John Chrysostom, On the Letter to the Hebrews

starving; and the free man has become more dishonored than your slaves. But they fulfill a need for us, one says. What need is this, tell me? That they serve you well? If then I show you that this man fulfills for you a much greater need than they do, what will you say? 63.94 For he will stand beside you on the day of judgment, and he will deliver you from the fire. What such thing do all your slaves do? When Tabitha died, who raised her up? Was it the slaves standing around, or the poor? But you are not even willing to treat the free man as equal to your slaves. The cold is intense, and the poor man is thrown on the ground, wearing rags, dead from the cold, chattering his teeth, and by his look and his posture able to move one to pity; but you pass by, warming yourself and being drunk; and how do you expect God to deliver you when you are in trouble? And often you say this as well: If it were I, and I had caught someone who had sinned greatly, I would have forgiven him, and God does not forgive? Do not say this, for you yourself overlook the one who has sinned in nothing against you, whom you are able to set free. But if you disregard such a person, how will God forgive you who are sinning against him? Are not these things worthy of Gehenna? And what is surprising? A body, often dead and unfeeling, no longer sensible of honor, you wrap in countless, various, and golden-threaded garments; but you overlook that which is in pain and is being torn apart and tormented and exhausted by hunger and cold, and you gratify your vainglory more than the fear of God. And would that it stopped at this; but immediately there are accusations against the one who approaches. For why does he not work, one says? Why is he fed while being idle? Tell me, do you have what you have by working, and not by receiving a paternal inheritance? And even if you do work, do you for this reason reproach another? Do you not hear Paul saying, But you, do not grow weary in doing good? For after saying, If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat, he added this. But he is an imposter, one says. 4. What are you saying, man? For the sake of a single piece of bread and a garment you call him an imposter? But he sells it right away, one says. But do you manage all your own affairs well? What then? Are all poor from idleness? No one from shipwrecks? No one from lawsuits? No one from theft? No one from dangers? No one from diseases? No one from other circumstances? But if we hear someone lamenting such things and crying out loudly, and looking up to heaven naked, and having long hair and clothed in rags, we immediately call him an imposter, a cheat, a dissembler. Are you not ashamed? Whom do you call an imposter? Give nothing, and do not accuse the man. But he has things, one says, and he is just putting on an act. This is an accusation against you, not against him; he knows that he is dealing with cruel people, with beasts rather than with human beings, and that even if he utters a pitiable word, he persuades no one; and for this reason he is forced to put on a more pitiable appearance for himself, in order to break your soul. If we see someone approaching in a respectable manner, 'This one is an imposter,' one says, 'and he approaches this way so that he might seem to be of noble birth;' if we see one in the opposite state, we revile him too. What are they to do then? O, the cruelty! O, the harshness! And for what reason, one says, do they expose their mutilated limbs? Because of you. If we were merciful, they would have no need of these tricks; if they persuaded us from their first approach, they would not have contrived so many things. Who is so wretched as to be willing to cry out so much, as to be willing to act indecently, as to be willing to lament publicly with his naked wife, to be sprinkled with ashes with his children? How much worse 63.95 are these things than any poverty? But for these things they are not only not pitied, but are even accused by us. Shall we then still be indignant that when we pray to God we are not heard? Shall we then still be vexed that when we entreat we do not persuade? Do we not shudder, beloved? But I have given many times, one says. But do you not always eat? Do you turn away your children when they ask many times? O, the shamelessness! Do you call the poor man shameless? And you, while seizing things, are not shameless; but he, begging for bread, is shameless? Do you not consider how great is the need of the belly? Do you not do all things for this reason? Do you not neglect spiritual things for this reason? Is not heaven set before you and

πεινῶν· καὶ δούλων τῶν σῶν ὁ ἐλεύθερος ἀτιμότερος γέγονεν. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνοι ἡμῖν χρείαν πληροῦσι, φησί. Ποίαν δὴ ταύτην, εἰπέ μοι; ὅτι δουλεύουσί σοι καλῶς; Ἐὰν οὖν δείξω καὶ τοῦτον χρείαν σοι πληροῦντα πολλῷ μείζονα ἐκείνων, τί ἐρεῖς; 63.94 παραστήσεται γάρ σοι ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως, καὶ ἐξαιρήσεταί σε τοῦ πυρός. Τί τοιοῦτον οἱ δοῦλοι ποιοῦσι πάντες; Ὅτε ἡ Ταβιθὰ ἐτελεύτησε, τίς ἀνέστησεν αὐτήν; δοῦλοι περιστάντες, ἢ πτωχοί; Σὺ δὲ οὐδὲ τῶν δούλων τὸν ἐλεύθερον ἐν ἴσῳ ποιεῖν ἐθέλεις. Πολύς ἐστιν ὁ κρυμὸς, καὶ ἔῤῥιπται ἐπ' ἐδάφους ῥάκια ἔχων ὁ πένης, ἀποτεθνηκὼς τῷ κρύει, κροτῶν τοὺς ὀδόντας, καὶ τῇ ὄψει καὶ τῷ σχήματι ἱκανὸς παρακαλέσαι· σὺ δὲ θερμαινόμενος καὶ μεθύων παρέρχῃ· καὶ πῶς ἀξιοῖς τὸν Θεὸν ἐν συμφορᾷ σε ὄντα ἐξελέσθαι; Πολλάκις δὲ καὶ τοῦτο λέγεις· Ἐγὼ εἰ ἤμην, καὶ ἔλαβον πολλὰ ἁμαρτόντα τινὰ, ἀφῆκα ἂν αὐτὸν, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς οὐκ ἀφίησι; Μὴ τοῦτο εἴπῃς καὶ γὰρ σὺ τὸν οὐδὲν ἁμαρτόντα εἰς σὲ, ὃν δύνασαι ἀπαλλάξαι, τοῦτον περιορᾷς. Εἰ δὲ τὸν τοιοῦτον σὺ παραλογίζῃ, πῶς ὁ Θεὸς εἰς αὐτὸν ἁμαρτάνοντά σε ἀφήσει; ἆρα οὐχὶ γεέννης ἄξια ταῦτα; Καὶ τί θαυμαστόν; σῶμα μὲν πολλάκις νεκρὸν καὶ ἀναίσθητον, οὐκέτι τῆς τιμῆς αἰσθανόμενον, μυρίοις καὶ ποικίλοις καὶ διαχρύσοις ἱματίοις περιστέλλεις· τὸ δὲ ἀλγοῦν καὶ κατακοπτόμενον καὶ βασανιζόμενον καὶ κατατεινόμενον ὑπὸ λιμοῦ καὶ κρυμοῦ περιορᾷς, καὶ πλέον τῇ κενοδοξίᾳ χαρίζῃ, ἢ τῷ φόβῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Καὶ εἴθε μέχρι τούτου· ἀλλ' εὐθέως κατηγορίαι κατὰ τοῦ προσιόντος· Τί γὰρ οὐκ ἐργάζεται, φησί; τί δὲ ἀργῶν τρέφεται; Εἰπέ μοι, σὺ δὲ ἐργαζόμενος ἔχεις ἃ ἔχεις, οὐχὶ κλῆρον πατρῷον παραλαβών; Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐργάζῃ, διὰ τοῦτο ὀνειδίζεις ἑτέρῳ; Οὐκ ἀκούεις Παύλου λέγοντος, Ὑμεῖς δὲ τὸ καλὸν ποιοῦντες μὴ ἐκκακήσητε; μετὰ γὰρ τὸ εἰπεῖν, Ὁ μὴ ἐργαζόμενος μηδὲ ἐσθιέτω, τοῦτο ἐπήγαγεν. Ἀλλ' ἐπιθέτης, φησὶν, ἐστί. δʹ. Τί φὴς, ἄνθρωπε; ἄρτου ἑνὸς ἕνεκεν καὶ ἱματίου ἐπιθέτην καλεῖς; Ἀλλ' εὐθέως πωλεῖ αὐτὸ, φησί. Σὺ δὲ πάντα τὰ σαυτοῦ καλῶς διοικεῖς; Τί δέ; πάντες ἀπὸ ἀργίας πένονται; οὐδεὶς ἀπὸ ναυαγίων; οὐδεὶς ἀπὸ δικαστηρίων; οὐδεὶς ἀπὸ κλοπῆς; οὐδεὶς ἀπὸ κινδύνων; οὐδεὶς ἀπὸ νόσων; οὐδεὶς ἀπὸ ἄλλης περιστάσεως; Ἀλλ' ἂν ἀκούσωμέν τινος τοιαῦτα ἀποδυρομένου καὶ μεγάλα βοῶντος, καὶ γυμνοῦ ἀναβλέποντος εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν, καὶ κομῶντος καὶ ῥάκια ἠμφιεσμένου, εὐθέως τὸν ἐπιθέτην, τὸν ἀπατεῶνα, τὸν εἴρωνα καλοῦμεν. Οὐκ αἰσχύνῃ; τίνα ἐπιθέτην καλεῖς; Μηδὲν δῷς, καὶ μὴ κατηγορήσῃς τοῦ ἀνδρός. Ἀλλ' ἔχει, φησὶ, καὶ σχηματίζεται. Τοῦτο σοῦ κατηγορία, οὐκ ἐκείνου· οἶδε πρὸς ὠμοὺς ἔχων, πρὸς θηρία μᾶλλον ἢ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους καὶ ὅτι κἂν ἐλεεινὸν φθέγξηται ῥῆμα, οὐδένα ἐφέλκεται· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀναγκάζεται καὶ σχῆμα περιθεῖναι ἑαυτῷ ἐλεεινότερον, ἵνα σου κατακλάσῃ τὴν ψυχήν. Ἐὰν ἴδωμέν τινα ἐν ἐλευθερίῳ σχήματι προσιόντα, Οὗτος ἐπιθέτης ἐστὶ, φησὶ, καὶ ἵνα δόξῃ ἀπὸ εὐγενῶν εἶναι, οὕτω πρόσεισιν· ἂν ἴδωμεν ἐν τῷ ἐναντίῳ σχήματι καὶ τοῦτον κακίζομεν. Τί πράξουσι λοιπόν; Ὢ τῆς ὠμότητος! ὢ τῆς ἀπηνείας! Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν, φησὶ, τὰ ἠκρωτηριασμένα μέλη γυμνοῦσι; ∆ιὰ σέ· εἰ ἐλεήμονες ἦμεν, οὐκ ἔδει τούτων αὐτοῖς τῶν τεχνῶν· εἰ ἐκ πρώτης προσόδου ἔπειθον, οὐκ ἂν τοσαῦτα ἐμηχανήσαντο. Τίς ἐστιν οὕτως ἄθλιος, ὡς ἐθέλειν τοσαῦτα βοᾷν, ὡς ἐθέλειν ἀσχημονεῖν, ὡς ἐθέλειν ἀποδύρεσθαι δημοσίᾳ μετὰ τῆς γυναικὸς γεγυμνωμένης, μετὰ τῶν παίδων σποδὸν καταπάττεσθαι; Πόσης 63.95 ταῦτα πενίας χείρονα; Ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ τούτων οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἐλεοῦνται, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατηγοροῦνται παρ' ἡμῶν. Ἔτι οὖν ἀγανακτήσομεν, ὅτι τοῦ Θεοῦ δεόμενοι οὐκ εἰσακουόμεθα; ἔτι οὖν δυσχερανοῦμεν, ὅτι οὐ πείθομεν παρακαλοῦντες; Οὐ φρίττομεν, ἀγαπητοί; Ἀλλὰ πολλάκις ἔδωκα, φησί. Σὺ δὲ οὐκ ἀεὶ ἐσθίεις; τοὺς δὲ παῖδας πολλάκις ἀπαιτοῦντας ἀπάγεις; Ὢ τῆς ἀναισχυντίας! Πένητα ἀναίσχυντον καλεῖς; καὶ σὺ μὲν ἁρπάζων οὐκ ἀναίσχυντος· ἐκεῖνος δὲ ὑπὲρ ἄρτου δεόμενος ἀναίσχυντος; Οὐκ ἐννοεῖς ὅση τῆς γαστρὸς ἡ ἀνάγκη; οὐχὶ πάντα διὰ τοῦτο ποιεῖς; οὐχὶ τῶν πνευματικῶν διὰ τοῦτο ἀμελεῖς; οὐχὶ οὐρανὸς πρόκειται καὶ