Exposition on Proverbs
Expositio in Proverbia
Structure and Definitions§1
1the codices
They have an ordered number here, as many as the written origin has by this monosyllable ω6ρ6; and they are especially in Job. But as for those concerning the disagreement of certain sayings which have commentaries in the text or in the editions, which are also marked below as having been arranged, those which the opponents of the book are. But as for those sayings lying outside doubtfully, they have marked arrangements outside, which were added through the commentaries according to the great oratorical teacher, so that the commentary might not seem to be brought in vain; for in many of the copies of the sayings they have this, but in this one they are not so placed, or are not brought at all, and for this reason they were added.
77 a Proverb. A proverb is a word signifying intelligible things through sensible things. b The Kingdom of Israel is spiritual knowledge containing discourses concerning God and incorporeal and corporeal things and judgment and providence, or revealing the theory concerning ethics, physics, and theology. For this reason he says: He caused instruction and wisdom to reign in Israel (1 Kings 4:30). And wisdom indeed is the knowledge of corporeal and incorporeal things and of the judgment and providence observed in these; but instruction is the moderation of passions, observing the passionate or irrational part of the soul. d To direct the judgment shows that the criterion is right and incorruptible. But there are three criteria in us: sensation, word, and mind; sensation indeed of sensible things; word of names and sayings and things spoken; but mind of intelligible things. a Just as through sensations the mind imposes itself upon the sensible, so also through virtues it surveys the intelligible; therefore the wise Solomon teaches us that these possess the character of sensation. b Those who suppress evil will despise wisdom and instruction; 1 but in word, I think, no one despises wisdom and instruction. c Just as the summit and the neck show the mind there, so also the crown and the collar show it there.
Greek · §1
Expositio in Proverbia Salomonis Σχόλια εἰς τὰς παροιμίας. ἀστερίσκος, ὀβελός. Ὅσοις οἱ ὀβελοὶ πρόσκεινται ῥητοῖς, οὗτοι οὐκ ἔκειντο οὔτε παρὰ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἑρμηνευταῖς οὔτε ἐν τῷ ἑβραϊκῷ, ἀλλὰ παρὰ μόνοις τοῖς ο· καὶ ὅσοις οἱ ἀστερίσκοι πρόσκεινται ῥητοῖς, οὗτοι ἐν μὲν τῷ ἑβραϊκῷ καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἑρμηνευταῖς ἐφέροντο, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ο οὐκέτι· τὰ δὲ ἠστερισμένα ἐν ταὐτῷ καὶ ὠβελισμένα ῥητὰ φέρονται μὲν παρὰ τοῖς ο, φέρονται δὲ καὶ ἐν τῷ ἑβραϊκῷ καὶ παρὰ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἑρμηνευταῖς, τὴν θέσιν δὲ μόνην παραλλάσσουσιν οἱ λοιποὶ καὶ τὸ ἑβραϊκὸν παρὰ τοὺς ο· ὅθεν ὠβέλισται ἐν ταὐτῷ καὶ ἠστέρισται, ὡς παρὰ πᾶσι μὲν φερόμενα, οὐκ ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς δὲ τόποις. Τὸ μὲν οὖν βιβλίον ἔχει κατὰ τὴν θέσιν καὶ ἀκολουθίαν τῶν ο, σεσημείωται δὲ καὶ ἡ ἀκολουθία τῶν λοιπῶν, ὡς κεῖνται παρ' αὐτοῖς τὰ ῥητά· καὶ ὅπου μὲν ἐν ὀλίγοις ῥητοῖς ἐγένετο αὐτοῖς ἡ ἐναλλαγή, δήλη ἐστὶν αὐτόθεν ἐκ τῶν παρακειμένων σημείων· ὅπου δὲ ἐν πλείοσιν, ἥτις καὶ ἐσχάτη ἐστίν, ταύτην ἔχει παρὰ τοῖς λοιποῖς τὴν ἀκολουθίαν· μετὰ τὸ Τὰς δὲ τιμωρίας ἀμφοτέρων τίς γνώσεται, συνάπτουσι Ταῦτα δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν τοῖς σοφοῖς ἐπιγινώσκειν, ἕως Καὶ ἡ ἔνδειά σου ὥσπερ ἀγαθὸς δρομεύς· εἶτα Αὗται αἱ παιδεῖαι σολομῶντος, ἕως Βδέλυγμα (cod. βδέλλ.) δὲ ἀνόμῳ κατευθύνουσα ὁδός· εἶτα Λόγον φυλασσόμενος υἱὸς ἀπωλείας ἐκτὸς ἔσται, ἕως Καὶ τοὺς πένητας αὐτῶν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων· εἶτα Τῇ βδέλλῃ τρεῖς θυγατέρες ἦσαν, ἕως ∆ιάκρινε δὲ πένητα καὶ ἀσθενῆ· εἶτα Γυναῖκα ἀνδρείαν (cod. εῖαν) τίς εὑρήσει. ταῦτα δὲ παρεθήκαμεν ἵνα μὴ ἐμπίπτοντος τοιούτου ἀντιγράφου δόξῃ τὸ βιβλίον ἐσφάλθαι. οἱ λοιποὶ Τὰς δὲ τιμωρίας· εἶτα Ταῦτα λέγω, ἕως Καὶ ἡ ἔνδειά σου· εἶτα Αὗται αἱ παιδεῖαι, ἕως Βδέλυγμα (cdd. rursus βδέλλ.) δὲ ἀνόμῳ· εἶτα Λόγον φυλασσόμενος, ἕως Καὶ τοὺς πένητας· εἶτα Τῇ βδέλλῃ τρεῖς, ἕως ∆ιάκρινε δέ· εἶτα Γυναῖκα ἀνδρείαν. Εὐαγρίου σχόλιον. Εἰσὶν ὅσα προτεταγμένον ἔχουσι τὸν ἀριθμὸν ὧδε, ὅσα ὠριγένην ἐπιγεγραμμένον ἔχει τούτῳ τῷ μονοσυλλάβῳ ω6ρ6· εἰσὶ δὲ μάλιστα ἐν τῷ ἰώβ· ὅσα δὲ περὶ διαφωνίας ῥητῶν τινῶν τῶν ἐν τῷ ἐδαφίῳ ἢ ἐκδόσεών ἐστιν σχόλια, ἅπερ καὶ κάτω νενευκυῖαν περιεστιγμένην ὄχει προτεταγμένην, τῶν ἀντιβεβληκότων τὸ βιβλίον ἐστίν· ὅσα δὲ ἀμφιβόλως ἔξω κείμενα ῥητὰ ἔξω νενευκυῖαν περιεστιγμένην ἔχει προτεταγμένην, διὰ τὰ σχόλια προσετέθησαν κατ' αὐτὰ τοῦ μεγάλου εἰρηκότος διδασκάλου, ἵνα μὴ δόξῃ κατὰ κενοῦ τὸ σχόλιον φέρεσθαι, ἐν πολλοῖς μὲν τῶν ἀντιγράφων τῶν ῥητῶν οὕτως ἐχόντων, ἐν τούτῳ δὲ μὴ οὕτως κειμένων ἢ μηδ' ὅλως φερομένων καὶ διὰ τοῦτο προστεθέντων. 77 α Παροιμία. παροιμία ἐστὶν λόγος δι' αἰσθητῶν πραγμάτων σημαίνων πράγματα νοητά. β Βασιλεία Ἰσραήλ ἐστιν γνῶσις πνευματικὴ τοὺς περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἀσωμάτων καὶ σωμάτων καὶ κρίσεως καὶ προνοίας περιέχουσα λόγους, ἢ τὴν περὶ ἠθικῆς καὶ φυσικῆς καὶ θεολογικῆς ἀποκαλύπτουσα θεωρίαν. τούτου χάριν φησίν· Ἐβασίλευσεν ἐν Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ γνῶναι παιδείαν καὶ σοφίαν. καὶ σοφία μέν ἐστιν γνῶσις σωμάτων καὶ ἀσωμάτων καὶ τῆς ἐν τούτοις θεωρουμένης κρίσεως καὶ προνοίας· παιδεία δέ ἐστιν μετριοπάθεια παθῶν, περὶ τὸ παθητικὸν ἢ ἄλογον τῆς ψυχῆς μέρος θεωρουμένη. δ Τὸ κρίμα κατευθύνειν, ὀρθὸν καὶ ἀδιάστροφον εἶναι τὸ κριτήριον δηλοῖ. τρία δὲ κριτήρια ἐν ἡμῖν, αἴσθησις, λόγος, νοῦς· καὶ αἴσθησις μὲν τῶν αἰσθητῶν· λόγος δὲ ὀνομάτων καὶ ῥημάτων καὶ τῶν λεγομένων· νοῦς δὲ τῶν νοητῶν. α Ὥσπερ διὰ τῶν αἰσθήσεων ὁ νοῦς ἐπιβάλλει τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς, οὕτω καὶ διὰ τῶν ἀρετῶν ἐποπτεύει τὰ νοητά· διόπερ καὶ αἰσθήσεως αὐτὰς λόγον ἐπέχειν ὁ σοφὸς Σολομὼν ἡμᾶς διδάσκει. β Οἱ κτώμενοι κακίαν ἐξουθενήσουσιν σοφίαν καὶ παιδείαν· 1 λόγῳ δὲ ὡς οἶμαι οὐδεὶς ἐξουθενεῖ σοφίαν καὶ παιδείαν. γ Ὥσπερ ἡ κορυφὴ καὶ ὁ τράχηλος δηλοῖ ἐνταῦθα τὸν νοῦν, οὕτω καὶ ὁ στέφανος καὶ ὁ κλοιὸς ἐνταῦθα
The Role of Fear and Wisdom§2
2It signifies knowledge. For this is the habit of the Holy Spirit, to name God and his angels, and the mind and virtue and knowledge, and evil and ignorance, and the devil and his angels, by many names. He does not set down the names simply, as some think; for these are recognitions of diverse activities, of God through his angels working in us and us in him, and of demons toward us and us toward them.
The possession of the just is wisdom and understanding and prudence; for it is said to possess wisdom and to possess understanding, and he who possesses prudence loves himself. But the impious seize this possession, persuading the just man to do something of those forbidden by God, so that the mind, being blinded by sin, might fall from these holy possessions.
These they plunder, whom the demons conquer, taking from them the armor of God: the helmet and the breastplate and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph 6:17). These are co-heirs of the adversaries, those grasping the same evil for themselves. And that which is not of the one God is common.
A net is an eternal punishment from the just Judge, being brought to the impure souls toward destruction, through the badly fleeing wings from them. He names as 'exit' the soul coming out from evil and ignorance; and such also is the exit of the sons of Israel, which has come to pass after the occurrence of the judgment and teaching of God.
And he calls the same soul 'broad'; for he says, 'Widen your mouth, and let it be filled' (Ps 118:137), and 'Widen yourselves then also' (2 Cor 6:12), in the letter to the Corinthians by Paul. And by the soul exiting in this way, wisdom is praised; but in the soul being widened through virtues, it leads to boldness.
And he calls its highest wall the highest apathy; 'If those loving the law surround themselves with a wall,' David also prays over such a wall, saying, 'Let the walls of Jerusalem be built' (Ps 147:13), that is, the fallen things of such a soul, clearly from the expression of Uriah. And he calls the virtues of the wise 'gates of the mighty.' For he says, 'Open to me the gates of righteousness' (Ps 115:16); and 'The mighty are hot-tempered, let them drink no wine' (Ps 115:11),. Text ends abruptly..
Lest the unskillful overlook wisdom, and the weak be unable to judge rightly. How then does Solomon say before the end: 'Shall he not be acquitted who rejoices at the destruction of the one perishing?' (Proverbs 1:24-26). Or perhaps wisdom rejoices in this way, as it rejoiced at the destruction of Matthew the tax collector and at the destruction of the thief who believed in Christ; for wisdom destroyed the thief, but destroyed the tax collector.
Moral instruction is a siege, overturning a soul that has been badly built up. If it is up to us to want to attend to the purposes of wisdom and not to want to attend to them, we have become masters of our own will. Similar to this is: 'If you will and will hear me, you shall eat the good things of the earth; but if you will not, nor will you hear me, a sword shall fall upon you; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things' (Deuteronomy 30:15-16).
Just as infants are among the righteous and the unrighteous, so all men are among angels and demons, neither being demons nor angels making money, until the completion of the age. The one who is impassive rests without fear from every evil thought. This one hides the commandment of God, the one doing it, even if the demons are said to snatch us away by making us not forgive it.
Now he calls the voice the impassivity of the soul; for this has a nature of calling upon the knowledge of God. So also David says: 'With my voice I cried to the Lord' (Psalm 142:1), and again: 'Give heed to the voice of my supplication' (Psalm 5:1). Then you will understand how the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10), and how knowledge of God becomes a guest. But one must pre-exist in wisdom and understanding, so as to be able to comprehend the fear of the Lord; and let us add these things to those who despise wisdom and understanding, but to those wishing to flee toward fearing God, as toward an easy thing.
The commandments of God are axes that drive us toward the knowledge of God. And David says: 'Because of this, I have performed all your commandments' (Psalm 119:67). The holy angels say all things faithfully; but men, some things faithfully and some things unfaithably; but the devil, nothing faithful, instead of being worthy of not-faith. For he says, 'the devil is a man now,' if a wicked man has sown weeds. If purpose is a movement of what kind of mind, how has this left behind the instruction of youth? And how...
Greek · §2
σημαίνει τὴν γνῶσιν. αὕτη γὰρ ἡ συνήθεια τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου, πολλοῖς ὀνόμασιν ὀνομάζειν τὸν θεόν τε καὶ τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸν νοῦν καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ τὴν γνῶσιν, καὶ τὴν κακίαν καὶ τὴν ἀγνωσίαν, καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν διάβολον καὶ τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ. οὐχ ἁπλῶς δὲ τίθησι τὰ ὀνόματα, ὥς τινες οἴονται· διαφόρων γὰρ ἐνεργειῶν εἰσὶν γνωρίσματα, θεοῦ δὲ διὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων ἐν ἡμῖν ἐνεργοῦντος καὶ ἡμῶν ἐν αὐτῷ, δαιμόνων δὲ πρὸς ἡμᾶς καὶ ἡμῶν πρὸς αὐτούς. δ Ἡ κτῆσις τοῦ δικαίου ἐστὶν σοφία καὶ σύνεσις καὶ φρόνησις· κτῆσαι γάρ φησιν σοφίαν, καὶ κτῆσαι σύνεσιν, καὶ ὁ κτώμενος φρόνησιν ἀγαπᾷ ἑαυτόν. καταλαμβάνονται δὲ τὴν κτῆσιν ταύτην οἱ ἀσεβεῖς, πείθοντες τὸν δίκαιον ποιῆσαί τι τῶν ἀπηγορευμένων παρὰ θεῷ, ἵνα τυφλωθεὶς ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ νοῦς ἐκπέσῃ τῶν ἁγίων τούτων κτημάτων. 78 ε Τούτους σκυλεύουσιν οὓς νικῶσιν οἱ δαίμονες, λαμβάνοντες ἀπ' αὐτῶν τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ πανοπλίαν, τὴν περικεφαλαίαν καὶ τὸν θώρακα καὶ τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ πνεύματος, ὅ ἐστιν ῥῆμα θεοῦ. Οὗτοι συγκληρονόμοι τῶν ἀντικειμένων εἰσίν, οἱ τῆς αὐτῆς αὐτοῖς κακίας ἀντιλαμβάνοντες. κοινὸν δέ ἐστιν ὃ μὴ τοῦ ἑνός ἐστι θεοῦ. ∆ίκτυόν ἐστιν κόλασις αἰώνιος παρὰ τοῦ δικαίου κριτοῦ ταῖς ἀκαθάρτοις προσαγομένη ψυχαῖς ἐπ' ἀπωλείᾳ τῶν κακῶς ἀπ' αὐτῶν ἐκφύντων πτερῶν. Ἔξοδον νῦν ὀνομάζει τὴν ἐξελθοῦσαν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ κακίας καὶ ἀγνωσίας· τοιαύτη δὲ καὶ ἡ ἔξοδος τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ, ἡ μετὰ τὴν ἐκ τῆς κρίσεως τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ διδασκαλίας γένεσιν γεγονυῖα. τὴν αὐτὴν δὲ ψυχὴν καὶ πλατείαν λέγει· Πλάτυνον γάρ φησιν τὸ στόμα σου, καὶ πληρώσω αὐτό· καὶ Πλατύνθητε δὴ καὶ ὑμεῖς, ἐν τῇ πρὸς Κορινθίους ὁ Παῦλος. καὶ ὑπὸ μὲν τῆς οὕτως ἐξερχομένης ψυχῆς ὑμνεῖται ἡ σοφία· ἐν δὲ τῇ πλατυνομένῃ διὰ τῶν ἀρετῶν παρρησίαν ἄγει. ἄκρον δὲ τεῖχος αὐτῆς τὴν ἄκραν ἀπάθειαν λέγει· εἴπερ οἱ ἀγαπῶντες τὸν νόμον περιβάλλουσιν ἑαυτοῖς τεῖχος· ὑπὲρ οὗ τείχους εὔχεται καὶ ὁ ∆αυὶδ λέγων· Οἰκοδομηθήτω τὰ τείχη Ἱερουσαλήμ, τοῦτ' ἔστιν τῆς τοιᾶσδε ψυχῆς τὰ καταπεπτωκότα, δηλονότι ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Οὐρίου προφάσεως. πύλας δὲ δυναστῶν τὰς ἀρετὰς τῶν σοφῶν λέγει. Ἀνοίξατε γάρ μοί φησιν πύλας δικαιοσύνης· καὶ Οἱ δυνάσται θυμώδεις εἰσίν, οἶνον μὴ πινέτωσαν, ἵνα μὴ πιόντες ἐπιλάθωνται τῆς σοφίας, καὶ ὀρθὰ κρίνειν οὐ μὴ δύνωνται τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς. Πῶς οὖν ἔμπροσθέν φησιν Σολομών· Ὁ δὲ ἐπιχαίρων ἀπολλυμένῳ οὐκ ἀθωωθήσεται; ἢ τάχα οὕτως χαίρει ἡ σοφία, ὡς ἐχάρη ἐπὶ τῇ ἀπωλείᾳ Ματθαίου τοῦ τελώνου καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ λῃστοῦ ἀπωλείᾳ τοῦ πιστεύσαντος τῶ Χριστῷ· τοῦ μὲν γὰρ τὸν λῃστὴν ἡ σοφία, τοῦ δὲ τὸν τελώνην ἀπώλεσεν. Πολιορκία ἐστὶν διδασκαλία ἠθική, τὴν κακῶς οἰκοδομηθεῖσαν ψυχὴν καταστρέφουσα. Εἰ ἐφ' ἡμῶν ἐστὶν θέλειν προσέχειν ταῖς τῆς σοφίας βουλαῖς καὶ μὴ θέλειν προσέχειν, γεγόναμεν αὐτεξούσιοι. ὅμοιον τούτῳ ἐστὶν καὶ τὸ Ἐὰν θέλητε καὶ εἰσακούσητέ μου, τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῆς γῆς φάγεσθε· ἐὰν δὲ μὴ θέλητε μηδὲ εἰσακούσητέ μου, μάχαιρα ὑμᾶς κατέδεται· τὸ γὰρ στόμα κυρίου ἐλάλησεν ταῦτα. Ὥσπερ τὰ νήπια μεταξὺ δικαίων καὶ ἀδίκων ἐστίν, οὕτως καὶ πάντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι μεταξὺ ἀγγέλων καὶ δαιμόνων εἰσίν, μήτε δαίμονες ὄντες μήτε ἄγγελοι χρηματίζοντες, μέχρι τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος. Ὁ ἀπαθὴς ἡσυχάζει ἀφόβως ἀπὸ παντὸς κακοῦ λογισμοῦ. Οὗτος κρύπτει τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ θεοῦ, ὁ ποιῶν αὐτήν, εἴπερ καὶ οἱ δαίμονες ἐκ τοῦ μὴ συγχωρεῖν αὐτὴν ποιεῖν ἡμᾶς ἁρπάζειν λέγονται. 79 Νῦν τὴν φωνὴν τὴν ἀπάθειαν τῆς ψυχῆς ὀνομάζει· αὕτη γὰρ πέφυκεν ἐπικαλεῖσθαι γνῶσιν θεοῦ. οὕτω καὶ ὁ ∆αυὶδ λέγει· Φωνῇ μου πρὸς κύριον ἐκέκραξα, καὶ πάλιν· Πρόσχες τῇ φωνῇ τῆς δεήσεώς μου. Τότε συνήσεις πῶς ὁ φόβος τοῦ κυρίου ἀρχὴ σοφίας ἐστίν, καὶ πῶς τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ 2 γνώσεως γίνεται πρόξενος. προϋπάρξαι δὲ δεῖ σοφίαν καὶ σύνεσιν, πρὸς τὸ δυνηθῆναι συνιέναι φόβον κυρίου· καὶ προσάξομέν γε ταῦτα τοῖς τὴν μὲν σοφίαν καὶ τὴν σύνεσιν ἐξουθενοῦσιν, καταφεύγειν δὲ βουλομένοις ἐπὶ τὸ φοβεῖσθαι τὸν θεόν, ὡς ἐπὶ εὐχερὲς πρᾶγμα. Ἄξονας λέγει τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ θεοῦ τὰς ἀγούσας ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν γνῶσιν τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ ὁ ∆αυὶδ φησίν· ∆ιὰ τοῦτο πρὸς πάσας τὰς ἐντολάς σου κατωρθούμην. Οἱ μὲν ἅγιοι ἄγγελοι πάντα λαλοῦσι πιστά· ἄνθρωποι δὲ τὰ μὲν πιστά, τὰ δὲ ἄπιστα· ὁ δὲ διάβολος οὐδὲν πιστὸν ἀντὶ τοῦ οὐ πίστεως ἄξιον. ἄνδρα γὰρ νῦν τὸν διάβολον λέγει, εἴγε ἄνθρωπος πονηρὸς ἐπέσπειρε τὰ ζιζάνια. Εἰ ἡ βουλὴ ποιὰ νοῦ κίνησίς ἐστιν, πῶς αὕτη ἀπέλιπεν διδασκαλίαν νεότητος; πῶς δὲ καὶ
Wisdom, Nature, and the Soul§3
3Did he forget the divine covenant? For he speaks to us about a rational animal regarding evil intent. Or now he calls the devil evil intent; for this one advised evil by saying, 'I will set my throne above the stars, I will be like the Most High.' And he also forgot the divine knowledge, leaving behind the instruction of youth; which youth shows his former state, by which also he was a zealot among the trees of paradise. For pursuing righteousness, he loves, and thus you run to seize it. Those who are seized by the years of life, these seize the tribulations of righteousness. And your mercy, he says, shall pursue me all the days of my life. Those remaining in innocence, he says, were left behind in the land, that is, in knowledge; but those having fallen through malice, through kindness, will return again.
He forgets the law, the one not living lawfully; he remembers the law, the one living according to it; and if this one keeps the words of God, the one doing them, this one destroys them, the one not willing to do them; for the hearers of the law are not righteous, he says, before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. Do not be puffed up, he says, having acquired the wisdom of God; for he calls the wisdom of God here wisdom and it is human, through which he shows it; for in all your ways he says, 'He knew it,' so that you might make your paths straight. When the powers of the soul attain care, they will say 'whatever' to the Lord: 'Lord, who is like you?' For he says, 'All my bones shall say, Lord, Lord, who is like you?' For the mnemonic power of the soul, attaining care, will certainly say, 'I remembered God and was glad'; likewise also the optic power will say, 'I understood your works and was astonished'; and likewise also the desiring power, 'Lord, all my desire is against you'; and the reasoning power will also say, 'I reasoned about the days of old.' It will happen according to all, and also regarding the other powers.
In some copies there lies an abundance of grain; but it lies neither in the Hebrew nor with the Greeks, the grain. Toward wisdom alone are the demons unable, to cast thoughts into the heart of the one having become wise, if they are not forgiven; for the mind, making itself toward the things of wisdom through theorems, becomes unfit for thought.
Of the impure. A pure mind approaches wisdom; but the impure one will be distanced from it. Because of this transgression, Adam is prevented from taking hold of this tree, if the tree of life grows from the fruits of righteousness; and if the tree of life is the wisdom of God, he is justly prevented from touching this tree, for it is said that wisdom will not enter a bad-skilled soul.
God established the earth by wisdom, and prepared the heavens by prudence; and through his perception the abysses were broken open, and the clouds poured out dews. He called the earth here, which the holy Paul named breadth; and the heavens here called height, which he calls in the Epistle to the Ephesians; and the abysses called figuratively depth, and the cloud-formed things he calls length. All these are symbols of rational natures, dividing worlds and bodies by analogy.
He said the soul is a neck that has borne the yoke of the Lord. Preoccupation is an impure thought or a false knowledge of rational nature. From this we know that almsgiving removes the fearsome fantasies occurring to us in the night; and gentleness, lack of anger, and patience do the same, and all that is in its nature to restrain a troubled temper, if it is true that fearsome phantasms tend to arise from the turbulence of the temper. This enmity toward the neighbor works out some evil.
Ignorance is of the Lord in the souls of the ungodly, but knowledge is of God in the soul of the righteous. Just as to the unrighteous the Lord stands against them as righteousness, and to the liars as truth, so to the proud he stands against them as humility. The wise shall inherit knowledge; but the ungodly have valued ignorance.
It should be noted here that he calls the law a good gift because the one receiving gifts in his bosom is both unjust and not being guided; for there he says the commands of the evil one are unjust gifts, which the mind receiving them is not guided in its ways. He who transgresses the law abandons it. If it is for us to engrave wisdom, and the virtues are for us, then the engravings here signify the virtues, which lift up the knowledge of God. A crown of grace and a crown of luxury is the knowledge of God, which also protects us.
Greek · §3
θείας ἐπελάθετο διαθήκης; ὡς γὰρ περὶ ζώου λογικοῦ τῆς κακῆς βουλῆς ἡμῖν διαλέγεται. ἢ νῦν κακὴν βουλὴν τὸν διάβολον λέγει· οὗτος γὰρ κακῶς ἐβουλεύσατο εἰπὼν τὸ Ἐπάνω τῶν ἄστρων θήσομαι τὸν θρόνον μου, ἔσομαι ὅμοιος τῷ ὑψίστῳ. ἐπελάθετο δὲ καὶ τῆς θείας γνώσεως, καταλιπὼν τὴν διδασκαλίαν τῆς νεότητος· ἥτις νεότης τὴν προτέραν αὐτοῦ κατάστασιν δηλοῖ, καθ' ἣν καὶ ζηλωτὸς ἦν ἐν τοῖς ξύλοις τοῦ παραδείσου. ∆ιώκοντας γὰρ δικαιοσύνην ἀγαπᾷ, καὶ οὕτως τρέχετε ἵνα καταλάβητε. Ὅσοι καταλαμβάνονται ὑπὸ ἐνιαυτῶν ζωῆς, οὗτοι καταλαμβάνουσι τρίβους εὐθείας· Καὶ τὸ ἔλεός σου, φησίν, καταδιώξεταί με πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς μου. Οἱ μὲν ἐν ἀκακίᾳ, φησίν, μείναντες ὑπελείφθησαν ἐν τῇ γῇ, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἐν τῇ γνώσει· οἱ δὲ διὰ κακίαν ἐκπεσόντες διὰ χρηστότητος πάλιν ἐπανελεύσονται 80 Οὗτος ἐπιλανθάνεται νόμου, ὁ μὴ νομίμως βιούς· οὗτος μέμνηται τοῦ νόμου, ὁ ζῶν κατ' αὐτόν· καὶ εἰ οὗτος τηρεῖ τὰ ῥήματα τοῦ θεοῦ, ὁ ποιῶν αὐτά, οὗτος ἀπόλλυσιν αὐτά, ὁ μὴ βουλόμενος πράττειν αὐτά· οὐ γὰρ οἱ ἀκροαταὶ τοῦ νόμου δίκαιοι, φησίν, παρὰ τῷ θεῷ, ἀλλ' οἱ ποιηταὶ τοῦ νόμου δικαιωθήσονται. Μὴ ἐπαρθῇς, φησί, θεοῦ σοφίαν κτησάμενος· ὅτι δὲ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐνταῦθα λέγει σοφίαν καὶ αὐτὴν ἀνθρωπίνην, δι' ὧν ἐπιφέρει δείκνυσιν· Ἐν πάσαις γάρ φησιν ὁδοῖς σου γνώριζε αὐτήν, ἵνα ὀρθοτομῇ τὰς ὁδούς σου. Ὅταν αἱ δυνάμεις τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπιμελείας τύχωσιν, τὸ τηνικαῦτα ἐροῦσι Κύριε, τίς ὅμοιός σοι; Πάντα γάρ φησι τὰ ὀστᾶ μου ἐροῦσι Κύριε κύριε, τίς ὅμοιός σοι; ἐπιμελείας γὰρ τυχοῦσα ἡ μνημονευτικὴ δύναμις τῆς ψυχῆς πάντως ἐρεῖ τὸ Ἐμνήσθην τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ εὐφράνθην· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἡ ὀπτικὴ λέξει τὸ Κατενόησα τὰ ἔργα σου καὶ ἐξέστην· ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμητικὴ Κύριε, ἐναντίον σου πᾶσα ἡ ἐπιθυμία μου· ἐρεῖ δὲ καὶ ἡ λογιστικὴ τὸ ∆ιελογισάμην ἡμέρας ἀρχαίας. κατὰ πάντα συμβήσεται καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων δυνάμεων. Ἔν τισιν ἀντιγράφοις κεῖται πλησμονὴ σίτου· οὐ κεῖται δὲ οὔτε εἰς τὸ ἑβραϊκὸν οὔτε παρὰ τοῖς ο τὸ σίτου. Πρὸς μόνην τὴν σοφίαν ἀδυνατοῦσιν οἱ δαίμονες, λογισμοὺς ἐμβάλλειν εἰς τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ σεσοφισμένου μὴ συγχωρούμενοι· ὁ γὰρ νοῦς τοῖς τῆς σοφίας ποιούμενος θεωρήμασιν, ἀνεπίδεκτος γίνεται λογισμοῦ ἀκαθάρτου. Νοῦς καθαρὸς ἐγγίζει σοφίᾳ· ὁ δὲ ἀκάθαρτος μακρυνθήσεται ἀπ' αὐτῆς Τούτου τοῦ ξύλου μετὰ τὴν παράβασιν ὁ Ἀδὰμ μεταλαμβάνειν κωλύεται, εἴπερ ἀπὸ καρπῶν δικαιοσύνης φύεται δένδρον ζωῆς· εἰ δὲ τὸ δένδρον τῆς ζωῆς ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ σοφία ἐστίν, δικαίως ἅψασθαι κωλύεται τούτου τοῦ ξύλου· Εἰς γὰρ κακότεχνόν φησιν ψυχὴν σοφία οὐκ εἰσελεύσεται. Ὁ θεὸς τῇ μὲν σοφίᾳ τὴν γῆν ἐθεμελίωσεν, τῇ δὲ φρονήσει τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἡτοίμασεν· διὰ δὲ τῆς αἰσθήσεως αὐτοῦ ἐρράγησαν ἄβυσσοι, τὰ δὲ νέφη ἐρρύησαν δρόσους. ἣν ἐνταῦθα γῆν εἶπεν, Παῦλος ὁ ἅγιος πλᾶτος (sic cod.) ὠνόμασεν· καὶ τοὺς ἐνταῦθα οὐρανοὺς λεγομένους ὕψος ἐκεῖνος ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἐφεσίους καλεῖ, 81 καὶ τὰς λεγομένας τροπικῶς ἀβύσσους ὀνομάζει βάθος, καὶ τὰ δεδροσωμένα νέφη μῆκος καλεῖ. ταῦτα δὲ πάντα λογικῶν ἐστὶ φύσεων σύμβολα, διαιρουμένων κόσμοις καὶ σώμασι κατ' ἀναλογίαν. Τράχηλον τὴν ψυχὴν 3 εἶπεν τὴν βαστάσασαν τὸν ζυγὸν τοῦ κυρίου. Πρόσκομμά ἐστι φύσεως λογικῆς λογισμὸς ἀκάθαρτος ἢ γνῶσις ψευδής. Ἐντεῦθεν γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἡ ἐλεημοσύνη περιαιρεῖ φοβερὰς φαντασίας νύκτωρ ἡμῖν συμβαινούσας· τὸ αὐτὸ δὲ ποιεῖ καὶ πραΰτης καὶ ἀοργησία καὶ μακροθυμία, καὶ ὅσα πέφυκε ταρασσόμενον καταστέλλειν θυμόν· εἴπερ ἐκ τῆς ταραχῆς τοῦ θυμοῦ τὰ φοβερὰ φαντάσματα εἴωθε γίνεσθαι. Αὕτη ἡ πρὸς τὸν πλησίον ἔχθρα ἀπεργάζεταί τινα κακόν. Ἄγνοια κυρίου ἐν ψυχαῖς ἀσεβῶν, γνῶσις δὲ θεοῦ ἐν ψυχῇ δικαίων. Ὥσπερ τοῖς ἀδίκοις ὁ κύριος ὡς δικαιοσύνη ἀντιτάσσεται, καὶ τοῖς ψεύσταις ὡς ἀλήθεια, οὕτως καὶ τοῖς ὑπερηφάνοις ὡς ταπεινοφροσύνη ἀντιτάσσεται. Γνῶσιν σοφοὶ κληρονομήσουσιν· οἱ δὲ ἀσεβεῖς ἐτίμησαν ἀγνωσίαν. Σημειωτέον ἐνταῦθα ὅτι δῶρον ἀγαθὸν ὀνομάζει τὸν νόμον διὰ τὸν λαμβάνοντα δῶρα ἐν κόλπῳ ἀδί82 κως καὶ μὴ κατευοδούμενον· ἐκεῖ γὰρ δῶρα ἄδικα τὰ προστάγματα λέγει τοῦ πονηροῦ, ἅπερ ὁ νοῦς δεχόμενος οὐ κατευοδοῦται ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ. Οὗτος ἐγκαταλιμπάνει τὸν νόμον, ὁ παραβαίνων αὐτόν. Εἰ ἐφ' ἡμῖν ἐστὶν τὸ χαρακῶσαι τὴν σοφίαν, αἱ δὲ ἀρεταί εἰσιν ἐφ' ἡμῖν· οἱ χάρακες ἄρα δηλοῦσιν ἐνταῦθα τὰς ἀρετάς, αἵτινες ὑψοῦσιν τὴν γνῶσιν τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ. Στέφανος χαρίτων καὶ στέφανος τρυφῆς ἡ γνῶσίς ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἥτις καὶ ὑπερασπίζει ἡμῶν,
The Nature of Virtue and Knowledge§4
4Every passionate thought and every rejected false knowledge. These many ways lead to one single way, which says: 'I am the way' (John 14:6). But the virtues that lead to the knowledge of Christ have spoken of many ways. The place of this army is wickedness and pseudo-knowledge.
If the Lord gives sleep to his beloved, but the impious are not his beloved, then the Lord does not give sleep to the impious. From this it is also possible to show that even the demons do not possess the nature to sleep. From this we know what the army of the opposing power is fed by; for they say its grain is impiety and its wine is lawlessness.
Our virtues go before us and enlighten us, until the sun of righteousness (Malachi 4:2) shines its day upon us. The impious do not even know the manner in which they sin, nor do they know the cause from which they stumble; they do not even know this, that they act lawlessly, which is the mark of ultimate folly.
He calls the virtues springs, from which they generate the living water, which is the knowledge of Christ. And David says that the springs of the waters were seen and the foundations of the world were uncovered, according to the manifestation of our Savior Christ. Those who have dispassionate thoughts and true doctrines, these see rightly.
For virtue is a mean; therefore they say that courage is between boldness and cowardity; but now he calls 'right' not those things which are naturally right, but those things which appear right because of pleasures. For he says the north is a harsh wind, but it is called 'skillful' by name; saying 'north' symbolically for the evil one, from whom all the evils on earth were kindled. This agrees with: 'Unless the Lord builds the house and guards the city' (Psalm 127:1), and so on.
Tears signify pleasure, from which impurity is brought forth; from which wickedness and ignorance are born, of which nothing is found more bitter among existing things. He spoke of the harlot above, but now he named folly. For those descending into Hades after death, David prays, saying: 'The living descended into Hades' (Psalm 42:7). If the paths are not well-known, it is well said: 'They do not know how they stumble' (Psalm 119:176). He said 'way' in this...
One sees the mind proceeding toward virtue; perhaps virtue stands as a guard to separate us from wickedness. Here we recognize that the spirited part prevails in the demons; for a spirited temperament is unmerciful, he says, and a sharp anger. Through wicked deeds, the evil ones crush the flesh of Christ and consume the blood, regarding it as common; for he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life (John 6:54), and I will raise him up on the last day (John 6:54). There was a time when wickedness was not, and there will be a time when it shall not be; but there was a time when virtue was not, and there shall be a time when it shall not be; for the seeds of virtue are never entirely exhausted.
This also convinces me: having become almost, though not perfectly, everything wicked, and the rich man having become wretched in Hades through wickedness and pitying his brothers; for to pity turns out to be the most beautiful seed of virtue. Knowledge is both a well and a spring; for to those approaching, virtue seems to be a deep well, but to the impassive and the pure, it is a spring; even so the Savior sat by the spring, when it was about the sixth hour (John 4:6); and the Samaritan woman calls it a well; for she says, 'Lord, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep' (John 4:11). The woman here signifies the knowledge of God; and this was given to us from youth, for which Solomon speaks of a teaching in youth: 'My son, let not evil counsel take hold of you' (Proverbs 1:10), saying this as one who has left behind the teaching of youth and a divine testament, calling the devil one who counsels wickedly.
Forgetfulness and the loss of knowledge and possession are second evils; just as sickness is the worst of health, and death is the second of life. At the same time, this must also be understood: that regarding the same knowledge, it is called mother, wife, and sister; it is called mother because the one who taught me through it has brought me into being, as Paul did through the gospel in Galatians (Galatians 2:20); it is called wife because, being joined to me, it brings forth virtues and correct doctrines, just as wisdom brings forth prudence to a man; and it is called sister because both I and it have come from the one God and Father; for he says, 'I have said that your wisdom is your sister.' If grace and friendship set free, virtue and knowledge set free the rational soul; for grace and friendship are virtue and knowledge. If the deer is born of friendship, and the foal is born of grace,
Greek · §4
πάντα λογισμὸν ἐμπαθῆ καὶ πᾶσαν ἀπωθουμένη γνῶσιν ψευδῆ. Αὗται αἱ πολλαὶ ὁδοὶ εἰς μίαν ἄγουσιν ὁδόν, τὴν εἰποῦσαν· Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδός. πολλὰς δὲ εἴρηκεν ὁδοὺς τὰς ἀρετὰς τὰς φερούσας ἐπὶ τὴν γνῶσιν τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Τούτου τοῦ στρατοῦ ὁ τόπος ἐστὶν ἡ κακία καὶ ἡ ψευδώνυμος γνῶσις. Εἰ τοῖς ἀγαπητοῖς αὐτοῦ δίδωσιν ὁ κύριος ὕπνον, οἱ δὲ ἀσεβεῖς οὐκ εἰσὶν αὐτοῦ ἀγαπητοί, τοῖς ἀσεβέσιν ἄρα οὐ δίδωσιν ὕπνον ὁ κύριος. ἐντεῦθεν δέ ἐστιν καὶ πιθανῶς δεῖξαι ὅτι οὐδὲ καθεύδειν πεφύκασιν οἱ δαίμονες. Ἐντεῦθεν γινώσκομεν τίσι τρέφεται ὁ στρατὸς τῆς ἀντικειμένης δυνάμεως· σῖτα γάρ φησιν αὐτοῦ ἐστὶν ἡ ἀσέβεια, καὶ οἶνος παρανομία. Προπορεύονται ἡμῶν αἱ ἀρεταὶ καὶ φωτίζουσιν ἡμᾶς, ἕως ἂν ὁ ἥλιος τῆς δικαιοσύνης τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἡμέραν ἡμῖν ἐπιλάμψῃ. Οὐδὲ τὸν τρόπον πῶς ἁμαρτάνουσιν οἱ ἀσεβεῖς ἐπίστανται, οὐδὲ τὴν αἰτίαν γινώσκουσιν πόθεν προσκόπτουσιν· ἀλλ' οὐδ' αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἴσασιν, ὅτι παρανομοῦσιν, ὅπερ ἐστὶν γνώρισμα τῆς ἐσχάτης ἀνοίας. Πηγὰς λέγει τὰς ἀρετάς, ἀφ' ὧν γεννῶσι τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ζῶν, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἡ γνῶσις τοῦ Χριστοῦ. καὶ ὁ ∆αυὶδ Ὤφθησάν φησιν αἱ πηγαὶ τῶν ὑδάτων καὶ ἀνεκαλύφθησαν τὰ θεμέλια τῆς οἰκουμένης, παρὰ τὴν ἐπιδημίαν δηλονότι τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ. Ὅσοι λογισμοὺς ἔχουσιν ἀπαθεῖς καὶ δόγματα ἀληθῆ, οὗτοι ὁρῶσιν ὀρθά. 83 Ἡ ἀρετὴ γὰρ μεσότης· διὸ καὶ τὴν ἀνδρείαν μεταξὺ τῆς θρασύτητος καὶ τῆς δειλίας εἶναί φασιν· νῦν δὲ ὀνομάζει δεξιὰ οὐ τὰ φύσει δεξιά, ἀλλὰ τὰ φαινόμενά τισι διὰ τὰς ἡδονὰς δεξιά. βορέας γάρ φησιν σκληρὸς ἄνεμος, ὀνόματι δὲ ἐπιδέξιος καλεῖται· βορέαν λέγων συμβολικῶς τὸν πονηρόν, ἀφ' οὗ ἐξεκαύθη πάντα τὰ κακὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Συμφωνεῖ τούτοις τὸ Ἐὰν μὴ κύριος οἰκοδομήσῃ οἶκον καὶ φυλάξει πόλιν, καὶ ἑξῆς. Τὸ λῖπος τὴν ἡδονὴν σημαίνει, ἀφ' ἧς τίκτεται ἡ ἀκαθαρσία· ἧς ἔκγονον κακία καὶ ἄγνοια, ὧν οὐδέν ἐστιν πικρότερον ἐν τοῖς γεγονόσιν εὑρεῖν. Ἣν ἀνωτέρω πόρνην εἶπεν, νῦν ἀφροσύνην ὠνόμασεν. Ὑπὲρ τῶν μετὰ θανάτου καταβαινόντων εἰς τὸν ᾅδην προσεύχεται ὁ ∆αυὶδ λέγων· Καταβήτωσαν εἰς ᾅδου ζῶντες. Εἰ οὐκ εὔγνωστοί εἰσιν αἱ τροχιαί, καλῶς εἴρηται τὸ Οὐκ οἴδασι πῶς προσκόπτουσιν. Ὁδὸν εἶπεν ἐνταῦθα τὸν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν ὁδεύοντα νοῦν· ἢ τάχα τὴν ἀρετὴν προστάσσει χωρίζειν ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ κακίας. Ἐνταῦθα γινώσκομεν ὅτι τὸ θυμικὸν μέρος ἐπικρατεῖ ἐν τοῖς δαίμοσιν· ἀνελεήμων γὰρ θυμός, φησίν, καὶ ὀξεῖα ὀργή. ∆ιὰ τῶν κακιῶν οἱ πονηροὶ κατατρίβουσι τὰς σάρκας τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ τὸ αἷμα καταναλίσκουσιν, κοινὸν αὐτὸ ἡγησάμενοι· ὁ τρώγων γάρ μου, φησί, τὴν σάρκα καὶ 4 πίνων μου τὸ αἷμα ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον, κἀγὼ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ. Ἦν ὅτε οὐκ ἦν κακία, καὶ ἔσται ὅτε οὐκ ἔσται· οὐκ ἦν δὲ ὅτε οὐκ ἦν ἀρετή, οὐδὲ ἔσται ὅτε οὐκ ἔσται· ἀνεξάλειπτα γὰρ τὰ σπέρματα τῆς ἀρετῆς. πείθει δέ με καὶ οὗτος παρ' ὀλίγον καὶ οὐ τελείως ἐν παντὶ κακῷ γεγονῶς, καὶ ὁ πλούσιος ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ διὰ κακίαν γενόμενος καὶ οἰκτείρων τοὺς ἀδελφούς· τὸ δὲ ἐλεεῖν σπέρμα τυγχάνει τὸ κάλλιστον τῆς ἀρετῆς. Ἡ γνῶσις καὶ φρέαρ ἐστὶ καὶ πηγή· τοῖς μὲν γὰρ προσελθοῦσι τὴν ἀρετὴν βαθὺ φρέαρ εἶναι δοκεῖ, 84 τοῖς δὲ ἀπαθέσι καὶ καθαροῖς πηγή· οὕτω καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ ἐκαθέζετο ἐπὶ τῇ πηγῇ, ὥρα ἦν ὡσεὶ ἕκτη· ἡ δὲ Σαμαρεῖτις φρέαρ αὐτὴν ὀνομάζει· Κύριε γάρ φησιν, οὔτε ἄντλημα ἔχεις καὶ τὸ φρέαρ ἐστὶ βαθύ. Ἡ γυνὴ ἐνταῦθα τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ γνῶσιν σημαίνει· αὕτη δὲ ἐκ νεότητος ἡμῖν ἐδόθη, ἥντινα ἀνωτέρω διδασκαλίαν ὁ Σολομὼν νεότητος λέγει· Υἱέ φησι, μή σε καταλάβῃ βουλὴ κακή, τὸν διάβολον λέγων ὡς κακῶς βουλευσάμενον, ἡ ἀπολιποῦσα διδασκαλίαν νεότητος καὶ διαθήκην θείαν ἐπιλελησμένη. λήθη δὲ καὶ ἀπόλειψις γνώσεως καὶ κτήσεως δεύτεραι· ὥσπερ καὶ ὑγείας νόσος ἐσχάτη, καὶ ζωῆς θάνατος δεύτερος. ἅμα δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ἰστέον, ὅτι περ' ἡ αὐτὴ γνῶσις καὶ μήτηρ λέγεται καὶ γυνὴ καὶ ἀδελφή· μήτηρ μὲν ἐπειδὴ ὁ διδάξας με δι' αὐτῆς με γεγέννηκεν, ὡς Παῦλος διὰ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου Γαλάτας· γυνὴ δὲ ὅτι συνοῦσά μοι τίκτει τὰς ἀρετὰς καὶ δόγματα ὀρθά, εἴγε ἡ σοφία ἀνδρὶ τίκτει φρόνησιν· ἀδελφὴ δὲ ὅτι ἐγώ τε καὶ αὐτὴ ἐκ τοῦ ἑνὸς γεγόναμεν θεοῦ καὶ πατρός· Εἶπον γάρ φησι τὴν σοφίαν σὴν ἀδελφὴν εἶναι. Εἰ χάρις καὶ φιλία ἐλευθεροῖ, ἀρετὴ δὲ καὶ γνῶσις ἐλευθεροῖ ψυχὴν λογικήν, ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ φιλία ἀρετὴ καὶ γνῶσις ἐστίν. εἰ δὲ ἡ ἔλαφος ἐκ τῆς φιλίας, ὁ δὲ πῶλος ἐκ τῆς χάριτος γεννᾶται,
The Ant Analogy and the Honey of Words§5
5The deer is a symbol of contemplation, and the foal is of apatheia; for the one is destined to come from virtues, and the other from knowledge. Virtue and the knowledge of God are proper to the rational nature. To be many is to possess a multitude of theorems; but a multitude is that which is being benefited.
Regarding 'Be not much toward strangeness' (Proverbs 25:27), some think it is said concerning external wisdom, for which it is not necessary to spend time because of the hidden deceits; others will take it concerning evil, and will interpret being 'not much' toward it as follows: that it is not possible for a man, being a man, to entirely abstain from evil thoughts, but it is possible not to linger in them; and that he calls 'stranger's embraces' the evil thoughts which seize the soul and do not escape the God who knows the heart.
Everyone who guarantees Christ, the friend of the apostles, as righteousness and truth, delivers his own soul to those enemies who are accustomed to war against men because of their friendship toward the Savior; for friendship is spiritual, the knowledge of God, by which also the saints are called friends of God; so also John the Baptist was a friend of the Bridegroom, and Moses and the apostles; for he says, 'I no longer call you servants' (John 15:15). He says, 'but friends through prayers and supplications and your friend whom I will guarantee,' saying: 'Keep me, Lord, from the hand of a sinner, and rescue me from an unrighteous man, and because of my enemies do not deliver me into the hands of those distressing me; for because of you we are being killed all day long, and we were counted as sheep for slaughter' (Psalm 43:2).
Sin is a sleep of the soul in terms of energy; but drowsiness is the first unclean thought established in the soul; therefore even before drowsiness, the word calls it sleep. For he says it was said to the ancients: 'You shall not murder' (Exodus 20:13), but I say 'You shall not be angry.' And here, for it seems to me, the law forbids sleep; but drowsiness is forbidden by the gospel...
The joy of Christ: for one cuts off sin in action, while the other cuts off the evil first established in thought. It is to be noted here that he calls the natural, harmonious movement of the ant wisdom; for indeed the wiser of the wise is called wiser.
And how is it that he is not under a master, if the five universes are slaves of God? Or is God ever called master in two ways, as Creator and as one who is known? Therefore also Paul writes: 'But now, having been freed from sin and having become slaves to God (clearly according to virtue and knowledge), you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life' (Romans 6:22). If the ant, being irrational, is unworthy of such an end, it is clear that he is also free from such a slavery. It is therefore well said that the ant is not under a master according to this kind of mastery; and yet he is again under a master, as having God as Creator.
Through the ant, it seems Solomon outlines the practical path for us, but through the bee, he signifies the contemplation of events and of the one who made them, which both the pure and the impure, and the wise and the foolish, bring toward the health of the soul. And it seems to me that the preacher of their discourse holds the word, while the honey remaining to him is a symbol of their contemplation. And the preacher shall pass away; for heaven and earth, they say, shall pass away (Matthew 24:35); but the honey shall not pass away; for neither shall the words of our Savior Christ pass away. Concerning which Solomon says: 'Pleasant are words of honey, and sweetness to the throat' (Proverbs 16:24). And David: 'How sweet are your words to my throat, sweeter than honey to my mouth' (Psalm 119:103).
He named the result of toil 'toil of toils.' This sleep is destined to happen only to the rational soul; for it signifies here evil and ignorance, of which wakefulness produces something. Poverty is a deprivation of knowledge; and want is a scarcity of virtues.
Greek · §5
ἡ μὲν ἔλαφός ἐστι θεωρίας σύμβολον, ὁ δὲ πῶλος τῆς ἀπαθείας· ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἐξ ἀρετῶν, ἡ δὲ ἐκ τῆς γνώσεως γίνεσθαι πέφυκεν. Ἰδία τῆς λογικῆς φύσεώς ἐστιν ἡ ἀρετὴ καὶ ἡ γνῶσις ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ. Τὸ πολλοστὸν εἶναι τὸ πλῆθός ἐστιν ἔχειν θεωρημάτων· πλῆθος δέ ἐστιν τῶν ὠφελουμένων. Τὸ Μὴ πολὺς ἴσθι πρὸς ἀλλοτρίαν, τινὲς μὲν περὶ τῆς ἔξωθεν σοφίας νομίσουσι λέγεσθαι, πρὸς ἣν χρονίζειν οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον διὰ τὰς ἐγκεκρυμμένας ἀπάτας· τινὲς δὲ περὶ τῆς κακίας ἐκλήψονται, καὶ τὸ μὴ πολὺν εἶναι πρὸς αὐτὴν ἑρμηνεύσουσιν οὕτως, ὅτι οὐ δυνατὸν ἄνθρωπον ὄντα παντάπασιν ἀπέχεσθαι πονηρῶν λογισμῶν, μὴ χρονίζειν μέντοιγε ἐν αὐτοῖς δυνατόν· καὶ ὅτι ἀγκάλας τὰς ἀλλοτρίας τοὺς πονηροὺς λογισμοὺς ὀνομάζει, τοὺς συνέχοντας τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ μὴ λανθάνοντας τὸν καρδιογνώστην θεόν. Πᾶς ὁ τὸν φίλον τῶν ἀποστόλων Χριστὸν ἐγγυώμενος, ὡς δικαιοσύνην καὶ ἀλήθειαν, παραδίδωσι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν τοῖς ἐχθροῖς τοῖς εἰωθόσι πολεμεῖν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸν σωτῆρα φιλίαν· φιλία γάρ ἐστιν πνευματική, γνῶσις θεοῦ, καθ' ἣν καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι φίλοι χρηματίζουσι τοῦ θεοῦ· οὕτω καὶ Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτιστὴς φίλος ἦν τοῦ νυμφίου, καὶ Μωσῆς καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι· Οὐκέτι γάρ φησιν ὑμᾶς καλῶ δούλους. Παρό85 ξυνε δέ φησιν διὰ προσευχῶν καὶ δεήσεων καὶ τὸν φίλον σου ὃν ἐνηγγυήσω, λέγων· Φύλαξόν με κύριε ἐκ χειρὸς ἁμαρτωλοῦ, καὶ ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς ἀδίκου ῥῦσαί με, καὶ ἕνεκα τῶν ἐχθρῶν μου μὴ παράδος με εἰς χεῖρας θλιβόντων με· ὅτι ἕνεκέν σου θανατούμεθα ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν, ἐλογίσθημεν ὡς πρόβατα σφαγῆς. Ὕπνος μέν ἐστι ψυχῆς ἡ κατ' ἐνέργειαν ἁμαρτία· νυσταγμὸς δὲ τὸ πρῶτον ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ συνιστάμενον ἀκάθαρτον νόημα· διὸ καὶ πρὸ τοῦ νυσταγμοῦ ὁ λόγος τὸν ὕπνον καλεῖ. Ἐρρέθη γάρ φησι τοῖς ἀρχαίοις· Οὐ φονεύσεις, ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω Οὐκ ὀργισθήσῃ. καὶ ἐνταῦθα γὰρ φαίνεταί μοι τὸν ὕπνον κωλύων ὁ νόμος· τὸν δὲ νυσταγμὸν τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ· εἴγε ὁ μὲν περικόπτει τὴν κατ' ἐνέργειαν ἁμαρτίαν, τὸ δὲ τὴν κατὰ διάνοιαν πρῶτον συνισταμένην κακίαν. Σημειωτέον ἐνταῦθα ὅτι τὴν τοῦ μύρμηκος φυσικὴν ἐναρμόνιον κίνησιν σοφίαν καλεῖ· καὶ γὰρ ὁ σοφώτερος σοφοῦ σοφώτερος λέγεται. πῶς δὲ καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὑπὸ δεσπότην, εἴγε τὰ 5 σύμπαντα δοῦλα τοῦ θεοῦ; ἢ μή ποτε ὁ θεὸς δεσπότης λέγεται διχῶς, ὡς δημιουργὸς καὶ ὡς γινωσκόμενος; διὸ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος γράφει· Νυνὶ δὲ ἐλευθερωθέντες μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, δουλωθέντες δὲ τῷ θεῷ (δηλονότι κατ' ἀρετὴν καὶ γνῶσιν), ἔχετε τὸν καρπὸν ὑμῶν εἰς ἁγιασμόν, τὸ δὲ τέλος ζωὴν αἰώνιον. εἰ δὲ τοῦ τοιούτου τέλους ἄμοιρός ἐστιν ὁ μύρμηξ ἄλογος ὤν, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ τῆς τοιαύτης δουλείας ἐλεύθερος. καλῶς οὖν λέγεται μὴ εἶναι ὑπὸ δεσπότην ὁ μύρμηξ, κατὰ ταύτην τὴν δεσποτείαν· καὶ εἶναι πάλιν ὑπὸ δεσπότην, ὡς δημιουργὸν ἔχων τὸν θεόν. ∆ιὰ μὲν τοῦ μύρμηκος ἔοικεν ὁ Σολομὼν τὴν πρακτικὴν ὁδὸν ἡμῖν ὑπογράφειν, διὰ δὲ τῆς μελίσσης τὴν θεωρίαν τῶν γεγονότων σημαίνειν καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ποιήσαντος, ἥντινα καὶ καθαροὶ καὶ ἀκάθαρτοι καὶ σοφοὶ καὶ ἀνόητοι πρὸς τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ὑγείαν προσφέρονται. καὶ φαίνεται μέν μοι ὁ κηρὸς αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων λόγον ἐπέχειν, τὸ δ' ἐναποκείμενον αὐτῷ μέλι σύμβολον εἶναι τῆς θεωρίας αὐτῶν. καὶ ὁ μὲν κηρὸς παρελεύσεται· ὁ οὐρανὸς γάρ φησιν καὶ ἡ γῆ παρελεύσεται· τὸ δὲ μέλι οὐ παρελεύσεται· οὐδὲ γὰρ οἱ λόγοι παρελεύσονται τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ. περὶ ὧν λέγει ὁ Σολομών· Κηρία μέλιτος λόγοι καλοί, γλύκασμα δὲ αὐτῶν ἴασις ψυχῆς· καὶ ὁ ∆αυίδ· Ὡς γλυκέα φησὶ τῷ λάρυγγί μου τὰ λόγιά σου, ὑπὲρ μέλι τῷ στόματί μου. Τὸ ἀποτέλεσμα τοῦ πόνου πόνους ὠνόμασεν. Ὁ ὕπνος οὗτος μόνῃ πέφυκεν ἐπισυμβαίνειν ψυχῇ λογικῇ· σημαίνει γὰρ ἐνταῦθα κακίαν καὶ ἀγνωσίαν· ὧν ἡ ἀγρυπνία ποιεῖ τινά. Πενία ἐστὶ στέρησις γνώσεως· ἔνδεια δὲ σπάνις τῶν ἀρετῶν.
The Nature and Deception of Vice§6
6One must be careful here, lest the opponents ever recognize our own thoughts being nourished through these bodily movements, since we have believed God alone to be the knower of hearts. Everyone who eats the flesh of Christ and drinks his blood acquires righteous blood, the loss of which is said to cause the rational soul to die; for he says that the soul that sins, it itself shall die (Ezekiel 36:26). And if there is righteous blood, it is evident that there is also unjust blood; which is what those who devour the given food among the Ethiopian peoples gather within themselves, being nourished by the bread of falsehood. And some, sacrificing to foreign gods, consume their own righteous blood, while others, offering themselves as a sacrifice to the only God, destroy unjust blood. But the generation of righteous blood will certainly follow the corruption of unjust blood, and the generation of unjust blood will follow the corruption of righteous blood. But this is the way it has become by nature, not from the beginning; for righteousness did not come about through the corruption of evil, just as health does not come about through the corruption of disease, since children are born after health from the beginning.
They are brothers who have the gift of adoption and have Christ as father under the same, whom the witness of injustice attempts to separate, casting disturbances and judgments upon them. The 'burning up,' I think, will be added because of the passionate thoughts, kindling the spirit toward anger and hatred, and desire toward shameful works. These very thoughts the holy Paul also named the fiery arrows of the evil one, piercing the soul and working death (Ephesians 6:16). He urges the mother to be approached, who is the wisdom that gave birth to us according to God. Yet it was necessary for him to speak of the father; for he is more suitable for being in union with the son. But since it is not possible for him to know God before the contemplation of things having happened, for this reason he urges the mother to be approached and not the father, so that through the mother the son may see the father; for if she does not give birth to him, he does not see the light, which is the knowledge of God. Because the commandment of the law is a lamp and a light (Psalm 119:105), and perhaps the old covenant is a lamp; for it was the lamp that was burning and shining, but the new covenant is light; for he says, 'I am the light' (John 8:12).
of the world. For such is the pleasure of vice, as much as a single loaf of bread. This one unbinds the fire in the belly, he who permits the unclean thought to linger in the heart to corrupt the righteous thoughts. And this one walks upon coals, he who through the energy of sin destroys his own soul.
He calls vice an adulterous woman; for the devil is her husband, begetting with her lawless children. And the Savior in the gospels to the Jews says, 'You are of your father the devil' (John 8:44). But if one is caught by true knowledge, he will cast away all false knowledge, he who formerly through deficiency of knowledge was stealing from the foolishness of our Savior's wisdom. Everyone who has shared in vice is an adulterer of the devil, he who first rejoiced in vice and from the beginning became a murderer.
Here he shows that we have the devil as an accuser of the things done to us on the day of judgment; and this is also what the holy Paul says: 'If the adversary falls into temptation, having nothing trivial to say about us' (2 Cor 4:4). If through the transgression of the law someone dishonors God, by doing so making it manifest that he honors God. Wisdom is our sister, because he who made the incorporeal nature is a father and has made this; but here he calls wisdom not the Son of God, but the contemplation of bodies and incorporeal things and the judgment and providence in them; the vision of which is also prudence and knowledge, and instruction and understanding.
Words that are thrown into one's mind for the sake of pleasure are passionate thoughts. He now calls the flesh of man a door; for through this the evil one works his snares for men, those who wish to walk the broad way and wide, leading toward destruction (Matt 7:13). But here one must pay attention to what Solomon says concerning vice, that it is not this vice that leads man in the beginning toward evil, nor does it compel him to go through the passages of her house, or to approach a corner, or to speak in the evening darkness; but if he sees someone giving himself over to pleasures, immediately he encounters it, having the appearance of a prostitute, which causes the hearts of the young to be deceived. He names the nocturnal silence and the dark state of the soul as unclean, through which sin is unfolded through the body.
Greek · §6
Προσεκτέον ἐνταῦθα, μή ποτε ἄρα διὰ τῶν τοιούτων κινημάτων τοῦ σώματος γινώσκουσιν οἱ ἀντικείμενοι τοὺς ἑαυτῶν λογισμοὺς ἐν ἡμῖν τρεφομένους· ἐπειδὴ καρδιογνώστην μόνον τὸν θεὸν πεπιστεύκαμεν εἶναι. Πᾶς ὁ τρώγων τὰς σάρκας τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ πίνων τὸ αἷμα αὐτοῦ κτᾶται αἷμα δίκαιον, οὗ στερισκομένη λέγεται ἀποθνήσκειν ψυχὴ λογική· Ψυχὴ γάρ φησιν ἡ ἁμαρτάνουσα, αὐτὴ ἀποθανεῖται. εἰ δὲ ἔστιν αἷμα δίκαιον, ἔστιν δηλονότι καὶ αἷμα ἄδικον· ὅπερ συνάγουσιν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς οἱ κατεσθίοντες τὸν δεδομένον βρῶμα λαοῖς τοῖς Αἰθίοψιν, καὶ τρεφόμενοι τῷ ἄρτῳ τοῦ ψεύδους. καὶ οἱ μὲν θύοντες θεοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις τὸ δίκαιον 86 ἑαυτῶν αἷμα καταναλίσκουσιν, οἱ δὲ ἑαυτοὺς θυσίαν προσάγοντες τῷ μόνῳ θεῷ τὸ ἄδικον διαφθείρουσιν αἷμα. ἀκολουθήσει δὲ πάντως τῇ μὲν φθορᾷ τοῦ ἀδίκου αἵματος ἡ γένεσις τοῦ δικαίου αἵματος, καὶ τῇ φθορᾷ τοῦ δικαίου αἵματος ἡ γένεσις τοῦ ἀδίκου αἵματος. ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν νῦν γίνεσθαι πέφυκεν, ἀπ' ἀρχῆς δὲ οὐχ οὕτως· οὐ γὰρ κατὰ φθορὰν κακίας ὑπέστη δικαιοσύνη, ὡς οὐδὲ κατὰ φθορὰν νόσου ὑγεία, τῶν παίδων μετὰ τῆς ὑγείας ἀπ' ἀρχῆς τικτομένων. Ἀδελφοί εἰσιν οἱ τῆς υἱοθεσίας ἔχοντες χάρισμα καὶ ὑπὸ τὸν αὐτὸν ὄντες πατέρα Χριστόν, οὓς χωρίζειν ἐπιχειρεῖ ὁ μάρτυς τῆς ἀδικίας, ταραχὰς ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐμβάλλων καὶ κρίσεις. τὸ δὲ Ἐκκαίει, ὡς οἶμαι, προστέθειται διὰ τοὺς ἐμπαθεῖς λογισμούς, ἀνάπτοντας θυμὸν μὲν πρὸς ὀργὴν καὶ μῖσος, ἐπιθυμίαν δὲ πρὸς αἰσχρὰς ἐργασίας. τούτους τοὺς λογισμοὺς καὶ ὁ ἅγιος Παῦλος ὠνόμασεν τοῦ πονηροῦ βέλη πεπυρωμένα, τιτρώσκοντα τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ θάνατον ἐργαζόμενα. Τὴν μητέρα προστάσσει ἐπάγεσθαι, ἥτις ἐστὶν ἡ σοφία γεννῶσα ἡμᾶς κατὰ θεόν. καίτοι ἐχρῆν αὐτὸν εἰπεῖν τὸν πατέρα· οὗτος γὰρ πρὸς τὸ συνεῖναι τῷ υἱῷ μᾶλλον ἐπιτηδειότερος. ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ οὐ δυνατὸν αὐτὸν γνῶναι τὸν θεὸν πρὸ τῆς τῶν γεγονότων θεωρίας, τούτου χάριν τὴν μητέρα καὶ οὐ τὸν πατέρα προστάσσει ἐπάγεσθαι, ἵνα διὰ τῆς μητρὸς ὁ υἱὸς ἴδῃ τὸν πατέρα· ἐὰν γὰρ αὐτὴ μὴ γεννήσῃ αὐτόν, οὐ βλέπει τὸ φῶς, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἡ γνῶσις αὐτοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ. Ὅτι ἡ ἐντολὴ τοῦ νόμου λύχνος ἐστὶ καὶ φῶς, καὶ τάχα λύχνος ἐστὶν ἡ παλαιὰ διαθήκη· ἐκεῖνος γὰρ ἦν ὁ λύχνος ὁ καιόμενος καὶ φαίνων· φῶς δὲ ἡ νέα διαθήκη· Ἐγὼ γάρ φησιν εἰμὶ τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου. Τοσαύτη γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ἡδονὴ τῆς κακίας, ὅση καὶ ἑνὸς ἄρτου. Οὗτος 6 ἀποδεσμεῖ τὸ πῦρ ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ, ὁ συγχωρῶν τὸν ἀκάθαρτον λογισμὸν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ χρονίζοντα διαφθείρειν τοὺς ὀρθοὺς λογισμούς. καὶ οὗτος ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθράκων περιπατεῖ, ὁ διὰ τῆς κατ' ἐνέργειαν ἁμαρτίας τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν ἀπολλύων. Γυναῖκα ὕπανδρον τὴν κακίαν λέγει· ταύτης γὰρ ἀνὴρ ὁ διάβολος, γεννῶν μετ' αὐτῆς τοὺς παρανόμους υἱούς. καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ δὲ ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις πρὸς τοὺς Ἰουδαίους Ὑμεῖς, φησίν, ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ διαβόλου ἐστέ. Ἐὰν δὲ ἁλῷ ὑπὸ γνώσεως ἀληθοῦς, ἀποθήσεται πᾶσαν γνῶσιν ψευδῆ, ὁ πρότερον δι' ἔνδειαν γνώσεως κλέπτων ἀπὸ τῆς μωρανθείσης ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν σοφίας. Πᾶς ὁ κοινωνήσας τῇ κακίᾳ μοιχός ἐστιν τοῦ διαβόλου, τοῦ πρώτου γήμαντος τὴν κακίαν καὶ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς γεγονότος ἀνθρωποκτόνου. 87 Ἐνταῦθα δείκνυσιν ὅτι τὸν διάβολον ἕξομεν τῶν πεπραγμένων ἡμῖν κατήγορον ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως· τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ὁ ἅγιος Παῦλος φησίν· Ἵν' ὁ ἐξ ἐναντίας ἐντραπῇ, μηδὲν ἔχων τι λέγειν περὶ ἡμῶν φαῦλον. Εἰ διὰ τῆς παραβάσεως τοῦ νόμου τις τὸν θεὸν ἀτιμάζει, διὰ τοῦ ποιεῖν δηλονότι τὸν νόμον τιμᾷ τὸν θεόν. Ἀδελφὴ ἡμῶν ἡ σοφία ἐστίν, διότι ὁ ποιήσας τὴν ἀσώματον φύσιν πατὴρ καὶ ταύτην πεποίηκεν· σοφίαν δὲ ἐνταῦθα λέγει οὐ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ τὴν θεωρίαν σωμάτων καὶ ἀσωμάτων καὶ τῆς ἐν αὐτοῖς κρίσεως καὶ προνοίας· ἧς εἶδός ἐστιν καὶ ἡ φρόνησις καὶ ἡ γνῶσις, καὶ ἡ παιδεία καὶ ἡ σύνεσις. Οἱ πρὸς χάριν ἐμβαλλόμενοι λόγοι οἱ ἐμπαθεῖς εἰσὶ λογισμοί. Τὴν σάρκα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου θυρίδα νῦν ὀνομάζει· διὰ γὰρ ταύτης ὁ πονηρὸς τὰς ἀπάτας τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐργάζεται, τοῖς βουλομένοις ὁδεύειν τὴν πλατείαν ὁδὸν καὶ εὐρύχωρον καὶ ἀπάγουσαν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀπώλειαν. ἀλλ' ἐνταῦθα προσεκτέον τί φησὶν (sic cod.) ὁ Σολομὼν περὶ τῆς κακίας, ὅτι οὐχ αὕτη τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐν ἀρχαῖς ἐπὶ τὴν κακίαν ἀπάγει, οὐδ' ἀναγκάζει πορεύεσθαι ἐν διόδοις οἴκων αὐτῆς, ἢ προσεγγίζειν γωνίᾳ, ἢ λαλεῖν ἐν σκότει ἑσπερινῷ· ἀλλ' ἐὰν ἴδῃ τινὰ ἑαυτὸν ἐπιδιδόντα ταῖς ἡδοναῖς, εὐθὺς συναντᾷ αὐτῷ, εἶδος ἔχουσα πορνικόν, ἣ ποιεῖ νέων ἐξαπατᾶσθαι καρδίας. Ἡσυχίαν νυκτερινὴν καὶ γνοφώδη τὴν ἀκάθαρτον κατάστασιν ὠνόμασε τῆς ψυχῆς, καθ' ἣν ἀναπτομένη τὴν ἁμαρτίαν διὰ τοῦ σώματος
Wisdom, Knowledge, and the Nature of Spiritual Food§7
7It is being accomplished. Those wandering in the streets who engage in adultery and fornication and theft take up thoughts; but those wandering outside of these things move contrary to nature, seeking the bed of a man, and taking up fantasies of certain forbidden things.
If of the thoughts some are pure and others are impure; and if of lines some are called straight and others are bent; a bent straight line is an angle; therefore an impure thought is an intellectual angle. Thus, the fact that vice sits in every angle shows that it deceives the soul through all the impure thoughts. A passion is a demonic, empassioned notion, calling the soul forth toward shameful work.
Vice seeks to disgrace the countenance of our soul through myrrh and saffron and cinnamon and various spices; which things, according to the inventors of evils, signify bad and diverse passions. If he returns to his house after many days, having strictly held to the spiritual economy, Paul writes at the end that the enemy has been defeated, death being abolished (1 Cor 15:26).
Of the erotic ones there are three kinds: the keps, the white, and the one called the asterias. Of these, the keps is difficult to breed and to lay; for it both cries out and lays blood, as they say, letting it out from the eyes, and it gives birth poorly and painfully. These things, indeed, we have set down from the histories of Aristotle concerning animals.
But the Scripture seems to have fashioned its wording from the history of the keps-bird, of a woman being keps-like, yielding to the prostitute and becoming like a bird through incontinence, as if being moved. It stings us with thoughts, but murders us with sins.
Between audacity and cowardice, courage stands. He says that wisdom is sometimes praised in exits and sometimes in entrances; that is, among those going out from vice and entering into virtue. For he names the one going out and the one entering as exit and entrance; and often we have noted this habit of his, that from the exits he names those possessing the qualities, namely the best and the worst. He has spoken of virtue here as a heart, that which coincides with the heart. The. Text cuts off....
Friendship here has received its kind from instruction and knowledge; for he brings forward both instruction and knowledge. For wisdom is better than costly stones, since instruction and knowledge are contained within wisdom, which is first the gift of the Holy Spirit, if indeed the word of wisdom is given through the Spirit. This same thing is also called the spirit of adoption.
It is to be noted that he calls the unrighteous, the oppressor, and the proud by injustice, insolence, and arrogance, naming them from their practicing habit. The same food and meat are called both bread and milk and vegetables and wine; yet the foolish are said to partake as if it were bread and as if it were wine having been mixed. If it is this, how shall we understand that man ate the Bread of angels.
Spiritual knowledge is a vessel containing discourses concerning the incorporeal and the corporeal and judgment and providence. If Paul the apostle is a servant of Christ, and Christ is wisdom, then Paul the apostle is a servant of wisdom. Likewise, let us gather the word concerning the other apostles and the prophets, having shown them to be servants of wisdom. This preaching alone is lofty, proclaiming the places of knowledge of God. He did not say 'of my own flesh,' for solid food is for the perfect. One must not rebuke the evil by sinning; rather, one should converse with them about the fear of God, which persuades them to depart from wickedness.
If knowing the law is the work of a good mind, and doing the commandment is the work of a good mind; but before that, doing the commandment is to know the law, if knowledge is found to come after purification. He who relies on falsehood is a fool. Being tossed by every wind of doctrine and shipwrecked regarding the faith. For he abandoned the way of his own vineyard. For he abandoned the vine that said: 'I am the vine, you are the branches, and my Father is the gardener' (John 15:5). He gathers unfruitfulness with his hands: unfruitfulness is wickedness and ignorance. Which does not know shame. Since shame is a teacher, it is said: 'He does not know shame.' And David says that the fear of God is a teaching: 'Come, children, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord' (Psalm 34:11). But if fear and shame are passions of the soul...
Greek · §7
κατεργάζεται. Οἱ μὲν ἐν ταῖς πλατείαις ῥεμβόμενοι μοιχείας καὶ πορνείας καὶ κλοπῆς λαμβάνουσι λογισμούς· οἱ δὲ ἔξω τούτων ῥεμβόμενοι παρὰ φύσιν κινοῦνται ἀρρένων κοίτην ἐπιζητοῦντες, καὶ ἄλλων τινῶν ἀπειρημένων πραγμάτων φαντασίας λαμβάνοντες. Εἰ τῶν λογισμῶν οἱ μὲν καθαροί εἰσιν, οἱ δὲ ἀκάθαρτοι· καὶ εἰ μὲν τῶν γραμμῶν αἱ μὲν εὐθεῖαι καλοῦνται, αἱ δὲ κεκλασμέναι εὐθεῖαι· γωνία δέ ἐστιν κεκλασμένη εὐθεῖα· γωνία ἄρα νοητή ἐστιν ἀκάθαρτος λογισμός. τὸ οὖν παρὰ πᾶσαν γωνίαν ἐνεδρεύειν τὴν κακίαν δηλοῖ τὸ διὰ πάντων τῶν ἀκαθάρτων λογισμῶν αὐτὴν ἐξαπατᾶν τὴν ψυχήν· φέλημα δὲ δαιμονιῶδές ἐστιν νόημα ἐμπαθές, πρὸς αἰσχρὰν ἐργασίαν τὴν ψυχὴν ἐκκαλούμενον. Ἡ κακία ζητεῖ τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν καταισχύναι (hoc acc. cod.), διὰ τῶν κειριῶν καὶ τῆς κλίνης καὶ τῶν ἀμφιτάπων καὶ τοῦ κρόκου καὶ τοῦ κινναμώμου· ἅπερ κακὰ καὶ διάφορα πάθη σημαίνει παρὰ τοῖς ἐφευρεταῖς γινόμενα τῶν κακῶν. 88 Εἰ δι' ἡμερῶν πολλῶν ἐπανήξει εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ, πάνυ πνευματικῶς ἐνατενίσας τῇ οἰκονομίᾳ ὁ Παῦλος ἔσχατον ἐχθρὸν γράφει καταργεῖσθαι τὸν θάνατον. Τῶν ἐρωδιῶν τρία γένη εἰσίν, ὅ τε κέπφος καὶ ὁ λευκὸς καὶ ὁ ἀστερίας καλούμενος. τούτων ὁ κέπφος χαλεπῶς εὐνάζεται καὶ ὀχεύει· κράζει τε γὰρ καὶ ὀχεύων αἷμα, ὥς φασιν, ἀφίησιν ἐκ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν καὶ τίκτει φαύλως καὶ ὀδυνηρῶς. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἀπὸ τῶν τοῦ Ἀριστοτέλους ἐκ τῶν περὶ τὰ ζῶα ἱστοριῶν παρεθήκαμεν. ἔοικε δὲ ἡ γραφὴ ἀπὸ τῆς ἱστορίας τοῦ ζώου τοῦ κέπφου τὴν λέξιν πεποιηκέναι τοῦ πειθομένου τῇ πόρνῃ γυναικὶ κεπφουμένου καὶ ἐξομοιουμένου τῷ ὀρνέῳ δι' ἀκολασίαν οἷον διακινηθέντος. Τιτρώσκει μὲν ἡμᾶς τοῖς λογισμοῖς, φονεύει δὲ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις. 7 Μεταξὺ θρασύτητος καὶ δειλίας ἡ ἀνδρεία ἕστηκεν. Τὴν σοφίαν ποτὲ μὲν ἐν ἐξόδοις, ποτὲ δὲ ἐν εἰσόδοις ὑμνεῖσθαι φησίν, τοῦτ' ἔστιν παρὰ τοῖς ἐξερχομένοις ἀπὸ τῆς κακίας καὶ εἰσερχομένοις εἰς τὴν ἀρετήν. ἔξοδον γὰρ καὶ εἴσοδον τὸν ἐξερχόμενον καὶ εἰσερχόμενον ὀνομάζει· πολλάκις δὲ ἐσημειωσάμεθα τὴν συνήθειαν αὐτοῦ ταύτην, ὅτι ἀπὸ τῶν ἕξεων ὀνομάζει τοὺς κεκτημένους τὰς ἕξεις ἤτοι τὰς ἀρίστας καὶ τὰς χειρίστας. Καρδίαν ἐνταῦθα τὴν ἀρετὴν εἴρηκεν, τὴν ἐπισυμβαίνουσαν τῇ καρδίᾳ. Τὴν σοφίαν ἐνταῦθα ὡς γένος ἔλαβεν τῆς παιδείας καὶ τῆς γνώσεως· παιδείαν γὰρ καὶ γνῶσιν προτάξας ἐπάγει· Κρεῖσσον γὰρ σοφία λίθων πολυτελῶν, ὡς τῆς παιδείας καὶ τῆς γνώσεως περιεχομένης ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ, ἥτις ἐστὶν πρῶτον χάρισμα τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου, εἴπερ διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος δίδοται λόγος σοφίας. τὸ δ' αὐτὸ τοῦτο λέγεται καὶ πνεῦμα υἱοθεσίας. Σημειωτέον ὅτι ἀδικίαν καὶ ὕβριν καὶ ὑπερηφανίαν τὸν ἄδικον καὶ ὑβριστὴν καὶ ὑπερήφανον λέγει, ἀπὸ τῆς χειρίστης ἕξεως ὀνομάζων αὐτόν. Ἡ αὐτὴ τροφὴ καὶ κρέας ὀνομάζεται καὶ ἄρτος καὶ γάλα καὶ λάχανα καὶ οἷνος· πλὴν οἱ ἄφρονες 89 ὡς ἄρτον αὐτοὺς λέγονται μεταλαμβάνειν καὶ ὡς οἶνος κεκερασμένος. εἰ δὲ τοῦτο, πῶς νοήσωμεν τὸ Ἄρτον ἀγγέλων ἔφαγεν ἄνθρωπος. Κρατήρ ἐστιν γνῶσις πνευματικὴ τοὺς περὶ ἀσωμάτων καὶ σωμάτων καὶ κρίσεως καὶ προνοίας περιέχουσα λόγους. Εἰ Παῦλος ὁ ἀπόστολος δοῦλός ἐστιν Χριστοῦ, ὁ δὲ Χριστὸς σοφία ἐστίν, Παῦλος ἄρα ὁ ἀπόστολος δοῦλος σοφίας ἐστίν. ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ τῶν προφητῶν τὸν λόγον συνάξωμεν, δούλους τῆς σοφίας αὐτοὺς ἀποδείξαντες. Τοῦτο τὸ κήρυγμα μόνον ἐστὶν ὑψηλόν, τόπους γνώσεως κηρῦσσον θεοῦ. Οὐκ εἶπεν τῶν ἐμῶν κρεῶν, τελείων γάρ ἐστιν ἡ στερεὰ τροφή. Οὐ δεῖ ἁμαρτάνοντας ἐλέγχειν τοὺς κακούς· μᾶλλον δὲ περὶ φόβου θεοῦ αὐτοῖς διαλέγεσθαι, ὅστις πείθει αὐτοὺς ἀποστῆναι κακίας. 90 Εἰ τὸ γνῶναι τὸν νόμον διανοίας ἐστὶν ἀγαθῆς, καὶ τὸ ποιῆσαι τὴν ἐντολὴν διανοίας ἐστὶν ἀγαθῆς· πλὴν πρότερον τὸ ποιῆσαι τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ γνῶναι τὸν νόμον, εἴπερ ἡ γνῶσις μετὰ τὴν κάθαρσιν προσγίνεσθαι πέφυκεν. Ὃς ἐρείδεται ἐπὶ ψεύδεσιν: σχό. Παντὶ ἀνέμῳ τῆς διδασκαλίας περιφερόμενος καὶ ναυαγήσας περὶ τὴν πίστιν. Ἀπέλειπεν γὰρ ὁδοὺς τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ ἀμπελῶνος: σχό. Ἀπέλειπεν γὰρ τὴν ἄμπελον τὴν εἰποῦσαν· Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος, ὑμεῖς τὰ κλήματα, καὶ ὁ πατήρ μου ὁ γεωργός ἐστιν. Συνάγει δὲ χερσὶν ἀκαρπίαν: Ἀκαρπία ἐστὶν κακία καὶ ἄγνοια. Ἣ οὐκ ἐπίσταται αἰσχύνην: σχό. Ὡς διδακτῆς οὔσης τῆς αἰσχύνης εἴρηται τὸ Οὐκ ἐπίσταται αἰσχύνην. καὶ ὁ ∆αυὶδ τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ φόβον διδακτὸν εἶναι [λέγει?]· ∆εῦτε γάρ φησιν τέκνα, ἀκούσατέ μου, φόβον κυρίου διδάξω ὑμᾶς. εἰ δὲ ὁ φόβος καὶ ἡ αἰσχύνη πάθη ψυχῆς
Exegesis of Proverbs§8
8If they are natural, how are they didactic? Or perhaps he calls the fear of the Lord the teaching concerning the fear of the Lord, which teaches us how we must turn away from wickedness; unless everyone turns from evil by the fear of the Lord.
And again, he names shame the discourses concerning repentance and shame which lead us into the sensation of our own sins; thus also the Levite says: 'I will behold the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you established' (Ps 8:3); that is, I will behold the discourses concerning heaven, moon, and stars. 'Seize sweetly the bread of secrets' Scholion. 'Bread of falsehood was sweet to them; and after this their stomach shall be filled with gravel.' But flee, do not settle in: It is not necessary to settle the mind with worthless notions; for no one will carry fire in his bosom, nor will he burn his garments. And do not drink from a foreign spring: Just as with God there is a spring of life, so with the devil there is a spring of death; and if the spring of God is a spring of virtue and knowledge, then clearly the spring of the devil is a spring of wickedness and ignorance; and likewise it must be considered regarding rivers, wells, waters, and rains.
8 'Lawless treasures will not profit': Lawless treasures will not profit, those which they have treasured upon the earth, where even your food perishes, and where thieves break in and steal. 9 'He will overturn the life of the ungodly': If the life of the ungodly is wickedness, and the Lord will overturn this, then clearly the ungodly will one day not be ungodly; for after this overturning, the Lord will deliver the kingdom to God and Father, so that God may become all in all (1 Cor 15:28). 10 'Unrestrained instruction wanders': He names as unrestrained instruction the evil governance of the soul, which becomes a wandering stranger to it. 11 'Unjust lips cover enmity': He means enmity as wickedness, for through this we become enemies of God. For if being enemies, as Paul says, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son (2 Cor 5:19); but if enmity is wickedness, then friendship is virtue and knowledge is that of God, through which we become friends of God and of the holy powers; for upon this friendship, those who are his are friends of one another. 12 'But the desire of the righteous is acceptable': Lord, against you all...
"My desire," says David. "The fear of the Lord adds days." If the fear of the Lord adds days, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, these days are parts of wisdom being produced under the sun of righteousness; for which things also David prays, saying, "Do not bring me down in the half of days" (Ps 39:10). But these days Abraham also having fulfilled, died, concerning which it is said, "And Abraham died old and full of days" (Gen 25:8). "The righteous will not be given the age": meaning the age instead of the life; and Paul says, "I will not eat flesh forever, so that I might not scandalize my brother" (1 Cor 15:3), calling the age the duration co-existing with the constitution of his life.
But the mouth of the impious is turned away: the mouth has now turned the mind. To those to whom there is no governance: being tossed about by every wind of teaching and shipwrecked concerning the faith. He hates the sound of security: he called the words concerning salvation a sound of security. But the merciful one exhausts his own body: here the body spoke against the soul. And Christ in the Gospels calls the soul "body," saying, "The lamp of the body is the eye" (Matt 6:22); having said lamp, he meant the mind, for it is receptive of knowledge. But "body" is the thymic and desiring part of the soul, which some call the irrational part, and some the passionate part.
He who strikes hand to hand unjustly is not caught: this one strikes hand to hand unjustly, being a teacher of evil deeds and dogmas; and this one sows righteousness, being one who brings forward words concerning virtue and the knowledge of God. "Those who sow their own make more": to those sowing their own and making more, those gathering and diminishing oppose; but if those sowing their own are those sowing into the spirit and reaping life, those gathering are those sowing into the flesh and gathering destruction to themselves. "The one who hoards grain is accursed." This is similar to that which is said by our Savior in the Gospels: "No one, having lit a lamp, puts it under a bushel, but on the lampstand, and it shines for all those in the house" (Matt 5:15). "He who seeks to build good things is acceptable": if building is a work of good things and practicing is a work of good things, the practicing...
Greek · §8
εἰσὶ φυσικά, πῶς διδακτικά ἐστιν; ἢ τάχα φόβον λέγει κυρίου τὴν διδασκαλίαν τὴν περὶ φόβου κυρίου, τὴν διδάσκουσαν ἡμᾶς ὅπως δεῖ ἀπὸ κακίας ἐκκλίνειν· εἴγε τῷ φόβῳ κυρίου ἐκκλίνει πᾶς ἀπὸ κακοῦ. καὶ πάλιν αἰσχύνην ὀνομάζει τοὺς περὶ μετανοίας καὶ αἰσχύνης λόγους τοὺς ἄγοντας ἡμᾶς εἰς συναίσθησιν τῶν οἰκείων ἁμαρτημάτων· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Λαυὶδ φησίν· Ὄψομαι τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἔργα τῶν δακτύλων σου, σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας, ἃς σὺ ἐθεμελίωσας· τοῦτ' ἔστιν, ὄψομαι τοὺς λόγους τοὺς περὶ οὐρανῶν καὶ σελήνης καὶ ἀστέρων. Ἄρτων κρυφίων ἡδέως ἅψασθε: σχό. Ἡδύνθη αὐτοῖς ἄρτος ψεύδους· καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο πλησθήσεται τὸ στόμα αὐτῶν ψηφῖδος. Ἀλλὰ ἀποπήδησον, μὴ ἐγχρονίσῃς: Οὐ δεῖ τὸν νοῦν ἐγχρονίζειν τοῖς φαύλοις νοήμασιν· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἀποδήσει πῦρ ἐν κόλπῳ, καὶ τὰ ἱμάτια οὐ κατακαύσει. Καὶ ἀπὸ πηγῆς ἀλλοτρίας μὴ πίῃς: Ὥσπερ παρὰ τῷ θεῷ ἐστὶν πηγὴ ζωῆς, οὕτως καὶ παρὰ τῷ διαβόλῳ πηγὴ θανάτου· εἰ δὲ ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ πηγὴ ἀρετῆς καὶ γνώσεώς ἐστιν πηγή, ἡ τοῦ διαβόλου πηγὴ δηλονότι κακίας καὶ ἀγνωσίας ἐστὶν πηγή· ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ ποταμῶν καὶ φρεάτων καὶ ὑδάτων καὶ ὑετῶν νοητέον. 8 Οὐκ ὠφελήσουσι θησαυροὶ ἀνόμους: Οὐκ ὠφελήσουσι θησαυροὶ ἀνόμους, οὓς ἐπὶ γῆς ἐθησαύρισαν, ὅπου σὴς καὶ βρῶσις ἀφανίζει, καὶ ὅπου κλέπται διορύσσουσι καὶ κλέπτουσιν. Ζωὴν δὲ ἀσεβῶν ἀνατρέψει: Εἰ ἡ ζωὴ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἡ κακία ἐστίν, ταύτην δὲ ἀνατρέψει ὁ κύριος, 91 ἔσονται δηλονότι ποτὲ οἱ ἀσεβεῖς οὐκ ἀσεβεῖς· μετὰ γὰρ ταύτην τὴν ἀνατροπὴν ὁ κύριος παραδώσει τὴν βασιλείαν τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρί, ἵνα γένηται ὁ θεὸς τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν. Παιδεία ἀνεξέλεγκτος πλανᾶται: Παιδείαν ἀνεξέλεγκτον ὀνομάζει τὴν κακὴν τῆς ψυχῆς πολιτείαν, ἥτις καὶ πλάνης αὐτῇ γίνεται πρόξενος. Καλύπτουσιν ἔχθραν χείλη ἄδικα: Ἔχθραν τὴν κακίαν λέγει, διὰ γὰρ ταύτης ἐχθροὶ γινόμεθα τοῦ θεοῦ. Εἰ γὰρ ἐχθροὶ ὄντες, φησὶν ὁ Παῦλος, κατηλλάγημεν τῷ θεῷ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ. εἰ δὲ ἡ ἔχθρα ἡ κακία ἐστίν, ἡ φιλία ἡ ἀρετή ἐστιν καὶ ἡ γνῶσις ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ, δι' ἧς φίλοι γινόμεθα τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τῶν ἁγίων δυνάμεων· ἐπὶ γὰρ ταύτης τῆς φιλίας οἱ τοῦ αὐτοῦ φίλοι καὶ ἀλλήλων εἰσὶ φίλοι. Ἐπιθυμία δὲ δικαίου δεκτή: Κύριε, ἐναντίον σου πᾶσα ἡ ἐπιθυμία μου, φησὶν ὁ ∆αυίδ. Φόβος κυρίου προστίθησιν ἡμέρας: Εἰ φόβος κυρίου προστίθησιν ἡμέρας, ἀρχὴ δὲ σοφίας φόβος κυρίου, αἱ ἡμέραι αὗται μέρη τῆς σοφίας εἰσὶν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου τῆς δικαιοσύνης γινόμεναι· ὑπὲρ ὧν εὔχεται καὶ ὁ ∆αυὶδ λέγων· Μὴ ἀναγάγῃς με ἐν ἡμίσει ἡμερῶν· ταύτας δὲ τὰς ἡμέρας καὶ Ἀβραὰμ πληρώσας ἀπέθανεν, περὶ οὗ εἴρηται· Καὶ Ἀβραὰμ ἀπέθανεν πρεσβύτερος καὶ πλήρης ἡμερῶν. ∆ίκαιος τὸν αἰῶνα οὐκ ἐνδώσει: Τὸν αἰῶνα ἀντὶ τοῦ διὰ βίου· καὶ ὁ Παῦλος Οὐ μὴ φάγω, φησίν, κρέα εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, ἵνα μὴ τὸν ἀδελφόν μου σκανδαλίσω, αἰῶνα τὸ συμπαρεκτεινόμενον τῇ συστάσει τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ διάστημα ὀνομάζων. Στόμα δὲ ἀσεβῶν ἀποστρέφεται: Στόμα νῦν τὸν νοῦν εἴρηκεν. Οἷς μὴ ὑπάρχει κυβέρνησις: Παντὶ ἀνέμῳ τῆς διδασκαλίας περιφερόμενοι καὶ ναυαγοῦντες περὶ τὴν πίστιν. 92 Μισεῖ δὲ ἦχον ἀσφαλείας: Ἦχον ἀσφαλείας τοὺς περὶ σωτηρίας λόγους ὠνόμασεν. Ἐξολλύει δὲ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σῶμα ὁ ἀνελεήμων: Ἐνταῦθα τὴν ψυχὴν ἄντικρυς προσεῖπεν σῶμα. καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς δὲ ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις σῶμα τὴν ψυχὴν ὀνομάζει, Ὁ λύχνος, λέγων, τοῦ σώματός ἐστιν ὁ ὀφθαλμός· λύχνον μὲν εἰπὼν τὸν νοῦν, αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν γνώσεως δεκτικός. σῶμα δὲ τὸ θυμικὸν καὶ ἐπιθυμητικὸν μέρος τῆς ψυχῆς, ὅπερ τινὲς μὲν ἄλογον, τινὲς δὲ παθητικὸν μέρος καλοῦσιν. Χειρὶ χεῖρας ἐμβαλὼν ἀδίκως οὐκ α6θ6: Οὗτος χειρὶ χεῖρας ἐμβάλλει ἀδίκως, ὁ κακῶν γινόμενος πραγμάτων καὶ δογμάτων διδάσκαλος· καὶ οὗτος σπείρει δικαιοσύνην, ὁ περὶ ἀρετῶν καὶ θεοῦ γνώσεως προϊέμενος λόγους. Εἰσὶν οἱ τὰ ἴδια σπείροντες πλείονα ποιοῦσιν: Τοῖς τὰ ἴδια σπείρουσιν καὶ πλείονα ποιοῦσιν ἀντίκεινται οἱ συνάγοντες καὶ ἐλαττονούμενοι· εἰ δὲ οἱ τὰ ἴδια σπείροντές εἰσιν οἱ εἰς τὸ πνεῦμα σπείροντες καὶ ζωὴν θερίζοντες, οἱ συνάγοντές εἰσιν οἱ εἰς τὴν σάρκα σπείροντες καὶ φθορὰν συνάγοντες ἑαυτοῖς. Ὁ συνέχων σῖτον δημοκατάρατος. Ὅμοιόν ἐστιν τοῦτο τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις λεγόμενον· Οὐδεὶς λύχνον ἅψας τίθησιν αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τὸν μόδιον, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὴν λυχνίαν, καὶ φαίνει πᾶσι τοῖς ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ. Τεκταινόμενος ἀγαθὰ ζητεῖ δεκτόν: Εἰ τεκτονική ἐστιν ἐργασία ἀγαθῶν καὶ πρακτική ἐστιν ἐργασία ἀγαθῶν, ἡ πρακτική
Exposition of Proverbs§§9–10
9It is the carpenter's work. A tree of life grows from the fruit of righteousness: This tree of life is the one planted in the midst of paradise, which Adam is prevented from touching after the sin, having cast away the seeds of righteousness, from which the tree of life grows. But a lawless man shall be silent: 'Do not cast me off from myself,' says David (Psalm 51:11), 'and I shall be like those descending into the pit.'
93 Wealth is stored up for the righteous of those sinning: The wealth of the impious is wickedness. But the righteous will consume it, clearly through good teaching, whether now or even in the age to come, having become over fifteen cities (Matthew 13:53). And Paul says: 'According to your hardness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God' (Romans 2:5).
And wise lips are weapons of perception: For nothing evil opposes wisdom, because it is an invincible weapon; for only against it are the demons able. The houses of the lawless shall owe a cleansing: So that, having become pure, they may see God; for this is the blessed end, which has been preserved for every rational nature.
And from his thoughts, a good man: 'Thoughts' now means the habits of the virtues, just as it was set against the paths of the impudent. But the cunning ones will hold perception. He set wickedness against perception; but if wickedness opposes virtue, 'perception' now signifies virtue. In increasing righteousness, much strength: 'Unless your righteousness abounds more than that of the Pharisees and scribes, you will by no means enter the kingdom of the heavens' (Matthew 5:20).
But those who hate reproofs shall end shamefully: 'Reproofs' now means the commandments; for these reprove us when sinning. But the good ones are at rest always: Quiet is the abstention from wickedness. Paths of life are the thoughts of the prudent: 'Paths of life' says the practical virtues which lead to knowledge. And through these also the enemies...
Friends are made: as Paul preached, those who were once enemies were reconciled to God through the death of his Son. However, one must take care whether all enemies become friends through the righteous, so that Christ might also say to all, 'I no longer call you servants, but friends' (John 15:15).
A king's lips are a divination (Proverbs 16:22): Christ is the Knower of Hearts, and he will judge the inhabited world in righteousness. Smokes of wisdom are more excellent than gold: knowledge is wisdom above gold, and knowledge of prudence is above silver.
He who guards reproofs will be a sophist: by reproofs he means the commandments of God; for these reproof us when we are sinning. But the education of fools is evil: he has now named that uncontrollable education as the education of fools; but if the education of fools is evil, then the uncontrollable education is foolishness.
And he will carry epistemic-knowledge upon his lips: he called knowledge epistemic-knowledge because it recognizes all things. A crooked man sends out evils (Proverbs 14:1): the Word attempts to make the demons, learning from the devil, try to approach the saints and tempt them, separating them from the knowledge which has been able to bind them to friendship with the heavenly powers. Solomon, as I think, has also revealed this very thing through this proverb, calling Satan a crooked man, describing the evil demons going about with deceits instead of being taught, and the saints being bound to one another through knowledge.
This is a furnace of wickedness: the wind of drought fans out the flame of this furnace. Everything comes into the bosom of the unrighteous: it should be noted that here he has spoken of the bosom of the hearts of the unrighteous; but I think that the bosom also signifies the mind or the knowledge everywhere; and if there is also a 'false bosom,' it will signify ignorance. A wise servant...
10He shall hold mastery over the masters of folly. If everyone doing sin is a slave to sin, everyone turning from evil and having mastered demons through virtues has held mastery over the masters of folly.
Such a person becomes a steward of God's mysteries, giving spiritual knowledge to each brother according to the proportion of his state, watering the Corinthian with milk 1 Cor 3:2 and feeding the Ephesian with firmer food Eph 4:14, discussing height, length, breadth, and depth; and through these dimensions, signifying the division of the logical nature, which contains the discourses concerning the judgment and providence of God, being most profound and fleeing the human condition.
Thus also Joshua, son of Nun, divided the land of promise to the twelve tribes, which is a symbol of the knowledge of God and of those who come from Him. However, it must be known that the discourses concerning the incarnation of Christ and His presence in the land of Judah are reserved for knowledge; for in this lot Christ is born. I think the discourses concerning providence are fitting for the state of the hidden Judah and Benjamin; therefore, I consider the names to be distinctions of different and pure states, if Judah is interpreted as confessing, and Benjamin as a son of days or a son of the right hand.
An evil man obeys the lawless tongue, but a righteous man does not: This one obeys the lawless tongues, he who receives from them the thoughts of the unrighteous and hastens to act according to them; whereas the righteous is said not to pay attention, that is, not to nourish them more within himself.
To the faithful belongs the whole world of things: The faithful, he says, will see the words of this world, which he has figuratively gathered as wealth of the mind; but the unfaithful will not even know the meaning of a chance matter because of the impurity of his soul. For knowledge of God is wealth of the soul, as Paul teaches through which he writes, 'You have been enriched in everything' 2 Cor 8:7, in all knowledge and all wisdom. And if anyone wishes to show that this is not the meaning of this proverb, let him say where those who passed through the wilderness were impoverished in things, in goat-skins, being poorly fed, afflicted, and lacking; how then also the unfaithful will not have...
Indeed, many unfaithful people are clothed in wealth; I say many kings and rulers of this world. It is not fitting for a foolish man to have faithful lips: For what participation is there in righteousness and unrighteousness? Or what fellowship is there between light and darkness? He who hides an injustice seeks friendship: For through righteousness we hide unrighteousness, and through self-control we hide intemperance, and again through love we hide hatred, and through freedom from love of money we hide greed; moreover, through humility we hide pride, and through gentleness we hide insolence, seeking the spiritual friendship, which signifies the holy knowledge. And according to Paul, some of the saints are said to be fellow-citizens and inhabitants of Jerusalem, having been built up upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.
He who gives evil instead of good: If he who gives evil instead of evil is lawless, how much more lawless is he who gives evil instead of good; such a person became, according to the wilderness, toward God, the Israel, toward whom Moses says in Deuteronomy: 'O crooked and perverse generation, do you repay the Lord thus?' (Deuteronomy 32:5). A beginning of justice gives authority: Knowledge follows righteousness, but wickedness precedes ignorance.
He who judges the unrighteous to be righteous, and the righteous to be unrighteous: He who says the bitter is sweet and the sweet is bitter, and calls the light darkness and the darkness light, is like this one. Why did wealth exist for the foolish? The things concerning his daily needs are a foolishness for the foolish; for because of these, having become heartless, he is unable to acquire wisdom. And he who is crooked in learning: He who is crooked in learning, that the Lord opposes the proud (James 4:6), will fall into evils.
Let brothers be useful in necessities: If the sons of Christ are brothers to one another, and the angels and the righteous men are Christ's sons, then the angels and the holy men are brothers to one another, being born to the adoption by the Spirit. For this very reason they are born: For this very reason they are born of wisdom, so that they might lead men from wickedness to virtue, and from ignorance to the knowledge of God; even as the whole creation groans and co-suffers with us (Romans 8:22), having been subjected to futility not willingly. A man who is changeable of tongue will fall into evils.
Greek · §§9–10
§9
ἐστιν ἡ τεκτονική. Ἐκ καρποῦ δικαιοσύνης φύεται δένδρον ζωῆς: Τοῦτο τὸ δένδρον τῆς ζωῆς ἐστὶν τὸ φυτευθὲν ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ παραδείσου, οὗ ἅψασθαι μετὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν κωλύεται ὁ Ἀδάμ, τὰ σπέρματα τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἀποβαλών, ἀφ' ὧν φύεται τὸ δένδρον τῆς ζωῆς. Ἀνὴρ δὲ παράνομος παρασιωπηθήσεται: Μή ποτε παρασιωπήσῃς ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, φησὶν ὁ ∆αυίδ, καὶ ὁμοιωθήσομαι τοῖς καταβαίνουσιν εἰς λάκκον. 93 Θησαυρίζεται δὲ δικαίοις πλοῦτος ἁμαρτανόντων: Πλοῦτος ἀσεβῶν κακία. οἱ δὲ δίκαιοι ἐξαναλώσουσιν αὐτόν, δηλονότι διὰ τῆς ἀγαθῆς διδασκαλίας, ἤτοι νῦν ἢ καὶ ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τῷ μέλλοντι, γενόμενοι ἐπάνω πεντεκαίδεκα πόλεων. καὶ ὁ Παῦλος 9 φησίν· Κατὰ δὲ τὴν σκληρότητά σου καὶ ἀμετανόητον καρδίαν θησαυρίζεις σεαυτῷ ὀργὴν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς καὶ ἀποκαλύψεως δικαιοκρισίας τοῦ θεοῦ. Ὅπλα δὲ αἰσθήσεως χείλη σοφά: Οὐκ ἀντιτάσσεται γὰρ τῇ σοφίᾳ οὐδὲν πονηρόν, διότι ὅπλον ἐστὶν ἀκαταμάχητον· μόνον γὰρ πρὸς αὐτὴν ἀδυνατοῦσιν οἱ δαίμονες. Οἰκίαι παρανόμων ὀφειλήσουσι καθαρισμόν: Ἵνα καθαροὶ γενόμενοι ὄψωνται τὸν θεόν· τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ μακάριον τέλος, ὅπερ πάσῃ λογικῇ φύσει τετήρηται. Ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν διανοημάτων αὐτοῦ ἀνὴρ ἀγαθός: ∆ιανοήματα νῦν εἶπεν τὰς ἕξεις τῶν ἀρετῶν, ὥσπερ ταῖς ὁδοῖς τοῦ θρασυκαρδίου ἀντέθηκεν. Οἱ δὲ πανοῦργοι κρατήσουσιν αἰσθήσεως Ἀντέθηκεν τὴν κακίαν τῇ αἰσθήσει· εἰ δὲ ἡ κακία τῇ ἀρετῇ ἀντίκειται, ἡ αἴσθησις νῦν σημαίνει τὴν ἀρετήν. Ἐν πλεοναζούσῃ δικαιοσύνῃ ἰσχὺς πολλή: Ἐὰν μὴ περισσεύσῃ ὑμῶν ἡ δικαιοσύνη πλέον τῶν φαρισαίων καὶ γραμματέων, οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθητε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν. Οἱ δὲ μισοῦντες ἐλέγχους τελευτῶσιν αἰσχρῶς: Ἐλέγχους νῦν τὰς ἐντολὰς εἶπεν· αὗται γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἐλέγχουσιν ἁμαρτάνοντας. Οἱ δὲ ἀγαθοὶ ἡσυχάζουσι διὰ παντός: Ἡσυχία ἐστὶν ἀποχὴ κακίας. Ὁδοὶ ζωῆς διανοήματα συνετοῦ: Ὁδὸς ζωῆς λέγει τὰς πρακτικὰς ἀρετὰς τὰς φερούσας ἐπὶ τὴν γνῶσιν. ∆ιὰ δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ οἱ ἐχθροὶ φίλοι γίνονται: Παύλου κηρύξαντος· Οἱ ποτὲ ὄντες ἐχθροὶ κατηλλάγησαν 94 τῷ θεῷ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ. πλὴν προσεκτέον εἰ πάντες οἱ ἐχθροὶ διὰ τῶν δικαίων φίλοι γίνονται, ἵνα καὶ πᾶσιν εἴπῃ ὁ Χριστός· Οὐκέτι ὑμᾶς καλῶ δούλους, ἀλλὰ φίλους. Μαντεῖον ἐπὶ χείλεσι βασιλέως: Καρδιογνώστης ἐστὶν ὁ Χριστός, καὶ κρινεῖ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ. Θυμὸς βασιλέως ἄγγελος θανάτου: Ὁ ἄγγελος ὁ τοὺς περὶ κολάσεως ἐπιστάμενος λόγους θυμὸς τοῦ θεοῦ καλεῖται. Νοσσιαὶ σοφίας αἱρετώτεραι (cod. τότεραι) χρυσίου: Γνῶσις σοφίας ὑπὲρ χρυσίον, γνῶσις δὲ φρονήσεως ὑπὲρ ἀργύριον. Ὁ δὲ φυλάσσων ἐλέγχους σοφισθήσεται: Ἐλέγχους λέγει τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ θεοῦ· αὗται γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἐλέγχουσιν ἁμαρτάνοντας. Παιδεία δὲ ἀφρόνων κακή: Τὴν παιδείαν τὴν ἀνεξέλεγκτον νῦν παιδείαν ἀφρόνων ὠνόμασεν· εἰ δὲ παιδεία ἀφρόνων ἡ κακία ἐστίν, ἡ ἀνεξέλεγκτος παιδεία ἡ ἀφροσύνη ἐστίν. Ἐπὶ χείλεσι δὲ φορέσει ἐπιγνωμοσύνην: Τὴν γνῶσιν ἐπιγνωμοσύνην εἶπεν παρὰ τὸ πάντα αὐτὴν ἐπιγινώσκειν τὰ πράγματα. Ἀνὴρ σκολιὸς διαπέμπεται κακά: Λόγος τοὺς δαίμονας παρὰ τοῦ διαβόλου μανθάνοντας ἐπιχειρεῖν τοῖς ἁγίοις καὶ πειρᾶσθαι χωρίζειν αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς γνώσεως, ἥτις πέφυκεν συνάπτειν αὐτοὺς πρὸς φιλίαν ταῖς ἐπουρανίοις δυνάμεσι. τὸ δ' αὐτὸ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Σολομὼν ὡς οἶμαι διὰ ταύτης τῆς παροιμίας δεδήλωκεν, σκολιὸν μὲν ἄνδρα λέγων τὸν σατανᾶν, πορευομένους δὲ δόλους τοὺς κακοὺς δαίμονας ἀντὶ τοὺς διδασκομένους, καὶ φίλους τοὺς ἁγίους τοὺς διὰ τῆς γνώσεως συναπτομένους ἀλλήλοις. Οὗτος κάμινός ἐστιν κακίας: Ταύτης τῆς καμίνου ἐκτινάσσει τὴν φλόγα πνεῦμα δρόσου διασυρίζον. Εἰς κόλπον ἐπέρχεται πάντα τοῖς ἀδίκοις: Σημειωτέον ὅτι κόλπον ἐνταῦθα τὰς καρδίας εἴρηκε τῶν 95 ἀδίκων· οἶμαι δὲ ὅτι καὶ πανταχοῦ ὁ κόλπος ἤτοι τὸν νοῦν ἢ τὴν γνῶσιν σημαίνει· εἰ δ' ἔστιν καὶ κόλπος ψεκτός, τὴν ἀγνωσίαν δηλονότι δηλώσει. Οἰκέτης νοήμων
§10
κρατήσει δεσπότων ἀφρόνων: Εἰ πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν δοῦλός ἐστι τῆς ἁμαρτίας, πᾶς ὁ ἀποστὰς τῆς κακίας καὶ διὰ τῶν ἀρετῶν κρατήσας δαιμόνων ἀφρόνων κεκράτηκε δεσπότων· ὁ δὲ τοιοῦτος γενήσεται καὶ οἰκονόμος μυστηρίων θεοῦ, κατ' ἀναλογίαν τῆς καταστάσεως ἑκάστῳ τῶν ἀδελφῶν διδοὺς γνῶσιν πνευματικήν, καὶ τὸν μὲν Κορίνθιον γάλα ποτίζων, τὸν δὲ Ἐφέσιον τρέφων στερεωτέρᾳ τροφῇ, περὶ ὕψους καὶ μήκους καὶ πλάτους καὶ βάθους διαλεγόμενος· καὶ διὰ τούτων τῶν διαστημάτων τὴν τῆς λογικῆς φύσεως σημαίνων διαίρεσιν, ἥτις τοὺς περὶ κρίσεως καὶ προνοίας τοῦ θεοῦ λόγους ἐμπεριέχει, πάνυ βαθυτάτους ὑπάρχοντας καὶ ἐκφεύγοντας τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην κατάστασιν. οὕτω καὶ Ἰησοῦς ὁ τοῦ 10 Ναυὴ τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελείας (sic) ἐμέρισεν ταῖς δώδεκα φυλαῖς, ἥτις ἐστὶν τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τῶν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γεγονότων γνώσεως σύμβολον. πλὴν τοῦτο ἰστέον, ὅτι οἱ περὶ τῆς σαρκώσεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ λόγοι καὶ τῆς ἐπιδημίας αὐτοῦ ἐν γῇ Ἰούδα γνώσει ἐναπόκεινται· ἐν γὰρ τῷ τούτου κλήρῳ γεννᾶται Χριστός· οἶμαι δὲ τοὺς περὶ προνοίας λόγους εἶναι ἁρμόζοντας τῇ καταστάσει τοῦ κρυπτοῦ Ἰούδα καὶ Βενιαμίν· ἅτινα ὀνόματα διαφόρων καὶ καθαρῶν καταστάσεων ἡγοῦμαι διαγνωρίσματα, εἴγε Ἰούδας μὲν ἐξομολογούμενος ἑρμηνεύεται, Βενιαμὶν δὲ υἱὸς ἡμερῶν ἢ υἱὸς δεξιᾶς. Κακὸς ὑπακούει γλώσσῃ παρανόμων, δίκαιος δὲ οὔ: Οὗτος ὑπακούει ταῖς γλώσσαις τῶν παρανόμων, ὁ τοὺς ἀδίκους δεχόμενος παρ' αὐτῶν λογισμοὺς καὶ σπεύδων ἐνεργεῖν κατ' αὐτούς· οἷς ὁ δίκαιος λέγεται μὴ προσέχειν, τοῦτ' ἔστιν μὴ ἐπὶ πλέον τρέφειν ἐν ἑαυτῷ. Τοῦ πιστοῦ ὅλος ὁ κόσμος τῶν χρημάτων: Ὁ πιστός, φησίν, ὄψεται τοὺς λόγους τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, οὕστινας χρήματα τοῦ νοῦ τροπικῶς προσηγόρευσεν· ὁ δὲ ἄπιστος οὐδὲ τοῦ τυχόντος πράγματος γνώσεται τὸν λόγον διὰ τὴν ἀκαθαρσίαν τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ. ὅτι δὲ πλοῦτος ψυχῆς ἡ γνῶσίς ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ, ὁ Παῦλος διδάσκει δι' ὧν γράφει τὸ Ἐν παντὶ ἐπλουτίσθητε, ἐν πάσῃ γνώσει καὶ πάσῃ σοφίᾳ. εἰ δέ τις βούλοιτο δεῖξαι μὴ ταύτην τὴν ἔννοιαν εἶναι ταύτης τῆς παροιμίας, λεγέτω ποῦ ηὐπόρησαν χρημάτων οἱ περιελθόντες ἐν μηλωταῖς, ἐν αἰγείοις δέρμασιν, κακουχούμενοι, θλιβόμενοι, ὑστερούμενοι· πῶς δὲ καὶ ὁ ἄπιστος οὐκ (sic) ἕξει ὀβολόν, πολλῶν ἀπίστων περιβεβλημένων πλοῦτον· πολλῶν λέγω δὴ βασιλέων καὶ ἀρχόντων τοῦ κόσμου τούτου. Οὐχ ἁρμόσει ἄφρονι χείλη πιστά: Τίς γὰρ μετοχὴ δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ ἀδικίᾳ; ἢ τίς κοινωνία φωτὶ πρὸς σκότος; Ὃς κρύπτει ἀδίκημα ζητεῖ φιλίαν: ∆ιὰ μὲν τῆς δικαιοσύνης τὴν ἀδικίαν κρύπτομεν, διὰ δὲ σωφροσύνης τὴν ἀκολασίαν, καὶ πάλιν διὰ τῆς ἀγάπης τὸ μῖσος, καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀφιλαργυρίας τὴν πλεονεξίαν· κρύπτομεν 96 δὲ καὶ διὰ τῆς ταπεινοφροσύνης τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν καὶ διὰ τῆς πραΰτητος τὴν θρασύτητα, ζητοῦντες τὴν πνευματικὴν φιλίαν, ἥτις τὴν ἁγίαν γνῶσιν σημαίνει. καὶ παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ δὲ συμπολίται (hoc acc.) τινὲς τῶν ἁγίων λέγονται γεγονέναι καὶ οἰκεῖοι τῆς Ἱερουσαλήμ, ἐποικοδομηθέντες ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν. Ὃς ἀποδίδωσι πονηρὰ ἀντὶ ἀγαθῶν: Εἰ ὁ κακὰ ἀντὶ κακῶν ἀποδιδοὺς παράνομος, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ κακὰ ἀντὶ ἀγαθῶν ἀποδιδοὺς παρανομώτερος· τοιοῦτος δὲ ἐγίνετο κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ὁ Ἰσραήλ, πρὸς ὃν Μωσῆς ἐν τῷ δευτερονομίῳ φησίν· Γενεὰ σκολιὰ καὶ διεστραμμένη, ταῦτα κυρίῳ ἀνταποδίδοτε; Ἐξουσίαν δίδωσιν ἀρχὴ δικαιοσύνης: ∆ικαιοσύνῃ ἕπεται γνῶσις· προηγεῖται δὲ τῆς ἀγνοίας κακία. Ὃς δίκαιον κρίνει τὸν ἄδικον, καὶ ἄδικον δὲ τὸν δίκαιον: Ὅμοιός ἐστιν τούτῳ ὁ λέγων τὸ πικρὸν γλυκὺ καὶ τὸ γλυκὺ πικρόν, καὶ τὸ μὲν φῶς ὀνομάζων σκότος, τὸ δὲ σκότος φῶς. Ἵνα τί ὑπῆρξε χρήματα ἄφρονι: Χρήματα ἄφρονός ἐστιν αἱ περὶ τὰ καθ' ἕκαστον αὐτοῦ πράγματα ἀφροσύναι· διὰ ταύτας γὰρ καὶ ἀκάρδιος γεγονὼς κτήσασθαι σοφίαν ἀδυνατεῖ. Ὁ δὲ σκολιάζων τοῦ μαθεῖν: Ὁ δὲ σκολιάζων τοῦ μαθεῖν ὅτι κύριος ὑπερηφάνοις ἀντιτάσσεται, ἐμπεσεῖται εἰς κακά. Ἀδελφοὶ δὲ ἐν ἀνάγκαις ἔστωσαν χρήσιμοι: Εἰ οἱ τοῦ Χριστοῦ υἱοὶ ἀλλήλων εἰσὶν ἀδελφοί, οἱ ἄγγελοι δὲ καὶ οἱ δίκαιοι ἄνθρωποι Χριστοῦ εἰσὶν υἱοί, οἱ ἄγγελοι ἄρα καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι ἄνθρωποι ἀλλήλων εἰσὶν ἀδελφοί, τῷ τῆς υἱοθεσίας γεννώμενοι πνεύματι. Τούτου γὰρ χάριν γεννῶνται: Τούτου γὰρ χάριν γεννῶνται ὑπὸ τῆς σοφίας, ἵνα ἀνθρώπους ὁδηγήσωσιν ἀπὸ κακίας ἐπ' ἀρετήν, καὶ ἀπὸ ἀγνωσίας ἐπὶ γνῶσιν θεοῦ· εἴγε καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ κτίσις στενάζει καὶ συνωδίνει ἡμῖν, καὶ ὑπετάγη τῇ ματαιότητι οὐχ ἑκοῦσα. Ἀνὴρ εὐμετάβολος γλώσσης ἐμπεσεῖται εἰς κακά:
Exegesis of Proverbs§§11–12
11easily changeable
After saying, 'I am the life,' just as death is born from audacity, so life is born from meekness, for meekness stands in opposition to audacity. Fear casts down the slothful: fear casts down the slothful, meaning either the fear of the enemy or the fear of the Lord, which separates them from sloth through good works. And effeminate souls shall hunger: an effeminate person is one unable to teach another and desiring to learn from another.
He who does not discipline himself in his own works is a brother to him who wallows in himself: And Paul says, 'If therefore anyone cleanses himself, he will be a vessel useful to the master' (2 Tim 2:21). The name of the Lord is a strength of greatness: The name of the Lord signifies the knowledge of God; and the righteous run to Him through upright living, but through contemplation they are exalted.
Before crushing, the heart of a man is exalted: Just as crushing follows pride, so glory follows humility. He who answers a word before hearing, it is folly to him and a reproach: Use this saying for those who have not received knowledge from God, yet attempt to teach others. And David says, 'To hear the sound of your praise, and then to recount your wonders to others' (Ps 18:6): And again Solomon says, 'Yes, my eyes have seen' (Eccl 11:7).
Who will esteem a man of little soul? Just as our Lord is said to become a leopard rushing toward those who trample, and a stone of stumbling to those who disobey, so also the man of little soul is toward those who sin; yet one may call the evil man and all the demons 'little-souled' because they have fallen away from virtue and knowledge.
A man's dome expands him: The upright life is now called a man's dome, which provides for him and expands him and provides what is worthy of the fullness of God; which he calls the seat of the holy powers; for the mind is a seat, an excellent state, maintaining the one seated, difficult to move or immovable. A lot stops contention: Knowledge stops ignorance; for this is the lot of the rational nature.
Death and life are in the hands (LXX: hands) of the tongue: Here he says the soul is receptive to death and life, from which we fashion that which is within its own power. He who found a useful wife, found grace: He who...
12He found good wisdom; he found grace. But he who holds a net is a fool and impious; and he who holds onto wickedness is a fool and impious.
Wealth adds many friends: wealth of knowledge and wisdom adds to us many friendly angels; but the unclean one is separated from the angel given to him from childhood; for spiritual friendship is virtue and knowledge of God, through which we are joined to holy angelic friendships by divine powers, if repentant men become causes of joy to the angels. Thus also the Savior calls his servants friends at last, having deemed them worthy of the greater vision. Thus also Abraham, having become rich in that mystical knowledge, sets a table for the friends appearing to him at midday. But Saul is separated even from his existing friend because of wickedness; for it is written: 'And the Spirit of God departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented Saul' (1 Sam 16:14); 'a spirit of the Lord' saying the angel: 'For he says the Maker makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flaming fire' (Ps 104:4). Since also angels watch over men, the Lord teaches in the Gospels: 'See,' saying, 'do not despise one of these little ones, for their angels always see the face of my Father in heaven' (Matt 18:10). And again Jacob: 'The angel who delivers me from all evils' (Gen 48:16). And Zechariah: 'And the angel was speaking in me' (Luke 1:19). But he who accuses unjustly shall not escape: Those who, being ignorant of the words concerning judgment and providence, blaspheme the Creator, these accuse unjustly; and again, those who, being troubled by their own passions, think virtue to be impossible, these accuse Him who gave the law unjustly.
A good concept draws near to those who know it: He now named the knowledge of God 'concept,' and those who know it, the pure in heart. But he who provokes the words shall not be saved: Passionate thoughts provoke the soul toward wickedness. Luxury does not benefit a fool: Neither intellectual luxury nor sensual luxury benefits the fool; for he will trample the former with his feet, being a lover of pigs; and by the sensual luxury, his flesh will be moved. A merciful man is patient, but his boast comes to nothing...
If one boasts rightly in the Lord, and our Lord is wisdom, then the one boasting thus boasts rightly in wisdom. The boasting of the long-suffering and merciful—which is his wisdom and his knowledge—comes upon the lawless, freeing them from wickedness, now somewhat and necessarily in the age to come.
The threat of a king is like a lion's roar: Our Lord becomes a consuming fire and an angry lion toward those sinning, burning wood, brush, and reed, and consuming the flesh that wages war against the spirit; but toward those walking uprightly, he is light and dew, showing them the words of things that have happened, and quenching the inflamed arrows of the evil one, and refreshing the heat arising from the practical life.
Not pure thanks from a prostitute's reward: He named the unclean soul a prostitute; and regarding this, he called the reward the condition, from which they do not become pure prayers.
Fathers divide house and substance: To teach the sons about virtue and the knowledge of God is the work of fathers; but to give wisdom to the children is the work of the Lord; for there he calls wisdom a wife: For he says, 'She loved wisdom, and she will keep you; honor her, so that she may take hold of you.'
He who keeps a commandment keeps his own soul: The commandments are called commandments as toward the God who commands; but as toward the mind walking in them, they are called ways; and again, because the commandments were given upon the witnesses of heaven and earth (Heb 1:2), they are called testimonies; therefore also he who received them is named a witness, who, having not lied about them, will not be dishonored.
According to his gift he will repay him: He named now the purity of heart a gift; for by analogy of our apatheia, we are made worthy of knowledge.
A man of evil mind will suffer much loss: I think the great loss contains the deprivation of the contemplation of things that have happened, and the addition of the soul is the destruction of the natural notions concerning God, the whole of which falls into irrationality. And the Savior says in the Gospels: 'What will a man profit, if he gains the whole world and loses his soul and is harmed?' (Matt 16:26). But here the loss is ignorance.
Greek · §§11–12
§11
Οὗτός ἐστιν εὐμετάβολος, ὁ ῥᾳδίως ἀπὸ ἀρετῆς ἐπὶ κακίαν μεταβαλλόμενος. Λαμβάνων δῶρα ἐν κόλπῳ ἀσεβῆς: Ἐν καρδίᾳ νοήματα λαμβάνοντος ἄδικα οὐ κατευοδοῦνται ὁδοί· τὰ 97 γὰρ ἐμπαθῆ νοήματα ὠνόμασε δῶρα παρὰ τῶν δαιμόνων 11 ἡμῖν προσφερόμενα ἢ δῶρα ἐν κόλπῳ ἀσεβὴς λήψεται τοῦ ἐκκλῖναι ὁδοὺς κρίσεως. Υἱὸς δὲ φρόνιμος εὐφραίνει μητέρα αὐτοῦ: Ὁ μὲν φρόνιμος εὐφραίνει τὴν μητέρα, ὁ δὲ ἄφρων ὀδυνᾶται τὴν τεκοῦσαν αὐτόν. Οἱ δὲ ὀφθαλμοὶ τοῦ ἄφρονος ἐπ' ἄκρα γῆς: Καρδία δὲ ἄφρονος ἐν ἄκρᾳ κακίᾳ, καὶ ὀδύνη τῇ τεκούσῃ αὐτόν. Ὁ μὲν φρόνιμος υἱὸς καὶ τεκοῦσαν ἔχει καὶ μητέρα, ὁ δὲ ἄφρων υἱὸς μόνον τεκοῦσαν· ἡ γὰρ μήτηρ καὶ τεκοῦσά ἐστιν, ἡ δὲ τεκοῦσα οὐ πάντως ἐστὶν καὶ μήτηρ· ἐὰν γὰρ ἀποθάνῃ τὸ τεχθὲν ἐν κακίᾳ καὶ ἀγνωσίᾳ, τεκοῦσα μέν ἐστιν, μήτηρ δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν, ὅτι μηδὲ τοῦ τῆς υἱοθεσίας πνεύματος μετέσχηκε τὸ τεχθέν. ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν αἰσθητῶν μητέρων νοηθήσεται, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ αἰσθητοῦ· τὴν γὰρ μητέρα ἐροῦμεν καὶ τεκοῦσαν, τὴν δὲ τεκοῦσαν οὐκέτι μητέρα τοῦ παιδίου ἀποθανόντος. Ζημιοῦν ἄνδρα δίκαιον οὐ καλόν: Οὐ γὰρ ζητοῦσι τὰ ἡμῶν ἀλλ' ἡμᾶς. Ὃς φείδεται ῥῆμα προέσθαι σκληρὸν ἐπιστήμων: Τὸν λογισμὸν τὸν κινοῦντα θυμὸν ὠνόμασεν ῥῆμα σκληρόν· ἢ τὸν λόγον τὸν κινοῦντα τοῦ πλησίον αὐτοῦ θυμὸν ὠνόμασεν ῥῆμα σκληρόν. Ἀνοήτῳ ἐπερωτήσαντι σοφίαν σοφία λογισθήσεται: Εἰ οὗτος ἐρωτᾷ περὶ σοφίας ὁ βουλόμενός τι περὶ σοφίας μαθεῖν, οὗτος σιωπᾷ ἀπὸ σοφίας, ὁ μηθὲν θέλων γνῶναι περὶ σοφίας διὸ καὶ φρονιμώτερος λέγεται εἶναι ὁ πρότερος τοῦ δευτέρου. Προφάσεις ζητεῖ ἀνὴρ βουλόμενος χωρίζεσθαι: Προφάσεις λέγει τὰς ἁμαρτίας· Τοῦ προφασίζεσθαι γάρ φησιν προφάσεις ἐν ἁμαρτίαις· φίλους δὲ πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους τοὺς οἷς δι' ἀρετῆς συνήπτετο. Οὐ χρείαν ἔχει σοφίας ἐνδεὴς φρενῶν: Ἠγάπησεν γὰρ τὸ σκότος μᾶλλον ἢ τὸ φῶς. Θαυμάσαι (cod. ᾶ) πρόσωπον ἀσεβοῦς οὐ καλόν: Ὁ τὴν ἐνυπάρχουσαν κακίαν τῷ διαβόλῳ ἀποδεχόμενος καὶ κατ' αὐτὴν ἐνεργῶν, οὗτος θαυμάζει τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ ἀσεβοῦς. 98 Τὸ δὲ στόμα αὐτοῦ τὸ θρασὺ θάνατον ἐπικαλεῖται: Εἰ ὁ θάνατος γεννᾶται ἀπὸ θρασύτητος, ὁ δὲ θάνατος χωρίζει ψυχὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ὄντως ζωῆς, ἡ θρασύτης ἡμᾶς ἀποχωρίζει ἀπὸ τοῦ εἰπόντος· Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ζωή, καὶ ὥσπερ ἐκ τῆς θρασύτητος γεννᾶται ὁ θάνατος, οὕτως ἐκ τῆς πραΰτητος ἡ ζωή· ἀντίκειται γὰρ πρὸς τὴν θρασύτητα ἡ πραΰτης. Ὀκνηρὸν καταβάλλει φόβος: Ὀκνηροὺς καταβάλλει φόβος, ἤτοι ὁ ἐχθρὸς φόβος, ἢ ὁ τοῦ κυρίου, χωρίζων αὐτοὺς τοῦ ὄκνου διὰ ἔργων ἀγαθῶν. Ψυχαὶ δὲ ἀνδρογύνων πεινάσουσιν: Ἀνδρόγυνός ἐστιν ὁ μήτε διδάσκειν ἄλλον δυνάμενος μήτε μανθάνειν ὑφ' ἑτέρου βουλόμενος. Ὁ μὴ ἰώμενος ἑαυτὸν ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις ἐαυτοῦ ἀδελφός ἐστιν τοῦ λυμαινομένου ἑαυτόν: Καὶ ὁ Παῦλος φησίν· Ἐὰν οὖν τις ἐκκαθάρῃ ἑαυτόν, ἔσται σκεῦος χρήσιμον τῷ δεσπότῃ. Ἐκ μεγαλωσύνης ἰσχύος ὄνομα κυρίου: Τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ κυρίου τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ γνῶσιν σημαίνει· καὶ διὰ μὲν τοῦ ὀρθοῦ βίου προστρέχουσιν αὐτῷ οἱ δίκαιοι, διὰ δὲ τῆς θεωρίας ὑψοῦνται. Πρὸ συντριβῆς ὑψοῦται καρδία ἀνδρός: Ὥσπερ τῇ ὑπερηφανίᾳ ἕπεται συντριβή, οὕτως τῇ ταπεινώσει δόξα. Ὃς ἀποκρίνεται λόγον πρὶν ἀκοῦσαι, ἀφροσύνη ἐστὶν αὐτῷ καὶ ὄνειδος: Χρηστέον τούτῳ τῷ ῥητῷ πρὸς τοὺς μὴ λαβόντας μὲν γνῶσιν παρὰ θεοῦ, διδάσκειν δὲ ἄλλους ἐπιχειροῦντας. καὶ ὁ ∆αυὶδ φησίν· Τοῦ ἀκοῦσαι φωνὴν αἰνέσεώς σου, καὶ τότε διηγήσασθαι καὶ ἄλλοις τὰ θαυμάσιά σου. καὶ πάλιν ὁ Σολομὼν φησίν· Ἃ εἶδον οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου, λέγε. Ὀλιγόψυχον δὲ ἄνδρα τίς ὑποίσει: Ὥσπερ ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν πάρδαλις ἀπορουμένη λέγεται γίνεσθαι πρὸς τοὺς πλημμελοῦντας, καὶ πέτρα σκανδάλου πρὸς τοὺς ἀπειθοῦντας, οὕτω καὶ ὀλιγόψυχος ἐπὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσιν· δύναται δὲ ὀλιγόψυχον λέγειν καὶ τὸν πονηρὸν καὶ πάντας δαίμονας ἀρετῆς ἐκπεπτωκότας καὶ γνώσεως. ∆όμα ἀνθρώπου ἐμπλατύνει αὐτόν: Τὸν βίον τὸν ὀρθὸν νῦν εἶπεν δόμα ἀνθρώπου, ὅστις αὐτὸν παρέχει καὶ πλατύνει καὶ παρέχει τοῦ πληρώματος ἄξιον τοῦ θεοῦ· ὅπερ καθέδραν τῶν ἁγίων δυνάμεων ὀνομάζει· νοῦ γὰρ καθέδρα ἐστὶν ἕξις ἀρίστη, δυσκίνητον ἢ ἀκίνητον διατηροῦσα τὸν καθεζόμενον. Ἀντιλογίαν παύει κλῆρος: Ἄνοιαν παύει γνῶσις· αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ὁ 12 κλῆρος τῆς φύσεως τῆς λογικῆς. 99 Θάνατος καὶ ζωὴ ἐν χερσὶ (LXX χειρὶ) γλώσσης: Ἐνταῦθα λέγει τὴν ψυχὴν εἶναι θανάτου καὶ ζωῆς δεκτικήν, ἀφ' ὧν τὸ αὐτεξούσιον αὐτῆς γεγονέναι κατασκευάζομεν. Ὃς εὗρεν γυναῖκα χρηστήν, εὗρεν χάριτας: Ὃς
§12
εὗρεν σοφίαν ἀγαθήν, εὗρεν χάριτας. Ὁ δὲ κατέχων μοιχαλίδα, ἄφρων καὶ ἀσεβής: Ὁ δὲ κατέχων κακίαν, ἄφρων καὶ ἀσεβής. Πλοῦτος προστίθησι φίλους πολλούς: Πλοῦτος γνώσεως καὶ σοφίας προστίθησιν ἡμῖν ἀγγέλους φίλους πολλούς· ὁ δὲ ἀκάθαρτος ἀπὸ τοῦ δοθέντος αὐτῷ ἐκ παιδὸς ἀγγέλου χωρίζεται· ἡ γὰρ πνευματικὴ φιλία ἐστὶν ἀρετὴ καὶ γνῶσις θεοῦ, δι' ὧν συναπτόμεθα πρὸς φιλίαν ταῖς ἁγίαις ἀγγελικαῖς δυνάμεσιν, εἴγε οἱ μετανοοῦντες ἄνθρωποι χαρᾶς αἴτιοι γίνονται τοῖς ἀγγέλοις. οὕτως καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ φίλους καλεῖ τοὺς δούλους ποτέ, τῆς μείζονος αὐτοὺς θεωρίας καταξιώσας. οὕτω καὶ Ἀβραὰμ πλουτήσας ἐν γνώσει τὴν μυστικὴν ἐκείνην παρατίθησι τράπεζαν τοῖς κατὰ τὴν μεσημβρίαν φίλοις φανεῖσιν αὐτῷ. Σαοὺλ δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὑπάρχοντος φίλου διὰ τὴν κακίαν χωρίζεται· γέγραπται γάρ· Καὶ ἀπέστη πνεῦμα θεοῦ ἀπὸ Σαούλ, καὶ πνεῦμα πονηρὸν παρὰ κυρίου ἔπνιγεν τὸν Σαούλ· πνεῦμα κυρίου λέγων τὸν ἄγγελον· Ὁ ποιῶν γάρ φησιν τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ πνεύματα, καὶ τοὺς λειτουργοὺς αὐτοῦ πῦρ φλέγον. ὅτι δὲ καὶ ἄγγελοι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους πεπίστευνται, διδάσκει ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις ὁ κύριος, Ὁρᾶτε, λέγων, μὴ καταφρονήσητε ἑνὸς τῶν μικρῶν τούτων, ὅτι οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτῶν διὰ παντὸς βλέπουσι τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς. καὶ πάλιν ὁ Ἰακώβ· Ὁ ἄγγελος ὁ ῥυόμενός με ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν κακῶν. καὶ ὁ Ζαχαρίας· Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ ἄγγελος ὁ λαλῶν ἐν ἐμοί. Ὁ δὲ ἐγκαλῶν ἀδίκως οὐ μὴ διαφύγῃ: Ὅσοι τοὺς περὶ κρίσεως καὶ προνοίας ἀγνοοῦντες λόγους τὸν δημιουργὸν βλασφημοῦσιν, οὗτοι ἐγκαλοῦσιν ἀδίκως· καὶ ὅσοι πάλιν ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων παθῶν ἐνοχλούμενοι νομίζουσιν ἀκατόρθωτον εἶναι τὴν ἀρετήν, οὗτοι τῷ δεδωκότι τὸν νόμον ἐγκαλοῦσιν ἀδίκως. Ἔννοια ἀγαθὴ τοῖς εἰδόσιν αὐτὴν ἐγγιεῖ: Τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ γνῶσιν νῦν ὠνόμασεν ἔννοιαν, καὶ τοὺς εἰδότας αὐτὴν τοὺς καθαροὺς τῇ καρδίᾳ. Ὃς δὲ ἐρεθίζει λόγους οὐ σωθήσεται: Οἱ ἐμπαθεῖς λογισμοὶ ἐρεθίζουσι τὴν ψυχὴν πρὸς κακίαν. Οὐ συμφέρει ἄφρονι τρυφή: Οὔτε ἡ νοητὴ τρυφὴ οὔτε ἡ αἰσθητὴ συμφέρει τῷ ἄφρονι· τὴν μὲν γὰρ καταπατήσει τοῖς ποσί, χοῖρος φιλήδονος ὤν· ὑπὸ δὲ τῆς αἰσθητῆς τρυφῆς ἡ σὰρξ αὐτοῦ κινηθήσεται. Ἐλεήμων ἀνὴρ μακροθυμεῖ, τὸ δὲ καύχημα αὐτοῦ ἐπέρχεται παρανόμοις: Εἰ ὁ καυχώμενος ὀρθῶς ἐν κυρίῳ καυχᾶται, ὁ δὲ κύριος ἡμῶν σοφία ἐστίν, ὁ καυχώμενος ἄρα ὀρθῶς ἐν σοφίᾳ καυχᾶται· τὸ καύχημα 100 τοίνυν τοῦ μακροθύμου καὶ ἐλεήμονος, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἡ σοφία καὶ ἡ γνῶσις αὐτοῦ, ἐπέρχεται τοῖς παρανόμοις, ἀπαλλάττον αὐτοὺς τῆς κακίας, νῦν μὲν ἐνδεχομένως, ἀναγκαίως δὲ ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τῷ μέλλοντι. Βασιλέως ἀπειλὴ ὁμοία βρυγμῷ λέοντος: Ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν πῦρ μὲν καταναλίσκον καὶ λέων ὀργιζόμενος γίνεται πρὸς τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας, κατακαίων ξύλα χόρτον καλάμην, καὶ τὴν σάρκα τὴν στρατευομένην κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος ἀναλίσκων· φῶς δὲ καὶ δρόσος πρὸς τοὺς κατορθοῦντας, δεικνὺς αὐτοῖς τῶν γεγονότων τοὺς λόγους, καὶ κατασβεννύων τὰ πεπυρωμένα βέλη τοῦ πονηροῦ, καὶ περιψύχων τὸν ἐκ τῆς πρακτικῆς συμβαίνοντα καύσωνα. Οὐχ ἁγναὶ εὐχαὶ ἀπὸ μισθώματος ἑταίρας: Τὴν ἀκάθαρτον ψυχὴν ἑταίραν ὠνόμασεν· καὶ ταύτης τὸ μίσθωμα τὴν κατάστασιν εἴρηκεν, ἀφ' ἧς οὐ καθαραὶ γίνονται προσευχαί. Οἶκον καὶ ὕπαρξιν μεριοῦσι πατέρες: Τὸ μὲν διδάσκειν τοὺς υἱοὺς περὶ ἀρετῆς καὶ γνώσεως θεοῦ, πατέρων ἐστίν· τὸ δὲ σοφίαν δοῦναι τοῖς παισί, τοῦ κυρίου ἐστίν· γυναῖκα γὰρ ἐνταῦθα τὴν σοφίαν λέγει· Ἐράσθητι γάρ φησι τῆς σοφίας, καὶ τηρήσει σε· τίμησον αὐτήν, ἵνα σε περιλάβῃ. Ὃς φυλάσσει ἐντολήν, τηρεῖ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν: Αἱ ἐντολαὶ ὡς πρὸς μὲν τὸν ἐντειλάμενον θεὸν καλοῦνται ἐντολαί· ὡς δὲ πρὸς τὸν ὁδεύοντα νοῦν ἐν αὐταῖς καλοῦνται ὁδοί· καὶ πάλιν ἐπειδὴ ἐπὶ μαρτύρων οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς 13 ἐδόθησαν αἱ ἐντολαί, λέγονται μαρτύρια· διὸ καὶ ὁ δεξάμενος αὐτὰ νοῦς ὀνομάζεται μάρτυς, ὅστις ψευσάμενος αὐτὰ οὐκ ἀτιμώρητος ἔσται. Κατὰ δὲ τὸ δόμα αὐτοῦ ἀνταποδώσει αὐτῷ: ∆όμα νῦν τὴν καθαρότητα τῆς καρδίας ὠνόμασεν· κατ' ἀναλογίαν γὰρ τῆς ἀπαθείας ἡμῶν καταξιούμεθα γνώσεως. Κακόφρων ἀνὴρ πολλὰ ζημιωθήσεται: Ἐγὼ νομίζω τὴν μὲν πολλὴν ζημίαν στέρησιν περιέχειν τῆς θεωρίας τῶν γεγονότων, τὴν δὲ προσθήκην τῆς ψυχῆς ἀφανισμὸν τῶν φυσικῶν περὶ θεοῦ ἐννοιῶν, παντάπασιν αὐτῆς εἰς ἀλογίαν περιπεσούσης. καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ δὲ ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις φησίν· Τί ὠφεληθήσεται ἄνθρωπος, ἐὰν τὸν κόσμον ὅλον κερδήσῃ, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἀπολέσῃ καὶ ζημιωθῇ; ἀλλ' ἐνταῦθα μὲν ἡ ἀπώλεια τὴν ἄγνοιαν
The Law of Consequences and Divine Nature§13
13It manifests things of bodies and things incorporeal; and the loss demonstrates the ultimate irrationality. So that one becomes wise in old age: After right conduct comes knowledge; for the 'end things' here does not signify time, but purity after the practical virtues.
The fear of the Lord is unto life for a man (Proverbs 14:27), but the wanderer will stumble in places where the age is not observed. The fear of the Lord is unto life for a man, and the fear of the Lord is discipline and wisdom; the life of the man is discipline and wisdom. But Christ says: 'I am the life' (John 14:6); therefore Christ is discipline and wisdom. To know, then, discipline and wisdom is to know Christ; so the one without fear will be in evil and ignorance, in which Christ is not.
He who hides his hands in his bosom unjustly, nor with his mouth will he ever bring them forth: He who does not rightly, hides the hands unjustly in his soul, not wishing to work his own land nor to be filled with bread; for the practical virtues have a logic, bringing the bread to our mouths, the one descended from the heavens and giving life to the world.
He who dishonors a father and pushes away a mother will be ashamed and will be a reprobate: Through the transgression of the law he dishonors God, and he pushes away the mother, who is the discipline; if a righteous man is born unto life, and righteousness consists of all the virtues. A son left to fail in keeping the discipline of a father will meditate bad sayings: The impure thoughts are bad sayings being born in the soul of one who has not kept the commandments of the heavenly Father.
Unrestrained wine and insolent drunkenness: If their wine is the wrath of dragons, and the wine is unrestrained, then the wrath is unrestrained, making men unrestrained, and the anger is insolent; for this drunkenness is accustomed to come from a boiling wrath. If, however, Nazirites abstain from wine according to the law, then the Nazirites are outside of wrath...
It is established as law. Neither the threat of a king nor the fury of a lion differs (LXX: not). Here Christ is spoken of as a king in opposition; for he, provoked by sins, sins against his own soul.
Likewise, the one lending grain in a year of famine: If it is possible to borrow grain in a year of famine, it is also possible to borrow spiritual grain in the age to come from those who worked their own land in the six years and fed the widow and the orphan in the seventh year. He will leave his children blessed: those whom he has brought forth according to virtue.
A father or mother being slandered, a lamp will be extinguished: The same Christ is able, in thought, to be both father and mother; father to those possessing the spirits of adoption, but mother to those needing milk and not solid food; for the Christ speaking in Paul became a father to the Ephesians, revealing mysteries of wisdom to them, but a mother to the Corinthians, giving them milk to drink.
A part being studied in the first stages: It may for a time moisten your throat with part, but later you will find it more bitter with bile. Do not say: I will strike the enemy: Do not say this, moved by pride: I alone will fight the enemies, but endure the Lord so that he may help you. And David says: I trust not in my bow, and my sword shall not save me (Psalm 118:24-25); and again: A false horse toward salvation (Proverbs 14:31); and if the Lord builds not a house, and keeps not a city (Psalm 127:1).
A great and small weight and double measures, both are an abomination (LXX: unclean) before the Lord (Proverbs 20:10): I think that what is called a great and small weight by some is considered reckless; and I think that a great and small weight is any total excess or deficiency; for both are evils. Double measures: He who intends to suffer well from another, but does not pre-meditate to similarly refresh others, has double measures, not obeying the commandment which says: All that you want men to do to you, all so do you to them (Matthew 7:12).
Greek · §13
σωμάτων καὶ ἀσωμάτων ἐμφαίνει· ἡ δὲ ζημία τὴν ἐσχάτην ἀλογίαν παρίστησιν. Ἵνα σοφὸς γένῃ ἐπὶ γήρως: Μετὰ τὴν ὀρθὴν πολιτείαν ἐστὶν ἡ γνῶσις· τὸ γὰρ Ἐπ' ἐσχάτων ἐνταῦθα οὐ τὸν χρόνον σημαίνει, ἀλλὰ τὴν μετὰ τὰς πρακτικὰς ἀρετὰς καθαρότητα. Φόβος κυρίου εἰς ζωὴν ἀνδρί, ὁ δὲ πλανώμενος αὐλισθήσεται ἐν τόποις οἷς οὐκ ἐπισκοπεῖται ὁ αἰώνιος: Εἰ φόβος κυρίου εἰς ζωὴν ἀνδρί, φόβος δὲ κυρίου παιδεία καὶ σοφία, ζωὴ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς παιδεία ἐστὶν καὶ σοφία. ἀλλὰ Χριστὸς λέγει· Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ζωή· ὁ Χριστὸς ἄρα ἐστὶν παιδεία καὶ σοφία. τὸ οὖν γνῶναι παιδείαν καὶ σοφίαν γνῶναί ἐστιν τὸν Χριστόν· ὁ οὖν ἄφοβος ἔσται ἐν κακίᾳ καὶ ἀγνωσίᾳ, ἐν αἷς οὐκ ἔστιν Χριστός. 101 Ὁ ἐγκρύπτων χεῖρας αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν κόλπον ἀδίκως, οὐδὲ τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ οὐ μὴ προσαγάγῃ αὐτάς: Ο μὴ ὀρθῶς βιοὺς κρύπτει ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ αὐτοῦ τὰς χεῖρας ἀδίκως, τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γῆν ἐργάσασθαι μὴ βουλόμενος μηδ' ἐμπλησθῆναι ἄρτων· αἱ γὰρ πρακτικαὶ ἀρεταὶ χειρῶν ἐπέχουσι λόγον, τὸν ἄρτον τῷ στόματι ἡμῶν προσφέρουσαι, τὸν ἀπὸ τῶν οὐρανῶν καταβάντα καὶ ζωὴν διδοῦντα τῷ κόσμῳ. Ὁ ἀτιμάζων πατέρα καὶ ἀπωθούμενος μητέρα υἱὸς αἰσχυνθήσεται καὶ ἐπονείδιστος ἔσται: ∆ιὰ τῆς παραβάσεως τοῦ νόμου τὸν θεὸν ἀτιμάζει, καὶ τὴν μητέρα δὲ ἀπωθεῖται, ἥτις ἐστὶν ἡ παιδεία· εἴπερ ἀνὴρ δίκαιος γεννᾶται εἰς ζωήν, ἡ δὲ δικαιοσύνη ἀπὸ πασῶν συνίσταται τῶν ἀρετῶν. Υἱὸς ἀπολειπόμενος φυλάξαι παιδείαν πατρὸς μελετήσει ῥήσεις κακάς: Οἱ ἀκάθαρτοι λογισμοὶ ῥήσεις εἰσὶ κακαὶ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ γεννώμεναι τοῦ μὴ τετηρηκότος τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ ἐπουρανίου πατρός. Ἀκόλαστον οἶνος καὶ ὑβριστικὸν μέθη: Εἰ θυμὸς δρακόντων ὁ οἶνος αὐτῶν, ἀκόλαστον δὲ ὁ οἶνος, ἀκόλαστον ἄρα ὁ θυμός, ἀκολάστους τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ποιῶν, καὶ ὑβριστικὸν ἡ ὀργή· αὕτη γὰρ ἡ μέθη ἀπὸ ζέοντος τοῦ θυμοῦ πέφυκε γίνεσθαι. εἰ δὲ οἴνου ναζιραῖοι κατὰ τὸν νόμον ἀπέχονται, θυμοῦ ἄρα τοὺς ναζιραίους ἐκτὸς εἶναι νενομοθέτηται. Οὐδὲν (LXX οὐ) διαφέρει ἀπειλὴ βασιλέως θυμοῦ λέοντος: Ἐνταῦθα τὸν Χριστὸν ἄντικρυς εἴρηκε βασιλέα· ὁ γὰρ τοῦτον διὰ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν παροξύνων ἁμαρτάνει εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν. Ὡσαύτως ὁ δανιζόμενος σῖτον ἐν ἀμητῷ: Εἰ ἔστιν ἐν ἀμητῷ σῖτον δανείσασθαι, ἔστιν καὶ ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τῷ μέλλοντι νοητὸν σῖτον δανείσασθαι παρὰ τῶν ἐργασαμένων ἐν τοῖς ἓξ ἔτεσι τὴν ἑαυτῶν γῆν, καὶ τρεφόντων ἐν τῷ ἑβδόμῳ ἔτει χήραν καὶ ὀρφανούς. Μακαρίους τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ καταλείψει: Οὓς κατ' ἀρετὴν δηλονότι γεγέννηκεν. Κακολογοῦντος πατέρα ἢ μητέρα σβεσθήσεται λαμπτήρ: ∆ύναται ὁ αὐτὸς Χριστὸς κατ' ἐπίνοιαν καὶ πατὴρ εἶναι καὶ μήτηρ· πατὴρ μὲν τῶν πνεῦμα ἐχόντων υἱοθεσίας, μήτηρ δὲ τῶν δεομένων γάλακτος καὶ οὐ στερεᾶς τροφῆς· καὶ γὰρ ὁ ἐν Παύλῳ λαλῶν Χριστὸς πατὴρ μὲν τῶν Ἐφεσίων ἐγίνετο, σοφίας αὐτοῖς ἀποκαλύπτων μυστήρια, μήτηρ δὲ Κορινθίων, γάλα ποτίζων αὐτούς. Μερὶς ἐπισπουδαζομένη ἐν πρώτοις: Ἣ πρὸς καιρὸν λιπαίνει μερὶς σὸν φάρυγγα, ὕστερον μέντοι πικρότερον χολῆς εὑρήσεις. Μὴ εἴπῃς· Τίσομαι τὸν ἐχθρόν: Μὴ εἴπῃς καθ' ὑπερηφανίαν κινούμενος· Ἐγὼ μόνος τοῖς ἐχθροῖς 102 πολεμήσω, ἀλλ' ὑπόμεινον τὸν κύριον ἵνα σοι βοηθήσῃ. καὶ ὁ ∆αυὶδ φησίν· Οὐκ ἐπὶ 14 τῷ τόξῳ μου ἐλπιῶ, καὶ ἡ ῥομφαία μου οὐ σώσει με· καὶ πάλιν· Ψευδὴς ἵππος εἰς σωτηρίαν· καὶ ἐὰν μὴ κύριος οἰκοδομήσῃ οἶκον καὶ φυλάξῃ πόλιν. Στάθμιον μέγα καὶ μικρὸν καὶ μέτρα δισσά, βδελυκτὰ (LXX ἀκάθαρτα) ἐνώπιον κυρίου ἀμφότερα: Τὸν παρά τισι θρασύδειλον λεγόμενον στάθμιον μέγα καὶ μικρὸν εἶναι νομίζω· καὶ καθόλου πᾶσαν ὑπερβολὴν καὶ ἔλλειψιν στάθμιον μέγα καὶ μικρὸν εἶναι νομίζω· ἑκάτερα γὰρ κακίαι. Μέτρα δισσά: Ὁ εὖ μὲν πάσχειν ὑφ' ἑτέρου βουλόμενος, αὐτὸς δὲ ὁμοίως ἄλλους ἀναπαύειν μὴ προαιρούμενος, μέτρα ἔχει δισσά, μὴ πειθόμενος τὴν ἐντολὴν τὴν λέγουσαν· Πάντα ὅσα θέλετε ἵνα ποιῶσιν ὑμῖν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, πάντα
Exegesis of Proverbs on Virtue and Vice§14
14And you also do the same to them. An ear hears and an eye sees: It is not the eye seeing badly that is the work of the Lord, but the seeing; and it is not the ear hearing badly that is the work of the Lord, but the hearing. And the same must be said concerning the other members of the body. Use this saying against those who accuse us of this body and who insult the Creator.
Open your eyes and be filled with bread: Through virtues we open the eyes of the soul, and through the wisdom of intelligible things we are filled with bread. And how can a mortal understand (LXX: know) his own ways: A mortal cannot understand the ways of the Lord if he has not yet died together with Christ.
A wise man is a swift snare to ungodly men: Repentance toward good things does not happen to the righteous but to the unrighteous; yet the unrighteous did not expect anything from God without consideration; for after praying, repentance occurs. And a deceitful yoke is not good before Him: The mind, which is naturally disposed to judge things rightly, is called a deceitful yoke when it swerves by the inclination of the will.
A wise man is a winnower of an ungodly king: Separating the chaff from the sieve. And he sets a wheel upon them: Make them as a wheel. The light of the Lord is the breath of men: If the light of the Lord is the knowledge of the Lord, and the light of the Lord is the breath of men, then the knowledge of the Lord is the breath of men. He named the devil, who seems to be in ignorance, a lamp, emptying the mind of good things and transforming himself into an angel of light.
To do justice and to speak truth is more pleasing to the Lord than the blood of sacrifices: This saying casts out the sacrifice through irrational animals; for a sacrifice to God is a crushed spirit. But His works are pure and right: If the works of God are pure and right, and one of His works is the mind, then the mind was created pure and right by the Lord.
It is better to dwell in a corner of the open air than in dusty places with iniquity (LXX: injustice) and in a common house: He set the open-air corner against the dusty and common house; but if the dusty and common house is evil, the open-air corner is virtue; therefore, an open-air corner is a practice of contemplation, touching and being illuminated by the sun of righteousness.
Paul has spoken well of the high priest of the Jews as a wall having been plastered, to be struck by God; and the Savior in the gospels has spoken of the Pharisees as tombs having been plastered. Also well did he speak of the stone at the corner, where the stone lies which was rejected by the builders and having become a head of the corner; and he has spoken commonly of that which is not of the one God.
A secret gift subverts passions: a gift is secret, so that what the right hand does the left hand may not know. A man wandering from the way of righteousness will rest in a gathering of giants: the gathering of giants is malice and ignorance.
It is better to dwell in a desert land than with a woman angry and contentious: and David says, 'In a desert land and uncultivated and waterless, so I appeared to you in holiness' (Psalm 107:4-5). A desert land is therefore the virtue which does not have the old men dwelling in it, those decaying according to the desires of deception; therefore the devil does not even find rest in it, if he passes through waterless places seeking rest and does not find it; for he himself is king of all those in the waters. And again regarding wisdom, he says the habits of its houses are sighs. If this is so, is not also the woman who is contentious and talkative and angry malice, which makes the one living with her contentious and talkative and angry.
A desirable treasure will rest upon the mouth of a wise man: The wisdom of the Lord will rest in the heart of a wise man (Proverbs 15:13, 15:33); but foolish men destroy it. A wise man ascended fortified cities: Wisdom is a fortified city, in which the wise dwell, pulling down reasonings and every exaltation being lifted up against the knowledge of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). He who guards his mouth and his tongue preserves his soul from tribulation: Mouth and tongue, soul and mind; for they say soul, meaning spirit and desire, which some call a passive part of the soul.
An impious man all the day desires evil desires: For angels, never to desire evil desires; for men, sometimes to desire and sometimes not to desire evil desires; but for demons, always to desire evil desires. For 'all the day' signifies through life. Such is also 'be in the fear of the Lord all the day' (Proverbs 23:17), instead of 'through life.' A horse is prepared for a day of war (Proverbs 21:31): A horse...
Greek · §14
καὶ ὑμεῖς ὁμοίως ποιεῖτε αὐτοῖς. Οὖς ἀκούει καὶ ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς ὁρᾷ: Οὐχ ὁ κακῶς ὁρῶν ὀφθαλμὸς ἔργον ἐστὶν τοῦ κυρίου, ἀλλ' ὁ ὁρῶν· καὶ οὐ τὸ κακῶς ἀκοῦον οὖς ἔργον ἐστὶν τοῦ κυρίου, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀκοῦον. καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων δὲ μελῶν τοῦ σώματος ὡσαύτως λεκτέον· χρήσῃ δὲ τῷ ῥητῷ τούτῳ πρὸς τοὺς κατηγοροῦντας ἡμῶν τοῦτο τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὸν δημιουργὸν ἐνυβρίζοντας. ∆ιάνοιξον δὲ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς σου καὶ ἐμπλήσθητι ἄρτων: ∆ιὰ μὲν τῶν ἀρετῶν ἀνοίγομεν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῆς ψυχῆς, διὰ δὲ τῆς σοφίας νοητῶν πληρούμεθα ἄρτων. Θνητὸς δὲ πῶς ἂν ἐννοήσαι (LXX νοήσαι) τὰς ὁδοὺς ἑαυτοῦ: Οὐ δύναται νοῆσαι τὰς ὁδοὺς κυρίου ὁ ἔτι θνητὸς καὶ μὴ συναποθανὼν τῷ Χριστῷ. Παγὶς ἀνδρὶ ταχύ τι τῶν ἰδίων ἁγιάσαι: Ἡ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς μετάνοια οὐ δικαίοις συμβαίνει ἀλλὰ ἀδίκοις· ἄδικοι δὲ μηδὲν ἀπερισκέπτως ὑπισχνείσθωσαν τῷ θεῷ· μετὰ γὰρ τὸ εὔξασθαι μετανοεῖν γίνεται. Καὶ ζυγὸς δόλιος οὐ καλὸν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ: Ζυγὸν δόλιον λέγει τὸν νοῦν πεφυκότα μὲν δικαίως κρίνειν τὰ πράγματα, παρακλίνοντα δὲ τῇ τοῦ ἀντεξουσίου ῥοπῇ. Λικμήτωρ ἀσεβῶν βασιλεὺς σοφός: Χωρίζειν (ζων?) τὰ ἄχυρα ἀπὸ τοῦ σίτου. Καὶ ἐπιβαλεῖ αὐτοῖς τροχόν: Ποίησον αὐτοὺς ὡς τροχόν. 103 Φῶς κυρίου πνοὴ ἀνθρώπων: Εἰ τὸ φῶς τοῦ κυρίου ἡ γνῶσις τοῦ κυρίου ἐστίν, τὸ δὲ φῶς τοῦ κυρίου ἡ πνοὴ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐστίν, ἡ ἄρα γνῶσις τοῦ κυρίου ἡ πνοὴ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐστίν. τὸν δὲ ἐν ἀγνοίᾳ διάβολον φαίνειν δοκοῦντα λύχνον ὠνόμασεν, ἐκκενοῦντα τὸν νοῦν τῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ μετασχηματιζόμενον εἰς ἄγγελον φωτός. Ποιεῖν δίκαια καὶ ἀληθεύειν ἀρεστὸν παρὰ κυρίου μᾶλλον ἢ θυσιῶν αἷμα: Ἐκβάλλει τὸ ῥητὸν τοῦτο τὴν διὰ τῶν ἀλόγων ζώων θυσίαν· θυσία γὰρ τῷ θεῷ πνεῦμα συντετριμμένον. Ἁγνὰ δὲ καὶ ὀρθὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ: Εἰ ἁγνὰ καὶ ὀρθὰ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ θεοῦ, ἓν δὲ τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ ἐστὶν καὶ ὁ νοῦς, ὀρθὸς ἄρα καὶ ἁγνὸς ἐκτίσθη παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου ὁ νοῦς. Κρεῖσσον οἰκεῖν ἐπὶ γωνίας ὑπαίθρου ἢ ἐν κεκονιαμένοις μετὰ ἀηδείας (LXX ἀδικίας) καὶ ἐν οἴκω κοινῷ: Τῷ οἴκῳ τῷ κεκονιαμένῳ καὶ κοινῷ τὴν ὕπαιθρον γωνίαν ἀντέθηκεν· εἰ δὲ ὁ οἶκος ὁ κεκονιαμένος καὶ κοινὸς ἡ κακία ἐστίν, ἡ ὕπαιθρος γωνία ἡ ἀρετή ἐστιν· γωνία τοίνυν ὕπαιθρός ἐστιν πρᾶξις θεωρίας ἐφαπτομένη καὶ φωτιζομένη ὑπὸ τοῦ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἡλίου. καλῶς δὲ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος τὸν ἀρχιερέα τῶν Ἰουδαίων τοῖχον εἶπεν κεκονιαμένον, τυπτηθησόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ· καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ δὲ ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις τοὺς Φαρισαίους τάφους εἶπεν κεκονιαμένους. εὖ δὲ καὶ τὸ Ἐπὶ γωνίας εἶπεν, ἔνθα ὁ λίθος κεῖται ὁ ἀποδοκιμασθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν οἰκοδόμων καὶ γενόμενος κεφαλὴ γωνίας· κοινὸν δὲ εἶπεν ὃ μὴ τοῦ ἑνός ἐστιν θεοῦ. ∆όσις λάθριος ἀνατρέπει ὀργάς: ∆όσις λάθριός ἐστιν, ἵν' ὃ ποιῇ ἡ δεξιὰ μὴ γινώσκῃ ἡ ἀριστερά. Ἀνὴρ πλανώμενος ἐξ ὁδοῦ δικαιοσύνης ἐν συναγωγῇ γιγάντων ἀναπαύσεται: Ἡ συναγωγὴ τῶν γιγάντων ἡ κακία καὶ ἡ ἀγνωσία ἐστίν. Κρεῖσσον οἰκεῖν ἐν γῇ ἐρήμῳ ἢ μετὰ γυναικὸς θυμώδους καὶ μαχίμης: Καὶ ὁ ∆αυὶδ φησίν· Ἐν γῇ ἐρήμῳ καὶ ἀβάτῳ καὶ ἀνύδρῳ, οὕτως ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ ὤφθην σοι. ἔρημος τοίνυν γῆ ἐστὶν ἡ ἀρετὴ ἡ μὴ ἔχουσα τοὺς παλαιοὺς ἀνθρώπους οἰκοῦντας τοὺς φθειρομένους κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ἀπάτης· διὸ οὐδὲ εὑρίσκει ἐν αὐτῇ ἀνάπαυσιν ὁ διάβολος, εἴγε διέρχεται δι' ἀνύδρων τόπων ζητῶν 15 ἀνάπαυσιν καὶ οὐχ εὑρίσκει· αὐτὸς γὰρ βασιλεύς ἐστι πάντων τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὕδασι. καὶ πάλιν τῆς σοφίας Στεγναί φησιν αἱ διατριβαὶ οἵκων αὐτῆς (27,31). εἰ δὲ τοῦτο, οὐκοῦν καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἡ μάχιμος καὶ γλωσσώδης καὶ ὀργίλος ἡ κακία ἐστίν, ἥτις τὸν συζῶντα αὐτῇ ποιεῖ μάχιμον καὶ γλωσσώδη καὶ ὄργιλον. 104 Θησαυρὸς ἐπιθυμητὸς ἀναπαύσεται ἐπὶ στόματος σοφοῦ: Σοφία κυρίου ἀναπαύσεται ἐν καρδίᾳ σοφοῦ· ἄφρονες δὲ ἄνδρες διαφθεροῦσιν αὐτήν. Πόλεις ὀχυρὰς ἐπέβη σοφός: Σοφία ἐστὶν πόλις ὀχυρά, ἐν ᾗ οἱ σοφοὶ κατοικοῦσιν, λογισμοὺς καθαιροῦντες καὶ πᾶν ὕψωμα ἐπαιρόμενον κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ὃς φυλάσσει τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν γλῶσσαν, διατηρεῖ ἐκ θλίψεως τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ: Στόμα καὶ γλῶσσαν, ψυχὴν καὶ νοῦν· ψυχὴν δέ φασιν θυμὸν καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν, ὅπερ τινὲς παθητικὸν μέρος ὀνομάζουσι τῆς ψυχῆς. Ἀσεβὴς ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἐπιθυμεῖ ἐπιθυμίας κακάς: Ἀγγέλων μὲν τὸ μὴ ἐπιθυμεῖν ποτὲ ἐπιθυμίας κακάς· ἀνθρώπων δὲ τὸ ποτὲ μὲν ἐπιθυμεῖν, ποτὲ δὲ μὴ ἐπιθυμεῖν ἐπιθυμίας κακάς· δαιμόνων δὲ τὸ ἀεὶ ἐπιθυμεῖν ἐπιθυμίας κακάς. τὸ γὰρ Ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν τὸ διὰ βίου δηλοῖ. τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν καὶ τὸ Ἐν φόβῳ κυρίου ἴσθι ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν, ἀντὶ τοῦ διὰ βίου. Ἵππος ἑτοιμάζεται εἰς ἡμέραν πολέμου: Ἵππον
The Soul as Court and the Slanderer§15
15He says, 'the mind shall mount upon your horses, and your cavalry shall be salvation.' And regarding Paul, the Lord says, 'to bear my name.'
A name more excellent than much wealth: He said that the virtue signified by the proper name is beautiful; for this is the beautiful name, which possesses the signified good. In this way, we shall not praise an unjust woman even if she is called justice, but rather the one possessing justice, even if she is named injustice.
A rich man and a poor man met one another, and the Lord made both of them equal. The one rich man purifies his passion through almsgiving, cultivating love; the one poor man is trained to be humble through his poverty.
The generation of wisdom is the fear of the Lord: These are the generations of Noah; these are the generations of Abraham. Snares and pits in crooked paths: And the Lord says to Adam, 'the earth shall bring up thorns and snares for you' (Genesis 3:18), that is, the soul. But he says thorns and snares mean sins, from which even the crown of Christ was struck; for he himself took away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
The rich shall rule over the poor (Proverbs 22:7): In the age to come, those having been enriched in every way, in all knowledge and all wisdom, shall rule over the unclean and the deprived of this wealth. And who are the servants and who are the masters, it is not necessary to publish now, because the word concerning them is mystical and deeper.
But the futility of his works shall complete: The Lord completes the futility of works through virtue and knowledge. He acquires victory and honor, he who gives gifts: He calls the virtues the gifts of man, through which, conquering the devil, he presents himself as precious to God, and his own soul is snatched away from those who have possessed it, from the demons.
Cast out a plague from the council, and strife shall come out with him: He called the governing state a council, from which the wise Solomon wishes to cast out man through spiritual teaching; and the strife signifies contention. But he may also mean the plague as the devil, whom it is necessary to drive away from the soul; for if he sits within it, through impurity he dishonors all the righteous thoughts.
The apostle also shows the soul as a tribunal, through which accusing thoughts are brought in and defending thoughts are brought in; for he says that thoughts are accusing or defending one another. Where there is accusation and defense, there is a tribunal.
A king shepherds with a rod: The Lord, who preserves our souls, himself shepherds us through spiritual knowledge, which knowledge the one transgressing his law despises. It should be noted that Christ, being a king, is said to shepherd us through condescension; for he says, 'I am the good shepherd' (John 10:11). But if he is a king over kings and a shepherd of sheep, he will at some time be only a king, the dignity of one having passed over into the royal.
The sluggard is faced with a lion in the paths: Our enemy the devil prowls like a lion seeking someone to swallow up (1 Peter 5:8), whom the sluggard, fearing, avoids in the work of virtues. He who is hated by the Lord will fall into him: Job did not fall into him because he was hated by the Lord, but because of testing.
A rod and instruction are far from him: The rod from the root of Jesse is far from the heart of the foolish (Isaiah 11:1). The slanderer does many evils of his own to the poor: Just as the devil slanders us, taking from us the virtues which he did not give to us, so also we slander him, taking from him the evils which we did not give to him. And just as we take the evils from him as if from a poor man in virtues, so also we give our virtues to him to our own diminishment, as if we were giving to a rich man in evil. One of the elders used to say that we are the slanderers, slandering Christ, who became poor because of us and owed nothing to us, yet we take much from him and give to Satan to the debasement of our souls.
Compare yourself with wise words: This one hears the words of God, the one doing the things protected by them; for the hearers of the law are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified (James 1:22). And you also write these things down for yourself three times in counsel and knowledge to the breadth of your heart: He who widens through purity the...
Greek · §15
λέγει τὸν νοῦν. Ἐπιβήσῃ γάρ φησιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἵππους σου, καὶ ἡ ἱππασία σου σωτηρία. καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Παύλου ὁ κύριος Τοῦ βαστάσαι τὸ ὄνομά μου φησίν. Αἱρετώτερον ὄνομα καλὸν ἢ πλοῦτος πολύ (edd. πολύς): Τὴν σημαινομένην ἀρετὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ οἰκείου ὀνόματος ὄνομα εἶπεν καλόν· τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ ὄνομα καλόν ἐστιν, ὅπερ ἔχει τὸ σημαινόμενον ἀγαθόν. οὕτως οὐδὲ τὴν ἄδικον γυναῖκα δικαιοσύνην καλουμένην ἐπαινέσομεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἔχουσαν τὴν δικαιοσύνην, κἂν ἀδικία ὀνομάζηται. Πλούσιος καὶ πτωχὸς συνήντησαν ἀλλήλοις, ἀμφοτέρους δὲ ἐποίησεν ὁ κύριος (edd. ὁ κύρ. ἐποί.): Ὁ μὲν πλούσιος διὰ τῶν ἐλεημοσυνῶν καθαίρει θυμόν, κτώμενος τὴν ἀγάπην· ὁ δὲ πένης διὰ τῆς πενίας ταπεινοφρονεῖν ἐκδιδάσκεται. Γενεὰ σοφίας, φόβος κυρίου: Αὗται αἱ γενέσεις Νῶε· αὗται αἱ γενέσεις Ἀβραάμ. Τρίβολοι καὶ παγίδες ἐν ὁδοῖς σκολιαῖς: Καὶ ὁ κύριος τῷ Ἀδὰμ φησίν· Ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους ἀνατελεῖ σοι ἡ γῆ, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἡ ψυχή. ἀκάνθας δὲ καὶ τριβόλους λέγει τὰς ἁμαρτίας, ἀφ' ὧν καὶ ὁ στέφανος ἐπλάκη τοῦ Χριστοῦ· αὐτὸς γὰρ ἦρεν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου. Πλούσιοι πτωχῶν ἄρξουσιν: Ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τῷ μέλλοντι οἱ ἐν παντὶ πλουτισθέντες, ἐν πάσῃ γνώσει καὶ 105 πάσῃ σοφίᾳ, ἄρξουσι τῶν ἀκαθάρτων καὶ ἐστερημένων τούτου τοῦ πλούτου. τίνες δὲ οἱ οἰκέται καὶ τίνες οἱ δεσπόται, νῦν οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον δημοσιεύειν, διὰ τὸ εἶναι τὸν περὶ αὐτῶν λόγον μυστικὸν καὶ βαθύτερον. Ματαιότητα δὲ ἔργων αὐτοῦ συντελέσει: Τὴν ματαιότητα τῶν ἔργων διὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς ὁ κύριος καὶ τῆς γνώσεως συντελεῖ. Νίκην καὶ τιμὴν περιποιεῖται ὁ τὰ (edd. om.) δῶρα διδούς: ∆ῶρα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὰς ἀρετὰς ὀνομάζει, δι' ὧν νικῶν τὸν διάβολον τίμιον ἑαυτὸν παρέχει τῷ θεῷ, καὶ ἀφαιρεῖται τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν ἀπὸ τῶν κτησαμένων, αὐτὴν δαιμόνων. Ἔκβαλε λοιμὸν ἐκ συνεδρίας (edd. ἐκ συνεδρίου λοιμ.), καὶ συνεξελεύσεται αὐτῷ νεῖκος: Τὴν χειρίστην κατάστασιν συνέδριον εἶπεν, ἀφ' ἧς ὁ σοφὸς Σολομὼν ἐκβάλλεσθαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον βούλεται διὰ πνευματικῆς διδασκαλίας· τὸ δὲ νεῖκος τὴν φιλονεικίαν σημαίνει. δύναται δὲ λοιμὸν καὶ τὸν διάβολον λέγειν, ὃν δεῖ ἀποδιώκειν τῆς ψυχῆς· ἐὰν γὰρ καθίσῃ ἐν αὐτῇ, διὰ τῆς ἀκαθαρσίας πάντας τοὺς ὀρθοὺς λογισμοὺς ἀτιμάζει. συνέδριον δὲ καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος τὴν ψυχὴν ἀποδείκνυσι, δι' ὧν κατηγοροῦντας λογισμοὺς εἰσάγει καὶ ἀπολογουμένους· Μεταξὺ γάρ φησιν ἀλλήλων τῶν λογισμῶν κατηγορούντων ἢ καὶ ἀπολογουμένων. ὅπου δὲ κατηγορία καὶ ἀπολογία, ἐκεῖ καὶ συνέδριον. Χείλεσι ποιμαίνει βασιλεύς: Ὁ διατηρῶν τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν κύριος, αὐτὸς καὶ διὰ τῆς πνευματικῆς γνώσεως ποιμαίνει ἡμᾶς, ἥντινα γνῶσιν φαυλίζει ὁ παραβαίνων τὸν νόμον αὐτοῦ. σημειωτέον δὲ ὅτι βασιλεὺς ὢν ὁ Χριστὸς λέγεται διὰ τῆς 16 συγκαταβάσεως ποιμαίνειν ἡμᾶς· Ἐγὼ γάρ φησιν εἰμὶ ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός. εἰ δὲ βασιλεὺς μέν ἐστι βασιλευόντων, ποιμὴν δὲ προβάτων, ἔσται ποτὲ μόνον βασιλεὺς τῶν προβάτων εἰς τὸ βασιλικὸν μεταβάντων ἀξίωμα. Προφασίζεται καὶ λέγει ὀκνηρός· Λέων ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς: Ὁ ἐχθρὸς ἡμῶν διάβολος ὡς λέων περιέρχεται ζητῶν τίνα καταπίῃ· ὅντινα φοβούμενος ὁ ὀκνηρὸς πρὸς τὴν ἐργασίαν τῶν ἀρετῶν ἀναδύεται. Ὁ δὲ μισηθεὶς ὑπὸ κυρίου ἐμπεσεῖται εἰς αὐτόν: Ὁ Ἰὼβ οὐ μισηθεὶς ὑπὸ κυρίου ἀλλὰ δοκιμῆς ἕνεκεν ἐμπέπτωκεν εἰς αὐτόν. Ῥάβδος δὲ καὶ παιδεία μακρὰν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ: Μακρὰν ἀπὸ τῆς καρδίας τοῦ ἄφρονός ἐστιν ἡ ῥάβδος ἡ ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαί. 106 Ὁ συκοφαντῶν πτωχὸν (edd. πένητα) πολλὰ ποιεῖ τὰ ἑαυτοῦ κακά: Ὥσπερ ὁ διάβολος συκοφαντεῖ ἡμᾶς λαμβάνων παρ' ἡμῶν τὰς ἀρετὰς ἃς μὴ δέδωκεν ἡμῖν, οὕτως καὶ ἡμεῖς συκοφαντοῦμεν αὐτὸν λαμβάνοντες παρ' αὐτοῦ τὰς κακίας ἃς μὴ δεδώκαμεν αὐτῷ. καὶ καθὸ μὲν λαμβάνομεν παρ' αὐτοῦ τὰς κακίας, ὡς παρὰ πένητος ἐν ἀρεταῖς λαμβάνομεν· καθὸ δὲ τὰς ἀρετὰς ἡμῶν διδόαμεν αὐτῷ ἐπ' ἐλαττώσει ἡμῶν, ὡς πλουσίῳ ἐν κακίᾳ διδόαμεν. ἔλεγεν δέ τις τῶν γερόντων, ὅτι ἡμεῖς ἐσμὲν οἱ συκοφάνται οἱ Χριστὸν συκοφαντοῦντες, πτωχεύσαντα δι' ἡμᾶς καὶ μηδὲν ὀφείλοντα ἡμῖν, καὶ λαμβάνοντες παρ' αὐτοῦ πολλὰ καὶ διδόντες τῷ σατανᾷ ἐπὶ ταπεινώσει τῶν ἡμετέρων ψυχῶν. Παράβαλε σὸν οὖς λόγοις σοφῶν: Οὗτος ἀκούει τῶν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγων, ὁ ποιῶν τὰ προστασσόμενα ὑπ' αὐτῶν· οὐ γὰρ οἱ ἀκροαταὶ νόμου δίκαιοι παρὰ θεῷ, ἀλλ' οἱ ποιηταὶ τοῦ νόμου δικαιωθήσονται. Καὶ σὺ δὲ ἀπόγραψαι αὐτὰ σεαυτῷ τρισσῶς ἐν βουλῇ καὶ γνώσει (edd. εἰς βουλὴν κ. γνῶσιν) ἐπὶ τὸ πλάτος τῆς καρδίας σου: Ὁ πλατύνας διὰ τῆς καθαρότητος τὴν
The Proverbial Exegesis§16
16His heart will perceive the words of God, both the practical, the natural, and the theological. For every matter according to the Scripture is divided into three parts: ethical, natural, and theological; and the proverbs follow the first, the Preacher the second, and the songs of the senseless the third.
Do not give yourself as a guarantee, being ashamed of your face. Those who welcome evil thoughts and honor the wicked should strive for how much power through good thoughts can restore the bad; for if they are not able to do this, they will receive the layer under the sides of the soul, which is virtue; for this is called the garment of the mind standing in righteousness, but for the one having fallen through evil thoughts, it is called a cushion. Do not shift eternal boundaries, which your fathers set. He who shifts the boundaries of godliness demonstrates either superstition or impiety; and he who shifts the boundaries of courage achieves either audacity or cowardice. Likewise also concerning the other virtues and concerning the dogmas and concerning faith itself: it must be perceived; but above all this must be kept concerning the Holy Trinity; for he who does not theologize divides the Holy Spirit by baptism; and he who names others as gods brings the multitude into gods. And if you are more unlearned, do not desire his bonds: for not all contain the more mystical intellect of the Scripture. For these things have the life of falsehood: it is necessary that the divine Scripture be perceived intellectually and spiritually; for the sensory knowledge according to history is not true.
Do not join a man with a basket. If the basket eats the wheat of impiety and drinks lawless wine, one must not join with it; therefore it is not right to be impious and lawless; for these vices defile spiritual knowledge. Say nothing to the ears of a fool: say nothing sensible, that is, deep and mystical; for it is not necessary to cast pearls before swine (Matt 7:6). Do not enter into the property of orphans: wickedness is the property of orphans, through which they were deprived of the Savior in the heavens. But rather be in the fear of the Lord all the day (Ps 112:1): if everyone turns away from evil through the fear of the Lord, it advises well to turn us away from...
from all evil. For if you keep these things, you will have offspring (cf. Alex. cod.): 'The righteous thoughts and the spiritual contemplations are offspring,' he said to the mind; therefore also a soul is barren which does not have these offspring, which it is nature to bring forth from the spiritual bride. And everyone who is sleepy will dress in rags: There is no wedding garment torn and in rags. And do not despise that your mother has become old: I heard one of the elders saying the soul is the mother of the mind; for this mother he says leads the mind into light through the practical virtues; but he called the passive part of the soul 'the soul', which is divided into spirit and desire; for through courage, he says, and temperance, we acquire wisdom and knowledge of God; and courage and temperance are virtues of spirit and desire.
Do not get drunk with wine: These wines are from the vine of Sodom. Do not talk with men, but talk in walks: A mind talking in walks walks worthily of the calling wherewith it was called. For if you give your eyes to the bowls and the cups: Sin according to intellect resembles a bowl, but according to energy a cup. Later you will walk more nakedly than the proud: The proud person knocks much and does not open the place which he knocks at. But to the disciples the Lord says: Knock, and it shall be opened to you (Matt 7:7). Your eyes, when they see something foreign, then your mouth will speak crookedly: A mind having received a foreign thought will meditate on evil logismoi; but the one having kept himself will inherit life.
And like a pilot in much swell: Being tossed about by every wind of teaching. When will it be dawn?: The dawn of the soul is the knowledge of sin. After guidance comes war: Those shipwrecking regarding the faith do not fight with the spirits opposing theology after guidance; but it is possible to say this same thing regarding every virtue; for there is also shipwreck regarding temperance and regarding love and regarding freedom from greed, and regarding every dogma similarly a shipwreck happens to the catholic and apostolic church. And if it is necessary to fight with the opponents after guidance, life on the earth is near us like a naval battle. In gates the wise do not turn away from the mouth (Prov 31:23).
Greek · §16
καρδίαν αὐτοῦ νοήσει τοὺς τοῦ θεοῦ λόγους, τούς τε πρακτικοὺς καὶ τοὺς φυσικοὺς καὶ τοὺς θεολογικούς· πᾶσα γὰρ ἡ κατὰ τὴν γραφὴν πραγματεία τέμνεται τριχῶς, εἰς ἠθικὴν καὶ φυσικὴν καὶ θεολογικήν· καὶ ἀκολουθεῖ τῇ μὲν πρώτῃ αἱ παροιμίαι, τῇ δὲ δευτέρᾳ ὁ ἐκκλησιαστής, τῇ δὲ τρίτῃ τὰ ἄσματα τῶν ἀσμάτων. Μὴ δίδου σεαυτὸν εἰς ἐγγύην, αἰσχυνόμενος πρόσωπον: Οἱ τοὺς φαύλους ἀναδεχόμενοι λογισμοὺς καὶ τούτῳ τιμῶντες τὸν πονηρὸν σπουδαζέτωσαν ὅση δύναμις διὰ τῶν ἀγαθῶν λογισμῶν ἀποδιδόναι τοὺς χείρονας· ἐὰν γὰρ μὴ ἰσχύσωσι τοῦτο ποιῆσαι, λήψονται τὸ στρῶμα τὸ ὑπὸ τὰς πλευρὰς τῆς ψυχῆς, τοῦτ' ἔστι τὴν ἀρετήν· αὕτη γὰρ τοῦ μὲν ἑστῶτος ἐν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ νοῦ ἱμάτιον λέγεται, τοῦ δὲ λοιπὸν πεσόντος διὰ τῶν φαύλων λογισμῶν ὑπόστρωμα καλεῖται. Μὴ μέταιρε ὅρια αἰώνια, ἃ ἔθεντο οἱ πατέρες σου: Ὁ μετατιθεὶς τὰ ὅρια τῆς θεοσεβείας δεισιδαιμονίαν ἢ ἀσέβειαν αὐτὴν ἀποδείκνυσι· καὶ ὁ μετατιθεὶς τὰ ὅρια τῆς ἀνδρείας θρασύτητα ἢ δειλίαν αὐτὴν ἀπεργάζεται. ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀρετῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν δογμάτων καὶ ἐπ' αὐτῆς τῆς πίστεως· νοητέον· μάλιστα δὲ τοῦτο τηρητέον ἐπὶ τῆς ἁγίας τριάδος· ὁ γὰρ μὴ θεολογῶν τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον διαλύει τὸ βάπτισμα· ὁ δὲ καὶ ἄλλους τινὰς ὀνομάζων θεοὺς δῆμον εἰσάγει θεῶν. Εἰ δὲ ἀπληστότερος εἶ, μὴ ἐπιθύμει τῶν ἐδεσμάτων αὐτοῦ: Οὐ γὰρ πάντες χωροῦσι τὴν μυστικωτέραν διάνοιαν τῆς γραφῆς. 107 Ταῦτα γὰρ ἔχεται ζωῆς ψευδοῦς: ∆εῖ τὴν θείαν γραφὴν νοητῶς νοεῖσθαι καὶ πνευματικῶς· ἡ γὰρ κατὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν αἰσθητὴ γνῶσις οὐκ ἔστιν ἀληθής. Μὴ συνδείπνει ἀνδρὶ βασκάνῳ: Εἰ ὁ βάσκανος σῖτα ἀσεβείας ἐσθίει καὶ οἴνῳ παρανόμῳ μεθύσκεται, οὐ δεῖ δὲ συνδείπνειν τούτῳ, οὐ χρὴ ἄρα εἶναι ἀσεβῆ καὶ παράνομον· αὗται γὰρ αἱ κακίαι λυμαίνονται γνῶσιν πνευματικήν. Εἰς ὦτα ἄφρονος μηθὲν (edd. μηδὲν) λέγε: Μηθὲν λέγε συνετόν, τοῦτ' ἔστιν βαθὺ καὶ μυστικόν· οὐ δεῖ γὰρ βάλλειν τὰς μαργαρίτας ἔμπροσθεν τῶν χοίρων. Εἰς δὲ κτῆμα ὀρφανῶν μὴ εἰσέλθῃς: Κτῆμα ὀρφανῶν ἡ κακία ἐστίν, δι' ἣν ἐστερήθησαν τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς σωτῆρος. Ἀλλ' ἢ ἐν φόβῳ κυρίου ἴσθι ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν: Εἰ τῷ φόβῳ κυρίου ἐκκλίνει πᾶς ἀπὸ κακοῦ, καλῶς παραινεῖ διὰ παντὸς τοῦ βίου ἐκκλίνειν ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ παντὸς κακοῦ. Ἐὰν γὰρ 17 τηρήσῃς ταῦτα (edd. αὐτά), ἔσται σοι ἔγγονα (ut cod. Alex.): Τοὺς ὀρθοὺς λογισμοὺς καὶ τὰ πνευματικὰ θεωρήματα ἔγγονα εἶπεν τοῦ νοῦ· διὸ καὶ ἄτεκνός ἐστιν ψυχὴ ἡ μὴ ἔχουσα ταῦτα τὰ ἔγγονα, ἅπερ πέφυκε τίκτεσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ πνευματικοῦ νυμφίου. Καὶ ῥακώδη ἐνδύσεται πᾶς ὑπνώδης: Οὐκ ἔστιν ἔνδυμα γάμου διερρηγμένον ἱμάτιον καὶ ῥακῶδες. Καὶ μὴ καταφρόνει ὅτι γεγήρακεν ἡ μήτηρ σου: Ἤκουσά τινος τῶν γερόντων τὴν ψυχὴν εἰπόντος μητέρα τοῦ νοῦ· αὕτη γάρ φησιν διὰ τῶν πρακτικῶν ἀρετῶν εἰς φῶς προάγει τὸν νοῦν· ψυχὴν δὲ ἔλεγεν τὸ παθητικὸν μέρος τῆς ψυχῆς, ὅπερ διαιρεῖται εἰς θυμὸν καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν· διὰ γὰρ ἀνδρείας, φησίν, καὶ σωφροσύνης κτώμεθα σοφίαν καὶ γνῶσιν θεοῦ· ἀνδρεία δὲ καὶ σωφροσύνη θυμοῦ καὶ ἐπιθυμίας εἰσὶν ἀρεταί. Μὴ μεθύσκεσθε οἴνῳ: Οἱ οἶνοι οὗτοι ἐκ τῆς Σοδομιτικῆς εἰσὶν ἀμπέλου. 108 Μὴ ὁμιλεῖτε ἀνθρώποις, καὶ ὁμιλεῖτε ἐν περιπάτοις: Νοῦς ὁμιλῶν ἐν περιπάτοις ἀξίως περιπατεῖ τῆς κλήσεως ἧς ἐκλήθη. Ἐὰν γὰρ εἰς τὰς φιάλας καὶ τὰ ποτήρια δῷς τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς σου: Ἡ μὲν κατὰ διάνοιαν ἁμαρτία ἔοικε φιάλῃ, ἡ δὲ κατ' ἐνέργειαν ποτηρίῳ. Ὕστερον περιπατήσεις γυμνότερος ὑπέρου: Πολλὰ κρούει τὸ ὕπερον καὶ οὐκ ἀνοίγει τὸν τόπον ὃν κρούει. τοῖς δὲ μαθηταῖς ὁ κύριος φησίν· Κρούετε, καὶ ἀνοιγήσεται ὑμῖν. Οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου ὅταν ἴδωσιν ἀλλοτρίαν, τὸ στόμα σου τότε λαλήσει σκολιά: Νοῦς δεξάμενος ἀλλότριον νόημα μελετήσει λογισμοὺς κακούς· ὁ δὲ τηρήσας ἑαυτὸν κληρονομήσει ζωήν. Καὶ ὥσπερ κυβερνήτης ἐν πολλῷ κλύδωνι: Παντὶ ἀνέμῳ τῆς διδασκαλίας περιφερόμενος. Πότε ὄρθρος ἔσται: Ὄρθρος ψυχῆς ἐστὶν ἐπίγνωσις ἁμαρτίας. Μετὰ κυβερνήσεως γίνεται πόλεμος: Οἱ περὶ τὴν πίστιν ναυαγοῦντες οὐ μετὰ κυβερνήσεως πολεμοῦσιν τοῖς πνεύμασι τοῖς ἀντικειμένοις τῇ θεολογίᾳ. δυνατὸν δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ πάσης ἀρετῆς τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο εἰπεῖν· ἔστιν γὰρ καὶ περὶ σωφροσύνην ναυάγιον καὶ περὶ ἀγάπην καὶ περὶ ἀφιλαργυρίαν, καὶ περὶ ἕκαστον δὲ δόγμα ὁμοίως τῆς καθολικῆς καὶ ἀποστολικῆς ἐκκλησίας συμβαίνει ναυάγιον. εἰ δὲ μετὰ κυβερνήσεως πολεμεῖν δεῖ τοῖς ἀντικειμένοις, ναυμαχίᾳ παραπλήσιος ἡμῶν ἐστὶν ὁ βίος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Ἐν πύλαις σοφοὶ οὐκ ἐκκλίνουσιν ἐκ στόματος (edd. add.
Exposition of Proverbs§§17–19
17Of the Lord: The gates of the wise are the practical virtues, through which the wisdom of God enters. But impurity will be inflicted upon a man of misfortune: If virtue diminishes evil, and virtue makes evil manifest, this will happen in the age to come until evil ceases; for it has been set to be said that 'will be inflicted' instead of 'will be corrupted'; and impurity is corrupted either by practical virtue or by the punishment of severity. 'Save those being led to death and being killed without mercy, do not spare' (Psalm 85:13). Use this word for those being granted knowledge and those being negligent of the teaching, many of whom are being led by evil into death.
'Eat honey, my son, for it is a good thing, so that your throat may be sweetened' (Proverbs 24:13). He who is being benefited from the divine writings eats honey; but he who casts out the words from the things themselves, from which even the holy prophets and apostles have received, chews wax; and to eat honey is possible for everyone who wishes, but the wax is for the pure alone.
'Do not bring near the impious thinking you are just': Do not betray God for the sake of pleasure; for this one is thought to be just, and he will by no means abandon you. 'If your enemy falls, do not rejoice': For God turns his wrath away from the fallen one, having had mercy on him; but he is angry with the one who has been puffed up over the fall of his enemy; for everyone who rejoices is like the devil, who does not want all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. It should be noted, however, that he spoke of a man here as the enemy, for whom the Lord has enjoined us to pray in the Gospels (Matthew 5:44).
'For they will not bear children of the wicked': Evil things will not produce virtues and right doctrines, for these are the offspring of the soul, because they do not fear the Lord; but those being in the fear of the Lord will have offspring all day long, and their hope will not depart. 'Fear the Lord, my son, and fear a king' (Proverbs 14:26): In order that they may know you alone...
deprivation of apatheia
18Regarding his words: For it is not possible to add to the law of the Lord, nor is it possible to take away from it. 'Make me to have long false words and long pseudonymous knowledge.' Lest, having been filled with falsehood, I become so and say, 'Who sees me?' Lest—he says—having been filled, a listener becomes arrogant, and I say, 'No one shall know my own wisdom'; lest, having been filled with unapproachable knowledge, I appear to men as a liar, saying such things as those provided with blood and flesh are not able to know.
And the seventh proverb is also well-placed: 'Lest, being in need, I steal and swear by the name of God' (Matt 5:35); for someone steals foreign theories in order to fill a starving mind. But this happened before the arrival of the Savior; but now Paul says: 'Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him work righteousness, so that having acquired knowledge he may give to the one in need' (Eph 4:28); for what and what is it that is not ours, that we should steal, we who have believed in Christ? (1 Cor 6:7). For all things are ours, but we are Christ's, through whom all things came to be, and Christ is God's.
Or being in need, I will steal and swear by the name of my God: This one steals knowledge, not he who takes that of the predecessor, but he who subtracts from pseudonymous knowledge. For all those who have believed in Christ, receiving theories from the holy prophets and apostles, are not called thieves of foreign theories, but rather heirs of the patrimonial goods.
Do not deliver a servant into the hands of a master: To a fleeing mind, do not again deliver it to evil, if indeed everyone doing sin is a slave of sin; and sin is now called the devil, who works sin. But upon them shall come a good blessing: The good blessing is the intelligible blessing, which is distinguished from the sensible blessing.
Prepare your works for the exodus and prepare for the field: Our Lord in the Gospels named the world a field, but Solomon now has spoken of the field as the theory of the world; but the one in the Gospels, the field, is that of the composition of a human soul and body, for it is sensible; whereas the one indicated here, the field, is of the mind alone, being intelligible and composed from the words of this world, into which hearts enter.
Pure things. And you will not build your house: for a house is built with wisdom; but wisdom will not enter into a soul that is ill-skilled. And the walls of its stones are being undermined: apathy of a rational soul, established from the practical virtues, is a wall.
Mocking the eye of a father and dishonoring the aged mother, crows cut him out of the ravines (Proverbs 30:17): these crows mystically nourish the righteous, but they slaughter the unrighteous, gouging out the eyes of injustice, because they mocked the Father and God of all, and dishonored the ancient knowledge that begot them; and regarding the crows that gouge out the eyes of the impious, he called them ravens, but regarding those devouring him entirely, he named them eagles, because they believe in a partial purification for the former, and a total purification for the latter.
And a goat is considered a scapegoat: if the unpurified are standing as rivals on the left side of the Savior, the goat leads these; lest the goat now signifies the devil.
And the weak will not be able to judge rightly: they will not be able to teach rightly (Proverbs 31:9). Give drink to those in sorrows (Proverbs 31:9): he who is intoxicated by the potency of the master's house forgets his pains. And distinguish between the poor and the weak: poor means one lacking in knowledge, and weak means the unpurified.
The glory of God hides a word (Psalm 103:37): he who possesses the glory of God, he called the glory of God, and he who possesses the glory of the heavenly King, he named the glory of a king; for these hide the word of God within themselves, so that they might not sin, and they honor the commands through which they perform them. Often we have noted this, that those possessing virtues and evils are named by the virtues and the evils; thus, 'The Lord is just and loved justice,' instead of 'the just'; and 'The fear of the Lord hates injustice, insolence, and pride,' that is, the unjust, the insolent, and the proud. And here again he named the one possessing the glory of God and the one possessing the glory of the king, the glory of God and the glory of a king. Or perhaps he says 'the glory of God' regarding the one glorifying God, and 'the glory of a king' regarding the one glorifying the king, so that the saying might be such: the one glorifying God hides his word, and the one...
19He who honors the king honors his commands; for he who dishonors him, through the transgression of the law, dishonors him. Cast away the impious from the presence of a king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.
By the spiritual word, having killed the old man, the one decaying according to the desires of deception, he establishes his own mind in righteousness, which is said to be the throne of God; for nowhere else has wisdom, knowledge, and righteousness been permitted to sit, except in the rational nature; and all these are Christ. Nor does he stand in the places of the powerful.
Do not say, 'Above the stars I will set my throne, I shall be like the Most High' (Ps 113:4), for it is better to be spoken of regarding you by Zeus, and God exalted him, and granted him a name above every name (Acts 17:29). Do not fall headlong into battle too quickly: through battle he struck the evil. Whenever your friend reproaches you, withdraw to the rear, do not despise: and the Savior in the Gospels reproaches the cities in which most of his powers have become, because they did not repent: 'Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!' (Matt 11:21). Grace and friendship set free, which you have kept for yourself, so that you may not become reproachable.
Solomon more densely remembers friend and friendship; therefore it is good now to attend to the name, what friendship intends to signify: for he says, 'Grace and friendship set free.' And yet the Savior in the Gospels says to the Jews who had believed in him: 'If you remain in my word, truly you are my disciples, and the truth will set you free' (John 8:31-32). And Paul again writes: 'Christ has freed us from the curse of the law' (Gal 3:13). If therefore friendship sets free, and the truth sets free, and the Savior sets free, Christ is the truth and the friendship; whence also all those having the knowledge of Christ are friends of one another.
Thus also the Savior has called the disciples friends, and John was a friend of the Bridegroom, and Moses and all the saints; and by this only friendship are his friends and friends of one another. But guard your paths with good sociality: the one having been taught concerning virtues and acting according to them guards his paths with good sociality.
A golden apple in a sardius setting: Just as a golden apple fits a sardius, so knowledge of God fits a pure soul. Before a golden and sardius setting, much wealth is laid out; a wise word for obedient ears: Cast a precious sardius before a golden setting, and the wisdom of the Lord into an impassive mind. Just as the departure of snow in a drought benefits against a heat: Just as snow cools a heatwave, so the knowledge of saints dissolves the toil of the soul.
And a soft tongue crushes bones: Now he named the irascible soul soft, which crushes the bones that were endowed to speak; Lord, who is like you? Bring a small amount with your foot to your friend: It is necessary to approach theological matters sparingly and not to do this densely, lest we say something of the unsaid things concerning God, and as impious ones fall away from knowledge, the mind being continuously unable to contemplate through its own weakness by such a theory. The way of evil and the path of lawlessness shall perish in an evil day: This is, that evil and lawlessness shall perish in the day of judgment.
Thus a fallen passion grieves the heart in the body: The passions falling upon the heart are evils; of which, by deprivation, the impassive one is named. Thus the sorrow of a man harms the heart: Sorrow is a choice, a deprivation of corrupt pleasure; but sorrow is praiseworthy, a deprivation of virtues and knowledge of God. For having done this, you will heap coals of fire upon his head: Through kindness and goodwill, purifying his ruling principle. But a shameless face provokes the tongue: He said the devil is a shameless face, provoking the soul; and everywhere Solomon says the tongue is the mind; therefore, this is not good to feel shame of the face in judgment.
Good news from afar from the earth: Thus knowledge of God from the earth is good. Thus the unseemly has fallen against the impious: Regarding the thoughts of the mind, its falls are called so, and its uprisings, and its descent, and its standing, and others a walk and some of its obstacles are named; and others hard and soft, and fragrant and malodorous, and sweet and bitter, and smooth and straight and crooked; and again some of its things are called thorns and...
Greek · §§17–19
§17
κυρίου): Αἱ πύλαι τῶν σοφῶν αἱ πρακτικαί εἰσιν ἀρεταί, δι' ὧν εἰσέρχεται σοφία θεοῦ. Ἀκαθαρσία δὲ λοιμῷ ἀνδρὶ ἐμμολυνθήσεται: Εἰ ἀρετὴν ἡ κακία μειοῖ, καὶ τὴν κακίαν δηλονότι ἡ ἀρετὴ διαφθείρει· τοῦτο δὲ γενήσεται ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τῷ μέλλοντι ἕως ἂν ἐκλείπῃ ἡ κακία· τὸ γὰρ Ἐμμολυν109 θήσεται ἀντὶ τοῦ ∆ιαφθαρήσεται τέθεικεν· διαφθείρεται δὲ ἀκαθαρσία ἤτοι ὑπὸ πρακτικῆς ἢ ὑπὸ δριμείας 109 κολάσεως. Ῥῦσαι ἀγομένους εἰς θάνατον καὶ ἐκπρίου κτεινομένους, μὴ φείσῃ: Χρηστέον τούτῳ τῷ ῥητῷ πρὸς τοὺς καταξιωθέντας γνώσεως καὶ ἀμελοῦντας τῆς διδασκαλίας, πολλῶν ἀπαγομένων ὑπὸ τῆς κακίας εἰς θάνατον. Φάγε μέλι υἱέ, ἀγαθὸν γὰρ κηρίον, ἵνα γλυκανθῇ ὁ λάρυγξ σου: Ἐσθίει μέλι ὁ ἀπὸ τῶν θείων γραφῶν ὠφελούμενος· ὁ δ' ἀπ' αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων ἐκβάλλων τοὺς λόγους, ἀφ' ὧν εἰλήφασι καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι προφῆται καὶ ἀπόστολοι, τρώγει κηρίον· καὶ τὸ μὲν φαγεῖν μέλι παντὸς τοῦ βουλομένου ἐστίν, τὸ δὲ κηρίον μόνον τοῦ καθαροῦ. Μὴ προσαγάγῃς ἀσεβῆ νομῇ δικαίου: Μὴ ἕνεκεν ἡδονῆς προδῷς τὸν θεόν· οὗτος γὰρ νομὴ δικαίου, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐγκαταλείπῃ σε. Ἐὰν πέσῃ ὁ ἐχθρός σου, μὴ ἐπιχαρῇς: Ἀποστρέφει μὲν ὁ θεὸς τὸν θυμὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ πεσόντος, ἐλεήσας αὐτόν· ὀργίζεται δὲ τῷ ἐπαρθέντι ἐπὶ τῷ πτώματι τοῦ ἐχθροῦ αὐτοῦ· πᾶς γὰρ ὁ ἐπιχαίρων ἀπολλυμένῃ ψυχῇ ὅμοιός ἐστιν τῷ διαβόλῳ τῷ μὴ θέλοντι πάντας ἀνθρώπους σωθῆναι καὶ εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν. σημειωτέον δὲ ὅτι ἄνθρωπον ἐνταῦθα εἴρηκε τὸν ἐχθρόν, ὑπὲρ οὗ καὶ προσεύχεσθαι ἡμᾶς νενομοθέτηκεν ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις ὁ κύριος. Οὐ γὰρ μὴ γένωνται ἔγγονα πονηρῶν: Οὐ γεννήσουσι πονηροὶ ἀρετὰς καὶ δόγματα ὀρθά, ταῦτα γάρ ἐστι γεννήματα τῆς ψυχῆς, διὰ τὸ μὴ φοβεῖσθαι αὐτοὺς τὸν κύριον· οἱ δὲ ὄντες ἐν φόβῳ κυρίου ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἕξουσιν ἔγγονα, καὶ 18 ἡ ἐλπὶς αὐτῶν οὐκ ἀποστήσεται. Φοβοῦ τὸν κύριον, υἱέ μου, καὶ βασιλέα: Ἵνα γινώσκωσί σε τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεόν, καὶ ὃν ἀπέστειλας Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν. Τὰς δὲ τιμωρίας ἀμφοτέρων τίς γνώσεται: Πῶς οὖν ὁ σωτὴρ ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις φησίν· Ὁ πατὴρ κρίνει οὐδένα, ἀλλὰ πᾶσαν τὴν κρίσιν δέδωκεν τῷ υἱῷ; ἢ ἄλλο μέν ἐστιν τιμωρία, ἄλλο δὲ κρίσις· καὶ τιμωρία μέν ἐστιν στέρησις ἀπαθείας καὶ γνώσεως θεοῦ μετ' ὀδύνης σωματικῆς· κρίσις δέ ἐστιν γένεσις αἰῶνος κατ' ἀναλογίαν ἑκάστῳ τῶν λογικῶν σωμάτων διανέμοντος. 110 Μάχαιρα γὰρ γλῶσσα βασιλέως, καὶ οὐ σαρκίνη: Καὶ τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ πνεύματος, ὅ ἐστιν ῥῆμα θεοῦ. τὸ δὲ Οὐ σαρκίνη ἀντὶ τοῦ Οὐκ αἰσθητή. Ἐὰν γὰρ ὀξυνθῇ ὁ θυμὸς αὐτοῦ, σὺν νεύροις ἀνθρώπους ἀναλίσκει: Τοὺς παλαιοὺς ἀνθρώπους τοὺς φθειρομένους κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ἀπάτης ἀναλίσκει ἡ μάχαιρα τοῦ θεοῦ, ἵν' ἀποθέμενοι τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐνδύσονται τὸν νέον τὸν κατὰ θεὸν κτισθέντα. Καὶ συγκαίει ὥσπερ φλόξ: Πῦρ γὰρ ἦλθον βαλεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. Ὥστε ἄβρωτα εἶναι νεοσσοῖς ἀετῶν: Οὗτος ἄβρωτός ἐστι τοῖς δαίμοσιν, ὁ ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου καθαρθεὶς καὶ ἀπεχόμενος ἀπὸ πάσης κακίας. Ἀφρονέστατος γάρ εἰμι πάντων ἀνθρώπων: Ἀφρονέστατον ἑαυτὸν εἶπεν κατὰ στέρησιν τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φρονήσεως. Τίς ἀνέβη εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ κατέβη: Οὐδεὶς ἀναβέβηκεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἄνω, εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὁ ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κατελθών. Τίς συνήγαγεν ἀνέμους ἐν κόλπῳ: Τίς πίστει ἢ πάντως συνήγαγε τοὺς ἀπ' ἀνατολῶν καὶ δυσμῶν καὶ βορρᾶ καὶ θαλάσσης ἐν τῇ γνώσει τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ δέδωκεν αὐτοῖς θεωρίαν πνευματικὴν ἐναποθεῖναι ταῖς ἀρεταῖς; καὶ ἄλλως, τίς διὰ τῆς ἀληθοῦς γνώσεως ἔκρυψε γνῶσιν ψευδῆς; Τίς συνέστρεψεν ὕδωρ ἐν ἱματίῳ: Τίς ἀληθῆ γνῶσιν ἐναπέθετο ταῖς ἀρεταῖς; Τίς ἐκράτησε πάντων τῶν ἄκρων τῆς γῆς: Τίς ἀπ' ἀνατολῶν καὶ δυσμῶν καὶ βορρᾶ καὶ θαλάσσης συνήγαγε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, πυκνώσας αὐτὰ ταῖς ἀρεταῖς καὶ τὸ ἐπουράνιον ὕδωρ ἐναποθέμενος τὸ ῥέον ἐκ τῆς πηγῆς τῆς ζωῆς. Μὴ προσθῇς τοῖς
§18
λόγοις αὐτοῦ: Τῷ γὰρ νόμῳ κυρίου οὐκ ἔστιν προσθεῖναι, καὶ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀφελεῖν. Μάταιον λόγον καὶ ψευδῆ μακράν μου ποίησον: Ψευδώνυμον γνῶσιν μακράν μου ποίησον. Ἵνα μὴ πλησθεὶς ψευδὴς γένωμαι καὶ εἴπω Τίς με ὁρᾷ: Ἵνα μή, φησίν, πλησθεὶς γνώσεως ἀκροατὴς ὑπερήφανος γένωμαι, καὶ εἴπω Οὐδεὶς τὴν ἐμὴν ἐπιγνώσεται σοφίαν· ἵνα μὴ πλησθεὶς ἀπροσίτου γνώσεως, ψεύστης τοῖς ἀνθρώποις φανῶ, τοιαῦτα λέγων ὁποῖα μὴ δύνανται γινώσκειν οἱ ἐνδεδεμένοι αἵματι καὶ σαρκί. καλῶς δὲ καὶ τὸ ἕξης προστέθειται, τὸ Ἵνα μὴ πενηθεὶς κλέψω καὶ ὀμόσω τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ· κλέπτει γάρ 111 τις ἀλλότρια θεωρήματα, ἵνα νοῦν ἐμπλήσῃ πεινῶντα. ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν πρὸ τῆς ἐπιδημίας τοῦ σωτῆρος ἐγίνετο· νυνὶ δὲ ὁ Παῦλος φησίν· Ὁ κλέπτων μηκέτι κλεπτέτω, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐργαζέτω δικαιοσύνην, ἵνα γνῶσιν κτησάμενος μεταδῶ καὶ τῷ χρείαν ἔχοντι τί γὰρ καὶ ἔστιν ὃ μή ἐστιν ἡμέτερον, ἵνα καὶ κλέψωμεν οἱ πεπιστευκότες Χριστῷ; πάντα γὰρ ἡμῶν ἐστίν, ἡμεῖς δὲ Χριστοῦ, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο, Χριστὸς δὲ θεοῦ. Ἢ πενόμενος κλέψω καὶ ὀμόσω τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ μου: Οὗτος κλέπτει γνῶσιν, οὐχ ὁ τὴν τοῦ προλαβόντος λαμβάνων, ἀλλ' ὁ ἐκ τῆς ψευδωνύμου ὑφαιρούμενος γνώσεως. καὶ γὰρ πάντες οἱ πεπιστευκότες Χριστῷ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν καὶ ἀποστόλων λαμβάνοντες θεωρήματα οὐ λέγονται κλέπται ἀλλοτρίων θεωρημάτων, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον κληρονόμοι πατρώων χρημάτων. Μὴ παραδῷς οἰκέτην εἰς χεῖρας δεσπότου: Φυγόντα νοῦν τὴν κακίαν μὴ πάλιν παραδῷς τῇ κακίᾳ, εἴπερ πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν δοῦλος ἐστὶν τῆς ἁμαρτίας· ἁμαρτία δὲ νῦν ὀνομάζεται ὁ ἐνεργῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν διάβολος. Ἐπ' αὐτοὺς δὲ ἥξει εὐλογία ἀγαθή: Ἡ εὐλογία ἡ ἀγαθὴ ἡ νοητή ἐστιν εὐλογία, ἥτις ἀντιδιαιρεῖται πρὸς τὴν αἰσθητὴν εὐλογίαν. Ἑτοίμαζε εἰς τὴν ἔξοδον τὰ ἔργα σου καὶ παρασκευάζου εἰς τὸν ἀγρόν: Ὁ μὲν κύριος ἡμῶν ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις ἀγρὸν τὸν κόσμον ὠνόμασεν, ὁ 19 δὲ Σολομὼν (cod. h. l. ῶν) ἀγρὸν νῦν εἴρηκεν τὴν θεωρίαν τοῦ κόσμου· ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις ἀγρὸς τοῦ συνεστῶτος ἐκ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος ἀνθρώπου ἐστίν, αἰσθητὸς γὰρ ἐστίν· ὁ δὲ ἐνταῦθα δηλούμενος ἀγρὸς τοῦ νοῦ μόνου ἐστίν, νοητὸς ὢν καὶ συνεστὼς ἐκ τῶν λόγων τούτου τοῦ κόσμου, εἰς ὃν καρδίαι εἰσβαίνουσι καθαραί. Καὶ ἀνοικοδομήσεις τὸν οἶκόν σου: Μετὰ γὰρ σοφίας οἰκοδομεῖται οἶκος· εἰς δὲ κακότεχνον ψυχὴν οὐκ εἰσελεύσεται σοφία. Οἱ δὲ φραγμοὶ τῶν λίθων αὐτοῦ κατασκάπτονται: Φραγμός ἐστιν ἀπάθεια ψυχῆς λογικῆς, ἐκ τῶν πρακτικῶν συνεστῶσα. 112 Ὀφθαλμὸν καταγελῶντα πατρὸς καὶ ἀτιμάζοντα γῆρας μητρός, ἐκκόψαισαν αὐτὸν κόρακες ἐκ τῶν φαράγγων: Οὗτοι οἱ κόρακες τοὺς μὲν δικαίους τρέφουσι μυστικῶς, τοὺς δὲ ἀδίκους κολάζουσι, τοὺς τῆς ἀδικίας ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐξορύττοντες, διότι τοῦ πάντων πατρὸς καὶ θεοῦ κατεγέλασαν, καὶ τῆν γεννῶσαν αὐτοὺς ἀρχαίαν γνῶσιν ἠτίμασαν· καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἐξορύσσοντας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τοῦ ἀσεβοῦς κόρακας εἶπεν, τοὺς δὲ ὅλον αὐτὸν κατεσθίοντας ὠνόμασεν ἀετούς, διὰ τὸ τοὺς μὲν τὴν μερικήν, τοὺς δὲ τὴν καθόλου κάθαρσιν πεπιστεῦσθαι. Καὶ τράγος ἡγούμενος αἰπολίου: Εἰ ἔριφοί εἰσιν οἱ ἀκάθαρτοι ἐξ ἀριστερῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἱστάμενοι, ὁ δὲ τράγος ἡγεῖται τούτων, μήποτε ὁ τράγος νῦν τὸν διάβολον σημαίνει. Καὶ ὀρθὰ κρίνειν οὐ μὴ δύνωνται πάντας (edd. non habent) τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς: Οὐ μὴ δύνωνται ὀρθῶς διδάσκειν. ∆ότε (edd. δίδοτε) μέθην τοῖς ἐν λύπαις: Ὁ μεθυσθεὶς ἀπὸ τῆς πιότητος τοῦ οἴκου κυρίου ἐπιλανθάνεται τῶν ὀδυνῶν. ∆ιάκρινε δὲ πένητα καὶ ἀσθενῆ: Πένητα λέγει τὸν ἐστερημένον τῆς γνώσεως, ἀσθενῆ δὲ τὸν ἀκάθαρτον. ∆όξα θεοῦ κρύπτει λόγον: Τὸν ἔχοντα τὴν δόξαν τοῦ θεοῦ δόξαν εἶπεν θεοῦ, καὶ τὸν ἔχοντα τὴν δόξαν τοῦ ἐπουρανίου βασιλέως δόξαν βασιλέως ὠνόμασεν· οὗτοι γὰρ κρύπτουσι τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον ἐν ἑαυτοῖς, ὅπως ἂν μὴ ἁμάρτωσι, καὶ τιμῶσι τὰ προστάγματα δι' ὧν ποιοῦσιν αὐτά. πολλάκις δὲ τοῦτο παρεσημειωσάμεθα, ὅτι ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρετῶν ὀνομάζονται καὶ τῶν κακιῶν οἱ ἔχοντες τὰς ἀρετὰς καὶ τὰς κακίας· οὕτω ∆ίκαιος κύριος καὶ δικαιοσύνας ἠγάπησεν, ἀντὶ τοῦ δικαίους· καὶ Φόβος κυρίου μισεῖ ἀδικίαν ὕβριν τε καὶ ὑπερηφανίαν, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἄδικον καὶ ὑβριστὴν καὶ ὑπερήφανον. καὶ ἐνταῦθα δὲ τὸν ἔχοντα τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ δόξαν καὶ τὸν ἔχοντα 113 τὴν δόξαν τοῦ βασιλέως δόξαν θεοῦ καὶ δόξαν βασιλέως ὠνόμασεν. ἢ τάχα δόξαν θεοῦ λέγει τὸν δοξάζοντα τὸν θεόν, καὶ δόξαν βασιλέως τὸν δοξάζοντα τὸν βασιλέα, ἵν' ᾖ τοιοῦτον τὸ λεγόμενον· ὁ δοξάζων τὸν θεὸν κρύπτει τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὁ
§19
δοξάζων τὸν βασιλέα τιμᾷ τὰ προστάγματα αὐτοῦ· ὁ γὰρ ἀτιμάζων αὐτόν, διὰ τῆς παραβάσεως τοῦ νόμου ἀτιμάζει αὐτόν. Κτεῖνε ἀσεβεῖς ἐκ προσώπου βασιλέως, καὶ κατορθώσει ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ ὁ θρόνος αὐτοῦ: Ὁ λόγῳ πνευματικῷ τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀποκτένων, τὸν φθειρόμενον κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ἀπάτης, κατορθοῖ ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ νοῦν, ὅστις λέγεται εἶναι θρόνος θεοῦ· οὐδαμοῦ γὰρ πέφυκεν ἀλλαχοῦ καθέζεσθαι σοφία καὶ γνῶσις καὶ δικαιοσύνη, εἰ μὴ ἐν φύσει λογικῇ· ταῦτα δὲ πάντα ἐστὶν ὁ Χριστός. Μηδὲ ἐν τόποις δυναστῶν ὑφίστασο: Μὴ εἴπῃς Ἐπάνω τῶν ἄστρων θήσομαι τὸν θρόνον μου, ἔσομαι ὅμοιος τῷ ὑψίστῳ· κρεῖσσον γὰρ τὸ ῥηθῆναι περὶ σοῦ τὸ ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσεν, καὶ ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα. Μὴ πρόπιπτε (edd. πρόσπιπτε) εἰς μάχην ταχύ: ∆ιὰ τῆς μάχης τὴν κακίαν ἠνίξατο. Ἡνίκα δ' ἂν ὀνειδίζει (edd. σε ὀνειδίσῃ) ὁ σὸς φίλος, ἀναχώρει εἰς τὰ 'πίσω, μὴ καταφρόνει: Καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις ὀνειδίζει ταῖς πόλεσιν, ἐν αἷς αἱ πλεῖσται αὐτοῦ δυνάμεις γεγόνασιν, ὅτι οὐ μετενόησαν, Οὐαί σοι Χωραζίν, Οὐαί σοι λέγων Βητσαϊδά (ita cod.) Χάρις καὶ φιλία ἐλευθεροῖ, ἃς τήρησον σεαυτῷ, ἵνα μὴ ἐπονείδιστος γένῃ: Πυκνότερον ὁ Σολομὼν 20 (ita rursus cod. ut solet) φίλου τε μέμνηται καὶ φιλίας· διὸ καλῶς ἔχει νῦν προσέχειν τῷ ὀνόματι, τί βούλεται αὐτῷ σημαίνειν ἡ φιλία· Χάρις γάρ φησιν καὶ φιλία ἐλευθεροῖ. καίτοι ὁ σωτὴρ ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις πρὸς τοὺς πεπιστευκότας αὐτῷ Ἰουδαίους φησίν· Ἐὰν ὑμεῖς μείνητε ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῷ ἐμῷ, ἀληθῶς μαθηταί μου ἐστέ, καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια ἐλευθερώσει ὑμᾶς. Παῦλος δὲ πάλιν γράφει· Χριστὸς ἡμᾶς ἠλευθέρωσεν ἐκ τῆς κατάρας τοῦ νόμου. εἰ οὖν ἡ φιλία ἐλευθεροῖ, καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια ἐλευθεροῖ, καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ ἐλευθεροῖ, Χριστός ἐστιν ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ φιλία· ὅθεν καὶ πάντες οἱ ἔχοντες τὴν γνῶσιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ φίλοι ἀλλήλων εἰσίν. οὕτω καὶ τοὺς μαθητὰς φίλους εἴρηκεν ὁ σωτήρ, καὶ Ἰωάννης φίλος ἦν τοῦ νυμφίου, Μωσῆς καὶ πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι· καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτης μόνον τῆς φιλίας οἱ τοῦ αὐτοῦ φίλοι καὶ ἀλλήλων εἰσὶν φίλοι. Ἀλλὰ φύλαξον τὰς ὁδούς σου εὐσυναλλάκτως: Ὁ διδαχθεὶς περὶ τῶν ἀρετῶν καὶ κατ' αὐτὰς ἐνεργῶν τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτοῦ φυλάσσει εὐσυναλλάκτως. 114 Μῆλον χρυσοῦν ἐν ὁρμίσκῳ σαρδίου: Ὥσπερ μῆλον χρυσέον ἁρμόζει σαρδίῳ, οὕτως γνῶσις θεοῦ ψυχῇ καθαρᾷ. Ἐνώτιον (edd. Εἰς ἐνώτ.) χρυσοῦν καὶ σάρδιον πολυτελὲς δέδεται· λόγος σοφὸς εἰς οὖς εὐήκοον: Ἔμβαλε σάρδιον πολυτελὲς εἰς ἐνώτιον χρυσοῦν, καὶ σοφίαν κυρίου εἰς νοῦν ἀπαθῆ. Ὥσπερ ἔξοδος χιόνος ἐν ἀμητῷ κατὰ καῦμα ὠφελεῖ: Ὥσπερ χιὼν ψύχει καύσωνα, οὕτως γνῶσις ἁγίων διαλύει κόπον ψυχῆς. Γλῶσσα δὲ μαλακὴ συντρίβει ὀστέα: Νῦν τὴν θυμώδη ψυχὴν ὠνόμασεν μαλακήν, ἥτις συντρίβει τὰ ὀστᾶ τὰ πεφυκότα λέγειν· Κύριε, τίς ὅμοιός σοι; Σπάνιον εἴσαγε σὸν πόδα πρὸς σὸν (edd. σεαυτοῦ) φίλον: Σπανίως δεῖ ἅπτεσθαι θεολογικῶν προβλημάτων καὶ μὴ πυκνῶς τοῦτο ποιεῖν, μήποτε εἴπωμέν τι τῶν οὐ λεγομένων ἐπὶ θεοῦ, καὶ ὡς ἀσεβοῦντες τῆς πνευματικῆς ἐκπέσωμεν γνώσεως, τοῦ νοῦ δι' οἰκείαν ἀσθενείαν συνεχῶς ἐνατενίζειν τῇ τοιαύτῃ θεωρίᾳ μὴ δυναμένου. Ὀδοὺς (ut cod. Alex, ed. Ro. ὁδὸς) κακοῦ καὶ ποὺς (ex οῦ corr. est οὺ) παρανόμου ὀλεῖται ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κακῇ: Τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἡ κακία καὶ ἡ παρανομία ἀπολεῖται ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως. Οὕτως προσπεσὸν πάθος ἐν σώματι καρδίαν λυπεῖ: Τὰ προσπίπτοντα τῇ καρδίᾳ πάθη αἱ κακίαι εἰσίν· ὧν κατὰ στέρησιν ὁ ἀπαθὴς ὀνομάζεται. Οὕτως λύπη ἀνδρὸς βλάπτει καρδίαν: Λύπη ἐστὶν ψεκτή, στέρησις φθαρτῆς ἡδονῆς· λύπη δέ ἐστιν ἐπαινετή, στέρησις ἀρετῶν καὶ γνώσεως θεοῦ. Τοῦτο γὰρ ποιήσας ἄνθρακας πυρὸς σωρεύσεις ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς (edd. ἐ. τὴν κεφ.) αὐτοῦ: ∆ιὰ τῆς χρηστότητος καὶ εὐποιΐας καθαρίζων αὐτοῦ τὸ ἡγεμονικόν. Πρόσωπον δὲ ἀναιδὲς γλῶσσαν ἐρεθίζει: Τὸν διάβολον εἶπεν πρόσωπον ἀναιδές, ἐρεθίζοντα τὴν ψυχήν· πανταχοῦ δὲ ὁ Σολομὼν (cod. rursus ῶν) γλῶσσαν τὸν νοῦν λέγει· τοῦτο οὖν τὸ πρόσωπον αἰδεῖσθαι ἐν κρίσει οὐ καλόν. 115 Ἀγγελία δὲ ἀγαθὴ ἐκ γῆς μακρόθεν: Οὕτως γνῶσις θεοῦ ἐκ γῆς πραέων. Οὕτως ἄκοσμον δίκαιον πεπτωκέναι ἐναντίον ἀσεβοῦς: Τῶν νοημάτων τοῦ νοῦ τὰ μὲν πτώματα αὐτοῦ λέγεται, τὰ δὲ ἐγέρσεις, τὰ δὲ καθέδρα, τὰ δὲ στάσις, καὶ ἄλλα περίπατος καί τινα αὐτοῦ προσκόμματα ὀνομάζεται· καὶ ἄλλα σκληρὰ καὶ μαλακά, καὶ εὐώδη καὶ δυσώδη, καὶ γλυκέα καὶ πικρά, καὶ λεῖα καὶ ὀρθὰ καὶ σκολιά· καὶ πάλιν τὰ μὲν αὐτοῦ καλεῖται ἄκανθαι καὶ
Exegesis of Proverbs§20
20Opposites are used: light and darkness, life and death, sickness and health; and again, falsehood and truth are named; and many other names the Scripture assigns according to the soul and its thoughts. As for what it assigns to the soul, to say but a few of many, these are: mind, soul, heart, man, man (male), woman, slave, servant, father, son, spirit, eye, mouth, lips, tongue, larynx, belly, womb, arm, finger, wood, nostril, sheep, ram, shepherd, and there are many more names of the soul, which cannot now be set forth due to the kind of commentaries that do not permit long-windedness.
Here, then, a righteous mind falls before Satan, having received an impure thought or a false dogma. And David says: 'All who descend to the earth shall fall before him' (Psalm 140:5). But this fall contains true knowledge and pure thoughts. Thus, a man who does nothing by design: 'Will' here means the inclination of the heart toward the better. 'A whip for the horse, a goad for the ox, and a rod for the fool' (Proverbs 26:3). The rod is now a symbol of punishment. He who sends a word through a foolish messenger makes a dream out of his own feet: 'Do not give holy things to dogs, nor cast pearls before swine' (Matthew 7:6). Removing the path of the legs and the proverb from the mouth of fools: 'Remove the evil path of the fool, and make a long distance of false knowledge from him.' He who releases a stone from a sling is like one giving glory to a fool: 'Knowledge does not suit a fool, and a stone is worthless in a golden sling' (Proverbs 26:11).
Much is frozen in the flesh of fools, for their ecstasy is crushed: If the ecstasy of fools, by which they were beside themselves of God, is crushed, they become pure again and approach God; for all flesh shall see the salvation of God (Luke 18:42). One must note here that he names the thickened souls from the evil flesh of fools; so also the Lord says: 'My Spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh' (Psalm 51:11). Just as a dog, when it falls upon its own vomit and becomes loathsome, so a fool, turning away by his own wickedness...
Having cast his wickedness and turned again to it, he is like a dog eating his own vomit (Proverbs 26:11). A lazy man, having hidden his hand in his bosom, is unable to bring it forward.
If a tree of life is nourished from the fruits of righteousness, everyone who hides righteousness with unrighteousness will not eat from this tree. Just as one who holds a dog's muzzle, so is the one presiding over an alien judgment. Use this saying for those deciding certain unworthy ones in the sanctuary or by lot. Where there is no wrath, a battle will be stilled: He said, 'The wrathful man is a hothead' (Proverbs 25:20/14:30).
Smooth lips cover a wicked heart (Proverbs 14:30): Sorrow will not seize a pure heart, for it has driven away corrupt desires from it. If the enemy entreats you with a loud voice, do not be persuaded by him: Satan sometimes entreats us, tickling us through impure thoughts and spreading himself over us with the smoothness of pleasure, and sometimes he puts forth a voice so loud as if having been defeated, as if one should not be persuaded by one having unmitigated war against us.
For there are seven evils in his heart: These evils oppose the seven spirits. A soul being in abundance plays with masters, but a soul in want finds even bitter things sweet: A pure soul enjoys knowledge; but an impure soul considers false knowledge to be true knowledge.
Thus a man is enslaved when he is made a stranger from his own places: The place of the heart is virtue and knowledge, from which, having been made a stranger, a man falls into wickedness and ignorance and becomes a slave; because everyone who does sin is a slave of sin (John 8:34). A heart delights in myrrh, wine, and incenses: An impassive mind delights in manifold wisdom; but a passionate mind falls into ignorances.
Do not abandon your friend and your brotherly friend (Proverbs 17:17): They abandoned me, the fountain of living water (Jeremiah 2:13), and they dug pits for themselves. If you do not enter into your brother's house in misfortune: Such was the one who entered the wedding feasts and did not have wedding clothes (Matthew 22:11). A near friend is better than a brother living far away (Proverbs 18:24): Better is the one joined to me through true knowledge than the one joined to me through untrue knowledge. Having taken off his garment, for the insolent man passed away: This is the...
Greek · §20
τρίβολοι, τὰ δὲ φῶς καὶ σκότος, καὶ ζωὴ καὶ θάνατος, τὰ δὲ νόσοι καὶ ὑγεῖαι· καὶ ἄλλα πάλιν ὀνομάζεται ψεῦδος καὶ ἀλήθεια· καὶ πολλὰ ἕτερα ὀνόματα τίθησιν ἡ γραφὴ κατά τε τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τῶν νοημάτων αὐτῆς. ἃ δὲ τίθησι κατ' αὐτῆς, ὡς ἔστιν ὀλίγα ἐκ πολλῶν εἰπεῖν, ἔστιν ταῦτα· νοῦν, ψυχήν, καρδίαν, ἄνθρωπον, ἄνδρα, γυναῖκα, δοῦλον, οἰκέτην, πατέρα, υἱόν, πνεῦμα, ὀφθαλμόν, στόμα, χείλη, γλῶσσαν, λάρυγγα, κοιλίαν, κόλπον, βραχίονα, δάκτυλον, ξύλον, μυκτῆρα, πρόβατον, ἔριφον, ποιμένα, καὶ ἄλλα πλείονά ἐστιν ὀνόματα τῆς ψυχῆς, ἃ οὐ δυνατὸν νῦν παραθέσθαι διὰ τὸ εἶδος τῶν σχολίων πολυλογίαν μὴ ἐπιδεχομένων. ἐνταῦθα οὖν πίπτει δίκαιος νοῦς ἐνώπιον τοῦ σατανᾶ, λογισμὸν ἀκάθαρτον ἢ ψευδὲς δόγμα δεξάμενος. καὶ ὁ 21 ∆αυὶδ δὲ φησίν· Ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ προπεσοῦνται πάντες οἱ καταβαίνοντες εἰς γῆν. ἀλλὰ τοῦτο τὸ πτῶμα περιέχει γνῶσιν ἀληθῆ καὶ λογισμοὺς καθαρούς. Οὕτως ἀνὴρ ὃς οὐ μετὰ βουλῆς τι πράσσει: Βουλὴν εἶπεν ἐνταῦθα τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον ῥοπὴν τῆς καρδίας. Μάστιξ ἵππῳ καὶ κέντρον ὄνῳ, ῥάβδος δὲ ἔθνει ἄφρονι (edd. παρανόμῳ): Ἡ ῥάβδος νῦν σύμβολόν. ἐστι κολάσεως. Ἐκ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ ποδῶν (ita etiam eatena; edd. ὁδῶν) ὄνειδος ποιεῖται ὁ ἀποστείλας λόγον δι' ἀγγέλου ἄφρονος: Οὐ δεῖ τοῖς κυσὶ διδόναι τὰ ἅγια, οὐδὲ βάλλειν τοὺς μαργαρίτας ἔμπροσθεν τῶν χοίρων. Ἀφελοῦ πορείαν σκελῶν καὶ παροιμίαν ἐκ τοῦ στόματος ἀφρόνων: Περίελε ἄφρονος ὁδὸν κακήν, καὶ γνῶσιν ψευδῆ μακρὰν ποίησον ἀπ' αὐτοῦ. Ὃς ἀποδεσμεύει λίθον ἐν σφενδόνῃ, ὅμοιός ἐστιν τῷ διδόντι ἄφρονι δόξαν: Οὐχ ἁρμόσει ἄφρονι γνῶσις, καὶ λίθος ἄτιμος ἐν σφενδόνῃ χρυσῇ. Πολλὰ χειμάζεται πᾶσα σὰρξ ἀφρόνων, συντρίβεται γὰρ ἡ ἔκστασις αὐτῶν: Ἐὰν συντριβῇ ἡ ἔκστασις τῶν ἀφρόνων, καθ' ἣν ἐξέστησαν θεοῦ, πάλιν καθαροὶ γενόμενοι προσέρχονται θεῷ· πᾶσα γὰρ σὰρξ ὄψεται τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ. προσεκτέον δὲ ἐνταῦθα ὅτι τὰς παχυνθείσας ψυχὰς ἀπὸ τῆς κακίας σάρκας ἀφρόνων 116 ὠνόμασεν· οὕτω καὶ ὁ κύριος φησίν· Οὐ μὴ καταμείνῃ τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τούτοις, διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτοὺς σάρκας. Ὥσπερ κύων ὅταν ἐπέλθῃ ἐπὶ τὸν ἔμετον ἑαυτοῦ καὶ μισητὸς γένηται, οὕτως ἄφρων τῇ ἑαυτοῦ κακίᾳ ἀποστρέψας (edd. .): Ὁ ἀποβαλὼν κακίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπιστρέψας πάλιν πρὸς αὐτὴν ὅμοιός ἐστιν κυνὶ ἐσθίοντι τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἔμετον. Κρύψας ὀκνηρὸς τὴν χεῖρα ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ αὐτοῦ οὐ δύναται ἐπενεγκεῖν: Εἰ ἀπὸ καρπῶν δικαιοσύνης φύεται δένδρον ζωῆς, πᾶς ὁ κρύπτων τὴν δικαιοσύνην τῇ ἀδικίᾳ οὐ βρώσεται ἐκ τούτου τοῦ δένδρου. Ὥσπερ ὁ κρατῶν κέρκου κυνός, οὕτως ὁ προεστὼς ἀλλοτρίας κρίσεως: Χρηστέον τούτῳ τῷ ῥητῷ πρὸς τοὺς ψηφιζομένους τινὰς τῶν ἀναξίων ἐν ἱερωσύνῃ ἢ ἐν κλήρῳ. Ὅπου δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν δίθυμος, ἡσυχασθήσεται μάχη: Τὸν θυμώδη δίθυμον εἶπεν. Χείλη λεῖα καρδίαν καλύπτει πονηράν: Καρδίαν καθαρὰν οὐ καταλήψεται λύπη, ἐπιθυμίας γὰρ φθαρτὰς ἀπώσατο ἀπ' αὐτῆς. Ἐάν σου δέηται ὁ ἐχθρὸς ἱκετεύων (edd. om.) μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ, μὴ πεισθῇς αὐτῷ: ∆έεται ἡμῶν ὁ σατανᾶς ποτὲ μὲν διὰ τῶν ἀκαθάρτων λογισμῶν γαργαλίζων ἡμᾶς καὶ τῷ λείῳ τῆς ἡδονῆς ἐπισπώμενος, ποτὲ δὲ καὶ φωνὴν οὕτως ἔναρθρον ὡς ἡττηθεὶς προβαλλόμενος, ὡς οὐ δεῖ πείθεσθαι ἄσπονδον ἔχοντι τὸν πόλεμον τὸν πρὸς ἡμᾶς. Ἑπτὰ γάρ εἰσι πονηρίαι ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ: Τοῖς ἑπτὰ πνεύμασιν ἀντίκεινται αὗται αἱ πονηρίαι. Ψυχὴ ἐν πλησμονῇ οὖσα κηρίοις ἐμπαίζει, ψυχῇ δὲ ἐν ἐνδείᾳ (edd. ἐνδεεῖ) καὶ τὰ πικρὰ γλυκέα φαίνεται: Ψυχὴ καθαρὰ κατατρυφᾷ γνώσεως· ψυχὴ δὲ ἀκάθαρτος καὶ τὴν ψευδώνυμον γνῶσιν ἀληθῆ γνῶσιν νομίζει. Οὕτως ἄνθρωπος δουλοῦται, ὅταν ἀποξενωθῇ ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων τόπων: Τόπος τῆς καρδίας ἐστὶν ἀρετὴ καὶ γνῶσις, ἀφ' ὧν ἀποξενωθεὶς ἄνθρωπος ἐμπίπτει εἰς κακίαν καὶ ἀγνωσίαν καὶ γίνεται δοῦλος· ἐπειδὴ πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν δοῦλός ἐστιν τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Μύροις καὶ οἴνοις καὶ θυμιάμασι τέρπεται καρδία: Νοῦς ἀπαθὴς πολυποικίλῳ τέρπεται σοφίᾳ· νοῦς δὲ ἐμπαθὴς ἐν ἀγνωσίαις πεσεῖται. 117 Φίλον σὸν καὶ φίλον πατρῷον μὴ ἐγκαταλείπῃς: Ἐμὲ ἐγκατέλιπον πηγὴν ὕδατος ζῶντος, καὶ ὤρυξαν ἑαυτοῖς λάκκους. Εἰς δὲ τὸν οἶκον τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου μὴ εἰσέλθῃς ἀτυχῶν: Τοιοῦτος ἦν ὁ εἰσελθὼν εἰς τοὺς γάμους καὶ μὴ ἔχων ἔνδυμα γάμου. Κρεῖσσον φίλος ἐγγὺς ἢ ἀδελφὸς μακρὰν ἀποικῶν (edd. οἰκῶν): Κρεῖσσον ὁ συναπτόμενός μοι διὰ τῆς ἀληθοῦς γνώσεως ὑπὲρ τὸν συναπτόμενόν μοι διὰ τῆς μὴ ἀληθοῦς γνώσεως. Ἀφελοῦ τὸ ἱμάτιον αὐτοῦ, παρῆλθεν γὰρ ὑβριστής: Τοῦτ' ἔστιν τὸ
Knowledge, Law, and the Soul§21
21Regarding what is said in the Gospel, 'even from him who does not have, that which he seems to have will be taken away' (Matt 25:29). This signifies, in my opinion, the intellectual remnants of virtues and the knowledge of God, which are taken from men who have used them badly.
'He who plants a fig tree shall eat its fruits' (Prov 24:13): Our Lord is the fig tree, for its fruit heals leprosy. 'If one dishonors a fool in the midst of a sitting, you will not take away his foolishness from him' (Prov 26:4-5): Not dishonoring the fool will not remove him from foolishness, but rather teaching him what kind of dishonor foolishness becomes to a stranger.
'Knowingly shepherd your souls' (Heb 13:17): Attend to yourself and direct your virtues, for men do not always remain equally strong in them; nor do they transition healthily from virtue to virtue or from knowledge to knowledge, those not easily receiving the human condition...; for he says 'generations' regarding virtues and knowledges, according to which the saints are born, and he shows this through what he writes: 'A generation of wisdom: the fear of the Lord, and riches, and glory, and life' (Prov 24:13-14).
This proverb should also be used toward the shepherds of the churches, to whom it is necessary to attend not to faces but to hearts, and to shepherd the sheep intellectually. 'Tend the green things in the field and shear the wool' (Song of Sol 2:16/4:16): He calls the mind a field, and the green things are the virtues existing within it by potentiality; the one tending them shears the wool, which is a symbol of the knowledge of God, which he also again calls a mountain pasture; for a mountain pasture is the knowledge of the holy powers, fitting the more irrational state of souls. It is the custom of Scripture to call the saints 'mountains.' Thus also David lifts his soul up to the mountains, whence his help shall come (Ps 121:1); and again, 'the mountains like rams, and the bulls like lambs of the flock, for the salvation of Israel' (Ps 98:7); for if angels rejoice over one repentant person, how much more over a multitude traveling from evil toward virtue. Therefore also...
Only the knowledge of the holy angels nourishes the virtues within us, from which the soul's organs of compassion are clothed: kindness, patience, humility, faith, self-control, love, and the good things born from these. For since the fields are also metaphorical, and David speaks of rational souls, it is to be learned from here. For they say, 'Your fields shall indeed be filled with plenty' (Psalm 65:13); and again shortly after, 'And the barns shall be full of corn' (Psalm 65:14); they shall cry out, for they shall indeed sing (Psalm 96:11). For hymn and cry alone are suited to belong to rational nature.
A man who slanders the poor in impieties: If he is brave in impieties, he is brave also in virtues; and if the brave man slanders the poor in impieties, the brave man in virtues exhorts the poor; surely everyone who exhorts the poor is brave in pieties. But those who love the law surround themselves with a wall: Everyone who loves the law practices the law, and everyone who practices the law acquires apathy and knowledge of God; if then those who love the law surround themselves with a wall, now the wall signifies apathy and the knowledge of God, which alone is suited to guard the rational nature.
He who shepherds profligacy dishonors his father: He calls the mind a shepherd, and the passions within it are sheep, which he nourishes within himself through the transgression of the law, thereby dishonoring God; for profligacy is a sickness of the soul, consisting of passionate thoughts carried out through the body; but profligacy of the mind is the assumption of false dogmas and theories.
He who increases his wealth through usury and abundance brings it to the one who shows mercy to the poor: If the wealth of the impious is wickedness, and wise men will destroy it, it is evident that the righteous and wise are destroying wickedness by leading the impure toward virtue through spiritual teaching. He who turns his ear not to hear the law, he himself has detested his prayer: It is not the law that is detested by anyone.
Greek · §21
ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ λεγόμενον, τὸ Καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ μὴ ἔχοντος καὶ ὃ δοκεῖ ἔχειν ἀρθήσεται ἀπ' αὐτοῦ. δηλοῖ δὲ τοῦτο, ὡς οἶμαι, τὰ κατὰ διάνοιαν λείψανα τῶν ἀρετῶν καὶ τῆς 22 γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ, λαμβανόμενα ἀπὸ τῶν κακῶς αὐτοῖς χρησαμένων ἀνθρώπων. Ὃς φυτεύει συκῆν, φάγεται τοὺς καρποὺς αὐτῆς: Ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν ἐστὶν ἡ συκῆ· ὁ γὰρ καρπὸς αὐτῆς λέπραν θεραπεύει. Ἐὰν μαστιγοῖς τὸν ἄφρονα ἐν μέσῳ συνεδρίου ἀτιμάζων, οὐ μὴ περιέλῃς τὴν ἀφροσύνην αὐτοῦ: Οὐκ ἀτιμάζων τὸν ἄφρονα ἀποστήσεις αὐτὸν τῆς ἀφροσύνης, ἀλλὰ διδάσκων αὐτὸν ὁποίας ἀτιμίας ἡ ἀφροσύνη γίνεται πρόξενος. Γνωστῶς ἐπιγνώσῃ ψυχὰς ποιμνίου σου: Πρόσεχε σεαυτῷ καὶ τὰς ἀρετάς σου κατεύθυνε, ὅτι οὐκ ἀεὶ ἐν αὐταῖς ἰσχύουσιν ἐπίσης οἱ ἄνθρωποι· οὐδὲ ἀπὸ ἀρετῆς ἐπ' ἀρετὴν ἢ ἀπὸ γνώσεως ἐπὶ γνῶσιν ὑγιῶς μεταβαίνουσιν, τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης καταστάσεως τοὺς οὐ ῥᾳδίως μὴ δεχομένους ....· ὅτι δὲ γενεὰς λέγει τὰς ἀρετὰς καὶ τὰς γνώσεις, καθ' ἃς γεννῶνται οἱ ἅγιοι, δείκνυσι δι' ὧν γράφει· Γενεὰ σοφίας φόβος κυρίου καὶ πλοῦτος καὶ δόξα καὶ ζωή. χρηστέον δὲ ταύτῃ τῇ παροιμίᾳ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ποιμένας τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν, οὓς δεῖ μὴ προσώποις ἀλλὰ καρδίαις προσέχειν καὶ νοητῶς ποιμαίνειν τὰ πρόβατα. Ἐπιμελοῦ τῶν ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ χλωρῶν καὶ κερεῖς πόαν: Πεδίον λέγει τὸν νοῦν, χλωρὰ δὲ τὰς ἐν αὐτῷ κατὰ δύναμιν ἐνυπαρχούσας ἀρετάς· ὧν ὁ ἐπιμελούμενος κερεῖ πόαν, σύμβολον οὖσαν τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ, ἣν καὶ χόρτον πάλιν ὀρεινὸν ὀνομάζει· χόρτος γάρ ἐστιν ὀρεινὸς γνῶσις ἁγίων δυνάμεων, ἁρμόζουσα τῇ ἀλογωτέρᾳ τῶν ψυχῶν καταστάσει. ἔθος δὲ τῇ γραφῇ τοὺς ἁγίους ὄρη καλεῖν. οὕτω καὶ ὁ ∆αυὶδ αἴρει τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ εἰς τὰ ὄρη, πόθεν ἥξει ἡ βοήθεια αὐτοῦ· καὶ πάλιν ὄρη σκιρτῶσιν ὡς κριοί, καὶ βοῦνοι ὡς ἀρνία προβάτων, ἐπὶ τῇ σωτηρίᾳ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ· εἰ γὰρ ἐπὶ ἑνὶ μετανοοῦντι χαίρουσιν ἄγγελοι, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ἐπὶ πλήθει 118 τοσούτῳ ὁδεύοντι ἀπὸ κακίας εἰς ἀρετήν. διὸ καὶ μόνη ἡ γνῶσις τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων τρέφει τὰς ἐν ἡμῖν ἀρετάς, ἀφ' ὧν ἐνδύεται σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ ψυχή, χρηστότητα, μακροθυμίαν, ταπεινοφροσύνην, πίστιν, ἐγκράτειαν, ἀγάπην, καὶ τὰ ἐκ ταύτης γεννώμενα ἀγαθά. ὅτι δὲ πεδία καὶ ὁ ∆αυὶδ λέγει τὰς λογικὰς ψυχάς, ἐντεῦθεν ἔστιν μαθεῖν. Καὶ τὰ πεδία σου γάρ φησιν πλησθήσονται πιότητος· καὶ πάλιν μετ' ὀλίγα· Καὶ αἱ κοιλάδες πληθυνοῦσι σῖτον· κεκράξονται, καὶ γὰρ ὑμνήσουσιν. ὕμνος δὲ καὶ κραυγὴ μόνη πέφυκεν ἐπισυμβαίνειν τῇ φύσει τῇ λογικῇ. Ἀνὴρ ἐν ἀσεβείαις συκοφαντεῖ πτωχούς: Εἰ ἔστιν ἀνδρεῖος ἐν ἀσεβείαις, ἔστιν ἀνδρεῖος καὶ ἐν ἀρεταῖς· καὶ εἰ ὁ ἀνδρεῖος ἐν ἀσεβείαις συκοφαντεῖ πτωχούς, ὁ ἀνδρεῖος ἐν ἀρεταῖς παρακαλεῖ πτωχούς· οὐκοῦν πᾶς ὁ παρακαλῶν πτωχοὺς ἀνδρεῖός ἐστιν ἐν εὐσεβείαις. Οἱ δὲ ἀγαπῶντες τὸν νόμον περιβάλλουσιν ἑαυτοῖς τεῖχος: Πᾶς ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν νόμον ποιεῖ τὸν νόμον, πᾶς δὲ ὁ ποιῶν τὸ νόμον ἀπάθειαν κτᾶται καὶ γνῶσιν θεοῦ· εἰ δὲ οἱ ἀγαπῶντες τὸν νόμον περιβάλλουσιν ἑαυτοῖς τεῖχος, νῦν τὸ τεῖχος τὴν ἀπάθειαν σημαίνει καὶ τὴν γνῶσιν τοῦ θεοῦ, ἅπερ μόνα πέφυκε φυλάσσειν τὴν φύσιν τὴν λογικήν. Ὃς δὲ ποιμαίνει ἀσωτίαν, ἀτιμάζει πατέρα αὐτοῦ: Ποιμένα λέγει τὸν νοῦν, πρόβατα δὲ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ ἐμπαθῆ νοήματα, ἅπερ ἐκτρέφων ἐν ἑαυτῷ διὰ τῆς παραβάσεως τοῦ νόμου τὸν θεὸν ἀτιμάζει· ἀσωτία γὰρ ψυχῆς ἐστίν, λογισμοὶ ἐμπαθεῖς διὰ τοῦ σώματος ἐκτελούμενοι· ἀσωτία δὲ νοῦ ἐστίν, ψευδῶν δογμάτων καὶ θεωρημάτων ὑπόληψις. Ὁ πληθύνων τὸν πλοῦτον αὐτοῦ μετὰ τόκων καὶ πλεονασμῶν τῷ ἐλεοῦντι πτωχοὺς συνάγει αὐτόν: Εἰ πλοῦτος ἀσεβῶν κακία, ἄνδρες δὲ σοφοὶ ἀπολέσουσιν αὐτόν, δηλονότι κακίαν ἀπολλύουσιν οἱ δίκαιοι καὶ σοφοί, διὰ τῆς πνευματικῆς διδασκαλίας τοὺς ἀκαθάρτους πρὸς τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐπανάγοντες. Ὁ ἐκκλίνων τὸ οὖς αὐτοῦ μὴ εἰσακούων (edd. εἰσακοῦσαι) νόμου, καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν προσευχὴν αὐτοῦ ἐβδέλυκται: Οὐχ ὁ νόμος βδελύσσεταί τινος
The Twelve Thrones and the Perishing of the Ungodly§22
22Prayer, but God is the one who gave the law. And Paul says: 'The Scripture foretells what is to come' (Rom 5:2), instead of 'The one who gave the Scripture.' He who explains and reproves will be loved. I said: I will confess my lawlessness to the Lord, and you have forgiven the impiety of my heart.
A lion hungry and a wolf thirsty, who tyrannizes being a poor man of a meager nation: If those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed (Matt 5:6), those who hunger and thirst for injustice are lions and wolves. A king in need is a great slanderer: The approaches of the evil king are evils and false doctrines; for those ruled by him approach these things to him.
A man who guarantees a murderer will be a fugitive and not in safety: He who guarantees Satan guarantees injustice, promising to him that he will render the fruits of injustice. And concerning this the Gospel also says as one defiled through murder and sedition was cast into prison (Acts 25:11). A lawless nation shall by no means obey: The lawless nation is the order of the demons, to which the educated son does not obey.
He who works his own land will be filled with bread: He who cleanses himself will be filled with knowledge, but the unclean will be filled with ignorance. He who is ashamed of the faces of the unrighteous is not good: If the virtues are the faces of the righteous, he is not good who is not ashamed of the virtues; and if evils are the faces of sinners, he is good who is not ashamed of the evils. An insolent man hastens to be rich: Therefore the merciful in the age to come, having been shown mercy by God and having become angels, shall rule over the ungodly. Such is the status and...
He promised his disciples that the Lord would give them to sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. A throne is that in which the mind sits, a spiritual knowledge, gathering together those who have wandered from godliness. And to judge there means to teach, as 'Open your mouth with the word of God and judge all things healthily' (Ps 89:8), instead of 'Teach.' It is also necessary to know this: that the merciful one, having grasped the staff, himself will not become a staff, but will rather make the staff merciful.
And in the destruction of those, the righteous will be multiplied: If the ungodly perish in being ungodly, they will become righteous; for destruction now means the removal of ungodliness. Thus also Matthew, the tax collector (Matt 9:9), having been lost, the Lord granted him righteousness. For when it is burning, there is no healing (Matt 13:12): He did not say that once the flame has ceased there is no healing, but that while it is burning there is no healing, as one still having clearly wood, hay, or straw (Matt 13:12); if even for those being burned, health is found to approach after the ember.
And when ungodly rulers prevail, men groan: All those who are under the rulers and the authorities and the cosmic rulers of this darkness (Eph 6:12), all these groan. He who pastures prostitutes, destroys wealth: He who nurtures wickedness destroys wealth.
—Otherwise. A shepherd is a good mind having acquired passionless thoughts; and a shepherd is an evil mind having acquired passionate thoughts. If this is so, then surely a passionate thought is a goat, and a passionless thought is a sheep; therefore also the Lord stands the goats on the left and the sheep on the right (Matt 25:32-33); and he calls them both goats and sheep...
Greek · §22
τὴν προσευχήν, ἀλλ' ὁ δεδωκὼς τὸν νόμον θεός. καὶ ὁ Παῦλος φησίν· Προϊδοῦσα δὲ ἡ γραφὴ τὸ μέλλον, ἀντὶ τοῦ Ὁ τὴν γραφὴν δεδωκώς. Ὁ δὲ ἐξηγούμενος καὶ ἐλέγχων (edd. ἐξηγ. ἐλέγχους) ἀγαπηθήσεται: Εἶπα· Ἐξαγορεύσω κατ' ἐμοῦ τὴν ἀνομίαν μου τῷ κυρίῳ, καὶ σὺ ἀφῆκας τὴν ἀσέβειαν τῆς καρδίας μου. 23 119 Λέων πεινῶν καὶ λύκος διψῶν ὃς τυραννεῖ πτωχὸς ὢν ἔθνους πενιχροῦ: Εἰ μακάριοί εἰσιν οἱ πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες δικαιοσύνην, λέοντες καὶ λύκοι εἰσὶν οἱ διψῶντες καὶ πεινῶντες τὴν ἀδικίαν. Βασιλεὺς ἐνδεὴς προσόδων μέγας συκοφάντης: Αἱ πρόσοδοι τοῦ πονηροῦ βασιλέως εἰσὶν αἱ κακίαι καὶ τὰ ψευδῆ δόγματα· ταῦτα γὰρ αὐτῷ προσοδεύουσιν οἱ βασιλευόμενοι ὑπ' αὐτοῦ. Ἄνδρα τὸν ἐν αἰτίᾳ φόνου ὁ ἐγγυώμενος φυγὰς ἔσται καὶ οὐκ ἐν ἀσφαλείᾳ: Ὁ ἐγγυώμενος τὸν σατανᾶν ἐγγυᾶται τὴν ἀδικίαν, ὑπισχνούμενος αὐτῷ τοὺς τῆς ἀδικίας ἀποδώσειν καρπούς. περὶ τούτου δὲ καὶ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον λέγει ὡς διὰ φόνον καὶ στάσιν βεβλημένου εἰς φυλακήν. Οὐ μὴ ὑπακούσῃ ἔθνει παρανόμῳ: Ἔθνος παράνομον τὸ τάγμα τῶν δαιμόνων ἐστίν, ᾧ οὐχ ὑπακούει ὁ παιδευθεὶς υἱός. Ὁ ἐργαζόμενος τὴν αὐτοῦ γῆν ἐμπλησθήσεται ἄρτων: Ὁ καθαίρων ἑαυτὸν πλησθήσεται γνώσεως, ὁ δὲ ἀκάθαρτος πλησθήσεται ἀγνωσίας. Ὃς αἰσχύνεται πρόσωπα ἀδίκων (edd. οὐκ αἰσχ. πρ. δικαίων), οὐκ ἀγαθός: Εἰ πρόσωπα δικαίων εἰσὶν αἱ ἀρεταί, οὐκ ἀγαθὸς ὁ μὴ τὰς ἀρετὰς αἰσχυνόμενος· καὶ εἰ πρόσωπα τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν εἰσὶν αἱ κακίαι, ἀγαθὸς ὁ τὰς κακίας μὴ αἰσχυνόμενος. Σπεύδει πλουτεῖν ἀνὴρ βάσκανος: Οἱ οὖν ἐλεήμονες ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τῷ μέλλοντι ἐλεηθέντες ὑπὸ θεοῦ καὶ γενόμενοι ἄγγελοι ἄρξουσι τῶν ἀσεβῶν. τοιοῦτον δὲ ἀξίωμα καὶ τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ὑπέσχετο δώσειν ὁ κύριος, τοῦ καθίσαι αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ δώδεκα θρόνων, κρίνοντας τὰς δώδεκα φυλὰς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. θρόνος δέ ἐστιν ἐν ᾧ ὁ νοῦς καθέζεται, γνῶσις πνευματική, τοὺς πλανηθέντας ἀπὸ τῆς θεοσεβείας ἐπισυνάγουσα. τὸ δὲ κρίνειν ἐνταῦθα τὸ διδάσκειν σημαίνει, ὡς τὸ Ἄνοιγε σὸν στόμα λόγῳ θεοῦ καὶ κρίνε πάντα ὑγιῶς, ἀντὶ τοῦ ∆ίδασκε. ἅμα δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ἰστέον, ὅτι ὁ ἐλεήμων κρατήσας τοῦ βασκάνου, αὐτὸς μὲν οὐ γενήσεται βάσκανος, ἐλεήμονα δὲ ποιήσει μᾶλλον τὸν βάσκανον. Ἐν δὲ τῇ ἀπωλείᾳ ἐκείνων πληθυνθήσονται δίκαιοι: Ἐὰν ἀποθῶνται οἱ ἀσεβεῖς τὸ εἶναι ἀσεβεῖς, γενήσονται δίκαιοι· ἡ γὰρ ἀπώλεια νῦν τὴν ἀναίρεσιν τῆς ἀσεβείας σημαίνει. οὕτω καὶ Ματθαῖον τὸν τελώνην ἀπολέσας ὁ κύριος δικαιοσύνην αὐτῷ ἐχαρίσατο. Ἐξαπίνης γὰρ φλεγομένου αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ἴασις: Οὐκ εἶπεν ὅτι παυσαμένης τῆς φλογὸς οὐκ ἔστιν 120 ἴασις, ἀλλὰ φλεγομένου αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ἴασις, ὡς ἔχοντος ἔτι δηλονότι ξύλα χόρτον καλάμην· εἴπερ καὶ τοῖς καιομένοις μετὰ τὸν καυτῆρα πέφυκεν ἡ ὑγεία προσγίνεσθαι. Ἀρχόντων δὲ ἀσεβῶν στένουσιν ἄνδρες: Ὅσοι εἰσὶν ὑπὸ τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας καὶ τοὺς κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ σκότους τούτου, οὗτοι πάντες καὶ στένουσιν. Ὃς δὲ ποιμαίνει πόρνας, ἀπολεῖ πλοῦτον: Ὁ δὲ ἐκτρέφων κακίας ἀπολεῖ πλοῦτον. –Ἄλλως. ποιμήν ἐστιν ἀγαθὸς νοῦς ἀπαθεῖς λογισμοὺς κεκτημένος· καὶ ποιμήν ἐστιν πονηρὸς νοῦς ἐμπαθεῖς λογισμοὺς κεκτημένος. εἰ δὲ τοῦτο, οὐκοῦν ἔριφός ἐστιν λογισμὸς ἐμπαθής, καὶ πρόβατόν ἐστιν λογισμὸς ἀπαθής· διὸ καὶ τοὺς ἐρίφους ὁ κύριος ἵστησιν ἐξ ἀριστερῶν, τὰ δὲ πρόβατα ἐκ δεξιῶν· ἐρίφους δὲ καὶ πρόβατα λέγει τοὺς
Discipline, Pride, and the Law§23
23Those having sheep and goats, that is, those possessing passions and impasses. Thus also he brought forward those having weeds and those having grain having grain, naming them according to the best and worst skill. Such is also what is said by Paul, 'Love does not fail' (1 Cor 13:8), instead of 'He who has love.' A righteous king raises up a land: Christ raises up the rational nature, but the antichrist undermines it. And to a poor man there is no discerning mind: surely he is poor who does not have a discerning mind.
And a foolish man being angry is laughed at and does not fall: 'And upon him, says David, they will laugh and say, Behold a man who did not set God as his helper' (Ps 35:16; Ps 36:14). Men of blood hate the holy, but the upright seek its soul: this one seeks the soul of a righteous man, he who wishes to understand things as they have been thought. A wise man is stored up by parts: this one stores up his passion by parts, namely, he who is angry at things toward the righteous, or he who consumes his passion by parts through long-suffering; and toward the simple one the former should be spoken, but toward the diligent the latter.
There shall not be an interpreter for the nations to the lawless: to those who have kept the law there shall be an interpreter; but to those who have acted lawlessly, an interpreter there shall not be, but a punisher shall be; if indeed not a word but a rod is given to the lawless for the nations. A hard servant will not be instructed by words: because no one is hard by nature, it demonstrates, 'For even if he should understand, he will not obey' (Exod 7:22); for he who is hard by nature would never understand anything right. I say this because of Pharaoh the hard...
Having been set upon Israel, and having been disciplined not by words but by beating. He who squanders shall be a servant from childhood. If squandering makes one sin, and everyone doing the sin is a slave to sin, then everyone who squanders is a slave to sin.
Pride humbles a man: Now he calls the wickedness of the rational soul 'pride'. He who divides with a thief hates his own soul: The thief, he says, does not come except to steal and to sacrifice and to destroy. If, after an oath is proposed, hearing them do not announce: He spoke an oath according to the law; for just as the oath sets God in the soul, so also the law introduces God into the soul; and in whatever way perjury again removes God from the soul, so also lawlessness casts God out of it. If, therefore, he says, having heard the law being set, they do not confess their sins, having feared and been ashamed of men, they shall be tripped up.
So also David: 'I have sworn and I have stood to keep the judgments of your righteousness' (Ps 119:76). And again Solomon says: 'He who covers his impiety shall not prosper, but he who explains and reproves shall be loved.' And David said, he says: 'I said, I will confess my lawlessness to the Lord, and you forgave the impiety of my heart' (Ps 32:5). And 'Say, you first, your lawlessness.'
Many heal the faces of leaders: In doing what is right we heal the angels; for they themselves are the leaders of us, having taken us from the beginning, when the Most High divided the nations and set the borders of the nations according to the number of his angels. And that which is just from the judgment shall be for us from the Lord on that day, when he judges the inhabited world in righteousness; if indeed all the judgment
Greek · §23
κεκτημένους ἐρίφους καὶ πρόβατα, τοῦτ' ἔστιν τοὺς ἔχοντας λογισμοὺς ἀπαθεῖς καὶ ἐμπαθεῖς. οὕτω καὶ τοὺς ἔχοντας τὰ ζιζάνια προσηγόρευσεν, καὶ τοὺς τὸν σῖτον ἔχοντας σῖτον, ἀπὸ τῆς χειρίστης καὶ ἀρίστης ἕξεως ὀνομάσας αὐτούς. τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν καὶ τὸ παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ λεγόμενον, τὸ Ἡ ἀγάπη οὐ περπερεύεται, ἀντὶ τοῦ Ὁ ἔχων τὴν ἀγάπην. Βασιλεὺς δίκαιος ἀνίστησι χώραν: Ὁ μὲν Χριστὸς ἀνίστησι τὴν φύσιν τὴν λογικήν· ὁ δὲ ἀντίχριστος κατασκάπτει. Καὶ πτωχῷ οὐχ ὑπάρχει νοῦς ἐπιγνώμων: Οὐκοῦν πτωχός ἐστιν ὁ μὴ ἔχων νοῦν ἐπιγνώμονα. Ἀνὴρ δὲ φαῦλος ὀργιζόμενος καταγελᾶται καὶ οὐ καταπτήσσει: Καὶ ἐπ' αὐτόν, φησὶν ὁ ∆αυίδ, γελάσονται καὶ ἐροῦσιν· Ἰδοὺ ἄνθρωπος ὃς οὐκ ἔθετο τὸν θεὸν βοηθὸν αὐτοῦ. Ἄνδρες αἱμάτων (edd. add. μέτοχοι) μισοῦσιν ὅσιον, οἱ δὲ εὐθεῖς ἐκζητοῦσι (edd. ἐκζητήσουσι) ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ: Οὗτος ἐκζητεῖ ψυχὴν δικαίου, ὁ τὰ αὐτῇ νενοημένα νοῆσαι βουλόμενος. 24 Σοφὸς δὲ ταμιεύεται κατὰ μέρος: Οὗτος ταμιεύεται τὸν θυμὸν κατὰ μέρος, ἤτοι ὁ ἐπὶ τοῖς δικαίοις ὀργιζόμενος πράγμασιν, ἢ ὁ διὰ τῆς μακροθυμίας καταναλίσκων τὸν θυμὸν κατὰ μέρος· καὶ πρὸς μὲν τοὺς ἁπλουστέρους λεκτέον τὸ πρότερον, πρὸς δὲ τοὺς σπουδαίους τὸ δεύτερον. Οὐ μὴ ὑπάρξει ἐξηγητὴς ἔθνει παρανόμῳ: Τοῖς μὲν φυλάξασι τὸν νόμον ὑπάρξει ἐξηγητής· τοῖς δὲ 121 παρανομήσασιν ἐξηγητὴς μὲν οὐχ ὑπάρξει, κολαστὴς δὲ ὑπάρξει· εἴπερ οὐ λόγος ἀλλὰ ῥάβδος παρανόμῳ δίδοται ἔθνει. Λόγοις οὐ παιδευθήσεται οἰκέτης σκληρός: Ὅτι οὐδεὶς κατὰ φύσιν σκληρός, παρίστησι τὸ Ἐὰν γὰρ καὶ νοήσῃ, οὐχ ὑπακούσεται· ὁ γὰρ κατὰ φύσιν σκληρὸς οὐκ ἂν ὀρθόν τι νοήσοι ποτέ. τοῦτο δὲ λέγω διὰ τὸν Φαραὼ σκληρυνθέντα ἐπὶ τῷ Ἰσραήλ, καὶ μὴ λόγοις ἀλλὰ μάστιξι παιδευθέντα. Ὃς κατασπαταλᾷ, ἐκ παιδίου (edd. ἐ. παιδὸς) οἰκέτης ἔσται: Εἰ τὸ σπαταλᾶν ἁμαρτάνειν ποιεῖ, πᾶς δὲ ὁ ποιῶν τῆν ἁμαρτίαν δοῦλός ἐστι τῆς ἁμαρτίας, πᾶς ἄρα ὁ σπαταλῶν δοῦλός ἐστι τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Ὕβρις ἄνδρα ταπεινοῖ: Νῦν τὴν κακίαν ὕβριν ψυχῆς λογικῆς ὀνομάζει. Ὃς μερίζεται κλέπτῃ, μισεῖ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν: Ὁ κλέπτης, φησίν, οὐκ ἔρχεται εἰ μὴ ἵνα κλέψῃ καὶ θύσῃ καὶ ἀπολέσῃ. Ἐὰν δὲ ὅρκου προτεθέντος ἀκούσαντες μὴ ἀναγγείλωσιν: Ὅρκον εἶπεν τὸν νόμον· ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ ὅρκος τίθησι θεὸν ἐν ψυχῇ, οὕτω καὶ ὁ νόμος εἰσάγει θεὸν ἐν ψυχῇ· καὶ ὃν τρόπον πάλιν ἀναιρεῖ ἡ ἐπιορκία θεὸν ἐκ ψυχῆς, οὕτω καὶ παρανομία ἐκβάλλει θεὸν ἀπ' αὐτῆς. ἐὰν οὖν, φησίν, νόμου τεθέντος ἀκούσωσι καὶ μὴ ἐξαγορεύσωσιν ἑαυτῶν τὰς ἁμαρτίας, φοβηθέντες καὶ αἰσχυνθέντες ἀνθρώπους, ὑποσκελισθήσονται. οὕτω δὴ καὶ ὁ ∆αυίδ· Ὤμοσα καὶ ἔστησα τοῦ φυλάξασθαι τὰ κρίματα τῆς δικαιοσύνης σου. καὶ πάλιν ὁ Σολομὼν φησίν· Ὁ ἐπικαλύπτων ἀσέβειαν ἑαυτοῦ οὐκ εὐοδωθήσεται, ὁ δὲ ἐξηγούμενος καὶ ἐλέγχων ἀγαπηθήσεται. καὶ ὁ ∆αυὶδ Εἶπα, φησίν, Ἐξαγορεύσω κατ' ἐμοῦ τὴν ἀνομίαν μου τῷ κυρίῳ, καὶ σὺ ἀφῆκας τὴν ἀσέβειαν τῆς καρδίας μου. καὶ Λέγε σὺ πρῶτος τὰς ἀνομίας σου. Πολλοὶ θεραπεύουσι πρόσωπα ἡγουμένων: Ἐν τῷ κατορθοῦν θεραπεύομεν τοὺς ἀγγέλους· αὐτοὶ γάρ εἰσιν οἱ ἡγούμενοι ἡμῶν ἀπ' ἀρχῆς λαβόντες ἡμᾶς, ὅτε διεμέριζεν ἔθνη ὁ ὕψιστος καὶ ἔστησεν ὅρια ἐθνῶν κατὰ ἀριθμὸν ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ. τὸ δὲ ἐκ τῆς κρίσεως δίκαιον ὑπάρξει ἡμῖν παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ, ὅτε κρινεῖ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ· εἴγε πᾶσαν τὴν κρίσιν
Clothing and Symbols of the Soul§24
24The father has given to the son. What woman will find a brave one? Bravery is an excellent state of the rational soul, by which it has mastered the opposing forces of enemies. Such a thing will not be despoiled by dogs: having conquered the opposing power, we plunder it, learning the discourses concerning it.
Wool and linen being dyed: the soul is dyed like wool and linen, exercising itself in the discourses concerning the living and the non-living, or examining the discourses concerning the practical and the natural. And someone said that the soul is dyed like wool and linen, pulling the contemplation of bodies and incorporeal things toward it through the practical life.
And rising from the nights, she gave food to the household: the one who practices righteousness finds the soul rising from the night, being watchful; and certainly, also praying so that she might not fall into temptation; for she herself hastens to say, 'I awoke and became like a sparrow perching on a roof' (Ps 84:3). And her lamp is not extinguished through the whole night: a pure mind is a lamp, filled with spiritual contemplation. Her wicks are set in a lampstand: a pure mind is a lampstand, weaving virtue with virtue and doctrine with doctrine; or an articulated word, drawing spiritual contemplation from the mind.
Her husband does not care for those in the house when he lingers: the mind would not go forth, nor would it come to be in the contemplation of the incorporeal, without first correcting what is within; for the disturbance of the domestic affairs is accustomed to turn it back toward those from which it had departed; having acquired impassibility, it will linger in contemplation, and will not care for those in the house; for the passion is indeed clothed in practical and humble...
Wisdom, but desire requires temperance and self-control. Clothing itself of deep color and purple: The words of earth and sea are garments of the rational soul from the depths and the purple.
Another will say that the contemplation of events and the contemplation of the Holy Trinity are the clothing of a pure mind from the depths and the purple. He made linen cloths and gave them, but belts to the Canaanites (Mark 2:22): The linen cloth revealed on the roof (Mark 2:9) was a symbol of this sensible world; for the various animals contained therein showed the diverse characters of men, having been purified by the cross of Christ. If one linen cloth signified this world, perhaps many linen cloths contain the contemplation of various worlds, which the pure soul having contemplated, shared with others. If the Canaanites are interpreted as the lowly, it was not rightly that he gave the linen cloths to the lowly in mind, but rather the linen cloths to the pure, and to the Canaanites belts, which are symbols of practice, binding the passionate part of the soul.
Secure dwellings of its house: If the devil is king of all those in the waters and finds no rest through dry places, it is rightly said that the dwellings of the pure soul are secure. And he did not eat lazy grain: They say lazy grain is the grain of wickedness. For a prudent woman is blessed (Proverbs 31:30), but let this one praise the fear of the Lord (Psalm 111:10): If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the soul which happens to possess wisdom rightly praises the fear of the Lord, which has become to her a precursor of such knowledge.
They were collected from which we found them spread out. And again, these were corrected by the hands of Pamphilus and Eusebius.
Greek · §24
ὁ πατὴρ δέδωκεν τῷ υἱῷ. Γυναῖκα ἀνδρείαν τίς εὑρήσει: Ἀνδρεία ἐστὶν ἕξις ἀρίστη λογικῆς ψυχῆς, καθ' ἣν τῶν ἀντικειμένων αὐτῇ κεκράτηκεν ἐχθρῶν. Ἡ τοιαύτη σκύλων οὐκ ἀπορήσει: Νικήσαντες τὴν ἀντικειμένην δύναμιν σκυλεύομεν αὐτήν, τοὺς περὶ αὐτῆς λόγους μανθάνοντες. Μηρυομένη ἔρια καὶ λίνον: Μηρύεται ἔρια καὶ λίνον ψυχὴ τοὺς περὶ ἐμψύχων καὶ ἀψύχων λόγους 122 γυμνάζουσα, ἢ τοὺς περὶ πρακτικῆς καὶ φυσικῆς ἐξετάζουσα λόγους. ἔλεγε δέ τις ὅτι μηρύεται ἔρια καὶ λίνον ψυχὴ τὴν περὶ σωμάτων καὶ ἀσωμάτων θεωρίαν διὰ τῆς πρακτικῆς ἕλκουσα πρὸς αὐτήν. Καὶ ἀνισταμένη ἐκ νυκτῶν (edd. ἀνίσταται ἐ. ν. καὶ) ἔδωκε βρώματα τῷ οἴκῳ: Τὴν ἐκ νυκτὸς ἀνισταμένην ψυχὴν ἐγρηγορυῖαν εὑρίσκει ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἥλιος· πάντως δὲ καὶ προσευχομένην ἵνα μὴ ἐμπέσῃ εἰς πειρασμόν· σπεύδει γὰρ καὶ αὐτὴ εἰπεῖν τὸ Ἠγρύπνησα καὶ ἐγενόμην ὡς στρουθίον μονάζον ἐπὶ δώματι. Καὶ οὐκ ἀποσβέννυται ὅλην τὴν νύκτα ὁ λύχνος αὐτῆς: Λύχνος ἐστὶ νοῦς καθαρὸς πνευματικῆς θεωρίας πεπληρωμένος. Τοὺς πήχεις αὐτῆς ̣ut cod. Alex.) ἐρείδει εἰς ἄτρακτον: Ἄτρακτός ἐστι νοῦς καθαρός, συμπλέκων ἀρετὴν ἀρετῇ καὶ δόγματι δόγμα· ἢ λόγος προφορικός, ἕλκων ἀπὸ τοῦ νοῦ πνευματικὴν θεωρίαν. Οὐ φροντίζει τῶν ἐν οἴκῳ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς ὅταν που ̣cod. ποῦ) χρονίζῃ: Οὐκ ἂν προέλθοι ὁ νοῦς οὐδ' ἐν τῇ θεωρίᾳ γένοιτο τῶν ἀσωμάτων, μὴ τὰ ἔνδον διορθωσάμενος· ἡ γὰρ ταραχὴ τῶν οἰκείων ἐπιστρέφειν αὐτὸν εἴωθε πρὸς τὰ ἀφ' ὧν ἐξελήλυθεν· ἀπάθειάν τε 25 κτησάμενος χρονίσει τε ἐν τῇ θεωρίᾳ, καὶ οὐ φροντίσει τῶν ἐν οἴκῳ· ἐνδέδυται γὰρ θυμὸς μὲν πραΰτητα καὶ ταπεινοφροσύνην, ἐπιθυμία δὲ σωφροσύνην καὶ ἐγκράτειαν. Ἐκ βύσσου καὶ πορφυρᾶς ἑαυτῇ ἐνδύματα: Γῆς καὶ θαλάσσης οἱ λόγοι ἐνδύματά εἰσι ψυχῆς λογικῆς ἐκ βύσσου καὶ πορφυρᾶς. ἄλλος δέ τις ἐρεῖ τὴν θεωρίαν τῶν γεγονότων καὶ τὴν θεωρίαν τῆς ἁγίας τριάδος ἔνδυμα εἶναι νοῦ καθαροῦ ἐκ βύσσου καὶ πορφυρᾶς. Σινδόνας ἐποίησεν καὶ ἀπέδοτο, περιζώματα δὲ ̣ut cod. Alex.) τοῖς Χαναναίοις: Ἡ φανεῖσα σινδὼν ἐπὶ τοῦ δώματος Πέτρῳ σύμβολον ἦν τοῦ κόσμου τοῦ αἰσθητοῦ· τὰ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ περιεχόμενα ζῶα τὰ διάφορα ἤθη τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐδήλου καθαρισθέντα τῷ σταυρῷ τοῦ Χριστοῦ. εἰ οὖν ἡ μία σινδὼν τὸν κόσμον τοῦτον ἐσήμαινεν, μήποτε αἱ πλείους σινδόνες τὴν περὶ διαφόρων κόσμων περιέχουσι θεωρίαν, ἣν ἡ καθαρὰ ψυχὴ θεωρήσασα καὶ ἄλλοις μετέδωκεν. εἰ δὲ οἱ Χαναναῖοι ταπεινοὶ ἑρμηνεύονται, καλῶς οὐ τοῖς ταπεινοῖς τὴν διάνοιαν ἀπέδοτο τὰς σινδόνας, ἀλλὰ καθαροῖς μὲν τὰς σινδόνας, τοῖς δὲ Χαναναίοις περιζώματα, ἅπερ πρακτικῆς ἐστὶ σύμβολα, τὸ παθητικὸν μέρος τῆς ψυχῆς περισφίγγοντα. Στεγναὶ διατριβαὶ οἴκων αὐτῆς: Εἰ ὁ διάβολος βασιλεύς ἐστι πάντων τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὕδασι καὶ δι' ἀνύδρων τόπων ἀνάπαυσιν οὐχ εὑρίσκει, καλῶς τῆς καθαρᾶς ψυχῆς στεγναὶ αἱ διατριβαὶ λέγονται εἶναι. Σῖτα δὲ ὀκνηρὰ οὐκ ἔφαγεν: Σῖτα ὀκνηρὰ τὰς κακίας εἶναί φασιν. Γυνὴ γὰρ συνετὴ εὐλογεῖται, φόβον δὲ κυρίου αὕτη αἰνείτω: Εἰ ἀρχὴ σοφίας φόβος κυρίου, δικαίως ἡ τυχοῦσα τῆς σοφίας ψυχὴ αἰνεῖ τὸν φόβον κυρίου, ὅστις γέγονεν αὐτῇ τῆς τοιαύτης γνώσεως πρόξενος. Μετελήφθησαν ἀφ' ὧν εὕρομεν ἑξαπλῶν. καὶ πάλιν αὐτὰ χειρὶ Πάμφιλος καὶ Εὐσέβιος διορθώσαντο. 26