Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles: Part II: Homilies 29-55 (Kiraz Commentaries Archive) 9781611433616, 1611433614

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Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles

Gorgias Occasional Historical Commentaries

18

Gorgias Occasional Historical Commentaries is a series that seeks to reprint historically important biblical commentaries. Rather than seeking to cover each book of the Bible as a standard commentary series would do, this series strives to bring back to the community of biblical scholars works that have had impact on subsequent biblical studies but which have been difficult to locate for decades or more because they have gone out of print.

Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles

Part II: Homilies 29-55

By

John Chrysostom Translated by

Charles Marriot

gorgias press 2011

Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA www.gorgiaspress.com Copyright© 2011 by Gorgias Press LLC Originally published in 1851 All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC.

2011

ISBN 978-1-61143-361-6

Printed in the United States of America

1 ISSN 1935-4398

THE

HOMILIES OF

ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE

ON THE

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES PART II

TO T H E

MEMORY

OF T H E

MOST R E V E R E N D

FATHER

IN

GOD

WILLIAM LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, P R I M A T E OF ALL E N G L A N D , FORMERLY REGIUS PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY IN T H E UNIVERSITY O F

OXFORD,

THIS LIBRARY OF

ANCIKNT BISHOPS, FATHERS, DOCTORS, MARTYRS, CONFESSORS, OF CHRIST'S HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH, UNDERTAKEN

AMID

HIS

ENCOURAGEMENT,

AND

CARRIED

ON

FOR T W E L V E

UNTIL

HIS

YEARS

DEPARTURE

UNDER

HENCE

IN

HIS

PEACE,

IS

GRATEFULLY

AND

REVERENTLY

INSCRIBED.

SANCTION,

HOMILIES ON T f t E

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.

PREFACE.

THE manifestly imperfect condition in which these Homilies have come to us may partly be accounted for by the circumstances of the times in which they were preached. It was in the Easter weeks of the third year of his residence at Constantinople as Archbishop, that St. Chrysostom began this course of Sermons; and during all the remaining part of that year (A.D. 400), the Capital of the East was kept in constant trouble and alarm by the revolt of Gainas and the Goths. Moreover, scarcely had the preaching commenced, when the complaints from the Churches of Asia Minor were brought (May, 400) before the Metropolitan See, which business during many months painfully occupied the Archbishop's thoughts, and eventually demanded his presence at Ephesus. Few of St. Chrysostom's Sermons were originally prepared in writing: certainly these were not: and as certainly the text, drawn up by no skilful hand from notes taken during the preaching, can never have been revised by the Preacher himself. This was a serious disadvantage: for these Homilies, if only from the novelty of the subject, stood especially in need of revision. The Acts of the Apostles, though read in the churches in the season between Easter and Pentecost, were seldom preached upon; and we find St. Chrysostom complaining in the opening of these Homilies, as also on an earlier occasion at Antioch, that this portion of the Scriptures was not so much read as it ought to be, nay, that there were 'many to whom this Book was not even known.' (p. I. and

vi

PREFACE.

note b). Hence it is not surprising, if the Preacher was not always understood; and, in fact, the attentive reader will not unfrequently see reason to suspect, that the scribe (or 'reporter'), from whose notes the text was formed, did not rightly apprehend the sense of what he heard. Nor has the transcriber (or 'redactor') remediedthe defects, whatever they may have been, of the original report. On the contrary, in other ways, of which we shall have to speak presently, he has often perplexed the sense, and sometimes entirely misrepresented the Preacher's meaning. The earliest mention of our Homilies is by Cassiodorus, (A.D. 514,) who relates, that with the assistance of friends he caused " t h e fifty-five Homilies on the Acts, by St. John, Bishop of Constantinople," to be translated into Latin, Opp. t. ii. p. 544. This version unfortunately is lost a . In the Canons of the Fifth and Sixth General Councils, St. Chrysostom's view of the Seven Deacons in the Acts is cited at length from Horn. xiv. (p. 199). John of Damascus, de Fid. OrtJiod. iii. 15. (A.D. 730,) cites as from the second of these Homilies a passage which appears in the first, being the comment on i. 9. Photius has an entry in the Bibliotheca relating to them, but by some mistake the number is given as fifty. Of the Catena on the Acts, compiled by a certain Andreas Presbyter of unknown age and country, but not later than the tenth century (for there is a manuscript of that age), a large proportion is taken from St. Chrysostom: and the Commentaries of CEcumenius (990) and Theophylact (1077) are in many places formed from the Catena: as also are the Scholia in Mss. of the Acts. To these may be added the Florilegium or Eclogce, a compilation the date of which is unknown, but certainly not later than the first half of the eleventh century. The Author of this work seems to have resorted to our Homilies once * From the same Cassiodorus there is extant a short work on t h e Acts under the title Complexioncs Jctinim Jpostolorum; but this is merely a brief syllabus of the history, and contains nothing in which we could trace a reference to St, Chrysostom's Exposition.

PKEFACE.

vii

only, (Horn. xix. p. 306): but there, he, as all the rest who have been mentioned, used the text which in the notes we call the old text, and from which the present Translation is made. For there is another and a widely different test, by which alone, unfortunately, these Homilies have been known in modem times, except by the few who have had access to Manuscripts. In the National Library at Paris there is (No. 729) a manuscript (in our notes marked E, in Par. Ben. 2, D.), which the Parisian Editor describes thus : Quorum (of six Mss. on the Acts) antiquissimus, olim Colb. nunc Reg. 729, scec. X., nitide et accurate scriptus, desinit in hom. quinquagesima. (This is a mistake ; it reaches to the end of the 55th.) Of the other Mss. he assigns A. B. C. (No. 725, 6,7.) to the twelfth, fourteenth, and thirteenth centuries respectively. These, and a copy in the Library of New College (N), contain the old text. Two others D, F, (728, and 73 suppl.) exhibit a text compiled from old and new, and with alterations peculiar to itself. Of the six Parisian Mss» a full collation was made for 4 the Library of the Fathers:' of N, we have at present but à partial collation» The Ms. E came into the hands of Erasmus, and from it he made his Latin version, down to the end of Hom. 53^ and there for some reason which is not explained he goes off to t h e other text, of which he has nowhere taken notice in the preceding Homilies. Of this work he says in an Epistle to Tonstal Bishop of Durham: Ex Chrysostomo in Acta verteram homilias tres ; cujus operce me pòenituit, cum nihil hie viderem Chrysostomi. Tuo tamen hortatu recepì codicern in manum ; sed nihil unquam legi indoctius. Ebrius ac stertens scriberem meliora. Habet frigidos sensiculos nec eos satis commode potest explicare. In his Preface, however, he considerably abates the severity of this censure, and contents himself with hinting a doubt whether the work be St. Chrysostom's : quod stylus concisum quiddam et abruptum habeat, id quod a phrasi Chrysostomi videtur alienum; si docti

PREFACE.

tamen censebunt opus Chrysostomo dignum, libenter hoc ego quicquid est suspicionis ponam. Of the Greek text, the editio princeps, that of Commelin, professes to be formed from manuscripts Biblioth. Palatini Bavarce, August ana;, Pistoriance, of which at present we are unable to give any account. Perhaps Commelin's leading Ms. was of a composite order: such however is his text; for it occasionally deserts E, to which, as a general rule, it closely adheres. This was inconsistent, for the circumstances of the two texts are such, that one or other ought to be followed throughout. There can be no valid reason for alternating between the two: for they are not different reports of the same matter, such that between them one might hope to approximate to the truth: the one is a refashionment of the other, and where it differs, it does so, not because its framer had a more correct report of the Sermons, but because he wished to improve upon the materials which lay before him in the other text. Commelin's text, in substance, is retained in all the subsequent editions. Savile, from the New College Ms. has corrected words and phrases here and there, but in the main his text is still that of the editio princeps. (He describes it as composed from the New College Ms., another belonging to J. A. de Thou (Thuanus), et tertio non ita pridem excuso in Germania.) The edition of Morel (which commonly goes under the name of Fronto Ducseus) repeats Commelin, but without Savile's emendations: and the Benedictines (here not Montfaucon), though they profess to have collated the Parisian Mss, have reprinted with but slight improvements, and with not a few disimprovements, the text of Morel. In the Parisian reprint of the Benedictine Chrysostom, (Par. Ben. 2.) the Editor has occasionally, but not constantly, recurred to the manuscripts, rarely gives the preference to the text of A. B. C. and constantly assumes the inferiority of those copies, in contents and authenticity as well as in antiquity, to the manuscript (E), which furnished the Latin version of Erasmus, and in

PREFACE.

ix

substance, as we have explained, the printed text of the original. Had the Editors collated the manuscript copies of these Homilies—a labour from which they, or those whom they employed, seem to have shrunk—they would probably have reversed their estimate of the relative value of the two tecensions. The general superiority of the other text in point of sense and coherence, notwithstanding its frequent abruptness and uncouthness, is too evident to be called in question. Had they also collated the Catena, CEeumenius, Theophylact, and the Scholia, they would have found the external testimony to be coincident with the internal evidence to the higher antiquity as well as greater authenticity of the text which (for the most part unknown) they rejected. It would have been seen that this, besides being, with all its faults, incomparably better, was the older of the two; and that the other could claim no higher antiquity than that of the manuscript (said to be of the tenth century) in which it appears: that it is the work of some scribe, who, offended by the manifest abruptness and ruggedness of the earlier text, set himself to smooth out the difficulties, and to make it read more easily. For this is clearly the true state of the case. With this view, the scribe sometimes alters words and phrases, sometimes transposes: often omits, where he found something that he did not understand, oftener still amplifies, or rather dilutes: and interpolates matter which sometimes is demonstrably borrowed with little disguise from the Catena (see p. 251, note i; 617, note c; 619, note f); or which, when it is his own, is little worth. In short, he has thought more of sound than of sense, and if he could make a passage run smoothly to the ear, has given himself little concern whether St. Chrysostom was likely to have so thought, or so expressed himself. The notes appended to our Translation will abundantly substantiate this censure. To have noted all the variations, either of the printed text, or of E alone, would have been a task as unprofitable as it was wearisome : perhaps as it is, we have given more

X

PREFACE.

than enough to vindicate the claims of the older text. If any one desires larger materials for comparison, Erasmus's Latin version, which, except in the two last Homilies, keeps close to E, will shew that the text which we represent in our Translation is, with all its imperfections, incomparably the better of the two. Even if it were otherwise, and were the alterations not, as they mostly are, disfigurements, but, considered in themselves, decided improvements, still our duty was plain: the text which came to us accredited by all the testimony known to be extant, we were not at liberty to reject in favour of an alien recension, unknown to the Ancients, and, as far as our evidence goes, unheard of before the tenth century. Therefore, in forming the text for this Translation we have entirely dismissed E , except where it has preserved readings which came strictly under the description o f ' various readings.' But while confining ourselves to that older text, we were not to leave unnoticed its more patent defects and errors. W e could not but perceive, that we had before us an unrevised report of St. Chrysostom's Sermons, which, especially in the Expositions, was frequently imperfect— sometimes, indeed, little more than a set of rough notes thrown together with, apparently, little or no attempt at arrangement. So far as this imperfection was caused by the reporter's negligence or incapacity, there was no r e m e d y : and leaving the matter as we found it, or, at most, inserting in the text the marks of a lacuna, we have only ventured, in the notes, to surmise what may have been the general purport of St. Chrysostom's remarks. In other places, where the defects of our sources seemed to be rather chargeable upon the redactor, we have sought to apply a remedy, sometimes, but rarely, by conjectural emendation; very often by inserting portions of sacred text or other connecting matter in [ ], and also by transposing parts which had fallen out of their true order. For it seems that the original transcript from the reporter's

PREFACE.

xi

notes was defective in these two regards. (1) The reporter would frequently omit to note in his tablets the xeipevav or some other text of Scripture, or would indicate it in the shortest possible way by a word or two at the beginning and ending of the passage, intending to insert it afterwards at his leisure. It appears, however, that in many places this was either not done at all, or done in the wrong place. Hence, where the text seemed incurably defective or perplexed, we have often been able to restore coherency by the simple expedient of inserting texts which were omitted, or else, by removing the texts altogether, and redistributing them among the comments. Almost any page of the Translation, especially in the Recapitulations, will illustrate this remark. (2) It often happens, that the order of the comments both in the first and in the second exposition (or recapitulation), does not follow the order of the texts. Of course the Preacher might be supposed to have sometimes returned upon his own steps, but it was scarcely conceivable that St. Chrysostom should have delivered an Exposition perplexed, as we often found it, by disjointed remarks thrown together without the slightest method. It was necessary therefore to consider whether it might not be possible to educe something like connected exposition, by assuming that the reporter's notes had been transcribed from his tablets in a wrong order. Where it could be seen that one sentence or portion was given as comment on such a verse, another on some other verse, and so on, some clue to the true order was given us in the sequence of the texts themselves. Even so, the difficulties which beset this part of our task were greater than can be readily estimated by any one who has not tried it. Sometimes the complication resisted all attempts at disentanglement. We are far from supposing that we have done all that might have been done in this way: but it is hoped that the labour which has been bestowed has not been altogether wasted, and that the restoration will carry with it its own evidence.

xii

PREFACE.

And as in these attempts we have indicated by letters the order in which the trajected parts lie in the manuscripts, the reader in every case has the means of forming his own judgment. In the first seventeen Homilies, we have only now and then resorted to this method: not because it was less needed there, but because we had not then so clearly perceived what was the state of the case, and what was practicable in this way. The eighteenth furnishes a remarkable instance, p. 256—259. Let any one read it in the order denoted by the letters, i. e. the six parts marked (a) consecutively, then the seven parts marked (b), inserting in the third of the latter (see note s) the comment on v. 25, from page 259, (" And they when they had testified" etc. to "when the Samaritans believed"), and he will have the entire 4 recapitulation' or second exposition of the history of the Samaritans and Simon Magus as it appears in the Mss.—which he will plainly perceive could not have proceeded in that form from St. Chrysostom. The same matter, read as we have arranged it, will be found to form a continuous exposition, not indeed perfect, for the dislocated state into which it had fallen seems to have led to further corruptions on the part of the scribes: but at any rate coherent, and with the parts fitting into each other. Moreover, if the fourteen parts, as here arranged, be numbered 1, 2, 3, &c. it will be seen that the order in which they lie in the Mss. is 1, 3, 5 : 8, 10, 12: 2. 4. 6 : 14: 7. 9. 11. 13. whence it seems that the derangement proceeded by some kind of method. T h e like was often found to be the case in subsequent instances. In p. 505, the trajection is 1. 3. 5. 7. 9. 11. 13: 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12: i . e . the transcriber missed the alternate portions, and brought them all together at the end. In p. 505, (before the series just noticed,) and 575, it is 3. 2. 1. and in 374, 4. 3. 2. 1, i.e. three, and four, parts read in reverse order. In a great number of instances the transposition is only of two parts, 2. 1: sometimes repeated as in 519, 2. 1: 1: 2. 1 ; 516, 2. 1: 1: 2. 1: 2. 1; 430, 2, 1: 1 :

PREFACE.

xiii

2. 1: 1: 2. 1: 1: 2. 1. A form of frequent occurrence is 2. 4. 1. 3, as in 416, 485, 496, 544; and combined with others as in 470, 2. 4. 1. 3 : 2. 1; in 607, 2. 1: 1 : 2 . 4. 1. 3, and 404, 2. 1: 1: 2. 4. 1. 3: 2. 1. There is the like regularity in the scheme 2. 1. 4. 3, p. 277; and 3. 1. 4. 2, p. 476, 669. In the last Homily, which is extremely confused, the trajection seems to yield this very regular scheme, 2. 4. 6. 1. 3. 5: 1: 5. 3. 1. 6. 4. 2. In other instances where the trajection is less regular, or does not seem to follow a rule, as in 332, 4. 1. 3. 2; 334, 3. 2. 4. 1; 533, 4. 6. 1. 3. 5. 7. 2. 8 j 553, 2. 1. 4. 8. 5. 3. 6. 9. 7; and in 662, 703, 714, (on which, three see the notes,) the transcriber may hare gone wrong on other grounds, and not, as in the generality of instances, from mistaking the order in which the reporter had set the matter on his tablets. The trajections we have attempted to remedy occur mostly in the expository parts. In the Ethica it often appeared to us, that the coherency might be greatly improved by transposition, but the evidence of the true order was more precarious here, than where the sequence of the texts furnished a clue; in these parts, therefore, we have rarely ventured upon applying this remedy (see p. 463, 548, 549, and 669). In these ways it is hoped that something has been done towards presenting these Homilies in a form nearer to that in which they were delivered, than the form in which they are exhibited in the unadulterated manuscripts, much more in the printed editions. The task was arduous, and we are far from supposing that our labours have always been successful; but at least we have not spared pains and diligence. The Translation was a work only less difficult than the reconstruction of the text. Here again much indulgence is needed on the score of the difficulty of producing a version, which, while it represented the original with its roughnesses and defects, should not be altogether unreadable. We have attempted, however, to give faithfully, though not always literally, the sense, or what seemed to be the sense, of our materials. Where any thing is added

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PREFACE.

merely for necessary explanation or connexion, it is enclosed in ( ) : the parts in [ ], as above explained, are the additions required for completion of the text. As a commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, this Work stands alone among the writings of the first ten centuries. The Expositions of St. Clement of Alexandria (in the Hypotyposes), of Origen, of Diodorus of Tarsus, and St. Chrysostom's teacher, Theodore of Mopsuhestia, as well as of Ammonius and others whose materials are used in the Catena, have perished. Those who are acquainted with the characteristic qualities of St. Chrysostom's exegesis, will perceive here also the same excellencies which mark his other expository works—especially the clear and full exposition of the historical sense, and the exact appreciation of the rhetorical momenta in the discourses of St. Peter, St. Stephen, St. James, and St. Paul, as recorded in the Acts. Of the Ethica it is perhaps not too much to affirm, that not the most finished work of St. Chrysostom will be found to furnish more of instruction and interesting matter (apart from the expression) than will be found in these Homilies, on the religious and moral subjects of which they treat: for example, On the delay of Baptism, On spiritual indolence and excuses derived from the cessation of Miraculous Grace, On the nature and uses of Miracles, On Prayer, On the Study of the Scriptures, On Alms, On Anger and Gentleness, Against Oaths and Swearing, and many others. Nor does any work exhibit a livelier portraiture of the character and life of the great Preacher and Bishop, and of the manners of the times in which his lot was cast.

CONTENTS.

HOMILY XXIX. Page 401,

Acts xiii. 16, 17. Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought He them out of it.

HOMILY XXX. Page 415.

Acts xiii. 42. And as they were going out, they besought that these words might be spoken unto them on the following sabbath.

HOMILY XXXI. Page 429.

Acts xiv. 14, 15. Which when the Apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of\ they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things ? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein.

xvi

CONTENTS.

IIOMILY XXXII. Page 442.

Acts xv. 1. And certain men which came down from Judaea taught brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.

the the

HOMILY XXXIII. Page 452.

Acts xv. 13—15. And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Symeon hath declared, how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name. And to this agree the words of the prophets.

HOMILY XXXIV. Page 468.

Acts xv. 35. Paul also and Bar nab is continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, uith many others also.

HOMILY XXXV. Page 483.

Acts xvi. 13, 14. And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down] and spake unto the women ivhich resorted thither. And a certain woman named Iydia, a seller of purple, of the city o/Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which tvere spoken of Paul.

CONTENTS.

xvii

HOMILY XXXYI. Page 492.

Acts Xvi. 25, 26. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.

HOMILY XXXVII. Page 502.

Acts xvii. 1, 2, 3. Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.

HOMILY XXXVIII. Page 512.

Acts xvii. 16, 17. Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. b

Will

CONTENTS.

HOMILY XXXIX. Page 528.

Acts xvii. 32—34. xviii. 1. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed fronil among them. Howheit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth.

HOMILY XL. Page 540.

Acts xviii. 18. And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and, sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aguila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.

HOMILY XLI. Page 552.

Acts xix. 8, 9. And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus,

CONTENTS.

xix

HOMILY XLII. Page 568.

Acts xix. 21—23. After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the Spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus ; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season . And the same time there arose no small stir about that way.

HOMILY XLIII. Page 581.

Acts xx. 1. And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia.

HOMILY XLIV. Page 590.

Acts xx. 17—21. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the Church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews: and hoiv I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

XX

CONTENTS.

HOMILY XLV. Page 602.

Acts xx. 32. And now, brethren, / commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

HOMILY XLYI. Page 614.

Acts xxi. 18, 19. And the day following, Paul went in with us unto James: and all the elders were present. And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had among the gentiles by his ministry.

HOMILY XLVII. Page 624.

Acts xxi. 39, 40. But Paul said, lam a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people. And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying.

CONTENTS.

xxi

HOMILY XLVIII. Page 635.

Acts xxii. 17—20. And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; and saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for ihey will not receive thy testimony tonceming Me. And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on Thee: and when the blood of Thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. HOMILY XLIX. Page 647.

Acts xxiii. 6—8. But when Paul perceived thai the one part i&ere Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am, called in question. And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. HOMILY L. Page 658.

Acts xxiii. 31, 32, 33. Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris. On the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the castle: who, when they came to Ceesarea, and delivered the epistle to the governor, presented Paul also before him.

xxii

CONTENTS.

HOMILY LI. Page 671.

Acts xxiv. 22, 23. And when Felice heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them, and said, When Lysias the tribune shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter. And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him.

HOMILY LII. Page 684.

Acts xxv. 23. And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and principal men of the city, at Festutf commandment Paul was brought forth.

HOMILY LII1. Page 699.

Acts xxvi. 30—32. And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them: and when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds. Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.

CONTENTS.

xxiii

HOMILY LIV. Page 710.

Acts xxviii. 2, 3, And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness; for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.

HOMILY LV. Page 720.

Acts xxviii. 17—20. And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto themy Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me. But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar ; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you ; because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.

H O M I L Y

ACTS

XXIX.

xiii. 16, 17.

Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought He them out of it. Barnabas giving place to Paul—how should it be otherwise?—to. him whom he brought from Tarsus; just as we find John on all occasions giving way to Peter: and yet Barnabas was more looked up to than Paul: true, but they had an eye only to the common advantage. Then Paul stood up, it says;—this" was a custom of the Jews— and beckoned with his hand. And see how he prepares the way beforehand for his discourse: having first praised them, and shewed his great regard for them in the words, ye that fear God, he so begins his discourse. And he says not, Ye proselytes, since it was a. term of disadvantage b. The God of this people chose our fathers: and the people—See, he calls God Himself their God peculiarly, Who is the common God of men; and shews how great from the first were His benefits, just as Stephen does. This they do to teach them, that now also God has acted after the same custom, in sending His own Son: as (Christ) Himself (does) in the parable of the vineyard—And Uhe peopled, he says, He L u k e 2 o , BEHOLD

13.

* J. e. for one of the congregation to expound or preach: or perhaps rather, to preach standing, not sitting, as ^hnstian Bishops did for their sermons, e have transposed the comment to its Proper place.—Mod. t. adds, " W h e r e -

fore he too in accordance with this discourses to t h e m . " b in regard that a proselyte might be deemed inferior to a J e w of genuine descent, " a H e b r e w of the H e b r e w s . "

Od

'¿itep avfitpopas Svo/ia,

402

xxix

exa e(

^ *

Paul's first recorded discourse> w en

^

it sojourned in the land of Egypt—and yet the

'contrary was the case 0 : true, but they increased in numbers; moreover, the miracles were wrought on their account: and

with an high arm, brought He them out of it.

Of these

things, (the wonders) which were done in Egypt, the prophets are continually making mention. And observe, how he passes over the times of1 their calamities, and nowhere brings forward their faults, but only God's kindness, leaving those

v. 18. f o r themselves to think over. And about the time of forty years suffered He their manners in the wilderness. Then 19 > the settlement. And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He divided their land to them by lot. v. 20.

And the time was l o n g ; four hundred and fifty years.

And

after that He gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. Here he shews that God varied His dispensations towards them

v- 21. (at divers times).

And cfterivard they desired a king: and

(still) not a word of their ingratitude, but throughout he

speaks of the kindness of God. And God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the v. 22.:23. space of forty years. And when He had removed him, He raised up unto them David to be their king : to whom also He gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after Mine own heart, which shall fulfill all My will. Of this man's seed hath God according to His promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus. This was no small thing that Christ should be from David.

Then J o h n

v.24.25. bears witness to this: When John had first preached before His coining the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not He. But, behold,, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of His feet I am not c /cat fj.r]v rovvavriov yiyovep. Here also we have transposed the comment to the clause to which it belongs. In the Edd. it comes after And with a high arm, etc. whence Ben. mistaking its reference says, " i. e., if I mistake not, God brought them out of Egypt, that H e might bring them into the Land of Promise : but, for their wickedness, the contrary befell; for the greatest

part of them perished in the wilderness." It plainly refers to 8\f/ai., Kpivavres

rovrou

Eira -naXw aitò r. yp. ending, Kal paprvpes

èir\-fipw(rav.]

vv. 29—31.

avrov

eicriv irpbs

"

And

are His

witnesses.

T h e n again

He presses them from the Scriptures, vv. 2 9 — 3 7 . "

T) d 2

404

° more i0 return corruption, He said on this wise, " I will give you the sure mercies of David, Wherefore he saith also in another Psalm, Thou shall not suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: but He, Whom God raised again, saw no corruption. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. Observe" how Paul here is more vehement in his discourse : we nowhere find Peter saying this. Then too he adds the terrifying v.40.41. words: Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. [2 ] (a) Observef how he twines (the thread of) his discourse (alternately) from things present, from the prophets. T. 23. [Thus,] frome (this man's) seed according to the promise:— {c) the name of David was dear to them; well then, is it not (a thing to be desired) that a son of his, he says, should be their king ?—(6) then he adduces John: [then] again [the prophets], where he says, By condemning they fulfilled, [and again], All that was writtenthen the Apostles as xxix

n0W

Arguing alternately from Old and, New Testament n

e This comment, which in the Mss. and Edd. is inserted after v. 37, refers to the following verses 38. 39. i . e . to what is there said of the insufficiency of the Law for justification: we have therefore transposed it. f In the old text the parts lie in the order here shewn by the letters a, b, &c. The confusion may be explained by the scribe's copying in the wrong order from the four pages of his tablets: viz. in the first place, in the order 1 , 3 , 2 , 4 : then 2, 4, 1 , 3 : and lastly, 2, 1. In the modern text, a different arrangement is attempted by which all is thrown into worse confusion. Thus it was not perceived that Chrys. having in a cursory way read through vv. 24— 41. begins his exposition in detail with the remark of the Apostle's passing

and repassing from the Old to the New Test, and vice versa, viz. alleging first the Promise, then John, then the Prophets, then the Apostles, then David and Isaiah, vv. 24—34: then comments upon the matters contained in these and the following verses, and then as usual goes over the whole again in a second exposition. Now the innovator makes the recapitulation begin immediately after (a), commencing it at v. 26. and collecting the comments in this order: vv. 26—32: vv. 24—36: vv. 17 41. s The transposition of the part (c), makes this read in the Mss. and Edd. as if it were parallel with awb r&v vapivrmv (i. e. New Testament facts), FAB TWV UPOFRIRWV (Old Testament testimonies).

he makes each confirm the other.

405

witnesses of the Resurrection: then David bearing witness. Acts For neither the Old (Testament proofs) seemed so cogent ie—4i. when taken by themselves as they are in tbis way, nor yet the latter testimonies apart from the former: wherefore he makes them mutually confirm each other. [Men and bre-*< 26. thren, etc.] For since they were possessed by fear, as having slain Him, and conscience made them aliens, (the Apostles) discourse not with them as unto Christicides, neither as putting into their hands a good which was not theirs, but one peculiarly their own. (d) [For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers: as much as to say, not ye, but they:] and again, [apologising even for those,] Because they knew Him not, and the voices of the Prophets which are read every sabbath-day, in condemning Him, they fidjilled them. A great charge it is against them that they continually hearing heeded not. But no marvel: for what was said above concerning Egypt and the wilderness, was enough to shew their ingratitude. And observe how this Apostle also, as one moved by the Spirit Himself h, continually preaches the Passion, the Burial, (g) Having taken Him down from the tree. Observe, what a great point they make of this. He speaks of the manner of His death. Moreover they bring Pilate (conspicuously) forward, that (the fact of) the Passion may be proved by the mention of the tribunal (by which He was condemned), but at the same time, for the greater impeachment of those (His crucifiers), seeing they delivered Him up to an alien. And he does not say, They made a complaint1 (against Him),1 ivirvbut, They desired, though having found no cause of death f™^ (in Him), that He should be slain. (e) Who appeared, he says, for many days to them that came tip with Him from fj0™' Galilee to Jerusalem. Instead of5 * * [he says, Who are His witnesses unto the people, to wit,] The men which came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. Then he produces h i. e. Though not one of the original witnesses, v. 31. yet, being one who has been moved or raised up, KeKimipevov, by the Spirit of Christ Himself, he preaches as they did, insisting much on the Passion, etc. 1 'AVT\ TOV, Oi HvSpts oi MIL.him hear, that God resistetk the proud; and, Pride is the XXIX • ' beginning of sin ; and, Every one that hath a high heart, 4, 6. is impure before the Lord. And in the histories, the devil, foCCliT" and all the rest. In a word, since it is impossible to Prov. recount all, let each choose out from the Divine Scriptures 16 5 ' ' the remedies for his own hurts. So wash out, if not the whole at once, a part at any rate, part to-day, and part to-morrow, and then the whole. And with regard to repentance too, and confession, and almsgiving, and justice also, and temperance, and all other things, thou wilt find many lCor.10, examples. For all these things, says the Apostle, were n ' written for our admonition. If then Scripture in all its discoursing is for our admonition, let us attend to it as we ought. Why do we deceive ourselves in vain ? I fear it Ps. 77, may be said of us also, that our days have fallen short in 33 ' vanity, and our years with haste. Who from hearing us has given up the theatres ? Who has given up his covetousness? Who has become more ready for almsgiving? I would wish to know this, not for the sake of vain-glory, but that I may be inspirited to more zeal, seeing the fruit of my labours to be clearly evident. But as things now are, how shall I put my hand to the work, when I see that for all the rain of doctrine pouring down upon you shower after shower, still our crops remain at the same measure, and the plants have waxed none the higher ? Anon the time of threshing is at hand, (and) He with the fan. I fear me, lest it be all stubble: I fear, lest we be all cast into the furnace. The summer is past, the winter is come: we sit, both young and old, taken captive by our own evil passions. Tell not me, I do not commit fornication: for what art thou the better, if though thou be no fornicator thou art covetous ? It matters not to the sparrow caught in the snare that he is not held tight in every part, but only by the foot: he is a lost bird for all that; in the snare he is, and it profits him not that he has his wings free, so long as his foot is held tight. Just so, thou art caught, not by fornication, but by love of money: but caught thou art nevertheless; and the point is, not how thou art caught, but that thou art caught. Let not the young man say, I am no moneylover : well, but perchance thou art a fornicator: and

Each passion has its age, not all attach at once.

413

then again what art thou the better ? For the fact is, it A C T S is not possible for all the passions to set upon us at one and 16—41*. the same time of life: they are divided and marked off, and that, through the mercy of God, that they may not by assailing us all at once become insuperable, and so our wrestling with them be made more difficult. What wretched inertness it shews, not to be able to conquer our passions even when taken one by one, but to be defeated at each several period of our life, and to take credit to ourselves for those which (let us alone) not in consequence of our own hearty endeavours, but merely because, by reason of the time of life, they are dormant? Look at the chariot-drivers, do you not see how exceedingly careful and strict they are with themselves in their training-practice, their labours, their diet, and all the rest, that they may not be thrown down from their chariots, and dragged along (by the reins) ?—See what a thing art is. Often even a strong man cannot master a single horse: but a mere boy who has learnt the art shall often take the pair in hand, and with ease lead them and drive them where he will. Nay, in India it is said that a huge monster of an elephant shall yield to a stripling of fifteen, who manages him with the utmost ease. To what purpose have I said all this ? To shew that, if by dint of study and practice we can throttle into submission 1 even elephants and wild horses,* much more the passions within us. Whence is it that through- (iev ' out life we continually fail (in every encounter)? We have never practised this art: never in a time of leisure when there is no contest, talked over with ourselves what shall be useful for us. W e are never to be seen in our place on the chariot, until the time for the contest is actually come. Hence the ridiculous figure we make there. Have I not often said, Let us practise ourselves upon those of our own family before the time of trial ? With our 2 servants at home 2 iraTSas. we are often exasperated, let us there quell our anger, that in our intercourse with our friends we may come to have it easily under control. And so, in the case of all the other passions, if we practised ourselves beforehand, we should not make a ridiculous figure in the contests themselves. But now we have our implements and our exercises and our trainings for other things, for arts and feats of the palaestra,

414

Want of practice, the cause of failure.

ttoMii,. but for virtue nothing of the sort. The husbandman would —-—'not venture to meddle with a vine, unless he had first been practised in the culture of i t : nor the pilot to sit by the helm, unless he had first practised himself well at i t : but we, in all respects unpractised, wish for the first prizes! It were good to be silent, good to have no communication with any man in act or word, until we were 1 «wreir- able to charm 1 the wild beast that is within us. (The wild ddeiv. . . . beast, I say:) for indeed is it not worse than the attack of any wild beast, when wrath and lust make war upon us ? 2 M^ Beware 2 of invading the market-place with these beasts, lifdyo* U n t ^ thou have got the muzzle well upon their mouths, pdu. until thou have tamed and made them tractable. Those who lead about their tame lions in the market-place, do you not see what a gain they make of it, what admiration they get, because in the irrational beast they have succeeded in producing such tameness—but, should the lion suddenly take a savage fit, how he scares all the people out of the market-place, and then both the man that leads him about is himself in danger, and if there be loss of life to others, it is his doing ? Well then, do thou also first tame thy lion, and so lead him about, not for the purpose of receiving money, but that thou mayest acquire a gain, to which there is none equal. For there is nothing equal to gentleness, which both to those that possess it, and to those who are its objects, is exceeding useful. This then let us follow after, that having kept in the way of virtue, and with all diligence finished our course therein, we may be enabled to attain unto the good things eternal, through the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, with Whom to the Father and the Holy Ghost together be glory, might, honour, now and ever, world without end. Amen.

H OMIL Y

ACTS

xiii.

XXX.

42.

And as they were going out1, they besought that these words1 test might be spoken unto them on the following sabbath. the syn.

Do you mart Paul's wisdom ? He not only gained ad mi- jfe^se ration at the time, but put into them a longing desire for a theGensecond hearing, while2 in what he said he dropt some s e e d s a ^ , , as it were, and forbore to solve (the questions raised), or to riv