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And the Egyptians are all who are lovers of pleasure and lovers of the world, even if 14Α_184 they are noble in body; while the Israelites are all who are lovers of God and haters of the world. To the former, therefore, the water is blood, but to the latter, it is water according to nature; for since water is nourishing and life-giving, it signifies that whoever makes the occasion of this life for injustice and plunder and greed, being a murderer of those wronged by him, has the water as blood; but whoever has the occasion of life from just labors, for him the water is the water of life. And the firstborn of the Egyptians are killed because they do not have the doorposts smeared with the blood of the lamb. And the firstborn are the first offspring and thoughts of the mind, the doorposts are the senses, and the destroyer is the devil, who through the senses binds the soul to sensible things and destroys its every divine movement. But the firstborn of the Israelites are also preserved by the anointing of the blood, that is, the divine movements of the mind by the mortification of the senses.

QUESTION 123 What is meant by that which is said in the 75th (75) psalm, that "the thought of man shall confess to you and the remnant of thought shall keep a feast to you"? RESPONSE A feast belongs to those who rejoice, but confession to those who are examined; and the

one is of sorrow, the other of joy. This, therefore, it says, that in the judgment the transient and imperfect good thought, when weighed against the wicked and perfected thought, has the advantage; for the one is examined, but the other becomes the occasion of a feast and of joy.

14Α_186 QUESTION 124 What does the Apostle mean by saying "but I would rather speak five words in the

Church than ten thousand words in a tongue"? RESPONSE He speaks five words, even if it is one that is spoken, who speaks a word that instructs the

five senses; but he speaks ten thousand words in a tongue who through his own speech makes an invitation to the passions. And again: he speaks five words who through the spiritual contemplation of beings reveals the creator; for nature is a pentad, being composed of form and the four elements; but he speaks ten thousand words who fashions elegant speeches and persuasive complexities about the operation of visible things for his own glory and enjoyment, and deifies creation over the creator; for creation was not given that it might be deified, but that it might teach of God.

QUESTION 125 What do those in the Gospel signify who refuse the invitation because of the field and

the wedding and the yoke of oxen? RESPONSE By the wife, love of pleasure is signified; by the yoke of oxen, love of possessions; and by the field, gluttony; by which every man who is occupied falls away from the divine promises.

14Α_188 QUESTION 126 What is the etymology of gluttony (gastrimargia)? RESPONSE Neither any of the grammarians nor of the rhetoricians have mentioned it. But Aristotle in

his 'On Animals' mentions an animal called 'margos' and that it is born from decay between the earth and the water; and from when it is born, it does not cease eating earth until, having burrowed through the earth, it comes to the surface; and having come, it dies for three days, and

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Αἰγύπτιοι δέ εἰσιν πάντες οἱ φιλήδονοι καὶ φιλόκοσμοι, κἂν 14Α_184 εὐγενεῖς ὦσιν τῷ σώματι· Ἰσραηλῖται δὲ πάντες οἱ φιλόθεοι καὶ μισόκοσμοι. Τοῖς μὲν οὖν τὸ ὕδωρ αἷμά ἐστιν, τοῖς δὲ ὕδωρ κατὰ φύσιν· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὸ ὕδωρ θρεπτικόν ἐστιν καὶ ζωτικόν, δηλοῖ ὅτι ὅστις τὴν ἀφορμὴν τῆς ζωῆς ταύτης πρὸς ἀδικίαν καὶ ἁρπαγὴν καὶ πλεονεξίαν ποιεῖται, φονεὺς ὑπάρχων τῶν ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἀδικουμένων, τὸ ὕδωρ αἷμα ἔχει· ὅστις δὲ τὴν ἀφορμὴν τῆς ζωῆς ἐκ δικαίων πόνων ἔχει, τούτῳ τὸ ὕδωρ, τῆς ζωῆς ὕδωρ ἐστίν. Ἀποκτέννονται δὲ τὰ πρωτότοκα τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἔχουσιν τὰς φλιὰς κεχρισμένας τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἀμνοῦ. Πρωτότοκα δέ εἰσιν τὰ πρῶτα τοῦ νοῦ γεννήματα καὶ διανοήματα, φλιαὶ δὲ αἱ αἰσθήσεις, ὀλοθρευτὴς δὲ ὁ διάβολος, διὰ μέσου τῶν αἰσθήσεων δεσμεύων τὴν ψυχὴν πρὸς τὰ αἰσθητὰ καὶ πᾶν αὐτῆς θεῖον κίνημα ἀναιρῶν. ∆ιατηροῦνται δὲ τὰ πρωτότοκα καὶ τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν τῇ χρίσει τοῦ αἵματος, τουτέστιν τὰ θεῖα τοῦ νοῦ κινήματα τῇ νεκρώσει τῶν αἰσθήσεων.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 123 Τί ἐστιν τὸ ἐν τῷ οε' (75) ψαλμῷ εἰρημένον, ὅτι «ἐνθύμιον ἀνθρώπου

ἐξομολογήσεταί σοι καὶ ἐγκατάλειμμα ἐνθυμίου ἑορτάσει σοι»; ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Ἡ μὲν ἑορτὴ εὐφραινομένων ἐστίν, ἡ δὲ ἐξομολόγησις ἐταζομένων· καὶ τὸ

μέν ἐστιν λύπης, τὸ δὲ χαρᾶς. Τοῦτο οὖν λέγει, ὅτι ἐν τῇ κρίσει ἀντισηκούμενον τὸ παροδικὸν καὶ ἀτελὲς τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἐνθύμημα τῷ πονηρῷ καὶ ἀπηρτισμένῳ ἐνθυμήματι τὸ πλέον ἔχει· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἐτάζεται, τὸ δὲ ἑορτῆς καὶ χαρᾶς γίνεται πρόξενον.

14Α_186 ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 124 Τί δηλοῖ ὁ Ἀπόστολος λέγων "ἐμοὶ δὲ γένοιτο πέντε λόγους λαλῆσαι ἐν

Ἐκκλησίᾳ ἢ μυρίους λόγους ἐν γλώσσῃ"; ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Πέντε λόγους λαλεῖ, κἂν εἶς ἐστιν ὁ λαλούμενος, ὁ λόγον παιδαγωγικὸν τῶν

πέντε αἰσθήσεων λαλῶν· μυρίους δὲ λόγους ἐν γλώσσῃ λαλεῖ ὁ διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου λόγου πρόσκλησιν ποιούμενος παθῶν. Καὶ πάλιν· πέντε λόγους λαλεῖ ὁ διὰ τῆς ἐν πνεύματι τῶν ὄντων θεωρίας τὸν κτίστην δεικνύων· πενταδικὴ γὰρ ἡ φύσις ἐξ εἴδους καὶ τῶν τεσσάρων στοιχείων οὖσα· μυρίους δὲ λόγους λαλεῖ ὁ λόγους κεκομψευμένους καὶ συμπλοκὰς πειθανὰς περὶ τῆς ἐνεργείας τῶν ὁρατῶν ποιούμενος πρὸς οἰκείαν δόξαν καὶ ἀπόλαυσιν καὶ θεοποιῶν τὴν κτίσιν παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα· ἡ κτίσις γὰρ οὐχ ἵνα θεωθῇ ἐδόθη ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα Θεὸν διδάξῃ.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 125 Τί δηλοῦσιν οἱ ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ παραιτούμενοι τὴν κλῆσιν διὰ τὸν ἀγρὸν καὶ

τὸν γάμον καὶ τὰ ζεύγη τῶν βοῶν; ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ ∆ιὰ τῆς γυναικὸς ἡ φιληδονία δηλοῦται, διὰ δὲ τοῦ ζεύγους τῶν βοῶν ἡ

φιλοκτημοσύνη, διὰ δὲ τοῦ ἀγροῦ ἡ γαστριμαργία· περὶ ἃ πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ἀπασχολούμενος τῶν θείων ἐπαγγελιῶν ἐκπίπτει.

14Α_188 ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ 126 Τί ἐτυμολογεῖται γαστριμαργία; ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Οὐδεὶς οὔτε γραμματικῶν οὔτε ῥητόρων ἐμνημόνευσεν. Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ ἐν

τῷ 'Περὶ ζῴων' μέμνηται ζῴου μαργοῦ λεγομένου καὶ ὅτι γεννᾶται ἀπὸ σήψεως μεταξὺ τῆς γῆς καὶ τοῦ ὕδατος· καὶ ἀφ᾽ οὗ γεννηθῇ, οὐ παύεται γῆν φαγὸν ἕως ἐκτρυπῆσαν τὴν γῆν εἰς τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν ἔλθῃ· καὶ ἐλθὸν θνῄσκει τρεῖς ἡμέρας, καὶ