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Hymns and Homilies
St Ephrem the Syrian, tr. Burgess, 1853
5. Metrical Homily 5: That Matter is Not Eternal
When things of an unyielding nature
Are to be wrought upon,
Tools of hard temperament
Are brought to the work.
By the means of hardened iron,
And a fierce flame,
And a strong blast of wind,
And by wisdom and power,
They are subdued, and brought
Into the furnace to be fashioned,
That they may become useful.
Rebellious natures which proceed not
Into the path of duty by gentleness;
By the bridle and the yoke
Have their stubbornness subdued,
So that it yields to the trainer.
If they revolt, they are tortured;
But if they obey, it is for their happiness;
If they harden themselves,
The rod urges them on;
But if they are tractable,
Love is their leader.
Thus the yoke is to make them submissive;
The rod is for their stubbornness;
Pain is to correct their obduracy;
Strength is to reduce them to order;
Counsel is intended to persuade them;
Wisdom to be their leader;
Love brings them to the society of others;
Success is for their probation;
Peace for their concord;
Wealth gives occasion for victory;
And reputation for prudent counsel.
Again, there are rebellious natures
Which are similar to Pharaoh.
When he suffered punishment,
He turned and became penitent;
But when he was lifted up again,
He forgot the past and was obstinate:
He was a type of the unstable,
Who, being exalted to honour,
Delight to inflict injury.
These, abusing kind treatment,
Must be restrained by wrath.
If thou shouldst demean thyself humbly,
They will think you despicable;
If thou actest boldly,
They will consider you as without understanding;
Be of an easy temperament,
They will swallow up and drown you;
If thou art of strict manners,
They will avoid and curse you;
But if thou art sociable,
They will think you guileful,
Double-faced, and insidious.
If they are sick they require your aid;
And if they are slighted they condemn you;
If they are visited they act ungratefully;
If they become convalescent they forsake you;
If they get abroad they injure you;
Ask for your due and they will curse you;
Forgive them and they will trample on you:
So that neither favour shewn,
Nor the exercise of strict justice,
Are ever pleasing to those
Who seek occasion to be more wicked.
Now consider that all of these
Are the children of one error;
Who from among the Greeks
Have received a hateful name,
That of the profane Hylë.
For of this there is no account
By Moses in the Law:
The Prophets described it not,
Nor have the Apostles written of it;
But all the children of the truth
Have proclaimed but one essence.
Behold how the children of deceit
Have combined together,
Who have represented Hylë as eternal!
Marcion hath written of it
That it is opposed to the Creator.
Bardesanes also wrote of it
In his history of the Maker of the world.
The Babylonian Manes, having no understanding,
Described it as about to be fettered.
But it was the part of Moses to write the holy
mystery.
Neither did the Just One hesitate
To relate, by the mouth of His preachers,
The truth to those who would listen to it.
The elect Moses was silent on this subject,
That he might shame these reprobates,
Who call aloud on the name of Hylë,
In the same manner as the crucifiers
United to shout together
The name of Barabbas;
For they saw he was a great robber,
And would make him their chief,
That they might be able by that strong one
To slay that mighty Hero
Who had subjected His power to them.
Marcion collected together his wolves,
And his ally collected his foxes,
And Manes his herds of swine;
That they might war against Him
Who, by the hand of David,
Had stopped the roaring of the lion and the bear,
And bound together the foxes
By the hand of Samson.
A type this of their brethren,
Whom, by their own declarations,
The truth casts into chains!
And their error is as a cornet
To those who wander from the way.
By their trumpets the circumcised ones
Are all aroused and proclaim
Disputation and strife.
The bramble calls to the thorns,
And the thorn to the tares,
And the rush calls to the chaff:
They excite themselves as with strong drink,
And come together to contend
With the fire of the Almighty.
And now conspire together
Vipers which have no pity,
And the asp without ears,
And the serpent destitute of feet;
And presumptuously attempt to bite
The stone which broke in pieces
The image which the king dreamed of,
In the midst of Babylon;
Whose head was that of a dragon,
Its feet those of a basilisk,
And its belly that of a serpent.
There are gathered and joined together
Earth-worms and locusts,
And the destroying moth,
That they may trample into dust
The heel of the mighty Hero;
Even the heel of Him who is of the stock
Of the kings of the house of David,
Which once descended into the sea,
And walked upon it,
And brake in pieces Leviathan,
And ascended triumphantly.
The vulture expands his wings,
And rising up joineth himself
To the crows—the children of darkness;
The eagle calls to the kite,
And the ravens respond to him;
That they may fight against
The great Eagle of heaven;
The thundering sound of whose wings
Put Satan to flight:
And He opened the door of Paradise
And admitted the penitent robber.