in a similar way do not hold faith; the Jews are divided concerning the resurrection. For the Sadducees deny the resurrection, while the Pharisees have accepted it—unless they have sought it out more in order to injure than to honor. A Perhaps even many who gather in the Church doubt the resurrection; for things which are not yet seen by the eyes are not believed by many. For even those who do accept the resurrection, constituted as they are in the Church, have many doubts in their minds about the resurrection itself. They ask, for instance: "How do we rise? In what condition, in what manner of life, in what place? Naked or clothed? Eating? Or not in need of food? In heaven, or in paradise? All together, or some in one place and others in another? What is the diversity? Is it in places, or in dignities?" And regarding those who are punished: "Is it always, or for some time? And is it always by fire, or sometimes otherwise? And will those who have sinned more, or less, or many things, always have punishment? And will they see each other? Or will they be punished in different places according to their importance? And will those who are being punished see themselves? And will the just see those who are in punishment? And will those who are in punishment descry the just?" B And there are a thousand questions regarding the proposed resurrection. Given, then, such proposed questions, and so many who do not believe, and so many who doubt, there is need of discourse, so that the Lord of the resurrection itself may grant more abundantly to the speaker the word, and to the hearers understanding. Indeed, there is another common vice concerning those things which have been said, which is disputed against the resurrection. For many are those who sin, but few are those who keep themselves. Those, therefore, who do wrong do not want there to be a resurrection, so that they may not incur punishments; but they set their own will against the decree of the resurrection, and resist God. For because they want to be liberated from the business by dying once, they do not want there to be a resurrection at all, in order that they may have no cause nor reason to render an account of their life after death to God the Judge. Therefore, even their will is disputed against the decree of the resurrection. Since, therefore, the things that are asked are so great and such as these, there is need of discourse, so that the victor may overcome all. We are not ignorant, however, of this too: that many have thought that God can do nothing more than we can. For they are uncertain, and they move and bring forth into the midst such questions. C "A man has died," he says, "who has died, and indeed that part of him an eagle or a vulture has devoured." Perhaps eagles do not suffer such baseness. "Another part," he says, "a dog has received, and a fierce beast has devoured the dog; or some other animal, and that animal has been killed, burned, or at least has rotted away, or has been eaten by yet another; for this can happen." So much, he says, has been done by succession, and by the chance of those who have died, passing from one into another; "how," he says, "can God find the beginning?" As if speaking of some potter, or of some D craftsman among us, he speaks in a lowly manner. And they do not think how great is the difference between God and dead men. Therefore, many of the Gentiles, once they have cast out providence in all these things, and have defrauded themselves of the living God, have dared to say what it is not right even to repeat. For those who act without God destroy the hope of the resurrection. For it is difficult for those who deny Him who raises to confess the resurrection. But let us leave the importunity of these people, so that they may be refuted by children. For it is not proper to contend with everyone, nor to dispute with everyone; since we are not accustomed to speak of sane thoughts to the insane. But those who are so imprudently disputed against do not look to us, but to the very order of functions, and to the works which follow what has been commanded: to the course of the sun, indeed, to the B change of the moon, to the dances of the stars, to the translation of the seasons which are accustomed to be brought to pass through the years, to the office of the sea, to the earth, to the air, to the rain, and to all things which follow, to the duties of the ages, to the diversities of men, of animals, of birds, to the countenances, to the habit of species, so that there may be food suitable for each one, the parts of the limbs, the numbers of the teeth, the measure of the claws, the functions of the hair, the composition of the limbs: all these things in silence cry out for the maker and provider of all, God. Because, therefore, the blind have not seen these things, it is foolish to dispute about colors with the blind through those things which are seen, as regards the invisible; for what is more efficacious than the providence of God? Or what, though thought brief, will not be found to have in itself an equal providence from the greater things? For why is the saving genus of ants in likeness? Why are the operations of bees rendered in common, and even those things which are held to be the smallest in substance? Which indeed in flight, and in movement, and in return, and in work, agree with themselves. Who made the honey? Certainly He who established the medicine which makes use of it for the healing of men. For what is not full of providence? What does not cry out for God the provider? Are not the herbs, which provide utility for remedies? Are not the fish produced from the sea, some indeed for food, some, however, for cures? Are not stones cut, so that some may be useful for buildings and roofs and implements, and others necessary for the health of bodies, because they also fall ill? Do not other foods succeed others, and others follow with others, showing God as the preparer? Do not the measures, magnitudes, structures, and members of each animal's habit be given, and has not each one received according to its own necessity and virtue? For to horses, speed was given, so that they might follow and flee; to other animals, strength, so that they might slowly bear the burdens imposed upon them. And measured is the virtue, power, magnitude, suitable food, and proper safety for each animal, what they ought to taste, and from what they ought to abstain: to man, however, and from other irrational animals, use has been given.
A Does this not pertain to man? But how does it pertain, if the just man and the impious die in the same way? For he who seizes what belongs to another, has he enjoyed what he plundered? But he who has lost his own, has he departed groaning and without hope? But there is no iniquity with God. For if there is no hope of resurrection, and no consolation for those who are suffering here, and no reward for those who endure their lot here, there is great iniquity before the Just One. For if equal things are rendered to all—to the fasting and to the drunkard, to the lecherous and to the chaste, to the one plundering and the one giving, to the one killing and the one who is killed, and to the one who undergoes martyrdom—where is the virtue of providence? For if it is lacking in the principal matters, it will not be useful even in the least things. But may it not be sacrilege for anyone to admit this: for whether it is the Gentiles who argue against us regarding the resurrection, being those who wish for all things to be governed by reason, yet who are themselves unreasonable: how will the justice of God be saved? For here we see affairs sometimes conducted perversely, so that we think those who are "singing" have things well in the world; while others, who plunder and enrich themselves, celebrate and are sound in body—perhaps more wicked than the just—and sometimes have a better body, and many children, and these in good health, and women who spend a joyful life with their husbands, and have a multitude of servants, and opulence and possessions, and a great store of property which they transmit to their children: while the just groan, and spend their time in the world in sorrow: and where is the justice that is from God? And if the discourse be addressed to the Jews, what did it profit Abraham to receive the promise, yet not reach the fulfillment of the promises: he who left his most beloved father, his cherished mother, and the fatherland in which he was raised because of the commandment? B But you also know how much ruin there is in enduring the loss of custom. Coming, however, to the land of the promise, he wandered as a stranger and an alien, desiring to be satisfied with water, the fountain and well of which he himself was the finder, but what fruit came to him from the promise? For the very arrival of the promise was a torment to him: for to see the promise, but not be permitted to enjoy it, brought one back rather to blasphemy, but not Abraham. For Abraham, approaching and not enjoying it as a meal set before him, and being prohibited even from tasting of those things that remained over, departed giving thanks. What then did it profit him? But because he had a son; after how many torments, after how many prayers? The servants of Abraham had them, and Abraham, though desiring it, did not have, but he had a wife, and indeed an honorable one, who was taken away from him, yet, while loving her greatly, and not killing her, and changing place and place, he persevered. Let the Jews therefore say what came to Abraham from the promise in this present life, so that we might cut off their hope of the resurrection. But he did have a son. When? About the hundredth year a son was given to him, a son who was rather the fruit of his torments and prayers. For because he had a good son, and rejoiced in the gift,
do you think that receiving the son A without further trial remained the case? And did not the very beauty of the son, his very wisdom, his very intellect, and the good things that were in him, and whatever he had as a gift from God, cause more bitter torments for the father? For what does God say to him? He who said, "He has granted him a son"—"Abraham, Abraham, take your son Isaac, whom you love, the only-begotten, and offer him to me upon one of the mountains which I shall tell you of." If we 19 cut off the hope of resurrection, immediately Abraham has pain, immediately he has grief. For do not ask whether Isaac was put to death; but from the moment the father proposed it, Isaac was dead to the father. Do you think that the cruelty was so great with God that he tortured Abraham so much? For He Himself testifies and says: "I know that he and his son will guard the law and the commandments of the Lord." So that from this testimony Abraham might not only be religious through his own initiative, but also through the commandment and the son, who even after death worships and reveres God by the things that God has commanded. How did this man not suffer torments while living? God gave him a son, and He gave him a trial: if it were someone else, he would surely have said, "Would that I had not received him!" But Abraham, both when receiving him gave thanks, and when giving him back gave thanks, since he counted it a gain B not to enjoy the son, but to offer him, just as indeed was done. But let us look at whose regard he held: when is the son commanded to be offered? Not immediately when he is born; for things that are newly born do not yet have so much affection. And before infants can speak, they have the place of partridges or doves toward their parents: for they delight only by their appearance, and by speaking inarticulately; but when age has advanced, and sense has shone forth, and intellect has begun to be set forth through the tongue, and the beauties of age have blossomed, and the limbs have been strengthened, and the start of his body, like a rose, or a lily, or some mature flower, or fruit already prepared; so too the beauty that was seen, and especially the intellect, sways the parents, and empties itself entirely into the father's love. Moreover, children move their parents by their manners, and by their conversations, and by their speech. And just as the son reaches out his hand; just as he has encouraged the father, either by a word, or by his tongue, or by the food that he takes. But fathers also speak to their children, and the child's voice is sweeter than everything else that is seen. For even the countenances D of the children allure the sight of the parents, and a thousand other things move them, and everything that the son has said, whether he has embraced them by night, or has coaxed them by day. When, therefore, all these things have converged, and when the gift of God has become mature, when the domestics were in hope, when news had been brought to the friends, when God had fulfilled His promises to Abraham, and he already had a son—for it seemed to Abraham himself that the solace of the promise was already accomplished—when Sarah already had consolation, and was no longer hearing reproaches from the maidservant, when the kindred were hearing with joy, when the boys and the servants, when the houses were larger [1076 A] and the children of these, and those men with whom Abraham was dwelling as a stranger, when God's gift had been exalted on every side; then God says, as if to some diamond-hard man: "Abraham, take your son, your only-begotten Isaac, whom you have loved." You observe God using a discouraging exhortation: for He used a familiar discourse with Abraham; just as indeed then, when He commanded him to depart from his land, He used such a discourse to him as would have prohibited any other from departing. For He says to him: "Abraham, Abraham, go forth from your land, and from your kindred, and from your father's house." If another had heard this, he would have been delayed more than he would have obeyed. But just as those who command the strongest athletes to perform harder tasks: "It is necessary for you," he says, "to carry on, even if you have been struck by a heel; it is necessary for you to be patient, even if an adversary has stretched out his hand against your eye," and whatever they are accustomed to command, and the strongest of the B athletes to endure: so also here, God, exhorting His own athlete, urges him through hard deeds: "Go forth from your land, and your kindred, and from your father's house, and come into the land," to which He denies him readiness, and promises another, and puts the very promise in uncertainty. For He did not say "that land"; but "into the land," He says, "which I shall show you." Just as one casting him out from his land casts him out through things that would deter him; so also, commanding his own son to be offered, He orders it through such words as, if it were someone else, he would not obey. "Abraham," He says, "Abraham, take yourself"—nor does He command through another, but "Take," He says, "yourself your son, and this, your only-begotten," He says—the addition of the trial; "whom you have loved," He says—an addition of pain for others. And after these things He marks out a greater wound, for He even stated the name of the son. For even if all these things were sweet and fitting, it would move the father's bowels, that He should say, "Your son, your only-begotten, whom you have loved." But there is nothing of the sort, as much as would announce his naming, and He said, "Take Isaac, and offer him to Me upon one of the mountains." Neither here does He designate the place, C but just as casting him out of the land, He says, "Come to the land which I shall show you"; so also here He says, "upon one of the mountains." And certainly it would be much more convenient if in the very heat of the transaction Abraham had been freed from anxiety, and did not hear the toil of the journey, the nocturnal embraces of the only-begotten, the conversations, the sight by day, the movement, the words, Isaac himself, the beloved. And what need is there for us to say more? For Abraham, who had received the sentence against his son, had described it to himself, and was going away having a son, living indeed as far as the perception of the son, but already a burnt offering as far as the ignorance of the father. And certainly it has such passion, what is said, that even we who hear and speak of the things which he dared against his only-begotten son, appear to be moved, and to weep together, and to be troubled. If, therefore, for us to say only this and to hear it is not to be endured without tears; what, do you think, D is the measure of that man's conscience found to be? Who will be sufficient in his speech to present his love toward God
A during that time, when the father was journeying with his son, and while many things were said between them, yet far more were heard, and infinite things were being done? Yet everything was good, for Isaac was the gift of God, and he was carrying the wood. And who was it that was carrying? Perhaps it ought not be said that he was carrying, but that he was rejoicing. One day had passed, and the place had not yet been revealed. Night followed day, and he had not yet reached the place. A second day, and after the day another night, and yet another—and still there was no end, but the stretch and dilation of the trial continued; and when he reached it, and when the place was revealed as it now had to be, since all things that are in the Old Testament were forms of the New, the mystery of the only-begotten Son of God was running ahead on the third day and the third night through the only-begotten son of Abraham. But because the mystery of the three days and three nights was completed, the place was shown, B and the time arrived. Perhaps you think that Abraham was now free from the struggle of temptations? But surely, the closer the time approaches, the more his temptation is protracted. And Abraham says to the servants: "Wait here; I and the boy will go up to the mountain, and we will worship and return to you." For he feared that the servants, having affection for his master and especially for the only-begotten, might hinder him, for they knew that the Lord never seeks the sacrifice of a human being. They had indeed heard that God had granted Isaac to Abraham according to a promise; and, observing the age of Abraham, now settled in a different time of life, they could not consent to the business of the things which Abraham was doing. For they might say: "Why do you offer to God a son He did not ask for? For who among the righteous before him has ever dared this, or even dared to attempt it? For what reason does God ask for him, whom He Himself gave? Why does God alter His own promises? And why did He give, only to take back, him whom He bestowed?" Fearing these rational thoughts, Abraham commanded the servants to wait and not ascend with him, lest any one, out of love for Isaac, might hold back his hand and defile the immolation. What, then, of Sarah herself, who I think was never ignorant of anything that Abraham was contemplating? For this very consciousness makes us estimate what was in that marriage. That woman, whom nothing that Abraham ever wished to do, or put forward, or think had ever remained hidden from—she was ignorant that her only-begotten, that fruit of her barrenness, that child of unexpected birth, he who was begotten beyond the time of life, D was being offered to God who had given him; so that, just as she once laughed inopportunely at the promise, she might not now, by weeping inopportunely, hinder the immolation. But the matter was kept silent from Sarah. For so greatly did both Abraham and, before his wife, Sarah, honor the commandment of God; he knew also how to honor Him who had given, even before his only-begotten son. But neither did they who had made the journey with him know the mystery, but he said: "The sacrament is for me." Nevertheless, desiring to persuade the servants to remain, he spoke that to them which he himself neither hoped for nor felt: for he says to them, "Wait here; I and the boy will go up to the mountain, and we will worship, and we will return." This, indeed, he did not hope for, but this he obtained, and God used his tongue for prophecy. When, therefore, Abraham is called a prophet, and it is asked by many where Abraham prophesied, one ought to know that he by whom God most especially revealed Himself, as much as it was possible for it to be revealed to Abraham, he himself was called a prophet. Moreover, we find him prophesying here: one prophecy, which we have already mentioned, and a second one, which follows. But perhaps it is pernicious to speak of the one that follows, and more pernicious even to hear it. How, do you think, did he endure what he suffered? Just as charity endures all things. The servants remained behind, for the master had so commanded; but Abraham, taking the fire and the wood and the knife, ascended with his son, himself laying the wood upon his son. We surely know that Abraham himself was carrying the calf for the reception of those who had arrived. Why, then, now, was he not sharing the burden with his son, but instead laid all the wood upon the son, wishing to have the gift already accepted? He was signifying that he would begin to be immolated, just as he would carry the cross by himself. But as he continued the journey and the summit of the mountain was recognized, with the fire in the midst, and the wood carried on Isaac's neck, and the knife appearing, Isaac, prudent on every side—that which the other servants did not say—asks the father. The temptation, inasmuch as the father was bearing it, he utters with a most sweet, or rather a harsh voice: or rather, not so much grave as it was sweet. "Father," he says: this is enough to move the father, and he joins other things to it and says: "Behold the fire, behold the wood; where is the sheep for the sacrifice?" Who else could have borne that voice? Of other men, truly, none. Rightly, therefore, did God love Abraham. But that man of adamant, receiving the arrow of his only-begotten, did not keep silent while bearing it, but was able to speak, was able to answer, and did not wound his tongue with his teeth, though his teeth could have opened and given space to his tongue—but perhaps it is not permitted to say such things of him. For let us not accuse his virtue based on the things that we suffer: but both joyful and exultant—for Abraham was indeed such—he responded to his son, not cruelly nor inhumanely, but religiously and piously: for he says to his son: "God will provide Himself a sheep for a sacrifice, my son." Behold another prophecy, which was unknown to the one who spoke it; but the opposite was what he said: "God will provide Himself a sheep for a sacrifice, my son." For just as he began the speech saying, "Father," so he, signing the word, says, "son." He heard of the sheep, and he accepted it from the father, certain that what was not found in the meantime, would be found. When, however, they had reached the place, Abraham was building the altar, making haste, and when he had constructed it, he lies to his son regarding the promise that had been made by his tongue, though not that which was hidden in his heart. And father Abraham approaches.
A And he proceeds to Isaac, and binds him: he bound his son, so that, neither trembling nor moving, he might disturb the immolation. With what countenance, do you suppose, was Abraham looking upon his son? What was his complexion? In what way, without trembling, did his hands work? Who, do you suppose, was Isaac in those moments, silent or speaking? For the Scripture has kept silent on this. Do you suppose that he used dignified words in this matter? For do not consider him as a mere boy, but because Isaac was the son of Abraham. Do you suppose he did not say to his father: "When does God ask for the sacrifice of men? What are you doing? I am a gift of God: gifts that come from God are without repentance; why do you spurn grace? Why do you destroy a gift against the will of the giver?" There were many things that could be spoken. But why did not his mother also know? If what is being done is reasonable, why did you hide it from the servants? And if this thing ought to be done, why did you not wish to make this very thing known to me openly? Demanding the promise which you spoke of: for you said that God will provide a sheep for His sacrifice: you are faithful, render the fruit of your faith, since you said it. There were many things that could be said. And yet, not only the things that we are saying: even if these were not written, they now lead us to the matter. For the mind is moved consistently with how the business itself holds together, and we think of the incoming sensations in that time in which these things were happening. If Isaac was silent, it is a great wonder; if he said something, it is another wonder. How could the father endure it? How were his hands moving? But these wonders are found in other men: in Abraham, however, the wonder was the reverse. B But the end of the discourse is: perhaps the bowels of each one of us are troubled; and what is wonderful is that, since we are certain from the Scriptures what was done, and what the outcome of the affairs was, we are as anxious as if we were in danger regarding the discourse, lest something else should turn out than what is written. All things were completed for Abraham that tended toward readiness. His son had been bound by him, and exalted to the altar, and placed upon the wood, and the son was bound above; and the father, with swift hand, grasped the sword. Having accepted this, he was hastening to kill, not indeed delaying his readiness or the gift. But swifter than the hand and the readiness of father Abraham was the voice of God. Abraham, who had proceeded with readiness, was forestalled by the command of God. Abraham, Abraham: he uses the voice twice, because even from the beginning of the command: for perhaps also to hesitate C (22): but He who commanded forestalls him: He uses the same voice. For as He said before, "Abraham, Abraham, take your only-begotten son Isaac, whom you have loved": so also here, "Abraham, Abraham." For He Himself who commanded those things, now also speaks, and says, "Do not touch your son; I have the gift, have you also the son. A second time I grant this gift to you. Your charity has shone forth, your faith has been recognized." These things that were done by you will be an exhortation to those who are to be after you. That which you have done will be sung into future generations. You have the fruit of faith, you also have the fruit of the womb; you have the son of the barren woman, you have the victim from the altar. D Did Abraham accept the second son? Do you think he was saddened, because he did not fulfill his ready mind? But he is Abraham, he does not know how to be sad. He is ignorant of how to prescribe that which he received while rejoicing: not because he did not offer it. God commanded, he offered it rejoicing: but because he was in no way disobedient. Where, then, is the prophecy which Abraham said, "God will provide a sheep for His sacrifice"? For will the altar be idle? Was the heap that was made empty? But what need was there for God to appear to be playing? For if this one was not offered, but God commanded him to be offered, and though offered, he is not offered: what was necessary in the matter? What was necessary? Was it necessary that the New Testament should be prefigured by the Old? And among the Jews, indeed, these things are found to be either small or idle. But if the New Testament has been added, and the true light has shone forth; they will appear most useful and not idle, and necessary and not superfluous. For if we have questioned the Jews, why Isaac was offered who was not sacrificed, they are uncertain and unwise. But if the Church says what is true, that he was offered not so that he might be sacrificed, but that it might appear that a sheep was hanging on the wood for man, so that man might be liberated from death: the Jews do not concede to us to magnify the old through the recognition of the new. For we have questioned them, for what cause all these things were done: he who was offered is not sacrificed. But they will say, so that Abraham might be recognized by God. For was he hidden from Him even before the temptation? But so that he might be known by men. There were other very many temptations of his: do you think that it was so he might be known as having nothing more? So that we might acquire what we have acquired after these things? What need was there for a sheep? Suppose that it was a sheep: why did a bull not appear? Why not a goat or a calf? Why not another great immolation, but a sheep? Suppose that it was a sheep. Why was the sheep seen on the earth? Why not extra the altar, but appeared near to the altar? If indeed it were the invention or composition of men regarding the sheep, it ought to have been found elsewhere. But if God was providing a sheep for man, suddenly, in the very place where Isaac was, he ought to have been in that same altar, or on the ground, or next to the altar, or bound at the root of a tree. But now the sheep appears suspended, both by the horns, and suspended in a tree. But nature was interpreting what was hidden. For if anyone suspends a sheep by the horns in a tree, he will see what follows, what was going to be. For it is necessary for that sheep which thus hangs in the tree to expand its front feet: for this is what a sheep that is so suspended requires. It is necessary for its feet which are below to be separated. When, therefore, the hands and feet of a sheep suspended on wood and expanded in a tree have been observed, those who have the eyes of the mind do not stand in need of interpretation. But who is it who was in danger of being killed? Man. What is it that was immolated for man? A sheep suspended on wood. As if God were saying to Abraham: "Not your only-begotten is necessary: but let the form indeed run through yours, but let that which is in My Only-Begotten be saved." Thus the sheep appears.
A And that chosen one who existed before Esau, was in servitude for twenty-one years, most especially when his youth allowed him to banquet; while he was in his father’s house, he was suspected of being killed by his brother; and in his father-in-law’s house he was a servant; on his journey, however, he placed a stone under his head, and walked with only a staff. These things signify indeed the nakedness of the man himself, but the mysteries which were performed through Jacob, the stone supporting his head, who was suffering persecution: and the staff in his hand, showing the way to the fugitive. I have surely heard Jacob saying that during the day the heat of the sun consumed him, and he always felt the cold by night. If that is blessedness, God greatly hated Jacob, while Esau was in luxury. But I hear God saying: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." Let the Jews tell us, therefore: if this is the fruit of the promise, if this is the hope, does God hate Jacob, of whom He says that He loved him? But then, when he was freed from servitude, did he not flee so that he might be saved? And fleeing, was he not pursued, and did he not remain in fear? But fleeing from the father-in-law who followed him, did he not encounter his brother? Did not fear succeed fear? But because he was liberated even from this: did he not have sorrow in his old age without consolation? For Jacob had another Isaac; he had, I say, Joseph, that good man beloved to him, his good offspring: but he had bitter sorrow regarding him. And he had him when he was sterile, and his mother as well, and Jacob did not cease praying. Already, however, it was also to his reproach. For the sterile woman was weeping, and said to her husband: "Give me children, or else I die." The sister was favored. They had handmaids, and the free woman had none. Pain, groaning, and sadness were with them. But God eventually had mercy on them, and that Joseph who was good in every way was born—in body just as much as the account of his being defeated testifies, and in mind, as the father testifies, who gave him precedence over those who had been born before. Their administration in Egypt, which was done for the whole world, also testifies to it. The knowledge of the language which he did not know also testifies to it: and the wonders were beyond the intelligence of the boy; but these beauties were saved and give joy; but the falls of the good prepared sorrow without consolation. Joseph was therefore in the fear of his father: and when he was present with him, for fear that he might not remain such a savior: it gnawed at him, and he induced fear in his father through the things he spoke, through the things he said, and through the things he kept silent about. What then, because Joseph was such, and the only one (second to none) of his mother, and beloved to his father, and his brothers indeed were sent to graze the flock: but Joseph was not sent with his brothers to the care of his father; because he had a unique tunic for the recognition, in particular, of distinct affection. Jacob had not had enough of his brother’s envy, his brother’s jealousy, servitude in foreign lands, flight from his brother, D and... [alt-version omitted]
A the death of his own mother, which Jacob had barely received—after all these things, having reached seventeen years in the age of Joseph—when goods are increased, how great is the sorrow to lose them? And the father sends his beloved son, whom he had as an only-begotten among many brothers: the father sends his son so that he might visit the brothers who were in solitude. I think that while the Old Testament is read, it is more New than Old. The father sends his son, whom he had in the place of an only-begotten; for he had also separated him from his brothers with a unique garment. He sends the son of whom there were predictions; yet the predictions which Joseph himself had seen, he had not hidden from his brothers: for he was a brother. He said, in fact, to them: "We were harvesting, and my sheaf stood erect; your sheaves, however, were adoring it in a circle" (Gen. xxxvii, 7). The opportunity had already come well for the brothers to adore. The brothers heard it, and they immediately understood the effective dream, and they say to him: "Shall we adore you? Or will you rule or hold us?" (Gen. xxxvii, 8). Perhaps, however, the first-born or the first-born were angry because the younger one wanted to be preferred over all. He wanted to see the dream so that he might intend this; is anyone an accuser for having seen a dream? Nevertheless, Joseph is rebuked, and he sees this a second time, and he did not even hide the second one from those who had been angry about the first. Thus he was a brother to his brothers. But they, strengthening the previous one from the second vision, had double envy and indignation and rage against Joseph. He also told the dream to his father, that the sun and moon and eleven stars were adoring him (Gen. xxxvii, 9). Understand the sun in the place of the father, the moon in the place of the mother, and so on. It seems to be reprehensible; because his mother did not see him in glory: how then did she adore? Or is the place of the mother, which the wife of the father filled, now sought? At the same time, however, more so the eleven stars—that is, the eleven brothers. Perhaps, therefore, the dream appeared from the stars that are in heaven, so that the precious lineage of his race might be shown. The predictions were therefore accomplished; for those things which were predicted are the ones that are predicted (27). And then he is sent by the father, of whom there were also predictions. For the prophets predicted: and then the Son, Christ, was sent by the Father. Joseph, however, was coming from afar to his brothers as a brother. D Nay more, to those who were not brothers, as a brother. They, however, seeing him coming from afar, say the things which are also written in the Gospel: "This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and our inheritance will be" (Matt. xxi, 38). "Behold," he says, "the dreamer comes; come, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits" (Gen. xxxvii, 20), announcing that not only will he be killed, but he will have a lower place. And Joseph indeed approached: he approached the judgment of the brothers, the visitation of evils: they, [1084 A] however, receiving the benefactor, kill him, as much as they could; and they would have killed him, had not He who forbade Isaac from being killed—so that indeed the passion might be saved—allowed also in this case a firm image to exist. How, therefore, is the image killed, and not killed? They proposed to kill Joseph. Already, in the proposal of his killers, Joseph is dead: because through the proposal of Abraham, Isaac was offered and immolated. They, however, are not only content with their proposal, but receiving him, with an impetuous act, they wished indeed to kill him, but were restrained by one who had prophesied to his brother: and they send him living into the pit, announcing that Christ descends alive into the pit for the dead. But killing a kid, they stain Joseph’s tunic with the blood of the kid, so that there might be a suspicion B through the blood, that a living one is free among the dead. Therefore, Joseph was killed in the pit; for his tunic had been stained by blood. But he was living in the pit after the killing which had been done in the tunic. They pass by to the nations, to whom the good that was in the pit was reserved: and (28) one of the brothers acts by the spirit to console his own error and to say: "Let us not kill our brother." But the fathers of the Jews were lovers of money: and Judah was their counselor; and he said: "Let us not kill him," he says, "because we are not worthy of him. Let there not be with us one who bestows a benefit upon us." Joseph is therefore sold, and they receive as much of a price from the buyers as they gave to the traitor Judas, so that the price might also correspond to the mystery. C But it was the counsel of Judah, and at that time, that Joseph should be sold. But Judas is he who also in the Gospel sells the Lord. He who had already been killed through the tunic ascends from the pit: and in the pit, deemed dead, he enters Egypt. And again here, through dreams and vision, he gathers the fruits of sustenance for the world: and he whom the Jews killed and sold, him the nations adore while they are fed. For Joseph did not feed only the Egyptians; but from the whole world all nations and peoples came together, to the image, inasmuch as it was that of the Lord Jesus. Joseph, however, was already feeding the brothers themselves, namely those who had sold him, and they received their price. Receiving freely, he gave freely. And they indeed received his price: but he himself did not accept the price of the grain. Where, therefore, does the Lord Jesus feed those who affixed Him to the cross and sold Him? Peter is of them, and Paul is of them, and the other apostles. And the brothers and the apostles say to Paul: "You see," he says, "how many thousands there are among the Jews who have believed" (Act. xxi, 20). "But what if some did not believe? Has their unbelief evacuated the faith of God? Far be it" (Rom. iii, 3). And we want the stubborn to be fed through Jesus. He forbade them to serve idols. But the sermon hastens to the proposals, that it may show also the sorrow.
C And because this life is not the hope for the religious, who can endure to hear, without tears, when that tunic dipped in blood was placed in the hand of Jacob, with that feigned voice? "This," they said, "we have found," — this stained with blood; acknowledge whose the tunic is, acknowledge your grief. The grief is indeed that of a father for a dead Joseph. The grief was unbearable, because the son had not died before his eyes; for it seems that the consolation is that he was present, that he received his last words, that he left him a word for his comfort, and that he committed his remains to the earth. But when Joseph is dead, how much he waits for the report, how much for his being torn away! And since it is uncertain whether it is murder or death, the father’s inward parts are slashed. He suspects everything, he depicts everything for himself, and he imagines many deaths for the one. Who can endure even to hear, not only he who begat, but anyone who heard, of a tunic fashioned and torn, so that the bites of wild beasts, imprinted upon the tunic, were apparent? Would that they had said that he also fell into a pit while walking: and the fabrication would have seemed to be next to the truth. But they were suspicious, lest they be refuted. For the father was asking them for remains. Therefore Jacob is suspicious that Joseph is dead, and that he has become food for wild beasts; for the brothers had reported it, and the tunic bore witness. Who could bear, who could endure the memory of that Joseph, when he was with his father before he was taken away? He was seventeen years old when he died, and the tunic suggested an immortal death. For just as compassionate fathers sometimes, to retain the images of their sons, portray them in colors and hide them away in their houses—as some think, for sake of consolation—they are fashioned for the reminder of sorrows; so also that tunic, hidden at home, and having blood that was not of a goat, as it was thought, but of Joseph, and the bites of the beasts, both real and imputed, and these being of wild beasts, always caused grief to Jacob: seeing, learning, always touching his son through that tunic, touching it and seeing it with his eyes. And let no one blame the discourse because I introduce the righteous man grieving; for even the religious are compassionate. For we have heard him saying: "When all," he said, "my sons and daughters had come to comfort him, he did not receive their consolation" (Gen. xxxvii, 35); for the tunic stained with blood would not allow it. For he said: "I will descend to Hades with grief for my son" (Gen. xxxvii, 35): so great was the grief. Where then is the promise? Whose promise was fulfilled to the mourning father or the dying son? For even if he is not dead, yet he experienced the fear of death. Imagine that he is not dead, is he not taken away, has he not been enslaved? He who was playing in the bosom of his father, not being sent out, now serves. And he serves the slavery of the Egyptians. A But God did not permit him: he had comfort. For He loved him who had been sold, whom the brothers hated. What then, do you think that envy fell asleep there? Do you think the devil despised the consolation of Joseph? The Egyptian had a wife [Gen. xxxix, 7]: therefore through the woman the devil plots. She is loved, he says, the good man, not well. And now Joseph truly runs into a wild beast, and the fabrication of the brothers passed to action. The woman insisting, the woman adorning herself, enticing to the snare with words, persuading with jewels, capturing with perfumes, and spreading out various garments as nets. And look at the pilgrim and the youth for me. Look at him who had no father, no mother present. Look at him taken away from his brothers, and serving in a state contrary to his noble dignity, and be mindful of the words that were promised by the woman, and those feigned blandishments of the woman. Look also at the riches of Egypt shown by the wife, the promises of the woman, the sadness of the boy: the anguish of the boy, the abundance of the woman; for she had power over the house; the additions of temptation. The woman was saying many things: but the chaste man was not listening. She was painting her eyes for him: but Joseph was closing his own. She was adorning herself with jewels: and he was guarding himself so as not to be offended by the jewels. She was twisting her hair: and he was avoiding it as if it were chains. She was using various garments: and he was looking away from the variety of the workmanship. She was wafting incense for the scent: but he, smelling the scent of chastity, was subduing his youth; junior in regard to age, but senior in wisdom. C But when she had not succeeded with the woman’s blandishments, she transferred her blandishment to force. For a new tragedy was coming to pass for Joseph, being alone and by himself. Since nature itself suggests that women should suffer force from men: but Joseph alone was in danger of suffering force from the woman. For the woman approached the youth, alone to the alone: she saw no one of men. But he, who was not seen by men, was looking at the invisible God. The wild beast was bringing her claws against the tunic of Joseph. But he who had been accustomed to be saved by the tunic, and who gave the tunic to his brothers, and was freed from the deception of the brothers, left the tunic even now in the hand of the woman, so that he might not send his own soul into the hands of uncleanness: and he went out stripped of the tunic, but clothed in his chastity, dressed in that holy and chaste garment. The woman, however, seeing the boy’s constancy, and the empire of his chastity, holding his tunic, just as dogs become enraged at stones that have been thrown at them: and just as often some people fleeing beasts, by throwing a part of their clothing, make them deposit their anger onto the part of the clothing: so that lioness, or some other dire beast, receiving the tunic of the chaste man, and seizing and holding it with hands and claws, and tearing it on all sides...
A attributing to the chaste man her own false invention, and transferring the honesty onto herself. For with an impudent voice she cries out, and calls for condemnation against him, and says: "Come," she says, "and see: he has brought in a Hebrew boy." She speaks of nobility, so as to mock us: "He has entered in to me, wishing to commit violence." Do you think the tongue of the impudent woman does not offend? Are we surprised if her color has not changed? For conscience, even if it hides the deed, yet produces traces through the countenance. She was contributing to the fiction an imitated color. B For it seemed to be sustained by force, which she indeed had perpetrated, but she confessed that she had suffered it. "He has entered in to me," says the impudent woman. "He has entered into me," she says, she who has entered in; "and I cried out," she says. And certainly you did not cry out, except after the young man had gone out: "and he left," she says, "his tunic, and fled." And certainly it is not the act of one doing violence, that he should leave his tunic. To the condemnation comes the master of the house, who had entrusted his whole house to Joseph. The woman approaches with brazen brow, and again repeats the fiction which she had pondered: weeping and lamenting, either because she could not obtain her desire, or because she was scorned, or because she had not already choked him with her hands. For despised desire is converted into anger. What, therefore, is happening in these matters? The chaste man is accused by the unchaste woman. Do you not wonder that the man, and indeed an Egyptian, a man of a hot nature and of that place, did not immediately attack and tear the youth to pieces? If, indeed, age holds suspicion, and she who was calling out and accusing, and those who had run at her voice, and the tunic which was held, was moving the master to indignation, and the honor which had been given to him who had been torn away. But beauty also moved suspicion. And so great indeed were those things which invited belief. Yet the wisdom and beauty of the boy were sufficient for the doubtfulness of the deed. For why did he not immediately destroy him? Because he knew the boy’s character: but he, placed between faith and incredulity, was torn, yet, doubting, he did not destroy him. And indeed he did not believe him himself, but sent him to prison: he who was also received there. What, therefore, shall we recount of Joseph? His good slaying, his distraction, but his servitude; after these, the insurrection of the unchaste woman; but the calumny and false accusation brought against the adamant youth. D Joseph did not speak: he did not do enough, he who was being calumniated: he was not confused for the sake of the impudent woman; he preferred to die calumniated, rather than to make use of the truth for his own salvation. Do you think that here too he is an imitator and an image of Him, who did not open His mouth when He was calumniated? But Joseph is again in prison. And where is the hope of the Jews? But since, proposing to speak of the resurrection, we have fallen into necessary discussions, which are not alien from the resurrection. And we seem indeed to prolong the discourse, for this requires a mature refreshment to hold. But perhaps it is not for us to linger in leisure; for it behooves us to become constant until death, and thus to be refreshed with food. Let us, therefore, also be moderate, and not extend the sermon beyond measure: for time does not allow it: nor again let us gather it too much, so that we may enjoy also the festivity. And because we are composed of soul and body, let us pasture the soul with its own measures, so that it may also refresh the bodies with constancy. But what do you wish? Shall we leave Joseph in prison? And he whom God did not leave in prison, shall we, by describing him in speech, leave him bound? And who will exhort others to study chastity? Who, moreover, will love continence, seeing Joseph left in prison? B And certainly if Joseph is left in prison, and he shall have died with chastity, the hope of resurrection does not circumscribe the hope. But because God did not leave him in prison, let us be patient, and let us hear of his egress. And when he shall have been released, then we too shall be released with him. Joseph, therefore, was in prison, having delights from the breasts of chastity, clothed with honesty, loving the prison more than the love of that beast, preferring to enjoy the lover's stench. For this he preferred to ointments. But the chaste man, embracing bonds more than the ornament of the Egyptian woman; loving the darkness of the eyes for the light of the soul; more willingly hearing the groans of the prison than seeing the stones on a luxurious and filthy brow. Where, therefore, are the predictions? Do not be hasty, and you shall hear. Pharaoh is angered with his two servants, the highest in their ministry, Pharaoh was angered, because God was favorable to Joseph. They are sent to the prison, and are locked up together with Joseph. But Joseph is faithful both in prison and there. For just as he had accepted the house of Egypt entrusted to him, he kept the faith even when he was calumniated. For he did not report the harm, but suffered himself to endure injury rather than to commit it, and to defer the house of him who had entrusted it to him. Those bound in prison are also entrusted to him who was in prison. For the flower of chastity was announced by the boy's brow. And in such abundance he had solace, that he himself was the one who comforted those who were sad. For he had a brow germinating with chastity. He received also the servants of Pharaoh, and immediately comforts them: because he was a receiver and a descendant of Abraham, and very wise. Entering, therefore, on one of the days to the servants of Pharaoh, he saw their faces changed, and understood that their mind was troubled: and he asks the cause, what this change in them might be. But they put forth their dreams, and these were double. For just as he had seen in his paternal house; and God provided, even though the dreams were contrary to one another. He who had seen the good [dream] explains the dream first, so that an exhortation might be.
[provided] A in the prison. For God does not abandon the errors of the saints, but is solicitous for them. If anyone has erred, He corrects them immediately, so that they may not remain in judgment. For he said to the man: "Remember me, and lead me out of this prison"; yet man will forget you, and a term of two years shall be extended for you. But God has not forgotten: rather, He stood by Joseph before Pharaoh, first and second [in turn]. For the vision of Pharaoh was entirely about fruits and agriculture. There, in fact, were seven cows, good in appearance and fleshy in body, and seven stalks of grain; for it is necessary for the dreams of the seven full ears and seven thin ones to be joined together. For since the cultivation of the land is effected by oxen, and by stalks [it is effected] through grain, and the dreams of the king were regarding the produce and a famine; through domestic visions, provisions are also given. There were seven full ears, and seven fat cows; but as thin cows succeeded the fat ones, so thin ears succeeded the good and full ones. For the seven full ears, seven thin ears. The fat cows were consumed by the lean ones, and the ears by the ears, and Egypt was held in famine, and Pharaoh in turmoil. And the cupbearer was admonished, saying (39): "Shall I speak or be silent? I have been silent for so long. But if I do not speak, the Egyptians will perish. I will mention," he said, "my error, my sin." You see, when he repeated it and said: "When you were angry with us," it was an acknowledgment of his own sin; there was also [the matter] of his silence. For it is possible that he was admonished of both, and confessed both. What does he say to the king? "I remembered my sin today: Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put us into prison; in the house of the chief of the cooks, me and the one who was over the bakers. And we saw a dream, both of us in one night—I, and likewise he; each one of us saw a dream. But there was there with us C a young Hebrew boy, a servant of the chief of the cooks: and we told him, and he interpreted for us. And it happened that, just as he had interpreted it for us, so it turned out; you restored me to my office, but hanged him." And Pharaoh sent to call Joseph*. For the wisdom of the wise had already been convicted, for it could not interpret the king’s dream. And they brought him out of prison, and they shaved him, and changed his clothing. Again from the pit, again from the prison he emerged, and came to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Joseph: "I have seen a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it." For Egypt had already been convicted; convicted too was the wisdom that boasted of many things. "But I have heard concerning you," they say, "that you hear dreams and interpret them. Confirm, therefore, for us your reputation." But the religious Joseph answered the king, and said: "Without God, no salvation shall be answered for Pharaoh. For the interpretation," he said, "belongs to God." I can do nothing D rather, therefore, my error, my sin, I shall confess, he said: for when he was retelling the account to Pharaoh and saying, "When you were angry with us," it was a confession of his own sin, by which he had provoked the king's anger, and then also of his silence, because, unmindful of the favor received from Joseph, he had remained silent for so long: for it is possible that both had entered his mind, and that he confessed both.
A Moreover, Pharaoh explains the double dream, which was one in its intent. But why does he see a second dream? In order that you may learn that God urges Himself to provide for men. I thought, he says, that I was standing near the bank of the river, and as if from the river there ascended seven cows, choice in flesh, good in appearance, and they were grazing on the bank. And behold, seven other cows ascended behind them from the river, worst and foul in appearance, and lean in flesh, such as I have never seen in all Egypt, more foul. And those seven lean and foul cows devoured the seven fat and choice cows, and they entered into their bellies; and it did not appear that they had entered into their bellies, for they were as foul as they were from the beginning. Rising up, moreover, I slept again, and I saw again in my dreams: and as if seven ears of grain were ascending on one stalk, full and good. Other ears, moreover, seven, thin B and blasted by the wind, were growing near them, and the seven thin and blasted ears swallowed the seven full and good ears. I told this then to the interpreters, and there was no one who could explain it to me. And Joseph said to Pharaoh: The dream of Pharaoh is one. Whatever God is about to do, He has shown to Pharaoh. The seven good cows are seven years. The dream of Pharaoh is one: and the seven lean cows which ascended behind them, they are seven years. And the seven ears, thin and blasted by the wind, are seven years. And there will be seven years of famine: but as for what Pharaoh said: whatever God is about to do, He has shown to Pharaoh. Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt. After these, however, seven years of famine will come: afterwards they will forget the abundance in all Egypt, and the famine will consume the whole land. And the abundance will not be recognized on the land before the famine which is to be in the future after these. For it will be very vehement. But because Pharaoh repeated the dream twice, it is because the word which is from God is true, and God is hastening to do this. Now therefore provide for a sensible man, and set him over Egypt, and let Pharaoh do this, and set overseers of the regions over the land, who shall exact a fifth part of all the fruit of the land of Egypt for the seven years of abundance, and let them collect all the fruit of these seven coming good years: and let the grain be collected under the hand of Pharaoh, and let food be preserved in the cities: and let the food be what was guarded for the land, in the seven years of famine which will be in the land of Egypt: and the land will not be exterminated by famine. C And these words were pleasing before Pharaoh, and before all his servants. Shall we find a man such as this, who has the Spirit of God in him? And Pharaoh said to Joseph: Since God has shown you all these things, there is no man more prudent or more sensible than you: you shall be over my house, and your people shall obey your mouth, save for the throne, where I shall be before you. Pharaoh said to Joseph: Behold, I appoint you today over all the land of Egypt, do, he says, your counsel. Who is wiser than you? Who is more sensible and faithful? For God willed you to be over my house, namely over all Egypt. Accomplish your counsel, reign with me. For giving Egypt into your power, I shall have you with me as king. Now was the consolation, now was the fruit of chastity for Joseph. But not even in these things did he, having been provoked by the shameless woman, return like for like: yet Joseph was in tribulation, and in such great anguish. Jacob, however, was in tribulation, and even D when Joseph had been released from prison. What then, will the Jews say, where is the fruit of the promise? For if this is life, what is this to Jacob, who mourned Joseph for seventeen years? Or to Joseph himself, who was barely freed? But the word is indeed fulfilled, but the matter is to be preserved: for it is permitted to us to enjoy also the following day. But let us measure the time. For it behooves the gifts of God to be free, that they may fast in time, and feast in time. Only be mindful of where we end the discourse: but just as those who eat eagerly, and rising from the table for some reason, take for themselves what was set before them: so do you also ask for the rest from us on another day, lest we omit anything: for it does not befit us, coming to the consolation of death, to leave Jacob in mourning over the report of the death of his son. But there is a reason to join us also to the following [day], and to mix the already present consolation into the gladness of the mourners. I would not have allowed you to depart thus, still anxious on account of the mourning Jacob. Since therefore we begin, by the permission of God, to join together the proofs regarding the resurrection, let us now feast, trusting in the faith of the preceding discourse, not with the dead: for all live. For we do not come to monuments, but to a place of commendation; we do not come to the dead, but to the living: reminding ourselves through the things we do of the hope of resurrection itself. Joyful we come together, greater in joy we depart; for thus we trust that we shall rise, because, believing these things, we shall rejoice. We have, moreover, a hidden word showing us the hope which is for the religious. And now indeed it has been shown by the just God; yet because the time calls for us to be refreshed, let us render glory, consigning actions of thanks, to the living and good and true and life-giving Jesus Christ: through whom there is glory and honor, power, majesty to God the Father with the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto all ages of ages. Amen.
SECOND BOOK
BOOK SECOND
The heavens indeed rejoice in the present festival, in which they received the Lord as victor; the host of angels also rejoices, receiving the King with victory; He who begat, and the Father who sent Him, rejoices, having at His right hand the most beloved Son, through whom the tyranny of the devil was indeed dead, and men were saved, and the angels received joy. Nor was the Holy Spirit left out: but He offered praises for the victory to the tongues of all men. For because there was salvation for all tongues, therefore the Spirit spoke through the mouths of the apostles in every tongue. And thenceforth He was already calling the nations through the initiatory rites: and the joy of the preceding festival was also being filled. For the Pasch, containing in itself the sacrament of the festival of death, was then receiving its fruit, when the return of the Lord to the heavens was being celebrated. For He did not come so that dying He should die, but that He might vivify those who had been dead. B All things therefore rejoice: and perhaps even creation: for the sun itself is brighter according to this present time, and for this reason the light is held to be more prolix: and the fruit of all things is complete: and the offices accord with the dispensation. Also, the sentence against us has been dissolved: our restitution has been recalled: for obedience coming, cast out the punishments of prevarication: justice subintroduced, repelled iniquity: life coming, mortified death: God descending, led man to the heavens. Everywhere, therefore, let the splendors of the festival shine. Up with the choirs, in the land of joy. Goods sadden evil, the devil puts himself to flight: for it befits him to bear his own lot: the demons still mourn to this day, and deplore themselves. For as soon as the cross has been named, they recognize the blow, and do not endure the name. And lest anyone think that I have been forgetful of my yesterday’s promise; for we had promised to speak today concerning the resurrection; for the time demanded it. For just as yesterday the discourse was set in motion concerning the resurrection; so since the festival requires the return of the Lord to the Father. But the resurrection of men is confirmed, when the Son shall have appeared having returned to the Father. And that which is proposed is shown to be greater, when the resurrection of Him who raised up shall have appeared. Since the Apostle also, wishing to show that men rise again, transmitted his discourse to the resurrection of the Lord, and said: *If we suffer, that we may also be glorified together.* If the dead rise not, neither is Christ risen; so that from this it may be manifest that the resurrection of men follows the resurrection of the Lord. And indeed those things A which were done before the cross, He who was showed: but the miracles which were done after death through the apostles confirm that He who died has risen and lives. Whence also greater miracles were reserved after death, than those which were done before death. For since the resurrection of the Lord is more incredible than His advent in the world, greater miracles were reserved for the witnesses of the resurrection, so that it might be recognized that He is indeed dead, but has risen on account of the dispensation, and lives on account of His power. For who has dared to say that Christ has not risen, whether they be confessedly enemies, or pretended friends? Do you think the Gentiles will dare to say that He died and did not rise? I do not ask what they say, but what they suffer. For if their temples stand, He did not rise. If He did not destroy, if their idols were not melted down after the cross, He did not rise, who convicts those things which do not live. If they are not rebuked by the name of His cross, B and the demons, He did not rise, who is held to be terrible to those who do not exist: for even the demons confess the resurrection of Christ. For those who exorcise name the Lord, and the resurrection: and rebuking by the name of Him who died and rose, they have the demons not as disobedient or contradicting, but obeying and consenting to the resurrection. But the Jews doubt the resurrection of Christ. Would that they did not doubt, so that they themselves might rise from their sins, in which they are dead and are in truth dead! But if they doubt, let them show their city standing after the things they dared. And truly He who died is dead, because those who affixed Him to the cross stand. But if the city is deserted because of the audacity of the inhabitants, who after death torments them because they are, it is surely the Living One who does this. If their nation does not serve, if they have not excused their king, if there is no prophet with them; the outcome of the prophecy of the prophets has not come to pass. But if their city is deserted, if the altar is no longer for them, no priest, no king, no prophet, no spirit; through whom are these things? But if it be said by them impudently, that men destroyed their city; whether by God granting and permitting, but rather being indignant? let them say the cause of the sin. Do you think because of idolatry? and indeed they do not worship idols now. But because they killed the prophets at one time? and certainly when they were killing them, they were inhabiting their city. But because they contaminated the temple at one time? and certainly those contaminating hold...
A things, and they themselves were whorish in Egypt in their youth. Fornication, however, is set forth in Scripture, because according to mercy God deigned, as if uniting to Himself at that time indeed the Synagogue, but now the Church. From Him, therefore, who according to mercy was uniting, the falling away, and the joining to demons, and the idolatry, is most rightly called fornication according to Scripture. Because, therefore, they were worshipping idols in Egypt, therefore through the prophet He says: Two were the sisters, and they themselves were whorish in their youth in Egypt. Finally, even Moses' successor, Jesus Nave, commanding the people concerning their departure, says: Whom do you wish to serve as gods? Is it those whom your fathers worshipped in Egypt? What need is there to call upon the prophets? I produce Israel itself as a witness against itself and their own voice, that I may show that they were worshipping idols in Egypt. For because departing from Egypt they were in the wilderness, and Moses had ascended to bring the law to the sacrilegious, and forty days did Moses tarry on the mountain: fashioning for themselves the head of a calf, they were crying out in their own tongues against themselves: These are thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt. And this commends the fact, that those who even in the wilderness worshipped idols, fashioning for themselves the head of a calf, [did so] even in Egypt. For they said: These are thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt. It is the voice of the accusers that they were worshipping such idols, and these they worshipped also in Egypt, to whom they were offering thanks for the sake of their departure. But if they say that we had other sins, on account of which our city was brought to the wilderness, and the nation is in servitude, and neither is a prophet with them, nor altar, nor king, nor priest; what sin is greater than irreligion? But if, worshipping idols in Egypt, they went out from Egypt; was it not easier for them, while they were acting irreligiously among the Judeans, to return to Judea? But they have dared to say that we do not have prophets now, because we appear scattered among the Gentiles. Where, therefore, came Moses? Was it not in Egypt? Where was Mary, the sister of Moses? Was it not in Egypt? Where were the seventy-two? Was it not in the desert of the Gentiles? After these things, moreover, where is Daniel? Was it not in Babylon? Where were his three brothers? Was it not in Babylon among the Gentiles? Where do they dwell who fast? Is it not among the Gentiles? Where did the flame ignore its own nature? Where is Zacharias the prophet? Where is the Angel? But if the first and the middle [groups] were among the Gentiles, when the prophets were D with them. And certainly in Babylon, outside of these who have been mentioned, all the Jews worshipped the image of the king, and they were not for that reason deprived of the prophets. For that they worshipped the image, the threat of Nebuchadnezzar then made A signifies. B It says: Everyone who, not falling down, shall not have worshipped the image, shall immediately be sent into the furnace of burning fire. And present indeed was all Israel. Three, however, were found alone who had not worshipped; they were sent into the furnace, and
were saved from the fire. But Daniel, entrusted with royal commissions, was not present. For if he had been present, the good horse would never have remained behind the chariot. And so, nor was Daniel abandoned because of the threat of fire by his brethren and their martyrdom; for his brethren were produced in the midst, and manifested their martyrdom openly, and suffered and were liberated. But Daniel, after these things, when the king’s decree was in force that no one should worship any other God or king, except only the king—and whom, do you think? The king of the Persians—he, entering into his house, when he could have remained hidden and worshipped God in secret, by worshipping openly did not deny his religion, but chose rather to be given as food to the lions than to be deprived of the worship of the living God. For do not ask whether Daniel was eaten by the lions, but note this: that he proposed to be eaten. Nor was it that the flame did not consume those three youths sent into the furnace of burning fire, but because they themselves became a whole burnt offering as far as their readiness was concerned. For judgment is not made from the outcome, but from the readiness of the crown. I say, however, that they were saved at that time—both Daniel from the lions and the three youths from the flame of the burning fire—not because of the readiness of those who were saved, but because of the weakness of those who worshipped the image. For so that those who worshipped might not say, "What did it profit them that they did not worship?" and lest from the outcome of the fire of those who did not worship they should seek out an excuse for themselves while acting irreligiously, therefore those who did not worship were saved, so that those who worshipped might not remain dead. For God Himself is the [God] of Daniel and of these who are consumed by beasts in martyrdoms. But not the same for the people; for by an unbelieving people were those who confessed the faith saved, so that the unbelief of the people might not be angered; but by a faithful plebs, so that faith might grow, the truth of the Gospel is strengthened in the blood of the saints. A We also have [examples], because even miracles were performed in the places [where people were] languishing. For some were saved from beasts because the places in which the passion of the martyrs was performed were languishing; others were freed from fire. If anyone does not believe, and demands a reason, nothing prevents us from repeating the memory of one religious man and bringing it into the middle. In that city of the Antiochians, a certain Roman stood forth as a martyr. This man had arrived there as a stranger. But when he saw that city being tossed by the storms (for he had found that many soldiers of the Church had already fallen), he did not allow it to be given to the devil to exult; but he countered the exulting judge regarding those who had been overcome, making violence against the kingdom that was truly seized. And he says: "You shall not depart happy. For God has soldiers who cannot be overcome." The judge, however, drunk on the victory of those who had been overcome, esteeming their B constancy, commands him to be brought in. It was not right for him to allow the Lord Jesus to depart without a victor. But introducing him, he set all tortures in motion, and [he moved] as much for one victor as for all these who had been overcome. For he struggled so that his victory would not be dissolved by the victory of this one man, and considering within himself that even in the stadium the end of the runners is sought, and that if this man wins, those who had been defeated will not be considered as victors; he orders all tortures to be applied to him. For wishing to bend the young man, he would torture him with his eyes, and threaten him with his teeth, and with the hands of the torturers he would extend his own hands, and from his very anger he was even moved from his seat. But when the torturers grew weary, and he who was being tortured did not yield, and the iron had become blunt and bent, he who was being scraped was not bent. When now no invention of tortures had been left out, desiring to show his constancy, the soldier of the Lord sends forth a voice saying: "Why, tyrant, do you not yet cease? I have confessed through [my] mouth that Christ is the true King." The judge, however, not suffering the injury against the tyranny, indeed convicted himself, and recommended the martyr of Christ: for he suffers these things for the true King, because he dared to speak so of a mortal man. Therefore he orders him to be handed over to the fire, joining crown to crowns. And so the command was quickly carried out. C For Romanus was ejected, joyful and crowned with blood, notable on his sides for what he had suffered for the truth: carrying, indeed, both the cross on his shoulders, and on his forehead the royal sign. But when the brushwood and reeds were gathered, for the sake of the speed of the flame, or because they seem suitable for the firing of the fire, the living sacrifice was placed in the fire. When these things were being done thus, and the city was not far off, so that it might bear witness to the truth: and perhaps because some of the Jews or other men were saying, "Where is their God?"—perhaps those of the Jews bringing forward the three youths, and saying that under us they were saved from the flame of the burning furnace, but these are burning—indeed the Lord orders the heaven to be crowned with clouds. Fulfilling the bosoms of the clouds with hail and very vehement rain, and adding winds for the swift emission of them: he did not permit the flame to be kindled, showing this virtue more vehement than at Babylon. For here D the flame liberated the three youths: but in this case it was not even granted for the flame to be kindled. A not insignificant disturbance occurs: it is announced to the tyrant that heaven was indignant because the martyr was handed to the fire, and because the celestial King defends His own who are held on earth. When the tyrant had heard these things, and when he was strongly defending his own injury done by [his] tongue, he orders the judge that he ought no longer to argue him before God, but that he whom God liberated ought to be released. And our Ananias is therefore said [to be one, etc.]
in fear. He says, “This man is still a Christian,” in that, sparing his brother, he scorned the order. But perhaps he, desiring that the martyr should not survive after the cutting of the tongue, cut more deeply, for the sake of killing rather than for the sake of precision. Nevertheless, the doctor who was caught was led to the judge, and he had business talking, he whose tongue had been cut. For he did not speak once and then go silent, but he conversed with others regarding the cross and the victory of Christ, and this he did for many months while established in prison. Let us therefore have a third admiration: one martyr of the Church is now equal to the three from the Synagogue. Furthermore, as the doctor was undergoing his trial—so that you may learn together how great a good it is, and what a short blow of religiousness may effect—for because he had received the tongue for the sake of protection, because he had stored up for himself a treasure in the account of his salvation, from that point on he received the fruit of faith. For to the judge, who was indignant and threatening and now wanting to kill him, the doctor replied: “I have the tongue which I cut. Let another be produced, to whom God does not stand by, and let his tongue be cut according to the measure of the cut tongue; if he lives, it is my own device and not a defense from God.” A certain one of those condemned is produced, and the measure having been taken most diligently, his tongue is also cut, which had to be cut. As soon as the incision was fulfilled and the end of his life completed, he simply died. But in God, by comparison with the shadows, a most clear light appeared. Whoever, however, is weak and incredulous—since signs are for the unbelievers, as Scripture says B—we have these things to present which we have heard. And certainly, the Church is not merely in need; but I have heard of another as well, that a certain man was sent to the beasts, but, not consumed by the beasts, like Daniel, he reported the miracles of God to the Church. But may it not be my place to collect such things. For these are held to be supports for the weak, these are satisfactions for those who do not believe. But I neither spurn these things nor refuse them. May God, however, be glorified even in these miracles. For I love when I see the heads of martyrs cut off, and the whole body burn, and virgins naked, not with irreligious eyes, but with friendly and brotherly ones. For the brothers see none of these things as terrible, because they do not suffer them. These are our glories, these are our loves. And indeed, he who is cut at the head will have his head in the judgment; because he who burns entirely is offered as a whole burnt offering to the living God. And the virgin, stripped, is not naked; for she has the garment C of her own incorruption. Let no one say to the martyrs: “Have mercy on yourselves D by these means, brothers,” lest perhaps, as imitators of Christ, they send forth even his voice, replying to those who say so: “Get thee behind me, Satan.”
A Let them be mangled and burned so that they may be stripped of their passions, and let Christ be victorious in all things. For what can the Jews put forward as glory or as an accusation? If we have used the aforementioned glory concerning our brethren who are killing us, we do not cease to be killed while the former are killed: now let us adore the idols which we have rejected. However, Israel did not cease from adoring even when they were being killed, so that they might not adore. And they dared to speak to the cross. For when they fashioned the head of a calf for themselves to adore, Moses killed many, so that the others would not do such things, and so that those who remained might not adore. Whence, therefore, will it be similar for the Jews to be such that when they are killed, they others adore idols; and the Church, which is being killed so that it may adore, and does not adore? But what communion is there between light and darkness? “For what ought I to have done for my vineyard, and did not do?” says God. He ought to have given, and to have coaxed, and to have bestowed benefits: he did everything. For he gave manna: however, Israel, while eating it, adored B a calf which neither ate grass nor possessed life. They drank water from the rock, and from the rock they fashioned idols for themselves. Through wood, bitter water was transformed into sweetness: but they, sculpting idols for themselves from wood, adored against Him who had made the sweet. And while they grew old, their garments grew with them; but they, receiving what God was giving, consecrated them to idols. For they were so stubborn toward benefits: and therefore he brought plagues upon them, because he could not persuade them while he was giving benefits: he wanted, therefore, to urge them on by punishing them. For what plague did he not send upon them? For what does he himself say to them? “In vain have I struck your children: you have not accepted discipline.” For when he was upbraiding them with his benefits, he said: “What ought I to have done further for my vineyard, and did not do?” But when he was adding disbelief to the plagues: “In vain have I struck your children: you have not accepted discipline.” And again: “To what purpose shall you be struck, adding sins?” This is it: I have emptied out the plagues: but you do not cease sinning. But perhaps you think the plagues are simple: for those who made a head of a calf for themselves to adore were killed by the sword: and nevertheless Israel remained undisciplined: and the earth wondrously reveals its opening, and swallowed some alive: and those who remained adored things that do not live. The flame consumed them so that they might not adore idols, and it devoured many: and those who remained C adored the idols of demons. And those, indeed, were being consumed so that they might not adore, but nevertheless they did adore. We, however, are being consumed so that we may adore, and we do not adore. Not indeed by our own virtue, but by the power of the cross. Serpents were biting them, and killing them by inflicting poison; and by all D the plagues, through the earth, through fire, through the sword, through serpents, through wild beasts, through enemies, they were punished by the law, killed, cut down, consumed, and killed by the hand of the priests: and they did not depart from the idols. And yet all these things were happening then, and the Spirit was among them, and Moses was the prophet, and Aaron the priest, and Jesus Nave leading the army and conquering the enemies, and Moses prevailing with prayers, and manna from above, and the rock was giving water, and the tabernacle was present, and the staff was flourishing, and wonders were happening. And those who were adoring idols did not turn away God, so that he would retreat from his promises which he had made to Abraham. Why, therefore, I ask you, why, when you were adoring idols even among the Egyptians, when you were not believing even while placed in the sea itself, when you were murmuring while receiving manna, when you fashioned the head of a calf for yourselves before the law and against the law, when you consecrated yourselves to Beelphegor, when you scorned the flame of fire, when you were being killed by serpents, were you not persuaded: when the earth, wondrously opening its mouth, swallowed you alive, neither did you cease from idols, nor did God retreat, so as not to do good to you; and you had prophets with you. We have compared, therefore, those things with things that are not, and we have asked them why, when such great things were happening by you then, God permitted them to you, and now when you keep the Sabbath as you promise, and read the law, and the books of the prophets—which you killed while they were present, but you honor their books with purple cloaks—what is the reason that, when you were doing such great evils then, such great tokens of God were happening among you, and the Spirit was present with you, and the prophets were with you? But now, when you read the law, and say it, and keep it, and hold festivals, and observe the Sabbath, and abstain yourselves from foods; you labor and keep vigil in vain, saying psalms through the night, and through cities and nations you have established synagogues, and you want to do the ark and the candelabra and the tables and everything now more than in your own land? Why, when you were doing such great evils then, did you have such great prophets, and Moses whom you wanted to stone, and Aaron upon whom you imposed force: now, however, when you seem to keep the law, and to do everything as it has been foretold, is no prophet with you? Do you think that because the Romans—for you are compelled to say it—destroyed your city without the will of God? Who took the Holy Spirit from you? Where is the prophet now among you? God says in the prophet Ezekiel: “This people sinned against me, and I sent them into captivity.” But not fearing these things, he says, they were hearing among the gentiles: “This is the people of God and the earth of God.” And I shall lead them out, he says, for my name's sake, and I shall bring them back, and say to them:
A “It is not for your sake that I act, O house of Israel, but for my name’s sake.” That God who said then, “It is not for your sake that I act, but for my name’s sake,” now, hearing you say that you acted religiously by crucifying Christ—and that you are worthy of him on account of the previous reproach of the gentiles—let him say as he said: “And now, if I nevertheless permit your sin, I am not doing it for the house of Israel, but for my name’s sake.” And surely, for his own name’s sake he is not bringing you back now. Just as he called them back then for his own name’s sake, so too he is not calling you back now for his own name’s sake. For if, for the sake of his name, he does what he does not do, he ought also not to allow to happen those things which the Savior predicted when they showed him the stones of the temple, that “there shall not be left one stone upon another that will not be thrown down”; and when he wept over Jerusalem and predicted that enemies would surround it and destroy it; and when he said to the daughters of Israel: “Daughters of Israel, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children; for the days are coming, he says, when you shall suffer the things that have been suffered.” If, after these things were predicted once, twice, and a third time by the Savior, he is a liar, and if those who were defending the law killed the one whom they killed, God ought to have refuted the lying prophecies while letting them continue to sin, just as he had suffered before. But if the Savior indeed predicted it, and the Father hearing it confirmed it, and the works bear witness, Israel is twice convicted by the prophecy. Since, therefore, the correction that shone forth in the world through the cross is apparent, we have asked them: Whom do you wish Jesus to be? A sinner and one acting against the law? Therefore, produce your just men, and let there be a comparison. Far be it from us servants to do this to the Lord! But because we are speaking to the Jews, we must become as infants. Let us compare the signs B and set many lamps against a single sun, and let us say to the Jews: Whom do you wish Jesus to be? As Abraham? Show us, then, whom Abraham persuaded, even one person, from idolatry to religion: or is this not the first thing commanded in your law? But Isaac will be compared to the thing itself, and it is of Isaac that the discourse will be. Whom did Isaac persuade? But Jacob, whose father-in-law remained in idolatry? But Moses, who could not transfer the sons of Abraham to the worship of Abraham through many signs and wonders? Who could not persuade his own father-in-law? Was the sea not divided and then joined again, and was manna not brought down instead of rain, and did stones not emit water from their depths, and was all nature not transformed through signs, and yet the people remained in idolatry? What did the lamp Moses avail? Therefore the Lord says well: “Do not judge by appearances, but judge just judgment”: not by names, but by deeds: what did Moses correct, and is Jesus preferred by you? If, however, he did not persuade one person through signs, but Jesus, using the cross, through scandal, and not through signs or wonders, transferred the world to the worship of God: Moses is a lamp that does not suffice even for one house; but Jesus is the sun of justice, and if the world is not shining and illuminated, let him not be the sun. For from the works the names must be accepted. If the world is illuminated, he is the sun of justice: for where the work precedes, the naming should be attached. Why is Moses called a lamp, who could not even shine for his own brothers and kinsfolk? Indeed, at his end the sinners under him were consumed by fire, and Aaron was rebuked by the very mouth of Moses, and Aaron was rebuked by God on account of Moses himself. Those who know the Scriptures know what is C said. They bring forward Moses because he was rebuked by God and had a just end of life. But we are compelled to speak against the saints whom we wish to honor. But we do not speak against Moses, but we speak the things which he wishes: Moses himself says them. For even if we are compelled to speak, we say it in order to commend the things that Moses himself spoke concerning Christ. Therefore, the Jews falsely read Moses against Moses. For by reading they say that he speaks nothing true. But we read Moses for Moses. And why do we contend with the Jews to add what is held among the Jews, which they grant to us? But let the same Jews grant to us that Moses spoke the truth, and that none of the prophets lied, nor their God. For we say that all the promises of God, which were made through the law and through the prophets, have been fulfilled in the advent of the Lord Christ, and are still being fulfilled unto this day. This is to honor the books of the prophets, not with purple cloaks on the outside, but to recognize him who is preached within. Moses has not lied for us; for the work itself provides testimony for him. Moses has not lied against Israel; for their captivity and humiliation testify. The prophets have not lied D in predicting the calling of the gentiles; for they have been called as you see. The prophets have not lied in prophesying the exit and rejection of Israel. If, however, the discourses were predicted, and the affairs bear witness, what does the shameless Israel still have to say? Once indeed to the words, but now even to the affairs themselves. It is written and promised in the law that if those who are scattered shall have been penitent and kept the law: “from then I shall bring them back,” says the Lord. This is God’s promise. Let us ask the Jews, therefore, whether you keep the law or not? If you do not keep it, why do you speak? If, however, you keep it, why are you not brought back? For God does not lie. If, however, you who were transgressors of the law held the city; now, as you say, keeping the law, you are scattered in the cities: your [state] is therefore manifest.
A The audacity of the blood of the Just One is inexcusable. And indeed, you have shed the blood of many prophets, and you possessed your city; and when the former prophets were killed, the second ones would come and convict you. How, then, does the blood of many prophets not destroy the prophecy, but the blood of one, as you say, who acts against the law, settle the whole prophecy? And how is it that all the prophets, along with the lawgiver and righteous kings, and all the miracles which are seen to have been performed in Egypt, and in the desert, and in the land of promise itself, and with all the benefits and punishments, did not establish the end of idolatry even for Israel himself? But the word of the Cross both converted the whole world, and Israel, if nothing else, at least was restrained from idolatry. What seems to me more effective than this, because the resurrection of the Living One, which did this, is death that He endured? For if He was fixed [to the cross] on account of weakness, as Paul says, yet He lives, as we see. And we, indeed, do not deny Him whom we do not see; but we see the living One from the things He effects. Since, however, they have dared [to do these things], in which is the punishment they themselves bear. Therefore, the Living One is found even among them who suffered. For those who oppose are in dissolution: the Gentiles are no longer Gentiles: and the Jews are overcome. What is missing for one who conquers? For when the Church has sons—for such is the admiration, because accepting from the Jews the fathers, the apostles, but from the Gentiles the sons from those who did not believe; it has there the salvation of the sons, [yet] here it does not believe the Jews. But from the denying Jews it has the apostles as witnesses, so that their scattering among us might not be B theirs. For when iron has been taken from the heap of stones, or from the earth from which it was also fashioned, it is no longer what it was in the mountain: and the apostles, accepted from the Jews, are no longer of them. For purified through fire, they were made other than stones. For those were being killed so as not to worship idols; and they were stoning Moses because he did not allow them to worship; but Stephen was immediately being stoned by them themselves, because he did not deny the Lord Jesus on account of the Cross. Do you think they are from the Jews? Peter, who was fixed to the cross with his head downward, Paul, who suffered persecution and boasted in dangers. But we remember Peter and Paul and Stephen. Peter before the Cross was weak and uncertain, and three times denied the Lord; when was it more fitting for him to deny? When the Master was still living? Or then, when he [the Master] was dead, [and] the one who is [Christ] had done enough for him? But if he did not deny before death, it would have been a contentious [act] of one giving all to the Master. But if he denies before the cross, and three times not simply, but by the voice of one girl, and this while the Lord was predicting it to him, and certainly if not for any other reason, on account of the contempt of the prediction Peter ought not to have denied. And certainly, when the Lord said that all would deny [Him], Peter was saying: "If all will deny, I will not deny; but I am prepared to die for Thee, and to die before Thee." And when he had said that he also was about to deny three times, he did not recede, insisting and saying, "I will not deny Thee." But he who said often that "I will not deny,"—and he had memory of these [words]; for a certain girl approaching was questioning him, "Now he is a Galilean, now he was with Jesus"; he began and to swear that which the girl had not demanded, and to say that "I do not know the man, neither as a man, O Peter!" And this once, and twice, and thrice. And certainly the Master was alive, and it was uncertain if he [Peter] would die for Him. For His is the voice that said: "Mercy to you, Lord, from these." C Just as this man, denying three times and swearing, and this because of the voice of one girl before the Cross: after the Cross, after those few days, he begins to cry out and to say to the people: "Men, brethren and fathers, hear." Do you not hear the girl, and you call men brethren and fathers so that they might be persuaded? In the night you deny, in which you could even be hidden, and at the third hour you are constantly crying out [and] speaking to the whole people? But suppose that Peter is contentious, and giving all things to the Master, he dared even to speak to the Jews, from whom the audacity itself originated. How did the Jews not immediately cover the one arguing with clubs and stones, or any other kind [of weapon]? For if they dared to affix to the cross God, who performed signs, how did they not immediately—after this audacity—cover with clubs or stones Peter who was convicting them? Now, therefore, they are in captivity and humiliation, when the Church flourishes; and with us kings and judges worship. Let any one dare to enter the synagogue, even if seen by someone, and say, "Jesus who was crucified is the Son of God." If he goes out from there? And this when it is not from the Jews, but from us: when both laws punish, and kings worship, and when the Church holds [sway]. But if now it is not without danger for any non-Jew to enter their synagogue who are held in captivity, and this in a neighborhood where three or four Jews are gathered, and to speak the truth; just as Peter, [a] Galilean from the Jews [did]? For this is not to say that they honored his nobility, and so they did not dare: nor because of [his] D learning, nor because of wealth. Now, however, he was not even a fisherman, but needier than the needy. And to such an extent did he [the Spirit] assist him, so that he would not speak, who while his soul was in danger, and he was being questioned if he was a Galilean, denying and saying, "No," was convicted in the very denial. For because it is natural to a language, of any part of the earth, for one meditating to become accustomed to speaking, the East uses [it] for another part, she cries out in the Syriac language in another [place], the nation indeed is the same, but it is held to be changed in sound. For this also happens among the Jews: et cetera. For the Galileans were speaking the Hebrew [alt-version omitted]
language, but were hindered or changed because they were not from the city. Just as it happens also among us now, that those who inhabit the fields are changed by those who reside in the cities and possess the language. Moreover, perhaps even the neighboring city of each one has a different language on account of the customary familiarity. When these things were done in this way, they appeared so out of custom. In the book of Judges it is written [*] that war arose among them on account of a certain accusation—I know not what—from this part of the men. For the circumcision was common. If they came to the other side, their distinction was through their language. For the victors asked those whom they had conquered whence they were: for the sake of safety to be held from the opposing side, they would propose a certain speech; they were not able to speak correctly so that those who were asking—and those who were denying—would be tested by their language. For this is renewed in the Gospels, what was written among the Judges. For Peter was denying that he knew the man: but his language, by the very denial, convicted him that he was a Galilean. Let this Peter, who was in danger and was seeking to change his language from Galilean to Judean, and to correct [it] a little, desiring and hastening and fearing death, say what he thought. How does this Jew, nay, one from the Jews, speak to the whole world, let him say, and convict the Gentiles. Whence [has] this man, whose tongue was voiceless, whence does Peter speak? But he did not speak; rather, by being silent, he persuaded the world. You give us greater wonder: he who denied, yet spoke—in what language? For to those who were at Jerusalem, how could he speak? Yet he speaks, and after how many days of conviction was he convicted through his language? This was the completing of the fiftieth day, but the passion of the Lord had been fifty days before Peter's denial. Do you think that in fifty days a rustic fisherman from a village studied every language? For it is written in the Acts of the Apostles: and let it not be believed if the facts themselves do not agree. For it is written 88 that while the days of Pentecost were being fulfilled, the apostles were gathered as one, whom the cross had indeed scattered, but the resurrection had gathered; and to them gathered together, tongues like cloven fire were divided, and sat upon each one of them, and they began to speak in tongues that they had not learned. The Scripture says this; let him who wishes, inquire. If it is not done, how did the nations hear? But the nations did hear. Therefore, what was written was done. Who is it that gave? He who died; and truly before He suffered, He did not give the tongue. What therefore He did not give before He suffered, how does He give [it] dead, unless because He rose again? But He did not give, nor does Scripture speak the truth. How did the apostles dare to go out to the Gentiles? With what hope inflated, what having before their eyes did they dare this? Whence also had they this prudence? How do you think, gathered together, they shamelessly said to one another: The Master deceived us? Because therefore He deceived us, let us also deceive the world. They were saying that He raised us 87, and He Himself dead did not rise. If this consciousness of theirs so knew that these things were contrary, they ought to have said, and denied, and repented, and confessed the error, and before the Jews said what the Jews were saying 88: He was a seducer, He seduced us; we thought [He would rise], He was promising resurrection; his shroud refutes Him 89. Each one ought to have returned to his ancestral nets, to provide for himself a living, to be hidden, to blush at the falsity of the Master, to hide his own seduction, much more to argue 90 that we did not even see Him. They ought to do these things, if those things were true which the Jews desired. But do you think that, while gathered as one, they shamelessly said to themselves: What if we have been seduced? But let us not concede. The Master is dead; let us say that He rose again: for what would they gain? What profit would they receive? Gold? But the commandment did not permit it: silver? And they even abandoned the nets themselves. But that they might be honored? When they were being affixed with heads inverted. What was there that could urge them so that they might lie about Him who had not risen? Who had provided them with boldness? In what were they confident—their ignorance, rusticity, inborn character, wealth, multitude, twelve against the world? But the preaching of Him who was affixed to the cross. To persuade the world by Him alone to go forth is a great thing. Suppose they dared these things: how did the Jews suffer not to kill them immediately? Are they not ready for killing? They affixed the Master, who does not convict them [of being] homicides: these, who convicted them that they are homicides, ought they not much more to have killed them? Why, still having the Master's blood on their hands, do they suffer the fishermen? And certainly when they were killing the Master, if Peter had not denied, he would have been dead. Who, therefore, desired to kill Him before the Master died, how do they not kill Him after the Master's death? How? What is the cause? But they did not want to: and who is it that changed their mind? But they wanted to: and who is it that prohibited their intent? But they wanted to and could not: and who is it that overcame their malice? How were they overcome? If no wonder was done, how do the fishermen conquer? Behold another wonder, if they conquer without any wonder. And certainly the Jews want to kill, and the Lord concedes to them that they may kill. Stephen therefore bore martyrdom. How therefore is Stephen indeed killed by these? For his martyrdom was useful, that the resurrection might be confirmed through [his] death: and do the others not get killed? But Israel did not want to.
A The leaders of the Jews, or [it would ensure] that they might transfer their hearts of stone to the faith, or, being silent, they would certainly be put to confusion. Let these persuasions be written in the heart of each one, not in ink: for they are not worthy of ink. But if someone speaks with force, do not tolerate those who lie; and if we grant some part to the discourse, do not be deceived. But if the matters are clearer than the sun, do not become blind. See the Lord Jesus rising from the dead. See him sitting at the right hand of the Father in glory. With what eyes? With those, of course, of the apostles, by their power and their knowledge. How were they received? How was [the gospel] believed? How were ancient things destroyed? How were things which were thought to be base in the preaching introduced? And certainly there were many hindrances among them: custom which was thought ancient, the power of adversaries, the remission of holidays, and those things which were told in detail; but, from Him who was preached, the cross, and that which was incredible and without honor in it. Moreover, there was the lowliness of the heralds, their ignobility, [their lack of] doctrine, their poverty, their small number. But on account of the preaching itself, [there was] fasting instead of drunkenness, chastity instead of lust, to give away one's own goods rather than to plunder. If, therefore, He who was preached carried incredulity because of the powerlessness B that was thought of the cross, and those who preached [carried] all incredible things; add also their persecution, when they were scourged, when they endured injuries, when they were rejected and killed; if He who was preached was put to death, those who preach are killed, and those who believe endure persecution. From where is faith derived? From Him, or from His preachers? From those who received it? But [was it] from the custom which suggested the contrary? Or from the bitterness of the preaching, to which the rest that was permitted in the Old Testament was opposed? Or from the promises? A certain man, he says, died, and rose again at some time; and persecution was indeed present, but the promises were only spoken. But do you think these things came to pass, and that the disciples persuaded, and the world was transformed, and the Jews ceased? Impossible things became possible, and again [you might say it was done] in silence: and if by chance. But if Jesus foretold these things before the cross, but fulfilled them after the cross, what do we not see clearly, where He also foretold? For where did He not foretell? If any man has searched His words, there is no word of His in which there is not immediately also the preaching. For He named C His disciples fishermen: in that moment when He called the fishermen, He announced the fishing. For the name itself is an appellation of the preaching. He called them fishers of men for salvation. D They did, however, fish. If they did not fish,
they would have lied and died. But if even now men are still being fished by those absent, is it not apparent that He who sent the fishers to fish is present? And while they are absent, He called them salt. If they did not settle our putrefaction, if they did not wipe away our filth, if they did not cleanse our squalor, if they did not infuse taste into us, they would not be what they are called. But if they freed us from squalor and stench, and settled our flux, and wiped away our filth, and we are now filled with sweet odor through them, and we are a divine feast: then rebuke the preaching, if the outcome of events allows it. He called them salt and displayed them as such. Finally, in another preaching, He makes them light and says: *You are the light of the world* [Matth. v, 13]. Private, ignoble, needy fishermen are called the light of the world. For if He had said "of a house," it would not be great, if it were not of someone’s path. Even greater, if He had said "of one city." But that they are light for an entire nation is not incredible: but, He says, *you are the light of the world*. If He said a great thing, and did not perform the greatest, has He lied at all? If He says great things, but performs greater, what shall we do about the things that are seen? He says to Peter: *You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church* [Matth. xvi, 18]. Certainly He was promising that He would build His Church. If He did not build it, He is dead. But if He who does not live built it, let them say how He built it; or did He build it, but add nothing? But He says: *and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it* [ibid.]. If swords, and armies, and tyrants, and laws, and punishments, and death, and the variety thereof, and fire, and sea, and rivers, and all things together were not moved against this preaching, and yet the preaching, passing through all things, has been gathered together; and it is shown from the earth and chastened that hell and many deaths do not transfer the Lord's preaching. If these things had not been done, perhaps doubt would be left. But if this entire preaching stands through all things, He lives, certainly, whose preaching is not overturned. But from small things, great preachings have been made. *The Lord was reclining*, He says, *and a certain woman came to him* [Matth. xxvi, 6, 7]. And what did she carry? She poured ointment over His head. The disciples were angry, knowing that the Master does not need ointment. Judas was also angry for the sake of profit; and because He bestows on the poor, there is indifference. But the Lord to those who were angry: *Do not*, He says, *seek what I wish, but who and what is the will of Him who sent me*. Do not be troubled: for He has done it. As for the fact that she did this, He is not ignorant. She is announcing my death. For the ointment is sent to the nations, who are dying. And indeed one preaching that He will die: but let this not be a marvel. For He adds: *Amen, amen I say to you, that when my name shall have been preached in the whole world, this also which she has done shall be preached* [ibid. 13]. And that small occasion of ointment introduced so great a magnitude of preaching: and it was said that my name will be preached in the whole world, and the report of that woman will be in memory. What is the authority of this voice? For what does He who is dead say after His death to those who preached? Go out into the whole world. Did He say it, or did He not say it? If He did not say it, how did those who went out perform what He commanded? How are they suspected [of lying]? How is He who is dead, dead? *Go, teach*, He says, *all nations* [Matth. xxviii, 19]: O royal voice, O promise of Him who holds the world! *Go, teach all nations*. To how many do you say these things, O Lord? To twelve men for an innumerable people: *and baptize them* [ibid.], He says; and they did what we see. Again, surely comparing, He predicts by parables: *The kingdom of heaven*, this is this preaching, *is like leaven* [Matth. xiii, 33]. In what way like leaven? Because even with a little leaven from a woman, hidden in much dough, it itself is not obscured by the dough, but while it is little, it makes the whole rise, and makes it rise without noise. Thus, He says, my preaching, brief through the twelve, through this leaven, the whole, He says, having been sprinkled, will not be transformed, but will transfer the entire world to piety. This was said by parable. But has the preaching been done, or not? If it has been done, why do you doubt? If, however, it has not been done, argue. He introduces another parable again similar to this. For what does He say? *The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which is the smallest indeed of all seeds: when it has grown, it becomes greater than all herbs* [ibid. 31, 32]. And the preaching was in the twelve apostles, and Judaism and gentility existed. But when it grew, it overcame both. These are the discourses before the cross, but after the cross are the works that we see. Meanwhile, the gentiles indeed came and say to Philip: *We wish to see Jesus* [John xii, 21], and Jesus says: *The hour has come, the fear of the cross, that the Son of Man may be glorified* [ibid. 23]. He says that when I have been crucified, I shall be glorified. He said this, it does not happen, and He is dead. But if He foretold and through death performed it, O power of strength through things that are not strong! But do not weary yourself about the resurrection, to hear it on the day of the assumption. The feast is first for the souls, and thus for the bellies. First you must learn to whom you hold your feast; first you must acknowledge that He lives in whom hope is held, so that you may eat securely. If He who exhorts is dead, it must be mourned. If, however, we have been persuaded that He lives and gives life, and if we have eaten and drunk, and whatever else we have done, we will do it into the glory of the living One. We persuade, therefore, that we also feast rejoicing. For do you think that the discourse is still necessary? For we are still persuaded. Indeed, one of these things which have been said is not enough to even crush a stone: nevertheless, one of these
in order to speak of everything, not even time is sufficient. I shall surely measure my discourse for the sake of the bodies, for the sake of the feast, and for the sake of refreshment. The Lord says again: "Unless a grain of wheat falls and dies, it remains alone." He spoke according to the way nature behaves. For if it is not sown, the grain will remain bare. But if it falls, he says, and dies, as nature bears witness, it brings forth much fruit. And I, he says, if I am not dead, I do not gather; but if, falling into the earth, I have died, I bring forth much fruit according to the grain of wheat. And though the parable is spoken of a small grain, it reveals a work of very great wonder. For if, he says, I have not died, I do not gather. For before he died and performed miracles, he did not even gather A the twelve; for they did not remain with him. For he says: "For if I am not dead, I will not gather": "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to me." This which he said, that I am about to die, and shall be lifted up on the cross, or into the heavens (for nothing prevents both from being understood in this way), "and I will draw all men to me": did he say but a little? Let us wonder. But did he say something great, and do something little? Let us lessen our admiration. But if he said something great, he also did something great, and this through the cross, and after death; let us banish doubt and receive faith. And again he says the same things to the Jews: "When," he says, "you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am; and I have not come of myself, but from God, when the works have testified to what I say." These are tastes of the Lord's preachings; but the Gospels are full for those who wish to live well, the Acts of the Apostles are full, and the Epistles of Paul, and the cities are full of miracles, the cities are full of faith. Praise to the one unborn God, who sent B to us his only-begotten Son, through whom be to him glory, honor, dominion, and majesty in the Holy Spirit, both now and always and for all ages of ages. Amen.
EUSEBIUS PAMPHILI ON THE INCORPOREAL AND INVISIBLE GOD
Let us proclaim with a loud voice that God is incorporeal, C and both in those constituted in the body and in those departing from bodies. For souls live incorporeally, and after death possess an incorporeal nature, and still those things which have been created by God do not have such great dignity. But do you think that he who has wrought things so pure and clear will be covered by the corporeal nature of the foolish? Let us therefore consign our thoughts to the divine Scriptures. For because from thence questions are moved, from thence let solutions come. The soul is immortal, and the passions of the body do not come to it. For through him by whom all things were made, souls too were created. The Lord himself pronounced this and said: "Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul." He did not say that they do not wish to kill it, but that they cannot, he says, kill it. For he placed the power in the nature of the soul, and not in the purpose of those who deceive. If, therefore, our souls, which are held in bodies and around bodies, do not admit the passions of bodies, even while they are present in bodies; how much more is he himself, who D granted honor to souls by an incorporeal nature, more incorporeal, and not incorporeal in the same way as souls? For when we have moved the argument concerning these matters, and shall have inquired how the incorporeal differs from the incorporeal; then, when God himself has imparted of these things, we shall speak. In the meantime, however, the discourse is moved, because God is incorporeal, who also grants incorporeality to souls. But Paul, although constituted in the body and living in the flesh, did not wish to be in the flesh. For he says: "Some dare to think that we live in the flesh"; and because he was living in the flesh, he adds: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh." If, therefore, he who is in the flesh, pouring forth zeal in the spirit, departs from the body, how much more will that immaculate and inaccessible and pure nature be this, both in discourse and in nature? We certainly have it written also in the Gospels, the Savior himself saying: "No one has ever seen God." No one, he says, has ever seen: he comprehends all persons: he announced that no one, not at once, not separately, has ever been able to see God; he comprehends all spaces: so that no one might say, he appeared to the prophets, or to the legislator, or to someone else. What then? Do the Scriptures lie which say: "I came and I saw, and I heard"? God is not visible to the senses. How then is he to be known? But he who alone knows him who begot him says: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." For if he had said, "Blessed are those who have acute eyes," we would say that he made sight subject to the eyes. But if, as a pure eye sees what is natural to the eyes, so also a pure soul sees what is above the soul; he who is seen by the heart is not seen by the eyes: for those things which are seen by the eyes are subject to the motions of the mind.