18. The Saints who fled were no cowards.

Of a truth no one can possibly doubt that they were well furnished with the virtue of fortitude. For the Patriarch Jacob who had before fled from Esau, feared not death when it came, but at that very time blessed the Patriarchs, each according to his deserts. And the great Moses, who previously had hid himself from Pharaoh, and had withdrawn into Midian for fear of him, when he received the commandment, ‘Return into Egypt83    Vid. Ex. iii. 10,’ feared not to do so. And again, when he was bidden to go up into the mountain Abarim84    Deut. xxxii. 49. and die, he delayed not through cowardice, but even joyfully proceeded thither. And David, who had before fled from Saul, feared not to risk his life in war in defence of his people; but having the choice of death or of flight set before him, when he might have fled and lived, he wisely preferred death. And the great Elijah, who had at a former time hid himself from Jezebel, shewed no cowardice when he was commanded by the Spirit to meet Ahab, and to reprove Ahaziah. And Peter, who had hid himself for fear of the Jews, and the Apostle Paul who was let down in a basket, and fled, when they were told, ‘Ye must bear witness at Rome85    Vid. Acts xxiii. 11. [The reference to the Roman martyrdom of the two great Apostles should be noted. The tradition is as old as Clem. Rom.; much older than that of the Roman Episcopate of one of them.],’ deferred not the journey; yea, rather, they departed rejoicing86    Vid. Euseb. Hist. ii. 25.; the one as hastening to meet his friends, received his death with exultation; and the other shrunk not from the time when it came, but gloried in it, saying, ‘For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand87    2 Tim. iv. 6..’

18 Ἀμέλει τοσοῦτον ἦσαν παρεσκευασμένοι πρὸς τὴν τῆς ἀνδρείας ἀρετήν, ὡς μηδὲ τὸν τυχόντα δύνασθαι διστάσαι περὶ τούτου. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ πατριάρχης Ἰακώβ, φεύγων πρότερον τὸν Ἡσαῦ, οὐκ ἐφοβήθη παρόντα τὸν θάνατον, μᾶλλον γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ καιρῷ κατ' ἀξίαν ἕκαστον τῶν πατριαρχῶν ηὐλόγει· ὁ δὲ μέγας Μωσῆς κρυπτόμενος πρὸ τούτου τὸν Φαραὼ καὶ δι' αὐτὸν ἀποδημήσας εἰς Μαδιὰμ ἀκούσας· «ἄπελθε εἰς Αἴγυπτον» οὐκ ἐφοβήθη, πάλιν τε προσταχθείς· «ἀνάβηθι εἰς τὸ ὄρος τὸ Ἀβαρεὶ καὶ τελεύτα» οὐ δειλιάσας ἀπέμεινεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄσμενος ὥρμησεν εἰς αὐτό. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ∆αυὶδ φεύγων πρότερον τὸν Σαούλ, οὐκ ἐφοβεῖτο προκινδυνεύων ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις ὑπὲρ τῶν λαῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ θανάτου καὶ φυγῆς αἵρεσιν ἀκούσας, ἐξὸν αὐτῷ φεύγειν καὶ ζῆν, μᾶλλον εἵλετο τὸν θάνατον ὁ σοφός· ὁ δὲ μέγας Ἠλίας κρυπτόμενος πάλαι τὴν Ἰεζάβελ οὐκ ἐδειλίασεν ἀκούσας παρὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἀπαντῆσαι τῷ Ἀχαὰβ καὶ τὸν Ὀχοζίαν ἐλέγξαι. Πέτρος δὲ ὁ διὰ τὸν φόβον τῶν Ἰουδαίων κρυπτόμενος, καὶ Παῦλος ὁ ἀπόστολος ἐν σαργάνῃ χαλασθεὶς καὶ φυγών, ἀκούσαντες «εἰς Ῥώμην δεῖ ὑμᾶς μαρτυρῆσαι» οὐκ ἀνεβάλοντο τὴν ἀποδημίαν, χαίροντες δὲ μᾶλλον ἀπῆλθον. Καὶ ὁ μέν, ὡς πρὸς τοὺς ἰδίους σπεύδων, ἐγάννυτο σφαζόμενος, ὁ δὲ καὶ παρόντα τὸν καιρὸν οὐ κατέπτησσεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκαυχᾶτο λέγων· «ἐγὼ γὰρ ἤδη σπένδομαι, καὶ ὁ καιρὸς τῆς ἀναλύσεώς μου ἐφέστηκε».