Excessive ornament dangerous and unseemly. 305 X. apparel, and thou hadst taken a helot's dress, and put this on Hoм. above it, wouldest thou not, besides the unseemliness, have also been punished for it? Thou hast put on the Lord of Heaven, and of the Angels, and art thou still busied about earth? 'mani I have spoken thus, because love of ornament is of itself a great evil, even were no other gendered by it, and it were possible to hold it without peril, (for it inciteth' to vainglory 1aqu. and to pride,) but now many other evils are gendered by 23 Miss. finery, manifest suspicions, unseasonable expenses, evil evil' for speakings, occasions of rapacity. For why dost thou adorn fest' thyself? Tell me. Is it that thou mayest please thy husband? Then do it at home. But here the reverse is the case. For if thou wouldest please thine own husband, please not others; but if thou please others, thou wilt not be able to please thine own. So that thou shouldest put away all thine ornaments, when thou goest to the forum or proceedest to the church. Besides, please not thy husband by those means which harlots use, but by those rather which wives of good condition employ. For wherein, tell me, doth a wife differ from a harlot? In that the one regardeth one thing only, namely, that by the beauty of her person she may attract to herself him whom she loves; whilst the other both ruleth the house, and shareth' in the children, and in all other things. 3xvavai Hast thou a little daughter? see that she inherit not the mischief, for they are wont to form their manners according to their nurture, and to imitate their mothers' characters. Be a pattern to thy daughter of modesty, deck thyself with that adorning, and see that thou despise the other; for that is in truth an ornament, the other a disfigurement. Enough has been said. Now God that made the world, and hathri ógiven to us the ornaments of the soul, adorn us, and clothe us with His own glory, that all shining brightly in good works, and living unto His glory, we may send up glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. μου X HOMILY XI. 16. COLOSS. iv. 5, 6. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. WHAT Christ said to His disciples, that doth Paul also now Mat. 10, advise. And what did Christ say? Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. That is, be upon your guard, giving them no handle against you. For therefore it is added, towards them that are without, in order that we may know that against our own members we have no need of so much caution as against those without. For where brethren are, 1йy there are both many allowances and kindnesses'. There is indeed need of caution even here; but much more without, for it is not the same to be amongst enemies and foes, and amongst friends. Then because he had alarmed them, see how again he encourages them; Redeeming, he saith, the time: that is, the present time is short. Now this he said, not wishing them 2x to be crafty', nor hypocrites, (for this is not a part of wisdom, λους. but of senselessness,) but what? In matters wherein they harm you not, he means, give them no handle; as he says Rom. also, when writing to the Romans, Render to all their dues ; 13, 7. tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, honour to whom honour. On account of the Gospel alone have thou war, he saith, let this war have none other origin. For Christian forbearance. St. Paul's Messengers. 307 XI. Procla 23. though they were to become our foes for other causes besides, HoM. yet neither shall we have a reward, and they will become worse, and will seem to have just complaints against us. For instance, if we pay not the tribute, if we render not the honours that are due, if we be not lowly. Seest thou not Paul, how submissive he is, where he was not likely to harm the Gospel1? For hear him saying to Agrippa, I count Gr. myself happy, because I shall answer for myself this day mation. before thee, especially because I know thee to be expert in Acts 26, all customs and questions which are among the Jews. But had he thought it his duty to insult the ruler, he would have spoiled every thing. And hear too those of blessed Peter's company, how gently they answer the Jews, saying, we Acts 5, ought to obey God rather than men. And yet men who 29. had as they renounced their own lives, might both have insulted, and have done any thing whatever; but for this object they had renounced their lives, not that they might win vainglory, (for that way had been vain-glorious,) but that they might preach and speak all things with boldness. That other course marks want of moderation. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt; that is, let not this graciousness lapse into indifferentism. For it is possible to be simply agreeable, it is possible also to be so with due seemliness3. That ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. So that one ought not to discourse alike to all, Greeks, I mean, and Brethren. By no means, for this were the very extreme of senselessness. Ver. 7. All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, the beloved brother, and faithful minister, and fellowservant in the Lord. Admirable! how great is the wisdom of Paul! Observe, he doth not put every thing into his Epistles, but only things necessary and urgent. In the first place, being desirous of not drawing them out to a length; and secondly, to make his messenger more respected, by his having also somewhat to relate; thirdly, shewing his own affection towards him; for he would not else have entrusted these communications to him. Then, there were things which ought not to be declared in writing. The beloved brother, he saith. If beloved, he knew all, and he concealed nothing from him. And xv 2 Xagisy. 3 κοσμιό τητος 308 St. Paul's considerateness. How he was treated. COLOS. faithful minister, and fellow-servant in the Lord. If faith4, 9. 10. ful, he will speak no falsehood; if a fellow-servant, he hath shared his trials, so that he has brought together from all sides the grounds of trustworthiness. 3, 1. 2. Ver. 8. Whom I have sent unto you for this same purpose. Here he shews his great love, seeing that for this purpose he sent him, and this was the cause of his journey; and so 1 Thess when writing to the Thessalonians, he said, Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone, and sent Timotheus our brother. And to the Ephesians he sends this very same person, and for the Eph. 6, very same cause, That he might know your estate, and comfort your hearts. See what he saith, not that ye might know my estate,' but that I might know yours.' So in no place doth he mention what is his own. He shews that they were in trials too, by the expression, comfort your hearts. 21.22. 13. 14. Ver. 9. With Onesimus, the beloved and faithful brother, who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are done here. Onesimus is he about whom, writing to Philemon, he said, Philem. Whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the Gospel; but without thy mind would I do nothing. And he adds too the praise of their city, that they might not only not be iyxaλ- ashamed, but even pride themselves on' him. Who is one of Car you, he saith. They shall make known unto you all things that are done here. λωπί (2) Ver. 10. Aristarchus my fellow-prisoner saluteth you. 2 rs brought up from Jerusalem with him. a Sav. adds, oux, but without necessity. αἰχμάλωτος, prisoner of war. © ἤγετο καὶ ἐφίρετο, which is most properly said of property plundered in war. The present time to be redeemed from the world. 309 XI. an enemy and a foe, all men dragged up and down, beating Hoм. him, scourging, insulting, and maligning. This too was a consolation to those (to whom he wrote), for when their master even is in such circumstances, the disciples are the rather comforted. And Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas; even this man he hath praised still from his relationship, for Barnabas was a great man; touching whom ye received commandments, if he come unto you, receive him. Why? would they not have received him even without this? Yes, but he means, I desire you to do so with much attention;' and this shews the man to be great. Whence they received these commandments, he does not say. Ver. 11. And Jesus which is called Justus; This man was probably a Corinthian. Next, he bestows a common praise on all, having already spoken that of each one in particular; who are of the circumcision: these only are my fellow-workers unto the kingdom of God which have been a comfort unto me. After having said, fellow-prisoner; in order that he may not therewith depress the soul of his hearers, see how by this expression he rouseth them up. Fellow-workers, he saith, unto the kingdom of God. So that being partakers of the trials, they become partakers of the kingdom. Who have been a comfort to me. He shews them to be great persons, seeing that to Paul they have been a comfort. But let us see the wisdom of Paul. Walk in wisdom, v.5. he saith, towards them that are without, redeeming the time. That is, the time is not yours, but theirs. Do not then wish to have your own way, but redeem the time. And he said not simply,' Buy ',' but redeem', shewing that yogá. if such be your disposition, ye make it yours after another manner. For it were the part of excessive madness, to gágr. invent occasions of war and enmity. For over and above the undergoing of superfluous and profitless dangers, there is this additional harm, that the Greeks will not come over to us. For when thou art amongst the brethren, reason is thou d d The transition here is so sudden, that one suspects the text, but it may be only that he is catching himself up, to make a longer comment on the last few verses. e avtoruv i. e. in the world, as men of the world. 2 εξαγο |