of cities, in which he also had relatives, he did not rise up for the destruction of the angels he saw typically and iconically as they were proceeding, but rather he brought himself to supplication and entreaty, and then on behalf of others. But you, because I convict you for the things in which you sin, and because I wish to deliver you from a long-standing tyranny and judgment, are instead provoked to murder rather than thanksgiving. But Abraham did not do this. so that you are not his children, because you do not imitate his works. 59 Jo 8, 44- 49 Some are perplexed, saying: who is the father of the devil, whose children the Lord said the Jews were? And first, some say that the confusion of the reading creates the perplexity; for since the Jews said, "we have God as our father," and the Lord said to them, "If God were your father," and so on, since the Lord says these things and showed them to be completely estranged, which we are accustomed to say of those who are very far apart, He adds: "You, who are of such a kind and so great in wickedness, are from the father? May it not be! You are of the devil," and so on, so that he says there is a punctuation mark placed between "the father" and "of the devil"—the one with a question being a rebuke, the other a complete declaration—, but perhaps this idea might have proceeded, if he had not again added a little later, saying: "when he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar," and then "and his father." For here it is not possible either to argue about a punctuation mark or to blame the reading. Therefore some say that He spoke of the father of the devil as one living in an excess of wickedness, who throughout his whole life, by what he does and practices wickedly, multiplies and cultivates and begets the devil and gives birth to him, just as on the contrary it is said in the Odes that the zealous man gives birth to a spirit, multiplying and begetting in himself the will of the Paraclete; for he says, "Because of Your fear, O Lord, we have conceived in the womb and have been in travail," and so on. Through what the Jews do, he says, they show themselves to have been born of such an all-wicked one, from whom the devil is also multiplied and brought forth. But others say, I think more fittingly, that when the antichrist, who is also the devil, is about to come, having found a human instrument worthy of his evildoing, he will do through him whatever wonders he might be permitted to perform. And it is clear that such a thrice-wretched man, in whom the devil will dwell, and who will be called antichrist, will be born of such a most defiled father, who is worthy to beget such a child, able to contain the whole energy of Satan. You therefore, he says, by your bloodthirstiness and by your attention to falsehood rather than to the truth preached by me, show yourselves to be worthy children not of Abraham, but of such a father from whom the devil would be born, that is, the man in whom he will empty all his energy and in whom the devil will dwell. But some also say it this way. It is clear, he says, that the Jews according to the flesh are the seed of Abraham, so that when the Lord tells them that they are not children of Abraham, he does not mean that they are not his children according to the flesh, but according to the spirit, because they did not do the things that are like him. And when he says children of the father of the devil, he does not say this according to the flesh, but in that by performing wicked actions they join in affinity with the devil, because, he says, you are devoted to the devil as to a brother and a friend, and thus you make him your own as if you had received the same father and were born of the same seed, so that he would rightly call you children of the father of the devil, and his very brothers; for to such an extent have the acts of bloodthirstiness and lawlessness been practiced by you. But as for "when he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, and his father," "and his father," he says, whom you have claimed for yourselves, if he existed in substance, would have been of such a kind. But others say that he does not speak here of another father of the devil at all, but, he says, he means the same one is both father and devil. The devil, which he is, but the father of the Jews because they made him their own through their works. And what follows, they say, clearly shows this:

πόλεων, ἐν αἷς καὶ συγγενεῖς εἶχεν, πορευομένους τοὺς τυπικῶς καὶ εἰκονικῶς ἑωραθέντας ἀγγέλους οὐ διανέστη πρὸς ἀναίρεσιν, ἀλλ' εἰς ἱκεσίαν μᾶλλον καὶ παράκλησιν καθῆκεν ἑαυτὸν καὶ τότε ὑπὲρ ἑτέρων. ὑμεῖς δὲ διότι ἐλέγχω ὑμᾶς, ἐφ' οἷς ἁμαρτάνετε, καὶ διότι θέλω ἀπαλλάξαι ὑμᾶς τυραννίδος χρονίας καὶ κρίματος, πρὸς φόνον μᾶλλον ἀντὶ τῆς εὐχαριστίας ἀνερεθίζεσθε. τοῦτο δὲ Ἀβραὰμ οὐκ ἐποίησεν. ὥστε οὐδὲ τέκνα αὐτοῦ ἐστε, ὅτι μηδὲ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ μιμεῖσθε. 59 Jo 8, 44- 49 Ἀποροῦσί τινες λέγοντες· τίς ἐστιν ὁ τοῦ διαβόλου πατήρ, οὗ καὶ τέκνα ἔφησεν ὁ δεσπότης εἶναι τοὺς Ἰουδαίους; καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ἔνιοί φασιν, ὅτι τὴν ἀπορίαν ἡ σύγχυσις τῆς ἀναγνώσεως ποιεῖ· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶπον οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, ὅτι πατέρα ἔχομεν τὸν θεὸν καὶ ἔφη ὁ δεσπότης πρὸς αὐτούς· εἰ ὁ θεὸς πατὴρ ὑμῶν ἦν καὶ ἑξῆς, ἐπειδὴ ταῦτά φησιν ὁ δεσπότης καὶ παντελῶς ἔδειξεν αὐτοὺς ἠλλοτριωμένους, ὅπερ εἰώθαμεν λέγειν ἐπὶ τῶν σφόδρα διεστηκότων, ἐπάγει· ὑμεῖς οἱ τοιοῦτοι καὶ τηλικοῦτοι τὴν μοχθηρίαν ἐκ τοῦ πατρός; μὴ γένοιτο, ἐκ τοῦ διαβόλου ἐστὲ καὶ ἑξῆς, ἵνα ᾖ στιγμῆς φησι μεταξὺ κειμένης τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ διαβόλου-τὸ μὲν σὺν ἐρωτήσει ἐπιτίμησις, τὸ δὲ τελείως ἀπόφασις-, ἀλλ' ἐνεχώρει τάχα τοῦτον προχωρῆσαι τὸν νοῦν, εἰ μὴ μετ' ὀλίγον πάλιν ἐπήγαγεν λέγων· ὅταν λαλῇ τὸ ψεῦδος, ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων λαλεῖ, ὅτι ψεύστης ἐστίν, εἶτα καὶ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ· ἐνταῦθα γὰρ οὔτε στιγμήν ἐστι Σοφίσασθαι οὔτε τὴν ἀνάγνωσιν αἰτιάσασθαι. διό φασίν τινες, ὅτι πατέρα διαβόλου τὸν ἐν ὑπερβολῇ πονηρίας ζῶντα ἔφησεν, ὃς καὶ διὰ παντὸς τοῦ βίου, δι' ὧν πράττει καὶ πονηρεύεται, πληθύνει καὶ γεωργεῖ καὶ παιδοποιεῖ τὸν διάβολον καὶ τίκτει αὐτὸν ὥσπερ ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου καὶ ἐν ταῖς ᾠδαῖς λέγεται πνεῦμα τίκτειν ὁ σπουδαῖος καὶ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ παρακλήτου πληθύνων καὶ τίκτων ἐν ἑαυτῷ· διὰ γὰρ τὸν φόβον Σου, φησίν, κύριε ἐν γαστρὶ ἐλάβομεν καὶ ὠδινήσαμεν καὶ ἑξῆς. δι' ὧν γοῦν, φησίν, πράττουσιν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, ἐκ τοιούτου παμπονήρου δεικνύουσιν ἑαυτοὺς τεχθῆναι, ἐξ οὗπερ καὶ ὁ διάβολος πληθύνεται καὶ ἀποτίκτεται. ἄλλοι δέ φασιν οἰκειότερον οἶμαι, ὅτι ὁ ἀντίχριστος, ὅταν μέλλῃ ἔρχεσθαι, ὅς ἐστι καὶ διάβολος, ἀνθρώπινον ὄργανον ἄξιον τῆς αὐτοῦ κακουργίας εὑρὼν δι' αὐτοῦ πράξει, ἅπερ ἂν καὶ συγχωρηθείη τερατεύσασθαι. δῆλον δ' ὅτι ὁ τοιοῦτος τρισάθλιος ἄνθρωπος, ἐν ᾧ οἰκήσει ὁ διάβολος, καὶ ὃς χρηματίσει ἀντίχριστος, ἐκ τοιούτου φύσεται μιαρωτάτου πατρός, ὅς ἐστιν ἄξιος τοιοῦτον παῖδα φῦναι ὅλην χωρῆσαι δυνάμενον τὴν ἐνέργειαν τοῦ σατανᾶ. ὑμεῖς οὖν, φησίν, ἐξ ὧν μιαιφονεῖτε καὶ ἐξ ὧν τῷ ψεύδει μᾶλλον ἢ τῇ παρ' ἐμοῦ κηρυττομένῃ ἀληθείᾳ προσέχετε, δεικνύετε ἑαυτοὺς ἀξίους εἶναι τέκνα οὐχὶ τοῦ Ἀβραάμ, ἀλλὰ τοιούτου πατρός, ἐξ οὗ ἂν ἀποτεχθείη ὁ διάβολος, ἤτοι ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐν ᾧ πᾶσαν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐνέργειαν κενώσει καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ κατοικήσει ὁ διάβολος. οἱ δὲ καὶ οὕτω φασίν. δῆλον, φησίν, ὅτι οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι κατὰ σάρκα σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ εἰσιν, ὥστε ὅταν αὐτοῖς ὁ δεσπότης λέγῃ μὴ εἶναι τέκνα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ οὐχὶ κατὰ σάρκα λέγει αὐτοὺς μὴ εἶναι τέκνα αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα, ὅτι τὰ ὅμοια ἐκείνῳ οὐ διεπράττοντο. καὶ ὅτε λέγει τέκνα τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ διαβόλου, οὐ κατὰ σάρκα τοῦτό φησιν, ἀλλὰ καθ' ὃ τὰς πονηρὰς ἐνεργαζόμενοι πράξεις τὴν πρὸς τὸν διάβολον συνάπτουσιν οἰκειότητα, ὅτι, φησίν, ὡς ἀδελφῷ καὶ φίλῳ ἀνάκεισθε τῷ διαβόλῳ καὶ οὕτως οἰκειοποιεῖσθε αὐτὸν ὡσανεὶ τὸν αὐτὸν πατέρα λαχόντες ἦτε καὶ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ φύντες σπέρματος, ὥστε εἰκότως ὑμᾶς τέκνα τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ διαβόλου καλέσει καὶ ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐκείνου· ἐπὶ τοΣοῦτον γὰρ ὑμῖν τὰ τῆς μιαιφονίας καὶ παρανομίας ἐπήσκηται. τὸ δὲ ὅταν λαλῇ τὸ ψεῦδος, ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων λαλεῖ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ, φησίν, ὃν ὑμεῖς ἑαυτοῖς ἐπεγράφεσθε, εἴπερ ἦν καθ' ὑπόστασιν τοιοῦτος ἂν ἦν. ἄλλοι δέ φασιν, ὅτι οὐ λέγει ὅλως πατέρα ἕτερον διαβόλου ἐνταῦθα, ἀλλὰ τὸν αὐτόν, φησίν, καὶ πατέρα καὶ διάβολον λέγει. διάβολον μέν, ὅπερ ἐστίν, πατέρα δὲ τῶν Ἰουδαίων δι' ὧν αὐτὸν τοῖς ἔργοις οἰκειοποιήσαντο. καὶ τὰ ἐπαγόμενα δέ, φασίν, τοῦτο σαφῶς δείκνυσιν·