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CHAPTER 19.

To those who say that the enjoyment of the good things we hope for will again consist in eating and drinking, because it is written that from the beginning man lived by these things in paradise.

But perhaps someone says that man will not return again to the same form of life, if indeed before we were occupied in eating, but after this we shall be released from such a function. But I, hearing the holy Scripture, understand not only bodily food, nor gladness through the flesh, but I know some other nourishment, having a certain analogy to that of the body, the enjoyment of which passes to the soul alone. Eat of my bread, Wisdom commands the hungry; and the Lord blesses those who hunger for such food. "And if anyone thirsts," he says, "let him come to me and drink." And the great Isaiah, Drink gladness, he exhorts those able to apprehend his genius. There is also a prophetic threat against those worthy of punishment, that they will be punished with famine; but the famine is not a lack of bread and water, but a failure of the word. For he says, "Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord." Therefore it is fitting to conceive of some worthy fruit of God's planting in Eden (for Eden is interpreted as delight), and not to doubt that man is nourished by this; and not at all to think of this transient and perishable food in the life of paradise. "Of every," it says, "tree that is in paradise, you shall eat freely." Who will give to him who hungers wholesomely that tree in paradise, which contains every good, whose name is "every," 197 of which the Word grants participation to man? For to the generic and supreme Word every idea of good things is naturally related, and the whole is one. But who will keep me from the mixed and ambiguous taste of the tree? For it is surely not unclear to the more discerning what that "every" is, whose fruit is life, and again, what this mixture is, whose end is death. For He who lavishly set forth the enjoyment of "every," certainly by some reason and providence forbids man participation in mixed things. And it seems to me that I should take the great David and the wise Solomon as teachers for the explanation of this word. For both consider the grace of the permitted delight to be one, that which is truly good, which is indeed every good. David, saying, "Delight yourself in the Lord;" and Solomon, calling wisdom itself, which is the Lord, the tree of life. Therefore, the "every tree" is the same as the tree of life, the eating of which the Word gives to the one formed according to God. But contrasted with this tree is another tree, the eating of which is the knowledge of good and evil, not bearing as its fruit each of the opposite meanings separately; but bringing forth a certain confused and mixed fruit, blended with opposite qualities, the eating of which the author of life forbids, but the serpent advises, in order to prepare the entrance for death. And he becomes persuasive in his counsel, tingeing the fruit with a certain pleasing color and pleasure, so that it might both be seen with delight, and might over-stimulate the appetite toward tasting.

CHAPTER 20.

What is the life in paradise, and what is the forbidden tree. What then is that

which has the mixed knowledge of good and evil, adorned with the pleasures of the senses? Shall I then not conjecture far from the truth, using the thought of what is known as a starting-point for my contemplation. For I think not a science

27

ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΙΘʹ.

Πρὸς τοὺς λέγοντας, πάλιν ἐν βρώσει καὶ ἐν πόσει εἶναι τῶν ἐλπιζομένων

ἀγαθῶν τὴν ἀπό λαυσιν, διὰ τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ γε γράφθαι διὰ τούτων τὸν ἄνθρωπον ζῇν. Ἀλλ' ἴσως τις οὐκ εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ πάλιν τῆς ζωῆς εἶδος ἐπανελεύσεσθαι λέγει τὸν ἄνθρωπον, εἴγε πρό τερον μὲν ἐν τῷ ἐσθίειν ἦμεν, μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ τῆς τοιαύτης λειτουργίας ἀφεθησόμεθα. Ἀλλ' ἐγὼ τῆς ἁγίας ἀκούων Γραφῆς, οὐ μόνον σωματικὴν ἐπί σταμαι βρῶσιν, οὐδὲ τὴν διὰ σαρκὸς εὐφροσύνην, ἀλλά τινα καὶ ἑτέραν οἶδα τροφὴν, ἀναλογίαν τινὰ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἔχουσαν, ἦς ἡ ἀπόλαυσις ἐπὶ μόνην τὴν ψυχὴν διαβαίνει. Φάγετε τῶν ἐμῶν ἄρτων, ἡ Σοφία τοῖς πεινῶσι διακελεύεται· καὶ μακαρίζει τοὺς τὴν τοιαύτην βρῶσιν πεινῶντας ὁ Κύριος. «Καὶ εἴ τις διψᾷ, φησὶν, ἐρχέσθω πρὸς μὲ, καὶ πινέτω.» Καὶ ὁ μέγας Ἡσαΐας, Πίετε εὐφροσύνην, τοῖς δυνατοῖς ἐπαΐειν τῆς μεγαλοφυΐας αὐτοῦ ἐγκελεύεται. Ἔστι δέ τις καὶ ἀπειλὴ προφητικὴ κατὰ τῶν τιμωρίας ἀξίων, ὡς λιμῷ κολασθησομένων· ὁ δὲ λιμὸς οὐκ ἄρτου τίς ἐστιν ἀπορία καὶ ὕδατος, ἀλλὰ λόγου ἐπίλειψις. Οὐ λιμὸν γὰρ ἄρτου φησὶν, ἢ δίψαν ὕδατος, ἀλλὰ λιμὸν τοῦ ἀκοῦσαι λόγων Κυρίου. Οὐκοῦν τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ φυτείας τῆς ἐν Ἐδὲμ (τρυφὴ δὲ ἡ Ἐδὲμ ἑρμηνεύεται) ἄξιόν τινα τὸν καρπὸν ἐννοῆσαι προσ ήκει, καὶ τρέφεσθαι διὰ τούτου μὴ ἀμφιβάλλειν τὸν ἄνθρωπον· καὶ μὴ πάντως τὴν παροδικὴν καὶ ἀπόῤ ῥυτον ταύτην τροφὴν ἐπὶ τῆς τοῦ παραδείσου διαγω γῆς ἐννοεῖν. «Ἀπὸ παντὸς, φησὶ, ξύλου τοῦ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ βρώσει φάγῃ.» Τίς δώσει τῷ ὑγιεινῶς πεινῶντι τὸ ξύλον ἐκεῖνο, τὸ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ, τὸ παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ περιληπτικὸν, ᾧ ὄνομά ἐστι τὸ πᾶν, 197 οὗ χαρίζεται τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τὴν μετουσίαν ὁ λόγος; τῷ γὰρ γενικῷ τε καὶ ὑπερκειμένῳ λόγῳ πᾶσα τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἰδέα πρὸς ἑαυτὴν συμφυῶς ἔχει, καὶ ἕν τι τὸ ὄλον ἐστί. Τίς δέ με τῆς συμμιγοῦς τε καὶ ἐπαμφο τεριζούσης τοῦ ξύλου γεύσεως ἀποστήσει; πάντως γὰρ οὐκ ἄδηλον τοῖς διορατικωτέροις, τί τὸ πᾶν ἐκεῖνο, οὗ καρπὸς ἡ ζωὴ, καὶ πάλιν, τί τὸ ἐπίμικτον τοῦτο, οὗ πέρας ὁ θάνατος. Ὁ γὰρ τοῦ παντὸς τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν ἀφθόνως προθεὶς, λόγῳ τινὶ πάντως καὶ προμηθείᾳ τῆς τῶν ἐπικοίνων μετουσίας ἀπείργει τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Καί μοι δοκεῖ τὸν μέγαν ∆αβὶδ, καὶ τὸν σοφὸν Σολομῶντα διδασκάλους τῆς τοῦ λόγου τού του παραλαβεῖν ἐξηγήσεως. Ἀμφότεροι γὰρ τῆς συγ κεχωρημένης τρυφῆς μίαν ἡγοῦνται τὴν χάριν, αὐτὸ τὸ ὄντως ἀγαθὸν, ὃ δὴ καὶ πᾶν ἐστιν ἀγαθόν. ∆αβὶδ μὲν λέγων, «Κατατρύφησον τοῦ Κυρίου·» Σολομὼν δὲ τὴν σοφίαν αὐτὴν, ἥτις ἐστὶν ὁ Κύριος, ξύλον ζωῆς ὀνομάζων. Οὐκοῦν ταὐτόν ἐστι τῷ τῆς ζωῆς ξύλῳ τὸ πᾶν ξύλον, οὗ τὴν βρῶσιν τῷ κατὰ Θεὸν πλασθέντι ὁ λόγος δίδωσιν. Ἀντιδιαιρεῖται δὲ τῷ ξύλῳ τούτῳ ἕτερον ξύλον, οὗ ἡ βρῶσις καλοῦ καὶ κακοῦ γνῶσίς ἐστιν, οὐκ ἰδιαζόντως ἑκάτερον τῶν κατὰ τὸ ἐναντίον σημαινομένων ἐν μέρει καρποφοροῦντος· ἀλλά τινα συγκεχυμένον καὶ σύμμικτον καρπὸν ἐξανθοῦντος ταῖς ἐναντίαις συγκεκραμένον ποιότησιν, οὗ κωλύει μὲν τὴν βρῶσιν ὁ ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς, συμβουλεύει δὲ ὁ ὄφις, ἵνα τῷ θανάτῳ κατασκευάσῃ τὴν εἴσοδον. Καὶ πιθανὸς γίνεται συμβουλεύσας, εὐχροίᾳ τινὶ καὶ ἡδονῇ τὸν καρπὸν περιχρώσας, ὡς ἂν ὀφθείη τε ἡδέως, καὶ τὴν ὄρεξιν πρὸς τὴν γεῦσιν ὑπερεθίσειεν.

ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Κʹ.

Τίς ἡ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ ζωὴ, καὶ τί τὸ ἀπηγορευ μένον ξύλον. Τί οὖν ἐκεῖνό

ἐστιν, ὃ καλοῦ τε καὶ κακοῦ συγκε κραμένην ἔχει τὴν γνῶσιν, ταῖς δι' αἰσθήσεως ἡδοναῖς ἐπηνθισμένον; Ἄρα μὴ πόῤῥω τῆς ἀληθείας παρα στοχάσομαι, τῇ τοῦ γνωστοῦ διανοίᾳ εἰς ἀφορμὴν τῆς θεωρίας συγχρώμενος. Οἶμαι γὰρ οὐκ ἐπιστήμην