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meditated on understandings. And their mind was so sharpened to understanding, as to comprehend all the parables of our Savior that are found in the Gospels, even before his explanation. At once, then, after the telling of the parables, the Savior asked them, saying, "Have you understood all these things?" And they say to him, Yes. Therefore their heart meditated on understandings. Then, upon these things, I will open my problem in the 80.1221 psaltery. For I, he says, having sharpened my intellect for the understanding of the saving parables, have been able to follow the meaning contained in them; but for those who are unable to do this on account of their infancy, I will open the hidden things and clarify the problems and the parables; and I will do these things through my psaltery, that is, the bodily instrument, which, being an instrument of the soul dwelling in it, has been given to it in place of a Psaltery, for the hymns to be struck upon it to God and to send them up, moving each sense, and limb and part of the body with knowledge.] Having gone through these things as in a prologue, he begins, then, the exhortation. ʹ. "Why should I fear in the evil day? The iniquity of my heel will surround me." I fear and tremble at the day of retribution, in which the just Judge will repay each according to his works. [Knowing this, you too should take up such a fear before your eyes. For if I, who have been able to say, My mouth will speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart understandings, I will incline my ear to a parable, am after this fearful and trembling; why not you also; And if anyone should ask why I am afraid, let him hear with boldness: there is a certain evil day about which countless things are proclaimed in the prophetic Scriptures] The cause of my fear is my lawless life, on account of which I have been turned from the straight path. For some have called the heel the way of life; but I think it alludes to deceit, by a metaphor from runners, as we have already said before, who often trip up their competitors with the heel. Esau also taught us this, lamenting; For rightly, he says, was his name called Jacob; for he has supplanted me now a second time; he has taken my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing." He called the day of judgment an evil day, according to the custom that prevails among us. For many are accustomed to call a day evil, in which it happens that they fall into some grievous things. [Rightly, therefore, is it so called, as it is a refutation of each one's wickedness; and as bringing punishments upon the ungodly through the wrath that awaits them. For this reason I too, who utter these things, shudder; for the iniquity of my heel in that very evil day will surround me. And the iniquity of the heel has been called the deviation, or rather 80.1224 deceit, of the path along which we traverse the present life.] Thus also the divine Apostle calls the day of judgment; "But according to your hardness and your impenitent heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation and of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one according to his deeds." ζʹ. "Those who trust in their power, and boast in the abundance of their wealth." I indeed, he says, fear and tremble at the expected day; but you who pride yourselves in wealth, take no thought for that day, but vaunting in the arrogance of your abundance, you trust in fleeting things as if they were permanent. ηʹ, θʹ. "A brother does not redeem, will a man redeem? He will not give to God a ransom for himself. And the price of the redemption of his soul." But you should have understood that neither the virtue and piety of ancestors and brothers benefits those who are stripped of them, nor is it possible after the departure from here to procure salvation through money. For during the present life, "a man's ransom," as the Wise one says, "is his own wealth." Having offered this counsel to those who have used wealth badly, he transfers his discourse to the workers of virtue, and says; "And he has toiled for ever. [ιʹ, ιαʹ.] And he will live to the end. He will not see destruction, when he sees wise men

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συνέσεις ἐμελέτα. Οὕτω δὲ αὐτῶν ἠκόνητο πρὸς σύνεσιν ὁ νοῦς, ὡς τὰς παραβολὰς τοῦ Σωτῆ ρος ἡμῶν τὰς ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις φερομένας συνεῖ ναι πάσας, καὶ πρὸ τῆς αὐτοῦ ἑρμηνείας. Αὐτίκα γοῦν, μετὰ τὴν ἔκθεσιν τῶν παραβολῶν, ὁ μὲν Σωτὴρ ἠρώτα αὐτοὺς λέγων, "Συνήκατε ταῦτα πάντα;" οἱ δὲ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ, Ναί. Ἡ καρδία τοίνυν αὐτῶν ἐμελέτα συνέσεις. Εἶτ' ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀνοίξω ἐν ψαλ 80.1221 τηρίῳ τὸ πρόβλημά μου. Ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ, φησὶ, ἀκονή σας τὸ διανοητικόν μου εἰς σύνεσιν τῶν σωτηρίων παραβολῶν δεδύνημαι ἐπακολουθῆσαι τῇ ἐμφερομέ νῃ ἐν αὐταῖς διανοίᾳ· τοῖς δὲ μὴ τοῦτο πράττειν δυναμένοις διὰ νηπιότητα, ἀνοίξω τὰ κεκρυμμένα καὶ διασαφήσω τὰ προβλήματα καὶ τὰς παραβολάς· καὶ ταῦτα πράξω διὰ τοῦ ἐμοῦ ψαλτηρίου τοῦ σω ματικοῦ δηλαδὴ ὀργάνου, ὅπερ ὄργανον τῆς ἐνοικού σης ἐν αὐτῷ ψυχῆς τυγχάνον ἀντὶ Ψαλτηρίου αὐτῇ παραδέδοται, πρὸς τὸ ἀνακρούεσθαι ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ Θεῷ τοὺς ὕμνους καὶ ἀναπέμπειν ἕκαστον αἰσθητήριον, καὶ μέλος καὶ μέρος τοῦ σώματος ἐπιστημόνως κινοῦσαν.] Ταῦτα ὡς ἐν προοιμίῳ διεξελθὼν, ἄρχεται λοιπὸν τῆς παραινέσεως. ʹ. "Ἱνατί φοβοῦμαι ἐν ἡμέρᾳ πονηρᾷ; ἡ ἀνομία τῆς πτέρνης μου κυκλώσει με." ∆έδια καὶ τρέμω τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς ἀνταποδόσεως, ἐν ᾗ ὁ δίκαιος Κριτὴς ἀνταποδώσει ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ. [Τοῦτο δὲ γνόντες καὶ αὐτοὶ τὸν τοιοῦτον πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν ἀναλάβετε φόβον. Εἰ γὰρ ἐγὼ ὁ δεδυνημένος εἰπεῖν, Τὸ στόμα μου λαλήσει σοφίαν, καὶ ἡ μελέτη τῆς καρδίας μου συνέσεις, κλινῶ εἰς παραβολὴν τὸ οὖς μου, μετὰ ταῦτα ἔμφοβός εἰμι καὶ ἔντρομος· διατί οὐχὶ καὶ ὑμεῖς· Εἰ δέ τις πυνθάνοιτο ἱνατί φοβοῦμαι, ἀκουέτω μετὰ παῤῥησίας· ἔστι τις ἡμέρα πονηρὰ περὶ ἧς μυρία ἐν ταῖς προφητικαῖς ἀνα φωνεῖται Γραφαῖς] Αἴτιος δέ μοι τοῦ δέους ὁ παρά νομος βίος, δι' ὃν τῆς εὐθείας ἐξετράπην ὁδοῦ. Τὴν γὰρ πτέρναν ἔνιοι μὲν τοῦ βίου τὴν ὁδὸν προσηγό ρευσαν· ἐγὼ δὲ οἶμαι τὴν ἀπάτην αἰνίττεσθαι, ἐκ μεταφορᾶς τῶν δρομέων, ὡς καὶ ἤδη προειρήκαμεν, οἳ τῇ πτέρνῃ πολλάκις τοὺς ἀνταγωνιστὰς καταβάλ λουσι. Τοῦτο ἡμᾶς καὶ ὁ Ἡσαῦ ἐδίδαξεν ὀδυρόμενος· ∆ικαίως γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐπεκλήθη τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰακώβ· ἐπτέρνικέ με γὰρ ἤδη δεύτερον τοῦτο· τά τε πρωτοτόκιά μου εἴληφε, καὶ νῦν ἔλαβε τὴν εὐλογίαν μου." Πονηρὰν δὲ ἡμέραν τὴν τῆς κρίσεως προσηγόρευσε, κατὰ τὸ παρ' ἡμῖν πολιτευό μενον ἔθος. Εἰώθασι γὰρ πολλοὶ κακὴν ὀνομάζειν ἡμέραν, ἐν ᾗ λυπηροῖς τισιν αὐτοὺς συμβαίνει περι πεσεῖν. [Εἰκότως τοίνυν οὕτως προσαγορεύεται, ὡς ἂν τῆς ἑκάστου πονηρίας οὖσα ἐλεγκτική· καὶ ὡς τὰς κολάσεις τοῖς ἀσεβέσι διὰ τῆς περιμενούσης αὐτοῖς ὀργῆς ἐπάγουσα. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο κἀγὼ φρίττω ὁ ταῦτα φθεγγόμενος· ἡ γὰρ ἀνομία τῆς πτέρνης μου κατ' αὐτὴν ἐκείνην τὴν πονηρὰν κυκλώσει με. Ἀνομία δὲ πτέρνης λέλεκται ἡ τῆς ὁδοῦ, καθ' ἣν τὸν παρόντα βίον διανύομεν, παρεκτροπὴ ἤγουν 80.1224 ἀπάτη.] Οὕτω καὶ ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος τὴν τῆς κρί σεως ἡμέραν καλεῖ· "Κατὰ δὲ τὴν σκληρότητά σου, καὶ ἀμετανόητον καρδίαν, θησαυρίζεις ἑαυτῷ ὀργὴν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς, καὶ ἀποκαλύψεως καὶ δικαιοκρισίας Θεοῦ, ὃς ἀποδώσει ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ." ζʹ. "Οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπὶ τῇ δυνάμει αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ πλήθει τοῦ πλούτου αὐτῶν καυχώμενοι." Ἐγὼ μὲν, φησὶ, δέδια καὶ τρέμω τὴν προσδοκωμέ νην ἡμέραν· ὑμεῖς δὲ οἱ τῷ πλούτῳ κομῶντες, ἐκεί νης μὲν οὐδεμίαν ποιεῖσθε φροντίδα, τῇ δὲ ὑπερ ηφανίᾳ τῆς περιουσίας μεγαλαυχούμενοι, ὡς μονί μοις θαῤῥεῖτε τοῖς ῥέουσιν. ηʹ, θʹ. "Ἀδελφὸς οὐ λυτροῦται, λυτρώσεται ἄν θρωπος; οὐ δώσει τῷ Θεῷ ἐξίλασμα ἑαυτοῦ. Καὶ τὴν τιμὴν τῆς λυτρώσεως τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ." Ἔδει δὲ συνιδεῖν ὑμᾶς, ὡς οὔτε προγόνων καὶ ἀδελφῶν ἀρετὴ καὶ εὐσέβεια τοὺς τούτων γεγυμνωμένους ὀνίνησιν, οὔτε μετὰ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἐκδημίαν δυνα τὸν διὰ χρημάτων πορίσασθαι σωτηρίαν. Κατὰ γὰρ τὸν παρόντα βίον "λύτρον ἀνδρὸς, ᾗ φησὶν ὁ Σοφὸς, ὁ ἴδιος πλοῦτος." Ταύτην προσενεγκὼν τοῖς πλούτῳ κακῶς κεχρημένοις τὴν συμβουλὴν, πρὸς τοὺς τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐργάτας μεταφέρει τὸν λόγον, καί φησι· "Καὶ ἐκοπίασεν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. [ιʹ, ιαʹ.] Καὶ ζήσεται εἰς τέλος. Οὐκ ὄψεται καταφθορὰν, ὅταν ἴδῃ σοφοὺς