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he made God an enemy both to himself and to them, and by sparing his own children inopportunely, along with his children he also lost his own salvation. Hear, at least, what God says to him, or rather, no longer to him; for He did not judge him worthy of a reply thereafter, but like some servant who had committed the greatest offenses, He makes him learn through another the evils that would befall him; so great was the wrath of God then. Hear, at least, what He says to that man's disciple concerning the master; for to the disciple, and to another prophet, and to all, He spoke about that man's evils rather than to him; so completely had He turned away from him. What then does He say to Samuel? He knew that his sons were speaking evil of God, and he did not admonish them; and not so, and yet he did admonish, but God says this was not even 47.353 an admonition; so He condemned it, because it did not have severity and intensity. Therefore, even if we provide for our children, but not as much as is necessary, this is not even provision, just as the admonition of Eli was not. And having stated the charge, He also brings on the punishment with great wrath; For I have sworn, He says, to the house of Eli, that the iniquity of the house of Eli will not be atoned for either by incense or by sacrifices forever. Do you see the intense indignation, and the unpardonable punishment? He must by all means perish, He says, and not only he nor his children, but also his entire house with him, and there will be no remedy. which will heal this plague; and yet, besides the negligence towards his children, God had nothing else to charge that old man with then, but he was admirable in all other things, and it is possible to see his entire philosophy not only from other things, but also from the very events that transpired during this calamity. For first, when he heard all these things, and saw himself come to the extreme of punishment, he did not despair, he was not vexed, he did not say anything such as most people would; Am I master of another's will? I owe penalties for my own sins; but the children are of age, and it would be right for them alone to be punished. He neither said nor thought any of these things; but like a grateful servant, and knowing one thing only, to bear easily the things from the Master, even if they happen to be grievous, so he uttered words full of much philosophy; For the Lord, he says, will Himself do what is pleasing in His sight. And not from this only, but also from another instance is it possible to perceive his virtue. For when war befell the Jews, and someone came and announced the calamities in the war and how his sons were cut down shamefully and pitiably in the battle, hearing these things, he was indeed quiet; but when that man added to this slaughter the seizure of the ark by the enemy, then indeed the old man, dizzy from despondency, fell from his seat backwards beside the gate, and his back was broken, because he was an old man, and heavy, and honored, and he had judged Israel for twenty years. But if the priest, the old man, the honored one, who for twenty years presided blamelessly over the race of the Hebrews, living in times which do not demand much strictness, if none of these things had the power to save him, but, because he did not take care of his children with strictness, he perished exceedingly and pitiably, and the sin of this neglect, like a wild and great wave, overcame all those things, and hid all his achievements; what penalty will befall us, who live in times that demand much greater philosophy, and are lacking in his virtue, and not only do not preside over our children, but even plot against and make war on those who wish to do so, and are disposed more harshly than any barbarian toward our own offspring? For their cruelty extends as far as slavery and devastation and the enslavement of the fatherland and the evils of the body, but you enslave the soul itself, and having bound it like some captive, you thus hand it over to wicked and savage demons and to their passions.

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ἑαυτῷ τε κἀκείνοις ἐξεπολέμωσε τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ φεισάμενος αὑτοῦ τῶν παίδων ἀκαίρως, μετὰ τῶν παίδων καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ προσαπώλεσε σωτηρίαν. Ἄκουσον γοῦν τί φησι πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ Θεὸς, μᾶλλον δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν μὲν οὐκέτι· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀποκρίσεως αὐτὸν ἄξιον ἔκρινεν εἶναι λοιπὸν, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ τινὰ οἰκέτην τὰ μέγιστα προσκεκρουκότα, δι' ἑτέρου ποιεῖ μαθεῖν τὰ καταληψόμενα αὐτὸν κακά· τοσαύτη ἦν ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ τότε ὀργή. Ἄκουσον γοῦν τί φησι πρὸς τὸν ἐκείνου μαθητὴν περὶ τοῦ διδασκάλου· καὶ γὰρ καὶ τῷ μαθητῇ, καὶ ἑτέρῳ προφήτῃ, καὶ πᾶσιν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐκείνου μᾶλλον διελέγετο κακῶν, ἢ ἐκείνῳ· οὕτως αὐτὸν εἰς τέλος ἀπέστραπτο. Τί δὴ οὖν φησι τῷ Σαμουήλ; Ἔγνω ὅτι κακολογοῦντες Θεὸν οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἐνουθέτει αὐτούς· καὶ οὐχ οὕτως, καὶ μὴν ἐνουθέτησεν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ 47.353 νουθεσίαν εἶναι τοῦτό φησιν ὁ Θεός· οὕτως αὐτῆς κατέγνω, ἐπειδὴ τὸ σφοδρὸν οὐκ εἶχε καὶ ἐπιτεταμένον. Ὥστε κἂν προνοῶμεν τῶν παίδων, μὴ τοσοῦτον δὲ ὅσον χρὴ, οὐδὲ πρόνοια τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὥσπερ οὖν οὐδ' ἡ τοῦ Ἠλεὶ νουθεσία. Εἰπὼν δὲ τὸ ἔγκλημα, καὶ τὴν κόλασιν ἐπάγει μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ὀργῆς· Ὤμοσα γὰρ, φησὶ, τῷ οἴκῳ Ἠλεὶ, εἰ ἐξιλάσεται ἡ ἁμαρτία τῷ οἴκῳ Ἠλεὶ ἢ ἐν θυμιάματι, ἢ ἐν θυσίαις ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος. Εἶδες ἀγανάκτησιν ἐπιτεταμένην, καὶ ἀσύγγνωστον κόλασιν; Πάντως αὐτὸν, φησὶν, ἀπολέσθαι χρὴ, καὶ οὐκ αὐτὸν μόνον οὐδὲ τοὺς παῖδας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν οἰκίαν ἅπασαν μετ' ἐκείνου, καὶ οὐδὲν ἔσται φάρμακον. ὃ τὴν πληγὴν ταύτην ἰάσεται· καίτοι πλὴν τῆς εἰς τοὺς παῖδας ῥᾳθυμίας, οὐδὲν ἕτερον εἶχεν ἐγκαλεῖν ὁ Θεὸς τῷ πρεσβύτῃ τότε ἐκείνῳ, ἀλλ' ἦν ἅπαντα τὰ ἄλλα θαυμαστὸς, καὶ τὴν φιλοσοφίαν αὐτοῦ πᾶσαν οὐκ ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπ' αὐτῶν τῶν κατὰ τὴν συμφορὰν ταύτην ἐπισυμβάντων ἔστιν ἰδεῖν. Πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ, ἐπειδὴ ταῦτα πάντα ἤκουσε, καὶ πρὸς ἔσχατον τιμωρίας ἥκοντα εἶδεν ἑαυτὸν, οὐκ ἀπεδυσπέτησεν, οὐκ ἐδυσχέρανεν, οὐκ εἶπέ τι τοιοῦτον, οἷον εἰκὸς τοὺς πολλούς· Μὴ γὰρ ἐγὼ τῆς ἑτέρων κύριός εἰμι γνώμης; τῶν οἰκείων ἁμαρτημάτων ὀφείλω δίκας· οἱ παῖδες δὲ ἡλικίαν ἔχουσι, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἂν εἶεν δίκαιοι κολάζεσθαι μόνον. Τούτων οὐδὲν οὔτε εἶπεν οὔτε ἐνενόησεν· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ οἰκέτης εὐγνώμων, καὶ ἓν μόνον εἰδὼς, τὰ παρὰ τοῦ ∆εσπότου εὐκόλως φέρειν, κἂν λυπηρὰ ὄντα τύχῃ, οὕτω τὰ πολλῆς γέμοντα φιλοσοφίας ἐφθέγγετο ῥήματα· Κύριος γὰρ, φησὶν, αὐτὸς τὸ ἀρεστὸν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ ποιήσει. Καὶ οὐκ ἐντεῦθεν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑτέρωθεν ἔστιν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀρετὴν κατιδεῖν. Πολέμου γὰρ καταλαβόντος τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, ἐπειδή τις ἐλθὼν ἀπήγγειλε τὰς ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ συμφορὰς καὶ πῶς οἱ παῖδες αὐτοῦ κατεκόπησαν αἰσχρῶς καὶ ἐλεεινῶς ἐν τῇ μάχῃ, ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἀκούων ἡσύχαζεν· ὡς δὲ προσέθηκεν ἐκεῖνος τῇ σφαγῇ ταύτῃ τῆς κιβωτοῦ τὴν ἁρπαγὴν τὴν ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων γενομένην, τότε δὴ σκοτωθεὶς ὑπὸ τῆς ἀθυμίας ὁ γέρων ἔπεσεν ἀπὸ τοῦ δίφρου εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω ἐχόμενα τῆς πύλης, καὶ συνετρίβη ὁ νῶτος αὐτοῦ, ὅτι πρεσβύτης ἦν καὶ βαρὺς καὶ ἔνδοξος, καὶ αὐτὸς ἔκρινε τὸν Ἰσραὴλ εἴκοσιν ἔτη. Εἰ δὲ τὸν ἱερέα, τὸν πρεσβύτην, τὸν ἔνδοξον, τὸν εἴκοσιν ἔτη προστάντα ἀλήπτως τοῦ τῶν Ἑβραίων γένους, τὸν ἐν χρόνοις πολιτευόμενον οὐ πολλὴν ἀπαιτοῦσιν ἀκρίβειαν, οὐδὲν τούτων ἴσχυσε παραιτήσασθαι, ἀλλ', ἐπειδὴ τῶν παίδων οὐκ ἐπεμελήθη μετὰ ἀκριβείας, σφόδρα καὶ ἐλεεινῶς ἀπώλετο, καὶ τῆς ὀλιγωρίας ταύτης ἡ ἁμαρτία, καθάπερ κῦμα ἄγριον καὶ μέγα, πάντα ὑπερέσχεν ἐκεῖνα, καὶ τὰ κατορθώματα ἔκρυψεν ἅπαντα· τίς ἡμᾶς λήψεται δίκη τοὺς ἐν χρόνοις γενομένους πολλῷ μείζονα ἀπαιτοῦσι φιλοσοφίαν, καὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀποδέοντας τῆς ἐκείνου, καὶ τῶν παίδων οὐ μόνον οὐ προϊσταμένους, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς βουλομένοις τοῦτο ποιεῖν ἐπιβουλεύοντας καὶ πολεμοῦντας, καὶ βαρβάρου παντὸς χαλεπώτερον περὶ τὰ ἔκγονα διακειμένους; Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἐκείνων ὠμότης μέχρι δουλείας καὶ ἀναστατώσεως καὶ ἀνδραποδισμοῦ τῆς πατρίδος καὶ τῶν τοῦ σώματος ἕστηκε κακῶν, ὑμεῖς δὲ αὐτὴν καταδουλοῦτε τὴν ψυχὴν, καὶ καθάπερ τινὰ αἰχμάλωτον δήσαντες, οὕτω δαίμοσι πονηροῖς καὶ ἀγρίοις καὶ τοῖς ἐκείνων παραδίδοτε πάθεσιν.