ADAM HOMILY SUBSEQUENT
However, he who said that this homily was put together by a recent Greek did not treat the matter with sufficient accuracy. For Anastasius Sinaita, a writer of the sixth century, in *Question on Scripture* LIX, which bears the title, *Why does the Apostle say, I do not permit a woman to teach?*, ascribes a great part of this homily verbatim to Chrysostom, starting from these words: "No wild beast can be compared with a wicked and talkative woman. For what is more terrible than a lion, etc."; and he ends with these words: "He, therefore, who has a wicked wife, let him know that he is already receiving the reward of iniquity; for the Wise Man says: 'A wicked woman shall be given to a sinful man'." What you will find surprising is that the very same words, neither more nor less, are found verbatim in opusculum 49 of St. Ephrem, entitled *Against Wicked Women*, with no difference other than what the divergence of interpreters has caused. From this it may be deduced that an inept writer borrowed this addition from St. Ephrem. We reject the prior Latin interpretation, which was adorned [καταφραστικῶς], and have prepared a new one.
ON THE BEHEADING OF THE PRECURSOR AND BAPTIST JOHN, AND ON HERODIAS
A 1. Herodias is raging again, she is rousing the crowds again, she is dancing again, she is seeking again that the head of John the Baptist be unjustly severed by Herod. Jezebel is going about again, seeking to seize Naboth's vineyard and to persecute the holy Elijah in the mountains. I believe that I am not alone in falling into a state of astonishment, but that all of you who hear the voice of the Gospel are also amazed along with me—amazed at John’s boldness, at Herod’s levity, and at the beastly madness of those godless women. For what have we heard? "For Herod, having seized John, put him in prison." Why? For the sake of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. And one might blame Herod’s levity for being led astray by wicked women. But what could one say, or how could one describe the unrestrained wickedness of those women? To me, indeed, it seems there is no beast in the world comparable to a wicked woman. But my discourse is now about a wicked woman, not about a good and chaste one. For I know many decent and good women whose lives I ought to recount, and whose character is for the edification and love of noble things. I know, indeed, that there are many good and honest women whose lives it would be worthwhile to recount for the sake of edification and the excitement of good affections. B Therefore, there is no beast in the world comparable to a wicked woman. What is more terrible than a lion among quadrupeds? Nothing. Or what is more savage than a serpent among reptiles? Nothing. Yet both the lion and the serpent are lesser in their wickedness. And the most wise Solomon bears witness to my speech, saying: "It is better to dwell with a lion and a dragon than with a wicked and talkative woman." And so that you may not think the prophet has spoken in irony, learn it accurately from the very facts. The lions respected Daniel in the den, but Jezebel murdered the righteous Naboth; the sea-monster kept Jonah in its belly, but Delilah, having shorn and bound Samson, delivered him to the foreigners; dragons and asps and vipers made John tremble in the desert, but Herodias severed his head at a banquet; the ravens fed Elijah on the mountain, but Jezebel, after that benefit of the Lord, pursued him for slaughter. For what was she saying? "If you are Elijah and I am Jezebel, may the gods do so to me and more also, if I do not make your soul by this time tomorrow as the soul of one of the dead." And Elijah was afraid, and went for his life, and went into the desert a journey of forty days.
A And he came under Rathmen, and requested for his soul that it might die, and said: "Lord God, let it now suffice me; take my soul from me, for I am not better than my fathers" (III Kings 19:4). Woe is me! Did Elijah the prophet fear a woman? He who carried the rain of the world upon his tongue, who brought down fire from heaven, and by his prayer raised the dead—did he fear a woman? Yes, he did fear. For no wickedness can be compared to a wicked woman. My word is attested by Wisdom, which says: B "There is no head above the head of a serpent, and no malice above the malice of a woman" (Ecclus. 25:22-23). O evil and most acute weapon of the devil! Through a woman, from the beginning, he pierced Adam in Paradise; through a woman he drove the most mild David to the treacherous murder of Uriah; through a woman he led the most wise Solomon to transgression; through a woman he blinded the most strong Samson when shorn; through a woman he overthrew the sons of Eli the priest; through a woman he shut up the most noble Joseph in prison; through a woman he cut off the head of John, the lamp of the world. And why do I speak of men? Through a woman he casts angels down from heaven; through a woman he slays all, dishonors all, afflicts all with contumely. For a shameless woman spares no one; she does not honor the Levite, she does not reverence the priest, she does not respect the prophet. C O evil, worse than every evil, a wicked woman! If she be needy, she is made rich in malice; if she have means, she has malice as her cooperator—it is a double evil, an intolerable animal, an incurable disease, a savage beast. I know well that asps are made tame by flatteries, and lions and tigers and leopards are rendered tractable; but if a wicked woman be injured, she rages; if she be coaxed, she is puffed up. If she is a prince's wife, by night and day she excites her husband to commit treacherous murder, as Herodias did Herod; if she has a poor husband, she stirs him up to quarrels and fighting; if she is a widow, she alone brings disgrace upon all. For her tongue is not reined in by the fear of the Lord; she does not look to the coming judgment, nor to God himself; she knows not how to keep the laws of friendship. A wicked woman counts it as nothing to betray her own husband to death. Certainly, his wife was handing over the righteous Job to the death of blasphemy, saying: "Speak some word against the Lord, and die" (Job 2:9). O wicked nature! D O abandoned mind! She did not pity the entrails of her husband, swollen with pustules like burning coals and parched, his entire flesh teeming with worms; she was not turned to commiseration, seeing him all covered therewith, infirm, struggling in his agony, and with frequent panting, with gaping mouth, enduring these things; she was not moved to mercy, seeing him who once walked in royal purple, then lying naked in the dung; she did not remember his former conduct, nor how much glory, how many good things had flourished through him. But what? "Speak a word against the Lord, and die." O the grace of a wife! O the poultice for soothing sorrows! O the law of conjugal friendship! Did she ever say anything like this to you when you were sick? Did she not cure your disease with prayers and cares? Was not that temporary chastisement enough for her, that you should cast him into eternal punishment for blasphemy? Or are you ignorant of that saying, "Every blasphemy and sin shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, neither in the world to come" (Matt. 12:31)? Do you wish to see another equal to this malice? Look upon Delilah. For she, too, betrayed the most strong Samson, shorn and bound, to the aliens (Judg. 16)—to be sure, her own husband, the partner of the same bed, whom she cherished, whom she flattered, whom she pretended to hold dearer than herself; whom she loved yesterday, she deceived today; whom yesterday she cherished by loving, today she buried by deceiving. But was he not handsome? Who was handsomer at that time, he who carried seven locks upon his head, the image of the sevenfold grace? But was he not strong? And who was stronger than he, who alone suffocated a terrible lion in the way, and with the one jawbone of an ass laid low a thousand aliens? But was he not holy? He was holy to such a degree that when he was once thirsty from the lack of water, he obtained by prayer that water should gush forth from the very jawbone which he held, and thus he assuaged his thirst. And yet his wife betrayed such a handsome, such a strong, such a holy man to the aliens as though he were an enemy. And from whence was a woman able to overcome such a strenuous man? From the man's own goodness. For when she had stolen the secret cause of his strength by night, she subdued him, naked, with very strong bonds. Therefore Wisdom instructs you in this: "Keep yourself from your spouse, that you may not commit anything to her" (Mich. 7:5). What beast, I ask, has ever plotted such a thing against its male? What she-dragon desires to destroy her male? What hyena hands her male over to death? Do you see how aptly Wisdom said: "There is no head above the head of a serpent, and no malice above the malice of a woman" (Ecclus. 25:22-23)? In sum, let him who has a wicked wife know that he has already received the reward for his own iniquities. This is not without testimony: hear Wisdom saying: "A wicked woman shall be given to a wicked man for his evil deeds." But let these things suffice concerning a wicked woman.
Regarding the virtuous, to set forth a discourse of good things, especially because of those women who are present.
For the virtues of good women look to one another as if they were their own, and they deem the labors of those virtuous women to be their own crowns. A good and hospitable woman was the blessed Shunamite, who, having exhorted her husband, built a little room for Elisha, that as he passed through he might rest there freely (IV Kings 4); and she placed for him a bed, a lamp, and a table—a bed not empty of coverings, but one that had trappings suitable for a prophet; a lamp not without a wick, but with oil also fostering the flame; a table not without bread, but furnished with victuals. But what would you say of that blessed widow who received Elijah the prophet? Whom poverty did not hinder because of the riches of her good will (III Kings 17)? To whom there was no grain, wine, or pottage, no earthly sustenance for the consolation of her poverty: her field did not provide bread enough for the grain, her vineyard did not minister sweet grapes, her tree did not produce most delicious fruits. For how could she have them, she for whom there was not space for a palm of arable land, nor even a cubit of ground for planting a vine; but at harvest time, she was always bent in the fields, gathering with her hand the ears of corn falling from the reapers, and thus she stored up food for the duration of the passing year? Elijah approached this woman in the time of famine, when, because no rain was descending, the whole earth had withered; when the sky was like iron, the air like brass, and the clouds were held back; when no herb, no flower, no budding of fruits, no dewy air, no green ear was waving, and the heat was constricting the udders of the springs; the sea had increased its saltiness, because fresh water was not flowing in, and the rains were suppressed. Then Elijah approached that poor widow. You know how much a widow suffers even in a time of plenty. Passing over the rich who enjoyed abundance of bread, the prophet, descending from the mountain, approached her. Why did he who brought down fire from heaven by a mere word not bring down loaves for himself? Could he not? Assuredly he could; but he did not. Why? Lest he deprive the widow of the fruits of hospitality. But otherwise, he increases her handful of flour and a little oil by his blessing. For the prophet was hastening not so much for his own sake as for the sustenance of the poor widow, that he might manifest her good and hidden intention of mind. God does this, He who can feed all the saints who are in the world: He retains the gift, so that He may discern the good intentions of hearts, in a time of hospitality, from their fruits. But when there are none who can receive those fruits, He feeds them either through birds, as He did Elijah on the mountain; or through a prophet sent from afar, as He did Daniel in the pit; or through [index: entries preserved]and as water from the rock commanded to spring forth; but when the holy ones abide in the world together with others, He restrains His right hand, and when He sees them struggling, He leaves them, that He may give grace through the many kind acts done to them by those desiring to reap salvation. A Elias went therefore to the widow, who had nothing, except a handful of flour, which provided for her and her children at the time of the midday meal. And what says he to her? Take me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going, he cried after her: You shall take me also a morsel of bread in your hand. But she confessed what she did not have; as for what she had, she acknowledged it. For what? The Lord lives, if I shall have any cakes, except as much as a handful of flour, and a little oil in the cruse. It is wonderful, that in such a lack of food she did not deny to him the remnant of her poverty that was present to her. How many now, possessing gold and silver like mire, when asked, refuse the kindnesses of friends, and, when cajoled, deny that they have any? And if they are bent by entreaties to gift, they draw up documents stronger than iron, and bind the receiving hand first with writings, taking sureties and mediators for the gold. But she, at a single word, did not deny the handful of flour. And what says the prophet to her? Hasten, and make me cakes, for me first, and lastly for yourself and your children. The word of the prophet was a temptation, a trial of the heart, a testing of will: and the heart of that blessed woman was lying as if under a yoke, and being tested. Where, pray, does it incline? Toward the affection for her own children, or toward the hospitality of the prophet? She chose rather to distress herself and her children, and to receive the prophet. She knew, indeed, that he who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward; and he who gives to drink a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, shall not lose his reward. B But what is that which the prophet said, "Hasten"? Was he so hungry as to need haste? Not entirely, but the earnestness and cheerfulness and warmth of the kindness, not with sorrow, or out of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. Hasten and make for me first, and lastly for yourself and your children. Hasten, as Abraham in the visitation of the angels hastened to the oxen, to the calf, that he might receive the lamb; and as Sarah hastened to the cakes, that she might receive the bread hidden in the heavens. Hasten, and do as Abraham the sacrifices to God; not first for yourself, and then for me, as Cain, and Ophni, and Phinees, the sons of Heli the priest, who treated God with contumely, taking first the firstfruits of the gifts offered to God. But she did what was commanded earnestly. He, seeing the cake of bread rich, received it, spoke, and filled her house with good things. For it shall not fail, he says, the handful of flour from the jar, and the oil from the cruse, until the Lord gives rain upon the earth. Why until then? And necessarily. For it was required that the new grace having come as rain, the old law should receive its end. And the work followed the word. See how the good reaped the fruits of hospitality! For the fruits of good labors are glorious, and the root of prudence is unfailing. You have heard, O women, the deeds of wicked women, and the virtues of the good. Love the ones, but do not desire the others; and imitate the ones, but hate the others, that, having followed the path of those—I mean the good—you may be numbered in the same choir of the saints in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power unto the ages of ages. Amen.
On the Precursor
The flowery meadows, varigated with golden-haired blossoms, adorned with sweetly-breathing trees, shaken by sweetly-singing birds, both charm the hearing of men and warm their sight. For the sun brilliantly shining with golden rays all around, the reflected gleams flash with fire-bright glimmers. There, the stammering of chatting birds sends forth a melodious song with pipe-like cries; there, the soft-sounding zephyrs of the winds, among the circles of the competing birds, shaking the valleys of the cliffs, sing in unison in the image of a lyre; so that the shepherds and mountain-dwellers living in huts, having the lyrical melodies of the musical birds as if in their ears, singing in imitation with multi-toned pipes, C might lead their lambs gently throughout every pleasant place and every grass. But there the fountain brings forth prize-winning streams, but here the honey-dropping teaching of the wisdom of God shines; there the shrillness of musical birds, here the melodies of holy psalms; there the lonely turtle-dove walking on trees, signifies the fair-colored spring with mournful melodies; here John, fed on locusts and honey, having stirred the Churches by his desert preachings—or rather his spiritual ones—sounds the heavenly Spring that has appeared to the world. For in those days, he says, comes John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness, and saying: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near. In those days. In the demonstrations of Jesus of God, in the arrivals of the heavenly king, in the shininings-forth of the eternal light, In those days comes John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness. Not in the inhabited world; because the state of men was a wilderness, not yet governed by the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And what was he preaching? Repent; for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near. O repentance that reaps life in those very tears, and is adorned with the bridal light in the bridal garment! O repentance, accuser of the devil, advocate of those returning! And John had his garment from camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins. Let us behold, beloved, the garment of John; perhaps that garment of his may be an enigma of salvation to us. It holds the image of the nations returning from the Gentiles. He had, he says, the garment from camel's hair. Scripture frequently likens the devil to a camel, because of his being swollen and many-angled and heavy-wrathful. He who watched the observation in Esaias says: I saw a rider of an ass, and a rider of a camel. By the rider of the ass he means Christ, since having sat on an ass he entered
491 SPURIA.
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...he says, "Behold the rider of the donkey, and the rider of the camel" (Isai. 21.7). By the rider of the donkey, he means Christ, because He entered Jerusalem seated upon a donkey; but by the rider of the camel, he means him who, in the last of days, by the working of the devil, is to come into the world, the Antichrist. John, however, had his garment of camel's hair. For when he had already by the preaching of piety converted to himself the Gentiles, who were covering the devil like a fleece of hair, and when he had stripped him [the devil] naked and built up the Church, having woven together the body of the same Church through the unity of the faith, he had fashioned for himself a garment of salvation. He had also a leather girdle about his loins. The Scripture makes mention of the loins and the leather girdle, so that by the girdle made of dead skins, girding him from without, it might show that every passion of lust in him had been subdued and mortified by the pursuit of chastity. For this is the least deceitful proof of the virginity that was hidden within. "He was fed," it says, "on locusts and wild honey." Here he denotes the Jews who were recoiling from the Law and the commandments, as the Scripture says elsewhere: "Your mixed multitude was leaping like a locust; or like a locust in a hedge, in a day of hoarfrost. The sun has risen, and it leaped away; and it did not know its place anymore" (Nahum 3.17), because they had made the sweetness of the Law bitter by the transgression of the commandments. Then, it says, Jesus comes to him at the Jordan, that He might be baptized by him; but he was hindering Him, saying: "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?" But Jesus answering said to him: "Suffer it now" (Matt. 3. 13-15); "you must be a witness of the voice which shall presently be sent forth concerning me: for thus it is fitting to fulfill all righteousness." I must teach that unless one is born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven (John 3. 5). It is right, therefore, that I should do [it] first, and then teach, lest the Jews have an occasion to reproach me with this: "You who teach others, do you not teach yourself?" (Rom. 2. 21); for the saying of the suffering Job must be sustained: "No one is clean from filth, even if his life be but one day" (Job 14. 4). [I have] no sin of the body: I must renew the soul with the Spirit, and the body with water. "Suffer it now": I must open the womb of water and Spirit, that I may become the firstborn among many brethren (Rom. 8. 29). For from that womb those who had wandered, the prophet convicts while accusing the Jews, when he says: "The sinners were alienated from the womb" (Ps. 57. 4). Then He dismissed him. But when Jesus had descended into the Jordan, beloved, it was a great miracle to see: the fountain washed in the river, and the river baptized in the river. For Christ is the Fountain, as He Himself says: "They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water" (Jer. 2. 15). And the bride, which is the Church, to Him: "A garden enclosed, a fountain sealed" (Cant. 4. 12), sending forth. He is also the river, as the prophet says: "The river of God is filled with water" (Ps. 64. 10). He came into the waters, and they were sanctified, and He healed them. If any one of you, beloved, has not been initiated by baptism, let him come and see how the Father cries from heaven: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear Him" (Matt. 3. 17; Luke 9. 35). The Jordan cries out, the Spirit cleanses the air, the Father calls the Son, the Son purifies the heaven, the Spirit adorns the earth and illuminates the air. Now is fulfilled what was spoken of old by the prophet: "Day to day utters speech" (Ps. 18. 2). The Day is the Father, the Day is the Son; the Father utters the Word to the Son, just as Paul says: "Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephes. 6. 17). By which word indeed He will establish us all in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power unto ages of ages. Amen.
MONITUM IN SEQUENTES DUAS ORATIONES
Concerning the two following orations, Fronto Ducæus gives this warning in the margin of the former: "These two following orations were first published at Rome in Greek and Latin, in the year 1580, by the industry and interpretation of Gerard Vossius. However, it is the shared opinion of learned men that both are spurious and unworthy of Chrysostom. The style of the writing and everything else persuade us of this: nor is it necessary to dwell any longer on proving this matter. We have corrected the Latin interpretation of Gerard Vossius in a few places."ENCOMIASTIC ORATION, ON THE PRINCES OF THE APOSTLES PETER AND PAUL, AND THEIR MOST GLORIOUS MARTYRDOM
A It is right to celebrate this solemn memory of the apostles. For the hosts of the heavenly powers also praise with honorable voices the doctrine mixed with their labor: inasmuch as the mystery of the dispensation was made known to them by their works; as Paul exclaims: "In order that the multiform wisdom of God might now be made known through the Church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places" (Ephes. 3. 10); and in the inhabited world, men, by adorning the princes of the apostles, strive with all their strength and power to offer a worthy tribute of praise, as those who have obtained salvation through them. For what is greater than Peter, what is equal to Paul? Who in deed and in word surpassed all created nature, both heavenly and earthly; and though entangled in the mire of the body, they proved themselves better than the angels themselves. What, therefore, shall we say about the teachers of each nature? For I find no worthy speech with which I might balance the praises with which they have so greatly honored our race, they who traveled around the whole earth and sea, rooted out the causes of vices, and planted the seeds of piety in the hearts of the unfaithful. Peter, the leader of the apostles; Paul, the teacher of the world, and companion of the supernal virtues: Peter, the bridle of the ungrateful Jews; Paul, the exhortation B of the Gentiles. Behold for me the sublime wisdom of the Lord, by which He chose Peter from among the fishermen, but Paul from among the tentmakers (Matt. 18 and 20). For the glory of the Jews was being cast down. On account of this, the Lord rightly trusts this one as a fisherman, when He said: "Go to the sea, and cast a hook; and take the fish that first comes up, and having opened its mouth, you will find a stater" (Matt. 17. 26): calling the unstable mind of the wicked Jews the sea, the hook the artful word of doctrine, the fish the Law signified; to open [its mouth] is to interpret; and that he found a stater in it signifies that he himself judges it spiritually. But He entrusted all the Gentiles to Paul as a tailor: that he might clothe with scarlet raiment both those who were naked from the Law and those who were naked from grace, the Lord's...