John Chrysostom, On the Prophet Elijah

In Eliam prophetam

On the Prophet Elijah, a Discourse.

56.583 1. Formerly the people of the Jews prided themselves on the possession of the prophets, and were a prophetic field; but now even this very boast has been taken from them by the Church. For behold, with us are even the bodies of the prophets. For prophetic husbandmen were not fitting for a fruitless people; it was not right for those who crucified the one prophesied by them to keep the prophets, in return for the dead whom he raised among them, in return for the blind whose sight he restored among them, in return for the hungry whom he fed among them, in return for the violence which, because of them, God the Lord of all brought upon the blessed Elijah, compelling the prophet to reverse the sentence against them. For the teacher who went before leads me to Elijah. The all-blessed Elijah, seeing the people of the Jews waxing wanton against the loving-kindness of God, and God continually enduring their fighting against Him, and them always being trained by long-suffering toward indifference, he devises something of this sort against the goodness of God towards them; he passes sentence against them.

Then, knowing that God is moved by the zeal of the righteous, wishing to punish the Jews, and fearing that the divine goodness would be immediately appeased by a few tears, he decrees a punishment against them, and binds the punishment with an oath, so that God, being moved by the oath, might not reverse the sentence against them. God, he says, is good to them, and is appeased by their small tears, but these things train them in idolatry. As the Lord lives, he says, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years. Then, as if God were answering him: What then, Elijah, if I am entreated by them through repentance, if I see them offering tears, if they repent of their offenses, shall I not immediately give rain? No, as the Lord lives, except through my mouth. No, as the Lord lives. They, he says, are devoted to idols, but I swear by your divinity. Show my oath against you to be powerful, so that through this they might learn the weakness of idols. No, as the Lord lives, there shall not be, he says, dew or rain these years, except by the word of my mouth. Not when it seems good to you, he says, will you release the punishment (for it always seems good to you to show loving-kindness), but when I intercede for them, when I have judged, when they have shown sufficient repentance of soul. God respected the prophetic sentence, he honored the oath made to him.

Therefore the Lord of all was constrained, both respecting the prophet and pitying the people being punished by famine. What then does he do? He punishes the prophet along with the people, so that he too, being afflicted by the punishment of famine, might devise something merciful concerning the sworn sentence; and while he punishes the prophet with the people, he lightens the punishment for the prophet, not taking even this path of loving-kindness without wisdom. For he feeds the prophet by means of birds that hate their young; for the raven is a parent that hates its young, not feeding what it bears. The prophet David, at any rate, hinting at this, said: And to the young of the ravens that call upon him. For since the young of ravens, or rather all fledglings, are too weak to gather their own food, and they have parents to raise them, but the young of ravens are deprived of this, yet the race of ravens continues, though not nourished by its parents, David, showing the loving-kindness of God, ascribes their nourishment to God. For gaping into the air of the

In Eliam prophetam

Εἰς τὸν προφήτην Ἠλίαν, Λόγος.

56.583 αʹ. Πρότερον μὲν τῶν Ἰουδαίων ὁ δῆμος τῇ τῶν προφητῶν ἐκαλλωπίζετο

κτήσει, καὶ προφητικὸν ὑπῆρχε γεώργιον· νῦν δὲ καὶ ταύτην αὐτὴν παρὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἀφῄρηται τὴν καύχησιν. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ τῶν προφητῶν παρ' ἡμῖν καὶ τὰ σώματα. Οὐ γὰρ ἔπρεπον ἀκάρπῳ λαῷ προφητικοὶ γεωργοί· οὐχ ἥρμοσε παρακατέχειν προφήτας τοῖς τὸν δι' αὐτῶν προφητευθέντα σταυρώσασιν, ἀντὶ νεκρῶν οὓς παρ' ἐκείνοις ἀνέστησεν, ἀντὶ τυφλῶν οὓς παρ' αὐτοῖς ὠμμάτωσεν, ἀντὶ πεινώντων οὓς παρ' ἐκείνοις διέθρεψεν, ἀντὶ τῆς βίας, ἣν δι' αὐτοὺς ὁ τῶν ὅλων ∆εσπότης Θεὸς τῷ μακαρίῳ προσήγαγεν Ἠλίᾳ, λῦσαι τὴν κατ' αὐτῶν ἀπόφασιν τὸν προφήτην βιαζόμενος. Ἄγει γάρ με πρὸς Ἠλίαν ὁ προλαβὼν παιδευτής. Ὁμακάριος Ἠλίας ἰδὼν τὸν τῶν Ἰουδαίων λαὸν τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ καταστρηνιῶντα φιλανθρωπίας, καὶ τὸν μὲν Θεὸν τῆς ἐκείνων θεομαχίας ἀνεχόμενον διηνεκῶς, ἐκείνους δὲ τῇ μακροθυμίᾳ πρὸς ῥᾳθυμίαν παιδοτριβουμένους ἀεὶ, ἐπινοεῖ τι τοιοῦτον κατὰ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ περὶ αὐτοὺς ἀγαθότητος· ἀποφαίνεται κατ' αὐτῶν.

Εἶτα εἰδὼς ὅτι τὸν τῶν δικαίων ζῆλον δυσωπεῖται Θεὸς, βουλόμενος τοὺς Ἰουδαίους κολάσαι, καὶ φοβούμενος τὴν θείαν χρηστότητα μικροῖς δάκρυσιν εὐθὺς θεραπευομένην, ἀποφαίνεται κατ' αὐτῶν τιμωρίαν, καὶ ὅρκῳ τὴν τιμωρίαν δεσμεῖ, ἵνα τὸν ὅρκον Θεὸς δυσωπούμενος, μὴ λύσῃ τὴν κατ' ἐκείνων ἀπόφασιν. Ἀγαθὸς, φησὶ, περὶ αὐτοὺς ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ μικροῖς παρ' αὐτῶν θεραπεύεται δάκρυσι, ταῦτα δὲ τούτους εἰς εἰδωλολατρείαν παιδοτριβεῖ. Ζῇ Κύριος, φησὶν, οὐκ ἔσται τὰ ἔτη ταῦτα δρόσος καὶ ὑετός. Εἶτα, ὡς τοῦ Θεοῦ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀντιφθεγγομένου· Τί οὖν, ἂν κολακευθῶ παρ' ἐκείνων διὰ μετανοίας, Ἠλία, ἂν δάκρυα προσφέροντας ἐκείνους θεάσωμαι, ἂν ἐπὶ τὰς πλημμελείας μετανοοῦντας, εὐθὺς μὴ δώσω ὑετόν; Οὒ, ζῇ Κύριος, εἰ μὴ διὰ στόματός μου. Οὒ, ζῇ Κύριος. Ἐκεῖνοι, φησὶν, εἰδώλοις προσήλωνται, ἐγὼ δὲ κατὰ τῆς σῆς ὀμνύω θεότητος. ∆εῖξόν μου τὸν ὅρκον τὸν κατὰ σοῦ δυνατὸν, ἵνα καὶ διὰ τούτου μάθωσι τὴν τῶν εἰδώλων ἀσθένειαν. Οὒ, ζῇ Κύριος, οὐκ ἔσται, φησὶ, τὰ ἔτη ταῦτα δρόσος καὶ ὑετὸς, εἰ μὴ διὰ λόγου στόματός μου. Οὐχ, ὅταν, φησὶ, σοὶ δόξῃ, λύσεις τὴν τιμωρίαν (σοὶ γὰρ ἀεὶ δοκεῖ τὸ φιλανθρωπεύεσθαι), ἀλλ' ὅταν περὶ αὐτῶν ἱκετεύσω, ὅταν ἐμοῦ κρίναντος, ὅταν ἀρκοῦσαν ἐπιδείξωνται τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς μεταμέλειαν. Ἠδέσθη τὴν προφητικὴν ἀπόφασιν ὁ Θεὸς, ἐτίμησεν ὅρκον τὸν εἰς αὐτόν.

Συνείχετο τοίνυν ὁ τῶν ὅλων ∆εσπότης, καὶ τὸν προφήτην αἰδούμενος, καὶ τὸν λαὸν τῷ λιμῷ κολαζόμενον ἐλεῶν. Τί οὖν ποιεῖ; Συγκολάζει τῷ λαῷ τὸν προφήτην, ἵνα τῇ τοῦ λιμοῦ καὶ αὐτὸς συνεχόμενος τιμωρίᾳ βουλεύσηταί τι περὶ τῆς ἀποφάσεως τῆς ἐνόρκου φιλάνθρωπον· καὶ συγκολάζει μὲν τῷ λαῷ τὸν προφήτην, ἐπικουφίζει δὲ τῷ προφήτῃ τὴν τιμωρίαν, οὐδὲ αὐτὴν τὴν τῆς φιλανθρωπίας ὁδὸν ἄνευ τῆς σοφίας ποιούμενος. Τρέφει γὰρ τὸν προφήτην διὰ πετεινῶν μισοτέκνων· μισότεκνος γὰρ ὁ κόραξ γονεὺς, καὶ ἃ τίκτει μὴ τρέφων. Τοῦτο γοῦν ὁ προφήτης ∆αυῒδ αἰνιττόμενος ἔλεγε· Καὶ τοῖς νεοσσοῖς τῶν κοράκων τοῖς ἐπικαλουμένοις αὐτόν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οἱ νεοσσοὶ τῶν κοράκων, μᾶλλον δὲ πάντες νεοσσοὶ πρὸς τὴν τῆς τροφῆς τῆς οἰκείας συλλογὴν ἀσθενοῦσιν, ἔχουσι δὲ τοὺς γονέας παιδοτροφοῦντας, ἀπεστέρηνται δὲ τούτου οἱ νεοσσοὶ τῶν κοράκων, ὅμως δὲ διαμένει τῶν κοράκων τὸ γένος παρὰ τῶν γονέων μὴ διατρεφόμενον, δεικνὺς τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν ὁ ∆αυῒδ, ἀνατίθησι τὴν ἐκείνων διατροφὴν τῷ Θεῷ. Κεχηνότες γὰρ εἰς ἀέρα τῶν