Library › St Irenaeus of Lyons › Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

St Irenaeus of Lyons, tr. Robinson, 1920

Chapter 78

And in Jeremiah He thus declares His death and descent into hell, saying: And the Lord the Holy One of Israel, remembered his dead, which aforetime fell asleep in the dust of the earth; and he went down unto them, to bring the tidings of his salvation, to deliver them.¹ In this place He also renders the cause of His death: for His descent into hell was the salvation of them that had passed away.

Notes

This is one of the prophecies which Justin declared the Jews had erased from their Scriptures (Dial. 72). It is quoted several times by Irenaeus: III, xxii. 1 (as from Isaiah); IV, xxxvi. 1 (as from Jeremiah, to whom Justin had attributed it); l. 1 (an allusion only); lv. 3 (“alii autem dicentes: Rememoratus . . . causam reddiderunt propter quam passus est haec omnia”); V, xxxi. 1 (with variations, and no name of author).