Divine judgment without partiality; girded with justice
As for these words: ‘He shall not judge according to appearance, and he shall not rebuke according to opinions; but he shall render justice to the small and have pity on the humble of the earth,’ they prove his divinity still more clearly. (Isa 11:3-4) For it belongs only to God to judge without respect of persons, without being corrupted, without weakness toward the great, rendering justice to the humble in full equality and equity according to the rules of his supreme and sovereign justice; for God suffers no one’s influence and pities only the righteous. (Dt 10:17; Acts 10:34)
‘To exercise mercy’ is also proper to God — to him who by his mercy can procure salvation. (Eph 2:4-5) And ‘he strikes the earth with a mere word, and makes the ungodly perish with a single word’ — that again belongs only to God, who by a word made all things. (Gen 1:3; Heb 1:3)
By these words — ‘Justice shall gird his loins, and truth shall be the belt of his reins’ — the prophet indicates the human form of the Christ according to outward appearance, as also his true sovereign justice. (Isa 11:5; Eph 6:14)
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About this text
Irenaeus’s short handbook of the apostolic preaching (Epideixis), preserved in Armenian. English here is a densified reading translation for study. Prior English exists (Robinson / Wilson) — this is not an Original English Translation.
English follows the Armenian of Patrologia Orientalis XII.5. Barthoulot’s French was used as a sense-check only. Robinson (1920) and Wilson’s prior English exist and were checked for independence — this page is densified English, not Original English Translation / no-previous-English.
Witnesses
- Copy-text PO XII.5 Epideixis (Armenian, Matenadaran M3710) (Armenian · §§1–10)
- Checked print Barthoulot French (PD) (French · §§1–10)
- Prior English Check Robinson 1920 / Wilson English (English · full work (prior complete English exists))
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.