Commentary on the Psalms · §81 · Didymus the Blind

Divine Wills and the Walls of Ideas

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before me you are always

If they are of God, they are wills of God. And take by way of example that which is being observed: he who intends to construct a city outlines the whole city and its parts with his own intellect, and according to those thoughts, he constructs the perceptible things. For certainly, if he does not take the meaning correctly—for instance, of the marketplace or the precinct or the others—he does not construct the perceptible things well.

Therefore, the ideas are able to be the walls, written in the hands of God, which are wills. Thus, these walls have their being in the will of God. And I say: 'In Christ,' he says, 'all things were created, those in the heavens and those upon the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether principalities or powers; all things exist through him; and he is before all things, and all things in him consist' (Colossians 1:16-17). In him the visible and the invisible were created; just as if the parts of a city were built in the mind of the architect, that is, in relation to those ideas, being held together by them; for they are words of a sustaining kind. In Christ, therefore, all things consist.

If by reflection you wish to take away the word from the existing things, these things do not stand. They come together by the lifting up of the word. So also the walls; all security is written in the hands of God. And if you also call the virtues walls, the virtues too have ideas, which you will have as archetypes. For example, I have justice, but not all of it, but I have fashioned it according to itself. And the thing being thought of is not without the partaker, just like an idea; not 'idea' in the way you are accustomed to saying. If, therefore, you take away knowledge, the qualities of the knowers are taken away; they come together with it, and being placed there, they partake of it, and they are qualities according to a part. But there is another idea besides these, which is more original and more certain. For certainly, this one does not accept the more and the less, whereas that which is in the partakers accepts this. Therefore, the walls signify security. Lord God of truth, redeem me.

Greek

Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐν Ἰσαίᾳ τῷ προφήτῃ λέγει ὁ θεός· "ἰδού, ἐπὶ τῶν χειρῶν μου ἐζωγράφησά σου τὰ τείχη, καὶ ἐνώπιόν μου εἶ διὰ παντός". μὴ δυνάμεθα κἂν μέχρι ἀναπλασμοῦ εἰπεῖν τείχη αἰσθητὰ γραφόμενα ἐν θεοῦ χερσὶν ἀσωμάτου ὄντος. ἐὰν οὖν, φησίν, τὰ τείχη σου ἐπὶ τῶν ἐμῶν χειρῶν ζωγραφηθῶσιν, ἐνώπιόν μου μένεις διὰ παντός, οὐδενὸς δυναμένου σε αἰχμαλωτίσαι· τὰ γὰρ τείχη τὰ ἐν ταῖς χερσίν μου γεγραμμένα ἀκαθαίρετα· οὐδεὶς ἐπιβῆναι καθ' αὐτῶν δύναται. ὥσπερ οὖν ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν θεοῦ ζωγραφούμενα τείχη οὐκ αἰσθητά ἐστιν, οὕτως ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν τοῦ θεοῦ παρατιθέμενος ἑαυτοῦ τὸ πνεῦμα δείκνυσιν, ὅτι οὐκ εὐτελές τί ἐςτιν τὸ πνεῦμα, ἀλλ' ἤτοι̣ ἡ παρεζευγμένη οὐσία λογικὴ τῇ ψυχῇ ἢ ὁ νοῦς αὐτῆς ὁ θεῖος, ὁ ἀμιγῶς ἔχων καὶ πρὸς ὕλην καὶ πρὸς κακίαν. ὁ νοῦς ὅτε σῴζει τὴν νοῦ α᾿̣ρετήν, πάσης ὕλης ἐκτός ἐστιν, ἀσυνπλόκως ἔχει πρὸς σωματικά, ἀλλὰ καὶ κακίας πάσης ἀμοιρεῖ. διὰ τοῦτο δύναται ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν τοῦ θεοῦ δοθῆ ναι καὶ φυλαχθῆναι· οὐ φυλάττει γὰρ θεὸς τὸν ἔχοντα κακίαν. 140 ἄλλως δὲ φυλάττει αὐτὸν ἔξω τῆς κακίας βουλόμενος αὐτὸν ἀγαγεῖν. ἐπερ · τὰ τείχη τί; –πολυτρόπως ὀνομάζεται ἐν τῇ γραφῇ τὰ τείχη. περὶ τῆς σοφίας λέγεται, ὅτι "ἐπ' ἄκρων τειχέων κηρύττεται"· καὶ οὐ δήπου λέγομεν, ὅτι ἐπ' ἄκρων αἰςθητῶν τειχέων κήρυκες γινόμενοί τινες ἀπαγγέλλοντες τὰ περὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς. τείχη εἰσὶν τὸν νοῦν φρουροῦντα καὶ τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον αἱ ἀρεταὶ καὶ αἱ θεῖαι νοήσεις. ὅσον τις ἔτι ἐν τοῖς θεμελίοις τῶν τειχῶν ἐστιν ἢ ἐμέσασεν τὴν ἀνάβασιν αὐτῶν, οὔπω κηρύξαι δύναται τὴν σοφίαν· μόλις ἐπαΐειν αὐτὴν δύναται. ὅταν δὲ εἰς αὐτὰ τὰ ἄκρα τῶν τειχῶν γένηται, ἵν' οὕτως εἴπω, ὅταν ὑπερβῇ τὸν κόσμον, ὑπερκόσμιος γένηται, τότε δύναται τὴν σοφίαν κηρύττειν. πάλιν, ἐλέχθη ὅτι· "ἐπὶ τῶν χειρῶν μου ἐζωγράφησά σου τὰ τείχη". τῶν αἰσθητῶν εἰσιν ἰδέαι κατ̣άλληλοι. αἱ ἰδέαι δὲ αὗται νοήσεις εἰσὶν θεοῦ, βουλήσεις εἰσὶν θεοῦ. καὶ λάβε διὰ παραδείγματος τὸ θεωρούμενον· ὁ βουλόμενος κατασκευάσαι πόλιν, ὅλην τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὰ μέρη αὐτῆς ἀνατυποῖ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ διανοίᾳ καὶ κατ' ε᾿̣κείνας τὰς νοήσεις κατασκευάζει τὰ αἰσθητά. ἀμέλει γοῦν ἐὰν μὴ ὀρθῶς λάβῃ τὸ νόημα, φέρε, τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἢ τοῦ τεμένους ἢ τῶν ἄλλων, οὐ καλῶς ποιεῖ τὰ αἰσθητά. αἱ ἰδέαι οὖν δύνανται εἶναι τὰ τείχη, ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν τοῦ θεοῦ γεγραμμέναι βουλήσεις. ταῦτα οὖν τὰ τείχη ἐν τῇ βουλήσει τοῦ θεοῦ ἔχουσιν τὸ εἶναι. καὶ λέγω· "ἐν Χριστῷ", φησίν, "ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα, εἴτε ἀρχαὶ εἴτε ἐξουσίαι· πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἔστιν· καὶ αὐτὸς ἔστιν πρὸ πάντων καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν". ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα· ὡς ἐὰν πολι η 86 ἐν τῷ νῷ τοῦ ἀρχιτέκτονος τὰ μέρη τῆς πόλεως οἰκοδομηθῇ, τουτέστιν πρὸς ἐκεῖνα, διακρατούμενα ὑπ' ἐκείνων· λόγοι γάρ εἰσιν διακρατητικῶν. ἐν Χριστῷ οὖν συνέστηκεν τὰ πάντα. ἐὰν κατ' ἐπίνοιαν θελήσῃς ἆραι τὸν λόγον ἀπὸ τῶν ὄντων, οὐχ ὑφίστανται ταῦτα. συναπέρχονται τῇ ἄρσει τοῦ λόγου. οὕτω οὖν καὶ τὰ τείχη· ἡ ἀσφάλεια πᾶσα ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν τοῦ θεοῦ γέγραπται. ἐὰν δὲ καὶ τὰς ἀρετὰς λέγῃς τείχη, ἠρέμα καὶ αἱ ἀρεταὶ ἔχουσιν ἰδέας, τὰς πρωτοτύπους ἕξεις. οἷον ἔχω δικαιοσύνην, ἀλλὰ οὐ πᾶσαν αὐτήν, ἀλλὰ κατ' αὐτὴν πεποίωμαι. ἐστὶν δὲ ἡ νοουμένη οὐ χωρὶς τοῦ μετέχοντος ὡσανεὶ ἰδέα, οὐκ ἰδέα οὕτως, ὡς εἴωθας λέγεσθαι. ἐὰν οὖν ἄρῃς ἐπιστήμην, αἴρονται αἱ ἕξεις τῶν ἐπιστημόνων, συναπέρχονται αὐτῇ, κειμένης δὲ ἐκείνης μετέχουσιν αὐτῆς καὶ εἰσὶν αἱ κατὰ μέρος ἕξεις. ἄλλη δέ ἐστιν παρὰ ταύτας, ἅτε δὴ ἀρχικωτέρα οὖσα καὶ βεβαιοτέρα. ἀμέλει γοῦν αὕτη οὐ δέχεται τὸ μᾶλλον καὶ τὸ ἧττον, ἡ δὲ ἐν τοῖς μετέχουσιν δέχεται τοῦτο. τὴν ἀσφάλειαν οὖν σημαίνει τὰ τείχη. 6 ἐλυτρώσω μὲ, κύριε ὁ θεὸς τῆς ἀληθείας.