14
drowsy.” And in other places: “But if you give your eyes to the bowls and cups, later you will walk around more naked than a pestle.” For truly, idleness is the mother of famine. Let the bishop be impartial, neither respecting nor flattering the rich beyond what is proper, nor overlooking or oppressing the poor. “For you shall not,” says God to Moses, “respect the person of the rich, and you shall not have pity on a poor man in judgment, because the judgment is the Lord’s.” And again: “You shall justly pursue justice.” Let the bishop be frugal and self-sufficient in food and drink, so that he may be able to be sober in order to admonish the uninstructed; let him not be extravagant, not a lover of luxury, not a pleasure-seeker, not a glutton. Let him be patient of evil, long-suffering in admonitions, very learned, studying and being diligent in the Lord's books, much in readings, so that he may interpret the Scriptures carefully, interpreting the Gospel in harmony with the Prophets and the Law; likewise let the interpretations from the Law and the Prophets be in harmony with the Gospel. For the Lord Jesus says: “Search the Scriptures, because these are they which testify of Me.” And again: “For Moses wrote of Me.” But above all, let him become a good distinguisher, dividing the law and the deuterosis, and showing what is the law for believers and what are the bonds for unbelievers, so that no one may fall under the bonds. Take care of the word, therefore, bishop, so that, if possible for you, you may interpret everything word for word and in much teaching you may richly feed and give drink to your people, the enlightenment of the law. “For enlighten yourselves,” says God, “with the light of knowledge, while there is still time.” Let the bishop not be a lover of shameful gain, and especially among the gentiles, being harmed rather than harming, not covetous, not a robber, not a defrauder, not a lover of the rich, not a hater of the poor, not a slanderer, not a false witness, not quick-tempered, not quarrelsome, not entangled in the affairs of this life, not giving surety for anyone or acting as an advocate in lawsuits for money, not a lover of rule, not double-minded, not double-tongued, not ready to listen to slander or evil-speaking, not a hypocrite, not partaking in the festivals of the gentiles, not using empty deceptions, nor lustful, not a lover of money, because all such things are hostile to God and dear to demons. Let the bishop command all these things also to the laity, confirming them, leading them to become imitators
14
ὑπνώδης.» Καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις· «Ἐὰν δὲ εἰς τὰς φιάλας καὶ τὰ ποτήρια δῷς τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς σου, ὕστερον περι πατήσεις γυμνότερος ὑπέρου.» Ὡς ἀληθῶς γὰρ μήτηρ ἐστὶν ἡ ἀργία τοῦ λιμοῦ. Ἔστω δὲ ὁ ἐπίσκοπος ἀπροσωπόληπτος, μήτε πλούσιον ἐντρεπόμενος ἢ κολακεύων παρὰ τὸ προσῆκον, μήτε πένητα παρορῶν ἢ καταδυναστεύων. «Oὐ λήψῃ γάρ, φησὶν ὁ Θεὸς τῷ Μωϋσῇ, πρόσωπον πλουσίου, καὶ πένητα οὐκ ἐλεήσεις ἐν κρίσει, ὅτι τοῦ Κυρίου ἡ κρίσις.» Καὶ πάλιν· «∆ικαίως διώξει τὸ δίκαιον.» Τροφῇ καὶ ποτῷ λυσιτελὴς καὶ αὐτάρκης ὑπαρχέτω ὁ ἐπίσκοπος, ἵνα δυνηθῇ νήφειν πρὸς τὸ νουθετεῖν τοὺς ἀπαιδεύτους· ἔστω μὴ δάπανος, μὴ τρυφητής, μὴ ἡδύβιος, μὴ χρηστο φάγος. Ἔστω δὲ ἀνεξίκακος, μακρόθυμος ἐν ταῖς νουθεσίαις, πολυδιδακτικός, μελετῶν καὶ σπουδάζων ἐν ταῖς κυριακαῖς βίβλοις, πολὺ ἐν ἀναγνώσμασιν, ἵνα τὰς γραφὰς ἐπιμελῶς ἑρμηνεύῃ, ὁμοστοίχως τοῖς Προφήταις καὶ τῷ Νόμῳ τὸ Eὐαγγέλιον ἑρμηνεύων· ὁμοίως τῷ Eὐαγγελίῳ στοιχείτωσαν αἱ ἐκ Νόμου καὶ Προφητῶν ἑρμηνεῖαι. Λέγει γὰρ ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς· «Ἐρευνᾶτε τὰς γραφάς, ὅτι αὗταί εἰσιν αἱ μαρτυροῦσαι περὶ ἐμοῦ.» Καὶ πάλιν· «Περὶ γὰρ ἐμοῦ Μωϋσῆς ἔγραψεν.» Πρὸ πάντων δὲ διαστολεὺς ἀγαθὸς γινέσθω, νόμον καὶ δευτέρωσιν διαιρῶν, καὶ δεικνύων τί νόμος ἐστὶν πιστῶν καὶ τί δεσμὰ ἀπίστων, ἵνα μή τις ὑποπέσῃ τοῖς δεσμοῖς. Ἐπιμελοῦ οὖν τοῦ λόγου, ἐπίσκοπε, ἵνα, εἰ δυνατόν σοι, πάντα κατὰ λέξιν ἑρμηνεύσῃς καὶ ἐν πολλῇ διδαχῇ πλουσίως τρέφῃς καὶ ποτίζῃς τὸν λαόν σου τὸν φωτισμὸν τοῦ νόμου. «Φωτίσατε γάρ, φησὶν ὁ Θεός, ἑαυτοῖς φῶς γνώσεως, ὡς ἔτι καιρός.» Ἔστω δὲ ὁ ἐπίσκοπος μὴ αἰσχροκερδής, καὶ μάλιστα ἐπὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν, βλαπτόμενος μᾶλλον ἢ βλάπτων, μὴ πλεονέκτης, μὴ ἅρπαξ, μὴ ἀποστερητής, μὴ φιλοπλού σιος, μὴ μισόπτωχος, μὴ κατάλαλος, μὴ ψευδομάρτυς, μὴ θυμώδης, μὴ φιλόμαχος, μὴ ταῖς τοῦ βίου πραγματείαις συμπεπλεγμένος, μὴ ἐγγυώμενός τινα ἢ συνηγορῶν δίκαις χρηματικαῖς, μὴ φίλαρχος, μὴ δίγνωμος, μὴ δίγλωσσος, μὴ πρὸς διαβολὴν ἢ καταλαλιὰν φιλήκοος, μὴ ὑποκριτής, μὴ ταῖς ἑορταῖς τῶν ἐθνῶν ἐπορεγόμενος, ἀπάταις κεναῖς μὴ χρώμενος, μηδὲ ἐπιθυμητικός, μὴ φιλάργυρος, ὅτι πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐχθρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχει καὶ δαιμόνων φίλα. Ταῦτα δὲ πάντα καὶ τοῖς λαϊκοῖς ὁ ἐπίσκοπος διαβε βαιούμενος παραγγελλέτω, ἐνάγων αὐτοὺς μιμητὰς γίνεσθαι