and as such is a μὴ ὄν, waiting in readiness to come into existence forthwith, as soon as the creative καλεῖν is uttered. The other passage is Heb. 11:3, where it is said that the world-system in all its parts, οἱ αἰῶνες, was created by God’s word, εἰς τὸ μὴ ἐκ φαινομένων τὸ βλεπόμενον γεγονέναι. Here, also, the writer purposely avoids saying οὐκ ἐξ ὄντων, as 2 Macc. 7:28 (although this expression might have been justified, as in the sense of creatio ex nihilo, by way of excluding