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enjoyment; incomparably to be preferred is the toil for what is good. Besides, the virtuous man is not distracted by many things, according to what was said, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; but few things are needed, or one"; and he means, of the commandments, or of the love that holds all things together. Therefore, laborious distraction has been given to men for a useful purpose. "I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a choice of spirit." Whatever things, he says, men do, not for the sake of things above the sun, that is, for the sake of heavenly goods, but for things under the 93.492 sun, earthly and corruptible things, I saw that they are all vanity; for in addition to passing away, these things also prepare punishment, because they do them by choice, and not by compulsion. And here he calls the soul "spirit," the rational soul, the one honored with free will. "What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be numbered." If the saying is from the person of the wise man, you will understand it thus: He who is crooked and has fallen into wickedness, as long as he is in wickedness, cannot take up virtue; but if he desists from it, then he receives virtue, according to the saying, "Turn away from evil, and do good." But neither can he who is lacking the grace of God, as long as he is in that state of lacking and does not repent, be numbered among the God-fearing. Otherwise: There have been some who said that the world came to be spontaneously, and happens to be imperfect; to whom the wise man will say, What is seen as imperfect in the world, or crooked, that it might be adorned? And what is lacking from the whole, that it might be added and numbered to it? But if the saying is from the person of those who hold doctrines about natures, who say that some are evil by nature, unable to be adorned, we refute their argument through many points. For no one is evil by nature. For this reason also Matthew was called from being a tax collector to be an evangelist. But also the things in the world that seem to be evil, such as serpents, and lions, and similar things, serve as salutary medicines for men; and for man to be admonished by comparison with them, when he hears, "Go to the ant, O sluggard"; and to be ashamed, when he is compared to them, hearing, "He is like the senseless beasts." Therefore, nothing in the world is evil, but all things are beneficial and useful. For God saw, he says, everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. Do not say, therefore, O you men, that what is crooked cannot be adorned, and what is lacking cannot be numbered. "I spoke in my heart, saying: 'Behold, I have become great, and I have added wisdom beyond all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my heart has seen much wisdom, and knowledge, parables and sciences.' I knew that this also is a choice of spirit, because in a multitude of wisdom is a multitude of knowledge, and he who adds knowledge adds pain." A person speaks in his own heart, when, using his mind for thinking, he discourses with himself. I reasoned, therefore, he says, that I added wisdom beyond those before me. And the phrase, "I added," shows wisdom being increased in himself according to progress. Wisdom is knowledge of divine and human affairs, and of their causes; knowledge is the contemplation of the nature of existing things. And those who have knowledge educate them 93.493 selves, being freed from ignorance; but those who have received the word of wisdom teach words of truth to others also. And he no longer called wisdom and knowledge vanity, but a choice of spirit, teaching that the wise do not become wise according to some fate, but by desiring wisdom, and toiling, and asking from God, and receiving it. And if anyone, he says, loves greater knowledge, let him also add the labors according to virtue. Or also thus, he who sins with knowledge is punished more greatly; for this reason he who adds knowledge, adds pain. And since wisdom is more comprehensive than knowledge, he said that in a multitude of wisdom is a multitude of knowledge. CHAP. II. "I said in my heart, 'Come now, I will test you with mirth, and in good things'; and behold, this also is vanity. To the

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ἀπόλαυσις· ἀσυγκρίτως προκριτέος ὁ περὶ τὸ καλὸν πόνος. Ἄλλως τε, ὁ ἐνάρετος οὐδὲ πολλὰ περισπᾶται, κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον, Μάρθα, Μάρθα, μεριμνᾷς, καὶ τυρβάζῃ περὶ πολλά· ὀλίγων δέ ἐστι χρεία, ἣ ἑνός· λέγει δὲ, τῶν ἐντολῶν, ἢ τῆς πασῶν συνεκτικῆς ἀγάπης. Καθόλου τοίνυν χρησίμως δέδοται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὁ ἐπίπονος περισπασμός. "Εἶδον σύμπαντα τὰ ποιήματα τὰ πεποιημένα ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον, καὶ ἰδοὺ τὰ πάντα ματαιότης καὶ προαίρεσις πνεύματος." Ὅσα, φησὶν, ποιοῦσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, οὐ τῶν ὑπὲρ τὸν ἥλιον χάριν, τουτέστι τῶν οὐρανίων ἀγαθῶν ἕνεκα, ἀλλὰ τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν 93.492 ἥλιον, τῶν γηΐνων καὶ φθαρτῶν, πάντα εἶδον ὅτι εἰσὶ ματαιότης· πρὸς γὰρ τῷ παρατρέχειν, καὶ τὴν μὲν ταῦτα κόλασιν παρασκευάζουσι, διότι προαιρετικῶς ταῦτα πράττουσι, καὶ οὐκ ἀναγκαστικῶς. Πνεῦμα δὲ ἐνταῦθα τὴν ψυχὴν καλεῖ, τὴν λογικὴν, τὴν καὶ τῷ αὐτεξουσίῳ τετιμημένην. "∆ιεστραμμένον οὐ δυνήσεταί που κοσμηθῆναι, καὶ ὑστέρημα οὐ δυνήσεται τοῦ ἀριθμηθῆναι." Εἰ μὲν ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ σοφοῦ ὁ λόγος, οὕτω νοήσεις· Ὁ διεστραμμένος καὶ εἰς κακίαν πεσὼν, ἐν ὅσῳ ἐστὶ ἐν τῇ κακίᾳ, ἀρετὴν ἀναλαβεῖν οὐ δύναται· εἰ δὲ ταύτης ἀποστῇ, τότε λαμβάνει τὴν ἀρετὴν, κατὰ τὸ, Ἔκκλινον ἀπὸ κακοῦ, καὶ ποίησον ἀγαθόν. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ὁ ἀπὸ τῆς χάριτος τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑστερούμενος, ἕως ἐστὶ ἐν τῷ ὑστερήματι, καὶ οὐ μετανοεῖ, δύναται ἐν τοῖς θεοσεβέσιν ἀριθμεῖσθαι. Ἄλλως· Γεγόνασί τινες οἳ αὐτομάτως τὸν κόσμον ἔφασαν γενέσθαι, καὶ ἀτελῆ τυγχάνειν· πρὸς οὓς ἐρεῖ ὁ σοφὸς, Τί ὁρᾶται ἀτελὲς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, ἢ διεστραμμένον, ἵνα καὶ ἐπικοσμηθῇ; Τί δὲ ὑστερεῖ τοῦ παντὸς, ἵνα καὶ προστεθῇ καὶ ἐπαριθμηθῇ; εἰ δὲ ἐκ προσώπου τῶν τὰς φύσεις ἡγουμένων ὁ λόγος, τῶν λεγόντων ὅτι εἰσί τινες φύσει κακοὶ, μὴ δυνάμενοι ἐπικοσμηθῆναι· ἐλέγχομεν αὐτῶν διὰ πλειόνων τὸν λόγον. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ φύσει κακός. ∆ιὸ καὶ Ματθαῖος ἐκ τελώνου εἰς εὐαγγελιστὴν ἐκλήθη. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ δοκοῦντα ἐν κόσμω εἶναι κακὰ, οἷον ὄφεις, καὶ λέοντες, καὶ τὰ παραπλήσια, εἰς σωτηριώδη φάρμακα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις χρησιμεύουσι· καὶ εἰς τὸ ἐντρέπεσθαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον τῇ αὐτῶν παραθέσει, ὅταν ἀκούῃ, Ἴθι πρὸς τὸν μύρμηκα, ὦ ὀκνηρέ· καὶ αἰσχύνεσθαι, ὅταν αὐτοῖς παραβάλληται, ἀκούων, Παρασυνεβλήθη τοῖς κτήνεσιν τοῖς ἀνοήτοις. Οὐδὲν οὖν ἐν κόσμῳ κακὸν, ἀλλὰ πάντα λυσιτελῆ καὶ χρήσιμα. Εἶδεν γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ Θεὸς, πάντα ὅσα ἐποίησε, καὶ ἰδοὺ καλὰ λίαν. Μὴ λέγετε οὖν, ὧ οὗτοι, ὅτι διεστραμμένον οὐ δυνήσεται τοῦ κοσμηθῆναι, καὶ ὑστέρημα τοῦ ἀριθμηθῆναι. "Ἐλάλησα ἐγὼ ἐν καρδίᾳ μου, τῷ λέγειν· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐμεγαλύνθην, καὶ προστέθηκα σοφίαν ἐπὶ πᾶσιν οἳ ἐγένοντο ἔμπροσθέν μου ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, καὶ καρδία μου εἶδε πολλὴν σοφίαν, καὶ γνῶσιν, παραβολὰς καὶ ἐπιστήμας. Ἔγνων ἐγὼ ὅτι καί γε τοῦτο προαίρεσις πνεύματος, ὅτι ἐν πλήθει σοφίας πλῆθος γνώσεως, καὶ ὁ προστιθεὶς γνῶσιν προστίθησιν ἄλγημα." Λαλεῖ τις ἐν καρδίᾳ ἑαυτοῦ, ὅτε τῷ νῷ πρὸς τὴν νόησιν χρώμενος, ἑαυτῷ διαλέγεται. Ἐλογισάμην οὖν, φησὶν, ὅτι σοφίαν προσέθηκα ὑπὲρ τοὺς ἔμπροσθέν μου. Τὸ δὲ, προσέθηκα κατὰ προκοπὴν δείκνυσιν ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὴν σοφίαν ἐπαύξεσθαι. Σοφία δέ ἐστι γνῶσις θείων καὶ ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων, καὶ τῶν τούτων αἰτιῶν· γνῶσις δέ ἐστι θεωρία τῆς φύσεως τῶν ὄντων. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ἔχοντες γνῶσιν, ἑαυ 93.493 τοὺς παιδεύουσι, τῆς ἀγνοίας ἐλευθερωθέντες· οἱ δὲ λαβόντες τὸν λόγον σοφίας, λόγους ἀληθείας καὶ ἑτέρους διδάσκουσι. Τὴν δὲ σοφίαν καὶ τὴν γνῶσιν οὐκ ἔτι εἶπε ματαιότητα, ἀλλὰ προαίρεσιν πνεύματος, διδάσκων ὅτι οὐ κατά τινα εἱμαρμένην οἱ σοφοὶ γίνονται σοφοὶ, ἀλλὰ σοφίαν ἐπιθυμήσαντες, καὶ πονήσαντες, καὶ αἰτήσαντες παρὰ Θεοῦ, καὶ λαβόντες. Ἐὰν δέ τις, φησὶ, πλείονος γνώσεως ἐρᾷ, προστιθέτω καὶ τοὺς κατὰ ἀρετὴν πόνους. Ἢ καὶ οὕτως, ὁ ἐν γνώσει ἁμαρτάνων, μειζόνως κολάζεται· διὸ ὁ προστιθεὶς γνῶσιν, προστίθησιν ἄλγημα. Ὡς περιληπτικωτέρας δὲ οὔσης τῆς σοφίας τῆς γνώσεως, εἷπε ὅτι ἐν πλήθει σοφίας πλῆθος γνώσεως. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Βʹ. "Εἶπον ἐγὼ ἐν καρδίᾳ μου, ∆εῦρο δὴ, πειράσω σὲ ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ, καὶ ἐν ἀγαθοῖς· καὶ ἰδοὺ καί γε τοῦτο ματαιότης. Τῷ