not only in that he is glorying, but also in that he has received reconciliation through Christ? And again, when he was magnificently celebrating the resurrection, he says: The Lord himself shall descend from heaven (1 Thess. 4:15). See how there too everything is accomplished through the Lord; and here, not through some servant, not through an angel or an archangel, but He Himself through Himself commanded Adam, honoring man with a twofold honor: in that He gave the law, and in that He gave it by Himself. How then did that man fall? Because of his own sloth; and as many as have received the law and have not fallen, but have performed even more than had been commanded, show this. But since I see that this time is pressing us into a narrow constraint, we shall defer the discourse to another dissertation: you, however, keep what has been said safe, and hold it in memory, and teach those who have not heard, and let each one meditate on these things in church, in the marketplace, and at home. A For nothing is more pleasant than sacred reading. Hear indeed what the prophet says about it: How sweet are your utterances to my throat, more than honey and the honeycomb to my mouth (Ps. 118:103). Therefore, set this honeycomb upon the evening table, so that you may fill it all with spiritual delight. Do you not see wealthy men, how after their banquets they introduce citharists and flute-players? They make their homes a theater; you, make your home a heaven. And you will do this, not by changing the walls or moving the foundations, but if you invite the Lord of the heavens Himself to your table. B God does not blush at such banquets. For where there is spiritual doctrine, there also is temperance, and modesty, and gentleness; where husband and wife and children are bound together by the bonds of concord and friendship, there Christ dwells in the midst. For He does not seek a golden ceiling, nor the radiance of columns, nor the beauty of marble; but the beauty of the soul and the form of the mind, and a table filled with justice and abounding in the fruits of almsgiving. And if He shall see a table of such a kind, straightway He becomes a participant in such a gathering, and introduces Himself into it. For He is the one who said, You saw me hungering and you fed me (Matt. 25:35). When you hear of a poor man, and then give to the needy something of those things which have been set upon the table, you have invited the Lord to the table through a servant, and you have filled it all with the blessings of God, and by offering the firstfruits, you have provided the greatest occasion for your storehouses to be filled with many good things. C But the God of peace and charity, who gives bread for eating (2 Cor. 9:10), and seed to him who sows, may He multiply your sowing, and increase the fruits of justice in you all, giving His own grace, and may He deem us worthy of the kingdom of heaven: of which may it come to pass that we all become participants, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory, honor, and power, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.
NOTICE CONCERNING THE SERMON
This sermon, delivered after a long interval of time following eight others, was placed in this series not only because it treats at greater length of Abraham and Noah, but also because not a few things are contained here which are similar to, indeed almost the same as, those in the Homilies on Genesis. Furthermore, he delivered this Sermon in the same year in which he delivered the thirty-two prior Homilies on Genesis, and the Homilies on the beginning of the Acts, and on the change of names. The account of its chronology you have explained in the Notice to the Homilies on the beginning of the Acts in Volume 3 (col. 63), and likewise in the Notice to the Homilies on the change of names in the same Volume (col. 114). But in which year this great series of homilies and sermons was delivered, we have not yet been able to discover. That alone we have as certain and well-ascertained, that all were delivered after the year 387. On that matter...SERMON IX.
How one ought to rebuke the sins of brethren, and that it is fitting to have care for their salvation, and why Abram was called Abraham, and concerning the name of Noah: that it was not in vain or without cause that those just men were called by these names, but with the providence of God so ordering. D I would have liked to take the prologue of the present sermon, if indeed you could know what was recently said by us, and how the sermon was finished. But because many of those who were present recently are not present today, and of those who are present now, some were absent recently, the variety of the audience compels that the things which were recently said should be repeated: whence also those who had heard the sermon before may better fix in their minds the memory of what was said. We resolved a while ago, from where it is necessary to take it up again today, immediately from the prologues of the things said previously. But since many of those listening today were not present then, it is necessary to furnish an explanation of the things said to those now present, so that both they and those who followed the discourse from the beginning may more firmly grasp...A the teaching, as it is being made more well-known to them from the start. And indeed, those who are always present might perhaps say that for this very reason it was not necessary to repeat what had been said, so that those who remained away and despised the assemblies, having suffered the harm in reality, might become better, being disciplined by the loss. 688 But I praise you, that you are so stung on behalf of the sloth of the brothers, and I admire your zeal; but I wish for you to temper this zeal with philanthropy. For zeal deprived of forgiveness is not zeal, but rather anger; and admonition, having no philanthropy, seems to be a kind of envy. For this reason, I urge you all the more, not to judge the sins of your neighbors bitterly. For just as he who looks upon the wounds of his brothers without forgiveness, if ever he himself should sin, will find no one to grant him forgiveness; so he who judges the failings of his neighbors with mercy, if ever he should be tripped up, will see many stretching out a hand. And I say these things now, not wishing to increase the sloth of those who remained away, but striving to intensify our care, that it might be done with reason and affection. For we also, on the previous day, extended many and long discourses against them, and we said they were not even human, as you remember, having set up as accusers against them two foremost prophets: the one saying, "I came, and there was no man; I called, and there was no one to listen" (Isa. 50:2); and the other crying out again and asking: "To whom shall I speak and testify? Their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot hear" (Jer. 6:10). And with these and such-like things we strongly stung their mind. But now we admonish them again; for so also Paul commanded: "Reprove," he says, "rebuke, exhort" (2 Tim. 4:2). For one ought not to do this always, nor that alone, but having mixed both, to work out a perfected benefit. For if we reprove continually, we make them more shameless; and if we exhort continually, we make them more slothful. For this reason, also, physicians do not only cut, but they also bind up wounds; nor do they always apply bitter medicines, but often mild ones as well; by those former ones cleansing away the rot and decay, and by these latter ones soothing the pain from the former. For this reason, also, Paul says elsewhere: "Brothers, if a man be overtaken in any transgression, you who are spiritual, restore such a one, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted" (Gal. 6:1). Excellent admonition, perfected counsel, having much care, showing paternal bowels; truly the words are of Paul’s tongue, brothers. Immediately from the name of kinship he drew the hearer toward goodwill. You have loosed the same labor pains with him, you were nourished on the same food, you have had the same father, you have shared with him in the spiritual birth; therefore, demonstrate this kinship also in the correction of failings. "If he be overtaken." He did not say, "If he sin," but he took refuge in a form of sin that has forgiveness. For "if he be overtaken," that is, if he be circumvented, 689 if he be deceived; not speaking of him who sinned through practice, but of him who is striving to do well, but is tripped up by a demonic trial. For such a one is not so much deserving of accusation as of forgiveness. "If a man be overtaken." Again he took refuge in another form of forgiveness, the weakness of nature, which he hinted at through the appellation. Just as, therefore, the great Job, wishing to draw down forgiveness from God, said: "What is man, that You consider him, and have made an inspection of his sins?" (Job 7:17), so let us also do, whenever we intercede for some of those who have sinned, saying continuously, "He is a man," and reminding them of nature, and through this drawing the indignant one toward mercy. For this reason, also, Paul took refuge in nature and its meanness, saying, "If a man be overtaken in any transgression." He does not simply say great sins, which are beyond forgiveness and not worthy of philanthropy, but the small and constrained ones. "You who are spiritual." The one who sinned is a man, but those who are setting things right are spiritual. There he stated the name of nature; here he placed the title of virtue. But great is the distance between man and the spiritual. "You who are spiritual." If you are spiritual, show me your strength, not from your own salvation, but from the help [given] to those who have fallen. For this is the mark of a spiritual person, not to neglect his own members as if they were abandoned. "Restore such a one." Make him unhandled, he says, unconquerable, proof against the devil. "Considering yourself, lest you also be tempted."
§ 2. This is the greatest counsel, a compelling admonition. Even if he who hears is a stone, the word is sufficient to frighten him and to rouse him to the recovery of the one who has fallen. Do you not wish, he says, to have mercy as a brother? Do you not wish, since he is a man, to grant forgiveness? Do you not wish, as a spiritual person, to stretch out a hand? Consider the things concerning yourself, and you will not have need of the counselor to help the one who is lying down; rather, receive the admonition from your own self. How, and in what way? "Considering yourself," he says, "lest you also be tempted." He did not say, "For you will certainly sin," so that he might not make the word more burdensome; but how? "Lest you also be tempted." Perhaps you will sin, perhaps you will not sin. Since, therefore, the future is unknown, lay up for yourself a contribution of philanthropy, through which, [by what] you do for your neighbor, if ever you should be overturned, you will find a great storehouse of forgiveness laid up. He did not say, "Lest you also sin," "lest you also fall"—attend precisely to the power of the words themselves—but, "Lest you also be tempted." He showed that we have a pirate 690 as an enemy; and the pirate does not have an agreed-upon time for his attack, but he attacks us often even when we are sleeping and slothful; for this reason, that one who was overtaken is also worthy of forgiveness, since he was caught by a pirate. For the battle was not manifest to him, nor was the time of the war agreed upon, but he attacked him while he was unaware, and for this reason he prevailed. Thus also those who sail this great and wide sea act. Even if the ship is carried for them by favorable winds, and even if they enjoy full security, should they see others shipwrecked from afar, they do not toward their own...
the ship, and let down the anchors, and draw in the sails, and launch out with cables, and cast out planks, so that he who is on the point of being submerged by the waves, taking hold of these, might escape shipwreck. Do you also imitate the sailors, O man; for the sea is vast and spacious, namely, this present life, which has wild beasts, and is full of hidden rocks and A lurking reefs, a sea troubled by many waves and storms, and in which many frequently suffer shipwreck. When, therefore, you see one of those who are sailing lose the wealth of his salvation through some diabolical predicament, and tossing among the waves, and on the point of being submerged, stay the ship, and, leaving your own business, provide for his salvation immediately. For he who is beginning to be submerged does not brook delay or procrastination. Stand, therefore, quickly, and snatch him from the waves, and do everything so that you may drag him up from the depth of destruction; even if a myriad of affairs pulls you elsewhere, let nothing be considered more necessary than the salvation of one so laboring; for if you should wish to delay for a little while, he will be lost by the raging storm. Hence, in such great dangers, there is need of great haste and zeal. Listen to how Paul, having seen a man B being cast into the deep, is anxious and troubled, and rouses others. "Confirm your love toward him," he says, "lest by any means such a one should be swallowed up by overmuch sorrow" (2 Cor. ii. 8, 7). And for this reason he commands that the hand be offered immediately, so that, meanwhile, while we are delaying, he does not settle into being swallowed up. Let us, therefore, exercise care for our brethren.
By what sign Christians are recognized
This is the summary of our life; this is the mark by which we are recognized as to whether we are Christians, when we not only regard our own affairs, but also correct and instruct our perverse members. This is the greatest proof of faith. "In this," he says, "shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John xiii. 35). But sincere love is declared not by communion of the table, not by brief conversation, not by the flattery of words, but by zeal in considering what is profitable for one's neighbor, that he who has fallen may be raised up, and that the hand may be extended to those who are neglectful of their salvation, so that the things of the neighbor may be sought before one's own. This is true love. For "love seeketh not its own," but sees the things of the neighbor before its own, so that through them it may see its own (1 Cor. xiii. 5). And I myself am now not using such long discourses for my own sake, but for your sakes. Therefore, hear also, not for your own sakes, but for the sake of others who are to be instructed by you. For the body of the Church is nourished through the cohesion of the members. Just as, therefore, C a member that keeps all its food to itself, and does not share it with its neighbor, both injures itself and corrupts the rest of the body—take, for instance, the stomach: if it stores up the food alone, it both corrupts the rest of the body with hunger, and destroys itself by its own insatiable wickedness; but if it accepts as much as is enough for its own portion, and transmits the rest to the other members, it preserves both itself and the rest of the body in good health—so also you now, if you hold on to the things you hear from us, and do not share them with others, will both trouble him and destroy yourself by your own intemperance, and bring upon yourself the most grievous maladies, sloth and envy. For the [omission due to bad OCR/text] is through wickedness, or laziness, or sloth, that we do not share with others. On the contrary, if you cast away envy and transmit the nourishment to others, you shall be profitable both to yourself and to them. But for these things, enough has been said.
3. Now it would be worth the effort to come to the consequence of those things which were spoken of before. What then were those things? We were inquiring then about Saul and Paul, why at one time Saul, and at another time Paul, was he called; and from there we digressed into the history of many names. But because we have once started on this path, it does not seem worthy that, when a useful negotiation still presents itself, we should neglect to grasp it as we pass. For although we arrived at this topic because of Paul, nevertheless we can also discover the reasons for other names through this negotiation. Just as merchants who sail the sea, and go off into distant lands even for the sake of certain trifles: when they have come into the sought-after city, and have seen the abundance of other things useful to them, besides those for which they departed from their country, they trade for much more than they had intended. And if anyone should reproach them, they defend themselves with these words: "We have come a long way, we have endured many storms, many dangers; we have undertaken a voyage across the sea: what then prevents our negotiation from becoming more expansive?" It is proper that we too should be allowed to say such things. For seeking about the names of Paul, we found in the sequence [that which is] like a merchandising of other names: namely, that Peter was previously called Simon; and the sons of Zebedee, John and James, were called "sons of thunder." We have also found in the Old [Testament] Abraham, who before this was called Abram; and Jacob, who was named Israel; and Sarai, Sarah. We have found, besides this, that for others, names had not been changed as for these, but they retained the names imposed on them from the beginning, such as John the Baptist, Isaac, and Adam. Therefore, it would be absurd and the extreme of sloth to cast away such a treasure from our hands. For this reason we have made the discourse longer, and because we spoke before of those who retained their first name, today the intention is to speak about those with two names, or those who are called by a double name, of whom one is Abraham. Adam was always called by the same name; Isaac did not receive another appellation, but from the beginning to the end was called Isaac. But the father of Isaac was indeed called Abram before, but afterwards Abraham. For God said to him: "Thy name shall not be called Abram anymore, but Abraham shall be thy name" (Gen. xvii. 5). For he was called Abram before: but this name is not Greek, nor is it of our tongue, but he is so called in the language of the Hebrews. What then does this name mean? "Transitor" (b). For "Abram" in the voice of the Syrians is the same as "across" or "beyond," and those who are skilled in his language know it. There is also great...
alled Abram before, but this name is not Greek, nor is it our language, but it is spoken thus by the Hebrews. What then is this name translated? A traveler. For indeed Abram in the A Syrian tongue is called "the one from beyond," and all who are experienced in this language know it. There is indeed much affinity between the Syrian language and the Hebrew tongue. And why, he says, was he called a traveler? The land of Judea, that is to say, all of Palestine, which extends from Egypt to the Euphrates, lies to the west of Babylonia, from whence Abraham came; and a river flows through the midst of both, a common boundary for each land. Since, therefore, he was not from Palestine, but came from "beyond," from Babylonia, for this reason he received the name from both the place and the event, and was called a traveler, because he came from "beyond." And why did he come from "beyond"? Because God commanded it. And why did God command it? To show the obedience of the righteous man. And how did he show the obedience of the righteous man? In that, because of His command, he left his own land and exchanged it for a foreign one. Do you see what a long chain is woven from the name of the righteous man? This name has opened B to us an entire sea of history. Learn, then, his ancient name, so that when you see him inhabiting Palestine, being guided by his name toward his ancient fatherland, and learning the cause for which he left it, you may take sufficient consolation toward the same zeal. For he was a man who, before the Law and the age of the Law, demonstrated a philosophy in grace, and that which Christ later said to the disciples: "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother," who shall not receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life; this he did through his deeds before the grace of the Gospel. And it is possible to see the philosophy of the righteous man not from this alone, but also from the promise of God itself. "Come," He says, "into the land that I will show you." For even if both homelands were visible, yet the one was his own, and the other was foreign; and the one was manifest, and the other was obscure; and the one was in his hands, and the other was in hopes; and yet he left behind things manifest and clear and in his hands, and ran toward things hidden and obscure and of which he was not yet the master, so that He might persuade and teach you that when God commands one to leave behind things that are clear, and to look toward things that are hidden, one should not contradict nor dispute. For things in our hands are not as clear as those things which are in our hopes; the present life is not as clear as that which is to come. For this one we see with our own eyes, that one we see with the eyes of faith; this one we see lying in our hands, that one we see being kept also by the promises of God. C
Chapter 4: The promises of God are most certain; human affairs are most uncertain
The promises of God, however, are far more certain than those things which are in our hands. Do you wish to learn how this life is indeed ever in uncertainty, while the life to come, which appears to be obscure, is more manifest than the present, and more certain and permanent? Let us examine, if you like, the bright things of the present life: wealth, glory, power, the honors given by men; and you will see that none of these is certain. For what is more untrustworthy than wealth, which often does not stay with us until evening? For just as a thankless fugitive, it continually shifts from this person to that, and again from that one to another. Such is glory as well. For the one who before this was bright and distinguished, suddenly becomes dishonored and nameless; and the opposite again occurs. And just as one cannot see a wheel that is being turned [continuously] at the same part of its rim—for through the speed of the spinning, the top is always becoming the bottom, and vice versa—so also the course of our affairs, being continuously turned, makes the top the bottom; so it is with wealth, and with power, and with all other things. It never stands upon the same base, but mimics the currents of rivers, never standing anywhere at any time. What then could be more obscure than these things, which are so continuously changing, and which flee even before they appear, and leap away before they arrive? For this reason also the prophet, when discussing luxury and wealth and such things, and looking upon those who gape at them as if they endure, says: "They considered these things as standing, and not as fleeing." He did not say "passing away," but what is much greater, "fleeing"; for they do not depart gently, but with great speed. But the patriarch was not so; rather, leaving all these things behind, he looked only toward the promises from God, smoothing the path for us toward the faith of things to come, so that when God promises you things to come and not seen, you may not say that those things are obscure and hidden. For those hidden things are clearer than these visible things, if we possess the eyes of faith. For even if we have not seen them, yet God promised and pledged them. When God makes a promise, no change touches the promises; so that those things mostly remain and are fixed in the hand of God. For no one, He says, can snatch from the hand of God. "No one can snatch out of the hand of my Father." Since, therefore, no one can snatch from the hand of God, it remains safely in a secure treasure forever. But these things are subject to all kinds of changes and turnings; for this reason, we often endure the labor of them, but are deprived of their end. In the case of those hopes, this is not so, but it is necessary that he who has labored must also attain the crowns. "For hope does not disappoint." For it is a promise of God, and the gifts imitate the one who promised. Leave aside, therefore, things that are hidden, and hold fast to the things that are manifest; for the manifest things are not the present ones, but the things to come. And if some, being struck by present things, look down upon those to come, because they are weaker than the height of that hope, for this reason they look down, not because these things are hidden and obscure. Observe, therefore, the philosophy of the righteous man. God promised him visible things, and he sought intelligible ones. And where did God promise him visible things, while he himself wanted intelligible ones? "Go out," He says, "from your land, and from your kindred, and from the house of your father, and come into the land that I will show you." Both the former land and the one to be given later were visible. What then of him? Or rather, let us not listen to him, but let us listen to Paul speaking about him, so that we may learn that he was not looking toward this land, even if He had promised it. But the promises of God are far more powerful than our hands. Do you wish to learn how this present life lies always in uncertainty, while that one to come, which seems to be obscure, is more manifest than the present and more certain and permanent? Let us examine, if it pleases you, the bright things of the present life: wealth, glory, power, the honors from men; and you will see that none of these is certain. For what is more untrustworthy than wealth, which often does not stay with us until evening? For just as a thankless fugitive, it continually shifts from this person to that, and again from that one to another. Such also is glory. For the one who before this was bright and distinguished, suddenly becomes dishonored and nameless. What then does Paul say? "In faith died all these," speaking about Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the righteous. For not Abraham alone, but all were participants in the same philosophy. "In faith all these died, not having received the promises, but..."A seeing them from afar." What do you say? Did Abraham not obtain the promises? Did he not come into Palestine? Are those things which were said, then, a lie? By no means, he says. He came indeed into Palestine, yet he did not look to this, but desired another which is in the heavens. And Paul is a witness of this fact when he adds: "And they confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Heb. XI, 13). Is he a stranger who has received such a fatherland and such a region? Tell me, I pray. Certainly, he says; for he did not look to this one, but to heaven. "For they that say such things," he says, "declare plainly that they seek a country," of which "the builder and maker is God" (Ibid. vv. 14, 10)—that is to say, the heavenly and supernal Jerusalem. You have seen how God promised him a physical one, and how he himself sought the supernal Jerusalem? "For they that say such things," he says, "declare that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly" (Ibid. vv. 15, 16). Thus, the promise is physical, but the desire of the righteous man is spiritual. But we do quite the opposite. To him God promised Palestine, but he looked to heaven; to us heaven has been promised, and we tend toward the earth.
Chapter 5: Resumes the doctrine derived from the history of Abraham
B These things we have gained from the name of Abraham, having learned how he was convicted through his endpoints, and that he left his own land and moved to one that was foreign. And having indeed passed by the things that were certain, he looked toward those that were uncertain; and having cast away the things in his hands, he stretched toward those things that were by faith, and having taken hold of sensible things, he reached toward the intelligible, and this was before grace, before the law, before the teaching of the prophets. Whence it is manifest that he lacked a teacher, and that nature was sufficient for him, moving the thoughts of conscience so as to find the Maker of the universe. And for this reason he was called Abram, a name which his parents gave him for this reason. But perhaps someone might say immediately: "This is a lie. For were the parents of Abraham righteous? Did they please God? Did they know the future? Did they foresee the promise to be given by the Lord? Were they not impious and idolaters, and more than barbarians?" I know this too, and for this reason I praise the righteous man, that having such parents, he became such a man. For it is truly rare and admirable for a sweet fruit to be produced from a wild root. But sons living piously are not to be accused on account of the wickedness of their parents; rather, if anything is to be said that is admirable, it is that they are to be praised all the more because, having not received piety from their parents, nor having those to lead them by the hand, as if traveling in a desert and trackless waste, they were able to find the way that leads to heaven. C It is not, therefore, a crime to have an impious father, but to imitate the father's impiety; and it is the greatest crime, not that we have wicked parents, but that we do not take care of them, nor do we strive with all our might to rescue them from their impiety. Accordingly, where we have brought help to their souls as much as lies in us, if they remain in their wickedness, we are immune from all blame and reproach. But I have said these things so that you, beloved, might not be troubled when you hear that Abraham had an impious father. For Timothy also was allotted an impious father; for he was the son of a Judean woman, a faithful mother, but of a Greek father (Acts XVI, 1). And that his father remained in impiety and was not converted is manifest from this: for Paul, praising the faith of Timothy, says thus: "Which dwelt in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also" (II Tim. I, 5). Because, remaining in impiety, he was not worthy to be numbered with his son. And that the apostles had wicked fathers, Christ declared when He said: "If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, in whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges" (Matt. XII, 27). But let not this trouble or offend you. For from this we learn that vice and virtue are not of nature, but of the will. Indeed, if it were of nature, the evil would absolutely beget the evil, and the good the good; but because it is of election and will to be upright or wicked, for this reason often there have been good sons to wicked fathers, and studious fathers to slothful sons, so that we may always attribute these things not to nature, D but to the will. But since the parents of Abraham, as I have said, were impious, how did they give him this name? It was the work of Divine wisdom, dispensing through an unbelieving tongue that the boy be given a name having within it the history of future things. For He declared the same power also in Balaam, forcing him to prophesy things to come (Num. XXII), declaring that He can rule not only in His own, but also in the alien. And so that you may learn that parents, even those who are not very pious, are often unknowingly giving names to the righteous which manifest much of the dispensation of the future, we shall teach this also by another example. Lamech, who was the father of Noah, that Noah in whose time the flood occurred, was not righteous, was not pleasing to God, was not approved by God: for if he had been righteous, if he had been pleasing and acceptable to God, he would not have said, "Noah" alone "was found perfect in his generation" (Gen. VI, 9), nor would he have passed over the father of this man, if he had been righteous. Why, then, did he impose a name on the boy which held the primary history of future things, and the name of the righteous man was a prophecy? (Gen. V, 29). For his name signified the future flood. How? He called his name in the Hebrew language Noah, which is interpreted "author of rest." For *Nia* in the language of the Syrians is rest. Just as, therefore, Abraham is so named from *Abar*, which is "across" or "beyond," and Adam from *Edem*, which is "earth," because he is earthly; so this one was called Noah from *Nia*, that is, "author of rest": and the added particle declares this. For he called his name Noah, saying, "This same shall comfort us" (Gen. V, 29), calling the flood "rest." For because the flood was to take place under him, and the flood was death, but death is rest for a man (Job III, 17), he therefore called him the author of rest.
6. And that I am not forcing the interpretation, let us hear this from Scripture itself. *Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-eight years, and begat a son, and called his name Noah, saying: This one shall give us rest from our labors, and from the sorrows, and from the works of our hands, and from the earth, which the Lord cursed* (Gen. 5. 28, 29). What are you saying? "He shall give us rest"? And why, you might ask, did he not say: "This one will kill us," or "This one will cause the flood to happen"? Why did he say: "He shall give us rest"? The whole creation was transformed; the abysses broke forth from below, and the cataracts were opened from above. Everything was a strange, paradoxical, and terrifying sea, and in a common grave of mud, the bodies of men, horses, and wild beasts were hidden. And such evils—tell me—such a great disaster, do you call that "rest"? Yes, he says. For because men were living in wickedness, and the flood cut off that wickedness, those who were delivered from wickedness found rest. For just as when a body B is seized by various diseases and finds no remedy, if death comes and takes it, it has found rest; so too, that generation of men, like a body suffering from incurable diseases and gripped by many terrors, having no consolation, was snatched away and given rest by the arrival of the flood. For if death is a rest for a man, much more is death a rest for those living irremediably in wickedness, delivering them from their labors and not allowing the pasture of their malice to spread further, nor the burden of their sins to become heavier than it already was. For nothing is as heavy and unbearable C as the nature of sin; nothing provides us with as much toil and pain as the form of wickedness and transgressions. For this reason, Christ said to those living in sins: *Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest* (Matt. 11. 28). For this reason, Lamech also called the flood "rest," because it arrived and halted wickedness. I wished to extend this discourse further; for much still remains concerning the naming of Noah, but for now, store these things in the memory of your minds, and mention this to our brothers who are absent, so that we may not be compelled again to make our introductions longer; then, taking up the sequence of what has been said, let us conclude the discourse with prayers, giving thanks to God who granted us to speak these things, for to Him is the glory, unto the ages of ages. Amen.