Commentarium in evangelium matthaei

 Angels of god may gather up the evil doctrines attached to the soul and hand them over for consumption, overturning them with what is called burning f

 He did not speak to them», and not to the crowds when he came «into the house» does he speak, but to the disciples who came to him in it, it is clear

 They have sold their possessions, so that, by having sold and given those things away and in exchange for them having received from god a good purpose

 In the strait, not in the pinnae, which is a kind of pearl-bearing shell, but in those called mussels. and for these, i mean those of the bosphorus, t

 Of christ” one might be able to attain, having been first exercised in the, so to speak, knowledges which are surpassed by the knowledge of christ. bu

 Of bad kinds, as among fish, to the fine ones, or from the better to the worse, but among men, the just or the wicked can always be seen either reachi

 The calling from every kind of nation. and those who served the net cast into the sea are the lord of the net, jesus christ, and the angels who came a

 You will know that i the lord have poured out my wrath upon you.” 10.14 have you understood all these things? they say, yes (13, 51[52]). christ jesus

 Of the heavens is within you, and especially through the repentance from the letter to the spirit, because whenever someone turns to the lord, th

 Might make him like himself, until the disciple becomes as the teacher, imitating first the imitator of christ, and after this one, also <τὸν> chris

 He was doing greater things than those in the time of elijah and elisha, and even before, in the time of moses and joshua son of nun. but those who ma

 For they consider judea their homeland and that israel their kinsmen, and perhaps the body their house for all were dishonored in judea by the israel

 Paying attention, if on account of living very intensely and reproving those who sin he should be hated and plotted against, as one persecuted and rev

 Baptist (14, 1. 2[-11]). and thus in mark and thus in luke. the jews held different opinions concerning these matters, some false, such as the sadduce

 He passed over in silence in his histories. 10.21 the text of matthew has it thus: for herod, having seized john, bound him in prison. concerning thes

 Free among the dead.” “for though he was crucified through weakness, yet he lives by the power of god.” furthermore, behold the people among whom clea

 Into the desert, was in it, because his word and teaching were peculiar compared to what was customary and established among the gentiles. and the cro

 To give the loaves of the blessing to the disciples, so that they might set them before the crowds, he healed the sick, so that having been made wel

 The disciples say they have five loaves and the two fish in matthew and mark and luke, without noting whether they were of wheat or of barley but joh

 “all flesh is grass,” that is, to make the flesh subject and to subordinate “the mind of the flesh,” so that in this way one might be able to partake

 Of those who come to the name of jesus, those who know “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” might be called disciples but those to whom such a th

 Jesus [compelled] the disciples to get in, or perhaps the struggle of temptations and circumstances, into which one is compelled by the word and, as i

 To lead us to the other side. for it is not possible to reach the other side without having endured the trials of waves and a contrary wind. then, whe

 Having sent them, since they were not able, on account of being very ill, to approach on their own, and they did not themselves touch the fringe, as t

 Jesus does not accuse them concerning a tradition of the jewish elders, but concerning two of the most necessary commandments of god, of which the one

 By the name of the treasury wishes to give to the poor rather than to the relatives of the givers, if they happen to be in need of necessities and the

 The hidden things. and all these words will be to you like the words of the sealed book, which if they give it to a man who knows letters, saying, ‘re

 For which things the carnal jews and the ebionites who differ little from them accuse us of breaking the law, for not thinking that the obvious meanin

 Drink” and the rest, teaching us that the things according to the letter are a shadow, but the true meanings of the law underlying these are good thin

 Guides of the blind. who then? the pharisees, whose 'minds the god of this age has blinded,' being 'unbelievers' because they had not believed in jesu

 What enters into the mouth goes into the stomach and is cast out into the latrine, and the food that is sanctified through the word of god and prayer

 And jesus went out from there and withdrew into the region of tyre and sidon, and behold a canaanite woman (15, 21. 22 [-28]). from where there? or fr

 To see the difference of those who approach, who approach him, as it were, as the one who was made “of the seed of david according to the flesh,” and

 He answered and said: it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs. one might inquire into the meaning of this saying,

 Blind in soul and not seeing the true light, and others lame and not able to walk according to reason, and others maimed and not able to work accord

 Of the loaves (jesus) went out and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion for them and healed their sick. and when it was evening, the

 To her “o woman, great is your faith let it be to you as you desire,” he healed her daughter “from that hour,” yet it is not written that he sent he

of Christ” one might be able to attain, having been first exercised in the, so to speak, knowledges which are surpassed by the knowledge of Christ. But the many, not understanding the beauty of the many legal pearls and the still “in part” knowledge which is all prophetic knowledge, think they can, without those being made clear and apprehended in their entirety, find the one pearl of great price and behold “the surpassing knowledge of Christ Jesus,” in comparison with which all things before such and so great a knowledge, though not “refuse” in their own nature, are shown to be refuse, which are perhaps the dung cast upon the fig tree by the vine-dresser, being the cause of its bearing fruit. 10.10 “To everything therefore there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” and there is a certain “time to gather together—the good pearls—stones” and a time after their gathering to find one pearl of great price, when it is fitting to go and sell all that one has, in order to buy that pearl. For just as everyone who is to be wise in the words of truth will need first to be instructed in the elements and to advance beyond the elementary instruction and to regard the elementary instruction as of great importance, yet not to remain in the elementary instruction as one who honored it in the beginning, but having advanced “to perfection” to be thankful for the introduction as having been useful in the earlier stages, so the things of the law and of the prophets, when perfectly understood, are an elementary instruction for the perfectly understood gospel and all the meaning concerning the works and words of Christ Jesus. 10.11 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea (13, 47[-50]). Just as in the case of portraits and statues the likenesses are not in all respects likenesses of those for whom they are made, but the portrait painted in wax—so to speak—on a single flat piece of wood has the likeness of the surface together with the color, but no longer preserves the depressions and prominences but only an appearance of them, while the form of the statues tries to preserve the likeness according to the depressions and prominences, but no longer also the things concerning color, and if a wax impression is also made, it tries to preserve both—I mean both the things concerning color and the things concerning depressions and prominences—but it is not an image of the things in the depth, so understand me also in the case of the parables in the gospel that the kingdom of heaven is likened to something not because of all the attributes of that to which the likeness is made, but because of some of those which the discourse adopted requires. And here, therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea, not as some suppose, representing in the discourse that there are different underlying natures of the wicked and the righteous who have come under the net, so as to think that because it gathered from every kind there are many and different natures of the righteous, and likewise also of the wicked; for such an interpretation is contradicted by all the scriptures that indicate free will, blaming those who sin and approving those who do right, since blame would not justly follow those of the evil kinds who are such by nature, nor praise for those of the better kinds. For the cause of bad and good fish is not in the souls of the fish, but in that which the word, knowing, said: “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures,” when also “God made the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth according to their kinds.” Therefore, there “the waters brought forth” “every living creature that moves” “according to their kinds,” the cause not being in itself. But here we are the cause of being good kinds and worthy of the so-called vessels or rotten and worthy to be cast out; for nature in us is not the cause of wickedness, but voluntary choice which is productive of evil. Thus also nature is not the cause of righteousness as being incapable of unrighteousness, but the word which we have received, which makes us righteous; for the kinds of water-creatures cannot be seen changing from

Χριστοῦ» χωρῆσαί τις δυνηθῇ, προεγγυμνασάμενος ταῖς, ἵν' οὕτως ὀνομάσω, ὑπερεχο μέναις γνώσεσιν ὑπὸ τῆς Χριστοῦ γνώσεως. Ἀλλ' οἱ πολλοί, μὴ νοήσαντες τὸ κάλλος τῶν πολλῶν μαργαριτῶν νομικῶν καὶ τὴν ἔτι «ἐκ μέρους» γνῶσιν τὴν πᾶσαν προφητικήν, οἴονται δύνασθαι χωρὶς ἐκείνων τρανουμένων καὶ καταλαμ βανομένων δι' ὅλων εὑρεῖν τὸν ἕνα πολύτιμον μαργαρίτην καὶ θεωρῆσαι «τὸ ὑπερέχον τῆς γνώσεως Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ», οὗ συγκρίσει πάντα τὰ πρὸ τῆς τηλικαύτης καὶ τοσαύτης γνώσεως, οὐ «σκύβαλα» τῇ ἰδίᾳ φύσει τυγχάνοντα, σκύβαλα ἀναφαίνεται ἅπερ ἐστὶ τὰ παραβαλλόμενα τάχα τῇ συκῇ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀμπελουργοῦ κόπρια, αἴτια τυγχάνοντα τοῦ αὐτὴν καρποφορῆσαι. 10.10 «Τοῖς πᾶσι τοίνυν ὁ χρόνος καὶ καιρὸς τῷ παντὶ πράγματι ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν» καὶ ἔστι τις «καιρὸς τοῦ συναγαγεῖν-τοὺς καλοὺς μαργαρίτας-λίθους» καὶ καιρὸς μετὰ τὴν συναγωγὴν αὐτῶν τοῦ εὑρεῖν ἕνα πολύτιμον μαργαρίτην, ὅτε καθήκει ἀπελθόντα πωλῆσαι πάντα ὅσα τις ἔχει, ἵνα ἀγοράσῃ τὸν μαργαρίτην ἐκεῖνον. Ὥσπερ γὰρ πάντα τὸν ἐσόμενον σοφὸν ἐν λόγοις ἀληθείας δεήσει στοι χειωθῆναι πρότερον καὶ ἐπὶ πλεῖον διαβῆναι τῆς στοιχειώσεως καὶ περὶ πολλοῦ ποιεῖσθαι τὴν στοιχείωσιν, οὐ μὴν ἀπομένειν ἐν τῇ στοιχειώσει ὡς τιμήσαντα αὐτὴν κατὰ τὰς ἀρχάς, ἀλλὰ διαβάντα «ἐπὶ τὴν τελειότητα» χάριν ἔχειν τῇ εἰσαγωγῇ ὡς χρησίμῳ γενομένῃ κατὰ τὰ πρότερα, οὕτως τελείως νοηθέντα τὰ νομικὰ καὶ τὰ προφητικὰ στοιχείωσίς ἐστι πρὸς τελείως ἐννοούμενον τὸ εὐαγγέλιον καὶ πάντα τὸν περὶ τῶν Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἔργων καὶ λόγων νοῦν. 10.11 Πάλιν ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν σαγήνῃ βληθείσῃ εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν (13, 47[-50]). Ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῶν εἰκόνων καὶ τῶν ἀνδριάντων αἱ ὁμοιότητες οὐκ ἐξ ὅλων εἰσὶν ὁμοιότητες ἐκείνων πρὸς ἃ ταῦτα γίνεται, ἀλλ' ἡ μὲν ἐν ἑνὶ ἐπιπέδῳ ξύλῳ-φέρε εἰπεῖν-κηρογρα φουμένη εἰκὼν τῆς ἐπιφανείας μετὰ τοῦ χρώματος ἔχει τὴν ὁμοιότητα, οὐκέτι δὲ σῴζει τὰς εἰσοχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξοχὰς ἀλλ' ἔμφασιν μόνην αὐτῶν, ἡ δὲ κατὰ τοὺς ἀνδριάντας πλάσις τὸ μὲν κατὰ τὰς εἰσοχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξοχὰς πειρᾶται σῴζειν ὁμοίωμα, οὐκέτι δὲ καὶ τὰ κατὰ τὴν χρόαν, ἐὰν δὲ καὶ κήρινον ἐκμαγεῖον γένηται, σῴζειν μὲν πειρᾶται ἀμφότερα -λέγω δὲ καὶ τὰ κατὰ τὴν χρόαν καὶ τὰ κατὰ τὰς εἰσοχὰς καὶ ἐξοχάς-οὐ μὴν καὶ τῶν ἐν βάθει εἰκών ἐστιν, οὕτω μοι νόει καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ὁμοιώσεων τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν ὁμοιουμένην τινὶ ὁμοιοῦσθαι οὐ διὰ πάντα τὰ προσόντα τῷ εἰς ὃ ἡ ὁμοίωσις, ἀλλὰ διά τινα ὧν χρῄζει ὁ παραληφθεὶς λόγος. Καὶ ἐνταῦθα τοίνυν ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν σαγήνῃ βληθείσῃ εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, οὐχ ὡς οἴονταί τινες παριστάντες τῷ λόγῳ φύσεις εἶναι ὑποκειμένας διαφόρους τῶν ὑπὸ τὴν σαγήνην ἐληλυθότων πονηρῶν καὶ δικαίων, ὥστε νομίζειν εἶναι διὰ τὸ ἐκ παντὸς γένους συναγαγούσῃ δικαίων πολλὰς καὶ διαφόρους φύσεις, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ πονηρῶν· τῇ γὰρ τοιαύτῃ ἐκδοχῇ ἐναντιοῦνται πᾶσαι αἱ τὸ αὐτεξούσιον ἐμφαίνουσαι γραφαὶ καὶ αἰτιώμεναι μὲν τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας, ἀποδεχόμεναι δὲ τοὺς κατορθοῦντας, οὐκ ἂν δικαίως μέμψεως τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν φαύλων γενῶν φύσει τοιούτων τυγχανόντων ἀκολουθούσης ἢ ἐπαίνου τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν ἀστειοτέρων. Ἰχθύων γὰρ φαύλων καὶ καλῶν ἡ αἰτία οὐ περὶ τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἰχθύων ἐστίν, ἀλλὰ περὶ ἐκεῖνο ὅπερ ἐπιστάμενος ὁ λόγος εἶπεν· «Ἐξαγαγέτω τὰ ὕδατα ἑρπετὰ ψυχῶν ζωσῶν», ὅτε καὶ «ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὰ κήτη τὰ μεγάλα καὶ πᾶσαν ψυχὴν ζώων ἑρπετῶν, ἃ ἐξήγαγε τὰ ὕδατα κατὰ γένη αὐτῶν». Οὐκοῦν ἐκεῖ μὲν «πᾶσαν ψυχὴν ζώων ἑρπετῶν» «ἐξήγαγε τὰ ὕδατα κατὰ γένη αὐτῶν», οὐκ οὔσης τῆς αἰτίας περὶ αὐτήν. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν οἱ αἴτιοι τοῦ εἶναι καλὰ καὶ ἄξια τῶν λεγομένων ἀγγῶν γένη ἢ σαπρὰ καὶ ἄξια τοῦ ἔξω βληθῆναι· οὐ γὰρ φύσις ἐν ἡμῖν αἰτία τῆς πονηρίας, ἀλλὰ προαίρεσις ἑκούσιος οὖσα κακοποιητική. Οὕτως δὲ οὐδὲ φύσις αἰτία δικαιοσύνης ὡς ἀνεπίδεκτος ἀδικίας, ἀλλὰ λόγος ὃν παρεδεξάμεθα ὁ κατασκευάζων δικαίους· καὶ γὰρ τὰ μὲν τῶν ἐνύδρων γένη οὐκ ἔστιν ἰδεῖν μεταβάλλοντα ἀπὸ