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to them again that God also fights with them, so that they might not lose heart even in this way. And thus it is for humans, but to the Savior angels appear after the temptation, and this for service, so that the willfully wicked, if the angels had appeared before this, might not say that the victory belongs to the angels. What [is] the service of the angels but the entrusting of the souls of those who obey God? For they were not present for the sake of help. And indeed He rebukes Peter for wanting to fight for Him, saying: "Or do you think that I could not ask my Father, and He would have given me more than twelve legions of angels?" Thus He does not need an alliance. xii, 10. And there was a famine upon the earth; and Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, because the famine was severe upon the earth. The literal meaning is clear; but the spiritual meaning is this. The wise of God are above the earth, not being of it; in it, therefore, a famine has occurred; for to those who mind earthly things a famine of hearing the word of the Lord often happens, if they are worthy of this, with it being given back again at some later time. For this reason also Abram comes to Egypt "to sojourn", not to dwell, going down with those who suffered the famine, not to dwell there; for Daniel and his companions were not in Babylon because of sins, but so that they might help those who had been resettled [there] because of sins. For God spares sinners as much as it is possible 226 for [them] to repent. And just as physicians are sent where there is great harm or disease, not that they themselves might share in the disease but that they might heal the sick, so the saints went into confusion and into Babylon, not being inhabitants; for they possessed nothing worthy of it, which is characteristic of inhabitants. xii, 11-13. And it happened, when Abram was near to entering Egypt, Abram said to Sarai his wife: I know that you are a beautiful woman; it will be therefore that when the Egyptians see you, they will say that she is his wife, and they will kill me, but they will keep you; say therefore that I am his sister, so that it may be well with me because of you, and my soul will live on account of you. As to the literal meaning, he acts with understanding regarding the Egyptians' love of pleasure, believing that God, having brought him out of his own land, would not overlook his marriage, and he suggests to her to say to them that she is his sister, so that, with this being said first and alone, they might not receive the idea that she is his wife, deceiving them through this. For there was marriage of siblings both in Egypt and in his own land, as he later said: "And indeed she is truly my sister"; therefore he deceives them with a wise deception by suggesting that she say this only and first. For since the laws against adultery were likely observed among the Egyptians, Abram reasoned that, so they might not seem to be adulterers, they would murder him. These things, then, are for the sake of the literal meaning; but as for the spiritual meaning, those who go from virtue to vice are said to go down to Egypt; indeed it has been said many times: "Woe to those who go down to Egypt". Here it does not say "he went down", but he entered; for his going down is an entrance. 227 For every virtuous person goes down with those who are stumbling, not stumbling himself but leading them from their error; and just as he becomes a Jew to the Jews, not being a Jew, and lawless to the lawless, not being lawless, so someone goes into Egypt without becoming Egyptian. Therefore let others go down there, but he himself enters; for their vice did not bring him down, but a certain dispensation being carried out. The virtuous man enters Egypt, often using foreign learning, in order to make something useful from it, just as the blessed Paul has done, quoting from Aratus "For we are also his offspring", in order to make his subsequent points, and the "To an Unknown God" and the "Cretans are always liars"; and so also he advises every thought to be taken captive to the obedience of Christ. Having entered, as we said, into Egypt, he subjects something to virtue, so that he may say that she is his wife; for the

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αὐτοῖς πάλιν ὅτι καὶ συμμαχεῖ Θεός, ἵνα μηδ' οὕτως ἀποκακήσωσιν. Καὶ οὕτω μὲν ἀνθρώποις, τῷ δὲ Σωτῆρι μετὰ τὸν πειρασμὸν φαίνονται ἄγγελοι, καὶ ταῦτα πρὸς διακονίαν, ἵνα μὴ οἱ ἐθελόκακοι, πρὸ τούτου φανέντων τῶν ἀγγέλων, εἴπωσιν ὅτι ἀγγέλων ἡ νίκη. Τίς [δ]ε`̣ ἡ διακονία τῶν ἀγγέλων ἢ ἡ παράθεσις τῶν ψυχῶν τῶν πειθομένων Θεῷ; Οὐδὲ γὰρ βοηθείας ἕνεκα παρῆσαν. Καὶ τῷ Πέτρῳ γοῦν ἐπιτιμᾷ διὰ τὸ ἐθέλειν ὑπερπολεμεῖν αὐτοῦ λέγων· "6Ἢ δοκεῖς ὅτι οὐκ ἐδυνάμην παρακαλέσαι τὸν Πατέρα μου καὶ ἔδωκεν ἄν μοι πλείους δώδεκα λεγιώνων ἀγγέλων;"6 Οὕτως οὐ δέεται συμμαχίας. χιι, 10. Καὶ ἐγένετο λιμὸς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· καὶ κατέβη Ἀβρὰμ εἰς Αἴγυπτον παροικῆσαι ἐκεῖ, ὅτι ἐνίσχυσεν λιμὸς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Σαφὲς μὲν τὸ τοῦ ῥητοῦ· τὸ δὲ πρὸς διάνοιαν τοῦτό ἐστιν. Οἱ σοφοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀνωτέρω τῆς γῆς εἰσιν, οὐκ ὄντες αὐτῆς· ἐν ταύτῃ οὖν λιμὸς γέγονεν· τοῖς τὰ ἐπί- γεια γὰρ φρονοῦσιν λιμὸς τοῦ ἀκοῦσαι λόγον Κυρίου πολλάκις συμβαίνει, ἐὰν τούτου ὦσιν ἄξιοι, ὕστερόν ποτε τούτου πάλιν ἀποδιδομένου. Ταύτῃ τοι καὶ ὁ Ἀβρὰμ εἰς Αἴγυπτον "6παροικῆσαι"6, οὐ κατοικῆσαι, ἔρχεται συγκαταβαίνων τοῖς τὴν λιμὸν παθοῦσιν, οὐκ οἰκῆσαι ἐκεῖ· καὶ γὰρ οἱ ἀμφὶ τὸν ∆ανιὴλ οὐ δ̣ι' ἁμαρτήματα γεγένηνται ἐν Βαβυλῶνι, ἀλλ' ἵνα βοηθῶσιν τοῖς ἐκεῖ διὰ ἁμαρτήματα μετοικισθ[εῖ]σιν. Φείδεται γὰρ Θεὸς τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων εἰς ὅσον ἐνδέχεται 226 [αὐ]τοὺς μετανοῆσαι. Καὶ ὥσπερ ἰατροὶ πέμπονται ἐνθὰ πολλὴ βλάβη ἐστὶν ἢ νόσος οὐχ ἵνα αὐτοὶ κοινωνήσωσιν νόσῳ ἀλλ' ἵνα ἰάσωνται τοὺς νοσοῦντας, οὕτως οἱ ἅγιοι ἐγίνοντο εἰς τὴν σύγχυσιν καὶ εἰς τὴν Βαβυλῶνα οὐ κάτοικοι ὄντες· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄξιον αὐτῆς ἐκέκτηντο, ὅπερ ἴδιον τῶν κατοικούντων. χιι, 11-13. Ἐγένετο δέ, ἡνίκα ἤγγισεν Ἀβρὰμ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς Αἴγυπτον, εἶπεν Ἀβρὰμ Σάρᾳ τῇ γυναικὶ αὐτοῦ· Γινώσκω ἐγὼ ὅτι γυνὴ εὐπρόσωπος εἶ· ἔσται οὖν ὡς ἂν ἴδωσίν σε οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι, ἐροῦσιν ὅτι γυνὴ αὐτοῦ αὐτή, καὶ ἀποκτενοῦσίν με, σὲ δὲ περιποιήσονται· εἰπὸν οὖν ὅτι ἀδελφὴ αὐτοῦ εἰμι, ὅπως ἂν εὖ μοι γένηται διὰ σέ, καὶ ζήσεται ἡ ψυχή μου ἕνεκεν σοῦ. Πρὸς τὸ ῥητὸν ἁρμόζεται μετὰ συνέσεως πρὸς τὴν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων φιληδονίαν πιστεύων ὅτι ἐξαγαγὼν αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας γῆς Θεὸς οὐ περιόψεται αὐτοῦ τὸν γάμον, ὑποβάλλει δὲ αὐτῇ λέγειν πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὅτι ἀδελφὴ αὐτοῦ ἐστιν, ἵνα, τούτου πρώτου καὶ μόνου λεγομένου, μὴ δέξωνται ἔννοιαν ὡς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ αὐτῆς ὑπαρχούσης, ἀπατῶν αὐτοὺς διὰ τούτου. Ἦν γὰρ καὶ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἀδελφογαμία καὶ ἐν τῇ αὐτοῦ γῇ, ὡς ὕστερον εἶπεν· "6Καὶ γὰρ ἀληθῶς ἀδελφή μού ἐστιν"6· ἀπάτην οὖν αὐτοὺς σοφὴν ἀπατᾷ τοῦτο μόνον καὶ πρῶτον λέγειν ὑποβαλ- λομένη. Σῳζομένων γὰρ εἰκὸς τῶν κατὰ μοιχείας νόμων παρ' Αἰγυπτίοις, ἐλογίζετο ὁ Ἀβρὰμ ὅτι, ἵνα μὴ δόξωσιν εἶναι μοιχοί, δολοφονήσουσιν αὐτόν. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν τοῦ ῥητοῦ χάριν· πρὸς δὲ διάνοιαν οἱ ἀπὸ ἀρετῆς εἰς κακίαν ἐρχόμενοι κατιέναι εἰς τὴν Αἴγυπτον λέγονται· εἴρηται γοῦν πολλάκις· "6Οὐαὶ οἱ καταβαί- νοντες εἰς Αἴγυπτον"6. Ἐνταῦθα οὐ "3κατέβη"3 [π]ρόκειται, ἀλλ' εἰσῆλθεν· ἡ γὰρ τούτου κατάβασις εἴσοδός ἐστιν. 227 Συγκαταβαίνει γὰρ πᾶς σπουδαῖος τοῖς σφαλλομένοις οὐ σφαλλόμενος ἀλλὰ μετάγων αὐτοὺς τοῦ σφάλματος· καὶ ὥσπερ γίνεται Ἰουδαίοις Ἰουδαῖος οὐκ ὢν Ἰουδαῖος,καὶ ἀνόμοις ἄνομος οὐκ ὢν ἄνομος, οὕτω γίνεταί τις εἰς Αἴγυπτον οὐκ αἰγυπτιάζων. ∆ιὸ ἄλλοι καταβαινέτωσαν ἐκεῖ, αὐτὸς δὲ εἰσέρχεται· οὐ γὰρ κακία αὐτῶν κατήνεγκεν, ἀλλ' οἰκονομία τις ἐκτελουμένη. Εἰσέρχεται ὁ ἐνάρετος εἰς Αἴγυπτον πολλάκις χρώμενος ἀλλοτρίᾳ παιδεύσει, ἵν' ἐξ αὐτῆς τι χρήσιμον κατασκευάσῃ, καθὰ καὶ Παῦλος ὁ μακάριος πεποίηκεν φάσκων τὸ ἀπὸ Ἀράτου "6Τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν"6, ἵνα τὰ ἑξῆς ποιήσῃ, καὶ τὸ "6Ἀγνώστῳ Θεῷ"6 καὶ τὸ "6Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται"6· οὕτω δὲ καὶ παραινεῖ πᾶν νόημα αἰχμαλωτίζεσθαι εἰς τὴν ὑπακοὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Εἰσελθών, καθὰ εἴπομεν, εἰς Αἴγυπτον τῇ ἀρετῇ ὑποτάσσεταί τινα, ἵνα εἴπῃ ὅτι γυνὴ αὐτοῦ ἐστιν· ὁ γὰρ