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he showed. What could be more blessed than this? that not only when he saw his enemy lying at his feet worse than a captive did he spare him, but also again after this deliverance, when he took into his hands the one who had attacked him and wanted to kill him, and being able to cut him down with his entire army, he let him go both sound and safe, and perceiving that he was incurably sick, and would never in any way cease from his enmity toward him, he removed himself from his sight, and lived among the barbarians, serving, being dishonored, ashamed, providing for himself the necessary food out of toil and hardship. And not only is this marvelous, but that also when he heard he had fallen in battle, he tore his tunic. 63.785 and he sprinkled ashes on himself, and lamented with a lamentation with which someone would lament having lost an only and legitimate son, continually calling out his name with that of his child, and composing eulogies, and uttering a bitter cry, and remaining without food until evening, and cursing the places that received the blood of Saul: Mountains, he says, of Gilboa, may neither dew nor rain fall on you; mountains of death; for there the shield of the mighty was cast away. I also hate the place itself because of the dead who fell there, he says; therefore, be no longer watered by the rains from above; for you were once badly watered with the blood of my friends. And he continually turns over their names, saying thus: Saul, Saul, and Jonathan, the beloved and beautiful, not separated in their life, and in their death they were not divided. For since he could not embrace their bodies which were present, he embraces their names, assuaging his own pain with these, as far as possible, and consoling the magnitude of the disaster. For it is not possible, he says, to say that the son lamented his orphanhood, nor did the father mourn his childlessness; but what has happened to no one, has happened, he says, to them; together and on one day they were torn from life, and the one was not left behind to think life unlivable for himself by the separation of the other. Now let each one remember for me his enemy and the one who has grieved him, while his mind is still boiling with grief, and let him preserve this man while he is alive, and mourn him when he is gone; and if it be necessary to suffer anything, so as not to grieve the one who has done wrong, let him do and suffer all things, expecting great rewards from God. For truly nothing is so much safer than to spare one's enemies, nor more perilous than to wish to avenge oneself and retaliate. For the one who has destroyed will often condemn himself, and will have a bad conscience, being pricked every day and hour by that sin; but the one who has spared and endured for a short time, rejoices after this and delights, expecting good hopes, and looking for the rewards of long-suffering from God; and if ever he should fall into any terrible thing, with great boldness he will demand the recompense from God. And this can be seen from the things that happened concerning David and Saul. For the one who wanted to kill him, naked and unarmed and destitute of all things, and handed over as if a captive, thus lay in the cave; but the one who yielded and gave way everywhere, and did not wish to retaliate even justly, without contrivances and weapons and horses and soldiers, took his enemy into his hands; and, what was the greatest of all, he drew God to greater favor, and afterward received great and marvelous rewards for his care for his enemy. What pardon, then, shall we have, if we remember past sins, and retaliate against those who have grieved us, when that guiltless one, having suffered so much, and expecting more and more grievous evils to befall him, is seen sparing his enemy's safety in such a way, as to choose rather to be in danger himself, and to live with fear and trembling, than to justly slay the one who was about to cause him countless troubles? For it is a good thing not to do wrong, but it is much more the mark of a philosophic soul not to retaliate when wronged. Such, then, was David. And yet the law at that time provided this measure, an eye for an eye

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ἐπεδείξατο. Τί τούτου μακαριώτερον γένοιτ' ἄν; ὅτι οὐ μόνον τὸν ἐχθρὸν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας ἰδὼν τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ κείμενον αἰχμαλώτου χεῖρον ἐφείσατο, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάλιν μετὰ τὴν σωτηρίαν ταύτην ἐπιθέμενον αὐτῷ καὶ ἀνελεῖν βουλόμενον εἰς χεῖρας λαβὼν, καὶ δυνάμενος αὐτὸν μετὰ τοῦ στρατοπέδου κατακόψαι παντὸς, ἀφῆκέ τε ὑγιῆ καὶ σῶον, καὶ συνιδὼν ὡς ἀνήκεστα νοσεῖ, καὶ τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔχθρας οὐδαμῶς λήξει ποτὲ, ἐξήγαγεν ἑαυτὸν τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τῶν ἐκείνου, καὶ παρὰ τοῖς βαρβάροις ἔζη δουλεύων, ἠτιμωμένος, αἰσχυνόμενος, ἐκ πόνου καὶ ταλαιπωρίας τὴν ἀναγκαίαν ἑαυτῷ πορίζων τροφήν. Καὶ οὐ τοῦτο μόνον ἐστὶ τὸ θαυμαστὸν, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ πεσόντα ἀκούσα ἐπὶ τῆς παρατάξεως, διέῤῥηξέ τε τὸν χιτωνίσκον. 63.785 καὶ σποδὸν κατεπάσατο, καὶ θρῆνον ἐθρήνησεν, ὃν ἄν τις θρηνήσειε παῖδα μονογενῆ καὶ γνήσιον ἀποβαλὼν, συνεχῶς αὐτοῦ τὸ ὄνομα ἀνακαλῶν μετὰ τοῦ παιδίου, καὶ ἐγκώμια συντιθεὶς, καὶ πικρὰν ἀφιεὶς φωνὴν, καὶ μέχρις ἑσπέρας ἄσιτος μένων, καὶ τὰ χωρία καταρώμενος τὰ δεξάμενα τὸ αἷμα Σαούλ· Ὄρη, φησὶ, τὰ Γελβουὲ, μὴ πέσοι ἐφ' ὑμᾶς μήτε δρόσος μήτε ὑετός· ὄρη θανάτου· ὅτι ἐκεῖ ἐξήρθη σκέπη δυναστῶν. Μισῶ καὶ τὸν τόπον αὐτὸν διὰ τοὺς ἐκεῖ πεσόντας νεκροὺς, φησί· μηκέτι τοίνυν βραχείητε τοῖς ἄνωθεν ὑετοῖς· ἐβράχητε γὰρ ἅπαξ κακῶς τῷ τῶν φίλων μου αἵματι. Καὶ συνεχῶς δὲ αὐτῶν περιστρέφει τὰ ὀνόματα, οὑτωσὶ λέγων· Σαοὺλ, Σαοὺλ, καὶ Ἰωνάθαν, οἱ ἠγαπημένοι καὶ ὡραῖοι, οὐ κεχωρισμένοι ἐν τῇ ζωῇ αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ αὐτῶν οὐκ ἐχωρίσθησαν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὰ σώματα παρόντα περιπτύξασθαι οὐκ εἶχε, περιπλέκεται αὐτῶν ταῖς προσηγορίαις, τὴν οἰκείαν ὀδύνην, ὡς οἷόν τε, τούτοις καταπραΰνων, καὶ τὸ τῆς συμφορᾶς παραμυθούμενος μέγεθος. Οὐ γὰρ ἔστι, φησὶν, εἰπεῖν, ὅτι ὀρφανίαν ὁ παῖς ἐθρήνησεν, οὐδὲ ἀπαιδίαν ὁ πατὴρ ὠδύρατο· ἀλλ' ὃ μηδενὶ συνέβη, συνέβη, φησὶν, ἐκείνοις· ὁμοῦ καὶ κατὰ μίαν ἡμέραν τῆς ζωῆς ἀπεῤῥάγησαν, καὶ οὐ καταλειφθεὶς θάτερος ἀβίωτον ἑαυτῷ εἶναι τὸν βίον τῇ διαστάσει θατέρου ἐνόμισε. Νῦν ἕκαστος ἀναμιμνησκέσθω μοι τοῦ ἐχθροῦ καὶ τοῦ λελυπηκότος, ἔτι ζεούσης τῷ πένθει τῆς διανοίας, καὶ τοῦτον καὶ ζῶντα φυλαττέτω, καὶ ἀπελθόντα πενθείτω· κἂν δέῃ τι παθεῖν, ὥστε μὴ λυπῆσαι τὸν ἠδικηκότα, πάντα ποιείτω καὶ πασχέτω, παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ μεγάλας ἀναμένων τὰς ἀμοιβάς. Ὄντως γὰρ οὐδὲν οὕτως ἀσφαλέστερον τοῦ φείδεσθαι τῶν ἐχθρῶν, οὐδὲ σφαλερώτερον τοῦ βούλεσθαι ἐκδικεῖν ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀμύνεσθαι. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ διαφθείρας καὶ καταγνώσεται πολλάκις ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ πονηρὸν ἕξει συνειδὸς, καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν καὶ ὥραν ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐκείνης κεντούμενος· ὁ δὲ φεισάμενος καὶ μικρὸν καρτερήσας χρόνον, γάννυται μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ τρυφᾷ, χρηστὰς ἀναμένων ἐλπίδας, καὶ τὰς ἀμοιβὰς τῆς ἀνεξικακίας παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ προσδοκῶν· κἂν εἴποτε περιπέσοι τινὶ δεινῷ, μετὰ πολλῆς παῤῥησίας ἀπαιτήσει τὸν Θεὸν τὴν ἀντίδοσιν. Καὶ τοῦτο ἀπὸ τῶν κατὰ τὸν ∆αυῒδ καὶ τὸν Σαοὺλ γενομένων ἔστιν ἰδεῖν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ βουληθεὶς ἀνελεῖν, γυμνὸς καὶ ἄνοπλος καὶ πάντων ἔρημος, καὶ καθάπερ αἰχμάλωτος παραδοθεὶς, οὕτως εἰς τὸ σπήλαιον ἔκειτο· ὁ δὲ εἴκων καὶ παραχωρῶν πανταχοῦ, καὶ μηδὲ δικαίως ἐπεξελθεῖν βουλόμενος, χωρὶς μηχανημάτων καὶ ὅπλων καὶ ἵππων καὶ στρατιωτῶν, τὸν πολέμιον εἰς χεῖρας ἐλάμβανε· καὶ, ὃ δὴ μεῖζον ἁπάντων ἦν, τὸν Θεὸν εἰς πλείονα εὔνοιαν ἐπεσπάσατο, καὶ μεγάλας καὶ θαυμαστὰς τῆς περὶ τὸν ἐχθρὸν κηδεμονίας τὰς ἀμοιβὰς ἀπέλαβεν ὕστερον. Ποίαν οὖν ἕξομεν ἡμεῖς συγγνώμην ἁμαρτημάτων παρελθόντων μνημονεύοντες, καὶ τοὺς λελυπηκότας ἀμυνόμενοι, ὅταν ὁ ἀναίτιος ἐκεῖνος τοσαῦτα μὲν πεπονθὼς, πλείονα δὲ καὶ χαλεπώτερα προσδοκῶν αὐτῷ συμβήσεσθαι κακὰ, ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ ἐχθροῦ σωτηρίας φαίνηται φειδόμενος οὕτως, ὡς ἑλέσθαι κινδυνεῦσαι μᾶλλον αὐτὸς, καὶ μετὰ φόβου καὶ τρόμου ζῇν, ἢ τὸν μέλλοντα μυρία πράγματα αὐτῷ παρέχειν ἀποσφάξαι δικαίως; Καλὸν μὲν γὰρ τὸ μὴ ἀδικεῖν, πολλῷ δὲ μᾶλλον φιλοσόφου ψυχῆς τὸ ἀδικηθέντα μὴ ἀμύνασθαι. Τοιοῦτος οὖν ὁ ∆αυΐδ. Καίτοι γε ὁ νόμος τοῦτο παρεῖχε τότε τὸ μέτρον, ὀφθαλμὸν ἀντὶ ὀφθαλμοῦ