Matthew 25:6–9
Souls that neglect virtue wither and are as if quenched, and they go into madness, having thought that at the Savior’s second presence they can be saved without the working of the virtues. That is why they are also rejected by the prudent who say to them, “Perhaps it will not suffice for us and for you.” For this indicates here that someone can scarcely ever be saved through his own virtue, and certainly not through that of others; for it is foolish that someone who does not work should have received the wage of the working.
Greek
Ἐπείπερ καταισχυνθέντων τῶν Σαδδουκαίων καὶ ἀποχωρησάντων ἐπῃνεῖτο ὁ κύριος, ἐπὶ τούτῳ διαφθονούμενοι τούτοις οἱ Φαρισαῖοι 31 ἦλθον εἰς μέσον καὶ νομομαθής τις ἄγαν παρ' αὐτοῖς νομιζόμενος ἐρωτᾷ ποία ἐντολὴ μεγάλη ἐν τῷ νόμῳ, οἰηθεὶς ὅτι μέλλει μὲν τὰ Μω σέως παραγράφεσθαι, παρατιθέναι δὲ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ διδασκαλίαν ἢ <εἰπεῖν> ὅτι ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου καὶ ἐμέ, παραζευγνὺς ἑαυτοῦ τὴν δόξαν τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ οὕτως εὑρίσκει τόπον τοῦ ἐμβαλεῖν εἰς κίνδυνον ὡς θεοποιοῦντα ἑαυτὸν ἤ, εἰ τοῦτο παρασιωπήσει, λέγειν· οὐκοῦν οὐ προσδέχομαί σε ὡς θεόν. ὁ δὲ κύριος οὐδὲν καινὸν εἰπὼν ἀλλὰ τὰ τοῦ νόμου καὶ ταύτῃ ἐπιστομίσας τοὺς Φαρισαίους ἐρωτᾷ καὶ αὐτὸς αὐτοὺς τίνος υἱὸν νομίζουσιν τὸν Χριστόν.
About this text
Catena fragments on Matthew (CPG 5206). Contents follow Matthew chapter and verse. Edition fragment numbers stay in About this text and under each passage.
English follows the named copy-text (Aegean/khazarzar Migne PG 72 extract). Other prints were checked as noted; no silent merge of recensions.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Migne PG 72 Commentarii in Matthaeum (Aegean Digital Patrologia / khazarzar) (Greek · CPG 5206 catena fragments (290 parsed heads))
- Checked print matia.gr mirror of same Aegean extract (Greek · Byte-identical PDF; integrity check only)
- Checked print Internet Archive PG 72 volume OCR (bim … 1859_72) (Greek (OCR damaged) · Locus confirmation only; not used as reading text)
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.