Barnabas

“ 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, [60] saying, Let us bind the just one, because he is displeasing to us.” [61] And Moses also says to them, [62] “Behold these things, saith the Lord God: Enter into the good land which the Lord swore [to give] to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and inherit ye it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” ”

“ And further, my brethren: if the Lord endured to suffer for our soul, He being Lord of all the world, to whom God said at the foundation of the world, “Let us make man after our image, and after our likeness,” [40] understand how it was that He endured to suffer at the hand of men. ”

“ Since, therefore, the days are evil, and Satan [13] possesses the power of this world, we ought to give heed to ourselves, and diligently inquire into the ordinances of the Lord. Fear and patience, then, are helpers of our faith; and long-suffering and continence are things which fight on our side. ”

“ Chapter XIII.—Christians, and not Jews, the heirs of the covenant.
But let us see if this people [187] is the heir, or the former, and if the covenant belongs to us or to them. Hear ye now what the Scripture saith concerning the people. Isaac prayed for Rebecca his wife, because she was barren; and she conceived. [188] Furthermore also, Rebecca went forth to inquire of the Lord; and the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples in thy belly; and the one people shall surpass the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.” ”

“ And be ye [279] taught of God, inquiring diligently what the Lord asks from you; and do it that ye maybe safe in the day of judgment. [280] And if you have any remembrance of what is good, be mindful of me, meditating on these things, in order that both my desire and watchfulness may result in some good. I beseech you, entreating this as a favour. While yet you are in this fair vessel, [281] do not fail in any one of those things, [282] but unceasingly seek after them, and fulfil every commandment; for these things are worthy. ”

“ What, then, says He in the prophet? “And let them eat of the goat which is offered, with fasting, for all their sins.” [85] Attend carefully: “And let all the priests alone eat the inwards, unwashed with vinegar.” Wherefore? Because to me, who am to offer my flesh for the sins of my new people, ye are to give gall with vinegar to drink: eat ye alone, while the people fast and mourn in sackcloth and ashes. ”

“ Now what do you suppose this to be a type of, that a command was given to Israel, that men of the greatest wickedness [98] should offer a heifer, and slay and burn it, and, that then boys should take the ashes, and put these into vessels, and bind round a stick [99] purple wool along with hyssop, and that thus the boys should sprinkle the people, one by one, in order that they might be purified from their sins? Consider how He speaks to you with simplicity. The calf [100] is Jesus: the sinful men offering it are those who led Him to the slaughter. ”

“ And all the more attend to this, my brethren, when ye reflect and behold, that after so great signs and wonders were wrought in Israel, they were thus [at length] abandoned. Let us beware lest we be found [fulfilling that saying] , as it is written, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” [37]
Chapter V.—The new covenant, founded on the sufferings of Christ, tends to our salvation, but to the Jews’ destruction.
For to this end the Lord endured to deliver up His flesh to corruption, that we might be sanctified through the remission of sins, which is effected by His blood of sprinkling. ”

“ Behold, then, [95] the type of Jesus who was to suffer. But why is it that they place the wool in the midst of thorns? It is a type of Jesus set before the view of the Church. [They [96] place the wool among thorns] , that any one who wishes to bear it away may find it necessary to suffer much, because the thorn is formidable, and thus obtain it only as the result of suffering. Thus also, says He, “Those who wish to behold Me, and lay hold of My kingdom, must through tribulation and suffering obtain Me.” [97] ”

“ Life, Faith, and Hope, our beginning and end; and Righteousness, the beginning and the end of judgment; Love and Joy and the Testimony of gladness for works of righteousness.” We have followed the ancient Latin text, which Hilgenfeld also adopts, though Weitzäcker and others prefer the Greek. ”

“ Ye see on whom he laid [195] [his hands] , that this people should be first, and heir of the covenant. If then, still further, the same thing was intimated through Abraham, we reach the perfection of our knowledge. What, then, says He to Abraham? “Because thou hast believed, [196] it is imputed to thee for righteousness: behold, I have made thee the father of those nations who believe in the Lord while in [a state of] uncircumcision.” [197]
Chapter XIV.—The Lord hath given us the testament which Moses received and broke. ”

“ Then He manifested Himself to be the Son of God. For if He had not come in the flesh, how could men have been saved by beholding Him? [42] Since looking upon the sun which is to cease to exist, and is the work of His hands, their eyes are not able to bear his rays. The Son of God therefore came in the flesh with this view, that He might bring to a head the sum of their sins who had persecuted His prophets [43] to the death. For this purpose, then, He endured. For God saith, “The stroke of his flesh is from them;” ”

“ And let the priest take one as a burnt-offering for sins. [88] And what should they do with the other? “Accursed,” says He, “is the one.” Mark how the type of Jesus [89] now comes out. “And all of you spit upon it, and pierce it, and encircle its head with scarlet wool, and thus let it be driven into the wilderness.” And when all this has been done, he who bears the goat brings it into the desert, and takes the wool off from it, and places that upon a shrub which is called Rachia, [90] of which also we are accustomed to eat the fruits [91] when we find them in the field. ”

“ Moreover, the Lord saith to them in Deuteronomy, “And I will establish my ordinances among this people.” [133] Is there then not a command of God they should not eat [these things] ? There is, but Moses spoke with a spiritual reference. [134] For this reason he named the swine, as much as to say, “Thou shalt not join thyself to men who resemble swine.” For when they live in pleasure, they forget their Lord; but when they come to want, they acknowledge the Lord. And [in like manner] the swine, when it has eaten, does not recognize its master ”

“ He means, “Thou shall not be an adulterer, nor a corrupter, nor be like to them that are such.” Wherefore? Because that animal annually changes its sex, and is at one time male, and at another female. Moreover, he has rightly detested the weasel. For he means, “Thou shalt not be like to those whom we hear of as committing wickedness with the mouth, [139] on account of their uncleanness; nor shall thou be joined to those impure women who commit iniquity with the mouth. For this animal conceives by the mouth.” Moses then issued [140] three doctrines concerning meats with a spiritual significance ”

“ Thou shalt preserve what thou hast received [in charge] , neither adding to it nor taking from it. To the last thou shalt hate the wicked [267] [one] . [268] Thou shalt judge righteously. Thou shalt not make a schism, but thou shalt pacify those that contend by bringing them together. Thou shalt confess thy sins. Thou shalt not go to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of light. [269]
Chapter XX.—The way of darkness. ”

“ But the way of darkness [270] is crooked, and full of cursing; for it is the way of eternal [271] death with punishment, in which way are the things that destroy the soul, viz., idolatry, over-confidence, the arrogance of power, hypocrisy, double-heartedness, adultery, murder, rapine, haughtiness, transgression, [272] deceit, malice, self-sufficiency, poisoning, magic, avarice, [273] want of the fear of God. ”

“ Moreover, when fixed to the cross, He had given Him to drink vinegar and gall. Hearken how the priests of the people [84] gave previous indications of this. His commandment having been written, the Lord enjoined, that whosoever did not keep the fast should be put to death, because He also Himself was to offer in sacrifice for our sins the vessel of the Spirit, in order that the type established in Isaac when he was offered upon the altar might be fully accomplished. ”

“ Sin. reads “again,” but is corrected as above. ↑ The meaning is, “If the Sabbaths of the Jews were the true Sabbath, we should have been deceived by God, who demands pure hands and a pure heart.”—Hefele. ↑ Cod. Sin. has, “But if not.” Hilgenfeld’s text of this confused passage reads as follows: “Who then can sanctify the day which God has sanctified, except the man who is of a pure heart? We are deceived (or mistaken) in all things. ”

“ Sin. here inserts “the goat.” ↑ Cod. Sin. reads, “for as he who ... so, says he,” etc. ↑ Comp. Acts xiv. 22. ↑ Literally, “men in whom sins are perfect.” Of this, and much more that follows, no mention is made in Scripture. ↑ Cod. Sin. has “upon sticks,” and adds, “Behold again the type of the cross, both the scarlet wool and the hyssop,”—adopted by Hilgenfeld. ↑ Cod. Sin. has, “the law is Christ Jesus,” corrected to the above. ↑ The Greek text is, “then no longer [sinful] men, no longer the glory of sinners,” which Dressel defends and Hilgenfeld adopts, but which is surely corrupt. ”

“ Sin. has, “Behold, receive again.” ↑ Jer. ix. 25, 26. ↑ Dressel and Hilgenfeld read, “their covenant,” as does Cod. Sin.; we have followed Hefele. ↑ Cod. Sin. has “children of love,” omitting “richly,” and inserting it before “looking forward.” ↑ Literally, “doctrines.” ↑ Not found in Scripture: but comp. Gen. xvii. 26, 27, Gen. xiv. 14. ↑ Cod. Sin. inserts, “and then making a pause.” ↑ This sentence is altogether omitted by inadvertence in Cod. Sin. ↑ Some mss. here read, “and further:” the above is the reading in Cod. Sin., and is also that of Hefele. ”