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he alone did not hold back, but God also; and the one pushed through his resolve, but the other held back through his voice. But consider: he said, Slay, and immediately he was armed; he said, Do not slay, and immediately he was disarmed; for he chose not to be called a father, so that he might be shown a grateful servant; and since he gave up what was his for God, for this reason God also, along with these things, granted him what was his own; and he established the command up to the point of his zeal. And do not tell me only this, that he built an altar, and placed wood upon it, but remember also the voice of the 63.807 child, and reckon how many snowflakes of thoughts came upon him, armed with fiery spears, and piercing him from all sides and cutting him through, when he heard the child saying: Father, where is the sheep? For if even now many are broken down, though not being fathers, what was it likely for that man to suffer, who had himself begotten him, who had raised him, who in old age had only this one, who was seeing him, who was hearing him, who was immediately about to slay him? But none of these things turned aside that man of adamant, nor shook him, nor did he say: Why do you call him father who a little later will not be your father? who has already lost this honor? But what? God will provide for himself a sheep for a whole burnt offering, my child. Both call upon the names of nature; that one, father, and this one, child, and from both sides a harsh war was stirred up, and there was a great storm, and nowhere a shipwreck. But Isaac, when he heard "God," said nothing more, nor did he inquire further; so sensible was the child, and in the very flower of his age. Were you not all inflamed? Does not each of you in thought embrace and kiss the child, and marvel at his sense, and reverence his piety? For being bound hand and foot and placed upon the wood, he was not terrified, he did not leap away, he did not condemn his father as mad, but he was bound and was brought up and was placed upon it, and he bore everything in silence like a ram; or rather, like the common Master of all, whose gentleness he also imitated, and whose type he preserved. For he was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is dumb. And let no one say to me that Abraham did not feel pain, nor endure the feelings of a father, nor, wishing to show him philosophizing beyond measure, deprive him of the chief point of his praises. For if, when we suddenly see in the marketplace those who have been convicted of the most shameful crimes and have enjoyed this life for a long time, and are strangers, and have never even been seen by us, being led away to death, we are distressed and feel pain, and often we even weep; he who was commanded with his own hands to sacrifice and burn his own son, his legitimate son, his only-begotten, born against hope, after so long a time, in extreme old age, while he was still young; how did he not endure an affliction and a pain more grievous than any punishment? For if he were a stone, if he were iron, if he were adamant itself, would he not have been bent and broken at the sight of the child, at the intelligence of his words, at the piety of his soul? For he heard, God will provide for himself a sheep for a whole burnt offering, O child, and he inquired no further; he saw his father binding him, and he did not resist; he was placed upon the wood, and did not leap away; he saw the knife being brought against him, and was not disturbed. What could be more pious than this soul? Will anyone then dare to say that Abraham suffered nothing from all these things? For if he were about to sacrifice an enemy and a foe, if it were a wild beast, would he have done these things without pain? It is not so, it is not. For this reason I ask and beseech you, O man, when you lose a son or a daughter, do not mourn so unseemly and beat yourself, but consider that Abraham slaughtered his own son, and neither wept nor uttered a bitter word. And Job was pained, indeed, but as much as is likely for a 63.808 father who loves his children; for what we do now belongs to enemies and foes. For not even if someone were carried away to a palace and

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κατεῖχε μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ Θεός· καὶ ὁ μὲν ὤθει διὰ τῆς γνώμης, ὁ δὲ ἀνέστελλε διὰ τῆς φωνῆς. Σκόπει δέ· εἶπε, Σφάξον, καὶ εὐθέως ὡπλίζετο· εἶπε, Μὴ σφάξῃς, καὶ εὐθέως ἀφωπλίζετο· εἵλετο γὰρ μὴ κληθῆναι πατὴρ, ὥστε δοῦλος εὐγνώμων φανῆναι· καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἀπέστη τῶν ἑαυτοῦ διὰ τὸν Θεὸν, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Θεὸς μετὰ τούτων ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ καὶ τὰ αὐτοῦ· καὶ μέχρι τῆς προθυμίας ἵστησι τὸ ἐπίταγμα. Καὶ μή μοι τοῦτο εἴπῃς μόνον, ὅτι θυσιαστήριον ᾠκοδόμησε, καὶ ξύλα ἐπέθηκεν, ἀλλ' ἀναμνήσθητι καὶ τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ 63.807 παιδίου, καὶ λόγισαι ὅσαι νιφάδες ἐπῆλθον αὐτῷ λογισμῶν, φλογίνοις δόρασιν ὡπλισμένοι, καὶ πάντοθεν κατακεντοῦντες αὐτὸν καὶ διατέμνοντες, ὅτε ἤκουσε τοῦ παιδίου λέγοντος· Πάτερ, ποῦ τὸ πρόβατον; Εἰ γὰρ καὶ νῦν κατακλῶνται πολλοὶ, καὶ μὴ πατέρες ὄντες, τί πάσχειν ἐκεῖνον εἰκὸς ἦν, τὸν αὐτὸν γεννήσαντα, τὸν θρέψαντα, τὸν ἐν γήρᾳ, τὸν μόνον ἔχοντα τοῦτον, τὸν ὁρῶντα, τὸν ἀκούοντα, τὸν εὐθέως μέλλοντα αὐτὸν ἀναιρεῖν; Ἀλλ' οὐδὲν τούτων τὸν ἀδάμαντα ἐκεῖνον περιέτρεψεν, οὐδὲ διέσεισεν, οὐδὲ εἶπε· Τί πατέρα καλεῖς τὸν μικρὸν ὕστερον οὐκ ἐσόμενόν σου πατέρα; τὸν ἤδη ταύτην ἀπολέσαντα τὴν τιμήν; ἀλλὰ τί; Ὁ Θεὸς ὄψεται ἑαυτῷ πρόβατον εἰς ὁλοκάρπωσιν, τέκνον. Ἑκάτεροι τὰ ὀνόματα τῆς φύσεως καλοῦσιν· ἐκεῖνος, πατέρα, καὶ τέκνον, οὗτος, καὶ χαλεπὸς ἑκατέρωθεν ὁ πόλεμος διηγείρετο, καὶ πολλὴ ἡ ζάλη, καὶ ναυάγιον οὐδαμοῦ. Ὁ δὲ Ἰσαὰκ ἐπειδὴ ἤκουσε τὸν Θεὸν, οὐκέτι εἶπεν οὐδὲν, οὐδὲ περιειργάσατο· οὕτω συνετὸν ἦν τὸ παιδίον, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ τῆς ἡλικίας τῷ ἄνθει. Ἆρα οὐ διεθερμάνθητε πάντες; οὐχὶ ἕκαστος ὑμῶν περιπτύσσεται τῇ διανοίᾳ καὶ καταφιλεῖ τὸ παιδίον, καὶ θαυμάζει τὴν σύνεσιν, καὶ αἰδεῖται τὴν εὐλάβειαν; Καὶ γὰρ συμποδιζόμενος καὶ τοῖς ξύλοις ἐπιτιθέμενος οὐκ ἐξεπλήττετο, οὐκ ἀπεσκίρτα, οὐ κατεγίνωσκε τοῦ πατρὸς ὡς μαινομένου, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐδεσμεῖτο καὶ ἀνεβιβάζετο καὶ ἐπετίθετο, καὶ πάντα ἔφερε σιγῇ καθάπερ τις ἀρνειός· μᾶλλον δὲ καθάπερ ὁ κοινὸς πάντων ∆εσπότης, οὗ καὶ τὴν ἐπιείκειαν ἐμιμεῖτο, καὶ τὸν τύπον ἐφύλαττεν. Ὡς πρόβατον γὰρ ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤχθη, καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς ἐναντίον τοῦ κείροντος αὐτὸν ἄφωνος. Καὶ μή μοι λεγέτω τις, ὅτι οὐκ ἤλγει ὁ Ἀβραὰμ, οὐδὲ τὰ τῶν πατέρων ὑπέμεινε, μηδὲ πέρα τοῦ μέτρου δεῖξαι βουλόμενος φιλοσοφοῦντα, τὸ κεφάλαιον ἀποστερείτω τῶν ἐγκωμίων αὐτόν. Εἰ γὰρ τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῖς αἰσχίστοις ἁλόντας καὶ πολὺν χρόνον ταύτης ἀπολαύσαντας τῆς ζωῆς, καὶ ἀγνῶτας ὄντας, καὶ οὐδὲ ὀφθέντας ἡμῖν ποτε, τούτους ἐξαίφνης ὁρῶντες ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς τὴν ἐπὶ θάνατον ἀπαγομένους, συστελλόμεθα καὶ ἀλγοῦμεν, πολλάκις δὲ καὶ δακρύομεν· ὁ τὸν υἱὸν τὸν αὑτοῦ, τὸν γνήσιον, τὸν μονογενῆ, τὸν παρ' ἐλπίδα τεχθέντα, τὸν μετὰ χρόνον τοσοῦτον, τὸν πρὸς ἐσχάτῳ τῷ γήρᾳ, τοῦτον ἔτι νέον ὄντα ταῖς ἑαυτοῦ χερσὶ καταθῦσαι καὶ κατακαῦσαι κελευόμενος· πῶς οὐ πάσης τιμωρίας χαλεπωτέραν θλῖψιν καὶ ἀλγηδόνα ὑπέμεινεν; Εἰ γὰρ λίθος ἦν, εἰ γὰρ σίδηρος, εἰ γὰρ αὐτοαδάμας, οὐκ ἂν ἐκάμφθη καὶ κατεκλάσθη πρὸς τὴν ὥραν τοῦ παιδὸς, πρὸς τὴν σύνεσιν τῶν ῥημάτων, πρὸς τὴν εὐλάβειαν τῆς ψυχῆς; Καὶ γὰρ ἤκουσεν ὅτι Ὁ Θεὸς ὄψεται ἑαυτῷ πρόβατον εἰς ὁλοκάρπωσιν, ὦ τέκνον, καὶ οὐδὲν περιειργάσατο πλέον· ἑώρα τὸν πατέρα δεσμεύοντα αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐκ ἀντέτεινεν· ἐπετέθη τοῖς ξύλοις, καὶ οὐκ ἀπεπήδησεν· εἶδε τὴν μάχαιραν κατ' αὐτοῦ φερομένην, καὶ οὐκ ἐταράχθη. Τί ταύτης εὐλαβέστερον γένοιτ' ἂν τῆς ψυχῆς; Ἔτι οὖν τολμήσει τις εἰπεῖν, ὡς οὐδὲν ὑπὸ τούτων ἁπάντων ἔπαθεν ὁ Ἀβραάμ; Εἰ γὰρ ἐχθρὸν καὶ πολέμιον καταθύειν ἔμελλεν, εἰ γὰρ θηρίον ἦν, ἆρα ἀναλγητὶ ταῦτα ἐποίησεν; Οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα, οὐκ ἔστι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο δέομαι καὶ ἀντιβολῶ, ὅταν υἱὸν ἢ θυγατέρα ἀποβάλῃς, ἄνθρωπε, μὴ οὕτως ἀσχημόνως θρήνει καὶ κόπτε σεαυτὸν, ἀλλ' ἐννόησον ὅτι ὁ Ἀβραὰμ κατέσφαξε τὸν υἱὸν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ οὔτε ἐδάκρυσεν, οὔτε πικρὸν ῥῆμα ἐξέβαλε. Καὶ ὁ Ἰὼβ ἤλγησε μὲν, τοσοῦτον δὲ, ὅσον εἰκὸς πα 63.808 τέρα φιλόπαιδα· ὡς ἅ γε νῦν ποιοῦμεν ἡμεῖς, ἐχθρῶν καὶ πολεμίων ἐστίν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ εἴ τινος εἰς βασίλεια ἀπενεχθέντος καὶ