John Chrysostom, On the Annunciation of the Most Holy God-bearer

great. And the virgin: What great one? my betrothed is poor, and I am very poor; I have no possessions, we lack money, we are not of distinguished family, and after all this we are being dragged to a census. Surely the tax collector will exact the two-drachma tax; and you say, "He will be great"? Cease, cease from promising such things. And the angel: You do not believe the lesser thing? Accept the greater thing, even if you do not want to: He will be called Son of the Most High. And the virgin: Get out of my house now, lest Joseph hear, and report it to the priests, and he, deprived of marriage, cut off your neck with an axe, since you speak to me so close and in the entryway of my cell. Do you promise to bring me a bridegroom from heaven? And what nature in heaven is desirous of marriage? All the heavenly spirits are incorporeal; how then shall the incorporeal be joined with bodies? And the angel: From a body and the Incorporeal, He will be called Son of the Most High. And the virgin: From where then will he who is to be born from me have a father, as you say? And the angel: For this, O virgin, is the very paradox, that you will not know a man, and yet you will bear the one of whom I speak to you, and the child will not be found an orphan; and he will come forth from your womb, and he will not press upon the gate, and you will not lose your virginity, and you will nurse the one born of you, and in your arms you will carry the infant, and you will see him seated upon the Cherubim. To this one born of you the Lord God will give the throne of David his father, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. And the virgin: Though you do not wish it, in speaking you have fallen. Your own mouth accuses you, and your lips have become a reproach to you; for a little while ago you said, "The one to be born will be called Son of the Most High"; and now you say, "Son of David"; what is this word? When you wish, you raise my mind to the heavens; but when you wish again, you bring it down to the earth. Which word shall I believe? The first, or the second? For you say, "The Lord will give him the throne of David his father, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

No king has been immortal, no one has escaped the common end; death removes all, as a master; worms call all to account; no king has escaped the gate of Hades; it holds all, it guards all in tombs; no one has leapt over its nets, no one has escaped its snares; not Saul, the first to inaugurate the diadem of kingship; not David, who was revealed by the horn; not Samuel, the father of kings, who by oil made known the worthy one and rejected the unworthy; not Solomon the most wise, who by the sword exposed the lies of the harlot; not Hezekiah, who by tears overturned the sentence of death. And how will my son reign forever? And the angel: For this, Mary, is the strange mystery, that all have died, but your son will conquer death, he will raise the dead, and bring up those who have died; he will open tombs, 60.758 he will shatter the bolts of Tartarus, and will raise many bodies of those who have fallen asleep; for the immortal one, being born from the immortal one, will put death to death through his own death. Therefore, do not disbelieve any longer, lest you come under condemnation. For he of whom I speak to you has already leapt into your womb through your hearing, performing the consecration of your womb. And the virgin: In order that I may agree to these things, first inform me, how he who is to be born from me, as you say, is both Son of the Most High and son of David, and is without a father; and how have you proclaimed two fathers? And the angel: First learn, and then object; when I say to you, "Son of the Most High," I have indicated the one begotten of the Father impassibly before the ages; and when I say to you, "Son of David," I have said it because you are from father David. Having therefore received the full information, keep my words; for I too am a servant of him whom you are about to bear. Having said these things to the virgin, the angel left her. And she reasoned with herself, saying: Shall I report it to Joseph, or

μέγας. Καὶ ἡ παρθένος· Ποῖος μέγας; ὁ μνήστωρ μου πένης ὑπάρχει, κἀγὼ λίαν πτωχή· κτήματα οὐχ ὑπάρχει μοι, χρημάτων ὑστερούμεθα, τῷ γένει οὐκ εὔσημοι, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα εἰς ἀπογραφὴν ἑλκόμεθα. Πάντως ὁ συντελεστὴς συντελέσει τὰ δίδραχμα· καὶ λέγεις, Ἔσται μέγας; Παῦσαι, παῦσαι τοιαῦτα ὑπισχνούμενος. Καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος· Οὐ πιστεύεις τῷ ἥττονι; τὸ μεῖζον, κἂν μὴ θέλῃς, κατάδεξαι· Υἱὸς Ὑψίστου κληθήσεται. Καὶ ἡ παρθένος· Ἄρτι τοῦ οἴκου μου ἔξελθε, μὴ ἀκούσῃ ὁ Ἰωσὴφ, καὶ ἀναγγελῇ τοῖς ἱερεῦσι, καὶ ὁ στερισκόμενος συζυγίας σκεπάρνῳ ἀποτέμῃ τὸν τράχηλόν σου, ἐπειδὴ ἐγγύς μοι λαλεῖς καὶ ἐν προθύροις κέλλης ἐμῆς. Ἐξ οὐρανοῦ νυμφίον ἐπαγγέλλῃ μοι φέρειν; καὶ ποία φύσις ἐν οὐρανῷ ἐπιθυμητικὴ γάμου ἐστί; Πάντα τὰ ἐπουράνια πνεύματα, ἀσώματα ὑπάρχει· πῶς οὖν τὰ ἀσώματα μιγήσεται σώμασι; Καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος· Ἐκ σώματος καὶ ἀσωμάτου Υἱὸς Ὑψίστου κληθήσεται. Καὶ ἡ παρθένος· Πόθεν οὖν ἕξει πατέρα, ὡς λέγεις, ὁ ἐξ ἐμοῦ μέλλων τίκτεσθαι; Καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος· Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι, παρθένε, τὸ λίαν παράδοξον, ὅτι ἄνδρα οὐ γνώσῃ, καὶ τέξῃ ὃν λέγω σοι, καὶ ὀρφανὸς ὁ παῖς οὐχ εὑρεθήσεται· καὶ ἐκ μήτρας σῆς ἐξελεύσεται, καὶ τὸν πυλῶνα οὐ παραθλίψει, καὶ τὸ εἶναι παρθένος οὐκ ἀπολέσεις, καὶ θηλάσεις τὸ ἐκ σοῦ γεννώμενον, καὶ ἐν ἀγκάλαις βαστάσεις τὸ βρέφος, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν Χερουβὶμ αὐτὸν καθεζόμενον βλέψῃ. Τούτῳ ἐκ σοῦ γεννωμένῳ ∆ώσει Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τὸν θρόνον ∆αυῒδ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ βασιλεύσει ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον Ἰακὼβ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔσται τέλος. Καὶ ἡ παρθένος· Ὡς οὐ θέλεις, λαλῶν πέπτωκας. Τὸ σὸν στόμα σου κατηγορεῖ, καὶ τὰ χείλη σου γεγένηταί σοι ἔλεγχος· πρὸ βραχέος γὰρ ἔλεγες, Υἱὸς Ὑψίστου κληθήσεται ὁ γεννώμενος· καὶ ἄρτι λέγεις, Υἱὸς ∆αυΐδ· τίς ὁ λόγος οὗτος; Ὅταν θέλῃς, τὴν ἐμὴν διάνοιαν εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνάγεις· ὅταν δὲ βούλῃ πάλιν, εἰς τὴν γῆν κατάγεις. Ποίῳ πιστεύσω ῥήματι; τῷ πρώτῳ, ἢ τῷ δευτέρῳ; Λέγεις γὰρ, ∆ώσει Κύριος αὐτῷ τὸν θρόνον ∆αυῒδ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔσται τέλος.

Οὐδεὶς βασιλέων ὑπῆρξεν ἀθάνατος, οὐδεὶς τὸ κοινὸν τέλος ἐξέφυγε· πάντας μεθίστησι θάνατος, ὡς δεσπότης· πάντας λογοθετοῦσιν οἱ σκώληκες· οὐδεὶς βασιλέων τὸν τοῦ ᾅδου πυλῶνα διέφυγε· πάντας κρατεῖ, πάντας ἐν τάφοις φρουρεῖ· οὐδεὶς ἐκείνου ὑπερήλατο δίκτυα, οὐδεὶς τὰς ἐκείνου παγίδας ἐξέφυγεν· οὐ Σαοὺλ ὁ πρῶτος ἐγκαινίσας τὸ τῆς βασιλείας διάδημα· οὐ ∆αυῒδ ὁ ὑπὸ κέρατος φανερωθείς· οὐ Σαμουὴλ ὁ τῶν βασιλέων πατὴρ, ὁ δι' ἐλαίου γνωρίζων τὸν ἄξιον, καὶ ἀπωθούμενος τὸν ἀνάξιον· οὐχ ὁ Σολομὼν ὁ σοφώτατος, ὁ διὰ μαχαίρας ἐλέγξας τῆς πόρνης τὰ ψεύσματα· οὐκ Ἐζεκίας, ὁ δάκρυσιν ἀνατρέψας θανάτου ἀπόκρισιν. Καὶ πῶς ὁ ἐμὸς υἱὸς βασιλεύσει εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας; Καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος· Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι, Μαρία, τὸ ξένον μυστήριον, ὅτι πάντες ἀπέθανον, καὶ ὁ σὸς υἱὸς νικήσει τὸν θάνατον, νεκροὺς ἐγερεῖ, καὶ θανόντας ἀναστήσει μνημεῖα 60.758 ἀνοίξει, ταρτάρου κλεῖθρα συντρίψει, καὶ πολλὰ σώματα τῶν κεκοιμημένων ἀναστήσει· ἐκ γὰρ ἀθανάτου ὁ ἀθάνατος γεννηθεὶς, θανατώσει τὸν θάνατον διὰ τοῦ οἰκείου θανάτου. ∆ιὸ μηκέτι ἀπιστήσῃς, ἵνα μὴ ὑπὸ ἔγκλημα γένῃ. Περὶ οὗ γὰρ λέγω σοι, ἤδη εἰς τὴν σὴν κοιλίαν διὰ τῆς σῆς ἀκοῆς εἰσπεπήδηκε, τῆς σῆς γαστρὸς ἐπιτελῶν τὰ ἐγκαίνια. Καὶ ἡ παρθένος· Ἵνα τούτοις συνθῶμαι, τὸ πρῶτόν με πληροφόρησον, πῶς καὶ Υἱὸς Ὑψίστου, καὶ υἱὸς ∆αυῒδ ὁ ἐξ ἐμοῦ μέλλων, ὡς λέγεις, τίκτεσθαι καὶ ὑπάρχειν ἀπάτορα· καὶ πῶς τοὺς δύο πατέρας ἐκήρυξας; Καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος· Πρῶτον μάνθανε, καὶ οὕτως ἀντίλεγε· ὅταν σοι εἴπω, Υἱὸς Ὑψίστου, τὸν πρὸ αἰώνων ἀπαθῶς γεννηθέντα ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐμήνυσα· καὶ ὅταν σοι εἴπω, Υἱὸς ∆αυΐδ, διὰ τό σε εἶναι ἐκ πατρὸς ∆αυῒδ εἴρηκα. Λαβοῦσα οὖν τὴν πληροφορίαν, τοὺς λόγους μου φύλαττε· καὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ δοῦλός εἰμι ἐκείνου, ὃν μέλλεις τίκτειν. Ταῦτα εἰπὼν ὁ ἄγγελος τῇ παρθένῳ, κατέλειψεν αὐτήν. Καὶ παρ' ἑαυτῆς διελογίζετο λέγουσα· Ἀναγγελῶ τῷ Ἰωσὴφ, ἢ