Commentary on the Twelve Minor Prophets 5.0.1–5.3.4 (Commentary on the Twelve Minor Prophets)

Theodoret of Cyrus

Commentary on the Twelve Minor Prophets 5.0.1–5.3.4

Theodoret of Cyrus · Commentary on the Twelve Minor Prophets · probably 430s (before ca. 446) · Cyrrhus · 12 passages

Greek text: PG 81.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).

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Preface 5, chapter 0

5.0.1PG 81

Πάντας ἀνθρώπους δημιουργήσας ὁ τῶν ὅλων θεὸς, πάντων ὁμοίως διατελεῖ προμηθούμενος" εἰ καὶ πλέον πάλαι ποτὲ τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν ἐπιμελούμενος ὥφθη, καὶ τοῦτο δὲ εἰς κοινὴν ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπων εὐεργεσίαν ἐποίει. "Ὥσπερ γὰρ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ τὴν προσήκουσαν κηδεμονίαν ποιούμενος, οὐ πρὸς ἕκαστον διαλεγόμενος τὸ πρακτέον ἐδείκνυ, ἀλλ᾽ ἕνα τὸν ἄριστον ἐξ ἀπάντων ἐκλεγόμενος, νῦν μὲν Μωσέα τὸν μέγαν, νῦν δὲ Ἰησοῦν τὸν Νανῆ, ἄλλοτε δὲ τὸν Σαμουΐλ, καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ καιρῷ τὸν Ἠλίαν, καὶ δι᾽ ἑκάστου τῶν εἰρημένων, ἣ νόμους τιθεὶς, ἢ θαυμαστὰ δεικνὺς, ἢ παραινέσεις προσφέρων, ἐποδήγει πρὸς σωτηρίαν" οὕτω τὸν Ἰσραηλίτην λαὸν τῶν ἄλλων ἐθνῶν ὁ Θεὸς ἀποχρίνας, τῇ περὶ τούτων ἐπιμελείᾳ, καὶ ταῖς συὑπεδείχνυ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἔθνεσι τὴν εἰς θεογνωσίαν ὁδόν. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἡμᾶς καὶ διὰ τοῦ θεσπεσίου ὭὩσηέ. « Σκοπὸς γὰρ, φησὶν, Ἐφραῖμ μετὰ Θεοῦ προφήτης.» Οἷον ' γάρ τινα σκοπὸν καὶ προφὴτην προὐδάλετο τὸν λαὸν εἰς τὴν τῶν ἄλλων ἐθνῶν ὧφέλειάν τε καὶ σωτηρίαν. Οὕτω καὶ διὰ τούτων μεμάθηκεν Αἴγυπτο; τὴν ἄῤῥητον δύναμιν τοῦ τῶν ὅλων Θεοῦ. Καὶ τὸν ἐχείνων δὲ δλεῦρον εἰς ἅπαντας ἀνθρώπους ἡ φήμη διαγαγοῦσα, θαυμάζειν ἅπαντας παρεσκεύασε τῆς θείας προμηθείας τὸ δίκαιον. Ἐντεῦθεν Ῥαὰλδ ἡ πόρνη, τῆς θεογνωσίας δεξαμένη τὴν αἴγλην, ἔλεγε τοῖς χατασχόποις " « Διότι "" ἐπἐπ:σεν ὁ φόθος ὑμῶν καὶ ὁ τρόμος ὑμῶν ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς " ἠκούσαμεν γὰρ ὅπως κατεξήρανε Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τὴν Ἐρυθρὰν θάλασσαν ἔμπροσθεν ὑμῶν, καὶ διήγαγεν ὑμᾶς, ὅτι Κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν, θεὸς ἐν οὐρανῷ ἄνω, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κάτω.» Καὶ χρόνοις δὲ πολλοῖς ὕστε. ρον τὴν κχιδωτὸν οἱ ᾿Αλλόφυλοι θεασάμενοι, μετὰ δέους καὶ φρίκης ἐβόων" « Οὗτος ὁ Θεὸς ὁ πατάξας Α τὴν Αἴγυπτον. » Καὶ τῶν ᾿Ασσυρίων δὲ τὰς πολλὰς ἐκείνας χιλιάδας πρὸ τῶν τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ. περιδόλων χαταχοντίσας, καὶ μετ᾽ ὀλίγων φυγεῖν τὸν Σενναχηρϑὶμ ἀναγκάσας, δήλην αὑτοῦ πεποίηκε πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις τὴν δύναμιν. Κἀν τῇ Βαδυλῶνι δὲ τοῖς λέουσι παραδοθέντα τὸν Δανιὴλ φυλάξας ἀλώθητον, καὶ τὴν σροδροτάτην ἐχείνην τῆς καμίνου φλόγα μεταδαλὼν εἰς δρόσον, ὡς τοὺς μακαρίους ἐκείνους παῖδας χορείαν ἐν μέσῳ συστήσασθαι, καὶ ὕμνον ὑφῆναι, καὶ τὸν ἀλαζόνα βασιλέα χατέπληξε, καὶ δι᾽ ἐχεένου τοὺς ὑπηκόους ἐδίδαξεν, ὡς μόνος Θεὸς τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν ὁ Θεός. Καὶ ἐπὶ Κύρου δὲ τοῦ Πέρσου τὴν πολυθρύλλητον ἐχείνην ἐπάνοδον τῷ λαῷ δωρησάμενος, καὶ μόνοις ἐκ πάντων τῶν αἰχμαλώτων γεγξνη μένων χαρισάμενος τὴν "" «ἧς δουλείας ἀπαλλα- Ὑὴ", καὶ τὸν νεὼν τὸν οἰκεῖον δειμάμενος, καὶ τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ εἰς τὴν προτέραν ἐπαναγαγὼν ξίαν, δεδήλωκε πάλιν, οὐ τοῖ; πελάξουσι ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἄποθεν οἰκοῦσιν, ὡς μόνος ἐστὶν ἱκανὸς προμηθεῖσθαι καὶ προστατεύε:»)» ὧν βούλεται. Καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν Μακεδόνων δὲ πολλάκις τὴν οἰκείαν ὑπέδειξε δύναμιν, καὶ μέντοι καὶ διὰ τῶν προφητῶν θαυματουργῶν καὶ τὰ ἐσόμενα προλέγων, πολλὰ τῶν ἐθνῶν πρὸς ἀλήθειαν ἐποδήγησεν. Οὕτω τὸν μέγαν σαῖον τὸ τῶν Σύρων ἔδεισεν ἔθνος, ποτὲ μὲν ἀορασίας ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ δεξάμενον νέφο;, ποτὲ δὲ τοῦ Νεεμὰν τὴν κάθαρτιν θεατάμενον. Τοσοῦτον γὰρ ἔσχε τοῦδε τοῦ προφήτου σέθας "3", ὡς ἀῤῥωστίᾳ περιπεσόντα τὸν βασιλέα πρὸς τοῦτον ἀποστεῖλαι τὸν ᾿Αζαὴλ πευσό- ς βξνον εἰ ῥωσθήσεται" καὶ αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν ᾿Αζαὴλ οὗτος αὐτὸς ὁ προφήτης ἔχρισε βασιλέα τοῖς Σύροις. Καὶ τὸν θεσπέσιον δὲ Ἱερεμίαν τοταύτης ἠξίωσε τιμῆς | πὧν Βαδυλωνίων ὁ βασιλεὺς, ὡς αἴρεδιν αὐτῷ τῆς οἰκήσεως δοῦναι " καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους ἄπαντας καὶ βασιλέας; καὶ ἄρχοντας αἰχμαλώτους ἀπήγαγε, τούτῳ δὲ μόνῳ δέδωκεν ἐξουσίαν διάγειν ὅπου βούλεται.

Pantas anthrōpous dēmiourgēsas ho tōn holōn theos, pantōn homoiōs diatelei promēthoumenos" ei kai pleon palai pote tōn Israēlitōn epimeloumenos hōphthē, kai touto de eis koinēn hapantōn anthrōpōn euergesian epoiei. "Hōsper gar tou Israēl tēn prosēkousan kēdemonian poioumenos, ou pros hekaston dialegomenos to prakteon edeikny, all᾽ hena ton ariston ex apantōn eklegomenos, nyn men Mōsea ton megan, nyn de Iēsoun ton Nanē, allote de ton Samouïl, kai en heterǭ kairǭ ton Ēlian, kai di᾽ hekastou tōn eirēmenōn, hē nomous titheis, ē thaumasta deiknys, ē paraineseis prospherōn, epodēgei pros sōtērian" houtō ton Israēlitēn laon tōn allōn ethnōn ho Theos apochrinas, tę̄ peri toutōn epimeleią, kai tais syypedeichny kai tois allois ethnesi tēn eis theognōsian hodon. Touto gar hēmas kai dia tou thespesiou HōŌsēe. « Skopos gar, phēsin, Ephraim meta Theou prophētēs.» Hoion ' gar tina skopon kai prophētēn proudaleto ton laon eis tēn tōn allōn ethnōn hōpheleian te kai sōtērian. Houtō kai dia toutōn memathēken Aigypto? tēn arrhēton dynamin tou tōn holōn Theou. Kai ton echeinōn de dleuron eis hapantas anthrōpous hē phēmē diagagousa, thaumazein hapantas pareskeuase tēs theias promētheias to dikaion. Enteuthen Rhaald hē pornē, tēs theognōsias dexamenē tēn aiglēn, elege tois chataschopois " « Dioti "" epep:sen ho phothos hymōn kai ho tromos hymōn eph᾽ hēmas " ēkousamen gar hopōs katexērane Kyrios ho Theos tēn Erythran thalassan emprosthen hymōn, kai diēgagen hymas, hoti Kyrios ho theos hymōn, theos en ouranǭ anō, kai epi tēs gēs katō.» Kai chronois de pollois hyste. ron tēn kchidōton hoi ᾿Allophyloi theasamenoi, meta deous kai phrikēs eboōn" « Houtos ho Theos ho pataxas A tēn Aigypton. » Kai tōn ᾿Assyriōn de tas pollas ekeinas chiliadas pro tōn tēs Hierousalēm. peridolōn chatachontisas, kai met᾽ oligōn phygein ton Sennachērϑim anankasas, dēlēn hautou pepoiēke pasin anthrōpois tēn dynamin. Kan tę̄ Badylōni de tois leousi paradothenta ton Daniēl phylaxas alōthēton, kai tēn srodrotatēn echeinēn tēs kaminou phloga metadalōn eis droson, hōs tous makarious ekeinous paidas choreian en mesǭ systēsasthai, kai hymnon hyphēnai, kai ton alazona basilea chateplēxe, kai di᾽ echeenou tous hypēkoous edidaxen, hōs monos Theos tōn Israēlitōn ho Theos. Kai epi Kyrou de tou Persou tēn polythryllēton echeinēn epanodon tǭ laǭ dōrēsamenos, kai monois ek pantōn tōn aichmalōtōn genxnē menōn charisamenos tēn "" «hēs douleias apalla- Hyē", kai ton neōn ton oikeion deimamenos, kai tēn Hierousalēm eis tēn proteran epanagagōn xian, dedēlōke palin, ou toi? pelaxousi alla kai tois apothen oikousin, hōs monos estin hikanos promētheisthai kai prostateue:»)» hōn bouletai. Kai epi tōn Makedonōn de pollakis tēn oikeian hypedeixe dynamin, kai mentoi kai dia tōn prophētōn thaumatourgōn kai ta esomena prolegōn, polla tōn ethnōn pros alētheian epodēgēsen. Houtō ton megan saion to tōn Syrōn edeisen ethnos, pote men aorasias hyp᾽ autou dexamenon nepho?, pote de tou Neeman tēn kathartin theatamenon. Tosouton gar esche toude tou prophētou sethas "3", hōs arrhōstią peripesonta ton basilea pros touton aposteilai ton ᾿Azaēl peuso- s bxnon ei rhōsthēsetai" kai auton de ton ᾿Azaēl houtos autos ho prophētēs echrise basilea tois Syrois. Kai ton thespesion de Hieremian totautēs ēxiōse timēs | pōn Badylōniōn ho basileus, hōs airedin autǭ tēs oikēseōs dounai " kai tous men allous apantas kai basileas? kai archontas aichmalōtous apēgage, toutǭ de monǭ dedōken exousian diagein hopou bouletai.

The God of all, having created all human beings, continues to provide for all alike; and if long ago he was seen to take greater care of the Israelites, he did this too for the common benefit of all human beings. For in exercising fitting care for Israel, he did not show each person what to do by speaking to him, but chose one, the best of all (now the great Moses, now Joshua son of Nun, at another time Samuel, and at another Elijah), and through each of them, by laying down laws, or showing wonders, or offering exhortations, he guided them to salvation. Just so, God set the Israelite people apart from the other nations, and through his care for them and the … he showed the other nations too the way to the knowledge of God. For this is what he [teaches] us through the inspired Hosea too: "Ephraim is a watchman with God, a prophet." For he set the people forward as a kind of watchman and prophet for the benefit and salvation of the other nations. So through these events Egypt learned the ineffable power of the God of all. And the report of the Egyptians' destruction, carried to all human beings, made all marvel at the justice of divine providence. From this Rahab the harlot, receiving the radiance of the knowledge of God, said to the spies: "For the fear of you and the dread of you has fallen upon us; for we have heard how the Lord God dried up the Red Sea before you and led you through, because the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below." And many years later the foreigners, seeing the ark, cried out with fear and shuddering: "This is the God who struck Egypt." And when he had shot down those many thousands of Assyrians before the walls of Jerusalem and compelled Sennacherib to flee with a few, he made his power plain to all human beings. And in Babylon, by keeping Daniel unharmed when he had been handed over to the lions, and by changing that most violent flame of the furnace into dew, so that those blessed youths formed a dance in its midst and wove a hymn, he struck the arrogant king with awe and through him taught his subjects that the God of the Israelites alone is God. And under Cyrus the Persian, by granting the people that much-celebrated return, bestowing on them alone of all the captives deliverance from slavery, having his own temple built, and bringing Jerusalem back to its former dignity, he showed again, not only to the neighbors but also to those living far away, that he alone is able to provide for and protect whom he wishes. And under the Macedonians too he often showed his own power; and through the prophets, working wonders and foretelling the future, he guided many of the nations to the truth. So the nation of the Syrians feared the great Elisha, at one time receiving from him a cloud of blindness, at another seeing the cleansing of Naaman. For they had such reverence for this prophet that the king, when he fell ill, sent Hazael to him to ask whether he would recover; and this same prophet anointed Hazael himself king over the Syrians. And the king of the Babylonians counted the inspired Jeremiah worthy of such honor as to give him the choice of where to live; and while he led away all the others, both kings and rulers, as captives, to him alone he gave authority to live wherever he wished.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Hos 9:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Josh 2:9–11 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Sam 4:8 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Kgs 19:35–36 (allusion, high confidence) · Dan 6:22 (allusion, high confidence) · Dan 3:28–29 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ezra 1:1–4 (allusion, medium confidence) · 2 Kgs 6:18 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Kgs 5:14 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Kgs 8:7–13 (allusion, high confidence) · Jer 40:4 (47:4 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theodoret opens the preface to Jonah by showing that God's care for Israel always served to reveal him to the nations, from Egypt to Babylon and Persia.

Preface to Jonah, part 1. Latin debris at the opening and a line lost in the scan in the second sentence are marked "…". "Elisha" restores the scan's "[…]σαῖον". Quotations: Hos 9:8, Josh 2:9–11, 1 Sam 4:8. The dew in the furnace and the youths' hymn belong to the Greek additions to Daniel (Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Youths).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Latin debris; Latin debris (Migne's parallel column read as Greek letters); Migne's footnotes leaked into the quotation): ᾿ς ᾿πάϊἢ δἰ δὰ οὶ ψτγοροβυῖν δὰ ὑεΠΠταῖ πὶ δἰ ΐάγιπὶ σοί απὶ., οἱ 5410τοι. Νας ἴπ διὶἀυἀϊ νιν δι ἷπὶ [)685 ἴῃ οἷο βυγβυπ), οἱ ἴῃ ἰουγὰ ἀδογδυπὶ 5.» Εἰ → ; 49. Ὑπόθ. Ο λάάϊι, τοῦ προφήτου Ἰωνᾶ, Μ οἷον, χ, τι λ. Ὑἱά. δυργα, Ρ. “6 0 ὅτι, → ; νἱαΐδϑαηξ,, πιοῖἢ! οἱ → .

Extrabiblical texts: Pr Azar 26-27 (Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Young Men [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)

Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Comm. Proph. min. 5.0.1 (PG 81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-0-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-0-1

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 81 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

5.0.2PG 81

Οὕτω καὶ τὸν μακάριον Ἰωνᾶν Νινευϊτῶν ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς προφήτην ἐχειροτόνησε. Πόλις δὲ ἣν αὕτη πά. λαι μεγίστη, καὶ τοῦ τῶν ᾿Ασσυρίων βασιλέως τὰ βασίλεια δεξαμένη. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἔμελλεν ὁ μονογενὴς. τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος δι᾽ ἀνθρωπείας φύσεως ἐπιφαίνεσθαι τοῖς; ἀνθρώποις, καὶ ἅπαντα τὰ ἔθνη τῷ τῇ: θεογνωσίας καταφωτίζειν φωτὶ, καὶ πρὸ τῆς οἰκείας ἕνανθρωπήσεως τὴν θείαν αὑτοῦ τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ὑποδείκνυσι προμήθειαν, ἵνα τοῖς; προλαθοῦσ: τὰ ἐσόμενα ϑεδαισῃ, καὶ διδάξῃ πάντας, ὡς οὐκ Ἰουδαίων ὁ Θεὸς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐθνῶν, καὶ τῆς Παλαιᾶ, καὶ Νέας Διαθήκης τὴν συγγένειαν δείξῃ. Εἰ γὰρ μηδεμίαν τῶν ᾿ ἐθνῶν πρὸ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως ἐποιήσατο πρόνοιαν, ἕτερον ἂν αὐτὸν ὑπέλαθον Ἰουδαῖοι Θεὼν, ὡς ἐναντία δρῶντα τῷ δεδωκότι τὸν νόμον’ ὁ μὲν γὰρ μόνον Ἶουδαίων ἐφρόντιζεν' οὗτος ὃὲ πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἑποιεῖτὸ τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν, Τοῦτο ὃὲ πέπονθε Μαρκίων ὁ βδελυρὸς, ἄλλον τοῦτον παρ᾽ ἐκεῖνον φῆσας Θεὸν, καὶ ταῦτα κἀν τῇ Παλαιᾷ τὴν περὶ πάντας ἀνθρώπους αὐτοῦ θεασάμενὸς πρόνοιαν. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἵνα μὴ πέρα τοῦ μέτρου μηχύνωμεν, ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν ἔλθωμεν τοῦ προφῆτου τὴν ἑρμηνείαν Ὁ μακάριος Ἰωνᾶς καὶ ἄλλας ἐποιήσατο προφητείας " οὐκ ἐμφέρονται δὲ αὗται τῷ συγγράμματι τούτῳ" μεμαθήκαμεν δὲ ἐκείνας ἐκ τῆς τετάρτης τῶν Βασιλειῶν. Περὶ γὰρ τοῦ Ἱεροθοὰμ, ὃς τρίτος ἐξ Ἰποῦ γεγονὼς τῶν δέκα φυλῶν ἐδασίλευσε, τοιαὔτα ἡ Γραφὴ διδάσκει “ Αὐτὸς ἀπροχατέστησε τὸ ὅριον Ἰσραὴλ ἀπὸ εἰσύδου Ἤμὰϑ, ἕως τῆς "' θαλάσσης τῆς πρὸς ἑσπέραν, κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμα Κυρίου Θεοῦ Ἰ:ραῆλ, ὃ ἐλάλησεν ἕν χειρὶ δούλου αὑτοῦ Ἰωνᾷ, τοῦ υἱοῦ ᾿Αμαθεὶ, τοῦ προφήτου τοῦ ἀπὸ Γεθοφρᾷ. Καὶ ἡ προφητεία δὲ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχει τοῦ πατρὸς προσηγορίαν. Τοῦτον ἐκέλευσεν ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς εἰς Νινευῖ τὴν πόλιν ἀφικέσθαι, καὶ τὴν ἔσομένην αὐτοῖς διὰ τὴν πολλὴν παρανομίαν προαγγεῖαι κακίας αὐτῶν δ πρός με. ν» Τουτέστιν, εἰς πολλὴν μίας τοὺς ὄρους. ᾿Αλλὰ τούτων ὁ προφήτης τῶν λόγων ἀκούσας, φυγὴν τῆς ὑπαχοῖςς καὶ ἀποδρᾶναι τετόλμηκεν εἰς Θαροίς. Τὴν δὲ θαρσὶς, τινὲς μὲν Ταρσὸν ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ ὀνόματο: νείας ὑπέλαθον εἶναι, τινὲς δὲ τὴν Ἰνδίαν οὕτως ἔφασαν ὠνομᾶσθαι " δυνιδεῖν οὐκ ἐθελήσαντες, ὡς τῶν ᾿Ασσυρίων ἡ βασιλεία τῆς Ἰνδῶν ἔστιν ὅμορος δι βθρίθης ( ἦθος δὲ τοῖς φεύγουσι τὰ ἑῷα ἐπὶ τὴν ἑσπέραν χωρεῖν, καὶ τοῖς τὰ νότια δραπετεύουσιν ἐπὶ τὰ δόρεια τρέχειν " ἄλλως τε καὶ εἰ; τὴν Ἰόππην χατῖλθε, πόλιν παραλίαν τῆς Παλαιστίνης, ἵνα ἐκεῖθεν ἀπάρῃ, ἐπίκειται δὲ τῇ πρὸς ἑσπέραν κειμένῃ θαλάττῃ.

Houtō kai ton makarion Iōnan Nineuïtōn ho tōn holōn Theos prophētēn echeirotonēse. Polis de hēn hautē pa. lai megistē, kai tou tōn ᾿Assyriōn basileōs ta basileia dexamenē. Epeidē gar emellen ho monogenēs. tou Theou Logos di᾽ anthrōpeias physeōs epiphainesthai tois? anthrōpois, kai hapanta ta ethnē tǭ tę̄: theognōsias kataphōtizein phōti, kai pro tēs oikeias henanthrōpēseōs tēn theian hautou tois ethnesin hypodeiknysi promētheian, hina tois? prolathous: ta esomena ϑedaisę̄, kai didaxę̄ pantas, hōs ouk Ioudaiōn ho Theos monon, alla kai ethnōn, kai tēs Palaia, kai Neas Diathēkēs tēn syngeneian deixę̄. Ei gar mēdemian tōn ᾿ ethnōn pro tēs enanthrōpēseōs epoiēsato pronoian, heteron an auton hypelathon Ioudaioi Theōn, hōs enantia drōnta tǭ dedōkoti ton nomon’ ho men gar monon Ioudaiōn ephrontizen' houtos hoe pantōn anthrōpōn hepoieito tēn epimeleian, Touto hoe peponthe Markiōn ho bdelyros, allon touton par᾽ ekeinon phēsas Theon, kai tauta kan tę̄ Palaią tēn peri pantas anthrōpous autou theasamenos pronoian. ᾿All᾽ hina mē pera tou metrou mēchynōmen, ep᾽ autēn elthōmen tou prophētou tēn hermēneian Ho makarios Iōnas kai allas epoiēsato prophēteias " ouk empherontai de hautai tǭ syngrammati toutǭ" memathēkamen de ekeinas ek tēs tetartēs tōn Basileiōn. Peri gar tou Hierothoam, hos tritos ex Ipou gegonōs tōn deka phylōn edasileuse, toiauta hē Graphē didaskei “ Autos aprochatestēse to horion Israēl apo eisydou Ēmaϑ, heōs tēs "' thalassēs tēs pros hesperan, kata to rhēma Kyriou Theou I:raēl, ho elalēsen hen cheiri doulou hautou Iōną, tou huiou ᾿Amathei, tou prophētou tou apo Gethophrą. Kai hē prophēteia de tēn autēn echei tou patros prosēgorian. Touton ekeleusen ho tōn holōn Theos eis Nineui tēn polin aphikesthai, kai tēn esomenēn autois dia tēn pollēn paranomian proangeiai kakias autōn d pros me. n» Toutestin, eis pollēn mias tous orous. ᾿Alla toutōn ho prophētēs tōn logōn akousas, phygēn tēs hypachoiss kai apodranai tetolmēken eis Tharois. Tēn de tharsis, tines men Tarson apo tēs tou onomato: neias hypelathon einai, tines de tēn Indian houtōs ephasan ōnomasthai " dynidein ouk ethelēsantes, hōs tōn ᾿Assyriōn hē basileia tēs Indōn estin homoros di bthrithēs ( ēthos de tois pheugousi ta heǭa epi tēn hesperan chōrein, kai tois ta notia drapeteuousin epi ta doreia trechein " allōs te kai ei? tēn Ioppēn chatilthe, polin paralian tēs Palaistinēs, hina ekeithen aparę̄, epikeitai de tę̄ pros hesperan keimenę̄ thalattę̄.

So too the God of all appointed the blessed Jonah prophet of the Ninevites. This city was once very great and held the palace of the king of the Assyrians. For since the only-begotten Word of God was going to appear to human beings through human nature and to enlighten all the nations with the light of the knowledge of God, even before his own incarnation he shows his divine providence to the nations, so as to confirm what was to come by what went before, to teach all that he is God not of the Jews only but also of the nations, and to show the kinship of the Old and New Testaments. For if he had made no provision for any of the nations before the incarnation, the Jews would have supposed him to be another God, as doing the opposite of the one who gave the law; for the one cared only for the Jews, while this one took care of all human beings. This is what happened to the abominable Marcion, who said that this God is another beside that one, and that although he saw in the Old Testament too his providence for all human beings. But lest we go on at excessive length, let us come to the interpretation of the prophet itself. The blessed Jonah also made other prophecies; they are not included in this book, but we have learned of them from the fourth book of the Kingdoms. For concerning Jeroboam, who was the third from Jehu to reign over the ten tribes, Scripture teaches as follows: "He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the west, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he spoke by the hand of his servant Jonah the son of Amathi, the prophet from Gath-hepher." And the prophecy too gives the same name for his father. The God of all commanded him to go to the city of Nineveh and announce beforehand the [destruction] that would come upon them for their great lawlessness: "[for the cry of] their wickedness [has come up] to me." That is, [it has reached] the limits of great [wicked]ness. But when the prophet heard these words, [he chose] flight [instead] of obedience and dared to run away to Tharsis. Some supposed from the likeness of the name that Tharsis is Tarsus, and others said that India is so named, not willing to see that the kingdom of the Assyrians borders that of the Indians …; and it is the custom for those fleeing the east to go to the west, and for those escaping the south to run to the north. Besides, he went down to Joppa, a coastal city of Palestine, to set sail from there; and it lies on the western sea.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

2 Kgs 14:25 (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 1:1–3 (allusion, high confidence) · Jonah 1:2 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: God sent Jonah to Nineveh to show his care for the nations before the incarnation, refuting Marcion's two gods; Jonah fled toward Tharsis, which cannot be India.

Preface to Jonah, part 2, with a paraphrase of Jonah 1:1–3 and a quotation of 1:2. The other prophecy of Jonah is 2 Kgs 14:25. Marcion taught that the God of the Old Testament was a different god from the Father of Jesus; Theodoret's description of him as "abominable" is translated as written. Words are lost in the scan in the paraphrase of 1:2 and in the argument about India; marked "…" or supplied in brackets by sense.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Latin debris; Latin debris and Migne's footnotes (Migne's parallel column read as Greek letters); OCR: χωρεῖν broken by Latin debris): α..» ἢν} 84 Ομ ἢ 15 γα 580108 ἃ δοῦν) υἱὸ Πρ οΓα856ῖ., (δι θ] πν 40 6 δύ] τοι ἀϊ 8561., Γυγβὺδ ρίαηαπι [οεῖ(, ποὴ ἀμ εἰ τό ᾿ς, ἵν, τοί. οἱ γαϊῃ ἀρρϑιϊυταπι γᾶν δον Ὠΐ}115.,. εἰ σι Π 0118 ἤιοατη βουί δι αὶ, αἱ αι! τ: τήν, Οἱ γγμ), καὶ, πὴ σέξι [0 υτάσιι. τό, Α → ; 1, ἡ πδὲ αμ' γοῦἴθ. 6586, αι → ; χὰ» ἴη Ὁ : 0} 4μδπηρ! γί πὶ δὲ ται οἰ 6558 Ομ ρεῖν → χωρεῖν.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Comm. Proph. min. 5.0.2 (PG 81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-0-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-0-2

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 81 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

5.0.3PG 81

Διὰ τούτου δὲ τοῦ πελάγους οὐκ ἂν ναντιλίᾳ τις χρώμενος εἰς Ἰνδίαν ἀπέλθοι " μεταξὺ γὰρ τῆς τε ἦμεν τέρας θαλάττης, καὶ τῆς Ἰνδιχῆς, ἤπειρός ἐστι δὲς γίστη, ἡ μὲν οἰκουμένη, ἢ δὲ παντελῶς ἔρημος ᾿ καὶ βρη δὲ πλεῖστα καὶ μέγιστα, μεθ᾽ ἃ τῆς Ἐρυθρῖς θαλάστης ὁ κόλπος, ᾧ τὸ Ἰνδικὸν ἀναμέμιχται πε’ λαγος. Καὶ ἵνα μή τις ὑπολάδῃ λογισμοῖς ἡμᾶς παραλογίζεσθαι τὴν ἀλήθειαν, τὴν θείαν Γρὰαφὴν ταρἐξομαι μάρτυρα, ὡς θαρσὶς ἡ Καρχηδών ἐστι τς ᾿Αφρικῆς προχαθημένη. Ἐν γὰρ Ἡσαΐᾳ τῷ τῷ. εἰρηκότων, « Ὀλολύξετε, πλοῖα Καρχηδόνος, ὅτι ἀπόλωλε τὸ ὀχύρωμα ὑμῶν» »Ακύλας, καὶ '6 Σύμμαχος, καὶ Θεοδοτίων, θυρσὶς ἀντὶ τῆς Καρχηδόνος τεθείκασι. Τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ ὄνομά Ἰωνᾷς ἑρμηνεύεται ὑψίστου πονοῦντος ἢ περιστεράς ω ς ἦν ἐκ γῆς κα νρνὴ τὸ πλνσίον ᾿Αζώτου πόλεως λλήνων κατὰ. Νινευῇ) καὶ κηρύξας καὶ ἀναχάμψας οὐκ ἕ κήτους ἀπελθὼν εἰς Νινευῖ ( ὀὼν τὴν μητέρα αὑτοῦ, παρῴκησεν ἐν τῇ ᾿Ασσοὺρ χώρᾳ ἀλλοφύλων ἐθνῶν. θάλασσαν. Καὶ ἐχθρασθεὶς ἐκ τοῦ εινεν ἐν τῇ γῇ αὐτοῦ" ἀλλὰ παραϊτξ Ἔλεγεν γὰρ, ὅτι οὕτως ἀφελῶ τὸ ὄνειδός μου, ὅτι ἐψευσάμην προφητεύσας κατὰ Νινευῖ τῆς μεγάλης πόλεως. Διήγησις,, ὧν ὁ λαὸς τῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ οἱ τόκου, ἱερεῖς ἡσέθουν καὶ ἡμάρτανον. τῆς “ὦ καὶ ἡ Ἑόδραίων ἔχει γραφή. Οὕτω δὲ καὶ τοῦ μένον, καὶ παρὰ τῷ Ἑόραίῳ, καὶ παρὰ τῷ Σύρῳ εὑρήκαμεν «τὸ Θαρσίς. Ἐξ ὧν ποδηγηθέντες, τὸν μακάριόν φαμεν Ἰωνᾶν οὐκ εἰς Ἰνδίαν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς Καρχηδόνα ποιήσασθαι τὴν φυγήν. Πεποίηκε δὲ τοῦτο σαφῶς μὲν εἰδὼς, ἅτε δὴ προφήτης, ὡς πανπαχοὺ πάρεστι τῶν ὅλων ὁ Κύριος, καὶ τόπος οὐδεὶς ἔρημος τῆς αὑτοῦ προμηθείας" ὑπολαμθάνων δὲ ὅμως ἐν μόνῃ τῇ Ἱερουσαλὴμ αὐτὸν ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἐπιςάνειαν. Οὐκ ὄκνος δὲ αὐτῷ τῆς φυγῆς, οὐδὲ δέος ἐγένετο πρόξενον - ἀλλὰ τὰς τοῦ ἐλέου πηγὰς ἐπιστάμενος, αἷς χρώμενος ὁ κηρῦξαι κελεύσας ἅπαντα πρυτανεύει, καὶ εἰδὼς ὡς εἰ μεταμελείᾳ χρήσονται Νινευῖται, τεύξονται πάντως τῆς θείας φιλανθρωπίας, ἀπρεπὲς ἐνόμισε ψευδῆ δειχθῆναι τὴν πρόῤῥησιν, καὶ ψεύστης ἀντὶ προφήτου κληθῆναι. Ταύτην δὲ αὐτῷ τὴν ὑποψίαν ἐντέθειχε καὶ αὐτὸ τῆς ἀπειληθείσης τιμωρίας τὸ κήρυγμα. Ἐσχόπι,σΞ γὰρ, ὡς οὐκ ἂν προεμήνυσεν, εἴπερ κολάσαι ἠθούλετο " ἀλλὰ μετανοίας ἐστὶ δήπουθεν προτροπὴ, τῆς τιμωρίας ἡ ἀπειλή. Πρὸς δὲ τούτῳ καὶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων κατηγορίαν ὑπέλαθδεν ἔσεσθαι τὴν τῶν Νινευϊτῶν εὐπείθειαν, ὡς τῶν μὲν ἀγνῶτ'ι καὶ ἀλλοφύλῳ χότων ἀνδρὶ, τῶν ὃὲ μυρίοις προφήταις ὁμοφύλοις, μετὰ θαυματουργίας τὴν προφητείαν ποιουμένοις, διηνεχῶ; ἀπειθούντων, καὶ ὄνησιν οὐδεμίαν παρ᾽ αὐτῶν δεχομένων. Διὰ ταῦτα τὸ κελευσθὲν εὐθὺς οὐ πεποίηκεν᾽ ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν διὰ θαλάτσης φυγὴν ἐποιήσατο, νομίσας ὅτι τάχιστα τῆς τοιαύτης ὑπουργίας ἀπαλλαγήσεται. "Ἔδωκε δὲ καὶ τὸν τῆς ναυτιλίας μισθὸν, οὐδὲ τῆς ἐντεῦθεν αὐτὸν ξημίας ἐπισχεῖν δυνηθείσης. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὁ γῆς, καὶ θαλάττης, καὶ τῶν οὐρανῶν Ποιητὴς, ἐγείρει κατὰ τοῦ σκάφους κλύδωνα, καὶ τὰ "7 τῶν κυμάτων περιθδάλλει τῷ πλοίῳ δεσμὰ, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πάντων ἐξουρίων φερομένων, περὶ τοῦτο μόνον τὸ πλοῖον ἐγίνετο τῆς θαλάττης ἡ ζάλη, καὶ τὸ ῥόθιον ἔζει. Καὶ τοῦτο ἡμᾶς τῶν ναυτῶν ὁ κλῆρος διδάσκει σαφῶς " οὐ γὰρ ἂν, εἴπερ κοινὸς ἣν ὁ κλύδων, κλήρῳ μαθεῖν ἐπεχείρησαν τὸν τοῦ κλύδωνος αἴτιον " ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ τοὺς ἄλλους ἑώρων δύνως διατέμνοντας τῆς θαλάττης τὰ νῶτα, τὴν δὲ ταῖς τρικυμίαις, πρῶτὸν μὲν ἐτράποντο πρὸς εὐχὰς, ὃν ἕκαστος ἐνόμιζε Θεὸν ἱκετεύοντες " οὐδένα ὃὲ πόρον δ σωτηρίας ἐντεῦθεν εὑρίσκοντες, ὕπνῳ τὸν Ἰωνᾶν κατεχόμενον ἀφυπνίζουσιν. Ὑπὸ γὰρ τοῦ συνειδότος κεντούμενος, καὶ τῇ ἀθυμίᾳ βαλλόμενος, καὶ τῶν λογισμῶν τὰς ἀχίδας οὐ φέρων, ἐμηχανήσατο τὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ ὕπνου παραψυχῆν. Καὶ τοτούτου κατὰ τοῦ σκάφους γιγνομένου θορύδου, τῶν κυμάτων ἔξωθεν προσρηγνυμένων, καὶ τῶν ναυτῶν ἔνδοθεν ταραττομένων, αὐτὸς οὐκ ἁπλῶς οὐδὲ μετρίως ἐκάθευδεν, ἀλλὰ βαθεῖ κατἐχόμενος ὕπνῳ καὶ ἔρεγχεν, ὡς αὐτὸς συγγράψας ἐδίδαξεν. ᾿Αλλὰ διαναστήσας αὐτὸν ὁ πρωρεὺς, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον εὐχὰς πρησφέρξιν τῷ οἰκείῳ Θεῷ κατ-

Dia toutou de tou pelagous ouk an nantilią tis chrōmenos eis Indian apelthoi " metaxy gar tēs te ēmen teras thalattēs, kai tēs Indichēs, ēpeiros esti des gistē, hē men oikoumenē, ē de pantelōs erēmos ᾿ kai brē de pleista kai megista, meth᾽ ha tēs Erythris thalastēs ho kolpos, hǭ to Indikon anamemichtai pe’ lagos. Kai hina mē tis hypoladę̄ logismois hēmas paralogizesthai tēn alētheian, tēn theian Graaphēn tarexomai martyra, hōs tharsis hē Karchēdōn esti ts ᾿Aphrikēs prochathēmenē. En gar Hēsaïą tǭ tǭ. eirēkotōn, « Ololyxete, ploia Karchēdonos, hoti apolōle to ochyrōma hymōn» »Akylas, kai '6 Symmachos, kai Theodotiōn, thyrsis anti tēs Karchēdonos tetheikasi. Touto gar to onoma Iōnąs hermēneuetai hypsistou ponountos ē peristeras ō s ēn ek gēs ka nrnē to plnsion ᾿Azōtou poleōs llēnōn kata. Nineuę̄) kai kēryxas kai anachampsas ouk he kētous apelthōn eis Nineui ( oōn tēn mētera hautou, parǭkēsen en tę̄ ᾿Assour chōrą allophylōn ethnōn. thalassan. Kai echthrastheis ek tou einen en tę̄ gę̄ autou" alla paraïtx Elegen gar, hoti houtōs aphelō to oneidos mou, hoti epseusamēn prophēteusas kata Nineui tēs megalēs poleōs. Diēgēsis,, hōn ho laos tōn Ioudaiōn kai hoi tokou, hiereis hēsethoun kai hēmartanon. tēs “ō kai hē Heodraiōn echei graphē. Houtō de kai tou menon, kai para tǭ Heoraiǭ, kai para tǭ Syrǭ heurēkamen «to Tharsis. Ex hōn podēgēthentes, ton makarion phamen Iōnan ouk eis Indian, all᾽ eis Karchēdona poiēsasthai tēn phygēn. Pepoiēke de touto saphōs men eidōs, hate dē prophētēs, hōs panpachou paresti tōn holōn ho Kyrios, kai topos oudeis erēmos tēs hautou promētheias" hypolamthanōn de homōs en monę̄ tę̄ Hierousalēm auton poieisthai tēn episaneian. Ouk oknos de autǭ tēs phygēs, oude deos egeneto proxenon - alla tas tou eleou pēgas epistamenos, hais chrōmenos ho kēryxai keleusas hapanta prytaneuei, kai eidōs hōs ei metameleią chrēsontai Nineuitai, teuxontai pantōs tēs theias philanthrōpias, aprepes enomise pseudē deichthēnai tēn prorrhēsin, kai pseustēs anti prophētou klēthēnai. Tautēn de autǭ tēn hypopsian entetheiche kai auto tēs apeilētheisēs timōrias to kērygma. Eschopi,sX gar, hōs ouk an proemēnysen, eiper kolasai ēthouleto " alla metanoias esti dēpouthen protropē, tēs timōrias hē apeilē. Pros de toutǭ kai tōn Ioudaiōn katēgorian hypelathden esesthai tēn tōn Nineuïtōn eupeitheian, hōs tōn men agnōt'i kai allophylǭ chotōn andri, tōn hoe myriois prophētais homophylois, meta thaumatourgias tēn prophēteian poioumenois, diēnechō? apeithountōn, kai onēsin oudemian par᾽ autōn dechomenōn. Dia tauta to keleusthen euthys ou pepoiēken᾽ alla kai tēn dia thalatsēs phygēn epoiēsato, nomisas hoti tachista tēs toiautēs hypourgias apallagēsetai. "Edōke de kai ton tēs nautilias misthon, oude tēs enteuthen auton xēmias epischein dynētheisēs. ᾿All᾽ ho gēs, kai thalattēs, kai tōn ouranōn Poiētēs, egeirei kata tou skaphous klydōna, kai ta "7 tōn kymatōn perithdallei tǭ ploiǭ desma, kai tōn allōn pantōn exouriōn pheromenōn, peri touto monon to ploion egineto tēs thalattēs hē zalē, kai to rhothion ezei. Kai touto hēmas tōn nautōn ho klēros didaskei saphōs " ou gar an, eiper koinos hēn ho klydōn, klērǭ mathein epecheirēsan ton tou klydōnos aition " all᾽ epeidē tous allous heōrōn dynōs diatemnontas tēs thalattēs ta nōta, tēn de tais trikymiais, prōton men etraponto pros euchas, hon hekastos enomize Theon hiketeuontes " oudena hoe poron d sōtērias enteuthen heuriskontes, hypnǭ ton Iōnan katechomenon aphypnizousin. Hypo gar tou syneidotos kentoumenos, kai tę̄ athymią ballomenos, kai tōn logismōn tas achidas ou pherōn, emēchanēsato tēn hypo tou hypnou parapsychēn. Kai totoutou kata tou skaphous gignomenou thorydou, tōn kymatōn exōthen prosrēgnymenōn, kai tōn nautōn endothen tarattomenōn, autos ouk haplōs oude metriōs ekatheuden, alla bathei katechomenos hypnǭ kai erenchen, hōs autos syngrapsas edidaxen. ᾿Alla dianastēsas auton ho prōreus, to men prōton euchas prēspherxin tǭ oikeiǭ Theǭ kat-

No one sailing through this sea could reach India; for between our sea and the Indian there is a very large continent, partly inhabited and partly utterly desert, and very many and very great mountains, and after them the gulf of the Red Sea, with which the Indian Ocean is mingled. And lest anyone suppose that we are reasoning our way past the truth, I will offer the divine Scripture as witness that Tharsis is Carthage, which lies at the front of Africa. For in Isaiah, where the Seventy said, "Wail, ships of Carthage, for your stronghold has perished," Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion put "Tharsis" instead of "Carthage". For the Hebrew Scripture too has this name. So too we have found "Tharsis" in the Hebrew and in the Syriac … Guided by these, we say that the blessed Jonah made his flight not to India but to Carthage. He did this knowing clearly, as a prophet, that the Lord of all is present everywhere and that no place is devoid of his providence, yet supposing that he made his appearance in Jerusalem alone. It was neither sloth nor fear that caused his flight. Rather, he knew the springs of mercy by which the one who commanded him to preach governs all things, and he knew that if the Ninevites repented they would certainly obtain the divine kindness; so he thought it unseemly for the prediction to be shown false, and for himself to be called a liar instead of a prophet. This suspicion was put into him by the very proclamation of the threatened punishment. For he reasoned that God would not have announced it beforehand if he wished to punish; the threat of punishment is surely an exhortation to repentance. Besides this, he supposed that the Ninevites' ready obedience would become an accusation of the Jews: for the one people obeyed an unknown and foreign man, while the other continually disobeyed countless prophets of their own race who prophesied with wonders, and received no benefit from them. For these reasons he did not at once do what he was commanded, but made his flight by sea, thinking he would very quickly be rid of such a service. And he even paid the fare, and not even the loss could hold him back. But the Maker of earth, sea, and heavens raises a storm against the vessel and throws the bonds of the waves around the ship; and while all the others were borne along by fair winds, around this ship alone the sea raged and the surf boiled. And the sailors' lot teaches us this clearly: for if the storm had been common to all, they would not have tried to learn its cause by lot. But since they saw the others cutting painlessly across the back of the sea, and their own ship [battered] by the waves, they first turned to prayers, each entreating the god he believed in; and finding no way of safety from this, they woke Jonah, who was sunk in sleep. For, stung by his conscience, struck by despondency, and unable to bear the barbs of his thoughts, he had contrived the relief of sleep. And while such an uproar arose on the vessel, the waves dashing against it outside and the sailors in turmoil within, he slept not simply nor moderately, but was sunk in deep sleep and snoring, as he himself, who wrote the book, has taught us. But the ship's master roused him, and first [bade him] offer prayers to his own God …

[In the scan the following notice is printed within this section: "Jonah is interpreted 'of the Most High, toiling', or 'dove'. He was from the land of Kariathmaous, near Azotus, a city of the Greeks, by the sea. And having been cast out by the sea monster and gone to Nineveh, and having preached and returned, he did not stay in his own land, but took his mother and sojourned in the land of Assour, a land of foreign nations. For he said: 'Thus I will take away my reproach, that I lied in prophesying against Nineveh the great city.'" And a heading: "Narrative of the things in which the people of the Jews and the priests were impious and sinned."]

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Isa 23:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 1:3–6 (allusion, high confidence) · Jonah 1:5 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Tharsis is Carthage, not India; Jonah fled not from fear but because he foresaw that God would spare repentant Nineveh and make his prophecy seem false, and God sent a storm on his ship alone.

Preface to Jonah, part 3, with a paraphrase of Jonah 1:3–6. The quotation is Isa 23:1 (LXX "ships of Carthage"). The notice on Jonah set in brackets at the end follows the tradition of the Lives of the Prophets, which Migne prints with the commentary; its fragments are scattered through this section in the scan and have been gathered here; the final heading is of uncertain reference. Lines are lost in the scan after "in the Syriac" and at the end; marked "…".

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Latin debris; Latin debris and Migne's footnotes; Latin debris and Migne's footnotes (variant readings); Latin debris inside the quotation (Migne's parallel column read as Greek letters)): νοδίνα Ρ,. » Δαυΐδ, οἱ ϑγιμπηλςπυθ, οἱ οἴη πὸ → ; ΤΙΣ Ε΄, δὐδῆι, αὐιϑὲ ἴἢ Α ροβί δ. τν, 11, Ἰδραπέιν : → ; 1 Ε΄, 50 4θ]ι : → ; ΠΟΓηπὶ Ιοσὰπὶ ἴῃ Δ οσευρᾶὶ 5815 [)ε8. ἴῃ Ο. '5Ὰ αὐτῆς. "6 καί, Οἱ ργᾶιν. δέ. → .

Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Comm. Proph. min. 5.0.3 (PG 81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-0-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-0-3

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 81 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

5.0.4PG 81

ηνάγκασεν, ἀγνοῶν ὡς τὴν τοιαύτην ἀφεῖλεν ἡ φυγὴ εἶδ παῤῥησίαν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ λύσιν οὐδαμόθεν ἐλάμθανε τὰ δεινὰ, κλήρῳ μαθεῖν ἠδυνήθησαν τὸν τοῦ χλύδωνος αἴτιον, εἰδότες, ὡς εἰκὸς (τὴν γὰρ φυσικὴν ἐκέκτηντο γνῶσιν), ὡς ἔστι τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσιν ἀποἀξίας. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τοῦ προφήτου κατήγορος καὶ μάρτυς ὁ κλῆρος ἐγένετο, ἄγεται εἰς τὸ κριτήριον, καὶ δρῶσιν οἱ ναῦται τὰ δικαστῶν, καὶ ἀπαιτοῦσιν εὐθύνας τῶν βεδιωμένων τὸν Ἰωνᾶν. η΄. ε« ᾿Απάγγειλον γὰρ, φασὶν "", ἡμῖν, τίς σου" ἡ ἐργασία ἐστὶ, καὶ πόθεν ἔρχῃ, καὶ ποῦ πορεύῃ, «8 καὶ ἐκ ποίας χώρας, καὶ ἐκ ποίου λαοῦ εἶ σύ. ν θῦτον μετὰ ἀχριδείας ἁπάσης ἐξήταζον, πανταχόθεν μαθεῖν ἐθέλοντες τὴν τοῦ χειμῶνος αἰτίαν" οὗ χάριν οὗ μόνον πόθεν τε ἀπῆρε, καὶ ποῦ βαδίζει κελεύουσιν εἰπεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ ποίου ἔθνους κατάγει τὸ γένος, ἵνα καὶ ἐκ τῶν κοινῶν τοῦ ἔθνους ἐπιτηδευμάτων μάθωσι τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸν βίον. Πρὸ; ταῦτα τοίνυν ἀποκρινόμενος ὁ μακάριος Ἰωνᾶς ἔλεγε"

ēnankasen, agnoōn hōs tēn toiautēn apheilen hē phygē eid parrhēsian. Epeidē de lysin oudamothen elamthane ta deina, klērǭ mathein ēdynēthēsan ton tou chlydōnos aition, eidotes, hōs eikos (tēn gar physikēn ekektēnto gnōsin), hōs esti tois hamartanousin apoaxias. Epeidē de tou prophētou katēgoros kai martys ho klēros egeneto, agetai eis to kritērion, kai drōsin hoi nautai ta dikastōn, kai apaitousin euthynas tōn bediōmenōn ton Iōnan. ē΄. e« ᾿Apangeilon gar, phasin "", hēmin, tis sou" hē ergasia esti, kai pothen erchę̄, kai pou poreuę̄, «8 kai ek poias chōras, kai ek poiou laou ei sy. n thyton meta achrideias hapasēs exētazon, pantachothen mathein ethelontes tēn tou cheimōnos aitian" hou charin hou monon pothen te apēre, kai pou badizei keleuousin eipein, alla kai ek poiou ethnous katagei to genos, hina kai ek tōn koinōn tou ethnous epitēdeumatōn mathōsi tou anthrōpou ton bion. Pro? tauta toinyn apokrinomenos ho makarios Iōnas elege"

… compelled, not knowing that his flight had taken away such boldness. And since the terrors found no release from anywhere, they were able to learn the cause of the storm by lot, knowing, as is likely (for they possessed natural knowledge), that it is [the lot] of sinners [to suffer what they] deserve. And since the lot became the prophet's accuser and witness, he is brought to court, and the sailors act as judges and demand of Jonah an account of his life. 8. "Tell us," they say, "what is your occupation, and where do you come from, and where are you going, and from what country and from what people are you?" They examined this with all precision, wishing to learn the cause of the storm from every side; for this reason they bid him say not only where he had set out from and where he was going, but also from what nation he traced his descent, so that from the common customs of the nation they might learn the man's way of life. In answer to this, then, the blessed Jonah said:

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Jonah 1:6–7 (allusion, high confidence) · Jonah 1:8 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The lot falls on Jonah, and the sailors question him as judges about his origin and occupation.

Preface to Jonah, part 4, with a paraphrase of Jonah 1:6–7 and the lemma of 1:8. The section opens in mid-sentence after Latin debris, and words are lost in the scan about the lot ("…", with bracketed words supplied by sense). It ends in mid-sentence; the lemma follows in the next section.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Latin debris; Latin debris and Migne's footnotes (Migne's parallel column read as Greek letters); OCR: κλύδωνος broken by Latin debris): τη θη Ἰοἢ ὁ πὶ "θυ πὶ 8686 ἴῃ οί πιο πάδία - Εἰ ςοὐῃλϊμδιῖο ἰην δ! 51 δὰ ροπηἰιοπιίδην. Αὐ αὐὶ θα }5 5015. γα γῖβ ΟῚ τ] ΓΑ υ 5. νι! οἴπαυ!- Πυοιαυπαπα {Π πὶ νἱ ποι} 15. οἰγοιμ] σαί : απ 416 ἴῃ δὰ νἴ δὴν Ὁ Θςοηϑεϊαπιίϊαα οἰϊαλυ ἷ νοχαῖυϑ., δ πη ϑί Δ (0η γὰ- Εἴη) ναι, υἱ 41 χά. ὕε5. ἰη Ο. 514 πόνον, τ Α → ; χλύδω. είτε δοουβαιγὶχ οἱ (65118 8075 νὸς → χλύδωνος; Υεαβ. 8. «Απηυμῖϊα οἶα ποῦ 5, ἰπησίυη!, ααΐὰ → ; εἱ οχ → ; τορίοπο, δἱ δκ 410 ρόρυ!ο ἴὰ 657» Αρευγαιί8- → ; ΒῸη πιο 10 ὑπ! οπᾶπὶ νϑμΐαὶ, οἱ 40 ἰοπάφι, οἤδγί αὶ → ; υἱ ὁχ εοπι-- → ; Αὐ φυξ 3025 γεβρυπάϊί : → .

Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Comm. Proph. min. 5.0.4 (PG 81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-0-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-0-4

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 81 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

Preface 5, chapter 1

5.1.9PG 81

θ΄, ε Δοῦλος Κυρίου ἐγώ εἶμι, καὶ Κύριον" τὸν θεὸν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐγὼ σέθομαι, ὃς ἐποίησε τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ τὴν ξηράν. ν θαυμάσιος ἀληθῶς ὁ προφήτης, καὶ πάσης ἄξιος εὐφημίας. Καὶ γὰρ θανάτου προσδεχόμενος ψῆφον, κήρυξ γίνεται τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων δυνάμεως, ποιητὴν αὐτὸν τῶν ἁπάντων καὶ Δεσπότην ἀποκαλῶν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἰδώλοις ἐλάτρευον τὸ τηνικαῦτα τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἱ πλεῖστοι, τὸν δὲ τῶν ἀπάντων ἠγνόουν Δημιουργόν᾽ ἀναγκαίως ὁ μακάριος προφήτης τοῦτον τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσιν ἀποχαλύπτει " ὁμολογεῖ δὲ καὶ τὴν πρόφασιν τῆς φυγῆς, ὅτι τοῦτον ὅν οἶδα, οὐ μόνον γῆς καὶ θαλάττης, ἀλλὰ ε Καὶ εἶπον πρὸς αὐτόν“ Τί τοῦτο πεποίηκας;» Ταῦτα, φασὶν, ἐπιστάμενος, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους διδά, σχεῖν πεπιστευμένος, πῶς ἠνέσχου φυγεῖν τὸν πανταχοῦ παρόντα Θεόν; Τοσαύτην φέρει τὴν αἰσχύνην τὸ μὴ εἴκειν Θεῷ " καὶ γὰρ ὁ προφήτης, ὁ τῶν ἄλλων διδάσκαλος, ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγνοίᾳ κατεχομένων τῆς μέμψεως τὴν ψῆφον ἐδέχετο. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὅμως καὶ τῶν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ λόγων ἀχφύσαντες, καὶ λίαν αὐτῷ μεμ ἀναμένουσι τὸ πρακτέον δηλῶσαι. ια΄, ς Τί σοι γὰρ, φασὶ, ποιήσομεν, καὶ χοπάσει ἡ θάλασσα ἀφ' ἡμῶν; ν Σφοδρότερος γὰρ ὁ κλύδων καὶ μετὰ τὸν κλῆρον ἐγένετο. Τότε λοιπὸν ὁ μακάριος προφήτης τὴν θείαν ὀργὴν ἐγνωκὼς, αὐτὸς θάνατον. ιβ΄. «Ἄρατε γάρ με, φησὶ, καὶ ἐμδάλετε εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ χοπάσει ἡ θάλατσα ἀφ᾽ ὑμῶν, διότι ἔγνωκα ἐγὼ, ὅτι δι᾽ ἐμὲ ὁ κλύδων ὁ μέγας οὗτός ἔστιν ἐφ᾽ ὑμῶν "". » ᾿Αλλὰ καὶ τούτων ἀκούσαντες τῶν λόγων, οὐκ εὐθὺς τὸ κελευσθὲν ξδρᾶἔσεσθαι τῶν κακῶν, καὶ ταῖς χώπαις χρώμενοι γαταχθῆναι πρὸς τὴν γῆν ἐπειράθησαν. Ὡς δὲ καὶ Α τοῦτο ποιεῖν διεχώλυς τῆς θαλάττης ἡ βία, εὐχῇ τὸν Θεὸν ἰλασάμενοι πρότερον, οὕτω τὸν Ἰωνᾶν τῇ θα-

th΄, e Doulos Kyriou egō eimi, kai Kyrion" ton theon tou ouranou egō sethomai, hos epoiēse tēn thalassan kai tēn xēran. n thaumasios alēthōs ho prophētēs, kai pasēs axios euphēmias. Kai gar thanatou prosdechomenos psēphon, kēryx ginetai tēs tou theou tōn holōn dynameōs, poiētēn auton tōn hapantōn kai Despotēn apokalōn. Epeidē gar eidōlois elatreuon to tēnikauta tōn anthrōpōn hoi pleistoi, ton de tōn apantōn ēgnooun Dēmiourgon᾽ anankaiōs ho makarios prophētēs touton tois agnoousin apochalyptei " homologei de kai tēn prophasin tēs phygēs, hoti touton hon oida, ou monon gēs kai thalattēs, alla e Kai eipon pros auton“ Ti touto pepoiēkas?» Tauta, phasin, epistamenos, kai tous allous dida, schein pepisteumenos, pōs ēneschou phygein ton pantachou paronta Theon? Tosautēn pherei tēn aischynēn to mē eikein Theǭ " kai gar ho prophētēs, ho tōn allōn didaskalos, hypo tōn agnoią katechomenōn tēs mempseōs tēn psēphon edecheto. ᾿All᾽ homōs kai tōn par᾽ autou logōn achphysantes, kai lian autǭ mem anamenousi to prakteon dēlōsai. ia΄, s Ti soi gar, phasi, poiēsomen, kai chopasei hē thalassa aph' hēmōn? n Sphodroteros gar ho klydōn kai meta ton klēron egeneto. Tote loipon ho makarios prophētēs tēn theian orgēn egnōkōs, autos thanaton. ib΄. «Arate gar me, phēsi, kai emdalete eis tēn thalassan, kai chopasei hē thalatsa aph᾽ hymōn, dioti egnōka egō, hoti di᾽ eme ho klydōn ho megas houtos estin eph᾽ hymōn "". » ᾿Alla kai toutōn akousantes tōn logōn, ouk euthys to keleusthen xdraesesthai tōn kakōn, kai tais chōpais chrōmenoi gatachthēnai pros tēn gēn epeirathēsan. Hōs de kai A touto poiein diechōlys tēs thalattēs hē bia, euchę̄ ton Theon ilasamenoi proteron, houtō ton Iōnan tę̄ tha-

9. "I am a servant of the Lord, and I worship the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." The prophet is truly wonderful and worthy of all praise. For while he expects a sentence of death, he becomes a herald of the power of the God of all, calling him Maker and Master of all things. For since at that time most human beings served idols and did not know the Creator of all, the blessed prophet necessarily reveals him to those who did not know him; and he also confesses the reason for his flight, that … this one, whom I know [to be Lord] not only of land and sea but … 10. "And they said to him: Why have you done this?" Knowing these things, they say, and entrusted with teaching others, how could you bring yourself to flee the God who is present everywhere? Such is the shame that not yielding to God brings: for the prophet, the teacher of others, received the verdict of blame from those held in ignorance. Nevertheless, having heard his words and [blamed] him severely, they wait for him to show what must be done. 11. "For what shall we do to you," they say, "that the sea may grow calm and leave us?" For the storm grew more violent even after the lot. Then at last the blessed prophet, recognizing the divine wrath, himself [chose] death. 12. "Take me up," he says, "and throw me into the sea, and the sea will grow calm and leave you; for I know that it is because of me that this great storm is upon you." But even when they had heard these words, they did not at once do what he bade, but [hoping] to escape the evils [some other way], they used their oars and tried to bring the ship back to land. And when the violence of the sea prevented this too, they first propitiated God with prayer, and then [cast] Jonah into the sea …

Jonah 1:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 1:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 1:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 1:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 1:13 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jonah, though facing death, proclaims the Creator of sea and land; the sailors reproach him, and only after trying to row ashore do they reluctantly throw him into the sea.

Lemmas: Jonah 1:9, 1:10, 1:11, and 1:12, with a paraphrase of 1:13. The scan interleaves Migne's Latin column with the Greek throughout; the debris is removed by logged corrections, and words lost with it are marked "…" or supplied in brackets by sense. The section ends in mid-sentence.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Latin debris; Latin debris inside the lemma (Migne's parallel column read as Greek letters); Migne's footnotes (variant readings) leaked into the text; OCR: θάλασσαν broken by Latin debris; OCR: πανταχοῦ broken by Latin debris; OCR: ἀποκαλύπτει broken by Latin debris; OCR: ἐλάτρευον broken by Latin debris; OCR: ἐμβάλετε broken by Latin debris; stray letters): οἱ δτίψυπη. ν → ; θάαυΐ οπιηί- λάᾶσσαν → θάλασσαν; Ποΐ υπἰνογβογι, → ; πότοι Πα οἱ Ποιμίμαπι ἃρ- → ; ξλά- «υδιηρί γί! 1.66 πιοτία! απ, υνἱνογεογιπίαυσα τρευον → ἐλάτρευον; ἀποχαλύτὰν : φυία ᾿α 6, αυ 6} ποῖ [ΟΓΓΩ 50 ιπὶ οἱ πιᾶγί8, Ὁ πτεὶ → ἀποχαλύπτει ; δο εἰ σοὶ ουμάϊοτγοπι οἱ θοπιίμιιπι 6886 πον, → ; εκα. 10. « Εἰ ἀΐχαγυπι δ οὐαὶ, Οὐγ ᾿ος [δοὶ- τ, → ; 811 ὅν Π5πὸ, ἰηχυΐιιι, πο ἰρπογδηβ, δ ουἱ 41108 ἀ0- → ; παν οι Γο ἢ Ταπίυμ αἴογι ταχοῦ → πανταχοῦ; ἴω οὐη υἱ 'ρδ6, νοὶ υἱ ργορ δία, αὐ͵ὰ [στὰ → ; γεββ. 11. « Εἰ ἀΐχογιηί δὰ ουὐπ), Θὰ 0] ἰαςἰ6. Ὁ → ; οηΐπὶ (Θπηροδίἃ8 ροϑὶ βουίθην [πϊ. Τιη ἀδπιη Ρ68-ὀ → ; γεκβ. 19, Ἅ Εἰ ἀϊχὶι 7οι88 δὰ 608, ΤΟ "6 πιδ, οἱ → ; ἐμδὰλ [Δ] ετε εἰς τὴν ἃ Ὑο 08: → ἐμδάλετε εἰς τὴν ; πἃ- ἔγνωκα → ἔγνωκα; Μ ( φησίν, 9 τίς, σου, χ. τ΄ Δ. Α ρέϑιν, τίνος ἕνεκα ἡ κακία αὕτη ἡμἴν; " Κύρ. θυ8. ἴθ ἃ. " μεμύ. καὶ, Πεδ. α. 3 ὁ μέγ. ἔχ Α διρ0}. " Οὐὑμᾶς. ἷ → .

Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Comm. Proph. min. 5.1.9 (PG 81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-1-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-1-9

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 81 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

5.1.14PG 81

ιδ΄. « Μηδαμῶς γὰρ, φασὶ, Κύριε, μὴ ἀπολώμεθα ἕνεκεν τῆς ψυχῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τούτου, καὶ μὴ δῷς ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς αἷμα δίκαιον " διότι σὺ, Κύριε, ὃν τρόπον ἠθούλου, πεποίηκας. » Καὶ σαφῶς μεμαθηκότες ὑπὸ τοῦ Θε:οῦ τὴν κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ ψῆφον ἐξενηνέχθαι, ἔχετεύουσι μὴ δοῦναι δίκας ὑπουργοῦντες τῇ ψήφῳ" « Μὴ δῷς γὰρ, φασὶν, ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς αἷμα δίκαιον" » τουτέστιν, Ὑπὲρ ἀθώου αἵματος μὴ τίσωμεν, ὦ Δέσποτα, δίκας. Οὕτω δὲ καὶ τοῦ προφήτου τῇ θαλάττῃ παραδοθέντος, ἐπτορέσθη μὲν τῶν κυμάτων ἢ ζάλη, δέος δὲ πλέον εἰσεδέξαντο ταῖς ψυχαῖς οἱ τούτου γενόμενοι θεαταὶ, ὡς καὶ θυσίας προσενεγκεῖν μετὰ τὴν ἐπάνοδον τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ πιστεῦσαι τοῦτον εἶναι μόνον τῶν ἁπάντων Δεσπότην. Τὸν δὲ Ἰωνᾶν θείῳ νεύματι (τοῦτο γὰρ εἶπε "5, Προσέταξεν ὁ Θεὸς) κῆτος ὑπεδέξατο "" μέγιστον οὐδεμίαν ᾿' αὑτῷ λώδην διὰ τῶν ὀδόντων προσενεγχκών δ. ἡ δὲ κοιλία τοῦ κήτους οἴκησις ἐγένετο τῷ προφήτῃ τρεῖς ἡμέρας καὶ νύκτας τοσαύτας, καὶ ἡ ἀλλοιωτιχὴ δύναμις τῆς γαστρὸς ἐνεργεῖν ἐκωλύετο. Ἐν τοσαύτῃ δὲ ὁ προφήτη; εὐρυχωρίᾳ διῆγεν, ὡς χαι προσευχὴν προσενεγκεῖν τῷ θεῷ.

id΄. « Mēdamōs gar, phasi, Kyrie, mē apolōmetha heneken tēs psychēs tou anthrōpou toutou, kai mē dǭs eph᾽ hēmas haima dikaion " dioti sy, Kyrie, hon tropon ēthoulou, pepoiēkas. » Kai saphōs memathēkotes hypo tou The:ou tēn kat᾽ autou psēphon exenēnechthai, echeteuousi mē dounai dikas hypourgountes tę̄ psēphǭ" « Mē dǭs gar, phasin, eph᾽ hēmas haima dikaion" » toutestin, Hyper athōou haimatos mē tisōmen, ō Despota, dikas. Houtō de kai tou prophētou tę̄ thalattę̄ paradothentos, eptoresthē men tōn kymatōn ē zalē, deos de pleon eisedexanto tais psychais hoi toutou genomenoi theatai, hōs kai thysias prosenenkein meta tēn epanodon tǭ Theǭ, kai pisteusai touton einai monon tōn hapantōn Despotēn. Ton de Iōnan theiǭ neumati (touto gar eipe "5, Prosetaxen ho Theos) kētos hypedexato "" megiston oudemian ᾿' hautǭ lōdēn dia tōn odontōn prosenenchkōn d. hē de koilia tou kētous oikēsis egeneto tǭ prophētę̄ treis hēmeras kai nyktas tosautas, kai hē alloiōtichē dynamis tēs gastros energein ekōlyeto. En tosautę̄ de ho prophētē? eurychōrią diēgen, hōs chai proseuchēn prosenenkein tǭ theǭ.

14. "By no means, Lord," they say, "let us not perish because of this man's life, and do not lay righteous blood upon us; for you, Lord, have done as you wished." Having clearly learned that the sentence against him had been passed by God, they beg not to pay a penalty for serving the sentence: "Do not lay righteous blood upon us," they say; that is, let us not pay the penalty for innocent blood, O Master. And so, when the prophet was handed over to the sea, the surge of the waves was calmed, and those who witnessed it received greater fear into their souls, so as even to offer sacrifices to God after their return and to believe that he alone is Master of all. And Jonah, by a divine nod (for this is what "God commanded" means), was received by a very great sea monster, which did him no harm with its teeth; and the belly of the monster became the prophet's dwelling for three days and as many nights, and the digestive power of its stomach was prevented from working. And the prophet lived in such roominess that he even offered a prayer to God.

Jonah 1:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 1:15–16 (allusion, high confidence) · Jonah 1:17 (2:1 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Jonah 2:1 (2:2 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The sailors pray not to be guilty of Jonah's blood; the sea grows calm, they worship God, and Jonah lives three days unharmed in the sea monster.

Lemma: Jonah 1:14, with a paraphrase of 1:15–17 and 2:1 (Hebrew and LXX 2:1–2).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (hyphenated word broken by a stray mark): ἐπ- : ἀνοδον → ἐπάνοδον.

Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Comm. Proph. min. 5.1.14 (PG 81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-1-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-1-14

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 81 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

Preface 5, chapter 2

5.2.3PG 81

Υ΄. ε« Ἐδόησα γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐν θλίψει μου πρὸς Κύριον τὸν Θεόν μου, καὶ εἰσήκουσέ μου, ἐκ ἄδου τῆς " κραυγῆς μου. » Ἐγὼ γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ πάλαι νομίζων ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις μόνον αὐτὸν ἐπειφαίνεσθα! τοῖς προφήταις, καὶ ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ τοῦ κήτοὺς ηὗρον παρόντα, καὶ προσενεγκὼν ἱκετηρίαν τῆς παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ φιλανθρωπίας ἀπήλαυσα. Λδου δὲ κοι- “1ἰαν τὴν κοιλίαν τοῦ κήτους ἐκάλεσεν, ἐπε:δὴ καὶ τὸ θηρίον θανατηφόρον, καὶ τῇ φύσει δὲ "" τῶν γεγενημένων νεκρὸς ἦν, ἔζη δὲ μόνῃ τῇ χάριτι. "Λλλως τε καὶ ὡς τύπος τοῦ Δεσπότου Χριστοῦ, τοῦ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ τῆς γῆς τρεῖς ἡμέρας καὶ νύκτας τρεῖς πεποιηκότος " εἰκότως ἑαυτὸν ἐν κοιλίᾳ ἄδου γεγενῆσθαί φησι. Καὶ τὸ πάντων παραδοξότατον, ὅτι ὁ μὲν ἀληθῶς τοῦ θανάτου γευσάμενος, ἑν τῇ κοιλίᾳ " τῆς γῆς ἔφη ἔσεσθαι τρεῖς ἡμέρα: καὶ τρεῖς νύκτας" ὁ δὲ ὑπὸ τὴν σκιὰν τοῦ θανάτου, ἄδου κοιλίαν καλεῖ ρ πὴν τοῦ κήτους κοιλίαν. Τῷ μὲν γὰρ Ἰωνᾷ οὐκ ἐν τῇ ἐξουσίᾳ ἦν ἡ ζωὴ - τῷ δὲ Δεσπότῃ Χριστῷ, καὶ τούτον χάριν ἐκεῖ μὲν ὃ ὅπου ὥἅδης καὶ θάνατος, καρδία γῆς προσηγόρευται" ἐνταῦθα δὲ ᾷδης ἡ κοι- "Δία τοῦ κήτους ὠνόμασται. ε« "ἤκουσας, φησὶ, φωνῆς μου" » οὐ γὰρ ἂν μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος

Y΄. e« Edoēsa gar, phēsin, en thlipsei mou pros Kyrion ton Theon mou, kai eisēkouse mou, ek adou tēs " kraugēs mou. » Egō gar, phēsin, ho palai nomizōn en Hierosolymois monon auton epeiphainestha! tois prophētais, kai en tę̄ koilią tou kētous hēuron paronta, kai prosenenkōn hiketērian tēs par᾽ autou philanthrōpias apēlausa. Ldou de koi- “1ian tēn koilian tou kētous ekalesen, epe:dē kai to thērion thanatēphoron, kai tę̄ physei de "" tōn gegenēmenōn nekros ēn, ezē de monę̄ tę̄ chariti. "Lllōs te kai hōs typos tou Despotou Christou, tou en tę̄ kardią tēs gēs treis hēmeras kai nyktas treis pepoiēkotos " eikotōs heauton en koilią adou gegenēsthai phēsi. Kai to pantōn paradoxotaton, hoti ho men alēthōs tou thanatou geusamenos, hen tę̄ koilią " tēs gēs ephē esesthai treis hēmera: kai treis nyktas" ho de hypo tēn skian tou thanatou, adou koilian kalei r pēn tou kētous koilian. Tǭ men gar Iōną ouk en tę̄ exousią ēn hē zōē - tǭ de Despotę̄ Christǭ, kai touton charin ekei men ho hopou hōadēs kai thanatos, kardia gēs prosēgoreutai" entautha de ądēs hē koi- "Dia tou kētous ōnomastai. e« "ēkousas, phēsi, phōnēs mou" » ou gar an mechri tou parontos

3. "I cried," he says, "in my affliction to the Lord my God, and he heard me; out of the belly of Hades [you heard] my cry." For I, he says, who formerly thought that he appeared to the prophets in Jerusalem alone, found him present even in the belly of the sea monster, and when I offered supplication I enjoyed his kindness. He called the belly of the monster the belly of Hades, since the beast brings death, and by the nature of what had happened he was dead, and was alive by grace alone. Besides, as a type of the Master Christ, who spent three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, he fittingly says that he was in the belly of Hades. And the most paradoxical thing of all is that the one who truly tasted death said that he would be in the belly of the earth three days and three nights, while the one who was under the shadow of death calls the monster's belly the belly of Hades. For with Jonah life was not in his own power, but with the Master Christ it was; and for this reason there, where Hades and death are, it is called "the heart of the earth", while here the belly of the monster is named Hades. "You heard," he says, "my voice"; for I would not until now …

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Jonah 2:2 (2:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 12:40 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jonah found God present even in the sea monster's belly, which he calls Hades as a type of Christ's three days in the heart of the earth.

Lemma: Jonah 2:2 (Hebrew and LXX 2:3; Migne's numbering follows the Greek). The saying of Christ is Matt 12:40, which Theodoret quotes once as "belly" and once as "heart" of the earth. The section ends in mid-sentence, with words lost in the scan.

Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Comm. Proph. min. 5.2.3 (PG 81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-2-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-2-3

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 81 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

5.2.4PG 81

δ΄. « ᾿Απέῤῥιψάς με εἰς βάθη καρδίας θαλάσσης, καὶ ποταμοὶ ἐκύκλωσάν με. » Πάλιν τῆς καρδίας ἡ μνήμη δείχνυσε τὴν σκιὰν ἐοικυΐαν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ " Ποταμοὺς δὲ λέγει τῶν κυμάτων τὰς προσέολάς. « Πάντες οἱ μετεωρισμοί σου καὶ τὰ κύματά φω ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ διῆλθον, (ε΄.) Κἀγὼ εἶπον ᾿Απῶσμαι ἐξ ὀφθαλμῶν σου. » Τῇ τῶν κακῶν κατεχόμενος ἀωρίᾳ, καὶ πάλαι μὲν μετέωρος ὑπὸ τῶν κυμάτων φερόμεγος, νῦν δὲ ὡς ἐν δεσμωτηρίῳ ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ τοῦ κήτοὺς χαθειργόμενας ᾿", ἔγνων ὅτι τῆς σῆς ἐγυμνώ. θην προνοίας, καὶ τούτου χάριν τούτων ὄχαστον ὑπομένω. « ἿΑρα προσθήσω τοῦ ἐπιδλέψαι μα πρὸς ναὸν τὸν ἅγιόν σου; (ς΄.) Περιεχύθη μοι ὕδωρ ἕω; ψυχῆς μου, ἄδυσσος ἐχύχλωσέ με ἐσχάτη. » Ὑπ᾿ αὐτῆς γὰρ τῆς ἀδύσαου κυκλούμενος, καὶ ἐν μέσῳ τοσούτων ὑδάτων γεγενημένος, ἐνδοιάζω, καὶ δέδια μὴ παντελῶς στερηθῶ τῆς ἐπεράστου μοι θεωρέας τοῦ σοῦ ναοῦ.

d΄. « ᾿Aperrhipsas me eis bathē kardias thalassēs, kai potamoi ekyklōsan me. » Palin tēs kardias hē mnēmē deichnyse tēn skian eoikyïan tę̄ alētheią " Potamous de legei tōn kymatōn tas proseolas. « Pantes hoi meteōrismoi sou kai ta kymata phō ep᾿ eme diēlthon, (e΄.) Kagō eipon ᾿Apōsmai ex ophthalmōn sou. » Tę̄ tōn kakōn katechomenos aōrią, kai palai men meteōros hypo tōn kymatōn pheromegos, nyn de hōs en desmōtēriǭ en tę̄ koilią tou kētous chatheirgomenas ᾿", egnōn hoti tēs sēs egymnō. thēn pronoias, kai toutou charin toutōn ochaston hypomenō. « HiAra prosthēsō tou epidlepsai ma pros naon ton hagion sou? (s΄.) Periechythē moi hydōr heō? psychēs mou, adyssos echychlōse me eschatē. » Hyp᾿ autēs gar tēs adysaou kykloumenos, kai en mesǭ tosoutōn hydatōn gegenēmenos, endoiazō, kai dedia mē pantelōs sterēthō tēs eperastou moi theōreas tou sou naou.

4. "You cast me into the depths of the heart of the sea, and rivers surrounded me." Again the mention of the "heart" shows the shadow resembling the truth … And he calls the onsets of the waves "rivers". "All your billows and your waves passed over me. 5. And I said: I have been driven out of your sight." Held fast by evils that came so untimely, borne aloft by the waves before and now shut up in the belly of the monster as in a prison, I knew that I had been stripped of your providence, and that for this reason I am enduring each of these things. "Shall I indeed look again toward your holy temple? 6. Water was poured around me up to my soul; the uttermost deep surrounded me." For surrounded by the deep itself and in the midst of so many waters, I am in doubt and fear lest I be wholly deprived of the beloved sight of your temple.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Jonah 2:3 (2:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 2:4 (2:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 2:5 (2:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jonah, cast into the depths, fears he has lost God's care and will never see the temple again.

Lemmas: Jonah 2:3, 2:4, and 2:5 (Hebrew and LXX 2:4–6). Latin debris and Migne's footnotes are removed; a line lost with them after "resembling the truth" (the comparison with Christ's "heart of the earth") is marked "…".

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Latin debris and Migne's footnotes (Migne's parallel column read as Greek letters); OCR: Ποταμοὺς broken by Latin debris; hyphenated word broken by a marginal letter): οἴ μὰ ὁ, βίοι! υ δι ϊ (οἰ δε. » ΕΛ Δι οἴ πὶ σΟΓΙΟ πον 5560.!}, ἃς, {τὸ 8 Υεπβ. ὅ. « ΟἸαπιανὶ οπΐπι, 'παι}, ἴῃ {γι νυ] Διο πα "0 δι Ὀοπιίηιμ θαυ ποι, οἱ ὀχϑυί νῖϊ "6 ὲ ἐμ ογεὶ νη γο οοιΐ νορανὶ!, 1 668. ιΐα εἴ ἴοι γί τ γα}, 15 αυἱ γὸ 50} υἱ γα που εἶθ, νον 6 πὶ ἱπίογΐ νοὶ νου οιη [μὲ]: οἱ γϑϑιι γθοιῖο ἢ ἷς νθγθ τϑπίον (αἰΐ ποι δία δϑὶ ἱμ Γη 5. 6 Αι ἀϊ 3 (ἱ εἰπεῖν. ὑπέδειξεν. 39 -ῆς, δὲς. δι δέ, Π65. ἴῃ (. 8 ἐκ, μέν. Α → ; ποαι. οσ οὐὐ 5 τυἷϑ. ν εἰ ἢ δὰ διήγᾷ ἐμ} 8 Βοῦ το μα πὶ οδιιφία ιν (586 « ὶ αβοοῃ αὶ ἀδ οοτγγιριίοπα υἷα πιὰ δ( (6, «ἀ μην} οτὰεἰν, δρδγγῶπθ οἱ (υἱ εδπίίδιη, οἱ [φῶ πιο ποουπηοηῖυπι, πο ἐνὶ, οἱ δι ταμοὺς → Ποταμοὺς; παντε- Β λῶς → παντελῶς.

Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Comm. Proph. min. 5.2.4 (PG 81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-2-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-2-4

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 81 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

5.2.7PG 81

ζ΄. « Ἔδυ ἡ κεφαλή μου εἰς σχισμὰς ὀρέων, καὶ χατέθην εἰς γῆν, ἧς οἱ μοχλοὶ αὐτῆς κάτοχοι αἰώνοι. » Ὁρῶ γὰρ ἐμαυτὸν ὑπό τινων ὀρῶν μεγίστων θεν περ:εἰργόμενον᾽ αἰνίττεται δὲ διὰ τούτων οὗ μόνον τοῦ κήτους τὸ μέγεθος, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ἄφυκτον τῶν κατεχόντων κακῶν " εἰκὸς δὲ καὶ ὄρη τινὰ λέγειν τὰ τοῖς ὕδασι τοῖς θαλαττίοις χρυπτόμενα, οἷς ἔστιν ὅτε καὶ τὰ σκάφη προσρηγνύμενα διαφθείρεται, ἃ σαφῶς οἱ ναῦται γινώσκοντες, τὰς ὑφάλους πέτρας διαφεύγειν σπουδάζουσι. « Καὶ ἀναθήτω ἐκ φθορᾶς ἡ ζωή μου πρὸς σὲ, Κύριε, ὁ Θεός μου. (η΄.) Ἐν τῷ ἐκλείπειν ἀπ᾽ ἐμῶ τὴν ψυχήν μου, τοῦ Κυρίου ἐμνήσθην, καὶ ἔλθοι πρὸς σὲ ἡ προσευχή μου εἰς 5 ναὸν ἅγιόν σον.» Ἐπειδὴ, φησὶ, παρ᾽ αὐτὰς ὧν τοῦ θανάτου τὰς πύλας τὴν περὶ σοῦ λήθην ἐν ἐμοὶ γενέσθαι οὐκ ἠνεσχόμην, ταύτης με, Δέσποτα, τῆς φθορᾶς ἐλευθερώσας εἰ τὴν ζωὴν ἐπανάγαγε, ἵνα πάλιν ἐν τῷ ἀφιερωμένῳ σοι ναῷ τὰς συνήθεις προσευχὰς προσενέγχω.

z΄. « Edy hē kephalē mou eis schismas oreōn, kai chatethēn eis gēn, hēs hoi mochloi autēs katochoi aiōnoi. » Horō gar emauton hypo tinōn orōn megistōn then per:eirgomenon᾽ ainittetai de dia toutōn hou monon tou kētous to megethos, alla kai to aphykton tōn katechontōn kakōn " eikos de kai orē tina legein ta tois hydasi tois thalattiois chryptomena, hois estin hote kai ta skaphē prosrēgnymena diaphtheiretai, ha saphōs hoi nautai ginōskontes, tas hyphalous petras diapheugein spoudazousi. « Kai anathētō ek phthoras hē zōē mou pros se, Kyrie, ho Theos mou. (ē΄.) En tǭ ekleipein ap᾽ emō tēn psychēn mou, tou Kyriou emnēsthēn, kai elthoi pros se hē proseuchē mou eis 5 naon hagion son.» Epeidē, phēsi, par᾽ autas hōn tou thanatou tas pylas tēn peri sou lēthēn en emoi genesthai ouk ēneschomēn, tautēs me, Despota, tēs phthoras eleutherōsas ei tēn zōēn epanagage, hina palin en tǭ aphierōmenǭ soi naǭ tas synētheis proseuchas prosenenchō.

7. "My head went down into the clefts of the mountains; I went down into a land whose bars are everlasting barriers." For I see myself enclosed on every side by certain very great mountains. He hints by this not only at the size of the monster but also at the inescapability of the evils that held him. It is likely, too, that he means certain mountains hidden by the waters of the sea, on which ships sometimes strike and are wrecked; the sailors know them well and take care to avoid the underwater rocks. "And let my life go up from corruption to you, Lord my God. 8. When my soul was failing me, I remembered the Lord; and may my prayer come to you, into your holy temple." Since, he says, though I was at the very gates of death I did not allow myself to forget you, free me, Master, from this corruption and bring me back to life, so that I may again offer the accustomed prayers in the temple dedicated to you.

Jonah 2:6 (2:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 2:7 (2:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: From the depths, near death, Jonah remembers God and prays to return to life and to worship in the temple.

Lemmas: Jonah 2:6 and 2:7 (Hebrew and LXX 2:7–8).

Topics: Prayer

Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Comm. Proph. min. 5.2.7 (PG 81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-2-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-2-7

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 81 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

5.2.9PG 81

θ΄. « Φυλασσόμενοι τὰ " μάταια καὶ ψευδῆ, ἔλεον αὑτῶν 38 ἐγκατέλιπον. » Οἱ τὰ ψευδῇ, φησὶ, χὶ μάταια δεδιδαγμένοι, τῷ κλήρῳ πεισθέντες ἀφειδῶς μὲ τῇ θαλάττῃ παρέδοσαν 3", ὑς « Ἐγὼ δὲ μετὰ φωνῇς αἰνέσεως καὶ ἔξομο: λογήσεως θύσω σοι, ὅσα ηὐξάμην ἀποδώτω σοι εἰς σωτηρίαν μου τῷ Κυρίῳ. ν» ᾿Απαλλαγεὶς γὰρ τῶν Ὁ κατεχόντων δεινῶν, τὰς σωτηρίας σοι προσοίσω σίας, διηγούμενος καὶ " τῆς σῆς εὐεργεσίας πὴν μῖ΄ γαλουργίαν, καὶ τῆς ἐμῆς φυγῆς τὴν ζημίαν. Ὑπὸοσχόμενος δὲ ταῦτα καὶ "ἴ πεπλήρωκεν ὁ μακάρι: Ἱωνᾶς, καὶ συγγραφῇ παρέδωκεν ἅπαντα, ὥστε Π μόνον τοὺς τηνικάδε ἀνθρώπους, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἀψγόνους τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτὸν μαθεῖν. Καὶ καθάπερ ὁ μακάριος Δαδὶδ ἀνάγραπτον πεποίηκε τὴν οἰκείαν ἀμ τίαν, καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν κηρύττων, καὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτάνουαι τὰ φάμμαχα τῆς μετανοίας δεικνύς οὕτως ὁ θαυμάσιος Ἰυνᾶς καὶ τὴν φυγὴν,Α καὶ τὴν ἐπενεχθεῖσαν αὐτῷ τιμωρίαν, καὶ τὴν δωρηθεῖσαν σωτηρίαν παραδέδωκεν ἱστορίᾳ. Ὃ δὲ φιλἀνθρωπος Δεσπότης δεξάμενος τὴν εὐχὴν, οἷον ἀπό τινος εἱρκτῆς τῆς τοῦ κήτους κοιλίας τὸν προφήτην ἐξήγαγεν. ᾿Αλλὰ πάλιν εὐθὺς παρηγγύησεν ἐκεῖνα δρᾶσαι, ἃ πρότερον ἤκουσε, καὶ τὴν μεγάλην πόλιν ἐχείνην καταλαδεῖν, καὶ τὸ κήρυγμα προσενεγκεῖν τῆς φοῦερᾶς ἀπειλῆς" μαθὼν δὲ τῇ πείρᾳ τὴν ζημίαν ἣν φέρει τὸ ἀντιτείνειν Θεῷ, ποιεῖται τὴν πορείαν ὡς προσετάχθη, καὶ χαταλαμθάνει τὴν Νινευῖ, Μηδεὶς δὲ ἀνοήτως πολυπραγμονείτω, πῶξ αὐτὸν τὸ κῆτος ἐξήμεσε " πάντα γὰρ δυνατὰ βουλομένου Θεοῦ " μήτε μὴν παρὰ ποίαν αὐτὸν ἐξήγαγεν ἣϊόνα " καὶ τοῦτο γὰρ τῶν ἄγαν ἐστὶ περιττῶν. ᾿Αρχείσθω δὲ πᾶς εὺ-

th΄. « Phylassomenoi ta " mataia kai pseudē, eleon hautōn 38 enkatelipon. » Hoi ta pseudę̄, phēsi, chi mataia dedidagmenoi, tǭ klērǭ peisthentes apheidōs me tę̄ thalattę̄ paredosan 3", hys « Egō de meta phōnę̄s aineseōs kai exomo: logēseōs thysō soi, hosa ēuxamēn apodōtō soi eis sōtērian mou tǭ Kyriǭ. n» ᾿Apallageis gar tōn Ho katechontōn deinōn, tas sōtērias soi prosoisō sias, diēgoumenos kai " tēs sēs euergesias pēn mi΄ galourgian, kai tēs emēs phygēs tēn zēmian. Hypooschomenos de tauta kai "i peplērōken ho makari: Hiōnas, kai syngraphę̄ paredōken hapanta, hōste P monon tous tēnikade anthrōpous, alla kai tous apsgonous ta kat᾽ auton mathein. Kai kathaper ho makarios Dadid anagrapton pepoiēke tēn oikeian am tian, kai tou Theou tēn philanthrōpian kēryttōn, kai tais hamartanouai ta phammacha tēs metanoias deiknys houtōs ho thaumasios Iynas kai tēn phygēn,A kai tēn epenechtheisan autǭ timōrian, kai tēn dōrētheisan sōtērian paradedōken historią. Ho de philanthrōpos Despotēs dexamenos tēn euchēn, hoion apo tinos heirktēs tēs tou kētous koilias ton prophētēn exēgagen. ᾿Alla palin euthys parēngyēsen ekeina drasai, ha proteron ēkouse, kai tēn megalēn polin echeinēn kataladein, kai to kērygma prosenenkein tēs phoueras apeilēs" mathōn de tę̄ peirą tēn zēmian hēn pherei to antiteinein Theǭ, poieitai tēn poreian hōs prosetachthē, kai chatalamthanei tēn Nineui, Mēdeis de anoētōs polypragmoneitō, pōx auton to kētos exēmese " panta gar dynata boulomenou Theou " mēte mēn para poian auton exēgagen hēïona " kai touto gar tōn agan esti perittōn. ᾿Archeisthō de pas eu-

9. "Those who keep vain and false things have forsaken their mercy." Those who were taught false and vain things, he says, persuaded by the lot, handed me over to the sea without pity … "But I, with the voice of praise and confession, will sacrifice to you; what I vowed I will render to you for my salvation, to the Lord." For when I am freed from the terrors that hold me, I will offer you sacrifices of salvation, recounting the magnificence of your benefaction and the loss that my flight brought. And the blessed Jonah, having promised these things, fulfilled them, and committed everything to writing, so that not only the people of that time but also those who came after might learn what concerned him. And just as the blessed David put his own sin on record, proclaiming God's kindness and showing sinners the remedies of repentance, so the wonderful Jonah too handed down in history his flight, the punishment brought upon him, and the salvation granted to him. The loving Master received the prayer and brought the prophet out of the belly of the monster as out of a prison. But at once he charged him again to do what he had heard before, to reach that great city and bring the proclamation of the fearful threat. And having learned by experience the loss that resisting God brings, he makes the journey as he was commanded and reaches Nineveh. Let no one foolishly busy himself with how the monster vomited him out, for all things are possible when God wills it; nor on what shore it put him out, for that too is quite superfluous. Let everyone be content …

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Jonah 2:8 (2:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 2:9 (2:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 2:10 (2:11 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Jonah 3:1–3 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 51:1 (50:3 LXX) (allusion, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jonah vows thanksgiving and later recorded his own flight and rescue, as David recorded his sin; freed from the monster, he obeys and goes to Nineveh.

Lemmas: Jonah 2:8 and 2:9 (Hebrew and LXX 2:9–10), with a paraphrase of 2:10 and 3:1–3. A line is lost in the scan after the comment on 2:8; marked "…". A scholion in Migne's notes, applying the passage to the Lord's resurrection, is printed in the scan inside this section; it is removed with the other footnotes. The section ends in mid-sentence.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Latin debris; Latin debris and Migne's footnotes, including a scholion (Migne's parallel column read as Greek letters)): ὑτϑ΄ ἰὰ ὕ Χσϑεῖεγ μένας: 3 καί, θ65. ᾽η (Ὁ. ὃν παρ. ( ἃ μαυεὶ, καὶ ταῦτα πεπλήρωκεν. ἑἐ 86 εἷς, 4. ἀναφέρεται δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν Κύριον τοῦτο ἀναμφιδόλως, πόμενος ἀπέστη ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν ἀναδιοὺς θεοπρεπῶς ἐνίκα παρὰ τῶν ατρατιυτῶν φυλαῖς 49 καί, [)05. ἴι ἃ. καὶ --- πεπλῆο. (ἡ ιδὺ μὰν Α εἱ ( πρός. → ; ἀς 86 51.4.5, οἱ ἀδίϑηι 5] α 6ὴ} "5! Οὐ ρτοάίαίι, → .

Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Comm. Proph. min. 5.2.9 (PG 81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-2-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-2-9

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 81 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

Preface 5, chapter 3

5.3.3PG 81

γ΄. «ἼῈῸ ἐὲ Νινευῖ, φησὶν, ἦν πόλις μεγάλη τῷ Θεῷ, ὡσεὶ πορείας ὁδοῦ ἡμερῶν τριῶν. » Περὶ πολλοῦ, φησὶν, ὁ Θεὸς τὴν ταύτης ἐποιεῖτο σωτηρίαν, ἅτε δὴ πολλοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ διαπλάσας ἀνθρώπους. Ἐὸ δὲ, « ὭὩσεὶ πορείας ὁδοῦ ἡμερῶν τριῶν, » τινὲς μὲν περὶ «ἧς χώρας ἐξειλήφασι τῆς ὑπὸ τὴν πόλιν τελούσης, ὡς τριῶν ἡμερῶν ὁδὸν κατά τε τὸ μῆκος, καὶ τὸ εὖρος ἐχούσης " τινὲς δὲ ὡς τοῦ κηρύττοντος διὰ τριῶν ἡμερῶν ἅπασαν περινοστῆσαι δυναμένου τὴν πόλιν. Εἴτε δὲ τοῦτο, εἴτε ἐκεῖνό τις δέξαιτο, οὐδὲν λυμανεῖται τῇ ἀληθείᾳ " ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ τὸ δεύτερον α, ἀληθέστερον εἶναι" τοῦτο δέ με προαιρεῖαθαι τὸ ἐπαγόμενον ἀναγκάζει.

g΄. «IEO ee Nineui, phēsin, ēn polis megalē tǭ Theǭ, hōsei poreias hodou hēmerōn triōn. » Peri pollou, phēsin, ho Theos tēn tautēs epoieito sōtērian, hate dē pollous en autę̄ diaplasas anthrōpous. Eo de, « HōŌsei poreias hodou hēmerōn triōn, » tines men peri «hēs chōras exeilēphasi tēs hypo tēn polin telousēs, hōs triōn hēmerōn hodon kata te to mēkos, kai to euros echousēs " tines de hōs tou kēryttontos dia triōn hēmerōn hapasan perinostēsai dynamenou tēn polin. Eite de touto, eite ekeino tis dexaito, ouden lymaneitai tę̄ alētheią " all᾽ homōs emoi dokei to deuteron a, alēthesteron einai" touto de me proaireiathai to epagomenon anankazei.

3. "Now Nineveh," he says, "was a great city to God, about three days' journey." God, he says, set great store by its salvation, since he had formed many human beings in it. "About three days' journey" some have understood of the territory that belonged to the city, as measuring three days' journey in length and breadth; others as meaning that the preacher could go around the whole city in three days. Whichever of these one accepts, it will do no harm to the truth; yet the second seems to me truer, and what follows compels me to prefer it.

Jonah 3:3 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Nineveh was dear to God for its many people; its "three days' journey" means the time needed to go around it preaching.

Lemma: Jonah 3:3.

Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Comm. Proph. min. 5.3.3 (PG 81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-3-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-3-3

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 81 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

5.3.4PG 81

δ΄. « Ἤρξατο γὰρ, φησὶν, Ἰωνᾶς τοῦ εἰσπορεύεσθαι εἰς τὴν πόλιν ὡσεὶ πορείαν " ἡμέρας μιᾶς. » Οὐ κατ᾽ εὐθὺ τῆς πόλεως ὁδεύων, ἀλλ᾽ ἀγορὰς καὶ ἀγυιὰς, καὶ ῥύμας περινοστῶν, καὶ κηρύττων, ὅτι Ταύτας δὲ καὶ ὁ ᾿Ακύλας, καὶ ὁ Σύμμαχο;, καὶ ὁ Θεοδοτίων, τεσσαράκοντα, ἔφασαν, συμφωνοῦσι δὰ τούτοις καὶ ὁ Σύρος, καὶ ὁ Ἑδραῖος " ἔχει δὲ καὶ τὸ εἰκὸς οὗτος ὁ ἀριθμός. Καὶ γὰρ τρισὶν ἡμέραις ποτὲ μὲν ἅπασαν ἐνόστησε. τὴν πόλιν ὁ Ἰωνᾶς, ποτὲ δὲ τὴν μετάνοιαν τὴν ἐπίπονον ἐχείνην οἱ Νινευΐῖται τῷ Θεῷ προσενεγχόντες, τῆς παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ σωτηρίας ἀπήλαυσαν᾽ ποτὲ δὲ πρὸ τῶν πυλῶν καθήμενος τὸ τῆς ἢ προφητείας ἀνέμενε τέλος. Διό μοι δοκεῖ τὸ τῶν τεσσαράνοντα ἡμερῶν ἀληθέστερον εἶνας. Εἰκὸς δὲ καὶ τοὺς Ἑδδομήχουτα σύμφωνον τοῖς ἄλλοις τεθεικέναι πὃν ἀριθμόν - τοὺς δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐγγραψαμένους ἁμαρτεῖν περὶ τοῦτα, εἶτα οὕτω γενέσθαι πᾶσι τῶν ἀντιγράφων τὴν ἔκδοσιν. Οἱ ὃς. Νινενῖται ἄνδρα καὶ ἀλλόφυλον θεασάμενοι ἀπηχὲς ποιούμενον τισαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ προῤῥήσει πιστεύσαντες, σάκκον ἀμπεχόμενοι, τῷ Θεῷ τὰς ἱχετείας προσέφερον, οἵ τε οἱ καὶ οἱ πενίᾳ τυζῶντες " τοῦτο γὰρ εἶπεν" ε ᾿Απὸ μικροῦ καὶ ἕως μεγάλου αὑτῶν. » Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶνδε τῶν λόγων κατέλιπε θρόνον, καὶ τὴν ἁλουργίδα ὡς ἀνόνητον ἀπεδύσατο, τὴν δὲ τοῦ σάκκου περιδολὴν ἀντὶ ταύτη; ἐδέξατο" πάντας δὲ οὐ μόνον ἄνδρας καὶ γυναῖκας ἀσιτίᾳ προσέχειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἀλόγων προσέταξς τὰ γένη μηδεμιᾶς ἀπολαῦσαι τροφῆς, ὡς ἂν τῷ λιμῷ πιεζομένων, καὶ τῶν μὲν μυχωμένων, τῶν δὲ βληχομένων, καὶ ἑκάστων τῇ οἰκείᾳ κεχρη μένων φωνῇ, θερμότερα μὲν οἱ ἄνθρωποι προσενέγχαιεν δάχρνα, ἀνοίξαιεν δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰς τοῦ ἐλέου πηγά:. Οὐ μόνον δὲ τῷ σάκκῳ, καὶ τῇ νηστείᾳ χρώμενοι, τῷ Θεῷ τὰς ἱκεσίας "Ὁ προσέφερον, ἀλλὰ, « Καὶ ἀπέστρεψεν ἕκαστος ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ αὑτοῦ τῆ; πονηρᾶς, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀδικίας τῆς ἐν χερσὶν αὑτῶν, λέγοντες " (θ'.) Τίς οἶδεν, εἰ ἐπιστρέψει ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ παραχληθήσεται, καὶ ἀποστρέψει ἀπὸ ν᾽ ὀργῆς θυμοῦ αὑτοῦ, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀπολώμεθα; » Οὗτος γὰρ ὅρος ἀληθοῦς μετανοίας. « ΓἜχχλινον γὰρ, φησὶν, ἀπὸ κακοῦ, καὶ ποίησον ἀγαθόν. ν Καὶ πάλιν" « Παύσασθε ἀπὸ τῶν πονηριῶν ὑμῶν, μάθετε καλὸν ποιεῖν.» Καὶ οἱ Νινευῖται τοίνυν, τῆς προτέρας παυσάμενοι ἁμαρτίας "8, καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον μεταθδολὴν τοῦ τρόπου δεξάμενοι, τῆς θείας εὐμενείας ἀπήλαυσαν. ὑ. « Εἴδε γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ Θεὸς τὰ ἔργα αὑτῶν, ὅτι ἀπέστρεψαν ἀπὸ τῶν ὁδῶν αὑτῶν τῶν πονηρῶν, καὶ μετενόησεν ὁ Θεὸς ἐπὶ τῇ κακίᾳ, ἢ ἐλάλησε τοῦ ποιῆσαι αὐτοῖς, καὶ οὐκ ἐποίησεν. » Οὐ τῇ νηστείι προσέσχεν, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἀποχῇ τῶν κακῶν " διὸ χαρίζεται μετανοίᾳ μετάνοιαν, οὐκ ὁμοίως ἡμῖν μετανοῶν (οὗ γὰρ νῦν μὲν τοῦτο, νῦν δὲ ἐκεῖνο βούλεται ὁ ἀλλὰ τὴν μεταθδολὴν τῆς ἀπειλῆς μετάνοιαν προῦ ηγόρευσε" τούτου γὰρ ἕνεκα καὶ Ἠπείλησε ᾿ χολάτειν δὲ βουλόμενος, οὐκ ἂν προσήνεγκεν ἀπειλὴν, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὴν τὴν τιμωρίαν ἐπέφερεν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ μόνῃ καίρει τῇ σωτηρίᾳ, ἀπειλεῖ τὰ λυπηρὰ, ἵνα μὴ ἐπαγάγῃ τὰ λυπηρά. Κακίαν δὲ τὴν ἀπειλὴν προσηγόρευσεν, οὐκ ὡς φύσει κακὴν οὖσαν " πῶς γὰρ ἂν εἴη κακὴ, ἡ κακίας μὲν παῦλαν, ἀρετῆς δὲ καὶ εὐνομίας κτῆσιν εἰσαγαγοῦσα; Τοῖς δὲ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν. πολιτευομένοις ὀνόμασιν ἡ θεία χκεχρημένη Γραφὴ, κακίαν' ὠνόμασε τῆς τιμωρίας τὴν ἀπειλὴν, ὡς κακοῦν καὶ ἀνιᾷν Ὁ νην. Ταύτην τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν "ὁ θεασάμενο; ὁ προφήτης, ἀθυμεῖ καὶ ἀνιᾶται, ὡς τῆς προῤῥήσεως ἐλεγχομένης, καὶ ψευδοῦς φαινομένης. Εἶτα τῷ θεῷ προσευχόμενος, καὶ τῆς φυγῆς τὴν αἰτίαν διδάσκων, β΄. « Οὐκ οὗτοι οἱ λόγοι μου "΄, φησὶν, ἦσαν ἔτι ὄντος μου ἐν τῇ γῇ μου; Διὰ τοῦτο πρηέφθασα το) φυγεῖν εἰς Θαρσίς. ν Ταῦτα ἐπιστάμενος (ἑώρεν γάρ σε πολλὴν καὶ περὶ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ μακροθυμίαν ἐπιδεικνύμενον' ἐλεήμων γὰρ εἴ καὶ οἰκτίρμων, μακρόθυμος καὶ πολυέλεος, καὶ μετανοῶν ἐπὶ ταῖς κακίαις), τὴν φυγὴν ἐχείνην ἐποιησάμην, εἶτα κλύδωνι καὶ χήτει παραδοθεὶς, ἱχέτευσα πάλιν ἐπανελθεῖν εἷς ζωήν νῦν δὲ τοὐναντίον ἀντιδολῶ " Υ΄. «Δέσποτα Κύριε, λάθδε " τὴν ψυχήν μου ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ "., ὅτι χαλόν μοι δ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν με, ἢ ζῇν με "".», Προαιροῦμαε γὰρ θάνατον τῆς μετ᾽ αἰσχύνης ζωῆς " αἰσχύνομαι δὲ, καὶ ἐγχαλύπτομαι, ψεύστης ἀπὸ τοσούτῶν ὀνομαζόμενος. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἀποχρίνεται Δεσπότης, καί φησι τῷ προφήτῃ " δ΄. ε Εἰ σφόδρα λελύπησαι σύ; » Τοῦτο σαφέστερον ὁ Σύμμαχος ἡρμήνευσεν" ἔφη γάρ’ Ἄρα δικαίως ἐιλυπήθης; οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ εἰρήκασιν Εἰ καλῶς σπήθης; ἀντὶ τοῦ, Σκόπησον παρ᾽ ἑαυτῷ, εἰ δικαίας ἔχεις τῆς ἀθυμίας ἀφορμάς. Καὶ ἐνταῦθα μὲν αὑτῷ εὑρέσθας λογισμῷ κελεύει τῆς ἀθυμίας παραψυχὴν" ἐν δὲ τῷ τέλει τῆς προφητείας, καὶ αὐτοῦ τὴν οὐ καλὴν ἀθυμίαν ἐλέγχε!, καὶ τῆ; οἰκείας ψήφου τὸ εὔλογον δείκνυσι.

d΄. « Ērxato gar, phēsin, Iōnas tou eisporeuesthai eis tēn polin hōsei poreian " hēmeras mias. » Ou kat᾽ euthy tēs poleōs hodeuōn, all᾽ agoras kai aguias, kai rhymas perinostōn, kai kēryttōn, hoti Tautas de kai ho ᾿Akylas, kai ho Symmacho?, kai ho Theodotiōn, tessarakonta, ephasan, symphōnousi da toutois kai ho Syros, kai ho Hedraios " echei de kai to eikos houtos ho arithmos. Kai gar trisin hēmerais pote men hapasan enostēse. tēn polin ho Iōnas, pote de tēn metanoian tēn epiponon echeinēn hoi Nineuïitai tǭ Theǭ prosenenchontes, tēs par᾽ autou sōtērias apēlausan᾽ pote de pro tōn pylōn kathēmenos to tēs ē prophēteias anemene telos. Dio moi dokei to tōn tessaranonta hēmerōn alēthesteron einas. Eikos de kai tous Heddomēchouta symphōnon tois allois tetheikenai pon arithmon - tous de tēn archēn engrapsamenous hamartein peri touta, eita houtō genesthai pasi tōn antigraphōn tēn ekdosin. Hoi hos. Ninenitai andra kai allophylon theasamenoi apēches poioumenon tisan, alla kai tę̄ prorrhēsei pisteusantes, sakkon ampechomenoi, tǭ Theǭ tas hicheteias prosepheron, hoi te hoi kai hoi penią tyzōntes " touto gar eipen" e ᾿Apo mikrou kai heōs megalou hautōn. » Epeidē de kai autos ho basileus tōnde tōn logōn katelipe thronon, kai tēn halourgida hōs anonēton apedysato, tēn de tou sakkou peridolēn anti tautē? edexato" pantas de ou monon andras kai gynaikas asitią prosechein, alla kai tōn alogōn prosetaxs ta genē mēdemias apolausai trophēs, hōs an tǭ limǭ piezomenōn, kai tōn men mychōmenōn, tōn de blēchomenōn, kai hekastōn tę̄ oikeią kechrē menōn phōnę̄, thermotera men hoi anthrōpoi prosenenchaien dachrna, anoixaien de tou Theou tas tou eleou pēga:. Ou monon de tǭ sakkǭ, kai tę̄ nēsteią chrōmenoi, tǭ Theǭ tas hikesias "Ho prosepheron, alla, « Kai apestrepsen hekastos apo tēs hodou hautou tē? ponēras, kai apo tēs adikias tēs en chersin hautōn, legontes " (th'.) Tis oiden, ei epistrepsei ho Theos, kai parachlēthēsetai, kai apostrepsei apo n᾽ orgēs thymou hautou, kai ou mē apolōmetha? » Houtos gar horos alēthous metanoias. « GEchchlinon gar, phēsin, apo kakou, kai poiēson agathon. n Kai palin" « Pausasthe apo tōn ponēriōn hymōn, mathete kalon poiein.» Kai hoi Nineuitai toinyn, tēs proteras pausamenoi hamartias "8, kai tēn epi to kreitton metathdolēn tou tropou dexamenoi, tēs theias eumeneias apēlausan. hy. « Eide gar, phēsin, ho Theos ta erga hautōn, hoti apestrepsan apo tōn hodōn hautōn tōn ponērōn, kai metenoēsen ho Theos epi tę̄ kakią, ē elalēse tou poiēsai autois, kai ouk epoiēsen. » Ou tę̄ nēsteii proseschen, alla tę̄ apochę̄ tōn kakōn " dio charizetai metanoią metanoian, ouk homoiōs hēmin metanoōn (hou gar nyn men touto, nyn de ekeino bouletai ho alla tēn metathdolēn tēs apeilēs metanoian prou ēgoreuse" toutou gar heneka kai Ēpeilēse ᾿ cholatein de boulomenos, ouk an prosēnenken apeilēn, all᾽ autēn tēn timōrian epepheren. Epeidē de monę̄ kairei tę̄ sōtērią, apeilei ta lypēra, hina mē epagagę̄ ta lypēra. Kakian de tēn apeilēn prosēgoreusen, ouk hōs physei kakēn ousan " pōs gar an eiē kakē, hē kakias men paulan, aretēs de kai eunomias ktēsin eisagagousa? Tois de par᾽ hēmin. politeuomenois onomasin hē theia chkechrēmenē Graphē, kakian' ōnomase tēs timōrias tēn apeilēn, hōs kakoun kai aniąn Ho nēn. Tautēn tou Theou philanthrōpian "ho theasameno? ho prophētēs, athymei kai aniatai, hōs tēs prorrhēseōs elenchomenēs, kai pseudous phainomenēs. Eita tǭ theǭ proseuchomenos, kai tēs phygēs tēn aitian didaskōn, b΄. « Ouk houtoi hoi logoi mou "΄, phēsin, ēsan eti ontos mou en tę̄ gę̄ mou? Dia touto prēephthasa to) phygein eis Tharsis. n Tauta epistamenos (heōren gar se pollēn kai peri ton Israēl makrothymian epideiknymenon' eleēmōn gar ei kai oiktirmōn, makrothymos kai polyeleos, kai metanoōn epi tais kakiais), tēn phygēn echeinēn epoiēsamēn, eita klydōni kai chētei paradotheis, hicheteusa palin epanelthein heis zōēn nyn de tounantion antidolō " Y΄. «Despota Kyrie, lathde " tēn psychēn mou ap᾽ emou "., hoti chalon moi d to apothanein me, ē zę̄n me "".», Proairoumae gar thanaton tēs met᾽ aischynēs zōēs " aischynomai de, kai enchalyptomai, pseustēs apo tosoutōn onomazomenos. ᾿All᾽ ho agathos apochrinetai Despotēs, kai phēsi tǭ prophētę̄ " d΄. e Ei sphodra lelypēsai sy? » Touto saphesteron ho Symmachos hērmēneusen" ephē gar’ Ara dikaiōs eilypēthēs? hoi de loipoi eirēkasin Ei kalōs spēthēs? anti tou, Skopēson par᾽ heautǭ, ei dikaias echeis tēs athymias aphormas. Kai entautha men hautǭ heuresthas logismǭ keleuei tēs athymias parapsychēn" en de tǭ telei tēs prophēteias, kai autou tēn ou kalēn athymian elenche!, kai tē? oikeias psēphou to eulogon deiknysi.

4. "For Jonah began," he says, "to go into the city about a day's journey." He did not walk straight across the city, but went around its marketplaces, streets, and lanes, proclaiming that … These days Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion said were forty, and the Syriac and the Hebrew agree with them; and this number also has probability on its side. For in three days when could Jonah have gone around the whole city, when could the Ninevites have offered God that laborious repentance and enjoyed salvation from him, and when could he have sat before the gates and awaited the outcome of the prophecy? So the forty days seems truer to me. And it is likely that the Seventy too put down the number in agreement with the others, but that those who first copied it made a mistake here, and so the text of all the copies came to be as it is. The Ninevites, seeing a man, and a foreigner, making a harsh [proclamation], not only … but believed the prediction, and putting on sackcloth they offered their supplications to God, both the … and those living in poverty; for this is what he said: "From the least of them to the greatest." And since the king himself, [hearing] these words, left his throne, stripped off the purple as useless, and put on a garment of sackcloth instead, and commanded not only all the men and women to keep the fast but also the kinds of irrational animals to take no food, so that, when the animals were pressed by hunger, some lowing and others bleating, each with its own voice, the human beings might offer warmer tears and open the springs of God's mercy. And they offered their supplications to God not only with sackcloth and fasting, but: "And each turned from his evil way and from the injustice that was in their hands, saying: 9. Who knows whether God will turn and be appeased and turn from the wrath of his anger, so that we do not perish?" For this is the definition of true repentance: "Turn away from evil and do good." And again: "Cease from your wickedness, learn to do good." So the Ninevites, ceasing from their former sin and accepting a change of their ways for the better, enjoyed the divine favor. 10. "For God saw their works, that they turned from their evil ways, and God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it." He did not attend to the fasting, but to the abstaining from evils; therefore he grants repentance in return for repentance, not repenting as we do (for he does not wish now this, now that), but Scripture called the change of the threat "repentance"; for this is why he threatened. If he had wished to punish, he would not have offered a threat but would have brought on the punishment itself. But since he delights only in salvation, he threatens painful things so as not to bring painful things. And it called the threat "evil", not as being evil by nature; for how could that be evil which brought in an end of wickedness and the acquisition of virtue and good order? But the divine Scripture, using the names current among us, called the threat of punishment "evil", as doing harm and causing grief. Seeing this kindness of God, the prophet is despondent and grieved, as though his prediction had been refuted and shown to be false. Then, praying to God and teaching the reason for his flight: 2. "Were not these my words," he says, "while I was still in my own land? That is why I hastened to flee to Tharsis." Knowing these things (for I saw you showing great long-suffering toward Israel too; for you are merciful and compassionate, long-suffering and abounding in mercy, and you repent of evils), I made that flight; then, handed over to the storm and the sea monster, I begged to return to life again; but now I entreat the opposite: 3. "Master, Lord, take my soul from me, for it is better for me to die than to live." For I prefer death to a life of shame; I am ashamed and hide my face, being called a liar by so many. But the good Master answers and says to the prophet: 4. "Are you very grieved?" Symmachus rendered this more clearly, for he said: "Were you justly grieved?" And the others said: "Were you rightly grieved?", that is: consider within yourself whether you have just grounds for your despondency. And here he bids him find consolation for his despondency by his own reasoning; but at the end of the prophecy he both refutes his ill-founded despondency and shows the reasonableness of his own sentence.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Jonah 3:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 3:5–7 (allusion, high confidence) · Jonah 3:8–9 (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 3:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 34:14 (33:15 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 1:16–17 (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 4:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Jonah 4:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 4:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 4:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 34:6 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jonah preaches; the Ninevites, king and people and even animals, fast in sackcloth and turn from evil, so God spares them, and Jonah, ashamed that his prophecy seems false, asks to die.

Lemmas: Jonah 3:4, 3:5 paraphrased, 3:8–9, 3:10, and Jonah 4:2, 4:3, and 4:4 (chapter 4 begins inside this section). The words of the proclamation ("Yet three days, and Nineveh will be overthrown", LXX) are lost in the scan; Theodoret argues that the LXX's "three days" is a copyists' error for the "forty days" of the Hebrew and the other versions. Words are lost in the scan in the sentence on the Ninevites' response; marked "…". Quotations: Ps 34:14 (LXX 33:15), Isa 1:16–17; compare Exod 34:6 and Joel 2:13 for Jonah 4:2.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Latin debris (Migne's parallel column read as Greek letters); OCR: μακρόθυμος broken by Latin debris; OCR: ἀπήλαυσαν broken by Latin debris): ἀποὔ γα αἱ ἵπιοὐ Ἔχροβυον; μη οἱ δος ἀουίγί πα ϑρί γί. ᾿ : γεπβ. ὅ΄. ε ναὶ ἰτυ ἀπο οἱ ἰαιξδυ ἀνα δι οομεϊποροῖ : αυϊ δι υπὶ ρὸῦ δ μι} }ἐλ ἦλαυσαν → ἀπήλαυσαν; ἐπ εἴ δὺ ἰηἰιϊλῖα, αιϑ ἐγαΐὶ ἴῃ εἰ ἤη 5 ἃ εἱ νεῖ οἷβ, οἱ ποὺ [δοϊϊ. ν μι ιδι δ (θὲ δὶ. θὰ ἱπάσοσαμι Δὲ ποι πίθυ5, φαΐ ἃ πο} 18. εἶ οἱ οἱ [θ᾿ ἃ 158... 16, 17. ὃ → ; μα- Α δὴ μαιἰθπιΐὰ πηλχὶπι 8} : πᾶπὶ βου 0 γ8 68 οἱ χρόθυμο; → μακρόθυμος.

Topics: Fasting

Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Comm. Proph. min. 5.3.4 (PG 81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-3-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-prophetas-minores/5-3-4

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 81 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain or FOTC English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.