And that the virgin of whom it behoved Christ to be born (as we have above mentioned) must derive her lineage of the seed of David, the prophet in subsequent passages evidently asserts. "And there shall be born," he says, "a rod from the root of Jesse"--which rod is Mary--"and a flower shall ascend from his root: and there shall rest upon him the Spirit of God, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of discernment and piety, the spirit of counsel and truth; the spirit of God's fear shall fill Him." [1305] For to none of men was the universal aggregation of spiritual credentials appropriate, except to Christ; paralleled as He is to a "flower" by reason of glory, by reason of grace; but accounted "of the root of Jesse," whence His origin is to be deduced,--to wit, through Mary. [1306] For He was from the native soil of Bethlehem, and from the house of David; as, among the Romans, Mary is described in the census, of whom is born Christ. [1307]
I demand, again--granting that He who was ever predicted by prophets as destined to come out of Jesse's race, was withal to exhibit all humility, patience, and tranquillity--whether He be come? Equally so (in this case as in the former), the man who is shown to bear that character will be the very Christ who is come. For of Him the prophet says, "A man set in a plague, and knowing how to bear infirmity;" who "was led as a sheep for a victim; and, as a lamb before him who sheareth him, opened not His mouth." [1308] If He "neither did contend nor shout, nor was His voice heard abroad," who "crushed not the bruised reed"--Israel's faith, who "quenched not the burning flax" [1309] --that is, the momentary glow of the Gentiles--but made it shine more by the rising of His own light,--He can be none other than He who was predicted. The action, therefore, of the Christ who is come must be examined by being placed side by side with the rule of the Scriptures. For, if I mistake not, we find Him distinguished by a twofold operation,--that of preaching and that of power. Now, let each count be disposed of summarily. Accordingly, let us work out the order we have set down, teaching that Christ was announced as a preacher; as, through Isaiah: "Cry out," he says, "in vigour, and spare not; lift up, as with a trumpet, thy voice, and announce to my commonalty their crimes, and to the house of Jacob their sins. Me from day to day they seek, and to learn my ways they covet, as a people which hath done righteousness, and hath not forsaken the judgment of God," and so forth: [1310] that, moreover, He was to do acts of power from the Father: "Behold, our God will deal retributive judgment; Himself will come and save us: then shall the infirm be healed, and the eyes of the blind shall see, and the ears of the deaf shall hear, and the mutes' tongues shall be loosed, and the lame shall leap as an hart," [1311] and so on; which works not even you deny that Christ did, inasmuch as you were wont to say that, "on account of the works ye stoned Him not, but because He did them on the Sabbaths." [1312]
[1250] "A virgin," Eng. ver.; he parthenos, LXX.; "the virgin," Lowth.
[1251] See Isa. vii. 13, 14.
[1252] See Matt. i. 23.
[1253] See Isa vii. 15.
[1254] See Isa. viii. 4. (All these passages should be read in the LXX.)
[1255] i.e., of the predicted name. [Here compare Against Marcion, Book III. (vol. vii. Edin. series) Cap. xii. p. 142. See my note (1) on Chapter First; and also Kaye, p. xix.]
[1256] In Isa. viii. 8, 10, compared with vii. 14 in the Eng. ver. and the LXX., and also Lowth, introductory remarks on ch. viii.
[1257] Or, "to call him."
[1258] See adv. Marc. l. iii. c. xiii., which, with the preceding chapter, should be compared throughout with the chapter before us.
[1259] Comp. Judg. xiii. 12; Eng. ver. "How shall we order the child?"
[1260] Or, "accept."
[1261] See Matt. ii. 1-12.
[1262] Of course he ought to have said, "they say."
[1263] Zech. xiv. 14, omitting the last clause.
[1264] Ps. lxxii. 15 (lxxi. 15 in LXX.): "Sheba" in Eng. ver.; "Arabia" in the "Great Bible" of 1539; and so the LXX.
[1265] Ps. lxxii. 10, in LXX, and "Great Bible;" "Sheba and Seba," Eng. ver.
[1266] Strictly, Tertullian ought to have said "they call," having above said "Divine scriptures;" as above on the preceding page.
[1267] Isa. i. 10.
[1268] See Gen. xix. 23-29.
[1269] Ezek. xvi. 3, 45.
[1270] Isa. i. 2, as before.
[1271] Orbis.
[1272] Oehler refers to Isa. xix. 1. See, too, Isa. xxx. and xxxi.
[1273] See Rev. xvii., etc.
[1274] Or we may supply here ["Isaiah"].
[1275] Or, "he."
[1276] Ps. xlv. 3, clause 1 (in LXX. Ps. xliv. 4).
[1277] See Ps. xlv. 2 (xliv. 3 in LXX.).
[1278] Ps. xlv. 4 (xliv. 5 in LXX.).
[1279] Comp. Heb. iv. 12; Rev. i. 16; ii. 12; xix. 15, 21; also Eph. vi. 17.
[1280] Comp. Ps. lxii. 12 (lxi. 13 in LXX.); Rom. ii. 6.
[1281] See Ps. xlv. 5 (xliv. in LXX.).
[1282] Ps. xlv. 5 (xliv. 6 in LXX.).
[1283] Traductionem (comp. Heb. iv. 13).
[1284] Ps. xlv. 5.
[1285] I can find no authority for "appellatus" as a substantive, but such forms are familiar with Tertullian. Or perhaps we may render: "in that He is found to have been likewise called Jesus."
[1286] Auses; Ause in LXX.
[1287] Nave; Naue in LXX.
[1288] Jehoshua, Joshua, Jeshua, Jesus, are all forms of the same name. But the change from Oshea or Hoshea to Jehoshua appears to have been made when he was sent to spy the land. See Num. xiii. 16 (17 in LXX., who call it a surnaming).
[1289] If Oehler's "in sæculo desertæ" is to be retained, this appears to be the construction. But this passage, like others above noted, is but a reproduction of parts of the third book in answer to Marcion; and there the reading is "in sæculi desertis"="in the desert places of the world," or "of heathendom."
[1290] See Ex. iii. 8, and the references there.
[1291] See Josh. v. 2-9, especially in LXX. Comp. the margin in the Eng. ver. in ver. 2, "flint knives," and Wordsworth in loc., who refers to Ex. iv. 25, for which see ch. iii. above.
[1292] See especially 1 Cor. x. 4.
[1293] Or, "Joshua."
[1294] Comp. Num. xii. 5-8.
[1295] Comp. Ex. xxxiii. 20; John i. 18; xiv. 9; Col. i. 15; Heb. i. 3.
[1296] Oehler and others read "celavit"; but the correction of Fr. Junius and Rig., "celabit," is certainly more agreeable to the LXX. and the Eng. ver.
[1297] Ex. xxiii. 20, 21.
[1298] Mal. iii. 1: comp. Matt. xi. 10; Mark i. 2; Luke vii. 27.
[1299] See Ps. cxxxii. 17 (cxxi. 17 in LXX.).
[1300] Matt. v. 17, briefly; a very favourite reference with Tertullian.
[1301] John v. 35, ho luchnos ho kaiomenos kai phainon.
[1302] Comp. reference 8, p. 232; and Isa. xl. 3, John i. 23.
[1303] See John i. 29, 36.
[1304] Sacramentum.
[1305] See Isa. xi. 1, 2, especially in LXX.
[1306] See Luke i. 27.
[1307] See Luke ii. 1-7.
[1308] See Isa. liii. 3, 7, in LXX.; and comp. Ps. xxxviii. 17 (xxxvii. 18 in LXX.) in the "Great Bible" of 1539.
[1309] See Isa. xlii. 2, 3, and Matt. xii. 19, 20.
[1310] See Isa. lviii. 1, 2, especially in LXX.
[1311] See Isa. xxxv. 4, 5, 6.
[1312] See John v. 17, 18, compared with x. 31-33.