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Greek · Homilies ·

In ascensionem Sermo 5

John Chrysostom · khazarzar

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machine-draft · no human review 3 passages · 588 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

This homily, the fifth in a series on the Ascension, is attributed to John Chrysostom and was likely delivered in Antioch between 386 and 397 CE. It interprets Christ's Ascension as a fulfillment of Old Testament typology, particularly Psalm 24:7-10 (LXX), and emphasizes Christ's continuous divine presence despite his bodily departure. The sermon was later incorporated into Byzantine liturgical readings for the Feast of the Ascension, influencing subsequent homiletic tradition. The Greek text survives in the manuscript tradition of Chrysostom's festal sermons, though no single authoritative codex is identified for this edition, and the source edition (khazarzar) may contain modern editorial emendations.

This homily exemplifies Chrysostom's exegetical method, using typology to link the Ascension with Old Testament prophecy, and his pastoral concern to reassure his congregation of Christ's ongoing presence. It also reflects the development of the liturgical celebration of the Ascension in the late fourth century and its integration into Byzantine worship, influencing later preachers and theologians.

Historical context

John Chrysostom preached this homily in Antioch, likely between 386 and 397 CE, during the festal season of the Ascension. Antioch was a major center of early Christianity, and Chrysostom served as a presbyter there before becoming bishop of Constantinople. The homily belongs to the genre of festal sermons, which were delivered on major liturgical feasts and often drew on typological exegesis to connect Old Testament passages with New Testament events. The sermon's incorporation into Byzantine liturgical readings for the Feast of the Ascension indicates its enduring influence. The text survives in the manuscript tradition of Chrysostom's works, but the lack of a critical apparatus in the source edition means textual variants are not systematically recorded, and the edition may include modern emendations.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

18 commentary units 4 scripture3 structure3 term3 caution2 background2 reception1 sense 1 derived notes 6 open questions 3 narrative
What the kinds mean

Pipeline notes

  • coverageNo 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.
  • limitThe 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.
  • registerRegister: homily in ancient Greek; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 3 narrative.
  • sourceSource edition: khazarzar — Migne PG text (public domain); khazarzar host and the digitising project state no licence for this layer

Term index

CopticRenderingCountFirst
no glossary terms recorded
khazarzar-john-chrysostom-in-ascensionem-sermo-5:1 · narrativehigh
Source
ΕΙΣ ΤΗΝ ΑΝΑΛΗΨΙΝ Λόγος εʹ. Ἐπέστη τῆς Δεσποτικῆς ἀναλήψεως ἡ ἡμέρα· καὶ προσοδοιπορησάντων πολλῶν ὃν καὶ τὴν ἡμετέραν βραχύτητα πρὸς λόγους ὁ πατὴρ προετρέψατο. Καὶ δίκαιον ἡμῖν κατεφαίνετο, κάλυμμα τῆς βραχυλογίας τὴν σιωπὴν ἐπιφέρεσθαι, καὶ κρύπτειν τῆς ἀπαιδευσίας τὸ μέγεθος· ἐπειδὴ δὲ μετὰ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τῶν ἄνω δυνάμεων πρὸς λόγους τὸ πλῆθος προτρέπετε, καὶ λαλεῖν μετ' αὐτῶν ἐγκελεύετε ἅπερ πάλαι καὶ Δαυῒδ περὶ τῆς ἀναλήψεως τῆς Δεσποτικῆς ἀνεβόησεν· Ἄρατε πύλας, οἱ ἄρχοντες, ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐπάρθητε, πύλαι αἰώνιοι, καὶ εἰσελεύσεται ὁ Βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης· δεῦρο, σήμερον τὰ πρόσφορα τῆς ἡμέρας καὶ ἡμεῖς κελαδήσωμεν. Σήμερον γὰρ ὁ Δεσπότης ἡμῶν Χριστὸς πρὸς τὸν πατρῷον θρόνον ἀνέρχεται· σήμερον ὁ σωματωθεὶς τῷ Πατρὶ συγκαθέζεται, οὔτε πρότερον χωρισθεὶς, οὔτε νῦν ἐν πρώτοις αὐτῷ συγκαθήμενος· ἀεὶ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς κόλποις τοῦ Πατρὸς ἀναπαύεται· μόνος τὸν Πατέρα χωρῶν, καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ Πατρὸς μόνος χωρούμενος· Ἐγὼ γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί· καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἐν τῇ γῇ. Οὔτε δὲ κατελθὼν ὡς οὐδὲν τὸν πατρῷον κόλπον ἐκένωσεν· οὔτε εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνελθὼν, ἔρημον τὴν γῆν τῆς αὑτοῦ παρουσίας κατέλειπεν· ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συναναστρεφόμενος, τῷ Πατρὶ συνεκάθητο, καὶ τῷ Πατρὶ συγκαθήμενος, ὑπάρχει τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀχώριστος.
English
The day of the Lord’s Ascension has come; and after many had journeyed here, the father also urged our own insignificance to speak. And it seemed just to us to bring silence as a veil for our brevity of speech, and to conceal the magnitude of our lack of learning; but since, together with the father and the powers above, you urge the congregation to listen to words, and you bid us to speak with them what David long ago proclaimed concerning the Lord’s Ascension: “Lift up your gates, O rulers, and be lifted up, O eternal gates, and the King of glory shall enter”; come, today let us also sing what is fitting for the day. For today our Lord Christ ascends to the paternal throne; today He who was embodied sits together with the Father, neither having been separated before, nor now sitting with Him for the first time; for He always reposes in the bosom of the Father; alone containing the Father, and alone contained by the Father; for “I,” He says, “am in the Father, and the Father is in Me”; and the Word is in the Father, and the Word is on earth. Neither did He, when He came down, empty the paternal bosom as if it were nothing; nor, when He ascended into the heavens, did He leave the earth bereft of His presence; but even while associating with men, He sat together with the Father, and while sitting together with the Father, He is inseparable from men.
khazarzar-john-chrysostom-in-ascensionem-sermo-5:2 · narrativehigh
Source
Ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἐγὼ, φησὶ, μεθ' ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος. Σήμερον ὁ Δεσπότης Χριστὸς ἐκ τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀναφέρεται, οὐ κατὰ τὸν Ἐνὼχ μεθιστάμενος, οὐ κατὰ τὸν Ἠλίαν ἅρματι πυρὸς πρὸς οὐρανὸν ἀνερχόμενος· ἀλλ' ἀναλαμβάνεται, ἵνα πέμψῃ τοῖς μαθηταῖς τὴν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος δύναμιν. Ταύτης τῆς ἀναλήψεως τὴν χαρὰν πρὸ πολλῶν γενεῶν Δαυῒδ θεασάμενος, προανεφώνησε λέγων· Ἀνέβη ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ, ὁ τὸν Ἀδὰμ διαπλάσας ἐκ κόνεως, ὁ τὸν Ἄβελ δικαιώσας, καὶ τὸν Ἐνὼχ μεταθέμενος. Ἀνέβη ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ, ὁ τὸν Νῶε κυβερνήσας, καὶ πιστὸν τὸν Ἀβραὰμ ἐκλεξάμενος. Ἀνέβη ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ, ὁ τὸν Ἰσαὰκ ἄθυτον θυσίαν δεξάμενος, καὶ τὸν Ἰακὼβ πληρώσας εὐλογιῶν. Ἀνέβη ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ, ὁ τὸν Ἰωσὴφ ὁδηγήσας πλανώμενον, καὶ τὴν ὑπομονὴν τοῦ Ἰὼβ προσδεξάμενος, Ἀνέβη ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ, ὁ δοξάσας τὸν Μωϋσῆν, καὶ τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην τῷ Ἀαρῶνι χαρισάμενος. Ἀνέβη ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ, ὁ τὸν Ἰησοῦν τὸν Ναυῆ ἐνισχύσας, καὶ τὸν προφήτην τῷ Σαμουὴλ δωρησάμενος. Ἀνέβη ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ, ὁ τὸν Δαυῒδ δυναμώσας, καὶ τὸν Σολομῶντα σοφίσας. Ἀνέβη ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ, ὁ τοὺς προφήτας ἐμπνεύσας, καὶ τοῖς ἀποστόλοις τὰς τῶν ἰαμάτων δωρεὰς χαρισάμενος. Ἀνέβη ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ, ὁ ἄνω ἀμήτωρ, καὶ κάτω ἀπάτωρ. Ἀνέβη ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ, τὸ τοῦ Πατρὸς προαιώνιον γέννημα, καὶ τῆς Παρθένου μητρὸς τὸ ἀφύτευτον βλάστημα. Ἀνέβη ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ, ὁ τῆς ζωῆς χορηγὸς, καὶ τῶν παραδόξων διανομεύς.
English
For behold, He says, I am with you all the days until the end of the age. Today the Lord Christ is borne up from among men into the heavens, not being translated like Enoch, nor ascending to heaven on a fiery chariot like Elijah; but He is taken up, that He might send to the disciples the power of the Holy Spirit. David, beholding the joy of this Ascension many generations before, proclaimed beforehand, saying: God has ascended with a cry of jubilation, He who formed Adam from dust, who justified Abel, and translated Enoch. God has ascended with a cry of jubilation, He who guided Noah, and chose faithful Abraham. God has ascended with a cry of jubilation, He who accepted Isaac as an unburnt sacrifice, and filled Jacob with blessings. God has ascended with a cry of jubilation, He who led the wandering Joseph, and received the patience of Job. God has ascended with a cry of jubilation, He who glorified Moses, and bestowed the high priesthood upon Aaron. God has ascended with a cry of jubilation, He who strengthened Joshua the son of Nun, and granted the prophet Samuel. God has ascended with a cry of jubilation, He who empowered David, and made Solomon wise. God has ascended with a cry of jubilation, He who inspired the prophets, and granted to the apostles the gifts of healings. God has ascended with a cry of jubilation, He who is without mother above, and without father below. God has ascended with a cry of jubilation, the pre-eternal offspring of the Father, and the unplanted shoot of the Virgin Mother. God has ascended with a cry of jubilation, the giver of life, and the distributor of wonders.
khazarzar-john-chrysostom-in-ascensionem-sermo-5:3 · narrativehigh
Source
Ἀνέβη ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ, ὁ τῷ θανάτῳ θανατώσας τὸν θάνατον, καὶ τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων ζωὴν χαρισάμενος. Ἀνέβη ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ, Κύριος ἐν φωνῇ σάλπιγγος. Αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.
English
God has gone up with a shout, He who by death put death to death, and bestowed life upon the human race. God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. To Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Citation. Tergwame, “In ascensionem Sermo 5”, khazarzar-john-chrysostom-in-ascensionem-sermo-5:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/khazarzar-john-chrysostom-in-ascensionem-sermo-5#s1
Colophon. Source: khazarzar · licence: Migne PG text (public domain); khazarzar host and the digitising project state no licence for this layer · model: deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor · provider: Relace · cost: $0.0020 · generated 2026-11-15.