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"Abraham moved from there to the southern land, and dwelt between Kadesh and Sour, sojourning at Gerar."'
AM PLEASED [413] to see you hurrying to listen and | receiving our instruction with great relish. For this reason I for my part make it my concern to set before you this meager table, the little I have to offer, with greater enthusiasm each day. [414] Your keen appetite disguises the meager quality of the meal and makes the scraps appear lavish. You can observe this in the case of material food, too: when someone has guests that are already satiated, even if food of great variety and large amount is offered, the condition of the guests undercuts the richness of the food, and wonderful dishes seem worthy of no consideration for the reason that the guests set to without relish. Likewise when one invites to supper guests that are hungry and have an appetite, even if he lays a meager table it seems abundant owing to the anticipation of the guests who fall upon the dishes with great relish. In just the same way we too have confidence in your spiritual appetite and do not hang back, even if we have a poor and meager table, before laying it in customary manner before your good selves. This is what a certain sage also remarked: "Better a meal of vegetables with love than a beast from the manger with enmity,"? suggesting that love has a different view of what is set forth, and to its eyes ordinary things appear rich and scraps seem generous.
(2) So what better fortune could anyone have than ourselves as we address so many listeners and meet such a warm
1. Gen 20.1.
2. Prov 15.17, where Chrysostom's version approximates more closely than the LXX to the Hebrew.
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and attentive response? The speaker, after all, requires nothing so urgently as approval of the listener. You see, when he sees the lively enthusiasm of the audience, he for his part is buoyed up and gains greater strength, as it were, in the knowledge that the more he spreads this spiritual table, so much the more his own well-being is enhanced. Spiritual things, after all, are opposite to material things; in the latter case generosity at table involves expense and reduces the substance of the host, whereas in the former it is directly opposite, the increase in our prosperity occurring to the extent of the numbers taking part. You see, they are not our words that we are speaking but whatever the grace of God in his characteristic love supplies for your upbuilding.* So come now, since you give yourselves to listening with such relish and enthusiasm, let us make a study of the words read by us just now and reap some benefit from them. I mean, since according to the wonderful directive in Christ's words, "Study the Scriptures,"* there is great treasure contained in the Scriptures and hidden in their depths, there is need of study for the purpose of discovering the power concealed in their depths so that we may succeed in finding great benefit there.
(3) The reason, in fact, that the grace of the Spirit arranged for the virtues of all good people to be handed down was that we might have a consistent instruction and might order our own life in the direction of zealous imitation of these good people.> So let us heed what Sacred Scripture wishes today also to outline to us about the patriarch. "Abraham moved from there to the southern land," the text goes
3. Again Chrysostom's conviction of inspiration, its extent and effects: it is not simply the Scriptures that are inspired but also the scriptural homilist, and the beneficiaries of inspiration are the listeners—all as a result of God's loving kindness.
4. John 5.39, a verse that Chrysostom cites frequently as the motto of the exegetical school of Antioch that, unlike its counterpart at Alexandria, saw the scriptural text not as a point of departure but as a challenge to deeper investigation.
5For Chrysostom the Bible is a hagiographical text, a moral compendium useful for instructing in good behavior, rather than a dogmatic outline of divine purpose; he does not follow his model, Paul, in finding the mystery of Christ sketched out in its pages.
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47] on, "and dwelt between Kadesh and Sour, sojourning at Gerar." Moved on from where? From the place where he was camped, where he was given the privilege of hosting the Lord of all with the angels.® Moving from there, the text says, "he sojourned in Gerar." Notice the life of these good people, how restrained and austere it was, how they shifted place with ease and conducted their life like pilgrims or nomads, pitching their tent at one time in this place, [415] at another in that, as though living in a strange land—unlike us, who live in a strange land as though in our home country, erecting extravagant mansions, porches and covered walks, possessing land, building baths and countless other luxuries.
(4) By contrast see the good man holding all his possessions in his household and flocks alone, and never staying in one place but at one time pitching his tent in Bethel, at another by the oak of Mambre, at another going down to Egypt, and now camping at Gerar, submitting to all this with ease and giving clear evidence in every way of gratitude to his own
Lord. Despite such wonderful promises and guarantees given him by God, he saw himself beset by such imposing difficulties and encountering such varied and differing trials; yet he stood unshaken like some piece of steel, showing his godly attitude and proving no less resolute in any of the problems surrounding him. See in the present instance too, dearly beloved, the kind of trial that befell him at Gerar and the wonderful caliber of the just man's virtue, how what everyone else found unbearable and could not bring themselves to accept he put up with without complaint and without demanding from the Lord explanation of what happened, as many people do, even though weighed down with countless burdens of sin. When they encounter some difficulties they become meddlesome and inquisitive, saying, Why has this or that happened? The just man, on the contrary, didn't behave like
6. It is a sound exegetical question Chrysostom puts to the text: he realizes it is not speaking of Lot's location in the previous chapter; yet lacking awareness of the diversity of strands to the narrative he opts for the situation of ch. 18 rather than the preference of modern commentators in seeing the E document of ch. 15 now being resumed.
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that; hence he enjoyed greater favor from on high. This, after all, is truly the mark of a dutiful servant, not to pry into reasons for what is done by the master but to accept everything in silence and with deep thanks.
(5) Consider how also through the very trials that ensued the just man's virtue became more resplendent, as God rendered him conspicuous in every way. You see, just as he was a stranger, unknown to anyone when he went down into Egypt, but suddenly returned from there with great notoriety, so in the present instance while sojourning at Gerar he relies on his own resources at the outset but later enjoys such wonderful assistance from God that the king and all the inhabitants of the place go to great pains to attend to the just man. "Now, Abraham said about his wife Sarrah," the text goes on, "'She is my sister.' For he was afraid to say, She is my wife, in case the men of the city should kill him on account of her."' See how the just man's spirit is beset with the most violent feelings, and fear overwhelms him. Yet while it is true that his former fear, the fear of losing his wife, was extremely distressing, the fear of death overcame it. For to dispel that fear, he was prepared to see with his own eyes the one who shared his very life fall into the hands of the king.
Now, how unbearable this is, those who have wives know.
Hence also a sage has said, "Rage comes to a man from jealousy; he will have no mercy on the day of revenge nor will his hatred be appeased by any offering."'* But see how on account of the fear of death the just man nobly bore this heavy trial so intolerable to everyone.®
(6) This is the way things happen with bodily passions: when two of them at the one time affect our body, the intensity of the one cancels out the other so that we are completely preoccupied with its pain and often have [416] no sensation
7. Gen 20.2. The LXX adds the explanatory sentence not found in the Hebrew, perhaps under the influence of the similar incident in Egypt in Ghigi2s 8. Prov 6.34—-35. g. Again, as in ch. 12, one wonders if Chrysostom has tongue in cheek in presenting cowardice in the guise of noble fortitude.
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of the other, as the stronger pain overwhelms us and does not allow us to feel anything of the lesser one. In just the same way, too, this just man in the present instance saw the fear of death affecting him and considered all other things tolerable.
But when you hear this, dearly beloved, don't judge the just man guilty of faintheartedness for fearing death; marvel instead at the surpassing love shown us by the Lord of all in the fact that Christ has now made an object of scorn that death which in those times was dreaded by those good and holy people, and what those virtuous people feared even while having a wonderful confidence in God is now despised by youths and tender maids. It is no longer death, you see, but a dream and departure, a change from a worse life to a better. The death of our Lord, in fact, has granted us freedom from death, and by descending into hell he has broken its bonds and crippled its force; what was fearful and cruel he has rendered so much an object of scorn that some people rush forward in haste to their departure from here. Hence
Paul also shouts aloud, "To depart and to be with Christ is far better."!° (7) This, however, is the present situation, after the coming of Christ, after the breaking down of the iron doors, after the Sun of Justice has shone throughout the entire world. But in those days death still bore a terrible aspect and shook the resolve of those just men—hence they easily bore all other things, even if these happened to be unbearable. For this reason this just man was also afraid of the plotting of the inhabitants of Gerar, and in making his stay there he introduced
Sarrah not as his wife but as his sister. As God allowed him to go down into Egypt in his wish for those unresponsive and unperceptive people to learn the just man's virtue, so in this case, too, the Lord gives evidence of his characteristic forbearance so that the just man's endurance as well may be conspicuous in every way and God's favor in his regard may be obvious to everyone.
(8) "But Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent someone to bring To.) Phila.
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Sarrah to him." Consider, I ask you, the turmoil in his thinking suffered by the just man on seeing his wife being taken off without being able to help in any way. In fact, he bore everything in silence, knowing that the Lord was not ignoring him but would provide prompt assistance. Sarrah's great affection is also to be marveled at in wishing that the good man be rescued from danger of death; after all, she could have revealed the subterfuge and escaped the outrage that was being connived at. Instead, she endured everything in noble fashion so as to secure the just man's welfare. She fulfilled that prediction, "The two will become one flesh."'' In other words, being one flesh they cared for each other's welfare and gave evidence of such harmony as to be one body and one soul.
(g) Let husbands heed this, let wives heed it: wives, so as to give evidence of such great affection for their husbands, and put nothing ahead of their own welfare; and husbands, that they might show their wives great regard and do everything as though having one soul and being one body. This, after all, is true wedlock, when such harmony operates between them, when there is such close relationship, when they are bound together in such love. You see, just as a body would never be at odds with itself nor a soul at odds with itself, so husband and wife should not [417] be at odds but united.
Then also, in fact, countless blessings will be able to overflow for them. I mean, where there is such harmony, there is a concert of all blessings, there is peace, there is love, there is spiritual joy; no war, no fighting, no hostility or hatred—instead, all these are absent, all these are removed by the root of those blessings, namely, harmony.
(10) "But Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent someone to bring Sarrah to him. God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said, 'Lo, you are going to die on account of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.'"'!? See God's loving kindness: when he saw the just man through fear of death nobly bearing Sarrah's removal and the king thus regarding
1a Gen 2.245
12. Gen 20.2-3.
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her as the good man's sister, then he gives evidence of his characteristic providence in rendering the good man more conspicuous, freeing Sarrah from outrage and preventing the king's crime. "God came to Abimelech in a dream by night."
Wishing to forestall his lawlessness he brought realization to his mind at that time, the time of dreaming, the text says, shed light on what had escaped his notice, and instilled into him a deep fear by threatening him with death. "'You are going to die," the text says, remember, "'on account of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.' Now, Abimelech had not laid a hand on her."
(11) Now, all this happened so that God's promise to the patriarch might take effect. You see, a little earlier he had promised him the birth of Isaac, and now the time was near; so in case there should be any threat to the promise he instilled such fear into Abimelech that he was too frightened to dare to lay a hand on Sarrah. This is the reason, in fact, that Sacred Scripture added, "Abimelech had not laid a hand on her"; instead, he apologized for his rashness and said, "Will you destroy an innocent people for what they did not know?'"!%
I didn't do this, he is saying, in the knowledge that she was his wife, did I? I mean, I didn't intend to wrong the foreigner, did I? It was as his sister that I was about to take her and I did what I did, thinking that he would also be honored in her. So "'will you destroy an innocent people for what they did not know?'" Are you going to destroy me, he says, for having acted in good faith?
(12) Then, to make clearer what he said, he added, ""Was it not he that said to me, She is my sister, and did she not say to me, He is my brother?'"'* Consider how they enjoyed harmony and consensus: he said this to me, he explained, and she agreed with what was said by him. "'I acted in good faith and with clean hands,'" he said, not as though on the point of committing some crime; rather, I did something sanctioned by law and in keeping with it, without any blame. So what was the response of the loving Lord? "But God spoke
13. Gen 20.4.
14. Gen 20.5.
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to him in a dream."! See how much considerateness the Lord of all employs in giving evidence of his characteristic goodness in every way. "'I knew that you acted in good faith.'" I realize, he is saying, that they themselves brought on this situation and that you acted under a false impression created by what they said; in case you should sin as a result of their deceit, "'I prevented you from sinning against me.'"
(13) Wonderful the considerateness of the expression, extraordinary the Lord's loving kindness. The sin would have been directed against me, he says. You see, just as with human beings, when someone delivers an insult to one of the servants who enjoys [418] his master's great regard, the master takes the insult as done to himself and says, You committed an outrage against me by this ill treatment meted out to my servant, so in the same way the good Lord too said, "'I prevented you from sinning against me.'" They are in fact my servants, he says, and I take good care of them in this way by treating what is done to them as done to myself, be it good or ill. "'For this reason I didn't allow you to lay a hand on her.'" Since I care greatly for them, and I was aware that it was in ignorance that you were about to commit this outrage on them, I prevented you from sinning against me.'" Don't just pay attention to this man as any one of a number, but come to understand that he is one of those dear to my heart and particularly close to me.
(14) "'So restore the man's wife to him, because he is a prophet; he will pray for you, and you will live.'"!® See how he reveals the good man's virtue; he calls him a prophet as though to make the king his suppliant: "'He will pray for you, and you will live,'" the text says. In other words, fearful of death at your hands, he planned this stratagem and more or less connived at the outrage against Sarrah; on the other hand, realize that his prayers will win you your life.
(15) Then, in case he should be inflamed with desire and overcome by Sarrah's beauty and should scorn the com15. Gen 20.6.
16. Gen 20.7. Chrysostom's LXX text employs anthrépos as "man" in association with guné, "woman," "wife," as correlatives.
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mands, he aggravated his fear by promising to inflict worse punishment. "'If in fact you do not restore her, realize that death will come upon you and all that is yours,'" the text goes on. Not only will you personally be punished for your disobedience, he is saying, but as well death will carry off on your account all that is yours. Now, this was the reason that God told him all this at night time, so that he might receive the warning in peace and quiet and carry out the direction with great fear. "First thing in the morning," the text goes on,
"Abimelech arose, summoned his attendants and reported to them all these words."!7 See how the king now becomes a herald of the just man's virtue, bringing him to the notice of everyone. Summoning all his attendants, the text says, note, he narrated to them everything revealed to him by God so that all might know both God's favor towards him and the providence accorded by the Lord on account of virtuous behavior.
(16) "But all the people were very frightened." Do you see how it was not idly or to no purpose that the good man had shifted place? I mean, had he remained at his former encampment, how would all the people of Gerar have been able to realize the degree of favor he enjoyed from God? "But all the people were very frightened." A great fear fell on them; they worried about everything. Then "Abimelech summoned
Abraham," the text goes on. Consider, I ask you, the degree of notoriety with which the just man is now brought into the presence of the king after being treated a little before as beneath contempt, in the manner of a vagabond and stranger.
When everyone is assembled in haste, the patriarch is summoned, for the time being ignorant of all this, and he then learns from the king in person what has happened to him on his account at God's hands. "He said to him," remember,
"Why did you do this to us? What offense did we give you to cause you to bring such a great sin on me and my kingdom? You have done to us a deed no one else would do. What
° did you have in mind in doing it?'"'® 17. Gen 20.8, 18. Gen 20.9—10.
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
(17) What was the reason, he asked, that you wanted to embroil me in such a terrible sin? What on earth did you have in mind in doing it? See how he shows by his own words the threat delivered against him by God. You see, since God had said to him, "'If you do not restore her, death will come upon you and all that is yours,'" [419] Abimelech interprets this very thing in saying, "'What offense did I give you to cause you to bring such a great sin on me and my kingdom?'" I mean, surely the extent of the punishment did not stop at me? My whole kingdom was set to be utterly destroyed through the deception you contrived. "'So what did you have in mind in doing it?'"
(18) Notice at this point, dearly beloved, the just man's noble purpose in presenting them with a lesson in the knowledge of God under the guise of an explanation. "'I said to myself,' the text goes on, remember, "'Surely there is no respect for God in this place, and they will kill me on account of my wife.'"!® I was concerned, he is saying, that as a result of being still held in ignorance you would have no regard for justice, and so I made allowance for the fact that when you discovered she was my wife you would, out of lust, have wanted to kill me—that was the reason I did it. See how in a few words he both takes them to task and at the same time teaches them that the person who has God uppermost in mind ought commit no crime, but rather fear that unsleeping eye and in view of the heavy judgment impending from that source have regard for justice.
(19) Then, from a wish to make excuses for himself, he said, Don't think I lied to you in that way; "'She is my sister on my father's side, though not my mother's, and she became my wife all the same.'"*° She claims the same father as I, he says, and hence I called her my sister. So don't condemn me:
1g. Gen 20.11. De Montfaucon gravely condemns Chrysostom at this point for misrepresenting Abraham's view of Abimelech as irreligious whereas the text shows him otherwise. In so doing De Montfaucon seems to have succumbed to the temptation of editor turning textual commentator: it is the "misjudgment" not of Chrysostom but of the Abraham of the text.
20. Gen 20.12.
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even if the fear of death brought me to this sorry pass and the dread of your killing me but sparing her, still what was said by me was not a lie in the way you imply. See what great pains the good man takes to show that he had not told a lie even in this matter. For you to learn everything precisely from me (he is saying), listen also to the plan we formed between us "'when God led me out from my father's home.'"?!
Observe in this case, I ask you, the good man's wisdom in teaching them by way of story telling that from the very beginning he had a special relationship with God, and that God had personally moved him from home and led him thither so that the king might learn that he was one of those people who had great confidence in God.
(20) "'When God led me out from my father's house,'" he said, "'I said to her, Please do me this kindness: whatever place we enter, say, He is my brother.'" You see, since he had said previously, remember, "'I said to myself, Surely there is no respect for God in this place,'" and decided to take them severely to task, in his desire to mitigate the severity of his remarks he then said, Don't think we came to this decision to do this on your account only. In fact, "'as soon as God led me out from my father's house I said to her, Please do me this kindness in whatever place we enter.'" I gave this direction to her, he said, about all the people inhabiting this country; he taught them that the pretense was free from deceit.
It was the fear of death, after all, that drove us to it. With such words the good man subdued their wrath, revealed his own virtue and instilled into them adequate instruction in religion. So the king respected the just man's great restraint, and he rewarded the patriarch with generosity on his part.
"Abimelech took a thousand didrachma," the text goes on, remember, "sheep and cattle, male and female slaves, and [420] restored to him his wife Sarrah as well."
(21) Do you see, dearly beloved, God's inventive wisdom? I mean, the man who was fearful of death, and took every
21. Gen 20.13.
22. Gen 20.14. The Hebrew leaves until v. 16 mention of the money.
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
means to be able to avoid it, not only did avoid it but was granted as well great confidence and became immediately famous. This, you see, is the way things are with God: not only does he deliver from distress those who make every effort to strive boldly against the onset of temptation, but he also guarantees them such serenity in this very distress that we have complete tranquility and achieve great material prosperity.
See now the attention of the king to the just man: not only does he show his regard with so many gifts but he also grants him the right to occupy the land. "'Behold,'" he said, "'my land is before you; settle wherever you please.'"** You see, once he had learned that it was on his account and through his prayers that his life had been spared, he was anxious now to shower attention in this way on him, as a benefactor and champion, the man who was a stranger, a vagabond, one completely unknown.
(22) The text goes on, "He said to Sarrah, on the other hand, 'Behold, I have given your brother a thousand didrachma.'"*4 See how, having received information from the just man and trusting in his words, he too calls him her brother. "'What I have given your brother,'" he says, " 'will restore your reputation; tell the whole truth.'" What is the meaning of "'restore your reputation; tell the whole truth'"?
For trying in ignorance to take you, the just man's wife, into my household, for this alone I have given a thousand didrachma for being guilty of offense, and I want to amend what I have done to you. But "'tell the whole truth' "—what is the meaning of " 'tell the whole truth'"? Let everyone learn from you, he says, that nothing wrong was done by me, that you emerged untouched from my house. Instruct your husband, he says, that I am guiltless of sin; let him learn from you that nothing was done by me. Now, why did he say this?
So that the good man, on learning it from her, might be quite satisfied and so ply the Lord with prayers on his behalf.
29, Gen 20.15.
24. Gen 20.16. The text of the remainder of the verse differs in the Hebrew and LXX, as also in Chrysostom, who struggles (of course) to rationalize it.
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(23) In fact, when he said, " "Tell the whole truth,'" that is to say, Instruct your husband as to what happened, Scripture immediately added, "Abraham prayed to God. God gave Abimelech the gift of full health for his wife and maidservants so that they gave birth; he had completely closed every womb in the house of Abimelech on account of Sarrah, Abraham's wife."?> See how the Lord wishes in every way to render the Just man conspicuous, and so he answers the patriarch's prayers by granting him the welfare of the king and all in his house. "Abraham prayed to God," the text says, remember.
"God gave Abimelech the gift of full health for his wife and maidservants so that they gave birth; the Lord had completely closed every womb in the house of Abimelech." The reason why the good Lord inflicted this penalty on the king, guiltless though he was of sin, was that he might accede to the just man's prayers and thus resolve the problem, thereby rendering the just man more famous and well known. You see, all his planning and each arrangement he makes have the purpose of rendering conspicuous those who serve him, just like lamps, and making their virtue obvious in every way.
(24) See now, I ask you, dearly beloved, [421] how after his release from trouble the consummation of good things falls to the lot of the just man, the pledge of the promise, and there now takes effect the guarantee made to him in past times. "The Lord had regard for Sarrah," the text goes on,
"just as he had promised, and he did the favor for Sarrah that he had said. Sarrah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age at the time the Lord had told him."?° What is the meaning of "as he had promised" and "as he had said"?
Just as he pledged, it means, when he was shown hospitality with the angels at the oak of Mambre, and he said, "'I will come to you at this time, and Sarrah will have a son.'"?" So this came to pass, and what was beyond hope by natural processes they saw came to be, not by human processes but by 25. Gen 20.17-18. The final clause requires a subject, not supplied by Chrysostom at this point; the Hebrew reads "Yahweh," LXX "God," and Chrysostom follows the former at his next quotation of the verse.
26. Gen 21.1-—2.
27. Cf. Gen 18.14.
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
divine grace. "He called the son that Sarrah had borne him Isaac."?8 It was not idly that Scripture mentioned the words,
"the son that Sarrah had borne him"; it did not say, "He called his son," but it added, "that Sarrah had borne him," that is, this woman who was sterile, childless, aged. The text goes on, "He circumcised him on the eighth day as the Lord commanded."?° You see, the command was that newly born children should now be circumcised on the eighth day.
(25) Then, for us to learn at this point God's ineffable power in that things impossible for human beings are possible for him, Sacred Scripture once more mentions the time to us and teaches us in these words after the birth: "Now, Abraham was a hundred when his son Isaac was born to him. Now,
Sarrah said, "The Lord has brought laughter to me: whoever hears it will rejoice with me.'"°° What is the meaning of ""The Lord has brought laughter to me'"? The birth is a source of joy to me. What is so remarkable about my joy? I will have everyone who hears it rejoicing with me, not because
I gave birth but because it was in these circumstances that I gave birth. The unusual character of the birth amazed everyone and gave everyone particular joy on learning that, after being no better than a corpse, I suddenly became a mother,
I bore a child from a frozen womb, and was actually able to suckle it and release a flow of milk after having thus far no prospects of childbearing.
(26) "She said, 'Who will let Abraham know that Sarrah is suckling her child?'"'3! You see, the reason that the flow of milk was also granted was to give credence to the birth and to prevent anyone's presuming the child belonged to somebody else;** after all, the flow of milk proclaims to all and sundry that the birth surpassed human expectations. "'Who will let Abraham know that Sarrah is suckling a child, that I 28. Gen 21.3.
29. Gen 21.4.
30. Gen 21.5—-6. The word plays in the Hebrew text on Isaac's name do not survive into the Greek, and Chrysostom is probably unaware of them, grist though they would be to his mill.
31. Gen 21.7.
32. No detail of the text can be left unaccounted for.
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have borne a son in my old age,'" that I have been able to have children despite my old age, and at such a time of life can feed it? "The child grew," the text goes on, "and was weaned. Abraham held a big celebration on the day his son was weaned."
(27) Do you see God's ineffable wisdom in putting to the test the good man's endurance when he and all those who observed him had seemed to have given up hope, guided as they were by human nature, and then bringing to pass his own promise? Let us too, dearly beloved, consequently give evidence of the same endurance as the just man's and, far from ever losing heart, let us be buoyed up with sound hope in the knowledge that neither problems of daily life nor any other human factor proves a real obstacle for us when God's grace intends to give evidence of his characteristic generosity.
I mean, whenever he manifests his will, everything yields place [422] and gives way, difficult things become easy and what is impossible proves possible, provided we only give evidence of deep faith in him and prove superior to all human considerations by keeping our gaze fixed on his greatness.
(28) You see, he has promised those future blessings beyond description to those who live out their lives here with virtue, so will he not all the more provide as well the present good things provided we press ahead to those future ones by looking beyond the here and now? We shall in fact enjoy them in generous measure at that time most of all when we are prepared to look beyond them. So with this knowledge let us hanker after those blessings that are enduring and secure and know no end, so that we may live out this present life free from distress and succeed in attaining them. May it be the good fortune of us all to enjoy them, thanks to the grace and loving kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be the glory, now and forever, for ages of ages. Amen.
33. Gen 21.8.
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PRINTED IN U.S.A.
ab. JOHN Ppouer
f tinued from front flap) sd The Genesis homilies reveal Chrysostom as commentator, preacher, moralist, and profoundly theological and precise exegete of Scripture, the truth of which he teaches for the betterment of his congregation.
Robert C. Hill now chairs the Biblical Studies Department of the School of Divinity at the University of Sydney. He is the author of St. John Chrysostom's Teaching on Inspiration in his Old Testament Homilies (Sydney, 1980), as well as. numerous articles on Scripture,
Chrysostom, and religious education. sh oA
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Si ofculo predaarguit quidem, fednon percutit : fi corripiatur, ita exprobrat, uttamen cur: f1zelo inflammatus Malchi auladio pracideris, indigne feret , eam- »co fuo reftituet: fi quis *° findone 1s profugiat, eum conteget: fiignem aiticum adverfus eos, a quibus abdupopofceris , haudquaquam profunlatronem ob fcelus in crucem fublasceperit, eum pro fua benignitate in fumintroducet.
Benigni denique ibenigna omnia fint, *' itidemque i pafliones: quibus quidnam tandem vajus ac praftantius daremus, fi,cum nortem iptam noltre falutis caufa rit, Nos Contrane leves quidem of- & injurias equalibus noftris remit- ? Quin hc quoque mecum cogita- 'que etiaminum cogito,(quamrecte, ete) de quibus etiam ipfis apud vos fferui. Hidomos habent, nos hofpiutempla, nos Deum: idque praterod viva viventis Dei templa fumus, e vive, holocau(ta ratione predita, ia perfecta, Dii deniqué, Trinitatis r beneficio. Hi populos habent, nos s: hitemeritacem & audaciam, nos li minas,nos orationes:hi quod perSTO YEUTEY KO} aryue
Sapuevov. emoingas oé eoPas yours ra pre WIS OV, OES aAmevoy nos quod ferimus : hiaurum & ar1,Nosrepurgatam doctrinam. Feci- * duplices & triplices contignatiopnolce Scripture verba) domum lem, feneftris diftinétam : at hec n fide mea fublimiora funt, nec coe uostendo. Atmihigrex exiguus ? recipitia non fertur, Atangutta mi- ? fed quz lupis non pateat, fed que. arary Auxncie averib m non admittat,nec a furibus, & exnscendatur. Necdubitoquineam
~ : latiorem aliquando vifurus fim. % | Beuae miseac ulmre 8S Dégoucy. ingen emi npnuvaw Ce enimexhis , quinuncinluporum funt, inter oves, ac fortafle etiam ss ge tan an cesar tay COO ONT aie a I aa