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And you shall swear: As the Lord lives, with truth. Let no one take from this a pretext for an oath, but let him hear the Gospel, that You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely;’ But I say to you, do not swear at all. Before this, these things were said to the foolish, to those led forth from idols, not to those who philosophize, not to those who touch the heavens, not to those who are coming to maturity. Thus says the Lord to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. For the security of a city is not the harmony of its construction, nor the size of its stones, but the virtue of its inhabitants. Just as, therefore, the betrayal of a city is not the decay of its buildings, but the wickedness of its citizens. Break up new ground for yourselves, and do not sow among thorns. From the experience of agricultural matters the prophet commands what should happen to souls, which, through much idleness in past time, have brought forth much wickedness and unfruitful works, he exhorts them to partake of the plow of the word. For it is not divine to simply receive the seed, without first casting out the thorns; therefore he says, "Turn away from evil, and do good." Cultivate, he says, our souls, pull up by the root the memory of idols, for these he calls thorns; that is, remove the idols, and so approach God, coming to the temple. He took this also from a metaphor of farmers. Therefore, "Do not sow among thorns," that is, Do not enter the temple while practicing idolatry. Be circumcised to your God, and circumcise the hardness of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Is he speaking, then, about this circumcision? Not at all, but about that of the soul. Therefore that circumcision is not to God; for he would not have said, "Be circumcised to God." And yet someone might say that we are circumcised; for how could it not be His? I do not want 64.796 the circumcision performed by another, but that done by ourselves, of which each one is lord. That one is done by another, and is done in the body; this one is not. Do you see that the old one was a condescension? For he would not have said "to your God," unless he were making it clear that that one is not to God, for what benefit toward virtue is that one? What does the Jew say here? Do you see that the law hints at something else? and that it is not sufficient in itself to save, if such is the circumcision? So with the doors of the New being gently opened, you see the old itself being worked out by itself. Paul did not speak about this, O Jew, Peter did not legislate it; Jeremiah said it, whom you still handle even now. I do not bring these things to you from our books; from ours rather, than yours; for both those of the New are no less ours rather than yours, and those of the Old are no less foreign to you; just as you disbelieve those, so also these; So that the Jew has fallen from both, but we hold to both; for in both is the spirit. Then he teaches what the circumcision of God is. And to circumcise the hardness of our heart. He clearly taught that the visible circumcision is a type of the hidden one, and that when the inner one is present, that of the body is superfluous. Starting from this, the divine Apostle wrote to the Romans: "For a Jew is not one who is so outwardly, nor is circumcision something outward in the flesh, but a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter, whose praise is not from men but from God." For he heard God saying through the prophet: Be circumcised to your God, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Lest my wrath go forth like fire, and it will burn, and there will be no one to quench it, because of the wickedness of our practices. He speaks in a human manner, wishing to instruct them; for which reason he often hangs fear over them, and there will be no one to quench this terrible thing. For since they often had their hopes in his philanthropy, he takes away this comfort.

*But to those who do not

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Καὶ ὀμόσῃ· Ζῇ Κύριος, μετὰ ἀληθείας. Μηδεὶς ἐντεῦθεν λαμβανέτω πρόφασιν

ὅρκου, ἀλλ' ἀκουέτω τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου, ὅτι Ἠκούσατε, ὅτι ἐῤῥέθη τοῖς ἀρχαίοις· Οὐκ ἐπιορκήσεις· Ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν, μὴ ὀμόσαι ὅλως. Πρὸ τούτου ταῦτα ἐλέγετο τοῖς ἀνοήτοις, τοῖς ἐξ εἰδώλων προαγομένοις, οὐχὶ τοῖς φιλοσοφοῦσιν, οὐχὶ τοῖς ἁπτομένοις τῶν οὐρανῶν, οὐχὶ τοῖς εἰς ἄνδρα τελοῦσιν. Τάδε λέγει Κύριος τοῖς ἀνδράσιν Ἰούδα, καὶ τοῖς κατοικοῦσιν Ἱερουσαλήμ. Ἀσφάλεια γὰρ πόλεως, οὐκ οἰκοδομῆς ἁρμονία, οὐδὲ λίθων μέγεθος, ἀλλ' ἡ τῶν ἐνοικούντων ἀρετή. Ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ προδοσία πόλεως οὐκ οἰκοδομημάτων σαθρότης, ἀλλ' ἡ τῶν πολιτῶν φαυλότης. Νεώσατε ἑαυτοῖς νεώματα, καὶ μὴ σπείρητε ἐπ' ἀκάνθαις. Ἐκ τῆς πείρας τῶν γεωργικῶν ὁ προφήτης παραγγέλλει γίνεσθαι ἐπὶ τῶν ψυχῶν, ἃς ὑπὸ πολλῆς ἀργίας ἐν τῷ παρελθόντι χρόνῳ, πολλὴν ἐξενεγκούσας κακίαν, καὶ ἔργα ἄκαρπα, τῷ ἀρότρῳ τοῦ λόγου μετασχεῖν παρακελεύεται. Οὐ γάρ ἐστι θεῖον ἁπλῶς δέξασθαι σπόρον, μὴ πρότερον τὰς ἀκάνθας ἐκβαλόντα· διό φησιν, Ἔκκλινον ἀπὸ κακοῦ, καὶ ποίησον ἀγαθόν. Γεωργήσατε, φησὶ, τὰς ἡμετέρας ψυχὰς, πρόῤῥιζον ἀνασπάσατε τῶν εἰδώλων τὴν μνήμην, ταῦτα γὰρ ἀκάνθας καλεῖ· τουτέστιν, ἐξάρατε τὰ εἴδωλα, καὶ οὕτω τῷ Θεῷ προσέρχεσθε, εἰς τὸν ναὸν ἀφικνούμενοι. Ἔλαβε δὲ καὶ αὐτὸ ἐκ μεταφορᾶς τῶν γεωργῶν. Τὸ οὖν· Μὴ σπείρητε ἐπ' ἀκάνθαις, τουτέστιν, Μὴ εἰδωλολατροῦντες εἰσέρχεσθαι εἰς τὸν ναόν. Περιτμήθητε τῷ Θεῷ ὑμῶν, καὶ περιτέμνεσθε τὴν σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶν, ἄνδρες Ἰούδα, καὶ οἱ κατοικοῦντες Ἱερουσαλήμ. Ἆρα περὶ ταύτης λέγει τῆς περιτομῆς; Οὐδαμῶς, ἀλλὰ περὶ τῆς κατὰ ψυχήν. Ἄρα ἐκείνη οὐ τῷ Θεῷ ἐστιν ἡ περιτομή· οὐ γὰρ ἂν εἶπεν, Τῷ Θεῷ περιτμήθητε. Καὶ μὴν εἶπεν ἄν τις ὅτι περιτεμνόμεθα· πῶς γὰρ ἂν αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἂν εἴη; Οὐ βούλομαι 64.796 τὴν παρ' ἑτέρου γινομένην περιτομὴν, ἀλλὰ τὴν παρ' ἡμῶν αὐτῶν, ἧς ἕκαστός ἐστι Κύριος. Ἐκείνη παρ' ἑτέρου γίνεται, καὶ ἐν σώματι γίγνεται· αὕτη οὐχί. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι συγκαταβάσεως ἦν ἡ παλαιά; Οὐ γὰρ ἂν εἶπεν τῷ Θεῷ ὑμῶν, εἰ μὴ ἐδήλου, ὅτι ἐκείνη, οὐ τῷ Θεῷ, τί γὰρ ὄφελος εἰς ἀρετὴν ἐκείνη; Τί ἐνταῦθά φησιν ὁ Ἰουδαῖος; Ὁρᾷς ὅτι ὁ νόμος ἄλλο τι αἰνίττεται; καὶ οὐκ ἔστι καθ' ἑαυτὸν ἱκανὸς σῶσαι, εἴγε τοιαύτη ἡ περιτομή; Ἄρα τῆς Καινῆς ἠρέμα παρανοιγομένης τὰς θύρας· ὁρᾷς τὴν παλαιὰν αὐτὴν ὑφ' ἑαυτῆς κατεργουμένην. Οὐκ εἶπε Παῦλος περὶ τούτου, Ἰουδαῖε, οὐκ ἐνομοθέτησε Πέτρος· Ἱερεμίας εἶπεν, ὃν περιέπεις ἔτι καὶ νῦν. Οὐκ ἐκ τῶν ἡμετέρων ταῦτα προφέρω σοι βιβλίων· ἐκ τῶν ἡμετέρων μᾶλλον, ἢ σῶν· καὶ γὰρ καὶ τὰ τῆς Καινῆς οὐχ ἧττον ἡμέτερα μᾶλλον ἢ σὰ, καὶ τὰ τῆς Παλαιᾶς οὐχ ἧττον ἀλλότριά σου· ὥσπερ ἐκείνοις ἀπιστεῖς οὕτω, καὶ τούτοις· Ὥστε ὁ μὲν Ἰουδαῖος ἀμφοτέρων ἐκπέπτωκεν, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀμφοτέρων ἐχόμεθα· ἐν γὰρ ἀμφοτέραις τὸ πνεῦμα. Εἶτα διδάσκει ὁποία τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ περιτομή. Καὶ περιτεμεῖσθαι τὴν σκληροκαρδίαν ἡμῶν. Σαφῶς ἐδίδαξεν ὡς ἡ φαινομένη περιτομὴ τύπος τῆς κεκρυμμένης ἐστὶν, καὶ ὅτι τῆς ἔνδον οὔσης περιττὴ ἡ τοῦ σώματος. Ἐντεῦθεν ὁρμώμενος ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος Ῥωμαίοις γέγραφεν· Οὐ γὰρ ὁ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ Ἰουδαῖός ἐστιν, οὐδὲ ἡ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ ἐν σαρκὶ περιτομὴ, ἀλλ' ὁ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ Ἰουδαῖος, καὶ περιτομὴ καρδίας ἐν πνεύματι, οὐ γράμματι, οὗ ὁ ἔπαινος οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλ' ἐκ Θεοῦ. Ἤκουσε γὰρ τοῦ Θεοῦ διὰ τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος· Περιτμήθητε τῷ Θεῷ ὑμῶν, ἄνδρες Ἰούδα, καὶ οἱ κατοικοῦντες Ἱερουσαλήμ. Μὴ ἐξέλθῃ ὡς πῦρ ὁ θυμός μου, καὶ καυθήσεται, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ὁ σβεννύων ἀπὸ προσώπου πονηρίας ἐπιτηδευμάτων ἡμῶν. Ἀνθρωπίνως διαλέγεται, βουλόμενος αὐτοὺς παιδεῦσαι· διὸ πολλάκις ἐπικρεμνᾷ τὸν φόβον αὐτοῖς, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ὁ σβέσων τὸ δεινὸν τοῦτο. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ πολλάκις εἰς τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν αὐτοῦ τὰς ἐλπίδας εἶχον, ἀναιρεῖ ταύτην τὴν παραμυθίαν. *Τοῖς δὲ μὴ