9. Abraham suffered the same because of his legitimate son. Let no one say that he did not grieve and did not suffer like a father, and let no one deprive him of the highest praise, wishing to show his wisdom beyond measure. We are embarrassed and grieved, and often weep, when we see that people are being led to death in the square, who have been convicted of shameful deeds and have led such a life for a long time, and moreover, strangers and never seen by us; How could he not feel human sorrow, who was commanded to sacrifice this son, still young, with his own hands and offering a burnt offering? What can be more ridiculous than those who object to this? If he had been a stone, or iron, or adamant, then could he not be crushed and moved by the beauty of his son (who was in the prime of life), the reasonableness of his speech, and the piety of his soul? He asked his father, "Behold the fire and the wood, where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" (Gen. 22:7) and heard that "God will provide for Himself a lamb for a burnt offering, my son" (Gen. 22:8), and asked nothing more; he saw that his father bound him, and did not resist; he was laid on the wood, and did not jump off; saw the knife being brought on it, and was not embarrassed! What can be more pious than this soul? Who else would dare to say that Abraham did not suffer from all this in the least? If he were to sacrifice the enemy and the enemy, if he were a beast, and then could he do it without sorrow? No, no; do not ascribe such cruelty to the righteous man: he lamented and lamented. "God," he said, "will provide for Himself a lamb for a burnt offering, my son." Do you see what pity there is in these words? However, he restrained and suppressed sorrow, and did everything with such readiness as people would do if they did not meet with anything that would restrain them. And so, having sacrificed his son (for he sacrificed him in his intention), he returns him to his mother healthy and unharmed; and she, having accepted her son and not having had time to rejoice in him enough, leaves her life. And this grieved Abraham not a little. Although she lived with him for a long time, this did not help him to endure his misfortune more easily, on the contrary, it caused him all the more despondency; for we are especially attached to those who have lived with us for a long time, and have given us many proofs of their friendship and virtue. And that this is really so, the patriarch himself proved by his lamentation and weeping for Sarah. And what shall we say of his cares concerning his son, his wife, and his (half) brothers, and all the rest? Anyone who wishes to delve into the details of this will see that the life of the righteous man was much more miserable and filled with greater cares than is now depicted. The Scriptures have spoken only of the most important things, and all the rest that usually happens every day in a house where there are many servants, and husband, and wife, and children, and the care of many matters, are left to our consideration. Thus, you will say; but in each of these sorrows, the greatest joy brought Abraham that he endured all this for God. The same can be a consolation to you; the temptation has come upon you, not by any other allowance, but by God's. If the evil demons, without His permission, once dared to attack swine, how much more did they dare to attack your precious soul (Matthew 8:30ff.). Therefore, just as Abraham was greatly rewarded by the fact that he endured everything with courage and gratitude, so will the reward bring you also; if only you do not lose heart and do not murmur, but thank the humane God for everything. In the same way, Blessed Job endured all that he endured, by God's permission; but it was not only that he endured that brought him crowns, but also that he bravely withstood all calamities; and we are all amazed at him, not because the devil deprived him of everything, but because Job "sinned in all these things, neither did he say anything foolish about God" (Job 1:22).

10. Remembering Job, I wanted to set forth in my discourse both his long-term sorrows and the exceedience of his sufferings; but, in order not to make the speech too long, I pass on to Isaac. And you, if you want to know exactly what happened to Job, take his book in your hands and delve into the abyss of his misfortunes: and in them you will find great consolation in your own. Although this righteous man is much better than us, he fought with much greater strength; for the evil one rose up against him with special power. However, podvigs are determined not by the measure of temptations, but by the significance of deeds. Thus, although your present podvig is less, it cannot in the least diminish your crowns. In the same way, the one who brought two talents brought no less than the one who presented five talents. Why? Because, although the profit was not the same, yet the diligence was the same, wherefore both received the same honor, when they heard: "Enter into the joy of thy master" (Matt. 25:21). What about Isaac? He was not sent on a long journey, like his father, nor was he compelled to leave his land like that; However, he also endured the most important of evils - the fear of childlessness. When he put an end to this evil by prayer, another fear came upon him, greater than the first; for it is not all the same whether one fears for childlessness, or for the very root of childbirth; his wife was so tormented by childbirth that for her life was more bitter than any death. About this, listen to how she herself says: "If it be so, why should I do this" (Gen. 25:22)? Isaac also experienced hunger; and although he did not go to Egypt, he also experienced what his father almost suffered there, being in danger for his wife. Moreover, his father was respected by all the neighbors, but he was persecuted as an enemy and an enemy, and did not allow him to enjoy the fruits of his own labors; having greatly constrained him, they themselves made use of his labors. When he made friends for himself and saw his children at full age, when he hoped to find great consolation in them and to have good helpers in old age, then it was he who fell into extreme despondency. First, the eldest son took a foreign wife, contrary to his father's wishes, and brought discord and quarrel into the house, and thereby greatly saddened him. The filial wives caused Isaac and Rebekah many troubles, which the Scriptures do not enumerate, but pointed them out in one word, saying that "they were a burden to Isaac and Rebekah" (Gen. 26:35), leaving it to those who have houses and children already married. Such people know better than anyone how much evil happens when mother-in-law and daughter-in-law quarrel with each other, and especially when both live in the same house. It was a constant evil. In addition, blindness of the eyes has occurred: and how great this misfortune is, only those who suffer from it themselves know. Then there followed a misunderstanding in the blessing of his son, by which Isaac was so struck in his soul that he cried out more sorrowfully than the victim of the substitution himself, and justified himself before him and said that he had done this injustice not voluntarily, but having been deceived. And their subsequent events resembled a theatrical tragedy and represented a drama from the life of the Thebes youths[2]. And here the elder brother, in spite of his father's old age and blindness, expelled the younger from the house, and if he did not commit murder, as (the son of Oedipus), then the wisdom of his mother prevented it. Esau also threatened Jacob with murder and expected only the death of his father; but the mother, having learned of this and told the father, saved the younger one from the hands of the elder, and (the parents) had to force to flee the one who was obedient and respectful to them, and the evil one and the one who made life intolerable for them (this is said by Rebekah herself) were constantly kept with them. And so, when he departed, who always lived at home ("became a meek man," it is said of Jacob, "living in tents" (Gen. 25:27)) and was mostly with his mother, how long must Rebekah grieve and weep, always remembering her son and looking at her husband, who was no better than a dead man, both in old age and in sickness? With what sorrow was the elder depressed, who had to mourn his wife's misfortunes, together with his own? When Rebekah approached death, she did not see her son standing by her and weeping, closing his eyes and squeezing his mouth, dressing her and taking care of everything else - which seems to her parents more sorrowful than death itself - what did she not say, what did she not say that she could soften even a stone? And Isaac, seeing her dying in such a state, how could he feel in his soul both then and after her death?

11. Such was the one who seemed to us happier than many. And the life of Jacob need not be examined in detail: it is sufficiently depicted by the words of James himself. Talking to Pharaoh, he said: "The days of my life are small and miserable, and have not reached the years of the life of my fathers" (Gen. 47:9), i.e. I have spent a life both very short and very miserable. Even without these glories, his misfortunes are so well known that hardly any of the common people does not know them. His grandfather, although he made a long journey, but by the command of God, which gave him the greatest consolation; and Jacob (left his homeland), fleeing from his brother, who plotted against him and plotted murder. Abraham never lacked the necessities of life; and Jacob considered it good and happy to have only clothes and bread. When he was saved (from his brother), freed from the misfortunes of the journey and came to his relatives, he was forced to work, although he was brought up in the midst of complete abundance. You know that slavery is bitter everywhere; but when someone is forced to be a slave to his equals, and moreover has never experienced anything like this, and has spent all the previous years of his life in freedom and contentment, then this misfortune becomes intolerable. However, Jacob endured everything courageously. Listen to how he himself tells of the calamities of his pastoral life: "Thou didst demand from me," he says, "whether by day what was lost, or by night that was lost; I languished by day from the heat, and by night from the cold, and my sleep fled from my eyes. Such are my twenty years in thy house" (Gen. 31:39-41). This was endured by one who did not lead a wandering life, always remaining at home, and after such labors and deprivations, after such a long time, he was subjected to a still more deplorable deception at marriage.

If you say that his love for the maiden contributed to the meekness of his disposition, then you will again agree with me that his sorrow is excessive. Imagine what sorrow he endured when he was deprived of such a beloved maiden, and, hoping to receive her, he was forced to wait for another seven years, in the midst of cold and heat, and vigils, and incessant privations! Having finally received it, and leading a miserable and difficult life with his father-in-law, he was subjected to envy, and for the second time suffered deception in receiving the reward, of which he himself rebuked (his father-in-law), saying: "Thou hast changed my reward ten times" (Gen. 31:41). Together with his father-in-law, the brothers of his wives also rebelled against him, even more than the father-in-law himself. But the most painful thing was that his beloved wife, for whom he had decided to work twice for seven years, gave herself up to extreme despondency, seeing that her sister was giving birth to her, and she herself had not even hope for this, and from this despondency she fell into such a frenzy that she reproached and reproached her husband, and called death upon herself if she did not give birth: "Give me children," she said, "And if it is not so, I die" (Gen. 30:1). What could rejoice him, when his beloved (wife) was so grieved, and her brothers plotted against him and tried in every way to reduce him to extreme poverty? If it is also a great sorrow when the dowry of wives is taken away without labor, then can he who is in danger of losing what he has acquired by his own labor bear such a loss meekly? Therefore, James, seeing that he was suspected and spied on, secretly left like a fugitive. What could be more deplorable than this? Thus, departing with fear and danger from both his parents' and someone else's home, in both cases he inevitably fell into the same abyss. Running away from his brother, he came to his father-in-law; and, having again been persecuted by his father-in-law, he was forced to get together with his brother; and the prophetic saying which Amos said about the day of the Lord was fulfilled over him: "As if a man were to flee from a lion, and a bear came to meet him, or if he came home and leaned his hand against the wall, and the serpent bitten him" (Amos 5:19). And what shall we say of the fear to which he was subjected when he was overtaken by Laban, and of the sorrows of the journey, when so many flocks and children followed him? When he was about to see his brother's face, did he not feel what the poets say when they look at the imaginary head of the Gorgon? Was he not completely in such a state, as if he were approaching death? Listen to his words, and know what a flame was in his soul: "Deliver me," he says, "from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he come and kill me and my mother and children. Thou hast said, I will do good unto thee" (Gen. 32:11,12). What joy would this fear not have banished, even if James had spent all his former time in good humor? Meanwhile, his whole life, from the very day on which he was preparing to receive the blessing, died of fear in advance, was woven with misfortunes and dangers. Then he was seized with such fear that even after meeting his brother, who treated him kindly and humanely, he had no courage and did not cease to be anxious. When Esau urged him to go with him, he, as if wishing to be free from some beast, hesitated and asked his brother to leave him: "My lord knows," he said, "that children are tender, and my flocks and herds are milking: if you drive them for one day, all the cattle will die; let my lord go before his servant, and I will go slowly, as the cattle that are before me go, and as the children go, and I will come to my master in Seir" (Gen. 33:13,14). Having calmed down a little from these dangers, he was again subjected to another fear, much greater. When his daughter was kidnapped, he first grieved over the insult to this daughter; and when the king's son relieved this grief by promising to marry Dinah, and Jacob approved of this intention, then Levi and his accomplices broke the covenant, and having destroyed all the men in the city, caused his father to be so terrified that he even migrated from there, because everyone had armed themselves against him. "And Jacob," says the Scripture, "said to Simeon and Levi, 'You have stirred me up, making me hateful to the inhabitants of this land, to the Canaanites and Perizzites. I have few people; they shall gather against me, they shall smite me, and I and my house shall be destroyed" (Gen. 34:30). And indeed, the neighbors would decisively destroy them all, if God's love for mankind had not curbed their fury and put an end to these disasters. "And there was," says the Scriptures, "the terror of God in the cities round about, and they did not persecute the children of Jacob" (Gen. 35:5). What then after the cessation of these calamities? Did Jacob calm down? No, then the greatest of misfortunes befell him - the death of his beloved wife, premature and at the same time violent. "Rachel gave birth," says the Scriptures, "and her childbirth was difficult. And when she was suffering in childbirth, the midwife said to her, "Do not be afraid, for this also is your son." And when the soul went out of her, for she was dying, she called his name Benoni (son of my sickness)" (Gen. 35:16-18). And while this sorrow was still in force, Reuben increased the sorrow by disgracing his father's bed; This was so difficult for the father that even in death, when parents are especially lenient towards children, he cursed his son, who, moreover, was the firstborn among all the others, which is of no small importance for parental love. The power of sorrow overcame all these impulses, and Jacob called him to him and said: "Reuben, my firstborn! Thou art my strength, and the firstfruits of my strength, the height of dignity and the height of might; but thou hast raged like water, for thou hast ascended upon thy father's bed, thou hast defiled my bed, thou hast ascended" (Gen. 49:3,4). When the son of his beloved wife came of age, and Jacob hoped to have in him consolation in his sorrow for her, then in this very son various sorrows were prepared for him. The brothers, having soaked Joseph's garment with blood, and showing it to their father, caused him much sorrow.

It was the most pitiful sight to see gray hair sprinkled with ashes, the breasts of old men stripped bare after the tearing of their clothes, and the inconsolable weeping: "Jacob tore," says the Scriptures, "his garments, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters were gathered together to comfort him; but he would not be comforted, and said, I will go down to my son in sorrow into hell" (Gen. 37:34,35). And as if his soul had never been free from sorrow, when this wound began to heal, he was first greatly grieved by the famine that overtook the whole earth; and then, when the sons, returning from Egypt, brought relief from this calamity, they at the same time brought another sorrow, and the joy of deliverance from hunger was darkened by separation from their son Simeon. Not only that, but they also demanded of him Benjamin, in whom alone he had consolation, both for his dead wife and for his son devoured by wild beasts. And not only this disposed him to keep Benjamin with him, but also his age and upbringing. "My son will not go," said Jacob, "with you; for his brother died, and he was left alone; if misfortune befalls him in the way in which you go, you will bring my gray hair with sorrow to the grave" (Gen. 42:38). For all these reasons, at first he refused, and said that he would not give Benjamin; but when there was a great famine and a great extremity was felt, then he, although he complained very much, saying: "Why have you done me such evil, saying to that man that you have yet a brother" (Gen. 43:6); - although he suffered in the most grievous way, pronouncing the sorrowful words: "Joseph is gone, and Simeon is not, and you will take Benjamin, - all this is on me" (Gen. 42:36); - although he wept that after Joseph and Simeon they wanted to take Benjamin from him, and declared that he would rather endure everything than let this son go, yet at last he was defeated, and gave him up with his own hands, saying: "And take your brother, and get up, go again to that man; And may God Almighty grant you to find mercy in a man, that he may release to you also your other brother and Benjamin, and if I be childless, let me be childless" (Gen. 43:13,14). Jacob was so beset by his many afflictions, that though his intestines were tormented, and the number of his children diminished little by little, yet he endured all, because of the excessiveness of the (new) still greater calamities; for he was seized with even greater sorrow for Simeon and Benjamin than his sorrow for Joseph. Thus, a misfortune that has no hope of remedy, although it causes us great sorrows, is soon forgotten, plunging the soul into hopelessness; and when it still hangs over us, then it does not allow the soul to rest in the uncertainty of the future, constantly increasing and renewing in us the languor. Everyone can learn this well from the blessed David, who wept for his son while he was still alive, and when he died, David ceased to grieve; and when the servants were perplexed and asked him the reason, he expressed the same thought as now (2 Samuel 12:15 ff.). So naturally Jacob was more apprehensive and fearful for Simeon and Benjamin. Then the longed-for meeting and seeing Joseph brought him joy. But what good is that? As for members that are greatly burned by fire, no matter how much you cool them, nothing is of any avail; so the soul of Jacob, oppressed by sorrows and strongly scorched by the flame of sorrow, could not be revived by anything, especially in such years when the senses are no longer cheerful. This was also said by Verzellius, apologizing to David: "How long do I have to live to go with the king to Jerusalem? I am now eighty years old; Do I distinguish good from evil? Will the servant know your taste in what I eat and in what I drink? And will I be able to hear the voice of singers? Why then should thy servant be a burden to my lord the king" (2 Samuel 19:34,35)? However, why explain this by the examples of others, when one can hear the same thing from the sufferer himself? After meeting with his son, Jacob, in response to Pharaoh's question about his life, said: "The days of my life are small and miserable, and they have not reached the years of my fathers' life in the days of their sojourn" (Gen. 47:9). So vivid was the memory of the past always in his soul!

12. And this famous and glorious son of his, Joseph, whom did he not surpass in his misfortunes? Only one brother plotted against his father, but very many against him; the latter was brought up in the midst of great contentment and tranquillity during the entire first age, while this one was forced to bear the burdens of travel in a foreign land and even in adolescence. Jacob had a mother who protected him from malice, and Joseph in his youth, when he was especially in need of his mother, was deprived of her help. Moreover, Esau grieved Jacob only with a threat, but Joseph's brothers carried out their plan, and before this plan they constantly hated him and slandered him; And what can be more painful than to have your loved ones as enemies? "And his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren; and they hated him, and could not speak to him in a friendly manner" (Gen. 37:4). In comparison with this, I would not call his being under the power of merchants or under the power of a eunuch so great a calamity, because these treated him much more humanely than his brothers. Even after this, however, the storm of misfortune did not become quieter, but there was a still greater agitation, which almost drowned him. Perhaps someone will think that I am now talking about the evil intent of the mistress; but before this storm I will speak of another, more cruel one. Of course, it is hard, indeed hard, to be slandered for such a crime, to be condemned and to live so long in prison - a young man who is free, noble, and has not experienced such a calamity; but much more difficult than all this, I think, was the storm for him, which depended on his youthful age. If he had rejected the love of his mistress, not in the least moved by lust, I would not have exalted him and marveled at him, following the teaching of Christ; Christ says that it is not eunuchs by nature, but those who have made themselves eunuchs, who are worthy of the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 19:12); and if this had not been the case, what victory would Joseph have won? Against whom, fighting, would he receive a crown? Whom, having overcome, would he be proclaimed victorious, if no one fought against him and did not strive to overthrow him? We do not extol the chastity of those who do not copulate with the dumb, because there is no tendency in nature to such a mixture. Thus, if Blessed Joseph had not been moved by this flame, why would we have extolled his chastity? But if a shameless woman carried a young man away when this flame rises much more strongly than at other ages (he was then in his twentieth year)

He could, if he had wished, speak to her both more insulting and more bold, because she, out of love, would easily endure everything; but he did not say or think anything of the sort; but, having expressed pious thoughts and only what he hoped to bring her to reason, he added nothing more. "Behold," he said, "my lord knows nothing in my house, and all that he has he has has given into my hands; I am no longer in this house; and he hath forbidden me nothing but thee, because thou art his wife; how then shall I do this great evil, and sin against God" (Gen. 39:8,9)? And with such modesty, after such an experience of chastity, he was slandered, and God allowed it! He was bound and at the same time did not accuse the woman of malicious intent and unjust slander; even greater rewards and splendid crowns awaited him, and therefore even after the liberation of the royal slaves he remained in prison. Do not speak to me of the love of humanity of the prison guard; but consider the words of Joseph himself, and you will see the sorrow of his soul. Interpreting the dream, he said to the cupbearer: "Remember me when it is good for you, and do me a favor, and mention me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house, for I have been stolen from the land of the Hebrews; nor did he do anything here to throw me into prison" (Gen. 40:14,15). If he easily endured the very confinement, then cohabitation with such people - gravediggers, thieves, parricides, adulterers, murderers (for in general this dwelling was filled with such and similar people) - was the most painful for him. And it was not only this that saddened and grieved him, but also the fact that he saw many languishing there innocently and in vain. Meanwhile, the slave, of which you also now complain, was freed from his bonds, and the free man continued to languish. If anyone speaks of the subsequent greatness of Joseph, he will remind me again of the many cares, sleepless nights, and innumerable occupations, which in general are not very pleasant for those who love a quiet and peaceful life. Moreover, although something pleasant happened to the above-mentioned saints, neither the kingdom of heaven nor the promise of future blessings had yet been revealed to them. And now, when there are so many blessings to come, and it is clear to all, who, tell me, will advise if he does not enjoy anything pleasant in the present life, and even consider anything of this world pleasant at all, knowing about future blessings? What would be inferior to such a soul, which, hoping to transmigrate to heaven after a short time, would seek the comforts and well-being of this world, no different from the shadow? "Vanity of vanities," says Solomon, "all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2). But if he who has experienced the pleasures of life more than all men has pronounced such a sentence on them, how much more should we, who have nothing in common with the earth, who are inscribed in the heavenly city, and who have been commanded to turn there with all our minds, feel and think so much.

[1] To the Synod. Translation: "Is not a time on earth appointed for man, and is not his days the same as the days of a hireling?" (Job 7:1).

[2] That is, the two sons of the Thebes king Oedipus, whose actions are dramatically depicted in the tragedies of Aeschylus and Sophocles.

[3] Gorgo or Gorgon is a fabulous monster, represented by Greek poets with a head covered with snakes instead of hair, and petrifying anyone who saw it.

IN ADDITION, STAGIRISM

On Despondency

THIRD WORD

In