Unit 2 rem mid

Here one must pay close attention to what Solomon says concerning wickedness: that it is not wickedness itself which leads the human being, in the beginning, upon the broad way; nor does it compel one to travel upon the streets of its houses, or to draw near to its bedchamber, or to speak in the evening twilight. But if it sees someone yielding themselves to pleasures, then immediately the form of wickedness, appearing with a lascivious aspect, meets that person, or it causes the hearts of the young to leap forth. Those who wander in the broad places receive thoughts of adultery, fornication, and theft; but those who wander outside these places pursue unnatural pleasures, seeking to lie with males, and entertain fantasies of other forbidden things. Yet take heed lest this accusation be true even of holy men; and whoever does not remain still but wanders about will share in the guilt of the accusations leveled against the dishonored woman. Of these thoughts, some are pure, others impure; and of the lines, some are called straight, others crooked. Now an angle is a bent straight line; or, understood intellectually, the impure thought is an angle. Therefore, the fact that wickedness lies in wait against every angle signifies that, through all impure thoughts, it deceives the soul. By means of the saffron and the crocus and the rest, the deceptive conceptions, or the various passions, are signified. –Behold wickedness, which has no beginning from itself, but arises from the preludes of virtue; for to partake in common sacrifices is good. But when they have been subdued by them, then at times they send forth the poison, enumerating the objects of desire for those who are in love, all of which are sufficient to enchant,

Origen clarifies that the focus is not on one’s own nature, but on the foolishness of those who hear. According to reason, the κα κίᾱ (likely a textual variant or corruption for κακία, meaning wickedness) seeks to shame our person through things like cords, beds, coverings, saffron, and cinnamon. These items, he says, signify evil and diverse passions—pleasures devised by the inventors of evil. The long-delayed return over many days refers to Paul, who, having spiritually fixed his gaze upon the divine economy, declares as his final enemy the one to be destroyed: death. Solomon had already written of death as a man of wickedness, one who takes the silver of a balance in his hand and thereby grasps humanity; yet even if he returns to sinning, he does not foresee God’s wrath, because he bears with patience the race of humans. For if he had not foreseen the fear of God, he would have utterly destroyed all people by the roots. There are three kinds of skin afflictions: scabs, the white (likely vitiligo or leukoderma), and the so-called star-like eruption. The scab, when held without restraint regarding mixtures, makes sleeping difficult and causes oozing; it cries out, and in oozing, it sends forth blood from the eyes, and it brings forth offspring poorly and painfully. Indeed, the Scripture draws from the history of this creature: those who yield to wickedness become scab-covered and are likened to birds made like them through excess. There is also another kind of scab found in the sea, moving in herds here and there, which sailors, having entangled their multi-hook nets, catch; and it does not merely flee when seeing the caught prey,

But indeed another runs swiftly after another in order to catch game; in this way those who associate with wickedness appear, striving to overcome one another through pleasures, surrounding themselves with warlike death. Here he has spoken of the heart as virtue, either the one walking upon the heart or the one fashioned by God, the spiritual. Here wisdom has been taken as a kind of offspring of instruction and knowledge; for instruction and knowledge being advanced first, he adds: For wisdom is better than precious stones, as the abundance of instruction and knowledge is contained within wisdom, which is given through the Spirit, a discourse of wisdom; and this same thing is also called the spirit of sonship. It is to be noted that he calls injustice, insolence, and arrogance, the unjust, insolent, and arrogant person, naming them from the state of the hand’s disposition. This means, from me, the prudent and the secure; for where this is, there also that is; you see lifeless things of bodily nature placed everywhere and prevailing. Then, having also spoken of ruling through it, he adds what is much greater: for to rule thus, and to be able to lawfully use authority, is better; but some, while calling the holy and great ones kings, call tyrants those still fighting against the flesh and ruling over the passions. He introduces a greater love here, namely when it is not set against the same; for indeed, when the Savior says to Peter, Do you love me? the one addressing him knowing, gives the lesser to himself, that is, I love you; and upon hearing the third, Simon son of Jonah, do you love me? he understood that the lesser.