134

of truth. "Without a cause," therefore, "they have hidden for me," wishing to corrupt me, to bring me down into wickedness, or even to plot against me and lead me into affliction. But they do both in vain—for here "3without a cause"3 means "3in vain"3—, either because I have given no cause—therefore, the one who has purposed to be wronged and to suffer ill rather than to do the opposite will say that: "3Those who beset me with corruption do this in vain, since God has become my helper"3, or that: "3They do it without a cause, since I have given no cause"3. For instance, if Susanna had been put to death, having been slandered by the elders, she would have said: "3Without a cause they plotted against me, since I gave no cause"3. Joseph might have said these things, and the disciples of Christ might say them, being persecuted, killed, and reproached for the sake of Christ's name. For if one of the Christians is plotted against for no other reason than that he is a Christian, those who plot against him plot without a cause; for sometimes some people turn against Christians and, wishing to harm them, find a cause from them. 7 In vain they have reproached my soul. For I have done nothing that is a cause for reproach. But it was also said in another sense, "without a cause since I have given no cause," meaning to suffer for the name of Christ and not for anything else. And 210 again: "Do not acquire the reproaches of evil men." "Do not acquire," since it is in our power to acquire. But if, when we have not acquired them, some people surround us with reproaches, "they reproach our soul in vain." Will you not say that Jezebel and those who conspired with her reproached Naboth in vain, that they hid for him without a cause the corruption of their snare? Question: What about "their snare"? -He says their snares, not those in which they are snared, but those in which they wish to ensnare. The drama fabricated against Susanna by the elders was their snare, not that by which they themselves are snared, but that by which they wished to ensnare her and subject her to punishment and shame. 8 Let a snare come upon them which they do not know. This is what he says: Those who are strong in devising schemes against certain people and plotting against them in vain never set before their eyes that they can be caught by what they themselves have fabricated; for instance, "he who digs a pit" for his neighbor "will fall into it." They do not at all consider that they themselves are falling into the pit, since they would not be digging it. Therefore, they did not know that the snare was coming upon them, the one they prepared for another in order to surround and catch him. "Which they do not know," therefore, which they did not have before their eyes, since they were not preparing it for themselves. 8 and let the trap which they hid catch them. So that they may escape the notice of others and hunt them down unawares. "Let it catch them." "They dug a pit before my face and fell into it." 8 And in the snare they will fall into it. In this one which they prepared for others, they will fall. At the fall of others they themselves fell in such schemes as some devise, and they come against them. It happens in a certain complexity of providence. The argument concerning providence has great complexity, even if it is unknown to many, not to say, to all. 9 But my soul shall be joyful in the Lord. Moses says: "Do to him in the manner that he wickedly contrived to do to his neighbor." When these things have happened, she will rejoice, knowing that she has suffered nothing. Question: Gloating over them? -No, but marveling at providence and rejoicing that he was not ensnared. For instance, the soul of Susanna rejoiced not because the elders were condemned, but because she herself was acquitted of the charge. But that happened incidentally. And indeed, when the saints pray when they are in affliction, they pray for this one thing: "3Let us not be caught by the affliction"3, not, however, against those who have beset them with the affliction; for they receive it as a contest, not as a punishment. And he who receives it as a contest is not so against his opponents that they should no longer exist. "Lead us not into temptation"; for has he not said that:

134

ἀληθείας. "δωρεὰν" οὖν "ἔκρυψάν μοι", διαφθεῖραί με θέλοντες, εἰς κακίαν καταβιβάσαι, ἢ καὶ ἐπιβουλεῦσαι καὶ εἰς κάκωσιν ἀγαγεῖν. ἑκάτ̣ερα δὲ μάτην ποιοῦσιν -τὸ γὰρ "3δωρεὰν"3 ὧδε τὸ "3μάτην"3 σημαίνει-, ἤτοι ὅτι ἐμοῦ αἰτίαν μὴ παρεσχηκότος-ὁ π̣ρο̣τεθειμένος οὖν ἀδικεῖσθαι καὶ κακοπαθεῖν μᾶλλον ἢ τὰ ἐναντία πράττειν ἐρεῖ ὅτι· "3οἱ περιβάλλοντές μ̣ε διαφθορᾷ ματαίως τοῦτο ποιοῦσιν θεοῦ συνλήμπτορος γινομένου"3, ἢ ὅτι· "3δωρεὰν ποιοῦσιν ἐμοῦ αἰτίαν μὴ παρεσχηκότος"3. οἷον εἰ ἦν ἀναιρεθεῖσα ἡ Σωσάννα ὑπὸ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων συκοφαντηθεῖσα, εἶπεν ἂν ὅτι· "3δωρεὰν ἐβεβούλευσάν μοι ἐμοῦ τὴν αἰτίαν μὴ ἐνδούσης"3. ταῦτα καὶ ὁ Ἰωσὴφ ε̣ἶπεν ἄν, εἴποιεν ἂν καὶ οἱ Χριστοῦ μαθηταὶ διωκόμενοι, ἀναιρούμενοι, ὀνειδιζόμενοι ἕνεκεν τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ· ἐὰν γάρ τις τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἐπιβουλεύηται μὴ ἄλλου χάριν ἢ ὅτι Χριςτιανός ἐστιν, οἱ ἐπιβουλεύοντες δωρεὰν αὐτῷ ἐπιβουλεύουσιν· ἐνίοτε γάρ τινες κατὰ Χριστιανῶν γίνονται καὶ βλάψαι αὐτοὺς θέλοντες αἰτίαν εὑρίσκουσιν ἐξ αὐτῶν. 7 μάτην ὠνείδισαν τὴν ψυχήν μου. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐγὼ ὀνειδισμοῦ τι αἴτιον ἐποίησα. ἐλέχθη δὲ καὶ καθ' ἕτερον σημαινόμενον τὸ δωρεὰν ἐμοῦ αἰτίαν μὴ παρεσχηκότος τὸ παθεῖν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ μὴ δι' ἄλλο τι. καὶ 210 πάλιν· "μὴ κτήσῃ κακῶν ἀνδρῶν ὀνείδη". "μὴ κτήσῃ", ἐπεὶ ἐφ' ἡμῖν ἐστιν τὸ κτήσασθαι. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ κτησαμένων ἡμῶν περιβάλωσιν ἡμᾶς τινες ὀνειδισμοῖς, "μάτην ὀνειδίζουσιν τὴν ψυχὴν" ἡμῶν. οὐκ ἐρεῖς τὴν Ἰεζάβελ καὶ τοὺς συνπνεύσαντας αὐτῇ μάτην ὠνειδικέναι τὸν Ναβουθαί, δωρεὰν κεκρυφέναι αὐτῷ διαφθορὰν παγίδος αὐτῶν; ἐπερ · τὸ "παγίδος αὐτῶν"; -αὐτῶν λέγει παγίδας οὐκ ἐν αἷς παγιδεύονται, ἀλλ' ἐν αἷς παγιδεύειν θέλουσιν. ἡ σκευασθεῖσα δραματοποιία κατὰ τῆς Σωσάννης ὑπὸ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων παγὶς ἦν αὐτῶν οὐχ ᾗ πα̣γ̣ιδεύονται αὐτοί, ἀλλ' ᾗ ἤθελον ἐκείνην παγιδεῦσαι καὶ τιμωρίᾳ ὑποβαλεῖν καὶ αἰσχύνῃ. 8 ἐλθάτω αὐτοῖς παγίς, ἣν οὐ γιγνώσκουσιν. τοῦτ̣ο λέγει· οἱ ἰσχύοντες κατά τινων μηχανὰς συντιθέναι καὶ ἐπιβουλεύοντες αὐτοῖς μάτην οὐδέποτε πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν τίθενται, ὅτι δύνανται ἁλῶναι οἷς αὐτοὶ ἐσκεύασαν· οἷον "ὁ ὀρύσσων βόθρον" τῷ πλησίον "εἰς αὐτὸν ἐνπεσεῖται". οὐ πάνυ τι λογίζονται, ὅτι αὐτοὶ εἰς τὸν βόθρον καταπίπτουσιν, ἐπεὶ οὐκ ὤρυττον αὐτόν. οὐκ ἐγίγνωςκον οὖν ὅτι ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἤρχετο ἡ παγίς, ἣν ἄλλῳ εὐτρέπιζον ἵνα περιβάλωσιν αὐτὸν καὶ ἀγρεύσωσιν. "ἣν οὐ γιγνώσκουσιν" οὖν, ἣν οὐκ εἶχον πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν, ἐπεὶ οὐδὲ ἐσκεύαζον αὐτήν. 8 καὶ ἡ θήρα, ἣν ἔκρυψαν, συλλαβέτω αὐτούς. ἵνα λάθωσιν ἄλλους καὶ ἀπροοράτως ἐκείνους θηρεύσωσιν. "συνλαβέτω αὐτούς". "ὤρυξαν πρὸ προσώπου μου βόθρον καὶ ἐνέπεσαν εἰς αὐτόν". 8 καὶ ἐν τῇ παγίδι πεσοῦνται ἐν αὐτῇ. ἐν ταύτῃ ᾗ ἐσκεύασαν ἄλλοις, πεσοῦνται. ἐπὶ πτώματι ἄλλων αὐτοὶ κατέπεσαν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις μηχανήμασιν οἷς ποιοῦσίν τινες, καὶ ἔρχονται κατ' αὐτῶν. ἐν πλοκῇ τινι τῆς προνοίας γίνεται. μεγάλην πλοκὴν ἔχει ὁ περὶ τῆς προνοίας λόγος, εἰ καὶ ἀγνοεῖται ὑπὸ πολλῶν, ἵνα μὴ εἴπω, ὑπὸ πάντων. 9 ἡ δὲ ψυχή μου ἀγαλλιάσεται ἐπὶ τῷ κυρίῳ. λέγει Μωυσῆς· "ποιήσατε αὐτῷ ὃν τρόπον ἐπονηρεύσατο ποιῆσαι τῷ πλησίον αὐτοῦ". τούτων γεγενημένων ἀγαλλιάσεται γνοῦσα ὅτι οὐδὲν πέπονθεν. ἐπερ · ἐπιχαίρων αὐτοῖς; -οὔ, ἀλλὰ θαυμάζων τὴν πρόνοιαν καὶ ἀγαλλιώμενος ὅτι οὐκ ἐπαγιδεύθη. οἷον ἠγαλλιάσατο ἡ ψυχὴ τῆς Σωσάννης οὐχ ὅτι κατεδικάσθησαν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι, ἀλλ' ὅτι αὐτὴ ἀπελύθη τοῦ ἐνκλήματος. κατὰ συμβεβηκὸς δὲ ἐκεῖνο γέγονεν. καὶ εὐχόμενοι γοῦν οἱ ἅγιοι ὅτε εἰσὶν ἐν θλίψει, αὐτὸ τοῦτο μόνον εὔχονται· "3μὴ ἁλῶμεν ὑπὸ τῆς θλίψεως"3, οὐ μὴν κατὰ τῶν περιβαλόντων τῇ θλίψει· ὡς̣ ἀγώνισμα γὰρ δέχονται, οὐχ ὡς κόλασιν. ὁ δὲ ὡς ἀγώνισμα δεχόμενος οὐχ οὕτως ἐστὶν κατὰ τῶν ἀντιπάλων, ὥστε μηκέτι αὐτοὺς ὑπάρχειν. "μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν"· μὴ γὰρ εἴρηκεν ὅτι·