Matthew 12:29
He calls the devil “strong” (Matthew 12:29) not as if he were this by nature, but to show the tyranny he gained from our slackness. “I plunder him,” not letting him keep humans as worshipers, but persuading them to come to the knowledge of God. How then will he become my ally against himself?
Greek
Ἰσχυρὸν δὲ καλεῖ τὸν διάβολον οὐχ ὡς φύσει τοῦτο ὄντα, ἀλλὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ τυραννίδα δηλοῖ, ἣν ἐκ τῆς ἡμετέρας ῥᾳθυμίας ἐκτήσατο· διαρπάζω δὲ αὐτόν, οὐκ ἐῶν ἔχειν προσκυνητὰς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ἀλλ' εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θεοῦ μεταπείθων ἐλθεῖν. πῶς οὖν σύμμαχός μοι γενήσεται καθ' ἑαυτοῦ;
About this text
Catena fragments on Matthew (CPG 5206). Contents follow Matthew chapter and verse. Edition fragment numbers stay in About this text and under each passage.
English follows the named copy-text (Aegean/khazarzar Migne PG 72 extract). Other prints were checked as noted; no silent merge of recensions.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Migne PG 72 Commentarii in Matthaeum (Aegean Digital Patrologia / khazarzar) (Greek · CPG 5206 catena fragments (290 parsed heads))
- Checked print matia.gr mirror of same Aegean extract (Greek · Byte-identical PDF; integrity check only)
- Checked print Internet Archive PG 72 volume OCR (bim … 1859_72) (Greek (OCR damaged) · Locus confirmation only; not used as reading text)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.