had made their minds withdraw from God; these the Lord rescued. As Jeremiah too says, “The Lord has redeemed Jacob and rescued him from the hand of one stronger than he.” If, then, he had not indicated him who binds and plunders his vessels, but had only called him strong, he would be strong and unconquered. But he also added the one who prevails; for he who binds holds, and he who is bound is held. And this he did without comparison, so that the apostate slave might not be compared with the Lord; for not only he, but nothing at all of the things that have been established and are in subjection, will be compared with the Word of God, through whom all things were made, who is our Lord Jesus Christ.

Matt 12:29 (allusion, high confidence) · Jer 31:11 (38:11 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:3 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The devil is strong only compared with us; Christ bound him and rescued us, his former vessels.

  • References: Matt 12:29; Jer 31:11 (38:11 LXX); John 1:3.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR; margin debris; margin reference; running head; split word; margin debris; stray letters): sed vel. P2 ut in comparationem → sed velut in comparationem; fortis, δὲ non prius → fortis, si non prius; et LIB ΠΣ, domum → et domum; usu Gn. I. wn. ejus → usu ejus; eorum Sis a Deo → eorum a Deo; Si jer. xxxi. αι. igitur → Si igitur; his qus constituta → his quae constituta.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.8.2 (Harvey 2:26–29; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/3-5-1/#p-3-8-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.8.3Harvey 2:29

Quoniam enim sive Angeli, sive Archangeli, sive Throni, sive Dominationes, ab eo qui super omnes est Deus, et constituta sunt, et facta per Verbum ejus, Johannes quidem sic significavit. Cum enim dixisset de Verbo Dei, quoniam erat in Patre, adjecit: Omnia per eum facta sunt, et sine eo factum est nihil. David quoque cum laudationes enumerasset, nominatim universa quaecunque diximus, et caelos et omnes virtutes eorum, adjecit: Quoniam ipse praecepit, et creata sunt: ipse dixit, et facta sunt. Cui ergo precepit? Verbo scilicet: per quod, inquit, coeli firmati sunt, et spiritu oris ejus omnis virtus eorum. Quoniam autem ipse omnia fecit libere, et quemadmodum voluit, ait iterum David: Deus autem noster in coelis sursum, et in terra, omnia quacunque voluit, fecit. Altera autem sunt quz constituta sunt ab eo qui constituit, et quse facta sunt ab eo qui fecit. Ipse enim infectus et sine initio et sine fine et nullius indigens, ipse sibi sufficiens, et adhuc reliquis omnibus, ut sint, hoc ipsum praestans: quse vero ab eo sunt facta, initium sumserunt. Quaecunque autem initium sumserunt, et dissolutionem possunt percipere, et subjecta sunt et indigent ejus qui se fecit, necesse est omnimodo, uti differens vocabulum habeant apud eos etiam, qui vel modicum sensum in discernendo talia habent: ita ut is quidem qui omnia fecerit, cum Verbo suo juste dicatur Deus et Dominus solus; quae autem facta sunt, non jam ejusdem vocabuli participabilia esse, neque juste id vocabulum sumere debere, quod est Creatoris.

For that all things, whether angels or archangels or thrones or dominions, were both established and made by him who is God above all through his Word, John has indicated thus. For having said of the Word of God that he was in the Father, he added, “All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made.” David too, having enumerated the praises, naming individually all the things we have mentioned, the heavens and all their powers, added, “For he commanded, and they were created; he spoke, and they were made.” Whom, then, did he command? The Word, of course, “by which,” he says, “the heavens were established, and all their power by the breath of his mouth.” And that he made all things freely and as he willed, David says again: “But our God is in the heavens above and on earth; he has made whatever he willed.” But the things established are other than him who established them, and the things made other than him who made them. For he himself is unmade, without beginning and without end, needing nothing, sufficient to himself, and moreover granting to all others this very thing, that they exist; but the things made by him have received a beginning. And whatever has received a beginning, can undergo dissolution, is subject, and needs him who made it, must altogether have a different name, even among those who have only a little sense for distinguishing such things; so that he who made all things may justly be called, together with his Word, the only God and Lord, while the things that have been made cannot share in the same name, nor ought they justly to take the name that belongs to the Creator.

John 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 148:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 33:9 (32:9 LXX) (quotation, medium confidence) · Ps 33:6 (32:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 115:3 (113:11 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: All creatures, including the angelic powers, were made by God through his Word; only the Creator with his Word is properly called God and Lord.

  • Margin references are removed. The statement on the Word sharing the name of God is translated as written. References: John 1:1–3; Ps 148:2–5 (the Latin reads Ps 33:9 and 148:5 together); Ps 33:6 (32:6 LXX); Ps 115:3 (113:11 LXX).

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR; margin debris; margin reference; margin reference inside a word; stray mark): David son.i.s. quoque → David quoque; adjecit: Quop. Pe. 9 niam → adjecit: Quoniam; pracepit, et creata, sunt: ipse diit → praecepit, et creata sunt: ipse dixit; Cui " ergo precepit → Cui ergo precepit; codi firmati → coeli firmati; in colis sursum → in coelis sursum; qui 0. 212. constituit → qui constituit.

Topics: Trinity, Christology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.8.3 (Harvey 2:29; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/3-5-1/#p-3-8-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

Against 3, chapter 9

3.9.1Harvey 2:29

Ostenso hoc igitur hic plane, et adhuc ostendetur manifestius, neminem alterum Dominum vel Deum, neque prophetas, neque Apostolos, neque Dominum Christum confessum esse ex sua persona, sed praecipue Deum et Dominum: prophetis quidem et Apostolis Patrem et Filium confitentibus; alterum autem neminem, neque Deum nominantibus, neque Dominum confitentibus: et ipso Domino Patrem tantum Deum et Dominum eum, qui solus est Deus et dominator omnium, tradente discipulis; sequi nos oportet, si quidem illorum sumus discipuli, testimonia illorum ita se habentia. Matthaeus enim Apostolus, unum et eundem sciens Deum, qui promissionem fecerit Abrahae, facturum se semen ejus quasi stellas coeli, qui per Filium suum Christum Jesum a lapidum cultura in suam nos agnitionem vocaverit, uti fieret qui non populus, populus; et non dilecta, dilecta, ait Johannem, praeparantem Christo viam, his qui in carnali quidem cognatione gloriabantur, varium autem et omni malitia completum sensum habebant, eam poenitentiam que a malitia revocaret, annuntiantem dixisse: Progenies viperarum, quis vobis monstravit fugere ab ira ventura? Facite ergo fructum dignum poenitentiae. Et nolite dicere in vobis ipsis, Patrem habemus Abraham. Dico enim vobis, quoniam potens est Deus, ex lapidibus istis suscitare filios Abrahae. Paenitentiam igitur eis eam, que esset a malitia, praeconabat, sed non alterum Deum annuntiabat, preter eum qui fecisset promissionem Abrahe, ille precursor Christi; de quo iterum ait Matthaeus, similiter autem et Lucas: Hic enim est qui dictus est a Domino per prophetam: Vox clamantis in deserto, Parate viam Domini, rectas facite semitas Dei nostri. Omnis vallis implebitur, et omnis mons et collis humiliabitur, et erunt tortuosa in directa, et aspera in vias planas: et videbit omnis caro salutare Dei. Unus igitur et idem Deus est, Pater Domini nostri, qui et praecursorem per prophetas missurum se promisit: et salutare suum, id est Verbum suum, visibile effecit omni fieri carni, incarnatum et ipsum, ut in omnibus manifestus fieret Rex eorum. Etenim ea que judicantur oportebat videre judicem, et scire hunc a quo judicantur: et ea que gloriam consequuntur oportebat scire eum, qui munus glorie eis donat.

This, then, having been plainly shown here — and it will be shown still more clearly — that neither the prophets nor the apostles nor the Lord Christ in his own person confessed any other Lord or God, but preeminently God and Lord, the prophets and apostles confessing the Father and the Son but naming no other as God and confessing no other as Lord, and the Lord himself handing down to his disciples the Father alone as God and Lord, who alone is God and ruler of all: we must follow their testimonies, which are such, if indeed we are their disciples. For Matthew the apostle, knowing one and the same God, who made the promise to Abraham that he would make his seed like the stars of heaven, and who through his Son Christ Jesus called us from the worship of stones to the knowledge of himself, so that what was not a people became a people and she who was not beloved became beloved, says that John, preparing the way for Christ, said to those who boasted of their kinship according to the flesh but had a mind that was fickle and full of every evil, proclaiming the repentance that calls back from evil: “Brood of vipers, who showed you how to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit, then, worthy of repentance. And do not say among yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I tell you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.” He proclaimed to them, then, repentance from evil, but did not announce another God besides him who made the promise to Abraham, he the forerunner of Christ; of whom Matthew again says, and Luke likewise: “For this is he who was spoken of by the Lord through the prophet: The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked shall become straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” There is, then, one and the same God, the Father of our Lord, who promised through the prophets that he would send the forerunner, and made his salvation, that is, his Word, visible to all flesh, the Word himself becoming incarnate, so that in all things he might become manifest as their King. For it was necessary that those who are judged should see the judge and know him by whom they are judged, and that those who attain glory should know him who grants them the gift of glory.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Gen 15:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Hos 2:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 9:25 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 3:7–9 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 3:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 3:4–6 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 40:3–5 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Matthew shows that John the Baptist preached the God of Abraham, who sent his Word incarnate to be seen by all flesh.

  • Harvey's chapter title and margin references are removed. Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. References: Gen 15:5; Hos 2:23 (Rom 9:25); Matt 3:7–9; Matt 3:3; Luke 3:4–6; Isa 40:3–5.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR; editor's chapter title; OCR; footnote mark; margin debris; margin reference; split word): Quam habuerunt de Deo scientiam Apostoli, qui nobis Evangelium tradiderunt. OsrENso hoc igitur → Ostenso hoc igitur; Dotnino → Domino; gloriabantur, ! varium → gloriabantur, varium; ab tra ventura → ab ira ventura; Dico enim up. Ux. vobis → Dico enim vobis; filios MASS UE Abrahe → filios Abrahae; prae————— conabat → praeconabat; qui Matt. ΜΙ, 3 dictus → qui dictus; salutare Det. → salutare Dei.; hunc & quo → hunc a quo.

Topics: Christology, Trinity

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.9.1 (Harvey 2:29; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/3-5-1/#p-3-9-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.9.2Harvey 2:29–32

Iterum autem de Angelo dicens Matthaeus, ait: Angelus Domini apparuit Joseph in somnis; cujus Domini, ipse interpretatur: Uti adimpleatur quod dictum est a Domino per prophetam, Ex Aegypto vocavi filium meum. Ecce Virgo in utero accipiet, et pariet filium, et vocabunt nomen ejus Emmanuel, quod est interpretatum, Nobiscum Deus. De hoc qui est ex Virgine Emmanuel, dixit David: Non avertas faciem Christi tui. Juravit Dominus David veritatem, et non dispernet eum, De fructu ventris tui ponam super sedem tuam. Et iterum: Notus in Judaea Deus, et factus est in pace locus ejus, et habitaculum ejus in Sion. Unus igitur et idem Deus, qui a prophetis praedicatus est, et ab evangelio annuntiatus, et hujus Filius qui ex fructu ventris David, id est ex David Virgine, et Emmanuel: cujus et stellam Balaam quidem sic prophetavit: Orietur stella ex Jacob, et surget dux in Israel. Matthaeus autem Magos ab Oriente venientes ait dixisse: Vidimus enim stellam ejus in Oriente, et venimus adorare eum: deductosque a stella in domum Jacob ad Emmanuel, per ea quae obtulerunt munera ostendisse, quis erat qui adorabatur: Myrrham quidem, quod ipse erat, qui pro mortali humano genere moreretur et sepeliretur: Aurum vero, quoniam Rex, cujus Regni finis non est: Thus vero, quoniam Deus, qui et notus in Judaea factus est, et manifestus eis qui non querebant eum.

Again, speaking of the angel, Matthew says, “The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.” Of which Lord, he himself explains: “That what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I have called my son.” “Behold, a virgin shall conceive in her womb and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is interpreted, God with us.” Of this Emmanuel, who is from the Virgin, David said, “Do not turn away the face of your anointed. The Lord swore truth to David and will not reject him: Of the fruit of your womb I will set upon your throne.” And again: “God is known in Judea; his place has been made in peace, and his dwelling in Zion.” There is, then, one and the same God, who was proclaimed by the prophets and announced by the Gospel, and his Son, who is of the fruit of David's womb, that is, from the Virgin of David's line, and Emmanuel; whose star Balaam prophesied thus: “A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a leader shall rise in Israel.” And Matthew says that the Magi, coming from the East, said, “For we have seen his star in the East and have come to worship him”; and that, led by the star to the house of Jacob, to Emmanuel, they showed by the gifts they offered who it was that was worshipped: myrrh, because he was the one who would die and be buried for the mortal human race; gold, because he is a King, of whose kingdom there is no end; and frankincense, because he is God, who also was made known in Judea and became manifest to those who did not seek him.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Matt 1:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 2:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Hos 11:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 1:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 7:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 132:10–11 (131:10-Ps LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 76:1–2 (75:2-Ps LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Num 24:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 2:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 2:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 1:33 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 65:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 10:20 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The angel, the prophecies of Emmanuel, Balaam's star, and the Magi's gifts all point to the one God and his Son, born of the Virgin.

  • Margin references and Harvey's chapter title (on the Magi's gifts) are removed. Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. The digital text has a damaged word after “no end”, restored as “there is”. References: Matt 1:20; Matt 2:15 (Hos 11:1); Matt 1:23 (Isa 7:14); Ps 132:10–11 (131:10–11 LXX); Ps 76:1–2 (75:2–3 LXX); Num 24:17; Matt 2:2, 11; Luke 1:33; Isa 65:1 (Rom 10:20).

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR; margin debris inside a word; OCR; margin reference; footnote mark; margin debris; word restored (est); margin reference; margin reference; OCR; margin reference; editor's chapter title; line lost in the OCR; stray mark; stray marks; OCR): Matt. 1.90, & eujus Domini → cujus Domini; dictum Cap. it. 15. est → dictum est; Ex digypto → Ex Aegypto; Ecce ! Virgo 3 ἐπ utero → Ecce Virgo in utero; faciem Ps exxxi.10, Christi tut → faciem Christi tui; ventris tur → ventris tui; Notus in Judwa Deus → Notus in Judaea Deus; et. kabitaT^ xv. 3 culum efus → et habitaculum ejus; prophetis ` praedicatus → prophetis praedicatus; stellam " Balaam → stellam Balaam; Orietur stella ex Jacob, et surget dux in Israel. Numb. xxiv. Que sunt que a Magis Domino nostro oblata. sunt munera. Matruzvus autem → Orietur stella ex Jacob, et surget dux in Israel. Matthaeus autem; Mau.i.2. Vidimus → Vidimus; adorabatur: ! Myrrham → adorabatur: Myrrham; moreretur Lue.iss et sepeliretur → moreretur et sepeliretur; finis non P&lxxe.2. 0865; Thus vero → finis non est: Thus vero; notus in Judwa factus est, Rom. x.20, et → notus in Judaea factus est, et.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.9.2 (Harvey 2:29–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/3-5-1/#p-3-9-2).

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-irenaeus-adversus-haereses-3-9-2) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.9.3Harvey 2:32–33

Adhuc ait in baptismate Mattheus: Aperti sunt coeli, et vidit. Spiritum Dei quasi columbam venientem super eum. Et ecce vox de colo, dicens: Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi bene complacui. Non enim Christus tunc descendit in Jesum; neque alius quidem Christus, alius vero Jesus: sed Verbum Dei, qui est Salvator omnium, et dominator caeli et terrae, qui est Jesus, quemadmodum ante ostendimus, qui et assumsit carnem, et unctus est a Patre Spiritu, Jesus Christus factus est; sicut et Esaias ait: Exiet virga, de radice Jesse, et flos de radice ejus ascendet, et requiescet super eum Spiritus Dei, spiritus sapientiae et intellectus, spiritus consilii et fortitudinis, spiritus scientiae et pietatis, et implebit eum spiritus timoris Dei. Non secundum gloriam judicabit, neque secundum loquelam arguet, sed judicabit humili judicium, et arguet gloriosos terrae. Et iterum ipse Esaias unctionem ejus, et propter quid unctus est, praesignificans ait: Spiritus Dei super me, quapropter unxit me, evangelisare humilibus misit me, curare comminutos corde, praeconare captivis remissionem, et caecis visionem, vocare annum Domini acceptabilem, et diem retributionis, consolari omnes plangentes. Nam secundum id quod Verbum Dei homo erat ex radice Jesse, et filius Abrahae, secundum hoc requiescebat Spiritus Dei super eum, et ungebatur ad evangelisandum humilibus. Secundum autem quod Deus erat, non secundum gloriam judicabat, neque secundum loquelam arguebat: non enim opus erat illi, ut quis ei testimonium diceret de homine, cum ipse sciret quid esset in homine. Advocabat autem omnes homines plangentes, et donans, solvebat eos a vinculis, de quibus ait Salomon: Restibus autem peccatorum suorum unusquisque constringitur. Spiritus ergo Dei descendit in eum, ejus qui per prophetas promiserat uncturum se eum, ut de abundantia unctionis ejus nos percipientes salvaremur. Et sic quidem Matthaeus.

Further, Matthew says at the baptism: “The heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God coming upon him like a dove. And behold, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” For Christ did not then descend into Jesus, nor is Christ one and Jesus another; but the Word of God, who is the Savior of all and the ruler of heaven and earth, who is Jesus, as we have shown before, who also took flesh and was anointed by the Father with the Spirit, became Jesus Christ. As Isaiah too says: “There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise from his root; and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the spirit of the fear of God shall fill him. He shall not judge according to glory, nor reprove according to speech, but he shall judge judgment for the lowly and reprove the glorious of the earth.” And again Isaiah himself, foreshowing his anointing and why he was anointed, says: “The Spirit of God is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to preach good news to the lowly, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to the captives and sight to the blind, to call the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of recompense, to comfort all who mourn.” For inasmuch as the Word of God was man, from the root of Jesse and son of Abraham, in this respect the Spirit of God rested upon him and he was anointed to preach good news to the lowly. But inasmuch as he was God, he did not judge according to glory nor reprove according to speech; for he had no need that anyone should bear witness to him about man, since he himself knew what was in man. And he called all people who mourn, and, granting forgiveness, he loosed them from the chains of which Solomon says, “Each one is bound by the cords of his own sins.” So the Spirit of God descended upon him, the Spirit of him who had promised through the prophets that he would anoint him, so that we, receiving from the abundance of his anointing, might be saved. Such, then, is Matthew's witness.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Matt 3:16–17 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 11:1–4 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 61:1–2 (quotation, high confidence) · John 2:25 (allusion, high confidence) · Prov 5:22 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: At the baptism the Spirit anointed the Word made flesh; Christ and Jesus are not two but one, as Isaiah foretold.

  • A long block of Harvey's footnotes (on the Magi's gifts and the Latin and Greek of Isa 11:3) and margin debris inside the text are removed. Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Irenaeus's teaching that the Word, made flesh, was anointed with the Spirit, against the Gnostic separation of Christ from Jesus, is translated as written. References: Matt 3:16–17; Isa 11:1–4; Isa 61:1–2; John 2:25; Prov 5:22.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR (footnote number for the lost verb); OCR; footnote mark; OCR; margin debris; OCR; margin reference; editor's footnotes; line lost in the OCR; footnote number; margin debris; margin debris; stray marks; running head; split word; split word; margin debris; OCR): baptisnw mate Mattheus: Aperti sunt 361] cali → baptismate Mattheus: Aperti sunt coeli; Spiritum De seq. quasi → Spiritum Dei quasi; in quo mihi 8 bene → in quo mihi bene; terrse → terrae; a Patre. xi. Spiritu → a Patre Spiritu; ait: 6 virga → ait: Exiet virga; sapientie → sapientiae; consilit → consilii; scientia et pietatis → scientiae et pietatis; implebit eum o.214. spiritus timoris Dei. 5 Non. secundum | gloriam → implebit eum spiritus timoris Dei. Non secundum gloriam; arguet gloriosos terrae. μ 185. modum luec mystica donorum intelligentia > sacramenta comprehendit his verbis: Thus, 4 c. VI. aurum, myrrham, Regique, Hominique, 5 Non secundum gloriam, V ulg. visioDeoque. Huic unico duos alios ez Sedunem, LXX. o) κατὰ τὴν δόξαν, as the lio adjungere non eri injucundum: Autranslation Hebrew, my) xd reanascenti fuderunt munera Regi, Thura YO", δόξα gloriosos terras, Et iterum ipse Esaias → arguet gloriosos terrae. Et iterum ipse Esaias; propter LIB.IIL x. quid → propter quid; wunzit me, evangelisare ! humilibus → unxit me, evangelisare humilibus; commi— — — nutos → comminutos; praconare captivis remissionem, et cacis → praeconare captivis remissionem, et caecis; Abrah:e → Abrahae; opus erat alli → opus erat illi; esset $n. homine → esset in homine; ἃ vinculis → a vinculis; Jestibus Prov. v.ss. autem peccatorum suorum wnusquisque → Restibus autem peccatorum suorum unusquisque.

Topics: Christology, Baptism, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.9.3 (Harvey 2:32–33; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/3-5-1/#p-3-9-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).