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Love her, and she will keep you. Then, showing her common benefit, and that the advantage from her is available to all alike: She has slaughtered, he says, her 31.393 victims; that is, she prepared solid food for those whose spiritual senses have been trained by practice. She has mixed her wine in a bowl, the wine that makes glad the heart of man. And by 'bowl' he means the common and universal participation in good things; from which it is possible for all equally to draw what is possible and fitting for each. And she has prepared her table. He says all these things with emphasis, showing us spiritual things through corporeal ones. For he calls the rational food of the soul a table, to which he summons with a lofty proclamation, that is, with doctrines having nothing base or dejected. Whoever is foolish, let him turn to me. For as the sick need medicine, so the foolish are in need of wisdom. And this: For it is better to traffic in her than in treasures of gold and silver; and this: She is more precious than costly stones; and everything precious is not worthy of her; and this: Son, if you become wise for yourself, you will be wise also for your neighbors; and this: The deeds of a wise son will be prosperous. And in general, it is possible for you to know the truth of the statement by reading at your leisure the things said about wisdom by Solomon. But since wisdom will not enter a malicious soul, he first purifies through divine fear the souls of those who are about to consort with wisdom. For to cast the mysteries of salvation to just anyone, and to receive all alike, those using neither a pure life, nor tested and precise reason, is like pouring precious ointment into a dirty vessel.

Therefore, The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. And fear is a purification of the soul according to the prayer of the prophet who says: Pierce my flesh with your fear. As where fear dwells, there all purity of soul is established, with all wickedness and unholy action fleeing, since the members of the body are unable to be moved to improper activities, because they are pierced by fear. For just as one who has bodily nails fixed in himself is inactive, being overcome by pain; so one who is seized by the fear of God cannot use his eye for what he ought not, nor move his hands to forbidden actions, nor do anything at all, small or great, contrary to what is proper, as if pierced through by a kind of pain from the expectation of the things threatened. But he dismisses the profane and rabble from the divine teachings, saying: But the fearless will lodge in the gates; and this: You will seek wisdom from the evil, and you will not find it; and again: 31.396 The evil will seek me, and will not find me, because they have not been cleansed by divine fear. Therefore, he who is about to approach the reception of wisdom, let him approach having cleansed the disgraces of wickedness with salutary fear. Thus another good thing has been revealed to us from the teaching of the Proverbs, the reception of fear, introduced to us through wisdom. The second thing in the promises was, to know discipline. Discipline is a certain beneficial training for the soul, often painfully cleansing it of the stains of wickedness, which For the present seems to be not of joy, but of sorrow; but afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of salvation to those who have been trained by it. Therefore, to know this discipline is not for an ordinary mind; because many, giving up in the face of the painfulness of what is happening, do not through ignorance await the benefit of the outcome, but being impatient with the austerity of the discipline, they have remained in the sicknesses of ignorance. For this reason, the voices of the righteous are worthy of admiration, those who say: O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. For they are not refusing discipline, but wrath. And similar to this is,

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Ἐράσθητι αὐτῆς, καὶ τηρήσει σε. Εἶτα τὸ κοινωφελὲς αὐτῆς ἐνδεικνύμενος, καὶ ὅτι πᾶσιν ὁμοίως ἀνεῖται τὸ ἀπ' αὐτῆς ὠφέλιμον· Ἔσφαξε, φησὶ, τὰ 31.393 ἑαυτῆς θύματα· τουτέστι, στερεὰν τροφὴν ἡτοίμασε τοῖς διὰ τὴν ἕξιν γεγυμνασμένοις τὰ αἰσθητήρια τῆς ψυχῆς. Ἐκέρασεν εἰς κρατῆρα τὸν ἑαυτῆς οἶνον, τὸν εὐφραίνοντα καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου. Κρατῆρα δὲ λέγει τὴν κοινὴν καὶ πάνδημον τῶν ἀγαθῶν μετουσίαν· ὅθεν ὁμοτίμως πᾶσιν ἔξεστι τὸ ἑκάστῳ δυνατὸν καὶ σύμμετρον ἀπαρύεσθαι. Καὶ ἡτοιμάσατο τὴν ἑαυτῆς τράπεζαν. Πάντα δι' ἐμφάσεως λέγει, διὰ τῶν σωματικῶν τὰ πνευματικὰ ἡμῖν παραδεικνύς. Τὴν γὰρ λογικὴν τροφὴν τῆς ψυχῆς τράπεζαν ὀνομάζει, πρὸς ἣν συγκαλεῖ μετὰ ὑψηλοῦ κηρύγματος, τουτέστι, μετὰ δογμάτων οὐδὲν ταπεινὸν οὐδὲ καταβε- βλημένον ἐχόντων. Ὅς ἐστιν ἄφρων, ἐκκλινάτω πρὸς μέ. Ὡς γὰρ οἱ ἀσθενοῦντες χρῄζουσιν ἰατρικῆς, οὕτω σοφίας οἱ ἄφρονες ἐπιδέονται. Καὶ τό· Κρεῖσσον γὰρ αὐτὴν ἐμπορεύεσθαι, ἢ χρυσίου καὶ ἀργυρίου θησαυρούς· καὶ τό· Τιμιωτέρα δέ ἐστι λίθων πολυτελῶν· πᾶν δὲ τίμιον οὐκ ἄξιον αὐτῆς ἐστι· καὶ τό· Υἱὲ, ἐὰν σοφὸς γένῃ σεαυτῷ, σοφὸς ἔσῃ καὶ τοῖς πλησίον σου· καὶ τό· Υἱῷ δὲ σοφῷ εὔοδοι ἔσονται πράξεις. Καὶ ὅλως ἔξεστί σοι γνῶναι τοῦ λόγου τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἀναλεξαμένῳ κατὰ σχολὴν τὰ περὶ τῆς σοφίας εἰρημένα τῷ Σολομῶντι. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ εἰς κακότεχνον ψυχὴν οὐκ εἰσελεύ- σεται σοφία, καθαίρει πρότερον διὰ τοῦ θείου φόβου τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν μελλόντων τῇ σοφίᾳ προσομιλεῖν. Τὸ γὰρ εἰς τοὺς τυχόντας ῥίπτειν τὰ τῆς σωτηρίας μυστήρια, καὶ πάντας ὁμοίως παραδέχεσθαι, τοὺς μήτε βίῳ καθαρῷ, μήτε λόγῳ ἐξητασμένῳ καὶ ἀκριβεῖ κεχρημένους, ὅμοιόν ἐστιν ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ καὶ ἐν ἀγγείῳ τις ῥυπαρῷ τὸ πολυτίμητον μύρον ἐμβάλλοι.

∆ιὰ τοῦτο, Ἀρχὴ σοφίας, φόβος Κυρίου. Φόβος δὲ κα- θάρσιον ψυχῆς κατὰ τὴν εὐχὴν τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος· Καθήλωσον ἐκ τοῦ φόβου σου τὰς σάρκας μου. Ὡς ὅπου φόβος ἐνοικεῖ, ἐκεῖ ψυχῆς ἅπασα καθαρότης ἐνίδρυται, πάσης πονηρίας καὶ ἀνοσίου πράξεως ὑποφευγούσης, τῶν τοῦ σώματος μελῶν κι- νηθῆναι πρὸς ἀτόπους ἐνεργείας, διὰ τὸ τῷ φόβῳ καθηλῶσθαι, μὴ δυναμένων. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ ἐμπεπηγότας ἔχων ἐν ἑαυτῷ τοὺς σωματικοὺς ἥλους ἀνενέργητός ἐστιν ὑπὸ τῶν ὀδυνῶν κατεχόμενος· οὕτως ὁ τῷ φόβῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ κατειλημμένος, οὐκ ὀφθαλμῷ χρήσασθαι πρὸς ἃ μὴ δεῖ, οὐ χεῖρας κινῆσαι πρὸς ἀπηγορευμένας πράξεις, οὐχ ὅλως μικρὸν ἢ μεῖζον ἐνεργῆσαι παρὰ τὸ καθῆκον δύναται, οἷον ὀδύνῃ τινὶ τῇ προσδοκίᾳ τῶν ἀπειληθέντων συμπεπαρμένος. Τοὺς δὲ βεβήλους καὶ συρφετώδεις ἀποπέμπεται τῶν θείων διδασκαλιῶν, λέγων· Ἄφοβοι δὲ ἐν πύλαις αὐλισθήσονται· καὶ τό· Ζητήσετε παρὰ κακοῖς σοφίαν, καὶ οὐχ εὑρήσετε· καὶ πάλιν· 31.396 Ζητήσουσί με κακοὶ, καὶ οὐχ εὑρήσουσι, διὰ τὸ μὴ ἐκκαθαρθῆναι τῷ θείῳ φόβῳ. Ὥστε, μέλλων προσιέναι τῇ ἀναλήψει τῆς σοφίας, τῷ σωτηρίῳ φόβῳ τὰ ἀπὸ κακίας αἴσχη καθηράμενος προσερχέσθω. Ἀνεφάνη οὖν ἡμῖν καὶ ἕτερον ἀγαθὸν ἐκ τῆς τῶν Παροιμιῶν διδασκαλίας, ἡ τοῦ φόβου ἀνάληψις, διὰ τῆς σοφίας ἡμῖν ἐπεισαχθεῖσα. ∆εύτερον ἦν ἐν τοῖς ἐπαγγέλμασι, γνῶναι παιδείαν. Ἔστι δὲ ἡ παιδεία ἀγωγή τις ὠφέλιμος τῇ ψυχῇ, ἐπιπόνως πολλάκις τῶν ἀπὸ κακίας κηλίδων αὐτὴν ἐκκαθαίρουσα, ἥτις Πρὸς μὲν τὸ παρὸν οὐ δοκεῖ χαρᾶς εἶναι, ἀλλὰ λύπης· ὕστερον δὲ καρπὸν εἰρηνικὸν τοῖς δι' αὐτῆς γεγυμνασμένοις ἀποδίδωσιν εἰς σωτηρίαν. Ταύτην τοίνυν τὴν παιδείαν γνῶναι οὐ τῆς τυχούσης ἐστὶ διανοίας· διότι πολλοὶ, πρὸς τὸ τῶν γινομένων ἐπίπονον ἀπαγορεύοντες, τὸ τῆς ἐκβάσεως ὠφέλιμον ὑπὸ ἀμαθίας οὐκ ἀναμένουσιν, ἀλλὰ δυσανασχετοῦντες πρὸς τὸ τῆς ἐπιμελείας αὐστηρὸν, τοῖς τῆς ἀμαθίας ἀῤῥωστήμασιν ἐναπέμειναν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο θαύματος ἄξιαι τῶν δικαίων αἱ φωναὶ, τῶν λεγόντων· Κύριε, μὴ τῷ θυμῷ σου ἐλέγξῃς με, μηδὲ τῇ ὀργῇ σου παιδεύσῃς με. Οὐ γὰρ τὴν παιδείαν παραιτοῦνται, ἀλλὰ τὴν ὀργήν. Τούτῳ παραπλήσιόν ἐστι καὶ τὸ,