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What other person should we bring into the middle when we discourse about gentleness

wishing, beloved, than he who received testimony from on high, and on this account was especially admired? For, he says, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; who not only fed and gave drink to his enemies, but also often rescued them from death when they were in danger. For Saul so hated and turned away from him, after the countless good deeds, after the glorious trophies, and the salvation over Goliath, that he could not even bear to mention his name. For once, when a feast was at hand, since, having woven some deceit for him and stitched a harsh plot, he did not see him arrive, 'Where,' he says, 'is the son of Jesse?' and having no wickedness to speak of, he brought forward the low birth of his family, expecting by this to obscure his splendor. But he, finding him sleeping inside the cave, did not call him son of Kish, but by a name of honor: 'For I will not lay my hand,' he says, 'on the Lord's anointed;' so pure was he of all anger and resentment. He calls 'the Lord's anointed' the one who had wronged him so greatly, who thirsted for his blood, who after countless good deeds often attempted to kill him. For he did not consider what that man deserved to suffer, but he considered what was fitting for him to do and say. What is this? Having seized your enemy as if in a prison, held by a triple bond—by the narrowness of the place, by the lack of helpers, and by the necessity of sleep—you do not exact justice or punishment from him? but you say, 'I will not lay my hand on the Lord's anointed?' 'Yes,' he says; 'for I do not now see what this man deserves to suffer, but what it was fitting for me to do.' You, then, perhaps admire him, because he remembered none of the past evils; but I am astonished at him for another, much greater reason. What reason is that? That not even the fear of future things pushed him to slay his enemy. For he knew clearly that if he escaped his hands, he would again stand against him; but he chose rather to endanger himself by releasing the one who had wronged him, than to slay his foe out of concern for his own safety; and neither the memory of the past, nor the fear of the future, nor the encouragement of his general, nor the isolation of the place, nor the ease of the slaughter, nor anything else stirred him to the murder, but just as if he were some benefactor and one who had done him great good, so he spared his enemy who had 63.778 grieved him, and having cut off the corner of his garment, and taken away the flask of water, he went far off, and standing, he cried out, and showed these things to the one who had been saved; not doing this for show and ambition, but wishing to persuade him by his deeds that he suspected him as an enemy in vain and without cause, and by this hastening to draw him to friendship. For to simply not retaliate against an enemy who has grieved you is nothing wonderful; but for a man who has received many great benefits, then in return for those benefits tried to kill his benefactor once, twice, and many times, to have him in his hands and to be master of his fate, and to release him and rescue him from the plot of others, and this when he was about to attack with the same things again—what further height of philosophy could be left? And what excess of wickedness could the things shown by Saul toward David have? that when the enemies had just been driven away by him, and the city had recovered itself, and everyone was offering victory sacrifices, he himself tried to kill his benefactor and savior and the cause of all those good things. And not even the occasion of the good deed restrained that mad and raving man, but once, twice, and many times he threw his spear, wanting to kill him, and such were the rewards he gave in return for those dangers. For David was playing with his hand, it says, and the spear was in Saul's hand, and Saul lifted

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Τίνα ἂν ἕτερον εἰς μέσον ἀγαγεῖν χρὴ περὶ ἐπιεικείας ἡμᾶς διαλέγεσθαι

βουλομένους, ἀγαπητοὶ, ἢ τὸν μαρτυρίαν ἄνωθεν δεξάμενον, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ μάλιστα θαυμαστωθέντα; Εὗρον γὰρ, φησὶ, ∆αυῒδ τὸν τοῦ Ἰεσσαὶ, ἄνδρα κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν μου· ὃς οὐ μόνον ἐψώμιζε καὶ ἐπότιζε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς, ἀλλὰ καὶ κινδυνεύοντας πολλάκις ἐξήρπαζε τοῦ θανάτου. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ Σαοὺλ οὕτως αὐτὸν ἐμίσει καὶ ἀπεστρέφετο, μετὰ τὰς μυρίας εὐεργεσίας, μετὰ τὰ λαμπρὰ τρόπαια, καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ Γολιὰθ σωτηρίαν, ὡς μηδὲ τῆς προσηγορίας ἀνέχεσθαι τῆς ἐκείνου μεμνῆσθαι. Ἑορτῆς γάρ ποτε ἐπιστάσης, ἐπειδὴ δόλον αὐτῷ πλέξας τινὰ καὶ χαλεπὴν ἐπιβουλὴν ῥάψας, οὐκ εἶδε παραγενόμενον, Ποῦ ἔστι, φησὶν, ὁ υἱὸς Ἰεσσαί; καὶ πονηρίαν οὐδεμίαν ἔχων εἰπεῖν, τὴν τοῦ γένους δυσγένειαν εἰς μέσον ἔφερε, ταύτῃ προσδοκῶν ἐπισκοτήσειν αὐτοῦ τὴν λαμπρότητα. Ὁ δὲ εὑρὼν αὐτὸν ἔνδον ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ καθεύδοντα, οὐκ ἐκάλεσεν αὐτὸν υἱὸν Κὶς, ἀλλὰ τῷ τιμῆς ὀνόματι· Οὐ γὰρ μὴ ἐπαγάγω τὴν χεῖρά μου, φησὶν, ἐπὶ τὸν χριστὸν τοῦ Κυρίου· οὕτω καθαρὸς ἦν ὀργῆς καὶ μνησικακίας ἁπάσης. Χριστὸν Κυρίου καλεῖ τὸν τοσαῦτα ἠδικηκότα, τὸν τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ διψῶντα, τὸν μετὰ μυρίας εὐεργεσίας πολλάκις αὐτὸν ἐπιχειρήσαντα ἀνελεῖν. Οὐ γὰρ ἐσκόπει τί παθεῖν ἐκεῖνος ἄξιος ἦν, ἀλλ' ἐσκόπει τί καὶ ποιῆσαι καὶ εἰπεῖν αὐτῷ πρέπον ἦν. Τί τοῦτο; ὥσπερ ἐν δεσμωτηρίῳ λαβὼν τὸν ἐχθρὸν, τριπλῷ κατεχόμενον δεσμῷ, καὶ τῇ τοῦ τόπου στενοχωρίᾳ, καὶ τῇ τῶν βοηθησόντων ἐρημίᾳ, καὶ τῇ τοῦ ὕπνου ἀνάγκῃ, οὐκ ἀπαιτεῖς δίκην οὐδὲ τιμωρίαν αὐτόν; ἀλλ', Οὐ μὴ ἐπαγάγω τὴν χεῖρά μου, λέγεις, ἐπὶ τὸν χριστὸν Κυρίου; Ναὶ, φησίν· οὐ γὰρ τί παθεῖν δίκαιός ἐστιν οὗτος, ὁρῶ νῦν, ἀλλὰ τί ποιῆσαί μοι προσῆκεν. Ὑμεῖς μὲν οὖν αὐτὸν ἴσως θαυμάζετε, ὅτι οὐδενὸς ἐμνήσθη τῶν παρελθόντων κακῶν· ἐγὼ δὲ δι' ἕτερον πολλῷ μεῖζον αὐτὸν ἐκπλήττομαι. Ποῖον δὴ τοῦτο; Ὅτι οὐδὲ ὁ φόβος αὐτὸν τῶν μελλόντων ὤθησε πρὸς τὸ διαχειρίσασθαι τὸν ἐχθρόν. Ἤδει γὰρ σαφῶς, ὅτι διαφυγὼν αὐτοῦ τὰς χεῖρας, πάλιν κατ' αὐτοῦ στήσεται· ἀλλ' εἵλετο μᾶλλον αὐτὸς κινδυνεύειν ἀπολύσας τὸν ἠδικηκότα, ἢ τῆς καθ' ἑαυτὸν ἀσφαλείας προνοῶν διαχειρίσασθαι τὸν πολέμιον· καὶ οὔτε ἡ μνήμη τῶν παρελθόντων, οὐχ ὁ φόβος τῶν μελλόντων, οὐχ ἡ προτροπὴ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ, οὐχ ἡ ἐρημία τοῦ τόπου, οὐ τὸ τῆς σφαγῆς εὔκολον, οὐκ ἄλλο οὐδὲν διήγειρεν αὐτὸν πρὸς τὸν φόνον, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ εὐεργέτου τινὸς καὶ τὰ μεγάλα αὐτὸν πεποιηκότος ἀγαθὰ, οὕτω τοῦ ἐχθροῦ καὶ 63.778 λελυπηκότος ἐφείσατο, καὶ τὸ κράσπεδον ἀποκόψας τοῦ ἱματίου, καὶ τὸν φακὸν τοῦ ὕδατος ἀφελόμενος, ἀπελθὼν πόῤῥωθεν, καὶ στὰς ἐβόησε, καὶ τῷ διασωθέντι ταῦτα ὑπέδειξεν· οὐχὶ πρὸς ἐπίδειξιν καὶ φιλοτιμίαν ποιῶν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῶν ἔργων αὐτὸν πεῖσαι βουλόμενος, ὅτι εἰκῆ καὶ μάτην ὑπώπτευεν αὐτὸν ὡς ἐχθρὸν, καὶ διὰ τούτου αὐτὸν πρὸς φιλίαν ἐπισπάσασθαι σπεύδων. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἁπλῶς ἐχθρὸν λυπήσαντα μὴ ἀμύνασθαι, θαυμαστὸν οὐδέν· τὸ δὲ ἄνθρωπον εὐεργετηθέντα πολλὰς καὶ μεγάλας εὐεργεσίας, εἶτα ἀντὶ τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν ἐκείνων καὶ ἅπαξ καὶ δὶς καὶ πολλάκις ἀνελεῖν ἐπιχειρήσαντα τὸν εὐεργέτην, λαβόντα εἰς χεῖρας καὶ κύριον γενόμενον ἀνελεῖν, καὶ αὐτὸν ἀφεῖναι καὶ τῆς ἑτέρων ἐπιβουλῆς ἐξαρπάσαι, καὶ ταῦτα πάλιν τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐπιθήσεσθαι μέλλοντα, τίνα ἂν καταλίποι λοιπὸν φιλοσοφίας ὑπερβολήν; Τίνα δὲ ἔχοιεν ἂν πονηρίας ὑπερβολὴν τὰ παρὰ τοῦ Σαοὺλ εἰς τὸν ∆αυῒδ ἐνδεικνύμενα; ὅτι ἄρτι τῶν πολεμίων ἀπελαθέντων παρ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῆς πόλεως ἑαυτὴν ἀνακτησαμένης, καὶ πάντων ἐπινίκια θυόντων, αὐτὸς τὸν εὐεργέτην καὶ σωτῆρα καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐκείνων ἁπάντων αἴτιον ἀνελεῖν ἐπεχείρησε. Καὶ οὐδὲ τῆς εὐεργεσίας ἡ ὑπόθεσις τὸν μεμηνότα καὶ παραπαίοντα κατέστειλεν ἐκεῖνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἅπαξ καὶ δὶς καὶ πολλάκις ἠκόντισε βουλόμενος αὐτὸν ἀνελεῖν, καὶ τοιαύτας ἀντὶ τῶν κινδύνων ἐκείνων ἐδίδου τὰς ἀμοιβάς. ∆αυῒδ γὰρ ἔψαλλε τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ, φησὶ, καὶ τὸ δόρυ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ τοῦ Σαοὺλ, καὶ ἦρε Σαοὺλ