Abraham's rejection and the character of kinship
Regarding possessions: if they were from injustice, how could he pay back fourfold what he took? For what does he say: 'If I have wronged anyone, I restore fourfold'? Even if he agreed with lawlessness, he also knew the law; for the law commands the thief to pay back the theft fourfold (Exodus 22:1). If anyone, he says, steals a sheep and is found out, he shall give four sheep. God quadruples the punishment, or rather the loss, so that even if one does not fear the law, the loss may be felt; for many, not respecting the law, respect the loss. He therefore condemns himself, not expecting the verdict of the law, but becoming a law unto himself; for law does not lie upon the righteous.
The Savior, having received this voice, says: 'Today salvation has come to this house' (Luke 19:9). He justified himself, not because he simply saw Christ, but because he obeyed the laws of Christ. Today salvation has come to this house, because this man also is a son of Abraham. Before doing the works of Abraham, he does not call him a son of Abraham, but calls him Zacchaeus by the bare appellation; but when he fulfilled the works of the patriarch, promising charity and the restitution of the injustice, then he says: 'And this man also is a son of Abraham.'
And we therefore, brothers, even if we are Christians and are called so, nothing demonstrates us as Christians in this way as the work of truth. Let us not therefore outdo the appellation with our works, but let us make the faith venerable with our works. We were called sons of Abraham through faith (Galatians 3:7); let us be called sons of Abraham through good works. For what he said, it is not the nobility of the body that is sought, but the following of the ways. For this reason Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the patriarchs rejected the synagogue, because they did not inherit the faith of the fathers; Abraham rejected his own kin because they did not follow the faith; Isaac, Jacob, and all the patriarchs rejected them too; the
For having denied God, nature also denies. And what word will testify that Abraham denied the Jews, so that we might not be bold as if against enemies, but as if reproving those who have sinned? The blessed Jeremiah says on behalf of the people: 'Lord, have mercy on us; the mountain and the city, which our fathers blessed, became consumed by fire; you, Lord, have mercy on us, because Abraham did not know us, and Israel did not recognize us; you, Lord, spare us' (Jeremiah 49:1). Because, he says, those on whom we take pride were alienated from us, and they denied our race, you have mercy on us, conquering all through philanthropy. Have mercy on us, because Abraham did not know us (Genesis 25:17-18). For if our things were his own, he would not have interceded for his own children. He interceded for the Sodomites, and he was heard; and for his own interceding, was he not heard? Abraham did not know us. Abraham denies the strangers in his ways, but he makes the strangers, as I said, to be strangers in race, yet kin in piety. For this reason the Scripture, desiring to show to the Jews that whoever adopts the ways of those, receives also their claim, says: 'Your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite, and your sister a Sodomite' (Deuteronomy 7:3). See how he constructs kinship from the ways. Because he thought of the things of the Sodomites, a sister of Sodom heard, a daughter of the Canaanites heard; and thus it was being shown not the race that is righteous, but the character that is venerable. But I think that the Canaanite and the Amorite denies the kinship; and when he sees the god-fighters and those who approach him as strangers to piety, he denies, and the Canaanite does not accept to be called the father of the ungodly. Why does he deny? If you insult a Canaanite and say, 'Your father is a Canaanite,' he will say: 'Is this my son, having denied the faith of the fathers?' I am not faithless, even if I am a Canaanite; for the Canaanite woman crying out, 'Son of David, have mercy on me' (Matthew 15:22), will testify to my faith.
Greek
περιουσίας· εἰ γὰρ ἦν ἐξ ἀδικίας, πῶς τετραπλασίονα ἠδύνατο ἀποδοῦναι, ἃ ἔλαβε; ∆ιὰ τί γὰρ λέγει, Εἴ τινός τι ἠδίκησα, ἀποδίδωμι τετραπλοῦν; Εἰ καὶ τῇ παρανομίᾳ συνέζησεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν νόμον ἐγνώριζεν· κελεύει γὰρ ὁ νόμος τὸν κλέπτην εἰς τετραπλάσιον ἀποδιδόναι τὴν κλοπήν. Ἐάν τις, φησὶ, κλέψῃ πρόβατον, καὶ γνωρισθῇ, ἀποδῷ τέσσαρα πρόβατα. Τετραπλασιάζει τὴν τιμωρίαν ὁ Θεὸς, μᾶλλον δὲ τὴν ζημίαν, ἵνα κἂν ὁ νόμος μὴ φοβήσῃ, ἡ ζημία δυσωπήσῃ· πολλοὶ γὰρ πολλάκις νόμον μὴ αἰδούμενοι, ζημίαν αἰδοῦνται. Ἑαυτὸν τοίνυν καταδικάζει, οὐκ ἐκδεχόμενος τὴν ψῆφον τοῦ νόμου, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ἐφ' ἑαυτὸν νόμος γενόμενος· ∆ικαίῳ γὰρ νόμος οὐ κεῖται. Ὁ Σωτὴρ ταύτην δεξάμενος τὴν φωνὴν, φησί· Σήμερον σωτηρία τῷ οἴκῳ τούτῳ γέγονεν. Αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν ἐδικαίωσεν, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ Χριστὸν ἁπλῶς εἶδεν, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τοῖς Χριστοῦ ὑπήκουσε νόμοις. Σήμερον σωτηρία τῷ οἴκῳ τούτῳ γέγονεν, ὅτι καὶ οὗτος υἱὸς Ἀβραάμ ἐστι. Πρὶν ποιῆσαι τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ, οὐ καλεῖ αὐτὸν υἱὸν Ἀβραὰμ, ἀλλὰ Ζακχαῖον ψιλῇ τῇ προσηγορίᾳ καλεῖ· ὅτε μέντοι ἐπλήρωσε τὰ ἔργα τοῦ πατριάρχου, φιλοπτωχείαν ἐπαγγειλάμενος, καὶ τῆς ἀδικίας τὴν ἀλλοτρίωσιν, τότε λέγει, Καὶ οὗτος υἱὸς Ἀβραάμ ἐστι. δʹ. Καὶ ἡμεῖς τοίνυν, ἀδελφοὶ, εἰ καὶ Χριστιανοί ἐσμεν, καὶ λεγόμεθα, οὐδὲν οὕτως ἡμᾶς δείκνυσι Χριστιανοὺς, ὡς τὸ ἔργον τῆς ἀληθείας. Μὴ τοίνυν ὑβρίσωμεν τοῖς ἔργοις τὴν προσηγορίαν, ἀλλὰ σεμνύνωμεν τοῖς ἔργοις τὴν πίστιν. Ἐκλήθημεν υἱοὶ Ἀβραὰμ διὰ πίστεως, κληθῶμεν υἱοὶ Ἀβραὰμ διὰ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων. Ὃ γὰρ ἔφθην εἰπὼν, οὐχ ἡ τοῦ σώματος εὐγένεια ζητεῖται, ἀλλ' ἡ τῶν τρόπων ἀκολουθία. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ καὶ οἱ πατριάρχαιπάντες ἠρνήσαντο τὴν συναγωγὴν, ἐπειδὴ τῶν πατέρων τὴν πίστιν οὐκ ἐκληρονόμησαν· ἠρνήσατο Ἀβραὰμ οἰκείους, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἠκολούθησαν τῇ πίστει· ἠρνήσατο αὐτοὺς καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ καὶ οἱ πατριάρχαι πάντες· τὸν γὰρ ἀρνησάμενον Θεὸν καὶ ἡ φύσις ἀρνεῖται. Καὶ τίς μαρτυρήσει λόγος, ὅτι Ἀβραὰμ Ἰουδαίους ἠρνήσατο, ἵνα μὴ δόξωμεν ὡς ἐπὶ ἐχθρῶν θρασύνεσθαι, ἀλλ' ὡς ἡμαρτηκότας ἐλέγχειν; Λέγει ὁ μακάριος Ἱερεμίας ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ λαοῦ· Κύριε, ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς· ἐγενήθη τὸ ὄρος καὶ ἡ πόλις, ἣν εὐλόγησαν οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν, πυρίκαυστος· σὺ, Κύριε, ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς, ὅτι Ἀβραὰμ οὐκ ἔγνω ἡμᾶς, καὶ Ἰσραὴλ οὐκ ἐπέγνω ἡμᾶς· σὺ, Κύριε, φεῖσαι ἡμῶν. Ἐπειδὴ, φησὶν, ἐκεῖνοι, ἐφ' οἷς σεμνυνόμεθα, ἠλλοτριώθησαν ἡμῶν, καὶ ἠρνήσαντο ἡμῶν τὸ γένος, σὺ ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς ὁ πάντας φιλανθρωπίᾳ νικῶν. Ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς, ὅτι Ἀβραὰμ οὐκ ἔγνω ἡμᾶς. Εἰ γὰρ ᾠκειοῦτο τὰ ἡμέτερα, οὐκ ἂν ἐπρέσβευσεν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἰδίων τέκνων. Ὑπὲρ Σοδομιτῶν ἐπρέσβευσε, καὶ ἠκούετο· καὶ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἰδίων πρεσβεύων οὐκ ἠκούετο; Ἀβραὰμ οὐκ ἔγνω ἡμᾶς. Ἀρνεῖται Ἀβραὰμ τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους τοῖς τρόποις, οἰκειοῦται δὲ, ὡς ἔφην, τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους μὲν τοῦ γένους, οἰκείους δὲ τῆς εὐσεβείας. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἡ Γραφὴ βουλομένη δεῖξαι τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις, ὅτι ὧν τις τοὺς τρόπους αἱρεῖται, τούτων καὶ τὴν προσηγορίαν δέχεται, λέγει· Ὁ πατήρ σου Ἀμοῤῥαῖος, καὶ ἡ μήτηρ σου Χετταία, ἡ ἀδελφή σου Σοδομῖτις. Βλέπε πῶς τὴν συγγένειαν ἀπὸ τῶν τρόπων κατασκευάζει. Ἐπειδὴ τὰ τῶν Σοδομιτῶν ἐφρόνησεν, ἤκουσεν ἀδελφὴ Σοδόμων, ἤκουσε θυγάτηρ Χαναναίων· καὶ οὕτως ἐδείκνυτο οὐ τὸ γένος δικαιῶν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἦθος σεμνύνων. Ἐγὼ δὲ νομίζω, ὅτι ὁ Χαναναῖος καὶ ὁ Ἀμοῤῥαῖος ἀρνεῖται τὴν 59.605 συγγένειαν· καὶ ὅταν ἴδῃ τοὺς θεομάχους, καὶ τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους τῆς εὐσεβείας προσχωροῦντας αὐτῷ, ἀρνεῖται, καὶ οὐ δέχεται ὁ Χαναναῖος κληθῆναι πατὴρ τῶν ἀσεβῶν. ∆ιὰ τί ἀρνεῖται; Ἐὰν ἐπιτρίψῃς Χαναναίῳ, καὶ εἴπῃς, ὅτι Ὁ πατήρ σου Χαναναῖος, καὶ ἐρεῖ· Οὗτός μου υἱὸς ἀρνησάμενος τὴν πίστιν τῶν πατέρων; Ἐγὼ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἄπιστος, εἰ καὶ Χαναναῖος· μαρτυρήσει γάρ μου τὴν πίστιν ἡ Χαναναία βοῶσα, Υἱὲ ∆αυῒδ, ἐλέησόν με. Μὴ
About this text
Two healings of blindness, physical and spiritual: the blind man and Zacchaeus side by side.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 65 (Khazarzar) (Greek)
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.