{"slug":"khazarzar-athanasius-the-great-of-alexandria-de-sabbatis-et-circumcisione","id":"greek:khazarzar:khazarzar-athanasius-the-great-of-alexandria-de-sabbatis-et-circumcisione","title":"De sabbatis et circumcisione","title_source":"De sabbatis et circumcisione","author":"Athanasius the Great of Alexandria","genre":"other","date":"","tradition":"greek","coverage":"not-located","coverage_claim":{"status":"not-located","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},"publication":{"status":"machine-draft","reviewed_by":null,"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","generated":"2026-11-15T06:47:21Z","cost_usd":0.004808},"source":{"registry_id":"greek:khazarzar:khazarzar-athanasius-the-great-of-alexandria-de-sabbatis-et-circumcisione","work_id":"khazarzar-athanasius-the-great-of-alexandria-de-sabbatis-et-circumcisione","edition":"khazarzar","language":"","license":"Migne PG text (public domain); khazarzar host and the digitising project state no licence for this layer","url":"http://khazarzar.skeptik.net/pgm/PG_Migne/Athanasius%20the%20Great%20of%20Alexandria_%20PG%2025-28/De%20sabbatis%20et%20circumcisione.pdf"},"stats":{"passages":8,"english_words":2225,"coptic_letters":0,"source_letters":8646,"commentary_units":48,"commentary_kinds":8,"derived_notes":0,"ambiguities":13,"work_notes":4,"external_links":2,"timeline":4},"summary":{"work":"khazarzar-athanasius-the-great-of-alexandria-de-sabbatis-et-circumcisione","abstract":"De sabbatis et circumcisione is a Greek treatise attributed to Athanasius of Alexandria, likely from the fourth century, though its exact date and authorship remain uncertain. The work argues that Sabbath observance and circumcision are superseded by Christian typology, contrasting the old creation (six days plus Sabbath rest) with the new creation inaugurated by Christ's resurrection. It adapts scriptural allusions, including a paraphrase of Exodus and a possible apocryphon, to support anti-Jewish polemic. The text survives in a single manuscript tradition and was later cited in Byzantine canon law collections, such as the Syntagma of Matthew Blastares, to debate Sabbath observance and Jewish practices.","historical_context":"The treatise is attributed to Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296–373), a key figure in Nicene orthodoxy, but its authenticity is debated. It likely belongs to his later polemical period, when anti-Jewish rhetoric intensified in Christian literature. The work reflects Alexandrian typological exegesis, contrasting the old creation (Genesis) with the new creation (Christ's resurrection). It survives in a single Greek manuscript tradition, with no critical apparatus; variants from Syriac or Latin witnesses are not collated. The text was later incorporated into Byzantine canon law collections, such as the Syntagma of Matthew Blastares (14th century), to support arguments against Sabbath observance and Jewish customs. Its exact date and place of composition are unknown, but it likely circulated in Greek-speaking Christian communities in the eastern Mediterranean.","significance":"The work is significant for its typological argument that Sabbath and circumcision are superseded by Christian resurrection theology, reflecting early Christian anti-Jewish polemic. It was used in Byzantine canon law to debate Sabbath observance, and its attribution to Athanasius, though questioned, links it to Alexandrian exegesis and Nicene orthodoxy.","timeline":[{"date":"c. 296–373","event":"Life of Athanasius of Alexandria, to whom the work is attributed."},{"date":"4th c.","event":"Probable composition of De sabbatis et circumcisione, if authentic."},{"date":"14th c.","event":"Citation in the Syntagma of Matthew Blastares, a Byzantine canon law collection."},{"date":"Undated","event":"Survival in a single Greek manuscript tradition; no critical edition."}],"relations":[{"work":"Exodus 31:16-17","relation":"Paraphrased in the treatise to support the Sabbath command.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"2 Corinthians 5:17","relation":"Echoed in the treatise to link resurrection to new creation.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Leviticus 25","relation":"Evoked in the phrase 'Sabbaths of Sabbaths' for eschatological Jubilee.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Syntagma of Matthew Blastares","relation":"Later Byzantine canon law collection citing this treatise.","key":"","label":null,"url":null}],"external_links":[{"key":"wikipedia:Athanasius of Alexandria","label":"Athanasius of Alexandria","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athanasius_of_Alexandria","reason":"Provides background on the attributed author and his historical context."},{"key":"wikipedia:Matthew Blastares","label":"Matthew Blastares","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Blastares","reason":"Author of the Syntagma that cites this treatise."}],"cautions":["The exact date of composition is unknown; it is assigned to the 4th century based on attribution to Athanasius.","Authorship is debated; the work may be pseudepigraphical.","The text survives in a single manuscript tradition with no critical apparatus; variants from other witnesses are not collated.","The English translation does not reproduce the Greek rhetorical structure or scriptural allusions precisely."],"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","cost_usd":0.000388,"generated":"2026-11-15T06:47:20Z"},"links":[{"kind":"source","label":"Patrologia Graeca text (khazarzar mirror)","url":"http://khazarzar.skeptik.net/pgm/PG_Migne/Athanasius%20the%20Great%20of%20Alexandria_%20PG%2025-28/De%20sabbatis%20et%20circumcisione.pdf"}],"checks":{"work":"khazarzar-athanasius-the-great-of-alexandria-de-sabbatis-et-circumcisione","status":"pass","blocking":[],"warnings":[],"stats":{"passages":8,"translated":8,"commentary_passages":8,"commentary_units":48,"english_words":2225,"source_letters":8646,"commentary_kinds":8},"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor"},"work_notes":[{"unit":"dating","kind":"chronology","basis":"external","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The work is attributed to Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296–373), but its exact date is uncertain. It likely belongs to his later polemical period, though no external witness fixes it precisely.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"transmission","kind":"transmission","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"The edition on khazarzar is based on a single manuscript tradition; no critical apparatus is provided. Variants from other witnesses (e.g., Syriac or Latin) are not collated here.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"This treatise was cited in later Byzantine canon law collections (e.g., the Syntagma of Matthew Blastares) to support anti-Jewish polemic and sabbath observance debates, though its Athanasian authorship was occasionally questioned.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"The English draft provided is a modern translation; it does not reproduce the Greek rhetorical structure or scriptural allusions precisely. Readers should consult the Greek for technical terms like σάββατον and περιτομή.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"derived_work_notes":[{"kind":"coverage","severity":"info","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},{"kind":"limit","severity":"caution","text":"The English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve."},{"kind":"register","severity":"info","text":"Register: other in ancient Greek; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them."},{"kind":"structure","severity":"info","text":"Passages: 8 narrative."},{"kind":"source","severity":"info","text":"Source edition: khazarzar — Migne PG text (public domain); khazarzar host and the digitising project state no licence for this layer"}],"derived_structure":{"narrative":8},"term_index":[],"citations":{},"segments":[{"i":1,"ref":"p1","source":"ΤΟΥ ΕΝ ΑΓΙΟΙΣ ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΑΘΑΝΑΣΙΟΥ ΠΕΡΙ ΣΑΒΒΑΤΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΠΕΡΙΤΟΜΗΣ, ΕΚ ΤΗΣ ΕΞΟΔΟΥ.\n\n«Καὶ φυλάξουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ τὰ Σάββατα, ποιεῖν αὐτὰ εἰς τὰς γενεὰς αὐτῶν. Διαθήκη αἰώνιος ἐν ἐμοὶ καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραὴλ, σημεῖόν ἐστιν ἐν ἐμοὶ αἰώνιον, ὅτι ἓξ ἡμέραις ἐποίησε Κύριος τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ ἡμέρᾳ κατέ παυσε.» Σημεῖόν ἐστι τοῦ εἰδέναι τὴν τῆς κτίσεως ἡμέραν, καὶ τὸ ταύτης τέλος. Ἀκόλουθον ἦν ἕως τὰ τῆς κτίσεως ἐνεργεῖτο, ἐπὶ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἕως τότε φυλάττειν τὰ Σάββατα. Ἐλθούσης δὲ τῆς ἑτέρας γενεᾶς καὶ τοῦ κτιζομένου λαοῦ, κατὰ τὸ λεγόμενον· «Γραφήτω αὕτη εἰς γενεὰν ἑτέραν, καὶ λαὸς ὁ κτιζόμενος αἰνέσει τὸν Κύριον·» ἀνάγκη μηκέτι τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον τηρεῖν τὸ τῆς προτέρας κτίσεως τέλος, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς δευτέρας κτίσεως ζητεῖν. Τίς δέ ἐστιν, ἢ καθ' ἣν ἀνέστη ὁ Κύριος; Ἔκτοτε γὰρ ἀρ χὴν ἔσχεν ἡ καινὴ κτίσις, περὶ ἧς εἶπεν ὁ Παῦλος· «Ὥστε εἴ τις ἐν Χριστῷ καινὴ κτίσις.» Τὴν μὲν οὖν προτέραν κτίσιν ποιῶν ὁ Θεὸς κατέπαυσε· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὸ Σάββατον ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ ἐτήρουν οἱ τῆς γενεᾶς ἐκείνης· ἡ δὲ δευτέρα κτίσις τέλος οὐκ ἔχει· διὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲ κατέπαυσεν, ἀλλ' ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται. Ὅθεν οὐδὲ σαββατίζομεν ἡμέραν ὡς ἐπὶ τῇ πρώτῃ, ἀλλὰ τὰ μέλλοντα ἐλπίζομεν Σάββατα σαββάτων, ἃ οὐ τέλος λαμβάνει ἡ καινὴ κτίσις, ἀλλὰ φανεροῦται καὶ διόλου ἑορτάζει. Διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο ἐδόθη τὸ Σάββατον τῷ προτέρῳ λαῷ, ἵνα γινώσκῃ καὶ τὸ τέλος καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς κτίσεως. Τῇ δὲ καινῇ κτίσει οὐκ ἐνετείλατο φυλάττειν Σάββατον·","english":"Of our holy father Athanasius, On the Sabbaths and Circumcision, from the book of Exodus.\n\n“And the sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbaths, to observe them throughout their generations. An eternal covenant between me and the sons of Israel, it is an eternal sign in me, that in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested.” It is a sign for knowing the day of creation, and its end. It was fitting, as long as the works of creation were being carried out, to keep the Sabbaths in Jerusalem until then. But with the coming of the other generation and the people being created, according to the saying: “Let this be written for another generation, and the people being created shall praise the Lord,” it is necessary that this people no longer observe the end of the former creation, but seek the beginning of the second creation. And what is that, if not the day on which the Lord arose? For from that time the new creation began, concerning which Paul said: “So that if anyone is in Christ, a new creation.” Now God, making the former creation, rested; therefore those of that generation kept the Sabbath on the seventh day. But the second creation has no end; therefore it did not rest, but is still working to this day. Hence we do not keep a Sabbath day as in the first creation, but we hope for the future Sabbaths of Sabbaths, which the new creation does not end, but is manifested and celebrates continually. For this reason the Sabbath was given to the former people, that they might know both the end and the beginning of creation. But to the new creation he did not command to keep the Sabbath.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Καὶ φυλάξουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ τὰ Σάββατα, ποιεῖν αὐτὰ εἰς τὰς γενεὰς αὐτῶν. Διαθήκη αἰώνιος ἐν ἐμοὶ καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραὴλ, σημεῖόν ἐστιν ἐν ἐμοὶ αἰώνιον, ὅτι ἓξ","severity":"info","text":"This is a paraphrase of Exodus 31:16-17, combining the Sabbath command with the creation week. The wording is not exact LXX, suggesting Athanasius adapts the text for his typological argument.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Γραφήτω αὕτη εἰς γενεὰν ἑτέραν, καὶ λαὸς ὁ κτιζόμενος αἰνέσει τὸν Κύριον","severity":"info","text":"This citation is not found in the canonical Old Testament; it may be a lost apocryphon or a free composition by Athanasius to support his two-creation schema.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ὥστε εἴ τις ἐν Χριστῷ καινὴ κτίσις","severity":"info","text":"A loose echo of 2 Corinthians 5:17, where Paul speaks of a new creation in Christ. Athanasius uses it to link the resurrection to the beginning of the new creation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Σάββατα σαββάτων","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'Sabbaths of Sabbaths' evokes the eschatological Jubilee (Leviticus 25) and the eternal Sabbath of early Christian apocalyptic, reinterpreted here as the perpetual celebration of the new creation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The passage contrasts two creations: the first, completed in six days with a Sabbath rest, and the second, beginning with Christ's resurrection, which has no end and requires no Sabbath observance.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"This treatise is attributed to Athanasius but its authenticity is debated; it reflects Alexandrian typological exegesis and may have been used in anti-Jewish polemic to argue that Sabbath observance is superseded.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The source of the second scriptural citation (Γραφήτω αὕτη...) is unknown; it may be a non-canonical text or Athanasius's own invention.","The attribution to Athanasius is uncertain; the work is not included in standard Athanasian corpora and may be a later composition."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]},{"i":2,"ref":"p2","source":"ἵνα τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν ἐν τῇ Κυριακῇ γινώσκῃ, ἀτελεύτητον δὲ ἐπίσταται τὴν ταύτης χάριν. Διὰ τοῦτο δὲ καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν, τουτέστι τὴν Κυριακὴν ἐδήλωσεν, ἵνα τὸ τέλος τῆς παρελθούσης γινώσκῃς. Ὁ γοῦν Ἀπόστολος περὶ τῆς προτέρας γράφων φησίν· «Ὅτε δὲ ἦλθε τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου, ἐξαπέστειλεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ·» καὶ πάλιν· «Ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τῶν αἰώνων.» Οὐκοῦν ἡ μὲν πρώτη πεπλήρωται καὶ τετελείωται, οὐκ ἄλλοτε ἢ ὡς οἱ προφῆται ἔλεγον· «Ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματός μου.» Τέλος δὲ ἐχουσῶν τῶν πρώτων ἡμερῶν, ἄλλαι γίνονται, ὡς ὁ Ἱερεμίας φησίν· «Ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται, λέγει Κύριος.» Τέλος δὲ ἐχούσης τῆς πρώτης, ἀκολούθως ἑτέρας ἀρχὴ γέγονε· διὰ τοῦτο μετὰ τὸ Σάββατον ἀνέστη ὁ Κύριος· οὐ γὰρ προηγουμένως εἵνεκεν τοῦ ἀργεῖν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐδίδου τὸ Σάββατον ὁ Θεὸς ὁ λέγων· «Ὁδοὶ ἀεργῶν ἐστρωμέναι ἀκάνθαις,» καὶ ὁ προστάττων ἐν τοῖς Ἀριθμοῖς· «Καὶ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῶν Σαββά των προσάξετε δύο ἀμνοὺς ἐνιαυσίους ἀμώμους, καὶ δύο δέκατα σεμιδάλεως ἀναπεποιημένης ἐν ἐλαίῳ εἰς θυσίαν καὶ σπονδὴν, καὶ ὁλοκαύτωμα Σαββάτων ἐν τοῖς Σαββάτοις ἐπὶ τῆς ὁλοκαυτώσεως τῆς διὰ παντός.» Καὶ πάλιν πρὸ ὀλίγων λέγει ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω· «Καὶ ἐπιθήσετε ἐπὶ τὸ θῦμα λίβανον καθαρὸν καὶ ἅλας, καὶ ἔσονται εἰς ἄρτους εἰς ἀνάμνησιν, προκείμενα τῷ Κυρίῳ. Τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῶν Σαββάτων προτεθήσεται ἔναντι Κυρίου διαπαντὸς ἐνώπιον τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ, διαθήκην αἰώνιον.» Εἰ γὰρ ἔμελλεν αὐτῷ περὶ ἀργίας, οὐκ ἂν προτιθέναι, καὶ προσάγειν, καὶ σφάζειν, ἐκέλευε τοὺς Λευΐτας. Εἰ γὰρ ἡ ἀργία ἁγιάζει, δηλονότι ἡ ἐργασία μολύνει·","english":"the beginning in the Lord's Day, and knows that its grace is unending. For this reason he also revealed the beginning, that is, the Lord's Day, so that you may know the end of the past. The Apostle, writing about the former, says: \"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son;\" and again: \"At the consummation of the ages.\" Therefore the first has been fulfilled and completed, not otherwise than as the prophets said: \"In the last days I will pour out from my Spirit.\" Since the first days have an end, other days come, as Jeremiah says: \"Behold, days are coming, says the Lord.\" Since the first has an end, accordingly a beginning of another has occurred; for this reason the Lord rose after the Sabbath. For God did not give the Sabbath primarily for the sake of men resting, he who says: \"The ways of the idle are strewn with thorns,\" and who commands in Numbers: \"And on the day of the Sabbaths you shall bring two yearling lambs without blemish, and two tenths of fine flour mixed with oil for a sacrifice and a libation, and a Sabbath holocaust on the Sabbaths upon the perpetual holocaust.\" And again a little earlier he says in the preceding: \"And you shall place upon the offering pure frankincense and salt, and they shall be for loaves for remembrance, set before the Lord. On the day of the Sabbaths it shall be set before the Lord perpetually in the presence of the sons of Israel, an eternal covenant.\" For if he intended it for idleness, he would not have commanded the Levites to set forth, to bring, and to slaughter. For if idleness sanctifies, clearly work defiles.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Κυριακῇ","severity":"info","text":"The Greek term 'Κυριακῇ' (Lord's Day) refers to Sunday, the day of the Lord's resurrection, contrasted with the Sabbath.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ὅτε δὲ ἦλθε τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου, ἐξαπέστειλεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ","severity":"info","text":"This quotation is not directly from the canonical New Testament but echoes themes of fulfillment; it may be a paraphrase or from a variant tradition.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τῶν αἰώνων","severity":"info","text":"This phrase, 'at the consummation of the ages,' is not a direct biblical citation but reflects eschatological language found in the New Testament (e.g., Hebrews 9:26).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματός μου","severity":"info","text":"This quotation is attributed to the prophets but is not a direct match to any known biblical verse; it may be a loose citation or from a non-canonical source.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται, λέγει Κύριος","severity":"info","text":"This phrase is attributed to Jeremiah but does not correspond exactly to any verse in the canonical Book of Jeremiah; it may be a paraphrase or from a variant text.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Καὶ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῶν Σαββά των προσάξετε δύο ἀμνοὺς ἐνιαυσίους ἀμώμους...","severity":"info","text":"This passage is a composite of sacrificial instructions from Numbers 28 (LXX) regarding Sabbath offerings, including lambs, flour, oil, and holocausts.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The source of several scriptural quotations is uncertain; they may be paraphrases or from non-canonical texts.","The phrase 'Καὶ ἐπιθήσετε ἐπὶ τὸ θῦμα λίβανον καθαρὸν καὶ ἅλας...' is not directly identifiable in the canonical Old Testament."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]},{"i":3,"ref":"p3","source":"ἀλλ' οἱ Λευῖται ἐργαζόμενοι οὐ μολύνονται· οὐκ ἄρα ἡ ἀργία καθαρίζει. Ἢ διὰ τί μόνοι οἱ Λευῗται τοῦ ἁγιασμοῦ στερίσκονται, προσάγοντες, καὶ σφάζοντες, καὶ προτιθέντες ἐν τῷ Σαββάτῳ; Τοσούτῳ γὰρ ἀπέχονται τοῦ πλημμελεῖν, ὅσῳ καὶ ἱλάσκονται, ὑπὲρ τῶν προσφερόντων. Οὐκοῦν οὐκ ἀργίαν σημαίνει τὸ Σάββατον, ἀλλὰ γνῶσιν μὲν τοῦ Ποιητοῦ, παῦλαν δὲ τοῦ σχήματος τῆς\n\nκτίσεως ταύτης, ὡς καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἰεζεχιὴλ διαμαρ τύρεται λέγων ὁ Θεός· «Καὶ τὰ Σάββατά μου ἔδωκα αὐτοῖς τοῦ εἶναι εἰς σημεῖον ἀνὰ μέσον ἐμοῦ καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον αὐτῶν τοῦ γνῶναι αὐτοὺς, ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ ἁγιάζων αὐτούς.» Γνώσεως ἄρα καὶ οὐκ ἀργίας ἕνεκεν ἐδόθη τὸ Σάββατον· ὡς εἶναι μᾶλλον τὴν γνῶσιν ἀναγκαιοτέραν τῆς ἀργίας. Διὰ τοῦτο ὁ Κύριος ἔλεγε τοῖς αἰτιωμένοις τοὺς μαθητὰς ἐπὶ τῷ τίλλειν στάχυας· «Εἰ ἐγνώκειτε τί ἐστιν, Ἔλεον θέλω καὶ οὐ θυσίαν.» Ἀργοῦντας γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ Σαββάτῳ ᾐτιᾶτο, ὅτι τὸ ἴδιον τοῦ Σαββάτου οὐκ ἔχετε, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἡ πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν γνῶσις. Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ περὶ τὴν Ἱεριχὼ κελεύονται σαλπίζειν οἱ τὸν νόμον τοῦ Σαββάτου λαβόντες ἑπτὰ ἡμέραις, ἐν αἷς ἐπτὰ καὶ τὸ Σάββατον ἐμπίπτει. Εἰ τοίνυν ἕνεκα τοῦ ἀργεῖν ἐδόθη τὸ Σάββατον, διὰ τί ἐργάζεσθαι προστάττονται σαλπίζοντες; Ἀλλ' ἠπίστατο, ὅτι σαλπίζοντες ἐσαββάτιζον, οὐκ ἀργοῦντες, ἀλλὰ γινώσκον τες τὸν βοηθοῦντα αὐτοῖς Κύριον· ὥσπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ περιτεμνομένου ὀκταημέρου· ἀνάγκην γὰρ ἔχει καὶ τῷ Σαββάτῳ περιτέμνειν, καὶ ὅμως σαββα τίζει, ἐργαζόμενος μὲν, γινώσκων δὲ τὸν Θεόν.","english":"But the Levites are not defiled by working; therefore, idleness does not purify. Or why are the Levites alone deprived of sanctification, when they bring, slaughter, and set forth on the Sabbath? For they are so far from transgressing that they even propitiate on behalf of those who offer. Therefore, the Sabbath does not signify idleness, but rather knowledge of the Creator, and a cessation of the form of this creation, as also in Ezekiel the Lord declares: \"And I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.\" So the Sabbath was given for the sake of knowledge, not idleness; so that knowledge is more necessary than idleness. For this reason the Lord said to those who blamed the disciples for plucking ears of grain: \"If you knew what it is, I desire mercy, not sacrifice.\" For they blamed them for being idle on the Sabbath, saying that you do not have the proper character of the Sabbath, which is knowledge of the truth. For this reason also, those who received the law of the Sabbath are commanded to sound trumpets around Jericho for seven days, during which the Sabbath also falls. If, then, the Sabbath was given for the sake of idleness, why are they commanded to work by sounding trumpets? But they knew that by sounding trumpets they were keeping the Sabbath, not by being idle, but by knowing the Lord who helped them; just as also in the case of the one circumcised on the eighth day: for he is compelled to circumcise even on the Sabbath, and yet he keeps the Sabbath, working indeed, but knowing God.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"glossary","lemma":"Σάββατον","severity":"info","text":"The term Σάββατον (Sabbath) is here redefined not as a day of rest but as a sign of knowledge of the Creator and cessation of the current creation. This aligns with Athanasius's typological exegesis.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Καὶ τὰ Σάββατά μου ἔδωκα αὐτοῖς","severity":"info","text":"The quotation from Ezekiel (likely 20:12 LXX) is used to support the claim that the Sabbath is a sign of divine sanctification, not idleness. The exact verse is not verbatim in the canonical text but reflects a paraphrase.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Εἰ ἐγνώκειτε τί ἐστιν, Ἔλεον θέλω καὶ οὐ θυσίαν","severity":"info","text":"This saying attributed to the Lord is not found in the canonical Gospels; it may derive from an apocryphal tradition or oral teaching, emphasizing mercy over sacrifice.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Λευῗται","severity":"info","text":"The Levites' temple service on the Sabbath is cited to argue that work does not defile; their sacrificial duties were permitted, showing that the Sabbath's essence is not idleness.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"περὶ τὴν Ἱεριχὼ σαλπίζειν","severity":"info","text":"The reference to sounding trumpets around Jericho for seven days likely alludes to the biblical account of the fall of Jericho (Joshua 6), where the priests blew trumpets, implying work on the Sabbath.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Οὐκοῦν οὐκ ἀργίαν σημαίνει τὸ Σάββατον","severity":"info","text":"This passage forms a chiastic argument: it opens with a question about Levites, proceeds to redefine the Sabbath as knowledge, and closes with examples (trumpets, circumcision) that reinforce the redefinition.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The source of the dominical saying 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice' is uncertain; it may be a non-canonical tradition.","The exact Ezekiel reference is unclear; the quoted text does not match any single verse exactly in the LXX."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":4,"ref":"p4","source":"Ἀμέ λει καὶ τὰς μὴ ἡμέρας τῶν Σαββάτων, ὅμως διὰ τὴν ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν καὶ τὴν τῆς θεογνωσίας χάριν, Σάββατα ὀνομάζειν εἴωθεν ὁ νόμος, μᾶλλον δὲ ὁ Κύριος τοῦ νόμου, ὡς ἐν τῷ Λευϊτικῷ· καὶ ἐλάλησε Κύριος πρὸς Μωσῆν λέγων· «Καὶ τῇ δεκάτῃ τοῦ μηνὸς τοῦ ἑβδόμου τούτου ἡμέρα ἐξιλασμοῦ κλητὴ ἁγία ἔσται ὑμῖν· καὶ ταπεινώσετε τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν καὶ προσάξετε ὁλοκαυτώματα τῷ Κυρίῳ. Πᾶν ἔργον οὐ ποιήσετε ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ·» καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· «Καὶ ἔσται πᾶσα ψυχὴ, ἥτις ποιήσει ἔργον ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ, ἀπολεῖται ἡ ψυχὴ ἐκείνη ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτῆς. Πᾶν ἔργον οὐ ποιήσετε, νόμιμον αἰώνιον εἰς τὰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν. Σάββατα σαββάτων ἔσται ὑμῖν, καὶ ταπεινώσετε τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν ἀπὸ ἐνάτης τοῦ μηνὸς, ἀπὸ ἑσπέρας ἕως ἑσπέρας, καὶ σαββατιεῖτε τὰ Σάββατα ὑμῶν.» Οὐκοῦν οὐχ ἡ ἑβδόμη ἐστὶ τὸ Σάββατον, ἀλλ' ἡ ἄφεσις τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, ὅτε τις ἀπ' αὐτῶν κατα παύει. Οὐδὲ ἡ ἀργία ἐστὶ τὸ Σάββατον, ἀλλ' ἡ ἐξομολόγησις καὶ τὸ ταπεινοῦν τὴν ψυχήν. Οὐ γὰρ ὡρισμένως, τῷ Σαββάτῳ, εἴρηκεν, ἀλλ' ἁπλῶς τῇ δεκάτῃ, ἣν συμβαίνει ἀπαντᾷν μὴ ἐν Σαββάτῳ. Καὶ ὅμως τὴν ἀπαντῶσαν ἡμέραν διὰ τὸν ἐξιλασμὸν Σάββατον οὐχ ἀπλῶς, ἀλλὰ Σάββατα σαββάτων ὀνομά ζει. Εἰ δὲ ταύτην Σάββατον ὀνομάζει, ἐν δὲ Σαββάτῳ ἐργάζεσθαι κελεύει· οὐκ ἄρα ἀργίας προηγουμένως ἐστὶ νόμος τὸ Σάββατον, ἀλλὰ γνώσεως καὶ ἐξιλασμοῦ, καὶ ἀργίας ἀπὸ κακίας πάσης. Οὐ διὰ τὴν ἀργίαν οὖν τὸ Σάββατον δέδωκεν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ γινώσκειν αὐτοὺς τὴν κατάπαυσιν τῆς κτίσεως. Ἐνετείλατο γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς λέγων·","english":"Furthermore, the law—or rather the Lord of the law, as in Leviticus—is accustomed to call even days that are not the days of the Sabbaths \"Sabbaths\" on account of the remission of sins and the grace of the knowledge of God. For the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: \"And on the tenth of this seventh month, a day of atonement, a holy convocation shall be for you; and you shall humble your souls and bring whole burnt offerings to the Lord. You shall do no work on this day.\" And a little later: \"And every soul that does work on this day shall be cut off from among its people. You shall do no work; it shall be a perpetual statute for your generations. It shall be a sabbath of sabbaths for you, and you shall humble your souls from the ninth of the month, from evening to evening, and you shall keep your sabbaths.\" Therefore, the Sabbath is not the seventh day, but the remission of sins, when one ceases from them. Nor is idleness the Sabbath, but confession and humbling the soul. For it did not say specifically \"on the Sabbath,\" but simply \"on the tenth,\" which happens to occur not on a Sabbath. And yet it calls the day that occurs, on account of the atonement, not simply \"Sabbath,\" but \"sabbath of sabbaths.\" If it calls this a Sabbath, but commands work to be done on a Sabbath, then the Sabbath is not primarily a law of idleness, but of knowledge and atonement, and of rest from all evil. Therefore, it did not give the Sabbath for the sake of idleness, but so that they might know the cessation of creation. For God commanded, saying:","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Λευϊτικῷ","severity":"info","text":"The citation conflates Leviticus 23:27-32 (Day of Atonement) with the phrase 'Sabbath of sabbaths', which is not in the Masoretic text but appears in LXX Leviticus 23:32 as 'σάββατα σαββάτων'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Σάββατα σαββάτων","severity":"info","text":"This phrase, 'Sabbath of sabbaths', is Athanasius's key term. It denotes a super-Sabbath of atonement, not the weekly seventh day, supporting his argument that Sabbath means remission and knowledge, not idleness.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"ἐξιλασμοῦ","severity":"info","text":"The term 'exilasmos' (atonement) ties the passage to the Jewish Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), which Athanasius reinterprets as a model for Christian Sabbath observance focused on repentance and cessation from sin.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"This passage forms the climax of Athanasius's argument: after refuting idleness as the Sabbath's purpose, he redefines it as knowledge and atonement, using Leviticus to show that even non-seventh days can be 'Sabbaths'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Athanasius's allegorical reading of Sabbath as 'remission of sins' and 'knowledge of the Creator' influenced later Greek patristic exegesis, notably in Cyril of Alexandria and John Chrysostom, who similarly spiritualized Jewish law.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἀμέ λει","severity":"caution","text":"The opening 'Ἀμέ λει' is likely a scribal error or Coptic-influenced form; the intended Greek may be 'Ἀλλὰ μή' or 'Ἀμέλει' (it matters not). The sense is concessive: 'furthermore, the law calls even non-Sabbath days Sabbaths'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The exact biblical source of the extended quotation is unclear; it conflates Leviticus 23:27-32 with phrasing not found in the standard LXX. The opening 'Ἀμέ λει' may be a textual corruption or a Copticism."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":5,"ref":"p5","source":"«Ἵνα γινώσκητε, ὅτι ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ κατέπαυσε Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ὑμῶν ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων, ὧν ἤρξατο ποιῆσαι.» Ἤθελε δὲ αὐ τοὺς γινώσκοντας τὸ τέλος ταύτης ἀρχὴν ζητεῖν ἑτέ ρας. Τέλος μὲν οὖν τῆς προτέρας κτίσεως ἦν τὸ Σάββατον, ἀρχὴ δὲ τῆς δευτέρας, ἡ Κυριακὴ, ἐν ᾗ τὴν παλαιὰν ἀνενεώσατο καὶ ἀνεκαίνισεν. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἐνετείλατο φυλάττειν πρότερον τοῦ Σαββάτου τὴν ἡμέραν, μνήμην οὖσαν τοῦ τέλους τῶν προτέρων, οὕτως τὴν Κυριακὴν τιμῶμεν, μνήμην οὖσαν ἀρχῆς δευτέρας ἀνακτίσεως. Οὐ γὰρ ἄλλην ἐπέκτισεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν παλαιὰν ἀνεκαίνισε, καὶ ἣν ἤρξατο ποιεῖν ἐτελείωσε. Διὰ τοῦτο ἐν μὲν τῇ ἕκτῃ τὰ γενόμενα συνετελέσθη, καὶ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ κατέπαυσεν ἀπὸ πάν των· ἐν δὲ τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ ἐλθὼν ὁ Λόγος φησίν· «Ἦλθον τελειῶσαι τὸ ἔργον.» Ὁ γὰρ ἀπὸ πάντων καταπαύων, σημαίνει τινὰ δεῖσθαι τέλους, ἅπερ ἐλθὼν ἐπετελείωσε. Φησὶ γὰρ ἐν τῷ κατὰ Ἰωάννην· «Τὰ ἔργα ἃ δέδωκέ μοι ὁ Πατὴρ, ἵνα τελειώσω αὐτά· αὐτὰ τὰ ἔργα, ἃ ἐγὼ ποιῶ, μαρτυρεῖ περὶ ἐμοῦ.» Ἀτελὲς μὲν γὰρ ἦν τὸ ἔργον, εἰ, ἁμαρτήσαν τος τοῦ Ἀδὰμ, ἀπέθνησκεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος· τέλειον δὲ γέγονε, ζωοποιηθέντος αὐτοῦ. Διὰ τοῦτο, τὴν ἐν ἓξ ἡμέραις κτίσιν ἀνακαινίσας, ἡμέραν τίθησι τῇ ἀνακαινίσει, ἣν διὰ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ προαναφωνεῖ λέγον τὸ Πνεῦμα· «Αὕτη ἡμέρα ἣν ἐποίησεν ὁ Κύριος.» Ἀνθ' ἡλίου γὰρ","english":"so that you may know that on this day the Lord your God rested from the works which he began to make. And he wished them to know the end of this and to seek another beginning. The end of the first creation, then, was the Sabbath, and the beginning of the second was the Lord's day, on which he renewed and restored the old. Just as he earlier commanded to keep the day of the Sabbath, which is a memorial of the end of the former things, so we honor the Lord's day, which is a memorial of the beginning of the second renewal. For he did not create another world, but renewed the old, and completed what he had begun to make. Therefore, on the sixth day the things that were made were completed, and on the seventh he rested from all things. But in the Gospel, the Word came and says, \"I came to complete the work.\" For he who rests from all things indicates that certain things need an end, which he came and completed. For he says in the Gospel according to John, \"The works which the Father has given me, that I may complete them; these works which I do bear witness concerning me.\" For the work was incomplete if, after Adam sinned, man died; but it became complete when he was given life. Therefore, having renewed the creation of six days, he appoints a day for the renewal, which the Spirit proclaims beforehand through the Psalm, saying, \"This is the day which the Lord made.\" For instead of the sun","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"κατέπαυσε","severity":"info","text":"The Greek verb κατέπαυσε (he rested) echoes the Septuagint's language for God's rest on the seventh day (Gen 2:2-3) and is central to Athanasius's typology of the Sabbath as cessation of the first creation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"glossary","lemma":"Κυριακὴ","severity":"info","text":"Κυριακὴ (Lord's day) is the early Christian term for Sunday, distinct from the Sabbath. Athanasius here explicitly contrasts it as the beginning of the second creation, a renewal of the old.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἦλθον τελειῶσαι τὸ ἔργον","severity":"info","text":"The quotation 'I came to complete the work' is not a direct Gospel verse but a paraphrase of John 4:34 (cf. John 19:30). Athanasius adapts it to his typology of Christ completing the creation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Τὰ ἔργα ἃ δέδωκέ μοι ὁ Πατὴρ","severity":"info","text":"This citation from John (cf. John 4:34) is loosely rendered; the exact Johannine phrase is 'τὰ ἔργα ἃ δέδωκέ μοι ὁ Πατὴρ' but the context is Athanasius's own theological construction.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Αὕτη ἡμέρα ἣν ἐποίησεν ὁ Κύριος","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'This is the day which the Lord made' echoes Psalm 118:24 (LXX 117:24) but is adapted; the original reads 'αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα ἣν ἐποίησεν ὁ Κύριος' in a context of creation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"ἀνακαινίσας","severity":"info","text":"The concept of renewal (ἀνακαίνισις) of creation is a key theme in Athanasius's soteriology, linking Christ's resurrection to the restoration of the original order after the Fall.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Greek text has minor orthographic variations (e.g., Ἵνα for Ἵνα, ἑτέ ρας for ἑτέρας) that do not affect meaning. The exact source of the Johannine paraphrase is uncertain; it may be a conflation of John 4:34 and 19:30."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":6,"ref":"p6","source":"Θεὸς ἀνατέλλει, καταυγάζων τῇ ἑκάστου ψυχῇ· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ σωτη ρίῳ πάθει οὐκ ἔφανεν ἥλιος, σημαίνων τέλος μὲν τῆς προτέρας κτίσεως, ἀρχὴν δὲ ἑτέρας, τὴν ἐκ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἀνατέλλουσαν· ἣν ἑωρακὼς ὁ προφήτης φησίν· «Ἰδοὺ ἀνὴρ, Ἀνατολὴ ὄνομα αὐτῷ·» καὶ πάλιν· «Ὑμῖν δὲ τοῖς φοβουμένοις αὐτὸν ἀνατελεῖ ἥλιος δικαιοσύνης.» Οὐ γὰρ πάντων ἡμέρα αὕτη, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἀποθανόντων τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ζώντων δὲ τῷ Κυρίῳ. Διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ τῇ ὀγδόῃ ἡμέρᾳ περιτέμνεσθαι ἐκέλευσεν ὁ νόμος· καὶ ἀπαράβατος ἦν ἡ ἐντολὴ, σημαίνουσα τὴν μετὰ τὴν ἑβδόμην ἀναγέννησιν πάντων. Ἡ γὰρ περιτομὴ οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἐδήλου ἢ τὴν τῆς γενέσεως ἀπέκδυσιν· τὸν γὰρ τῇ ἕκτῃ ἀποθανόντα ἀπεκδιδυσκόμεθα, καὶ ἀνακαινούμεθα τῇ Κυριακῇ, ὅτε ὁ παλαιὸς, ἀπεκδυθεὶς, ἀνεγεννήθη τῇ ἀναστάσει. Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ὁ Παῦλός φησιν ἐν τῇ πρὸς Κολοσσαεῖς· «Ἐν ᾧ καὶ περιετμήθητε περιτομῇ ἀχειροποιήτῳ, ἐν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει τοῦ σώματος τῆς σαρκὸς, ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, συνταφέντες αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ βαπτίσματι εἰς τὸν ᾅδην, ἐν ᾧ καὶ συνηγέρθητε.» Τῆς γὰρ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἀπεκδύσεως τύπος ἦν ἡ περιτομή· ἣν ἐν ἐκείνοις τοῖς μέλεσιν ἐνετείλατο γίνεσθαι, δι' ὧν καὶ γεννᾶται τὸ σῶμα, ἵν' εἰδοῖεν οἱ περιτεμνόμενοι, ὅτι ἀπεκδύσεως παλαιότητός ἐστι σημεῖον. Πιστεύσας γὰρ Ἀβραὰμ ἔλαβε τὴν περιτομὴν, σημεῖον οὖσαν τῆς διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἀναγεννήσεως. Διὰ τοῦτο ἐλθόντος τοῦ σημαινομένου, πέπαυται τὸ σημεῖον. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ περιτομὴ σημεῖον ἦν, τὸ δέ γε λουτρὸν τῆς παλιγγενεσίας τὸ σημαινόμενον. Ὅλου γὰρ τοῦ πα λαιοῦ ἀπεκδιδυσκομένου, περιττὴ ἡ διὰ τοῦ μέρους σημασία.","english":"God rises, illuminating each soul; for this reason also on the very day of the saving passion the sun did not shine, signifying the end of the first creation and the beginning of another, which rises from the Savior. Having seen this, the prophet says: \"Behold a man; his name is East;\" and again: \"For you who fear him, the sun of righteousness will rise.\" For this day is not for all, but for those who have died to sin and live for the Lord. For this reason also the law commanded circumcision on the eighth day; and the commandment was inviolable, signifying the regeneration of all after the seventh. For circumcision indicated nothing other than the putting off of birth; for we put off the one who died on the sixth day and are renewed on the Lord's day, when the old man, having been stripped off, was regenerated in the resurrection. For Paul also says this in his letter to the Colossians: \"In whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made by hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism into Hades, in whom you were also raised together.\" For circumcision was a type of the putting off through baptism; which he commanded to be performed on those members through which the body is also generated, so that those being circumcised might know that it is a sign of the putting off of oldness. For Abraham, having believed, received circumcision, which was a sign of regeneration through baptism. For this reason, when the thing signified came, the sign ceased. For circumcision was the sign, but the bath of regeneration was the thing signified. For when the whole old man is being put off, the signification through the part is superfluous.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἰδοὺ ἀνὴρ, Ἀνατολὴ ὄνομα αὐτῷ","severity":"info","text":"This citation is not found in the canonical Septuagint; it may derive from a lost apocryphon or a patristic paraphrase of Zechariah 6:12 or Malachi 2:4.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ὑμῖν δὲ τοῖς φοβουμένοις αὐτὸν ἀνατελεῖ ἥλιος δικαιοσύνης","severity":"info","text":"Likely a conflation of Malachi 4:2 (LXX) and Psalm 112:3 (LXX); the phrase 'sun of righteousness' is common in patristic typology.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἐν ᾧ καὶ περιετμήθητε περιτομῇ ἀχειροποιήτῳ","severity":"info","text":"This is not a direct quotation from the canonical Colossians; it appears to be a free adaptation or a citation from a variant text or apocryphal Pauline tradition.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"glossary","lemma":"ἀνατολή","severity":"info","text":"Here 'East' (Ἀνατολή) is personified as a name for Christ, linking the rising sun with resurrection and the new creation; a common typology in early Christian literature.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"background","lemma":"περιτομή","severity":"info","text":"Athanasius interprets circumcision as a type of baptismal stripping of the old self, aligning with Pauline allegory (Col 2:11-12) but extending the typology to the eighth day as a symbol of post-Sabbath regeneration.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The passage moves from cosmic imagery (sun, creation) to scriptural proof, then to a typological chain: Sabbath → eighth day → circumcision → baptism → resurrection, culminating in the cessation of the sign.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The source of the first two scriptural citations is uncertain; they may be composite or from non-canonical texts.","The Pauline citation in Colossians does not match any known manuscript; it may be a paraphrase or a quotation from a lost version."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]},{"i":7,"ref":"p7","source":"Καὶ ὥσπερ ἡ Κυριακὴ ἀρχὴ τῆς κτίσεώς ἐστι, καὶ παύει τὸ Σάββατον· οὕτως ἡ αὐτὴ ἀναγεν νήσασα τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἔπαυσε τὴν περιτομήν. Ἀμ φότερα γὰρ ἐν τῇ ὀγδόῃ κατώρθωται, καὶ ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς κτίσεως, καὶ ἡ ἀναγέννησις τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. Διὰ τοῦτο ἡ ὀγδόη τὸ Σάββατον ἔλυσε, καὶ οὐ τὸ Σάββα τον τὴν ὀγδόην. Ἐν μὲν γὰρ Σαββάτῳ περιετέμνετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος· ἐν δὲ τῷ Σαββάτῳ οὐκ ἤργει ἡ περιτομή. Ἡ γὰρ ὀγδόη, ἀρχὴ οὖσα τῆς ἀνακτίσεως,κατέπαυσε τὴν πρώτην. Ἡγοῦμαι δὲ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὴν περιτομὴν δεδόσθαι. Τοῦ γὰρ Ἀδὰμ ἀκούσαντος· «Γῆ εἶ, καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ,» ἔθνησκε, καὶ διεφθείρετο τὸ σῶμα· ὅθεν μέρος τι τοῦ σώματος, καὶ τοῦτο τὸ αἴτιον τῆς τοῦ σώματος γενέσεως προσετάχθησαν ἐκτιννύειν, προδιδασκόμενοι τὴν τοῦ ὅλου ἀπέκδυσιν, ἵν', ὥσπερ ἀποδιδόντες τὸ κατακριθὲν, διασωθῆναι δυνηθῶσι. Καὶ ὥσπερ αἱ θυσίαι σκιαὶ ἦσαν τῶν μελλόντων, οὕτως καὶ ἡ ἐκ μέρους περιτομὴ τοῦ ὅλου ἦν σκιά. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ τοῦ Ναυῆ φανερῶς ὁ λόγος σημαίνει· τοῦ γὰρ Ἰησοῦ κατὰ πρόσταξιν τοῦ Θεοῦ περιτέμνοντος τὸν λαὸν ἐν Γαλγάλοις πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου, εἶπε Κύριος τῷ Ἰησοῦ υἱῷ Ναυῆ· «Ἐν τῇ σήμερον ἡμέρᾳ ἀφεῖλον τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν Αἰγύπτου ἀφ' ὑμῶν. Καὶ ἐκάλεσα, φησὶν, ὄνομα τοῦ τόπου ἐκείνου Γάλγαλα.» Εἰ γὰρ ἡ περιτομὴ ἀφαίρεσίς ἐστι τῆς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ γενέσεως, δηλονότι ἡ ἀκροβυστία, Αἰγυπτιακῆς σχέσεως καὶ γενέσεως γνώρισμά ἐστι. Τοῦτο δὲ ἀφεῖλεν ὁ Θεὸς, ἵνα μηκέτι ὡς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ γεννηθέντες ὦσιν, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, εἰς ἣν εἰσῆξεν αὐτοὺς ὁ Κύριος, τέκνα λογίζωνται.","english":"And just as the Lord's Day is the beginning of creation and brings the Sabbath to an end, so too, having regenerated man, it brought circumcision to an end. For both the beginning of creation and the regeneration of man are accomplished in the eighth day. For this reason the eighth day dissolved the Sabbath, and not the Sabbath the eighth day. For on the Sabbath man was circumcised, but on the Sabbath circumcision did not cease. For the eighth day, being the beginning of the re-creation, brought the first to an end. I also consider that circumcision was given for this reason. For when Adam heard, \"You are earth, and to earth you shall return,\" he died, and the body was corrupted; hence they were commanded to pay a part of the body, and this the cause of the body's generation, being taught beforehand the stripping off of the whole, so that, as if giving back what was condemned, they might be able to be saved. And just as the sacrifices were shadows of things to come, so too circumcision in part was a shadow of the whole. And this the word clearly signifies in Joshua the son of Nun; for when Joshua, by command of God, was circumcising the people at Gilgal beyond the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun: \"Today I have removed the reproach of Egypt from you. And I called,\" he says, \"the name of that place Gilgal.\" For if circumcision is a removal of the generation in Egypt, evidently the foreskin is a mark of Egyptian condition and generation. And this God removed, so that they might no longer be as those born in Egypt, but be considered children of the promise into which the Lord led them.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Κυριακὴ","severity":"info","text":"Κυριακὴ (Lord's Day) here denotes Sunday, the day of the Lord's resurrection, which Athanasius contrasts with the Sabbath as the beginning of a new creation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"ὀγδόη","severity":"info","text":"ὀγδόη (eighth day) refers to Sunday, the day after the Sabbath, symbolizing both the beginning of creation and the regeneration of man in Christian typology.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Γῆ εἶ, καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ","severity":"info","text":"The quotation 'You are earth, and to earth you shall return' is not a direct biblical verse but a paraphrase of Genesis 3:19, reflecting the curse of mortality after the Fall.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἐν τῇ σήμερον ἡμέρᾳ ἀφεῖλον τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν Αἰγύπτου ἀφ' ὑμῶν","severity":"info","text":"This quotation from Joshua 5:9 (LXX) recounts God's removal of the reproach of Egypt through circumcision at Gilgal, which Athanasius interprets as a typological foreshadowing.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Γάλγαλα","severity":"info","text":"Gilgal (Γάλγαλα) is the site where Joshua circumcised the Israelites after crossing the Jordan; the name is derived from the Hebrew 'galal' meaning 'to roll,' symbolizing removal.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"This passage uses a parallel structure: as the Lord's Day ends the Sabbath, so regeneration ends circumcision, both accomplished on the eighth day, reinforcing the typological argument.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'ἐν τῇ σήμερον ἡμέρᾳ' is a conflation of LXX Joshua 5:9; the exact wording may reflect Athanasius's paraphrase or a variant manuscript tradition.","The reference to Adam hearing 'You are earth, and to earth you shall return' is not verbatim in Scripture; it may be a patristic summary of the Fall narrative."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":8,"ref":"p8","source":"Τούτων δὲ οὕτως ὄντων, φαίνεται καθόλου ἡ περιτομὴ δοθεῖσα, ἵν' ἀφαιρεθῇ ὁ ὀνειδισμὸς τῆς γηΐνης γενέσεως ἀπὸ τῶν Ἀβραμιαίων, καὶ μηκέτι ὑπεύθυνοι ὦμεν τῷ· «Γῆ εἶ, καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ.» Ἀφῃρέθη γὰρ ὁ ὀνειδισμὸς τοῦ παραπτώματος. Τοῦτο δὲ ἐγένετο τότε εἰς τύπον τοῦ διὰ Χριστοῦ βαπτίσματος. Τότε γὰρ ἐκ μέρους ἐγένετο, ὡς ἐν σκιᾷ, νῦν δὲ, ὥσπερ εἶπεν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, ὅλην τὴν γηΐνην γένεσιν ἀπεκδιδυσκόμεθα, διὰ τοῦ λουτροῦ ἀναγεννώμενοι, ἵνα μηκέτι κατὰ τὴν πρώτην γένεσιν ἀποθνήσκωμεν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν περιτομὴν τῆς ἀπεκδύσεως τοῦ σώματος, ἣν διὰ τοῦ λουτροῦ ἀπεκδιδυσκόμεθα, ζήσωμεν. Ὥσπερ δὲ εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τῷ Ἰησοῦ· «Ἀφεῖλον τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν Αἰγύπτου ἐν τῇ σήμερον ἡμέρᾳ ἀφ' ὑμῶν·» οὕτως πολλῷ πλέον λεχθείη ἂν ἑκάστῳ τῶν νῦν\n\nβαπτιζομένων· Ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ ἀφεῖλον τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν τῆς γηΐνης γενέσεως, καὶ τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν τῆς τοῦ θανάτου φθορᾶς ἀπὸ σοῦ, ἐν τῇ σήμερον ἡμέρᾳ.","english":"These things being so, it is evident that circumcision was given universally in order that the reproach of earthly generation might be removed from the Abrahamites, and that we might no longer be subject to the saying: \"You are earth, and to earth you will return.\" For the reproach of the transgression was removed. This was done then as a type of baptism through Christ. For then it was done in part, as in a shadow, but now, as the Apostle said, we put off the whole earthly generation, being regenerated through the bath, so that we no longer die according to the first generation, but according to the circumcision of the putting off of the body, which we put off through the bath, we may live. And just as the Lord said to Joshua: \"I have removed the reproach of Egypt from you on this day,\" so much more might it be said to each of those now being baptized: \"On this day I have removed from you the reproach of earthly generation and the reproach of the corruption of death, on this day.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"γηΐνης γενέσεως","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'earthly generation' (γηΐνης γενέσεως) echoes the reproach of being born from earth, linked to the Abrahamic covenant and contrasted with spiritual rebirth through baptism.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Γῆ εἶ, καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ","severity":"info","text":"This saying, 'You are earth, and to earth you will return,' is not a direct biblical quotation but reflects a common patristic paraphrase of Genesis 3:19 (LXX) or a liturgical formula, emphasizing human mortality.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἀφεῖλον τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν Αἰγύπτου","severity":"info","text":"The reference to Joshua (Ἰησοῦς) and the removal of Egypt's reproach alludes to Joshua 5:9, where God tells Joshua he has rolled away the reproach of Egypt after the circumcision at Gilgal.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἀβραμιαίων","severity":"info","text":"The term 'Abrahamites' (Ἀβραμιαίων) refers to the descendants of Abraham, i.e., the Jewish people, for whom circumcision was a sign of the covenant, as argued by Athanasius in a typological framework.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"λουτροῦ ἀναγεννώμενοι","severity":"info","text":"The 'bath of regeneration' (λουτροῦ ἀναγεννώμενοι) parallels New Testament language (Titus 3:5) and early Christian baptismal theology, where baptism is seen as a new birth that supersedes circumcision.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Τοῦτο δὲ ἐγένετο τότε εἰς τύπον","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'this was done then as a type' (εἰς τύπον) marks a typological structure: circumcision prefigures baptism, a common patristic hermeneutic that contrasts shadow (σκιᾷ) with full reality.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Greek text is complete, but the English draft omits the final clause 'ἐν τῇ σήμερον ἡμέρᾳ' after 'corruption of death'; the repetition may be a scribal or editorial truncation."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]}]}