Then again, what king ever reigned and won victories over his enemies before he was able to call father or mother? Was not David thirty years old when he became king, and Solomon already a young man? Did not Joash enter the kingdom at seven years old, and Josiah, who came later, take up the rule at about seven? Yet even at that age they were able to call father or mother.
Who is there, then, who was reigning and despoiling his enemies almost before he was born? Let the Jews, after searching the matter, tell us whether there was ever such a king in Israel or Judah, one upon whom all the nations set their hope and with whom they had peace. Were they not instead hostile to them from every side?
As long as Jerusalem stood, there was constant war, and all fought against Israel: the Assyrians oppressed them, the Egyptians persecuted them, the Babylonians attacked them, and, remarkably, even the neighboring Syrians were at war with them. Did not David fight those in Moab and strike down the Syrians? Did not Josiah guard against his neighbors, and Hezekiah fear the boasting of Sennacherib? Did not Amalek make war on Moses, the Amorites oppose Joshua son of Nun, and the inhabitants of Jericho array themselves against him? In short, there was no peace of friendship between the nations and Israel. It is worth asking, then, who it is in whom the nations set their hope. There must be such a one, for the prophet cannot lie.
But which of the holy prophets or early patriarchs died on the cross for the salvation of all? Who was wounded and killed for the healing of all? Which righteous man or king went down to Egypt so that, by his coming, the idols of the Egyptians ceased? Abraham went down there, yet idolatry still prevailed everywhere. Moses was born there, and the worship of those in error remained no less.