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and that which has happened provides the same freedom, what prevents us from showing favor to the law, since the matter is in no way harmed? For a married woman is bound by law to her living husband. Where now are those who slander the law? Let them hear how, even when falling into a necessity, he does not diminish its dignity, but discourses great things about its authority, if indeed while it is living, the Jew is bound, and those who transgress and leave it while it is living are called adulterers; but if he has left it after it has died, it is nothing surprising; for even among men, one who does this is not slandered. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. 3. Do you see how in the example he shows the law has died? But he does not do this in the application. Therefore, while the husband is living, the woman is called an adulteress. See how he dwells on the accusations of those who transgress the living law. But since he made it cease, he henceforth with all safety grants it to faith, doing no harm thereby. For while the husband is living, he says, the woman will be called an adulteress if she is with another man. So then, my brothers, you also. It would have been logical to say: The law having died, you are not judged for adultery, having become another man's. But he did not say it thus, but how? You were made dead to the law. If you have become dead, you are not under the law. For if, when the husband has died, the wife is not responsible, much more is she, having died, released from this. Did you see the wisdom of Paul, how he showed that the law itself willed this, that we should depart from it and be joined to another husband? For it does not forbid, he says, being with another husband, when the first has died. How could it, when it even permits it while he is alive, if she has received a bill of divorce? But he does not even mention this, which was rather a charge against the women; for even if it was permitted, it was nevertheless not free from blame. For when he has the victory from necessary and approved arguments, he does not seek superfluous ones; for he is not miserly. This, then, is the wonderful thing, that the law itself releases us from the charges when we have departed from it; so that it is its will that we become Christ's. For both it has died, and we have died, and in two ways its authority has been taken away. But he is not content with these things alone, but also adds the cause; for he has not simply mentioned death, but again introduced the cross which accomplished these things, and in this way making us responsible. For he does not simply say, 'You were released,' but, 'Through the death of the Lord.' For you were made dead, he says, to the law through the body of Christ. 60.498 But he urges not only from this, but also from the excellence of the second husband; for this reason he also added: That you might be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead. Then, lest they say, What then, if we do not wish to be married to a second husband? For the law does not indeed make a widowed woman an adulteress for entering a second marriage, but it certainly does not compel her to marry; so that they might not say this, he shows that we ought to desire it also from what has already been done for us; which he also states more clearly elsewhere, saying: You are not your own; and, You were bought with a price; and, Do not become slaves of men; and again, One died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them. This, at any rate, he also hinted at here, saying: Through the body. Then he also encourages with better hopes, saying: That we should bear fruit for God. For then you bore fruit for death, he says, but now for God. For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins, which were through the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. Do you see the gain of the first husband? And he did not say, When we were in the law, everywhere avoiding giving a handle to heretics; but, When we were in the flesh, that is, in evil practices, in the carnal life. For he does not mean this, that before this they were in the flesh, but now they went about having become bodiless. But in saying this, he neither says the law is a cause of sins, nor does he free it from hostility; for it held the position of a bitter accuser, laying bare sins; for the

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κἀκεῖνο γενόμενον τὴν αὐτὴν ἐλευθερίαν παρέχῃ, τί κωλύει χαρίσασθαι τῷ νόμῳ, τοῦ πράγματος μηδὲν παραβλαπτομένου; Ἡ γὰρ ὕπανδρος γυνὴ τῷ ζῶντι ἀνδρὶ δέδεται νόμῳ. Ποῦ νῦν εἰσιν οἱ τὸν νόμον διαβάλλοντες; Ἀκουέτωσαν πῶς καὶ εἰς ἀνάγκην ἐμπεσὼν, οὐ καθαιρεῖ αὐτοῦ τὸ ἀξίωμα, ἀλλὰ μεγάλα περὶ τῆς ἐξουσίας αὐτοῦ διαλέγεται, εἴ γε ζῶντος αὐτοῦ, δέδεται ὁ Ἰουδαῖος, καὶ μοιχοὶ χρηματίζουσιν οἱ παραβαίνοντες καὶ ἀφιέντες αὐτὸν ζῶντα· εἰ δὲ τελευτήσαντα εἴασεν, οὐδὲν θαυμαστόν· καὶ γὰρ ἐπ' ἀνθρώπων οὐ διαβάλλεται ὁ τοῦτο ποιῶν. Ἐὰν δὲ ἀποθάνῃ ὁ ἀνὴρ, κατήργηται ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου τοῦ ἀνδρός. γʹ. Εἶδες πῶς ἐν τῷ παραδείγματι τὸν νόμον δείκνυσι τετελευτηκότα; Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐν τῇ ἐπαγωγῇ τοῦτο ποιεῖ. Ἄρα οὖν ζῶντος τοῦ ἀνδρὸς, μοιχαλὶς χρηματίζει ἡ γυνή. Ὅρα πῶς ἐνδιατρίβει ταῖς κατηγορίαις τῶν τὸν νόμον παραβαινόντων ζῶντα. Ἐπεὶ δὲ αὐτὸν ἔπαυσε, λοιπὸν μετὰ ἀσφαλείας ἁπάσης αὐτὸν χαρίζεται τῇ πίστει, οὐδὲν παραβλάπτων ἐντεῦθεν. Ζῶντος γὰρ, φησὶ, τοῦ ἀνδρὸς, μοιχαλὶς χρηματίσει ἡ γυνὴ, ἐὰν γένηται ἀνδρὶ ἑτέρῳ. Ὥστε, ἀδελφοί μου, καὶ ὑμεῖς. Ἀκόλουθον ἦν εἰπεῖν· Τοῦ νόμου τελευτήσαντος, οὐ κρίνεσθε μοιχείας, ἀνδρὶ γενόμενοι ἑτέρῳ. Ἀλλ' οὐκ εἶπεν οὕτως, ἀλλὰ πῶς; Ἐθανατώθητε τῷ νόμῳ. Εἰ νεκροὶ γεγόνατε, οὐκ ἐστὲ ὑπὸ τὸν νόμον. Εἰ γὰρ τελευτήσαντος τοῦ ἀνδρὸς οὐκ ἔστιν ὑπεύθυνος ἡ γυνὴ, πολλῷ μᾶλλον αὕτη τετελευτηκυῖα ἀπήλλακται τούτου. Εἶδες Παύλου σοφίαν, πῶς τὸν νόμον ἔδειξε τοῦτο βουλόμενον, τὸ ἀποστῆναι αὐτοῦ καὶ γενέσθαι ἀνδρὶ ἑτέρῳ; Οὐ γὰρ κωλύει, φησὶν, ἑτέρῳ συνεῖναι ἀνδρὶ, τελευτήσαντος τοῦ προτέρου. Πῶς γὰρ, ὅπου γε καὶ ζῶντος ἐπιτρέπει βιβλίον ἀποστασίου λαβοῦσαν; Ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτο οὐ τίθησιν, ὅπερ ἔγκλημα ἦν μᾶλλον τῶν γυναικῶν· εἰ γὰρ καὶ συγκεχώρητο, ἀλλ' ὅμως οὐκ ἦν αἰτίας ἀπηλλαγμένον. Ὅταν γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀναγκαίων καὶ δοκίμων ἔχῃ τὰ νικητήρια, οὐ ζητεῖ τὰ περιττά· οὐ γάρ ἐστι γλίσχρος. Τὸ τοίνυν θαυμαστὸν τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ νόμος ἀπαλλάττει τῶν ἐγκλημάτων ἡμᾶς ἀποστάντας αὐτοῦ· ὥστε αὐτοῦ βούλημα τὸ γενέσθαι ἡμᾶς τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς τέθνηκε, καὶ ἡμεῖς τεθνήκαμεν, καὶ διπλῇ τὰ τῆς ἐξουσίας ἀνῄρηται. Ὁ δὲ οὐδὲ τούτοις ἀρκεῖται μόνοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν αἴτιον προστίθησιν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἁπλῶς τέθεικε τὸν θάνατον, ἀλλὰ πάλιν τὸν ταῦτα ἐργασάμενον τὸν σταυρὸν εἰσήγαγε, καὶ ταύτῃ ποιῶν ἡμᾶς ὑπευθύνους. Οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς, Ἀπηλλάγητε, φησὶν, ἀλλὰ, ∆ιὰ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ ∆εσποτικοῦ. Ἐθανατώθητε γὰρ, φησὶ, τῷ νόμῳ διὰ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ. 60.498 Οὐκ ἐντεῦθεν δὲ προτρέπει μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῆς ὑπεροχῆς τοῦ δευτέρου ἀνδρός· διὸ καὶ ἐπήγαγεν· Εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι ὑμᾶς ἑτέρῳ, τῷ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐγερθέντι. Εἶτα, ἵνα μὴ λέγωσι, Τί οὖν, ἂν μὴ βουλώμεθα δευτέρῳ ὁμιλῆσαι ἀνδρί; ὁ γὰρ νόμος τὴν χηρεύσασαν οὐ ποιεῖ μὲν εἶναι μοιχαλίδα δευτέροις ὁμιλήσασαν γάμοις, οὐ μὴν ἀναγκάζει ὁμιλῆσαι· ἵν' οὖν μὴ τοῦτο λέγωσι, δείκνυσιν ὅτι καὶ ἐκ τῶν ὑπηργμένων ἤδη ἡμῖν βουληθῆναι δεῖ· ὅπερ καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ σαφέστερον τίθησι, λέγων· Οὐκ ἐστὲ ἑαυτῶν· καὶ, Τιμῆς ἠγοράσθητε· καὶ, Μὴ γίνεσθε δοῦλοι ἀνθρώπων· καὶ πάλιν, Εἷς ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀπέθανεν, ἵνα οἱ ζῶντες μηκέτι ἑαυτοῖς ζῶσιν, ἀλλὰ τῷ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἀποθανόντι. Τοῦτο γοῦν καὶ ἐνταῦθα ᾐνίξατο εἰπών· ∆ιὰ τοῦ σώματος. Εἶτα καὶ προτρέπει ταῖς κρείττοσιν ἐλπίσι, λέγων· Ἵνα καρποφορήσωμεν τῷ Θεῷ. Τότε μὲν γὰρ ἐκαρποφορεῖτε τῷ θανάτῳ, φησὶ, νῦν δὲ τῷ Θεῷ. Ὅτε γὰρ ἦμεν ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ, τὰ παθήματα τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τὰ διὰ τοῦ νόμου ἐνηργεῖτο ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ἡμῶν εἰς τὸ καρποφορῆσαι τῷ θανάτῳ. Εἶδες τοῦ προτέρου ἀνδρὸς τὸ κέρδος; Καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν, Ὅτε ἦμεν ἐν τῷ νόμῳ, πανταχοῦ φειδόμενος δοῦναι αἱρετικοῖς λαβήν· ἀλλ', Ὅτε ἦμεν ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ, τουτέστι, ταῖς πονηραῖς πράξεσι, τῷ σαρκικῷ βίῳ. Οὐ γὰρ τοῦτό φησιν, ὅτι πρὸ τούτου μὲν ἐν σαρκὶ ἦσαν, νυνὶ δὲ ἀσώματοι γενόμενοι περιῄεσαν. Τοῦτο δὲ εἰπὼν, οὔτε αἴτιον εἶναί φησιν ἁμαρτημάτων τὸν νόμον, οὔτε ἀπαλλάττει αὐτὸν ἀπεχθείας· κατηγόρου γὰρ τάξιν ἐπεῖχε πικροῦ, ἀπογυμνῶν τὰ ἁμαρτήματα· ὁ γὰρ