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Catena in Ecclesiasten (e cod. Marc. gr. 22)

ON ECCLESIASTES An epitome of the exegetical selections of Procopius the Christian sophist, from the voice of Gregory of Nyssa and Dionysius of Alexandria, Origen, Evagrius, Didymus, Nilus [and Olympiodorus]. ηψπο.τ Hypothesis of the same. ηψπο.1 The mind having been exercised by proverbial thoughts, the ascent now is to higher contemplation, still requiring greater labors. Nevertheless, we must engage in the inquiry concerning these things according to our ability, obeying the Savior who said: search the scriptures. For he himself will grant us the power for this also. Therefore, in all the other scriptures, both histories and prophecies, the purpose looks also toward certain other things not entirely useful to the church; but the teaching of this book looks only toward the ecclesiastical polity, showing by what means one might achieve a life in virtue, placing the mind above sense perception and the things that seem splendid according to the senses, instilling a desire for things unattainable by the senses. For this reason the name Ecclesiastes is preeminently given to the book. And perhaps the discourse of the inscription also leads us up to the true Preacher, the one who gathers together what is scattered from all error, the true king, the son of God, to whom Nathanael says: you are the son of God, you are the king of Israel. If, therefore, these are the words of the king of Israel, and he is also the son of God, then he himself is also named Ecclesiastes, and we learn that the power of the present words refers to him. 1.1 The words of Ecclesiastes, the son of David, king of Israel inJerusalem. {Didymus.} It makes the hearer attentive. For the words are not of a private person or an ordinary one. For when teaching moral things he speaks his own proverbs, but when handing down natural things he speaks no longer as Solomon but as Ecclesiastes. For not as he is simply Solomon and a man, but as he is wise and a servant of God does he utter these things. Therefore it is possible to hear him say: my words have been spoken by God, just as those of the apostles and prophets. But also he whom God has sent speaks the words of God. And he speaks while reigning not perceptibly but intelligibly over Israel, over the mind that discerns the words spoken by God. And he reigns not in a mere place, but in Jerusalem, the vision of peace. {Nilus.} Solomon called himself Ecclesiastes, as one who assembles all men and binds them into concord, and who hands down in common the contemplation of nature. {Dionysius.} Thus also Matthew calls the Lord the son of David. 1.2 Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, all is vanity. {Didymus.} Exceedingly beautiful; but in relation to God all is vanity, and the things that are seen are vanity of vanities. And David also: but all things are vanity, he says, every living man. But if the living man is vanity, the one who is not living is vanity of vanities. But also to those who have come to understand the church and who marvel at the contemplation of created things the word says: do not think this to be the ultimate end, which is laid up for us in the promise. For all these things are vain before the knowledge of God; for after the knowledge of the Trinity, words are vain to the age and the world, so that we wander in vain concerning this life, spending time needlessly. For when the end arrives, none of the things that are seen stands by us, but we will groan as having labored in vain. Let the church, therefore, open its ear; for to it Ecclesiastes speaks the words, all the things about which we err and are led astray concerning life, which is vanity. 1.3 What advantage has a man in

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Catena in Ecclesiasten (e cod. Marc. gr. 22)

ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΣΤΗΝ Προκοπίου χριστιανοῦ σοφιστοῦ ἐξηγητικῶν ἐκλογῶν ἐπιτομή, ἀπὸ φωνῆς Γρηγορίου Νύσσης καὶ ∆ιονυσίου Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ὠριγένους, Εὐαγρίου, ∆ιδύμου, Νείλου [καὶ Ὀλυμπιοδώρου]. ηψπο.τ Ὑπόθεσις τοῦ αὐτοῦ. ηψπο.1 Τῶν παροιμιακῶν νοημάτων γυμνασάντων τὸν νοῦν, ἡ ἄνοδος νῦν ἐπὶ τὴν ὑψηλοτέραν γίνεται θεωρίαν, πόνων ἔτι δεομένη μειζόνων. Πλὴν ὅμως κατὰ δύναμιν τῇ περὶ τούτων ἐγχωρητέον ζητήσει, τῷ σωτῆρι πειθομένοις εἰπόντι· ἐρευνᾶτε τὰς γραφάς. Αὐτὸς γὰρ ἡμῖν χορηγήσει καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο τὴν δύναμιν. Ταῖς μὲν οὖν ἄλλαις ἁπάσαις γραφαῖς, ἱστορίαις τε καὶ προφητείαις, καὶ πρὸς ἄλλα τινὰ τῶν μὴ πάνυ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ χρησίμων ὁ σκοπὸς βλέπει· ἡ δὲ τοῦ βιβλίου τούτου διδασκαλία πρὸς μόνην βλέπει τὴν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν πολιτείαν, δι' ὧν ἄν τις τὸν ἐν ἀρετῇ κατορθώσειε βίον ὑφηγουμένη, ὑπερτιθεῖσα τὸν νοῦν τῆς αἰσθήσεως καὶ τῶν κατ' αἴσθησιν εἶναι δοκούντων λαμπρῶν, τῶν ἀνεφίκτων αἰσθήσει τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἐμβάλλουσα. ∆ιὸ κατ' ἐξαίρετον Ἐκκλησιαστὴς ὄνομα τῷ βιβλίῳ. Τάχα δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὸν Ἐκκλησιαστὴν τὸν ἀληθινὸν ἡμᾶς τῆς ἐπιγραφῆς ὁ λόγος ἀνάγει, τὸν ἐξ ἁπάσης πλάνης τὰ διεσπαρμένα συνάγοντα, τὸν ἀληθινὸν βασιλέα, τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, πρὸς ὅν φησι Ναθαναήλ· σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, σὺ εἶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Εἰ οὖν τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα τοῦ βασιλέως ἐστὶν Ἰσραήλ, ὁ δὲ αὐτὸς καὶ υἱός ἐστι τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ αὐτὸς ἄρα Ἐκκλησιαστὴς ὀνομάζεται, καὶ μανθάνομεν ὡς ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἡ τῶν παρόντων ῥημάτων ἀναφέρεται δύναμις. 1.1 Ῥήματα Ἐκκλησιαστοῦ υἱοῦ ∆αβίδ, βασιλέως Ἰσραὴλ ἐνἹερουσαλήμ. {∆ιδύμου.} Προσεκτικὸν ποιεῖ τὸν ἀκούοντα. Οὐ γὰρ ἰδιώτου ἢ τοῦ τυχόντος οἱ λόγοι. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἠθικὰ διδάσκων ἑαυτοῦ παροιμίας λέγει, φυσικὰ δὲ παραδιδοὺς οὐκέτι Σολομῶντος ἀλλ' Ἐκκλησιαστοῦ φησιν. Οὐ γὰρ ᾗ Σολομὼν ἁπλῶς καὶ ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλ' ᾗ σοφὸς καὶ θεοῦ διάκονος ταῦτα προφέρεται. Αὐτοῦ γοὖν ἐστιν εἰπόντος ἀκοῦσαι· οἱ ἐμοὶ λόγοι ὑπὸ θεοῦ εἴρηνται, καθάπερ ἀπο στόλων καὶ προφητῶν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὃν ἀπέστειλεν ὁ θεὸς τὰ ῥήματα λαλεῖ τοῦ θεοῦ. Λαλεῖ δὲ βασιλεύων οὐκ αἰσθητῶς ἀλλὰ νοητῶς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, τοῦ διορῶντος νοῦ τὰ παρὰ θεοῦ λαλούμενα ῥήματα. Βασιλεύει δὲ οὐκ ἐν τόπῳ ψιλῷ, ἀλλ' ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ, τῇ τῆς εἰρήνης ὁράσει. {Νείλου.} Ἐκκλησιαστὴν ἑαυτὸν ἐκάλεσεν ὁ Σολομών, ὡς πάντας ἀνθρώπους ἐκκλησιάζων καὶ δεσμεύων εἰς ὁμόνοιαν, καὶ ἐν κοινῷ τὴν φυσικὴν παραδιδοὺς θεωρίαν. {∆ιονυσίου.} Οὕτω καὶ Ματθαῖος υἱὸν ∆αβὶδ ὀνομάζει τὸν κύριον. 1.2 Ματαιότης ματαιοτήτων, εἶπεν ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστής, τὰ πάντα ματαιότησ. {∆ιδύμου.} Καλὰ λίαν· ὡς. δὲ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν πάντα ματαιότης, τὰ δὲ ὁρώμενα ματαιότης ματαιοτήτων. Καὶ ∆αβὶδ δέ· πλὴν τὰ σύμπαντα ματαιότης, φησί, πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ζῶν. Εἰ δὲ ὁ ζῶν ἄνθρωπος ματαιότης, ὁ μὴ ζῶν ματαιότης ματαιοτήτων. Ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἐλθόντας εἰς τὸ νοῆσαι τὴν ἐκκλησίαν καὶ θαυμάζοντας τὴν θεωρίαν τῶν γεγονότων ὁ λόγος φησί· μὴ νομίσητε τὸ ἔσχατον τέλος τοῦτο εἶναι, τὸ ἐν ἐπαγγελίᾳ ἡμῖν ἀποκείμενον. Ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα μάταια ἐνώπιον τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ· μετὰ γὰρ τὴν γνῶσιν τῆς τριάδος μάταιοι τῷ αἰῶνι καὶ κόσμῳ οἱ λόγοι, ὥστε μάτην περὶ τὸν βίον τοῦτον πλανώμεθα, τὸν χρόνον περιττῶς ἀναλίσκοντες. Ὅταν γὰρ φθάσῃ τὸ τέλος, οὐδὲν ἡμῖν τῶν ὁρωμένων παρίσταται, ἡμεῖς δὲ στενάξομεν ὡς μάτην μοχθήσαντες. Ἀνοιγέτω τοίνυν τὸ οὖς ἡ ἐκκλησία· πρὸς αὐτὴν γὰρ τὰ ῥήματα ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστὴς λαλεῖ, ὅσα περὶ τὸν βίον πλανῶμεν καὶ πλανώμεθα, ἥτις ἐστὶ ματαιότης. 1.3 Τίς περισσεία τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐν