Fragments on the Gospel of John (in the catenae) 1 Positing him as the Creator of all things, he predicates the name of the Word of him. For since, in

 but by the good pleasure of God, he willed that creation should exist. This wisdom, therefore, willed to assume a creative relation to the things that

 again overtakes the light. And that I might change the theorem to something clearer, the light is the truth but when falsehood and all deceit, that i

 but having come to him with scientific proof and articulated understanding, they believe in him and call upon him. Whence Jesus, after the great progr

 But First must be understood instead of Before. However, what he says is something like this: Jesus, being before me and prior to me, came behind

 it is accomplished by choice, then that which is from God comes to pass, and this is the giving of grace for grace from God. 12 But the law was given

 he sees by applying his own mind, just as we are said to see visible things by a glance of the eyes. But God is also seen by those to whom He judges t

 and hiding his power for proceeding toward the dispensation. Since, therefore, it is not possible for any human to show a demonstration of the manner

 a more solid body. But if this were so, the opening of the heavens would not <have> come under sight, for neither is the Holy Spirit which descended f

 he says confidently, from Nazareth is indeed the one who was found and truly he is good. To whom Philip said: “Come and see” the found Jesus, wishing

 having been cast upon it, it seemed to be thought that all things came from water〛. 30 They believed is said instead of They were confirmed. For h

 For to know certain people from their actions and words is possible even for a mere man. But Jesus, not being a mere man, but God become man, knows al

 is grieved at the loss of pleasant things, does not cling with steadfastness to the agreeable things that are present. He wants us, therefore, to be s

 saying we may signify it through the ones being ruled, declaring it either from the place † when of the earth [of him] or of the inhabited world we an

 of wild beasts, having disbelieved God, who promised them the land, thus will they be saved by gazing at the uplifted serpent because of God who comma

 that the one who has done evil should depart from evil † but look to the good and that the one who professes to rejoice in the truth should at some t

 of the only sower of good things. He is none other than Jesus, of whom you have said you baptize, who has been testified to by me, to whom you say all

 by the prophets, in the last «of the days has spoken to us, who live during the visitation

 John. He came for a witness, to bear witness «of the Light».〛 For if the prophets before John also spoke from the earth, how do they bear witness conc

 to come to a woman. 53 But perhaps someone might inquire into the reason why Jews do not associate with Samaritans, which it is possible to find in th

 it must be said, from which Jacob along with his sons was drinking spiritually, and from it were drinking also

 and being lovers of the word, they considered that it was then the time for food and supposed that perhaps just as to Daniel in Babylon by the command

 human nature is not able. But since such a discourse does not come to men bare of matter and bodily examples, for this reason Jesus spits on the groun

 For since there are differences of signs, so that, as the apostle says, both the one in the law and the lawless one, whom the lord consumes with the b

 God, being asked for things by sinners on the basis of works, does not listen. 71 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him, he sai

 of the sensible it is no longer possible to hear about the bodily... when “Jesus answered and said to her: If you knew the gift of God and who it is

 Aenon, near Salem. Aenon is interpreted as Eye of torment and Salem He who is ascending. Therefore, those who receive the second ransom are now mo

 Jesus to the one who had died. For your sakes, he says, I am glad, those of you believing from learning that he died when I was not with him, and so t

 waits at home to receive him, as one capable of his visit. And she would not have gone out of her own house, unless she had heard her sister saying: “

 outcome is uncertain. But for an allegorical interpretation, it must be said that 〚Jesus formerly walked openly among the Jews through the prophets, b

 to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance so from the one who has not, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from

 able to believe 〚because their eyes had been blinded by the evil one〛 it was not impossible for them to believe by approaching Jesus 〚and saying: Son

 the sun, the light that does not set and is without evening, having come to the world and through wonders both befitting God and beyond reason having

 you see that I have.”〛 And concerning how it is said to him, “Do not be unbelieving, but believing,” and concerning the name of Thomas, such things mi

 emphatic. For one who proclaims great doctrines, according to the meaning, as is fitting, utters them with a great voice. 116 And has become should

 named it from the reigning God. For indeed among us in common usage, his kingdom is sometimes signified from the one who reigns, and sometimes from th

 and the mere sight of the one envied casts no small spark into the envious.] 130 [For this reason he would have mingled with us .... and becoming for

 risen from the dead. We acknowledge him as head according to the prefiguration of his resurrection, of whom we are members in part and a body through

he sees by applying his own mind, just as we are said to see visible things by a glance of the eyes. But God is also seen by those to whom He judges to be seen, revealing Himself. For if anyone saw God, he would behold Him, so to speak, as He is in quality and quantity. But since one does not see on his own, but God shows Himself, He presents Himself for understanding in a way possible for created beings; as the Savior also says: “And I will manifest myself to him.” For He did not say: ‘he will see me,’ but ‘I will manifest myself to him;’ and this is *** 17 The forerunner existing according to various conceptions of the Savior: as a prophet of God; as a lamp of the light, pre-illuminating those who are in the night of ignorance and pre-accustoming the eye of the soul to be able and to run toward the great light;

〚as a morning star, a forerunner of the sun, of the day about to dawn upon us

signifying the arrival〛 as a voice of the Word; for it is necessary for a voice to come before a word. Therefore he says: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness,” speaking of the Word as crying out, and the wilderness as the soul unknowing of divine teaching. For how is it not a wilderness, being deprived of the Word of God and of the voice that declares Him? And the work of the voice is to make clear what is signified, so that they might be able to apply themselves without confusion to the Word being declared. What then does the voice of the one crying command the wilderness? “Make straight,” he says, “the way of the Lord.” And the wilderness signifies all those who are ignorant of the one coming after the voice. For just as one who goes before a king commands those to whom the king is coming to make straight the way of those who are coming to the teaching of the Word,

〚so is John of the Word. For as a voice runs before a word, so also of Christ, being the Word, is John as a voice.〛 18 But what is the meaning of what was said by John: “Among you stands one whom you do not know,” when Jesus was not yet there? For in what follows it is said: “The next day he saw Jesus coming to him,” clearly showing He was not there when he said: “Among you stands one,” as John was testifying about the light. For he knew that He was also God the Word; and He is present to every rational being. And since it is supposed by some that in the very midst of us is the thinking faculty, which some call the ruling principle, there is the Word, according to whom we are rational, being the same as the image of God according to which man was made in the image of God, showing that the Word of God is the one who is about to come to be baptized by him, he says: “Among you stands one,” unknown by you; and for this reason He is unknown to you, because, when you should have Him in your midst and be performing the things that are fitting, you have Him quiescent and, so to speak, inactive within yourselves, doing or thinking nothing rationally. Having said these things concerning the substance of the Word, he next adds things concerning His advent, saying: “He who comes after me,” after the law and the prophets; for I am a symbol and the end of those. And He comes after me, fulfilling all things prophesied about Him. For after and subsequent to the things foretold, the one prophesied comes; “but among you stands one,” as we have already explained, “whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” And you will understand “sandal strap” thus. The Word of God, in what He dispenses to men, does not work in naked divinity, but having taken the form of a servant, so that His way, according to the working of the economy, is veiled. This, at any rate, is also said about Him in the Psalms: “And He bowed

the heavens and came down, and a dark cloud was under His feet.” 〚something obscure concerning His way because of its being indistinct.〛 The strap of His sandal, therefore, that is, of the dark cloud about His feet, is the reason for its incomprehensibility, tightening and holding the sandal about His feet, so that to untie the strap is to make clear and to demonstrate by reason in what manner God took on a body, covering

ὁρᾷ προσ βαλὼν νοήσει τῇ ἑαυτοῦ, ὥσπερ κατ' ἐπιβολὴν ὄψεως ὁρᾶν λεγό μεθα τὰ ὁρατά. ὁρᾶται δὲ καὶ θεὸς οἷς ἐὰν κρίνῃ ὁραθῆναι ἀπο καλύπτων ἑαυτόν. εἰ γὰρ ἑώρα τις τὸν θεόν, οὕτως ἐθεώρει αὐτόν, ἵν' οὕτως εἴπω, οἷος καὶ ὅσος ἐστίν. ἐπεὶ δὲ μὴ αὐτὸς ὁρᾷ ἀλλὰ θεὸς ἑαυτὸν δείκνυσιν, ὡς οἷόν τέ ἐστιν τοῖς γενητοῖς παρέχει ἑαυτὸν εἰς κατανόησιν· καθὼς καὶ ὁ σωτήρ φησι· «Καὶ ἐμφανίσω αὐτῷ ἐμαυτόν». οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν· ἐκεῖνός με ἴδῃ, ἀλλ' ἐγὼ ἐμαυτὸν ἐκείνῳ ἐμφανίσω· καὶ αὕτη ἐστίν *** 17 Ὁ πρόδρομος κατὰ διαφόρους ἐπινοίας τοῦ σωτῆρος ὑπάρχων· ὡς θεοῦ προφήτης· ὡς φωτὸς λύχνος, προφωτίζων τοὺς ἐν νυκτὶ τῆς ἀγνοίας ὄντας καὶ προεθίζων τῆς

ψυχῆς τὸ ὄμμα πρὸς τὸ δυνηθῆναι καὶ τῷ μεγάλῳ φωτὶ προσδραμεῖν· 〚ὡς ἑωσφόρος ἡλίου προάγγελος τῆς μελλούσης ἐφ' ἡμᾶς διαυγάζειν ἡμέρας

κατασημαίνων τὴν ἄφιξιν〛 ὡς λόγου φωνή· ἀνάγκη γὰρ πρὸ λόγου φωνὴν γίνεσθαι. διό φησιν· «Ἐγὼ φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ», βοῶντα λέγων τὸν λόγον, ἔρημον δὲ τὴν πρὸς τὴν θείαν διδασκαλίαν ἄγνωστον ψυχήν. πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἔρημος, στερουμένη θεοῦ λόγου καὶ τῆς δηλούσης αὐτὸν φωνῆς; ἔργον δὲ τῆς φωνῆς σαφηνίζειν τὸ σημαινόμενον, ὅπως ἀσυγχύτως ἐπιβάλλειν δυνηθῶσιν τῷ δηλουμένῳ λόγῳ. τί δὲ προστάττει ἡ τοῦ βοῶντος φωνὴ τῇ ἐρήμῳ; «Εὐθύνατε, φησί, τὴν «ὁδὸν κυρίου». δηλοῖ δὲ ἡ ἔρημος πάντας τοὺς ἀγνοοῦντας τὸν μετὰ τὴν φωνὴν ἐρχόμενον. ὡς γὰρ ὁ βασιλέως προοδεύσας προσ τάττει τοῖς πρὸς οὓς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἔρχεται εὐθεῖαν ποιῆσαι τὴν ὁδὸν τῶν ἐρχομένων πρὸς τὴν τοῦ λόγου διδασκαλίαν,

〚οὕτως ὁ Ἰωάννης τοῦ λόγου. ὡς γὰρ φωνὴ λόγου προτρέχει, οὕτω καὶ τοῦ χριστοῦ, λόγου ὄντος, ὡς φωνὴ ὁ Ἰωάννης.〛 18 Τί δὲ βούλεται τὸ ὑπὸ Ἰωάννου λεχθέν· «Μέσος ὑμῶν ἕστηκεν «ὃν ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε», οὔπω τότε τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὄντος ἐκεῖ; ἐν γὰρ τοῖς ἑξῆς λέγεται· «Τῇ ἐπαύριον βλέπει τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐρχόμενον πρὸς «αὐτὸν» ὡς οὐκ ὄντα ἐκεῖ δηλονότι ὅτε ἔφασκε· «Μέσος ὑμῶν «ἕστηκε» μαρτυρῶν ὁ Ἰωάννης περὶ τοῦ φωτός. ᾔδει γὰρ ὅτι καὶ θεὸς λόγος ἦν· οὗτος δὲ παντὶ λογικῷ πάρεστι. καὶ ἐπεὶ ὑπονοεῖταί τισιν ἐν τῷ μεσαιτάτῳ ἡμῶν εἶναι τὸ διανοητικόν, ὅ τινες ἡγεμονι κὸν καλοῦσιν, ἐκεῖ δέ ἐστιν ὁ λόγος καθ' ὅν ἐσμεν λογικοί, ὁ αὐτὸς ὢν τῇ εἰκόνι τοῦ θεοῦ καθ' ἣν γέγονεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος κατ' εἰκόνα θεοῦ, δεικνὺς ὅτι ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος ἐστὶν ὁ μέλλων ἔρχεσθαι βαπτισ θῆναι ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, φησί· «Μέσος ὑμῶν ἕστηκεν» ἀγνοούμενος ὑφ' ὑμῶν· διὰ τοῦτο δὲ ὑμῖν ἀγνοεῖται, ἐπεὶ δέον ἔχοντας αὐτὸν μέσον ἐνεργεῖν τὰ ἐπιβάλλοντα ἠρεμοῦντα αὐτὸν καί, ἵν' οὕτως εἴπω, ἀνενέργητον ἔχετε παρ' ἑαυτοῖς, οὐδὲν πράττοντες ἢ νοοῦντες λο γικῶς. ταῦτα περὶ τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ λόγου εἰπὼν συνάπτει ἑξῆς καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς ἐπιδημίας αὐτοῦ, λέγων· «Ὁ ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος» μετὰ τὸν νόμον καὶ τοὺς προφήτας· ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι σύμβολον καὶ τέλος ἐκείνων. ἔρχεται δὲ ὀπίσω μου πληρῶν πάντα τὰ προφητευ θέντα περὶ αὐτοῦ. ὀπίσω γὰρ καὶ μετὰ τὰ προαναφωνηθέντα ὁ προφητευόμενος ἔρχεται· «μέσος δὲ ὑμῶν ἕστηκεν», ὡς ἤδη ἀπο δεδώκαμεν, «οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἄξιος λῦσαι τὸν ἱμάντα τοῦ ὑποδήματος». «ἱμάντα δὲ ὑποδήματος» νοήσεις οὕτως. ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος ἃ εἰς ἀνθρώπους οἰκονομεῖ οὐ γυμνῇ τῇ θεότητι ἐνεργεῖ, ἀλλὰ μορφὴν δούλου λαβών, ὡς τὴν πορείαν αὐτοῦ τὴν κατὰ τὴν ἐνέργειαν τῆς οἰκονομίας κεκαλυμμένην εἶναι. τοῦτο γοῦν καὶ ἐν Ψαλμοῖς περὶ αὐτοῦ λέγεται· «Καὶ ἔκλινεν

οὐρανοὺς καὶ κατέβη, καὶ γνόφος ὑπὸ «τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ». 〚σκοτεινόν τι περὶ τὴν πορείαν αὐτοῦ διὰ τὸ ἀσαφὲς ὑπάρχειν.〛 ἱμὰς τοίνυν ὑποδήματος αὐτοῦ, τουτέστι τοῦ γνόφους τοῦ περὶ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ, ὁ τῆς δυσκαταληψίας ἐστὶ λό γος, συσφίγγων καὶ συγκρατῶν τὸ ὑπόδημα περὶ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ, ὡς λύσιν τοῦ ἱμάντος εἶναι τὸ σαφηνίσαι καὶ παραστῆσαι λόγῳ τίνα τρόπον θεὸς ἀνέλαβε σῶμα, σκεπάζων