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of words, then cast in and bind up their own lovers, they do not leave off until they drink their very blood, trampling on them after these things and mocking their folly, and pouring much laughter upon them. For such a man is no longer worthy of pity, but of being laughed at and jeered at, when he appears more senseless than a woman, and a harlot at that. For this reason that wise man exhorts again, saying: Drink waters from your own vessels and from the spring of your own wells; and again: Let a doe of friendship and a foal of your graces associate with you; speaking such things about a woman who lives with a man by the law of marriage: Why do you leave your helper and run to the treacherous one? why do you turn away from the partner of your life and attend to the one who subverts your life? This one is your limb and body, but that one is a sharpened sword. Therefore, beloved, flee from fornication, both on account of present evils and on account of the punishment to come. Perhaps we seem to have fallen away from the subject, but this is not to fall away; for we do not wish simply to read stories to you, but so that each of you might correct the passions that trouble you; for this reason we also make our reproofs continuous, preparing for you a discourse of every kind, since it is likely that there are also sicknesses of every kind in so great a multitude, and it is not our task to heal only one wound, but many and various ones; for this reason the medicine of teaching must also be diverse. Let us return, then, to the point from which we digressed to say these things. And the priest said: Let us draw near to God. And Saul inquired of God: Shall I go down after the Philistines, and will you deliver them into my hands? And the Lord did not answer him on that day. See the gentleness and forbearance of the man-loving God; for he did not send a thunderbolt, nor did he shake the earth, but what friends do to friends when they are insulted, this the Master did to the servant; he was only silent, speaking through his silence and showing him all his wrath. Saul understood this, and he said, it says: Bring forward the tribes of the people, and know and see in whom this sin has been today, for as the Lord who saved Israel lives, if it should fall upon Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. Have you seen his rashness? Seeing that the former oath was transgressed, not even 49.150 so is he brought to his senses, but he also adds a second one again. And consider the malice of the devil. For since he understood that often the son, when detected and brought into the open, could immediately calm his father by his very appearance and soften the king's anger, he forestalled his judgment by the necessity of a second oath, holding him in a kind of double bond, and not allowing him to be master of his own judgment, but from every side pushing him toward that unlawful slaughter. And before the sinner had appeared, he has passed judgment, and not knowing the one who was caught, he pronounced the sentence, and the father became the executioner, and before the investigation he delivered the condemning vote. What could be more senseless than this?

5. When Saul said these things, therefore, the people were more afraid, and all were in great trembling and fear; but the devil rejoiced, having put them all in anguish. For there was no one who answered, it says, from all the people. And Saul said: You shall be for servitude, and I and Jonathan my son for servitude. What he says is something like this: You are eager for nothing else, he says, than to deliver yourselves to the enemy and to make yourselves slaves instead of free men, having provoked God against you by not giving up the responsible one. But see another opposition arising from the oath. For it was necessary, if indeed he wanted to find the culprit, to threaten no such thing, nor to bind the punishment with an oath, so that becoming more fearless they might more readily bring the responsible one into the open; but he, from much anger and madness and his former senselessness, again does the opposite of what he wants. What need is there to say much? He committed the matter to the lot, and Saul and Jonathan are chosen by lot. And

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ῥημάτων, εἶτα τοὺς ἑαυτῶν ἐραστὰς ἐμβάλωσι καὶ καταδήσωσιν, οὐ πρότερον ἀφίστανται, ἕως ἂν αὐτῶν καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ αἷμα ἐκπίωσιν, ἐπεμβαίνουσαι μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ κωμῳδοῦσαι αὐτῶν τὴν ἄνοιαν, καὶ πολὺν αὐτῶν καταχέουσαι τὸν γέλωτα. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐλεεῖσθαι λοιπὸν ὁ τοιοῦτος ἄξιος, ἀλλὰ γελᾶσθαι καὶ σκώπτεσθαι, ὅταν γυναικὸς, καὶ γυναικὸς πόρνης ἀλογώτερος φαίνηται. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο παραινεῖ πάλιν ὁ σοφὸς ἐκεῖνος λέγων· Πῖνε ὕδατα ἀπὸ σῶν ἀγγείων καὶ ἀπὸ σῶν φρεάτων πηγῆς· καὶ πάλιν· Ἔλαφος φιλίας καὶ πῶλος σῶν χαρίτων ὁμιλείτω σοι· περὶ γυναικὸς τῆς νόμῳ γάμου συνοικούσης τοιαῦτα λέγων· Τί καταλιμπάνεις τὴν βοηθὸν, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἐπίβουλον τρέχεις; τί τὴν κοινωνὸν ἀποστρέφῃ τοῦ βίου, καὶ τὴν ἀνατρέπουσάν σου τὴν ζωὴν θεραπεύεις; Αὕτη σοῦ μέλος ἐστὶ καὶ σῶμα, ἐκείνη δὲ ξίφος ἐστὶν ἠκονημένον. ∆ιὸ, ἀγαπητοὶ, φεύγετε τὴν πορνείαν, καὶ διὰ τὰ παρόντα κακὰ, καὶ διὰ τὴν μέλλουσαν κόλασιν. Τάχα δοκοῦμεν τῆς ὑποθέσεως ἐκπεπτωκέναι, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο ἐκπεσεῖν· οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς ὑμῖν ἱστορίας ἀναγνῶναι βουλόμεθα, ἀλλ' ὥστε ἕκαστον τῶν ἐνοχλούντων ὑμῖν διορθώσασθαι παθῶν· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ συνεχεῖς ποιούμεθα τὰς ἐντροπὰς, παντοδαπὸν κατασκευάζοντες ὑμῖν τὸν λόγον, ἐπειδὴ καὶ παντοδαπὰ νοσήματα ἐν δήμῳ τοσούτῳ εἶναι εἰκὸς, καὶ οὐχ ἓν ἕλκος θεραπεύειν πρόκειται μόνον, ἀλλὰ πολλὰ καὶ διάφορα, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ποικίλον εἶναι χρὴ τῆς διδασκαλίας τὸ φάρμακον. Ἐπανίωμεν τοίνυν ὅθεν ἐξέβημεν ταῦτα εἰπεῖν. Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ ἱερεύς· Προσέλθωμεν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν. Καὶ ἐπηρώτησε Σαοὺλ τὸν Θεόν· Εἰ καταβῶ ὀπίσω τῶν ἀλλοφύλων, καὶ εἰ παραδώσεις αὐτοὺς εἰς τὰς χεῖράς μου; Καὶ οὐκ ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ὁ Κύριος. Ὅρα πραότητα καὶ ἐπιείκειαν τοῦ φιλανθρώπου Θεοῦ· οὐ γὰρ σκηπτὸν ἀφῆκεν, οὐδὲ τὴν γῆν ἔσεισεν, ἀλλ' ὃ φίλοι πρὸς φίλους ποιοῦσιν, ἐπειδὰν ὑβρισθῶσι, τοῦτο πρὸς τὸν δοῦλον ὁ ∆εσπότης ἐποίησε· παρεσιώπησε μόνον, διὰ τῆς σιγῆς φθεγγόμενος καὶ πᾶσαν ἐνδεικνύμενος αὐτῷ τὴν ὀργήν. Συνεῖδε τοῦτο ὁ Σαοὺλ, Καὶ εἶπε, φησί· Προσαγάγετε τὰς φυλὰς τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ γνῶτε καὶ ἴδετε ἐν τίνι γέγονεν ἡ ἁμαρτία αὕτη σήμερον, ὅτι ζῇ Κύριος ὁ σώσας τὸν Ἰσραὴλ, ὅτι ἐὰν ἀποκριθῇ κατὰ Ἰωνάθαν τοῦ υἱοῦ μου, θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖται. Εἶδες προπέτειαν; ἰδὼν τὸν πρότερον ὅρκον παραβαθέντα, οὐδὲ 49.150 οὕτω σωφρονίζεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ δεύτερον προστίθησι πάλιν. Καὶ σκόπει διαβόλου κακουργίαν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ συνεῖδεν ὅτι πολλάκις ὁ παῖς φωραθεὶς καὶ εἰς μέσον ἐνεχθεὶς, ἀπὸ τῆς ὄψεως αὐτῆς εὐθέως τὸν πατέρα πραῧναι δύναται καὶ μαλάξαι τὸν τοῦ βασιλέως θυμὸν, δευτέρων πάλιν ὅρκων ἀνάγκῃ προκατέλαβεν αὐτοῦ τὴν γνώμην, διπλῷ τινι δεσμῷ κατέχων αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐκ ἀφιεὶς τῆς οἰκείας γενέσθαι γνώμης κύριον, ἀλλὰ πανταχόθεν αὐτὸν ὠθῶν εἰς τὴν παράνομον ἐκείνην σφαγήν. Καὶ οὔπω τοῦ ἡμαρτηκότος φανέντος τὴν κρίσιν πεποίηται, καὶ τὸν ἁλόντα οὐκ εἰδὼς ἀπεφήνατο, καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἐγένετο δήμιος, καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἐξετάσεως τὴν καταδικάζουσαν ψῆφον ἐξήνεγκε. Τί τούτου γένοιτ' ἃν ἀλογώτερον;

εʹ. Ταῦτα τοίνυν εἰπόντος τοῦ Σαοὺλ, μᾶλλον ἔδεισεν ὁ δῆμος, καὶ πάντες ἦσαν ἐν τρόμῳ καὶ φόβῳ πολλῷ· ὁ δὲ διάβολος ἔχαιρε πάντας ἐν ἀγωνίᾳ καταστήσας. Οὐ γὰρ ἦν ὁ ἀποκρινόμενος, φησὶν, ἐκ παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ. Καὶ εἶπε Σαούλ· Ὑμεῖς ἔσεσθε εἰς δουλείαν, καὶ ἐγὼ καὶ Ἰωνάθαν ὁ υἱός μου εἰς δουλείαν. Ὃ δὲ λέγει τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν· Οὐδὲν ἕτερον σπουδάζετε, φησὶν, ἀλλ' ἢ τοῖς πολεμίοις ὑμᾶς παραδοῦναι καὶ δούλους ἀντ' ἐλευθέρων ποιῆσαι, τὸν Θεὸν καθ' ὑμῶν παροξύναντες, τῷ μὴ διδόναι τὸν ὑπεύθυνον. Ὅρα δὲ καὶ ἄλλην ἀπὸ τοῦ ὅρκου γινομένην ἐναντίωσιν. ∆έον γὰρ, εἴπερ ἐβούλετο τὸν αἴτιον εὑρεῖν, μηδὲν ἀπειλῆσαι τοιοῦτο, μηδὲ ὅρκῳ καταδῆσαι τὴν τιμωρίαν, ἵν' ἀδεέστεροι γενόμενοι προχειρότερον εἰς μέσον ἀγάγωσι τὸν ὑπεύθυνον· ὁ δὲ ὑπὸ θυμοῦ καὶ μανίας πολλῆς καὶ τῆς προτέρας ἀλογίας, πάλιν τοὐναντίον ἤπερ βούλεται ποιεῖ. Τί δεῖ τὰ πολλὰ λέγειν; Κλήρῳ τὸ πρᾶγμα ἐπέτρεψε, καὶ κατακληροῦνται Σαοὺλ καὶ Ἰωνάθαν. Καὶ