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a brother, have you not done the same thing? For what, if not with a sword, but in another way, when being able to relieve a famine, you overlook it? What then? Has no one now envied his brother? Has no one encompassed him with dangers? But here they have not paid the penalty. But they will pay it. Then he who heard neither written laws nor prophets, nor saw great signs, pays so great a penalty; but will he who has done the same things in another way, and is not chastened even by so many examples, be unpunished? And where is the justice of God? Or where is His goodness? Again, someone who gathered sticks on the Sabbath was stoned to death; and yet this 62.445 commandment is a small one, and of less importance than circumcision. Then he who gathered sticks on the Sabbath was stoned, but those who have often committed countless transgressions have gone away unpunished. If then there is no Gehenna, where is justice, where is impartiality? And yet He brings many such charges against them, that they do not keep the Sabbaths. Again, another, Charmi, having stolen a consecrated thing, was stoned with all his family. What then? Has no one since that time committed sacrilege? Saul again, having spared contrary to what seemed good to God, underwent so great a punishment; has no one then spared since that time? Would that this were so; do we not rather devour one another like wild beasts contrary to what seems good to God, and no one has fallen in war. Again, the sons of Eli, because they ate before the incense was offered, paid a most grievous penalty with their father. Has no father then been careless concerning his children? Or wicked children? But no one has paid the penalty. When then will they pay it, if there is no Gehenna? Again, one could enumerate countless other things. What then? Ananias and Sapphira, were they not punished immediately because they stole from what they had dedicated? Has no one then since that time done these things? How then have they not paid the same penalty? Do we persuade you that Gehenna exists, or do you need more examples? Therefore we shall also come to the unwritten things, those which are now happening in life; for it is necessary that this notion be gathered by us from every quarter, so that by gratifying ourselves in vain, we may not harm ourselves. Do you not see many in calamities, maimed in their bodies, suffering countless dreadful things, while others are prosperous? why do some pay the penalty for murders, but others do not? Hear Paul saying: Some men's sins are manifest, but for some they also follow after. How many murderers have escaped? How many tomb-robbers? But let these things be. How many do you not see being punished with a harsh punishment? some have been given over to a long sickness, others to perpetual torments, others to countless other dreadful things. When 62.446 then you see one who has dared the same things as they, or even much more, and not paying the penalty, will you not, even unwillingly, confess Gehenna? Select those who have been harshly punished here before you, consider that God is not a respecter of persons, and that though having done countless evil things, you have suffered nothing of the sort, and you will have the notion of Gehenna. For thus has God sown it in us, so that no one may ever be ignorant of this. For poets and philosophers and mythologists, and simply all people, have philosophized about the retribution there, and have said that the many are punished in Hades. But if those are myths, our things are not. I have said these things not simply wishing to frighten, nor to burden your souls, but to chasten, and to make them lighter. I myself also wished that there were no punishment, and I most of all. Why so? Because each of you fears for his own soul; but I shall have to give an account for this charge as well; so that it is impossible for me above all to escape. But it is not possible that there be no punishment and Gehenna. What can I do? Again they raise a difficulty and say: Where then is the love of God for mankind? Everywhere. But rather I will discourse on this at another time, so that we may not confuse the arguments about Gehenna. Meanwhile, may what we have gained from what has been said not be lost; for it is no small gain to be persuaded about Gehenna. For the remembrance of such words, like some bitter medicine, all

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ἀδελφὸν, οὐχὶ ταυτὸν εἰργάσω; Τί γὰρ, εἰ καὶ μὴ ξίφει, ἀλλ' ἑτέρῳ τρόπῳ, ὅταν δυνάμενος λῦσαι λιμὸν, περιίδῃς; Τί οὖν; οὐδεὶς ἐφθόνησε νῦν τῷ ἀδελφῷ; οὐδεὶς περιέβαλε κινδύνοις; ἀλλ' ἐνταῦθα οὐκ ἔδωκαν δίκην. Ἀλλὰ δώσουσιν. Εἶτα ὁ μὲν μὴ νόμων ἀκούσας γραπτῶν μηδὲ προφητῶν, μήτε σημεῖα θεασάμενος μεγάλα, τοσαύτην δίδωσι τιμωρίαν· ὁ δὲ ἑτέρως τὰ αὐτὰ δεδρακὼς, καὶ μηδὲ τοσούτοις παραδείγμασι σωφρονιζόμενος, ἀτιμώρητος ἔσται; καὶ ποῦ τὸ δίκαιον τοῦ Θεοῦ; ἢ ποῦ τὸ ἀγαθόν; Πάλιν ξύλα τις συλλέξας ἐν τῷ σαββάτῳ, κατελεύσθη· καίτοι γε μικρὰ 62.445 αὕτη ἡ ἐντολὴ, καὶ τῆς περιτομῆς φαυλοτέρα. Εἶτα ὁ μὲν ξύλα συλλέξας ἐν σαββάτῳ ἐλιθάσθη, οἱ δὲ μυρία ἐργασάμενοι πολλάκις παράνομα ἀπῆλθον ἀτιμώρητοι. Ἂν οὖν μὴ γέεννα ᾖ, ποῦ τὸ δίκαιον, ποῦ τὸ ἀπροσωπόληπτον; Καίτοι πολλὰ ἐγκαλεῖ αὐτοῖς τοιαῦτα, ὅτι τὰ σάββατα οὐ τηροῦσι. Πάλιν ἄλλος τις ὁ Χαρμεὶ, ἀνάθημα κλέψας, μετὰ τοῦ γένους ἐλιθάσθη παντός. Τί οὖν; οὐδεὶς ἐξ ἐκείνου ἱερόσυλος γέγονεν; Ὁ Σαοὺλ πάλιν φεισάμενος παρὰ τὸ τῷ Θεῷ δοκοῦν, τοσαύτην ὑπέστη τιμωρίαν· οὐδεὶς οὖν ἐφείσατο ἐξ ἐκείνου; Εἴθε μὲν οὖν τοῦτο· οὐχὶ μᾶλλον θηρίων ἀλλήλους κατεσθίομεν παρὰ τὸ τῷ Θεῷ δοκοῦν, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἔπεσεν ἐν πολέμῳ. Πάλιν οἱ τοῦ Ἠλεὶ υἱοὶ ἐπειδὴ πρὸ τοῦ θυμιάματος ἤσθιον, δίκην ἔδοσαν χαλεπωτάτην μετὰ τοῦ πατρός. Οὐδεὶς οὖν ἐγένετο πατὴρ ῥᾴθυμος περὶ παῖδας; οὔτε μοχθηροὶ παῖδες; ἀλλ' οὐδεὶς ἔδωκε δίκην. Πότε οὖν δώσουσιν, ἂν γέεννα μὴ ᾖ; Πάλιν μυρία ἄν τις ἔχοι καταλέγειν ἕτερα. Τί δέ; ὁ Ἀνανίας καὶ ἡ Σάπφειρα, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ ἔκλεψαν ἐξ ὧν ἀνέθηκαν, παραχρῆμα ἐτιμωρήθησαν; Οὐδεὶς οὖν ἄρα ἐξ ἐκείνου ταῦτα ἐποίησε; πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἔδωκαν τὴν αὐτὴν δίκην; Ἆρά σε πείθομεν ὅτι γέεννα ἔστιν, ἢ πλειόνων σοι δεῖ παραδειγμάτων; Οὐκοῦν καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ ἄγραφα ἥξομεν, τὰ νῦν ἐν τῷ βίῳ γινόμενα· ἀναγκαῖον γὰρ πάντοθεν ταύτην ἡμῖν συλλεγῆναι τὴν ἔννοιαν, ἵνα μὴ μάτην ἑαυτοῖς χαριζόμενοι, βλάπτωμεν ἑαυτούς. Οὐχ ὁρᾷς πολλοὺς ἐν συμφοραῖς, τὰ σώματα ἀναπήρους, μυρία πάσχοντας δεινὰ, ἑτέρους δὲ εὐδοκιμοῦντας; διὰ τί οἱ μὲν φόνων διδόασι δίκας, οἱ δὲ οὔ; Ἄκουσον τοῦ Παύλου λέγοντος· Τινῶν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι πρόδηλοί εἰσι, τισὶ δὲ καὶ ἐπακολουθοῦσι. Πόσοι διέφυγον ἀνδροφόνοι; πόσοι τυμβωρύχοι; Ἀλλ' ἀφείσθω ταῦτα. Πόσους οὐχ ὁρᾷς κολαζομένους κόλασιν χαλεπήν; οἱ μὲν νόσῳ μακρᾷ παρεδόθησαν, οἱ δὲ βασάνοις διηνεκέσιν, οἱ δὲ ἑτέροις μυρίοις δεινοῖς. Ὅταν 62.446 οὖν ἴδῃς τὰ αὐτὰ ἐκείνοις τετολμηκότα, ἢ καὶ πολλῷ πλείονα, καὶ μὴ διδόντα δίκην, οὐχὶ καὶ ἄκων ὁμολογήσεις τὴν γέενναν; Ἔκλεγε τούτους τοὺς ἐνταῦθα πρὸ σοῦ κεκολασμένους χαλεπῶς, ἐννόει ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς προσωπολήπτης οὐκ ἔστι, καὶ ὅτι μυρία ἐργασάμενος κακὰ, οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον πέπονθας, καὶ ἕξεις τὴν ἔννοιαν τῆς γεέννης. Οὕτω γὰρ ἡμῖν αὐτὴν ὁ Θεὸς ἐγκατέσπειρεν, ὡς μηδένα ἀγνοῆσαι τοῦτό ποτε. Καὶ γὰρ ποιηταὶ καὶ φιλόσοφοι καὶ μυθολόγοι, καὶ πάντες ἁπλῶς ἄνθρωποι, περὶ τῆς ἀνταποδόσεως ἐφιλοσόφησαν τῆς ἐκεῖ, καὶ ἐν ᾅδου κολάζεσθαι εἰρήκασι τοὺς πολλούς. Εἰ δὲ ἐκεῖνα μῦθοι, ἀλλ' οὐ τὰ παρ' ἡμῖν. Ταῦτα οὐχ ἁπλῶς φοβῆσαι βουλόμενος εἶπον, οὐδὲ βαρῦναι τὰς ὑμετέρας ψυχὰς, ἀλλὰ σωφρονίσαι, καὶ κουφοτέρας ἐργάσασθαι. Ἐβουλόμην καὶ αὐτὸς ἐγὼ μὴ εἶναι κόλασιν, καὶ μάλιστα πάντων ἐγώ. Τί δήποτε; Ὅτι ὑμῶν μὲν ἕκαστος ὑπὲρ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῆς δέδοικεν· ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ τῆς προστασίας ταύτης εὐθύνας ὑφέξω· ὥστε μάλιστα πάντων ἐμὲ διαφυγεῖν ἀδύνατον. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔστι μὴ εἶναι κόλασιν καὶ γέενναν. Τί πάθω; Πάλιν ἐπαποροῦσι καί φασι· Ποῦ οὖν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ φιλάνθρωπον; Πανταχοῦ. Μᾶλλον δὲ ἐν ἑτέρῳ περὶ τούτου διαλέξομαι καιρῷ, ἵνα μὴ τοὺς περὶ γεέννης συγχέωμεν λόγους. Τέως δὲ ὅπερ ἐκερδάναμεν ἀπὸ τῶν εἰρημένων, μὴ διαῤῥυῇ κέρδος γὰρ οὐ μικρὸν πεπεῖσθαι περὶ γεέννης. Ἡ γὰρ τῶν τοιούτων λόγων μνήμη καθάπερ τι πικρὸν φάρμακον, πᾶσαν