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said to Him, “You have a demon;” but only this much, “Are you greater than our father Jacob?” For these were insolent scoundrels; but she wished to learn. Therefore she was also perplexed, and answered with fitting moderation, and calls Him Lord. For He who promised much greater things, and was trustworthy, ought not to have been insulted, but even admired; but these say He has a demon. For those words were of the Samaritan woman who was perplexed; but these are of men who are unbelieving and perverse. Are you greater than our father Abraham? So this makes one greater than Abraham. When therefore you see Him lifted up, you will confess that He is greater. For this reason He said, “When you have lifted me up, then you will know that I am.” And observe the intelligence. First, having separated them from that kinship, He shows Himself to be greater than him, so that from His great superiority He might be considered greater even than the prophets. For since they were always calling him a prophet, for this reason He said, “My word has no place in you.” There, then, He said that He raises the dead; but here, “He who believes shall never see death;” which was much greater than not allowing one to be held by death; for which reason they grew more savage. What then did they say? “Whom do you make yourself?” And this insolently: “You,” it says, “grant this to yourself.” To this, therefore, Christ answers, “If I glorify myself,” He says, “my glory is nothing.” 2. What do the heretics say here? He heard, “Are you greater than our father Abraham?” and He did not dare to say to them, “Yes,” but does it in a veiled manner. What then? Is His glory nothing? To them it is nothing. For just as He says, “My testimony is not true,” with reference to their suspicion; so also here He says, “It is He who glorifies me.” And why did He not say, “The Father who sent me,” as He said above, but, “Of whom you say that He is your God, and you have not known Him”? For He wished to show that not only do they not know Him as Father, but not even as God. But I know Him. So the saying, “I know Him,” is not a boast, but to say one does not know Him is a lie. But you, saying you know Him, are lying. Just as you, therefore, lie in saying you know Him, so do I, if I should say I do not know Him. If I glorify myself. Since they were saying, “Whom do you make yourself?” He says, “If I make myself, my glory is nothing.” Just as I, then, know Him precisely, so you are ignorant of Him. Just as, then, in the case of Abraham He did not reject everything, but says, “I know that you are the seed of Abraham,” so as to make the accusation greater, so here He did not reject everything, but what? “Whom you say.” Having granted the boast made in words, He made the charge greater. But how do you not know Him? Because you insult Him who both says and does all things for Him, so that He might be glorified, although He was sent from Him. But this is without witness; but what follows is constructive. And I keep His word. Here, if they had anything, they could have refuted Him; for the greatest proof was to have been sent from Him. Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Again He shows them to be strangers to him, if indeed they are grieved at those things in which he rejoiced. And by "the day" here He seems to me to mean that of the cross, which He prefigured in the offering of the ram and of Isaac. What then did they say? “You are not yet forty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” As Christ was then near forty years of age. He says to them, “Before Abraham was, I am.” And they took up stones to cast at Him. Do you see how He has established that He is greater than Abraham? For he who rejoiced to see the day, and held it as something very precious, it is clear that it was for the benefit it brought, and as of one who is greater. For since they said, “the carpenter’s son,” and imagined nothing more, He gradually leads them to a higher understanding. When, then, they heard, “You do not know God,” they were not grieved; but when they heard, “Before Abraham was, I am,” as if their noble birth was being humbled, they grew savage and tried to stone Him. He saw my day, and was glad. He shows that He does not come to the passion unwillingly, if indeed He praises the

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εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ∆αιμόνιον ἔχεις· ἀλλὰ τοσοῦτον μόνον, Μὴ σὺ μεί 59.303 ζων εἶ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἰακώβ; Οὗτοι μὲν γὰρ ἦσαν ὑβρισταὶ ἀλάστορες· ἐκείνη δὲ μαθεῖν ἐβούλετο. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἠπόρησε, καὶ μετὰ τῆς προσηκούσης συμμετρίας ἀπεκρίνατο, καὶ Κύριον αὐτὸν καλεῖ. Τὸν γὰρ πολλῷ μείζονα ἐπαγγελλόμενον, καὶ ἀξιόπιστον ὄντα, οὐχ ὑβρίζεσθαι ἔδει, ἀλλὰ καὶ θαυμάζεσθαι· οὗτοι δὲ δαιμονῶντα αὐτὸν λέγουσιν. Ἐκεῖνα μὲν γὰρ τὰ τῆς Σαμαρείτιδος ἀπορούσης ἦν· ταῦτα δὲ, ἀπιστούντων καὶ διεστραμμένων. Μὴ σὺ μείζων εἶ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἀβραάμ; Ὥστε τοῦτο μείζονα εἶναι ποιεῖ τοῦ Ἀβραάμ. Ὅταν οὖν ὑψωθέντα ἴδητε, ὁμολογήσετε ὅτι μείζων ἐστί. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἔλεγεν, Ὅταν ὑψώσητέ με, τότε γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι. Καὶ θέα σύνεσιν. Πρῶτον αὐτοὺς ἀποσχίσας τῆς συγγενείας, δείκνυσιν ἑαυτὸν ἐκείνου μείζονα ὄντα, ἵνα ἐκ πολλῆς τῆς ὑπεροχῆς μείζων θεωρηθῇ καὶ τῶν προφητῶν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀεὶ προφήτην ἔλεγον αὐτὸν, διὰ ταῦτα ἔλεγεν· Ὁ λόγος ὁ ἐμὸς οὐ χωρεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν. Ἐκεῖ μὲν οὖν ἔλεγεν, ὅτι ἐγείρει τοὺς νεκρούς· ἐνταῦθα δὲ, Οὐ μὴ θεωρήσει θάνατον ὁ πιστεύων· ὃ πολλῷ μεῖζον ἦν τοῦ μὴ συγχωρῆσαι κρατηθῆναι θανάτῳ· διὸ μᾶλλον ἠγριαίνοντο. Τί οὖν ἐκεῖνοι; Τίνα σεαυτὸν ποιεῖς; Καὶ τοῦτο ὑβριστικῶς· Σὺ, φησὶ, χαρίζῃ σαυτῷ. Πρὸς τοῦτο οὖν ὁ Χριστός· Ἐὰν ἐγὼ δοξάζω ἐμαυτὸν, φησὶν, ἡ δόξα μου οὐδέν ἐστι. βʹ. Τί λέγουσιν ἐνταῦθα οἱ αἱρετικοί; Ἤκουσε, Μὴ σὺ μείζων εἶ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἀβραάμ; καὶ οὐκ ἐθάῤῥησεν εἰπεῖν αὐτοῖς, ὅτι ναὶ, ἀλλὰ συνεσκιασμένως αὐτὸ ποιεῖ. Τί οὖν; οὐδέν ἐστιν ἡ δόξα αὐτοῦ; Πρὸς ἐκείνους οὐδέν ἐστιν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ λέγει, Ἡ μαρτυρία μου οὐκ ἔστιν ἀληθὴς, πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνων ὑπόνοιαν· οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθά φησιν· Ἔστιν ὁ δοξάζων με. Καὶ διατί μὴ εἶπεν, Ὁ Πατὴρ ὁ πέμψας με; ὡς ἄνω ἔλεγεν, ἀλλ' Ὃν ὑμεῖς λέγετε ὅτι Θεὸς ὑμῶν ἐστι, καὶ οὐκ οἴδατε αὐτόν, Ἐβούλετο γὰρ δεῖξαι, ὅτι οὐ μόνον Πατέρα αὐτὸν οὐκ ἴσασιν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ Θεόν. Ἐγὼ δὲ οἶδα αὐτόν. Ὥστε οὐ τὸ λέγειν, Ἐγὼ οἶδα αὐτὸν, κόμπος ἐστίν· ἀλλὰ τὸ εἰπεῖν μὴ εἰδέναι, ψεῦδος· ὑμεῖς δὲ λέγοντες εἰδέναι αὐτὸν, ψεύδεσθε. Ὥσπερ οὖν ὑμεῖς εἰδέναι λέγοντες ψεύδεσθε· οὕτως ἐγὼ, ἐὰν εἴπω μὴ εἰδέναι. Ἐὰν ἐγὼ δοξάζω ἐμαυτόν. Ἐπειδὴ ἔλεγον, Τίνα σεαυτὸν ποιεῖς; φησίν· Ἐὰν ἐγὼ ποιῶ, ἡ δόξα μου οὐδέν ἐστιν. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἐγὼ αὐτὸν οἶδα ἀκριβῶς, οὕτως αὐτὸν ἀγνοεῖτε ὑμεῖς. Καθάπερ οὖν ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ οὐ τὸ πᾶν ἀνεῖλεν, ἀλλά φησιν, Οἶδα ὅτι σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ ἐστε, ὥστε μείζονα ποιῆσαι τὴν κατηγορίαν· οὕτως ἐνταῦθα οὐ τὸ πᾶν ἀνεῖλεν, ἀλλὰ τί; Ὃν ὑμεῖς λέγετε. ∆οὺς τὴν διὰ τῶν ῥημάτων καύχησιν, μεῖζον ἐποίησε τὸ ἔγκλημα. Πῶς δὲ οὐκ οἴδατε αὐτόν· Ὅτι τὸν πάντα ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ καὶ λέγοντα καὶ ποιοῦντα, ὥστε αὐτὸν δοξασθῆναι, ὑβρίζετε, καίτοι παρ' ἐκείνου ἀποσταλέντα. Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο ἀμάρτυρον· ἀλλὰ τὸ ἑξῆς κατασκευαστικόν. Καὶ τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ τηρῶ. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ εἴ γέ τι εἶχον, ἠδύναντο ἐλέγξαι· μεγίστη γὰρ ἦν ἀπόδειξις τὸ παρ' ἐκείνου ἀπεστάλθαι. Ἀβραὰμ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν 59.304 ἠγαλλιάσατο, ἵνα ἴδῃ τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν ἐμὴν, καὶ εἶδε, καὶ ἐχάρη. Πάλιν δείκνυσιν αὐτοὺς ὄντας ἀλλοτρίους ἐκείνου, εἴ γε ἐφ' οἷς ἐκεῖνος ἔχαιρεν, οὗτοι ἀλγοῦσι. Τὴν δὲ ἡμέραν ἐνταῦθά μοι δοκεῖ λέγειν τὴν τοῦ σταυροῦ, ἣν ἐν τῇ τοῦ κριοῦ προσφορᾷ καὶ τῇ τοῦ Ἰσαὰκ προδιετύπωσε. Τί οὖν ἐκεῖνοι; Τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη οὔπω ἔχεις καὶ Ἀβραὰμ ἑώρακας; Ὡς ἐγγὺς τῶν τεσσαράκοντα ἐτῶν λοιπὸν εἶναι τὸν Χριστόν. Λέγει αὐτοῖς· Πρὶν Ἀβραὰμ γενέσθαι, ἐγώ εἰμι. Καὶ ἔλαβον λίθους, ἵνα βάλωσιν ἐπ' αὐτόν. Ὁρᾷς πῶς τὸ μείζονα εἶναι τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ κατεσκεύασεν; Ὁ γὰρ χαρεὶς, ἵνα ἴδῃ τὴν ἡμέραν, καὶ περισπούδαστον αὐτὸ θέμενος, εὔδηλον ὅτι τὴν ἐπὶ εὐεργεσίᾳ γενομένην, καὶ ὡς μείζονος. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἔλεγον· Ὁ τοῦ τέκτονος υἱὸς, καὶ οὐδὲν πλέον ἐφαντάζοντο, κατὰ μικρὸν αὐτοὺς ἐνάγει πρὸς ὑψηλὴν διάνοιαν. Ὅτε μὲν οὖν ἤκουσαν, ὅτι Οὐκ οἴδατε τὸν Θεὸν, οὐκ ἤλγησαν· ὅτε δὲ ἤκουσαν, Πρὶν Ἀβραὰμ γενέσθαι, ἐγώ εἰμι, ὡς τῆς εὐγενείας αὐτῶν ταπεινουμένης, ἠγρίαινον καὶ ἐλίθαζον. Εἶδε τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν ἐμὴν, καὶ ἐχάρη. ∆είκνυσιν ὅτι οὐκ ἄκων ἐπὶ τὸ πάθος ἔρχεται, εἴ γε ἐπαινεῖ τὸν