Didymus the Blind, On Genesis

"God saw that they were good" is said, not "good"; for it was not one work but various. To this someone will object, saying that while concerning the light and the firmament and the sun and the like, "that it was good" is consequently added, yet concerning wild beasts and venomous reptiles, how is "that they were good" said? For the offensiveness in them is manifest. To which he will say, first, that being a work of God, it is good and praiseworthy, even if the precise reason concerning it is hidden from us, then one might find by investigating the usefulness of their existence, if he should understand the natural quality in each animal, of one, its tameness, contributing to humans and shaming the wild and wrathful man, of another, its diligence and care, arousing the negligent, just as also the divine scripture of Proverbs, shaming the lazy regarding the acquisition of virtue, shows the exhortation from the irrational creatures, saying: "Go to the ant, O sluggard, and become wiser than it"; and such a one would find irrational animals contributing to moderation and to the honor of parents and, in general, to virtue, from the lesser correcting the one made in the image who is negligent, having read what was written about their nature. So let the things of the literal rendering be thus; but the things of the spiritual contemplation must be spoken of. The sinning soul, under the influence of earthly passions, happens to bear the image of the man of dust and, being entirely earthly, minds earthly things; for it is said concerning the wicked: "They will go into the lowest parts of the earth", not of this earth, of course, but of the one 51 understood tropologically, concerning which it is said of some: "And you went deep in your settlement", and: "You stretched out your right hand, and the earth swallowed them", although they were not swallowed by the earth. These, therefore, who are under the aforesaid earth, the word of repentance brings forth, coming through the command of God, and puts them outside of sin, so that the one casting off the image of the man of dust may receive that of the heavenly man. Concerning those who are thus and concerning himself, the blessed Paul says: "He raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places", so that those who from here on bear the image of the heavenly man may also be deemed worthy of their way of life, just as those who live in the opposite way may experience a place suitable for their earthly ways. It brings forth, therefore, every "living creature according to its kind", with our hearing "according to its kind" as "according to rank". For one has not at the same time desisted from wickedness and reached the end, but there must be progress for each rank toward the perfect accomplishment, leading from different wickedness to virtue, so that those who are horses in their manner, concerning whom it is said: "They have become lustful horses; each one neighed after his neighbor’s wife", casting off being such, may become fine horses, being deemed worthy to carry the Word by their participation in virtue, so that in them and through them it might be said: "And your horsemanship is salvation." And there are oxen, concerning which it is said: "Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Or does He say it entirely for our sake, that the one who plows ought to plow in hope and the one who threshes in hope of sharing?" Therefore, as many as turn from having zeal for earthly things to 52 divine things, these would be the aforementioned oxen. And others, being sluggish and slow like donkeys and carrying the burden of wickedness, and for this reason being sluggish according to those who say: "A lion is in the roads, murderers in the streets", are freed from such sluggishness by the command of the Lord, of which the donkey untied in the opposite village by the disciples sent by the Lord is a symbol, so that the Lord, sitting on it, might free from bonds and irrationality and sluggishness the beastly men signified by it. But there are also men who are camels in their manner, who find it difficult to enter the kingdom of heaven, who are also themselves freed, being rid of the harmful burdens of wickedness, which they were burdened with

"6εἶδεν ὁ Θεὸς ὅτι καλὰ"6 εἴρηται, οὐ καλόν· οὐ γὰ[ρ ἓν] ἦν ἔργον ἀλλὰ δι̣άφορα. Πρὸς ὅ τις ἐνστήσεται λέγων ὡς ἐ[πὶ μ]ὲν τοῦ φωτὸς καὶ στερεώματος καὶ ἡλίου καὶ τῶν ὁμοίων ἀκολούθως ἐπήνεκται "6ὅτι καλόν"6, περὶ δὲ θηρίων καὶ ἰοβόλων ἑρπετῶν πῶς τὸ "6ὅτι καλὰ"6 εἴρηται· φανερὸν γὰρ τὸ ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐ[πα]χθές. Πρὸς ὃ ἐρεῖ πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι, Θεοῦ ἔργον ὄν, καλὸν κ[αὶ ἐπ]αινετὸν ὑπάρχει, κἂν ὁ περὶ αὐτοῦ ἀκριβὴς λόγος κεκρυμ- μέ[νο]ς ἀφ' ἡμῶν ὑπάρχῃ, ἔπειτα εὕροι ἄν τις ἐραυνῶν τὸ χρήσιμον τῆς τούτων ὑπάρξεως, εἰ κατανόησαι τὸ ἐν ἑκάστῳ ζῴῳ φυσικόν, τοῦ μὲν τὸ ἥμερον συντελοῦν ἀνθρώποις καὶ ἐντρέπον τὸν [ἄ]γριον καὶ θυμώδη, τοῦ δὲ τὸ ἐπιμελὲς καὶ φροντιστικὸν διεγ[ε]ῖρ̣ον τὸν ἀμελῆ, καθὸ καὶ ἡ θε[ί]α τῶν Παροιμιῶν γραφὴ ἐντρέπ[ουσ]α τοὺς ὀκνηροὺς περὶ ἀνάλημψιν ἀρετῆς ὑποδείκνυσιν [ἀπὸ] τῶν ἀλόγων τὴν παραίνεσιν λέγουσα· "6Ἴθι πρὸς τὸν μύρμηκα, ὦ ὀκνηρέ, καὶ γενοῦ ἐκείνου σοφώτερος"6· εὕροι δὲ ὁ τοιοῦτος καὶ εἰς σωφροσύνην συντελοῦντα ἄλογα ζῷα καὶ εἰς τιμὴν γονέων καὶ ὅλω̣ς εἰς ἀρετήν, ἐκ τοῦ ἐλάττονος τὸν κατ' εἰκόνα γεγενημένον ἀμελοῦντα διορ- θούμενα, ἐντυχὼν τοῖς περὶ τῆς φύσεως αὐτῶν ἀναγρα- φεῖσιν. Τὰ μὲν οὖν τῆς ῥητῆς ἀποδόσεως ὧδε ἐχέτω· τὰ δὲ τῆς πνευματικῆς θεωρίας ῥητέον. Ἡ ἁμαρτάνουσα ψυχὴ ὑπὸ τὴν χύσιν τῶν γηΐνων παθῶν τυγχάνει φοροῦσα τὴν εἰκόνα τ̣ο̣ῦ χοϊκοῦ καὶ ὅλη γηΐνη οὖσα τῷ φρονεῖν τὰ ἐπίγεια· λέγεται γὰρ περὶ τῶν φαύλων· "6Εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὰ κατώτατα τῆς γῆς"6, οὐ δήπου ταύτης, ἀλλὰ τῆς 51 κατὰ τροπολογίαν νοουμένης, καθ' ἣν εἴρηται περί τινων· "6Καὶ ἐβαθύνατε̣ εἰς τὴν κάθισιν"6, καί· "6Ἐξέτεινας τὴν δεξιάν σου καὶ κατέπιεν αὐτοὺς γῆ"6, καιτοὶ οὐχ ὑπὸ γῆς καταποθέντων. Τούτους οὖν τοὺς ὑπὸ γῆν ὄντας τὴν εἰρημένην ὁ τῆς μετανοίας ἐξάγει λόγος διὰ προστάξεως Θεοῦ γινόμενος καὶ ἔξω τῆς ἁμαρτίας ποιεῖ, ἵνα [ὁ] ἀποβάλλων τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ χοϊκοῦ δέξηται τὴν τοῦ ἐ[που]ρανίου. Περὶ τῶν οὕτως ἐχόντων καὶ ἑαυτοῦ ὁ μακάριος Παῦλός φησιν· "6Συνήγειρεν καὶ συνεκάθισεν ἡμᾶς ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις"6, ἵνα οἱ ἀπ' ἐντεῦθεν τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἐπουρανίου φοροῦντες καὶ τῆς τούτων διατριβῆς ἀξιωθῶσιν, καθὰ καὶ οἱ ἐναντίως πολιτευόμενοι κατάλληλον τοῖς τρόποις γηΐνοις οὖσιν καὶ καταλλήλου χωρίου πειραθῶσιν. Ἐξάγει οὖν πᾶσαν "6ψυχὴν ζῶσαν κατὰ γένος"6, τοῦ κατὰ γένος ἀκουόντων ἡμῶν "3κατὰ τάξιν"3. Οὐ γὰρ ἅμα τε ἀπέστη τις κακίας καὶ τὸ τέλος ἔχει, ἀλλὰ δεῖ προκ[ο]πῆς ἑκαστῷ τάγματι πρὸς τὴν τελείαν κατόρ- θωσιν ἀπ[ὸ] τῆς διαφόρου κακίας ἐπ' ἀρετὴν ἀγούσης, ἵνα οἱ μὲν ἵπποι ὄντες τῷ τρόπῳ, περὶ ὧν εἴρηται· "6Ἵπποι θηλυμανεῖς ἐγενήθησαν· ἕκαστος ἐπὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ πλησίον αὐτοῦ ε᾿̣χρεμέτιξεν"6, ἀποβάλλοντες τὸ εἶναι τοιοῦτοι, ἵπποι ἀστεῖοι γένωνται, βαστάζειν ἀξιούμενοι τὸν λόγον τῇ τῆς ἀρετῆς μετουσίᾳ, ἵνα ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ δι' αὐτοὺς λεχθῇ· "6Καὶ ἡ ι῾̣ππασία σου σωτηρία."6 Οἱ δὲ βόες εἰσὶ περὶ ὧν εἴρηται· "6Μὴ τῶν βοῶν μέλει τῷ Θεῷ; ἢ πάντως δι' ἡμᾶς λέγει ὅτι ὀφείλει ἐπ' ἐλπίδι ὁ ἀροτριῶν ἀροτριᾶν καὶ ὁ ἀλοῶν ἐπ' ἐλπίδι τοῦ μετέχειν;"6 Ὅσοι οὖν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐπὶ τὰ γήϊνα τὴν σπουδὴν ἔχειν πρὸς 52 τὰ θεῖα μετίασιν, οὗτοι οἱ προειρημένοι εἶεν βόες. Ἄλλοι δὲ νω̣θ̣ε̣ι῀̣ς καὶ βραδεῖς ὑπάρχοντες δίκην ὄνων καὶ ἀχθοφο- ροῦντες τ̣η`̣ν̣ κακίαν, καὶ διά τε τοῦτο νωθεῖς ὑπάρχοντες κατὰ τοὺς λέγοντας· "6Λέων ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς, ἐν ταῖς πλατείαις φονευταί"6, ὑπὸ π̣ρ̣ο̣σ̣τάξεως τοῦ Κυρίου τῆς τοιαύτης νωθείας ἐλευθεροῦνται, ὧν συ´̣μβολον φέρει ὁ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀποσταλέντων πρὸς τοῦ Κυρίου μαθητ̣ω῀̣ν̣ εἰς τὴν κατέναντι κώμην ὄνος λυ[ό]μενος ὅπ̣ω̣ς ὁ Κύριος ἐπ' αὐτὸν καθίσας δεσμῶν καὶ ἀλογίας κ[α]ὶ νωθείας ἐλευθερώσῃ τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ δηλουμένους κτηνώδεις ἀνθρώπους. Ἀλλὰ καὶ κάμηλοι κατὰ τὸν τρόπον εἰσὶν ἄνθρωποι, οἵτινες δυσκόλως ἐ´̣χουσιν εἰσιέναι εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν, οἳ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐλευθεροῦνται ἀπαλλαττόμενοι τῶν βλα<βε>ρῶν φορτίων τῆς κ̣ακίας, ἅπερ ἐπηχθισμένοι