Letter 166
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Peter
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore explains why Matthew calls "false witnesses" those who reported Christ's words about destroying and raising the temple (John 2:19).
On the text: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" [John 2:19].
You thought there was a contradiction in the Gospels — you wrote to ask why Matthew calls "false witnesses" those who reported something Christ actually said.
The answer is in how they reported it. Christ said "this temple" meaning his body [John 2:21]. They repeated the words as though he was speaking of the stone building — which he was not. A witness who repeats words accurately but strips away the meaning intended by the speaker has falsified the testimony even while technically quoting correctly. The lie is in the framing, not the words.
Εἰς τὸ, « Λύσατε τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον " καὶ ὃν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγερῶ αὐτόν. » Ἐπειδὴ ἐνόμισας () ἐναντιολογίαν τινὰ γεγρά- φθαι ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ, ἐμήνυσας, δι᾽ ἣν αἰτίαν γευδομαρτυρίαν ἐχάλεσε () τὸ εἰρηχέναι () περὶ εἧς λύσεως χαὶ ἀναστάσεως τοῦ ναοῦ " εἴρηται γάρ" ἘΡΙΘΤΟΙΑΆΙΝ ,[Β. ΙΝ. -- ἘΡΙΤ. ΟΟΧΥΤΙ.
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Peter
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore explains why Matthew calls "false witnesses" those who reported Christ's words about destroying and raising the temple (John 2:19).
On the text: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" [John 2:19].
You thought there was a contradiction in the Gospels — you wrote to ask why Matthew calls "false witnesses" those who reported something Christ actually said.
The answer is in how they reported it. Christ said "this temple" meaning his body [John 2:21]. They repeated the words as though he was speaking of the stone building — which he was not. A witness who repeats words accurately but strips away the meaning intended by the speaker has falsified the testimony even while technically quoting correctly. The lie is in the framing, not the words.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.