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It was common to all Jews, the making of the calf, and yet some were punished, but others were not punished; wherefore He said: "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." For it is not for you to know, O Moses, who are worthy of loving-kindness, but concede this to Me. And if it was not for Moses to know, much more is it not for us. For because of this He did not simply state what was said, but also mentioned to whom He said it; "For to Moses," he says, He says; so that by the dignity of the person He might shame the one who contradicts. Having stated, then, the solution to the difficulties, he interrupts in the middle, again introducing another objection, and saying: "So then it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy." For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth." For just as there, he says, some were saved and others were punished, so also here he was preserved for this very purpose. Then again he introduces an objection: "Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens." You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?" Do you see how he has been zealous to make it in every way perplexing? And he does not immediately introduce the solution, doing this also expediently. but he first silences the questioner, saying thus: "But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God?" He does this, checking his untimely curiosity, and his great meddlesomeness, and putting a bridle on him, and teaching him to know what God is, and what man is, and how incomprehensible His providence is, and how it surpasses our reasoning, and how one must obey Him in all things; so that when he has established this with the hearer, and has calmed and smoothed his mind, then with much ease introducing the solution, he may make what is said acceptable to him. And he does not say that it is impossible to solve such things, but what? It is unlawful to seek such things; for one must obey what is said by God, not be overly curious. even if we do not know the reason for them; wherefore he says: "Who are you to reply against God?" Have you seen how he humbled, how he brought down the arrogance? Who are you? Are you a partaker of the rule? but have you sat as a judge for God? For in comparison with Him you cannot be anything, not this or that, but not even be anything at all. For to say, "You are nothing," is far more insignificant than to say, "Who are you?" And in another way he shows more indignation by the question. And he did not say, "Who are you who answers God?" but "who replies against," that is, who contradicts, who opposes? For to say, "It should be so," and, 60.559 "It should not be so," is the part of one who replies against. Have you seen how he frightened, how he astonished, how he made one tremble rather than inquire and be overly curious? This is characteristic of the best teacher, not to follow the desire of the disciples everywhere, but to lead them to his own will, and to pull out the thorns, and then to cast the seeds, and not immediately to answer the questions everywhere. "Shall the thing formed say to him who formed it, 'Why have you made me like this?' Or does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?" 8. Here he does not say this to abolish free will, but to show to what extent one must obey God. For in demanding an account from God, one must be in no better state than the clay. For not only must one not contradict, nor question, but not even utter a sound at all, nor think, but be like that lifeless thing, and follow the hands of the potter, and be turned wherever he wishes. For he took this example for this purpose alone, not for the demonstration of conduct, but for submissive obedience and silence. And this must be observed everywhere, that one should not take the examples in their entirety, but having selected what is useful from them, and for what purpose it has been taken, to leave all the rest. Just as, then, when it says, "He lay down, He slept as a lion," we understand the invincible and fearsome aspect, not the bestial nature nor anything else belonging to the lion; and again when it says,

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ἦν ἁπάντων Ἰουδαίων, τὸ τῆς μοσχοποιίας, καὶ ὅμως οἱ μὲν ἐκολάσθησαν, οἱ δὲ οὐκ ἐκολάσθησαν· διὸ ἔλεγεν· Ἐλεήσω ὃν ἂν ἐλεῶ, καὶ οἰκτειρήσω ὃν ἂν οἰκτείρω. Οὐ γὰρ σόν ἐστιν εἰδέναι, ὦ Μωϋσῆ, τίνες ἄξιοι φιλανθρωπίας, ἀλλ' ἐμοὶ παραχώρει τοῦτο. Εἰ δὲ Μωϋσέως οὐκ ἦν εἰδέναι, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἡμῶν. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο οὐδὲ ἁπλῶς τέθεικε τὸ εἰρημένον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τίνα εἶπεν, ἐμνημόνευσε· Τῷ γὰρ Μωϋσῇ, φησὶ λέγει· ἵνα καὶ τῷ ἀξιώματι τοῦ προσώπου τὸν ἀντιλέγοντα ἐντρέψῃ. Εἰπὼν τοίνυν τὴν λύσιν τῶν ἀπορουμένων, διὰ μέσου διακόπτει, πάλιν ἑτέραν ἀντίθεσιν εἰσάγων, καὶ λέγων· Ἄρα οὗτος τοῦ θέλοντος οὐδὲ τοῦ τρέχοντος, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἐλεοῦντος Θεοῦ. Λέγει γὰρ ἡ Γραφὴ τῷ Φαραὼ, ὅτι Εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἐξήγειρά σε, ὅπως ἐνδείξωμαι ἐν σοὶ τὴν δύναμίν μου, καὶ ὅπως διαγγελῇ τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐκεῖ, φησὶν, οἱ μὲν ἐσώθησαν, οἱ δὲ ἐκολάσθησαν· οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα οὗτος εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἐτηρεῖτο. Εἶτα πάλιν ἀντίθεσιν ἐπάγει· Ἄρα οὖν ὃν θέλει ἐλεεῖ, ὃν δὲ θέλει σκληρύνει. Ἐρεῖς οὖν μοι· Τί ἔτι μέμφεται; τῷ γὰρ θελήματι αὐτοῦ τίς ἀνθέστηκεν; Ὁρᾷς πῶς ἐσπούδασεν αὐτὸ ποιῆσαι διὰ πάντων ἄπορον; Καὶ οὐδὲ τὴν λύσιν εὐθέως ἐπάγει, συμφερόντως καὶ τοῦτο ποιῶν. ἀλλ' ἐπιστομίζει πρῶτον τὸν ζητοῦντα, λέγων οὕτω· Μενοῦνγε, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, σὺ τίς εἶ ὁ ἀνταποκρινόμενος τῷ Θεῷ; Ποιεῖ δὲ τοῦτο, τὴν ἄκαιρον αὐτοῦ περιεργίαν ἀναστέλλων, καὶ τὴν πολλὴν πολυπραγμοσύνην, καὶ χαλινὸν περιτιθεὶς, καὶ παιδεύων εἰδέναι τί μὲν Θεὸς, τί δὲ ἄνθρωπος, καὶ πῶς ἀκατάληπτος αὐτοῦ ἡ πρόνοια, καὶ πῶς ὑπερβαίνουσα τὸν ἡμέτερον λογισμὸν, καὶ πῶς ἅπαντα αὐτῷ πείθεσθαι δεῖ· ἵν' ὅταν τοῦτο κατασκευάσῃ παρὰ τῷ ἀκροατῇ, καὶ καταστείλῃ καὶ λεάνῃ τὴν γνώμην, τότε μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς εὐκολίας ἐπάγων τὴν λύσιν, εὐπαράδεκτον αὐτῷ ποιήσῃ τὸ λεγόμενον. Καὶ οὐ λέγει, ὅτι ἀδύνατον τὸ τοιαῦτα λύειν, ἀλλὰ τί; Παράνομον τὸ τοιαῦτα ζητεῖν· δεῖ γὰρ πείθεσθαι τοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ λεγομένοις, οὐ περιεργάζεσθαι. κἂν τὸν λόγον αὐτῶν ἀγνοῶμεν· διό φησι· Σὺ τίς εἶ ὁ ἀνταποκρινόμενος τῷ Θεῶ; Εἶδες πῶς ἐξηυτέλισε, πῶς κατήνεγκε τὸ φύσημα; Σὺ τίς εἶ; Κοινωνὸς εἶ τῆς ἀρχῆς; ἀλλὰ δικαστὴς ἐκάθισας τῷ Θεῷ; Πρὸς γὰρ τὴν ἐκείνου σύγκρισιν οὐδὲ εἶναί τι δύνασαι, οὐ τόδε ἢ τόδε, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ εἶναί τι. Τοῦ γὰρ εἰπεῖν, Οὐδὲν εἶ, πολὺ τὸ εἰπεῖν, Τίς εἶ, οὐδαμινέστερον. Καὶ ἄλλως πλείονα τὴν ἀγανάκτησιν ἐνδείκνυται τῇ ἐρωτήσει. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπε, Σὺ τίς εἶ ὁ ἀποκρινόμενος τῷ Θεῷ; ἀλλ' Ὁ ἀνταποκρινόμενος, τουτέστιν, ὁ ἀντιλέγων, ὁ ἐναντιούμενος; Τὸ γὰρ εἰπεῖν, ὅτι Οὕτως ἔδει, καὶ, 60.559 Οὐχ οὕτως ἔδει, ἀνταποκρινομένου ἐστίν. Εἶδες πῶς ἐφόβησε, πῶς κατέπληξε, πῶς τρέμειν μᾶλλον ἐποίησεν, ἢ ζητεῖν καὶ περιεργάζεσθαι; Τοῦτο ἀρίστου διδασκάλου, τὸ μὴ τῇ τῶν μαθητῶν ἐπιθυμίᾳ ἕπεσθαι πανταχοῦ, ἀλλ' αὐτοὺς πρὸς τὸ οἰκεῖον ἄγειν θέλημα, καὶ τὰς ἀκάνθας ἀποσπᾷν, καὶ τότε καταβάλλειν τὰ σπέρματα, καὶ μὴ εὐθέως πρὸς τὰ ἐρωτώμενα ἀποκρίνεσθαι πανταχοῦ. Μὴ ἐρεῖ τὸ πλάσμα τῷ πλάσαντι, Τί με ἐποίησας οὕτως; ἢ οὐκ ἔχει ἐξουσίαν ὁ κεραμεὺς τοῦ πηλοῦ, ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ φυράματος ποιῆσαι, ὃ μὲν εἰς τιμὴν σκεῦος, ὃ δὲ εἰς ἀτιμίαν; ηʹ. Ἐνταῦθα οὐ τὸ αὐτεξούσιον ἀναιρῶν τοῦτο λέγει, ἀλλὰ δεικνὺς μέχρι πόσου δεῖ πείθεσθαι τῷ Θεῷ. Εἰς γὰρ τὸ τὸν Θεὸν ἀπαιτεῖν εὐθύνας, οὐδὲν μᾶλλον τοῦ πηλοῦ διακεῖσθαι δεῖ. Οὐδὲ γὰρ μόνον ἀντιλέγειν οὐ χρὴ, οὐδὲ ζητεῖν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ φθέγγεσθαι ὅλως, οὐδὲ ἐννοεῖν, ἀλλ' ἐοικέναι ἐκείνῳ τῷ ἀψύχῳ, καὶ ταῖς χερσὶν ἑπομένῳ τοῦ κεραμέως, καὶ περιαγομένῳ ὅπουπερ ἂν ἐκεῖνος ἐθέλῃ. Εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ μόνον τὸ ὑπόδειγμα ἔλαβεν, οὐκ εἰς τὴν τῆς πολιτείας ἐπίδειξιν, ἀλλ' εἰς τὴν ὑποτεταγμένην ὑπακοὴν καὶ σιγήν. Καὶ τοῦτο πανταχοῦ δεῖ παρατηρεῖν, ὅτι τὰ ὑποδείγματα οὐ πάντα καθόλου δεῖ λαμβάνειν, ἀλλὰ τὸ χρήσιμον αὐτῶν ἐκλεξαμένους, καὶ εἰς ὅπερ παρείληπται, τὸ λοιπὸν ἅπαν ἐᾷν. Ὥσπερ οὖν ὅταν λέγῃ, Ἀναπεσὼν ἐκοιμήθη ὡς λέων, τὸ ἄμαχον καὶ φοβερὸν ἐκλαμβάνομεν, οὐ τὸ θηριῶδες οὐδὲ ἄλλο τι τῶν τῷ λέοντι προσόντων· καὶ πάλιν ὅταν λέγῃ,