Matthew 24:20
Perhaps the word also has a riddle, so that we should pray not to depart from the body either while idle of good work — which the sabbath hints — or in unfruitfulness — which winter makes clear. For it should be noted that God did not make a winter of evils; yet we are in winter whenever the passions of the flesh dominate in us.
This is what Christ hints: that we should pray not to be in departure from the body, nor idle of the works of virtue — which the sabbath indicates — nor troubled in the worldly tumults and disturbances, which winter makes clear (Matthew 24:20).
Greek
Ἴσως καὶ αἴνιγμα ἔχει ὁ λόγος, ὥστε εὔχεσθαι ἡμᾶς μὴ ἐκδημῆσαι ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος μήτε ἐν ἀργίᾳ ὄντας ἔργου ἀγαθοῦ, ὃ ὑποσημαίνει τὸ σάββατον, μήτε ἐν ἀκαρπίᾳ, ὃ δηλοῖ χειμών· ση μειωτέον γὰρ ὅτι χειμῶνα κακῶν ὁ θεὸς οὐκ ἐποίησεν, ἐν χειμῶνι δέ ἐσμεν, ὅταν τὰ πάθη τῆς σαρκὸς δυναστεύῃ ἐν ἡμῖν. Τοῦτο αἰνίττεται ὁ Χριστὸς τὸ εὔχεσθαι ἡμᾶς μὴ γενέσθαι ἐν ἐκδη μίᾳ τοῦ σώματος μήτε ἐν ἀργίᾳ ὄν τας τῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἔργων, ὃ ὑπο σημαίνει τὸ σάββατον, μήτε ἐνο χλουμένους ἐν ταῖς βιωτικαῖς τύρ βαις τε καὶ ταραχαῖς, ὅπερ δηλοῖ ὁ χειμών.
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.