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serves. For example: Do not walk with the same feet in church and in worldly theaters. And likewise for the rest. For those who go to the house of God ought to be unassociated with the opposite things. "Your sacrifice is better than the gift of fools, for they do not know that they do evil." Since there are also fools who often make offerings, like those who perform almsgiving out of vainglory; and Cain, who offered rightly, but did not divide rightly; your sacrifice, he says, should be made with discernment and with knowledge. For the foolish do not even know that they offer wrongly, because they do not have knowledge and discernment. For he who does good with knowledge, also abstains from the opposite with knowledge. But he who is ignorant of the first will also be ignorant of the rest. Therefore, "For they do not know that they do evil" means "They are held by ignorance, and are darkened in their mind." And literally here he called the one of the foolish a "gift," but for the wise he said "sacrifice." CHAPTER 5. "Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter a word before the face of God, for God is in heaven above, and you are on the earth below." He exhorts that the rash tongue be restrained; then, since the tongue serves the unwise thoughts from a rash heart, blocking the very source of untimely words, he adds, Let not your heart be hasty to utter a word before the face of God; meaning, "Because God oversees all things, even the thoughts formed in the soul, though they are not brought forth through words;" for God, dwelling in the highest vantage point of the heavens, observes all things in the depths. Alternatively: Do not speak hastily about theology, nor in a random manner; for you cannot, being mortal and wearing flesh, and being enclosed below, comprehend the essence of God who is invisible and above the heavens. 93.540 Concerning these things let your words be few. Therefore, on account of all the things said before, let your words be few not only in number, but also in precision. "For a dream comes through a multitude of trials, and a fool's voice through a multitude of words." If he says these things proverbially and absolutely, you will understand it thus: Just as, he says, those who endure many trials during the day are also disturbed by dreams; so also the fool is convicted in his talkativeness by his own voice. Alternatively: Just as a dream that tempts someone to fornication, perhaps, or to avarice, flies away, and nothing of what seems to happen in the dream turns out to be true; so also the voice of the fool, having produced no benefit or any helpful thing, is like a dream. So as to say, that the words of the fool are like dreams. But if, giving a cause for the things above, he added that "a dream comes through a multitude of trial, and a fool's voice through a multitude of words," you will understand it thus: Do not be, he says, a babbler, nor show your own foolishness through your words, because many trials happen to babblers; not only perceptibly, and during the day, but also terrifying them in their sleep. "When you vow a vow to God, do not delay to pay it, for there is no pleasure in fools; therefore, whatever you vow, pay it." Prayer is a request for good things from God; but a vow is a promise; one promises to God not only money, but also fasting, and chastity, and such things. Since, therefore, fools repent after making a promise, not wanting to fulfill the vow, he exhorts that promises be fulfilled with great speed. "It is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay." It is bad not to want to give anything at all to God; but it is worse to promise to give, and not to pay. Among two evils, therefore, he called the lesser evil good. And this is according to another understanding: not to be hasty to utter before the face of God, because after one has vowed, a multitude of trials rises up, hindering the vow, so as even to be disturbed in sleep. For example, a lover of money having vowed to give money to God, not only struggles and is held back during the day, with his thoughts suggesting poverty and want to him; but also at night, as is likely, being troubled by similar fantasies, is hindered from

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ἐξυπηρετῇ. Οἷον· ∆ιὰ τῶν αὐτῶν ποδῶν μὴ ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ ἐν θεάτροις κοσμικοῖς βάδιζε. Καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὁμοίως. Οἱ γὰρ εἰς οἶκον Θεοῦ πορευόμενοι, ἀμέτοχοι τῶν ἐναντίων ὀφείλουσιν εἶναι. "Ὑπὲρ δόμα τῶν ἀφρόνων θυσία σου, ὅτι οὐκ εἰσὶν εἰδότες τοῦ ποιῆσαι κακόν." Ἐπειδή εἰσι καὶ ἄφρονες πολλάκις προσφέροντες, ὡς οἱ διὰ κενοδοξίας τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην ἐργαζόμενοι· καὶ ὁ Κάϊν ὀρθῶς μὲν προσενεγκὼν, μὴ ὀρθῶς δὲ διελών· ἡ σὴ, φησὶν, θυσία κεκριμένως καὶ μετὰ γνώσεως γινέσθω. Οἱ γὰρ ἄφρονες οὐδὲ ἴσασιν ὅτι κακῶς προσφέρουσι, διὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν γνῶσιν καὶ διάκρισιν. Ὁ γὰρ μετὰ γνώσεως τὸ καλὸν ἐνεργῶν, μετὰ γνώσεως καὶ τοῦ ἐναντίου ἀπέχεται. Ὁ δὲ τὸ πρῶτον ἀγνοῶν, καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν ἀγνοήσει. Τὸ οὖν, Ὅτι οὐκ εἰσὶν εἰδότες τοῦ ποιῆσαι κακὸν, ἀντὶ τοῦ, Ἀγνοίᾳ συνέχονται, καὶ ἐσκοτισμένοι, τυγχάνουσι τὴν διάνοιαν. Κυριολέκτως δὲ ἐνταῦθα τὸ μὲν τῶν ἀφρόνων δόμα ἐκάλεσε, ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν φρονίμων θυσίαν εἶπε. ΚΕΦΑΛ. Εʹ. "Μὴ σπεῦδε ἐπὶ στόματί σου, καὶ καρδία σου μὴ ταχυνέτω τοῦ ἐξενέγκαι λόγον πρὸ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω, καὶ σὺ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κάτω." Τὴν προπετῆ γλῶτταν ἀναστέλλεσθαι παραινεῖ· εἶτ' ἐπειδὴ ἐκ καρδίας προπετοῦς ἡ γλῶττα τοῖς ἀσόφοις ὑπηρετεῖται νοήμασιν, αὐτὴν ἐμφράττων τὴν πηγὴν τῶν ἀκαίρων λόγων, ἐπάγει, Ἡ καρδία σου μὴ ταχυνέτω τοῦ ἐξενεγκεῖν λόγον πρὸ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἀντὶ τοῦ, ∆ιὰ τὸ τὸν Θεὸν ἐφορᾷν πάντα, καὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ συνιστάμενα νοήματα, κἂν μὴ διὰ λόγων ἐμφέρωνται· τὴν γὰρ ὑψηλοτάτην τῶν οὐρανῶν περιωπὴν οἰκῶν ὁ Θεὸς, τὰ ἐν τῷ βάθει πάντα κατοπτεύει. Ἄλλως· Μὴ ταχὺ περὶ θεολογίας λάλει, μηδὲ ὡς ἔτυχε· οὐ γὰρ δύνῃ θνητὸς ὢν καὶ σάρκα φορῶν, καὶ κάτω περικείμενος, οὐσίαν Θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου καὶ ὑπερουρανίου 93.540 καταλαβεῖν. Ἐπὶ τούτων ἔστωσαν οἱ λόγοι σου ὀλίγοι. ∆ιὰ οὖν τὰ προειρημένα πάντα, ἔστωσαν οἱ λόγοι σου οὐ μόνον ἀριθμῷ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀκριβείᾳ. "Ὅτι παραγίνεται ἐνύπνιον ἐν πλήθει πειρασμῶν, καὶ φωνὴ ἄφρονος ἐν πλήθει λόγων." Εἰ μὲν παροιμιακῶς καὶ ἀπολύτως ταῦτα λέγει, οὕτω νοήσεις· Ὥσπερ, φησὶν, οἱ μεθ' ἡμέραν πολλοὺς πειρασμοὺς ὑπομένοντες, καὶ δι' ἐνυπνίων ἐκταράττονται· οὕτω καὶ ἐν τῇ πολυλογίᾳ διὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ φωνῆς ὁ ἄφρων ἐλέγχεται. Ἄλλως· Ὥσπερ ἐνύπνιον πειράσαν τινὰ εἰς πορνείαν τυχὸν, ἢ φιλαργυρίαν, ἀφίπταται, καὶ οὐδὲν τῶν κατ' ὄναρ δοκούντων πράττεσθαι ἀληθὲς τυγχάνει· οὕτω καὶ ἡ φωνὴ τοῦ ἄφρονος οὐδεμίαν ὄνησιν ἢ πρᾶγμά τι ἐπωφελὲς ἐργασαμένη, ἐνυπνίῳ ἔοικε. Ἵνα εἴπῃ, ὅτι Ὀνείροις ἐοίκασιν οἱ τοῦ ἄφρονος λόγοι. Εἰ δὲ ὡς αἰτίαν ἀποδιδοὺς τῶν ἀνωτέρω, ἐπήγαγε τὸ, ὅτι παραγίνεται ἐνύπνιον ἐν πλήθει πειρασμοῦ, καὶ φωνὴ ἄφρονος ἐν πλήθει λόγων, οὕτω νοήσεις· Μὴ ἔσο, φησὶ, φλύαρος, μηδὲ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀφροσύνην διὰ τῶν οἰκείων ἐπιδείκνυε λόγων, ὅτι τοῖς φλυαροῖς πολλοὶ συμβαίνουσι πειρασμοί· οὐ μόνον αἰσθητῶς, καὶ μεθ' ἡμέραν, ἀλλὰ καὶ καθ' ὕπνον αὐτοὺς ἐκδειματοῦντες. "Καθὼς ἂν εὔξῃ εὐχὴν τῷ Θεῷ, μὴ χρονίσῃς τοῦ ἀποδοῦναι αὐτὴν, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι θέλημα ἐν ἄφροσι· σὺ οὖν ὅσα ἂν εὔξῃ, ἀπόδος." Προσευχή ἐστιν αἴτησις ἀγαθῶν παρὰ Θεοῦ· εὐχὴ δὲ ἡ ἐπαγγελία· ἐπαγγέλλεταί τις Θεῷ οὐ μόνον χρήματα, ἀλλὰ καὶ νηστείαν, καὶ ἁγνείαν, καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα. Ἐπεὶ οὖν οἱ ἄφρονες μετὰ τὸ ἐπαγγείλασθαι μεταμέλονται, οὐ θέλοντες πληρῶσαι τὴν εὐχὴν, παραινεῖ μετὰ πολλοῦ τοῦ τάχους ἐκπληροῦν τὰς ἐπαγγελίας. "Ἀγαθὸν τὸ μὴ εὔξασθαί σε, ἢ τὸ εὔξασθαί σε, καὶ μὴ ἀποδοῦναι." Κακὸν τὸ μὴ ὅλως θέλειν τι διδόναι Θεῷ· χεῖρον δὲ τὸ ἐπαγγείλασθαι διδόναι, καὶ μὴ ἀποδιδόναι. Ἐν δυσὶ τοίνυν κακοῖς ἀγαθὸν εἶπε τὸ ἧττον κακόν. Καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι καθ' ἑτέραν νόησιν· τὸ μὴ ταχῦναι τοῦ ἐξενεγκεῖν πρὸ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ ὅτι μετὰ τὸ τάξασθαι, πλῆθος ἐπανίσταται πειρασμῶν, ἐμποδίζον τῇ εὐχῇ, ὡς καὶ καθ' ὕπνον ἐκταράττεσθαι. Οἷον φιλάργυρος χρήματα ταξάμενος διδόναι Θεῷ, οὐ μόνον μεθ' ἡμέραν ἀγωνιᾷ καὶ ἀναχαιτίζεται, πενίαν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀπορίαν τῶν λογισμῶν ὑπογραφόντων· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν νυκτὶ, ὡς εἰκὸς, ταῖς ὁμοίαις φαντασίαις παρενοχλούμενος, ἀνακόπτεται τοῦ