Chapter 12
(28).
After this, Pilate going into the temple of the Jews,
assembled all the chief priests, and learned men, and scribes, and
teachers of the law, and went in with them into the sanctuary of the
temple, and ordered that all the gates should be shut, and said to
them: We have heard that you have a certain great collection of
books in this temple: therefore I ask you that it be presented
before us. And when four officers brought in that collection of
books, adorned with gold and precious gems, Pilate said to all: I
adjure you by the God of your fathers, who ordered you to build this
temple in the place of his sanctuary, not to conceal the truth from
me. You all know what is written in that collection of books; but
now say whether you have found in the writings that Jesus, whom you
have crucified, to be the Son of God that was to come for the salvation
of the human race, and in how many revolutions of the seasons he ought
to come. Declare to me whether you crucified him in ignorance of
this, or knowing it.
Being thus adjured, Annas and Caiaphas ordered all
the others who were with them to go out of the sanctuary; and
themselves shut all the gates of the temple and the sanctuary, and said
to Pilate: We have been adjured by thee, O good judge, by the
building of this temple, to give thee the truth, and a clear account
of this matter. After we had crucified Jesus, not knowing
Him to be the Son of God, thinking that He did miracles by means of
some charm, we made a great synagogue in this temple. And
conferring with each other of the signs of the miracles which Jesus had
done, we found many witnesses of our nation who said that they had seen
Jesus alive after suffering death, and that He had penetrated into the
height of heaven. And we have seen two witnesses, whom Jesus
raised up again from the dead, who told us many wonderful things that
Jesus did among the dead, which we have in our hands, written
out. And our custom is, every year before our synagogue, to open
that holy collection of books, and seek out the testimony of God.
And we have found in the first book of the LXX., where the archangel
Michael spoke to the third son of Adam, the first man, of five thousand
and five hundred years, in which the Christ, the most beloved Son of
God, was to come from the heavens; and upon this we have considered
that perhaps He was the God of Israel who said to Moses,1997
Make to thee the
ark of the
covenant,
two
cubits and a half in length, one
cubit and a half in breadth, one
cubit and a half in height. In these five and a half
cubits we
have understood and recognised, from the structure of the
ark of the
old
covenant, that in five and a half
thousands of years,
Jesus Christ
was to come in the
ark of the body; and we have found Him to be the
God
of
Israel, the Son of
God. Because after His passion, we, the
chief priests, wondering at the
signs which happened on account of Him,
opened this collection of books, searching out all the generations,
even to the generation of
Joseph, and reckoning that
Mary the mother of
Christ was of the
seed of
David; and we have found that from the time
that
God made the
heaven and the
earth and the first man, to the
deluge, are two
thousand two
hundred and twelve
1998
| 1998 Should be
2262—βσοβ in place of βσιβ. |
years; and from the deluge to the
building of the
tower, five
hundred and thirty-one
1999
| 1999 This includes the
second Cainan. |
years; and from the
building of the
tower
to
Abraham, six
hundred and six
2000
years; and from
Abraham to the arrival of the
children of
Israel from Egypt, four
hundred and seventy years; from the coming of the
children of
Israel
out of Egypt to the
building of the
temple, five
hundred and eleven
years; and from the
building of the
temple to the
destruction of the
same
temple, four
hundred and sixty-four years. Thus
far have we
found in the book of Esdras. After searching, we find that from
the burning of the
temple to the
advent of
Christ, and His
birth, there
are six
hundred and thirty-six
2001
| 2001 Should be
586—dlxxxvi. instead of dcxxxvi. |
years, which
together were five
thousand five
hundred years, as we have found
written in the book that Michael the
archangel foretold to
Seth the third son
of
Adam, that in five and a half
thousands of years
Christ the Son of
God would come.
2002
Even until
now we have told no one, that there might be no
dissension in our
synagogues. And now thou hast adjured us, O good
judge, by this
holy book of the
testimonies of God, and we make it manifest to
thee. And now we adjure thee, by thy life and safety, to make
manifest these words to no one in Jerusalem.
E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
