Forgive him seven times

“Forgive him seven times” is the principle Peter brings to bear when Ursus is holding the terrified Chilo and Glaucus is being urged toward vengeance. Peter recalls the Saviour’s instruction to forgive a repentant offender even after repeated wrongdoing; Glaucus then explicitly forgives Chilo in the name of Christ. The expression thus becomes an enacted test of Christian mercy, not merely a rule recited in the abstract.

The Teaching in Context

Chilo pleads for his life, crying that he is a Christian and asking to be spared. His appeal comes while Ursus grips him and his voice grows weaker with pain. Peter rises from the table, briefly bows his white head with his eyes closed, then speaks into the silence. Rather than answer Chilo’s pleas with a judgment about his sincerity, Peter recalls the Saviour’s instruction: a brother who has sinned should be chastised, but if he repents, he should be forgiven; even if he offends seven times in a day and turns back seven times to ask for mercy, forgiveness is required.

Repetition and Repentance

The sevenfold repetition gives the teaching its force. Forgiveness is not presented as a reward reserved for someone who has never caused harm, nor as a response to a single, minor offense. The repeated return of the offender—each time asking for mercy—is the condition Peter emphasizes. His account holds correction and forgiveness together: wrongdoing is acknowledged, but repentance changes what the community is called to do next.

Glaucus Enacts the Principle

Peter’s words are followed by a deeper silence. Glaucus covers his face and remains still for a long time before uncovering it and answering. He asks God to forgive Peter’s offenses as he forgives them in Christ’s name. The response makes the teaching concrete: Glaucus, the injured party in the immediate confrontation, relinquishes retaliation and grants Chilo mercy. Ursus then lets go of the Greek’s arms, so the decision to forgive has an immediate physical consequence as well as a moral one.

Narrative and Ethical Significance

The expression joins speech, choice, and action in a compressed sequence. Peter supplies the governing Christian teaching; Glaucus must decide whether to live by it when the person before him has caused injury; Ursus’s release of Chilo registers the result in the scene. The repeated number seven stresses the persistence of mercy, while the pause before Glaucus answers shows that forgiveness is a demanding act rather than an effortless sentiment. Here, the teaching interrupts a chain of threatened violence and defines Christian community through the mercy it extends to a repentant offender.