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human nature being consumed by the famine, first he led him to the brook; then having dried this up, he led him to a widow woman, having nothing except a little food sufficient for one day. "For as the Lord your God lives," she said, "I have no cake, but only a handful of flour in the jar, and a little oil in the cruse: and behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for me and my children, that we may eat it, and die." Only, she says, I have the last food, after which I await the stroke of famine. But I admire the meekness of the woman's response. For she was not angry, having been asked for food in such great misfortunes, but only showed her extreme poverty. But that great and just man promised the springs of flour and oil. But he ordered her to first make and bring the bread to him. But she again was not vexed, though wasting away with the cares of poverty, and widowhood, and child-rearing; but faithfully receiving the promise, she brought the food, and this though she did not know the man; for she was a foreigner; not having received proof of prophetic power. And I think that in her the Church of the Gentiles was prefigured. For she faithfully received the one persecuted by the Israelites, just as the Church also received the apostles driven out by these very people. 80.728 QUEST. 54. For what reason did God permit the widow's son to die? The prophet, enjoying abundant food, forgot the misfortune of other people. For this reason God brought against him the widow's wails. And he himself recognized the reason; "For woe is me," he says, "O Lord, the witness of the widow with whom I am dwelling, you have brought evil by killing her son." And the words of the widow are admirable; "For," she says, "you have come in to me to call my sins to remembrance, and to slay my son." By your light, she says, my hidden transgressions were laid bare; and she did not say, being a foreigner, You have become an evil omen for me, your presence has been a cause of evils for me; but rather she attributed what happened to her own sins. The teaching of the prophet benefited her so much. Therefore, the child's death also happened because of her; so that seeing the resurrection which happened contrary to nature, she might receive a firm piety. And the prophet prayed to the Lord concerning the dead child; and after the prayer, having breathed three times on the youth, he brought him back to life. The number indicates the adored Trinity; and the in-breathing, the creation of the soul that happened in the beginning. But the prophet, by breathing in, did not create another soul, but brought back the one separated from the body. But the God who loves mankind and is compassionate, seeing the race of men perishing, and the prophet not wanting to ask for mercy, and pitying them, and being eager to give mercy, but honoring him, and not enduring to release the pronounced sentence against his will, the master himself comes as an ambassador to the servant, the creator to the clay, and persuades the tongue that had bound to release the birth-pangs of the clouds; "For it came to pass," he says, "after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying: Go and show yourself to Ahab, and I will give rain upon the face of the earth." QUEST. 55. How is this to be understood: "Is there a nation or kingdom where my Lord has not sent to seek you, and they said, He is not here?" Since the prophet had said to Ahab, "As the Lord my God lives, there shall not be in these years rain or dew, except by the word of my mouth," Ahab, having experienced the truth of the words, of necessity sought the one who had imprisoned the clouds with his tongue, in order to do one of two things, either persuade him to open them, or destroy him if he was not persuaded. But Obadiah was exceedingly pious; 80.729 and not only his words teach this, but also his deeds. For first, seeing the prophets being killed by Jezebel, he not only hid them, but also fed them, and not

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αὐτῷ δαπανωμένην τῷ λιμῷ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν φύσιν, πρῶτον μὲν εἰς τὸν χειμάῤῥουν ἐπήγαγεν· εἶτα τοῦτον ξηράνας, πρὸς τὴν χήραν ἀπήγαγε γυναῖκα, οὐδὲν ἔχουσαν πλὴν ὀλίγης τροφῆς εἰς μίαν ἀπο χρώσης ἡμέραν. "Ζῇ γὰρ, ἔφη, Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου, εἰ ἔστι μοι ἐγκρυφίας, ἀλλ' ἢ ὅσον δρὰξ ἀλεύρου ἐν τῇ ὑδρίᾳ, καὶ ὀλίγον ἔλαιον ἐν τῷ καμψάκῃ, καὶ ἰδοὺ συλλέξω δύο ξυλάρια, καὶ εἰσελεύσομαι, καὶ ποιήσω αὐτὸ ἐμαυτῇ καὶ τοῖς τέκνοις μου, καὶ φαγόμεθα καὶ ἀποθανούμεθα." Μόνην, φησὶν, ἔχω τὴν τελευταίαν τροφὴν, μεθ' ἣν τὴν τοῦ λιμοῦ προσ μένω πληγήν. Ἐγὼ δὲ ἄγαμαι τῆς γυναικὸς τὸ πρᾶον τῆς ἀποκρίσεως. Οὐ γὰρ ἐδυσχέρανεν, ὡς ἐν τηλικαύταις συμφοραῖς αἰτηθεῖσα τροφὴν, ἀλλὰ μό νην ἔδειξε τὴν ἐσχάτην πενίαν. Ἀλλ' ὁ μέγας ἐκεῖ νος καὶ δίκαιος ἀνὴρ ὑπέσχετο μὲν τὰς τοῦ ἀλεύ ρου καὶ ἐλαίου πηγάς. Προσέταξε δὲ αὐτῷ πρώτῳ ποιῆσαι καὶ κομίσαι τὸν ἄρτον. Ἡ δὲ πάλιν οὐκ ἐδυσ φόρησεν, ὡς πενίας, καὶ χηρείας, καὶ παιδοτροφίας τηκομένη φροντίσιν· ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν δεξαμένη πιστῶς, προσήνεγκε τὴν τροφὴν, καὶ ταῦτα οὐκ εἰ δυῖα τὸν ἄνθρωπον· ἀλλόφυλος γὰρ ἦν· προφητικῆς δυνάμεως πεῖραν οὐ δεδεγμένη. Οἶμαι δὲ ἐν ταύτῃ προτυπωθῆναι τὴν ἐξ ἐθνῶν Ἐκκλησίαν. Τὸν γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν διωκόμενον πιστῶς ὑπεδέξατο, καθάπερ καὶ ἐκκλησία τοὺς ἀποστόλους ὑπ' αὐτῶν τούτων ἐξελαθέντας. 80.728 ΕΡΩΤ. Ν∆ʹ. Τίνος χάριν τὸν τῆς χήρας τελευτῆσαι υἱὸν συν εχώρησεν ὁ Θεός; Ἀφθόνως ὁ προφήτης ἀπολαύων τροφῆς τῆς τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων ἐπελάθετο συμφορᾶς. Οὗ δὴ χάριν καὶ τῆς χήρας αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς ἐπεστράτευσεν οἰμω γάς. Ἐπέγνω δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν αἰτίαν· "Οἴμοι γὰρ, φησὶ, Κύριε, ὁ μάρτυς τῆς χήρας μεθ' ἧς ἐγὼ οἰκῶ μετ' αὐτῆς, σὺ ἐκάκωσας τοῦ θανατῶσαι τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς." Ἀξιάγαστα δὲ τῆς χήρας τὰ ῥήματα· "Εἰσῆλθες γὰρ, φησὶ, πρός με, τοῦ ἀναμνῆσαι τὰς ἁμαρτίας μου, καὶ θανατῶσαι τὸν υἱόν μου." Τῷ σῷ φωτὶ, φησὶν, ἐγυμνώθη τὰ κεκρυμμένα μου πλημ μελήματα· καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν, οἷα δὴ ἀλλόφυλος οὖσα, Οἰωνός μοι γέγονας πονηρὸς, πρόξενος κακῶν μοι ἡ σὴ γεγένηται παρουσία· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ταῖς οἰκείαις ἁμαρτίαις τὸ συμβὰν ἀνατέθεικε. Τοσοῦτον ὤνησεν αὐτὴν ἡ τοῦ προφήτου διδασκαλία. Τοιγάρτοι καὶ δι' αὐτὴν ἡ τοῦ παιδὸς γέγονε τελευτή· ἵνα θεασα μένη τὴν παρὰ φύσιν γεγενημένην ἀνάστασιν, βε βαίαν δέξηται τὴν εὐσέβειαν. Ὁ δὲ προφήτης προσ ηύξατο πρὸς Κύριον περὶ τοῦ τεθνηκότος παιδα ρίου· μετὰ τὴν προσευχὴν δὲ τρὶς ἐμφυσήσας τῷ μειρακίῳ εἰς ζωὴν ἐπανήγαγε. ∆ηλοῖ δὲ ὁ μὲν ἀριθ μὸς τὴν προσκυνουμένην Τριάδα· τὸ δὲ ἐμ φύσημα, τὴν ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς ψυχῆς γεγενημέ νην δημιουργίαν. Ἀλλ' ὁ προφήτης ἐμφυσήσας οὐκ ἄλλην ψυχὴν ἐδημιούργησεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν χωρισθεῖσαν τοῦ σώματος ἐπανήγαγεν. Ὁ δὲ φι λάνθρωπος καὶ φιλοικτείρμων Θεὸς, τῶν ἀνθρώ πων τὸ γένος ὁρῶν διολλύμενον, καὶ τὸν προφήτην αἰτῆσαι τὸν ἔλεον μὴ βουλόμενον, καὶ τοὺς μὲν οἰ κτείρων, καὶ δοῦναι τὸν ἔλεον ἐπειγόμενος, τὸν δὲ γεραίρων, καὶ παρὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ γνώμην λῦσαι τὴν ἐξενεχθεῖσαν οὐκ ἀνεχόμενος ψῆφον, αὐτὸς ἔρχεται πρεσβευτὴς πρὸς τὸν οἰκέτην ὁ δεσπότης, πρὸς τὸν πηλὸν ὁ δημιουργὸς, καὶ πείθει λῦσαι τῶν νεφῶν τὰς ὠδῖνας τὴν πεδήσασαν γλῶσσαν· "Ἐγένετο γὰρ, φησὶ, μεθ' ἡμέρας πολλὰς, καὶ ῥῆμα Κυρίου ἐγένετο πρὸς Ἠλίαν ἐν τῷ ἐνιαυτῷ τῷ τρίτῳ, λέγον· Πορεύου καὶ ὄφθητι Ἀχαὰβ, καὶ δώσω ὑετὸν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς." ΕΡΩΤ. ΝΕʹ. Πῶ νοητέον· "Εἰ ἔστιν ἔθνος ἢ βασιλεία, οὗ οὐκ ἀπέσταλκεν ὁ Κύριος μου ζητεῖν σε, καὶ εἶπον, Οὐκ ἔστιν;" Ἐπειδὴ ὁ προφήτης εἰρήκει τῷ Ἀχαὰβ, "Ζῇ Κύριος ὁ Θεός μου, εἰ ἔσται τὰ ἔτη ταῦτα ὑετὸς ἢ δρόσος, εἰ μὴ διὰ λόγου στόματός μου," λαβὼν τῆς τῶν λόγων ἀληθείας τὴν πεῖραν ὁ Ἀχαὰβ, ἀναγκαίως ἐπεζήτει τὸν τῇ γλώττῃ τὰ νέφη καθείρξαντα, ἵνα δυοῖν θάτερον δράσῃ, ἢ ἀνοῖξαι πείσῃ, ἢ μὴ πειθό μενον διολέσῃ. Ὁ δὲ Ἀβδιοὺ τῶν ἄγαν ἦν εὐσεβῶν· 80.729 καὶ τοῦτο διδάσκει οὐ μόνον αὐτοῦ τὰ ῥήματα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ πράγματα. Πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ἀναιρουμένους ὑπὸ τῆς Ἰεζάβελ τοὺς προφήτας ὁρῶν, οὐ μόνον κατέκρυψεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ διέθρεψε, καὶ οὐ