Expositio in Proverbia

 the things that have fallen, that is, from the pretext of Uriah. How then does Solomon say before: “He who rejoices 17.165 at another's destruction wi

 would have difficulty, just as the desire for money a pure mind draws near to wisdom since it knows well but the impure will be far from it. Adam i

 but here, that he names the mind a good gift, on account of the one who unjustly receives gifts in his bosom, and is not prospered for those unjust g

 of virtue And this persuades me, in a small way, that the rich man being judged in Hades for his wickedness was not completely given over to every ev

 to you, You shall not be angry. It must be noted here that he calls the natural harmonious movement of the ant, wisdom for indeed one wiser than a wi

 for he was the lamp that was burning and shining a light, the New Testament For I, he says, am the light of the world a refutation of evil things,

 of the kemphos fish in the sea, flying in schools here and there which the sailors, having baited a many-hooked line, catch and not only does it not

 come to the introductions but when they become wise, and are strengthened, reprove them. And Christ, when his disciples were still young, did not rep

 of the evil one. But the impious who sin will not only fall from the kingdom, but they will inhabit the fire and not the earth. Instead of, he is full

 be not silent to me, says David, and I will be like those who go down into the pit. A lawless man will be passed over in silence by God, that is, he w

 sinning. Here he calls the senses ways but he who guards them, keeps his own soul from death unto life for life is the Holy Trinity that gives life

 afflicted, distressed? And how will the unbeliever not have an obol, when many unbelievers are clothed with much wealth, I mean kings and rulers of th

 the love of God for humanity which also brings us to God the Father himself, as sons weaned, and desiring spiritual solid food so that just as his S

 your eyes, say: for many, even without having begun virtue, not only advise others to act rightly, but also compel and exhort them. Here he says man

 body is profitable to the foolish man for he will trample it underfoot, being a pleasure-loving pig and by sensible luxury his flesh will be moved t

 that is, to imitate the virtues of the righteous and prophets who shone in the six ages before the coming of Christ, who also feed the widow and orpha

 of the Lord, is the knowledge of the Lord, and the light of the Lord is the breath of men, therefore the knowledge of the Lord is the breath of men b

 He calls the mind a horse, which is warred against by the devil, and which wars in return For you will mount, he says, upon your horses and your rid

 he slanders us to God, taking from us the virtues which he has not given us, so also we slander him taking from him the vices which we have not given

 But do not enter into the land of those who have orphaned themselves from God, who possess wickedness as the property of demons, on account of which t

 but vice diminishes virtue, and virtue obviously corrupts vice and this will happen in the age to come, until vice ceases for shall be defiled, in

 earth-born nations, and having strengthened them with virtues in faith in him, Christ the God, and having stored up the heavenly water that which flo

 is, the law given to us by him in righteousness and those who gouge out the eyes of the impious, he called ravens but those who devour him whole, he

 of lands, he keeps his own justly. Cast a precious sardius into a golden earring, and the wisdom of the Lord into a dispassionate and obedient mind to

 defines servants or those under his hand for the rod is a symbol of punishment. From his own feet, etc. Here he calls servants 'feet' and from them

 to the devil who made it, to yield as to a brother, so as to be destroyed with him. -Better is he who is joined to me through true knowledge, than he

 lawless, are the doctrines of demons, which the instructed son does not obey and by son he means the mind but he who restrains his mind from being c

 of blood are the demons, who killed those living in Christ by the shedding of blood but the upright will seek out his soul these are they who wish t

 a soul of abundance for its bodily house. He says that the soul of the diligent man has the Church as a tree of knowledge and a tree of life of knowl

But do not enter into the land of those who have orphaned themselves from God, who possess wickedness as the property of demons, on account of which they have been deprived of the heavenly Father; for the Lord who redeems them from darkness to the exceedingly brilliant light, is mighty. An upright son will engage his lips with wisdom, and wisdom will speak with him and abide; but the crooked man will fall away from it. If by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil, it well advises us to turn away from all evil throughout all of life. Everyone who is drunk with wickedness, and he who whores away from wisdom to ignorance, will be impoverished of divine grace; and everyone who is drowsy in the demonic night will not put on a wedding garment, but the flame of Gehenna will torment his flesh, which is wounded like a rag. One of the elders said that the soul is the mother of the mind, by soul meaning the passionate part of the soul, both anger and desire; for through the practical virtues it brings the mind forth into light; for through courage and temperance we acquire wisdom and knowledge of God, which are the virtues of anger and desire; and perhaps he would also call the Old Testament, which is not to be despised, a mother. Here he calls the writings of the teachers, men; but those who have both done and taught, and have made their journey to heaven, he called walks; for many who taught did not make their journey to heaven, because they did not keep the commandments; for he who speaks in walks, that is, both to do and to teach, walks worthy of the calling with which he was called by God. Sin in thought is like a bowl; but sin in act, like a cup; and a pestle is that which is called a grinder by cooks; for this pestle strikes many times, and does not open the place it strikes; but to the disciples the Lord says: Knock, and it shall be opened to you. A mind that has received a foreign thought or teaching will meditate on evil reasonings; but he who has kept himself will inherit life. Insensibility is a terrible thing; then you will say, when your conscience is struck, I did not labor to care for obtaining the rewards, and to be delivered from the torments; they mocked me, 17.225 that is, they reproached me; but I, though willing, did not know when the dawn of the soul and the recognition of sin would be. The house of virtues is built with divine wisdom, and with understanding of the fear of God and knowledge it is set up. He who makes shipwreck concerning the faith, or any of the virtues, is without a pilot for the war against the opposing powers, both in theology and in the virtues; but he who wars with governance seems to have a mind on earth, and a deliberative heart, which does all things with counsel, precedes the help of God; and it is possible to say this same thing about every virtue; for there is also shipwreck concerning temperance, and concerning love, and avarice, and likewise shipwreck occurs concerning each dogma of the catholic and apostolic Church; and if it is necessary to war with governance against the adversaries, life on earth is for us like a naval battle; for if we wish, we sink them in prayer of the heart, and with the mind turned to God; but if we do not wish, we are sunk; and if we are warred against by them, even if their war is great and fierce, it is nothing; let us only fence ourselves with fasting and continence, and we will cut them and their weapons to pieces like a spider's web; and if according to the voice of the Lord, where there are two or three, the heart, the mind, and the soul, they will agree to be contained in his commandments, the Lord is with us. For understanding all that God does, and doing all that He teaches, they in no way transgress His word; and the gates of the wise are the practical virtues, and the contemplation of the mind, through which the wisdom of God enters; and they do not turn aside, neither to the right nor to the left, because they reckon that they are in the councils of good and evil; and they lay claim to the good, but they hurl away the evil. For those who do not wish to be instructed by the wisdom and knowledge of God, the eternal death meets them through the present death; but he is a fool who has been sweetened by the wisdom of God, then leaves it, and will gather with folly; therefore he also died with his sins; if

εἰς δὲ γῆν τῶν ἀπορφανισάντων ἑαυτοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, κτῆμα δὲ δαιμόνων τὴν κακίαν ἔχοντας, μὴ εἰσέλθῃς, δι' ἣν ἐστερήθησαν τοῦ ἐπουρανίου Πατρός· ὁ γὰρ λυτρού μενος αὐτοὺς Κύριος ἐκ τοῦ ὑπερλάμπρου φωτὸς ἀπὸ σκότους, ἰσχυρός ἐστιν. Υἱὸς ὀρθὸς ἐνδιατρίψει τὰ χείλη αὐτοῦ σοφίᾳ, καὶ ἡ σοφία πρὸς αὐτὸν συλλαλήσει καὶ διαμενεῖ· ὁ δὲ στρεβλὸς ἐκπεσεῖται ἀπ' αὐτῆς. Εἰ τῷ φόβῳ Κυρίου ἐκκλίνει τις ἀπὸ κακοῦ, καλῶς παραινεῖ διὰ πάσης τῆς ζωῆς ἐκκλίνειν ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ παντὸς κακοῦ. Πᾶς ὁ ἐν κακίᾳ μέθυσος, καὶ ὁ ἐκ σοφίας πρὸς ἀγνωσίαν καταπορνεύων, πτωχεύσει ἐκ θείας χάριτος· καὶ οὐκ ἐνδύσεται ἔνδυμα τοῦ γάμου πᾶς ὁ ἐν τῇ δαι μονιώδει νυκτὶ ὑπνώδης, ἀλλὰ τὴν ὡς ῥάκος τετραυ ματισμένην σάρκα διαθλίβων γεέννης φλόγα. Ἔφη τις τῶν γερόντων, τὴν ψυχὴν εἶναι μητέρα τοῦ νοῦ, ψυχὴν λέγων τὸ παθητικὸν τῆς ψυχῆς, θυμόν τε καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν· διὰ γὰρ τῶν πρακτικῶν ἀρετῶν εἰς φῶς προάγει τὸν νοῦν· διὰ γὰρ ἀνδρείας καὶ σωφρο σύνης κτώμεθα σοφίαν καὶ γνῶσιν Θεοῦ, αἵπερ εἰσὶν ἀρεταὶ θυμοῦ καὶ ἐπιθυμίας· λέγει δ' ἂν ἴσως μητέρα καὶ τὴν παλαιὰν ∆ιαθήκην οὐ καταφρόνητον. Ἀνθρώπους ἐνταῦθα, τῶν διδασκάλων τὰς συγγρα φάς φησι· τοὺς δὲ ποιήσαντας καὶ διδάξαντας, καὶ τὴν πορείαν πρὸς οὐρανοὺς ποιησαμένους, περιπά τους ὠνόμασε· πολλοὶ γὰρ διδάξαντες, οὐ πρὸς οὐρα νὸν τὴν πορείαν ἐποιήσαντο, ὅτι οὐκ ἐφύλαξαν· ὁ γὰρ ὁμιλῶν ἐν περιπάτοις, τουτέστι ποιεῖν τε καὶ διδά σκειν, ἀξίως περιπατεῖ τῆς κλήσεως ἧς ἐκλήθη ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἡ μὲν κατὰ διάνοιαν ἁμαρτία ἔοικε φιάλῃ· ἡ δὲ κατ' ἐνέργειαν, ποτηρίῳ· ὕπερον δέ ἐστι, τὸ παρὰ τοῖς μαγείροις λεγόμενον τριβεύς· πολλὰ γὰρ κρούει τοῦτο τὸ ὕπερον, καὶ οὐκ ἀνοίγει τὸν τόπον ὃν κρούει· τοῖς δὲ μαθηταῖς ὁ Κύριός φησι· Κρούετε, καὶ ἀνοι γήσεται ὑμῖν. Νοῦς δεξάμενος ἀλλότριον νόημα ἢ μάθησιν, μελε τήσει λογισμοὺς κακούς· ὁ δὲ τηρήσας ἑαυτὸν, κληρο νομήσει ζωήν. ∆εινὸν ἡ ἀναλγησία· εἶτα ἐρεῖς τυπτόμενος τὴν συν είδησιν, οὐκ ἐπόνεσα φροντίσαι τῶν μὲν γερῶν τυχεῖν, ῥυσθῆναι δὲ τῶν βασάνων· ἐνέπαιξάν μοι, 17.225 τουτέστι προσωνείδισάν μοι· ἐγὼ δὲ θέλων οὐκ ᾔδειν πότε ὄρθρος ψυχῆς, καὶ ἐπίγνωσις ἁμαρτίας. Ὁ οἶκος τῶν ἀρετῶν μετὰ θείας σοφίας οἰκοδομεῖ ται, καὶ μετὰ συνέσεως φόβου Θεοῦ καὶ γνώσεως ἀνορθοῦται. Ὁ περὶ τὴν πίστιν, ἤ τινα τῶν ἀρετῶν ναυαγῶν, ἀκυβέρνητος πρὸς πόλεμον τῶν ἀντικειμένων δυνά μεων, τῇ τε θεολογίᾳ καὶ ταῖς ἀρεταῖς· ὁ δὲ μετὰ κυβερνήσεως πολεμῶν, ἔοικεν ἐπὶ γῆς νοῦν ἔχειν προηγεῖται δὲ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ βοηθείας, καρδία βουλευ τικὴ, ἡ πάντα μετὰ βουλῆς ποιοῦσα· δυνατὸν δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ πάσης ἀρετῆς τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο εἰπεῖν· ἔστι γὰρ καὶ περὶ σωφροσύνην ναυάγιον, καὶ περὶ ἀγάπην, καὶ φιλαργυρίαν, καὶ περὶ ἕκαστον δὲ δόγμα ὁμοίως τῆς καθολικῆς καὶ ἀποστολικῆς Ἐκκλησίας συμβαίνει ναυ άγιον· εἰ δὲ μετὰ κυβερνήσεως πολεμεῖν δεῖ τοῖς ἀντικειμένοις, ναυμαχίᾳ παραπλήσιος ἡμῖν ἐστιν ὁ βίος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· ἐὰν γὰρ θέλωμεν ἡμεῖς, ποντίζομεν αὐτοὺς ἐν προσευχῇ καρδίας, καὶ διανοίᾳ πρὸς Θεὸν τετραμμένῃ· ἐὰν δὲ μὴ θέλωμεν, ποντιζόμεθα· ἐὰν δὲ καὶ πολεμούμεθα ὑπ' ἐκείνων, εἰ καὶ πολὺς καὶ σφοδρὸς ὁ πόλεμος αὐτῶν, οὐθέν ἐστι· νηστείᾳ μόνον καὶ ἐγκρατείᾳ περιφράξωμεν ἑαυτοὺς, καὶ ὡς ἀράχνην αὐτούς τε καὶ τὰ ὅπλα αὐτῶν συγκόψομεν· ἐὰν δὲ κα τὰ τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου φωνὴν, ὅπου εἰσὶ δύο ἢ τρεῖς, ἡ καρδία, ὁ νοῦς, καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ, συμφωνήσουσι δὲ ἐν ἐν τολαῖς αὐτοῦ περιέχεσθαι, ὁ Κύριος μεθ' ἡμῶν. Πάντα γὰρ ὅσα πράττει ὁ Θεὸς νοοῦντες, καὶ ὅσα διδάσκει πράττοντες, κατ' οὐδὲν παραβαίνουσι τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ· πύλαι δὲ σοφῶν αἱ πρακτικαί εἰσιν ἀρε ταὶ, καὶ ἡ τοῦ νοῦ θεωρία, δι' ὧν εἰσέρχεται σοφία Θεοῦ· οὐκ ἐκκλίνουσι δὲ, οὔτε δεξιὰ οὔτε ἀριστερὰ, ὅτι λογίζονται ἐν συνεδρίοις εἶναι καλοῦ καὶ κακοῦ· καὶ τοῦ μὲν καλοῦ ἀντιποιοῦνται, τὸ δὲ κακὸν προσ ακοντοῦσιν. Τοῖς μὴ θέλουσιν ὑπὸ τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφίαν καὶ γνῶσιν παιδευθῆναι, διὰ τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος θανάτου συν αντᾷ ὁ αἰώνιος· ἄφρων δέ ἐστιν ὁ γλυκανθεὶς μὲν ἐν σοφίᾳ Θεοῦ, εἶτα καταλιπὼν αὐτὴν, τῇ δὲ ἀφροσύνῃ συνάξει· διὸ καὶ συναπέθανεν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις· εἰ