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it approaches and suggests harmful things, and the simpler soul accepts them as beneficial. Therefore a division of these things must occur, and one must come to enmity and lack of fellowship, so that the one who has become simpler according to the saving command may prudently say concerning the devil: "For we are not ignorant of his designs." For often, seeing the friendship of a woman for a man occur with simplicity, from which deception follows to make such people act shamefully, we are zealous not with hatred of peace, which is a fruit of the Spirit, but with aversion for a peace, against which the Savior came to bring a sword, saying: "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword" dividing and cutting those who desire to be helped from those who attempt to harm. Therefore God, being good, plants enmity for those for whom peace and union are hostile. For when someone, through ignorance of evil, falls into it and learns that it is destructive and harmful, he reaps no small benefit. And consequently 99 he makes the seed an enemy to the seed and him to her. And since what is said is not about a perceptible serpent, his seed should not be understood as perceptible either, but as those who have been formed and shaped and begotten according to him, or thoughts that pervert from the truth and teachings alien to it, and the seed of the woman likewise as the virtuous from her—for she holds the type of the church—, or the teachings of divine instruction, against which the malice of the adversary makes its attempts. The difference between seed and child is also spoken of in the gospels, with the Jews saying: "We are the seed of Abraham", but the Savior, while granting this to them, forbids them from being children of Abraham by saying: "If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham." For one who is a child is also a seed, but not in every case does the seed also become a child, because it is miscarried and not brought to completion. And this might also be consistent with the anagogical sense. For many who started, like Hymenaeus and Alexander, having made shipwreck of the faith, were not perfected as children. And the wording has everything in order. For the serpent is not against the seed, but against her; nor is the serpent's seed against her, but against her seed. For things supremely evil have their battle against things exceedingly good, and lesser things against things of equal weight. For God also provides the way of escape to be able to endure, not allowing the temptation against anyone to become immoderate: "If the Lord had not been on our side, then they would have swallowed us up." And as the good Lord of all, he both reveals the plots of the adversary and teaches the attacks against him, with the devil watching for the progress and advances of man toward virtue, which are indicated by the heel, and man watching for the head of wickedness; for when this is destroyed, the whole is also destroyed with it. But notice how the discourse shifted from one gender to another; for as to the woman all those things were said: "I will put enmity between you and the woman" and what follows, but now he says: "He shall watch for the head, and you for his 100 heel." For it was necessary for "I will put enmity" 100 to be said concerning the weaker one, so that there might be no mixture nor room for deception, but concerning the man, since he was not deceived according to the apostolic saying, for it to be said: "He shall watch for your head." For being strong, he is more suited to wage war and to guard against the adversary's attacks, not allowing the beginning of deception to be brought near to him as to Eve, whom, as we have said before, he followed, since he himself also said: "The woman whom you gave to be with me", whom he also did not leave because of her usefulness. For he was cast out with her not on his own account, just as the saints, having done nothing worthy of captivity, also followed those taken captive in Babylon, but so that they might become physicians for those taken captive, like Daniel and Ezekiel and the

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προσέρχεται καὶ τὰ βλάβης ὑποβάλλει, καὶ δέχεται ἡ ἁπλουστέρα ψυχὴ εἰς ὠφέλιμα. ∆εῖ οὖν διαίρεσιν γενέσθαι τούτων καὶ εἰς ἔχθραν καὶ τὸ ἀκοινώνητον ἐλθεῖν, ὡς τὸν ἁπλούστερον γενόμενον κατὰ τὸ σωτήριον παράγγελμα φρόνιμον εἰπεῖν περὶ διαβόλου· "6Οὐ γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὰ νοήματα ἀγνοοῦμεν."6 Πολλάκις γοῦν καὶ γυναικὸς φιλίαν πρὸς ἄνδρα σὺν ἁπλότητι γινομένην ὁρῶντες, ἐξ ἧς ἀπάτης ἕπεται αἰσχρο- ποιεῖν τοὺς τοιούτους, σπουδάζομεν οὐ μίσει εἰρήνης, ἥτις ἐστὶ καρπὸς τοῦ Πνεύματος, ἀλλὰ ἀποστροφῇ εἰρήνης, καθ' ἧς ὁ Σωτὴρ ἥκει μάχαιραν ἐπενεγκεῖν λέγων· "6Οὐκ ἦλθον βαλεῖν εἰρήνην, ἀλλὰ μάχαιραν"6 διαιροῦσαν καὶ διατέμνουσαν τοὺς ὠφελεῖσθαι ποθοῦντας ἀπὸ τῶν βλάπτειν ἐπιχειρούντων. Ἀγαθὸς οὖν ὑπάρχων ὁ Θεὸς φυτεύει ἔχθραν οἷς ἡ εἰρήνη καὶ ἡ συναφὴ πολέμιον. Ὅταν γάρ τις ἀγνοίᾳ τοῦ κακοῦ αὐτῷ περιπίπτων μανθάνῃ ὅτι ὀλέθριόν ἐστι καὶ ἐπιζήμιον, ὠφελίαν οὐ μικρὰν καρποῦται. Ἀκολούθως 99 δὲ καὶ τὸ σπέρμα τῷ σπέρματιἐχθρὸν ποιεῖ καὶ αὐτὸν αὐτῇ. Καὶ ἐπεὶ μὴ περὶ αἰσθητοῦ ὄφεώς ἐστι τὸ λεγόμενον, οὐδὲ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ αἰσθητὸν ἐκδεκτέον, ἀλλὰ τοὺς κατ' αὐτὸν τυπωθέντας καὶ μορφωθέντας καὶ γεννηθέντας ἢ λογισ[μο]ὺς διαστρέφοντας ἀπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ μαθήματα αὐτῆς ἀλλότρ[ια], σπέρμα δὲ τῆς γυναικὸς ὁμοίως τοὺς ἀπ' αὐτῆς ἐναρέτους-τῆς γὰρ ἐκκλησίας ἐπέχει τύπον-, ἢ τὰ τῆς θείας παιδεύσεως μαθήματα, πρὸς ἃ ἡ τοῦ ἀντικειμένου κακουργία τὰς ἐπιχειρήσεις ποιεῖται. Σπέρματος δὲ καὶ τέκνου διαφορὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις εἴρηται, τῶν μὲν Ἰουδαίων λεγόντων· "6Σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ ἐσμεν"6, τοῦ δὲ Σωτῆρος τοῦτο μὲν αὐτοῖς συγχωροῦντος, ἀπαγορεύοντος δὲ αὐτοὺς τέκνα τυγχ[ά]νειν τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἐν τῷ λέγειν· "6Εἰ τέκνα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἦτε, τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ποιεῖτε."6 Ὁ μὲνγὰρ τέκνον ὑπάρχων καὶ σπέρμα ἐστίν, οὐ πάντως τοῦ σπέρματος καὶ τέκνου γινομένου τῷ ἀπαμβλίσκεσθαι καὶ μὴ τ[ε]λεσιουργεῖσθαι. Εἴη δὲ τοῦτο καὶ κατὰ τὸν τῆς ἀναγωγῆς λόγον ἑπόμενο[ν]. Πολλοὶ γὰρ ἀρξάμενοι κατὰ τὸν Ὑμέναιον καὶ Ἀλέξανδρον περὶ τὴν πίστιν ναυαγήσαντες τέκνα οὐκ ἀπετελέσθησαν. Πᾶν δὲ τεταγμένως καὶ τὰ τῆς φράσεως ἔχει. Οὐ γὰρ ὁ ὄφις πρὸς τὸ σπέρμα, ἀλλὰ πρὸς αὐτήν, οὐδὲ τὸ σπέρμα τοῦ ὄφεως πρὸς αὐτήν, ἀλλὰ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτῆς. Τὰ γὰρ ἄκρως κακὰ πρὸς τὰ ὑπερβάλλοντα ἀγαθὰ ἔχει τὴν μάχην, καὶ τὰ ἐλάττω πρὸς τὰ ἰσόρροπα. Ὁ Θεὸς γὰρ δίδωσιν καὶ τὴν ἔκβασιν τοῦ δύνασθαι ὑπενεγκεῖν μὴ ἐῶν ἄμετρον γίνεσθαι κατά τινος πειρασμόν· "6Εἰ μὴ Κύριος ἦν ἐν ἡμῖν, ἄρα κατέπιον ἡμᾶς."6 Ὡς ἀγαθὸς δὲ ὁ τοῦ παντὸς Κύριος καὶ τὰς ἐπιβουλὰς τοῦ ἀντικειμένου καταμηνύει καὶ τὰς κατ' αὐτοῦ ἐπιθέσεις ἐκδιδάσκει, τοῦ μὲν διαβόλου ἐπιτηροῦντος τὰς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου προκοπὰς καὶ διαβάσεις ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρετήν, αἵτινες διὰ τῆς πτέρνας δηλοῦνται, τοῦ δὲ ἀνθρώπου τὸ κεφάλαιον τῆς κακίας ἐπιτηροῦντος· τούτου γὰρ ἀναιρουμένου, συναναιρεῖται καὶ τὸ πᾶν. Πρόσ<σ>χες δὲ πῶς ἀπὸ γένους ἐπὶ γένος ἕτερον μετέστη ὁ λόγος· ὡς γὰρ πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα πάντα ἐκεῖνα ἐλέγετο· "6Ἔχθραν θήσω ἀνὰ μέσον σου καὶ τῆς γυναικὸς"6 καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, νῦν δέ φησιν· "6Αὐτὸς τηρήσει κεφαλὴν καὶ σὺ αὐτοῦ 100 πτέρναν."6 Ἔδει γὰρ περὶ μὲν τῆς ἀσθενεστέρας λέγεσθαι 100 τὸ ἔχθραν θήσω, ἵνα τὸ ἀμιγὲς μηδὲ ἀπάτης χώρα γένηται, περὶ δὲ τοῦ ἀνδρός, ἅτε οὐκ ἐξαπατηθέντος κατὰ τὴν ἀποστολικὴν φωνήν, λέγεσθαι· "6Αὐτός σου τηρήσει κεφαλήν."6 Ἰσχυ[ρὸ]ς γὰρ ὢν καὶ πολεμεῖν ἐστιν ἐπιτη- δειότερος καὶ φυλάττειν τὰς τοῦ ἀντικειμένου ἐπιβολάς, μὴ συγχωρῶν αὑτῷ ἀπάτης ἀρχὴν προσαγαγεῖν ὡς τῇ Εὕᾳ, ᾗ, καθὼς προειρήκαμεν, συνηκολούθησεν, ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτὸς εἶπεν· "6Ἡ γυνὴ ἣν ἔδωκας μετ' ἐμοῦ"6, ἣν καὶ οὐκ ἀφῆκεν διὰ τὸ αὐτῆς χρήσιμον. Συνεκβέβληται γὰρ οὐ δι' ἑαυτόν, καθὰ καὶ τοῖς ἐν Βαβυλῶνι αἰχμαλωτιζομένοις ἠκολούθουν οἱ ἅγιοι οὐδὲν ἄξιον αἰχμαλωσίας δεδρακότες, ἀλλ' ὅπως ἰατροὶ τῶν αἰχμαλωτισθέντων γένωνται, ὡς ∆ανιὴλ καὶ Ἰεζεχιὴλ καὶ οἱ