1. Hebrew Bible, Deuteronomy, 1.13, 1.15, 4.6 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 1.13. הָבוּ לָכֶם אֲנָשִׁים חֲכָמִים וּנְבֹנִים וִידֻעִים לְשִׁבְטֵיכֶם וַאֲשִׂימֵם בְּרָאשֵׁיכֶם׃ 1.15. וָאֶקַּח אֶת־רָאשֵׁי שִׁבְטֵיכֶם אֲנָשִׁים חֲכָמִים וִידֻעִים וָאֶתֵּן אֹתָם רָאשִׁים עֲלֵיכֶם שָׂרֵי אֲלָפִים וְשָׂרֵי מֵאוֹת וְשָׂרֵי חֲמִשִּׁים וְשָׂרֵי עֲשָׂרֹת וְשֹׁטְרִים לְשִׁבְטֵיכֶם׃ 4.6. וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם כִּי הִוא חָכְמַתְכֶם וּבִינַתְכֶם לְעֵינֵי הָעַמִּים אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁמְעוּן אֵת כָּל־הַחֻקִּים הָאֵלֶּה וְאָמְרוּ רַק עַם־חָכָם וְנָבוֹן הַגּוֹי הַגָּדוֹל הַזֶּה׃ | 1.13. Get you, from each one of your tribes, wise men, and understanding, and full of knowledge, and I will make them heads over you.’" 1.15. So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and full of knowledge, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, tribe by tribe." 4.6. Observe therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, that, when they hear all these statutes, shall say: ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’" |
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2. Hebrew Bible, Daniel, 5.12 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 5.12. כָּל־קֳבֵל דִּי רוּחַ יַתִּירָה וּמַנְדַּע וְשָׂכְלְתָנוּ מְפַשַּׁר חֶלְמִין וַאַחֲוָיַת אֲחִידָן וּמְשָׁרֵא קִטְרִין הִשְׁתְּכַחַת בֵּהּ בְּדָנִיֵּאל דִּי־מַלְכָּא שָׂם־שְׁמֵהּ בֵּלְטְשַׁאצַּר כְּעַן דָּנִיֵּאל יִתְקְרֵי וּפִשְׁרָה יְהַחֲוֵה׃ | 5.12. forasmuch as a surpassing spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and declaring of riddles, and loosing of knots, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will declare the interpretation.’" |
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3. Philo of Alexandria, On The Special Laws, 1.52, 4.178 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.52. Accordingly, having given equal rank and honour to all those who come over, and having granted to them the same favours that were bestowed on the native Jews, he recommends those who are ennobled by truth not only to treat them with respect, but even with especial friendship and excessive benevolence. And is not this a reasonable recommendation? What he says is this. "Those men, who have left their country, and their friends, and their relations for the sake of virtue and holiness, ought not to be left destitute of some other cities, and houses, and friends, but there ought to be places of refuge always ready for those who come over to religion; for the most effectual allurement and the most indissoluble bond of affectionate good will is the mutual honouring of the one God. 4.178. In the case of the first, because he has made his own kinsmen, whom alone it was natural for him to have as allies and champions, his irreconcileable enemies, by quitting their camp and taking up his abode with the truth, and with the honour of the one Being who is entitled to honour, abandoning all the fabulous inventions and polytheistic notions which his fathers, and grandfathers, and ancestors, and all his kindred, who cleave to the beautiful settlement which he has forsaken, were wont to honour. In the case of the second, because he is deprived of his father and mother, his natural defenders and protectors, and by consequence of the only power which was bound to show itself as his ally. And lastly, in the case of the woman who is a widow because she has been deprived of her husband, who succeeded her parents as her guardian and protector; for a husband is to his wife in point of relationship what her parents are to a virgin. |
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4. Josephus Flavius, Against Apion, 2.190 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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5. New Testament, 1 Corinthians, None (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 5.9. I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners; 5.10. yet not at all meaning with the sexual sinners of this world, orwith the covetous and extortioners, or with idolaters; for then youwould have to leave the world. 8.6. yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are allthings, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom areall things, and we live through him. 11.17. But in giving you this command, I don't praise you, that youcome together not for the better but for the worse. 11.18. For firstof all, when you come together in the assembly, I hear that divisionsexist among you, and I partly believe it. 11.19. For there also mustbe factions among you, that those who are approved may be revealedamong you. 11.20. When therefore you assemble yourselves together, itis not possible to eat the Lord's supper. 11.21. For in your eatingeach one takes his own supper before others. One is hungry, and anotheris drunken. 11.22. What, don't you have houses to eat and to drink in?Or do you despise God's assembly, and put them to shame who don't have?What shall I tell you? Shall I praise you? In this I don't praise you. 11.23. For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered toyou, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed tookbread. 11.24. When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "Take,eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory ofme. 11.25. In the same way he also took the cup, after supper,saying, "This cup is the new covet in my blood. Do this, as often asyou drink, in memory of me. 11.26. For as often as you eat this breadand drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 11.27. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord's cup i unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of theLord. 11.28. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of thebread, and drink of the cup. 11.29. For he who eats and drinks in anunworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he doesn'tdiscern the Lord's body. 11.30. For this cause many among you are weakand sickly, and not a few sleep. 11.31. For if we discerned ourselves,we wouldn't be judged. 11.32. But when we are judged, we are punishedby the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. 11.33. Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait one foranother. 11.34. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lestyour coming together be for judgment. The rest I will set in orderwhenever I come. 14.23. If therefore thewhole assembly is assembled together and all speak with otherlanguages, and unlearned or unbelieving people come in, won't they saythat you are crazy? |
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6. New Testament, 1 Thessalonians, 4.11-4.12 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 4.11. and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we charged you; 4.12. that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and may have need of nothing. |
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7. New Testament, Acts, 17.9-17.21 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 17.9. When they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. 17.10. The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea. When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue. 17.11. Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so. 17.12. Many of them therefore believed; also of the Greek women of honorable estate, and not a few men. 17.13. But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Beroea also, they came there likewise, agitating the multitudes. 17.14. Then the brothers immediately sent out Paul to go as far as to the sea, and Silas and Timothy still stayed there. 17.15. But those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens. Receiving a commandment to Silas and Timothy that they should come to him with all speed, they departed. 17.16. Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw the city full of idols. 17.17. So he reasoned in the synagogue with Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who met him. 17.18. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also encountered him. Some said, "What does this babbler want to say?"Others said, "He seems to be advocating foreign demons," because he preached Jesus and the resurrection. 17.19. They took hold of him, and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is, which is spoken by you? 17.20. For you bring certain strange things to our ears. We want to know therefore what these things mean. 17.21. Now all the Athenians and the strangers living there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing. |
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8. New Testament, James, 1.1, 1.4-1.8, 1.12, 1.17-1.18, 1.25, 1.27, 2.1-2.8, 2.12, 2.14-2.26, 3.1-3.6, 3.8, 3.13-3.18, 4.3, 4.8, 4.10, 4.15, 5.7-5.8, 5.10-5.11, 5.14-5.15 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings. 1.4. Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 1.5. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him. 1.6. But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. 1.7. For let that man not think that he will receive anything from the Lord. 1.8. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 1.12. Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him. 1.17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow. 1.18. of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. 1.25. But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of freedom, and continues, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does. 1.27. Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. 2.1. My brothers, don't hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory with partiality. 2.2. For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your assembly, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in; 2.3. and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing, and say, "Sit here in a good place;" and you tell the poor man, "Stand there," or "Sit by my footstool; 2.4. haven't you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 2.5. Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn't God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love him? 2.6. But you have dishonored the poor man. Don't the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts? 2.7. Don't they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called? 2.8. However, if you fulfill the royal law, according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well. 2.12. So speak, and so do, as men who are to be judged by a law of freedom. 2.14. What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can that faith save him? 2.15. And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food 2.16. and one of you tells them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled;" and yet you didn't give them the things the body needs, what good is it? 2.17. Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. 2.18. Yes, a man will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. 2.19. You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder. 2.20. But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead? 2.21. Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 2.22. You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected; 2.23. and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness;" and he was called the friend of God. 2.24. You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not only by faith. 2.25. In like manner wasn't Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way? 2.26. For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead. 3.1. Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment. 3.2. For in many things we all stumble. If anyone doesn't stumble in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. 3.3. Indeed, we put bits into the horses' mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body. 3.4. Behold, the ships also, though they are so big and are driven by fierce winds, are yet guided by a very small rudder, wherever the pilot desires. 3.5. So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest! 3.6. And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna. 3.8. But nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 3.13. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom. 3.14. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don't boast and don't lie against the truth. 3.15. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. 3.16. For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed. 3.17. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 3.18. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. 4.3. You ask, and don't receive, because you ask amiss, so that you may spend it for your pleasures. 4.8. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 4.10. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you. 4.15. For you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that. 5.7. Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receives the early and late rain. 5.8. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 5.10. Take, brothers, for an example of suffering and of patience, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 5.11. Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy. 5.14. Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord 5.15. and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. |
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9. New Testament, Romans, 16.2, 16.23 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 16.2. that you receive her in the Lord, in a way worthy of the saints, and that you assist her in whatever matter she may need from you, for she herself also has been a helper of many, and of my own self. 16.23. Gaius, my host and host of the whole assembly, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, as does Quartus, the brother. |
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10. New Testament, Luke, 6.20 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 6.20. He lifted up his eyes to his disciples, and said, "Blessed are you poor, For yours is the Kingdom of God. |
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11. New Testament, Matthew, 5.3 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 5.3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. |
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12. Tacitus, Histories, 5.5 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 5.5. Whatever their origin, these rites are maintained by their antiquity: the other customs of the Jews are base and abominable, and owe their persistence to their depravity. For the worst rascals among other peoples, renouncing their ancestral religions, always kept sending tribute and contributions to Jerusalem, thereby increasing the wealth of the Jews; again, the Jews are extremely loyal toward one another, and always ready to show compassion, but toward every other people they feel only hate and enmity. They sit apart at meals, and they sleep apart, and although as a race, they are prone to lust, they abstain from intercourse with foreign women; yet among themselves nothing is unlawful. They adopted circumcision to distinguish themselves from other peoples by this difference. Those who are converted to their ways follow the same practice, and the earliest lesson they receive is to despise the gods, to disown their country, and to regard their parents, children, and brothers as of little account. However, they take thought to increase their numbers; for they regard it as a crime to kill any late-born child, and they believe that the souls of those who are killed in battle or by the executioner are immortal: hence comes their passion for begetting children, and their scorn of death. They bury the body rather than burn it, thus following the Egyptians' custom; they likewise bestow the same care on the dead, and hold the same belief about the world below; but their ideas of heavenly things are quite the opposite. The Egyptians worship many animals and monstrous images; the Jews conceive of one god only, and that with the mind alone: they regard as impious those who make from perishable materials representations of gods in man's image; that supreme and eternal being is to them incapable of representation and without end. Therefore they set up no statues in their cities, still less in their temples; this flattery is not paid their kings, nor this honour given to the Caesars. But since their priests used to chant to the accompaniment of pipes and cymbals and to wear garlands of ivy, and because a golden vine was found in their temple, some have thought that they were devotees of Father Liber, the conqueror of the East, in spite of the incongruity of their customs. For Liber established festive rites of a joyous nature, while the ways of the Jews are preposterous and mean. |
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13. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History, 7.24.6 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)
| 7.24.6. When I was in the district of Arsinoë, where, as you know, this doctrine has prevailed for a long time, so that schisms and apostasies of entire churches have resulted, I called together the presbyters and teachers of the brethren in the villages — such brethren as wished being also present — and I exhorted them to make a public examination of this question. |
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