1

De libello repudii

ON THE TEXT: A wife is bound by law for as long as her husband lives; but if he should fall asleep, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

But she is more blessed if she remains as she is. 51.217 1. Previously the blessed Paul legislated for us concerning marriage, and of the rights of marriage, writing and saying thus to the Corinthians: Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman; but because of fornication let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband, For this reason we also have spent the entire discourse on these words. Therefore it is necessary today also to discourse to you again concerning the same subject, since today also the same Paul discourses concerning the same things. For you have heard him crying out and saying: A wife is bound by law for as long as her husband lives; but if her husband should fall asleep, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. But she is more blessed if she remains as she is, according to my judgment; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God. Let us therefore follow him today also, and let us discourse concerning this subject; for by following Paul, through him we shall certainly follow Christ, since he too, not following himself but Him, wrote all things. For a well-ordered marriage is not a trivial matter, just as it becomes the occasion of countless misfortunes for those who do not use it as they ought. For just as a wife is a helper, so she often also becomes a plotter. Just as marriage is a harbor, so also it is a shipwreck, not because of its own nature, but because of the disposition of those who use it badly. For he who fulfills it according to its proper laws, finds his home and his own wife to be a certain conso 51.218 lation and relief from the evils of the marketplace and all the evils everywhere; but he who handles the matter simply and at random, even if he enjoys much calm in the marketplace, upon entering his house will see reefs and ledges. Since, therefore, our danger is not about trivial matters, it is necessary to pay attention with exactness to what is said, and for the one about to take a wife to do this according to the laws of Paul, or rather according to the laws of Christ. I know, then, that to many what is being said seems new and strange; yet not for this reason will I be silent, but first having read the law to you, I will then try to resolve the apparent contradiction. What then is the law which Paul laid down for us? A wife, he says, is bound by law. Therefore she must not be separated while her husband is living, nor bring in another bridegroom, nor engage in a second marriage. And see how with exactness he has used even the very nature of the words. For he did not say, "Let her dwell with her husband for as long as he lives"; but what? "A wife is bound by law for as long as her husband lives;" so that even if he should give a bill of divorce, and she should leave the house, even if she should go to another, she is bound by the law, and such a one is an adulteress. If, therefore, the husband wishes to cast out his wife, or the wife to leave her husband, let her be reminded of this saying, and let her consider Paul to be present and pursuing her, crying out and saying, "A wife is bound by law." For just as runaway slaves, even if they leave their master's house, have the chain dragging behind them; so also wives, even if they leave their husbands, have the law condemning them instead of 51.219

1

De libello repudii

ΕΙΣ ΤΟ Γυνὴ δέδεται νόμῳ, ἐφ' ὅσον χρόνον ζῇ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς· ἐὰν δὲ κοιμηθῇ, ἐλευθέρα ἐστὶν ᾧ θέλει γαμηθῆναι, μόνον ἐν Κυρίῳ.

Μακαριωτέρα δέ ἐστιν, ἐὰν οὕτω μείνῃ. 51.217 αʹ. Περὶ γάμου πρώην ἡμῖν ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος ἐνομοθέτει, καὶ τῶν τοῦ γάμου δικαιωμάτων, Κορινθίοις οὕτω γράφων καὶ λέγων· Περὶ δὲ ὧν ἐγράψατέ μοι, καλὸν ἀνθρώπῳ γυναικὸς μὴ ἅπτεσθαι· διὰ δὲ τὰς πορνείας ἕκαστος τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γυναῖκα ἐχέτω, καὶ ἑκάστη τὸν ἴδιον ἄνδρα ἐχέτω, ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡμεῖς τὴν διάλεξιν ἅπασαν εἰς ταῦτα τὰ ῥήματα ἀναλώσαμεν. Οὐκοῦν ἀνάγκη καὶ σήμερον περὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ὑμῖν ὑποθέσεως διαλεχθῆναι πάλιν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ σήμερον περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ὁ αὐτὸς διαλέγεται Παῦλος. Καὶ γὰρ ἠκούσατε αὐτοῦ βοῶντος καὶ λέγοντος· Γυνὴ δέδεται νόμῳ, ἐφ' ὅσον χρόνον ζῇ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς· ἐὰν δὲ κοιμηθῇ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς, ἐλευθέρα ἐστὶν ᾧ θέλει γαμηθῆναι, μόνον ἐν Κυρίῳ. Μακαριωτέρα δέ ἐστιν, ἐὰν οὕτω μείνῃ κατὰ τὴν ἐμὴν γνώμην· δοκῶ δὲ κἀγὼ Πνεῦμα Θεοῦ ἔχειν Ἑψώμεθα τοίνυν αὐτῷ καὶ σήμερον, καὶ περὶ ταύτης διαλεξώμεθα τῆς ὑποθέσεως· ἀκολουθοῦντες γὰρ Παύλῳ, δι' αὐτοῦ πάντως τῷ Χριστῷ ἑψόμεθα, ἐπειδὴ καὶ οὗτος οὐχ ἑαυτῷ, ἀλλ' ἐκείνῳ ἀκολουθῶν, πάντα ἔγραφε. Καὶ γὰρ οὐ τὸ τυχὸν πρᾶγμα γάμος εὖ διακείμενος, ὥσπερ οὖν μυρίων συμφορῶν ὑπόθεσις γίνεται τοῖς οὐκ εἰς δέον αὐτῷ χρωμένοις. Ὥσπερ γὰρ βοηθός ἐστιν ἡ γυνὴ, οὕτω πολλάκις καὶ ἐπίβουλος γίνεται. Ὥσπερ οὖν λιμήν ἐστιν ὁ γάμος, οὕτω καὶ ναυάγιον, οὐ παρὰ τὴν οἰκείαν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τὴν γνώμην τῶν κακῶς αὐτῷ χρησαμένων. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ κατὰ τοὺς προσήκοντας αὐτὸν ἐπιτελῶν, νόμους, τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγορᾶς καὶ πάντων τῶν πανταχοῦ κακῶν παραμυ 51.218 θίαν τινὰ καὶ ἀπαλλαγὴν εὑρίσκει τὴν οἰκίαν, καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γυναῖκα· ὁ δὲ ἁπλῶς καὶ ὡς ἔτυχε τὸ πρᾶγμα μεταχειριζόμενος, κἂν πολλῆς ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἀπολαύσῃ γαλήνης, σκοπέλους καὶ σπιλάδας εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν ὄψεται. Ἐπεὶ οὖν οὐ περὶ τῶν τυχόντων ἡμῖν ὁ κίνδυνος, ἀναγκαῖον μετὰ ἀκριβείας τοῖς λεγομένοις προσέχειν, καὶ τὸν μέλλοντα γυναῖκα ἄγεσθαι, μετὰ τῶν τοῦ Παύλου νόμων, μᾶλλον δὲ μετὰ τῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ νόμων τοῦτο ποιεῖν. Οἶδα μὲν οὖν ὅτι πολλοῖς εἶναι δοκεῖ καινὸν καὶ παράδοξον τὸ λεγόμενον· πλὴν οὐ διὰ τοῦτο σιγήσομαι, ἀλλὰ πρῶτον τὸν νόμον ὑμῖν ἀναγνοὺς, οὕτω τὴν δοκοῦσαν ἀντινομίαν λῦσαι πειράσομαι. Τίς οὖν ἐστιν ὁ νόμος, ὃν ὁ Παῦλος ἡμῖν ἔθηκε; Γυνὴ, φησὶ, δέδεται νόμῳ. Οὐκοῦν οὐ δεῖ ἀποσχίζεσθαι ζῶντος τοῦ ἀνδρὸς, οὐδὲ ἕτερον ἐπεισάγειν νυμφίον, οὐδὲ δευτέροις ὁμιλεῖν γάμοις. Καὶ ὅρα πῶς μετὰ ἀκριβείας καὶ αὐτῇ τῶν λέξεων τῇ φύσει κέχρηται. Οὐ γὰρ εἶπε, Συνοικείτω τῷ ἀνδρὶ, ἐφ' ὅσον χρόνον ζῇ· ἀλλὰ τί; Γυνὴ δέδεται νόμῳ, ἐφ' ὅσον χρόνον ζῇ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς· ὥστε κἂν βιβλίον ἀποστασίου δῷ, καὶ τὴν οἰκίαν ἀφῇ, κἂν πρὸς ἄλλον ἀπέλθῃ, τῷ νόμῳ δέδεται, καὶ μοιχαλίς ἐστιν ἡ τοιαύτη. Ἐὰν τοίνυν ὁ ἀνὴρ ἐκβαλεῖν βούληται τὴν γυναῖκα, ἢ ἡ γυνὴ τὸν ἄνδρα ἀφεῖναι, ταύτης ἀναμιμνησκέσθω τῆς ῥήσεως, καὶ τὸν Παῦλον νομιζέτω παρεῖναι καὶ καταδιώκειν αὐτὴν βοῶντα καὶ λέγοντα, Γυνὴ δέδεται νόμῳ. Καθάπερ γὰρ οἱ δραπετεύοντες οἰκέται, κἂν τὴν οἰκίαν ἀφῶσι τὴν δεσποτικὴν, τὴν ἅλυσιν ἔχουσιν ἐπισυρομένην· οὕτω καὶ γυναῖκες, κἂν τοὺς ἄνδρας ἀφῶσι, τὸν νόμον ἔχουσι καταδικάζοντα ἀντὶ 51.219