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to abominate one's neighbor, and to loathe him as someone disagreeable; which is even more destructive than condemning. He that worketh pride dwelt not in the midst of my house. Above he was speaking about an arrogant friend; but here he speaks about a servant, that I chose to have no one who practiced arrogance living with me, nor was he deemed worthy by me of primacy and boldness, like one who has boldness and freedom in the midst of the house; for such a one is in the sight of the master. And to work pride is to act with boastfulness. And one might also say that: A thought suggesting pride did not dwell in my heart. He that speaketh unjust things did not prosper before my eyes. To speak concisely, 23.1248 I turned away from all injustice, not even enduring it up to the point of words; for he who speaks unjust things accomplished nothing, did not prosper before me, did not achieve what he was eager for. In the mornings I killed all the sinners of the land, that I might destroy out of the city of the Lord all the workers of iniquity. It presents the exact, unerring, and sober nature of the judgment; because neither anger, he says, nor drunkenness suggested the destruction; for anger, even if it was provoked yesterday, was softened by the length of the night; and drunkenness, even if much of it was present in the evening, was sufficiently diminished through sleep. Therefore, with a pure hand and mind I was armed against those who sin against God, with a judgment influenced neither by wine, nor by anger which causes reason to stumble. And I killed the sinners not simply of all the earth, but of the land under me; and not all at once, but now this one, now that one. Rather, this is surely clear to everyone, that it is spoken obscurely in a riddle; for the word does not say this, that at the beginning of each day I was defiling my hands with human blood; for this, in addition to being accursed, is also incredible. For how could he become the slayer with his own hand of all the sinners of the land every morning? For it is not possible for one man to overcome all, since it is likely there are many who sin; and if he had prevailed over them in war, he would have killed them all in one morning, but he would not have become their slayer with his own hand every morning. What then is this? Let us listen to what is said more prudently, so that we may not falsely accuse the prophetic oracles, which is not lawful. The city of the Lord is the constitution of the human frame; and sinners of the earth are those of whom the Savior says, that From within, out of the heart, proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man. These sinners of the earth, that is, those proceeding from the earthly flesh, the one who purifies himself destroys from his own constitution at every thought concerning God. Therefore, morning and dawn occur in the soul at each rising of a saving doctrine, in which all thoughts that work iniquity must be destroyed. For if the first movements of the soul toward wickedness are not cut off, the thoughts must necessarily proceed to action; for example, a sinner of the earth is the thought that suggests adultery, which works to look at a woman to lust after her; if this is not killed from the soul, as with a kind of sword by the word which cuts and destroys the passions, and this happens in the morning, that is, at the revelation into the light (for everything that is made manifest is light), after the adultery in the heart, it will lead the person on to the greater sin than this, calling him to the action through 23.1249 the body. David therefore says this, that, I punished the sinful and passionate thoughts growing from the earthly body with morning prayers and by devotion to God; and by the light of knowledge and by the manifestation through confession I distinguished and utterly destroyed the passions of the body, and the lawless thoughts from

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βδελύσσεσθαι τὸν πλησίον, καὶ σικχαίνεσθαι ὡς ἀηδῆ τινα· ὃ καὶ τοῦ κατακρῖναι ὀλεθριώτερον. Οὐ κατῴκει ἐν μέσῳ τῆς οἰκίας μου ποιῶν ὑπερηφανίαν. Ἄνω μὲν περὶ φίλου ὑπερηφάνου ἔλεγεν· ἐνταῦθα δὲ περὶ ὑπηρέτου φησὶν, ὅτι Οὐδένα τῶν ὑπεροψίᾳ χρωμένων σύνοικον ἔχειν ᾑρούμην, οὐδὲ πρωτείων καὶ παῤῥησίας ἠξιοῦτο παρ' ἐμοὶ, ὡς τοῦ ἐν μέσῳ τῆς οἰκίας παῤῥησίαν καὶ ἐλευθερίαν ἔχοντος· ἐν ὄψεσι γὰρ δεσπότου ὁ τοιοῦτος. Ποιεῖν δὲ ὑπερηφανίαν ἐστὶ τὸ μετὰ ἀλαζονείας ἐνεργεῖν. Λέγοι δ' ἂν, καὶ ὅτι· Οὐ κατῴκει ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ μου λογισμὸς ὑποβάλλων ὑπερηφανίαν. Λαλῶν ἄδικα οὐ κατεύθυνεν ἐνώπιον τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν μου. Συντό 23.1248 μως εἰπεῖν, πᾶσαν ἀδικίαν ἀπεστρεφόμην, οὐδὲ τὴν μέχρι λόγων ὑπομένων· ὁ γὰρ λαλῶν ἄδικα οὐδὲν ἤνυεν, οὐκ εὐωδοῦτο ἐνώπιόν μου, οὐ κατώρθου ἃ ἐσπούδαζεν. Εἰς τὰς πρωΐας ἀπέκτεινον πάντας τοὺς ἁμαρτωλοὺς τῆς γῆς, τοῦ ἐξολοθρεῦσαι ἐκ πόλεως Κυρίου πάντας τοὺς ἐργαζομένους τὴν ἀδικίαν. Τὸ ἀκριβὲς καὶ ἀπλανὲς καὶ νηφάλιον τῆς δίκης παρίστησιν· ὅτι οὔτε θυμὸς, φησὶν, οὔτε μέθη τὴν ἀναίρεσιν ὑπετίθετο· ὁ μὲν γὰρ θυμὸς εἰ καὶ τῇ χθὲς ἡμέρᾳ παρώξυνεν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦ μήκους τῆς νυκτὸς ἐμαλάσσετο· ἡ δὲ μέθη, κἂν ὀψίας πολλὴ προσεγένετο, διὰ τοῦ ὕπνου ἱκανῶς ἐλεπτύνετο. Καθαρᾷ οὖν καὶ χειρὶ καὶ γνώμῃ κατὰ τῶν εἰς Θεὸν ἁμαρτανόντων ἐξωπλιζόμην, μήτε τῆς ἐξ οἴνου γνώμης, μήτε τῆς ἐκ θυμοῦ σφαλλούσης τὸν λογισμόν. Τοὺς δὲ ἁμαρτωλοὺς ἀπέκτεινον οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἁπάσης τῆς γῆς, ἀλλὰ τῆς ὑπ' ἐμέ· καὶ πάντας δὲ οὐχ ἅμα, ἀλλὰ νῦν μὲν τοῦτον, νῦν δὲ ἐκεῖνον. Μᾶλλον δὲ τοῦτο παντί που δῆλον, ὅτι ἐν αἰνίγματι κεκαλυμμένως εἴρηται· οὐ γὰρ ὅτι καθ' ἑκάστην ἀρχὴν τῆς ἡμέρας αἵματι ἀνθρώπων τὰς χεῖρας ἐμολυνόμην, οὐ τοῦτό φησιν ὁ λόγος· τοῦτο γὰρ πρὸς τῷ ἐναγεῖ ἔτι καὶ τὸ ἀπίθανον ἔχει. Πῶς γὰρ πάντων ἠδύνατο καθ' ἑκάστην πρωΐαν αὐτόχειρ γίνεσθαι τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν τῆς γῆς; Οὐ γὰρ περιγίνεσθαι πάντων δυνατὸν ἕνα, πολλῶν τῶν ἐξαμαρτανόντων εἰς τὸ εἰκὸς ὄντων· καὶ εἰ πολέμῳ αὐτῶν κατεκράτησεν, ἐν μιᾷ ἂν ἀπέκτεινε πρωΐᾳ τοὺς σύμπαντας, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ καθ' ἑκάστην πρωΐαν αὐτόχειρ αὐτῶν ἐγίνετο. Τί οὖν τοῦτό ἐστι; Συνετώτερον τῶν λεγομένων ἀκούσωμεν, ἵνα μὴ κατηγορήσωμεν ἐπὶ ψεύδει τῶν προφητικῶν λογίων, ὃ μὴ θέμις. Πόλις τοῦ Κυρίου ἡ σύστασίς ἐστι τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης κατασκευῆς· ἁμαρτωλοὶ δὲ γῆς, περὶ ὧν φησιν ὁ Σωτὴρ, ὅτι Ἔσωθεν ἐκ τῆς καρδίας ἐξέρχονται λογισμοὶ πονηροὶ, φόνοι, μοιχεῖαι, πορνεῖαι, κλοπαὶ, ψευδομαρτυρίαι, βλασφημίαι. Ταῦτά ἐστι τὰ κοινοῦντα τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Τούτους δὴ τοὺς ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἁμαρτωλοὺς, τουτέστι τοὺς ἐκ τῆς γηΐνης σαρκὸς προϊόντας, καθ' ἑκάστην ἔννοιαν τὴν περὶ Θεοῦ ἐξαφανίζει ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας συστάσεως ὁ ἑαυτῶν ἐκκαθαίρων. Πρωΐα οὖν καὶ ὄρθρος ἐν ψυχῇ καθ' ἑκάστην ἀνατολὴν σωτηρίου δόγματος γίνεται, ἐν ᾗ ἐξαφανίζεσθαι δεῖ πάντας τοὺς ἐργαζομένους τὴν ἀνομίαν λογισμούς. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ τὰ πρῶτα πρὸς πονηρίας κινήματα τῆς ψυχῆς ἐκτμηθείη, ἀνάγκη εἰς ἔργον προχωρῆσαι τὰς ἐνθυμήσεις· οἷον γῆς ἁμαρτωλός ἐστιν ὁ τὴν μοιχείαν ὑποβάλλων λογισμὸς, ὅστις ἐνεργεῖ τὸ ἐμβλέψαι γυναικὶ πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι αὐτῆς· οὗτος ἐὰν μὴ ἀποκτανθῇ ἐκ τῆς ψυχῆς, οἱονεὶ ξίφει τινὶ τῷ τμητικῷ λόγῳ καὶ ἀφανιστικῷ τῶν παθῶν, καὶ τοῦτο γένηται ἐν πρωΐᾳ, τουτέστι κατὰ τὴν εἰς τὸ φανερὸν ἀποκάλυψιν (πᾶν γὰρ τὸ φανερούμενον φῶς ἐστι), μετὰ τὴν ἐν καρδίᾳ μοιχείαν, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν μείζονα ταύτης ἁμαρτίαν προάξει τὸν ἄνθρωπον, πρὸς τὴν διὰ 23.1249 τοῦ σώματος ἐνέργειαν αὐτὸν ἐκκαλούμενος. Τοῦτο οὖν λέγει ∆αυῒδ ὅτι, Τοὺς ἁμαρτωλοὺς καὶ ἐμπαθεῖς λογισμοὺς τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ γεώδους σώματος φυομένους ταῖς ἑωθιναῖς προσευχαῖς καὶ τῇ πρὸς Θεὸν προσεδρίᾳ ἐκόλαζον· καὶ τῷ φωτὶ τῆς γνώσεως καὶ τῇ δι' ἐξομολογήσεως φανερώσει διέκρινον καὶ ἐξωλόθρευον τὰ τοῦ σώματος πάθη, καὶ τοὺς ἀνομοῦντας λογισμοὺς ἐκ