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and they brought it. ‘Do it a second time,’ and they did it a second time. ‘Do it a third time,’ and they did it a third time. But see also why Elijah does this. Since it is the custom for error to attach its own qualities to the truth, which is what harlot women do; they pre-emptively call free women harlots, so that those women might have no insult to hurl back. But nevertheless, Elijah is wise in this too; why? but what I am about to say, I myself have become a spectator of: In the altars of the idols there are holes underneath the altar, and there is a certain hidden pit below, and the workers of deception go down into the pit, and so through those holes from below they blow the fire upwards onto the sacrifice, so that many are deceived and think the fire is from heaven. So that Elijah might not be suspected of doing something of this kind, he poured the water, so that the water might expose the hole. For of necessity, where water finds a hole, it does not stand, but goes down. He filled the altar, therefore, and he prays, saying: ‘Hear me, O Lord, in fire today; you heard me in water, hear me also in fire.’ And behold, when he called, fire came down swiftly from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, and the stones, and the fire licked up the water. And what does he say to the people? ‘Seize the priests of shame; let not one of them be saved.’ and they seized them, and slew them, four hundred and fifty priests of Baal, and four hundred of the high places.

Jezebel the wife of Ahab heard these things that had happened, and sends to Elijah, saying: ‘So may the gods do to me, and more also, if by tomorrow I do not make your life as the life of one of them.’ and hearing this, Elijah fled. Where is Elijah, so great and of such stature? For my purpose is to show that he fell into sin; I speak of the sin not to accuse the righteous man, but working out a hypothesis of salvation, so that when you see that those men have sinned, yet not despaired of themselves but obtained the loving-kindness of God, you, if you should sin, may hope for salvation more abundantly. Since Jezebel said, ‘So may the gods do to me, and more also, if by tomorrow I do not make your life as the life of 50.734 one of them,’ Elijah heard, and fled a forty days' journey. O excess of cowardice! He heard a woman's word, and walking a forty days' journey he fled. not for one day, not a second, not a third, but as soon as the woman's word entered the prophet, from cowardice he did not know what he was doing, undertaking so great a flight.

What is this with you, Elijah? You are the one who shut up heaven and bridled the rain, who commanded the air and called down fire from above, who slaughtered the priests, who said to King Ahab: ‘You are the one who perverts Israel, and your father's house;’ who said, ‘As the Lord lives, there will be no rain, except by my word;’ who made the widow's house a threshing floor and sheaves of grain, [who commanded the elements, you heard the word of a harlot, and fled, and one woman leads you away captive? The two citadels were tested by a woman; Peter feared a young girl, and this man Jezebel; they fell into the same sins. And Elijah fled a forty days' journey. Where is your zeal, Elijah, when you said, ‘As the Lord lives, there will be no rain, except by my word’? when you rebuked the king,] when you called down fire? You did so many things, and you could not bear the word of one woman? Where is your strength, when you did not wish to ask your Master to give rain upon the earth? For He was telling you by clear proofs: ‘Ask me, who am able to give even without you, but I was unwilling, so that just as you were the agent of ills, so also you might become the author of good things.’ For you performed, Elijah, a work full of heartlessness; but God pitied the disaster, because He Himself is the creator of all things and the maker of all things; likewise also He is the guardian of all things, and He wished to relax your inhumanity, but you persisted in it. He was saying to you: ‘I know the disaster that is happening, I know the weeping of the mothers, I know the wailing of the children; I see the earth, which I made, being destroyed, and I wish to show loving-kindness, but I do not wish to dishonor you, and without

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καὶ ἔφερον· ∆ισσώσατε, καὶ ἐδίσσωσαν· Τρισσώσατε, καὶ ἐτρίσσωσαν. Ἀλλ' ὅρα καὶ τοῦτο διὰ τί ποιεῖ ὁ Ἠλίας. Ἐπειδὴ ἔθος τῇ πλάνῃ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ τὰ ἴδια προσάπτειν, ὅπερ αἱ γυναῖ κες αἱ πόρναι ποιοῦσι, καὶ προλαμβάνουσι, καὶ τὰς ἐλευθέρας πόρνας καλοῦσιν, ἵνα μὴ ἔχωσιν ἐκεῖναι τί ἀνθυβρίσωσιν. Ἀλλ' ὅμως Ἠλίας καὶ ἐν τούτῳ σοφίζεται· διὰ τί; ἀλλ' ὃ μέλλω λέγειν, θεατὴς αὐτὸς γέγονα· Ἐν τοῖς βωμοῖς τῶν εἰδώλων ὀπαί εἰσι κάτωθεν τοῦ θυσια στηρίου, καὶ ἔστι τις λάκκος κάτωθεν ἀφανὴς, καὶ κατέρχονται οἱ τῆς πλάνης ἐργάται ἐν τῷ λάκκῳ, καὶ οὕτω ταῖς ὀπαῖς ἐκείναις κάτωθεν τὸ πῦρ ἄνω ἐκφυσῶσιν εἰς τὴν θυσίαν, ὡς πολλοὺς ἀπατᾶσθαι, καὶ νομίζειν οὐράνιον εἶναι τὸ πῦρ. Ἵνα οὖν μὴ καὶ ὁ Ἠλίας τοιοῦτόν τι ὑπονοηθῇ ποιεῖν, ἐπέχεε τὸ ὕδωρ, ἵνα τὴν ὀπὴν τὸ ὕδωρ ἐλέγξῃ· ἀνάγκῃ γὰρ ὅπου ὀπὴν εὑρίσκει τὸ ὕδωρ, οὐ στήκει, ἀλλὰ κατέρχεται. Ἐν έπλησεν οὖν τὸ θυσιαστήριον, καὶ εὔχεται λέγων· Ἐπάκουσόν μου, Κύριε, ἐν πυρὶ σήμερον· ἐπήκουσάς μου ἐν ὕδατι, ἐπάκουσόν μου καὶ ἐν πυρί. Καὶ ἰδοὺ, καλέσαντος αὐτοῦ, ἐν τάχει πῦρ κατέβη ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ κατέφαγε τὴν θυσίαν, καὶ τοὺς λίθους, καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ ἐξέλειξε τὸ πῦρ. Καὶ τί φησι τῷ λαῷ; Συλλάβετε τοὺς ἱερεῖς τῆς αἰσχύ νης· μηδεὶς σωθήτω ἐξ αὐτῶν· καὶ ἔλαβον, καὶ ἀνεῖλον αὐτοὺς, τετρακοσίους τε καὶ πεντήκοντα ἱε ρεῖς τῆς Βαὰλ, καὶ τετρακοσίους τῶν ὑψηλῶν.

Ἤκουσε ταῦτα Ἰεζάβελ ἡ γυνὴ τοῦ Ἀχαὰβ τὰ γεγενημένα, καὶ πέμπει πρὸς τὸν Ἠλίαν λέγουσα· Τάδε ποιησά τωσάν μοι οἱ θεοὶ, καὶ τάδε προσθείησάν μοι, εἰ μὴ αὔριον θήσω τὴν ψυχήν σου ὡς τὴν ψυχὴν ἑνὸς αὐτῶν· καὶ ἀκούσας Ἠλίας ἔφυγε. Ποῦ Ἠλίας ὁ τοσοῦτος καὶ τηλικοῦτος; σκοπὸς γάρ μοι δεῖξαι, ὅτι ἁμαρτίᾳ ὑπέπεσε· λέγω τὴν ἁμαρτίαν οὐ κατ ηγορῶν τοῦ δικαίου, ἀλλ' ὑπόθεσιν σωτηρίας πραγμα τευόμενος, ἵν' ὅταν ἴδῃς ἐκείνους ἁμαρτήσαντας, μὴ ἀπογνόντας δὲ ἑαυτῶν, ἀλλὰ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρω πίας τυχόντας, σὺ ἐὰν ἁμαρτήσῃς, περισσοτέραν ἐλπίζῃς τὴν σωτηρίαν. Ἐπειδὴ εἶπεν Ἰεζάβελ, Τάδε ποιήσαιέν μοι οἱ θεοὶ, καὶ τάδε προσθείησαν μοι, εἰ μὴ αὔριον θήσω τὴν ψυχήν σου ὡς τὴν ψυχὴν 50.734 ἑνὸς ἐξ αὐτῶν, ἤκουσεν Ἠλίας, καὶ ἔφυγεν ὁδὸν ἡμερῶν τεσσαράκοντα. Ὢ δειλίας ὑπερβολή! γυναικὸς ἤκουσε ῥῆμα, καὶ τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας ὁδῷ βαδίζων ἔφυγεν· οὐ μίαν ἡμέραν, οὐ δευτέραν, οὐ τρίτην, ἀλλ' ἅμα τε ὁ λόγος τῆς γυναικὸς εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν προφήτην, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς δειλίας οὐκ οἶδε τί ἔπραττε, τοσαύτην φυγὴν ἀπερχόμενος.

Τί ἐστί σοι, Ἠλία; σὺ εἶ ὁ τὸν οὐρανὸν κλείσας, καὶ τὴν βροχὴν χαλινώσας, ὁ τῷ ἀέρι ἐπιτάξας, καὶ τὸ πῦρ ἄνωθεν καλέ σας, ὁ σφάξας τοὺς ἱερεῖς, ὁ εἰπὼν τῷ βασιλεῖ Ἀχαάβ· Σὺ εἶ ὁ διαστρέφων τὸν Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ πατρός σου· ὁ εἰπών· Ζῇ Κύριος, εἰ ἔσται ὑετὸς, εἰ μὴ διὰ στόματός μου· ὁ τὴν οἰκίαν τῆς χήρας ἅλωνα καὶ δράγματα ποιήσας, [ὁ τοῖς στοιχείοις ἐπι τάξας, λόγον πόρνης ἤκουσας, καὶ ἔφυγες, καὶ μία γυνὴ αἰχμάλωτον ἀπάγει; Αἱ δύο ἀκροπόλεις ὑπὸ γυναικὸς ἠλέγχθησαν· Πέτρος κόρην ἐφοβήθη, καὶ οὗτος τὴν Ἰεζάβελ· τοῖς αὐτοῖς περιέπεσον ἁμαρτή μασι. Καὶ ἔφυγεν Ἠλίας ὁδὸν ἡμερῶν τεσσαράκοντα. Ποῦ ἔστιν ὁ ζῆλός σου, Ἠλία, ὅτε ἔλεγες, Ζῇ Κύριος, εἰ ἔσται ὑετὸς, εἰ μὴ διὰ στόματός μου; ὅτε τὸν βασιλέα ἤλεγχες,] ὅτε τὸ πῦρ ἐκάλεσας; τοσαῦτα ἐποίησας, καὶ μιᾶς γυναικὸς λόγον οὐκ ἐβάστασας; Ποῦ ἔστιν ὁ τόνος σου, ὅτε οὐκ ἤθελες τὸν σὸν ∆εσπότην ἀξιῶσαι, ἵνα δῷ ὑετὸν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς; ἔλεγε γάρ σοι δι' ἐναργῶν ἀποδείξεων· Ἀξίωσόν με δυνάμενον καὶ ἄνευ σοῦ δοῦναι, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἠθέλησα, ἵνα ὥσπερ τῶν κακῶν ἐγένου πρόξενος, οὕτω καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἄρχων γένῃ. Εἰργάσω γὰρ, Ἠλία, ἔργον ἀσπλαγχνίας μεστόν· ὁ δὲ Θεὸς ἠλέει τὴν συμφορὰν, ὅτι πάντων αὐ τὸς κτίστης, καὶ πάντων δημιουργός· ὁμοίως δὲ πάν των κηδεμὼν, καὶ ἠθέλησέ σου χαυνῶσαι τὴν ἀπ ανθρωπίαν, καὶ σὺ ἐπέμενες αὐτῇ. Ἔλεγέ σοι· Ἐγὼ οἶδα τὴν συμφορὰν τὴν γινομένην, οἶδα τοὺς κλαυθμοὺς τῶν μητέρων, οἶδα τῶν παιδίων τοὺς ὀλολυγμούς· βλέπω τὴν γῆν, ἣν ἐποίησα, ἀφανιζομένην, καὶ θέλω φιλανθρωπεύσασθαι, ἀλλ' οὐ θέλω σε ὑβρίσαι, καὶ ἄνευ