Matthew 1:12
Zerubbabel rebuilt the temple Solomon had once built and the Babylonians had burned. The Lord is the true builder of the rational temple that fell apart through transgressions and burned with an alien fire — a fire we ourselves kindled, not only making the soul’s intellect follow the fleshly mind as a slave, but also shamelessly lighting the fuel of the passions by what we do.
Zerubbabel also holds in his hand a stone adorned with seven eyes. For the Lord too the stone is faith in him; and it is “in the hand” (Matthew 1:12) because faith in Christ shows itself in the practice of the commandments. The hand is plainly a symbol of practice. So the Lord, bearing the stone in his hand, teaches us to hold faith in him as something done, adorned with the seven energies of the Spirit (Zechariah 3:9).
Greek
Ὠικοδόμησεν ὁ Ζοροβάβελ τὸν ἀπὸ Σολομῶνος μὲν πάλαι ᾠκοδομηθέντα ναὸν ὑπὸ δὲ Βαβυλωνίων ἐμπρησθέντα. καὶ ὁ κύριος ἀληθινὸς οἰκοδόμος ἐστὶ τοῦ διαρρυέντος τοῖς παραπτώμασι λογικοῦ ναοῦ καὶ ἐμπρησθέντος ἀλλοτρίῳ πυρί, ὅπερ ἡμεῖς ἐξεκαύσαμεν οὐ μόνον τῷ σαρκικῷ φρονήματι τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς νοερὸν ἕπεσθαι δουλικῶς παρασκευάσαντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν τῶν παθῶν ὕλην ἀναιδῆ δι' ἐνεργείας ἐξάψαντες. ἀλλὰ καὶ λίθον ἔχει ὁ Ζοροβάβελ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ ἑπτὰ ὀφθαλ μοῖς κοσμούμενον. ἔστι καὶ τῷ κυρίῳ λίθος ἡ εἰς αὐτὸν πίστις· ἐν τῇ χειρὶ δέ, ὅτι ἐν τῇ πράξει τῶν ἐντολῶν ἡ πίστις τοῦ Χριστοῦ διαφαίνεται. πράξεως δέ ἐστι σύμβολον προδήλως ἡ χείρ. φέρων οὖν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ τὸν λίθον ὁ κύριος ἔμπρακτον ἡμᾶς διδάσκει τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν πίστιν ἔχειν ταῖς ἑπτὰ κοσμουμένην ἐνεργείαις τοῦ 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.