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5. Let the curious hear, those who meddle in other people's business and

learn of their beauty. Let those who are mad about the theaters hear, those who say: We watch, but we are not harmed. David was harmed, and you are not harmed? He was conquered, and can I have confidence in you? He who had so much grace of the Spirit received a dart; and you remain unwounded in the spectacle of shameful things? And yet he did not see a prostitute, but a modest and virtuous woman; and not in a theater, but in a house; but you are in the theater, where even the place itself punishes the soul; where you not only see, but also hear shameful words, and see whorish attire and diabolical songs; and from every side your mind is struck: by sight from what you have seen; by hearing, from what you hear; by the nose, from what you smell. So many corruptions, so many pits, and can I have confidence in you, that you will not be caught by beasts? For are you a stone? Are you iron? You are a human being, subject to the common weakness of nature. You hold fire, and are not burned? And how does this make sense? Place a lamp in the grass, and can you tell me that the grass is not burned? That which is the grass, this is also our nature. He saw her bathing naked, was captured by her beauty, received the dart, took the wound, he sent for her; and as soon as she came to him, he committed the transgression, he fulfilled his desire. He commands her to depart to her own house. But in saying these things I bring the wounded one into the midst, so that all of you standing around may see how he is healed. For indeed a surgeon operating has all those standing around, so that they may watch how by his art he conquers the disease; how much more, when a prophet is being operated on, must all run together, so that 55.571 we may see how we ought to be delivered from the rot and the worms. Grievous was the sin; desire was fulfilled, the sin was completed, the one who heals was not there. The woman conceived. Meanwhile the king thought he was hiding from her husband. For though he was a prophet, yet desire had altogether darkened him. The woman conceived, she became pregnant; she comes running to the king. O king, I am lost. What is it? I am pregnant. The fruit of sin has sprouted; I carry the accusation in my womb; the proof of the sin has grown; I have the evidence from within myself. If my husband comes and sees, what can I say? Or what shall I speak? Consider how great an evil is sin. The king fears the soldier. For there is no slave, except the one who commits sin. He was clothed with a diadem, and feared the reproach. Are you not a king? Do you not have authority over the sword? Yes, but I also committed a grievous sin. O sin, mother of cowardice! O conviction of dishonor! O cause of silence! I fear, I tremble, because you have disgraced me; I have the proof within. If my husband comes, what shall I say? What shall I speak? He will find me pregnant, and will kill me having within the proof of the sin. Do you see the premeditated shipwreck? Do you see how great an evil sin is? What then does the king do? He adds sin upon sin. For it is necessary to expand the account of the narrative. Uriah her husband came from the war, and Uriah went in to the king. And the king says to him: What is it, Uriah? How is the war? He says: Well; we have been victorious. The king heard that the soldier was victorious, and he himself was defeated; the soldier subdued the war, and the king was defeated by pleasure; the soldier overcame the war, but he himself had been cast down by sin; the soldier was speaking of the victory, but he himself, out of shame, did not even dare to speak of his defeat. We have been victorious, he says, and we have overcome. The king was at a loss, he did not perceive the victory of the war because of the shame of the defeat by which he himself was defeated. He says to the soldier: Go to your house; wash, and enjoy your table, and enjoy your wife. Why? In order to cover up the wound, so that the child might be thought to be born from him. But the sleepless eye did not permit this to happen, sparing the wounded one. What then does the soldier say? And how can I leave you, and live in luxury? Israel is in the

6

εʹ. Ἀκουέτωσαν οἱ περίεργοι, οἱ τὰ ἀλλότρια περιερ γαζόμενοι καὶ

καταμανθάνοντες κάλλη. Ἀκουέτωσαν οἱ περὶ τὰ θέατρα μεμηνότες, οἱ λέγοντες· Θεωροῦμεν μὲν, οὐδὲν δὲ βλαπτόμεθα. Ὁ ∆αυῒδ ἐβλάβη, καὶ σὺ οὐ βλά πτῃ; Ἐκεῖνος ἐνικήθη, καὶ σοὶ ἔχω θαῤῥῆσαι; Ὁ τοσαύτην ἔχων Πνεύματος χάριν, βέλος ἐδέξατο· καὶ σὺ ἄτρωτος διαμένεις ἐν τῇ τῶν ἀτόπων θεωρίᾳ; Καίτοι ἐκεῖνος οὐκ εἶδε πόρνην, ἀλλὰ σώφρονα γυναῖκα καὶ σεμνήν· καὶ οὐκ ἐν θεάτρῳ, ἀλλ' ἐν οἰκίᾳ· σὺ δὲ ἐν θεά τρῳ, ὅπου καὶ ὁ τόπος κολάζει ψυχήν· ὅπου οὐ βλέπεις μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀκούεις ῥημάτων αἰσχρῶν, καὶ βλέπεις στολὴν πορνικὴν καὶ ᾄσματα διαβολικά· καὶ πανταχόθεν πλήττεταί σου ἡ διάνοια· τῇ ὄψει ἀφ' ὧν εἶδες· τῇ ἀκοῇ, ἀφ' ὧν ἀκούεις· τῇ ῥινὶ, ἀφ' ὧν ὀσφραί νῃ. Τοσαῦται φθοραὶ, τοσαῦτα βάραθρα, καὶ ἔχω σοι θαῤῥῆσαι, ὅτι οὐ γίνῃ θηριάλωτος; Μὴ γὰρ λίθος εἶ; μὴ γὰρ σίδηρος εἶ; Ἅνθρωπος εἶ, τῇ κοινῇ τῆς φύσεως ἀσθενείᾳ ὑποκείμενος. Πῦρ κρατεῖς, καὶ οὐ καίῃ; καὶ πῶς ἔχει λόγον; Θὲς λύχνον εἰς χόρτον, καὶ δύνασαί μοι εἰπεῖν, ὅτι οὐ καίεται ὁ χόρτος; Ὅπερ ἐστὶν ὁ χόρτος, τοῦτο καὶ ἡ ἡμετέρα φύσις. Εἶδεν αὐτὴν λουομένην γυ μνὴν, ἑάλω τῷ κάλλει, ἐδέξατο τὸ βέλος, ἔλαβε τὸ τραῦ μα, ἔπεμψεν ἐπ' αὐτήν· καὶ ὡς μόνον ἦλθε πρὸς αὐτὸν, εἰργάσατο τὴν παρανομίαν, ἐπλήρωσε τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν. Κελεύει αὐτὴν ἀπελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν οἰκίαν. Ταῦτα δὲ λέγων καὶ εἰς μέσον φέρω τὸν τετραυματισμένον, ἵνα οἱ περιεστῶτες ἴδητε πάντες, πῶς θεραπεύεται. Καὶ γὰρ ἰατρὸς χειρουργῶν ἔχει τοὺς περιεστῶτας πάντας, ἵνα βλέπωσι πῶς τῇ τέχνῃ νικᾷ τὴν νόσον· πολλῷ μᾶλλον προφήτου χειρουργουμένου πάντας χρὴ συνδραμεῖν, ἵνα 55.571 ἴδωμεν πῶς ὀφείλομεν ἀπαλλαγῆναι τῆς σηπεδόνος καὶ τῶν σκωλήκων. Χαλεπὸν τὸ ἁμάρτημα· ἐπιθυμία ἐπληρώθη, ἡ ἁμαρτία ἀπηρτίσθη, ὁ θεραπεύων οὐκ ἦν. Συνέλαβεν ἡ γυνή. Τέως ἐνόμιζε λανθάνειν τὸν ἄνδρα αὐτῆς ὁ βασιλεύς. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ προφήτης ἦν, ἀλλ' ὅλως ἡ ἐπιθυμία αὐτὸν ἐσκότισε. Συνέλαβεν ἡ γυνὴ, ἔγκυος ἐγένετο· δρομαία ἐπὶ τὸν βασιλέα ἔρχεται. Βασιλεῦ, ἀπωλόμην. Τί ἔχεις; Ἔγκυός εἰμι. Ὁ καρπὸς τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐβλάστησε· τὴν κατηγορίαν ἐν τῇ μήτρᾳ βαστάζω· ὁ ἔλεγχος ηὐξήθη τοῦ ἁμαρτήματος· οἴκοθεν ἔχω τὴν ἀπόδειξιν. Ἐὰν ἔλθῃ καὶ ἴδῃ ὁ ἀνήρ μου, τί ἔχω εἰπεῖν; ἢ τί λαλήσω; Ἐννόησον πόσον κακὸν ἡ ἁμαρτία. Ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸν στρατιώτην φοβεῖται. Οὐ γάρ ἐστι δοῦλος, εἰ μὴ ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. ∆ιάδημα περιεβέβλητο, καὶ ἐδεδοίκει τὸ ὄνειδος. Οὐχὶ σὺ βασιλεύς; οὐ ξίφους ἐξουσίαν ἔχεις; Ναὶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ χαλεπὸν ἁμάρτημα ἐποίησα. Ὢ ἁμαρτία δειλίας μήτηρ !ὢ ἀτιμίας ἔλεγχος! ὢ σιωπῆς ὑπόθε σις! ∆έδοικα, τρέμω, ὅτι με κατῄσχυνας· ἔνδον ἔχω τὸν ἔλεγχον. Ἐὰν ἔλθῃ ὁ ἀνήρ μου, τί εἴπω; τί λαλήσω; Εὑρήσει με ἔγκυον, καὶ φονεύσει ἔνδον ἔχουσαν τὸν ἔλεγ χον τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Βλέπεις τὸ ναυάγιον μεμελετημένον; ὁρᾷς πόσον κακὸν ἡ ἁμαρτία; Τί οὖν ὁ βασιλεύς; Ἁμαρ τίαν ἐπὶ ἁμαρτίαν προστίθησι. ∆εῖ γὰρ πλατῦναι τὸν λόγον τοῦ διηγήματος. Ἦλθεν Οὐρίας ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ πολέμου, καὶ εἰσῆλθεν ὁ Οὐρίας πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα. Καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ βασιλεύς· Τί ἐστιν, Οὐρία; πῶς ὁ πό λεμος; Λέγει· Καλῶς· νενικήκαμεν. Ἤκουσεν ὁ βασιλεὺς, ὅτι ὁ στρατιώτης ἐνίκησε, καὶ αὐτὸς ἡττήθη· ὁ στρατιώτης τὸν πόλεμον ὑπέταξε, καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς ὑπὸ τῆς ἡδονῆς ἡττήθη· ὁ στρατιώτης τοῦ πολέμου περιεγέ νετο, αὐτὸς δὲ ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας κατεβέβλητο· ὁ στρα τιώτης ἔλεγε τὴν νίκην, αὐτὸς δὲ ὑπὸ αἰσχύνης οὐδὲ τὴν ἧτταν εἰπεῖν ἐτόλμα. Νενικήκαμεν, φησὶ, καὶ περιεγενό μεθα. Ἐν ἀπορίᾳ ἦν ὁ βασιλεὺς, οὐκ ᾔσθετο τῆς νίκης τοῦ πολέμου διὰ τὴν αἰσχύνην τῆς ἥττης, ἧς αὐτὸς ἡτ τήθη. Λέγει τῷ στρατιώτῃ· Ὕπαγε εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου· λοῦσαι, καὶ ἀπόλαυσον τραπέζης, καὶ ἀπόλαυσον τῆς γυναικός σου. ∆ιὰ τί; Ἵνα συσκιάσῃ τὸ ἕλκος, ἵνα ἐξ αὐτοῦ νομισθῇ τὸ παιδίον τίκτεσθαι. Ὁ δὲ ἀκοίμητος ὀφθαλμὸς οὐ συνεχώρησε τοῦτο γενέσθαι, φειδόμενος τοῦ τετραυματισμένου. Τί οὖν ὁ στρατιώτης φησί; Καὶ πῶς δύναμαι καταλιπεῖν σε, καὶ τρυφᾷν; Ἰσραὴλ ἐν τῷ