Commentary on Proverbs

FROM THE EXPOSITION OF ORIGEN ON THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON

NOTICE.

CHAP. I.

^B That is to say, that the criterion should be straight and undistorted; for one who is unskilled in justice would not judge controversies rightly; for not even Solomon would have judged correctly for the harlots, if he had not maintained accurate arguments of justice; but we will judge rightly and undistortly if we submit to virtue and condemn wickedness. And there are three criteria in us: sense, reason, and

^A of words and concepts; but the mind is the contemplation of intelligible things.

As the mind reaches toward sensible things through the senses, so too does it contemplate intelligible things through the virtues; wherefore the wise Solomon teaches us that the mind also holds the place of sense. Those who acquire wickedness, by being evil, despise wisdom; and since they lack the fear which constitutes the beginning of sense, they are senseless and despise wisdom. How? By neither doing nor pursuing what is good; for everyone who does base things hates the light. Yet he is not dishonored by his own nature, but by the ignorance of those men; but the pious choose discipline, so that, having cleansed their soul, they may receive the wisdom that does not enter into a malevolent soul. Those who do not have the fear of God, which is the beginning of sense, are senseless regarding wisdom and discipline, and they despise both; just as those who do not accept the Old Testament and slander the Creator as cruel.

^B As the vertex and the neck here denote the mind, so also the crown and the chain here signify knowledge. For it is the habit of the Holy Spirit to designate God and his angels, the mind, virtue, knowledge, ignorance, wickedness, and even the devil himself and his angels, by many names. He does not bestow these names rashly, as some think; but they are indicators of diverse operations—God indeed working in us through the angels, and we in him in turn, and likewise the devil acting toward us.

These are co-heirs of the adversaries, who share in the same wickedness as they; and that which is not of the one God is common to them. Observe, however, the wicked and destructive concord.

A net is eternal punishment, and the varied retribution which is inflicted by the just Judge upon impure souls for the destruction of their ill-begotten wings. Now, we men are called "winged" because we are endowed with the power of flying, if only we wish it.

^C By "exodus" he now names the soul that has departed from wickedness and ignorance. Such was the exodus of the sons of Israel, which took place after their generation through the judgment and instruction of God. He also calls the soul itself a "square" (i.e., open place): "For open wide your mouth," he says, "and I will fill it." And "Be you also opened wide," says Paul in the Second to the Corinthians. And by the soul that has thus escaped, wisdom is celebrated, and it dwells confidently in a land spacious with virtues. By the high walls, moreover, he speaks of its ultimate tranquility from desires: since those who love the law surround themselves with a wall. For the sake of such walls David prays, saying, "Let the walls of Jerusalem be built"—that is, the walls of this soul of mine which had collapsed, clearly on account of the affair of Uriah.

^D How then did Solomon say before: "He who per

rejoices at the destruction of one perishing shall not be held innocent"? ^A Or does wisdom perhaps rejoice in this way—just as it rejoiced over the perishing of Matthew the publican, and over the perishing of the robber who believed in Christ? For in one case wisdom destroyed the robber, and in the other, the publican.

"Siege" is moral instruction, tearing down the wall of a soul ill-built, subduing it to God who besieges it.

Just as infants are between the just and the unjust, so too all men are between angels and demons, being neither angels nor demons until the consummation of the age. But they were doing injury, he says, to the little ones, concerning whom Christ said: "Take care that you do not scandalize one of these little ones." ^B

The dispassionate man rests fearlessly from every evil thought, and after a little while will dwell in the kingdom of God, as one who has heard and kept His commandments, because he hoped in Him.

Chap. II.

Thus, he who performs it—or he who performs it not for vainglory—hides the commandment of God; ^C whence also the demons, because they do not permit us to perform it, are said to snatch it away.

Then you will understand how the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and how it becomes the provider of the knowledge of God, whenever you become a suppliant to Him with faith and desire. But wisdom and understanding must exist beforehand, in order to be able to comprehend the fear of the Lord. Let us bring these matters before those who despise wisdom and understanding, ^D yet wish to flee toward the fear of God, as if toward an easy task.

For unless Christ delivers us, we shall walk along the evil path as if it were good. For holy ones speak all things faithfully; but others do not. The devil, however, speaks nothing faithfully, that is to say, nothing worthy of faith. For he refers to the devil here by the name of "man," as in the Gospels, since there a "malicious man" sowed the weeds. It is truly an instance of the greatest snares when one falls into corrupt counsel, and among deceitful, treacherous, and wicked men.

If some shattered—that is, darkened—counsel is a movement of the mind, why did it abandon the discipline of youth; why did it forget the divine covenant? For he discourses with us about corrupt counsel as if about a rational animal. ^D He calls the devil "corrupt counsel" here; for this one wickedly deliberated with himself, saying: "I will set my throne above the stars, and I will be like the Most High." But he forgot the divine knowledge, having cast off the discipline of youth. Now, "youth" is understood as his prior state, in which he was blissful. But if discipline is able to instruct the young—an age which is very headstrong without discipline—it will certainly be much more useful to an old man.

Whoever are overtaken by the years of life, through the works of the future eternal life, these discover the straight paths.

^A For the Lord loves those who pursue justice, and the counsel of the wicked shall not overtake them. But those who do not learn the straight paths of life will not turn again to the kingdom of God, being those who trust in the devil.

CAP. III.

^B That man forgets the law who does not live lawfully; but he remembers the law who orders his life by its rule. That man also keeps the words of God who not only performs them, but also persuades others to do the same. He, however, tramples upon the words of God who neither wishes to perform them himself, nor allows others to do so; for not the hearers of the law shall be justified.

^C The health which virtue provides is a remedy for your life; and so the grace and care of God are for your thoughts and considerations. When the powers of the soul, that is, the virtues, have obtained divine care, then all my bones shall say: "Lord, Lord, who is like to thee?" For when divine protection has been obtained, the memorial faculty of the soul will surely say: "I remembered God and was glad." Similarly, the contemplative faculty will say: "I understood your works, and was astonished." The desiring faculty will likewise say: "Lord, before you is all my desire." Finally, the rational faculty will say: "I pondered the days of old." The remaining faculties will behave in the same way.

^D To those who are earnest about wisdom, nothing shall be bothersome, just as happens with the desire for money. A pure mind approaches wisdom, because it discerns what is good; but an impure mind will remain far from it.

This tree, after the transgression, Adam is forbidden to taste; since the tree of life is born from the fruits of justice. For the tree of life is the wisdom of God. Rightly, therefore, is every wicked man forbidden to touch this tree.

God indeed founded the earth by his wisdom; and by his sense the abysses burst forth, and the clouds distilled dews. What Solomon here called the earth, the holy Paul called breadth; and those things which are here called heavens, that same apostle in the Epistle to the Ephesians calls height; and those things which are metaphorically called abysses, he terms depth; and finally, the dew-bearing clouds, he calls length. All these, moreover, are symbols of rational natures, which differ in adornment and body according to the analogy of their own constitution. The name of wisdom corresponds also to the Son of God. But the faithful soul, too, is a land yielding a hundredfold fruit; and this, from fatness, that is, wisdom, becomes wise, with God founding wisdom upon it. For He makes this soul a heap of doctrine, a mixture of wisdom; and through it, always progressing, He makes it a heaven, a most pure creature, a dwelling place for angels and intellectual substances, endowed with the sense of the existing God.

and one that perceives the exactness of all things, as it were the manifold wisdom of God’s judgments.

^A Demons are powerless against wisdom alone, for they are not permitted to cast thoughts into the heart of one who has become wise; for the mind that busies itself with the contemplations of wisdom becomes impervious to unclean thoughts. A pure mind draws near to wisdom, because it recognizes what is right; but the unclean mind will be distanced far from it.

A stumbling block to a rational nature is an unclean thought or false knowledge; but he who is fortified by the will of God does not stumble in these matters.

^B "Neither incursion," he says, "of evil thoughts shall terrify the one who has become wise, nor shall the ungodly, rushing from without, break down his strength, desiring to strip him of his natural goods." For who shall be able to take the unconquerable? And yet, what is more arrogant than the ungodly man? But, he says, you shall overcome even him, that all-devouring beast, if you are meek and gentle, with the Lord standing by your side. From this we learn that almsgiving removes terrifying phantasies, whether they happen to us by night or in our contemplations; and not only this, but it also frees those who are so disposed from the evil accusations at the time of their passing and from the grievous punishments of the judgment. Meekness, gentleness, patience, and whatever else is naturally suited to curb the stirrings of anger produce the same result, since it is from the disturbance of anger that terrifying phantasies are wont to arise.

Do not withhold your bounty from the needy, not only in terms of food, but also in terms of the knowledge of God, and wisdom, and the commandments; and whatever is pleasing to God and brings us into communion with Him, do not refuse to bestow upon him who stands in need of your help.

This enmity against one’s neighbor produces evil, not only for the body, but also for the soul.

Ignorance of the Lord in the houses of the ungodly, but knowledge of God in the souls of the righteous; the dwellings of the righteous are blessed when Christ bestows rewards to each according to their works; but to the ungodly, [He bestows] a curse and not a blessing.

^C Supreme and consummate wickedness is called pride. God opposes the unjust as justice, the liars as truth, and the proud as humility; therefore, He is a friend to those who think humbly. For this is what the words mean: "He gives grace to the humble, but opposes the proud."

Those who have learned and taught the divine wisdom shall inherit heavenly glory; but the ungodly heap up shame for themselves before angels and men from Christ.

CHAP. IV.

By "discipline," he means moral virtue; by "understanding," divine knowledge. And he who is a son of virtues [is one who] acts according to them. ^D

^A For he who acts according to virtue does not do so for the sake of another, but for the sake of virtue itself. ^A "A good gift I give to you, My heavenly kingdom, if you do not forsake My law." It must be noted here that He calls the mind a "good gift," on account of one who receives gifts into his bosom unjustly and does not prosper—for He calls those "unjust gifts" the affairs of the wicked, which if the mind receives, it does not prosper in its ways. "The crown of graces are the commandments of the Lord," which in return bestow the crown of the kingdom upon those who observe them. "The crown of delights" is the knowledge of God, which, protecting us, repels every lustful thought and every false knowledge. ^B These many ways lead to the one Way that said, "I am the way." He has called the virtues the many ways that lead to the knowledge of God. "And the years of life shall be multiplied" for the one who hears through the prophets the heavenly Father, and receives through the only-begotten Son His words, so that he may be directed in the ways of justice of life, in order that he may be saved for life everlasting. The station of these camps is wickedness and false knowledge, and whatever is unacceptable to God; for impious thoughts are enemies, killing souls. "To His beloved, the Lord gives sleep"; but the impious do not enjoy His love, to whom surely the Lord does not give sleep. From this it can be shown credibly that the nature of demons is not suited to receiving sleep. ^C The virtues go before us and illumine us in the present life, which, if compared with the future life (which is day), is called night, until the day arises in which the Sun of Justice shall rise. Or it means that until they establish us in a safe place, they do not depart; for it is the property of day to dispel darkness. This is what Christ also was saying: "He who walks in the day does not stumble." The contrary, however, happens in the ways of the impious; for since they neither know nor understand, they walk in darkness and stumble; nor do they find any forgiveness, as if they had fallen through ignorance, for they themselves have drawn darkness over themselves. And you may see that virtue spreads light even in the midst of darkness, whereas wickedness grows dark even in the light. ^D Moreover, the impious do not know how they sin, nor do they know the cause of their stumblings; finally, they do not even perceive their own sin, which is the mark of extreme wickedness. By "fountains" He means the virtues, whence gushes the living water of the divine words, which is the knowledge of Christ. David also says, "The fountains of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were revealed," clearly at the advent of our Savior Jesus Christ. "Let thine eyes," He said, "look upon right things," that is, things which...

^A are pleasing to God alone; namely, those things which were clarified for us by the prophets concerning Christ alone and His disciples; and everything said by anyone that draws towards Christ, and that alone.

These things harmonize with this: "Unless the Lord build the house, and keep the city"—that is, unless the Lord grants us the strength to direct our steps toward Him—we labor in vain, we who do not invoke Him with supplication, but attempt it in presumption.

CAP. V.

For both the manifest harlots and the teachings of the heterodox babble, deceiving the hearts of the simple through smooth speech. It is therefore of the utmost safety not to be caught at the beginning; for once caught, it is difficult to escape. ^B

"Auditionis tenus, delectatio" (By the very hearing, there is pleasure). "Fatness" (pinguedo) denotes pleasure, from which impurity is born; its offspring are wickedness and ignorance—than which nothing can be found more bitter for those who have lived to see the day of judgment.

Hence we learn that the irascible part prevails in demons. "For," he says, "merciless is their fury, and their anger is sharp." For they hunt to destruction those who obey them; for so do they honor those who honor them.

Through their wickednesses, the impious wear away the flesh of Christ and consume [His] blood, deeming it common ^C (1). For "He who eats My flesh," He says, "and drinks My blood, has eternal life, and I will raise him up in the last day"; but he who eats the body and drinks the blood of the Lord unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself.

There was a time when there was no evil, and there shall be a time when there shall not be; for the seeds of virtue are indelible. And this convinces me—he who was nearly, but not entirely, in every way evil, the rich man being judged in Hades because of wickedness, yet pitying his brothers (2). Now, to show mercy, happens to be the most beautiful seed of virtue.

Knowledge is both a well and a spring. For to those who first approach the virtues, it seems a deep well; but to the impassible and pure, it is a spring. Thus also the Savior sat upon the spring, the hour being about the sixth. But understand the spring to be divine knowledge, and not the well of water. And just as the spring is available without labor—that is, the running water for those who thirst—so the well requires labor for those willing to draw [from it]. And just as the spring is ceaseless in its flowing, thus the sensible Scripture has a perpetual course, and grants easily to those who thirst for God. And just as the well provides labor for those drawing, so also does contemplative knowledge for those who wish through it to perfect the virtues, both of soul and body, and to understand divine things, and to strive for the kingdom of heaven.

^A Here, by the term "woman," he denotes the knowledge of God; and this was given to us from youth, which above Solomon calls "the instruction of youth." For he says: "My son, let not evil counsel overtake you" (meaning the devil, as the contriver of evil counsels), by which the instruction of youth is abandoned and the divine covenant is forgotten. Now forgetfulness and abandonment are worse than the possession of knowledge, just as a disease is far worse than health, and death is inferior to life. At the same time, this very knowledge is called both mother and wife and sister: mother, because he who taught me begot me through knowledge, as Paul did the Galatians through the Gospel; wife, because, being joined to me, she brings forth virtues and right doctrines, since indeed wisdom brings forth prudence in man; sister, because both she and I were born of the one God and Father. For he says, "Say to wisdom, that she is your sister" 81.

^B Grace and friendship liberate. But virtue and knowledge liberate the rational soul. For grace and friendship are virtue and knowledge. But if the stag is born from friendship, and the foal from graces; the stag truly is a symbol of contemplation, but the foal of rest from desires; of which it is decreed that the one comes to be from virtues, the other from knowledge. The stag is a symbol of contemplation concerning corporeal and incorporeal things and the knowledge of God; but friendship, of love toward God and men; the foal, finally, of an imperturbable soul. And contemplation, indeed, which is the knowledge of God, is wont to be produced from the virtues of the soul: love, from wisdom: tranquility, from the virtues of the body. He exhorts us that we should always consort with such graces; for he who accustoms himself to them will not only draw near to God, but will also dwell with Him. ^C It is a property of the rational nature to have virtue, which is called friendship, and it conciliates and joins to God those who follow it through the knowledge of God. For he who is led by the love of virtue and knowledge belongs to the number of those who are benefitted.

^D Some think that this is said about profane wisdom, in which it is not expedient to linger for long, because of the snares inherent in it. Others, however, interpret it concerning wickedness and that we should not be much with it: namely, that although it is impossible for a man to be entirely free from evil thoughts, yet it is possible not to dwell in them; which the author calls "snubs."

CHAPTER VI.

Whoever pledges Christ to himself as a friend, as justice and truth, delivers his own soul to the enemies who are wont to fight against men on account of their love for the Savior. For spiritual love is the knowledge of God, for which cause holy men are friends of God, as John the Baptist was the friend of the bridegroom, and Moses, and the apostles; for He says, "I will no longer call you servants, but friends." Do you see the struggle and the vigil? For sleep is of the soul

the completed sin; but slumber is the impure thought first forming in the soul; and drowsing is the inclination toward worse things. The Law therefore forbids sleep, but the Gospel forbids slumber; for the former cuts off the sin that is in action, while the latter cuts off the wickedness that is first forming in the mind. For it was said to the ancients, you shall not kill; but I say to you, you shall not be angry.

^A It must be noted here that the natural, harmonious motion of the ant is called wisdom by the author; for even he who is wiser than the wise is called wiser. But how is it that it is not under a master, seeing that all things are servants of God? Or is it perhaps that God is called master in two ways, both as Creator and as known? Thus Paul also writes: "But now having been freed from sin, and having been enslaved to God (that is clearly according to virtue and knowledge), you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life." If, therefore, the ant is devoid of such an end and knowledge, being irrational, it is clear that it is also free from such servitude. Well, therefore, is it said that the ant is not under a master, according to this lordship; but again it is said to be under lordship, under God, as under Creator.

Through the ant, Solomon seems to outline for us the practical way; but through the bee, he signifies the contemplation of things that have occurred and of the Maker Himself, which both pure and impure, wise and foolish, apply for the health of the soul. And it seems to me that the wax represents the account of the things themselves, while the honey resting upon it is the symbol of their contemplation. And the wax will indeed pass away—for "Heaven," he says, "and earth shall pass away"—but the honey will not pass away; for the words of our Savior Jesus Christ will not pass away, concerning which Solomon says: "Honeycombs are fair words, and their sweetness is a healing of the soul." And David also says, "How sweeter to my throat are Your oracles than honey to my mouth!" But the result of the labor of virtue and of knowledge, he named toil. And by kings and commoners, he does not mean those who wear the diadem, or those who are poor in the refuse heap, but he calls those men kings who have their mind well-instructed toward God and strengthened by virtues.

^C This sleep is prone to befall only a rational soul; for here it signifies ignorance and lack of knowledge, from which vigilance makes one like a sparrow sitting alone upon the housetop.

It must be observed here whether perhaps through such bodily movements the adversaries might know the thoughts revolving within us; since we believe that God alone is the knower of hearts.

Whoever eats the flesh of Christ and drinks His blood, possesses righteous blood; from which...

if a rational soul is deprived, it is said to die. For the soul that sins, it shall die. But if there is righteous blood, there is clearly also unrighteous blood; which those gather within themselves who consume that offered as food to the peoples of the Ethiopians, being nourished by the bread of falsehood. And indeed, those who sacrifice to foreign gods destroy their own righteous blood; but those who offer themselves as a sacrifice to the one God destroy their unrighteous blood. Corruption of unrighteous blood will certainly follow; but this happens only in the present time, whereas from the beginning it was not so. For the health of children, who were born healthy from the beginning, did not consist in the corruption of disease. ^A

He reproves mutual lies, which bring them to disputes and strife. Or they are brothers, who have the grace of adoption and are under one father, Christ; whom the witness of iniquity attempts to pull apart, casting disturbances and judgments into them. The word "kindle" is added, I believe, because of vicious thoughts which inflame the mind toward wrath and hatred, and desire toward shameful deeds. These thoughts the holy Paul also called the fiery darts of the wicked one, which wound the soul and bring about death. ^B

He commands him to bring with him his mother, who is the wisdom that begets, namely that which is according to God. Yet it would have been more fitting to name the father, for he contributes more to the existence of the son. But since it is impossible for one to know God before the knowledge of created things, for this reason he commands him to have his mother with him rather than his father; so that through the mother the son might know the father. For unless she bears him, he does not behold the light, which is clearly the knowledge of God Himself. ^C

Because the commandment of the Law is a lamp and a light. And perhaps the lamp is the Old Testament: for that was like a lamp which was burning and appearing. The light, however, is the New Testament: "For I," He says, "am the light of the world": a reproof of the wicked, an instruction for the good. For through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

For the pleasure of wickedness is as great as [that of] a single loaf of bread. ^D

If he is corrected by true knowledge, he will cast away every false knowledge—he who formerly stole due to a lack of knowledge, from that knowledge and wisdom which was made foolish by our Savior. But he is said to "repay sevenfold," because he will praise God seven times in the day; and by handing over all his senses to God, he will deliver himself from the punishments prepared for the devil and his angels.

Everyone who communicates with iniquity is an adulterer of the devil, who first married iniquity and was a murderer from the beginning. In the same way, he brings about the destruction of his own soul together with him.

CHAPTER VII

Our sister is wisdom, inasmuch as He who made the

^A incorporeal nature is the Father, and He has made this as well. By "wisdom" in this passage, He does not mean the Son of God, but the perception of things corporeal and incorporeal, and the thoughts residing within it regarding divine judgment and providence.

He calls the flesh of man a "window" now; for through it the wicked one perpetrates his deceits upon men, to those who wish to walk the broad and spacious way that leads to destruction. But here one must consider what Solomon says concerning wickedness: that it does not itself lead man onto the broad way at the beginning, nor does it force him to walk the thoroughfares of its house, or to approach a corner, or to speak in the evening darkness; rather, if it sees someone giving himself over to pleasures, it immediately encounters him in the form of a harlot, which makes the hearts of young men to leap.

^B 7 Those who wander aimlessly in the streets easily conceive of adultery, fornication, and theft. But those who wander outside these places seek out pleasures contrary to nature, desiring intercourse between males, and receiving fantasies of other forbidden things. But take care lest this accusation fall upon holy men as well; for if someone does not love solitude but instead wanders about aimlessly, he will indeed share in the infamy of the dishonest woman.

8 Thoughts, some are pure, others are impure. Lines, likewise, some are called straight, others bent. An angle is a bent line. Intellectually, an angle is an impure thought. Therefore, to hunt for iniquity in every angle is the same as deceiving one's own soul through every kind of impure thought.

^C 9 By "tapestries," "saffron," and the rest, He signifies deceitful imaginations or various passions. Contemplate wickedness: it does not have its beginning from itself, but from the initial stages of virtue. For to take a companion in sacrifice is a good thing. But when it [wickedness] has overcome you, then the woman will breathe poison into you, speaking amorous things, which are all suitable for deceiving—not indeed by their own nature, but because of the folly of those who hear them. Intellectually, however, wickedness exerts itself to fill our face with ignominy through tapestries, and a bed, and cushions, and saffron, and cinnamon; these signify the evil and various passions of pleasures, devised by the inventors of vices.

^D 20 These words, "after many days he will return to his house," looking very spiritually toward the economy, Paul says that the last enemy to be abolished is death, which Solomon describes as a man of iniquity: one who holds a purse as if full of silver in his hand, which is human nature; if perchance, while he is sinning again, he is able to neglect the fear of God. Therefore he [the devil] is distressed while he is compelled to tolerate the human race. For if the devil did not have the fear of God before his eyes, he would cast everyone down with great impetus.

22 There are three types of herons: the one that is called the *kemphos*, and...

the white one, and the one that is called the asterisk. Of these, the *kemphos*, having an intemperate nature regarding copulation, rests and mates with difficulty; it cries out, and while mating emits blood from its eyes, and it gives birth with difficulty and pain. The Scripture seems, from the history of this animal, to delineate those who are persuaded by wickedness as *kemphoi* and assimilated to these birds on account of their profligacy. There is also another type of *kemphos* in the sea, flying here and there in flocks; sailors catch them by baiting a line with many hooks. For they not only do not flee when they see others caught, but one rushes ahead of another to be caught; thus do those who wallow in vice appear, as, eager to surpass one another in pleasures, they entangle themselves in a lethal death.

CAP. VIII.

^B 79 By "heart" here, he signifies virtue, which settles in the heart, or he calls "heart" that which is created by God and is spiritual.

80 Here he accepts "wisdom" as a certain type of instruction and knowledge. For having named instruction and knowledge, he adds: *For wisdom is better than precious stones*, as if instruction and knowledge were contained within wisdom, which is given by the Spirit, that is, the word of wisdom. This very thing is also called the spirit of adoption.

^C 81 It is to be noted that he mentions iniquity, injury, and pride as referring to the unjust, contumelious, and proud man, designating him from this worst disposition of the mind.

82 That is, from me proceeds right counsel and sound judgment; for where the one is, there also is the other. Do you see everywhere the incorporeal being placed before and being superior to corporeal things? Then, after he said that even the kingdom is bestowed by him, he adds what reflects something much greater: for this truly is to reign, if someone knows how to use power justly. Some interpreters understand by the name of kings the saints and nobles; but by tyrants, those who are still fighting against the flesh, and who exercise tyranny over their passions.

^D 83 He introduces "love" as being greater than "friendship" here, since it is not ranked in the same order. For behold, when the Savior said to Peter, *Do you love me?* the one who spoke, knowing well, attributed to himself what was less, saying: *I cherish you.* But hearing the third time, *Simon son of John, do you love me?* he was grieved because for the third time he applied to him the word signifying the lesser.

85 The wise man alone is rich and illustrious: for there is within him a manifold possession and the seeds of wisdom; which, sowing in the spirit, he reaps life. But when he says that riches are his own, he seems to say something like this: that there is no need for you to have expenses, nor any novelty, to acquire my love; you need only to love, and you shall be loved in return. Indeed, what is truly marvelous—namely, that justice should exist in riches—this too is with me, and every other good thing.

^A Since the wisdom of God is a substance, it was born before the ages and was eternal before creation. But when it accepted a relationship toward created things, then it became the beginning of the ways of God, namely of creation and providence. The beginning, therefore, is a bond with the creatures of which it has become the beginning; that is to say, it began to have a relationship toward created things. Nevertheless, wisdom itself is eternal, existing substantially before the ages with God. Impiety is sin against God. He also acts impiously against his own soul who heaps up upon his soul the punishment prepared for the impious. It is also consistent that they who hate wisdom should love death, since wisdom is life.

CAP. IX.

^A

He who is carried about by every wind of doctrine, making shipwreck of faith, destroys both himself and others whom he guides as if by a wind. For he has abandoned the ways of the commandments of Him who says: "I am the vine, you are the branches, and my Father is the husbandman." He who does not gather divine knowledge along with the virtues does not gather the immortal fruit of the eternal kingdom; and barrenness is wickedness and ignorance.

As vital bread, willingly to taste of the divine words, and to contemplate the divine meanings in the inner chamber of the mind. Bread of the soul are the virtues, which were also commanded by our Savior to be brought about in us: namely, fasting, continence, prayer, and the like; but in secret, so that they may not be seen by men.

CAP. X.

^B He refers to a man as poor in doctrine; and by "hands," the acts of wisdom.

A wise man is not scorched by tribulations and calamities, and he brings forth the fruits of justice: just as the unjust man, even from good things, suffers loss.

He calls "discipline lacking reproof" the evil way of acting of the soul, which brings it both error and destruction. But the way of life defends those who are free from malice, not only from eternal misery, but also from every annoyance of life. And he calls those "free from malice" who, having suffered evil from someone, nonetheless retain innocence along with charity. Or, he calls "discipline" that which has the outward appearance of piety, but lacks experience and testing. For he who has not been tested, and has not revealed his mind and thoughts to others, remains in vain conceit ^C and is led astray by his own opinion.

"They cover," he says, taking it as "they do not allow to be tasted." Or, he speaks of "enmity" as the malice through which we become enemies of God; but the enmity against God and men, implanted in our hearts by the evil one, the just men expel, and with their lips they praise God, whenever the evil one thus tempts them. "For if, when we were enemies," says Paul, "we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son." If then enmity is a vice, surely friendship is a virtue and the knowledge of God, through which we become friends of Him and of the holy powers; and being of this friendship, those who are His friends are also friends of one another.

"Lord, all my desire is before thee," says David; that is, whatever is pleasing to God and is fitting for the just, that must be desired, so that our prayer may be ^D acceptable before God; but the impious man is driven about by eternal destruction, while he desires and performs things that are in no way pleasing to God.

"If the fear of the Lord adds days," and "the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord," then these days are parts of wisdom granted by the sun of justice. For a man who is progressing increases in concepts and illuminations. And for such days David prays, saying: "Do not revoke me in the midst of my days."

^A His days being completed, Abraham also died, old and full of days. The Lord adds divine visions, as though they were days, to those who fear Him in faith; but the years of the impious, having been found lacking wisdom and devoid of divine grace, have been shortened.

"Age" (aion), he says, refers to human life, as Paul also uses it: "I will never eat meat for the age [in the original sense], lest I scandalize my brother." For he called the allotted span of his life an "age." He says the just man shall not fall into sin being harassed by the evil one. But the impious, sinning, shall not only fall from the kingdom, but they shall not even inhabit the earth.

Instead of this, "full of grace." The mouth of a pious man now refers to the mind and the heart, as if it were the lips praising God. But the mouth of the impious that speaks wicked things turns away from God to be with the evil one; ^B observe, then, what comes from the former, and what from the latter.

CHAP. XI.

"He who proposes for himself the goal of future things, the just man dying, truly acquires his expectation." Or, the author sends us to the resurrection. And for the just, what he possesses indeed remains and does not perish; but for the unjust, even what he has is extinguished. For such men rejoice only in the present age; concerning whom it has been said ^C: "Whose glory is in their shame."

It is not as if the pious man were subject to condemnation, he says, that "the impious is given in his stead," but because the snare is laid by the evil one against the just man, and as this one is rescued, the impious falls into it; the pious is snatched away by God, while the impious, being abandoned, falls into it, according to: "The sinner is caught in the works of his own hands." Or, because the just man is subject to certain sins as a human being, the impious man comes and, having done evil to the just, frees him from his sins and future punishments, while drawing those punishments upon himself. He is betrayed, clearly, by his own malice, after having cast himself into a reprobate mind.

^D Discernment, that is, regarding things to be done or not; or the ability to manage one's own life; for it is a great and unbearable storm. For such people, tossed about by every wind, suffer shipwreck in life or in faith, and like the leaves of a tree, they fall away from God, those in whom the wisdom of God does not dwell. But if salvation lies in counsel, and not in counsel simply, but in an abundance of it, then one is not saved by bodies or by riches, nor by nature—this I say against those who introduce the heresy of natures.

Here he explicitly used the word "body" for the soul; and Christ also in the Gospels calls the soul "body": "The lamp," He says, "of the body is the eye"; calling the mind the lamp—for it is the element capable of knowledge—and the body the irascible and concupiscible part of the soul; which some indeed [call] the irrational...

^A while others call it the pathetic part. But he who, by the good things he has done and teaches, from this [source] obtains knowledge of corporeal and incorporeal things, and in the future [obtains] the kingdom of heaven, acquires it for himself and for his disciples. Yet he ruins not only his own body, but also his soul, along with those who obey him, handing them over to the destructive fire. 13 He who becomes a teacher of wicked deeds and doctrines unjustly joins hand to hand. But he who brings forth discourses concerning the virtues and the knowledge of God, sows righteousness. 14 To those who sow in their own [fields] and produce more, are opposed those who gather and are diminished: for they who sow in their own [fields] are those who sow in the spirit and reap life; but those who gather and are diminished are those who sow in the flesh and gather corruption for themselves. 15 Corn is the divine word, which the Jews, having hidden, have left behind for the Gentiles. ^B Similar to this is also that which was said by our Savior in the Gospels: "No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it under a bushel, but on a lampstand, that it may give light to all who are in the house." For just as corn is nourishment for the body, so is the knowledge of God for the soul. But he who has the nourishment of both and does not provide it, but instead demands payment for them from those who have nothing to give, will leave it all to the demons. He also says he will be detested by the people, because he will be cursed by the host of angels and all the just on the day of judgment. 16 Construction according to the spirit is the practical exercise of good virtues. He who performs what is owed to God seeks out other men who are pleasing to God, who may likewise undertake to perform what is owed to God, so that just as he does, they also may trade; but he will shun those who do not seek the good, but the evil. 17 This is the tree of life planted in the midst of the paradise, the touching of which was forbidden to Adam after his sin, as he had cast away the seeds of righteousness from which the tree of life grows.

CAP. XII.

CHAPTER XIII.

and unrepentant heart, you treasure up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God. But the good one ^A will cause those who, as sons to a father, obey him to be heirs, and he will adopt into the kingdom of heaven those who belong to him.

CAP. XIV.

25 Just as they are invincible, just as weapons provide safety; for no wickedness will resist wisdom, because it is an unconquerable weapon: for demons are powerless against it alone; but to the foolish man, both visible and incorporeal things are all hostile.

26 By houses here he means bodies; for they are the dwellings of souls. And it is the duty of those who have knowledge of piety and theoretical knowledge to teach the impious not only the knowledge of God, but also the whole reason of the life-giving commandments, so that, having been cleansed, they may see God with the eyes of the intellect; for this is the blessed end which is reserved for every rational nature; but the houses of the just are prepared for the reception of all, as the Lord commands.

27 By thoughts he now means divine visions and the habits of the virtues, just as he has contrasted them with the ways of one who is rash-hearted. For out of the abundance of the heart the lips speak, the Lord said 28. For the good man does not meditate on doing evil, but on doing good; but the rash-hearted man, acting and speaking as a fool, shall be filled with scourges, and with the loss of affairs, and in the end he will destroy his soul.

CAP. XV.

29 By rebukes he now means the commandments: for these rebuke us when we sin; but those who hate them, and die together with the uncleanness of their sins, shall waste away wickedly along with their wicked inventor; but by those who are passing by wickedness, the discipline of the sinlessness of the innocent man is recognized.

30 Quiet is the cessation from active wickedness and from sights, which the good enjoy in tranquility; but the eyes of the mind and body of the wicked meditate on evil all the time.

31 The prudent man is not in the Hades of the wicked; the ways of life are meditations on divine words and works; and the prudent man always does and teaches these things, so that, turning away from Hades with his disciples, he may be saved.

32 Those who do not do his commandments are his enemies; but they become his friends when they run to the just, confessing their evil deeds—from which, being led away as they are, they will walk in the life-giving ways; as Paul proclaimed: They who were once enemies were reconciled to God through the death of His Son 33. One must note that all enemies become friends through the work of the just; so that Christ may say to all 34: I no longer call you servants, but friends.

^A Again, there too, wisdom is required to obtain mercy; or the angel who knows the decrees regarding punishment is called the wrath of God. But the one who is skilled in divine words and works, as being of one mind with Him, shall not fear him.

36 Wisdom’s nests are the Churches, or the heavenly habitations. But Wisdom is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The nests of prudence, more precious than silver, are the practical virtues: justice, knowledge, wisdom, temperance, fortitude, long-suffering, patience, mildness, alms-giving, faith with hope and charity; through which, as if by the rungs of a ladder, nothing prevents those who wish to ascend and dwell there from entering the habitations of wisdom.

37 By discipline, he refers to the fear of God, fasting, continence, vigils, the singing of hymns, and that chastisement which God brings upon us for the sake of trial through illnesses. By reproofs, he refers to the commandments of God; for these reprove us when we sin. By ways in this place, he refers to the senses; and he who guards them preserves his soul from death unto life. For life is that which gives life to all things, and brought them from nothingness into existence, the holy Trinity. But he who loves life, and always desires to live, will restrain his own mouth, so that he speaks only of God in words and works, and devotes his study to the knowledge of God.

B Life is God. And the source of the life which exists of itself in a threefold way is wisdom, knowledge, and the virtues; those who drink from this source partake of immortality and everlasting life. Now, those who have attained the aforementioned source meditate on the words of life. But the discipline of the insane is wickedness; and then, what is called discipline without correction is folly.

39 He called knowledge "discernment," because it discerns all matters. The heart of the wise contemplates what is from its own mouth in the judgment of corporeal and incorporeal things, and they act in accordance with what they themselves teach others to do.

40 The demons, educated by the doctrine of the devil, fight against the saints and attempt to drive them away from the knowledge of God, which is accustomed to join them in friendship with the heavenly powers. I believe Solomon also signifies this very thing through this proverb, calling the devil a perverse man: the "passing torches of deceit" are the evil demons educated by him; and the "friends" are the saints, who by their knowledge attain unto God and to one another.

41 The iniquitous man is the devil, who tempts the friends of God and leads them onto the paths of perdition and not of good. But after he has deceived one of the saints, he fortifies his machinations before his own eyes, and contemplates perverse things, lest by chance the one he has hunted should be saved by repenting. ^D He inspires into his ears all sorts of wicked thoughts, desperation, and every kind of intemperate pleasure. This is the furnace of all iniquity,

^A in which are consumed the souls of those who fall into it. But the divine Spirit also dispels the flame of this furnace, whistling with the wisdom of the dew. And yet, many wicked men still, in this way, are accustomed to imitate their father, the devil.

Here "bosoms" signifies the hearts of the unrighteous; I believe, moreover, that throughout, "bosom" signifies either the mind or knowledge. The devil carries the wicked in his bosom, but the Lord carries the righteous.

CAP. XVII

^B If everyone who commits sin is a slave, then everyone who recoils from iniquity for the sake of virtue prevails in turn over the demons, those senseless masters. He also becomes a house for the mysteries of God, distributing spiritual knowledge to each of the brethren according to the condition of their state. Thus also Paul fed the Corinthians with milk, and the Ephesians with more solid food, speaking of length, breadth, and depth, signifying by these intervals the diversity of the rational nature, which comprehends the accounts of God’s judgment and providence—accounts which are indeed very deep and transcend the human condition.

"Furnaces are temptations." For after God has purged the hearts of the elect through temptations, then at last He chooses them as immaculate for Himself.

^C A heretic hearkens to the tongue of the dogmas of the godless, but those of the Church do not even pay attention. Through "hearkening," he shows his voluntary act, as one who has sinned against the wise governance of God. This man hearkens to the tongues of the lawless, he who receives from them wicked thoughts and hastens to act according to them—to whom the just man is said not to "pay attention," whether they be visible or invisible, that is to say, not to nourish their counsels any longer within himself.

"The faithful," he says, "shall see" the accounts of this world, which the author has tropically called "riches." But the unbeliever will not know the account of even an incidental matter because of the impurity of his soul. And that the wealth of the soul is the knowledge of God, Paul teaches by saying: "In everything you were enriched, in all knowledge and all wisdom." But if anyone should wish to demonstrate ^D that this is not the meaning of this proverb, let him say where those who "went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented" obtained wealth? And how is it that the unbeliever will not possess an obol, when in reality many unbelievers abound in sumptuous riches—I mean the kings and princes of this world?

"Faithful lips," he says, indicate good thoughts; but for the senseless man, wicked thoughts will be acceptable. For what fellowship has justice with iniquity? Or what communion of light with darkness? Unless, perhaps, he has repented and received prudence and faith.

By justice we hide iniquity; and by temperance, licentiousness; and again by love, hatred; and by freedom from the love of money,

^A we hide greed. Moreover, we hide pride through humility, and through gentleness, rashness; seeking that spiritual friendship which signifies holy knowledge. And indeed, among Paul, some are said to have become fellow-citizens of the saints, and members of the household of the heavenly Jerusalem, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.

He here calls the body the house of the soul; and conversely, the soul the house of the mind. Likewise, the mind itself is called the eye of the soul. Now, whoever has learned divine knowledge and wisdom, and nonetheless has surrendered himself to wickedness, and has uttered wicked words in place of good, and does not wish to repent and be saved, from his bodily house wickedness and malignity will not depart, but will remain firmly within it, so that the ultimate evils may come upon it, remaining immovable within it until the day of the Lord’s wrath. ^B — That which is fashioned from the earth by the Lord for us, he here calls a house. But "it shall not be moved" means: wrath and affliction will not depart from his house, which are sent by the Lord through men and demons against him who has rendered evil for good to the man who has done him good. If he who renders evil for evil sins, how much more is he a sinner who renders evil for good? Such was Israel in the desert, to whom Moses said in Deuteronomy: "A crooked and perverse generation, do you thus recompense the Lord?" ^C

In this place, he calls knowledge the "beginning." But justice follows knowledge, for justice is born from knowledge. "Lack" is ignorance; but sedition and strife is every iniquity. Iniquity precedes ignorance. But why does he again blame the poor? Clearly to lead us away from idleness. Power does not arise from election. If you wish to walk with confidence, be just. Sedition and strife precede lack; that is, for the unjust, there is a lack of virtue.

^D He is like one who says that bitter is sweet, and sweet bitter; and who calls light darkness, and darkness, light.

He now calls wisdom and the knowledge of God "riches." But to a fool, why does the learning of wisdom and knowledge exist? For just as it is impossible for a vine to grow in the sea, so it is impossible for wisdom to produce the fruit of virtue in fools; for the riches of a foolish man are his follies in his individual actions. For by these, having become heartless, he is unable to possess wisdom. — "In every matter, everyone who exalts himself will be humbled; for God resists the proud." But he who seeks to learn the things of God crookedly will be cast down by a bad judgment. — Here he calls Christ "friend," who, because of his friendship towards man, became man. "No longer do I call you servants," he said to the disciples, "but friends." In every season, let Christ be your friend. But the sons of Christ are friends to one another; the angels, that is, and just men, are brothers to one another, united by the Spirit...

^A of adoption. For this very reason they are also begotten by Wisdom, that they might lead men from vice to virtue, and from ignorance to the knowledge of God.

He is "volubilis" (slippery/unstable) who easily falls away from virtue into vice, being led astray by evil thoughts.

Here he calls God "Father," and his "mother" his benevolence, which both persuaded Him to be incarnate and to suffer for our sake. But our God and Father does not rejoice in a son who has been adopted but has not been instructed in the wisdom and knowledge of God, but has rather given himself over to malice and wickedness. A wise son gladdens his mother, that is, the benevolence of God, which also leads us to God the Father as children already weaned ^B and desiring solid spiritual food; that, just as He who became our brother in likeness, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, acted, so we too might walk in deed and in word. Our mother is also the Church, whom God the Father, through the Holy Spirit, has joined to Himself as a wife. For through her He ever begets sons and daughters for Himself. And indeed, over those who are instructed in the knowledge and wisdom of God, both our Father God and our mother the Church rejoice. But over the uninstructed, they are greatly concerned and grieved, because we are unwilling to turn and be saved, but persist in wickedness.

Here he says "Vultum" (countenance) for contemplation; for the contemplation ^C of the thoughts of an intelligent man is wisdom and knowledge and justice; but the intellectual eyes of the foolish man, even in his body, are in the height of wickedness and malice.

Wrath is poured out upon the foolish son by God the Father in the day of judgment; but to the Church, which has brought forth through the Spirit, and to the chorus of saints, there will then surely be grief over the perdition of the foolish son. And note how the wise son has both a parent and a mother, but the foolish one only a parent. For a mother is certainly also a parent, but not vice versa is a parent also a mother. For if the one who was born as a son dies in wickedness ^D and ignorance, she is indeed a parent, but she is not a mother, because the one born has not partaken of the Spirit of adoption. Similarly, this will also be understood regarding material mothers and the death of an earthly child. For we call a mother a parent, yet we do not call her the mother of a dead child.

Anyone wrongs a just man by taking away his justice, or by twisting his disciples toward iniquity, he commits sin; for though he possessed them as his own, he has suffered loss; for they do not seek our possessions, but us. By "dynasts" he means those who reign in Christ.

CHAPTER XVIII

He who is driven by the madness of demons does not seek the wisdom or knowledge of God, because he has loved darkness rather

than light; and rejoicing in his folly, he thinks he has no need of the aid of wisdom.

^BAs water vivifies plants, so the word of a man strengthened in virtues refreshes, and raises up to God those who wish to be made wise. He speaks of a leaping river, the ineffable wisdom of the graces of the most holy Spirit, the ever-flowing wisdom of the triply-radiant single Trinity.

He who admits into himself the own wickedness of the devil, and acts according to it in thought and speech, this man admires the person of the impious. Moreover, it is not fitting for a holy man to desert justice in judgment and in the consideration of corporal things.

^CFerocious audacity, abstracting the soul from gentleness, delivers it to death.

The fear of God does not cast the slothful to repentance, but rather the fear of demons, for they incite them to despair; or else the fear of the Lord draws them away from slothful delay, and arouses them from vice to good works and repentance. For a man who is dissolute and soft is a half-man in soul and body, who is neither able to teach himself, nor willing to be instructed by others. Or else the fear of impending evils impels the slothful to virtue, because they have no confidence regarding the future. A man who is a woman in habit will not possess the virtue that nurtures. They shall hunger all the more, when they see from the opposite side the kingdom, tortured in torments.

He calls the riches of the knowledge of the Lord, and the efficacy of the Word, strength. For God alone knows things past, present, and future. He Himself commanded, saying: "Let there be light"; and forthwith heaven, and earth, and whatever is in them, were brought from nothing into existence. These things show Him to be the only Lord and God. The just run to Him through a righteous life, and are raised up by contemplation. Or it is because from created things and their magnificence, God is known to be omnipotent.

It is necessary to use this saying against those who, not having received knowledge from God, attempt to teach others. For David says: "That I may hear the voice of thy praise, and then declare thy wonders to others." Solomon also says: "Tell what things thine eyes have seen." For many, not having yet begun the course of virtue, not only exhort others to act rightly, but even compel and command them.

By the name of man, He now speaks of God. For he who obeys His commandments softens His wrath in judgment toward himself. It happens likewise in material things. And as our Lord is said to become a panther bereft of her whelps toward sinners, and a stone of stumbling to the unbelieving, so also is the faint-hearted toward those who sin. Perhaps he calls the faint-hearted the wicked man, and every demon who has fallen from virtue and knowledge.

^A He therefore calls the upright life the gift of man, as much as each one enlarges it and offers it with fullness worthy of God; which he also names the chair of the dynasts, that is, of the holy powers; for the chair of the mind is the best disposition, keeping him who sits in it fixed and immovable.

Ignorance is extinguished by knowledge; for this is the inheritance of the rational nature; and it defines what the dynasts must do, and they do it; for to him who possesses divine knowledge, all things defer. By "contradictions" in this place, he means the thoughts stirred up against us by demons, which are enemies of virtue and hasten to separate us from God. But the gift of knowledge extinguishes these within us, and orders the dynasts, the demons, to withdraw, as we have been claimed by God, and from Him and others we possess, as it were, divine knowledge.

Or he speaks of the soul, capable of life and death, from which its free will is shown, so as to enjoy the fruits of its present and future state, whether of good or evil works.

"Whoever has found good wisdom, has found the graces of God." — "He who retains wickedness is senseless and impious, as the devil is the inventor of it."

CAP. XIX

The riches of knowledge and wisdom add to us many angels; but the impure man, whom the author calls poor, is deprived even of the angel given to him from childhood. For spiritual friendship ^B is virtue and knowledge, by which we are lovingly joined to the holy powers, since repentant men become a cause of joy to the angels. Thus also the Lord calls those friends who were once servants, deeming them worthy of a greater contemplation of Himself. Thus also Abraham, abounding in knowledge, sets that mystical table for his friends who appeared to him at noonday. But Saul, on the contrary, is separated from the friend who inhered in him because of his wickedness; for it is written: "And the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul; and an evil spirit from the Lord strangled Saul." ^C And calling the spirit of the Lord an angel, he says: "Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flaming fire." Now that men are entrusted to angels, the Lord teaches in the Gospels, saying: "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, because their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven." And again Jacob: "Your angel, who delivers me from all evils."

Those who, being ignorant of the doctrines concerning judgment and providence, blaspheme the Creator, are false witnesses; nor shall they remain unpunished on the day of judgment. And those who, hindered again by their own passions, think that virtue is unattainable, ^D these unjustly accuse the Giver of the law.

Common men, not honoring dignity, return to the

^A fear [of men], but being flatterers they show respect of persons; but the true man will not flatter evil, but will reprove it.

68 Whoever hates a poor brother, according to that saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," shall be far from the love of God and the angels; or, whoever hates a brother who is needy of virtue, is also far from the affection of friendship in life.

"Good thought" he called the knowledge of God, which is accustomed to approach those who have it with a pure heart. Therefore, he who wisely receives this discipline, he is prudent, and will find it.

He who does many evils by word and deed, completes wickedness, which is every kind of sin. But he who pours out destructive words against men without limit, and blasphemies against God, this man shall not be saved.

69 Neither the delights of the soul nor the body profit the madman. For, being a voluptuous swine, he will trample the spiritual things underfoot; but by the pleasure of the senses, his flesh will be moved toward passions, and he will cast blasphemies against God; even if he were recently a freedman from servitude, he will act in this way.

70 If one glories rightly, he glories in the Lord; and our Lord is wisdom; it follows that he who glories rightly, glories in wisdom. The boasting, therefore, of the long-suffering and merciful One, is wisdom and His knowledge. It comes upon sinners, turning them away from evil, now indeed as much as possible, but in the future age, necessarily.

71 Our Lord is a consuming fire and an angry lion. ^B Toward those who sin, He scorches and consumes, like wood, grass, or stubble, the flesh that wars against the spirit. But He is light and dew towards those who act rightly, showing them the reasons for what has been done, and extinguishing the ignited arrows of the wicked one, and cooling the heat that occurs from acting.

72 He called the impure soul a harlot; and her wages he called her own condition, from which impure offerings are made.

73 To teach children about virtue and the knowledge of God is the duty of parents; but to give wisdom to children is the Lord’s. For he speaks here of wisdom as a woman; for "Love," he says, "wisdom, and it will preserve you; honor it, that it may embrace you."

74 Commandments, insofar as they are from God who commands, are called commandments; but insofar as they direct the journey of the mind, they are called ways. And he who keeps them, preserves his own soul from death to life; but he who despises them, shall die an endless death.

75 In sensible things it is thus: by as much as the sun is more excellent than the moon, by so much does he excel who has pity upon those who are needy in virtues, refreshing them with the discipline and admonition of the Lord. But as for a gift offered to God, he says...

it is a cleansing of the heart; for according to the measure of our sinlessness we are found worthy of knowledge by God.

^A What he says is thus realized in worldly matters. For my part, I think that the great loss consists in being deprived of the contemplation of those things which exist, and that the harm to the soul signifies the obscuring of the natural notions concerning God, when the soul falls into total madness; and the Savior also says in the Gospels: "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, yet suffer the ruin of his own soul?" In this place, the "loss" denotes the ignorance of corporeal and incorporeal things, while the "harm" signifies the ultimate madness.

^B "If the fear of the Lord is unto life for a man, and the fear of the Lord is wisdom and discipline," it follows that the life of a man is wisdom and discipline. Therefore, to know wisdom and discipline is the same as to know Christ and His teaching. Whoever, therefore, is without the fear of God will live in wickedness and ignorance, in which Christ certainly does not dwell. Those, therefore, who live in wickedness and ignorance do not perceive within themselves the fear of God, nor do they hope for His mercy upon themselves; nor is Christ in them, because they themselves do not wish it.

He who does not live righteously hides his hands unjustly in his own soul, not wishing to cultivate his own earth—that is, the body—nor to be filled with spiritual bread. For the practical virtues hold the place of hands, which bring the bread to our mouth, the bread which came down from heaven and gives life to the world through divine wisdom and knowledge.

^C

CAP. XX.

"If the fury of dragons is their wine," and wine is an intemperate thing, then fury is intemperate, making men intemperate or unrestrained. And anger is contumelious, for it arises from boiling fury. But if the Nazirites abstain from wine according to the law, clearly it is legislated that the Nazirites should be outside of fury.

In this place, he has explicitly called Christ king; for he who provokes Him through sins sins against his own soul.

"Just as the fool is not ashamed when reproached, so is he who borrows grain to sow at harvest-time." Certainly, in that case, the debt shall be repaid to the lender from his field, even if he who received the loan should happen to die. ^D Now, that grain must be taken with interest at the time of harvest from those who had worked their own field for six years signifies that it is necessary to imitate the virtues of the righteous and prophets who shone forth in the six ages before the coming of Christ, who also in the seventh year nourished widows and orphans, so that the reward for the manifestation of virtues might be repaid to them in the kingdom of heaven, as they were the first-fruits of virtues.

Those whom one has brought forth according to virtue, as an image

^A and praise, the blameless man shall leave to those who come after, even as nourishment for justice until the end.

For he spoke elsewhere of the slanderer as "dying." But also Christ says: "He who slanders the Church shall be deprived of the faith, which was to him a light before the slander." He says this perhaps also concerning the outer darkness; wherefore it is also spoken of as being in the future. And Christ Himself can be called both father and mother: father indeed of those who have the spirit of adoption, but mother of those who have need of milk and not of solid food. For Christ spoken in Paul became a father to the Ephesians, revealing to them the mysteries of wisdom, but a mother to the Corinthians, to whom He offered milk.

The pleasure devised for us by the evil one, which he calls a portion ^B in the first place, you will find momentarily soothes your throat, but later becomes more bitter than gall.

Do not say, moved by pride, "I alone will join battle with the enemies," but wait for the Lord and call upon Him, so that He may help you. Do not trust in yourself as though you were able to do anything without the Lord; for because there is no helper apart from Him, David says: "For I will not hope in my bow."

In sensible1 things, we say there is a large and a small balance, in which gold, silver, bronze, silk, and whatever else is weighed. But other things are measured with vessels, such as grain, wine, oil, and legumes. Otherwise, I also think that the man whom some call the "bold-timid" one is a large and small balance. Absolutely, whatever is excessive or deficient is a large and small balance. ^C Both are evils, namely, double measures. Otherwise, too, he who wants to be benefited by others, but does not deliberate to comfort others in turn, has a double measure; he does not obey the commandment which says: "All things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them."

It is not the ear that hears evil that is the work of the Lord, but that which attends to good things. And it is not the eye that sees evil that is the work of the Lord, but one that sees and represents the divine things to itself. For he who hears of the Lord and sees His commandments, these are the works of the Lord. And it must be said similarly concerning the other parts of the body. You shall use this saying against those who ^D disparage this body of ours and insult God.

That is to say, do not sleep much, but be vigilant. So that you may not be cast into hell, do not slander; and through virtues, open the eyes of your soul. Finally, through wisdom, be filled with intellectual bread.

1 [Regarding the term 'silk' (sericum) in the Latin, note: Origen uses "μέταξα" (metaxa) here; some have unjustly considered it a barbaric term.]

A deceitful balance the Lord calls the mind, which, though naturally attuned to judge things rightly, yet deviates by the inclination of free will for the sake of friends or money.

"Do not be rash," he says, "in making a vow to God, lest, by the use of things or by greater desire dragging you along, you begin to repent and do injury to God by preferring another to Him." But repentance does not befall good men, but rather the unjust. Therefore, let the unjust take care not to promise anything inconsiderately to God; for a vow is followed by repentance. "To vow quickly to the Lord," which is to offer something of one's own, and then to repent of it quickly, is a snare to a man.

^B The winnower of the impious is Christ; and He pursues the impious as a lion does wild beasts. The wheel is that which separates the chaff from the wheat in the threshing floor. Or He will cast upon them a wheel—that is, irrevocable punishment.

"The belly's storehouses" understand to be the mind, the heart, and knowledge, where all divine and impious doctrines are deposited together. And just as someone who has lit a lamp wishes to find something placed in those storehouses, so the Lord, by the light of His own knowledge, searches the storehouses of human words and deeds. But to those men who possess the knowledge of the Lord, light arises. If, therefore, the light of the Lord is the knowledge of the Lord, and the light of the Lord is the breath of life to men, then the knowledge of the Lord is the vital breath of men.

He called the devil, who seems to appear in ignorance, a lamp that empties the mind of good knowledge and is transformed into an angel of light. ^C But because the impious did not want to know the light of the Lord nor to walk in it, they regarded ignorance as light. And if they held ignorance in the place of light, then they also performed the works of the devil, who is the inventor of ignorance. It remains, therefore, that those who have traveled with his ignorance will be with him for ages of ages; but those with the knowledge of the Lord will be with the Lord.

CHAPTER XXI

^D This scriptural passage excludes the sacrifice of irrational animals; for a sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit.

If the works of the Lord are holy and righteous, and the mind is one of His works, then the mind was created righteous and holy by God, and we ought to preserve it righteous toward Him, against the evils coming upon us from the devil.

He compared the plastered and common house to the corner under the open sky. If the plastered and common house is wickedness, then the corner under the open sky is virtue. The corner under the open sky, therefore, is an act kindled by meditation and illuminated by the sun of righteousness. Excellently, too, did Paul call the high priest of the Jews a plastered or whitewashed wall to be struck by God; and the Savior, in the Gospels, said the Pharisees were whitewashed sepulchers. Well, too, concerning the corner—where the stone is placed by the builders—

^A he spoke, which became the head of the corner, who is Christ; and it is common, which is not of the one God.

A hidden gift is that which the right hand gives, and the left hand knows not. He stirs up a strong anger against himself in the day of judgment, who spares in giving gifts to the needy.

The congregation of giants is wickedness and ignorance; and the giants are the demons; that is, he who wanders from the path of righteousness will lie in great sins.

^B It is better to be without a wife than to live with such a one. David also says: In a desert, and trackless, and waterless land, so have I appeared to thee. Therefore, the desert land is the soul endowed with virtue, and which does not have the old men dwelling in it, who were corrupted according to the old desires of error; wherefore the devil does not even find rest in it, since, seeking rest with difficulty through waterless places, he does not find it; for he himself is king of all those dwelling in the waters, that is, of men who occupy themselves in the leisure and delight of carnal pleasures. Likewise: The roof of wisdom’s house is its dwellings. If this is so, then a contentious, talkative, and irritable woman is wickedness, which makes her companion contentious, talkative, and irritable.

The wisdom of the Lord shall rest in the heart of the just and wise one; but insane men slander it to destroy it.

^C Wisdom is a fortified city, in which the wise dwell, purging their minds from every height that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. He calls fortified cities those souls which are fortified and taken captive by impious demons and wicked men, those who exalt themselves against the knowledge of God; the wise man, having overcome their fortifications and their apparent security, fortified by such wisdom, has demolished it.

He who restrains mouth, and tongue, and mind, and anger, and desire, preserves his soul from the tribulation in the judgment.

^D The same one is considered in different ways: the overbold, who fearlessly attacks anything whatever; the arrogant, who wishes to act freely without judgment; the proud, who boasts of merits greater than he possesses; the pestilent, who is harmful not only to himself, but also to others; for he is so destructive that he imparts his own stain to others; and finally, he who is mindful of injuries sins.

There is also a good desire; for it belongs to angels never to desire anything evil; to demons, always to desire evils; to men, sometimes to desire, and sometimes not. Now the words "all the day" are placed for "all of life." Thus is that saying: In the fear of the Lord be thou all the day, that is, all thy life.

^A He calls the horse the mind, which is attacked by the devil, and yet fights back. For it says: "Thou shalt mount upon thy horses; and thy riding shall be salvation." And concerning Paul, the Lord says: "To bear my name."

CHAPTER XXII.

Virtue signified by its own name, he calls a good name; for that is a good name which possesses the good that is signified by its good work. Thus, we shall not praise an unjust woman, even if she be called Justice, but rather one who possesses justice, even if she be thought unjust; for divine wisdom is above silver and gold.

They meet one another: the rich man indeed, extinguishing anger through alms and acquiring love; the poor man, on the other hand, taught humility by his condition. ^B For He wills the one to be instructed, and the other to give; so that the one might be grateful, and the other merciful.

He who possesses wisdom and the fear of the Lord shall inherit life and glory and heavenly riches. For Noah had all these generations; Abraham had them; and those who were taught by Peter had them also.

In the world to come, those who have been enriched in all knowledge and wisdom shall rule over the unclean and those who have been deprived of this wealth. Who are the servants and who are the masters, it is not necessary to publicize, because the discourse concerning them is mystical and deeper. And these very words demonstrate the inconstancy of human life. But even in oligarchies, the rich dominate the poor; and in another sense, those who possess knowledge rule over those who do not; and those who believed from the Gentiles lend instruction to the Israelites, to whom they formerly gave. ^C Although those [the Israelites] previously lent to many nations and ruled over them; but now, the kingdom having been taken from them, the opposite has come to pass.

God loves the man who is cheerful in the commandments and a giver in alms; just as Paul also says: "He who shows mercy, with cheerfulness." And the Lord brings the vanity of works to an end through virtue and knowledge.

He calls the virtues of the soul the gifts of man, through which, overcoming the devil, he renders himself honorable to God, and delivers his own soul from the demons who had occupied it.

He wills that man be cast out of the worst state through spiritual instruction, along with the strife that accompanied it. ^D And it is necessary to drive out the devil, who is the pestilence of the soul; for if he sits within it, he is accustomed to contaminate all righteous thoughts with impurity. For the Apostle also shows that the soul is a tribunal, inasmuch as he introduces thoughts accusing or even defending. "For in the meantime," he says, "the thoughts are accusing or else defending one another." And where there is accusation and defense, there is a tribunal. But also the devil is the pesti-

pestilence; ^A he dishonors all, as an insolent person, or because, wishing to establish what is his own, he dishonorably casts out the things of others. Whom he has cast out of the spiritual assembly—and not only will he himself be cast out, but also those things that accompany him: strifes, contentions, battles, and whatever constitutes a pestilence.

The Lord who preserves our souls, he also feeds us with spiritual knowledge, ^B condescending and saying, "I am the good shepherd," whom the lawless man dishonors. But if Christ is the King of those who are ruled, yet the shepherd of the sheep, he will one day be the sole king of the sheep, as they have crossed over to the royal dignity.

Our adversary the devil goes about like a lion, seeking whom he may devour; whom the slothful man, fearing, prepares himself for the exercise of the virtues. For the lion, which is the devil, seeks to hunt someone in the ways of justice, but in the streets that lead to destruction, along with his phalanx of demons, he himself also kills those who obey him.

The devil is a deep pit. But he who does not consult for his own security is hateful to the Lord. Job, indeed, was not hateful to the Lord, but for the sake of trial, he fell into the mouth of the wicked one. ^C But he who is hateful to the Lord is abandoned forever in the pit, being a lover of pleasure and conscious of his own sin.

Far from the heart of the foolish man is the rod from the root of Jesse, Christ, who will shepherd His people, the new Israel, in the pasture of His own sheep.

Just as the devil slanders us before God, taking from us the virtues which he did not give us, so also do we slander him when we take from him the iniquities which we did not give him. And in as much as we take from him iniquities, we receive them as from one destitute of virtues; but in as much as we yield our virtues to him to our own detriment, we yield them as to one rich in iniquity. Lest, he says, as one giving little to a prince, before whom he slanders, by gaining more, he suffers a more grievous detriment to his soul. ^D

He who attends to the most wise words of God, and does what is commanded by Him, this man has established his heart and knows that they are good. He hears the words of God who does what is commanded by them; for "not the hearers of the law are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified." And if you establish your heart to know and to do, He will manifest to you His way, which says: "I am the way and the truth."

He who through purity dilates his heart will understand the words of God: the practical, the learned, and the theological. For all the material of the Solomonic Scripture is divided into three ways—into the ethical, the physical, and the theological. Indeed, to the first pertain the Proverbs; to the second, Ecclesiastes; to the third, the Song of Songs, which, when understood through purity, are inscribed upon the heart.

so that you may be as one ready for an apology to every one that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you ^A (1 Pet. iii, 15), whether it be for the purpose of learning or for the purpose of disputing. But do you also in turn question those who are able to be questioned; yet do not use violence against him who is destitute of knowledge. Therefore he adds: "Neither dishonor the infirm in the gates."

Those who receive wicked thoughts, and in this honor the wicked one, let them strive with all their might through good thoughts to return the worse ones; for if they have not the strength to do this, the bed shall be taken from beneath the ribs of the soul, that is to say, virtue.

He who changes the boundaries of godly fear demonstrates it to be superstition or impiety; and he who changes the boundaries of courage produces in its place audacity or cowardice. Likewise this must be understood regarding the other virtues, and regarding doctrines, and regarding the faith itself; but most especially must this be observed regarding the holy Trinity. For he who does not theologize the Holy Spirit, destroys baptism; and he who names others as gods, introduces a multitude of gods. And it is not necessary to move the paternal ordinances regarding each matter, which on that account ought to remain.

CHAPTER XXIII

He calls the devil "the tyrant" here; and his tables are false testimonies, railings, slanders, evil counsels, base desires, and every sort of satanic practice. Understand these things which are set before you by the wicked one spiritually, and apply your mind, which is here called the "hand," knowing that you are to prepare such things as may be able to stand with you on the Day of the Lord, when He will render to each according to his works. But if you are more insatiable, and desire things that are high and more numerous and greater, which are divine and of God, do not desire the dainties of the wicked one; for these are confined to a life that is fleeting, which is a false life. But the divine Scripture must be understood intellectually and spiritually; for the knowledge that is according to history and material in nature is not true.

If you should wish to draw the divine sense toward the letter, according to the outward sight only, being without foundation, it departs to its own home, which is the theory that is fitting for it. But having wings fashioned for it by the Holy Spirit who presides over it, which are the spiritual charisms, it departs, therefore, high above that ethereal region, so to speak; and thus, through not being above... ^{B C D}

the literal sense, but clinging tenaciously to it, is characteristic of a false life. ^A

66 If an envious man eats the wheat of impiety, and becomes drunk on illegitimate wine, one ought not to feast with him; for it is not expedient to become an impious person and a transgressor: for such iniquities destroy spiritual knowledge.

66 Say nothing wise, he says, that is, profound and mystical; for you ought not to cast pearls before swine.

67 Do not move the eternal boundaries of religion; and do not approach the region of those who have separated themselves from God, and who hold malice as the possession of demons, for which cause they have been deprived of the heavenly Father. For the Lord who rescued them from darkness into the most resplendent light is mighty. ^B

68 A well-behaved son will exercise his lips in wisdom; and in turn, wisdom will converse with him and remain with him: but the perverse man will lose her.

69 If anyone turns aside from evil by the fear of the Lord, he exhorts us beautifully to turn aside from all evil throughout our whole life.

70 Whoever is drunk with malice, and passes from wisdom to ignorance like an adulterer, will be destitute of divine grace; and whoever is lethargic in the demonic night will not be clothed with the wedding garment, but, wearing his flesh wounded like a tattered rag, he causes the fire of Gehenna.

71 A certain elder said that the soul is the mother of the mind, denoting by the word 'soul' the pathetic qualities of the soul, impetuosity and desire: for through the exercise of the practical virtues, it leads the mind into light: since through fortitude and temperance we acquire wisdom and the knowledge of God, which are virtues of impetuosity and desire. Perhaps someone might say that the mother is the Old Testament, which cannot be despised. ^C

72 In this place He calls the volumes of the writings of the teachers 'men'. But those who have both worked and taught, and have made the journey to heaven, He has named 'walks'. For many teachers have not made the journey to heaven, because they did not observe their own words. For he who discourses in walks (for this is what it means: both to do and to teach), walks worthily of the calling with which he has been called by God.

73 Sin according to the mind is like a vial; but sin according to action is like a cup. Now the pestle is that which is called a *tribeus* (or mortar-pounder) by cooks. For this pestle strikes many things, and yet does not open the place which it strikes; but to the disciples the Savior said: Knock, and it shall be opened to you. ^D

74 A mind that receives foreign counsel or instruction will cherish evil thoughts. But he who conducts himself cautiously will become master of life.

75 Indolent apathy is a bad thing. For afterwards you will say, while beating your conscience, "I did not labor, I was not solicitous to attain the rewards and to avoid the torments;" they mocked me,

that is to say, they taunted me: but I, wishing it, knew not when the dawn of the soul and the knowledge of sin would be. ^A

Chapter XXIV.

The house of virtues is built with divine wisdom, and is raised up with the understanding of the fear of God and his knowledge.

^B He who suffers shipwreck concerning faith, or any virtue whatsoever, fights against the opposing powers without a guide—that is, without theology and the virtues; but he who fights under guidance seems to have his mind [fixed] in this world. Now a deliberative heart, which does nothing without counsel, goes before with divine aid. And this can be said of every virtue; for there is shipwreck concerning temperance, and concerning love, and because of the love of money; and shipwreck happens likewise concerning each individual dogma of the Catholic and Apostolic Church. If, therefore, it is necessary to fight against the adversaries not without guidance, our life on earth is like a naval battle. For if we are willing, we sink them through the prayer of the heart and a mind turned toward God; but if we are not willing, we are the ones who are sunk. And if we are ^C attacked by them, however long and fierce the fight may be, it matters nothing. Let us only fortify ourselves with fasting and prayer, and like a spider’s web we shall tear them and their weapons to pieces. And if, according to the Lord’s saying 78, where there are two or three—the heart, the mind, and the soul—they shall agree to be contained within the boundaries of His commandments, the Lord is with us.

For all those who think upon the things that God does, and do the things that He teaches, in no way transgress His word. The ^D gates of the wise are the practical virtues and the contemplation of the mind, through which the wisdom of God enters. They do not turn aside, either to the right hand or to the left, because they consider themselves to be in a court of judgment where one contends about the right and the wrong. And they defend the right, but repel the wrong. 80 To those who do not wish to be instructed under the wisdom and knowledge of God, the eternal death meets them through the present death. He is a fool who, having tasted the wisdom of God, then abandons it and clings to folly; wherefore he also died in his sins. But if wickedness diminishes virtue, then obviously virtue also destroys wickedness; and this shall come to pass in the world to come, until wickedness shall fail—for "it shall be polluted" is said instead of "it shall be destroyed." But impurity is destroyed either by practical virtue or by bitter punishment.

82 This saying should be used against those who have obtained the benefit of divine knowledge, that they may not neglect the teaching, since many have been led away by wickedness unto death. But as for those who are being led innocently to death, do not refuse to redeem them with your own blood; redeem them at least by giving money or useful counsel of words. But if you say, "I do not know this man," you will be convicted of lying, and you will be guilty of two things, namely, of lying and of murder; for He who fashioned the breath—Himself...

knows all that He gives to each one according to its quality, the good to the good, and the bad to the bad. For that He does not give according to the quantity of each is evident; for "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed" (Rom. viii, 18). But if one wishes to understand it according to quantity, let him think that the retribution is made in proportion to the strength of each, just as the gifts of the Spirit ^A are also given according to the proportion of faith.

He eats honey, who is helped by the divine Scriptures; but he who draws forth from them the teachings concerning the facts from which the holy prophets and apostles have taken their method of acting and teaching, he eats the honeycomb. And indeed, eating honey is available to everyone who wishes; but the honeycomb is for the pure alone. Or, one must call the allegory honey, and the honeycomb the literal investigation and history, in order to have the hidden and deeper meaning, for honey is present in the honeycomb. By "throat" he means the nutritive faculty of the soul, by which foods are sent down into the stomach. If, therefore, you set these things right—both those that pertain to the mind and those that pertain to investigation—the wise teachings themselves will be for you, by the sense of wisdom, an experience of wisdom. For if you find the spiritual meaning of the Scripture, your end will be good, so that it may be said: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" (Ps. cxv, 15). And you will not cast away your hope for the future.

^B Do not prefer the devil to the justice of God, by which the saints are fed. And do not be deceived by deadly vain words to fill your heart—which is the stomach—with satiety. Do not betray God for the sake of pleasure; for He is the pasture of the righteous, and He will not abandon you.

God turns away His anger from him who falls, having had mercy on him; but He is angry with him who is exalted over the fall of his enemy. For everyone who rejoices over a perishing soul is like the devil, who does not wish all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth; for the Lord also commanded in the Gospels (Matt. v, 44) that we should pray for our enemies, as they are men.

^C The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, is not carnal, that is, it is not material. Whoever is delivered to it and has stumbled, his bones shall be crushed, bruised by a pestle, and consumed and vanish by fire. Or, whoever is delivered to it for repentance shall be crushed by the word of His wisdom like wheat, so that sweet bread may be made from him. The sword of God consumes men who are corrupted and are growing old in the desires of deceit, for utter destruction. Or, it cleanses men coming from iniquity to the knowledge of God, consuming them down to the nerves from their wicked deeds; so that, having put off ^D

^A the old man, they may put on the new man, created after God, who is also unedible by demons, having been cleansed by the Lord and abstaining from all iniquity. For he adds, "so that it be unedible for the eaglets"; or because, being burned up and reduced to ashes, it henceforth becomes unedible by the eagles. For, "my words have been fenced about," etc. ^B — "Who has gathered up the winds in his bosom?" Faith has gathered up the mind, which is swifter than the wind, from the east and the west, from the north and the sea, into the knowledge of God, and has given them spiritual contemplation to store up in the virtues. For the knowledge of God is the bosom of God, in which He embraces and holds fast all who are God-minded, just as one carries gold in his bosom. He who has gathered from the east and the west, from the north and the sea, all the nations of earth-born men, and has made them dense with virtues through faith in Him, is Christ God, who also has laid up the heavenly water flowing from the fountain of life, that is, knowledge and wisdom; just as Christ Himself says, "He who drinks of this water, shall never thirst"; and, "He who believes in me, rivers of living water shall flow from his belly." ^C This man steals knowledge, not he who receives it from a predecessor, but he who takes it for himself from pseudo-knowledge. For indeed all who have believed in Christ, having received doctrines from the holy prophets and apostles, are not for that reason called thieves of foreign doctrines. A man steals foreign doctrines so as to fill a hungry mind; but that happened before the advent of the Savior. But now Paul says: "He who stole must steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working righteousness, that having gained knowledge, he may share it with him who has need." For what is there that is ours, that we who have believed in Christ should steal? For all things are ours; and we are Christ's, through whom all things were made; and Christ is God's. O mind that has fled from iniquity, do not surrender yourself again to iniquity! Since everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. And sin is now called the devil who works the sin. ^D — "An evil offspring," etc. Blasphemy curses the mind that brings it forth, and does not bless its mother, that is to say, the soul. Vainglory subverts and mocks the one who possesses it, [causing him] to consider himself righteous, not reflecting on his evil deeds, but often thinking that he only does good. Pride causes the one who possesses it to despise poor friends, to repel parents as troublesome burdens, to abhor the just and pious, to undermine those under his hand, and to exalt himself superciliously over all. Anger compels everyone whom it has seized to do nothing else but afflict and punish others; and it makes no end to slandering, insulting, and calumniating. — He who admires the man thinking evilly in practice and contemplation, and applying his mind to such work, or [admires] any other of men, shall be accursed by the hosts of angels and hated by those who from among the Gentiles have come to salvation, when all become one flock and one shepherd. He who

^A blames himself and brings his actions into the open through confession, and the deliberations of a better mind, shall appear exalted before the Lord, being proclaimed above all. And there shall come upon them, in the present age, the good blessing of their actions and works, and the intellectual contemplation of wisdom; but in the age to come, the apportionment from the Lord.

He who walks after the commandments of God is built up unto righteousness and sanctification; for with wisdom a house is built, which consists of soul and body, for a habitation of God; but into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter. ^B

Whether they be thorns, or cattle, it destroys the field, unless someone cleanses the former and guards the latter. So it happens also in the foolish man: wickedness pricks him toward those things by which the kingdom is obtained.

A hedge is the tranquility of the rational soul, arising from the exercise of the virtues. But this is torn down and extinguished by the choice of a foolish man.

CAP. XXX

Corruption loves such things as these: hell, lust, and the harlot woman; for these have neither end nor satiety. There are three things, however, that are sometimes satisfied; yet the fourth, it never deigns to call enough. Hell, and the love of a woman, and the earth never sated with waters, and water, and fire, never say "It is enough." It always receives earthly seeds; however much you may cast in, it still desires. Thus also death and fire, whatever they have seized, they corrupt. So also is poverty. For these things truly have the power of consuming. So also are laziness and idleness. For perhaps someone might wonder why hell is insatiable, even though it consumes man; therefore he says that not even these have satiety, nor do they stand still. Observe, moreover, how he has compared fornication to hell. ^C

These ravens, on the one hand, feed the just mystically, and on the other hand, punish the unjust, plucking out the eyes of wickedness, because they mocked the universal Father and God, and despised the ancient knowledge that gave them birth. Now the eye of the Father is the law given to us by Him in righteousness. And those indeed who pluck out the eyes of the ungodly, he called ravens; but those who devour the whole man, he called eagles; for this reason, clearly, because He entrusted to some partial, and to others complete, purification. For God wills that even the ungodly should be saved. ^D

The rooster [is an] bird—by us [Alexandrians] it is called *alecta*; if, however, it refers to the females that mate with it, [it is called *cognitor*]. A flock of fowl follows it, because they all seek to take pleasure from it, since it is of eager affection towards all. Thus, to the universal God, the ranks of the angels, not only by fear, but also by

^A love, are obedient, when he himself wishes his commandments to be known by them and fulfilled in deed. So, too, it is ordained that this should happen regarding the souls of the just. For as many as are subject to his commandment, it pleases him that they should know not only the mysteries and depths contained in the Scriptures, but also whatever is wont to happen in life to men, whether by men or by demons; for, by the illumination of the mind through the grace of the divine Spirit, he grants them discernment of these—whether by the instruction of an angel, or by the revelation of some vision.

(CAP. XXXI VULG. LAT.)

^B The "sovereigns" here ^C he calls the just men who are mighty in strength against demons and the passions, which he has designated by the term "wrath." Let them not, he says, drink of that which makes the mind intoxicated and clouds the understanding—the sour wine of the heretics—which is contrary to the wisdom ^D and knowledge of God; lest, having drunk of it, they forget the wisdom of God, and being no longer able to judge rightly and to understand the theory of knowledge, they should henceforth be unable to benefit themselves and weaker souls.

To those who are in pain because of sins and in despair, give them to drink to intoxication of the vine of the Lord, that is, fasting, prayer, continence, confession, and all things that exhilarate the soul. But to those who are in positions of authority, give them the pains of sin to drink to satiety, so that having drunk these, they may forget their devilish poverty. For he who is intoxicated with the knowledge of the Lord forgets the practice of sorrows.

He calls "poor" the one who is destitute of knowledge, and "weak" the one who is defiled by sins.

CAP. XXV.

By the spiritual word, he slays the old man, who is corrupted according to the lusts of deceit, and sets his mind aright in justice, which is said to be the throne of God; for nowhere else is wisdom and knowledge and justice accustomed to be seated, except in a rational nature. And all these things are Christ.

^D Qualities that you have, show them as such, and do not boast, but in the presence of the wise, be silent, and among the elders, be a listener. Do not say, "I will set my throne above the stars, and I will be like the Most High." Do not crave the first place of the seat of honor, but look to the last place; for it is better that it be said to you, "Come up here to me," than that you be cast out to the last place with shame in the presence of a sovereign. Do not proclaim yourself prudent, nor deem yourself just; for it is better for it to be said of you: Wherefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name which is above every name.

"Behind" he calls the things that have already occurred. But our friend is God, who for the sake of his love toward us became man; for he himself said to the disciples, "No longer do I call you servants, but friends." And when the friend, Christ, rebukes you so that you may depart from your sin, do not

despise it; but yield, and return to your former moderation, that is, to the kindness of God. ^A He calls the precepts of God "grace," but "friendship" is love toward God and neighbor. And let he who loves God keep His commandments within himself, so that he may not become contemptible before Him when He renders to each according to his merits. And the Savior says in the Gospels to those Jews who had believed in Him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples; and the truth has set you free from the curse of the law." If, then, charity liberates, the Savior also liberates; and Christ is both the truth and the charity. Whence all who have the knowledge of Christ are friends to one another; thus, and on account of this charity alone, are they friends of God and friends to one another.

^B He who has been taught about virtues and exercises them in deed, easily safeguards his own affairs.

*Put a precious sardine stone in a golden earring, and the wisdom of the Lord in a mind free from passions and obedient to the Lord.*

As water flowing from snow is profitable in the heat of harvest and cools the burning heat, so is God toward those who have received wisdom and knowledge and His commandments; and as heat melts snow, so the admonition of a righteous man melts the wickedness of the soul.

As winds and clouds are the clearest sign to sailors, that they may not suffer shipwreck, so is the wisdom of God to those who possess it, that they may not perish along with those who boast in false knowledge.

As bones bring strength and firmness of vigor to the body, so do the virtues stand in relation to the soul. ^C But the soul that does not guard against sins crushes these bones. Some have called the passionate part of the soul "soft"—that which breaks its own spiritual bones toward God, which ought to be able to say, "Lord, Lord, who is like unto you?"

*The way of the wicked man is wickedness, and the foot of the ungodly is lawlessness.* It will perish in the day of judgment. Custom is to be understood in the word "way," and works in the word "foot."

*As vinegar is useless to a wound that has already begun to putrefy, although it confers pleasantness of flavor to food,* so the sight and conversation of a woman tears apart the heart of a man who has begun to devote himself to virtue. For the turmoil that falls upon the heart is wickedness; those who are devoid of it are called imperturbable. ^D Sorrow is the fleeting deprivation of fleeting pleasure; but that is a praiseworthy sorrow, which comes to pass on account of the deprivation of virtues and the knowledge of God.

*Bread* in this place refers to the solid food of the commandments for the soul; *drink* signifies divine knowledge; but by *coals of fire* he designates the gifts of the most holy Spirit, which burn up and cleanse the vices of men. For formerly a seraph touched the lips of Isaiah with a burning coal of fire; and after he was purified, he was thereafter able to...

^A learn justice, he cried out; for by means of this goodness and beneficence, cleansing your governing faculty, you will compel the fiery gifts of the Holy Spirit not only to be accepted, but you will make that same Spirit eager for every kind of benefit: inasmuch as He imparts to you all things that are pleasing to God.

He called the devil an impudent face, as one who irritates the soul toward vice and stirs up, like the north wind, wicked thoughts in the soul. But everywhere Solomon calls the mind a tongue; therefore, it is not fitting to reverence such a face in judgment. ^B Here, therefore, a righteous mind is said to fall before Satan, when it receives an unclean thought or a false dogma. And one blocks the fountain of wisdom by turning away from the knowledge of it, and by defiling the outlet of the knowledge of God. But the thoughts of the mind are called by some "falls," by others “risings,” by others “a seat,” and by others “a stance,” and others “a walk,” and some of them are called “stumbling blocks,” and others are “hard” and “soft,” and “sweet-smelling” and “stinking,” and “sweet” and “bitter,” and “smooth” and “straight,” and “crooked”; and again, some of it is called “thorns and thistles,” and other parts “light and darkness,” and “life and death”; and others, “sickness and health,” and others again are called “falsehood and truth.” And Scripture applies many other names, both to the soul ^C and to its thoughts. It is possible to mention a few out of many; these are: mind, soul, heart, human, man, woman, servant, domestic, father, son, spirit, eye, mouth, lips, tongue, throat, belly, bosom, arm, finger, nose, sheep, goat, shepherd, and many other names for the soul, which cannot now be set forth individually.

He called “counsel” here the inclination of the heart toward the better; when someone, not calling upon the help of God within himself, seeks to do some good with deliberation, but begins it stubbornly and arrogantly; he will not be brought to completion, but he will fall along with what he undertakes, because he did not fortify himself with the help of God for his counsel. ^D Here he calls the “horse” one who is quick to learn wisdom, and a person capable of justice; but he lashes with enigmas: for an ass, a goad; prick the slow one with these hard words, instilling fear; and for a foolish nation, he determines that they be struck with a rod—these are the senseless servants or subjects; for the rod is a symbol of punishment.

“By his own feet,” etc. By “feet” he here means the servants; and the master brings reproach upon himself from them, who sends a word through a foolish messenger, whether for the sake of counsel, or of wisdom, or of an embassy, or of a military alliance, or for the sake of consolation. For a fool is weak in every matter. Wherefore also the Lord says in the Gospels: “Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor throw your pearls before swine.”

^A

* “Take away the evil way of a fool, and remove false knowledge far from him.” * “He who imparts knowledge to a madman is like one who fastens a worthless stone in a golden ring; or one who casts a precious stone into a sling intended to stone someone.”

If the stupor of the imprudent, by which they had retreated from God, is dissipated, they will come again to God, now rendered clean: “For all flesh shall see the Salvation of God.” It must be noted here that he called souls thickened by sin the "flesh of fools"; thus also the Lord says: “My spirit shall not remain in men, because they are flesh.”

* “He who, having cast off his own wickedness, returns to it again, is like a dog returning to its own vomit.” Such was Lot’s wife, and that man to whom the unclean spirit returned.

* This saying should be used against those who choose some unworthy persons for the priesthood or enroll them in the clergy by their votes. For no one among us has instituted the right of just judgment and freedom in the Church; nor is this prerogative ours, but Christ’s—by which He judged, justifying Himself, to be given over to slaughter and to pour out His blood for her. Thus also, anyone who desires to take up the helm of the Church must abandon himself, and seize the tail of the wicked one, and set free those who lie under his wickedness, and bring them to the knowledge of Christ. ^B

* “As fire sticks to wood,” so in evil thoughts the ardor of the mind's wrath flourishes and burns. But where there is no double movement—that is, ambiguity of soul—but rather love of either God or Mammon, the one will cease in the man. For if the command of God wins, that of the wicked one will vanish, and the man will be relieved of malice. But if he wishes to retain both, he will fall from life and be despoiled even of temporal things. ^C

* By lips in this place he means thoughts. But he who does not open the lips of his mind against the wicked one, confessing to God his vices—as many as the enemy has sown in him against God—but rather hides them, this man overwhelms his heart with sorrow, foolishly thinking that he has no sin, while meanwhile he does not acknowledge the mercy of God; because He rather bestows crowns upon those who so endure and confess these things to Him, as if they were battling daily on His behalf. ^D

CAP. XXVII. * “He mocks,” instead of “he rejoices,” he understood. For a pure soul, while it delights in the knowledge of the Scriptures, rejoices, being well satisfied. But an impure soul thinks even false knowledge to be altogether true.

* Or, the “place of the heart” is virtue and knowledge; alienated from these, man falls into wickedness and ignorance, and becomes a slave to the sin which he performs. For inasmuch as man is rational, his place is virtue.

If, therefore, he does not diligently take care of this, in the time of temptation he falls from it. ^A A mind free from passions takes delight in manifold things, in wisdom, and knowledge, and hymnody; but a mind subject to passions is torn asunder in ignorance and wickedness, and comes to a great and hard-to-heal fall.

^B Our friend, and the friend of the fathers of old and of those after us, is God. For He Himself said: "Me they have forsaken, the fountain of living water, and have hewed out for themselves broken cisterns" (Jer. 11, 13). In this passage, Christ is our brother by grace. But do not enter into the house of your brother, if you lack those precepts which He has given us, so that there might be an abundance for entering into His house, that is, into the kingdom of heaven. For such was he who entered into the wedding feast without a wedding garment, who, having been bound hand and foot, was cast out of that place. Or, our brother in this passage is the choir of angels. For according to their angelic nature, before the transgression and the fall, the devil was a brother both to the angels and to us. But God is our friend. And indeed, it is better to dwell near and more intimately with our closer and true God and friend, than to submit as a brother to him who has removed himself far from Him, that is, the devil, so that we might perish with him. Better is he who is united to me through true knowledge, than he who is united to me only by the force of nature.

The house of man is virtue. If, therefore, he does not diligently care for this, at the time of temptations he falls from it. ^C The fig tree in this passage is the justice of God, which those who plant in themselves, and grant as shoots to be transplanted by others, eat its fruit from the hand of the Lord, who alone is just and grants justice. And to those who keep His justice, placing them with Himself, He bestows that justice which justifies the angels themselves in the eternal brightness of justice. Whoever keeps the word of the Lord in his heart, keeps the Lord Himself, so that He might not become far from him. Furthermore, he will be honored not only now by the angels, but also in the world to come by the Creator of the angels.

That is, you will not turn back the foolish man from his foolishness through dishonor brought upon him, but rather by teaching him of what great dishonor foolishness is the cause. For reproof cast into his face makes the sinner more shameless. The words of God have been written partly for the guiding of the life of the sons, and partly for that of the servants.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

If one is strong in impieties, he is also strong in virtues. And if the man who is strong in impieties slanders the poor, the man who is strong in virtues brings comfort to the poor. Therefore, he who comforts the poor so that they might share in his impieties, slanders them before God; that is, he accuses them in turn, so that they may perish together with him. ^D A violent rain does not only destroy the crops, but it also devastates the face of the earth, which brings forth the crops. But there is also a gentle rain, which makes

the face of the earth to bloom, nourishing and giving life to the crops that are in it. ^A And the violent one, because of the destruction of the fruits, kills men; but the peaceful one gives life through the fruits.

47 There is also an unjust law, and a just law. The unjust law destroys those who obey it; the just law not only bestows length of days, but also becomes a precursor to the kingdom of heaven for those who submit to it, because it is of God. Everyone who loves God loves also his law and does the things of the law. And everyone who does the law acquires dispassion and the knowledge of God. But if those who love the law build a wall around themselves, here the wall signifies quiet from perturbations and the knowledge of God, which alone are naturally suited to guard the rational nature.

48 If the riches of the impious are wickedness, but wise men cast them away, it is clear that the just and wise cast away wickedness, by means of spiritual instruction bringing the impure back to virtue.

49 The law does not in any way turn away the prayer of anyone, but God, who has given the law, turns away the prayer of one who turns his ear away, so as not to hear the author of the law. And Paul says: "The Scripture, foreseeing the future," ^B instead of saying: "He who gave the Scripture foreknew the future 50."

51 He who does not confess to God, or to a man pleasing to God, the evils scattered in his heart by the evil one, will not be successful in the victory against the evil one. But he who confesses will be loved by God and His angels. And James says: "Confess your sins one to another, that you may be healed 52." The Psalmist also said: "I will confess my iniquity against myself to the Lord, and you forgave the impiety of my heart 53."

54 The revenues of an iniquitous king are iniquities and false dogmas. For his subjects pay these to him. But those who obey the evil one slander God; because they are subject not to God, but to His enemy, the devil. And since God hates the devil because of his evil works, he himself in turn slanders men before God. He who hates to injure his soul will live for the long time of the infinite age.

55 Here he calls the devil a murderer. ^D He who guarantees for iniquity, guarantees for Satan, promising to him in return that he will give the fruits of iniquity. — A lawless nation is the dogmas of the demons, to which the well-instructed son does not listen. For he calls the mind the son. And he who creates a restraint for the mind so that it may not fall into the wickedness of the evil nation, provides for it to receive as an immortal ornament for the neck

He who purges himself of the passions and carries out the commands of God shall be filled with the soul-nourishing bread of wisdom and the knowledge of God; but he who seeks leisure for the purpose of not doing the commands of God shall be filled with poverty. ^A They who are merciful now, having been shown mercy by God in the age to come, and having become angels, shall rule over the envious and the rich among the ungodly. The Lord promised to give such a dignity to his disciples also, namely, that they should sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. A throne is that in which the mind sits, full of spiritual knowledge, bringing back those who have wandered away from godliness. To judge in this place signifies to teach; as also in the saying, "Open thy mouth by the word of God, and judge of all things uprightly," which means to teach. At the same time it must be known that if a merciful man overcomes an envious man, he himself will not become envious, but rather will make the one who was envious merciful.

If the ungodly cast aside their being ungodly, they shall become righteous; for "perdition" in this place signifies the destruction of ungodliness. Thus also did the Lord, by destroying (the sin of) Matthew from the toll-booth, grace him with righteousness. For the righteous are multiplied when the ungodly abandon ungodliness and, together with the righteous, become righteous. But the righteous also groan and are in pain, seeing the ungodly standing in the place of ungodliness and not repenting. ^B

CHAPTER XXIX

For better is a man who reproves with the discipline and admonition of the Lord, than one who, with a hard heart, encourages and promises to share with the sinner in his wickedness. For when he [the sinner] is suddenly burning in the appetite of the passions, death, which is decreed for all, coming upon those who are his accomplices in them, there is no healing for their soul. And he did not say that when the flame ceases there shall be no healing, but "while he is burning there shall be no healing," as one who possesses, plainly, the fuel of the passions—wood, hay, stubble; since for those burned by a cautery, health is accustomed to return later. ^C

When the righteous are praised by the Lord in the day of judgment, the peoples who are of their portion shall rejoice; but as many as are under the principalities and powers and the world-rulers of this world, these shall by all means groan then. ^D

By "Father" here He means God. But God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, looking upon those who are named after Christ, and who, in word and deed and wisdom, follow and imitate Him, rejoices in them. A good shepherd is the mind that possesses dispassionate thoughts. If this is so, then an envious [or: weary/gloomy] thought is a goat [in the sense of the "goats" of the judgment], but a dispassionate thought is a sheep; therefore also the Lord places the goats on his left...

designating as goats those who possess passionate thoughts; thus he also called those who have tares, tares; and those who have wheat, wheat, naming them from their worst or best quality. Such also is that which is said by Paul: *Charity vaunteth not itself* (1 Cor. XIII, 4), meaning, he who has charity. ^A Christ indeed raises up the rational nature by his commandments; but the lawless Antichrist stirs up the human race to destruction.

Everywhere to "judge" is said for "to teach." For he who judges between two or more concerning some business, teaches them equity and deters them from iniquity. Similarly, in the virtues and in any good thing, "to judge" is said for "to teach." And the man here judging the nations, he calls Peter, who taught the whole world the faith and religion of Christ; and likewise Paul and the other teachers [who came] afterward. But the wicked man he calls Theudas, and Judas, and the Samaritan, and the men of their opinion. Concerning the wicked man, David says: *They shall laugh at him, and shall say: Behold the man who hath not set God as his helper* (Ps. LI, 8).

Men of blood are the demons, who kill those living in Christ by the shedding of blood. *But the righteous shall seek out his soul* (Ps. X, 11). These are they who wish to imitate their acts and thoughts, in mind and in work.

Truly, the madman cannot restrain his anger. But this [wise man] dispenses by parts, that is, he is angry at just things. ^B And to the simpler ones it must be said thus. But to the more learned: he who with long-suffering consumes anger by parts.

*The narrator shall be to those who keep the law the Lord in the kingdom; to the transgressors he shall not be a narrator but a punisher* (Prov. XIX, 19).

He demonstrates that no one is hard by nature: *For even if he has understood, he will not obey.* For he who is hard by nature, understands nothing upright. But this he says on account of Pharaoh, who was hardened against Israel, and was instructed not by words but by scourges.

*If thou indulgest, it makes thee sin; but whoever commits sin is a slave of sin; surely every luxurious person is a slave of sin. But on the last day he will mourn for the cause of his own ruin* (Prov. XXI, 23).

*The Lord humbles the contemptuous, but to the humble he gives glory* (Prov. XXIII). By "contempt" he here means wickedness, because it reaps contempt, and the ruin of depression falls upon the authors of wickedness. ^C But he means that "the Lord humbles the haughty," and "gives glory to the humble," that is, to those who glorify God in hymns and in the keeping of his commandments. ^D

For it is the glory of God to perform his commandments; just as the Lord Himself says, "I will glorify those who glorify me." But wickedness brings reproach upon the rational soul. ^A

He calls no one else a thief but the devil. But he who is divided—that is, keeping part of God's commandments, but doing part of the wicked one—this man hates his own soul; for in a little while, the devil, having stolen him completely, will sacrifice him to himself. For the thief, He says, "does not come except to steal, and to slaughter, and to destroy." — By "oath" He means the law; for just as an oath places God in the soul, so too the law introduces God into the soul. And in the way that perjury destroys God from the soul, so too does transgression of the law drive God out from it. If therefore, He says, when the law has been given, they hear it but do not confess their own sins, fearing and being ashamed before men, they will be tripped up toward destruction; thus also David says: "I said: I will confess my unrighteousness against myself to the Lord, and you have forgiven the wickedness of my heart." And: "You speak your sins first, that you may be justified." And again Solomon says: "He that covers his own wickedness shall not be loved."

^C As many of us as keep the commandments, we serve the angels; for they are our leaders, having taken us from the beginning, when the Most High divided the nations, and set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of his angels. But by serving our guiding angels, in the will of the Lord, in the judgment we shall have what is just from the Lord on that day, when He shall judge the world in righteousness, since the Father has given all judgment to the Son.

CHAPTER XXXI.

Fortitude is an excellent state of the rational soul, by which it has overcome the opposing enemies. ^D Having conquered the opposing power, we plunder it, learning the accounts regarding it; so that, having made manifest the evil things concerning it, not only may the simpler folk remain untrapped, but even those who had been ensnared may easily escape from it.

The soul spins wool and flax, exercising itself in accounts concerning animate and inanimate things; or examining accounts concerning the practical and the physical; or drawing the theory of bodies and incorporeal things unto itself through practical habit.

Or the sun of righteousness, the bridegroom, finds the soul arising from the night, watching; and indeed praying that it might not fall into temptation, saying, "I have watched and have become like a solitary sparrow on a housetop." But food for the soul is the meditation of divine words; and works are the virtues; and the handmaids are the senses. These things, therefore...

the soul, which is more precious than costly stones, provides for its bodily home. ^A

88. He calls the soul of the frugal man the Church, having the tree of knowledge and the tree of life; knowledge as of the law, and life as of the Word. For she is the Church that proceeded from the side of Christ, and was found to be his spouse, a modest and strong woman, keeping faith with him, and awaiting him, the bridegroom, again from the heavens.

89. A spindle is a pure mind, joining virtue to virtue, and dogma to dogma; or it is the word uttered externally, which draws forth spiritual contemplation from the mind.

90. The mind will not progress, nor will it attain to the contemplation of incorporeal things, unless it has rightly ordered its interior. For the disturbance of its own state is wont to call the mind back to where it had departed from. But having attained tranquility of the passions, it will dwell in contemplation, and will set aside the care of domestic affairs; for all its own familiar ones are clothed: anger with gentleness and humility; cupidity with temperance and continence. ^B

91. Idleness-inducing food, which makes more simple or more inept men sluggish in attaining the kingdom, the faithful and religious soul does not eat; nor does it even taste it, if perhaps the desire for it should happen to befall it. For by idleness-inducing food he refers to iniquities.

92. Deceptive graces and empty beauty. The most foolish soul not only thinks and imagines what is pleasing to itself, but also attempts to bring its meditation into action. But if the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, deservedly the soul that has attained wisdom praises the fear of the Lord, which was the mediator of such knowledge for it. ^C

ADDENDUM (29)

93, 94. For they know that he possesses the knowledge of things to be done, and has his pupils in his own power. They say, therefore, as if he were captured, that we rule over these. Otherwise, the possession of the just man is wisdom, prudence, intelligence, and virtue. But the wicked occupy such a possession if at any time they persuade the just man to commit something forbidden by God; that is, so that the mind, blinded by sin, might fall away from such a holy possession. ^D

95. (50) To the wise righteous man, even difficult matters become easy. But to him who is otherwise, even easy matters, and those having some comfort, turn out to be difficult.

96. It may have theoretical doctrine, but nothing exalted.