Irenaeus of Lyons · a new plain-English translation from the original language
A demonstration that the Word of God was made flesh. Again, that our savior would not be a mere man, nor a fleshless being—since the angels have no flesh—he foretold, saying: Not an elder, nor a messenger, but the Lord in his own person will rescue them, because he loves them and will show them pity; he himself will set them free. And that this very one would appear truly as a man one could see, even though he was the rescuing Word, Isaiah says once more: Look, Zion, your own eyes will behold our deliverance, the city. And that it was not merely a man who died in our place, Isaiah says: And the holy Lord of Israel called to mind his dead ones who had fallen asleep in the ground of burial, and he went down among them to announce the deliverance that comes from him, so that he might rescue them. The prophet Amos declares the very same thing: He himself will turn back and show us pity; he will wipe away our wrongdoings, and cast our offenses down into the sea's depths. And once more, pointing to the place from which he would come, he says: The Lord has spoken from Zion, and Jerusalem has raised her voice. And that it was out of that district lying to the southern edge of Judah's allotted territory that the Son of God, who is himself God, would appear—he who came from Bethlehem, the town where the Lord was born—he will carry his praise out to the whole earth, as the prophet Habakkuk says: God shall come out of the south, and the Holy One out of Mount Ephrem [Paran]. His strength has covered the heavens, and the whole earth is filled with his praise. Ahead of his face the Word shall proceed, and his feet shall march over the level plains. This makes clear both that he is God, and that his arrival happened at Bethlehem, from Mount Ephrem, which lies toward the south side of the inheritance, and also that he was man. For the text says his feet shall march over the plains—a detail fitting for a man.