Homilies on the Hexaemeron 5.1–5.10

Basil of Caesarea · Homilies on the Hexaemeron · ca. 370 · Caesarea · 10 passages

Greek text: PG 29.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895).

Chapter 5

5.1PG 29:93c–96c

Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεὸςʼ Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου, σπεῖρον σπέρμα κατὰ γένος, καὶ ξύλον κάρπιμον ποιοῦν καρπὸν κατὰ γένος, οὗ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ. Ἀκολούθως μετὰ τὸ ἀναπαύσασθαι τὴν γῆν ἆποσκευασαμένην τὸ βάρος τοῦ ὓδατος, τὸ πρόσταγμα αὐτῇ γέγονε βλαστῆσαι πρῶτον βοτάνην, ἔπειτα ξύλον· ὅπερ ἔτι καὶ νῦν ὁρῶμεν γινόμενον. Ἦ γὰρ τότε φωνὴ, καὶ τὸ πρῶτον ἐκεῖνο πρόσταγμα, οἷον νόμος τις ἐγένετο φύσεως, καὶ ἐναπέμεινε τῇ γῇ, τὴν τοῦ γενιᾷν αὐτῇ καὶ καρποφορεῖν δύναμιν εἰς τὸ ἑξῆς παρεχόμενος. Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ. Πρῶτόν ἔστιν ἐν τῇ γενέσει τῶν φυομένων ἡ βλάστησις· ἔπειτα, ὅταν προκύψῃ μικρὸν τὰ βλαστήματα, βοτάνη γίνεται· εἶτʼ ἐπειδὰν αὐξηθῇ, χόρτος ἐστὶ, κατὰ μικρὸν διαρθρουμένων τῶν φυομένων, καὶ μέχρι τῆς ἐπὶ τὸ σπέρμα τελειώσεως προϊόντων, Τὸ γὰρ χλοερὸν καὶ ποάζον παραπλήσιόν ἔστιν ἁπάντων. Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου. Καθʼ ἑαυτὴν ἡ γῆ προφερέτω τὴν βλάστησιν, οὐδεμιᾶς συνεργείας ἑτέρωθεν δεομένη. Ἐπειδὴ τινες οἴονται τὸν ἣλιον αἴτιον εἶναι τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς φυομένων, τῇ ὁλκῇ τοῦ θερμοῦ πρὸς τὴν ἒπιφάνειαν τὴν ἐκ τοῦ βάθους δύναμιν ἐπισπώμενον· διὰ τοῦτο πρεσβυτέρα τοῦ ἡλίου ἡ περὶ γῆν διακόσμησιςʼ ἵνα καὶ τοῦ προσκυνεῖν τὸν ἥλιον, ὡς αὐτὸν τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς ζωῆς παρεχόμενον, οἱ πεπλανημένοι παύσωνται, Ἐὰν ἄρα πεισθῶσιν, ὅτι πρὸ τῆς ἐκείνου γενέσεως τὰ περὶ τὴν γῆν πάντα διακεκόσμητο, καὶ τοῦ ἀμέτρου περὶ αὐτὸν θαύματος καθυφῶσιν, ἐνθυμηθέντες, ὅτι χόρτου καὶ βοτάνης νεώτερός ἐστι κατὰ τὴν γένεσιν. Ἀρα οὖν τοῖς μέν βοσκήμασιν ἡ τροφὴ προαπετέθη, τὸ δὲ ἡμέτερον οὐδεμιᾶς ἐφάνη προνοίας ἄξιον; Ἀλλὰ μάλιστα μὲν ὁ βουσί καὶ ἵπποις τὸν χιλὸν προαποθέμενος, σοὶ τὸν πλοῦτον καὶ τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν παρασκευάζει· ὃ γὰρ τὰ κτήνεά σοι διατρέφων τὴν σὴν συναύξει τοῦ βίου κατασκευήν· ἔπειτα ἡ τῶν σπερμάτων γένεσις τί ἂλλο ἐστὶ …

Kai eipen ho Theosʼ Blastēsatō hē gē botanēn chortou, speiron sperma kata genos, kai xylon karpimon poioun karpon kata genos, hou to sperma autou en autǭ. Akolouthōs meta to anapausasthai tēn gēn aposkeuasamenēn to baros tou hydatos, to prostagma autę̄ gegone blastēsai prōton botanēn, epeita xylon; hoper eti kai nyn horōmen ginomenon. Ē gar tote phōnē, kai to prōton ekeino prostagma, hoion nomos tis egeneto physeōs, kai enapemeine tę̄ gę̄, tēn tou geniąn autę̄ kai karpophorein dynamin eis to hexēs parechomenos. Blastēsatō hē gē. Prōton estin en tę̄ genesei tōn phyomenōn hē blastēsis; epeita, hotan prokypsę̄ mikron ta blastēmata, botanē ginetai; eitʼ epeidan auxēthę̄, chortos esti, kata mikron diarthroumenōn tōn phyomenōn, kai mechri tēs epi to sperma teleiōseōs proïontōn, To gar chloeron kai poazon paraplēsion estin hapantōn. Blastēsatō hē gē botanēn chortou. Kathʼ heautēn hē gē propheretō tēn blastēsin, oudemias synergeias heterōthen deomenē. Epeidē tines oiontai ton hēlion aition einai tōn apo tēs gēs phyomenōn, tę̄ holkę̄ tou thermou pros tēn epiphaneian tēn ek tou bathous dynamin epispōmenon; dia touto presbytera tou hēliou hē peri gēn diakosmēsisʼ hina kai tou proskynein ton hēlion, hōs auton tēn aitian tēs zōēs parechomenon, hoi peplanēmenoi pausōntai, Ean ara peisthōsin, hoti pro tēs ekeinou geneseōs ta peri tēn gēn panta diakekosmēto, kai tou ametrou peri auton thaumatos kathyphōsin, enthymēthentes, hoti chortou kai botanēs neōteros esti kata tēn genesin. Ara oun tois men boskēmasin hē trophē proapetethē, to de hēmeteron oudemias ephanē pronoias axion? Alla malista men ho bousi kai hippois ton chilon proapothemenos, soi ton plouton kai tēn apolausin paraskeuazei; ho gar ta ktēnea soi diatrephōn tēn sēn synauxei tou biou kataskeuēn; epeita hē tōn spermatōn genesis ti allo esti …

"And God said, Let the earth put forth the plant of grass, sowing seed according to its kind, and the fruit-bearing tree producing fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in it." Fittingly, after the earth had rested, having put off the weight of the water, the command came to it to put forth first the plant, then the tree; which we still see happening even now. For the voice of that time and that first command became, as it were, a law of nature, and remained in the earth, providing it from then on with the power to bear and to bring forth fruit. "Let the earth put forth." In the generation of growing things the first stage is sprouting; then, when the shoots have peeped out a little, it becomes plant; then, when it has grown, it is grass, the growing things gradually becoming articulated and advancing to their completion in seed. For the green and grassy stage is alike in all of them. "Let the earth put forth the plant of grass." Let the earth bring forth its growth by itself, needing no cooperation from anywhere else. Since some think that the sun is the cause of what grows from the earth, drawing up the power from the depth to the surface by the pull of its heat, for this reason the adornment of the earth is older than the sun, so that those who have gone astray may stop worshiping the sun as the one who provides the cause of life. If, then, they are persuaded that everything around the earth had been set in order before its coming into being, they will also abate their boundless wonder at it, considering that it is younger in its coming into being than grass and plants. Was food, then, laid up beforehand for the cattle, while our own kind appeared worthy of no providence? On the contrary: above all, he who laid up fodder beforehand for oxen and horses is preparing wealth and enjoyment for you; for he who feeds your cattle increases the means of your life. Then too, what else is the generation of seeds but …

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Gen 1:11 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The earth was commanded to sprout before the sun existed, so that no one would worship the sun as the source of life.

Quotation: Gen 1:11 (LXX). Lines of Migne's notes (variant readings from manuscripts, with fragments of the preceding homily) that leaked into the scan text at the start are removed by a logged correction. The section breaks off in the scan in mid-sentence; the lost lines are not supplied.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's notes (variant readings, with fragments of the end of the previous homily and the heading) leaked into the text; removed; OCR garble (Latin letters); OCR misreading; OCR: missing punctuation; OCR: split word; OCR: stray marks; OCR: the end of the sentence is lost in the scan; the stray words are removed): βοτάνη χδρτω → βοτάνην χόρτου; καὶ (ιι ξύλον → καὶ ξύλον; γένος, c τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἰν αὐτῷ. Ἀκολούθως una; ἇναπαύσασθαι → γένος, οὗ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ. Ἀκολούθως μετὰ τὸ ἀναπαύσασθαι; τὸ βι ’ρος → τὸ βάρος; τὸ προσταγμα αύτῇ → τὸ πρόσταγμα αὐτῇ; βλαστῆ Beg. sextus ποταμοῖς οὖσα. Α ι ﬁ ﬁ η κατελήφθησαν. _ ἶ,, (lO)'Reg.Asextus σπόγγοις ἀποδεχόμενοι. μʼ _ (ll) Μύ]ιὶ mss. πρὸς τὸν Θεόνν. ’Ᾱὶξεει articuli σμοῖς. ’ Α* ' ί mus Ὀμιλία εʼ. cati πρῶτον → βλαστῆσαι πρῶτον; Ξύλονο ὅπερ → ξύλον· ὅπερ; ὶγένετο φύαεως → ἐγένετο φύσεως; αὒτῂ καὶ καρποφορεῖν δύναμιν εἰς τὸ ὲξττς → αὐτῇ καὶ καρποφορεῖν δύναμιν εἰς τὸ ἑξῆς; βλάστησις ἔπειτα → βλάστησις· ἔπειτα; βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βατάνην χόρτου. Καθ ἑαυτὴνὴ γῆ προφερέτω τὴν βλάστησιν, ο.;δεμίάς → Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου. Καθʼ ἑαυτὴν ἡ γῆ προφερέτω τὴν βλάστησιν, οὐδεμιᾶς; τῶΑ ἀπὸ → τῶν ἀπὸ; ἣλιον,ὠς → ἥλιον, ὡς; διακεκτῦσμητο → διακεκόσμητο; ἐνθυμη.. θέντες → ἐνθυμηθέντες; η τροφὴ προαπετέθη, τὰ δὲ ἡμέτερον οὐδεμιᾶς ἐφάνη προνοίας ἄξιον ς → ἡ τροφὴ προαπετέθη, τὸ δὲ ἡμέτερον οὐδεμιᾶς ἐφάνη προνοίας ἄξιον;; κατασκεδήνο ἔπειτα ἡ ο τῶν → κατασκευήν· ἔπειτα ἡ τῶν; ἐστὶ , καὶ ουχὶ τῇς → ἐστὶ ….

Cite (SBL): Basil, Hex. 5.1 (PG 29:93c–96c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-hexaemeron/5-1/#p-5-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca 29 (scan OCR, corrections logged; lines lost in the scan marked …), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of NPNF² 8 (Jackson, 1895); differences checked against the Greek.

5.2PG 29:96d–100b

Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου, σπεῖρον σπέρμα, φησί, κατὰ γένος. Ὥστε, κἂν τι γένος βοτάνης ἑτέροις διαφέρῃ, κάκείνων τὸ κέρδος πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἓπανέρχεται, καὶ ἡμῖν ἡ χρῆσις τῶν σπερμάτων ἀφώρισται· ὥστε εἶναι τὸν νοῦν τῶν εἰρημένων τοιοῦτον· Βλαστησάτω ἦ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου, καὶ σπέρμα σπεῖρον κατὰ γένος. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ τὸ τῆς λέξεως ἀκόλουθον ἀποκαταστῆναι δυνήσεται, ἀκαταλλήλως νῦν τῆς συντάξεως ἔχειν δοκοὺσης, καὶ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον τῶν ὑπὸ τῆς φύσεως οἰκονομουμένων διασωθήσεται, Πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ βλάστησις, εἶτα χλόη, εἶτα χόρτου αὔξησις, εἶτα ὁ ἂπαρτισμὸς τῶν αὐξομένων; διὰ τοῦ σπέρματος. Πῶς οὖν, φασὶ, πάντα τὰ ἐκ τῆς γῆς φυόμενα σπερματίζοντα ὁ λόγος ἐνδείκνυται, ὅπου γε οὔτε κάλαμος, οὔτε ἄγρωστις, οὔτε ἡ μίνθη, οὗ κρόκος, οὐ σκόροδον, οὐ βούτομον, οὔδʼ ἄλλα μυρία γένη σπερματίζοντα φαίνεται; Πρὸς δὴ τοῦτο φαμεν, ὅτι πολλὰ τῶν φυομένων ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἐπὶ τοῦ πυθμένος καὶ τῆς ῥίζης ἔχει τὴν δύναμιν τῶν σπερμάτων. Ὥσπερ ὁ κάλαμος μετὰ τὴν ἐτήσιον αὔξησιν ἀπὸ τῆς ῥίζης ἀφίησί τινα προβολὴν, σπέρματος λόγον ἔχουσαν πρὸς τὸ μέλλον. Τοῦτο δὲ ποιεῖ καὶ ἄλλα μυρία, ὅσα διὰ γῆς νεμόμενα ἐν ταῖς ῥίζαις τὴν διαδοχὴν κέκτηται. Ὥστε παντός ἐστιν ἀληθέστερον τὸ ἑκάστῳ τῶν φυομένων ἢ σπέρμα εἶναι, ἢ δύναμίν τινα σπερματικὴν ἐνυπάρχειν. Καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ, Κατὰ γένος, Οὒ γὰρ ἡ προβολὴ τοῦ καλάμου ἐλαίας ἐστὶ ποιητικὴ, ἀλλʼ ἐκ καλάμου μὲν ἕτερος κάλαμος, ἐκ δὲ τῶν σπερμάτων τὰ συγγενῆ τοῖς καταβληθεῖσιν ἀποβλαστάνει, Καὶ οὕτω τὸ ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ γενέσει προβληθὲν παρὰ τῆς γῆς μέχρι νῦν διασώζεται, τῇ ἀκολουθίᾳ τῆς διαδοχῆς φυλασσομένου τοῦ γένους. Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ. Νόησόν μοι ἐκ μικρᾶς φωνῆς, καὶ προστάγματος οὕτω βραχέος, τὴν κατεψυγμένην καὶ ἄγονον ὠδίνουσαν ἀθρόως καὶ πρὸς καρπογονίαν συγκινουμένην, ὥσπερ τινὰ σκυθρωπὴν καὶ πενθήρη στολὴν ἀποθεμένην, μεταμφιεννυμένην τὴν φαιδροτέραν, καὶ τοῖς οἰκείοις κόσμοις ἀγαλλομένην, καὶ τὰ μυρία γένη τῶν φυομένων προβάλλουσαν. Βούλομαί σοι σφοδρότερον τὸ θαῦμα τῆς κτίσεως ἐνιδρυνθῆναι, ἵνʼ ὅπουπερ ἂν εὑρεθῇς, καὶ ὁποίῳ δήπου γένει τῶν φυομένων παραστῇς, ἐναργῆ λαμβάνῃς τοῦ κτίσαντος τὴν ὑπόμνησιν. … εἰς ἔννοιαν ἔρχου τῆς ἀνβρωπίνης φύσεως, μεμνημένος τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ σοφοῦ Ἠσαίου, ὅτι Πᾶσα σὰρξ ὡς χόρτος, καὶ πᾶσα δόξα ἀνθρώπου ὡς ἄνθος χόρτου. Τὸ γὰρ ὀλιγοχρόνιον τῆς ζωῆς, καὶ τὸ ἐν ὀλίγῳ περιχαρὲς καὶ ἱλαρὸν τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης εὐημερίας, … παρὰ τῷ προφήτῃ … τῆς εἰκόνος. Σήμερον εὐθαλὴς τῷ σώματι, κατασεσαρκωμένος ὑπὸ τρυφῆς, ἐπανθοῦσαν ἔχων τὴν εὔχροιαν ὕπὸ τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἡλικίαι ἀκμῆς, σφριγῶν καὶ σύντονος, καὶ ἀνυπόστατος τὴν ὁρμὴν, αὔριον ὁ αὐτὸς οὗτος ἐλεεινὸς, ἢ τῷ χρόνῳ μαρανθεὶς, ἢ νόσῳ διαλυθείς. Ὁ δεῖνα περίβλεπτος ἐπὶ χρημάτων περιουσίᾳ · καὶ πλῆθος περὶ αὑτὸν κολάκων δορυφορία φίλων προσποιητῶν τὴν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ χάριν θηρευόντων · πλῆθος συγγενείας, καὶ ταύτης κατεσχηματισμένης· ἑσμὸς τῶν ἑπομένων μυρίος, τῶν τε ἐπὶ σιτίων καὶ τῶν κατὰ τὰς χρείας αὒτῴ προσεδρευόντων, οὓς καὶ προϊὼν καὶ πάλιν ἐπανιὼν ἐπισυρόμενος ἐπίφθονός ἔστι τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι. Προσθες τῷ πλούτῳ καί πολιτικήν τινα δυναστείαν, ἢ καὶ τὰς ἐκ βασιλέων τιμάς · ἢ ἐθνῶν ἐπιμέλειαν ἢ στρατοπέδων ἡγεμονίαν τὸν κήρυκα μέγα βοῶντα πρὸ αὐτοῦ· τοὺς ῥαβδούχους ἔνθεν καὶ ἔνθεν βαρυτάτην κατάπληξιν τοῖς ἀρχομένοις ἐμβάλλοντας · τὰς πληγάς· τὰς δημεύσεις· τὰς ἀπαγωγάς· τὰ δεσμωτήρια, ἐξ ὧν ἀφόρητος αὐτῷ παρὰ τῶν ὑποχειρίων συναθροίζεται φόβος. Καὶ τί μετὰ τοῦτο, μία νὺξ, ἢ πυρετὸς εἷς, ἢ πλευρῖτις, ἢ περιπνευμονία, ἀνάρπαστον ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀπάγουσα τὸν ἄνθρωπον οἴχεται, πᾶσαν τὴν κατʼ αὐτὸν σκηνὴν ἐξαπίνης ἀπογυμνώσασα, καὶ ἦ δόξα ἐκείνη ὥσπερ ἒνύπνιον ἀπηλέγχθη. ’Ὥστε ὲπιτέτευκται τῲ προφήτῃ ἠ πρὸς τὸ άδρανέστατον ἄνθος ὁμοίωσις τῆς ἂνθρωπίνης δόξης.

Blastēsatō hē gē botanēn chortou, speiron sperma, phēsi, kata genos. Hōste, kan ti genos botanēs heterois diapherę̄, kakeinōn to kerdos pros hēmas hepanerchetai, kai hēmin hē chrēsis tōn spermatōn aphōristai; hōste einai ton noun tōn eirēmenōn toiouton; Blastēsatō ē gē botanēn chortou, kai sperma speiron kata genos. Houtō gar kai to tēs lexeōs akolouthon apokatastēnai dynēsetai, akatallēlōs nyn tēs syntaxeōs echein dokousēs, kai to anankaion tōn hypo tēs physeōs oikonomoumenōn diasōthēsetai, Prōton men gar blastēsis, eita chloē, eita chortou auxēsis, eita ho apartismos tōn auxomenōn? dia tou spermatos. Pōs oun, phasi, panta ta ek tēs gēs phyomena spermatizonta ho logos endeiknytai, hopou ge oute kalamos, oute agrōstis, oute hē minthē, hou krokos, ou skorodon, ou boutomon, oudʼ alla myria genē spermatizonta phainetai? Pros dē touto phamen, hoti polla tōn phyomenōn ek tēs gēs epi tou pythmenos kai tēs rhizēs echei tēn dynamin tōn spermatōn. Hōsper ho kalamos meta tēn etēsion auxēsin apo tēs rhizēs aphiēsi tina probolēn, spermatos logon echousan pros to mellon. Touto de poiei kai alla myria, hosa dia gēs nemomena en tais rhizais tēn diadochēn kektētai. Hōste pantos estin alēthesteron to hekastǭ tōn phyomenōn ē sperma einai, ē dynamin tina spermatikēn enyparchein. Kai touto esti to, Kata genos, Ou gar hē probolē tou kalamou elaias esti poiētikē, allʼ ek kalamou men heteros kalamos, ek de tōn spermatōn ta syngenē tois katablētheisin apoblastanei, Kai houtō to en tę̄ prōtę̄ genesei problēthen para tēs gēs mechri nyn diasōzetai, tę̄ akolouthią tēs diadochēs phylassomenou tou genous. Blastēsatō hē gē. Noēson moi ek mikras phōnēs, kai prostagmatos houtō bracheos, tēn katepsygmenēn kai agonon ōdinousan athroōs kai pros karpogonian synkinoumenēn, hōsper tina skythrōpēn kai penthērē stolēn apothemenēn, metamphiennymenēn tēn phaidroteran, kai tois oikeiois kosmois agallomenēn, kai ta myria genē tōn phyomenōn proballousan. Boulomai soi sphodroteron to thauma tēs ktiseōs enidrynthēnai, hinʼ hopouper an heurethę̄s, kai hopoiǭ dēpou genei tōn phyomenōn parastę̄s, enargē lambanę̄s tou ktisantos tēn hypomnēsin. … eis ennoian erchou tēs anbrōpinēs physeōs, memnēmenos tēs eikonos tou sophou Ēsaiou, hoti Pasa sarx hōs chortos, kai pasa doxa anthrōpou hōs anthos chortou. To gar oligochronion tēs zōēs, kai to en oligǭ perichares kai hilaron tēs anthrōpinēs euēmerias, … para tǭ prophētę̄ … tēs eikonos. Sēmeron euthalēs tǭ sōmati, katasesarkōmenos hypo tryphēs, epanthousan echōn tēn euchroian hypo tēs kata tēn hēlikiai akmēs, sphrigōn kai syntonos, kai anypostatos tēn hormēn, aurion ho autos houtos eleeinos, ē tǭ chronǭ marantheis, ē nosǭ dialytheis. Ho deina peribleptos epi chrēmatōn periousią ; kai plēthos peri hauton kolakōn doryphoria philōn prospoiētōn tēn apʼ autou charin thēreuontōn ; plēthos syngeneias, kai tautēs kateschēmatismenēs; hesmos tōn hepomenōn myrios, tōn te epi sitiōn kai tōn kata tas chreias autǭ prosedreuontōn, hous kai proïōn kai palin epaniōn episyromenos epiphthonos esti tois entynchanousi. Prosthes tǭ ploutǭ kai politikēn tina dynasteian, ē kai tas ek basileōn timas ; ē ethnōn epimeleian ē stratopedōn hēgemonian ton kēryka mega boōnta pro autou; tous rhabdouchous enthen kai enthen barytatēn kataplēxin tois archomenois emballontas ; tas plēgas; tas dēmeuseis; tas apagōgas; ta desmōtēria, ex hōn aphorētos autǭ para tōn hypocheiriōn synathroizetai phobos. Kai ti meta touto, mia nyx, ē pyretos heis, ē pleuritis, ē peripneumonia, anarpaston ex anthrōpōn apagousa ton anthrōpon oichetai, pasan tēn katʼ auton skēnēn exapinēs apogymnōsasa, kai ē doxa ekeinē hōsper enypnion apēlenchthē. ’Hōste epiteteuktai tǭ prophētę̄ ē pros to adranestaton anthos homoiōsis tēs anthrōpinēs doxēs.

"Let the earth put forth the plant of grass, sowing seed," he says, "according to its kind." So that even if some kind of plant differs from the rest, the profit from those too returns to us, and the use of the seeds has been set apart for us; so the sense of what is said is this: "Let the earth put forth the plant of grass, and seed sowing according to its kind." For in this way both the sequence of the wording, whose construction now seems awkward, can be restored, and the necessary order of the things arranged by nature will be preserved. For first comes sprouting, then the green shoot, then the growth of the grass, then the completion of what grows, through the seed. How then, they say, does the word show all things that grow from the earth as bearing seed, when neither the reed, nor dog's-tooth grass, nor mint, nor crocus, nor garlic, nor flowering rush, nor countless other kinds appear to bear seed? To this we say that many of the things that grow from the earth have the power of seeds in their base and root. For example, the reed, after its yearly growth, sends out from its root a shoot that serves as a seed for the future. Countless others do the same, which, spreading through the earth, have their succession in their roots. So nothing is truer than that every growing thing either has seed or has some seminal power present in it. And this is what "according to its kind" means. For the shoot of a reed does not produce an olive tree; but from a reed comes another reed, and from seeds spring up plants akin to those that were sown. And thus what was put forth by the earth at the first coming into being is preserved until now, the kind being kept by the sequence of succession. "Let the earth put forth." Picture for me how, from a small word and so brief a command, the earth, chilled and barren, was suddenly in labor and stirred to bring forth fruit, as if, putting off a sad and mournful garment, it put on a brighter one, rejoiced in its own adornments, and brought forth the countless kinds of growing things. I want the wonder of creation to be planted in you more firmly, so that wherever you are, and by whatever kind of plant you stand, you may receive a clear reminder of the Creator. … come to the thought of human nature, remembering the image of the wise Isaiah: "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass." For the shortness of life, and the gladness and cheer of human prosperity that lasts a little while, … found in the prophet a most fitting image. Today a man flourishes in body, fattened by luxury, with a fair complexion blooming from the vigor of his age, robust and strong, irresistible in his impetus; tomorrow this same man is pitiable, withered by time or broken down by disease. So-and-so is admired for the abundance of his wealth; around him is a crowd of flatterers, a bodyguard of pretended friends hunting the favor he gives; a crowd of relatives, and these too putting on a show; a countless swarm of attendants, both those who wait on him for their meals and those who serve his needs, whom he drags along with him going out and coming back, so that he is envied by those who meet him. Add to his wealth some political power too, or honors from emperors, or the government of nations, or the command of armies; the herald shouting loudly before him; the rod-bearers on this side and that striking the deepest terror into the governed; the beatings, the confiscations, the arrests, the prisons, from which an unbearable fear of him gathers among his subjects. And then what? One night, or one fever, or a pleurisy, or a pneumonia snatches the man away from among men and is gone, suddenly stripping off all his stage, and that glory has been exposed as a dream. So the prophet has hit the mark in likening human glory to the frailest flower.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Gen 1:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 40:6 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: "According to its kind" means that every plant keeps its kind through seed or root; the grass of the field is the image of the brevity of human life and glory.

Quotation: Isa 40:6 (LXX; also 1 Pet 1:24). Basil proposes reading "sowing seed" as "and seed sowing" to smooth the syntax of Gen 1:11 (LXX). The middle of this section is badly garbled in the scan: words are restored from the letters and the sense by a logged correction, and where no reading can be recovered the gap is marked "…" (before "come to the thought" and before "found in the prophet"). The example "does not produce an olive tree" is restored by sense from garbled letters and is uncertain.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR garble; OCR garble (Latin letters); OCR garble (Latin letters); quotation restored from Isa 40:6 LXX; unrecoverable words marked …; OCR garble (Latin letters); κάλαμος from the following sentence; OCR garble (Latin letters); σπερματίζοντα from the context; OCR garble (Latin letters); ἐλαίας restored by sense (uncertain); OCR misreading; OCR: Latin letters; OCR: badly garbled lines (Latin letters and debris); restored from the letters and the sense where possible, an unrecoverable gap marked …; OCR: split word; OCR: stray mark): "uota, κᾶν → Ὥστε, κἂν; ἡμϊνη χρῆσις → ἡμῖν ἡ χρῆσις; τοιοῦτονο → τοιοῦτον·; διασωθήσιτειι → διασωθήσεται; πάντα dm τὰ ιχ τῆς γῆς φυόμενα cummari ὗ λόγος → πάντα τὰ ἐκ τῆς γῆς φυόμενα σπερματίζοντα ὁ λόγος; ὅπου γε. οὔτε adlatum, οὔτε ἄγρωom, → ὅπου γε οὔτε κάλαμος, οὔτε ἄγρωστις,; γένῃ quain σπιρματέζοντα φκίνιτω.; ῧρὸς δὴ τοῦτο φμμεν → γένη σπερματίζοντα φαίνεται; Πρὸς δὴ τοῦτο φαμεν; ἐκ. τῆς γῆς ἐπὶ τοῦ πυθμένος καὶ τῆς ῥί- {ne ἔχει τὴν δύναμιν uin σπερμάτων) ’Ὠσπερ ὁ κά. λαμος μετὰ τὴν initum αὔξησιν ἀπὸ τῆς μζης ἀφ.. ίησί → ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἐπὶ τοῦ πυθμένος καὶ τῆς ῥίζης ἔχει τὴν δύναμιν τῶν σπερμάτων. Ὥσπερ ὁ κάλαμος μετὰ τὴν ἐτήσιον αὔξησιν ἀπὸ τῆς ῥίζης ἀφίησί; ".-2cu παντός ἔστιν ἀληθέστιρον τὸ ἑκάστῳ τῶν φυομένων ἢ οπέρμαι → Ὥστε παντός ἐστιν ἀληθέστερον τὸ ἑκάστῳ τῶν φυομένων ἢ σπέρμα; τὸ. Κατὰ γένος → τὸ, Κατὰ γένος; καλάμου Qui“ ἒρτι ποιητικὴ, ἀλλὰ ἓν. χαλάμὸυ μὲν ἕτιρος κάλαμος, ἐκ δὲ τῶν σπερμάτων τὰ συγγενῆ τοῖς χατιιβλιηθειῐσιν ᾇποὸλιστάνιι → καλάμου ἐλαίας ἐστὶ ποιητικὴ, ἀλλʼ ἐκ καλάμου μὲν ἕτερος κάλαμος, ἐκ δὲ τῶν σπερμάτων τὰ συγγενῆ τοῖς καταβληθεῖσιν ἀποβλαστάνει; γενισει → γενέσει; vix: διαδοχῇ → τῆς διαδοχῆς; Βλαστησάτω ἡ Νόησόν μοι ix μικρᾶς φωνῆς, καὶ προπάγματος οὕτω βραχέος, τήν κατεψυγμένην καὶ ἄγονον ὠδίνουσαν ὰθρὶλως καὶ πρὸς καρπογονίαν συγκινουμόνην, ὥσπερ τινὰ (napum-hy καὶ πανθήρι White"! “£9602 λὴν, μεταμφιεννυμένην τὴν φιιδροτέρῑν ut xui: oiλείοις κόιμοις ἀγαλλομένην, xui τὰ μηρία γένη τῶν φυομένων προβάλλουσαν. Βούλομαι σοι οφοὸρόυφον ιιῆι κτίσεως ινιδρυνθῆηι τὸ σῶμα, ἶνʼ ὅπου περ, ὧν εδριθῇς, auri ὁποίῳ δήπου γένιι τῶν φυομένων mng σςῇς, ἕναργῆ λιμβάνῃς ταῦ numnum; τὴν ὑπὸ· καὶ hanc, ιὶς ἔννοιαν ἔρχου → Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ. Νόησόν μοι ἐκ μικρᾶς φωνῆς, καὶ προστάγματος οὕτω βραχέος, τὴν κατεψυγμένην καὶ ἄγονον ὠδίνουσαν ἀθρόως καὶ πρὸς καρπογονίαν συγκινουμένην, ὥσπερ τινὰ σκυθρωπὴν καὶ πενθήρη στολὴν ἀποθεμένην, μεταμφιεννυμένην τὴν φαιδροτέραν, καὶ τοῖς οἰκείοις κόσμοις ἀγαλλομένην, καὶ τὰ μυρία γένη τῶν φυομένων προβάλλουσαν. Βούλομαί σοι σφοδρότερον τὸ θαῦμα τῆς κτίσεως ἐνιδρυνθῆναι, ἵνʼ ὅπουπερ ἂν εὑρεθῇς, καὶ ὁποίῳ δήπου γένει τῶν φυομένων παραστῇς, ἐναργῆ λαμβάνῃς τοῦ κτίσαντος τὴν ὑπόμνησιν. … εἰς ἔννοιαν ἔρχου; Πὰσι ὡς χόριος, καὶ πᾶσι δόξα ἀνθρώποιο ὡς /:th χόροου. Τὸ γὰρ ὀλιγοχρόνιον »ἧς ζῳῆς, καὶ τὸ ἒν ὀλίγῳ περιχαρὲς ut ἱλαρὸν τῆς ἀνθρῳπίνης εὐημερίας, napum-uim; παρὰ τῷ προφίτῃ “sumne τῆς είιόνος. → Πᾶσα σὰρξ ὡς χόρτος, καὶ πᾶσα δόξα ἀνθρώπου ὡς ἄνθος χόρτου. Τὸ γὰρ ὀλιγοχρόνιον τῆς ζωῆς, καὶ τὸ ἐν ὀλίγῳ περιχαρὲς καὶ ἱλαρὸν τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης εὐημερίας, … παρὰ τῷ προφήτῃ … τῆς εἰκόνος.; κατασεcaput-Iphin; ὑπὸ τρυφῆς, ἐπανθοῦσαν ἔχων τὴν εὖ· χροιαν → κατασεσαρκωμένος ὑπὸ τρυφῆς, ἐπανθοῦσαν ἔχων τὴν εὔχροιαν; σφριγὼν ﬁt σύνσωνος, ui ἀνυπόστατος τὴν ὁρμὴν, αὔριον δ αὐτὸς οὖςος → σφριγῶν καὶ σύντονος, καὶ ἀνυπόστατος τὴν ὁρμὴν, αὔριον ὁ αὐτὸς οὗτος; διαλυθιίς, Ὀ δεινὰ → διαλυθείς. Ὁ δεῖνα; δορυφορίι φίλων προσποιητῶν τὴν ἀπʼ αὖθιοᾷ → δορυφορία φίλων προσποιητῶν τὴν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ; συγγενιίας, καὶ ταῦτ-ης κατέσχηματισμένης ἑαμὸς τῶν ἔφα-»νομένων μυρίος τῶν τι → συγγενείας, καὶ ταύτης κατεσχηματισμένης· ἑσμὸς τῶν ἑπομένων μυρίος, τῶν τε; ἐναπιὼν επισυρόμενος → ἐπανιὼν ἐπισυρόμενος; πρὸ αὖ· τοῦ · τοὺς,ῥαβδούχους → πρὸ αὐτοῦ· τοὺς ῥαβδούχους; δημεύσεις ° τὰς ἀπαγωγάς ' τά δεσμωτήρια, εξ ῶν ἀφόρητος ἔρ → δημεύσεις· τὰς ἀπαγωγάς· τὰ δεσμωτήρια, ἐξ ὧν ἀφόρητος αὐτῷ; ὰιιάρπαστον εξ → ἀνάρπαστον ἐξ.

Cite (SBL): Basil, Hex. 5.2 (PG 29:96d–100b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-hexaemeron/5-1/#p-5-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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5.3PG 29:100b–101a

Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου, σπεῖρον σπέρμα κατὰ γένος καὶ καθʼ ὁμοιότητα, ’Ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἡ τάξις τῶν φυομένων μαρτυρεῖ τῇ πρώτῃ διακοσμήσει, Ἠ γὰρ βλάστησις καθηγεῖται πάσης βοτάνης καὶ πάσης πόας, Εἴτε γὰρ ἀπὸ ῥίζης ἐκδίδοταί τι ἐκ τῆς κάτωθεν προβολῆς, ὡς κρόκος καὶ ἄγρωστις, ἀναβλαστῆσαι δεῖ καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἔξω προκύψαι· εἴτε ἀπὸ σπέρματος, καὶ οὕτως ἀνάγκη πρῶτον βλάστησιν, εἶτα βοτάνην γενέσθαι, εἷτα χόρτον χλοάζοντα, εἶτα τὸν καρπὸν ἐπι ξηρᾶς ἤδη καὶ παχείας τῆς καλάμης ἀδρυνόμενον Βλαστησάτω ἦ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου. ’Ὅταν εἷς γῆν καταπέσῃ τὸ σπέρμα συμμέτρως νοτίδος καὶ θέρμης ἔχουσαν, χαῦνον γενόμενον ’καὶ πολύπορον, τῆς παρακειμένης γῆς περιδραξάμενον, τὰ οἰκεῖα καὶ σύμφυλα πρὸς ἑαυτὸ επισπᾶται, Ἐμπίπτοντα δὲ τοῖς πόροις καὶ περιολισθαίνοντα τῆς γῆς τὰ λεπτότατα μόρια, ἐπὶ πλέον ἆνευρύνει τοὺς ὄγκους αὐτοῦ, ὥστε ῥιζοῦσθαι μὲν εἷς τὸ κάτω, ἐπὶ τὸ ἂνω δὲ προκύπτειν, ἰσαρίθμων ταῖς ῥίζαις τῶν καλάμων προβαλλομένων. Θαλπομένου δὲ ἀεὶ τοῦ βλαστήματος, συρομένην διὰ τῶν ῥιζῶν τὴν νοτίδα, τῇ ὀλκῇ τοῦ θερμοῦ συνεπάγεσθαι τοῦ τροφίμου τῆς γῆς ὅσον μέτριον, καὶ τοῦτο καταμερίζειν εἷς καλάμην καὶ φλοιὸν, καὶ τὰς θήκας τοῦ σίτου, καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν σῖτον καὶ τοὺς ἀνθέρικας ’ καὶ οὕτω κατὰ μικρὸν τῆς αὐξήσεως γινομένης, ἐπὶ τὸ οἰκεῖον μέτρον ἕκαστον τῶν φυομένων ἀποκαθίστασθαι, εἴτε τι τῶν σιτηρῶν, εἴτε τῶν χεδρόπων, εἴτε τῶν λαχανωδῶν ἢ φρυγανικῶν τυγχάνοι, Εἷς χόρτος καὶ μία βοτάνη ἐξαρκεῖ τὴν διάνοιάν σου πᾶσαν είς τὴν θεωρίαν τῆς ἐξεργασαμένης αὐτὰ τέχνης ἀπασχολῆσαι πῶς γόνασι διαζώννυται ἡ καλάμη τοῦ σίτου, ἵνα ὣσπερ σύνδεσμοί τινες ῥᾳδίως τὸ βάρος τῶν ἀσταχύων φέρωσιν, ὅταν πλήρεις ὄντες καρπῶν πρὸς την γῆν κατακλίνωνται. Διὰ τοῦτο ὁ μὲν βρόμος διόλου κενὸς, ἃτε μηδενί τὴν κεφαλὴν βαρυνόμενος τὸν δὲ σῖτον τοῖς συνδέσμοις τούτοις ἡ φύσις κατησφαλίσατο. Ἐν θήκῃ δὲ τὸν κὸκκον ἀποθεμένη, ὡς μὴ εὐδιάρπαστον εἶναι τοῖς σπερμολόγοις· ἔτι καὶ τῇ προβολῇ τῶν ἀνθερίκων οἷον ἀκίσι τὰς ἐκ τῶν μικρῶν ζώων ἀφίστησι βλάβας.

Blastēsatō hē gē botanēn chortou, speiron sperma kata genos kai kathʼ homoiotēta, ’Eti kai nyn hē taxis tōn phyomenōn martyrei tę̄ prōtę̄ diakosmēsei, Ē gar blastēsis kathēgeitai pasēs botanēs kai pasēs poas, Eite gar apo rhizēs ekdidotai ti ek tēs katōthen probolēs, hōs krokos kai agrōstis, anablastēsai dei kai epi to exō prokypsai; eite apo spermatos, kai houtōs anankē prōton blastēsin, eita botanēn genesthai, heita chorton chloazonta, eita ton karpon epi xēras ēdē kai pacheias tēs kalamēs adrynomenon Blastēsatō ē gē botanēn chortou. ’Hotan heis gēn katapesę̄ to sperma symmetrōs notidos kai thermēs echousan, chaunon genomenon ’kai polyporon, tēs parakeimenēs gēs peridraxamenon, ta oikeia kai symphyla pros heauto epispatai, Empiptonta de tois porois kai periolisthainonta tēs gēs ta leptotata moria, epi pleon aneurynei tous onkous autou, hōste rhizousthai men heis to katō, epi to anō de prokyptein, isarithmōn tais rhizais tōn kalamōn proballomenōn. Thalpomenou de aei tou blastēmatos, syromenēn dia tōn rhizōn tēn notida, tę̄ olkę̄ tou thermou synepagesthai tou trophimou tēs gēs hoson metrion, kai touto katamerizein heis kalamēn kai phloion, kai tas thēkas tou sitou, kai auton ton siton kai tous antherikas ’ kai houtō kata mikron tēs auxēseōs ginomenēs, epi to oikeion metron hekaston tōn phyomenōn apokathistasthai, eite ti tōn sitērōn, eite tōn chedropōn, eite tōn lachanōdōn ē phryganikōn tynchanoi, Heis chortos kai mia botanē exarkei tēn dianoian sou pasan eis tēn theōrian tēs exergasamenēs auta technēs apascholēsai pōs gonasi diazōnnytai hē kalamē tou sitou, hina hōsper syndesmoi tines rhądiōs to baros tōn astachyōn pherōsin, hotan plēreis ontes karpōn pros tēn gēn kataklinōntai. Dia touto ho men bromos diolou kenos, hate mēdeni tēn kephalēn barynomenos ton de siton tois syndesmois toutois hē physis katēsphalisato. En thēkę̄ de ton kokkon apothemenē, hōs mē eudiarpaston einai tois spermologois; eti kai tę̄ probolę̄ tōn antherikōn hoion akisi tas ek tōn mikrōn zōōn aphistēsi blabas.

"Let the earth put forth the plant of grass, sowing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness." Even now the order of growing things bears witness to the first arrangement. For sprouting leads the way for every plant and every herb. Whether something comes up from a root, from a shoot below, like the crocus and dog's-tooth grass, it must sprout again and peep out above ground; or whether from a seed, in this case too there must first be sprouting, then a plant, then green grass, then the fruit ripening on a stalk already dry and stout. "Let the earth put forth the plant of grass." When the seed falls into earth that has moisture and warmth in due measure, it becomes loose and porous, takes hold of the earth around it, and draws to itself what is proper and akin to it. The finest particles of earth, falling into its pores and slipping in around them, widen its bulk still further, so that it puts down roots below and peeps out above, the stalks put forth being equal in number to the roots. And as the shoot is continually warmed, the moisture drawn up through the roots brings along with it, by the pull of the heat, a moderate portion of the earth's nourishment, and distributes this to the stalk and the husk, to the sheaths of the grain, to the grain itself, and to the beards; and so, the growth taking place little by little, each growing thing reaches its proper measure, whether it happens to be one of the grains, or of the pulses, or of the vegetables, or of the shrubs. A single blade of grass and a single plant are enough to occupy your whole mind in contemplating the art that fashioned them: how the stalk of wheat is girded with knots, so that, like bands, they may easily bear the weight of the ears when, full of fruit, they bend down toward the earth. That is why oats are hollow throughout, since their head is weighed down by nothing, while nature has secured wheat with these bands. It has laid up the grain in a sheath, so that it may not be easily snatched by grain-pickers, and further, by the projection of the beards, as with points, it keeps off the damage done by small creatures.

Gen 1:11 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Every plant grows by the same ordered stages as at the first; the structure of a single stalk of wheat displays the Creator's art.

Quotation: Gen 1:11 (LXX). "Grain-pickers" are seed-eating birds. A line of scan debris inside the description of the wheat stalk is removed by a logged correction.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR garble; OCR garble (Latin letters); OCR misreading; OCR: Latin letters; OCR: scan debris inside a word removed; OCR: split word): ι Βλαστησάτω ἠ γῆ → Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ; τάξ.ς τὼν → τάξις τῶν; ἀπὸ ρίξης → ἀπὸ ῥίζης; πρσκύο ψαι εἴτε → προκύψαι· εἴτε; βοτάνη-ι γενέσθαι → βοτάνην γενέσθαι; τῆς παραγὲιμένηξ γης πεοιδραξάμενον → τῆς παρακειμένης γῆς περιδραξάμενον; περιολιτθαίνοντα → περιολισθαίνοντα; αὺτοῦ ὥστε ῥιζοῦσθαι aév → αὐτοῦ, ὥστε ῥιζοῦσθαι μὲν; προβαλλομένων θαλπομένου δὲ ἀεὶ τοὺ βλᾶστῆματος → προβαλλομένων. Θαλπομένου δὲ ἀεὶ τοῦ βλαστήματος; καταιερίζειν → καταμερίζειν; θήκας τοῦ τίτου → θήκας τοῦ σίτου; ιίίτω κατὰ μικρὸν → οὕτω κατὰ μικρὸν; οἱς ιεϊον μέτρον → οἰκεῖον μέτρον; ιῗτε τι τῶν σιτηρῶν, εἴτετῶν χεδρόπων, εʼίτε τῶν taxavad'w → εἴτε τι τῶν σιτηρῶν, εἴτε τῶν χεδρόπων, εἴτε τῶν λαχανωδῶν; ιία βοτάνη ἐξαρκεῖ vi.» διάνοιάν → μία βοτάνη ἐξαρκεῖ τὴν διάνοιάν; ἡ καλάμη τοῖο σί -..η '.'_... )‘.__--,1 β-- ο ε in ι nl.. του, ’ἱνα → ἡ καλάμη τοῦ σίτου, ἵνα; καρπιῖον → καρπῶν; μὴ εὖ· ἳιάρπαστον εἶναι τοῖς σπερμολὸγοις ἔτι → μὴ εὐδιάρπαστον εἶναι τοῖς σπερμολόγοις· ἔτι; ἁκίσι → ἀκίσι.

Cite (SBL): Basil, Hex. 5.3 (PG 29:100b–101a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-hexaemeron/5-1/#p-5-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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5.4PG 29:101a–104a

Τί εἴπω ; τί σιωπήσω; Ἐν πλουσίοις τῆς κτίσεως θησαυροῖς ἄπορος μὲν ἡ εὕρεσις τοῦ τιμιωτέρου, δυσφορωτάτη δὲ ἠ ζημία τοῦ παρεθέντος. Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χὸρτου. Καὶ εὐθέως συνεξεδὸθη τοϊς τροφίμοις τὰ δηλητήρια· μετὰ τοῦ σίτου τὸ κώνειον, μετὰ τῶν λοιπῶν τροφίμων ἐλλέβορος, καὶ ἆκὸνιτον, καὶ μανδραγὸρας, καὶ ὁ τῆς μήκωνος ὀπὸς. Τί οὗν; ἀφέντες τὸ ἐπὶ τοῖς χρησίμοις τὴν χάριν ὁμολογεῖν, ἐγκαλέσομεν τῷ Δημιουργῷ ἐπὶ τοῖς φθαρτικοϊς ἡμῶν τῆς ζωῆς ; ἐκεῖνο δὲ οὒ λογισόμεθα, ὅτι οὐ πάντα τῆς γαστρὸς ἕνεκεν τῆς ἡμετέρας δεδημιούργηται: Ἀλλʼ ἡμῖν μὲν αἱ ἀποτεταγμέναι τροφαὶ προχειροι, καὶ πᾶσιν εὕγνωστοι· ἕκαστον δὲ τῶν γενομένων ἴδιὸν τινα λογον ἐν τῇ κτίσει πληροῖ. Μὴ γὰρ, ἐπειδή σοι δηλητήριον τὸ ταύριον αἷμα, τούτου ἕνεκεν ἔδει ἢ μὴ παραχθῆναι τὸ ζῶον, ἤ παραχθὲν ἄναιμον εἶναι, οὐ τῆς ἰσχύος πρὸς τοσαῦτα ημῶν ἐπιδεῖται ὁ βὶος ; Ἀλλὰ σοὶ μὲν αὐτάρκης ὁ σύνοικος λόγος πρὸς τὴν φυλακην τῶν ὀλεθρίων. Οὐ δήπου γὰρ πρόβατα μὲν καὶ αἶγες ἴσασιν ἀποφεύγειν τὰ κακοῦντα αὐτῶν τὴν ζωὴν, μόνῃ τῇ αἰσθήσει τὸ βλαβερον διακρίνονταʼ σοὶ δὲ, ᾦ καὶ λόγος πάρεστι, καὶ ἰατρικὴ τέχνη τὸ χρήσιμον ἐκπορίζουσα, καὶ ἡ τῶν προλαβόντων πεῖρα, τῶν βλαπτόντων τὴν φυγὴν ὑποβάλλουσα, χαλεπόν ἐστιν, εἰπέ μοι, ἐκκλῖναι τὰ δηλητήρια ; ’Ἔστι δὲ τούτων οὐδὲν ἀργῶς, οὐδὲν ἀχρήστως γεγινημένον, ’Ἦ γὰρ τροφὴν παρέχει τινὶ τῶν ἁλόγων, ἢ καὶ ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς παρὰ τῆς ἰατρικῆς τέχνης εἰς παραμυθίαν τινῶν ἀρρωστημάτων ἐξεύρηται. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ κώνειον οἱ ψᾶρες βόσκονται, διὰ τὴν κατασκευὴν τοῦ σώματος τὴν ὲκ τοῦ δηλητηρίου βλάβην ἀποδιδράσκοντεςʼ λεπτοὺς γὰρ ἔχοντες τοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς καρδίας πόρους, φθάνουσιν ἐκπέψαι τὸ καταποθὲν, πρὶν τὴν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ ψῦξιν τῶν καιρίων καθαψασθαι. Ἐλλέβορος δὲ ὀρτύγων ἐστὶ τρόφὴ, ἰδιότητι κράσεως τὴν βλάβην ἀποφευγόντων. ’Ἔστι δὲ καὶ αὐτὰ ταῦτα εν καιρῷ ποτε καὶ ἡμῖν χρήσιμα. Διὰ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ ὕπνον ἰατροὶ κατεπάγουσιν· ὀπίῳ δὲ τὰς σφοδρὰς ὀδύνας ’τῶν σωμάτων κατακοιμὶζουσιν. ’Ἤδη δέ τινες τῷ κωνείῳ καὶ τὸ λυσσῶδες τῶν ὀρέξεων κατεμάραναν· καὶ τῷ ἐλλεβόρῳ πολλὰ τῶν χρονίων παθῶν ἐξεμόχλευσαν, Ὠστε ὃ ἐνόμιζες ἔχειν κατὰ τοῦ κτίσαντος ἔγκλημα, τοῦτό σοι εἰς προσθήκην εὔχαριστίας περιελήλυθεν,

Ti eipō ? ti siōpēsō? En plousiois tēs ktiseōs thēsaurois aporos men hē heuresis tou timiōterou, dysphorōtatē de ē zēmia tou parethentos. Blastēsatō hē gē botanēn chortou. Kai eutheōs synexedothē toïs trophimois ta dēlētēria; meta tou sitou to kōneion, meta tōn loipōn trophimōn elleboros, kai akoniton, kai mandragoras, kai ho tēs mēkōnos opos. Ti houn? aphentes to epi tois chrēsimois tēn charin homologein, enkalesomen tǭ Dēmiourgǭ epi tois phthartikoïs hēmōn tēs zōēs ? ekeino de ou logisometha, hoti ou panta tēs gastros heneken tēs hēmeteras dedēmiourgētai: Allʼ hēmin men hai apotetagmenai trophai procheiroi, kai pasin heugnōstoi; hekaston de tōn genomenōn idion tina logon en tę̄ ktisei plēroi. Mē gar, epeidē soi dēlētērion to taurion haima, toutou heneken edei ē mē parachthēnai to zōon, ē parachthen anaimon einai, ou tēs ischyos pros tosauta ēmōn epideitai ho bios ? Alla soi men autarkēs ho synoikos logos pros tēn phylakēn tōn olethriōn. Ou dēpou gar probata men kai aiges isasin apopheugein ta kakounta autōn tēn zōēn, monę̄ tę̄ aisthēsei to blaberon diakrinontaʼ soi de, ǭ kai logos paresti, kai iatrikē technē to chrēsimon ekporizousa, kai hē tōn prolabontōn peira, tōn blaptontōn tēn phygēn hypoballousa, chalepon estin, eipe moi, ekklinai ta dēlētēria ? ’Esti de toutōn ouden argōs, ouden achrēstōs geginēmenon, ’Ē gar trophēn parechei tini tōn halogōn, ē kai hēmin autois para tēs iatrikēs technēs eis paramythian tinōn arrōstēmatōn exeurētai. To men gar kōneion hoi psares boskontai, dia tēn kataskeuēn tou sōmatos tēn ek tou dēlētēriou blabēn apodidraskontesʼ leptous gar echontes tous epi tēs kardias porous, phthanousin ekpepsai to katapothen, prin tēn apʼ autou psyxin tōn kairiōn kathapsasthai. Elleboros de ortygōn esti trophē, idiotēti kraseōs tēn blabēn apopheugontōn. ’Esti de kai auta tauta en kairǭ pote kai hēmin chrēsima. Dia men gar tou hypnon iatroi katepagousin; opiǭ de tas sphodras odynas ’tōn sōmatōn katakoimizousin. ’Ēdē de tines tǭ kōneiǭ kai to lyssōdes tōn orexeōn katemaranan; kai tǭ elleborǭ polla tōn chroniōn pathōn exemochleusan, Ōste ho enomizes echein kata tou ktisantos enklēma, touto soi eis prosthēkēn eucharistias perielēlythen,

What shall I say? What shall I pass over in silence? Among the rich treasures of creation it is impossible to find the more precious, and the loss of what is passed over is very hard to bear. "Let the earth put forth the plant of grass." And at once poisonous plants were brought forth together with the nourishing ones: with the wheat, hemlock; with the other foods, hellebore and aconite and mandrake and the juice of the poppy. What then? Shall we leave off acknowledging our thanks for useful things and accuse the Creator for the things that destroy our life? And shall we not reckon this: that not everything has been created for the sake of our belly? The foods assigned to us are ready at hand and well known to all, and each of the things that have come into being fulfills its own particular principle in creation. Because the blood of a bull is poisonous to you, ought that animal, for that reason, either not to have been brought into being, or, once brought into being, to have been bloodless? Does not our life need its strength for so many tasks? But for you the reason that dwells within you is sufficient to guard against deadly things. Surely sheep and goats know how to avoid what harms their life, distinguishing what is hurtful by sense alone; and for you, who have reason and the art of medicine providing what is useful, and the experience of those before you suggesting the avoidance of harmful things, is it hard, tell me, to steer clear of poisons? Not one of these has been made idly, not one uselessly. Either it provides food for one of the irrational animals, or it has been discovered by the art of medicine for us as well, to relieve certain illnesses. For starlings feed on hemlock and escape the harm of the poison because of the constitution of their body: since the passages to their heart are narrow, they digest what they have swallowed before its chill can take hold of their vital parts. Hellebore is food for quails, which escape the harm through the peculiarity of their temperament. And these very things are sometimes useful to us at the right time. For by means of … physicians induce sleep, and with opium they lull severe pains of the body to sleep. Some have even subdued the frenzy of the appetites with hemlock, and with hellebore have rooted out many chronic illnesses. So what you thought you had as a charge against the Creator has turned out for you as an addition to your thanksgiving.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Gen 1:11 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Poisonous plants are not a charge against the Creator: they feed some animals, serve medicine, and can be avoided by reason.

Quotation: Gen 1:11. After "by means of" a word naming the sleep-inducing plant is lost in the scan (probably the mandrake, named earlier); it is not supplied. A fragment of Migne's notes that leaked into the last sentence is removed by a logged correction.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR misreading; OCR misreading; a fragment of Migne's notes removed; OCR: joined words; OCR: missing space; OCR: scan debris; OCR: split word): σιωπήσω ;Ἐν → σιωπήσω; Ἐν; ἣεῦρεσις → ἡ εὕρεσις; καὶ θʼ τῆς μήκωνος → καὶ ὁ τῆς μήκωνος; λογισὸμεθα, ὅτι οὔ πέντα → λογισόμεθα, ὅτι οὐ πάντα; τρου· φαί → τροφαὶ; ὁ σύνοικοςβ η,. κ η κ -,ς λ. _. ς.. λόγος → ὁ σύνοικος λόγος; ἰατρικῆ τέχνη τὸ χρήσιμον ἒκπορὲζουσα → ἰατρικὴ τέχνη τὸ χρήσιμον ἐκπορίζουσα; ἒξεόρηται → ἐξεύρηται; οἰ ψᾶρες → οἱ ψᾶρες; κατασκεδὴν → κατασκευὴν; *ἐκπέψαι τὸ καταπο- δ θὲν → ἐκπέψαι τὸ καταποθὲν; εξρτόγων → ὀρτύγων; ἰατρόῖ κατεπάγουο σιν ὀπίῳ δὲ τὰς Δσφοδρᾲς δδὺνας → ἰατροὶ κατεπάγουσιν· ὀπίῳ δὲ τὰς σφοδρὰς ὀδύνας; λωσῶδες τῶν ὀρέξεων καπμᾶραναν* → λυσσῶδες τῶν ὀρέξεων κατεμάραναν·; ιλλεβόρῳ πολλᾶ τῶν χρονίων παθὼν ἰξεμόχλευσαν → ἐλλεβόρῳ πολλὰ τῶν χρονίων παθῶν ἐξεμόχλευσαν; ὅ ἐνόμιζες ἕγειήν κατὰ τοῦ κτίσαντοςᾱ (Βίξι Coll):I σπξρμολόγοις των ἀρνί. μα, → ὃ ἐνόμιζες ἔχειν κατὰ τοῦ κτίσαντος ἔγκλημα,.

Cite (SBL): Basil, Hex. 5.4 (PG 29:101a–104a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-hexaemeron/5-1/#p-5-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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5.5PG 29:104a–105b

Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην χόρτου, Πόσην αὐτόματον λέγει τροφὴν ὲν τούτοις, τήν τε ἐν ῥίζαις, καὶ τὴν ἓν αὐτῇ τῇ βοτάνη, καὶ τὴν ἑν καρποῖς ἤδη ! πόσην δὲ τὴν ἐξ ἐπιμελείας καὶ γεωργίας ἡμῖν προσγινομένην! Οὔκ εὐθὺς ἐκέλευσε σπέρμα καὶ καρπὸν ἀναδοθῆναι, ἄλλα βλαστῆσαι καὶ χλοάσαι τὴν γῆν, καὶ τότε εἰς σπέρμα τελειωθῆναι· ἵνα τὸ πρῶτον ἐκεῖνο πρόσταγμα διδάσκαλον τῇ φύσει γένηται πρὸς τὴν ἓξῆς ἀκολουθίαν, Πῶς οὖν κατὰ γένος, φασὶν, ἡ γῆ προφέρει τὰ σπέρματα, ὁπότε, σῖτον πολλάκις καταβαλόντες, τὸν μέλανα τοῦτον πυρὸν συγκομίζομεν; Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο οὐχὶ πρὸς ἕτερον γένος ἐστὶ μεταβολὴ, ἄλλʼ οἷονεῖ νόσος τις καὶ ἀρρωστία τοῦ σπέρματος, Οὐ γὰρ ἀπέθετο τὸ εἶναι σῖτος, ἀλλʼ ἐμελάνθη διὰ τῆς καύσεως, ὡς καὶ ἐξ αὑτῆς ἐστι τῆς προσηγορίας μαθεῖν. Τῇ ὑπερβολῇ γὰρ τοῦ κρύους ὑπερκαεὶς, πρὸς ἑτέραν καὶ χρόαν καὶ γεῦσιν μετέπεσε. Καὶ μέντοι καὶ πάλιν λέγεται, ἒπειδᾶν γῆς ἐπετηδείας καὶ ἀέρων εὐκράτων λάβηται, πρὸς τὸ ἀρχαῖον εἶδος ἐπανιέναι, Ὥστε οὐδὲν παρὰ τὸ πρόσταγμα εὕροις ἄν ἐν τοϊς φυομένοις ἐπιτελούμενον, Ἦ δὲ λεγομένη αἴρα, καὶ ὅσα λοιπὰ νόθα σπέρματα τοῖς τροφίμοις ἐγκαταμέμικται, ἃπερ ζιζάνια προσαγορεύειν σύνηθες Γραφῇ, οὐκ ὲκ τῆς τοῦ σίτου μεταβολῆς γίνεται, ἀλλʼ ἒξ οἰκείας ἀρχῆς υπέστη, ἴδιον ἔχοντα γένος, ’Ἂπερ τὴν εἰκόνα πληροῖ τῶν παραχαρασσόντων τὰ τοῦ Κυρίου διδάγματα, καὶ μὴ γνησίως μαθητευομένων τῷ λόγῳ, ἁλλʼ ἐκ τῆς τοῦ πονηροῦ διδασκαλίας διεφθαρμένων, καταμιγνόντων δὲ ἑαυτοὺς τῷ ὑγιαίνοντι σώματι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, ἵνʼ ἐκ τοῦ ἀφανοῦς τὰς παρʼ ἑαυτῶν βλάβας ταῖς ἀκεραιοτέροις ἐμβάλωσιν. ’Ἤδη δὲ ὁ Κύριος καὶ τὴν τελείωσιν τῶν εἷς αὒτὸν πεπιστευκότων τῇ τῶν σπερμάτων αύξήσει παρεικάζει, λέγωνʼ Ὠς ὃταν ἄνθρωπος βάλῃ τὸν σπόρον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ καθεύδῃ, καὶ ἐγείρηται νύκτα καί ἡμέραν, καὶ ὁ σπόρος ἐγείρηται, καὶ μηκύνηται, ὡς οὐκ οἶδεν αὐτός. Αύτομάτη γὰρ ἡ γῆ καρποφορεῖ πρῶτον χόρτον, εἶτα στάχυν, εἶτα πλήρη σῖτον ἓν τῷ στάχυϊ. Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην. Καὶ ἐν ἀκαριαίᾳ χρόνου ῥοπῇ ἀπὸ τῆς βλαστήσεως ’ἀρξαμένη ἡ γῆ, ἵνα φυλάξῃ τοὺς νόμους τοῦ κτίσαντος, πᾶσαν ἰδέαν αὐξήσεως διεξελθοῦσα, εὐθὺς πρὸς τὸ τέλειον ἤγαγε τὰ βλαστήματα. Καὶ λειμῶνες μὲν ἦσαν βαθεῖς τῇ ἀφθονίᾳ τοῦ χόρτου, τῶν δὲ πεδίων τὰ … φρίσσοντα τοῖς ληΐοις, εἰκόνα πελάγους κυμαίνοντος ἐν τῇ κινήσει τῶν ἀσταχύων ἀπέσωζε. Πᾶσα δὲ βοτάνη καὶ πᾶν λαχανηρὸν γένος ’καὶ εἴ τι ὲν φρυγάνοις, καὶ εἴ τι ἐν ὀσπρίοις, κατά πᾶσαν ἀφθονίαν τότε τῆς γῆς ὑπερειχεν, Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀπότευγμά τι ἧν ἐν τοῖς τὸτε προβληθεϊσιν, οὔτε γεωργῶν ἀπειρίας, οὔτε ἀέρων δυσκρασίας, οὕτε τινὸς ἄλλης αἰτίας τοϊς γινομένοις λυμαινομένης, Οὔ μὴν οῦδὲ ἡ καταδίκη ἐνεπόδιζε τῇ εὖθηνίᾳ τῆς γῆς. Πρεσβύτερα γὰρ ταῦτα τῆς ἁμαρτίας, διʼ ἢν κατεκρίθημεν ἐν ἱδρῶτι τοῦ προσώπου ἡμῶν ἐσθίειν τὸν ἄρτον.

Blastēsatō hē gē botanēn chortou, Posēn automaton legei trophēn en toutois, tēn te en rhizais, kai tēn hen autę̄ tę̄ botanē, kai tēn hen karpois ēdē ! posēn de tēn ex epimeleias kai geōrgias hēmin prosginomenēn! Ouk euthys ekeleuse sperma kai karpon anadothēnai, alla blastēsai kai chloasai tēn gēn, kai tote eis sperma teleiōthēnai; hina to prōton ekeino prostagma didaskalon tę̄ physei genētai pros tēn hexēs akolouthian, Pōs oun kata genos, phasin, hē gē propherei ta spermata, hopote, siton pollakis katabalontes, ton melana touton pyron synkomizomen? Alla touto ouchi pros heteron genos esti metabolē, allʼ hoionei nosos tis kai arrōstia tou spermatos, Ou gar apetheto to einai sitos, allʼ emelanthē dia tēs kauseōs, hōs kai ex hautēs esti tēs prosēgorias mathein. Tę̄ hyperbolę̄ gar tou kryous hyperkaeis, pros heteran kai chroan kai geusin metepese. Kai mentoi kai palin legetai, epeidan gēs epetēdeias kai aerōn eukratōn labētai, pros to archaion eidos epanienai, Hōste ouden para to prostagma heurois an en toïs phyomenois epiteloumenon, Ē de legomenē aira, kai hosa loipa notha spermata tois trophimois enkatamemiktai, haper zizania prosagoreuein synēthes Graphę̄, ouk ek tēs tou sitou metabolēs ginetai, allʼ ex oikeias archēs ypestē, idion echonta genos, ’Aper tēn eikona plēroi tōn paracharassontōn ta tou Kyriou didagmata, kai mē gnēsiōs mathēteuomenōn tǭ logǭ, hallʼ ek tēs tou ponērou didaskalias diephtharmenōn, katamignontōn de heautous tǭ hygiainonti sōmati tēs Ekklēsias, hinʼ ek tou aphanous tas parʼ heautōn blabas tais akeraioterois embalōsin. ’Ēdē de ho Kyrios kai tēn teleiōsin tōn heis auton pepisteukotōn tę̄ tōn spermatōn auxēsei pareikazei, legōnʼ Ōs hotan anthrōpos balę̄ ton sporon epi tēs gēs, kai katheudę̄, kai egeirētai nykta kai hēmeran, kai ho sporos egeirētai, kai mēkynētai, hōs ouk oiden autos. Automatē gar hē gē karpophorei prōton chorton, eita stachyn, eita plērē siton hen tǭ stachyï. Blastēsatō hē gē botanēn. Kai en akariaią chronou rhopę̄ apo tēs blastēseōs ’arxamenē hē gē, hina phylaxę̄ tous nomous tou ktisantos, pasan idean auxēseōs diexelthousa, euthys pros to teleion ēgage ta blastēmata. Kai leimōnes men ēsan batheis tę̄ aphthonią tou chortou, tōn de pediōn ta … phrissonta tois lēïois, eikona pelagous kymainontos en tę̄ kinēsei tōn astachyōn apesōze. Pasa de botanē kai pan lachanēron genos ’kai ei ti en phryganois, kai ei ti en ospriois, kata pasan aphthonian tote tēs gēs hypereichen, Oude gar apoteugma ti hēn en tois tote problētheïsin, oute geōrgōn apeirias, oute aerōn dyskrasias, houte tinos allēs aitias toïs ginomenois lymainomenēs, Ou mēn oude hē katadikē enepodize tę̄ euthēnią tēs gēs. Presbytera gar tauta tēs hamartias, diʼ ēn katekrithēmen en hidrōti tou prosōpou hēmōn esthiein ton arton.

"Let the earth put forth the plant of grass." How much food, growing of itself, does he speak of in these words: that in roots, that in the plant itself, and that in the fruits already! And how much more comes to us from care and farming! He did not command seed and fruit to be produced at once, but the earth to sprout and turn green, and then to be brought to completion in seed, so that that first command might become nature's teacher for the order that follows. How then, they say, does the earth produce its seeds according to kind, when often, having sown wheat, we gather in this black grain? But this is not a change into another kind; it is a sort of sickness and infirmity of the seed. For it has not put off being wheat, but has been blackened by burning, as one can learn from the very name. Burned by excess of cold, it has changed to another color and taste. And indeed it is said that, when it finds suitable soil and temperate weather, it returns again to its original form. So you would find nothing among growing things that is brought about contrary to the command. The so-called darnel, and all the other bastard seeds that are mixed in with food crops, which Scripture usually calls tares, do not come from a change in the wheat, but came into being from their own origin, having a kind of their own. They fill out the image of those who corrupt the Lord's teachings, who have not been genuinely taught by the word but corrupted by the teaching of the evil one, and who mix themselves into the healthy body of the church, so as to inflict their harm secretly on the simpler. The Lord also likens the perfecting of those who have believed in him to the growth of seeds, saying: "As when a man casts seed upon the earth, and sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed springs up and grows, he does not know how. For the earth bears fruit by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear." "Let the earth put forth the plant." And in an instant of time the earth, beginning from sprouting so as to keep the laws of the Creator, went through every form of growth and at once brought its shoots to completion. The meadows were deep with abundant grass, and the fertile plains, bristling with crops, presented in the movement of the ears the image of a surging sea. Every plant and every kind of vegetable, and whatever there is among shrubs and among legumes, then rose above the earth in all abundance. For there was no failure in what was then put forth, neither from the inexperience of farmers, nor from bad weather, nor from any other cause harming what grew. Nor did the sentence of condemnation yet hinder the earth's abundance. For these things are older than the sin for which we were condemned to eat our bread in the sweat of our face.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Gen 1:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Mark 4:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Mark 4:27 (quotation, high confidence) · Mark 4:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:25 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:19 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The earth brings forth according to kind; smutted wheat is a disease and darnel a distinct kind, an image of heretics; the first growth was perfect, before the curse.

Quotations: Gen 1:11; Mark 4:26–28; Gen 3:19. Allusion: Matt 13:24–30 (the tares). The "black grain" is wheat blighted by smut or rust; Basil explains the name as "burned." Two phrases garbled in the scan ("those who corrupt" and "brought its shoots to completion") are restored by sense in logged corrections, and a word describing the plains is lost (translated "fertile" by sense).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR garble (Latin letters); OCR garble (Latin letters); word restored by sense; OCR garble (debris and Latin letters); restored by sense; OCR garble (digits); OCR garble; an unreadable word marked …; OCR misreading; OCR: Latin letters; OCR: word lost): Βλαστησάτω ἦ βοτάνην → Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην; δὲτὴν ἐξ ἒπιμελείας καὶ γεωργίας ἡμῖν προσγινομένηνέ → δὲ τὴν ἐξ ἐπιμελείας καὶ γεωργίας ἡμῖν προσγινομένην!; καῖ χῆλοάσαι τὴν fin, καί τότε εὶς σπέρμα τελειωθῆναι ἳνα πρῶτον ἐκεῖνο πρόσταγμα διδασκάλων φύσει → καὶ χλοάσαι τὴν γῆν, καὶ τότε εἰς σπέρμα τελειωθῆναι· ἵνα τὸ πρῶτον ἐκεῖνο πρόσταγμα διδάσκαλον τῇ φύσει; [ιὼς οὖν κατὰ γένος, φα- , σὶν, ἣ γῆ → Πῶς οὖν κατὰ γένος, φασὶν, ἡ γῆ; σττον πολλάκις → σῖτον πολλάκις; πυρὸν συγκομίζομεν ςἈλλὰ → πυρὸν συγκομίζομεν; Ἀλλὰ; 0'3 γὰρ ἀπεθετο → Οὐ γὰρ ἀπέθετο; ὕπερῧολῇ → ὑπερβολῇ; "dare οὐδὲν → Ὥστε οὐδὲν; τῶν maxumum τᾶ τοῦ Κυρίου διδάγματα → τῶν παραχαρασσόντων τὰ τοῦ Κυρίου διδάγματα; τοό πονηρυῦ δεδαηαλὶας → τοῦ πονηροῦ διδασκαλίας; ’ἔνʼ ἐκ τοῦ ἀφανοῦς → ἵνʼ ἐκ τοῦ ἀφανοῦς; ἆκεραιοτέροις ἰμβάλωσιν → ἀκεραιοτέροις ἐμβάλωσιν; ὁ Kuριος → ὁ Κύριος; Βλαστησάτωή γῆ βοτάνην. Καὶ ἰν ἀκαριαίᾳ → Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην. Καὶ ἐν ἀκαριαίᾳ; uva φυλάξῃ → ἵνα φυλάξῃ; πᾶσαν δίαν αὐξήσεως → πᾶσαν ἰδέαν αὐξήσεως; εὐθὺς πρὸς re. τέλειον εωείιιεεθεετηκὲρεβθο ωίρεῠάρεωιξθαευε autneἤγαν- ti βλαστήματα. → εὐθὺς πρὸς τὸ τέλειον ἤγαγε τὰ βλαστήματα.; βχθετς τῇ ἀφθονίθ → βαθεῖς τῇ ἀφθονίᾳ; τὰ aiiκαααια φρίσσοναα τοις ληίοις → τὰ … φρίσσοντα τοῖς ληΐοις; ιιῖ τι ἐν ὀσπρίοις → εἴ τι ἐν ὀσπρίοις; ἡ καταδίκῃ ἐνεποδιζε → ἡ καταδίκη ἐνεπόδιζε; κατεγρίσι θημεν ἐν ἱδρῶτι τοῦ προσώπου ἡμῶν ἓσθίειν τὸν αρτο Ἰ.. → κατεκρίθημεν ἐν ἱδρῶτι τοῦ προσώπου ἡμῶν ἐσθίειν τὸν ἄρτον..

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Basil, Hex. 5.5 (PG 29:104a–105b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-hexaemeron/5-1/#p-5-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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5.6PG 29:105b–109b

Ἀλλά Καὶ ξύλον κάρπιμον, φησὶ, ποιοῦν καρπὸν οὗ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὖτῷ κατά γένος καὶ καθʼ ὁμοιότητα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Ἐπὶ τούτῳ τῷ ῥήματι πᾶσαι μὲν λόχμαι κατεπυκνοῦντο πάντα δὲ ἀνετρεχε δένδρα, τά τε πρὸς μήκιστον ὕψος διανίστασθαι πεφυκότα, ἐλάται καὶ κέδροι, καὶ κυπάρισσοι, καὶ πεῦκαι · πάντες δὲ θάμνοι εὐθὺς ἦσαν ἀμφίκομοι καὶ δασεῖς ' καὶ τὰ στεφανωματικὰ λεγόμενα τῶν φυτῶν, αἳ τε ῥοδωνιαὶ, καὶ μυρσίναι, καὶ δάφναι, πάντα ἐν μίᾳ καιροῦ ῥοπῇ, οὒκ ὄντα πρότερον ὑπὲρ τῆς γῆς, εἰς τὸ εἶναι παρηλθε μετά τῆς οἰκείας ἕκαστον ἰδιότητος, ἐναργεστάταις μὲν διαφοραῖς ἀπὸ τῶν ἑτερογενῶν χωριζόμενα, οἰκείῳ δὲ ἕκαστον γνωριζόμενον χαρακτῆρι, Πλήν γε ὅτι τὸ ῥόδον τότε ἄνευ ἀκάνθης ἦν, ὕστερον δὲ τῷ κάλλει τοῦ ἄνθους ἡ ἄκανθα παρεζεύχθη ἵνα τῷ τερπνῷ τῆς ἀπολαῦσεως ἐγγύθεν ἔχωμεν παρακειμένην τὴν λύπην, μεμνημένοι τῆς ἁμαρτίας, διʼ ἣν ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους ἡμῖν ἀνατέλλειν κατεδικάσθη ἡ γῆ. Ἀλλὰ προσετάχθη, φησὶ, Ξύλον κάρπιμον, ποιοῦν καρπὸν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, οὗ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ὲν αὐτῷ, ἐκδοῦναι ἡ γῆ· πολλὰ δὲ τῶν δένδρων ὁρῶμεν οὔτε καρποῖς οὔτε σπέρματι κεχρημένα. Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν; ’Ὅτι τὰ τιμιώτερα τῇ φύσει προηγουμένης τῆς μνήμης τετύχηκεν ἔπειτα, ὅτι ἀκριβῶς θεωροῦντι καὶ πάντα φανήσεται ἢ σπέρματι κεχρημένα, ἢ τὰ ἰσοδυναμοῦντα τοϊς σπέρμασιν ἔχοντα. Αἴγειροι γὰρ καί ἰτέαι, καὶ πτελέαι, καὶ λεῦκαι, καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα, καρπὸν μὶν οὐδένα δοκεῖ φέρειν ἐκ τοῦ προδήλου, σπέρμα δὲ ἕκαστον τούτων ἔχον ἀκριβῶς ἄν τις ἐξετάζων ἐξεύροι. Ὀ γὰρ ὑποκείμενος τῷ φύλλῳ κόκκος, ὃν μίσχον τινες τῶν περὶ τὰς ὀνοματοποιίας ἐσχολακότων προσαγορεύουσι, τοῦτο σπέρματος ἔχει δύναμιν. ’Ὅσα γὰρ ἀπὸ κλάδων γίνεσθαι πέφυκεν, ἐντεῦθεν ὡς τὰ πολλὰ προβάλλει τὰς ῥίζας. Τάχα δὲ σπέρματος ἐπέχουσι λόγον καὶ αἱ τῶν ῥιζῶν ἀποφύσεις, ἃς παρασπῶντες οἱ φυτοκόμοι τὸ γένος αὔξουσι, Πρότερον μέντοι, ὥσπερ ἔφαμεν, μνήμης ἠξιώθη τὰ σὺνεκτικώτερα τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν, ὅσα ἔμελλε, τοῖς οἰκείοις καρποῖς τὸν ἄνθρωπον δεξιούμενὰ, ἄφθονον αὐτῷ παρασκευάζειν τὴν δίαιταν ἄμπελος μὲν οἶνον γεννῶσα εὒφραίνειν μέλλοντα καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου ἐλαία δὲ καρπὸν παρεχομένη ίλαρύνειν δυνάμενον πρόσωπον ἐν ἐλαίῳ. Πόσα συνέτρεχε κατὰ ταυτὸν ἡπειγμένως ὑπὸ τῆς φύσεως παραγόμενα! Ἡ ῥίζα τῆς ἀμπέλου τὰ κλήματα έν κύκλῳ εὖθαλῆ καὶ μεγάλα ὑπὲρ γῆς κεχυμένα · ὁ βλαστὸς, οἱ ἕλικες, ὁ ἔμφαξ, οἱ βότρυες. Ἀρκεῖ σου τῇ ὄψει καὶ ἄμπελος συνετῶς ὁραθεῖσα ὑπόμνησίν σοι τῆς φύσεως ἐμποιῆσαι. Μέμνησαι γὰρ δηλονότι τῆς τοῧ Κυρίου εἰκόνος, ὅτι ἄμπελον ἑαυτὸν λέγει, καὶ τὸν Πατέρα τὸν γεωργὸν, καὶ τοὺς καθʼ ἕνα ἡμῶν διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐμπεφυτευμένους τῇ Ἐκκλησία κλήματα προσηγόρευσε · καὶ προσκαλεῖται ἡμᾶς εἷς πολυκαρπίαν, ἵνα μὴ ἀχρηστίαν καταγνωσθέντες τῷ πυρὶ παραδοθῶμεν · καὶ οὒ παύεται πανταχοῦ τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ταῖς ἀμπέλοις ἐξομοιῶν. Ἀμπελὼν γὰρ ἐγενήθη τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ, φησὶν, ὲν κέρατι, ἐν τόπῳ πίονι καὶ, Ἀμπελῶνα ἐφύτευσα, καὶ περιέθηκα φραγμὸν. Τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας ψυχὰς δηλονότι λέγει τὸν ἀμπελῶνα, αἷς φραγμὸν περιέθηκε τὴν ἐκ τῶν προσταγμάτων ἀσφάλειαν καὶ τὴν φυλακὴν τῶν ἀγγέλων. Παρεμβαλεῖ γὰρ ἅγγελος Κυρίου κύκλῳ τῶν φοβουμένων αὒτὸν. ’Ἔπειτα καὶ οἱονεὶ χάρακας ἡμῖν παρακατέπηξε θέμενος ἐν τῇ Ἐκκλησία πρῶτον ἂποστόλους, δεύτερον προφήτας, τρίτον διδασκάλους. Καὶ τοϊς τῶν παλαιῶν καὶ μακαρίων ἀνδρῶν ὑποδείγμασιν είς ὕψος ἡμῶν ἀνάγων τὰ φρονήματα, οὒκ ἀφῆκεν ἒρῤιμμένα χαμαὶ, καὶ τοῦ πατεῖσθαι ἄξια. Βούλεται δὲ ἡμᾶς καὶ οἷονεί ἕλιξί τισι ταῖς περιπλοκαῖς τῆς ἀγάπης τῶν πλησίον ἀντέχεσθαι, καὶ ἐπαναπαύεσθαι αὐτοῖς, ἵνʼ, ἀεὶ πρὸς τὸ ἅνω τὴν ὁρμὴν ἔχοντες, οἷον τινες ἀναδενδράδες ταῖς κορυφαῖς τῶν ὑψηλοτάτων ἑαυτοὺς περιζωννύωσιν. Ἀπαιτεϊ δὲ ἡμᾶς καὶ τὸ καταδέχεσθαι σκαπτομένους. Ἀποσκάπτεται δὲ ψυχὴ ἐν τῇ ἀποθέσει τῶν τοῦ κόσμου μεριμνῶν, αἳ εἰσὶ ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν, Ὥστε ὁ τὴν σαρκίνην ἀγάπην ἀποθέμενος, καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὰ χρήματα φιλίαν, ἢ τὴν περὶ … δοξάριον τοῦτο πτόησιν ἀπόπτυστον καὶ εὐκαταφρόνητον ἡγησάμενος, ὥσπερ ἐσκάφη καὶ ἀνέπνευσεν ἀποσκευασάμενος τὸ μάταιον βάρος τοῦ γηΐνου φρονήματος, Δεῖ δὲ, κατὰ τὸν λόγον τῆς παροιμίας, μηδὲ ὑλομανεϊν, τουτέστι, μὴ ἐπιδεικτικῶς πολιτεύεσθαι, μηδὲ τον παρὰ τῶν ἔξωθεν ἔπαινον θηρᾶσθαι, ἀλλʼ ἔγκαρπον εἶναι, τῷ ἀληθινῷ γεωργῷ τὴν ἐπίδειξιν τῶν ἔργων ταμιευόμενον. Σὺ δὲ καὶ ὡς ἐλαία κατάκαρπος ἔσο ὲν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ. μηδέποτε γυμνούμενος τῆς ἐλπίδος, ἀλλʼ ἀεὶ θάλλουσαν ἔχων περὶ σεαυτὸν τὴν διὰ πίστεως σωτηρίαν, Οὕτω γὰρ τὸ ἀειθαλὲς τοῦ φυτοῦ μι-

Alla Kai xylon karpimon, phēsi, poioun karpon hou to sperma autou en autǭ kata genos kai kathʼ homoiotēta epi tēs gēs. Epi toutǭ tǭ rhēmati pasai men lochmai katepyknounto panta de anetreche dendra, ta te pros mēkiston hypsos dianistasthai pephykota, elatai kai kedroi, kai kyparissoi, kai peukai ; pantes de thamnoi euthys ēsan amphikomoi kai daseis ' kai ta stephanōmatika legomena tōn phytōn, hai te rhodōniai, kai myrsinai, kai daphnai, panta en mią kairou rhopę̄, ouk onta proteron hyper tēs gēs, eis to einai parēlthe meta tēs oikeias hekaston idiotētos, enargestatais men diaphorais apo tōn heterogenōn chōrizomena, oikeiǭ de hekaston gnōrizomenon charaktēri, Plēn ge hoti to rhodon tote aneu akanthēs ēn, hysteron de tǭ kallei tou anthous hē akantha parezeuchthē hina tǭ terpnǭ tēs apolauseōs engythen echōmen parakeimenēn tēn lypēn, memnēmenoi tēs hamartias, diʼ hēn akanthas kai tribolous hēmin anatellein katedikasthē hē gē. Alla prosetachthē, phēsi, Xylon karpimon, poioun karpon epi tēs gēs, hou to sperma autou en autǭ, ekdounai hē gē; polla de tōn dendrōn horōmen oute karpois oute spermati kechrēmena. Ti oun eroumen? ’Hoti ta timiōtera tę̄ physei proēgoumenēs tēs mnēmēs tetychēken epeita, hoti akribōs theōrounti kai panta phanēsetai ē spermati kechrēmena, ē ta isodynamounta toïs spermasin echonta. Aigeiroi gar kai iteai, kai pteleai, kai leukai, kai hosa toiauta, karpon min oudena dokei pherein ek tou prodēlou, sperma de hekaston toutōn echon akribōs an tis exetazōn exeuroi. O gar hypokeimenos tǭ phyllǭ kokkos, hon mischon tines tōn peri tas onomatopoiias escholakotōn prosagoreuousi, touto spermatos echei dynamin. ’Hosa gar apo kladōn ginesthai pephyken, enteuthen hōs ta polla proballei tas rhizas. Tacha de spermatos epechousi logon kai hai tōn rhizōn apophyseis, has paraspōntes hoi phytokomoi to genos auxousi, Proteron mentoi, hōsper ephamen, mnēmēs ēxiōthē ta synektikōtera tēs zōēs hēmōn, hosa emelle, tois oikeiois karpois ton anthrōpon dexioumena, aphthonon autǭ paraskeuazein tēn diaitan ampelos men oinon gennōsa euphrainein mellonta kardian anthrōpou elaia de karpon parechomenē ilarynein dynamenon prosōpon en elaiǭ. Posa synetreche kata tauton hēpeigmenōs hypo tēs physeōs paragomena! Hē rhiza tēs ampelou ta klēmata en kyklǭ euthalē kai megala hyper gēs kechymena ; ho blastos, hoi helikes, ho emphax, hoi botryes. Arkei sou tę̄ opsei kai ampelos synetōs horatheisa hypomnēsin soi tēs physeōs empoiēsai. Memnēsai gar dēlonoti tēs toÿ Kyriou eikonos, hoti ampelon heauton legei, kai ton Patera ton geōrgon, kai tous kathʼ hena hēmōn dia tēs pisteōs empephyteumenous tę̄ Ekklēsia klēmata prosēgoreuse ; kai proskaleitai hēmas heis polykarpian, hina mē achrēstian katagnōsthentes tǭ pyri paradothōmen ; kai ou pauetai pantachou tas psychas tōn anthrōpōn tais ampelois exomoiōn. Ampelōn gar egenēthē tǭ ēgapēmenǭ, phēsin, en kerati, en topǭ pioni kai, Ampelōna ephyteusa, kai periethēka phragmon. Tas anthrōpinas psychas dēlonoti legei ton ampelōna, hais phragmon periethēke tēn ek tōn prostagmatōn asphaleian kai tēn phylakēn tōn angelōn. Parembalei gar hangelos Kyriou kyklǭ tōn phoboumenōn auton. ’Epeita kai hoionei charakas hēmin parakatepēxe themenos en tę̄ Ekklēsia prōton apostolous, deuteron prophētas, triton didaskalous. Kai toïs tōn palaiōn kai makariōn andrōn hypodeigmasin eis hypsos hēmōn anagōn ta phronēmata, ouk aphēken errimmena chamai, kai tou pateisthai axia. Bouletai de hēmas kai hoionei helixi tisi tais periplokais tēs agapēs tōn plēsion antechesthai, kai epanapauesthai autois, hinʼ, aei pros to hanō tēn hormēn echontes, hoion tines anadendrades tais koryphais tōn hypsēlotatōn heautous perizōnnyōsin. Apaiteï de hēmas kai to katadechesthai skaptomenous. Aposkaptetai de psychē en tę̄ apothesei tōn tou kosmou merimnōn, hai eisi tais kardiais hēmōn, Hōste ho tēn sarkinēn agapēn apothemenos, kai tēn pros ta chrēmata philian, ē tēn peri … doxarion touto ptoēsin apoptyston kai eukataphronēton hēgēsamenos, hōsper eskaphē kai anepneusen aposkeuasamenos to mataion baros tou gēïnou phronēmatos, Dei de, kata ton logon tēs paroimias, mēde hylomaneïn, toutesti, mē epideiktikōs politeuesthai, mēde ton para tōn exōthen epainon thērasthai, allʼ enkarpon einai, tǭ alēthinǭ geōrgǭ tēn epideixin tōn ergōn tamieuomenon. Sy de kai hōs elaia katakarpos eso en tǭ oikǭ tou Theou. mēdepote gymnoumenos tēs elpidos, allʼ aei thallousan echōn peri seauton tēn dia pisteōs sōtērian, Houtō gar to aeithales tou phytou mi-

But "and the fruit-bearing tree," he says, "producing fruit whose seed is in it, according to its kind and according to its likeness, upon the earth." At this word all the thickets grew dense; all the trees shot up, both those whose nature it is to rise to the greatest height, firs and cedars and cypresses and pines, and all the bushes were at once leafy all round and thick; and the so-called garland plants, rose bushes and myrtles and laurels: all of them, which did not exist before on the earth, came into being in a single moment of time, each with its own peculiar character, separated from those of other kinds by the clearest differences, each recognized by its own mark. Except that the rose was then without thorns; afterward the thorn was yoked to the beauty of the flower, so that we might have grief lying close beside the delight of enjoyment, remembering the sin for which the earth was condemned to bring forth thorns and thistles for us. But the earth was commanded, he says, to give forth the fruit-bearing tree producing fruit on the earth, whose seed is in it; yet we see many trees that have neither fruit nor seed. What shall we say, then? That the things more precious by nature have received mention first; and then, that to one who looks closely all of them will be found either to have seed or to have what is equivalent to seeds. For black poplars and willows and elms and white poplars and the like do not seem to bear any visible fruit, but anyone who examines carefully will find that each of them has seed. For the grain lying under the leaf, which some of those who have busied themselves with naming things call the stalk, has the power of a seed. For whatever naturally grows from branches generally puts forth its roots from there. And perhaps the offshoots of the roots too hold the place of seed, which the gardeners tear off and so increase the kind. But first, as we said, mention was made of the things that most sustain our life, those that were to welcome man with their own fruits and provide him with abundant fare: the vine, producing wine that was to gladden the heart of man; the olive, providing fruit able to make the face cheerful with oil. How many things ran together at the same moment, brought forth in haste by nature! The root of the vine; the branches, flourishing and great, spread out round about over the earth; the bud, the tendrils, the unripe grape, the clusters. A vine, observed with understanding, is enough to give your eye a reminder of your own nature. For you surely remember the Lord's image, in which he calls himself a vine and the Father the vinedresser, and named each one of us, planted in the church through faith, branches; and he calls us to bear much fruit, so that we may not be condemned for uselessness and handed over to the fire. And he does not cease everywhere comparing the souls of men to vines. "My beloved had a vineyard," he says, "on a hill, in a fertile place"; and, "I planted a vineyard, and put a hedge around it." Clearly he calls human souls the vineyard, around which he set as a hedge the security that comes from the commandments and the guard of the angels. For "the angel of the Lord will encamp around those who fear him." Then he also fixed stakes beside us, as it were, setting in the church "first apostles, second prophets, third teachers." And raising our thoughts on high by the examples of the ancient and blessed men, he has not let them lie cast on the ground and fit to be trodden underfoot. He wants us also to cling to our neighbors with the embraces of love, as with tendrils, and to rest upon them, so that, always having our impulse upward, we may, like climbing vines, wind ourselves around the tops of the loftiest. He also requires us to accept being dug around. And the soul is dug around in putting off the cares of the world, which are burdens on our hearts. So he who has put off fleshly love and fondness for money, and has judged the passion for this paltry glory … to be loathsome and contemptible, has as it were been dug around and breathed again, having put off the vain weight of earthly-mindedness. And, according to the saying of the proverb, we must not run wild in wood, that is, not live for show nor hunt after praise from outsiders, but be fruitful, storing up the display of our works for the true Vinedresser. And you, be "like a fruitful olive in the house of God," never stripped of hope, but always having salvation through faith flourishing about you. For in this way you will imitate the evergreen character of the plant …

Gen 1:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 3:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 104:15 (103:15 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · John 15:1 (allusion, high confidence) · John 15:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 5:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 5:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 34:7 (33:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 12:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 52:8 (51:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The trees and shrubs appeared at once; every tree has seed or its equivalent; the vine is an image of the soul in the church, hedged, staked, pruned, and called to bear fruit.

Quotations: Gen 1:11–12 (LXX); Gen 3:18; Ps 104:15 (LXX 103:15); Isa 5:1–2; Ps 34:7 (LXX 33:8); 1 Cor 12:28; Ps 52:8 (LXX 51:10). Allusions: John 15:1–6. "Run wild in wood" refers to a proverb (unidentified). A word before "paltry glory" is garbled and marked …; the section breaks off in the scan in mid-sentence; the rest is not supplied.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR garble (Latin letters and digits); unreadable word marked …; OCR garble (Latin letters); OCR misreading; OCR misreading; debris removed; OCR: Latin letters; OCR: joined words; OCR: missing punctuation; OCR: split word; OCR: stray letter): ῥήμασι πᾶσαι → ῥήματι πᾶσαι; πρὸςμήκιστον → πρὸς μήκιστον; κυ· πάρισσοι → κυπάρισσοι; ῥωδωνιαὶ → ῥοδωνιαὶ; πάντα,ὶν μίᾳ → πάντα ἐν μίᾳ; παρεζεεύχθη → παρεζεύχθη; ἡ γῆ ο πολλά δὲ → ἡ γῆ· πολλὰ δὲ; κεχρημέναι Τί οὖν ἱεροῦμεν; → κεχρημένα. Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν;; ’έχον ἀκριβῶς Ξίν τις ἱξετάζων → ἔχον ἀκριβῶς ἄν τις ἐξετάζων; ιόκκος → κόκκος; ἐπὸ κλάδων → ἀπὸ κλάδων; o't φυτοκὸμοι → οἱ φυτοκόμοι; Ξίμυ πελος → ἄμπελος; ἐν ἐλαίῳ Πόσα → ἐν ἐλαίῳ. Πόσα; παραγόμεναί Ἦ Ξίζα → παραγόμενα! Ἡ ῥίζα; ιεγάλα → μεγάλα; ὁραθετσα → ὁραθεῖσα; ἑμποιῆσαι. Μέμθησαι → ἐμποιῆσαι. Μέμνησαι; καὶτοὺς καθʼ ἕνα → καὶ τοὺς καθʼ ἕνα; προσνιγόρευσε → προσηγόρευσε; παραδοὶῶμεν → παραδοθῶμεν; ψυχας τῶν ἂν Ιρώπων ταῖς ἀμπέλοις ὶξομοιῶν → ψυχὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ταῖς ἀμπέλοις ἐξομοιῶν; ὲν :dmp πίονι → ἐν τόπῳ πίονι; Ἀμφελὼνα ἐφύτευσα, καὶ πε- ›ιέθηκα → Ἀμπελῶνα ἐφύτευσα, καὶ περιέθηκα; ιέγει τὸν ἀμπελῶνα, αἶς πραγμὸν περιέθηκε τὴν εκ → λέγει τὸν ἀμπελῶνα, αἷς φραγμὸν περιέθηκε τὴν ἐκ; Παρεμὸαλεῐ → Παρεμβαλεῖ; ίάρακας → χάρακας; ἕλιξι τι· σι ταῖς περιπλοκαῖς τῆς ἁγαπης τῶν πλησίον ἐινιτέχε σθαι, καὶ ἐπαναπαύεσθαι αὐτοῖς, ’ίν ον ν ἶνʼ, → ἕλιξί τισι ταῖς περιπλοκαῖς τῆς ἀγάπης τῶν πλησίον ἀντέχεσθαι, καὶ ἐπαναπαύεσθαι αὐτοῖς, ἵνʼ,; ὰνανδενδράδες ταῖς κορυφαῖς τῶν ὑψηλοτάτων ἑαυτοὺς περισίζωιαει → ἀναδενδράδες ταῖς κορυφαῖς τῶν ὑψηλοτάτων ἑαυτοὺς περιζωννύωσιν; ’Ὥστε 'o τὴν σαρκίνην → Ὥστε ὁ τὴν σαρκίνην; περὶ 163nmvov δοξάριον → περὶ … δοξάριον; γηίιου → γηΐνου; γεωργὼ → γεωργῷ; ἐὶς ἐλαία κατακαρπος → ὡς ἐλαία κατάκαρπος; σεκυτὸι τὴν διὰ πίστεως σω τηρίαν → σεαυτὸν τὴν διὰ πίστεως σωτηρίαν.

Cite (SBL): Basil, Hex. 5.6 (PG 29:105b–109b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-hexaemeron/5-1/#p-5-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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5.7PG 29:109b–112a

Ἀλλʼ ἐπανέλθωμεν πρὸς την ἔρευναν τῶν τεχνικῶν διατάξεων. Πόσα τότε γένη φυτῶν ἐπανέδραμε, τα μὲν ἔγκαρπα, τὰ δὲ ὲρέψιμα, ἄλλα πρὸς ναυπηγίαν ἐπιτήδεια, ἄλλα πρὸς καῦσιν! Ἐν τούτοις πάλιν ποικίλη μὲν ὲν ἑκάστω δένδρῳ ἠ τῶν μερῶν αὐτοῦ διακόσμησις, δυσέφικτος δὲ καὶ ἡ ἐξεύρεσις τῆς ἑκάστου ἰδιότητος, καὶ ἡ θεωρία τῆς πρὸς ἕκαστον τῶν ἑτερογενῶν διαφοράς. Πῶς τα μὲν αὐτῶν βαθύρριζα, τὰ δὲ ἀκρόρῤιζα καὶ τὰ μὲν ὀρθοφυῆ καὶ μονοστέλεχα, τὰ δὲ χαμαίζηλα καὶ εὒθὺς ἀπὸ τῆς ῥίζης εἰς πολλὰς ἐκφύσεις διῃρημένα, Πῶς ὅσον μὲν οἱ κλάδοι προμήκεις ἐπὶ πολὺ τοῦ ἀέρος ἐκτεταμένοι, τούτων καὶ αἱ ῥίζαι βαθεῖαι, ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐν κύκλῳ διανεμόμεναι, οἷον θεμελίους τινὰς ἀναλογοῦντας τῷ βάρει τῶν ἄνωθεν ὺποτιθείσης τῆς φύσεως, Πόσαι τῶν φλοιῶν αἱ διαφοραί! Τὰ μὲν γὰρ λειόφλοια τῶν φυτῶν, τὰ δὲ ῥηξίφλοια· καὶ τὰ μὲν μονόλοπα αὖτῶν, τὰ δὲ πολύπτυχα. Ὃ δὲ θαυμαστὸν, ὅτι καὶ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης νεότητος καὶ τοῦ γήρως εὕροις ἂν καὶ ἐν τοῖς φυτοῖς παραπλήσια τὰ συμπτώματα. Τοῖς μὲν γὰρ νέοις, καὶ εὖθαλέσιν ὁ φλοιὸς περιτὲταται τοῖς δέ γηράσκουσιν οἷον ῥυσσοῦται καὶ ὲκτραχύνεται, Καὶ τὰ μὲν κοπέντα ἐπιβλαστάνει τὰ δὲ μένει ἀδιάδοχα, ὥσπερ τινὰ θάνατον την τομὴν ὑπομείναντα. ’Ἢδη δέ τινες τετηρήκασιν ἑκτεμνομένας ἢ καὶ ἒπικαιομένας τὰς πίτυς εἰς δρυμῶνας μεθίστασθαι, Τινὰ δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐκ φύσεως κακίαν ἐπιμελειαις γεωργῶν θεραπευόμενα ἔγνωμεν ' οἷον τὰς ὀξείας ῥοιὰς, καὶ τῶν ἀμυγδαλῶν τὰς πικροτέρας, ὅταν διατρηθεϊσαι τὸ πρὸς τῇ ῥίζῃ στέλεχος σφῆνα πεύκης λιπαρὸν τῆς ἐντεριώνης μέσης διελαθέντα δέξωνται, εἰς εὖχρῃστίαν μεταβάλλουσι τότε τοῦ χυμοῦ τὴν δυσχήρειαν, Μηδεὶς οὖν ἐν κακίᾳ διάγων, ἑαυτὸν ἀπογινωσκέτω, εἰδὼς ὅτι γεωργία μὲν τὰς τῶν φυτῶν ποιότητας μεταβάλλει, ἡ δὲ κατʼ ἀρετὴν ψυχῆς ἐπιμέλεια δυνατή ἐστι παντοδαπῶν ἀῤῥωστημάτων ἐπικρατῆσαι, Ἡ δὲ περὶ τὰς καρπογονίας διαφορὰ τῶν καρπίμων φυτῶν τοσαύτη, ὅσην οὔδʼ ἂν ἐπελθεῖν τις δυνηθείη τῷ λόγῳ. οὗ γὰρ μόνον ἒν τοῖς ἑτερογενέσιν αἱ διαφοραὶ τῶν καρπῶν, ἀλλʼ ἤδη καὶ ἐν αὗτῷ τῷ εἴδει τοῦ δένδρου πολὺ τὸ διάφορον · ὅπουγε καὶ ἄλλος μὲν χαρακτὴρ τοῦ καρποῦ τῶν ἀρρένων, ἄλλος δὲ τῶν θηλειῶν, παρὰ τῶν φυτουργῶν διακέκριται, οἵ γε καὶ τοὺς φοίνικας εἷς ἄρρενας καὶ θηλείας διιστῶσι, Καὶ ἴδοις ἄν ποτε τὴν παρʼ αὒτῶν ὀνομαζομένην θήλειαν καθιεῖσαν τοὺς κλάδους, οίον ὀργῶσαν, καὶ τῆς συμπλοκῆς ἐφιεμένην τοῦ ἄῤῥενος, τοὺς δὲ θεραπευτὰς τῶν φυτῶν ἐμβάλλοντας τοῖς κλάδοις, οἷόν τινα σπέρματα τῶν ἀῤῥένων, τοὺς λεγομένους ψῆνας· καὶ οὕτως οἷον ἒν συναισθήσει τῆς ἀπολαύσεως γίνεσθαι καὶ ἀνορθοῦσθαι πάλιν τοὺς κλάδους, καὶ πρὸς τὸ οἰκεῖον σχῆμα τοῦ φυτοῦ τὴν κόμην ἀποκαθίστασθαι. Τὰ αὐτὰ δὲ ταῦτα καὶ περὶ τῶν συκῶν φασιν. ’Ὅθεν οἱ μὲν τὰς ἀγρίας συκᾶς παραφυτεύουσι ταῖς ἡμέροις · οἱ δὲ τοὺς ὀλύνθους ἐνδήσαντες, τῶν εὖκάρπων καὶ ἡμέρων συκῶν τὴν ἀτονίαν ἰῶνται, ῥέοντα ἤδη καὶ σκεδαννύμενον τὸν καρπὸν τοῖς ὀλύνθοις ἐπέχοντες. Τί σοι τὸ παρὰ τῆς φύσεως αἴνιγμα βούλεται ; ’Ὅτι χρὴ πολλάκις ἡμᾶς καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων τῆς πίστεως εὐτονίαν τινὰ προσλαμβάνειν εἰς τὴν τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων ἐπίδειξιν. Ἐὰν γὰρ ἴδῃς τὸν ἒν ἐθνικῷ, ἢ ἀπό τινος αἱρέσεως ἐνδιαστρόφου τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἀπεσχισμένον, βίου σώφρονος καὶ τῆς λοιπῆς κατὰ τὸ ἦθος εὐταξίας ἐπιμελούμενον, πλεῖον σεαυτοῦ τὸ σπουδαῖον ἐπίτεινον, ἵνα γένῃ παραπλήσιος τῆ καρποφόρῳ συκῇ ἐκ τῆς τῶν ἀγρίων παρουσίας ἀθροιζούσῃ τήν δύναμιν, καὶ τὴν μὲν ῥύσιν ἐπεχούσῃ, ἐπιμελέστερον δὲ τὸν καρπὸν ἐκτρεφούσῃ.

Allʼ epanelthōmen pros tēn ereunan tōn technikōn diataxeōn. Posa tote genē phytōn epanedrame, ta men enkarpa, ta de erepsima, alla pros naupēgian epitēdeia, alla pros kausin! En toutois palin poikilē men en hekastō dendrǭ ē tōn merōn autou diakosmēsis, dysephiktos de kai hē exeuresis tēs hekastou idiotētos, kai hē theōria tēs pros hekaston tōn heterogenōn diaphoras. Pōs ta men autōn bathyrriza, ta de akrorriza kai ta men orthophyē kai monostelecha, ta de chamaizēla kai euthys apo tēs rhizēs eis pollas ekphyseis dię̄rēmena, Pōs hoson men hoi kladoi promēkeis epi poly tou aeros ektetamenoi, toutōn kai hai rhizai batheiai, epi pleiston en kyklǭ dianemomenai, hoion themelious tinas analogountas tǭ barei tōn anōthen ypotitheisēs tēs physeōs, Posai tōn phloiōn hai diaphorai! Ta men gar leiophloia tōn phytōn, ta de rhēxiphloia; kai ta men monolopa autōn, ta de polyptycha. Ho de thaumaston, hoti kai tēs anthrōpinēs neotētos kai tou gērōs heurois an kai en tois phytois paraplēsia ta symptōmata. Tois men gar neois, kai euthalesin ho phloios peritetatai tois de gēraskousin hoion rhyssoutai kai ektrachynetai, Kai ta men kopenta epiblastanei ta de menei adiadocha, hōsper tina thanaton tēn tomēn hypomeinanta. ’Ēdē de tines tetērēkasin hektemnomenas ē kai epikaiomenas tas pitys eis drymōnas methistasthai, Tina de kai tēn ek physeōs kakian epimeleiais geōrgōn therapeuomena egnōmen ' hoion tas oxeias rhoias, kai tōn amygdalōn tas pikroteras, hotan diatrētheïsai to pros tę̄ rhizę̄ stelechos sphēna peukēs liparon tēs enteriōnēs mesēs dielathenta dexōntai, eis euchrę̄stian metaballousi tote tou chymou tēn dyschēreian, Mēdeis oun en kakią diagōn, heauton apoginōsketō, eidōs hoti geōrgia men tas tōn phytōn poiotētas metaballei, hē de katʼ aretēn psychēs epimeleia dynatē esti pantodapōn arrhōstēmatōn epikratēsai, Hē de peri tas karpogonias diaphora tōn karpimōn phytōn tosautē, hosēn oudʼ an epelthein tis dynētheiē tǭ logǭ. hou gar monon en tois heterogenesin hai diaphorai tōn karpōn, allʼ ēdē kai en hautǭ tǭ eidei tou dendrou poly to diaphoron ; hopouge kai allos men charaktēr tou karpou tōn arrenōn, allos de tōn thēleiōn, para tōn phytourgōn diakekritai, hoi ge kai tous phoinikas heis arrenas kai thēleias diistōsi, Kai idois an pote tēn parʼ autōn onomazomenēn thēleian kathieisan tous kladous, oion orgōsan, kai tēs symplokēs ephiemenēn tou arrhenos, tous de therapeutas tōn phytōn emballontas tois kladois, hoion tina spermata tōn arrhenōn, tous legomenous psēnas; kai houtōs hoion en synaisthēsei tēs apolauseōs ginesthai kai anorthousthai palin tous kladous, kai pros to oikeion schēma tou phytou tēn komēn apokathistasthai. Ta auta de tauta kai peri tōn sykōn phasin. ’Hothen hoi men tas agrias sykas paraphyteuousi tais hēmerois ; hoi de tous olynthous endēsantes, tōn eukarpōn kai hēmerōn sykōn tēn atonian iōntai, rheonta ēdē kai skedannymenon ton karpon tois olynthois epechontes. Ti soi to para tēs physeōs ainigma bouletai ? ’Hoti chrē pollakis hēmas kai para tōn allotriōn tēs pisteōs eutonian tina proslambanein eis tēn tōn agathōn ergōn epideixin. Ean gar idę̄s ton en ethnikǭ, ē apo tinos haireseōs endiastrophou tēs Ekklēsias apeschismenon, biou sōphronos kai tēs loipēs kata to ēthos eutaxias epimeloumenon, pleion seautou to spoudaion epiteinon, hina genę̄ paraplēsios tē karpophorǭ sykę̄ ek tēs tōn agriōn parousias athroizousę̄ tēn dynamin, kai tēn men rhysin epechousę̄, epimelesteron de ton karpon ektrephousę̄.

But let us return to the investigation of the arrangements of art. How many kinds of plants then sprang up: some fruit-bearing, some for roofing, others suited to shipbuilding, others for burning! Among these again, the arrangement of the parts in each tree is varied, and it is hard to discover the peculiar character of each and to observe its difference from each of the others of different kinds. How some of them are deep-rooted, others shallow-rooted; some grow straight and with a single trunk, others are low and at once divided from the root into many offshoots! How the trees whose branches stretch far out into the air also have deep roots spreading very widely round about, nature laying down, as it were, foundations proportionate to the weight above! How many differences of bark there are! Some plants have smooth bark, others cracked bark; some have a single layer, others many folds. And what is wonderful is that you would find in plants too things like the accidents of human youth and old age: in the young and flourishing the bark is stretched tight, while in those growing old it becomes, as it were, wrinkled and rough. Some, when cut, sprout again, while others remain without successors, as if they had undergone a kind of death in the cutting. Some have even observed that pines, when cut down or burned, change into oak forests. We know too that some have had their natural defect remedied by the care of farmers: for example sour pomegranates and the more bitter almonds, when they are bored through at the trunk near the root and receive a fat wedge of pine driven through the middle of the pith, change the unpleasantness of their juice into usefulness. So let no one living in vice despair of himself, knowing that, while farming changes the qualities of plants, the soul's care for virtue is able to overcome infirmities of every kind. And the difference among fruit-bearing plants in their bearing of fruit is so great that no one could go through it in words. For the differences of fruits are not only among those of different kinds, but there is much variety even within the same species of tree; for the growers distinguish one character in the fruit of the male trees and another in that of the female, and they even divide palms into male and female. And you may sometimes see the one they call female letting down her branches, as if in heat and longing for union with the male; and those who tend the plants throw among her branches what are, as it were, the seeds of the male, the so-called psenes; and so she seems to come into a sense of enjoyment, and raises her branches again, and her foliage returns to the proper shape of the plant. They say the same about fig trees too. Hence some plant wild figs beside the cultivated ones, while others tie on the green wild figs and so cure the weakness of the fruitful, cultivated figs, checking the fruit that is already dropping and falling away. What does this riddle of nature mean for you? That we must often take from those who are outside the faith too some vigor for the display of good works. For if you see someone among the pagans, or someone cut off from the church by some heresy, taking care of a sober life and of good order in the rest of his conduct, increase your own zeal still further, so that you may become like the fruitful fig tree, which gathers strength from the presence of the wild ones, checks the dropping of its fruit, and nourishes it with greater care.

Notes and citation

Summary: The variety of trees displays God's art; grafting and fig-caprification teach that sinners can be reformed and that Christians should learn zeal even from the good conduct of outsiders.

The "psenes" (ψῆνες) are fig wasps, or here the male palm's pollen-bearing parts, used in artificial pollination (caprification of figs). The term for them is garbled in the scan and restored from the description; the botanical details follow Theophrastus (Hist. plant. 2.8) and are given as Basil reports them.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR garble (Latin letters); OCR garble (Latin letters); word restored from the description; OCR garble (digits); OCR misreading; OCR: Latin letters; OCR: digit for letter; OCR: joined words; OCR: split word; OCR: stray mark): τεχνι κῶν → τεχνικῶν; ἰπανέδραμε → ἐπανέδραμε; πρὸς καῦσινί → πρὸς καῦσιν!; ἂξεύρεσις → ἐξεύρεσις; τιῦν ἑτερογενῶν → τῶν ἑτερογενῶν; βαθύβριζα → βαθύρριζα; όρθοφυῆ καὶ μονοσυέλιεια → ὀρθοφυῆ καὶ μονοστέλεχα; πολλὰ( ἐκφύσεις → πολλὰς ἐκφύσεις; διαφοραίί → διαφοραί!; ῥηξίιρλοια καὶτὰ → ῥηξίφλοια· καὶ τὰ; ’0 δὲ θαυμαστὸν → Ὃ δὲ θαυμαστὸν; τὰδὲ μένει → τὰ δὲ μένει; ἐκ «3-3σεως → ἐκ φύσεως; σφῆνα φεύγης λιπαρὸν → σφῆνα πεύκης λιπαρὸν; γεωργίο. μὲν τὰς τῶν φυτῶν ποιότητας μεταβάλλει,ἠ δὲ κατʼ ἆριτῂν ψυχῆς ἰτιιμέλιια δυνατή ἰστι παντοδαπῶν ᾂῤῥωστημίτων → γεωργία μὲν τὰς τῶν φυτῶν ποιότητας μεταβάλλει, ἡ δὲ κατʼ ἀρετὴν ψυχῆς ἐπιμέλεια δυνατή ἐστι παντοδαπῶν ἀῤῥωστημάτων; Ἦ 6?. πιρὶ τὰς καρπογονίας διαφορᾷ τῶν καρπίμῳν φυτῶν τοοκήτη, ὅαην → Ἡ δὲ περὶ τὰς καρπογονίας διαφορὰ τῶν καρπίμων φυτῶν τοσαύτη, ὅσην; χαρακτὴρ socii καρποῦ → χαρακτὴρ τοῦ καρποῦ; οἳ γι καὶτοὺς → οἵ γε καὶ τοὺς; ὲφιεμένήν τοῦ ἅῤῥενος, τοὺς δί → ἐφιεμένην τοῦ ἄῤῥενος, τοὺς δὲ; οἶόν τινι σπέρματα τῶν ἇῤῥένων, τοὺς λεγομένους diua; ' → οἷόν τινα σπέρματα τῶν ἀῤῥένων, τοὺς λεγομένους ψῆνας·; γινεαθαι → γίνεσθαι; πρὶς τὺ οἰκεῖον → πρὸς τὸ οἰκεῖον; καὶπερὶ τῶν συκῶν → καὶ περὶ τῶν συκῶν; οἱ μὶν τὰς ἀγρίας} συκᾶς παραφοτςύωσι → οἱ μὲν τὰς ἀγρίας συκᾶς παραφυτεύουσι; ἡμέριον συκῶν τὴν ἀτονίαν ἰῶνται). ῥέοντι ἤδη καὶ σκεδαννύμενον τὸν κῳπρν τοῖς ὁλύνθοις ὶπέχοντις → ἡμέρων συκῶν τὴν ἀτονίαν ἰῶνται, ῥέοντα ἤδη καὶ σκεδαννύμενον τὸν καρπὸν τοῖς ὀλύνθοις ἐπέχοντες; Τί σοι τί] παρὰ τῆς φύσεῳς → Τί σοι τὸ παρὰ τῆς φύσεως; ἡμᾷς ιιεαὶ παρὰ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων τῆς πίστεως εὐτονίαν τινὰ προσλαμβανςιν sci. τὴν τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων ἐπίδειξιν - → ἡμᾶς καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων τῆς πίστεως εὐτονίαν τινὰ προσλαμβάνειν εἰς τὴν τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων ἐπίδειξιν.; ὶθνικῷ → ἐθνικῷ; Ἐκκὶησίας → Ἐκκλησίας; κατὰ τὸ ἧθος viniis: ἐπιμελούμενον → κατὰ τὸ ἦθος εὐταξίας ἐπιμελούμενον; ἐπίτεινον» → ἐπίτεινον,; (ιύκῇ → συκῇ; καὶτὴν μὲν ῥύσιν ἓπεχούσῃ → καὶ τὴν μὲν ῥύσιν ἐπεχούσῃ.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Basil, Hex. 5.7 (PG 29:109b–112a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-hexaemeron/5-1/#p-5-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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5.8PG 29:112a–113d

Τοιαῦται μὲν οὖν αἱ περὶ τὸν τρόπον τῆς γενέσεως αὐτῶν διαφοραὶ, ὡς ἐλάχιστα εἰπεῖν ἀπὸ πλείστων. Αὐτῶν δὲ τῶν καρπῶν τίς ἂν ἐπέλθοι τὴν ποικιλίαν, τὰ σχήματα, τὰς χρόας τῶν χυμῶν τὴν ἰδιότητα, τὸ ἀφʼ ἑκάστου χρήσιμον ; Πῶς τινὰ μὲν γυμνὰ πεπαίνεται τῷ ἡλίῳ, τινὰ δὲ ἐν ἐλύτροις κεκαλυμμένα τελειοῦται; καὶ ὧν μὲν ἁπαλὸς ὁ καρπὸς, παχὺ τοῦ φύλλου τὸ σκεπαστήριον, ὡς ἐπὶ τῆς συκῆς, ὧν δὲ οἱ καρποὶ στεγανώτεροι, ἐλαφρὰ τῶν φύλλων ἡ προβολὴ, ὡς ἐπὶ τῆς καρύας; ’Ὅτι ἐκεῖνα μὲν διὰ τὸ ἀσθενὲς πλείονος ἐδεῖτο τῆς βοηθείας· τούτοις δʼ ἂν προσβλαβὴς ἐγένετο ἡ παχυτέρα περιβολὴ ἑκ τῆς ἀπʼ αὐτῶν σκιᾶς, Πῶς κατέσχισται τῆς ἀμπέλου τὸ φύλλον, ἵνα καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἐκ τοῦ ἀέρος βλάβας ὁ βότρυς ἀντέχῃ, καὶ τὴν ἀκτῖνα τοῦ ἡλίου διὰ τῆς ἀραιότητος δαψιλῶς ὑποδέχηται; Οὐδὲν ἀναίτιον, οὐδὲν ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου· πάντα ἔχει τινὰ σοφίαν ἀπόρρητον. Τίς ἂν ἐφίκοιτο λόγος; Πῶς ἀνθρώπινος νοῦς πάντα μετʼ ἀκριβείας ἐπέλθοι, ὥστε καὶ κατιδεῖν τὰς ἰδιότητας, καὶ τὰς πρὸς ἕκαστον διαφορὰς ἐναργῶς διακρῖναι, ’καὶ τὰς κεκρυμμένας αἰτίας ἀνενδοιάστως ἐξευρεῖν; ’Ἕν ὕδωρ, διὰ τῆς ῥίζης ἑλκόμενον, ἄλλως μὲν τρέφει τὴν ῥίζαν αὐτὴν, ἄλλως δὲ τὸν φλοιὸν τοῦ στελέχους, καί ἄλλως τὸ ξύλον, καὶ τὴν ἐντεριώνην ἑτέρως, Τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ φύλλον γίνεται, καὶ εἰς ἀκρέμονας καὶ κλάδους κατασχίζεται, καὶ τοῖς καρποῖς παρέχει τὴν αὔξησιν, καὶ δάκρυον του φυτοῦ καὶ ὀπὸς ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς αἰτίας προέρχεται· οἷς πόση πρὸς ἄλληλά ἐστιν ἡ διαφορὰ, οὐδεὶς ἂν λόγος ἐξίκοιτο. ’Ἄλλο γὰρ τοῦ σχίνου τὸ δάκρυον, καὶ ἄλλος ὁ ὀπὸς τοῦ βαλσάμου· καὶ νάρθηκὲς τινες ἐπὶ τῆς Αἰγύπτου καὶ Λιβύης ἕτερον ὀπῶν γένος ἀποδακρύουσι, Λόγος δέ τίς ἔστι καὶ τὸ ἤλεκτρον ὀπὸν εἶναι φυτῶν εἰς λίθου φύσιν ἀποπηγνύμενον. Μαρτυρεῖ δὲ τῷ λόγῳ τὰ ἐμφαινόμενα κάρφη καί τὰ λεπτότατα τῶν ζώων· ἅπερ, ἁπαλοῦ ὄντος τοῦ ὀποῦ, ἐναποληφθέντα κατέχεται, Καὶ ὅλως τὴν κατᾶ τὰς ποιότητας τῶν ὀπῶν διαφορὰν ὁ μὴ τῇ πείρᾳ διδαχθεὶς οὐδένα λόγον εὑρήσει τὴν ἐνέργειαν παριστῶντα, Πῶς πάλιν ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς νοτίδος ἐν μὲν τῇ ἀμπέλῳ οἶνος συνίσταται, ἓν δὲ τῇ ἐλαίᾳ τὸ ἔλαιον; Καὶ οὒ τοῦτο μόνον θαυμαστὸν, πῶς ὧδε μὲν τὸ ὑγρὸν ἀπεγλυκάνθη, ἐκεῖ δὲ λιπαρὸν γέγονεν, ἀλλʼ ὅτι καὶ ἐν τοῖς γλυκέσι καρποῖς ἀμύθητος ἡ παραλλαγὴ τῆς ποιότητος. Ἄλλο γὰρ τὸ ἐν ἀμπέλῳ γλυκὺ καὶ ἄλλο τὸ ἐν μηλέᾳ, καὶ σύκῳ, καὶ φοίνικι. ’Ἔτι σε βούλομαι περὶ τὴν ἐξέτασιν ταύτην φιλοτεχνῆσαι, πῶς τὸ αὐτὸ ὕδωρ νῦν μὲν λεῖόν ἐστι τῇ αἰσθήσει, ὅταν ὲν τοῖσδέ τισι τοῖς φυτοῖς γενόμενόν ἀπογλυκανθῇ· νῦν δὲ πληκτικόν ἐστι τῆς γεύσεως, ὅταν διʼ ἄλλων φυτῶν ἐνεχθὲν ἇποξύνηται. Καὶ πάλιν εἰς τὴν ἐσχάτην πικρότητα μεταβάλλον ἐκτραχύνει τὴν αἴσθησιν, ὅταν ἐν τῇ σκαμμωνίᾳ γένηται· καὶ ἐν μὲν ταῖς βαλανοις ἢ τῷ τῆς κρανείας πρὸς τὴν στυφὴν καὶ αὐστηρὰν ποιότητα μεταβάλλει· ἐν δὲ ταῖς τερεβίνθοις καὶ ταῖς καρύοις πρὸς ἁπαλὴν καὶ ἐλαιώδη φύσιν μεθίσταται.

Toiautai men oun hai peri ton tropon tēs geneseōs autōn diaphorai, hōs elachista eipein apo pleistōn. Autōn de tōn karpōn tis an epelthoi tēn poikilian, ta schēmata, tas chroas tōn chymōn tēn idiotēta, to aphʼ hekastou chrēsimon ? Pōs tina men gymna pepainetai tǭ hēliǭ, tina de en elytrois kekalymmena teleioutai? kai hōn men hapalos ho karpos, pachy tou phyllou to skepastērion, hōs epi tēs sykēs, hōn de hoi karpoi steganōteroi, elaphra tōn phyllōn hē probolē, hōs epi tēs karyas? ’Hoti ekeina men dia to asthenes pleionos edeito tēs boētheias; toutois dʼ an prosblabēs egeneto hē pachytera peribolē hek tēs apʼ autōn skias, Pōs kateschistai tēs ampelou to phyllon, hina kai pros tas ek tou aeros blabas ho botrys antechę̄, kai tēn aktina tou hēliou dia tēs araiotētos dapsilōs hypodechētai? Ouden anaition, ouden apo tautomatou; panta echei tina sophian aporrēton. Tis an ephikoito logos? Pōs anthrōpinos nous panta metʼ akribeias epelthoi, hōste kai katidein tas idiotētas, kai tas pros hekaston diaphoras enargōs diakrinai, ’kai tas kekrymmenas aitias anendoiastōs exeurein? ’Hen hydōr, dia tēs rhizēs helkomenon, allōs men trephei tēn rhizan autēn, allōs de ton phloion tou stelechous, kai allōs to xylon, kai tēn enteriōnēn heterōs, To auto kai phyllon ginetai, kai eis akremonas kai kladous kataschizetai, kai tois karpois parechei tēn auxēsin, kai dakryon tou phytou kai opos ek tēs autēs aitias proerchetai; hois posē pros allēla estin hē diaphora, oudeis an logos exikoito. ’Allo gar tou schinou to dakryon, kai allos ho opos tou balsamou; kai narthēkes tines epi tēs Aigyptou kai Libyēs heteron opōn genos apodakryousi, Logos de tis esti kai to ēlektron opon einai phytōn eis lithou physin apopēgnymenon. Martyrei de tǭ logǭ ta emphainomena karphē kai ta leptotata tōn zōōn; haper, hapalou ontos tou opou, enapolēphthenta katechetai, Kai holōs tēn kata tas poiotētas tōn opōn diaphoran ho mē tę̄ peirą didachtheis oudena logon heurēsei tēn energeian paristōnta, Pōs palin apo tēs autēs notidos en men tę̄ ampelǭ oinos synistatai, hen de tę̄ elaią to elaion? Kai ou touto monon thaumaston, pōs hōde men to hygron apeglykanthē, ekei de liparon gegonen, allʼ hoti kai en tois glykesi karpois amythētos hē parallagē tēs poiotētos. Allo gar to en ampelǭ glyky kai allo to en mēleą, kai sykǭ, kai phoiniki. ’Eti se boulomai peri tēn exetasin tautēn philotechnēsai, pōs to auto hydōr nyn men leion esti tę̄ aisthēsei, hotan en toisde tisi tois phytois genomenon apoglykanthę̄; nyn de plēktikon esti tēs geuseōs, hotan diʼ allōn phytōn enechthen hapoxynētai. Kai palin eis tēn eschatēn pikrotēta metaballon ektrachynei tēn aisthēsin, hotan en tę̄ skammōnią genētai; kai en men tais balanois ē tǭ tēs kraneias pros tēn styphēn kai austēran poiotēta metaballei; en de tais terebinthois kai tais karyois pros hapalēn kai elaiōdē physin methistatai.

Such, then, are the differences in the manner of their generation, to mention a very few out of very many. As for the fruits themselves, who could go through their variety, their shapes, their colors, the peculiar character of their juices, the usefulness of each? How some ripen bare under the sun, while others mature covered in husks? And why those whose fruit is tender have a thick covering of leaves, as with the fig, while those whose fruits are more solid have a light covering of leaves, as with the walnut? Because the former, owing to their weakness, needed more help, while for the latter a thicker covering would have been harmful because of the shade it would cast. How the leaf of the vine is deeply cut, so that the cluster may withstand the harms that come from the air and also receive the sun's ray abundantly through the openings! Nothing is without cause, nothing by chance; all things have a certain unspeakable wisdom. What word could reach it? How could the human mind go through everything with precision, so as to perceive their peculiar characters, to distinguish clearly their differences from one another, and to discover without doubt their hidden causes? One water, drawn up through the root, nourishes the root itself in one way, the bark of the trunk in another, the wood in another, and the pith in yet another. It also becomes leaf, is divided into boughs and branches, and gives the fruits their growth; and the tear and the juice of the plant come from the same cause; and how great their differences from one another are, no word could express. For the tear of the mastic is one thing, the juice of the balsam another; and certain fennels in Egypt and Libya weep out yet another kind of juice. There is also an account that amber is the juice of plants hardened into the nature of stone. The account is borne out by the bits of straw and the tiniest creatures that appear in it, which were caught while the juice was soft and are held fast. And in general, one who has not learned from experience the difference among the qualities of juices will find no word to set out their effects. How again, from the same moisture, wine is formed in the vine and oil in the olive? And this is not the only wonder, how here the liquid became sweet and there oily; but also that among sweet fruits the variety of quality is beyond telling. For the sweetness in the vine is one thing, in the apple another, and in the fig and the date others. I want you also to apply your skill to this inquiry: how the same water is now smooth to the senses, when, having entered certain plants, it has been sweetened; now sharp to the taste, when, having passed through other plants, it has turned sour; and again, changing into the utmost bitterness, it roughens the sense, when it comes into scammony; and in acorns, or in the fruit of the cornel, it changes to an astringent and harsh quality, while in terebinths and walnuts it passes into a soft and oily nature.

Notes and citation

Summary: The variety of fruits, leaves, saps, and flavors, all drawn from one water, shows a wisdom that no word can fully express.

A garbled passage about the vine leaf and the sentence "Nothing is without cause, nothing by chance" is restored from the letters and the sense by a logged correction; the wording is uncertain, though the sense is clear.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR garble (Latin letters); OCR garble (Latin letters); restored from the letters and the sense; OCR garble (Latin letters); verbs restored by sense; OCR misreading; OCR: Latin letters; OCR: joined words; OCR: stray mark): αἱ rupi τὸν τρόπον τῆς γινέσεως οὔτῶν → αἱ περὶ τὸν τρόπον τῆς γενέσεως αὐτῶν; ποικιλίιν → ποικιλίαν; Πῶς τι ιὰ μὲν γυμνὰ uincent ᾗλίῳ, τινὰ δὲ ἐν ἆλύτροις κεκαλυμιιένα ulmei-iui; → Πῶς τινὰ μὲν γυμνὰ πεπαίνεται τῷ ἡλίῳ, τινὰ δὲ ἐν ἐλύτροις κεκαλυμμένα τελειοῦται;; ὧν δὲν οἱ καρποὶ → ὧν δὲ οἱ καρποὶ; τῶν svium ἣπροὸολὴ → τῶν φύλλων ἡ προβολὴ; μὶν διὰ τὸ ἀσθενὲς πλείονος ἐδεῖτο τῆς βοηθείας τούιοις δʼ ἂν προσβλαβλὴς ὶγένετο → μὲν διὰ τὸ ἀσθενὲς πλείονος ἐδεῖτο τῆς βοηθείας· τούτοις δʼ ἂν προσβλαβὴς ἐγένετο; Πῶς κιτὲσχιστιι si; ἀμπέλου τὸ φύλλον, ἵνα καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἐκ τοῦ ἀέρος βλάβας ὁ ββτρυς ἀντέχῃ, καὶ τὴν ἀκτῖνα τοῦ ἡλίου διὰ si; apum δαψιλῶς mam-mg θδδιν ἀναίτίον «ἀπὸ Wopkens ' πᾶντα ἔχει τινὰ σοφίαι ἀπόρρητον. → Πῶς κατέσχισται τῆς ἀμπέλου τὸ φύλλον, ἵνα καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἐκ τοῦ ἀέρος βλάβας ὁ βότρυς ἀντέχῃ, καὶ τὴν ἀκτῖνα τοῦ ἡλίου διὰ τῆς ἀραιότητος δαψιλῶς ὑποδέχηται; Οὐδὲν ἀναίτιον, οὐδὲν ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου· πάντα ἔχει τινὰ σοφίαν ἀπόρρητον.; ὶῃίκοιτο λόγοςςς-Ῐιῶς ἀνθρώπινοι νοῦς → ἐφίκοιτο λόγος; Πῶς ἀνθρώπινος νοῦς; ἀνεν- ’διῶς nepote-rint; → ἀνενδοιάστως ἐξευρεῖν;; Tb αὐτὸ καὶ φύλλον → Τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ φύλλον; τὸ· δάκρυον → τὸ δάκρυον; τὲ ἤλεκτρον ὀπὸν εἶναι φυτῶν εἰς λίθου φύσιν ἇποπηγνόμινον → τὸ ἤλεκτρον ὀπὸν εἶναι φυτῶν εἰς λίθου φύσιν ἀποπηγνύμενον; ζώωνὋ ἅπερ, ἁπαλοῦ ὄντος τοῦ ὀποῦ, ἐναποσ -ληφὲντα → ζώων· ἅπερ, ἁπαλοῦ ὄντος τοῦ ὀποῦ, ἐναποληφθέντα; ποιότη- ’τας τῶν ὀπῶν διαφορὰν ἱ) μὴ τῇ πείρᾳ διδαχθεὶς οὖδιὲνα λὸγον cup-ﬁcu → ποιότητας τῶν ὀπῶν διαφορὰν ὁ μὴ τῇ πείρᾳ διδαχθεὶς οὐδένα λόγον εὑρήσει; τὸ Elateia; → τὸ ἔλαιον;; ἀμύθητος-ἡίπαραλλαγὴ τῆς ποιότητος. ’Ἄλλο-γὰρ τὸ ὲν ἀμπέλῳ ’γλυκὺξ καὶ ἄλλο τὸ ἐν μηλέᾳ, σαὶ σύκῳ, καὶ φοίνικι,- → ἀμύθητος ἡ παραλλαγὴ τῆς ποιότητος. Ἄλλο γὰρ τὸ ἐν ἀμπέλῳ γλυκὺ καὶ ἄλλο τὸ ἐν μηλέᾳ, καὶ σύκῳ, καὶ φοίνικι.; τοῖσδε τισι τοῖςφυτοῖς → τοῖσδέ τισι τοῖς φυτοῖς; πληκτικόν ιάτι → πληκτικόν ἐστι; πικρότῖητα → πικρότητα; ἐν ἣ σκαμμωνία" γένηταιο καὶ ἓν μʼὲν → ἐν τῇ σκαμμωνίᾳ γένηται· καὶ ἐν μὲν; ’ποιότητά μεταδάλλευ έν δὲ ταῖςτερεβίνθοις καὶ ταῖς καρύοις *πρὸς ἁπαλὴν καὶ ὶλαιώδηνφύσιν μεθ- [σταται. → ποιότητα μεταβάλλει· ἐν δὲ ταῖς τερεβίνθοις καὶ ταῖς καρύοις πρὸς ἁπαλὴν καὶ ἐλαιώδη φύσιν μεθίσταται..

Cite (SBL): Basil, Hex. 5.8 (PG 29:112a–113d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-hexaemeron/5-1/#p-5-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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5.9PG 29:113d–116c

Καὶ τί δεῖ τὰ πόρρω λέγειν, ὅπου γε ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς συκῆς πρὸς τὰς ἐναντιωτάτας μεταβαίνει ποιότητας; Πικρότατον μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ἐν τῷ ὀπῷ, γλυκύτατον δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ καρπῷ. Καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀμπέλου στυπτικώτατον μὲν ἐπὶ τῶν ἀκρεμόνων, ἥδιστον δὲ ἐν τοῖς βότρυσιν, Αἰ δὲ κατὰ τὰς χρόας διαφοραὶ πόσαι! Ἴδοις ἂν ἐν λειμῶνι τὸ αὖτὸ ὕδωρ ἓρυθραινόμενον μὲν ὲν τῷδε τῷ ἄνθει, καὶ ἐν ἄλλῳ πορφυροῦν, καὶ κυανὸν ἐν τῷδε, καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ λευκόν καὶ πλείονα πάλιν τῆς ἓν ταῖς χρόαις ποικιλίας τὴν κατὰ τὰς όδμὰς διαφορὰν παρεχόμενον· Ἀλλὰ γάρ ὁρῶ μοι τὸν λόγον ἀπληστίᾳ τῆς θεωρίας εἰς ἀμετρίαν ἐκπίπτοντα, ὃν ἐὰν μὴ δήσας πρὸς ἀνάγκην ἐπαγάγω τῆς κτίσεως, ἐπιλείψει με ἡ ἡμέρα τὴν μεγᾶλην σοφίαν ἐκ τῶν μικροτάτων ὑμῖν παριστῶντα. Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ ξύλον κάρπιμον, ποιοῦν καρπὸν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Καὶ εὐθὺς αἱ κορυφαὶ των ὀρέων ἐκόμων· καὶ ἐφιλοτεχνοῦντο παράδεισοι, καὶ ποταμῶν ὄχθαι μυρίοις γένεσι φυτῶν ὡραϊζοντο. Καὶ τὰ μὲν τήν ἀνθρωπίνην ηὐτρέπιστο κατακοσμῆσαι τράπεζαν· τὰ δὲ βοσκήμασι τροφὴν παρεσκεύαζεν ἐκ τῶν φύλλων, ἐκ τῶν καρπῶν, ’Ἄλλοι τὰς ἐκ τῇς ἰατρικῆς ὠφελείας ἡμῖν προεξένει · τοὺς χυλοὺς, τοὺς ὀποὺς, τὰ κάρφη, τοὺς φλοιοὺς, τὸν καρπὸν· καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς ὅσα ἡ χρονία πεῖρα ἐξεῦρεν, ἐκ τῶν κατὰ μέρος περιπτώσεων συλλεγομένη τὸ χρήσιμον, ταῦτα ἡ ὀξεῖα τοῦ κτίσαντος πρόνοια ἐξ ἀρχῆς προβλεψαμένη, εἷς γένεσιν ἤγαγε, Σὺ δὲ ὅταν ἴδῃς τὰ ἥμερα, τὰ ἄγρια, τὰ φίλυδρα, τὰ χερσαῖα, τὰ ἀνθοφοροῦντα, ἢ τὰ ἀνανθῆ, ἐν μικρῷ τὸν μέγαν ἐπιγινώσκων, πρόσθες ἀεὶ τῷ θαύματι, καὶ αὔξησόν μοι τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ κτίσαντος, Ἐξέταζε, πῶς τὰ μὲν ἀειθαλῆ ἐποίησε, τὰ δὲ γυμνούμενα· καὶ τῶν ἀειθαλὼν τὰ μὲν φυλλοβόλα, τὰ δὲ ἀείφυλλα. Φυλλοβολεῖ γὰρ καὶ ἐλαία καὶ πίτυς, εἰ καὶ λεληθότως ὑπαλλάσσει τὰ φύλλα, ὥστε μηδέποτε δοκεῖν τῆς κόμης ἀπογυμνοῦσθαι. Ἀείφυλλον δέ ὁ φοίνιξ, τῷ αὐτῷ φύλλῳ ἐκ τῆς πρώτης βλαστήσεως εἰς τέλος συμπαραμένοντι, ’Ἔπειτα κἀκεῖνο σκόπει, πῶς ἡ μυρίκη ὤσπερ ἀμφίβιόν εστι, καὶ τοῖς φιλυδροις συναριθμούμενον, καὶ, κατὰ τὰς ἐρήμους πληθυνόμενον. Διὸ καὶ ὁ Ἰερεμῖας δικαίως τὰ διπλᾶ καὶ ἐπαμφοτερίζοντα τῶν ἠθῶν τῷ τοιούτω φυτῷ παρεικάζει,

Kai ti dei ta porrō legein, hopou ge epi tēs autēs sykēs pros tas enantiōtatas metabainei poiotētas? Pikrotaton men gar estin en tǭ opǭ, glykytaton de en autǭ tǭ karpǭ. Kai epi tēs ampelou styptikōtaton men epi tōn akremonōn, hēdiston de en tois botrysin, Ai de kata tas chroas diaphorai posai! Idois an en leimōni to auto hydōr herythrainomenon men en tǭde tǭ anthei, kai en allǭ porphyroun, kai kyanon en tǭde, kai en heterǭ leukon kai pleiona palin tēs hen tais chroais poikilias tēn kata tas odmas diaphoran parechomenon; Alla gar horō moi ton logon aplēstią tēs theōrias eis ametrian ekpiptonta, hon ean mē dēsas pros anankēn epagagō tēs ktiseōs, epileipsei me hē hēmera tēn megalēn sophian ek tōn mikrotatōn hymin paristōnta. Blastēsatō hē gē xylon karpimon, poioun karpon epi tēs gēs. Kai euthys hai koryphai tōn oreōn ekomōn; kai ephilotechnounto paradeisoi, kai potamōn ochthai myriois genesi phytōn hōraïzonto. Kai ta men tēn anthrōpinēn ēutrepisto katakosmēsai trapezan; ta de boskēmasi trophēn pareskeuazen ek tōn phyllōn, ek tōn karpōn, ’Alloi tas ek tę̄s iatrikēs ōpheleias hēmin proexenei ; tous chylous, tous opous, ta karphē, tous phloious, ton karpon; kai hapaxaplōs hosa hē chronia peira exeuren, ek tōn kata meros periptōseōn syllegomenē to chrēsimon, tauta hē oxeia tou ktisantos pronoia ex archēs problepsamenē, heis genesin ēgage, Sy de hotan idę̄s ta hēmera, ta agria, ta philydra, ta chersaia, ta anthophorounta, ē ta ananthē, en mikrǭ ton megan epiginōskōn, prosthes aei tǭ thaumati, kai auxēson moi tēn agapēn tou ktisantos, Exetaze, pōs ta men aeithalē epoiēse, ta de gymnoumena; kai tōn aeithalōn ta men phyllobola, ta de aeiphylla. Phyllobolei gar kai elaia kai pitys, ei kai lelēthotōs hypallassei ta phylla, hōste mēdepote dokein tēs komēs apogymnousthai. Aeiphyllon de ho phoinix, tǭ autǭ phyllǭ ek tēs prōtēs blastēseōs eis telos symparamenonti, ’Epeita kakeino skopei, pōs hē myrikē ōsper amphibion esti, kai tois philydrois synarithmoumenon, kai, kata tas erēmous plēthynomenon. Dio kai ho Ieremias dikaiōs ta dipla kai epamphoterizonta tōn ēthōn tǭ toioutō phytǭ pareikazei,

And why speak of things far apart, when in the same fig tree the water passes into the most opposite qualities? It is very bitter in the sap, and very sweet in the fruit itself. And in the vine it is most astringent in the boughs, and most pleasant in the clusters. And how many are the differences of color! You may see in a meadow the same water turning red in this flower, purple in another, dark blue in this one, and white in another; and again producing a difference of scents greater than the variety of colors. But I see that my discourse, through insatiable desire for contemplation, is falling into excess; and unless I bind it and bring it back to the necessity of the creation, the day will fail me while I set before you the great wisdom from the smallest things. "Let the earth put forth the fruit-bearing tree, producing fruit upon the earth." And at once the mountain peaks were covered with foliage; gardens were artfully laid out; and the banks of rivers were beautified with countless kinds of plants. Some had been prepared to adorn the human table; others provided food for cattle from their leaves and their fruits; others procured for us the benefits of medicine: the juices, the saps, the twigs, the bark, the fruit. In short, everything that long experience has discovered, collecting what is useful from particular cases, the keen providence of the Creator foresaw from the beginning and brought into being. And you, when you see the cultivated and the wild, the plants that love water and those of dry land, those that bear flowers and those without flowers, recognizing the great one in the small, always add to your wonder and increase, I pray you, your love for the Creator. Examine how he made some evergreen and others that are stripped of leaves; and among the evergreens, some that shed their leaves and others that keep them always. For the olive and the pine shed their leaves, even if they change them unnoticed, so that they never seem to be stripped of their foliage; while the palm keeps its leaves always, the same leaf remaining from its first sprouting to the end. Then consider this too: how the tamarisk is, as it were, amphibious, counted among the water-loving plants and yet multiplying in the deserts. That is why Jeremiah rightly likens double and wavering characters to such a plant.

Gen 1:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 17:6 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The same water becomes bitter, sweet, and colored in different plants; God foresaw every use of plants; the tamarisk, at home in water and desert, is Jeremiah's image of a double character.

Quotation: Gen 1:11. Allusion: Jer 17:6 (LXX: the wild tamarisk in the desert). The phrase "double and wavering characters" is partly garbled in the scan and restored by sense.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's note mark removed; OCR garble (Latin letters); OCR garble (Latin letters); word restored by sense; OCR misreading; OCR misreading; repeated word; OCR: stray mark): ποιότηταςς Πηιρότατιν → ποιότητας; Πικρότατον; ἀμ.πὲλου → ἀμπέλου; πόσαιῐ ’Ἱδοις ἂν εν λειμῶνι → πόσαι! Ἴδοις ἂν ἐν λειμῶνι; δρῶ μοι τὸν λόγον ἀπληστίᾳ τῆς θεωρίας εἱς ἱμετρίαν ἱκπίπτοντα, ὃν ἰὰν μὴ δήσας πρὸς ἀνάγκην ἱπαγάγω → ὁρῶ μοι τὸν λόγον ἀπληστίᾳ τῆς θεωρίας εἰς ἀμετρίαν ἐκπίπτοντα, ὃν ἐὰν μὴ δήσας πρὸς ἀνάγκην ἐπαγάγω; γῆς Κσὶ εὒθὺς → γῆς. Καὶ εὐθὺς; ἐφιλοτεχνοὸντο → ἐφιλοτεχνοῦντο; βοσκήμλσι τροῃὴν καρεσκεόαζεν → βοσκήμασι τροφὴν παρεσκεύαζεν; κάρρη → κάρφη; ἢ ὀξεῖαι τοῦ κτίσαντος" πρόνοιαν ἒξ ἀρχῆς προδλεψαμένη → ἡ ὀξεῖα τοῦ κτίσαντος πρόνοια ἐξ ἀρχῆς προβλεψαμένη; ὅτκν ἴδῃς τὰ ἥμερα, τὰ ἅγτια τὰ φίλυδρα,τὰ φίλυδρα,τὰ χερσαῖα,τὰ → ὅταν ἴδῃς τὰ ἥμερα, τὰ ἄγρια, τὰ φίλυδρα, τὰ χερσαῖα, τὰ; θιύματι, καὶ αὕξησᾷν μοι τὴν ἀγάπην τυῦ → θαύματι, καὶ αὔξησόν μοι τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ; Ἐξέτκζε → Ἐξέταζε; ἀείφυλλκ. Φυλλοεολετ γὰρ καὶ Bais καὶ πίτυς, εἶκαὶ → ἀείφυλλα. Φυλλοβολεῖ γὰρ καὶ ἐλαία καὶ πίτυς, εἰ καὶ; ἁπογυίλνοῦσθαι → ἀπογυμνοῦσθαι; φυλλψ ἔκ τῆς πρώτης βλαστήσεως εἰς τέλος συμπαραμένων → φύλλῳ ἐκ τῆς πρώτης βλαστήσεως εἰς τέλος συμπαραμένοντι; (ἾἿ) κάκεῖνο → κἀκεῖνο; κατα τὲς Ὕέρήμοος → κατὰ τὰς ἐρήμους; τὰ named-spat καὶ ἐπαμφοτερὶζοντχ → τὰ διπλᾶ καὶ ἐπαμφοτερίζοντα.

Cite (SBL): Basil, Hex. 5.9 (PG 29:113d–116c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-hexaemeron/5-1/#p-5-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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5.10PG 29:116c–117a

Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ. Τὸ μικρὸν τοῦτο πρόσταγμα εὖθῦς φύσις μεγάλη καὶ λόγος ἔντεχνος ἦν, θᾶττον τοῦ ἡμετέρου νοήματος τὰς μυρίας τῶν φυομένων ἰδιότητας ἐκτελῶν, Ἐκεῖνο ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἐνυπάρχον τῇ γῇ τὸ πρόσταγμα, ἐπείγει αὐτὴν καθʼ ἑκάστην ἔτους περίοδον ἐξάγειν τὴν δύναμιν ἑαυτῆς ὅσην ἔχει πρός τε βοτανῶν καὶ σπερμάτων καὶ δένδρων γένεσιν, Ὡς γὰρ οἱ στρόβιλοι ἐκ τῆς πρώτης αὐτοῖς ἐνδοθεῖσης πληγῆς τὰς ἐφεξῆς ποιοῦνται περιστροφας, ὅταν πήξαντες τὸ κέντρον ἐν ἑαυτοῖς περιφέρωνταιʼ οὕτω καὶ ἡ τῆς φύσεως ἀκολουθία, ἐκ τοῦ πρώτου προστάγματος τὴν ἀρχὴν δεξαμένη, πρὸς πάντα τὸν ἐφεξῆς διεξέρχεται χρόνον, μέχρις ἂν πρὸς τὴν κοινὴν συντέλειαν τοῦ παντὸς, καταντήσῃ. Ἐφʼ ἢ καὶ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἔγκαρποι καὶ πλήρεις ἔργων ἀγαθῶν ἐπειγώμεθα, ἵνα, φυτευθέντες ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Κυρίου, ἓν ταῖς αὐλαῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἐξανθήσωμεν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾦ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἷς τοὺς αὶῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, Ἀμήν,

Blastēsatō hē gē. To mikron touto prostagma euthys physis megalē kai logos entechnos ēn, thatton tou hēmeterou noēmatos tas myrias tōn phyomenōn idiotētas ektelōn, Ekeino eti kai nyn enyparchon tę̄ gę̄ to prostagma, epeigei autēn kathʼ hekastēn etous periodon exagein tēn dynamin heautēs hosēn echei pros te botanōn kai spermatōn kai dendrōn genesin, Hōs gar hoi strobiloi ek tēs prōtēs autois endotheisēs plēgēs tas ephexēs poiountai peristrophas, hotan pēxantes to kentron en heautois peripherōntaiʼ houtō kai hē tēs physeōs akolouthia, ek tou prōtou prostagmatos tēn archēn dexamenē, pros panta ton ephexēs diexerchetai chronon, mechris an pros tēn koinēn synteleian tou pantos, katantēsę̄. Ephʼ ē kai hēmeis pantes enkarpoi kai plēreis ergōn agathōn epeigōmetha, hina, phyteuthentes en tǭ oikǭ Kyriou, hen tais aulais tou Theou hēmōn exanthēsōmen en Christǭ Iēsou tǭ Kyriǭ hēmōn, ǭ hē doxa kai to kratos heis tous aiōnas tōn aiōnōn, Amēn,

"Let the earth put forth." This small command at once became a great nature and a skillful principle, accomplishing the countless peculiar characters of growing things faster than our thought. That command, present in the earth still now, urges it every year to bring out all the power it has for the generation of plants, seeds, and trees. For as tops, from the first blow given to them, make their successive turns when, having fixed their point, they spin round on themselves, so too the sequence of nature, having received its beginning from the first command, goes on through all the time that follows, until it reaches the common consummation of the universe. Toward this let us all too hasten, fruitful and full of good works, so that, "planted in the house of the Lord, we may flourish in the courts of our God," in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and might to the ages of ages. Amen.

Gen 1:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 92:13 (91:14 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The first command still works in the earth like the first blow that keeps a top spinning, until the end of the world; Basil closes the homily.

Quotation: Ps 92:13 (LXX 91:14). A line of scan debris in the comparison with the top is removed by a logged correction.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR misreading; OCR: scan debris and garble; restored; OCR: stray mark): θᾶττον τοὺ ἡμετέρου νοήματος τὰς μυρίας τῶν φυομένων ἰδιότητας ἐκτελὺν → θᾶττον τοῦ ἡμετέρου νοήματος τὰς μυρίας τῶν φυομένων ἰδιότητας ἐκτελῶν; ἐὶς γὰρ oi στρῗιλοι → Ὡς γὰρ οἱ στρόβιλοι; πήξιντες τὸ κέντρον ἐν ἑαυτονς → πήξαντες τὸ κέντρον ἐν ἑαυτοῖς; ἀκολου- 'Oiz, ἐκ τοῦ πρώτοῦ προστάγμττος τὴν ἀρχὴν 5351'-. ΛΑ ι. ι ε ’ν ‘I Γ μένη 80), πρὸς πάντα τὸν ἐφεξῆς δξξξέρῖετιι χρόνον → ἀκολουθία, ἐκ τοῦ πρώτου προστάγματος τὴν ἀρχὴν δεξαμένη, πρὸς πάντα τὸν ἐφεξῆς διεξέρχεται χρόνον; καταντήσῃ.. → καταντήσῃ.; κκὶ πλήρεις ἔργων ἀγαθᾶν → καὶ πλήρεις ἔργων ἀγαθῶν; δν τῷ οἴκῳ → ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ; ιν Χριστῷ → ἐν Χριστῷ.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Basil, Hex. 5.10 (PG 29:116c–117a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/basil-hexaemeron/5-1/#p-5-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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