On the Life of Moses 297–315
Greek text: PG 44.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 297
297PG 44:297a
Οἷόν τι πάσχουσιν οἱ τῶν ἱππικῶν ἀγώνων φιλοθεάμονες, οἳ τοῖς παρʼ αὐτῶν σπουδαζομένοις ἐν ταῖς ἁμίλλαις τῶν δρόμων, κἂν μηδὲν προθυμίας εἰς τὸ τάχος ἐλλείπωσιν, ὅμως ὑπὸ τῆς περὶ τὴν νίκην σπουδῆς ἐπιβοῶσιν ἄνωθεν, τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν τῷ δρόμῳ συμπεριάγοντες, καὶ παρακινοῦσιν (ὥς γε νομίζουσιν) εἰς ὀξυτέραν ὁρμὴν τὸν ἡνίοχον, ἐπικλάζοντες ἅμα τοῖς ἵπποις, καὶ ἀντὶ μάστιγος τὴν χεῖρα κατʼ αὐτῶν προτείνοντές τε καὶ ἐπισείοντες· οὐχ, ὅτι τελεῖταί γινόμενα πρὸς τὴν νίκην, ταῦτα ποιοῦντες, ἀλλʼ εὐνοίᾳ
Hoion ti paschousin hoi tōn hippikōn agōnōn philotheamones, hoi tois parʼ autōn spoudazomenois en tais hamillais tōn dromōn, kan mēden prothymias eis to tachos elleipōsin, homōs hypo tēs peri tēn nikēn spoudēs epiboōsin anōthen, ton ophthalmon tǭ dromǭ symperiagontes, kai parakinousin (hōs ge nomizousin) eis oxyteran hormēn ton hēniochon, epiklazontes hama tois hippois, kai anti mastigos tēn cheira katʼ autōn proteinontes te kai episeiontes; ouch, hoti teleitai ginomena pros tēn nikēn, tauta poiountes, allʼ eunoią
What happens to the enthusiasts of horse races is something like this. Those they favour in the contests of the course may lack nothing of eagerness for speed, and yet out of zeal for victory the spectators shout from above, following the race round with their eyes; they urge the charioteer on (as they suppose) to a sharper rush, calling out to the horses as well, and stretching out and shaking their hand at them in place of a whip. They do this not because these gestures contribute anything to the victory, but out of goodwill
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Gregory opens with the picture of spectators at a chariot race who cheer on the contestants they favour.
- Prologue of the Life of Moses, addressed to a younger friend (traditionally named Caesarius in some manuscripts; the scan gives no name). The sentence continues on the next page.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 297 (PG 44:297a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/297/#p-297). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 299
299PG 44:300a–300d
τῇ πρὸς τοὺς ἀγωνιζομένους, φωνῇ τε καὶ σχήματι τὴν σπουδὴν ὑπὸ προθυμίας ἐπισημαίνοντες· τοιοῦτόν τί μοι δοκῶ καὶ αὐτὸς ποιεῖν ἐπὶ σοῦ, φίλων μοι καὶ ἀδελφῶν τιμιώτατε, ὅτι σου κατὰ τὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς στάδιον καλῶς ἐναγωνιζομ-ένου τῷ θείῳ δρόμῳ, καὶ πρὸς τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως πυκνοῖς τε καὶ κούφοις συντεινομένου τοῖς άλμασιν, ὑποφωνῶ τε καὶ ἐπισπεύδω, καὶ ἐπιτείνειν τῇ σπουδῇ τὸ τάχος διακελεύομαι. Ποιῶ δὲ ταῦτα, οὐκ ἀλόγῳ τινὶ προθυμίᾳ πρὸς τοῦτο φερόμενος, ἀλλʼ ὼς άγαπητῷ τέκνῳ καθʼ ήδονὴν χαριζόμενος. Τῆς γὰρ ἐπιστολῆς, ἦν πρώην διεπέμψω, ταύτην άπαγγελλούοης τὴν αἴτησιν, τὸ γενέσθαι σοί τινα παρʼ ήμῶν ὐποθήκην είς τὸν τέλειον βίον· πρέπειν ᾠήθην παρασχεῖν ’ ἄλλο μὲν σοί τι χρήσιμον ἐκ τῶν λεγομένων ῖσως οὐδὲν, τοῦτο δὲ πάντως οὐκ ἄχρηστον, τὺ γενέσθαι σοὶ τῆς εὐπειθείας ὑπόδειγμα. Εἰ γάρ ἡμεῖς, oi τοσούτων ψυχῶν ἐν πατέρων τάξει προτεταγμένοι, πρέπειν οἰόμεθα τῇ πολιᾷ ταύτῃ, νεότητος σωφρονούσης ἐπίταγμα δέχεσθαι, πολλῴ μᾶλλον είκός ἐστιν ἐν σοὶ κρατυνθῆναι τὸ τῆς εὐπειθείας κατόρθωμα πρὸς ὑπακοὴν ἑκούσιον διʼ ἡμῶν παιδοτριβηθείσης σοι τῆς νεότητος. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν είς τοσοῦτον. Ἐγχειρητέον δὲ ήδη τῷ προκειμένῳ, Θεὸν καθηγεμόνα ποιησαμένοις τοῦ λόγου. Ἐπεζήτησας, ὦ φίλη κεφαλὴ, ὑπογραφῆναί σοι παρʼ ήμῶν, τίς ὁ τέλειός ἐστι βίος· δηλαδὴ πρὸς τοῦτο βλέπων, ὡς εἰπερ εὐρεθείη τῷ λόγῳ τὸ σπουδαζόμενον, μετενεγκεῖν είς τὸν ῐδιον βίον τὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου μηνυθεῖσαν χάριν. Ἐγὼ δὲ ἐν ἀμφοτέροις ἐπίσης ἀμηχανῶ· τό τε γάρ περιλαβεῖν λόγῳ τὴν τελειότητα, καὶτὸ ἐπὶ τοῦ βίου δεῖ· ξαι ὅπερ ἂν ό λόγος κατανοήσῃ, ὑπὲρ τὴν ἐμὴν δύνα· μιν ἑκάτερον τούτων εἷναί φημι. Τάχα δὲ οὐκ ἐγὼ μόνος, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν μεγάλων τε καὶ κατʼ ἀρετὴν προεχόντων, ἀνέφικτον. αὐτοῖς εἶναι τὸ τοιοῦτον ὁμολογήσουσιν. Ὠς δʼ ἂν μὴ δοκοίην, κατὰ τὸν Ψαλμῳδὸν είπεῖν, ἐκεῖ φοβεῖσθαι φόβον, ὅπου οὐκ ἐστι φόβος ο σαφέστερον, ὃ βούλομαι, παραστήσω σοι. Ἥ τελειότης ἐπὶ μὲν τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων, ὅσα τῇ αἰσθήσει μετρεῖται, πέρασί τισιν ὡρισμένοις διαλαμβάνεται, οἷον ἐπὶ τοῦ ποσοῦ. τοῦ τε συνεχοῦς καὶ τοῦ διωρισμένου. Πᾶν γὰρ τὸ ἐν ποσότητι μέτρον, ίδίοις τισὶν ὅροις ἐμπεριέχεται ο καὶ ὁ πρὸς τὸν πῆχυν, ἢ τὴν τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ δεκάδα βλέπων, οῐὸε τὺ ἀπό τινος ἀρξάμενον, καὶ είς τὶ καταλῆξαν, ἐν ᾧ ἐστι τὺ τέλειον ἔχειν. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς ἀρετῆς παρὰ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου ἕνα τελειότητος ὅρον ἐμάθομεν, τδ μὴ ἔχειν αύτὴν ὅρον. ’0 γὰρ πολὺς ἐκεῖνος καὶ ὑῂλὸς τὴν διάνοιαν, ό θεῖος Ἀπόστολος, διὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς τρέχων, οὐδέποτε τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἐπεκτεινόμενος ἔληξεν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀσφαλὴς αὐτῷ ῆν ή τοῦ δρόμου στάσις. Διὰ τί; Ὅτι πᾶν ἀγαθὸν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ φύσει ὅρον οὐκ ἔχει, τῇ δὲ τοῦ ἐναντίου παραθέσει ὁρίζεται ο ὡς ἡ ζωὴ, τῷ θανάτῳ· καὶ τὸ φῶς, τῷ σκότει ’ καὶ πᾶν ὅλως ἀγαθὸν εἰς πάντα τὰ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου νοού- ’ μενα, λήγει. Ὠς γὰρ τὸ τῆς ζωῆς τέλος ἁρχὴ θανατου ἐστὶν ’ οὕτω καὶ τοῦ κατʼ ἀρετὴν δρόμου ή στάσις
tę̄ pros tous agōnizomenous, phōnę̄ te kai schēmati tēn spoudēn hypo prothymias episēmainontes; toiouton ti moi dokō kai autos poiein epi sou, philōn moi kai adelphōn timiōtate, hoti sou kata to tēs aretēs stadion kalōs enagōnizom-enou tǭ theiǭ dromǭ, kai pros to brabeion tēs anō klēseōs pyknois te kai kouphois synteinomenou tois almasin, hypophōnō te kai epispeudō, kai epiteinein tę̄ spoudę̄ to tachos diakeleuomai. Poiō de tauta, ouk alogǭ tini prothymią pros touto pheromenos, allʼ ōs agapētǭ teknǭ kathʼ ēdonēn charizomenos. Tēs gar epistolēs, ēn prōēn diepempsō, tautēn apangellouoēs tēn aitēsin, to genesthai soi tina parʼ ēmōn ypothēkēn eis ton teleion bion; prepein ǭēthēn paraschein ’ allo men soi ti chrēsimon ek tōn legomenōn isōs ouden, touto de pantōs ouk achrēston, ty genesthai soi tēs eupeitheias hypodeigma. Ei gar hēmeis, oi tosoutōn psychōn en paterōn taxei protetagmenoi, prepein oiometha tę̄ polią tautę̄, neotētos sōphronousēs epitagma dechesthai, pollǭ mallon eikos estin en soi kratynthēnai to tēs eupeitheias katorthōma pros hypakoēn hekousion diʼ hēmōn paidotribētheisēs soi tēs neotētos. Kai tauta men eis tosouton. Encheirēteon de ēdē tǭ prokeimenǭ, Theon kathēgemona poiēsamenois tou logou. Epezētēsas, ō philē kephalē, hypographēnai soi parʼ ēmōn, tis ho teleios esti bios; dēladē pros touto blepōn, hōs eiper euretheiē tǭ logǭ to spoudazomenon, metenenkein eis ton idion bion tēn hypo tou logou mēnytheisan charin. Egō de en amphoterois episēs amēchanō; to te gar perilabein logǭ tēn teleiotēta, kaito epi tou biou dei; xai hoper an o logos katanoēsę̄, hyper tēn emēn dyna; min hekateron toutōn heinai phēmi. Tacha de ouk egō monos, alla kai polloi tōn megalōn te kai katʼ aretēn proechontōn, anephikton. autois einai to toiouton homologēsousin. Ōs dʼ an mē dokoiēn, kata ton Psalmǭdon eipein, ekei phobeisthai phobon, hopou ouk esti phobos o saphesteron, ho boulomai, parastēsō soi. Hē teleiotēs epi men tōn allōn hapantōn, hosa tę̄ aisthēsei metreitai, perasi tisin hōrismenois dialambanetai, hoion epi tou posou. tou te synechous kai tou diōrismenou. Pan gar to en posotēti metron, idiois tisin horois emperiechetai o kai ho pros ton pēchyn, ē tēn tou arithmou dekada blepōn, oioe ty apo tinos arxamenon, kai eis ti katalēxan, en hǭ esti ty teleion echein. Epi de tēs aretēs para tou Apostolou hena teleiotētos horon emathomen, td mē echein autēn horon. ’0 gar polys ekeinos kai hyę̄los tēn dianoian, o theios Apostolos, dia tēs aretēs trechōn, oudepote tois emprosthen epekteinomenos elēxen; oude gar asphalēs autǭ ēn ē tou dromou stasis. Dia ti? Hoti pan agathon tę̄ heautou physei horon ouk echei, tę̄ de tou enantiou parathesei horizetai o hōs hē zōē, tǭ thanatǭ; kai to phōs, tǭ skotei ’ kai pan holōs agathon eis panta ta tois agathois ek tou enantiou noou- ’ mena, lēgei. Ōs gar to tēs zōēs telos harchē thanatou estin ’ houtō kai tou katʼ aretēn dromou ē stasis
toward the contestants, signalling their zeal by voice and gesture. Something of this kind I seem to be doing myself in your case, most honoured of my friends and brothers. While you are competing well in the stadium of virtue in the divine race and straining with rapid, light leaps toward the prize of the upward call, I call out to you, urge you on, and bid you increase your speed with zeal. I do this not because I am carried along by some unreasoning eagerness, but to give pleasure to a beloved child. For since the letter you sent recently made this request, that some counsel on the perfect life be given you by us, I thought it right to provide it. Perhaps nothing else in what is said will be useful to you, but this at least will certainly not be useless: that it becomes for you an example of ready obedience. For if we, who have been set over so many souls in the rank of fathers, think it fitting for these grey hairs to accept the command of a sober youth, it is much more fitting that the achievement of obedience be strengthened in you, since your youth was trained by us to willing obedience. So much for that. We must now take up the task before us, making God the guide of our discourse. You asked, dear friend, that we sketch for you what the perfect life is, evidently with this in view: that if what you are seeking should be found by our discourse, you might carry over into your own life the grace the discourse has disclosed. But I am equally at a loss on both counts. To grasp perfection in a discourse, and to show in one’s life whatever the discourse perceives — each of these, I say, is beyond my power. And perhaps not I alone: many of the great, and of those eminent in virtue, will confess that such a thing is beyond their reach. But so that I may not seem, as the Psalmist says, “to fear with fear where there is no fear,” I will set out for you more clearly what I mean. In all other things that are measured by the senses, perfection is bounded by certain fixed limits, as in the case of quantity, both continuous and discrete. For every measure of quantity is enclosed by its own limits; whoever looks at a cubit or at the number ten knows that it began from one point and ended at another, and in this its perfection consists. But in the case of virtue we have learned from the Apostle that its one limit of perfection is to have no limit. For that great and lofty-minded man, the divine Apostle, running through virtue, never ceased “straining forward to what lies ahead”; for a halt in the race was not safe for him. Why? Because every good, by its own nature, has no limit; it is bounded only by the presence of its opposite, as life is by death and light by darkness. In general, every good comes to an end in the things understood as the opposite of the good. For as the end of life is the beginning of death, so also the halting of the race of virtue
Phil 3:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 53:5 (52:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 3:13 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Gregory accepts his friend’s request for an account of the perfect life and argues that virtue, like every good, has no limit except its opposite.
- “The prize of the upward call”: Phil 3:14. “Straining forward to what lies ahead”: Phil 3:13 (ἐπεκτεινόμενος). Gregory’s idea of perpetual progress, later called epektasis (ἐπέκτασις, “straining forward”), is introduced here and governs the whole work.
- “To fear with fear where there is no fear”: Ps 53:5 (LXX 52:6; compare Ps 14:5).
- “Continuous and discrete” quantity is the standard Aristotelian division (Categories 6).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (Latin letters); OCR debris (Latin letters) for σχήματι; OCR debris (Latin letters) for φίλων): axi;ματι → σχήματι; «plλων → φίλων; ista δὲ τοῦτοʼ → τοῦτο δὲ.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 299 (PG 44:300a–300d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/297/#p-299). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 301
301PG 44:301a–301d
τοι ἀρχὴ τοῦ κατὰ κακίαν γίνεται δρόμου. Οὐκοῦν οὑ διεψεύσθη ό λόγος ἡμῖν, ἀμήχανον ἐπὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς εἶναι τὴν τῆς τελειότητος περίληψιν λέγων ο ἐδείχθη γοῦν ὅτι τὸ διαλαμβανόμενον πέρασιν, ἀρετὴ οὐκ ἐστιν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ τοῖς μετιοῦσι τὸν κατʼ ἀρετὴν βίον, ἀδύνατον εἶναι εἷπον τδ ἐπιβῆναι τῆς τελειότητος· οὓτως δ λόγος καὶ περὶ τούτου σαφηνισθήσεται. Τὸ πρώτως καὶ κυρίως ἀγαθὸν, οὗ ἡ φύσις ἀγαθότης ἐστὶν, αὐτὸ τδΘείον, ὅ τί ποτε τῇ φύσει νοεῖται, τοῦτο καὶ ἔστι καὶ ὀνομάζεται. Ἐπεὶ οὖν οὐδεὶς ἀρετῆς ὅρος, πλὴν κακίας, ἐδείχθη, ἀπαράδεκτον δὲ τοῦ ἐναντίου τὸ Θεῖονο ἀόριστος ἀρα καὶ ἀπεράτωτος ἡ θεία φύσις καταλαμβἀνεται. Ἀλλά μὴν δ τὴν ἀληθῆ μετιὼν ἀρετὴν, οὑδὲν ἕτερον ἢ Θεοῦ μετέχει · διότι αὑτός ἐστιν ὴ παντελὴς ἀρετή. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὸ τῇ φύσει καλὸν, ἐπιθυμητὸν είς μετουσίαν πάντως ἐστὶ τοῖς γινώσκουσι, τοῦτο δὲ ὅρον οὑκ ἔχει · ἀναγκαίως καὶ ἡ τοῦ μετέχοντος ἐπιθυμία τῷ ἀορίστῳ συμπαρατείνουσα, στάσιν οὑκ εχει. Οὐκοῦν ἄπορόν ἐστι παντάπασι τοῦ τελείου τυχεῖνο διότι ἡ τελειότης, καθὼς εἴρηται, ὅροις οὑ διαλαμβάνεται · τῆς δὲ ἀρετῆς εἷς ὅρος ἐστὶ, τὸ ἀόριστον. Πῶς οὖν ἄν τις ἐπὶ τὸ ζητούμενον φθάσειε πέρας, οὑχ εὑρίσκων τὸ πέρας; Οὐ μὴν ἐπειο δὴ καθόλου τὸ ζητούμενον ἄληπτον ὁ λόγος ὑπέδειξεν, ἀμελητέον ἂν εἴη τῆς ἐντολῆς τοῦ Κυρίου, ἥ φησι · ι Γίνεσθε τέλειοι, ὡς ό Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐρά. νιος τέλειός ἐστιν. ι Ἐπὶ γὰρ τῶν φύσει καλῶν, κᾶν μὴ τοῦ παντὸς τυχεῖν δυνατὸν ᾖ, τὸ καὶ μὴ τοῦ μέ·ρους ἀποτυχεῖν, κέρδος ἃν εἴη μέγα τοῖς γε νοῦν ἔχουσι. Πᾶσαν τοίνυν ὲπῶεικτέον σπουδὴν, μὴ παντελῶς ἐκπεσεῖν τῆς ἐνδεχομένης τελειότητος ο ἀλλά το· σοῦτον ἀπʼ αὐτῆς κτήσασθαι, ὅσον ἂν ίδεῖν τοῦ ζητουμένου χωρήσωμεν. Τάχα γὰρ τὸ οὑτως ἔχειν, ὡς ἀεὶ θέλειν έν τῷ καλῷ τὸ πλέον ἔχειν, ή τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως τελειότης ἐστί. Δοκεῖ δέ μοι καλῶς ἔχειν τῇ Γραφῇ περὶ τούτου συμβούλῳ χρήσασθαι. Φησὶ γάρ που διὰ τῆς Ἥσαῖου προφητείας ἡ θεία φωνή· ι Ἐμβλέψατε είς Ἀβραὰμ τὸν πατέρα ὑμῶν, καὶ είς Σὰῤραν τὴν ὠδίνουσαν ὑ μᾶς.» Ταῦτα γὰρ πάντως ὁ λόγος τοῖς ἔξω τῆς ἀρετῆς πλανωμένοις διακελεύεται, ἵνα, καθάπερ οί ὲν πελάγει τῆς εὐθείας τοῦ λιμένος παρ· ενεχθέντες, κατὰ τὸ φανὲν σημεῖον τῆς πλάνης ἐαυτοὺς ἐπανάγουσιν, ἢ πυρσὸν ἰδόντες ἀπὸ ὕψους αίρόο μενον, ἢ κορυφήν τινος ἀκρωρείας ἀναφανεῖσαν, τὺν αὐτὸν τρόπον τοὺς ἀκυβερνήτῳ τῇ διανοίᾳ κατά τὴν τοῦ βίου θάλασσαν πλανωμένους, τῷ κατὰ τὴν Σάρραν καὶ Ἀβραὰμ ὑποδείγματι πάλιν κατευθύνῃ πρὸς τὸν λιμένα τοῦ θείου θελήματος. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ πρὸς -τδ θῆλύ τε καὶ ἄρρεν ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη μεμέρισται φύσις, καὶ ἀμφοτέροις ἐπίσης κατʼ ἐξουσίαν ἡ πρὸς ἀρετὴν καὶ κακίαν αἵρεσις πρόκειται · διὰ τοῦτο ἐκατέρῳ τμήματι τὸ κατάλληλον τῆς ἀρετῆς ὑπόδειγμα παρά τῆς θείας προεδείχθη φωνῆς, ἵνα πρὸς τὸ συγγενὲς ἑκάτεροι βλέποντες, πρὸς μὲν τὸν Ἀβραὰμ οί ἄνδρες, πρὸς δὲ τὴν Σάρραν τὺ ἕτερον μέρος, ἀμφότεροι διὰ τῶν οἰκείων ὑποδειγμάτων πρὸς τὸν κατʼ ἀρετὴν βίον διευθύνοιντο. Ἴσως δʼ ἂν τοίνυν ἐξαρκέτοι
toi archē tou kata kakian ginetai dromou. Oukoun hou diepseusthē o logos hēmin, amēchanon epi tēs aretēs einai tēn tēs teleiotētos perilēpsin legōn o edeichthē goun hoti to dialambanomenon perasin, aretē ouk estin. Epei de kai tois metiousi ton katʼ aretēn bion, adynaton einai heipon td epibēnai tēs teleiotētos; houtōs d logos kai peri toutou saphēnisthēsetai. To prōtōs kai kyriōs agathon, hou hē physis agathotēs estin, auto tdTheion, ho ti pote tę̄ physei noeitai, touto kai esti kai onomazetai. Epei oun oudeis aretēs horos, plēn kakias, edeichthē, aparadekton de tou enantiou to Theiono aoristos ara kai aperatōtos hē theia physis katalambanetai. Alla mēn d tēn alēthē metiōn aretēn, houden heteron ē Theou metechei ; dioti hautos estin ē pantelēs aretē. Epei oun to tę̄ physei kalon, epithymēton eis metousian pantōs esti tois ginōskousi, touto de horon houk echei ; anankaiōs kai hē tou metechontos epithymia tǭ aoristǭ symparateinousa, stasin houk echei. Oukoun aporon esti pantapasi tou teleiou tycheino dioti hē teleiotēs, kathōs eirētai, horois hou dialambanetai ; tēs de aretēs heis horos esti, to aoriston. Pōs oun an tis epi to zētoumenon phthaseie peras, houch heuriskōn to peras? Ou mēn epeio dē katholou to zētoumenon alēpton ho logos hypedeixen, amelēteon an eiē tēs entolēs tou Kyriou, hē phēsi ; i Ginesthe teleioi, hōs o Patēr hymōn ho oura. nios teleios estin. i Epi gar tōn physei kalōn, kan mē tou pantos tychein dynaton ę̄, to kai mē tou me;rous apotychein, kerdos han eiē mega tois ge noun echousi. Pasan toinyn epōeikteon spoudēn, mē pantelōs ekpesein tēs endechomenēs teleiotētos o alla to; souton apʼ autēs ktēsasthai, hoson an idein tou zētoumenou chōrēsōmen. Tacha gar to houtōs echein, hōs aei thelein en tǭ kalǭ to pleon echein, ē tēs anthrōpinēs physeōs teleiotēs esti. Dokei de moi kalōs echein tę̄ Graphę̄ peri toutou symboulǭ chrēsasthai. Phēsi gar pou dia tēs Hēsaiou prophēteias hē theia phōnē; i Emblepsate eis Abraam ton patera hymōn, kai eis Sarran tēn ōdinousan hy mas.» Tauta gar pantōs ho logos tois exō tēs aretēs planōmenois diakeleuetai, hina, kathaper oi en pelagei tēs eutheias tou limenos par; enechthentes, kata to phanen sēmeion tēs planēs eautous epanagousin, ē pyrson idontes apo hypsous airoo menon, ē koryphēn tinos akrōreias anaphaneisan, tyn auton tropon tous akybernētǭ tę̄ dianoią kata tēn tou biou thalassan planōmenous, tǭ kata tēn Sarran kai Abraam hypodeigmati palin kateuthynę̄ pros ton limena tou theiou thelēmatos. Epeidē gar pros -td thēly te kai arren hē anthrōpinē memeristai physis, kai amphoterois episēs katʼ exousian hē pros aretēn kai kakian hairesis prokeitai ; dia touto ekaterǭ tmēmati to katallēlon tēs aretēs hypodeigma para tēs theias proedeichthē phōnēs, hina pros to syngenes hekateroi blepontes, pros men ton Abraam oi andres, pros de tēn Sarran ty heteron meros, amphoteroi dia tōn oikeiōn hypodeigmatōn pros ton katʼ aretēn bion dieuthynointo. Isōs dʼ an toinyn exarketoi
becomes the beginning of the race of vice. So our discourse did not speak falsely when it said that a grasp of perfection is impossible in the case of virtue; for it has been shown that what is enclosed by limits is not virtue. And since I said that for those who pursue the life of virtue it is impossible to arrive at perfection, the discourse will make this clear as well. The Good in the first and proper sense, whose nature is goodness, is the Divine itself: whatever it is understood to be by nature, that it both is and is named. Since, then, it has been shown that virtue has no limit except vice, and the Divine does not admit its opposite, the divine nature is apprehended as unlimited and boundless. But whoever pursues true virtue participates in nothing other than God, because he himself is complete virtue. Since, then, what is beautiful by nature is altogether desirable to those who know it, that they may share in it, and this has no limit, of necessity the desire of the one who participates, stretching out along with the unlimited, has no halt. It is therefore wholly impossible to attain perfection, because perfection, as has been said, is not enclosed by limits, and the one limit of virtue is the unlimited. How then could anyone reach the limit he seeks when he cannot find the limit? Yet because the discourse has shown that what is sought is altogether beyond grasp, we must not on that account neglect the Lord’s commandment, which says, “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” For in things that are good by nature, even if one cannot attain the whole, not to miss a part is a great gain for those who have sense. We must therefore show every zeal not to fall wholly short of the perfection that is possible, but to acquire as much of it as we are able to see of what we seek. For perhaps the perfection of human nature is just this: to be so disposed as always to want to have more in the good. It seems right to me to take Scripture as our counsellor on this. For the divine voice says somewhere through the prophecy of Isaiah, “Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you in travail.” The Word gives this command to those who wander outside virtue. Those at sea who have been carried off the straight course to the harbour bring themselves back from their wandering by a sign that comes into view, when they see a beacon raised on a height or the peak of some mountain appearing. In the same way the Word, by the example of Sarah and Abraham, steers back to the harbour of the divine will those who wander with an unpiloted mind on the sea of life. For since human nature is divided into female and male, and the choice of virtue or of vice lies equally within the power of both, the divine voice for this reason displayed to each part the example of virtue suited to it, so that each, looking to its own kind — the men to Abraham, the other part to Sarah — might be directed by the examples proper to them toward the life of virtue. Perhaps, then, it would suffice
Matt 5:48 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 51:2 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Since the divine Good is unlimited, participation in it can never come to rest, so human perfection lies in always growing in the good; Scripture offers examples, as Isaiah points to Abraham and Sarah.
- “Be perfect …”: Matt 5:48. “Look to Abraham …”: Isa 51:2.
- “Perhaps the perfection of human nature is … always to want to have more in the good”: the central thesis of the prologue.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 301 (PG 44:301a–301d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/297/#p-301). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 303
303PG 44:304a–304b
τειε καὶ ἡμῖν ἑνός τινος τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον εὐδοκίμων ἡ μνή μη τὴν τοῦ πυρσοῦ χρείαν πληρῶσαι, καὶ ὑποδεῖξαι, πῶς ἐστι δυνατὸν τῷ ἀκλύστῳ τῆς ἀρετῆς λιο μένι τήν ψυχὴν καθορμίσαι, μηδαμοῦ ταῖς τοῦ βίον ζάλαις ἐγχειμασθεῖσαν, μηδέ κατὰ τὰς ἐπαλλήλους τῶν παθῶν τρικυμίας τῷ βυθῷ τὴς κακίας ἒνναυατή· σασαν. Τάχα γὰρ καὶ τούτου χάριν ή τῶν ὑψηλῶν ἐκείων πολιτεία διʼ ἀκριβείας ἱστόρηται, ὡς ἂν διὰ τῆς ὦν προκατωρθωκότων μιμήσεως ὁ ἐφεξῆς βίος πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἀπευθύνοιτο. Τί οὖν, ἐρεῖ τιςζ εί μήτε ίαλδαῖος ἐγὼ, ὥσπερ ὁ Ἀβραὰμ μνημονεύεται, μήτε Β πῆς θυγατρὸς τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου τρόφιμος, ὡς περὶτοῦ ιίωῡσέως ό λόγος κατέχει, μηδόλως ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις πρὸς τινὰ τῶν ἀρχαίων ἔχων τι κατὰ τὸν βίον κατάλιηλον · πῶς είς τὴν αὐτὴν τάξιν ἐνὶ τούτων ἐμαυτὸν καταστήσω, μὴ ἔχων ὅπως τὸν τοσοῦτον ἁφεστῶτδ διὰ τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων μιμήσωμαις Πρὸς ὃν ἐροῦμεν, ὅτι οὔτε τῷ Χαλδαῖον εῖναι κακίαν ἢ ἀρετὴν κρίο νομεν · οὒτε τῇ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ζωῇ, οὔτε τῇ ἐν Βαβυλῶνι διατριβῇ, τοῦ βίου τις τοῦ κατʼ ἀρετήν ἐξοικίξεται · οὐδʼ αὖ πάλιν ὲν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ [μόνον] γνωστὸς ὁ Θεδς τοῖς ἀξίοις γίνεται · οὐδὲ Σιὼν, κατὰ τὴν πρόχειρον ἔννοιαν, τὸ θεῖόν ἐστιν οἰκητήριον · ἀλλά τινος λεπτοτέρας ἡμῖν χρεία τῆς διανοίας, καὶ ὀξυτέρας τῆς ὅψεως, ὡς διϊδεῖν ἐκ τῆς ἱστορίας, ποίων Χαλδαίων ἦ Λίγυπτίων πόρρω γενόμενοι, καὶ ποίας Βαβυλωνίων αἰχμαλωσίας ἀπολυθέντες, τοῦ μακαριστοῦ βίου ἐπιβησόμεθα. Μωῦσῆς τοίνυν ἡμῖν είς ὑπόδειγμα βίου προτεθήτω τῷ λόγῳ · οὗ τὸν βίον πρῶτον ἐν ἐπιδρομῇ διελθόντες, καθὼς παρὰ τῆς θείας φωνῆς μεμαθήκαμεν, οὕτω τὴν πρόσφορον τῇ ἱστορία διάνοιαν είς ἀρετῆς ὑποθήκην ἀναζητήσομεν, διʼ ἧς τὸν τέλειον ὡς ἐν ἀνθρώποις βίον ἐπιγνωσόμεθα. Λέγεται τοίνυν ὁ Μωῦσῆς τεχθῆναι μὲν, ὅτε ζωογονεῖσθαι τὸ ἄρρεν ἐν τοῖς τικτομένοις ὁ τοῦ τυράννου νόμος διεκώλυε, προλαβεῖν δὲ τῇ χάριτι πᾶσαν τήν ἀπὶ τοῦ χρόνου γινομένην συνεισφοράν· καὶ εὐθὺς ἀπὸ σπαργάνων ἀστεῖος ὀφθεὶς, ὄκνον ἐμποιῆσαι τοῖς γεννησαμένοις, θανάτῳ τὸν τοιοῦτον ἐξαφανίσαι. Εἶθʼ ὡς ὑπερίσχυεν ἡ ἀπειλὴ τοῦ τυράννου, μὴ ἁπλῶς ἐῤῥιφῆναι τῷ ῥείθρῳ τοῦ Νείλου, ἀλλʼ ἐντεθέντα κιβωτῷ τινι, ἀσφάλτῳ καὶ πίσσῃ κατὰ τὰς ἁρμονίας διαχρισθείσῃ, οὕτω δοθῆναι τῷ ῥεύματι (τοῦτο γὰρ οἱ διʼ ἐπιμελείας τὰ κατʼ αὐτὸν ἱστορήσαντες διηγήσαντο) ° θείας δέ τινος δυνάμεως τὴν κιβωτὸν κυβερνώσης, ἐπί τινα η κατὰ τὸ πλάγιον ὄχθην ἐξορμισθῆναι, αὐτομάτως τῆς κιβωτοῦ κατʼ ἐκεῖνο τὸ μέρος ὑπὸ τῆς φορᾶς τῶν κυμάτων ἐκκυμανθείσης. Τῆς δὲ θυγατρὸς τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπιούσης κατὰ τοὺς λειμῶνας τῇς ὄχθης ἐκεί· νης, ἔτυχεν ή κιβωτὸς ἐπωκείλασα, εὕρεμα γενέσθαι τῇ βασιλίδι, βρεφικῶς ἐμβοήσας τῇ λάρνακιο ὀφθεὶς δὲ μετὰ τῆς ἐπιφαινομένης αύτῷ χάριτος. εὐθὺς οἰκειώσασθαι διʼ εὐνοίας τὴν βασιλίδα, καὶ είς
teie kai hēmin henos tinos tōn kata ton bion eudokimōn hē mnē mē tēn tou pyrsou chreian plērōsai, kai hypodeixai, pōs esti dynaton tǭ aklystǭ tēs aretēs lio meni tēn psychēn kathormisai, mēdamou tais tou bion zalais encheimastheisan, mēde kata tas epallēlous tōn pathōn trikymias tǭ bythǭ tēs kakias ennauatē; sasan. Tacha gar kai toutou charin ē tōn hypsēlōn ekeiōn politeia diʼ akribeias historētai, hōs an dia tēs ōn prokatōrthōkotōn mimēseōs ho ephexēs bios pros to agathon apeuthynoito. Ti oun, erei tisz ei mēte ialdaios egō, hōsper ho Abraam mnēmoneuetai, mēte B pēs thygatros tou Aigyptiou trophimos, hōs peritou iiōyseōs o logos katechei, mēdolōs en tois toioutois pros tina tōn archaiōn echōn ti kata ton bion kataliēlon ; pōs eis tēn autēn taxin eni toutōn emauton katastēsō, mē echōn hopōs ton tosouton haphestōtd dia tōn epitēdeumatōn mimēsōmais Pros hon eroumen, hoti oute tǭ Chaldaion einai kakian ē aretēn krio nomen ; oute tę̄ en Aigyptǭ zōę̄, oute tę̄ en Babylōni diatribę̄, tou biou tis tou katʼ aretēn exoikixetai ; oudʼ au palin en tę̄ Ioudaią [monon] gnōstos ho Theds tois axiois ginetai ; oude Siōn, kata tēn procheiron ennoian, to theion estin oikētērion ; alla tinos leptoteras hēmin chreia tēs dianoias, kai oxyteras tēs hopseōs, hōs diïdein ek tēs historias, poiōn Chaldaiōn ē Ligyptiōn porrō genomenoi, kai poias Babylōniōn aichmalōsias apolythentes, tou makaristou biou epibēsometha. Mōysēs toinyn hēmin eis hypodeigma biou protethētō tǭ logǭ ; hou ton bion prōton en epidromę̄ dielthontes, kathōs para tēs theias phōnēs memathēkamen, houtō tēn prosphoron tę̄ historia dianoian eis aretēs hypothēkēn anazētēsomen, diʼ hēs ton teleion hōs en anthrōpois bion epignōsometha. Legetai toinyn ho Mōysēs techthēnai men, hote zōogoneisthai to arren en tois tiktomenois ho tou tyrannou nomos diekōlye, prolabein de tę̄ chariti pasan tēn api tou chronou ginomenēn syneisphoran; kai euthys apo sparganōn asteios ophtheis, oknon empoiēsai tois gennēsamenois, thanatǭ ton toiouton exaphanisai. Eithʼ hōs hyperischyen hē apeilē tou tyrannou, mē haplōs errhiphēnai tǭ rheithrǭ tou Neilou, allʼ entethenta kibōtǭ tini, asphaltǭ kai pissę̄ kata tas harmonias diachristheisę̄, houtō dothēnai tǭ rheumati (touto gar hoi diʼ epimeleias ta katʼ auton historēsantes diēgēsanto) ° theias de tinos dynameōs tēn kibōton kybernōsēs, epi tina ē kata to plagion ochthēn exormisthēnai, automatōs tēs kibōtou katʼ ekeino to meros hypo tēs phoras tōn kymatōn ekkymantheisēs. Tēs de thygatros tou basileōs epiousēs kata tous leimōnas tę̄s ochthēs ekei; nēs, etychen ē kibōtos epōkeilasa, heurema genesthai tę̄ basilidi, brephikōs emboēsas tę̄ larnakio ophtheis de meta tēs epiphainomenēs autǭ charitos. euthys oikeiōsasthai diʼ eunoias tēn basilida, kai eis
for us too that the memory of some one of those renowned for their lives should serve as a beacon and show how it is possible to bring the soul to anchor in the calm harbour of virtue, never storm-tossed by the squalls of life nor shipwrecked in the deep of vice by the successive breakers of the passions. Perhaps it is for this very reason that the way of life of those lofty men has been recorded with exactness: that by imitating those who succeeded before, later lives might be directed toward the good. “What then,” someone will say, “if I am neither a Chaldean, as Abraham is recorded to have been, nor brought up by the Egyptian’s daughter, as the account has it of Moses, and have nothing at all in my life that corresponds in such matters to any of the ancients? How shall I place myself in the same rank as one of them, when I have no way of imitating in my pursuits one so far removed?” To him we shall say that we do not judge vice or virtue by being a Chaldean; no one is exiled from the life of virtue by living in Egypt or dwelling in Babylon; nor again is God known to the worthy in Judea [only], nor is Zion, in the obvious sense, the dwelling place of the Divine. We need a subtler understanding and keener sight to discern from the history from what kind of Chaldeans or Egyptians we must get far away, and from what kind of Babylonian captivity we must be set free, if we are to attain the most blessed life. Let Moses, then, be set before us in our discourse as an example of life. We shall first go through his life in outline, as we have learned it from the divine voice; then we shall seek the meaning that fits the history, as counsel for virtue, and through it we shall come to know the perfect life, as far as is possible among human beings. Moses, then, is said to have been born when the tyrant’s law forbade the males among those born to be kept alive. But by grace he outran all the contribution that time brings; and appearing comely from his very swaddling clothes, he made his parents shrink from doing away with such a child by death. Then, when the tyrant’s threat prevailed, he was not simply thrown into the stream of the Nile, but was placed in an ark daubed at its joints with bitumen and pitch and so given to the current (so those who recorded his story with care have related). A divine power steered the ark, and it came to anchor on a bank to one side, washed ashore at that spot of its own accord by the movement of the waves. When the king’s daughter came to the meadows of that bank where the ark had run aground, he became the princess’s find, crying out like an infant in the chest. Seen with the grace that shone on him, he at once won the princess’s goodwill and was taken
Exod 2:1–6 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Gregory answers the objection that no one now can share the circumstances of the ancients, proposes Moses as the example, and begins the narrative of his birth and rescue from the Nile.
- Gregory now announces his plan: first the history (ἱστορία, the narrative of Moses’ life), then the contemplation (θεωρία) of its spiritual meaning.
- “[only]”: the word stands in square brackets in the printed text.
- Moses’ birth and rescue: Exod 2:1–6.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 303 (PG 44:304a–304b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/297/#p-303). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 305
305PG 44:305a–305d
υἰῡῦ τάξιν ἀναληφθῆναι. ’Δποστραφεὶς δέ φυσικῶς τὴν ἀλλόφυλον θηλὴν, ἐπινοίᾳ τινὸς τῶν πρὸς γένους οἰκείων, ἀνατραφῆναι τῷ μητρῴῳ μαζῷ ο ἐκβὰς δὲ ἤδη τὴν ἡλικίαν τῶν παίδων ἐν βασιλικῇ τῇ τροφῇ, καὶ παιδευθεὶς τὴν ἔξωθεν παίδευσιν, δ δόξης ἐνομίζετο παρά τοῖς ἔξωθεν, οὐχ εἵλετο ἔτι καταδέξασθαι τὴν σεσοφισμένην ἐκείνην ὁμολογεῖν μητέρα, ᾗπερ εἰς υίοῦ τάξιν εἰσεποιήθη, ἀλλὰ ἐπὶ τὴν κατὰ φύσιν ἐπανελθεῖν πάλιν, καὶ τοῖς ὁμοφύλοις ἐγκαταμιχθῆναι. Μάχης δέ συστάσης Ἑβραίῳ τινὶ πρὸς Αἰγύπτιον, συμμαχῆσαί τε τῷ οἰκείῳ, καὶ ἀνελεῖν τὸν ἀλλόφυλον. Εἶτα συμπλακέντων ἀλλήλοις Ἐβραίων δύο τινῶν, καταστέλλειν ἐν αὐτοῖς τὴν φιλονεικίαν πειρᾶσθαι. Συμβουλεύσας καλῶς ἔχειν, ἀδελφοὺς ὄντας, μὴ θυμὸν διαιτητὴν ποιεῖσθαι τῶν ἀμφισβητημάτων, τὴν φύσιν, Ἀπωσθεὶς δὲ παρά τοῦ πρὸς ἀδικίαν βλέποντος, ἀφορμὴν τῆς μείζονος φιλοσοφίας τὴν ἀτιμίαν ταύτην ποιήσασθαι· καὶτῆς μετά τῶν πολλῶν σιʼνδιαγωγῆς πόρρω γενόμενος, ἰδιάσαι τῷ μετά ταῦτα βίῳ, κηδεύσας τινὶ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων, ἀνδρὶ διορατικῷ τοῦ βελτίονος, καὶ κρίνειν ἢθη τε καὶ βίον ἀνθρώπων ἐπεσκεμμὲνῳ, ὃς διὰ μιᾶς πράξεως, λέγω δὴ τῆς κατά τῶν ποιμένων ὁρμῆς, ἐνιδὼν τοῦ νέου τὴν ἀρετὴν, ὅπως οὐ πρὸς οἰκεῖον βλέπων κέρδος, τοῦ δικαίοις θυσίαν ἐφῆκε τὸν καταθύμιόν μετιέναι βίον. Τῷ δὲ ῆν ὁρειός τε καὶ ίδιάζουσα ή ζωὴ, πάσης ἀγοραίου τύρβης ἀπηλλαγμένη, ἐν τῇ τῶν προβάτων ἐπιμελείᾳ κατά τὴν ἔρημον ἰδιάζοντι. Χρόνου δὲ διαγεγονότος ἐν τῷ τοιούτῳ τῆς ζωῆς εἴδει, φησιν ἡ ἰστορία, φοβερὰν γενέσθαι αὑτῷ θεοφάνειαν, ἐν σταθηρᾷ μεσημβριᾳ, φωτὸς ἐτέρου ὑπὲρ τδ ἡλιακὸν φῶς τὰς ὄψεις περιαστράψαντος. Τὸν δὲ ξενισθέντα τῷ ἀήθει τῆς θέσις, ἀναβλέψαι τε πρὸς τὸ ὅρος, καὶ ἰδεῖν θάμνον, ἀφʼ οὗ πυροειδῶς τδ φέγγος ἐξήπτετο, τῶν δὲ κλάδων τοῦ θάμνου καθάπερ ἐν δρόσῳ τῇ φλογὶ συναναθαλλόντων, εἰπεῖν ταῦτα τὰ ῥήματα πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἐκεῖνον, ὅτι «Διαβἀςὸψομαι τὸ μέγα ὅραμα τοῦτο.›Εἰπόντα δὲ, μηκέτι μόνοις τοίς ὀφθαλμοῖς τὸ θαῦμα τοῦ φωτὸς δέξασθαι · ἀλλʼ δ πάντων ἐστὶ παραδοξότατον, τὸ καὶ τὴν ἀκοὴν ταῖς ἀκτῖσι τοῦ φέγγους ἐναυγασθῆναι. Πρὸς γὰρ ἀμφοτέρας τὰς αἰσθήσεις ἡ τοῦ φωτὸς με· ρισθεῖσα χάρις, τάς μὲν ὁψεις ταῖς τῶν ἀκτίνων μαρμαρυγαῖς περιηύγαζε, τὴν δὲ ἀκοὴν τοῖς ἀκηράτοις δόγμασιν έφωταγώγει. Κωλύει γοῦν ἡ τοῦ φωτὸς ἐκείνου φωνὴ προσβῆναι τῷ δρει τὸν Μωῦσέαλτοῖς νεκροῖς ὑποδήμασι βεβαρημένον, ἀλλʼ ἐκλύσαντα τῶν ποδῶν τὸ ὑπόδημα, οὕτω τῆς γῆς ψαύειν ἐκείνης, ὅση τῷ θείῳ φωτὶ κατελάμπετο. Ἐπὶ τούτοις (χρὴ γὰρ οῐμαι μὴ λίαν ἐμβραδύνειν τῇ ψιλῇ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ιστορίᾳ, τοῖς λόγοις, ὡς ἀν καὶ τῶν προκειμένων ἔχοιντο) … τῇ ὀφθείσῃ θεοφανείᾳ. ῥύσασθαι τὸ ὁμόφυλον τῆς δουλείας τῶν Αἰγυπτίων προστάσσεται. Καὶ ὡς ἂν μάλιστα μάθοι τὴν ἐγγινομένην αὐτῷ θεόθεν ἰσχὺν, ἐκ τῶν ἐν χερσὶ ποιεῖται τὴν πεῖραν θείῳ
uiyy taxin analēphthēnai. ’Dpostrapheis de physikōs tēn allophylon thēlēn, epinoią tinos tōn pros genous oikeiōn, anatraphēnai tǭ mētrǭǭ mazǭ o ekbas de ēdē tēn hēlikian tōn paidōn en basilikę̄ tę̄ trophę̄, kai paideutheis tēn exōthen paideusin, d doxēs enomizeto para tois exōthen, ouch heileto eti katadexasthai tēn sesophismenēn ekeinēn homologein mētera, hę̄per eis uiou taxin eisepoiēthē, alla epi tēn kata physin epanelthein palin, kai tois homophylois enkatamichthēnai. Machēs de systasēs Hebraiǭ tini pros Aigyption, symmachēsai te tǭ oikeiǭ, kai anelein ton allophylon. Eita symplakentōn allēlois Ebraiōn dyo tinōn, katastellein en autois tēn philoneikian peirasthai. Symbouleusas kalōs echein, adelphous ontas, mē thymon diaitētēn poieisthai tōn amphisbētēmatōn, tēn physin, Apōstheis de para tou pros adikian blepontos, aphormēn tēs meizonos philosophias tēn atimian tautēn poiēsasthai; kaitēs meta tōn pollōn siʼndiagōgēs porrō genomenos, idiasai tǭ meta tauta biǭ, kēdeusas tini tōn allophylōn, andri dioratikǭ tou beltionos, kai krinein ēthē te kai bion anthrōpōn epeskemmenǭ, hos dia mias praxeōs, legō dē tēs kata tōn poimenōn hormēs, enidōn tou neou tēn aretēn, hopōs ou pros oikeion blepōn kerdos, tou dikaiois thysian ephēke ton katathymion metienai bion. Tǭ de ēn horeios te kai idiazousa ē zōē, pasēs agoraiou tyrbēs apēllagmenē, en tę̄ tōn probatōn epimeleią kata tēn erēmon idiazonti. Chronou de diagegonotos en tǭ toioutǭ tēs zōēs eidei, phēsin hē istoria, phoberan genesthai hautǭ theophaneian, en stathērą mesēmbrią, phōtos eterou hyper td hēliakon phōs tas opseis periastrapsantos. Ton de xenisthenta tǭ aēthei tēs thesis, anablepsai te pros to horos, kai idein thamnon, aphʼ hou pyroeidōs td phengos exēpteto, tōn de kladōn tou thamnou kathaper en drosǭ tę̄ phlogi synanathallontōn, eipein tauta ta rhēmata pros heauton ekeinon, hoti «Diabasopsomai to mega horama touto.›Eiponta de, mēketi monois tois ophthalmois to thauma tou phōtos dexasthai ; allʼ d pantōn esti paradoxotaton, to kai tēn akoēn tais aktisi tou phengous enaugasthēnai. Pros gar amphoteras tas aisthēseis hē tou phōtos me; ristheisa charis, tas men hopseis tais tōn aktinōn marmarygais periēugaze, tēn de akoēn tois akēratois dogmasin ephōtagōgei. Kōlyei goun hē tou phōtos ekeinou phōnē prosbēnai tǭ drei ton Mōysealtois nekrois hypodēmasi bebarēmenon, allʼ eklysanta tōn podōn to hypodēma, houtō tēs gēs psauein ekeinēs, hosē tǭ theiǭ phōti katelampeto. Epi toutois (chrē gar oimai mē lian embradynein tę̄ psilę̄ tou andros istorią, tois logois, hōs an kai tōn prokeimenōn echointo) … tę̄ ophtheisę̄ theophaneią. rhysasthai to homophylon tēs douleias tōn Aigyptiōn prostassetai. Kai hōs an malista mathoi tēn enginomenēn autǭ theothen ischyn, ek tōn en chersi poieitai tēn peiran theiǭ
into the rank of a son. But he turned away by nature from the foreign breast, and through the device of one of his kin he was nursed at his mother’s breast. When he had passed the age of childhood, brought up in royal fashion and educated in the learning from outside, which was held in esteem by those outside, he no longer chose to acknowledge that artificial mother by whom he had been adopted into the rank of son, but returned again to his natural mother and mingled with those of his own race. When a fight arose between a Hebrew and an Egyptian, he fought on the side of his kinsman and killed the foreigner. Then, when two Hebrews were grappling with each other, he tried to calm the quarrel between them, advising that it was right for them, being brothers, to make not anger but nature the arbiter of their disputes. Rejected by the one who was intent on wrongdoing, he made this dishonour the occasion of a higher philosophy. Withdrawing far from the company of the many, he lived in solitude for the rest of his life, having married into the family of a foreigner, a man who discerned what is better and was practised in judging the characters and lives of human beings. From a single deed — I mean his attack on the shepherds — this man saw the young man’s virtue, how, looking not to his own gain, … he allowed him to pursue the life he desired. His life was spent in the mountains and in solitude, free from all the turmoil of the marketplace, as he lived alone in the desert tending the sheep. When time had passed in this kind of life, the history says, a fearful theophany came to him at high noon, a light other than and beyond the light of the sun flashing about his eyes. Astonished at the unusual sight, he looked up to the mountain and saw a bush from which the radiance blazed like fire, while the branches of the bush flourished in the flame as if in dew; and he said these words to himself: “I will go over and see this great sight.” When he had said this, he no longer received the wonder of the light with his eyes alone, but — what is most paradoxical of all — his hearing too was lit by the rays of the radiance. For the grace of the light was divided between both senses: it lit up his sight with the flashing of its rays and led his hearing into the light with pure teachings. The voice from that light forbids Moses to approach the mountain while weighed down by dead sandals, but bids him loose the sandal from his feet and so touch that ground which was lit by the divine light. After this (for I think we must not linger too long over the bare history of the man, so that our discourse may keep to its purpose), … by the theophany he had seen, he is commanded to rescue his kinsmen from slavery to the Egyptians. And so that he might best learn the strength that was coming to him from God, he makes a trial with what was in his hands at the divine
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Exod 2:7–22 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 3:1–10 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 3:3 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The narrative continues: Moses returns to his own people, kills an Egyptian, flees, marries into a foreign family, and sees the burning bush, where he is commanded to free Israel.
- Exod 2:7–3:10. “I will go over and see this great sight”: Exod 3:3. Removing the sandals: Exod 3:5.
- After “his own gain” some words are lost in the scan (marked …); the sense is that Jethro saw Moses defend justice. At the second … a word is unreadable in the scan (OCR debris), probably a participle such as “strengthened.”
- “Learning from outside”: Gregory’s usual term for pagan (non-Christian) education.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (Latin letters); word unreadable): summa; τῇ → … τῇ.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 305 (PG 44:305a–305d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/297/#p-305). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 307
307PG 44:308a–308d
προστάγματι. ἸΙ δέ πεῖρα ἦν αὕτη · Ῥάὸδος ἐκπεσοῦσα τῆς χειρὸς, ὲψυχώθη. καί ζῶον ἐγένετο (δράκων δὲ τὸ ζῶον ἦν) · καὶ πάλιν ὑπὸ τῆς χειρὸς ἀναληφθεῖσα, ὅπερ ἦν πρὸ τῆς θηριὼσεως, ἐκεῖνο ἐγένετο. Καὶ ἡ τῆς χειρὸς ἐπιφάνεια, νῦν μὲν προεληθεῖσα τοῦ κόλπου, εἰς χιόνος μετεΜιήθη λευκότητα, πάλιν δὲ εἵσω τοῦ αὑτοῦ γενομένη, ἐπὶ τὴν ἰδίαν ἐπανέρχεται φύσιν. Κατιόντος δέ τοῦ Μωσέως ἐπὶ τὴν Δίγυπτον, καὶ συνεπαγομένου τὴν γαμετὴν τὴν ἀλλόφυλον, καὶ τοὺς ἀπʼ ἐκείνης αὐτῷ γεγονότας παῖδας, ὅτε τις καὶ ἄγγελος αὺτῷ συναντῆσαι λέγεται, τὸν περὶ τοῦ Θανάτου φόὸον ἐπάγων, ὃν ἡ γυνὴτῴ αἵματι τῆς περιτομῆς τοῦ παιδὸς ἱλεώσατο · τότε συντυχία γίνεται τοῦ Ἀαρὼν,καίαὺτοῦ θεόθεν παρορμηθέντος πρὸς τὴν συνάντησιν. Εἶτα παρʼ ἀμφοτέρων ὁέν Αἰγύπτῳ λαὸς εἰς ἐκκλησίαν κοινὴν συναγείρεται, καὶ ἡ τῆς δουλείας ἀπαλλαγὴ τοῖς πεπονηκόσιν ἤδη τῇ κακοπαθείᾳτῶν ἔργων πε ριαγγέλλεται, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν τὸν τύραννον ό παρὰ τούτου γίνεται λόγος. ’Λγανάκτησις ἐπὶ τούτοις τοῦ τυράννου, κατά τε τῶν ἐπιστατούντων τοῖς ἔργοις, καὶκατὰ τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν αὐτῶν. μείζων ἢ πρότερον · καί ό τῆς πλινθείας φόρος ἐπαύξεται,καὶ ἐπιπονώτερον τὸ ἐπίταγμα καταπέμπεται, ού τῷ πηλῷ μόνῳ κακοπαθούντων, ἀλλὰ καὶ πε ρὶ τὸ άχυρόν τε καὶ τὴν καλάμην ταλαιπωροῦντων. Τοῦ δέ Φαραὼ (τοῦτο γάρ ἦν ὄνομα τῷ τυράννῳ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων) τοῖς θεόθεν παρʼ αὐτοῦ γενομένοις σημείοις άντισοφιστεύειν διά τῆς τῶν γοήτων μαγγανείας ἐπιχειροῦντος, ὅτε πάλιν τοῦ Μωῦσέως ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων τὴν ῥάδδον ἑαυτοῦ Θηριώσαντος, τὸ ίσον ἐνομίσθη θαυματοποιεῖν ἡ γοητεία ἐν ταῖς τῶν μάγων ῥάβδοις. Καὶ ἠλέγχθη διὰ τῆς ἐνεργείας τὸ σόφισμα δείξαντος τοῦ δράκοντος τοῦ ἐκ τῆς Μωῦσέως ῥάβδου μεταδληθέντος ἐκ τοῦ διαφαγεῖν τὰ γοητικὰ ξύλα, τοῦς δφεις δῆθεν, ὅτι Τῇ γάρ αὐτῇ δυνάμει, κατά τὸν αὑτὸν καὶ χρόνον καὶ τόπον, τό τε ἁτακτοῦν ἐκολάζετο, καὶ ἀπαθὲς διέο μενε τὸ κακίας ἐλεύθερον. Πάσης γὰρ τότε τῆς τῶν ὑδάτων φύσεως κατὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον τῷ προστάγματι Μωῦσέως είς αἷμα τραπείσης, ὡς καὶ τοὺς ἰχθύας, εἰς σαρκώδη παχύτητα τοῦ ὓδατος μετατεθέντος, διαφθαρῆναι, τοῖς Ἑβραίοις ἀρυομένοις μόνοις ὕδωρ τὸ αἷμα ἦν. Ὅθεν ἔσχε καὶ ἡ μαγγανεία καιρὸν ἐν τῷ παρὰ τοῖς Ἐδραίοις εὑρισκομένῳ ὕδατι τὸ αἱματῶδες εἶδος παρασοφίσασθαι. Ὡσαύτως καὶ τῶν βατράχων ἐφερψάντων τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ κατὰ τὸ ἀθρόον (ὧν ἡ γένεο σις οὐκ ἀκολουθίᾳ τινὶ φύσεως νενομισμένῃ πρὸς τοσοῦτον ἐχέθη πλῆθος ·, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸ τὸ πρόσταγμα, τῆς τῶν βατράχων συστάσεως τὴν ἀναφανεῖσαν τότε τοῦ ζώου φύσιν ὲκαινοτόμησε) τὸ μὲν Αἰγύπτιον ἅπαν τοῖς θηρίοις τούτοις κατά τάς οἰκήσεις στενοχωρούμενον κατεφθείρετο ο τῶν δὲ Ἐβραίων τῆς ἀηδίας ταύτης ἐκαθάρευενὴ ζωή. Οὕτωςό ἀὴρ τοῖς Δίγυσιτίοις
prostagmati. II de peira ēn hautē ; Rhaodos ekpesousa tēs cheiros, epsychōthē. kai zōon egeneto (drakōn de to zōon ēn) ; kai palin hypo tēs cheiros analēphtheisa, hoper ēn pro tēs thēriōseōs, ekeino egeneto. Kai hē tēs cheiros epiphaneia, nyn men proelētheisa tou kolpou, eis chionos meteMiēthē leukotēta, palin de heisō tou hautou genomenē, epi tēn idian epanerchetai physin. Kationtos de tou Mōseōs epi tēn Digypton, kai synepagomenou tēn gametēn tēn allophylon, kai tous apʼ ekeinēs autǭ gegonotas paidas, hote tis kai angelos autǭ synantēsai legetai, ton peri tou Thanatou phooon epagōn, hon hē gynētǭ haimati tēs peritomēs tou paidos hileōsato ; tote syntychia ginetai tou Aarōn,kaiautou theothen parormēthentos pros tēn synantēsin. Eita parʼ amphoterōn hoen Aigyptǭ laos eis ekklēsian koinēn synageiretai, kai hē tēs douleias apallagē tois peponēkosin ēdē tę̄ kakopatheiątōn ergōn pe riangelletai, kai pros auton ton tyrannon o para toutou ginetai logos. ’Lganaktēsis epi toutois tou tyrannou, kata te tōn epistatountōn tois ergois, kaikata tōn Israēlitōn autōn. meizōn ē proteron ; kai o tēs plintheias phoros epauxetai,kai epiponōteron to epitagma katapempetai, ou tǭ pēlǭ monǭ kakopathountōn, alla kai pe ri to achyron te kai tēn kalamēn talaipōrountōn. Tou de Pharaō (touto gar ēn onoma tǭ tyrannǭ tōn Aigyptiōn) tois theothen parʼ autou genomenois sēmeiois antisophisteuein dia tēs tōn goētōn manganeias epicheirountos, hote palin tou Mōyseōs en ophthalmois tōn Aigyptiōn tēn rhaddon heautou Thēriōsantos, to ison enomisthē thaumatopoiein hē goēteia en tais tōn magōn rhabdois. Kai ēlenchthē dia tēs energeias to sophisma deixantos tou drakontos tou ek tēs Mōyseōs rhabdou metadlēthentos ek tou diaphagein ta goētika xyla, tous dpheis dēthen, hoti Tę̄ gar autę̄ dynamei, kata ton hauton kai chronon kai topon, to te hataktoun ekolazeto, kai apathes dieo mene to kakias eleutheron. Pasēs gar tote tēs tōn hydatōn physeōs kata tēn Aigypton tǭ prostagmati Mōyseōs eis haima trapeisēs, hōs kai tous ichthyas, eis sarkōdē pachytēta tou hydatos metatethentos, diaphtharēnai, tois Hebraiois aryomenois monois hydōr to haima ēn. Hothen esche kai hē manganeia kairon en tǭ para tois Edraiois heuriskomenǭ hydati to haimatōdes eidos parasophisasthai. Hōsautōs kai tōn batrachōn epherpsantōn tę̄ Aigyptǭ kata to athroon (hōn hē geneo sis ouk akolouthią tini physeōs nenomismenę̄ pros tosouton echethē plēthos ;, allʼ auto to prostagma, tēs tōn batrachōn systaseōs tēn anaphaneisan tote tou zōou physin ekainotomēse) to men Aigyption hapan tois thēriois toutois kata tas oikēseis stenochōroumenon katephtheireto o tōn de Ebraiōn tēs aēdias tautēs ekathareuenē zōē. Houtōso aēr tois Digysitiois
command. The trial was this: a rod fell from his hand, came alive, and became an animal (the animal was a serpent); and when it was taken up again by the hand it became what it had been before it turned into a beast. And the skin of his hand, when brought out of his bosom, was changed to the whiteness of snow; put back inside again, it returned to its own nature. As Moses was going down to Egypt, bringing with him his foreign wife and the children she had borne him, an angel is said to have met him, bringing the fear of death, which the woman appeased with the blood of her child’s circumcision. Then the meeting with Aaron takes place, he too having been moved by God to come to meet him. Then the people in Egypt are gathered by both of them into a common assembly; deliverance from slavery is proclaimed to those already worn out by the hardship of their labours; and Moses addresses the tyrant himself. Upon this the tyrant’s anger against both the overseers of the works and the Israelites themselves grows greater than before. The tribute of bricks is increased and a more toilsome order is sent down, so that they suffered not only over the clay but laboured also over the straw and stubble. Pharaoh (this was the name of the Egyptians’ tyrant) tried to counter with sophistry, through the trickery of sorcerers, the signs that came from God by Moses’ hand. When Moses again, before the eyes of the Egyptians, turned his rod into a beast, the sorcery was thought to work the same wonder with the rods of the magicians. But the sophistry was exposed by the event itself: the serpent changed from Moses’ rod showed it by devouring the sorcerers’ sticks, the supposed snakes … For by the same power, at the same time and in the same place, the disorderly was punished, and what was free of vice remained unharmed. When the whole nature of the waters throughout Egypt was turned into blood at Moses’ command, so that even the fish perished as the water was changed into a fleshy thickness, for the Hebrews alone the blood they drew was water. This gave the sorcery its opportunity to counterfeit the bloody appearance in the water found among the Hebrews. Likewise when frogs crept over Egypt all at once (their generation was not poured out in such numbers by any customary sequence of nature, but the command itself made new the nature of the creature that then appeared, beyond the ordinary formation of frogs), all of Egypt was distressed and ruined in its dwellings by these creatures, while the life of the Hebrews stayed clean of this unpleasantness. So too the air, for the Egyptians,
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Exod 4:1–31 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 5:1–21 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 7:8–25 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 8:1–15 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The narrative continues with the signs of the rod and the hand, the meeting with Aaron, Pharaoh’s harsher demands, the contest with the magicians, and the first plagues, from which the Hebrews are spared.
- Exod 4:1–8:15 in outline.
- After “the supposed snakes” some lines are lost in the scan (marked …); the following sentence begins a general statement that the plagues struck the Egyptians but not the Hebrews.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: Latin letters for Καὶ): Kal ἡ → Καὶ ἡ.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 307 (PG 44:308a–308d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/297/#p-307). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 309
309PG 44:309a–309d
μὲν ὀὐδεμίαν νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας παρεῖχε διάκρισιν, έν ὁμοίῳ διαμενόντων τῷ ζόφῳ ο τοῖς δὲ Ἑβραίοις οὐδὲν ὲν τούτοις ὲκαινοτομεῖτο παρὰ τὸ σύνηθες. Καὶ τἆλλα πάντα, κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ο ή χάλαζα, τὸ πῦρ, αἱ φλυκτίδες, οἰ σκνίπες, αί κυνόμυιαι. τῶν ἀκρίδων τὸ νέφος, κατὰ μὲν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἕκαστον, καθὸ πέφυκεν, ἐνήργει · οἱ δὲ Ἑβραῖοι φήμαις καὶ διηγήμασι τὸ τῶν συνοικούντων πάθος ἐγίνωσκον, οὐδεμίαν έν ἑαυτοῖς προσβολὴν τῶν τοιούτων δεχόμενοι. Εἶτα τῶν πρωτοτόκων ό ὄλεθρος ἀκριβεστέραν ἐποίει τοῦ Ἐβραίου πρὸς τὸν Αίγύπτιον τήν διάκρισιν τῶν μὲν ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν φιλτάτων ἀπωλείᾳ συγχεομένων τοῖς θρήνοις, τῶν δὲ ὲν ἠσυχίᾳ πάσῃ καὶ ἀσφαλείᾳ διαμενόντων · οἷς ή σωτηρία τῇ προσχύσει τοῦ αἵματος κατησφαλίσθη κατὰ πᾶσαν εἴσοδον, ἕκατέρωθεν τῶν σταθμῶν μετὰ τῆς ὲπεζευγμένης αὐτοῖς φλιᾶς κατασημανθέντων διὰ τοῦ αἵματος. Ἐ πὶ τούτοις τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν πρωτοτόκων συμφορᾷ βεβλημένων, καὶ καθʼ ἑαυτὸν ἑκάστου, καὶ κοινῇ πάντων ὀλοφυρομένων τά πάθη· καθηγεῖται τῆς ἐξόδου τοῖς Ἰσραηλίταις ό Μωῦσῆς, προπαρασκευάν σας αὐτοὺς, ἐπὶ σχήματι χρήσεως μεθʼ ἑαυτῶν τὸν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων πλοῦτον ἀνακομίσασθαι. Καὶ τριῶν ἡμερῶν ὁδὸν ἔξω τῆς Αἰγύπτου γεγενημένων, πάλιν φησὶν ή ἱστορία, χαλεπὸν ποιήσασθαι τὸν Αίγύπτιον, τὺ μὴ παραμεῖναι τῇ δουλείᾳ τὸν Ἰσραήλ ο καὶ πολεμι- ‘ κῶς ἅπαν συσκευάσαντα τὸ ὑπήκοον, διὰ τῆς ίππικῆς δυνάμεως ἐπιδραμεῖν τῷ λαῷ. Τὸν δὲ θεασάμενον τὴν τῶν ἵππων τε καὶ τῶν ὅπλων παρασκευὴν, ἀπειροπόλεμον ὄντα, καὶ τῶν τοιούτων θαυμάτων άγύμναστον, εὐθὺς καταπλαγῆναι τῷ φόβῳ, καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Μωῦσέως συνίστασθαι. Ὅτε καὶ τὸ παραδοξότατον περὶ τοῦ Μωῦσέως ή ἱστορία λέγει, διχῇ ταῖς ὲνεργείαις διατεμνόμενον, τῇ μὲν φωνῇ καὶ τῷ λόγῳ παραθαρσύνειν τε τοὺς Ἰσραηλίτας, καὶ τὰς ἀγαθάς Ιίρδς ταύτηνναὺτός τε βλέπων ό Μωῦσῆς, καλ τὸν λαὸν ἀκολουθεῖν τῷ φαινομένῳ διδάξας -ὲπειδιί κατὰ τὸ Ἐρυθραῖον ἐγένοντο πέλαγος, ἐκεῖ τῆς νεφέλης πρὸς τήν πορείαν καθηγουμένης, πανστρατιᾷ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων τὸν λαὸν ὲκ τῶν κατόπιν zu» κλωσαμένων, οὐδεμιᾶς αὐτοῖς οὐδαμόθεν τῶν δεινῶν φυγῆς περιούσης, πολεμίων καὶ ὓδατος κατὰ τὸ μέσον ἀπειλημμένοις ο τότε, τὸ πάντων ἀπιστότατον, θείᾳ δυνάμει παρορμηθεὶς ό Μωῦσῆς κατειρέ γάσατο. Προσεγγίσας γάρ κατὰ τὴν ὴῖόνα τῷ ὕδατι, πλήσσει τῇ ῥάβδῳ τὸ πέλαγος ο τὸ δὲ πρὸς τὴν πληγὴν ύπεσχίζετο. Καὶ καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῆς ὑέλου πέφυκε
men oudemian nyktos kai hēmeras pareiche diakrisin, en homoiǭ diamenontōn tǭ zophǭ o tois de Hebraiois ouden en toutois ekainotomeito para to synēthes. Kai talla panta, kata ton auton tropon o ē chalaza, to pyr, hai phlyktides, oi sknipes, ai kynomuiai. tōn akridōn to nephos, kata men tōn Aigyptiōn hekaston, katho pephyken, enērgei ; hoi de Hebraioi phēmais kai diēgēmasi to tōn synoikountōn pathos eginōskon, oudemian en heautois prosbolēn tōn toioutōn dechomenoi. Eita tōn prōtotokōn o olethros akribesteran epoiei tou Ebraiou pros ton Aigyption tēn diakrisin tōn men epi tę̄ tōn philtatōn apōleią syncheomenōn tois thrēnois, tōn de en ēsychią pasę̄ kai asphaleią diamenontōn ; hois ē sōtēria tę̄ proschysei tou haimatos katēsphalisthē kata pasan eisodon, hekaterōthen tōn stathmōn meta tēs epezeugmenēs autois phlias katasēmanthentōn dia tou haimatos. E pi toutois tōn Aigyptiōn epi tę̄ tōn prōtotokōn symphorą beblēmenōn, kai kathʼ heauton hekastou, kai koinę̄ pantōn olophyromenōn ta pathē; kathēgeitai tēs exodou tois Israēlitais o Mōysēs, proparaskeuan sas autous, epi schēmati chrēseōs methʼ heautōn ton tōn Aigyptiōn plouton anakomisasthai. Kai triōn hēmerōn hodon exō tēs Aigyptou gegenēmenōn, palin phēsin ē historia, chalepon poiēsasthai ton Aigyption, ty mē parameinai tę̄ douleią ton Israēl o kai polemi- ‘ kōs hapan syskeuasanta to hypēkoon, dia tēs ippikēs dynameōs epidramein tǭ laǭ. Ton de theasamenon tēn tōn hippōn te kai tōn hoplōn paraskeuēn, apeiropolemon onta, kai tōn toioutōn thaumatōn agymnaston, euthys kataplagēnai tǭ phobǭ, kai kata tou Mōyseōs synistasthai. Hote kai to paradoxotaton peri tou Mōyseōs ē historia legei, dichę̄ tais energeiais diatemnomenon, tę̄ men phōnę̄ kai tǭ logǭ paratharsynein te tous Israēlitas, kai tas agathas Iirds tautēnnautos te blepōn o Mōysēs, kal ton laon akolouthein tǭ phainomenǭ didaxas -epeidii kata to Erythraion egenonto pelagos, ekei tēs nephelēs pros tēn poreian kathēgoumenēs, panstratią tōn Aigyptiōn ton laon ek tōn katopin zu» klōsamenōn, oudemias autois oudamothen tōn deinōn phygēs periousēs, polemiōn kai hydatos kata to meson apeilēmmenois o tote, to pantōn apistotaton, theią dynamei parormētheis o Mōysēs kateire gasato. Prosengisas gar kata tēn ēiona tǭ hydati, plēssei tę̄ rhabdǭ to pelagos o to de pros tēn plēgēn ypeschizeto. Kai kathaper epi tēs hyelou pephyke
gave no distinction between night and day, since they remained in the same gloom, while for the Hebrews nothing in this respect changed from the usual. All the rest acted in the same way: the hail, the fire, the boils, the gnats, the dog-flies, the cloud of locusts each worked on the Egyptians according to its nature, while the Hebrews knew the sufferings of their neighbours only by report and story, receiving no assault of such things themselves. Then the destruction of the firstborn made the distinction between Hebrew and Egyptian sharper still. The one were overwhelmed with lamentation at the loss of their dearest, while the others remained in all quiet and safety; their salvation was secured by the pouring of blood at every entrance, the doorposts on either side, together with the lintel joined to them, being marked with the blood. Upon this, while the Egyptians lay stricken by the calamity of their firstborn and lamented their sufferings each by himself and all together, Moses leads the Israelites out in the exodus, having prepared them beforehand to carry off with them the wealth of the Egyptians under the guise of a loan. When they had gone three days’ journey out of Egypt, the history says again, the Egyptian took it hard that Israel did not remain in slavery; he equipped all his subjects for war and attacked the people with his cavalry. When the people saw the array of horses and arms, being without experience of war and unused to such sights, they were at once stricken with fear and rose up against Moses. Here the history says the most paradoxical thing about Moses, that he was divided in two in his activity: by voice and word he encouraged the Israelites and … good … Moses himself looking to this, and having taught the people to follow what appeared. When they came to the Red Sea, with the cloud leading the way, the Egyptians with their whole army surrounded the people from behind; no escape from danger was left them anywhere, caught as they were between enemies and water. Then, moved by divine power, Moses accomplished the most incredible thing of all. Approaching the water at the shore, he strikes the sea with his rod, and at the blow it split open. And as happens with glass
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Exod 9:1–12:36 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 13:21–22 (allusion, medium confidence) · Exod 14:1–21 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The narrative continues through the remaining plagues, the Passover blood, the departure with the Egyptians’ wealth, Pharaoh’s pursuit, and Moses striking the Red Sea.
- Exod 9–14 in outline.
- After “and … good” some lines are lost in the scan (marked …): they told of Moses’ silent cry to God (Exod 14:15) and of the cloud that guided the people (Exod 13:21–22), which the following words presuppose.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris for τὸ νέφος; OCR: Latin letters for Καὶ): Kal. τάλλα → Καὶ τἆλλα; Διιὺμνιξφος → τὸ νέφος.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 309 (PG 44:309a–309d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/297/#p-309). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 311
311PG 44:312a–312d
δη γίνεσθαι, εἰ κατά τι μέρος αὐτῆς ἀρχὴν ὴρἧξις λάβῃ, κατʼ εὐθεῖαν πρὸς τὸ ἕτερον διεξέρχεται πέρας · οὑτω παντὸς τοῦ πελάγους ἐκείνου, κατὰ τὸ ἄκρον ὑπορραγέντος τῇ ῥάβδῳ, ἐπὶ τὴν ἀντικειμένην ὄχθην καὶ ἡτῶν κυμάτων ῥῆξις ἐπέρασε. Καὶ κατα· βὰς ἐπὶ τὸ βάθος ὁ Μωῦσῆς, καθʼ δ διετμήθη τὸ πέλαο γος, σὺν παντὶ τῷ λαῷ βύθιος ἦν, έν ἀβρόχῳ τε καὶ ἡλιουμένῳ τῷ σώματι· καὶ πεζῇ τὰς ἀβύσσους ὲν ξηρῷ τῷ πυθμένι τῆς Θαλάσσης διεξερχόμενος, οὑκ ἐδεδοίκει τὴν αὐτοσχέδιον ἐκείνην ἐκ κυμάτων τειχοποιίαν, ἔνθεν καὶ ἔνθεν, τείχους δίκην, παραπεπηγυίας αὑτοῖς ὲκ πλαγίων τῆς ἅλμης. Τοῦ δὲ Φαραὼ μετὰ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων συνεισπεσόντος ἐπὶ τὸ πέλαγος, κατὰ τὴν καινοτομηθεῖσαν ἐκείνην ὁδὸν ὲν τοῖς ὕδασι, πάλιν συνάπτεται τὸ ὕδωρ τῷ ὕδατι, καὶ ἀνακλύσθείσης πρὸς ἑαυτὴν τῆς θαλάσσης κατὰτὸ σχῆμα, μία τοῦ ὑδατος ἐπιφάνειά τε καί ὄψις γίνεται, ἤδη τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν ἐπὶ τῆς πέραν ἠϊόνος τὸ πολύ τε καὶ σύντονον τῆς διὰ τοῦ πελάγους πορείας ἀναπαυόντων, ὅτε καὶ τὴν ἐπινίκιον ᾖσαν ᾠδὴν τῷ Θεῷς τῷ τότε ἀναίμακτον ὑπὲρ αὑτῶν έγείραντι τρόπαιον, πάντων πανστρατιᾷ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων, αὑτοῖς καὶ τπποις καὶ ὅπλοις καὶ ἅρμασιν, ἀφανισθέντων ὑπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος. Εἶτα πρόεισιν ἐπὶ τὰ πρόσω ό Μωῦσῆς, καὶ τριῶν ἡμερῶν τάνυδρον διοδεύσας ὁδὸν, ὲν ἀμηχανίᾳ γίνεται, μὴ έχων ὅπως τοῦ στρατοῦ τὸ δίψος ’παραζ μυθήσηταιίἮν γάρ τις λίμνη, περὶ ἢν ἐστρατοπέδευσαν, θαλασσίου ὓδατος, μᾶλλον δὲή πικροτέρα ἢ κατὰ θάλασσαν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν προσκαθήμενοι τῷ ὕδατι, τῷ δίψει τοῦ ὓδατος κατεφλέγοντο · θεόθεν αὐτῷ συμβουλῆς γεγενημένης, ξύλον τι περὶ τὸν τόπον εὑρὼν. ἐμβάλλει τῷ ’ὑδατιο τὸ δὲ παραχρῆμα πότιμον ἦν, τοῦ ξύλου τῇ οἰκεία δυνάμει τὴν τοῦ ὓδατος φύσιν εξς ἡδονὴν ὲκ πικρίας μετακεράσαντος. Τῆς δὲ νεφέλης μεταναστάσης ἐπὶ τὰ πρόσω, κάκεῖνοι ἐπὶ τῇ κινήσει τοῦ ὁδηγοῦντος συμμετανίσταντο, ἀεὶ τοῦτο ποιοῦντες, παυόμενοι τε τῆς πορείας, ὲν ᾧπερ ἂν ἡ στάσις τῆς νεφέλης τὸ τῆς ἀναπαύσεως ἔδωκε σύνθημα, καὶ ἀπαίροντες πάλιν, οὗπερ ἂν ἠ νεφέλη τῆς πορείας αὐτῶν ἀφηγήσατο. Καταλαμβάνουσι δὲ, τῷ ὁδηγῷ τούτῳ ἑπόμενοι, τόπον ὕδατι ποτίμῳ κατάρρυτον, δυοδεκαίδεκα πηγαῖς ἀφθόνως περικλυζόμενον. Ἑβδομήκοντα δὲ ἦσαν οἰ φοίνικες, ἀρκοῦντες καὶ ὲν όλίγῳ τῷ ἀριθμῷ πολὺ ποιῆσαι τοῖς ὁρῶσι τὸ θαῦμα,τῷ ὑπεραίρειν κατὰ τὸ κάλλος τε καὶ μέγεθος. Πάλιν κάκεῖθεν ό όδηγὸς ἡ νεφέλη πρὸς ἔτει ρον ἄγει τόπον τὸν στρατὸν ἀναστήσασα. Ἔρημος δέ τις οὗτος ἦν, ὲν αὑχμηρᾷ καὶ διακεκαλυμ· μένῃ τῇ ψάμμῳ, μηδεμιᾶς ὑδάτων ἰκμάδος ὑπονοτιζούσης τὸν χῶρον, ὲν ᾦ πάλιν τὸν λαὸν τοῦ δίψους καταπονήσαντος, πέτρα τις ἐπὶ γεωλόφου
dē ginesthai, ei kata ti meros autēs archēn ērēxis labę̄, katʼ eutheian pros to heteron diexerchetai peras ; houtō pantos tou pelagous ekeinou, kata to akron hyporragentos tę̄ rhabdǭ, epi tēn antikeimenēn ochthēn kai hētōn kymatōn rhēxis eperase. Kai kata; bas epi to bathos ho Mōysēs, kathʼ d dietmēthē to pelao gos, syn panti tǭ laǭ bythios ēn, en abrochǭ te kai hēlioumenǭ tǭ sōmati; kai pezę̄ tas abyssous en xērǭ tǭ pythmeni tēs Thalassēs diexerchomenos, houk ededoikei tēn autoschedion ekeinēn ek kymatōn teichopoiian, enthen kai enthen, teichous dikēn, parapepēguias hautois ek plagiōn tēs halmēs. Tou de Pharaō meta tōn Aigyptiōn syneispesontos epi to pelagos, kata tēn kainotomētheisan ekeinēn hodon en tois hydasi, palin synaptetai to hydōr tǭ hydati, kai anaklystheisēs pros heautēn tēs thalassēs katato schēma, mia tou hydatos epiphaneia te kai opsis ginetai, ēdē tōn Israēlitōn epi tēs peran ēïonos to poly te kai syntonon tēs dia tou pelagous poreias anapauontōn, hote kai tēn epinikion ę̄san ǭdēn tǭ Theǭs tǭ tote anaimakton hyper hautōn egeiranti tropaion, pantōn panstratią tōn Aigyptiōn, hautois kai tppois kai hoplois kai harmasin, aphanisthentōn hypo tou hydatos. Eita proeisin epi ta prosō o Mōysēs, kai triōn hēmerōn tanydron diodeusas hodon, en amēchanią ginetai, mē echōn hopōs tou stratou to dipsos ’paraz mythēsētaiiĒn gar tis limnē, peri ēn estratopedeusan, thalassiou hydatos, mallon deē pikrotera ē kata thalassan. Epei oun proskathēmenoi tǭ hydati, tǭ dipsei tou hydatos katephlegonto ; theothen autǭ symboulēs gegenēmenēs, xylon ti peri ton topon heurōn. emballei tǭ ’hydatio to de parachrēma potimon ēn, tou xylou tę̄ oikeia dynamei tēn tou hydatos physin exs hēdonēn ek pikrias metakerasantos. Tēs de nephelēs metanastasēs epi ta prosō, kakeinoi epi tę̄ kinēsei tou hodēgountos symmetanistanto, aei touto poiountes, pauomenoi te tēs poreias, en hǭper an hē stasis tēs nephelēs to tēs anapauseōs edōke synthēma, kai apairontes palin, houper an ē nephelē tēs poreias autōn aphēgēsato. Katalambanousi de, tǭ hodēgǭ toutǭ hepomenoi, topon hydati potimǭ katarryton, dyodekaideka pēgais aphthonōs periklyzomenon. Hebdomēkonta de ēsan oi phoinikes, arkountes kai en oligǭ tǭ arithmǭ poly poiēsai tois horōsi to thauma,tǭ hyperairein kata to kallos te kai megethos. Palin kakeithen o odēgos hē nephelē pros etei ron agei topon ton straton anastēsasa. Erēmos de tis houtos ēn, en hauchmērą kai diakekalym; menę̄ tę̄ psammǭ, mēdemias hydatōn ikmados hyponotizousēs ton chōron, en ǭ palin ton laon tou dipsous kataponēsantos, petra tis epi geōlophou
when a crack begins at some part of it, it runs in a straight line through to the other edge, so when that whole sea was split at its edge by the rod, the break in the waves too passed through to the opposite shore. Moses went down into the deep where the sea had been cut, and he was on the sea floor with all the people, his body dry and in the sunlight; crossing the abysses on foot on the dry bottom of the sea, he did not fear that improvised wall-building of waves, as the brine stood fixed beside them on either side like a wall. When Pharaoh with the Egyptians rushed into the sea after them along that newly made road in the waters, the water joins again to the water; the sea washes back on itself to its former shape, and there is once more one surface and appearance of water, while the Israelites are already resting on the far shore from the long and strenuous journey through the sea. Then they sang the song of victory to God, who had raised for them a bloodless trophy, since all the Egyptians with their whole army, with horses and arms and chariots, had been destroyed by the water. Then Moses goes on further. After travelling a three days’ waterless road he is at a loss, with no means of relieving the army’s thirst. For there was a lake of sea water by which they encamped, or rather one more bitter than the sea. Since they sat by the water and yet burned with thirst for water, counsel came to him from God; he found a piece of wood near the place and threw it into the water, and at once it was drinkable, the wood by its own power having changed the nature of the water from bitterness to sweetness. When the cloud moved on, they too moved with the motion of their guide, always doing this: halting their journey wherever the halting of the cloud gave the signal for rest, and setting out again wherever the cloud led their journey. Following this guide, they reach a place well watered with drinkable water, abundantly surrounded by twelve springs; and there were seventy palm trees, enough even in their small number to make the wonder great for those who saw them, because they surpassed others in beauty and size. Again from there their guide, the cloud, raises the army and leads it to another place. This was a desert of parched and scorched sand, with no moisture of water dampening the ground; and here again, when thirst had worn out the people, a rock on a hillock
Exod 14:21–31 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 15:1–27 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 17:1 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Israel crosses the Red Sea on dry ground, the Egyptians drown, the people sing their victory song, Marah’s water is made sweet, and they reach Elim before thirst strikes again in the desert.
- Exod 14:21–15:27; 17:1.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris for Ἑβδομήκοντα): r12660μήκοντα. δὲ → Ἑβδομήκοντα δὲ.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 311 (PG 44:312a–312d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/297/#p-311). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 313
313PG 44:313a–313d
τούτῳδὲ τῷ θαύματι συνεθεωρεϊτο καὶ τό ἕτερον · τὸ πάντας ἐπὶ τὴν συλλογὴν ἐξιόντας, ἐν διαφόροις (ὡς ιίκὸς) ἡλικίαις τε καὶ δυνάμεσι, μήτε ἔλαττον ἓτερον ἐτέρου, κατά τὴν τῆς δυνάμεως διαφοράν, συγκομίζεσθαι ο ἀλλά μετρεῖσθαι τῇ ἑκάστου χρείᾳ τὸ συναγόμενον, ὡς μήτε τὸν δυνατώτερον τὸ πλέον ἔχειν, μήτε ἐλαττοῦσθαι τῆς ἰσομοιρίας τὸν ἀσθενέστερον. Πάλιν ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἓτερον θαῦμα ἡ ἱστορία φησὶν, ὅτι τὸ πρὸς ἡμέραν ἕκαστος κομιζόμενος, οὐδὲν είς τὴν ἑξῆς ἀπετίθετο. Τῷ δὲ φειδωλία τινὶ πρὸς τὴν ἐκ τῆς παρούσης τροφῆς ταμιεύσαντι, ἄχρηστον ἦν πρὸς τροφὴν τὸ ἀπόθετον, είς σκωλήκων φύσιν μεταποιούμενον. Πρόσεστί τι καὶ ἄλλο τῇ παρά τῆς τρο-. φῆς ταύτης ἱστορίᾳ παράδοξον. Τῶν γάρ τῆς ἐβδομάδος ἡμερῶν τῆς μιᾶς, κατά τινα λόγον μυστικὸν, ἀπραξία τετιμημένης, ἐν τῇ πρὸ αὐτῆς ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ῐσης, ὡς πρὸς τὸν ἔμπροσθεν χρόνον γινομένης ἐπιρῤθῆς, καὶ τῆς τῶν συλλεγόντων προθυμίας τὸ ἴσον ἐχούσηςο διπλάσιον εὑρίσκετο τοῦ συνήθους μέτρου τὸ συναγόμενον· ὡς ἂν μηδεμίαν ἔχοιεν ἀφορμὴν, τῇ τῆς τροφῆς ἀνάγκῃ παραλύειν τῆς ἀπραξίας τὸν νόμον. Ἐν ᾧ δὴ καὶ πλέον ἡ θεία ἐδείκνυτο δύναμις, ὅτι ταῖς ἄλλαις ἡμέραις, ἀχρειουμένου τοῦ περισσεύοντος, ἐν μόνῃ τῇ πρὸ τοῦ σαββάτου παρασκευῇ (τοῦτο γὰρ ὄνομα τῇ ἀπράκτῳ ἡμέρᾳ) τὸ ταμιευθὲν, ἀδιάφθορον ἔμεινεν, ὡς κατʼ οὐδὲν εἶναι τοῦ προσφάτου δοκεῖν ἑωλότερον. Εἶτα πόλεμος αὐτοῖς συγκροτεῖται πρός τι ἔθνος ἀλλόφυλον (Ἀμαληκίτας δὲ τοὺς κατʼ αὐτῶν τότε συστάντας ὀνομάζει 6 λόγος) καὶ τότε πρῶτον είς παράταξιν τὸ ἰσραηλιτικὸν ἐξοπλίξεταισ ού πανστρατιᾷ πάντων συγκινηθέντων ἐπὶ τὴν μάχην, ἀλλʼ ἀριστίνδην ἐξειλεγμένων, καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς λογάδων ἀναδεξαμένων τὸν πόλεμον · ἐν ᾧ πάλιν καινὸν ἔδειξε στρατηγίας τρόπον 6 Μωῢσῆς. Τοῦ γὰρ Ἰησοῦ, ὃς μετά τὸν Μωῦσέα τοῦ λαοῦ καθηγήσατο, τότε τοῖς Ἀμαληκίταις τὸν στρατὸν ἀντεξάγοντος, ἔξω τῶν ὃπλων ό Μωῡσῆς ἐπί τινος σκοπιᾶς γεωλόφου πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀναβλέπει, συνεστώτων ἐκάτέρωθεν αὐτῷ δύο τῶν ἐπιτηδείων, ὅτε τοιοῦτον ἐπὶ τοῖς γινομένοις θαῦμα παρά τῆς ἱστορίας ἀκούομενσ Εἰ μὲν ἐπῆρε πρὸς οὐρανὸν τὰς χεῖρας 6 Μωῦσῆς, ίπερῤὡννυτο κατὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν τὸ ύπήκοον· εί δὲ καθῆκεν, ἐνεδίδου καί 6 στρατὸς τῇ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων ὁρμῇ· 6 δὴ συνέντες oi παρεστῶτες αὐτῷ, βαρείας τε καὶ δυσκινήτους, ἐκ τινος κεκρυμμένης αἰτίας, τοῦ Μωῦσέως τάς χεῖρας γεγενημένας, ἑκατέρωθεν ὑποβάντες ὑπήρειδον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀσθενέστεροι ἦσαν, ἢ ὥστε ἀνέχειν αὑτὸν ἐν ὀρθίῳ τῷ σχήματι, λίθῳ τὴν καθέδραν αὐτοῦ ύπερείσαντες, οὕτως εἰς οὐρανὸν ἐπαίρειν τὸν Μωῡσέα διʼ ἑαυτῶν τὰς χεῖρας ἐποίησαν· οὗ γενομένου κατά κράτος ἡττᾶται ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν τὸ ἀλλόφυλον. Ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ αὑτοῦ τόπου τῆς νεφέλης μενούσης, ἦ καθηγεῖτο τοῦ λαοῦ τῆς πορείας ο ἀνάγκη πᾶσα ἦν, μηδέ τὸν λαὸν μετανίστασθαι, μηδενὸς ὄντος τοῦ καθηγουμένου πρὸς τὴν μετάστασιν. Οὕτως δέ αὐτοῖς ἀμογητὶ τῆς πρὸς τὸ
toutǭde tǭ thaumati synetheōreïto kai to heteron ; to pantas epi tēn syllogēn exiontas, en diaphorois (hōs iikos) hēlikiais te kai dynamesi, mēte elatton heteron eterou, kata tēn tēs dynameōs diaphoran, synkomizesthai o alla metreisthai tę̄ hekastou chreią to synagomenon, hōs mēte ton dynatōteron to pleon echein, mēte elattousthai tēs isomoirias ton asthenesteron. Palin epi toutǭ heteron thauma hē historia phēsin, hoti to pros hēmeran hekastos komizomenos, ouden eis tēn hexēs apetitheto. Tǭ de pheidōlia tini pros tēn ek tēs parousēs trophēs tamieusanti, achrēston ēn pros trophēn to apotheton, eis skōlēkōn physin metapoioumenon. Prosesti ti kai allo tę̄ para tēs tro-. phēs tautēs historią paradoxon. Tōn gar tēs ebdomados hēmerōn tēs mias, kata tina logon mystikon, apraxia tetimēmenēs, en tę̄ pro autēs hēmerą tēs isēs, hōs pros ton emprosthen chronon ginomenēs epirrthēs, kai tēs tōn syllegontōn prothymias to ison echousēso diplasion heurisketo tou synēthous metrou to synagomenon; hōs an mēdemian echoien aphormēn, tę̄ tēs trophēs anankę̄ paralyein tēs apraxias ton nomon. En hǭ dē kai pleon hē theia edeiknyto dynamis, hoti tais allais hēmerais, achreioumenou tou perisseuontos, en monę̄ tę̄ pro tou sabbatou paraskeuę̄ (touto gar onoma tę̄ apraktǭ hēmerą) to tamieuthen, adiaphthoron emeinen, hōs katʼ ouden einai tou prosphatou dokein heōloteron. Eita polemos autois synkroteitai pros ti ethnos allophylon (Amalēkitas de tous katʼ autōn tote systantas onomazei 6 logos) kai tote prōton eis parataxin to israēlitikon exoplixetais ou panstratią pantōn synkinēthentōn epi tēn machēn, allʼ aristindēn exeilegmenōn, kai tōn en autois logadōn anadexamenōn ton polemon ; en hǭ palin kainon edeixe stratēgias tropon 6 Mōÿsēs. Tou gar Iēsou, hos meta ton Mōysea tou laou kathēgēsato, tote tois Amalēkitais ton straton antexagontos, exō tōn hoplōn o Mōysēs epi tinos skopias geōlophou pros ton ouranon anablepei, synestōtōn ekaterōthen autǭ dyo tōn epitēdeiōn, hote toiouton epi tois ginomenois thauma para tēs historias akouomens Ei men epēre pros ouranon tas cheiras 6 Mōysēs, iperrōnnyto kata tōn echthrōn to ypēkoon; ei de kathēken, enedidou kai 6 stratos tę̄ tōn allophylōn hormę̄; 6 dē synentes oi parestōtes autǭ, bareias te kai dyskinētous, ek tinos kekrymmenēs aitias, tou Mōyseōs tas cheiras gegenēmenas, hekaterōthen hypobantes hypēreidon. Epei de asthenesteroi ēsan, ē hōste anechein hauton en orthiǭ tǭ schēmati, lithǭ tēn kathedran autou ypereisantes, houtōs eis ouranon epairein ton Mōysea diʼ heautōn tas cheiras epoiēsan; hou genomenou kata kratos hēttatai hypo tōn Israēlitōn to allophylon. Epi de tou hautou topou tēs nephelēs menousēs, ē kathēgeito tou laou tēs poreias o anankē pasa ēn, mēde ton laon metanistasthai, mēdenos ontos tou kathēgoumenou pros tēn metastasin. Houtōs de autois amogēti tēs pros to
… Along with this wonder another was observed as well. All went out to gather, differing (as is likely) in age and strength, yet no one brought in less than another according to the difference of his strength; what was gathered was measured by each one’s need, so that neither did the stronger have more nor was the weaker deprived of an equal share. Besides this the history tells of yet another wonder: each took up only what was for the day and laid nothing by for the next; and for anyone who out of thrift stored away some of the present food, what was set aside was useless as food, being changed into the nature of worms. There is also something else paradoxical in the history of this food. Of the days of the week one was honoured with rest from work, for a certain mystical reason. On the day before it, although the fall was equal to that of the preceding time, and the eagerness of the gatherers the same, what was gathered was found to be double the usual measure, so that they might have no pretext for breaking the law of rest through the need of food. In this the divine power was shown still more: on the other days the surplus was spoiled, but on the preparation day alone, before the Sabbath (for this is the name of the day of rest), what was stored remained uncorrupted, so that it seemed in no way staler than what was fresh. Then a war is joined against them by a foreign nation (the account names those who then rose against them Amalekites). Then for the first time the Israelites are armed for battle — not with all of them moved to the fight in full force, but with picked men chosen by merit, and the select among them taking up the war. Here again Moses showed a new kind of generalship. While Joshua, who led the people after Moses, was leading out the army against the Amalekites, Moses, apart from the fighting, looks up toward heaven from a hilltop lookout, with two of his close companions standing on either side of him. Then we hear from the history of a wonder of this kind in what took place: if Moses raised his hands toward heaven, his men grew strong against the enemy; if he let them down, the army too gave way before the foreigners’ onslaught. Those standing by him understood this; and since Moses’ hands had become heavy and hard to move, for some hidden reason, they went under them on either side and held them up. But since they were too weak to keep him upright, they propped his seat with a stone, and so by their help made Moses lift his hands to heaven. When this was done, the foreigners were defeated by the Israelites by force. While the cloud that led the people’s journey remained in the same place, it was entirely necessary that the people too should not move on, since there was nothing to lead them to move. So, without toil, … their [supply] for
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Exod 16:1–30 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 17:8–13 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The narrative continues with the manna, given in equal measure to all, spoiling when hoarded and doubled before the Sabbath, and with the victory over Amalek while Moses’ hands were held up.
- Exod 16 (the manna); Exod 17:8–13 (Amalek). Between the end of the previous page (the people thirsting near a rock, Exod 17:1–7) and the opening here, the account of the water from the rock and the beginning of the manna story is lost in the scan (marked …). The page also breaks off mid-sentence (…).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (Latin letters) for τοῖς): ἐπὶ sui; γινομένοις → ἐπὶ τοῖς γινομένοις.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 313 (PG 44:313a–313d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/297/#p-313). (abbreviation not yet checked)
BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis-313) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 315
315PG 44:316a
Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ καί τινος αὐτοῖς ἀπορρητοτέρας μυήσεως 6 Μωῦσῆς καθηγεϊτο· αὐτῆς τῆς θείας δυναμεως, διὰ τῶν ὑπὲρ λόγον θαυμάτων, τόν τε λαδν πάντα. καὶ αὑτὸν τὸν καθηγεμόνα μυσταγωγούσης. Ἦ δὲ μυσταγωγία τοῦτον ἐπιτελεῖται τὸν τρόπον· Προείρητο τῷ λαῷ, τῶν τε ἀλλων μολυσμάτων ἐκτὸς εἶναι πάντων, ὃσα περὶ τὸ σῶμα καὶ ψυχὴν καθορᾶται, καὶ περιρραντηρίοις τισὶν ἀφαγνίσασθαι, καὶ αὑτοῦ δέ τοῦ γάμου ἐν ρητῷ τινι ἡμερῶν ἀριθμῷ καθαρεῦσαι, ὡς πάσης ἐμπαθοῦς τε καὶ σωματικῆς διαθέσεως ἐκπλυθέντα, καθαρὸν πάθους προσβῆναι τῷ ὄρει μυηθησόμενον. Σινᾶ δὲ ἦν τοῦ ὅρους τοῦνομα, ὃ μόνοις ἀνείθη, κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖνον, τοῖς λογικοῖς είς ἐπίβασιν, καὶ τούτων τοῖς ἀνδράσι μόνοις, καὶ τούτων πάλιν τοῖς παντὸς ἀφαγνισθεῑσι μιάσματος. Φυλακὴ δὲ πᾶσα ῆν καὶ προμήθεια, τοῦ μηδὲν τῶν ἀλόγων ἐπιῦατεῦσαι Εἶτα τὸ ἐναέριον φῶς ἐκ καθαρᾶς αἰθρίας ζόφῳ κατεμελαίνετο, ὠς ἀόρατον γενέσθαι τὺ ὄπ, ἐν κύκλῳ τῷ γνόφῳ διειλημμένον· πῦρ τε ἐκ τοῦ γνόφου διαφαινόμενον φοβερὰν ἐποίει τοῖς δρῶσι τὴν ὄψιν, πανταχόθεν τὴν περιοχὴν τοῦ ὄρους ἐπιβοσκόμενον, ὡς καὶ καπνῷ διὰ τῆς τοῦ πυρὸς ὑποδρομῆς ἅπαν τὸ φαινόμενον ὑποτύφεσθαι. Ἦγείτο δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ 6 Μωῦσῆς πρὸς τὴν ἄνοδον. οὐδὲ αὐτὸς θαρρῶν τὸ ὁρώμενον, ἀλλὰ κατεπτηκὼς τὴν ψυχὴν ὑπὸ δέους, καὶ τὸ σῶμα τῷ φόβῳ συγκραδαινόμενος, ὡς μηδὲ πρὸς τοὺς Ἰσραηλίτας τὸ πάθος τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπικρύπτεσθαι, ὁμολογεῖν τε πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὸ καταπεπλῆχθαι τοῖς φαινομένοις, καὶ μὴ ἀτρεμεῖν ἐν τῷ σιῦματι. Ἦν γὰρ τὸ φαινόμενον ού τοιοῦτον μόνον, οἷον ἔκπληξιν τῇ ψυχῇ διὰ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἐμποιῆσαι, ἀλλά διὰ τῆς ἀκοῆς εἰσηχεῖτο τὰ φοβεράʼ φωνῆς ἀνωθεν καταπληκτικῶς ἐπιρῥηο γνυμένης ἐφʼ ἆπαν τὸ ὑποκείμενον, ἧς χαλεπὴ μὲν καὶὴ πρώτη προσβολὴ καὶ ἀκοῇ πάσῃ δυσέντευκτος ἦν· ἐν ὁμοιότητι μὲν τῆς τῶν σαλπίγγων ἠχῆς γιγνομένη, παριοῦσα δέ τῷ φοβερῷ καὶ καταπληκτικῷ τῆς φωνῆς ἆπαν τοιοῦτον ὑπόδειγμα· φοβερωτέρα δέ προϊοῦσα ἐγίγνετο, ἀεὶ πρὸς τὸ καταπληκτικώτερον διά προσθήκης τὸν ἦχον αὐτῆς ἐπιτείνουσα. Ἡ δέ φωνὴ αὓτη ἔναρθρος ἦν, θείᾳ δυνάμει, δίχα τῶν φωνητικῶν ὀργάνων, τοῦ ἀέρος διαρθροῦντος τὸν λόγον. Ἦν δὲ 6 λόγος ούκ εἰκῆ διαρθρούμενος, η ἀλλʼ ἐνομοθέτει τὰ θεῖα διδάγματα. Καὶ ἡ μὲν φωνὴ προϊοῦσα, διʼ ἐπιδόσεως ηὕξετο, καὶ ὑπερήχει ἑαυτὴν ἡ σάλπιγξ, τὰς προλαὸούσας φωνὰς ἀεὶ ταῖς ἐφεξῆς ὑπερβάλλουσα. '0 δὲ λαὸς ἥττων ἦν, ἢ ὥστε ἀνέχεσθαι τὸ φαινόμενόν τε καὶ ἀκουόμενον · διὸ καὶ κοινὴ παρά πάντων αἴτησις προσάγεται τῷ Μωῦσεί, διʼ ἐκείνου μεσιτευθῆναι τὸν νόμον · ὡς οὐκ ἀπιστήσοντος τοῦ λαοῦ, θεῖον εἶναι παράγγελμα, πᾶν ὅτιπερ ἂν παρʼ ἐκείνου κατὰ τὴν ἄνωθεν διδασκαλίαν
En toutǭ de kai tinos autois aporrētoteras myēseōs 6 Mōysēs kathēgeïto; autēs tēs theias dynameōs, dia tōn hyper logon thaumatōn, ton te ladn panta. kai hauton ton kathēgemona mystagōgousēs. Ē de mystagōgia touton epiteleitai ton tropon; Proeirēto tǭ laǭ, tōn te allōn molysmatōn ektos einai pantōn, hosa peri to sōma kai psychēn kathoratai, kai perirrantēriois tisin aphagnisasthai, kai hautou de tou gamou en rētǭ tini hēmerōn arithmǭ kathareusai, hōs pasēs empathous te kai sōmatikēs diatheseōs ekplythenta, katharon pathous prosbēnai tǭ orei myēthēsomenon. Sina de ēn tou horous tounoma, ho monois aneithē, kata ton kairon ekeinon, tois logikois eis epibasin, kai toutōn tois andrasi monois, kai toutōn palin tois pantos aphagnistheisi miasmatos. Phylakē de pasa ēn kai promētheia, tou mēden tōn alogōn epiyateusai Eita to enaerion phōs ek katharas aithrias zophǭ katemelaineto, ōs aoraton genesthai ty op, en kyklǭ tǭ gnophǭ dieilēmmenon; pyr te ek tou gnophou diaphainomenon phoberan epoiei tois drōsi tēn opsin, pantachothen tēn periochēn tou orous epiboskomenon, hōs kai kapnǭ dia tēs tou pyros hypodromēs hapan to phainomenon hypotyphesthai. Ēgeito de tou laou 6 Mōysēs pros tēn anodon. oude autos tharrōn to horōmenon, alla kateptēkōs tēn psychēn hypo deous, kai to sōma tǭ phobǭ synkradainomenos, hōs mēde pros tous Israēlitas to pathos tēs psychēs epikryptesthai, homologein te pros autous to katapeplēchthai tois phainomenois, kai mē atremein en tǭ siymati. Ēn gar to phainomenon ou toiouton monon, hoion ekplēxin tę̄ psychę̄ dia tōn ophthalmōn empoiēsai, alla dia tēs akoēs eisēcheito ta phoberaʼ phōnēs anōthen kataplēktikōs epirrhēo gnymenēs ephʼ apan to hypokeimenon, hēs chalepē men kaiē prōtē prosbolē kai akoę̄ pasę̄ dysenteuktos ēn; en homoiotēti men tēs tōn salpingōn ēchēs gignomenē, pariousa de tǭ phoberǭ kai kataplēktikǭ tēs phōnēs apan toiouton hypodeigma; phoberōtera de proïousa egigneto, aei pros to kataplēktikōteron dia prosthēkēs ton ēchon autēs epiteinousa. Hē de phōnē hautē enarthros ēn, theią dynamei, dicha tōn phōnētikōn organōn, tou aeros diarthrountos ton logon. Ēn de 6 logos ouk eikē diarthroumenos, ē allʼ enomothetei ta theia didagmata. Kai hē men phōnē proïousa, diʼ epidoseōs hēuxeto, kai hyperēchei heautēn hē salpinx, tas prolaoousas phōnas aei tais ephexēs hyperballousa. '0 de laos hēttōn ēn, ē hōste anechesthai to phainomenon te kai akouomenon ; dio kai koinē para pantōn aitēsis prosagetai tǭ Mōysei, diʼ ekeinou mesiteuthēnai ton nomon ; hōs ouk apistēsontos tou laou, theion einai parangelma, pan hotiper an parʼ ekeinou kata tēn anōthen didaskalian
In this setting Moses also led them in a more secret initiation, the divine power itself, through wonders beyond reason, initiating both the whole people and their leader himself. The initiation is carried out in this way. The people had been told beforehand to keep clear of all other defilements, whatever is observed in body and soul, to purify themselves with certain sprinklings, and also to keep pure even from marriage for a fixed number of days, so that, washed clean of every passionate and bodily disposition, they might approach the mountain free of passion to be initiated. The name of the mountain was Sinai. At that time it was opened to be climbed only by rational beings, and of these only by the men, and of these again only by those purified of every defilement. Every guard and precaution was taken that none of the irrational animals should set foot on it. Then the light of the air, from a clear sky, was blackened with gloom, so that the mountain became invisible, enclosed all round in darkness. A fire, shining through the darkness, made the sight fearful to those who saw it, feeding on the whole circuit of the mountain from every side, so that everything visible smouldered with smoke as the fire ran beneath. Moses led the people to the ascent, and he himself was not confident at what he saw; his soul cowered with dread and his body trembled with fear, so that he did not hide the state of his soul even from the Israelites, but confessed to them that he was struck with terror at what appeared and could not keep his body still. For what appeared was not only such as to strike the soul with amazement through the eyes: terrors sounded in through the hearing too, as a voice broke out from above, terrifyingly, upon everything below. Its first onset was hard and unbearable to all hearing. It was like the sound of trumpets, but surpassed every such comparison in the fearfulness and terror of the voice; and as it went on it became more fearful still, always intensifying its sound toward greater terror by increase. This voice was articulate, the air shaping the words by divine power without organs of speech. And the words were not shaped at random: they gave the divine teachings as law. As the voice went on it grew by increase, and the trumpet outsounded itself, always surpassing the earlier sounds with the next. The people were too weak to bear what they saw and heard; so a common request is brought to Moses by all, that the law be mediated through him, since the people would not doubt that whatever was commanded by him in keeping with the teaching from above
Exod 19:10–25 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 20:18–19 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Gregory narrates the purifications before Sinai and the terrifying theophany of darkness, fire, and trumpet-voice, which leads the people to ask that Moses mediate the law.
- Exod 19:10–25; 20:18–21. The previous page breaks off before this one begins; a few words may be lost between them.
- “Keep pure even from marriage”: abstention from marital relations before the theophany (Exod 19:15).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (Latin letters)): λαὸς am; ἥττων → λαὸς ἥττων.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 315 (PG 44:316a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/297/#p-315). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.