Matthew 9:11–13
Yet the old law forbade the holy to glue themselves to the profane, lest their mind slip — not the opposite: if a profane person runs toward a holy one, one must not turn him away, according to “You shall not abhor an Edomite or an Egyptian.”
But of Christ, who is above every wickedness and passion, one must think no such thing. He wants faith that justifies the human being, not the law in letters that commands sacrifices through bloods — which he makes clear by adding also “knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings,” for “mercy” is the gospel word. So we are justified from faith freely, without works of law. And he calls not those who are near, but those who have stood far off.
Greek
Ὁ ἀκροατὴς νόμου τοῦ πνευματικῶς νοουμένου οὐ μὴν καὶ ποιητὴς οἴκῳ ἀπεικάζεται ἐπὶ τῆς ψάμμου οἰκοδομηθέντι, ὃς ἐν καιρῷ πειρασμοῦ καταπίπτει καὶ χώννυται τῶν πνευμάτων τῆς πονηρίας ἐπιπνευσάντων, τῶν ταραττομένων ὑδάτων ἕως ψυχῆς εἰσελθόντων καὶ τοῦ θολεροῦ χειμάρρου τῆς ἀνομίας αὐτῶν ἐκταράξαντος καὶ τὸν περὶ τῶν ἐσχάτων ἐπισείσαντος κίνδυνον. καλῶς δὲ ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ φρονίμου ὁμοιώσω αὐτὸν εἶπεν, ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ μωροῦ ὁμοιωθήσεται· ὁ μὲν γὰρ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐρ γάτης πάντως "ἰσχύει ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντι" αὐτὸν Χριστῷ, παρ' οὗ πᾶν ἀνθρώποις τὸ κατορθούμενον, παρ' οὗ σοφία καὶ σύνεσις καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐξομοίωσις. ὁ δὲ φαῦλος οὐχὶ θεὸν ἔχει τῆς ἑαυτοῦ κακίας καὶ ἀφροσύνης αἴτιον, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ὁμοιοῦται τῷ ἄφρονι τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν ἀποστὰς καὶ ἐν τῷ παρὰ φύσιν γενόμενος.
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.