Commentarium in evangelium matthaei

 Angels of god may gather up the evil doctrines attached to the soul and hand them over for consumption, overturning them with what is called burning f

 He did not speak to them», and not to the crowds when he came «into the house» does he speak, but to the disciples who came to him in it, it is clear

 They have sold their possessions, so that, by having sold and given those things away and in exchange for them having received from god a good purpose

 In the strait, not in the pinnae, which is a kind of pearl-bearing shell, but in those called mussels. and for these, i mean those of the bosphorus, t

 Of christ” one might be able to attain, having been first exercised in the, so to speak, knowledges which are surpassed by the knowledge of christ. bu

 Of bad kinds, as among fish, to the fine ones, or from the better to the worse, but among men, the just or the wicked can always be seen either reachi

 The calling from every kind of nation. and those who served the net cast into the sea are the lord of the net, jesus christ, and the angels who came a

 You will know that i the lord have poured out my wrath upon you.” 10.14 have you understood all these things? they say, yes (13, 51[52]). christ jesus

 Of the heavens is within you, and especially through the repentance from the letter to the spirit, because whenever someone turns to the lord, th

 Might make him like himself, until the disciple becomes as the teacher, imitating first the imitator of christ, and after this one, also <τὸν> chris

 He was doing greater things than those in the time of elijah and elisha, and even before, in the time of moses and joshua son of nun. but those who ma

 For they consider judea their homeland and that israel their kinsmen, and perhaps the body their house for all were dishonored in judea by the israel

 Paying attention, if on account of living very intensely and reproving those who sin he should be hated and plotted against, as one persecuted and rev

 Baptist (14, 1. 2[-11]). and thus in mark and thus in luke. the jews held different opinions concerning these matters, some false, such as the sadduce

 He passed over in silence in his histories. 10.21 the text of matthew has it thus: for herod, having seized john, bound him in prison. concerning thes

 Free among the dead.” “for though he was crucified through weakness, yet he lives by the power of god.” furthermore, behold the people among whom clea

 Into the desert, was in it, because his word and teaching were peculiar compared to what was customary and established among the gentiles. and the cro

 To give the loaves of the blessing to the disciples, so that they might set them before the crowds, he healed the sick, so that having been made wel

 The disciples say they have five loaves and the two fish in matthew and mark and luke, without noting whether they were of wheat or of barley but joh

 “all flesh is grass,” that is, to make the flesh subject and to subordinate “the mind of the flesh,” so that in this way one might be able to partake

 Of those who come to the name of jesus, those who know “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” might be called disciples but those to whom such a th

 Jesus [compelled] the disciples to get in, or perhaps the struggle of temptations and circumstances, into which one is compelled by the word and, as i

 To lead us to the other side. for it is not possible to reach the other side without having endured the trials of waves and a contrary wind. then, whe

 Having sent them, since they were not able, on account of being very ill, to approach on their own, and they did not themselves touch the fringe, as t

 Jesus does not accuse them concerning a tradition of the jewish elders, but concerning two of the most necessary commandments of god, of which the one

 By the name of the treasury wishes to give to the poor rather than to the relatives of the givers, if they happen to be in need of necessities and the

 The hidden things. and all these words will be to you like the words of the sealed book, which if they give it to a man who knows letters, saying, ‘re

 For which things the carnal jews and the ebionites who differ little from them accuse us of breaking the law, for not thinking that the obvious meanin

 Drink” and the rest, teaching us that the things according to the letter are a shadow, but the true meanings of the law underlying these are good thin

 Guides of the blind. who then? the pharisees, whose 'minds the god of this age has blinded,' being 'unbelievers' because they had not believed in jesu

 What enters into the mouth goes into the stomach and is cast out into the latrine, and the food that is sanctified through the word of god and prayer

 And jesus went out from there and withdrew into the region of tyre and sidon, and behold a canaanite woman (15, 21. 22 [-28]). from where there? or fr

 To see the difference of those who approach, who approach him, as it were, as the one who was made “of the seed of david according to the flesh,” and

 He answered and said: it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs. one might inquire into the meaning of this saying,

 Blind in soul and not seeing the true light, and others lame and not able to walk according to reason, and others maimed and not able to work accord

 Of the loaves (jesus) went out and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion for them and healed their sick. and when it was evening, the

 To her “o woman, great is your faith let it be to you as you desire,” he healed her daughter “from that hour,” yet it is not written that he sent he

the disciples say they have five loaves and the two fish in Matthew and Mark and Luke, without noting whether they were of wheat or of barley; but John alone said the loaves were of barley, for which reason perhaps the disciples do not confess having them themselves in John's gospel, but say in him that 'There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two small fish.' And as long as these five loaves and two fish were not brought by the disciples to Jesus, they did not increase nor multiply nor were they able to feed many; but when the Savior took them, first he looked up to heaven, with the rays of his eyes as it were drawing down power from there, which was to be mixed with the loaves and the fish, about to feed the five thousand, and after this he blessed the five loaves and the two fish, by his word and blessing increasing and multiplying them, and third, dividing and breaking them, he gave them to the disciples, so that they might set them before the crowds, then the loaves and the fish were sufficient, so that all ate and were satisfied and there was not room to eat some of the blessed loaves. For so much was left over for the crowds which was not according to the crowds, but according to the disciples who were able to take up the leftover of the fragments and put them into baskets filled with the leftovers, being as many in number as the tribes of Israel. Therefore, concerning Joseph it is written in the Psalms: 'His hands served in the basket,' but concerning the disciples of Jesus, that the twelve took up the leftover of the fragments, I think, twelve baskets not half-full, but full. And they are, I think, until now and until the consummation of the age, the twelve full baskets of the fragments of the living bread, which the crowds are not able to eat, with the disciples of Jesus who are greater than the crowds. And those eating from the five loaves before the twelve baskets of leftovers were related to the number five, having reached as far as the sensible things, and for this reason five thousand; or also those who ate reached as far as the sensible things, since these too were fed by the one who looked up to heaven and blessed and broke them, and not children nor women, but men. For there are also, I think, differences in sensible foods, so that some of them are for those who have done away with 'the things of a child,' and some are for those still childish and carnal 'in Christ.' 11.3 And these things have been said by us on account of 'those eating were five thousand men, apart from children and women'; which is ambiguous: for either those who ate were five thousand men and there was no child or woman among those eating, or that there were five thousand men alone, with neither children nor women being counted. Some, therefore, as we have already said, have understood it this way, that neither children nor women were present for what had been increased and multiplied from the five loaves and the two fish. But one might say that, with many eating and partaking of the loaves of blessing according to their worth and ability, those worthy of being numbered—analogous to the twenty-year-old Israelites counted in the book of Numbers—were men; but those not worthy of such an account and number were children and women. Interpret allegorically for me also the children according to 'I could not speak to you as to spiritual men but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ,' and the women according to 'for I want to present you all as a pure virgin to Christ,' and the men according to 'when I became a man, I did away with the things of a child.' Let us not pass over then unexplained also the 'having commanded the crowds to recline on the grass, taking the five loaves and the two fish, looking up to heaven he blessed, and breaking he gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds. And they all ate.' For what does 'and having commanded all the crowds to recline on the grass' mean, and what is worthy of the command of Jesus to understand in this passage? But I think that he commanded the crowds to recline on the grass on account of what was said in Isaiah

πέντε ἄρτους καὶ τοὺς δύο ἰχθύας οἱ μαθηταὶ λέγουσιν ἔχειν παρὰ τῷ Ματθαίῳ καὶ τῷ Μάρκῳ καὶ τῷ Λουκᾷ, οὔθ' ὅτι πύρινοι οὔθ' ὅτι κρίθινοι ἦσαν ὑποσημειωσάμενοι· ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης μόνος κριθίνους εἶπεν εἶναι τοὺς ἄρτους, διὸ τάχα οὐδὲ οἱ μαθηταὶ ὁμολογοῦσιν <ἔχειν> αὐτοὺς παρ' ἑαυτοῖς ἐν τῷ τοῦ Ἰωάννου εὐαγγελίῳ, ἀλλὰ λέγουσι παρ' αὐτῷ ὅτι «ἔστι παιδάριον ὧδε ὃς ἔχει πέντε ἄρτους κριθίνους καὶ δύο ὀψάρια». Καὶ ὅσον μὲν οἱ πέντε ἄρτοι οὗτοι καὶ οἱ δύο ἰχθύες οὐκ ἐφέροντο ὑπὸ τῶν μαθητῶν τῷ Ἰησοῦ, οὐκ ηὔξανον οὐδὲ ἐπλήθυνον οὐδὲ ἐδύναντο τρέφειν πλείονας· ὅτε δὲ λαβὼν αὐτοὺς ὁ σωτὴρ πρῶτον ἀνέβλεψεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, ταῖς ἀκτῖσι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτοῦ οἱονεὶ καταβιβάζων δύναμιν ἐκεῖθεν, τὴν ἀνακραθησομένην τοῖς ἄρτοις καὶ τοῖς ἰχθύσι, μέλλουσι τρέφειν τοὺς πεντακισχιλίους, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ηὐλόγησε τοὺς πέντε ἄρτους καὶ τοὺς δύο ἰχθύας, τῷ λόγῳ καὶ τῇ εὐλογίᾳ αὔξων καὶ πληθύνων αὐτούς, καὶ τρίτον μερίζων καὶ κλῶν ἔδωκε τοῖς μαθηταῖς, ἵν' ἐκεῖνοι τοῖς ὄχλοις παραθῶσι, τότε διήρκεσαν οἱ ἄρτοι καὶ οἱ ἰχθύες, ὡς φαγεῖν πάντας καὶ κορεσθῆναι καί τινας τῶν εὐλογηθέντων ἄρτων μὴ χωρῆσαι φαγεῖν. Ἐπερίσσευσε γὰρ τοῖς ὄχλοις τοσαῦτα ἃ κατὰ μὲν τοὺς ὄχλους οὐκ ἦν, κατὰ δὲ τοὺς δυναμένους μαθητὰς ἆραι τὸ περισσεῦον τῶν κλασμάτων καὶ ἀποθέσθαι εἰς κοφίνους πληρουμένους τῶν περισσευμάτων, ὄντας τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοσούτους ὅσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Περὶ μὲν οὖν τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ ἐν Ψαλμοῖς γέγραπται· «Αἱ χεῖρες αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ κοφίνῳ ἐδούλευσαν», περὶ δὲ τῶν Ἰησοῦ μαθητῶν ὅτι ἦραν τὸ περισσεῦον τῶν κλασμάτων οἱ δώδεκα, οἶμαι, δώδεκα κοφίνους οὐχ ἡμιτελεῖς, ἀλλὰ πλήρεις. Καί εἰσιν, οἶμαι, μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο καὶ ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος οἱ πλήρεις κόφινοι δώδεκα τῶν κλασμάτων ἄρτου ζῶντος, οὓς μὴ δύνανται οἱ ὄχλοι ἐσθίειν, παρὰ τοῖς τῶν ὄχλων κρείττοσι μαθηταῖς τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. Ἦσαν δὲ οἱ ἐσθίοντες ἀπὸ τῶν πέντε ἄρτων τῶν πρὸ τῶν περισσευσάντων κοφίνων δώδεκα συγγενεῖς τῷ πέντε ἀριθμῷ μέχρι τῶν αἰσθητῶν φθάσαντες καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πεντακισχίλιοι· ἢ καὶ μέχρι τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἔφθασαν οἱ φαγόντες, ἐπεὶ καὶ οὗτοι ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀναβλέψαντος εἰς οὐρανὸν ἐτράφησαν καὶ εὐλογήσαντος καὶ κλάσαντος αὐτούς, καὶ οὐ παῖδες οὐδὲ γυναῖκες, ἀλλ' ἄνδρες. Εἰσὶ γὰρ καὶ ἐν αἰσθηταῖς, οἶμαι, τροφαῖς διαφοραί, ὡς τινὰς μὲν αὐτῶν εἶναι <τῶν> καταργησάντων «τὰ τοῦ νηπίου», τινὰς δὲ τῶν νηπίων ἔτι καὶ σαρκίνων «ἐν Χριστῷ». 11.3 Καὶ ταῦτα δὲ ἡμῖν λέλεκται διὰ τὸ οἱ ἐσθίοντες ἦσαν ἄνδρες πεντακισχίλιοι χωρὶς παιδίων καὶ γυναικῶν· ὅπερ ἀμφίβολόν ἐστιν· ἢ γὰρ οἱ φαγόντες ἦσαν ἄνδρες πεντα κισχίλιοι καὶ οὐδεὶς ἦν ἐν τοῖς ἐσθίουσι παιδίον ἢ γυνή, ἢ ὅτι μόνον ἄνδρες πεντακισχίλιοι ἦσαν μὴ ἀριθμουμένων μήτε παίδων μήτε γυναικῶν. Τινὲς μὲν οὖν, ὡς φθάσαντες εἰρή καμεν, οὕτως ἐξειλήφασιν, ὅτι οὔτε παιδία οὔτε γυναῖκες παρῆσαν τοῖς ηὐξηκόσι καὶ πεπληθυσμένοις ἀπὸ τῶν πέντε ἄρτων καὶ τῶν δύο ἰχθύων. Εἴποι δ' ἄν τις ὅτι, πολλῶν φαγόντων καὶ κατ' ἀξίαν καὶ δύναμιν μετειληφότων ἀπὸ τῶν τῆς εὐλογίας ἄρτων, οἱ μὲν ἀριθμῶν ἄξιοι- ἀνάλογον τοῖς ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ τῶν Ἀριθμῶν ἀριθμηθεῖσιν εἰκοσαετέσιν Ἰσραηλίταις- ἄνδρες ἦσαν· οἱ δὲ μὴ ἄξιοι τηλικούτου λόγου καὶ ἀριθμοῦ παῖδες ἦσαν καὶ γυναῖκες. Τροπολόγει δέ μοι καὶ τοὺς παῖδας κατὰ τὸ «οὐκ ἠδυνήθην ὑμῖν λαλῆσαι ὡς πνευματικοῖς ἀλλ' ὡς σαρκίνοις, ὡς νηπίοις ἐν Χριστῷ», καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας κατὰ τὸ «βούλομαι δὲ τοὺς πάντας ὑμᾶς παρθένον ἁγνὴν παραστῆσαι τῷ Χριστῷ», τοὺς δὲ ἄνδρας κατὰ τὸ «ὅτε γέγονα ἀνήρ, κατήργηκα τὰ τοῦ νηπίου». Μὴ παρέλθωμεν <δὲ> ἀδιήγητον καὶ τὸ κελεύσας τοὺς ὄχλους ἀνακλιθῆναι ἐπὶ τοῦ χόρτου, λαβὼν τοὺς πέντε ἄρτους καὶ τοὺς δύο ἰχθύας, ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ηὐλόγησε, καὶ κλάσας ἔδωκε τοῖς μαθηταῖς τοὺς ἄρτους, οἱ δὲ μαθηταὶ τοῖς ὄχλοις. Καὶ ἔφαγον πάντες. Τί γὰρ σημαίνει τὸ καὶ κελεύσας πάντας τοὺς ὄχλους ἀνακλιθῆναι ἐπὶ τοῦ χόρτου καὶ τί ἄξιόν ἐστι τῆς κελεύσεως Ἰησοῦ νοῆσαι κατὰ τὸν τόπον; Νομίζω δὲ ὅτι τοὺς ὄχλους ἐκέλευσεν ἀνακλιθῆναι ἐν τῷ χόρτῳ διὰ τὸ ἐν Ἡσαΐᾳ λελεγμένον