Matthew 4:12–16
He did not withdraw through cowardice, but by what he did he teaches us to withdraw from persecutors. He withdraws from Judea to the nations, showing that he stands away from the Jews not only when they insult God himself, but also when they sin against the holy prophets.
Christ our Lord is a great light, and so is the brightness of the gospel proclamation — not the law, which had been compared to a lamp. That is why a lamp always burned in the tent: the law’s gleam was short, able to send its own light only as far as the Jewish boundaries. So the gentiles were in darkness, as those who did not even have lamp-light.
Greek
Οὐχ ὑπήκουσεν ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ διαβόλου ὥστε ποιῆσαι τοὺς λίθους ἄρτους, διότι οὐ πρὸς ὠφέλειαν αὐτοῦ ἦν· οὐ γὰρ ἵνα πιστεύσῃ καὶ γένηται ὡς πρότερον ἦν ἄγγελος τοῦτο 3 ᾐτεῖτο· ἀμετανόητος γάρ, ἀλλ' ἵνα εἰς κενοδοξίαν ἑλκύσῃ τὸν Χριστόν. ὅπερ εἰδὼς ὁ σωτὴρ οὐχ ὑπήκουσεν αὐτοῦ.
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.