Chapter XII.—The cross of Christ frequently announced in the Old Testament.
In like manner He points to the cross of Christ in another prophet, who saith,168 “And
when shall these things be accomplished? And the Lord saith, When a tree shall be bent
down, and again arise, and when blood shall flow out of wood.”169 Here again you have an
intimation concerning the cross, and Him who should be crucified. Yet again He speaks of
this170 in Moses, when Israel was attacked by strangers. And that He might remind them,
when assailed, that it was on account of their sins they were delivered to death, the Spirit
speaks to the heart of Moses, that he should make a figure of the cross,171 and of Him about
to suffer thereon; for unless they put their trust in Him, they shall be overcome for ever.
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Moses therefore placed one weapon above another in the midst of the hill,172 and standing
upon it, so as to be higher than all the people, he stretched forth his hands,173 and thus again
Israel acquired the mastery. But when again he let down his hands, they were again destroyed.
For what reason? That they might know that they could not be saved unless they put their
trust in Him.174 And in another prophet He declares, “All day long I have stretched forth
My hands to an unbelieving people, and one that gainsays My righteous way.”175 And again
Moses makes a type of Jesus, [signifying] that it was necessary for Him to suffer, [and also]
that He would be the author of life176 [to others], whom they believed to have destroyed on
the cross177 when Israel was falling. For since transgression was committed by Eve through
means of the serpent, [the Lord] brought it to pass that every [kind of] serpents bit them,
and they died,178 that He might convince them, that on account of their transgression they
were given over to the straits of death. Moreover Moses, when he commanded, “Ye shall
not have any graven or molten [image] for your God,”179 did so that he might reveal a type
168 Cod. Sin. refers this to God, and not to the prophet.
169 From some unknown apocryphal book. Hilgenfeld compares Hab. ii. 11.
170 Cod. Sin. reads, “He speaks to Moses.”
171 Cod. Sin. omits “and.”
172 Cod. Sin. reads πυγμῆς, which must here be translated “heap” or “mass.” According to Hilgenfeld, however,
πυγμή is here equivalent to πυγμαχία, “a fight.” The meaning would then be, that “Moses piled weapon upon
weapon in the midst of the battle,” instead of “hill” (πήγης), as above.
173 Thus standing in the form of a cross.
174 Or, as some read, “in the cross.”
175 Isa. lxv. 2.
176 Cod. Sin. has, “and He shall make him alive.”
177 Literally, “the sign.”
178 Comp. Num. xxi. 6–9; John iii. 14–18.
179 Deut. xxvii. 15. Cod. Sin. reads, “molten or graven.”
Chapter XII.—The cross of Christ frequently announced in the Old Testament.
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Chapter XII.—The cross of Christ frequently announced in the Old Testam…