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to use it so warmly. For he did not say, I will see, but, That I may be filled, imitating the words of parents. And in the beginning he said, That I may have some fruit; but here, That I may be filled; both of which were meant to draw them on. For their encomium was very great, if indeed they were going to offer him fruit from their obedience; and the other, a genuine sign of his own love. And writing to the Corinthians he spoke thus: That you may send me on my way wherever I go; showing in all things his love for his disciples, than which there is nothing equal. Therefore, always beginning his epistles, he starts from this point, and ending, he concludes with this again. 4. For as a father who loves his children loves his only-begotten and legitimate child, so he loved all the faithful; wherefore he also said, Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is made to stumble, and I do not burn? For before all other things the teacher must have this. Therefore Christ also said to Peter, If you love me, feed my sheep. For he who loves Christ, loves also His flock. And He set Moses over the people of the Jews then, when he had shown his goodwill towards them; and David also thus came to the kingdom, having first appeared affectionate towards them. Thus, at any rate, while still young he grieved for the people, so as to give his own life, when he struck down that barbarian. But if he says, What will be done for the man who kills this foreigner? he did not say it demanding a reward, but wanting to be trusted, and to be entrusted with the battle against him. At any rate, when he went in to the king after the victory, he said nothing about these things. And Samuel was very affectionate; wherefore he also said, But far be it from me to sin in ceasing to pray for you to the Lord. Thus also Paul, or rather not thus, but much more, burned for all those under his rule. Wherefore he so disposed the disciples towards him, as to say that, If it were possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. For this reason also God reproaches the teachers of the Jews with this before other things, saying: O shepherds of Israel, do the shepherds feed themselves? do they not feed the sheep? But they did the opposite. For, He says, you eat the milk, and you clothe yourselves with the wool, and you slaughter the fatling, but you do not feed the sheep. And Christ, setting forth the rule of the best shepherd, said: The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. This David did in many other places, and when that terrible wrath from above came down upon all the people. For when all were being slaughtered, he said, I the shepherd have sinned, I the shepherd have done wickedly; but these, the flock, what have they done? For this reason also, in the choice of those punishments, he did not choose famine, nor pursuit by enemies, but the death sent from God, by which he expected to place the others in safety, and that he himself would be brought down before all the others. But when this did not happen, he laments and says: Let your hand be on me; and if it is not enough, also on my father's house. For I, he says, the shepherd have sinned. As if he were saying, Even if these have sinned, I was responsible for the punishment for not correcting them; 60.659 but when the sin is also mine, it would be just for me to suffer the punishment. For wishing to magnify the charge, he added the name of shepherd. Thus, at any rate, he stayed the wrath, thus he recalled the sentence; so powerful is confession. For the righteous man is his own accuser in his first words; so powerful is the care and compassion of the best shepherd. For his heart was torn as they fell, just as when legitimate children are slain; wherefore he also asked that the wrath come upon himself. And he would have done this at the beginning of the slaughter, if he had not hoped that it was proceeding on its way and would come to him. At any rate, when he saw that this was not happening, but that the disaster was spreading among them, he could no longer bear it, but was inflamed more than over Amnon his firstborn. For then he did not ask for death, but now he asks to fall before the others. Such must the ruler be, and more so in the

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οὕτω θερμῶς κεχρῆσθαι. Οὐδὲ γὰρ εἶπε, θεάσομαι, ἀλλ' Ἐμπλησθῶ, τὰ τῶν γονέων μιμούμενος ῥήματα. Καὶ ἀρχόμενος μὲν ἔλεγεν, Ἵνα τινὰ καρπὸν σχῶ· ἐνταῦθα δὲ, Ἵνα ἐμπλησθῶ· ἅπερ ἀμφότερα ἐφελκομένου ἦν. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἐγκώμιον αὐτῶν ἦν μέγιστον, εἴ γε καρπὸν αὐτῷ παρέχειν ἔμελλον ἐκ τῆς ὑπακοῆς· τὸ δὲ, τῆς αὐτοῦ φιλίας δεῖγμα γνήσιον. Καὶ Κορινθίοις δὲ ἐπιστέλλων οὕτως ἔλεγεν· Ἵνα ὑμεῖς με προπέμψητε οὗ ἐὰν πορεύωμαι· διὰ πάντων τὴν πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς ἀγάπην ἐνδεικνύμενος, ἧς ἴσον οὐδέν. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἀρχόμενος ἀεὶ τῶν ἐπιστολῶν ἐντεῦθεν προοιμιάζεται, καὶ τελευτῶν εἰς τοῦτο καταλύει πάλιν. δʹ. Καθάπερ γὰρ πατὴρ φιλόπαις μονογενὲς παιδίον καὶ γνήσιον, ἐφίλει τοὺς πιστοὺς ἅπαντας· διὸ καὶ ἔλεγε, Τίς ἀσθενεῖ, καὶ οὐκ ἀσθενῶ; τίς σκανδαλίζεται, καὶ οὐκ ἐγὼ πυροῦμαι; Καὶ γὰρ πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων τοῦτο χρὴ τὸν διδάσκαλον ἔχειν. ∆ιὸ καὶ Πέτρῳ ἔλεγεν ὁ Χριστὸς, Εἰ φιλεῖς με, ποίμαινε τὰ πρόβατά μου. Ὁ γὰρ τὸν Χριστὸν φιλῶν, καὶ τὴν ποίμνην αὐτοῦ φιλεῖ. Καὶ τὸν Μωϋσέα δὲ τότε ἐπέστησε τῷ δήμῳ τῶν Ἰουδαίων, ὅτε τὴν πρὸς αὐτοὺς εὔνοιαν ἐπεδείξατο· καὶ ὁ ∆αυῒδ δὲ οὕτως ἐπὶ τὴν βασιλείαν ἦλθε, πρότερον φιλόστοργος περὶ αὐτοὺς φανείς. Οὕτω γοῦν ἔτι νέος ὢν ἤλγησε ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ, ὡς καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ ψυχὴν ἐπιδοῦναι, ἡνίκα τὸν βάρβαρον καθεῖλεν ἐκεῖνον. Εἰ δὲ λέγει· Τί ἔσται τῷ ἀνελόντι τὸν ἀλλόφυλον τοῦτον; οὐ μισθὸν ἀπαιτῶν ἔλεγεν, ἀλλὰ πιστευθῆναι βουλόμενος, καὶ ἐγχειρισθῆναι τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν μάχην. Ὅτε γοῦν εἰσῆλθε πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα μετὰ τὴν νίκην, οὐδὲν ὑπὲρ τούτων διελέχθη. Καὶ ὁ Σαμουὴλ δὲ σφόδρα φιλόστοργος ἦν· διὸ καὶ ἔλεγεν, Ἐμοὶ δὲ μὴ γένοιτο διαμαρτεῖν τοῦ διαλιπεῖν προσευχόμενον ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν τῷ Κυρίῳ. Οὕτω καὶ Παῦλος, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλῷ πλέον, ἁπάντων περιεκαίετο τῶν ἀρχομένων. ∆ιὸ καὶ τοὺς μαθητὰς οὕτω πρὸς αὐτὸν διέθηκεν, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ὅτι Εἰ δυνατὸν, τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὑμῶν ἐξορύξαντες ἂν ἐδώκατέ μοι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ τοῖς Ἰουδαίων διδασκάλοις τοῦτο πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων ὁ Θεὸς ἐγκαλεῖ λέγων· Ὦ οἱ ποιμένες Ἰσραὴλ, μὴ βόσκουσιν οἱ ποιμένες ἑαυτούς; οὐχὶ τὰ πρόβατα βόσκουσιν; Ἐκεῖνοι δὲ τοὐναντίον ἐποίουν. Τὸ γάλα γὰρ, φησὶ, κατεσθίετε, καὶ τὰ ἔρια περιβάλλεσθε, καὶ τὸ παχὺ ἐσφάζετε, καὶ τὰ πρόβατα οὐκ ἐβόσκετε. Καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς δὲ ποιμένος ἀρίστου κανόνα ἐκφέρων ἔλεγεν· Ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλὸς τὴν ψυχὴν αὑτοῦ τίθησιν ὑπὲρ τῶν προβάτων. Τοῦτο ὁ ∆αυῒδ ἐποίησε πολλαχοῦ τε ἀλλαχοῦ, καὶ ἡνίκα ἄνωθεν κατὰ τοῦ δήμου παντὸς ἡ φοβερὰ ἐκείνη ὀργὴ κατεφέρετο. Πάντων γὰρ σφαττομένων ἔλεγεν, Ἐγὼ ὁ ποιμὴν ἥμαρτον, ἐγὼ ὁ ποιμὴν ἐκακοποίησα· καὶ οὗτοι, τὸ ποίμνιον, τί ἐποίησαν; ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἐν τῇ αἱρέσει τῶν τιμωριῶν ἐκείνων οὐ λιμὸν εἵλετο, οὐ δίωξιν ἐχθρῶν, ἀλλὰ τὸν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ πεμπόμενον θάνατον, δι' οὗ προσεδόκα τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους ἐν ἀσφαλείᾳ καταστήσειν, αὐτὸν δὲ πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων κατενεχθήσεσθαι. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐγένετο, θρηνεῖ καὶ λέγει· Ἐν ἐμοὶ ἡ χείρ σου· εἰ δὲ οὐκ ἀρκεῖ, καὶ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ πατρός μου. Ἐγὼ γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ ποιμὴν ἥμαρτον. Ὡσανεὶ ἔλεγεν, ὅτι Εἰ καὶ οὗτοι ἥμαρτον, ἐγὼ ὑπεύθυνος ἤμην τῇ τιμωρίᾳ ὁ μὴ διορθούμενος· 60.659 ὅταν δὲ καὶ ἐμὸν τὸ ἁμάρτημα ᾖ, ἐγὼ δίκαιος ἂν εἴην δοῦναι τὴν τιμωρίαν. Καὶ γὰρ αὐξῆσαι τὸ ἔγκλημα θέλων, τὸ τοῦ ποιμένος ἔθηκεν ὄνομα. Οὕτω γοῦν τὴν ὀργὴν ἔστησεν, οὕτω τὴν ἀπόφασιν ἀνεκαλέσατο· τοσοῦτόν ἐστιν ἐξομολόγησις· ∆ίκαιος γὰρ ἑαυτοῦ κατήγορος ἐν πρωτολογίᾳ· τοσοῦτον κηδεμονία καὶ συμπάθεια ποιμένος ἀρίστου. Καὶ γὰρ ἐσπαράττετο αὐτοῦ τὰ σπλάγχνα πιπτόντων ἐκείνων, καθάπερ παίδων γνησίων ἀναιρουμένων· διὸ καὶ ἐπ' αὐτὸν τὴν ὀργὴν ἐλθεῖν ἠξίου. Καὶ ἐν ἀρχῇ δὲ τῆς σφαγῆς τοῦτο ἐποίησεν ἂν, εἰ μὴ καὶ βαδίζουσαν αὐτὴν ὁδῷ καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἥξειν ἤλπιζεν. Ὅτε γοῦν εἶδε τοῦτο μὲν μὴ γινόμενον, ἐκείνους δὲ ἐπινεμομένην τὴν συμφορὰν, οὐκέτι ἤνεγκεν, ἀλλ' ἀνήφθη μᾶλλον, ἢ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἀμνὼν τοῦ πρωτοτόκου. Τότε γὰρ θάνατον οὐκ ᾔτησε, νῦν δὲ ἀξιοῖ πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων πεσεῖν. Τοιοῦτον εἶναι χρὴ τὸν ἄρχοντα, καὶ μᾶλλον ταῖς