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Translated by Ch. Browne and J. Swallow.
Gregory Theologian Bilingual Anthology, Resources Online and in Print
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13 Pages
Page 3
III. As to the honour paid to Seven there are many testimonies, but we will be content with a few out of the many. For instance, seven precious spirits are named; for I think Isaiah [4211] loves to call the activities of the Spirit spirits; and the Oracles of the Lord are purified seven times according to David, [4212] and the just is delivered from six troubles and in the seventh is not smitten. [4213] But the sinner is pardoned not seven times, but seventy times seven. [4214] And we may see it by the contrary also (for the punishment of wickedness is to be praised), Cain being avenged seven times, that is, punishment being exacted from him for his fratricide, and Lamech seventy times seven, [4215] because he was a murderer after the law and the condemnation. [4216] And wicked neighbours receive sevenfold into their bosom; [4217] and the House of Wisdom rests on seven pillars [4218] and the Stone of Zerubbabel is adorned with seven eyes; [4219] and God is praised seven times a day. [4220] And again the barren beareth seven, [4221] the perfect number, she who is contrasted with her who is imperfect in her children. [4222]
[4211] Isa. xi. 2.
[4212] Ps. xix. 6.
[4213] Job v. 19.
[4214] Matt. xviii. 22.
[4215] Gen. iv. 24.
[4216] It will be worth while, says Nicetas, to add S. John Chrysostom's account of the sevenfold punishment which was inflicted on Cain. The number Seven he says (Hom. in Gen. xix. 5, p. 168 c.) is often used in Holy Scripture in the sense of multitude, as e.g., in such places, as, "The barren hath borne seven," and the like. So here; the greatness of the crime is implied, and that it is not a simple and single crime, but seven sins; and those of such a sort that every one of them must be avenged by a very severe punishment. First, that he envied his brother when he saw that God loved him, a sin which without any other added to it was sufficient to be deadly. The next was that this sin was against a brother. The third that he compassed a deceit. The fourth that he perpetrated a murder. The fifth that it was his brother that he slew. The sixth that he was the first man to commit a murder. The seventh that he lied to God. You have followed these steps with your mind, or do you desire that I should repeat the enumeration in a fuller way, to make you understand how each of these sins would be visited with a very severe penalty, even if it stood alone. Who would judge a man worthy of pardon who envies another simply because he enjoys the favour and love of God? Here then is one very great and inexpiable sin. And this is shewn to be even more atrocious when he who is envied is a brother, and has done him no wrong. Further, he contrived a deceit, bringing his brother out by a trick into the field, without reverence for nature herself. The fourth crime is the murder which he committed. The fifth is that it was his brother whom he put to death; his brother, I say, that came out of the same womb. Sixthly, he was the first inventor of murder. Seventhly, when questioned by God he did not hesitate to lie. And therefore because he dared to lay hands on his brother, he draws upon himself severe punishments. He then proceeds to shew how Lamech's crime was worse than Cain's, and is therefore said to be punished seventy times; that is, in manifold ways. Lamech slew a man and a young man, and this, after the law against murder had been given; that is, after God had punished Cain. Cain's punishment he says was sevenfold, corresponding to his seven sins:—1. Cursed is the ground for thy sake. 2. Thou shalt till the ground; i.e., thou shalt never rest from the toils of husbandry. 3. It shall not yield unto thee its strength; 4. thy labours shall be barren, and 5. "sighing and trembling" shalt thou be. And the sixth is from the lips of Cain himself:—"If Thou castest me out from the earth," i.e., from all earthly conveniences, "from Thy face shall I be hid." And God put a mark upon Cain; this is the seventh punishment—a mark of infamy declaring his guilt and shame to all that should see him. Others according to the same authority (and Bishop Wordsworth adopts the explanation) explains it thus. From Cain to the Deluge are seven generations, and then the world was punished because sin had spread far and wide. But Lamech's sin could not be cured by the Deluge, but only by Him Who taketh away the sin of the world. Then count all the generations from Adam to Christ, and according to the Genealogy in Luke, you will find that our Lord was born in the seventieth generation. This is S. Jerome's explanation.
[4217] Ps. lxxix. 12.
[4218] Prov. ix. i.
[4219] Zech. iii. 9.
[4220] Ps. cxix. 164.
[4221] 1 Sam. ii. 5.
[4222] Peninnah who had "many" children is called Imperfect in her children, because Many is an indefinite word; where Hannah's one child Samuel was so perfect a man that he was as it were seven to his mother. For Seven is mystically, as Six or Ten is arithmetically, the perfect number. (Six because it is the sum of its own factors, 1, 2, 3; Ten, because it is the basis of numeration; Seven because it is the number of Creation; for God rested on the Sabbath Day.).
Reference address : https://www.elpenor.org/gregory-nazianzen/pentecost.asp?pg=3
