Homilies on the Gospel of St. John and the Epistle to the Hebrews

NPNF (V1-14)St. Chrysostom501the carrying away of his wife, the dangers, the wars, the famines? Should I speak of Isaac, 3381 whatfearful things he underwent, driven from every place, and laboring in vain, and toiling for others?Or of Jacob? for indeed to enumerate all his [afflictions] is not necessary, but it is reasonable tobring forward the testimony, which he himself [gave] when speaking with Pharaoh; “Few and evilare my days, and they have not attained to the days of my fathers.” ( Gen. xlvii. 9 .) Or should Ispeak of Joseph himself? Or of Moses? Or of Joshua? Or of David? Or of Elijah? Or of Samuel?Or wouldest thou [that I speak] of all the prophets? Wilt thou not find that all these were madeillustrious from their afflictions? Tell me then, dost thou desire to become illustrious from ease andluxury? But thou canst not.Or should I speak of the Apostles? Nay but they went beyond all. And Christ said this, “In theworld ye shall have tribulation.” ( John xvi. 33 .) And again, “Ye shall weep and lament, but theworld shall rejoice.” ( John xvi. 20 .) And, that “Strait and narrow is the way 3382 that leadeth untolife.” ( Matt. vii. 14 .) The Lord of the way said, that it is “narrow and strait”; and dost thou seekthe “broad” [way]? How is this not unreasonable? In consequence thou wilt not arrive at life, goinganother [way], but at destruction, for thou hast chosen the [path] which leads thither.Wouldst thou that I bring before you those [that live] in luxury? Let us ascend from the last tothe first. The rich man who is burning in the furnace; the Jews who live for the belly, “whose godis their belly” ( Phil. iii. 19 ), who were ever seeking ease in the wilderness, were destroyed; asalso those in Sodom, on account of their gluttony; and those in the time of Noah, was it not becausethey chose this soft and dissolute life? For “they luxuriated,” it says, “in fullness of bread.” ( Ezek.xvi. 49 .) It speaks of those in Sodom. But if “fullness of bread” wrought so great evil, what shouldwe say of other delicacies? Esau, was not he in ease? And what of those who being of “the sons ofGod” ( Gen. vi. 2 ), looked on women, and were borne down the precipice? And what of thosewho were maddened by inordinate lust? and all the kings of the nations, of the Babylonians, of theEgyptians, did they not perish miserably? Are they not in torment?[5.] And as to things now, tell me, are they not the same? Hear Christ saying, “They that wearsoft clothing are in kings’ houses” ( Matt. xi. 8 ), but they who do not [wear] such things, are inHeaven. For the soft garment relaxes even the austere soul, breaks it and enervates it: yea, even ifit meet with a body rough and hard, it speedily by such delicate treatment makes it soft and weak.For, tell me, for what other reason do you suppose women are so weak? Is it from their sexonly? By no means: but from their way of living, and their bringing up. For their avoiding exposure,3383their inactivity, their baths, their unguents, their multitude of perfumes, the delicate softness oftheir couches, makes them in the end such as they are.And that thou mayest understand, attend to what I say. Tell me; take from a garden a tree fromthose standing in the uncultivated 3384 part and beaten by the winds, and plant it in a moist and shadyplace, and thou wilt find it very unworthy of that from which thou didst originally take it. And thatthis is true, [appears from the fact that] women brought up in the country are stronger than citizens3381The common texts substitute Jacob for Isaac here, omitting the following clause where Jacob is mentioned (as they alsoin the preceding sentence have “ temptations ” instead of “ families ” ); to correct the apparent inaccuracies of the text. ButMr. Field shows from other passages of St. Chrys. that he really means Isaac, having in view Gen. xxvi. 18–22, 273382St. Chrys. seems to have read this text without the words ἡ πύλη3383“ to the heat, ” σκιατροφία3384ἐ ν τῇ ἐρήμῳ , “ dry and open part? ”726