Ἐπειδή σοι τὰς μὲν ἐκ τῶν λογισμῶν στροφὰς καὶ πλοκὰς ἱκανῶς διεσείσαμεν τῆ δυνάμει τοῦ πνεύματος, τὰς δὲ παρὰ τῶν θείων γραφῶν ἐνστάσεις τε καὶ ἀντιθέσεις, αἷς οἱ τοῦ γράμματος ἱερόσυλοι καὶ τὸν νοῦν τῶν γεγραμμένων κλέπτοντες τοὺς πολλοὺς σφετερίζονται, καὶ τὴν ὁδὸν τῆς ἀληθείας ταράσσουσι, συλλήβδην μὲν ἤδη λελύκαμεν, καὶ οὐκ ἀμυδρῶς, ὡς ἐμαυτὸν πείθω, τοῖς εὐγνωμονεστέροις῾ τὰς μὲν ὑψηλοτέρας καὶ θεοπρεπεστέρας φωνὰς προσνείμαντες τῇ θεότητι, τὰς δὲ ταπεινοτέρας καὶ ἀνθρωπικωτέρας τῷ νέῳ δι’ ἡμᾶς Ἀδὰμ καὶ θεῷ παθητῷ κατὰ 1. Ι ἐπειδὴ] ἔπει ’δε be || σοι] σου b || 2 τῆ] ἐν τῆ bee ‘Reg. a’ || 3 πάρα] ἄπο b || 6 om μὲν b 1. We have gone rapidly through the Eunomian objections, especially those taken from Scripture, and have laid down a general canon for the interpretation of the texts. We will now take the texts seriatim. 1. στροφάς] Cp. iii 16. πλακὰς is likewise a wrestling metaphor. 2. διεσείσαμεν] Διασείειν is to ‘shake to pieces,’ used of a examination. Plut. de Gen. Socr. 580 D διερωτῶν καὶ διασείων τὸν Εὐθύφρονα. There seems to be no connexion with the preceding metaphors. 4. τοῦ γρ. ἱερόσυλοι] explained by the next clause, τὸν νοῦν..,κλἐπτ. The ‘letter’ is like a temple, which the sacrilegious heretic robs of its ‘meaning.’ 5. σφετερίζονται] ‘take possession of.’ 10. τῷ νέῳ . . . ‘A δάμ] The phrase is not free from danger. An ἱερόσυλος τοῦ γράμματος might make out that the νέος ’Α. was, in ’s view, a different person from the Divine Person implied in τῆ θεότητι. Cp. iii 18, 19. It must be remembered that the Nestorian heresy had not yet been formulated. ib. θεῷ παθητῷ] a daring oxymoron. Gr. would of course deny that the Godhead of Christ was subjected to suffering, though the Divine Person was so subjected, in virtue of the nature which He assumed. τῆς ἁμαρτίας· τοῖς δὲ καθ’ ἕκαστον οὐκ ἐπεξεληλύθαμεν, ἐπειγομένου τοῦ λόγου· σὺ δὲ καἰ τούτων ἐπιζητεῖς ἐν βραχεῖ τὰς λύσεις, τοῦ μὴ παρασύρεσθαι λόγοις πιθανότητος, ἡμεῖς καὶ ταύτας κεφαλαιώσομεν εἰς ἀριθμοὺς διελόντες διὰ τὸ εὐμνημόνευτον.