Homily II on the Holy Pascha · §3 · Hesychius of Jerusalem

The Angel and the Prophets

'…the Nazarene, who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said (Mark 16:6; Matthew 28:6). That is, heaven is his place; send the myrrh there. He has risen; it was not we who raised him. For your sake we rolled away the stone, for before we came down the tomb had already been emptied. He has risen, as he himself said.'

What the angel said not even a prophet could explain. Hosea tells the time of the resurrection; Isaiah knows it, but how it will be he does not understand. For these are the words of Hosea's prophecy: 'Come, let us go and return to the Lord our God, for he has struck us, and he will heal us; he will strike, and he will bind us up after two days; on the third day we shall rise and live before him' (Hosea 6:1–2). Hear again what Isaiah sounded on the trumpet: 'Lebanon has been put to shame; Sharon has become marshland…' (Isaiah 33:9)

Greek

τὸν Να ζαρηνὸν τὸν ἐσταυρωμένον· οὐκ ἔστιν ὧδε· ἠγέρθη γὰρ καθὼς εἶπεν. Τουτέστιν οὐρανὸς αὐτῷ τόπος, ἐκεῖ τὰ μύρα πέμψατε. Ἠγέρθη, οὐχ ἡμεῖς αὐτὸν ἠγείραμεν. Ὑμῶν ἕνεκα τὸν λίθον ἐκυ λίσαμεν· πρὶν γὰρ ἡμᾶς καταβῆναι, ὁ τάφος ἐκεκέ νωτο. Ἠγέρθη, καθὼς εἶπεν αὐτός.» 4 Ὃ ἄγγελος εἶπεν, οὐ χωρεῖ οὐδὲ προφήτης ἑρμηνεῦσαι· Ὡσηὲ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ἀναστάσεως λέγει, Ἠσαΐας οἶδεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ πῶς οὐκ ἐπίσταται. Ταῦτα μὲν γὰρ Ὡσηὲ προφητείας τὰ ῥή ματα· «Πορευσώμεθα καὶ ἐπιστρέψωμεν πρὸς κύριον τὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν, ὅτι αὐτὸς» πέπαικεν «καὶ ἰάσεται ἡμᾶς· πατάξει καὶ μο τώσει ἡμᾶς μετὰ δύο ἡμέρας· ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ, ἀναστησό μεθα καὶ ζησόμεθα ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ.» Ἄκουε πάλιν ποῖα Ἠσαΐας ἐσάλπισεν· «Ἠισχύνθη ὁ Λίβανος, ἕλη ἐγένετο ὁ Σαρών.

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About this text

Hesychius of Jerusalem’s second homily on the holy Pascha, on the empty tomb and the risen Christ, in a fresh English translation from the Greek.

Hesychius of Jerusalem (fl. c. 412–450) preached this second homily on the holy Pascha. It is translated whole, from the opening to the closing doxology.

A sacred and royal trumpet, which Bethlehem filled and Zion tempered in fire, gathers the hearers. The tomb is a bridal chamber where the bridegroom slept for three days and from which the bride was raised incorrupt. The soldiers guard him as one dead, and the gatekeepers of Hades see him as God and cower.

He is the same one, not one and another. The Word made flesh is one, and it is not right for the Word to be separated from the flesh. The angels tell the women that the Nazarene who was crucified is not here, for he has risen. Hosea foretells the third day, and Isaiah's "Now I will arise" is the Lord's own word about his rising. The homily ends with glory to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

A fresh English translation made from the Greek text printed in PG 93.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 93 (Greek)

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