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Against Heresies
Irenaeus of Lyons
Book 3 · Chapter 21 About this work A five-book account and refutation of competing Christian movements that also develops Irenaeus’s positive theology of creation, Scripture, apostolic tradition, incarnation, salvation, and recapitulation in Christ.
Author Irenaeus of Lyons
Date c. AD 175–185
Origin Lyons, Gaul
Genre Heresiology A vindication of the prophecy in Isa. vii. 14 against the misinterpretations of Theodotion, Aquila, the Ebionites, and the Jews. Authority of the Septuagint version. Arguments in proof that Christ was born of a virgin. Section 1 1 . God , then , was made man
‹ Book 3 · Chapter 20 Book 3 · Chapter 22 ›,
and
the
Lord
did
Himself
save
us
,
giving
us
the
token
of
the
Virgin
.
But
not
as
some
allege
,
among
those
now
presuming
to
expound
the
Scripture
,
[
thus
:
]
“
Behold
,
a
young
woman
shall
conceive
,
and
bring
forth
a
son
,
”
as
Theodotion
the
Ephesian
has
interpreted
,
and
Aquila
of
Pontus
,
both
Jewish
proselytes
.
The
Ebionites
,
following
these
,
assert
that
He
was
begotten
by
Joseph
;
thus
destroying
,
as
far
as
in
them
lies
,
such
a
marvellous
dispensation
of
God
,
and
setting
aside
the
testimony
of
the
prophets
which
proceeded
from
God
.
For
truly
this
prediction
was
uttered
before
the
removal
of
the
people
to
Babylon
;
that
is
,
anterior
to
the
supremacy
acquired
by
the
Medes
and
Persians
.
But
it
was
interpreted
into
Greek
by
the
Jews
themselves
,
much
before
the
period
of
our
Lord’s
advent
,
that
there
might
remain
no
suspicion
that
perchance
the
Jews
,
complying
with
our
humour
,
did
put
this
interpretation
upon
these
words
.
They
indeed
,
had
they
been
cognizant
of
our
future
existence
,
and
that
we
should
use
these
proofs
from
the
Scriptures
,
would
themselves
never
have
hesitated
to
burn
their
own
Scriptures
,
which
do
declare
that
all
other
nations
partake
of
[
eternal
]
life
,
and
show
that
they
who
boast
themselves
as
being
the
house
of
Jacob
and
the
people
of
Israel
,
are
disinherited
from
the
grace
of
God
.
Section 2 2 . For before the Romans possessed their kingdom , while as yet the Macedonians held Asia , Ptolemy the son of Lagus , being anxious to adorn the library which he had founded in Alexandria , with a collection of the writings of all men , which were [ works ] of merit , made request to the people of Jerusalem , that they should have their Scriptures translated into the Greek language . And they — for at that time they were still subject to the Macedonians — sent to Ptolemy seventy of their elders , who were thoroughly skilled in the Scriptures and in both the languages , to carry out what he had desired . But he , wishing to test them individually , and fearing lest they might perchance , by taking counsel together , conceal the truth in the Scriptures , by their interpretation , separated them from each other , and commanded them all to write the same translation . He did this with respect to all the books . But when they came together in the same place before Ptolemy , and each of them compared his own interpretation with that of every other , God was indeed glorified , and the Scriptures were acknowledged as truly divine . For all of them read out the common translation [ which they had prepared ] in the very same words and the very same names , from beginning to end , so that even the Gentiles present perceived that the Scriptures had been interpreted by the inspiration of God . And there was nothing astonishing in God having done this , — He who , when , during the captivity of the people under Nebuchadnezzar , the Scriptures had been corrupted , and when , after seventy years , the Jews had returned to their own land , then , in the times of Artaxerxes king of the Persians , inspired Esdras the priest , of the tribe of Levi , to recast all the words of the former prophets , and to re - establish with the people the Mosaic legislation .
Section 3 3 . Since , therefore , the Scriptures have been interpreted with such fidelity , and by the grace of God , and since from these God has prepared and formed again our faith towards His Son , and has preserved to us the unadulterated Scriptures in Egypt , where the house of Jacob flourished , fleeing from the famine in Canaan ; where also our Lord was preserved when He fled from the persecution set on foot by Herod ; and [ since ] this interpretation of these Scriptures was made prior to our Lord’s descent [ to earth ] , and came into being before the Christians appeared — for our Lord was born about the forty - first year of the reign of Augustus ; but Ptolemy was much earlier , under whom the Scriptures were interpreted ; — [ since these things are so , I say , ] truly these men are proved to be impudent and presumptuous , who would now show a desire to make different translations , when we refute them out of these Scriptures , and shut them up to a belief in the advent of the Son of God . But our faith is stedfast , unfeigned , and the only true one , having clear proof from these Scriptures , which were interpreted in the way I have related ; and the preaching of the Church is without interpolation . For the apostles , since they are of more ancient date than all these [ heretics ] , agree with this aforesaid translation ; and the translation harmonizes with the tradition of the apostles . For Peter , and John , and Matthew , and Paul , and the rest successively , as well as their followers , did set forth all prophetical [ announcements ] , just as the interpretation of the elders contains them .
Section 4 4 . For the one and the same Spirit of God , who proclaimed by the prophets what and of what sort the advent of the Lord should be , did by these elders give a just interpretation of what had been truly prophesied ; and He did Himself , by the apostles , announce that the fulness of the times of the adoption had arrived , that the kingdom of heaven had drawn nigh , and that He was dwelling within those that believe on Him who was born Emmanuel of the Virgin . To this effect they testify , [ saying , ] that before Joseph had come together with Mary , while she therefore remained in virginity , “ she was found with child of the Holy Ghost ; ” and that the angel Gabriel said unto her , “ The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee , and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee ; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God ; ” and that the angel said to Joseph in a dream , “ Now this was done , that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet , Behold , a virgin shall be with child . ” But the elders have thus interpreted what Esaias said : “ And the Lord , moreover , said unto Ahaz , Ask for thyself a sign from the Lord thy God out of the depth below , or from the height above . And Ahaz said , I will not ask , and I will not tempt the Lord . And he said , It is not a small thing for you to weary men ; and how does the Lord weary them ? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign ; Behold , a virgin shall conceive , and bear a son ; and ye shall call His name Emmanuel . Butter and honey shall He eat : before He knows or chooses out things that are evil , He shall exchange them for what is good ; for before the child knows good or evil , He shall not consent to evil , that He may choose that which is good . ” Carefully , then , has the Holy Ghost pointed out , by what has been said , His birth from a virgin , and His essence , that He is God ( for the name Emmanuel indicates this ) . And He shows that He is a man , when He says , “ Butter and honey shall He eat ; ” and in that He terms Him a child also , [ in saying , ] “ before He knows good and evil ; ” for these are all the tokens of a human infant . But that He “ will not consent to evil , that He may choose that which is good , ” — this is proper to God ; that by the fact , that He shall eat butter and honey , we should not understand that He is a mere man only , nor , on the other hand , from the name Emmanuel , should suspect Him to be God without flesh .
Section 5 5 . And when He says , “ Hear , O house of David , ” He performed the part of one indicating that He whom God promised David that He would raise up from the fruit of his belly ( ventris ) an eternal King , is the same who was born of the Virgin , herself of the lineage of David . For on this account also , He promised that the King should be “ of the fruit of his belly , ” which was the appropriate [ term to use with respect ] to a virgin conceiving , and not “ of the fruit of his loins , ” nor “ of the fruit of his reins , ” which expression is appropriate to a generating man , and a woman conceiving by a man . In this promise , therefore , the Scripture excluded all virile influence ; yet it certainly is not mentioned that He who was born was not from the will of man . But it has fixed and established “ the fruit of the belly , ” that it might declare the generation of Him who should be [ born ] from the Virgin , as Elisabeth testified when filled with the Holy Ghost , saying to Mary , “ Blessed art thou among women , and blessed is the fruit of thy belly ; ” the Holy Ghost pointing out to those willing to hear , that the promise which God had made , of raising up a King from the fruit of [ David’s ] belly , was fulfilled in the birth from the Virgin , that is , from Mary . Let those , therefore , who alter the passage of Isaiah thus , “ Behold , a young woman shall conceive , ” and who will have Him to be Joseph’s son , also alter the form of the promise which was given to David , when God promised him to raise up , from the fruit of his belly , the horn of Christ the King . But they did not understand , otherwise they would have presumed to alter even this passage also .
Section 6 6 . But what Isaiah said , “ From the height above , or from the depth beneath , ” was meant to indicate , that “ He who descended was the same also who ascended . ” But in this that he said , “ The Lord Himself shall give you a sign , ” he declared an unlooked - for thing with regard to His generation , which could have been accomplished in no other way than by God the Lord of all , God Himself giving a sign in the house of David . For what great thing or what sign should have been in this , that a young woman conceiving by a man should bring forth , — a thing which happens to all women that produce offspring ? But since an unlooked - for salvation was to be provided for men through the help of God , so also was the unlooked - for birth from a virgin accomplished ; God giving this sign , but man not working it out .
Section 7 7 . On this account also , Daniel , foreseeing His advent , said that a stone , cut out without hands , came into this world . For this is what “ without hands ” means , that His coming into this world was not by the operation of human hands , that is , of those men who are accustomed to stone - cutting ; that is , Joseph taking no part with regard to it , but Mary alone co - operating with the pre - arranged plan . For this stone from the earth derives existence from both the power and the wisdom of God . Wherefore also Isaiah says : “ Thus saith the Lord , Behold , I deposit in the foundations of Zion a stone , precious , elect , the chief , the corner - one , to be had in honour . ” So , then , we understand that His advent in human nature was not by the will of a man , but by the will of God .
Section 8 8 . Wherefore also Moses giving a type , cast his rod upon the earth , in order that it , by becoming flesh , might expose and swallow up all the opposition of the Egyptians , which was lifting itself up against the pre - arranged plan of God ; that the Egyptians themselves might testify that it is the finger of God which works salvation for the people , and not the son of Joseph . For if He were the son of Joseph , how could He be greater than Solomon , or greater than Jonah , or greater than David , when He was generated from the same seed , and was a descendant of these men ? And how was it that He also pronounced Peter blessed , because he acknowledged Him to be the Son of the living God ?
Section 9 9 . But besides , if indeed He had been the son of Joseph , He could not , according to Jeremiah , be either king or heir . For Joseph is shown to be the son of Joachim and Jechoniah , as also Matthew sets forth in his pedigree . But Jechoniah , and all his posterity , were disinherited from the kingdom ; Jeremiah thus declaring , “ As I live , saith the Lord , if Jechoniah the son of Joachim king of Judah had been made the signet of my right hand , I would pluck him thence , and deliver him into the hand of those seeking thy life . ” And again : “ Jechoniah is dishonoured as a useless vessel , for he has been cast into a land which he knew not . Earth , hear the word of the Lord : Write this man a disinherited person ; for none of his seed , sitting on the throne of David , shall prosper , or be a prince in Judah . ” And again , God speaks of Joachim his father : “ Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Joachim his father , king of Judea , There shall be from him none sitting upon the throne of David : and his dead body shall be cast out in the heat of day , and in the frost of night . And I will look upon him , and upon his sons , and will bring upon them , and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem , upon the land of Judah , all the evils that I have pronounced against them . ” Those , therefore , who say that He was begotten of Joseph , and that they have hope in Him , do cause themselves to be disinherited from the kingdom , failing under the curse and rebuke directed against Jechoniah and his seed . Because for this reason have these things been spoken concerning Jechoniah , the [ Holy ] Spirit foreknowing the doctrines of the evil teachers ; that they may learn that from his seed — that is , from Joseph — He was not to be born but that , according to the promise of God , from David’s belly the King eternal is raised up , who sums up all things in Himself , and has gathered into Himself the ancient formation [ of man ] .
Section 10 10 . For as by one man’s disobedience sin entered , and death obtained [ a place ] through sin ; so also by the obedience of one man , righteousness having been introduced , shall cause life to fructify in those persons who in times past were dead . And as the protoplast himself Adam , had his substance from untilled and as yet virgin soil ( “ for God had not yet sent rain , and man had not tilled the ground ” ) , and was formed by the hand of God , that is , by the Word of God , for “ all things were made by Him , ” and the Lord took dust from the earth and formed man ; so did He who is the Word , recapitulating Adam in Himself , rightly receive a birth , enabling Him to gather up Adam [ into Himself ] , from Mary , who was as yet a virgin . If , then , the first Adam had a man for his father , and was born of human seed , it were reasonable to say that the second Adam was begotten of Joseph . But if the former was taken from the dust , and God was his Maker , it was incumbent that the latter also , making a recapitulation in Himself , should be formed as man by God , to have an analogy with the former as respects His origin . Why , then , did not God again take dust , but wrought so that the formation should be made of Mary ? It was that there might not be another formation called into being , nor any other which should [ require to ] be saved , but that the very same formation should be summed up [ in Christ as had existed in Adam ] , the analogy having been preserved .
Notes 401 Isa. vii. 14.
402 Epiphanius, in his De Mensuris, gives an account of these two men. The former published his version of the Old Testament in the year 181. The latter put forth his translation half a century earlier, about 129 a.d. This reference to the version of Theodotion furnishes a note of date as to the time when Irenæus published his work: it must have been subsequently to a.d. 181.
403 The Greek text here is, κρατῦναι τὴν ἀρχὴν αὐτῶν, translated into Latin by “possiderent regnum suum,”—words which are somewhat ambiguous in both languages. Massuet remarks, that “regnum eorum” would have been a better rendering, referring the words to the Jews.
404 The Greek text of this narrative has been preserved by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., v. 8). Grabe considers it to be faulty in this passage; so the Latin translation has been adopted here. Eusebius has ποιήσαντος τοῦ Θεοῦ ὄπερ ἐβούλετο—God having accomplished what He intended.
405 [See Justin Martyr, To the Greeks, cap. xiii. The testimony of Justin naturalized this Jewish legend among Christians.]
406 The Greek term is ἀνατάξασθαι, which the Latin renders “re memorare,” but Massuet prefers “digerere.”
407 This is a very interesting passage, as bearing on the question, From what source are the quotations made by the writers of the New Testament derived? Massuet, indeed, argues that it is of little or no weight in the controversy; but the passage speaks for itself. Comp. Dr. Robert’s Discussions on the Gospels, part i. ch. iv. and vii.
408 Matt. i. 18.
409 Luke i. 35.
410 Matt. i. 23.
411 We here read “non pusillum” for “num pusillum,” as in some texts. Cyprian and Tertullian confirm the former reading.
412 Isa. vii. 10–17.
413 Isa. vii. 13.
414 Luke i. 42.
415 Isa. vii. 11.
416 Eph. iv. 10.
417 Dan. ii. 34.
418 Isa. xxviii. 16.
419 Ex. vii. 9.
420 Ex. viii. 19.
421 Matt. xii. 41, 42.
422 Matt. xxii. 43.
423 Matt. xvi. 17.
424 Matt. i. 12–16.
425 Jer. xxii. 24, 25.
426 Jer. xxii. 28 , etc.
427 Jer. xxxvi. 30, 31.
428 Harvey prefixes this last clause to the following section.
429 Rom. v. 19.
430 Gen. ii. 5.
431 John i. 3.
