394 WORKS OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM. [HOMILY V. therefore commanded us in no case to be idle. " That ye withdraw yourselves," he says, " from every brother." Tell me not of the rich, tell me not of the poor, tell me not of the holy. This is disorder. "That walketh," he says, that is, liveth. "And not after the tradition which they received from me." Tradition, he says, which is through works. And this he always calls properly l tradition. Ver. 7, 8. " For yourselves know how ye ought to imitate us : for we behaved not our selves disorderly among you ; neither did we eat bread for nought at any man s hand." And yet even if they had eaten, it would not have been for nought. " For the laborer," he says, "is worthy of his hire." (Luke x. 7.) " But in labor and travail, working night and day, that we might not burden any of you. Not because we have not the right, but to make our selves an ensample unto you that ye should imitate us. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, If any will not work, neither let him eat." See how in the former Epistle indeed he dis courses somewhat more mildly concerning these things ; as when he says, " We beseech you, brethren, that ye would abound more and more and that ye study" (i Thess. iv. i-n) and nowhere does he say, "we command," nor "in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ," which was fearful and implied danger, but that " ye abound," he says, and " study," which are the words of one exhorting to virtue ; " that ye may walk honestly" (becomingly), he says. (i Thess. iv. 12.) But here is nothing of this kind, but " if any one will not work," says he, " neither let him eat." For if Paul, not being under a necessity, and having a right to be idle, and having undertaken so great a work, did nevertheless work, and not merely work, but " night and day," so that he was able even to assist others, much more ought others to do this. Ver. ii. "For we hear of some that walk among you disorderly, that work not at all, but are busybodies." This indeed he says here ; but there, in the first Epistle, he says, " that ye may walk hon estly towards them that are without." On what account? Perhaps there was as yet no such thing. For upon another occasion also admon ishing, he says, " It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts xx. 35.) But the expres sion, " walk honestly," has no reference to dis order ; wherefore he added, " that ye may have need of nothing." (i Thess. iv. 12.) And here he sets down another necessity, for thus doing what was honorable and good towards all. (For 1 Or " especially " (xvpicos). as he proceeds, he says, " be not weary in well doing.") For certainly he that is idle and yet able to work must needs be a busybody. But alms are given to those only who are not able to support themselves by the work of their own hands, or who teach, and are wholly occupied in the business of teaching. " For thou shalt not muzzle the ox," he says, "when he treadeth out the corn." (Deut. xxv. 4.) "And the laborer is worthy of his hire." (i Tim. v. 18, and Luke x. 7.) So that neither is he idle, but receives the reward of work, and great work too. But to pray and fast, being idle,2 is not the work of the hands. For the work that he is here speaking of is the work of the hands. And that you may not suspect any such thing, he has added, " That work not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and ex hort through our Lord Jesus Christ." Because he had touched them severely, wish ing to render his discourse more mild, he adds, " through the Lord," again what is authoritative and fearful. "That with quietness," he says, "they work, and eat their own bread." For why has he not said, But if they are not disorderly, let them be maintained by you ; but requires both, that they be quiet, and that they work? "That they may eat their own bread," says he, not that of another. Ver. 13. "But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing." See how immediately the fatherly heart was overcome. He was not able to carry out his reproof farther, but again pitied them. And see with what discretion ! He has not said, But pardon them, until they are amended ; but what? "But ye, be not weary in well doing." Withdraw yourselves, he says, from them, and reprove them ; do not, however, suffer them to perish with hunger. What then, he says, if having abundance from us, he should remain idle ? In that case, he says, I have spoken of a mild remedy, that you withdraw yourselves from him, that is, do not partake with him in free conversation ; show that you are angry. This is no little matter. For such is the reproof that is given to a brother, if we wish really to amend him. We are not ignorant of the methods of reproof. For tell me, if you had a brother in the flesh, would you then overlook him pining with hunger ? Truly I think not ; but perhaps you would even correct him. Ver. 14. " And if any man obeyeth not our word by this Epistle." He has not said, He that disobeys, disobeys 2 See on i Thess. iv. 12, where he says nearly the same. On i Tim. v. 10 he praises the Monks near Antioch, but it appears that they were industrious.