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demonstrated in ways, which the psalmist also teaching in the first psalm says: "Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly", and after a little: "who will give his fruit in his season and his leaf will not fall off", calling the virtuous deed from disposition 'fruit', and the outward appearance 'leaf', which is revealed in posture and dress and the smiling of teeth. When, therefore, the hypocrite is zealous for these things, but his reasoning happens to be perverted, he slaughters his brother, having his mind discordant with his outward appearance. A plain to him is the contrivance against those who are deceived, into which going by the deceit against them he first leads himself into sin. Such also are the sophists, using language as a plain, through which they lead their brothers into impiety. ιῃ, 9. And the Lord God said to Cain: Where is Abel your brother? And he said: I do not know; am I my brother's keeper? The philanthropic God, because of his great goodness, visits again even those completely alienated 128 from him and through the visitation awakens them to perception, which he now also does in the case of Cain, first by instilling in him the reasonings from conscience, then also by saying "Abel the brother" he, as it were, burdens him with the name of kinship and leads him to a consciousness of the pollution. The magnitude of the audacious act is presented, that he both killed, and a brother, and a righteous brother, whom God had made for assistance and help, he destroyed. For this is what the scripture says: "Let a friend be yours for every occasion, but let brothers be useful in necessities; for they are born for this purpose". For the word indicates this as the cause of the existence of brothers. For the divine administration, being unitive, does this through all things. Indeed, even in the law, since the brotherly disposition and those very near are sufficient for union, he does not allow these to be joined in marriage, but permits others besides sisters and those near, so that through these both [...] and disposition from others might be gathered together, which Cain trampled on. For it is possible to see his hypocrisy also when he says with madness: "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?" For through "I do not know" his audacity is shown, that he thought to escape God's notice, but through "Am I a keeper?" his unfeeling and savage and therefore unthinking nature is declared; for it was fitting for him to be his brother's keeper. 129 ιῃ, 10-12. And God said: What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand, because you shall work the ground, and it shall not add its strength to give to you; groaning and trembling you shall be upon the earth. And the Philanthropic One teaches the shameless one, and he educates the one who thinks he escapes God's notice that this is impossible; "The voice" he says "of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground", do not think that the pollution has escaped the sleepless eye of providence. He calls the revelation the 'voice' of blood, as also elsewhere: "Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back, cries out". For it must be understood in this way, but it is also possible that blood has been said here instead of the soul. But one might say that he mentioned blood for this reason, that he had hidden the body. He mentions the shedding and how the earth opened its mouth to receive the blood, and 'of a brother' continuously, so that by magnifying the deed he might shame the savage-minded one. He brings curses upon him also, as is fitting for one who has done such a thing, saying: "And now you are cursed from the ground, because you shall work the ground and it shall not add its strength to give to you." For often because of the sins of men, the want of the earth occurs, not yielding its fruits according to
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τρόποις ἐπιδεικνύμενον, ὅπερ καὶ ὁ ψαλ[μ]ῳδὸς [π]αιδεύων ἐν πρώτῳ ψαλμῷ φησιν· "6Μακάριος ἄνη[ρ ὃ]ς οὐκ ἐ[π]ορεύθη ἐν βουλῇ ἀσεβῶν"6, καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· "6ὃ τὸν καρπὸ[ν] αὐτοῦ δώσει ἐν καιρῷ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ φύλλον αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἀπορρυ[ήσε]ται"6, καρπὸν μὲν λέγων τὴν ἀπὸ διαθέσεως ἐνάρετο[ν πρ]ᾶξιν, φύλλον δὲ <τ>ὸ ἔξωθεν κατάστημα, ὃ ἐν σχήμα[τι κα]ὶ στολισμῷ καὶ μειδιασμῷ ὀδόντων διαφ[αίν]εται. [Ἐπὰ]ν οὖν ὁ ὑποκριτὴς ταῦτα σπουδάζῃ, τοῦ λογ[ισμοῦ] δὲ αὐτ[οῦ] διεστραμμένου τυγχάνοντος, τὸν ἀδελφ[ὸν σ]φάτ- τ[ει], ἀσύμφωνον τὴν διάνοιαν τοῖς ἔξωθεν ἔχων. [Π]εδιὰς δ[ὲ] τούτῳ ἡ κατὰ τῶν ἀπατωμένων μηχανή, ει᾿̣[ς] ἣν χωρῶ[ν] τῇ κατ' ἐκείνων ἀπάτῃ ἑαυτὸν πρότερον εἰς ἁμαρτίαν ἄγε[ι]. Τοιοῦτοι δὲ καὶ οἱ σοφισταὶ τυγχά- νουσιν, πεδια´̣δι τῇ λέξε[ι] χρώμενοι, δι' ἧς εἰς ἀσέβειαν περιάγουσιν τοὺς ἑαυτῶ[ν ἀ]δελφούς. ιῃ, 9. Καὶ εἶπεν Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς πρὸς Κάιν· [Πο]ῦ ἐστιν Ἄβελ ὁ ἀδελφός σου; Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· Οὐ γιγνώσκω· μ[ὴ] φύλαξ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ μού εἰμι ἐγώ; Ὁ φιλάνθρωπος Θεὸς καὶ τ[οὺ]ς πάντη ἀλλοτριωθέντας 128 αὐτοῦ διὰ πολλὴν ἀγαθότητα πάλιν ἐπισκέπτεται καὶ διὰ τῆς ἐπισκέψεως εἰς αἴσθησιν διεγε̣ίρει, ὅπερ καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ τοῦ Κάιν ποιεῖ, πρῶτον μὲν ἐνιεὶς αὐτῷ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς συνειδήσεως λόγους, ἔπειτα καὶ δ[ι]ὰ τοῦ εἰπεῖν "6Ἄβελ ὁ ἀδελφὸς"6 ὥσπερ βαρύνει αὐτὸν τῇ προσηγορίᾳ τῆς φύσεως καὶ ἄγει εἰς συναίσθησιν τοῦ μιάσμα[το]ς. Μέγεθος παρίσταται τ̣οῦ τολμήματος, ὅτι καὶ ἀπέκτει[ν]εν κ[αὶ] ἀδελφὸν καὶ δίκαιον ἀδελφὸν, ὃν δι' ἐπικουρίαν καὶ [β]οή- θε[ιαν] ὁ Θεὸς πεποίηκεν, ἀνελών. Τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ λόγιόν φησιν· "6Εἰς πά[ντ]α̣ καιρὸν φίλος ὑπαρχέτω σοι, ἀδελφοὶ δὲ ἐν ἀνάγκ[α]ις χρή[σι]μοι ἔστωσαν· τούτου γὰρ χάριν γεννῶνται"6. Τὴν γ[ὰ]ρ αἰτί[αν] τῆς τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὑποστά- σεως ταύτην ὁ λόγος ὑπο[σ]ημαίν[ει]. Ἑνωτικὴ γὰρ ὑπάρχουσα ἡ θεία διοίκησις διὰ πάντων τοῦ[το π]οιεῖ. Ἀμέλει καὶ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ ἀρκούσης τῆς ἀδελφικῆς δια- θέ[σ]εω[ς] καὶ τῶν σφόδρα ἐγγὺς εἰς ἕνωσιν, τούτους μὲν οὐ συγχωρεῖ γ[άμ]ῳ συνάπτεσθαι, ἄλλας δὲ παρὰ τὰς ἀδελφὰς καὶ τὰς πλη[σίον] ἐπιτρέ[π]ει, ἵνα διὰ τούτων ἐπισυνάγηται καὶ ἀπὸ ἄλλων σ̣[···]η καὶ δι[ά]θεσις, ἅπερ ἐπάτησεν Κάιν. Ἰδεῖν γὰρ αὐτοῦ καὶ τ[ὴν ὑ]πόκρισ[ιν ἔ]στιν λέγοντος μετὰ ἀπονοίας· "6Οὐ γινώσκω· μὴ φύ[λα]ξ τοῦ ἀ[δελφ]οῦ μού εἰμι ἐγώ;"6 ∆ιὰ μὲν γὰρ το<ῦ> "6Οὐκ οἶδα"6 τὸ θρασὺ δ[εί]κνυτ[αι, ὅ]τι ᾠήθη Θεὸν λανθάνειν, διὰ <δὲ> τοῦ "6Μὴ φύλαξ;"6 τὸ α᾿̣δ̣ι̣άθετον [κα]ὶ ἀνήμερον καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀδιανόητον δηλοῦτα[ι· φ]ύλακα γὰρ αὐτὸν τοῦ ἀδελφοῦἔπρεπεν εἶναι. 129 ιῃ, 10-12. Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· Τί ἐποίησας; Φωνὴ αἵματος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου βοᾷ πρὸς μὲ ἐκ τῆς γῆς. Καὶ νῦν ἐπικα- τάρατος σὺ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, ἣ ἔχανεν τὸ στόμα αὐτῆς δέξασθαι τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου ἐκ τῆς χει̣ρός σου, ὅτι ἐργᾷ τὴν γῆν καὶ οὐ προσθήσει τὴν ἰσχὺν αὐτῆς δοῦναί σοί· στένων καὶ τρέμων ἔσῃ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Καὶ ἀναισχυνοῦντα διδάσκει ὁ φιλάνθρωπος, καὶ οἰόμενον λανθάνειν Θεὸν παιδεύει ὡς [το]ῦτο ἀδύνατον· "6Φωνή"6 φησιν "6αἵματος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου [β]οᾷ πρὸς μὲ ἐκ τῆς γῆς"6, μὴ νόμιζε τὸν ἀκοίμητον ὀφ[θα]λμὸν τῆς προνοίας διαπεφευγέναι τὸ μίασμα. Φωνὴ[ν] δὲ αἵματος τὴν φανέρωσιν λέγει ὡς καὶ ἑτέρωθι· "6Ἰδοὺ ὁ μισθὸς τῶν ἐργατῶν τῶν ἀμησάντων τὰς χώρα[ς] ὑμῶν ὁ ἀπεστερημένος ἀφ' ὑμῶν κράζει"6. Καὶ οὕτω[ς] γ[ὰ]ρ ἐκλημπτέον, δυνατὸν δὲ καὶ τὸ αἷμα ἀντὶ τῆς ψυ[χῆς] ἐνταῦθα εἰρῆσθαι. Λέγοι δ' ἄν τις ὅτι διὰ τοῦ<το> αἵματος ἐμνήσθη, ὅτι τὸ σῶμα ἔκρυψεν. Ἐκχύ[σεως] δὲ μνημονεύει καὶ ὡς ἡ γῆ ἔχανεν τὸ στόμα α[ὐτῆς] δέξασθ̣αι τὸ αἷμα καὶ ἀδελφοῦ συνεχῶς, ἵνα μεγ[εθύ]νων [τὸ] πραχθὲν καταιδέσῃ τὸν ὠμόθυμον. Ἐπ[άγ]ει δὲ αὐτ[ῷ] καὶ ἀρὰς εἰκότως τοσοῦτον ἐργα- σαμένῳ [λ]έγω<ν>· "6Καὶ ν[ῦν] ἐπικατάρατος σὺ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, ὅτι ἐργᾷ τὴν [γ]ῆν καὶ οὐ πρ[ο]σθήσει τὴν ἰσχὺν αὐτῆς δοῦναί σοι."6 Πολλάκ[ι]ς γὰρ διὰ τα`̣ς̣ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἁμαρτίας ἡ τῆς γῆς ἔνδεια συμβαίνει τοὺς καρ̣π̣οὺς οὐκ ἀποδιδούσης κατὰ τὸ