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the sun makes its course, but those fixed in the northern and southern part they named as they wished. 13.268 And I will destroy (he says) the insolence of the lawless, and I will humble the insolence of the proud. It is the work of a good God to destroy evil things, so that he might restore his own creation clean from all wickedness and, freed from every infirmity, bring it back to its natural state. For elsewhere it is said: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of the prudent I will set aside, and that the wisdom of the world, deceiving those who have accepted it and having been thought to be true, produces ignorance of the doctrines for salvation. Therefore wisdom is destroyed, being overturned by the truth, its sophisms and plausibilities being dissolved, so that the one preoccupied by it might be delivered from deceit and false opinion. As, therefore, a disease is destroyed by a physician and darkness is destroyed by the sun, so the insolence of the lawless is destroyed by the good God and the insolence of the proud is humbled. Wherefore also Jacob, blessing the sons Simeon and Levi: Cursed (he says) be their anger, for it is self-willed, and their wrath, for it was harsh. He consumes the evil disposition of the curse, so that what is left in them may become worthy of the patriarch's blessing. So also Noah, when he knew what his younger son had done to him, said: Cursed be Canaan. And yet it was Ham who had grieved him; but nevertheless he does not curse him, but his offspring and his work, which is symbolically called Canaan, because Canaan is interpreted as agitation. Because, therefore, the disposition being in motion accomplishes the passion, he does not curse the disposition, but the work that comes from it. For it is difficult for what is pure in heart to be preserved in human nature. But it is clear that in destroying the insolence of the proud, he does not consume only one of the evils, but from one sin comprehensively, it is proper to understand insolence extending over all the forms of wickedness. For the lawless act insolently towards the temple, they act insolently towards their neighbor, and they act insolently towards that which is in the image of the Creator, and through the image the insolence ascends to the Creator. For just as one who insults a royal image is judged as having sinned against the king himself, so clearly liable for the sin is the one who insults him who has been made in the image. And above all, the fornicator insults himself through corruption; the adulterer, through the work of shame; the thief, through the humble, shameful, and unfree act; the liar, through the denial of the truth; the perjurer, through estrangement from God. So every sin is insolence and is an offshoot of insolence, affecting first the one who acts insolently. And he will humble the insolence of the proud, because pride is also a sister of lawlessness. For the unjust man is proud against righteousness and lifts himself up against it; and the licentious man speaks against self-control, when he scorns the one who is careful in all things and disciplines his movement even to his eyes. The profligate man [scorns] the one moderate in diet, the foolish man derides those who are abundant in wisdom and diligently collect for themselves learning from all quarters. The Lord, therefore, who opposes the proud and humbles sinners to the ground, he promises to humble the insolence of the proud. He, therefore, who humbles the proud, delivers them from resemblance to the devil, who is the father of pride, and brings them to be disciples of the one who said: Learn from me, for I am meek and humble in heart. 13.269 And those who are left shall be more precious than pure gold; and a man shall be more precious than the stone from Souphir. After the great temptations have been brought on and the warriors who destroy the inhabited world have come, and after all pride has been humbled, then the men found from among many, having been harmed in soul in no way from fellowship with the lawless, but through

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ἥλιος τὴν πορείαν ποιεῖ ται, τοὺς δὲ κατὰ τὸ βόρειον καὶ νότιον μέρος παραπεπη γότας κατωνόμασαν, ὡς ἠβουλήθησαν. 13.268 Καὶ ἀπολῶ (φησὶν) ὕβριν ἀνόμων καὶ ὕβριν ὑπερ ηφάνων ταπεινώσω. Ἀγαθοῦ ἔργον ἐστὶ Θεοῦ τὰ φαῦλα ἐξαφανίζειν, ἵνα καθαρὸν ἀπὸ πάσης κακίας τὸ ἑαυτοῦ δημιούργημα ἀπο καταστήσῃ καὶ, ἀπαλλαγὲν ἀπὸ παντὸς ἀῤῥωστήματος, εἰς τὸ κατὰ φύσιν ἐπαναγάγῃ. Ἀλλαχοῦ μὲν γὰρ λέγεται· Ἀπολῶ τὴν σοφίαν τῶν σοφῶν καὶ τὴν σύνεσιν τῶν συνετῶν ἀθετήσω, καὶ ὅτι ἡ τοῦ κόσμου σοφία, ἀπατῶσα τοὺς παραδεξαμένους αὐτὴν καὶ νομισθεῖσα εἶναι ἀληθινὴ, ἄγνοιαν ἐμποιεῖ τῶν πρὸς σωτηρίαν δογμάτων. Ἀφανίζεται οὖν ἡ σοφία ἀνατρεπομένη ὑπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας, λυομένων τῶν σοφισ μάτων καὶ τῶν πιθανοτήτων αὐτῆς, ἵνα ῥυσθῇ ἀπὸ ἀπάτης καὶ ψευδοδοξίας ὁ ὑπ' αὐτῆς προειλημμένος. Ὡς οὖν ἀπόλ λυται νόσος ὑπὸ ἰατροῦ καὶ ἀπόλλυται σκότος ὑπὸ ἡλίου, οὕτως ἀπόλλυται ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ Θεοῦ ὕβρις ἀνόμων καὶ ὕβρις ὑπερηφάνων ταπεινοῦται. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ Ἰακὼβ, εὐλογῶν τοὺς υἱοὺς Συμεὼν καὶ Λευί· Ἐπικατάρατος (φησὶν) ὁ θυμὸς αὐτῶν, ὅτι αὐθάδης, καὶ ἡ μῆνις αὐτῶν, ὅτι ἐσκληρύνθη. Τὴν πονηρὰν ἕξιν τῆς κατάρας ἐξαναλίσκει, ἵνα τὸ καταλειπόμενον ἐν αὐτοῖς ἄξιον τῆς εὐλο γίας τοῦ πατριάρχου γένηται. Οὕτω δὲ καὶ Νῶε, γνοὺς ὃ ἐποίησεν αὐτῷ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ὁ νεώτερος, εἶπεν· Ἐπικατά ρατος Χαναάν. Καίτοι Χὰμ ἦν ὁ λελυπηκώς· ἀλλ' ὅμως οὐκ αὐτῷ καταρᾶται, ἀλλὰ τῷ γεννήματι αὐτοῦ καὶ τῷ ἔργῳ αὐτοῦ, ὅπερ συμβολικῶς ὀνομάζεται Χαναάν, διότι ἑρμη νεύεται Χαναὰν ὡς σάλος. ∆ιὰ τὸ οὖν ἐν κινήσει τὴν ἕξιν γινομένην τὸ πάθος ἐπιτελεῖν, οὐ τῇ διαθέσει καταρᾶται, ἀλλὰ τῷ ἔργῳ, τῷ ἀπ' αὐτῆς. ∆ύσκολον γὰρ τὸ ἐν καρδίᾳ καθαρὸν ἐν ἀνθρώπου φύσει διασωθῆναι. ∆ῆλον δὲ, ὅτι ἀφανίζων τὴν ὕβριν τῶν ὑπερηφάνων, οὐχ ἓν μόνον τῶν κακῶν ἐξαναλίσκει, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ ἑνὸς ἁμαρτή ματος διατατικῶς, ἐφ' ὅλα τὰ εἴδη τῆς κακίας ἐξακούειν προσήκει τῆς ὕβρεως. Οἱ γὰρ ἄνομοι ἐξυβρίζουσι μὲν εἰς τὸν ναὸν, ἐξυβρίζουσι δὲ εἰς τὸν πλησίον, ἐξυβρίζουσι δὲ εἰς τὸ κατ' εἰκόνα τοῦ Κτίσαντος, καὶ διὰ τῆς εἰκόνος ἡ ὕβρις ἀνα βαίνει ἐπὶ τὸν Κτίσαντα. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ βασιλικὴν εἰκόνα καθυβρίσας, ὡς εἰς αὐτὸν ἐξαμαρτήσας τὸν βασιλέα κρίνεται, οὕτω δηλονότι ὑπόδικός ἐστι τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ὁ τὸν κατ' εἰκόνα γεγενημένον καθυβρίζων. Ὑβρίζει δὲ πρὸ πάντων καὶ ἑαυτὸν ὁ πόρνος, διὰ τῆς φθορᾶς· ὁ μοιχὸς, διὰ τοῦ ἔργου τῆς αἰ σχύνης· ὁ κλέπτης, διὰ τῆς ταπεινῆς καὶ αἰσχρᾶς καὶ ἀν ελευθέρου πράξεως· ὁ ψεύστης, διὰ τοῦ ἀρνήσασθαι τὴν ἀλήθειαν· ὁ ἐπίορκος, διὰ τῆς ἀπὸ Θεοῦ ἀλλοτριώσεως. Ὥστε πᾶσα ἁμαρτία ὕβρις ἐστὶ καὶ ὕβρεώς ἐστι βλάστημα, πρώτου ἁπτομένη τοῦ ὑβριστοῦ. Ταπεινώσει δὲ καὶ τὴν ὕβριν τῶν ὑπερηφάνων, διότι καὶ ἡ ὑπερηφανία ἀδελφὴ τῆς ἀνομίας ἐστίν. Ὁ γὰρ ἄδικος ὑπερη φανεῖ τὴν δικαιοσύνην καὶ κατεπαίρεται αὐτῆς· καὶ ὁ ἀκό λαστος κατὰ τῆς σωφροσύνης λαλεῖ, ὅταν διαπτύῃ τὸν ἀκριβῆ ἐν πᾶσι παρατετηρημένον καὶ τὴν μέχρις ὀφθαλμῶν κίνησιν παιδαγωγοῦντα. Ὁ ἄσωτος τὸν ἐν διαίτῃ μέτριον, ὁ ἄφρων καταχλευάζει τοὺς περιττοὺς ἐν σοφίᾳ καὶ φιλοπόνως πανταχόθεν ἑαυτοῖς συλλέγοντας τὰ μαθήματα. Ὁ οὖν ἀντιτασσόμενος ὑπερηφάνοις Κύριος καὶ ταπεινῶν ἁμαρτω λοὺς ἕως γῆς, οὗτος ἐπαγγέλλεται τὴν ὕβριν τῶν ὑπερηφάνων ταπεινώσειν. Ὁ οὖν ταπεινῶν τοὺς ὑπερηφάνους, ῥύεται μὲν αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῆς πρὸς τὸν διάβολον ὁμοιότητος, ὅστις ἐστὶ πατὴρ τῆς ὑπερηφανίας, ἐνάγει δὲ αὐτοὺς πρὸς τὸ μαθητεύε σθαι τῷ εἰπόντι· Μάθετε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, ὅτι πρᾶός εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ. 13.269 Καὶ ἔσονται οἱ ἐγκαταλελειμμένοι ἔντιμοι μᾶλλον ἢ τὸ χρυσίον τὸ ἄπυρον· καὶ ἄνθρωπος ἔντιμος ἔσται μᾶλλον ἢ ὁ λίθος, ὁ ἐκ Σουφείρ. Μετὰ τὸ ἐπαχθῆναι τοὺς μεγάλους πειρασμοὺς καὶ ἐλθεῖν τοὺς ὁπλομάχους τοὺς ἐξαφανίζοντας τὴν οἰκου μένην καὶ μετὰ τὸ ταπεινωθῆναι πᾶσαν ὑπερηφανίαν, τότε οἱ εὑρισκόμενοι ἄνθρωποι ἐκ πολλῶν, μηδὲν βλαβέντες τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς τοὺς ἀνόμους κοινωνίας, ἀλλὰ διὰ