261

matter. Do you see that he rightly confessed himself to be a Roman? For otherwise he would not have been afraid even now. And so the soldiers seize him. But when the vile men saw that all was in vain, they do the whole thing by themselves, having wished to do so even before, but having been prevented; thus wickedness, being checked by so many things, nowhere stops; and yet how many things were arranged, so that they might both abate their anger, and learn by what means they might recover themselves. But nonetheless they press on. For that was a sufficient defense, that the man who was about to be torn to pieces was snatched away, and escaped so many dangers; But on the following night the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer; for as you have testified of me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome. And when it was day, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor to drink until they had killed Paul. There were more than forty who had made this conspiracy. They bound themselves by an oath, he says. Do you see how vehement and vindictive they are in wickedness? What does it mean, "They bound themselves by an oath"? It is as if they said, "Let us be outside the faith in God, if we do not do what we have resolved to do against Paul." Therefore, those men are accursed forever; for they did not kill Paul. And forty come together. For such is that nation: when they ought to agree on something good, not even two come together; but when on something evil, a whole populace. And they take the rulers also as partners; wherefore, making this plain, he added: Who came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. Now therefore you, with the council, signify to the chiliarch to bring him down to you, as though you would judge more accurately concerning him: and we, before he comes near, are ready to kill him. But when the son of Paul's sister heard of the ambush, he came and entered into the barracks and reported it to Paul. And Paul, calling one of the centurions to him, said, Take this young man to the chiliarch, for he has something to report to him. So he took him and brought him to the chiliarch. Again he is saved by human providence. And see: Paul lets no one know, not even the centurion, so that the matter would not become widely known. And the centurion came and reported to the chiliarch, saying, Paul the prisoner called me to him and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you. And the chiliarch took him by the hand and, drawing aside privately, inquired, What is it that you have to report to me? And he said, The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire something more accurately from him. You therefore should not be persuaded by them; for more than forty 60.340 men from them are lying in wait, who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor to drink until they have killed Paul; and now they are ready, awaiting the promise from you. So the chiliarch dismissed the young man, charging him to tell no one that you have revealed these things to me. 2. The chiliarch rightly commands it to be kept secret, so that it might not become known. And then he speaks to the centurions, when it had to happen; and so he is sent to Caesarea, that there too he might dispute before a greater theater and a more splendid audience; so that the Jews may not be able to say, If we had seen Paul, we would have believed, if we had heard him teaching. And so this defense of theirs is cut off from here. And the Lord, he says, stood by him and said: Be of good cheer; for as you have testified of me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome. See, even after appearing to him, he again allows him to be saved by human means. And it is worthy of wonder about Paul, how he was not disturbed, nor said: What is this? Have I been deceived by Christ? But he neither thought nor felt any such thing, but only believed; yet not because he believed, did he fall asleep, but to understand by human wisdom the things that were at hand not

261

πρᾶγμα. Ὁρᾷς, ὅτι δικαίως ὡμολόγησεν ἑαυτὸν Ῥωμαῖον εἶναι; ἦ γὰρ ἂν οὐδὲ νῦν ἐφοβήθη. Καὶ τὸ μὲν στράτευμα λοιπὸν ἁρπάζει αὐτόν. Ὡς δὲ εἶδον οἱ μιαροὶ πάντα ἀνήνυτα, δι' ἑαυτῶν τὸ πᾶν ποιοῦσι, βουληθέντες μὲν καὶ πρὸ τούτου, κωλυθέντες δέ· οὕτως οὐδαμοῦ ἵσταται ἡ κακία τοσούτοις ἐγκοπτομένη· καίτοι πόσα ᾠκονομήθη, ὥστε καὶ τοῦ θυμοῦ καθυφεῖναι, καὶ μαθεῖν δι' ὧν ἐδύναντο ἀνενεγκεῖν. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐφίστανται. Ἱκανὴ γοῦν ἐκείνη ἡ ἀπολογία, τὸ μέλλοντα διασπᾶσθαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἁρπάζεσθαι, καὶ τοσούτους κινδύνους διαφυγεῖν· Τῇ δὲ ἐπιούσῃ νυκτὶ ἐπιστὰς αὐτῷ ὁ Κύριος, εἶπε· Θάρσει· ὡς γὰρ διεμαρτύρω τὰ περὶ ἐμοῦ εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ, οὕτω σε δεῖ καὶ εἰς Ῥώμην μαρτυρῆσαι. Γενομένης δὲ ἡμέρας, ποιήσαντες οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι συστροφὴν, ἀνεθεμάτισαν ἑαυτοὺς μὴ φαγεῖν μηδὲ πιεῖν, ἕως οὗ ἀνέλωσι τὸν Παῦλον. Ἦσαν δὲ πλείους τεσσαράκοντα οἱ ταύτην τὴν συνωμοσίαν πεποιηκότες. Ἀνεθεμάτισαν ἑαυτοὺς, φησίν. Ὁρᾷς πῶς εἰσι σφοδροὶ καὶ ἀμυντικοὶ περὶ τὴν κακίαν; Τί ἐστιν, Ἀνεθεμάτισαν; Ἀντὶ τοῦ, Ἔξω εἶναι τῆς εἰς Θεὸν πίστεως εἶπον, εἰ μὴ τὸ δόξαν κατὰ Παύλου ποιήσαιεν. Ἄρα διαπαντός εἰσιν ἀνατεθεματισμένοι ἐκεῖνοι· οὐ γὰρ ἀπέκτειναν τὸν Παῦλον. Καὶ τεσσαράκοντα ὁμοῦ συνέρχονται. Τοιοῦτον γὰρ τὸ ἔθνος, ὅταν μὲν ἐπὶ ἀγαθῷ δέῃ συμφωνῆσαι, οὐδὲ δύο συντρέχουσιν· ὅταν δὲ ἐπὶ κακῷ, δῆμος ὁλόκληρος. Καὶ λαμβάνουσι κοινωνοὺς καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας· διὸ καὶ τοῦτο δηλῶν ἐπήγαγεν· Οἵτινες προσελθόντες τοῖς ἀρχιερεῦσι καὶ τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις εἶπον· Ἀναθέματι ἀνεθεματίσαμεν ἑαυτοὺς μηδενὸς γεύσασθαι, ἕως οὗ ἀποκτείνωμεν τὸν Παῦλον. Νῦν οὖν ὑμεῖς ἐμφανίσατε ἑαυτοὺς τῷ χιλιάρχῳ ἐν τῷ συνεδρίῳ, ὅπως αὐτὸν καταγάγῃ πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ὡς μέλλοντας διαγινώσκειν ἀκριβέστερον τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ· ἡμεῖς δὲ, πρὸ τοῦ ἐγγίσαι αὐτὸν, ἕτοιμοί ἐσμεν τοῦ ἀνελεῖν αὐτόν. Ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀδελφῆς Παύλου τὸ ἔνεδρον, παραγενόμενος καὶ εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὴν παρεμβολὴν, ἀπήγγειλε τῷ Παύλῳ. Προσκαλεσάμενος δὲ ὁ Παῦλος ἕνα τῶν ἑκατοντάρχων, ἔφη· Τὸν νεανίαν τοῦτον ἀπάγαγε πρὸς τὸν χιλίαρχον· ἔχει γάρ τι ἀπαγγεῖλαι αὐτῷ. Ὁ μὲν οὖν παραλαβὼν αὐτὸν, ἤγαγε πρὸς τὸν χιλίαρχον. Πάλιν δι' ἀνθρωπίνης σώζεται προμηθείας. Καὶ ὅρα· ὁ Παῦλος οὐδένα ἀφίησι μαθεῖν, οὐδὲ τὸν ἑκατόνταρχον, ὥστε μὴ τὸ πρᾶγμα γενέσθαι διάδηλον. Καὶ ἐλθὼν ὁ ἑκατόνταρχος, ἀνήγγειλε τῷ χιλιάρχῳ, λέγων· Ὁ δέσμιος Παῦλος προσκαλεσάμενός με, ἠρώτησε τοῦτον τὸν νεανίαν ἀγαγεῖν πρὸς σὲ, ἔχοντά τι λαλῆσαί σοι. Ἐπιλαβόμενος δὲ τῆς χειρὸς αὐτοῦ ὁ χιλίαρχος καὶ ἀναχωρήσας κατ' ἰδίαν, ἐπυνθάνετο· Τί ἐστιν, ὃ ἔχεις ἀπαγγεῖλαί μοι; Εἶπε δὲ, ὅτι Ἰουδαῖοι συνέθεντο τοῦ ἐρωτῆσαί σε, ὅπως αὔριον τὸν Παῦλον καταγάγῃς εἰς τὸ συνέδριον ὡς μελλόντων τι ἀκριβέστερον πυνθάνεσθαι παρ' αὐτοῦ. Σὺ οὖν μὴ πεισθῇς αὐτοῖς· ἐνεδρεύουσι γὰρ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἄνδρες πλείους τεσσαρά 60.340 κοντα, οἵτινες ἀνεθεμάτισαν ἑαυτοὺς μήτε φαγεῖν μήτε πιεῖν, ἕως οὗ ἀνέλωσι τὸν Παῦλον· καὶ νῦν ἕτοιμοί εἰσι προσδεχόμενοι τὴν παρὰ σοῦ ἐπαγγελίαν. Ὁ μὲν οὖν χιλίαρχος ἀπέλυσε τὸν νεανίαν, παραγγείλας μηδενὶ ἐκλαλῆσαι, ὅτι ἐνεφάνισας ταῦτα πρός με. βʹ. Καλῶς ὁ χιλίαρχος κελεύει κρύψαι, ὥστε μὴ γενέσθαι δῆλον. Καὶ τότε λέγει τοῖς ἑκατοντάρχοις, ὅτε καὶ γενέσθαι ἐχρῆν· καὶ πέμπεται λοιπὸν ἐν Καισαρείᾳ, ἵνα κἀκεῖ διαλεχθῇ ἐπὶ μείζονος θεάτρου καὶ λαμπροτέρου τοῦ ἀκροατηρίου· ἵνα μὴ ἔχωσι λέγειν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, ὅτι εἰ εἴδομεν Παῦλον, ἐπιστεύσαμεν ἂν, εἰ ἠκούσαμεν αὐτοῦ διδάσκοντος. Καὶ αὕτη οὖν αὐτοῖς ἐντεῦθεν ἡ ἀπολογία ἐκκόπτεται. Καὶ ἐπιστὰς, φησὶν, ὁ Κύριος εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Θάρσει· ὡς γὰρ διεμαρτύρω τὰ περὶ ἐμοῦ εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ, οὕτω σε δεῖ καὶ εἰς Ῥώμην μαρτυρῆσαι. Ὅρα, καὶ μετὰ τὸ φανῆναι, πᾶλιν ἀφίησιν αὐτὸν ἀνθρωπίνως σωθῆναι. Καὶ ἄξιον ἐκπλαγῆναι τὸν Παῦλον, πῶς οὐκ ἐθορυβήθη, οὐδὲ εἶπε· Τί δὴ τοῦτό ἐστιν; ἆρα μὴ ἠπάτημαι παρὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ; Ἀλλ' οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον ἐνενόησεν, οὐδὲ ἔπαθεν, ἀλλὰ μόνον ἐπίστευσεν· οὐ μὴν ἐπειδὴ ἐπίστευσεν, ὕπνωσεν, ἀλλὰ τὰ ἐνόντα ἐξ ἀνθρωπίνης σοφίας συνιδεῖν οὐ