But now, so that the terms 'creation' and 'establishing' would not stand in the way of belief in the divine birth, these words follow: Before He made the earth, before He made the mountains firm, before all the hills He begot Me.⁠a So He Who is established before the ages is begotten before the earth; and not only before the earth, but also before the mountains and hills. And indeed in these expressions, since Wisdom is speaking of itself, more is meant than is said. For all the objects used to convey the idea of infinity must be such that they come after no single thing and no class of things in time. But things existing in time cannot possibly serve to indicate eternity; for, because they come after other things, they cannot suggest the thought of infinity as a beginning, since they themselves have their own beginning in time. For what wonder is it that God should have begotten the Lord Christ before the earth, when the origin of the angels is found to be prior to the creation of the earth? Or why should He Who was said to be begotten before the earth also be declared born before the mountains, and not only before the mountains but also before the hills, when the hills are mentioned as an afterthought after the mountains, and reason requires that there be a world before mountains could exist? For these reasons it cannot be supposed that these words were used merely so that He might be understood to exist prior to hills and mountains and earth, when by the eternity of His own infinity He surpasses things that are themselves prior to earth and mountains and hills.