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he said, for the hardness of your heart, but from the beginning it was not so; but he who made them from the beginning made them male and female. If this were good, he says, he would not have made one man and one woman, but having made one Adam, he would have made two women, if indeed he wanted one to be cast out, and another brought in; but now through the manner of creation he introduced the law, which I now write. What law is this? That the woman allotted from the beginning, one should have her always; this law is older than that one, and by as much as Adam is older than Moses. So I am not innovating now, nor am I introducing strange doctrines, but ones older and more ancient than those of Moses. It is worthwhile also to hear the law of Moses itself, which he established concerning this. If anyone takes a wife, he says, and lives with her, and it shall be, if she does not find favor in his sight, because he has found in her some unseemly thing, he will write her a bill of divorcement, and will give it into her hands. See; he did not say, Let him write, and let him give; but what? He will write her a bill of divorcement, and will give it into her hands. There is a great difference between this and that; for to say, Let him write, and let him give, is characteristic of one commanding and enjoining; but to say, He will write a bill of divorcement, and will give it into her hands, is characteristic of one reporting what has happened, not introducing the law from himself. If then someone, he says, puts out his wife, and sends her away from his house, and she goes and becomes another man's, and the latter husband also hates her, and writes her a bill of divorcement, and gives it into her hands, and sends her away from his house, or her husband dies, who took her to be his wife, the former husband who sent her away will not be able to turn back and take her to be his wife. Then, showing that he does not praise what has happened, nor considers it to be a marriage, but condescends because of their weakness, having said, The former husband will not be able to take her to be his wife, he added, After she has been defiled, making it clear through the manner of expression that the second marriage, which takes place while the first husband is living, is a defilement rather than a marriage. For this reason he did not say, After she has been married. Do you see that he speaks in harmony with Christ? Then he also added the reason, Because it is an abomination before God. And Moses indeed spoke thus; but the prophet Malachi shows this very thing much more clearly than Moses, or rather not Malachi, but God through Malachi, speaking thus: Is it right to look upon your sacrifice? Or to receive an acceptable offering from your hands? Then when it was said, For what reason, he says, have you forsaken the wife of your 51.221 youth? and showing how great an evil it is, and depriving the one who has done this of all pardon, he increases the accusation through what follows, adding thus and saying: And she is your partner, and the wife of your covenant, and a remnant of your spirit, and no other made her. See how many justifications he sets forth: first, that of age, The wife of your youth; then, the necessary one, And she is your partner; then, the manner of creation, A remnant of your spirit. 3. In addition to all these, which was greater than all of these, the dignity of the maker. For this is what is meant by, No other made her. You cannot say, he says, that God made you, but God did not make her, but someone else inferior to him; but one and the same brought both into being; so that if nothing else, at least reverencing this, preserve your love for her. For if this has often been a reason for slaves who are at odds with one another, I mean the fact that they both must serve one and the same master, how much more should this be the case with us, when we both have the same creator and master. Do you see how also in the Old

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σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶν εἶπεν, ἀπ' ἀρχῆς δὲ οὐ γέγονεν οὕτως· ἀλλ' ὁ ποιήσας ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἄῤῥεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτούς. Εἰ καλὸν τοῦτο ἦν, φησὶν, οὐκ ἂν ἕνα ἄνδρα ἐποίησε καὶ μίαν γυναῖκα, ἀλλὰ ἕνα ποιήσας τὸν Ἀδὰμ, δύο ἂν ἐποίησε τὰς γυναῖκας, εἴ γε ἐβούλετο τὴν μὲν ἐκβαλεῖν, τὴν δὲ εἰσαγαγεῖν· νῦν δὲ διὰ τοῦ τρόπου τῆς δημιουργίας τὸν νόμον εἰσήγαγεν, ὃν ἐγὼ γράφω νῦν. Ποῖον δὴ τοῦτον; Τὸ τὴν κληρωθεῖσαν ἐξ ἀρχῆς γυναῖκα, ταύτην ἔχειν διαπαντός· οὗτος ἐκείνου παλαιότερος ὁ νόμος, καὶ τοσοῦτον, ὅσον ὁ Ἀδὰμ τοῦ Μωϋσέως. Ὥστε οὐ καινοτομῶ νῦν ἐγὼ, οὐδὲ ξένα ἐπεισφέρω δόγματα, ἀλλὰ τοῦ Μωϋσέως πρεσβύτερα καὶ ἀρχαιότερα. Ἄξιον δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν νόμον ἀκοῦσαι Μωϋσέως, ὃν περὶ τούτου ἔθηκεν. Ἐάν τις γυναῖκα λάβῃ, φησὶ, καὶ συνοικήσῃ αὐτῇ, καὶ ἔσται, ἐὰν μὴ εὕρῃ χάριν ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ, ὅτι εὗρεν ἐν αὐτῇ ἀσχημοσύνης πρᾶγμα, γράψει αὐτῇ βιβλίον ἀποστασίου, καὶ δώσει αὐτῇ εἰς τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῆς. Ὅρα· οὐκ εἶπε, Γραψάτω, καὶ δότω· ἀλλὰ τί; Γράψει αὐτῇ βιβλίον ἀποστασίου, καὶ δώσει αὐτῇ εἰς τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῆς. Πολὺ δὲ τούτου κἀκείνου τὸ μέσον· τὸ μὲν γὰρ εἰπεῖν, Γραψάτω, καὶ δότω, κελεύοντος καὶ ἐπιτάττοντος· τὸ δὲ εἰπεῖν, Γράψει βιβλίον ἀποστασίου, καὶ δώσει εἰς τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῆς, τὸ γεγενημένον ἀπαγγέλλοντος, οὐκ οἴκοθεν τὸν νόμον εἰσάγοντος. Ἐὰν οὖν τις, φησὶν, ἐκβάλῃ τὴν γυναῖκα, καὶ ἀποστείλῃ αὐτὴν ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀπελθοῦσα γένηται ἀνδρὶ ἑτέρῳ, καὶ μισήσῃ αὐτὴν καὶ ὁ ἀνὴρ ὁ ἔσχατος, καὶ γράψῃ αὐτῇ βιβλίον ἀποστασίου, καὶ δώσῃ εἰς τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῆς, καὶ ἐξαποστείλῃ αὐτὴν ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας αὐτοῦ, ἢ ἀποθάνῃ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς, ὃς ἔλαβεν αὐτὴν ἑαυτῷ γυναῖκα, οὐ δυνήσεται ὁ ἀνὴρ ὁ πρότερον ἐξαποστείλας αὐτὴν ἐπαναστρέψαι καὶ λαβεῖν αὐτὴν ἑαυτῷ γυναῖκα. Εἶτα ἐνδεικνύμενος, ὅτι οὐκ ἐπαινεῖ τὸ γεγενημένον, οὐδὲ γάμον εἶναι νομίζει, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν αὐτῶν συγκαταβαίνει, εἰπὼν, Οὐ δυνήσεται ὁ ἀνὴρ ὁ πρότερος λαβεῖν αὐτὴν ἑαυτῷ γυναῖκα, ἐπήγαγε, Μετὰ τὸ μιανθῆναι αὐτὴν, ἐμφαίνων διὰ τοῦ τρόπου τῆς λέξεως, ὅτι ὁ δεύτερος γάμος, ζῶντος τοῦ προτέρου ἀνδρὸς γενόμενος, μίασμα μᾶλλόν ἐστιν, ἢ γάμος. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐκ εἶπε, Μετὰ τὸ γαμηθῆναι αὐτήν. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι συνῳδὰ τῷ Χριστῷ φθέγγεται; Εἶτα καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν προσέθηκεν, Ὅτι βδέλυγμά ἐστιν ἐναντίον τοῦ Θεοῦ. Καὶ Μωϋσῆς μὲν οὕτως· ὁ δὲ προφήτης Μαλαχίας σαφέστερον πολλῷ τοῦ Μωϋσέως αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἐνδείκνυται, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐ Μαλαχίας, ἀλλ' ὁ Θεὸς διὰ τοῦ Μαλαχίου, λέγων οὕτως· Εἰ ἄξιον ἐπιβλέψαι εἰς θυσίαν ὑμῶν; ἢ λαβεῖν δεκτὸν ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν ὑμῶν; εἶτα εἰπόντος, Τίνος ἕνεκεν, φησὶ, γυναῖκα ἐκ 51.221 νεότητός σου ἐγκατέλιπες; καὶ δεικνὺς ἡλίκον ἐστὶ κακὸν, καὶ ἀποστερῶν πάσης συγγνώμης τὸν τοῦτο ποιήσαντα, διὰ τῶν ἑξῆς τὴν κατηγορίαν αὔξει, ἐπάγων οὕτω καὶ λέγων· Καὶ αὕτη κοινωνός σου, καὶ γυνὴ διαθήκης σου, καὶ ἐγκατάλειμμα πνεύματός σου, καὶ οὐκ ἄλλος ἐποίησεν. Ὅρα πόσα τίθησι δικαιώματα· πρῶτον τὸ τῆς ἡλικίας, Γυνὴ νεότητός σου· εἶτα τὸ ἀναγκαῖον, Καὶ αὕτη κοινωνός σου· εἶτα τὸν τῆς δημιουργίας τρόπον, Ἐγκατάλειμμα πνεύματός σου. γʹ. Πρὸς τούτοις ἅπασιν, ὃ πάντων τούτων μεῖζον ἦν, τὸ τοῦ ποιήσαντος ἀξίωμα. Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ, Οὐκ ἄλλος ἐποίησεν. Οὐκ ἔχεις, φησὶν, εἰπεῖν, ὅτι σὲ μὲν ὁ Θεὸς ἐποίησεν, ἐκείνην δὲ οὐχ ὁ Θεὸς, ἀλλ' ἄλλος τις ἐκείνου καταδεέστερος· ἀλλ' εἷς καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς ἀμφοτέρους εἰς τὸ εἶναι παραγαγών· ὥστε εἰ καὶ μηδὲν ἕτερον, τοῦτο γοῦν αἰδεσθεὶς, φύλαττε τὴν πρὸς αὐτὴν ἀγάπην. Εἰ γὰρ δούλοις πολλάκις τοῖς πρὸς ἀλλήλους στασιάζουσιν ὑπόθεσις τοῦτο γεγένηται, τὸ δεῖν λέγω τοὺς ἀμφοτέρους ἑνὶ καὶ τῷ αὐτῷ δουλεῦσαι δεσπότῃ, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐφ' ἡμῶν τοῦτο γίνεσθαι χρὴ, ὅταν καὶ δημιουργὸν καὶ δεσπότην τὸν αὐτὸν ἔχωμεν οἱ ἀμφότεροι. Εἶδες πῶς καὶ ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ