Irenaeus: Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

superlative. He went on to argue that as Ham was not the youngest son of Noah, the word “son” was used for grandson, and that “Noah knew what his grandson (Canaan) had done to him”: hence the curse falls on Canaan. This accorded with a tradition given him by his Hebrew teacher ( Comm. in Gen. ix. 18; Lomm. viii, p. 65). The trouble arose from the fact that “the curse of Ham” was not pronounced on Ham, but on his son Canaan. Justin Martyr ( Dial. 139) says that Noah cursed his son’s son; “for the prophetic Spirit would not curse his son, who had been blessed together with the other sons by God.”

Irenæus makes no difficulty about speaking of “the curse of Ham.” It is clear that he had a text of the LXX, which enabled him to do so. The Hebrew of Gen. ix. 25 gives us: “Cursed be Canaan: a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.” The LXX has: Ἐπικατάρατος Χανάαν · παῖς οἰκέτης ἔσται τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς αὐτοῦ . But some MSS (E and some cursives) read Χάμ for Χανάαν . When παῖς was taken with the preceding word, Χὰμ παῖς was no doubt intended to mean “the child of Ham,” i.e. Canaan: it might however be understood as “Ham the child.” So here the Armenian translator does not give the genitive case of Ham, but the nominative: and it would seem that he rightly interprets the meaning of Irenæus.

Irenæus seems to have drawn on Acts ii. 9–11 to amplify his list.

The LXX reads Canaan , but one cursive has Ham .

Here again the LXX reads Canaan , though E and other MSS. have Ham . The Arm. here has “he shall bless” for “he shall dwell”; but this is a slip, as appears from below.

“The calling of the Gentiles,” or, as we have it also here, “the calling from among the Gentiles,” recurs in cc. 28, 41 bis , 42, 89, 91. I have noted it in the Armenian version of IV, xxxiv. 12, where however we find in the Greek ἡ ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐκκλησία , and in the Latin ea quæ ex gentibus est ecclesia. I do not remember to have met with it elsewhere in the writings of Irenæus, or in any earlier writer. In the fragments of Hippolytus on Gen. xlix (ed. Achelis, pp. 59 ff.) ἡ ἐξ ἐθνῶν κλῆσις is found several times, and more than once ἐκκλησία occurs as a various reading. It is not found, however, in the corresponding comments in The Blessings of Jacob (Texte u. Unters. xxxviii. 1).

With all the above cf. Just. M. Dial. 139.

These last words are so quoted in V, xiv. 1. The LXX continues: ὅτι ἐν εἰκόνι θεοῦ ἐποίησα τὸν ἄνθρωπον . This Irenæus paraphrases; cf. c. 11: “for (as) the image of God was man formed and set on the earth.” That “the image of God is the Son” may be a reminiscence of Col. i. 15 .

V, xvi. 1: τκὴνεἰόνα ἔδειξεν ἀληθῶς, αὐπός τοῦτο γενόμενος ὅπερ ἦν ἡ εἰκὼν αὐτοῦ : where see the context.

Lit. “was found” (= εὑρέθη ).

This is explained by the comment above (c. 21) on the blessing of Shem, which did not say “Blessed be Shem,” but “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem”; meaning that God “should be to Shem a peculiar possession of worship.”

Heb. and LXX: “seventy and five.”

The Arm. has “uncircumcision” for “righteousness” by an oversight.

The same interpretation of Pascha, as if from πάσχειν , is found in IV, xx. i: “ cujus et diem passionis non ignoravit, sed figuratim prænuntiavit eum, Pascha nominans.

“The finger of God” ( Luke xi. 20 ) appears as “the Spirit of God” in Matt. xii. 28 . Cf. Barn. xiv. 3; and Clem. Hom. Xi. 22, xvi. 12, quoted in Introd. p. 53 n. i.

Num. xiii. 16 : καὶ ἐπωνόμασεν Μωυσῆς τὸν Αὑσὴ υἱὸν Ναυὴ Ἰησοῦν . Justin Martyr ( Dial. 75, 113) has much to say on this change of name. Cf. Barn. xii. 8 f.

Probably this represents ὃ ἐγένετο . Compare the brief clauses “and this came to pass” (c. 67), and “as indeed they have become” (c. 72); III, vi. 4: “ quod et erat. ” But it might be rendered, in conjunction with the Name, “which was (given them)”: so the German translations take it.

Cf. the Greek fragment attributed to Irenæus, Harvey II, p. 487, where we have ἀνακεφαλαιούμενος : this fragment, however, is now shown to be from Hippolytus On the Blessings of Moses ( Texte u. Unters. N. F. XI, 1a, p. 49). Cf. also IV, ii. 1: “ Moyses igitur recapitulationem universæ legis . . . in Deuteronomio faciens. ”

Or “this present Jerusalem”: perhaps representing τὴν νῦν Ἰερουσαλήμ ( Gal. iv. 25 ).

Cf. c. 51.

For this double rendering see above c. 6.

III, xx. 1: “ Quemadmodum autem adunari possemus incorruptelæ et immortalitati, nisi prius incorruptela et immortalitas facta fuisset id quod et nos? ” Cf. III, xix. 6: καὶ εἰ μἡ συνηνώθη ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῷ θεῷ, οὐκ ἂν ἠδυνήθη μετασχεῖν τῆς ἀφθαρσίας .

Cf. 2 Tim. i. 10 : φωτίσαντος ζωὴν καὶ ἀφθαρσίαν διὰ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου .

V, i. 2: τὴν ἀρχαίαν πλάσιντοῦ Ἀδάμ εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἀνεκεφαλαιώσατο

III, xix. 5: “ erat enim homo pro patribus certans :” V, xxi. 1: “ Omnia ergo recapitulans, recapitulatus est et adversus inimicum nostrum hellum, provocans et elidens eum qui in initio in Adam captivos duxerat nos ” (the Arm. version of this passage suggests the true punctuation). With “ pro patribus ” comp. Barn. V. 7: ἵνα καὶ τοῖς πατράσιν τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν ἀποδῷ.

Almost the same words are here used as in III, xxx. 1.: “ Et quemadmodum protoplastus ille Adam de rudi terra et de adhuc virgine— nondum enim pluerat Deus, et homo non erat operatus terram —habuit substantiam et plasmatus est manu Dei, id est, Verbo Dei— omnia enim per ipsum facta sunt —et sumpsit Dominus limum a terra et plasmavit hominem: ita recapitulans in se Adam ipse Verbum existens ex Maria, quæ adhuc erat virgo, recte accipiebat generationem Adæ recapitulationis. ” Cf. III, xix. 6: also Ephraim’s Commentary on the Diatessaron (Mœsinger, p. 21): “In Virginis conceptione disce quod qui sine conjugio Adamum ex virginea terra protulit, is etiam Adamum secundum in utero virginis formaverit.” Cf. also Tertullian, De carne Christi , 17; Firmicus Maternus, De errore prof. relig. , 25.

III, xxxi. 1: τὴν αὐτὴν ἐκείνῳ τῆς γεννήσεως ἔχειν ὁμοιότητα .

V, ii. 1: “ restaurans suo plasmati quod dictum est in principio, factum esse hominem secundum imaginem et similitudinem Dei :” and below, c. 97.

The same parallel is worked out in III, xxxii. 1, and V, xix. 1. It is found earlier in Justin Martyr ( Dial . 100), and later in Tertullian ( De carne Chr. 17).

Irenæus is fond of referring to the sheep that was lost: see III, xx. 3, xxxii. 2, xxxvii. 1; V, xii. 3, xv. 2

V, xiv. 2: “ Nunc autem quod fuit qui perierat homo, hoc salutare factum est Verbum . . . non alteram quandam, sed illam principalem Patris plasmationem in se recapitulans, exquirens id quod perierat. ”

See above, c. 32.

III, xxxii. I: “ eam quæ est a Maria in Evam recirculationem significans ;” V, xix. 1: “ uti virginis Evæ virgo Maria fieret advocata. ” Cf Just. M. Dial. 100.

V, xvi. 2: “ Dissolvens enim eam quæ in initio in ligno facta fuerat hominis inobedientiam, obediens factus est usque ad mortens, mortem autem crucis , eam quæ ligno facta fuerat inobedientiam per eam quæ in ligno fuerat obedientiam sanans. ”

IV, xxxiv. 5: “ Nam prophetia est prædicatio futurorum. ”

Cf. c. 68.

V, xvii. 4: Ἐπεὶ γὰρ διὰ ξύλου ἀπεβάλομεν αὐτόν (sc. τὸν λόγον Κυρίου ), διὰ ξὐλου πάλιν φανερὸς τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐγένετο, ἐπιδεικνύων τὸ ὕψος καὶ μῆκος καῖ πλάτος ἐν ἑαυτῷ·καὶ, ὡς ἔφη τις τῶν προβεβηκότων πρεσβυτέρων, διὰ τῆς ἐκτάσεως τῶν χειρῶν τοὺς δὐο λαοὺς εἰς ἓνα θεὸν συνάγων . The Greek, preserved in a Catena, is here emended from the Latin and Armenian versions, both of which omit καὶ βάθος .

V, xviii. 2: “ in hoc mundo existens, et secundum invisibilitatem continet quæ facta sunt omnia, et in universa conditione infixus (Arm. “and in all this world in-crucified ”), quoniam Verbum Dei gubernans et disponens omnia. ” The thought is taken from Justin ( Ap. 1. 60), who attributes to Plato the words: Ἐχίασεν αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ παντί (cf. Timæus 36 B.C. ). See above, Introd. p. 29. Justin says that Plato misunderstanding the story of the Brazen Serpent, μηδὲ νοήσας τύπον εἶναι σταυροῦ, ἀλλὰ χίασμα γοήσας, τὴν μετὰ τὸν πρῶτον θεὸν δύναμιν κεχίασθαι ἐν τῷ παντὶ εἶπε .

IV, x. 1: ὅτι ποιήσει τὸ σπέρμα ὡσ τὰ ἄστρα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. τουτέστι τὸ ὑπὸ Παύλου εἰρημέναν· Ὡς φωστῆρει ἐν κόσμῳ : Cf. IV, xiii. 1.

III, xxvi. 1: ἐκ καρποῦ τῆς κυιλίας αὐτοῦ αἰώνιον ἀναστήσειν βασιλέα : III, xi, 4, xvii. 1, xxix. 1. In all these places the phrase “eternal King” is used in connection with this particular promise. The phrase also occurs in III, xx. 2, and below in cc. 56, 66, 95. Justin uses it several times ( Dial. 34, 36, 118, 135), but not in this connection.

Here and above I have used “body” as in A. V. for κοιλία : but the strange argument is thus somewhat obscured. The words which immediately follow in the Armenian text may be more easily rendered in Latin: “ de fructu ventris tui , quod est proprium feminæ prægnantis: non de fructu lumborum, nec de fructu renum, quod est proprium viri generantis: ut declararet ,” etc. Almost the same words are found in III, xxvi. 1: cf. also III, ix. 2: “ext fructu ventris David, id est, ex David virgine.” The argument is used by Tertullian, Adv. Marcion , III, 20.

The same word corresponds to “ artifex ” in the Arm. version of V, xv. 2, xxiv. 4: cf. III, xi. 11: ὁ τῶν ἁπάντων τεχνίτης Λόγος.

Cf. c. 39: Barn. V. 6: ἵνα καταργήσῃ τὸν θάνατον καὶ τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν δείξῃ : and Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition , in the Eucharistic Prayer: “ ut resurrectionem manifestet ”; and Philos. x. 33 (Connolly, Texts and Studies , VIII, 4. 166).

Or “body”: cf. c. 62.

V, xix. 2: “ Alii autem manifestum adventum Domini contemnunt, incarnationem ejus non recipientes. ”

IV, xxxiv. 2: “ homo justus :” the whole context is parallel to our passage: cf. also III, xvii.,6.

IV, xxxiv. 2, lxiii. 2.

Cf. cc. 54 f.

The Arm. seems to be a rendering of ἐκ θεοῦ σκαρεὶς διὰ πνεύματος ἀγίου . Cf. III, xvii. 6: “ unitus et consparsus suo plasmati secundum placitum Patris, et caro factus. ” See Introd. p. 65.

Cf. c. 97 (where however the Incarnation is in question), and the references there given.

Or “fleshly”: cf. I, ii. 1: καὶ τὴν ἔγερσιν ἐκ νεκρῶν καὶ τὴν ἔνσαρκον εἰς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἀνάληψιν .

The Arm. is a literal rendering of οὕτως ἔχειν , as in the Arm. version of IV, Xi. 2 (“ sic se habere ”).

Cf. c. 21. The Arm. is obscure, perhaps corrupt.

Cf. Just. M. Ap. 1. 32: Μωυσῆς . . . πρῶτος τῶν προφητῶν γενόμενος.

Lit. “the Armenian language.”

The Hebrew text has been corrupted in transmission: but it is plain that Irenæus interpreted the first two words (“In the beginning created”) as “In the beginning the Son.” St Hilary, on Ps. ii. § 2, says that bresith has three meanings, “ in principio in capite, in filio ”; but be prefers the first as the interpretation given by the LXX. See the note of the learned Dom Coustant, the Benedictine editor of St Hilary. See also Dr Harnack’s notes in Texte u. Unters. , I, 1. 117 ff. and xxxi, 1. 60. In Clem. Alex. Ecl. Proph. 4 we find as a comment on Gen. i. 1 , ὅτι ἀρχὴ ὁ υἱός.

For this composite quotation from the Psalms, here attributed to Jeremiah, see Introd. p. 19 ff.

For this quotation also see Introd. p. 22 f.

This is probably a reference to Prov. viii. 22 : ὁ κύριος ἔκτισέ με ἀιχὴν τῶν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ.

Justin ( Dial. 88) quotes the Voice at the Baptism in the form “Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee” ( Ps. ii. 7 , and Luke iii. 22 in Codex Bezæ, etc.). Then he says: τότε γένεσιν αὐτοῦ λέγων γίνεσθαι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ἐξ ὅτου ἡ γνῶσις αὐτοῦ ἔμελλε γίνεσθαι.

III, vi. 1: “ Filium enim hic significat, qui et Abrahæ collocutus sit, a Patre accepisse potestatem judicandi Sodomitas propter iniquitatem eorum. ’ For the indebtedness of Irenæus to Justin in this and the next chapter, see Introd. p. 12.

The Arm. text has “from heaven to heaven” by oversight. That Jacob’s Ladder signified the Cross was said by Justin ( Dial. 86).

IV, xxxiii. i: “ Audistis mensos esse cælos in palma . . . qui comprehendit terram pugillo. ”