5

and now, the one you have is not your husband; this you have said truly. What then is this, 'For you have had five husbands, and now, the one you have is not your husband'? It is necessary to say. The woman had five husbands, and they died; but after them she committed fornication; whence no one any longer wished to approach her as a lawful wife. But she, not bearing to restrain the waves of pleasure, secretly had from then on the one who was fornicating with her; and she was neither an open prostitute, nor a lawful wife; but she had a man secretly; and she thought to deceive Christ as a man, and said to him, 'I have no husband.' Then Christ, knowing the secrets of the heart, and knowing all things before their creation, says to her: 'You have said well, "I have no husband;" for you have had five husbands, and now the one you have is not your husband; this you have said truly.' The woman says to him, 'Lord, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship.' What prophet do you speak of, O woman? The one of whom Moses wrote, that 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren,' or some other? Is this the one you mean, woman, the one who reveals the secrets of the heart? For having received the revelation of her sins from the Master, she says: 'Lord, I perceive that you are a prophet.' It was the same as her saying the words of David: 'Cleanse me from my secret faults.'

3. And God was sitting, speaking with the woman. O what great love for mankind! The one

who sits upon the Cherubim converses with a prostitute woman. 'I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship.' The prostitute introduces a discussion about dogmas, and having thought the Master to be a prophet, she asked for nothing of this life; she confessed him as Lord, and did not seek an abundance of money. 'Lord, I perceive that you are a prophet.' She confessed him as Lord, and asked nothing beyond the paternal dogmas. 'Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship.' For indeed on that mountain Somor Abraham offered his own son Isaac as a sacrifice to God, and in Jerusalem Jacob, while going down into Mesopotamia to Laban the Syrian, saw in his dreams the ladder stretched from earth to heaven, and he wrestled the wrestling match with God; wherefore he also said, 'God appeared to me at Luz.' For this reason the woman takes up dogmas, and says: 'Lord, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship.' What then does the Lord do? Again he answers with the wisdom befitting him. For since he was thought by her to be a Jew, and she was a Samaritan, he did not wish to answer the question, so that he might neither tell a falsehood, nor make the woman more hardened.

For there was not 59.540 anything else being prepared by him, but he was seeking to ensnare the woman for the path of salvation; and for this reason he says nothing harsh to her, so that he might neither tell a falsehood, nor put the Samaritan woman to shame. For if he had said to her that Jerusalem is the place where one must worship, as Moses commanded the sons of Israel, he would have made her more hardened; since, as we have said, she held an ancient opinion concerning the mountain in Sichem, that on it Abraham was commanded by God to sacrifice Isaac. And again, if he had wished to condescend to her, and to say, 'This is the mountain, and you worship well,' again he would have put forth a false saying. For this reason, therefore, leaving both on the ground, he leads the woman by the hand to the more spiritual worship, and says: 'Woman, believe me when I say that the hour is coming, and now is, when neither on this mountain, nor in

5

καὶ νῦν, ὃν ἔχεις, οὐκ ἔστι σου ἀνήρ· τοῦτο ἀληθὲς εἴρηκας. Τί δέ ἐστι τοῦτο, τὸ Πέντε γὰρ ἄνδρας ἔσχες, καὶ νῦν, ὃν ἔχεις, οὐκ ἔστι σου ἀνήρ; Ἀναγκαῖον εἰπεῖν. Ἡ γυνὴ πέντε ἄνδρας ἔσχεν, καὶ ἐτελεύτησαν· μετ' ἐκείνους δὲ ἐπόρνευσεν· ὅθεν οὐδεὶς αὐτῇ λοιπὸν ὡς γυναικὶ νομίμῃ προσεγγίζειν ἐβούλετο. Ἐκείνη δὲ μὴ φέρουσα χαλινῶσαι τῆς ἡδονῆς τὰ κύματα, λαθραίως εἶχε λοιπὸν τὸν πορνεύοντα μετ' αὐτῆς· καὶ οὐκ ἦν οὐδὲ πόρνη περιφανὴς, οὔτε νομίμη· εἶχεν δὲ ἄνδρα λαθραίως· ἐνόμιζε δὲ ὡς ἄνθρωπον τὸν Χριστὸν παρακρούεσθαι, καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτῷ, Οὐκ ἔχω ἄνδρα. Εἶτα ὁ Χριστὸς γι νώσκων τὰ κρύφια τῆς καρδίας, καὶ εἰδὼς τὰ πάντα πρὶν γενέσεως αὐτῶν, λέγει αὐτῇ· Καλῶς εἶπας, ὅτι Ἄνδρα οὐκ ἔχω· πέντε γὰρ ἄνδρας ἔσχες, καὶ νῦν ὃν ἔχεις, οὐκ ἔστι σου ἀνήρ· τοῦτο ἀληθὲς εἴρηκας. Λέγει αὐτῷ ἡ γυνή· Κύριε, θεωρῶ, ὅτι προφήτης εἶ σύ. Οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ προσεκύνη σαν, καὶ ὑμεῖς δὲ λέγετε οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ὅτι ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐστὶν ὁ τόπος, ὅπου δεῖ προσκυνεῖν. Ποῖον προφήτην λέγεις, ὦ γύναι; ὃν ὁ Μωϋσῆς ἔγραψεν, ὅτι Προφήτην ὑμῖν ἀναστήσει Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ὑμῶν ἐκ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὑμῶν ὡς ἐμὲ, ἢ ἕτερόν τινα; τοῦτον σὺ λέγεις, γύναι, τὸν ἀποκαλύπτοντα τὰ κρύφια τῆς καρ δίας; Καὶ γὰρ τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων παρὰ τοῦ ∆εσπότου λαβοῦσα, λέγει· Κύριε, θεωρῶ, ὅτι προ φήτης εἶ σύ. Ταὐτὸν ἦν αὐτὴν τὸ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ εἰπεῖν· Ἐκ τῶν κρυφίων μου καθάρισόν με.

γʹ. Καὶ ἐκάθητο ὁ Θεὸς, ὁμιλῶν τῇ γυναικί. Ὢ πολλῆς φιλανθρωπίας· ὁ

καθήμενος ἐπὶ τὸν Χερουβὶμ πόρνῃ γυναικὶ διαλέγεται. Θεωρῶ, ὅτι προφήτης εἶ σύ. Οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ προσεκύνησαν, καὶ ὑμεῖς λέγετε, ὅτι ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐστὶν ὁ τόπος, ὅπου δεῖ προσκυνεῖν. Ἡ πόρνη περὶ δογμάτων εἰσ άγει λόγον, καὶ νομίσασα τὸν ∆εσπότην εἶναι προφήτην, οὐδὲν ᾔτησε βιωτικόν· Κύριον ὡμολόγησε, καὶ χρημά των περιουσίαν οὐκ ἐπεζήτησε. Κύριε, θεωρῶ ὅτι προ φήτης εἶ σύ. Κύριον ὡμολόγησε, καὶ οὐδὲν ᾔτησε πλέον τῶν πατρικῶν δογμάτων. Οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ προσεκύνησαν, καὶ ὑμεῖς λέγετε ὅτι ἐν Ἱερο σολύμοις ἐστὶν ὁ τόπος, ὅπου δεῖ προσκυνεῖν. Καὶ γὰρ ἐν τῷ ὄρει ἐκείνῳ τῷ Σώμωρ ὁ Ἀβραὰμ τὸν ἴδιον υἱὸν Ἰσαὰκ εἰς θυσίαν ἀνήνεγκε τῷ Θεῷ, ἐν δὲ τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις ὁ Ἰακὼβ ἐν Μεσοποταμίᾳ κατερχόμενος πρὸς Λάβαν τὸν Σύρον, τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἕως οὐρανοῦ κλίμακα τεταμένην κατὰ τοὺς ὕπνους κατεῖδε, καὶ τὴν πάλην τὴν μετὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπάλαισε· διὸ καὶ ἔλεγεν· Ὁ Θεὸς ὤφθη μοι ἐν Λούσᾳ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἡ γυνὴ δογμά των ἅπτεται, καί φησι· Κύριε, θεωρῶ, ὅτι προ φήτης εἶ σύ. Οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ προσεκύνησαν, καὶ ὑμεῖς λέγετε, ὅτι ἐν Ἱεροσολύ μοις ἐστὶν ὁ τόπος, ὅπου δεῖ προσκυνεῖν. Τί οὖν ὁ Κύριος; Πάλιν μετὰ τῆς πρεπούσης αὐτῷ σοφίας ἀποκρίνεται. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ Ἰουδαῖος ἐνομίζετο παρ' αὐτῆς, αὐτὴ δὲ Σαμαρεῖτις ἦν, οὐκ ἠθέλησε πρὸς τὴν πεῦσιν ἀποκρίνασθαι, ἵνα μήτε διαψεύσηται, μήτε τὴν γυναῖκα σκληροτέραν ἀπεργάσηται.

Οὐ γὰρ ἦν 59.540 αὐτῷ ἄλλο τι τὸ κατασκευαζόμενον, ἀλλὰ θηρεῦσαι τὸ γύναιον πρὸς τὴν τῆς σωτηρίας ὁδὸν ἐπεζήτει· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲν σκληρότερον πρὸς αὐτὴν λέγει, ἵνα μήτε διαψεύσηται, μήτε καταισχύνῃ τὴν Σαμα ρεῖτιν. Εἰ γὰρ εἶπεν αὐτῇ, ὅτι ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐστὶν ὁ τόπος, ὅπου δεῖ προσκυνεῖν, καθὼς προσέταξε Μωϋσῆς τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραὴλ, σκληροτέραν ἂν αὐτὴν ἀπειργάσατο· ἐπειδὴ, ὡς εἰρήκαμεν, παλαιὰν εἶχεν ὑπόληψιν περὶ τοῦ ὄρους τοῦ ἐν Σικίμοις, ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ θυσιάζειν ὁ Ἀβραὰμ τὸν Ἰσαὰκ προσετέτακτο παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Καὶ πάλιν, εἰ ἠθέλησεν αὐτῇ συγκαταβῆναι, καὶ εἰπεῖν, ὅτι Τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ ὄρος, καὶ καλῶς προσκυνεῖτε, πάλιν ψευ δὲς τὸ ῥῆμα προεβάλλετο. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὖν ἀμφότερα χαμαὶ καταλιπὼν ἐπὶ τὴν πνευματικωτέραν προσκύνη σιν χειραγωγεῖ τὸ γύναιον, καί φησι· Γύναι, πίστευ σόν μοι λέγοντι, ὅτι ἔρχεται ὥρα, καὶ νῦν ἐστιν, ὅτε οὔτε ἐν τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ, οὔτε ἐν