Wickedness spreads; angels and daughters; arts of magic
And evil, spreading and propagating more and more, ended by reaching the whole human race, so that there remained among them only some rare seed of righteousness. And indeed unlawful unions took place upon the earth; angels having had commerce with the daughters of the children of men, these bore them children who, because of their extraordinary size, were called sons of the earth (giants). ()
Now the angels made a present to their wives of lessons of malice, for they taught them the virtues of plants and herbs, the use of colors and cosmetics, the discovery of precious substances, magic, hatreds, loves, passions, evil suggestions, the secrets of sorcery, every kind of divination and the idolatry proper to those who hate God: all this, entering into the world, poured out a torrent of evil, and righteousness went on weakening. ( allusive; idolatry)
Greek
18. — Et le mal, se repandant et sc propageant de plus en plus, Unit par atteindre toute la race humaine, au point qu'il ne restät plus parmi eux que quelque rare semeuce de justice. Et en eilet, des unions illegitimes avaient lieu sur la terre; des anges ayant eu commerce avec les fdles des enfants dos hommes, celles-ci leur donneren! des enfauts qui, ä cause de leur taille extra- ordinaire, furent appeles fils de la terre 1 . Or, les anges firent present ä leurs femmes de lecons de malice, car ils leur enseignerent les vertus des plantes et des legumes, l'emploi des couleurs et le l'ard, la decouverte des matieres precieuses, la magie, les haines, les amours, les passions, les suggestious mauvaises, les secrets de la sorcellerie, toute sorte de divination et l'idolä- 2 trie propre ä ceux qui out la harne de Dieu : tout cela, eu penetrant dans le monde, y repandit un torrent de mal, et la justice alla en s'affaiblissant.
About this text
Irenaeus’s short handbook of the apostolic preaching (Epideixis), preserved in Armenian. English here is a densified reading translation for study. Prior English exists (Robinson / Wilson) — this is not an Original English Translation.
English follows the Armenian of Patrologia Orientalis XII.5. Barthoulot’s French was used as a sense-check only. Robinson (1920) and Wilson’s prior English exist and were checked for independence — this page is densified English, not Original English Translation / no-previous-English.
Witnesses
- Copy-text PO XII.5 Epideixis (Armenian, Matenadaran M3710) (Armenian · §§1–10)
- Checked print Barthoulot French (PD) (French · §§1–10)
- Prior English Check Robinson 1920 / Wilson English (English · full work (prior complete English exists))
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.