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having done it by vote and examination, he willingly cast himself out of the royal gift. So also it happened in the case of the Jews. But consider: the whole nature of men was caught in the most shameful evils; For all have sinned, it says; and as if in a prison, they were shut up in the curse of lawlessness; a sentence was about to be passed against them by vote; a letter from the king came from heaven, or rather the king himself came, without an examination and without calling them to account, releasing all from the bonds of sin. 2. Therefore all who run to it enjoy the gift, being saved by grace; but those who wish to be justified by the law will fall away from grace. For they will be able neither to enjoy the king's benevolence, stubbornly trying to be saved on their own, and they will draw down upon themselves the curse from the law, because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. For this reason he says, If you are circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. For he who stubbornly seeks to be saved by the works of the law has nothing in common with grace. Which very thing Paul also said, hinting, If by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work. And again, For if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. And again, You who are justified by the law; you have fallen from grace. You were put to death to the law, you have become dead, you are no longer under the yoke, nor are you under its compulsion. Why then do you stubbornly cause trouble for yourself, pointlessly and in vain? But why has 48.859 Paul placed his own name here, and did not say simply, Behold, I say to you? Wishing to remind them of the zeal which he showed for Judaism. For if I were, he says, from the Gentiles, and ignorant of Jewish matters, perhaps someone might have said that because I did not share in that commonwealth, being ignorant of the power of circumcision, I cast it out of the doctrines of the Church. For this reason he has put his name, bringing to their memory the things he did for the law; almost saying, I do not do this out of hatred for circumcision, but in full knowledge of the truth. I, Paul, say this, that Paul who was circumcised on the eighth day, of the race of Israel, a Hebrew of Hebrews, of the tribe of Benjamin, as to the law a Pharisee, as to zeal a persecutor of the Church, who entered into houses and dragged off men and women and committed them to prison; all of which things could persuade even those who are extremely insensible, that not out of any enmity, nor out of ignorance of Jewish matters, but in full knowledge of the surpassing truth of Christ, I have laid down this law. And I testify again, he says, to every man who is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Why did he not say, But I command, or But I enjoin, or But I say, but, I testify? So that by this word he might remind us of the future judgment seat; for where there are witnesses, there is a court and a verdict. He therefore frightens the hearer, reminding him of the royal throne, and showing that these words will be witnesses against him on that day, when each one will give an account for what he has done, and for what he said and what he heard. The Galatians heard these things then, and let those now who suffer from the Galatians' disease hear them, even if they are not present; but through you let them hear Paul crying out and saying, And I testify to every man who is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. For do not tell me that circumcision is one commandment; that one commandment places upon you the whole yoke of the law. For when you introduce yourself through a part into the dominion of the law, it is necessary to obey what the rest commands; and not fulfilling it, one must by all necessity be punished and draw the curse. And just as when a sparrow falls into a snare, even if only its foot is held, the whole rest of its body is also captured; so also he who fulfills one commandment of the law, whether circumcision or fasting, has surrendered all his own authority through this one thing to the law, and

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ψήφῳ καὶ ἐξετάσει ποιήσας, ἑκὼν τῆς δωρεᾶς ἑαυτὸν ἐξέβαλε τῆς βασιλικῆς. Οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων γέγονε. Σκοπεῖτε δέ· ἑάλω πᾶσα τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ φύσις ἐπὶ τοῖς αἰσχίστοις κακοῖς· Πάντες γὰρ ἥμαρτον, φησί· καὶ ὥσπερ ἐν δεσμωτηρίῳ, τῇ κατάρᾳ τῆς παρανομίας ἦσαν συγκεκλεισμένοι· ἔμελλεν ἀπόφασις κατ' αὐτῶν φέρεσθαι ψήφου· ἦλθεν ἐπιστολὴ βασιλέως ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν, μᾶλλον δὲ αὐτὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἦλθεν, ἄνευ ἐξετάσεως καὶ τοῦ τὰς εὐθύνας λαβεῖν, πάντας τῶν δεσμῶν τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀφιείς. βʹ. Οἱ μὲν οὖν προσδραμόντες ἅπαντες ἀπολαύουσι τῆς δωρεᾶς, σωζόμενοι χάριτι· οἱ δὲ ἀπὸ νόμου δικαιοῦσθαι θέλοντες, καὶ τῆς χάριτος ἐκπεσοῦνται. Οὔτε γὰρ τῆς φιλανθρωπίας ἀπολαῦσαι δυνήσονται τῆς βασιλικῆς, οἴκοθεν φιλονεικοῦντες σωθῆναι, καὶ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου κατάραν καθ' ἑαυτῶν ἐπισπάσονται, διότι ἐξ ἔργων νόμου οὐ δικαιωθήσεται πᾶσα σάρξ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο λέγει· Ἐὰν περιτέμνησθε, Χριστὸς ὑμᾶς οὐδὲν ὠφελήσει. Ὁ γὰρ ἐξ ἔργων νομικῶν σωθῆναι φιλονεικῶν οὐδὲν ἔχει κοινὸν πρὸς τὴν χάριν. Ὅπερ οὖν καὶ αὐτὸ Παῦλος αἰνιττόμενος ἔλεγεν· Εἰ χάριτι, οὐκέτι ἐξ ἔργων, ἐπεὶ ἡ χάρις οὐκ ἔστι χάρις· εἰ δὲ ἐξ ἔργων, οὐκέτι ἐστὶ χάρις, ἐπεὶ τὸ ἔργον οὐκέτι ἐστὶν ἔργον. Καὶ πάλιν· Εἰ γὰρ διὰ νόμου δικαιοσύνη, ἄρα Χριστὸς δωρεὰν ἀπέθανε. Καὶ πάλιν· Οἵτινες ἐν νόμῳ δικαιοῦσθε, τῆς χάριτος ἐξεπέσατε. Ἐθανατώθης τῷ νόμῳ, νεκρὸς γέγονας, οὐκέτι λοιπὸν ἐπὶ τὸν ζυγὸν, οὐδὲ ὑπὸ τὴν ἀνάγκην εἶ τὴν ἐκείνου. Τί τοίνυν φιλονεικεῖς σαυτῷ πράγματα παρέχειν εἰκῆ καὶ μάτην; Ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ 48.859 τίνος ἕνεκεν τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἑαυτοῦ τέθεικεν ὁ Παῦλος ἐνταῦθα, καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν ἁπλῶς· Ἴδε ἐγὼ λέγω ὑμῖν; Ἀναμνῆσαι βουλόμενος αὐτοὺς τῆς σπουδῆς ἧς περὶ τὸν ἰουδαϊσμὸν ἐπεδείξατο. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἤμην, φησὶν, ἐξ ἐθνῶν, καὶ ἀγνοῶν τὰ Ἰουδαϊκὰ, ἴσως ἄν τις εἶπεν ὅτι διὰ τὸ μὴ μετεσχηκέναι με τῆς πολιτείας ἐκείνης, ἀγνοῶν τῆς περιτομῆς τὴν ἰσχὺν, ἐκβάλλω τῶν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας δογμάτων αὐτήν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ τέθεικεν, εἰς μνήμην ἄγων αὐτοὺς ὧν ἐποίησεν ὑπὲρ τοῦ νόμου· μονονουχὶ λέγων· Οὐκ ἀπεχθείᾳ τῆς περιτομῆς τοῦτο ποιῶ, ἀλλ' ἐν ἐπιγνώσει τῆς ἀληθείας. Ἐγὼ Παῦλος τοῦτο λέγω, Παῦλος ἐκεῖνος ὁ ἐν περιτομῇ ὀκταήμερος, ὁ ἐκ γένους Ἰσραηλίτης, Ἑβραῖος ἐξ Ἑβραίων, ἐκ φυλῆς Βενιαμὶν, κατὰ νόμον Φαρισαῖος, κατὰ ζῆλον διώκων τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, ὁ εἰσπορευόμενος εἰς τὰς οἰκίας καὶ σύρων ἄνδρας καὶ γυναῖκας, καὶ παραδιδοὺς εἰς φυλακήν· ἅπερ ἅπαντα καὶ τοὺς σφόδρα ἀναισθήτως διακειμένους πεῖσαι δύναιτ' ἂν, ὡς οὐκ ἔχθρᾳ τινὶ, οὐδὲ ἀγνοίᾳ τῶν Ἰουδαϊκῶν, ἀλλ' ἐπιγνώσει τῆς ἀληθείας τῆς ὑπερεχούσης τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοῦτον τέθεικα τὸν νόμον. Μαρτύρομαι δὲ πάλιν, φησὶ, παντὶ ἀνθρώπῳ περιτεμνομένῳ, ὅτι ὀφειλέτης ἐστὶν ὅλον τὸν νόμον πληρῶσαι. ∆ιὰ τί οὐκ εἶπε· Παραγγέλλω δὲ, ἢ ἐντέλλομαι δὲ, ἢ λέγω δὲ, ἀλλὰ, Μαρτύρομαι; Ἵνα διὰ τοῦ ῥήματος τούτου τοῦ δικαστηρίου τοῦ μέλλοντος ἡμᾶς ἀναμνήσῃ· ὅπου γὰρ μάρτυρες, ἐκεῖ δικαστήριον καὶ ψῆφος. Φοβεῖ τοίνυν τὸν ἀκροατὴν, ἀναμιμνήσκων τοῦ βασιλικοῦ θρόνου, καὶ δεικνὺς ὅτι οὗτοι οἱ λόγοι μάρτυρες ἔσονται αὐτῷ κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην, ὅταν ἕκαστος τῶν ἑαυτῷ πεπραγμένων, καὶ ὧν εἶπε καὶ ὧν ἤκουσεν, ὑπέχῃ λόγον. Ταῦτα ἤκουον μὲν τότε Γαλάται, ἀκουέτωσαν δὲ καὶ νῦν οἱ τὰ Γαλατῶν νοσοῦντες, εἰ καὶ μὴ πάρεισιν· ἀλλὰ δι' ὑμῶν ἀκουέτωσαν βοῶντος Παύλου καὶ λέγοντος· Μαρτύρομαι δὲ παντὶ ἀνθρώπῳ περιτεμνομένῳ, ὅτι ὀφειλέτης ἐστὶν ὅλον τὸν νόμον πληρῶσαι. Μὴ γάρ μοι εἴπῃς ὅτι μία ἐντολή ἐστιν ἡ περιτομή· ἡ μία ἐντολὴ ἐκείνη ὁλόκληρον ἐπιτίθησί σοι τοῦ νόμου τὸν ζυγόν. Ὅταν γὰρ διὰ τοῦ μέρους εἰσάγῃς σαυτὸν εἰς τὴν τοῦ νόμου δεσποτείαν, ἀνάγκη καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ πείθεσθαι ἐπιτάττοντι· μὴ πληροῦντα δὲ ἀνάγκη πᾶσα κολάζεσθαι καὶ τὴν ἀρὰν ἕλκειν. Καὶ καθάπερ εἰς παγίδα ἐμπεσόντος στρουθοῦ, κἂν ὁ ποῦς κατέχηται μόνον, καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν ἅπαν ἑάλω σῶμα· οὕτω καὶ ὁ μίαν ἐντολὴν τοῦ νόμου πληρῶν, κἂν περιτομὴν, κἂν νηστείαν, ἅπασαν ἑαυτοῦ τὴν ἐξουσίαν διὰ τῆς μιᾶς ταύτης τῷ νόμῳ παρέδωκε, καὶ