On the Paschal Computation

FOR no small time indeed we were anxious and burning with eagerness, seeking to find, not in secular writings, but in the holy and divine Scriptures, what indeed is the first day of the new month, in which month it was commanded to the Jews in Egypt to sacrifice the Passover on the fourteenth moon. Therefore the most holy One who saw this granted it, and we found it. We found it, moreover, through the immense goodness and justice of Almighty God the Father Himself, and the incomparable mercy of Christ His Son, our Lord and God, who for our sins, obedient to His Father, laid down His soul; with which, rising again from the dead on the third day, He promised His disciples eternal life, and gave the pledge of the grace of the Holy Spirit to those believing in His passion and resurrection. In which the Lord Himself, the Spirit, reveals deep mysteries to His servants who are willing, that is, seeking with the whole strength of faith, and manifests hidden sacraments.

And therefore believing, and knowing for certain that God denies nothing, but grants to each one who wills and desires, according as He also wills, we committed ourselves to so laborious a matter; in which matter, not abandoned, but rather inspired by God Himself, we wish to show to those who love and seek after divine studies, that Christians can never stray from the way of truth, and, as if ignorant of what the day of Pascha is, walk after the blind and dull Jews. And since we clearly begin from God, we wish to show not only the first day, on which the lamb was slain in Egypt, but also to demonstrate the days of the Passover of Jews and Christians of past and future time. Let us begin, therefore, most beloved brothers, from the reading of Exodus: in which reading we recognize that God and the Lord Himself said to Moses and Aaron his brother in the land of Egypt: "This month shall be for you the beginning of months, the first in the months of the year.

Speak to the whole assembly of the sons of Israel, saying: On the tenth day of this month let them take for themselves, each by the houses of their tribes, a sheep for each house; and if they are too few in a house so as not to be sufficient for a sheep, he shall take with him his nearest neighbor, according to the number of souls, each one what shall suffice for him, they shall reckon for the sheep, unblemished, one year old, perfect, a male, you shall take it from the lambs or from the goats. And it shall be kept by you until the fourteenth day of this month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel shall kill it in the evening; and they shall take of the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel in the houses in which they eat it: and they shall eat the flesh that night roasted with fire, they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

You shall not eat of it raw, nor boiled in water, but roasted, the head with the feet and the entrails; you shall leave nothing of it until morning, and you shall not break a bone of it; but whatever is left of it until morning shall be burned with fire, of its entrails you shall devour after its slaughter.

Thus shall you eat it: your loins girded, and your sandals on your feet, and your staffs in your hands, and you shall eat it in haste; for it is the Passover of the Lord." Therefore God commanded through Moses the whole assembly of the sons of Israel, in the new month, which is the beginning of months, the first of the months of the year, in which manner they should eat the Passover on the fourteenth moon, to this end indeed, that He might both manifest His own divinity to us who believe in Christ, and demonstrate their brigandage already then from the beginning of the age: and those who in Egypt at evening, that is, in the last times of the age, girded and shod, went out against the spotless Lamb of God on the first day of Unleavened Bread at evening with swords and clubs; and committed against Him all that had been foretold by all the Prophets of God.

And therefore we, who now celebrate the Passover not according to the image, as they did, but according to the truth, in commemoration of the Passion of the Son of God, ought to inquire diligently first of all, with the whole strength of our faith, nothing else but what the new month is, and whence it begins, and where it ends. And then we shall find, and not before, nor after the fourteenth moon has been found, that the Passover can be observed by the Jews themselves. This very thing indeed the holy and divine Scripture of Genesis begins clearly to show us, saying: "In the beginning God made heaven and earth. But the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was over the abyss, and the Spirit of God was borne over the waters. And God said: Let there be light; and there was light, and God saw the light that it was good. And God divided between the light and between the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night.

And evening was made, and morning was made, one day." Therefore, in reporting and suggesting to us that the Lord Himself divided between the light and between the darkness, that is, between day and night, the holy Scripture clearly shows this to be the first day and the night following it; between which the Maker of all things divided equally, that is, without fault.

This is now understood to be the eighth day before the kalends of April; from which day, reckoning, some of us who wished to be the first to show this new month, and, having found the fourteenth moon itself, to demonstrate the day of Passover according to the Jews, said that the same month begins from the ides of March and is completed on the day of the ides of April; and thus they stumbled. And therefore, although they rightly divided those thirty days into eleven and nineteen: reckoning eleven, that is, backward in a common year, and arriving at the ides of March, sending the nineteen back into that former year in which the embolismic occurs, and arriving as far as the ides of April. In this they erred, as I have said, since they could not truly grasp the first day of the new month. This matter will now be shown truly demonstrated in this way, since in the very Table composed by us, no year will be found to fail.

Rightly divided into eleven and nineteen: reckoning eleven, that is, backward in a common year, and arriving at the ides of March, sending the nineteen back into that former year in which the embolismic occurs, and arriving as far as the ides of April.

Wishing therefore to show truly this month, whence it begins and where it ends, let us return to Genesis, which related to us that God Himself divided between the first day and the first night. Whence we recognize, and between the second and between the third day and night, that no one else but God Himself divided them, and thus from the fourth day enjoined this office upon the sun and moon. For these are the two greater luminaries, concerning which God said: "Let there be luminaries in the firmament of heaven that they may appear over the earth, and divide between day and night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years; and let them be for brightness in the firmament of heaven, so that they may shine upon the earth. And so it was done.

And God made two great luminaries, the greater luminary, the beginning of the day; and the lesser luminary, the beginning of the night" But these are the two luminaries, which received not only this office, that they divide between day and night; but also that they be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years. For this reason, then, the Hebrews at that time, who were worthy, taught by the Spirit of God, also computed the individual years according to the course of the moon. And, in order that they might meet with the course of the sun within sixteen years, they divided the thirty days of the first month into two parts, not equally but according to proportion; just as we said above that our predecessors indeed, following the Hebrews, rightly divided into eleven and nineteen; but did not include the first day of the first month, and therefore erred.

Which first day of the new month, according to the course of the moon waning twelve times, is recognized on the 16th before the Kalends of April. On which day, at the same hour, the moon was found to be such as it had been a year before, on the 5th before the Kalends of April. Of which year the Hebrews reckon 354 days, up to the 17th before the Kalends of April. But those who reckon according to the course of the sun, after eleven days and a quarter of a day, on the 6th before the Kalends of April, having completed 365 days and a quarter of a day, find that the year is finished, and thus they show the first day of the coming new month to be the 5th before the Kalends of April.

And therefore, gathering the four quarter-days of the quadrennium into one day, every fifth year they insert it not on the 5th before the Kalends of April, but on the 5th before the Kalends of March, lest they insert a whole day upon the first day of the coming new month, and thus overturn this entire order which the Hebrews, earlier and before Rome itself was founded, attained by a sure reckoning. The year of the Hebrews, therefore, divided into twelve months, makes a month of 29½; likewise also that of the Romans, in twelve parts likewise, makes a month of 30½. Therefore between 29½ and 30½ there is a difference which is understood to be eleven hours and a quarter of an hour. In which eleven hours and a quarter of an hour the sun went ahead when the beginning of the day was made.

But thus the moon also, being promised to make the beginning of the night, it was not fitting that it be made after the setting of the sun, and thus be seen in the sky, since it ought to be seen and to follow from the first day, with which it had obtained so great an office. This, then, is what happens through each month, when the fifteenth moon is restored, that it proceeds from the sun. And therefore, throughout the year, the sun is found to go ahead eleven days and a quarter of a day. And so the moon, which had been made the fifteenth on the fourth feria, the 5th before the Kalends of April, is found, when the first year is completed, to be the twenty-sixth less a quarter, on the 5th before the Kalends of April. Likewise in the second year, with eleven days and a quarter added, it is found to be 7½ on the 5th before the Kalends of April.

In the third year, less three-quarters, on the 5th before the Kalends of April. In the fourth year, 30, on the 5th before the Kalends of April. In the fifth year, 11 a quarter. In the sixth year, 22½. In the seventh year, less three-quarters. But in the eighth year it is found to be, on the 5th before the Kalends of April, such as it had been made in the beginning. Being instructed, therefore, by this a reasoning—not their own, but the wisdom of God—the Hebrews, concerning the lunar course, according to the first rule of the Greeks, in the manner of the Egyptians, and not according to lunar epacts, could not err. And therefore, when for the first time in Egypt, on the day before the Ides of April, on the second feria, in the 14th moon, they sacrificed the Passover; when the first year was completed, they could not again celebrate the Passover on the 2nd before the Ides of April, since not the 14th, but the 25th moon was found by them.

And so, seeking the 14th, they had need, eighteen days having been inserted, to find the 14th moon on the 2nd before the Kalends of May. But, lest they should begin to keep the Passover in the second month, and not in the first month, which extends from the 16th before the Kalends of April to the 17th before the Kalends of May, computing backward from the 25 days of the moon, that is, subtracting eleven days of that same moon, they found, the 14th moon and the sixth feria, on the Kalends of April, which was the first common year. In the second year, likewise common, on the 12th before the Kalends of April, third feria. But in the third year they did not compute backward, lest they exceed the 16th before the Kalends of April, which is the first day of the first month, and fall into the twelfth month of the past year; they computed otherwise. For this was the year in which the nineteenth, but with one deducted, they had to insert eighteen days.

But which is this one of the nineteen days that is deducted, we will say, by God's grace. For in the first time, when the Passover was observed in Egypt, in that very year a quarter-day was owed: in the following year it became a half-day: in the year after that it became three-quarters: but in the third year it became a whole day: the third year, therefore, in the Table, in which is now found the bissextile and embolismic year. In which year the Passover, the 14th moon, is shown to have been on the 6th before the Ides of April, and the second feria. In the fourth year, common, on the 5th before the Kalends of April, sixth feria. Likewise in the fifth year, common, the 14th moon, on the 16th before the Kalends of April, third feria. In the sixth year, embolismic, on the Nones of April, second feria. In the seventh year, bissextile, on the 9th before the Kalends of April, fifth feria.

In the eighth year, embolismic, on the day before the Ides of April, fifth feria. Behold, therefore, how we computed above that after eight years, on the 5th before the Kalends of April, the 15th moon is again found. So after eight years, on the day before the Ides of April, the 14th moon is found, and not the second feria as before, but the fifth is found. And therefore we show that the 14th moon, in the same Table, returns to its first day not through eight years, but through sixteen years; and in it we have noted the bissextile years according to the course of the sun, without error of the ignorant. Which itself, though in the completed sixteen years it comes on its fixed day, with the embolismus inserted, then the 14th moon occurs, yet it does not occur on the second feria, but on the first. Thus likewise the second cycle of sixteen years when completed occurs on the seventh feria. The third, indeed, on the sixth feria. The fourth, on the fifth feria.

The fifth cycle of sixteen years, on the fourth feria. The sixth cycle of sixteen years, on the fourth feria. The seventh, however, when it has completed 112 years, returns to the 2nd before the Ides of April, and the moon is found to be the 14th, and the feria the second. These, therefore, are the 112 years in the cycle of which, computing from the first day of the Passover observed in Egypt, we arrive at Christ, and show the day of His passion and resurrection. It is fitting, however, first to show the remaining eight years of the Table, for we have computed only up to the eighth. In the ninth year, therefore, common, the 14th moon, and the second feria falls on the Kalends of April. Likewise, in the tenth year, common, on the 12th before the Kalends of April, sixth feria. In the eleventh year, bissextile and embolismic, on the 6th before the Ides of April, fifth feria. In the twelfth year, common, on the 5th before the Kalends of April, second feria.

In the thirteenth year, likewise common, on the 16th before the Kalends of April, sixth feria. In the fourteenth year, embolismic, on the Nones of April, fifth feria. In the fifteenth year, bissextile, common, on the 14th before the Kalends of April, second feria. In the sixteenth year, an embolismus having been made, the moon is found a again at the head, that is, in the first line, the 14th, and the first feria, on the day before the Ides of April, on which day we have said the Jews in Egypt first observed the Passover. From this, up to Joshua the son of Nun, 41 years having been completed, the sons of Israel sacrificed the Passover on the Kalends of April, sabbath. But Hezekiah, from the exodus out of Egypt up to the first year of his reign, after 867 years, celebrated the Passover on the 6th before the Ides of April, fourth feria. Likewise Josiah, in the eighteenth year of his reign, after 970 years, sacrificed the Passover on the 12th before the Kalends of April, second feria.

But Ezra, at that time when the seven weeks were completed, from the temple restored and finished and the city of Jerusalem restored, after 1114 years, sacrificed the Passover on the 12th before the Kalends of April, sabbath. But the Lord Jesus Himself also, our Saviour, after 1573 years, ate the Passover with His disciples on the 6th before the Ides of April, fifth feria: and He suffered on the next day, the 5th before the Ides of April, sixth feria…for seasons, and for days, and for years; and let them be for brightness in the firmament of heaven, so that they may shine upon the earth. And so it was done. And God made two great luminaries, the greater luminary, the beginning of the day; and the lesser luminary, the beginning of the night. But these are the two luminaries, which received not only this office, that they divide between day and night; but also that they be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years.

But those who reckon according to the course of the sun, after eleven days and a quarter of a day, on the 6th before the Kalends of April, having completed 365 days and a quarter of a day, find that the year is finished, and thus show the first day of the coming new month to be the 5th before the Kalends of April. They show. And for this reason, gathering the four quarter-days of a four-year period into one day, in every fifth year they insert it not on the 5th kalends of April, but on the 5th kalends of March, lest they insert a whole day upon the first day of the new coming month, and thereby overturn the whole order which the Hebrews before them, and before Rome itself was founded, had attained by a sure reckoning. The year of the Hebrews, therefore, divided into 12 months, makes a month of 29½; likewise that of the Romans also, divided into twelve parts, makes a month of 30½.

Therefore between 29½ and 30½ there is a difference understood to be 11 hours and a quarter of an hour. By these 11 hours and a quarter of an hour the sun went ahead when the beginning of the day was made. So too the moon was appointed to make the beginning of night; it was not fitting that it should come to be after the setting of the sun, and thus be seen in the sky, since it ought to be seen and to proceed from the first day, along with which it had received so great an office. This, then, is what happens through each month: the fifteenth moon, being renewed, is outrun by the sun. And so through the year the sun is found to advance 11 days and a quarter of a day more. And thus the moon which had been made the fifteenth on Wednesday, the 5th kalends of April, is found, when the first year is completed, to be the 26th and a quarter, on the 5th kalends of April.

Likewise in the second year, with 11 days and a quarter added, it is found to be the 7th and a half, on the 5th kalends of April. In the third year, the 18th and three-quarters, on the 5th kalends of April. In the fourth year, the 30th, on the 5th kalends of April. In the fifth year, the 11th and a quarter. In the sixth year, the 22nd and a half. In the seventh year, the 3rd and three-quarters. But in the eighth year it is found to be the 15th, on the 5th kalends of April, such as it had been made in the beginning. Instructed therefore in this reckoning not by their own wisdom but by the wisdom of God, the Hebrews concerning the lunar course, following the first rule of the Greeks, in the manner of the Egyptians, and not according to lunar epacts, could not err.

And therefore, when first in Egypt, on the day before the ides of April, on the second day of the week, on the 14th moon, they sacrificed the Passover; when the first year was completed, again they could not celebrate the Passover on the 2nd of the ides of April, since not the 14th, but the 25th moon was found by them. Seeking therefore the 14th, they had of necessity, with 18 days inserted, to find the 14th moon on the 2nd kalends of May. But, lest they should begin to keep the Passover in the second month, and not in the first month, which runs from the 16th kalends of April to the 17th kalends of May, reckoning backward from the 25 days of the moon, that is, subtracting 11 days of that same moon, they found the 14th moon on Friday, the kalends of April, which was a common year and the first. In the second year, likewise a common year, on the 12th kalends of April, the third day of the week.

But in the third year, not reckoning backward, lest they should exceed the 16th kalends of April, which is the first day of the first month, and fall into the 12th month of the past year, they reckoned otherwise. For this was the year in which, out of the, one day being subtracted, they had to insert 18 days. But which is this one day out of the that is subtracted, we shall say by the grace of God. For in the first period, when the Passover was observed in Egypt, there was owed in that very year a quarter-day: in the following year it became a half-day: in the year after that, added, it became three-quarters: but in the third year it became a whole day: the third year, therefore, in the Table, is the one in which now both the bissextile and the embolismic are found. In this year the Passover, the 14th moon, is shown to have fallen on the 6th of the ides of April, and on the second day of the week.

In the fourth year, a common year, on the 5th kalends of April, on the sixth day of the week. Likewise in the fifth year, a common year, the 14th moon, on the 16th kalends of April, on the third day of the week. In the sixth year, an embolismic year, on the nones of April, on the second day of the week. In the seventh year, a bissextile year, on the 9th kalends of April, on the fifth day of the week. In the eighth year, an embolismic year, on the day before the ides of April, on the fifth day of the week. Behold, then, how we computed above that after eight years, on the 5th kalends of April, the 15th moon is again found. So also after eight years, on the day before the ides of April, the 14th moon is found; and the day of the week is found not the second as before, but the fifth.

And therefore we have shown that the 14th moon, in the same Table, returns to its own first day not after eight years, but after sixteen years; and in this we have noted the years of the bissextile according to the course of the sun without error for those who might be ignorant. And this same cycle, though in the completed sixteen years it may come to its fixed day, with the embolismus inserted, then the 14th moon occurs, yet it does not occur on the second day of the week as before, but on the first. Likewise the second completed period of sixteen years occurs on the seventh day of the week. The third, indeed, on the sixth day. The fourth, however, on the fifth day. The fifth period of sixteen, on the fourth day. The sixth period of sixteen, on the fourth day. The seventh, however, when it has completed 112 years, returns to the 2nd of the ides of April, and the 14th moon is found, and the second day of the week.

These, then, are the 112 years through which, going in a circle, and reckoning years from the first day of the Passover observed in Egypt, we arrive down to Christ, and we show the day of His passion and of His resurrection. It remains, however, first that we show the rest of the eight years of the Table, for we have reckoned only up to the eighth. In the ninth year, therefore, a common year, the 14th moon and the second day of the week fall on the kalends of April. Likewise, in the tenth year, a common year, on the 12th kalends of April, the sixth day of the week. In the eleventh year, a bissextile and embolismic year, on the 6th of the ides of April, the fifth day of the week. In the twelfth year, a common year, on the 5th kalends of April, the second day of the week. In the thirteenth year, likewise a common year, on the 16th kalends of April, the sixth day of the week.

In the fourteenth year, an embolismic year, on the nones of April, the fifth day of the week. In the fifteenth year, a bissextile common year, on the 14th kalends of April, the second day TABLE.

The next following Lord's day is the Passover of the Christians. Day. In the sixteenth year, an embolismic year being made, it is found again returning to the head, that is, in the first line, the 14th moon, and the first day of the week, on the day before the ides of April, on which day we have said the Jews first observed the Passover in Egypt. From there down to Jesus the son of Nave, 41 years having been completed, the children of Israel sacrificed the Passover on the kalends of April, on the sabbath. Ezechias, moreover, from the exodus out of Egypt down to the first year of his reign, after 867 years, celebrated the Passover on the 6th ides of April, the fourth day of the week. Likewise Josias, in the eighteenth year of his reign, after 970 years, sacrificed the Passover on the 12th kalends of April, on the second day of the week.

Esdras, moreover, at the time when the seven weeks were completed, from the temple restored and finished and the city of Jerusalem restored, after 1114 years, sacrificed the Passover on the 12th kalends of April, on the sabbath. But also the Lord Jesus Himself, our Savior, after 1573 years, ate the Passover with His disciples on the 6th ides of April, the fifth day of the week: and He suffered on the following day, the 5th ides of April, the sixth day of the week.

This is Christ Jesus who, according to the flesh, was the son of Abraham; in whose mystery, Isaac, born to his father at a hundred years of age, carried the wood upon his own shoulders: so that from this it might be shown both that adversaries would be overthrown, and that believers would attain salvation through the wood, that is, through the sign of the cross. He is the Abraham to whom God said: "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed." Does anyone, then, obtain mercy in Isaac? No; but every man believing God in Christ shall be blessed.

And therefore Abraham, since he was called a prophet by the Lord God, when he clearly knew, in the sacrament of Christ, that a son had been born to him at a hundred years, who after the third day did away with death, and bound that strong one, our enemy: he then numbered all his home-born servants, 318, that is, for the hundredfold generation he tripled the hundred, and made the sign of the cross, to which he joined the name of Jesus, and overthrew the adversaries, and freed the son of his brother Lot from their captivity. And rightly did our Lord and Master Himself say to the Jews: "If you were sons of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham." But they who heard this from Christ chose to do not the works of Abraham but the unjust works of the devil.

And therefore, O Gentiles, you have become sons of Abraham, doing the works of Abraham your father, with the sign of the cross and the name of Jesus, fighting daily against the apostate angels, armed with the word of God, which frees men from the captivity of Satan. He is that Abraham who, at 75 years, believed when called; and although he was foretold to have many sons, that is, as it were as many as the stars of heaven, given to him by God Himself; yet through his only son, whose image that spotless lamb bore, slain in Egypt, both the first-formed Adam and every man believing has obtained mercy from God. The works of Abraham. But they who heard this from Christ chose to do not the works of Abraham but the unjust works of the devil.

Finally let us return to Exodus, that is, to the first day of the Passover, and from there let us reckon the years in order up to Christ. In which years we shall find great and wondrous mysteries shown to us. Reckoning, then, as I said, in order, from the day when they went out from Egypt up to the day when they had to leave the wilderness, forty years: and going out from the wilderness and entering to possess the land promised to them by God, from Joshua the son of Nun up to Samuel, judge and priest of God, according to the word of the blessed Apostle Paul, who, taught by the Spirit of God, related that they had fulfilled 450 years. This is the Samuel who by the command of God anointed Saul as king, who first reigned over the people of the Jews for 40 years. After him David reigned 40 years and 6 months. Solomon, his son, 40 years. Rehoboam 17 years. Abijah 3 years. Asa 41 years. Jehoshaphat 25 years. Jehoram 8 years.

Ahaziah 1 year. Athaliah 8 years. Joash 40 years. Amaziah 29 years. Uzziah 52 years. Jotham 16 years. Ahaz 16 years. Hezekiah 29 years. Manasseh 55 years. Amon 2 years. Josiah 31 years. Jehoahaz 3 months. Jehoiakim 11 years. Likewise Jehoiakim, his son, who was also called Jechonias, 100 days. The years of the Kings together come to 505. From the Exodus, however. And Judea was captured by king Nebuchadnezzar, who, having deported Jechonias into Babylon, established in Jerusalem Zedekiah as king of Judah, whom he conquered after 11 years, and slew his sons before his very eyes; and thus he deprived Zedekiah of his sight, and ordered him bound and led to Babylon, and set him at the mill, where he also died.

And then was fulfilled concerning him what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet Ezekiel: "I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in the closing of it, and I will bring him to Babylon into the land of the Chaldeans, and he shall not see that land, and there he shall die." Likewise also Jeremiah the prophet prophesied concerning him and all his people, saying: "Thus says the Lord: So will I deliver the king of Judah, and his princes, and the remnant in Jerusalem, who are left in this land, and those who dwell in Egypt; and I will give them over into dispersion in all the kingdoms of the earth, and into reproach, and into a byword, and into hatred, and into a curse, in every place to which I shall have driven them; and I will send upon them famine, and death, and the sword, until they perish from the land which I gave them." In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, therefore, there were completed from the Exodus one thousand and six years.

And then the people of the Jews, who had not observed the law, but rather, against the will of God, had sacrificed their sons to idols, were themselves led captive; and their city, which had borne the type of the synagogue, was burned by their enemies and uprooted; and that temple, which had been built in the mystery of Adam, and it itself was overturned from its foundations, and reduced to level ground. And thus for us, who in the last days were foreseen to believe, a great mystery, as I said, was being shown. For, if the people themselves and the city deserved to be exterminated, ᶐ what had the temple of God done, that it should suffer this?

Unless indeed it truly stands that this was done, as I said, in the mystery of him who first transgressed the law of God, and was the father of all sinners: and therefore it was necessary not only for Adam to be helped, but also for all sinners who were foreseen to be future children of the faith of Abraham; and rightly it was also promised concerning the city and the temple itself, before it was overthrown, that after 70 years it would be restored. And this was what was already then, from the beginning of the world, shown in Abraham the father of faith: who, when he had completed 70 years from the day of his birth, could not go out from his land, unless there were added to the sign of the Pentateuch—whose whole commandments the people of Israel were not going to observe—more years also, and thus believing God, it was reckoned to him for righteousness. This, then, is the Abraham of whom we said above, that he believed when called at 75 years.

To these 75 years one year is added, and they become. But what is this year that is added? That one, namely, in which from his seed the lamb of one year, unblemished, was spoken of. Let us therefore subtract from one thousand and six, and there remain 930 years; when these were completed, Adam departed from life. After this, let us next show the time of the captivity, of 70 years. For when the years from the Exodus up to Jechonias, 995, had been completed, let us add the 11 years of Zedekiah, which eleven years are reckoned within the body of the 70 years. Let us see in what manner. From the time when Jerusalem was taken, that same Zedekiah, as we said, reigned 11 years. After him Nebuchadnezzar, who led him bound into the land of the Chaldeans, reigned ᶐᶐ 25 years. Evil-Merodach, 12 years. Belshazzar 4 years. And Darius, son of Cyrus, 18 years. Together these come to 70 years. And thus Cyrus took up the kingdom of the Medes and Persians.

This is that Cyrus in the beginning of whose reign, together with the treasures of the house of God, the people of the Jews returned to their own land. From this time it is necessary for us to reckon the weeks. Concerning which we recall that the Angel of God said to Daniel: "Seventy weeks are shortened upon your people and upon that holy city, that sin may be finished, and that sins may be sealed and iniquity blotted out, and iniquities atoned for, and everlasting righteousness brought in, and that vision and prophecy be sealed, and that the Holy of Holies be anointed.

And you shall know and understand, from the going forth of the word, that it shall be answered, and that Jerusalem shall be built up unto Christ the Prince, seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; and it shall be turned and the street and the wall shall be built, and the times shall be exhausted: and after these sixty-two weeks, the anointing shall perish, and there is no judgment in it: and he shall destroy the city and that holy place, together with that leader who shall come, and they shall be cut off in a flood, and unto the end of the war the exterminations are shortened.

And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the middle of the week my sacrifice and libation shall be taken away, and upon that holy place the abomination of desolations, and even unto the consummation of time the consummation shall be given upon this desolation."...salem unto Christ the Prince, seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; and it shall be turned and the street and the wall shall be built, and the times shall be exhausted: and after these sixty-two weeks, the anointing shall perish, and there is no judgment in it: and he shall destroy the city and that holy place, together with that leader who shall come, and they shall be cut off in a flood, and unto the end of the war the exterminations are shortened.

And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the middle of the week my sacrifice and libation shall be taken away, and upon that holy place the abomination of desolations, and even unto the consummation of time the consummation shall be given upon this desolation.

And he shall confirm, it says, the covenant with many for one week. This, then, is that one week which the Angel separated out of the seventy, and set in the last times of the world. This week we recognize to have seven years; in which it is necessary that Enoch and Elijah come first, and by their prophecy confirm the Gospel, that is, the new testament, to a great multitude. For thus we have heard that the Angel said to Daniel: "He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week. And in the middle of the week," it says, "my sacrifice and libation shall be taken away." Now the middle of the week shows a time and times and half a time; which is three years and six months; which come to, according to the Apocalypse, one thousand two hundred sixty days.

In which days that Antichrist shall make great desolation: and therefore then no Christian will be able to offer sacrifice to God, since that most wicked one will begin to sit in the temple of God, and to declare himself God to those who do not know him: whom the Lord Jesus, our Savior, must slay with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy by the presence of his coming, and in him bring the world to its consummation, as it is written.

And upon that holy place the execration of desolations, and even unto the consummation of the time consummation shall be given upon this desolation. After these things let us return to the VII, and thus to the LXII weeks. Which seven weeks contain XLIX years; which being completed, at that time Jerusalem was known to be restored, and the street built through the midst of it was seen, the wall raised round about the city itself, protected all those things which were within. In which city that temple which had been destroyed in the likeness of Adam; in his name was again built through XLVI years, and in the sacrament of the Holy Spirit was anointed with oil; as had been said by the Angel. That the vision may be consummated and the prophecy, and the holy of holies may be anointed.

And that same was the holy of holies anointed in the image of a man, which together with the city itself, on account of the infidelity of the Jews, was again by our very Lord in the times of Vespasian exterminated. For it had thus been written in the same chapter which we are expounding: and after LXII weeks the anointing shall perish, and there is no judgment in it, and he shall corrupt the city and that holy place, together with that leader who shall come, and they shall be cut off in a cataclysm, and even unto the end of the shortened war of extermination. They shall be cut off, it says, in a cataclysm. Of whom did it say this? Surely of those very Jews, who, after the coming of Christ, in that siege and storming by Vespasian were cut off and cast out from their city, into which they do not return even now, nor at the very end of the shortened war.

But what is this shortened war, save the kingdom of Antichrist which is to arise against the Christian people? These are the days of which the Lord says in the Gospel: And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would be saved.

The temple was therefore restored in the name of the first-formed one, who is called Adam, as we said above, in forty-six years. This is shown thus in the name Adam: since among the Greeks the first letter of his name is called alpha αλα, the second delta tessares, again alpha αλα, the fourth my tessarakonta, and the number becomes forty-six. Which number of years is thus reckoned. From the day when the people of the Jews returned to their own land, Cyrus of the Persians reigned thirty-one years: after him Cambyses nine years, and forty were completed. But after forty years, Smerdis the Magus reigns seven months; which months are not reckoned by us; why? Because in the seventh month of Cyrus they laid the foundations of the temple, and from then until the second year of Darius they did not complete the work on it. Then the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, through whom the Lord exhorted them, and they came together with one accord, and in four years completed the remaining work of the temple.

This very thing is clearly shown in the first book of Esdras, that in the sixth year of Darius the temple of God was completed in every respect. To the forty let us add the six of Darius, and it becomes forty-six. To these years three were added in the mystery of the passion and resurrection of Christ, and the seventh week was completed. And then the street and the temple and the wall and the city itself, the forty-ninth year being completed, was shown to be in every respect perfected and fortified. But this whole work was being accomplished in the sacrament of the Church. Let us now see what these forty-nine years themselves signify. For not without cause did God will so great a work, that is, the prophetic work, to be completed in seven weeks.

And it is understood to have been prophetic in this way: since from the forty-nine years, in the name of Jesus Christ, eighteen are set apart, and thirty-one remain: which being completed, Christ Jesus, for the salvation of believers, suffered and rose again, and showed by himself all things fulfilled; and the temple which he formed not with human hands but with his own sacred hands, according to the command of his Father, he anointed not with oil but with the Spirit of God; and he built the city, that is the Church, with sanctified stones, and in it he established the street. Now the street is the straight and level way, in which those who walk arrive at eternal life. To this city he set up a strong and impregnable wall, that is, his own holy name: by which name he subjects all adversaries under his feet. Behold, by the grace of God, how splendid and admirable things have been shown to us through the forty-nine years.

These years, on the contrary, to unbelievers, and to those who persecute the servants of God, show a great calamity that is to come. Let us see by what reasoning. For this world, in which the just and the unjust have dwelt from the beginning of the age, was completed in six days; which being fulfilled, the seventh day was blessed; namely that day of the eternal sabbath that is to come. In these days therefore, from the beginning, fire was prepared by God not only for the devil and his angels, but also for all sinners. In whose flame that rich man Phineas was shown by the Son of God himself to be burned. This is the fire of Gehenna; in whose likeness the furnace, kindled sevenfold by the king's command, grew up through forty-nine cubits, and consumed the adversaries of Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, and did not harm the three boys themselves who were protected by the Son of God (in our mystery, we who are a third race of men).

Thus, the forty-nine years being completed, after the seventy of the captivity, there became one hundred nineteen years. These one hundred nineteen years are joined to those which were reckoned from the Exodus to Jechoniah, nine hundred ninety-five years, and together they make, up to the restoration of Jerusalem, the seventh week having been completed, one thousand one hundred fourteen years. But the seventh week having been completed, it is necessary for us to turn to the sixty-two weeks: which contain four hundred thirty-four years. These being completed, it was necessary for Christ to be born according to the flesh. Of whom immediately Simeon, a just man, carrying him in his own hands, said to Mary his mother: "Behold, this child is set for the fall and resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be contradicted." Not only Simeon, but also these four hundred thirty-four years themselves demonstrated the sign of the cross, and the time of the passion, and the third day of his resurrection.

Let us see in what way. For above we said that a son was born to Abraham at a hundred years of age, in the mystery of Christ; and we showed that no one in Israel obtained the blessing, or now can obtain the blessing, except in the seed of Abraham himself, who is Christ. And therefore in the sacrament of Christ, from the four hundred thirty-four years, first a hundred are set apart, and three hundred thirty-four remain. The three hundred years indeed showed the sign τ of the cross, and thirty-four remained: from which, three being subtracted, on account of the day of his resurrection, thirty-one years remained. These being completed, it was necessary for Christ to suffer for the sins of believers. Let us then add these four hundred thirty-four years to the sum above, and we shall find the years from the Exodus to the nativity of Christ, one thousand five hundred forty-eight.

Desiring to know the time of this nativity, let us carefully count these fifteen hundred forty-eight years from the Exodus, that is, from the first line of the table, and we shall arrive at the day of his nativity. Which day is found in the sixth sixteen-year cycle, in the thirteenth line, the fifth day before the kalends of April, the fourth feria. O how splendid and divine is the providence of the Lord! That on that day on which the sun was made, on that same day Christ should be born, the fifth day before the kalends of April, the fourth feria. And therefore rightly did the prophet Malachi say to the people: "The sun of justice shall arise for you, and healing in his wings." This is the sun of justice, in whose wings healing was foreshown.

Of whom also Moses in the canticle is acknowledged, saying: "And over his peoples he desired, and spreading out his wings." He is the Lord, in whose likeness this sun completes the year through three hundred sixty-five days and a fourth part of a day. Which fourth part of a day indeed has three hours. Now three hours bear the image of those three days which were at the beginning of the age without sun and moon. And therefore, just as three hours, reckoned four times in a four-year cycle, made one day of twelve hours, so also these three days, through the four seasons, maintained for themselves three months each, and showed the year completed after twelve months. And thus, through this multiform trinity, the twelve hours themselves showed the one Gospel divided into four parts, and the three months through the four seasons, that is, through the four Gospels, showed to us the twelve Apostles chosen by Christ.

These are the Apostles, by whose words we, being built up, recognize that our Lord suffered in the sixteenth year of the empire of Tiberius Caesar, when he himself was thirty-one years old. To the sixteenth year, then, and to the thirty-one let us add eighteen in the name of Jesus himself, and the number becomes sixty-five; from which three hundred are lacking so that it may be completed to the number according to the course of the sun. Now three hundred among the Greeks is marked by one letter, which is called tau, and it clearly shows to all the sign tau of the cross. Behold again, let us now truly believe that on the fifth day before the kalends of April Christ was born according to the flesh: on which day we have proved the sun was made. We must show that this very thing was not empty, but was foreshown for our salvation.

For on the fourth day, when the sun was made, on that same day the moon also was made, the fifteenth day; on the next day it was the sixteenth, and on the third day the seventeenth: and thus Adam was formed from the earth, who by his disobedience had brought death not only upon himself but upon us also: which death our Lord Jesus, trampling it down, suffered on the fifteenth day of the moon; and rested in the heart of the earth on the sixteenth; but on the third day, the seventeenth of the moon being found, he returned from the underworld, from the foundations of the earth; and thus he restored eternal life to Adam himself and to all who believe in him. As therefore through the course of the sun the sign tau and the time of the passion were shown, so also through the course of the moon the third day of his resurrection was clearly shown.

For from the first day on which the moon was made the fifteenth—the temple which he formed not with human hands but with his own sacred hands, according to the command of his Father, he anointed not with oil but with the Spirit of God; and he built the city, that is the Church, with sanctified stones, and in it he established the street. Let us see by what reasoning. Let us see in what way. That on that day on which the sun was made, on that very day Christ should be born, on the 5th kalends of April, the 4th feria. And therefore rightly did the prophet Malachi say to the people: « The sun of justice shall arise for you, and healing in its wings. » This is the sun of justice whose wings foreshadowed healing.

Concerning whom Moses also is recognized as saying in his song: « And he loved his peoples and spread out his wings. » He is the Lord in whose likeness this sun completes the year in CCCLXV days and a fourth part of a day. This same fourth part of a day indeed has three hours. But three hours bear the image of those three days which were, at the beginning of the age, without sun and moon. And therefore, just as three hours in a four-year period, reckoned four times, make up one day of twelve hours, so also these same three days, through four seasons, claimed for themselves three months each, and showed the year completed after XII months. And thus, through this manifold trinity, the same twelve hours showed the one Gospel divided into four parts, and the three months through the four seasons, that is, through the four Gospels, showed us the XII Apostles chosen by Christ.

These are the Apostles, by whose words, being edified, we recognize that our Lord suffered in the sixteenth year of the empire of Tiberius Caesar, when he himself was of XXXI years. Let us therefore add to the XVI year, and to the XXXI, XVIII in the name of Jesus himself, and the number LXV results; from which three hundred are lacking so that it may be filled up according to the course of the sun. But CCC among the Greeks is marked by one letter, which is called tau, and it plainly shows to all the sign of the cross, tau. Behold, let us again now truly believe that on the 5th kalends of April Christ was born according to the flesh: on which day we have proved the sun was made. We ought to show that this same thing was not empty, but was foreshown for our salvation.

For on the fourth day, when the sun was made, on that same day the moon also was made, the 15th, on the next day it was the 16th, on the third indeed the 17th: and thus Adam was formed from the earth, who through his disobedience had brought upon not only himself but us also death: which death our Lord Jesus, trampling it down, suffered on the 15th moon; and he rested in the heart of the earth on the 16th; but on the third day, the moon being found at the 17th, he returned from the dead, from the foundations of the earth; and thus he restored eternal life to Adam himself and to all who believe in him. Just as, therefore, through the course of the sun the sign tau and the time of the passion were shown, so also through the course of the moon the third day of his resurrection was clearly shown.

For from the first day on which the moon was made the fifteenth, from then through XV days it was seen in the sky; but on the sixteenth day, just as in the sixteenth year of the empire of Tiberius Caesar, as if dead it was not seen by men; likewise also on the 17th day it was not seen: but on the eighteenth, in the likeness and in the name of Jesus himself, it too, after the third day, restored at evening, rose again, and showed that the resurrection of us all was to come at evening, that is, in the last hour of the age. Behold then how much the day of the Lord’s nativity shows us! Which nativity day was found from the Exodus, as we have said, after I DXLVIII years. Which years, reckoned truly by us from the Exodus, we have shown, when we demonstrate that the reckoning of these years is not empty.

For the Lord, holy and divine, in order to show us that he is the foreknower of things to come, manifested even in these very years the time in which it was fitting that the water which washes away sins should be sanctified by his Son, in the XV year of the empire of Tiberius Caesar. And therefore, just as Abraham, when he wished to conquer those who had led captive Lot, his brother’s son, first numbered his home-born servants, XVIII in the name of Jesus; and a others, on account of the hundredfold generation, tripling in the sacrament of three days, he numbered CCC, and made the tau sign of the cross: so also let us, from the I DXLVIII years, subtract fifteen hundreds, and XLVIII remain: from which, XVIII being taken away in the name of Jesus, XXX years are found: which being completed, the Lord Jesus, from his nativity, was baptized by John in the fifteenth year of the empire of Tiberius Caesar: in whose sixteenth year he suffered and rose again.

Let us therefore add again to the sum XXXI years, and there come to be, all together, from the Exodus to the passion, I DLXXIX years. From that time, that is from the passion, up to the fifth year of Gordian, in the consulship of Arrianus and Papus, CCXV years are completed. But all the years from the Exodus are I dccxciiii. Now reckoning all these years from the Exodus, that is from the first line of the table, counting over those seven sixteen-year cycles, let us complete all the aforesaid years, and then arriving at the third line of the first sixteen-year cycle, we shall find, according to the Jews, Passover on the 12th kalends of April, the third feria. But according to us, on the third line of the first sixteen-year cycle, the Lord’s day falls on the 7th kalends of April. Walking then in this same order into former times up to the end of the age, wishing to find the day of Passover for Jews and Christians, we have not erred.

And therefore let us give thanks always without ceasing to God the Father almighty, who has called us to so great a grace, and has manifested the divine mysteries, through Jesus Christ his Son, our Lord and Savior.