,

Do not stand in an evil word. This it says: if ever it happens through ignorance to say something evil, such as a harmful lie, do not stand in it, do not abide in it. But concerning the divine sayings and words Paul writes that: "continue in them." To the words of God, to the blameless, to the sound ones, abide. Because will he not do whatever he wishes? The shameless in countenance, will he not do what he wants? Therefore, flee from his face. And if it were about God as a king, who does what he wants, do not think that by sinning you will escape him, by committing perjury you will evade his knowledge. Just as a king having authority. The king who has authority is hindered by no one, no one looks him in the eye, but whatever he wants, he does all of it. Therefore, take them in both ways. Either concerning the true king, God. For what he wants, he does; no one resists him. And if it speaks of the shameless one, again it instills fear in us to flee from him. It has said this; but truly the wise man is a king. The Stoics at any rate say that only the wise man is a king, only he is a priest. For if a king is one who rules lawfully, and only the wise man knows this, only he is a king. For instance, to Abraham, who was a private citizen in fortune, it was said by the discerning, "You are a king from God among us." Even if others are from others, you are from God. For God is "King of kings." And if the saying were about the shameless person, he also like a king has authority over those who submit themselves to his embassy. "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body." "Death which reigned from Adam to Moses" has authority over those under his power and dominion. And who will say to him: What will you do? He who keeps the commandment will not know an evil thing. And concerning God it is true to say that no one says to him: "What will you do?" and concerning the shameless and audacious king. And perhaps this shameless one can bear the person of the Antichrist. For there too in the prophecy of Elijah concerning him, a certain maiden rising up rebuked him thus, calling him shameless. 236 He who keeps the commandment will not know an evil thing. Behold: he who understands the good immediately also knows the evil. But to understand here does not mean to practice, but only to know. For if a commandment is given, that "we should turn from evil and do good," it is necessary also to know the evil, so that we may turn from it and choose the good. Concerning such things the apostle writes, saying: "Test all things, hold fast what is good; abstain from every form of evil." You see how he who tests all things knows the good, and that it is to be chosen and kept, and the evil, that it is to be fled from; it is proper to be alienated from it. If therefore he who knows the good also knows the evil and vice versa, how does it say here that he who keeps the commandment does not know an evil thing? And yet the commandment is a good thing. And he who knows the good thing also knows the evil thing; but it says that he who keeps the commandment does not know an evil thing, that is to say not not to understand, but not to practice, not to know it in such a way as: "Jesus also knew no sin." Thus the keeper of the commandment does not know an evil thing. Let not knowing a thing be either disobedience or not hearing the word in such a way as one ought to hear it. He who hears a word as he ought has known it, has experience of it. But he who keeps the commandment, since he does not have experience of the opposition of the commandment, will not know the evil thing. And the word is often said instead of the thing itself. At any rate, Mary, having heard the word of the angel, says: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to your word." Thus it shall be for me, as your word declares. And I will not say anything strange. For there is also a word "in the soul": "a thought without being true or false, but sometimes already that to which one of the two must belong," either being true or being false.

Behold, a thought is called a word, since it falls under its definition of knowledge; "for a verb is that which signifies time in addition", and it is a word, in which it is possible to be true or

μὴ στῇς ἐν λόγῳ πονηρῷ. τοῦτο λέγει· κἄν ποτε συμβῇ κατὰ ἄγνοιαν πονηρόν τι εἰπεῖν οἷον ψεῦδος βλαπτικόν, μὴ στῇς ἐν αὐτῷ, μὴ ἔνμενε αὐτῷ. περὶ δὲ τῶν θείων ῥημάτων καὶ λόγων γράφει Παῦλος ὅτι· "ἐπίμενε αὐτοῖς". τοῖς τοῦ θεοῦ λόγοις, τοῖς ἀκαταγνώστοις, τοῖς ὑγιαίνουσιν ἔνμενε. ὅτι οὐκ, ὃ ἐὰν ἐθελήσῃ, ποιήσει; ὁ ἀναιδὴς τῷ προσώπῳ οὐκ, ὃ βούλεται, ποιήσει; διὸ φεῦγε ἀπὸ προσ ώπου αὐτοῦ. ἐὰν δὲ καὶ περὶ θεοῦ ᾖν ὡς̣ βασιλέως, ὃ βούλεται ποι ῆσαι, μὴ νόμιζε, ὅτι ἁμαρτήσων διαφεύξῃ αὐτόν, ἐφιο̣ρκῶν διαδιδράσκεις αὐτοῦ τὴν γνῶσιν. καθὼς βασιλεὺς ἐξουσιάζων. ὁ ἐξουσίαν ἔχων βασιλεὺς πρὸς οὐδενὸς κωλύεται, οὐδεὶς ἀντοφθαλ μεῖ αὐτῷ, ἀλλ' ὃ βούλεται, πᾶν ποιεῖ. κατ' ἀμφότερα οὖν λάβε αὐτά. ἤτοι περὶ τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ βασιλέως, τοῦ θεοῦ. ὃ βούλεται γάρ, ποιεῖ· οὐδεὶς ἀνθίσταται αὐτῷ. κἂν περὶ τοῦ ἀναι δοῦς λέγῃ, πάλιν φόβον ἐνποιεῖ ἡμῖν τοῦ φεύγειν αὐτόν. εἴρηκεν τοῦτο· ἀληθῶς δὲ βασιλεὺς ὁ σοφός ἐστιν. οἱ Στωϊκοὶ γοῦν λέγουσιν μόνον τὸν σοφὸν βασιλέα εἶναι, μο´̣ν̣ο̣ν̣ ἱερέα. εἰ γὰρ βασιλεύς ἐστιν ὁ νομίμως ἄρχων, μόνος δὲ ὁ σοφὸς τοῦτο ε᾿̣πίσταται, μόνος οὗτος βασιλεύς ἐστιν. αὐτίκα γοῦν πρὸς τὸν Ἀβραὰμ ἰδιώτην ὄντα τὴν τύχην εἴρηται πρὸς τῶν διορατικῶν "βασιλεὺς παρὰ θεοῦ σὺ εἶ ἐν ἡμῖν." εἰ καὶ παρὰ ἄλλων ἄλλοι, ἀλλὰ παρὰ θεοῦ σὺ εἶ. "βασιλεὺς γὰρ βασιλευόντων" ἐστὶν ὁ θεός. ἐὰν δὲ καὶ περὶ τοῦ ἀναιδοῦς προσώπου ᾖν ὁ λόγος, καὶ αὐτὸς ὥσπερ βασιλεὺς ἐξουσιάζει τω῀̣ν ὑποβαλλόντων ὑπὸ τὴν πρεσβείαν ἑαυτοῦ. "μὴ οὖν βασιλευέτω ὑμῶν ἡ ἁμαρ̣τ̣ία ἐν τῷ θνητῷ ὑμῶν σώματι." "ὁ βασιλεύσας θάνατος ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ μεχρὶ Μωϋσέως" ἐξουσιάζει τῶν ὑπὸ τὴν ἐξουσίαν αὐ τοῦ καὶ τὴν ἀρχήν. καὶ τίς ἐρεῖ αὐτῷ· τί ποιήσεις; ὁ υφυλάσσων ἐντολὴν οὐ γνώσεται ῥῆμα πονηρόν. καὶ περὶ θεοῦ ἀληθές ἐστιν εἰπεῖν, ὅτι οὐδεὶς αὐτῷ λέγει· "τί ποιή σεις;" καὶ περὶ τοῦ ἀναιδοῦς καὶ θρασέως βασιλέως. καὶ τάχα πρόσωπον δύναται οὗτος ὁ ἀναιδὴς φέρειν τοῦ Ἀντιχρίστου. καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖ ἐν τῇ περὶ αὐτοῦ προφητείᾳ τοῦ Ἠλίου κόρη τις̣ ἀναστᾶσα οὕτως αὐτὸν ἤλεγξεν λέγουσα αὐτὸν ἀναιδῆ. 236 ὁ φυλάσσων ἐντολὴν οὐ γνώσετ̣αι ῥῆμα πονηρόν. ἰδέ· ὁ ἐπιστάμενος τὸ ἀγαθὸν εὐθέως οἶδεν καὶ τὸ κακόν. τὸ ἐπίστα σθαι δὲ ὧδε οὐ τὸ χρᾶσθαι σημαίνει, ἀλλὰ τὸ εἰδέναι μόνον. εἰ γὰρ ἐντολὴ δίδοται, ἵνα "ἐκκλίνωμεν ἀπὸ τοῦ κακοῦ καὶ ποιῶμεν τἀγαθόν," δεῖ καὶ τὸ κακὸν εἰδέναι, ἵν' ἐκκλίνωμεν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ καὶ αἱρησώμεθα τὸ ἀγαθόν. περὶ τῶν τοιούτων γράφει ὁ ἀπόστολος λέγων· "πάντα δοκιμάζετε, τὸ καλὸν κατέχετε· ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ ἀπέχεσθε." ὁρᾷς, ὡς ὁ πάντα δοκιμάζων οἶδεν τὸ καλόν, καὶ ὅτι αἱρετόν ἐστιν καὶ φυλακτέον, καὶ τὸ πονηρόν, ὅτι φευκτέον ἐστίν· τοῦ ἀλλοτριοῦσθαι προσήκει. εἰ οὖν ὁ εἰδὼς τὸ ἀγα θὸν οἶδεν καὶ τὸ κακὸν καὶ ἔνπαλιν, πῶς ἐνταῦθα λέγει τὸν φυλάττοντα ἐντολὴν μὴ γιγνώσκειν ῥῆμα πονηρόν; καίτοι ἡ ἐντο̣λὴ ἀγαθόν ἐστιν ῥῆμα. ὁ δὲ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ῥῆμα εἰδὼς οἶδεν καὶ τὸ πονηρὸν ῥῆμα· λέγει δὲ τὸν φυλάττοντα ἐντολὴν μὴ γιγνώσκειν ῥῆμα πονηρόν, τουτέστιν οὐ λέγειν οὐκ ἐπίστασθαι, ἀλλὰ μὴ χρᾶσθαι, μὴ οὕτω γιγνώσκειν αὐτό, ὡς· "οὐδὲ Ἰησοῦς ἔγνω τὴν ἁμαρτίαν." οὕτως ὁ τῆς ἐντολῆς φύλαξ οὐ γιγνώσκει πονηρὸν ῥῆμα. ἔστω δὲ τὸ μὴ γιγνώσκειν ῥῆμα ἢ παρακοὴ ἢ τὸ μ̣ὴ οὕτως ἀκοῦσαι τοῦ ῥήματος, ὡς δεῖ αὐτοῦ ἀκούειν. ὁ ὡς δεῖ ἀκούων ῥήματος ἔγνω αὐτό, ἔχει αὐτοῦ πεῖραν. ὁ δὲ τ̣ὴν ἐντολὴν φυλάττων, ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἔχει τῆς ἐναντι ότητος τῆς ἐντολῆς πεῖραν, οὐ γνώσεται τὸ ῥῆμα τὸ πον̣ηρόν. λέγεται δὲ πολλάκις τὸ ῥῆμα ἀντὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ πράγματος. ἡ γοῦν Μαριὰμ ῥήμ̣ατ̣ος ἀκούσασα τοῦ ἀγγέλου λέγει· "ἰδοὺ ἡ δούλη κυρίου· γένοιτό μοι κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου." οὕτω ὑπάρξεταί μοι, ὡς τὸ ῥῆμα τὸ σὸν διαγο ρεύει. καὶ οὐ παράδοξον ἐρῶ. καὶ γὰρ "ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ" ἔστιν ῥη῀̣μα· "τὸ ἄνευ τοῦ ἀληθεύειν ἢ ψεύδεσθαι νόημα, ὁτὲ δὲ ἤδη ᾧ ἀνάγκη υ῾̣πάρχειν θάτε ρον," ἢ τὸ ἀληθεύειν ἢ ψεύδεσθαι.

ἰδὲ νόημα ῥῆμα καλεῖται, ἐπεὶ ὑποπίπ τει τῷ ὁρισμῷ αὐτοῦ γνώσεως· "ῥῆμα γάρ ἐστιν τὸ προσσημαῖνον χρόνον", καὶ ῥῆμά ἐστιν, ἐν ᾧ ἔστιν ἀληθεῦσαι ἢ