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discourse, see how 63.71 he delivers the rebuke with praise. For this is always Paul's wisdom, to mix the difficult with the kind; which he also does in the Epistle to the Galatians, saying, "You were running well; who hindered you?" and, "Have you suffered so many things in vain? if it be indeed in vain;" and, "I have confidence in you in the Lord." Which he also says to these: "But we are persuaded of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation." For he does these two things: he neither tightens the rein, nor does he allow them to fall back; and reasonably so; for if the examples of others are sufficient to raise up the hearer, and to lead him to zeal; when one has the example from oneself, and exhorts oneself to be zealous, how much more is the possibility of the teaching thereby introduced. And so he shows this, and does not allow them to fall back as though utterly condemned, nor as being always evil, but that they were once also good, he says; "For when for the time you ought to be teachers." He shows here that they had believed a long time ago; and he shows that they ought to instruct others also. See, then, how he is continually in travail to introduce the discourse concerning the high priest, and always putting it off. For hear how he began: "Having a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens;" and passing over how he is great, he says again: "For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God;" and again: "So also Christ glorified not Himself to be made an high priest." And again, having said: "You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec," he again puts it off, saying: "Who in the days of His flesh offered up prayers and supplications." 3. Since, then, he has so often been driven off course, as if making an apology he says, "The fault is with you." Alas, what a difference! Though they ought to be teaching others, they are not even simply disciples, but the very last of disciples. "For when for the time you ought to be teachers," he says, "you have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God." Here by "first principles" he means the humanity. For just as in secular letters one must first learn the elements, so also in the divine oracles one ought first to be taught concerning the humanity. Do you see what is the reason for speaking lowly things? So also Paul did when discoursing with the Athenians, saying: "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men every where to repent: Because He has appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He has ordained; whereof He has given assurance unto all men, in that He has raised Him from the dead." For this reason if he says anything lofty, he says it briefly, but the lowly things are scattered throughout the epistle. And in this way the lofty is shown; for what is exceedingly lowly does not allow these things to be suspected of the Godhead. So also here, preserving what is safe, he applies the lowly things to the humanity; and the reason is, their not being able to hear of the perfect things. This 63.72 he especially indicated in the Epistle to the Corinthians, saying: "For whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are you not carnal?" But behold for me his great understanding, how he always suitably applies himself to the underlying passions. For there the weakness arose mostly from ignorance, or rather from sins; but here it is not from sins only, but also from the continuous afflictions; wherefore he also uses words that can accommodate the difference, saying there, "You are carnal," but here: "Since the pain is greater, you have become dull." And those were not able to bear it, being carnal; but these were able. For to say, "Since you have become dull of hearing," was to indicate that formerly they were healthy, and were strong, boiling with zeal, and testifies that they suffered this later. "And are become such as have need of milk, and not of solid food." And he always calls the lowly word milk, both here and there. "Ought to be," he says, "teachers for the time;" as if he said: "For that very reason for which you have become slack, and have grown supine, for this reason you ought especially to be strong, because of the time." And he calls the lowly word milk because to those

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λόγῳ, ὅρα πῶς 63.71 μετ' ἐγκωμίου ποιεῖται τὴν ἐπιτίμησιν. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἀεὶ τῆς σοφίας Παύλου, τὰ δυσχερῆ τοῖς χρηστοῖς ἀναμιγνύναι· ὃ καὶ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Γαλάτας ποιεῖ, λέγων, Ἐτρέχετε καλῶς· τίς ὑμᾶς ἐνέκοψε; καὶ, Τοσαῦτα ἐπάθετε εἰκῆ; εἴ γε καὶ εἰκῆ· καὶ, Πέποιθα εἰς ὑμᾶς ἐν Κυρίῳ. Ὃ καὶ τούτοις φησί· Πεπείσμεθα δὲ περὶ ὑμῶν τὰ κρείττονα, καὶ ἐχόμενα σωτηρίας. ∆ύο γὰρ ταῦτα ποιεῖ· οὔτε ἐπιτείνει, οὔτε ἀφίησιν αὐτοὺς ἀναπεσεῖν· εἰκότως· εἰ γὰρ τὰ ἑτέρων παραδείγματα ἱκανὰ τὸν ἀκούοντα ἀναστῆσαι, καὶ εἰς ζῆλον ἀγαγεῖν· ὅταν τις παρ' ἑαυτοῦ τὸ ὑπόδειγμα ἔχῃ, καὶ ἑαυτὸν παρακελεύηται ζηλοῦν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη τὸ δυνατὸν τῆς διδασκαλίας εἰσάγεται. Καὶ τοῦτο οὖν δείκνυσι, καὶ οὐκ ἀφίησιν ὡς σφόδρα κατεγνωσμένους ἀναπεσεῖν, οὐδὲ ὡς ἀεὶ ὄντας κακοὺς, ἀλλ' ὅτι ποτὲ ἐγένοντο καὶ χρηστοὶ, λέγει· Καὶ γὰρ ὀφείλοντες εἶναι διδάσκαλοι διὰ τὸν χρόνον. ∆είκνυσιν ἐνταῦθα πρὸ πολλοῦ χρόνου πεπιστευκότας αὐτούς· δείκνυσι δὲ ὅτι καὶ ἄλλους ὀφείλουσι κατηχεῖν. Ὅρα γοῦν αὐτὸν συνεχῶς ὠδίνοντα τὸν περὶ τοῦ ἀρχιερέως εἰσαγαγεῖν λόγον, καὶ ἀεὶ ἀναβαλλόμενον. Ἄκουε γὰρ πῶς ἤρξατο· Ἔχοντες ἀρχιερέα μέγαν διεληλυθότα τοὺς οὐρανούς· καὶ παρεὶς εἰπεῖν πῶς μέγαν, πάλιν φησί· Πᾶς γὰρ ἀρχιερεὺς ἐξ ἀνθρώπων λαμβανόμενος, ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων καθίσταται τὰ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν· καὶ πάλιν· Οὕτω καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς οὐχ ἑαυτὸν ἐδόξασε γενηθῆναι ἀρχιερέα. Καὶ πάλιν εἰπών· Σὺ εἶ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδὲχ, πάλιν ἀναβάλλεται λέγων· Ὃς ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τῆς σαρκὸς αὑτοῦ δεήσεις καὶ ἱκετηρίας προσήνεγκεν. γʹ. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τοσαυτάκις ἐξεκρούσθη, ὡσανεὶ ἀπολογούμενός φησιν, Ἡ αἰτία παρ' ὑμᾶς. Βαβαὶ, πόση διαφορά; ὀφείλοντες ἄλλους διδάσκειν, οὐδὲ ἁπλῶς μαθηταί εἰσιν, ἀλλὰ μαθηταὶ ἔσχατοι. Καὶ γὰρ ὀφείλοντες εἶναι διδάσκαλοι διὰ τὸν χρόνον, φησὶ, πάλιν χρείαν ἔχετε τοῦ διδάσκειν ὑμᾶς τίνα τὰ στοιχεῖα τῆς ἀρχῆς τῶν λογίων τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἐνταῦθα στοιχεῖα ἀρχῆς τὴν ἀνθρωπότητά φησιν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν ἔξωθεν γραμμάτων πρῶτον τὰ στοιχεῖα δεῖ μαθεῖν, οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν θείων λογίων πρῶτον περὶ τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος ἔδει διδάσκεσθαι. Ὁρᾷς τίς ἡ αἰτία τοῦ ταπεινὰ φθέγγεσθαι; Οὕτω καὶ Ἀθηναίοις ἐποίησεν ὁ Παῦλος διαλεγόμενος αὐτοῖς καὶ λέγων· Τοὺς μὲν οὖν χρόνους τῆς ἀγνοίας ὑπεριδὼν ὁ Θεὸς, τανῦν παραγγέλλει τοῖς ἀνθρώποις πᾶσι πανταχοῦ μετανοεῖν, καθότι ἔστησεν ἡμέραν, ἐν ᾗ μέλλει κρίνειν τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, ἐν ἀνδρὶ ᾧ ὥρισε, πίστιν παρασχὼν πᾶσιν, ἀναστήσας αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο εἰ μέν τι ὑψηλὸν λέγει, ἐν βραχεῖ τοῦτό φησι, τὰ δὲ ταπεινὰ πολλαχοῦ διέσπαρται τῆς ἐπιστολῆς. Καὶ οὕτω δὲ τὸ ὑψηλὸν δείκνυται· τὸ γὰρ σφόδρα ταπεινὸν οὐκ ἀφίησι περὶ τῆς θεότητος ταῦτα ὑποπτεύεσθαι. Οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα τὸ ἀσφαλὲς φυλάττων, τὰ ταπεινὰ προσάπτει τῇ ἀνθρωπότητι· καὶ τὸ αἴτιον, τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι αὐτοὺς τῶν τελείων ἀκούειν. Τοῦτο 63.72 μάλιστα ἐν τῇ πρὸς Κορινθίους ἐσήμανεν Ἐπιστολῇ, εἰπών· Ὅπου γὰρ ἐν ὑμῖν ζῆλος καὶ ἔρις καὶ διχοστασίαι, οὐχὶ σαρκικοί ἐστε; Θέα δέ μοι τὴν σύνεσιν αὐτοῦ τὴν πολλὴν, πῶς καταλλήλως ἀεὶ τοῖς ὑποκειμένοις πάθεσι προσφέρεται. Ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ ἡ ἀσθένεια ἀπὸ ἀμαθίας τὸ πλέον ἐγένετο, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀπὸ ἁμαρτημάτων· ἐνταῦθα δὲ οὐκ ἀπὸ ἁμαρτημάτων μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν θλίψεων τῶν συνεχῶν· διὸ καὶ λέξεσι δέξασθαι δυναμέναις τὴν διαφορὰν κέχρηται, ἐκεῖ μὲν λέγων, Σαρκικοί ἐστε, ἐνταῦθα δέ· Ἐπεὶ μείζων ἡ ὀδύνη, νωθροὶ γεγόνατε. Καὶ ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν ἐνεγκεῖν, ἅτε σαρκικοὶ ὄντες· οὗτοι δὲ ἠδυνήθησαν. Τὸ γὰρ εἰπεῖν, Ἐπεὶ νωθροὶ γεγόνατε ταῖς ἀκοαῖς, δηλοῦντος ἦν ὅτι πάλαι ὑγίαινον, καὶ ἦσαν ἰσχυροὶ, τῇ προθυμίᾳ ζέοντες, καὶ ὕστερον αὐτοὺς τοῦτο παθεῖν μαρτυρεῖ. Καὶ γεγόνατε χρείαν ἔχοντες γάλακτος, καὶ οὐ στερεᾶς τροφῆς. Ἀεὶ δὲ γάλα τὸν ταπεινὸν λόγον καλεῖ, καὶ ἐνταῦθα καὶ ἐκεῖ. Ὀφείλοντες εἶναι, φησὶ, διδάσκαλοι διὰ τὸν χρόνον· ὡσεὶ ἔλεγε· ∆ι' ὃ μάλιστα ἐξελύθητε, καὶ ὕπτιοι γεγόνατε, διὰ τοῦτο μάλιστα ὀφείλετε εἶναι ἰσχυροὶ, διὰ τὸν χρόνον. Γάλα δὲ καλεῖ τὸν ταπεινὸν λόγον διὰ τὸ τοῖς