The letter of the king to the teachers of the Jews: "King Ptolemy to the teachers of the Jews in Jerusalem: Much joy. After I had established a library and collected many books from every people and placed them in it, I heard that there are also found among you the books of the prophets which tell about God and the creation of the world. And, desiring that I might give them also a place of honor with the other books, I have written that you may send them to us. For I am honorably desirous of such a thing and devoid of guile or evil intention, but in good faith and kindness toward you I make request for them, since from of old there has been good will from us toward you, as you know when you remember. For perhaps you recall how, when many captives had been taken from your place and brought to our place in Egypt, I let them go. With abundance of provisions and exercising unusual consideration toward them, I sent them away free. Moreover, those who were sick among them, {53a} after I had healed them, I likewise dismissed, and the naked I clothed. And now a table of gold, embellished with precious stones of great value, a hundred talents in weight, instead of the table that was taken from the holy place (of) Jerusalem, I have sent along, with gifts and valuable things for the priestly place. I have thus given a recital of these things that you may know that I have requested the books because of a vow of piety." And the letter was dispatched and the presents sent likewise. And when they had received and read the letter and saw the things that had been sent, they had great joy and without delay transcribed the books in Hebrew letters of gold. They sent those recounted by me above, the twenty-two of the (Old) Testament and the seventy-two that are apocryphal. But when the king picked them up and looked at them and was unable to read them, because they were written in Hebrew letters and in the Hebrew |27 language, it was necessary for them to write a second letter {53b} and request translators who would be able to explain to him in the Greek language the things in the Hebrew. The letter was as follows:
The second letter: "King Ptolemy to the teachers of religion in Jerusalem: Much joy. As to the hid treasure and the sealed fountain, what profit is there in either of them? Likewise also is the matter of the books sent to us by you; for since we are unable to read these sent to us by you, such a thing is for us of no use whatever. But consent to send us as translators such of your men as from youth have been specially trained in the language of both the Hebrews and the Greeks." Thereupon the seventy-two translators above mentioned the teachers of the Hebrews chose and sent, according to the example that Moses once set when he went up the mountain at the command of the Lord, having heard: "Take with thee seventy men and go up the mountain." But for the sake of peace among the tribes, that he might not take five men from some and six from others and create discord among the tribes, {53c} he made up his mind rather to take seventy-two and to add to the number. And in this way, as I have said, they also sent these men who translated the Scriptures on the island called the Pharian (Pharos), as we have already said above, in the way we have described. And so the Scriptures, when they had been transferred to the Greek language, were placed in the first library, which was built in the Bruchion, as I have already said. And there arose in addition to this library a second up in the Serapeum, called its daughter. And the period of the ten Ptolemies and Cleopatra passed away, two hundred fifty-nine years.
12. After the first Ptolemy, he of the Rabbit (Lagos), who reigned forty years, and after the seventh year of the second Ptolemy, who is also (named) Philadelphus, the number of the Ptolemies and of the years is as follows: Ptolemy Philadelphus, thirty-eight years; in his days, in his seventh year more or less, the seventy-two translators above mentioned translated the Scriptures. And after the time of their translation of the Scriptures the years and the kings are as follows: Ptolemy Philadelphus, already {53d} mentioned, the rest of his years, thirty-one; Ptolemy the Well-Doer (Euergetes), twenty-four years; Ptolemy Philopator, twenty-one years; Ptolemy Epiphanes, twenty-two years; Ptolemy Philometor, thirty-four years; Ptolemy the Lover of Learning and the Well-Doer (Philologus and Euergetes), twenty-nine years; Ptolemy the Savior (Soter), fifteen years; Ptolemy, who is also Alexas, twelve years; Ptolemy, the brother of Alexas, who was driven out by his mother, eight years; Ptolemy Dionysius, thirty-one years; Cleopatra, the daughter of Ptolemy, thirty-two years. She formed a union with Antoninus (Antony) the king, who is also (called) "Eight Sons." Altogether two hundred fifty-nine years, according to what is set down above. Then ceased the Rabbity (Lagid) kings, the Ptolemies, who were descended from the Rabbit (Lagos), for whom the race course, when built in Alexandria, was called only in the same Alexandria the Rabbity.
13. Afterward the kings of the Romans: Augustus, fifty-six years and six months. In the forty-second year of the days of this |29 Augustus our Lord Jesus Christ was born in the flesh. Tiberius, twenty-three years. {54a} And in his eighteenth year Christ was crucified of his own free will. And from the crucifixion to the destruction of Jerusalem the years are as follows: the rest of Tiberius, five years; Gaius, three years and nine months and twenty-nine days; Claudius, thirteen years and one month and twenty-eight days; Nero, thirteen years and seven months and twenty-seven days; Galba, seven months and twenty-six days; Otho, three months and five days; Vitellius, eight months and twelve days; Vespasian, nine years and seven months and twelve days; Titus, two years and two months and two days. At this time occurred the destruction of Jerusalem, fifty years after Christ was crucified, lacking three months. Domitian, fifteen years and five months; Nerva, one year and four months; Trajan, nineteen years; Hadrian, twenty-one years.
Concerning Aquila. In the twelfth year of Hadrian Aquila became known. And again from Augustine to Hadrian is one hundred eighty years and four months, lacking nine days. So from the time of the translation {54b} by the seventy-two translators to the translator Aquila and the twelfth year of Hadrian is altogether four hundred thirty years and four months, lacking nine days; and to the end of the entire (reign) of Hadrian four hundred thirty-nine years and four months, lacking nine days.
14. For this Hadrian, when leprosy appeared in his body and he had summoned the whole multitude of the physicians under his dominion before him, demanded of them healing for his body. And when they had labored much and done many things and availed nothing, they were scorned by him. He wrote an abusive letter concerning |30 them, assailing their art as devoid of knowledge. But as a result of the illness that befell him he went on a journey to the land of Egypt. And, approaching other places in order from that of the Romans, he must inspect them, for he was a man who loved to see places. So he passed through the city of Antioch and passed through [Coele-Syria] and Phoenicia and came to Palestine---- {54c} which is also called Judea----forty-seven years after the destruction of Jerusalem. And he went up to Jersualem, the famous and illustrious city which Titus, the son of Vespasian, overthrew in the second year of his reign. And he found the temple of God trodden down and the whole city devastated save for a few houses and the church of God, which was small, where the disciples, when they had returned after the Savior had ascended from the Mount of Olives, went to the upper room. For there it had been built, that is, in that portion of Zion which escaped destruction, together with blocks of houses in the neighborhood of Zion and the seven synagogues which alone remained standing in Zion, like solitary huts, one of which remained until the time of Maximona the bishop and Constantine the king, "like a booth in a vineyard," as it is written. Therefore Hadrian made up his mind to (re)build the city, but not the temple. And he took the Aquila mentioned above, who was a Greek interpreter, since Hadrian also was a Greek ---- {54d} now Aquila was related to the king by marriage and was from Sinope in Pontus----and he established him there in Jerusalem as overseer of the work of building the city. And he gave to the city that was being built his own name and the appellation of the royal title. For as he was named Aelius Hadrian, so he also named the city Aelia.
15. So Aquila, while he was in Jerusalem, also saw the disciples of the disciples of the apostles flourishing in the faith and working |31 great signs, healings, and other miracles. For they were such as had come back from the city of Pella to Jerusalem and were living there and teaching. For when the city was about to be taken and destroyed by the Romans, it was revealed in advance to all the disciples by an angel of God that they should remove from the city, as it was going to be completely destroyed. They sojourned as emigrants in Pella, the city above mentioned, {55a} in Transjordania. And this city is said to be of the Decapolis. But after the destruction of Jerusalem, when they had returned to Jerusalem, as I have said, they wrought great signs, as I have already said. So Aquila, after he had been strongly stirred in mind, believed in Christianity, and after a while, when he asked, he received the seal in Christ. But according to his former habit, while yet thinking the things of the heathen, he had been thoroughly trained in vain astronomy, so that also after he became a Christian he never departed from this fault of his, but every day he made calculations on the horoscope of his birth. He was reproved by the teachers, and they rebuked him for this every day but did not accomplish anything. But instead of standing rebuked, he became bold in disputation and tried to establish things that have no existence, tales about fate. Hence, as one who proved useless and could not be saved, he was expelled from {55b} the church. But as one who had become embittered in mind over how he had suffered dishonor, he was puffed up with vain jealousy, and having cursed Christianity and renounced his life he became a proselyte and was circumcised as a Jew. And, being painfully ambitious, he dedicated himself to learning the language of the Hebrews and their writings. After he had first been thoroughly trained for it, he made his translation. He was moved not by the right motive, but (by the desire) so to distort certain of the words occurring in the translation of the seventy-two that he might proclaim the things testified to about Christ in the divine Scriptures |32 to be fulfilled in some other way, on account of a certain shame that he felt (to proffer) a senseless excuse for himself.
16. And this second translation by Aquila came about after such a (long) time as this, the number of the years of which we have written above. But we must say, beloved, the words of it are incorrect and perversely translated, (words) which carry condemnation for him in the very translation which he made. But having explained the differences between them above, we think that that will suffice here also.
But after this Aquila and his translation {55c} Antoninus, surnamed Pius---- translated, "devout"----succeeded King Hadrian and reigned for a period of twenty-two years. Caracalla, who is also called Geta, also Marcus Aurelius Verus, succeeded him and reigned seven years. In his time Lucius Aurelius Commodus also reigned the same seven years. Pertinax (reigned) six months, Severus eighteen years.
Concerning Symmachus. In the time of Verus there was a certain Symmachus, a Samaritan, of their wise men, but unhonored by his own people. He was afflicted with the lust for power and became angry with his tribe. He approached the Jews, became a proselyte, and was circumcised a second time. Do not be surprised at this, O hearer, for it occurred. For all who fled from the Jews to the Samaritans were likewise circumcised again; likewise also those who came from the Samaritans to the Jews did the same. And, moreover, what is even more difficult than these things, some of the circumcised became uncircumcised. By a certain operation {55d} of the medical art, by means of a knife called the spathistaros, the inner skin of the organ having been cut loose and sewed together and bound in place by adhesive medicaments, they again complete foreskins for them. You have also the testimony of the holy apostle, O great lover |33 of the good, speaking in such words as these: "If a circumcised man be called, let him not change to a foreskin; if a man be in uncircumcision, let him not be circumcised." This tradition of a demoniacally wicked notion they say that Esau, the brother of Jacob, invented for the denial of the Godhead and the obliteration of the characteristic mark of his fathers. Therefore they say that God said: "Esau I have hated, but I have loved Jacob." So this Symmachus, translating in order to pervert the translation current among the Samaritans, published the third translation.
17. Concerning Theodotion, who was from Pontus. But after this, in the time immediately following, that is, in the reign of Commodus----I mean, of Commodus {56a} II----there was a certain Theodotion of Pontus, of the doctrine of Marcion, the heresiarch of Sinope. Having become angered with his heresy, he turned aside to Judaism and was circumcised and learned the language of the Hebrews and their writings; he also published (a translation) on his own account. He published many things in agreement with the seventy-two, for he derived many (peculiar) practices from the translational habit(s) of the seventy-two. Now you become the judge, O great lover of the good, of such a matter as this, whether the truth is more likely to be found with these three----I mean Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion ----who, moreover, were not together, but were remote from one another in both time and place; and there were not many, but only three, and yet they were unable to agree with one another. Or (was the truth) with the seventy-two, who were the first to translate, were at the same time, and were divided into thirty-six groups, according to the command of the king? And, furthermore, they did not converse with one another, {56b} but by the Holy Spirit they brought out the entire translation in absolute agreement; and where there was need for an addition in explanation of a word, it was the same among them all. Though they did not know what each one by himself was translating, |34 they agreed absolutely with one another, and the translations were identical. And where they cast out words, they translated in agreement with one another. So it is clear to those who through love of the truth seek to investigate that they were not merely translators but also, in part, prophets. For the things for which there was no need they left out of the translation----the things which Origen later inserted in their places, with the asterisks. Likewise also those that had been added he did not take away, knowing rather that there was need of them, but wherever he found one of these words employed he left it with an obelus, merely indicating by the obelus his knowledge about the reading of the passage. And by means of the lemniscus and the hypolemniscus he likewise indicated such (passages) as were found in two ways among some of the seventy-two translators {56c} in a few passages that are not unlike, but similar and having the same significance, as if a man should say "he conversed" instead of "he spoke," or "he has come" instead of "he came." And we have written for you the facts concerning the four translators.
18. Concerning the fifth and sixth translations, which were found in wine jars in Jericho after the persecution of Verus, in the time of Antoninus, who is called Caracalla and Geta. But as to the fifth and sixth translations, I have nothing to say as to those who translated them or whence they were, but only that after the persecution of King Verus, in the time of Antoninus, son of Severus, who is called Caracalla, also Geta, the fifth was found in Jericho, hidden in wine jars. For as to the time of those who reigned after Antoninus Pius----translated, "devout"----the succession, in order, is : {56d} After Antoninus |35 Pius reigned Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, otherwise Verus, nineteen years. And the same man is called Commodus Lucius. In his time, as I have already said, Symmachus the translator became known. After him Commodus II reigned thirteen years. At this time we have learned that Theodotion became known, he who became a Jew, (going) from the Marcionites, and made the fourth translation. And Pertinax succeeded Commodus and reigned six months. Severus succeeded him and reigned with his son Antoninus, otherwise Geta, eighteen years. And when Severus died, his son Antoninus Geta inherited his sovereignty, he that is called Caracalla, and he served seven years. In his days, as I have said above, were found the Scriptures in the fifth translation, hidden in wine jars in Jericho with other Hebrew books and other books. {57a} Macrinus succeeded Caracalla and reigned one year. Antoninus II succeeded him, reigning four years. After him reigned Alexander, the son of Mammaea, thirteen years. In the midst of these times the sixth translation was found, also hidden in wine jars, in Nicopolis, near Actium. After him Maximian reigned three years. Gordian succeeded him and reigned six years. After him Philip reigned seven years. Decius succeeded him and reigned one year and three months. In the time of Decius Origen became known, flourishing from the time of Decius through the days of Gallienus and Volusianus and beyond. |36 But in the persecution that took place under Decius, already mentioned, Babylas suffered martyrdom in Antioch, Flavianus in Rome, and Alexander, the bishop of Jerusalem, in Caesarea. In this time of persecution, while Origen himself suffered many things of the heathen in Alexandria, {57b} he who is also called Adamantius, he did not attain the goal of martyrdom. But when he had come to Caesarea Stratonitis and had dwelt a little while in Jerusalem, he afterward went to Tyre. Twenty-eight years, as the story goes, he devoted to ascetic practices, and he set forth the Scripture, placing the six columns (of the Greek) and the two columns of the Hebrew side by side, one translation alongside another, calling the books the Hexapla, as has already been fully related by me above.
19. But when the fifth and sixth translations of the Scriptures were found in the manner we have related and no one knew who they were who had translated them, according to the time when they were found he (Origen) attached them to the four earlier ones successively in the series. He called one the fifth, writing over it, by means of the fifth letter, the number five and giving it a name. Likewise also to the one {57c} after it, writing a letter above it as a symbol, he gave the name of the sixth translation. But, moreover, he did this skilfully, a thing that has escaped some of the lovers of learning. For when people happen upon the Hexapla or Octapla ----for the Greek (columns) are a tetrapla when the (translations) of Aquila, Symmachus, the seventy-two, and Theodotion are placed together; but when these four columns are joined to the two Hebrew columns they are called the Hexapla, and when the fifth and sixth also are joined successively to these they are called the Octapla ----I mean, the six translations and the two others, one written in Hebrew characters and in their own words, and the other in Greek characters but with the Hebrew words ----when some |37 people, then, as I have said, happen upon these books and find the first two columns {57d} of Hebrew placed together, and after them that by Aquila placed first and after it that by Symmachus, afterward that by the seventy-two and after it that by Theodotion, grouped together, and afterward the fifth and sixth (translations), they conclude that Aquila and Symmachus translated first. But it is not so; but Origen, having learned that the translation of the seventy-two was correct, placed it in the middle so that it might refute the translations on either side. This one thing only Origen did helpfully. Now, that we may not omit to give the succession of the kings of the Romans, which we began, we will proceed to give in order the sequences of the other kings, according as each of them reigned.
20. After Gallienus and Volusianus, already mentioned, who reigned two years and four months, Valerian and Gallienus reigned {58a} twelve years. In the ninth year of their reign Mani came up from Persia, when he disputed with Archelaus, bishop of Kaschara in Mesopotamia, met defeat, (and) fled secretly. For when he came to Diodoris, a town under the authority of Kaschara, and disputed with the holy Tryphon, the priest, he was completely humiliated before him. (And) when the holy Archelaus heard that he had come to Tryphon and had held a disputation with him, he came (and) met him and arranged a debate with Mani, and when he had completely defeated him he put him to shame. Thereupon Mani was about to die by stoning from the people, but, having been saved by Bishop Archelaus, he returned to the country of the Persians. The king of the Persians heard of his coming; and, when he had sent and had him brought, he was ordered flayed by means of a reed. And thus he returned (only) to end his life, because he had committed murder and |38 was unable to heal the demon-possessed son of the king {58b} as he had promised, so the story has it. And after Valerian and Gallienus, Claudius reigned one year and nine months. Aurelian succeeded him and reigned five years and six months. After him Tacitus reigned six months. After him Probus reigned six years and four months. After him Carus, with his sons Carinus and Numerian, reigned two years. After him Diocletian, with Maximian and Constantine and Maxentius, reigned twenty years, declaring Maxentius his colleague in the kingdom. In their days there was a violent persecution, lasting from the eighth year of Diocletian to his nineteenth year, twelve years taken all together. And after the persecution ceased Diocletian reigned one year more and, having become old,he ceased to reign. {58c} But Maximian fell by a terrible death, with a disease of the eyes and bodily suffering. His eyeballs were automatically torn out by the disease in the very way he had appointed for the martyrs of Christ. And thus he gave up the ghost, leaving Licinius and Constantine as rulers. And from Diocletian onward the years of Maximian, of Licinius, and of the blessed Constantine, who ruled with his sons, were thirty-two years. And he left his three sons as rulers---- Constans, Constantine, and Constantius. But after the thirty-two years of Constantine, the years of his sons who succeeded him---- Constans, Constantine, and Constantius----(and) of the impious Julian, of Jovian, of Valentinian the Great, of Valens his brother, of Gratian the son of Valentinian, of Valentinian the Younger, son |39 of Valentinian, brother of Gratian, of Theodosius the God-fearing king, of Arcadius his son, and of Honorius the Illustrious, the son {58d} of Theodosius, unto the present second consulship of Arcadius Augustus and Rufinus----the years, as I have said before, are fifty-seven. And in the consulship of Arcadius Augustus and Rufinus Valentinian the Younger died, being found surprisingly hanged in the palace of Tiberius, as the story is told, on the ides of May, on the day before Pentecost, on the Sabbath day; and on the day of Pentecost itself he was borne (to his grave). And so it was, according to the Egyptians, the twenty-first day of the month Pachon, according to the Greeks the twenty-third of 'Iyar, and according to the Romans the seventeenth day before the calends of June.
21. And thus far, O great lover of the good, all these things related by us must suffice; we have given an account of the translators and of those things mentioned before the subject of the translators. Hereafter we give our attention to the rest of the topics which we mentioned before, according to our promise in response to your entreaties, O man of God, concerning {59a} the weights and measures and numbers in the divine Scriptures, whence each is named, and why it is so called, and whence it gets the reason for its name, and what is the quality or the weight or the force of every one of them.
Concerning the measures. The kor is a measure. It occurs in the Gospel of Luke, where the Savior commends the sagacious steward who re-wrote for the debtors instead of so many kors in |40 their accounts so and so, and instead of so many baths of oil he made it so and so.
Lethekh, saton, homer, bath, seah, modius, cab, choinix, hyfi of fine flour, handful of meal, ardeb, three measures of fine flour, three baskets of coarse meal, nevel of wine, kollathon, shatifta of ointment, kapsakes of water, kotyle of oil, kyathos, measure of wine, measure of oil, log , xestes, amphora, aporryma, shfitha, hin, chus, the golden pot {59b} in which the manna was placed, mares, kypros, congiarium.
Concerning the kor. Kura is taken from the Hebrew language, in which it is called "kor," and there are 30 modii (in it). The kor gets its name from the fundamental idea of a heap, inasmuch as a heap is called a karja, for when 30 modii are heaped together they make a camel's load.
Conceming the lethekh. But as to the lethekh, since it is said in the prophet Hosea, "I have hired for myself .... for a lethekh of barley," in other codices "a homer of barley," they are the same, for they signify 15 modii. But the lethekh is named according to a word of the Hebrews which means a "lifting up," from the circumstance that a young man can lift up the measure of 15 modii of barley or wheat and place it on an ass. And the same (measure) of 15 modii is also called the homer----the large one which is called the homer among the Hebrews, for {59c} there is also a little homer.
Concerning the bath. The bath, so called, is also from the Hebrew language, the oil press being synonymously called bith, for bath is interpreted "oil press." It consists of 50 xestai, and is the |41 measure of the craft of the oil press. The mnasis and the medimnos are taken, I think, from the language of the Romans, for in that language medium is interpreted "middle." The mnasis, however, is used as a measure among the Cyprians and other peoples; and it is 10 modii of wheat or barley by the modius of 17 xestai among the Cyprians. But the medimnos varies among the Cyprians; for the people of Salamis, that is to say, of Constantia, have a medimnos of 5 modii, while those of Paphos and the Sicilians measure it as 4 1/2 modii.
Concerning the seah. It is called "seah," being derived from the Hebrew, {59d} and it is used as a feminine; but in Greek it is neither feminine nor masculine, that is, neuter, for we say saton and not satos. It is an overfull modius, so that it is a modius and a quarter of a modius by reason of its overfulness, which is the overflow of the modius. But it is called a seah, meaning in this language a "taking up" or "lifting up," from the circumstance that the one measuring takes the measure with some force and lifts it up.
Concerning the modius. Next the modius. The name of the modius was invented by the Hebrews with great exactness. For it consists of 22 xestai , not in simple fashion or by chance, but from great exactness. Now I speak of the "just" modius, as the Law is accustomed to say, according to the sacred measure. For, O lover of |42 the good, God did twenty-two works between the beginning and the seventh day, which are these:
22. On the first day, (1) the upper heavens, {60a} (2) the earth, (3) the waters----of which consist snow, ice, hail, frost, and dew----and (4) the spirits that minister before him. They are the angels before his face, the angels of glory, the angels of the winds that blow, the angels of the clouds and of the cloud-darknesses, of snow and hail and frost, the angels of sounds, of the thunders and the lightnings, the angels of the cold and of the heat, of winter, fall, spring, and summer, and of all the spirits of his creatures in heaven and on earth. (5) The abysses, both that which is beneath the earth and that of the gulf of darkness that was above the abyss of the waters which were at one time upon the earth, whence (6) the darkness----the evening and the night; (7) the light----of the day and of the morning. These seven great works God did the first day. On the second day, (8) the firmament that is between the waters. On this day the waters were divided; half of them ascended above the firmament, {60b} and half of them remained below the firmament in the midst upon the face of the whole earth. This is the only work that God did on the second day. On the third day, (9) the seas, the rivers, and the fountains and lakes, (10) seed grains and plants, (11) fruit trees and those without fruit, and (12) forests. These four great works God did on the third day. On the fourth day, (13) the sun, (14) the moon, (15) the stars. These three great works God did on the fourth day. On the fifth day, (16) the great whales, (17) the fishes and the other creeping things in the waters, (18) the winged birds. These three great works God did on the fifth day. And on the sixth day, (19) wild beasts, (20) cattle, (21) the creeping things of the earth, (22) man. These four great works God |43 did on the sixth day. And everything was twenty-two kinds in the {60c} six days. And he completed all his works on the sixth day, everything that is in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in the abysses, in the light and in the darkness, and in everything. And God rested from all his works on the seventh day, and he blessed it and hallowed it. And he showed Moses through an angel that there would also be twenty-two heads from Adam to Jacob, otherwise Israel, when he said: "And I will choose for myself from his seed a people more numerous than any other people." And the heads, which are the generations, concerning whom the Lord spoke, are as follows: Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu----for the Scripture omits Cainan from the number ----Serug, Nahor, Terah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, otherwise Israel ----altogether, twenty-two generations. Therefore there are twenty-two {60d} letters among the Hebrews, which are these: alef, beth, gimel, deleth, he, waw, zej, heth, teth, joth, kaf, lamedh, mem, nun, samekh, ajin, pe, sadhen, qof, resh, shin, taw . Therefore also there are twenty-two books of the Old Testament; but they are said among the Hebrews to be counted as twenty-two though they are (really) twenty-seven, because five of their letters also {61a} are double---- kaf has a duplicate form, also mem, nun, pe, and saddhe ----for the books also are counted in this manner. |44
23. breshlth, which is called the Genesis of the world. elesimoth, which is called the Exodus of the Israelites, ' awajeqra, which is transferred (into Greek as) Leviticus, ' awaddajber, which is transferred (into Greek as) Numbers, ' elle devarejm, which is Deuteronomy. dishu which is Joshua. d'ijjov, which is Job. dishovtejm, which is Judges. deruth, which is Ruth. sfertelejm, which is the Psalms. dvarjamin, which is I Paraleipomena. dvarjamin, which is II Paraleipomena. [ d ] shamu'el , which is I Kingdoms, dadudh shamu'el, which is II Kingdoms. dmalakhejm, which is {61b} III Kingdoms. dmalakhejm, which is IV Kingdoms. dme'aloth which is Proverbs. dqoheleth, which is Ecclesiastes. shirath shirin, which is the Song of Songs. dathrsar which is the Twelve Prophets. deshaja, which is that of the prophet Isaiah, deremja, which is that of the prophet Jeremiah. dhezqi'el, which is that of the prophet Ezekiel. ddanjel, which is that of the prophet Daniel. dezra, which is I Ezra. dezra, which is II Ezra, d'ester, which is Esther. These twenty-seven books are counted twenty-two according to the number of the letters, because five of the letters also are double, as we have already said above. But there is also another little book called qinoth, which is translated the Lamentations {61c} of Jeremiah. And it is joined to Jeremiah; it is in |45 excess of the number, being joined to Jeremiah. This number twenty-two, found in all these places but counted in different ways, in the twenty-two works that God did in the six days of the making of the world, in the twenty-two generations from Adam to Israel, in the twenty-two signs of the letters from alef to taw, and in the twenty-two books from Genesis to Esther, begets for us a measure of 22 xestai, called among the Hebrews a mode, which the Greeks, translating, call a modja; and the Egyptians also similarly say @@@@@ In the same way also the Syrians and Arabians say modja, which is pronounced in Hebrew mode; but it is translated from the Hebrew into the Greek as modja, which is the mode. For if the modius were not filled up, it would not confess that which it holds: "I am completed." But according {61d} to other interpretations it was named differently, for it is called gnomon that is, measure; it is called homologia also homologema, also homologos.
24. For in the number of the twenty-two works of God at the beginning, and of the twenty-two generations up to Jacob, and of the twenty-two books up to Esther, and by reason of the scheme of twenty-two letters in which the Law exists for us and the teaching of God has prefigured everything for us, by this Law and the mysteries in it Jesus Christ is attested to us as one who has come and been revealed, who, coming, by the Gospel fulfilled for us the measure of life by means of the mode, that is, confession, to every man who has |46 confessed him and received life through him. Therefore the sacred measure, the Hebrews say, consists of 22 xestai, according to the number given above, which is variously employed. For many of the other peoples either add to or subtract {62a} from this measure, which is correctly reckoned among the Hebrews. But also among the Romans it happens that the measure is called by a similar name, modium, just as among the Hebrews a child is admonished "to learn alef ," and among the Greeks it happens to be called "to seek to alphaize." Whence it has come to be known that from the Hebrew it has been transferred to the other languages. So the mode, as it is found in the Hebrew----it means "to confess," as I have frequently said----is explained by the usage. For if a man does not fill it completely, it does not confess: "I am full." But when one fills the measure and strikes it, he persuades the measure to confess: "I am full." But when the name was transferred to the Greek, as I have said, the mode was called the modja for the sake of clearness.