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be strange and unlearned, and something which it is not right to believe of a prophet, nor even of any other of those who have sense, and a moderate perception of God and of His power which is over all.

108. But Jonah knew this better than anyone, says the author of this discourse, and I am persuaded of it, to what end the proclamation was for the Ninevites, and that, in planning his flight, he was changing his place, but not fleeing from God; for neither can any other of mankind, not by hiding himself in the bosom of the earth, nor in the depths of the sea, nor by being lightened with wings, if there were such a device, and soaring into the air, nor by consorting with the lowest regions of Hades, nor by wrapping himself in the thickness of a cloud, nor by devising anything else at all for the security of his flight. But God alone is of all things the most inescapable and unconquerable; when He wishes to seize and to get into His hands, He outstrips the swift, trips up the prudent, overthrows the strong, brings low the exalted, tames boldness, crushes power.

109. Therefore Jonah, who threatened others with the mighty hand of God, was not ignorant of it, nor did he intend to escape the divine power completely; let us not believe this. But since he saw the fall of Israel, and perceived that the prophetic grace was passing over to the Gentiles, for this reason he shrinks from the preaching, and puts off the command; and leaving the watchtower of joy (for this is what Joppa means to the Hebrews), I mean the ancient height and dignity, he cast himself into the sea of grief. And for this reason he is storm-tossed, and sleeps, and is shipwrecked, and is awakened, and is chosen by lot, and confesses his flight, and is cast into the deep, and is swallowed by the whale but not consumed; but there he calls upon God, and, O wonder, after three days is delivered up with Christ. But let the discussion of this wait, to be worked out more diligently a little later, if God grants.

110. But now, as to the point which my discourse was eager to make, it occurs to me to consider and suppose that for him, shrinking from the prophecy for the reason I have given, there was perhaps some room for pardon; but for me, what argument, or what place for apology was left, for being more rebellious, and refusing the yoke of the ministry placed upon me, which I know not whether I should call light or heavy? 35.509

111. For if one were to grant this, which is the only strong argument in this case, that we lie far below the level of ministering to God, and that one ought first to be worthy of the Church, then of the sanctuary, and of this first, then of the presidency; perhaps another will not acquit us of the charge of disobedience. But dire is the threat against disobedience, and dire are its penalties; as indeed are those for the opposite course: to hesitate at nothing, nor to shrink back, nor, like that Saul, to hide oneself among his father's goods, even when called for a little while to leadership, but to advance readily as to some light and easy matter, from which it is not even safe to change one's mind, nor to cure a former decision with a second thought.

112. For this reason I was wearying myself with my thoughts, searching for what was right, and standing between two fears, the one pulling me down and the one drawing me up. And after being long in perplexity about these things, and swaying myself from both sides, or like a current driven this way and that by fickle winds, at last I became the possession of the stronger, and the fear of disobedience, having conquered me, holds and has swept me away. And consider how rightly and justly I arbitrate between the fears, neither to desire the leadership that is not offered, nor to refuse it when it is offered. For the former belongs to the rash, the latter to the disobedient, and both to the uninstructed. And I am a mean between the over-bold and the over-timid; more timid than those who leap at every leadership, more bold than those who flee from every one. This is my judgement on these matters.

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ἄτοπον ᾖ καὶ ἀπαίδευτον, καὶ οὐχ ὅπως περὶ προφήτου πιστεύεσθαι δί καιον, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ περὶ ἄλλου τινὸς τῶν νοῦν ἐχόντων, 35.508 καὶ μετρίως αἰσθανομένων Θεοῦ καὶ τῆς ὑπὲρ πάντα δυνάμεως.

ΡΗʹ. Ἀλλ' ᾔδει μὲν τοῦτο παντὸς μᾶλλον ὁ Ἰωνᾶς, φησὶν ὁ τὸν λόγον εἰπὼν, καὶ ἐγὼ πείθομαι, εἰς ὅ τι ἔφερε τοῖς Νινευΐταις τὸ κήρυγμα, καὶ ὅτι, τὸν δρασμὸν βουλεύων, τόπον μὲν ἤμειβε, Θεὸν δὲ οὐκ ἔφευγεν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἄλλος τις ἀνθρώπων, οὐ γῆς ἑαυτὸν κατακρύψας κόλποις, οὐ θαλάσσης βάθε σιν, οὐ πτεροῖς κουφισθεὶς, εἴ τις ἐπίνοια, καὶ ἀνα δραμὼν εἰς ἀέρα, οὐχ ᾅδου τοῖς κατωτάτω προσ ομιλήσας, οὐ νέφους παχύτητα περιβαλόμενος, οὐκ ἄλλο τῶν ἁπάντων οὐδὲν εἰς ἀσφάλειαν τοῦ δρα σμοῦ βουλευσάμενος· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μόνον τῶν πάντων ἀφευκτότατόν τε καὶ ἀμαχώτατον Θεὸς, κατα σχεῖν καὶ ὑπὸ χεῖρα λαβεῖν θελήσας, φθάνει τοὺς ταχεῖς, σφάλλει τοὺς συνετοὺς, περιτρέπει τοὺς ἰσχυροὺς, συστέλλει τοὺς ὑψηλοὺς, ἡμεροῖ θράσος, πιέζει δύναμιν.

ΡΘʹ. Οὐ τοίνυν ἠγνόει τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν κραταιὰν χεῖρα ὁ τοῖς ἄλλοις ταύτην ἀπειλῶν Ἰωνᾶς, οὐδὲ ὡς φευξόμενος εἰς ἅπαν διενοεῖτο τὸ θεῖον, μὴ τοῦτο πιστεύσωμεν· ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τὴν ἔκπτωσιν ἑώρα τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ μεταβαίνουσαν εἰς τὰ ἔθνη τὴν προφητικὴν χάριν ᾐσθάνετο, διὰ τοῦτο ὑποχωρεῖ τῷ κηρύγματι, καὶ ἀναβάλλεται τὸ ἐπίταγμα· καὶ τὴν κατασκοπὴν τῆς χαρᾶς ἀφεὶς, τοῦτο γὰρ Ἑβραίοις ἡ Ἰόππη δύναται, τὸ παλαιὸν ὕψος λέγω καὶ τὸ ἀξίωμα, εἰς τὸ τῆς λύπης ἑαυτὸν ἔῤῥιψε πέλαγος· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο χειμάζεται, καὶ καθεύδει, καὶ ναυαγεῖ, καὶ ἐξυπνίζεται, καὶ κληροῦται, καὶ ὁμολογεῖ τὴν φυγὴν, καὶ καταποντίζεται, καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ κήτους κα ταπίνεται μὲν, οὐκ ἀναλίσκεται δέ· ἀλλ' ἐκεῖ τὸν Θεὸν ἐπικαλεῖται, καὶ, τὸ θαῦμα, Χριστῷ τριήμερος συνεκδίδοται. Ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν περὶ τούτου λόγος ἀναμει νάτω, μικρὸν ὕστερον, ἂν διδῷ Θεὸς, φιλοπο νώτερον ἐξεργασθησόμενος. ΡΙʹ. Νῦν δὲ ὅ μοι λέγειν ὁ λόγος ὡρμήθη, σκοπεῖν ἔπεισί μοι καὶ ὑπολαμβάνειν, ὅτι ἐκείνῳ μὲν τάχα τι καὶ συγγνώμης ἦν, δι' ἣν εἶπον αἰτίαν ὀκνοῦντι τὴν προφητείαν· ἐμοὶ δὲ τίς ἄρα λόγος, ἢ τίς ἀπολογίας ὑπελείπετο τόπος ἐπὶ πλέον ἀφη νιάζοντι, καὶ τὸν οὐκ οἶδ' εἴτ' ἐλαφρὸν εἴτε βα ρὺν εἰπεῖν χρὴ, ἀλλὰ τόν γε τεθέντα ζυγὸν τῆς λει τουργίας ἀναινομένῳ; 35.509

ΡΙΑʹ. Εἰ γὰρ, ὃ μόνον ἐν τούτοις ἰσχυρόν ἐστιν εἰπεῖν τοῦτο δοίη τις, ὅτι πολλῷ κατωτέρω κείμεθα τοῦ ἱερατεύειν Θεῷ, καὶ ὅτι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἄξιον εἶναι χρὴ πρῶτον, εἶτα τοῦ βήματος, καὶ τούτου πρῶτον, εἶτα τῆς προεδρίας· τάχα ἕτερος ἡμᾶς οὐκ ἀφήσει τοῦ τῆς ἀπειθείας ἐγκλήματος. ∆εινὴ δὲ ἀπειθείας ἀπειλὴ, καὶ δεινὰ ταύτης τὰ ἐπιτίμια, ὥσπερ γε καὶ τῆς ἑτέρας μερίδος, μηδὲν ὀκνεῖν, μηδὲ ἀναδύεσθαι, μηδὲ, ὥσπερ ὁ Σαοὺλ ἐκεῖνος, τοῖς σκεύεσιν ὑποκρύπτεσθαι τοῖς πατρικοῖς, κἂν πρὸς ὀλίγον καλούμενον ἐπὶ προστασίαν, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐπί τι πρᾶγμα κοῦφον καὶ ῥᾷστον χωρεῖν ἑτοί μως, οὗ μηδὲ μεταθέσθαι ἀσφαλὲς, μηδὲ βουλῇ δευτέρᾳ θεραπεῦσαι τὴν προλαβοῦσαν.

ΡΙΒʹ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἔκαμνον ἐγὼ τοῖς λογισμοῖς τὸ δέον ἀνερευνώμενος, καὶ μέσος δύο φόβων ἱστάμενος, τοῦ τε κατασπῶντος καὶ τοῦ ἀνάγοντος. Καὶ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον τούτοις ἐναπορήσας, καὶ ἀμφοτέρωθεν ἐμαυτὸν τα λαντεύσας, ἢ ὥσπερ ῥεῦμα ἀστάτοις πνεύμασι, τῇδε κἀκεῖσε μετακλιθεὶς, τέλος ἐγενόμην τοῦ σφο δροτέρου, καί με νικήσας, ἔχει παρασύρας ὁ φόβος τῆς ἀπειθείας. Καὶ σκοπεῖτε ὡς ὀρθῶς καὶ δικαίως διαιτῶ τοῖς φόβοις, μήτε τῆς οὐ διδομένης ἐφίεσθαι προστασίας, μήτε ἀπωθεῖσθαι τὴν διδομέ νην. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ εἶναι θρασέων, τὸ δὲ ἀπειθῶν, καὶ ἀπαιδεύτων ἀμφότερα. Καὶ μέσος εἰμί τις τῶν τε ἄγαν τολμηρῶν καὶ τῶν λίαν δειλῶν· τῶν μὲν πάσαις ἐπι πηδώντων δειλότερος, τῶν δὲ φευγόντων πάσας θαρσαλεώτερος. Οὕτως ἐγὼ περὶ τούτων γινώσκω.