| Keywords |
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| ID |
1839 |
| Text |
De civitate Dei (413 - 427) Augustine of Hippo |
| Quotation |
tenduntur autem hi dies a rege latinorum proca siue superiore auentino usque ad regem romulum iam romanum, uel etiam usque ad regni primordia successoris eius numae pompilii (ezechias
quippe rex iuda eo usque regnauit); ac per hoc per ea tempora isti uelut fontes prophetiae pariter
eruperunt, quando regnum defecit assyrium coepitque romanum; ut scilicet, quem ad modum
regni assyriorum primo tempore extitit abraham, cui promissiones apertissimae fierent in eius semine
benedictionis omnium gentium, ita occidentalis babylonis exordio, qua fuerat christus
imperante uenturus, in quo implerentur illa promissa, ora prophetarum non solum loquentium,
uerum etiam scribentium in tantae rei futurae testimonium soluerentur.
cum enim prophetae numquam fere defuissent populo israel, ex quo ibi reges esse coeperunt, in usum
tantummodo eorum fuere, non gentium; quando autem scriptura manifestius prophetica
condebatur, quae gentibus quandoque prodesset, tunc oportebat inciperet, quando condebatur
haec ciuitas, quae gentibus imperaret. |
| Translation |
Those times extend from Procas, king of the Latins, or his predecessor Aventinus, to Romulus, now a king of Rome, or even to the beginning of the reign of Numa Pompilius, Romulus’s successor, inasmuch as Hezekiah, king of Judah, reigned up to that time. And so we see that these men erupted together, as it were, like two fountains of prophecy, at the time when the kingdom of the Assyrians failed and the Roman Empire began. Clearly, this came about so that, just as – in the first days of the Assyrian kingdom – Abraham appeared and to him were given the clearest promises that all the nations would be blessed in his seed, so – at the emergence of the Western Babylon, during whose rule Christ was to come, in Whom those promises were to be fulfilled – the lips of the prophets should be opened: those prophets who, not only in speech, but also in their writings, bore witness to this great future event. For though the people of Israel had hardly ever lacked prophets from the time when they had begun to have kings, those prophets had brought profit to them alone, and not to the Gentiles. When, however, prophetic writings with a more general application began to appear – writings which would bring benefit to the Gentiles also – it was fitting that this should occur at the same time as the foundation of that city which was to rule all the Gentiles. (Trans. Dyson) |
| Quotation source |
Lib. 18, Cap. 27 (lin. 19) |
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