8

is led, but let her praise the fear of the Lord. “Give to her from the fruit of her lips, and let her husband be praised in the gates.” And again: “A courageous woman is a crown to her husband.” And again: “Many women have built a house.” You have learned what sort of praises a temperate and husband-loving woman receives from the Lord God. If you wish to be faithful and pleasing to the Lord, O woman, do not adorn yourself to please other men, nor imitate wearing the braided hair or garments or footwear of a harlot in order to lead astray those who are ensnared by such things. For even if you do not do these abominations for the purpose of sinning, but only to adorn yourself, not even so will you escape the judgment hereafter, having compelled someone to be brought to lust after you, and not having guarded yourself so that neither you fall into sin, nor indeed others into a stumbling block. But if you also sin by giving yourself in, you both have done wrong and you have become guilty for his soul. Then having sinned with one, as if despairing once for all, you will turn aside again to others, having become callous, as the divine word says: “When the wicked man comes into the depth of evils, he despises; but dishonor and reproach come upon him.” For such a woman, henceforth having been wounded unsparingly, ensnares the souls of the foolish. Let us learn, therefore, also how the divine word denounces such women, saying: “I hated more than death with the woman, who is a trap and a net of the heart, her hands are bonds.” And in other places: “Like a golden earring in the snout of a pig, so is beauty to an evil-minded woman.” And again: “As a worm in wood, so an evil-doing woman destroys a man.” And again: “It is better to dwell on a corner of the housetop, than with a talkative and quarrelsome woman.” Therefore do not imitate such women, you who are Christian women. But wishing to be faithful, pay attention to your own husband to please him alone, and in the public squares covering your head; for by means of the covering you will shut out the view from the more curious. Do not paint your face which has been made for you by God; for there is nothing in you which needs adornment, since: “All things that God has made are very good”; but a licentious additional adornment on something beautiful insults the grace of the Craftsman. Looking down, make your journey, covering yourself, as is proper for women.

8

γεῖται, φόβον δὲ Κυρίου αὐτὴ αἰνείτω. ∆ότε αὐτῇ ἀπὸ καρπῶν χειλέων αὐτῆς, καὶ αἰνείσθω ἐν πύλαις ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς.» Καὶ πάλιν· «Γυνὴ ἀνδρεία στέφανος τῷ ἀνδρὶ αὐτῆς.» Καὶ πάλιν· «Πολλαὶ γυναῖκες ᾠκοδόμησαν οἶκον.» Μεμαθήκατε, ὁποῖα ἐγκώμια γυνὴ σώφρων καὶ φίλανδρος λαμβάνει ἀπὸ Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ. Eἰ πιστὴ καὶ ἀρεστὴ Κυρίῳ βούλει εἶναι, ὦ γύναι, μὴ καλλωπίζου ἐπὶ τῷ ἀρέσκειν σε ἀλλοτρίοις ἀνδράσιν, μηδὲ τὰ τῆς ἑται ριζομένης ἐμπλέγματα ἢ ἐνδύματα ἢ ὑποδέσεις μιμοῦ φορεῖν ἐπὶ τὸ ὑπάγεσθαι σε τοὺς εἰς τὰ τοιαῦτα παγιδευομέ νους. Καὶ γὰρ εἰ σὺ οὐκ ἐπὶ τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν ταῦτα ποιεῖς τὰ μύση, ἐπὶ δὲ τὸ μόνον καλλωπίζεσθαι, οὐδ' οὕτως ἐκφεύξῃ τὴν δίκην εἰς τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα, ἀναγκάσασα ἐπε νεχθῆναί σοί τινα εἰς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαί σου, καὶ μὴ ἑαυτὴν φυλάξασα ἐπὶ τὸ μήτε σὲ ὑποπεσεῖν ἁμαρτίᾳ μήτε μὴν ἑτέρους σκανδάλῳ. Eἰ δὲ καὶ ἁμαρτήσεις ἐνδοῦσα ἑαυτήν, καὶ σὺ ἐπλημμέλησας κἀκείνου ἔνοχος τῆς ψυχῆς ἐγένου. Eἶτα ἁμαρτήσασα ἐφ' ἑνί, ὥσπερ ἀπογνοῦσα εἰσάπαξ, ἐφ' ἑτέρους ἐκτραπήσῃ πάλιν ἀπηλγηκυῖα, καθά φησιν ὁ θεῖος λόγος· «Ὅταν ἔλθῃ ἀσεβὴς εἰς βάθος κακῶν, καταφρονεῖ· ἐπέρχεται δὲ αὐτῷ ἀτιμία καὶ ὄνειδος.» Ἡ γὰρ τοιαύτη λοιπὸν ἀφειδῶς τετρωμένη παγιδεύει ψυχὰς ἀφρόνων. Μάθωμεν οὖν καὶ τὰς τοιαύτας πῶς θριαμβεύει ὁ θεῖος λόγος φάσκων· «Ἐμίσησα ὑπὲρ τὸν θάνατον σὺν τὴν γυναῖκα, ἥτις ἐστὶ θήρευμα καὶ σαγήνη καρδίας, δεσμοὶ αἱ χεῖρες αὐτῆς.» Καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις· «Ὥσπερ ἐνώτιον χρυσοῦν ἐν ·ινὶ ὑός, οὕτως γυναικὶ κακόφρονι κάλλος.» Καὶ πάλιν· «Ὥσπερ ἐν ξύλῳ σκώληξ, οὕτως ἀπόλλυσιν ἄνδρα γυνὴ κακοποιός.» Καὶ πάλιν· «Κρεῖσσον ἐστὶν οἰκεῖν ἐπὶ γωνίας ὑπαίθρου, ἢ μετὰ γυναικὸς γλωσσώδους καὶ μαχίμης.» Μὴ οὖν μιμεῖσθε τὰς τοιαύτας γυναῖκας ὑμεῖς αἱ χριστιαναὶ ὑπάρχουσαι. Πιστὴ δὲ θέλουσα εἶναι, τῷ σῷ ἀνδρὶ πρόσεχε ἐπὶ τὸ ἀρέσκειν αὐτῷ μόνῳ, ἐν δὲ ταῖς πλα τείαις σκέπουσα τὴν κεφαλήν σου· διὰ γὰρ τῆς ἐπικαλύψεως ἀποκλείσεις τὴν θέαν τοῖς περιεργοτέροις. Μὴ κατα ζωγράφει σου τὸ ὑπὸ Θεοῦ σοὶ πεποιημένον πρόσωπον· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἐν σοί, ὃ κοσμήσεως δέεται, ἐπείπερ· «Πάντα, ὅσα ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς, καλὰ λίανή· ἀσελγὴς δὲ ἐν καλῷ ἐπικόσμησις τεχνίτου χάριν ἐνυβρίζει. Κάτω βλέπουσα τὴν ὁδοιπορίαν σου ποιοῦ περικαλύπτουσα ἑαυτήν, καθὼς πρέπει γυναιξίν.