To Autolycus 3.9
Summary: Christians confess one God, who governs all things by providence and gave the holy law of the Ten Commandments through Moses to Israel and, through them, to the world.
Greek text · Otto 8:212–214
Ἡμεῖς δὲ καὶ θεὸν ὁμολογοῦμεν, ἀλλʼ ἕνα, τὸν κτίστην καὶ ποιητὴν καὶ δημιουργὸν τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς κόσμου, καὶ προνοίᾳ τὰ πάντα διοικεῖσθαι ἐπιστάμεθα, ἀλλʼ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ μόνου, καὶ νόμον ἅγιον μεμαθήκαμεν, ἀλλὰ νομοθέτην ἔχομεν τὸν ὄντως θεόν, ὃς καὶ διδάσκει ἡμᾶς δικαιοπραγεῖν καὶ εὐσεβεῖν καὶ καλοποιεῖν. Καὶ περὶ μὲν εὐσεβείας λέγει· Οὐκ ἔσονταί σοι θεοὶ ἕτεροι πλὴν ἐμοῦ. Οὐ ποιήσεις σεαυτῷ εἴδωλον οὐδὲ παντὸς ὁμοίωμα, ὅσα ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω ἢ ὅσα ἐν τῇ γῇ κάτω ἢ ὅσα ἐν τοῖς ὕδασιν ὑποκάτω τῆς γῆς. Οὐ προσκυνήσεις αὐτοῖς, οὐδὲ μὴ λατρεύσεις αὐτοῖς· ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι κύριος ὁ θεός σου. Περὶ δὲ τοῦ καλοποιεῖν ἔφη· Τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα σου, ἵνα εὖ σοι γένηται καὶ ἵνα μακροχρόνιος ἔσῃ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ἧς ἐγὼ δίδωμί σοι κύριος ὁ θεός. Ἔτι περὶ δικαιοσύνης· Οὐ μοιχεύσεις, οὐ φονεύσεις, οὐ κλέψεις, οὐ ψευδομαρτυρήσεις κατὰ τοῦ πλησίον σου μαρτυρίαν ψευδῆ, οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ πλησίον σου, οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ τὸν ἀγρὸν αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ τὸν παῖδα αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ τὴν παιδίσκην αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ τοῦ βοὸς αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ τοῦ ὑποζυγίου αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ παντὸς κτήνους αὐτοῦ οὔτε ὅσα ἐστὶν τῷ πλησίον σου. Οὐ διαστρέψεις κρῖμα πένητος ἐν κρίσει αὐτοῦ, ἀπὸ παντὸς ῥήματος ἀδίκου διαποστήσει, ἀθῶον καὶ δίκαιον οὐκ ἀποκτενεῖς, οὐ δικαιώσεις τὸν ἀσεβῆ καὶ δῶρα οὐ λήψῃ· τὰ γὰρ δῶρα ἀποτυφλοῖ ὀφθαλμοὺς βλεπόντων καὶ λυμαίνεται ῥήματα δίκαια. Τούτου μὲν οὖν τοῦ θείου νόμου διάκονος γεγένηται Μωσῆς, ὁ καὶ θεράπων τοῦ θεοῦ, παντὶ μὲν τῷ κόσμῳ, παντελῶς δὲ τοῖς Ἑβραίοις, τοῖς καὶ Ἰουδαίοις καλουμένοις, οὓς κατεδουλώσατο ἀρχῆθεν βασιλεὺς Αἰγύπτου, τυγχάνοντας σπέρμα δίκαιον ἀνδρῶν θεοσεβῶν καὶ ὁσίων, Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ· ὧν ὁ θεὸς μνησθεὶς καὶ ποιήσας θαυμάσια καὶ τέρατα διὰ Μωσέως παράδοξα ἐῤῥύσατο αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐξήγαγεν ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου, ἀγαγὼν αὐτοὺς διὰ τῆς ἐρήμου καλουμένης· οὓς καὶ ἀπεκατέστησεν εἰς τὴν Χαναναίαν γῆν, μετέπειτα δὲ Ἰουδαίαν ἐπικληθεῖσαν, καὶ νόμον παρέθετο καὶ ἐδίδαξεν αὐτοὺς ταῦτα. Τοῦ μὲν οὖν νόμου μεγάλου καὶ θαυμασίου πρὸς πᾶσαν δικαιοσύνην ὑπάρχοντος δέκα κεφάλαια, ἃ προειρήκαμεν, τοιαῦτά ἐστιν.
English · Claude translation
We too confess God, but one God, the Founder, Maker, and Creator of this whole world; and we know that all things are governed by providence, but by his alone. We have learned a holy law; but we have as lawgiver the true God, who teaches us to act justly, to be godly, and to do good. About godliness he says: “You shall have no other gods besides me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them; for I am the Lord your God.” About doing good he said: “Honor your father and your mother, that it may go well with you and that you may live long on the land that I, the Lord your God, am giving you.” And about justice: “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife; you shall not covet his house, nor his field, nor his servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his beast of burden, nor any of his cattle, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor. You shall not pervert the justice due to the poor in his lawsuit; you shall keep far from every unjust word; you shall not put to death the innocent and the righteous; you shall not acquit the ungodly, and you shall not take bribes; for bribes blind the eyes of those who see and corrupt the words of the righteous.” Of this divine law Moses became the minister, he who was also the servant of God: to the whole world, but above all to the Hebrews, also called Jews. The king of Egypt had enslaved them long before, though they were the righteous offspring of godly and holy men, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God remembered them, and through Moses worked wonders and astonishing signs, rescued them, and brought them out of Egypt, leading them through what is called the desert. He brought them back to the land of Canaan, later called Judea, gave them a law, and taught them these things. Such, then, are the ten chief points of this great and wonderful law, which leads to all righteousness, as we said before.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Exod 20:3–5, 12–17 and Exod 23:6–8, from the Septuagint.
Cite this passage
Theophilus, Autol. 3.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/3/9/).
Plain text
Theophilus, Autol. 3.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/3/9/).
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