The history of the church from our Lords incarnation, to the twelth year of the Emperour Maricius Tiberius, or the Year of Christ 594 / as it was written in Greek, by Eusebius Pamphilius ..., Socrates Scholasticus, and Evagrius Scholasticus ... ; made English from that edition of these historians, which Valesius published at Paris in the years 1659, 1668, and 1673 ; also, The life of Constantine in four books, written by Eusibius Pamphilus, with Constantine's Oration to the convention of the saints, and Eusebius's Speech in praise of Constantine, spoken at his tricennalia ; Valesius's annotations on these authors, are done into English, and set at their proper places in the margin, as likewise a translation of his account of their lives and writings ; with two index's, the one, of the principal matters that occur in the text, the other, of those contained in the notes.

CHAP. XVII. Concerning Symmachus the Translatour.

MOreover, We must understand that this Symmachus, one of the Translatours, was an Ebionite. For there is an Heresie called the Heresie of the Ebionites, who say that Christ was born of Joseph, and Mary, and suppose him to have been meer Man, who also stiffly affirm that the Law ought to be strictly observ'd accor∣ding as the Jews kept it, as we have before made known somewhere in our History. Symma∣chus's Commentaries are even yet extant; in which he seems to confirm the foresaid Heresie,

a 1.1 disputing strongly against Matthew's Gospel: Origen tells us that he receiv'd these together with other interpretations of Symmachus's of the Scri∣ptures, from one Juliana, upon whom, he saies these books of Symmachus's devolved by right of succession.

Notes

• a 1.1

  The Ebionites admitted onely S^t Matthew's Gospel to be genuine: but that Gospel of the Ebionites was not the same Gospel of S^t Mat∣thew which we now have, but a forged one, and which wanted the Genealogie of Christ, as Epiphanius declares (in Heres. Ebion.) For the Gospel according to the Hebrews, which they made use of, (as Eusebius saies B. 3. chap. 25. where see note (c.) they called the Authentick Gospel of S^t Matthew. These words therefore [〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉] we have rendred thus [disputing strongly against Matthews Gospel,] to wit, ours, and the true Gospel of S^t Matthew. From this Symmachus the Ebionites were afterwards termed Symmachians, because he strongly asserted their opinions. Vales.