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we understand the spirit to be yoked to the soul; but if simply as now, we understand the spirit to be the soul itself. When the body, he says, is dissolved into the earth, the soul returns to God, to give an account of its life, to Him who made it. For the soul of man is not from the earth; but as its Creator alone knows, it is both formed and bound to this earthly body, just as it is also released only by the one who bound it. "Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher, all is vanity; and what is more, the Preacher was wise, and he taught knowledge to man. And his ear will trace out the order of parables." He takes up the argument often stated above, and declares that all things in the world are vanity; and he says that the Preacher had this 'more,' which is to say, an exceptional and particular possession of wisdom; for wisdom is truly the possession of the wise alone. And that having possessed this, he envied the rest of men; but what he learned from it, these things he delivered to men; that is, the knowledge of things both sensible and intelligible. Then he says, And he who has a purified ear, clearly such as he was who said, He has given me an ear to hear, is able to trace the orderly things spoken in Parables. Or also thus: He who has an orderly ear, gilded by the word, such as was that of Rebecca, which received the earrings from the servant of Abraham, is able to hear the things spoken parabolically. "The Preacher sought much to find words of delight, and written words of uprightness, words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, and like fiery nails, which were given from the collections 93.624 by one shepherd; and more than these." Words of delight, he says, are those of the will of God, according to which a man lives his life and lays hold of eternal life; or also the mysterious words, concerning which the Savior said in the Psalms, To do your will, O God, I have desired. And the will of the Father was the incarnation of the Only-begotten. The words of the divine will, therefore, and of wisdom itself, which is called uprightness and truth, from the things written by the prophets, I sought, he says; for one must not only simply will it, but also seek it diligently. For he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Seeking these things, therefore, the Preacher knew that the words of the god-fearing are like goads. For just as goads strike the oxen, so that they may cut the furrow with the plow; so also the words of God-wise men arouse us who plow in hope, to cut open the furrow of the soul, and to cleanse it, and to plant the good shoots of virtue. They are also like fiery nails, which are fixed more deeply and easily into wood; so also their words are fixed into the depth of our mind. And these words, he says, were given from the collections; but other books have 'from the assemblies.' And understand 'collections,' or 'assemblies,' as the works of God, which are supremely ordered, and harmoniously composed, from which we apprehend their Creator by analogy; and 'collections,' as the two Covenants, Old and New. From where then was the knowledge of the contemplation of sensible things, and the comprehension of intelligible things given to us? From one shepherd. What shepherd? The one who shepherds the rational beings both in heaven and on earth, the one who said: I am the good shepherd. But, And more, he says, than these. What is the 'more'? From the knowledge of these things, that we inherit eternal life, that we are deemed worthy to have the good Shepherd himself as teacher, and that those who have been deemed worthy of this knowledge in this life, are also deemed worthy of perfect knowledge in the life to come, being purely illumined by the holy and consubstantial Trinity. "My son, beware of making many books, for there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh." Many books, and many words which do not incline to the same purpose, such words are also troublesome. For when one about

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συνεζευγμένον τῇ ψυχῇ τὸ πνεῦμα νοοῦμεν· εἰ δὲ ἁπλῶς οὕτως ὥσπερ νῦν, αὐτὴν τὴν ψυχὴν νοοῦμεν τὸ πνεῦμα. Τοῦ οὖν σώματος, φησὶ, εἰς τὴν γῆν ἀναλυομένου, ἡ ψυχὴ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐπανέρχεται, τῶν βεβιωμένων τοὺς λόγους ἀποδώσουσα, ὃς ἐποίησεν αὐτήν. Οὐ γὰρ ἀπὸ γῆς ἡ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ψυχή· ἀλλ' ὡς αὐτὸς οἶδε μόνος ὁ ταύτης ∆ημιουργὸς, καὶ συνίσταται, καὶ συνδεσμεῖται τῷ χοϊκῷ τούτῳ σώματι, ὡσπεροῦν καὶ ἐξάγεται ὑπὸ μόνου τοῦ συνδήσαντος. "Ματαιότης ματαιοτήτων, εἶπεν ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστὴς, τὰ πάντα ματαιότης· καὶ περισσὸν ὅτι ἐγένετο Ἐκκλησιαστὴς σοφὸς, καὶ ὅτι ἐδίδασκε γνῶσιν σὺν τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Καὶ οὗς ἐξιχνιάσεται κόσμιον παραβολῶν." Τὸν πολλάκις ἀνωτέρω λόγον ἀναλαμβάνει, καὶ ἀποφαίνεται τὰ ἐν κόσμῳ πάντα ματαιότητα· καί φησιν, ὅτι τοῦτο περισσὸν ἔσχεν ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστὴς, ἀντὶ τοῦ, κατεξαίρετον καὶ ἴδιον, κτῆμα τῆς σοφίας· κτῆμα γὰρ ὄντως μόνου τοῦ σοφοῦ ἡ σοφία. Καὶ ὅτι ἐσχηκὼς ταύτην ἐφθόνησε τοῖς λοιποῖς ἀνθρώποις· ἀλλ' ἅπερ ἔμαθε ἐξ αὐτῆς, ταῦτα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις παρέδωκε· τήν τε γνῶσιν δηλαδὴ τῶν τε αἰσθητῶν καὶ νοητῶν. Εἶτά φησι, Καὶ ὁ ἔχων οὖς κεκαθαρμένον, δηλονότι οἷος ἦν ὁ λέγων, Προσέθηκέ μοι ὠτὶ τοῦ ἀκούειν, δύναται ἀνιχνεύειν τὰ κόσμια ἐν Παραβολαῖς λεγόμενα. Ἢ καὶ οὕτως· Ὁ ἔχων κόσμιον οὖς, κεχρυσωμένον ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου, οἷον ἦν τὸ τῆς Ῥεβέκκας, τὸ δεξάμενον τὰ ἐνώτια τοῦ παιδὸς Ἀβραὰμ, δύναται ἀκούειν τὰ παραβολικῶς λεγόμενα. "Πολλὰ ἐζήτησεν ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστὴς τοῦ εὑρεῖν λόγους θελήματος, καὶ γεγραμμένους εὐθύτητος λόγους ἀληθείας. Λόγοι σοφῶν ὡς τὰ βούκεντρα. καὶ ὡς ἧλοι πεπυρωμένοι, οἳ παρὰ τῶν συνταγμάτων ἐδόθη 93.624 σαν, ἐκ ποιμένος ἑνός· καὶ περισσὸν ἐξ αὐτῶν." Λόγους θελήματος φησὶ τοὺς τοῦ θελήματος τοῦ Θεοῦ, καθ' οὓς πολιτευόμενος ἄνθρωπος τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς ἐπιλαμβάνεται· ἢ καὶ τοὺς μυστηριώδεις λόγους, περὶ ὧν ἔφησε ἐν ψαλμοῖς ὁ Σωτὴρ, Τοῦ ποιῆσαι, ὦ Θεὸς, τὸ θέλημά σου ἐβουλήθην. Θέλημα δὲ ἦν τοῦ Πατρὸς ἡ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς ἐνανθρώπησις. Τοῦ θείου τοίνυν βουλήματος τοὺς λόγους, καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς σοφίας, ἥ τις εὐθύτης καὶ ἀλήθεια καλεῖται, ἐκ τῶν γεγραμμένων παρὰ τοῖς προφήταις, ἀνεζήτουν, φησίν· οὐ γὰρ ἀπλῶς θελῆσαι δεῖ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ πολὺ ζητῆσαι. Ὁ γὰρ ζητῶν εὑρίσκει, καὶ τῷ κρούοντι ἀνοιγήσεται. Ταῦτα οὖν ζητῶν ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστὴς, ἔγνω ὅτι οἱ λόγοι τῶν θεοσεβῶν ἐοίκασι βουκέντροις. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὰ βούκεντρα πλήττουσι τοὺς βόας, ἐπὶ τῷ τὴν αὔλακα τῷ ἀρότρῳ τέμνειν· οὕτω καὶ οἱ τῶν θεοσόφων ἀνδρῶν λόγοι διεγείρουσιν ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἐπ' ἐλπίδι ἀροτριῶντας, ἀνατέμνειν τῆς ψυχῆς τὴν αὔλακα, καὶ διακαθαίρειν, καὶ καταφυτεύειν τὰ καλὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς μοσχεύματα. Ἐοίκασι δὲ καὶ ἥλοις πεπυρωμένοις, οἵ τινες βαθύτερον καὶ εὐμαρέστερον τοῖς ξύλοις προσπήγνυνται· οὕτω καὶ οἱ τούτων λόγοι εἰς τὸ βαθὺ τῆς διανοίας ἡμῶν ἐγκαταπήγνυνται. Οὗτοι δὲ οἱ λόγοι, φησὶν, παρὰ τῶν συνταγμάτων ἐδόθησαν· ἕτερα δὲ βιβλία παρὰ τῶν συνθεσμάτων ἔχουσι. Συντάγματα δὲ νόει, ἢ συνθέσματα, τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ποιήματα, τὰ ἀκροφυῶς συντεταγμένα, καὶ ἐναρμονίως συντεθέντα, ἐξ ὧν ἀναλόγως τὸν γενεσιουργὸν αὐτῶν καταλαμβάνομεν· καὶ συντάγματα, τὰς δύο ∆ιαθήκας, Παλαιὰν καὶ Καινήν. Πόθεν δὲ ἡμῖν ἡ γνῶσις ἐδόθη τῆς τῶν αἰσθητῶν θεωρίας, καὶ τῆς τῶν νοητῶν καταλήψεως; Ἐκ ποιμένος ἑνός. Ποίου ποιμένος; τοῦ καὶ τὰ ἐν οὐρανοῖς, καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς λογικὰ ποιμαίνοντος, τοῦ φήσαντος· Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός. Ἀλλὰ, Καὶ περισσὸν, φησὶ, ἐξ αὑτῶν. Ποῖον τὸ περισσόν; ἐκ τῆς τούτων γνώσεως, ὅτι ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομοῦμεν, ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸν ἀξιούμεθα τὸν καλὸν Ποιμένα ἔχειν διδάσκαλον, καὶ ὅτι οἱ ταύτης τῆς γνώσεως ἐν τῷδε τῷ βίῳ καταξιωθέντες, καὶ τῆς τελείας γνώσεως ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι καταξιοῦνται, καθαροὶ καθαρῶς ὑπὸ τῆς ἁγίας καὶ ὁμοουσίου Τριάδος ἐλλαμπόμενοι. "Υἱὲ, φυλάσσου τοῦ ποιῆσαι βιβλία πολλὰ, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι περασμός· καὶ μελέτη πολλὴ, κόπωσις σαρκός." Πολλὰ βιβλία, καὶ λόγοι πολλοὶ οἱ μὴ πρὸς τὸν αὐτὸν σκοπὸν νενευκότες, οἱ τοιοῦτοι λόγοι καὶ ὀχληροὶ τυγχάνουσιν. Ὅταν μὲν γάρ τις τὸν περὶ