Matthew 17:17
When he says, “How long shall I dwell with you who insult and are unbelieving?” he shows that the time of the incarnate presence required him to dwell with the not-good in God-befitting gentleness, so that through what he does he might correct them. “How long,” he says, “shall I dwell with you so insolent and unbelieving?” — showing that his presence with flesh compelled him to associate with the not-good in order to correct them.
Greek
Προσῄεσάν τινες τῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ καθιεροῦν ἐσπούδαζον τῷ θεῷ τὰς ἑαυτῶν ψυχάς, ὡς ἐν τύπῳ μὲν ἔτι καὶ σκιᾷ πλὴν κατὰ τὸν νόμον τὰς παρὰ σφῶν αὐτῶν ὁμολογοῦντες τιμὰς τοῖς ἱερᾶσθαι λαχοῦσι καὶ τῷ θείῳ προσεδρεύουσι θυσιαστηρίῳ, ἀλλ' ἦσάν τινες ἐφιέμενοι μὲν τῆς τοιᾶσδε δόξης, τοῦ ἡγιασμένοι εἶναι φημὶ καὶ ἱεροὶ καὶ θεῖον ἀνά θημα, σπάνει δὲ χρημάτων ἀνακόπτοντες τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν. προτρεπόντων δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ δεῖν εἶναι πρὸς τοῦτο τῶν Φαρισαίων καὶ γραμματέων –ἐρασιχρήματοι γὰρ οὗτοι λίαν–τὴν εἰς γονέας αἰδῶ προετείνοντο καὶ ἀληθεύοντες ἔλεγον, μόλις δύνασθαι ἑαυτοῖς κἀκείνοις τὰ ζωαρκῆ πορίζεσθαι. οἱ δὲ ἀναπείθειν ἐτόλμων παρ' οὐδὲν ἡγεῖσθαι τὸ χρῆμα διὰ τὸν θεόν, κἂν προσίοιεν οἱ γεγεννηκότες τὴν συνήθη παρ' αὐτῶν ζητοῦν τες ἐπικουρίαν, χρῆναι λέγειν ἐδίδασκον τῷ πατρὶ ἢ τῇ μητρί, ὅτι δῶρόν ἐστιν, ὅπερ ἂν ἐξ ἐμοῦ ὠφεληθῇς, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ὅπερ ἂν ἐξ ἐμοῦ λάβῃς, γίνωσκε τὸ θεῖον παραβλάπτων ἀνάθημα καὶ χρήμασιν ἱεροῖς τὰς χεῖρας ἐπάγων· ἀνατέθεικα γὰρ ἐμαυτὸν καὶ ὡς δῶρον ἐπήγγελμαι τῷ θεῷ. οἱ δὲ γονεῖς τὰ ἐκ τῆς ἱεροσυλίας δεδιότες βλάβη καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τῷδε νό μους διαπεφρικότες διεκαρτέρουν οἰμώζοντες καὶ τὴν εἰς θεὸν εὐσέβειαν πρόφασιν αὐτοῖς γενέσθαι λιμοῦ διετείνοντο κατακεκραγότες τάχα που καὶ τῆς θείας ἐντολῆς ἀδικούσης αὐτοὺς εἰς τὰ καιριώτατα. διὰ τί τοίνυν, φησίν, ἠκυρώσατε τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ τὴν παράδοσιν ὑμῶν; ἔδει γάρ, ἔδει τιμᾶν τοὺς φύσαντας, οὐ τῆς εἰς θεὸν εὐσεβείας ἕνεκα τὸν ἐπ' αὐτοῖς καταλύειν νόμον. οὐκοῦν οὔτε τῶν τῷ θεῷ πρε πόντων ἀμελητέον διὰ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα οὔτε μὴν εἰς ἅπαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων διὰ τὸν θεὸν καταμελητέον, ἀπονέμοντας δὲ μᾶλλον τὸ τῆς ἀγάπης ἐξαίρετον τῇ πάντων ἀρχῇ, τοῦτ' ἔστιν θεῷ, καθάπερ ἐν τάξει δευτέρᾳ καὶ γείτονι παρακομίζειν εὐθὺς καὶ εἰς τοὺς τῆς γενέσεως ὑπουργοὺς τὰς αὐτοῖς ὅτι μάλιστα πρεπούσας τιμάς.
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)
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.