,

of different contemplationsFor Amos is said to be "a people's labor," as was previously rendered, since therefore, as has been said, the meaning of the names has this power, every philosopher and pious person, evidently, being guarded by virtue and knowledge or by practice and contemplation, whenever he sees the evil power rising up against him through the passions, just as the king of the Assyrians did against Hezekiah, has one help for the dissolution of evils, God, whom he propitiates by crying out without speaking through the greater intensity according to virtue and knowledge, and receives for an alliance, or rather for salvation, an angel, that is, a greater logos of wisdom and knowledge, who exterminates every mighty man and warrior and ruler and general in the camp of the king of Assyria, and turns him back with shame of face to his own land.

The evil and destructive kingdom of the devil, typified by the kingdom of the Assyrians, gathering together the war against virtue and knowledge towards men, contrives to rout the soul through their innate powers, first by stirring up the desire to an appetite for things contrary to nature and persuading it to prefer sensible things to intelligible ones, then by arousing the spirited part to fight for the sensible thing chosen by the desire, and teaching the rational part to devise the ways of pleasures according to the senses, and ordaining that sensible things should rule these powers, that is, that the law of dust should be master of the powers of the soul.

Therefore, Scripture has called "mighty man" the evil demon who presides over desire and inflames it towards the unseemly appetites for shameful pleasures; for nothing is more powerful or more violent than natural appetite. And it has named "warrior" the demon who sits upon the spirited part and prepares it to fight unceasingly for pleasures. And it has named "ruler" the one who invisibly attaches himself to the surfaces of sensible things and deceitfully (14B_366> calls forth the soul's appetites toward himself through each sense; and the account has called this one "ruler," since a suitable sensible thing is by nature the ruler of every passion; for without some underlying object that stirs the powers of the soul toward itself through some sense, a passion could never be formed. And it has said "general" is the demon who misuses the power of the soul's rational faculty for the contrivance of evils and the discovery of all the methods of vice.

And the "face" of the devil is the smoothness of pleasure, through which he is accustomed to rule every soul that tolerates him and prefers the alluring sensible objects of the senses to the contemplation of intelligible things which enriches the mind; which face he who through prayer has received from God the logos of wisdom that exterminates every evil power puts to shame, that is, the logos which is completely destructive of the evil tyranny that troubles the soul. For "he exterminated," says the account, and not "he wore away." For the "wearing away" is the nullification of impassioned action in actuality alone, but the "extermination" is the complete annihilation of evil movements in thought as well.

And the "country" of the king of Assyria, I mean of the evil and arch-evil demon, is the firm and precipitous disposition of vice and ignorance, which is deprived of all the vital warmth according to virtue and of all the noetic light according to knowledge, to which the devil alone is turned back, when after the trial of his assault he has been unable to resettle into his own disposition Jerusalem, that is, the God-loving and most dispassionate soul, which has in itself both the perfect logos of practice, like Hezekiah, and the illumined mind of knowledge, like Isaiah, propitiating God and, through an angel, annihilating the evil power.

I, for my part, have thus understood these passages according to the ability I possess. But if anyone is able to interpret what has been said in a loftier way, he does a favor both to himself and to us,

διαφόρων θεωρημάτωνΑμὼς γὰρ λαοῦ πόνος λέγεται, καθὼς προαπεδόθη, ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν, καθὼς εἴρηται, ταύτην ἔχει τῶν ὀνομάτων ἡ σημασία τὴν δύναμιν, πᾶς δηλονότι φιλόσοφος καὶ εὐσεβής, ἀρετῇ καὶ γνώσει ἢ πράξει καὶ θεωρίᾳ φρουρούμενος, ἐπειδὰν ἴδῃ διὰ τῶν παθῶν ἐπαναστᾶσαν αὐτῷ τὴν πονηρὰν δύναμιν, καθάπερ τῷ Ἐζεκίᾳ τῶν Ἀσσυρίων ὁ βασιλεύς, μίαν ἔχει πρὸς τὴν τῶν κακῶν λύσιν βοήθειαν τὸν Θεόν, ὃν ἱλεοῦται βοῶν ἀλαλήτως διὰ τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ τὴν γνῶσιν πλείονος ἐπιτάσεως, καὶ δέχεται πρὸς συμμαχίαν, μᾶλλον δὲ πρὸς σωτηρίαν, ἄγγελον, δηλονότι μείζονα σοφίας καὶ γνώσεως λόγον, ἐκτρίβοντα πάντα δυνατὸν καὶ πολεμιστὴν καὶ ἄρχοντα καὶ στρατηγὸν ἐν τῇ παρεμβολῇ βασιλέως Ἀσσούρ, καὶ ἀποστρέφοντα αὐτὸν μετ᾽ αἰσχύνης προσώπου εἰς τὴν γῆν αὐτοῦ.

Ἡ πονηρὰ καὶ ὀλέθριος τοῦ διαβόλου βασιλεία, διὰ τῆς Ἀσσυρίων τυπουμένη βασιλείας, τὸν κατὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς καὶ τῆς γνώσεως πρὸς ἀνθρώπους συναγείρουσα πόλεμον, διὰ τῶν αὐτοῖς ἐμφύτων δυνάμεων τροποῦσθαι μηχανᾶται τὴν ψυχήν, τὴν μὲν ἐπιθυμίαν πρῶτον εἰς ὄρεξιν τῶν παρὰ φύσιν διερεθίζουσα καὶ τὰ αἰσθητὰ τῶν νοητῶν προτιμᾶν ἀναπείθουσα, τὸν δὲ θυμὸν ὑπεραγωνίζεσθαι τοῦ αἱρεθέντος ὑπὸ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας αἰσθητοῦ διεγείρουσα, τὸ δὲ λογικὸν τοὺς τρόπους ἐπινοεῖν τῶν κατ᾽ αἴσθησιν ἡδονῶν ἐκδιδάσκουσα, καὶ τούτων ἄρχειν τῶν δυνάμεων τὰ αἰσθητά, ἤγουν τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς δυνάμεων κυριεύειν τὸν χοϊκὸν χειροτονοῦσα νόμον.

∆υνατὸν οὖν ἐκάλεσεν ἡ Γραφὴ τὸν ἐπικείμενον τῆς ἐπιθυμίας πονηρὸν δαίμονα καὶ πρὸς τὰς τῶν αἰσχρῶν ἡδονῶν ἀπρεπεῖς ὀρέξεις αὐτὴν ἐκκαίοντα· οὐδὲν γὰρ φυσικῆς ὀρέξεώς ἐστι δυνατώτερον ἢ βιαιότερον. Πολεμιστὴν δὲ τὸν ἐπικαθήμενον τῷ θυμικῷ καὶ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἡδονῶν ἀπαύστως μάχεσθαι παρασκευάζοντα προσηγόρευσε δαίμονα. Ἄρχοντα δὲ τὸν ταῖς ἐπιφανείαις τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἀοράτως ἐπιφυόμενον καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν τὰς ὀρέξεις τῆς ψυχῆς δι᾽ ἑκάστης αἰσθήσεως ἀπατηλῶς (14Β_366> ἐκκαλούμενον ὠνόμασεν· ἄρχοντα δὲ τοῦτον κέκληκεν ὁ λόγος, ἐπειδὴ παντὸς πέφυκεν ἄρχειν πάθους τὸ προσφυὲς αἰσθητόν· ἄνευ γάρ τινος ὑποκειμένου καὶ τὰς δυνάμεις τῆς ψυχῆς διὰ μέσης τινὸς αἰσθήσεως ἐπικινοῦντος πρὸς ἑαυτὸ πάθος οὐκ ἂν συσταίη ποτέ. Στρατηγὸν δὲ τὸν τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς λογιστικοῦ καταχρώμενον εἶπε δαίμονα πρὸς ἐπίνοιαν κακῶν καὶ ἐξεύρεσιν πασῶν τῶν κατὰ κακίαν μεθόδων.

Πρόσωπον δὲ τοῦ διαβόλου τὸ λεῖον ὑπάρχει τῆς ἡδονῆς, δι᾽ οὗ πάσης ἀνεχομένης αὐτοῦ ψυχῆς πέφυκε δυναστεύειν καὶ τὰ θελκτικὰ τῶν αἰσθήσεων αἰσθητὰ τῆς τὸν νοῦν πιαινούσης τῶν νοητῶν θεωρίας προτιμώσης· ὅπερ πρόσωπον καταισχύνει ὁ διὰ προσευχῆς τὸν ἐκτρίβοντα πᾶσαν πονηρὰν δύναμιν παρὰ Θεοῦ κομισάμενος τῆς σοφίας λόγον, τουτέστι τὸν τελείως ἀφανιστικὸν τῆς διοχλούσης τῇ ψυχῇ πονηρᾶς τυραννίδος. Ἐξέτριψε γάρ, φησὶν ὁ λόγος, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἔτριψεν. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ τρίψις τῆς ἐμπαθοῦς κατ᾽ ἐνέργειαν μόνης ὑπάρχει πράξεως κατάργησις, ἡ δὲ ἔκτριψις καὶ τῶν κατὰ διάνοιαν πονηρῶν κινημάτων παντελής ἐστιν ἀφανισμός.

Ἡ δὲ χώρα τοῦ βασιλέως Ἀσσούρ, λέγω δὲ τοῦ πονηροῦ καὶ ἀρχεκάκου δαίμονος, ἔστιν ἡ στιβαρὰ καὶ ἀπότομος τῆς κακίας καὶ ἀγνωσίας ἕξις, ἡ πάσης τῆς κατ᾽ ἀρετὴν ζωτικῆς θερμότητος καὶ παντὸς τοῦ κατὰ τὴν γνῶσιν νοεροῦ φωτὸς ἐστερημένη, εἰς ἣν μόνος ὁ διάβολος ἀποστρέφεται, μετὰ τὴν πεῖραν τῆς προσβολῆς μὴ δυνηθεὶς μετοικίσαι εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν ἕξιν, τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ, τουτέστι τὴν θεοφιλῆ καὶ ἀπαθεστάτην ψυχήν, ἔχουσαν ἐν ἑαυτῇ τόν τε τῆς πράξεως καθάπερ Ἐζεκίαν τέλειον λόγον καὶ τὸν τῆς γνώσεως καθάπερ Ἡσαΐαν πεφωτισμένον νοῦν, τὸν Θεὸν ἱλεουμένους καὶ δι᾽ ἀγγέλου τὴν πονηρὰν ἐξαφανίζοντας δύναμιν.

Ἐγὼ μὲν οὕτως τοὺς τόπους ἐνόησα κατὰ τὴν ὑποῦσάν μοι δύναμιν. Εἰ δέ τις ὑψηλοτέρως ἐκδέχεσθαι δύναται τὰ εἰρημένα, καὶ ἑαυτῷ καὶ ἡμῖν χαρίζεται,