{"slug":"khazarzar-john-chrysostom-in-heliam-et-viduam","id":"greek:khazarzar:khazarzar-john-chrysostom-in-heliam-et-viduam","title":"In Heliam et viduam","title_source":"In Heliam et viduam","author":"John Chrysostom","genre":"other","date":"","tradition":"greek","coverage":"not-located","coverage_claim":{"status":"not-located","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},"publication":{"status":"machine-draft","reviewed_by":null,"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","generated":"2026-11-15T07:34:40Z","cost_usd":0.00988},"source":{"registry_id":"greek:khazarzar:khazarzar-john-chrysostom-in-heliam-et-viduam","work_id":"khazarzar-john-chrysostom-in-heliam-et-viduam","edition":"khazarzar","language":"","license":"Migne PG text (public domain); khazarzar host and the digitising project state no licence for this layer","url":"http://khazarzar.skeptik.net/pgm/PG_Migne/John%20Chrysostom_PG%2047-64/In%20Heliam%20et%20viduam.pdf"},"stats":{"passages":19,"english_words":4933,"coptic_letters":0,"source_letters":20609,"commentary_units":111,"commentary_kinds":8,"derived_notes":0,"ambiguities":30,"work_notes":4,"external_links":0,"timeline":5},"summary":{"work":"khazarzar-john-chrysostom-in-heliam-et-viduam","abstract":"This homiletic or catechetical piece, attributed to John Chrysostom, addresses the biblical episode of Elijah and the widow of Sarepta (1 Kings 17:8–24) as a model for almsgiving. Delivered in a liturgical setting, likely during a fasting period such as Lent, the discourse employs rhetorical and parenetic registers typical of Chrysostom's Antiochene style. It emphasizes the salvific power of charity (ἐλεημοσύνη) over ascetic practices like virginity, personifying almsgiving as a queen who opens heaven's gates. The work survives in Greek manuscripts, but the modern digital edition (khazarzar) lacks critical apparatus, obscuring its textual basis and manuscript tradition.","historical_context":"The work is attributed to John Chrysostom (c. 347–407), a prominent preacher and patriarch of Constantinople, but its dating within his corpus is uncertain. It likely originates from his Antiochene period (c. 386–397) when he delivered numerous homilies on Old Testament figures. The reference to evening cutting short the discourse suggests a liturgical setting during a fasting period, possibly Lent, with preaching interrupted by vespers. The text survives in Greek manuscripts, but the edition used (khazarzar) is a modern digital compilation without specified manuscript witnesses or critical apparatus, making its transmission history unclear. The work reflects Chrysostom's moral teaching on almsgiving, a central theme in his corpus, and engages with the narrative of Elijah and the widow of Sarepta (modern Sarafand, Lebanon), a Phoenician town between Tyre and Sidon.","significance":"This work is significant for its distinctive emphasis on charity over asceticism, arguing that almsgiving without virginity suffices for salvation but not vice versa. This perspective influenced later Eastern Christian ethics and highlights Chrysostom's pastoral focus on practical morality. The homily also illustrates the liturgical integration of Old Testament narratives into preaching during fasting seasons, offering insight into late antique Christian worship and catechesis.","timeline":[{"date":"c. 347–407","event":"Life of John Chrysostom"},{"date":"c. 386–397","event":"Probable Antiochene period for this homily"},{"date":"4th–5th c.","event":"Composition and initial circulation in Greek"},{"date":"Medieval period","event":"Transmission in Greek manuscripts"},{"date":"Modern","event":"Digital edition by khazarzar without critical apparatus"}],"relations":[{"work":"1 Kings 17:8–24","relation":"Biblical source for the narrative of Elijah and the widow of Sarepta","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Matthew 25:1–13","relation":"Allusion to the parable of the wise and foolish virgins","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Chrysostom's homilies on almsgiving","relation":"Thematic parallel in Chrysostom's corpus","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Chrysostom's homilies on Genesis","relation":"Similar Antiochene rhetorical style and liturgical setting","key":"","label":null,"url":null}],"external_links":[],"cautions":["Dating of the work is uncertain; not securely placed within Chrysostom's known corpus.","Attribution rests on stylistic and thematic parallels, not external testimony.","The edition used (khazarzar) is a modern digital compilation without specified manuscript witnesses or critical apparatus.","The user cannot assess the reliability of the Greek text or its relationship to the manuscript tradition."],"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","cost_usd":0.000437,"generated":"2026-11-15T07:34:40Z"},"links":[{"kind":"source","label":"Patrologia Graeca text (khazarzar mirror)","url":"http://khazarzar.skeptik.net/pgm/PG_Migne/John%20Chrysostom_PG%2047-64/In%20Heliam%20et%20viduam.pdf"}],"checks":{"work":"khazarzar-john-chrysostom-in-heliam-et-viduam","status":"pass","blocking":[],"warnings":[],"stats":{"passages":19,"translated":19,"commentary_passages":19,"commentary_units":111,"english_words":4933,"source_letters":20599,"commentary_kinds":8},"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor"},"work_notes":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The work is a homiletic or catechetical piece on the widow and Elijah, likely delivered in a liturgical setting. Its register is rhetorical and parenetic, typical of Chrysostom's Antiochene style.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"dating","kind":"chronology","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"The dating of this work is uncertain; it is not securely placed within Chrysostom's known corpus. Attribution rests on stylistic and thematic parallels, not external testimony.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"transmission","kind":"transmission","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The text survives in Greek manuscripts, but the edition used (khazarzar) is a modern digital compilation. Its textual basis and manuscript witnesses are not specified.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"This edition provides no critical apparatus or variant readings. The user cannot assess the reliability of the Greek text or its relationship to the manuscript tradition.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"derived_work_notes":[{"kind":"coverage","severity":"info","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},{"kind":"limit","severity":"caution","text":"The English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve."},{"kind":"register","severity":"info","text":"Register: other in ancient Greek; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them."},{"kind":"structure","severity":"info","text":"Passages: 19 narrative."},{"kind":"source","severity":"info","text":"Source edition: khazarzar — Migne PG text (public domain); khazarzar host and the digitising project state no licence for this layer"}],"derived_structure":{"narrative":19},"term_index":[],"citations":{},"segments":[{"i":1,"ref":"p1","source":"ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΗΛΙΑΝ Καὶ εἰς τὴν χήραν, καὶ περὶ ἐλεημοσύνης. αʹ. Ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αἷς ἐνηστεύομεν ἅπαντες, τοὺς περὶ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης πολλάκις ἑλόμενος κινῆσαι λόγους, ἐξεκρουόμην, τῆς ἑσπέρας καταλαμβανούσης καὶ τοῦ λόγου διακοπτούσης ἡμῖν τὸν δρόμον. Τοῦτο δὲ ἐγένετο, τοῦ Θεοῦ τάχα συμφερόντως οἰκονομοῦντος, καὶ πρὸς τὴν παροῦσαν ἡμέραν τὴν περὶ τούτων ὑπερτιθέντος παραίνεσιν· ἵνα μὴ κατὰ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν διῃρημένων ὑμῶν, οὕτως ἡ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης παρατέθῃ τράπεζα σήμερον· οὐκ ἐπειδὴ μέγα τι καὶ γενναῖον ἡμεῖς ἔχομεν εἰπεῖν, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ μεγάλη καὶ γενναία τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης ἡ δύναμις. Πολλὴ γὰρ τοῦ πράγματος ἡ παῤῥησία πρὸς τὸν Θεόν· καὶ καθάπερ τις βασιλεύουσα τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς πολιτείας, οὕτω μετὰ ἀδείας πολλῆς τῶν οὐρανίων ἁψίδων ἐπιβαίνειν εἴωθε· καὶ αἱ τὰς πύλας τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐγκεχειρισμέναι δυνάμεις, ἂν μὲν ἴδωσι τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην ἐπιβαίνουσαν, μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς τιμῆς καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις δι' αὐτὴν τὰς πύλας ἐκείνας ἀνοίγουσιν ἀρεταῖς· ἂν δὲ χωρὶς τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης ἴδωσι παραγενομένας, ἀποκλείουσι τὰς θύρας αὐταῖς. Καὶ τοῦτο ἐκ τῶν παρθένων δῆλον ἐκείνων, αἳ διὰ τοῦτο τῆς ἱερᾶς παστάδος ἀπεκλείσθησαν, ἐπειδὴ διηνεκὲς ἔλαιον ἐν ταῖς λαμπάσιν οὐκ εἶχον. Καὶ σκόπει μοι τὴν διαφοράν. Ἐλεημοσύνη μὲν χωρὶς παρθενίας τοὺς αὐτῆς τροφίμους εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εἰσήγαγε· παρθενία δὲ χωρὶς ἐλεημοσύνης οὐκ ἴσχυσεν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τοσαύτη τοῦ πράγματος ἡ δύναμις, μετὰ πάσης σπουδῆς καὶ τοὺς περὶ αὐτῆς δεχώμεθα λόγους.","english":"On Helias and the Widow, and on Almsgiving. 1. In the days when we all were fasting, having often chosen to set in motion discourses concerning almsgiving, I was prevented, as evening overtook us and cut short the course of our discourse. This happened, perhaps, because God was arranging things advantageously, postponing the exhortation on these matters until the present day, so that, with you gathered together in the church, the table of almsgiving might be set before you today—not because we have anything great or noble to say, but because the power of almsgiving is great and noble. For the matter has great freedom of speech before God; and, like a queen over our commonwealth, it is accustomed to ascend the heavenly vaults with great confidence. And the powers entrusted with the gates of heaven, if they see almsgiving approaching, open those gates with great honor also to the other virtues on its account; but if they see them arriving without almsgiving, they close the doors to them. This is clear from those virgins who were shut out of the sacred bridal chamber because they did not have a constant supply of oil in their lamps. And consider the difference: almsgiving without virginity led its devotees into heaven; but virginity without almsgiving had no power. Since, then, the power of the matter is so great, let us receive the discourses concerning it with all zeal.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΗΛΙΑΝ Καὶ εἰς τὴν χήραν, καὶ περὶ ἐλεημοσύνης. αʹ.","severity":"info","text":"The title and number αʹ indicate this is the first homily in a series on Helias (Elijah) and the widow, and on almsgiving.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"τῆς ἑσπέρας καταλαμβανούσης","severity":"info","text":"The reference to evening cutting short the discourse suggests a liturgical setting where preaching occurred during a fasting period, likely Lent, and was interrupted by vespers.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"τῶν παρθένων ἐκείνων, αἳ διὰ τοῦτο τῆς ἱερᾶς παστάδος ἀπεκλείσθησαν","severity":"info","text":"This alludes to the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1–13), where the foolish virgins lack oil for their lamps and are shut out of the wedding feast.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"ἐλεημοσύνη","severity":"info","text":"Ἐλεημοσύνη (almsgiving) is personified as a queen who opens heaven's gates; the term encompasses both charitable giving and mercy, central to Chrysostom's moral teaching.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"παρθενία δὲ χωρὶς ἐλεημοσύνης οὐκ ἴσχυσεν","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom's claim that almsgiving without virginity suffices for salvation, but not vice versa, reflects a distinctive emphasis on charity over asceticism, influential in later Eastern Christian ethics.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The identity of the 'widow' in the title is not specified; she may be the widow of Zarephath who sheltered Elijah (1 Kings 17), but the text does not confirm this."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":2,"ref":"p2","source":"Γένοιτο δ' ἂν ἀρίστη καὶ σύντομος τοῦ πράγματος ἡ παραίνεσις, εἰ πρὸς τὴν χήραν ὑμᾶς ἀπαγάγοιμεν τὴν ἐν Σαρεφθοῖς τῆς Σιδῶνος. Τῶν γὰρ λόγοις συμβουλευόντων οἱ διὰ τῶν ἔργων παιδεύοντες ἀξιοπιστότεροι διδάσκαλοι γίνονται· διὸ καὶ ἡ χήρα ἀρίστη τοῦ πράγματος τούτου γένοιτ' ἂν ἡμῖν διδάσκαλος. Ἡμεῖς μὲν γὰρ λόγῳ παραινοῦμεν· ἐκείνη δὲ διὰ τῶν ἔργων ὑμᾶς παιδεῦσαι δυνήσεται, τὴν ὁμότροπον ἔχουσα μεθ' αὑτῆς συνεζευγμένην. Δύο γάρ εἰσιν αὗται αἱ χῆραι· μία μὲν ἐν τῇ Καινῇ, ἡ τὰ δύο λεπτὰ καταβαλοῦσα, μία δὲ ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ, ἡ τὸν προφήτην ὑποδέξασθαι καταξιωθεῖσα· καὶ ἀμφότεραι πρὸς τὴν αὐ τὴν ἔφθασαν τῆς φιλοσοφίας ἀρετὴν, καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἐπεδείξαντο φιλοφροσύνην, τῇ τῶν κατορθωμάτων ὁμοιότητι τὴν συγγένειαν ἡμῖν τῶν Διαθηκῶν ἐνδεικνύμεναι. Καθάπερ γὰρ σκόπελοί τινες ὑψηλοὶ περιβεβλημένοι λιμένας, οὓς δὴ φάρους καλεῖν εἰώθασι, διὰ πάσης τῆς νυκτὸς ἄσβεστον ἔχοντες πῦρ, τοὺς πεπλανημένους κατὰ τὸ πέλαγος τῇ λαμπηδόνι τοῦ φωτὸς πρὸς τὴν τοῦ λιμένος χειραγωγοῦσιν ἀσφάλειαν· οὕτω καὶ αὗται καθάπερ τινὰς λιμένας τὴν φιλοφροσύνην περιβεβλημέναι, τῷ φωτὶ τῆς οἰκείας μεγαλοψυχίας τοὺς ἐν τῇ βαθυτάτῃ νυκτί· νυκτὸς γὰρ οὐδὲν ἄμεινον ἡμῶν ἡ ζωὴ διάκειται, καθάπερ καὶ ὁ Παῦλός φησιν, ὅτι Ἡ νὺξ προέκοψεν, ἡ δὲ ἡμέρα ἤγγικε· τοὺς οὖν ἐν τῇ βαθυτάτῃ νυκτὶ κατὰ τὸ πέλαγος τῆς φιλαργυρίας πλανωμένους, καὶ γίνεσθαι μέλλοντας ὑποβρυχίους, πρὸς τὴν παρ' ἑαυτῶν καλοῦσιν ἀσφάλειαν, τὸ τῆς φιλανθρωπίας διαπαντὸς καιόμενον ἔχουσαι πῦρ, καὶ διασώζουσαι τὸ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης ἄσβεστον φῶς.","english":"The best and most concise exhortation to this matter would be if we were to lead you to the widow in Sarepta of Sidon. For among those who advise with words, those who teach through deeds become more trustworthy teachers; therefore, the widow would be for us the best teacher of this matter. For we exhort with words, but she will be able to teach you through deeds, having her companion of like character joined with her. For there are two widows: one in the New [Testament], who cast down the two lepta, and one in the Old [Testament], who was deemed worthy to receive the prophet; and both attained to the same virtue of philosophy and displayed the same generosity, showing us the kinship of the Testaments through the similarity of their achievements. For just as certain high rocks, which are called lighthouses, enclosing harbors, keep an unquenchable fire throughout the whole night, guiding those who have gone astray on the sea by the radiance of the light to the safety of the harbor, so also these women, having generosity as a kind of harbor, by the light of their own magnanimity call those who wander in the deepest night—for our life is in no better state than night, as Paul also says, \"The night advanced, but the day has drawn near\"—those who wander on the sea of avarice and are about to become submerged, to the safety offered by them, keeping the fire of philanthropy ever burning and preserving the unquenchable light of almsgiving.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"τῆς Σιδῶνος","severity":"info","text":"Sarepta (modern Sarafand, Lebanon) was a Phoenician town between Tyre and Sidon, associated with the widow who sheltered Elijah (1 Kings 17:8–24). Chrysostom uses this Old Testament narrative as a model for almsgiving.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἡ νὺξ προέκοψεν, ἡ δὲ ἡμέρα ἤγγικε","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom attributes this phrase to Paul, but it is not a direct quotation from the canonical Pauline epistles. It may be a paraphrase of Romans 13:12 or a lost homiletic tradition; the source is uncertain.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"δύο γάρ εἰσιν αὗται αἱ χῆραι","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom pairs the widow of Sarepta (Old Testament) with the widow who gave two lepta (Mark 12:42?; cf. Luke 21:2). This typological pairing of testaments is a common homiletic device in Chrysostom's corpus.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"glossary","lemma":"φιλοφροσύνην","severity":"info","text":"Here translated 'generosity', φιλοφροσύνη denotes a gracious, hospitable disposition. In Chrysostom's moral vocabulary, it often overlaps with ἐλεημοσύνη (almsgiving) but emphasizes the personal warmth of the giver.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"καθάπερ γὰρ σκόπελοί τινες ὑψηλοί","severity":"info","text":"This extended simile (lighthouse guiding ships) is a rhetorical digression typical of Chrysostom's homiletic style, reinforcing the moral lesson by vivid imagery. It delays the return to the widow narrative.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"ἡ νὺξ προέκοψεν","severity":"caution","text":"The phrase 'the night advanced, but the day has drawn near' is not securely identified in Paul's writings. It may be a misattribution or a loose citation from a lost source; editors should note the uncertainty.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The identity of the 'two lepta' widow in the New Testament is ambiguous: she may be the poor widow in Mark 12:42 or a figure from a non-canonical tradition. The phrase 'Paul says' introduces a quotation not found in the extant Pauline corpus."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":3,"ref":"p3","source":"βʹ. Ἀλλὰ περὶ ἐκείνης μὲν ἐν ἑτέρῳ καιρῷ· τήμερον δὲ περὶ τῆς ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐροῦμεν. Πάντως γὰρ καὶ ταύτης ἐπαινουμένης, ἐκείνης τῶν ἐγκωμίων οἱ στέφανοι πλέκονται· ὧν γὰρ τὰ κατορθώματα ἴσα, καὶ οἱ λόγοι τῶν ἐγκωμίων\n\nκοινοί. Ἐγένετο τοίνυν κατὰ τοὺς ταύτης χρόνους λιμὸς χαλεπός· οὐχὶ ἡ γῆ δὲ καμοῦσα παρῃτήσατο τὴν φορὰν, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὰ ἁμαρτήματα τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν δωρεὰν ἀπεκρούσαντο. Ἐγένετο τοίνυν λιμὸς χαλεπὸς, καὶ λιμῶν ἁπάντων πικρότατος· καὶ τοῦτον ἤγαγε τὸν λιμὸν ὁ μέγας Ἠλίας, καθάπερ τινὰ φοβερὸν οἰκέτην καλέσας, ὥστε τοὺς συνδούλους τὸν Δεσπότην ὑβρίζοντας σωφρονίσαι· μᾶλλον δὲ ἐκάλεσεν αὐτὸν τῶν Ἰουδαίων τὰ ἁμαρτήματα· ἐκόμισε δὲ αὐτὸν τοῦ προφήτου τὸ στόμα, Ζῇ γὰρ, φησὶ, Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς, εἰ ἔσται ὑετὸς, εἰ μὴ διὰ στόματός μου. Ἦν τοίνυν ἀφόρητον κακόν· οὐδὲ γὰρ τὴν γαστέρα τῆς γῆς ἄγονον ἐποίησε μόνον ἡ φοβερὰ τοῦ προφήτου φωνὴ, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὰ τῶν ποταμῶν τὰ ῥεῖθρα ἀνέστειλε, καὶ οἱ χείμαῤῥοι τότε ἐξηραίνοντο πάντες. Καὶ καθάπερ πυρετὸς λάβρος καὶ διακαὴς εἰς σώματος φύσιν ἐμπεσὼν, οὐχὶ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν ξηραίνει μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸ χωρήσας τὸ βάθος, αὐτὴν τῶν ὀστῶν καταφρύγει τὴν φύσιν· οὕτω καὶ ὁ τότε γενόμενος αὐχμὸς, οὐχὶ τὴν ὄψιν τῆς γῆς κατέκαυσε μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς αὐτὰς τὰς λαγόνας ἐλθὼν, πᾶσαν κάτωθεν ἀνέσπασε τὴν νοτίδα. Τί οὖν ὁ Θεὸς πρὸς τὸν προφήτην; Ἀνάστηθι, φησὶ, καὶ πορεύθητι εἰς Σαρεφθὰ τῆς Σιδῶνος· ἐκεῖ ἐντελοῦμαι γυναικὶ χήρᾳ τοῦ διαθρέψαι σε. Τί τοῦτο;","english":"2. But concerning that woman, on another occasion; today we shall speak to you about the one in the Old Testament. For even as this one is praised, the crowns of encomia are woven for that one; for where the achievements are equal, the words of praise are common. Now it happened in her times that there was a severe famine; not that the earth, having grown weary, refused its produce, but the sins of men repelled the gift of God. So there was a severe famine, the bitterest of all famines; and this famine the great Elijah brought, as if summoning a fearsome servant, in order to discipline the fellow-servants who were insulting the Master; or rather, the sins of the Jews summoned it, and the mouth of the prophet conveyed it, for he says, \"As the Lord God lives, if there will be rain, it will be through my mouth.\" So it was an unbearable evil; for the terrible voice of the prophet not only made the womb of the earth barren, but also checked the very streams of the rivers, and all the winter torrents then dried up. And just as a violent and burning fever, falling upon the nature of a body, dries not only the surface, but penetrating to the very depth, parches the very substance of the bones, so the drought that then occurred not only burned the face of the earth, but going to its very flanks, drew up all the moisture from below. What then does God say to the prophet? \"Arise,\" he says, \"and go to Sarepta of Sidon; there I will command a widow woman to nourish you.\" What is this?","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"βʹ","severity":"info","text":"The numeral βʹ marks the second section of the homily, following the initial exhortation in the previous passage.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ζῇ γὰρ, φησὶ, Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς, εἰ ἔσται ὑετὸς, εἰ μὴ διὰ στόματός μου","severity":"info","text":"This is a paraphrase of 1 Kings 17:1 (LXX), where Elijah declares a drought by the Lord's name. Chrysostom adapts the wording for rhetorical effect.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Σαρεφθὰ τῆς Σιδῶνος","severity":"info","text":"Sarepta (modern Sarafand, Lebanon) is the Phoenician town where Elijah stayed with a widow during the drought (1 Kings 17:8-24). Chrysostom uses the LXX spelling.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"glossary","lemma":"ἐγκωμίων","severity":"info","text":"Encomia are formal speeches of praise in Greek rhetoric. Chrysostom applies the term to the biblical widow, blending classical and Christian praise traditions.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"λιμὸς χαλεπὸς","severity":"info","text":"The description of famine as a divine punishment parallels similar motifs in other early Christian homilies, e.g., by Basil of Caesarea on the same theme.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἐγένετο τοίνυν κατὰ τοὺς ταύτης χρόνους","severity":"caution","text":"The phrase 'in her times' is ambiguous: it may refer to the widow of the previous passage or to the Old Testament widow. The context suggests the latter, but the referent is not explicit.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The referent of 'ταύτης' (her) in 'κατὰ τοὺς ταύτης χρόνους' is unclear: it could be the widow from the previous passage or the Old Testament widow introduced here. The context favors the latter, but the text does not specify.","The phrase 'ἐκείνης μὲν ἐν ἑτέρῳ καιρῷ' (concerning that woman, on another occasion) leaves open which woman is meant; likely the widow from the New Testament or a different exemplar."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":4,"ref":"p4","source":"ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκείας οὐδεμιᾶς ἀπέλαυσε φιλοφροσύνης, καὶ εἰς τὴν ἀλλοτρίαν αὐτὸν πέμπεις, καὶ πρὸς γυναῖκα χήραν; Εἰ γὰρ εὔπορος ἦν, εἰ γὰρ πλουσιωτάτη, εἰ γὰρ αὐτοῦ τοῦ βασιλεύοντος γυνὴ, εἰ γὰρ ταμιεῖα πολλῶν εἶχεν ἐμπεπλησμένα γεννημάτων, οὐκ ἂν αὐτῆς μᾶλλον τῆς γῆς τὴν προαίρεσιν ἀπεστείρωσεν ὁ τοῦ λιμοῦ φόβος; Ἵνα οὖν μὴ ταῦτα ὁ προφήτης λέγῃ, μηδὲ διαλογίζηται, διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸ, πρότερον διὰ τῶν κοράκων ἔθρεψε, μονονουχὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν λέγων διὰ τῶν γενομένων, ὅτι Εἰ τὴν ἄλογον φύσιν ξενοδοχῆσαί σε παρεσκεύασα, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἡ λογικὴ πεισθήσεται τοῦτο ποιῆσαι.\n\nγʹ. Διὰ τοῦτο μετὰ τοὺς κόρακας ἡ χήρα. Καὶ ἦν ἰδεῖν τὸν προφήτην ὑπόδικον γενόμενον γυναικὸς, τὴν οὐρανομήκη καὶ θείαν ψυχὴν ἐκείνην, τὸν γενναῖον καὶ ὑψηλὸν Ἠλίαν, ὥσπερ ἀλήτην τινὰ καὶ προσαίτην πρὸς τὰς θύρας τῆς χήρας ἐρχόμενον, καὶ τὸ στόμα, ὃ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἔκλεισε, τὰς τῶν προσαιτούντων φθεγγόμενον φωνάς· Δός μοι ἄρτον, δός μοι ὕδωρ· ἵνα σὺ μάθῃς ὅτι οὐδὲν οὕτως ἐπιτήδειον, ὡς γυναικὸς οἰκία χήρας, καὶ σκηνὴ πενίας γέμουσα, καὶ πλούτου καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ πλούτου κακῶν ἀπηλλαγμένη. Καθαρὸν γὰρ θορύβων ἦν τὸ χωρίον, καὶ πάσης φιλοσοφίας μεστὸν, καὶ λιμένος παντὸς εὐδιώτερον. Τοιαῦτα δὴ μάλιστα ἐνδιαιτήματα τῶν ἁγίων ἐπιζητοῦσιν αἱ ψυχαί. Ἀπῄει τοίνυν πρὸς τὴν χήραν ὁ προφήτης, τῆς Ἰουδαϊκῆς μισοξενίας ἔλεγχον ἐσομένην· ἀπῄει πρὸς τὴν χήραν, διδάσκων ἅπαντας ὅτι δικαίως ἐκείνην τὴν κόλασιν ὑπομένουσιν Ἰουδαῖοι.","english":"of her own she enjoyed no kindness, and you send him to another’s, and to a widow woman? For if she were well-off, if she were very wealthy, if she were the wife of the king himself, if she had storehouses filled with many provisions, would not the fear of famine have blighted her intention more than the land itself? So that the prophet might not say these things, nor reason about them, for this very reason, first through the ravens he fed him, all but saying to him through what happened, “If I have prepared the irrational nature to receive you as a guest, much more will the rational be persuaded to do this.”\n\n3. Therefore after the ravens came the widow. And one could see the prophet become a suppliant to a woman—that heaven-high and divine soul, that noble and lofty Elijah, coming like some vagabond and beggar to the widow’s door, and his mouth, which closed the heaven, uttering the voices of beggars: “Give me bread, give me water”—so that you might learn that nothing is so suitable as a widow woman’s house, a tent full of poverty, and free from wealth and the evils that come from wealth. For the place was pure of disturbances, and full of all philosophy, and calmer than any harbor. Such are the dwellings that the souls of the saints especially seek. So the prophet went to the widow, who was to become a reproach to Jewish inhospitality; he went to the widow, teaching all that the Jews justly suffer that punishment.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"κόρακες","severity":"info","text":"The ravens feeding Elijah (1 Kgs 17:6) are a well-known episode; Chrysostom uses them here to contrast irrational nature's hospitality with the widow's rational choice.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"glossary","lemma":"χήρα","severity":"info","text":"χήρα ('widow') is a key figure in this homily; Chrysostom emphasizes her poverty and isolation as virtues, contrasting with Jewish inhospitality.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἠλίας","severity":"info","text":"Elijah's encounter with the widow of Zarephath is narrated in 1 Kgs 17:8–16; Chrysostom alludes to this narrative without direct quotation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"γʹ. Διὰ τοῦτο μετὰ τοὺς κόρακας ἡ χήρα","severity":"info","text":"This sentence marks a clear structural division: after the ravens, the widow enters the narrative, serving as a logical and rhetorical progression.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἰουδαϊκῆς μισοξενίας","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom's anti-Jewish rhetoric is typical of his homilies; here he claims the widow's hospitality exposes Jewish inhospitality, a common polemical trope.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"τὸ στόμα, ὃ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἔκλεισε","severity":"caution","text":"The phrase 'the mouth which closed the heaven' is hyperbolic; it likely refers to Elijah's power to shut the heavens (i.e., cause drought) as in 1 Kgs 17:1, but the exact referent is ambiguous.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'τὸ στόμα, ὃ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἔκλεισε' could refer to Elijah's prophetic authority to withhold rain, but the precise biblical event is not specified.","The identity of the 'widow' is assumed to be the widow of Zarephath, but Chrysostom does not name her explicitly in this passage."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":5,"ref":"p5","source":"Καὶ γὰρ ὅταν μέλλῃ τινὰς κολάζειν ὁ Θεὸς, οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἐπάγει τὴν τιμωρίαν, οὐδὲ τῇ τῆς οἰκείας κρίσεως ἀρκεῖται ψήφῳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων ἀπολογεῖται, ὥσπερ ἐν κοινῷ δικαστηρίῳ κρινόμενος ταῖς τῶν πολλῶν ὑπονοίαις. Καὶ καθάπερ οἱ δικάζοντες, ὅταν μέλλωσί τινα τὴν ἐπὶ θάνατον ἄγειν ὁδὸν, ἐφ' ὑψηλοῦ τοῦ βήματος προκαθίσαντες, καὶ τὰ παραπετάσματα συνελκυσθῆναι κελεύσαντες, καὶ τὴν πόλιν αὐτοῖς περιστήσαντες ἅπασαν, οὕτω καθάπερ ἐν θεάτρῳ κοινῷ δικάζοντες πρὸς τὸν κατάδικον, ὑπὸ ταῖς ἁπάντων ὄψεσι καὶ ἀκοαῖς τὰς πεύσεις ποιούμενοι, καὶ τὰ ὑπομνήματα τῶν ἐκείνοις τετολμημένων ἀναγνωσθῆναι κελεύοντες, καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν ὑπεύθυνον τῶν αὐτῷ τετολμημένων γενέσθαι κατήγορον παρασκευάζοντες, τότε τὴν ψῆφον ἐπάγουσιν· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Θεὸς, καθάπερ ἐφ' ὑψηλοῦ τοῦ βήματος, τοῦ τῶν Γραφῶν κηρύγματος προκαθίσας, καὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἅπασαν περιστήσας, ὑπὸ ταῖς ἁπάντων ὄψεσι καὶ ἀκοαῖς ποιεῖται τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων τὴν ἐξέτασιν, οὐχ ὑπομνήματα ἀναγνωσθῆναι κελεύων, οὐδὲ","english":"For when God is about to punish some, he does not simply inflict the penalty, nor is he satisfied with the verdict of his own judgment, but he also defends himself to men through the facts, as if being judged in a public court by the suspicions of the many. And just as judges, when they are about to lead someone on the road to death, after sitting in front on a high tribunal, and ordering the curtains to be drawn together, and surrounding the entire city around them, thus judging as in a public theater against the condemned man, making inquiries under the eyes and ears of all, and ordering the records of the deeds dared by those men to be read out, and preparing the accused himself to become the accuser of the deeds dared by him, then they impose the verdict; so also God, after sitting in front as on a high tribunal, that of the proclamation of the Scriptures, and surrounding the whole world, makes the examination of sins under the eyes and ears of all, not ordering records to be read out, nor","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Καὶ γὰρ ὅταν μέλλῃ τινὰς κολάζειν ὁ Θεὸς","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom argues that God's punishment is not arbitrary but is publicly justified, as if in a court, to satisfy human suspicions.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"background","lemma":"ἐφ' ὑψηλοῦ τοῦ βήματος","severity":"info","text":"The 'high tribunal' (βῆμα) was a raised platform in Roman courts and theaters, used by magistrates for public judgments, evoking a visual spectacle.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"ὥσπερ ἐν κοινῷ δικαστηρίῳ κρινόμενος","severity":"info","text":"The comparison of divine judgment to a public trial is a rhetorical topos in Chrysostom, seen also in his homilies on Genesis and the Psalms.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"οὕτω καὶ ὁ Θεὸς","severity":"info","text":"This passage forms an extended simile: as judges act in a public theater, so God judges before the whole world, with Scripture as his tribunal.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"τοῦ τῶν Γραφῶν κηρύγματος","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'proclamation of the Scriptures' (τῶν Γραφῶν κήρυγμα) likely refers to the public reading of Scripture in church, which serves as God's tribunal.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"οὐχ ὑπομνήματα ἀναγνωσθῆναι κελεύων","severity":"caution","text":"The Greek text breaks off mid-sentence; the English draft supplies 'nor' but the original is incomplete, leaving the contrast between human and divine judgment unfinished.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Greek text is a fragment, breaking off at 'οὐδὲ' (nor), so the full contrast between human and divine judgment is not preserved.","The phrase 'τῶν Γραφῶν κηρύγματος' could mean either the act of proclaiming Scripture or the content of the proclamation; the translation 'proclamation of the Scriptures' is adopted."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":6,"ref":"p6","source":"γράμματα παράγων εἰς μέσον, ἀλλ' αὐτοῖς ἡμᾶς τοῖς τῶν καταδίκων ἐφιστῶν ἁμαρτήμασιν.\n\nδʹ. Ὅτε γοῦν τοὺς χαλεποὺς κεραυνοὺς κατὰ τῶν Σοδομιτῶν ἀφεῖναι ἤμελλε, καὶ δήμους καὶ πόλεις ἀναρπάζειν ἐκ μέσου τῆς χώρας διὰ τῆς φοβερᾶς φλογὸς ἐκείνης, ὅτε τὸν καινὸν καὶ παράδοξον ὑετὸν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἠφίει, τοῦ προτέρου φρικωδέστερον ὄντα, ὃν πρῶτον καὶ μόνον ἥλιος ἐπεῖδεν· ἐπεὶ τοιοῦτον πρὶν ἢ τὴν κόλασιν ταύτην ἐπαγαγεῖν, ἔδειξε τῶν μελλόντων κολάζεσθαι τὴν πονηρίαν ἡμῖν, οὐχὶ γράμματα ἀναγινώσκων, καθάπερ ἔφην, ἀλλ' αὐτὰ εἰς μέσον παραγαγὼν τὰ ἁμαρτήματα. Διὰ τοῦτο γοῦν ἔπεμψε τοὺς ἀγγέλους, οὐχ ἵνα τὸν Λὼτ ἐξαγάγωσι μόνον, ἀλλ' ἵνα σοι δείξωσι τὴν παρανομίαν ἐκείνων· ὃ δὴ καὶ γέγονεν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ αὐτοὺς ὁ Λὼτ ὑπεδέξατο, τὴν οἰκίαν ἐπολιόρκουν τοῦ ξενοδόχου πάντες, περιιστάντες κύκλῳ. Ἐστρατήγει δὲ τῆς πολιορκίας ἄτοπος ἔρως, καὶ μίξεως ἐπιθυμία παρανόμου, καὶ ἡλικίας καὶ φύσεως ὅρους ὑπερβαίνουσα. Οὐδὲ γὰρ νεανίσκοι περιέστησαν μόνον, ἀλλ' ἤδη καὶ πρεσβῦται· καὶ οὐδὲ ἡ πολιὰ τὴν λύτταν κατέπαυσεν, οὐδὲ τὸ γῆρας τὴν μανίαν ἔσβεσεν, ἀλλ' ἦν ἰδεῖν ἐν λιμένι ναυάγιον, ἐν γήρᾳ παράνομον ἐπιθυμίαν. Καὶ οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα ἔστησαν τῆς παρανομίας, ἀλλὰ τοῦ Λὼτ ὑποσχομένου τὰς ἑαυτοῦ παραδώσειν θυγατέρας, οὐδὲ οὕτως ἀφίσταντο, ἀλλ' ἐπέκειντο, λέγοντες μὴ πρότερον ἀποστήσεσθαι, ἕως ἂν τοὺς ἄνδρας λάβωσι· καὶ μεγάλα ἠπείλουν δώσειν κακὰ τῷ τὰς ἑαυτοῦ θυγατέρας ὑποσχομένῳ δώσειν διὰ τὴν εἰς τοὺς ξένους τιμήν. Εἶδες πῶς πανταχόθεν ἔδειξε τῶν Σοδομιτῶν τὴν κακίαν, καὶ τότε τὴν τιμωρίαν ἐπήγαγεν;","english":"bringing letters into the midst, but by setting us before the very sins of the condemned.\n\n4. When, therefore, he was about to hurl the terrible thunderbolts against the Sodomites and to sweep away peoples and cities from the midst of the land through that fearful fire, when he was sending down upon the earth the strange and paradoxical rain, more dreadful than the former, which the sun first and alone beheld—since before bringing this punishment, he showed us the wickedness of those about to be punished, not by reading letters, as I said, but by bringing the sins themselves into the midst. For this reason, then, he sent the angels, not only to lead Lot out, but also to show you the lawlessness of those men; which indeed happened. For when Lot received them, all besieged the house of their host, standing around in a circle. The strategy of the siege was a monstrous lust and a desire for unlawful intercourse, exceeding the bounds of age and nature. For not only young men stood around, but also old men; and neither did gray hair stop the frenzy, nor did old age quench the madness, but one could see a shipwreck in harbor, an unlawful desire in old age. And not even there did they stop their lawlessness, but when Lot promised to give up his own daughters, not even then did they desist, but pressed on, saying they would not withdraw until they got the men; and they threatened great harm to the one who promised to give his own daughters because of the honor he showed to the strangers. Do you see how from all sides he showed the wickedness of the Sodomites, and then brought the punishment?","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"δʹ","severity":"info","text":"The numeral δʹ (4) marks a new section in the homily, following the previous argument about God's self-justification before punishment.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Σοδομιτῶν","severity":"info","text":"The Sodomites and the destruction of Sodom are drawn from Genesis 19. Chrysostom elaborates the biblical narrative with details of the siege of Lot's house.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"glossary","lemma":"ὑετὸν","severity":"info","text":"ὑετὸν (rain) here refers to the fire and brimstone rained on Sodom, described as a 'strange and paradoxical rain' to emphasize its supernatural character.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"background","lemma":"ἀγγέλους","severity":"info","text":"The angels sent to Lot are the two visitors of Genesis 19:1, who in Chrysostom's account serve to expose Sodomite wickedness before punishment.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"ἐν λιμένι ναυάγιον","severity":"info","text":"The metaphor 'shipwreck in harbor' for old age consumed by lust is a rhetorical figure common in Chrysostom's moral exhortations.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"γράμματα παράγων","severity":"caution","text":"The opening phrase 'bringing letters into the midst' is elliptical; the English draft supplies a connective from the previous passage, but the Greek alone lacks a main clause.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'γράμματα παράγων εἰς μέσον' is a participial construction whose main verb is missing, likely carried over from the preceding passage.","The identity of 'the sun' that first and alone beheld the rain is ambiguous; it may refer to a unique cosmic event or be a rhetorical hyperbole."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":7,"ref":"p7","source":"Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ μετὰ ταῦτα ὁρῶν κολαζομένους αὐτοὺς κατακλασθῇς διὰ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς συμφορᾶς, μηδὲ μετ' ἐκείνων ἐγκαλῇς τῷ Θεῷ, ἀλλὰ μετὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ κατακρίνῃς ἐκείνους, προλαβὼν τῇ τῆς πονηρίας ἀποδείξει, πάντα προανήρπασεν αὐτῶν τὸν ἔλεον, τῆς πρὸς αὐτοὺς συμπαθείας ἀπαγαγὼν ἡμᾶς. Ὃ δὴ καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ τοῦ προφήτου πεποίηκεν. Ἵνα μὴ θεωρῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ λιμοῦ διαφθειρομένους τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ἀλγῇς, δείκνυσί σοι τὴν ἀπανθρωπίαν αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν ὠμότητα, καὶ τῆς φιλοξενίας τὴν σπάνιν. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ μόνον οὐχ ὑπεδέξαντο τὸν προφήτην, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀποκτείνειν ἠπείλουν· καὶ τοῦτο δῆλον ἐκ τῶν Θεοῦ ῥημάτων. Οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν, Ἀναχώρησον, μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ, Κρύβηθι. Οὐκ ἀρκεῖ γάρ σοι πρὸς σωτηρίαν ἡ φυγὴ, ἀλλὰ δεῖ καὶ λαθεῖν μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ἀκριβείας· δῆμος γάρ ἐστιν Ἰουδαϊκὸς, δῆμος αἱμάτων διψῶν προφητικῶν, καὶ ταῖς τῶν ἁγίων ἐμμελετήσας σφαγαῖς· ἀπὸ τῶν προφητικῶν αἱμάτων ἀεὶ τὰς ἑαυτῶν ᾕμαξαν δεξιάς. Καὶ, ὅτε μὲν ἐκ τῆς Ἰουδαίας αὐτὸν ἐξέπεμψεν, Ἄπελθε καὶ κρύβηθι, φησίν· ὅτε δὲ πρὸς τὴν χήραν ἀπέστελλεν, Ἐγὼ, φησὶν, ἐντελοῦμαι αὐτῇ. Ὁρᾷς πῶς ἐκεῖθεν μὲν φεύγοντα μετὰ πολλῆς ἀσφαλείας τοῦτο ποιῆσαι προστάττει· ἐνταῦθα δὲ καταφεύγοντα μετὰ πολλῆς παῤῥησίας καὶ τοῦ θάῤῥους ἀπιέναι κελεύει; εʹ. Οὐ τοῦτο δὲ μόνον, ἀλλά τι καὶ ἕτερον ᾠκονόμηται διὰ τῆς τοῦ προφήτου πρὸς τὴν χήραν παρουσίας.","english":"Lest after this, seeing them being punished, you be broken by the magnitude of the calamity, and lest you accuse God along with them, but rather condemn them along with God, he anticipated by the demonstration of their wickedness, and completely forestalled all pity for them, leading us away from sympathy towards them. This is precisely what he has now done in the case of the prophet. Lest, seeing the Jews being destroyed by famine, you grieve, he shows you their inhumanity and their cruelty, and their lack of hospitality. For not only did they not receive the prophet, but they even threatened to kill him; and this is clear from God's words. For he did not say only, \"Withdraw,\" but also, \"Hide yourself.\" For flight is not sufficient for your safety, but you must also escape notice with great care; for it is a Jewish mob, a mob thirsting for prophetic blood, and practiced in the slaughter of saints; they have always stained their right hands with the blood of prophets. And when he sent him out of Judea, he says, \"Go and hide yourself\"; but when he sent him to the widow, he says, \"I myself will give her orders.\" Do you see how from there he commands him to do this while fleeing with great caution; but here he bids him go with great confidence and boldness? 5. And not only this, but something else has also been arranged through the prophet's presence with the widow.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"προλαβὼν τῇ τῆς πονηρίας ἀποδείξει","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom argues that God preemptively demonstrates the wickedness of the Jews to forestall pity, a rhetorical strategy to align the audience with divine judgment.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Κρύβηθι","severity":"info","text":"The command 'Hide yourself' likely alludes to 1 Kings 17:3, where Elijah is told to hide from Ahab, though Chrysostom applies it to a general prophetic figure.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"δῆμος Ἰουδαϊκὸς","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom's characterization of the Jewish mob as 'thirsting for prophetic blood' reflects his anti-Jewish rhetoric, common in his homilies, and may reference historical tensions in 4th-century Antioch.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Ὃ δὴ καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ τοῦ προφήτου πεποίηκεν","severity":"info","text":"This sentence marks a transition from a general theological principle to its specific application in the narrative of the prophet and the widow, structuring the homily's argument.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"ἐκεῖθεν μὲν φεύγοντα ... ἐνταῦθα δὲ καταφεύγοντα","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom contrasts the prophet's flight from Judea (with caution) to his approach to the widow (with confidence), mirroring the earlier contrast between divine punishment and mercy.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"προφήτου","severity":"caution","text":"The identity of the 'prophet' is ambiguous; Chrysostom may refer to Elijah or a generic figure, as the narrative conflates multiple biblical accounts.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The specific prophet is not named; likely Elijah from 1 Kings 17, but Chrysostom may generalize.","The phrase 'ἀπὸ τῶν προφητικῶν αἱμάτων' could be hyperbolic or refer to specific biblical events."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":8,"ref":"p8","source":"Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ μετὰ ταῦτα ὁρῶντές τινες τὸν Χριστὸν μετὰ τὰς πολλὰς καὶ ἀφάτους εὐεργεσίας τὰς ἐπὶ τῆς Ἰουδαίας, μετὰ τοὺς μυρίους νεκροὺς, οὓς ἀνέστησε, μετὰ τοὺς τυφλοὺς, οὓς ἀναβλέψαι ἐποίησε, μετὰ τοὺς λεπροὺς, οὓς ἐκάθηρε, μετὰ τοὺς δαίμονας, οὓς ἀπήλασε, μετὰ τὴν θαυμαστὴν καὶ σωτήριον διδασκαλίαν, παρὰ μὲν τῶν εὐεργετηθέντων ἐλαυνόμενον, παρὰ δὲ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι τιμώμενον, οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον εἰδότων οὔτε ἀκηκοότων, θαυμάζωσι, διαπορῶσι, καὶ ἄπιστον τὸ πρᾶγμα εἶναι νομίζωσιν· ἄνωθεν καὶ πρὸ πολλοῦ τοῦ χρόνου διὰ τῶν δούλων τὴν Ἰουδαϊκὴν ἀγνωμοσύνην διδάσκει, καὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν φιλοφροσύνην ἡμᾶς παιδεύει. Οὕτω γοῦν τὸν Ἰωσὴφ, οὓς παρεγένετο θρέψων\n\nἐκεῖνος, καὶ ἀνελεῖν ἐπεχείρησαν, ἄνθρωπος δὲ βάρβαρος εἰς μεγίστην ἤγαγε τιμήν. Οὕτω τὸν Μωσέα ἀπήλασαν οἱ εὐεργετηθέντες Ἰουδαῖοι, ὑπεδέξατο δὲ ἄνθρωπος βάρβαρος Ἰωθὼρ, καὶ πολλῆς αὐτὸν φιλοφροσύνης ἠξίωσεν. Οὕτω τὸν Δαυῒδ ἀπήλασε μὲν ὁ Σαοὺλ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ Γολιὰθ κεφαλὴν, μετὰ τοὺς μυρίους κινδύνους, οὓς καὶ αὐτῷ καὶ τῇ πόλει πολλάκις ἐπαγομένους ἔλυσεν· ὑπεδέξατο δὲ Ἀγχοὺς ὁ βαρβάρων βασιλεὺς, καὶ εἰς πολλὴν ἤγαγε τιμήν. Οὕτω καὶ νῦν τὸν Ἠλίαν ἀπήλασαν μὲν Ἰουδαῖοι, ὑπεδέξατο δὲ ἡ χήρα. Ὅταν οὖν ἴδῃς τὸν Χριστὸν ἀπελαυνόμενον μὲν παρὰ αὐτῶν, ὑποδεχόμενον δὲ παρὰ τῶν ἐθνῶν, ἄνωθεν τοὺς τύπους καταμαθὼν, μὴ θαυμάσῃς ἐπὶ τῆς τοῦ πράγματος ἀληθείας. Ἤκουσας γοῦν καὶ σήμερον τοῦ Χριστοῦ λέγοντος, καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο αἰνιττομένου.","english":"For lest after this, some, seeing Christ after the many and ineffable benefactions in Judea, after the countless dead whom he raised, after the blind whom he made to see, after the lepers whom he cleansed, after the demons whom he drove out, after the marvelous and saving teaching, driven away by those he had benefited, yet honored by those among the nations who knew and had heard nothing of the sort, should marvel, be perplexed, and consider the matter incredible, he teaches from above and long beforehand, through the servants, the ingratitude of the Jews and instructs us in the goodwill of the nations. Thus, for example, Joseph, whom those he had come to nourish attempted to kill, while a barbarian man brought him to the greatest honor. Thus, Moses, whom the Jews he had benefited drove away, was received by the barbarian man Jethro, who deemed him worthy of much kindness. Thus, David, whom Saul drove away after the head of Goliath, after the countless dangers which he often resolved for both him and the city, was received by Achish, the king of the barbarians, and brought to great honor. Thus, now, Elijah was driven away by the Jews, but received by the widow. Therefore, when you see Christ driven away by them, but received by the nations, having learned the types from above, do not marvel at the truth of the matter. For you have heard even today Christ speaking, and hinting at this very thing.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"ἄνωθεν καὶ πρὸ πολλοῦ τοῦ χρόνου","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom signals a typological argument: the rejection of Christ by Jews and acceptance by Gentiles is prefigured by Old Testament figures (Joseph, Moses, David, Elijah).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἰωσὴφ ... Μωσέα ... Δαυῒδ ... Ἠλίαν","severity":"info","text":"The four exempla (Joseph, Moses, David, Elijah) form a chain of types: each is rejected by his own people and honored by a foreigner or barbarian, mirroring Christ's reception by Gentiles.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἀγχοὺς","severity":"info","text":"Achish (Ἀγχοὺς) is the Philistine king of Gath who sheltered David when Saul pursued him (1 Sam 21:10–15). Chrysostom calls him 'king of the barbarians' to emphasize the foreignness.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἰωθὼρ","severity":"info","text":"Jethro (Ἰωθὼρ) is the Midianite priest who received Moses after his flight from Egypt (Exod 2:16–21). Chrysostom presents him as a 'barbarian' to contrast with the ingratitude of the Jews.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἤκουσας γοῦν καὶ σήμερον τοῦ Χριστοῦ λέγοντος","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom alludes to a contemporary Gospel reading (likely from the liturgy) where Christ hints at this typology; the specific verse is not identified but may refer to a passage like Matt 8:10–12 or Luke 9:51–56.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"ἐπὶ τῆς Ἰουδαίας","severity":"caution","text":"The phrase 'in Judea' (ἐπὶ τῆς Ἰουδαίας) may be ambiguous: it could mean 'in the land of Judea' or 'among the Jewish people.' The English draft takes it as the former, but the context of rejection by beneficiaries suggests the latter.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'ἐπὶ τῆς Ἰουδαίας' could be read as 'in Judea' (geographical) or 'among the Jews' (ethnic); the context of rejection by beneficiaries favors the ethnic reading.","The final clause 'αὐτὸ τοῦτο αἰνιττομένου' leaves open which specific Gospel passage Chrysostom refers to; it may be a lost liturgical reference."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":9,"ref":"p9","source":"Πρὸς γὰρ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους δυσχεραίνοντας διαλεγόμενος ἔλεγεν, ὅτι Πολλαὶ χῆραι ἦσαν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ἠλίου, καὶ πρὸς οὐδεμίαν ἀπεστάλη Ἠλίας, εἰ μὴ πρὸς τὴν χήραν τὴν ἐν Σαρεφθοῖς τῆς Σιδῶνος. Ἀλλ' ἴσως ἐκεῖνο ἄν τις διαπορήσειε, τί δήποτε τὸν οὕτω ζηλώσαντα ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δόξης θλίβεσθαι καὶ στενοχωρεῖσθαι ἀφῆκεν ὁ Θεὸς, νῦν μὲν εἰς τὸν χειμάῤῥουν πέμπων, νῦν δὲ πρὸς τὴν χήραν, νῦν δὲ εἰς ἄλλο χωρίον, καθάπερ τινὰ μετανάστην τόπους ἐκ τόπων ἀμείβειν παρασκευάζων. Ὅτι γὰρ ἐθλίβετο καὶ ἐστενοχωρεῖτο, ἄκουσον καὶ τοῦ Παύλου λέγοντος, Περιῆλθον ἐν μηλωταῖς, ἐν αἰγείοις δέρμασιν, ὑστερούμενοι, θλιβόμενοι, κακουχούμενοι. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν θλίβεσθαι αὐτὸν συνεχώρησεν; Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ὑπὲρ τῶν εἰς αὐτὸν ἁμαρτημάτων ταύτην ἀπῄτει τοὺς Ἰουδαίους τὴν δίκην, εἰκότως ἄν τις ἔφησε τῇ στενοχωρίᾳ τῆς θλίψεως αὐτὸν λαμβάνειν πεῖραν, ὥστε γενέσθαι πραότερον, καὶ καθυφεῖναι τῆς ὠμότητος.\n\nΕἰ δὲ οὐχ ὑπὲρ τῶν εἰς αὐτὸν γινομένων αὐτοῖς μνησικακῶν, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰς τὸν Δεσπότην ἀσεβείας καὶ ὕβρεως τηκόμενος, ταύτην ἐπήγαγεν αὐτοῖς τὴν συμφορὰν, τίνος ἕνεκεν καὶ αὐτὸς κοινωνεῖ τῶν δεινῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἀπολαύει πολλῆς τῆς ἀνέσεως καὶ ἀδείας; Ὅτι εἰ τῶν ἄλλων κακουχουμένων καὶ τῷ λιμῷ διαφθειρομένων, αὐτὸς ἀνέσεως καὶ τραπέζης ἀπέλαυε πλουσίας, ἴσως ἄν τις ἐνόμισεν ὠμότητος εἶναι τὸ γεγενημένον. Θαυμαστὸν γὰρ οὐδὲν ἐδόκει, εὐθηνίας ἀπολαύοντα, τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις ἐντρυφᾷν κακοῖς.","english":"For when he was discoursing to the Jews who were indignant, he said that there were many widows in the days of Elijah, and Elijah was sent to none except the widow in Sarepta of Sidon. But perhaps someone might be perplexed as to why God allowed Elijah, who was so zealous for the glory of God, to be distressed and constrained, now sending him to the winter torrent, now to the widow, now to another place, as if preparing him, like some wanderer, to change places from one to another. For that he was distressed and constrained, hear also Paul saying, \"We went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, lacking, distressed, ill-treated.\" For what reason, then, did he permit him to be distressed? For if he was exacting this penalty from the Jews for sins against himself, one might reasonably say that he was experiencing the constraint of distress so as to become more gentle and to abate his harshness. But if it was not because he bore a grudge against them for what was done to him, but because he was consumed by indignation over their impiety and insolence toward the Master, and brought this calamity upon them, why then does he himself share in the hardships, and not enjoy much ease and freedom? For if, while others were ill-treated and perishing from famine, he himself enjoyed ease and a rich table, perhaps someone would have thought the event to be a matter of cruelty. For it seemed nothing wonderful to revel in the misfortunes of others while enjoying prosperity.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Πολλαὶ χῆραι ἦσαν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ἠλίου, καὶ πρὸς οὐδεμίαν ἀπεστάλη Ἠλίας, εἰ μὴ πρὸς τὴν χήραν τὴν ἐν Σαρεφθοῖς τῆς Σιδῶνος","severity":"info","text":"This refers to 1 Kings 17:8-16, where Elijah is sent to the widow of Zarephath (Sarepta) in Sidon. The detail that there were many widows but only one was chosen is an exegetical expansion by Chrysostom.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Περιῆλθον ἐν μηλωταῖς, ἐν αἰγείοις δέρμασιν, ὑστερούμενοι, θλιβόμενοι, κακουχούμενοι","severity":"info","text":"This is a paraphrase of Paul's description of his hardships, likely echoing 2 Corinthians 11:27 or a similar passage. The exact wording is not a direct biblical citation but a Chrysostomian summary.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"χειμάῤῥουν","severity":"info","text":"The 'winter torrent' (χειμάῤῥουν) refers to the brook Kidron, mentioned in 1 Kings 17:3 as the place where Elijah first hid. Chrysostom uses it as a symbol of Elijah's wandering and hardship.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ... Εἰ δὲ ...","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom employs a rhetorical diptych: first a hypothetical objection (if Elijah's distress were punishment for personal sins), then a refutation (it is for the Master's honor), leading to the paradox that Elijah shares the suffering.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Παύλου λέγοντος","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom invokes Paul as an authority on suffering, aligning Elijah's trials with apostolic hardship. This reflects a common patristic trope of linking Old Testament prophets to New Testament apostles as models of endurance.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"χειμάῤῥουν","severity":"caution","text":"The Greek text has χειμάῤῥουν (winter torrent), but the Coptic Vorlage may have had a different term. The reading is secure in the Greek tradition, but the Coptic equivalent is uncertain.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'Πολλαὶ χῆραι ἦσαν' is an exegetical expansion not found in the biblical narrative; Chrysostom may be inventing a detail for rhetorical effect.","The exact source of Paul's quotation is unclear; it may be a conflation of several passages."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":10,"ref":"p10","source":"Διὰ τοῦτο ὁ Θεὸς αὐτὸν ἀφῆκε κοινωνῆσαι τῆς συμφορᾶς, καὶ πεῖραν λαβεῖν τῶν συμβάντων δεινῶν, καὶ μετασχεῖν τοῦ λιμοῦ, ἵνα μάθῃς ὅτι οὐ λιμὸς, ἀλλὰ θεῖος ἦν ζῆλος παρ' αὐτῷ. Οὐ γὰρ ἂν εἵλετο στενοχωρούμενος οὕτω, καὶ ὑστερούμενος, καὶ θλιβόμενος, καὶ κακουχούμενος, μὴ λῦσαι τὴν ἀπειλὴν, εἰ μὴ ἀπὸ πολλοῦ τοῦ ζήλου τὴν μακαρίαν ἐκείνην ἀφῆκε φωνήν. Διόπερ καὶ ἥδιον ἦν αὐτῷ στενοχωρεῖσθαι, καὶ σωφρονιζομένους αὐτοὺς ὁρᾷν, ἢ τῆς ἀνάγκης ἀπαλλαγέντας τῆς ἐπικειμένης, πρὸς τὴν προτέραν ἀσέβειαν ἐπανελθόντας ἰδεῖν.\n\nςʹ. Τοιαῦται γὰρ πανταχοῦ τῶν ἁγίων αἱ ψυχαί· ὑπὲρ τῆς ἑτέρων διορθώσεως τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀσφάλειαν προδιδόασιν. Ἵνα οὖν μή τις λέγῃ, ὅτι διὰ τὴν ὠμότητα ἐπέτεινε τὸν λιμὸν, ἀφῆκεν αὐτὸν κοινωνῆσαι τοῦ λιμοῦ, ἵνα μάθῃς τοῦ προφήτου τὴν φιλοσοφίαν. Καὶ χωρὶς τούτου δὲ, ἐπειδὴ εἴωθέ πως ἡ τῶν θαυμάτων φύσις τούς τε θαυματουργοῦντας ἐπαίρειν, τούς τε ὁρῶντας θαύματα μείζονα τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως περὶ αὐτῶν πείθει ἐπινοεῖν· καὶ ταῦτα ἀμφότερα διωρθώσατο, τὴν τῆς φύσεως ἐναλλάξας ἀσθένειαν. Καὶ ὅτι ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχει, ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Παύλου φωνῆς ῥᾴδιον μαθεῖν. Ὅτι μὲν γὰρ ἐπαίρει τὰ θαύματα, ἄκουσον τί φησι· Καὶ τῇ ὑπερβολῇ τῶν ἀποκαλύψεων ἵνα μὴ ὑπεραίρωμαι, ἐδόθη μοι σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκὶ, ἄγγελος Σατᾶν, ἵνα με κολαφίζῃ. Ὅτι δὲ καὶ τοὺς ὁρῶντας τὰ θαύματα καὶ τοὺς ἀκούοντας μείζονα πείθει περὶ τῶν θαυματουργούντων ἐπινοεῖν, καὶ τοῦτο ἐκεῖθεν δῆλον. Εἰπὼν γὰρ περὶ τῶν ἀποκαλύψεων τῶν αὐτοῦ, φησίν· Ἐὰν γὰρ καὶ θελήσω καυχήσασθαι,","english":"For this reason God allowed him to share in the calamity, to experience the evils that had befallen, and to partake of the famine, so that you might learn that it was not famine, but divine zeal that was in him. For he would not have chosen, being so constrained, and lacking, and oppressed, and ill-treated, to refrain from lifting the threat, unless from great zeal he had uttered that blessed cry. Therefore it was more pleasing to him to be constrained and to see them being chastened, than to see them, freed from the pressing necessity, returning to their former impiety.\n\n6. For such are the souls of the saints everywhere: for the correction of others they betray their own security. So that no one might say that he intensified the famine out of cruelty, he allowed him to share in the famine, so that you might learn the prophet's philosophy. And apart from this, since the nature of miracles somehow tends to exalt those who work them, and persuades those who see miracles to conceive of them as greater than human nature, he corrected both these things, altering the weakness of nature. And that this is so, it is easy to learn from Paul's voice. For that miracles exalt, listen to what he says: \"And by the excess of revelations, lest I be lifted up, a thorn was given to my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me.\" And that it persuades those who see and hear the miracles to conceive of the miracle-workers as greater, this too is clear from that source. For after speaking about his own revelations, he says: \"For even if I wish to boast,","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Διὰ τοῦτο","severity":"info","text":"The opening phrase 'For this reason' refers back to the preceding passage's explanation of God's purpose in allowing Elijah to suffer, establishing a causal link in Chrysostom's argument.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"glossary","lemma":"ζῆλος","severity":"info","text":"The term 'ζῆλος' (zeal) is a key concept here, denoting divine fervor as opposed to mere famine, and is contrasted with human weakness in Chrysostom's moral exegesis.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκὶ, ἄγγελος Σατᾶν","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom quotes Paul's reference to a 'thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan' (2 Corinthians 12:7, though the exact verse is uncertain; cf. 2 Cor 12:7 in some traditions) to illustrate how miracles can exalt and require humbling.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"ςʹ","severity":"info","text":"The numeral 'ςʹ' (6) marks a new section in the homily, transitioning from the specific example of Elijah to a general reflection on the souls of saints.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"background","lemma":"Παύλου φωνῆς","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom frequently cites Paul as an authority; here he invokes Paul's own experience of revelations and the 'thorn' to parallel Elijah's trials, a common patristic typology.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἐὰν γὰρ καὶ θελήσω καυχήσασθαι","severity":"caution","text":"The Greek text breaks off mid-sentence after 'Ἐὰν γὰρ καὶ θελήσω καυχήσασθαι' ('For even if I wish to boast'), indicating a lacuna or incomplete citation in the manuscript tradition.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The exact Pauline source for 'σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκὶ, ἄγγελος Σατᾶν' is uncertain; it may be a conflation or a variant reading. The break at the end of the passage suggests the manuscript may be incomplete."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":11,"ref":"p11","source":"οὐκ ἔσομαι ἄφρων· ἀλήθειαν γὰρ ἐρῶ. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν οὐ καυχᾶσαι; Φείδομαι δὲ μή τις εἰς ἐμὲ λογίσηται ὑπὲρ ὃ βλέπει με, ἢ ἀκούσῃ τι ἐξ ἐμοῦ. Ἵνα οὖν μὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ προφήτου τοιοῦτόν τι συμβῇ (εἰ γὰρ καὶ Ἠλίας ἦν, ἀλλ' ἄνθρωπος ἦν), ἐγκατέμιξε θαύματι τὸ τῆς φύσεως ἐλάττωμα. Διὰ τοῦτο ὁ τῶν οὐρανῶν κρατήσας, τῆς πείνης οὐκ ἐκράτησεν· ὁ τὰς ὠδῖνας τῆς γῆς ἐπισχὼν, τῆς γαστρὸς τὴν ἀνάγκην ἐπισχεῖν οὐκ ἴσχυσεν, ἀλλὰ χήρας ἐδεῖτο γυναικὸς, ἵνα μάθῃς καὶ τὴν θείαν χάριν, καὶ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἀσθένειαν. Οὐκ εἰς τοῦτο δὲ μόνον ὠφέλει τὸ συμβὰν, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς ἕτερον οὐκ ἔλαττον τούτου. Ποῖον δὴ τοῦτο; Ἵν' ὅταν σε παρακαλῇ τις πρὸς τὸν τοῦ προφήτου ζῆλον, μὴ καταπέσῃς, μηδὲ ἀπογνῷς νομίζων ἑτέρας εἶναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον φύσεως, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τοσαύτην πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐσχηκέναι τὴν παῤῥησίαν. Ὅπερ οὖν καί τις ᾐνίξατο εἰπών· Ἠλίας ὁμοιοπαθὴς ἡμῖν ἦν ἄνθρωπος· μονονουχὶ λέγων, Μὴ νομίσῃς ἀδύνατον εἶναι πρὸς τὴν αὐτὴν ἐκείνῳ φθάσαι τῆς φιλοσοφίας τὴν κορυφήν· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἐκεῖνος τῆς αὐτῆς ἐκοινώνησε φύσεως. Ἀλλ' ὅμως ἡ θαυμαστὴ καὶ θεία προαίρεσις πολὺ τῶν ἄλλων αὐτὸν ὑψηλότερον ἔδειξεν. ζʹ. Ἀλλὰ καιρὸς λοιπὸν πρὸς τὴν χήραν ἐπανελθεῖν. Ἦλθε, φησὶν, εἰς Σαρεφθὰ τῆς Σιδῶνος, καὶ εὗρε γυναῖκα χήραν συλλέγουσαν ξύλα. Ἄξια τῆς ἔνδον πενίας τέως τὰ προπύλαια. Τί οὖν; ἀπετράπη τοιαῦτα τῆς φιλοξενίας ἰδὼν τὰ προοίμια; Οὐδαμῶς· θείας γὰρ ἦν ἀκηκοὼς ἀποφάσεως· ἀλλ' ἐβόησεν ὀπίσω αὐτῆς, καὶ εἶπε, Λάβε δή μοι ὕδωρ, καὶ ἐπορεύθη λαβεῖν.","english":"I will not be foolish, for I will speak the truth. Why then do you not boast? I refrain, lest someone reckon to me more than what they see in me, or hear something from me. So that such a thing might not happen also in the case of the prophet (for even if he was Elijah, he was still a man), he mixed the weakness of nature with the miracle. For this reason, the one who held the heavens did not hold back the famine; the one who restrained the pangs of the earth was not able to restrain the necessity of the belly, but he begged a widow woman, so that you might learn both the divine grace and the human weakness. This event was beneficial not only for this, but also for another purpose no less than this. What is this? So that when someone exhorts you to the zeal of the prophet, you may not fall down nor despair, thinking that the man was of a different nature, and because of this had such boldness toward God. This is what someone hinted at, saying: Elijah was a man subject to the same passions as us, almost saying: Do not think it impossible to reach the same summit of philosophy as he; for he too shared the same nature. But nevertheless, his wondrous and divine choice showed him much higher than others. 7. But it is time now to return to the widow. He came, it says, to Sarepta of Sidon, and found a widow woman gathering sticks. The portals were worthy of the poverty within. What then? Was he turned away seeing such preludes of hospitality? Not at all; for he had heard a divine pronouncement; but he called out after her and said, Bring me some water, and she went to get it.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"οὐκ ἔσομαι ἄφρων· ἀλήθειαν γὰρ ἐρῶ","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom shifts to first-person rhetorical self-correction, a common homiletic device to engage the audience and underscore sincerity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"glossary","lemma":"παῤῥησίαν","severity":"info","text":"παῤῥησίαν (parrhēsian) denotes boldness or frankness in speech, especially before God; a key concept in Chrysostom's moral theology.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἠλίας ὁμοιοπαθὴς ἡμῖν ἦν ἄνθρωπος","severity":"info","text":"The phrase echoes a common patristic interpretation of 1 Kings 17, emphasizing Elijah's shared humanity to encourage emulation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Σαρεφθὰ τῆς Σιδῶνος","severity":"info","text":"Sarepta (modern Sarafand, Lebanon) is the setting of Elijah's encounter with the widow; Chrysostom uses the toponym to ground the narrative in biblical geography.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"ζʹ. Ἀλλὰ καιρὸς λοιπὸν πρὸς τὴν χήραν ἐπανελθεῖν","severity":"info","text":"The numeral ζʹ (7) marks a new section; Chrysostom signals a return to the widow narrative after a theological digression on Elijah's nature.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἄξια τῆς ἔνδον πενίας τέως τὰ προπύλαια","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom's remark on the widow's poverty as reflected in her gathering sticks is a moralizing trope common in late antique homiletics, emphasizing virtue in humility.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Greek text has a textual variant in the phrase 'τῆς πείνης' (famine) vs. 'τῆς πείνης' (hunger); the reading is consistent with Chrysostom's usage.","The reference to 'someone' (τις) who said Elijah was 'ὁμοιοπαθὴς' is ambiguous; possibly an allusion to Origen or another exegete, but not specified."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":12,"ref":"p12","source":"Ὄντως γενναία καὶ φιλόσοφος ἡ γυνὴ, καὶ εἰ μὴ τολμηρὸν εἰπεῖν, καὶ αὐτῆς τοῦ προφήτου μεγαλοψυχίας ἀξία· μᾶλλον δὲ οὐ τολμηρὸν εἰπεῖν· εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἦν ἀξία, οὐκ ἂν ὑποδέξασθαι κατηξιώθη τὸν ἅγιον ἐκεῖνον. Καθάπερ ὁ Χριστός φησι πρὸς τοὺς μαθητάς· ὅτι Εἰς ἣν δὲ ἂν πόλιν ἢ κώμην εἰσέλθητε, ἐρωτήσατε τίς ἄξιος ἐν αὐτῇ, κἀκεῖ μείνατε· οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα ὁ Θεὸς, ἐπειδὴ μάλιστα πάντων ἀξίαν ᾔδει τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ δέξασθαι τὸν προφήτην, διὰ τοῦτο τὰς ἄλλας πάσας ἀφεὶς, ἐκεῖσε αὐτὸν ἔπεμψε. Πλὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ δι' αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων ἴδωμεν αὐτῆς τὴν εὐγένειαν. Λάβε δή μοι, φησὶν, ὕδωρ εἰς ἄγγος. Πολλὴ ἡ φιλοφροσύνη τῆς γυναικός. Ὅτι γὰρ ἀπεκρίνατο, ὅτι λόγου μετέδωκεν, ὅτι μὴ κατασχοῦσα αὐτὸν τὴν πόλιν ἅπασαν ἐκάλεσε πρὸς τὴν τιμωρίαν τῆς θείας ἐκείνης κεφαλῆς, οὐκ ἄξιον ἐκπλήττεσθαι καὶ θαυμάζειν; Καὶ γὰρ ὅτι εἰκὸς ἦν τοῦ λιμοῦ τὴν ἀνάγκην πρὸς ταύτην ἐξαγαγεῖν τὴν ὀργὴν τὸ γύναιον, ἐξ Ἰουδαϊκοῦ παραδείγματος μάνθανε. Ὁ Ἐλισσαῖος, ὁ μαθητὴς τοῦ Ἠλίου, ὁ διπλοῦς Ἠλίας (ἐν γὰρ τῷ μαθητῇ διπλοῦν τὸν διδάσκαλον ἦν ἰδεῖν), προεφήτευσε μετὰ ταῦτα λιμόν· οὐχὶ αὐτὸς ἐπήγαγε, καθάπερ Ἠλίας, ἀλλὰ μέλλοντα ἥξειν προεῖπε. Τί οὖν ὁ βασιλεὺς, ὁ κατ' ἐκείνους τοὺς χρόνους βασιλεύων; Περιεβάλλετο σάκκον, φησί· καὶ γὰρ ἐταπείνωσεν αὐτὸν ἡ συμφορά· ἀλλ' ὅμως οὕτω ταπεινωθεὶς, ἀκούσας γυναικὸς ὀδυρομένης τινὸς ἐπὶ συμβᾶσι διὰ τὸν λιμὸν, εἰς τοσαύτην ἐξηνέχθη τότε ὀργὴν, ὡς ἀναβοῆσαι εὐθέως καὶ εἰπεῖν, Τάδε ποιήσαι μοι ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ τάδε προσθείη, εἰ στήσεται ἡ κεφαλὴ Ἐλισσαίου υἱοῦ Σαφὰτ ἐπ' αὐτὸν σήμερον.","english":"Truly the woman is noble and philosophical, and if it is not rash to say, even worthy of the prophet’s own magnanimity—or rather, it is not rash to say so; for if she were not worthy, she would not have been deemed worthy to receive that holy man. Just as Christ says to the disciples, “Into whatever city or village you enter, ask who is worthy in it, and stay there,” so also here God, since he knew that this woman was most worthy of all to receive the prophet, for this reason left all the others aside and sent him there. But let us also see her nobility from the events themselves. “Take water for me,” he says, “into a vessel.” Great is the woman’s kindness. For that she answered, that she shared speech, that she did not detain him and call the whole city to punish that divine head—is it not worthy of astonishment and admiration? For that the necessity of the famine might naturally have driven the woman to such anger, learn from a Jewish example. Elisha, the disciple of Elijah, the double Elijah (for in the disciple one could see the teacher doubled), later prophesied a famine; he did not bring it on himself, as Elijah did, but foretold that it would come. What then did the king who reigned in those times do? He put on sackcloth, it says; for the calamity humbled him. But nevertheless, even thus humbled, when he heard a certain woman lamenting over what had happened because of the famine, he was then carried away into such anger that he immediately cried out and said, “May God do such and such to me, and may he add such and such, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat stands upon him today.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"γενναία καὶ φιλόσοφος","severity":"info","text":"The woman is called 'noble and philosophical', a phrase that in Chrysostom's idiom denotes moral and spiritual excellence, not merely intellectual pursuit.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Εἰς ἣν δὲ ἂν πόλιν ἢ κώμην εἰσέλθητε, ἐρωτήσατε τίς ἄξιος ἐν αὐτῇ, κἀκεῖ μείνατε","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom attributes to Christ a saying not found verbatim in the canonical Gospels; it may be a loose paraphrase of Matthew 10:11 or a logion from oral tradition.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἐλισσαῖος, ὁ μαθητὴς τοῦ Ἠλίου, ὁ διπλοῦς Ἠλίας","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom calls Elisha 'the double Elijah', a common patristic trope emphasizing Elisha as Elijah's successor and spiritual equal, rooted in 2 Kings 2 and 4 Kings.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"Ὁ Ἐλισσαῖος ... προεφήτευσε μετὰ ταῦτα λιμόν","severity":"info","text":"The story of Elisha prophesying a famine and the king's reaction is not directly from the biblical text; Chrysostom may be drawing on Jewish tradition or a haggadic expansion.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Πλὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ δι' αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων ἴδωμεν αὐτῆς τὴν εὐγένειαν","severity":"info","text":"This sentence marks a transition from general praise of the widow to a demonstration of her nobility through specific actions, structuring the homily's argument.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"ἐξ Ἰουδαϊκοῦ παραδείγματος μάνθανε","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom explicitly cites a 'Jewish example' to support his point, reflecting his rhetorical use of Jewish tradition as a foil or source of moral lessons.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The exact source of the saying attributed to Christ is unclear; it may be a conflation of Matthew 10:11 with oral tradition.","The story of Elisha and the king's reaction is not found in the canonical Old Testament; its origin is uncertain."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":13,"ref":"p13","source":"Εἶδες τοῦ βασιλέως τὴν ὀργήν; Μάθε τῆς γυναικὸς τὴν φιλοσοφίαν· αὕτη γὰρ οὐχὶ τὸν προειπόντα λιμὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐπαγαγόντα εὑροῦσα, καὶ τῆς πόλεως οὖσα ἐγγὺς, οὐκ ἠγανάκτησεν, οὐκ ἠγρίανεν, οὐχ ἑτέρους πρὸς τιμωρίαν ἐκάλεσεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς ὑπήκουσε τῆς ἐπιεικείας.\n\nηʹ. Ἴστε δὲ ὅτι ἐπειδὰν περί τινα χρείαν ὦμεν ἠσχολημένοι, οὐδὲ τοὺς ἐπιτηδείους πολλάκις ὁρῶμεν ἡδέως, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς αὐτοὺς δυσχεραίνομεν· ὅταν δὲ θλῖψις τοσαύτη παρῇ, καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ φῶς ἐνοχλεῖν ἡμῖν δοκεῖ· καὶ τοῦτο πάλιν ἐξ Ἰουδαϊκοῦ μαθεῖν ἔστι παραδείγματος. Ὅτε γοῦν ἦλθεν ὁ Μωϋσῆς τὰ μυρία τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἀπαγγέλλων ἀγαθὰ, τυραννίδος ἀπαλλαγὴν, ἐλευθερίαν, καὶ πρὸς τὴν\n\nπαλαιὰν πατρίδα ἐπάνοδον· Ἰδόντες αὐτὸν, φησὶν, οὐκ ἤκουσαν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς ὀλιγοψυχίας, καὶ τῶν ἔργων τῶν σκληρῶν. Ἐκεῖνοι τὸν κομίζοντα εὐαγγέλια τοσαῦτα ἰδόντες ἐπεστράφησαν· αὕτη δὲ ἰδοῦσα τὸν προφήτην ἐλθόντα, οὐχὶ ὥστε λῦσαι τὸν λιμὸν, ἀλλ' ὥστε καὶ αὐτῇ γενέσθαι βαρὺν, οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον ἔπαθε. Κἀκεῖνοι μὲν οὕτως ἦσαν δυσχερεῖς διὰ τὸν τῶν ἔργων πόνον· αὕτη δὲ οὐχὶ πόνου, ἀλλὰ λιμοῦ σφοδρῶς ἐπικειμένου (πολὺ δὲ πόνου καὶ λιμοῦ τὸ μέσον), οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἀπεστράφη τὸν ἄνδρα, ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσαν αὐτῆς τὴν πενίαν ἐκένωσεν, ὥστε ὑποδέξασθαι τὸν ἐπαγαγόντα αὐτοῖς τὸν λιμόν. Καὶ ἐπορεύθη, φησὶ, λαβεῖν ὕδωρ, καὶ ἐβόησεν ὁ προφήτης καὶ εἶπε, Λάβε δή μοι καὶ ἄρτον, καὶ φάγομαι. Τί οὖν ἡ γυνή; Οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα δυσχεραίνει, ἀλλὰ τί φησι; Ζῇ Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου, εἰ ἔστι μοι ἐγκρυφίας, ἀλλ' ἢ ὅσον δρὰξ ἀλεύρου. Τίνος ἕνεκεν ὄμνυσιν;","english":"You have seen the king’s anger; learn the woman’s philosophy. For she, having found not the one who predicted the famine but the one who brought it about, and being near the city, did not become indignant, did not grow wild, did not call others to vengeance, but obeyed with great gentleness.\n\n8. You know that when we are occupied with some need, we often do not even look kindly upon those who are suitable, but are annoyed even with them. But when such great distress is present, even the light itself seems to trouble us. And this again can be learned from a Jewish example. For when Moses came announcing countless good things to the Jews—deliverance from tyranny, freedom, and return to their ancient homeland—it says that when they saw him, they did not listen to him because of their faint-heartedness and the harshness of their labors. Those people, upon seeing the one bringing such good news, turned away. But she, upon seeing the prophet come—not to end the famine, but to become a burden even to her—suffered nothing of the sort. And those people were so difficult because of the toil of their labors; but she, with famine pressing severely (and there is a great difference between toil and famine), not only did not turn away from the man, but emptied all her poverty to receive the one who brought the famine upon them. And it says, she went to fetch water, and the prophet cried out and said, “Take also bread for me, and I will eat.” What then does the woman do? Not even here does she become indignant, but what does she say? “As the Lord your God lives, if I have a hearth-cake, or even a handful of meal.” Why does she swear?","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"φιλοσοφίαν","severity":"info","text":"Here φιλοσοφίαν denotes the woman's virtuous self-control and rational endurance, a common Christian appropriation of the Greek philosophical ideal.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ζῇ Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου","severity":"info","text":"The woman's oath 'As the Lord your God lives' echoes Old Testament oath formulas (e.g., 1 Sam 20:3 LXX) and underscores her piety.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"ἐγκρυφίας","severity":"info","text":"An ἐγκρυφίας is a hearth-cake baked in hot ashes, a common humble bread in ancient Greek and Near Eastern households.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἰουδαϊκοῦ παραδείγματος","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom compares the woman's response to the Jews' rejection of Moses (Exod 6:9 LXX), contrasting their faint-heartedness with her magnanimity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"ηʹ","severity":"info","text":"The numeral ηʹ marks a new section, introducing a comparative exemplum from Jewish history to reinforce the woman's virtue.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"γυνή","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom's portrayal of the widow as a model of philosophical endurance influenced later Byzantine and Slavic homiletic traditions on hospitality.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'τὸν ἐπαγαγόντα' could refer to the prophet Elijah as the one who brought the famine, or to God as the ultimate cause; Chrysostom seems to take it as Elijah."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":14,"ref":"p14","source":"Ἄρτον ᾔτησεν ὁ προφήτης, αὐτὴ δὲ ἄρτον οὐκ εἶχεν. Ἔδεισεν οὖν μή ποτε πεπτούσης αὐτῆς, ὀπτώσης, καὶ παρασκευαζούσης, εἶτα βραδυνούσης, οὐκ ἀναμείνας τὴν ἀναβολὴν ὁ προφήτης ἀποπηδήσῃ, καὶ φύγῃ τῆς φιλοξενίας τὸ θήραμα. Διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸν ὅρκῳ προκατέλαβε λέγουσα, οὐχ ὅτι Οὐκ ἔστι μοι ἄλευρον, ἀλλ' ὅτι Ἐγκρυφίας μὲν οὐκ ἔστιν, ἄλευρον δέ ἐστι. Καὶ οὐ διὰ τοῦ ὅρκου μόνον αὐτὸν πιστοῦται, ἀλλὰ καὶ δι' αὐτῆς τῶν πραγμάτων τῆς ἀποδείξεως. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ, φησὶ, δύο συλλέγω ξυλάρια, καὶ εἰσελεύσομαι, καὶ ποιήσω αὐτὰ τοῖς τέκνοις μου, καὶ φαγόμεθα, καὶ ἀποθανούμεθα. Ἀκουέτωσαν οἱ τὰς λαμπρὰς οἰκίας οἰκοδομούμενοι, καὶ τοὺς πολυτελεῖς ἀγροὺς ὠνούμενοι, καὶ οἰκετῶν ἀγέλας ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς περιφέροντες· μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ εὔποροι καὶ πένητες ἀκουέτωσαν πάντες· οὐδενὶ γὰρ μετὰ τὴν χήραν ταύτην ἀπολογία ἔσται λοιπόν.\n\nΤοσαῦτα ἦν αὐτῇ τὰ κωλύματα, ἀλλ' ὅμως πάντα ἐκεῖνα διέκοψε καὶ ὑπερέβη. Ἄκουε δέ. Ἀλλόφυλος ἦν· ἓν τοῦτο τὸ κώλυμα. Σιδωνία· δεύτερον κώλυμα. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἴσον ἀλλόφυλον εἶναι ἁπλῶς, καὶ Σιδώνιον τῆς πονηροτάτης πόλεως· ὡς γὰρ ἔσχατον κακίας ὑπόδειγμα, τὴν πόλιν ἐκείνην ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις παρήγαγεν ὁ Χριστός. Ἦν τοίνυν καὶ ἀλλόφυλος, καὶ Σιδωνία, καὶ γυνὴ, τὸ ἀσθενὲς γένος καὶ πάντοθεν δεόμενον τῆς ἀντιλήψεως. Προσῆν καὶ χηρεία, τέταρτον κώλυμα· πέμπτον, ἐκείνων ἁπάντων μεῖζον, παιδοτροφίας ἐπιμέλεια. Ἀκουέτωσαν αἱ χῆραι καὶ παῖδας τρέφουσαι, ὡς οὐκ ἦν ἱκανὴ ἡ σκῆψις αὕτη πρὸς τὸ μὴ ποιεῖν ἐλεημοσύνην, μηδὲ ὑποδέχεσθαι ξένους·","english":"The prophet asked for bread, but she had no bread. She feared, therefore, that while she was baking, roasting, and preparing, and then delaying, the prophet, not waiting for the delay, might leap away and flee the prize of hospitality. For this reason she forestalled him with an oath, saying, not that \"I have no flour,\" but that \"I have no hearth-baked bread, but I do have flour.\" And she secures his trust not only through the oath, but also through the demonstration of the facts themselves. For behold, she says, I gather two sticks, and I will go in, and I will make them for my children, and we will eat, and we will die. Let those who build splendid houses, and buy costly fields, and lead herds of servants around the marketplace, listen; rather, let both the wealthy and the poor all listen, for no one after this widow will have an excuse.\n\nSo many were the obstacles for her, but nevertheless she cut through and overcame all of them. Now listen. She was a foreigner—this was one obstacle. A Sidonian—a second obstacle. For it is not the same to be a foreigner simply, and to be a Sidonian from that most wicked city; for as an ultimate example of evil, Christ brought that city forward in the Gospels. She was, therefore, both a foreigner and a Sidonian, and a woman—the weak sex, needing support from every side. There was also widowhood, a fourth obstacle; a fifth, greater than all of these, the care of raising children. Let widows who also raise children hear that this pretext was not sufficient to prevent them from doing almsgiving or receiving strangers.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"background","lemma":"Σιδωνία","severity":"info","text":"Sidon was a Phoenician city often associated in biblical tradition with idolatry and moral corruption. Chrysostom here echoes the negative portrayal of Sidon in the Gospels, likely referencing Matthew 11:21-22 or Luke 10:30-31, where Jesus uses Sidon as an example of wickedness.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἐγκρυφίας","severity":"info","text":"The term 'ἐγκρυφίας' refers to a type of bread baked in hot ashes, common in ancient Greek and Near Eastern contexts. Its mention here underscores the widow's claim that she lacks only this specific form of bread, not flour, highlighting her resourcefulness.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Τοσαῦτα ἦν αὐτῇ τὰ κωλύματα","severity":"info","text":"This passage enumerates five obstacles (foreigner, Sidonian, woman, widow, child-rearer) in a rhetorical crescendo, a common homiletic device to emphasize the widow's virtue. The list mirrors similar catalogues in Chrysostom's other works.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"background","lemma":"Ἀκουέτωσαν αἱ χῆραι","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom directly addresses widows in his audience, using the widow of Zarephath as a model for Christian charity. This reflects the late antique practice of using biblical exempla to instruct specific social groups in moral behavior.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἀλλόφυλος","severity":"info","text":"The term 'ἀλλόφυλος' (foreigner) echoes the Septuagint's designation for Philistines, but here it is used generically. Chrysostom's emphasis on the widow's foreignness parallels Paul's rhetoric in Romans about hospitality to strangers.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Ἐγκρυφίας μὲν οὐκ ἔστιν, ἄλευρον δέ ἐστι","severity":"caution","text":"The widow's oath is ambiguous: she swears she has no hearth-bread but has flour, yet earlier she said she had no bread. Chrysostom interprets this as a clever ruse to prevent the prophet from leaving, but the text does not clarify whether she actually had flour or was lying.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The widow's claim to have flour but not hearth-bread may be a deception or a literal truth; Chrysostom treats it as a strategic oath.","The phrase 'δύο συλλέγω ξυλάρια' could mean she gathers two sticks for a fire, but the number may be symbolic or literal."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":15,"ref":"p15","source":"καὶ δρὰξ ἀλεύρου ὑπελέλειπτο μόνον, καὶ μετ' ἐκείνην θάνατος προσεδοκᾶτο. Σὺ μὲν γὰρ κἂν ἅπαντα κενώσῃς τὰ χρήματα, κἂν γυμνώσῃς τῆς περιουσίας σαυτὸν, δύνασαι πρὸς τὰς ἑτέρων θύρας ἀπελθεῖν καὶ τυχεῖν παραμυθίας· τότε δὲ οὐδὲ ἐπαιτεῖν δυνατὸν ἦν, οὕτως ἅπαντας τοὺς λιμένας ἔχωσεν ὁ λιμός. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲν τούτων ἐκώλυσεν. Εἴπω καὶ ἕβδομον κώλυμα, αὐτὸν τὸν μέλλοντα ἐπιξενίζεσθαι τῇ γυναικί. Οὐδὲ γὰρ οἰκεῖος, οὐδὲ γνώριμος ἦν, ἀλλὰ ξένος καὶ ἀλλότριος, καὶ κατ' αὐτὸν τῆς εὐσεβείας λόγον κεχωρισμένος αὐτῆς. Οὐ μόνον δὲ ξένος καὶ ἀλλότριος, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν ὁ τὸν λιμὸν ἐπαγαγών. θʹ. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲν τούτων ἀπέτρεψε τὴν γυναῖκα, ἀλλ' ἐδίδου τροφὴν στόματι τῷ πᾶσαν αὐτῆς δαπανήσαντι τὴν τροφὴν, καὶ τὸν αἴτιον τοῦ λιμοῦ τοῖς λειψάνοις ἔτρεφε τοῦ λιμοῦ. Διὰ σὲ, φησὶν, ἡ ἅπασά μοι περιουσία εἰς τὴν δράκα περιέστη ταύτην· ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τῆς δρακὸς ταύτης φείδομαι διὰ σὲ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐμαυτὴν καὶ τὰ παιδία ἐπιδώσω θανάτῳ, ἵνα σὺ, φησὶν, ὁ τῆς στενοχωρίας αἴτιος μηδὲ μικρὰν τῆς στενοχωρίας αἴσθησιν λάβῃς. Ποίαν τις ὑπερβολὴν ἐπινοήσειε φιλοξενίας ἑτέραν; Οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδεμίαν εὑρεῖν. Εἶδε ξένον, καὶ τῆς φύσεως εὐθέως ἐπελάθετο, καὶ τὰς ὠδῖνας ἠγνόησε, καὶ πρὸς τὸν τῶν παίδων βλέπουσα χορὸν, οὐ κατεκλάσθη. Καὶ οἶδα μὲν ἀκούσας πολλάκις λεγόντων πολλῶν, ὅτι Ὁ δεῖνα πτωχὸν ἰδὼν, τὸν χιτωνίσκον, ὃν περιεβέβλητο μόνον, τοῦτον ἀποδυσάμενος, τὸν γυμνὸν περιέβαλεν, αὐτὸς δὲ παρ' ἑτέρου δανεισάμενος ἱμάτιον, οὕτως ἀπῆλθε· καὶ μέγα","english":"and only a handful of flour was left, and after that death was expected. For you, even if you empty out all your wealth, even if you strip yourself of your possessions, you can go to the doors of others and obtain comfort; but at that time it was not even possible to beg, so completely had famine choked all the harbors. But none of these things prevented her. Let me mention a seventh obstacle: the very man who was about to be hosted by the woman. For he was neither a relative nor an acquaintance, but a stranger and an outsider, and even in terms of piety itself he was separated from her. And not only was he a stranger and an outsider, but he himself was the one who had brought on the famine. 9. But none of these things turned the woman away; rather, she gave food to the mouth that had consumed all her food, and she fed the cause of the famine with the remnants of the famine. \"Because of you,\" she says, \"all my wealth has been reduced to this handful; but I do not spare even this handful because of you, but I will give both myself and my children over to death, so that you,\" she says, \"the cause of the scarcity, may not experience even a small perception of the scarcity.\" What other excess of hospitality could one conceive? It is not possible to find any. She saw a stranger, and immediately forgot her nature, and ignored her birth pangs, and looking at the chorus of her children, she was not broken. And I know, having often heard many say, \"So-and-so, seeing a beggar, took off the only tunic he was wearing, clothed the naked man, and then, borrowing a garment from another, went away thus; and great","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"καὶ δρὰξ ἀλεύρου ὑπελέλειπτο μόνον","severity":"info","text":"The phrase emphasizes the extreme scarcity: only a single handful of flour remains, with death expected after it is consumed.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"background","lemma":"οὕτως ἅπαντας τοὺς λιμένας ἔχωσεν ὁ λιμός","severity":"info","text":"The metaphor of famine 'choking all the harbors' reflects a common topos in ancient literature, where famine cuts off all sources of relief, including the possibility of begging.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Εἴπω καὶ ἕβδομον κώλυμα","severity":"info","text":"The speaker introduces a seventh obstacle, building a rhetorical list of impediments to hospitality, which heightens the widow's virtue.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"glossary","lemma":"φιλοξενία","severity":"info","text":"The Greek term φιλοξενία (love of strangers, hospitality) is a key virtue in early Christian ethics, often contrasted with xenophobia or inhospitality.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"τὸν χιτωνίσκον, ὃν περιεβέβλητο μόνον, τοῦτον ἀποδυσάμενος","severity":"info","text":"The anecdote of a man giving his only tunic to a beggar parallels similar stories in early Christian literature, such as the life of St. Martin of Tours, emphasizing radical charity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"θʹ","severity":"caution","text":"The numeral θʹ (9) appears in the Greek text, likely a section marker; its placement may indicate a textual division not present in the English draft.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'κατ' αὐτὸν τῆς εὐσεβείας λόγον κεχωρισμένος αὐτῆς' is ambiguous: it may mean the stranger is separated from the woman in terms of piety (i.e., different religious affiliation) or that he is separated from her by the very principle of piety (i.e., his impiety).","The numeral θʹ may be a later scribal addition or a section number; its function in the original homily is unclear."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":16,"ref":"p16","source":"ἔδοξε τοῦτο εἶναι καὶ θαυμαστόν. Καὶ γὰρ ὄντως ἐστὶ μέγα· τὸ δὲ τῆς χήρας ταύτης πολὺ τούτου μεῖζον. Ἐκεῖνος μὲν γὰρ ἑαυτὸν γυμνώσας, καὶ τὸν γυμνὸν περιβαλὼν, ἔσχε παρ' ἑτέρου λαβεῖν ἱμάτιον· αὕτη δὲ τὴν δράκα τοῦ ἀλεύρου προϊεμένη, οὐκ ἴσχυσε δράκα ἑτέραν λαβεῖν· οὐδὲ μέχρι γυμνότητος ἦν ὁ κίνδυνος αὐτῇ, ἀλλὰ μετ' ἐκεῖνο θάνατος προσεδοκᾶτο καὶ αὐτῆς καὶ τῶν παίδων. Ὅταν οὖν μήτε πενίας, μήτε παιδοτροφίας ἐπιμέλεια κωλύσῃ, μήτε λιμὸς χαλεπὸς, μήτε πτωχεία τοσαύτη, μήτε θάνατος προσδοκώμενος, ποίαν ἕξομεν ἀπολογίαν οἱ εὔποροι; ποίαν οἱ πένητες; Ζῇ Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου, εἰ ἔστι μοι ἐγκρυφίας, ἀλλ' ἢ ὅσον δρὰξ ἀλεύρου ἐν τῇ ὑδρίᾳ, καὶ ὀλίγον ἔλαιον ἐν τῷ καμψάκῃ· καὶ ἰδοὺ συλλέγω δύο ξυλάρια, καὶ εἰσελεύσομαι, καὶ ποιήσω αὐτὰ τοῖς τέκνοις μου, καὶ φαγόμεθα, καὶ ἀποθανούμεθα. Ταύτην ἕκαστος τὴν ἐλεεινὴν, μᾶλλον δὲ ἕκαστος ταύτην τὴν μακαρίαν φωνὴν καὶ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀξίαν ἐν τοῖς τοίχοις τῆς οἰκίας ἐγγραφέτω τῆς ἑαυτοῦ, ἐν τῷ θαλάμῳ, ἐν ᾧ ἂν καθεύδωμεν, ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ, ἐν ᾧ ἀριστοποιούμεθα. Ταύτην ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας, ταύ την ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς, ταύτην ἐν τοῖς συλλόγοις τῶν φίλων, ταύτην εἰς δικαστήριον ἀπιὼν, ταύτην εἰσιὼν, ταύτην ἐξιὼν ἕκαστος μελετάτω τὴν φωνήν· καὶ σφόδρα ἂν ἰσχυρισαίμην, ὅτι οὐδ' ἂν εἰ λίθινός τις εἴη, καὶ σιδηροῦς, καὶ ἀδάμας, ἀνέξεται προσελθόντα πένητα κεναῖς ἀποπέμψαι χερσὶν, ἂν τὴν φωνὴν ἐγγράψῃ ταύτην, ἂν τὴν χήραν πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἔχῃ. Ἀλλ' ἴσως ἐκεῖνο ἐρεῖ τις· Ἄγε κἀμοὶ προφήτην, καὶ μετὰ τῆς αὐτῆς εὐνοίας ὑποδέξομαι. Ὑπόσχου τοῦτο, καὶ ἄγω σοι τὸν προφήτην.","english":"She thought this was something wonderful. And indeed it is great; but the deed of this widow is far greater than that. For he, having stripped himself and clothed the naked man, was able to receive a garment from another; but she, having let go of the handful of flour, was not able to take another handful; nor was the danger to her limited to nakedness, but after that death was expected for herself and her children. When, then, neither concern for poverty nor for raising children prevented her, nor severe famine, nor such great destitution, nor expected death, what excuse shall we have, the wealthy? what excuse, the poor? \"The Lord your God lives, if I have a loaf of bread, or even only a handful of flour in the jar, and a little oil in the flask; and behold, I gather two small sticks, and I will go in, and I will make them for my children, and we shall eat, and we shall die.\" Let each one inscribe this pitiable—or rather, this blessed and heaven-worthy—voice on the walls of his own house, in the bedchamber where we sleep, in the room where we dine. Let each one practice this voice at home, in the marketplace, in gatherings of friends, going to court, entering, leaving; and I would strongly insist that even if someone were made of stone, or iron, or adamant, he would not bear to send away a poor person who approaches with empty hands, if he inscribes this voice, if he keeps the widow before his eyes. But perhaps someone will say: \"Bring me a prophet too, and I will receive him with the same goodwill.\" Promise this, and I will bring you the prophet.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"ἔδοξε τοῦτο εἶναι καὶ θαυμαστόν","severity":"info","text":"The widow's action is compared to a previous example (likely Martin of Tours), which she surpasses because her sacrifice was irreversible.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ζῇ Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου","severity":"info","text":"This phrase echoes the acclamation of the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 18:39 LXX (3 Kingdoms 18:39), where the people cry 'The Lord lives' after the contest on Mount Carmel.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"ἐγκρυφίας","severity":"info","text":"An ἐγκρυφίας is a loaf baked in hot ashes, a common form of bread in antiquity, indicating the widow's meager resources.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"καμψάκῃ","severity":"info","text":"A καμψάκη is a small flask or vessel for oil, often used in domestic contexts; its mention underscores the widow's poverty.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Ταύτην ... τὴν φωνήν","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom repeats 'this voice' in a rhetorical crescendo, urging the audience to internalize the widow's words as a moral exemplum.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"προφήτην","severity":"info","text":"The reference to a prophet alludes to the biblical Elijah, whom the widow hosted; Chrysostom challenges his audience to match her hospitality without a prophet's presence.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Greek text is clear; no significant ambiguities."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":17,"ref":"p17","source":"Καὶ τί λέγω τὸν προφήτην; Αὐτὸν ἄγω σοι τὸν τοῦ προφήτου Δεσπότην, τὸν κοινὸν ἡμῶν Θεὸν καὶ Κύριον τὸν Χριστόν. Αὐτὸς γάρ φησιν, ὅτι Πεινῶντά με εἴδετε, καὶ ἐθρέψατε. Εἰ δὲ ἀπιστοῦσί τινες τῇ φωνῇ, καὶ τῆς φιλοφροσύνης ἀμελοῦσι, μαθήσονται τότε διὰ τῆς κολάσεως καὶ τῆς τιμωρίας τοῦτο. Ὥσπερ γὰρ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ παραμελήσαντες, οὕτω πρὸς ἀφόρητον ἀπελεύσονται κόλασιν. Οὕτως οὖν οἱ τοὺς πτωχοὺς τρέφοντες καθάπερ αὐτὸν τὸν Χριστὸν θεραπεύσαντες, εἰς τὴν τῶν οὐρανῶν εἰσάγονται βασιλείαν. ιʹ. Τάχα πλείω τοῦ δέοντος τὰ εἰρημένα. Εἴθε μὲν οὖν πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἐνδιατρίβειν ἦν τοῖς περὶ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης λόγοις. Εἰ δὲ ἀρκούντως ὑμῖν ἔχειν ταῦτα δοκεῖ, φέρε αὐτὰ ἀνακεφαλαιωσώμεθα πάντα. Εἶπον τίνος ἕνεκεν ὁ προφήτης πρὸς τὴν χήραν ἀπεστέλλετο, ἵνα μὴ μακαρίζῃς πενίαν, ἵνα μὴ θαυμάζῃς πλοῦτον, ἵνα μὴ τὸν εὔπορον ζηλωτὸν εἶναι νομίζῃς, ἵνα μὴ τὸν ἐν πτωχείᾳ ζῶντα ἄθλιον καὶ ἐλεεινὸν, ἵνα μάθῃς τὴν Ἰουδαϊκὴν πονηρίαν. Ἔθος γὰρ τῷ Θεῷ μέλλοντι κολάζειν, καὶ ἡμῖν ἀπολογεῖσθαι διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων αὐτῶν· ἵνα μὴ μετὰ ταῦτα ἰδὼν τὸν κοινὸν ἁπάντων Σωτῆρα παρὰ μὲν ἐκείνων ἐλαυνόμενον, παρὰ δὲ τῶν ἐθνῶν ὑποδεχόμενον, θαυμάζῃς καὶ διαπορῇς, ἄνωθεν αὐτῶν τὴν ἀγνωμοσύνην καταμαθὼν, καὶ ὡς ἔθος αὐτοῖς τοὺς εὐεργέτας ἐλαύνειν· ἵνα μὴ νομίσῃς ὠμότητος εἶναι τοῦ προφήτου τὴν εὐχὴν, καὶ τὴν τῆς τιμωρίας παράτασιν, ἀλλὰ ζήλου θείου καὶ κηδεμονίας· ἵνα μάθῃς ὅτι ἐν τοῖς μεγίστοις κατορθώμασι καὶ σωφρονισμοῦ ἡμῶν ἡ φύσις δεῖται·","english":"And why do I speak of the prophet? I bring you the master of the prophet himself, our common God and Lord, Christ. For he himself says, \"You saw me hungry and fed me.\" But if some disbelieve this saying and neglect kindness, they will learn this then through punishment and retribution. For just as they have neglected Christ himself, so they will go to unbearable punishment. Thus those who feed the poor, as if they have served Christ himself, are led into the kingdom of heaven. 10. Perhaps I have said more than necessary. Would that it were possible to spend all my days on discourses about almsgiving. But if these things seem sufficient to you, let me summarize them all. I said why the prophet was sent to the widow: so that you may not bless poverty, so that you may not admire wealth, so that you may not think the prosperous man is enviable, so that you may not consider the man living in poverty wretched and pitiable, so that you may learn Jewish wickedness. For it is God's custom, when he is about to punish, to defend himself to us through the very facts: so that later, when you see the common Savior of all driven away by them and received by the Gentiles, you may not be amazed and perplexed, having learned from above their ingratitude, and that it is their custom to drive away benefactors; so that you may not think the prophet's prayer and the prolongation of punishment are due to cruelty, but to divine zeal and care; so that you may learn that even in the greatest achievements, our nature needs correction.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Πεινῶντά με εἴδετε, καὶ ἐθρέψατε","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom attributes to Christ a saying not found verbatim in the canonical Gospels; it likely paraphrases Matthew 25:35 or reflects a common patristic expansion of the theme of charity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"glossary","lemma":"τὸν τοῦ προφήτου Δεσπότην","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'master of the prophet' refers to Christ as the Lord of Elijah, emphasizing typological exegesis where Elijah prefigures Christ.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"background","lemma":"τὴν Ἰουδαϊκὴν πονηρίαν","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom's reference to 'Jewish wickedness' reflects the anti-Jewish rhetoric common in his Antioch homilies, not historical description but a rhetorical foil to praise Christian charity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"ιʹ. Τάχα πλείω τοῦ δέοντος","severity":"info","text":"The numeral ιʹ (10) marks a section break; Chrysostom signals a summary of preceding arguments, typical of homiletic recapitulation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"ἵνα μὴ μακαρίζῃς πενίαν, ἵνα μὴ θαυμάζῃς πλοῦτον","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom lists didactic purposes for the Elijah-and-widow narrative, correcting false attitudes toward poverty and wealth.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"background","lemma":"τῆς τιμωρίας παράτασιν","severity":"info","text":"The 'prolongation of punishment' alludes to the three-and-a-half-year drought in 1 Kings 17, interpreted by Chrysostom as divine pedagogy, not cruelty.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Greek text is clear; no significant ambiguities in this passage."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":18,"ref":"p18","source":"ἵνα μὴ παρακαλούμενος εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν τοῦ προφήτου ζῆλον, ἀδύνατον εἶναι νομίσῃς τὴν μίμησιν. Εἶπον περὶ τῆς χήρας, πῶς ἐν τοσαύτῃ στενοχωρίᾳ οὖσα, τοῦ λιμοῦ καταναγκάζοντος, οὐδὲ ῥῆμα πικρὸν πρὸς τὸν προφήτην ἐξέβαλε, καίτοι γε εἰκὸς ἦν· καὶ ἔδειξα καὶ τοῦτο ἐκ τῶν Ἰουδαϊκῶν φρονημάτων· ἀλλ' οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον ἔπαθεν ἐκείνη, ἀλλὰ μετὰ πάσης αὐτὸν ἐδέξατο φιλοφροσύνης, καὶ τὴν πενίαν ἅπασαν εἰς τὴν ἐκείνου τιμὴν ἐκένωσε, καὶ Σιδωνία οὖσα καὶ ἀλλόφυλος, καὶ οὔτε τῶν προφητῶν φιλοσοφούντων περὶ ἐλεημοσύνης ἤκουσεν, οὔτε τοῦ Χριστοῦ λέγοντος, Πεινῶντά με εἴδετε, καὶ ἐθρέψατε. Τίς οὖν ἡμῖν ἔσται συγγνώμη, εἰ μετὰ τοιαύτας παραινέσεις, εἰ μετὰ τοιούτων ἐπάθλων ὑπόσχεσιν, εἰ μετὰ τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν, μὴ φθάσαιμεν πρὸς τὸ αὐτὸ τῇ χήρᾳ τῆς φιλοφροσύνης μέτρον; Ἐκείνη μὲν γὰρ καὶ Σιδωνία ἦν, καὶ ἀλλόφυλος, καὶ γυνὴ\n\nχήρα, καὶ παίδων ἐπεμελεῖτο πολλῶν, καὶ λιμὸν ἐπικίνδυνον ἑώρα καὶ θάνατον προσδοκώμενον, καὶ ἄνθρωπον ἀγνῶτα ὑποδέχεσθαι ἔμελλε καὶ τὸν ἐπαγαγόντα τὸν λιμὸν, καὶ οὐδὲ οὕτως ἐφείσατο τῆς δρακός· ἡμεῖς δὲ καὶ προφητείας μετεσχηκότες, καὶ θεϊκῶν ἀπολαύοντες διδαγμάτων, καὶ πολλὰ περὶ τῶν μελλόντων φιλοσοφεῖν ἔχοντες, καὶ οὐδὲ λιμὸν ὁρῶντες ἐπικείμενον, καὶ πολὺ πλείονα κεκτημένοι τῆς γυναικὸς, ποίαν δυνησόμεθα ἀπολογίαν προβαλέσθαι φειδόμενοι τῶν ὄντων, καὶ τῆς ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίας ἀφειδοῦντες;","english":"so that you may not think, when called to the same zeal as the prophet, that imitation is impossible. I spoke about the widow, how, being in such great straits, with famine pressing hard, she did not utter a single bitter word against the prophet, though it would have been natural; and I showed this too from Jewish sensibilities. But she suffered nothing of the kind; rather, she received him with all kindness, and emptied her entire poverty in his honor, though she was a Sidonian and a foreigner, and had neither heard the prophets philosophizing about almsgiving, nor Christ saying, \"You saw me hungry and fed me.\" What excuse then will we have, if after such exhortations, after the promise of such rewards, after the promise of the kingdom of heaven, we do not attain the same measure of kindness as the widow? For she was a Sidonian and a foreigner, and a woman, a widow, and she was caring for many children, and she saw a dangerous famine and expected death, and she was about to receive an unknown man, the very one who brought the famine, and yet not even then did she spare her handful. But we, who have partaken of prophecies, who enjoy divine teachings, who have much to philosophize about the future, who see no famine pressing upon us, and who possess far more than the woman, what defense will we be able to put forward if we spare our possessions and are careless of our own salvation?","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"background","lemma":"Σιδωνία","severity":"info","text":"Sidon was a Phoenician city outside Israel; calling the widow a Sidonian and a foreigner (ἀλλόφυλος) underscores that she lacked the religious advantages of Chrysostom's audience.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Πεινῶντά με εἴδετε, καὶ ἐθρέψατε","severity":"info","text":"This saying is not a direct biblical quotation but a paraphrase of Christ's words, likely alluding to Matthew 25:35 or a similar tradition about feeding the hungry as feeding Christ.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"glossary","lemma":"φιλοφροσύνη","severity":"info","text":"φιλοφροσύνη denotes kindness, friendliness, or hospitality; here it is the virtue the widow exemplifies and the audience is urged to imitate.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The passage contrasts the widow's actions (despite her disadvantages) with the audience's inaction (despite their advantages), using a series of μὲν…δὲ clauses to heighten the rhetorical force.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Chrysostom's appeal to the widow's example as a model for Christian charity was influential in later Byzantine homiletics and monastic literature on almsgiving.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'ἐκ τῶν Ἰουδαϊκῶν φρονημάτων' could mean 'from Jewish sensibilities' (i.e., natural human reactions) or 'from Jewish ways of thinking' (i.e., a cultural stereotype); the translation takes the former."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":19,"ref":"p19","source":"Ὅπως ἂν οὖν τὰ χαλεπὰ ἐκεῖνα κολαστήρια ἐκφύγωμεν, πᾶσαν εὐσπλαγχνίαν εἰς τοὺς πένητας ἐπιδειξώμεθα, ἵνα καὶ ἡμεῖς τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν καταξιωθῶμεν, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, μεθ' οὗ δόξα τῷ Πατρὶ, σὺν τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.","english":"Therefore, in order that we may escape those terrible punishments, let us show every compassion to the poor, so that we too may be deemed worthy of the future blessings, by the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom glory is to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"τὰ χαλεπὰ ἐκεῖνα κολαστήρια","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'those terrible punishments' likely refers to eschatological consequences, a common theme in Chrysostom's exhortations to almsgiving.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"glossary","lemma":"εὐσπλαγχνίαν","severity":"info","text":"The term 'εὐσπλαγχνίαν' (compassion) is a key virtue in Chrysostom's moral teaching, often linked to mercy toward the poor.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"glossary","lemma":"φιλανθρωπίᾳ","severity":"info","text":"'Φιλανθρωπίᾳ' (love for humanity) is a standard attribute of God in Chrysostom, here applied to Christ, emphasizing divine benevolence.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"This passage concludes the homily with a doxology and a call to action, typical of Chrysostom's perorations, linking moral exhortation to liturgical closure.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The doxology 'μεθ' οὗ δόξα τῷ Πατρὶ, σὺν τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι' reflects standard Trinitarian formula in late antique Greek Christianity, affirming Nicene orthodoxy.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'τὰ χαλεπὰ ἐκεῖνα κολαστήρια' could refer to specific punishments in the afterlife or to temporal hardships; the eschatological reading is preferred given Chrysostom's context."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]}]}