Matthew 4:12–16
He did not withdraw through cowardice, but by what he did he teaches us to withdraw from persecutors. He withdraws from Judea to the nations, showing that he stands away from the Jews not only when they insult God himself, but also when they sin against the holy prophets.
Christ our Lord is a great light, and so is the brightness of the gospel proclamation — not the law, which had been compared to a lamp. That is why a lamp always burned in the tent: the law’s gleam was short, able to send its own light only as far as the Jewish boundaries. So the gentiles were in darkness, as those who did not even have lamp-light (Matthew 4:12–16) (Isaiah 9:1–2).
Greek
Οὐ διὰ δειλίαν δὲ ὑπεχώρησεν, ἀλλ' ἡμᾶς δι' ὧν ἐποίει διδάσκων ὑποχωρεῖν τοῖς διώκουσιν. ἀναχωρεῖ δὲ ἐκ τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη, δεικνὺς ὅτι οὐ μόνον ὅταν εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν θεὸν ἐνυβρίσωσιν Ἰουδαῖοι ἀφίσταται αὐτῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅτε εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους προφήτας ἁμαρτάνουσιν. φῶς δὲ μέγα ἐστὶ Χριστὸς ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν καὶ ἡ φαιδρότης τοῦ εὐαγγε λικοῦ κηρύγματος, οὐ μὴν ὁ νόμος, ὃς λύχνῳ ἦν ἀπεικασθείς. διὸ ἀεὶ ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ λύχνος ἐκαίετο διὰ τὸ βραχὺ τῆς τοῦ νόμου αὐγῆς ἄχρι μόνων τῶν Ἰουδαϊκῶν ὅρων ἰσχύων ἐκπέμψαι τὸ ἴδιον φῶς. οὐκοῦν οἱ ἐθνικοὶ ἐν σκότει ἦσαν ὡς μηδὲ τὸ λυχνιαῖον ἔχοντες φῶς.
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.