Ἐπειδὴ ἀνεκαθήραμεν τῷ λόγῳ τὸν θεόλογον, οἷόν τε εἶναι χρὴ διελθόντες, καὶ οἷστισι φιλοσοφητέον, καὶ ἡνίκα, καὶ ὅσον·—ὅτι ὡς οἷόν τε καθαροῖς, ἵνα φωτὶ καταλαμβάνηται φῶς· καὶ τοῖς ἐπιμελεστέροις, ἵνα μὴ ἄγονος ἦ εἰς ἄγονον χώραν ἐμπίπτων ὁ λόγος· καὶ ὅταν γαλήνην ἔχωμεν ἔνδον ἀπὸ τῆς ἔξω περιφορᾶς, ὥστε μή, καθάπερ οἱ λυττῶντες, τῷ πνεύματι διακόπτεσθαι· καὶ ὅσον ἐχωρήσαμεν, ἢ χωρούμεθα· —ἐπειδὴ ταῦτα οὕτω, καὶ ἐνεώσαμεν ἑαυτοῖς θεῖα νεώματα, ὥστε μὴ σπείρειν ἐπ’ ἀκάνθαις, καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς ὡμαλίσαμεν, τῆ γραφῇ τυπωθέντες τε καὶ τυπώσαντες· φέρε, τοῖς τῆς θεολογίας ἤδη προσβῶμεν λόγοις, προστησάμενοι τοῦ λόγου τὸν πατέρα, καὶ 1. 1 ἐπειδὴ] ἔπει ’δε be ’Or. I’ || 3 καθαροῖς] -ον d1 || 7 be: λύζοντες d2 ǁ 8 ἐπειδὴ] ἔπει ’δε ef || 11 τοις τῆς θεολ.] om τῆς d: ομ τῆς θεολ. c1 1. Having spoken of the conditions under which theological subjects jects should be treated, we proceed to our theological enquiry itself, invoking the assistance of the Trinity. 1. ἀνεκαθήραμεν] lit. ’cleaned up’; a ref. to the passage of Plato quoted above p. 11. 3. φωτὶ καταλαμβάνηται φῶς] cf. John i 5; but Gr.'s interpretation of his text is a very doubtful one. 4. ἐπιμελεστέροις] ‘among thougthful men,’ Ἄγονος=ἄκαρπος Mark iv 19. 6. περιφορᾶς] cf. Oral, in Ful. 1 § 100 πλοῦτον, εὐκλείαν, εὐκλείαν, δυναστείαν, ἃ τῆς κάτω περιφορᾶς of Gr. 's. ἐστὶ καὶ ὀνειρώδους τέρψεως. Hesych. renders the word by ἢ κατὰ κίνησις—‘whirl.’ Cp. Plat. Rep. 10 p. 616; Eccl. ii 2. 7. τῷ πνεῦμ’. διακόπτεσθαι] ‘be stopped for want of breath.’ ib. ἐχωρήσαμεν, ἢ χωρούμεθα] Our limits are fixed by our own capacity and by that of those whom we address. 8. ἐνεώσαμεν...ἀκάνθαις] Jer. iv 3. 10. τὸ πρόσ’. τ. γ. ὡμαλίσαμεν] Is. xxviii 25. 12 προστησάμενοι τ. λ.] ’making God the προστάτης, or patron, of the ’;—a favourite expression of Gr's. τὸν υἱόν, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, περὶ ὧν ὁ λόγος, ὥστε τὸν μὲν εὐδοκεῖν, τὸν δὲ συνεργεῖν, τὸ δὲ ἐμπνεῖν· μᾶλλον δὲ μίαν ἐκ τῆς μιᾶς θεότητος γενέσθαι τὴν ἔλλαμψιν ἑνικῶς διαιρουμένην, καὶ συναπτομένην διαιρέτως, ὃ καὶ παράδοξον.

Ἀνιόντι δέ μοι προθύμως ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος, ἢ τό γε ἀληθέστερον εἰπεῖν, προθυμουμένῳ τε ἅμα καὶ ἀγωνιῶντι, τὸ μὲν διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα, τὸ δὲ διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν, ἵνα τῆς νεφέλης εἴσω γένωμαι, καὶ θεῷ συγγένωμαι τοῦτο γὰρ κελεύει θεός), εἰ μέν τις Ἀαρών, συνανίτω καὶ στηκέτω πλησίον, κἂν ἔξω μένειν τῆς νεφέλης δέῃ, τοῦτο δεχόμενος. εἰ δέ τις Ναδάβ, ἢ Ἀβιούδ, ἢ τῆς γερουσίας, ἀνίτω μέν, ἀλλὰ στηκέτω πόρρωθεν, κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν τῆς καθάρσεως. εἰ δέ τις τῶν πολλῶν καὶ ἀναξίων ὕψους τοιούτου καὶ θεωρίας, εἰ μὲν ἄναγνος πάντῃ, μηδὲ προσίτω, οὐ γὰρ ἀσφαλές· εἰ δὲ πρόσκαιρα γοῦν ἡγνισμένος, κάτω μενέτω, καὶ μόνης ἀκουέτω τῆς φωνῆς καὶ τῆς σάλπιγγος, τῶν ψιλῶν τῆς εὐσεβείας ῥημάτων· καπνιζόμενόν τε τὸ ὄρος βλεπέτω καὶ καταστραπτόμενον, ἀπειλήν τε ὁμοῦ καὶ θαῦμα τοῖς ἀνιέναι μὴ δυναμένοις. εἰ δέ τις θηρίον ἐστὶ 3 τῆς μιας] μιᾶς τῆς d 2. 8 ασθενειαν] ἀλήθειαν cd ’Or. I1’ || 15 προσίτω οὐ γὰρ] προσιτετω οὐδὲ γὰρ ’Or. I’ ǁ 18 καπνιζόμενον τε] και καπν. c: om τε e || 19 βλεπέτω] ’in nonnullis βλεπων’ 4. ἑνικῶς ἑνικῶς κτλ.] ‘an illumination which, though one, comes in three different modes, and which, though coming in different modes, is united.’ 2. Like Moses, Gr. is called up the mountain to converse with He invites his hearers to join him as far as may be permitted, like Aaron or the elders. ’Beasts’ are warned away. 6. ἀνιόντι] Ex. xix 3 foil. 7. ἀγωνιῶντι] ‘filled with anxious fear.’ 8. ἵνα] depends upon ἀνιόντι. τῆς νεφέλης Ex. xxiv 18. 10. Ἀαρών] Ex. xix 24. 11 τοῦτο] sc. ἔξω μένειν. Gr. infrequently uses δέχεσθαι m tne sense of ’accepting’’ a situation, i.e. not rebelling against it. 12. Ναδάβ κτλ.] Ex. xxiv 1. 13. κ. τ. ἀξίαν τ. καθάρσεως] ‘acinto cording to the degree of his purification.’ Cp. Ex. xix 22. 16. πρόσκαιρα γ. ἡγν.] Ex. xix 14, 15. 18. τ. φιλῶν τ. εὐσ. ῥημάτων] Cp. Deut. iv 12 (Heb. xii 19). They are to hear τὰ ψιλὰ ῥ’. as distinguished from attempting to understand depths of their meaning. 20. θη̣ρίον] Ex. xix 13. Cp. Greg. Moral, vi 27 ’bestia montem tangit, cum mens irrationabilibus desideriis subdita ad contemplationis alta se erigit: sed lapidibus percutitur, quia summa non sustinens ipsis superni ponderis ictibus necatur.’ πονηρὸν καὶ ἀνήμερον καὶ ἀνεπίδεκτον πάντῃ λόγων θεωρίας καὶ θεολογίας, μὴ ἐμφωλευέτω ταῖς ὕλαις κακούργως καὶ κακοηθῶς, ἵνα τινὸς λάβηται δόγματος ἢ ῥήματος, ἀθρόως προσπηδῆσαν, καὶ σπαράξῃ τοὺς ὑγιαίνοντας λόγους ταῖς ἐπηρείαις, ἀλλ’ ἔτι πόρρωθεν στηκέτω, καὶ ἀποχωρείτω τοῦ ὄρους, ἢ λιθοβοληθήσεται, καὶ συντριβήσεται, καὶ ἀπολεῖται κακῶς κακός· λίθοι γὰρ τοῖς θηριώδεσιν οἱ ἀληθεῖς λόγοι καὶ στερροί. εἴτε πάρδαλις εἴη, συναποθνησκέτω τοῖς ποικίλμασιν· εἴτε λέων ἁρπάζων καὶ ὠρυόμενος καὶ ζητῶν ἥντινα βρῶσιν ποιήσεται τῶν ἡμετέρων ψυχῶν ἢ λέξεων· εἴτε σῦς καταπατῶν τοὺς καλούς τε καὶ διαυγεῖς μαργαρίτας τῆς ἀληθείας· εἴτε λύκος Ἀραβικὸς καὶ ἀλλόφυλος, ἢ καὶ τούτων ὀξύτερος τοῖς σοφίσμασιν· εἴτε ἀλώπηξ, δολερά τις ψυχὴ καὶ ἄπιστος, καὶ ἄλλοτε ἄλλη, τοῖς καιροῖς καὶ ταῖς χρείαις συμμορφουμένη, ἢν νεκρὰ τρέφει καὶ ὀδωδότα σώματα, ἢ ἀμπελῶνες μικροί, 1 om ἀνήμερον καὶ e ǁ 3 ῥήματος η δόγματος f || 7 κακὸς κάκως c || 10 ποιήσεται] -σηται d 1. ἀνεπίδεκτον π. λόγων θ. κ. θ.] ‘altogether incapable of taking in the words of contemplation and theology,’ 2. μὴ ἐμφωλευέτω] from φωλεός ‘a den’; ‘let him not lurk in the ’ which Gr. imagines to clothe the base of the hill. 4. ἀθρόως] ’all at once’; explained by Suid. = ταχέχως: otherwise it would be in accordance with the etymology to understand it of the animal gathering itself up for the spring. Cp. § 21. ib. τ. ὑγιαίν. λόγους] 1 Tim. vi 3, 2 Tim. i 13. 5. ταῖς ἐπηρείαις] ‘abuse’; cp. ἐπηρεάζομεν above i 6. ib. ἔτι πόρρωθεν] a kind of com- parative= πορρωτέρω. Cp. v 5 μικρὸν ἄνωθεν. 8. στερροί] Cp. above i 3. 9. τοῖς ποικίλμασιν] Jer. xiii 23. ib. λέων...ὠρυόμενος] 1 Pet. v 8. 11. σῦς καταπατῶν] Matt, vii 6. 12. λύκος Ἀραβικός] Hab. i 8 (LXX.); cp. Zeph. iii 3. The words κ. ἀλλόφυλος (i.e. ‘or Philistine’) seem to be added to emphasize mystic interpretation of Ἀραβικός. 15. τοῖς καιροῖς κ. τ. χρείαις συμμ.] ‘shifting shape according to opportunities and necessities.’ 16. ἀμπελῶνες μ] Cant, ii 15 ἀλώπεκας μικροὺς ἀφανίζοντας ἀμπελῶνας. Gr. joins μικροὺς with ἀμπ. instead of ἀλώπ., understanding the sentence to denote the meanness of the ‘foxes’ (i.e. jackals), which did not venture to attack the large vineyeards, and spoiled the small ones instead. τῶν μεγάλων διαπεφευγότων· εἴτε τι ἄλλο τῶν ὠμοβόρων, καὶ ἀποβλήτων τῷ νόμῳ, καὶ οὐ καθαρῶν εἰς βρῶσίν τε καὶ ἀπόλαυσιν. βούλεται γὰρ τούτων ἀπ’ ἀποχωρήσας ὁ λόγος οὕτω πλαξὶ στερραῖς καὶ λιθίναις ἐγγράφεσθαι, καὶ ταύταις ἀμφοτέρωθεν, διά τε τὸ φαινόμενον τοῦ νόμου καὶ τὸ κρυπτόμενον· τὸ μὲν τοῖς πολλοῖς καὶ κάτω μένουσι, τὸ δὲ τοῖς ὀλίγοις καὶ ἄνω φθάνουσιν.

Τί τοῦτο ἔπαθον, ὦ φίλοι καὶ μύσται καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας συνερασταί; ἔτρεχον μὲν ὡς θεὸν καταληψόμενος, μένος, καὶ οὕτως ἀνῆλθον ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος, καὶ τὴν νεφέλην διέσχον, εἴσω γενόμενος ἀπὸ τῆς ὕλης καὶ τῶν ὑλικῶν, καὶ εἰς ἐμαυτὸν ὡς οἷόν τε συστραφείς. ῥαφείς. ἐπεὶ δὲ προσέβλεψα, μόλις εἶδον θεοῦ τὰ ὀπίσθια· καὶ τοῦτο τῆ πέτρᾳ σκεπασθείς, 3. 8 om μύσται καὶ d || 9 ἔτρεχον] εἶχον ac ‘ Reg. a tres Colb. Or. I ’ ǁ 10 ἀνῆλθον] ἀπῆλθον e 1. ὠμοβόρων] = ὠμηστής ‘devouring raw flesh,’ The Law does expressly forbid the eating of such animals on that ground; but it appears to be the reason for the prohibition of most of the birds enumerated in Lev. xi, Deut. xiv. 4. οὕτω] resumes the preceding clause—like sic demum; ’not it has got rid of these.’ ib. πλαξὶ...λιθίναις] Ex. xxiv 12. Α somewhat difficult turn in the application of the narrative. Gr., or rather his λόγος as identified with him, has ascended the mountain, with a view to having impressed upon him, or upon it, the teaching of God, as the Commandments were upon the tables of stone. The epithets στερραῖς κ. θ. are intended to convey the thought of something — no transient impression. 5. ἀμφοτέρωθεν] Ex. xxxii 15. Again a somewhat fantastic application. One side of the tables is seen—one part of the λόγος is —by every one; but there is a reverse which only few can read, viz. those who succeed in reaching the mountain top φθάνουσιν). This use of φθάνειν is familiar in the Ν. T. 3. When he has reached the appointed spot, he can only see the ‘back parts’ of God. 8. μύσται] Those who are initiated into the mysteries. 9. καταληψόμενος] ‘as if I were about to apprehend God.’ 11. διέσχον] ‘penetrated’: cf. Horn. Il. v 99 ἀντικρὺ δὲ διέσχε. Gr. uses it § 31 of penetrating through the veil of the Tabernacle. ib. ὕλης] ’matter.’ 12. συστραφείς] ‘having gathered myself up’: cp. Plat. Rep. 1 p. 336 συστρέψας ἑαυτὸν ὥσπερ θηρίον ἧκεν ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς. 13. τὰ ὀπίσθια] Ex. xxxiii 23. ib. τῇ πέτρᾳ σκεπασθείς] Ex. xxxiii 23 σκ. τῇ χειρί μου. This interpretation of the ‘ cleft in the rock,’ made familiar to Englishmen by ’s hymn, is very ancient. Cp. Iren. IV xx 9 ‘uidebit...in altitudine petrae, hoc est, in eo qui est secundum hominem eius aduentu,’ The Incarnation gives an assured point from which we may observe and study God, without being overwelmed by the greatness of the revelation. The glories of the Divine Nature are tempered for us, as it were, by the Human Life which encompasses us as we look out from it to the Divine. By the Incarnation, our field of contemplation is at once restricted and made clear. τῷ σαρκωθέντι δι’ ἡμᾶς θεῷ Λόγῳ· καὶ μικρὸν διακύψας, οὐ τὴν πρώτην τε καὶ ἀκήρατον φύσιν, καὶ ἑαυτῇ, λέγω δὴ τῆ τριάδι, γινωσκομένην, καὶ ὅση τοῦ πρώτου καταπετάσματος εἴσω μένει καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν Χερουβὶμ συγκαλύπτεται, ἀλλ’ ὅση τελευταία καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς φθάνουσα. ἡ δέ ἐστιν, ὅσα ἐμὲ γινώσκειν, ἡ ἐν τοῖς κτίσμασι καὶ τοῖς ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ προβεβλημένοις καὶ διοικουμένοις μεγαλειότης, ἤ, ὡς ὁ θεῖος Δαβὶδ ὀνομάζει, μεγαλοπρέπεια. ταῦτα γὰρ θεοῦ τὰ ὀπίσθια, ὅσα μετ’ ἐκεῖνον ἐκείνου γνωρίσματα, ὥσπερ αἱ καθ’ ὑδάτων ἡλίου σκιαὶ καὶ εἰκόνες ταῖς σαθραῖς ὄψεσι 1 om θέω acd ǁ 6 ὅσα] ὡς ‘Reg. a’ 1. διακύψας] ‘peering through the aperture,’ Εἶδον must be again before φύσιν. 2. τὴν πρώτην] In ref. to Ex. xxxiii 20 οὐ δυνήσῃ ἰδεῖν μου τὸ πρόσωπον. Ἀκήρατος practically, if not etymologically, = ἀκέραιος ‘pure,’ ‘unmixed.’ Cp. Arist. de Mundo ii 5 στοιχεῖον ἅκ. τε καὶ θεῖον. Gr. adds λ. δ. τῇ τριάδι lest he should suggest the Sabellian notion of a self-conscious Nature distinct from the Persons in whom it resides. 3. τ. πρώτου καταπ.] i.e. as reckoned from the seat of the Divine Presence, not as in Heb. ix 3 in the order of human approach. 4. ὁ. τ. χερουβὶμ σηκ.] It seems more natural to suppose that Gr. refers to the Cherubim covering the Mercy Seat (Ex. xxv 20 [19]), than to the decoration of the veil (Ex. xxvi 31). Cp. Ezek. xxviii 14, 16, where, however, there is nothing in most texts of the LXX. to represent ’covering.’ 5. τελευταία] to recall τὰ ὀπίσθια. Φθάνουσα as above. id. ἢ δέ] Gr. does not of course mean to distinguish sharply between the πρώτη and τελευταία φύσις, as if they were separate natures. He means the expressed and unexpressed parts or aspects of the same nature. The danger of misunderstanding is not felt in Greek, where words like πρῶτος, μέσος and the like, are commonly monly used in a partitive sense; e.g. ὁ πρῶτος ποὺς ’the front of the foot.’ 6. ὅσα ἐμὲ γινώσκειν] sc. πάρεστι. ib. ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ] sc. τοῦ θεοῦ, to be supplied from θεοῦ τὰ ὀπίσθια above. 8. μεγαλοπρέπεια] used of God nine times in the Pss.; μεγαλειότης is not. Prob. Gr. refers esp. to Ps. viii 2 (1), ciii (civ) 1 (in some texts), cx (cxi) 3, or cxliv (cxlv) 5, 12, where the word is used in connexion with God's works. Gr. prefers the word because it expresses Dot the abstract quality, like μεγαλειότης, but the impression produced by its manifesta- tion. 9. ὅσα μετ’ ἐκεῖνον ἐκ. γνωρ.] ‘all the indications of Himself which He has lift behind Him,’ Elias pares Wisd. xiii 5. 10. σαθραῖς ὄψεσι] Cp. i 3. παραδεικνῦσαι τὸν ἥλιον, ἐπεὶ μὴ αὐτὸν προσβλέπειν οἷόν τε, τῷ ἀκραιφνεῖ τοῦ φωτὸς νικῶντα τὴν αἴσθησιν. οὕτως οὖν θεολογήσεις, κἂν ἦς Μωυσῆς καὶ Φαραὼ θεός, κἂν μέχρι τρίτου κατὰ τὸν Παῦλον οὐρανοῦ φθάσῃς, καὶ ἀκούσῃς ἄρρητα ῥήματα· κἂν ὑπὲρ ἐκεῖνον γένη, ἀγγελικῆς τινὸς ἢ ἀρχαγγελικῆς στάσεως τε καὶ τάξεως ἠξιωμένος. κἂν γὰρ οὐράνιον ἅπαν, κἂν ὑπερουράνιόν τι, καὶ πολὺ τὴν φύσιν ὑψηλότερον ἡμῶν ἦ, καὶ ἐγγυτέρω θεοῦ, πλέον ἀπέχει θεοῦ καὶ τῆς τελείας καταλήψεως, ἢ ὅσον ἡμῶν ὑπεραίρει τοῦ συνθέτου καὶ ταπεινοῦ καὶ κάτω βρίθοντος κράματος.

Ἀρκτέον οὖν οὕτω πάλιν. θεὸν νοῆσαι μὲν χαλεπόν· φράσαι δὲ ἀδύνατον, ὥς τις τῶν παρ’ Ἕλλησι θεολόγων ἐφιλοσόφησεν,—οὐκ ἀτέχνως ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν, ἵνα καὶ κατειληφέναι δόξη τῷ χαλεπὸν εἰπεῖν, καὶ διαφύγῃ τῷ ἀνεκφράστῳ τὸν ἔλεγχον. ἀλλὰ φράσαι μὲν ἀδύνατον, ὡς ὁ ἐμὸς λόγος, νοῆσαι δὲ ἀδυνατώτερον. τὸ μὲν γὰρ νοηθὲν 1 προσβλέπειν] βλέπειν ‘Reg. a’ || 3 Φαραω] του Φ. bdef ǁ 4 κατα τον Παυλον bef ǁ 5 ἐκεῖνον] -νους bef || 6 om ἠξιωμένος ac || 7 καν γαρ] om γὰρ a ǁ om τι e || 8 om ἤμων d || η καὶ] ἢ om καὶ f 4. 14 ἴνα καὶ] ἴνα τὸ b || 15 τὼ χαλεπὸν] τὸ χαλ. bd: τὼ suprascr. c || 16 om μεν c 2. ἀκραιφνεῖ]=ἀκεραίῳ ‘unmitigated,’ ‘untempered.’ 3. Φαραὼ θεός] Ex. vii 1. 4. κατὰ τὸν Παῦλον] 2 Cor. xii 2. Φθάσῃς as above. 10. ὑπεραίρει] used intransitively from Aristotle downwards. ib. κάτω βρίθοντος κρ.] Wisd. ix 15. For κράματος see i 7. 4. To form an adequate con- ception of God is even more impossible than to express it when formed. It is doubtful whether even angels can do it. 12. ἀρκτέον] from ἄρχεσθαι: ‘we must begin ’ The hopes with which he had begun at first ὡς θεὸν καταληψόμενος) have proved fallacious. 13. ὥς τις τῶν παρ᾿ Ἕ. θεολόγων] The reference appears to be to Timaeus 28 Ε τὸν μὲν οὖν ποιητὴν καὶ πατέρα τοῦ παντὸς εὑρεῖν τὸ ἔργον, καὶ εὕροντα εἰς πάντας ἀδύνατον λέγειν. No approval is conveyed by the expression θεολόγων τις. Cp. v 16. 14. οὐκ ἀτέχνως] Plato thus art- fully insinuates, in Gr.'s opinion, that he has himself apprehended what he says is so difficult to appre hend, and at the same time escapes exposure by saying that it is inexpressible τῷ (ἀνεκφρ.). 17. ἀδυνατώτερον] because if only the conception could be formed, expression would be comparatively easy. Cp. Novatian de Trin. § 4 nomen Dei edici non potest, quolacious. niam non potest nee concipi. τάχα ἂν λόγος δηλώσειεν, εἰ καὶ μὴ μετρίως, ἁλλ’ ἀμυδρῶς γε, τῷ μὴ πάντη τὰ ὦτα διεφθαρμένῳ καὶ νωθρῷ τὴν διάνοιαν. τὸ δὲ τοσοῦτον πρᾶγμα τῇ διανοίᾳ περιλαβεῖν πάντως ἀδύνατον καὶ ἀμήχανον, μὴ ὅτι τοῖς καταβεβλακευμένοις, καὶ κάτω νεύουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς λίαν ὑψηλοῖς τε καὶ φιλοθέοις, καὶ ὁμοίως πάσῃ γεννητῇ φύσει, καὶ οἷς ὁ ζόφος οὗτος ἐπιπροσθεῖ καὶ τὸ παχὺ τοῦτο σαρκίον πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ἀληθοῦς κατανόησιν. οὐκ οἶδα δέ, εἰ μὴ καὶ ταῖς ἀνωτέρω καὶ νοεραῖς φύσεσιν, αἳ διὰ τὸ πλησίον εἶναι θεοῦ, καὶ ὅλῳ τῷ φωτὶ καταλάμπεσθαι, τυχὸν ἂν καὶ τρανοῖντο, εἰ καὶ μὴ πάντη, ἀλλ’ ἡμῶν γε τελεώτερόν τε καὶ ἐκτυπώτερον, καὶ ἄλλων ἄλλαι πλεῖον ἢ ἔλαττον, κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῆς τάξεως.

Τοῦτο μὲν οὖν ἐνταῦθα κείσθω· τὸ δὲ ἡμέτερον, 1 τάχα ἀν’] + καὶ e ǁ 4 καταβεβλακευμενοις] κατεβλ. acf ‘duo Colb. Or. 1’ || 6 γεννητὴ] γενητὴ abc || 11 p, τε c 1. εἰ καὶ μὴ μ., ἀλλ’ ἀμ’. γε] μετρίως is here a word of approbation, ‘if not satisfactorily, yet dimly at any rate.’ 4. μὴ ὅτι] ‘not to speak ’ cp. § 11. Καταβεβλ. from βλάξ, which is thought to be a collateral form of μαλακός, ‘slack,’ ‘enfeebled,’ ‘enervated.’ 6. γεννητῇ] not= γενητὴ ‘created,’ for Gr. goes on to speak of the higher created intelligences as a separate class afterwards; but strictly ‘begotten’ or ‘born,’ i.e. existing under physical conditions, the effect of which is described in the following clause. 7. ἐπιπροσθεῖ] The verb is formed from the adv. ἐπίπροσθεν: ‘to be in front of,’ so ‘get in the way of.’ Wyttenbach collects many instances of its use in his note on Plut. de Recta And. Ratione p. 41 C. ib. σαρκίον] the diminutive ex- presses depreciation. 8. πρός] ‘in reference to,’ it comes to a matter οf.’ ib. οὐκ οἴδα δέ, εἰ μὴ] of course indicates Gr.’s opinion that it is impossible. This was the general opinion. Cp. Chrys. Horn, de Incomprehensibili iii 1 τὸν ἀνεξιχνίαστον ἀγγέλοις, τὸν ἀνεξερεύνητον ἀρχαγγέλοις, τὸν ἀθέατον τοῖς σεραφίμ, τὸν ἀκατανόητον τοῖς χερουβίμ, τὸν ἀόρατον ἀρχαῖς καἰ ἐξουσίαις λαὶ δυνάμεσι καὶ ἁπλῶς πάση τῇ κτίσει. 10. τυχὸν ἂν καὶ τρανοῖντο] Τρανόω, a favourite word of Gr.'s, usually = ‘to make plain’ (e.g. § 20). as τρανός is sometimes used in the more active sense of ‘clear,’ i.e. of penetrating intelligence (e.g. Wisd. vii 22), it seems best to understand τρανοῖντο here in that way, ‘gifted with insight and intelligence.’ 12. ἐκτυπώτερον] ‘ more expressly,’ ’distinctly.’ 5. The works of God are beyond our present comprehension, much more Himself; we can only affirm for certain that He exists. 14. κείσθω] ‘be dropped.’ He not wish to pursue the question with regard to the superior intelligences: τὸ δὲ ἠμ’. ‘but as concerning us.’ οὐχ ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ θεοῦ μόνον ὑπερέχει πάντα νοῦν καὶ κατάληψιν, οὐδὲ ὅσα τοῖς δικαίοις ἐστὶν ἐν ἐπαγγελίαις ἀποκείμενα, τὰ μήτε ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρατά, μήτε ὠσὶν ἀκουστά, μήτε διανοίᾳ θεωρητά, κατὰ μικρὸν γοῦν, οὐδὲ ἡ τῆς κτίσεως ἀκριβὴς κατανόησις· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ταύτης πείσθητι τὰς σκιὰς ἔχειν μόνον, ὅταν ἀκούσῃς· ὄψομαι τοὺς οὐρανούς, ἔργα τῶν δακτύλων σου, σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας, καὶ τὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς πάγιον λόγον· ὡς οὐχὶ νῦν ὁρῶν, ὀψόμενος δὲ ἔστιν ὅτε· ἀλλὰ πολὺ πρὸ τούτων ἡ ὑπὲρ ταῦτα, καὶ ἐξ ἧς ταῦτα, φύσις ἄληπτός τε καὶ ἀπερίληπτος· λέγω δέ, οὐχ ὅτι ἔστιν, ἀλλ’ ἥτις ἐστίν. οὐ γὰρ κενὸν τὸ κήρυγμα ἡμῶν, οὐδὲ ματαία ἡ πίστις ἡμῶν, οὐδὲ τοῦτό ἐστιν ὃ δογματίζομεν· μὴ πάλιν τὴν εὐγνωμοσύνην ἡμῶν ἀθείας λάβῃς ἀρχὴν καὶ συκοφαντίας, καὶ κατεπαρθῇς ὡς ὁμολο- 5. 2 ἐν ἐπαγγελίαις ἐστιν d || 8 πάγιον] πανάγιον e || 10 om ταύτα φύσις . . . .λεγω δε d 1. ὑπερέχει π. νοῦν] Phil, iv 7. 3."/> μήτε ὀφθ. ὁρατά κτλ.] 1 Cor. ii 9. Gr. forgets, as most people do, that St Paul adds ἡμῖν γὰρ ἀπεκάλυψεν ὁ θ. διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος. 4. κατὰ μικρὸν γοῦν] Γοῦν corrects, but limits the concession; ‘not contemplated by the mind— well, only to small estent.’ 6. τὰς σκιάς] ‘the outlines.’ ib. ὄψομαι κτλ.] Ps. viii 4 (3). 8. τ. ἐν αὐτ’. πάγιον λόγον] πάγιος from the root of πήγνυμι, ‘firm,’ ‘fixed’; ‘the well established order that prevails among them.’ words are a paraphrase of ‘which thou hast ordained.’ ib. ὀψόμενος δὲ ἐστιν ὅτε] Gr. calls attention to the fact that the Ps. uses the future, not the present. 9. ἢ ὑπὲρ τ....φύσις] ὑπερέχει πάντα νοῦν. It is a little odd to say, “note only the peace of God, but God Himself, passeth understanding.’’ We might have expected, ‘If the peace of God passeth understanding, much more God Himself.’’ 10. ἄληπτός τε κ.ἀπερίλ.] ‘inapprehensible as it is and incomprehensible.’ 11 οὐχ ὅτι ἐστιν, ἁλλ’ ἥτις ἐστίν] may be taken either with ἄληπτος κ. ἀπερίληπτος, or with the main verb ὑπερέχει π. νοῦν. Perh. the latter is the more forcible: ‘Ι do not mean that the fact of its existence passes understanding, but the nature of it.’ ib. οὐ γὰρ κενόν κτλ.] 1 Cor. xv 14, 17. The γὰρ implies that it would be ‘vain’ if we were unable truly to apprehend the fact of God's existence. 13. ὃ δογματίζομεν] ‘nor is that the doctrine which I am laying down.’ ib. εὐγνωμοσύνην] Cp. εὐγνώμονος above, i 5. It resembles ἐπιείκεια, ‘reasonableness.’ Μὴ πάλιν, cp. i 4 μὴ πάλιν ἐπιφυέσθωσαν. 14. κατεπαρθῇς] ‘exalt yourself against me.’ Cp. Cyr. Al. c. Ful. i p. 6. γούντων τὴν ἄγνοιαν. πλεῖστον γὰρ διαφέρει τοῦ εἶναί τι πεπεῖσθαι τὸ τί ποτέ ἐστι τοῦτο εἰδέναι.

τοῦ μὲν γὰρ εἶναι θεόν, καὶ τὴν πάντων ποιητικήν τε καὶ συνεκτικὴν αἰτίαν, καὶ ὄψις διδάσκαλος, καὶ ὁ φυσικὸς νόμος· ἡ μὲν τοῖς ὁρωμένοις προσβάλλουσα, καὶ πεπηγόσι καλῶς καὶ ὁδεύουσι, καὶ ἀκινήτως, ἵνα οὕτως εἴπω, κινουμένοις καὶ φερομένοις· ὁ δὲ διὰ τῶν ὁρωμένων καὶ τεταγμένων τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τούτων συλλογιζόμενος. πῶς γὰρ ἂν καὶ ὑπέστη τόδε τὸ πᾶν, ἢ συνέστη, μὴ θεοῦ τὰ πάντα καὶ οὐσιώσαντος καὶ συνέχοντος; οὐδὲ γὰρ κιθάραν τις ὁρῶν κάλλιστα ἠσκημένην καὶ τὴν ταύτης εὐαρμοστίαν καὶ εὐταξίαν, ἢ τῆς κιθαρῳδίας αὐτῆς ἀκούων, ἄλλο τι ἢ τὸν τῆς κιθάρας δημιουργὸν καὶ τὸν κιθαρῳδὸν ἐννοήσει, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀναδραμεῖται τῆ διανοίᾳ, κἂν ἀγνοῶν τύχη ταῖς ὄψεσιν. οὕτω καὶ ἡμῖν τὸ ποιητικὸν 6. 4 αἰτίαν] οὐσίαν f ǁ 6 ὁδεύουσι] -σα c 6. Of His existence the order of nature assures us. We are forced to think of a Creator when we look upon Creation, as the sight of a lyre makes us think of the lyre-maker. But beyond that, we have no certainty. 4. συνεκτικήν] from συνέχειν, Δ’ maintain in harmony’: cp. Col. i τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν. So Xen. Cyrop. 8 p. 140 οἱ θεοὶ] τὴν τῶν ὅλων τήνδε τάξιν συνέχουσιν ἀτριβῆ. For the construction, τὴν π. π. αἰτίαν is strictly (with θεόν) the subject of εἶναι. The def. art. is used in the same way as in participial sentences like εἰσὶν...οἱ τ. ἀκ. προσκνώμενοι (above, p. 1); where our idiom rather puts ’a’ than ‘the’; ‘that there is a God and a creative cause.’ 5. ὁ φυσικὸς νόμος] Gr. does not here mean ‘natural law’ in modern sense, although such an use might readily be paralleled. The explanatory clause below shews that he does not mean ‘the law which we observe in the natural order around us,’ but the natural upon ourselves of the observations which we make. Cp. below ταῖς φυσικαῖς ἀποδείξεσιν. ib. προσβάλλουσα] ‘lighting upon.’ 6. κ. πεπηγόσι] πέπηγα (from πήγνυμι) has the intrans. sense, ‘to be fixed.’ K. πεπ. κ. ὁδ’. κ. κιν. κ. are predicates of τοῖς ὁρ.; ‘seeing them fixed’ ect. 8. συλλογιζόμενος] When we see the order in nature the natural result upon ourselves is to infer the existence of an ἀρχηγός i.e. ‘author.’ 10. οὐσιώσαντος] οὐσιόω=‘to give οὐσία,’ ‘bring into being.’ 11. κιθάραν...κάιλιστα ἠσκημένην] Cp. Paley's famous argument about the watch. Ἀσκεῖν like ἐξασκεῖν, = exornare; see Horn. Od. i 439: ‘beautifully and elaborately made.’ 15. ταῖς ὄψεσιν] contrasted with τῆ διανοίᾳ: ‘he will pass ἀναδ. because higher up, further back, in the order of thought or causation) to him in thought, although he may not be acquainted with him by sight.’ The unusual pl. ταῖς ὄψ. might mean either ‘by his (the player's) looks,’ or ‘by his (the hearer's) sight.’ latter makes the best parallel to διαν.; it is also used in this sense by Herodian 6 (9, 10) ὡς ἐν ὄψεσιν ἢν ’when he came in sight.’ δῆλον, καὶ τὸ κινοῦν καὶ τηροῦν τὰ πεποιημένα, κἂν μὴ διανοίᾳ περιλαμβάνηται· καὶ λίαν ἀγνώμων ὁ μὴ μέχρι τούτων προιὼν ἑκουσίως καὶ ταῖς φυσικαῖς ἑπόμενος ἀποδείξεσιν. ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τοῦτο εἶναι θεόν, ὅπερ ἐφαντάσθημεν, ἢ ἀνετυπωσάμεθα, ἢ λόγος ὑπέγραψεν. εἰ δέ τις ἐν περινοίᾳ τούτου ποτὲ κἂν ἐπὶ ποσὸν ἐγένετο, τίς ἡ ἀπόδειξις; τίς οὕτως εἰς ἔσχατον σοφίας ἀφίκετο; τίς τοσούτου χαρίσματος ἠξιώθη ποτέ; τίς οὕτω τὸ στόμα τῆς διανοίας 6 om ποτε ‘Or. 1’ 1. τὸ ποιητ δῆλον] ‘the creating power is plain.’ 2. ἀγνώμων] here ‘unreasonable,’ ‘deficient in sense.’ 3. κ. ταῖς φ. ἐπ’. ἀποδ.] The καὶ joins ἑπόμενος to ἑκουσίως, not to προίων. 4. ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τοῦτο] a very difficult passage. The usual interpretation makes ἀλλὰ answer to the μὴ in μὴ προιών, ‘who will not go as far as this, but (says) that not even this, which we have imagined, is God.’ But it is harsh to supply the necessary φάσκων or ὁμολογῶν in order to make the clause grammatical; and a comparison with the sentence in § 12 where Gr. resumes his thread after a long digression, seems to shew that we must assign an entirely different meaning to the present sentence,—and which will accord better with grammatical requirements. In ἑ 12 Gr. says that the proposition from which he had started was τὸ μὴ ληπτὸν εἶναι ἀνθρωπίνη διανοίᾳ τὸ θεῖον, μηδὲ ὅλον ὅσον ἐστὶ φαντάζεσθαι. Here, accordingly, we must suppose, that it is Gr. himself, and not the λίαν ἀγνώμων, who denies εἶναι θεὸν ὅπερ ἔφαντ’. It is, he says, very unreasonable not to accept the natural proofs of God's existence, and in following them we are compelled to form certain great outlines of a conception of God (e.g. creative power, rational method, etc.), which we cannot doubt to be correct. But even this is not the same thing as to identify εἶναι ὅπερ) God with what we have imagined, or figured to ourselves, or what our reason has delineated. τοῦτο is the subject of ἐστὶν understood, of which εἶναι θ. κτλ. is the predicate. While we have ἀποδείξεις for the one belief, we have none for the other. 5. ὑπέγραψεν] Cp. I Pet. ii 21 ὑπογραμμόν ‘a sketch.’ 6. ἐν περινοίᾳ τ....ἐγένετο] Gr. uses the same expression in Or. xlv § 11: οὐ γὰρ οἶόν τε ἄλλως ἐν περινοίᾳ θεοῦ γενέσθαι σώματος ὑλικοῦ καὶ δεσμίου νοῦ πάχος μὴ βοηθούμενον. The rare word περίνοια appears to denote an embracing in thought, a mental taking in of the subject. Τούτου sc. θεοῦ ‘If ever anyone in any degree has attained to an understanding of Him, what proof is there of the fact?’ 8. τὸ στόμα...πνεῦμα] Ps. cxviii (cxix) 131. The ἵνα ὥστε, following as it does upon the οὕτως and the τοσούτου. ἤνοιξε καὶ εἵλκυσε πνεῦμα, ἵνα τῷ τὰ πάντα ἐρευνῶντι καὶ γινώσκοντι καὶ τὰ βάθη τοῦ θεοῦ πνεύματι θεὸν καταλάβῃ, καὶ μηκέτι τοῦ πρόσω δέηται, τὸ ἔσχατον ὀρεκτὸν ἔχων ἤδη, καὶ εἰς ὃ πᾶσα σπεύδει καὶ πολιτεία τοῦ ὑψηλοῦ καὶ διάνοια;

Τί γάρ ποτε ὑπολήψῃ τὸ θεῖον, εἴπερ ὅλαις ταῖς λογικαῖς πιστεύεις ἐφόδοις; ἢ πρὸς τί σε ὁ λόγος ἀνάξει βασανιζόμενος, ὦ φιλοσοφώτατε σὺ καὶ θεολογικώτατε καὶ καυχώμενε εἰς τὰ ἄμετρα; πότερον σῶμα; καὶ πῶς τὸ ἄπειρον, καὶ ἀόριστον, καὶ ἀσχημάτιστον, καὶ ἀναφές, καὶ ἀόρατον; ἢ καὶ ταῦτα σώματα; τῆς ἐξουσίας· οὐ γὰρ αὕτη φύσις σωμάτων. ἢ σῶμα μέν, οὐχὶ ταῦτα δέ; τῆς παχύτητος· ἵνα μηδὲν πλέον ἡμῶν ἔχη τὸ θεῖον. πῶς γὰρ σεπτόν, εἰ περιγραπτόν; ἢ πῶς φεύξεται τὸ ἐκ στοιχείων συγκεῖσθαι καὶ εἰς αὐτὰ πάλιν ἀναλύεσθαι, ἢ 4 ορεκτον] -των e 7. 6 ὀλαῖς] ὅλως abde ‘Coisl. 3 Or. ’ ǁ 7 εφοδιες] ’Coisl. 1 ορμαις’ (perperam) || 11 σωματα]+ ω f || 12 αυτη] αὐτή ut vid cef ΙΙ ταύτα δε] + ω f ΙΙ 15 om η cdef 1 τῷ τ. π. ἐρευνῶντι κτλ.] 1 Cor. ii 10., 3. τοῦ πρόσω] ‘no longer needs to advance.’ ib. τὸ ἔσχ. ὀρεκτόν] ‘ the ultimate object of ’ The phrase comes originally from Arist. Metaph. xii 7. 4. πολιτεία τ. ὑψηλοῦ] ‘all a high-minded man's life.’ 7. to begin with, God cannot be corporeal; which would involve being dissoluble. 6. ὅλαις τ. λου....ἐφόδοις] The reading ὅλως (‘if you rely at all’) would not make so strong an argu- ment against Eunomian self-confidence. Ἔφοδος ‘method.’ 8. βασανιζόμενος] a logical pa- rallel to ὅλαις;š—‘however much you rack it.’ 9. καυχ. εἰς τὰ ἄμετρα] ‘boasting of your command of the infinite.’ ib. σῶμα] of course, a very un- likely alternative for the Eunomians to choose; and it must be admitted that Gr. somewhat begs the question as against them, in the next clause. ib. καἰ πῶς] sc. σῶμά ἐστιν (or ἄν εἴη). 11. ἢ καἰ ταῦτα σ.] ‘Are bodies to be so described?’ ib. τ. ἐξουσίας] ‘a stretch of power,’ to confer such properties upon a body! 12. σῶμα μέν, οὐχὶ τ. δέ] ‘Will you make Him a body and drop these attributes?’ This Gr. terizes as ‘gross.’ For παχύτητος cp. § 4 τὸ παχὺ τοῦτο σαρκίον. 13. ἵνα...ἔχῃ] B good example that not ‘final’ use of ἴνα which is familiar in the N.T. 14. σεπτόν] from σέβεσθαι, ‘an object of devotion.’ Gr. mean that the fact of being περιγραπτόν would by itself preclude being σεπτόν, but that all that is connoted by περιγράπτῳ would. καὶ ὅλως λύεσθαι; σύνθεσις γὰρ ἀρχὴ μάχης· μάχη δὲ διαστάσεως· ἡ δὲ λύσεως· λύσις δὲ ἀλλότριον πάντῃ θεοῦ καὶ τῆς πρώτης φύσεως. οὐκ οὖν διάστασις, ἵνα μὴ λύσις· οὐδὲ μάχη, ἵνα μὴ διάστασις· οὐδὲ σύνθεσις, ἵνα μὴ μάχη· διὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲ σῶμα, ἵνα μὴ σύνθεσις. ἐκ τῶν τελευταίων ἐπὶ τὰ πρῶτα ὁ λόγος ἀνιὼν οὕτως ἵσταται.

Ἠὼς δὲ καὶ σωθήσεται τὸ διὰ πάντων διήκειν καὶ πληροῦν τὰ πάντα θεόν, κατὰ τό· Οὐχὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐγὼ πληρῶ; λέγει κύριος, καί· Ηνεῦμα κυρίου πεπλήρωκε τὴν οἰκουμένην, εἰ τὸ μὲν περιγράφοι, τὸ δὲ περιγράφοιτο; ἢ γὰρ διὰ κενοῦ χωρήσει τοῦ παντός, καὶ τὰ πάντα οἰχήσεται ἡμῖν, ἵν ὑβρισθῇ θεός, καὶ σῶμα γενόμενος, καὶ οὐκ ἔχων ὅσα πεποίηκεν· ἢ σῶμα ἐν σώμασιν ἔσται, ὅπερ ἀδύνατον· ἢ πλακήσεται καὶ ἀντι- 8. 10 περιγραφοι] φει ‘Reg. a’:μη περιγράφοιτο e || 13 om ἔχων e ǁ 14 και] η e 1. λύεσθαι] treated as something further than ἀναλ. The component elements might conceivably be separated and yet something remain; but λ. would be the complete break up of the whole thing. ib. σύνθεσις] The blending of different elements introduces a possibility of conflict, and so of division, and so of destruction; which is unthinkable in connexion with Him who, if He exists at all, must be the πρώτη φύσις, or primary existence, into which no earlierexistence enters. Elias observes that the ‘Platonic’ form of the argument is particularly applicable to the heretical dialecticians whom Gr. has in view. 5. ἐκ τῶν τελ.] In other words, the contention that God is not ‘a body’ is proved by a reductio absurdum. 8. Besides, if God were corporeal, His corporeity must involve either the denial of all other corporeities, or His interpenetration with them. Even on the supposition of a ‘fifth element’ which might be identified with His corporeity, He would be made subject to motion and to space. 8. τὸ Οὐχί] Jer. xxiii 24. 9. πνεῦμα κ.] Wisd. i. 7. The book is treated as authoritative. 10. τὸ μὲν...τὸ δέ] It seems logically best, if grammatically less obvious, to take τὸ μὲν as the direct ace. after περιγράφοι and τὸ δὲ as the indirect ace. after περιγράφοιτο; ‘if God should circumscribeonething and be circumscribed with another.’ This, it is assumed, must be the case if God were ‘a body.’ 11. ἢ γάρ] as often, ‘for otherwise either’etc. ib. διὰ κενοῦ...τ. παντός] ‘the universe which He pervades must be empty.’ 12. ἵν’ ὑβρισθῇ] an answer to the implied rhetorical question, ‘And why must everything perish?’ order that God may be doubly outraged, by being made a body, and by being deprived of all that He has created.’ 14. ἀδύνατον] because ‘bodies’ are mutually exclusive. παρατεθήσεται, ὥσπερ ὅσα τῶν ὑγρῶν μίγνυται, καὶ τὸ μὲν τέμνει, ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦ τμηθήσεται, ὃ καὶ τῶν Ἐπικουρείων ἀτόμων ἀτοπώτερόν τε καὶ γραωδέστερον· καὶ οὕτω διαπεσεῖται ἡμῖν, καὶ σῶμα οὐχ ἕξει, οὐδὲ πῆξίν τινα, ὁ περὶ τοῦ σώματος λόγος. εἰ δὲ ἄυλον φήσομεν, εἰ μὲν τὸ πέμπτον, ὥς τισιν ἔδοξε, καὶ τὴν κύκλῳ φορὰν φερόμενον, ἔστω μὲν ἄυλόν τι καὶ πέμπτον σῶμα, εἰ βούλονται δέ, καὶ ἀσώματον, κατὰ τὴν αὐτόνομον αὐτῶν τοῦ λόγου φορὰν καὶ ἀνάπλασιν· οὐδὲν γὰρ νῦν περὶ τούτου διοίσομαι. 2 τέμνει] τέμει c || 3 γραωδέστερον] + ὡς οἱ πέρι ταύτα ἐσχολακότες εληρησαν bde El ǁ 9 διοίσομαι] μεν ‘Reg. a’ ib. πλακήσεται κτλ.] πλακ. from πλέκω ‘to weave,’ so ‘entangle,’ It is a somewhat strange use of the simple verb; but Gr. has elsewhere θεῷ πλακῆναι καἰ θεὸν γενέσθαι ἐκ τῆς μίξεως. Ἀντιπ. ‘bring into juxtaposition.’ Gr. understands by the two words is explained by the comparison with mixing liquids. 1. τὸ μὲν τέμνει] sc. ὁ θεός; the fut. τμηθ. shews that Gr. is no longer thinking of the liquids, though no doubt it was the comparison with them which caused the pres. τέμνει. The supposed interpenetration of the σῶμα of God with other σώματα necessitates constant breaches of continuity in both. 2. Ἐπικ. ἀτόμων] Cp. p. 19 above. 3. γραωδέστερον] Cp. 1 Tim. iv 7. The words which follow in some authorities must be an ancient gloss. If they belonged to the text at all, they must needs come in after τμηθήσεται, where (apparently) no MS. places them. ib. διαπεσεῖται] ‘fall through,’ ‘come to ’; Plat. Phaed. 80 c. The subject of διαπ. is ὁ π. τ σ. λόγος. 4. σῶμα οὐχ νεῖ] It is difficult in English to keep up the play on the word σῶμα. Gr. means of course that the argument for a corporeal existence of God proves unsubstantail: it has no πῆξιν, ‘solidity’ (cp. πάγιος λόγος in § 5). 5. εἰ δὲ ἄυλον] ἁ priv. and ὕλη. The protasis is broken up into εἰ μὲν τὸ πέμπτον and εἰ δὲ ἄλλο τι παρὰ τὸ πέμπτον. Then the first apodosis is broken up likewise into ἒστω μέν and κατὰ τί δέ. ib τὸ πέμπτον] The reference is to the Aristotelian conception of a “quintessence,” or fifth “element,” besides earth, air, fire and water. Cp. Bas. Hex. 11. 7. ἔστω μέν] Gr. is willing to assume for the moment that there is such a thing as the imagined quintessence: οὐδὲν νῦν διοίσομαι, ‘I will not now differ.’ 8. κατὰ τὴν αὐτόνομον κτλ.] Almost each word here requires annotation. Λόγος is ‘the σῶμα,’ or perhaps ἀσώματον σῶμα Φορὰν at first sight seems to refer to τὴν κύκλῳ φ. just above; but there is prob. no such play upon the word intended. Gr. seems to employ it in the sense of ‘usage.’ Although no other example of the subst. in that sense is at hand, the verb is not infrequently so used. Gr. has διὰ γλώσσης φέρειν ‘to speak of. Ἀναπλάττειν and its derivatives are frequent in Gr. Sometimes the prep. has its full force, ‘re-construction,’ ‘fashioning afresh,’ as for ex. baptism; sometimes it is simply ‘to fashion,’ ‘imagine.’ Thus he of matter ὕλην) as ὑποστᾶσαν ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων, κἄν τινες ἀγέννητον ἀναπλάττωσιν. So here he seems to mean the ‘shaping’ which the Aristotelians put upon the word, with a slight suggestion of its being a factitious and not the legitimate construction. This is further expressed by calling it αὐτόνομον, ‘their inderpendent,’ arbitrary, ‘use and construction of the word.’ κατὰ τί δὲ τῶν κινουμένων ἔσται καὶ φερομένων, ἵνα μὴ λέγω τὴν ὕβριν, εἰ τὰ αὐτὰ τοῖς πεποιημένοις ὁ πεποιηκὼς κινηθήσεται, καὶ τοῖς φερομένοις ὁ φέρων, εἴ γε καὶ τοῦτο δώσουσι; τί δὲ τὸ τοῦτο πάλιν κινοῦν; τί δὲ τὸ τὸ πᾶν κινοῦν; κἀκεῖνο τί; καὶ τί πάλιν ἐκεῖνο; καὶ τοῦτο εἰς ἄπειρον. πῶς δὲ οὐκ ἐν τόπῳ πάντως, εἴ γε φερόμενον; εἰ δὲ ἄλλο τι παρὰ τὸ πέμπτον φήσουσιν, εἰ μὲν ἀγγελικόν, πόθεν ὅτι ἄγγελοι σώματα, καὶ τίνα ταῦτα; καὶ πόσον ὑπὲρ ἄγγελον εἴη θεός, οὗ λειτουργὸς ἄγγελος; εἰ δὲ ὑπὲρ ταῦτα, πάλιν εἰσήχθη σωμάτων ἐσμὸς ἀλόγιστος, καὶ φλυαρίας βυθός, οὐδαμοῦ στῆναι δυνάμενος.

Οὕτω μὲν οὖν οὐ σῶμα ἡμῖν ὁ θεός. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἤδη τις τοῦτο τῶν θεοπνεύστων ἢ εἶπεν ἢ παρεδέξατο, οὐδὲ τῆς ἡμετέρας αὐλῆς ὁ λόγος. λείπεται δὴ ἀσώματον ὑπολαμβάνειν. ἀλλ’ εἰ ἀσώματον, οὔπω μὲν οὐδὲ τοῦτο τῆς οὐσίας παραστατικόν τε καὶ περιεκτικόν, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τὸ ἀγέννητον, καὶ τὸ ἄναρχον, καὶ τὸ ἀναλλοίωτον, καὶ τὸ ἄφθαρτον, καὶ ὅσα περὶ θεοῦ ἢ περὶ θεὸν εἶναι λέγεται. τί γὰρ ὄντι αὐτῷ κατὰ τὴν φύσιν καὶ τὴν ὑπόστασιν ὑπάρχει τὸ μὴ ἀρχὴν ἔχειν, μηδὲ ἐξίστασθαι, μηδὲ περα- τοῦσθαι ἀλλ᾿ ἀλλ’ ὅλον τὸ εἶναι περιλαμβάνειν λείπεται προσφιλοσοφεῖν τε καὶ προσεξετάζειν τῷ γε νοῦν θεοῦ ἀληθῶς ἔχοντι καὶ τελεωτέρῳ τὴν θεωρίαν. ὡς γὰρ οὐκ ἀρκεῖ τὸ σῶμα εἰπεῖν, ἢ τὸ γεγεννῆσθαι, πρὸς τὸ καὶ τό, περὶ ὃ ταῦτα, παραστῆσαί τε καὶ δηλῶσαι, ἀλλὰ δεῖ καὶ 9. 1 om ουν ac ΙΙ 3 δὴ] δε e ǁ 5 περιεκτικὸν] ’deest in nonnullis codd.’ || 6 ἀγέννητον] ἀγένητον c1 || 8 ὄντι] ὂν e || 11 om θεοῦ f ‘Or. I’ 9. We thus reach a negative truth about God, but a negative truth gives us no positive information. 2. τ. θεοπνεύστων] i.e. it is nowhere taught in the Bible. It is, as Elias says, a heathen and esp. a Stoic speculation. 3. τῆς ἤμ’. αὐλῆς] ‘ does not belong to θίς fold.’ 5. παραστ. τε κ. περιεκτ.] The confession that He is incorporeal does not amount to a positive statement or description of His being. 7. περὶ θεοῦ ἢ περὶ θεόν] The construction with the ace. is the less direct, and therefore suits better the scrupulous εὐλάβεια of Gr.'s language: ‘of God or in connexion with God.’ 8. τί γὰρ ὄντι αὐτῶ The κατὰ τὴν φ. is to be taken with ὑπάρχει, not with ὄντι. The sense is, ‘What substantive element is it in God's being, what light does it throw upon His nature and underlying essence, to say that He has no beginning,’ etc.? Ὑπόστασις is used in its older, untechnical sense, ‘person,’ but ’substance,’ as in Heb. i 3. 9. ἐξίστασθαι...περατοῦσθαι] Ἐξίστ. ‘to be moved out of oneself, so to change: Plat. Rep. 380 D ἐκστῆναι τῆς φύσεως. Περατ. (from πέρας) ‘to be limited’: Arist. de Mund. ii 2. 10. ἀλλ’ δὸν τὸ εἶναι] ‘Nay, the whole of the divine essence is left (untouched by these negative statements) to be conceived of and philosophically treated ated and examined.’ 13. πρὸς τὸ καἰ τό] ‘with regard to this or that object’: περὶ ὃ ‘to which the description applies.’ ib. τὸ ... παραστῆσαί τε κ. δ.] coupled by ἢ to εἰπεῖν. τὸ ὑποκείμενον τούτοις εἰπεῖν, εἰ μέλλοι τελείως καὶ ἀποχρώντως τὸ νοούμενον παραστήσεσθαι· ἢ γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἢ βοῦς ἢ ἵππος τοῦτο τὸ ἐνσώματον καὶ γεννώμενον καὶ φθειρόμενον· οὕτως οὐδὲ ἐκεῖ στήσεται μέχρι τοῦ εἰπεῖν ἃ μή ἐστιν ὁ τὴν τοῦ ὄντος πολυπραγμονῶν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ δεῖ, πρὸς τῷ εἰπεῖν ἃ μή ἐστι, καὶ ὅ ἐστιν εἰπεῖν, ὅσῳ καὶ ῥᾷον ἕν τι περιλαβεῖν, ἢ τὰ πάντα καθ᾿ ἕκαστον ἀπειπεῖν,—ἵνα ἔκ τε τῆς ἀναιρέσεως ὧν οὔκ ἐστι, καὶ τῆς οὗ ἐστὶ θέσεως, περιληφθῇ τὸ νοούμενον. ὁ δὲ ἃ μὲν οὔκ ἐστι λέγων, σιωπῶν δὲ ὅ ἐστι, ποιεῖ παραπλήσιον, ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ τὰ πέντε δὶς ὅσα ἐστὶν ἐρωτώμενος ὅτι μὲν οὐ δύο λέγοι, οὐδὲ τρεῖς, οὐδὲ τέσσαρες, οὐδὲ πέντε, οὐδὲ εἴκοσιν, οὐδὲ τριάκοντα, οὐδέ τινα, ἵνα συνελὼν εἴπω, τῶν ἐντὸς δεκάδος ἢ δεκαδικῶν ἀριθμῶν· ὅτι δὲ εἴη δέκα μὴ λέγοι, μηδὲ ἐρείδοι τὸν νοῦν τοῦ ἐρωτῶντος εἰς τὸ ζητούμενον. πολλῷ γὰρ ῥᾷον καὶ συντομώτερον ἐκ τοῦ ὅ ἐστιν ὅσα οὔκ ἐστι δηλῶσαι, ἢ ἐκ τοῦ ἀνελεῖν ἃ μή ἐστιν ὅ ἐστιν ἐνδείξασθαι.

Ἢ τοῦτο μὲν παντὶ δῆλον.

ἐπεὶ δέ ἐστιν 1 μελλοι] -λει ‘Reg. a’ || 6 προς το ειπ be || 8 om τε a || 11 om αν ‘Or. 1’ || 12 λεγοι] -ει ‘Reg. a tres Colb. Or. 1’ ut vid || τρεις ουδε τεσσαρες] τρια ουδε -ρα cde : τρεις ουδε -ρας b || 16 om γαρ d || εστιν] + ειπειν c 2. ἀποχρώντως] ‘sufficiently,’ ‘adequately.’ 4. οὐδὲ ἐκεῖ] in the case of incorporeal existences. ib. μέχρι τοῦ εἰπεῖν] In accordance with the double meaning of all such words, μέχρι has here the inclusive sense (‘so long as’), not the exclusive (‘until’). It is much less common when μ. is used prepositionally, as here. Οὐ στήσεται μέχρι τ. εἰ. ‘will not stop short with saying.’ Cp. § 16, 31. 5. πολυπραγμονῶν] ‘inquiring’ The word does not necessarily imply censure, esp. in the later Greek. Cyril Jer. uses it of God (Procat. § 2). The τοῦ ὄντος does not specially refer to God (ὁ ὤν), but quite generally to any existing thing which is under discussion. 8. ἀπειπεῖν] ‘to reject,’ ‘deny.’ ib. ἵνα ἔκ τε] depends on δεὸ. ib. ὧν οὔκ ἐστι] by attraction for τούτων ἃ οὐκ ἑ. ; so directly after, τῆς οὗ ἐστὶ θ. for τῆς τούτου ὅ ἐστι. 11. τὰ πέντε δὶς ὅσα ἑ.] ‘how many twice five is.’ 13. τῶν ἐντὸς δεκάδος ἢ δ. ἀ.] ‘of the numbers below ten or between the multiples of ten.’ 15. ἐρείδοL . . . εἰd] ‘satisfy . . . with’; lit. ‘plant firmly . . . upon.’ 19. ἤ] This elliptical and idio- matic use of ἤ suggests the alternative, ‘deny this if you can; or let us take it as self-evident and pass on.’ The μὲν is strictly answered by ἐπεὶ δέ, and there ought not to be such a break between them as is indicated by the usual division of chapters. ἀσώματον ἡμῖν τὸ θεῖον, μικρόν τι προσεξετάσωμεν. πότερον οὐδαμοῦ τοῦτο, ἢ ἔστιν ὅπου; εἰ μὲν γὰρ οὐδαμοῦ, ζητήσαι τις ἃν τῶν ἄγαν ἐξεταστικῶν, πῶς ἂν καὶ εἴη. εἰ γὰρ τὸ μὴ ὃν οὐδαμοῦ, τὸ μηδαμοῦ τυχὸν οὐδὲ ὄν. εἰ δέ ἐστί που, πάντως ἐπείπερ ἐστὶν ἢ ἐν τῷ παντὶ ἢ ὑπὲρ τὸ πᾶν. ἀλλ’ εἰ μὲν ἐν τῷ παντί, ἤ τινι, ἢ πανταχοῦ. καὶ εἰ μὲν ἔν τινι, ὑπ’ ἐλάττονος περιγραφήσεται τοῦ τινός, εἰ δὲ πανταχοῦ, ὑπὸ πλείονος καὶ ἄλλου πολλοῦ, λέγω δὲ τὸ περιεχόμενον τοῦ περιέχοντος, εἰ τὸ πᾶν ὑπὸ τοῦ παντὸς μέλλοι περισχεθήσεσθαι, καὶ μηδένα τόπον εἶναι περιγραφῆς ἐλεύθερον. ταῦτα μέν 10. 3 τις ἀν’] om ἀν’ d ΙΙ 7 η τινι] ἐν τινι e || 10 μέλλοι] -λει d 10. Gr. makes a digression to enquire how God is related to space. 2. ἐστιν ὅπου] ‘somewhere,’ like ἐστιν ὧν in i 5. 3. πῶς ἂν καἰ εἴη] ‘how it can exist at all.’ 5. πάντως ἐπείπερ ἐστὶν ἢ... ἤ] ‘it must of course be because it is either ...or.’ 7. ἤ τινι, ἢ πανταχοῦ] ‘it must reside either in α section of the universe, or extending throughout the whole: The passage which follows is characterized by Gr. himself (in § 11) as σκολιὸν γριφοειδές. Editors, therefore, and translators may be excused if they have made nonsense of it by wrong punctuation and by impossible renderings. The drift, however, is plain enough. Gr. places his opponent in a dilemma. If the Divine Being is located in a section of the universe, it is circumscribed by something relatively small τοῦ τινός=the supposed section, ἐλάττονος in comparison with τὸ πᾶν); a notion which is manifestly absurd. If on the other hand it is located in the universe at large, yet still (ex hypothesi) within the universe, then, though the thing which circumscribes it is relatively great πλ. καὶ ἄλλου πολλοῦ=‘greater than other great things’), yet none less it is as much circumscribed as in the former case. This follows from the very statement that τὸ θεῖον is ‘in’ the universe, which at once involves the relation of the thing containing to the thing contpined (grammatically τὸ περιεχόμενον is in apposition to the subject of περιγραφήσεται, and τοῦ περιέχοντος to ἐλάττονος τοῦ τινός and to πλείονος respectively). To complete the argument, however, it is necessary to postulate εἰ...μέλλοι) that the universe is not positively infinite but contained within itself if within nothing else, and that as it consists of space-relations it cannot he exempt from the possibility of circumscription. (The grammar of the last clause is apparently irregular, and some word like χρὴ must be supplied from μέλλοι; but it is possible that Gr. intends μέλλοι to stand absolutely and impersonally in both clauses (=‘it is to be a ’), making τό πᾶν περισχ. ace. and inf., like μ. τόπον εἶναι). εἰ ἐν τῷ παντί. καὶ ποῦ πρὶν γενέσθαι τὸ πᾶν; οὐδὲ γὰρ τοῦτο μικρὸν εἰς ἀπορίαν. εἰ δὲ ὑπὲρ τὸ πᾶν, ἆρ᾿ οὐδὲν ἦν τὸ διορίζον αὐτὸ τοῦ παντός; ποῦ δὲ τὸ ὑπὲρ τοῦτο; καὶ πῶς ἐνοήθη τὸ ὑπεραῖρον καὶ ὑπεραιρόμενον, οὐκ ὄντος ὅρου τινὸς τοῦ τέμνοντος ταῦτα καὶ διορίζοντος; ἢ χρὴ πάντως εἶναι τὸ μέσον, καὶ ᾧ περατοῦται τὸ πᾶν καὶ τὸ ὑπὲρ τὸ πᾶν; καὶ τί ἄλλο τοῦτο ἢ τόπος ἐστίν, ὅνπερ ἐφύγομεν; καὶ οὔπω λέγω τὸ περιγραπτὸν πάντως εἶναι τὸ θεῖον, καὶ εἰ διανοίᾳ καταληπτόν· ἓν γὰρ περιγραφῆς εἶδος καὶ ἡ κατάληψις.

τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν ταῦτα διῆλθον, καὶ περιεργότερον ἴσως ἢ κατὰ τὰς τῶν πολλῶν ἀκοάς, καὶ κατὰ τὸν νῦν κεκρατηκότα τύπον τῶν λόγων, ὃς τὸ γενναῖον καὶ ἁπλοῦν ἀτιμάσας τὸ σκολιὸν καὶ γριφοειδὲς ἐπεισήγαγεν· ὡς ἐκ 2 ει δε] ουδ e || 5 η] ει f || 9 om εἰ ‘Reg. Cypr.’ 11. 12 καὶ om κάτα b 1. καὶ που] ’And, still assuming that τὸ θεῖον is located in the universe, where was it,’ etc. 2. οὐδέν ἢν τὸ δ.] Gr. turns to the other horn of his first dilemma, and asks, What is there (if τὸ θεῖον is above the universe) to divide between tween the universe and it? The past tense ἦν, ἐνοήθη) in the preg- nant Greek idiom refers back to the moment when the opponent is supposed to have adopted the con- clusion. 3. τὸ ὑπὲρ τοῦτο] i.e. ὑπὲρ τὸ πᾶν. 4. τὸ ὑπεραῖρον κ. ὒ.] ὑπεραίρειν ‘to transcend’ (cp. § 3) represents εἶναι ὑπὲρ τὸ πᾶν. The single art., not repeated before ὑπεραιρόμενον, shews, of course, that the difficulty lies not in conceiving of the two things themselves, but in conceiving their relation to each other. 5. ἢ χρή] In English we say, ’Must there not be?’; in Greek there any alternative,) or must there be?’ 6. καὶ ᾧ π.] Καὶ here adds another description of τὸ μέσον, not a separate thing; and in τὸ μ. the art. is used as in τὸ διορίζον just above. 7. τοῦτο] sc. τὸ μέσον. 8. ἐφύγομεν] when we asked ποῦ τὸ ὑπὲρ τὸ πᾶν]. ib. καὶ οὔπω λοῶ κτλ.] ‘And I do not now insist upon the fact that τὸ π. εἶναι).’ 9. ἐν γάρ] ’for comprehension is one form of circumscription.’ 11 The purpose of the digression was to exemplify the barren dialectic of the Eunomians, as well as to shew that God is incomprehensible. He is so, not because He grudges the knowledge to man, whom He loves. 14. γριφοειδές] from γρῖφος, ‘a crab-pot,’ and so ‘a conundrum.’ is a hit at the Eunomian style of argument. ib. ὡς]=ὥστε. The tree is known by its fruits (Matt, vii 20) and the absence of light among the Eunomian theologians by the obscurity of their language. τῶν καρπῶν τὸ δένδρον γινώσκεσθαι, λέγω δὲ τὸ ἐνεργοῦν τὰ τοιαῦτα δόγματα σκότος ἐκ τοῦ ζόφου τῶν λεγομένων; οὐ γὰρ ἵνα καὶ αὐτὸς παράδοξα λέγειν δόξω, καὶ περιττὸς φαίνωμαι τὴν σοφίαν, πλέκων συνδέσμους καὶ διαλύων κρατούμενα· τοῦτο δὴ τὸ μέγα θαῦμα τοῦ Δανιήλ· ἀλλ’ ἵν ἐκεῖνο δηλώσαιμι, ὅ μοι λέγειν ὁ λόγος ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς ὥρμησεν. τοῦτο δὲ ἦν τί; τὸ μὴ ληπτὸν εἶναι ἀνθρωπίνῃ διανοίᾳ τὸ θεῖον, μηδὲ ὅλον ὅσον ἐστὶ φαντάζεσθαι· καὶ τοῦτο οὔτε διὰ φθόνον,—μακρὰν γὰρ τῆς θείας φύσεως φθόνος, τῆς γε ἀπαθοῦς καὶ μόνης ἀγαθῆς καὶ κυρίας, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν ἑαυτοῦ κτισμάτων περὶ τὸ τιμιώτατον· τί γὰρ Λόγῳ πρὸ τῶν λογικῶν; ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ ὑποστῆναι τῆς ἄκρας ἀγαθότητος·—οὔτε εἰς τιμὴν ἑαυτοῦ καὶ δόξαν τοῦ πλήρους, ἵνα τῷ ἀνεφίκτῳ τὸ τίμιον ἔχῃ καὶ τὸ σεβάσμιον. τοῦτο γὰρ πάντως σοφιστικὸν καὶ ἀλλότριον, μὴ ὅτι θεοῦ, ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ ἀνθρώπου μετρίως ἐπιεικοῦς, καί τι δεξιὸν ἑαυτῷ συνειδότος, ἐκ τοῦ κωλύειν ἑτέρους τὸ πρωτεῖον πορίζεσθαι.

Ἀλλ’ εἰ μὲν καὶ δι’ ἄλλας αἰτίας, εἰδεῖεν ἂν οἱ ἐγγυτέρω θεοῦ, καὶ τῶν ἀνεξιχνιάστων αὐτοῦ κριμάτων ἐπόπται καὶ θεωροί, εἴπερ εἰσί τινες τοσοῦτοι τὴν ἀρετήν, καὶ ἐν ἴχνεσιν ἀβύσσου περιπατοῦντες, τὸ δὴ λεγόμενον. ὅσον δ’ οὖν ἡμεῖς κατειλήφαμεν, μικροῖς μέτροις μετροῦντες τὰ δυσθεώρητα, τάχα μέν, ἵνα μὴ τῷ ῥᾳδίῳ τῆς κτήσεως ῥᾴστη γένηται καὶ ἡ τοῦ κτηθέντος ἀποβολή· φιλεῖ γὰρ τὸ μὲν πόνῳ κτηθὲν μᾶλλον κρατεῖσθαι, τὸ δὲ ῥᾳδίως κτηθὲν καὶ ἀποπτύεσθαι τάχιστα, ὡς πάλιν ληφθῆναι δυνάμενον· καὶ οὕτως εὐεργεσία καθίσταται τὸ μὴ πρόχειρον τῆς εὐεργεσίας, τοῖς γε νοῦν ἔχουσι. τάχα δέ, ὡς μὴ ταὐτὸν ἡμᾶς τῷ πεσόντι ἑωσφόρῳ πάσχειν, ἐκ τοῦ τὸ φῶς ὅλον χωρῆσαι κατέναντι κυρίου παντοκράτορος τραχηλιᾷν, καὶ πίπτειν ἐκ τῆς ἐπάρσεως πτῶμα πάντων ἐλεεινότατον. τυχὸν δέ, ἵν’ ἦ τι πλέον ἐκεῖθεν ἆθλον φιλοπονίας καὶ λαμπροῦ βίου τοῖς ἐνταῦθα κεκαθαρμένοις καὶ μακροθυμοῦσι πρὸς τὸ ποθούμενον. διὰ τοῦτο μέσος ἡμῶν τε καὶ θεοῦ ὁ σωματικὸς οὗτος ἵσταται γνόφος, ὥσπερ ἡ νεφέλη τὸ πάλαι τῶν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ τῶν Ἑβραίων. καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν ἴσως, ὃ ἔθετο σκότος ἀποκρυφὴν αὐτοῦ, 12. 9 ἀποπτύεσθαι] -εται ‘Or. Ι’ || 13 χώρησαι] + καὶ e || 19 om το ef 12. Perhaps one reason for difficulty of knowing God properly is to make us value the knowledge; another, to save us from pride, or to enhance the reward of earnest search. In any case, the infirmity of our bodily nature ttecessarily colours all our ideas of God. 1. δι’ ἄλλας αἰ.] other than those which he is about to allege. 2. ἀνεξιχν. ... κριμάτων] Cp. Rom. xi 33. The form of the sen- tence is quite general, and may in- clude both angelic beings and (though somewhat ironically) privi- human beings also. 4. ἐν ἴχν. ἀβ. περιπ.] Job xxxviii 16 (LXX.). 6. τῷ ῥᾳδίῳ τῆς κτ.] ‘lightly the gotten, lightly spent.’ 8. μᾶλλον κρατεῖσθαι] ‘the more firmly held.’ 10. τὸ μὴ πρόχειρον] The very fact that the benefit is not too easily attained is itself a benefit. 12. ἑωσφόρῳ] Is. xiv. 12. 13. χωρῆσαι, ‘take in.’ ib. κατέναντι κ. π. τρ] Job xv 25. Trax is to lift up the neck, like a rearing horse. 15. ἐκεῖθεν] ‘on yonder side’ death: cp. i 8. 19 τῶν Αἶγ’. κ. τ. ‘Εβ.] Ex. xiv 20. That cloud was only an obleged struction on the Egyptian side of it. 20. ὃ ἔθετο σκότος] ‘the the darkness which He ’’ etc. Ps. xvii (xviii) 12. τὴν ἡμετέραν παχύτητα, δι’ ἢν ὀλίγοι καὶ μικρὸν διακύπτουσιν. τοῦτο μὲν οὖν φιλοσοφείτωσαν οἷς ἐπιμελὲς, καὶ ἀνίτωσαν ἐπὶ πλεῖστον τῆς διασκέψεως. ἡμῖν δ’ οὑν ἐκεῖνο γνώριμον τοῖς δεσμίοις τῆς γῆς, ὅ φησιν ὁ θεῖος Ἱερεμίας, καὶ τὸ παχὺ τοῦτο σαρκίον περιβεβλημένοις, ὅτι ὥσπερ ἀδύνατον ὑπερβῆναι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ σκιάν, καὶ τῷ λίαν ἐπειγομένῳ,—φθάνει γὰρ ἀεὶ τοσοῦτον, ὅσον καταλαμβάνεται, —ἢ τοῖς ὁρατοῖς πηλσιάσαι τὴν ὄψιν δίχα τοῦ ἐν φωτὸς καὶ ἀέρος, ἢ τῶν ὑδάτων ἔξω τὴν νηκτὴν φύσιν διολισθαίνειν, οὕτως ἀμήχανον τοῖς ἐν σώμασι δίχα τῶν σωματικῶν πάντη γενέσθαι μετὰ τῶν νοουμένων. ἀεὶ γάρ τι παρεμπεσεῖται τῶν ἡμετέρων, κἂν ὅτι μάλιστα χωρίσας ἑαυτὸν τῶν ὁρωμένων ὁ νοῦς, καὶ καθ’ ἑαυτὸν γενόμενος, προσβάλλειν ἐπιχειρῇ τοῖς συγγενέσι καὶ ἀοράτοις. γνώσῃ δὲ οὕτως.

Οὐ πνεῦμα καὶ πῦρ καὶ φῶς, ἀγάπη τε καὶ σοφία καὶ δικαιοσύνη, καὶ νοῦς καὶ λόγος, καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, αἱ προσηγορίαι τῆς πρώτης φύσεως; τί οὖν; ἢ πνεῦμα νοήσεις δίχα φορᾶς καὶ χύσεως; ἢ πῦρ ἔξω τῆς ὕλης, καὶ τῆς ἄνω φορᾶς, καὶ τοῦ ἰδίου χρώματός τε καὶ σχήματος; ἢ φῶς οὐκ ἀέρι σύγκρατόν τε καὶ ἄφετόν τοῦ οἷον γεννῶντός 4 om ο θεῖος c II 5 προβεβλημένοις cde || 6 υπερβηναι] ἐστιν υπερβαινειν ‘Reg. Cypr.’ ΙΙ 10 σωμασι] -τι e 13. 18 πρωτης] θείας df || 19 χυσεως] συγχύσεως d 7. οἷς ἐπιμελές] ‘who make it their business.’ i.e. ἐκεῖνο] viz. what follows. ib. τοῖς δ. τῆς γῆς] Lam. iii 34. τὸ π. τ σαρκίον] Cp. § 4. ib. περιβεβλημένοις] The read- ing προβ., though perh. less strongly by the MSS., has in its favour Gr.'s characteristic use of πρόβλημα; see iv 6. 7. φθάνει κτλ.] ‘it always anti- cipates your movement by just the step you take to catch it.’ 9. τῶν ὑδάτων ἀῶ] Ἔξω comes after its case. Νηκτήν from νήχω ‘to swim’; ν. φύσις, ’the kind,’ i.e. fish Διολισθ. to glide along.’ Cp. § 24. 13. The most abstract conceptions have to be conveyed in language of a concrete nature, through which the mind, in its longing after God, strugsupported gles with difficulty. 18. τῆς πρ. φύσεως] Cp. § 3, 7, 14. 19. φορᾶς κ. χύσεως] ‘movement and effusion: χύσις seems to refer to the source, from which the breath (wind) isemitted. Cp. χεόμενον below. 21. σύγκρατόν τε] a curioua use of τε, which is here attached to the whole phrase οὐκ ἁ. σύγκρατον, not merely to σύγκρ., unless we are to suppose that Gr. at first intended to say instead of ἄφετόν τ. οἷον γ., ‘detached from that which generates it, so to speak? some word like σύνδετον, ‘connected with.’ τε καὶ φωτίζοντος; νοῦν δὲ τίνα; μὴ τὸν ἐν ἄλλῳ, καὶ οὗ κινήματα τὰ διανοήματα, ἠρεμοῦντα ἢ προβαλλόμενα; λόγον δὲ τίνα παρὰ τὸν ἡσυχάζοντα ἐν ἡμῖν, ἢ χεόμενον; ὀκνῶ γὰρ εἰπεῖν, λυόμενον. εἰ δὲ καὶ σοφίαν, τίνα παρὰ τὴν ἕξιν, καὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖς θεωρήμασιν, εἴτε θείοις, εἴτε καὶ ἀνθρωπίνοις; δικαιοσύνην τε καὶ ἀγάπην, οὐ διαθέσεις ἐπαινουμένας, καὶ τὴν μὲν τῆς ἀδικίας, τὴν δὲ τοῦ μίσους ἀντίπαλον, ἐπιτεινομένας τε καὶ ἀνιεμένας, προσγινομένας τε καὶ ἀπογινομένας, καὶ ὅλως ποιούσας ἡμᾶς καὶ ἀλλοιούσας, ὥσπερ αἱ χρόαι τὰ σώματα; ἢ δεῖ τούτων ἀποστάντας ἡμᾶς αὐτὸ καθ’ ἑαυτὸ τὸ θεῖον ἐκ τούτων ἰδεῖν, ὡς οἷόν τε, μερικήν τινα φαντασίαν ἐκ τῶν εἰκασμάτων 1 μὴ] η c: εἰ μὴ d || ἐν] ἐπ’ e || 2 om τὰ διανοήματα f ǁ 5 ἐν τοῖς] + νοήμασι καὶ ’Reg. a’ ΙΙ 8 ἀνιεμένας] ἀνειμένας b ‘aliique’ || 9 om ἀπογινομένας e: προγινομένας f ǁ 11 om ἐκ τούτων def 1. μὴ τὸν ἐν ἄλλῳ] Μῆ here expects the affirmative answer: ‘is it not?’ We cannot think of νοῦς existing independently, but as a faculty of something or some one. 2. οὗ κινήμ. τὰ δ.] not ‘whose movements are thoughts,’ but movements thoughts are.’ The is that we cannot imagine thoughts, uttered or unuttered, without some kind of movement, which involves a change, in the mind which thinks them. 4. χεόμενον] The word is often used of producing a sound. Gr. uses it here to bring out the notion of dissipation inseparable from utterance. He shrinks however from saying ‘dissolved,’ ‘persihsing’ λυόμ.), because, although the sound comes to an end, there is a sense in which the ‘word’ remains. What Gr. means by λυόμενον is made clear by iv 17 λυομένη φωνῇ. 5. τὴν ἕξιν, κ. τ. ἐν τ. θεωρ.] Wisdom can only be conceived of as a ‘habit’ (the Aristotelian word) of some personal subject, and occupied upon some object. It cannot be conceived of as isolated and self- existent. 7. διαθέσεις] In the same way ‘righteousness,’ ‘love,’ are ‘dispositions’ of a person, not abstract things; and for us they derive their meaning from a contrast with their opposites. Tey are, moreover, constantly changing, and the subject in which they reside varies ac- cordingly. 11. τούτων ἀποστ.] The ταῦτα must mean the relative notions which Gr. has shewn to be inseparable from the προσηγορίαι which he has discussed. He cannot mean the προσηγ. themselves, because he goes on to use them as εἰκάσματα. In the next sentence τούτων = τῶν εἰκασ- μάτων. συλλεγομένους; τίς οὖν ἡ μηχανὴ ἐκ τούτων τε καὶ μὴ ταῦτα; ἢ πῶς ταῦτα πάντα, καὶ τελείως ἕκαστον, τὸ ἓν τῇ φύσει ἀσύνθετον καὶ ἀνείκαστον; οὕτω κάμνει ἐκβῆναι τὰ σωματικὰ ὁ ἡμέτερος νοῦς, καὶ γυμνοῖς ὁμιλῆσαι τοῖς ἀσωμάτοις, ἕως σκοπεῖ μετὰ τῆς ἰδίας ἀσθενείας τὰ ὑπὲρ δύναμιν. ἐπεὶ ἐφίεται μὲν πᾶσα λογικὴ φύσις θεοῦ καὶ τῆς πρώτης αἰτίας· καταλαβεῖν δὲ ἀδυνατεῖ, δι’ ἃς εἶπον αἰτίας. κάμνουσα δὲ τῷ πόθῳ, καὶ οἷον σφαδάζουσα, καὶ τὴν ζημίαν οὐ φέρουσα, δεύτερον ποιεῖται πλοῦν, ἢ πρὸς τὰ ὁρώμενα βλέψαι, καὶ τούτων τι ποιῆσαι θεόν, κακῶς εἰδυῖα,—τί γὰρ τῶν ὁρατῶν τοῦ ὁρῶντος καὶ πόσον ἐστὶν ὑψηλότερόν τε καὶ θεοειδέστερον, ἵν ἦ τὸ μὲν προσκυνοῦν, τὸ δὲ προσκυνούμενον;—ἢ διὰ τοῦ κάλλους τῶν ὁρωμένων καὶ τῆς εὐταξίας θεὸν γνωρίσαι, καὶ ὁδηγῷ τῇ ὄψει τῶν ὑπὲρ τὴν ὄψιν χρήσασθαι, ἀλλὰ μὴ ζημιωθῆναι θεὸν διὰ τῆς μεγαλοπρεπείας τῶν ὁρωμένων.

Ἐντεῦθεν οἱ μὲν ἥλιον, οἱ δὲ σελήνην, οἱ δὲ 3 φύσει] + καὶ e || 10 ποιησαι] σασθαι e ǁ 11 om ἐστιν e 1. τίς οὖν ἡ μ. κτλ.] By what contrivance, he asks, can we construct an imagnation of God out of these materials and yet not identified with them? How can we use words like ‘light’ and ‘love’ to help us in representing Him to our minds, and yet eliminate from the representation notions which are of the very essence of ‘light’ and ‘love’ as known to us?—The sentence is elliptical: ἡ μηχ. is not the φαντασία which we attempt to form ἐκ τούτων·. in full it would be something like τίς ἡ μηχ. ἐκ τούτων τε συλλέγεσθαι φ. κ. μ. τ. 2. ἢ πῶς τ. π.] Supposing the difficulty last stated to be sur- mounted, how can we reconcile the thought of God's absolute unity with that of a combination of separate images, even when these images are carried to their perfection? 3. κάμνει] ‘wearies itself...so long ἃς it investigates.’ 8. σφαδάζουσα] ‘to plunge,’ a restive horse. 9. δεύτερον π. πλοῦν] a well- known proverb, like ‘trying the second string.’ The mind itself unable to comprehend God, but it cannot give up trying. Two alternatives lie before it; either to fall into idolatry, or to use nature as a suggestion of what is above nature. 10. κακῶς κακῶς εἰδυῖα] ‘and it makes a great mistake.’ 15. ζημιωθῆναι θ.] It was the fear of this ζημία, as Gr. has said, which led to idolatry (in the wide sense of the word); and by idolatry they incurred it. 14. Some, impatient of the struggle, sink into worship of natural objects, or of images. 17. ἐντεῦθεν] sc. διὰ τῆς μεγαλοπρ. τ. ὁρ. Cp. Wisd. xiii 3. ἀστέρων πλῆθος, οἱ δὲ οὐρανὸν αὐτὸν ἅμα τούτοις, οἷς καὶ τὸ πᾶν ἄγειν δεδώκασι κατὰ τὸ ποιὸν ἢ ποσὸν τῆς κινήσεως· οἱ δὲ τὰ στοιχεῖα, γῆν, ὕδωρ, ἀέρα, πῦρ, διὰ τὸ χρειῶδες, ὧν ἄνευ οὐδὲ συστῆναι δυνατὸν τὸν ἀνθρώπινον βίον· οἱ δὲ ὅ τι τύχοιεν ἕκαστος τῶν ὁρατῶν ἐσεβάσθησαν, ὧν ἑώρων τὰ κάλλιστα θεοὺς προστησάμενοι. εἰσὶ δὲ οἳ καὶ εἰκόνας καὶ πλάσματα, πρῶτα μὲν τῶν οἰκείων, οἵ γε περιπαθέστεροι καὶ σωματικώτεροι, καὶ τιμῶντες τοὺς ἀπελθόντας τοῖς ὑπομνήμασιν· ἔπειτα καὶ τῶν ξένων, οἱ μετ’ ἐκείνους καὶ μακρὰν ἀπ’ ἐκείνων, ἀγνοίᾳ τῆς πρώτης φύσεως, καὶ ἀκολουθίᾳ τῆς παραδοθείσης τιμῆς, ὡς ἐννόμου καὶ ἀναγκαίας, ἐπειδὴ χρόνῳ τὸ ἔθος βεβαιωθὲν ἐνομίσθη νόμος. οἶμαι δὲ καὶ δυναστείαν τινὲς θεραπεύοντες, καὶ ῥώμην ἐπαινέσαντες, καὶ κάλλος θαυμάσαντες, θεὸν ἐποίησαν τῷ χρόνῳ τὸν τιμώμενον, προσλαβόμενοί τινα καὶ μῦθον τῆς ἐξαπάτης ἐπίκουρον.

Οἱ ἐμπαθέστεροι δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ πάθη θεοὺς ἐνόμισαν, ἢ θεοῖς ἐτίμησαν, θυμόν, καὶ μιαιφονίαν, καὶ ἀσέλγειαν, καὶ μέθην, καὶ οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅ τι ἄλλο τῶν τούτοις παραπλησίων, οὐ καλὴν οὐδὲ δικαίαν ταύτην ἀπολογίαν 14. 16 ἐξαπάτης] -τησεως be 15. 18 θέοις] θεοὺς de || 20 απολογιαν ταύτην ce 2. κατὰ τὸ ποιὸν ἢ ποσὸν τ. κ. ] It is hard to see what Gr. means by this phrase. Elias gives an elabo- rate double explanation which only shews how much it puzzled him. Prob. by τὸ ποσόν Gr. means ’the ’ of motion,—the planets e.g. moving at a different ‘rate’ from the fixed stars; while τὸ ποῖον would include their conjunctions. 5. ὁ τι τύχοιεν ἔκ. τ ὁρ.] τῶν ὁρ. depends on ὅ τι; ἕκ. is in app. the subj. of τύχ.; ‘any visible any visible ob- ject which they happened individn- ally’ to select. 6. προστῇς.] Cp. § 1. 8. περιπαθέστεροι] ‘more emo- tional.’ ib. τοὺς ἀπελθόντας] Cp. Wisd. xiv 15 f. The καὶ couples τιμῶντες κτλ. to τῶν οἰκ., not to σωματικ. 10. τῆς πρ. φύσεως] Cp. ἑ 13. 12. χρόνῳ τὸ ἔθος κτλ.] Wisd. xiv 16 εἶτα ἐν χρόνῳ κρατυνθὲν τὸ ἀσεβὲς ἔθος ὡς νόμος ἐφυλάχθη. 15. προσλαβ. τ. κ. μῦθον] Gr. adopts the Euemerist view of my- thology. 15. Some deify their own pasto sions, and end in utter degradation. The Evil One deceives them into worshipping himself as God. 17. καἰ τὰ πάθη] Cp. i 6. 18. θεοῖς ἔτ’.] set gods over them. εὑράμενοι τῶν οἰκείων ἁμαρτημάτων. καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἀφῆκαν κάτω, τοὺς δὲ ὑπὸ γῆν ἔκρυψαν,—τοῦτο συνετῶς μόνον,—τοὺς δὲ ἀνήγαγον εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν. ὢ τῆς γελοίας κληροδοσίας. εἶτα ἑκάστῳ τῶν πλασμάτων ὄνομά τι θεῶν ἢ δαιμόνων ἐπιφημίσαντες, κατὰ τὴν ἐξουσίαν καὶ αὐτονομίαν τῆς πλάνης, καὶ ἀγάλματα ἱδρυσάμενοι, ὧν καὶ τὸ πολυτελὲς δέλεαρ, αἵμασί τε καὶ κνίσσαις, ἔστι δὲ οἱ γε καὶ πράξεσι λίαν αἰσχραῖς, μανίαις τε καὶ ἀνθρωποκτονίαις, τιμᾷν τοῦτο ἐνόμισαν. τοιαύτας γὰρ ἔπρεπεν εἶναι θεῶν τοιούτων καὶ τὰς τιμάς. ἤδη δὲ καὶ κνωδάλοις, καὶ τετραπόδοις, καὶ ἑρπετοῖς, καὶ τούτων τοῖς αἰσχίστοις τε καὶ γελοιοτάτοις, ἑαυτοὺς καθύβρισαν, καὶ τούτοις φέροντες τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ δόξαν προσέθηκαν· ὡς μὴ ῥᾴδιον εἶναι κρῖναι, πότερον δεῖ καταφρονεῖν μᾶλλον τῶν προσκυνούντων ἢ τῶν προσκυνουμένων. τάχα δὲ καὶ πολὺ πλέον τῶν λατρευόντων, ὅτι λογικῆς ὄντες φύσεως, καὶ χάριν θεοῦ δεξάμενοι, τὸ χεῖρον ὡς ἄμεινον προεστήσαντο. καὶ τοῦτο τοῦ πονηροῦ τὸ σόφισμα, τῷ καλῷ καταχρησαμένου πρὸς τὸ κακόν, οἷα τὰ πολλὰ τῶν ἐκείνου κακουργημάτων. παραλαβὼν γὰρ αὐτῶν τὸν πόθον πλανώμενον κότα θεοῦ ζήτησιν, ἵν εἰς ἑαυτὸν περισπάσῃ τὸ κράτος, καὶ κλέψῃ 2 ἔκρυψαν] ἀπέρριψαν ‘Reg. Cypr.’ ΙΙ 3 om τον ‘Or. I’ || 7 οἱ γε] ὅτε 8 τιμὰν τοῦτο] τοῦτο τιμὰν d: τιμὰν τούτους ‘Reg. Cypr.’ ǁ 14 πότερον] -ρων d ’tresColb.’ || 17 προεστήσαντο] προετιμήσαντο ‘Reg. Cypr.’ ΙΙ 20 πλανωμενον] -ων b || 21 περισπάσῃ] επισπαση b 2. τοῦτο συνετῶς μόνον] Α grimly humorous parenthesis: to bury them under ground was the only sensible part of the arrange- ment. 4. τῶν πλασμάτων) ‘these coun- terfeits.’ Gr. means the personifi- cations of the passions, not (as in ἑ 14) the images of them; of the images he has yet to speak. 5. ἐξουσίαν κ. αὐτονομίαν] Cp. for ἐξ. § 8: for αὐτὸν. § 8: ‘arbitrary license.’ 10. ἤδη δέ] like iam for mox. Κνώδαλα, ‘monsters.’ ib. τετραπ. κ ἑρπ.] Cp. Rom. i 23; Wisd. xi 15 (16) ἄλογα ἑρπετὰ κ. κνώδαλα εὐτελῆ. 15. τῶν λατρ.] so. δεῖ καταφρονεῖν. 16. χάριν θ. δεξ.] Gr. is using the word in a free and untechnical sense. 19. οἶα τ. π] predicate. The constr. is τοῦτο τ. σόφ’. ἦν τοιοῦτο] οἶα τ. π. 20. παραλαβών] i 7 παρ᾿ ἠμῶν. . . λαμβάνει. τὴν ἔφεσιν, ὥσπερ τυφλὸν χειραγωγῶν ὁδοῦ ὁδοῦ τινὸς ἐφιέμενον, ἄλλους ἀλλαχοῦ κατεκρήμνισε, καὶ διέσπειρεν εἰς ἕν τι θανάτου καὶ ἀπωλείας βάραθρον.

Οὗτοι μὲν δὴ ταῦτα· ἡμᾶς δὲ ὁ λόγος δεξάμενος ἐφιεμένους θεοῦ, καὶ μὴ ἀνεχομένους τὸ ἀνηγεμόνευτόν τε καὶ ἀκυβέρνητον, εἶτα τοῖς ὁρωμένοις προσβάλλων καὶ τοῖς ἀπαρχῆς ἐντυγχάνων, οὔτε μέχρι τούτων ἔστησεν,— οὐ γὰρ ἦν λόγου δοῦναι τὴν ἡγεμονίαν τοῖς ὁμοτίμοις κατὰ τὴν αἴσθησιν,—καὶ διὰ τούτων ἄγει πρὸς τὸ ὑπὲρ ταῦτα, καὶ δι’ οὗ τούτοις τὸ εἶναι περίεστιν. τί γὰρ τὸ τάξαν τὰ οὐράνια καὶ τὰ ἐπίγεια, ὅσα τε δι’ ἀέρος καὶ ὅσα καθ’ ὕδατος, μᾶλλον δὲ τὰ πρὸ τούτων, οὐρανόν, καὶ γῆν, καὶ ἀέρα, καὶ φύσιν ὕδατος; τίς ταῦτα ἔμιξε καὶ ἐμέρισεν; τίς ἢ κοινωνία τούτων πρὸς ἄλληλα, καὶ συμφυία, καὶ σύμπνοια; ἐπαινῶ γὰρ τὸν εἰρηκότα, κἂν ἀλλότριος ᾖ. τί τὸ ταῦτα 1 ἔφεσιν] αἴσθησιν e 16. 6 προσβάλλων] προβαλὼν ‘Reg. a, Or. I’ || 8 ἡγεμονίαν] ὁμοτιμίαν b || 13 τις η κοινωνία] om η c 1. ἔφεσιν] ‘desire,’ from ἐφίεσθαι § 13). 16. We, on the other hand, are led by reason to worship, not nature, but the Author of nature and its wonderful order. 4. ὁ λόγος] ‘reason.’ When Rea- son is said to have taken us in hand, Gr. means both the reasonable in- struction given by the Church, and our own reasonable reflexion upon it. It is, of course, contrasted with ὁ πονηρός of the previous section. 6. προσβάλλων] intrans., as in § 6. ib. κ. τοῖς ἀπαρχῆς ἐντ.] Passing over the more ephemeral objects, its attention was arrested by those which are coeval with creation, like sun and moon: but it did not allow us to stop ἔστησεν) there. Μέχρι as in ἑ 9. We should have expected οὐδὲ μ.; if οὔτε is right, Gr. must intend to connect the clause closely with κα διὰ τούτων. 8. κάτα τὴν αἴσθ.] things as much subject to the senses as we are. 10. περίεστιν] ‘they still exist’; or perhaps, ‘they have existence in abundance’; cp. § 25. 11. δι’ ἀέρος] sc. φέρεται. Καθ’ ὕδατος sc. ἐστίν, ’under the water’; like κατὰ γῆς ’underground’: cp. § 24. 13. τίς ἡ κοινωνία] If this is the right reading, of course it is ‘what is this partnership?’ i.e. came it? If we read τίς κ., κοίν’. κ. συμφ. κ. συμπν. must be in ap- position to the τίς before ἔμιξε, ‘who combined and distributed them? what partnership and union and concord between them? 15. τὸν εἰρηκότα] ‘him who said it: There is no reason to think that the words which follow are a direct quotation. Nor indeed are the foregoing, but they seem more likely to have had their origin in a reminiscence of something that Gr. had read than the comparatively colourless words which follow. It is harder, however, to say, whom Gr. means by τὸν εἰρ. Elias refers to Oppian Halieut. i 412 οἵῃ σὺν φιλό- διακρίνας ἐκέδασσας αἰθέρα τε, κτλ. Jahn prefers Plato Tim. 35 A foil. The resemblance is not very close; but in Τἰm. 32 c occur words which come somewhat nearer. The ‘body of the world,’ Plato there says, was formed of the various elements δι’ ἀναλογίας ὁμολογῆσαν, φιλίαν τε ἔσχεν...εἰς ταὐτὸν αὑτῷ ξυνελθόν. Perh. Opp. comes the nearer to Gr's language. κεκινηκὸς καὶ ἄγον τὴν ἄληκτον φορὰν καὶ ἀκώλυτον; ἀρ’ οὐχ ὁ τεχνίτης τούτων, καὶ πᾶσι λόγον ἐνθείς, καθ’ ὃν τὸ πᾶν φέρεταί τε καὶ διεξάγεται; τίς δὲ ὁ τεχνίτης τούτων; ἀρ’ οὐχ ὁ πεποιηκὼς ταῦτα καὶ εἰς τὸ εἶναι παραγαγών; οὐ γὰρ δὴ τῷ αὐτομάτῳ δοτέον τοσαύτην δύναμιν. ἔστω γὰρ τὸ γενέσθαι τοῦ αὐτομάτου. τίνος τὸ τάξαι; καὶ τοῦτο, εἰ δοκεῖ, δῶμεν. τίνος τὸ τηρῆσαι καὶ φυλάξαι καθ’ οὓς πρῶτον ὑπέστη λόγους; ἑτέρου τινός, ἢ τοῦ αὐτομάτου; ἑτέρου δηλαδὴ παρὰ τὸ αὐτόματον. τοῦτο δὲ τί ποτε ἄλλο πλὴν θεός; οὕτως ὁ ἐκ θεοῦ λόγος, καὶ πᾶσι σύμφυτος, καὶ πρῶτος ἐν ἡμῖν νόμος, καὶ πᾶσι συνημμένος, ἐπὶ θεὸν ἡμᾶς ἀνήγαγεν ἐκ τῶν ὁρωμένων. καὶ δὴ λέγωμεν ἀρξάμενοι πάλιν.

Θεόν, ὅ τί ποτε μέν ἐστι τὴν φύσιν καὶ τὴν οὐσίαν, οὔτε τις εὗρεν ἀνθρώπων πώποτε, οὔτε μὴ εὕρῃ. ἀλλ’ εἰ μὲν εὑρήσει ποτέ, ζητείσθω τοῦτο καὶ φιλοσοφείσθω παρὰ τῶν βουλομένων. εὑρήσει δέ, ὡς ἐμὸς λόγος, ἐπειδὰν τὸ θεοειδὲς τοῦτο καὶ θεῖον, λέγω δὲ τὸν ἡμέτερον νοῦν τε καὶ λόγον, τῷ οἰκείῳ προσμίξῃ, καὶ ἡ εἰκὼν ἀνέλθῃ πρὸς τὸ ἀρχέτυπον, οὗ νῦν ἔχει τὴν ἔφεσιν. καὶ τοῦτο 1 αγον...ακωλυτον] ὕπο τὴν ἄληκτον φορὰν καὶ ἀκώλυτον ἄγαγον ‘Reg. Cypr.’ || 10 om συμφυτος...και πάσι b || 12 λέγωμεν] -ομεν be 2. λόγον ἐνθείς] Gr. does not mean (like Plato) that the universe is conscious of the law by which it acts. 3. διεξάγεται] seems simply to mean ‘is conducted.’ Cp. in i 12 διὰ κύκλου τινὸς εὐθύνων καἰ διεφτητι ἄγων τὸν ἀπάντα κόσμον. 5. τῷ αὐτομάτω ‘to chance.’ 10. πᾶσι σύμφυτος] notexactly = ἔμφυτος, but ‘naturally bound up with’; like συνημμένος (from τειν) just after. 17. Hereafter we shall know as we are known; here, the most privileged attain to a knowledge which is only relatively great. 15. ἀλλ’ εἰ μέν] but whether man will ever find.’ 19. τῷ οἰκείῳ] ‘with that to wh it belongs’: Vaughan's ‘spirits fair kindred ’ Cp. § 12 sub fin. εἶναί μοι δοκεῖ τὸ πάνυ φιλοσοφούμενον, ἐπιγνώσεσθαί ποτε ἡμᾶς, ὅσον ἐγνώσμεθα. τὸ δὲ νῦν εἶναι βραχεῖά τις ἀπορροὴ πᾶν τὸ εἰς ἡμᾶς φθάνον, καὶ οἷον μεγάλου φωτὸς μικρὸν ἀπαύγασμα. ὥστε καὶ εἴ τις ἔγνω θεόν, ἢ ἐγνωκέναι μεμαρτύρηται, τοσοῦτον ἔγνω, ὅσον ἄλλου μὴ τὸ ἴσον ἐλλαμφθέντος φανῆναι φωτοειδέστερος. καὶ τὸ ὑπερβάλλον τέλειον ἐνομίσθη, οὐ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, τῇ δὲ τοῦ πλησίον δυνάμει παραμετρούμενον.

Διὰ τοῦτο Ἐνὼς μὲν ἤλπισεν ἐπικαλεῖσθαι τὸν κύριον· ἐλπὶς τὸ κατορθούμενον ἦν, καὶ τοῦτο οὐ γνώσεως, ἀλλ’ ἐπικλήσεως. Ἑνὼχ δὲ μετετέθη μέν, οὔπω δὲ δῆλον, εἰ θεοῦ φύσιν περιλαβών, ἢ περιληψόμενος. τοῦ δὲ Νῶε καλὸν ἡ εὐαρέστησις, τοῦ καὶ κόσμον ὅλον ἐξ ὑδάτων διασώσασθαι πιστευθέντος, ἢ κόσμου σπέρματα, ξύλῳ μικρῷ φεύγοντι τὴν ἐπίκλυσιν. Ἀβραὰμ δὲ ἐδικαιώθη μὲν ἐκ πίστεως, ὁ μέγας πατριάρχης, καὶ θύει θυσίαν ξένην καὶ τῆς μεγάλης ἀντίτυπον· θεὸν δὲ οὐχ ὡς θεὸν εἶδεν, ἀλλ’ ὡς ἄνθρωπον ἔθρεψε, καὶ ἐπῃνέθη, σεβασθεὶς 17. 2 εἶναι] γνῶναι ‘Coisl. 3 tres Colb.’ 18. 15 φευγοντι] φυγοντι b || 18 ως] ὡσπερ df 1. τὸ πάνυ φίλος.] ‘the great dictum.’ 1 Cor. xiii 12. 2. τὸ δὲ νῦν εἶναι] ’for being.’ Elias comments on the ’Attic idiom,’ and compares the way in which εἶναι is used with ἑκών. 3. φθάνον εἰς, ‘reaches.’ Enos, Enoch, Noe, Abraham, Facob, though so highly favoured, never saw God ἃς God. 9. ἤλπισεν] Gen. iv 26 (LXX.) οὗτος ἤλπισεν ἐπικ. τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ. Even to call upon His name was beyond the present powers of Enos: he only succeeded τὸ κατορθ.) in hoping to do it. Ἐπικ. is of course active in meaning. 11. μετετέθη] Gen. v 24; cp. Wisd. iv 10. This implied high favour with God μέν), but it did not of itself prove οὔπω) that E. had either attained, or would ever attain, an adequate knowledge the time the divine nature. 13. εὐαρέστησις] Gen. vi9 Kαλόν, constr. like triste lupus stabulis. 14. δίας. πιστευθέντος] ‘entrusted with the duty of saving.’ 15. ἐδικαιώθη] Gen. xv 6. 16. θυσίαν θυσίαν Gen. xxii 13. ‘Strange,’ because miraculously supplied. It is prob. that Gr. means the ram, rather than Isaac; for Basil also makes the ram a type of Christ (de Spir. S. 14, p. 319 D). 18. ἔθρεψε] Gen. xviii 8. Although the detail is taken only from ’s history, the restriction is intended to apply also to Noe. ib. ἐπῃνέθη] Perh. Gen. xviii 17 foil. ὅσον κατέλαβεν. Ἰακὼβ δὲ κλίμακα μὲν ὑψηλὴν ἐφαντάσθη τινά, καὶ ἀγγέλων ἄνοδον, καὶ στήλην ἀλείφει μυστικῶς, ἴσως ἵνα τὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀλειφθέντα λίθον παραδηλώσῃ, καὶ Εἶδος Θεοῦ τόπῳ τινὶ προσηγορίαν δίδωσιν εἰς τιμὴν τοῦ ὀφθέντος, καὶ ὡς ἀνθρώπῳ τῷ θεῷ προσπαλαίει, ἥτις ποτέ ἐστιν ἡ πάλη θεοῦ πρὸς ἄνθρωπον, ἢ τάχα τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἀρετῆς πρὸς θεὸν ἀντεξέτασις, καὶ σύμβολα τῆς πάλης ἐπὶ τοῦ σώματος φέρει, τὴν ἧτταν παραδεικνύντα τῆς γενητῆς φύσεως, καὶ ἆθλον εὐσεβείας τὴν μεταβολὴν τῆς προσηγορίας λαμβάνει, μετονομασθεὶς ἀντὶ Ἰακὼβ Ἰσραήλ, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ μέγα καὶ τίμιον ὄνομα· ἐκεῖνο δὲ οὔτε αὐτὸς οὔτε τις ὑπὲρ αὐτὸν μέχρι σήμερον ἐκαυχήσατο τῶν δώδεκα δώδεκα φυλῶν, ὧν πατὴρ ἦν, ὅτι θεοῦ φύσιν ἢ ὄψιν ὅλην ἐχώρησεν.

Ἡλία δὲ οὔτε πνεῦμα βίαιον, οὔτε πῦρ, οὔτε συσσεισμός, ὡς τῆς ἱστορίας ἀκούεις, ἀλλ’ ἡ αὔρα τις 3 ἀλειφθέντα] αλειφεντα aedf: αλιφεντα e || 4 Ειδος] οἶκος El: ἴσω f || 9 γενητης] γεννήτης def ǁ I4 η ὄψιν ὅλην] ὅλην ὄψις (om 77) e: om ὅλην df 1. κλίμακα] Gen. xxviii 12. ib. ἐφαντάσθη] ‘saw in a vision.’ 3. λίθον] Is. xxviii 16 etc.; ἀλειφθ. Is. lxi 1 ἔχρισεν) etc. 4. Εἶδος Θ] Gen. xxxii 30 (31). This reading has better authority than οἶκος θ., i.e. Bethel. On the other hand τοῦ ὀφθ. seems more like a reminiscence of Gen. xxxv 1,9 (in u. 7 the word is ἐπεφάνη); and perh. it might have been more natural to mention the name of Penuel after the mention of the wrestling. 6. ἥτις π. ἐ.] The whole clause forms a cogn. ace. after προσπαλ., ‘wrestles whatever wrestling that of God with man may be.’ 7. ἢ τάχα] ‘or perhaps (it would be best to say) the trial,’ etc. He this turn, because God was not ’wrestling’ for the mastery, but to try the ἀρετή of Jacob. 8. σύμβολα] Gen. xxxii 31 (32). 12. ἐκεῖνο δέ] refers to what follows, lows, ὅτι θ. φύσιν κτλ. The δὲ the apodosis to κλίμακα μέν. ib. ὑπὲρ αὐτόν] Jacob was excelled by some of his descendants, but none of them could ’make room for’ (χωρεῖν), ‘take in,’ or perh. ‘bear,’ the whole of God. 19. Elias, Esaias, Ezekiel, and others, were unable to receive the revelation of the Divine nature in itself. 16. ἢ αὔρα τις ὁ] 1 Kings xix 12 φωνὴ αὔρας λεπτῆς. The τις hints that there was something more than usual in ‘that breeze.’ Gr.’s agrument implies that if the presence had been discerned in the mightier movements of nature, God might have been thought to manifest self wholly in them, but that it was impossible to imagine this in connexion with the ‘small breeze.’ ὀλίγη τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ παρουσίαν, καὶ ταῦτα οὐ φύσιν, ἐσκιαγράφησεν· Ἠλίᾳ τίνι; ὃν καὶ ἅρμα πυρὸς ἀνάγει πρὸς οὐρανόν, δηλοῦν τοῦ δικαίου τὸ ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον. Μανωὲ δὲ τὸν κριτὴν πρότερον, καὶ Πέτρον τὸν μαθητὴν ὕστερον, πῶς οὐ τεθαύμακας; τὸν μὲν οὐδὲ ὄψιν φέροντα τοῦ φαντασθέντος θεοῦ, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο, Ἀπολώλαμεν, ὦ γύναι, λέγοντα, θεὸν ἑωράκαμεν· ὡς οὐ χωρητῆς οὔσης ἀνθρώποις οὐδὲ φαντασίας θείας, μὴ ὅτι γε φύσεως· τὸν δὲ καὶ τὸν φαινόμενον χριστὸν τῷ πλοίῳ μὴ προσιέμενον, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀποπεμπόμενον. καίτοιγε θερμότερος τῶν ἄλλων εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν Χριστοῦ Πέτρος, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μακαριζόμενος, καὶ τὰ μέγιστα πιστευόμενος. τί δ’ ἂν εἴποις περὶ Ἠσαίου, καὶ Ἰεζεχιὴλ τοῦ τῶν μεγίστων ἐπόπτου, καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν προφητῶν; ὧν ὁ μὲν τὸν κύριον Σαβαὼθ εἶδε καθήμενον ἐπὶ θρόνου δόξης, καὶ τοῦτον ὑπὸ τῶν ἑξαπτερύγων σεραφὶμ κυκλούμενον καὶ αἰνούμενον καὶ ἀποκρυπτόμενον, ἑαυτόν τε τῷ ἄνθρακι καθαιρόμενον, καὶ πρὸς τὴν προφητείαν καταρτιζόμενον· ὁ δὲ καὶ τὸ ὄχημα τοῦ θεοῦ τὰ Χερουβὶμ διαγράφει, καὶ τὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν θρόνον, καὶ τὸ ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ στερέωμα, καὶ τὸν ἐν τῷ 19. 2 ἐσκιαγράφησεν] εσκιογρ. a || 6 om καὶ f || 10 καίτοιγε] καίτοι c || 16 om ἑξαπτερύγων d || 17 ἀποκρυπτόμενον] κρυπτομένων c: κρυπτόμενον f ‘Colb. 1 Or. I’ || 19 ἀυτῶν] αὐτοῦ ‘Reg. Cypr.’ 1. καὶ ταῦτα] used like καὶ τοῦτο, ‘and that without shadowing forth His nature.’ If Gr. had meant ταῦτα = τὴν παρουσίαν, he must have said ταύτην. 2 Ἠλ. τίνι;] ‘and what Elias?’ i.e. what was he? 4. τὸν κριτήν] M. is not so styled in the book itself. 6. ἀπολώλαμεν] Judg. xiii 22—a a free version. But as Gr. quotes the words in precisely the same form in Or. ix 1, it is possible that he may have found them so in some text. 8. μὴ ὅτι] Cp. ἑ 11. 9. τῷ πλοίῳ μὴ προσι.] Luke v 8. Gr. seems to have forgotten that Christ was in the boat. 11. μακαριζόμενος] Matt, xvi 17 foil. 15 καθήμενον ἐπὶ θ. δ] Is. vi 1 (δόξης seems to come from Matt. xxv 31). 17. ἀποκρυπτόμενον.] This is Gr.'s addition to the narrative, unless he means ‘hidden from themselves’ the Seraphim. It is indeed possible that he understood πρόσωπον, πόδας, in Isaiah, to be those of the Lord.’ ib. ἑαυτόν τε] ‘and saw himself.’ 18. τὸ ὄχημα] Ezek. i 4. It is not actually described by that name. στερεώματι φανταζόμενον, καἰ φωνὰς δή τινας, καὶ ὁρμάς, καὶ πράξεις, καὶ ταῦτα εἴτε φαντασία τις ἢν ἡμερινή, μόνοις θεωρητὴ τοῖς ἁγίοις, εἴτε νυκτὸς ἀψευδὴς ὄψις, εἴτε τοῦ ἡγεμονικοῦ τύπωσις συγγινομένη τοῖς μέλλουσιν ὡς παροῦσιν, εἴτε τι ἄλλο προφητείας εἶδος ἀπόρρητον, οὐκ ἔχω λέγειν· ἁλλ’ οἶδεν ὁ τῶν προφητῶν θεός, καὶ οἱ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐνεργούμενοι. πλὴν οὔτε οὗτοι περὶ ὧν ὁ λόγος, οὔτε τις ἄλλος τῶν κατ’ αὐτούς, ἔστη ἐν ὑποστήματι καὶ οὐσία κυρίου, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, οὐδὲ θεοῦ φύσιν ἢ εἶδεν ἢ ἐξηγόρευσεν.

Παύλῳ δὲ εἰ μὲν ἔκφορα ἦν ἃ παρέσχεν ὁ τρίτος οὐρανός, καὶ ἡ μέχρις ἐκείνου πρόοδος ἢ ἀνάβασις ἢ ἀνάληψις, τάχα ἄν τι περὶ θεοῦ πλέον ἔγνωμεν, εἴπερ τοῦτο ἢν τὸ τῆς ἁρπαγῆς μυστήριον. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἄρρητα ἦν, καὶ ἡμῖν σιωπῇ τιμάσθω. τοσοῦτον δὲ ἀκούσωμεν αὐτοῦ Παύλου λέγοντος, ὅτι ἐκ μέρους γινώσκομεν, καὶ ἐκ μέρους προφητεύομεν. ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ὁμολογεῖ ὁ μὴ ἰδιώτης τὴν γνῶσιν, ὁ δοκιμὴν ἀπειλῶν τοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ 4 συηινομενη] συγγενομένη def: συγγενομένου ‘Or. ’ ǁ 8 κατ’ αυτους] κάτα τούτους ac ‘duo Reg. Or. I’ 20. 11 α παρεσχεν] ἅπερ ἔσχεν d || 15 ακουσωμεν] σομεν f 1. φωνάς] Ezek. i 24, 28; ὁρμάς, i 19 foil.; πράξεις, ii 9. 3. τοῦ ἥγ’. τύπωσις] ‘an impres- sion upon the rational ’ Ἡγμε., i 3. Συγγινομένη by a very natural hyperbaton for νου. 6. οἱ τὰ τ. ἐνεργ] ‘those upon whom such effects are ’ wrought. 8. τῶν κατ’ αὐτούς] ‘those of their sort. ib. ἵστη ἐν ὑποστ.] Jer. xxiii 18. Ὑπόστ. is ‘an establishment’ of some kind; in 2 Sam. xxiii 14 of ‘a garri- son’; in Jer. prob. ‘a court,’ or ‘familiar circle.’ Gr. however curiously misunderstood the word to = ὑπόστασις in the sense of οὐσία (cp. § 9). 20. St Paul only saw through α glass] in α riddle. 11. ἔκφορα] ‘capable of being di- vulged’; cp. Plat. Lack. 201 A ῾Ο τρ. οὐρ., 2 Cor. xii 2. 12. πρόοδος] nom. to ἢν, not to παρέσχεν. He calls it a πρόοδος to signify that it represented a progress in St P.'s spiritual experience, and not merely an incidental privilege. Cp. v 26. 13. etirtp τοῦτο] Gr. will not even admit that we can be sure that St P. thereby became acquainted with the Divine nature. The ἁρπαγῆ was in the strictest sense a μυστήριον. 16. ἐκ μέρους] 1 Cor. xiii 9. 17. μὴ ἰδ’. τὴν γνῶσιν] 2 Cor. xi 6. 18. δοκιμὴν ἀπ.] 2 Cor. xiii 3. λαλοῦντος χριστοῦ, ὁ μέγας τῆς ἀληθείας προαγωνιστὴς καὶ διδάσκαλος· καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν κάτω γνῶσιν οὐδὲν ὑπὲρ τὰ ἔσοπτρα καὶ τὰ αἰνίγματα τίθεται, ὡς ἐν μικροῖς τῆς ἀληθείας ἱσταμένην ἰνδάλμασιν. εἰ δὲ μὴ λίαν δοκῶ τισὶ περιττὸς καὶ περίεργος τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐξετάζων, οὐδὲ ἄλλα τινὰ τυχὸν ἢ ταῦτα ἦν, ἃ μὴ δύναται νῦν βασταχθῆναι, ἅπερ ὁ Λόγος αὐτὸς ὑπῃνίσσετο, ὥς ποτε βασταχθησόμενα καὶ τρανωθησόμενα· καὶ ἃ μηδ’ ἂν αὐτὸν δυνηθῆναι χωρῆσαι τὸν κάτω κόσμον Ἰωάννης ὁ τοῦ Λόγου πρόδρομος ἡ μεγάλη τῆς ἀληθείας φωνή, διωρίζετο.