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was punished. Someone gathered wood on the sabbath, and received no forgiveness; David murdered and committed adultery, and enjoyed loving-kindness. Let us therefore dwell on the question; for it is much better to investigate these things than to be devoted to trifles and gatherings in the marketplaces. For not only finding such things, but even seeking them is a great gain, even if we do not find them. For we will be compelled to be occupied with these things, and to spend all our time on them. Why then—for we must return to the previous argument—when all the Jews made the calf, were some punished, while others were not 55.74 punished? Because some repented, and disregarded nature itself, slaughtering their own kinsmen out of reverence; but the others persisted. So the sin was equal; but the things that followed were not equal. And why for Adam and Eve was the punishment not the same, even if the sin was the same? Because it was not the same thing to be deceived by a woman, and by a serpent. Therefore Paul called that a deception, saying: Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. And why did the one who gathered the wood not receive loving-kindness? Because it was a great transgression to violate the commandment right from the beginning, and it was necessary for a great fear to be instilled in the others as well. This also happened in the case of Sapphira and Ananias. So then, when we sin, let us consider if we are worthy of mercy, if we have done anything to be shown mercy, if we have repented, if we have become better, if we have desisted. For for the one who has repented to be saved, is to be saved out of mercy. Thus, at any rate, this one also claims to be saved from this, from tears, from lamentations. For I will wash, he says, my bed every night; I will drench my couch with my tears. That is, from compunction. My bones are troubled, and my soul is greatly troubled. He does not say these things immediately, but takes refuge in the frailty of nature, saying: Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak. He spoke thus, showing that this alone is not enough; for if it were enough, we would all have been saved from this; for we are all human. 3. But to me, if I must say something more precise about this, it seems he perhaps does not even mean this. But he alludes to the weakness that comes from temptations, putting this forward as no small justification for receiving mercy and loving-kindness. This, at any rate, he also hinted at as he went on, saying: I have grown old among all my enemies. For affliction borne with thanksgiving also knows how to provide a cause for much loving-kindness, and to make God merciful. This, therefore, it seems to me he also alludes to here, saying: Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled, and my soul is greatly troubled. He did not say, "Release me," nor, "Give in to me," but "Heal." For he asks that his former wounds be wiped away. And here by "bones" he means all his strength; and by "trouble," the blow, the chastisement, the punishment. Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled, and my soul is greatly troubled. Just as, therefore, with physicians there are these three things, or rather four, or even five: the physician, the art, the one who is sick, the disease, the power of the medicines, and a certain battle line is drawn and a fight occurs; for if the will of the one who is sick is with the physician, and the art, and the medicines, they have conquered the disease; but if the one who is sick gives up fighting alongside them, he leads himself over to the illness; or even if he arrays himself with it against the physician and the medicines and the art, he has carried himself off; so indeed it also happens in our case; or rather, not so, but much more paradoxically. For in the case of physicians, often the sick one stands with the disease, and with the art, and with the medicines, and it has availed nothing, nature having grown weak, and the art being at a loss, and

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ἐκολάζετο. Συνέλεξέ τις ἐν σαββάτῳ ξύλα, καὶ οὐδεμιᾶς ἔτυχε συγγνώμης· ὁ ∆αυῒδ ἐφόνευσε καὶ ἐμοίχευσε, καὶ ἀπέλαυσε φιλανθρωπίας. Ἐνδιατρίβωμεν τοίνυν τῷ ζητήματι· πολλῷ γὰρ βέλτιον ταῦτα ἀναζητεῖν, ἢ φλυαρίαις καὶ συλλόγοις τοῖς ἐν ἀγοραῖς προσηλῶσθαι. Οἱ γὰρ τὸ εὑρεῖν μόνον τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ζητεῖν μέγα κέρδος ἐστὶ, κἂν μὴ εὕρωμεν. Ἀναγκασθησόμεθα γὰρ ἐν τούτοις ἀπασχολεῖσθαι, καὶ τὸν καιρὸν πάντα ἐν αὐτοῖς δαπανᾷν. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν δεῖ γὰρ ἐπὶ τὸν πρότερον ἀναδραμεῖν λόγον, μοσχοποιησάντων ἁπάντων τῶν Ἰουδαίων, οἱ μὲν ἐκολάζοντο, οἱ δὲ οὐκ 55.74 ἐκολάζοντο; Ὅτι οἱ μὲν μετενόησαν, καὶ τὴν φύσιν αὐτὴν ἠγνόησαν, διὰ τὴν εὐλάβειαν τοὺς οἰκείους κατασφάξαντες· οἱ δὲ ἐνέμενον. Ὥστε τὸ μὲν ἁμάρτημα ἴσον· τὰ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα οὐκ ἴσα. Τίνος δὲ ἕνεκεν καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ καὶ τῆς Εὔας οὐχ ἡ αὐτὴ τιμωρία, εἰ καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ ἁμαρτία; Ὅτι οὐκ ἦν ἴσον τὸ ὑπὸ γυναικὸς ἀπατηθῆναι, καὶ ὑπὸ ὄφεως. ∆ιόπερ ἐκεῖνο ἀπάτην ὁ Παῦλος ἐκάλεσε, λέγων· Ὁ Ἀδὰμ οὐκ ἠπατήθη, ἡ δὲ γυνὴ ἀπατηθεῖσα ἐν παραβάσει γέγονε. Τίνος δὲ ἕνεκεν καὶ ὁ τὰ ξύλα συλλέξας οὐκ ἔτυχε φιλανθρωπίας; Ὅτι πολλῆς παρανομίας ἦν, τὸ ἐκ προοιμίων εὐθέως παραβῆναι τὸ πρόσταγμα, καὶ ἔδει καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις φόβον ἐντεθῆναι πολύν. Τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς Σαπφείρας καὶ Ἀνανίου γέγονε. Καὶ ἡμεῖς τοίνυν ὅταν ἁμαρτάνωμεν, σκοπῶμεν εἰ ἄξιοι ἐλέους ἐσμὲν, εἰ ἐποιήσαμέν τι ὥστε ἐλεηθῆναι, εἰ μετενοήσαμεν, εἰ βελτίους ἐγενόμεθα, εἰ ἀπέστημεν. Καὶ γὰρ τὸ τὸν μετανοήσαντα σωθῆναι, ἐξ ἐλέους ἐστὶ σωθῆναι. Οὕτω γοῦν καὶ οὗτος ἀξιοῖ ἐντεῦθεν σωθῆναι, ἀπὸ τῶν δακρύων, ἀπὸ τῶν θρήνων. Λούσω γὰρ, φησὶ, καθ' ἑκάστην νύκτα τὴν κλίνην μου· ἐν δάκρυσί μου τὴν στρωμνήν μου βρέξω. Τουτέστιν, ἀπὸ τῆς κατανύξεως. Ἐταράχθη τὰ ὀστᾶ μου, καὶ ἡ ψυχή μου ἐταράχθη σφόδρα. Οὐκ εὐθέως αὐτὰ λέγει, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὸ εὐόλισθον τῆς φύσεως καταφεύγει, λέγων· Ἐλέησόν με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἀσθενής εἰμι. Οὕτως εἶπε, δεικνὺς ὅτι οὐκ ἀρκεῖ μόνον τοῦτο· εἰ γὰρ ἤρκει, πάντες ἂν ἐντεῦθεν ἐσώθημεν· πάντες γάρ ἐσμεν ἄνθρωποι. γʹ. Ἐμοὶ δὲ, εἰ δεῖ ἀκριβέστερόν τι περὶ τούτου εἰπεῖν, τάχα οὐδὲ τοῦτο λέγειν δοκεῖ. Ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τὴν ἐκ τῶν πειρασμῶν ἐγγινομένην αἰνίττεται, οὐ μικρὸν καὶ τοῦτο δικαίωμα εἰς τὸ τυχεῖν ἐλέους καὶ φιλανθρωπίας προβαλλόμενος. Τοῦτο γοῦν καὶ προϊὼν ᾐνίξατο, λέγων· Ἐπαλαιώθην ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς μου. Οἶδε γὰρ καὶ θλίψις μετ' εὐχαριστίας φερομένη, πολλῆς φιλανθρωπίας ὑπόθεσιν παρέχειν, καὶ ἵλεω τὸν Θεὸν ποιεῖν. Ταύτην τοίνυν μοι δοκεῖ καὶ ἐνταῦθα αἰνίττεσθαι, λέγων· Ἴασαί με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἐταράχθη τὰ ὀστᾶ μου, καὶ ἡ ψυχή μου ἐταράχθη σφόδρα. Οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἄνες μοι, οὐδὲ, Ἔνδος μοι, ἀλλ' Ἴασαι. Τὰ γὰρ πρότερα ἀξιοῖ τραύματα ἀφανισθῆναι. Ὀστᾶ δὲ ἐνταῦθα τὴν ἰσχὺν ἅπασαν λέγει· ταραχὴν δὲ, τὴν πληγὴν, τὴν κόλασιν, τὴν τιμωρίαν. Ἴασαί με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἐταράχθη τὰ ὀστᾶ μου, καὶ ἡ ψυχή μου ἐταράχθη σφόδρα. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἐπὶ τῶν ἰατρῶν τρία ταῦτά ἐστι, μᾶλλον δὲ τέσσαρα, ἢ καὶ πέντε, ὁ ἰατρὸς, ἡ τέχνη, ὁ κάμνων, τὸ νόσημα, τῶν φαρμάκων ἡ δύναμις, καὶ παράταξίς τις γίνεται καὶ μάχη· ἂν μὲν γὰρ μετὰ τοῦ ἰατροῦ, καὶ τῆς τέχνης, καὶ τῶν φαρμάκων, καὶ ἡ προαίρεσις ᾖ τοῦ κάμνοντος, ἐκράτησαν τοῦ νοσήματος· ἂν δὲ ἀφῇ τὸ μετ' ἐκείνων παρατάξασθαι ὁ κάμνων, πρὸς τὴν ἀῤῥωστίαν ἑαυτὸν ἐξάγει· ἢ κἂν μετ' ἐκείνης παρατάξηται πρὸς τὸν ἰατρὸν καὶ τὰ φάρμακα καὶ πρὸς τὴν τέχνην, ἀπήνεγκεν ἑαυτόν· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐφ' ἡμῶν συμβαίνει· μᾶλλον δὲ οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ παραδοξότερον. Ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῶν ἰατρῶν πολλάκις καὶ μετὰ τοῦ νοσήματος, καὶ μετὰ τῆς τέχνης, καὶ μετὰ τῶν φαρμάκων ὁ κάμνων ἵσταται, καὶ οὐδὲν ὤνησε, τῆς φύσεως ἀσθενησάσης, καὶ τῆς τέχνης ἀπορησάσης, καὶ