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for the woman to be in her prime, and he in desire, shows nothing else than that it has come to be so through love. Do not then, because the wife is subjected, act the master; nor you, because the husband loves, be puffed up. Let not the husband's love lift up the wife, nor the wife's subjection puff up the husband. For this reason He subjected her to you, that she might be more loved; for this reason He caused you to be loved, O woman, that you might easily bear being subjected. Fear not being subjected; for to be subjected to one who loves has no difficulty. Fear not loving; for you have her yielding. A bond could not, then, have been formed otherwise. You have then a necessary rule from nature, have also the bond that is from love; for He has left the weaker one bearable. Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing in the Lord. Again he has put, In the Lord, both laying down laws of obedience, and putting to shame, and casting down. For this, he says, is well pleasing to the Lord. See how not from nature alone, but before this, from the things that seem good to God, he wishes us to do all things, that we may also have a reward. Fathers, provoke not your children, lest they be discouraged. Behold again here too subjection and affection. And he did not say, Love your children; for it was superfluous; for nature itself compels this, but what was needed he corrected, that affection also be more vehement here, since the obedience is also greater. For nowhere does he set the example of the husband and the wife; but what? Hear the Prophet saying; As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear him. And again Christ says; 62.367 What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? and if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? -Fathers, provoke not your children, lest they be discouraged. What he knew was most able to sting them, this he has put, and he spoke more lovingly in commanding them, and nowhere does he place God; for he has bent the parents, and bowed their hearts. But, Provoke not, is this, Do not make them more contentious; there are times when you ought also to yield. Then he came to a third authority, saying, Servants, obey your masters according to the flesh. Here there is some affection, but it is no longer natural, as above, but from custom, and from the authority itself, and from the works. Since then here the affection is diminished, but the obedience is increased, he dwells on this, wishing to give to these from obedience what the first have from nature. So he does not speak to the servants only for the sake of the masters, but also for their own sakes, that they may make themselves beloved by their masters. But he does not put this plainly; for he would have made them supine. Servants, he says, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh. b. And see how he always puts the names, wives, children, servants, as a justification for obeying. But that he might not be pained, he added; To your masters according to the flesh. Your better part, the soul, is free, he says; the servitude is for a time. That then subject, that the servitude may no longer be of necessity. Not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers. Make, he says, the servitude which is from the law to be from the fear of Christ. For even if you do what is fitting and for the honor of your master when he is not looking, it is clear that you do it on account of the sleepless eye. Not with eyeservice, he says, as men-pleasers. So you will suffer the harm. For hear the Prophet saying; The Lord has scattered the bones of men-pleasers. See then how he spares them, and regulates them. But in simplicity, he says, of heart, fearing God. For that is not simplicity, but hypocrisy, to have one thing and to do another; to appear one way when the master is present, and another when he is absent. Therefore he did not simply say; In

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γὰρ ἐν ὥρᾳ εἶναι τὴν γυναῖκα, τοῦτον δὲ ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ, οὐδὲν ἄλλο δείκνυσιν, ἀλλ' ἢ ὅτι διὰ τὴν ἀγάπην οὕτω γεγένηται. Μὴ τοίνυν, ἐπειδὴ ὑποτέτακται ἡ γυνὴ, αὐθέντει· μηδὲ σὺ, ἐπειδὴ ὁ ἀνὴρ ἀγαπᾷ, φυσιοῦ. Μήτε ἡ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς φιλία τὴν γυναῖκα ἐπαιρέτω, μήτε ἡ τῆς γυναικὸς ὑποταγὴ φυσάτω τὸν ἄνδρα. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό σοι ὑπέταξεν αὐτὴν, ἵνα μᾶλλον φιλῆται· διὰ τοῦτό σε φιλεῖσθαι ἐποίησεν, ὦ γύναι, ἵνα εὐκόλως φέρῃς τὸ ὑποτετάχθαι. Μὴ φοβοῦ ὑποτασσομένη· τὸ γὰρ φιλοῦντι ὑποταγῆναι, οὐδεμίαν ἔχει δυσκολίαν. Μὴ φοβοῦ ἐρῶν· ἔχεις γὰρ αὐτὴν εἴκουσαν. Οὐκ ἂν ἄλλως οὖν ἐγένετο σύνδεσμος. Ἀναγκαίαν τοίνυν ἔχεις ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως τὴν ἀρχὴν, ἔχε καὶ τὸν δεσμὸν τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης· τὴν γὰρ ἀσθενεστέραν ἀνεκτὴν εἴασε. Τὰ τέκνα, ὑπακούετε τοῖς γονεῦσι κατὰ πάντα· τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν εὐάρεστον ἐν Κυρίῳ. Πάλιν τὸ, Ἐν Κυρίῳ, τέθεικε, καὶ νόμους τιθεὶς ὑπακοῆς, καὶ ἐντρέπων, καὶ καταβάλλων. Τοῦτο γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐστὶν εὐάρεστον τῷ Κυρίῳ. Ὅρα πῶς οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως μόνης, ἀλλὰ πρὸ ταύτης ἀπὸ τῶν τῷ Θεῷ δοκούντων βούλεται ἡμᾶς ἅπαντα πράττειν, ἵνα καὶ μισθὸν ἔχωμεν. Οἱ πατέρες, μὴ ἐρεθίζετε τὰ τέκνα ὑμῶν, ἵνα μὴ ἀθυμῶσιν. Ἰδοὺ πάλιν καὶ ἐνταῦθα ὑποταγὴ καὶ φίλτρον. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἀγαπᾶτε τὰ τέκνα· περιττὸν γὰρ ἦν· αὐτὴ γὰρ ἡ φύσις καταναγκάζει, ἀλλ' ὅπερ ἔδει διώρθωσε, τὸ καὶ τὸ φίλτρον ἐνταῦθα εἶναι σφοδρότερον, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ἡ ὑπακοὴ μείζων. Οὐδαμοῦ γὰρ τίθησιν ὑπόδειγμα τὸ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς καὶ τὸ τῆς γυναικός· ἀλλὰ τί; Ἄκουε τοῦ Προφήτου λέγοντος· Καθὼς οἰκτείρει πατὴρ υἱοὺς, ᾠκτείρησε Κύριος τοὺς φοβουμένους αὐτόν. Καὶ πάλιν ὁ Χριστός φησι· 62.367 Τίς ἐστιν ἐξ ὑμῶν ἄνθρωπος, ὃν ἐὰν αἰτήσῃ ὁ υἱὸς ἄρτον, μὴ λίθον ἐπιδώσει αὐτῷ; καὶ ἐὰν ἰχθὺν αἰτήσῃ, μὴ ὄφιν ἐπιδώσει αὐτῷ; -Οἱ πατέρες, μὴ ἐρεθίζετε τὰ τέκνα ὑμῶν, ἵνα μὴ ἀθυμῶσιν. Ὃ μάλιστα αὐτοὺς ᾔδει δυνατὸν δακεῖν, τοῦτο τέθεικε, καὶ φιλικώτερον εἶπεν ἐπιτάττων αὐτοῖς, καὶ οὐδαμοῦ τὸν Θεὸν τίθησιν· ἐπέκλασε γὰρ τοὺς γονέας, καὶ κατέκαμψεν αὐτῶν τὰ σπλάγχνα. Τὸ δὲ, Μὴ ἐρεθίζετε, τοῦτό ἐστι, Μὴ φιλονεικοτέρους αὐτοὺς ποιεῖτε· ἔστιν ὅπου καὶ συγχωρεῖν ὀφείλετε. Εἶτα ἐπὶ τρίτην ἦλθεν ἀρχὴν, Οἱ δοῦλοι, λέγων, ὑπακούετε τοῖς κατὰ σάρκα κυρίοις. Ἐνταῦθα ἔστι μέν τι καὶ φίλτρον, ἀλλ' οὐκέτι φυσικὸν, καθάπερ ἄνω, ἀλλὰ συνηθείας, καὶ ἀπ' αὐτῆς τῆς ἀρχῆς, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἐνταῦθα τὸ μὲν τοῦ φίλτρου ὑποτέτμηται, τὸ δὲ τῆς ὑπακοῆς ἐπιτέταται, τούτῳ ἐνδιατρίβει, βουλόμενος, ὅπερ οἱ πρῶτοι ἔχουσιν ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως, τοῦτο δοῦναι τούτοις ἀπὸ τῆς ὑπακοῆς. Ὥστε οὐχ ὑπὲρ τῶν δεσποτῶν τοῖς οἰκέταις μόνοις διαλέγεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, ἵνα ποθεινοὺς ἑαυτοὺς ἐργάζωνται τοῖς δεσπόταις. Ἀλλ' οὐ τίθησι τοῦτο φανερῶς· ἦ γὰρ ἂν ὑπτίους αὐτοὺς ἐποίησεν. Οἱ δοῦλοι, φησὶν, ὑπακούετε κατὰ πάντα τοῖς κατὰ σάρκα κυρίοις. βʹ. Καὶ ὅρα πῶς ἀεὶ τὰ ὀνόματα τίθησι, γυναῖκες, τὰ τέκνα, οἱ δοῦλοι, ὡς δικαίωμα τοῦ ὑπακούειν. Ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ ἀλγήσῃ, ἐπήγαγε· Τοῖς κατὰ σάρκα κυρίοις. Τὸ κρεῖττόν σου ἡ ψυχὴ ἐλευθέρωται, φησί· πρόσκαιρος ἡ δουλεία. Ἐκεῖνο τοίνυν ὑπόταξον, ἵνα μηκέτι ἀνάγκης ᾖ ἡ δουλεία. Μὴ ἐν ὀφθαλμοδουλείαις, ὡς ἀνθρωπάρεσκοι. Ποίησον, φησὶ, τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου δουλείαν ἀπὸ τοῦ φόβου γίνεσθαι τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Κἂν γὰρ μὴ ὁρῶντος ἐκείνου πράττῃς τὰ δέοντα καὶ τὰ πρὸς τιμὴν τοῦ δεσπότου, δηλονότι διὰ τὸν ἀκοίμητον ὀφθαλμὸν ποιεῖς. Μὴ κατ' ὀφθαλμοδουλείαν, φησὶν, ὡς ἀνθρωπάρεσκοι. Ὥστε ὑμεῖς τὴν βλάβην ὑποστήσεσθε. Ἄκουε γὰρ τοῦ Προφήτου λέγοντος· ∆ιεσκόρπισε Κύριος ὀστᾶ ἀνθρωπαρέσκων. Ὅρα τοίνυν πῶς αὐτῶν φείδεται, καὶ αὐτοὺς ῥυθμίζει. Ἀλλ' ἐν ἁπλότητι, φησὶ, καρδίας, φοβούμενοι τὸν Θεόν. Ἐκεῖνο γὰρ οὐχ ἁπλότης, ἀλλ' ὑπόκρισις, ἕτερον ἔχειν καὶ ἕτερον ποιεῖν· ἄλλον μὲν παρόντος φαίνεσθαι τοῦ δεσπότου, ἄλλον δὲ ἀπόντος. Οὐκοῦν οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἶπεν· Ἐν