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The expression 'make them afraid' is used, instead of, 'Strike them with awe'; not from the promised goods, but from the threatened terrors. For this is servile, and fitting for the Jews

QUESTION 57. (829)

What is, "A weapon in nocturnal fears, a rest from daily toils?" Answer. He called night the hidden, deceitful attacks of the enemy; and day,

the acknowledged and manifest temptations. He therefore who has received the habit of divine knowledge, and is ignorant of none of the enemy's designs, does not fear any of the hidden attacks of the enemy. For fear is nothing other than the expectation of evil. But indeed he also considers as rest the labors for the acknowledged temptations, on account of the trial that arises from engaging with them, and the blessed reception of the crown of incorruptibility hoped for from this.

QUESTION 58.

What is that which is said in the seventy-fifth psalm, that "The thought of man shall confess to you, and the remnant of thought shall keep a feast to you?"

Answer. The feast, on the one hand, is for those who rejoice; the confession, on the other hand, is for those being tested. And the one

is of sorrow; the other of joy. Therefore it says this, that in the judgment, when the transitory and imperfect good thought is weighed against (832) the permanent and perfected thought, the latter has the advantage; for the one is examined, while the other becomes a cause of feasting and joy.

QUESTION 59.

What is the etymology of gluttony? Answer. None of the grammarians or rhetoricians have mentioned it. But Aristotle in his

On Animals mentions an animal called 'margos,' which is born from decay, between the earth and the water. And from the moment it is born, it does not cease eating earth, until having bored through the earth, it comes to the surface; and having come, it dies for three days; and after three days a cloud of rain comes, and rains upon it, and it comes to life again, no longer being ever-eating. And from this, I think, the ancient philosophers, being prompted, called voracious eaters gluttons. But one who knows how to apply things piously is able also to understand the things said according to a spiritual contemplation. For every passion is by nature born from decay; and when it is born, it does not cease eating the heart that gave it substance, until through the gnostic habit it comes to manifestation. And having come, it dies by the three powers of the soul. And thus the grace of the Spirit, appearing as through a cloud of teaching, gives drops of knowledge, and gives life; not according to the former passionate life, but according to the virtuous life proper to God.

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Τό φοβέρισον εἴρηται, ἀντί τοῦ, Κατάπληξον αὐτούς· οὐκ ἐκ τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων ἀγαθῶν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐκ τῶν ἠπειλημένων φοβερῶν. ∆ουλικόν γάρ τοῦτο, καί Ἰουδαίοις ἁρμόδιον

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΝΖ΄. (829)

Τί ἐστιν, "Ὅπλον ἐν φόβοις νυκτερινοῖς, ἀνάπαυσις κόπων ἡμερινῶν;" Ἀπόκρισις. Νύκτα ἐκάλεσε τάς τοῦ ἐχθροῦ κεκρυμμένας δολεράς προσβολάς· ἡμέρας δέ,

τούς ὁμολογουμένους καί ἐν φανερῷ πειρασμούς. Ὁ οὖν τήν ἕξιν τῆς θείας γνώσεως εἰληφώς, καί μηδέν ἀγνοῶν τῶν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ νοημάτων, οὐ φοβεῖταί τι τῶν κεκρυμμένων τοῦ ἐχθροῦ προσβολῶν. Φόβος γάρ οὐδέν ἕτερόν ἐστιν ἤ προσδοκωμένων κακόν. Ἀλλά μήν καί ἀνάπαυσιν ἡγεῖται, τούς ὑπέρ τῶν ὡμολογημένων πειρασμῶν πόνους, διά τήν ἐγγινομένην ἐκ συμπλοκῆς πρός αὐτούς δοκιμασίαν, καί τήν ἐλπιζομένην ἐκ ταύτης μακαρίαν ἐκδοχήν τοῦ στεφάνου τῆς ἀφθαρσίας.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΝΗ΄.

Τί ἐστι τό ἐν τῷ ἑβδομηκοστῷ πέμπτῳ ψαλμῷ εἰρημένον, ὅτι "Ἐνθύμιον ἀνθρώπου ἐξομολογήσεταί σοι καί ἐγκατάλειμμα ἐνθυμίου ἑορτάσει σοι;"

Ἀπόκρισις. Ἡ μέν ἑορτή, εὐφραινομένων ἐστίν· ἡ δέ ἐξομολόγησις, ἐταζομένων. Καί τό μέν

ἐστι λύπης· τό δέ χαρᾶς. Τοῦτο οὖν λέγει, ὅτι ἐν τῇ κρίσει ἀντισηκούμενον τό παροδικόν καί ἀτελές τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἐνθυμήματος, (832) τῷ μονίμῳ καί ἀπηρτισμένῳ ἐνθυμήματι τό πλέον ἔχει· τό μέν γάρ, ἐξετάζεται· τό δέ, ἑορτῆς καί χαρᾶς γίνεται πρόξενον.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΝΘ΄.

Τί ἐτυμολογεῖται γαστριμαργία; Ἀπόκρισις. Οὐδείς οὔτε γραμματικῶν οὔτε ῥητόρων ἐμνημόνευσεν. Ἀριστοτέλης δέ ἐν τῷ

Περί ζώων μέμνηται ζώου, μαργοῦ λεγομένου, ὅπερ γεννᾶται ἀπό σήψεως, μεταξύ τῆς γῆς καί τοῦ ὕδατος. Καί ἀφ᾿ οὗ γεννηθῇ, οὐ παύεται γηϊφαγοῦν, ἕως ἐκτρυπῆσαν τήν γῆν, εἰς τήν ἐπιφάνειαν ἔλθῃ· καί ἐλθόν, θνήσκει τρεῖς ἡμέρας· καί μετά τρεῖς ἡμέρας ἔρχεται νέφος βροχῆς, καί βρέχει ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ, καί ἀναζῇ μηκέτι ἀειφάγον ὄν. Καί ἐκ τούτου οἶμαι τούς ἀρχαίους φιλοσόφους ὁρμηθέντας τούς πολυφάγους γαστριμάργους ἀποκαλέσαι. ∆ύναται δέ τις εὐσεβῶς τοῖς οὖσιν ἐπιβάλλειν εἰδώς, καί κατά πνευματικήν θεωρίαν ἐκλαβεῖν τά εἰρημένα. Πᾶν γάρ πάθος ἀπό σήψεως γεννᾶσθαι πέφυκε· καί ἐπειδάν γεννηθῇ, οὐ παύεται ἐσθίον τήν ὑποστήσασαν αὐτό καρδίαν, ἕως ἄν διά τῆς γνωστικῆς ἕξεως εἰς φανέρωσιν ἔλθῃ. Καί ἐλθόν θνήσκει ταῖς τρισί δυνάμεσι τῆς ψυχῆς. Καί οὕτως ἡ χάρις τοῦ Πνεύματος, ὡς διά νέφους τῆς διδασκαλίας ἐπιφανεῖσα, σταλαγμούς δίδωσι γνώσεως, καί ζωοποιεῖ· οὐ κατά τήν προτέραν ἐμπαθῆ ζωήν· ἀλλά κατά τήν ἐνάρετον καί Θεῷ οἰκείαν.