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that the rational man questions the deaf man, becoming a partaker of deadness through disobedience. For if you should go to an oracle, or use purifications, or such things, know that you have gone to the dead. 1996 But having the word of God and the evangelical law, do not be overly concerned about the future; but arrange present things for what is useful. For you received the law for help, having a great natural aptitude for the good innate within you; and God, perfecting this, added for you the guidance from the law. But if you wish to be persuaded about future things, do the things ordained according to the law, and await the enjoyment of good things. But this law, he says, is not like this word of the ventriloquist. For it has not been devised for deceit for the sake of profit, but is a teacher of truth set forth freely for all, according to the voice of Isaiah that says: 'You who are thirsty, go to the water; and as many as have no money, go and buy without money and price.' For one gift is worthy of us, the keeping of the given law. But there they often sell the oracles which they fabricate for deception. But if you do not pay attention to this law of God, a harsh famine will come upon you. For in this way God instructs towards conversion. For I afflicted you, he says, and made you hungry, that I might do you good. But the famine is either of grain only, or also of other foods. As it is reasonably called harsh, being inconsolable, through which He wills to cause grief leading to a salvation that brings no regret. But perhaps for those who have fallen from the divine law, a harsh famine is brought on, not of bread, nor of water, but of hearing the word of the Lord. For this is the bread from heaven giving life to the world. But Symmachus rendered it thus: And he shall pass through it stumbled, and shall be hungry. And it shall be that when he is hungry and provoked, he will curse his king. For one who has transgressed the divine law and been scandalized by the deceit of the demons promising foreknowledge, will have a famine of rational nourishment, and ecstasy and provocation, so as to blaspheme his own king of old. But according to the Seventy, the ruler and the ancestral traditions; for since the Ecclesiastical ordinances handed down to us by the Fathers have nothing venerable, they will speak ill of them, and of Christ who guided them, whom also intelligible darkness will overtake, as they have turned away from the light of the Gospels. But some, taking these, about whom the discourse is now, as having been benefited by the famine for their conversion, say that they repent, blaspheming the ruler of this world, having gained a perception of the harm from him. And the ancestral traditions of those living in sins are the pursuits of this life, the works of the flesh, by living with which they turned away from the divine law. And such a one is blessed. For he will find the true ruler and homeland, Jerusalem, who will also look up to heaven above, having been formerly stooped and unable to comprehend the high 1997 divine contemplations; but now having dissolved the bond to earthly things, and contemplating the nature of intelligible things, and the place where it will be necessary to lay up the treasure. And they will also look upon the earth, the lowliness of their own nature from its kinship with the earth, they who were formerly puffed up and proud of themselves. And in wonder at such great things they are perplexed, distressed [and] troubled by the astonishment of what has been comprehended. 'For when a man has finished,' it says, 'then he begins; and when he ceases, then he will be at a loss.' For no one knows how much he does not know, unless he gets a taste of knowledge. According to that, 'I said, I will be wise, and it was far from me.' Nevertheless, the good God promises better things to them. For he who is in distress, it says, will not be at a loss until the time. This very ignorance will not hold the race of men completely. For he who now is in travail to find the truth, will one day see face to face, whenever the time of the restoration of all things arrives, which is indicated by 'until the time.' But some say that from the words 'a harsh famine will come upon you,' there is a turning to the nation of the Jews, who the law

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ὅτι τὸν κωφὸν ὁ λογικὸς ἐρωτᾷ γιγνόμενος κοινωνὸς διὰ τῆς παρακοῆς τῆς νεκρώσεως. Εἰ γὰρ χωροίης εἰς μαντεῖον, ἢ χρήσαιο καθαρμοῖς, ἢ τοῖς τοιούτοις, ἴσθι πρὸς νεκροὺς ἀπελθών. 1996 Ἔχων δὲ τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγον καὶ νόμον τὸν εὐαγγελικὸν, μὴ πολυπραγμόνει τὸ μέλλον· τὰ δὲ παρόντα πρὸς τὸ χρήσιμον διατίθεσο. Νόμον γὰρ εἰς βοήθειαν ἔλαβες, ἔχων μὲν μεγάλην ἐνυπάρχουσαν ἐκ φύσεως πρὸς τὸ καλὸν ἐπιτηδειότητα· ταύτην δὲ τελειῶν ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου σοι χειραγωγίαν προσέθηκεν. Εἰ δὲ βούλει περὶ τῶν μελλόντων πεπεῖσθαι, ποίει τὰ διατεταγμένα κατὰ τὸν νόμον, καὶ ἀνάμεινον τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν. Οὗτος δὲ ὁ νόμος οὐκ ἔστι, φησὶν, ὡς τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο τοῦ ἐγγαστριμύθου. Οὐ γὰρ πρὸς ἀπάτην κέρδους χάριν ἐπινενόηται, ἀλλ' ἀληθείας ἐστὶ διδάσκαλος πᾶσι προῖκα προκείμενος, κατὰ τὴν λέγουσαν Ἡσαΐου φωνήν· "Οἱ διψῶντες, πορεύεσθε ἐφ' ὕδωρ· καὶ ὅσοι μὴ ἔχοντες ἀργύριον, βαδίσαντες ἀγοράσατε ἄνευ ἀργυρίου καὶ τιμῆς." Ἓν γὰρ δῶρον τοῦ καθ' ἡμᾶς ἄξιον, νόμου τοῦ δοθέντος ἡ φυλακή. Ἐκεῖ δὲ πιπράσκουσι πολλάκις οὓς ἀναπλάττουσι πρὸς ἀπάτην χρησμούς. Εἰ δὲ τούτῳ τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ μὴ προσέχητε, ἥξει σκληρὰ λιμὸς ἐφ' ὑμᾶς. Παιδαγωγεῖ γὰρ οὕτω πρὸς ἐπιστροφὴν ὁ Θεός. Ἐκάκωσα γάρ σε, φησὶν, καὶ ἐλιμαγχόνησα, ἵνα εὖ σε ποιήσω. Ἀλλ' ὁ λιμὸς ἢ σίτου μόνον ἐστὶν, ἢ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐδωδίμων. Ὡς λέγεται σκληρὸς εἰκότως ἀπαραμύθητος ὢν, δι' οὗ λύπην ἐθέλει ποιεῖν εἰς σωτηρίαν ἀμεταμέλητον. Τάχα δὲ τοῖς ἐκπεσοῦσι τοῦ θείου νόμου λιμὸς σκληρὸς ἐπιφέρεται οὐκ ἄρτου, οὔτε ὕδατος, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἀκούειν λόγον Κυρίου. Οὗτος γὰρ ἄρτος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ζωὴν διδοὺς τῷ κόσμῳ. Ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος οὕτως ἐξέδωκεν· Καὶ παρελεύσεται ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐσκανδαλισμένος, καὶ πεινάσει. Ἔσται δὲ ὅταν πεινάσῃ καὶ παροξυνθῇ, καὶ καταράσεται βασιλέα ἑαυτοῦ. Παραβὰς γάρ τις τὸν θεῖον νόμον καὶ σκανδαλισθεὶς ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν δαιμόνων ἀπάτης πρόγνωσιν ἐπαγγελλομένης, λιμὸν ἕξει τροφῶν λογικῶν, ἔκστασίν τε καὶ παροξυσμὸν, ὡς τὸν πάλαι βασιλέα βλασφημεῖν ἑαυτοῦ. Κατὰ δὲ τοὺς Ἑβδομήκοντα, τὸν ἄρχοντα καὶ τὰ πάτρια· ὡς γὰρ μηδὲν σεμνὸν τῶν Ἐκκλησιαστικῶν ἐχόντων θεσμῶν τῶν Πατρόθεν ἡμῖν παραδεδομένων, αὐτά τε κακῶς ἐροῦσι, καὶ Χριστὸν τὸν τούτων καθηγησάμενον, οὓς καὶ σκότος τὸ νοητὸν διαδέξεται τῶν Εὐαγγελίων ἀποστραφέντας τὸ φῶς. Τινὲς δὲ τούτους, τοὺς περὶ ὧν νῦν ὁ λόγος, ὠφελημένους, ἐκ τοῦ λιμοῦ πρὸς ἐπιστροφὴν ἐκλαβόντες, φασὶν αὐτοὺς μετανοεῖν, βλασφημοῦντας τοῦ κόσμου τούτου τὸν ἄρχοντα, τῆς ἐξ αὐτοῦ βλάβης λαβόντα συναίσθησιν. Πάτρια δὲ τῶν ἐν ἁμαρτίαις ζώντων αἱ τοῦ βίου πραγματεῖαι, τὰ ἔργα τῆς σαρκὸς, οἷς συζῶντες τὸν θεῖον ἀπεστρέφοντο νόμον. Ὁ δὲ τοιοῦτος μακάριος. Εὑρήσει γὰρ τὸν ἀληθινὸν ἄρχοντα καὶ πατρίδα τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, οἵ τινες καὶ ἀναβλέψονται εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἄνω, συγκύπτοντες πάλαι καὶ τὰ ὑψηλὰ κατανοεῖν οὐ δυνάμενοι τῶν 1997 θείων θεωρημάτων· νῦν δὲ τὸν πρὸς τὰ γήϊνα δεσμὸν διαλύσαντες, καὶ τῶν νοητῶν θεωροῦντες τὴν φύσιν, καὶ τὸν τόπον, ἔνθα δεήσει τὸν θησαυρὸν ἀποτίθεσθαι. Ἐμβλέψονται δὲ καὶ εἰς τὴν γῆν, τὸ εὐτελὲς τῆς ἑαυτῶν φύσεως ἐκ τῆς πρὸς τὴν γῆν συγγενείας, οἱ τέως ἐπηρμένοι καὶ φρονοῦντες ἐφ' ἑαυτοῖς. Ἐπὶ δὲ θαύματι τῶν τηλικούτων ἀποροῦντες στενοχωρούμενοι [καὶ] τῇ τῶν κατειλημμένων ἐκπλήξει τεταραγμένοι. "Ὅταν γὰρ συντελέσῃ, φησὶν, ἄνθρωπος, τότε ἄρχεται· καὶ ὅταν παύσηται, τότε ἀπορηθήσεται." Οὐδεὶς γὰρ οἶδεν πόσα οὐκ οἶδεν, ἐὰν μὴ γεῦμα λάβῃ τῆς γνώσεως. Κατὰ τὸ, "Εἶπα, Σοφισθήσομαι, καὶ αὐτὴ ἐμακρύνθη ἀπ' ἐμοῦ." Πλὴν ὁ ἀγαθὸς Θεὸς ἐπαγγέλλεται τούτοις χρηστότερα. Οὐκ ἀπορηθήσεται γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ ἐν στενοχωρίᾳ ὢν ἕως καιροῦ. Οὐκ εἰς τὸ παντελὲς αὐτὴ ἡ ἄγνοια τῶν ἀνθρώπων καθέξει τὸ γένος. Ὁ γὰρ νῦν τῆς ἀληθείας ὠδίνων τὴν εὕρεσιν, ὄψεταί ποτε πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον, ἐπειδ' ἂν ἐνστῇ ὁ καιρὸς τῆς τῶν ὅλων ἀποκαταστάσεως, ὃ δηλοῖ τὸ ἕως καιροῦ. Τινὲς δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἥξει εἰς ὑμᾶς σκληρὰ λιμὸς, ἀποστροφὴν εἶναι πρὸς τὸ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνος φασὶν, οἳ τὸν νόμον