but not of pains that bring health to those being treated. 14.2 That people, therefore, was sick; various diseases were among the people who were called God's. God sent them physicians, the prophets. One of the physicians was also Jeremiah; he rebuked the sinners, wanting to turn back those who were doing evil. But they, when they should have listened to what was said, accused the prophet and accused him before judges like themselves. And the prophet was always on trial by those who, as far as his prophecy was concerned, were being healed, but because of their own disobedience were not healed. At these times he sometimes says: “And I said, I will not speak, nor will I name the name of the Lord. And it became like a burning fire blazing in my bones, and I am exhausted on all sides and cannot bear it.” And at other times he says, seeing himself always on trial, reviled, accused, falsely testified against: “Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me?” He said “a man” not judging but “being judged,” and not contending but “being contended with by the whole land.” And since the sick did not listen to him advising well and medically, he says: “I did not profit.” And since, when he was lending his spiritual money, those to whom he spoke were unwilling to listen, so that they might profit from what they heard, he says: “Neither has anyone owed me, nor have I owed.” 14.3 But I have said these things in anticipation, before I explain “I have not owed, nor has anyone owed me.” For the scripture is twofold; for in most copies it is “I did not profit, nor did anyone profit me,” but in the most accurate ones and those agreeing with the Hebrew, “I have not owed, nor has anyone owed me.” It is necessary, therefore, both to explain the common and current version in the churches and not to leave unexplained the one from the Hebrew scriptures. He proclaimed the word, therefore, but no one accepted what was said. Just as a physician would waste the medicines, since the sick were intemperate and fulfilling their own desires. As if he too were saying: “I did not profit, nor did anyone profit me.” Perhaps there is a reciprocity through the goodwill of the one who was profited toward the one who profited him, so that the speaker is also profited, since “blessed is he who speaks into the ears of those who hear.” A teacher, therefore, would be profited this benefit from hearers who are advancing and improving; he would be profited by having fruits in them. <Not having this from the Jews, Jeremiah says:> “No one has profited me.” For if the speaker must have fruit in his hearers, but the hearer should take it amiss and be outside of what is said, the phrase “not even one has profited me” is said; since he has not been profited this benefit, which he would have been profited from the hearer who was profited becoming a cause of progress and blessedness for the one who profited him. And in another way, every teacher, in the very act of teaching, insofar as the learner is more intelligent, is profited in what he teaches, in what he learns. And the speakers become better concerning the lessons they deliver, when the hearers, being intelligent, do not simply accept them, but test them in return and ask questions and examine the meaning of what is said. Therefore, “neither did I profit, nor did anyone profit me.” 14.4 But since another explanation is also necessary on account of the more accurate copies having it thus: “I have not owed, nor has anyone owed me,” we will also explain the saying as it stands thus. The one “rendering to all their dues: fear to whom fear is due, custom to whom custom, tribute to whom tribute, honor to whom honor,” and rendering to all what is proper, so as not to owe what is proper to any, having honored <parents> as parents, <so to> speak, brothers as brothers, sons as sons, bishops as bishops, presbyters as presbyters, deacons as deacons, the faithful as the faithful, catechumens as catechumens, if he renders all that is proper, he has not owed. But if he ought to do what is proper, but has not done it, he cannot say: “I have not owed”; for being in debt, he has not paid. How then shall I explain “nor has anyone owed me”? I for my part was lending and wished to give the
οὐχὶ δὲ πόνων φερόντων ἐπὶ ὑγίειαν τοὺς ἰατρευομένους. 14.2 Ὁ λαὸς τοίνυν ἐκεῖνος ἔκαμνε, ποικίλαι νόσοι ἦσαν ἐν τῷ λαῷ τῷ χρηματίσαντι τοῦ θεοῦ. ἔπεμπεν αὐτοῖς ἰατροὺς ὁ θεὸς τοὺς προφήτας. εἷς τῶν ἰατρῶν καὶ Ἱερεμίας ἦν· ἤλεγχε τοὺς ἁμαρ τάνοντας, ἐπιστρέφειν βουλόμενος τοὺς κακῶς πράττοντας. οἱ δὲ δέον ἀκούειν τῶν λεγομένων, κατηγόρουν τοῦ προφήτου καὶ κατη γόρουν ἐπὶ δικαστῶν παραπλησίων ἑαυτοῖς. καὶ ἀεὶ ἐν δίκαις ἦν ὁ προφήτης ὑπὸ τῶν ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ προφητείᾳ αὐτοῦ θεραπευθέντων, διὰ δὲ τὴν ἰδίαν ἀπείθειαν μὴ θεραπευομένων. ἐπὶ τούτοις ὁτὲ μὲν λέγει· «καὶ εἶπα· οὐ μὴ λαλήσω οὐδὲ μὴ ὀνομάσω τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου. καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς πῦρ καιόμενον φλέγον ἐν τοῖς ὀστέοις μου, καὶ παρεῖμαι πάντοθεν καὶ οὐ δύναμαι φέρειν». ὁτὲ δέ φησιν, ὁρῶν ἑαυτὸν ἀεὶ δικαζόμενον, λοιδορούμενον, ἐγκαλούμενον, ψευδομαρτυρού μενον· «οἴμοι ἐγώ, μῆτερ, ὡς τίνα με ἔτεκες;» ἔλεγεν «ἄνδρα» οὐ δικάζοντα ἀλλὰ «δικαζόμενον», καὶ οὐ διακρίνοντα ἀλλὰ «διακρινό μενον πάσῃ τῇ γῇ». καὶ ἐπεὶ οἱ κάμνοντες οὐκ ἤκουον αὐτοῦ καλῶς συμβουλεύοντος καὶ ἰατρικῶς, φησίν· «οὐκ ὠφέλησα». καὶ ἐπεὶ δανεί ζοντος αὐτοῦ τὰ πνευματικὰ ἀργύρια οὐκ ἐβούλοντο ἀκούειν ἐκεῖνοι οἷς ἔλεγεν, ἵνα ὠφεληθῶσιν ἐξ ὧν ἤκουσαν, φησίν· «οὐδὲ ὠφείλησέ μοι οὐδείς, οὐδὲ ὠφείλησα». 14.3 Ἀλλὰ προλαβὼν ταῦτα εἶπον, πρὶν διηγήσωμαι τὸ «οὐκ ὠφείλησα, οὐδὲ ὠφείλησέ μοι οὐδείς». δισσὴ γάρ ἐστιν ἡ γραφή· ἐν μὲν γὰρ τοῖς πλείστοις ἀντιγράφοις «οὐκ ὠφέλησα, οὐδὲ ὠφέλησέ με οὐδείς», ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἀκριβεστάτοις καὶ συμφωνοῦσι τοῖς Ἑβραϊκοῖς «οὐκ ὠφείλησα, οὐδὲ ὠφείλησέ μοι οὐδείς». δεῖ οὖν καὶ τὸ καθη μαξευμένον καὶ φερόμενον ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις διηγήσασθαι καὶ τὸ ἀπὸ τῶν Ἑβραϊκῶν γραφῶν ἀδιήγητον μὴ καταλιπεῖν. ἐκήρυσσε τοίνυν τὸν λόγον, οὐδεὶς προσίετο τὰ λεγόμενα. ὡς καὶ ἰατρὸς προσανήλισκε τὰ φάρμακα, ἀκολάστων ὄντων καὶ τὰς ἰδίας ἐπιθυμίας πληρούντων τῶν καμνόντων. ὡσεὶ καὶ ἐκεῖνος ἔλεγεν· «οὐκ ὠφέλησα, οὐδὲ ὠφέλησέ με οὐδείς». τάχα ἀντιπάθειά ἐστι διὰ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν τοῦ ὠφεληθέντος πρὸς τὸν ὠφελήσαντα, ὥστε γενέσθαι εἰς τὸ ὠφε ληθῆναι καὶ τὸν λέγοντα, ἐπεὶ «μακάριος ὁ λέγων εἰς ὦτα ἀκουόντων». ταύτην οὖν τὴν ὠφέλειαν ὠφεληθείη ἂν διδάσκαλος ἀπὸ ἀκροατῶν προκοπτόντων καὶ βελτιουμένων, ὠφεληθείη ἂν τῷ ἔχειν καρποὺς ἐν αὐτοῖς. <ταύτην οὐκ ἔχων ἀπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων Ἱερεμίας φησίν·> «οὐδείς με ὠφέλησεν». εἰ γὰρ καρπὸν μὲν δεῖ ἔχειν ἐν τοῖς ἀκροαταῖς τὸν λέγοντα, ὁ δὲ ἀκροώμενος παρεκδέχοιτο καὶ ἔξω γίνοιτο τῶν λεγομένων, λέγεται τὸ «οὐκ ὠφέλησέ με οὐδὲ εἷς»· ἐπεὶ μὴ ὠφέληται ταύτην τὴν ὠφέλειαν, ἣν ὠφελήθη ἂν ἐκ τοῦ τὸν ἀκροατὴν ὠφε ληθέντα αἴτιον προκοπῆς καὶ μακαριότητος γενέσθαι τῷ ὠφελήσαντι. καὶ ἄλλως δὲ πᾶς ὁ διδάσκων κατ' αὐτὸ τὸ διδάσκειν, ὅσῳ συνετώ τερός ἐστιν ὁ μανθάνων, ὠφελεῖται εἰς ἃ διδάσκει, εἰς ἃ μανθάνει. καὶ κρείττους γίνονται περὶ ἃ παραδιδόασι μαθήματα οἱ λέγοντες, ὅτε συνετοὶ ὄντες οἱ ἀκροαταὶ καὶ οὐχ ἁπαξαπλῶς παραδέχονται, ἀλλὰ ἀντιβασανίζουσι καὶ ἐρωτῶσι καὶ ἐξετάζουσι τὸ βούλημα τῶν λεγομένων. «οὔτ'« οὖν «ὠφέλησα, οὔτε ὠφέλησέ με οὐδὲ εἷς». 14.4 Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ἄλλη διήγησις ἀναγκαία διὰ τὰ ἀντίγραφα τὰ ἀκριβέστερα οὕτως ἔχοντα· «οὐκ ὠφείλησα, οὐδὲ ὠφείλησέ μοι οὐδείς», διηγησόμεθα καὶ οὕτως ἔχον τὸ ῥητόν. ὁ μὲν «πᾶσιν ἀποδιδοὺς τὰς ὀφειλάς, τῷ τὸν φόβον τὸν φόβον, τῷ τὸ τέλος τὸ τέλος, τῷ τὸν φόρον τὸν φόρον, τῷ τὴν τιμὴν τὴν τιμήν» καὶ πᾶσι τὰ καθήκοντα ἀποδιδούς, ὡς μὴ ὀφείλειν τὰ καθήκοντα πρός τινας, τιμήσας <γονεῖς> ὡς γονεῖς, <ὡς> εἰπεῖν, ἀδελφοὺς ὡς ἀδελφούς, υἱοὺς ὡς υἱούς, ἐπι σκόπους ὡς ἐπισκόπους, πρεσβυτέρους ὡς πρεσβυτέρους, διακόνους ὡς διακόνους, πιστοὺς ὡς πιστούς, κατηχουμένους ὡς κατηχουμένους, εἰ πάντα ἀποδίδωσι τὰ καθήκοντα, οὐκ ὠφείλησεν. εἰ δὲ ὀφείλει μὲν ποιῆσαι καθῆκον, οὐ πεποίηκε δέ, οὐ δύναται λέγειν· «οὐκ ὠφεί λησα»· ὀφείλων γὰρ οὐκ ἀποδέδωκε. πῶς οὖν διηγήσομαι καὶ τὸ «οὐδὲ ὠφείλησέ μοι οὐδείς»; ἐγὼ μὲν ἐδάνειζον καὶ διδόναι ἐβου λόμην τὰ