Tractates on the Gospel of John 7.6–7.20

Augustine of Hippo · Tractates on the Gospel of John · ca. 406–420 · Hippo Regius · 15 passages

Latin text: Migne, PL 35 (Latin text: Migne, Patrologia Latina, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (patrologia_latina-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888).

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Chapter 7

7.6PL 35:1439

Fratres mei, si agnoscimus pretium nostrum quia sanguis est Agni; qui sunt illi qui hodie cele brant festivitatem sanguinis, nescio cujus mulieris? et quam ingrati sunt? Raptum est aurum, dicunt, de aure mulieris, et cucurrit sanguis, et positum est aurum in trutina vel statera, et præponderavit mul tum de sanguine. Si pondus ad inclinandum aurum habuit sanguis mulieris, quale pondus habet ad inclinandum mundum sanguis Agni, per quem factus est mun dus? Et quidem ille spiritus nescio quis, ut premeret pondus, placatus est sanguine. Immundi spiritus nove rant venturum Jesum Christum, audierant ab An gelis, audierant ex Prophetis, et sperabant eum venturum. Nam si non sperabant, unde clamaverunt, Quid nobis et tibi est? venisti ante tempus perdere nos? scimus qui sis, Sanctus Dei. Venturum sciebant, sed tempus ignorabant. Sed quid audistis in Psalmo de Jerusalem? Quoniam beneplacitum ha buerunt servi tui lapides ejus, et pulveris ejus misere buntur: tu exsurgens, inquit, misereberis Sion, quo niam venit tempus ut miserearis ejus. Quando venit tempus ut misereretur Deus, venit Agnus. Qualis Agnus quem lupi timent? qualis Agnus est qui leonem occisus occidit? Dictus est enim dia bolus leo circumiens et rugiens, quaerens quem devoret: sanguine Agni victus est leo. Ecce spectacula Christianorum. Et quod est amplius, illi oculis carnis vident vanitatem, nos cordis oculis veritatem. Ne putetis, fratres, quod sine spectaculis nos dimisit Dominus Deus noster: nam si nulla sunt spectacula, cur hodie convenistis? Ecce quod dixi mus, vidistis, et exclamastis: non exclamaretis, nisi vidissetis. Et magnum est hoc spectare per totum orbem terrarum, victum leonem sanguine Agni, educta de dentibus leonum membra Christi, et ad juncta corpori Christi. Ergo nescio quid simile imita tus est quidam spiritus, ut sanguine simulacrum suum emi vellet, quia noverat pretioso sanguine quandocumque redimendum esse genus humanum. Fingunt enim spiritus mali umbras quasdam honoris sibimet ipsis, ut sic decipiant eos qui sequuntur Christum. Usque adeo, fratres mei, ut illi ipsi qui seducunt per ligaturas, per præcantationes, per machinamenta inimici, misceant præcantationibus suis nomen Christi: quia jam non possunt seducere Christianos, ut dent venenum, addunt mellis aliquid, ut per id quod dulce est, lateat quod amarum est, et bibatur ad perniciem. Usque adeo ut ego noverim aliquo tempore illius Pilleati sacerdotem solere dicere: Et ipse Pil leatus christianus est. Ut quid hoc, fratres, nisi quia aliter non possunt seduci Christiani?

My brothers, if we recognize that our price is the blood of the Lamb, who are those who today celebrate the festival of the blood of some woman or other? And how ungrateful they are! "Gold was torn," they say, "from the ear of a woman, and the blood ran, and the gold was put in a balance or scale, and it was far outweighed by the blood." If the blood of a woman had weight enough to tip the gold, what weight has the blood of the Lamb, through whom the world was made, to tip the world? And indeed some spirit or other, so that it might weigh down the balance, was appeased by blood. The unclean spirits knew that Jesus Christ would come; they had heard it from angels, they had heard it from the prophets, and they expected him to come. For if they did not expect him, why did they cry out, "What have we to do with you? Have you come before the time to destroy us? We know who you are, the Holy One of God"? They knew he would come, but they did not know the time. But what did you hear in the Psalm about Jerusalem? "For your servants have taken pleasure in her stones, and they will have pity on her dust. You will arise," it says, "and have mercy on Zion, for the time has come to have mercy on her." When the time came for God to have mercy, the Lamb came. What sort of Lamb is it whom wolves fear? What sort of Lamb is it who, slain, slew the lion? For the devil is called a lion going about and roaring, seeking whom he may devour: by the blood of the Lamb the lion was conquered. See the spectacles of Christians! And what is more, they see vanity with the eyes of the flesh, we see truth with the eyes of the heart. Do not think, brothers, that the Lord our God has left us without spectacles: for if there are no spectacles, why have you assembled today? See, what we said you have seen, and you have cried out: you would not cry out unless you had seen. And it is a great thing to behold throughout the whole world the lion conquered by the blood of the Lamb, the members of Christ drawn out from the teeth of lions and joined to the body of Christ. So some spirit imitated something like this, wishing its image to be bought with blood, because it knew that the human race would at some time be redeemed by precious blood. For evil spirits contrive certain shadows of honor for themselves, so as to deceive in this way those who follow Christ. So much so, my brothers, that those who seduce by amulets, by incantations, by the devices of the enemy, mix the name of Christ into their incantations: because they can no longer seduce Christians into taking poison, they add a little honey, so that by what is sweet what is bitter may be hidden and drunk to destruction. So much so that I know that at one time the priest of that Capped One used to say, "The Capped One himself is a Christian too." Why this, brothers, except because Christians cannot be seduced otherwise?

Mark 1:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 8:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 102:14 (101:15 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 102:13 (101:14 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Pet 5:8 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:3 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Pet 1:19 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Against a pagan festival celebrating a woman's blood that outweighed gold, Augustine sets the blood of the Lamb that redeemed the world; demons imitate Christian redemption and even mix Christ's name into their charms to deceive Christians.

Quotations: Mark 1:24 (with Matt 8:29); Ps 102:13-14 (101:14-15 LXX/Vulg.); 1 Pet 5:8; allusions to John 1:3; 1 Pet 1:19. The pagan festival and the story of the woman's blood are not otherwise identified. 'That Capped One' (Pilleatus) is a deity wearing the Phrygian cap, probably Attis or Mithras (uncertain). Augustine's polemic is translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Bostrum → nostrum); OCR slip in the digital text (Jcrusalcm → Jerusalem); OCR slip in the digital text (VenturUm → Venturum); OCR slip in the digital text (cducta → educta); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est); OCR slip in the digital text (ct bibatur ad perni cicm → et bibatur ad perniciem); OCR slip in the digital text (dc sanguine → de sanguine); OCR slip in the digital text (dicere. Et ipse → dicere: Et ipse); OCR slip in the digital text (exclamarctis → exclamaretis); OCR slip in the digital text (i! lius → illius); OCR slip in the digital text (inclinan • dum → inclinandum); OCR slip in the digital text (laa. buitsanguis → habuit sanguis); OCR slip in the digital text (mci → mei); OCR slip in the digital text (mulicris → mulieris); OCR slip in the digital text (nomcn → nomen); OCR slip in the digital text (novcraL → noverat); OCR slip in the digital text (pcr tomum → per totum); OCR slip in the digital text (qua rens quem de vorct → quaerens quem devoret); OCR slip in the digital text (qui aia → qui sis); OCR slip in the digital text (seduccre → seducere); OCR slip in the digital text (solcre → solere); OCR slip in the digital text (suuin → suum)): Fratres mci, → Fratres mei,; Bostrum → nostrum; mulicris → mulieris; dc sanguine → de sanguine; laa. buitsanguis → habuit sanguis; inclinan • dum → inclinandum; qui aia → qui sis; VenturUm → Venturum; Jcrusalcm → Jerusalem; Agnus cst qui → Agnus est qui; qua rens quem de vorct → quaerens quem devoret; exclamarctis → exclamaretis; pcr tomum → per totum; cducta → educta; suuin → suum; novcraL → noverat; nomcn → nomen; seduccre → seducere; ct bibatur ad perni cicm → et bibatur ad perniciem; i! lius → illius; solcre → solere; dicere. Et ipse → dicere: Et ipse.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 7.6 (PL 35:1439; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/7-6/#p-7-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne PL 35 (digital text, Open Greek and Latin), then compared batch by batch with the public-domain English of NPNF¹ 7 (Gibb and Innes, 1888); differences checked against the Latin.

7.7PL 35:1439–1441

Ne quaeratis ergo alibi Christum, quam ubi se vobis voluit praedicari Christus; et quomodo vobis voluit prædicari, sic illum tenete, sic in corde vestro scribite. Murus est adversus omnes impetus et adversus omnes insidias inimici. Nolite timere, nec tentat ille, nisi permissus fuerit: constat illum nihil facere, nisi permissus fuerit aut missus. Mittitur tanquam angelus malus a potestate dominante; permittitur, quando aliquid petit: et hoc, fratres, non fit, nisi ut probentur justi, puniantur injusti. Quid ergo times? Ambula in Domino Deo tuo, certus esto: quod te non vult pati, non pateris; quod te permiserit pati, flagellum corrigentis est, non poena damnantis. Ad hæreditatem sempiternam erudimur, et flagellari de dignamur! Fratres mei, si recusaret quisquam puer colaphis aut flagellis cædi a patre suo, quomodo dice retur superbus, desperatus, ingratus paternæ disci plinæ? Et utquid erudit pater homo filium hominem? Ut possit non perdere temporalia quae illi acquisivit, quæ illi collegit, quæ non vult eum perdere, quae ipse qui relinquit, non potuit in sempiternum tenere. Non docet filium cum quo possideat, sed qui post eum pos sideat. Fratres mei, si filium docet pater successorem, et quem docet et ipsum similiter per illa omnia trans iturum, quae et ille qui monebat transiturus est; quomodo vultis erudiat nos Pater noster, cui non successuri, sed ad quem accessuri sumus, et cum quo in aeternum mansuri in haereditate, quæ non marcescit, nec moritur, nec grandinem novit? Et ipse haereditas et ipse Pater est. Hunc possidebimus, et erudiri non debemus? Sufferamus ergo eruditionem Patris. Non quando nobis dolet caput, curramus ad præcan tatores, ad sortilegos et remedia vanitatis. Fratres mei, non vos plangam? Quotidie invenio ista; et quid faciam? Nondum persuadeo Christianis in Christo spem esse ponendam? Ecce, si cui factum est reme dium, moriatur, (quam multi enim cum remediis mortui sunt? et quam multi sine remediis vixerunt?) qua fronte exiit anima ad Deum? Perdidit signum Christi, accepit signum diaboli. An forte dicat: Non perdidi signum Christi? Ergo signum Christi cum si gno diaboli habuisti. Non vult Christus communionem, sed solus vult possidere quod emit. Tanti emit ut solus possideat: tu facis ei consortem diabolum, cui te per peccatum vendideras. Vae duplici corde! qui in corde suo partem faciunt Deo, partem faciunt diabolo. Iratus Deus, quia fit ibi pars diabolo, discedit, et totum diabolus possidebit. Non frustra itaque Apostolus dicit: Neque detis locum diabolo. Cognoscamus ergo Agnum, fratres, cognoscamus pretium nostrum.

So do not seek Christ elsewhere than where Christ has willed to be preached to you; and as he has willed to be preached to you, so hold him, so write him in your heart. He is a wall against all the assaults and against all the snares of the enemy. Do not fear: the enemy does not even tempt unless he has been permitted. It is certain that he does nothing unless he has been permitted or sent. He is sent, as an evil angel, by the ruling power; he is permitted when he asks for something; and this, brothers, happens only so that the righteous may be proved and the unrighteous punished. Why, then, do you fear? Walk in the Lord your God; be sure of this: what he does not want you to suffer, you do not suffer; what he permits you to suffer is the scourge of one correcting, not the punishment of one condemning. We are being trained for an eternal inheritance, and we disdain to be scourged! My brothers, if some boy refused to be struck with slaps or the rod by his father, would he not be called proud, hopeless, ungrateful for his father's discipline? And why does a human father train his human son? So that he may not lose the temporal things that he acquired for him, that he gathered for him, which he does not want him to lose, which he who leaves them could not keep for ever himself. He does not teach a son with whom he will possess them, but one who will possess them after him. My brothers, if a father teaches his son as his successor, the son whom he teaches being likewise bound to pass through all the things through which the father who admonished him is also to pass, how do you want our Father to train us, to whom we are not to succeed but to come, and with whom we are to remain for ever in an inheritance that does not wither, nor die, nor know hail? He himself is both the inheritance and the Father. Shall we possess him, and ought we not to be trained? Let us bear, then, the Father's training. When our head aches, let us not run to enchanters, to fortune-tellers, and to the remedies of vanity. My brothers, shall I not lament over you? Every day I come across these things; and what am I to do? Do I not yet persuade Christians that their hope must be placed in Christ? See, if someone has had a charm made for him and dies (and how many have died with charms! And how many have lived without charms!), with what face does his soul go out to God? He has lost the sign of Christ; he has received the sign of the devil. Or perhaps he says, "I have not lost the sign of Christ"? Then you had the sign of Christ together with the sign of the devil. Christ does not want partnership; he wants to possess alone what he bought. He bought it at so great a price that he might possess it alone: you make the devil his partner, the devil to whom you had sold yourself by sin. Woe to the double-hearted, who in their heart give a part to God and a part to the devil! God, angry because a part is made there for the devil, departs, and the devil will possess the whole. Not in vain, then, does the apostle say, "Do not give place to the devil." Let us recognize the Lamb, then, brothers; let us recognize our price.

Eph 4:27 (quotation, high confidence) · Job 1:12 (allusion, medium confidence) · Heb 12:6 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Pet 1:4 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 6:20 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The devil can do nothing unless God permits, and sufferings are a Father's training for an eternal inheritance; Christians who resort to charms and fortune-tellers give the devil a share in what Christ bought.

Quotations: Eph 4:27; allusions to Job 1:12; Heb 12:5-8; 1 Pet 1:4; Sir 2:12 ('woe to the double-hearted', duplici corde); 1 Cor 6:20. 'Charm' renders remedium, an amulet or magical cure. A stray 'I' after 'praecantatores' is removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Chrisli → Christi); OCR slip in the digital text (Dco tuo, ccrius esto: (juod te non vult pali → Deo tuo, certus esto: quod te non vult pati); OCR slip in the digital text (bomo → homo); OCR slip in the digital text (corrigculis → corrigentis); OCR slip in the digital text (ct adver sus → et adversus); OCR slip in the digital text (ct erudiri → et erudiri); OCR slip in the digital text (euim → enim); OCR slip in the digital text (fil, → fit,); OCR slip in the digital text (hæredi las → haereditas); OCR slip in the digital text (inæternum → in aeternum); OCR slip in the digital text (locuM → locum); OCR slip in the digital text (lotum → totum); OCR slip in the digital text (marescit → marcescit); OCR slip in the digital text (mci → mei); OCR slip in the digital text (oninia → omnia); OCR slip in the digital text (permiserit pali → permiserit pati); OCR slip in the digital text (possidcre → possidere); OCR slip in the digital text (qua et ille → quae et ille); OCR slip in the digital text (qua; ipse → quae ipse); OCR slip in the digital text (quumido → quomodo); OCR slip in the digital text (quxraiis → quaeratis); OCR slip in the digital text (tanquaM → tanquam); OCR slip in the digital text (tores I, → tores,)): quxraiis → quaeratis; quumido → quomodo; ct adver sus → et adversus; tanquaM → tanquam; fil, → fit,; Dco tuo, ccrius esto: (juod te non vult pali → Deo tuo, certus esto: quod te non vult pati; permiserit pali → permiserit pati; corrigculis → corrigentis; Fratres mci, → Fratres mei,; bomo → homo; qua; ipse → quae ipse; oninia → omnia; qua et ille → quae et ille; inæternum → in aeternum; marescit → marcescit; hæredi las → haereditas; ct erudiri → et erudiri; tores I, → tores,; euim → enim; Chrisli → Christi; possidcre → possidere; lotum → totum; locuM → locum.

Extrabiblical texts: Sir 2:12 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 7.7 (PL 35:1439–1441; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/7-6/#p-7-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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7.8PL 35:1441

Stabat Joannes, et ex discipulis ejus duo. Ecce duo de discipulis Joannis: quia talis erat Joannes amicus sponsi, non quaerebat gloriam suam, sed testi monium perhibebat veritati; numquid voluit apud se remanere discipulos suos, ut non sequerentur Do minum? Magis ipse ostendit discipulis suis quem se querentur. Habebant enim illum tanquam Agnum: et ille, Quid me attenditis? ego non sum Agnus; Ecce Agnus Dei: de quo etiam superius dixerat, Ecce Agnus Dei. Et quid nobis prodest Agnus Dei? Ecce, ait, qui tollit peccatum mundi. Secuti sunt illum, hoc audito, duo qui erant cum Joanne.

"John was standing, and two of his disciples." See, two of John's disciples: because John, the friend of the bridegroom, was such that he did not seek his own glory but bore witness to the truth. Did he want his disciples to remain with him, so as not to follow the Lord? Rather he himself showed his disciples whom they should follow. For they regarded him as the Lamb; and he said, "Why do you attend to me? I am not the Lamb. Behold the Lamb of God," of whom he had also said above, "Behold the Lamb of God." And what does the Lamb of God profit us? "Behold," he says, "him who takes away the sin of the world." Hearing this, the two who were with John followed him.

John 1:35 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:36 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:37 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:29 (quotation, high confidence) · John 3:29 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: John, seeking not his own glory, pointed his two disciples away from himself to the Lamb of God, and they followed Jesus.

Quotations: John 1:35-37; John 1:29; allusion to John 3:29.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Slabal Joannes, el → Stabat Joannes, et); OCR slip in the digital text (attenditis! → attenditis?); OCR slip in the digital text (crant → erant); OCR slip in the digital text (illu:u → illum); OCR slip in the digital text (nun quærebat → non quaerebat); OCR slip in the digital text (scquerentur → sequerentur)): Slabal Joannes, el → Stabat Joannes, et; nun quærebat → non quaerebat; scquerentur → sequerentur; attenditis! → attenditis?; illu:u → illum; crant → erant.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 7.8 (PL 35:1441; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/7-6/#p-7-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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7.9PL 35:1441

Videamus sequentia. Ecce Agnus Dei: hoc Joan nes. Et audierunt eum duo discipuli loquentem, et secuti sunt Jesum. Conversus autem Jesus, et videns eos sequentes se, dicit eis: Quid quæritis? Qui dixe runt: Rabbi (quod dicitur interpretatum Magister), ubi habitas? Non sic illum sequebantur quasi jam ut inhærerent illi: nam manifestum est quando illi inhæserunt, quia de navi eos vocavit. In his enim duobus erat Andreas, sicut modo audistis; Andreas autem frater Petri erat: et novimus in Evangelio quod Petrum et Andream Dominus de navi vocavit, dicens, Venite post me, et faciam vos piscatores homi num. Et ex illo jam inhæserunt illi, ut non recederent. Modo ergo quod illum sequuntur isti duo, non quasi non recessuri sequuntur; sed videre voluerunt ubi habitaret, et facere quod scriptum est, Limen ostiorum ejus exterat pes tuus; surge ad illum venire assidue et erudire praeceptis ejus. Ostendit eis ille ubi maneret: venerunt et fue runt cum illo. Quam beatum diem duxerunt, quam beatam noctem! Quis est qui nobis dicat quæ audie rint illi a Domino? Ædificemus et nosmetipsi in corde nostro, et faciamus domum quo veniat ille, et doceat nos; colloquatur nobis.

Let us see what follows. "Behold the Lamb of God": this was John. "And the two disciples heard him speaking, and followed Jesus. And Jesus, turning and seeing them following him, says to them, What do you seek? They said, Rabbi (which, interpreted, means Teacher), where do you dwell?" They were not following him in such a way as to cling to him already: for it is plain when they clung to him, since he called them from the boat. For among these two was Andrew, as you have just heard; and Andrew was the brother of Peter; and we know from the Gospel that the Lord called Peter and Andrew from the boat, saying, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." And from then on they clung to him, so as not to depart. So now, when these two follow him, they do not follow as men who will never depart; but they wanted to see where he dwelt, and to do what is written: "Let your foot wear the threshold of his doors; rise to come to him constantly, and be instructed in his precepts." He showed them where he stayed; they came and were with him. What a blessed day they spent, what a blessed night! Who is there to tell us what they heard from the Lord? Let us too build in our own heart and make a house where he may come and teach us; let him converse with us.

John 1:37 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:38 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:39 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:40 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 4:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Mark 1:17 (quotation, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The two disciples followed Jesus not yet to stay with him for good, which came when he called them from their boats, but to see where he dwelt and to learn from him.

Quotations: John 1:37-39; Matt 4:19 (cf. Mark 1:17); Sir 6:36 (Sirach is outside the 66-book canon); allusion to John 1:40. Stray quotation marks and a stray 'm' in the digital text are removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (< Et audicrunL ei m duo → Et audierunt eum duo); OCR slip in the digital text (Magister), ubi habitas? > → Magister), ubi habitas?); OCR slip in the digital text (Vidcamus → Videamus); OCR slip in the digital text (ct novintus in Evangelic → et novimus in Evangelio); OCR slip in the digital text (præcepti. ejus → praeceptis ejus)): Vidcamus → Videamus; < Et audicrunL ei m duo → Et audierunt eum duo; Magister), ubi habitas? > → Magister), ubi habitas?; ct novintus in Evangelic → et novimus in Evangelio; præcepti. ejus → praeceptis ejus.

Extrabiblical texts: Sir 6:36 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 7.9 (PL 35:1441; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/7-6/#p-7-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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7.10PL 35:1441

Quid quaeritis? Qui dixerunt ei: Rabbi, (quod interpretatum dicitur Magister), ubi habitas? Dicit eis: Venite, et videte. Et venerunt, et viderunt ubi maneret, et apud eum manserunt die illo: hora autem erat quasi decima. Nihilne arbitramur pertinuisse ad Evangelistam, dicere nobis quota hora erat? Potest fieri ut nihil ibi nos animadvertere, nihil quaerere voluerit? Decima erat hora. Numerus iste legem si gnificat, quia in decem præceptis data est lex. Vene rat autem tempus ut impleretur lex per dilectionem; quia a Judæis non poterat impleri per timorem. Unde Dominus dicit: Non veni solvere legem, sed implere. Merito ergo decima hora eum secuti sunt ad testimonium amici sponsi duo isti: et decima hora audivit, Rabbi, quod interpretatur Magister. Si decima hora Rabbi Dominus audivit, et decimus nu merus ad legem pertinet; magister legis non est nisi dator legis. Nemo dicat quia alius dedit legem, et alius docet legem: ipse illam docet qui illam dedit; ipse est magister legis suae, et docet illam. Et misericordia est in lingua ipsius, ideo misericorditer docet legem, sic ut dictum est de sapientia, Legem autem et misericor diam in lingua portat. Noli timere, ne implere legem non possis, fuge ad misericordiam. Si multum est ad te legem implere, utere pacto illo, utere chirographo, utere precibus quas tibi constituit et composuit jurisperitus caelestis.

"What do you seek? They said to him, Rabbi (which, interpreted, means Teacher), where do you dwell? He says to them, Come and see. And they came and saw where he stayed, and they stayed with him that day; and it was about the tenth hour." Do we think it was of no concern to the evangelist to tell us what hour it was? Can it be that he wanted us to notice nothing there, to inquire into nothing? It was the tenth hour. This number signifies the law, because the law was given in ten commandments. But the time had come for the law to be fulfilled through love, since it could not be fulfilled by the Jews through fear. That is why the Lord says, "I have not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it." Fittingly, then, at the tenth hour these two followed him at the testimony of the friend of the bridegroom, and at the tenth hour he heard, "Rabbi," which is interpreted "Teacher." If at the tenth hour the Lord heard "Rabbi," and the number ten belongs to the law, the teacher of the law is none other than the giver of the law. Let no one say that one gave the law and another teaches the law: he who gave it teaches it; he is the teacher of his own law, and teaches it. And mercy is on his tongue; therefore he teaches the law mercifully, as was said of wisdom: "She carries law and mercy on her tongue." Do not fear that you cannot fulfill the law: flee to mercy. If fulfilling the law is too much for you, use that agreement, use that bond, use the prayers that the heavenly lawyer has drawn up and composed for you.

John 1:38 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:39 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 31:26 (quotation, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The tenth hour signifies the law of ten commandments, which Christ, its giver and teacher, fulfills through love; those who cannot fulfill it should flee to his mercy and use the prayer he composed.

Quotations: John 1:38-39; Matt 5:17; Prov 31:26 (Old Latin, close to the LXX). 'The Jews' could not fulfill the law 'through fear': Augustine's contrast of law and love, translated as written. 'Agreement' and 'bond' (pactum, chirographum) anticipate the Lord's Prayer as the 'petition' drafted by Christ (7.11).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (< Quid → Quid); OCR slip in the digital text (apud cum → apud eum); OCR slip in the digital text (autcin erat quasi dccima. > → autem erat quasi decima.); OCR slip in the digital text (dixerunt ci → dixerunt ei); OCR slip in the digital text (ficri → fieri); OCR slip in the digital text (ipseest magisterlegis → ipse est magister legis); OCR slip in the digital text (quarere → quaerere); OCR slip in the digital text (ulcre → utere)): < Quid → Quid; dixerunt ci → dixerunt ei; apud cum → apud eum; autcin erat quasi dccima. > → autem erat quasi decima.; ficri → fieri; quarere → quaerere; ipseest magisterlegis → ipse est magister legis; ulcre → utere.

Topics: Prayer

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 7.10 (PL 35:1441; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/7-6/#p-7-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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7.11PL 35:1441–1443

Qui enim habent causam, et volunt supplicare imperatori, quærunt aliquem scholasticum jurisperi tum, a quo sibi preces componantur; ne forte si ali ter petierint quam oportet, non solum non impetrent quod petunt, sed et poenam pro beneficio consequantur. Cum ergo quærerent supplicare Apostoli, et non invenirent quomodo adirent imperatorem Deum, di xerunt Christo, Domine, doce nos orare: hoc est, Ju risperite noster, assessor, imo consessor Dei, compone nobis preces. Et docuit Dominus de libro juris caelestis, docuit quomodo orarent: et in ipso quod docuit, posuit quamdam conditionem: Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Si non secundum legem petieris, reus eris. Contremiscis imperatorem factus reus? offer sacrificium humilitatis, offer sacrificium misericordiae; dic in pre cibus, Dimitte mihi, quoniam et ego dimitto. Sed si dicis, fac. Quid enim facturus es, quo iturus es, si mentitus fueris in precibus? Non quomodo dicitur in foro, carebis beneficio rescripti; sed nec rescriptum impetrabis. Juris enim forensis est ut qui in precibus mentitus fuerit, non illi prosit quod impetravit. Sed hoc inter homines, quia potest falli homo; potuit falli imperator, quando preces misisti: dixisti enim quod voluisti, et cui dixisti, nescit an verum sit; dimisit te adversario tuo convincendum, ut si ante judicem con victus fueris de mendacio, quia non potuit ille nisi præstare, nesciens an fueris mentitus, ibi carebis ipso beneficio rescripti, quo perduxisti rescriptum. Deus autem qui novit utrum mentiaris, an verum dicas, non facit ut in judicio tibi non prosit; sed nec impe trare te permittit, quia ausus es mentiri veritati.

For those who have a case and wish to petition the emperor look for some lawyer trained in the schools to compose their petition for them, lest, if they ask otherwise than they ought, they not only fail to obtain what they ask but even incur punishment instead of a favor. So when the apostles sought to petition, and did not find how to approach the emperor God, they said to Christ, "Lord, teach us to pray"; that is, "Our lawyer, assessor, or rather co-assessor of God, compose prayers for us." And the Lord taught them from the book of heavenly law, taught them how to pray; and in what he taught he laid down a certain condition: "Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors." If you do not petition according to the law, you will be guilty. Do you not tremble, having become guilty before the emperor? Offer the sacrifice of humility, offer the sacrifice of mercy; say in your prayers, "Forgive me, because I also forgive." But if you say it, do it. For what will you do, where will you go, if you have lied in your prayers? Not, as is said in the forum, "You will lose the benefit of the rescript"; but you will not even obtain the rescript. For it is a rule of the law of the forum that one who has lied in his petition gets no benefit from what he obtained. But this is among men, because a man can be deceived: the emperor could be deceived when you sent your petition; for you said what you wished, and he to whom you said it does not know whether it is true. He has left you to be refuted by your opponent, so that if before the judge you are convicted of lying (because the emperor could do nothing but grant it, not knowing whether you had lied), there you will lose the very benefit of the rescript for which you obtained it. But God, who knows whether you lie or speak the truth, does not merely make it of no benefit to you at the judgment, but does not even let you obtain it, because you dared to lie to the truth.

Luke 11:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 6:12 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: As petitioners to the emperor have a lawyer draft their petition, Christ composed the Lord's Prayer for us with its condition of forgiving others; one who prays it falsely obtains nothing from God, who cannot be deceived.

Quotations: Luke 11:1; Matt 6:12. The image is drawn from Roman legal procedure: a petition (preces) answered by an imperial rescript, which was void if obtained by false statements. A stray 'I' after 'consequantur' is removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Cun tremiscis imperatorum → Contremiscis imperatorem); OCR slip in the digital text (Judicio → judicio); OCR slip in the digital text (consequan tur I. → consequantur.); OCR slip in the digital text (doce noa → doce nos); OCR slip in the digital text (iili → illi); OCR slip in the digital text (ilicis → dicis); OCR slip in the digital text (imperalor → imperator); OCR slip in the digital text (juris coo.. lestis → juris caelestis); OCR slip in the digital text (misericordiæ. dic → misericordiae; dic); OCR slip in the digital text (nescirns → nesciens); OCR slip in the digital text (no. stra → nostra); OCR slip in the digital text (nohis → nobis); OCR slip in the digital text (nou sccundum legcm pcticris → non secundum legem petieris); OCR slip in the digital text (quamdamconditionem → quamdam conditionem); OCR slip in the digital text (utsi → ut si)): consequan tur I. → consequantur.; doce noa → doce nos; nohis → nobis; juris coo.. lestis → juris caelestis; quamdamconditionem → quamdam conditionem; no. stra → nostra; nou sccundum legcm pcticris → non secundum legem petieris; Cun tremiscis imperatorum → Contremiscis imperatorem; misericordiæ. dic → misericordiae; dic; ilicis → dicis; iili → illi; imperalor → imperator; utsi → ut si; nescirns → nesciens; Judicio → judicio.

Topics: Prayer

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 7.11 (PL 35:1441–1443; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/7-6/#p-7-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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7.12PL 35:1443

Quid ergo facturus es? dic mihi. Implere le gem ex omni parte, ita ut in nullo offendas, difficile est: reatus ergo certus est; remedio uti non vis? Ecce, fratres mei, quale remedium posuit Dominus contra ægritudines animæ. Quod ergo? Cum caput tibi dolet, laudamus si Evangelium ad caput tibi posueris, et non ad ligaturam cucurreris. Ad hoc enim perdu cta est infirmitas hominum, et ita plangendi sunt ho mines qui currunt ad ligaturas, ut gaudeamus quando videmus hominem in lecto suo constitutum, jactari febribus et doloribus, nec alicubi spem posuisse, nisi ut sibi Evangelium ad caput poneret: non quia ad hoc factum est, sed quia prælatum est Evangelium ligaturis. Si ergo ad caput ponitur ut quiescat dolor capitis, ad cor non ponitur ut sanetur a peccatis? Fiat ergo. Quid fiat? Ponatur ad cor, sanetur cor. Bonum est, bonum, ut de salute corporis non satagas, nisi ut a Deo illam petas. Si scit tibi prodesse, dabit illam: si non tibi dederit, non proderat habere illam. Quam multi aegrotant in lecto innocentes; et si sani fuerint, procedunt ad scelera committenda? Quam multis obest sanitas? Latro qui procedit ad faucem occidere hominem, quanto illi melius erat ut aegrotaret? Qui noctu surgit ad fodiendum parietem alienum, quanto illi melius si febribus jactaretur? Innocentius ægrotaret, scelerate sanus est. Novit ergo Deus quid nobis expediat: id agamus tantum, ut cor nostrum sanum sit a peccatis; et quando forte flagellamur in corpore, ipsum deprecemur. Rogavit eum Paulus apostolus, ut auferret stimulum carnis, et noluit au ferre. Numquid perturbatus est? numquid contrista tus dixit se desertum? Magis se dixit non desertum, quia non ablatum est quod volebat auferri, ut illa infirmitas sanaretur. Hoc enim invenit in voce medici: Sufficit tibi gratia mea; nam virtus in infirmitate perfi citur. Unde ergo scis quod non vult te sanare Deus? Adhuc tibi expedit flagellari. Unde scis quam putre est quod secat medicus, agens ferrum per putria? Nonne novit modum, quid faciat, quo usque faciat? Numquid ululatus ejus qui secatur, re trahit manus medici artificiose secantis? Ille clamat; ille secat. Crudelis qui non audit clamantem, an po tius misericors qui vulnus persequitur ut sanet ægro tum? Haec, fratres mei, ideo dixi, ne quis quærat ali quid præter auxilium Dei, quando forte in aliqua cor reptione Domini sumus. Videte ne pereatis, videte ne ab Agno recedatis, et a leone devoremini.

What, then, are you going to do? Tell me. To fulfill the law in every part, so as to offend in nothing, is difficult: guilt, then, is certain; will you not use the remedy? See, my brothers, what a remedy the Lord has set against the sicknesses of the soul. What, then? When your head aches, we praise you if you put the Gospel to your head and do not run to an amulet. For human weakness has been brought to this point, and those who run to amulets are so much to be lamented, that we rejoice when we see a man lying in his bed, tossed with fevers and pains, who has put his hope nowhere but in putting the Gospel to his head: not because it was made for this, but because the Gospel has been preferred to amulets. If, then, it is put to the head so that the pain of the head may cease, is it not put to the heart so that it may be healed of sins? So be it, then. What should be done? Let it be put to the heart; let the heart be healed. It is good, good, that you should not be anxious about the health of the body except to ask it of God. If he knows that it profits you, he will give it; if he does not give it to you, it would not have profited you to have it. How many are sick in bed and innocent, and, if they were well, would go out to commit crimes! How many does health harm! The robber who goes out to the pass to kill a man, how much better for him if he were sick! He who gets up at night to dig through another's wall, how much better for him if he were tossed with fevers! He would be sick more innocently; he is well to his wickedness. So God knows what is good for us: let us only see to it that our heart is healthy from sins; and when perhaps we are scourged in the body, let us pray to him. The apostle Paul asked him to take away the thorn in the flesh, and he would not take it away. Was he troubled? Did he, saddened, say that he was forsaken? Rather he said he was not forsaken, because what he wanted taken away was not taken away, so that that weakness might be healed. For this he found in the voice of the physician: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." How, then, do you know that God does not wish to heal you? It is still good for you to be scourged. How do you know how rotten is what the physician cuts, driving the knife through the rotten parts? Does he not know the measure, what he is doing, how far to go? Does the howling of the one being cut hold back the hands of the physician cutting skillfully? The one cries out; the other cuts. Is he cruel who does not listen to the one crying out, or rather merciful, who pursues the wound so as to heal the sick man? I have said these things, my brothers, so that no one may seek anything besides the help of God when we are perhaps under some correction of the Lord. See that you do not perish; see that you do not depart from the Lamb and be devoured by the lion.

2 Cor 12:9 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 12:7 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 12:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Jas 2:10 (allusion, low confidence) · 1 Pet 5:8 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Better to lay the Gospel on an aching head than to run to amulets, and better still to let it heal the heart; health and sickness are in God's hands, and like Paul with his thorn we should trust the physician's knife.

Quotations: 2 Cor 12:9; allusions to 2 Cor 12:7-8; Jas 2:10; 1 Pet 5:8. The practice of laying a Gospel book on the head of the sick, which Augustine tolerates as better than pagan amulets, is described as he gives it.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Bo ' num → Bonum); OCR slip in the digital text (Dui → Dei); OCR slip in the digital text (Ilac → Haec); OCR slip in the digital text (Qnam → Quam); OCR slip in the digital text (cIro → ergo); OCR slip in the digital text (capiiis → capitis); OCR slip in the digital text (ct noluit → et noluit); OCR slip in the digital text (dcsertum → desertum); OCR slip in the digital text (dic inibi → dic mihi); OCR slip in the digital text (ferram → ferrum); OCR slip in the digital text (ila ut → ita ut); OCR slip in the digital text (libi → tibi); OCR slip in the digital text (mclius → melius); OCR slip in the digital text (mti → mei); OCR slip in the digital text (nee alicubi → nec alicubi); OCR slip in the digital text (rucrint → fuerint); OCR slip in the digital text (sanctur → sanetur); OCR slip in the digital text (silii Evai gclium → sibi Evangelium); OCR slip in the digital text (smnus. Vidcte ne percatis, vidcte ne ab Agno rccedalis, (t a leone → sumus. Videte ne pereatis, videte ne ab Agno recedatis, et a leone); OCR slip in the digital text (ægrota rot → aegrotaret)): dic inibi → dic mihi; ila ut → ita ut; fratres mti, → fratres mei,; nee alicubi → nec alicubi; silii Evai gclium → sibi Evangelium; capiiis → capitis; sanctur → sanetur; cIro → ergo; Bo ' num → Bonum; libi → tibi; Qnam → Quam; rucrint → fuerint; ægrota rot → aegrotaret; mclius → melius; ct noluit → et noluit; dcsertum → desertum; ferram → ferrum; Ilac → Haec; auxilium Dui, → auxilium Dei,; smnus. Vidcte ne percatis, vidcte ne ab Agno rccedalis, (t a leone → sumus. Videte ne pereatis, videte ne ab Agno recedatis, et a leone.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 7.12 (PL 35:1443; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/7-6/#p-7-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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7.13PL 35:1443

Diximus ergo quare hora decima: sequentia videamus. Erat Andreas frater Simonis Petri unus ex duobus qui audierant ab Joanne, et secuti fuerant eum. Invenit hic Simonem fratrem suum, et dicit ei, Inve nimus Messiam; quod est interpretatum Christus. Mes sias hebraice, Christus græce est, latine Unctus. Ab unctione enim dicitur Christus. Χρι̃σμα unctio est græce; ergo Christus, unctus. Ille singulariter unctus, præcipue unctus; unde omnes Christiani unguntur, ille præcipue. Quomodo in Psalmo dicit, audi: Pro pterea unxit te, Deus, Deus tuus oleo exsultationis, præ participibus tuis. Participes enim ejus omnes sancti; sed ille singulariter Sanctus sanctorum, singulariter unctus, singulariter Christus.

We have said, then, why the tenth hour; let us look at what follows. "Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who had heard from John and had followed him. He found his brother Simon and says to him, We have found the Messiah, which is interpreted, Christ." Messiah in Hebrew is Christ in Greek, Anointed in Latin. For Christ is named from anointing: chrisma is the Greek for anointing; so Christ is "anointed." He is anointed uniquely, anointed pre-eminently; whence all Christians are anointed, he pre-eminently. Hear how he says it in the Psalm: "Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows." For all the saints are his fellows; but he is uniquely the Holy of holies, uniquely anointed, uniquely Christ.

John 1:40 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:41 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 45:7 (44:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Dan 9:24 (allusion, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Andrew finds the Messiah, the 'Anointed' or Christ, who is anointed above all his fellows, from whom all Christians receive their anointing.

Quotations: John 1:40-41; Ps 45:7 (44:8 LXX/Vulg.); allusion to Dan 9:24 ('Holy of holies'). The Greek word is printed by Augustine in the text.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Parlicipcs → Participes); OCR slip in the digital text (eat → est); OCR slip in the digital text (sequcntia vidcainus → sequentia videamus); OCR slip in the digital text (singularilcr Sanctus sau ctorum → singulariter Sanctus sanctorum); OCR slip in the digital text (uude → unde)): sequcntia vidcainus → sequentia videamus; quod eat interpretatum → quod est interpretatum; uude → unde; Parlicipcs → Participes; singularilcr Sanctus sau ctorum → singulariter Sanctus sanctorum.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 7.13 (PL 35:1443; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/7-6/#p-7-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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7.14PL 35:1443–1445

Et duxit eum ad Jesum. Intuitus autem eum, Jesus dixit, Tu es Simon filius Joannis, tu vocaberis Cephas; quod interpretatur Petrus. Non magnum quia Dominus dixit cujus filius esset iste. Quid magnum Domino? Omnia nomina sanctorum suorum sciebat, quos ante constitutionem mundi prædestinavit; et miraris quia dixit uni homini, Tu es filius illius, et tu vocaberis illud? Magnum quia mutavit ei nomen; et fecit de Simone Petrum? Petrus autem a petra, petra vero Ecclesia: ergo in Petri nomine figurata est Ecclesia. Et quis securus, nisi qui aedificat super petram? Et quid ait ipse Dominus? Qui audit verba mea hæc et facit ea, similabo eum viro prudenti, aedificanti super petram (non cedit tentationibus): descendit pluvia, venerunt flumina, flaverunt venti, et impegerunt in domum illam, et non cecidit; fundata enim erat super petram. Qui audit verba mea et non facit ea (jam unusquisque nostrum timeat et caveat), similabo eum viro stulto qui ædificavit domum suam super arenam: descendit pluvia, venerunt flumina, flaverunt venti, et impegerunt in domum illam, et cecidit; et facta est ruina ejus magna. Quid prodest quia intrat Ecclesiam, qui vult su per arenam ædificare? Audiendo enim et non faciendo, ædificat quidem, sed super arenam. Si enim nihil au dit, nihil ædificat: si autem audit, ædificat. Sed quæ rimus, ubi. Si enim audit et facit, super petram: si audit et non facit, super arenam. Duo sunt genera ædificantium; aut super petram, aut super arenam. Quid ergo illi qui non audiunt? securi sunt? securus eos dicit, quia nihil ædificant? Nudi sunt sub pluvia, ante ventos, ante flumina: cum venerint ista, ante illos tollunt, quam domos dejiciant. Ergo una est securitas, et ædificare, et super petram ædificare. Si audire vis et non facere, ædificas; sed ruinam aedificas: cum autem venerit tentatio, dejicit domum, et cum ipsa ruina tua te tollit. Si autem non audis, nudus es, illis tentationibus tu ipse traheris. Audi ergo, et fac; unum est remedium. Quanti forte hodie audiendo et non faciendo rapti sunt fluvio celebritatis hujus? Audiendo enim et non faciendo, venit fluvius ipsa celebritas anniversaria, impletus est torrens, transiturus est et siccaturus: sed vae illi quem tulerit! Illud ergo noverit Charitas vestra, quia nisi quis et audiat et faciat, non ædificat super petram, et non pertinet ad nomen tam magnum, quod sic commen davit Dominus. Intentum enim te fecit. Nam si hoc ante Petrus vocaretur, non ita videres mysterium petræ; et putares casu eum, sic vocari, non provi dentia Dei: ideo voluit eum aliud prius vocari, ut ex ipsa commutatione nominis, sacramenti vivacitas commendaretur.

"And he brought him to Jesus. And Jesus, looking at him, said, You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas, which is interpreted, Peter." It is no great thing that the Lord said whose son this man was. What is great for the Lord? He knew all the names of his saints, whom he predestined before the foundation of the world; and do you wonder that he said to one man, "You are the son of that man, and you shall be called this"? Is it a great thing that he changed his name and made Peter out of Simon? Now Peter is from petra (rock), and the rock is the Church: so in the name of Peter the Church was figured. And who is safe, except one who builds on the rock? And what does the Lord himself say? "He who hears these words of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built upon the rock" (he does not yield to temptations): "the rain came down, the floods came, the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it did not fall; for it was founded upon the rock. He who hears my words and does not do them" (now let each one of us fear and beware) "I will liken to a foolish man who built his house upon the sand: the rain came down, the floods came, the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell; and great was its ruin." What does it profit to enter the Church for one who wishes to build on sand? For by hearing and not doing he builds indeed, but on sand. For if he hears nothing, he builds nothing; but if he hears, he builds. But we ask, where? For if he hears and does, on the rock; if he hears and does not do, on the sand. There are two kinds of builders: either on the rock or on the sand. What, then, of those who do not hear? Are they safe? Does he call them safe because they build nothing? They are naked under the rain, before the winds, before the floods: when these come, they carry them off before they throw down houses. So there is one safety: both to build and to build on the rock. If you want to hear and not do, you build, but you build a ruin: when temptation comes, it throws down the house, and carries you off with your own ruin. But if you do not hear, you are naked; you yourself will be dragged away by those temptations. So hear, and do: this is the one remedy. How many perhaps today, by hearing and not doing, have been swept away by the flood of this festival! For by hearing and not doing, the flood came, this annual festival itself; the torrent has filled; it will pass and dry up; but woe to him whom it has carried away! So let your Charity know this: unless one both hears and does, he does not build on the rock and does not belong to the name so great that the Lord so commended. For he made you attentive. For if he had been called Peter before, you would not so see the mystery of the rock, and you would think that he was called so by chance, not by the providence of God. That is why he willed him to be called something else first, so that by the very change of name the vividness of the sacrament might be commended.

John 1:42 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 7:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 7:25 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 7:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 7:27 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 1:4 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ changed Simon's name to Peter, from 'rock', so that in Peter the Church built on the rock might be figured; only those who both hear and do Christ's words build on the rock and withstand the floods, such as the day's festival.

Quotations: John 1:42; Matt 7:24-27; allusion to Eph 1:4. Augustine's reading that 'the rock is the Church' and that Peter figures the Church is translated as written. Stray quotation marks in the digital text are removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text ((aciendo → faciendo); OCR slip in the digital text (arcnam → arenam); OCR slip in the digital text (aute flumina → ante flumina); OCR slip in the digital text (au dicndo et non facicndo → audiendo et non faciendo); OCR slip in the digital text (cavcat), < → caveat),); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est); OCR slip in the digital text (ct ce cidit → et cecidit); OCR slip in the digital text (ct cum → et cum); OCR slip in the digital text (ei siccaturus → et siccaturus); OCR slip in the digital text (euim → enim); OCR slip in the digital text (magna i. → magna.); OCR slip in the digital text (n'idus → nudus); OCR slip in the digital text (nou facit ea > → non facit ea); OCR slip in the digital text (novent → noverit); OCR slip in the digital text (nqn → non); OCR slip in the digital text (numina → flumina); OCR slip in the digital text (pertinct → pertinet); OCR slip in the digital text (petram > → petram); OCR slip in the digital text (qnia → quia); OCR slip in the digital text (scicbal → sciebat); OCR slip in the digital text (sc curitas, ei → securitas, et); OCR slip in the digital text (suut → sunt); OCR slip in the digital text (t Qui audit verba mca → Qui audit verba mea); OCR slip in the digital text (tentationibus):. → tentationibus):); OCR slip in the digital text (unam est remedium, → unum est remedium.); OCR slip in the digital text (vcnit → venit); OCR slip in the digital text (vidercs → videres); OCR slip in the digital text (voluil → voluit); OCR slip in the digital text (vx illi quem tulc rit → vae illi quem tulerit); OCR slip in the digital text (ædifi cas → aedificas)): qnia → quia; scicbal → sciebat; t Qui audit verba mca → Qui audit verba mea; petram > → petram; tentationibus):. → tentationibus):; numina → flumina; et nqn cecidit; → et non cecidit;; nou facit ea > → non facit ea; cavcat), < → caveat),; ct ce cidit → et cecidit; magna i. → magna.; (aciendo → faciendo; euim → enim; arcnam → arenam; suut → sunt; aute flumina → ante flumina; sc curitas, ei → securitas, et; ædifi cas → aedificas; ct cum → et cum; n'idus → nudus; unam est remedium, → unum est remedium.; au dicndo et non facicndo → audiendo et non faciendo; vcnit → venit; impletus cst torrens, → impletus est torrens,; ei siccaturus → et siccaturus; vx illi quem tulc rit → vae illi quem tulerit; novent → noverit; pertinct → pertinet; vidercs → videres; voluil → voluit.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 7.14 (PL 35:1443–1445; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/7-6/#p-7-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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7.15PL 35:1445

Et in crastinum voluit exire in Galilæam, et in venit Philippum. Dicit ei: Sequere me. Erat autem de civitate Andreae et Petri. Et invenit Philippus Natha naelem: jam vocatus a Domino Philippus. Et dixit ei: Quem scripsit Moyses in Lege, et Prophetæ, invenimus Jesum filium Joseph. Ejus filius dicebatur, cui desponsata erat mater ejus. Nam quod ea intacta con ceptus et natus sit, bene noverunt omnes Christiani ex Evangelio. Hoc Philippus dixit Nathanaeli; addidit ei locum, a Nazareth. Et dixit ei Nathanael: A Na zareth potest aliquid boni esse. Quid intelligitur, Fra tres? Non quomodo aliqui pronuntiant: nam et sic solet pronuntiari, A Nazareth potest aliquid boni esse? Sequitur enim vox Philippi, et dicit, Veni, et vide. Ambas autem pronuntiationes potest ista vox sequi, sive sic pronunties tanquam confirmans, A Nazareth potest aliquid boni esse; et ille, Veni, et vide: sive sic dubitans, et totum interrogans, A Nazareth potest aliquid boni esse? Veni et vide. Cum ergo sive illo modo, sive isto pronuntietur, non repugnent verba sequentia; nostrum est quærere quid potius intelligamus in his verbis.

"And the next day he wished to go out into Galilee, and he found Philip. He says to him, Follow me. Now he was from the city of Andrew and Peter. And Philip found Nathanael" (Philip having already been called by the Lord), "and said to him, Him of whom Moses wrote in the law, and the prophets, we have found, Jesus the son of Joseph." He was called the son of him to whom his mother was betrothed. For that he was conceived and born of her untouched, all Christians know well from the Gospel. Philip said this to Nathanael; he added the place, "from Nazareth." "And Nathanael said to him, From Nazareth something good can come." What is to be understood, brothers? Not as some read it: for it is also usually read thus: "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" For Philip's voice follows and says, "Come and see." This reply can follow either reading, whether you read it as affirming, "From Nazareth something good can come," and he says, "Come and see"; or as doubting and putting the whole as a question, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" "Come and see." Since, then, whether it is read one way or the other, the words that follow do not conflict, it is for us to inquire which we should rather understand in these words.

John 1:43 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:44 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:45 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:46 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 1:18 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Philip tells Nathanael that he has found the one foretold by Moses and the prophets; Augustine notes that Nathanael's reply about Nazareth can be read either as an affirmation or as a question.

Quotations: John 1:43-46. Augustine discusses the punctuation of John 1:46: as a statement ('From Nazareth something good can come') or as a question; he argues for the statement in 7.17. Allusion: Matt 1:18-25 (the virginal conception).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Scquilur enin vox Philippi, et dicil → Sequitur enim vox Philippi, et dicit); OCR slip in the digital text (Uoc → Hoc); OCR slip in the digital text (Venit et vide → Veni et vide); OCR slip in the digital text (autein pronuntiationcs → autem pronuntiationes); OCR slip in the digital text (boniesse → boni esse); OCR slip in the digital text (cl natus → et natus); OCR slip in the digital text (dc sponsata crat → desponsata erat); OCR slip in the digital text (intelliga nius → intelligamus); OCR slip in the digital text (novcrunt → noverunt); OCR slip in the digital text (pronunLies → pronunties); OCR slip in the digital text (rcpugnent verba scquenlia; noslruin cst → repugnent verba sequentia; nostrum est)): dc sponsata crat → desponsata erat; cl natus → et natus; novcrunt → noverunt; Evangelio. Uoc Philippus → Evangelio. Hoc Philippus; Scquilur enin vox Philippi, et dicil → Sequitur enim vox Philippi, et dicit; autein pronuntiationcs → autem pronuntiationes; pronunLies → pronunties; boniesse → boni esse; Venit et vide → Veni et vide; rcpugnent verba scquenlia; noslruin cst → repugnent verba sequentia; nostrum est; intelliga nius → intelligamus.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 7.15 (PL 35:1445; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/7-6/#p-7-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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7.16PL 35:1445

Qualis fuerit Nathanael iste, in sequentibus probamus. Audite qualis fuerit: Dominus ipse perhi bet testimonium. Magnus Dominus cognitus testimonio Joannis: beatus Nathanael cognitus testimonio veritatis. Quia Dominus etsi testimonio Joannis non com mendaretur, ipse sibi perhibebat testimonium; quia sufficit sibi ad testimonium suum veritas. Sed quia ve ritatem non poterant capere homines, per lucernam quærebant veritatem: et ideo Joannes per quem Do minus ostenderetur, missus est. Audi Dominum Na thanaeli testimonium perhibentem: Et dixit ei Natha nael: A Nazareth potest aliquid boni esse. Dicit ei Phi lippus: Veni, et vide. Et vidit Jesus Nathanaelem ve nientem ad se, et dicit de eo: Ecce vere Israelita, in quo dolus non est. Magnum testimonium! hoc nec An dreæ dictum, nec Petro dictum, nec Philippo, quod dictum est de Nathanaele: Ecce vere Israelita, in quo dolus non est.

What sort of man this Nathanael was we prove from what follows. Hear what sort of man he was: the Lord himself bears witness. The great Lord was made known by the testimony of John; blessed Nathanael was made known by the testimony of the truth. For the Lord, even if he were not commended by the testimony of John, bore witness to himself, because the truth is sufficient for its own testimony. But because men could not grasp the truth, they sought the truth by a lamp; and therefore John was sent, through whom the Lord might be shown. Hear the Lord bearing witness to Nathanael: "And Nathanael said to him, From Nazareth something good can come. Philip says to him, Come and see. And Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and says of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile." A great testimony! What was said of Nathanael was not said to Andrew, nor to Peter, nor to Philip: "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile."

John 1:46 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:47 (quotation, high confidence) · John 8:14 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 5:35 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Nathanael received from the Truth himself a testimony given to no other disciple: 'an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.'

Quotations: John 1:46-47; allusions to John 8:14; John 5:35. A stray '9' at the end of the digital text is removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (eat. 9 → est.); OCR slip in the digital text (nee Petro → nec Petro); OCR slip in the digital text (nun poterant capere, homines → non poterant capere homines); OCR slip in the digital text (ruerit → fuerit); OCR slip in the digital text (vcritas → veritas); OCR slip in the digital text (veri talis → veritatis)): ruerit → fuerit; veri talis → veritatis; vcritas → veritas; nun poterant capere, homines → non poterant capere homines; nee Petro → nec Petro; eat. 9 → est..

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 7.16 (PL 35:1445; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/7-6/#p-7-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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7.17PL 35:1445

Quid ergo facimus, fratres? Deberet iste pri mus esse in Apostolis? Non solum primus non inveni tur in Apostolis, sed nec medius, nec ultimus inter duodecim Nathanael est, cui tantum testimonium per hibuit Filius Dei, dicens, Ecce vere Israelita, in quo dolus non est. Quæritur causa? quantum Dominus intimat, probabiliter invenimus. Intelligere enim debemus ipsum Nathanaelem eruditum et peritum Legis fuisse: propterea noluit illum Dominus inter discipu los ponere; quia idiotas elegit, unde confunderet mun dum. Audi Apostolum dicentem ista: Videte enim, inquit, vocationem vestram, fratres, quia non multi potentes, non multi nobiles: sed infirma mundi elegit Deus, ut confundat fortia; et ignobilia mundi et con temptibilia elegit Deus, et ea quæ non sunt, tanquam quæ sunt, ut ea quæ sunt evacuentur. Si doctus eligeretur, fortasse ideo se diceret electum, quia doctrina ejus meruit eligi. Dominus noster Jesus Christus volens superborum frangere cervices, non quaesivit per oratorem piscatorem; sed de piscatore lucratus est imperatorem. Magnus Cy prianus orator, sed prior Petrus piscator, per quem postea crederet non tantum orator, sed et imperator. Nullus nobilis primo electus est, nullus doctus; quia infirma mundi elegit Deus, ut confunderet fortia. Erat ergo iste magnus et sine dolo: hoc solo non electus, ne cuiquam videretur Dominus doctos elegisse. Et ex ipsa doctrina Legis veniebat, quod cum audisset a Nazareth: scrutatus enim erat Scripturas, et sciebat quia inde erat expectandus Salvator, quod non fa cile alii Scribae et Pharisæi noverant: iste ergo doctis simus Legis, cum audisset Philippum dicentem, Invenimus Jesum, quem scripsit Moyses in Lege, et Prophetæ, a Nazareth, filium Joseph; ille qui optime Scripturas noverat, audito nomine Nazareth, erectus est in spem, et dixit, A Nazareth potest aliquid boni esse.

What, then, do we do, brothers? Ought this man to have been first among the apostles? Not only is Nathanael not found first among the apostles; he is neither in the middle nor last among the twelve, he to whom the Son of God bore so great a testimony, saying, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile." Is the reason asked? As far as the Lord indicates, we find a probable one. For we ought to understand that Nathanael was learned and skilled in the law; that is why the Lord did not wish to put him among the disciples, because he chose the uneducated, with whom to confound the world. Hear the apostle saying this: "For consider your calling, brothers: not many powerful, not many noble; but God chose the weak things of the world to confound the strong; and God chose the ignoble and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, as though they were, so that the things that are might be brought to nothing." If a learned man had been chosen, he might perhaps have said that he was chosen because his learning deserved to be chosen. Our Lord Jesus Christ, wishing to break the necks of the proud, did not seek the fisherman through the orator, but through the fisherman won the emperor. Cyprian was a great orator, but before him was Peter the fisherman, through whom afterwards not only the orator but also the emperor would believe. No noble was chosen first, no learned man; because God chose the weak things of the world to confound the strong. So this man was great and without guile; for this alone he was not chosen, lest the Lord should seem to anyone to have chosen the learned. And it came from his very learning in the law that, when he heard "from Nazareth" (for he had searched the Scriptures and knew that the Savior was to be expected from there, which the other scribes and Pharisees did not readily know), this man, most learned in the law, when he heard Philip saying, "We have found Jesus, of whom Moses wrote in the law, and the prophets, from Nazareth, the son of Joseph," he who knew the Scriptures best, on hearing the name Nazareth, was raised to hope and said, "From Nazareth something good can come."

John 1:47 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:26 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:27 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:28 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:45 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:46 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Nathanael, though praised by Christ, was not made an apostle because he was learned in the law, and Christ chose the unlearned; his learning led him to hope at the name of Nazareth.

Quotations: John 1:47, 45-46; 1 Cor 1:26-28. 'The emperor' is Constantine; Cyprian of Carthage, a former teacher of rhetoric, is Augustine's example of the 'orator'. Augustine's reading of John 1:46 as an affirmation, based on Nathanael's knowledge of the Scriptures, is his own.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Dens → Deus); OCR slip in the digital text (Dui → Dei); OCR slip in the digital text (Jcsus → Jesus); OCR slip in the digital text (c Videte → Videte); OCR slip in the digital text (crat → erat); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est); OCR slip in the digital text (dcbe mus → debemus); OCR slip in the digital text (elegisso → elegisse); OCR slip in the digital text (evacuentur >. → evacuentur.); OCR slip in the digital text (invenimus. intelligere → invenimus. Intelligere); OCR slip in the digital text (poncre → ponere); OCR slip in the digital text (quantuM → quantum); OCR slip in the digital text (qucm → quem); OCR slip in the digital text (scd nec → sed nec)): scd nec → sed nec; Nathanael cst, → Nathanael est,; Filius Dui, → Filius Dei,; quantuM → quantum; invenimus. intelligere → invenimus. Intelligere; dcbe mus → debemus; poncre → ponere; c Videte → Videte; Dens → Deus; evacuentur >. → evacuentur.; Jcsus → Jesus; lucratus cst imperatorem. → lucratus est imperatorem.; qucm → quem; elegisso → elegisse; enim crat Scripturas, → enim erat Scripturas,.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 7.17 (PL 35:1445; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/7-6/#p-7-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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7.18PL 35:1445–1447

Jam cætera de ipso videamus, Ecce vere Israe lita, in quo dolus non est. Quid est, in quo dolus non est? Forte non habebat peccatum? forte non erat aeger? forte illi medicus non erat necessarius? Absit. Nemo hic sic natus est, ut illo medico non egeret. Quid sibi ergo vult, in quo dolus non est? Aliquanto intentius quæramus; apparebit modo in nomine Domini. Do lum dicit Dominus; et omnis qui verba latina intel ligit, scit quia dolus est, cum aliud agitur et aliud fingitur. Intendat Charitas vestra. Non dolus dolor est: propterea dico, quia multi fratres imperitiores latinitatis loquuntur sic, ut dicant, Dolus illum tor quet, pro eo quod est dolor. Dolus fraus est, simula tio est. Quando aliquis aliquid in corde tegit, et aliud loquitur, dolus est, et tanquam duo corda habet: unum quasi sinum cordis habet, ubi videt veritatem; et alterum sinum, ubi concipit mendacium. Et ut no veritis hunc esse dolum, dictum est in Psalmis, Labia dolosa. Quid est, Labia dolosa? Sequitur, In corde et corde locuti sunt mala. Quid est, In corde et corde; nisi duplici corde? Si ergo dolus in isto non erat, sanabilem illum medicus judicavit, non sanum. Aliud est enim sanus, aliud sanabilis, aliud insana bilis: qui aegrotat cum spe, sanabilis dicitur; qui ægrotat cum desperatione, insanabilis; qui autem jam sanus est, non eget medico. Medicus ergo qui venerat sanare, vidit istum sanabilem, quia dolus in illo non erat. Quomodo dolus in illo non erat? Si peccator est, fatetur se peccatorem. Si enim peccator est, et justum se dicit; dolus est in ore ipsius. Ergo in Nathanaele confessionem peccati laudavit, non ju dicavit non esse peccatorem.

Now let us look at the rest concerning him: "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile." What does "in whom there is no guile" mean? Perhaps he had no sin? Perhaps he was not sick? Perhaps he had no need of the physician? Far from it. No one here has been so born as not to need that physician. What, then, does "in whom there is no guile" mean? Let us inquire somewhat more attentively; it will appear presently, in the name of the Lord. The Lord says "guile" (dolus); and everyone who understands Latin words knows that guile is when one thing is done and another pretended. Let your Charity attend. Dolus is not dolor (pain): I say this because many brothers less skilled in Latin speak so as to say, "Dolus is tormenting him," for what is dolor. Dolus is fraud, it is pretense. When someone hides something in his heart and says something else, that is guile, and he has as it were two hearts: he has one recess of the heart, as it were, where he sees the truth, and another recess where he conceives a lie. And so that you may know that this is guile, it is said in the Psalms, "Deceitful lips." What is "deceitful lips"? It follows: "With a heart and a heart they have spoken evil." What is "with a heart and a heart," if not with a double heart? If, then, there was no guile in this man, the physician judged him curable, not healthy. For it is one thing to be healthy, another curable, another incurable: one who is sick with hope is called curable; one who is sick with despair, incurable; but one who is already healthy does not need a physician. So the physician who had come to heal saw that this man was curable, because there was no guile in him. How was there no guile in him? If he is a sinner, he confesses himself a sinner. For if he is a sinner and calls himself righteous, there is guile in his mouth. So in Nathanael he praised the confession of sin; he did not judge that he was not a sinner.

John 1:47 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 12:2 (11:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: 'No guile' does not mean that Nathanael was sinless, but that he had no double heart: as a sinner he confessed himself a sinner, and so the physician judged him curable.

Quotations: John 1:47; Ps 12:2 (11:3 LXX/Vulg., 'in corde et corde'). Augustine explains the Latin dolus ('guile') and warns against confusing it with dolor ('pain').

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Jn corde → In corde); OCR slip in the digital text (ager → aeger); OCR slip in the digital text (corde ei corde → corde et corde); OCR slip in the digital text (crat → erat); OCR slip in the digital text (cst → est); OCR slip in the digital text (hahet: uinum → habet: unum); OCR slip in the digital text (islo → isto); OCR slip in the digital text (istuin → istum); OCR slip in the digital text (jarn → jam); OCR slip in the digital text (nominc → nomine); OCR slip in the digital text (nou est? Horte → non est? Forte); OCR slip in the digital text (sihi → sibi)): nou est? Horte → non est? Forte; ager → aeger; crat → erat; sihi → sibi; nominc → nomine; dolus cst, → dolus est,; hahet: uinum → habet: unum; corde ei corde → corde et corde; Jn corde → In corde; islo → isto; jarn → jam; istuin → istum.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 7.18 (PL 35:1445–1447; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/7-6/#p-7-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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7.19PL 35:1447

Propterea cum Pharisæi qui sibi videbantur justi, reprehenderent Dominum quia miscebatur ægrotis medicus, et dicerent, Ecce cum quibus man ducat, cum publicanis et peccatoribus; respondit me dicus phreneticis, Non est opus sanis medicus, sed male habentibus: non veni vocare justos, sed peccato res. Hoc est dicere, Quia vos justos dicitis, cum sitis peccatores, sanos vos judicatis, cum langueatis, medicinam repellitis, non sanitatem tenetis. Unde ille pharisaeus qui vocaverat Dominum ad prandium, sanus sibi videbatur: ægrota autem illa mulier irrupit in domum, quo non erat invi tata, et desiderio salutis facta impudens, accessit, non ad caput Domini, non ad manus, sed ad pedes; lavit eos lacrymis, tersit capillis, osculata est eos, unxit unguento, pacem fecit cum vestigiis Domini peccatrix. Reprehendit ille tanquam sanus medicum, ille pharisæus qui illic discumbebat; et ait apud se: Hic si esset propheta, sciret quœ mulier illi pedes tetigisset. Ideo autem suspicatus erat eum ignorasse, quia non illam repulit, quasi ne immundis manibus tan geretur: noverat autem ille, permisit se tangi, ut tactus ipse sanaret. Dominus videns cor Pharisæi, proposuit similitudinem: Duo debitores erant cuidam feneratori; unus ei debebat quinquaginta denarios, alter quingentos: cum non haberent unde redderent, donavit ambobus; quis eum plus dilexit? Et ille: Credo, Domine, cui plus donavit. Et conversus ad mulierem, dixit Simoni: Vides istam mulierem? Intravi in domum tuam, aquam mihi ad pedes non dedisti; illa autem lacrymis lavit pedes meos, et capillis suis tersit: osculum mihi non dedisti; illa non destitit pedes meos osculari: oleum mihi non dedisti; illa pedes meos unxit unguento. Propterea dico tibi; dimittuntur ei peccata multa, quoniam dilexit mul tum: cui autem modicum dimittitur, modicum diligit.. Hoc est dicere, Plus aegrotas, sed sanum te putas: modicum putas tibi dimitti, cum plus debitor sis. Bene ista, quia dolus in illa non erat, meruit medicinam. Quid est, dolus in illa non erat? Confitebatur peccata. Hoc et laudat in Nathanaele, quod dolus in illo non erat: quia multi pha risæi qui abundabant peccatis, justos se dicebant, et dolum afferebant, per quem sanari non poterant.

That is why, when the Pharisees, who seemed to themselves righteous, found fault with the Lord because as a physician he mixed with the sick, and said, "See with whom he eats, with tax collectors and sinners," the physician answered the delirious: "It is not the healthy who need a physician, but those who are ill: I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." That is to say: "Because you call yourselves righteous when you are sinners, you judge yourselves healthy when you are sick; you reject the medicine, you do not hold health." Hence that Pharisee who had invited the Lord to dinner seemed to himself healthy; but that sick woman burst into the house, where she had not been invited, and, made shameless by her desire for health, approached not the Lord's head, not his hands, but his feet; she washed them with tears, wiped them with her hair, kissed them, anointed them with ointment; the sinful woman made peace with the Lord's footsteps. That Pharisee who was reclining there found fault with the physician, as one healthy, and said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know what woman has touched his feet." He suspected that he did not know, because he did not repel her, as if so as not to be touched by unclean hands; but he knew, and allowed himself to be touched, so that the touch itself might heal. The Lord, seeing the Pharisee's heart, put forward a parable: "A certain moneylender had two debtors; one owed him fifty denarii, the other five hundred. When they had nothing to pay, he forgave them both. Which of them loved him more? And he said, I suppose, Lord, the one to whom he forgave more. And turning to the woman, he said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss; she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You gave me no oil; she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her many sins are forgiven, because she has loved much; but he to whom little is forgiven loves little." That is to say: "You are sicker, but you think yourself healthy; you think little is forgiven you, when you are more in debt." Well did she merit the medicine, because there was no guile in her. What does "there was no guile in her" mean? She confessed her sins. This he praises in Nathanael too, that there was no guile in him: because many Pharisees who abounded in sins called themselves righteous and brought guile, through which they could not be healed.

Matt 9:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 9:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 9:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 7:39 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 7:41 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 7:42 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 7:43 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 7:44 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 7:45 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 7:46 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 7:47 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 7:38 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Pharisees who thought themselves healthy rejected the physician, while the sinful woman, who had no guile, confessed her sins at his feet and was healed; this absence of guile Christ praised in Nathanael.

Quotations: Matt 9:11-13 (cf. Mark 2:16-17); Luke 7:39-47; allusion to Luke 7:36-38.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Nalha naclc → Nathanaele); OCR slip in the digital text (Plus argrotas → Plus aegrotas); OCR slip in the digital text (autcm → autem); OCR slip in the digital text (c Duo dchilores erant cui dam fencraturi → Duo debitores erant cuidam feneratori); OCR slip in the digital text (crat → erat); OCR slip in the digital text (ct dolum → et dolum); OCR slip in the digital text (della rios → denarios); OCR slip in the digital text (dili git » → diligit.); OCR slip in the digital text (eat opus → est opus); OCR slip in the digital text (etca pillis → et capillis); OCR slip in the digital text (judicalis I, → judicatis,); OCR slip in the digital text (leti gisset → tetigisset); OCR slip in the digital text (mcos → meos); OCR slip in the digital text (mibi → mihi); OCR slip in the digital text (olcum → oleum); OCR slip in the digital text (pcr quem sanari non pole raut → per quem sanari non poterant); OCR slip in the digital text (red di rent → redderent); OCR slip in the digital text (suspicatus crat cum → suspicatus erat eum; crat → erat)): eat opus → est opus; judicalis I, → judicatis,; leti gisset → tetigisset; suspicatus crat cum → suspicatus erat eum; c Duo dchilores erant cui dam fencraturi → Duo debitores erant cuidam feneratori; della rios → denarios; red di rent → redderent; etca pillis → et capillis; mibi → mihi; olcum → oleum; mcos → meos; autcm → autem; dili git » → diligit.; Plus argrotas → Plus aegrotas; non crat? → non erat?; Nalha naclc → Nathanaele; ct dolum → et dolum; pcr quem sanari non pole raut → per quem sanari non poterant.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 7.19 (PL 35:1447; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/7-6/#p-7-19). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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7.20PL 35:1447

Vidit ergo jam istum in quo dolus non erat, et ait: Ecce vere Israelita, in quo dolus non est. Dicit ei Nathanael: Unde me nosti? Respondit Jesus, et dixit: Priusquam te Philippus vocaret, cum esses sub ficu, vidi te; id est, sub arbore fici. Respondit ei Natha nael, et ait: Rabbi, tu es Filius Dei, tu es rex Israel. Aliquid magnum potuit Nathanael iste intelligere, in eo quod dictum est, Cum esses sub fici arbore, vidi te, priusquam te Philippus vocaret. Nam talem vocem protulit, Tu es Filius Dei, tu es rex Israel; qualem tanto post Petrus, quando ei Dominus ait, Beatus es Simon Bar Jona, quia non tibi revelavit caro et sanguis, sed Pater meus qui est in coelo. Et ibi nominavit petram, et laudavit firmamentum Ecclesiae in ista fide. Hic jam dicit, Tu es Filius Dei, tu es rex Israel. Unde? Quia dictum est ei, Antequam te Phi lippus vocaret, cum esses sub arbore fici, vidi te.

So he saw this man in whom there was no guile, and said, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile. Nathanael says to him, How do you know me? Jesus answered and said, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig, I saw you"; that is, under the fig tree. "Nathanael answered him and said, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel." This Nathanael was able to understand something great in what was said, "When you were under the fig tree, I saw you, before Philip called you." For he uttered such a cry, "You are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel," as Peter did so much later, when the Lord said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven." And there he named the rock and praised the firm foundation of the Church in that faith. Here he already says, "You are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel." Why? Because it was said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."

John 1:47 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:48 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:49 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 16:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 16:18 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Nathanael, hearing that Jesus saw him under the fig tree, confessed him Son of God and King of Israel, as Peter later did in the confession on which the Church's firmness rests.

Quotations: John 1:47-49; Matt 16:17; allusion to Matt 16:18. Augustine's reading that the rock was praised as the Church's firm foundation 'in that faith' is translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text (Ecclesirc → Ecclesiae); OCR slip in the digital text (Puter meus qui eat → Pater meus qui est); OCR slip in the digital text (arhorc → arbore); OCR slip in the digital text (eat. → est.); OCR slip in the digital text (potu it → potuit); OCR slip in the digital text (res Israel → rex Israel); OCR slip in the digital text (tu ea Filius Dei, tu ea rex Isracl → tu es Filius Dei, tu es rex Israel)): eat. → est.; arhorc → arbore; tu ea Filius Dei, tu ea rex Isracl → tu es Filius Dei, tu es rex Israel; potu it → potuit; Puter meus qui eat → Pater meus qui est; Ecclesirc → Ecclesiae; res Israel → rex Israel.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Tract. Ev. Jo. 7.20 (PL 35:1447; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-tractatus-ioannem/7-6/#p-7-20). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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