The Uniqueness of the Only-Begotten Son
Even if the trappers and hunters seek to catch my foot, as if to throw it into a trap, I do not suffer this because I keep my eyes toward the Lord at all times. For often the settings of the wicked snares are called the disciplines of the Divine: 'the foot was caught in that trap which they hid' (Ps 7:15). Frequently the enemies of truth prepare traps, and by catching others in these traps, they themselves are snared. And there is such a thing in history: Haman prepared wood in order to crucify the righteous Mordecai, and he himself was crucified upon it. And concerning this great man it is said: 'He dug a pit and hollowed it out, and he will fall into the pit which he made' (Prov 26:27). Even if these things do not happen in this life, they certainly happen in the life to come, caught in the trap which he prepared.
For many observe these sensory things and consider themselves to be escaping them, such as: 'all who take a sword will perish by the sword' (Matt 26:51). But this is not a contradiction; rather it says: those who take a sword will fall under punishment. In many places of the Scriptures the sword signifies punishment, as in: 'I will drink my arrows, and my sword devours the blood of the wounded' (Ps 11:6), and: 'my sword was drunken in heaven' (Ps 73:4); for it also touched those who sinned in Psalm 86 and drew them toward punishment in this way: 'our soul was snatched like a sparrow from the trap of the hunters' (Ps 86:7). And see the difference: perhaps some of those being hunted by these wicked hunters are taken entirely into the traps, while others only their feet. Therefore those saying: 'our soul was snatched like a sparrow' were caught entirely. You say immediately: 'the trap was broken, and we were snatched away.'
Here, since the saint has his eyes toward the Lord at all times, concerning more trivial sins he says: 'my feet became a trap.' Therefore, snap them out of there, so that having become otherwise unfooted, they may run the way of the commandments of God and say: 'I ran without iniquity and I directed my course' (Ps 119:45). 16 Watch over me and have mercy on me. When God watches, mercy comes to those being watched; for they are worthy of being seen; for the [one who...]
By sinning, one is distanced from the eyes of God and from His face. Adam, indeed, when he sinned along with Eve, 'was hidden from the face of the Lord God' (Gen 3:8). They do not endure being seen by the face of God when they most clearly realize to themselves that they have sinned. But Cain, acting impudently, led himself away from the face of God; for 'Cain went out.' And the one going out does so by choice. Concerning Adam and Eve, it is said: 'the Lord cast them out.' While they were still inside, He cast them out; for it was no longer permitted for them to be inside. Nevertheless, they were surrounded by desire. They are not as evil as the one who went out from the face of the Lord. These are those about whom it is written: 'lawless ones do not abide before your eyes' (Ps 119:19). But they go outside the eyes of God voluntarily; for the eyes of God, beholding, enlighten those who are looked upon. 'For I am poor and only-begotten' (Ps 31:6).
Aetius, the leader of the Eunomian heresy, says to some: 'How great a thing you grant by saying that the Christ is the only-begotten of God. And many other creatures are only-begotten. The sun, indeed, is only-begotten.' I say to him: it is not the same thing to be something 'only-begotten' and to be an only-begotten offspring or an only-begotten Son. Therefore, these things said to others as 'only-begotten' are not said with the addition of 'Son,' or 'from the Father,' or 'offspring.' But the Savior, if He is ever so named, is called with such an addition: 'and we beheld His glory, a glory as of the only-begotten from the Father' (John 1:14). And the one who is the only-begotten Son from the Father is the Father's only. And again: 'so God loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son' (John 3:16). I say: since there is an only-begotten Son, it is impossible for there to be another son belonging to that only-begotten Son. And nothing of the creatures is only-begotten; for even if the sun were only-begotten, it is not an only-begotten creature, nor an only-begotten work, but an only-begotten sun. So also among humans we say 'only-begotten child,' not because he is the only one that exists, but because he is the only one to that parent. And that: 'he who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God' (John 3:18). Since, therefore, he who says these things is not an only-begotten Son, let us observe how he is called otherwise; for even if he speaks of David the...
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μου". εἰ καὶ ἐφεδρεύουσίν μοι οἱ παγιδευταὶ καὶ θηρευταὶ λαβεῖν θέλοντες καὶ τὸν πόδα μου ὥσπερ εἰς τὴν παγίδα βροχίσαι, ἀλλ' ἐγὼ διὰ παντὸς ἔχων πρὸς τὸν κύριον τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς οὐ πάσχω τοῦτο. πολλαχοῦ γὰρ τῶν θείων παιδευμάτων τὰ ἐνεδρεύματα τῶν πονηρῶν παγίδες ὀνομάζονται· "ἐν παγίδι ταύτῃ, ᾗ ἔκρυψαν, συνελήμφθη ὁ ποὺς αὐτῶν". πολλάκις οἱ ἐχθροὶ τῆς ἀληθεία παγίδας σκευάζουσιν καὶ ἐν ταῖς παγίσιν αἷς σκευάζουσιν ἄλλοις, αὐτοὶ ἁλίσκονται. καὶ ἔστιν καὶ ἐν τῇ ἱστορία τοιαῦτά τινα· ὁ Ἀμὰ εὐτρέπισεν ξύλον, ἵνα σταυρώσῃ τὸν δίκαιον Μαρδοχέα, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ αὐτὸς ἐσταυρώθη. καὶ περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ μεγαλοδαίμονος λέγεται· "λάκκον ὤρυξεν καὶ ἀνέσκαψεν αὐτὸν καὶ ἐμπεσεῖται εἰς βόθρον ὃν εἰργάσατο". κἂν γοῦν ἐν 57 τῷ βίῳ τούτῳ ταῦτα μὴ γένηται, ἀλλ' οὖν γε ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι παγιδεύεται ᾗ ἐσκεύασεν παγίδι. πολλοὶ γὰρ τηροῦσιν τὰ αἰσθητὰ ταῦτα καὶ ὡς διαφευδόμενα αὐτὰ ἡγοῦνται, ὧν ἐστιν καὶ τό· "πάντες οἱ λαβόντες μάχαιραν μαχαίρῃ ἀπολοῦνται". οὔκ ἐστιν δὲ ἀναντίρρητον τοῦτο· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο λέγει· οἱ λαβόντες μάχαιραν κολάσει ὑποπεσοῦνται. ἐν πολλοῖς δὲ τόποις τῶν γραφῶν ἡ μάχαιρα δηλοῖ τὴν κόλασιν, ὡς ἐν τῷ· "μεθύσω τὰ βέλη μου, καὶ ἡ μάχαιρά μου καταφάγεται αἷμα τραυματιῶν", καί· "ἐμεθύςθη ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἡ μάχαιρά μου"· ἥψατο γὰρ καὶ τῶν 86 ἐκεῖ ἡμαρτηκότων καὶ κολάσεως τρόπῳ ἐπέσπασεν αὐτοὺς ὧδε. "ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν ὡς στρουθίον ἐρύσθη ἐκ τῆς παγίδος τῶν θηρευόντων". καὶ ὅρα γε διαφοράν· τάχα τινὲς τῶν ἀγρευομένων ὑπὸ τῶν φαύλων τούτων θηρευτῶν ὅλοι ἐντὸς εἰς τὰς παγίδας λαμβάνονται, οἱ δὲ μόνους τοὺς πόδας. οἱ λέγοντες οὖν· "ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν ὡς στρουθίον ἐρύσθη" ὅλοι ἦσαν παγιδευθέντες. λέγεις γοῦν εὐθέως· "ἡ παγὶς συνετρίβη, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐρύσθημεν". ὧδε δὲ ὁ ἅγιος ἐπεὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχει διὰ παντὸς πρὸς τὸν κύριον, περὶ ἁμαρτημάτων εὐτελεστέρων λέγει ὅτι· "οἱ πόδες μου γέγοναν εἰς παγίδα". ἔκσπα οὖν αὐτοὺς ἐκεῖθεν, ἵνα ἀνενπόδιστοι λοιπὸν γενόμενοι ὁδὸν τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ θεοῦ δράμωσιν καὶ εἴπωσιν· "ἄνευ ἀνομίας ἔδραμον καὶ κατηύθυνα". 16 ἐπίβλεψον ἐπ' ἐμὲ καὶ ἐλέησόν με. ὅταν ἐπιβλέψῃ θεός, ἔλεος γίνεται τοῖς ἐπιβλεπομένοις· ἄξιοι γάρ εἰσιν τοῦ ὁρᾶσθαι· ὁ γὰρ ἁμαρτάνων μακρύνεται τῶν ὄψεων τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ προσώπου αὐτοῦ. ὁ Ἀδὰμ γοῦν ὅτε ἥμαρτεν ἅμα τῇ Εὕᾳ, "ἐκρύβη ἀπὸ προσώπου κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ". οὐχ ὑπομένουσιν ὀφθῆναι τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅτε μάλιστα συνίσασιν ἑαυτοῖς ὅτι ἡμαρτήκασιν. ὁ δὲ θρασυνόμενος Κάιν ἔξω τοῦ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ ἑαυτὸν ἀπήγαγεν· "ἐξῆλθεν" γὰρ "Κάιν". ὁ δὲ ἐξερχόμενος ἐθελοντὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖ. περὶ γοῦν τοῦ Ἀδὰμ καὶ τῆς Εὕας εἴρηται ὅτι· "ἐξέβαλεν αὐτοὺς κύριος". ἐφιεμένους τῶν ἔσω ἐξέβαλεν αὐτούς· οὐκέτι γὰρ ἐλυσιτέλει αὐτοὺς ἔσω εἶναι. ὅμως περιείχοντο τῷ πόθῳ. οὔκ εἰσιν οὕτω κακοὶ ὡς ὁ ἐξελθὼν ἀπὸ προσώπου κυρίου. οὗτοί εἰσιν περὶ ὧν γέγραπται· "οὐ διαμενοῦσιν παράνομοι ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν σου". ἐθελουσίως δὲ ἔξω τῶν ὄψεων τοῦ θεοῦ γίνονται· οἱ γὰρ ὀφθαλμοὶ θεοῦ ἐφορῶντες φωτίζουσιν τοὺς ἐπιβλεπομένους. 16 ὅτι μονογενὴς καὶ πτωχός εἰμι ἐγώ. Ἀέτιος ὁ ἔξαρχος τῆς Εὐνομίου αἱρέσεως ἔλεγέν τισιν ὅτι· "ὡς μεγάλα χαριζόμενοί ἐστε λέγοντες ὅτι μονογενὴς τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός. καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ κτίσματα μονογενῆ εἰσιν. ὁ ἥλιος γοῦν μονογενής ἐστιν". λέγω αὐτῷ· οὐ ταὐτόν ἐστιν τὸ εἶναί τι μονογενὲς καὶ τὸ εἶναι μονογενὲς γέννημα ἢ μονογενὴς υἱός, λέγω. ταῦτα οὖν τὰ ἄλλοις λεγόμενα μονογενῆ οὐ μετὰ προσθήκης τοῦ "υἱοῦ" ἢ "παρὰ πατρὸς" ἢ "γεννήματος" λέγονται. ὁ δὲ σωτὴρ εἴ που ὀνομάζεται, μετὰ τοιαύτης προσθήκης λέγεται· "καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός". ὁ δὲ παρὰ πατρὸς μονογενὴς υἱός ἐστιν τοῦ πατρὸς μόνος. καὶ ἔτι· "οὕτως ἠγάπησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον ὥστε τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ". λέγω· υἱοῦ οὖν μονογενοῦς ὄντος ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν ἄλλον υἱὸν εἶναι ἐκείνου τοῦ μονογενῆ υἱὸν ἔχοντος. οὐδὲν δὲ τῶν κτισμάτων μονογενές ἐστιν· κἂν γὰρ ὁ ἥλιος μονογενὴς ᾖν, οὐ κτίσμα μονογενές ἐστιν, οὐ ποίημα μονογενές, ἀλλὰ ἥλιος μονογενής. οὕτω γοῦν καὶ ἀνθρώπων λέγομεν μονογενὲς τέκνον, οὐχ ὅτι ἓν μόνον ἔστιν τέκ87 νον, ἀλλ' ὅτι ἐκείνῳ ἓν μόνον ἐστίν. καὶ τό· "ὁ δὲ μὴ πιστεύων ἤδη κέκριται, ὅτι μὴ πεπίστευκεν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ μονογενοῦς υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ". ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ὁ ταῦτα λέγων οὐ μονογενής ἐστιν υἱός, σκοπήσομεν πῶς ἑτέρως λέγεται· κἂν γὰρ τὸν ∆αυὶδ τὸν
About this text
Didymus the Blind on the Psalms.
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- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
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