Barnabas — Epistle of Barnabas 6
When, therefore, He has fulfilled the commandment, what says He? Who is he that will contend with Me? Let him oppose Me: or who is he that will enter into judgment with Me? Let him draw near to the servant of the Lord. Isaiah 50:8 Woe to you, for you shall all wax old, like a garment, and the moth shall eat you up. Isaiah 50:9 And again the prophet says, Since as a mighty stone He is laid for crushing, behold I cast down for the foundations of Zion a stone, precious, elect, a corner-stone, honourable.
Next, what says He? And he who shall trust in it shall live forever. Is our hope, then, upon a stone? Far from it. But [the language is used] inasmuch as He laid his flesh [as a foundation] with power; for He says, And He placed me as a firm rock. Isaiah 50:7 And the prophet says again, The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner. And again he says, This is the great and wonderful day which the Lord has made.
I write the more simply to you, that you may understand. I am the off-scouring of your love. What, then, again says the prophet? The assembly of the wicked surrounded me; they encompassed me as bees do a honeycomb, and upon my garment they cast lots. Since, therefore, He was about to be manifested and to suffer in the flesh, His suffering was foreshown. For the prophet speaks against Israel, Woe to their soul, because they have counselled an evil counsel against themselves, Isaiah 3:9 saying, Let us bind the just one, because he is displeasing to us.
And Moses also says to them, Behold these things, says the Lord God: Enter into the good land which the Lord swore [to give] to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and inherit it, a land flowing with milk and honey. Exodus 33:1; Leviticus 20:24 What, then, says Knowledge? Learn: Trust, she says, in Him who is to be manifested to you in the flesh — that is, Jesus. For man is earth in a suffering state, for the formation of Adam was from the face of the earth.
What, then, means this: into the good land, a land flowing with milk and honey? Blessed be our Lord, who has placed in us wisdom and understanding of secret things. For the prophet says, Who shall understand the parable of the Lord, except him who is wise and prudent, and who loves his Lord? Since, therefore, having renewed us by the remission of our sins, He has made us after another pattern, [it is His purpose] that we should possess the soul of children, inasmuch as He has created us anew by His Spirit.
For the Scripture says concerning us, while He speaks to the Son, Let Us make man after Our image, and after Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the beasts of the earth, and the fowls of heaven, and the fishes of the sea. Genesis 1:26 And the Lord said, on beholding the fair creature man, Increase, and multiply, and replenish the earth. Genesis 1:28 These things [were spoken] to the Son. Again, I will show you how, in respect to us, He has accomplished a second fashioning in these last days.
The Lord says, Behold, I will make the last like the first. In reference to this, then, the prophet proclaimed, Enter into the land flowing with milk and honey, and have dominion over it. Exodus 33:3 Behold, therefore, we have been refashioned, as again He says in another prophet, Behold, says the Lord, I will take away from these, that is, from those whom the Spirit of the Lord foresaw, their stony hearts, and I will put hearts of flesh within them, Ezekiel 11:19, Ezekiel 36:26 because He was to be manifested in flesh, and to sojourn among us.
For, my brethren, the habitation of our heart is a holy temple to the Lord. Ephesians 2:21 For again says the Lord, And wherewith shall I appear before the Lord my God, and be glorified? He says, I will confess to you in the Church in the midst of my brethren; and I will praise you in the midst of the assembly of the saints. We, then, are they whom He has led into the good land. What, then, mean milk and honey?
Greek
Is. 50, 8, 9 Ὅτε οὖν ἐποίησεν τὴν ἐντολήν, τί λέγει; Τίς ὁ κρινόμενός μοι; ἀντιστήτω μοι: ἡ τίς ὁ δικαιούμενός μοι; ἐγγισάτω τῷ παιδὶ κυρίου.
οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, ὅτι ὑμεῖς πάντες ὡς ἱμάτιον παλαιωθήσεσθε, καὶ σὴς καταφάγεται ὑμᾶς. καὶ πάλιν λέγει ὁ προφήτης, Is. 28, 16, of, Rom. 9, 53; ἐπεὶ ὡς λίθος ἰσχυρὸς ἐτέθη εἰς συντριβήν: Ἰδού, ἐμβαλῶ εἰς τὰ θεμέλια Σιὼν λίθον πολυτελῆ, I Pet. 2, 6 ἐκλεκτόν, ἀκρογωνιαῖον, ἔντιμον.
εἶτα τί Is 38, 16 λέγει; Καὶ ὃς ἐλπίσει ἐπ’ αὐτὸν o(\s e)lpi/sei e)p) au)to/n G, d pisteu/wn ei)s au)to/n NCL, probably osing to the influence of the LXX. e)lpi/sei is conered by the follosing e)lpi/s. ζήσεται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. ἐπὶ λίθον οὖν ἡμῶν ἡ ἐλπίς; μὴ γένοιτο: ἀλλ’ ἐπεὶ ἐν ἰσχύϊ τέθεικεν τὴν σάρκα αὐτοῦ Is. 50, 7 κύριος. λέγει γάρ: Καὶ ἔθηκέ με ὡς στερεὰν Ps. 117, 22. 24 πέτραν.
λέγει δὲ πάλιν ὁ προφήτης: Λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας. καὶ πάλιν λέγει: Αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἡμέρα ἡ μεγάλη καὶ θαυμαστή, ἣν ἐποίησεν ὁ κύριος.
ἁπλούστερον ὑμῖν γράφω, ἵνα συνιῆτε: ἐγὼ περίψημα τῆς ἀγάπης ὑμῶν. Ps. 22, 19; I 18, 12
τί οὗν λέγει πάλιν ὁ προφήτης; Περιέσχεν με συναγωγὴ πονηρευομένων, ἐκύκλωσάν με ὡσεὶ Ps. 21, 19 μέλισσαι κηρίον, καί: Ἐπὶ τὸν ἱματισμόν μου ἔβαλον κλῆρον.
ἐν σαρκὶ οὖν αὐτοῦ μέλλοντος φανεροῦσθαι καὶ πάσχειν, προεφανερώθη τὸ πάθος. λέγει γὰρ ὁ προφήτης ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰσραήλ: Is. 3. 9, 10, of. Wisd. 2, 12 Οὐαὶ τῇ ψυχῇ αὐτῶν, ὅτι βεβούλευνται βουλὴν πονηρὰν καθ̓ ἑαυτῶν, εἰπόντες: Δήσωμεν τὸν δίκαιον, ὅτι δύσχρηστος ἡμῖν ἐστίν.
τί λέγει Erod. 33 1. 3; ὁ ἄλλος προφήτης Μωϋσῆς αὐτοῖς; Ἰδού, τάδε Lv. 20, 24 λέγει κύριος ὁ θεός: Εἰσέλθατε εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ἀγαθήν, ἣν ὤμοσεν κύριος τῷ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ, καὶ κατακληρονομήσατε αὐτήν, γῆν ῥέουσαν γάλα καὶ μέλι.
τί δὲ λέγει ἡ γνῶσις; μάθετε. ἐλπίσατε, φησίν, fhsi/n NC CL Clem. Alex. om. R G. ἐπὶ τὸν ἐν σαρκὶ μέλλοντα φανεροῦσθαι ὑμῖν Ἰησοῦν. ἄνθρωπος γὰρ γῆ ἐστιν πάσχουσα: ἀπὸ προσώπου γὰρ τῆς γῆς ἡ πλάσις τοῦ Ἀδὰμ ἐγένετο. Exod. 33, 1. 3
τί οὖν λέγει: Εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ἀγαθήν, γῆν ῥέουσαν γάλα καὶ μέλι; εὐλογητὸς ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν, ἀδελφοί, ὁ σοφίαν καὶ νοῦν θέμενος ἐν ἡμῖν τῶν κρυφίων αὐτοῦ: λέγει γὰρ ὁ προφήτης παραβολὴν κυρίου: τίς νοήσει, εἰ μὴ σοφὸς καὶ ἐπιστήμων Eph. 2. 10; 4, 22-24 καὶ ἀγαπῶν τὸν κύριον αὐτοῦ;
ἐπεὶ οὖν ἀνακαινίσας ἡμᾶς ἐν τῇ ἀφέσει τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, ἐποίησεν ἡμᾶς ἄλλον τύπον, ὡς παιδίων ἔχειν τὴν ψυχήν, ὡς ἂν δὴ ἀναπλάσσοντος αὐτοῦ ἡμᾶς.
λέγει γὰρ ἡ γραφὴ περὶ ἡμῶν, ὡς Gen. 1, 26 λέγει τῷ υἱῷ: Ποιήσωμεν κατ’ εἰκόνα καὶ καθ̓ ὁμοίωσιν ἡμῶν τὸν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ ἀρχέτωσαν τῶν θηρίων τῆς γῆς καὶ τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῶν ἰχθύων τῆς θαλάσσης. καὶ εἶπεν κύριος, Gen. 1, 28 ἰδὼν τὸ καλὸν πλάσμα ἡμῶν: Λὐξάνεσθε καὶ πληθυνέσθε καὶ πληρώσατε τὴν γῆν. ταῦτα πρὸς τὸν υἱόν.