Hippolytus of Rome

Hippolytus, the expositor of the Targum, has said that Moses, when he had finished this prophecy, also pronounced a blessing upon all the children of Israel, by their several tribes, and prayed for them. Then God charged Moses, saying to him, Go up to Mount Nebo, which indeed is known by the name of the mount of the Hebrews, which is in the land of Moab over against Jericho.

And He said to him: View the land of Chanaan, which I am to give to the children of Israel for an inheritance. Thou, however, shalt never enter it; wherefore view it well from afar off. When Moses therefore viewed it, he saw that land,-a land green, and abounding with all plenty and fertility, planted thickly with trees; and Moses was greatly moved, and wept.

And when Moses descended from Mount Nebo, he called for Joshua the son of Nun, and said to him before the children of Israel: Prevail, and be strong; for thou art to bring the children of Israel into the land which God promised to fathers that He would give their them for an inheritance. Fear not, therefore, the people, neither be afraid of the nations: for God will be with thee.

And Moses wrote that Senna, and gave it to the priests the sons of Levi, and commanded them, saying: For seven years keep this Senna hid, and show it not within the entire course of seven years. ("And then") in the feast of tabernacles, the priests the sons of Levi will read this law before the children of Israel, that the whole people, men and women alike, may observe the words of God: Command them to keep the word of God, which is in that law. And whosoever shall violate one of its precepts, let him be accursed.

Accordingly, when Moses had finished the writing of the law, he gave it to Joshua the son of Nun, and enjoined him to give it to the sons of Levi, the priests. Moses also enjoined and charged them to place the book of the law again within the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that it might remain there for a testimony for ever.

And when Moses had made an end of his injunctions, God bade him go up Mount Nebo, which is over against Jericho. The Lord showed him the whole land of promise in its four quarters, from the wilderness to the sea, and from sea to sea. And the Lord said to him, Thou hast seen it indeed with thine eyes, but thou shall never enter it. There accordingly Moses died, the servant of God, by the command of God. And the angels buried him on Mount Nebo, which is over against Beth-Phegor. And no one knows of his sepulchre, even to this day. For God concealed his grave.

And Moses lived 120 years; nor was his eye dim, nor was the skin of his face wrinkled.

Moses died on a certain day, at the third hour of the day, on the seventh day of the second month, which is the month Jiar.

And the children of Israel wept for him in the plains of Moab three days.

And Joshua the sun of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hand upon him. And all the children of Israel obeyed him. And God charged Joshua the son of Nun on a certain day,-namely, the seventh day of the month Nisan.

And Joshua the son of Nun lived 110 to years, and died on the fourth day, which was the first day of the month Elul. And they buried him in the city Thamnatserach, on Mount Ephraim.

Praise be to God for the completion of the work.

The God of all things therefore became truly, according to the Scriptures, without conversion, sinless man, and that in a manner known to Himself alone, as He is the natural Artificer of things which are above our comprehension. And by that same saving act of the incarnation He introduced into the flesh the activity of His proper divinity, yet without having it (that activity) either circumscribed by the flesh through the exinanition, or growing naturally out of the flesh as it grew out of His divinity, but manifested through it in the things which He wrought in a divine manner in His incarnate state. For the flesh did not become divinity in nature by a transmutation of nature, as though it became essentially flesh of divinity. But what it was before, that also it continued to be in nature and activity when united with divinity, even as the Saviour said, "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." And working and enduring in the flesh things which were proper to sinless flesh, He proved the evacuation of divinity (to be) for our sakes, confirmed as it was by wonders and by sufferings of the flesh naturally. For with this purpose did the God of all things become man, viz., in order that by suffering in the flesh, which is susceptible of suffering, He might redeem our whole race, which was sold to death; and that by working wondrous things by His divinity, which is unsusceptible of suffering, through the medium of the flesh He might restore it to that incorruptible and blessed life from which it fell away by yielding to the devil; and that He might establish the holy orders of intelligent existences in the heavens in immutability by the mystery of His incarnation, the doing of which is the recapitulation of all things in himself. He remained therefore, also, after His incarnation, according to nature, God infinite, and more, having the activity proper and suitable to Himself,-an activity growing out of His divinity essentially, and manifested through His perfectly holy flesh by wondrous acts economically, to the intent that He might be believed in as God, while working out of Himself by the flesh, which by nature is weak, the salvation of the universe.

And by war he means the war that is in the body, because its frame has been made out of hostile elements; as it has been written, he says, "Remember the conflict that exists in the body." Jacob, he says, saw this entrance and this gate in his journey into Mesopotamia, that is, when from a child he was now becoming a youth and a man; that is, (the entrance and gate) were made known unto him as he journeyed into Mesopotamia. But Mesopotamia, he says, is the current of the great ocean flowing from the midst of the Perfect Man; and he was astonished at the celestial gate, exclaiming, "How terrible is this place! it is nought else than the house of God, and this (is) the gate of heaven." On account of this, he says, Jesus uses the words, "I am the true gate." Now he who makes these statements is, he says, the Perfect Man that is imaged from the unportrayable one from above. The Perfect Man therefore cannot, he says, be saved, unless, entering in through this gate, he be born again. But this very one the Phrygians, he says, call also Papa, because he tranquillized all things which, prior to his manifestation, were confusedly and dissonantly moved. For the name, he says, of Papa belongs simultaneously to all creatures -celestial, and terrestrial, and infernal-who exclaim, Cause to cease, cause to cease the discord of the world, and make "peace for those that are afar off," that is, for material and earthly beings; and "peace for those that are near," that is, for perfect men that are spiritual and endued with reason. But the Phrygians denominate this same also "corpse"-buried in the body, as it were, in a mausoleum and tomb. This, he says, is what has been declared, "Ye are whited sepulchres, full," he says, "of dead men's bones within," because there is not in you the living man. And again he exclaims, "The dead shall start forth from the graves," that is, from the earthly bodies, being born again spiritual, not carnal. For this, he says, is the Resurrection that takes place through the gate of heaven, through which, he says, all those that do not enter remain dead. These same Phrygians, however, he says, affirm again that this very (man), as a consequence of the change, (becomes) a god. For, he says, he becomes a god when, having risen from the dead, he will enter into heaven through a gate of this kind. Paul the apostle, he says, knew of this gate, partially opening it in a mystery, and stating "that he was caught up by an angel, and ascended as far as the second and third heaven into paradise itself; and that he beheld sights and heard unspeakable words which it would not be possible for man to declare."

These things then, brethren, are declared by the Scriptures. And the blessed John, in the testimony of his Gospel, gives us an account of this economy (disposition) and acknowledges this Word as God, when he says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." If, then, the Word was with God, and was also God, what follows? Would one say that he speaks of two Gods? I shall not indeed speak of two Gods, but of one; of two Persons however, and of a third economy (disposition), viz., the grace of the Holy Ghost. For the Father indeed is One, but there are two Persons, because there is also the Son; and then there is the third, the Holy Spirit. The Father decrees, the Word executes, and the Son is manifested, through whom the Father is believed on. The economy of harmony is led back to one God; for God is One. It is the Father who commands, and the Son who obeys, and the Holy Spirit who gives understanding: the Father who is above all, and the Son who is through all, and the Holy Spirit who is in all. And we cannot otherwise think of one God, but by believing in truth in Father and Son and Holy Spirit. For the Jews glorified (or gloried in) the Father, but gave Him not thanks, for they did not recognise the Son. The disciples recognised the Son, but not in the Holy Ghost; wherefore they also denied Him. The Father's Word, therefore, knowing the economy (disposition) and the will of the Father, to wit, that the Father seeks to be worshipped in none other way than this, gave this charge to the disciples after He rose from the dead: "Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." And by this He showed, that whosoever omitted any one of these, failed in glorifying God perfectly. For it is through this Trinity that the Father is glorified. For the Father willed, the Son did, the Spirit manifested. The whole Scriptures, then, proclaim this truth.