Matthew 8:4
What was the gift the leper had to bring under the law? “Two little birds.” The priest slaughtered one “over living water,” took “cedar wood, twisted scarlet, and hyssop,” (Leviticus 14:4–7) dipped the living bird “in the blood of the slaughtered bird over living water,” and anointed the right ear, hand, and foot of the leper being cleansed. The living bird he sent away outside the city “into the open country.”
Watch how through these things Christ is painted for us in full: living bird — the living and heavenly Word; slaughtered blood — the Lord’s precious blood in his own body; incorruptible cedar — incorruptible flesh that “did not see corruption” (Acts 2:31); hyssop — the Spirit’s fervor; scarlet — confession of the blood-covenant; living water — baptism’s life-giving grace; sending outside the city — departure from the world and ascent into the heavens; right anointings — that we must become people of contemplation, practice, and journey in the things of God.
Greek
Τί δὲ ἦν τὸ δῶρον τὸ παρὰ τοῦ λεπροῦ κατὰ τὸν νόμον προσαγό μενον; "δύο ὀρνίθια", ὧν τὸ ἓν ἔσφαξεν ὁ ἱερεὺς "ἐφ' ὕδατι ζῶντι" καὶ λαβὼν "ξύλον κέδρινον καὶ κεκλωσμένον κόκκινον καὶ ὕσωπον" καὶ τὸ ἕτερον ὀρνίθιον τὸ ζῶν ἔβαπτεν αὐτὸ "εἰς τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ἐσφαγμένου ὀρνι θίου ἐφ' ὕδατι ζῶντι" καὶ ἔχριε τοῦ καθαριζομένου λεπροῦ τὰ δεξιά, ὠτίον, χεῖρα καὶ πόδα, 9 "τὸ" δὲ "ὀρνίθιον τὸ ζῶν" ἔξω τῆς πόλεως "εἰς τὸ πεδίον" ἐξαπέστειλεν. ἐπιτήρει οὖν, ὅπως διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων ὁλο κλήρως ἡμῖν ζωγραφεῖται Χριστός· διὰ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ ζῶντος ὀρνιθίου τὸν ζῶντά τε καὶ οὐράνιον νοήσεις λόγον, διὰ δὲ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἐ σφαγμένου τὸ τίμιον αἷμα τοῦ παθόντος κυρίου (σαρκὶ γὰρ αὐτὸν πεπον θέναι φαμὲν πλὴν ὡς ἐν ἰδίῳ σώματι), διὰ δὲ τοῦ ἀσήπτου ξύλου (τοιοῦτον γὰρ τὸ κέδρινον) τὴν ἀδιάφθορον σάρκα· οὐ γὰρ "εἶδε δια φθορὰν" τὸ σῶμα Χριστοῦ. διὰ δὲ τοῦ ὑσσώπου τὴν τοῦ πνεύματος ζέσιν (θερμὴ γὰρ ἡ πόα καὶ τῶν ἐκ ψυχρότητος παθῶν σμηκτική) τοι αύτη δὲ ἡ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἐνέργειά τε καὶ δύναμις. διὰ δὲ τοῦ κοκκίνου τῆς ἐφ' αἵματι διαθήκης τὴν ὁμολογίαν. διὰ δὲ τοῦ ζῶντος ὕδατος τὴν ζωοποιὸν τοῦ βαπτίσματος χάριν, δι' οὗ ὁ λεπρωθεὶς τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ καθαίρεται. διὰ δὲ τοῦ ἔξω τῆς πόλεως τὸ ζῶν ὀρνίθιον ἀπο στέλλεσθαι τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ κόσμου μετάστασιν καὶ τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνά βασιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ διδασκόμεθα. γεγονὼς γὰρ οὕτως πρὸς τὸν πατέρα καὶ θεὸν ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων ἡμῶν ἐξιλάσεται καὶ καθαρισθησόμεθα. διὰ δὲ τοῦ χρίεσθαι τὰ δεξιὰ τοῦ λεπροῦ, ὠτίον καὶ χεῖρα καὶ πόδα τὸ δεῖν πρὸς τῇ θεωρίᾳ καὶ τῇ πράξει καὶ τῇ πορείᾳ ἐν τοῖς θείοις ἡμᾶς γε νέσθαι.
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.