§1## I Sam. 3, 11—21.
## I Sam. 3, 11—21.
Ἐπειδὴ ἔμελλεν ἡ θεία γραφὴ τὴν ἀπώλειαν τῶν υἱῶν Ἠλὶ προλέγειν, ὅτι τε ὴ κιβωτὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ληφθήσεται ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων, προλαβοῦσα θεραπεύει τὴν ἀκοήν, μήποτέ τις οἰηθῇ σκληρὸν εἶναι τὸν θεόν.
Since the divine Scripture was about to foretell the destruction of the sons of Eli, and that the ark of God would be captured by the foreigners, it heals the hearing beforehand, lest anyone should think God to be harsh.
διὰ τοῦτο, ὡς ἔφην, ἱστορεῖ ὡς οὐκ ἠλαττώθη τῶν υἱῶν Ἠλὶ ἡ κακία καὶ ἡ ἁμαρτία διὰ τῆς ἀπειλῆς καὶ τῆς κατ᾿ προρρήσεως, ἀλλ’ ηὐξήθη μᾶλλον.
For this reason, as I said, it relates how the wickedness and sin of the sons of Eli was not diminished by the threat and the forewarning, but rather increased.
§2## Ι Sam. 4, 13.
## I Sam. 4, 13.
Εὐσεβὴς ὀ Ἠλὶ καθ’ ἑαυτόν· οὐ γὰρ περὶ τῆς σωτηρίας τῶν τέκνων ἠγωνία προηγουμένως ἀλλ᾿ ὑπὲρ τῆς κιβωτοῦ, μήποτε γένοιτο ὑπὸ τοῖς ἀλλοφύλοις· ὂ δὴ καὶ συνέβη.
Eli was pious in himself; for he was not anxious primarily about the safety of his children, but for the ark, lest it should fall into the hands of the foreigners; which indeed happened.
§3## I Sam. 5, 3.
## I Sam. 5, 3.
Ἵνα γνῶσιν οἱ ἀλλόφυλοι ὅτι οὔτε ὁ θεὸς ἡττήθη διὰ τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν οὔτε αὐτὸν νενικήκασι τῇ οἰκείᾳ δυνάμει, ἀλλὰ τῶν Ἰουδαίων αἱ ἁμαρτίαι καὶ ἀσέβειαι τὴν ἠτταν πεποιήκασιν.
In order that the foreigners might know that neither was God defeated because of the Israelites, nor did they defeat Him by their own power, but the sins and impieties of the Jews caused the defeat.
πέπτωκε δὲ πρὸ τῆς κιβωτοῦ ὀ Δαγών, οὐχ ἴνα προσκυνήσῃ, οὐ γὰρ ἠν ἄξιος, ἀλλ’ ἵνα συντριβῇ· ὃ δὴ καὶ γέγονεν.
And Dagon fell before the ark, not to worship, for he was not worthy, but to be shattered; which indeed happened.
§4## Ι Sam. 15, 9-11.
## I Sam. 15, 9-11.
Ὥσπερ ἐπ’ ἀνθρώπων μὲν χεὶρ καὶ ποὺς καὶ ὀφθαλμὸς καὶ οὖς καὶ εἴ τι τοιοῦτον ὀνομάζεται σημαντικὰ τῶν μελῶν τοῦ ἠμετέρου σώματός ἐστιν, ἐπὶ δὲ θεοῦ χεὶρ μὲν τὸ δημιουργικόν, ἀφθαλμὸς δὲ τὸ ἐποπτικόν, καὶ οὖς μὲν τὸ ἀκουστικόν, ποὺς δὲ τὸ τῆς παρουσίας ὅταν ἐνεργῇ τι· οὔτω καὶ θυμὸς μὲν θεοῦ λέγεται παιδεία ἠ κατὰ τῶν πταιόντων, οὐ πάθος θεοῦ, μεταμέλεια δὲ ἡ ἀπὸ πράγματος εἰς πρᾶγμα μετάθεσις τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ οἰκονομίας.
Just as in the case of humans, hand, foot, eye, ear, and whatever else of this kind is named, are indicative of the members of our body, but in the case of God, 'hand' refers to His creative power, 'eye' to His oversight, 'ear' to His hearing, and 'foot' to His presence when He performs something; so also the 'anger' of God is said to be the discipline against those who stumble, not a passion of God, and 'repentance' is the transition of God's dispensation from one state of affairs to another.
ὃ γὰρ ἠμεῖς μεταμελούμενοι ποιοῦμεν, τουτέστιν ἐκεῖνα μὲν φεύγομεν ἐφ οἶς μετεμελήθημεν, ἕτερα δὲ διώκομεν τὰ κρείττω, τοῦτο μεταμέλεια θεοῦ λέγεται.
For what we do when we repent—namely, we flee from those things of which we repented, and pursue other, better things—this is called the 'repentance' of God.
διατί;
Why?
ἐπειδὴ σωματικώτερον τοῖς βαρυτάτοις τὴν διάνοιαν ἔδει περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τοὺς προφήτας ὀμιλεῖν, ἴνα χωρηθῇ· οἱ γὰρ ἀγάλματα ἅπερ ἔγλυφον καὶ ἐχώνευον θεοὺς νομίζοντες, ἤδη δὲ καὶ ἄλογα, πῶς ἂν ἐχώρησαν διὰ πνευματικῶν νοημάτων τε καὶ ῥημάτων τὰ περὶ θεοῦ λεγόμενα;
Because it was necessary for the prophets to speak about God in a more physical way to those of very dull understanding, so that it might be comprehended; for those who considered the statues they carved and cast to be gods, and indeed even irrational beasts, how could they have comprehended the things said about God through spiritual concepts and words?
Καὶ πάλιν· Εἐ πάντα πρόοιδεν ὀ θεός, οὐκ ἀφ᾿ ὧν δὲ οἶδε θυμοῦται ἢ οὐ πάθος ἄρα θεοῦ θυμὸς ἢ μεταμέλεια, ἀλλὰ τοῦ θυμοῦ | | ἔργον ἡ κόλασις καὶ τὸ τῆς μεταμελείας ὁμοίως ἀπόστασις μὲν τοῦ προτέρου πράγματος, μετάθεσις δὲ εἰς τὴν ἑτέραν οἰκονομίαν.
And again: If God foreknows all things, and He is not angry because of what He foreknows, then anger or repentance is not a passion of God, but punishment is the work of anger, and similarly that of repentance is departure from the former state of affairs and transition to the other dispensation.
οὕτω καὶ περὶ ῥομφαίας λέγεται· >ῥομφαία ὀξύνου καὶ καὶ χεὶρ ὠνόμασται σιδήρου † ὁ Σολομών· »ἵνα ῥύσηταί σε ἐκ χειρὸς σιδήρου«) καὶ ῥομφαίας ὠς ὀ Δαβίδ φησιν· »εἰς χεῖρας ῥομφαίας‘).
Thus it is also said concerning a sword: 'Sword, be sharpened', and the hand of iron is named by Solomon: 'that he may deliver you from the hand of iron', and of a sword as David says: 'into the hands of the sword'.
οὕτω καὶ ὀ θυμὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὀργίζεσθαι λέγεται καὶ πρόσωπον ἔχειν ἁμαρτία κατὰ τὸν Δαβίδ, καὶ πρόσωπον ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ θυμός, ὡς ἐν τῷ τριακοστῷ ἐβδόμῳ Ψαλμῷ, καὶ χερσὶν οἱ ποταμοὶ κροτεῖν.
So also the anger of God is said to be angry, and sin is said to have a face according to David, and the anger of God to have a face, as in the thirty-seventh Psalm, and the rivers to clap with their hands.
οὔτε δὲ ποταμοῖς χεῖρές εἰσιν οὔτε πρόσωπον ἁμαρτίαις.
But neither do rivers have hands, nor sins a face.
μὴ τοίνυν διὰ τὰ σωματικῶς περὶ θεοῦ λεγόμενα, ὠς ἐχώρουν οἱ παλαιοί, σῶμα τὸν θεὸν νομίζωμεν ἢ παθῶν αὐτὸν πεπληρῶσθαι.
Therefore, let us not, because of the things said physically about God as the ancients could comprehend them, think God to be a body or to be full of passions.
{Οὐ τὸ εὐπερίστρεπτον τῆς ἀνθρώπου γνώμης τῷ ἡμεῖς γὰρ ἐφ᾿ ἐαυτῶν τὰς τροπὰς τῆς θείας οἰκονομίας τὰς ἐφ’ ἡμῶν δικαίως συμβαινούσας ἀπεργαζόμεθα, ἀναξίους ἑαυτοὺς δεικνύντες διὰ τῶν πράξεων τῆς παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ δωρηθείσης τιμῆς.
Not the instability of human opinion, for we ourselves bring about the changes of the divine dispensation that justly happen to us, showing ourselves by our deeds unworthy of the honor granted by God.
καταγνοὺς οὑν τοῦ Σαοὺλ καὶ βουλόμενος τῷ Δαβὶδ παραδοῦναι τὰ τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ τῷ σπέρματι αὐτοῦ φυλάξαι τὴν βασιλείαν διὰ τὸν ἐξ αὐτοῦ τεχθησόμενον κατὰ σάρκα βασιλέα τῆς κτίσεως ἁπάσης, ἀνθρωπίνοις ἐχρήσατο ῥήμασιν ἀνθρώποις διαλεγόμενος, καὶ εἶπεν· μεταμεμέλημαι ὅτι ἔχρισα τὸν Σαοὺλ εἰς βασιλέα, ἀντὶ τοῦ ἑτέρῳ βούλομαι δοῦναι τῆς βασιλείας τὴν ἀρχήν, τοῦτον δὲ τῆς δυναστείας.
Therefore, having condemned Saul, and wishing to hand over the rule to David and to preserve the kingdom for his seed because of the King of all creation who was to be born from him according to the flesh, He used human words when speaking to humans, and said: 'I repent that I anointed Saul as king', instead of saying: 'I wish to give the rule of the kingdom to another, and to deprive this man of the sovereignty'.
Τὸ μεταμεμέλημαι διὰ τὸν Σαοὺλ τουτέστιν οὕτω ἀνάξιον ἑαυτὸν τῆς βασιλείας ἐποίησεν, ὥστε εἴ γε φύσιν εἶχον μετανοοῦσαν, μετέγνων ἂν ἐπ αὐτῷ.
The 'I repent' concerning Saul means: he made himself so unworthy of the kingdom that, if indeed I had a nature capable of repentance, I would have repented over him.
διὰ τί οὖν ἐχρίσθη;
Why then was he anointed?
ὅτι τότε ἄξιος ἦν.
Because at that time he was worthy.
τραπεὶς δὲ πάλιν ἀνάξιος γέγονεν.
But having turned, he became unworthy again.