Matthew 27:38
You saw how the Creator and Lord of all corrects his nature: bringing it back to what was in the beginning by becoming as we are, he underwent our sufferings for us, through us. Two robbers were hung with him when he hung on the cross — an insult, admittedly, as far as the Jews’ aim went, yet also a reminder of the prophecy that says, “And he was reckoned with the lawless.” (Matthew 27:38) But through his sufferings the goods run to us; for it is true that “by his bruise we were healed.” (Isaiah 53:12)
These two robbers were outlining the two peoples. One displayed senselessness to the end and would not even confess that the last captivity he underwent under the Romans was being borne as requital for the outrages against Christ. The other, at the very end, did not despair of forgiveness, but corrected the rawness of evils by theology. And the Lord’s undergoing the cross in the middle of the robbers revealed <his voluntary death as> his presence toward the two peoples — toward whom he was coming willingly, having willed to renew both by his own incarnation — even if the former people refused like the one robber, saying, “We have no king except Caesar,” (Isaiah 53:5) demanding the guiltless blood on their own head and exulting in the murder as just, from which both they and that robber alike fell out of the kingdom (John 19:15).
Greek
Εἶδες πῶς ὁ τῶν ὅλων γενεσιουργὸς καὶ κύριος τὴν αὐτοῦ φύσιν ἐπανορθοῖ· ταύτην γὰρ εἰς τὸ ἐν ἀρχαῖς ἀναφέρων διὰ τοῦ γενέσθαι καθ' ἡμᾶς δι' ἡμᾶς τὰ ἡμῶν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ὑπέμεινε πάθη. ἀπηρτημένῳ δὲ τοῦ σταυροῦ συνεκρέμαντο αὐτῷ δύο λῃσταὶ καὶ ὕβρις μὲν ὁμολογου μένως τό γε ἧκον εἰς τὸν τῶν Ἰουδαίων σκοπὸν πλὴν ἀνάμνησις προ φητείας λεγούσης· "καὶ μετὰ ἀνόμων ἐλογίσθη". ἀλλὰ διὰ τῶν αὐτοῦ παθημάτων εἰς ἡμᾶς τρέχει τὰ ἀγαθά· ἀληθὲς γάρ, ὅτι "τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν". οἱ δύο οὗτοι λῃσταὶ τοὺς δύο ὑπέγραφον λαούς, ὧν ὁ μὲν μέχρι τελευτῆς τὴν ἀγνωμοσύνην ἐπεδείξατο καὶ οὐδὲ τὴν ἐσχάτην αἰχμαλωσίαν, ἣν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων ὑπέμεινεν, εἰς ἄμυναν τῶν κατὰ Χριστοῦ παροινιῶν ὡμολόγησεν ὑφίστασθαι, ὁ δὲ πρὸς αὐτῷ τῷ τέλει οὐκ ἀπέγνω τῆς ἀφέσεως, ἀλλὰ τὸ ὠμὸν τῶν κακῶν θεολογίᾳ διωρθώ σατο. τό τε μὴν μέσον τῶν λῃστῶν σταυροῦ ἀνασχέσθαι τὸν κύριον τὸν ἑκούσιον αὐτοῦ <θάνατον τὴν> πρὸς τοὺς δύο λαοὺς ἀπεκάλυψε παρου σίαν. πρὸς οὓς ἑκὼν παρεγίνετο, ἀμφοτέρους τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ἐνανθρωπήσει βουληθεὶς 42 ἀνανεώσασθαι, εἰ καὶ ὁ πρότερος ὡς ὁ εἷς τῶν λῃστῶν παρ ητήσατο, "οὐκ ἔχομεν" λέγων "βασιλέα εἰ μὴ Καίσαρα" καὶ τὸ αἷμα τὸ ἀθῷον ἐπὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ κεφαλὴν ἐξαιτούμενος καὶ ὡς δικαίῳ τῷ φόνῳ ἐναβρυνόμενος, ἀφ' ὧν καὶ οὗτοι κἀκεῖνος κοινῶς τῆς βασιλείας ἐξέ πεσον.
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.