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and they will wipe them out from the land.” Do you see how he, no less than Moses, is distressed and 1.95 troubled? And perhaps he too similarly despaired of his life out of perplexity. I omit to mention the various wars and battles and cares and the deceit of the Gibeonites. And indeed, the distribution of the lots caused him much labor and many difficulties and afflictions. Thus, then, all who have greatly pleased God, being tested through afflictions and trials and having appeared approved, have attained love and boldness toward God, and there is no one, of whom God takes great account, who is outside of afflictions, even if we are ignorant of this and of God's judgments concerning them." And after Joshua, God saved the people through the judges, as they were afflicted by the remaining foreigners. Among these, the first was the one called Judah, and he judged the people for 7 years, having subdued also Adonibezek, king of the foreigners, and having cut off his hands and feet. And Adonibezek said, "Seventy kings, the extremities of their hands and their feet having been cut off, were gathering what was under my table. As I have done, therefore, so the Lord has repaid me." And after Judah, Othniel became judge, and after him, Ehud. And after Ehud, Shamgar became judge for seven years, having struck down six hundred men from among the foreigners in one day with the foot of the oxen's plow. After Shamgar, Barak became judge, with whom was also Deborah the prophetess. In their time Prometheus and Orpheus the Thracian, 1.96 the wisest among the Greeks, and Asclepius the physician, and Lycurgus the Spartan and lawgiver of the Greeks were known. And after Barak, Gideon, who is also Jerubbaal, became judge for 40 years, having struck Midian with the three hundred who lapped, as will be told, and he threshed their rulers with the thorns. After Gideon, Abimelech his son became judge for three years, having struck down his seventy brothers, free men, upon one stone, from whom none was left except Jotham the younger; who also, going up on the mountain, told the Shechemites the parable of the trees, of the olive and the fig and the vine and the bramble, according to which it also happened to them. And the rest of the judges you will find before. It should be known, therefore, says the renowned Chrysostom, that the name of "parable" has many meanings. For a parable is a byword and an example and a reproach, as when David says, "You have made us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples." Furthermore, a parable is an enigmatic saying, which many call a riddle, which reveals something, yet is not in every case immediately clear from the words, but has a hidden meaning within, as when Samson said, "Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet." And Solomon said, "Then you will understand a parable and a dark saying." A parable is also called a likeness; 1.97 for he says, he put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a man sowing good seed in his field." And a parable is also called a figure of speech, such as, "Son of man, tell them this parable, the great-winged eagle," calling the king an eagle. A parable is also called a type and an image, as the great Paul also said, "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten. from which he also received him back in a parable," that is, in a type and an image. And a parable is a saying that compares the intelligible with the sensible, and presents from worldly and visible things the super-worldly and invisible. A problem is a shadowed and enigmatic saying, according to the saying, "I will incline my ear to a parable, I will open my problem on the psaltery." A problem is a theorem tending toward contemplation and knowledge. An example is that which leads from the particular to the universal, or a demonstration confirming the particular through a particular and similar case. A proverb is

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καὶ ἐκτρίψουσιν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς.» ὁρᾷς ὅπως καὶ οὗτος οὐχ ἧττον Μωϋσέως ἀδημονεῖ καὶ 1.95 θορυβεῖται; καί που τάχα καὶ αὐτὸς ὁμοίως τὴν ζωὴν ἐξ ἀπορίας ἀπελέγετο. ἐῶ λέγειν τοὺς διαφόρους πολέμους καὶ τὰς μάχας καὶ τὰς φροντίδας καὶ τῶν Γαυαωνιτῶν τὴν ἀπάτην. καὶ μέντοι καὶ ἡ τῶν κληρῶν διανομὴ πολὺν μὲν τὸν πόνον πολλὰς δὲ παρ εῖχεν αὐτῷ τὰς δυσκολίας καὶ θλίψεις. οὕτω τοίνυν ἅπαντες ὅσοι τῷ θεῷ μεγάλως εὐηρέστησαν, διὰ θλίψεων καὶ πειρασμῶν δοκι μασθέντες καὶ δόκιμοι ἀναφανέντες τῆς πρὸς θεὸν ἀγάπης καὶ παρρησίας ἐπέτυχον, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδείς, ὧν πολὺς παρὰ τῷ θεῷ λόγος, θλίψεων ἐκτός, κἂν ἡμεῖς ἀγνοῶμεν τοῦτο καὶ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ περὶ αὐτῶν κρίματα." Μετὰ δέ γε Ἰησοῦν διὰ τῶν κριτῶν ὁ θεὸς ἔσωζε τὸν λαόν, θλιβόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν περιλειφθέντων ἀλλοφύλων. ἐν οἷς ὑπῆρξε πρώτιστος Ἰούδας καλούμενος, καὶ ἔκρινε τὸν λαὸν ἔτη ζʹ, χειρω σάμενος καὶ τὸν Ἀδωνιζεβὲκ βασιλέα τῶν ἀλλοφύλων, καὶ ἀκρω τηριάσας αὐτοῦ χεῖρας καὶ πόδας. εἶπε δὲ Ἀδωνιζεβέκ "ἑβδομή κοντα βασιλεῖς τὰ ἄκρα τῶν χειρῶν καὶ τῶν ποδῶν αὐτῶν ἀποκε κομμένοι ἦσαν, συλλέγοντες τὰ ὑποκάτω τῆς τραπέζης μου. καθὼς οὖν ἐποίησα, οὕτω καὶ ἀνταπέδωκέ μοι ὁ κύριος." μετὰ δὲ Ἰού δαν γέγονε κριτὴς Γοθονιὴλ καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον Ἀώδ. μετὰ δέ γε Ἀὼδ γέγονε κριτὴς Σαμέγαρ ἔτη ἑπτά, πατάξας καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἀλλο φύλων ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ ἐν τῷ τοῦ ἀρότρου ποδὶ τῶν βοῶν ἄνδρας ἑξακοσίους. μετὰ Σαμέγαρ γέγονε κριτὴς Βαράκ, μεθ' οὗ καὶ ∆εβόρρα ἡ προφῆτις. ἐφ' ὧν Προμηθεὺς καὶ Ὀρφεὺς ὁ Θρᾲξ 1.96 οἱ σοφώτατοι παρ' Ἕλλησι, καὶ Ἀσκληπιὸς ὁ ἰατρός, καὶ Λυκοῦργος ὁ Σπαρτιάτης καὶ νομοθέτης τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐγνωρίζοντο. μετὰ δὲ Βαρὰκ γέγονε κριτὴς Γεδεών, ὁ καὶ Ἱεροβάαλ, ἔτη μʹ. πατάξας τὸν Μαδιὰμ μετὰ τῶν λαψάντων τριακοσίων, ὡς λελέξε ται, καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας αὐτῶν ἠλόησεν ἐν ταῖς ἀκάνθαις. μετὰ Γεδεὼν γέγονε κριτὴς Ἀβιμέλεχ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἔτη τρία, πατάξας δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῶν ἐλευθέρων ἄνδρας οʹ ἐπὶ λίθον ἕνα, ἐξ ὧν οὐκ ἀπελείφθη πλὴν Ἰωάθαν τοῦ νεωτέρου· ὃς καὶ ἀνελθὼν ἐν τῷ ὄρει εἶπε τοῖς Σικιμίταις τὴν παραβολὴν τῶν δέν δρων, τῆς τε ἐλαίας καὶ τῆς συκῆς καὶ τῆς ἀμπέλου καὶ τῆς ῥά μνου, καθ' ἣν καὶ συνέβη αὐτοῖς. καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν κριτῶν εὑ ρήσεις ἔμπροσθεν. Ἰστέον οὖν, φησὶν ὁ ἀοίδιμος Χρυσόστομος, ὡς πολυσή μαντόν ἐστι τὸ ὄνομα τῆς παραβολῆς. ἔστι γὰρ παραβολὴ λά λημα καὶ ὑπόδειγμα καὶ ὀνειδισμός, ὡς ὅταν λέγει ∆αυίδ "ἔθου ἡμᾶς εἰς παραβολὴν ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι, κίνησιν κεφαλῆς ἐν τοῖς λαοῖς." ἔτι δὲ παραβολὴ αἰνιγματώδης λόγος, ὃ πολλοὶ λέγουσι ζήτημα, ἐκφαῖνον μέντοι, οὐκ αὐτόθεν δὲ πάντως δῆλον ὂν ἀπὸ τῶν ῥημά των, ἀλλ' ἔχον ἐντὸς κεκρυμμένην διάνοιαν, ὡς ὅταν ὁ Σαμψὼν ἔλεγεν "ἐξῆλθεν ἀπὸ στόματος ἔσθοντος βρῶσις καὶ ἀπὸ ἰσχυροῦ γλυκύ." καὶ Σολομὼν ἔφη "τότε νοήσεις παραβολὴν καὶ σκοτει νὸν λόγον." λέγεται δὲ παραβολὴ καὶ ὁμοίωσις· ἄλλην γάρ φησι 1.97 παραβολὴν παρέθηκεν αὐτοῖς λέγων "ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ σπείροντι καλὸν σπέρμα ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ αὐτοῦ." καὶ παραβολὴ λέγεται ἡ τροπολογία, οἷόν ἐστι τό "υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, εἶπον αὐτοῖς τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην, ὁ ἀετὸς ὁ μεγαλοπτέρυγος," ἀετὸν λέγων τὸν βασιλέα. παραβολὴ λέγεται καὶ ὁ τύπος καὶ ἡ εἰκών, ὡς καὶ ὁ μέγας Παῦλος ἔφη "πίστει προσενήνοχεν ὁ Ἀβραὰμ τὸν Ἰσαὰκ πειραζόμενος, καὶ τὸν μονογενῆ προσέφερεν ὁ τὰς ἐπαγγελίας δεξάμενος. ὅθεν καὶ ἐν παραβολῇ τοῦτον ἐκομίσατο," τουτέστιν ἐν τύπῳ καὶ εἰκόνι. καὶ παραβολή ἐστι λόγος παρα βάλλων τὰ νοητὰ τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς, καὶ παριστῶν ἐκ τῶν ἐγκοσμίων καὶ ὁρατῶν τὰ ὑπερκόσμια καὶ ἀόρατα. πρόβλημα δέ ἐστι λόγος συνεσκιασμένος καὶ αἰνιγματώδης, κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον "κλινῶ εἰς παραβολὴν τὸ οὖς μου, ἀνοίξω ἐν ψαλτηρίῳ τὸ πρόβλημά μου." πρόβλημά ἐστι θεώρημα συντεῖνον πρὸς θεωρίαν καὶ γνῶσιν. παράδειγμα δέ ἐστιν ἀπὸ τοῦ καθ' ἕκαστον ἄγον ἐπὶ τὸ καθόλου, ἢ δεῖξις πιστουμένη τὸ μερικὸν διὰ μερικοῦ καὶ ὁμοίου. παροιμία δ' ἐστὶ