John Chrysostom, On the Obscurity of Prophecies

they had one voice. But why did it call the voice one lip? It is the custom of Scripture thus to call words, tongue. And it is necessary to know this on account of the heretics, those who accuse the creation of God, those who say that the body is evil. For since Scripture calls the evil movements of the mind by the members of the body; for instance, I say: They have sharpened their tongue like a serpent; Their tongue is a sharp sword; some, therefore, suppose that it is said concerning the tongue. But it is not said concerning the tongue; may it not be so; for it is a work of God; but concerning deadly words, that kill people, that fall more grievously than a sword. 56.187 Their tongue is a sharp sword; and again: Deceitful lips in the heart, and in the heart he spoke evil things; not speaking of the member of the body, but of the insidious words. So also here, when it says, And all the earth was one lip, it did not teach this, that all people had one lip, but it called the voice a lip. For having said, All the earth was one lip, it added, And there was one voice for all. Thus when it says, Their throat is an open sepulchre, it does not accuse the throat, but the evil words that come up from there, the dead doctrines. For this is a sepulchre, a receptacle of dead bones and bodies. Such also are the mouths of those who accuse the Creator; such are the mouths of people who speak shameful things, of those who revile, of those who cast forth foul-smelling and evil words from their own throat. ηʹ. Fill it with fragrance, O man, not with stench; make it a royal treasury, not a satanic tomb. But if it is a tomb, at least close it, so that the stench may not come forth. Do you have evil thoughts? Do not bring them forth in words; let them lie below, and they are quickly suffocated. We are human beings, often deliberating many evil and absurd and shameful counsels; but let us not allow the thoughts to proceed into words, so that being pressed down they may become weaker and perish. For just as someone who has thrown all kinds of untamed beasts into a pit, if he blocks up the pit from above, he suffocates them easily; but if he provides some small outlet and breathing space, he gives them much encouragement, and does not let them perish, but makes them more savage; so also it is with evil thoughts, when they are born within, if we shut off their way out, we quickly make them disappear; but if we bring them out through words, we have both made them stronger, having given them a chance to breathe through the tongue, and we quickly fall from the practice of shameful words into the abysses of absurd actions. For this reason the prophet did not simply call it a tomb, but an open tomb, rebuking this very thing that I have said. For he who speaks shameful words does not disgrace himself only, but also his neighbors, and fills those who associate with him with much filth. And just as if we open tombs, we will fill the cities with pestilence; so shameful mouths, if opened with license, will fill all who associate with a most grievous disease. For this reason it is necessary to put a door and a bolt and a bridle on the mouth. That there was one voice then has been sufficiently demonstrated to us from these things; but it remains necessary to say for what reason the many were introduced. But for now let us exercise the more moral argument; let us teach our tongue to have a bridle, and not simply to utter everything from the mind; not to speak evil of the brethren, not to bite and devour one another. Those who do this through words are worse than those who bite bodies. 56.188 The former bite the body with their teeth, the latter bites the soul with words, wounds the reputation, makes the wound incurable. Therefore he will receive a greater chastisement and punishment,

φωνὴν εἶχον μίαν. ∆ιὰ τί δὲ χεῖλος ἓν ἐκάλεσε τὴν φωνήν; Ἔθος τῇ Γραφῇ οὕτω καλεῖν τὰ ῥήματα, γλῶσσαν. Ἀναγκαῖον δὲ καὶ τοῦτο εἰδέναι διὰ τοὺς αἱρετικοὺς, τοὺς κατηγοροῦντας τῆς δημιουργίας τοῦ Θεοῦ, τοὺς λέγοντας, ὅτι πονηρὸν τὸ σῶμα. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὰ πονηρὰ κινήματα τῆς διανοίας τοῖς μέλεσι τοῦ σώματος ἡ Γραφὴ καλεῖ· οἷόν τι λέγω· Ἠκόνησαν γλῶσσαν αὐτῶν ὡσεὶ ὄφεως· Ἡ γλῶσσα αὐτῶν μάχαιρα ὀξεῖα· νομίζουσιν οὖν τινες, ὅτι περὶ τῆς γλώττης εἴρηται. Οὐκ εἴρηται δὲ περὶ τῆς γλώττης· μὴ γένοιτο· ἔργον γάρ ἐστι τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν ῥημάτων τῶν φονικῶν, τῶν ἀποκτιννύντων ἀνθρώπους, τῶν ἐμπιπτόντων ξίφους χαλε56.187 πώτερον. Ἡ γλῶσσα αὐτῶν μάχαιρα ὀξεῖα· καὶ πάλιν· Χείλη δόλια ἐν καρδίᾳ, καὶ ἐν καρδίᾳ ἐλάλησε κακά· οὐ περὶ τοῦ μέλους λέγων τοῦ σώματος, ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν ὑπούλων ῥημάτων. Οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα εἰπὼν, Καὶ ἦν πᾶσα ἡ γῆ χεῖλος ἓν, οὐ τοῦτο ἐδίδαξεν, ὅτι πάντες ἄνθρωποι εἶχον ἓν χεῖλος, ἀλλὰ χεῖλος τὴν φωνὴν ἐκάλεσεν. Εἰπὼν γὰρ, Ἦν πᾶσα ἡ γῆ χεῖλος ἓν, ἐπήγαγε, Καὶ φωνὴ μία πᾶσιν. Οὕτως ὅταν λέγῃ, Τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος ὁ λάρυγξ αὐτῶν, οὐ τοῦ λάρυγγος κατηγορεῖ, ἀλλὰ τῶν κακῶν ῥημάτων τῶν ἀναβαινόντων ἐκεῖθεν, τῶν νεκρῶν δογμάτων. Τάφος γὰρ τοῦτό ἐστι, νεκρῶν δοχεῖον ὀστῶν καὶ σωμάτων. Τοιαῦτα κἀκείνων τὰ στόματα, τῶν κατηγορούντων τοῦ ∆ημιουργοῦ· τοιαῦτα τὰ στόματα τῶν αἰσχρὰ φθεγγομένων ἀνθρώπων, τῶν λοιδορούντων, τῶν δυσώδη καὶ πονηρὰ ῥήματα ἐκ τῆς οἰκείας φάρυγγος ἐκβαλλόντων. ηʹ. Εὐωδίας αὐτὴν ἔμπλησον, ἄνθρωπε, μὴ δυσωδίας· θησαυρὸν ποίησον βασιλικὸν, μὴ τάφον σατανικόν. Εἰ δὲ τάφος ἐστὶ, κἂν ἀπόκλεισον, ἵνα μὴ προβαίνῃ ἡ δυσωδία. Πονηρὰ ἔχεις ἐνθυμήματα; Μὴ προενέγκῃς αὐτὰ διὰ ῥημάτων· ἔασον κάτω κεῖσθαι, καὶ ταχέως ἀποπνίγονται. Ἄνθρωποί ἐσμεν, πολλὰ πολλάκις πονηρὰ βουλευόμενοι καὶ ἄτοπα καὶ αἰσχρὰ βουλεύματα· ἀλλὰ μὴ συγχωρῶμεν εἰς ῥήματα τὰ νοήματα προελθεῖν, ἵνα πιεζόμενα κάτω ἀσθενέστερα γίνηται καὶ ἀπολλύηται. Καθάπερ γὰρ θηρία τις παντοδαπὰ καὶ ἀνήμερα εἰς λάκκον ἐμβαλὼν, ἂν μὲν ἐμφράξῃ τὸν λάκκον ἄνωθεν, ἀποπνίγει ῥᾳδίως· ἂν δὲ διέξοδόν τινα καὶ ἀναπνοὴν παράσχῃ μικρὰν, πολλὴν αὐτοῖς δίδωσι τὴν παραμυθίαν, καὶ οὐκ ἀφίησιν ἀπολέσθαι, ἀλλ' ἐκθηριοῖ μειζόνως· οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν λογισμῶν γίνεται τῶν πονηρῶν, ὅταν τεχθῶσιν ἔνδον, ἂν μὲν ἀποκλείσωμεν αὐτῶν τὴν εἰς τὰ ἔξω πρόοδον, ταχέως αὐτοὺς ἀφανίζομεν· ἂν δὲ διὰ τῶν ῥημάτων αὐτοὺς ἐξενέγκωμεν, κἀκείνους ἰσχυροτέρους εἰργασάμεθα, δόντες ἀναπνεῦσαι διὰ τῆς γλώττης αὐτοῖς, καὶ πρὸς τὰ τῶν ἀτόπων πράξεων βάραθρα ταχέως ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν αἰσχρῶν ῥημάτων μελέτης καταπίπτομεν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὁ προφήτης οὐχ ἁπλῶς τάφον ἐκάλεσεν, ἀλλὰ Τάφον ἀνεῳγμένον, αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἐγκαλῶν ὅπερ εἶπον. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἑαυτὸν αἰσχύνει μόνον ὁ τὰ αἰσχρὰ φθεγγόμενος ῥήματα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς πλησίον, καὶ τοὺς συγγινομένους αὐτῷ πολλῆς ἀναπίμπλησι τῆς λύμης. Καὶ καθάπερ εἰ τοὺς τάφους ἀνοίξομεν, λοιμοῦ τὰς πόλεις ἐμπλήσομεν· οὕτω τὰ αἰσχρὰ στόματα εἰ μετὰ ἀδείας ἀνοίγοιτο, τοὺς συγγινομένους ἅπαντας νόσου χαλεπωτάτης ἐμπλήσει. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο χρὴ θύραν καὶ μοχλὸν καὶ χαλινὸν ἐπιθεῖναι τῷ στόματι. Ὅτι μὲν οὖν μία φωνὴ ἦν τότε, ἱκανῶς ἐκ τούτων ἡμῖν ἀποδέδεικται· λοιπὸν δὲ ἀναγκαῖον εἰπεῖν, τίνος ἕνεκεν αἱ πολλαὶ ἐπεισήχθησαν. Ἀλλὰ τέως τὸν ἠθικώτερον γυμνάσωμεν λόγον· παιδεύσωμεν τὴν ἡμετέραν γλῶτταν χαλινὸν ἔχειν, καὶ μὴ πάντα ἁπλῶς ἐκφέρειν τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς διανοίας· μὴ κακηγορεῖν τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς, μὴ ἀλλήλους δάκνειν καὶ κατεσθίειν. Τῶν δακνόντων τὰ σώματα χείρους εἰσὶν οἱ διὰ λόγων τοῦτο ποιοῦντες. 56.188 Ἐκεῖνοι τοῖς ὀδοῦσι δάκνουσι τὸ σῶμα, οὗτος τοῖς λόγοις δάκνει τὴν ψυχὴν, τιτρώσκει τὴν ὑπόληψιν, ἀνίατον ποιεῖ τὸ τραῦμα. ∆ιόπερ μείζονα ἐκδέξεται κόλασιν καὶ τιμωρίαν,