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In Psalmum 139 [Sp.]

On "Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man."

55.707 1. I wonder why the prophet did not pray to be delivered from demons, or lions, or serpents, but from an evil man. It is clear, then, that evil men are worse than lions. For the lions respected Daniel, but the Jews crucified the Lord; the ravens fed Elijah on the mountain, but his brothers, selling Joseph, ate, whom they also ignored when he begged. For the boy begged them not to be sold to foreigners; but they in the excess of their cruelty ignored his supplication, and neither pitied his young age, nor respected fraternal affection, nor that a sower had sown them, and almost one womb had brought them forth, but in the excess of their cruelty they sold their most noble brother as a slave.

Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man. Wild bees fed John in the desert, but Herodias cut off his head during a banquet. Serpents and horned vipers and asps were ashamed before the man, but an evil woman did not shudder before the prophet. Daniel in Babylon killed the dragon, but David was not strong enough to conquer the envy of Saul. The serpent deceived only Eve; but Cain murdered his brother by deceit. The dog, Cain, being whipped, submits to the Master; but Judas, even while being fed, betrayed the Master. Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man. not from wild beasts; for wild beasts possess an obvious evil, but evil men hide their evil under the guise of reasonableness. And just as those who give poisonous drugs often coat the bitterness with sweetness by means of honey; so also evil men carry the sweetness of words in their mouth, but hold the bitterness of their ways in their heart; 55.708 they bear honey on their tongue, and forge a sword in their mind, appearing as one thing outwardly, and hiding as another inwardly. Thus the evil man is more dangerous than the wild beast; and how, listen. The wild beast, not having intelligence, does not devise evils against man; for it does not reason, nor does it have intelligence dictating to it and deceit; but the evil man, possessing intelligence, both uses it for evil and, whenever he wishes, devises traps through his intelligence. Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man; not from an evil angel. For there are also evil angels; as when David says: He sent upon them the anger of his wrath, wrath and indignation and tribulation, a sending through evil angels.

He made a path for his wrath. But the evil man is worse than the evil angel. For the evil angel keeps to what has been commanded; but the evil man counterfeits what has been commanded. What is more evil than the devil? But nevertheless, having envied Job, he did not dare to approach him without a divine command. But the evil man, hearing, "Love your enemies," not only does not love his enemies, but even hates his benefactors, and murders them, as Saul also did to David. For the one killed his adversary Goliath with a sling, and drove away the fear; but the other breathed murder against him. Again he drove away his demon with his psalmody, but the other, having sharpened a sword against him, hurled it. For such is the evil man; the more he receives benefits, the more he is kindled to envy. For strength is fuel for envy to the

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In Psalmum 139 [Sp.]

ΕΙΣ ΤΟ Ἐξελοῦ με, Κύριε, ἐξ ἀνθρώπου πονηροῦ.

55.707 αʹ. Θαυμάζω τί δήποτε ὁ προφήτης οὐκ ηὔξατο ῥυσθῆναι ἀπὸ δαιμόνων, ἢ

λεόντων, ἢ δρακόντων, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἀνθρώ που πονηροῦ. ∆ῆλον οὖν ὅτι χείρονές εἰσιν οἱ πονηροὶ ἄνθρωποι τῶν λεόντων. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ λέοντες τὸν ∆ανιὴλ ἐνετράπησαν, Ἰουδαῖοι δὲ τὸν Κύριον ἐσταύρωσαν· οἱ κόρακες τὸν Ἠλίαν ἐν τῷ ὄρει διέτρεφον, τὸν δὲ Ἰωσὴφ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ πιπράσκοντες ἔτρωγον, ὃν καὶ δεόμενον ὑπερ εῖδον. Ἐδέετο γὰρ αὐτῶν ὁ παῖς τοῦ μὴ πραθῆναι τοῖς ἀλλοφύλοις· οἱ δὲ τῇ ὑπερβολῇ τῆς ὠμότητος τὴν ἱκεσίαν αὐτοῦ ὑπερεῖδον, καὶ οὔτε νεαρὰν ἡλικίαν ἠλέησαν, οὔτε σπλάγχνα ἀδελφικὰ ᾐδέσθησαν, οὐχ ὅτι σπορεὺς αὐτοῖς εἰσέσπειρε, καὶ μία σχεδὸν χώρα ἐβλάστησεν, ἀλλὰ τῇ ὑπερβολῇ τῆς ὠμότητος τὸν εὐγενέστατον καὶ ἀδελφὸν ὡς δοῦλον ἐπίπρασκον.

Ἐξελοῦ με, Κύριε, ἐξ ἀνθρώ που πονηροῦ. Μέλισσαι ἄγριαι τὸν Ἰωάννην ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἔτρεφον, Ἡρωδιὰς δὲ αὐτὸν ἐν ἀρίστῳ ἀπέτεμε. ∆ράκοντες καὶ κεράσται καὶ ἀσπίδες τὸν ἄνδρα ᾐσχύ νοντο, γύναιον δὲ πονηρὸν τὸν προφήτην οὐκ ἔφριττε. ∆ανιὴλ ἐν Βαβυλῶνι τὸν δράκοντα ἔκτεινε, ∆αυῒδ δὲ τοῦ Σαοὺλ τὸν φθόνον νικῆσαι οὐκ ἴσχυσεν. Ὁ ὄφις τὴν Εὔαν μόνον ἠπάτησεν· ὁ δὲ Κάϊν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ δόλῳ ἐφό νευσεν. Ὁ κύων Κάϊν μαστιζόμενος, τῷ ∆εσπότῃ ὑπο τάσσεται· Ἰούδας δὲ καὶ τρεφόμενος τὸν ∆εσπότην παρέδωκεν. Ἐξελοῦ με, Κύριε, ἐξ ἀνθρώπου πονηροῦ. οὐκ ἀπὸ θηρίων· τὰ μὲν γὰρ θηρία προφανῆ τὴν πονη ρίαν κέκτηνται, οἱ δέ γε πονηροὶ ἄνθρωποι κρύπτουσι τὴν πονηρίαν τῷ σχήματι τῆς ἐπιεικείας. Καὶ ὥσπερ οἱ τὰ δηλητήρια φάρμακα διδόντες, μέλιτι πολλάκις περιχρίουσι τὴν πικρίαν τῇ γλυκύτητι· οὕτω καὶ οἱ πονηροὶ ἄνθρωποι τὸ μὲν γλυκὺ τῶν λόγων ἐν τῷ στό ματι φέρουσι, τὸ δὲ πικρὸν τῶν τρόπων ἐν καρδίᾳ κατ 55.708 έχουσι· τὸ μέλι ἐν τῇ γλώττῃ βαστάζουσι, καὶ τὸ ξίφος ἐν τῇ γνώμῃ χαλκεύουσιν, ἄλλοι ἔξωθεν φαινόμενοι, καὶ ἄλλοι ἔνδοθεν κρυπτόμενοι. Οὕτως οὖν χαλεπώτερός ἐστιν ὁ πονηρὸς ἄνθρωπος τοῦ θηρίου· καὶ πῶς, ἄκουε. Τὸ μὲν θηρίον οὐκ ἔχον φρόνησιν, οὐχ εὑρίσκει κακὰ κατὰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου· οὐδὲ γὰρ λογίζεται, οὐδὲ γὰρ τὴν ὑπαγο ρεύουσαν αὐτῷ φρόνησιν καὶ τὸν δόλον· ὁ δέ γε πονη ρὸς ἄνθρωπος κεκτημένος τὴν φρόνησιν, καὶ χρῆται αὐτῇ πρὸς τὴν πονηρίαν, καὶ ὅταν δὲ βούληται, θήρα τρα διὰ τῆς φρονήσεως ἐξευρίσκει. Ἐξελοῦ με, Κύριε, ἐξ ἀνθρώπου πονηροῦ· οὐκ ἀπ' ἀγγέλου πονηροῦ Εἰσὶ γὰρ καὶ ἄγγελοι πονηροί· ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ ∆αυΐδ· Ἐξαπ έστειλεν εἰς αὐτοὺς ὀργὴν θυμοῦ αὐτοῦ, θυμὸν καὶ ὀργὴν καὶ θλίψιν, ἀποστολὴν δι' ἀγγέλων πονηρῶν.

Ὡδοποίησε τρίβον τῇ ὀργῇ αὐτοῦ. Χείρων δὲ ὁ πονη ρὸς ἄνθρωπος τοῦ ἀγγέλου τοῦ πονηροῦ. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ πονηρὸς ἄγγελος τὰ προστεταγμένα φυλάττει· ὁ δὲ πονη ρὸς ἄνθρωπος τὰ προστεταγμένα παραχαράσσει. Τί πο νηρότερον τοῦ διαβόλου; Ἀλλ' ὅμως φθονήσας τῷ Ἰὼβ, οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν αὐτῷ προσελθεῖν δίχα προστάγματος θεϊκοῦ. Ὁ δὲ πονηρὸς ἄνθρωπος ἀκούων τὸ, Ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν, οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἀγαπᾷ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς, ἀλλά γε καὶ τοὺς εὐεργετοῦντας μισεῖ, καὶ τούτους φο νεύει, ὡς καὶ ὁ Σαοὺλ ἐποίει τῷ ∆αυΐδ. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ τὸν ἀντίδικον αὐτοῦ Γολιὰθ σφενδονίσας ἀπέκτεινε, καὶ τοῦ φόβου ἀπήλασεν· ὁ δὲ τὴν δολοφονίαν κατ' αὐτοῦ ἀνέπνει. Τὸν δαίμονα αὐτοῦ πάλιν τῇ ψαλμῳδίᾳ αὐτοῦ ἀπήλαυνεν, ὁ δὲ τὸ ξίφος κατ' αὐτοῦ ἀκονήσας ἠκόντιζε. Τοιοῦτος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ πονηρός· ὅσον εὐεργετεῖται, τοσοῦ τον μᾶλλον πρὸς φθόνον ἐκκαίεται. Ὕλη γὰρ φθόνου ἰσχὺς τῷ