On the Life of Moses 317–335
Greek text: PG 44.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 317
317PG 44:317a–317d
παραγγελλόμενον. Πάλιν οὖν πρὸς τὴν ὑπώρειαν πάντων καταδραμούντων, μόνος ὑπελείφθη 6 Μωῦσῆς, τὸ ἐναντίον, ἢ ὅπερ ἐκεῖνος ἦν, ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ δείξας. Τῶν γὰρ ἄλλων ἁπάντων ἐν τῇ κοινωνίᾳ τῶν συ μμετεχόντων, μᾶλλον θαρρούντων τά φοβερὰ, οὑτος μονωθεὶς, τῶν συνεστώτων θαρῤαλεώτερος ἦν, ὡς ὲκ τούτου δῆλον γενέσθαι, τὸ μὴ ῐδιον αὑτοῦ πάθος τὸν φόβον εἶναι, ᾧ κατʼ ἀρχὰς συνεσχέθη, ἀλλά διὰ τὴν πρὸς τοὺς κατεπτηχότας συμπάθειαν ταῦτα παθεῖν. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν, οἷόν τινος ἄχθους, τῆς δειλίας τοῦ λαοῦ γυμνωθεὶς, ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ ἦν · τότε καὶ αὑτοῦ κατατολμᾷ τοῦ γνόφου καὶ ἐντὸς τῶν ἀοράτων γίνεται, μηκέτι τοῖς ὁρῶσι φαινόμενος [πρὸς γάρ τὸ ἄρρητον τῆς θείας μυσταγωγίας παραδυεὶς, ἐκεῖ τῷ ἀοράτῳ συνῆν, μὴ ὁρώμενος], διδάσκων, οἶμαι, διʼ ὧν ἐποίησεν, ὅτι δεῖ τὸν μέλλοντα συνεῖναι Θεῷ, ἐξελθεῖν πᾶν τὸ φαινόμενον, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἀόρατόν τε καὶ ἀκατάληπτον, τὴν ἑαυτοῦ διάνοιαν, οἷον ἐπί τινα ὅρους κορυφὴν ἀνατείναντα, ἐκεῖ πιστεύειν εἶναι τὸ Θείον, ὲν ᾧ οὐκ ἐφικνεῖται ἡ κατανόησις. Γενόμενος δὲ ἐν ἐκείνῳ, δέχεται τὰ θεῖα προστάγματα. Ταῦτα δὲ ἦν ἀρετῆς διδασκαλία, ἧς τὸ κεφάλαιον ἄρα ἐστὶν ἠ εὐσέβεια, καὶτὸ τὰς πρεπούσας ὑπολήψεις περὶ τῆς θείας φύσεως ἔχειν ο ὡς ὑπέρκειται παντὸς γνωστικοῦ νοήματός τε καὶ ὑποδείγματος, οὐδενὶ τῶν γινωσκομένων ὁμοιουμένη. Κελεύει γὰρ πρὸς μηδὲν τῶν καταλαμβανομένων ὲν ταῖς περὶ Θεοῦ ὑπολήψεσι βλέπειν, μηδέ τινι τῶν ἐκ καταλήψεως γινωσκομένων ὁμοιοῦν τὴν τοῦ παντὸς ὑπερκειμένην φύσιν· ἀλλὰ τὸ εἶναι πιστεύοντας, τὸ οἷον, ἢ ὅσον, ἢ ὅθεν, ἢ ὅπως ἐστὶν, ἀζήτητον ὲᾷν, ὡς ἀνέφικτον. Προστίθησι δὲ 6 λόγος, καὶ ὃσα τοῦ ἤθους ἐστὶ κατορθώματα, γενικοίς καὶ ἰδιάζουσι νόμοις τὴν διδασκαλίαν ποιούμενος. Γενικῶς μὲν γὰρ πάσης ἀδικίας ἀναιρετικὸς νόμος ἐστίʼ τὸ δεῖν … πρὸς τὸ ὁμόφυλον ἔχειν, οὗ κυρωθέντος, πάντως κατά τὸ ἀκόλουθον ἕπεται· τὺ μηδὲν κακὸν μηδένα κατὰ τοῦ πέλας ἐργάζεσθαι. Ἐν δὲ τοῖς καθʼ ἕκαστον, ἦ τε περὶ τοὺς γεγεννηκότας τιμὴ διηγόρευται, καὶ 6 κατάλογος τῶν ἀπηγο μένων παραλαβόντα. Ἐν οἷς πλείων μὲν ἦν 6 χρυσὸς ὲν κύκλῳ περι· κεχυμένος τοῖς στύλοιςο συμπαρελήφθη δὲ Ιμετά τοῦ χρυσοῦ καὶ ό ἄργυρος, τὰς κορυφὰς καὶ τὰς βάσεις τῶν στύλων διʼ ἑαυτοῦ καλλωπίζων ὡς ἂν, οἶμαι, τῷ διαλλάσσοντι τῆς χρόας ἑκατέρωθεν τὺ χρυσίον ἐκθεωρούμενον, πλέον ὲκλάμποι. Ἔστι δὲ ὅπου καὶ ἡ τοῦ χαλκοῦ ὕλη χρήσιμος ἐνομίσθη, κεφαλὴ γινομένη καὶ βάσις τοῖς ἀργυροῖς τῶν κιόνων. Καταπετάσματα δὲ καὶ παραπετάσματα, καὶ 6 τοῦ ναοῦ περίβολος, καὶ 6 τῶν στύλων ὑπερτεινὸμενος
parangellomenon. Palin oun pros tēn hypōreian pantōn katadramountōn, monos hypeleiphthē 6 Mōysēs, to enantion, ē hoper ekeinos ēn, ephʼ heautou deixas. Tōn gar allōn hapantōn en tę̄ koinōnią tōn sy mmetechontōn, mallon tharrountōn ta phobera, houtos monōtheis, tōn synestōtōn tharraleōteros ēn, hōs ek toutou dēlon genesthai, to mē idion hautou pathos ton phobon einai, hǭ katʼ archas syneschethē, alla dia tēn pros tous kateptēchotas sympatheian tauta pathein. Epeidē toinyn, hoion tinos achthous, tēs deilias tou laou gymnōtheis, ephʼ heautou ēn ; tote kai hautou katatolmą tou gnophou kai entos tōn aoratōn ginetai, mēketi tois horōsi phainomenos [pros gar to arrēton tēs theias mystagōgias paradyeis, ekei tǭ aoratǭ synēn, mē horōmenos], didaskōn, oimai, diʼ hōn epoiēsen, hoti dei ton mellonta syneinai Theǭ, exelthein pan to phainomenon, kai epi to aoraton te kai akatalēpton, tēn heautou dianoian, hoion epi tina horous koryphēn anateinanta, ekei pisteuein einai to Theion, en hǭ ouk ephikneitai hē katanoēsis. Genomenos de en ekeinǭ, dechetai ta theia prostagmata. Tauta de ēn aretēs didaskalia, hēs to kephalaion ara estin ē eusebeia, kaito tas prepousas hypolēpseis peri tēs theias physeōs echein o hōs hyperkeitai pantos gnōstikou noēmatos te kai hypodeigmatos, oudeni tōn ginōskomenōn homoioumenē. Keleuei gar pros mēden tōn katalambanomenōn en tais peri Theou hypolēpsesi blepein, mēde tini tōn ek katalēpseōs ginōskomenōn homoioun tēn tou pantos hyperkeimenēn physin; alla to einai pisteuontas, to hoion, ē hoson, ē hothen, ē hopōs estin, azētēton eąn, hōs anephikton. Prostithēsi de 6 logos, kai hosa tou ēthous esti katorthōmata, genikois kai idiazousi nomois tēn didaskalian poioumenos. Genikōs men gar pasēs adikias anairetikos nomos estiʼ to dein … pros to homophylon echein, hou kyrōthentos, pantōs kata to akolouthon hepetai; ty mēden kakon mēdena kata tou pelas ergazesthai. En de tois kathʼ hekaston, ē te peri tous gegennēkotas timē diēgoreutai, kai 6 katalogos tōn apēgo menōn paralabonta. En hois pleiōn men ēn 6 chrysos en kyklǭ peri; kechymenos tois styloiso symparelēphthē de Imeta tou chrysou kai o argyros, tas koryphas kai tas baseis tōn stylōn diʼ heautou kallōpizōn hōs an, oimai, tǭ diallassonti tēs chroas hekaterōthen ty chrysion ektheōroumenon, pleon eklampoi. Esti de hopou kai hē tou chalkou hylē chrēsimos enomisthē, kephalē ginomenē kai basis tois argyrois tōn kionōn. Katapetasmata de kai parapetasmata, kai 6 tou naou peribolos, kai 6 tōn stylōn hyperteinomenos
was a divine command. So, when all had run down again to the foot of the mountain, Moses alone was left behind, and he showed in himself the opposite of what he had been. For while all the others were more confident in the face of terrors when they were together with those who shared them, he, once left alone, was bolder than those who had stood with him. From this it became clear that the fear that had gripped him at the beginning was not his own feeling; he had suffered it out of sympathy with those who were cowering. Since, then, stripped of the people’s cowardice as of a burden, he was by himself, he then ventures into the darkness itself and comes to be within the invisible, no longer seen by those who were watching. [For slipping into the secret of the divine initiation, he was there with the invisible, not being seen.] He teaches, I think, by what he did, that whoever is to be with God must go out from everything that appears, and, stretching his mind up as to some mountain peak toward the invisible and incomprehensible, believe that the Divine is there, where understanding does not reach. Once in that place, he receives the divine commands. These were teaching in virtue, whose chief point is piety, and having fitting conceptions of the divine nature: that it transcends every knowing thought and every likeness, and is like none of the things that are known. For it commands that in our conceptions of God we look to none of the things that are grasped, and do not liken the nature that transcends all things to any of the things known by grasping; rather, believing that it is, we are to leave its quality, size, origin, and manner unsearched, as beyond reach. The Word adds also the right conduct that belongs to moral character, giving its teaching in general and in particular laws. In general, the law that does away with all injustice is that one must be … toward one’s own kind; once this is established, there follows of necessity that no one does any evil to his neighbour. Among the particular laws, honour toward parents is proclaimed and the list of things forbidden … taking. In it there was much gold poured around the pillars; along with the gold silver too was used, adorning the capitals and bases of the pillars, so that, I think, the gold might shine out the more, seen on either side against the difference of colour. In some places bronze too was thought useful, serving as capital and base for the silver columns. Curtains and hangings, and the enclosure of the shrine, and the roof stretched over the pillars
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Exod 20:21 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 20:1–17 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 26:1–37 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 27:9–17 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Left alone, Moses enters the darkness where God is, receives the teaching about God’s incomprehensibility and the moral law, and is shown the pattern of the tabernacle with its gold, silver, and bronze.
- Exod 20:21 (Moses enters the darkness); Exod 20:1–17 (the Decalogue); Exod 25–27 (the tabernacle).
- The bracketed sentence stands in square brackets in the printed text.
- “One must be … toward one’s own kind”: a word is unreadable in the scan (OCR debris); the sense is love or goodwill toward one’s neighbour (compare Lev 19:18).
- After “the list of things forbidden” several lines are lost in the scan (marked …): the rest of the commandments and the start of the description of the tabernacle shown to Moses on the mountain.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (Latin letters); word unreadable): hamum-ii; → ….
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 317 (PG 44:317a–317d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/317/#p-317). (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 319
319PG 44:320a–320d
ὄροφος, καταλλήλως πάντα διὰ τῆς ὑφαντικῆς ἐπιστήμης, ὲκ τῆς προσφόρου ἕκαστον ὕλης, ὲπεηλεῖτο. Τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἦν τῶν ήὺφασμάτων θοςή βαφὴ, καὶ πορφύρα, καὶ τὺ πυραυγές τοῦ κοκκοβάφους ἐρυθήματος* τό τε λαμπρὸν τῆς βύσσου, ἠ αὐτοφυής τε καὶ ἀνεπιτήδευτος ίδέα. Ἑτέροις λϊνον, καὶ ἄλλοις τρίχες, πρὸς τάς τῶν ὑφασμάτων χρείας, παρελαμβάνοντο. Ἦν δὲ ὅπου καὶ τὰ Epu— θρά τῶν δερμάτων πρὸς τὴν τοῦ κατασκευάσματος ὥραν εὔθετα ἦν. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν, μετά τὴν ὲκ τοῦ ὄρους κάθοδον, κατὰ τὸ ἐκτεθὲν αὐτῷ τῆς δημιουργίας ὑπόδειγμα, ὁ Μωσῆς διά τῶν ὑπουργούντωνεσκευάσατο. Τότε δὲ ὲν ἐκείνῳ τῷ ἀχειροποιήτῳ ναῷ γενόμενος, καὶ οἴῳ χρὴ τὸν ἱερέα ξκόσμῳ λαμπρύίι νεσθαι, τῶν ἀδύτων ἑπιβατεύοντα, νομοθετεῖται · τῆς, τε ἔνδοθεν περιβολῆς, καὶ τῆς φαινομένης, τά καθδ ἕκαστον τοῦ λόγου νομοθετήσαντος. Ἀρχὴ ’δὲ τῆς τῶν ἐσθημάτων περιβολῆς, οὐ τὸ κρύφιον, ἀλλὰ to φαινόμενον γίνεται. Ἐπωμίδες ὲκ διαφόρου πεποικιλμέναι βαφῆς, διʼ ὧν τό τε καταπέτασμα τὴν κατασκευὴν εἶχε, καὶ χρυσῷ νήματι τὸ πλέον ἔχουσαι. Πόρπαι καθʼ ἑκάτερον μέρος, αί τὰς ἐπωμίδας συνέχουσαι, σμαράγδους ὲν κύκλῳ διά χρυσοῦ περισφίγγουσαι. Κόσμος δὲ τοῖςλίθοις ἐκ μὲν φύσεως ἦν ὴ αὐγὴ, χλοεράς τινας ἀκτῖνας ἐφʼ εαυτῆς duo: στίλβουσα ο ὲκ δὲ τῆς τέχνης, τὸ ἐκ τῶν γλυφίδων θαῦμα. Οὕτι γε πρὸς εἰδώλων τινῶν χαρακτῆρα τῆς τέχνης τὴν γλυφὴν ἐντεμούσης, ἀλλά-τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν πατριαρχῶν ἓξ καθʼ ἕκαστον τοῖς λίθοις ὲνγκεο τούτων ἀσπίδια κατά τὸ ἔμπροσθεν μέρος, αἵτε διάπλοκοι σειραὶ διʼ ἀλλήλων ἐναλλὰξ, κατά τινα ῥυθμὸν, δικτυοειδῶς πεπλεγμέναι, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς πόρε πης καθʼ ἑκάτερον μέρος ἀνωθεν καθιέμεναι τῶν ἀσπίδων· ὡς ἂν, οἶμαι, πλέονή τῆς πλοκῆς ὥρα διαλάμποι, τῷ ὑποκειμένῳ λαμπρυνομένη. Ὀ τε χρυσότευκτος ἐκεῖνος κόσμος, ὁ τοῦ στήθους προβεβλημένος, ὲν ᾧ λίθοι τινὲς ὲκ διαφόρων γενῶν τοῖς πατριάρχαις ίσάριθμοι ο τετραχῆ,τῶν στίχων διακειο μένων, τρεῖς καθʼ ἕκαστον ἦσαν ὲγκεκροτημένοι, τοὺς ἐπωνύμους τῶν φυλῶν ἐφʼ ἑαυτῶν δεικνύντες τοῖς γράμμασιν. Ὀ τε ὑποδύτης ἔνδον τῶν ἐπωμίδων, ἐξ αὐχένος είς ἄκρους πόδας διήκων, τοῖς τῶν κοσύμβων ἀπηρτήμασιν εὐπρεπῶς κεκοσμημένος. Τό τε κάτω κράσπεδον, οὐ μόνον ὲκ τῆς ὑφαντικῆς ποικιλίας είς κάλλος ἐξησκημένον, ἀλλά καὶ διὰ τῶν ὲκ χρυσοῦ ἀπηρτημάτων. Ταῦτα δὲ ἦν, κώδωνες χρύσεοι, καὶ ροἲσκοι, ὲκ παραλλήλου τὸ κάτω κράσπεδον ἀπειληφότες. Ἤ τε αὖ τῆς κεφαλῆς ταινία, ὑακινθίνη πᾶσα· κα) τὸ προμετωπίδιον πέταλον, ἐξ ἀκηράτου χρυσίου, ἀρρήτῳ τινὶ χαρακτῆρι κεχαραγμένον. Καὶ ζώνη, ἡ τὸ κεχυμένον τῆς περιβολῆς περιστέλλουσα· καὶ ὁ τῶν κρυφίων κόσμος ’ καὶ πάντα ὅσα διʼ αἱνιγμάτων, ἐν εῖδει περιβολῆς, περὶ ἱερατικῆς ἀρετῆς ὲκπαιδεύεται. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τά τοιαῦτα, τῷ ἀοράτῳ ἐκείνῳ κ τ νὴ* —"""—’ *Τ νννΓ“,“ἳʼ υσοθ-’Ψ περισχεθεὶς γνόφῳ, έν τῇ ἀπορῥήτῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ διδασκαλίᾳ ὲξεπαιδεύθη, μείζων ἑαυτοῦ καταστὰς τῇ προσ- ax. νει ωιτη....ιʼ----Ρμ. ΔΑ Α ἢ 1 ιι -
orophos, katallēlōs panta dia tēs hyphantikēs epistēmēs, ek tēs prosphorou hekaston hylēs, epeēleito. Tois men gar ēn tōn ēuphasmatōn thosē baphē, kai porphyra, kai ty pyrauges tou kokkobaphous erythēmatos* to te lampron tēs byssou, ē autophyēs te kai anepitēdeutos idea. Heterois lïnon, kai allois triches, pros tas tōn hyphasmatōn chreias, parelambanonto. Ēn de hopou kai ta Epu— thra tōn dermatōn pros tēn tou kataskeuasmatos hōran eutheta ēn. Kai tauta men, meta tēn ek tou orous kathodon, kata to ektethen autǭ tēs dēmiourgias hypodeigma, ho Mōsēs dia tōn hypourgountōneskeuasato. Tote de en ekeinǭ tǭ acheiropoiētǭ naǭ genomenos, kai oiǭ chrē ton hierea xkosmǭ lampruii nesthai, tōn adytōn hepibateuonta, nomotheteitai ; tēs, te endothen peribolēs, kai tēs phainomenēs, ta kathd hekaston tou logou nomothetēsantos. Archē ’de tēs tōn esthēmatōn peribolēs, ou to kryphion, alla to phainomenon ginetai. Epōmides ek diaphorou pepoikilmenai baphēs, diʼ hōn to te katapetasma tēn kataskeuēn eiche, kai chrysǭ nēmati to pleon echousai. Porpai kathʼ hekateron meros, ai tas epōmidas synechousai, smaragdous en kyklǭ dia chrysou perisphingousai. Kosmos de toislithois ek men physeōs ēn ē augē, chloeras tinas aktinas ephʼ eautēs duo: stilbousa o ek de tēs technēs, to ek tōn glyphidōn thauma. Houti ge pros eidōlōn tinōn charaktēra tēs technēs tēn glyphēn entemousēs, alla-ta onomata tōn patriarchōn hex kathʼ hekaston tois lithois ennkeo toutōn aspidia kata to emprosthen meros, haite diaplokoi seirai diʼ allēlōn enallax, kata tina rhythmon, diktyoeidōs peplegmenai, kai apo tēs pore pēs kathʼ hekateron meros anōthen kathiemenai tōn aspidōn; hōs an, oimai, pleonē tēs plokēs hōra dialampoi, tǭ hypokeimenǭ lamprynomenē. O te chrysoteuktos ekeinos kosmos, ho tou stēthous probeblēmenos, en hǭ lithoi tines ek diaphorōn genōn tois patriarchais isarithmoi o tetrachē,tōn stichōn diakeio menōn, treis kathʼ hekaston ēsan enkekrotēmenoi, tous epōnymous tōn phylōn ephʼ heautōn deiknyntes tois grammasin. O te hypodytēs endon tōn epōmidōn, ex auchenos eis akrous podas diēkōn, tois tōn kosymbōn apērtēmasin euprepōs kekosmēmenos. To te katō kraspedon, ou monon ek tēs hyphantikēs poikilias eis kallos exēskēmenon, alla kai dia tōn ek chrysou apērtēmatōn. Tauta de ēn, kōdōnes chryseoi, kai roiskoi, ek parallēlou to katō kraspedon apeilēphotes. Ē te au tēs kephalēs tainia, hyakinthinē pasa; ka) to prometōpidion petalon, ex akēratou chrysiou, arrētǭ tini charaktēri kecharagmenon. Kai zōnē, hē to kechymenon tēs peribolēs peristellousa; kai ho tōn kryphiōn kosmos ’ kai panta hosa diʼ hainigmatōn, en eidei peribolēs, peri hieratikēs aretēs ekpaideuetai. Epei de ta toiauta, tǭ aoratǭ ekeinǭ k t nē* —"""—’ *T nnnG“,“hiʼ ysoth-’Ps perischetheis gnophǭ, en tę̄ aporrhētǭ tou Theou didaskalią exepaideuthē, meizōn heautou katastas tę̄ pros- ax. nei ōitē....iʼ----Rm. DA A ē 1 ii -
— all were woven fittingly by the weaver’s skill, each from the appropriate material. For some of the weavings there was the dye of blue and purple, and the fiery red of scarlet, and the brightness of fine linen in its natural, unworked appearance; for others linen, and for others hair, were used for the needs of the weavings. In some places red-dyed skins were suited to the beauty of the structure. These things Moses had made by his assistants after his descent from the mountain, according to the pattern of the work that had been shown him. But at that time, being in that temple not made with hands, he receives the law on how the priest must be adorned when he enters the sanctuary, the Word laying down in detail both the inner garments and the visible ones. The putting on of the vestments begins not with the hidden but with the visible. There were shoulder-pieces embroidered in various dyes, the same of which the veil was made, with much golden thread. On each side were clasps holding the shoulder-pieces together, setting emeralds round in gold. The adornment of the stones came from nature in their sheen, which flashed greenish rays, and from art in the wonder of their engravings. The art did not cut the engraving into the form of any idols; the names of the patriarchs, six on each, were engraved on the stones. … small shields on the front, and the chains interwoven with one another alternately in a certain pattern, plaited like a net, let down from above on each side from the clasp to the shields, so that, I think, the beauty of the plaiting might shine out the more, made bright by what lay beneath it. And there was that gold-wrought adornment placed over the breast, in which stones of different kinds, equal in number to the patriarchs, were set in four rows, three in each, showing in letters on themselves the names of the tribes. The under-robe inside the shoulder-pieces reached from the neck to the feet, handsomely adorned with hanging tassels. The lower hem was made beautiful not only by the variety of the weaving but also by hanging ornaments of gold: these were golden bells and pomegranates, set alternately along the lower hem. Then there was the head-band, all of blue, and the plate for the forehead, of pure gold, engraved with an ineffable inscription; and a girdle that gathered in the flowing of the robe; and the adornment of the hidden parts; and all the other things through which, in riddles, under the form of clothing, instruction is given about priestly virtue. When, enclosed in that invisible darkness, he had been instructed in such things in the secret teaching of God, having become greater than himself …
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Exod 25:40 (allusion, medium confidence) · Exod 26:1–36 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 28:1–43 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 9:11 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Gregory describes the materials of the tabernacle and the high priest’s vestments revealed to Moses on the mountain: ephod, engraved stones, breastplate, robe with bells and pomegranates, and gold plate.
- Exod 26:1, 31–36; 25:9, 40 (the pattern shown on the mountain); Exod 28 (the priestly vestments). “A temple not made with hands”: compare Heb 9:11.
- After “engraved on the stones” and at the end of the page the scan is garbled and some lines are lost (marked …); the debris at the foot of the page is not text of the work.
- “Ineffable inscription”: the divine name on the gold plate (Exod 28:36).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris): Τό τε η η, κν ---πημητηην η... κάτω → Τό τε κάτω.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 319 (PG 44:320a–320d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/317/#p-319). (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 321
321PG 44:321a–321d
Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ χρόνος τῷ Μωσῇ τις οὑ βραχὺς διε· γένετο, τῇ πρὸς Θεὸν ὁμιλίᾳ διὰ τῆς θείας ἐκείνης μυσταγωγὶας άπασχολάζοντι· καὶ ἦν τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέραις καὶ τοσαύταις νυξὶ τῆς ἀϊδίου ἐκείνης ζωῆς ὑπὸ τὸν γνόφον μετέχων, καὶ αὑτῆς τῆς φύσεως ἔξω γενόμενος (οὑ γάρ ἐπεδεήθη κατὰ τὸν χρόνον ἐκεῖνον εἱς τὸ σῶμα τροφῆς) τότε, οἷόν τι μειράκιον, ὁ λαὸς τῶν τοῦ παιδαγωγοῦντος ὄψεων ἔξω γενόμενος, ἀνοήτοις ὁρμαῖς είς ἀταξίανῖ ἐκφέρεται, καὶ συστάς ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀαρὼν, ἀνάγκην ἐπάγει τῷ ἱερεῖ, τῆς εἱδωλολατρείας αὑτοῖς καθηγήσασθαι. Καὶ γεγονότος τοῦ εἱδώλου ἐκ χρυσίου τῆς ὕλης (μόσχος δέ τὸ εἴδωλον ἦν ), οἱ μὲν ἐπηγάλλοντο τῷ ἀσεβήματι ' ὁ δὲ Μωσῆς κατʼ αὐτοὺς ἤδη γενόμενος, συντρίβει τὰς πλάκας,,ἃς θεόθεν ἐκόμιζενθ ὡς ἃν τοῦ πλημμελήματπ ἀξίαν τὴν τιμωρίαν ὑπόσχοιεν, τῆς θεοδόχου χάριτος ἀμοιρήσαντες. Εἶτα τῷ ἐμφυλίῳ αἵματι διὰ τῶν Λευῖτῶν καθαρίσας τὸ ἄγος, καὶ τῷ ἰδίῳ θυμῷ, τῷ κατὰ τῶν πεπλημμεληκότων, τὸ
Epeidē gar chronos tǭ Mōsę̄ tis hou brachys die; geneto, tę̄ pros Theon homilią dia tēs theias ekeinēs mystagōgias apascholazonti; kai ēn tessarakonta hēmerais kai tosautais nyxi tēs aïdiou ekeinēs zōēs hypo ton gnophon metechōn, kai hautēs tēs physeōs exō genomenos (hou gar epedeēthē kata ton chronon ekeinon heis to sōma trophēs) tote, hoion ti meirakion, ho laos tōn tou paidagōgountos opseōn exō genomenos, anoētois hormais eis ataxiani ekpheretai, kai systas epi ton Aarōn, anankēn epagei tǭ hierei, tēs heidōlolatreias hautois kathēgēsasthai. Kai gegonotos tou heidōlou ek chrysiou tēs hylēs (moschos de to eidōlon ēn ), hoi men epēgallonto tǭ asebēmati ' ho de Mōsēs katʼ autous ēdē genomenos, syntribei tas plakas,,has theothen ekomizenth hōs han tou plēmmelēmatp axian tēn timōrian hyposchoien, tēs theodochou charitos amoirēsantes. Eita tǭ emphyliǭ haimati dia tōn Leuitōn katharisas to agos, kai tǭ idiǭ thymǭ, tǭ kata tōn peplēmmelēkotōn, to
For since no short time passed for Moses while he was occupied in converse with God through that divine initiation — for forty days and as many nights he shared that eternal life under the darkness, and was outside nature itself (for during that time he had no need of food for his body) — then the people, like a youth who has got out of sight of his tutor, are carried by senseless impulses into disorder. They rise up against Aaron and force the priest to lead them in idolatry. When the idol had been made of gold (the idol was a calf), they exulted in their impiety; but Moses, now come upon them, breaks the tablets that he was bringing from God, so that they might undergo a punishment worthy of their offence, deprived of the grace that had received God. Then, having cleansed the guilt with the blood of their kinsmen through the Levites, and with his own anger against the offenders …
Exod 24:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 32:1–29 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: While Moses is forty days with God, the people make the golden calf; Moses breaks the tablets and has the guilt cleansed through the Levites.
- Exod 24:18; 34:28 (forty days without food); Exod 32. Only part of this page survives in the scan; the rest of it is lost (marked …), including, it seems, the remaining events up to the people’s craving for meat.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 321 (PG 44:321a–321d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/317/#p-321). (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 323
323PG 44:324a–324d
περὶ τοῦ κατασκήψαντος ἐν αὐτοῖς πάθουςο ὁ δι παιδεύει, τὸ μὴ δεῖν οὕτως ἐχειν, διά τοῦ δοῦναι τοχεῖν ὧν ἐφίεντο, ὀρνέων τι πλῆθος, πρόσγειον ποιουο μένων τὴν πτῆσιν, ἐφεὶς τῷ στρατοπέδῳ νεφηδδν, καὶ κατʼ ἀγέλας ἐφίπτασθαι, ἐφʼ ὧν ἡ εὐκολία τῆς ἄγρας, είς κόρον τὴν κρεῶν ἐπιθυμίαν προήγαγεν. Ἦ δὲ ἀμετρία τῆς βρώσεως ἀθρόως αὐτοῖς τάς τῶν στομάτων κράσεις είς φθοροποιοὺς χυμοὺς μετεσκεύασε, καὶὴ πλησμονὴ αὐτοῖς είς νόσον καὶ θάνατον ἔληξεν, ὧν τὸ ὑπόδειγμα αὐτοῖς τε ἐκείνοις, καὶ τοίς πρὸς ἐκείνους ὁρῶσιν, ἱκανὸν πρὸς σωφροσύνην ἐγένετο. Εἶτα κατάσκοποι παρʼ αὑτοῦ πέμπονται τῆς χώρας ἐκείνης, ἡ κατά θείαν αὐτοῖς ἐπαγγελίαν ἐν ἐλπίσιν ἦν τῆς οἰκήσεως. Τούτων δέ μὴ πάντων τάληθῆ καταγγειλάντων, ἀλλά τινων τά ψευδῆ καὶ σκυθρωπά μηνυσάντων, πάλιν ὁ λαὸς διʼ ὀργῆς ἐποιεῖτο τὸν Μωσέα.0 δέ Θεὸς τοὺς ἀπελπίσαντας τὴν θείαν συμμαχίαν, τὺ μὴ ἰδεῖν τὴν ἐπηγγελμένην αὐτοῖς χώραν, καταδικάζει. Προῖόντων δὲ διὰ τῆς ἐρήμου, πάλιν αὐτοῖς ἐπιλιπόντος τοῦ ὕδατος, καὶ νή μνήμη τῆςξτοῦ Θεοῦ δυνάμεως συνεπέλειψεν. 03 γάρ τῷ προλαβόντι παρά τὴν πέτραν θαύματι, τὸ μηδέ νῦν αὐτοῖς ἐνδεῆσαι τὴν χρείαν ἐπίστευσαψ ἀλλʼ ἀποστάντες τῶν χρηστοτέρων ἐλπίδων, κατʼ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ Μωσέως ταῖς λοιδορίαις ἐχώο ρουν · ὡς καὶ τὸν Μωσέα δόξαι τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ τοῦ λαοῦ συνοκλάσαι, πλὴν πάλιν αὐτοῖς θαυμαωποιῆσαι τὴν ἀκρότομον ἐκείνην πέτραν είς ὑδάτων φύσιν μετα- Πάλιν αὐτῷ περὶ τῆς ἡγεμονίας ἐπαναστάσεως ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ γενομένης, καὶ τινῶν τὴν ἱερωσύνην είς ἐαυτοὺς μεταστῆσαι βιαζομένων ὁ μὶν- ἱκέτης τοῦ Θεοῦ περὶ τῶν ἐξαμαρτανόντων ἐγίνετο· τὸ δὲ δίκαιον τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ κρίσεως, τῆς τοῦ Μωσέως πρὸς τὸ ὁμόφυλον ἄνθρωποι, θεόθεν παραγίνεσθαι τῆς ἱερωσύνης τὴν χάριν τοῖς ἀξιουμένοις, ῥάβδους ἐξ ἑκάστης φυλῆς παρὰ τῶν ἐξεχόντων κομίζεται, γράμμασινίίδίου ἑκάστου κατασημηναμένου τοῦ δεδωκότος, ἐν αἷς ἦν και ή ’Δαρὼν τοῦ ἱερέως. Ταύτας δέ προσθεὶς τῷ ναῷ, διὰ τούτων φανεροί τῷ λαῷ τὴν περὶ τῆς ίερωλ · σύνης τοῦ Θεοῦ ψῆφον. Μόνη γάρ ἐκ πασῶν ἡ τοῦ Ἀαρὼν ῥάβδος ἐβλάστησε, καὶτὸν ἐκ τοῦ ξύλου καρπὸν (κάρυον δὲ ἦν ὁ καρπὸς) ἐξέφυσε τε καὶ ἐτελείωσεν. Ὃ δὴ μέγιστον καὶ τοῖς ἀπίστοις εδοξε θαῦμα, πῶς τὸ ἀφλοιον καὶ περιεξεσμένον, καὶ ἀριζον
peri tou kataskēpsantos en autois pathouso ho di paideuei, to mē dein houtōs echein, dia tou dounai tochein hōn ephiento, orneōn ti plēthos, prosgeion poiouo menōn tēn ptēsin, epheis tǭ stratopedǭ nephēddn, kai katʼ agelas ephiptasthai, ephʼ hōn hē eukolia tēs agras, eis koron tēn kreōn epithymian proēgagen. Ē de ametria tēs brōseōs athroōs autois tas tōn stomatōn kraseis eis phthoropoious chymous meteskeuase, kaiē plēsmonē autois eis noson kai thanaton elēxen, hōn to hypodeigma autois te ekeinois, kai tois pros ekeinous horōsin, hikanon pros sōphrosynēn egeneto. Eita kataskopoi parʼ hautou pempontai tēs chōras ekeinēs, hē kata theian autois epangelian en elpisin ēn tēs oikēseōs. Toutōn de mē pantōn talēthē katangeilantōn, alla tinōn ta pseudē kai skythrōpa mēnysantōn, palin ho laos diʼ orgēs epoieito ton Mōsea.0 de Theos tous apelpisantas tēn theian symmachian, ty mē idein tēn epēngelmenēn autois chōran, katadikazei. Proiontōn de dia tēs erēmou, palin autois epilipontos tou hydatos, kai nē mnēmē tēsxtou Theou dynameōs synepeleipsen. 03 gar tǭ prolabonti para tēn petran thaumati, to mēde nyn autois endeēsai tēn chreian episteusaps allʼ apostantes tōn chrēstoterōn elpidōn, katʼ autou tou Theou kai tou Mōseōs tais loidoriais echōo roun ; hōs kai ton Mōsea doxai tę̄ apistią tou laou synoklasai, plēn palin autois thaumaōpoiēsai tēn akrotomon ekeinēn petran eis hydatōn physin meta- Palin autǭ peri tēs hēgemonias epanastaseōs ek tou laou genomenēs, kai tinōn tēn hierōsynēn eis eautous metastēsai biazomenōn ho min- hiketēs tou Theou peri tōn examartanontōn egineto; to de dikaion tēs tou Theou kriseōs, tēs tou Mōseōs pros to homophylon anthrōpoi, theothen paraginesthai tēs hierōsynēs tēn charin tois axioumenois, rhabdous ex hekastēs phylēs para tōn exechontōn komizetai, grammasiniidiou hekastou katasēmēnamenou tou dedōkotos, en hais ēn kai ē ’Darōn tou hiereōs. Tautas de prostheis tǭ naǭ, dia toutōn phaneroi tǭ laǭ tēn peri tēs ierōl ; synēs tou Theou psēphon. Monē gar ek pasōn hē tou Aarōn rhabdos eblastēse, kaiton ek tou xylou karpon (karyon de ēn ho karpos) exephyse te kai eteleiōsen. Ho dē megiston kai tois apistois edoxe thauma, pōs to aphloion kai periexesmenon, kai arizon
… concerning the passion that had broken out among them. He teaches them that this ought not to be so by letting them obtain what they desired: he let loose on the camp a great number of birds, flying close to the ground, swooping on it like a cloud and in flocks. The ease of catching them led their desire for meat on to satiety; but the immoderate eating suddenly changed the mixture of their bodies into destructive humours, and their surfeit ended for them in sickness and death. Their example was enough to teach self-control both to them and to those who look to them. Then spies are sent by him to that land which, by divine promise, they hoped to inhabit. Not all of these reported the truth; some gave false and gloomy reports, and again the people turned their anger on Moses. But God condemns those who had despaired of divine help not to see the land promised them. As they went on through the desert, the water again failed them, and with it the memory of God’s power failed too. They did not believe, on the strength of the former wonder at the rock, that their need would be met now also; abandoning better hopes, they launched into abuse against God himself and against Moses, so that Moses too seemed to give way along with the people’s unbelief. Nevertheless he again worked a wonder for them, changing that sheer rock into the nature of water … Again there was an uprising of the people against his leadership, and some tried by force to transfer the priesthood to themselves. Moses became a suppliant to God for the offenders; but the justice of God’s judgment … that the grace of the priesthood comes from God to those deemed worthy of it, rods are brought from each tribe by its leaders, each marked with the name of the one who gave it, and among them was the rod of Aaron the priest. He laid these before the shrine, and through them he made plain to the people God’s verdict about the priesthood. For of them all only Aaron’s rod budded, and from the wood it put forth and ripened its fruit (the fruit was a nut). This seemed the greatest wonder even to unbelievers: how the barkless, stripped, rootless
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Num 11:31–34 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 13:1–14:38 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 20:2–13 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 16:1–35 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 17:1–8 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The narrative runs through the quails and their deadly surfeit, the spies and the sentence on the unbelieving generation, the water from the rock, the rebellion against Moses and Aaron, and the budding of Aaron’s rod.
- Num 11:31–34 (the quails); Num 13–14 (the spies); Num 20:2–13 (water from the rock; Moses’ failure, Num 20:12); Num 16 (Korah’s rebellion); Num 17:1–8 (Aaron’s rod, with almonds).
- The opening of this page continues a sentence lost with the end of the previous page. Two further gaps in the scan are marked …: after “into the nature of water” and after “the justice of God’s judgment.”
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 323 (PG 44:324a–324d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/317/#p-323). (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 325
325PG 44:325a–325d
ἀθρόας πιανθέν, τά τῶν ἐρῥιζωμένων ἐνήργησεν, ἀντὶ γῆς καὶ φλοιοῦ καὶ ίκμάδος καὶ ῥίζης καὶ κλὼνων τῆς θείας δυνάμεως γενομένης τῷ ξύλῳ. Ἐπὶ τούτοις διʼ ἀλλοφύλων ἐθνῶν τὸν στρατὸν ἄγων, ἀπώμοτον ποιεῖται ταῖς ἀρούραις αὐτῶν καὶ ταῖς ἀμπέλοις τῷ λαῷ συγχωρῆσαι τὴν δίοδον, ἀλλά φυλάξαι τὴν βασιλικὴν ὁδὸν, μήτε είς δεξιά, μήτε είς ἀριστερά ἀποκλίναντα. Τῶν δὲ πολεμίων οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τούτοις είρηνευόντων, μάχῃ καταγωνισάμενος τὸν ἀντίπαλον, ἐγκρατὴς γίνεται τῆς παρόδου. Εἶτά τις Βαλὰκ μείζονος ἔθνους τὴν ἠγεμονίαν ἔχων (Μαδιανῖται δέ τῷ ἐθνει τοῦνομα) πρὸς τὸ πάθος τῶν προολωλότων καταπλαγεὶς, καὶ ὅσον οὐδέπω τά ἶσα παρὰ τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν πείσεσθαι προσδοκήσας, ἐπάγεται πρὸς συμμαχίαν ὃπλων μὲν καὶ σωμάτων βοήθειαν οὐδεμίαν, περίεργον δέ μαγγανείαν, διά τινος Βαλαὰμ, ὂς ταῦτα δεινὸς ἐποιεῖτο εἶναι, καὶ παρά τῶν κεχρημένων αύτῷ ἔχειν τινά πρὸς τάς τοιαύτας σπουδάς δύναμιν ἐπιστεύετοο ᾧ τέχνη μὲν ἦν οίωνιστικὴ, δαιμόνων δέ τινι συνεργείᾳ χαλεπὸς ἦν, ἐπάγων τοῖς ἀνθρώποις περιεργοτέρα τινὶ δυνάμει τά ἀνήκεστα · ὃς τοῖς ἀπάγουσιν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸν βασιλέα τοῦ ἐθνους ἑπόμενος, τῇ φωνῇ τῆς ὄνου τὸ μὴ αἶσιον αὐτῷ τὴν ὁδὸν εἶναι διδάσκεται. Εἶτα διά τινος ἐμφανείας τὸ πρακτέον μαθὼν, ἀσθενεστέραν εὗρε τὴν κακοποιὸν μαγγανείαν τοῦ βλάβην τινά τοῖς παρά τοῦ θεοῦ συμμαχουμένοις προστρίψασθαι. Ἀντὶ δὲ τῆς τῶν δαιμόνων ἐνεργείας ἐκ θείας ἐπιπνοίας ἐνθους γενόμενος, ἐφθέγξατο φωνὰς τοιαύτας, ὡς p προφητείαν ἄντικρυς εἶναι τῶν είς ὕστερον πρὸς τὸ κρεῖσσον ἐκδησομένων. Διʼ ὧν γὰρ ἐκωλύθη πρὸς τὸ κακδν ἐνεργῆσαι τῇ τέχνῃ, διὰ τούτων τῆς θείας δυνάμεως ἐν αἰσθήσει γενόμενος, χαίρειν ἐάσας τὴν μαντικὴν, ὑποφητεύει τῷ θείῳ θελήματι. Καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις τὸ μὲν ἔθνος τῶν ἀλλοφύλων ἐντρίβεται, ἐπικρατεστέρου τοῦ λαοῦ κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον γεγονότος, ἡττηθέντος δὲ μετά ταῦτα τοῦ τῆς ἀκολασίας πάθους ἐν ταῖς αἰχμαλώτοις, ὅτε τοῦ Φινεὲς τοὺς ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ συμπλακέντας μιᾷ πληγῇ διελάσαντος, παῦσαν ἔσχε τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ κατὰ τῶν λελυσσηκότων πρὸς τὰς ἀθέσμους μίξεις ὀργή ο τότε ἀναβὰς ἐπί τι δρος ὑψηλὸν ὁ νομοθέτης, καὶ πόρρωθεν τὴν χώραν κατασκεψάμενος, ἢ διά τῆς θείας ἐπαγγελίας τῆς πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας γεγενημένης τῷ Ἰσραὴλ παρεσκεύαστο, μεθίσταται τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου βίου, οὐδὲν ἐν τῇ γῇ σημεῗον, οὐδὲ μνημόσυνον τῆς ἐαυτοῦ μεταστάσεως ’Δναλάσωμεν τοίνυν τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ περὶ αὐτοῦ διηγήματος.
athroas pianthen, ta tōn errhizōmenōn enērgēsen, anti gēs kai phloiou kai ikmados kai rhizēs kai klōnōn tēs theias dynameōs genomenēs tǭ xylǭ. Epi toutois diʼ allophylōn ethnōn ton straton agōn, apōmoton poieitai tais arourais autōn kai tais ampelois tǭ laǭ synchōrēsai tēn diodon, alla phylaxai tēn basilikēn hodon, mēte eis dexia, mēte eis aristera apoklinanta. Tōn de polemiōn oude epi toutois eirēneuontōn, machę̄ katagōnisamenos ton antipalon, enkratēs ginetai tēs parodou. Eita tis Balak meizonos ethnous tēn ēgemonian echōn (Madianitai de tǭ ethnei tounoma) pros to pathos tōn proolōlotōn kataplageis, kai hoson oudepō ta isa para tōn Israēlitōn peisesthai prosdokēsas, epagetai pros symmachian hoplōn men kai sōmatōn boētheian oudemian, periergon de manganeian, dia tinos Balaam, os tauta deinos epoieito einai, kai para tōn kechrēmenōn autǭ echein tina pros tas toiautas spoudas dynamin episteuetoo hǭ technē men ēn oiōnistikē, daimonōn de tini synergeią chalepos ēn, epagōn tois anthrōpois periergotera tini dynamei ta anēkesta ; hos tois apagousin auton epi ton basilea tou ethnous hepomenos, tę̄ phōnę̄ tēs onou to mē aision autǭ tēn hodon einai didasketai. Eita dia tinos emphaneias to prakteon mathōn, asthenesteran heure tēn kakopoion manganeian tou blabēn tina tois para tou theou symmachoumenois prostripsasthai. Anti de tēs tōn daimonōn energeias ek theias epipnoias enthous genomenos, ephthenxato phōnas toiautas, hōs p prophēteian antikrys einai tōn eis hysteron pros to kreisson ekdēsomenōn. Diʼ hōn gar ekōlythē pros to kakdn energēsai tę̄ technę̄, dia toutōn tēs theias dynameōs en aisthēsei genomenos, chairein easas tēn mantikēn, hypophēteuei tǭ theiǭ thelēmati. Kai epi toutois to men ethnos tōn allophylōn entribetai, epikratesterou tou laou kata ton polemon gegonotos, hēttēthentos de meta tauta tou tēs akolasias pathous en tais aichmalōtois, hote tou Phinees tous en atimią symplakentas mią plēgę̄ dielasantos, pausan esche tou Theou hē kata tōn lelyssēkotōn pros tas athesmous mixeis orgē o tote anabas epi ti dros hypsēlon ho nomothetēs, kai porrōthen tēn chōran kataskepsamenos, ē dia tēs theias epangelias tēs pros tous pateras gegenēmenēs tǭ Israēl pareskeuasto, methistatai tou anthrōpinou biou, ouden en tę̄ gę̄ sēmeïon, oude mnēmosynon tēs eautou metastaseōs ’Dnalasōmen toinyn tēn archēn tou peri autou diēgēmatos.
wood, fattened all at once, did what rooted plants do, the divine power becoming for the wood earth and bark and moisture and root and branches. After this, leading the army through foreign nations, he swears not to let the people pass through their fields and vineyards, but to keep to the king’s highway, turning neither to the right nor to the left. When the enemy would not make peace even on these terms, he defeated his adversary in battle and gained the passage. Then a certain Balak, who ruled a larger nation (the nation’s name was Midianites), was terrified at what had happened to those destroyed before, and expected to suffer the same at the hands of the Israelites any moment. He brought in as an ally no help of arms or men, but the meddling sorcery of a certain Balaam, who made out that he was skilled in such things and was believed by those who had used him to have some power for such purposes. His art was augury, and he was dangerous through some cooperation of demons, bringing ruin upon people by a meddling power. As he followed those who were taking him to the king of the nation, he learned from the voice of his donkey that the road was not auspicious for him. Then, learning through an appearance what he must do, he found his malicious sorcery too weak to inflict any harm on those whom God was fighting for. Instead of the working of the demons he became inspired by divine breath and uttered such words as to be plainly a prophecy of things that would later turn out for the better. For by the very means through which he was prevented from working evil with his art, he came to perceive the divine power; he bade farewell to divination and became the interpreter of the divine will. Upon this the foreign nation is crushed, the people having proved stronger in the war. But afterward they were overcome by the passion of licentiousness with the women captives; and when Phinehas had run through with one blow those joined in disgrace, God’s anger against those who had raged after unlawful unions ceased. Then the lawgiver climbed a high mountain and viewed from afar the land that had been prepared for Israel by the divine promise made to the fathers; and he departed from human life, leaving on the earth no sign and no memorial of his departure. Let us, then, take up again the beginning of the account about him.
Num 20:14–21:35 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 22:1–24:25 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 25:1–9 (allusion, high confidence) · Deut 34:1–6 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The historical outline ends: the passage through foreign lands, Balaam’s failed curse turned to prophecy, the sin with foreign women stopped by Phinehas, and Moses’ death after viewing the promised land.
- Num 20:14–21:35 (the king’s highway, the battles); Num 22–24 (Balak and Balaam; the Bible calls Balak king of Moab, with the elders of Midian, Num 22:4, 7); Num 25 (Baal-peor and Phinehas); Deut 34:1–6 (Moses’ death; no one knows his grave).
- The last sentence closes the first part (the history) and announces the second (the contemplation).
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 325 (PG 44:325a–325d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/317/#p-325). (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 327
327PG 44:328a–328d
)Υ ΜΩΣΕΩΣ ΒΙΟΝ. " Ὅτε καταφθείρεσθαι τὸ άῤῥεν 6 τυραννικὸς διεκελεύετο νόμος · τότε γεννᾶται 6 Μωσῆς. Πῶς οὖν τὴν συντυχικὴν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς γέννησιν ἐκ προαιρέσεως ἡμεῖς μιμησόμεθα; Οὐ γὰρ δὴ καὶ τοῦτο τῶν ἐφʼ ἡμῖν εἶναι πάντως ἐρεῖ τις, ὥστε μιμήσασθαί τινα τῇ καθʼ ἑαυτὸν γεννήσει τὸν εὐδόκιμον τόκον. Ἀλλʼ οὐδὲν χαλεπὸν, ἐκ τοῦ δοκοῦντος δυσχερεστέρου τῆς μιμήσεως ἄρξασθαι · τίς γὰρ οὐκ οἶδεν, δτι πεῖν τὸ ὲν ἀλλοιώσει κείμενον, οὐδέποτε αὐτὸ ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ μένει " ἀλλʼ ἕτερον ἐξ ἑτέρου πάντοτε γίνεται, πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον, ἦ πρὸς τὸ χεῖρον ἀεὶ τῆς ἀλλοιώσεως ὲνε ργουμένης; Νοείσθω δὲ καθʼ ὑπόθεσιν. Ἦ μὲν γὰρ ὑλική τε καὶ ἐμπαθεστέρα διάθεσις, πρὸς ἢν ἡ ἁνθρωπίνη φύσις κατολισθαίνουσα φέρεται, τὸ θῆλυ τῆς ζωῆς, 6 τῷ τυράννῳ φίλον ἐστὶ ζωογονούμενον· τὸ δὲ κατεσκληκός τε καὶ σύντονον τῆς ἀρετῆς, 6 άνδρώδης τόκος, 6 πολέμιος τῷ τυράννῳ, καὶ πρὸς - ἐπανάστασιν τῆς ἀρχῆς αὐτοῦ ὕποπτος. Δεῖ οὗν τό ἀλλοιούμενόν που, ἀεὶ πάντως γεννᾶσθαι. Οὐ γὰρ ἄν τι τῶν πάντοτε ὡσαύτως ἐχόντων, ἐν τῇ τρεπτῇ φύσει θεωρηθείη. Τὸ δὲ οὕτω γεννᾶσθαι ούκ ἐξ ἁλλοτρίας ἐστὶν ὁρμῆς, καθʼ ὁμοιότητα τῶν σωματικῶς τὸ συμβὰν ἁπογεννὼντων ' ἀλλʼ ὲκ προαιρέσεως 6 τοιοῦτος γίνεται τόκος. Καί ἐσμεν ἑαυτῶν τρόπον τινὰ πατέρες, ἑαυτοὺς οἴους ἂν ἐθέλωμεν, τίκτοντες, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἰδίας προαιρέσεως είς ὅπερ ἂν ἐθέλωμεν εῐδος, ἦ άῤῥεν ἢ θῆλυ, τῷ τῆς ἀρετῆςῆ κακίας λόγῳ διαπλασσόμενοι. Καὶ ἔξεστι καὶ ἡμῖν πάντως, ἄκοντος τοῦ τυράννου καὶ λυπουμένου, ἐπὶ τῇ ἀστειοτέρᾳ γεννήσει παρελθεῖν τε είς φῶς, καὶ τοῖς γονεῦσι τοῦ καλοῦ τούτου κυήματος (λογισμοὶ δʼ ἂν εἷεν οὗτοι οἱ τῆς ἀρετῆς γινόμενοι πατέρες) ὀφθῆναί τε μεθʼ ἡδονῆς, καὶ ζωογονηθῆναι· κᾶν ὑπεναντίον ᾗ τῷ τοῦ τυράννου φρονήματι. Οὐκοῦν, ὡς ἄν τις ὲκ τῆς ἱστορίας τὰς ἀφορμὰς λαβὼν, ἐπὶ τὸ γυμνότερον διακαλύπτοι τὸ αἴνιγμα · τοῦτο διδάσκει 6 λόγος. ἀρχὴν τοῦ κατʼ ἀρετὴν ποιεῖσθαι βίου, τὸ ἐπὶ λύπῃ τοῦ ἐχθροῦ γεννηθῆναι, ὲν τῷ τοιούτῳ φημὶ τῆς γεν· νήσεως εἴδει, ἦς ὴ προαίρεσιςʼτὴν ὠδῖνα μαιεύεται. Ού γὰρ ἄν τις λυπήσειε τὸν ἀντίπαλον, μὴ τοιαῦτα δεικνὺς ἐφʼ ὲαύτοῦ γνωρίσματα, οἷα τῆς κατʼ ἐκείνου νίκης τεκμήρια γίνεσθαι. Τῆς δὲ αὐτῆς ’προαιρέσεως πάντως ἐστὶ, γεννῆσαί τε τὸ ἀνδρεῖον τοῦτο καὶ ἐνάρετον γέννημα· καὶ ταῖς καθηκούσαις τροφαῖς τιθηνήσασθαι ν καὶ ὅπως ἂν ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος διασωθείη ἀπαθῶς προνοήσασθαι. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ τῷ τυράννῳ τοὺς τόκους αὐτῶν χαριζόμενοι, γυμνά τε καὶ ἀπρονόητα τῷ ῥείθρῳ τὰ τέκνα διαδιδὸασι. Ῥεῑθρον δὲ τοῦ βίοι φημὶ, τὸν τοῖς ἐπαλλήλοις πάθεσι κυματούμενον · ὑφʼ
)Y MŌSEŌS BION. " Hote kataphtheiresthai to arrhen 6 tyrannikos diekeleueto nomos ; tote gennatai 6 Mōsēs. Pōs oun tēn syntychikēn tou andros gennēsin ek proaireseōs hēmeis mimēsometha? Ou gar dē kai touto tōn ephʼ hēmin einai pantōs erei tis, hōste mimēsasthai tina tę̄ kathʼ heauton gennēsei ton eudokimon tokon. Allʼ ouden chalepon, ek tou dokountos dyscheresterou tēs mimēseōs arxasthai ; tis gar ouk oiden, dti pein to en alloiōsei keimenon, oudepote auto ephʼ heautou menei " allʼ heteron ex heterou pantote ginetai, pros to kreitton, ē pros to cheiron aei tēs alloiōseōs ene rgoumenēs? Noeisthō de kathʼ hypothesin. Ē men gar hylikē te kai empathestera diathesis, pros ēn hē hanthrōpinē physis katolisthainousa pheretai, to thēly tēs zōēs, 6 tǭ tyrannǭ philon esti zōogonoumenon; to de katesklēkos te kai syntonon tēs aretēs, 6 andrōdēs tokos, 6 polemios tǭ tyrannǭ, kai pros - epanastasin tēs archēs autou hypoptos. Dei houn to alloioumenon pou, aei pantōs gennasthai. Ou gar an ti tōn pantote hōsautōs echontōn, en tę̄ treptę̄ physei theōrētheiē. To de houtō gennasthai ouk ex hallotrias estin hormēs, kathʼ homoiotēta tōn sōmatikōs to symban hapogennōntōn ' allʼ ek proaireseōs 6 toioutos ginetai tokos. Kai esmen heautōn tropon tina pateres, heautous oious an ethelōmen, tiktontes, kai apo tēs idias proaireseōs eis hoper an ethelōmen eidos, ē arrhen ē thēly, tǭ tēs aretēsē kakias logǭ diaplassomenoi. Kai exesti kai hēmin pantōs, akontos tou tyrannou kai lypoumenou, epi tę̄ asteioterą gennēsei parelthein te eis phōs, kai tois goneusi tou kalou toutou kyēmatos (logismoi dʼ an heien houtoi hoi tēs aretēs ginomenoi pateres) ophthēnai te methʼ hēdonēs, kai zōogonēthēnai; kan hypenantion hę̄ tǭ tou tyrannou phronēmati. Oukoun, hōs an tis ek tēs historias tas aphormas labōn, epi to gymnoteron diakalyptoi to ainigma ; touto didaskei 6 logos. archēn tou katʼ aretēn poieisthai biou, to epi lypę̄ tou echthrou gennēthēnai, en tǭ toioutǭ phēmi tēs gen; nēseōs eidei, ēs ē proairesisʼtēn ōdina maieuetai. Ou gar an tis lypēseie ton antipalon, mē toiauta deiknys ephʼ eautou gnōrismata, hoia tēs katʼ ekeinou nikēs tekmēria ginesthai. Tēs de autēs ’proaireseōs pantōs esti, gennēsai te to andreion touto kai enareton gennēma; kai tais kathēkousais trophais tithēnēsasthai n kai hopōs an ek tou hydatos diasōtheiē apathōs pronoēsasthai. Hoi men gar tǭ tyrannǭ tous tokous autōn charizomenoi, gymna te kai apronoēta tǭ rheithrǭ ta tekna diadidoasi. Rheithron de tou bioi phēmi, ton tois epallēlois pathesi kymatoumenon ; hyphʼ
[Contemplation on the Life of Moses.] When the tyrant’s law ordered the males to be destroyed, then Moses is born. How, then, shall we imitate by our own choice the accidental birth of this man? Someone will surely say that this is not in our power at all, that anyone could imitate that renowned birth in his own birth. But it is not hard to begin our imitation from what seems the more difficult point. For who does not know that everything subject to change never stays as it is, but always becomes one thing from another, the change always working either toward the better or toward the worse? Let it be understood by way of illustration. The material and more passionate disposition, toward which human nature slides and is carried, is the female of life, whose birth is dear to the tyrant; while the austere and intense character of virtue is the male birth, hostile to the tyrant and suspected of rising up against his rule. What is subject to change, then, must always be in some way being born; for nothing that remains always the same can be observed in a changeable nature. But to be born in this way does not come from an impulse outside us, as with those who bodily beget whatever chances; such a birth comes about by choice. And we are in a sense our own parents, giving birth to ourselves as we wish, and by our own choice forming ourselves into whatever form we wish, male or female, by the principle of virtue or of vice. And it is altogether open to us too, against the tyrant’s will and to his grief, to come into the light by the nobler birth, and to be seen with pleasure by the parents of this fair offspring (these would be the reasonings that become the fathers of virtue) and to be kept alive, even if it is contrary to the tyrant’s intention. So, as one might take his starting-points from the history and uncover the riddle more plainly, the Word teaches this: the beginning of the life of virtue is to be born to the enemy’s grief — I mean, in that kind of birth whose labour is delivered by choice. For no one would grieve his adversary without showing in himself such marks as become proofs of victory over him. And it belongs entirely to the same choice both to beget this manly and virtuous offspring, to nurse it with fitting food, and to provide that it be saved from the water unharmed. For those who give their offspring as a favour to the tyrant hand their children over to the stream naked and without forethought. By the stream I mean life, which surges with passions one after another; by
Exod 1:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 1:22 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 2:2–3 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Beginning the spiritual contemplation, Gregory reads Moses’ birth as the birth of virtue: since a changeable nature is always being born, we are in a sense our own parents, and by choice can bring forth the “male” offspring of virtue that the tyrant fears.
- Here begins the second part of the work, the contemplation (θεωρία) of the history’s spiritual meaning; the heading is partly preserved in the scan. Gregory’s “history” (ἱστορία) is the narrative sense, read here for its meaning for the life of virtue.
- Exod 1:16, 22; 2:2. The “male” and “female” births are Gregory’s figures for virtue and the passionate disposition; they are not statements about men and women (he has just said both sexes are equally capable of virtue, PG 44:301).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (Latin letters) for Οὐ; OCR slip): Otii γὰρ → Οὐ γὰρ; υύκοΰν → Οὐκοῦν.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 327 (PG 44:328a–328d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/317/#p-327). (abbreviation not yet checked)
BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis-327) · 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 329
329PG 44:329a–329d
οὗ τὸ ὲν τῷ ῥείθρῳ γινόμενον, ὑποβρύχιον καταδύεταί τε καὶ καταπνίγεται. Oi δὲ σώφρονές τε καὶ προνοητικοὶ λογισμοὶ,οί τῆς ἀνδρείας γονῆς πατέρες, ὃταν κατάγειν πρὸς τὰ τῆς ζωῆς κύματα τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἔκγονον ἡ τοῦ βίου ἀνάγκη βιάσηται, κιβωτῷ πρὸς τὺ μὴ γενέσθαι βύθιον τὸν τῷ ῥείθρῳ δοθέντα κατασφαλίζονται. Κιβωτδς δʼ ἂν εἴη ἐκ διαφόρων σανίδων συμπεπηγυῖα, ἡ ὲκ ποικίλων μαθημάτων συμπηγνυμένη παίδευσις, ἠ ἄνω τῶν κυμάτων τὸν διʼ αὐτῆς ἐπιφερόμενον τοῦ βίου ἀνέχουσα· ἦς ὑπαρχούσης, οὐδὲ ἐπὶ πολὺ τῷ σάλῳ τῶν ὑδάτων ἐμπλαο νηθήσεται, ταῖς τῶν κυμάτων ὁρμαῖς συμφερόμενος· ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τοῦ σταθεροῦ τῆς ὄχθης, τοῦτʼ ἐστιν, ἔξω τοῖ βιωτικοῦ σάλου γινόμενος, αὐτομάτως ὑπὸ τῆς φορεῖς τῶν ὑδάτων πρὸς τὸ σταθηρὸν ἀπωσθήσεται. ‘0 δὴ καὶ τῇ πείρᾳ μανθάνομεν α ὅτι καὶ τοὺς μὴ συνδιαβαπτιζομένους ἔτι ταῖς ἀνθρωπίναις ἀπάταις, αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων ἡ … τε καὶ πεφορημὲνη κίνησις ἀφʼ ἑαυτῆς ἀπωθεῖται, ὥσπερ τι βάρος μά·ταιον. τοὺς διὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐνοχλοῦντας λογιζομένη. 'U δὲ τῶν τοιούτων ἔξω γενόμενος, μιμείσθω τὸν Μωσέα, καὶ μὴ φειδέσθω τῶν δακρύων, κᾶν ὲν κιβωτῷ κατησφαλισμὲνος τύχῃ. Ἀκριβὴς γάρ φύλαξ τῶν διʼ ἀρετῆς σωζομένων, τὸ δάκρυον. Ei δὲ ἡ ἄγονός τε καὶ στεῖρα βασιλέως οὖσα θυγάτηρ (ἢν οἶμαι τὴν ἔξωθεν κυρίως νοεῖσθαι φιλοσοφίαν),ὑποβαλλομένη τὸν νέον, μήτηρ τοῦ τοιούτου κληθῆναι κατασκευάσειεν ἕως τότε συγχωρεῖ ὁ λόγος μὴ ἀπωθεῖσθαι τὴν Οὐκοῦν τοσοῦτόν τις τῇ τῶνΑἰγυπτίων βασιλίδι συζήσας, ὅσον μὴ δοκεῖν ἄμοιρος εἶναι τῶν παρʼ ὲκείνοις σεμνῶν, ἀναδραμείτω πρὸς τὴν κατὰ φύσιν μητέρα, ἦς οὐδὲ παρά τῇ βασιλίδι τρεφόμενος ἀπεσχίσθη, τῷ μητρώῳ γάλακτι, καθὼς ἡ ἱστορία φησὶ, τιθηνούμενος. Ὅπερ μοι δοκεῖ διδάσκειν, ἵνʼ εἰ τοῖς ἔξωθεν λόγοις καθομιλοίημεν ὲν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς παιδεύσεως, μὴ χωρίζεσθαι τοῦ ὑποτρέφοντος ἡμᾶς τῆς Ἐκκλησίας γάλακτος. Τοῦτο δʼ ἂν εἴη, τὰ νόμιμά τε καὶ τά ἢθη τῆς Ἑκκλησίας, οἷς τρέφεται ή ψυχὴ καὶ ἀδρύνεται, ἐντεῦθεν τῆς εἰς ὕψος ἀναδρομῆς τὰς ἀφορμὰς δεχομένη. Ἀληθὴς δὲ ὁ λόγος, ὅτι δύο πολεμίων μέσος γενήσεται, ὁ πρὸς τὰ ἔξωθεν δόγματα, καὶ μὴ τά πάτρια, βλέπων. Ἀνθίσταται γάρ ὁ κατά τὴν θρησκείαν ἀλλόφυλος τῷ Ἑβραίῳ λόγῳ, ἰσχυρότερος φανῆναι τοῦ Ἰσραηλίτου φιλονεικῶν. Καὶ πολλοῖς γε τῶν ὲπιπολαιοτέρων τοιοῦτος ἔδοξεν, οἳ καταλιπόντες τὴν πατρῴαν πίστιν, τῷ ἐχθρῷ συνεμάχησαν, _ παραβάται τῆς πατρίου διδασκαλίας γενόμειοι. '0 μέντοι κατά τὸν Μωσὲα μέγας τε καὶ γενναῖος τὴν ψυχὴν. νεκρὸν ἀποδείκνυσι τῇ παρʼ αὐτοῦ πληγῇ τὸν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἁντεγειρόμενον. Καὶ ἄλλως τις εὕροι τὴν τοιαύτην ὲν ἡμῖν μάχην. Μέσος γὰρ ὁ ἄνθρωπος οἷόν τι ἔπαθλον ἀγῶνος τοῖς ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου μεταποιουμένοις πρόκειται· καὶ ᾧπερ
hou to en tǭ rheithrǭ ginomenon, hypobrychion katadyetai te kai katapnigetai. Oi de sōphrones te kai pronoētikoi logismoi,oi tēs andreias gonēs pateres, hotan katagein pros ta tēs zōēs kymata to agathon ekgonon hē tou biou anankē biasētai, kibōtǭ pros ty mē genesthai bythion ton tǭ rheithrǭ dothenta katasphalizontai. Kibōtds dʼ an eiē ek diaphorōn sanidōn sympepēguia, hē ek poikilōn mathēmatōn sympēgnymenē paideusis, ē anō tōn kymatōn ton diʼ autēs epipheromenon tou biou anechousa; ēs hyparchousēs, oude epi poly tǭ salǭ tōn hydatōn emplao nēthēsetai, tais tōn kymatōn hormais sympheromenos; allʼ epi tou statherou tēs ochthēs, toutʼ estin, exō toi biōtikou salou ginomenos, automatōs hypo tēs phoreis tōn hydatōn pros to stathēron apōsthēsetai. ‘0 dē kai tę̄ peirą manthanomen a hoti kai tous mē syndiabaptizomenous eti tais anthrōpinais apatais, autōn tōn pragmatōn hē … te kai pephorēmenē kinēsis aphʼ heautēs apōtheitai, hōsper ti baros ma;taion. tous dia tēs aretēs enochlountas logizomenē. 'U de tōn toioutōn exō genomenos, mimeisthō ton Mōsea, kai mē pheidesthō tōn dakryōn, kan en kibōtǭ katēsphalismenos tychę̄. Akribēs gar phylax tōn diʼ aretēs sōzomenōn, to dakryon. Ei de hē agonos te kai steira basileōs ousa thygatēr (ēn oimai tēn exōthen kyriōs noeisthai philosophian),hypoballomenē ton neon, mētēr tou toioutou klēthēnai kataskeuaseien heōs tote synchōrei ho logos mē apōtheisthai tēn Oukoun tosouton tis tę̄ tōnAigyptiōn basilidi syzēsas, hoson mē dokein amoiros einai tōn parʼ ekeinois semnōn, anadrameitō pros tēn kata physin mētera, ēs oude para tę̄ basilidi trephomenos apeschisthē, tǭ mētrōǭ galakti, kathōs hē historia phēsi, tithēnoumenos. Hoper moi dokei didaskein, hinʼ ei tois exōthen logois kathomiloiēmen en tǭ kairǭ tēs paideuseōs, mē chōrizesthai tou hypotrephontos hēmas tēs Ekklēsias galaktos. Touto dʼ an eiē, ta nomima te kai ta ēthē tēs Hekklēsias, hois trephetai ē psychē kai adrynetai, enteuthen tēs eis hypsos anadromēs tas aphormas dechomenē. Alēthēs de ho logos, hoti dyo polemiōn mesos genēsetai, ho pros ta exōthen dogmata, kai mē ta patria, blepōn. Anthistatai gar ho kata tēn thrēskeian allophylos tǭ Hebraiǭ logǭ, ischyroteros phanēnai tou Israēlitou philoneikōn. Kai pollois ge tōn epipolaioterōn toioutos edoxen, hoi katalipontes tēn patrǭan pistin, tǭ echthrǭ synemachēsan, _ parabatai tēs patriou didaskalias genomeioi. '0 mentoi kata ton Mōsea megas te kai gennaios tēn psychēn. nekron apodeiknysi tę̄ parʼ autou plēgę̄ ton tǭ logǭ tēs eusebeias hantegeiromenon. Kai allōs tis heuroi tēn toiautēn en hēmin machēn. Mesos gar ho anthrōpos hoion ti epathlon agōnos tois ek tou enantiou metapoioumenois prokeitai; kai hǭper
under which whatever is in the stream is pulled under and drowned. But the self-controlled and provident reasonings, the fathers of the manly offspring, when the necessity of life forces them to set the good child out upon the waves of life, secure the one given to the stream in an ark, so that he does not sink to the bottom. The ark, fitted together from various planks, would be education fitted together from various studies, which holds above the waves of life the one carried in it. When he has it, he will not drift long in the surge of the waters, swept along by the rush of the waves; he will be pushed of his own accord by the movement of the waters to the firm ground of the bank, that is, he will come to be outside the turmoil of life. This we learn by experience as well: those who are no longer plunged together with others into human deceits are thrust away by the … and restless movement of affairs itself, like a useless burden, since it reckons those who trouble it by their virtue a nuisance. Whoever has come out of such things, let him imitate Moses and not spare his tears, even if he happens to be secured in the ark; for tears are an exact guardian of those who are saved through virtue. If the king’s daughter, childless and barren as she is (whom I think we should properly take to mean outside philosophy), adopts the young man and contrives to be called the mother of such a one, the Word allows him up to that point not to reject the … So let a person live with the Egyptian princess only so long as not to seem to lack a share in what is held in honour among them, and then run back to his natural mother, from whom he was not separated even while being raised by the princess, since he was nursed, as the history says, with his mother’s milk. This seems to me to teach that, if we associate with outside learning during our time of education, we should not be separated from the milk of the Church that nourishes us. This would be the laws and customs of the Church, by which the soul is fed and matured, taking from them its starting points for the ascent on high. True is the saying that one who looks to outside doctrines and not to those of his fathers will find himself between two enemies. For the foreigner in religion opposes the Hebrew teaching, eager to appear stronger than the Israelite. And to many of the more superficial he has seemed so: they abandoned the faith of their fathers and fought on the enemy’s side, becoming transgressors of the ancestral teaching. But one who is great and noble of soul, as Moses was, shows the one who rises against the teaching of godliness to be dead by his blow. One might also find such a fight within us in another way. For the human being is set in the middle, as a kind of prize of a contest, for those who lay claim to him from opposite sides; and to whichever
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Exod 2:3–12 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The ark in which the infant Moses is saved signifies education; the princess who adopts him is pagan philosophy, which may be used for a time provided one is not cut off from the Church’s milk; the fight with the Egyptian is the fight of godliness against error.
- Exod 2:3–12. “Outside philosophy” (ἡ ἔξωθεν φιλοσοφία): pagan learning.
- At the first … a word is unreadable in the scan (OCR debris), probably “unstable.” After “not to reject the” a line is lost in the scan (marked …).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (Latin letters) for Μέσος; OCR debris (Latin letters) for τις; OCR debris (Latin letters); word unreadable): ἡ amns; τε → ἡ … τε; ἄλὶως ram; εὖροι → ἄλλως τις εὕροι; Μέco; γὰρ → Μέσος γὰρ.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 329 (PG 44:329a–329d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/317/#p-329). (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 331
331PG 44:332a–332d
ιν προστεθῇ, τοῦτον νικητήν τοῦ ἐναντίου ποιεί, οἷον εἰδωλολατρεία καὶ θεοσέβεια, ἀκολασία καὶ σωφροσύνη, δικαιοσύνη καὶ ἀδικία, τύφος καὶ μετριοτης, καὶ πάντα τά ἐξ ἀντιθέτου νοούμενα, Αἰγυπτίου τινὸς ἄντικρύς ἐστι πρὸς Ἐὗραϊον μάχη. Παιδεύει τοίνυν ἡμᾶς ὁ Μωσῆς τῷ καθʼ ἑαυτὸν ὑποδείγματι, συνίστασθαι μὲν ὡς ὁμοφύλῳ τῇ ἀρετῇ, ἀναιρεῖν δὲ τὸν ὲκ τοῦ ἐναντίου τῇ ἀρετῇ ἐπεμβαίνοντα. Τῷ ὄντι γὰρ ἠ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐπικράτησις, θάνατος xui. διαφθορά τῆς είδωλολατρείας γίνεται. Οὕτω καὶ· διά τῆς ἱικαιοσύνης ἀναιρεῖται ἀδικία· καὶ τῇ μετριότητι ὁ τῦφος καταφονεύεται. Ἀλλά καὶ ἡτῶν ἐμφυλίων καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους στάσις, καὶ ἐν ἡμῖν γίνεται. Οὐ γὰρ ἂν αἱ τῶν πονηρῶν αἱρέσεων δογματοποιῖαι χώραν ἔσχον, μὴ είς ἀντίπαλον τάξιν τῶν λογισμῶν τοῖς ἀληθεστέροις ἀντιὸαινόντων. Ἐάν οῦν ἀσθενέστεροι ὦμεν, ὥστε διʼ ἑαυτῶν δοῦναι τῷ δικαίῳ τὸ κράτος, ὑπερισχύοντος διὰ τῶν ἐπιχειρημάτων τοῦ χείρονος, καί τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἀληθείας ἀπωθουμένου · φευκτέον ἐντεῦθεν ὡς τάχιστα, καθʼ ὁμοιότητα τοῦ ἱστορικοῦ ύποδείγματος, πρὸς μείζονά τε καὶ ὑψηλοτέραν τῶν μυστηρίων διδασκαλίαν. Κάν ἀλλοφύλῳ πάλιν συγγενέσθαι δέῃ, τοῦτʼ ἐστι. κᾶν τῇ ἔξω συγγενέσθαι φιλοσοφία καταναγκάζῃ ἡ χρεία · καὶτοῦτο ἑλώμεθα. τοὺς πονηροὺς ποιμένας τῆς ἀδίκου τῶν φρεάτων χρήσεως ἀποσκεδάσαντες· ὅπερ ἐστὶ τοῦς τῶν κακῶν διδασκάλους ἐπὶ τῇ πονηρᾷ χρήσει τῆς παιδεύσεως διελέγξαντες, οὕτως ἐφʼ ἑαυτοὺς ίδιάσομεν, οὐκέτι μαχομένοις τισὶ συμπλεκόμενοί τε καὶ μεσιτεύοντες. ἀλλʼ ἐν ὁμοφρονοῦσί τε καὶ ὁμογνωμονοῦσι τοῖς παρʼ ἡμῶν βουκολουμένοις συζήσομεν, πάντων τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν τῆς ψυχῆς κινημάτων, προβάτων δίκην, τῷ βουλήματι τοῦ ἐπιστατοῦντος λόγου ποιμαινομένων. Καὶ οὓτω προσεδρεύουσιν ἡμῖν τῇ εἰρηνικῇ ταύτῃ καὶ ἀπολέμῳ διαγωγῇ, ἐπιλάμψει τότε ἡ ἀλήθεια, ταῖς ίδίαις μαρμαρυγαῖς τὰς τῆς ψυχῆς δψεις περιαυγάζουσα. Θεὸς δέ ἐστιν ὴ ἀλήθεια, ἡ ὲμφανισθείσα τότε διὰ τῆς ἀρρήτου ἐκείνης φωταγωγίας τῷ Μωσῇ. Ei δὲ καὶ θάμνου τινος ἀκανθώδους τὸ φέγγος ἐξάπτεται, ᾧ ἡ ψυχὴ τοῦ προφήτου καταφωτίζεται · οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἀσυντελές ἡμῖν ἐσται πρὸς τὸ ζητούμενον. El γὰρ Θεὸς μὲν ἡ ἀλήθεια, ὴ δὲ ἀλήθεια φῶς ἐστι· ταῦτα δὲ τὰ ὑψηλά τε καὶ θεία τῶν ὀνομάτων, καὶ ἡ τοῦ Εὑαγγελίου φωνὴ προσμαρτυρεῖ τῷ διὰ σαρκὸς ἡμῖν ὀφθέντι Θεῷ· ἀκολούθως ή τοιαύτη τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀγωγὴ προσάγει ἡμᾶς τῇ γνώσει τοῦ φωτὸς ἐκείνου, ὃ μέχρι τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης κάτεισι φύσεως · οὐκ ἀπὸ τινος τῶν περὶ τά ἀστρα φωστήρων λαμπόμενον, ὡς ἂν μὴ τῆς ὑποκειμένης ὕλης ἡ αὐγὴ νομισθείη, ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ γηῖνης θάμνου τοὺς κατʼ οὐρανὸν φωστῆρας ταῖς ἀκτῖσιν ὑπερβαλλόμενον. Διʼ οῦ διδασκόμεθα καὶ τὸ κατά τὴν Παρθένον μυστήριον, ἀφʼ ἧς τὸ τῆς θεότητος φῶς ἐπιλάμψαν τῷ ἀνθρωπίνῳ βίῳ διὰ γεννήσεως, ἀδιάφθορον ἐφύλαξε τὴν ἐξάψασαν θάμνον, τοῦ βλαστοῦ τῆς παρθενίας μὴ μεταμαρανθέντος τῷ τόκῳ. Παρʼ ἐκείνου τοῦ φωτὸς διδασκόμεθα, τί ποιήσαντες, ἐντὸς τῶν ἀκτίνων τῆς άληθείας στησόμεθα · ὃτι οὐκ ἔστι δεδεμένοις ποσὶ-λ
in prostethę̄, touton nikētēn tou enantiou poiei, hoion eidōlolatreia kai theosebeia, akolasia kai sōphrosynē, dikaiosynē kai adikia, typhos kai metriotēs, kai panta ta ex antithetou nooumena, Aigyptiou tinos antikrys esti pros Heuraïon machē. Paideuei toinyn hēmas ho Mōsēs tǭ kathʼ heauton hypodeigmati, synistasthai men hōs homophylǭ tę̄ aretę̄, anairein de ton ek tou enantiou tę̄ aretę̄ epembainonta. Tǭ onti gar ē tēs eusebeias epikratēsis, thanatos xui. diaphthora tēs eidōlolatreias ginetai. Houtō kai; dia tēs hiikaiosynēs anaireitai adikia; kai tę̄ metriotēti ho typhos kataphoneuetai. Alla kai hētōn emphyliōn kai pros allēlous stasis, kai en hēmin ginetai. Ou gar an hai tōn ponērōn haireseōn dogmatopoiiai chōran eschon, mē eis antipalon taxin tōn logismōn tois alēthesterois antioainontōn. Ean oun asthenesteroi ōmen, hōste diʼ heautōn dounai tǭ dikaiǭ to kratos, hyperischyontos dia tōn epicheirēmatōn tou cheironos, kai tēn archēn tēs alētheias apōthoumenou ; pheukteon enteuthen hōs tachista, kathʼ homoiotēta tou historikou ypodeigmatos, pros meizona te kai hypsēloteran tōn mystēriōn didaskalian. Kan allophylǭ palin syngenesthai deę̄, toutʼ esti. kan tę̄ exō syngenesthai philosophia katanankazę̄ hē chreia ; kaitouto helōmetha. tous ponērous poimenas tēs adikou tōn phreatōn chrēseōs aposkedasantes; hoper esti tous tōn kakōn didaskalous epi tę̄ ponērą chrēsei tēs paideuseōs dielenxantes, houtōs ephʼ heautous idiasomen, ouketi machomenois tisi symplekomenoi te kai mesiteuontes. allʼ en homophronousi te kai homognōmonousi tois parʼ hēmōn boukoloumenois syzēsomen, pantōn tōn en hēmin tēs psychēs kinēmatōn, probatōn dikēn, tǭ boulēmati tou epistatountos logou poimainomenōn. Kai houtō prosedreuousin hēmin tę̄ eirēnikę̄ tautę̄ kai apolemǭ diagōgę̄, epilampsei tote hē alētheia, tais idiais marmarygais tas tēs psychēs dpseis periaugazousa. Theos de estin ē alētheia, hē emphanistheisa tote dia tēs arrētou ekeinēs phōtagōgias tǭ Mōsę̄. Ei de kai thamnou tinos akanthōdous to phengos exaptetai, hǭ hē psychē tou prophētou kataphōtizetai ; oude touto asynteles hēmin estai pros to zētoumenon. El gar Theos men hē alētheia, ē de alētheia phōs esti; tauta de ta hypsēla te kai theia tōn onomatōn, kai hē tou Heuangeliou phōnē prosmartyrei tǭ dia sarkos hēmin ophthenti Theǭ; akolouthōs ē toiautē tēs aretēs agōgē prosagei hēmas tę̄ gnōsei tou phōtos ekeinou, ho mechri tēs anthrōpinēs kateisi physeōs ; ouk apo tinos tōn peri ta astra phōstērōn lampomenon, hōs an mē tēs hypokeimenēs hylēs hē augē nomistheiē, allʼ apo gēinēs thamnou tous katʼ ouranon phōstēras tais aktisin hyperballomenon. Diʼ ou didaskometha kai to kata tēn Parthenon mystērion, aphʼ hēs to tēs theotētos phōs epilampsan tǭ anthrōpinǭ biǭ dia gennēseōs, adiaphthoron ephylaxe tēn exapsasan thamnon, tou blastou tēs parthenias mē metamaranthentos tǭ tokǭ. Parʼ ekeinou tou phōtos didaskometha, ti poiēsantes, entos tōn aktinōn tēs alētheias stēsometha ; hoti ouk esti dedemenois posi-l
he attaches himself, he makes that one the victor over the other. Idolatry and godliness, licentiousness and self-control, justice and injustice, pride and modesty, and everything understood as opposites: this is plainly the fight of an Egyptian against a Hebrew. Moses, then, teaches us by his own example to stand with virtue as with a kinsman, and to destroy whatever attacks virtue from the opposite side. For in truth the victory of godliness becomes the death and destruction of idolatry; so too injustice is destroyed by justice, and pride slain by modesty. But the strife of kinsmen with one another also happens within us. For the doctrine-making of the wicked heresies would have had no room if the reasonings did not range themselves against the truer ones as against an opposing army. If, then, we are too weak to give victory to the right by ourselves, while the worse prevails by its arguments and thrusts away the rule of truth, we must flee from there as quickly as possible, after the likeness of the historical example, to the greater and loftier teaching of the mysteries. And if we must again live with a foreigner — that is, if need compels us to associate with outside philosophy — let us choose this too, after scattering the wicked shepherds from their unjust use of the wells, that is, after refuting the teachers of evil in their wicked use of education. In this way we shall live by ourselves, no longer entangled with combatants or acting as mediators between them, but living among those of one mind and one judgment whom we pasture, all the movements of the soul within us being shepherded like sheep by the will of the reason that presides over them. And as we persevere in this peaceful and warless way of life, the truth will then shine upon us, lighting up the eyes of the soul with its own radiance. The truth is God, who then appeared to Moses through that ineffable illumination. And if the radiance by which the prophet’s soul is enlightened is kindled from a thorny bush, this too will not be without use for our inquiry. For if God is truth, and truth is light — and the voice of the Gospel bears witness to these lofty and divine names for the God who appeared to us through flesh — then such a training in virtue leads us in due order to the knowledge of that light which comes down even to human nature. It does not shine from any of the luminaries among the stars, lest its radiance be thought to belong to the underlying matter, but from an earthly bush, surpassing the luminaries of heaven with its rays. By this we are taught also the mystery of the Virgin, from whom the light of divinity, shining on human life through birth, kept uncorrupted the bush that kindled it, the flower of virginity not withering with the birth. From that light we are taught what we must do to stand within the rays of truth: that it is not possible with bound feet
Exod 2:13–17 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 3:2 (allusion, high confidence) · John 14:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 8:12 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Moses’ fights figure the inner struggle of virtue against vice and of truth against heresy; his retreat to Midian signifies withdrawal into a peaceful life, after which the truth, which is God, shines as from the bush — a figure of the Incarnation and of the Virgin’s birth.
- Exod 2:11–3:2. The wells and shepherds: Exod 2:16–17. “God is truth … light”: compare John 14:6; 1 John 1:5; John 8:12.
- The burning bush that is not consumed is read as a figure of the virginal conception and birth of Christ; translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris for Οὐ … αἱ; OCR debris for Παρʼ): 0.3 γὰρ ἂν ul → Οὐ γὰρ ἂν αἱ; flup‘ ἐκείνου → Παρʼ ἐκείνου.
Topics: Christology, Heresy
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 331 (PG 44:332a–332d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/317/#p-331). (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 333
333PG 44:333a–333d
ἀναδραμεῖν πρὸς τὸ ’ὑέος ἐκεῖνο, ἐν ᾧ τὸ ιρῶς τῆ. ἀληθείας ὁρᾶται, εί μὴ περιλυθείη τῶν τῆς τινυχῆ βάσεων ἡ νεκρά τε καὶ γηῖνη τῶν δερμάτων περιβολὴ, ὴ περιτεθεϊσα κατʼ ἀρχὰς τῇ φύσει, ὅτε διὰ τῆς παρακοῆς τοῦ θείου θελήματος ὲγυμνὼθηιιεν. Καὶ οὓτως ἐπακολουθήσει τούτων ἡμῖν γενομένων ἡ τῆς ἀληθείας γνῶσις τῆς περὶ τὸ μὴ ὃν ὑπολήψεως καθάρσιον γίνεται. Τοῦτο δέ ἐστι, κατά γε τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον, ὁρισμὸς ἀληθείας. τὸ μὴ διαψευσθῆναι τῆς τοῦ ὄντος κατανοήσεως. (Ψεῦδος γάρ ἐστι φαντασία τις περὶ τὸ μὴ ὃν ἐγγινομένη τῇ διανοίᾳ, ὡς ὑφεστῶτος τοῦ μὴ ὑπάρχοντος ’ ἀλήθεια δὲ, ἡ τοῦ ὄντος ἀσφαλὴς κατανόησις.) Καὶ οὕτω πολλῷ τις τῷ μεταξὺ χρόνῳ ταῖς ὑψηλαῖς διʼ ἡσυχίας ὲμφιλοσοῇσας μελέταις, μόλις κατανοήσει, τί μέν ἐστιν ὡς ἀληθῶς τὸ ὃν, ὄ τῇ αὑτοῦ φύσει τὸ εἶναι ἔχει ο τί δὲ τὸ μὴ ὃν, ὅ ὲν τῷ δοκεῖν εἶναι μόνον ἐστὶν, ἀνυπόστατον ἕχον ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ τὴν φύσιν. "0 μοι δοκεῖ τότε ὁ μέγας Meet)σῆς, ὲν τῇ θεοφανεία παιδευθεὶς, γνῶναιο ὅτι οὐδὲν τῶν ἄλλων, ὅσα τε τῇ αἰσθήσει καταλαμβάνεται, καὶ ὅσα κατά διάνοιαν θεωρεῖται, τῷ ὄντι ὑφέστηκε, πλὴν τῆς ὑπεράνω ἑστώσης οὐσίας καὶ αἰτίας τοῦ παντὸς, ἀφʼ ἧς ἐξῆπται τὸ πᾶν. Ei γάρ τι καὶ ἄλλο ἐν τοῖς οὖσιν ὴ διάνοια βλέπει, ἀλλʼ ὲν οὐδενὶ τῶν ὄντων τὸ ἀπροσδεὲς τοῦ ἑτέρου εὑθεωρεὶ ὁ λόγος, ᾧδυνατόν ἐστι δίχα τῆς μετουσίας τοῦ ὄντος εἶναι.. Τὸ δὲ ὼσαὺτως ἔχον ἀεὶ, τὸ ἀναυξὲς, τὸ ἁμείωτον, τὸ πρὸς πᾶσαν μεταῶλὴν τήν τε πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὸ χεῖρον ἐπίσης ἀκίνητον · τοῦμὲν γὰρ χείρονος ηλι- . λοτρίωται τὸ δὲ κρεῖττον οὑκ ἔχει · τὸ δὲ παντὸς ἀνενδεὲς ἑτέρου, τὸ μόνον ὀρεκτὸν, καὶ παρὰ παντὸς μετεχόμενον, καὶ ὲν τῇ μετουσίᾳ τῶν μετεχόντων οὑκ ὲλαττού μενον. Τοῦτό ἐστιν ὡς ἀληθῶς τὸ ὄντως ὃν, καὶ ἡ τούιτου κατανόησις, ὴ τῆς ἀληθείας γνῶσίς ἐστιν. Ἐν τούτῳ τοίνυν γινόμενος τότε μὲν ἐκεῖνος. νῦν δὲ πᾶς ό κατʼ ἐκεῖνον τῆς γηῒνης αὑτὸν ἐκλύων περιβολῆς, καὶτὸ ὲκ τῆς βάτου ιρῶς βλέπων, τοῦτʼ ἐστι. πρὸς τὴν διὰ σαρκὸς τῆς ἀκανθώδους ταύτης ὲπιλάμψασαν ἡμῖν ἀκτῖνα, ἥτις ἐστὶ, καθὼς τὸ Εὐαγ-ιρ τέλιόν φησι, τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινὸν, καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια· τότε τοιοῦτος γίνεται, οἶος καὶ ἑτέροις εἰς σωτηρίαν ἀρκέσαι, καὶ καθελεῖν μὲν τὴν ἐπικρατοῦσαν κακῶς τυραννίδα, ἐξελέσθαι δὲ πρὸς ἐλευθερίαν πᾶν τὸ τῇ πονηρᾷ δουλείᾳ κατακρατούμενον, τῆς ἀλλοιωθείσης δεξιᾶς. καὶ τῆς εἰς ὄφιν μεταβληθείσης βακτηρίας τῶν θαυμάτων καθηγου μένης. ’ᾯ μοι δοκεῖ διʼ αἰνίγματος τὸ διὰ σαρκὸς παραδηλοῦσθαι τοῦ Κυρίου μυστήριον τῆς φανείσης τοῖς ἀνθρώποις θεότητος, διʼ ἧς γίνεται ἢ τε τοῦ τυράννου καθαίρεσις, καὶ ἡ τῶν ὑπʼ αὑτοῦ κρατουμένων ἐλευθερία. Τὰ δέ με πρὸς τὴν διάνοιαν ἄγοντα ταύτην, ἐστὶ προφητική τε καὶ εὑαγγελικὴ μαρτυρία. '0 μὲν γὰρ Προφήτης φησινʼ 4 Αὕτηὴ ἀλλοίωσις τῆς δεξιᾶς τοῦ Ὑψίστου, ι ὡς μὲν τῆς Θείας φύσεως ὲν τῷ άναλλοιώτῳ θεωρουμένης, τῇ δὲ πρὸς τὸ ἀσθενὲς τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως συγκαταόάσει, πρὸς τὸ ἡμέτερον σχῆμὰ τε καὶ εἶδος
anadramein pros to ’hyeos ekeino, en hǭ to irōs tē. alētheias horatai, ei mē perilytheiē tōn tēs tinychē baseōn hē nekra te kai gēinē tōn dermatōn peribolē, ē peritetheïsa katʼ archas tę̄ physei, hote dia tēs parakoēs tou theiou thelēmatos egymnōthēiien. Kai houtōs epakolouthēsei toutōn hēmin genomenōn hē tēs alētheias gnōsis tēs peri to mē hon hypolēpseōs katharsion ginetai. Touto de esti, kata ge ton emon logon, horismos alētheias. to mē diapseusthēnai tēs tou ontos katanoēseōs. (Pseudos gar esti phantasia tis peri to mē hon enginomenē tę̄ dianoią, hōs hyphestōtos tou mē hyparchontos ’ alētheia de, hē tou ontos asphalēs katanoēsis.) Kai houtō pollǭ tis tǭ metaxy chronǭ tais hypsēlais diʼ hēsychias emphilosoę̄sas meletais, molis katanoēsei, ti men estin hōs alēthōs to hon, o tę̄ hautou physei to einai echei o ti de to mē hon, ho en tǭ dokein einai monon estin, anypostaton hechon aphʼ heautou tēn physin. "0 moi dokei tote ho megas Meet)sēs, en tę̄ theophaneia paideutheis, gnōnaio hoti ouden tōn allōn, hosa te tę̄ aisthēsei katalambanetai, kai hosa kata dianoian theōreitai, tǭ onti hyphestēke, plēn tēs hyperanō hestōsēs ousias kai aitias tou pantos, aphʼ hēs exēptai to pan. Ei gar ti kai allo en tois ousin ē dianoia blepei, allʼ en oudeni tōn ontōn to aprosdees tou heterou heutheōrei ho logos, hǭdynaton esti dicha tēs metousias tou ontos einai.. To de ōsautōs echon aei, to anauxes, to hameiōton, to pros pasan metaōlēn tēn te pros to kreitton kai tēn pros to cheiron episēs akinēton ; toumen gar cheironos ēli- . lotriōtai to de kreitton houk echei ; to de pantos anendees heterou, to monon orekton, kai para pantos metechomenon, kai en tę̄ metousią tōn metechontōn houk elattou menon. Touto estin hōs alēthōs to ontōs hon, kai hē touitou katanoēsis, ē tēs alētheias gnōsis estin. En toutǭ toinyn ginomenos tote men ekeinos. nyn de pas o katʼ ekeinon tēs gēïnēs hauton eklyōn peribolēs, kaito ek tēs batou irōs blepōn, toutʼ esti. pros tēn dia sarkos tēs akanthōdous tautēs epilampsasan hēmin aktina, hētis esti, kathōs to Euag-ir telion phēsi, to phōs to alēthinon, kai hē alētheia; tote toioutos ginetai, oios kai heterois eis sōtērian arkesai, kai kathelein men tēn epikratousan kakōs tyrannida, exelesthai de pros eleutherian pan to tę̄ ponērą douleią katakratoumenon, tēs alloiōtheisēs dexias. kai tēs eis ophin metablētheisēs baktērias tōn thaumatōn kathēgou menēs. ’Hǭ moi dokei diʼ ainigmatos to dia sarkos paradēlousthai tou Kyriou mystērion tēs phaneisēs tois anthrōpois theotētos, diʼ hēs ginetai ē te tou tyrannou kathairesis, kai hē tōn hypʼ hautou kratoumenōn eleutheria. Ta de me pros tēn dianoian agonta tautēn, esti prophētikē te kai heuangelikē martyria. '0 men gar Prophētēs phēsinʼ 4 Hautēē alloiōsis tēs dexias tou Hypsistou, i hōs men tēs Theias physeōs en tǭ analloiōtǭ theōroumenēs, tę̄ de pros to asthenes tēs anthrōpinēs physeōs synkataoasei, pros to hēmeteron schēma te kai eidos
to run up to that height where the light of truth is seen, unless the dead and earthly covering of skins is loosed from the feet of the soul, the covering that was put around our nature in the beginning, when we were stripped naked through disobedience to the divine will. When this has happened, the knowledge of the truth will follow, and it becomes a cleansing of the false conception about what is not. This, at least in my account, is the definition of truth: not to be deceived in the understanding of what is. (For falsehood is an impression about what is not, arising in the mind, as though what does not exist had subsistence; truth is the secure understanding of what is.) And so whoever has spent a long time in quiet philosophizing on lofty studies will barely come to understand what truly is — that which has being by its own nature — and what is not, which exists only in seeming, having of itself a nature without subsistence. This, it seems to me, the great Moses then learned when he was taught in the theophany: that none of the other things, whether grasped by sense or contemplated by thought, really subsists, except the essence that stands above all, the cause of the universe, on which everything depends. For even if the mind sees something else among the things that are, reason observes in none of them that freedom from need of anything else by which it could be without participation in Being. But that which is always the same, which neither grows nor diminishes, which is equally unmoved toward every change, whether to the better or to the worse — for it is foreign to the worse and has nothing better than itself — which needs nothing else, which alone is desirable, which is shared by all and is not lessened by the sharing of those who share in it: this is truly real Being, and the understanding of it is the knowledge of truth. Coming to be in this — he then, and now everyone who, like him, looses the earthly covering from himself and looks to the light from the bramble, that is, to the ray that has shone upon us through the flesh of this thorny bush, which is, as the Gospel says, the true light and the truth — such a one then becomes able to suffice for the salvation of others as well: to overthrow the tyranny that wickedly prevails, and to bring out into freedom all that is held fast by evil slavery, with the changed right hand and the staff turned into a serpent leading the way in the wonders. By these, it seems to me, the mystery of the Lord’s divinity, which appeared to human beings through flesh, is indicated in a riddle; through it both the overthrow of the tyrant and the freedom of those he held come about. What leads me to this understanding is the testimony of the prophet and of the Gospel. For the prophet says, “This is the change of the right hand of the Most High,” since the divine nature is contemplated in its unchangeableness, but by its condescension to the weakness of human nature was changed to our shape and form.
Gen 3:21 (allusion, medium confidence) · Exod 3:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 3:14 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 1:9 (allusion, high confidence) · John 14:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Exod 4:2–7 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 77:10 (76:11 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Loosing the sandals means putting off the “garments of skin” given after the fall; then one learns that only God truly is and all else exists by participation. Such a one can free others, as Moses did with the changed hand and the staff, which figure the Incarnation.
- The “covering of skins”: the garments of skin of Gen 3:21, which Gregory reads as the mortal, passionate condition put on after the fall; here they are the dead sandals of Exod 3:5.
- “That which is” (τὸ ὄν): Gregory reads the self-designation of God at the bush (Exod 3:14, LXX “I am he who is”) as the doctrine that God alone truly is.
- “The true light and the truth”: John 1:9; 14:6. “This is the change of the right hand of the Most High”: Ps 77:10 (LXX 76:11).
- The staff and the hand: Exod 4:2–7.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 333 (PG 44:333a–333d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/317/#p-333). (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 335
335PG 44:336a–336b
ἀλλοιωθείσης. Καὶ 7&9 ἐκεῖ τοῦ νομοθέτου ἡ χεὶρ προβληθεῖσα τοῦ κόλπου, πρὸς τδ παρά φύσιν ὴλλοιώθη χρῶμα · καὶ πάλιν ὲν κόλποις γενομένη, πρὸς τὴν ίδίαν αὑτῆς καὶ κατά φύσιν ἐπανῆλθε χάριν. Καὶ 6 μονογενὴς Θεὸς, ό ὢν ὲν κόλποις τοῦ Πατρδς, οὑτός ἐστιν ὴ δεξιά τοῦ Ὑψίστου. Ὅτε δὲ ἡμῖν ἐκ τῶν κόλπων ἐφάνη, καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἠλλοιιὶιθηο ἐπεὶ δὲ τάς ἡμετέρας ἀσθενείας ὲκμάξας, πάλιν ἐπανήγαγε τὴν ὲν ἡμῖν γενομένην χεῖρα, καὶ καθʼ ἡμᾶς χρωσθείσαν ἐπὶ τὸν ἴδιον κόλπον (κόλπος δὲ τῆς δεξιᾶς ὀ Πατὴρ). τότε οὑ τὸ ἀπαθὲς τῆς φύσεως είς πάθος ἡλλοίωσεν, ἀλλά τὸ τρεπτόν τε καὶ ἐμπαθὲς διά τῆς πρὸς τὸ ἄτρεπτον κοινωνίας είς ἀπάθειαν μετεστοιχείωσεν. Ἦ δὲ είς ὄφιν μεταβολὴ ’ἑῆς βακτηρίας, μὴ ταρασ· σέσθω τοὺς φιλοχρίστους, ὼς ἀπεμφαίνοντι ζῴῳ προσαρμοζόντων ἡμῶν τὸν τοῦ μυστηρίου λόγον. Αὑτὴ 7&9 ἠ Ἀλήθεια διὰ τῆς εύαγγελικῆς φωνῆς οὑ παι ραιτεῖται τὴν τοιαύτην εἰκόνα. δι ‘ ὧν φησιν ’ ι Ὥσπερ 7&9 Μωῦσῆς ὑψωσε τὸν ὄφιν ὲν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, οὕτως ὑψωθῆναι δεῖ τὸν Υἱδν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. ι Καὶ σαφὴςὸ λόγος. El. 7&9 6 τῆς ἁμαρτίας πατὴρ, ὄφις ὠνομάσθη ὑπὸ τῆς θείας Γραφῆς ο καὶ τὸ ὲκ τοῦ ὄφεως γεννηθὲν, πάντως ὄφις ἐστίν. Οὐκοῦν ἀκολούθως ὴ ἁμαρτία τοῦ γεγεννηκότος αὑτήν ἔστι συνώνυμος. ’Λλλά μὴν ἁμαρτίαν διʼ ἡμᾶς γενέσθαι τὸν Κύριον, 6 ἀποστολικδς διαμαρτύρεται λόγος. τὸν τὴν ἀμαρτητικὴν ἡμῶν φύσιν περιβαλλόμενον. Κατά λόγον ἀρα τῷ Κυρίῳ προσαρμόζει τὸ αἴνιγμα. El 7&9 ὄφις μὲν ή ἁμαρτία, 6 δὲ Κύριος ἁμαρτία ἐγένετο, 6; οὑδὲν ἄλλο ἢ ἁμαρτία ἐστὶν, ἀλλά διʼ ἡμᾶς γίνεται ὄφις, ἐφʼ ᾧ τε τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ὄφεις τοὺς παρά τῶν γοήτων ζωογονουμένους διαφαγεῖν τε καὶ ὲνδαπανῆσαι · οὗ γενομένου, πάλιν είς τὴν βακτηρίαν μεθίσταται διʼ ἧς σωφρονίζονται μὲν οἱ ἁμαρτάνοντες. ἀναπαύονται δὲ οἱ τὴν ἀνωφερῆ καὶ δυσπόρευτον τῆς ἀρετῆς πορείαν ἀνιόντες, διά τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐλπίδων τῇ βακτηρίᾳ τῆς πίστεως ὲπερειδόμενοι. ι Ἐστι γὰρ πίστις ἐλπιζομένων ὑπόστασις. ι ’0 τοίνυνὲν περινοίᾳ. τούτων γενό μενος, Θεὸς ἄντικρυς γίνεται, τῶν ἀνθεστηκότων μὲν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, πρὸς δὲ τὴν ὑλώδη ταύτην καὶ ἀνυπόο στατον ἀπάτην ἐπτοημένων, οἷς τὸ ἀκοῦσαι τοῦ ὄντος, ὥσπερ τι τῶν ματαίων καταπεφρόνηται. Φησὶ 7&9 6 Φαραὼ, ι Τίς ἐστιν, οὑ είσακούσομαι τῆς φωνῆς αὑο τοῦ; οὑκ οἶδα τὸν Κύριον. ι Μόνον δὲ νομίζεται τίμιον, ὅσοι ὑλῶδες καὶ σάρκινον τῶν περὶ τάς ἀλογωτέρας αἰσθήσεις ἀναστρεφομένων. Εί τοίνυν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον διὰ τῆς τοῦ φωτὸς ὲκλὰμψεως δυναμωθείη, καὶ τοσαύτην ἰσχύν τε καὶ ἐξουσίαν κατὰ τῶν ἀντιτεταγμένων λάβῃ* τότε, καθάπερ τις ἀθλητὴς, ἱκανῶς ἐν παιδοτρίβου τὴν ἀθλητικὴν ἀνδρείαν ἐκμελετήσας, θαρσῶν ἤδη καὶ πεποιθὼς, πρὸς τὸν ἀγῶνα τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἀποδύεται, διὰ χειρὸς τὴν βακτηρίαν ἔχων ἐκείνην, τοῦτʼ ἐστι, τὸν λόγον τῆς πίστεωῗν ᾧ μέλλει τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ὄφεις καταγωνίζεσθαι. Ἀκολουθήσει δὲ αὑτῷ καὶ ἡ ἐξ ἀλλοφύλων ὂμόζυγος · ἔστι γὰρ τι καὶ τῆς ἔξω παιδεύσεως πρὸζσυζυγίαν ἡμῶν εἰς τεκνογονίαν ἀρετῆς οὑκ ἀπόβλητον. Καὶ γὰρ ὴ ἠθικὴ
alloiōtheisēs. Kai 7&9 ekei tou nomothetou hē cheir problētheisa tou kolpou, pros td para physin ēlloiōthē chrōma ; kai palin en kolpois genomenē, pros tēn idian hautēs kai kata physin epanēlthe charin. Kai 6 monogenēs Theos, o ōn en kolpois tou Patrds, houtos estin ē dexia tou Hypsistou. Hote de hēmin ek tōn kolpōn ephanē, kathʼ hēmas ēlloiiiithēo epei de tas hēmeteras astheneias ekmaxas, palin epanēgage tēn en hēmin genomenēn cheira, kai kathʼ hēmas chrōstheisan epi ton idion kolpon (kolpos de tēs dexias o Patēr). tote hou to apathes tēs physeōs eis pathos hēlloiōsen, alla to trepton te kai empathes dia tēs pros to atrepton koinōnias eis apatheian metestoicheiōsen. Ē de eis ophin metabolē ’heēs baktērias, mē taras; sesthō tous philochristous, ōs apemphainonti zǭǭ prosarmozontōn hēmōn ton tou mystēriou logon. Hautē 7&9 ē Alētheia dia tēs euangelikēs phōnēs hou pai raiteitai tēn toiautēn eikona. di ‘ hōn phēsin ’ i Hōsper 7&9 Mōysēs hypsōse ton ophin en tę̄ erēmǭ, houtōs hypsōthēnai dei ton Huidn tou anthrōpou. i Kai saphēso logos. El. 7&9 6 tēs hamartias patēr, ophis ōnomasthē hypo tēs theias Graphēs o kai to ek tou opheōs gennēthen, pantōs ophis estin. Oukoun akolouthōs ē hamartia tou gegennēkotos hautēn esti synōnymos. ’Llla mēn hamartian diʼ hēmas genesthai ton Kyrion, 6 apostolikds diamartyretai logos. ton tēn amartētikēn hēmōn physin periballomenon. Kata logon ara tǭ Kyriǭ prosarmozei to ainigma. El 7&9 ophis men ē hamartia, 6 de Kyrios hamartia egeneto, 6? houden allo ē hamartia estin, alla diʼ hēmas ginetai ophis, ephʼ hǭ te tous Aigyptious opheis tous para tōn goētōn zōogonoumenous diaphagein te kai endapanēsai ; hou genomenou, palin eis tēn baktērian methistatai diʼ hēs sōphronizontai men hoi hamartanontes. anapauontai de hoi tēn anōpherē kai dysporeuton tēs aretēs poreian aniontes, dia tōn agathōn elpidōn tę̄ baktērią tēs pisteōs epereidomenoi. i Esti gar pistis elpizomenōn hypostasis. i ’0 toinynen perinoią. toutōn geno menos, Theos antikrys ginetai, tōn anthestēkotōn men tę̄ alētheią, pros de tēn hylōdē tautēn kai anypoo staton apatēn eptoēmenōn, hois to akousai tou ontos, hōsper ti tōn mataiōn katapephronētai. Phēsi 7&9 6 Pharaō, i Tis estin, hou eisakousomai tēs phōnēs hauo tou? houk oida ton Kyrion. i Monon de nomizetai timion, hosoi hylōdes kai sarkinon tōn peri tas alogōteras aisthēseis anastrephomenōn. Ei toinyn epi tosouton dia tēs tou phōtos eklampseōs dynamōtheiē, kai tosautēn ischyn te kai exousian kata tōn antitetagmenōn labę̄* tote, kathaper tis athlētēs, hikanōs en paidotribou tēn athlētikēn andreian ekmeletēsas, tharsōn ēdē kai pepoithōs, pros ton agōna tōn echthrōn apodyetai, dia cheiros tēn baktērian echōn ekeinēn, toutʼ esti, ton logon tēs pisteōïn hǭ mellei tous Aigyptious opheis katagōnizesthai. Akolouthēsei de hautǭ kai hē ex allophylōn omozygos ; esti gar ti kai tēs exō paideuseōs prozsyzygian hēmōn eis teknogonian aretēs houk apoblēton. Kai gar ē ēthikē
For there too the lawgiver’s hand, brought out from his bosom, was changed to a colour contrary to nature, and when it was back in his bosom it returned to its own natural beauty. And the only-begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, is the right hand of the Most High. When he appeared to us from the bosom, he was changed to be like us; and when, having wiped away our weaknesses, he brought back to his own bosom the hand that had been among us and had taken our colour (the bosom of the right hand is the Father), he did not change the impassible nature into passion, but transformed what is changeable and subject to passion, through its fellowship with the unchangeable, into freedom from passion. Let not the change of the staff into a serpent trouble those who love Christ, as though we were fitting the meaning of the mystery to an unseemly animal. For the Truth himself, through the voice of the Gospel, does not refuse such an image, when he says, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” And the reasoning is clear. If the father of sin is called a serpent by divine Scripture, then what is born of the serpent is certainly a serpent; consequently sin bears the same name as the one who begot it. But the apostolic word bears witness that the Lord was made sin for our sake, clothing himself with our sinful nature. So the riddle fits the Lord with good reason. If sin is a serpent, and the Lord became sin, … which is nothing other than sin; but for our sake he becomes a serpent, so as to devour and consume the Egyptian serpents brought to life by the sorcerers. When this has happened, he is changed back into the staff, by which sinners are brought to their senses and those who climb the steep and hard road of virtue find rest, leaning through good hopes on the staff of faith; for “faith is the assurance of things hoped for.” Whoever has come to understand these things becomes a god to those who oppose the truth, who are infatuated with this material and insubstantial deception and despise hearing about Being as something worthless. For Pharaoh says, “Who is he, that I should listen to his voice? I do not know the Lord.” Only what is material and fleshly is thought precious by those who live by the more irrational senses. If, then, he has been strengthened so far by the shining of the light, and has received such strength and authority against his adversaries, then, like an athlete who has thoroughly practised athletic courage under a trainer, he now strips confidently and with assurance for the contest with the enemies, holding in his hand that staff, that is, the word of faith, with which he is to overcome the Egyptian serpents. His foreign wife will follow him too; for there is something in outside education also that is not to be rejected for union with us in the begetting of virtue. For indeed moral
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Exod 4:6–7 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:18 (allusion, high confidence) · John 3:14 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:21 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 11:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 7:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · Exod 5:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 4:20 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The hand made leprous and restored figures the Son who took our nature and raised it to freedom from passion; the staff turned serpent figures Christ “made sin” to destroy the serpents of sin; strengthened thus, the soul confronts Pharaoh, with pagan learning as a permissible companion.
- “The only-begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father”: John 1:18 (the reading μονογενὴς θεός). “As Moses lifted up the serpent …”: John 3:14. “The Lord was made sin”: 2 Cor 5:21. The serpent as father of sin: Gen 3; John 8:44; Rev 12:9. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for”: Heb 11:1. “A god to Pharaoh”: Exod 7:1. “Who is he …?”: Exod 5:2. Moses’ wife: Exod 4:20.
- After “and the Lord became sin,” a line is lost in the scan (marked …); the sense is that he who became sin also became a serpent.
- Christological passage: translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris for ζῴῳ προσαρμοζόντων): {disp προσο αρμοζόντων → ζῴῳ προσαρμοζόντων.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 335 (PG 44:336a–336b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/317/#p-335). (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.