war; for one year he shall cheer his wife, whom he has taken. For it is not right that one who has just taken a spouse for himself should be led out to toils and persecutions of virtue, until he might be bound by her affections; for this the year-long gladness indicated. The apostles also did something of this sort, writing to those from the gentiles who had just come to piety. For it seemed good, he says, to the Holy 77.1241 Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden, except that you abstain from fornication, and from what is strangled, and from blood, and from things sacrificed to idols. If anyone opens a pit, and does not cover it with a lid, and a calf or a donkey falls in there, the owner of the pit will pay money to its owner; but the dead one will be his. He who delves into the dogmas concerning the Holy Trinity, or those concerning the divine incarnation, and discovers his own spring of knowledge from there, let him be on his guard, lest such a depth become a destruction to others and a cause of scandal. For it is necessary to be mindful also of those who will later encounter the discovered spring. But through the calf the clean race is signified; and through the donkey the unclean, that is, that which is in sin. For he will owe a penalty to their Lord God, and the death of the one who suffered will be reckoned to him, for this is given to be understood by the words, And the dead one will be his. If a fire goes out and finds thorns, and burns up threshing floors or ears of grain, he who kindled the fire will make restitution. He who unleashes the fire of the word against the thorny dogmas of the heretics, let him take care lest he also damage a threshing floor of the Church, or ears of grain of pious dogmas that nourish souls, or a field of the divine Scripture, which is smooth for those who walk rightly, and has nothing rough and steep. For all things, he says, are plain to those who understand, and right to those who find knowledge. But it is not right for the good to be destroyed with the harmful, nor for the tame to be consumed with the wild. You shall not eat flesh torn by beasts, but you shall throw it to the dog. He forbids eating spiritual food torn apart by the wild mouths of heretics, but rather throwing it to the shameless, barking, and unclean company of other heretics. If anyone lets his beast loose, and it grazes in another’s field, he shall make restitution from his own field according to its produce. But if it grazes down the whole field, he shall make restitution with the best of his field, and the best of his vineyard. If anyone allows his disciple to damage the harvest of the Church of Christ, if the damage is partial, the teacher will suffer a proportional loss, from his own house; but if it is complete, he will lose his own whole soul; for this is his best and fairest possession; and in any case the one who does the damage will suffer the penalty. If you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hands, but you shall not put a sickle to it. But if you enter his vineyard, you may eat grapes to your soul’s content, but you shall not put any into a vessel. For it is not right to abuse the love of the brethren, but to honor self-sufficiency and mutual affection. And 77.1244 in another way the law exhorts, to profit and be helped from the discourse of the teachers in the Churches; for the Churches are both standing grain and vineyards; not to plot [alt. put] with the sickle, nor to write down in a book what appears to be beyond need and superfluous, as if putting it into a vessel. For perhaps there will be found in it unapproved sayings, like some useless grapes, not having been inspected, nor deemed worthy of due care, on account of being improvised and ready-at-hand; and they will become a cause of scandal. And to this also bears the saying: If you come upon a bird’s nest, and the mother is warming the young, you shall not take the mother with the children. You shall send away the mother, but take the young for yourself. For every

πόλεμον· ἐνιαυτὸν ἕνα εὐφρανεῖ τὴν γυναῖκα αὑτοῦ, ἢν ἔλαβεν. Οὐ χρὴ γὰρ τὸν ἄρτι σύνοικον ἑαυτῷ λαβόντα τὴν ἀρετὴν εἰς πόνους καὶ διωγμοὺς ἐξάγεσθαι, μέχρις ἂν καταδεσμηθείη ταῖς φιλοστοργίαις αὐτῆς· τοῦτο γὰρ ἡ ἐνιαύσιος ὑπεδήλωσεν εὐφροσύνη. Τοιοῦτόν τι πεπράχασι καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι τοῖς ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἄρτι πρὸς τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἐλθοῦσιν ἐπιστέλλοντες. Ἔδοξε γὰρ, φησὶ, τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύ 77.1241 ματι καὶ ἡμῖν μηδὲν πλέον ἐπιτίθεσθαι ὑμῖν βάρος, πλὴν ἀπέχεσθαι ὑμᾶς πορνείας, καὶ πνικτοῦ, καὶ αἵματος, καὶ εἰδωλοθύτου. Ἐάν τις ἀνοίξῃ λάκκον, καὶ μὴ καλύψῃ αὐτὸν πώματι, καὶ ἐμπέσῃ ἐκεῖ μόσχος ἢ ὄνος, ὁ κύριος τοῦ λάκκου ἀποτίσει ἀργύριον τῷ κυ ρίῳ αὐτοῦ· τὸ δὲ τετελευτηκὸς ἔσται αὐτῷ. Ὁ ἐμβαθύνων τοῖς περὶ τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος δόγμασιν, ἢ τοῖς περὶ τῆς θείας ἐνανθρωπήσεως, καὶ ἐξευρίσκων ἰδίαν πηγὴν γνώσεως ἐκεῖθεν, ἀσφαλιζέσθω, μή πως ἑτέροις ὄλεθρος τὸ τοιοῦτον βάθος γένηται καὶ σκανδάλου πρόφασις. Χρὴ γὰρ φροντίζειν καὶ τῶν εἰς ὕστερον ἐντυγχανόντων τῇ ἐξευρεθείσῃ πηγῇ. Ἀλλὰ διὰ μὲν τοῦ μόσχου τὸ καθαρὸν γένος ὑπεμφαίνεται· διὰ δὲ τοῦ ὄνου τὸ ἀκάθαρτον, ἤγουν τὸ ἐν ἁμαρτίᾳ. Ὀφλήσει τε γὰρ δίκην τῷ Κυρίῳ αὐτῶν Θεῷ, καὶ αὐτῷ λογισθήσεται τοῦ πεπονθότος ὁ θάνατος, τοῦτο γὰρ δίδωσι νοεῖσθαι τὸ, Καὶ τὸ τετελευτηκὸς αὐτῷ ἔσται. Ἐὰν ἐξελθὸν πῦρ εὕρῃ ἀκάνθας, καὶ προσεμ πρήσῃ ἅλωνας ἢ ἀστάχυας, ἀποτίσει ὁ τὸ πῦρ ἐκκαύσας. Ὁ τὸ πῦρ τοῦ λόγου ἐπαφεὶς τοῖς ἀκανθώδεσι δόγμασι τῶν αἱρετικῶν, φροντισάτω μή ποτε παραβλάψῃ καὶ ἅλων τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, ἢ στάχυας τῶν εὐσεβῶν δογμάτων τρέφοντας ψυχὰς, ἢ πεδίον τῆς θείας Γραφῆς, λεῖον τοῖς ὁδεύουσιν ὀρθῶς, καὶ μηδὲν ἔχον τραχὺ καὶ ἄναντες. Πάντα γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐνώπια τοῖς συνιοῦσι, καὶ ὀρθὰ τοῖς εὑρίσκουσι γνῶσιν. Οὐ χρὴ δὲ τοῖς βλαβεροῖς συνδιόλλυσθαι τὸ χρηστὸν, οὐδὲ τοῖς ἀγρίοις συνδαπανᾶσθαι τὸ ἥμερον. Κρέας θηριάλωτον οὐκ ἔδεσθε, ἀλλὰ τῷ κυνὶ ὑποῤῥίψατε αὐτό. Βρῶμα πνευματικὸν διασπαραχθὲν ἀγρίοις στόμασιν αἱρετικῶν ἀπαγορεύει φαγεῖν, ἀποῤῥίπτειν δὲ τοῦτο τῷ ἀναιδεῖ καὶ ὑλακτικῷ καὶ ἀκαθάρτῳ συντάγματι τῶν ἄλλων αἱρετικῶν. Ἐάν τις ἀφῇ τὸ κτῆνος αὐτοῦ, καὶ καταβοσκηθῇ ἀγρὸν ἕτερον, ἀποτίσει ἐκ τοῦ ἀγροῦ αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὸ γένημα αὐτοῦ. Ἑὰν δὲ πάντα τὸν ἀγρὸν καταβοσκηθῇ, τὰ βέλτιστα τοῦ ἀγροῦ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰ κάλλιστα τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος αὐτοῦ ἀποτίσει. Ἐάν τις συγχωρήσῃ τῷ μαθητῇ αὐτοῦ λυμήνασθαι λήϊον Ἐκκλησίας Χριστοῦ. εἰ μὲν ἐκ μέρους ἡ λύμη γίνεται, ἀνάλογον ὁ διδάσκαλος ὑποστήσεται ζημίαν, οἴκοθεν· εἰ δὲ καθ' ὁλόκληρον, ὅλην ἀπολέσει τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν· αὕτη γὰρ τὰ βέλτιστα, καὶ τὰ κάλλιστα αὐτοῦ· πάντως καὶ ὁ καταλυμαινόμενος ὑφέξει τὴν δίκην. Ἐὰν εἰσέλθῃς εἰς τὸν ἄμητον τοῦ πλησίον σου, συλλέξεις ἐν ταῖς χερσί σου στάχυς, καὶ δρέ πανον οὐκ ἐπιβαλεῖς. Ἐὰν δὲ εἰσέλθῃς εἰς τὸν ἀμπελῶνα αὐτοῦ, φάγῃ σταφυλὴν, ὅσον ψυ χὴν ἐμπλησθῆναι, εἰς δὲ ἄγγος οὐκ ἐπιβα λεῖς. Οὐ χρὴ γὰρ κατακεχρῆσθαι ταῖς τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἀγάπαις, τιμᾷν δὲ αὐτάρκειαν, τὸ φιλάλληλον. Καὶ 77.1244 ἑτέρως δὲ παραινεῖ ὁ νόμος, κερδαίνειν μὲν καὶ ὠφελεῖσθαι ἀπὸ τῆς ὁμιλίας τῶν ἐν ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις διδασκάλων· αἱ γὰρ Ἐκκλησίαι, λήϊά τε καὶ ἀμπελῶνες· μὴ ἐπιβουλῆς [φ. ἐπιβάλλῃς] τοῦ δρεπάνου, μηδὲ τὸ φαινόμενον ὑπὲρ τὴν χρείαν καὶ περιττὸν, ἐναπογράφεσθαι βίβλῳ, καθάπερ ἐμβάλλοντας εἰς ἄγγος. Ἴσως γὰρ εὑρεθήσονται ἐν αὐτῷ ἀδόκιμοι φωναὶ, καθάπερ τινὲς ἄχρηστοι ῥάγες, μὴ ἐπισκοπηθεῖσαι, μηδὲ τῆς προσηκούσης ἐπιμελείας ἀξιωθεῖσαι, διὰ τὸ αὐτοσχέδιόν τε καὶ πρόχειρον· καὶ γενήσονται σκανδάλου πρόφασις. Εἰς τοῦτο δὲ φέρει καὶ τό· Ἐὰν συναντήσῃς νοσσιᾷ ὀρνέων, καὶ ἡ μήτηρ θάλπῃ ἐπὶ τῶν νεοσσῶν, οὐ λήψῃ τὴν μητέρα μετὰ τῶν τέκνων. Ἀποστελεῖς τὴν μητέρα, τὰ δὲ παιδία λήψῃ σεαυτῷ. Πᾶσα μὲν γὰρ