Roused in Old Age, and the Plain Sense
Then, too, though we old men were already numbed by time, by the weakness of the body, and by the multitude of our afflictions (for the many that have stirred around us have weighed down our life), you have nevertheless roused us; and, fervent in spirit (Romans 12:11), you are bringing us, who had grown cold, back to a measure of wakefulness and lively activity, like animals that winter in their dens.
The saying, then, can be understood simply, as it stands, and it can also admit a more varied explanation.
The simpler sense, the one that can present itself readily to anyone, is this: that Cain must pay a sevenfold penalty for his sins (Genesis 4:15).
For it is not the part of a just judge to fix equal requitals for equal deeds; rather, the one who began the evil must repay what he owes with something added, if he himself is to be made better by the punishments and to make the rest more self-controlled by his example.
So then, since…
Greek
Ἔπειτα καὶ ἡμᾶς τοὺς γέροντας νεναρκηκότας ἤδη καὶ τῷ χρόνῳ, καὶ τῇ ἀσθενείᾳ τοῦ σώματος, καὶ τῷ πλήθει τῶν θλίψεων (αἱ πολλαὶ τοίνυν περὶ ἡμᾶς κινηθεῖσαι ἐβάρησαν ἡμῶν τὴν ζωὴν), ὅμως διανέστησας, καὶ ζέων τῷ πνεύματι κατεψυγμένους ἡμᾶς, ὡς τὰ φωλεύοντα τῶν ζώων εἰς ἐγρήγορσιν μετρίαν καὶ ζωτικὴν ἐνέργειαν ἐπανάγεις. Ἔστιν οὖν τὸ ῥητὸν, καὶ ἀπλῶς οὕτω νοηθῆναι δυνάμενον, καὶ ἀποίκιλον ἐπιδέξασθαι λόγον. Ἡ μὲν οὖν ἁπλουστέρα, καὶ παντὶ δυναμένη ἐκ τοῦ προχείρου παραστῆσαι διάνοια, αὕτη ἐστίν· ὅτι δεῖ τὸν Καῒν ἑπταπλασίωνα δοῦναι τὴν τιμωρίαν ὑπὲρ ὧν ἥμαρτεν. Οὐ γάρ ἐστι δικαιοκρίτου ἴσας πρὸς ἴσας ὁρίζειν ἀνταποδόσεις· ἀλλ' ἀνάγκη τὸν κατάρξαντα κακοῦ μετὰ προσθήκης ἀποτῖσαι τὰ ὀφειλόμενα, ἢ μέλλει αὐτὸς βελτίων ταῖς τιμωρίαις γενέσθαι, καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς σωφρονεστέρους ποιῆσαι τῷ ὑποδείγματι. Οὐκοῦν ἐπειδὴ