Previous Vol 5 - 4.5.12.3.21 Next
Cyprian - Against the Jews - Book II
20. That the Jews would fasten Christ to the cross.
In Isaiah: "I have spread out my hands all day to a people disobedient and contradicting me, who walk in ways that are not good, but after their own sins." [4063] Also in Jeremiah: "Come, let us cast the tree into His bread, and let us blot out His life from the earth." [4064] Also in Deuteronomy: "And Thy life shall be hanging (in doubt) before Thine eyes; and Thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt not trust to Thy life." [4065] Also in the twenty-first Psalm: "They tore my hands and my feet; [4066] they numbered all my bones. And they gazed upon me, and saw me, and divided my garments among them, and upon my vesture they cast a lot. But Thou, O Lord, remove not Thy help far from me; attend unto my help. Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only one from the paw [4067] of the dog. Save me from the mouth of the lion, and my lowliness from the horns of the unicorns. I will declare Thy name unto my brethren; in the midst of the Church I will praise Thee." [4068] Also in the cxviiith Psalm: "Pierce my flesh with nails through fear of Thee." [4069] Also in the cxlth Psalm: "The lifting up of my hands is an evening sacrifice." [4070] Of which sacrifice Sophonias said: "Fear from the presence of the Lord God, since His day is near, because the Lord hath prepared His sacrifice, He hath sanctified His elect." [4071] Also in Zechariah: "And they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced." [4072] Also in the eighty-seventh Psalm: "I have called unto Thee, O Lord, the whole day; I have stretched out my hands unto Thee." [4073] Also in Numbers: "Not as a man is God suspended, nor as the son of man does He suffer threats." [4074] Whence in the Gospel the Lord says: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in the Son may have life eternal." [4075]