教宗書信集 第 1 章 第 48/50 段

But Benjamin was still being carried in his mother's womb. And this is confirmed as the second distinction of the arrangement of the same number. The third number, however, is according to another arrangement of division. For as Jacob was beginning to enter into Egypt, as is appended above, the sons of Leah being gathered together for that very purpose, together with her maidservant Zilpah accordingly, as though begotten of the same mistress, they are thus enumerated: Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and of Zilpah, Gad and Asher; then Rachel's sons Joseph and Benjamin; those who are of her maidservant, Dan and Naphtali. The fourth division is of the arrangement and the number, when Jacob blessed his sons as he was dying; for it is necessary to link the numbers themselves according to time.

This number, then, and this time follows, when Jacob blessed them, that is: Ruben, then Simeon with Levi, and Judah and Zebulun and Issachar, Dan and Gad, Asher and Naphtali, Joseph and Benjamin. Then follows the fifth division from Exodus, when the sons of Israel went forth out of Egypt. For the divine word enumerated them, saying: 'These are the names of the sons of Israel who entered into Egypt with Jacob their father; each one entered with his whole household: Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun' (then the Lord commanded Moses: they made both stones) (then of Bilhah:) 'Dan and Naphtali' (and of Zilpah:) 'Gad and Asher. But Joseph was in Egypt.'

Then afterward the sixth is a division of the number according to the encampment of the camps of the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of Numbers by the command of the Lord: in the first encampment Judah, Issachar, Zebulun; in the second Ruben, Simeon, Gad; in the third Ephraim and Manasseh and Benjamin; in the fourth Dan and Asher and Naphtali. Again the seventh division of the number is from the same book of Numbers, when, according to the command of the Lord, are declared those who ought to be the chiefs for offering gifts to the Lord; and it said: of Ruben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; of Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

of Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar; of Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon; of Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; of Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; of the tribe of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; of Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran; of Gad, Eliasaph the son of Reuel; of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan. And likewise after this follows the eighth division from the same book of Numbers, when the Lord commanded and Moses sent the chiefs of the tribes of Israel to inspect the land of promise. And so it says: of Ruben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.

of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun; of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; of the sons of Joseph, of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi; of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. The ninth division of the number is also given by the command of the Lord from the same book of Numbers, when the land is distributed to the sons of Israel by lot: of Judah, it says, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; and thereafter the chiefs of the tribes are enumerated: of Simeon, of Benjamin, of Dan, of Manasseh, of Ephraim, of Zebulun, of Issachar, of Asher, of Naphtali. Then again there is the tenth division of the number, when Moses blessed the sons of Israel.

placing Ruben first and thereafter joining: Judah, Levi, Benjamin, Joseph, Zebulun, Issachar, Gad, Dan, Naphtali and Asher, and at the very end he repeats the discourse concerning Joseph: 'These are the thousands of Ephraim and these the thousands of Manasseh.' Likewise the eleventh division of the number is demonstrated, when it is commanded to them, before they enter the land of Israel, that as soon as they cross over the Jordan they should stand upon the two mountains Gerizim and Ebal, six on this side and six on that, to bless those who keep the law, and to curse those who have despised to keep the precepts of the law. And this is the composition of the number: for over the blessings were assigned Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin; but over the curses these: Ruben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali.

Again the twelfth is a division of the number, when they cast lots for the land of their possession, and Ruben falls by lot beyond the Jordan, before they crossed over into the land of Israel. And this is the distribution: Ruben, and next to him Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh; then, crossing the Jordan, first Judah receives his portion, then Benjamin, then Joseph from Manasseh, then Simeon, placed between Benjamin and Judah and, so to speak, straitened, because there were no spaces for them; then Zebulun obtains land, and Issachar and Asher and Naphtali and Dan. Levi indeed was dispersed among all the tribes, receiving only cities and their suburbs. Again a thirteenth division of the number occurs from the prophet Zechariah, as he says:

'In that day all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, the tribe of the house of David apart and their women apart, the tribe of the house of Nathan apart and their women apart, the tribe of the house of Levi apart and their women apart, the tribe of the house of Simeon apart and their women apart'; and all the remaining tribes shall mourn — and he did not name which. But we, by reason of the situation of the description of the land, have discerned this sequence to be, namely: the tribe of Benjamin, then Joseph, Ruben, Gad, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and Dan. Likewise the fourteenth division of the number is drawn from the revelation of Saint John, who numbered from each tribe twelve thousand of those who are sanctified in virginity; for he says:

of Judah twelve thousand, of Ruben likewise, then of Gad, of Asher, of Naphtali, of Manasseh, of Simeon, of Levi, of Issachar, of Zebulun, of Joseph, of Benjamin. But nowhere in this passage does he mention Dan. Perhaps, however, in other passages the numbers may be found inscribed otherwise; yet we have been able to find these, and these indeed are the divisions which, according to number, are established to be composed in diverse ways — now according to the command of the Lord, now according to the will of individual leaders, I mean of Moses and of Joshua the son of Nun and of those who thereafter deserved to become their successors.

Nor was this done without the Spirit; but, as He willed, the same Holy Spirit enumerated and arranged the several sequences according to His own will. Returning again to these matters, I will in one place briefly and coherently set them forth — these same fourteen divisions and their selections — not that I do so in vain, nor that I become troublesome to Your Reverence in reviewing these things, but that you may know (may it now be God's to help) how we may truly fit the aforementioned stones to each tribe. As my mind, then, ponders much, and as we treat the matter according to the experience of this choosing, my spirit and the very sequence of the reading suggest to us how the square order of the rational may be discerned from the stones set in place according to the aforesaid names.

Let it now be inquired concerning the individual numbers, as each division has been distinguished, what sort is fitting to the reckoning and reading of the same stones.

And wherever indeed we examined the arrangement of the enumerated tribes in the several places and weighed in mind that it could not naturally be fitted to the naming of these stones — since any number of those who were counted in each division has one name fewer among the tribes — therefore we straightway duly set aside the second division, inasmuch as it cannot have concord with these stones, because it places first Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher, that is, the sons of the maidservants, when Jacob, sending gifts to Esau, divided them into the first company, but after these made the sons of Leah another company, and then the sons of Rachel a third company. For since the more precious stones are at the beginning of the rational,

and furthermore the sons of the maidservants are held to be inferior, yet here are placed first, it is impossible for them to be suited to the purpose of the rational in this part of the number, because it cannot be so. Likewise we examined the fourth division, the blessing of Jacob, when dying he blessed his sons. For it has Ruben first, then Simeon and Levi joined together, so that this coupling of the two seems to oppose the fitting of these stones. And therefore we set this one aside also, since it can by no means be accommodated to these stones.

But we also examined the fifth division, which contains the beginning of the going-forth of the sons of Israel out of Egypt, and we found it placing first the sons of the free women and, according to the order of arrangement, subjoining the sons of the maidservants, and making the last first and the first last; and on this account, because Joseph, being situated in Egypt, was named last, we perceived again that these stones cannot be fitted to the names of the aforementioned tribes:

and that the onyx stone cannot naturally be interpreted in the person of Joseph, nor again ought Joseph, being last, to be inserted according to the arrangement of the rational, except only that he has been set out of order by necessity, so that, although he is reckoned eleventh, here he is counted twelfth according to the compelling necessity of the arrangement of this number, which we have found ordained. For in the Greek text, which is translated from the Hebrew, we find the onyx stone placed twelfth and last, so that Benjamin draws to himself the contemplation of it in every way; but the eleventh we find to be the beryl, which we have accordingly fitted to Joseph as the eleventh, both according to number and according to contemplation.

Examining also the Hebrew Exodus, in which the Law is shown to be recorded, and reading concerning this rational in which these stones were enclosed, we found the onyx stone ordered otherwise: it was placed eleventh, and the beryl twelfth and last.

Whence there arose in us almost an ambiguity, making a hindrance to understanding, as though we had brought forward a fictitious interpretation in these two stones — I mean the beryl and the onyx; and I kept saying, how in supplications and continual prayer an error could arise. And I understood that, by God's dispensation, this was so brought to pass that this same Joseph, being eleventh among his brothers, should be found twelfth according to the arrangement of this number, which declared him to be twelfth when it said: 'But Joseph was in Egypt.'

Knowing therefore that, by the divine dispensation, on account of the contemplations of the truth which are fulfilled in Joseph himself, these things are fitted to the beryl stone, it was so arranged that the beryl stone should be placed twelfth and last. For Joseph too, although he is recorded to be eleventh among the brothers, is nevertheless in this arrangement of the number of the going-forth of the sons of Israel reckoned twelfth and last. And so, by divine illumination and dispensation, the onyx stone was very fittingly referred to Benjamin, who in this arrangement is numbered before Joseph, while the beryl was accommodated to Joseph on account of the contemplations agreeing with him, although the stone itself is counted last, because it so happens that Joseph too is written last, as I have frequently asserted.

Passing over therefore this division also, we looked at the sixth arrangement according to the sequence of the enumerated tribes, and we found that, according to the encampment of the camps of Israel, the order of the square array ought rather to agree with the rational, by threes and threes of tribes, as it was permitted to discern in that same rational, which is shown to exist in a square order; and this was most plain and symbolic, that is, significant, on account of the arrangements of the ranks and the concord of the camps. But in these the separated tribe, the tribe of Levi, stood in our way.

For Judah was set, having with him Issachar and Zebulun in one encampment-mess, and he was set first toward the eastern quarter on account of the signification, as I reckon, of royal power, and because Ruben had fallen from his own glory, since he had defiled his father's bed, as is shown to be inserted in the divine Scriptures. But in the second encampment of the camps, Ruben is arranged with Simeon and Gad toward the sea, and toward the west also Ephraim with Manasseh and Benjamin, who are all set, being of Rachel, in one encampment of the camps; but on account of Manasseh, Levi appears to be excluded.

Then toward the north the fourth encampment contains first Dan, then Asher, then Naphtali; and since we did not find Levi mixed among them, we recognized that this description too cannot be accommodated to the arrangement of the stones, lest one name of the sons of Israel should seem to be lacking to it. Wherefore, omitting this also, we turned our attention to the seventh division, which we straightway removed, because we did not find it agreeing with the arrangement of the stones. For this is established to be numbered according to the chiefs of the tribes at the command of the Lord: in which Ruben was arranged first, then Simeon, then Judah, then Issachar and those who follow;

But Joseph is numbered doubly, because Ephraim is placed in one number and Manasseh in another; and since Levi is again taken out, we were unable to fit the number to the stones, on account of the alteration of Levi and on account of the addition of one tribe which is shown to be divided into two. Then we carefully examined the eighth division from the book of Numbers, where God commanded and Moses sent the chiefs of the tribes of Israel to inspect the land of promise, and neither did we find this in concord with the arrangement of the aforementioned stones, because Ruben too is numbered among the first, then Simeon, then Judah, then Issachar and thereafter those who follow, and nowhere is mention made of Levi.

Passing on therefore to the ninth division, we also examined it, which was made by the command of the Lord, as is contained in the book of Numbers, when the chiefs of the tribes were sent to divide by lot the land of promise for the sons of Israel; and neither were we able likewise to fit this to the sequence of the stones.

For, finding Judah placed among the first, then Simeon and afterward Benjamin, Dan too and Manasseh, and also Ephraim and Zebulun, and thereafter Issachar, then Asher and last Naphtali, and again finding the tribe of Levi omitted and Joseph doubly enumerated in Ephraim and Manasseh, we passed over this one also and moved the attention of our mind to the tenth division; nor could we find this in concord with the stones. For, when Moses blessed the sons of Israel, placing Benjamin fourth after Levi, then Joseph, and since he made no mention of Simeon, it was impossible to fit it to the stones. And it runs thus:

Ruben, Judah, Levi, Benjamin, then Joseph, Zebulun and Issachar, then Gad, who is the son of the second maidservant, placed out of order, then Dan and Naphtali, then Asher last of all, who himself too is found to be the son of the second maidservant. Here also, because the number is diminished, Simeon being passed over, it was not right that this division should be able to agree with the stones of the rational. Again passing over this one also, we came with wholly careful attention to the eleventh, and we found where Moses commanded that the twelve tribes should stand to bless and to curse, six on Mount Gerizim and six on Mount Ebal, as is shown to be recorded in Deuteronomy, whose division is such:

'They shall stand,' it says, 'on Mount Gerizim to bless: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin; and these shall stand to curse on Mount Ebal: Ruben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali.' For, with the exception of Ruben and Naphtali, the sons of the free women are shown here to be preferred; and since this division too appears inconsistent with the square order of the rational, it did not seem to be one to be adopted.

Yet, carefully considering this same eleventh division, which seemed to be split into two parts, six upon one mountain and six upon the other, we judged it to correspond to the numbers of the composition of the emerald stones, which were bound together by little chains and arranged upon each shoulder of the high priest, fastened with gold and a band of hyacinth, in such a way that upon these two emeralds were inscribed the names of the sons of Israel, since a single emerald, by reason of its roundness, could not contain twelve names.

But it was fitting, even if it could contain them, that the right and the left be distinguished; and therefore upon each stone, set namely on the right and on the left, were inscribed the names, just as upon each of the mountains, Garizin and Gebal, the tribes of the sons of Israel were arranged. These mountains are seen set opposite one another in the eastern region, where Jericho is situated, beyond the place of Galgala; and there those who stood upon Mount Garizim are reported to have blessed Israel, saying: Blessed is he who does the will of the Lord. And the voice was heard across the level plains where the people stood, and it was signalled to them, that they should say: So be it, so be it! But on the contrary Ruben and Gad and the rest with them, standing upon Mount Gebal, said:

Cursed is he who does not do all the things that are written in this book; and all the people answered: So be it, so be it! Now the word 'fiat' is interpreted 'amen,' for these voices resounded from the two mountains. Garizim, moreover, is interpreted 'the freed mountain' and 'the cutting-off of their sojourning.' But certain persons who have not diligently searched the divine scriptures, especially those who spring from the Samaritans, have supposed that Garizin might perhaps be the mountain which lies next to Sicima—which is called both Sicima and Sichem—having opposite it the city Sichar of the Samaritans, into which the Lord entered, whence that Samaritan woman, going out, found him seated by the well. But now Sicima is called Neapolis, a most wealthy city of the Palestinians;

but then it was called Samaria and also Judaea. It was called Samaria, however, because the mountain itself was by nature named after a certain Somer; and this Somer had a son Somoron, and the mountain was called Somor, and hence the appellation of this name followed—strengthened above all by the coming of those whom the Assyrian king appointed to till those lands. For when the captivity of the Jews befell, the elders of Israel who were then in Babylon assembled with Ezra the priest, together with those who were called counsellors and other elders, and they besought the king of the Assyrians to send inhabitants into Judaea, lest the land, running to waste, should fail for want of a cultivator.

He, accepting their wholesome counsel, directed four nations to dwell in those places, that is, the Cudaeans and the Cuthaeans and the Seppharaeans and the Anagogauaeans. These, going up, brought their idols with them, which each nation had at that time worshipped among themselves. But when they had come and settled in the land of Israel, they were called Samaritans, because 'Samaritan' is interpreted 'guardian'; for they guarded the land of Israel. Afterwards, however, lions, leopards, and bears, rising up against them, destroyed the multitude, so that they were consumed by them.

For which reason legates were sent day by day by the inhabitants and settlers to the Assyrian king, that he might grant them leave to depart from those places on account of such savagery of beasts. And they marvelled how Israel had been able to remain there. When these things had been ascertained, the king of the Assyrians, having summoned the elders of the Jews, inquired of them how men could dwell in the place to which he had lately directed them. They, giving right counsel without delay, said that no nation could reside there unless it kept the law of the Lord God. And when he demanded the law from them, they at once presented it to him.

He, however, keeping the authentic copies of the law by himself, sent them to the inhabitants and settlers of the land, the Cudaeans and Cuthaeans and the rest, together with Ezra the priest (not that Ezra who was called Salathiel, whose father was Zorobabel, which Zorobabel was the son of Jechonias). This Ezra therefore, whom we have named, going up to Jerusalem, brought to them of the Old Testament only the Pentateuch, that is, the five books of Moses, books written according to the form which the Lord gave upon Mount Sinai. This form the Hebrews call deessinon, which is interpreted 'engraved.'

For now the letters are not the same as those which the Hebrews use, and their books are not written according to the ancient form which then stood engraved upon the stone tablets. This form, therefore, which the Jews now hold, is called somahirenus. But the Samaritans keep the deessenon, which was the form once, as we have said, impressed upon the stone tablets.

But Ezra, going up from Babylon and not wishing to distinguish Israel from the remaining nations, so that the race of Abraham might not seem to be mingled with the inhabitants of the land—who indeed held the law, but not also the prophets—changed the former form, abandoning the deessenon, because that form had already been pre-occupied by the Samaritans, so that through this the seed of Abraham might be distinguished from the remaining nations. But we, arriving at these matters, have been compelled, on the occasion of this affair, to enlarge our discourse. And so there were those who remained of the nations in the land of Israel, called Samaritans for various reasons:

first from Somer, one of the sons of the Canaanites and the Perizzites, before the patriarch Abraham came by divine appointment to that same land; and both the mountain and everything that seemed to be near the mountain were called Somer and Somoron. Again, the aforesaid nations, transferred by the king of the Assyrians, were called Samaritans, who are interpreted 'guardians.' But the purport of this name has yet another consideration, namely on account of the guarding of the law, since those who had been sent in were thought to guard the commandments of the law. For the scripture says of them that they remained doing the law of God while worshipping their own idols. But since the law by no means commands that idols be adored, how could the law be kept by them?

Nevertheless this matter hence suggests a way of understanding. The most profane priests of the four aforementioned nations, knowing that Ezra the priest had come, sent by command, who abhorred idols according to the divine precepts—and whoever was found serving idols was slain with stones at the command of the law—quickly took away their own idols from their high summits and hid them on Mount Garizim in a place exceedingly hidden and secret. Now the idols were four in number, as ancient tradition holds. For the men of Babylon worshipped the goddess Sochoth Benith, and the men of Chuth the goddess Nerigel, and the men of Emath the goddess Asimath, and the Euaeans the goddess Nebaz Tharchar and Sapharuim. And they turned away the heart of the Samaritans, teaching them to pray toward Mount Garizim.

Wherefore, wherever they may be, they pray turning toward the mountain: those in the east look toward the west; those in the west, toward the east; those in the north likewise turn toward the south; and those in the south look toward the north of the mountain—so that the scripture may be fulfilled which says: they remained doing the law of God while worshipping their own idols. For although those who worship are themselves ignorant of the idols hidden in the recess of the mountain, it is nevertheless impossible that the divine scripture should lie according to the sense of this matter. And the occasion of this exposition was offered to us on account of the twelve tribes which were arranged upon Mount Garizim and upon Mount Gebal, as the very distinction of the ordered number holds.

They are therefore deceived, those who do not intelligently attend to Deuteronomy, so as to fashion for themselves another scripture. For they supposed that the mountain adjacent to Neapolis, as we related above, is this Garizin, which is exceedingly high; and the one set opposite it, which they suspect to be Gebal, is itself also vehemently lofty. For Sicima is situated in a valley between the two mountains, enclosed on this side and that by the barrier of the mountains. And the Samaritans who dwell in that city made steps upon the mountain and built a certain temple on the height, so that, as we have said, they might seem to pray up on the mountain, which they themselves call Garizin by a certain heedless forgetfulness, not according to the truth of faith and reason;

for the book of history has it otherwise. But these are deceived, who do not diligently inspect that which truly is. Indeed, these mountains are proved to be so lofty and so very high that no one can hear a man speaking above from within the valley. How therefore could the princes of the tribes who were up above, six men, make their voice heard by the peoples from so great a height, so that those who stood below might answer amen? For the height of the mountain rises above a thousand paces, or more, and it has very many steps—and, as some say, fifteen hundred and above.

Through this, therefore—that it is not possible for the voice of those who are above to be heard below, and of those who are below by those above—these mountains are at once proved not to be those which the divine scripture signifies. Then the sequel of the book of Joshua son of Nun makes it plain, when it records those two mountains, that is, Garizim and Gebal, to be toward the eastern region of Jericho. But the eastern region of Jericho is situated near Galgal, which is the place of Galgala; whereas Sicima is toward the northern part of Jericho, verging toward the west, distant from Jericho fifty-two miles. [Here begins the account rendering the reason that Acacius was fittingly condemned by the Apostolic See.]

To the most beloved brethren, all the bishops established throughout Dardania, Gelasius. We have greatly marvelled that your charity desires to know, as though a new and, as it were, difficult question, and hitherto as though something unheard of, that the communicators of the Eutychian pestilence, having nothing to answer for the obstinacy of their perdition, and already convicted by frequent reasoning, murmur only out of contentiousness—not because what they prattle is of any moment, nor because they find anything at all to say.