John Chrysostom, Against the Jews

the fulfillment of their works to happen for them. Therefore, we too, imitating these, many days beforehand are securing your souls, exhorting 48.873 you to flee this accursed and lawless fast. For do not say this to me: that they are fasting, but show me this, whether they do this according to the will of God; for if this is not the case, their fast is more lawless than any drunkenness. For one must not only consider what is done by them, but also seek out the cause of what is being done. For that which is done according to the will of God, even if it seems to be evil, is the best of all things; but that which is against His will and does not seem good to Him, even if it is thought to be the best, is the most evil and lawless of all. Even if someone kills according to the will of God, the killing is better than any philanthropy; and if someone spares and acts with philanthropy contrary to what seems good to Him, that act of sparing would be more unholy than any murder. For it is not the nature of things, but the decrees of God that make the same things good and evil. 2. And so that you may learn that this is true, listen: Ahab once captured a certain king of the Syrians, and contrary to what seemed good to God, he saved him, and made him enjoy a seat of honor, and sent him away with great honor. Then a certain prophet came and said to his neighbor: In the word of the Lord, strike me. And the man was not willing to strike him. And he said to him: Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, you are departing from me, and a lion will strike you. And he went away from him, and a lion found him, and struck him. And he finds another man, and said: Strike me. And the man struck him, and wounded him, and he bound up his own face. What could be more paradoxical than this? He who struck the prophet was saved, and he who spared him was punished, so that you may learn that when God commands, one must not scrutinize the nature of what is being done, but only obey. For so that the first man might not spare him out of reverence for the prophet, he did not simply say to him, ‘Strike me,’ but, ‘In the word of the Lord;’ that is, God commanded it, seek nothing further; it is a king who legislates; reverence the dignity of the one commanding, and obey with all eagerness. But he did not endure it; for this reason he suffered the ultimate penalty, exhorting those after him through what he suffered, to yield and obey in all things whatever God may command. Then, after that second one had struck him and wounded him, he bound his own head with a bandage, and covered his eyes, and made himself unrecognizable. For what reason, then, did he do this? He was about to rebuke the king, and to pass sentence against him, because of the salvation of the king of the Syrians. Since, therefore, that man, being impious, was always hostile toward the prophets, so that he might not, on seeing his face, drive him away, and then, having driven him away, not receive the correction, he conceals both his own face and the narrative of the event, so as to prevail by speaking, and to get the king to agree in the things he wished. For when the king was passing by, he cried out 48.874 to him and said: Your servant went out to the campaign of the war, and behold, a man brought a man to me, and said to me: Guard this man for me; and it shall be that if he by any means escape, your life shall be for his life, or you will pay a talent of silver. And it happened as your servant was looking this way and that, behold, he was not there. And the king of Israel said to him: Behold, you are a judge in my sight; you have committed murder. And he hurried, and took the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him, that he was from the sons of the prophets, and he said to him: Thus says the Lord: Because you have sent a man doomed to destruction out of your hand, your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people. Do you see how not only God, but also men hold this judgment, not paying attention to the nature of the things, but to the end and the causes? Behold, at any rate, the king also says to him: You are a judge in my sight; you have committed murder. You are a murderer, he says, because the

αὐτοῖς γενέσθαι τὴν τῶν ἔργων ἐκπλήρωσιν. Τούτους δὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς μιμούμενοι, πρὸ πολλῶν τῶν ἡμέρων τὰς ὑμετέρας ἀσφαλιζόμεθα ψυχὰς, παρακα48.873 λοῦντες ὑμᾶς, τὴν ἐναγῆ καὶ παράνομον ταύτην φεύγειν νηστείαν. Μὴ γάρ μοι τοῦτο εἴπῃς. ὅτι νηστεύουσιν, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνό μοι δεῖξον, εἰ κατὰ γνώμην τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦτο ποιοῦσιν· ὡς ἂν μὴ τοῦτο ᾖ, μέθης πάσης ἐστὶν ἡ νηστεία παρανομωτέρα. Οὐ γὰρ τὸ πραττόμενον ὑπ' αὐτῶν χρὴ σκοπεῖν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τῶν γινομένων ἐπιζητεῖν. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ κατὰ γνώμην τοῦ Θεοῦ γινόμενον, κἂν φαῦλον εἶναι δοκῇ, πάντων ἐστὶν ἄριστον· τὸ δὲ παρὰ γνώμην καὶ μὴ δοκοῦν ἐκείνῳ, κἂν ἄριστον εἶναι νομίζηται, πάντων ἐστὶ φαυλότατον καὶ παρανομώτατον. Κἂν φονεύσῃ τις κατὰ γνώμην τοῦ Θεοῦ, φιλανθρωπίας ἁπάσης βελτίων ἐστὶν ὁ φόνος· κἂν φείσηταί τις καὶ φιλανθρωπεύσηται παρὰ τὸ δοκοῦν ἐκείνῳ, φόνου παντὸς ἀνοσιωτέρα γένοιτ' ἂν ἡ φειδώ. Οὐ γὰρ ἡ φύσις τῶν πραγμάτων, ἀλλ' αἱ τοῦ Θεοῦ ψῆφοι καλὰ καὶ φαῦλα εἶναι τὰ αὐτὰ ποιοῦσι. βʹ. Καὶ ἵνα μάθῃς ὅτι τοῦτό ἐστιν ἀληθὲς, ἄκουσον· βασιλέα τινά ποτε τῶν Σύρων λαβὼν ὁ Ἀχαὰβ, παρὰ τὸ τῷ Θεῷ δοκοῦν αὐτὸν ἔσωσε, καὶ προσεδρίας ἀπολαῦσαι ἐποίησε, καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς ἀπέπεμψε τῆς τιμῆς. Εἶτα προφήτης τις παραγενόμενος εἶπε πρὸς τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ· Ἐν λόγῳ Κυρίου πάταξον δή με. Καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος πατάξαι αὐτόν. Καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτόν· Ἀνθ' ὧν οὐχ ὑπήκουσας τῆς φωνῆς Κυρίου, ἰδοὺ σὺ ἀποτρέχεις ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, καὶ πατάξει σε ὁ λέων. Καὶ ἀπῆλθεν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ εὗρεν αὐτὸν ὁ λέων, καὶ ἐπάταξεν αὐτόν. Καὶ εὑρίσκει ἄνθρωπον ἄλλον, καὶ εἶπε· Πάταξον δή με. Καὶ ἐπάταξεν αὐτὸν ὁ ἄνθρωπος, καὶ συνέτριψεν αὐτὸν, καὶ κατεδήσατο τὸ πρόσωπον ἑαυτοῦ. Τί τούτου γένοιτ' ἂν παραδοξότερον; Ὁ τυπτήσας τὸν προφήτην ἐσώθη, καὶ ὁ φεισάμενος ἐκολάζετο, ἵνα μάθῃς ὅτι Θεοῦ προστάττοντος οὐ δεῖ περιεργάζεσθαι τὴν φύσιν τῶν γινομένων, ἀλλὰ πείθεσθαι μόνον. Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ τὸν προφήτην αἰδεσθεὶς φείσηται ὁ πρότερος, οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Πάταξόν με, ἀλλ', Ἐν λόγῳ Κυρίου· τουτέστιν, Ὁ Θεὸς ἐπέταξε, μηδὲν περαιτέρω ζήτει· βασιλεύς ἐστιν ὁ νομοθετῶν· αἰδέσθητι τοῦ κελεύοντος τὸ ἀξίωμα, καὶ μετὰ πάσης ὑπάκουε τῆς προθυμίας. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἠνέσχετο· διὰ τοῦτο δίκην ἔδωκε τὴν ἐσχάτην, τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα δι' ὧν ἔπαθε παραινῶν, ἅπερ ἂν ὁ Θεὸς ἐπιτάξῃ, πάντα εἴκειν καὶ πείθεσθαι. Εἶτα ἐπειδὴ ἐπάταξεν αὐτὸν ὁ δεύτερος ἐκεῖνος καὶ συνέτριψε, περιέδησε τὴν κεφαλὴν ἑαυτοῦ τελαμῶνι, καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀπέκρυψε, καὶ ἄδηλον ἑαυτὸν κατέστησε. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν τοῦτο ἐποίησεν; Ἔμελλεν ἐλέγχειν τὸν βασιλέα, καὶ καταψηφίζεσθαι κατ' αὐτοῦ, διὰ τὴν σωτηρίαν τοῦ Σύρων βασιλέως. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἀεὶ πρὸς τοὺς προφήτας ἀπεχθῶς εἶχεν ἐκεῖνος, ἀσεβὴς ὢν, ἵνα μὴ ἰδὼν αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τῆς ὄψεως ἀπελάσῃ, εἶτα ἀπελάσας μὴ δέξηται τὴν διόρθωσιν, κρύπτει καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τὴν τοῦ πράγματος διήγησιν, ὥστε καὶ περιγενέσθαι λέγων, καὶ ἐν οἷς ἐβούλετο ἐκεῖνον συνομολογοῦντα λαβεῖν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὁ βασιλεὺς παρεπορεύετο, ἐβόησε 48.874 πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ εἶπεν· Ὁ δοῦλός σου ἐξῆλθεν ἐπὶ τὴν στρατείαν τοῦ πολέμου, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἀνὴρ εἰσήγαγεν ἄνδρα πρός με, καὶ εἶπέ μοι· Φύλαξόν μοι τοῦτον· καὶ ἔσται ἐὰν ἐκπηδῶν ἐκπηδήσῃ, ἔσται ἡ ψυχή σου ἀντὶ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ, ἢ τάλαντον ἀργυρίου τίσῃ. Καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ὁ δοῦλός σου περιεβλέπετο ὧδε καὶ ὧδε· καὶ ἰδοὺ αὐτὸς οὐκ ἦν. Καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἰσραήλ· Ἰδοὺσὺ δικαστὴς παρ' ἐμοί· ἐφόνευσας. Καὶ ἔσπευσε, καὶ ἀφεῖλε τὸν τελαμῶνα ἀπὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπέγνω αὐτὸν ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἰσραὴλ, ὅτι ἀπὸ τῶν υἱῶν τῶν προφητῶν οὗτος, καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτόν· Τάδε λέγει Κύριος· Ὅτι ἐξαπέστειλας σὺ ἄνδρα ὀλέθριον ἐκ τῆς χειρός σου, ἡ ψυχή σου ἀντὶ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὁ λαός σου ἀντὶ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ. Ὁρᾷς πῶς οὐχ ὁ Θεὸς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ ἄνθρωποι ταύτην ἔχουσι τὴν ψῆφον, οὐ τῇ φύσει τῶν πραγμάτων προσέχοντες, ἀλλὰ τῷ τέλει καὶ ταῖς αἰτίαις; Ἰδοὺ γοῦν καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς αὐτῷ φησιν· ∆ικαστὴς σὺ παρ' ἐμοί· ἐφόνευσας. Ἀνδροφόνος εἶ, φησὶν, ἐπειδὴ τὸν