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 CS 6550: Randomized algorithms Spring 2019

Lecture 1: Karger’s min-cut algorithm and the Karger-Stein algorithm

January 8, 2019
Lecturer: Eric Vigoda Scribes: Yingjie Qian, John Lambert

Disclaimer: These notes have not been subjected to the usual scrutiny reserved for formal publications.

1.1 Introduction
Definition 1.1 Given an undirected graph G = (V, E), let S ⊆ V and S̄ = V \ S. We define the cut(S, S̄)
to be the set of all edges with one end in S and the other in S̄. We use notation δ(S) = {(v, w) ∈ E : ∀v ∈
S, w ∈ S̄} for simplicity.

In this lecture, we want to solve the min-cut problem: Given G = (V, E), find S ⊂ V such that |δ(S)|
is minimum.
One easy way is to use max-flow. Recall the min-s,t-cut problem, which is given G and two vertices
s, t ∈ V , find cut(S, S̄) where s ∈ S, t ∈ S̄, with |δ(S)| minimum. To solve min-cut from min-s,t-cut: fix
s ∈ V and run it for all n − 1 other vertices as t. To solve min-cut: we can reduce it to max-s,t-flow and
use Edmond’s Karp algorithm to solve it. We refer the readers to CS 6505 notes for details.
In this lecture, we present Karger’s min-cut algorithm [1] in section 1.2.1 and the Karger-Stein algo-
rithm [2] in section 1.3.1. We will then analyze their running times and success probabilities in section 1.2.2
and 1.3.2, respectively.

1.2 Karger’s min-cut algorithm

1.2.1 The algorithm
In this section, we first introduce a new action on graph called contraction. Then, we provide some intuition
before formally presenting Karger’s min-cut algorithm.
Given a graph G = (V, E), for an edge e = (v, w) ∈ E, we call the following action as contracting e to
obtain a new graph, denoted by G/e:
1. Replace vertices v and w by new vertex y.
2. For all edges (v, z) ∈ E in original graph G, replace by (y, z); for all edges (w, z) ∈ E, replace by (y, z).
3. Drop all edges (v, w) ∈ E.
Note that G/e is a multi-graph without self-loops. We have the following observations on edge contractions:
For a given graph G = (V, E) and e = (v, w) ∈ E, let G0 = G/e. Consider cuts in G and cuts in G0 , then
every cut in G0 corresponds to a cut in G. For a subset S ⊂ V , where e ∈ S, then δG (S) = δG0 (S). Now,
consider contracting a sequence of edges e1 , e2 , . . . , en−2 . Since the number of vertices decreases by one via
each contraction, there are two big meta-vertices left. Note that the (multi-)edges between those two vertices
represent the cut(S 0 , S̄ 0 ) in G, where the vertices in S 0 and S̄ 0 are contracted into those two big meta-vertices
respectively.
Fix a cut (S ? , S̄ ? ) of minimum size |δ(S ? )| = k. We want all of these edges e1 , e2 , . . . , en−2 ∈
/ δ(S ? ). In
a randomized algorithm, just take guesses at choosing edges. The minimum cut is small, so if you choose a
random edge from the whole graph, it is unlikely that it will be in the cut. Below is the formal algorithm.

1-1
Lecture 1: Karger’s min-cut algorithm and the Karger-Stein algorithm 1-2

Algorithm 1: Karger’s min-cut algorithm

input : Graph G = (V, E).
1 n ← |V (G)|, C ← E;
n


2 for i ← 1 to l 2 do
3 G0 ← G;
4 repeat
5 Choose an edge e ∈ E(G0 );
6 G0 ← G0 /e;
7 until |V (G0 )| = 2;
8 if |C| ≥ |E(G0 )| then
9 C ← E(G0 );
output: C.

1.2.2 Analysis
We can use adjacency lists or an adjacency matrix to represent the graph. Then, a single edge contraction
operation can be implemented with a linear number of updates to the data structure. It follows that the
running time for contracting any given graph to two vertices is O(n2 ) as we contract n − 2 edges. So the
total running time for the algorithm is O(n4 ).
Now, we will show that the success probability of the algorithm is:

P ∗ := Pr algorithm outputs the global min cut ≥ 1 − e−l .

Fix S ∗ ⊂ V such that cut (S ∗ , S̄ ∗ ) is of minimum size k. It suffices to show that for a single run,
1
P := Pr algorithm outputs min cut (S ∗ , S̄ ∗ ) for a single run ≥ n
.


2

n


Suppose we can prove the above inequality, since we run the algorithm l 2 times and output the best cut
n
found, the probability of all l n2 runs do not find the min cut is (1 − P )l( 2 ) . Thus,

n n
P ∗ ≥ 1 − (1 − P )l( 2 ) ≥ 1 − e−P l( 2 ) ≥ 1 − e−l .
1


We are left to show P ≥ / δ(S ? ) .
. By observation, P = Pr e1 , e2 , . . . , en−2 ∈
(n2 )
Then,
k
/ δ(S ∗ )) = 1 −
Pr(e1 ∈ .
|E(G)|
We now claim that G has minimum degree k, otherwise G has cut of size smaller than k,
Pwhich is the kn
set
of all edges that has one fixed minimum degree vertex as one end. Then, |E(G)| = 21 deg(v) ≥ 2 .
v∈V (G))
Thus,
k k 2
/ δ(S ∗ )) = 1 −
Pr(e1 ∈ ≥1− =1− .
|E(G)| kn/2 n
G/e1 still has minimum degree k, otherwise G/e1 has cut of size smaller than k, which corresponds to cut
of size smaller than k in G. Then, |V (G/e1 )| = n − 1 and |E(G/e1 )| ≥ k(n−1)
2 . Thus,

k 2
/ δ(S ? ) | e1 ∈
/ δ(S ? ) ≥ 1 −


Pr e2 ∈ =1− .
k(n − 1)/2 n−1
Lecture 1: Karger’s min-cut algorithm and the Karger-Stein algorithm 1-3

Similarly, for i = 3, 4, . . . , n − 2,
k 2
/ δ(S ? ) | ej ∈
/ δ(S ? ), ∀j < i ≥ 1 −


Pr ei ∈ =1− .
k(n − (i − 1))/2 n−i+1

Thus,

/ δ(S ? )


P = Pr e1 , e2 , . . . , en−2 ∈
= P r(e1 ∈/ δ(S ? )) × P r(e2 ∈
/ δ(S ? ) | e1 ∈/ δ(S ? )) × P r(e3 ∈
/ δ(S ? ) | e1 , e2 ∈
/ δ(S ? )) × . . .
2 2 2 2
≥ (1 − ) × (1 − ) × (1 − ) × · · · × (1 − )
n n−1 n−2 3
n−2 n−3 n−4 2 1
=( )×( )×( ) × ··· × ( ) × ( )
n n−1 n−2 4 3
2
= .
n × (n − 1)
1
= n
as desired.
2

n


Note that the algorithm also implies that for any graph G, there are at most 2 minimum cuts.

1.3 The Karger-Stein algorithm

Consider the calculations in the last section. During the sequence of edge contractions, the probability of
choosing right edges is high at the beginning but low later since there are small number of vertices left. The
Karger-Stein algorithm uses the general framework of that in the Karger’s mincut algorithm but runs the
“later” part more times.

1.3.1 The algorithm

Suppose we contract edges from n vertices to l vertices twice. We can choose l to have the probability of
success is about 21 . So in expectation, one of the two runs work. Then we recurse each of these bifurcates.
Take best of two, then pop back up from the recursion.
Now, we want to choose l. Similar to the previous calculations, the probability of success of running from
n vertices to l is
l


n−2 n−3 l−1 l(l − 1) 2

× × ··· × = = n .
n n−1 l+1 n(n − 1) 2

(2l ) 1 n
Then, we have ≥ by taking l = √ + 1. Below is the algorithm:
(n2 ) 2 2
Lecture 1: Karger’s min-cut algorithm and the Karger-Stein algorithm 1-4

Algorithm 2: The Karger-Stein algorithm: KargerStein(G)

input : Graph G with n vertices.
1 if n ≥ 6 then
2 Do 2 runs and output the best of the 2:
3 Use Karger’s mincut algorithm to contract edges until √n2 + 1 vertices are left, denoted as G0 ;
4 Recurse KargerStein(G’).

Note that 6 is chosen in the algorithm as √6 + 1 ≥ 2.

2

1.3.2 Analysis
First, let us calculate the new running time for running it once. Then,
n
T (n) = 2T ( √ ) + O(n2 ).
2

By the Master Theorem, T (n) = O(n2 log n).

Now, we can also write a recurrence relation for the success probability. The probability of success to
contract from n vertices to √n2 + 1 is no smaller than a half. Thus,

1 n
2
P (n) ≥ 1 − 1 − P ( √ ) .
2 2

One can easily use induction to verify that P (n) = Ω( ln1n ). So if we do O(log2 n) runs, the success probability
1
is at least 1 − poly(n) . Hence, the total running time of the algorithm is O(n2 log3 n).

References
[1] Karger, David R.. Global min-cuts in RNC, and other ramifications of a simple min-cut algorithm.
Proceedings of the Fourth Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms, 1993.
[2] Karger, David R. and Stein, Clifford. A new approach to the minimum cut problem. Journal of the
ACM, 43(4):601-640, 1996.
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
S. Luke xvii. 31.which shall be upon the house-top let him not
come down to take away his vessels. And this He
says not of this house-top, but of that of which it is said, He
Ps. civ. 2. spreadeth out the heavens like a vault.

23. Remain within therefore, within Jerusalem, within thine own

soul, peaceful, meek, and tranquil. Leave her not, nor descend in
order to raise up this vessel of thine, either with honour, or wealth,
or pride. Remain within, that aliens may not pass through thee, that
sins may not pass through thy mind, vain acts, and idle thoughts:
and they will not pass, if thou wilt wage a holy war in the cause of
faith and devotion, for the love of truth against the snares of
passion, and wilt take up the arms of God against spiritual
wickedness and the craft of the devil, who tempts our senses by
fraud and stratagem, but who is easily crushed by the gentle warrior,
who sees no strife, but, as becomes the servant of God, teaches the
faith with modesty, and convinces those who oppose themselves. Of
Joel iii. 9. him the Scripture says, Let the warrior who is
gentle arise 165, and let him that is weak say, I can
Phil. iv. 13. do all things through Christ which strengtheneth
me.

24. Supported by this faith, even he who is weak shall prevail,

and his soul will be holy, and the prophetic or apostolic mountains
Joel iii. 18. shall drop down new wine for him, and the hills
shall flow with milk, like that hill which gave milk
1 Cor. iii. 2. to the Corinthians to drink, and water shall flow
for him from their vessels, and from their well-
S. John iv. 14. heads. From his belly shall flow living water, that
spiritual water which the Holy Spirit supplies to His
faithful; may He vouchsafe to water thy soul also, that in thee may
be a fountain springing up into life eternal. Farewell: love me as a
son, for I love you as a father.
 LETTER XXX.
A.D. 389.
S. AMBROSE here continues the subject of the last Letter, dwelling especially on the
duty of rising above the level of earthly things, and bringing together various
passages of the Old Testament which he interprets spiritually as setting forth
this Lesson. The true follower of Christ will build Him a Temple in his heart,
which his Lord will fill with the adornment of spiritual graces.

AMBROSE TO IRENÆUS, GREETING.

1. AFTER I had finished my last letter and directed it to be

conveyed to you, the words which the Lord spake by the prophet
Hag. i. 4. Haggai came into my mind, Is it time for you, O
ye, to dwell in your cieled houses? What is the
meaning of this but that we ought to dwell on high, not in low and
subterranean abodes? For they who dwell beneath the earth, cannot
Ib. 2. build the temple of God, but say, The time is not
come, the time that the Lord’s house should be
built, because it is the mark of sensual persons to seek underground
dwellings, courting the cool of summer, being enervated by
indulgence and requiring shady retreats to enable them to bear the
heat, or because the slothful live at ease beneath the earth, or lastly
because dark and shady places suit them best, concealing, (as they
Ecclus. xxiii. 18. believe,) their crimes. I am compassed about with
darkness, the walls cover me, what need I to
fear? But in vain do they hope for this, when God beholds the
hidden depths of the abyss, and discovers all things before they take
place.

2. But neither Elijah nor Elisha dwelt in underground dwellings.

1 Kings xvii. 19. Moreover the former carried the dead son of the
widow up into the loft where he abode, and there
2 Kings iv. 8, 10. raised him to life; and for the latter, that great
woman, the Shunamite, prepared a chamber on
Ib. 16 et seq. the wall, and there she obtained the privilege of
conceiving a son, for she was barren, and there
also she saw the miracle of his restoration to life. And what shall I
Acts x. 9. say of Peter who at the sixth hour went up upon
the house-top, and there learnt the mystery of the
2 Sam. xviii. baptism of the Gentiles. But the homicide Absalom
17, 18. had reared for himself a pillar in the King’s dale,
and then, after his death, he was cast into a great
pit. So then the saints ascend unto the Lord, the wicked descend to
crime; the saints are on the mountains, the wicked in the valleys;
1 Kings xx. 23. For God is the God of the hills, not of the plains.

3. Those therefore who dwelt in the plain, where God dwells not,
could not have the house of God in themselves; for this is the house
which God required of them, that they should build up themselves,
and should erect within them the temple of God with the living
stones of faith. For it was not the erection of earthly walls nor of
wooden roofs that He required, for these, had they existed, would
have been destroyed by the enemies’ hand; but He sought for that
temple which should be raised in men’s minds, to whom it might be
said, Ye are the Temple of God, wherein the Lord Jesus was to dwell,
and from whence He was to proceed for the redemption of the
world. Thus in the womb of a Virgin a sacred chamber was to be
prepared, wherein the King of heaven might dwell, and the human
Body might become the temple of God, Which also when It was
destroyed, was to be raised again in three days.
Hag. i. 4. 4. But such a house as this sensual persons,
they who dwell in cieled houses and delight in
chased silver, do not build. For as they despise pure silver, so also
they despise simple dwellings. They enlarge the site of their houses,
they add more and more, joining house to house and farm to farm,
they dig up the ground; so that the very earth itself gives way to
their habitations, and like sons of the earth they are laid up within
her womb, and hidden in her bowels. They surely are those of whom
Jer. xxii. 13. Jeremiah says, Woe unto him that buildeth his
house in unrighteousness. For he who builds in
righteousness, builds not on earth but in heaven.

Ib. 14. 5. Thou hast built, saith the Prophet, a house,

measure the upper chambers of it, even airy
chambers, furnished with windows, cieled with cedar, and painted
with vermilion. Now he measureth the upper chambers, who, having
contemplated the judgment of God, judgeth the judgment of the
humble and the judgment of the poor. But he who seeks after gain
and the blood of the innocent builds not his chambers with
judgment, nor keeps the due measure, because he has not Christ,
nor looks for the breath of Divine grace upon him, nor does he
desire the brightness of full light, nor has he chambers painted with
Cant. iv. 3. vermilion, for it cannot be said to him, Thy lips are
like a thread of scarlet.

Jer. xxii. 19. He 6. A man of this sort, it is said, shall not be

shall be buried buried, for he who has burrowed in the earth, and
with the burial buried himself alive, so to speak, in a tomb, has
of an ass. Engl.deprived himself when dead of the rest of burial.
Vers.
And thus, laid in the pit of carnal pleasures, he
has found no grave from whence to rise. Such a man therefore
builds no temple to God, because he hath not known the time of his
correction. How then can such men build a temple, who like wild
beasts betake themselves to dens and hiding places, who like
serpents bury themselves in ditches, and burrow in the earth like
crafty foxes?
 7. Neither does he build a sepulchre for himself who dies before
1 Tim. v. 6. the time, for he is dead while he liveth; and he
hears not the voice of Haggai, that is being
interpreted, of the Feaster, for he enters not the Tabernacle of God,
Ps. xlii. 5. in the voice of praise and thanksgiving, the sound
of one feasting. For how can he hear His voice,
who sees not His works? If he saw them, he would have heard the
Word which has been put in His Hand, rejoicing in His acts, whereby
S. Matt. vii. 7. He knocked and it was opened to Him, and He
descended into his soul that He might feed therein
upon the food of sincerity and truth.

8. Now because he has not heard, the word of Haggai comes

Hag. i. 8. again to hand, and says, Rise up from your cieled
houses that are weighed down by wickedness,
and go up to the mountain of the heavenly Scriptures, and hew
wood, the wood of wisdom, the wood of life, the wood of
knowledge; and make straight your ways, direct your acts that they
may keep their due order which is useful and necessary for building
the house of God.

Ib. 10. 9. For if ye do it not, the heaven over you shall

be stayed of her dew, that is, the heavenly Word,
Which descends as the dew upon the grass, shall not temper the
fevered motions of your bodily passions, nor extinguish the fiery
darts of your various desires; and the earth, that is, your soul, shall
be stayed from her fruit, so that it shall be dried up, unless fully
watered by the Word of God, and sprinkled with heavenly dew, even
the fulness of spiritual Grace.

10. And as He knew how slothful they are who dwelt beneath the
Hag. i. 14. earth, and in the dark abodes of pleasure, I will
stir up, it is said, the spirit of Jerubbabel the son
of Shealtiel, Governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of
Josedech, the high priest, that they may be stirred up to build the
Divine house. For except the Lord build the house, their labour is lost
Ps. cxxvii. 1. that build it. Now Zerubbabel means, ‘constant
overflowing,’ like the Fountain of life, and the
Col. i. 16, 17. Word of God, by Whom and from Whom are all
things and in Whom all things consist. Thus saith
S. John vii. 37. the overflowing Fountain, If any man thirst, let
him come unto Me, and drink; drink, that is, from
the stream of the unfailing flood. We read also of Zabulon, a
nocturnal flood, that is to say prophetic, but it also is now
brightened by the intermixture of this stream, whereby was
swallowed up that flood of vanity typified by Jezabel, which was
opposed to truth and to the utterances of prophets, and was so torn
in pieces by dogs that not a trace of it remained, but all its frame
with every mark of its posterity was destroyed. Zerubbabel therefore
of the tribe of Judah, and Jesus the High Priest, thus designated
both by tribe and name seem to represent two persons, though one
only is meant; for He Who as Almighty is born from the Almighty, as
Redeemer is born of the Virgin, being the Same in the diversity of
His two divisible natures, hath fulfilled as the Giant of salvation 166
the verity of the one Son of God.

11. Now being about to raise from the dead holy Zerubbabel He
Hag. ii. 6. says, Yet once, it is a little while, I will shake the
heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry
land. Once before he had shaken these things when He delivered his
Exod. xiii. 21. people from Egypt, when there was in heaven a
pillar of fire, dry land among the waves, a wall in
the sea, a path in the waters, when in the desert a daily supply of
Ib. xiv. 22. heavenly food was produced, and the rock was
melted into streams of water. But He shook them
S. Luke xxiii. 44. also afterwards in the Passion of the Lord Jesus,
when the heaven was covered with darkness, the
sun withdrew his light, the rocks were rent, the tombs opened, the
dead raised, the Dragon, vanquished on his own waves, saw the
fishers of men not only sailing, but even walking on the sea without
danger.
 12. The dry land was also shaken when the barren Gentile
nations began to ripen with the harvest of devotion and faith, and
the desert and the Gentiles were so much shaken, that the
preaching of the Apostles, whom He sent to call the Gentiles, was so
Ps. xix. 4. loud and vehement, that their sound went out into
all lands, and their words unto the ends of the
world. So greatly, indeed, was the desert shaken that more are the
Is. liv. 1. children of the desolate than the children of the
married wife, and the desert blossomed as a rose,
Ib. xxxv. 1. the elect of the Gentiles entered in to the remnant
of the people, that the remnant might be saved
Rom. xi. 5. according to the election of grace.

Hag. ii. 7, 8. 13. And I will fill, it is said, this house with My
silver and gold, with the heavenly oracles, which
Ps. xii. 7. are as silver tried in the fire, and in the brightness
of the true light, glistening like spiritual gold in the
secret hearts of the saints. These riches He confers on His Church,
riches whereby spiritual treasures are increased, and the glory of the
house is exalted above the former glory which the elect people
enjoyed.

14. For peace and tranquillity of the soul is above all glory of any
Phil. iv. 7. house; for peace passeth all understanding. This
is that peace above all peace which shall be
granted after the third shaking of the heaven, the sea, the earth and
the dry land, when He shall destroy all Principalities and Powers. For
S. Matt. xxiv. 35. heaven and earth shall pass away, and all the
fashion of this world; and every man shall rise up
against his brother with the sword, that is, with the word piercing
Heb. iv. 12. the marrow of the soul, that whatever opposes
itself, the chariot from Ephraim and the horse
Zech. ix. 10. from Jerusalem may be cut off, as Zechariah says.
And thus there will be peace over all, the passions
of the body offering no resistance, and the unbelieving mind no
obstacle, that Christ may be all in all, offering in subjection to the
Father the hearts of all men.

15. Wherefore to Him alone is it mystically said, I will take thee,

Hagg. ii. 23. O Zerubbabel, and will make thee as a signet, for
I have chosen thee. When our mind shall have
Cant. vi. 13. become peaceful so that it may be said to her,
Return, return, o Shulamite, which signifies
‘peaceful,’ or, to use your own name, Irenice, then shall she receive
Christ like a signet on herself, that is, the Image of God, that she
1 Cor. xv. 48. may be according to that Image, for as is the
heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
Ib. 49. And it behoves us to bear the image of the
heavenly, that is, peace.

16. And that we may know the truth of this, it is said in the
Canticles to the soul now fully perfect, that which may the Lord
Cant. viii. 6. Jesus say to you also, Set me as a seal upon thine
arm; that peace may shine in your heart and
Christ in your works, and that wisdom and righteousness and
redemption may be formed in you. Farewell, my son: love me for I
love you.
 LETTER XXXI.
IRENÆUS had asked S. Ambrose whether God had greater love for those who had
believed from their early years than for those who had been converted later in
life. In answering this question, S. Ambrose enters into the history of the
Jewish and Christian Churches, which he considers as set forth under the
figures of David’s two wives.

AMBROSE TO IRENÆUS, GREETING.

1. YOU have wisely thought it a subject of inquiry, whether there

be any difference in God’s love towards those who have believed
from their childhood, and those who have believed in the course of
their youth or more advanced age; for this also has not been past
over nor left unnoticed in the sacred Scriptures. For it is not without
meaning that the Lord our God says to the Prophet Joel, Lament to
Joel i. 8. me for the spouse girded with sackcloth and for
the husband of her youth, expressing his grief for
the Synagogue, who, before, in her virginity, had been espoused to
the Word of God, or, it may be, for a soul which had fallen from her
good deeds, that by the heinousness of her sins she had incurred
hatred, and through the defilement of impiety and the stains of
unbelief had become miserable and despised, and far removed from
the grace of that Spouse which had before been counted worthy to
Hosea ii. 19. be told, I will betroth thee unto Me in
righteousness and in judgment and in lovingkindness and in mercies.

2. Not without reason is she considered miserable, who has lost

gifts of so great a price, and suffered so grievous a loss of her dowry
of virtues as to be deprived of the Spouse of her virginity. For
according to our merits the Word of God either lives or dies in us; for
if our desires and works are good, the Word of God lives and acts in
Mal. iv. 2. us: if our thoughts and actions are darksome, the
Sun of righteousness sets within us. And therefore
He bids lamentation to be made for such a soul. For as they have
cause of congratulation and feasting with whom the Bridegroom
dwells, so that soul is to be mourned for, from whom the Spouse has
been taken, as it is written of the Apostles in the Gospel; for when
S. Matt. ix. 15. the Bridegroom shall be taken away from them,
then shall they fast in those days.

3. Thus too this soul, in former times when she possessed the
Virgin Word, had joy and gladness. And therefore she fasted not,
because it was the season of feasting and refreshment; the
Bridegroom was present bestowing by His presence the riches of
Ps. civ. 15. plenty, stores of heavenly food, and dropping
wine, whereby the hearts of men are made glad.
But after she lost the Bridegroom by her acts, she is commanded to
do penance in sackcloth for her sins, and to bewail herself, because
Christ, Who is the Virgin Word, died and was crucified for her.

4. If this soul was espoused from early age, and never bore any
other yoke, but from the beginning dedicated the maiden flower of
her faith to Christ and as a virgin was united to Him in early days in
the mysteries of piety, received a training in holiness as a heifer does
the yoke; she is the very soul of the ancient Jewish stock from the
family of the patriarchs, who, had she kept her course of faith
without stumbling, would have been counted worthy of great things,
the Spouse of the Virginal Word, as she who lays hold of Wisdom,
Ecclus. xv. 2. and as a mother shall she meet him, and receive
him as a wife married of a virgin.
 5. The other likewise is procured from the Gentiles, and both are
the Spouse of the One Word, which is a great mystery. And this is
set forth to you in the book of Kings; since David had two wives,
1 Sam. xxv. 39. Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail whom he
obtained afterwards; the first more severe, the
latter full of mercy and grace, an hospitable and liberal soul, who
saw the Father with open face, having beheld His glory; she who
received the divine dew of paternal Grace, as the interpretation of
the name signifies. Now what is the dew of the Father, but the Word
of God, Who has filled the hearts of all with the moisture of faith and
justice?

6. Well therefore does the true David say to this soul what was
Ib. 32. said to Abigail, Blessed is the Lord God of Israel
which sent thee this day to meet me. And again
Ib. 35. he says to her, Go up in peace to thine house;
see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have
accepted thy person. Lastly in the Song of Solomon these are the
Cant. ii. 14. words of the Bridegroom to the Bride, Let me see
thy countenance; let me hear thy voice.

7. And at the time she was dismissed, for she had another
husband who in Hebrew was called Nabal, which in Latin means
foolish, a man harsh, inhospitable, uncourteous, ungrateful, who
knew not how to repay good offices; but after his death, she was set
free from the law of her husband, and the prophet David took her to
wife. By this marriage the mystery of the Church which was to be
called from among the Gentiles is signified, for she, having lost the
husband to whom she had been married, became converted to
Christ, bringing with her a dowry of piety, of humility and faith,
enriched also with the patrimony of mercy.

8. But in this place it is not this wife, but that Ahinoam, who was
evilly disposed towards her brother, wherefore her brother was made
Ps. xliv. 15. a trouble to her, and in their person it is said, thou
makest us to be a bye-word among the heathen,
and that the people shake their heads at us. The devil, finding her
off her guard, fell upon her as a lion, and deprived her of her
Mic. iv. 4. charms, rooted up her vine and fig-tree under
which she used to repose, and caused her fruit to
wither.

9. But now God, having compassion on them, thus dried up and

Joel i. 8. withered by drought, saith to the prophet, Lament
to Me for virgin girded with sackcloth and for the
husband of her youth, that is to say, over the dead husband of this
soul or of the Synagogue. And with her He expostulates in another
Hosea iv. 6. place, forasmuch as she had forgotten her
resolution, forgotten His grace, had wandered
from discipline, and had lost her former affections as a wife. Lastly
therefore He reproves her with His words, calling to mind and
repeating her tenderness and her expressions of affection: ‘Didst
Thou not call me one of Thy household, the parent and guide of Thy
virginity.’

10. Wherefore for this soul, to whom through her infidelity the
Word of God is dead, and this Virgin Word is dead also, He appoints
grief and brings in an Intercessor, that so she may be called to
penitence, and may thereby earn compassion. But she who is of
prudent understanding and very beautiful to look upon, was gained
for him, like Abigail, in battle; her adversaries were conquered, and
her husband, he who, surrounded by spiritual wickedness, struggled
and fought not to lose his beautiful wife, being dead. On her, her
victorious and loving Spouse confers sweetness and grace, cleansing
her from all that might obscure her beauty, and taking off from her
the garments of her captivity, that so, laying aside all the hairs of her
head, that is, the curls of sins, which seem to be superfluous parts
1 Cor. xi. 14. of our person (for if a man have long hair it is a
shame unto him), she may strive to come in the
Eph. iv. 13. unity of the faith, unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ,
that she may lay aside all trouble of mind, and founded in love may
grow up in the Lord Jesus, and make increase of the whole body.

11. This is that soul whom the Law shews to thee under the
Deut. xxi. 12. figure of a beautiful woman, and if thou seest her
among the captives, and hast a desire unto her,
that thou wouldest have her to thy wife, it says to thee, thou shalt
bring her home to thine house, that thou mayest commit to her the
whole interior of thy house, the possession of all thy secrets, that
thou mayest take away her superfluities, and cut off her
transgressions; and with a razor not too sharp, lest it come to evil,
may cut off the slough of thy passions, and thy idle senses.
Ib. 12. Wherefore it is said, she shall shave her head,
that so the wise man’s eyes that are in his head
Eccles. ii. 14. may meet with no hindrance. And she shall
remain, it is said, in thine house a full month,
Deut. xxi. 13. bewailing the sins of her nativity, and the lies of
her wicked father the devil, who would fain gather
Jer. xvii. 12. Vulg. what he hath not laid, that so, cleansed by the
purification of this mystic number, she may obtain
the keys of marriage.

Deut. xxi. 13. 12. And it is well said, After that thou shalt go
in unto her, bidding thee to enter wholly into thy
soul, and collect thyself within her, and so dwell in her that thou
mayest be not in the flesh but in the spirit, and purpose to associate
her to thyself in the commerce of life, knowing that she will
communicate to thee of her goods, and that filled with her grace
Wisd. viii. 19. thou mayest say, I was a witty child, and had a
good spirit; and she may answer thee, I will take
Cant. iii. 4. thee, and bring thee into my mother’s house, and
unto the chamber of her that conceived me. A
good mother of souls in that Jerusalem which is in heaven.

13. She then shall be thy wife, she shall find thee and kiss thee.
And it shall be, if thou hast no delight in her, because she chastiseth
Deut. xxi. 14. her body, and bringeth it into slavery, thou shalt
not suffer her to be a slave, that is, to the lusts of
the body, nor subject her to the flesh, but suffer her to remain free;
thou shalt not alienate her, for this were to sell her, nor shalt thou
despise her, but shalt allow her to serve God in the chastity of faith
and sobriety of good works. Farewell: love me, for I love you.

LETTER XXXII.
A.D. 387.
S. AMBROSE in this Letter applies the words of Jeremiah about the partridge (Jer.
xvii. 11.) to Satan, and from it sets forth the way in which Jesus Christ has
overcome him, and rescued man from his power.

AMBROSE TO IRENÆUS, GREETING.

Jer. xvii. 11. 1. THE partridge hath cried, she hath gathered
what she hath not hatched 167. From the
conclusion of my last letter I may borrow the opening of the
ensuing. The question has been much mooted: with a view therefore
of solving it, let us consider what natural history tells us of the
nature of this bird. For it is the part of no little sagacity to consider
1 Kings iv. 33. even this, for Solomon knew the nature of beasts
and of fowl, and of creeping things and of fishes!
 2. Now this bird is said to be full of craft, fraud, and guile, skilled
in the ways of deceiving the fowler, and experienced in the arts of
turning him aside from her young ones; omitting no artful stratagem
which may draw off the pursuer from her nest and lurking place.
And we know that on observing his approach, she beguiles him until
she has given her offspring the signal and opportunity for flight. As
soon as she perceives they have escaped, she also withdraws
herself, leaving her enemy deluded by her treacherous wiles.

3. It is said also to be a bird which copulates indiscriminately, and

that the male bird rushes eagerly on the female, and burns with
unrestrained desires. Wherefore it has been thought suitable to
compare this impure malicious and deceitful creature with the
adversary and circumventor of the human race, with him who is the
arch-deceiver and author of impurity.

4. The partridge then cried, he that is, who derives his name
from destroying 168: even Satan, which in Latin means the
Gen. iii. 4, 5. adversary 169. He cried first in Eve, he cried in
Cain, he cried in Pharaoh, in Dathan, Abiram,
Exod. v. 2. Korah. He cried in the Jews, when they demanded
gods to be made for them, while the law was
Num. xvi. 2. being given to Moses. He cried again, when they
Exod. xxxii. 1. said of the Saviour, Let Him be crucified, let Him
be crucified, and, His blood be on us and on our
S. Matt. xxvii. children. He cried, when they required that a king
23–25.
should be given them, that they might revolt from
1 Sam. viii. 5. the Lord God their King. He cried in every one
who was vain and faithless.

5. And by these cries he gathered to himself a people whom he

Gen. i. 27. had not created; for God made man after His own
likeness and image, and the Devil drew man to
himself by the allurements of his voice: He gathered to himself the
Jer. xvii. 11. nations of the Gentiles, getting riches not by
right 170. Wherefore it is a common saying
concerning the rich and covetous man, that he is a partridge
gathering riches not by right. But my Jesus, as a good Judge, does
all things with righteousness 171, for He came saying, as it is written,
Isa. lxiii. 1. I speak righteousness and judgement 172 of
salvation.

6. By that grace then He despoiled that partridge the Devil, took

from him the ill-gotten riches, even the multitude that followed Him,
recalled from error the souls of the Gentiles, and the minds of the
nations that wandered from the way. And since He knew that they
were beguiled by the voice of the Devil, and in order that He might
Himself loose the bonds and chains of ancient error, He cried first in
Gen. iv. 10. Abel, the voice of whose blood cried out. He cried
in Moses, to whom He said, Wherefore criest thou
Exod. xiv. 15. unto Me? He cried in Joshua, He cried in David,
who says, Unto Thee do I call, help me. He cried
Josh. i. 1. too in all the Prophets. Wherefore He says also to
Ps. cxix. 146. Isaiah, Cry, and Isaiah answers, What shall I cry?
He cried in Solomon, calling to all with a very loud
Isa. xl. 6. voice in the power of Wisdom, Come eat of my
Prov. ix. 5. bread, and drink of the wine which I have
mingled. He cried also in His Body, as the Beam
Hab. ii. 11. out of the timber. He cried that He might deceive
and circumvent the lurking Enemy, saying, My
S. Matt. xxvii. 46. God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me. He
cried that He might spoil him of his prey, replying
S. Luke xxiii. 43. to the thief, Verily I say unto thee, this day shalt
thou be with Me in Paradise. Wherefore when
Jer. xvii. 11. Jesus cried, straightway that partridge was left by
those whom he had gathered in the midst of his
days.

7. Wherefore some have thought that this also agrees with the
nature of the partridge, forasmuch as it steals the eggs of others,
and hatches them with its own body, seeking by this treachery to
gain for itself the offspring of others. But when she whose eggs have
been stolen, or nest invaded, or her young have been tempted by a
fraudulent resemblance, and deceived by the appearance of beauty,
when she, I say, perceives this, she ‘picks out the crow’s eyes 173’ as
the saying is, and, being inferior in strength, puts on and arms
herself with cunning. And when all the labour she has bestowed on
their nurture has exhausted her store of food, and her young ones
have begun to grow up, she utters her cries, and calls to her
offspring with the trumpet (as it were) of affection. And they, roused
by this natural sound, recognise their mother, and desert their
pretended parent. And thus, seeking to gather what he has not
hatched, he loses those whom he thought to bring up.

8. Not without need therefore was it that Jesus also cried; it was
in order that the whole universe which had been deceived by the
voice, the allurements, the art, the specious beauty of the partridge,
and enticed by his treacherous wiles, and had wandered from the
true Author of their being, might be recalled by the voice of her true
Parent, might abandon this deceiver, and desert him in the midst of
his days, that is, before the end of this world. From him the Lord
Jesus has rescued us, and called us to eternal life. Wherefore now,
Rom. vi. 8. being dead to the world we live to God.

9. When then this partridge shall have been completely forsaken

by his false children, then that foolish one whom God has chosen
1 Cor. i. 27. and who has confounded the wise man, will be
saved. Wherefore if any man seemeth to be wise
Ib. iii. 18. in this world let him become a fool, that he may
be wise.

Farewell my son, and love me, as indeed you do, for I love you.
 LETTER XXXIII.
S. AMBROSE in this Letter explains more fully the text of Deut. (xxi. 15 &c.) which he
had alluded to in Letter xxi. and makes the two wives represent qualities.

AMBROSE TO IRENÆUS, GREETING.

1. IN a previous letter I said that the soul ought to be delivered

from its adversaries, and a bond of life which shall be inseparable
entered into with it. And inasmuch as my discourse took as a proof
of its assertion that passage in the Book of Deuteronomy which
Deut. xxi. 15. speaks of the man who had two wives, one
beloved and the other hated, you seem to have
felt much concern lest any one should suppose this man had taken
to himself two souls, which is impossible.

2. But you yourself know that sometimes, when Scripture uses

allegory, it refers some things to the figure of the Synagogue, some
to that of the Church; some things to the soul, others to the mystery
of the Word, others to souls of different kinds and qualities, which
he who has spiritual discernment can distinguish. And so I conceive
that it is not two souls, but different qualities of the same soul,
which are treated of in the following chapter of the Law. For there is
an amiable kind of soul, which desires pleasure, which shuns labour,
shrinks from compunction, slights the judgments of God. It is
amiable because it seems gentle and sweet for the time, and one
that soothes rather than distresses the mind. But there is another
severer kind, which is consumed with zeal for God, which, like a
strict wife, will not permit or suffer her consort to commit
whoredoms, allows no indulgence to the body, gives no licence to
delight or pleasure, renounces the hidden deeds of shame, devotes
herself to arduous labours and to severe perils.

Ib. 16. 3. If therefore both have borne children, he

may not, it is said, when he maketh his sons to
inherit that which he hath, make the son of the beloved first 174
before the son of the hated, which is indeed the first. The meaning
of which I conceive not to be so much a simple preference as
between two first ones, but rather a declaration that the son of the
hated wife alone has the prerogative of being first. Now the word
‘primitivus’ means as first-born 175, and the first-born are holy, for
Exod. xiii. 2. every male that openeth the womb shall be called
S. Luke ii. 23. holy to the Lord. Nevertheless all first-born are not
holy, for Esau who was the first-born was not holy.

4. But the holy are the first-born, for it is written in Numbers;

Numb. iii. 12, 13. Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the
children of Israel instead of all the first-born that
openeth the matrix among the children of Israel. For on the day that
I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I hallowed unto Me all
the first-born in Israel. Wherefore He took the Levites for the first-
born, as being holy, for we know that the holy are first-born from
Heb. xii. 22. the Epistle to the Hebrews, where it is written, But
ye are come to Mount Sion, and unto the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of Angels and to the
Church of the first-born. Wherefore as the first-born of the Church
are holy, so also are the Levites, for they also are the first-born. For
it is not by the order of their birth but by the gift of sanctification
Gen. xxix. 34. that they are holy; Levi being the third son of
Leah and not the first.

5. But he who is sanctified himself opens the womb. What

womb? Hear the words, As soon as they are born they go astray. As
Ps. lviii. 3. you have understood the first-born who opens the
womb, so understand here the womb of the good
mother, from which it is not saints, but sinners who go astray. But
the Levites are taken away from the midst of Israel, because they
have nothing in common with the people, whose earthly first-born
are destroyed. The first-born of the world are of another mother,
Gal. i. 15. from whose womb Paul was separated when he
was called to the grace of God. He received the
Word Who is in the midst of our hearts. Whence it is said also, There
S. John i. 26. standeth One among you, Whom ye know not.

6. This digression then of ours from one part of the Law to the
other, for the purpose of shewing that the first-born is not the son of
the beloved, that is of the more remiss and voluptuous wife, has not
been needless, although the words of the chapter before us express
Deut. xxi. 16. the same truth: He may not make the son of the
beloved first-born before the son of the hated,
which is indeed the first-born. He is indeed the first-born who is the
holy son of a holy mother; just as she is indeed the mother, from
whose womb not her true sons but sinners go astray. Wherefore the
former is not the son of the true mother, nor the true first-born, but
as though he were so, subsistence is indeed provided for him that he
may not want, but he is not honoured, that he may become rich. But
the other has received double from all, that he may abound; just as
Gen. xlv. 22. in Genesis each of the patriarchs had two changes
of raiment given to them by their brother Joseph,
when they were sent back to their father to tell him that he whom
he had believed to be dead was found.

7. Thus the first-born has received the prerogative of inheritance,

Deut. xxi. 17. as the Scripture says, He is the beginning of his
strength, the right of the first-born is his. Thus
from the first-born Son of God the first-born are holy, and from that
Rev. i. 8. beginning, (for He is the Beginning and the
Ending,) the beginning is called holy, the
beginning is the son to whom the prerogative of the first-fruits is
due, according to that which was said to Abraham, Cast out this
Gen. xxi. 10. bondwoman and her son, for the son of this
bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even
with Isaac.

8. Now the Divine Oracle teaches us that this relates to the

inheritance of virtues rather than that of mercy, for the Lord says, In
Ib. xxi. 12. all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto
her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
What other inheritance was there in Isaac which could ennoble his
father, but that of sanctity? The son of the handmaid indeed he set
over the Gentiles, as bestowing upon him a simple portion of his
patrimony, but to the son of Sarah he gave a double portion, for on
him he bestowed not only temporal but also heavenly and eternal
things.

Farewell: love me, for I love you.

LETTER XXXIV.
HORONTIANUS asks whether the soul is from heaven. S. Ambrose first refers him to
the Book of Esdras, and then dwells upon S. Paul’s statement in Rom. viii.

AMBROSE TO HORONTIANUS 176, GREETING.

1. YOU have enquired of me whether the soul is formed of a

heavenly substance; for you are too well instructed to suppose that
the soul is made of blood or fire or any harmony of nerves, as the
common herd of philosophers believe, nor as that patrician sect of
them, the descendants of Plato assert, does that which moves of
itself and is not moved by others appear to you to be the soul, nor
indeed have you approved that fifth kind of element which the keen
genius of Aristotle has introduced, namely a kind of 177 perfection of
which the essence of the soul might be (as it were) framed and
compounded.

2. On this subject I advise you to read the book of Esdras, who

despised these trifles of the philosophers, and with a deeper wisdom
which he had gathered from Revelation, pointed out that the soul is
of a nobler substance.

3. The Apostle also, though he has not said it in so many words,

has yet given us to understand, like a good master and spiritual
husbandman calling forth the faculties of his disciples by the hidden
seeds of doctrine, that our souls are of a better creation and a more
Rom. viii. 20, 21. excellent nature. For when he says that the
creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly
but by reason of Him Who hath subjected the same in hope,
because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage
of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, he shews
that the grace of souls is not small, seeing that by their strength and
excellence mankind rises to the adoption of the sons of God, having
within itself that which is given to it to make it in the likeness and
image of God. For souls are not perceived by truth, nor are they
seen by the bodily eye, wherefore they bear upon them the likeness
of this incorporeal and invisible nature, and excel in their substance
corporeal and sensible qualities. For the things that are seen are
temporal, they represent and are united to things that are temporal,
but the things that are not seen are united to the Eternal and Chief
Acts xvii. 28. Good, in Him they live and move and have their
being, and suffer not themselves, if they are wise,
to be separated or divided from Him.
 4. Every soul therefore, seeing herself shut up in the prison-
house of the body, if it be not debased by her connexion with this
2 Cor. v. 4. earthly habitation, groans under the burthen of
the body to which she is joined; for the corruptible
Wisd. ix. 15. body presseth down the soul, and the earthy
tabernacle weigheth down the mind that museth
2 Cor. v. 7, 8. upon many things, knowing also that she walks by
faith not by sight, she is willing to be absent from
the body to be present with the Lord.

5. Let us consider then how the creature hath been made subject
to vanity, not indeed willingly, but by the Divine ordinance, which
has appointed that our souls should be united to our bodies on
account of their hopes, in order that, hoping for good, they should
make themselves worthy of a heavenly recompense. For we must all
Ib. 10. appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that
every one may receive the things belonging to the
body 178. Every man’s soul must therefore consider that she will be
rewarded according to deserts of life. And he says well the things
belonging to the body, that is to say, the body which was assigned
to her to govern, that if she have governed it well she may receive
the reward for the sake of which she was subjected in hope, but if
ill, she may be punished, forasmuch as she did not trust in God, nor
aspire to that adoption of sons, and to the liberty of true glory.

6. So then the Apostle has taught that man is a creature subject

to vanity. For what is so truly the man as his soul? of its companions
2 Cor. v. 4. he says, For we that are in this tabernacle do
groan being burthened. David also says, Man is
Ps. cxliv. 4. like a thing of nought, and, Every man living is
altogether vanity. Wherefore the life of man in this
Ib. xxxix. 6. world is vanity, to which vanity the soul is subject.
And when a holy man doeth the things of the
body, he doeth them not willingly but by reason of Him Who hath
subjected the same in hope, he does them for obedience sake. From
this example of the soul then let us proceed to the other creatures.