On James, the Brother of the Lord, and David · §1 · Hesychius of Jerusalem

Bethlehem and Zion compared

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Hesychius, priest of Jerusalem, opens his homily on James the brother of the Lord and David the ancestor of God by contrasting Bethlehem, where Christ was born, with Zion, where the Church now receives him.

If our Savior had not humbled himself and become obedient to the point of death (Philippians 2:8), servants would never have been called kinsmen, nor would the clay ever have been called the father of the potter.

In Zion I greet Bethlehem as though she were present; in the daughter I see the mother.

In you one torch-bearing star was kindled, but in her many were kindled. That star guided the Magi, but she gave torchlight to Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from all the nations with light like lightning.

You draw milk from virgin breasts, but she draws down the Spirit from the Father's bosom.

Greek

Ἀνεγνώσθη Ἡσυχίου, πρεσβυτέρου Ἱεροσολύμων, εἰς Ἰάκωβον, τὸν

ἀδελφὸν τοῦ κυρίου, καὶ ∆αυὶδ τὸν θεοπάτορα.

1 Εἰ μὴ «ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν γενόμενος» ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν «ὑπήκοος μέχρι

θανάτου», οὐκ ἂν οἰκέται συγγενεῖς ἐχρημάτιζον, οὐκ ἂν ὁ πηλὸς πατὴρ τοῦ

κεραμέως ἐλέγετο. Ἐν τῇ Σιὼν τὴν Βηθλεὲμ ὡς παροῦσαν ἀσπάζομαι, ἐν τῇ θυγατρὶ

τὴν μητέρα βλέπω. Ἐν σοὶ δᾳδοῦχος ἀστὴρ εἷς ἀνήφθη, ἐν ταύτῃ δὲ πολλοί. Ἐκεῖνος

τοὺς Μάγους ὡδήγησεν, αὕτη Πάρθους καὶ Μήδους καὶ Ἐλαμίτας καὶ τοὺς ἐξ ἐθνῶν

πάντων τῷ φωτὶ τῆς ἀστραπῆς ἐδᾳδούχησε. Σὺ γάλα ἕλκεις ἐκ μασθῶν παρθενικῶν,

αὕτη πνεῦ-μα ἐκ κόλπων κατάγει πατρικῶν.

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About this text

A short passage from Hesychius comparing Bethlehem with Zion, then praising James, the Lord's brother, for his ruling at the council in Jerusalem.

Hesychius of Jerusalem (fl. c. 412–450), a priest of the Church of Jerusalem, wrote this homily in Greek for a congregation in Jerusalem in the early fifth century.

The surviving text contrasts Bethlehem and Zion and praises James. Hesychius begins by reflecting that if Christ had not humbled himself and become obedient to death, servants would not have been called kinsmen, nor would the clay have been called father of the potter. He then develops a sustained comparison between Bethlehem, where Christ was born, and Zion, where the Church now receives him, showing how the mysteries of the incarnation are fulfilled in the Church.

The homily turns to praise James, the brother of the Lord, as commander-in-chief of the new Jerusalem, leader of the priests, and chief of the apostles, whose brief judgment at the apostolic council settled the question of Gentile inclusion. A reader will meet Peter, mentioned as a public speaker, and Thomas, to whom Zion bared Christ's side when he wished to touch it. The homily quotes or alludes to Philippians 2:8 and Acts 15:19.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 93 (Greek)

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