Homily to the Rich · §9 · Basil of Caesarea

Give now, not after death

Click or tap any sentence to jump there. The side buttons skip a paragraph.

Basil is closing the homily, directly addressing the rich who plan to leave their wealth to the poor only after death.

Why then do you deceive yourself, spending your wealth badly now on the enjoyment of flesh, while promising for later what you will no longer be master of? As the word has shown, the plan is wicked: While I live, I will enjoy pleasures; when I die, I will do what has been commanded. Abraham will also say to you: "You received your good things in your life" (Luke 16:25). The narrow and afflicted way does not receive you, since you have not put off the bulk of wealth. You went out carrying it; for you did not throw it away, as you were commanded. While you lived, you put yourself before the commandment; after death and dissolution, then you preferred the commandment of your enemies. "So that so-and-so does not get it," he says, "let the Lord take it." And what shall we call this—revenge on enemies, or love of neighbor? Read your wills. "I wanted to live and enjoy my own things." Thanks belong to death, not to you. For if you were immortal, you would never have remembered the commandments. Do not be deceived; God is not mocked (Galatians 6:7). A dead thing is not brought to the altar; bring a living sacrifice. The one who offers from surplus is unacceptable. But you offer to your benefactor what was left over after your whole life. If you do not dare to welcome honored guests with the leftovers from your table, how then do you dare to appease God with leftovers? See the end of love of wealth, you rich, and stop being so passionately disposed toward possessions. The more you love wealth, the more you should leave nothing of what belongs to you behind. Make everything your own; carry everything with you; do not leave your wealth to strangers. Perhaps your servants will not even wrap you in your final adornment, but will perform the burial as a mere formality, having already shifted their loyalty to the heirs. Indeed, they will then lecture you: "It is vulgar," they say, "to beautify a corpse and to carry out with great expense one who no longer feels anything." Is it not better for the living to be adorned with costly and glorious clothing than for the precious garments to rot together with the corpse? What good is a conspicuous tomb, an expensive burial, and profitless expenditure? One ought to use what remains for the necessities of life for the living. Such things they will say, avenging themselves on your harshness and gratifying those who inherit what is yours. So act first, and bury yourself. Piety is a fine burial garment. Wrap yourself in everything and depart; make your wealth your own adornment; keep it with you. Be persuaded by the good counselor, by Christ who loved you, who became poor for our sake so that we might become rich through his poverty (2 Corinthians 8:9), who gave himself as a ransom for us (1 Timothy 2:6). Let us be persuaded by him as one wise who sees what benefits us, or let us endure him as one who loves us, or let us repay him as our benefactor. In every way let us do what has been commanded us, so that we may become heirs of eternal life in Christ himself; to him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.

Greek

–Τί οὖν σεαυτὸν ἐξαπατᾷς, νῦν μὲν κακῶς εἰς ἀπόλαυσιν σαρ κὸς τὸν πλοῦτον διατιθέμενος, ἐπαγγελλόμενος δὲ εἰς ὕστερον ὧν οὐκέτι ἔσῃ κύριος; Ὡς ὁ λόγος ἔδειξε, πονηρὰ ἡ βουλή· ζῶν μὲν, ἀπολαύσω τῶν ἡδονῶν· ἀποθανὼν δὲ, πράξω τὰ διατεταγμένα. Ἐρεῖ καὶ σοὶ Ἀβραάμ· Ἀπέλαβες τὰ ἀγαθά σου ἐν τῇ ζωῇ σου· Οὐ δέχεταί σε ἡ στενὴ καὶ τεθλιμμένη ὁδὸς, τὸν ὄγκον τοῦ πλούτου μὴ ἀποθέμενον. Βαστάζων αὐτὸν ἐξῆλθες· μὴ γὰρ ἀπέῤῥιψας, ὡς προσετάχθης. Ὅτε ἔζης, σεαυτὸν τῆς ἐντολῆς προετίθεις· μετὰ τὸν θάνατον καὶ τὴν διάλυσιν, τότε τὴν ἐντολὴν τῶν ἐχθρῶν προετίμησας. Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ λάβῃ ὁ δεῖνα, λαβέτω, φησὶν, ὁ Κύριος. Καὶ τοῦτο τί εἴπωμεν, ἐχθρῶν ἄμυναν, ἢ τοῦ πλησίον ἀγάπην; Ἀνάγνωθί σου τὰς διαθήκας. Ἐβουλόμην μὲν ζῇν, καὶ ἀπολαύειν τῶν ἐμαυτοῦ. Τῷ θανάτῳ χάρις, οὐ σοί. Εἰ γὰρ ἦς ἀθάνατος, οὐκ ἂν ἐμνήσθης τῶν ἐντολῶν· Μὴ πλανᾶσθε· Θεὸς οὐ μυκτηρίζεται· Νεκρὸν εἰς θυσιαστήριον οὐκ ἀνάγεται· ζῶσαν προσένεγκε τὴν θυσίαν. Ὁ ἐκ τοῦ περισσεύματος προσφέρων ἀπρόσδεκτος. Σὺ δὲ ἃ μετὰ πᾶσαν τὴν ζωὴν ἐπερίσσευσε, ταῦτα προσφέρεις τῷ εὐεργέτῃ. Εἰ οὐ τολμᾷς ἐκ τῶν λειψάνων τῆς τραπέζης δεξιώσασθαι τοὺς ἐνδόξους, πῶς οὖν τολμᾷς τὸν Θεὸν ἐκ τῶν λειψάνων ἐξιλεοῦσθαι; Ἴδετε τὸ τέλος τῆς φιλοχρηματίας, οἱ πλούσιοι, καὶ παύσασθε ἐμπαθῶς πρὸς τὰ χρήματα διακείμενοι. Ὅσῳ φιλόπλουτος εἶ, τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον μηδὲν ὑπολίπῃ τῶν προσόντων σοι. Πάντα σεαυτοῦ ποίησαι, πάντα ἐπικόμισαι, μὴ καταλίπῃς ἀλλοτρίοις τὸν πλοῦτον. Τάχα σε οὐδὲ περιστελοῦσιν οἱ οἰκέται τῷ τελευταίῳ κόσμῳ, ἀλλ' ἀφοσιώσονται τὴν ταφὴν, τοῖς κληρονόμοις λοιπὸν προσχωρήσαντες κατὰ τὴν εὔνοιαν. Ἤ που καὶ καταφιλοσοφήσουσί σου τότε· Ἀπειροκαλία, φησὶν, καλλωπίζειν νεκρὸν, καὶ πολυτελῶς ἐκκομίζειν τὸν οὐκέτι αἰσθανόμενον. Τί δὲ οὐ βέλτιον τοὺς περιόντας κοσμεῖσθαι τῇ πολυτελεῖ καὶ ἐνδόξῳ περιβολῇ, ἢ συγκατασήπειν τῷ νεκρῷ τὰ πολυτίμητα τῆς ἐσθῆτος; Τί δὲ μνήματος ἐπισήμου, καὶ ταφῆς πολυτελοῦς, καὶ δαπάνης ἀκερδοῦς ὄφελος; Δέον εἰς τὰ κατὰ τὸν βίον ἀναγκαῖα χρήσασθαι τοῖς περιοῦσιν. Τοιαῦτα ἐροῦσι καὶ σὲ τῆς βαρύτητος ἀμυνόμενοι, καὶ τοῖς διαδεξαμένοις τὰ σὰ χαριζόμενοι. Προλαβὼν οὖν, σεαυτὸν ἐνταφίασον. Καλὸν ἐντάφιον ἡ εὐσέβεια. Πάντα περιβαλλόμενος ἄπελθε· οἰκεῖον κόσμον τὸν πλοῦτον ποίησαι· ἔχε αὐτὸν μετὰ σεαυτοῦ. Πείσθητι καλῷ συμβούλῳ, τῷ ἀγαπήσαντί σε Χριστῷ, τῷ δι' ἡμᾶς πτωχεύσαντι, ἵνα ἡμεῖς τῇ ἐκείνου πτωχείᾳ πλουτήσωμεν· τῷ δόντι ἑαυτὸν λύτρον ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν. Ἢ ὡς σοφῷ τὸ συμφέρον ἡμῖν συνορῶντι πεισθῶμεν, ἢ ὡς ἀγαπῶντος ἡμᾶς ἀνασχώμεθα, ἢ ὡς εὐεργέτην ἡμῶν ἀμειψώμεθα. Πάντως δὲ ποιήσωμεν τὰ διατεταγμένα ἡμῖν, ἵνα κληρονόμοι γενώμεθα. τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς τῆς ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ Χριστῷ· ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

Report a mistake in this passage

About this text

Basil of Caesarea (c. 330–379) wrote this homily for wealthy Christians, especially those who resist selling their possessions and giving to the poor. He follows up an earlier sermon on the rich young man in the Gospels to press his hearers to obey Christ's command to sell possessions and give to the poor rather than cling to wealth.

Basil argues that the young man's refusal to sell shows a failure to love his neighbor as himself, since true love would have shared surplus wealth with the poor. He teaches that wealth is meant to be managed for others, not kept for luxury, and warns that love of wealth feeds the ways of the greedy, oppression of neighbors and neglect of the poor, which the judge will expose at the final judgment. He rejects excuses based on children and on life's needs, urges giving now while alive, and calls the rich to make wealth their own by giving it away, following Christ who became poor for humanity. The reader will meet the rich young man who went away sorrowful, Jesus Christ the Lord and true teacher, Ahab whose desire for the vineyard led to murder, Naboth the owner of that vineyard, and Abraham. Basil quotes Scripture throughout and argues against the objections of an imagined rich speaker, and he also gives words to Abraham and to servants or heirs who lecture the rich.

Wealth here means surplus possessions that should be given to the poor, and commandment means Christ's command to sell possessions and give to the poor. Eternal life is the promised goal and kingdom of heaven its inheritance, while love means love of neighbor, the greedy are those who always want more, and the judge is Christ at the final judgment. Naboth the Jezreelite is the owner of the vineyard coveted by Ahab. Basil quotes the Gospels and the Greek Old Testament, especially the Psalms and Ecclesiastes, and Psalm numbers follow the Greek version and differ at points from the Hebrew numbering.

No published English used as wording.

Printed text used

Translated from Migne PG text (Aegean University Digital Patrology, via (Greek)
Also checked Migne PG 31, archive.org scan patrologiae_cursus_completus_gr_vol_031 (Greek machine-read text) (Greek · check (same print; machine-read text compared word by word))

This work has passed our source check. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

Report a mistake