of the former visitation, your hand weighing heavy against me was turned to my misery. And I have suffered these things worthily, a thorn having been fixed in me, when I was held fast by cares, or also by wealth, and the pleasures of life. That some such things were meant by the Prophet in these words, is clear from what is added to them: 'I have made known my sin,' and so on. After these things it is possible to see what the sayings of the wise are; then what the riddles are; of which wise men are the sayings which the wise man hears, and by having heard them becomes wiser than himself. For is it only of those wise according to God and His truth, or not of these only, but also of those whose craftiness God will take? For the word has also named these wise. For why will the one spoken of understand the sayings of the blessed wise, but not be sufficient to understand also the words of the other wise men, but will his mind be lesser than the mind of the wise of this world, and unable to follow what is said by them? And perhaps then, just as it is the work of the eye not only to see ordered things, but also those that are otherwise, or as the art in them intends; so it is the work of the mind to consider both the successful thoughts and those that are not, so that he himself may not be caught by the plausibility in falsehoods, and may rescue those who are caught, if he understands also the sayings of the other wise men, where they use sophistry, and in what way they reason falsely; and how the sophism is solved, and the false reasoning is refuted. For so also through His own wise men God threatens, that He will set aside the wisdom of the wise, which deserves to perish on account of falsehood, and the deceitful understanding of those not wise according to Him, and so through His own He will take the craftiness of the wise of this age. For instance, the disciples of the Lord, if they did not understand the sayings of the 13.25 worldly wise, how did they wage war for the tearing down of strongholds, casting down reasonings and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God? And how could one perfectly keep what was said by Peter, 'Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you,' not having the preparation in speech perfectly, so that to every Greek and every barbarian, and every wise man, and every foolish man he might be ready to give an answer concerning the hope in him, by understanding the sayings of the wise, accusing some, overthrowing others, and establishing and proving these things? But do not be surprised if now the one truly wise according to God is not found; for most of the exceptional spiritual gifts have ceased, so as to be found either not at all or rarely. It remains also to explain what riddles are. But I think a riddle is a certain narrative about things as if they had happened which have not happened, nor are able to happen, but signifying something secret in a hidden way; for instance, as from an example, the one in Judges: 'The trees went forth to anoint a king over themselves.' For what three fruit-bearing trees, the fig tree, the vine, the olive, did not wish to reign over the trees not worthy of their kingdom; and what is the thorny bramble that sends forth fire from itself to devour the cedars of Lebanon, it is for the wise man to see, referring these to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but the bramble to the adversary. And there is also such a riddle in the Books of Kings: 'The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife,' and so on. And you would find riddles also in the prophets, as in Ezekiel, 'The great eagle with great wings, long-winged, full of feathers,' and so on. We have been able to comprehend so much for the present on the subject at hand; and these were parable and dark saying, both sayings of the wise and riddles. A parable is a saying as if about something that happened, which did not happen literally, but could happen, tropologically indicative of riddles, as, 'A sower went out to sow;' for it did not happen according to the letter, even if it is referred to other things. And how to fit to this, 'I will open my mouth in parables?' For it has happened

τῆς προτέρας ἐπισκοπῆς ἐστράφη εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν ταλαιπωρίαν ἡ βαρυνομένη σου χεὶρ κατ' ἐμοῦ. Καὶ ἀξίως γε ταῦτα πέπονθα, παγείσης μοι ἀκάν θης, ἡνίκα ἐκρατήθην ὑπὸ μεριμνῶν, ἢ καὶ πλού του, καὶ ἡδονῶν βιωτικῶν. Ὅτι δὲ τοιαῦτά τινα τῷ Προφήτῃ ἐν τούτοις νενόηται, δῆλον ἐκ τοῦ ἐπιφέ ρεσθαι τούτοις τὸ, Τὴν ἁμαρτίαν μου ἐγνώρισα, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Μετὰ ταῦτα ἔστιν ἰδεῖν τίνες αἱ ῥήσεις τῶν σο φῶν· εἶτα τίνα τὰ αἰνίγματα· ποίων σοφῶν ῥήσεις ὁ τῶνδε ἀκούσας σοφὸς, καὶ διὰ τὸ ἀκηκοέναι αὐτῶν ἑαυτοῦ γενόμενος σοφώτερος. Ἆρα γὰρ μόνων τῶν κατὰ Θεὸν καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν αὐτοῦ σοφῶν, ἢ οὐ τού των μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὧν δράξεται ὁ Θεὸς τῆς πανουρ γίας; Καὶ γὰρ τούτους ὠνόμασεν ὁ λόγος σοφούς. ∆ιὰ τί γὰρ ὁ εἰρημένος νοήσει μὲν τὰς τῶν μακαρίων σοφῶν ῥήσεις, οὐ διαρκέσει δὲ πρὸς τὸ νοῆσαι καὶ τοὺς τῶν λοιπῶν σοφῶν λόγους, ἀλλ' ἔσται αὐτῷ ὁ νοῦς ἐλάττων τοῦ νοῦ τῶν σοφῶν τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, καὶ μὴ δυνάμενος παρακολουθεῖν τοῖς ὑπ' ἐκείνων λεγομένοις; Καὶ ἄρα μήποτε ὥσπερ ὀφθαλμοῦ ἔργον ἐστὶν οὐ μόνον τὰ τεταγμένα ὁρᾷν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ἄλ λως ἔχοντα, ἢ ὡς τὸ ἐν τούτοις τεχνικὸν βούλεται· οὕτω νοῦ ἔργον ἐστὶ τά τε ἐπιτυγχανόμενα ἐννοήματα θεωρεῖν, καὶ τὰ μὴ, εἴπως αὐτός τε ὑπὸ τῆς ἐν τοῖς ψεύδεσι πιθανότητος οὐχ ἁλώσεται, καὶ τοὺς ἁλόντας ῥύσεται, ἐὰν νοήσῃ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων σοφῶν τὰς ῥήσεις, εἴπου σοφίζονται, καὶ τίνα τρόπον παραλογίζονται· καὶ πῶς τὸ σόφισμα λύεται, καὶ ὁ παραλογισμὸς ἐλέγ χεται. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ διὰ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ σοφῶν ἀπειλεῖ ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι τὴν διὰ τὸ ψεῦδος ἀξίαν ἀπολέσθαι σοφίαν τῶν σοφῶν ἀθετήσει, καὶ τὴν ἀπατηλὴν σύνεσιν τῶν μὴ κατ' αὐτὸν συνετῶν, καὶ οὕτω διὰ τῶν ἰδίων δρά ξεται τῆς πανουργίας τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου σοφῶν. Αὐ τίκα οἱ μαθηταὶ τοῦ Κυρίου, εἰ μὴ ἐνόουν τὰς τῶν 13.25 κοσμικῶν σοφῶν ῥήσεις, πῶς ἐστρατεύοντο πρὸς καθ αίρεσιν ὀχυρωμάτων, λογισμοὺς καθαιροῦντες καὶ πᾶν ὕψωμα ἐπαιρόμενον κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ; Πῶς δὲ καὶ τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ Πέτρου λεγόμενον τελείως τηρήσαιτό τις ἂν, τὸ, Ἕτοιμοι ἀεὶ πρὸς ἀπολο γίαν παντὶ τῷ αἰτοῦντι ὑμᾶς λόγον περὶ τῆς ἐν ὑμῖν ἐλπίδος, μὴ τελείως ἔχων τὴν ἐν λόγῳ παρα σκευὴν, ἵνα παντὶ Ἕλληνι καὶ παντὶ βαρβάρῳ, καὶ παντὶ σοφῷ, καὶ παντὶ ἀνοήτῳ ἕτοιμος ᾖ πρὸς ἀπο λογίαν περὶ τῆς ἐν αὑτῷ ἐλπίδος, τῷ συνιέναι τὰς τῶν σοφῶν ῥήσεις, τῶν μὲν κατηγορῶν, τὰ δὲ ἀνα τρέπων, ταῦτα δὲ συνιστὰς καὶ ἀποδεικνύς; Μὴ θαυμάσῃς δὲ εἰ νῦν ὁ ἀληθῶς κατὰ Θεὸν σοφὸς οὐχ εὑρίσκεται· ἐκλέλοιπε γὰρ τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν ἐξαιρέ των χαρισμάτων, ὡς ἢ μηδαμῶς ἢ σπανίως εὑρίσκε σθαι. Λείπεται ἀποδοῦναι καὶ τίνα τὰ αἰνίγματα. Αἴ νιγμα δὲ εἶναι νομίζω διέξοδόν τινα περὶ ὡς γεγονό των μὴ γεγονότων, μήτε γενέσθαι δυναμένων, ση μαινόντων δ' ἐν ἀποκρυφῇ ἀπόῤῥητόν τι· οἷον ὡς ἀπὸ παραδείγματος τὸ ἐν τοῖς Κριταῖς· Πορευόμενα ἐπορεύθησαν τὰ ξύλα, τοῦ χρῖσαι ἐφ' ἑαυτῶν βα σιλέα. Τίνα γὰρ τρία ξύλα καρποφόρα, ἡ συκῆ, ἡ ἄμπελος, ἡ ἐλαία, μὴ βουληθέντα βασιλεύειν τῶν οὐκ ἀξίων τῆς αὐτῶν βασιλείας ξύλων· καὶ τίς ἡ ἀκαν θώδης ῥάμνος καὶ πῦρ ἐξ αὑτῆς ἀφιεῖσα κατεσθίειν τὰς κέδρους τοῦ λιβάνου, τοῦ σοφοῦ ἐστιν ἰδεῖν, ἀναφέροντος ταῦτα μὲν ἐπὶ τὸν Πατέρα, καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν, καὶ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, τὴν δὲ ῥάμνον ἐπὶ τὸν ἀντικείμενον. Ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἐν ταῖς Βασιλείαις αἴ νιγμα τοιοῦτον· Ὁ ἄκανθος ὁ ἐν τῷ Λιβάνῳ ἀπ έστειλε πρὸς τὴν Κέδρον τὴν ἐν τῷ Λιβάνῳ, λέ γων· ∆ὸς τὴν θυγατέρα σου τῷ υἱῷ μου εἰς γυ ναῖκα, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Εὕροις δ' ἂν καὶ ἐν τοῖς προφή ταις αἰνίγματα, ὡς ἐν τῷ Ἰεζεκιὴλ τὸ, Ὁ ἀετὸς ὁ μέγας ὁ μεγαλοπτέρυγος, ὁ μακρὸς τῇ ἐκτάσει, πλήρης πίλων, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Τοσαῦτα χωρῆσαι ἐπὶ τοῦ παρ όντος δεδυνήμεθα εἰς τὸ προκείμενον· ταῦτα δὲ ἦν παραβολὴ καὶ σκοτεινὸς λόγος, ῥήσεις τε σοφῶν καὶ αἰνίγματα. Παραβολή ἐστι λόγος ὡς περὶ γενομένου τοῦ μὴ γενομένου μὲν κατὰ τὸ ῥητὸν, δυναμένου δὲ γενέσθαι, τροπικῶς δηλωτικὸς αἰνιγμάτων, ὡς τὸ, Ἐξῆλθεν ὁ σπείρων τοῦ σπεῖραι· οὐ γὰρ γέγονε κατὰ τὴν λέξιν, κἂν ἀνάγηται εἰς ἕτερα. Καὶ πῶς ἁρμόσαι τούτῳ τὸ, Ἀνοίξω ἐν παραβολαῖς τὸ στόμα μου; Γέγονε γὰρ