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the sea monster vomited, not finding in him its own proper and suitable food; for the proper and suitable food of death is the nature of sin; from this it was born, from this it took root, from this it is also nourished. Just as with us, then, when we swallow a stone without knowing it, at first the power of the stomach attempts to digest it; but when it finds the food to be foreign to it, after engaging with it for a long time with its digestive power, it does not destroy that stone, but loses its own strength, from which it cannot even hold down its previous food, but having grown weak, it vomits that out with it, with much pain; so also it happened in the case of death. It swallowed the cornerstone, and was not strong enough to digest him; all its power was weakened; for this reason, with him it also cast out the rest of the food it had, vomiting out with him the nature of men. For it will no longer be able to hold this down until the end. For this reason also the barren women ran ahead, that the birth might be confirmed; or rather, not only that the birth might be confirmed, but if we examine closely, we will find that the barrenness was a type of death itself.

4. But pay attention; for what is about to be said is subtle; for we are about to say how

the barren womb of Sarah leads us to the faith of the resurrection. How then does it lead us? Just as she, being dead, was raised by the grace of God, and brought forth the living body of Isaac; so also Christ, having been put to death, was raised by his own power. And that what has been said is not forced, hear Paul himself saying. For having said of Abraham that he did not consider the deadness of Sarah's womb, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was also able to perform, that is, to cause a living son to be born from dead bodies; then leading us from that faith to this one he added: It was not written for his sake alone, that it was accounted to him, but for us also. Why? To whom it will be accounted, he says, to those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. What he says is this: He raised Isaac from dead bodies; so also He raised the Son 51.368, who had become dead. Do you wish to learn that the barrenness is a symbol of another matter also? The Church was about to bring forth the multitude of the faithful; therefore, lest you disbelieve how the unproductive, the fruitless, the barren one gave birth, the one barren by nature came first, preparing the way for the one barren by choice, and Sarah became a type of the Church. For just as that one, being barren, gave birth in old age, so also this one, being barren, gave birth in the last times. And that this is true, hear Paul saying: But we are children of the free woman. For since Sarah is a type of the Church, the free woman, for this reason he added, that We are children of the free woman. And again: So then, brethren, we are children of promise, like Isaac. What does it mean, Of promise? Just as nature did not bear him, neither did nature bear us, but the grace of God. And again: But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother; and this is the Church. For you have come, he says, to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the church of the firstborn.

If, therefore, the Church is the Jerusalem above, and Sarah is a type of the Jerusalem above, as he said, that there are two, one bearing children for slavery, which is Hagar; but the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother, it is evident that Sarah is a type of the Jerusalem above with respect to her birth-giving and her barrenness. 5. I know that what has been said is rather subtle; but if we grasp it, nothing of what is said will escape us. These words, then, are more mystical and dogmatic; but if you wish, I will also speak on a more moral level along with these. The wife was barren, that you might learn the self-control of the husband; that he neither cast her out, although there was nothing then to prevent it

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τὸ κῆτος ἤμεσεν, οὐχ εὑρὸν ἐν αὐτῷ τὴν οἰκείαν τροφὴν καὶ κατάλληλον· οἰκεία γὰρ τροφὴ καὶ κατάλληλος θανάτου τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἡ φύσις· ἐντεῦθεν ἐτέχθη, ἐντεῦθεν ἐῤῥιζώθη, ἐντεῦθεν καὶ τρέφεται. Καθάπερ οὖν ἐφ' ἡμῶν, ἐπειδὰν λίθον καταπίωμεν οὐκ εἰδότες, τότε μὲν πρῶτον ἐπιχειρεῖ πέψαι τοῦτον ἡ τοῦ στομάχου δύναμις· ἐπειδὰν δὲ εὕρῃ ἀλλοτρίαν αὐτῷ οὖσαν τροφὴν, ὁμιλήσασα ἐπὶ πλέον αὐτῷ τῇ πεπτικῇ δυνάμει, ἐκεῖνον μὲν οὐ διαφθείρει, τὴν δὲ ἑαυτῆς ἀπόλλυσιν ἰσχὺν, ὅθεν οὐδὲ τὴν προτέραν δύναται κατέχειν τροφὴν, ἀλλὰ ἀτονήσασα κἀκείνην αὐτῷ συνεξεμεῖ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ὀδύνης· οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ θανάτου γέγονε. Κατέπιε τὸν λίθον τὸν ἀκρογωνιαῖον, καὶ οὐκ ἴσχυσεν αὐτὸν πέψαι· ἠσθένησεν αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ δύναμις· διὰ τοῦτο μετ' αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν λοιπὴν, ἣν εἶχε, συνεξέβαλε τροφὴν, τῶν ἀνθρώπων συνεξεμέσας τὴν φύσιν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ταύτην κατασχεῖν δυνήσεται λοιπὸν εἰς τέλος. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ αἱ στεῖραι προέδραμον, ἵνα ὁ τόκος πιστωθῇ· μᾶλλον δὲ οὐχ ἵνα ὁ τόκος πιστωθῇ μόνον, ἀλλ' ἐὰν ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάσωμεν, καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ θανάτου τὴν στείρωσιν τύπον οὖσαν εὑρήσομεν.

δʹ. Ἀλλὰ προσέχετε· λεπτὸν γὰρ τὸ ῥηθησόμενον· μέλλομεν γὰρ ἐρεῖν, πῶς

πρὸς τὴν πίστιν τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἡμᾶς ἡ μήτρα τῆς Σάῤῥας στειρωθεῖσα χειραγωγεῖ. Πῶς οὖν ἡμᾶς χειραγωγεῖ; Καθάπερ αὕτη νεκρὰ οὖσα ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ χάριτος ἀνέστη, καὶ σῶμα ἐβλάστησε ζῶν τὸ τοῦ Ἰσαάκ· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς νεκρωθεὶς ἠγέρθη τῇ οἰκείᾳ δυνάμει. Καὶ ὅτι οὐ βεβίασται τὸ εἰρημένον, ἄκουσον αὐτοῦ τοῦ Παύλου λέγοντος. Εἰπὼν γὰρ περὶ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ, ὅτι Οὐκ ἐνενόησε τὴν νέκρωσιν τῆς μήτρας Σάῤῥας, ἀλλ' ἐνεδυναμώθη τῇ πίστει, δοὺς δόξαν τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ πληροφορηθεὶς ὅτι ὃ ἐπήγγελται δυνατός ἐστι καὶ ποιῆσαι, τοῦτ' ἔστιν, ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν σωμάτων ζῶντα ποιῆσαι γεννηθῆναι υἱόν· εἶτα ἀπ' ἐκείνης εἰς ταύτην ἡμᾶς τὴν πίστιν χειραγωγῶν ἐπήγαγεν· Οὐκ ἐγράφη δι' ἐκεῖνον μόνον, ὅτι ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ, ἀλλὰ καὶ δι' ἡμᾶς. ∆ιὰ τί; Οἷς μέλλει, φησὶ, λογίζεσθαι τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἐπὶ τὸν ἐγείραντα Ἰησοῦν τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν ἐκ νεκρῶν. Ὃ δὲ λέγει, τοιοῦτόν ἐστι· Τὸν Ἰσαὰκ ἀπὸ νεκρῶν σωμάτων ἤγειρεν· οὕτω καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν 51.368 ἀνέστησε, νεκρὸν γενόμενον. Βούλει καὶ ἑτέρου πράγματος μαθεῖν σύμβολον οὖσαν τὴν στείρωσιν; Ἤμελλεν ἡ Ἐκκλησία τὸ πλῆθος ἀποκυῆσαι τῶν πιστῶν· ἵν' οὖν μὴ ἀπιστῇς, πῶς ἡ ἄγονος, ἡ ἄκαρπος, ἡ στεῖρα ἔτεκε, προέλαβεν ἡ φύσει στεῖρα, προοδοποιοῦσα τῇ προαιρέσει στείρᾳ, καὶ ἡ Σάῤῥα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐγένετο τύπος. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐκείνη στεῖρα οὖσα ἔτεκεν ἐν γήρᾳ, οὕτω καὶ αὕτη στεῖρα οὖσα ἔτεκεν ἐπ' ἐσχάτων τῶν καιρῶν. Καὶ ὅτι τοῦτό ἐστιν ἀληθὲς, ἄκουσον Παύλου λέγοντος· Ἡμεῖς δὲ τῆς ἐλευθέρας τέκνα ἐσμέν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἡ Σάῤῥα τύπος ἐστὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, ἡ ἐλευθέρα, διὰ τοῦτο ἐπήγαγεν, ὅτι Τῆς ἐλευθέρας τέκνα ἐσμέν. Καὶ πάλιν· Ἄρα, ἀδελφοὶ, κατὰ Ἰσαὰκ ἐπαγγελίας τέκνα ἐσμέν. Τί ἐστιν, Ἐπαγγελίας; Ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνον οὐκ ἔτεκε φύσις, οὐδὲ ἡμᾶς φύσις ἔτεκεν, ἀλλ' ἡ χάρις τοῦ Θεοῦ. Καὶ πάλιν· Ἡ δὲ ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστὶν, ἥτις ἐστὶ μήτηρ ἡμῶν· αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ Ἐκκλησία. Προσεληλύθατε γὰρ Σιὼν ὄρει, φησὶ, καὶ πόλει Θεοῦ ζῶντος, Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίῳ, καὶ Ἐκκλησίᾳ πρωτοτόκων.

Εἰ τοίνυν ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἡ Ἐκκλησία ἐστὶ, τῆς δὲ ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ τύπος ἐστὶν ἡ Σάῤῥα, καθὼς εἶπεν, ὅτι ∆ύο εἰσὶ, μία μὲν εἰς δουλείαν γεννῶσα, ἥτις ἐστὶν Ἄγαρ· ἡ δὲ ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστὶν, ἥτις ἐστὶ μήτηρ ἡμῶν, εὔδηλον ὅτι τῆς ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ τύπος ἐστὶν ἡ Σάῤῥα κατὰ τὸν τόκον καὶ τὴν στείρωσιν. εʹ. Οἶδα ὅτι λεπτότερα τὰ εἰρημένα· ἀλλ' ἐὰν λάβωμεν, οὐδὲν ἡμᾶς παραδραμεῖται τῶν λεγομένων. Οὗτοι μὲν οὖν μυστικώτεροι καὶ δογματικώτεροι οἱ λόγοι· εἰ δὲ βούλεσθε, καὶ ἠθικώτερον μετὰ τούτων ἐρῶ. Στεῖρα ἦν ἡ γυνὴ, ἵνα μάθῃς τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τὴν σωφροσύνην· ὅτι οὔτε ἐκείνην ἐξέβαλε, καίτοι οὐδενὸς τότε κωλύοντος