Matthew 17:14–18
Even if the father of the demon-possessed boy, grieving, ought to have gone away without obtaining the favor — because he did not make a blameless approach, but cried out against the apostolic band and said they could not rebuke the demon, rather accusing the Lord of the powers himself (for the one who says those who received authority from Christ to cast out unclean spirits were weak for the work rather accuses the grace, not those who received it) — therefore that unbelieving and so distorted father ought to have been sent away empty.
Yet so that no one might think Christ himself powerless to accomplish the marvel, “he rebuked the unclean spirit,” (Matthew 17:14–18) and at once the child was freed from illness, “and he gave him to his father.” For before he was healed he was not the father’s, but the spirit’s that held him.
Greek
Εἰ 23 καὶ ἔδει τὸν τοῦ δαιμονῶντος πατέρα λυπούμενον ἀπελθεῖν οὐ τε τυχηκότα τῆς φιλοτιμίας, ἅτε οὐκ ἀμώμητον ποιησάμενον τὴν πρόσοδον, ἀλλὰ τοῦ χοροῦ τῶν ἀποστόλων καταβοήσαντα καὶ εἰπόντα, μὴ ἰσχῦσαι αὐτοὺς ἐπιτιμῆσαι τῷ δαίμονι, μᾶλλον δὲ αὐτὸν διαβάλλοντα τὸν τῶν δυνάμεων κύριον· ὁ γὰρ λέγων ἀσθενῆσαι πρὸς ἐνέργειαν τὴν κατὰ πνευ μάτων ἀκαθάρτων τοὺς παρὰ Χριστοῦ ἐξουσίαν λαβόντας ἐκβάλλειν αὐτά, τῆς χάριτος μᾶλλον κατηγορεῖ, οὐχὶ τῶν λαβόντων αὐτήν. διὰ ταῦτα τοίνυν τὸν ἄπιστον ἐκεῖνον πατέρα καὶ διὰ τοῦτο διεστραμμένον ἐχρῆν κενὸν ἀποπεμφθῆναι. ἀλλ' ἵνα μή τις οἴηται καὶ αὐτὸν ἀτονῆσαι τὸν Χριστὸν πρὸς τὴν τοῦ παραδόξου κατόρθωσιν, "ἐπετίμησε τῷ ἀκα θάρτῳ πνεύματι" καὶ παραχρῆμα τοῦ νοσεῖν ὁ παῖς ἀπηλλάττετο "καὶ ἀπέδωκεν αὐτὸν τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ"· πρὸ γὰρ τοῦ θεραπευθῆναι οὐκ ἦν τοῦ πατρός, ἀλλὰ τοῦ κρατοῦντος πνεύματος.
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)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.