John Chrysostom, On Isaiah

to become sons. For everywhere God is the first to bestow benefits, and just as when forming man, He honored him before he yet existed with dominion, saying: "Let us make man in our image and after our likeness"; but in the New [Covenant] even more so; for He honored not only those who had done nothing, but even those who had done countless evil things through the regeneration of the font; so also here it is possible to see that with adoption He honored not only those who had achieved nothing, but also those who had transgressed. Not, however, that because He honors before the labors, He deprives after the labors, but then also He gives greater prizes. And I exalted them. The things in Egypt, the things in the desert, the things in Palestine He passed over in a single word. For this is the custom of God, on account of the abundance of His benefits, not to dwell in detail on the narration of what has happened. But they have set me at nought. They have transgressed my law, he says, they have forsaken my commandments. The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master's crib. Comparisons increase the accusation, and especially when they are between unequal things; as also Christ says: "The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it"; and again, "The queen of the south will be raised up in the judgment and will condemn this generation, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon." And Jeremiah again says: "Go to the islands of Kittim and see; and send to Kedar and understand, if nations will change their gods; but my people has changed its glory, from which it will not profit." He shows the unburdensome nature of the legislation and what measure He requires from men, which it is easy even for irrational creatures to achieve, and for the most senseless of irrational creatures. But someone will say that those creatures have it in their nature to know. But it is possible for things naturally achieved by them to be done by us from choice. The ox knows its owner; He does not set before them the exceptional nature of the gift, but He also increases the accusation by the excess of their wickedness. For just as He calls the elements to their shame, so again He compares them not to men, but to irrational animals, and to the most senseless of these, and shows them to be worse even than those.

1.3 Thus also Jeremiah does, bringing forward the turtledove and the swallow, and Solomon now sending the one living a lazy life to the ant, now to the bee. But Israel did not know me. An intensification of wickedness, when even those who were His own, and after so many honors, and all of them at once have deserted to wickedness. He did not say "Jacob," but "Israel," so that by the virtue of the forefather He might show the ingratitude of the descendants to be greater. For the one, by the virtue of his soul, drew to himself the blessing of the name, but the others, through their lawlessness, betrayed it. And my people did not understand me. Me, He says, who am more manifest than the sun. Woe, sinful nation. And this is a custom of the prophets, to lament those who are incurably sick. Thus also Jeremiah in many places; thus also Christ, saying: "Woe to you, Chorazin, woe to you, Bethsaida." Since this also is a form of teaching. For whom reason has not won over, lamentation has often set right. A people full of sins. Another addition to the accusation, that it is both all of them, and with intensity. An evil seed. He does not slander their birth, but shows that they were evil from their earliest age. For just as John, saying: "O vipers, generation of vipers," does not dishonor nature itself; for he would not have said: "Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance," if they were such by nature and from birth; so also here, saying: "An evil seed," he does not slander their birth. Lawless sons. He did not say: "Transgressors of the law," but "Lawless," being in no better state than those who had never received a law. But it shows the difference of their choice. You have forsaken the Lord and have provoked Him to anger. He has said this emphatically. For the name of God was sufficient for an accusation; which Jeremiah charges, saying: "That they have departed even from Him, and have attached themselves to demons." The Holy One of Israel. And this is an intensification of the accusation, that their common

υἱοὺς γενέσθαι. Πανταχοῦ γὰρ ἄρχει τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν ὁ Θεὸς καὶ ὥσπερ τὸν ἄνθρωπον πλάττων, οὐδέπω γενόμενον ἐτίμησε τῇ ἀρχῇ, εἰπών· Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν· ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς Καινῆς καὶ μειζόνως· οὐ γὰρ δὴ μόνον μηδὲν εἰργασμένους, ἀλλὰ καὶ μυρία κακὰ εἰργασμένους ἐτίμησε διὰ τῆς τοῦ λουτροῦ παλιγγενεσίας· οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, ὅτι τῇ υἱοθεσίᾳ οὐχὶ μόνον οὐδὲν κατωρθωκότας, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπταικότας ἐτίμησεν. Οὐ μὴν ἐπειδὴ τιμᾷ πρὸ τῶν πόνων, ἀποστερεῖ μετὰ τοὺς πόνους, ἀλλὰ καὶ τότε μείζονα δίδωσι τὰ ἔπαθλα. Καὶ ὕψωσα. Τὰ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, τὰ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, τὰ ἐν Παλαιστίνῃ ἑνὶ ῥήματι παρέδραμεν. Ἔθος γὰρ τῷ Θεῷ τοῦτο, διὰ τὴν περιουσίαν τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν μὴ κατὰ μικρὸν ἐνδιατρίβειν τῇ διηγήσει τῶν γεγενημένων. Αὐτοὶ δέ με ἠθέτησαν. Παρέβησάν μου, φησί, τὸν νόμον, τὰ προστάγματά μου κατέλιπον. Ἔγνω βοῦς τὸν κτησάμενον, καὶ ὄνος τὴν φάτνην τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ. Αἱ συγκρίσεις αὔξησιν τῆς κατηγορίας ποιοῦσιν καὶ μάλιστα ὅταν ἐξ ἀνίσων ὦσιν· καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστός φησι. Ἄνδρες Νινευῗται ἀναστήσονται ἐν τῇ κρίσει μετὰ τῆς γενεᾶς ταύτης καὶ κατακρινοῦσιν αὐτήν· καὶ πάλιν Βασίλισσα νότου ἐγερθήσεται ἐν τῇ κρίσει καὶ κατακρινεῖ τὴν γενεὰν ταύτην, ὅτι ἦλθεν ἐκ τῶν περάτων τῆς γῆς ἀκοῦσαι τὴν σοφίαν Σολομῶντος. Καὶ Ἱερεμίας δὲ πάλιν φησί· Πορεύθητε εἰς νήσους Κετιὶμ καὶ ἴδετε· καὶ εἰς Κεδὰρ ἀποστείλατε καὶ γνῶτε, εἰ ἀλλάξονται ἔθνη τοὺς θεοὺς αὐτῶν· ὁ δὲ λαός μου ἠλλάξατο τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, ἐξ ἧς οὐκ ὠφεληθήσεται. Τὸ ἀνεπαχθὲς τῆς νομοθεσίας δείκνυσι καὶ ὅσον ἀπαιτεῖ παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων μέτρον, ὃ καὶ ἀλόγοις εὔκολον κατορθῶσαι, καὶ ἀλόγων τοῖς ἀνοητοτέροις. Ἀλλ' ἐρεῖ τις, ὅτι ἐκεῖνα ἐν τῇ φύσει ἔχει τὸ γνωρίζειν. Ἀλλὰ δυνατὸν τὰ φύσει κατορθούμενα ἐκείνοις ἐκ προαιρέσεως ὑφ' ἡμῶν γίνεσθαι. Ἔγνω βοῦς τὸν κτησάμενον· οὐ τὸ ἐξαίρετον τῆς δωρεᾶς τίθησιν αὐτοῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ ὑπερβολῇ τῆς κακίας αὐτῶν αὔξει τὴν κατηγορίαν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ εἰς ἐντροπὴν αὐτῶν τὰ στοιχεῖα καλεῖ, οὕτω πάλιν οὐκ ἀνθρώποις, ἀλλὰ ἀλόγοις αὐτοῖς συγκρίνει, καὶ τούτων τοῖς ἀνοητοτάτοις, καὶ δείκνυσι χείρους κἀκείνων.

1.3 Οὕτω καὶ Ἱερεμίας ποιεῖ, τρυγόνα καὶ χελιδόνα παράγων εἰς μέσον, καὶ ὁ Σολομῶν δὲ νῦν μὲν πρὸς τὸν μύρμηκα, νῦν δὲ πρὸς τὴν μέλιτταν πέμπων τὸν ἀργὸν βίον ζῶντα. Ἰσραὴλ δέ με οὐκ ἔγνω. Ἐπίτασις κακίας, ὅταν καὶ οἱ ᾠκειωμένοι, καὶ μετὰ τοσαύτας τιμάς, καὶ πάντες ἀθρόον πρὸς τὴν κακίαν ὦσιν ηὐτομοληκότες. Οὐκ εἶπεν Ἰακώβ, ἀλλ' Ἰσραήλ, ὥστε τῇ ἀρετῇ τοῦ προγόνου τῶν ἐκγόνων μείζονα δεῖξαι τὴν ἀγνωμοσύνην. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ τῇ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀρετῇ τὴν εὐλογίαν ἐπεσπάσατο τὴν τῆς προσηγορίας, οἱ δὲ διὰ τῆς παρανομίας αὐτὴν προὔδωκαν. Καὶ ὁ λαός μου ἐμὲ οὐ συνῆκεν· Ἐμέ, φησί, τὸν τοῦ ἡλίου φανερώτερον. Οὐαὶ ἔθνος ἁμαρτωλόν. Καὶ τοῦτο τοῖς προφήταις ἔθος, τοὺς τὰ ἀνίατα νοσοῦντας θρηνεῖν. Οὕτω καὶ Ἱερεμίας πολλαχοῦ· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς λέγων· Οὐαί σοι Χωραζί, οὐαί σοι Βηθσαϊδά. Ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῦτο διδασκαλίας εἶδος. Ὃν γὰρ οὐκ ἀνεκτήσατο λόγος, τοῦτον πολλάκις διώρθωσε θρῆνος. Λαὸς πλήρης ἁμαρτιῶν. Ἄλλη προσθήκη κατηγορίας, τὸ καὶ πάντας, καὶ μετ' ἐπιτάσεως. Σπέρμα πονηρόν. Οὐ τὴν γένεσιν αὐτῶν διαβάλλει, ἀλλὰ δείκνυσιν ἐκ πρώτης ἡλικίας ὄντας κακούς. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ Ἰωάννης λέγων· Ὄφεις, γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν, οὐ τὴν φύσιν αὐτὴν ἀτιμάζει· οὐ γὰρ ἂν εἶπε· Ποιήσατε οὖν καρποὺς ἀξίους τῆς μετανοίας, εἰ φύσει καὶ ἀπὸ γεννήσεως ἧσαν τοιοῦτοι· οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα λέγων· Σπέρμα πονηρόν, οὐ τὴν γέννησιν αὐτῶν διαβάλλει. Υἱοὶ ἄνομοι. Οὐκ εἶπε· Παράνομοι, ἀλλ', Ἄνομοι, τῶν οὐδαμῶς εἰληφότων νόμον οὐδὲν ἄμεινον διακείμενοι. Ἀλλὰ τῆς προαιρέσεως τὴν διαφορὰν δηλοῖ. Ἐγκατελίπετε τὸν Κύριον καὶ παρωργίσατε. Ἐμφαντικῶς τοῦτο εἴρηκε. Καὶ γὰρ ἤρκει τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς κατηγορίαν· ὅπερ ὁ Ἱερεμίας ἐγκαλεῖ λέγων· Ὅτι καὶ αὐτοῦ ἀπέστησαν, καὶ δαίμοσι προσηλώθησαν. Τὸν ἅγιον τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Καὶ τοῦτο κατηγορίας ἐπίτασις, ὅτι κοινὸς