John Chrysostom, On Psalm 50 Homily 2

I have done evil in your sight. [Having enjoyed, he says, many and great gifts from you, I have repaid the gifts with their opposites, daring to do what was forbidden by the law. For he does not say this, that "I did not wrong Uriah"; for he did wrong both him and his wife; but the greatest transgression was dared against God himself, who had chosen him and made him king. And he has well added, "I have done evil in your sight." For the history also remembers this; for it says, "The thing that was done appeared evil in the sight of the Lord." However, from the perspective of the spear-captured people, this is to be understood thus: "Against you only have I sinned"; "Concerning your gifts," he says, "I became ungrateful, and I have transgressed the laws laid down by you, and having enjoyed many good things, I have become unmindful regarding them; but having wronged the Babylonians in nothing, I have been greatly wronged by them." So that you may be justified in your words, and may overcome when you are judged. "I became," he says, "the author of evils for myself; but your justice shines forth even so." For when a judgment takes place, and the things done for me by you are brought into the midst, and the things dared by me are compared with them, you will be shown to be just and loving toward mankind; but I will be seen as a transgressor and ungrateful. Therefore, the word "so that" is not here indicative of cause. For it was not for this reason that either David himself or the people sinned, in order that God might be justified; but on the contrary, even when the sin was committed by them, the justice of God is demonstrated. For he has exercised all providence for both him and them.] So that you may be justified in your words, and may overcome when you are judged. What is it that he says? I have sinned against you; if there is a court, you win; if anyone judges, you win. How? Because he saw God always willing to be judged with men; "Hear, you ravines, the foundations of the earth; for the Lord has a judgment against his people"; and again, "My people, what have I done to you? or in what have I provoked you? or in what have I grieved you? Answer me"; and elsewhere; "Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken: I have begotten and raised up sons; but they have rejected me"; and everywhere he saw God being judged with men; he says to him, "The prizes of victory are with you;" So that you may be justified in your words, and may overcome when you are judged. Me, being a farmer, you made a king; having become a king, you appointed me a prophet. I struck down Goliath not 55.583 by the nature of my body, but by the power of faith. I put on the purple robe. You cast out another, and brought me in; you gave me so much wealth. 7. So that you may be justified in your words, and may overcome when you are judged. If you speak my sins, and I do not speak them, I am condemned. For this reason I have need of mercy. For behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins my mother conceived me. From the beginning, he says, and from the origin of our nature, sin has prevailed. For the transgression of the commandment preceded Eve's conception. For after the transgression and the deprivation of paradise, Adam knew Eve his wife, and conceiving she bore Cain. This, therefore, he wishes to say, that sin, having prevailed over our ancestors, has worked a certain road and path through the race. But we are taught through all these things, not that the activity of sin is natural; for then we would be free from punishment; but that nature inclines toward stumbling, being troubled by the passions; nevertheless the will conquers, using labors as helpers. Therefore, he does not, as some have foolishly supposed, accuse marriage, having understood "I was conceived in iniquities" in this way; but he brings forth into the midst the transgression dared from the beginning by our ancestors, and speaks of that

τὸ πονηρὸν ἐνώπιόν σου ἐποίησα. [Πολλῶν, φησὶ, καὶ μεγάλων παρὰ σοῦ δωρεῶν ἀπολαύ σας, τοῖς ἐναντίοις ἠμειψάμην τὰ δῶρα, τὰ ἀπειρημένα τῷ νόμῳ δρᾶσαι τολμήσας. Οὐ γὰρ τοῦτό φησιν, ὅτι Τὸν Οὐρίαν οὐκ ἠδίκησα· ἠδίκησε μὲν γὰρ κἀκεῖνον καὶ τὴν ἐκείνου γυναῖκα· ἡ δὲ μεγίστη παρανομία εἰς αὐ τὸν τετόλμηται τὸν Θεὸν, τὸν ἐκλεξάμενον καὶ βασιλέα πεποιηκότα. Καλῶς δὲ προστέθεικε τὸ, Πονηρὸν ἐν ώπιόν σου ἐποίησα. Τούτου γὰρ καὶ ἡ ἱστορία μέμνη ται· Ὤφθη γὰρ, φησὶ, τὸ γεγονὸς πονηρὸν ἐνώπιον τοῦ Κυρίου. Ἐκ μέντοι τοῦ δορυαλώτου λαοῦ τοῦτο γε νόμενον οὕτω νοητέον, Σοὶ μόνῳ ἥμαρτον· Περὶ τὰς σὰς, φησὶ, δωρεὰς ἐγενόμην ἀχάριστος, καὶ τοὺς τεθέν τας σοι παραβέβηκα νόμους, καὶ πολλῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀπο λαύσας, ἀγνώμων περὶ ταῦτα γεγένημαι· τοὺς δὲ Βα βυλωνίους οὐδὲν ἀδικήσας, μεγάλα παρ' ἐκείνων ἠδίκημαι. Ὅπως ἂν δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου, καὶ νικήσῃς ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε. Ἑαυτῷ, φησὶ, πρόξενος ἐγενόμην κακῶν· τὸ δὲ σὸν δίκαιον διαλάμπει καὶ οὕτω. Κρίσεως γὰρ γενομένης, καὶ τῶν εἰς ἐμὲ παρὰ σοῦ γενομένων φερομένων εἰς μέσον, καὶ τῶν παρ' ἐμοῦ τετολμημένων παρεξεταζομένων ἐκείνοις, σὺ μὲν ἀποφανθήσῃ δίκαιος καὶ φιλάνθρωπος· ἐγὼ δὲ παράνομος ὀφθήσομαι καὶ ἀχάριστος. Τὸ τοίνυν, Ὅπως, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐνταῦθα αἰτίας δηλωτικόν. Οὐ γὰρ διὰ τοῦτο ἥμαρτεν ἢ αὐτὸς ὁ ∆αυῒδ, ἢ ὁ λαὸς, ἵνα ὁ Θεὸς δικαιωθῇ· ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον, καὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὑπὸ τούτων γενομένης, τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ δίκαιον ἀναδείκνυται. Πᾶσαν γὰρ καὶ τούτου κἀκείνων πεποίη ται πρόνοιαν.] Ὅπως ἂν δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου, καὶ νικήσῃς ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε. Τί ἐστιν, ὃ λέ γει; Ἥμαρτόν σοι· ἐὰν γένηται δικαστήριον, νικᾷς· ἐὰν δέ τις δικάζῃ, νικᾷς. Πῶς; Ἐπειδὴ ἑώρα τὸν Θεὸν ἀεὶ βουλόμενον κρίνεσθαι μετὰ ἀνθρώπων· Ἀκούσατε, φάραγγες, θεμέλια τῆς γῆς· ὅτι κρίσις τῷ Θεῷ πρὸς τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ· καὶ πάλιν, Λαός μου, τί ἐποίησά σοι; ἢ τί παρηνώχλησά σοι; ἢ τί ἐλύπησά σε; ἀπο κρίθητί μοι· καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ· Ἄκουε, οὐρανὲ, καὶ ἐνωτί ζου, γῆ, ὅτι Κύριος ἐλάλησεν· Υἱοὺς ἐγέννησα καὶ ὕψωσα· αὐτοὶ δέ με ἠθέτησαν· καὶ πανταχοῦ ἑώρα τὸν Θεὸν δικαζόμενον μετὰ ἀνθρώπων· λέγει αὐτῷ, Παρὰ σοὶ τὰ νικητήρια· Ὅπως ἂν δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου, καὶ νικήσῃς ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε. Ἄνθρωπόν με ὄντα γεωργὸν, βασιλέα ἐποίησας· βασιλέα γενό μενον, προφήτην κατέστησας. Τὸν Γολιὰθ κατέβαλον οὐ 55.583 φύσει σώματος, ἀλλὰ δυνάμει πίστεως. Πορφυρίδα περι εβαλόμην. Ἄλλον ἐξέβαλες, καὶ ἐμὲ εἰσήγαγες· πλοῦτόν μοι ἔδωκας τοσοῦτον. ζʹ. Ὅπως δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου, καὶ νικήσῃς ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε. Ἐὰν εἴπῃς σὺ τὰ ἁμαρτήματά μου, καὶ μὴ ἐγὼ εἴπω, καταδικάζομαι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἐλέους χρείαν ἔχω. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἐν ἀνομίαις συνελήφθην, καὶ ἐν ἁμαρτίαις ἐκίσσησέ με ἡ μήτηρ μου. Ἄνωθεν, φησὶ, καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς τῆς φύσεως ἡ ἁμαρτία κεκράτηκε. Προὔλαβε γὰρ τῆς Εὔας τὴν σύλληψιν τῆς ἐντολῆς ἡ παράβασις. Μετὰ γὰρ τὴν παράβασιν καὶ τὴν τοῦ πα ραδείσου στέρησιν ἔγνω Ἀδὰμ Εὔαν τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ, καὶ συλλαβοῦσα τέτοκε τὸν Κάϊν. Τοῦτο τοίνυν εἰπεῖν βούλεται, ὅτι τῶν ἡμετέρων προ γόνων κρατήσασα ἡ ἁμαρτία, ὁδόν τινα καὶ τρίβον διὰ τοῦ γένους εἰργάσατο. ∆ιδασκόμεθα δὲ διὰ τούτων ἁπάντων, οὐχ ὅτι φυσικὴ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἡ ἐνέργεια· ἦ γὰρ ἂν ἦμεν ἐλεύθεροι τιμωρίας· ἀλλ' ὅτι ῥέπει ἡ φύσις ἐπὶ τὸ πταίειν ὑπὸ τῶν παθημάτων ἐνοχλουμένη· νικᾷ δὲ ὅμως ἡ γνώμη πόνοις συνεργοῖς κεχρημένη. Οὐ τοί νυν, ὥς τινες ἀνοήτως ὑπέλαβον, τοῦ γάμου κατηγορεῖ, οὕτω νενοηκότες τὸ, Ἐν ἀνομίαις συνελήφθην· ἀλλὰ τὴν ἄνωθεν ὑπὸ τῶν προγόνων τολμηθεῖσαν παρανομίαν εἰς μέσον προφέρει, κἀκείνην λέγει