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of powers. You have acquired wealth, you have built houses, you have laid up gold and silver; you have gathered possessions, which bring in so and so many talents each year; you have had countless servants, all kinds of crafts, and the income from them; herds of horses, flocks of sheep and cattle, and the wealth from them; a wife and children and their offspring; you have benefited friends, you have repulsed enemies; you have ruled cities, then nations, and finally you have even been a king. Do you see how from levity such a mind is lofty and exalted? It is established nowhere, but is carried beyond what is possible, beyond nature. Therefore, the terrible things of the day are threatened also against the exalted. For haughtiness (he says) is a sin. For hear the Lord saying: And be not exalted. And the blessed David counts among his achievements not to have been exalted, nor to have been lifted up; for, Lord (he says), my heart has not been lifted up, nor have my eyes been exalted. There is, however, also a praiseworthy way to be lifted up, when you are not mean-spirited, nor concerned with humble things, but have your mind aroused, and are adorned with the stature of virtue by magnanimity and greatness of mind. Such loftiness of thought is acceptable, that which is not humbled in afflictions, that which looks down upon things on earth. Such is the one who has his citizenship in heaven, the one whose heart is set fluttering toward the treasures there. And this loftiness of the intellect seems to have the same difference from the arrogance that comes from pride, as true good health has from the swelling of the flesh that comes from dropsy; for the body is swollen, but it is insidiously diseased and sick. 2.90 And upon every cedar of Lebanon that is high and lifted up. What is the wickedness (he says) of the cedar, that even its height, which belongs to it by nature, is brought to judgment? But why does the word threaten the day against the cedars in Lebanon at all? That the word, then, is about animate beings who are puffed up and have their arrogance with insensibility, no one will dispute. But why cedars? and why, of Lebanon? Cedars are a plant, bearing useless fruit, growing to the greatest height and always increasing with the addition of time, neither aging easily, nor decaying readily. But Lebanon was of old a mountain of idolatry. Therefore, in order to show us the destructive powers that lie in wait there, he called the high places of wickedness, which are lifted up against the knowledge of God, cedars of Lebanon, about which the psalm also says, that the Lord will break the cedars of Lebanon. But the boastful characters in men, lifted up without any consistent cause for being puffed up, can be alluded to through the cedars. For in being puffed up, there is either some plausible cause that produces the arrogance, or it is entirely irrational. For instance, someone is proud of himself because of self-control, he is proud because of moderation, he is proud because of perseverance in prayers. He does wrong, indeed, by being proud beyond what is necessary, yet the loftiness has a consistency. Such a one is a tall plant, but fruit-bearing. But the one who is exalted without any good work, whether because of wealth, or noble birth, or physical strength, is a cedar, exulting in a fruitless and unprofitable life. And why of Lebanon? Because just as plants fixed on mountains make use of a height not their own, so those who put forward the wealth, or power, or glory of their ancestors, use what is in no way theirs as an occasion for their own arrogance. There are, however, also cedars that are praised. The trees of the Lord will be satisfied, the cedars of Lebanon, which he planted. And in the doxology are included fruitful trees and all cedars, to show that nothing is evil by nature, nor alienated from God, but by its own cause each thing either departs from God, or is reconciled to him. For this reason also the cedars that contributed to the building of the temple were brought down from Lebanon, as history shows, that it is possible to change from idolatry to holiness. For this reason, a cedar is sometimes broken, when it is inseparable from Lebanon;

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δυνα στειῶν. Πλοῦτον περιεβάλου, οἰκίας ᾠκοδόμησας, χρυσὸν καὶ ἄργυρον ἀπέθου· κτήσεις συνήγαγες, τόσα καὶ τόσα τά λαντα κατ' ἔτος προσκομιζούσας· οἰκέτας ἔσχες μυρίους, τέχνας παντοδαπὰς, τὰς ἐκ τούτων προσόδους· ἀγέλας ἵπ πων, ποίμνια καὶ βουκόλια, τὰ ἐκ τούτων χρήματα· γυναῖκα καὶ παῖδας καὶ τούτων τὰ ἔκγονα· φίλους εὐηργέτησας, ἐχθροὺς ἠμύνω· ἦρξας πόλεων, εἶτα ἐθνῶν, τὸ τελευταῖον καὶ ἐβασίλευσας. Ὁρᾷς πῶς ὑπὸ κουφότητος ὁ τοιοῦτος νοῦς ὑψηλός ἐστι καὶ μετέωρος; Οὐδαμοῦ ἐστήρικται, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ τὰ ἀδύνατα, ὑπὲρ τὴν φύσιν φέρεται. Ἀπειλεῖται οὖν καὶ τοῖς μετεώροις τὰ φοβερὰ τῆς ἡμέρας. Ἁμαρτία γάρ ἐστι (φησὶν) ὁ μετεωρισμός. Ἄκουε γὰρ τοῦ Κυρίου λέγοντος· Καὶ μὴ μετεωρίζεσθε. Καὶ ὁ μακάριος ∆αβὶδ ἐν τοῖς κατορθώμασι ἀριθμεῖ τὸ μὴ μετεωρισθῆναι, μηδὲ ὑψωθῆναι· Κύριε γὰρ (φησὶν) οὐχ ὑψώθη ἡ καρδία μου, οὐδὲ ἐμετεωρίσθησαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου. Ἔστι μέντοι καὶ ἐπαινετῶς ὑψωθῆναι, ὅταν μὴ μικροπρεπὴς ᾖς, μηδὲ τα πεινὰ μεριμνῶν, ἀλλὰ διεγηγερμένος τὸ φρόνημα, καὶ τῷ ἀναστήματι τῆς ἀρετῆς ὑπὸ μεγαλοψυχίας καὶ μεγαλονοίας κεκοσμημένος. Τὸ τοιοῦτον ὕψος τῆς γνώμης ἀποδεκτὸν, τὸ ἀταπείνωτον ἐν θλίψεσι, τὸ ὑπερφρονοῦν τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς. Τοιοῦτος ὁ τὸ πολίτευμα ἔχων ἐν οὐρανοῖς, ὁ τὴν καρδίαν ἐπτοημένην ἔχων εἰς τοὺς ἐκεῖ θησαυρούς. Καὶ ἔοικε τοῦτο τὸ ὕψος τῆς διανοίας, πρὸς τὴν ἐκ τοῦ τύφου ἔπαρσιν, τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχειν διαφορὰν, ἣν ἀληθινὴ εὐεξία πρὸς τὴν ἐξ ὑδέρου γινομένην τῆς σαρκὸς ἐπανάστασιν· ὤγκωται μὲν γὰρ τὸ σῶμα, ἀλλ' ὕπουλόν ἐστι καὶ νοσεῖ. 2.90 Καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν κέδρον τοῦ ∆ιβάνου τῶν ὑψηλῶν καὶ μετεώρων. Ποία κακία (φησὶ) τῆς κέδρου, ὅτι καὶ τὸ ταύτης ὑψη λὸν, ὅπερ ἐκ φύσεως αὐτῇ πρόσεστιν, εἰς ἐξέτασιν ἄγε ται; ∆ιὰ τί δὲ ὅλως καὶ ταῖς ἐν τῷ Λιβάνῳ κέδροις ἀπειλεῖ τὴν ἡμέραν ὁ λόγος; Ὅτι μὲν οὖν περὶ ἐμψύχων ὁ λόγος τῶν πεφυσιωμένων καὶ μετὰ ἀναισθησίας ἐχόντων τὴν ἔπαρ σιν, οὐδεὶς ἀντερεῖ. Ἀλλὰ διὰ τί κέδροι; καὶ διὰ τί, τοῦ Λιβάνου; Αἱ κέδροι φυτόν εἰσιν, ἀχρήστων καρπῶν οἰστικαὶ, εἰς ὕψος μήκιστον αὐξανόμεναι καὶ ἀεὶ ἐπιδι δοῦσαι κατὰ τὴν προσθήκην τοῦ χρόνου, οὔτε γηρῶσαι ῥᾳδίως, οὔτε εὐκόλως κατασηπόμεναι. Ὁ δὲ Λίβανος ὄρος εἰδωλολατρείας τὸ παλαιὸν ἦν. Ἵνα οὖν τὰς ἐκεῖ ἐμφι λοχωρούσας ὀλεθρίους δυνάμεις ἐνδείξηται ἡμῖν, κέδρους ὠνόμασε τοῦ Λιβάνου τὰ ὑψώματα τῆς πονηρίας, τὰ ἐπαι ρόμενα κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ, περὶ ὧν καὶ ὁ ψαλμός φησιν, ὅτι Συντρίψει Κύριος τὰς κέδρους τοῦ Λιβάνου. ∆ύναται δὲ τὰ ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἀλαζονικὰ ἤθη ἄνευ αἰτίας τινὸς ἀκολούθου πρὸς τὴν φυσίωσιν ἐπαιρόμενα διὰ τῶν κέδρων αἰνίσσεσθαι. Ἔστι γὰρ καὶ ἐν φυσιώσει ἢ πιθανή τις αἰτία τὴν ἔπαρσιν ἐμποιοῦσα, ἢ πάντη ἄλογος. Οἷον, φρονεῖ τις ἐφ' ἑαυτῷ δι' ἐγκράτειαν, φρονεῖ διὰ σωφρο σύνην, φρονεῖ διὰ τὸ ἐν ταῖς προσευχαῖς ἐπίμονον. Κακῶς μὲν ποιεῖ παρ' ὃ δεῖ φρονῶν, πλὴν ἀλλ' ἔχει ἀκολουθίαν τὸ ὕψωμα. Ὁ τοιοῦτος ὑψηλὸν μέν ἐστι φυτὸν, ἀλλ' ἔγκαρ πον. Ὁ δὲ ἄνευ ἐργασίας τινὸς ἀγαθῆς, ἢ διὰ πλοῦτον, ἢ δι' εὐγένειαν, ἢ διὰ σώματος ἰσχὺν μετεωριζόμενος, κέδρος ἐστὶν, ἀκάρπῳ ζωῇ καὶ ἀνονήτῳ ἐπαγαλλόμενος. ∆ιὰ τί δὲ καὶ τοῦ Λιβάνου; Ὅτι ὥσπερ τὰ ἐπὶ τῶν ὀρῶν πεπηγότα φυτὰ ὕψει ἀλλοτρίῳ συγκέχρηται, οὕτως οἱ πλοῦτον, ἢ δύναμιν, ἢ δόξαν προγόνων ὑποβαλλόμενοι, τοῖς κατ' οὐδὲν προσήκουσιν εἰς ἀφορμὴν τῆς οἰκείας ἐπάρσεως ἀποκέ χρηνται. Εἰσὶ μέντοι καὶ ἐπαινούμεναι κέδροι. Χορτασθήσεται τὰ ξύλα τοῦ Κυρίου, αἱ κέδροι τοῦ Λιβάνου, ἃς ἐφύτευσε. Καὶ εἰς τὴν δοξολογίαν παραλαμβάνεται ξύλα καρποφόρα καὶ πᾶσαι κέδροι, ἵνα δειχθῇ ὅτι οὐδὲν τῇ φύσει πονηρὸν, οὐδὲ ἠλλοτριωμένον Θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τὴν ἑαυτῶν αἰτίαν ἕκαστα ἢ ἀφίσταται ἀπὸ Θεοῦ, ἢ προσοικειοῦται αὐτῷ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ αἱ εἰς κατασκευὴν τοῦ ναοῦ συντελέσασαι κέδροι ἐκ τοῦ Λιβάνου ἦσαν κατακεκομισμέναι, τῆς ἱστορίας παραδεικνυούσης, ὅτι δυνατὸν ἐξ εἰδωλολατρείας εἰς ἁγια σμὸν μεταβαλεῖν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ποτὲ μὲν συντρίβεται κέδρος, ὅταν ἀχώριστος ᾖ τοῦ Λιβάνου·