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"Now, Noe was six hundred years old when the deluge came upon the earth." acy) WANT [218] ONCE MORE TO TOUCH on the theme I broached to you, brethren, yesterday and set before you again the story of the good man Noe. You see, the good man's wealth of virtue was immense, and it is our duty to study it in detail as far as we possibly can and to draw great benefit from it for you. For your part, strain your attention, I beg you, so that none of the ideas contained there may escape you. It is necessary firstly, however, to remind your good selves to what point yesterday's teaching brought us so that we may resume the sermon from that point and in this way link up what we have said with what now remains to be said.
PY 0) (2) So how did our instruction conclude? The text says, "The Lord God said to Noe, 'Board the ark, you and your household, because I have found you to be law-abiding before me in this generation. Take on board with you the clean beasts seven by seven, and the unclean two by two. You see, after seven more days I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe off the face of the earth all the life I have made, from human beings to cattle.' Noe did everything the Lord God commanded him."? We brought the sermon to that point and concluded the instruction there.
You recall just as well yourselves, of course, that we explained 1. Gen 7.6.
2. Gen 7.1—5, with textual differences from the quotation of these verses throughout Homily 24—which goes to document Baur's warning about the Fathers' erratic quotation of Scripture from memory (cf. FOTC 74, Introduction (15).)
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to your good selves the reason why God directed that the clean beasts be embarked seven by seven but the unclean two by two.
(3) So, come now, today let us move on to the following verses, and see what Sacred Scripture describes to us after Noe's boarding the ark. You see, at this particular time we ought especially display great interest when on account of the season of fasting we have without interruption been enjoying your gracious attendance and have been free of temptation to gluttony, and with our mind alert we have been able to attend with precision to what is said.
(4) There is need, therefore, to say where today's reading takes its beginning. "Now, Noe was six hundred years old," the text says, "when the deluge came upon the earth." Pay attention, I beseech you, and let us not pass this verse by heedlessly; these brief words contain a hidden treasure, and provided we earnestly apply our attention, we shall be able to learn from them both the extraordinary degree of the Lord's loving kindness and the intensity of wickedness of people of that time. "Now, Noe," it says, "was six hundred years old."
It was not idly that it taught us the good man's age, or merely for the purpose of our learning that figure itself of the good man's age; instead, because Sacred Scripture had previously taught us to the effect that "Noe was five hundred years old,"* and after making known to us his age it had then recounted people's extreme tendency to wickedness and that their mind was set firmly on evil from their youth, accordingly God said,
""My spirit is not to remain with these human beings on account of their being [219] carnal,'"* giving them a premonition of the extremity of his anger. Then, so as to give them a sufficient opportunity to change direction and avoid experiencing his anger, he says, "'Instead, they will have a life of a hundred and twenty years,'" as if to say, I will put up with them for another fifty years.* You see, in those fifty years the 3. Gen 5.32.
4. Gen 6.3.
5. As De Montfaucon points out here and in Homily 23 where Chrysostom first commented on Gen 6.3, Chrysostom is making a moral point about
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just man by means of his own name did not cease reminding them all and encouraging them, provided they were ready to heed him, to give up wickedness and change to virtue. Nevertheless, he is saying, even now I promise to put up with them for a hundred and twenty years so that they may employ the intervening time properly, shun evil and take up virtue instead. And far from being content with the promise of a hundred and twenty years, he orders the good man to build the ark so that the very sight of the ark may also provide them in turn with an adequate reminder and that no one would be unaware of the magnitude of the punishment due to be inflicted. After all, that very fact that that good man who had reached the very pinnacle of virtue was displaying such earnestness in building the ark should have been sufficient to put fear and anxiety into everyone with sense and to persuade them to placate this so kind and loving Lord.
(5) I mean, if those pagans (I'm referring to the Ninevites)°—I have to introduce them again, you see, so that by this means the extraordinary wickedness of these others may be contrasted with their great responsiveness. You see, our
Lord at that time on that dread day—I mean the Day of Judgement—delivers his condemnation by bringing forward these servants and those, when it becomes clear that while all have enjoyed the same advantages and partaken of the same goods, not all have shared in the same degree of virtue; instead, he frequently makes a contrast between unequal parties so as to inflict the heavier condemnation on the victims of indifference. Hence he said in the Gospels, "'Men of Ninevi will rise up at the Judgement with this generation and condemn them, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here'"'—as if to say that the pagans did not have the advantage of any such human sin and divine forbearance to words intended dogmatically; Von Rad summarizes the Yahwist's intention: "God sets a maximum age beyond which man, who has increased his vital power in such an ungodly manner, cannot go" (Genesis, 114).
6. De Montfaucon comments here on Chrysostom's weakness for digressions, but admits that this is the longest of them all.
7. Matt 12.41.
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solicitude, did not hear the teaching of the prophets, did not witness signs, did not see miracles, but simply heard words from one person saved from shipwreck that were capable of instilling into them a deep sense of despair and of driving them to such a feeling of helplessness as to make them even despise the words spoken by him, yet they not only did not scorn the prophet's words but were wrapt in three days' remorse® and gave every sign of such strict and intense repentance as to revoke the Lord's sentence. These, then, are the people who will condemn this generation that had the advantage of the same solicitude, were nourished on the books of the inspired writers, witnessed each day's signs and wonders. Then, so as to show also the extraordinary degree of their unbelief as well as the Ninevites' responsiveness, he added, "'because they repented at the preaching of Jonah and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here;'" whereas they had sight of that unprepossessing person Jonah, welcomed the preaching he gave, and displayed a most rigorous repentance
(he is saying), these others on the contrary, who had someone far [220] greater than Jonah and saw the very Creator of all passing time with them and daily working so many marvelous wonders—cleansing lepers, raising the dead, setting at rights disabilities of nature, driving out devils, curing diseases, granting forgiveness of sins with great authority—not even the same faith as the pagans did they display.
(6) Let us, however, return to the theme of our sermon so that you may see both the intensity of one party's ingratitude and the assiduity of the other's responsiveness, as well as the fact that whereas the latter agonized over their state for three days without despairing of their salvation but showing zeal for repentance, washing away their sins and rendering themselves worthy of the Lord's loving kindness, the others by contrast, while accepting the reprieve of a hundred and twenty years for repentance, made no further use of that period.
Hence the Lord, on seeing the excess of their wickedness and observing that they had rushed headlong into grave evil, ap8. Cf. note 27, Homily 24.
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plied to them rapid correction, removing the depravity of their wicked corruption and taking it out of his sight. For this reason the text says, "Noe was six hundred years old when the deluge came upon the earth." To this point we had learnt that when the Lord's anger occurred and he made this forecast, Noe was five hundred years old. When, however, the deluge was brought upon them, he was six hundred years old, so that a hundred years had passed in the meantime, and yet they gained no benefit from those hundred years, despite the advantage given them of so much instruction from Noe's building the ark.
(7) But perhaps someone might be anxious to find out why God had said, " "They will have a life of a hundred and twenty years," and promised to show longsuffering for that length of time, and yet before the completion of that time brought on the disaster. This would be a remarkable demonstration of his loving kindness: when he saw them committing irreparable sins day after day and not only gaining nothing from his ineffable longsuffering but even developing worse ulcers, consequently he cut the time short lest they render themselves liable to worse punishment. And what punishment is worse than this, someone says? That punishment is worse, dearly beloved, more fearful and enduring which lasts into the world to come. In fact, for proof that some people, while not escaping punishment in the next life for making amends in this, will nevertheless endure a lighter one there on account of what happens here and will thus reduce the severity of those sanctions, listen to the words of Christ as he laments the fate of Bethsaida: "'Woe to you, Chorazim,'" he says, "'woe to you, Bethsaida, because if the miracles had taken place in Sodom that took place in you, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. Hence I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgement than for you.'"® Do you see, dearly beloved, how in the words, "'more tolerable," he showed that those also who paid such a penalty here by enduring that novel and g. A conflation of Matt 11.21—24.
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unusual kind of conflagration would, while still undergoing punishment there, nevertheless have a lighter one on account of their previous experience of such terrible anger here on earth?
(8) So, in the case of the people of Noe's time, lest by aggravating their [221] sins they might render themselves liable to worse punishment, the good and loving Lord, seeing their unrepentant attitude, reduced the period he had promised to allow in his longsuffering. In other words, just as in the case of people giving evidence of gratitude for the goodness characteristic of him he revokes the sentences delivered by him, welcomes their repentance, and lifts the penalty imposed on them, so too in this instance, when he promised to give them either certain goods or a period of repentance, but in fact saw they had proved unworthy, then too in turn he revoked his promises. Hence he said also by the inspired writer: "'At long last I shall speak regarding nations and regarding kingdoms about destroying and overthrowing them; if they should repent, I too will repent of the things I have promised to do to them.'" And again, "'At long last I shall speak regarding nations and regarding kingdoms about rebuilding them; if they should sin, I too will repent of the things I have promised to do to them.'"!° Do you see how he takes occasion from us for both the love and the anger he shows in our regard? Hence, of course, in this present case, since they had not taken proper advantage of the time, he shortened the period. For this reason, too, blessed Paul spoke against those who were not disposed to respond and were not accepting the offer of salvation given them through repentance: "Do you scorn the wealth of his kindness, his forbearance and his longsuffering, ignoring the fact that God's kindness leads you to repentance? You, on the contrary, in your hard and unrepentant heart are storing up wrath for yourself on that day of wrath, revelation and just judgement."!! Do you see how this amazing teacher of the world clearly taught us that those who do not take proper advantage
10. A précis of Jer 18.7—10.
11. Rom 2.4—5.
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of God's longsuffering offered to us with a view to our repentance render themselves liable to a heavier sentence and punishment? Hence in this case too the loving God, as if explaining and giving the reason why he brought on the deluge before the completion of the time, indicates to use the good man's age, saying, "Now, Noe was six hundred years old."
After all, if they hadn't been prepared in those hundred years to repent, what would they have gained from those twenty years beyond going from bad to worse? In other words, to show the extraordinary degree of' his ineffable love and goodness, he did not even decline to remind them seven days ahead of time of the onset of the deluge so that they might be stricken with the urgency of the situation and give evidence of some conversion.
(g) See also the Lord's loving kindness, how like a skillful physician he treated the disease in different ways: since their wounds were incurable, he provided them with such a lengthy period of time in his wish that they might come to their senses through the generous amount of time and he might be able to revoke the sentence of his anger. You see, it is always his fashion, concerned as he is for our salvation, to tell us ahead of time the punishments he is due to inflict, with the sole purpose in mind of not having to inflict them. If, of course, he had wanted to inflict them, he would not have told us; but he makes a point of giving us warning so that we may learn of it, be brought to our senses through fear, placate his anger and render his sentence null and void. Nothing, after all, so gladdens him as our conversion and our reverting from evil to virtue. Consider, therefore, how he treated this people's disease, too, first by giving them so much time of reprieve for repentance, then when he saw them unmoved
[222] and profiting nothing from the length of time, with disaster at the very gates, so to say, he gives warning, not three days in advance, as in the case of the Ninevites, but seven days. I would, after all, be confident in saying, on account of my knowledge of the excess of our Lord's loving kindness, that even in seven days they could, had they been prepared to give real evidence of repentance, have avoided
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13] experiencing the deluge. Since therefore neither such a lengthy reprieve nor the urgency of the situation was capable of affecting their evil behavior, he brought on the deluge in Noe's six hundredth year. "Now, Noe was six hundred years old," the text says, "when the deluge came upon the earth." Do you see, dearly beloved, how much benefit to us knowing the just man's age proved to be an occasion of, and knowing how old he was when the deluge came?
(10) Come now, let us move on to the following verses: when the deluge began, the text says, "Noe, his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives boarded the ark on account of the flood from the deluge. The clean birds, the unclean birds, the reptiles—all of them embarked two by two with Noe in the ark, male and female, as the Lord had commanded Noe.'!? It was not without purpose that he added the words, "just as the Lord had commanded Noe;" it was for the sake of adding further commendation of the just man, both because he had carried out everything just as the Lord had commanded and had omitted nothing of what he had been told by him. "It happened after seven days," just as the Lord had promised, it says, "that the flood from the deluge came upon the earth in the six hundredth year of Noe's life, on the twenty seventh day of the second month."!* See the precision of Scripture, how it not only taught us the year of the deluge but also made clear the month and the day. Then, so as to bring succeeding generations to a better frame of mind through this narrative and augment their fear at what had happened, it says, "On that day all the fountains of the deep burst forth and the sluice gates of heaven broke open; rain fell on the earth for forty days and forty nights."!* See the extent of the consid12. Gen 7.7—g, a strange rehearsal of previous verses that succeeds only in complicating the pictures given already differently by the Yahwist and Priestly editors. Chrysostom, at a loss like others before him, does his own simplifying of the text before omitting all but the last safe clause from comment.
13., Gen 7.10-11.
14. Gen 7.11b—12. Von Rad comments on that awesome v. 11b: "Here we have the same realistic and cosmological ideas as in Gen, ch. 1. According to the Priestly representation we must understand the Flood, therefore, as a catastrophe involving the entire cosmos .
. ." (Genesis, 128).
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erateness Sacred Scripture employs here too, describing everything in a human manner: it is not that there are sluice gates in heaven, but rather that it describes everything in terms customary with us, as if to say that the Lord simply gave a direction and immediately the waters obeyed their Creator's command, fell out of the heavens on all sides and inundated the whole world.
(11) The fact, too, that he brought on the deluge for forty days and nights is a further wonderful sign of his loving kindness: his purpose in his great goodness was that at least some of them might come to their senses and escape that utter ruin, having before their eyes the annihilation of their peers and the destruction about to overwhelm them. I mean, the likelihood is that on the first day some proportion of them were drowned, an additional number on the second day, and likewise on the third day and so on. His reason for extending it for forty days was that he might remove from them any grounds for excuse. You see, had it been his wish and command, he could have submerged everything in one downpour; instead, out of fidelity to his characteristic love he arranged for a stay of so many days.
(12) Then it says, "On this day Noe boarded the ark, with Shem, Cham and Japheth, with Noe's wife, [223] the three wives of his sons, and all the animals, species by species, as the Lord God had instructed Noe."'5 When the beginning of the deluge occurred, it says, according to the Lord's direction,
Noe boarded the ark with his sons, his wife, his sons' wives, and all the animals species by species. The text goes on, "The Lord God shut the ark from the outside."!® Notice in this place too the considerateness in the expression "God shut the ark from the outside," to teach us that he had ensured the good man's complete safety. The reason for adding "from the 15. Gen 7.13—16, with omissions.
16. Gen 7.16, where again the anthropomorphic quality of the narrative forces Chrysostom to invoke the principle of synkatabasis. As Von Rad says,
"That Yahweh himself shut up the ark behind Noah is again one of those surprising statements of the Yahwist, almost hybrid in its combination of near-childlike simplicity and theological profundity" (Genesis, 120).
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outside" to "he shut" was that the good man might not be in the position of seeing the disaster occur and suffering even greater distress. I mean, if he brooded over that terrible flood and set indelibly in his mind the destruction of the human race, the complete annihilation of all brute beasts, and the disappearance, as it were, of people, animals and the earth itself, he would have been disturbed and upset. You see, even if it is the wicked who perish, nevertheless the souls of good people are likely to show compassion when they see people being punished; and you will find each of the good people and the inspired writers making earnest supplication for them, as for example the patriarch did for the Sodomites,?' and the inspired writers all continued to do. One, for instance, said, "Woe is me, Lord; are you wiping out the remnant of Israel?"!* while another said, "Will you make people like the fish of the sea, deprived of a leader?"!® So since without even this the good man was troubled in mind and sick at heart, the Lord, in case the sight of these things should cast
Noe into deeper depression, locked him in the ark as though in a prison, lest he have a sight of these events and be terrorstruck. In his care for him, therefore, the loving God does not allow him to view the torrent of water nor see the disaster occurring that involved the destruction of the world.
(13) Whenever, on the other hand, I ponder this just man's existence in the ark, I am struck with amazement, and once more attribute it all to God's loving kindness: unless that had strengthened his resolve and had rendered difficult things easy, how would he have been able, tell me, to bear being locked in there like that as though in some dungeon or prison? How could he, tell me, have put up with the awful crashing of the waves? After all, if people who find themselves on board ship driven by sail, watching the pilot seated at the rudder and pitting his own skill against the force of the winds, fear for their very salvation, so to say, and die of fright at the ferocity of the waves, what could you say about this just
17. Gen 18.22—23.
18. Ezek 9.8.
19. Hab 1.14.
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man? I mean, finding himself on the ark as though in prison, as I was just saying, he gazed hither and yon, unable to see the sky and having nowhere to direct his eyes, forced to remain inside, with nothing at all to look at that could afford him any comfort.
(14) You see, in the case of people sailing the sea it is possible, even when the billows rise on high, to gain some little comfort by gazing time and again at the sky, descrying a mountain top, and catching sight of a large city; [224] and even if the storm increased in intensity and becomes unbearable for ten days or somewhat longer, yet despite all those storms and those perils, once they are cast up on the shore and get their breath back a little they lose all recollection of those hardships. In the present case, however, it was nothing like that; instead, for a whole year"? he dwelt in the strange and unusual prison without even being able to breathe the fresh air—how could he, after all, with the ark closed in on all sides? How did he put up with it? How did he last? I mean, even if their bodies had been made of iron and steel, how could they have survived without fresh air, without the breeze, which no less than fresh air exists to invigorate our bodies, without being able to feast their eyes on a glimpse of the sky or the range of colored flowers growing on land? In fact, how did they not lose the sight of their eyes after living in this fashion for so long? And if we were interested in pursuing the matter at the level of human reasoning, we would feel it necessary to consider where they got their supply of drinking water from while living on board the ark. Leaving that aside, how did this good man with his sons and their wives manage to abide living with animals and brute beasts and all the rest? How did he put up with the stench? How did he bear living with them? And why mention that point?
How did the brute beasts themselves manage to cope with it without perishing i in such a long period of time without being free to enjoy fresh air or move about, but confined in one space? I mean, you know quite well that, as far as our nature
20. A little pardonable exaggeration on Chrysostom's part?
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goes as also the nature of the beasts, even if we have the benefit of fresh air and all other things but are confined to one place continuously, there is no way of avoiding our death and demise. How then could this good person last out so long with all these creatures in the ark? In no other way than by the grace from above that makes all things possible. I mean, was it not due to grace from above that the ark was tossed this way and that without being submerged in such a force of water, with no steersman at the helm? You can't say that it was designed like a ship so as to be able to steer a course by some kind of know-how. The ark was shut in on all sides; and by direction of the Creator not only did the force of the water cause it no harm but it rose to the top and guaranteed the safety of its passengers.
(15) So, whenever God does something, dearly beloved, don't insist on inquiring with your human reasoning into whatever he has done: it surpasses our understanding, and the human mind could not succeed in measuring up to it or grasping the secret of what has been created by him. Hence, after hearing that God has so directed, we ought believe and obey what is said by him. After all, being Creator of our nature he transforms and reshapes everything according to his own decision. "The Lord God shut the ark from outside."
Great was this just man's virtue and the depth of his faith.
Faith, you see, was responsible for the building of the ark, for his putting up with his quarters without resentment, tolerating the hardships of existence with animals and all the wild beasts. On this account blessed Paul called him to mind and to celebrate his virtues shouted aloud, "By faith Noe, forewarned as he was about things not yet seen kept his own counsel as he prepared the ark with a view to saving his own household; by faith he condemned the [225] world, and succeeded to a share of that righteousness that accords with faith."?! Do you see how faith in God like a safe anchor enabled him to see to the building of the ark and to put up with his quarters? Faith it was, you see, that proved the basis of 21 eD el Lt
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his salvation; "through it," the text says, "he condemned the world, and succeeded to a share of that goodness that accords with faith." Not that he did the condemning but that the Lord declares the condemnation by comparison; that is to say, those who enjoyed the same advantages as the good man did not share with him the same path of virtue. So it was through the faith that he exemplified that he condemned those who exemplified lack of faith, failing to believe the forewarning.
(16) On the other hand, along with everybody else, I too am amazed at the just man's virtue, and the Lord's goodness and love beyond all telling when I think of how he managed to live among the wild animals, namely, lions, panthers, bears and the other fierce and untamed animals. Call to mind in this connection, I ask you, dearly beloved, the esteem enjoyed by the firstformed human being before the Fall, and consider
God's goodness: after his transgression undermined the authority given him, the good Lord by contrast found another man capable of correcting that original image by preserving the imprint of virtue and demonstrating strict obedience to law. So he placed him once more in his pristine position of esteem, as if to teach us through this procedure the extent of the authority Adam had before the Fall. Accordingly the good man's virtue profited from God's loving kindness to restore the former control, and once more the wild animals recognized their subordination. In other words, whenever the animals saw the good man, they lost all thought of their own nature—or, rather, not their nature but their ferocity, and changed to docility the ferocity innate in their nature. Notice this happening in the case of Daniel: encircled by the lions, as though by sheep, he passed his time that way without fear, the good man's trust restraining the wild beasts' nature and not allowing them to demonstrate the characteristics of wild animals."? Well, in just the same manner this remarkable man bore his existence with the wild animals with equanimity, and neither the straitened circumstances, nor the protracted length of time, nor being locked in, nor lack of fresh air to breathe
22. A little gloss on Dan 6.22.
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caused him to become jaded; instead, through his faith in God everything seemed easy, and thus he lived in that terrible prison as we would in meadows and leafy glades.
(17) In other words, the Lord's command made the difficult things seem simple to him. Such, after all, is the way with good people: when they endure something for his sake, far from attending to the appearance of what occurs, they understand the reason behind it and thus bear everything with equanimity. Likewise by Paul, the teacher of the gentiles, imprisonment, arraignment, daily peril, all those many unbearable hardships were called light, not because they really were so by nature, but because the reason behind their happening produced such an attitude in him that he would not turn back in the face of these oncoming threats. Listen, after all, to what he says: "For the light weight of our passing distress produces in us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison;"?3 expectation of the glory we are destined to attain, he is saying, and of that unceasing enjoyment [226] makes us bear without difficulty these hardships one after another and consider them of no consequence. Do you see how love of God reduces the intensity of troubles and prevents our having any sense of them as they befall us? On this account, of course, this blessed man, too, bore everything with equanimity, sustained by faith and hope in God.
(18) "The Lord God shut the ark from outside," the text says. "The deluge fell forty days and forty nights upon the earth, and the ark began to float."*4 Notice once more how he increases our awe through his way of narrating and embroiders the event. "The deluge fell forty days and forty nights," the text says, "the flood deepened and picked up the ark, so that it was lifted above the earth. The force of the water grew stronger and it spread widely on the earth, and the ark was carried above the flood level. The water continued to spread further and further on the land."* See how precisely it describes to us the great force of the waters, and 23. 2 Cor 4.17.
24. A précis of Gen 7.17.
25. Gen 7.17-19, where the LXX adds "forty nights" to the Hebrew, probably under the influence of v. 12.
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the fact that each day the flood increased in extent. "The water continued to spread further and further," the text says,
"and covered the highest mountains under heaven. The water rose fifteen cubits, and submerged all the mountains."?° It was appropriate that the loving Lord arranged for the ark to be shut so that the just man did not see what happened. I mean, if we after so many years and so many generations are aghast simply at hearing Scripture's account of it and are reduced to trembling, how likely it was that that just man would be stricken to see with his own eyes that mighty deep that no one could survive? How, in fact, could he have managed to cope with the vision even for a short time? Would he not, on the contrary, have immediately fainted at his first glimpse as his soul left him, unable to bear any further sight of such an awesome spectacle? I mean, consider, I ask you, dearly beloved, how in our life whenever some little shower falls we go to pieces, worry about all our concerns, even despair of life itself, so to say. So how likely was it that that just man in those circumstances should be distressed to see the flood swelling to such heights? "The flood rose fifteen cubits above the mountains,' the text says, after all.
(19) On this point, I ask you, dearly beloved, recall what was spoken by the Lord when he said, "'My spirit is not to remain with these human beings on account of their being carnal,'"** and again, "The earth was corrupt, and was filled with lawlessness,"?? and "The Lord saw that the earth was utterly corrupt because all flesh had corrupted their ways upon earth."*® Accordingly, the world needed a complete cleansing; every stain had to be expunged from it, all leaven of the previous wickedness had to be sifted out and no trace of evil left; instead, a certain renovation had to be effected, like some skilled craftsman taking a vase that had aged with time and rusted away, so to say, and putting it into the kiln to ensure the removal of all the rust, thus reshaping and refash26. Gen 7.19-20.
27. Chrysostom himself embroidering the text of v. 20 for effect.
28. Gen 6.3.
29. Gen 6.11.
30. Gen 6.12.
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ioning it and returning it to its pristine form. In the same way our Lord too cleansed the whole world by the deluge and, so to say, freed human beings from their wickedness, their defilement and all their corruption, leaving the world more resplendent and once more revealing the brightness of its countenance, and not permitting even a trace of the previous ugliness to persist. "The flood rose fifteen cubits above the mountains," says the text.
(20) It is not without purpose that Scripture describes all this to us; instead, its purpose is for us to learn that not only people, cattle, fourfooted beasts and reptiles were drowned but also the birds [227] of heaven and whatever inhabited the mountains, namely, animals and other wild creatures. Hence the text says, "The flood rose fifteen cubits above the mountains," for you to learn that the execution of the Lord's sentence had been effected; he said, remember, "'After seven more days I will bring a deluge upon the earth and I will wipe off the face of the earth all the life I have made, from human beings to cattle, and from reptiles to birds of heaven.'"*! So, Sacred Scripture narrates this, not simply to teach us the flood level, but that we may be able to understand along with this that there was absolutely nothing left standing—no wild beasts, no animals, no cattle; rather, everything was annihilated along with the human race. Since it was for their sake that all these creatures had been created, with the imminent destruction of the human being it was fitting that these creatures, too, should meet their end. Then, after teaching us the great height reached by the flood waters and the fact that they rose a further fifteen cubits above the mountain peaks, it further adds out of fidelity to its characteristic precision, "There perished all flesh that moved on the earth—birds, animals, every reptile that moved on the earth, every human being—everything that had breath of life, everything on dry land: all perished."*? That wasn't an idle reference in the words, "everything on dry land;" instead, its pur31. Gen 7.4 in a version only roughly approximating to the LXX text
Chrysostom quoted in the previous homily.
32. Gen 6.21—22.
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pose was to teach us that while all others perished, the just man with everyone in the ark alone were saved. You see, in God's design they had previously moved from the dry land and boarded the ark. "All life that was on the face of the earth was wiped out, from human beings to cattle, reptiles, birds of heaven—they were wiped off the earth."** See how once, twice and more frequently it teaches us the occurrence of the disaster and the fact that no creatures escaped but rather all were drowned in the flood, both the human race and the animal kingdom.
(21) "Noe alone survived," the text says, "and those with him in the ark. The water was at flood level on the earth for a hundred and fifty days."** For all those days, the text says, the water remained at flood level. Consider here again, I ask you, the just man's greatness of soul and the extraordinary degree of his fortitude. What sufferings would he not have endured in having engraved on his mind and having seen with the eyes of his intellect, as it were, the bodies of human beings, of cattle clean and unclean, all alike undergoing death, mingled together without any distinction being made?
Further, in addition to this, he pondered within himself the loneliness, the isolation, that distressing existence, with no consolation coming from any quarter, neither from converse, nor from pleasant prospects, nor from knowing with precision how long he was destined to put up with existence in that terrible prison. After all, as long as there was the crashing and booming of the waves, fear was daily sent surging through him. I mean, what likelihood was there that he would suspect any good news when he had before his eyes for a hundred and fifty days the water continuing at such a height, reaching flood level without subsiding in the slightest?
Stull, he took it all in good part, knowing the Lord's inventiveness and the fact that being Lord of all life he does everything and changes what he wants to, so he bore no resentment against life in those circumstances. You see, God's grace came to lend heart [228] to his enthusiasm and provided him
33. Gen 6.23.
34. Gen 6.23-24.
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14] with sufficient comfort, not allowing him to fall victim to brooding nor dwell on ignoble or unmanly alternatives. In other words, since previously he had made the most of his own resources—his painstaking virtue, his scrupulous sense of goodness, the extraordinary degree of his faith—he was now regaled with the Lord's blessings in abundance: forbearance, fortitude, the ability to bear everything without resentment, putting up with life in the ark, sustaining no harm from the experience, not perishing or being distressed by existence in the company of wild animals.
(22) Let us likewise, therefore, I beseech you, imitate this just man and exert ourselves to bring to bear our resources with a view to making ourselves worthy of the gifts coming from God. This, you see, is the reason he waits for occasions we provide, that he may display great generosity. So, do not let us deprive ourselves of his gifts through indifference; rather, let us make every effort and press forward to take the initiative and follow the way leading to virtue so as to enjoy support from above and be able to attain the goal. You see, it is impossible for us to achieve any good deed without being in receipt of grace from above. Clinging, therefore, to hope in God as though to a firm, secure anchor, let us not have regard for the difficulty of virtue but consider instead the reward following the difficulty and thus meet every challenge easily. Likewise, when a merchant moves out of port and sails on the high seas, it is not only pirates that are on his mind, or shipwreck, or leviathans, or the onset of storms, or continuous tempests, or unforeseen troubles, but also the profits coming his way in the wake of these hazards: nourished by this hope he accepts with equanimity the hardships that beset him so as to gain greater rewards and thus make for his home port. The farmer, too, does not think only of the hardships associated with farming, downpours, bad luck with the soil, a rust plague, a scourge of locusts; instead, he concentrates his thinking on the threshing floor and the sheafs, and so puts up with everything placidly, feeling no effect of the hardships because of his expectation of the yield: even if his hope is uncertain, yet he is nourished by stronger hopes and does not
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
give up in the face of hardships but brings all his resources to bear, waiting to gather the reward of his labors. The soldier, too, in turn arms himself and goes into battle thinking not only of wounds and casualties, enemy raids and other problems, but imagining victory and trophies coming his way; thus he equips himself with a panoply of weapons, and despite the great uncertainty and hazard, he banishes all such thoughts from his mind, sets glowing prospects before him, banishes all sluggishness, takes up his arms and advances in formation against the foe.
(23) If therefore, dearly beloved, ences farmers and soldiers on the basis of uncertain hope face numerous hazards and difficulties many and varied, as you heard, and yet none of them despair in the face of hardship nor shrink back from brighter prospects, what excuse would we be found worthy of if we desisted from virtue and did not willingly accept every hardship despite the fact of an assured hope and so many good things laid up for us and a superabundant reward for all our achievements? So listen to blessed Paul's remarks after so many dreadful tribulations, arraignments, imprisonment and [229] daily dying: "The sufferings of this present life are not worth comparing to the glory due to be revealed in our regard:"®> even if each day (he is saying) we suffer death, something that nature could not endure, even if mind overcomes matter to gain the prize through the Lord's loving kindness, we endure nothing comparable to the good things we are destined to receive (he is saying) or the glory due to be revealed in our regard. See how great the glory is which they enjoy who practice virtue, to the extent that it surpasses anything you could exemplify: were you to ascend to the very summit, you would still fall short. I mean, what could a human being give evidence of to such an extent as to rival adequately the Lord's generosity? If a man of Paul's quality and stature said, "The sufferings of this present life are not worth comparing to the glory due to be revealed in our regard," if he said, "I die daily,'*° and again, "I worked harder than all
35. Rom 8.18.
36. 1 Cor 15.31,
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of them,"*' what would we say after being unwilling to put up with incidental hardship for the sake of virtue, and always looking instead for enjoyment and taking care to avoid experiencing distress, even though we know that it is impossible that enjoyment in the next life would come our way otherwise than here in this life showing our desire for it by exerting ourselves? These hardships, you see, are the means of winning God's favor for us, and a little struggle here brings us there great confidence, provided only we are ready to proceed in line with the advice of Paul, the world's teacher.
(24) Consider, dearly beloved, that life's troubles, even if distressing, are still of short duration, whereas the good things that will come to us in the next life are eternal and everlasting. "What we see is passing," Scripture says, "but what is not seen is everlasting."** Accordingly, let us endure what is passing without complaint and not desist from virtue's struggle so that we may enjoy the good things that are eternal and last forever. May it be the good fortune of all of us to enjoy them, thanks to the grace and love of our Lord Jesus
Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, power and honor, now and forever, for ages of ages. Amen.
37.
1 Cor 15.10.
38. 2 Cor 4.18.