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to wrong a neighbor, he would often choose also to break an oath; but if he were scrupulous about swearing, he would be much more so about doing wrong. But does he do it unwillingly? Then he is worthy of pardon. But what am I saying about these oaths, leaving aside those in the marketplace? For there you have nothing of the sort to say; for over ten obols oaths are made and perjuries committed. Because a thunderbolt does not come down from above, because not everything is overturned, you stand, laying hold of God. For what reason? So that you may get vegetables, so that you may get shoes, calling him to witness for a little money. Let us not then, because we are not punished, think that we do not even sin; this is of God's love for mankind, not of our virtue. Swear by your son, swear by yourself; say, "So may an executioner not stand over my ribs." But you are afraid. Is God then less honored than your ribs? Of less value than your head? Say, "So may I not be maimed." But Christ spares us so much, as to forbid swearing even by our own head; but we so unsparingly treat the glory of God, as to drag him in everywhere. You do not know what God is, and by what mouths he ought to be invoked. But if we speak of some virtuous man, we say, "Wash out your mouth, and then make mention of him"; but now the honorable name, the name which is above every name, that is wonderful in all the earth, which demons hearing, shudder, we drag about without a thought. B. O, this habit! For from this it has become easily despised. Indeed, at any rate, if you impose on someone the necessity of swearing in a holy house, you act as though you have made the oath dreadful; and yet whence does it seem so dreadful, except that we have used the one lightly, but not this one? For ought there not to be shuddering when God is named? But among the Jews his name was so august, that it was written on plates, and it was not permitted for anyone to wear the letters, except for the high priest alone; but now we carry about his name as a common thing. If to simply name God is not reverent for all; to also call him to witness, of how much boldness, tell me, of how much madness? For if one ought to throw away everything, ought one not to readily allow it? Behold, I say and testify, Correct these oaths in the marketplace, and those who do not obey, bring them all to me. Behold, in your presence I enjoin those appointed for service of the houses of prayer, and I exhort and command, that it be permitted for no one to swear lightly; or rather, not even otherwise. Let him then be brought to me, whoever he may be, since even these things must come to us, as in the case of little children. May it not be so. For it is a shame to still need to learn 60.84 about certain things. Do you, being uninitiated, dare to touch the holy table? But what is still worse, you who are initiated dare to touch the holy table, which not even all priests may lawfully touch, and so to swear. And you would not touch your child's head after going away, but you touch the table, and you do not shudder nor are you afraid? Bring such men to me; I will judge, and I will send both away rejoicing. Do what you will; I lay down a law not to swear at all. What hope of salvation is there, when we thus empty all things? Is it for this there are documents, for this there are contracts, that you should sacrifice your own soul? what do you gain that is as great as what you lose? Did he perjure himself? You have destroyed both him and yourself. But he did not perjure himself? Even so you have destroyed, having forced him to transgress the commandment. Let us drive out this disease from the soul; for now let us chase it from the marketplace, from the general stores, from the other workshops; our gain will be greater. Do not think that through transgressions of the divine laws worldly matters are set right. "But he does not believe," he says. For I have heard this from some, that "Unless I swear ten thousand oaths, he does not believe." You are the cause of this, you who swear readily; for if this were not so, but it were clear to all that you do not swear, believe me when I say that you would be more believed with only a nod than those who devour ten thousand oaths. For behold, tell me, whom then do you believe more, me who does not swear, or those who do swear? "But you," he says, "are a ruler and a bishop?" What then, if

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πλησίον ἀδικεῖν, ἕλοιτο ἂν καὶ ὅρκον καταπατῆσαι πολλάκις· εἰ δὲ περὶ τοῦ ὀμόσαι εὐλαβηθείη, περὶ τὸ ἀδικῆσαι πολλῷ μᾶλλον. Ἀλλ' ἄκων αὐτὸ πάσχει; Οὐκοῦν συγγνώμης ἄξιος. Ἀλλὰ τί λέγω περὶ τῶν ὅρκων τούτων, ἀφεὶς τοὺς ἐπ' ἀγορᾶς; Ἐκεῖ γὰρ οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον ἔχεις εἰπεῖν· ὑπὲρ γὰρ δέκα ὀβολῶν ὅρκοι γίνονται καὶ ἐπιορκίαι. Ὅτι γὰρ σκηπτὸς ἄνωθεν οὐ κατέρχεται, ὅτι γὰρ οὐ πάντα ἀνατρέπεται, ἕστηκας κατέχων τὸν Θεόν. Τί δήποτε; Ἵνα λάχανα λάβῃς, ἵνα ὑποδήματα, ὑπὲρ ὀλίγου ἀργυρίου εἰς μαρτυρίαν αὐτὸν καλῶν. Μὴ δὴ, ἐπειδὴ μὴ κολαζόμεθα, νομίσωμεν μηδὲ ἁμαρτάνειν· τοῦτο τῆς φιλανθρωπίας ἐστὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὐ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἀρετῆς. Ὄμοσον κατὰ τοῦ παιδὸς τοῦ σοῦ, ὄμοσον κατὰ σαυτοῦ· εἰπὲ, Οὕτω μὴ δήμιος ἐπισταίη ταῖς πλευραῖς ταῖς ἐμαῖς. Ἀλλὰ δέδοικας. Τῶν πλευρῶν σου οὖν ἀτιμότερος ὁ Θεός; τῆς κεφαλῆς σου εὐτελέστερος; Εἰπὲ, Οὕτω μὴ πηρωθῶ. Ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν Χριστὸς οὕτως ἡμῶν φείδεται, ὡς κωλύειν καὶ κατὰ τῆς οἰκείας ὀμνύειν κεφαλῆς· ἡμεῖς δὲ οὕτως ἀφειδοῦμεν τῆς δόξης τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὡς πανταχοῦ αὐτὸν ἕλκειν. Οὐκ ἴστε τί ἐστι Θεὸς, καὶ ποίοις στόμασι καλεῖσθαι ὀφείλει. Ἀλλ' ἂν μὲν περί τινος λέγωμεν ἀνδρὸς ἐναρέτου, φαμὲν, Ἀπόπλυνον τὸ στόμα σου, καὶ οὕτω μνήσθητι· νυνὶ δὲ τὸ τίμιον ὄνομα, τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα, τὸ θαυμαστὸν ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ, ὃ δαίμονες ἀκούοντες φρίττουσιν, ἁπλῶς περισύρομεν. ʹ. Ὢ τῆς συνηθείας! ἀπὸ γὰρ ταύτης γέγονεν εὐκαταφρόνητον. Ἀμέλει γοῦν εἰς οἶκον ἅγιον ἂν ἐπιθῇς τινι ἀνάγκην ὀμόσαι, ὡς φρικτὸν τὸν ὅρκον ἐργασάμενος, οὕτω διάκεισαι· καίτοι πόθεν οὕτω φρικτὸν εἶναι δοκεῖ, ἀλλ' ἢ ὅτι ἐκείνῳ μὲν ἁπλῶς ἀποκεχρήμεθα, τούτῳ δὲ οὐχί; οὐ γὰρ φρίκην ἔδει γενέσθαι ὀνομαζομένου τοῦ Θεοῦ; Ἀλλ' ἐπὶ μὲν Ἰουδαίων οὕτως αὐτοῦ τὸ ὄνομα σεμνὸν ἦν, ὡς ἐν πετάλοις γράφεσθαι, καὶ μηδενὶ τὰ γράμματα ἐξεῖναι φορεῖν, ἀλλ' ἢ μόνῳ τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ· νυνὶ δὲ ὡς τὸ τυχὸν οὕτω περιφέρομεν αὐτοῦ τὸ ὄνομα. Εἰ ἁπλῶς ὀνομάζειν τὸν Θεὸν οὐ πᾶσιν εὐαγές· τὸ καὶ ἐπὶ μαρτυρίαν αὐτὸν καλεῖν, πόσης τόλμης, εἰπέ μοι, πόσης μανίας; Εἰ γὰρ πάντα ῥῖψαι ἐχρῆν, οὐκ ἔδει προθύμως ἐᾷν; Ἰδοὺ λέγω καὶ διαμαρτύρομαι, Κατορθώσατε τούτους τοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ὅρκους, τοὺς δὲ μὴ πειθομένους, πάντας ἐμοὶ ἀγάγετε. Ἰδοὺ παρόντων ὑμῶν ἐπισκήπτω τοῖς πρὸς ὑπηρεσίαν ἀφωρισμένοις τῶν οἴκων τῶν εὐκτηρίων, καὶ παραινῶ καὶ παρεγγυῶ, μηδενὶ ὀμνύναι ἁπλῶς ἐξεῖναι· μᾶλλον δὲ μηδὲ ἑτέρως. Πρὸς ἐμὲ οὖν ἀγέσθω ὅστις ἂν ᾖ, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ταῦτα μέχρις ἡμῶν ἔρχεσθαι δεῖ, καθάπερ ἐπὶ παίδων μικρῶν. Μὴ γένοιτο. Αἰσχύνη γάρ ἐστιν ὑπέρ τινων ἔτι δέεσθαι 60.84 μανθάνειν. Μὴ τραπέζης ἱερᾶς ἅψασθαι τολμᾷς ἀμύητος ὤν; Ἀλλὰ τὸ ἔτι χεῖρον, σὺ ὁ μεμυημένος τῆς ἱερᾶς ἅψασθαι τραπέζης τολμᾷς, ἧς οὐδὲ πᾶσιν ἱερεῦσιν ἅψασθαι θέμις, καὶ οὕτως ὀμνύναι. Καὶ σὺ μὲν τῆς τοῦ παιδὸς κεφαλῆς οὐκ ἂν ἅψαιο ἀπελθὼν, τραπέζης δὲ ἅπτῃ, καὶ οὐ φρίττεις οὐδὲ δέδοικας; Πρὸς ἐμὲ τοὺς τοιούτους ἄγε· ἐγὼ δικάσω, καὶ χαίροντας ἑκατέρους ἀποπέμψω. Ὃ βούλεσθε, ποιεῖτε· νόμον τίθημι μηδὲ ὅλως ὀμνύναι. Ποία σωτηρίας ἐλπὶς, οὕτως ἡμῶν πάντα κενούντων; διὰ τοῦτο γραμματεῖα, διὰ τοῦτο συμβόλαια, ἵνα καταθύσῃς τὴν σαυτοῦ ψυχήν; τί τοσοῦτον κερδαίνεις, ὅσον ἀπολλύεις; Ἐπιώρκησεν; Ἀπώλεσας κἀκεῖνον καὶ σαυτόν. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐπιώρκησε; Καὶ οὕτως ἀπώλεσας, παραβῆναι τὴν ἐντολὴν ἀναγκάσας. Ἐξελάσωμεν τοῦτο τὸ νόσημα ἀπὸ τῆς ψυχῆς· τέως ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγορᾶς αὐτὸ διώξωμεν, ἀπὸ τῶν παντοπωλείων, ἀπὸ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐργαστηρίων· μείζων ὁ πόρος ἡμῖν ἔσται. Μὴ νομίσητε διὰ τῶν παραβάσεων τῶν θείων νόμων τὰ βιωτικὰ κατορθοῦσθαι. Ἀλλ' οὐ πιστεύει, φησί. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τοῦτό ποτε παρ' ἐνίων ἤκουσα, ὅτι Ἂν μὴ ὀμόσω μυρίους ὅρκους, οὐ πιστεύει. Σὺ τούτων αἴτιος ὁ προχείρως ὀμνύς· ἐπεὶ εἰ μὴ τοῦτο ἦν, ἀλλὰ πᾶσιν ἦν δῆλον, ὅτι οὐκ ὀμνύεις, πίστευέ μοι λέγοντι, ὅτι τῶν μυρίους κατεσθιόντων ὅρκους μᾶλλον ἂν ἐπιστεύθης ἐπινεύσας μόνον. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ, εἰπέ μοι, τίνι ἄρα μᾶλλον πιστεύετε, ἐμοὶ τῷ μὴ ὀμνύοντι, ἢ τοῖς ὀμνύουσιν; Ἀλλὰ σὺ, φησὶν, ἄρχων εἶ καὶ ἐπίσκοπος; Τί οὖν, ἂν