I'm not sure what's going on with " 'H' [stands for] for eight " and " Here thou hast JESUS (IHSOYS) " in that translationSinouhe wrote: ↑Sun May 15, 2022 11:07 pm In my opinion, i think the first mention of the cross comes from the Epistle of Barnabas that I date before Justin martyr :
- Barnabas 9:7
Understand ye that He saith the eighteen first,
and then after an interval three hundred In the eighteen 'I'
stands for ten, 'H' for eight. Here thou hast JESUS (IHSOYS). And
because the cross in the 'T' was to have grace, He saith also three
hundred. So He revealeth Jesus in the two letters, and in the
remaining one the cross.
Codex Sinaiticus has IN as in "Here thou has IN" ie. Iota Nu (not Iota Eta nor IΣ, and certainly not ΙΗΣΕΟΣ, ΙΗΣΕΟΝ, etc.)
http://www.codex-sinaiticus.net/en/manu ... omSlider=0
And before "Understand ye that He saith the eighteen first" there's a clear reference to the Hebrew's scriptures with
"For the scripture saith; And Abraham circumcised of his household eighteen males and three hundred. What then was the knowledge given unto him? "
The previous verse/pericope/passage also has IN ie. Iota Nu
Learn therefore, children of love, concerning all things abundantly, that Abraham, who first appointed circumcision, looked forward in the spirit unto IN, when he circumcised having received the ordinances of three letters.
In Barnabas there's also
Barnabas 8.5: 5 Then there is the placing the wool on the tree [ξύλον]. This means that the kingdom of Jesus is on the tree [ξύλου], and that they who set their hope on Him shall live for ever.
and
Barnabas 12.1-4: 1 In like manner again He defineth concerning the cross in another prophet, who saith; And when shall these things be accomplished? saith the Lord. Whenever a tree shall be bended and stand upright, and whensoever blood shall drop from a tree. Again thou art taught concerning the cross, and Him that was to be crucified. 2 And He saith again in Moses, when war was waged against Israel by men of another nation, and that He might remind them when the war was waged against them that for their sins they were delivered unto death; the Spirit saith to the heart of Moses, that he should make a type of the cross and of Him that was to suffer, that unless, saith He, they shall set their hope on Him, war shall be waged against them for ever. Moses therefore pileth arms one upon another in the midst of the encounter, and standing on higher ground than any he stretched out his hands, and so Israel was again victorious. Then, whenever he lowered them, they were slain with the sword. 3 Wherefore was this? That they might learn that they cannot be saved, unless they should set their hope on Him. 4 And again in another prophet He saith; ''The whole day long have I stretched out My hands to a disobedient people that did gainsay My righteous way'' [Isaiah 65.2].
There's also a lot of other similar passages in other literature
See viewtopic.php?p=70033#p70033
(quoted here viewtopic.php?p=117402#p117402)