Loss, Wisdom, and the Discipline of the Father
The flesh of a person of sensual luxury will be moved.
A merciful man is patient; but his boasting comes upon the lawless (Proverbs 19:11). If one boasts correctly in the Lord—and our Lord is wisdom—then the one boasting correctly boasts in wisdom. Therefore, the boasting of the patient and merciful one, which is his wisdom and his knowledge, comes upon the lawless, freeing them from wickedness now somewhat imperfectly, but necessarily in the age to come.
The threat of a king is like the roar of a lion; but his pleasantness is like dew on grass (Proverbs 19:12). Our Lord becomes a consuming fire and an angry lion toward those sinning, consuming wood, grass, reed, and 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 extinguishing the inflamed arrows of the evil one and cooling the heat arising from the practical life.
He named the unclean soul a prostitute, and has called its wages the condition of prostitution, from which prayers do not become pure (Proverbs 19:13).
It is for the fathers to teach the sons about virtue and the knowledge of the God of the fathers; but to give wisdom to the children is the Lord's (Proverbs 19:14). For there he calls woman wisdom: 'For you have been loved by wisdom, he says, and she will preserve you; honor her, so that she may embrace you' (Proverbs 14:1).
The commandments are called commandments as toward the God who commands; but they are called ways as toward the mind walking in them (Proverbs 19:16). And again, because they were given upon the witnesses of heaven and earth, the commandments are called testimonies; therefore also the one receiving them is named a witness, who, having lied about them, will not be without punishment.
He who keeps a commandment preserves his own soul; but he who despises his own ways will perish (Proverbs 19:16).
He named the purity of heart 'gift' now; for by analogy of our apatheia we are made worthy of knowledge (Proverbs 19:17).
He who is of a bad mind will suffer much loss; and if he is struck by plague, even his soul...
I think the great loss consists in the deprivation of the contemplation of things, while the addition to the soul is the vanishing of natural conceptions about God, leading it entirely into irrationality. And the Savior says in the Gospels: 'What will a man profit, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul' (Matt 16:26) and 'be harmed' (Matt 16:26). But here the loss shows the ignorance of bodies and incorporeal things; while the harm presents the ultimate irrationality.
Listen, son, to the instruction of your father, so that you may become wise in your later years (Prov 1:8). The 'later years' here does not mean time, but the purity following the practical virtues.
The fear of the Lord is life to a man (Prov 14:27); but the one without fear will slip in places where knowledge is not observed. If 'the fear of the Lord is life to a man' (Prov 14:27) and 'the fear of the Lord is instruction and wisdom' (Prov 1:7), then the life of the man is instruction and wisdom. But Christ says: 'I am the life' (John 14:6); therefore Christ is instruction and wisdom. Thus, 'to know instruction and wisdom' is to know Christ. The one without fear will be in wickedness and ignorance, in which Christ is not.
He who hides his hands in his lap unjustly will not even bring them to his mouth (Prov 20:20). He who does not correctly live 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 to our mouths the bread descending from the heavens and giving life to the world.
He who dishonors his father and pushes away his mother will be disgraced and will be a mocker (Prov 20:24). Through the transgression of the law he dishonors God, and he pushes away the mother, who is the instruction, if 'a righteous man is born unto life' (Prov 2:1). And righteousness consists of all the virtues.
A son left to guard the instruction of a father will meditate on evil sayings (Prov 23:7). The impure thoughts are evil sayings being born in the soul of one who has not kept the commandments of the heavenly Father.
Unrestrained wine and insulting drunkenness (Prov 23:21). If 'their wine is the fury of dragons' (Rev 17:4), then the wine is unrestrained, and therefore the fury is unrestrained, the people...
Greek
αἰσθητῆς τρυφῆς ἡ σὰρξ αὐτοῦ κινηθήσεται. 194 19, 11 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 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. 195 19, 12 βασιλέως ἀπειλὴ ὁμοία βρυγμῷ λέοντος· ὥσπερ δὲ δρόσος ἐπὶ χόρτῳ, οὕτως τὸ ἱλαρὸν αὐτοῦ 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. 196 19, 13.2 οὐχ ἁγναὶ εὐχαὶ ἀπὸ μισθώματος ἑταίρας Τὴν ἀκάθαρτον ψυχὴν ἑταίραν ὠνόμασεν καὶ ταύτης τὸ μίσθωμα τὴν κατάστασιν εἴρηκεν, ἀφ' ἧς οὐ καθαραὶ γίνονται προσευχαί. 197 19, 14 οἶκον καὶ ὕπαρξιν μεριοῦσι πατέρες παισίν· παρὰ δὲ κυρίου ἁρμόζεται γυνὴ ἀνδρί Τὸ μὲν διδάσκειν τοὺς υἱοὺς περὶ ἀρετῆς καὶ 16 γνώσεως θεοῦ τῶν πατέρων ἐστίν· τὸ δὲ σοφίαν δοῦναι τοῖς παισὶ τοῦ κυρίου ἐστίν. Γυναῖκα γὰρ ἐνταῦθα τὴν σοφίαν λέγει· «ἐράσθητι γάρ, φησί, τῆς σοφίας καὶ τηρήσει σε· τίμησον αὐτήν, ἵνα σε περιλάβῃ.» 198 19, 16 ὃς φυλάσσει ἐντολὴν τηρεῖ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν· ὁ δὲ καταφρονῶν τῶν ἑαυτοῦ ὁδῶν ἀπολεῖται 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 ἐδόθησαν, αἱ ἐντολαὶ λέγονται μαρτύρια· διὸ καὶ ὁ δεξάμενος αὐτὰ νοῦς ὀνομάζεται μάρτυς, ὅστις ψευσάμενος αὐτὰ οὐκ ἀτιμώρητος ἔσται. 199 19, 17 δανίζει θεῷ ὁ ἐλεῶν πτωχόν· κατὰ δὲ τὸ δόμα αὐτοῦ ἀνταποδώσει αὐτῷ ∆όμα νῦν τὴν καθαρότητα τῆς καρδίας ὠνόμασεν· κατ' ἀναλογίαν γὰρ τῆς ἀπαθείας ἡμῶν καταξιούμεθα γνώσεως. 200 19, 19 κακόφρων ἀνὴρ πολλὰ ζημιωθήσεται· ἐὰν δὲ λοιμεύηται, καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ προσθήσει 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 σωμάτων καὶ ἀσωμάτων ἐμφαίνει· ἡ δὲ ζημία τὴν ἐσχάτην ἀλογίαν παρίστησιν. 201 19, 20 ἄκουε, υἱέ, παιδείαν πατρός σου, ἵνα σοφὸς γένῃ ἐπ' ἐσχάτων σου Μετὰ τὴν ὀρθὴν πολιτείαν ἐστὶν ἡ γνῶσις. Τὸ γὰρ ἐπ' ἐσχάτων ἐνταῦθα οὐ τὸν χρόνον σημαίνει, ἀλλὰ τὴν μετὰ τὰς πρακτικὰς ἀρετὰς καθαρότητα. 202 19, 23 φόβος κυρίου εἰς ζωὴν ἀνδρί· ὁ δὲ ἄφοβος αὐλισθήσεται ἐν τόποις οὗ οὐκ ἐπισκοπεῖται γνῶσις Εἰ «φόβος κυρίου εἰς ζωὴν ἀνδρί», «φόβος δὲ κυρίου παιδεία καὶ σοφία», ζωὴ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς παιδεία ἐστὶ καὶ σοφία. Ἀλλ' ὁ 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. 203 19, 24 ὁ ἐγκρύπτων εἰς τὸν κόλπον αὐτοῦ χεῖρας ἀδίκως οὐδὲ τῷ στόματι οὐ μὴ προσαγάγῃ αὐτάς Ὁ 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 διδόντα τῷ κόσμῳ. 204 19, 26 ὁ ἀτιμάζων πατέρα καὶ ἀπωθούμενος μητέρα αὐτοῦ καταισχυνθήσεται 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. 205 19, 27 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. 206 20, 1.1 ἀκόλαστον οἶνος καὶ ὑβριστικὸν μέθη Εἰ «θυμὸς δρακόντων ὁ οἶνος αὐτῶν», ἀκόλαστον δὲ ὁ οἶνος, ἀκόλαστον ἄρα ὁ θυμός, ἀκολάστους τοὺς
About this text
Evagrius's short notes on Proverbs, turning each proverb toward the fight against temptation.
Original English Translation of Evagrius Ponticus’s Scholia in Proverbia — new OET from PG 40 Greek.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 40 (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.