John Chrysostom, On "Would that you could endure a little"

And no wonder; for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves as ministers of righteousness. Since, therefore, these men, having found countless slanders against him, were harming the disciples, not persuading them to have the proper opinion of him, he is compelled at last to fall into a narration of his own praises; for it was no longer safe to be silent. Since, then, he is about to explain to us his own struggles, and the revelations which he saw, and the toils which he toiled, wishing to show all that he does this unwillingly and under compulsion, and seeing that there was a necessity, nevertheless he called this thing foolishness, saying thus: Would that you would bear with me a little in my foolishness. I am about to do, he says, a foolish thing, both to eulogize and to praise; but I am not the cause of these things, but those who cast me into such a necessity; for this reason I beseech you to bear with me, and to reckon the cause to them.

4. And see Paul's wisdom; having said, Would that you would bear with me a little in my

foolishness; but indeed you do bear with me. For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, he did not immediately come to the narration of his praises, but in between inserting words again, he says something like this: I say again, let no one think me to be a fool; but if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me. And not even so did he touch upon the narration, but again he adds and says: What I speak, I speak not according to the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting. And not even after these words did he dare to let himself go, but again starting, he draws back and says: Since many boast according to the flesh, I also will boast; for you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves. Then again he shrinks back and hesitates, and having said some other things, he adds again: In whatever anyone is bold, I speak in foolishness, I am bold also. And then barely, 51.305 after so many preliminary corrections, did he venture upon the narration of his praises. And just as a horse about to leap over a steep cliff, rushes as if about to leap, but seeing the depth grows numb and shrinks back, then seeing its rider compelling it more vehemently, tries again, and suffers this same thing, and showing the necessity and the force, it stands for a long time neighing at the edge of the ravine, so that having encouraged itself it might dare to do it; so also the blessed Paul, as if about to cast himself down a kind of cliff, the narration of his own praises, shrinks back once and twice and three times and many times, saying thus: Would that you would bear with me a little in my foolishness; and again, Let no one think me to be a fool; but if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me; and, What I speak, I speak not according to the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting; and again, Since many boast according to the flesh, I also will boast; for you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves; and again, In whatever anyone is bold, I speak in foolishness, I am bold also.

And having called himself a fool and senseless ten thousand times, then barely did he dare to come to his own praises: Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? So am I. And not even here did he restrain himself, but again he places the preliminary correction, adding thus: I speak as a fool, I am more. And not even here did he stop, but after narrating all his praises, he says: I have become a fool in boasting; you have compelled me. As if he said, I would have had no word for those things, if your affairs were strong, if you were not being turned aside, nor being shaken. For even if they were always speaking ill of us, no harm was done to me through their evil-speaking. But since I saw the flock being corrupted, the disciples leaping away, I disdained a burdensome and odious thing, and was compelled to become a fool, speaking my own praises for your sake and for your salvation.

οὐ θαυμαστόν· καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς ὁ Σατανᾶς μετα σχηματίζεται εἰς ἄγγελον φωτός. Οὐ μέγα οὖν, εἰ καὶ οἱ διάκονοι αὐτοῦ μετασχηματίζονται ὡς διά κονοι δικαιοσύνης. Ἐπεὶ οὖν οὗτοι μυρίας εὑρόν τες κατ' αὐτοῦ διαβολὰς, τοὺς μαθητὰς ἔβλαπτον, οὑ τὴν προσήκουσαν περὶ αὐτοῦ πείθοντες αὐτοὺς ἔχειν δόξαν, ἀναγκάζεται λοιπὸν εἰς διήγησιν τῶν οἰκείων ἐγκωμίων ἐμπεσεῖν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἦν τὸ σιγᾷν λοιπὸν ἀ σφαλές. Ἐπεὶ οὖν μέλλει τοὺς οἰκείους ἄθλους ἡμῖν ἐξηγεῖσθαι, καὶ τὰς ἀποκαλύψεις, ἃς εἶδε, καὶ τοὺς μόχθους, οὓς ἐμόχθησε, βουλόμενος δεῖξαι πᾶσιν, ὅτι ἄκων καὶ βιαζόμενος τοῦτο ποιεῖ, καὶ ἀνάγκην οὖσαν ὁρῶν, ὅμως ἀφροσύνης αὐτὸ πρᾶγμα ἐκάλεσεν, οὕτως εἰπών· Ὄφελον ἀνείχεσθέ μου μικρὸν τῇ ἀφρο σύνῃ. Μέλλω, φησὶ, πρᾶγμα ἀνόητον ποιεῖν, καὶ ἐγκωμιάζειν καὶ ἐπαινεῖν· ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐγὼ τούτων αἴ τιος, ἀλλ' οἱ εἰς τοιαύτην με ἀνάγκην ἐμβαλόντες· διὰ τοῦτο παρακαλῶ ὑμᾶς ἀνασχέσθαι, κἀκείνοις τὴν αἰτίαν λογίσασθαι.

δʹ. Καὶ ὅρα τὴν Παύλου σύνεσιν· εἰπὼν, Ὄφελον ἀνεί χεσθέ μου μικρὸν τῇ

ἀφροσύνῃ· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνέχε σθέ μου· ζηλῶ γὰρ ὑμᾶς Θεοῦ ζήλῳ, οὐκ εὐ θέως ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὴν διήγησιν τῶν ἐγκωμίων, ἀλλὰ με ταξὺ πάλιν ἐνθεὶς ῥήματα, οὕτω πώς φησιν· Πάλιν λέγω, μή τίς με δόξῃ ἄφρονα εἶναι· εἰ δὲ μήγε, κἂν ὡς ἄφρονα δέξασθέ με. Καὶ οὐδὲ οὕτως ἥψατο τῆς διηγήσεως, ἀλλὰ πάλιν ἐπάγει καὶ λέγει· Ὃ λαλῶ, οὐ λαλῶ κατὰ Κύριον, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐν ἀφροσύνῃ, ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ ὑποστάσει τῆς καυχήσεως. Καὶ οὐδὲ μετὰ ταῦτα τὰ ῥήματα ἐτόλμησε καθεῖναι, ἀλλὰ πά λιν ὁρμήσας ἀνακρούεται καί φησιν· Ἐπειδὴ πολ λοὶ καυχῶνται κατὰ τὴν σάρκα, κἀγὼ καυχήσο μαι· ἡδέως γὰρ ἀνέχεσθε τῶν ἀφρόνων, φρόνι μοι ὄντες. Εἶτα πάλιν ἀναδύεται καὶ ὀκνεῖ, καὶ ἕτερά τινα εἰπὼν, πάλιν ἐπάγει· Ἐν ᾧ δ' ἄν τις τολμῶ, ἐν ἀφροσύνῃ λέγω, τολμῶ κἀγώ. Καὶ τότε μόλις 51.305 μετὰ τοσαύτας προδιορθώσεις κατετόλμησε τῆς δι ηγήσεως τῶν ἐγκωμίων. Καὶ καθάπερ ἵππος κρημνὸν ἀπότομον ὑπερβαίνειν μέλλων, ὁρμᾷ μὲν ὡς ὑπερ βάλλεσθαι μέλλων, τὸ δὲ βάθος ἰδὼν ναρκᾷ καὶ συ στέλλεται, εἶτα τὸν ἐπιβάτην ὁρῶν σφοδρότερον ἀναγ κάζοντα, πάλιν ἐπιχειρεῖ, καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο πάσχει, καὶ τὴν ἀνάγκην ἐνδεικνύμενος καὶ τὴν βίαν, ἵσταται ἐπὶ πολὺ χρεμετίζων ἐπὶ τοῦ χείλους τῆς φάραγγος, ὅπως παραθαῤῥύνας ἑαυτὸν κατατολμήσῃ· οὕτω καὶ ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος καθάπερ ἐπὶ κρημνόν τινα μέλ λων ἑαυτὸν ἀφιέναι, τῶν οἰκείων ἐγκωμίων τὴν δι ήγησιν, καὶ ἅπαξ καὶ δὶς καὶ τρὶς καὶ πολλάκις ἀνα δύεται οὕτω λέγων· Ὄφελον ἀνείχεσθέ μου μικρὸν τῇ ἀφροσύνῃ· καὶ πάλιν, Μή τις με δόξῃ ἄφρονα εἶναι· εἰ δὲ μήγε, κἂν ὡς ἄφρονα δέξασθέ με· καὶ, Ὃ λαλῶ, οὐ λαλῶ κατὰ Κύριον, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐν ἀφρο σύνῃ, ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ ὑποστάσει τῆς καυχήσεως· καὶ πάλιν, Ἐπεὶ πολλοὶ καυχῶνται κατὰ σάρκα, κἀγὼ καυχήσομαι· ἡδέως γὰρ ἀνέχεσθε τῶν ἀφρόνων, φρόνιμοι ὄντες· καὶ πάλιν, Ἐν ᾧ δ' ἄν τις τολμᾷ, ἐν ἀφροσύνῃ λέγω, τολμῶ κἀγώ.

Καὶ μυριάκις ἑαυ τὸν ἄφρονα καλέσας καὶ ἀνόητον, τότε μόλις ἐτόλμη σεν ἐλθεῖν εἰς τοὺς ἐπαίνους τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ· Ἑβραῖοί εἰσι; κἀγώ· Ἰσραηλῖταί εἰσι; κἀγώ· σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ εἰσι; κἀγώ· διάκονοι Χριστοῦ εἰσι; κἀγώ. Καὶ οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα ἐπελάβετο ἑαυτοῦ, ἀλλὰ πάλιν τί θησι τὴν προδιόρθωσιν, οὕτως ἐπάγων· Παραφρο νῶν λαλῶ, ὑπὲρ ἐγώ. Καὶ οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα ἔστη, ἀλλὰ μετὰ τὸ διηγήσασθαι πάντα αὐτοῦ τὰ ἐγκώμια, λέ γει· Γέγονα ἄφρων καυχώμενος· ὑμεῖς με ἠναγ κάσατε. Ὡσεὶ ἔλεγεν, Ἐκείνων μοι λόγος οὐδεὶς ἦν, εἰ τὰ ὑμέτερα ἦν ἐῤῥωμένα, εἰ μὴ παρετρέπεσθε, μηδὲ ἐσαλεύεσθε. Καὶ γὰρ εἰ διαπαντὸς ἡμᾶς ἔλεγον ἐκεῖνοι κακῶς, οὐδεμία μοι βλάβη διὰ τῆς ἐκείνων ἐγίνετο κακηγορίας. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ εἶδον τὸ ποίμνιον διαφθειρόμενον, τοὺς μαθητὰς ἀποπηδῶντας, κατ εφρόνησα φορτικοῦ πράγματος καὶ ἐπαχθοῦς, καὶ ἠναγκάσθην ἄφρων γενέσθαι, τὰ ἐμαυτοῦ λέγων ἐγκώμια δι' ὑμᾶς καὶ τὴν ὑμετέραν σωτηρίαν.