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74 Mt 13, 33 Three measures of flour refers to Greeks, Jews, Samaritans;
the leaven, having been thrown into these three, made the nature and the richness of the whole one; for my teaching made people, who had been divided into these groups, one in practice; thus also the apostle says: for in Christ Jesus there is neither Greek nor Jew, and so on. Three measures of flour names Greeks and Jews and Samaritans; the leaven, having been thrown into these three, made the nature of all one lump. 75 Mt 13, 44-46 Since many of those completely alien to piety suddenly, by divine grace, recognized the greatness of Christ so as to despise all their old ways and to look to this alone as able to become for them a source of truth and salvation, he says this (that is, about the treasure). Then he adds again that many who were also extremely zealous for piety, having recognized the greatness of the preaching, will turn away from their old ways, such as Paul was, showing great zeal for the law, but when he recognized the greatness of this he despised all those things, so that he said: whatever was gain to me, I have considered a loss for the sake of Christ. and again: I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. through the former he seems to speak of those from the Greeks being added to piety, but through this one, those from the Jews. Therefore he called them merchants, as those professing to be zealous for piety through the discipleship of the law.
76 Mt 14, 1-12 Herod the king was one person, and the tetrarch, being his son, was another
of that man; for when Archelaus had held the rule for nine years after the death of Herod, and then was disgracefully cast out of the kingdom, the Romans divided the kingdom into tetrarchies, that is, into four parts, whence each of them is also named tetrarch. And it happened that Herod, the son of Herod the king, himself also became one of them, ruling a certain part, who also, having beheaded John, paid the penalty not long after, as it is possible to learn more accurately from the writing of Josephus. Some also called him king, either from his father's custom or from using the term more loosely, whence Mark also indifferently called him king, while Luke, similarly to Matthew, named him tetrarch from his rank. The cause of the murder, therefore, was that Herod had taken the wife of his own brother (he was called Philip) while he was still living and had a daughter by her, and was living with her, and John, not enduring the abomination, reproached him for his lawlessness. But he, not bearing the one reproaching him, but fearing the crowd, because they held a very high opinion of him, did not dare to kill him, although he very much wanted to, but having imprisoned him, when his birthday was being celebrated and the daughter of Herodias danced and asked for the head of John as a reward for her impious deed, Herod immediately fulfilled his own desire; for he commands the head of the blessed one to be taken. And he made the constraint of the oath for the sake of those present a pretext, pretending that he himself was grieved at what was about to happen. But if the evangelist did not say this, but the opposite, that he was grieved, it is not proper to be surprised; for I have often said that it is the custom for the evangelists to say everything as it happened; for they considered it proper to explain the events, not the causes. Indeed, by saying that, wanting to kill him, he feared the crowd, he made clear what opinion Herod had concerning this, since it was possible for him to care little for the oath, as he had dared to commit a much worse deed, the murder of so righteous a man. Herod the king was one person, and the tetrarch, being his son, was another; for when Archelaus had held the
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74 Mt 13, 33 Ἀλεύρου σάτα τρία Ἕλληνας, Ἰουδαίους, Σαμαρείτας φησίν·
τούτοις τοῖς τρισὶν ἐμβληθεῖσα ἡ ζύμη μίαν τῶν ὅλων τὴν φύσιν εἰργάσατο καὶ τὴν πιότητα· εἰς ταῦτα γὰρ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους μεμερισμένους ἡ ἐμὴ διδασκαλία ἓν τῇ πράξει <ἐποίησεν>· οὕτως καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολός φησιν· ἐν γὰρ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ οὐχ Ἕλλην οὐκ Ἰουδαῖος καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Ἀλεύρου σάτα τρία Ἕλληνας καὶ Ἰουδαίους καὶ Σαμαρείτας ὀνομάζει· τούτοις τοῖς τρισὶν ἐμβληθεῖσα ἡ ζύμη ἓν φύραμα τὴν φύσιν πάντων εἰργάσατο. 75 Mt 13, 44-46 Ἐπειδὴ πολλοὶ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων πάντη τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐξαίφνης κατὰ θείαν χάριν ἔγνωσαν τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὸ μέγεθος ὡς πάντων καταφρονῆσαι τῶν παλαιῶν καὶ πρὸς ταύτην μόνον ἰδεῖν ὡς ἀληθείας καὶ σωτηρίας πρόξενον αὐτοῖς γενέσθαι δυναμένην, τοῦτό φησιν (ἤτοι τοῦ θησαυροῦ). εἶτα ἐπάγει πάλιν, ὅτι πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ σφόδρα περὶ τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἐσπουδακότες ἐγνωκότες τοῦ κηρύγματος τὸ μέγεθος τῶν παλαιῶν ἀποστήσονται, οἷος ἦν ὁ Παῦλος, πολλὴν μὲν ὑπὲρ τοῦ νόμου τὴν σπουδὴν ἐπιδεικνύμενος, ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἔγνω τούτου τὸ μέγεθος πάντων ὑπεριδὼν ἐκείνων ὡς αὐτὸν λέγειν ἅτινα ἦν μοι κέρδη, ταῦτα ἥγημαι διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν ζημίαν. καὶ πάλιν· πάντα ἐζημιώθην καὶ ἡγοῦμαι σκύβαλα, ἵνα Χριστὸν κερδήσω. διὰ μὲν τῆς ἀνωτέρας τοὺς ἀπὸ Ἑλλήνων τῇ εὐσεβείᾳ προστιθεμένους ἔοικε λέγειν, διὰ δὲ ταύτης τοὺς ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων. ὅθεν αὐτοὺς ἐμπόρους ἐκάλεσεν ὡς ἂν τῇ μαθητείᾳ τοῦ νόμου περὶ τὴν εὐσέβειαν σπουδάζειν ἐπαγγελλομένους.
76 Mt 14, 1-12 Ἕτερος ἦν Ἡρώδης ὁ βασιλεύς, ἕτερος δὲ ὁ τετράρχης υἱὸς ὢν
ἐκείνου· ἐπ' ἐννέα γὰρ τοῖς ἔτεσιν μετὰ τὸν Ἡρώδου θάνατον κατεσχηκότος Ἀρχελάου τὴν ἀρχήν, εἶτα ἀτίμως τῆς βασιλείας ἐκπεσόντος, διεῖλον εἰς τετραρχίας οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι τὴν βασιλείαν ἤτοι οὖν εἰς τέσσαρα μέρη, ὅθεν καὶ τετράρχης ἕκαστος αὐτῶν ὀνομάζεται. συνέβη δὲ καὶ Ἡρώδην τὸν τοῦ Ἡρώδου τοῦ βασιλέως υἱὸν ἕνα ἐκείνων γενέσθαι μέρους τινὸς ἄρχοντα καὶ αὐτόν, ὃς καὶ ἀποκεφαλίσας τὸν Ἰωάννην δίκας ἔδωκεν οὐκ εἰς μακράν, ὡς ἀκριβέστερον μαθεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ Ἰωσήπου γραφῆς δυνατόν. τινὲς δὲ καὶ βασιλέα ἐκάλουν αὐτὸν εἴτε ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς συνηθείας εἴτε καὶ ἀδεέστερον ἔτι τῇ φωνῇ κεχρημένων, ὅθεν καὶ ὁ Μᾶρκος ἀδιαφόρως αὐτὸν βασιλέα ἐκάλεσεν, τοῦ Λουκᾶ ὁμοίως τῷ Ματθαίῳ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀξίας τετράρχην αὐτὸν ὀνομάσαντος. ἡ μὲν οὖν αἰτία τοῦ φόνου, ὅτι τοῦ Ἡρώδου τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ ἰδίου ἀδελφοῦ Φίλιππος δὲ ἐλέγετο ἀφελομένου ζῶντος ἔτι καὶ θυγατέρα ἔχοντος ἐξ αὐτῆς συνοικοῦντός τε αὐτῇ καὶ οὐκ ἐνεγκὼν τὸ μύσος ὁ Ἰωάννης ἤλεγχεν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῇ παρανομίᾳ. ὁ δὲ τὸν μὲν ἐλέγχοντα οὐ φέρων, δεδιὼς δὲ τὸν ὄχλον, ὅτι μεγίστην εἶχεν περὶ αὐτοῦ δόξαν, ἀνελεῖν μὲν οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν καίτοιγε σφόδρα βουλόμενος, ἐγκαθείρξας δὲ αὐτὸν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ τῶν γενεσίων αὐτοῦ τελουμένων καὶ τῆς θυγατρὸς τῆς Ἡρωδιάδος ὀρχησαμένης καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν Ἰωάννου μισθὸν τῆς ἀσεβοῦς πράξεως αἰτησαμένης ἐπλήρου παρευθὺς τὴν οἰκείαν ἐπιθυμίαν ὁ Ἡρώδης· κελεύει γὰρ τοῦ μακαρίου ληφθῆναι τὴν κεφαλήν. πρόσχημα δὲ τῶν παρόντων ἐν ἑκάστου ὅρκου τῇ ἀνάγκῃ ἐποιήσατο λυπηθεὶς δῆθεν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπὶ τῷ γίγνεσθαι μέλλοντι. εἰ δὲ μὴ εἶπεν τοῦτο ὁ εὐαγγελιστής, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐναντίον, ὅτι ἐλυπήθη, οὐ θαυμάζειν προσῆκεν· ἔφην γὰρ πολλάκις, ὅτι τοῖς εὐαγγελισταῖς ἔθος ἅπαντα, ὡς ἐγένετο, λέγειν· τὰ γὰρ πράγματα, οὐ τὰς αἰτίας ἑρμηνεύειν οἰκεῖον ἐνόμιζον. ἀμέλει τῷ εἰπεῖν, ὅτι βουλόμενος αὐτὸν ἀποκτεῖναι τὸν ὄχλον ἐφοβήθη, ἐδήλωσε σαφῶς, ἣν Ἡρώδης εἶχε περὶ τούτου γνώμην, ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῦ ὅρκου μικρὸν φροντίσαι ἐξῆν αὐτῷ, ὡς πολλῷ χεῖρον εἰργάσασθαι φόνον ἀνδρὸς οὕτω δικαίου τολμήσας. Ἕτερος ἦν Ἡρώδης ὁ βασιλεύς, ἕτερος δὲ ὁ τετράρχης υἱὸς ὢν ἐκείνου· ἐπ' ἐννέα γὰρ τοῖς ἔτεσιν μετὰ τὸν Ἡρώδου θάνατον κατεσχηκότος Ἀρχελάου τὴν