Matthew 12:41
So <if> Jonah is taken as a type of Christ, he is not taken in every respect. For example, he was sent to preach to the Ninevites, but sought to flee from God’s face and is seen hesitating toward the mission. The Son too was sent from God the Father preaching to the nations, but he was not unwilling for the service.
The prophet urged those sailing with him to throw him into the sea; he was also swallowed by a whale, then given up after three days, and after that went to Nineveh and fulfilled the service (Jonah 1–3) — yet he was not moderately grieved when God pitied the Ninevites. Christ also endured death willingly, remained in the heart of the earth, rose again, and after that went into Galilee and commanded that the preaching to the nations begin — yet he was not grieved when he saw those called into knowledge being saved.
Therefore, just as bees, flying around meadows and flowers, always gather what is useful for building the honeycombs, so we too, searching the God-inspired scripture, must always collect and arrange what serves to clarify Christ’s mysteries, and finish the word without blame (Matthew 12:41).
Greek
Ὥστε <εἰ> ὡς τύπος Χριστοῦ Ἰωνᾶς λαμβάνεται, οὐ κατὰ πάντα λαμβάνεται, οἷον ἀπεστάλη τοῖς Νινευίταις κηρῦξαι, ἀλλ' ἐζήτησε φυ γεῖν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ κατοκνήσας ὁρᾶται πρὸς ἀποστολήν. ἀπέσταλται καὶ παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς ὁ υἱὸς κηρύσσων τοῖς ἔθνε σιν, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀπρόθυμος ἦν εἰς διακονίαν. παρεκάλει τοὺς συμπλέον τας ὁ προφήτης βαλεῖν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, κατεπόθη δὲ καὶ ὑπὸ κήτους, εἶτα καὶ ἐξεδόθη τριήμερος καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ἀπῆλθεν εἰς Νινευὶ καὶ πεπλήρωκε τὴν διακονίαν, λελύπηται δὲ οὐ μετρίως κατοικτείραντος τοῦ θεοῦ τοὺς Νινευίτας. ὑπέστη καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἑκὼν τὸν θάνατον, ἔμεινεν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ τῆς γῆς, ἀνεβίω τε ἂν καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ἀπῆλθεν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν καὶ τοῦ πρὸς τὰ ἔθνη κηρύγματος ἐκέλευε ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἀρχήν, πλὴν οὐ λελύπηται σῳζομένους ὁρῶν τοὺς κεκλημένους εἰς ἐπί γνωσιν. οὐκοῦν ὥσπερ αἱ μέλιτται λειμῶνας καὶ ἄνθη περιπτάμεναι τὸ χρήσιμον ἀεὶ συναγείρουσιν πρὸς τὴν τῶν κηρίων κατασκευήν, οὕτω χρὴ καὶ ἡμᾶς τὴν θεόπνευστον ἀνερευνωμένους γραφὴν τὸ τελοῦν εἰς διασάφησιν τῶν Χριστοῦ μυστηρίων ἀεὶ συλλέγειν καὶ συνδιατιθέναι καὶ τὸν λόγον ἐπιτελεῖν ἀνεπίπληκτον.
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.