Seeking And Finding

Μὴ δῶτε τὸ ἅγιον τοῖς κυσὶ, μηδὲ βάλητε τοὺς μαργαρίτας ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν χοίρων ... Αἰτεῖτε, καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν· ζητεῖτε, καὶ εὑρήσετε· κρούετε, καὶ ἀνοιγήσεται ὑμῖν. Ἵνα μὴ ἀγνοῶσιν οἱ μαθηταὶ, τίνες εἰσὶν κύνες, ἢ χοῖροι ἐν τοῖς ἀκροαταῖς, ἐπιμόνως ζητήσατε, φησὶν, ἐκ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἀποκαλύπτεται ὑμῖν πάντα. Ἀρχὴ μὲν γὰρ ἀρετῆς τὸ δι' εὐχῆς γνῶναι τὸ ἀγαθόν· εἶτα τὸ εἰδέναι πῶς δεῖ ὁδεῦσαι τὴν ἀρετήν· τρίτον τὸ διὰ τῶν ἔργων κρούειν ἀνοιγῆναι αὑτῷ τὴν θύραν. Τοῦτο γὰρ σημαίνει ἡ διὰ τῶν χειρῶν κροῦσις. Τρισσῶς γὰρ ἡ τῶν σωτηρίων δογμάτων ἀλήθεια λαμβάνεται, ἐπιμελεῖ εὐχῇ, καὶ τοῦ ἡγεμονικοῦ ἐν τῷ ζητεῖν τὰ θεῖα καταστάσει, καὶ περὶ τοῦ εὑρεῖν συναισθήτως τῆς τῶν κεκρυμμένων Γραφῶν ἀσφαλείας τὸ βάθος, ἀκριβεῖ πολυπραγμοσύνῃ· οὕτω γὰρ ἀνοίγεσθαί φησι τὰς Γραφάς. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Ἐπαγγελιον Source: Migne PG 17.292 a-b

Do not give what is holy to dogs, not cast your pearls before pigs... Ask it shall be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it shall be opened to you. 1 Lest the disciples be ignorant that there are some who are dogs and some who are pigs among those who hear, He says that one should seek without delay from God and all things shall be revealed. For it is the beginning of virtue to know the good by prayer, and then to know how one must travel on the way of virtue, thirdly to knock with works, by which the door is opened. For this means that the knocking is by the hands. The threefold truth of the teachings of salvation is understood as: diligence in prayer, a seeking of Divine things in a stable state of mind, and for finding a feeling of certainty for the depths of the hidden things of Scripture. This is the way He says that the Scriptures are opened. Origen, On the Gospel of St Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 7.5-6

The Speech Of Scripture

Modus autem ipse dicendi, quo sancta Scriptura contexitur, quam omnibus accessibilis, quamvis paucissimis penetrabilis! Ea quae aperta continet, quasi amicus familiaris, sine fuco ad cor loquitur indoctorum atque doctorum: ea vero quae in mysteriis occultat, nec ipsa eloquio superbo erigit, quo non audeat accedere mens tardiuscula et inerudita, quasi pauper ad divitem; sed invitat omnes humili sermone, quos non solum manifesta pascat, sed etiam secreta exerceat veritate, hoc in promptis quod in reconditis habens. Sed ne aperta fastidirentur, eadem rursus operta desiderantur, desiderata quodam modo renovantur, renovata suaviter intimantur. His salubriter et prava corriguntur, et parva nutriuntur, et magna oblectantur ingenia. Ille huic doctrinae inimicus est animus, qui vel errando eam nescit esse saluberrimam, vel odit aegrotando medicinam. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Epistola CXXXVII, Volusiano Source: Migne PL 33.524

The style of speaking in which Sacred Scripture is composed, how accessible it is to all, how approachable to little ones. That which it contains it reveals like a close friend, speaking to the heart of the learned and unlearned without pretence, but even that which it conceals in mystery it does not lift up in proud speech, which a sluggish and uneducated mind might not venture to approach, like a poor man a rich man, but with its humble words it invites all, not only that they be fed with what is manifest, but also that they be exercised by the truth which is hidden, having the same both in its simple and its recondite parts. But lest that which is obvious be wearisome, the same again being veiled, is desired, and by that desire is in some way renewed, and being renewed is received more sweetly. By these means both strong and weak minds are improved, the weak are nourished and the strong are delighted. He is an enemy of this teaching who either in error is ignorant of its usefulness, or being diseased hates its healing. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Letter 137, To Volusianus

A Commentator's Complaint

Tertium ad Galatas, o Paula et Eustochium, volumen hoc cudimus: non ignari imbecillitatis nostrae, et exilis ingenii rivulum, vix parvo strepentem murmure sentientes. Jam enim et in Ecclesiis ista quaeruntur: omissaque apostolicorum simplicitate et puritate verborum, quasi ad Athenaeum, et ad auditoria convenitur, ut plausus circumstantium suscitentur: ut oratio rhetoricae artis fucata mendacio, quasi quaedam meretricula in publicum, non tam eruditura populos, quam favorem populi quaesitura, et in modum psalterii et tibiae dulce canentis, sensus demulceat audientium; ut vere illud prophetae Ezechielis nostris temporibus possit aptari, dicente Domino ad eum: Et factus es eis quasi vox citharae suave canentis, et bene compositae: et audiunt verba tua, et non faciunt ea. Verum quid agam? Taceamne? Sed scriptum est: Non apparebis in conspectu Domini tui vacuus. Et Isaias, sicut in Hebraeis tamen habetur voluminibus, ingemiscit: Vae mihi misero, quia tacui. Loquar? Sed omnem sermonis elegentiam, et Latini eloquii venustatem, stridor lectionis Hebraicae sordidavit. Nostis enim et ipsae, quod plus quam quindecim anni sunt, ex quo in manus meas numquam Tullius, numquam Maro, numquam gentilium litterarum quilibet Auctor ascendit: et si quid forte inde dum loquimur, obrepit, quasi antiqui per nebulam somnii recordamur. Quod autem profecerim ex linguae illius infatigabili studio, aliorum judicio derelinquo: ego qui in mea amiserem, scio. Accedit ad hoc, quia propter oculorum et totius corpusculi infirmitatem, manu mea ipse non scribo: nec labore et diligentia compensare queo eloquii traditatem: quod de Virgilio quoque tradunt, quia libros suos in modum ursorum feum lambendo figuraverit: verum accito notario, aut statim dicto quodcumque in buccam venerit: aut si paululum voluero cogitate, melius aliquid prolaturus, tunc me tacitus ille reprehendit, manum contrahit, frontem rugat, et se fustra adesse, toto gestu corprois contestatur. Oratio autem etsi de bonae indolis ingenio sit profecta, et distincta inventionibus, et oranta flore verborum: tamen nisi auctoris sui manu limata fuerit et polita, non est nitida, non habet mixtam cum decore gravitatem; sed in modum divitum rusticorum, opibus suis magis arguitur, quam exornatur. Quorsum ista? videlicet ut et vobis et caeteris, qui forte legere voluerint, sit responsum, me non panegyricum, aut controversiam scribere, sed commentarium, id est, hic habere propositum, non ut mea verba laudentur, sed ut quae ab alio bene dicta sunt, ita intelligantur ut dicta sunt. Offici mei est obscura disserere, manifesta perstringere, in dubiis immorari. Unde et a plerisque commentariorum opus, expalnation nominatur. Si quis eloquentiam quaerit, vel declamationibus delectatur, habet in utraque lingua Demosthenem et Tullium, Polemonem et Quintillianum. Ecclesia Christi non de Academia et Lyceo, sed de vili plebecula congregate est. Unde et Apostolus: Videte enim vocationem vestram, fratres, quia non multi sapientes secundum carnem, non multi potentes, non multi nobiles: sed quæ stulta sunt mundi elegit Deus, ut confundat sapientes: et infirma mundi elegit Deus, ut confundat fortia: et ignobilia mundi, et contemptibilia elegit Deus, et ea quæ non sunt, ut ea quæ sunt destrueret. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum in Epistolam ad Galatas, Liber III Source: Migne PL 26.399b-400d

We have pounded out this third volume on Galatians, Paula and Eustochium, not ignorant of our weakness, and feeling that the sound of the stream of our thin talent is scarcely a little murmur. For this is now found in the Churches: the simplicity of the Apostles and the purity of their words is laid aside for what is fitting to the Athenaeum and the lecture halls to arouse the applause of those who attend. So speech is painted with the lies of the rhetorical art, like a prostitute in the street, not to educate the people but to court their favour, and in the sweet manner of a psaltery and singing pipe it caresses the senses of the hearers. What the Lord said to the prophet Ezekiel suits our times: 'To them you are like the voice of a lute singing sweetly and well composed, and they hear your words but do not do them.' 1 And what shall I do? Shall I be silent? But it is written: 'You will not appear empty in the sight of the Lord.' 2 And Isaiah, as the Hebrew books have it, groans: 'Alas to me, a wretch, that I was silent.' 3 Shall I speak? But the grating of Hebrew reading has tarnished all elegance of speech and beauty of Latin eloquence. You yourselves know that it is more than fifteen years since my hands have picked up Cicero or Virgil or any author of Gentile letters; and if any should creep in while we speak, we recall them as if through the cloud of an old dream. What I might achieve from the indefatigable zeal for that tongue, I leave to the judgment of others; I know what I have lost in myself. Then it happens that because of the weakness of my eyes and the whole body, I do not write with my own hand, nor can I compensate for the dullness of my eloquence with labour and diligence, as they say about Vergil, that he fashioned his books like bears lick their young. With a scribe present, I either dictate immediately whatever comes into my mouth, or if I wish to think a little, that I might grasp something better, then he silently admonishes me, withdrawing his hand, furrowing his brow, and with every movement of his body proclaiming that there is no point him being there. Speech, though brought forth from a capable mind, and distinguished by invention, and adorned with the flower of words, unless it is smoothed and polished by the author's own hand, is not bright, it does not have gravity mixed with beauty, but in the manner of rustic wealth, it is more condemned by its riches than adorned. To what end is this? Let it be a response to you, and others who may wish to read it, that I do not write panegyric or polemic but commentary, that is, my intent is not that my words be praised but that what was well said by another should be understood as it was said. My duty is to discuss what is obscure, to bind together what is clear, to tarry over what is in doubt. That is why many name a work of commentary an explanation. If someone seeks eloquence or delights in declamation, he has in both languages Demosthenes and Cicero, Polemon and Quintilian. The Church of Christ is gathered not from the Academy and the Lycaeum, but from the common people. Whence the Apostle says: 'Consider your calling, brothers, that not many of you are wise according to the flesh, not many powerful, not many noble; but God chose the foolish things of this world to confound the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to confound the strong; God chose what is ignoble and contemptible in this world, the things that are not, that He destroy the things that are' 4 Saint Jerome, Commentary on the Letter to the Galatians, Book 3 1 Ezek 33.32 2 Exod.34.20 3 Isaiah 6.5 4 1 Cor 1.26-28

Speech And Requital

Quoniam auris zeli audit omnia, et tumultus murmurationum non abscondetur. Et bene dixi, quod veniet etc; quoniam auris zeli, zeli, inquam, Dei animas tanquam sponsas zelantis, audit omnia, scilicet verba tam mala quam bona quam indifferentia, sicut zelotypus homo diligenter audit et notat verba sponsae et loquentium cum ea; Exodi vigesimo: Ego sum Deus fortis zelotes, etc. Et tumultus murmurationum, quibus homines murmurant contra Deum; Ecclesiastici trigesimo tertio: Praecordia fatui quasi rota plaustri. Et dicitur tumultus, quia homo murmurans, quasi intra dentes suos tumultuet, non clare enuntiat. Non abscondetur, sed toti mundo propalabitur; Lucae duodecimo: Nihil opertum , quod non reveletur; neque absconditum, quod non sciatur. Exodi decimo: Audivi murmurationes filiorum Israel. Custodite ergo vos a murmuratione quæ nihil prodest, et a detractione parcite linguæ: quoniam sermo obscurus in vacuum non ibit, os autem quod mentitur occidit animam. Hic monet ad pravae locutionis cautelam: et primo ponit suam exhortationem; secundo, exhortationis necessitatem. Quoniam sermo, etc. Construendum autem, sive continuandum sic: Ex quo non abscondetur tumultus, etc, custodite ergo vos a murmuratione , scilicet contra Deum. Quae nihil prodest, imo multum obest; unde primo ad Corinthios decimo: Quidam eorum murmuraverunt, et perierunt ab exterminatore. Et a detractione , scilicet contra proximum; Iob sexto: Quare detraxistis sermonibus sanctis veritatis? Parcite linguae: non dicitur: Parcite proximo, sed linguae, scilicet vestrae; quia detrahens alteri, primo seipsum laedit. Unde pejor est detractio serpentino veneno. Seneca: Illud venenum, quod serpentes in aliorum perniciem ferunt, sine sua continent malitia; ipsa detractio partem sui veneni bibit. Glossa: Perniciosae sunt murmurationes et detractiones; ad Romanos primo: Detractores Deo odibiles. Detractores dicit pluraliter, quia detractio fit pluribus modis, scilicet: vel cum occultum bonum negatur; vel cum apertum diminuitur; vel cum occultum malum propalatur; vel quando apertum amplius divulgatur. Et bene dixi: Parcite linguae: quoniam sermo obscurus: Glossa: Occultus, ut est verbum murmuris: In vacuum non ibit, id est, sine poena non remanebit; quia nec sermo otiosus, Matthaeus: De omni verbo otioso, etc. Ergo multo magis de verbo malitioso. Verbum otiosum, ut dicit ibi Glossa, est quod dicitur sine utilitate loquentis, vel audientis. Hieronymus: Omne quod non aedificat loquentes, in periculum vertitur loquentium. Os autem quod mentitur, scilicet detrahendo, occidit animam: Glossa: mucrone peccati animam mentientis. Psalmus: Perdes omnes, qui loquuntur mendacium. Et notandum, quod loquitur de mendacio pernicioso, quod est mortale; non de jocoso, vel officioso. Unde Glossa: Est mendacium levioris culpae, cum quis praestando beneficium, mentitur. Sed videtur, quod aliquod mendacium sit bonum et meritorium, quia obstetrices mentientes meruerunt praemium apud justum judicem, scilicet Deum, qui falli non potest, ut patet. Dicendum secundum Glossam , quod non est remunerata mendacii , sed pietatis earum benevolentia. Sed numquid unum et idem factum fuit peccatum, et tamen habuit benevolentiae meritum? Et videtur, quod sic: dicit enim Glossa: Deus unum idemque factum , propter bonum, malum condonat , et bonum remunerat. Dicendum, quod unum fuit connexione, non indivisibile; quia aliud fuit intentio liberandi, aliud voluntas mentiendi, licet coordinata. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Librum Sapientiae, Caput I Source: Here, 362b-363a

Because the zealous ear hears all, and a tumult of murmuring shall not be hidden. 1 And well I have said that a report will come, 2 because the zealous ear, I say, of the zeal of God, who is zealous for souls as for brides, hears all things, that is, words whether they be evil, good or indifferent, just as a jealous man carefully listens and takes note of the words of the bride, and of those speaking with her: 'I am the Lord your God, mighty, zealous,' 3 Even 'a tumult of murmuring,' by which men murmur against God: 'The heart of a fool is like a wheel of a cart.' 4 And it says 'tumult' because a man murmuring is as one making a noise within the teeth but not speaking clearly. 'Shall not be hidden,' but it shall made known to the whole world:'There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, nor hidden that shall not be known.' 5 'I have heard the murmuring of the children of Israel.' 6 Therefore keep yourselves from murmuring, which profits nothing, and spare the tongue detraction, because a word  that is secret shall not go for nothing and the mouth which lies kills the soul. 7 This exhorts caution against evil speech, and firstly gives its exhortation, secondly the necessity for the exhortation: 'Because a word...' must understood or put in connection with: 'a tumult of murmuring shall not be hidden...' 'Keep yourselves from murmuring,' that is, against God. 'Which profits nothing,' rather it is harmful; whence: 'Some of them murmured and they were destroyed by the destroyer.' 8 And from detraction, that is, against a neighbour: 'Why have you detracted the words of truth?' 9 'Spare the tongue...' It does not say: 'spare a neighbour,' but the tongue, that is, yours, because, by detraction one first harms oneself. So detraction is worse than the venom of a snake. Seneca: 'The poison that snakes have to harm others does not harm them, but detraction drinks a part of its own poison.' 10 Gloss: 'Murmurings and detractions are ruinous.' 'Detractors, hateful to God.' 11 He says detractors in the plural because there are many ways of detraction, that is: when a hidden good is denied, or when it is diminished when it is revealed, or when a hidden evil is revealed, or when it is disseminated further when it is revealed. And well I have said: 'Spare the tongue, because a secret word...' Gloss: 'Secret, just as is a word of murmuring,' 'Shall not go for nothing,' that is, it will not go without punishment, as neither will an idle word; Matthew: 'For every idle word...' 12 therefore, much more for a malicious word. 'An idle word,' as the Gloss says, 'is spoken without profit for speaker or listener.' Jerome: 'Everything that does not edify listeners becomes a danger for the speakers.' 13 'The mouth which lies...' that is, by detraction, 'kills the soul.' The Gloss: 'By the sword's point of sin the soul of a liar is slain.' 'You will destroy all who speak a lie.' 14 Note that it speaks here about the destructive lie, one that is mortal, not a facetious or official one, whence a Gloss says: 'A lie has less fault when someone lies to gain a benefit.' But it seems that a certain lie can be good and meritorious because by lying the midwives merited a reward from the just judge, that is, God, who cannot be deceived, as is clear in the first chapter of Exodus. 15 But according to a Gloss it must be said that 'it was not a reward for a lie but for the goodness of their piety.' But can one and the same action be a sin and also have merit as a good? It would seem that it can, for a Gloss says: 'For one and the same deed, God pardons evil for the sake of good and rewards the good.' It must be said that it was one action by connection not by indivisibility, because the intention to free was different from the will to lie, even though they are connected. Saint Bonaventura, Commentary On Wisdom, Chapter 1 1 Wisd 1.10 2 Wisd 1.9 3 Exod 20.5 4 Sirach 33.5 5 Luke 12.2 6 Exod 16.12 7 Wisd 1.11 8 1 Cor 10.10 9 Job 6.25 10 Seneca Epis 81.22 11 Rom 1.30 12 Mt 12.36 13 Jerome Epis 64.5 14 Ps 5.7 15 Exod 1.15-21

A Strong Heart

Καὶ κατίσχυσεν ἡ καρδία Φαραὼ, καὶ οὐκ εἰσήκουσεν αὐτῶν, καθάπερ ἐνετείλατο αὐτοῖς Κύριος. Εἶπε δὲ Κύριος πρὸς Μωϋσῆν· Βεβάρυται ἡ καρδία Φαραὼ, τοῦ μὴ ἐξαποστεῖλαι τὸν λαόν. Τὸ, Βεβάρυται ἡ καρδία Φαραὼ, λεγόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου, μετὰ τὴν μεταβαλοῦσαν εἰς δράκοντα ῥάβδον τοῦ Ἀαρὼν, καὶ καταπιοῦσαν τὰς τῶν Μάγων ῥάβδους, ἄξιον ἰδεῖν, εἰ ἕτερόν ἐστι τοῦ, ἐσκληρύνθαι τὴν καρδίαν Φαραώ, λεγομένου πολλάκις, καὶ τοῦ, κατισχυσεν ἡ καρδία Φαραὼ, καὶ οὐκ εἰσήκουσεν αὐτῶν καθὼς ἐλάλησε Κύριος. Δοκεῖ δέ μοι ἡ μὲν ἐνδιδοῦσα καρδία πρὸς τὰ θεῖα, ἀπαλύνεσθαι καὶ μὴ ἰσχύειν ἀνθίστασθαι τῇ θειότητι, καὶ μὴ βαρύνεσθαι, μηδὲ ἔλκεσθαι κάτω εἰς γῆ καὶ ὕλην, ἡ δὲ ἀντιτείνουσα καὶ ἐναντιουμένη τῷ θείῳ βουλήματι, σκληρύεσθαι καὶ ἀντιτυπεῖν δίκην λίθου, καὶ ἀποκρούεσθαι τὸν λόγον, καὶ κατ' ἀπόνοιαν ἀνθίστασθι μετά τινος ψευδωνύμου ἰσχύος. Ἀνάγκη δὲ τὴν τοιαύτην καρδίαν καθελκομένον ὑπὸ τῆς κακίας οὔσης κατωφεροῦς, βαρύνεσθαι. Οὐ μὴν κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν διάνοιαν ταῦτα τῇ καρδίᾳ συμβαίνει, εἰ καὶ μιᾷ καὶ τῇ αὐτῇ συμβέβηκε φαύλῃ οὔσῃ τὸ κατισχύειν καὶ τὸ βαρύνεσθαι. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ, ὡς εἴρηταί που, λιθίνη γίνεται ἡ καρδία καὶ σκληρύνεται· ἡ δὲ οὐ παραχωρεῖ ὡς κρείττονι τῇ θείᾳ φύσει· ἀλλὰ θεομαχεῖν ἰσταμένη κατ' αὐτῆς καὶ ἰσχύειν λέγεται. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Την Ἐξοδον Source: Migne PG 12.281c-283a

And the heart of Pharaoh was strengthened and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had commanded. 1 And the Lord said to Moses: 'The heart of Pharaoh has grown heavy, he will not let the people go.' 2 And the Lord says this, 'The heart of Pharaoh has grown heavy' after the transformation of the rod of Aaron into a serpent which devoured the rods of the seers, whence it is worthy to see if there is something here, in this which is often said, that the heart of Pharaoh was made hard and grew strong. For it is also said: 'And the heart of Pharaoh grew strong against them and he would not hear them, as the Lord had said.' 3 It seems to me that a heart which yields, is not able to resist the Divine, nor to be heavy, nor to incline to the lower things of earth and matter, and that to be opposed and adverse to the Divine will is to be hardened and to resist, as befits a stone, and the refusal of the word is by a certain pride given the false name of strength because of its resistance. Necessary it is that a heart which by its wickedness is drawn down is called heavy. And it is not for the same reason that this happens to a heart, that there is one way by which it comes to wickedness which makes it strong and heavy. For as said elsewhere, in the way a heart is made stone and hardened, in that way it does not yield to the superior Divine nature, but standing and fighting against God is named strong. Origen, On Exodus, Fragment 1 Exod 7.13 2 Exod 7.14 3 Exod 7.22

The Pharoah And Justice

ΕΡΩΤ Η' Προσειδὼς ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ Φαραὼ τὸ δυσπειθὲς, τί δήποτε μὴ ἐξαρχῆς αὐτὸν ἐκόλασεν; Ὅτι προῇδει δεδήλωκεν. Οἴδα γὰρ, φησὶν, ὅτι οὐ προὴσεται ὑμᾶς Φαραὼ βασιλεὺς Αἰγύπτου, εἰ μὴ μετὰ χειρὸς κραταιᾶς. Καὶ ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖτα, πατάξω τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους· Ἀλλ' ὅμως ἀγαθὸς ὤν καὶ φιλάνθρωπος κολάζειν ἐκ μόνης προγνώσεως οὐκ ἀνέχεται· ἀλλὰ ἀναμένει τῶν πραγμάτων τὸ τέλος, καὶ δείκνυσιν ἄπασι τῆς τιμωρίας τὸ δίκαιον. Ἄλλως τε καὶ πολλῷ δικαιότερον, τὸ τὴν ἐκείνου γυμνωθῆναι κακίαν καὶ πονηρίαν, τοῦ τὸν Θεὸν ἀπηνῆ νομισθῆμαι. Εἰ γὰρ πρὸ τῶν ἐλέγχων ἐκόλασεν, ἔδοξεν ἂν καὶ ὠμος εἶναι καὶ ἄδικος· νῦν δὲ καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ μακρόθυμον, δέδεκται, κἀκείνου τὸ δυσσεβὲς καὶ θηριῶδες ἐλήλεγκται. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Εἰς Τὴν Ἐξοδον Source: Migne PG 80.232a-b

Question 8 Since God foreknew the insolence of Pharaoh, why did He not immediately punish him? That He obviously did foreknow, He says: 'For I know that Pharaoh the king of Egypt will not let you go, unless by a strong hand. And so stretching out my hand, I shall strike the Egyptians.' 1 But as God is good and benevolent He refrains from punishing from foreknowledge alone, but He waits for the end of works, and thus He reveals to all that he punishes justly. Besides, it would be much more just if the wickedness and evil of the Pharaoh were revealed than God be thought cruel. For if he had punished before refutation, He would have seemed cruel and unjust, but now the patience of God is observed and the impiety and savagery of Pharaoh is convicted. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Questions On Exodus 1 Exodus 3.19-20

The Heart's Secrets

Nonne Deus requiret ista? Ipse enim novit occulta cordis. Nonne, cum pondere pronuntiandum est: quoniam gravissumum est apud Dominum, si in ejus religione peccetur. Requirere autem solemus, quando illa desideramus agnoscere, quae nostram novimus conscientiam non tenere. Deus autem sciens requirit, non ut ipse aliquid novum discat, sed ut nos faciat quae sunt oblivione sepulta cognoscere. Sic et Abrahae dictum est: Nunc cognovi, quoniam times Deum tuum; quasi ille aliquid ex tempore didicerit, qui ante saecula cuncta praescivit. Sequitur: Ista, id est quae superius dixerat: Si obliti sumus nomen Dei nostri: et si expandimus manus nostras ad Deum alienum. Et quoniam agebatur de religionis affectu, qui non solum devotione corporis, sed magis geritur cordis arcano, ad Divinitatis notitiam, ubi omnis festinat integritas, cucurrerunt dicentes: Ipse enim novit occulta cordis. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus XLIII Source: Migne PG 70.316b-c

Would He not discover this? For He knows the secrets of the heart. 1 'Would He not' must be said with all gravity, because it is a most weighty matter with the Lord, if one errs in His religion. We are accustomed to use 'discover' when we desire to learn something which we know our mind does not yet grasp. But God, who knows, discovers not that He learn something new, but that He make us know what we have buried in forgetfulness. So he said to Abraham: 'Now I know that you revere your God,' 2 as if He learnt something at that time, He who has foreseen all things before the ages. Then comes 'this' which pertains to that which is said before: 'If we have forgotten the name of our God, and if we have stretched out our hands to a foreign god.' 3 And because this is a product of the feeling of religion, it is not only the devotion of the body, but more what is carried in the secret places of the heart, that pertains to Divine knowledge, where every uprightness hurries, and having run says, 'For He knows the secrets of the heart.' Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, Psalm 25 1 Ps 43.22 2 Gen 22.12 3 Ps 44.21

Teaching By Examples

Πολυτρόπως δὲ ὅμως ὠφελῶν ὁ παιδαγωγὸς ὁ φιλάνθρωπος τὰ μὲν παρῄνεσεν, τὰ δὲ καὶ ὠνείδισεν, τὸ δὲ καὶ ἄλλων ἁμαρτανόντων τὸ αἶσχος αὐτῶν ὑπέδειξεν ἡμῖν καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τούτῳ τιμωρίαν ψυχαγωγῶν τε ἅμα καὶ νουθετῶν ἐφανέρωσε, φιλάνθρωπον ἀποτροπὴν τῆς κακίας μηχανώμενος διὰ τῆς τῶν προπεπονθότων ἐνδείξεως· δι' ὧν εἰκόνων σαφέστατα τοὺς μὲν ἔπαυσεν κακῶς διατεθέντας, τοὺς δὲ τὰ ἴσα τολμῶντας ἐκώλυσεν, ἄλλους εἰς ὑπομονὴν ἐθεμελίωσεν, ἑτέρους ἔπαυσε κακίας, τοὺς δὲ καὶ ἰάσατο τῇ τοῦ ὁμοίου θεωρίᾳ μεταθεμένους ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον. Τίς γὰρ οὐκ ἄν τι παραφυλάξαιτο, ἑπόμενός τῳ καθ' ὁδόν, εἶτα μέντοι τοῦ προτέρου εἰς βόθρον ἐμπεσόντος, μὴ οὐχὶ ἀποκλῖναι τὸν ἴσον κίνδυνον, τὴν ἀκολουθίαν τῆς ἁμαρτίας φυλαξάμενος; Τίς δὲ αὖθις ἀσκητὴς ὤν, καταμαθὼν τῆς φιλοδοξίας τὴν ὁδὸν καὶ τὸ ἔπαθλον ἰδὼν τὸν πρὸ αὑτοῦ ἀγωνιστὴν εἰληφότα, οὐκ ἐπὶ τὸν στέφανον ἵεται καὶ αὐτός, μιμούμενος τὸν πρεσβύτερον; Πολλαὶ τοιαῦται τῆς θεϊκῆς σοφίας αἱ εἰκόνες· ἑνὸς δὲ ὑποδείγματος μνησθήσομαι καὶ διὰ βραχέων παραθήσομαι· τὸ Σοδομιτῶν πάθος κρίσις μὲν ἀδικήσασι, παιδαγωγία δὲ ἀκούσασιν. Οἱ Σοδομῖται ὑπὸ πολλῆς τρυφῆς ἐξοκείλαντες εἰς ἀσέλγειαν, μοιχεύοντες μὲν ἀδεῶς, περὶ δὲ τὰ παιδικὰ ἐκμανῶς ἐπτοημένοι, ἐπεῖδεν αὐτοὺς ὁ παντεπόπτης Λόγος, ὃν οὐκ ἔστι λαθεῖν ἀνόσια δρῶντας, οὐδὲ ἐπηρέμησεν τῇ ἀσελγείᾳ αὐτῶν ὁ ἄγρυπνος τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος φύλαξ· ἀποτρέπων δὲ ἡμᾶς τῆς μιμήσεως τῆς ἐκείνων, πρὸς σωφροσύνην τὴν αὑτοῦ παιδαγωγῶν, τίσιν τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς ἐπιβαλών, ὡς μὴ τὸ ἀτιμώρητον τῆς ἀκολασίας ἀδείας ἐπιρροὴν προσλάβῃ, καταφλεχθῆναι προσέταξε τὰ Σόδομα, ὀλίγον τι τοῦ φρονίμου πυρὸς ἐκείνου ἐπὶ τὴν ἀκολασίαν ἐκχέων, ὡς μὴ ἀκόλαστον αὐτῶν τὸ λάγνον γενόμενον πλατείας ἀναπετάσῃ κλισιάδας τοῖς εἰς ἡδυπάθειαν φερομένοις. Γέγονεν τοίνυν ἡ Σοδομιτῶν δικαία τιμωρία τῆς εὐλογίστου τοῖς ἀνθρώποις σωτηρίας εἰκών· οἱ γὰρ μὴ τὰ ὅμοια τοῖς κεκολασμένοις ἁμαρτήσαντες οὐ τὴν ὁμοίαν ποτὲ τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς ὑπόσχοιεν δίκην τῷ μὴ ἁμαρτεῖν τὸ μὴ παθεῖν πεφυλαγμένοι. Εἰδέναι γὰρ ὑμᾶς, φησὶν ὁ Ἰούδας, βούλομαι, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἅπαξ ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου λαὸν σώσας τὸ δεύτερον τοὺς μὴ πιστεύσαντας ἀπώλεσεν, ἀγγέλους τε τοὺς μὴ τηρήσαντας τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀρχήν, ἀλλὰ ἀπολιπόντας τὸ ἴδιον οἰκητήριον εἰς κρίσιν μεγάλης ἡμέρας δεσμοῖς ἀιδίοις ὑπὸ ζόφον ἀγρίων ἀγγέλων τετήρηκεν. Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Ὁ Παιδαγωγός, Λογὸς Τρίτιος, Κεφ' Η' Source: Migne PG 8.631b-616c

But helping in many ways, the Teacher, the lover of mankind, partly exhorts, partly reproaches, and by the sins of others He shows us their baseness, and the punishment consequent upon it, openly warning and by love striving to turn us from evil, by the exhibition of those who have suffered before, by which examples He openly checked those inclined to wickedness, and hindered those venturing similar things, and others He established in endurance, and others He held from evil, and others He healed by the contemplation of likeness, bringing them over to what is better. For who, when following a man on the way, when the former tumbles into a pit, would not guard against similar danger, by taking care not to follow him in his fall? And again what athlete, who has learned the way to glory, and has seen the competitor before him receiving the prize, does not set himself for the crown by imitation of the elder one? Such images of Divine wisdom given are many, but I will recall one instance, and expound it in a few words. The ruin of the Sodomites is judgment to those who have done wrong, instruction to those who hear. The Sodomites having been by much luxury brought into licentiousness, practicing adultery without shame, and burning with love for boys, the All-seeing Word, from whose notice those who commit impieties cannot be hidden, nor did the sleepless guard of mankind ignore their licentiousness, 1 but dissuading us from the imitation of them to His own temperance, stuck at these sinners, lest lust being unavenged and fearlessness run rampant, so ordered Sodom to be burned, pouring forth a little of the prudent fire of chastisement, lest by lack of chastisement, lust throw wide the gates to those rushing into voluptuousness. So did the just punishment of the Sodomites become an image of the salvation which is well arranged for men. For those who have not sinned like those who are punished, will never receive a like punishment, but guarding against sinning have a guard against suffering. Jude says: 'For I wish you to know, that God, having once saved the people from the land of Egypt, destroyed those who did not believe, and the angels who held not to their original state, but left their own habitation, He has reserved to the judgment of the great day, in everlasting chains under darkness of the savage angels.' 2 Clement of Alexandria, The Teacher, Book 3, Ch 8 1 Gen 18-19 2 cf Jude 5-6

Taking Within

Καὶ τον νόμον σου ἐν μέσῳ τῆς καρδίας μου. Ἔχων δὲ τὸ σὸν θέλημα κεκρυμμένον ἐν ἑμαυτῷ, τοῦτο γὰρ, οἶμαι, δηλοῖ τὸ, Ἐν μέσῷ τῆς κοιλίας μου, τοῖς γνησίοις αὐτὸ ἐναργὲς καταστήσω. Εἰδέναι γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἀναγκαῖον, ὅτι τὰ τῶν μαθημάτων ἐξηρημένα τοῖς ἐξειλεγμένοις προσελάλει Χριστὸς, καὶ οὐχ ἄπασιν ἁπλῶς καὶ ἀδιακρίτως προσδιελέγετο. Καὶ γοῦν τοῖς μὲν Ἰουδαίοις ἐν παραβολαῖς ἐλαλει· τοῖς γε μὴν ἁγίοις ἀποστόλοις, ἅτε δὴ καὶ ἀκραιφνῆ τὴν διάνοιαν ἔχουσι καὶ τελεωτάτων μαθημάτων δεκτικὴν, Ὑμῖν δέδοται φησὶ γνῶναι τὰ μυστήρια τῆς βασιλείας, ἐκείνοις δὲ οὐ δέδοται. Καλὸν δὲ ἡμᾶς τὴν κοιλίαν καθαίρειν ὅτι μάλιστα καὶ ποιεῖν λεπτοτέραν ὥστε τὸν νόμον Κυρίου ἐν μέσῳ δέχεσθαι, Ψυχῆς δὲ κοιλία, τὸ δοχεῖον τῶν πνευματικῶν τροφῶν, εἴτουν τὸ διανοητικόν. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Εἰς Τους Ψαλμους, Ψαλμός ΛΘ' Source: Migne PG 69.989c-d

And your law in the midst of my heart. 1 Having your will established within me, that is what I think the words mean; in my depths I shall set that to which I clearly have affinity. For one must know that Christ revealed his special teachings to his chosen ones alone, for He did not speak to all openly, nor without discrimination. To the Jews he spoke in parables, but to his holy Apostles, endowed with purified minds, capacious of sublime teaching, He said, 'To you is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom, and not to them at all.' 2 And we do well to purge the heart, that is, that we lift it upon high, that it is able to receive this law of the Lord within itself. For this stomach of the soul is the receptacle of spiritual bread, that is, the capability of the mind. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 39 1 Ps 39.9 2 Mt 13.11

Spirit And Truth

Πνεῦμα ὁ Θεός Ἐπεὶ ἀόρατος ὁ Θεος, ἀκολουθεῖ δὲ τῶν ἀοράτων τὸ ἀσώματον· ἀσώματος ἆρα ὁ Θεὸς ὦν, ἀόρατός ἐστιν, εἰ δὲ τοῦτο λεγόμενος πνεῦμα, οὐ κεκινημένος ἀὴρ εἴη· οὐ γὰρ ὅτι παρὰ ἀνθρώποις ἄνεμον δηλοῖ τὸ πνεῦμα, ἀνάγκη καὶ ἐπὶ Θεοῦ τοῦτο σημαίνεσθαι. Ὥσπωερ τοίνυν φῶς λεγόμενον, ἐπεὶ μὴ ὅψιν, ἀλλὰ νόησιν φωτίζει, οὐ σῶμα ἀλλὰ νοερόν ἐστι φῶς· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀγάπη καλούμενον οὐ διάθεσις ὑπάρχει, ἀλλ' οὐσία ἀγαπῶσα ἄ δημιουργεῖ, καὶ ὦν προνοεῖται· οὕτως πνεῦμα προσαγορευόμενος οὐκ ἄνεμον ἀλλ' ἀσώματον καὶ ζωοποιὸν παρίστησιν οὐσίαν. Πᾶς δὲ ὁ μαθὼν ὅτι πνεῦμα ὁ Θεὸς, πνευματικὼς λατρεύων αὐτῷ, πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ, οὐκέτι τυπικῶς, προσκυνεῖ τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεόν. Πρὸς ἀντιδιαστολὴν δὲ τοῦ γράμματος τὸ, ἐν πνεύματι, φησί· τοῦ δὲ τύπου, τὸ καὶ ἀληθείᾳ. Ταῦτα γὰρ, ἕως καιρὸς χρειώδης ἤν· τῆς ἀληθείας δὲ ἐλθούσης, ἤτοι τῆς Χριστοῦ παρουσίας, πάντα πέπαυται. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ἰωαννην Εὐαγγελιον Source: Migne PG 39.1645b-c

God is a spirit... 1 Because God is unseen, it follows this invisibility is on account of incorporality, and so as God is incorporeal, so is He unseen. And this being called a spirit is not as some movement of the air, for it is not that because a wind is a spirit to men, so it is necessary that with God there is the same meaning. As, then, God is called light, 2 yet not of the eye, but because He illuminates the mind, thus not as a corporeal light but an intellectual light, so when he is called love 3 it is not because of passion, but as a loving substance which creates and cares. Thus God is named a spirit not as some sort of wind but to denote an incorporeal and vivifying substance. All who understand that God is a spirit, revere Him spiritually, 'in spirit and truth,' 1 and no longer does a man adore the God of all things by types. For the distinction from mere words he says: 'in spirit', and from types, 'in truth'. Which things of old were allowed until the time was right, but with the coming of Christ, indeed the presence of Christ, they passed away. Didymus the Blind, On The Gospel Of St John, Fragment 1 Jn 4.24 2 Jn 1.5 3 1 Jn 4.8

A Love Of Teaching

Presbyteri per villas et vicos scholas habeant, et si quilibet fidelium suos parvulos ad discendas litteras eis commendare vult, eos suscipere et docere non renuant, sed cum summa charitate eos doceant, attendentes illud quod scriptum est: Qui autem docti fuerunt fulgebunt quasi splendor firmamenti; et qui ad justitiam erudiunt multos, fulgebunt quasi stellae in perpetuas aeternitates. Cum ergo eos docent, nihil ab eis pretii pro hac re exigant, nec aluqid ab eis accipiant, excepto quod eis parentes charitatis studio sua voluntate obtulerint. Theodulfus Aurelianensis, Capitula ad Presbyteros Parochiae Suae, Capitula XX Source: Migne PL 105.196c-d

Let priests establish schools through the villages and towns, and whoever of the faithful wishes to entrust children to them for the learning of letters, let there be no refusal to receive and teach, but with utmost love let them be taught, attending to what is written: 'And those who are taught shall shine as the splendour of the firmament, and those who instruct many to righteousness shall shine like the stars forever into eternity.' 1 When, therefore, they teach them, let them not demand any reward for it from them, nor let them receive something from them, except what the parents from the zeal of love bring to them of their own will. Theodulf of Orleans, Chapters For His Local Priests, Chapter 20 1 Dan 12.3

Perfecting Love

Si enim diligitis eos qui vos diligunt quam mercedem habebitis, nonne et publicani hoc faciunt? Et si salutaveritis fratres vestros tantum, quid amplius facitis, nonne et ethnici hoc faciunt. Publicani quidem Juadaei, exactores Romanes vocabant, qui de republica curam habebant. Dicuntur hic publicani, qui publica vectigalia exigunt, qui publica negotia saeculi lucra sectantur. Ethnici enim Graece, Latine gentes dicuntur. Nam ἔθνος Graece gens dicitur. Atque ideo gentiles nuncupati sunt, qui tales sunt ut fuerunt geniti, sub peccato scilicet idolis servientes. Talis enim in hac Evangelii sententia sensus est: Si etiam publicani et ethnici erga dilectores suos nature duce norunt esse benefici, quantum vos, inquit, quibus ut gradus professionis eximior, ita cura necesse est sit virtutis uberior, latioris sinu dilectionis amplecti debetis etiam non amantes. Unde quaesitu dignum videtur quomodo cum Dominus eos qui diligentes se solum diligunt, benefacientibus sibi benefaciunt amicis, ferantur non modo perfectam non habere charitatem, verum peccatoribus aequiparari testetur ille pectoris Dominici recubitor, Epistolam de Dei et proximi dilectione consummans, ne uspiam inimicos monuerit esse diligendos, sed absolute dixerit: Quod si diligamus invicem, Deus in nobis manet, et charitas ejus in nobis perfecta est. Quod si quem movet, sciat cum non de inimicorum amore docuisse, sed et illos fratrum nomine comprehendisse, fraternique amoris intuitu diligi, et pro eis praecepisse orare, scilicet ut non semper inimici remaneant, sed resipiscant a diaboli laqueis, nobisque germano foedere socientur. Nec durum videatur quod nondum credentes, propter spem tamen credendi fratres appellari posse dicimus. Nam idem Joannes eos etiam filios Dei vocare legitur: Quod Jesus, inquit, moriturus erat pro gente, et non tantum pro gente, sed ut filios Dei, qui erant dispersi, congregaret in unum. Quandiu enim dispersi, nondum filii sunt; sed conveniendo in unum jam efficiuntur filii. Estote ergo vos perfecti, sicut et Pater vester coelestis perfectus est. Sine ista dilectione, qua et inimicos et persecutores nostros diligere jubemur, ea superius dicta sunt, implere quis potest? Perfectio autem misericordiae, qua plurimum animae laboranti consulitur, ultra dilectionem inimici porigi non potest. Et ideo sic clauditur: Estote ergo vos perfecti, sicut Pater vester qui in coelis est, qui perfectus est. Ita tamen ut Deus intelligatur perfectus ut Deus, et anima perfecta tanquam anima. Gradum tamen esse aliquem Pharisaeorum justititiae, quae ad veterem legem pertinet, hinc intelligitur, quod manifestum ex his praeceptis omnem nostram intentionem in interiora gaudia dirigi, ne foris quaerentes mercedem huic saeculo conformemur, et amittamus promissionem tanto solidioris atque firmioris, quanto interioris beatitudinis, qua nos elegit Deus conformes fieri imaginis Filii sui. Rabanus Maurus, Commentariorum In Matthaeum, Liber II Source: Migne PL 107.832b-833b

If you love those who love you what reward shall you have? Do not the tax collectors do that? And if you greet your brothers alone, what more do you do than the Gentiles? 1 The tax collectors are what the Romans called exactors, who have care for public affairs. Here they are called tax collectors who exact public taxes and seek the world's wealth for public business. And what is called Gentiles in Latin is 'ethnici' in Greek. For 'ethnos' in Greek means Gentile. And therefore they who do such things are called Gentiles, as born so, beneath sin serving idols. Such is the meaning of the Gospel passage. If indeed the tax collectors and Gentiles are lovers of those who by nature they know do them benefits, thus how much more for you, He says, by the more excellent rank of your profession, is care necessary so that your virtue be more abundant and the lap of your love be broader, so as to embrace even those who do not love you. Because of which it seems a worthy question to ask how it is that when the Lord said that those who loved only those who loved them, and did good only to their friends who did good to them, had not a perfect love, that then that one who leaned on the breast of the Lord, who equally bore witness to sinners, in that letter concerning the perfection of love of neighbours and God, nowhere exhorted the love of enemies, but indeed said: 'If we love one another, God is in us, and His love is perfected in us.' 2 Because, as this may trouble some, he knew that when he did not teach the love of enemies, he understood them under the name of brothers, who are to be loved with a fraternal love, and he commanded us to pray for them, obviously that they not always remain enemies, but recognising the snares of the devil, they associate with us in a bond of brotherliness. Nor does it seem difficult that we can yet speak of those who are not yet believers by the name of brothers on account of hope. For that same John is read to call them sons of God when he says that Jesus should die for the people and not only for the people but that He gather into one the sons of God who are scattered.' 3 For while scattered they are not yet sons, but coming together they are made sons. Therefore be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. 4 For without this love by which we are commanded to love enemies and persecutors, who is able to fulfull those things which have been spoken? 5 Indeed the perfection of mercy, which supports many souls in trials, cannot reach beyond the love of enemies. And thus He concludes: 'Therefore be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect,' He who is perfect. Therefore God is understood to be perfect as God, the perfect soul as a soul. However there is certain state of the righteousness of the Pharisee, which pertains to the old Law, from which it is understood that it is clear from these commands that all our intention is to be directed to interior joy, not seeking to be conformed outside itself to a reward of this world, and dismissing any such promise much more strongly and firmly as much more is our interior blessedness, by which 'God chooses us to be conformed to the image of His Son.' 6 Rabanus Maurus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 2 1 Mt 6.46-47 2 1 Jn 4.12 3 Jn 11.51-52 4 Mt 6.48 5 Mt 6.17 6 Rom 8.28-29

Love, Good Works And Prayer

Diligite inimicos vestros... Hic ponit ipsam impletionem: et dividitur in partes duas, in quarum prima dat impletionem: et quia difficilis est, in secunda persuadet per rationem, quod aliter lex ista non ducit ad perfectionem, quam legislator intendit. Ut filii Patris vestri. Primam harum partium dividit in tres paragraphos: quia dicit, quod contra Ecclesiam pugnatur tribus modis odio, verbis, cruciam corporis: et econtra Eccleisa diligit, benefacit, orat. Et dilectionem quam opponit odio inimicorum tangit dicens diligite inimicos vestri. Quia iam ostensum est, quod proximi sunt, et quod causa dilectionis est in eis secundum naturam, licet non agant secundum illud ex perversitate peccati superducta, Diligite ergo quod Patris vestri est in eis, et non quod perversitas superduxit. Unde dicit, quod est novum mandatum. Mandatum novum do vobis. Dicitur mandatum vetus, et mandatum novum. Vetus enim est causa dilectionis, qua una est in omnibus, qui diliguntur: sed novum est in modo: quia gratis diliguntur, qui secundum antiquum populum non intelligebatur: quia non habebant nisi mercantum dilectionem in proximo, approprinquante eis per obsequium, vel munus. Si esurierit inimicus tuuus, ciba illum: et sitit, potum da illi: hoc enim faciens carbones ignis congeres super caput illius. Si esurierit inimicus tuus, ciba illum, et sitiit, da illi aquam bibere: hoc enim faciens prunas congregabis super caput illius, et Dominus reddet tibi. Benefacite his qui oderunt vos. Ecce secundum, ubi Ecclesia docetur benefacere his, qui oderunt eam, exemplo. Elisei, qui eos qui venerant ad capiento eum magna praeparatione ciborum procurari praecepit, et conduci ad locum tutum. Exemplo etiam David, qui Saul inimicum suum non occidit, sed ad vitam traditum in manibus eius reservavit. Quando praecidit partem vestimenti eius in spelunca. Quando descendens in castra Saul invenit eum dormiente. Si non dixerat viri tabernaculi mei: de carnibus eis quis det, ut saturemur. Hos enim collegit in tabernaculo, et hospitalitate exhibuit, qui si carnes eius potuisset, devorassent ex odio. Exemplo etiam Christi, qui sua cena propria manu cibavit traditorem. Noli vinci a malo, sed vince in bono malum. Et orate pro persequentibus, et calumniantibus vos... Ecce tertium, et dicit duo; orandum scilicet pro persequentibus, aperte laedentibus, et pro calumniantibus, qui furit sub simulatone iustitiae laedentes. Recordate, quod steterim in conspectu tuo, ut loquerer pro eis bonum, et ut averterem iram tuam ab eis. Pro eo, ut me diligerent, de trahebant mihi: ego autem orabam Dum mihi molesti essent, induebar cilicio, et humiliabam in ieiundio animam meam: et oratio mea in sinu convertetur. Blasphemamur, et obsecramus. Pater, ignosce illis, quia nesciunt, quid faciunt. Ne statuas illis hoc peccatum. Sanctus Albertus Magnus, Commentarium in Mattheum, Caput V Source: Here

Love your enemies... 1 Here he gives the fulfillment of the Law and He divides it into two parts, in which is given the fulfillment, and because it is difficult, in the second part He persuades with reason, that otherwise the Law does not lead to the perfection which the legislator intends. 'That you be sons of your Father.' 2 The first of these parts He divides into three, because He says that there are three ways of opposition against the Church, by hate, by words, and by the torment of the body, and on the other hand the Church loves and blesses and prays. 1 And the love which opposes the hatred of the enemy he treats of, saying, 'Love your enemies.' Because it has already been shown that they are neighbours, and that the cause of love in them is according to nature, it being possible that they do not behave according to that perversity of sin which has been added to it. Love, therefore, what is in them of the Father and not what has been added by perversity. Whence he says that this is a new commmandment. 3 And it is called an old commandment and a new commmandment. 4 Old is the cause love, which is one in all who are loved, but new is the way, because they are loved freely; for of old the people did not understand, since they did not love unless for reward in their neighbour, approaching for the sake of pleasing, or a gift. 'If your enemy hungers gives him food, and if he thirsts gives him to drink, for doing this you shall heap of fiery coals on his head.' 5 'If your enemy hungers, gives him food, and if he thirsts, give him water to drink, for doing this you shall heap up coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.' 6 Do good to those who hate you... Behold the second, where it is told that the Church does good to those who hate it. For example, Elisha, commanded that those who came to seize him should have brought to them a great preparation of food, and he led them to a safe place. 7 And by the example of David who did not kill Saul, his enemy, but holding him in his hands, granted him his life, when he cut off a part of his garments in the cave. 8 And then when going down into the camp he found Saul sleeping. 9 'If the men of my tent had not said: Let them be given meat that they be satisfied. For he gathered them in his tent, and showed them hospitality, he whose flesh, if they were able, they would have devoured from hate.' 10 And by the example of Christ who at His meal gave with His own hands to the betrayer. 11 'Do not conquer with evil but conquer evil with good.' 12 And pray for your persecutors and those who speak ill of you.... Behold the third, and he speaks of two things: obviously prayer for persecutors, that is, for those who overtly inflict harm, and then for those who speak ill of one, who in raging beneath an simulation of justice do harm. 'Remember that I stood in your sight, that I spoke for their good, and that I would turn your anger from them.' 13 'Instead of loving me, they spoke ill of me, but I gave myself to prayer.' 14 'While they troubled me, I put on haircloth and I humbled my soul in fasting, and pondered my prayer in my lap.' 15 'We are reviled and we bless.' 16 'Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do.' 17 'Do not hold this sin against them.' 18 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 5.44 2 Mt 5.45 3 Jn 13.34 4 1 Jn 2.7 5 Rom 12.20 6 Prov 25.21-22 7 4 Kings 6 8-23 8 1 Kings 24.1-7 9 1 Kings 26.6-12 10 Job 31.31 11 Jn 13.26 12 Rom 12.21 13 Jerem 18.20 14 Ps 108.4 15 Ps 34.13 16 1 Cor 4.12 17 Lk 23.34 18 Acts 7.60

Love's Perfection

Qui autem servat verbum eius vere in hoc caritas Dei perfecta est... Ille itaque vere novit Deum, qui ejus mandata servando charitatem se ejus habere comprobat. Hoc est enim Deum nosse, quod amare. Nam quisquis eum non amat, profecto, ostendit quia quam sit amabilis non novit. Et quam sit suavis Dominus et dulcis, gustate ac videre non didicit, qui ejus conspectibus placere continua intentione non satagit. ...In hoc scimus quoniam in ipso sumus. Id est, per dilectionem nimiam etiam pro inimicis orare, sicut et ipse egit, dicens, Pater, ignosce illis. Sed et prospera mundi cuncta forti animo contemnere, libenter irrisiones et opprobia tolerare, sicut et ipse dixit: Si quis vult post me venire, abneget semetipsum, et tollat crucem suam, et sequatur me. Sanctus Beda, In I Epistolam Sancti Joannis, Caput II Source: Migne PL 93.90c-d

He who keeps His word, in him the love of God is perfected... 1 Thus he truly knows God who in the keeping of His commandments proves he has love for Him. This is indeed to know God, that we love. For whoever does not love Him undoubtedly shows that he does not know what is loveable. And he who has not learnt how sweet and delightful the Lord is, is he who does not exert himself with ceaseless intention to be pleasing in His eyes. ...In this we know that we are in Him. That is, in an abundance of love we pray even for our enemies, as He Himself taught, saying: 'Father, forgive them.' 2 Then we scorn with all our soul even all the riches of the world, and cheerfully endure ridicule and disgrace, as He said: 'If someone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take us his cross, and follow me.' 3 Saint Bede, Commentary On The First Letter of Saint John, Chapter 2 1 1 Jn 2.5 2 Lk 23.34 3 Lk 9.23

The Command Of Love

Quam affectuose, quam sincere, quam suaviter, quam dulciter Deum diligere tenearis, Dominus per Moysen docet dicens: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et ex tota mente tua, hoc Dei praeceptum exactissimam observantiae necessitatem sibi habet implicitam, Potest equidem aliquis excusare, quod vigilare, jejunare, aut laborare idoneus non sit, sed nullus excusare se potest, quod amare non possit. De virginitate datur consilium, non praecepium. Qui potest, inquit Dominus, capere capiat. Et apostolus: De virginibus quidem praeceptum non habeo, consilium autem do. Caritas autem a Deo praecipitur, ipsiusque praeceptum fortiter et obnixe, et sub interminatione poenali, cordibus humanis indicitur. Mandavit equidem hoc mandatum Dominus custodiri nimis: et ut ipsum cordibus nostris altius, quam clavum infigeret, velut crebros ictus, saepius inculcavit prius ut diligeremus ex tota corde, postea subjungit quod ex tota anima, demum adjecit, quod ex tota virtute nostra. Vide, quia clavus aut stimulus est hoc praeceptum. Nam sicut Salomon dicit: Verba sapientiae stimuli sunt, et quasi clavi in altum defixi. Nonne plusquam stimulis est, aut clavus sermo Dei vivus, et efficax, et penetrabilior omni gladio ancipiti ? Sane duritia cordis nostri hanc exigebat inculcationis instantiam, ut hoc praeceptum ad nostrorum cordium interiora transiret: sicut duro stipiti clavus crebra percussione infigitur, donec interius adigatur. Expediebat etiam nobis, quorum corda mundanus amor infecerat, et interius animae latebras obtinebat, ut ejiceretur foras exulans a corde nostro, ut in Deo maneret, et Deus in eo. Petrus Blenensis, De Caritate Dei et Proximi, Cap. XXV Source: Migne PL 207.924c-925a

With what affection, with what sincerity, with what sweetness and delight, one should hold to the love of God, the Lord teaches through Moses, saying: 'You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole mind,' 1 which command of God emphasises the extreme neccesity of its observance. Certainly someone may excuse himself that he is not capable of vigils and fasts and labours, but no one is able to excuse himself from being unable to love. Concerning virginity counsel is given, not a command. 'He who is able,' says the Lord, 'let him receive it.' 2 And the Apostle says: 'Regarding virgins I have no command, but I will give counsel.' 3  But love is ordained by God with a strong and emphatic commandment and it is proclaimed to human hearts under threat of punishment. Certainly the Lord commands that this commandment be kept strictly, and that it be fixed more deeply in our hearts than a nail with repeated blows, and so frequently He first insists that we should love 'with the whole heart', and then He adds, 'with the whole soul,' and finally he adds, 'with the whole of our strength.' Note that this command is a nail and goad. For as Solomon says: 'The words of the wise are goads, and as a nail deeply fixed.' 4 What is more of a nail and goad than the living word of God which is effective and cuts more deeply than any sword? 5 Truly the hardness of our hearts demands this insistent command, that the precept might pass into the interior, as a nail is fixed into hard wood by repeated blows, until it is driven within. Indeed it was to our advantage, who had a worldly love infused in the heart, one which had gained the inner chambers of the soul, that it was cast out and exiled from our hearts, so that the heart remain in God and God in it. 6 Peter of Blois, On Love Of God And One's Neighbour, Chap 25 1 Deut 6.5, Mt 22.37, Lk 10.27 2 Mt 19.12 3 1 Cor 7.25 4 Eccl 12.11 5 Heb 4.12 6 cf 1 Jn 4.16

Signs Of Virtue And Love

Μεγάλη ἀρετὴ, τὸ υπομένειν τὰ ἐπερχόμενα, καὶ ἀγαπᾷν τοὺς μισοῦντας, κατὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Κυρίου. Ἀγάπης δὲ ἀνυποκρίτου τεκμήριον, ἀδικημάτων συγχώρησις. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Τῶν Οἰομένων Ἐξ Ἔργων Δικαιοῦσθαι Source: MignePG 65.937a

A great virtue it is to endure what befalls one and to love those who hate you, according to the word of the Lord. 1 And proof of love is honesty and forgiveness of injury. Saint Mark The Ascetic, On Those Who Think Themselves Justified By Works 1 Mt 5.41

The Good Of Hate

Odivi congregationem malignorum, et cum impiis non sedebo. Minus fuerat sancto viro malum vitasse concilium, nisi et congregationem odisset omnimodis subdolorum. Odium enim signifcat divisionem, sicut est in amore collegium. Et cum superius se dixerit in vanitatis concilio non sedisse, modo se profitetur cum impiis non sedere. Utrumque quidem erat omnino deserendum. Sed alii sunt vani, alii impii. Vani sunt qui caducis inquisitionibus occupantur, et in superflua tempus narratione consumunt. Impii autem, haeretici, qui quaestionibus perfidis Scripturas divinas depravare contendunt, sicut Petrus apostolus ait: Depravantes eas ad suum interitum et perditionem. Hos ergo utrosque jure monet esse fugiendos, quia illi superfluitates diligunt, ista tale perversitatis infigunt. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus XXV Source: Migne PG 70.184c-d

I have hated the gathering of the wicked and with the impious I have not sat. 1 Hardly may the good man have avoided wicked counsel unless he has hated such a gathering with all its evil ways. For hatred signifies division, as in love there is fraternity. And when before he says of himself that he has not sat in the council of vanity, 2 so it profits him not to sit with the impious. Certainly he fled both. But the vain are one thing, the impious another. The vain are those who are occupied in vain enquiries, and in wasting time with pointless talking. The impious however, are heretics, who with treacherous questions endeavour to corrupt the Holy Scriptures, as Peter the Apostle says: 'Corrupting them to their own ruin and destruction.' 3 Both of these, therefore, he rightly warns us to flee, those who love needless things, and those who cleave to perversities. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, Psalm 25 1 Ps 25.5 2 Ps 25.4 3 2 Pet 3.16

Work And Wealth

Ὁ ἐργαζόμενος τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γῆν πλησθήσεται ἄρτων ὁ δὲ διώκων σχολὴν πλησθήσεται πενίας Ὁ καθαίρων ἑαυτον ἐκ τῶν παθῶν, καὶ ἐργαζόμενος τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ, τοῦ ψυχοτρόφου ἄρτου σοφίας καὶ γνώσεως Θεου ἐμλησθήσεται· ὁ δὲ διώκων σχολὴν τοῦ μὴ ποιεῖν τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ, πλησθήσεται πενίας. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Παροιμίας, Κεφ ΚΘ' Source: Migne PG 17.245a

He who works the earth fills himself with bread and he who pursues leisure shall be filled with poverty. 1 He who in cleansing himself of the passions, labours over the commandments of God, he feeds the soul with the bread of wisdom and is filled with the knowledge of God. But he who pursues leisure, neglecting the commandments of God, he shall be filled with poverty. Origen, On Proverbs, Fragment 1 Prov 28.19

Leisure And Works

Ὅτι ἡ ἀργία ἀρχή κακουργίας τοῖς ἀπαιδεύτοις γίνεται, καὶ αὐτὸς συνομολογεῖς, καὶ ὅτι μὴ ἔχοντες τί πρᾶξαι οἱ Ἐβραῖοι ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ εἰς εἰδελατρίαν ἐξέπεσαν, γινώσκεις. Μὴ οὖν βδελύττου τὸ ἔργον τὸ τῶν χειρῶν, ὅτι ὠφέλιμον, καὶ πάνυ νηφάλιον. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΤΙ' Ἐλλαδιῳ Ἀναγνωστῃ Source: Migne PG 79.195 a-b

That idleness is the beginning of evil works to the uneducated, you will allow, and you know that having no work to do the Hebrews in the desert fell into idol worship. Do not, then, despise manual work, for it is useful and indeed sensible. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 310, To Helladius the Lector

Care In Giving

Tῷ αἰτοῦντί σε δός, καὶ τὸν θέλοντα ἀπὸ σοῦ δανίσασθαι μὴ ἀποστραφῇς. Ἔσο, φησὶν, ὁ Χριστὸς, μὴ πρὸς τὸ λαμβάνειν ἔτοιμος, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ διδόναι. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ χωρίζει ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ Θεοῦ· τὸ δὲ συνάπτειν πέφυκε· καὶ μάλιστα ὅταν ὁ αἰτῶν ἄξιος τυγχάνῃ, καὶ δικαία ἡ αἴτησις. Οὐκ ἐπὶ ψιλῆς τῆς λέξεως πρέπει ἴστασθαι, ἀλλὰ τὸν σκοπὸν τῆς ἐντολῆς ἐξετάζειν ἀκριβῶς. Οὔτε γὰρ παντὶ αἰτοῦντι κελεύει διδόναι, κἂν μὴ ἔχῃ τις· ἀδύνατον γάρ· οὔτε μὴν ἐὰν ἔχοι, αἰτοίη δέ τις κακῶς· χείρων γὰρ ἡ δόσις, ὅταν ὁ μὲν πρὸς ἀσέλγειαν αἰτῇ, σὺ δὲ παρασχῇς ὕλην τῆς τοιαύτης ἀκολασίας διδούς. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον Source: Migne PG 72.381a-b

Give to him who asks, and do not turn away from him who would borrow from you. 1 Be not eager to receive but to give, Christ says. For the former separates us from God and the latter draws us to Him. And certainly when he who seeks is worthy, and it is a righteous request. Not in mere words alone does it befit this to stand, rather the scope of the command should be carefully scrutinised. He does not command that we give to everyone who asks, for if someone does not possess, he is not capable of giving, nor is it possible for him who does have, if it is sought wickedly. For worse is the giving, when someone seeks for crime, and you give to him the matter for his wickedness. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 5.42

Producing Goods And Evils

Ὥσπερ τὰς ἀρετὰς πόνοι καὶ ἀτιμία, οὕτω καὶ τὰς κακίας ἡδοναὶ καὶ δόξαι τίκτειν εἰώθασι. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Τῶν Οἰομένων Ἐξ Ἔργων Δικαιοῦσθαι Source: MignePG 65.953a

As labours and dishonour are accustomed to bring forth virtues, so pleasures and glory evils Saint Mark The Ascetic, On Those Who Think Themselves Justified By Works

The Descent of God

Descendit ut videret. Descendere Deus dicitur quando se sensibus vel operibus commodat humanis, sicut ad Moysen dixit: Videns vidi afflictionem populi mei, et descendi liberare eos. Et de Sodomitis dictum est: Descendam, et videbo utrum eum clamorem qui venit ad me opere compleverint. Et nota in sequentibus hic mysterium Trinitatis commendari, cum dicit: Descendamus et confundamus. Mystice turris haec mundi superbiam signat, sive etiam elationem haereticorum quit turrim pravi dogmatis contra Deum volunt aedificare. Quae merito turris Babel, id est confusionis appellatur. Profecti sunt autem de Oriente, quia verum solem reliquerunt. Invenerunt campum Senaar, qui interpretatur fetor vel excussio dentium, quia dogmata haereticorum non bonum Christi odorem, sed fetorem habent, et amiserunt dentes quibus cibos verbi Dei commolerent. Remigius Antissiodorensis, Commentarius In Genesim, Cap XI Source: Migne PL 131.81c-d

He descended that He might see. 1 God is said to descend when He turns to human minds and works, as He said to Moses: 'I have seen the affliction of my people, and I have come down to liberate them.' 2 And concerning Sodom He says: 'I shall descend and I shall see whether the clamour that comes to me suits the work.' 3 And note the commendation of the mystery of the Trinity in what follows, when He says, 'Let us descend and let us confound.' Spiritually the tower signifies the pride of the world, or indeed the elation of heretics who wish to build a tower of depraved teaching against God. Which is rightly called 'the tower of Babel,' that is, confusion. 'And they came from the east,' because they have forsaken the true sun. 'They came upon the plain of Shinar,' 4 which some interpretate 'fetor', or 'a breaking of teeth,' because the teachings of heretics have no good scent of Christ, 5 but a stench, and they lose their teeth by which they chewed the bread of the word of God. Remigius of Auxerre, Commentary On Genesis, Chap 11 1 Gen 11.5 2 Exod 3.8 3 Gen 18.21 4 Gen 11.2 5 cf 2 Cor 2.14-16

Babylon And Philosophy

Et tradidit Dominus in manu eius Ioacim regem Iuda. Quodque traditus scribitur Ioacim, monstrat non adversariorum fortitudinis fuisse victoriam, sed Domini voluntatis. Et partem vasorum domus Dei, et asportavit ea in terram Sennaar, in domum Dei sui, et vasa intulit in domum thesauri Dei sui. Terra Sennaar locus est Babylonis in quo fuit campus Dura, et turris quam usque coelum hi qui ab Oriente moverant pedes suos, aedificare conati sunt. Unde et a confusione linguarum locus nomen accepit Babylon, quae in linguam nostram tranfertur confusio. Simul et animadvertendum secundum anagogen, quod rex Babylonis non potuerit universa Dei vasa transferre, et in idolio quod sibi finxerat collocare, sed partem vasorum domus Dei, quae intelligenda sunt dogmata veritatis. Si enim cunctos philosophorum revolvas libros, necesse est ut in eis reperias aliquam partem vasorum Dei. Ut apud Platonem, fabricatorem mundi Deum, ut apud Zenonem Stoicorum principem, inferos et immortales animas, et unum bonum, honestatem; sed quia iungunt mendacium veritati, et naturae bonum multis perdunt malis, ideo partem vasorum domus Dei, et non omnia vasa integra atque perfecta cepisse memorantur. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum in Daniel, Caput I Source:  Migne PL 25.498d-449a

And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand. 1 Since it is written that Jehoiakim was given, it shows that victory was not on account of the adversary's strength, but by the will of the Lord. And a part of the vessels of the Lord he brought to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he placed the vessels in the house of the treasury of his god. 1 The land of Shinar is a place of Babylon in which was plain of Dura and the tower which they tried to build to heaven, those ones who marched from the east. 2 Whence from the confusion of tongues the place received the name of Babylon, which translated into our tongue is 'confusion'. 3 At the same time one must attend to the anagogical meaning, that the king of Babylon was not able to bear off all the vessels of God, and having gathered them fashion them into idols for himself, but only a part of the vessels of the house of God, by which should be understood the teachings of truth. For if you should unroll all the works of the philosophers, it is inevitable that in them you shall find some part of the vessels of God. So in Plato there is a god who is the creator of the world, and in Zeno, the head of the Stoics, there are inferior and immortal souls, and one good, righteousness. But because they join a lie to truth and ruin the good of nature with many evils, therefore they are recorded as having seized only a part of the vessels of the house of God, and not every perfect and clean one. Saint Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, Chapter 1 1 Dan 1.2 2 Gen 11.1-9 3 Understood presently to be from the native 'Bābilim', meaning 'gate of the god(s)'

Farmers And Workers Of The Earth

Et coepit Noe homo agricola esse terrae. Videtur quidem prima specie Adae illi qui de terra factus est, comparari Noe vir justus; quia et de illo scriptum est quod de paradiso ejectus coeperit operari terram: de isto quoque quoniam egressus ex arca factus sit agricola. Et propemodum in utroque praecesserat quaedam forma diluvii, quia et Noe post diluvium, et Adam post mundi constitutionem secundum figmentum corporis. Nam ut mundus fieret, congregata est aqua in unam congregationem, ut videretur terra quae ante non poterat per aquarum confusionem videri. Ergo sicut ille primigenes magister terram videtur operatus, ita etiam egressus ex arca Noe seminationis et culturae auctor est factus. Haec putantur similia: sed si verba consideres quae jam vim sensus altioris exprimunt, aliud est operatorem terrae esse, aliud agricolam. Alius enim tamquam mercenarii, alius tamquam patrisfamilias loco fungitur. Denique Cain qui fratrem occidit, erat operarius terrae. Et ut scias quia operari terram magis servile quam liberum sit, maledicto parricidalis ejus operatio comprehenditur. Denique scriptum est: Quoniam operaberis terram, et non augebit virtutem suam dare tibi: gemens et tremens eris super terram. Terra autem caro nostra est quam improbus operatur, bonus autem excolit. Ille quasi mercedem quaerat e terra; iste quasi bonae fructus capiat et gratiam disciplinae; ut magis fructiferum faciat agrum suum, et qui Domini possit respondere culturis, et indulgentiam cultoris ostendat. Operator autem quid aliud nisi escam tantummodo corporis sui quaerit, ventris magis usui studens, atque id solum explicare contentus, quod sibi prodesse possit ad victum? Ille vero alius fructuum utilitate pascitur. Quos fructus habeat justus agnoscis. Fructus autem spiritus, charitas, gaudium, pax, patientia, bonitas. Bonus ergo agricola habet continentiam, castitatem, ut si quae arbores cito curvantur in terram, et effusius germinant, eas velut quadam temperantiae suae falce succidat, ut abjiciant quod infirmum est, germinent quod decorum. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Noe et Arca, Caput XXIX Source: Migne PL 14.409b-410c

And Noah became a farmer of the earth. 1 It seems at first that this is a likness of that Adam who was made from earth, to whom the righteous man Noah is compared, because concerning the first it is written that being cast out of paradise he began to work the earth, 2 and also this man coming out of the ark was made a farmer. And near enough both were preceded by a certain type of deluge, Noah after his flood, and Adam after the establishment of the world according to the body, because so that the world might be, the waters were gathered into one place, that the earth appear, which was not able to before amid the confusion of the waters. Therefore as that first born teacher seems to have worked, so indeed coming out of the ark Noah was an author of the sowing of seed and farming. These things are thought to be similar, but if you consider the words, they will express a higher meaning, for a worker of the earth is one thing, and a farmer another. One is as a hireling, the other is as one who performs his duty as father of a family. Then Cain, who murdered his brother, was a worker of the earth. And that you know that to work the earth is more servile than to be a free man, his work is bound up in the the curse of the kin slayer. Then it is written: 'Because you will work the earth and it will not give its strength to you, but in groaning and in fear you shall be on the earth. 3 The earth is our flesh which as one wicked works, but he who is good cultivates. The former as a hireling seeks from the earth, the latter would gain the good fruits and the grace of discipline, so that he might make his field more fruitful, and he who is able to answer to the Lord for farming, he shall show the cares of the farmer. For what is a hireling but he who seeks food for his body alone, desiring the employment of his stomach more than all, and is not happy unless it is full; how would restraint profit such a fellow? The latter pastures for the utility of another. And what fruits the just man shall have, you know. The fruits of the spirit, charity, joy, peace, patience, and benevolence. The good farmer thus has continence, chastity, that if some trees sudddenly bend down to earth to pour out their seed, he with a certain sickle of temperance cuts them back, that he cut off what is weak, and they germinate what is fitting. Saint Ambrose, Noah and the Ark, Chapter 29 1 Gen 9.20 2 Gen 3.23 3 Gen 4.12