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they appear to the timid, but are formed differently toward others. But often even the virtuous conceal themselves, not out of malice, but that they may accommodate themselves to the weak, as he says: "I gave you milk to drink, not solid food." and he "spoke wisdom" "among the perfect," "becoming a Jew to the Jews and lawless to the lawless," not appearing as such to Timothy or to the evangelist Luke. But the judges of the devil must be understood as the demons under him. But if not he, who is it? If it is not the impious one who does these things, who laughs at the virtuous, who covers the faces of his judges according to the former interpretation, who else is it? It can also be understood this way: if he were not daringly "transformed" also "into an angel of light" and was altogether varied in his wickedness, what would he be, appearing openly? -instead of: contemptible and nothing. But his complexity harms those who fall under his power. But my life is swifter than a run255ner. The runner, by his speed, will seem not to touch the earth, but to be as a bird. My life, therefore, is swifter than a runner; for I look to the things above, "running thus, not as uncertainly," not stumbling on the earth. But out of longing for the goal, the righteous, even if they should stumble—for instance, even if they should be in afflictions—have an uninterrupted course. Thus David also ran, saying: "Without iniquity I ran and directed my course," and "I ran the way of your commandments, when you enlarged my heart." They have fled away and have not seen; or is there a trace of a ship's path or of a flying eagle seeking prey? He suggests that we understand that the life of the righteous, being swifter than a runner, the judges, whose faces their ruler covers, fleeing in fear of the righteous one, do not see the success of his course; for they are not worthy. But if he also says this concerning the righteous, that having fled the judges according to "but leap away, do not tarry in the place," they did not see because of the swiftness of virtue, pay attention, and if it is fitting to connect to this the saying, "When the wicked one turned from me, I did not know him." But consider if also a third meaning can be stated, as in a diffi256culty, derived from another saying found in Amos the prophet, the second of the twelve. To those who are wanton and pleasure-loving and who rejoice in this very thing, the pleasures of life, he says: "those who sleep on ivory beds, who are wanton on their couches, who clap to the sounds of instruments and anoint themselves with the finest ointments, who drink refined wine, they considered it as something stationary, not as something fleeting." For they thought the pleasures of life to be lasting and present and uninterrupted. He says, therefore, that those who admire a life of ease, such as being healthy, being wealthy, being in authority, do not reckon that these things flee away in such a way that they do not perceive them, just as it is not possible to discern the way "of a ship sailing the sea" or of an eagle flying swiftly because it is seeking prey. And in reality, pleasures and human things have a swift passing, as one can learn from what was said concerning wealth, when the psalmist says: "Fear not, when a man becomes rich and when the glory of his house is multiplied, for in his dying he will not take everything, nor will the glory of his house descend with him 257." For if I should speak, I will forget to speak; having bowed my face, I will groan. A mark of magnanimity is revealed in these things. For he says that even if, having received some notion of unpleasant things, I should say something about them, I immediately forget, not being enslaved to them, but devoting myself to the contemplation of virtue. Similar to this is what is said by David, that "I forgot to eat my bread." For the memory of divine and heavenly things produces forgetfulness of the things that drag one down from them. But if I also groan, he says, doing this while bowing my face, by which in a way he shows worship toward God; and if _6_α6 he should say grievous things to his own heart,

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εἰσιν φαινόμενοι τοῖς δειλοῖς, πρὸς ἑτέρους δὲ ἄλλως σχηματιζόμενοι. καλύπτουσιν δὲ ἑαυτοὺς πολλάκις καὶ οἱ σπουδαῖοι οὐ διὰ κακουργίαν, ἀλλ' ἵνα ἁρμόσωνται πρὸς τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς, καθὸ λέγει· "γάλα ὑμᾶς ἐπότισα, οὐ βρῶμα." καὶ "σοφίαν" μὲν "ἐν τοῖς τελείοις ἐλάλει", "γενόμενος Ἰουδαίοις Ἰουδαῖος καὶ ἀνόμοις ἄνομος", οὐκ ἂν Τιμοθέῳ ἢ τῷ εὐαγγελιστῇ Λουκᾷ τοιοῦτος φαινόμενος. κριτὰς δὲ διαβόλου τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτὸν δαίμονας ἐκδεκτέον. εἰ δὲ μὴ αὐτός, τίς ἐστιν; εἰ μὴ ὁ ἀσεβής ἐστιν ὁ ταῦτα ποιῶν, ὁ καταγελῶν τῶν σπουδαίων, ὁ συνκαλύπτων τὰ πρόσωπα τῶν κριτῶν αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὴν προτέραν ἐκδοχήν, τίς ἐστιν ἕτερος; δύναται καὶ οὕτως· εἰ μὴ "μετεσχηματίζετο" τολμηρῶς καὶ "εἰς ἄγγελον φωτὸς" καὶ ὅλως ποικίλος ἦν τῇ κακία, τίς ἂν ἦν αὐτὸς φανερῶς φαι νόμενος; -ἀντὶ τοῦ· εὐτελὴς καὶ τὸ μηδέν. τὸ δὲ πολύπλοκον αὐτοῦ λυμαίνεται τοὺς ὑποπίπτοντας αὐτῷ. ὁ δὲ βίος μού ἐστιν ἐλαφρότερος δρο255 μέως. ὁ δρομεὺς ταχυτῆτι δόξει μὴ ἐπιψαύειν τῆς γῆς, ἀλλ' ὡς πτηνὸν εἶναι. ὁ βίος μου οὖν δρομέως ἐστὶν ἐλαφρότερος· τὰ γὰρ ἄνω σκοπῶ "οὕτω τρέχων ὡς οὐκ ἀδήλως", οὐ προσπταίων τῇ γῇ. πόθῳ δὲ τοῦ σκοποῦ οἱ δίκαιοι, κἂν προσπταίσωσιν-οἷον κἂν ἐν θλίψεσιν γένωνται-, ἀδιάκοπον ἔχουσι τὸν δρόμον. οὕτω καὶ ∆αυὶδ ἔτρεχεν λέγων· "ἄνευ ἀνομίας ἔδραμον καὶ κατηύθυνα," καὶ "ὁδὸν ἐντολῶν σου ἔδραμον, ὅταν ἐπλάτυνας τὴν καρδίαν μου." ἀπέδρασαν καὶ οὐκ εἴδοσαν· ἦ καὶ ἔστιν ναυσὶν ἴχνος ὁδοῦ ἢ ἀετοῦ πεταμένου ζητοῦντος βοράν; ὑποβάλλει νοεῖν, ὅτι τὸν τοῦ δικαίου βίον ἐλαφρότερον ὑπάρχοντα δρομέως οἱ κριταί, ὧν τὰ πρόσωπα συνκαλύπτει ὁ ἐξάρχων αὐτῶν, ἀποδιδράσκοντες τῷ φόβῳ τοῦ δικαίου οὐχ ὁρῶσιν αὐτοῦ τὴν τοῦ δρόμου κατόρθωσιν· οὐ γὰρ ἄ ξιοί εἰσιν. εἰ δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν δικαίων τοῦτό φησιν, ὅτι τοὺς κριτὰς ἀποδράσαντες κατὰ τὸ "ἀλλὰ ἀποπήδησον, μὴ ἐνχρονίσῃς ἐν τῷ τόπῳ" οὐκ εἶδον τῇ ὀξύτητι τῆς ἀρετῆς, ἐπίστησον, καὶ εἰ καίριόν ἐστιν συμβαλεῖν τούτῳ τὸ "ἐκκλίνοντος ἀπ' ἐμοῦ τοῦ πονηροῦ οὐκ ἐγίγνωσκον." κατανόησον δέ, εἰ καὶ τρίτη διάνοια ὡς ἐν δυσ256 χωρίᾳ λεχθῆναι δύναται ἀπὸ ἄλλου ῥητοῦ συνισταμένου ἐν Ἀμὼς τῷ προφήτῃ τῷ δευτέρῳ τῶν δώδεκα. πρὸς τοὺς σπαταλῶντας καὶ φιληδόνους καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο χαίροντας τοῖς ἡδέσιν τοῦ βίου λέγει· "οἱ καθεύδοντες ἐπὶ κλινῶν ἐλεφαντίνων, οἱ σπαταλῶντες ἐπὶ τῶν στρωμνῶν αὐτῶν, οἱ ἐπικροτοῦντες πρὸς τὰς φωνὰς τῶν ὀργάνων καὶ τὰ πρῶτα μύρα χριόμενοι, οἱ πίνοντες τὸν διυλισμένον οἶνον ὡς ἑστῶτα ἐλογίσαντο, οὐχ ὡς φεύγοντα." ἐνόμισαν γὰρ τὰ τοῦ βίου ἡδέα παράμονα εἶναι καὶ ἐφεστηκότα καὶ ἀδιάλειπτα εἶναι. λέγει οὖν, ὅτι οἱ θαυμάζοντες τὴν εὐπάθειαν, οἷον τὸ ὑγιαίνειν, τὸ πλουτεῖν, τ»ὸ» ἄρ χειν, οὐ λογίζονται, ὅτι ἀποδιδ»ρ»άσκουσιν οὕτως ταῦτα, ὥστε μὴ γνῶναι αὐτούς, καθὰ οὐδὲ "νεὼς ποντοπορούσης" ἔστιν διαγνῶναι ὁδὸν ἢ ἀετοῦ πετομένου ὀξέως διὰ τὸ ζητεῖν βοράν. καὶ τῷ ὄντι ταχεῖαν ἔχει τὴν πάροδον τὰ ἡδέα καὶ ἀνθρώπινα, ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ περὶ τοῦ πλούτου εἰρημένου ἔστιν μαθεῖν λέγοντος τοῦ ψαλμῳδοῦ· "μὴ φοβοῦ, ὅταν πλουτήσῃ ἄνθρωπος καὶ ὅταν πληθυνθῇ ἡ δόξα τοῦ οἴκου αὐτοῦ, ὅτι οὐκ ἐν τῷ ἀποθνῄσκειν αὐτὸν λήμψεται τὰ πάντα οὐδὲ συνκαταβήσεται αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα τοῦ οἴκου 257 αὐτοῦ." ἐάν τε γὰρ εἴπω, ἐπιλήσομαι λαλῶν, συνκύψας τῷ προσώπῳ στενάξω. μεγαλοψυχίας γνώρισμα ἐν τούτοις ὑποφαίνεται. φησὶν γάρ, ὅτι καὶ ἐάν τινα τῶν ἀηδ̣ω῀̣ν ἔννοιαν δεξάμενος εἴπω τι περὶ αὐτῶν, εὐθὺς ἐπιλανθάνομαι οὐ δουλούμενος αὐτῇς̣, ἀλλὰ τῇ θεωρίᾳ τῆς ἀρετῆς σχολάζων. τούτῳ ὅμοιον τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ ∆αυὶδ λεγόμενον, ὅτι "ἐπελαθόμην τοῦ φαγεῖν τὸν ἄρτον μου". ἡ γὰρ τῶν θείων καὶ οὐρανίων μνήμη λήθην ἐμποιεῖ τῶν κατασπώντων ἀπ' αὐτῶν. εἰ δὲ καὶ στενάζω, φησίν, ποιῶν τοῦτο συνκύπτων τῷ προσώπῳ, δι' οὗ τρόπον τινὰ τὴν πρὸς θεὸν ἐπιδείκνυται προσκύνησιν· καὶ ἂν _6_α6 λέγειν αὐτὸν ποιῇ τὰ ἀνιαρὰ πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ καρδίαν,