Testimonia — Early Christian Bible Commentary

1867 (English edition) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Gen. vi. 1, 2.

Editorial footnote · The Instructor, THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA. / THE INSTRUCTOR. / BOOK III. / CHAPTER II. AGAINST EMBELLISHING THE BODY., editorial note Footnote_641 · Original source

1868 (English edition) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Gen. vi. 15.

Editorial footnote · Against Heresies, Book 1 / Chap. xviii.— Passages from Moses, which the heretics pervert to the support of their hypothesis., editorial note cite_note-238 · Original source

1869 (English edition) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Gen. vi. 3.

Editorial footnote · On First Principles, The Writings of Origen, Vol. 1 of 2 / ORIGEN DE PRINCIPIIS. / BOOK I. / CHAPTER III. ON THE HOLY SPIRIT., editorial note f97 · Original source

1869 (English edition) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Gen. vi. 5.

Editorial footnote · The Stromata (Miscellanies), THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA. / BOOK VI. / CHAPTER XI. THE MYSTICAL MEANINGS IN THE PROPORTIONS OF NUMBERS, GEOMETRICAL RATIOS, AND MUSIC., editorial note Footnote_1037 · Original source

1871 (English edition) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Gen. vi. 1-4. Lactantius (Inst. ii. 15), Sulpicius Severus (Hist. i. 2), and others suppose from this passage that angels had commerce with the daughters of men. See further references in the Commentary of Pererius in loc.

Editorial footnote · The City of God, THE CITY OF GOD. / BOOK FIFTEENTH. / ARGUMENT., editorial note Footnote_211_211 · Original source

1871 (English edition) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Gen. vi. 5-7.

Editorial footnote · The City of God, THE CITY OF GOD. / BOOK FIFTEENTH. / ARGUMENT., editorial note Footnote_216_216 · Original source

1871 (English edition) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Gen. vi. 19, 20.

Editorial footnote · The City of God, THE CITY OF GOD. / BOOK FIFTEENTH. / ARGUMENT., editorial note Footnote_220_220 · Original source

1871 (English edition) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Gen. vi. 6, and 1 Sam. xv. 11.

Editorial footnote · The City of God, THE CITY OF GOD. / BOOK FOURTEENTH.[1] / ARGUMENT., editorial note Footnote_86_86 · Original source

1872 (English edition) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Cf. Gen. vi. 5, 6.

Editorial footnote · Against Celsus, The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 of 2 / BOOK VI. / Chapter LVIII., editorial note f1322 · Original source

1872 (English edition) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Ps. xcvi. 5, δαιμόνια; “idols,” Auth. Vers. We have in this passage, and in many others, the identification of the δαίμονες or gods of the heathen with the δαίμονες or δαιμόνια, “evil spirits,” or angels, supposed to be mentioned in Gen. vi. 2.

Editorial footnote · Against Celsus, The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 of 2 / BOOK III. / Chapter II., editorial note f256 · Original source

1885 (historical English edition; transcription printing date uncertain) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

[The Paris editors caution us against yielding to this interpretation of Gen. vi. 1–4. It was the Rabbinical interpretation. See Josephus, book i. cap. 3.]

Editorial footnote · A Plea for the Christians, Chapter XXIV.—Concerning the Angels and Giants., editorial note cite_note-91 · Original source

1885 (historical English edition; physical printing year uncertain) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Gen. vi. 3, Sept.

Editorial footnote · On the Resurrection of the Flesh, Chapter 10, editorial note cite_note-3 · Original source

1885 (historical English edition; physical printing year uncertain) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Gen. vi. 1–4. See also Tertullian, De Idol. 9; De Habit. Mul. 2; De Cultu Femin. 10; De Vel. Virg. 7; Apolog. 22. See also Augustin, De Civit. Dei. xv. 23.

Editorial footnote · The Five Books Against Marcion, Book 5, Chapter 18, editorial note cite_note-52 · Original source

1885 (historical English edition; physical printing year uncertain) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Gen. vi. 6.

Editorial footnote · Against Praxeas, Chapter 16, editorial note cite_note-9 · Original source

1885 (historical English edition; physical printing year uncertain) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

See more concerning these in chap. xviii. of this book. Comp. Gen. vi. 1–4.

Editorial footnote · The Five Books Against Marcion, Book 5, Chapter 8, editorial note cite_note-7 · Original source

1885 (historical English edition; physical printing year uncertain) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Gen. vi. 2.

Editorial footnote · On Prayer, Chapter 22, editorial note cite_note-18 · Original source

1887 (historical English edition; transcription printing date uncertain) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Gen. vi. 7

Editorial footnote · On the Holy Trinity, Chapter 1.—This Work is Written Against Those Who Sophistically Assail the Faith of the Trinity, Through Misuse of Reason. They Who Dispute Concerning God Err from a Threefold Cause. Holy Scripture, Removing What is False, Leads Us on by Degrees to Things Divine. What True Immortality is. We are Nourished by Faith, that We May Be Enabled to Apprehend Things Divine.; original source section: Chapter 1, editorial note cite_note-4 · Original source

1887 (historical English edition; transcription printing date uncertain) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Gen. vi. 3. “Strive with man,” A.V.

Editorial footnote · On the Holy Trinity, Chapter 12.—All, on Account of the Sin of Adam, Were Delivered into the Power of the Devil.; original source section: Chapter 12, editorial note cite_note-2 · Original source

1888 (historical English edition; transcription printing date uncertain) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Gen. vi. 17 and vii. 22.

Editorial footnote · Sermon LXXVIII, Chapter uncertain, editorial note cite_note-25 · Original source

1888 (historical English edition; physical printing year uncertain) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Gen. vi. 16.

Editorial footnote · Tractates on the Gospel of John, Tractate 120, editorial note cite_note-4 · Original source

1890 (historical English edition; transcription printing date uncertain) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

περὶ γιγ€ντων, ἢ περὶ τοῦ μὴ τρέπεσθαι τὸ θεῖον. Upon Gen. vi. 1–4 and 4–12. The two parts of this work, both of which are still extant, form really but one book; for instance, Johannes Monachus (ineditus) quotes from the latter part under the title περὶ γιγ€ντων (according to Mangey, I. 262, note, and 272, note). But the two are divided in Mangey’s edition, where the first is given under the title περὶ γιγ€ντων (I. 262–272), the second under the title ὅτι ἄτρεπτον (I. 272–299). See Schürer, p. 843. The title is found in the form given at the beginning of this note in all the mss. of Eusebius except two, which have καὶ instead of ἤ, thus making two separate works. This reading is adopted by Heinichen and by Closs, but is poorly supported by ms. authority, and since the two titles cover only one work, as already mentioned, the ἤ is more natural than the καὶ.

Editorial footnote · Book II, Chapter XVIII.—The Works of Philothat have come down to us.; original source section: Chapter 18, editorial note cite_note-16 · Original source

1892 (historical English edition; transcription printing date uncertain) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Gen. vi. 2

Editorial footnote · Ecclesiastical History, Chapter III.—The Epistle of Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria to Alexander, Bishop of Constantinople.; original source section: Chapter 3, editorial note cite_note-37 · Original source

Date uncertain | Ambrose of Milan

10. Take another testimony. All flesh was corrupt by its iniquities. “My Spirit,” says God, “shall not remain among men, because they are flesh.” Whereby God shows that the grace of the Spirit is turned away by carnal impurity and the pollution of grave sin. Upon which, God, willing to restore what was lacking, sent the flood and bade just Noah go up into the ark. And he, after having, as the flood was passing off, sent forth first a raven which did not return, sent forth a dove which is said to have returned with an olive twig. You see the water, you see the wood [of the ark], you see the dove, and do you hesitate as to the mystery?

Source passage · edition’s verse reference · On the Mysteries, Chapter III., source paragraph 5 · Original source

Date uncertain | Augustine of Hippo

But some are moved by the fact that we have read that the fruit of the connection between those who are called angels of God and the women they loved were not men like our own breed, but giants; just as if there were not born even in our own time (as I have mentioned above) men of much greater size than the ordinary stature. Was there not at Rome a few years ago, when the destruction of the city now accomplished by the Goths was drawing near, a woman, with her father and mother, who by her gigantic size overtopped all others? Surprising crowds from all quarters came to see her, and that which struck them most was the circumstance that neither of her parents were quite up to the tallest ordinary stature. Giants therefore might well be born, even before the sons of God, who are also called angels of God, formed a connection with the daughters of men, or of those living according to men, that is to say, before the sons of Seth formed a connection with the daughters of Cain. For thus speaks even the canonical Scripture itself in the book in which we read of this; its words are: "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair [good]; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord God said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became the giants, men of renown." These words of the divine book sufficiently indicate that already there were giants in the earth in those days, in which the sons of God took wives of the children of men, when they loved them because they were good, that is, fair. For it is the custom of this Scripture to call those who are beautiful in appearance "good." But after this connection had been formed, then too were giants born. For the words are: "There were giants in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men." Therefore there were giants both before, "in those days," and "also after that." And the words, "they bare children to them," show plainly enough that before the sons of God fell in this fashion they begat children to God, not to themselves,—that is to say, not moved by the lust of sexual intercourse, but discharging the duty of propagation, intending to produce not a family to gratify their own pride, but citizens to people the city of God; and to these they as God's angels would bear the message, that they should place their hope in God, like him who was born of Seth the son of resurrection, and who hoped to call on the name of the Lord God, in which hope they and their offspring would be co-heirs of eternal blessings, and brethren in the family of which God is the Father.

Source passage · edition’s verse reference · The City of God, THE CITY OF GOD. / BOOK FIFTEENTH. / ARGUMENT., source paragraph 157 · Original source

Date uncertain | Augustine of Hippo

But that which God said, "Their days shall be an hundred and twenty years," is not to be understood as a prediction that henceforth men should not live longer than 120 years,—for even after the deluge we find that they lived more than 500 years,—but we are to understand that God said this when Noah had nearly completed his fifth century, that is, had lived 480 years, which Scripture, as it frequently uses the name of the whole for the largest part, calls 500 years. Now the deluge came in the 600th year of Noah's life, the second month; and thus 120 years were predicted as being the remaining span of those who were doomed, which years being spent, they should be destroyed by the deluge. And it is not unreasonably believed that the deluge came as it did, because already there were not found upon earth any who were not worthy of sharing a death so manifestly judicial,—not that a good man, who must die some time, would be a jot the worse of such a death after it was past. Nevertheless there died in the deluge none of those mentioned in the sacred Scripture as descended from Seth. But here is the divine account of the cause of the deluge: "The Lord God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth; both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air: for I am angry that I have made them."

Source passage · edition’s verse reference · The City of God, THE CITY OF GOD. / BOOK FIFTEENTH. / ARGUMENT., source paragraph 161 · Original source

Date uncertain | Augustine of Hippo

As to another customary inquiry of the scrupulous about the very minute creatures, not only such as mice and lizards, but also locusts, beetles, flies, fleas, and so forth, whether there were not in the ark a larger number of them than was determined by God in His command, those persons who are moved by this difficulty are to be reminded that the words "every creeping thing of the earth" only indicate that it was not needful to preserve in the ark the animals that can live in the water, whether the fishes that live submerged in it, or the sea-birds that swim on its surface. Then, when it is said "male and female," no doubt reference is made to the repairing of the races, and consequently there was no need for those creatures being in the ark which are born without the union of the sexes from inanimate things, or from their corruption; or if they were in the ark, they might be there as they commonly are in houses, not in any determinate numbers; or if it was necessary that there should be a definite number of all those animals that cannot naturally live in the water, that so the most sacred mystery which was being enacted might be bodied forth and perfectly figured in actual realities, still this was not the care of Noah or his sons, but of God. For Noah did not catch the animals and put them into the ark, but gave them entrance as they came seeking it. For this is the force of the words, "They shall come unto thee,"—not, that is to say, by man's effort, but by God's will. But certainly we are not required to believe that those which have no sex also came; for it is expressly and definitely said, "They shall be male and female." For there are some animals which are born out of corruption, but yet afterwards they themselves copulate and produce offspring, as flies; but others, which have no sex, like bees. Then, as to those animals which have sex, but without ability to propagate their kind, like mules and she-mules, it is probable that they were not in the ark, but that it was counted sufficient to preserve their parents, to wit, the horse and the ass; and this applies to all hybrids. Yet, if it was necessary for the completeness of the mystery, they were there; for even this species has "male and female."

Source passage · edition’s verse reference · The City of God, THE CITY OF GOD. / BOOK FIFTEENTH. / ARGUMENT., source paragraph 171 · Original source

Date uncertain | Augustine of Hippo

2. “Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His legs: but one of the soldiers with a spear laid open His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” A suggestive word was made use of by the evangelist, in not saying pierced, or wounded His side, or anything else, but “opened;” that thereby, in a sense, the gate of life might be thrown open, from whence have flowed forth the sacraments of the Church, without which there is no entrance to the life which is the true life. That blood was shed for the remission of sins; that water it is that makes up the health-giving cup, and supplies at once the laver of baptism and water for drinking. This was announced beforehand, when Noah was commanded to make a door in the side of the ark, whereby the animals might enter which were not destined to perish in the flood, and by which the Church was prefigured. Because of this, the first woman was formed from the side of the man when asleep, and was called Life, and the mother of all living. Truly it pointed to a great good, prior to the

Source passage · edition’s verse reference · Tractates on the Gospel of John, Tractate 120, source paragraph 4 · Original source

Date uncertain | Clement of Alexandria

Heaven delights in two charioteers, by whom alone the chariot of fire is guided. For the mind is carried away by pleasure; and the unsullied principle of reason, when not instructed by the Word, slides down into licentiousness, and gets a fall as the due reward of its transgression. An example of this are the angels, who renounced the beauty of God for a beauty which fades, and so fell from heaven to earth.

Source passage · edition’s verse reference · The Instructor, THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA. / THE INSTRUCTOR. / BOOK III. / CHAPTER II. AGAINST EMBELLISHING THE BODY., source paragraph 506 · Original source

Date uncertain | Clement of Alexandria

Now the number 300 is, 3 by 100. Ten is allowed to be the perfect number. And 8 is the first cube, which is equality in all the dimensions—length, breadth, depth. “The days of men shall be,” it is said, “120 (ρκ’) years.” And the sum is made up of the numbers from 1 to 15 added together. And the moon at 15 days is full.

Source passage · edition’s verse reference · The Stromata (Miscellanies), THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA. / BOOK VI. / CHAPTER XI. THE MYSTICAL MEANINGS IN THE PROPORTIONS OF NUMBERS, GEOMETRICAL RATIOS, AND MUSIC., source paragraph 756 · Original source

Date uncertain | John Chrysostom

Wouldst thou that I bring before you those [that live] in luxury? Let us ascend from the last to the first. The rich man who is burning in the furnace; the Jews who live for the belly, “whose god is their belly” ( Phil. iii. 19 ), who were ever seeking ease in the wilderness, were destroyed; as also those in Sodom, on account of their gluttony; and those in the time of Noah, was it not because they chose this soft and dissolute life? For “they luxuriated,” it says, “in fullness of bread.” ( Ezek. xvi. 49.) It speaks of those in Sodom. But if “fullness of bread” wrought so great evil, what should we say of other delicacies? Esau, was not he in ease? And what of those who being of “the sons of God” ( Gen. vi. 2 ), looked on women, and were borne down the precipice? And what of those who were maddened by inordinate lust? and all the kings of the nations, of the Babylonians, of the Egyptians, did they not perish miserably? Are they not in torment?

Source passage · edition’s verse reference · Homilies on the Epistle to the Hebrews, Homily 29, source paragraph 19 · Original source

Date uncertain | John Chrysostom

[5.] And be not astonished, that the [words] “Himself being tempted” ( c. ii. 18 ) are spoken more after the manner of men. For if the Scripture says of the Father, who was not made flesh, “The Lord looked down from heaven, and beheld all the sons of men” ( Ps. xiv. 2 ), that is, accurately acquainted Himself with all things; and again, “I will go down, and see whether they do altogether according to the cry of them” ( Gen. xviii. 21 ); and again, “God cannot endure the evil ways of men” ( Gen. vi. 5 ?), the divine Scripture shows forth the greatness of His wrath: much more, who even suffered in the flesh, these things are said of Christ. For since many men consider experience the most reliable means of knowledge, he wishes to show that He that has suffered knows what human nature suffers.

Source passage · edition’s verse reference · Homilies on the Epistle to the Hebrews, Homily 5, source paragraph 22 · Original source

Date uncertain | Origen

But let Celsus, and those who assent to his charges, tell us whether it is at all like “an ass’s shadow,” that the Jewish prophets should have predicted the birth-place of Him who was to be the ruler of those who had lived righteous lives, and who are called the “heritage” of God; and that Emmanuel should be conceived by a virgin; and that such signs and wonders should be performed by Him who was the subject of prophecy; and that His word should have such speedy course, that the voice of His apostles should go forth into all the earth; and that He should undergo certain sufferings after His condemnation by the Jews; and that He should rise again from the dead. For was it by chance that the prophets made these announcements, with no persuasion of their truth in their minds, moving them not only to speak, but to deem their announcements worthy of being committed to writing? And did so great a nation as that of the Jews, who had long ago received a country of their own wherein to dwell, recognise certain men as prophets, and reject others as utterers of false predictions, without any conviction of the soundness of the distinction? And was there no motive which induced them to class with the books of Moses, which were held as sacred, the words of those persons who were afterwards deemed to be prophets? And can those who charge the Jews and Christians with folly, show us how the Jewish nation could have continued to subsist, had there existed among them no promise of the knowledge of future events? and how, while each of the surrounding nations believed, agreeably to their ancient institutions, that they received oracles and predictions from those whom they accounted gods, this people alone, who were taught to view with contempt all those who were considered gods by the heathen, as not being gods, but demons, according to the declaration of the prophets, “For all the gods of the nations are demons,” had among them no one who professed to be a prophet, and who could restrain such as, from a desire to know the future, were ready to desert to the demons of other nations? Judge, then, whether it were not a necessity, that as the whole nation had been taught to despise the deities of other lands, they should have had an abundance of prophets, who made known events which were of far greater importance in themselves, and which surpassed the oracles of all other countries.

Source passage · edition’s verse reference · Against Celsus, The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 of 2 / BOOK III. / Chapter II., source paragraph 134 · Original source

Date uncertain | Origen

There is next to be answered the following query: “And how is it that he repents when men become ungrateful and wicked; and finds fault with his own handwork, and hates, and threatens, and destroys his own offspring?” Now Celsus here calumniates and falsifies what is written in the book of Genesis to the following effect: “And the Lord God, seeing that the wickedness of men upon the earth was increasing, and that every one in his heart carefully meditated to do evil continually, was grieved He had made man upon the earth. And God meditated in His heart, and said, I will destroy man, whom I have made, from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and creeping thing, and fowl of the air, because I am grieved that I made them;” quoting words which are not written in Scripture, as if they conveyed the meaning of what was actually written. For there is no mention in these words of the repentance of God, nor of His blaming and hating His own handwork. And if there is the appearance of God threatening the catastrophe of the deluge, and thus destroying His own children in it, we have to answer that, as the soul of man is immortal, the supposed threatening has for its object the conversion of the hearers, while the destruction of men by the flood is a purification of the earth, as certain among the Greek philosophers of no mean repute have indicated by the expression: “When the gods purify the earth.” And with respect to the transference to God of those anthropopathic phrases, some remarks have been already made by us in the preceding pages.

Source passage · edition’s verse reference · Against Celsus, The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 of 2 / BOOK VI. / Chapter LVIII., source paragraph 453 · Original source

Date uncertain | Theodoret of Cyrus

“And do not these words, I begot thee ‘from the womb before the morning,’ plainly show the natural sonship of the paternal birth of One whose lot it is, not from diligence of conduct, or exercise in moral progress, but by individuality of nature? Hence it ensues that the filiation of the only-begotten Son of the Father is incapable of fall; while the adoption of reasonable beings who are not His sons by nature, but merely on account of fitness of character, and by the bounty of God, may fall away, as it is written in the word, ‘The sons of God saw the daughters of men, and took them as wives,’ and so forth. And God, speaking by Isaiah, said, ‘I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me.’

Source passage · edition’s verse reference · Ecclesiastical History, Chapter III.—The Epistle of Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria to Alexander, Bishop of Constantinople.; original source section: Chapter 3, source paragraph 10 · Original source