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Were there not countless hindrances, those from his reasonings? And having quieted all those things and done away with their clamor, he shone forth from faith. 13.7 And when he was commanded to sacrifice him, did he not with great speed, as if about to lead him to the bridal chamber and act as a bridesman, so lead him up? And having almost departed from nature itself and been delivered from being a man, he offered up a sacrifice, one new and strange, and he alone contended in this contest, communicating it not to his wife, not to a servant, nor to anyone else with him? 13.8 For he knew, he knew clearly the height of the cliff, the weight of the command, the greatness of the contest; wherefore he alone undertook this race and ran and strove and was crowned and was proclaimed victor. What priest taught him these things? What teacher? What prophet? Not one; but because he had a well-disposed soul, it sufficed him for all things. 13.9 What then of Noah? What priest did he have? What teacher? What guide? When alone, with the whole inhabited world corrupted in wickedness, he walked the right way and preserved virtue and so shone forth, that in the shipwreck of the world, both he himself was saved and he snatched others from the impending dangers through the abundance of his own virtue? From where did he become righteous? From where perfect? What priest or teacher did this man have? No one could say. 13.10 But his son, though he had a glorious teacher continually, enjoying his father's virtue and admonitions both by words and by deeds, and seeing the outcome of events and the exhortation from the disaster and from the salvation, became wicked toward his own begetter and mocked and made a public spectacle of his father's nakedness. Do you see that everywhere there is need of a well-disposed soul? 13.11 What then of Job, tell me? What prophets did he hear? What teaching did he enjoy? None. But nevertheless, this man too, having had none of these things, displayed every form of virtue with great exactness. For he held his possessions as common for those in need, and not only his possessions, but also his very body. 13.12 For with his house he received travelers, and the house was more theirs than its owner's, and with the strength of his body he defended the wronged, and with the understanding and wisdom of his tongue he silenced the insolent, and through all things he displayed a way of life that shone with the gospel. 13.13 For consider: "Blessed are the poor in spirit," says Christ. This he himself achieved through his works, saying, "And if I despised, he says, the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when they contended with me. For what shall I do, if the Lord should make an inquiry of me? Were they not formed in the womb as I was? And we were formed in the same belly." "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." And who has become meeker than he, about whom even his servants said: "Who will give us to be filled with his flesh?" So strong was their love for him. 13.14 "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." And he was not without a share in this virtue either. Listen, at least, to what he says: "And if I also sinned unwillingly, I was ashamed of the multitude of the people, so as not to confess my iniquity." But he who was so disposed, it is clear that he mourned for it with great excess. 13.15 "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness13.15." See this also achieved by him with excess. "I broke, he says, the jawbones of the unrighteous, and out of the midst of their teeth I plucked the spoil," "and I had put on righteousness, and I clothed myself with judgment like a double-folded cloak." "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." But this man was merciful not only in money, nor in clothing the naked and feeding the hungry and setting right the cause of the widow and protecting the orphan and consoling the defects of nature, but also in the very sympathy of his 13.16 soul. "For I, he says, wept over every helpless man, and I groaned when I saw a man in distress." For just as if he were the common father of all, so the misfortunes of each, some he would set right, and others he would lament both through words and through

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οὐχὶ μυρία κωλύματα ἦν, τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν λογισμῶν; καὶ πάντα ἐκεῖνα κατευνάσας καὶ τὸν ἐκείνων θόρυβον ἀνελών, ἀπὸ τῆς πίστεως διέλαμψεν. 13.7 Ὅτε δὲ αὐτὸν καθιερῶσαι ἐκελεύσθη, οὐχὶ μετὰ πολλοῦ τοῦ τάχους, ὡσανεὶ μέλλων εἰς παστάδα ἄγειν καὶ νυμφαγωγεῖν, οὕτως αὐτὸν ἀνήγαγε; καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς φύσεως σχεδὸν ἐξελθὼν καὶ τοῦ ἄνθρωπος εἶναι ἀπαλλαγεὶς καὶ θυσίαν ἀνέφερε καινήν τινα καὶ παράδοξον καὶ μόνος τὸν ἆθλον ἤθλησε τοῦτον, οὐ γυναικί, οὐκ οἰκέτῃ, οὐκ ἄλλῳ τινὶ τῶν μετ' αὐτοῦ κοινωσάμενος; 13.8 Ἤδει γάρ, ᾔδει σαφῶς τοῦ σκοπέλου τὸ ὕψος, τοῦ ἐπιτάγματος τὸν ὄγκον, τοῦ ἀγῶνος τὸ μέγεθος· διὸ μόνος αὐτὸς τὸν δρόμον ἀνεδέξατο τοῦτον καὶ ἔτρεχε καὶ ἠγωνίζετο καὶ ἐστεφανοῦτο καὶ ἀνεκηρύττετο. Ποῖος ταῦτα αὐτὸν ἱερεὺς ἐδίδαξε; ποῖος δὲ διδάσκαλος; ποῖος προφήτης; Οὐδὲ εἷς· ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ εὐγνώμονα εἶχε ψυχήν, ἤρκεσεν αὐτῷ πρὸς ἅπαντα. 13.9 Τί δὲ ὁ Νῶε; Ποῖον ἔσχεν ἱερέα; ποῖον διδάσκαλον; ποῖον καθηγητήν; ὅτε μόνος, τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁπάσης διαφθαρείσης ἐν πονηρίᾳ, τὴν ὀρθὴν ὥδευσεν ὁδὸν καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν διετήρησε καὶ οὕτω διέλαμψεν, ὡς ἐν τῷ ναυαγίῳ τῆς οἰκουμένης αὐτόν τε διασωθῆναι καὶ ἑτέρους διὰ τὴν περιουσίαν τῆς οἰκείας ἀρετῆς τῶν ἐπηρτημένων ἐξαρπάσαι κινδύνων; Πόθεν δίκαιος ἐγένετο; πόθεν τέλειος; ποῖον ἱερέα καὶ οὗτος ἢ διδάσκαλον ἐσχηκώς; Οὐδεὶς ἂν εἰπεῖν ἔχοι. 13.10 Ὁ δὲ υἱὸς ὁ τούτου, καίτοι ἔνδοξον ἔχων τὸν διδάσκαλον διηνεκῶς, τοῦ πατρὸς τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ νουθεσίας ἀπολαύων καὶ τῆς διὰ ῥημάτων καὶ τῆς διὰ τῶν ἔργων καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν πραγμάτων ἔκβασιν ὁρῶν καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς συμφορᾶς καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς σωτηρίας παραίνεσιν, πονηρὸς περὶ τὸν φύντα ἐγένετο καὶ ἐκωμῴδει τοῦ γεγεννηκότος τὴν γύμνωσιν καὶ ἐξεπόμπευσεν. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι πανταχοῦ ψυχῆς χρεία εὐγνώμονος; 13.11 Τί δὲ ὁ Ἰὼβ, εἰπέ μοι; ποίων προφητῶν ἤκουσε; ποίας διδασκαλίας ἀπήλαυσεν; Οὐδεμιᾶς. Ἀλλ' ὅμως καὶ οὗτος οὐδενὸς τούτων τετυχηχὼς καὶ πᾶν ἀρετῆς εἶδος μετὰ πολλῆς ἐπεδείξατο τῆς ἀκριβείας. Καὶ γὰρ κοινὰ τὰ ὄντα τοῖς δεομένοις ἐκέκτητο καὶ οὐχὶ τὰ ὄντα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ σῶμα. 13.12 Τῇ μὲν γὰρ οἰκίᾳ τοὺς ὁδίτας ὑπεδέχετο καὶ ἐκείνων μᾶλλον ἦν ἡ οἰκία ἢ τοῦ κεκτημένου, τῇ δὲ τοῦ σώματος ἰσχύϊ τοῖς ἀδικουμένοις ἤμυνε, τῇ δὲ τῆς γλώττης συνέσει καὶ σοφίᾳ τοὺς ἐπηρεάζοντας ἐπεστόμιζε καὶ τὴν εὐαγγελικὴν πολιτείαν διὰ πάντων διαλάμπουσαν ἐπεδείκνυτο. 13.13 Σκόπει δέ· «Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι», φησὶν ὁ Χριστός. Τοῦτο αὐτὸς διὰ τῶν ἔργων κατώρθωσεν λέγων. «Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐφαύλισα, φησί, κρῖμα θεράποντος ἢ θεραπαίνης, κρινομένων αὐτῶν πρός με. Τί γὰρ ποιήσω, ἐὰν ἐπίσκεψίν μου ποιήσῃ ὁ Κύριος; Πότερον οὐχ ὡς ἐγὼ ἐγενόμην ἐν γαστρὶ καὶ ἐκεῖνοι ἐγένοντο; Ἐγενόμεθα δὲ ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ κοιλίᾳ.» «Μακάριοι οἱ πραεῖς, ὅτι αὐτοὶ κληρονομήσουσι τὴν γῆν.» Καὶ τίς πραότερος ἐκείνου γέγονε, περὶ οὗ καὶ οἱ οἰκέται ἔλεγον· «Τίς ἂν δῴη ἡμῖν τῶν σαρκῶν αὐτοῦ ἐμπλησθῆναι;» Οὕτως ἦσαν αὐτοῦ σφοδροὶ ἔρασται. 13.14 «Μακάριοι οἱ πενθοῦντες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ παρακληθήσονται.» Καὶ οὐδὲ ταύτης ἄμοιρος ἦν τῆς ἀρετῆς. Ἄκουσον γοῦν τί φησιν· «Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἁμαρτὼν ἀκουσίως, διετράπην πολυοχλίαν λαοῦ, τοῦ μὴ ἐξαγορεῦσαι τὴν ἀνομίαν μου.» Ὁ δὲ οὕτω διακείμενος, εὔδηλον ὅτι αὐτὴν ἐπένθει μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ὑπερβολῆς. 13.15 «Μακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύ13.15 νην.» Ὅρα καὶ τοῦτο μεθ' ὑπερβολῆς αὐτῷ κατωρθωμένον. «Συνέτριψα, φησί, μύλας ἀδίκων καὶ ἐκ μέσου ὀδόν των αὐτῶν ἅρπαγμα ἐξέσπασα», «δικαιοσύνην δὲ ἐνδεδύκειν, ἠμφιασάμην δὲ κρῖμα ἴσα διπλοΐδι.» «Μακάριοι οἱ ἐλεήμονες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθήσονται.» Οὗτος δὲ οὐκ ἐν χρήμασι μόνον ἐλεήμων ἦν, οὐδὲ ἐν τῷ ἐνδύειν τοὺς γυμνοὺς καὶ τρέφειν τοὺς πεινῶντας καὶ χηρείαν διορθοῦν καὶ ὀρφανίαν περιστέλλειν καὶ πηρώματα φύσεως παραμυθεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ συμπαθείᾳ τῆς 13.16 ψυχῆς. «Ἐγὼ γάρ, φησίν, ἐπὶ παντὶ ἀδυνάτῳ ἔκλαυσα καὶ ἐστέναξα ἰδὼν ἄνδρα ἐν ἀνάγκαις.» Καθάπερ γὰρ κοινὸς ὢν ἁπάντων πατήρ, οὕτω τὰς ἑκάστου συμφοράς, τὰς μὲν διώρθου, τὰς δὲ ἐθρήνει καὶ διὰ ῥημάτων καὶ διὰ