Letter to Eusebius
Epistula ad Eusebium
The precise clarification of the day of Passover§1
1An epistle to Eusebius, Marcellus, Vivian, and Carpus, and to the Egyptians, from our holy father Epiphanius, bishop of Constantia of the island of Cyprus, concerning the precise clarification of the day of Passover, from the epistle to Eusebius and Marcellus, Vivian, and Carpus.
Therefore the Jews ate the Passover, with which the Lord ate this, two days before the appointed true Passover; as the scribes and the Pharisees said, that they might perform the Passover beforehand, so that they might not be unable to eat the Passover when the uproar is seized. As also the most holy Matthew says concerning the Savior that he said to the disciples: 'You know that in two days the Passover occurs and the Son of Man is handed over to be crucified.' This was precisely fulfilled, for Christ entered into the mystery on the second of the Sabbath, the tenth day of the name of our Lord Jesus, which was a symbol because of the iota. For then Judas took the price of the honored one, for whom they valued him from the sons of Israel according to what is written, and he sought an opportunity to hand him over. And they performed it beforehand, being in an uproar instead of guarding with themselves the lamb purchased for them through the silver given to Judas, from the tenth counted until the fourteenth, which was the fifth of the Sabbaths. And they perform it beforehand, being in an uproar because of the people and saying: 'Let us perform the Passover beforehand, so that when the people comes we might not be unable to seize him.' And because of this, they no longer ate the Passover on the fifth, which descended to the eleventh of the moon, but on the...
Greek · §1
Epistula ad Eusebium, Marcellum, Vivianum, Carpum et ad Aegyptios Tοῦ ἐν ἁγίοις πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἐπιφανίου ἐπισκόπου Κωνσταντίας τῆς Κυπρίων νήσου περὶ τῆς τοῦ πάσχα ἡμέρας ἀκριβὴς διασάφησις· ἐκ τῆς πρὸς Εὐσέβιον καὶ Μάρκελλον, Βιβιανόν (Βηβιανόν cod.) τε καὶ Κάρπον ἐπιστολῆς. 205 Ἔφαγον οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τὸ πάσχα, μεθ' ὧν ὁ κύριος τοῦτο συνέφαγε, πρὸ δύο ἡμερῶν τοῦ τεταγμένου ἀληθινοῦ πάσχα· ὡς ἔλεγον οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ φαρισαῖοι, ὅτι προλάβωμεν ποιῆσαι τὸ πάσχα, ἵνα μὴ ἐν τῷ θορύβῳ συλληφθέντος αὐτοῦ μὴ δυνηθῶμεν φαγεῖν τὸ πάσχα· ὥς φησι καὶ ὁ ἱερώτατος Ματθαῖος περὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος ὅτι εἴρηκε τοῖς μαθηταῖς· "οἴδατε ὅτι μετὰ δύο ἡμέρας τὸ πάσχα γίνεται καὶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παραδίδοται εἰς τὸ σταυρωθῆναι". τοῦτο δὲ ἀκριβῶς ἐτελέσθη ὁπηνίκα ὁ Χριστὸς εἰς τὸ μυστήριον ἤγετο τῇ δευτέρᾳ τοῦ σαββάτου, σύμβολον οὔσης τῆς δεκάτης τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ διὰ τὸ ἰῶτα. τότε γὰρ ὁ Ἰούδας ἔλαβε τὸ τίμημα τοῦ τετιμημένου, οὗ διετιμήσαντο παρὰ τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, καὶ ἐζήτει εὐκαιρίαν ὅπως αὐτὸν παραδῷ. προέλαβον δὲ τεθορυβημένοι ἀντὶ τοῦ φυλαχθῆναι παρ' αὐτοῖς τὸ ἠγορασμένον αὐτοῖς πρόβατον διὰ τῶν τῷ Ἰούδᾳ δοθέντων ἀργυρίων ἕως πέμπτης σαββάτων καὶ ἀπὸ δεκάτης ἀριθμουμένων ἕως τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτης ἥτις ἦν ἡ πέμπτη σαββάτων. προλαμβάνουσι δὲ θορυβούμενοι διὰ τὸν λαὸν καί φασι· προλάβωμεν ποιῆσαι τὸ πάσχα, ἵνα μὴ ὅταν ἔλθῃ ὁ λαὸς μὴ δυνηθῶμεν συλλαβέσθαι αὐτόν. καὶ τούτου ἕνεκα οὐκέτι τῇ πέμπτῃ ἔφαγον τὸ πάσχα, ἥτις κατήντα τῇ ιδ τῆς σελήνης, ἀλλὰ τῇ
The timing of the arrest and the Passover§2
2On the third Sabbath, when the light shines, they seize the Christ, in which time they also anticipate and complete the Passover. Thus, they defile the Passover with them by moving it toward evening on the twelfth day, two days before the Passover, while the light is shining, calculating the night into the day—that is, from Tuesday to the fourth Sabbath. Consequently, the church observes these four days because of the seizure of the Lord, fasting throughout the entire year except only during Pentecost and the Epiphanies.
Having been seized toward evening when the light shines, he remains in the court of Caiaphas the whole night. For do not suppose that he was seized toward evening on the fifth day; read the Gospel according to John and examine it, and you will see that when he is seized from Gethsemane, he is brought to Caiaphas. He remained in the house of Caiaphas until morning. In the morning, he is handed over to Pontius Pilate; and this occurred on the fourth of the Sabbaths. He spends that day before Pontius Pilate and the night until morning.
On the fifth of the Sabbaths, he is sent to Herod, who was then in Jerusalem, because he himself had also come with the others to eat the Passover. As that man questioned him many things and, not being deemed worthy of an answer, sends him back to Pilate, he remained until the ninth hour, having been shut up in the praetorium. And a certain betrayal ran forth, saying, even until our own times,
Greek · §2
τρίτῃ σαββάτων ἐπιφωσκούσης τετράδος συλλαμβάνουσι τὸν Χριστόν, ἐν ᾗ καὶ τὸ πάσχα προλαμβάνοντες ἐπετέλουν. 206 βεβρώκει τοίνυν μετ' αὐτῶν τὸ πάσχα πρὸς ἑσπέραν τῇ δωδεκάτῃ πρὸ δύο ἡμερῶν τοῦ πάσχα, ἐπιφωσκούσης ιγ, λογιζομένης τῆς νυκτὸς εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν τουτέστιν ἀπὸ τρίτης εἰς τετράδα σαββάτων· ὅθεν ἡ ἐκκλησία τὴν τετράδα φυλάττει διὰ τὴν τοῦ κυρίου σύλληψιν, νηστεύουσα δι' ὅλου τοῦ ἔτους πάρεξ μόνον πεντηκοστῆς καὶ ἐπιφανίων. Συλληφθεὶς δὲ πρὸς ἑσπέραν ἐπιφωσκούσης τετράδος μένει ἐν τῇ αὐλῇ τοῦ Καιάφα ὅλην τὴν νύκτα. μὴ γὰρ νόμιζε ἐν τῇ πέμπτῃ πρὸς ἑσπέραν αὐτὸν συνειλῆφθαι, ἀνάγνωθι εἰς τὸ κατὰ Ἰωάννην εὐαγγέλιον καὶ διάσκεψαι καὶ ὁρᾷς, ὅτι ὅτε μὲν ἀπὸ Γεθσημανῆ συλλαμβάνεται πρὸς Καιάφαν φέρεται. ἔμεινεν δὲ ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ τοῦ Καιάφα ἕως τῆς ἕω. πρωίας δὲ παραδίδοται Ποντίῳ Πιλάτῳ· γέγονε δὲ τοῦτο τετάρτῃ τῶν σαββάτων. καὶ ποιεῖ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην παρὰ Ποντίῳ Πιλάτῳ καὶ τὴν νύκτα ἕως πρωΐ. πέμπτῃ δὲ σαββάτων ἀποστέλλεται πρὸς Ἡρῴδην, ὄντα τότε ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις, διὰ τὸ καὶ αὐτὸν ἐληλυθέναι μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων φαγεῖν τὸ πάσχα. καὶ ὡς ἐκεῖνος πολλὰ αὐτὸν ἐρωτήσας καὶ μὴ καταξιωθεὶς ἀποκρίσεως ἀντιπέμπει αὐτὸν Πιλάτῳ, καὶ ἐπιμείνας ἕως ἐνάτης ὥρας ἐν τῷ πραιτωρίῳ συγκεκλεισμένος. παράδοσις δέ τις ἔδραμε λεγόντων ἕως καὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων χρόνων,
The timing of the crucifixion§3
3For the disciples entered to him secretly at the ninth hour, and he broke plain bread and ate with them in the prison. He remained there all night, and in the morning he was led away from the praetorium on the day called Friday, which is the Sabbath; and thus at the third hour he is crucified, according to the precise explanation of Mark and John, the inspired evangelists. Even if in certain copies of the written Gospel of John the letter Γ (gamma) is mistaken because of a slip—which signifies the number three—into the letter Σ (sigma), which stands for six, because both letters look to us with their serifs from the auspicious names toward the right; this was also examined before us by Clement, Origen, Pamphilus, and Eusebius.
It is not right for those learning listeners to divide the harmony of the divine gospels because of the correction or placement of a letter. For see how even Matthew the wisest precisely marks the time of the cross by saying, 'And coming to a place called Golgotha, which is a place of a skull,' and then he leads to the wine with the myrrh and the division of the garments; 'and from the sixth hour darkness came over all the earth until the ninth hour' and the following. But some think that the...
Greek · §3
ὅτι τὴν ἐνάτην ὥραν εἰσῆλθον οἱ μαθηταὶ κρυφῇ πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ ἔκλασεν ἄρτον ψιλὸν καὶ συνεγεύσατο μετ' αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ φυλακῇ. ἔμεινε δὲ ἐκεῖ ὅλην τὴν νύκτα καὶ πρωῒ λίαν προφέρει αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ πραιτωρίου ἡμέρᾳ προσαββάτου τῇ παρασκευῇ καλουμένῃ καὶ οὕτως ὥρᾳ γ σταυροῦται κατὰ τὴν ἀκριβῆ τοῦ Μάρκου εἰσήγησιν καὶ Ἰωάννου τῶν θεσπεσίων εὐαγγελιστῶν· εἰ καὶ ἔν τισιν ἀντιγράφοις τοῦ κατὰ Ἰωάννην εὐαγγελίου γραφικοῦ ἕνεκεν σφάλματος παραπεποίηται τὸ Γ στοιχεῖον, ὅπερ τὸν τρεῖς ψῆφον δηλοῖ, εἰς τὸ ἐπισήμου, ὅπερ τὸν ἓξ παρίστησι διὰ τὸ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν στοιχείων τὰς κεραίας ἐκ τῶν εὐωνύμων εἰς τὰ δεξιὰ ἐπιβλέπειν ἡμᾶς· ὃ καὶ πρὸ ἡμῶν ἠκρίβωσαν Κλήμης τε καὶ Ὠριγένης καὶ ὁ Πάμφιλος Εὐσέβιος. καὶ οὐ χρὴ τοὺς φιλομαθεῖς ἀκροατὰς διὰ τὴν τοῦ στοιχείου ἀναίρεσιν ἢ παράθεσιν διασπᾶν τὴν τῶν θείων εὐαγγελίων συμφωνίαν. ὅρα γὰρ πῶς καὶ Ματθαῖος ὁ σοφώτατος τὸν τοῦ σταυροῦ καιρὸν ἀκριβῶς ἐπισημαίνεται τῷ εἰπεῖν "καὶ ἐλθόντες εἰς τόπον λεγόμενον Γολγοθά, ὅ ἐστι κρανίου τόπος", ἔπειτα καὶ τὸν οἶνον μετὰ τῆς σμύρνης λοιπὸν 207 καὶ τὴν τῶν ἱματίων διαμέρισιν ** ἐπάγει· "ἀπὸ δὲ ἕκτης ὥρας σκότος ἐγένετο ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἕως ὥρας θ" καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. τινὲς δὲ οἴονται τὸν
The timing of the crucifixion and resurrection§4
4Saint Matthew says that he was crucified at the sixth hour; indeed, the saint has studied the darkness that follows from the sixth hour. He is therefore crucified at the preparation hour at the third hour, and one day was reckoned to him from the third hour until the ninth. For after the crucifixion, the remainder of the work of salvation for those under the earth was being accomplished; from the sixth to the ninth is one night, and from the ninth to evening is one day.
Thus, there have been three days and two nights. Through the whole Sabbath is one day, and the night that breaks into Sunday. What was spoken concerning him was fulfilled: 'it is necessary that the Son of Man be done in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.' He was crucified at the third hour, in the fullness, on the fourteenth Sabbath according to the moon, on the twentieth of the month of Phamenoth, before the thirteenth kalends of April. For this reason, we fast also on the preparation day.
But he rose on the day of Sunday, when the roosters crowed, during the night of the equinox coinciding with the equinox, namely on the twentieth of the month of Phamenoth, which is interpreted as Nisan among the Hebrews. The months of the Hebrews precede the months of the Egyptians, and the months of the prosperous Athenians likewise precede those of the Lacedaemonians by eight days, if such is the case. The night possessed the same hours, and the passing day possessed the same hours.
Greek · §4
ἅγιον Ματθαῖον ἕκτῃ ὥρᾳ αὐτὸν ἐσταυρῶσθαι λέγειν· μεμελέτηται δὲ τῷ ἁγίῳ τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς ἕκτης ὥρας σκότος. Σταυροῦται μὲν οὖν ὡς εἴρηται προσαββάτῳ ὥρᾳ γ καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ ἡμέρα μία ἀπὸ ὥρας γ εἰς . μετὰ τὸ σταυρωθῆναι γὰρ λοιπὸν τῶν καταχθονίων εἰργάζετο τὴν σωτηρίαν, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἕκτης εἰς θ μία νύξ, ἀπὸ δὲ ἐννάτης εἰς ἑσπέραν μία ἡμέρα. ** καὶ γεγόνασι τρεῖς ἡμέραι καὶ δύο νύκτες. καὶ δι' ὅλου τοῦ σαββάτου μία ἡμέρα καὶ ἡ νὺξ ἡ ἐπιφώσκουσα εἰς τὴν κυριακήν. καὶ ἐπληρώθη τὸ περὶ αὐτοῦ εἰρημένον ὅτι "δεῖ ποιῆσαι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ τῆς γῆς τρεῖς ἡμέρας καὶ τρεῖς νύκτας". ὥρᾳ γ ἐσταυρώθη πλήρης ἕκτῃ σαββάτων τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῃ κατὰ σελήνην, τετάρτῃ καὶ εἰκάδι τοῦ Φαμενὼθ μηνός, πρὸ ιγ καλάνδων Ἀπριλλίων. διὸ νηστεύομεν καὶ τῷ προσαββάτῳ. ἀνέστη δὲ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κυριακῆς, ἐξότε οἱ ἀλεκτρυόνες ἐφώνησαν, ἐν νυκτὶ τῆς ἰσονυκτίας συημμένῃ τῇ ἰσημερίᾳ τουτέστι τῇ καὶ εἰκάδι τοῦ Φαμενὼθ μηνός, ὃς ἦν Νισὰν παρ' Ἑβραίοις ὁ ἑρμηνευόμενος Φαρμουθί. προλαμβάνουσι δὲ οἱ τῶν Ἑβραίων μῆνες τοὺς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων μῆνας καὶ οἱ τῶν εὐδαιμόνων Ἀθηναίων ὡσαύτως καὶ Λακεδαιμονίων ὀκτὼ ἡμέραις, ἐὰν οὕτω τύχοι. ἦν δὲ ἡ νὺξ ἡ ἔχουσα τὰς αὐτὰς ὥρας καὶ ἡ παρελθοῦσα ἡμέρα τὰς αὐτάς.