De Ortu Et Obitu Patrum Qui In Scriptura Laudibus Efferuntur

SAINT ISIDORE OF SEVILLE, BISHOP, ON THE BIRTH AND DEATH OF THE FATHERS WHO ARE PRAISED IN SCRIPTURE. Preface. The births or deeds of certain holy fathers and most noble men, together with their genealogies, are set down in this little book; also their rank, their death, and their burial are noted with sententious brevity. These things, although they are known to all who run through the breadth of the Scriptures, nevertheless return more easily to memory when they are read in a brief discourse. FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT. CHAPTER ONE. Adam, the first-formed, and gardener of paradise, the prince of the human race and of transgression, made in the image of God, set over the whole universe, who gave names to the creatures and received power of dominion over them. Placed in the delights of flowering paradise, among the fragrant groves of spices and the fields blooming with flowers, a dweller of the countryside, he passed the joys of a new life: where the fertile earth is green with perpetual spring, where a flowing spring glides down in a fourfold stream.

After the serpent’s deceit, the tongue also defiled by woman, through the touch of the tree, he profaned the blessedness of the place, was cast out of paradise, and dwelt groaning as a laborer on the land bristling with thorns. And having lost his immortality, he returned to the dust from which he had taken the origin of his flesh, after the course of nine hundred and thirty years. Henceforth, posterity groaned that it had been made an exile from paradise by the crime of this parent, and subjected to toil and death. He was buried, however, in the place Arbec, which took its name from a number, that is, four; for three patriarchs are buried there, and this fourth, Adam. This place is not far from Hebron, the metropolis of the Philistines, where it is said that the habitation of giants once was, and where also David was later anointed king. It is a city of the tribe of Judah, set apart for the priests, distant twenty-two miles to the south from Jerusalem.

CHAPTER II. Abel, son of Adam and a shepherd, innocent in life, patient in death, not silent after death, first in martyrdom, highest in obedience, pleasing to God in sacrifices, displeasing to his brother in merits; whom the impious Cain, a new parricide, goaded by envy, felled with iron not yet stained with blood, when iron still had no knowledge of the crime of human blood. CHAPTER III. Enoch, son of Jared, seventh from Adam, pleasing to God, ignorant of evils, unaware of death, who, unable to bear the distresses of wicked men, withdrawn from the pernicious dealings of the world, merited to be transferred alive to that place from which the first-formed man had been expelled. He was taken up at the age of three hundred and sixty-five. He remains to this day in the body; at the consummation of the world he will restore with Elijah the mortal condition of life. CHAPTER IV. Noah, son of Lamech, tenth from Adam, second father and restorer of the world, distinguished in justice, long-suffering in hope, wise in work, alone just on earth. He, ordered to build the ark, entered upon being warned, neither shuddered at the turbulent floods of the deluge, nor feared the crashes of the winds or the rumblings of the sky, and is carried through the storms, yet is not submerged; he is associated with serpents and beasts, yet is not terrified; to him wild beasts submit their necks, birds serve.

He sent out a bird, waited for its return, but was deceived by the treacherous trick of a raven; he was instructed by the ministry of a dove carrying in its beak a branch of a peace-bearing tree. And with the doors of the ark opened, allowing the beasts and all living creatures to depart for seven days, he himself afterwards came out with his children, praises God greatly, and joyfully offers sacrifices. The ancients testify that his ark came to rest in Armenia upon the mountains of Ararat. He died in the nine hundred and fiftieth year. CHAPTER V. Melchisedech, king of Salem, first priest of the most high God, and offerer of a true sacrifice, whose origin is secret. The Hebrews say that he is Shem, the firstborn of Noah, the great-grandfather of Abraham. He is indeed the father of fathers, the origin of the prophets and apostles; he it is who, by the blessing of his father’s piety, merited to be lord over his brother. And he, walking with his steps turned backwards, covered his father’s genitals, and did not mock the drunken man, as a shameless and reprobate son would, but veiled him, being modest.

Hence it came about that in the law of the Jews parents were never seen naked by their children. This same man blessed Abraham returning after his victory; he also, as a type of the true sacrifice, was the first to offer bread and wine as an oblation to God from the fruits of the earth, because the priesthood and the kingdom were truly due to the firstborn, before Aaron exercised the priesthood. He also was the first of all after the flood to found the city of Salem, in which he also reigned, which was later called Jebus or Solyma, and now by a derived name is called Jerusalem; he lived for six hundred years, and lasted until the seventieth year of Isaac’s life, and died and was buried in his city of Jerusalem. CHAPTER VI Abraham, father of nations, son of Terah, of the stock of Shem, a Chaldean by nation, first in faith, a voluntary exile, obedient in commands, trusting in promises, poor in his homeland, wealthy in his sojourn, victorious in battles, not greedy in victory. He overcame five kings, stripped them of their spoils, and brought back his captive parent.

He was so great that he saw the Trinity in a type and venerated the unity in a mystery; he was so faithful that, in a promised lineage, against the hope of nature, he believed in God; he was so just and devoted that he did not place the indulgence of an only child before the divinity, but, as a parent obedient to the one giving the command, he armed his right hand with a sword as a religious parricide to sacrifice his son. When he unsheathed the blade, about to offer his only child as a victim, he neither lost his son nor forfeited the sacrifice. For he offered his son in sacrifice and immolated a ram in place of his son. He lived one hundred and seventy-five years, and was buried in the field of Ephron, in a double cave, in whose inner part they say Adam is buried, and in the outer part Abraham. This place, as Josephus teaches, is seven stades from the city of Hebron, and there he asserts that Abraham and his sons have a tomb constructed of the most beautiful marble.

There also he asserts that a great terebinth tree has existed since the foundation of the world. The blessed Jerome writes that this tree lasted until the reign of Constantine; it is indeed the oak of Mamre the Amorite, who was a friend of Abraham, which among the pagans stood in such veneration that they enclosed it with a circuit of a wall and cultivated it with solemn worship. CHAPTER VII. Isaac, son of Abraham, born by promise in the land of Canaan, called the eternal seed, illustrious for the chastity of married life, prompt to grace, ready to forgive, who did not drive out those who excluded him with arms but conquered them with patience; who received the penitent with kindness, who through love of God carried honor to his parent to such an extent that he willingly approached the altar to be sacrificed, and in the figure of Christ did not refuse death. He died at one hundred and eighty years of age, and was buried next to his father. CHAPTER VIII. Jacob, son of Isaac, born in the land of Canaan, beloved of his mother, supplanter of his brother, also humble and simple, and dwelling in an innocent home. This man, after he snatched the blessing of the firstborn, obeyed his mother, and patiently yielded to his brother's wrath, and leaving his homeland and parents, became an exile, endured long servitude, suffered the labor of hunger and cold, served his father-in-law, as a hired shepherd tended the flock, expecting his reward not from division but from the profit of the flock; who, having set out abroad, while he lacked the company of men, merited the companionship of angels.

Here he wrestled with the Lord and prevailed; here he saw God face to face; here, driven by the scarcity of famine, he entered Egypt with his illustrious offspring. Having completed one hundred and forty-seven years, he paid the debt of nature and was buried with his fathers. CHAPTER IX. Lot, the son of Aram, kinsman of Abraham, father of Moab and Ammon, born among the Chaldeans, a just and hospitable man, lived piously and chastely in Sodom among a wicked people; he, solely on account of his practice of hospitality, even became the host of angels. He escaped the sulphurous destruction and conflagration of the Sodomites, and afterwards dwelt in the city of Segor, which is near the Dead Sea, where balsam is produced and abundant fruits of the palm tree. CHAPTER X. Joseph, prince of Egypt, son of Jacob by Rachel, born in the land of Canaan, blessed as the firstborn of Israel and receiving the primacy of Reuben, beloved of his father, and alone before the others the heir of his father's possession.

Here, taken up by jealousy, he is cast into a pit by his brothers, sold out of envy, made humble even to servitude, patient even to imprisonment, chaste even to passion; he becomes wise in interpretation, prudent in foreseeing the future, a partner in the kingdom, a provident arranger in fecundity, a just steward in famine, prompt to render grace for good in return for evil, since he did not repay injury to his brothers, but, the famine having been driven off, he brought the aid of necessities. He held the chief position in Egypt for eighty years. And, having completed one hundred and ten years, he closed his final day by the grace of a long repose. And he was buried in Egypt, whose bones the sons of Israel transferred to the city of his father Jacob, Shechem, which now both Latins and Greeks call Sichima. It is, moreover, the same city which is now called Neapolis, a city of the Samaritans, where his tomb is seen to this very day.

CHAPTER XI. Judas, of royal succession, a distinguished lineage, to whom the leadership of wars and the kingdom of Israel is entrusted, who gave his name to the people from his own name, preeminent as a lion in the strength of the kingdom, and illustrious with the splendor of power. Indeed, the posterity of his dominion did not cease until Christ, like a lion cub, arose from his stock, and the hope of the nations, proceeding from the virginal womb, marvelously shone forth. CHAPTER XII. Ruben, the firstborn son of Israel, greater in age than his brothers, but lesser in the number of his posterity, defiled his father’s bed, and lost the order of his firstborn dignity. CHAPTER XIII. Simeon, prince of the scribes, and avenger of violated chastity, having no inheritance, but remaining in the tribe of Judah, a participant in possession. CHAPTER XIV. Levi, the priestly author of origin, joined with the tribe of Judah by a mixture of lineage, but divided throughout all Israel, lacking the lot of his own portion, and dwelling in all the portions of his brothers.

CHAPTER XV. Zabulon, possessor of the great sea and its shores, and ruling over all the cities of the Phoenicians and Sidonians. CHAPTER XVI. Issachar, diligent in the labors of the earth, possessing Galilee, and offering gifts from the fruits of his blessing to kings. CHAPTER XVII. Dan, from whose offspring Samson holds the scepter of Israel, a strong Nazirite, and a conqueror over his enemies, besetting the paths of the Philistines and their cavalry in the manner of a serpent, and, like a basilisk, laying them waste with the breath of his mouth. CHAPTER XVIII. Gad, swift in the line of battle, fights against hostile peoples and nations for his brothers left across the Jordan, and triumphs victorious with a strong arm. CHAPTER XIX. Aser, notable for his riches, filling princes with delights. CHAPTER XX. Nephthalim, most abundant in the fertility of the land, and abounding in the teaching of the law. CHAPTER XXI. Benjamin, last among his brothers in birth, first in authority, whose process of birth gave his mother her death. He is called a wolf and a bloodthirsty one, who in the morning poured out the blood of a victim upon the base of his lot, and in the evening divides the food among the princes and priests.

CHAPTER XXII. Ephraim, the seed of Joseph and adopted son of Israel, and left in the number of the patriarchs by the testament of blessing; younger in age than his brother, but preferred by the greater grace of blessing, stronger among all the tribes, and an unconquered ruler among his brothers. He received a portion of the tribe of the Levites. CHAPTER XXIII. Manasses, multiplied into thousands, together with his father Joseph mystically suffered tribute. These are the fathers of the apostles and princes of the people of the Jews, the tribes of Jacob, and the illustrious progeny of Israel. To them, their dying father, for the abundance of riches, left the grace of sanctification. And they, while Joseph reigned in Egypt, reigned, and there also, after a long quiet life, they died and were buried. CHAPTER XXIV. Job, son of Zarae of Bosra, king of the Idumaeans, fourth after Esau, successor of Balak son of Beor, a gentile man, renowned in faith, highest in humility, preeminent in hospitality, gentle in discipline, generous in alms, rich in wealth, suddenly made needy, wealthy in children, suddenly bereft: he is given over to temptation, but against temptation he is armed with the breastplate of faith, made glorious in the contest, even-tempered in grief; he endured the loss of property, mourned the death of his children, and patiently accepted the wounds of his body.

he endured, and amid torments always glorified God; he wisely withstood his wife, who gave evil counsel; he overcame the words of his friends by reason; hence, for such great virtue of patience, he is raised up in the end by a twofold reward, receiving after the ruin of his fortunes a manifold abundance of goods. For after the night of sorrow, he begot day; after the pains of sores, he gave forth the fragrance of cassia; after rejection, he merited the anointing of the kingdom’s horn, and took up the tibia in the accent of praise. He lived, moreover, after the plague one hundred and forty years, and all the days of his life were two hundred and forty-eight years, and he died and was buried in his own region. The Hebrews assert that he was not of the lineage of Esau, but that he descended from the stock of Nachor, the brother of Abraham, and that he lived in the times of the patriarchs. For Nachor begot Hus, from whose stock he is believed to have been generated, according to what is noted at the beginning of his book: “There was a man in the land of Hus, named Job.

CHAPTER XXV. Moses, son of Amram, from the tribe of Levi, leader and prophet of Israel, adopted son of the king’s daughter, friend of God, lord of Pharaoh, is summoned by angelic voices in a burning bush that does not burn; to confirm him by example, God caused his inserted hand to die, and then restored its strength and motion and color; his face is illuminated with the hope of future glory, humble, as a certain wise man says, in refusing the ministry, submissive in undertaking it, faithful in preserving it, vigilant in seeking it, watchful in ruling the people, vehement in correcting, ardent in loving, patient in enduring, who interposed himself for his subjects before God when consulted, and opposed himself to the angry king. He exposed his own safety for the freedom of the people, and did not tremble at the threats or weapons of the most savage king. Moreover, he raised his rod against his serpents, and through the hand of God he struck the oppressors of Israel with ten plagues at his command. First, he turned springs and rivers into blood; then he filled cities with a multitude of frogs, the air with clouds of flies, laid waste all green things with locusts, brought death to livestock, struck men with sores, ravaged the lands with hail, covered the sky with darkness, and slew their firstborn with mighty terror.

After these things, he despoiled the Egyptians, and, having led out the peoples, he opened the path of the wilderness, with a fiery column preceding. Without delay, crossing the sea, he divides it, and, with the heaps of waters checked on either side, he provided a way with dry foot for the advancing people. Then he covered the enemies with the waves, and turned the bitter waters into sweetness by the touch of a piece of wood. Moreover, during these events, he provided heavenly food for a hungry Israel, and filled the places of the camps with the flesh of birds. He also struck the rock, and at once copious streams flowed from the hard crags. He also ascended the summit of Mount Sinai, about to contemplate the face of the Lord; there he endured a fast of forty days. Descending, he burned the calf, struck down the sacrilegious with the sword, delivered the law received from God to the people, and established the rite of religion. During these events, he also waged wars, became famous for victories, holding a rod in his hand; enemies whom he did not touch, he overcame: he healed the deadly bites of asps by the sight of a bronze serpent. Dathan and Abiram, with the joints of the earth broken open, he cast down alive into a deep chasm. Finally, he ascended Mount Nebo, and saw the land of promise, with the Lord showing it. And he died, at the Lord's command, on Mount Abarim; and he was buried by the Lord in the valley of Moab, which is in Arabia.

He ruled the people of God in the wilderness for forty years, and died at the age of one hundred and twenty. Some, however, claim that he is still alive, because his tomb is not found. And because he appeared to the Lord on Mount Tabor with Elijah, but that he is dead, not taken up, the most certain sacred Scripture testifies. CHAPTER 26 Aaron, the brother of Moses, and a notable companion in miracles, and the first priest of the Law of the Lord, whose rod, chosen by lot, flourished with leaf and bud. And who, bearing a censer in his right hand, placed himself before the raging flame, and standing between the living and the dead, by the interposition of his body did not permit the fire to pass to the host of the living. This man, through the sacrifice of victims and the offering of blood, expressed the future passion of Christ: this man transmitted the right and primacy of the priesthood through the order of his lineage and succession. Now in the fortieth year of the exodus of the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, when he was one hundred and twenty-three years old, he died according to the command of the Lord on Mount Hor, which is near Petra, a notable city of Arabia. There also his sister Mary lies buried, where even now the rock is shown, which, when struck, Moses provided waters for the thirsty people. This place is at the farthest borders of the Idumeans.

CHAPTER XXVII. Joshua, son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, born in Egypt, disciple of Moses, successor in authority, and victor in a new kind of warfare. He commanded the sun to stand still in the sky until the victory was fully won. He also made the Jordan River halt its course at his crossing. He cast down the impregnable walls of Jericho with the sound of blaring trumpets. He overthrew the kingdoms of the Canaanites, destroyed their kings, and alone led the people of God into the Promised Land, which he then divided by lot. He ruled over Israel for twenty-seven years. He died at the age of one hundred and ten and was buried in his own city of Timnath-serah, which is situated on the northern slope of Mount Gaash, where his notable monument is still shown to this day. It is in the tribe of Dan. CHAPTER XXVIII. Phinehas the priest, son of Eleazar the priest, son of Aaron, acting with zeal for the Lord, struck down Zimri, who was shamelessly coupling with a Midianite harlot, with a single spear-thrust, and thereby earned the perpetual insignia of the priesthood and the reward of the sacrifices for the generations of Israel, because, inflamed with the zeal of divine love, he appeased the wrath of the Lord by striking.

CHAPTER XXIX. Gideon, son of Joash, of the tribe of Manasseh, born in the wilderness, was a liberator of the people and the father of many sons, strong of hand, vigorous in counsel, exploring by signs the proofs of future victory, and the power of God in the fleece. He, with three hundred men who lapped water with their tongues, bearing not spears in their right hands but trumpets, and not shields on their left arms but water-jars, struck the enemy with terror and victoriously triumphed over Amalek. He judged Israel for forty years, and died an old man, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father Joash in Ephra, of the family of Ezri. CHAPTER XXX. Jephthah the Gileadite, fortunate in battles, faithful in promises, surpassing the affection of piety by the endurance of a vow. For he had vowed to God that he would sacrifice whatever first met him returning after victory. For returning from the enemy, the triumphant over the Ammonites, lest he be polluted by the stain of perjury, he fulfilled the promised pledge, and sacrificed his daughter, who had met the victor. He judged Israel for six years, and died and was buried in the city of Gilead, which is in the half-tribe of Manasseh.

CHAPTER XXXI. Samson, son of a promise, begotten by his father Manoah from the tribe of Dan, called a Nazirite, liberator of Israel, and the strongest of all. He slew a roaring lion and took honey from the mouth of the dead beast; also, lifting the bars of the gates on his shoulders, he placed them on the top of a mountain. With the tails of foxes bound with fire, he set the entire region of the Philistines ablaze. Even when bound, having broken the ropes, he slew a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass. Ropes woven of sinews he tore apart like woolen threads. After these deeds, deceived by the greed of a seductive woman, with his hair shorn, he lost the power of his strength; and soon, with his eyes gouged out, shaking the pillars of the temple, he perished, crushed by the ruin together with his enemies. He judged Israel for twenty years and was placed in the tomb of his father in the city of Eshtaol, which is in the tribe of Judah, ten miles from Eleutheropolis, towards the northern region, near the road that leads to Nicopolis.

CHAPTER XXXII. Samuel the prophet, son of Elkanah, of Ramathaim, from the tribe of Ephraim, counted with Moses among the priests of God. Consecrated to the Lord from his very cradle, diligent in ministry, a prince among the people, a seer in the temple, at whose word the heavens obeyed, clouds gathered, rains poured forth. He was a triumphant victor over enemies; he set up the Stone of Help. He first anointed a prince in the kingdom. He was buried, however, in his own town of Ramathaim, which is in Bethlehem; his bones the Emperor Arcadius transferred from Judaea to Thrace, and over his tomb he erected an altar of Christ. CHAPTER XXXIII. David, both king and prophet, born from the tribe of Judah, son of Jesse, born in Bethlehem, a boy shepherd of sheep, much younger among his brothers, more outstanding in virtue, called by the Lord to the kingdom, anointed king by the prophet, a warlike youth, singular in combat, glorious in triumph, conquering as a veteran, patient in adversity, prudent in dangers, grieving in his own sin, mourning at another’s death, prone to repentance, swift to forgiveness, gentle in insult, easy toward mercy.

who, when he could have, did not merely spare the enemy king, who had been handed over to him, unharmed, but also avenged him when he was killed. This man killed a lion and a bear without a sword, drove out an unclean spirit with the sweetness of his lyre, and overcame a giant. Therefore, in the fortieth year of his reign and the seventieth year of his life, he ended his final day, and was buried in his city of Bethlehem, which is also called by the name Ephrata, where also our Lord Jesus Christ was born in the flesh. There also Rachel, when she gave birth to Benjamin, died. There too the tomb of Jesse, David's father, is shown. Moreover, this place is in the tribe of Judah, six miles from Jerusalem, facing south on the road that goes to Hebron. CHAPTER XXXIV. Solomon, son of David, born of Bathsheba in Jerusalem, before he was born was called the wisest of all, and the dedicator of the Lord's temple: fortunate in his rule, unequal to his father's merits, beloved by God, wise in judgment, just in his sentences, peaceful in his kingdom. He sought wisdom and obtained it, so that he might know the arrangement of the world, the powers of the elements, the natures of animals, and the thoughts of men.

He also established customs, discovered the natures of things, and revealed the sacraments of Christ and the Church. His beginnings were good, but his end was evil. For after the glory of many virtues, corrupted by love of a woman, he both lost the wisdom he had received and was plunged into the depths of idolatry in a lamentable downfall. He reigned for forty years and completed fifty-two years of life. Then he brought an end to his rule and his life, and was buried in the city of his father, Bethlehem. CHAPTER XXXV. Elias the Thesbite, a great priest and prophet, a dweller of the desert, full of faith, highest in devotion, strong in labors, skillful in industry, endowed with excellent talent, built up in the practice of discipline, assiduous in holy meditation, and fearless of death, scourged tyrants, slew the sacrilegious, and shone forth with many signs of virtues. For a three-year drought, he closed the heavens to rains. He prayed again, and the heavens gave rain, and he raised the dead son of a woman.

By his power a jar of flour did not fail, a vessel of oil flowed from a perpetual spring. By his word, fire descended from heaven upon the sacrifice. He burned two fifty-men squads with soldiers by celestial fire. Crossing the Jordan, he divided it by the touch of his sheepskin. Afterwards, snatched up to heaven on a fiery chariot, he is to come, according to the prophet Malachi, at the end of the world, and is to precede Christ, to announce his final coming with great virtues and prodigies of signs: so that even on earth Antichrist will wage war against him, or against those who are to come with him, and will kill them, and their corpses will also lie unburied in the streets. Then, raised up by the Lord, they will strike the kingdom of Antichrist with a great plague. After this, the Lord will come, and will kill Antichrist with the sword of his mouth, and those who have worshipped him. And the Lord will reign with all his saints in eternal glory. Likewise. Elijah the Tishbite from the land of the Arabs, from the tribe of Aaron, when he was in the womb of his mother Galaath, his father Sobac saw a dream, that men in white garments were greeting the newborn Elijah, and were wrapping him in fiery garments, and were supplying him fire for food to nourish him. This vision the father reported to the prophets in Jerusalem, and received this response from them: Do not fear, they said, for his nation will be a light, and his word will be of fixed judgments. For he will judge Israel with sword and fire.

CHAPTER XXXVI. Elisha, disciple of Elijah, from the town of Abel-Meholah, from the tribe of Reuben, at whose birth a golden calf bellowed in Gilgal, and its voice resounded in Jerusalem. Then a certain seer prophet predicted: “Today a prophet has been born in Israel, who will destroy all their idols.” This man, glorified by the twofold spirit of Elijah, shone forth with very many and great signs of virtues. He divided the Jordan by his passage, turning back the restrained waves; he led the barren waters of Jericho, by submerging a small vessel, to fertility; he consigned insulting boys to beasts to be suddenly devoured by his word; he made bloody waters flow for the destruction of enemies; among these things, he rendered a sterile conception fertile by his word, and raised her dead son; he tempered the bitterness of foods; finally, from ten loaves he fed a multitude and collected the leftovers. And he cleansed Naaman from the stigmata of leprosy by the order of the priest; he also sprinkled a cursed disciple with leprosy: he made an iron axe-head, sunk in the Jordan, float on the water by sending a piece of wood into the waters. He struck the Syrian enemies with blindness, predicted death to an unbeliever, put the enemy to flight with the crash of chariots, scattered a siege, and repelled famine.

Finally, after his death, he gave life to a lifeless corpse. His tomb, shown to this very day in the city of Sebaste, is worthy of great honor and is held in fitting veneration. CHAPTER XXXVII. Isaiah, son of Amos—not the prophet Amos, but another who bore the same name: for the latter was among the shepherds from the town of Tekoa, while this one was of noble birth in Jerusalem; the Hebrews also say he was the father-in-law of Manasseh. In him there was such excellence of sanctity and life that he is said to have had only one garment, and that a hair-shirt, and even this he later cast off for the sin of the people, covering his limbs with sackcloth. But, having also laid this aside in the end, at the Lord's command he went about in the assemblies of the people with naked body and bare foot, and thus endured the summer heat, the winter frosts, and the storms of rain, so that he might both obey God's precepts and lament the sins of the people.

He ordered the ascending shadow on the fifteenth step to go back down. By his oracle, King Hezekiah obtained a postponement of death. But Manasseh, having stretched him from the crown, cut him through the middle and killed him with a cruel torture. The Hebrews, however, relate that Isaiah was killed for two reasons: one, that he called their princes Sodomites and their people Gomorrah; the other, that, when the Lord testified to Moses, "You will not be able to see my face," this man dared to exclaim, "I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne"; the Jews, blinded in mind, not noticing that in the following passages he had narrated that the Seraphim covered the face and feet of God, and that the prophet ascribes that he saw only the middle of him. He lies under the oak of Rogel, near the flow of waters which King Hezekiah of Judah had exposed to the earth by a constructed mound. CHAPTER XXXVIII. Jeremiah, born from a priestly tribe, in the village of Anathoth, which is three miles from Jerusalem, placed as a priest in Judea, consecrated as a prophet among the nations, known before he was formed, sanctified before he came forth, and admonished to remain a virgin. He began to preach as a boy, rebuking the people for their offenses, and, though pious, exhorting them to penance, but he is often afflicted by the cruelty of the raging faithless people and bound, also thrown into prison, cast into a pit, encircled with chains, and finally at Taphnas in Egypt stoned by the people.

He is buried in that place where Pharaoh, king of Egypt, dwelt. However, because by his prayers he drove away the serpents from that place and rescued the Egyptians from the harmful bite of asps, the same Egyptians venerate him with notable reverence and the highest honor, and they have revered his tomb with distinguished cult up to the present day. CHAPTER XXXIX. Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, born in the land of Sarira, is called the son of man in the type of Christ. He was led captive with Joachim into Babylon, and prophesied to his fellow captives, rebuking their offenses, and, moved by the zeal of God, he denounced all their crimes and turpitudes. The leader of the people of Israel killed him, because he was rebuked by him with pontifical severity and authority on account of the impiety of sacrilege. He was buried by the people in the field of Maurim, in the tomb of Shem and Arphaxad. CHAPTER XL. Daniel, of the tribe of Judah, born in Upper Bethoron, noble in lineage, prince of all the Chaldeans, and flourishing in the royal progeny and nobility of his fatherland.

Under King Joachim of Judah, after the destruction of Jerusalem, he was taken to Babylon while still a boy, along with the three youths, and became a prince of the Chaldeans: a glorious man, comely in appearance, humble in mind, chaste in body, perfect in faith, outstanding in deed, supreme in virtue, renowned for wonders, terrible in signs, a knower of celestial secrets, a foreknower of future things, an interpreter of visions, a model of chastity; who, by continuous fasts and the persistence of prayer, merited to foresee future sacraments. Among the other mysteries of his visions, he shone forth with these deeds and signs of virtue. In the beginning, refuting the falsehood of the wicked elders, he revealed the chastity of the woman; for three weeks of days, praying for the people, he fasted; he overthrew the image of Bel by arguments of divine inspiration; the dragon of Babylon, the deity of that same people, he burst apart with a ball made of pitch, fat, and hair, by the instinct of the divine mind, to the incredible wonder of all; also, thrown into the pit, he calmed the rage of the beasts, and, with the strength of a brave soul, he feasts secure among roaring lions.

Darius, after he overthrew the Babylonian empire, held this man in the highest honor, took him along, and led him away into Media. He is also said to have given signs in the mountains above Babylon, saying: When the mountains smoke from the north, the end of Babylon is at hand; when they are seen to blaze with fires, it will be the end of the whole world. Likewise, when the Tigris flows back to the south wind, there will be a return of the people to Jerusalem. He lived, moreover, up to the time of Darius, king of the Persians, one hundred and ten years, and was buried, already an old man, in the royal cave, alone in captivity, yet with glory. CHAPTER XLI. Hosea, of the tribe of Issachar, born in Belemoth; he, prophesying, gave this sign: The Lord will come into his land, if the oak which is at Shiloh divides itself into twelve parts and produces as many oaks. He was buried in his own land, and slept in peaceful rest. CHAPTER XLII. Joel, he was of the tribe of Reuben, born in the field of Bethoron, where he also died in peace and was buried.

CHAPTER XLIII. Amos, a shepherd and a rustic, plucking the berries of brambles, a prophet not by birth but by the calling of grace. He was from the town of Tekoa, which lies six miles to the south opposite Bethlehem. Beyond it there is no habitation, but only the vast expanse of the desert stretches out, open all the way to the Red Sea and the borders of the Jews, known only to shepherds and to widely roaming flocks. From this pastoral region, then, was Amos, one of the number of shepherds, whom the Lord, taking him away from there, sent to the people of Israel, commanding him to go to Samaria and there prophesy what was to come. King Amaziah frequently struck him with blows; finally his son Uzziah, having pierced him through the temples with a bar, killed him with a cruel death. After this, half-alive, he was carried back to his own land, and after a few days, from the excessive pain of the wound, he breathed out his soul hesitantly, and was buried with his fathers.

CHAPTER XLIV. Abdias, from the land of Sichem, born in the field of Bethacaram. This is he who, under King Ochozias of Samaria, fed a hundred prophets. This is that third leader whom Elias spared, who afterwards, having abandoned the service of King Ochozias, became a disciple of Elias and prophesied. He also died a natural death, and was buried with his fathers in the city of Sebaste, where the prophet Elisaeus and John the Baptist also rest venerably. CHAPTER XLV. Jonas, meaning dove and grieving, son of Amathi, who was from Geth, which is in Opher, is sent to proclaim to the Gentiles; sent, he disdains; disdaining, he flees; fleeing, he sleeps. Because of him the ship was in peril, but the master of the ship found him hiding; a whale swallowed the castaway; while he prayed, it vomited him forth; cast up again, he preached the city’s overthrow. But he grieved over the city’s repentance and begrudged the salvation of the Gentiles; he also rejoices under the shade of a green ivy, and grieves when it suddenly withers. The Hebrews relate that this is the widow’s son whom Elias raised from the dead. His tomb is shown in a certain hamlet of Geth, which is at the second milestone from Sephorim on the road that goes to Tiberias.

CHAPTER XLVI. Micah, of the tribe of Ephraim, was born in Morasthi. Because he often rebuked the sinning Ahab, he was thrown from a great precipice and died under Ahab’s son Joram. He was buried in his own land near the Polyandrion which is close to Naim. CHAPTER XLVII. Nahum, of the tribe of Simeon, born in Helcesi across Betharim, died there and lies in his own tomb. CHAPTER XLVIII. Habakkuk, of the tribe of Simeon, was born in the field of Bethsachar; two years before the return of the sons of Israel from captivity, he departed this life in the field of Sabarith, which is in Ceila. CHAPTER XLIX. Zephaniah, of the tribe of Simeon, son of Cushi, born in the field of Sarabath and descended from the glorious stock of his ancestors, prophesied, and died and was buried in his own field. CHAPTER L. Haggai, born in Babylonia, came to Jerusalem as a young man, saw part of the construction of the temple, and rests buried gloriously near the monuments of the priests.

CHAPTER LI. Zechariah, from the region of the Chaldeans, returned to his own land at a very advanced age, where he died and was buried near Haggai; he rests in peace. CHAPTER LII. Malachi was born in Sophia after the departure of the people; a just man and handsome in appearance, whom the Jews assert was called Malachi, that is, Angel of the Lord, because whatever he would predict was immediately confirmed by an angel coming from heaven. He died while still quite young, and was buried in his own field. CHAPTER LIII. Nathan the prophet, from the Gibeonites, taught King David the law of God and revealed the sin that had been committed in the matter of Bathsheba. He also foretold that David should not build a temple for the Lord. He anointed Solomon and consecrated him as prince. He died, however, an old man in his own land, and was buried with honor. CHAPTER LIV. Ahijah the Shilonite, from the city of Eli the priest, where the tabernacle and the Ark of God were first located, foretold to King Solomon that he would turn aside from the commandments of God through foreign women, and did not keep silent about the division of the people among his offspring. Therefore Ahijah died, and was buried near an oak in Shiloh.

CHAPTER LV. Addo was born in Samaria. This is the one who, sent to Jeroboam as he was sacrificing a calf, came in the word of the Lord and rebuked him for sacrificing. As he was returning to his own home, because of his disobedience a lion strangled him on the road, and Bethel holds him buried, along with the prophet who had deceived him. CHAPTER LVI. Azariah was born in the land of Sabatha, and died and was buried in his own little field. CHAPTER LVII. Zechariah, prophet and priest, son of the priest Jehoiada, who was also called Barachias, whom the people, gathered in the court of the house of the Lord, at the command of King Joash, killed by throwing stones at him. The priests immediately lifted him up and buried him next to his father in Jerusalem. CHAPTER LVIII. Tobit, son of Ananiel, from the tribe of Naphtali, from the city of Cibel, which is in the region of Galilee. He was led captive by Shalmaneser, king of the Assyrians, to Nineveh. A man supreme in the fear of God, magnificent in work, glorious in mercy, devoted in the care of funerals; while he was burying the dead and feeding the poor, he lost the light of his eyes through blindness, and after darkness, with his eyes opened again, he merited the light of clarity. He lies buried in the city of Nineveh in peace.

CHAPTER LIX. The three youths, illustrious by royal lineage, glorious in memory, learned in knowledge, equal in faith, steadfast in devotion, uncorrupted in body, sober in mind, judges of provinces and rulers of regions, also mindful of their fathers' laws, and never polluted by the foods of the Gentiles or by things offered to idols, living their lives on legumes and vegetables. These, by the strength of their virtue, despised death, did not worship the rite of idols, overcame the most savage king by the power of faith, also quenched the fires of the blazing furnace, and amid the horrible flames with thick darkness sang a hymn with open voices. They lie in Babylon, placed together under one cave, and are buried with great veneration. CHAPTER LX. Esdras, priest of God, who by many is called Malachias, that is, angel of God, was the writer of sacred history, and another lawgiver after Moses, for after the captivity he renewed the law burned by the Gentiles, and discovered the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. He led back Israel and caused Jerusalem to be rebuilt. He died and was buried with his fathers, interred in Jerusalem.

CHAPTER LXI Zorobabel and Nehemias, from the tribe of Juda, under King Darius build the temple of the Lord, construct the walls of Jerusalem, and restore Israel to its former state, also reestablishing the worship of religion and the right of priests and Levites. They likewise lie buried in Jerusalem. CHAPTER LXII Queen Esther, the daughter of Mardochaeus’s brother, from the stock of Benjamin, a captive from Jerusalem, was brought to the city of Susim, and by the appearance of her beauty and the clear excellence of her virginity was joined in marriage to the king of the Persians. She, in order to free her people from danger, offered herself to death, and persuaded that the king’s friend, who was wickedly urging him against the people of God, be handed over to the cross, and rescued the nation from destruction and snatched it from servitude. She lies buried in Susis, a city of the Medes, in which she also reigned. CHAPTER LXIII Judith, a widow, daughter of Merari, from the tribe of Simeon, great-hearted in glory, more outstanding than men. She offered herself to death for the salvation of the people, and did not tremble at the king’s fury. For she killed the sleeping prince, preserving her modesty, and brought back a triumph of victory to her fellow citizens. She lived one hundred and five years, and was buried in the cave of her husband Manasses in the city of Bethulia, which is in the tribe of Juda between Dothain and Balmon.

CHAPTER LXIV. The seven Maccabee brothers, steadfast in faith, strong in hope, most constant observers of the divine law, enduring the most bitter torments, were cruelly put to death by King Antiochus for the law of God, together with their mother, and merited the crowns of martyrdom. Also the Maccabees, what triumphs they waged against the Persian people, or against other neighboring nations, and how they were greatly punished for their observance of the law, their history relates most fully. FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT. CHAPTER LXV. Zacharias and Elisabeth, just before God, barren in youth, fruitful in old age, rest in Jerusalem. CHAPTER LXVI. John the Baptist, son of Zacharias, from the tribe of Levi, born in Jerusalem, conceived by the announcement of an angel, forerunner of Christ, before the Judge, prophet of the Most High, voice of the Word, friend of the Bridegroom, witness of the Lord, lamp of the Light, end of the prophets, beginning of baptism; who, foretold, took away his parent's voice; born, he loosened the office of the tongue; who, not yet brought forth, prophesied Christ, saluted him in the womb, recognized him as a dove, showed him in the desert.

His garment was of camel's hair, his dwelling the desert, his food honey and locusts. He, forbidding Herod to violate a brother's marriage, was consigned to the darkness of prison. The king's daughter demanded his head from her father as a prize for her sport; and he, drunk, gave the severed head to his ill-requesting daughter amid the cups. He was buried in the town of Sebaste in Palestine, once called Samaria; which Herod, king of Judaea, son of Antipater, named Augusta in Greek in honor of Caesar Augustus. CHAPTER LXVII. Mary (which is interpreted as Lady, or Illuminatrix), the illustrious stock of David, the Rod of Jesse, the Enclosed Garden, the Sealed Fountain, the Mother of the Lord, the Temple of God, the Sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Virgin, the Virgin with child, virgin before birth, virgin after birth, received the salutation from the angel and acknowledged the mystery of the conception: she inquired into the nature of the birth, and did not refuse faith in the obedience contrary to the law of nature, whom the Lord himself, placed on the cross, commended through the blood of the Testament to the virgin disciple, so that the mother might have as a companion of life him whom the son knew to be the guardian of integrity.

Some claim that he departed this life by a cruel death, because the righteous Simeon, embracing Christ in his arms, prophesied, saying to his mother: "And a sword will pass through your own soul." It is uncertain, however, whether he spoke of a material sword or of the powerful word of God, sharper than any two-edged sword. Yet no history specifically teaches that Mary was slain by the stroke of a sword, nor is her death read anywhere. Nevertheless, her tomb is found, as some say, in the Valley of Josaphat. CHAPTER LXVIII. Simon Peter, son of John, brother of Andrew, born in the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, which is near the Lake of Gennesaret, whose first name was Bar-Jonah, is a direct generation of the law. Peter is the foundation of the Church in Christ. Cephas is the chief and head of the body of Christ. Simon, son of John, is the uncorrupted regeneration of virginity.

While he is considered third according to John, he is chosen first according to Matthew: and not undeservedly, because he is the prince of the Apostles. And he is the first confessor of the Son of God, and disciple, and shepherd of the human flock, the Rock of the Church, the key-bearer of the kingdom, the lover of the Lord, and the denier praised in confessing, exalted in presuming, fallen in denying, purified in weeping, proven in confessing, crowned in suffering, to whom a name is given from his work, a title is imposed from the merit of his power. He preached the Gospel in Galatia, Pontus, Cappadocia, Bithynia, Asia, and Italy, and shone forth with the signs of these virtues. With a suspended step he trod upon the burning sea, with his passing shadow he revived the dead, he restored to the lame their former function, and to the paralyzed he restored their fluid limbs to their proper state. Among these things, he raised a dead widow. He condemned Ananias and Sapphira, guilty of treachery, by the penalty of death. He also dashed Simon, who was ascending to the sky by magical arts, to the ground. After he founded the Church of Antioch, under Claudius Caesar he proceeds to Rome against the same Simon Magus, and there, preaching the Gospel for twenty-five years, he held the pontificate of that city.

In the thirty-sixth year after the Lord’s passion, however, he was crucified by the Caesar Nero in the city of Rome, head downwards, as he himself wished. And thus, after his apostolic merit, he is also crowned with martyrdom. He was buried at Rome in the Vatican, beside the Via Triumphalis, at the third milestone from the City, on the eastern side. CHAPTER 69. Paul, who was formerly Saul, apostle of the Gentiles, advocate of the Jews, called from heaven by Christ, cast down to the ground—he who fell with his eyes open, rose up blind, and from a persecutor became a vessel of election, from a wolf a sheep, last among the apostles in calling, first in preaching. A disciple of Gamaliel in the Law, a servant of Christ in the Gospel. His homeland was Tarsus, his tribe Benjamin. He was baptized in the second year after the Lord’s Ascension, and merited the dignity of the apostolate, and, laboring more than all others, sowed the grace of the Word far more widely than the rest, and fulfilled the evangelical teaching by his preaching.

Beginning from Jerusalem, he advanced as far as Illyricum and even to the Spains, and he made the name of Christ known to many nations of peoples to whom it had not previously been declared, whose miracles are known to be such. Snatched upward, he ascended into the third heaven; plunged downward, he was by night and day in the depths of the sea; he condemned the seductive spirit of Python by ordering its departure; he restored the vital spirit to a dead youth; he struck a magician with blindness; he restored proper gait to a lame man; he neither felt nor shuddered at the bite of a terrible serpent, but consigned it to the fire to be burned; he also healed the father of Publius from fevers by praying. On account of his love for Christ, he endured many sufferings and severe torments of the body. First, Jewish persecutions, and the miseries of the Gentiles, and labor, hunger, thirst, cold, and nakedness, shipwrecks, and a thousand dangers, the rage of wild beasts, beatings, the darkness of prisons, and the torments of chains, squalor, and fetters.

Amid these events he is bound by the Jews, handed over to the Gentiles, stoned to death, let down in a basket over the wall, beaten with rods, constrained by punishments, in prison his chains are loosened by an earthquake, and finally he is struck by the sword under Nero on the same day on which Peter was crucified. For it was fitting that those who had confessed together should be crowned on one day. He was buried at Rome on the Ostian Way, in the thirty-sixth year after the Lord’s passion, at the third milestone from the city, opposite the western region. CHAPTER 70. Andrew, which is interpreted “comely,” the brother of Peter, according to John the first, according to Matthew the second from the first. He received in the lot of preaching Scythia as far as Achaia, in which city of Patras he also died suspended from a cross. CHAPTER 71. James the son of Zebedee, the brother of John, fourth in order, wrote to the twelve tribes who are in the dispersion of the Gentiles, and preached the Gospel to Spain and the peoples of the western regions, and poured the light of preaching into the sunset of the world. He was slain by the sword under the tetrarch Herod. He was buried in Marmarica.

CHAPTER LXXII. John, apostle and evangelist, son of Zebedee, brother of James, a virgin chosen by the Lord, and more beloved than the others, who also, reclining upon the Master’s breast, drank the streams of the Gospel from that sacred fountain of the Lord’s own heart, and, like one of the rivers of paradise, poured forth the grace of the Word of God throughout the whole world. And he succeeded into the place of Christ, at Christ’s command, while, taking up the Master’s mother as a disciple, he himself was in a manner left as another son for Christ. He, while preaching the Gospel of Christ in Asia, was relegated by the Emperor Domitian to the island of Patmos in penal servitude, where, while placed there, he wrote the Apocalypse. But after Domitian was killed by the Senate, released from exile, he withdrew to Ephesus, and there, to refute the wiles of heretics, at the request of the bishops of Asia, he published the Gospel last. Among his other virtues, the magnitude of his signs was this: He changed three rods of leafy branches into gold and the rocks of the shore into gems. Likewise, he restored fragments of gems to their proper nature, and he also raised a widow at the prayer of the people, and restored a young man’s dead body to life by recalling his soul. He willingly drank a deadly draught, not only escaping the danger, but by the same poison restored those struck down to a state of life.

He, in the sixty-seventh year after the passion of the Lord Saviour, under the emperor Trajan, already weary with the long feebleness of old age, when he felt the day of his departure was imminent, is said to have ordered a tomb to be dug for himself, and then, bidding farewell to the brethren, after prayer, he entered the tomb alive, and then rested in it as if on a bed. Whence it happens that some assert that he lives, and contend that he is not dead in the sepulchre, but lies sleeping, especially because there the earth, gradually bubbling up from the bottom, rises to the surface of the tomb, and, as if by the breath of the one resting, dust boils up from below to the top. He rested, however, at Ephesus on the sixth day before the Kalends of January. CHAPTER LXXIII. Philip, from the city of Bethsaida, whence also Peter, preaches Christ to the Gauls, and leads barbarous peoples, neighbours of darkness and joined to the swelling Ocean, to the light of knowledge and the harbour of faith. Then in Hierapolis, a city of the province of Phrygia, crucified and stoned, he died, and with his body buried upright, together with his daughters, he rests in the same place.

CHAPTER LXXIV. Thomas the apostle of Christ, named Didymus, and in the Latin language the twin of Christ, and similar to the Saviour, incredulous in hearing, faithful in seeing. He preached the Gospel to the Parthians, and the Medes, and the Persians, and the Hyrcanians, and the Bactrians, and the Indians holding the Eastern region, and penetrating the innermost parts of the nations, there bringing his preaching all the way to his own passion; for he was pierced through with lances and died in the city of Calamina in India, where he was also buried with honour. CHAPTER LXXV. Bartholomew the apostle, receiving his name from the Syriac language, received Lycaonia as his allotted region of preaching, and translated the Gospel according to Matthew among the Indians into their language. Finally, in the city of Albanus in Greater Armenia, while still alive, he was flayed by the most cruel barbarian peoples, and thus was laid in the earth. CHAPTER LXXVI. Matthew the apostle and evangelist, who also took the surname Levi from his tribe, chosen by Christ from being a publican, translated from being a sinner. He first preached in Judaea, afterwards preached in Macedonia, and rests in the mountains of the Parthians.

CHAPTER LXXVII. James of Alphaeus, first bishop of Jerusalem, surnamed the Just, son of the Lord’s maternal aunt, whence also called the Lord’s brother, a man of light and a worker of truth, and of such great sanctity that the peoples would eagerly strive to touch the hem of his garment. This man, while preaching in Jerusalem that Christ is the Son of God, was thrown down from the temple by the Jews, crushed with stones, and there buried near the temple. Josephus records that he was of such great sanctity and veneration in Judaea that Jerusalem is believed to have been destroyed because of his murder. CHAPTER LXXVIII. Judas, brother of James, evangelizing in Mesopotamia and the interior regions of Pontus, tames wild and untamed peoples, like the natures of beasts, by his teaching, and subdues them to the Lord’s faith; he was buried, however, at Berytus, a city of Armenia. CHAPTER LXXIX. Matthias, one of the seventy disciples, and substituted for Judas Iscariot among the twelve apostles, was chosen by lot, and alone without a surname. To him is given the preaching of the Gospel in Judaea.

CHAPTER LXXX. Simon Zelotes, who was formerly called Chananaeus, burning with zeal for the Lord, equal in surname to Peter and similar in honor, received the primacy of Egypt, and after James the Just held the see of Jerusalem. After one hundred and twenty years, however, he merited suffering the passion of martyrdom by crucifixion under Trajan. He lies in Bosphorus. CHAPTER LXXXI. There were disciples of Christ, preachers of the faith, and teachers of the Gentiles, who, though all are one, each of them nevertheless received their own specific and certain lots in the world for preaching. For Peter received Rome, Andrew Achaia, James Spain, John Asia, Thomas India, Matthew Macedonia, Philip Gaul, Bartholomew Lycaonia, Simon Zelotes Egypt, Matthias Judea, James the brother of the Lord Jerusalem, Jude the brother of James Mesopotamia. But for Paul, together with the other apostles, no specific lot is handed down, because he is chosen as teacher and preacher to all peoples. For just as the apostleship of the circumcision was given to Peter and the rest, so to Paul that of the foreskin among the Gentiles. He, however, evangelizes to seven churches and three disciples.

CHAPTER LXXXII. Luke of Antioch, evangelist and apostolic writer of history, Syrian by nation, physician by art, learned in Greek eloquence, whom many report to have been a proselyte and ignorant of Hebrew letters. He was, however, a disciple of Paul and an inseparable companion of his journey. From early childhood he was most chaste and carried out the work of evangelical preaching. He died in the seventy-fourth year of his life. He was buried in Bithynia, whose bones were indeed transferred to Constantinople during the reign of Constantine. CHAPTER LXXXIII. Mark the evangelist, disciple of Peter, and his son in baptism. Some report that his Gospel was dictated by Peter at Rome. He is said to have cut off his own thumb lest he be promoted to the priesthood. He first held the see of Alexandria and first founded the churches of the Egyptians, flourishing with such virtues of teaching and continence that all disciples of Christ followed his imitation. He died in the eighth year of Nero in Alexandria, buried in peaceful repose.

CHAPTER LXXXIV. Barnabas, who is also Joseph, a native of the Cyprian city founded by King Gyros of the Persians, having obtained the apostleship among the Gentiles together with Paul, then, separated from Paul on account of the disciple John, who is also called by the surname Mark, nevertheless carried out the work of evangelical preaching enjoined upon him. CHAPTER LXXXV. Timothy, bishop of the Ephesians, from the city of the Lystrians, his father being Greek, that is, a Gentile, but his mother a Jewess, as the Apostle relates, saying: “Because faith dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice; but I know for certain that in you also 149. Now this man was a disciple of Paul and his spiritual son, whom Paul himself took with him as a boy, keeping him near. He remained chaste and a virgin, and he lies buried with great honor at Ephesus, on the mountain called Phion. CHAPTER LXXXVI. Titus, a disciple of Paul and a son in baptism, a Greek by nation, the only one from the Gentiles circumcised by the Apostle Paul after the Gospel, whom the aforementioned Apostle left to instruct the churches of Crete. There he died in peace and was buried.