To Florus 3.30
It has therefore become clear that God commanded what we maintain. Although the plain, genuine meaning of the pronouncement itself is accessible to everyone’s understanding and contains no blemish of obscurity, you might still take refuge in accusing us of slow intelligence and say we do not understand the command. So let us use another testimony, this time not a command but an action performed according to the command, to show how the law was understood.
In the fourth Book of Kingdoms, we read about Amaziah, son of Joash, king of Judah: ‘After the kingdom was firmly established in his hands, he killed his servants who had killed his father. But he did not kill their sons, in accordance with the covenant of the Lord’s law, which commands: Fathers shall not die for their children, nor children for their fathers’ (2 Kings 14:5–6). You see how the truthful historical account displays the justice of the king’s judgment. Although he had been devout, he is reported to have faltered in some respects. The authority of God’s law was therefore recalled to confirm his judgment. So that the deed should not carry too little weight because of the person who did it, it is commended as having been performed according to God’s law and covenant.
Latin
Esse igitur hoc a Deo imperatum, quod asserimus, claruit; et quamvis sententiae ipsius aperta et intellectui omnium conciliata germanitas nullius in se naevum obscuritatis admiserit, tamen, ne tu ad ingenii nostri confugias tarditatem et dicas non nos intellegere quod praeceptum est, alio quoque testimonio non iam praecepti, sed operis secundum praeceptum exerciti, quemadmodum sit lex intellecta, doceamus. Legimus in libro quarto Regnorum de Amessia, filio Ioas, regis Iuda: Factum est, inquit, postquam stabilitum est regnum in manibus eius, occidit pueros suos, qui occiderant patrem suum; sed filios eorum non occidit secundum testamentum legis Domini, quo praeceptum est: Non morientur patres pro filiis nec filii pro patribus [n32] . Vides, quemadmodum historiae fides iustitiam regis iudicantis ostenderit, qui quamvis fuisset devotus, tamen, quoniam claudicasse animo in nonnullis refertur, ad iudicii eius confirmationem commemoratae legis Dei accessit auctoritas; ne enim parum haberet ponderis factum hoc consideratione facientis, secundum legem et testamentum Dei commendatur impletum.