Page:Ante-Nicene Fathers volume 1.djvu/138

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124
THE EPISTLE OF BARNABAS.

not the Son of man, but the Son of God. Since, therefore, they were to say that Christ was the son[1] of David, fearing and understanding the error of the wicked, he saith, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool."[2] And again, thus saith Isaiah, "The Lord said to Christ,[3] my Lord, whose right hand I have holden,[4] that the nations should yield obedience before Him; and I will break in pieces the strength of kings."[5] Behold how David calleth Him Lord and the Son of God.


Chap. xiii.Christians, and not Jews, the heirs of the covenant.

But let us see if this people[6] 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.[7] 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."[8] You ought to understand who was Isaac, who Rebecca, and concerning what persons He declared that this people should be greater than that. And in another prophecy Jacob speaks more clearly to his son Joseph, saying, "Behold, the Lord hath not deprived me of thy presence; bring thy sons to me, that I may bless them."[9] And he brought Manasseh and Ephraim, desiring that Manasseh[10] should be blessed, because he was the elder. With this view Joseph led him to the right hand of his father Jacob. But Jacob saw in spirit the type of the people to arise afterwards. And what says [the Scrip-

  1. That is, merely human: a reference is supposed to the Ebionites.
  2. Ps. cx. 1; Matt. xxii. 43–45.
  3. Cod. Sin. corrects "to Cyrus," as LXX.
  4. Cod. Sin. has, "he has taken hold."
  5. Isa. xlv. 1.
  6. That is, "Christians."
  7. Gen. xxv. 21.
  8. Gen. xxv. 23.
  9. Gen. xlviii. 11, 9.
  10. Cod. Sin. reads each time "Ephraim," by a manifest mistake, instead of Manasseh.