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“This generation is an evil and adulterous one... seeking a sign... and... no sign will be given to him, except the sign of the prophet Jonah; for as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man must also enter into the heart of the earth for three days and three nights” (cf. Matt. 12:39–40). The Lord did not want to talk about the number of three days, but he spoke so because he healed their sick and raised the dead. And after these countless signs and testimonies, which no book can comprehend (John 21:25), the blinded people said: “They want to see a sign from You” (cf. Matt. 12:38). So, leaving the prophets and kings as His witnesses, He began to point to the Ninevites, who, since they did not see the sign from Jonah, will condemn at the end (of the world) those who, after many signs they had seen, rejected the Author of the signs. Jonah announced destruction to the Ninevites, instilled fear and trembling and instilled terror in them, and they returned to him the harvest of a contrite spirit and the fruit of repentance. The Lord chose the Gentiles and brought the uncircumcised as witnesses. The idolaters received life and sinners turned to shame the circumcision. So they will condemn those who stubbornly disbelieved. “No sign will be given to them except the sign of the prophet Jonah” (cf. Matt. 12:39). For the sign of Jonah was in two ways a messenger and an exhorter to the Ninevites. If the word of Jonah is neglected, then the living will go down to hell, just as he did into the belly of the whale; if they repent, they will return from death to life, just as the prophet returned to life. So the Lord is for fall and rebellion; for people either live or die through His death. He says: “men of Nineveh” (cf. Jonah 3:5), with which words and something else their mind turns. For whoever sought a sign from heaven, like the thunder of Samuel (1 Samuel 12:18), answers to them: the sermon that you want to hear from heaven has come from hell. Since, having heard signs from heaven, they did not believe, a sermon was revealed from hell, just as Jonah came out of hell. And just as Jonah, coming out (from the underworld), was a sign of disaster for the Ninevites, because he announced destruction to their city, so were the apostles after the resurrection of the Lord. “So... will... the Son of Man... be in the heart of the earth” (cf. Matt. 12:40). With these words he showed them in advance that they could not kill Him contrary to (His own) will, because even a thousand years earlier the mystery of His death was foreshadowed by Jonah. Where Abel was killed, there, perhaps, were the mouths of the earth. “I am earthly,” he says, “I opened my mouth and drank the blood of your brother” (cf. Gen. 4:11). And where the Lord was buried, there, perhaps, was the heart of the earth: “the Son of Man will be... in the heart of the earth” (cf. Matt. 12:40), like Jonah in the belly of the whale. Or just as Jonah did not undergo destruction and corruption in the belly of the whales, so the Lord did not in the tomb, as it is said: “I did not leave My soul in the tomb, nor did I allow His Holy One to see corruption” (cf. Ps. 15:10). Just as Jonah, coming out of the sea, preached to the Ninevites, and they, having converted, remained alive, so the Lord, after resurrecting His body from the tomb, sent His disciples to the pagans, and they, having converted, received perfect and full life. So, three days of descent and ascension indicate the death of both 170. “And the queen of the south... will condemn him” (cf. Matt. 12:42); she is the image of the Church. For just as she came to Solomon (1 Kings 10:1-10), so the Church came to the Lord, and just as she condemned the people, so did the Church. After all, if she who wished to see the passing wisdom of a mortal king condemns (herself) the people, then how much more does the Church (does this) desiring to see the King, who does not pass away, and His wisdom, which is alien to any oblivion. “If... we suffer... with Him, then we are glorified... with Him” (cf. Rom. 8:17). “But the unclean (spirit) if it comes out of a person” (cf. Matt. 12:43). Why did he say this to them? Since they were looking for a sign from Him, this example was offered to them, as if saying: what good will it do you if you are healed for a while, remaining unbelievers? After all, if after healing you return to doubt again, then evil will befall you, worse than before. In accordance with the image he proposed, he continues: “he is coming... (then ) the unclean one, takes ... these and his other companions, those who are more evil than himself, and they come and ... live in him, and the last thing for that person will be worse than the first. And so it will be with ... this generation" (cf. Matthew 12:45). Similar was the healing of Mary Magdalene, about whom it is written that He cast out seven demons from her before their eyes, so that the words that he spoke to them, they would see as an example. says that women came to Him and were healed of their illnesses and unclean spirits. For he says: “Mary... Magdalene, from whom he cast out seven demons, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna” (cf. Luke 8:2-3). Matthew 12:45), because Christ will not come a second time in the flesh to take away cruel diseases freely through faith. “But he is unclean if he comes out of a man” (cf. Matt. 12:43). The Lord compares Israel with a madman who was possessed by a spirit (“he found,” he says, “Israel” (cf. Deut. 32:10), etc.), and Himself with a doctor. Since this Doctor enlightened this people with His preaching and through signs and wonders fulfilled the words of the prophets, as He said: “if... If you do not believe Me, then believe My works” (cf. John 10:38), and since He poured out His mercy on them, idolatry was immediately driven out from among them, their paganism fled (from them) and went to the pagan nations. And since this people (only) for a while was healed from their disease of error, and their idolatry moved away before the radiance of the Life-Giver. (for forced by His miracles, and not of his own free will, he abandoned and despised his idolatry), then after His ascension, when he should have voluntarily and at his own desire turned to virtue, he returned to his former customs; therefore he said: “seven of his fellows,” and: “for that man the last will be worse than the first” (cf. Matt. 12:45), since after this they remain in complete error. Then we can say that the devil, like that man 171, has taken possession and is taking over Israel. When the Israelites lived in Egypt and were under the rule of Pharaoh, they had an unclean (spirit). And when the Lord sent them a savior who brought them out (from Egypt), the unclean one ran away and they were healed. “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction” (cf. Ps. 107:20). He led them through the sea so that they would be sanctified, and they would not; and he put them through the flame of fire, and they were not cleansed, as the apostle also testified (1 Cor. 10:1-5). So, the unclean (spirit), expelled from them, passed through waterless places (Matt. 12:43), that is, through the pagans, to find rest for himself, but he did not find it, since the pagans also heard the voice of the Divine prophecy: “who once thirsted for water,” etc. (cf. Is. 55:1); and: “the Gentiles... will trust in Him” (Rom. 15:12, cf. Is. 11:10); and: “I gave You for the desire of the people and for the hope of the Gentiles” (cf. Is. 49:6). And since the desert of the pagans became a receptacle of waters (Is. 41:18), then (the unclean one) sought and found rest for himself in the people of Israel; That’s why he said: “I will return to my... former home with my seven companions” (cf. Matthew 12:44), and having entered, he lived among this people according to the sevenfold number of days, 172, and destroyed all the ministry of their faith. Next. The seven who dwelt in it are those about whom Jeremiah said: “she conceived and gave birth to this one” (cf. Jer. 15:9). Her womb became heavy, and she gave birth to one calf in the wilderness (Ex. 32:4), two bulls of Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:28) and the likeness of the four faces of Manasseh. And the words: “the sun goes down” (cf. Mark 1:32), he said because Israel lived in darkness, in the light of the moon of prophecy 173. “Night,” he says, “will be to you instead of a vision, and darkness will be to you instead of a foreshadowing” (cf. Micah 3:6), which means when (the unclean one), coming out of a person, walks around, wandering, this is in accordance with his nature. The Lord expressed judgment over this people, saying: “So it will be for this generation,” that is, in the days of the prophets, an unclean one 174 came out of them, for he is sin. After all, God, having separated a certain part of them, settled them in Babylon, and the prophets testified that (God) blotted out their sins, since Scripture says: “He who is a hundred years old will die a youth, and a sinner who is a hundred years old will be cursed” (cf. Is. 65:20). Another time he rejected them in the days of the Lord, finding them full of deceit against their Deliverer. Since their sins became greater than before, since they completed the murder of the prophets and raised Christ to the Cross, therefore, like worthless vessels, they were crushed and thrown out. “Blessed will be the womb that bears You” (cf. Luke 11:27). Marcion says: with these words they only tempted Him whether He was really born. And by what is said (in another place): “Behold, Your Mother and Your brothers are looking for You” (cf. Matt. 12:47) means the same thing. He even gave them His Body for food. For what? In order to hide His greatness and instill in them the idea that He is corporeal, since they could not yet understand 175. But why did he reject His Christmas? After all, if, by rejecting him, he wanted to show that He was not born, then, on the other hand, He would not have made Himself the brother of the disciples who were born. If from what he rejected here it would follow that He was not born, then, on the contrary, on the basis of what He said there when He made Himself the brother of the disciples, one must believe that He was born. For if, by rejecting birth from the Mother, one forgot about the sameness of nature, then, on the other hand, through the recognition of the brothers, the common descent from the father was made clear. After all, if (even), without recognizing the Mother and brothers, He showed that He had no parents, then even in this state of affairs one should remember what He said: “No one is good but one” (Matthew 19:17), but are He Himself, the Holy Spirit and the chosen angels not good? In what sense did he say there: “Why do you call Me good?” (cf. Matthew 19:17, Mark 10:18) - in the same place and in this place he said: why do you call Me conceived and born? “Blessed is the womb that bore You” (Luke 11:27). He took this praise from His Mother and gave it to His disciples, because He remained in Mary for some time, but in the disciples (remained) forever 176 . For he said: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (cf. Luke 11:28). “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew 13:9). Of course, whoever had ears heard, since this voice, by His mercy, reached the ears of all. But (only) some listeners, due to their (inherent) freedom, begin after this voice to observe their wishes. And there are also those who observe them, but do not (yet) as a result of this do what is required of their attentiveness (to themselves). He hid in the flesh what was difficult to see with the eyes, and showed openly what was easily seen with the mind. It was difficult to see with His eyes, 177 not to hear His teaching was easy. They are punished not because they did not see His Divinity, but because they did not accept the words of His Divinity. So, there are words that (although) are sown into the hearers, but their roots are unfruitful, and there are those that produce roots with fruits. Three grains fell on three listeners and did not bear fruit. “Behold, a sower went out to sow seed; and when... he sowed... some fell on rocky places... some fell among thorns in... others fell on good ground” (cf. Matt. 13:3-8). Although there is one sower and the earth that produces roots is (also) one, nevertheless (during sowing) four (different) cases were revealed, and one (only) the last one turned out to be good and fruitful. Further, since the earth was identical in nature and productivity, and received the holy seed from holy hands, then why were there three (different) cases when the seed (not?) grew, and why (one seed bore) fruit thirtyfold, and (another) sixtyfold, and why will it be given to the one who has? Then, why did (the sower) sow along the road, where the birds collected the trampled seed, and why did the sower sow his seed on the rocky ground? The sower was alone and he sowed his seed in the same way and without adaptation (to the soil), but each land, according to its own properties, manifested the seed in its fruits. So, with these words, the Lord clearly taught that His Gospel does not force a single free person to become righteous, and that barren listeners are also not deprived of the sowing of His holy words. “The lice fell along the way” (cf. Matt. 13:4) (seed) is like those souls who wrongfully reject the seed, like the one (slave) who received one talent and disdained its good Giver (Matthew 25:14–25). And since this land did not want to accept His seed, all the crafty passers-by trampled it; therefore, there was no place in it for a mentor and teacher, so that he, like a farmer, would come to plow its rough soil and sow new seeds in it. He compared the devil to birds, because he steals the seed. This passage also shows that the devil will not forcibly take away from the heart the teaching taught to man, because, according to the likeness that (the Lord) used (here), the voice of the Gospel stopped only at the gate of hearing, 178 just as a grain of wheat remained on the surface of that earth, which did not accept into its bosom the seeds thrown on it. After all, it is impossible for birds to reach the seed that the earth hides in its depths. And the one that was “on rocky x...places” (cf. Matthew 13:5), - by which the Good One shows His mercy and grace, for although this solid earth did not bear fruit, He did not deprive it of (His) seed. This land means those who have withdrawn from His teaching, as it is said: “Your words are cruel, who can... listen to them?” (cf. John 6:60). So Judas heard the word of the Lord and became famous for his miracles, 179 but during the temptation he found himself without fruit. The earth, strewn with thorns, although it received the seed, (however) gave its strength only to thorns and thistles; here the Teacher again showed His love, since He willingly threw His seed into the ground, which bore other labor (it fed thorns and thistles). Although thorns prevailed in this land, yet, so that it might remain without justification, He also scattered His seed into it abundantly. One rich man joyfully came to the Lord and said: “all this... I have done from my youth” (cf. Matt. 19:20). Then the Lord, in order to lead him to holiness, gave him pure seed, saying: “if you want to be perfect, go sell everything you have” (cf. Matt. 19:21). He (the same), seeing that the perfect seed approached him in order to free him from all the thorns that oppressed him, was saddened for his wealth, which were those thorns that suppressed him. “I am good of the earth and... full of fruit” (cf. Matt. 13:8) means souls devoted to the truth and imitating those who, at the call (of Him), leaving everything, followed Him (Matthew 19:21). “The fruit...is thirty...fold,...sixty...and a hundredfold” (cf. Matt. 13:8) indicates the course of life in childhood, youth and old age. Although the earth is one and the seed is the same, yet the Lord thus calculates the different fruits according to the length of time, since also in fruits one is superior to the other. But the Good God showed His mercy, because when they came to receive the reward, the latter received an equal reward with the first (Matthew 20:1-16). Further, the land was good and fruitful, for although the good will, which joyfully accepted the seeds of goodness, was the same, it nevertheless brought forth different fruit, thirty, sixty and a hundredfold. With these words he teaches that all parts of the earth, according to their power, produced their fruit and, according to their strength, joyfully brought an increase, just like those who received five talents and acquired (in their place) ten, each according to his virtue. For whoever bears fruit a hundredfold is found to have perfect election, because he has received the baptism of death as a testimony of God. Those who, having been called (to this), gave up their bodies to be tortured and tormented for their God, but did not achieve death for their Lord, although they remained good until the end of their lives, bear sixty-fold fruit. Thirtyfold is the ordinary fruit of the good earth, and it denotes those chosen to the religion of Christ and, in the absence of persecution in their time, were crowned with the good way of their life, just as the earth is crowned with its fruits, although at the same time they were not called to the lot of martyrs and confessors. And the words: “he himself does not know, because the earth bears fruit by itself” (cf. Mark 4:27–28), he says not because he did not know what he planted, but because he was not burdened with this work. “Mister! Isn’t this the holy seed... you sowed in your field? where do... the tares come from? (cf. Matthew 13:27). And he answered them that this was the work of the enemy, and not His own work. If any of us wants to be planted among the tares, then let us ask him 180: if the Benefactor sowed from His seed in that part that is from Him, then let him tell us why one part of this seed was sown by Him (Himself), while the other part was left until the next sowing? If he sowed in part of the devil, then in this case the Benefactor sowed among the tares, or the harvest belongs to the devil 181 . “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed, which... is smaller than all seeds” (cf. Matt. 13:31–32). This was said about the insignificant beginning of the sermon, as there: “Fear not, little flock!” (Luke 12:32). “And if it vegetates, it grows... and becomes a tree... and it grows larger than all the grains” (cf. Matt. 13:32), since His Gospel reigned to the ends of the earth. “Throughout all the earth,” he says, “the sound of their broadcast spread” (cf. Ps. 19:5). “And... the birds of the air come and live on its branches” (cf. Matt. 13:32) - that is, the burdened pagans find peace in faith. “Come,” he says, “all you who are heavy laden” (Matthew 11:28). If the Lord had not been born of the Virgin and had not come from the Virgin, and if He had not suffered, then one could compare His soul to a bird that flies from the sky, and say that along with it His body also appeared from there. But the Lord, in order to make it clear and undoubted that He took on a body, compared His soul (Himself) with a seed (mustard seed), which was sown in the ground and from the ground borrowed a body for itself, where the bird took refuge. For John the Baptist testifies: “I saw the Spirit in the bodily likeness of a dove, descending and resting on Him” (cf. John 1:32) 182. He also compared the Kingdom of Heaven to leaven (Matthew 13:33), which is put into flour, since the leaven produces something that the flour imperceptibly becomes similar to it. After all, the leaven does not suddenly take possession of the mass, but with its inner strength transforms it according to itself; so is the Gospel of Christ. The leaven in the mass also denotes the Body of the Lord (according to its meaning) in the descendants of Adam. He also says: “The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of all kinds” (Matthew 13:47). When he says: “of every kind,” understand (this in the sense of) every language. But after this gathering of fish from the sea, that is, from this land, there remains another choice, which is terrible and trembling. And they come to a net pulled out (to the shore) in order to add the good to the good and throw out the bad (Matthew 13:48). The fish that fell into His net are the people who believe in Him. The “good” are those who have continued in His Gospel from the beginning; The evil ones are those whom the Church, due to their infidelity, expels and throws out from among (its) (Matthew 13:49). “Therefore He came into His own country and taught them in their synagogues” (cf. Matt. 13:54). Was there not another people or another country besides Judea? But this is written in order to expose and reproach the lying Marcionites 183. “After this, he says, he entered, according to His custom... into their synagogue on the Sabbath day” (cf. Luke 4:16) But what was the custom of the one who then (even for the first time) appeared? And he did not begin to teach outside the synagogue, but in the synagogue. Because from their worship it is revealed that he talked with them about their God; He did not express what they said to Him, except this: “Physician, heal yourself” (Luke 4:23). And they took Him and led Him out to the top of the mountain. It is incredible that (only) this word of Christ aroused them to (such) anger 185 But if 186 spoke with them about the Creator (of the world), and as a result they gave Him such an answer and brought Him out with the goal of overthrowing Him, then why did the evangelist speak with them in another place? does not indicate the same? And that the citizens hated Him is evidenced by His words: “a prophet is not accepted in ... his own country” (Luke 4:24). Neither Anathoth accepted Jeremiah (Jer.1:1, Jer.11:21-23), nor Thesvah (did not listen) to Elijah (1 Kings 17:1), nor Abel-Mechol - Elisha (1 Kings 19:16), nor Rama - Samuel (1 Samuel 7:17, 8:7, 19), and neither the people of Moses nor Israel accepted Gentlemen. Therefore Elijah despised their wives (1 Kings 17:10–24), and Elisha despised their husbands (2 Kings 5:1–14) 187. So Christ called the Jews unbelievers to shame them and honored the Syrians more than them - therefore they were filled with anger. But this was nothing more than an excuse. "Doctor! - they say, heal yourself” (Luke 4:23), - that is, save yourself from us before saving us. Although they needed healing, due to their unbelief, he could not heal them. They overthrew Him according to their own will, but according to His Divinity He did not fall (Luke 4:30). When (their) will wanted to overthrow Him, the air obediently supported Him with its wings. He did not fall, so that at least in this way he could teach the unbelievers faith. Maybe that’s why (the evangelist) says: “the Galileans received... Him” (John 4:45). When they saw what He had done among them, no one dared to do anything against Him. Поскольку это было первое исцеление, то десница Его была ослаблена (неверием Иудеев). For this reason, the inhabitants of the city of Nazareth were aroused by jealousy against Him - under the influence of the “prince of Shuytsa,” who was jealous of the healing of that right hand, which is conferred or taken away in solemn sacraments, depending on how the Divine applies it to various kinds of needs. “A prophet... in... his own country, - that is, among his people, - is not accepted” (Luke 4:24). Elijah was from the city of Thesbah, and it is not said that the city of Thesbah did not receive him, but all Israel. Whoever denies this, let him show us when the Tishbites persecuted him, and the Israelites accepted him. After all, according to the testimony of Scripture, who accepted it? Only one widow in pagan Zarephath. “There were many... widows” not in the city of Thessova, but “in the house of Israel I... and was not sent to any of them” (cf. Luke 4:25–26). Likewise, it is not said: “many... there were lepers” in the city of Elisha, but: “I am in the house of Israel” (cf. Luke 4:27). So, in this way he affirmed that not in Nazareth, but “in the house of Israel I could not do any power” (cf. Luke 4:27). The Nazarenes, seeing that He (in their person?) rejected the entire land of Israel, and honored the pagans immeasurably (higher), rebelled against Him, and took Him out (from the city) with reproaches, and overthrew Him. For they were inflamed with zeal for the descendants of Abraham, saying that God honored them more than all the pagans. So, speaking in Nazareth, the Lord offered two examples 188 that show the difference between the people of Israel and the pagans. In the same way, through the church of which he spoke, he showed another church, namely, His body (John 2:19), and through the fields in Samaria he pointed to the harvest of people (John 4:35-38). For all the people were related to the prophet about whom Christ spoke, and (the whole) tribe was brotherly to him 189. He honored the centurion and was amazed at him (Matthew 8:10), he honored the Syrophoenician woman and was amazed at her (Mark 7:26). He honored the centurion as Naaman, and the Syrophoenician woman as the widow of Sarepta. Elijah fled to the pagans, but the Lord forbade His disciples to greet the pagans (Matthew 10:5). The Lord received the Syrophoenician woman sternly, but through this he showed and taught that healing would subsequently pass on to the pagans. Further, He allowed Him to be overthrown, because Satan thought that the Lord, out of fear, did not throw himself down from the wing of the church (Matthew 4:5-6). Since the Lord, being overthrown, did not fall, Satan fell from his power. Likewise, he did not make even a stone into bread, so as not to fulfill the desires of a sinner (Matthew 4:3-4), for he did the same in the desert with bread and in Cana of Galilee with wine. “They commanded that the head of John the Baptist be brought” (cf. Matthew 14:8). Oh Herod! what are you doing? Do not give a righteous head to a sinner's rib 190. But whoever defeated Adam by means of the rib with which he was connected by marriage, he also defeated Herod by the rib connected to him by the bond of marriage. And so the head, placed like a lamp on a dish, shines on all generations (of humanity) and exposes the fornication of murderers. His lips were made mute so that they would no longer speak, but the preaching of their silence burns more powerfully than the (preaching of) the voice. And they say that when the daughter of Herodias was dancing, Herod and Herodias hatched intrigues so that he would swear, and this one would demand (this). The meaning of these words, perhaps, is this: the three days between Jonah’s descent into the belly of the whale and his ascent from there mean the physical death of the Lord and the spiritual death of the pagans. Possessed, healed by the Lord (Matthew 12:22). Those. He lived in it with his seven companions, whom he took according to the seven days of the week. In contrast to the sunlight of Christ's teaching. In the days of the prophets, although the unclean spirit came out, it has now returned to them again. At this point in the margin of the manuscript there is a note: “Please note that Marcion said all this.” The meaning of this place is this: the bliss of Mary, who had the Lord in her womb, was temporary, but the communication of the disciples with the Lord is eternal; It goes without saying that Saint Ephraim does not exclude Mary from the number of the Lord’s disciples. Seeing Him as God, or seeing His Divinity was difficult. Those. the kind of person who rejects the seed of the Word of God. (Matthew 10:1–4, Mark 3:15–19, Luke 9:1–6, 10, Luke 10:17–20). Those. if anyone intends to move from us to the heretics, then we will ask. The meaning of the above reasoning of the holy father, apparently, is this: if the Good God sowed the same seed in His field, namely wheat, then why did He sow one part of the seed earlier and the other later? That is, why did he first proclaim one teaching to the world through Christ and the apostles, and then give another, preached by heretics? Does one seed need multiple sowings? This means that the very fact that heretics appeared after the sowing shows that they did not arise from the seed that God sowed in the world through Christ and the apostles. If the heretics do not want to admit that God sowed their new teachings where the apostles already sowed, then they will have to agree that He sowed not in His inheritance, but in the devil’s inheritance, that is, among the tares, or they will have to assert that the harvest of new teachings was born not from the seed of God, but from the seed of the devil That is just as a mustard seed sown in the ground forms its roots and branches from it and becomes a tree on which birds take refuge, so the soul of Christ from the body of the Virgin received His body, on which the Holy Spirit rested at baptism. It is these words that show that Christ had a fatherland and was a true man. Marcion's reasoning begins from this place. This means that Marcion argued that the anger of the Jews (Luke 4:28–30) would be completely incomprehensible if we do not assume that Christ spoke to the Jews about the Creator of the world, who, according to Marcion’s teaching, was the God of the Jews and differed from the highest Good God. In the following, Saint Ephraim answers this: if the anger of the Jews against Christ was caused by His teaching about the Creator of the world, then why do the evangelists not mention any other case of a similar kind? For his part, the holy father explains the anger of the Jews by the hatred that they had for Christ according to the word of the prophet: “not a single prophet is accepted in... his own country” (cf. Luke 4:24). The replacement of “Nazareth” with “Bethsaida” belongs to Marcion, and not to St. Ephraim, who speaks about Nazareth below. This is where Saint Ephraim's response to Marcion's words begins. Elijah did not help the women of Judah, but the widow of Zarephath, and Elisha did not help the men of Judah, but Naaman the Syrian. Namely: in the person of the Nazarenes there is an example of the Jews who do not accept the prophets, and in the person of the Sarepta widow and Naaman there is an example of the pagans who accepted the prophet. This means that through the Nazarenes the Lord designated all the Jews, and through the widow of Sarepta and Naaman - all the pagans, just as through the temple he designated His body and through the white fields of Samaria the harvest of people. The connection between these last words and the previous one is as follows: in the person of the Nazarenes, Christ presented an example of the Jews, because not only the Nazarenes, but all the Jews were fellow tribesmen of the prophet. Those. a woman created from Adam's rib. You might be interested in: