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PL 39 · cols. 1783–1788
Appendix to Augustine's Sermones: Sermones supposititii, Sermones 16-29
Sermons XXI–XXII
quae illo tempore per figuras et imagines legimus facta, gaudeamus et gratias Deo agamus, quia in nobis per ejus misericordiam et sentimus et videmus esse completa: regnante Domino no⟨s⟩tro Jesu Ch⟨r⟩isto, cui est honor et imperium cum Patre et Spiritu sancto in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
which we read were done at that time through figures and images, let us rejoice and give thanks to God that through His mercy we both perceive and see them fulfilled in us: our Lord Jesus Christ reigning, to Whom is honour and dominion with the Father and the Holy Spirit unto ages of ages. Amen.
SERMO XXI. De decem Plagis et decem Praeceptis. Exod. cap. VII-XII; et cap. XX, ℣. 3, 17.
Sermon 21. On the Ten Plagues and the Ten Commandments. Exod. chs. 7-12; and ch. 20, vv. 3, 17.
1. In plagis vulnera, in praeceptis medicamenta. Non est sine causa, fratres dilectissimi, quod praeceptorum Legis Dei numerus cum plagarum numero, quibus Aegyptus percutitur, exaequari videtur. Nam sicut decem praecepta sunt Legis, quibus ad cultum Dei populus admonetur; ita decem plagae leguntur, quibus superbia Aegyptiorum affligitur. Consideremus ergo, cur et ibi decem praecepta, et hic decem plag⟨ae⟩ memorentur. Ideo sine dubio, quia et in illis erant vulnera, et in istis medicamenta; et opus erat ut tam periculosis decem plagarum vulneribus, decem praeceptorum medicamina subvenirent. Unde rogo vos, fratres, nolite hoc otiose accipere; quia si auxiliante Deo diligenter attenderitis, poteritis agnoscere decem illa praecepta illis decem plagis per ordinem contra se esse contraria. Nam de primo praecepto prima plaga percutitur, de secundo secunda, de tertio tertia, et sic usque ad decimum numerum pervenitur.
1. In the plagues, wounds; in the commandments, remedies. It is not without cause, dearly beloved brethren, that the number of the commandments of the Law of God appears to be made equal to the number of the plagues with which Egypt is struck. For just as there are ten commandments of the Law, by which the people is admonished to the worship of God, so ten plagues are read of, by which the pride of the Egyptians is afflicted. Let us consider, then, why ten commandments are mentioned there, and ten plagues here. Without doubt it is for this reason: because in the latter there were wounds, and in the former remedies; and it was needful that the remedies of the ten commandments should come to the aid of the so dangerous wounds of the ten plagues. Therefore I ask you, brethren, do not receive this idly; for if, with God's help, you pay careful attention, you will be able to recognize that those ten commandments stand in order against those ten plagues as their contraries. For by the first commandment the first plague is struck down, by the second the second, by the third the third, and so on until the tenth number is reached.
2. Aqua in sanguinem vertitur, quia sensus impiorum obtenebratur. Primum praeceptum est in Lege de uno Deo. Non erunt, inquit, tibi alii dii praeter me. Prima plaga Aegyptiorum, aqua in sanguinem conversa. Compara primum praeceptum primae plagae. Deum unum ex quo sunt omnia, in similitudinem aquae accipe, ex qua generantur univer⟨s⟩a. Ad quam autem rem pertinet sanguis, nisi ad carnem mortalem? Quid est igitur conversio aquae in sanguinem, nisi quia illi, qui credere in Deum noluerunt, sicut dicit apostolus Paulus, Obscuratum est insipiens cor eorum: dicentes se esse sapientes, stulti facti sunt (Rom. I, 21, 22)? Aqua ergo in sanguinem vertitur; quia sensus Aegyptiorum obscurus et tenebrosus efficitur. Et justo Dei judicio factum est, ut de il⟨l⟩o fluvio sanguinem biberent, in quo Hebraeorum parvulos necare consueverant.
2. Water is turned into blood, because the understanding of the ungodly is darkened. The first commandment in the Law concerns the one God. "There shall not be," He says, "other gods for you besides Me." The first plague of the Egyptians: water turned into blood. Compare the first commandment with the first plague. Take the one God, from Whom all things are, in the likeness of water, from which all things are generated. But to what does blood belong, if not to mortal flesh? What, then, is the turning of water into blood, if not that those who refused to believe in God, as the apostle Paul says, "Their foolish heart was darkened: saying that they were wise, they became fools" (Rom. 1:21–22)? Water, therefore, is turned into blood, because the understanding of the Egyptians is made obscure and dark. And it came about by the just judgement of God that they drank blood from that river in which they had been accustomed to kill the little ones of the Hebrews.
3. Ranae, philosophi vel haeretici. Secundum praeceptum est, Non assumes nomen Dei tui in vanum. Qui enim accipiet nomen Dei sui in vanum, non mundabitur. Nomen Domini Jesu Christi veritas est. Ipse enim dicit: Ego sum veritas (Joan. XIV, 6). Et quia veritas mundat, vanitas inquinat; videamus huic secundo praecepto contrariam plagam. Quae est ista secunda plaga? Ranarum abundantia. In ranis haeretici intelliguntur atque philosophi. Habes congruenter significatam philosophorum vel haereticorum vanitatem, si consideres ranarum loquacitatem. Philosophi enim vel haeretici, quia in Christo omnia falsa
3. The frogs: philosophers or heretics. The second commandment is: "You shall not take the name of your God in vain." For whoever takes the name of his God in vain shall not be made clean. The name of the Lord Jesus Christ is truth. For He Himself says: "I am the truth" (John 14:6). And since truth cleanses and vanity defiles, let us look at the plague contrary to this second commandment. What is that second plague? An abundance of frogs. By the frogs are understood heretics and philosophers. You have the vanity of the philosophers or heretics fittingly signified if you consider the loquacity of frogs. For philosophers or heretics, because in Christ all things are false
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Footnotes
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In Mss. plerisque, nisi illi qui credere Deum noluerunt.
In most manuscripts: nisi illi qui credere Deum noluerunt ("except that those who would not believe God").
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Alias, de Tempore 95.
Formerly Sermon 95 de Tempore.
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(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1783
In hujus tomi Appendice nunc primum collocatur. Fuit olim in Amerbachiana et Erasmiana editione duobus locis repræsentatus, scilicet inter Sermones de Tempore, ac præterea inter populares quosdam tractatus, quos Erasmus in fine tomi noni disposuit: quo loco inscribebatur, « De convenientia decem præceptorum et decem plagarum. » In manuscriptis vero titulum habet, « De coaptatione decem præceptorum, » etc. Continet magna ex parte fragmentum sermonis inter Augustinianos octavi de decem plagis, sub diversa præfatione, quæ quidem in Regio et in Sorbonico Ms. aliquanto auctior incipit ab his verbis: « Quia sermo qui nobis recitatus (forte recitandus) est, pro necessitate expositionis modicum prolixior esse videtur, ideo Psalmos citius facimus consummari, ut non Charitas vestra diutius stando fatigetur, et pauperes homines ad opera sua consuetudinaria revertantur. Non est sine causa, fratres dilectissimi, » etc.
Now placed for the first time in this volume's Appendix. In the Amerbach and Erasmus editions it was formerly printed in two places, namely among the Sermons de Tempore, and also among certain popular treatises that Erasmus arranged at the end of the ninth volume, where it was entitled "On the correspondence of the ten commandments and the ten plagues." In the manuscripts it is entitled "On the fitting together of the ten commandments," etc. For the most part it contains a fragment of the sermon on the ten plagues that is eighth among the Augustinian ones, under a different preface, which in the Royal and Sorbonne manuscripts is somewhat fuller and begins with these words: "Because the sermon that has been read to us (perhaps is to be read) seems, for the needs of the exposition, to be a little longer, we are having the Psalms finished sooner, so that your Charity may not be wearied by standing too long, and the poor may go back to their usual work. It is not without cause, dearest brethren," etc.
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esse dicunt, ranae sunt clamantes in paludibus limosis: superbiam enim, inanes contentiones, et strepitum vocis habere possunt; doctrinam sapientiae insinuare non possunt. Qui enim christianae veritati contradicunt, et in sua vanitate decepti decipiunt, ranae sunt taedium afferentes auribus, non cibum mentibus.
(so they say), are frogs croaking in muddy marshes: for they can have pride, empty contentions, and the din of the voice; the teaching of wisdom they cannot instil. For those who contradict Christian truth, and, deceived in their own vanity, deceive others, are frogs bringing weariness to the ears, not food to the minds.
4. Sabbatum spirituale. Sciniphes, inquieti et turbulenti. Tertium praeceptum est, Memento, inquit, diem sabbati sanctificare. In tertio isto praecepto insinuatur quaedam vacationis indictio, scilicet requies cordis, tranquillitas mentis, quam facit bona conscientia. Ibi enim est sanctificatio, quia ibi est Spiritus Dei. Denique videte vacationem, hoc est, quietem. Super quem, inquit Dominus, requiescam, nisi super humilem et quietum et trementem verba mea (Isai. LXVI, 2)? Inquieti ergo resiliunt a Spiritu sancto, rixarum amatores, calumniarum seminatores, inquietudine suà non admittunt ad se quietem, contentionis magis quam charitatis amatores sabbati spiritualis. Spirituale enim sabbatum non observant, nisi illi qui se ita temperate operibus terrenis accommodant, ut tamen lectioni et orationi, etsi non semper, certe vel frequenter insistant, secundum illud Apostoli, Attende lectioni et doctrinae (I Tim. IV, 13); et iterum, Sine intermissione orate (I Thess. V, 17). Qui enim tales sunt, quotidie spiritualiter sabbatum colunt. Qui vero inquieti sunt, et jugiter terrenis actibus implicantur, de quibus scriptum est, Impedimenta mundi fecerunt eos miseros; sabbatum, id est, requiem habere non possunt. Contra istorum inquietudinem dicitur, ut tanquam sabbatum habeant in corde et sanctificationem Spiritus Dei. Esto, inquit, mansuetus ad audiendum verbum, ut intelligas (Eccli. V, 13). Cessa ab inquietudine tua, non sit tumultus quidem in corde tuo per corruptionem volantis phantasmatis ad similitudinem muscarum inquietantis, vel compungentis te. Deum intellecturus es dicentem tibi: Vacate et videte, quoniam ego sum Deus (Psal. XLV, 11). Tu per inquietudinem vacare non vis, contentionumque tuarum corruptione caecatus exigis videre quod non potes? Attendite tertiam plagam huic tertio praecepto contrariam. Sciniphes natae sunt in terra Aegypti de limo, muscae minutissimae, inquietissimae, inordinate volantes, in oculos irruentes, non permittentes homines quiescere, dum abiguntur, et irruunt dum expulsae iterum redeunt. Quales sunt istae muscae, tales sunt homines inquieti, qui sabbatum spiritualiter observare, id est, bonis operibus studere, et lectioni vel orationi insistere nolunt. Talia sine dubio sunt phantasmata cordis contentiosorum: et quomodo corpus humanum ab istis muscis affligitur; ita cor istorum diversis cogitationibus inquietatur atque compungitur. Tenete praeceptum, cavete plagam.
4. The spiritual sabbath. The gnats, the restless and turbulent. The third commandment is, Remember, it says, to keep holy the sabbath day. In this third commandment a certain proclamation of rest is conveyed, namely repose of heart, tranquillity of mind, which a good conscience produces. For there is sanctification, because there is the Spirit of God. Lastly, see the rest, that is, the quiet. Upon whom, says the Lord, shall I rest, if not upon the humble and quiet and the one who trembles at My words (Isa. 66:2)? The restless, therefore, recoil from the Holy Spirit: lovers of quarrels, sowers of slanders, by their restlessness they do not admit quiet to themselves, lovers of contention rather than of charity, of the spiritual sabbath. For none keep the spiritual sabbath except those who so temperately apply themselves to earthly works that they nevertheless devote themselves to reading and prayer, if not always, at least frequently, according to that saying of the Apostle, Attend to reading and to teaching (1 Tim. 4:13); and again, Pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17). For those who are such keep the sabbath spiritually every day. But those who are restless, and are continually entangled in earthly doings, of whom it is written, The hindrances of the world have made them wretched, cannot have the sabbath, that is, rest. Against the restlessness of these it is said, that they may have, as it were, a sabbath in the heart and the sanctification of the Spirit of God: Be, it says, gentle in hearing the word, that you may understand (Sir. 5:13). Cease from your restlessness; let there be no tumult in your heart through the corruption of a flitting fancy, which, like flies, disquiets or stings you. You are about to understand God saying to you: Be still and see that I am God (Ps. 45:11). Do you, who through restlessness will not be still, and are blinded by the corruption of your contentions, demand to see what you cannot? Consider the third plague, contrary to this third commandment. The gnats were born in the land of Egypt from the mud, very tiny flies, most restless, flying about disorderly, rushing into the eyes, not allowing people to rest; they are driven off, and they rush in, and when expelled they come back again. As these flies are, such are restless people, who will not keep the sabbath spiritually, that is, be zealous for good works and devote themselves to reading or prayer. Such without doubt are the fancies of the heart of the contentious: and just as the human body is afflicted by these flies, so the heart of these people is disquieted and stung by various thoughts. Keep the commandment, beware the plague.
5. Cynomyia, parentum contemptor. Sequitur quartum praeceptum, Honora patrem tuum et matrem tuam. Huic contraria est quarta plaga Aegyptiorum κυνομυῖα, id est, musca canina; graecum enim vocabulum est. Qui enim parentes honorare dissimulat, musca eum canina, id est, nequitia diaboli, spiritualiter affligit et cruciat: caninum est enim parentes non cognoscere; nihil tam caninum, quam cum illi qui genuerunt, non agnoscuntur.
5. The dog-fly, the despiser of parents. There follows the fourth commandment, Honour your father and your mother. Contrary to this is the fourth plague of the Egyptians, kynomyia, that is, the dog-fly; for it is a Greek word. For whoever neglects to honour his parents, the dog-fly, that is, the wickedness of the devil, spiritually afflicts and torments him: for it is doglike not to know one's parents; nothing is so doglike as when those who begot one are not acknowledged.
6. Moechus mutatur in pecus. Quintum praeceptum est, Non moechaberis. Quinta plaga, mors in pecora. Omnis enim qui aut uxore propria intemperate, excepto desiderio filiorum, utitur; aut certe, quod est crimen gravissimum, qui uxori aut filiae alienae, aut ancillae vel suae vel alterius insidiatur, victus cupiditate bestiarum, tanquam amisso homine erit pecus; non quasi conversus in naturam pecoris, sed in forma hominis similitudinem pecoris habens, qui non vult audire Deum dicentem, Nolite fieri sicut equus et mulus, quibus non est intellectus (Psal. XXXI, 9); et illud, Homo cum in honore esset, non intellexit; comparatus est jumentis insipientibus, et similis factus est illis
6. The adulterer is changed into a beast. The fifth commandment is, You shall not commit adultery. The fifth plague, death among the cattle. For everyone who either uses his own wife intemperately, apart from the desire for children, or indeed, which is a most grievous crime, who lies in wait for another man's wife or daughter, or for a maidservant whether his own or another's, overcome by the lust of beasts, will be a beast, as if the man were lost; not as though changed into the nature of a beast, but having in human form the likeness of a beast, he who will not hear God saying, Do not become like the horse and the mule, which have no understanding (Ps. 31:9); and that saying, Man, when he was in honour, did not understand; he has been compared to senseless beasts of burden, and has become like them
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- other: column begins mid-sentence (esse dicunt) and ends mid-sentence (illis); left-column fragments belong to the preceding column and are not set; Greek word read as κυνομυῖα, print poor, UNSURE of accents; "Quintum" in section 6 has damaged type, read as Quintum; suà set with accent as printed; Google digitization stamp at foot not set
(Psal. XLVIII, 13). Sed si pecus esse non times, vel mori sicut pecus time.
(Ps. 48:13). But if you do not fear to be a beast, at least fear to die like a beast.
7. Ardor bonus et ardor malus. Sextum praeceptum, Non occides. Sexta plaga, pustulae in corpore, et vesicae bullientes et scaturientes incendi⟨a⟩ ulcerum de favilla fornacis. Tales sunt animae homicidales: ardent ira: quia per iram homicidii fraternitas perit. Ardent homines iracundia, ardent et gratia. Nam et qui vult subvenire, fervet, et qui vult occidere, fervet: ille praecepto, iste morbo; ille bonis operibus, iste saniosis ulceribus. O si possemus videre animas hom⟨i⟩cidarum, sine dubio plus plangeremus quam putrescentia corpora ulceratorum.
7. Good burning and evil burning. The sixth commandment, You shall not kill. The sixth plague, pustules on the body, and blisters boiling and bubbling up, burnings of ulcers from the ash of the furnace. Such are murderous souls: they burn with anger; for through anger brotherhood perishes in murder. Men burn with wrath; they burn also with kindness. For both he who wishes to help is fervent, and he who wishes to kill is fervent: the former by the commandment, the latter by disease; the former with good works, the latter with festering ulcers. O if we could see the souls of murderers, without doubt we would lament more than over the rotting bodies of the ulcerated.
8. Lucrum injustum. Fames animae et corporis. Sequitur praeceptum septimum, Non furaberis: et plaga septima, grando in fructibus. Quod per furtum contra Dei praeceptum subducis, de coelo perdis. Nemo enim habet injustum lucrum sine justo damno. Verbi gratia, qui furatur, acquirit vestem, sed coelesti judicio perdit fidem: ubi lucrum, ibi damnum; visibiliter lucrum, invisibiliter damnum; lucrum sua caecitate, damnum de Domini nubem. Ergo qui suo malo desiderio forinsecus furantur, justo judicio Dei intrinsecus grandinantur. O si possent fures aut raptores aspicere agrum cordis sui, profecto lugerent et plangerent, dum ibi non invenirent quod in os animae mitterent; etiamsi in furto suo invenirent, quod gutturis aviditate sorberent. Major est fames animae quam corporis, major fames, periculosior plaga, et gravior mors. Quod pejus est, multi per istam famem animae mortui ambulant, et viventes portant funera sua. Vivere quidem videntur in corpore; sed malis actibus mortui probantu⟨r⟩ in anima. Et multi in anima famelici, de vanis del⟨i⟩ciis gloriantur. Denique bonum Christianum Scriptura intus esse divitem dicit: Absconditus, inquit, co⟨r⟩dis vestri homo, qui est ante Deum dives (I Petr. III, 4); non ante homines, sed ante Deum, ubi Deus videt. Quid ergo tibi prodest, si ubi homo non videt, furaris; et ubi Deus videt, justo judicio grandinaris?
8. Unjust gain. Hunger of the soul and of the body. There follows the seventh commandment, You shall not steal: and the seventh plague, hail upon the crops. What you take away by theft against God's commandment, you lose from heaven. For no one has unjust gain without just loss. For example, he who steals acquires a garment, but by heavenly judgement loses faith: where there is gain, there is loss; visibly gain, invisibly loss; gain by his own blindness, loss from the Lord's cloud. Therefore those who by their evil desire steal outwardly are hailed upon inwardly by the just judgement of God. O if thieves or robbers could look upon the field of their own heart, they would surely mourn and lament, since they would find nothing there to put into the mouth of the soul, even though in their theft they found what to swallow with the greed of the throat. Greater is the hunger of the soul than of the body: a greater hunger, a more dangerous plague, and a heavier death. What is worse, many walk about dead through this hunger of the soul, and while living carry their own funerals. They seem indeed to live in the body; but by their evil deeds they are proved dead in the soul. And many, starving in the soul, boast of vain delights. Finally, Scripture says that the good Christian is rich within: The hidden man, it says, of your heart, who is rich before God (1 Pet. 3:4); not before men, but before God, where God sees. What then does it profit you if, where man does not see, you steal, and where God sees, you are hailed upon by just judgement?
9. Locusta, detractor. Octavum praeceptum est, Falsum testimonium non dices. Octava plaga, locusta, animal dente noxium. Quid autem vult falsus testis, nisi nocere mordendo, et consumere mentiendo? Et ideo nos admonet Apostolus, ne nos falsis criminibus appetamus: Si, inquit, mordetis et comeditis invicem, videte ne ab invicem consumamini (Galat. 5, 15).
9. The locust, the slanderer. The eighth commandment is, You shall not speak false testimony. The eighth plague, the locust, an animal harmful with its tooth. And what does a false witness want, except to harm by biting and to consume by lying? And therefore the Apostle warns us not to attack one another with false charges: If, he says, you bite and devour one another, see that you are not consumed by one another (Gal. 5:15).
10. Actus matrimonii quando non sine peccato. Adulteri furore excaecantur. Nonum praeceptum est, Non concupisces uxorem proximi tui. Nona plaga, densae tenebrae. Si enim peccatum est uxorem propriam, excepta causa filiorum, agnoscere; quale putas peccatum est, non solum in sua peccare, sed et alienam appetere? Vere densae sunt tenebrae: nihil enim sic dolet in corde patientis, quo modo si uxor illius appetatur; et qui hoc facit alteri, nihil est quod sic velit pati. Alia mala solent homines patienter excipere; hoc autem nescio utrum unquam inveniri potuerit, qui tolerabiliter ferret. O quam densas tenebras patiuntur qui talia faciunt et talia concupiscunt! Vere excaecantur furore horribili: furor enim indomitus est, alienam uxorem commaculare velle atque polluere.
10. When the act of marriage is not without sin. Adulterers are blinded by frenzy. The ninth commandment is, You shall not covet your neighbour's wife. The ninth plague, thick darkness. For if it is a sin to know one's own wife except for the sake of children, what sort of sin do you think it is not only to sin with one's own, but also to seek after another's? Truly thick is the darkness: for nothing so pains the heart of the sufferer as when his wife is sought after; and he who does this to another would suffer nothing so unwillingly himself. Other evils men are accustomed to receive patiently; but this, I do not know whether anyone could ever be found who would bear it tolerably. O what thick darkness they suffer who do such things and covet such things! Truly they are blinded by a horrible frenzy: for it is an untamed frenzy to wish to defile and pollute another man's wife.
11. Haereditatem ambientes alienam. Primogenita cordis fides. Decimum praeceptum est, Non concupisces ullam rem proximi tui. Huic mandato plaga contraria est decima, mors primogenitorum. Omnes res quas habent homines, haeredibus servant; et in haeredibus nihil primogenitis charius. Qui volunt res alienas tanquam juste possidere, haeredes se quaerunt fieri a morientibus: quid enim tam justum videtur, quam rem sibi derelictam possidere? Dicit enim aliquis: Dimissum est mihi; testamentum lego. Nihil videtur justius ista voce. Tu laudas quasi jure possidentem,
11. Those who canvass for another's inheritance. Faith is the firstborn of the heart. The tenth commandment is, You shall not covet anything of your neighbour's. Opposed to this precept is the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn. All the things that men have, they keep for their heirs; and among heirs nothing is dearer than the firstborn. Those who wish to possess other people's things as if justly seek to be made heirs by the dying: for what seems so just as to possess a thing left to oneself? For someone says: It was bequeathed to me; I read the will. Nothing seems more just than this utterance. You praise the one who possesses as if by right,
Editors' notes and page, col. 1785
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Ita plerique Mss. cum Augustino. At s., de Domini visione. c. autem, de Domini æquitate. Editi vero, quia jam vivit sine æquitate.
So most manuscripts, with Augustine. But s.: de Domini visione ("of the Lord's sight"); c., however: de Domini aequitate ("of the Lord's justice"). The printed editions: quia jam vivit sine aequitate ("because he now lives without justice").
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Deus dam⟨n⟩at injuste concupiscentem. Vide qualis es, qui optas te ab aliquo haeredem fieri: non ergo vis ut habeat suos haeredes, in quibus nihil est charius primogenitis? Proinde in primogenitis tuis punieris, qui concupiscendo res alienas, id est, quae tibi jure non debentur, quasi juris umbra perquiris. Perdis ergo primogenita tua. Sed facile est quidem, fratres, corporaliter perdere primogenitos; mortales enim sunt homines, sive ante parentes sive post parentes morituri moriantur: istud molestum est, ne per hanc occultam et injustam concupiscentiam primogenita cordis tui perdas. Primogenita cordis nostri fides est; nemo enim bene operatur nisi fides praecesserit. Omnia opera tua bona filii tui sunt spirituales; sed inter istos tibi primogenita fides est. Quisquis rem alienam occulte concupiscit, internam fidem perdit. Erit enim primum sine dubio simulator obsequens non charitate, sed fraude, veluti amans eum a quo se cupit fieri haeredem. Amare se dicit eum quem mori desiderat, et ut rerum ejus se videat possessorem, optat ut proprium non relinquat haeredem.
God condemns the one who covets unjustly. See what sort of man you are, you who wish to be made someone's heir: do you then not want him to have his own heirs, among whom nothing is dearer than the firstborn? Therefore you will be punished in your own firstborn, you who, by coveting the things of others, that is, things not owed to you by right, seek them out as though under a shadow of right. You therefore lose your firstborn. But it is indeed an easy thing, brethren, to lose one's firstborn bodily; for men are mortal, and whether they die before their parents or after their parents, they are bound to die: what is grievous is this, that through this hidden and unjust covetousness you should lose the firstborn of your heart. The firstborn of our heart is faith; for no one works well unless faith has gone before. All your good works are your spiritual sons; but among them faith is your firstborn. Whoever secretly covets what belongs to another loses inward faith. For first of all he will without doubt be a dissembler, obliging not out of charity but out of deceit, as though loving the man by whom he desires to be made heir. He says that he loves the man whose death he desires, and so that he may see himself the possessor of his property, he wishes that he may leave no heir of his own.
12. Adhortatio. Haec, fratres, comparatio, et quodam modo contrarietas decem praeceptorum et decem plagarum cautos nos faciat, ut habeamus securi res nostras in praeceptis Dei: res, inquam, nostras interiores, et in arca conscientiae nostrae repositas. Ipsi sunt thesauri nostri, quos nobis nec fur, nec latro, nec vicinus malus poterit aliquando auferre, ubi nec tinea nec rubigo est metuenda. Istae sunt enim verae divitiae, id est, bona conscientia, justitia, misericordia, castitas atque sobrietas. Qui talibus rebus plenus est, dives erit, etiamsi de naufragio nudus exierit. Sed haec si diligenter attenditis, et quae sunt mala fugere, et quae bona sunt volueritis auxiliante Deo exercere, eritis populus Domini, et de iniqua Aegyptiorum societate, id est, spiritualium nequitiarum persecutione liberati, ad terram repromissionis poteritis feliciter pervenire: praestante Domino nostro Jesu Christo, q⟨u⟩i vivit et regnat in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
12. Exhortation. Let this comparison, brethren, and in a certain manner this opposition of the ten commandments and the ten plagues make us cautious, so that we may keep our possessions secure in the commandments of God: our possessions, I say, the interior ones, laid up in the chest of our conscience. These are our treasures, which neither thief, nor robber, nor wicked neighbour will ever be able to take from us, where neither moth nor rust is to be feared. For these are the true riches, that is, a good conscience, justice, mercy, chastity and sobriety. Whoever is full of such things will be rich, even if he comes out of a shipwreck naked. But if you attend diligently to these things, and are willing to flee the things that are evil and, with God's help, to practise the things that are good, you will be the people of the Lord, and, freed from the wicked fellowship of the Egyptians, that is, from the persecution of the spiritual forces of wickedness, you will be able happily to reach the land of promise: by the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns for ages of ages. Amen.
SERMO XXII. De eo quod scriptum est, Induravit Dominus cor Pharaonis. Exod. cap. IX, ℣. 12.
Sermon 22. On what is written, The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. Exod. 9:12.
1. De Pharaonis induratione Quoties lectio illa recitatur, fratres charissimi, in qua frequenter audimus cor Pharaonis Dominum indurasse, non solum laicis, sed etiam aliquibus clericis solet scandalum generare. Dicunt enim aliqui inter se: Cur iniquitas illa Pharaoni imputatur, cum Dominus cor illius indurasse referatur? Et quia de hac re immundissimi Manichaei sacrilego furore Scripturam veteris Testamenti reprehendere solent; rogo vos, fratres, diligenter attendite, quia etsi non quantum debemus, certe vel quantum pos⟨s⟩umus, breviter volumus Charitati vestrae suggerere, qualiter obdurationem illam debeatis accipere.
1. On the hardening of Pharaoh. Whenever that reading is recited, dearest brethren, in which we frequently hear that the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, it tends to give rise to scandal not only for lay people but even for some clerics. For some say among themselves: Why is that iniquity imputed to Pharaoh, when the Lord is reported to have hardened his heart? And because the most unclean Manichaeans, with sacrilegious fury, are accustomed to find fault with the Scripture of the Old Testament on this matter, I ask you, brethren, attend diligently, for, if not as much as we ought, then certainly at least as much as we can, we wish briefly to suggest to Your Charity how you ought to understand that hardening.
2. Obduratio cordis ex desperatione. Indurat Deus per patientiam, non per potentiam. Primo hoc fideliter et firmiter credat Dilectio vestra, quia nunquam Deus deserit hominem, nisi prius ab homine deseratur. Cum enim semel et secundo et tertio unusquisque gravia peccata commiserit; exspectat tamen illum Deus, sicut per prophetam dicit, ut convertatur et vivat (Ezech. XXXIII, 11). Cum vero in paccatis suis coeperit permanere, de multitudine peccatorum nascitur desperatio, ex desperatione obduratio generatur.
2. The hardening of the heart comes from despair. God hardens through patience, not through power. First let Your Love faithfully and firmly believe this, that God never forsakes a man unless He is first forsaken by the man. For when someone has committed grave sins once and a second and a third time, God nevertheless waits for him, as He says through the prophet, that he may be converted and live (Ezek. 33:11). But when he has begun to persist in his sins, from the multitude of sins despair is born, from despair hardening is generated.
Editors' notes and page, col. 1786
Footnotes
(a) ‹anchor: SERMO XXII› · call in col 1786
Alias, de Tempore 88
Formerly Sermon 88 de Tempore.
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(b) ‹anchor: Exod. cap. IX, v. 12› · call in col 1786
In Appendice nunc primum collocatur. Dubius Lovaniensibus, supposititius Verlino et Vindingo fuit. Est ex iis quos probamus Cæsarii, cujus vid. Homil. 14 inter editas a Baluzio. In censura hujus sermonis, adde ipsum videri esse de Induratione Pharaonis libellum, de cujus auctore adversus Hincmarum, lib. de Prædestinatione, cap. 1, et Pardulum Hieronymo eum asserentes contendebatur. Adi Lugdunensis Ecclesiæ librum de Tribus Epistolis, cap. 39.
Now placed in the Appendix for the first time. It was doubtful to the Louvain editors and spurious to Verlinus and Vindingus. It is one of those we judge to be Caesarius's; see his Homily 14 among those published by Baluze. In the critique of this sermon, add that it seems to be the very booklet On the Hardening of Pharaoh about whose author there was dispute against Hincmar (book On Predestination, ch. 1) and Pardulus, who ascribed it to Jerome. See the book of the Church of Lyon On the Three Letters, ch. 39.
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Dum homines negligentes in primis despiciunt peccata sua, quia parva sunt; crescentibus minutis peccatis adducunt etiam crimina, et cumulum faciunt et demergunt. Quod cum factum fuerit, impletur hoc quod scriptum e⟨s⟩t: Peccator cum venerit in profundum malorum, contemnit (Prov. XVIII, 3). De talibus Apostolus dicit: Ignoras quod patientia Dei ad poenitentiam te adducit? Tu autem secundum duritiam cordis tui et cor impoenitens, thesaurizas tibi iram in die irae (Rom. II, 4, 5). Et de tali obduratione etiam alibi legimus: Equus indomitus evadi⟨t⟩ durus, et filius remissus evadit praeceps. Et iterum de corrigendo fil⟨i⟩o Scriptura dicit: Tunde latera filii tui, dum infans est; ne induret, et non consentiat tibi (Eccli. XXX, 8, 12). Ista enim testimonia Scripturarum ideo Charitati vestrae insinuare volumus, ut intelligatis, quia obduratio non Dei potentia compellente perficitur, sed Dei remissione vel indulgentia generatur: ac sic Pharaonem non divina potentia, sed divina patientia credenda est obdurasse. Denique quotiescumque eum Dei plaga percussit, afflictus poenituit. At ubi ei remissionem divina indulgentia dedit, iterum se in superbiam elatus erexit. Hoc ergo definitissime credite, fratres, et hoc intelligite, quia quoties Dominus dicit, Ego indurabo cor Pharaonis; non aliud intelligi voluit, nisi, Ego suspendam plagas meas et flagella, unde eum per indulgentiam meam contra me obdurari permittam.
When negligent men at first despise their sins, because they are small, then as the little sins grow they bring on even grave crimes, and they make a heap and sink [the soul]. And when this has happened, there is fulfilled what is written: The sinner, when he has come into the depth of evils, despises (Prov. 18:3). Of such the Apostle says: Do you not know that the patience of God leads you to repentance? But according to the hardness of your heart and your impenitent heart, you treasure up for yourself wrath on the day of wrath (Rom. 2:4–5). And of such hardening we also read elsewhere: An untamed horse turns out hard, and a son left unrestrained turns out headstrong. And again, concerning the correcting of a son, Scripture says: Beat the sides of your son while he is a child, lest he become hardened and not consent to you (Sir. 30:8, 12). For we wish to commend these testimonies of the Scriptures to your Charity so that you may understand that hardening is not brought about by the power of God compelling it, but is produced by God's forbearance or indulgence; and thus it must be believed that it was not the divine power but the divine patience that hardened Pharaoh. In fact, as often as the scourge of God struck him, he was afflicted and repented. But when the divine indulgence granted him remission, he again raised himself up, lifted into pride. Believe this, therefore, most definitely, brethren, and understand this: that whenever the Lord says, I will harden Pharaoh's heart, He wished nothing else to be understood than: I will suspend My plagues and scourges, whereby I will allow him, through My indulgence, to be hardened against Me.
3. Altera objectio de eodem argumento. Sed forte aliquis dicat, quare illum Deus parcendo indurari fecerit, et quare flagella removerit. Hoc loco securus ego respondeo, Ideo Deus toties flagella removit, quia Pharao pro ingenti cumulo peccatorum suorum, non tanquam filius ad emendationem meruit corripi, sed tanquam hostis permissus est indurari. Tanta enim illius iniquitates praecesserant, et Deum toties sacrilego ausu contempserat, ut in illo impleretur quod de talibus Spiritus sanctus dixit: In labore hominum non sunt, et cum hominibus non flagellabuntur: ideo tenuit eos superbia, operti sunt iniquitate et impietate sua; prodiit quasi ex adipe iniquitas eorum (Psal. LXXII, 5-7). Ecce qualiter obduratur, qui ad correctionem castigari a Domino non meretur. De illis autem quos indurari Dei misericordia non permittit, quid scriptum est? Flagellat Deus omnem filium quem recipit (Hebr. XII, 6); et iterum, Ego quos amo, arguo et castigo (Apoc. III, 19); et iterum, Quem enim diligit Dominus, corripit (Prov. III, 12). De hac obduratione etiam propheta ex persona populi ad Dominum clamat, dicens: Indurasti cor nostrum, ne timeremus te (Isai. LXIII, 17). Quod utique non est aliud, nisi, Deseruisti cor nostrum, ne converteremur ad te. Quam rem multis praecedentibus sacrilegiis in populo Judaeorum impletam esse cognovimus.
3. Another objection on the same subject. But perhaps someone may say: why did God, by sparing him, cause him to be hardened, and why did He remove the scourges? At this point I answer with confidence: God removed the scourges so often for this reason, that Pharaoh, on account of the huge heap of his sins, did not deserve to be chastised for his amendment as a son, but was allowed to be hardened as an enemy. For so great were his iniquities that had gone before, and he had so often despised God with sacrilegious daring, that in him there was fulfilled what the Holy Spirit said of such men: They are not in the labour of men, and they will not be scourged with men; therefore pride has held them fast, they are covered with their iniquity and their impiety; their iniquity has come forth as if from fatness (Ps. 72:5–7). Behold how he is hardened who does not deserve to be chastised by the Lord for his correction. But of those whom the mercy of God does not allow to be hardened, what is written? God scourges every son whom He receives (Heb. 12:6); and again, Those whom I love I rebuke and chastise (Rev. 3:19); and again, For whom the Lord loves He reproves (Prov. 3:12). Concerning this hardening the prophet also cries out to the Lord in the person of the people, saying: Thou hast hardened our heart, so that we did not fear Thee (Isa. 63:17). This is surely nothing other than: Thou hast forsaken our heart, so that we were not converted to Thee. And we know this to have been fulfilled in the people of the Jews after many preceding sacrileges.
4. Induratio ex gratiae absentia sequitur. Nemo ergo cum Paganis aut Manichaeis Dei justitiam reprehendere aut culpare praesumat: sed certissime credat, quod Pharaonem non Dei violentia, sed propria iniquitas et indomabilis superbia contra Dei praecepta toties fecerit obdurari. Quid est autem quod dixit Deus, Ego indurabo cor ejus; nisi, Cum ab illo ablata fuerit gratia mea, obdurabit illum nequitia sua? Et ut hoc evidentius pos⟨s⟩it agnosci, aliquam similitudinem de rebus visibilibus Charitati vestrae proponimus. Sicut enim quoties nimio frigore aqua constringitur, solis calore superveniente resolvitur, et discedente eodem sole iterum obduratur: ita nimirum peccatorum frigore refrigescit charitas multorum, et velut glacies obdurantur; et cum eis iterum calor divinae misericordiae supervenerit, resolvuntur; ille utique calor de quo scriptum est: Non est qui se abscondat a calore ejus (Psal. XVIII, 7). Quod etiam erga Pharaonem impletum esse cognoscimus, a quo quoties flagella remota sunt, contra Deum se obduratus erexit; quoties vero afflictus est, humiliter supplicavit.
4. Hardening follows from the absence of grace. Let no one, therefore, presume with the pagans or the Manichaeans to censure or find fault with the justice of God; but let him believe most certainly that it was not God's violence, but his own iniquity and untameable pride against God's commandments, that so often caused Pharaoh to be hardened. And what is it that God said, I will harden his heart, if not: When My grace has been taken away from him, his own wickedness will harden him? And so that this may be recognized more clearly, we set before your Charity a certain likeness drawn from visible things. For just as, whenever water is bound fast by excessive cold, it is loosened when the heat of the sun comes upon it, and when that same sun departs it is hardened again: so indeed the charity of many grows cold with the cold of sins, and they are hardened like ice; and when the heat of the divine mercy comes upon them again, they are loosened; that heat, surely, of which it is written: There is no one who can hide himself from His heat (Ps. 18:7). We know this to have been fulfilled in the case of Pharaoh too, who, whenever the scourges were removed from him, raised himself up hardened against God; but whenever he was afflicted, he humbly made supplication.
Editors' notes and page, col. 1787
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(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1787
Ms. c., et flagella removendo, eum, etc. R. vero, s. et ful., ne flagellem, unde eum, etc.
Manuscript c.: et flagella removendo, eum ("and by removing the scourges, him"), etc. But R., s. and ful.: ne flagellem, unde eum ("that I may not scourge, whence him"), etc.
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5. C⟨u⟩r Deus non omnes misericorditer flagellet. Qua ratione dicatur indurare. Quare autem Dominus noster non omnes ita misericorditer flagellat, ut nullum contra se obdurari permittat? Aut illorum iniquitati qui obdurari merentur, adscribendum est, aut ad inscrutabilia Dei judicia referendum, quae plerumque sunt occulta, nunquam tamen injusta. Nobis ergo sufficiat pie et humiliter credere illud quod Apostolus dixit, Numquid iniquitas apud Deum? Absit (Rom. IX, 14); et illud quod in cantico consuevimus psallere, Deus fidelis, in quo non est iniquitas (Deut. XXXII, 4). Unde, sicut jam superius suggessi de Pharaone, hoc sine aliqua dubitatione credamus, quod eum non tam Dei potentia quam Dei patientia fecerit obdurari. Quam rem etiam ipso confitente evidenter agnoscimus. Sic enim ipse cum castigaretur, justitia compellente professus est: Dominus justus, ego autem et populus meus impii (Exod. IX, 27). Qua ergo conscientia christianus Deum injustum esse conqueritur, quem justum etiam rex impius confitetur? Nam in tantum no⟨n⟩ eum Deus irrevocabiliter obduravit, ut post decem plagas populum Dei non solum dimitteret, sed etiam exire compelleret. Quod enim decem plagis percussus fecisse legitur, post primam castigationem implere potuisse cognoscitur. Quam rem etiam circa vernaculos nostros exercere consuevimus, quos nimis delicate aut satis remisse nutrimus, vel quibus frequenter peccantibus indulgemus. Cum enim pejores de ipsa remissione redduntur, solemus eis exprobrantes dicere: Ego te talem feci; ego tibi parcendo proterviam tuam negligentiamque nutrivi. Et haec non ideo dicimus, quod ex voluntate nostra in ta⟨n⟩tam sint superbiam devoluti; sed quia magis de bonitate vel indulgentia nostra fuerint obdurati. Ita et Deus de Pharaone fecisse dignoscitur: dum ab illo ineffabili benignitate plagas suspendit, ille obdurato corde contra Deum superbus erigitur.
5. Why God does not scourge all mercifully. In what sense He is said to harden. But why does our Lord not scourge all so mercifully that He permits no one to be hardened against Him? Either it is to be ascribed to the iniquity of those who deserve to be hardened, or it is to be referred to the inscrutable judgements of God, which are often hidden, yet never unjust. Let it suffice us, then, to believe piously and humbly what the Apostle said, Is there iniquity with God? Far from it (Rom. 9:14); and what we are accustomed to sing in the canticle, God is faithful, in Whom there is no iniquity (Deut. 32:4). Hence, as I already suggested above concerning Pharaoh, let us believe this without any doubt, that it was not so much God's power as God's patience that caused him to be hardened. This we also plainly recognize from his own confession. For thus he himself, when he was being chastised, under the compulsion of justice professed: The Lord is just, but I and my people are wicked (Exod. 9:27). With what conscience, then, does a Christian complain that God is unjust, Whom even an impious king confesses to be just? For so far was God from hardening him irrevocably that after ten plagues he not only let the people of God go but even compelled them to depart. For what he is read to have done when struck by ten plagues, he is recognized to have been able to fulfil after the first chastisement. We are accustomed to do the same thing with our household slaves, whom we bring up too delicately or rather laxly, or whom we pardon when they frequently sin. For when they are made worse by that very leniency, we are accustomed to say to them in reproach: I made you such; by sparing you I nourished your insolence and negligence. And we say this not because they have sunk into such great pride by our will, but because they have been hardened rather by our goodness or indulgence. So too God is recognized to have acted concerning Pharaoh: while He in His ineffable kindness suspends the plagues from him, he with hardened heart rises up proudly against God.
6. Quoties peccavimus, eleemosynae vel poenitentiae medicamentum animae vuln⟨er⟩ibus apponere festinemus. Ego vobis, fratres charissimi, haec suggerendo quasi indicula quaedam directa et obscura insinuare curavi: vos vero si pio et fideli animo, sicut consuevistis, Scripturae divinae sacramenta respicitis, Domino donante, plenius quid rei veritas habeat, cognoscetis. Nos vero, fratres charissimi, qui in veritate agnoscimus, quod ex multitudine peccatorum desperatio nascitur, et ex desperatione obduratio generatur, secundum illud quod supra dictum est, Peccator cum venerit in profundum malorum, contemnit (Prov. XVIII, 3): quoties nobis aliqua peccata subrepserint, sine ulla mora medicamentum eleemosynae vel poenitentiae festinemus animarum nostrarum vulneribus providere. Utiliter enim malagma calidis adhuc vulneribus apponitur, et cito ad sanitatem vulnus reducitur, quod putrescere longa abusione non sinitur. Et ideo quotiescumque delinquimus, peccata nostra judices nos sentiant, non patronos; accusatores suos, et non defensores esse cognoscant; secundum illud quod scriptum est: Iniquitatem meam ego cognosco, et peccatum meum contra me est semper (Psal. L, 5). Tu agnosce, et Deus ignoscit. Nam quo pacto Deus dignetur ignoscere, quod in se homo dedignatur agnoscere? Quomodo enim si aliqua plaga aut aliquod vulnus in corpore nostro supervenerit, sine aliqua mora medicum requirimus, et medicamenta apponere festinamus: ita et in animae vulneribus exercere debemus; ne forte si plus de corporis quam de animae salute solliciti sumus, injusto judicio ancillam dominae praeferentes, increpationem propheticam mereamur excipere: Homo, inquit, cum in honore esset, non intellexit; comparatus est jumentis insipientibus, et similis factus est illis (Psal. XLVIII, 13). Hoc enim nobis expedit, ut plus de animae quam de corporis incolumitate cogitemus, et imaginem Dei ita in nobis studeamus excolere, ut
6. Whenever we have sinned, let us hasten to apply the medicine of almsgiving or penance to the wounds of the soul. I, dearest brethren, by suggesting these things have taken care to convey to you certain hints, as it were, direct and obscure: but you, if with a pious and faithful mind, as you are accustomed, you look into the mysteries of divine Scripture, will by the Lord's gift come to know more fully what the truth of the matter holds. But we, dearest brethren, who recognize in truth that from a multitude of sins despair is born, and from despair hardening is produced, according to what was said above, The sinner, when he has come into the depth of evils, despises (Prov. 18:3): whenever any sins have crept up on us, let us hasten without any delay to provide the medicine of almsgiving or penance for the wounds of our souls. For a poultice is usefully applied to wounds while they are still warm, and a wound is quickly brought back to health which is not allowed to fester through long neglect. And therefore, whenever we transgress, let our sins feel us to be their judges, not their patrons; let them know us to be their accusers and not their defenders; according to what is written: I acknowledge my iniquity, and my sin is ever against me (Ps. 50:5). Do you acknowledge it, and God pardons. For in what way would God deign to pardon what man disdains to acknowledge in himself? For just as, if some blow or some wound has come upon our body, we seek a physician without any delay and hasten to apply remedies: so too we ought to act with the wounds of the soul; lest perhaps, if we are more anxious for the health of the body than of the soul, preferring the handmaid to the mistress by an unjust judgement, we deserve to receive the prophetic rebuke: Man, it says, when he was in honour, did not understand; he has been compared to the senseless beasts, and has become like them (Ps. 48:13). For this is expedient for us, that we think more of the soundness of the soul than of the body, and that we so strive to cultivate the image of God in us, that
Editors' notes and page, col. 1788
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(1) ‹anchor: neglegentiamque› · call in col 1788
In Mss., negligentia mea.
In the manuscripts: negligentia mea ("by my neglect").
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