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The things of our birth are common, the things of our kinship. Why then do you introduce the outward covering as a pretext for division? I cannot endure it. For this reason I call you with the poor man, saying: Rich and poor together. For in other places it is not possible to see rich and poor together; not in law courts, not in royal palaces, not in marketplaces, not at banquets; but the one in honor, the other in contempt; the one in boldness, the other in shame; for the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heard. A rich man spoke, and they justified him; a poor man spoke, and a place was not given to him. But not here. For neither in the Church do I endure avarice and unreasonableness, but I set forth teaching common to all. See the understanding of the teacher, how even before he began his public address, from the call alone he brought forth a very great principle of teaching. For by calling all together, he allowed neither the one to be puffed up, nor the other to be despised, but he showed that wealth is not a good thing, just as poverty is not an evil thing, but they are among the superfluous things, and attached from without. Therefore it makes no difference to me whether you are this or that; for I see neither the rich man as having more, nor the poor man less. But perhaps someone might say: And why indeed, being a man and partaking of the same nature, do you esteem yourself so highly as to think you are fit to become the teacher of the inhabited world, and to summon those from the ends of the earth? What do you have to say that is worthy of so great an audience? Yes, he says. For since he has called the inhabited world, making his word trustworthy, hear what he says: My mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart understanding. Another, And my heart shall murmur understanding. And the Hebrew said Vehaguth. Do you see how he immediately elevated the discourse? I will not speak of money, he says, nor of dignities, nor of power, nor of bodily strength, nor of any other of the things that are doomed to perish; I am about to speak wisdom with precision, not simply that which has come to me on the spur of the moment. I will incline my ear to a parable. Another, I will incline my ear by a parable. And the Hebrew says Lamashal. I will open my problem on the psaltery. Another, My riddle. And the Hebrew said Hidathi. And what is the consistency of this with what has been said? For instead 55.225 of a teacher, I now see a hearer. For you called them as those who would hear something useful; but after they arrived and you gathered everyone, and promised to say something wise, having as yet uttered nothing, you abandon the position of the teacher and cross over to the place of the hearer. For "I will incline," he says, "my ear to a parable." For what reason does he do this? Very wisely, and consistently with what has been said. For since he said, "I will speak wisdom," lest anyone think what was said to be human, and "meditation of the heart," lest one suspect it to be his own discovery, he shows through these things that what is said is divine, and that he utters nothing of his own, but says those things which he has heard. "For I inclined," he says, "my ear to God, I heard from him, and those things brought down from above into my mind, these things I say." Therefore Isaiah also said: The Lord gives me a tongue of instruction to know when it is necessary to speak a word; he has given me an ear to hear. And Paul again: Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of God. Do you see that he too first becomes a hearer, and then a teacher? Therefore another interpreter also said, "And my heart shall murmur." What is, "It shall murmur?" It shall sing, it shall utter a certain spiritual psalm. And if he says meditation, do not be disturbed; for what he received from the Spirit, these things he meditated on continuously, and stirred them up within himself, and then having stirred them up, he brought them forth to others. But what is, "To a parable?" The name is something with many meanings. For a parable is a byword, and an example, and a reproach, as when he says: "You have made us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples." A parable is also an enigmatic saying, which many

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κοινὰ τὰ τῆς γενέσεως, τὰ τῆς οἰκειώσεως. Τί τοίνυν τὴν ἔξωθεν περιβολὴν ἐπεισάγεις εἰς διαιρέσεως ἀφορμήν; Οὐκ ἀνέχομαι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καλῶ σε μετὰ τοῦ πένητος, λέγων· Ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ πλούσιος καὶ πένης. Ἐν μὲν γὰρ τοῖς ἄλλοις οὐκ ἔστιν ἰδεῖν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ πλούσιον καὶ πένητα· οὐκ ἐν δικαστηρίοις, οὐκ ἐν βασιλικαῖς αὐλαῖς, οὐκ ἐν ἀγοραῖς, οὐκ ἐν τραπέζαις· ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν ἐν τιμῇ, τὸν δὲ ἐν καταφρονήσει· τὸν μὲν ἐν παῤῥησίᾳ, τὸν δὲ ἐν αἰσχύνῃ· ἡ γὰρ σοφία τοῦ πένητος ἐξουθενημένη, καὶ οἱ λόγοι αὐτοῦ οὐκ εἰσακουόμενοι. Ἐλάλησε πλούσιος, καὶ ἐδικαίωσαν αὐτόν· πτωχὸς ἐλάλησε, καὶ οὐκ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ τόπος. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐνταῦθα. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἀνέχομαι τῆς πλεονεξίας καὶ τῆς ἀλογίας, ἀλλὰ κοινὴν ἅπασι προτίθημι τὴν διδασκαλίαν. Ὅρα σύνεσιν διδασκάλου, πῶς καὶ πρὶν ἢ τῆς δημηγορίας ἄρξασθαι, ἀπὸ τῆς κλήσεως μόνης μέγιστον ὅρον διδασκαλίας ἐξήνεγκεν. Ὁμοῦ γὰρ πάντας καλέσας, οὔτε ἐκεῖνον ἀφῆκε φυσηθῆναι, οὔτε τοῦτον ἐξευτελίζεσθαι, ἀλλ' ἔδειξεν, ὅτι οὐδὲ ὁ πλοῦτος καλὸν, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ ἡ πενία κακὸν, ἀλλὰ τῶν περιττῶν ἐστι, καὶ ἔξωθεν προσκειμένων. Ὥστε οὐδέν μοι διαφέρει, κἂν τοῦτο ᾖς, κἂν ἐκεῖνο· οὔτε γὰρ πλούσιον ὁρῶ σε ὄντα πλέον ἔχειν, οὔτε πένητα ἔλαττον. Ἀλλ' ἴσως εἴποι τις ἄν· Καὶ τί δήποτε ἄνθρωπος ὢν, καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς μετέχων φύσεως, τοσούτου σαυτὸν ἀξιοῖς, ὡς νομίζειν τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐπιτήδειον εἶναι γενέσθαι διδάσκαλον, καὶ τοὺς ἐκ τῶν τερμάτων τῆς γῆς συγκαλεῖν; τί τοῦ τηλικούτου θεάτρου ἄξιον ἔχων εἰπεῖν; Ναὶ, φησίν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐκάλεσε τὴν οἰκουμένην, ποιῶν ἀξιόπιστον τὸν λόγον, ἄκουσον τί λέγει· Τὸ στόμα μου λαλήσει σοφίαν, καὶ ἡ μελέτη τῆς καρδίας μου σύνεσιν. Ἄλλος, Καὶ μινυρίσει ἡ καρδία μου σύνεσιν. Ὁ δὲ Ἑβραῖος Οὐαγὶθ τοῦτο εἶπεν. Εἶδες πῶς εὐθέως ἀνήγαγε τὸν λόγον; Οὐ περὶ χρημάτων διαλέξομαι, φησὶν, οὐ περὶ ἀξιωμάτων, οὐ περὶ δυναστείας οὐ περὶ ῥώμης σώματος, οὐ περὶ ἄλλου τινὸς τῶν ἐπικήρων· σοφίαν μέλλω λέγειν μετὰ ἀκριβείας, οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἐκ τοῦ παραχρῆμα ἐπελθοῦσάν μοι. Κλινῶ εἰς παραβολὴν τὸ οὖς μου. Ἄλλος, Κλινῶ παραβολῇ τὸ οὖς μου. Ὁ δὲ Ἑβραῖος Λαμασᾶλ φησιν. Ἀνοίξω ἐν ψαλτηρίῳ τὸ πρόβλημά μου. Ἄλλος, Αἴνιγμά μου. Ὁ δὲ Ἑβραῖος Ἰδαθεὶ τοῦτο εἶπε. Καὶ ποία αὕτη πρὸς τὰ εἰρημένα ἀκολουθία; Ἀντὶ 55.225 γὰρ διδασκάλου ἀκροατὴν ὁρῶ νῦν. Ἐκάλεσας μὲν γὰρ ὡς ἀκουσομένους τί χρήσιμον· μετὰ δὲ τὸ παραγενέσθαι καὶ συναγαγεῖν ἅπαντας, καὶ ἐπαγγείλασθαί τι σοφὸν ἐρεῖν, οὐδὲν οὐδέπω φθεγξάμενος, ἀφεὶς τοῦ διδασκάλου τὴν τάξιν, εἰς τοῦ ἀκροατοῦ μεταβαίνεις χώραν. Κλινῶ γὰρ, φησὶν, εἰς παραβολὴν τὸ οὖς μου. Τίνος ἕνεκεν τοῦτο ποιεῖ; Σφόδρα συνετῶς, καὶ ἀκολούθως τοῖς εἰρημένοις. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶπε, Λαλήσω σοφίαν, ἵνα μή τις ἀνθρώπινον τὸ λεγόμενον εἶναι νομίσῃ, καὶ μελέτην καρδίας, ἵνα μὴ αὐτοῦ εὕρημα ὑποπτεύσῃ, δείκνυσι διὰ τούτων, ὅτι θεῖα τὰ λεγόμενα, καὶ ὅτι οὐδὲν ἴδιον φθέγγεται, ἀλλ' ἅπερ ἤκουσε, ταῦτα λέγει. Ἔκλινα γὰρ, φησὶ, τὸ οὖς μου τῷ Θεῷ, ἤκουσα παρ' ἐκείνου, καὶ τὰ ἄνωθεν κατενεχθέντα εἰς τὴν διάνοιαν τὴν ἐμὴν, ταῦτα λέγω. ∆ιόπερ καὶ ὁ Ἡσαΐας ἔλεγε· Κύριος δίδωσί μοι γλῶσσαν παιδείας τοῦ γνῶναι, ἡνίκα δεῖ εἰπεῖν λόγον· προσέθηκέ μοι ὠτίον ἀκούειν. Καὶ ὁ Παῦλος πάλιν· Ἡ πίστις ἐξ ἀκοῆς, ἡ δὲ ἀκοὴ διὰ ῥήματος Θεοῦ. Ὁρᾷς καὶ ἐκεῖνον ἀκροατὴν γινόμενον πρότερον, καὶ τότε διδάσκαλον; ∆ιὸ καὶ ἕτερος ἑρμηνευτὴς ἔλεγε, Καὶ μινυρίσει ἡ καρδία μου. Τί ἐστι, Μινυρίσει; Ἄσεται, ψαλμόν τινα ἐρεῖ πνευματικόν. Εἰ δὲ μελέτην λέγει, μὴ θορυβηθῇς· ἃ γὰρ ἔλαβεν ἀπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματος, ταῦτα διηνεκῶς ἐμελέτα, καὶ παρ' ἑαυτῷ ἀνεκίνει, καὶ τότε ἀνακινήσας, εἰς τοὺς ἄλλους ἐξέφερε. Τί δέ ἐστιν, Εἰς παραβολήν; Πολυσήμαντόν τί ἐστι τὸ ὄνομα. Ἔστι γὰρ παραβολὴ λάλημα, καὶ ὑπόδειγμα, καὶ ὀνειδισμὸς, ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ· Ἔθου ἡμᾶς εἰς παραβολὴν ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι, κίνησιν κεφαλῆς ἐν τοῖς λαοῖς. Ἔστι παραβολὴ καὶ αἰνιγματώδης λόγος, ὃ πολλοὶ