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seeming to devise a weak comfort, and in the very act of reaching out to the one from the Gentiles, he gives them a timely blow. For by saying, Do not boast, and that If you boast, it is not you who support the root, he showed the Jew that what had happened was worthy of boasting, even if one ought not to boast; and by stirring him up and provoking him to faith, and putting himself in the role of an advocate, and showing him the loss he had sustained, and that others possess what was theirs. You will say then, he says, Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in. Again, in the manner of an antithesis, he establishes the opposite of the former point, showing that what he had said a little before, he did not say as his primary point, but to draw them on. For no longer is salvation for the Gentiles because of their transgression, nor is their transgression the riches of the world, nor were we saved because they fell, but the contrary. And he shows that the providence for the Gentiles was also a primary thing, even if the things said seem to be framed otherwise; and he weaves the whole passage through antithesis, freeing himself from the suspicion of hatred, and making his argument easily acceptable. Well. He has approved what was said; then he also frightens again, saying; They were broken off because of unbelief, but you were grafted in by faith. Behold, again another encomium for them, and an accusation of the others. But again he checks their pride, adding and saying; Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For the matter is not of nature, but of faith and unbelief. And while he seems again to be silencing the one from the Gentiles, he is teaching the Jew that 60.590 he must not pay attention to kinship of nature; which is why he adds; Do not be arrogant. And he did not say, Be humble, but, Be afraid; for presumption produces contempt and carelessness. Then, being about to dramatize their misfortune, in order to make the argument less offensive, he puts it in the form of a rebuke to that one, saying thus; For if God did not spare the natural branches; and he did not say, He will not spare you either, but, Lest perhaps he will not spare you either; softening the burden of the statement, and making the believer be on guard, and drawing them on, and checking these. Behold therefore the kindness and severity of God. On those who fell, severity; but toward you, kindness, if you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. And he did not say, Behold then your right action, behold then your labors, but God's love for humanity, showing that the whole thing has come from the grace from above, and preparing him to tremble. For the very basis of boasting, this makes you be afraid. For since the Master has been kind to you, for this reason be afraid; for the good things do not remain unchangeable for you, if you are careless; just as the bad things are not for them, if they should change. For you too, he says, if you do not continue in the faith, will be cut off. And they, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in. For God did not cut them off, but they were broken off, and they fell. And he rightly said, They were broken off; for He never cast them out in this way, although they had sinned much and often. Have you seen how great is the authority of choice? how great the power of the will? For none of these things is unchangeable, neither your good, nor his evil. Have you seen how he has raised up the one who was despairing, and checked the one who was confident? For neither should you, hearing of severity, despair, nor should you, hearing of kindness, be overconfident. For this reason He cut you off severely, that you might long to return; for this reason He showed kindness toward you, that you might continue. And he did not say, In faith, but, In kindness, that is, if you do things worthy of God's love for humanity; for faith alone is not needed. Do you see how he has neither left those ones to lie where they fell, nor allowed these ones to be arrogant, but has also provoked these to jealousy, again through those giving the Jew the opportunity to stand in this one's place, just as that one previously took this one's position? And he frightens the one from the Gentiles by the example of the Jews and what happened to them, so that they might not be lifted up against them; but he prepares the Jew to be confident from the things granted to the Greek. For you too will be cut off, he says, if you are careless; for indeed the Jew was cut off; and he

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παραμυθίας ἀσθενῆ δοκῶν ἐπινοεῖν, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ πρὸς τὸν ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἀποτείνεσθαι, καιρίαν αὐτοῖς δίδωσι πληγήν. Εἰπὼν γὰρ, Μὴ κατακαυχῶ, καὶ ὅτι Εἰ κατακαυχᾶσαι, οὐ σὺ τὴν ῥίζαν βαστάζεις, ἔδειξε τῷ Ἰουδαίῳ, ὅτι καυχήσεως ἄξια τὰ γεγενημένα, εἰ καὶ μὴ κατακαυχᾶσθαι δεῖ· καὶ διεγείρων αὐτὸν καὶ παροξύνων εἰς πίστιν, καὶ ἐν τάξει συνηγόρου βάλλων, καὶ δεικνὺς αὐτῷ τὴν ζημίαν, ἣν ὑπέμεινε, καὶ ὅτι τὰ ἐκείνων κατέχουσιν ἕτεροι. Ἐρεῖς οὖν, φησὶ, Ἐξεκλάσθησαν κλάδοι, ἵνα ἐγὼ ἐγκεντρισθῶ. Πάλιν ἐν τάξει ἀντιθέσεως τὸ ἐναντίον τῷ προτέρῳ κατασκευάζει, δεικνὺς ὅτι καὶ τὰ μικρῷ ἔμπροσθεν εἰρημένα οὐχὶ προηγουμένως ἔλεγεν, ἀλλὰ ἐφελκόμενος αὐτούς. Οὐκέτι γὰρ τῷ αὐτῶν παραπτώματι ἡ σωτηρία τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, οὐδὲ τὸ παράπτωμα αὐτῶν πλοῦτος κόσμου, οὐδὲ διὰ τοῦτο ἐσώθημεν ἐπειδὴ ἔπεσον, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον. Καὶ δείκνυσι προηγουμένην καὶ τὴν εἰς τὰ ἔθνη πρόνοιαν, εἰ καὶ δοκεῖ ἑτέρως σχηματίζειν τὰ εἰρημένα· καὶ ὅλον τὸ χωρίον δι' ἀντιθέσεως ὑφαίνει, ἑαυτὸν ἀπαλλάττων τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἀπέχθειαν ὑπονοίας, καὶ εὐπαράδεκτον ποιῶν τὸν λόγον. Καλῶς. Ἐπῄνεσε τὸ εἰρημένον· εἶτα καὶ φοβεῖ πάλιν λέγων· Τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ ἐξεκλάσθησαν, σὺ δὲ τῇ πίστει ἐνεκεντρίσθης. Ἰδοὺ πάλιν ἕτερον αὐτῶν ἐγκώμιον, καὶ ἐκείνων κατηγορία. Ἀλλὰ πάλιν αὐτῶν καταστέλλει τὸ φύσημα, ἐπάγων καὶ λέγων· Μὴ ὑψηλοφρόνει, ἀλλὰ φοβοῦ. Οὐ γὰρ φύσεως τὸ πρᾶγμά ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ πίστεως καὶ ἀπιστίας. Καὶ δοκεῖ μὲν πάλιν ἐπιστομίζειν τὸν ἐξ ἐθνῶν, διδάσκει δὲ τὸν Ἰουδαῖον, ὅτι 60.590 οὐ δεῖ τῇ τῆς φύσεως συγγενείᾳ προσέχειν· διὸ καὶ ἐπάγει· Μὴ ὑψηλοφρόνει. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπε, Ταπεινοῦ, ἀλλὰ, Φοβοῦ· ἡ γὰρ ἀπόνοια καταφρόνησιν ἐμποιεῖ καὶ ῥᾳθυμίαν. Εἶτα μέλλων ἐκτραγῳδεῖν αὐτῶν τὴν συμφορὰν, ὥστε ἀνεπαχθέστερον ποιῆσαι τὸν λόγον, ἐν τάξει τῆς πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἐπιτιμήσεως αὐτὸ τίθησιν οὕτω λέγων· Εἰ γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς τῶν κατὰ φύσιν κλάδων οὐκ ἐφείσατο· καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν, Οὐδὲ σοῦ φείσεται, ἀλλὰ, Μή πως οὐδὲ σοῦ φείσηται· ὑποτεμνόμενος τοῦ λόγου τὸ φορτικὸν, καὶ ποιῶν ἐναγώνιον τὸν πιστὸν εἶναι, κἀκείνους ἐφελκόμενος, καὶ τούτους καταστέλλων. Ἴδε οὖν χρηστότητα καὶ ἀποτομίαν Θεοῦ. Ἐπὶ μὲν τοὺς πεσόντας, ἀποτομίαν· ἐπὶ δὲ σὲ, χρηστότητα, ἐὰν ἐπιμείνῃς τῇ χρηστότητι, ἐπεὶ καὶ σὺ ἐκκοπήσῃ. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἴδε οὖν κατόρθωμα σὸν, ἴδε οὖν πόνους σοὺς, ἀλλὰ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν, δεικνὺς ὅτι τὸ πᾶν τῆς χάριτος τῆς ἄνωθεν γέγονε, καὶ παρασκευάζων τρέμειν. Ἡ γὰρ ὑπόθεσις τῆς καυχήσεως, αὕτη σε ποιεῖ δεδοικέναι. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ χρηστὸς περὶ σὲ γέγονεν ὁ ∆εσπότης, διὰ τοῦτο φοβοῦ· οὐ γὰρ ἀκινητά σοι μένει τὰ ἀγαθὰ, ἐὰν ῥᾳθυμῇς· ὥσπερ οὖν οὐδὲ ἐκείνοις τὰ κακὰ, ἐὰν μεταβάλωνται. Καὶ γὰρ σὺ, φησὶν, ἐὰν μὴ ἐπιμείνῃς τῇ πίστει, ἐκκοπήσῃ. Καὶ ἐκεῖνοι δὲ, ἐὰν μὴ ἐπιμείνωσι τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ, ἐγκεντρισθήσονται. Οὐ γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς αὐτοὺς ἐξέκοψεν, ἀλλ' αὐτοὶ ἐξεκλάσθησαν, καὶ ἔπεσον. Καὶ καλῶς εἶπεν, Ἐξεκλάσθησαν· οὐδέποτε γὰρ οὕτως αὐτοὺς ἐξέβαλε, καίτοι πολλὰ πολλάκις ἡμαρτηκότας. Εἶδες ὅσον τῆς προαιρέσεως τὸ κῦρος; πόση τῆς γνώμης ἡ ἐξουσία; Οὐδὲν γὰρ τούτων ἀκίνητον, οὔτε τὸ σὸν καλὸν, οὔτε τὸ ἐκείνου κακόν. Εἶδες πῶς καὶ ἐκεῖνον ἀπογινώσκοντα ἀνέστησε, καὶ τοῦτον θαῤῥοῦντα κατέστειλε; Μήτε γὰρ σὺ ἀποτομίαν ἀκούων, ἀπαγορεύσῃς, μήτε σὺ χρηστότητα, θαῤῥήσῃς. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό σε ἀποτόμως ἐξέκοψεν, ἵνα ποθήσῃς ἐπανελθεῖν· διὰ τοῦτο περὶ σὲ χρηστότητα ἐνεδείξατο, ἵνα ἐπιμείνῃς. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπε, Τῇ πίστει, ἀλλὰ, Τῇ χρηστότητι, τουτέστιν, ἂν ἄξια τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας πράττῃς· οὐ γὰρ πίστεως δεῖ μόνον. Ὁρᾷς πῶς οὔτε ἐκείνους ἀφῆκε κεῖσθαι, οὔτε τούτους μέγα φρονεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρεζήλωσε τούτους, πάλιν δι' ἐκείνων δοὺς τῷ Ἰουδαίῳ στῆναι εἰς τὸν τούτου τόπον, καθάπερ ἐκεῖνος προκατέλαβε τὸ τούτου χωρίον; Καὶ τὸν μὲν ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἀπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων φοβεῖ καὶ τῶν ἐκείνοις συμβεβηκότων, ἵνα μὴ ἐπαίρωνται κατ' αὐτῶν· τὸν δὲ Ἰουδαῖον ἀπὸ τῶν τῷ Ἕλληνι παρασχεθέντων θαῤῥεῖν παρασκευάζει. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ σὺ ἐκκοπήσῃ, φησὶν, ἐὰν ῥᾳθυμῇς· καὶ γὰρ ὁ Ἰουδαῖος ἐξεκόπη· καὶ ἐκεῖνος