John Chrysostom, On Isaiah

of the poor in your houses? Everywhere God has great providence for the wronged; † and not less than for sins against Himself, but in some cases even more is He provoked by trespasses against fellow servants. For He permitted a man having a prostitute for a wife to cast her out, but not one having a Greek woman; and yet the one sin is against Him, the other against a human being. And when the sacrifice was set forth, He commanded the one who had grieved his neighbor to leave the gift and not to offer it until he had settled matters well with his brother. And when He judged the one who had devoured the ten thousand talents, for the sins alleged against him, He neither called him wicked, and was quickly reconciled, and forgave the entire debt. But for the hundred denarii, He both calls him a wicked servant and delivers him to the torturers and said He would not release him until he paid the entire debt.

3.7 And when Christ Himself was struck, He did nothing to the servant who inflicted the blow, but even answered gently, saying, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike me? But when Jeroboam stretched out his hand and attempted to seize the prophet who was then rebuking him, He made his hand wither, teaching you also to bear your own matters gently, but to avenge those against the Master with much vehemence. For this reason also, when legislating, although He said that love for one’s neighbor is the second commandment, yet it is like the first; and just as He demands that one with all excess, so also this one. For concerning that one He says: With all your heart and with all your soul; but concerning this one: As yourself. And from many other places one might see how much precision God demands from us regarding our duties toward one another. See, then, how even here He presses vehemently and magnifies the accusation with the gravest words: But you, He says, why have you set my vineyard on fire? What enemies and certain cruel barbarians would have done, this you have done to your own people. And He calls the people a vineyard because of the great diligence concerning them and the care from above. And magnifying the crime, He did not say: Why your fellow servants, your neighbors, your brothers, but: My things, He says, you have destroyed, my things you have corrupted? Then, indicating the nature of the arson, He says: The plunder of the poor is in your houses. For hail is not accustomed to ravage the vines so much as injustice to the poor and needy is wont to set the soul on fire, stretching it with a despondency more grievous than any death. Therefore, plundering is evil everywhere, but especially when the one being abused is in extreme poverty. And He does not only rebuke by saying this, but He also corrects, sending them to the sight of the plunder. For after the saying itself, the sight lying before the eyes is sufficient to strike with remorse one who is not disposed to extreme insensibility. Why do you wrong my people? Again He persisted in the same manner, just as there: My vineyard, so also here: My people, He says. And you dishonor the faces of the humble? Those whom you ought to set upright, you push down; those whom you ought to raise up, you cast down. For along with the plunder they also disdained the more lowly and treated them worse than slaves, adding arrogance to their greed and acquiring much recklessness from the injustice of this wealth. For the disease of pride is yoked with greed; and the more one increases his wealth, the more this disease wears him down. Thus says the Lord, the Lord of hosts. And what is: Of hosts? He means of the angels, of the archangels, of the powers above, leading the hearer from the earth to heaven, bringing him to the thought of His great kingdom, so that by frightening him at least with this, He might make him more sober and show that such forbearance is not of weakness, but of long-suffering. Thus says the Lord. Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and have walked with outstretched neck and with winks of their eyes and in the

πτωχοῦ ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις ὑμῶν; Πανταχοῦ τῷ Θεῷ πολλὴ τῶν ἀδικουμένων ἡ πρόνοια· † καὶ τῶν εἰς αὐτὸν ἁμαρτημάτων οὐκ ἔλαττον, ἀλλ' ἔστιν ὅπου καὶ πλέον παροξύνεται ὑπὲρ τῶν εἰς τοὺς ὁμοδούλους πλημμελημάτων. Καὶ γὰρ τὸν μὲν πόρνην ἔχοντα γυναῖκα ἐκβάλλειν ἐπέτρεψε, τὸν δὲ Ἑλληνίδα οὐκέτι· καίτοι τὸ μὲν εἰς αὐτόν, τὸ δὲ εἰς ἄνθρωπον τὸ ἁμάρτημα. Καὶ τῆς θυσίας προκειμένης, καταλιμπάνειν τὸ δῶρον ἐκέλευσε καὶ μὴ πρότερον αὐτὸ προσάγειν, ἕως ἂν τὰ πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν εὖ διαθῆται ὁ τὸν πλησίον λελυπηκώς. Καὶ ἡνίκα τὸν τὰ μύρια τάλαντα κατεδηδοκότα ἔκρινεν, ὑπὲρ μὲν τῶν εἰς αὐτὸν ἐγκαλῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, οὔτε πονηρὸν ἐκάλεσεν καὶ κατηλλάγη ταχέως καὶ τὸ δάνειον ἅπαν ἀφῆκεν. ὑπὲρ δὲ τῶν ἑκατὸν δηναρίων, καὶ πονηρὸν δοῦλον καλεῖ καὶ τοῖς βασανισταῖς παραδίδωσι καὶ οὐ πρότερον ἔφησεν ἀνήσειν, ἕως ἅπαν ἀποδῷ τὸ χρέος.

3.7 Καὶ ἡνίκα μὲν αὐτὸς ἐρραπίζετο ὁ Χριστός, οὐδὲν τὸν δοῦλον εἰργάσατο τὸν τὴν πληγὴν ἐπαγαγόντα, ἀλλὰ καὶ πράως ἀπεκρίνατο λέγων. Εἰ μὲν κακῶς ἐλάλησα, μαρτύρησον περὶ τοῦ κακοῦ· εἰ δὲ καλῶς, τί με δέρεις; Ὅτε δὲ ὁ Ἱεροβοὰμ τὴν χεῖρα ἐκτείνας ἐπιλαβέσθαι τοῦ προφήτου τοῦ τότε ἐλέγξαντος αὐτὸν ἐπεχείρησε, ξηρὰν τὴν χεῖρα εἰργάσατο, παιδεύων καὶ σὲ τὰ μὲν ἑαυτοῦ πράως φέρειν, τὰ δὲ εἰς τὸν ∆εσπότην μετὰ πολλῆς ἐκδικεῖν τῆς σφοδρότητος. ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο καὶ νομοθετῶν, εἰ καὶ δευτέραν ἔφησεν τὴν εἰς τὸν πλησίον ἀγάπην εἶναι, ἀλλ' ὁμοίαν τῇ προτέρᾳ· καὶ ὥσπερ ἐκείνην μετὰ πάσης ἀπαιτεῖ τῆς ὑπερβολῆς, οὕτω καὶ ταύτην. Ἐπ' ἐκείνου μὲν γάρ φησιν· Ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου· ἐπὶ δὲ ταύτης· Ὡς ἑαυτόν. Καὶ ἑτέρωθεν μὲν πολλαχόθεν ἴδοι τις ἄν, ὅσην ἀκρίβειαν ὑπὲρ τῶν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἡμᾶς ἀπαιτεῖ δικαίων ὁ Θεός. Ὅρα γοῦν αὐτὸν καὶ ἐνταῦθα σφοδρῶς ἐπικείμενον καὶ αὔξοντα τὴν κατηγορίαν βαρυτάτοις ῥήμασιν· Ὑμεῖς δέ, φησί, τί ἐνεπυρίσατε τὸν ἀμπελῶνά μου; Ὅπερ ἂν εἰργάσαντο πολέμιοι καὶ βάρβαροί τινες ἀπηνεῖς, ταῦτα ὑμεῖς τοὺς οἰκείους διεθήκατε. Ἀμπελῶνα δὲ καλεῖ τὸν λαὸν διὰ τὴν πολλὴν περὶ αὐτῶν σπουδὴν καὶ τὴν ἄνωθεν ἐπιμέλειαν. Καὶ αὔξων τὸ ἔγκλημα, οὐκ εἶπε· Τί τοὺς ὁμοδούλους, τοὺς πλησίον, τοὺς ἀδελφούς, ἀλλά· Τὰ ἐμά, φησίν, ἀπωλέσατε, τὰ ἐμὰ διεφθείρατε; Εἶτα δηλῶν τοῦ ἐμπρησμοῦ τὸ εἶδος, φησίν· Ἡ ἁρπαγὴ τοῦ πτωχοῦ ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις ὑμῶν. Οὐ γὰρ οὕτω λυμαίνεσθαι τὰς ἀμπέλους εἴωθε χάλαζα, ὡς ἡ ἀδικία τοῦ πτωχοῦ καὶ πένητος ἐμπιπρᾶν πέφυκε τὴν ψυχήν, θανάτου παντὸς χαλεπωτέρᾳ κατατείνουσα αὐτὴν ἀθυμίᾳ. Πανταχοῦ μὲν οὖν τὸ ἁρπάζειν κακόν· μάλιστα δὲ ὅταν ὁ ἐπηρεαζόμενος ἐν ἐσχάτῃ πτωχείᾳ ᾖ. Οὐκ ἐπιτιμᾷ δὲ μόνον τοῦτο λέγων, ἀλλὰ καὶ διορθοῦται, πρὸς τὴν θεωρίαν αὐτοὺς παραπέμπων τῆς ἁρπαγῆς. Ἱκανὴ μὲν γὰρ μετὰ τὴν ῥῆσιν αὐτὴν ἡ ὄψις πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν κειμένη κατανύξαι τὸν μὴ σφόδρα ἀναισθήτως διακείμενον. Τί ὑμεῖς ἀδικεῖτε τὸν λαόν μου; Τῷ αὐτῷ πάλιν ἐπέμεινε τρόπῳ, ὥσπερ ἐκεῖ· Τὸν ἀμπελῶνά μου, οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα· Τὸν λαόν μου, λέγων. Καὶ τὰ πρόσωπα τῶν ταπεινῶν καταισχύνετε; Οὓς ὀρθοῦν ἔδει, τούτους ὠθοῦντες, οὓς ἀνιστᾶν, τούτους καταρρηγνύντες. Μετὰ γὰρ τῆς ἁρπαγῆς καὶ διέπτυον τοὺς εὐτελεστέρους καὶ ἀνδραπόδων χαλεπώτερον αὐτοῖς ἐκέχρηντο, πρὸς τῇ πλεονεξίᾳ καὶ τὴν ἀλαζονείαν ἐπιτείνοντες καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀδικίας τοῦ πλούτου τούτου πολλὴν τὴν ἀπόνοιαν κτώμενοι. Συνέζευκται γὰρ τῇ πλεονεξίᾳ τὸ τῆς ὑπερηφανίας νόσημα· καὶ ὅσον ἄν τις ἐπιτείνῃ τὸν πλοῦτον, τοσοῦτον καὶ τὸ νόσημα τοῦτο ἐπιτρίβει. Τοῦτό φησι Κύριος, Κύριος στρατιῶν. Τί δέ ἐστι· Στρατιῶν; Τῶν ἀγγέλων λέγει, τῶν ἀρχαγγέλων, τῶν ἄνω δυνάμεων, ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἐπὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν τὸν ἀκροατὴν ἀνάγων, εἰς ἔννοιαν τῆς μεγάλης αὐτοῦ βασιλείας αὐτὸν ἐμβάλλων, ἵνα τούτῳ γοῦν καταπλήξας, σωφρονέστερον ἐργάσηται καὶ δείξῃ τὴν τοσαύτην ἀνοχὴν οὐκ ἀσθενείας, ἀλλὰ μακροθυμίας οὖσαν. Τάδε λέγει Κύριος. Ἀνθ' ὧν ὑψώθησαν αἱ θυγατέρες Σιὼν καὶ ἐξεπορεύθησαν ὑψηλῷ τραχήλῳ καὶ νεύμασιν ὀφθαλμῶν καὶ τῇ