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inflicting unspeakable punishment. For what could be more grievous than feeding someone for this reason, that you might heap coals of fire upon the head of the one 51.181 being fed? This, then, is the objection; but it is necessary now to bring forward the solution, so that through these very things which seem to find fault with the letters of the law, you might see clearly all the wisdom of the lawgiver. What then is the solution? That great and noble man understood this well, that it is a heavy and difficult thing to be quickly reconciled to an enemy; heavy and difficult, not according to its own nature, but because of our own indolence. But he commanded not only to be reconciled, but also to feed, which was much heavier than the former. For if some are turned into wild beasts just by looking at those who have grieved them, how would they choose to feed them when they are hungry? And why do I say, looking at them? If someone remembers them, and only brings their name into the conversation, it renews the wound in our mind, and makes the inflammation greater. Paul, therefore, understanding all these things, and wishing to make this difficult and hard thing easy and simple, and to persuade one who could not even bear to see his enemy to be a benefactor to him, set down the coals of fire, so that, urged on by the hope of vengeance, he might run to the benefaction of the one who had grieved him. And just as the fisherman, covering the hook on all sides with bait, offers it to the fish, so that rushing to its usual food, through that it might be easily caught and held; so also Paul, wishing to lead the wronged person to the benefaction of the one who wronged him, does not offer the hook of philosophy bare, but as with a kind of bait, having covered it with the coals of fire, he calls the offended one by the hope of punishment to the benefaction of the one who has grieved him; and when he has come, he holds him fast from then on and does not let him leap away, the very nature of the act nailing him to his enemy; and says to him, as it were: You do not wish to feed the one who wronged you out of piety? At least feed him because of the hope of punishment. For he knows that if he undertakes the benefaction toward him, it becomes for him the beginning and the way of reconciliation. For no one, no one could bear to have as an enemy the one he is continually giving food and drink to, even if at the beginning he does this in the hope of vengeance. For as time goes on, it slackens the tension of his anger. Just as, then, the fisherman, if he offered the lure bare, would not have drawn in the fish, but now having covered it, he imperceptibly lets the hook into the mouth of the approaching animal; so also Paul, if he had not held out the expectation of punishment, would not have persuaded the wronged to undertake the benefaction of those who had grieved them. Wishing, therefore, to persuade them when they were leaping away, and being vexed, and growing numb even at the very sight of their enemies, to bestow the greatest benefits on them, he set down the coals of fire, not that he might cast them into inescapable punishment, but that, having persuaded the wronged in the expectation of punishment to benefit their enemies, he might in time persuade them also to let go of all their anger. 6. And so he consoled the wronged person; but see how he also unites the one who did wrong with the one who was angered 51.182 again. First, by the manner of the benefaction; for there is no one so wretched and insensible, that being given drink, and given food, he would not wish to become a servant and a friend to the one who does these things for him; second, by the fear of punishment. For it seems to be addressed to the one giving food, saying: ‘For in doing this, you are heaping coals of fire upon his head’; but it especially takes hold of the one who has grieved him, so that through fear of this punishment he may not remain an enemy forever, but

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ἄφατον ἐμβαλὼν κόλασιν. Τί γὰρ ἂν γένοιτο χαλεπώτερον τοῦ διὰ τοῦτο τρέφοντος, ἵνα σωρεύσῃ πυρὸς ἄνθρακας ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ 51.181 τρεφομένου κεφαλήν; Ἡ μὲν οὖν ἀντίθεσις αὕτη· δεῖ δὲ λοιπὸν τὴν λύσιν ἐπαγαγεῖν, ἵνα δι' αὐτῶν τούτων τῶν δοκούντων ἐπιλαμβάνεσθαι τῶν τοῦ νόμου γραμμάτων ἴδῃς ἀκριβῶς τοῦ νομοθέτου τὴν σοφίαν ἅπασαν. Τίς οὖν ἐστιν ἡ λύσις; Συνεῖδε τοῦτο καλῶς ὁ μέγας καὶ γενναῖος ἀνὴρ ἐκεῖνος, ὅτι βαρὺ καὶ χαλεπὸν πρᾶγμα, ἐχθρῷ καταλλαγῆναι ταχέως· βαρὺ δὲ καὶ χαλεπὸν, οὐ παρὰ τὴν οἰκείαν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τὴν ῥᾳθυμίαν τὴν ἡμετέραν. Αὐτὸς δὲ οὐχὶ καταλλαγῆναι μόνον ἐκέλευσεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ θρέψαι, ὃ πολὺ τοῦ προτέρου βαρύτερον ἦν. Εἰ γὰρ βλέποντες μόνον τοὺς λελυπηκότας τινὲς ἐκθηριοῦνται, πῶς ἂν εἵλοντο θρέψαι πεινῶντας; Καὶ τί λέγω, βλέποντες; Ἂν μνησθῇ τις αὐτῶν, καὶ τὴν προσηγορίαν εἰς μέσον ἐνέγκῃ μόνον, ἀνανεοῖ τὴν πληγὴν τῆς διανοίας ἡμῖν, καὶ μείζω ποιεῖ τὴν φλεγμονήν. Ταῦτ' οὖν ἅπαντα συνιδὼν ὁ Παῦλος, καὶ βουλόμενος τὸ δυσκατόρθωτον τοῦτο καὶ χαλεπὸν εὔκολον ποιῆσαι καὶ ῥᾴδιον, καὶ πεῖσαι τὸν μηδὲ ἰδεῖν ἀνεχόμενον τὸν ἐχθρὸν εἰς εὐεργεσίαν τὴν ἐκείνου γενέσθαι, τοὺς ἄνθρακας ἔθηκε τοῦ πυρὸς, ἵν' ἐλπίδι τῆς τιμωρίας προτραπεὶς, ἐπιδράμῃ τῇ τοῦ λελυπηκότος εὐεργεσίᾳ. Καὶ καθάπερ ὁ ἁλιεὺς πάντοθεν τὸ ἄγκιστρον περιστέλλων τῷ δελέατι, προστίθησι τοῖς ἰχθύσιν, ἵνα προσδραμὼν τῇ συνήθει τροφῇ, δι' ἐκείνης ἁλῷ καὶ κατασχεθῇ ῥᾳδίως· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος, βουλόμενος εἰς τὴν εὐεργεσίαν ἐμβιβάσαι τοῦ ἠδικηκότος τὸν ἠδικημένον, οὐ γυμνὸν προστίθησι τὸ τῆς φιλοσοφίας ἄγκιστρον, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ τινὶ δελέατι, τοῖς ἄνθραξι τοῦ πυρὸς περιστείλας, καλεῖ μὲν τὸν ἐπηρεασθέντα τῇ τῆς κολάσεως ἐλπίδι πρὸς τὴν εὐεργεσίαν τοῦ λελυπηκότος· ἐλθόντα δὲ αὐτὸν κατέχει λοιπὸν καὶ οὐκ ἀφίησιν ἀποπηδῆσαι, αὐτῆς τοῦ πράγματος τῆς φύσεως προσηλούσης αὐτὸν τῷ ἐχθρῷ· καὶ μονονουχὶ λέγει πρὸς αὐτόν· Οὐ βούλει δι' εὐλάβειαν τρέφειν τὸν ἠδικηκότα; διὰ γοῦν τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς κολάσεως θρέψον. Οἶδε γὰρ, ὅτι ἐὰν ἅψηται τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν εὐεργεσίας, ἀρχὴ λοιπὸν αὐτῷ καὶ ὁδὸς γίνεται τῆς καταλλαγῆς. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ, οὐδεὶς τὸν ψωμιζόμενον ὑπ' αὐτοῦ καὶ ποτιζόμενον διηνεκῶς ἀνάσχοιτο ἔχειν ἐχθρὸν, εἰ καὶ παρὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐλπίδι τιμωρίας τοῦτο ποιεῖ. Ὁ γὰρ χρόνος προϊὼν χαλᾷ καὶ τῆς ὀργῆς τὸν τόνον. Ὥσπερ οὖν ὁ ἁλιεὺς, εἰ γυμνὸν τὸ θήρατρον προσέθηκεν, οὐκ ἂν ἐπεσπάσατο τὸν ἰχθὺν, νυνὶ δὲ περιστείλας αὐτὸ, λανθανόντως ἐνίησι τῷ στόματι τοῦ προσιόντος ζώου τὸ ἄγκιστρον· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Παῦλος, εἰ μὴ προέτεινε τὴν προσδοκίαν τῆς κολάσεως, οὐκ ἂν ἔπεισε τοὺς ἠδικημένους ἅψασθαι τῆς τῶν λελυπηκότων εὐεργεσίας. Βουλόμενος οὖν ἀποπηδῶντας αὐτοὺς, καὶ δυσχεραίνοντας, καὶ ναρκῶντας καὶ πρὸς αὐτὴν τὴν τῶν ἐχθρῶν ὄψιν, πεῖσαι τὰ μέγιστα αὐτοὺς εὐεργετεῖν, τοὺς ἄνθρακας ἔθηκε τοῦ πυρὸς, οὐχ ἵνα ἐκείνους ἐμβάλλῃ εἰς ἀπαραίτητον κόλασιν, ἀλλ' ἵνα τοὺς ἠδικημένους πείσας ἐν τῇ προσδοκίᾳ τῆς κολάσεως εὐεργετεῖν τοὺς ἐχθροὺς, τῷ χρόνῳ λοιπὸν πείσῃ καὶ πᾶσαν αὐτοῖς ἀφεῖναι τὴν ὀργήν. ςʹ. Καὶ τὸν μὲν ἠδικημένον οὕτω παρεμυθήσατο· ὅρα δὲ καὶ τὸν ἠδικηκότα πῶς συνάπτει τῷ παρωργι 51.182 σμένῳ πάλιν. Πρῶτον μὲν τῷ τῆς εὐεργεσίας τρόπῳ· οὐδεὶς γάρ ἐστιν οὕτως ἄθλιος καὶ ἀναίσθητος, ὃς ποτιζόμενος, καὶ ψωμιζόμενος, μὴ γενέσθαι βούλοιτο δοῦλος καὶ φίλος τῷ ταῦτα αὐτῷ ἐργαζομένῳ· δεύτερον δὲ τῷ φόβῳ τῆς τιμωρίας. ∆οκεῖ μὲν γὰρ πρὸς τὸν ψωμίζοντα ἀποτείνεσθαι, λέγων· Τοῦτο γὰρ ποιῶν, ἄνθρακας πυρὸς σωρεύεις ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ· μάλιστα δὲ τοῦ λελυπηκότος καθάπτεται, ἵνα τῷ φόβῳ τῆς κολάσεως ταύτης μὴ μένῃ διαπαντὸς ἐχθρὸς ὢν, ἀλλ'