Maximus the Confessor, “Question 65: Scholia," PG 90:773, 776-77, 780-81, 784-85

The following is from Maximus the Confessor, “Question 65: Scholia,” in On the Difficulties in Sacred Scripture: The Responses to Thalassios, in Migne, PG 90:773, 776-77, 780-81, 784-85:

Maximus, Question 65: Scholia — Greek transcription and English translation

 

Greek transcription

α'. Νοῦς εἰς ἄχρον διὰ τῶν ἀρετῶν καθαιρόμενος, τοὺς τῶν ἀρετῶν πέφυκεν εἰκότως ἐκδιδάσκεσθαι λόγους, τὴν ἐξ αὐτῶν θειωδῶς χαρακτηρισθεῖσαν γνῶσιν οἰκεῖον ποιούμενος πρόσωπον. Καθ' ἑαυτὸν γὰρ ἀνείδεός τε καὶ ἀχαρακτήριστος πᾶς καθέστηκεν νοῦς, μορφὴν ἔχων ἐπίκτητον, ἢ τὴν ἐκ τῶν ἀρετῶν ὑποστᾶσαν ἐν πνεύματι γνῶσιν, ἢ τὴν ἐκ τῶν παθῶν ἐπισυμβαίνουσαν ἄγνοιαν.

β'. Ὁ τὴν νοῦ μορφὴν τὴν ἐξ ἀρετῶν ἐν πνεύματι θείαν δεξάμενος γνῶσιν, τὰ θεῖα λέγεται παθεῖν, ὅτι μὴ φύσει κατὰ τὴν ὕπαρξιν, ἀλλὰ χάριτι κατὰ τὴν μέθεξιν ταύτην προσέλαβεν. Ὁ δὲ τὴν ἐκ χάριτος μὴ δεξάμενος γνῶσιν, κἂν λέγῃ τι γνωστικόν, οὐκ οἶδε κατὰ τὴν πεῖραν τοῦ λεγομένου τὴν δύναμιν. Ψιλὴ γὰρ μάθησις, τὴν καθ’ ἕξιν γνῶσιν οὐ δίδωσιν.

γ'. Καλῶς κατὰ τόνδε τῆς Γραφῆς εἶπε τὸν τόπον λαμβάνεσθαι τὸν Σαοὺλ, διὰ τὸ κατὰ πολλοὺς ἐν ἄλλοις τόποις λαμβάνεσθαι τρόπους, πρὸς τὴν ἐκ τῆς ἱστορίας ἀναδεικνυμένην θεωρίαν προσφυῶς ἀρμόζον.

δ'. Ὥσπερ, φησὶ, ὁ παλλακῇ συναπτόμενος, νόμιμον οὐ κέκτηται τὸν γάμον· οὕτως ὁ σωματικῶς τὴν νομικὴν ἐξασκούμενος μάθησιν, νόμιμον τὴν πρὸς αὐτὴν οὐκ ἔχει συμβίωσιν· νόθα γεννῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς δόγματα, καὶ τῇ τῆς σαρκὸς ζωῇ συμφθειρόμενα.

ε'. Ὁ πρὸς σῶμα, φησίν, τὴν Γραφικὴν ἐκδεχόμενος μάθησιν, τὴν κατ’ ἐνέργειαν ἐξ αὐτῆς ἁμαρτίαν διδάσκεται, καὶ τὴν κατὰ νοῦν τῆς ἁμαρτίας μελέτην, τρυφήν, καὶ συνουσίας ἀκρατεῖς, καὶ φόβους, καὶ πᾶσαν τοῦ Θεοῦ βδελυττέσθαι τὴν κτίσιν ἐκ τοῦ γράμματος τοῦ νόμου μανθάνει.

ς'. Θεωρία κατ’ ἄλλην ἐπιβολήν. Ἀνάθεμα ἦν καὶ ὁ κόσμος οὗτος, ὁ καταδίκης χρόνος· ἢ γυνὴ τῇ προστασίᾳ πέφυκεν, ὁ μὴ πρὸς τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ νόμου κατὰ νοῦν διαβαίνων. [A few words uncertain.]

ζ'. Ὅτι πρὸς ὃ σχετικῶς, φησὶ, διακρίνει, τὸ ἐκεῖνο καὶ τὴν κατὰ νοῦν μελέτην κεχτήμεθα.

η'. Κατ’ ἄλλην θεωρίαν, ὅτι ἀνάθεμα ἐστί, καὶ ἡ τῶν παθῶν ἀνείδωλος κίνησις· αἰσχύνη ἢ σώματος, ἢ τὸ πάθος εἰδοποιὸν πρὸς αὔξησιν τῇ νοῦ κινήσει, καὶ ταῖς ἐπινοίαις ὕλην ἀρμόδιον οὕτως θεωροῦσα.

θ'. Κατὰ συναίρεσιν τὰς τρεῖς θεωρίας τοῦ πράγματος ἐξέδωκεν.

ι'. Ὁ πεισθεὶς θείαν εἶναι διαταγήν, ὃς σωματικῶς κατὰ νόμον πρυτᾶν, τὴν γαστριμαργίαν ὡς θεοῦ δῶρον λαμβάνει μετὰ χαρᾶς πρὸς σάρκα, ἐξ ἧς γεννᾷ τοὺς μολύνοντας τῇ παραχρήσει τὴν ἐνέργειαν τῶν αἰσθήσεων τρόπους.

ια'. Ἐπίτομος τῶν προθεωρηθέντων ἀνακεφαλαίωσις, δι’ ἧς δείκνυσιν ὅτι σωματικῶς ἐκλαμβάνων τὸν νόμον, τὴν αὐτοῦ παλλακεύεται μάθησιν, καὶ τὴν τῶν παθῶν ἕξιν καὶ τὴν ἐνέργειαν, καὶ θείαν εἰσικίζεται τὴν γαστριμαργίαν, τὴν γένεσιν τῶν ῥυπαινόντων τῇ παραχρήσει τὰς αἰσθήσεις, εἰς ἀναίρεσιν τῶν ἐν τοῖς οὖσι φυσικῶν τε καὶ σπερμάτων.

ιβ'. Ὁ τοῖς συμβόλοις τοῦ νόμου, φησίν, ἐνικένων, οὐ δύναται κατὰ λόγον τὴν τῶν ὄντων φύσιν ὁρᾶν, καὶ τοὺς τεθέντας οὐσιωδῶς ὑπὸ τοῦ νομοθέτου λόγους περιποιεῖσθαι, διὰ τὸ τῶν συμβόλων πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὄντων φύσιν ξένον.

ιγ'. Ξυλογοροῦσι μὲν οἱ λόγοι τῆς φύσεως, οἳ πρὸς τὴν γνῶσιν τῶν θείων γινόμενοι, ἐξίτηλον ἐξ ῥύπον ποιοῦντες παθῶν, καὶ διάθεσιν τῆς ἐν σώματι ζωτικῆς ἐνεργείας.

ιδ'. Ἄλλη θεωρία τῶν αὐτῶν, εἰσηγουμένη διὰ τῶν Γαβαωνιτῶν τὴν κλῆσιν τῶν ἐθνῶν.

ιε'. Ὅτι πάθος καὶ φύσις κατὰ τὸ ἴδιον οὐδαμῶς ἀλλήλοις συνυπάρχουσιν.

ις'. Ὁ μὴ πιστεύων, φησί, τὴν Γραφὴν εἶναι πνευματικήν, τὴν οἰκείαν κατὰ τὴν γνῶσιν οὐκ αἰσθάνεται.

ιζ'. Ὅταν, φησίν, ὁ Δαυὶδ εἰς τὸν νόμον λογίζεται, κατ’ Ἰουδαίους τὸ γράμμα δηλῶν, ἑρμηνεύεται ἐξουδένωσις, διὰ τὴν πρὸς σάρκα τῶν βίων νομίμων παράβασιν· κατὰ δὲ Χριστιανοὺς ὑψομένη, ἑρμηνεύεται ἰσχυρὸς ὁράσει, διὰ τὴν κατὰ τὴν θεωρίαν τῆς γνώσεως.

ιη'. Ψυχὴ τῆς Γραφῆς εἶπεν, τὸ πνεῦμα· σῶμα δὲ τὸ γράμμα.

ιθ'. Τούς τρεῖς ἐνιαυτοὺς λέγει τοὺς τρεῖς νόμους, τὸν τε γραπτόν, καὶ τὸν φυσικόν, καὶ τὸν χάριτος, κεχωρισμένους ἀλλήλων. Ὁ τοίνυν τὸν γραπτὸν νόμον λαμβάνων σωματικῶς, ἀρεταῖς τὴν ψυχὴν οὐ διατρέφει· καὶ ὁ τοῖς λόγοις τῶν ὄντων οὐκ ἐπιβάλλων, τῇ φυσικῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφίᾳ τὸν νοῦν οὐκ εὐφραίνει· καὶ ὁ τὸ μέγα τῆς καινῆς χάριτος μὴ γινώσκων μυστήριον, ἐν τῇ ἐλπίδι τῆς μελλούσης θεώσεως οὐκ ἀγάλλεται. Οὖν ἡ ἔλλειψις τῆς κατὰ τὸν γραπτὸν νόμον πνευματικῆς θεωρίας ἔχει παρεπομένην αὐτῇ τὴν ἔνδειαν τῆς κατὰ τὸν φυσικὸν νόμον γνώσεως, τῆς φυσικῆς σοφίας τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἔχουσαν ἐπομένην καὶ τὴν κατὰ τὸ καινὸν μυστήριον χάριτι δωρηθησομένης θεωρίας πνευματικῆς τὴν ἄγνοιαν.

κ'. Ὁ πνευματικῶς μὴ νοῶν τὸν νόμον, κἂν ἀποθνήσκῃ τῷ νόμῳ διὰ τὸ μὴ λατρεύειν σωματικῶς, ἀλλὰ τὰ χαμαίζηλα ἔχει τοῦ νόμου νοήματα· τὸ τείχος τοῦ Σαοὺλ περιέπει καὶ τὰ ἔκγονα· διὰ τῷ φωτὶ τῆς γνώσεως βασανίζεται. [Some words uncertain.]

κα'. Ὁ μὲν σωματικῶς, φησίν, κατὰ νόμον λατρεύων, καθάπερ ὕλην γεννᾷ τὴν κατ’ ἐνέργειαν ἁμαρτίαν· καὶ ὡς εἶδος, τὴν ἐπ’ αὐτῇ κατὰ νοῦν συγκατάθεσιν ταῖς προσφόροις ἡδοναῖς τῶν αἰσθήσεων ὑλικῶς διαπλάττεται. Ὁ δὲ πνευματικῶς τὴν Γραφὴν ἐκδεχόμενος, ὡς μὲν ὕλην, τὴν ἐνέργειαν· ὡς εἶδος δὲ, τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὴν συγκατάθεσιν μετὰ τῶν κατὰ παράχρησιν πρὸς ἡδονὴν τῆς αἰσθήσεως τρόπων, ὡς υἱοὺς καὶ υἱωνοὺς τοῦ νομικοῦ γράμματος θανατοῖ διὰ τῶν φυσικῶν λογισμῶν ἐν τῷ ὕψει τῆς θεωρίας.

κβ'. Ὅτι χωρὶς φυσικῆς θεωρίας, οὐδεὶς τὴν πρὸς τὰ θεῖα τῶν νομικῶν συμβόλων ἀπέμφασιν διαγινώσκει.

κγ'. Τὸ ἐξηλιάσαι γέγονε, ἀντὶ τοῦ φανερώσαι κατὰ τὸ ὕψος τῆς θεωρίας τὸ γράμμα τοῦ νόμου νεκρόν, διὰ τῆς ἐν πνεύματι γνώσεως.

κδ'. Ὅριον Ἰσραὴλ γενήκης, πάντα λόγον τε καὶ τρόπων πνευματικῆς θεωρίας· ἐν ᾧ στῆναι οὐ δύναται παντελῶς ἡ σωματικὴ τοῦ νόμου παράδοσις.

κε'. Τὸ μὲν πνεῦμα, φησί, ζωῆς ὑπάρχει παραιτικόν· τὸ δὲ γράμμα, ζωῆς ἐστιν ἀφαιρετικόν. Οὖκουν οὐ δύναται καὶ τὸ γράμμα πράττειν κατὰ τὸ αὐτό, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα· ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τὸ ζωοποιοῦν τῷ φθοροποιῷ συνυπάρχει.

κϛ'. Ὁ μὲν σωματικῶς, φησί, κατὰ νόμον λατρεύων, καθάπερ ὕλην γεννᾷ τὴν κατ' ἐνέργειαν ἁμαρτίαν· καὶ ὡς εἶδος, τὴν ἐπ' αὐτῇ κατὰ νοῦν συγκατάθεσιν ταῖς προσφόροις ἡδοναῖς τῶν αἰσθήσεων ὑλικῶς διαπλάττεται. Ὁ δὲ πνευματικῶς τὴν Γραφὴν ἐκδεχόμενος, ὡς μὲν ὕλην, τὴν ἐνέργειαν· ὡς εἶδος δὲ, τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὴν συγκατάθεσιν μετὰ τῶν κατὰ παράχρησιν πρὸς ἡδονὴν τῆς αἰσθήσεως τρόπων, ὡς υἱοὺς καὶ υἱωνοὺς τοῦ νομικοῦ γράμματος θανατοῖ διὰ τῶν φυσικῶν λογισμῶν ἐν τῷ ὕψει τῆς θεωρίας.

κζ'. Ὅτι χωρὶς φυσικῆς θεωρίας, οὐδεὶς τὴν πρὸς τὰ θεῖα τῶν νομικῶν συμβόλων ἀπέμφασιν διαγινώσκει.

κη'. Τὸ ἐξηλιάσαι γέγονε, ἀντὶ τοῦ φανερώσαι κατὰ τὸ ὕψος τῆς θεωρίας τὸ γράμμα τοῦ νόμου νεκρόν, διὰ τῆς ἐν πνεύματι γνώσεως.

κθ'. Ὅριον Ἰσραὴλ γενήκης, πάντα λόγον τε καὶ τρόπων πνευματικῆς θεωρίας· ἐν ᾧ στῆναι οὐ δύναται παντελῶς ἡ σωματικὴ τοῦ νόμου παράδοσις.

λ'. Τὸ μὲν πνεῦμα, φησί, ζωῆς ὑπάρχει παραιτικόν· τὸ δὲ γράμμα, ζωῆς ἐστιν ἀφαιρετικόν. Οὖκουν οὐ δύναται καὶ τὸ γράμμα πράττειν κατὰ τὸ αὐτό, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα· ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τὸ ζωοποιοῦν τῷ φθοροποιῷ συνυπάρχει.

λα'. Ὅρος τῆς κατὰ περιτομὴν μυστικῆς θεωρίας.

λβ'. Ὅρος τῆς κατὰ Σάββατον μυστικῆς νομοθεσίας, ἐν ᾧ, τί τὸ Σάββατόν ἐστι, παρίστησι κυρίως, καὶ τίς ὁ κατ’ αὐτὸ πνευματικὸς λόγος ἐστίν, ὅτι παθῶν καὶ τῆς περὶ τὴν φύσιν τῶν ὄντων τε κινήσεώς ἐστιν ἀνάπαυσις.

λγ'. Θεὸν δῆλον ὅτι.

λδ'. Τί σημαίνουσιν αἱ νεομηνίαι.

λε'. Ὅρος τοῦ στεφάνου τῆς χρηστότητος.

λς'. Ἄλλος ὅρος τοῦ αὐτοῦ μυστικώτερος.

λζ'. Ἐνταῦθα τὴν ἐγκράτειαν ἔργον εἶναι λέγει τῆς Προνοίας, ὡς τῶν γνωμικῶν καθαρτικὴν στῆναι, τὴν ὑπομονὴν δὲ τῆς κρίσεως εἶναι κείνην, ὡς τοῖς ἀκουσίοις ἀντιτασσομένην πειρασμοῖς.

λθ'. Πρώτην ἑορτήν, τὸ Πάσχα λέγει.

μ'. Δευτέραν ἑορτὴν λέγει τὴν Πεντηκοστήν.

μα'. Τρίτην λέγει, τὴν ἐν ἑβδόμῳ μηνὶ τὴν τοῦ Ἱλασμοῦ.

μβ'. Σκόπει, πῶς ὁ νόμος ἀπόλλυσι τοὺς σωματικῶς αὐτὸν ἐκδεχομένους, τῇ κτίσει λατρεύειν παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα πείθων· καὶ ἡγεῖσθαι φύσει σεπτὰ τὰ δι’ αὐτοὺς γεγονότα, τὸν δὲ ὄντα αὐτὴν γεγόνασιν ἀγνώστως.

μγ'. Πῶς ἔστι Σάββατον ὁ Θεός.

μδ'. Πῶς ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πάσχα ἐστὶ μυστικῶς.

με'. Μυστήριον τῆς κατὰ τὴν Πεντηκοστὴν ἑορτῆς, ἐν ᾧ μυστικῶς τὴν τῶν δηλουμένων πνευμάτων ἐμυσταγώγησε δύναμιν, τὸν Θεὸν Πεντηκοστὴν προσαγορεύσας. Ὡς γὰρ ἡ μονὰς στάσιμον μένουσα μέχρι τῆς εἰς ἑαυτὴν ἐβδοματικῆς τῆς ἑβδομάδος συνειλίξεως, ἀποτελοῦσα τὴν Πεντηκοστήν, καὶ πάλιν ταῖς εἰς αὐτὴν προσόδοις γινομένη δεκάς διὰ πεντάδος ἐποπτασιασθείσης αὐτῇ τοιούσῃ τὴν Πεντηκοστήν, ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος ἐστὶ τῶν ἑαυτῆς· τὸ μὲν ὡς πρὸ παντὸς ποσού, τὸ δὲ ὡς ὑπὲρ ποσόν. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ Θεός, ᾧ τὴν μονάδα κατ’ εἰκασίαν τυπικὴν ἀναλόγειν ἔοικεν, ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος ἐστὶ τῶν ὄντων, καὶ λόγος, ᾧ τὰ πάντα συνέστηκεν· ἀρχὴ μὲν, ὅτι πρὸ πάσης οὐσίας ἐστὶ καὶ κινήσεως· τέλος δέ, ὅτι ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν οὐσίαν καὶ κίνησιν· λόγος δέ, ὅτι πάντων κατ’ αἰτίαν προνοητικῶς ἐστίν, ὡς πρὸς ὑποκείμενον εἶδος συνδεδεμένος, καθ’ ἓν τῶν ὄντων ἕκαστον ἔχει τὴν ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ λόγῳ διαμονήν. Ὅταν οὖν λάβωσι πέρας οἱ χρόνοι καὶ οἱ αἰῶνες, εἰς ἀναλογεῖν τὴν ἑβδομάδα ἀφικνούμενοι, αὐτὸς ἔσται τότε μονώτατος ὁ Θεός, εἰκάζοντας τῶν οὐκ ἄνευ, τουτέστι τόπων καὶ χρόνων μεσιτεία, συγχρατῶν δι’ ἑαυτοῦ καθ’ ἕνωσιν ἀληθῆ τῶν ἐν τοῖς συζυγομένοις ὑπαρξιν· ἤγουν τὴν φύσιν γενητήν, ἣν τῇ πεντάδι παρείχασιν. Οὐ μόνον δὲ ταῖς αἰσθήσεσιν, αἷς ὑποπίπτειν πέφυκεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ καθολικῇ ἐπιστήμῃ, ἥτις ἐν τῇ περιλήψει τῶν τε γαργῶν καὶ λογικῶν, αἰσθητικῶν τε καὶ ζῴων, πάντων ἁπταίστου καθέστηκε γνώσεως. Οὐκ οὖν παύεται ποτέ ὁ κατὰ τόπον στάσεως καὶ τῆς κατὰ χρόνον κινήσεως, ὡς ὑπὲρ τὰ δι’ αὐτὴν γεγονότα (τουτέστι τόπον καὶ χρόνον) διὰ τῆς πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, δι’ ὃν καὶ γέγονεν, ἀληθοῦς συναφείας ἐν τοῖς συζυγομένοις γινομένη τῶν ὄντων ἡ φύσις. Αὐτὸν γὰρ τὸν Θεόν, κατὰ τὸν τῆς Προνοίας λόγον, τῇ δεκάδι τῶν ἐντολῶν ἴσον τοιουμένην ποιὸν (τουτέστι τῆς ἐκ χάριτος κατὰ τὴν θέωσιν ἰδιότητος γνώρισμα), τῆς τε κατὰ τὴν στάσιν ἐν τόπῳ περιγραφῆς καὶ τῆς ἐν χρόνῳ κατὰ τὴν κίνησιν ἐλευθερωθήσεται, στάσιν ἀκίνητον λαβοῦσα, τὴν ἀπέραντον τῶν θείων ἀπόλαυσιν, καὶ κίνησιν στάσιμον, τὴν ἐπ’ αὐτοῖς ἐχφορητὸν ἔφεσιν.

μς'. Τῷ ἑβδόμῳ μηνὶ τρεῖς εἰσὶν ἑορταί· σαλπίγγων καὶ ἱλασμοῦ καὶ σκηνοπηγίας· ὧν ἡ μὲν σαλπίγγων, νόμου καὶ προφητῶν, καὶ τῆς ἐξ αὐτῶν κεκτημένης γνώσεως τύπος ἐστίν· ὁ δὲ ἱλασμὸς τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ πρὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον διὰ σαρκώσεως σύμβολον ὑπάρχει καταλλαγῆς. Ὁ γὰρ ὑπιδὺς ἑκουσίως τὴν τοῦ κατακριθέντος κατάκρισιν, διελύσατο τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν κυρωθεῖσαν ἔχθραν. Ἡ δὲ σκηνοπηγία, προτύπωσίς ἐστιν ἀναστάσεως, καὶ τῆς πάντων πρὸς ἀτρεψίαν μεταποιήσεως.

μζ'. Ὁ ψαῖς ταῖς ἐναίμοις χαίρων θυσίαις, φησίν, περὶ τὰ πάθη σπουδάζειν, ὡς ἐμπαθῆς παρασκευάζει τοὺς θύοντας· φησὶ γὰρ χαίρειν τὸ γνησίως σέβον, οἷς χαίρει τὸ προσκυνούμενον.

μη'. Ὅτι θυσίας οἶδεν ὁ λόγος, φησίν, τὴν τῶν παθῶν σφαγὴν, καὶ τὴν τῶν φυσικῶν δυνάμεων προσαγωγήν· ὧν τοῦ μὲν λόγου τύπος ἐστὶν ὁ κριός· τοῦ δὲ θυμοῦ φέρει σύμβολον ὁ ταῦρος· τῆς δὲ ἐπιθυμίας ἡ αἴξ ὑπάρχει δήλωσις.

μθ'. Ὑλικὸς δῆλον ὅτι νοῦς τῆς Γραφῆς κρατῶν τῆς ψυχῆς τοὺς φυσικοὺς ἀποβάλλεται λόγους, τῇ παραχρήσει τῶν κατὰ φύσιν δυνάμεων αὐτοὺς ἐξ ἀφανίζων.

ν'. Ἅμα τις, φησὶ, τρέψεται κατ’ αἴσθησιν πρὸς σῶμα τὴν Γραφὴν ἐκδεχόμενος, ἅμα καὶ πρὸς πνεῦμα κατὰ νοῦν διὰ μέσης ἀνατρέχει τῆς φύσεως, ἐκεῖνα πράττων πνευματικῶς, ἅπερ ὁ Ἰουδαῖος ἐπιτελεῖ ἔχων τὸν Θεὸν ὀργιζόμενον.

να'. Τίς ἐστιν χεὶρ τῶν Γαβαωνιτῶν, ᾗ παρεδίδου Δαυὶδ τοὺς ἐκ σπέρματος Σαοὺλ;

νβ'. Τὸν ἐξηλιασμὸν εἶναι λέγει, τὴν ταπείνωσιν ἣν τὰ πάθη πάσχουσιν, ὑπὸ τῶν ζηλῶν τῆς εὐσεβείας λογισμῶν κατὰ τὴν ἀληθῆ θεωρίαν θριαμβευόμενα.

νγ'. Ἡ πρὸς σῶμα τοῦ νόμου διδαχὴ, φησὶ, καὶ ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχουσα διὰ μετανοίας νεκρὰ τὰ συμβολικὰ τοῦ νόμου νοήματα, τῷ κατὰ Χριστὸν λόγῳ παραχαθισμένη, δίκην υἱῶν τοὺς οὐρανίους δέχεται τῆς γνώσεως φωτισμούς.

νδ'. Σῖτος δῆλον ὅτι.

νε'. Οἴνῳ δῆλον ὅτι.

νς'. Ἐλαίῳ δῆλον ὅτι.

νζ'. Τὸν οἶτον ἔφη ψυχῆς εἶναι στήριγμα, ὡς γνῶσιν ὄντα πνευματικήν· τὸν οἶνον δέ, καρδίας εὐφραντικόν, ὡς τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν ἐρωτικῆς ἐνώσεως ποιητικόν· τὸ δὲ ἔλαιον, προσώπου πληρωτικὸν εὐφροσύνης εἴρηκεν, ὡς τῆς λαμπρύνουσης τὸν νοῦν κατὰ τὴν ἀπάθειαν πνευματικῆς χάριτος χαρακτηριστικόν.

νη'. Ὁ Ἀμαλὴκ ἐστὶν ἡ γαστριμαργία· ταύτης ἐστὶ βασιλεύς τὸ φρόνημα τὸ χοϊκόν· τοῦτο βασίλειά ἐστι καὶ ποίμνια, αἱ θρεπτικαὶ τῶν παθῶν ὕλαι· ἄμπελος δέ, ἡ προπετὴς τοῦ λογισμοῦ κίνησις· ἐλαία δέ, ἡ κατ’ ἡδονὴν ἐκπυρωτικὴ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἐνεργεία, ἅπερ μεταφέρει ὡς εἰς γῆν ἁγίαν τὴν ἕξιν τῆς θεοσεβείας ὁ τῷ σωματικῷ τοῦ νόμου δουλεύων· ὅπερ ὧν καθάπερ μισθὸν δέχεται τὴν θείαν ἀποστροφήν.

νθ'. Μωρὰς ὡς ἄθεος ἐκλήθη ὁ τῶν Ἰουδαίων λαός· ἀσύνετος δέ, ὡς κακοτράπελος, ὅπερ ἴσον ἀσεβὴς καὶ ἁμαρτωλός.

ξ'. Τὸ τῆς γαστριμαργίας πάθος, φησὶ, τὰ διὰ τῶν ἀρετῶν ἀποκτέννειν γεννήματα πέφυκεν· αἴτιον δὲ, ἡ τε χάρις τῆς πίστεως, καὶ ἡ ὑπακοὴ τῶν θείων ἐντολῶν, διὰ τοῦ κατὰ τὴν γνῶσιν ἀποκτόννειν λόγου.

ξα'. Πῶς ἔστιν σῶς.

ξβ'. Πῶς ἔστιν ἑτοιμασία κατὰ πρόσωπον πάντων τῶν λαῶν ὁ Κύριος.

ξγ'. Πῶς ἔστι καὶ δόξα τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ὁ Κύριος.

ξδ'. Κατ’ ἄλλην θεωρίαν, τίνες οἱ λαοὶ, καὶ τίς ἡ κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν ἑτοιμασία τοῦ λαοῦ.

ξε'. Τίνα πάλιν τὰ ἔθνη τυγχάνουσιν, ὅπερ ἀποκαλύπτει παραγινόμενος ὁ Λόγος.

ξζ'. Πῶς δόξα λέγεται πάλιν τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ὁ Λόγος.

ξη'. Ἄμα, φησίν, ἀποκτείνει τις τὸν ἐν τῷ γράμματι τοῦ νόμου σωματικὸν νοῦν, βασιλεύοντα δέχεται τὸν ἐν τῷ πνεύματι λόγον.

ξθ'. Τὸν Δαυὶδ ᾄδε καὶ εἰς τὸν Κύριον, καὶ εἰς τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον, καὶ εἰς τὸν πνευματικὸν νόμον, καὶ εἰς τὴν γνῶσιν, καὶ εἰς τὴν θεωρίαν, καὶ εἰς τὴν λεγομένην πρᾶξιν, καὶ εἰς τὸν νέον λαόν· καὶ κατὰ ποικίλους θεωρίας τρόπους, προσφόρως τοῖς τόποις πρὸς τὴν ὑποκειμένην ἑρμηνεύει χρείαν.

ο'. Τοὺς τύπους ἀλλὰ μὴ τὰ ἀρχέτυπα τῶν μυστηρίων ἔχων, καὶ τὴν ἐρώτησιν, ἀλλὰ μὴ τὴν γνῶσιν τῶν ἐν πνεύματι φωτισμῶν, εἰλητὼς δάνειον, τὸ ὁμολογούμενον τοῖς προειρημένοις, τὴν κατ’ αἴσθησιν ἐν τοῖς συμβόλοις τοῦ νόμου πεῖραν· κατὰ ψυχὴν τυφλὸς τοῦ πνεύματος, καὶ τὴν ὥσπερ ἐξηγίαν τῆς κατὰ ἀλήθειαν γνώσεως μωπάζων.

οα'. Ἔξυμλογία ἐστὶ, τὸ ἐν ᾧ τυχόν ἐστι πολλάκις καὶ πλάνησις.

οβ'. Ἡ κακιότητος δῆλον ὅτι, τοὺς κατὰ μέθεξιν αὐτῆς ἀξιωθέντας χαρακτηριζούσης, καὶ ἐξ αὐτῆς γνώριμους αὐτοὺς καθιστῶσα.

 

English translation

α. A mind purified toward incorruptibility through the virtues naturally learns the words of the virtues and makes the divinely characterized knowledge that comes from them its own face or image. For every mind considered in itself is without form and without character, having only an acquired shape: either the knowledge arising from the virtues in the spirit, or the ignorance that comes from the passions.

β. The one who receives in the spirit the divine knowledge that is the form of the mind from the virtues is said to “experience divine things,” not by nature as part of his being, but by grace through this participation. But the one who does not receive such knowledge by grace, even if he says something “knowledgeable,” does not know the power of what is said by experience. For mere learning does not give habitual knowledge.

γ. Scripture rightly says that Saul was “taken” in this way, because “taking” is used in many senses in other places, and this suits the meaning disclosed from the history.

δ. As the man joined to a concubine does not possess a lawful marriage, so the man who practices scriptural study only bodily does not have lawful union with it; he generates illegitimate doctrines from it, and doctrines that are corrupted by the life of the flesh.

ε. One who receives Scripture as bodily teaching learns the sin that comes from it in action, and the inward study of sin: pleasure-seeking, unrestrained intercourse, fear, and even how to regard all of God’s creation with disgust from the letter of the law.

ς. A second interpretation: this world is anathema, a time of condemnation; or perhaps the “wife” is the one who belongs to the protection of the law, and the one who does not pass through the law’s season in accordance with understanding.

ζ. He says that what is related to this in a fitting way is the thing itself and the inward contemplation of it.

η. Another interpretation: anathema also means the passion-driven motion without image—either the shame of the body, or the movement of the mind that gives form to passion and supplies material suitable for imaginations.

θ. He gives the matter in three interpretations combined.

ι. One who is persuaded that this is a divine ordinance and who governs bodily according to the law receives gluttony as though it were a gift of God, and with joy turns it toward the flesh, from which he produces ways of corrupting the operation of the senses by misuse.

ια. A brief recapitulation of what has gone before, showing that the one who understands the law bodily makes its teaching into a concubine, together with the habitual state and activity of the passions, and installs gluttony as divine, generating those things that by misuse stain the senses and destroy the natural powers and seeds found in beings.

ιβ. One who lingers among the symbols of the law cannot, by reason, see the nature of beings or properly preserve the meanings laid down essentially by the lawgiver, because the symbols are foreign to the nature of beings.

ιγ. The reasons of nature, when they lead to knowledge of divine things, wipe away the stain of passions and dispose the vital activity in the body.

ιδ. Another interpretation of the same things, introduced through the Gibeonites as a figure for the calling of the nations.

ιε. Passion and nature, in what is proper to each, by no means coexist with one another.

ις. One who does not believe that Scripture is spiritual does not perceive what belongs to knowledge in the proper way.

ιζ. When David is spoken of in relation to the law, among the Jews it signifies the letter and is interpreted as humiliation because of the transgression of legal life according to the flesh; among Christians, it is interpreted as “strong in vision,” because of the contemplative knowledge it conveys.

ιη. The Spirit was called the soul of Scripture, and the letter its body.

ιθ. The “three years” refer to the three laws: the written, the natural, and the law of grace, distinct from one another. Whoever receives the written law bodily does not nourish the soul with virtues; whoever does not attend to the logoi of beings does not delight the mind with God’s natural wisdom; and whoever does not know the great mystery of new grace does not rejoice in the hope of future deification. Therefore, lack of spiritual contemplation of the written law brings with it a lack of knowledge of the natural law, that is, of the natural wisdom of God, and this in turn carries ignorance of the spiritual contemplation given by grace in the new mystery.

κ. One who does not understand the law spiritually, even if he dies to the law in the sense that he does not serve it bodily, still has its low and earthbound meanings. The “wall of Saul” surrounds him and his offspring; he is tormented by the light of knowledge. [Some words uncertain.]

κα. One who serves the law bodily generates, as it were the matter, sin in action; and as form, he shapes in himself the consent of the mind to the pleasures of the senses. But the one who receives Scripture spiritually takes as matter the activity, and as form the consent to sin together with the perverted movements toward sensory pleasure; and by spiritual reasoning he puts to death, as it were, the sons and grandsons of the legal letter while living in contemplation.

κβ. Without natural contemplation, no one can discern the divine meaning of the symbols of the law.

κγ. “To make it desolate” means, instead of “to make manifest,” to show at the height of contemplation the letter of the law as dead, through knowledge in the Spirit.

κδ. “You have become the boundary of Israel,” in every word and manner of spiritual contemplation; within it the bodily tradition of the law is utterly unable to stand.

κε. The spirit, he says, is life-giving; the letter is life-removing. So the letter cannot act in the same way as the spirit, just as what gives life cannot coexist with what destroys life.

κϛ. One who serves according to the law in a bodily way begets, as it were as matter, sin in action; and as form, the mind’s consent to it is molded materially by the pleasures of the senses that present themselves. But one who receives Scripture spiritually takes, as matter, the activity; and as form, the consent to sin together with the modes that, by misuse, turn toward the pleasure of sensation. Thus he slays, by means of natural reasonings in the height of contemplation, the sons and grandsons of the legal letter.

κζ. Without natural contemplation, no one discerns the divine meaning of the symbols of the law.

κη. “To make it desolate” means, instead of “to make manifest,” to show at the height of contemplation the letter of the law as dead, through knowledge in the Spirit.

κθ. “You have become the boundary of Israel,” in every word and manner of spiritual contemplation; within it the bodily tradition of the law is utterly unable to stand.

λ. The spirit, he says, is life-giving; the letter is life-removing. So the letter cannot act in the same way as the spirit, just as what gives life cannot coexist with what destroys life.

λα. A definition of the mystical contemplation of circumcision.

λβ. A definition of the mystical legislation concerning the Sabbath, which properly shows what the Sabbath is and what its spiritual meaning is: rest from passions and from the movement that belongs to the nature of beings.

λγ. God—clearly.

λδ. What do the new moons signify?

λε. A definition of the crown of kindness.

λς. Another, more mystical definition of the same.

λζ. Here he says that self-control is a work of Providence, as a cleansing of dispositions, and patience is the exercise of judgment, opposing involuntary temptations.

λθ. The first feast is Passover.

μ. The second feast is Pentecost.

μα. The third is the feast in the seventh month, the Day of Atonement.

μβ. Consider how the law destroys those who receive it bodily, persuading them to worship creation rather than the Creator and to regard as naturally holy the things that came to be for their sake, while failing to know the One by whom they themselves came to be.

μγ. How God is the Sabbath.

μδ. How God is mystically also Passover.

με. The mystery of the feast of Pentecost, in which he mystically introduced the power of the manifested spirits and called God “Pentecost.” Just as the unit, remaining at rest until the sevenfold folding of the week into itself, produces Pentecost, and then again by its returns becomes ten through a fivefold manifestation, so too God, to whom the unit is fittingly likened, is the beginning and end of beings, and the reason in which all things consist. He is beginning because He is before every essence and motion; end because He is beyond every essence and motion; reason because He provides for all things according to cause. Joined to the underlying form, each being has its abiding in that same reason. When the times and ages reach their end and arrive at the pattern of the seven, then God alone will remain, freeing beings from the mediation of place and time and gathering into true unity the existence of the beings that have been joined. He will free them from spatial circumscription and temporal motion, giving unshakable rest, the boundless enjoyment of divine things, and a motion that is itself at rest—the longing that is carried toward them.

μς. In the seventh month there are three feasts: Trumpets, Atonement, and Booths. The feast of Trumpets is a type of the law and the prophets and the knowledge gained from them. Atonement is a symbol of reconciliation between God and human beings through the incarnation. The one who willingly took the condemnation of the condemned dissolved the enmity that had been established against us. Booths is a type of resurrection and of the transformation of all things into incorruptibility.

μζ. One who rejoices in bloody sacrifices, he says, is eager for the passions and prepares the sacrificers as passionate men; for he says that the one who is truly revered rejoices in what the worshipped one rejoices in.

μη. The Logos, he says, knows sacrifices as the slaughter of passions and the offering of natural powers. The ram is the type of reason; the bull symbolizes anger; the goat indicates desire.

μθ. A fleshly mind that clings to Scripture casts off the natural logoi of the soul, destroying them through misuse of the powers according to nature.

ν. If someone takes Scripture only according to sense and bodily meaning, he at the same time passes beyond nature in mind toward spirit, doing spiritually what the Jew does while having God angered.

να. What is the hand of the Gibeonites, by which David handed over the descendants of Saul?

νβ. He says the “exaltation” is the humiliation suffered by the passions when they are triumphed over by the zeal of pious thoughts in true contemplation.

νγ. The bodily teaching of the law, he says, when seen by eyes made dead through repentance to the symbolic meanings of the law, and set beside the word according to Christ, receives the heavenly illuminations of knowledge like sons.

νδ. Grain—clearly.

νε. Wine—clearly.

νς. Oil—clearly.

νζ. He says that grain is the support of the soul, as spiritual knowledge; wine is a cheerer of the heart, as producing love’s union with God; oil, he says, fills the face with gladness, as characteristic of spiritual grace that illumines the mind in apatheia.

νη. Amalek is gluttony. Its king is the earthly mindset. Its kingdom and flocks are the nourishing materials of the passions; the vineyard is the rash movement of thought; the olive tree is the fiery energy of desire according to pleasure. One who serves the bodily law carries these things into the “holy land,” that is, into the habit of godliness, and receives divine aversion as his reward.

νθ. The Jewish people were called foolish as atheists; and “without understanding” as wayward, which is the same as impious and sinful.

ξ. The passion of gluttony naturally kills the offspring produced through the virtues. Its causes are the grace of faith and obedience to the divine commandments, through the word that slays according to knowledge.

ξα. How is He holy?

ξβ. How is the Lord a preparation before the face of all peoples?

ξγ. How is the Lord also the glory of Israel?

ξδ. Another interpretation: who are the peoples, and what is the preparation of the people before their face?

ξε. What are the nations, which the Logos reveals when he comes?

ξζ. How is the Logos again called the glory of Israel?

ξη. At the same time, he says, when one kills the bodily mind in the letter of the law, he receives as king the word in the spirit.

ξθ. Sing David both to the Lord and to the Gospel, and to the spiritual law, and to knowledge, and to contemplation, and to what is called practice, and to the new people; and in various ways of contemplation, adapt the explanation fittingly to the places and to the need of the subject.

ο. Possessing the types but not the archetypes of the mysteries, and the question but not the knowledge of the illuminations in the Spirit, receiving only the loan, he has the sense-experience of the symbols of the law that agrees with the foregoing; blind in soul to the spirit, and mocking the accuracy of knowledge according to truth.

οα. Exaltation is something in which, often, there is also wandering.

οβ. Wickedness clearly characterizes those who have been deemed worthy of sharing in it, and makes them known by it.

 

Robert Alter on Proverbs 26:4-5

  

Do not answer a dolt . . . / Answer the dolt. Ingenious exegetical effort has been exercised to set these two contradictory proverbs in a dialectic or complementary relationship with each other. It is more plausible to assume that they were bracketed together editorially because of the similarity of formulation while they reflect two quite different and originally independent perspectives. The first proverb counsels us to avoid contention with a fool because we are liable to get entangled in his own misguided or confused terms (“by [or according to] his folly”). The second proverb urges us to answer the fool so that he is compelled to recognize what a fool he is. In this English version, kesil, generally rendered as “fool,” has been translated as “dolt” because the word for “folly” here, iwelet, is an entirely different term. (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, 3 vols. [New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019], 3:433)

 

Robert Alter on Proverbs 25:18, 19

  

Prov 25:18:

 

A mace and a sword and a sharpened arrow. In this instance the riddling nature of the initial verset is compounded by this stringing together of three different weapons. For the first term, the received text shows meifits (“scatter”), but this is almost certainly a mistake for mapats, “mace” or “club,” as the evidence of the Septuagint indicates. (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, 3 vols. [New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019], 3:431)

 

 

Prov 25:19:

 

shaky. The translation reads moʿedet, “stumbling” or “shaky,” for the Masoretic muʿedet, “designated” or “warned against,” the difference being only the vocalization. (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, 3 vols. [New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019], 3:432)

 

Robert Alter on Proverbs 24:5, 21

  

Prov 24:5:

 

mightier than the strong one, / . . . than one of great power. The Masoretic Text reads gever ḥakham baʿoz, “a wise man in [the?] strength,” and meʾamets-koah,̣ “summons up power.” The second phrase is intelligible though a poor parallelism; the first phrase is not intelligible. The translation follows the Septuagint, the Syriac, and the Targum, all of which seem to have read gavar ḥakham meiʿaz and meiʾamits-koah,̣ readings that yield the translation offered here. (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, 3 vols. [New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019], 3:426)

 

 

Prov 24:21:

 

neither one nor the other vex. The Masoretic Text reads, “And don’t mix in [titʿarav] with shonim.” The meaning of shonim is in doubt. Some think it means “dissidents”; the King James Version guesses, desperately, “them that are given to change.” There is no evidence that this verbal root, which can mean “to repeat” or “to be different,” had either of these senses in the Bible. The translation follows the Septuagint, which reads sheneyhem, “the two of them,” for shonim, and titʿabar (or perhaps teʿaber), a root having to do with anger, instead of titʿarav, “mix in.” This two-line proverb, then, follows a recurring theme of the book in warning against provoking those in power, who can have a short fuse and a heavy hand. (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, 3 vols. [New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019], 3:428)

 

Robert Alter on Proverbs 22:17, 27

  

Prov 22:17:

 

Bend your ear and hear the words of the wise. Here begins a formal exordium, running to verse 21, that marks the inception of a new collection of proverbs that comprises two subunits, 22:22–23:11 and 23:12–24:22. The first of these sub-units, as most scholars for nearly a century have agreed, is an adaptation of an Egyptian Wisdom text, the Instruction of Amenemope, and thus bears witness to the international circulation of Wisdom literature. Fifteen of its twenty-four verses have notable parallels in Amenemope, and some of the sequencing of the proverbs is the same. In all likelihood, the Egyptian text was first translated into Aramaic, perhaps in the seventh century B.C.E., by which time Aramaic had become a diplomatic lingua franca in the Near East. Elite circles in Israel at this point certainly knew Aramaic, and so an adaptation from the Aramaic to Hebrew would have been perfectly likely. It is notable that the Hebrew of this section incorporates a number of Aramaic usages. (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, 3 vols. [New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019], 3:420)

 

 

Prov 22:27:

 

why should your bedding be taken from under you. As the law in Exodus 22:25–26 makes clear, the poor man’s bedding was the cloak in which he wrapped himself for sleep—hence one is forbidden to take it away from him at night in pawn for a debt. A letter on behalf of a laborer, found at Yavneh Yam, and dating from the seventh century B.C.E., complains about the deprivation of the cloak for debt. The Hebrew seems to say “why should he take your bedding,” but the third-person masculine singular is often used as the equivalent of a passive and thus is translated here as a passive. (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, 3 vols. [New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019], 3:421)

 

Robert A. Sungenis (Catholic) on Mark 9:39 (cf. Luke 9:49-50)

  

“he that is not against you is for you”: ος γαρ ουκ εστιν καθ’ ημων περ ημων εστιν, a general statement or axiom that is the basis for Jesus’ decision concerning non-apostolic work in the name of Jesus. It would not apply to someone who is neutral or indifferent to Jesus but is not actively in opposition to Jesus. Such people are against Jesus, especially since Jesus has made it clear he requires a positive or negative response and will not accept indifferentism or lukewarmness. Matthew (12:30) has Jesus saying the axiom in the opposite vein but with the same meaning (“He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters”). Here those who meet Jesus and are not persuaded by him have already implicitly decided against him and will show it explicitly sooner or later. Of course, those who meet Jesus and see no reason to be hostile toward him is already implicitly for Jesus’ cause and it will manifest itself in due time. (Robert A. Sungenis, Commentary on the Catholic Douay-Rheims New Testament from the Original Greek and Latin, 4 vols. [State Line, Pa.: Catholic Apologetics International Publishing, Inc., 2022], 1:109-10 n. 233)

 

Sid Zalman Leiman on Non-Literary Materials that "Defile the Hands" in the Talmud

  

Non-literary Materials Defile the Hands.

 

Passage 90                                   תוספתא נדה ט:יח

 

בראשונה היו אומרים בשר התאוה טהור, חזרו וגדרו עליו שיהא

מטמא את הידים, חזרו וגזרו עליו שיהא מטמא במגע, וגזרו שיהא

כנבלה עצמה ומטמא במשא.

 

Tosefta Niddah 9:18

 

At first, the rabbis said that profane meat is pure. Then they decreed that it defiles the hands. Then they decreed that it imparts impurity [over the entire body] when touched. Then they decreed that it is like a carcass (of an animal not properly slaughtered) which imparts impurity when carried [even when not touched directly].

 

Passage 91                                     משנה פסחים י:ט

 

הפסח אחר חצות מטמא את הידים, הפגול והנותר מטמאין את

הידים.

 

פסחים קכ:

 

M. Pesahim 10:9

 

The Passover offering, after midnight, defiles the hands; Piggul and Nothar defile the hands.

 

Pesahim 120b

 

R. Huna (250-290) and R. Hisda (250-290)—one maintains: It is on account of suspected priests; the other maintains: It is on account of lazy priests. (Sid Zalman Leiman, “The Talmudic and Midrashic Evidence for the Canonization of Hebrew Scripture” [PhD Dissertation; University of Pennsylvania, 1970], 234-35)