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was in accordance with his teachings, through which he said: Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. -And they returned evil to me for good, and hatred for my love. Concerning these things, there is no need to speak, since the history in the Gospels contains the multitude of good deeds which he, having become man, provided for them, healing their every disease and every sickness. Set a sinner over him, and let the devil stand at his right hand. Who also tripped him up, having plundered everything he formerly seemed to possess at the right hand of his soul. When he is judged, may he go forth condemned, and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few, and let another take his office. Let his children be orphans, and his wife a widow; let his children wander and beg; let them be driven out of their homes. It is likely that all these things were also fulfilled explicitly, according to the plain letter, against the traitor after his hanging, with his children becoming orphans, and his wife being made a widow, and all the subsequent things mentioned having come to pass literally, so that the prophecy of our Savior through the psalm that these things would happen was proved true. But you will understand these things also as having been fulfilled literally for the people of the Jewish nation after the plot against Christ; For a few years after the cross had passed, the whole nation became unsettled; and some were slain, while their wives and children were enslaved. Let the creditor search out all that he has; and let strangers plunder their wealth. Let there be no one to help him, nor let there be any to pity his orphans. Let his children be for destruction; in one generation may his name be blotted out. But Symmachus has it thus, Let a tax collector seize all his possessions. And the Roman emperors were also tax collectors, demanding the imposed tribute. And these plundered the possessions of the Jews, searching everything meticulously, so as to find and appropriate even the hidden things. And when these things happened, and their enemies divided their belongings, there will be no helper for them, nor will their children be deemed worthy of mercy. Then, not forty years having passed, the people of the Jews suffered utter destruction. 23.1337 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let it be before the Lord continually, and let their memory be blotted out from the earth, because he did not remember to show mercy. The virtue of fathers has often helped even children who have transgressed, as the faith of Abraham helped the Jews, as the piety of David helped Solomon; but the wickedness of fathers increases the punishment for like children; for no occasion for mercy is found from any source. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord. And he calls their fathers those who practiced impiety in the wilderness, those in the time of the judges, those in the time of the kingdoms, those who lived in transgression after the return from Babylon. And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. And their mother, Jerusalem, in which the abomination of the murder of the Lord Christ was dared. Let it be before the Lord continually, and let their memory be blotted out from the earth, because he did not remember to show mercy. God, he says, always beholding all the lawless things dared by them, will deem them worthy of no mercy, but will deliver them to utter destruction. And from this, however, it is clear that he speaks not only concerning Judas, but concerning all the unbelieving Jews; for he has shifted the word from the singular person to the plural; for he no longer said, his, but, their. And he persecuted a poor and needy man, and one broken in heart, to put him to death; that is, one smitten through
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σύμφωνα ἦν ταῖς αὐτοῦ διδασκαλίαις, δι' ὧν ἔφασκε· Προσεύχεσθε ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐπηρεαζόντων καὶ διωκόντων ὑμᾶς. -Καὶ ἔθεντο κατ' ἐμοῦ κακὰ ἀντὶ ἀγαθῶν, καὶ μῖσος ἀντὶ τῆς ἀγαπήσεώς μου. Περὶ τούτων οὐδὲν δεῖ λέγειν, τῆς ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις ἱστορίας περιεχούσης τὸ πλῆθος τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν ὧν ἐνανθρωπήσας αὐτοῖς παρεῖχε, θεραπεύων αὐτῶν πᾶσαν νόσον καὶ πᾶσαν μαλακίαν. Κατάστησον ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἁμαρτωλὸν, καὶ διάβολος στήτω ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ. Ὁ καὶ σκελίσας αὐτὸν, πάντα ἃ πρότερον ἐδόκει κεκτῆσθαι δεξιᾷ τῆς αὐτοῦ ψυχῆς ἀποσυλήσας. Ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαι ἐξέλθοι καταδεδικασμένος, καὶ ἡ προσευχὴ αὐτοῦ γενέσθω εἰς ἁμαρτίαν. Γενηθήτωσαν αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτοῦ ὀλίγαι, καὶ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν αὐτοῦ λάβοι ἕτερος. Γενηθήτωσαν οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ ὀρφανοὶ, καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ χήρα· σαλευόμενοι μεταναστήτωσαν οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπαιτησάτωσαν· ἐκβληθήτωσαν ἐκ τῶν οἰκοπέδων αὐτῶν. Εἰκὸς καὶ ῥητῶς κατὰ ψιλὴν τὴν λέξιν ταῦτα πάντα πεπληρῶσθαι κατὰ τοῦ προδότου μετὰ τὴν ἀνάρτησιν αὐτοῦ, ἅμα μὲν ὀρφανῶν γενομένων αὐτοῦ τῶν παίδων, ἅμα δὲ καὶ τῆς γυναικὸς ἐν χηρείᾳ καταστάσης, καὶ τῶν ἑξῆς καταλεχθέντων ἁπάντων πρὸς λέξιν τέλος εἰληφότων, ὡς ἀληθεῦσαι τὴν πρόῤῥησιν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν διὰ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ ταῦτα ἔσεσθαι. Νοήσεις δὲ ταῦτα καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ λαοῦ τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους κατὰ λέξιν πεπληρωμένα μετὰ τὴν εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν ἐπιβουλήν· Ὀλίγων γὰρ μετὰ τὸν σταυρὸν διελθόντων ἐτῶν, ἄστατον ἅπαν τὸ ἔθνος ἐγένετο· καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀνῃρέθησαν, αἱ δὲ τούτων γυναῖκες μετὰ τῶν παίδων ἐξηνδραποδίσθησαν. Ἐξερευνησάτω δανειστὴς πάντα ὅσα ὑπάρχει αὐτῷ· καὶ διαρπασάτωσαν ἀλλότριοι τὸν πλοῦτον αὐτῶν. Μὴ ὑπαρξάτω αὐτῷ ἀντιλήπτωρ, μηδὲ γενηθήτω οἰκτίρμων τοῖς ὀρφανοῖς αὐτοῦ. Γενηθήτω τὰ τέκνα αὐτοῦ εἰς ἐξολόθρευσιν, ἐν γενεᾷ μιᾷ ἐξαλειφθείη τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ. Ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος οὕτω, Συγκρούσαι πράκτωρ πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτῷ. Πράκτορες δὲ καὶ οἱ Ῥωμαίων βασιλεῖς τὸν ἐπικείμενον εἰσπραττόμενοι φόρον. Οὗτοι δὲ τὰ Ἰουδαίων διήρπασαν, ἅπαντα ἀκριβῶς ἐρευνήσαντες, ὡς καὶ τὰ κεκρυμμένα εὑρεῖν τε καὶ σφετερίσαι. Τούτων δὲ γενομένων, καὶ τῶν πολεμίων τὰ τούτοις προσήκοντα διανεμομένων, οὐδεὶς αὐτοῖς ἐπίκουρος ἔσται, οὐδὲ φειδοῦς αὐτῶν οἱ παῖδες ἀξιωθήσονται. Εἶτα μʹ οὐ διελθόντων ἐτῶν, πανολεθρίαν ὑπέμεινεν ὁ Ἰουδαίων λαός. 23.1337 Ἀναμνησθείη ἡ ἀνομία τῶν πατέρων αὐτοῦ ἔναντι Κυρίου, καὶ ἡ ἁμαρτία τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ μὴ ἐξαλειφθείη. Γενηθήτω ἐναντίον Κυρίου διαπαντὸς, καὶ ἐξολοθρευθείη ἐκ γῆς τὸ μνημόσυνον αὐτῶν, ἀνθ' ὧν οὐκ ἐμνήσθη ποιῆσαι ἔλεος. Πατέρων ἀρετὴ πολλάκις καὶ πλημμελήσαντας ὤνησε παῖδας, ὡς τοὺς Ἰουδαίους τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἡ πίστις, ὡς τὸν Σολομῶντα τοῦ ∆αυῒδ ἡ εὐσέβεια· πονηρία δὲ πατέρων τοῖς ὁμοίοις παισὶν ἐπαύξει τὴν τιμωρίαν· οὐδεμία γὰρ οὐδαμόθεν εὑρίσκεται φειδοῦς ἀφορμή. Ἀναμνησθείη ἡ ἀνομία τῶν πατέρων αὐτοῦ ἔναντι Κυρίου. Πατέρας δὲ αὐτῶν καλεῖ τοὺς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τῇ δυσσεβείᾳ χρησαμένους, τοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν κριτῶν, τοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν βασιλειῶν, τοὺς μετὰ τὴν ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος ἐπάνοδον παρανομίᾳ συζήσαντας. Καὶ ἡ ἁμαρτία τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ μὴ ἐξαλειφθείη. Μητέρα δὲ τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἐν ᾗ τῆς κατὰ τοῦ ∆εσπότου Χριστοῦ μιαιφονίας ἐτολμήθη τὸ μῦσος. Γενηθήτω ἐναντίον Κυρίου διαπαντὸς, καὶ ἐξολοθρευθείη ἐκ γῆς τὸ μνημόσυνον αὐτῶν, ἀνθ' ὧν οὐκ ἐμνήσθη ποιῆσαι ἔλεος. Πάντα, φησὶ, τὰ ὑπ' αὐτῶν τολμηθέντα παράνομα ἀεὶ θεώμενος ὁ Θεὸς, οὐδεμιᾶς αὐτοὺς ἀξιώσει φειδοῦς, ἀλλὰ πανολεθρίᾳ παραδώσει. Καὶ ἐντεῦθεν μέντοι δῆλον, ὡς οὐ περὶ μόνου τοῦ Ἰούδα, ἀλλὰ περὶ πάντων τῶν ἠπιστηκότων Ἰουδαίων λέγει· ἀπὸ γὰρ ἑνικοῦ προσώπου ἐπὶ τὸ πληθυντικὸν τὸν λόγον μετήνεγκεν· οὐκέτι γὰρ εἶπεν, αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ', αὐτῶν. Καὶ κατεδίωξεν ἄνθρωπον πένητα καὶ πτωχὸν, καὶ κατανενυγμένον τῇ καρδίᾳ τοῦ θανατῶσαι· τουτέστι πεπληγμένον δι'