On the Life of Moses 355–371
Greek text: PG 44.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 355
355PG 44:356a–356d
Ξνως Et δὲ καὶ μὴ τὰ δύο τοῖς Ἰσραηλίταις γεγένηται, ἥ-τε τῶν πρωτοτόκων ἀναίρεσις καὶ ἡ τοῦ αἵματος πρόσχυσις· μὴ θαυμάσῃς μηδὲν, μήτε διὰ τοῦτο τὴν ἀποδοθεῖσαν περὶτῆς ἀναιρέσεως τοῦ κσκοῦ θεωρίαν ἀποβἁλῃς, ὼς ἔξω τῆς ἀληθείας παρευρημένην. Νῦν γὰρ τῇ διαφορᾷ τῶν ὀνομάτων, τοῦ Ίσραηλιτικοῦ τε καὶ τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου, τὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς πρὸς τὴν κακίαν διάφορον ὲνοήσαμεν. Εἰ οὖν Ἰσραηλιτικὺν τὸν ἐνάρετον ἡάναγωγὴ νοεῖν ὑποτίθεται· οὑκ ἂν εὐλόγως τῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς γεννημάτων τὰς ἀρχὰς ἐπεζητοίη τις καταφονεύεσθαι, ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνα, ὧν ὁ ἀφανισμὸς τῆς ἀνατροερῆς ἐστι λυσιτελέστερος. Οὐκοῦν ἀκολούθως τῆς Αἰγυπτίας γονῆς τὰς ἀρχὰς δεῖν ἀναιρεῖσθαι, παρᾶ τοῦ Θεοῦ μεμαθήκαμεν, ὡς ἂν ἐπιλίποι τὺ κακὸν τῷ τῆς ἀρχῆς ὀλέθρῳ συνδαπανώμενον. Καὶ συμβαίνει τῇ ἱστορίᾳ τὸ νόημα τῶν μὲν Ἰσραηλιτικῶν γεννημάτων διὰ τῆς τοῦ αἵματος προσχύσεως γίνεται ἠ φρουρὰ, ὅπως ἂν είς τελείωσιν τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἔλθῃ. Ὅπερ δὲ τελειωοὲν είς Αίγύπτιον συντελέσει δῆμον, τοῦτο πρό τῆς ἐν τῷ κακῷ τελειώσεως ἠφανίσθη. Συνεργεῖ δὲ πρὸς τὴν προκειμένην ἡμῶν ἀναγωγὴν τοῦ νοήματος καὶ τὰ ἑφεξῆς συμπαραλαμβανόμενα τῇ Θεωρία τοῦ λόγου. Βούλεται γὰρ τροφὴν ἡμῶν γενέσθαι τὸ σῶμα, ὅθεν ἁπερρύη τὺ αἷμα, ὃ χωρίζει τοῦ ὀλοθρευτοῦ τῶν Δίγυπτίων, ἐπὶ τῶν εἰσόδων δεικνύμενον. Τό τε σχῆμα τῶν τὴν τροφὴν ταύτην προσφερομένων, σύντονον τε καὶ κατεσπουδασμένον εἶναι, οὑχ οἷον ἐπὶ τῶν εὐπαθούντων ὲν συμποσίοις ὁρᾶται* ὧν ἄνετοι μὲν αἱ χεῖρες, ἐλαφραὶ δὲ ἱματίων ἐπιβολαὶ, τῆς τε 660nmρικῆς παρασκευῆς οί πόδες ἐλεύθεροι* ἀλλʼ ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου τὰ πάντα. Πόδες μὲν διειλημμένοι τοῖς ὑποδήμασι, ζώνη δὲ τὸ περιρρέον τοῦ χιτῶνος τῇ ἰξυῖ συσφίγγουσα, διὰ χειρὸς δὲ ἡ ἁμυντικὴ τῶν κυνῶν βακτηρία. Καὶ ὲν τούτῳ τῷ σχήματι προστίθεται αὐτοῖς ή βρῶσις ἄνευ τινὸς ὀψαρτυτικῆς καρυκείας, ἐπὶ πυρὸς κατὰ τὸ συμβὰν ἐκ τοῦ παρατυχόντος σχεδιασθείσα, ἣν κατὰ πᾶσαν ἕπειξιν ἁρπαλέως οί δαιτύμονες καταναλίσκουσι, μέχρις ἂν ἅπαν δαπανηθῇ τοῦ ζώου τὸ σῶμαο καὶ τῶν ὀστέων περιεσθίοντες, ὅσον ἐδώδιμον, τοῦ ἐντὸς οὑ προσάπτονται. Τὸ γὰρ συντρίβειν τοῦ ζώου τούτου τὰ ὀστᾶ, τῶν ἀπειρημένων ὲστίν· ὃ τι δʼ ἂν ὑπολειφθείη τῆς βρώσεως, τῷ πυρὶ δεδαπάνηται. Ἐξ ὧν ἁπάντων δῆλόν ἐστιν, ὅτι πρός τινα ὑψηλοτέραν διάνοιαν τὸ γράμμα βλέπει, οὐχὶ τὸν τρόπον τῆς βρώσεως ἡμῖν ὑφηγουμένου τοῦ νόμου (ἱκανὸς γὰρ τῶν τοιούτων νομοθέτης ἡ φύσις, ἠ τὴν ὄρεξιν ἡμῖν τῆς τροφῆς ἐντιθεῖσα), ἀλλὰ ἕτερόν τι διὰ τούτων σημαίνεται. Τί γὰρ ἂν παρὰ τοῦτο γένοιτο πρὸς ἁρετὴνῆ κακίαν, οὕτως ἢ οὕτως τὴν τροφὴν προσενέγκασθαις λελυμένον ἢ περιειλημμένον τῇ ζώνη, γυμνὸν τοὺς πόδας, ἦ ὲνειλημμένον τοῖς ὑποδήμασι, διὰ χειρὸς ἔχοντα τὴν βακτηρίαν, ἢ ἀποθέμενον; Ἀλλὰ δῆλον ἂν εἵη. ὅπερ ἠ τοῦ ὁδοιπορικοῦ σχήματος διασκευὴ δείκνυσι διʼ αἰνίγματος. Κελεύει γὰρ ἄντικρυς ἐπιγνῶναι τὸν ᾆδε βίον, ὃτι παροδικῶς ἐπιφοιτῶμεν τῇ παρούσης
Xnōs Et de kai mē ta dyo tois Israēlitais gegenētai, hē-te tōn prōtotokōn anairesis kai hē tou haimatos proschysis; mē thaumasę̄s mēden, mēte dia touto tēn apodotheisan peritēs anaireseōs tou kskou theōrian apobalę̄s, ōs exō tēs alētheias pareurēmenēn. Nyn gar tę̄ diaphorą tōn onomatōn, tou Israēlitikou te kai tou Aigyptiou, to tēs aretēs pros tēn kakian diaphoron enoēsamen. Ei oun Israēlitikyn ton enareton hēanagōgē noein hypotithetai; houk an eulogōs tōn tēs aretēs gennēmatōn tas archas epezētoiē tis kataphoneuesthai, allʼ ekeina, hōn ho aphanismos tēs anatroerēs esti lysitelesteros. Oukoun akolouthōs tēs Aigyptias gonēs tas archas dein anaireisthai, para tou Theou memathēkamen, hōs an epilipoi ty kakon tǭ tēs archēs olethrǭ syndapanōmenon. Kai symbainei tę̄ historią to noēma tōn men Israēlitikōn gennēmatōn dia tēs tou haimatos proschyseōs ginetai ē phroura, hopōs an eis teleiōsin to agathon elthę̄. Hoper de teleiōoen eis Aigyption syntelesei dēmon, touto pro tēs en tǭ kakǭ teleiōseōs ēphanisthē. Synergei de pros tēn prokeimenēn hēmōn anagōgēn tou noēmatos kai ta hephexēs symparalambanomena tę̄ Theōria tou logou. Bouletai gar trophēn hēmōn genesthai to sōma, hothen haperryē ty haima, ho chōrizei tou olothreutou tōn Digyptiōn, epi tōn eisodōn deiknymenon. To te schēma tōn tēn trophēn tautēn prospheromenōn, syntonon te kai katespoudasmenon einai, houch hoion epi tōn eupathountōn en symposiois horatai* hōn anetoi men hai cheires, elaphrai de himatiōn epibolai, tēs te 660nmrikēs paraskeuēs oi podes eleutheroi* allʼ ek tou enantiou ta panta. Podes men dieilēmmenoi tois hypodēmasi, zōnē de to perirreon tou chitōnos tę̄ ixui sysphingousa, dia cheiros de hē hamyntikē tōn kynōn baktēria. Kai en toutǭ tǭ schēmati prostithetai autois ē brōsis aneu tinos opsartytikēs karykeias, epi pyros kata to symban ek tou paratychontos schediastheisa, hēn kata pasan hepeixin harpaleōs oi daitymones katanaliskousi, mechris an hapan dapanēthę̄ tou zōou to sōmao kai tōn osteōn periesthiontes, hoson edōdimon, tou entos hou prosaptontai. To gar syntribein tou zōou toutou ta osta, tōn apeirēmenōn estin; ho ti dʼ an hypoleiphtheiē tēs brōseōs, tǭ pyri dedapanētai. Ex hōn hapantōn dēlon estin, hoti pros tina hypsēloteran dianoian to gramma blepei, ouchi ton tropon tēs brōseōs hēmin hyphēgoumenou tou nomou (hikanos gar tōn toioutōn nomothetēs hē physis, ē tēn orexin hēmin tēs trophēs entitheisa), alla heteron ti dia toutōn sēmainetai. Ti gar an para touto genoito pros haretēnē kakian, houtōs ē houtōs tēn trophēn prosenenkasthais lelymenon ē perieilēmmenon tę̄ zōnē, gymnon tous podas, ē eneilēmmenon tois hypodēmasi, dia cheiros echonta tēn baktērian, ē apothemenon? Alla dēlon an heiē. hoper ē tou hodoiporikou schēmatos diaskeuē deiknysi diʼ ainigmatos. Keleuei gar antikrys epignōnai ton ąde bion, hoti parodikōs epiphoitōmen tę̄ parousēs
above? If the two things — the killing of the firstborn and the pouring of the blood — did not happen to the Israelites, do not be surprised, and do not on this account reject the contemplation we gave about the destruction of evil, as though it were invented apart from the truth. For here, by the difference of the names Israelite and Egyptian, we have understood the difference between virtue and vice. If, then, the anagogical sense has us understand the virtuous person as the Israelite, one could not reasonably require that the beginnings of virtue’s offspring be slain, but only those whose destruction is more profitable than their upbringing. Consequently, we have learned from God that the beginnings of the Egyptian offspring must be destroyed, so that evil may fail, consumed along with the destruction of its beginning. And the meaning agrees with the history: for the Israelite offspring the guard is provided by the pouring of the blood, so that the good may come to maturity; but what, once matured, would have added to the Egyptian people was destroyed before it reached maturity in evil. What follows next, taken together with the contemplation of the passage, also supports our proposed spiritual reading of the meaning. For he wishes the body from which the blood flowed — the blood displayed on the doorways that separates us from the destroyer of the Egyptians — to become our food. And the posture of those who take this food is to be tense and hurried, not like what is seen among those who indulge at banquets, whose hands are idle, whose garments are loosely thrown on, and whose feet are free of travelling gear: everything is the opposite. Feet are bound in sandals; a belt draws in the flowing tunic at the waist; in the hand is the staff that wards off dogs. In this posture the food is set before them without any cook’s seasoning, improvised on the fire from whatever happens to be at hand. The diners devour it in all haste until the whole body of the animal has been consumed; they eat around the bones whatever is edible, but they do not touch what is inside, for breaking the bones of this animal is forbidden; whatever is left of the food is consumed by fire. From all this it is clear that the letter looks to some higher meaning. The law is not instructing us in the manner of eating — nature, which implants in us the appetite for food, is a sufficient lawgiver for such things; something else is signified through these details. What difference could it make for virtue or vice to take one’s food in this way or that — loosened or girded, barefoot or shod, staff in hand or laid aside? But it is clear what the arrangement of the traveller’s posture shows in a riddle: it commands us plainly to recognize our life here, that we pass through the present
Exod 12:8–11 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 12:46 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The spiritual reading fits the history, since it is the Egyptian offspring that must die; the Passover meal, eaten in haste with girded loins, sandals, and staff, without breaking the bones, must signify more than a way of eating.
- Exod 12:8–11, 46. “The anagogical sense” (ἀναγωγή): the spiritual meaning drawn upward from the history.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 355 (PG 44:356a–356d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/355/#p-355). (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 357
357PG 44:357a–357d
ζωῇ,.ᾶμα τῇ γενέσει πρὸς τὴν ἔξοδον ὑπʼ αὐτῆς τῆς ἀνάγκης συνελαυνόμενοι, πρὸς ἢν παρεσκευάσθα χρὴ χερσί τε καὶ ποσὶ, καὶ τῇ λοιπῇ τῇ πρὸς τὴε ὁδὸν ἀσφαλείᾳ. Καὶ ὡς ἂν μὴ ταῖς ἀκάνθαις τοῦ βίοι τούτου (ἄκανθαι δʼ ἂν εἷεν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι) γυμνοῖς τε καὶ ἀφυλάκτοις τοῖς ποσὶ βλαβείημεν, τὴν τῶν ὑπο- , δημάτων στερρότητα τῶν ποδῶν προβαλλὼμεθα. Ταῦτα δέ ἐστιν ἐγκρατής τε καὶ κατεσκληκὼς βίος, 6 θραύων διʼ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ περικλῶν τὰς τῆς ἀκάνθης ἀκμὰς, καὶ κωλύων ὲκ λεπτῆς τε καὶ ἀφανοῦς ἀρχῆς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐπὶ τὸ ἐντὸς παραδύεσθαι. "0 τε τοῖς ποσὶ περικεχυμένος χιτὼν. καὶ μέχρι ποδῶν καθειο μένος, ἐμπόδιον ἂν εἴη τῷ τὴν ὁδὸν ταύτην κατὰ σπουδὴν διαθέοντι. Χιτὼν δʼ ἂν ἡμῖν, κατὰ τὸ ἀκόλουθον, νοηθείη, ή ἁπολαυστικὴ τῶν ὲν τῷ βίῳ τούτῳ σπουδαζομένων πλατύτης, ἣν είς ὀλίγον 6 σώφρων λογισμὸς συστέλλει, ζώνη τοῦ ὁδοιποροῦντος γινόμενος. Τὸ δὲ σωφροσύνην εἶναι τὴν ζώνην, μαρτύρεται τῷ τρόπῳ, περὶ ὃν ἐνεργεῖται ἡ ζωή. ’Ἢ τʼ αὖ τῶν θηρίων ἀμυντικὴ βακτηρία, 6 τῆς ἐλπίδος λόγος ἐστὶν, ᾧ καὶ τὸ καμμύον τῆς ψυχῆς ὑπερείδομεν, καὶ τὸ ύλακτοῦν ἀμυνόμεθα. Ἐκ πυρὸς δὲ προτεθεῖσαν ήμῖν τὴν ἐδωδὴν, τὴν θερμὴν ταύτην λέγω καὶ ἑκπυρον πίστιν, ἥν ἀμελλητὶ προσδεχόμεθα, ἧς ἑμσαγόντες ὅσον ἐκ προχείρου γίνεται ληπτὸν τῷ ἐσθίοντι, καὶ τὸν κεκρυμμένον τοῖς στεῤῥοτέροις τε καὶ δυστρίπτοις νοήμασι, καὶ τῷ λόγῳ, ἁπεριέργαστόν τε καὶ ἀπολυπραγμόνητον καταλιμπάνομεν, τῷ πυρὶ προτιθέντες τὴν τοιαύτην τροφήν. Ὠς δʼ ἂν σαφηνισθείη τὰ περὶ τούτων αἰνίγματα, ταῦτά φαμεν, ὅτι τῶν θείων παραγγελμάτων ὅσα μὲν πρόχειρον τὴν κατανόησιν ἔχει, ού νωθρῶς, οὐδὲ κατηναγκασμένως μετιέναι προσήκει ο ἀλλʼ οἷον πεινῶντας καὶ μετʼ ὀρέξεως ἐμφορεῖσθαι τῶν προκειμένων, ὥστε γενέσθαι τὴν τροφὴν ἡμῖν εὐεξίας ἐφόδιον. Ὄσαδὲ κέκρυπται τῶν νοημάτων, οἷον τὸ ζητεῖν, τίς ἠ ούσία τοῦ Θεοῦ; τί πρὸ τῆς κτίσεως ἦν; τί τὸ ἔξω τῶν φαινομένων; τίς ἡ ἀνάγκη τῶν γινομένωνς καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα ὑπὸ τῶν περιέργων ὲρευνᾶται τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι συγχωρεῖν μόνῳ γινώσκειν, τῷ τὰ βάθη τοῦ Θεοῦ διερευνῶντι, καθώς φησιν 6 Ἀπόστολος. T6 γὰρ ἀντὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος ὑπὸ τῆς Γραφῆς πολλαχῆ τδ πῦρ μνημονεύεσθαί τε καὶ ὀνομάζεσθαι, οὐκ ἄν τις τῶν πεπαιδευμένων τὴν Γραφὴν ἁγνοήσειε. Προσἁγει δὲ τῇ τοιαύτῃ διανοίᾳ ἡμᾶς καὶ τὸ τῆς Σοφίας παράγγελμα, ὅτι ι ’ἰσχυρότερά σου μὴ ἐρεύνα, ι τουτἐστι, τὰ ὀστᾶ τοῦ λόγου μὴ σύντριὸε· οὺ γάρ σοι χρεία τῶν κρυπτῶν.
zōę̄,.ama tę̄ genesei pros tēn exodon hypʼ autēs tēs anankēs synelaunomenoi, pros ēn pareskeuastha chrē chersi te kai posi, kai tę̄ loipę̄ tę̄ pros tēe hodon asphaleią. Kai hōs an mē tais akanthais tou bioi toutou (akanthai dʼ an heien hai hamartiai) gymnois te kai aphylaktois tois posi blabeiēmen, tēn tōn hypo- , dēmatōn sterrotēta tōn podōn proballōmetha. Tauta de estin enkratēs te kai katesklēkōs bios, 6 thrauōn diʼ heautou kai periklōn tas tēs akanthēs akmas, kai kōlyōn ek leptēs te kai aphanous archēs tēn hamartian epi to entos paradyesthai. "0 te tois posi perikechymenos chitōn. kai mechri podōn katheio menos, empodion an eiē tǭ tēn hodon tautēn kata spoudēn diatheonti. Chitōn dʼ an hēmin, kata to akolouthon, noētheiē, ē hapolaustikē tōn en tǭ biǭ toutǭ spoudazomenōn platytēs, hēn eis oligon 6 sōphrōn logismos systellei, zōnē tou hodoiporountos ginomenos. To de sōphrosynēn einai tēn zōnēn, martyretai tǭ tropǭ, peri hon energeitai hē zōē. ’Ē tʼ au tōn thēriōn amyntikē baktēria, 6 tēs elpidos logos estin, hǭ kai to kammyon tēs psychēs hypereidomen, kai to ylaktoun amynometha. Ek pyros de protetheisan ēmin tēn edōdēn, tēn thermēn tautēn legō kai hekpyron pistin, hēn amellēti prosdechometha, hēs hemsagontes hoson ek procheirou ginetai lēpton tǭ esthionti, kai ton kekrymmenon tois sterrhoterois te kai dystriptois noēmasi, kai tǭ logǭ, haperiergaston te kai apolypragmonēton katalimpanomen, tǭ pyri protithentes tēn toiautēn trophēn. Ōs dʼ an saphēnistheiē ta peri toutōn ainigmata, tauta phamen, hoti tōn theiōn parangelmatōn hosa men procheiron tēn katanoēsin echei, ou nōthrōs, oude katēnankasmenōs metienai prosēkei o allʼ hoion peinōntas kai metʼ orexeōs emphoreisthai tōn prokeimenōn, hōste genesthai tēn trophēn hēmin euexias ephodion. Osade kekryptai tōn noēmatōn, hoion to zētein, tis ē ousia tou Theou? ti pro tēs ktiseōs ēn? ti to exō tōn phainomenōn? tis hē anankē tōn ginomenōns kai hosa toiauta hypo tōn periergōn ereunatai tǭ hagiǭ Pneumati synchōrein monǭ ginōskein, tǭ ta bathē tou Theou diereunōnti, kathōs phēsin 6 Apostolos. T6 gar anti tou Pneumatos hypo tēs Graphēs pollachē td pyr mnēmoneuesthai te kai onomazesthai, ouk an tis tōn pepaideumenōn tēn Graphēn hagnoēseie. Prosagei de tę̄ toiautę̄ dianoią hēmas kai to tēs Sophias parangelma, hoti i ’ischyrotera sou mē ereuna, i toutesti, ta osta tou logou mē syntrioe; ou gar soi chreia tōn kryptōn.
life in passing, driven toward the exit from our very birth by necessity itself; and for this we must be prepared with hands and feet and all the other security for the road. So that we may not be hurt by the thorns of this life (the thorns would be sins) with bare and unguarded feet, let us put the firmness of sandals on our feet. These are the self-controlled and austere life, which of itself breaks and blunts the points of the thorn and prevents sin from slipping inside from a fine and invisible beginning. And the tunic that flows around the feet and hangs down to them would be a hindrance to one who runs this road in haste. The tunic, consistently, would be understood as the broad enjoyment of the things pursued in this life, which self-controlled reason draws in tight, becoming the traveller’s belt. That the belt is self-control is attested by the place around which it is fastened. And the staff that wards off the beasts is the word of hope, by which we prop up what droops in the soul and drive off what barks at it. The food set before us from the fire I take to be this warm and fiery faith, which we receive without delay. We eat as much of it as is readily within the eater’s grasp, and the meaning hidden in the harder, tough-to-crush thoughts we leave unexamined and unpried into, giving such food over to the fire. To make the riddles about these things clear, we say this. Of the divine commands, those whose understanding is ready at hand should not be pursued sluggishly or under compulsion; like hungry people we should eat our fill of what is set before us with appetite, so that the food becomes provision for our good health. But as for the meanings that are hidden — such as inquiring what the essence of God is, what existed before creation, what lies outside the things that appear, what is the necessity of what happens, and all such things that the curious search out — we should leave them to the Holy Spirit alone to know, who searches the depths of God, as the Apostle says. That fire is often mentioned and named by Scripture in place of the Spirit, no one instructed in Scripture would fail to know. The command of Wisdom also leads us to such an understanding: “Do not search out things stronger than you” — that is, do not crush the bones of the word — “for you have no need of hidden things.”
1 Cor 2:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 12:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 12:10 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The traveller’s dress signifies life as a passage: sandals are self-control against the thorns of sin, the belt restrains enjoyment, the staff is hope; the roasted lamb is faith, of which we take what is plain and leave the hidden mysteries, the “bones,” to the Spirit, the fire.
- “Searches the depths of God”: 1 Cor 2:10. Fire for the Spirit: compare Matt 3:11; Acts 2:3. “Do not search out things stronger than you … for you have no need of hidden things”: Sir 3:21–22 (an extrabiblical book; Gregory calls it “Wisdom”). Thorns: compare Gen 3:18.
- Gregory lists the questions he regards as beyond human inquiry, including the essence of God (οὐσία).
Extrabiblical texts: Sir 3:21-22 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 357 (PG 44:357a–357d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/355/#p-357). (abbreviation not yet checked)
BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis-357) · 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 359
359PG 44:360a–360d
μένουςʼτῷ πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἡγουμένῳ, μὴ πένητας εἶναι τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου πλούτου, μηδὲ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων κειμηλίων ἀκτή μονας, ἀλλά τὰ προσόντα τοῖς ἐναντίοις πάντα λαβόντας, ὲν χρήσει παρʼ ἑαυτοῖς ἔχειν · ὅπερ τότε ποιῆσαι παρὰ τοῦ Μωῦσέως ό λαὸς παραγγέλλεο ται. Τοῦτο δὲ οὐκ ἄν τις ὲκ τοῦ προχείρου νοήσας, ἀποδέξαιτο τοῦ νομοθέτου τὴν γνώμην, εί ἀποστερεῖν τοὺς χρήσαντας ἐγκελεύεται, καὶ ὑφηγητὴς ἀδικίας γίνεται. Ἀλλʼ οὺδʼ ἂν κατʼ ἀλήθειάν τις εῖποι ταῦτα διατάσσειν τὸν νομοθέτην, πρὸς τοὺς ἑφεξῆς βλέπων νόμους. τοὺς ἀνω καὶ κάτω τὴν κατὰ τοῦ πέλας ἀδικίαν κωλύοντας, κάν τισι δοκῇ εὔλογον εἶναι τὸ ἔργον, τά μισθώματα παρά τῶν Αἰγυπτίων τοὺς Ἰσραηλίτας διά τῆς ἐπινοίας ταύτης εἰσπράττεσθαι. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἧττον ἔγκλημά τί ἐστι, μὴ καθαρεύειν ψεύδους τε καὶ ἀπάτης τὸ τοιοῦτον παράγγελμα. '0 γὰρ ὲν χρήσει λαβών τι, καὶ μὴ ἀποδιδοὺς πάλιν τῷ χρήσαντι, εί μὲν ἀλλότριον εἴη, ὡς ἀποστερήσας ἠδίκησεν ο εἰ δὲ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ κρατοίη, ὡς παραλογισάμενος τὸν ἐλπίδι τοῦ λαβεῖν χρήσαντα, πάντως ἀπατεὼν ὠνόμασται. Οὐκοῦν ό ὑψηλότερος λόγος τῆς προχείρου διανοίας ἁρμοδιώτερος, ὁ κελεύων τοὺς τὸν ἐλεύθερον βίον μετιόντας διʼ ἀρετῆς, καὶ τὸν ἔξωθεν τῆς παιδεύσεως πλοῦτον παρασκευάζεσθαι, ᾧ oi κατὰ τὴν πίστιν ἀλλόφυλοι καλλωπίζονται. Τήν τε γάρ ἠθικὴν καὶ φυσικὴν φιλοσοφίαν, γεωμετρίαν τε καί ἀστρονομίαν, καὶ τὴν λογικὴν πραγματείαν, καί πάντα ὅσα παρά τοῖς ἔξω τῆς Ἐκκλησίας σπουδάζεται, κελεύει ό τῆς ἀρετῆς καθηγούμενος παρὰ τῶν τά τοιαῦτα πλουτούντων ὲν Αἰγύπτῳ λαβόντα λόγῳ χρήσεως ὑποδέξασθαι, ὡς ὲν καιρῷ χρησιμευόντων, ὅταν δὲῃ τὸν θεῖον τοῦ μυστηρίου ναδν διὰ τοῦ λοεγικοῦ πλούτου καλλωπισθῆναι. Οἰ γαρ τὸν τοιοῦτον ἑαυτοῖς θησαυρίζοντες πλοῦτον, προσάγουσι τῷ Μωσεῖ περὶ τὴν σκηνὴν τοῦ μαρτυρίου πονοῦντι τὸ παρʼ ἑαυτοῦ ἕκαστος, πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἁγίων κατασκευὴν συνεισφέρων · ὃ δὴ καὶ νῦν ἐστιν ἰδεῖν γινόμενον. Πολλοί τὴν ἔξω παίδευσιν τῇ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησία καθάπερ τι δῶρον προσάγουσιν, οἷος ἦν ό μέγας Βασίλειος, ό καλῶς τὸν Αἰγύπτιον πλοῦτον ἐμπορευσάμενος, κατά τὸν τῆς νεότητος χρόνον, καὶ ἀναθεὶς τῷ θεῷ, καὶ τῷ τοιούτῳ πλούτῳ κατακοσμήσιις τὴν ἀληθῆ τῆς Ἑκκλησίας σκηνήν. Ἀλλʼ ἐπανιτέον ὅθεν ἐξέβημεν, ὅτι τοῖς πρδς ἀρετὴν ἥδη βλέπουσι, καὶ τῷ νομοθέτῃ κατά τὴν ζωὴν ἑπομένοις, ὅταν καταλίπωσι τῆς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων δυναστείας τοὺς ὅρους, ἐπακολουθοῦσί πως αἱ τῶν πειρασμῶν προσβολαὶ, στενοχωρίας τε καὶ φόβους καὶ τοὺς περὶ τῶν ἐσχάτων κινδύνους ὲπάγουσαι · διʼ ὧν καταπτοηθεῖσα τῶν κατά τὴν πίστιν νεοπσιγῶν ἡ διάνοια, εἰς παντελῆ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀνελπιστίαν ἐκπίπτει. Ἀλλʼ εἰ Μωῦσῆς,ἦ τις τῶν κατʼ αὐτὸν ἐπιστατῶν τοῦ λαοῦ τύχοι, ἀντιστήσει τῷ φόβῳ τὴν συμβουλὴν, τῇ τῆς θείας συμμαχίας ἐλπίδι τὸ κατι επτηχὺς τῆς διανοίας παραθαρσύνων, ὅπερ οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο, μὴ τῆς καρδίας τοῦ προεστηκότος τῷ θεῷ · λαλούσης. Τοῖς γέιρ πολλοῖς τῶν ὲν προστασία τοιαύτῃ προτεταγμένων, τὸ φαινόμενον, μόνον, ὅπως ἂν εὖ διατεθείη, σπουδάζεται τῶν δὲ κεκρυμμένωνὶ ᾗ,
menousʼtǭ pros aretēn hēgoumenǭ, mē penētas einai tou Aigyptiou ploutou, mēde tōn allophylōn keimēliōn aktē monas, alla ta prosonta tois enantiois panta labontas, en chrēsei parʼ heautois echein ; hoper tote poiēsai para tou Mōyseōs o laos parangelleo tai. Touto de ouk an tis ek tou procheirou noēsas, apodexaito tou nomothetou tēn gnōmēn, ei aposterein tous chrēsantas enkeleuetai, kai hyphēgētēs adikias ginetai. Allʼ oudʼ an katʼ alētheian tis eipoi tauta diatassein ton nomothetēn, pros tous hephexēs blepōn nomous. tous anō kai katō tēn kata tou pelas adikian kōlyontas, kan tisi dokę̄ eulogon einai to ergon, ta misthōmata para tōn Aigyptiōn tous Israēlitas dia tēs epinoias tautēs eisprattesthai. Oude gar hētton enklēma ti esti, mē kathareuein pseudous te kai apatēs to toiouton parangelma. '0 gar en chrēsei labōn ti, kai mē apodidous palin tǭ chrēsanti, ei men allotrion eiē, hōs aposterēsas ēdikēsen o ei de to heautou kratoiē, hōs paralogisamenos ton elpidi tou labein chrēsanta, pantōs apateōn ōnomastai. Oukoun o hypsēloteros logos tēs procheirou dianoias harmodiōteros, ho keleuōn tous ton eleutheron bion metiontas diʼ aretēs, kai ton exōthen tēs paideuseōs plouton paraskeuazesthai, hǭ oi kata tēn pistin allophyloi kallōpizontai. Tēn te gar ēthikēn kai physikēn philosophian, geōmetrian te kai astronomian, kai tēn logikēn pragmateian, kai panta hosa para tois exō tēs Ekklēsias spoudazetai, keleuei o tēs aretēs kathēgoumenos para tōn ta toiauta ploutountōn en Aigyptǭ labonta logǭ chrēseōs hypodexasthai, hōs en kairǭ chrēsimeuontōn, hotan deę̄ ton theion tou mystēriou nadn dia tou loegikou ploutou kallōpisthēnai. Oi gar ton toiouton heautois thēsaurizontes plouton, prosagousi tǭ Mōsei peri tēn skēnēn tou martyriou ponounti to parʼ heautou hekastos, pros tēn tōn hagiōn kataskeuēn syneispherōn ; ho dē kai nyn estin idein ginomenon. Polloi tēn exō paideusin tę̄ Theou Ekklēsia kathaper ti dōron prosagousin, hoios ēn o megas Basileios, o kalōs ton Aigyption plouton emporeusamenos, kata ton tēs neotētos chronon, kai anatheis tǭ theǭ, kai tǭ toioutǭ ploutǭ katakosmēsiis tēn alēthē tēs Hekklēsias skēnēn. Allʼ epaniteon hothen exebēmen, hoti tois prds aretēn hēdē blepousi, kai tǭ nomothetę̄ kata tēn zōēn hepomenois, hotan katalipōsi tēs tōn Aigyptiōn dynasteias tous horous, epakolouthousi pōs hai tōn peirasmōn prosbolai, stenochōrias te kai phobous kai tous peri tōn eschatōn kindynous epagousai ; diʼ hōn kataptoētheisa tōn kata tēn pistin neopsigōn hē dianoia, eis pantelē tōn agathōn anelpistian ekpiptei. Allʼ ei Mōysēs,ē tis tōn katʼ auton epistatōn tou laou tychoi, antistēsei tǭ phobǭ tēn symboulēn, tę̄ tēs theias symmachias elpidi to kati eptēchys tēs dianoias paratharsynōn, hoper ouk an genoito, mē tēs kardias tou proestēkotos tǭ theǭ ; lalousēs. Tois geir pollois tōn en prostasia toiautę̄ protetagmenōn, to phainomenon, monon, hopōs an eu diatetheiē, spoudazetai tōn de kekrymmenōni hę̄,
… by the one who leads toward virtue, not to be poor in Egyptian wealth nor without the treasures of the foreigners, but to take all that belongs to the enemies and keep it for use among themselves; and this the people were then commanded by Moses to do. One who took this in its obvious sense would not accept the lawgiver’s intention, if he commands them to defraud those who lent to them and becomes a guide to injustice. Nor could anyone truly say that the lawgiver ordains these things, when he looks at the laws that follow, which everywhere forbid injustice against one’s neighbour — even if to some it seems a reasonable deed that the Israelites by this device exacted their wages from the Egyptians. For it is no lesser charge that such a command is not clean of falsehood and deceit. Whoever receives something on loan and does not give it back to the lender, if it belongs to another, has wronged him as a defrauder; and if he keeps what was his own, he is certainly called a cheat, as one who misled the lender who lent in the hope of getting it back. So the loftier sense is more fitting than the obvious meaning. It commands those who pursue the free life through virtue to furnish themselves also with the wealth of outside learning, with which those who are foreign to the faith adorn themselves. Moral and natural philosophy, geometry and astronomy, logic, and everything pursued by those outside the Church — the guide of virtue commands us to take these from those in Egypt who are rich in such things, and to receive them by way of a loan, as things that will be useful in due time, when the divine temple of the mystery must be adorned with the wealth of reason. For those who store up such wealth for themselves bring it to Moses as he labours on the tent of witness, each contributing his own to the construction of the holy things. This can be seen happening now too. Many bring outside learning to the Church of God like a gift: such was the great Basil, who traded well with the Egyptian wealth in the time of his youth, dedicated it to God, and with such wealth adorned the true tent of the Church. But we must return to the point from which we digressed. For those who already look toward virtue and follow the lawgiver in their life, when they leave the borders of the Egyptian dominion, the assaults of temptations somehow follow, bringing distresses and fears and dangers of the utmost kind; and the mind of those newly established in the faith, terrified by them, falls into utter despair of good things. But if Moses, or one of the overseers of the people like him, is at hand, he will set counsel against fear, encouraging the cowering mind with the hope of divine help. This could not happen unless the heart of the one who presides is speaking to God. For many of those placed in such leadership take pains only that what is seen be well arranged, but of the hidden
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Exod 3:21–22 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 12:35–36 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 35:4–29 (allusion, medium confidence) · Exod 14:10–15 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The command to take the Egyptians’ goods cannot mean fraud; it means that Christians should take over the riches of pagan learning to adorn the Church, as Basil did; at the Red Sea, temptations assail new believers, and the leader must encourage them while speaking to God in his heart.
- Exod 3:21–22; 11:2; 12:35–36 (the Egyptians’ goods); Exod 35:4–29 (offerings for the tabernacle); Exod 14:10–15.
- Some lines are lost at the opening of this page (marked …); the end of the Passover interpretation is missing.
- Basil of Caesarea, Gregory’s brother (d. 379), is named as an example of the Christian use of pagan learning.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (Latin letters) for Μωσεῖ; OCR debris (Latin letters) for ἐκπίπτει): Mmoσεῖ → Μωσεῖ; sxπίπτει → ἐκπίπτει.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 359 (PG 44:360a–360d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/355/#p-359). (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 361
361PG 44:361a–361d
μόνῳ τῷ Θεῷ καθορᾶται, ὀλίγος γίνεται λόγος. Ἐπῖ δὲ τοῦ Μωῦσέως ούχ οὕτως ἦν υ ἀλλʼ ὲν ᾧ θαρσεῖν τοῖς Ἰσραηλίταις διακελεύεται, μηδεμίαν κατά τὸ φαινόμενον φωνὴν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ποιησάμενος, βοᾷν παρʼ αὑτοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ μαρτυρεῖται· διδάσκοντος, οἷμαι, τοῦ λόγου, ὅτι εὖηχός ἐστιν ἐκείνη ὴ φωνὴ, καὶ μέχρι τῆς θείας ἀναὸαίνουσα ἀκοῆς, οὐχ ἡ μετά τι· νος διατάσεως γινομένη κραυγὴ, ἀλλʼἢ ἀπὸ καθαρᾶς συνειδήσεως ἀναπεμπομένη ὲνθύμησις. Τῷ δὲ οὓτως ἔχοντι μικρὸς ἤδη πρὸς συμμαχίαν τῶν νομιζομένων ἀγώνων 6 ἀδελφὸς καταφαίνεται, ἐκεῖνος 6 ἀδελφὸς, 6 κατιόντι πρὸς Αἰγυπτίους, κατά θεῖον βούλημα, τῷ Μωῦσεῖ συναντήσας, ὃν είς ἀγγέλου τάξιν 6 λόγος ἐνόησεν. Ἀλλά τότε γίνεται τῆς ὑπερκειμέ· νης φύσεως ἡ ὲμφάνεια, οὕτως ἐμφαινομένη, καθὼς ἃν χωρῇ τὸ δεχόμενον· ὃ δὴ καὶ τότε γεγενῆσθαι παρά τῆς ίστορίας ἀκούομεν, καὶ εἰσαεὶ γίνεσθαι, παρά τῆς τοῦ λόγου θεωρίας μανθάνομεν. Ὅταν γὰρ φεύγῃ τις τὸν Αἰγύπτιον, καὶ ἔξω τῶν ὅρων γενόμε- ,νοςν πρὸς τὰς προσβολὰς τῶν πειρασμῶν δειλιάσῃʼ ἄνωθεν τὴν ὲκ παραλόγου σωτηρίαν 6 όδηγὸς ὑποδείκνυσιν. εταν περιστάιχισὰμενος 6 ἐχθρὸς τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ' δυνάμει τὸν διωκόμενον, βατὴν ὑπʼ ἀνάγκης αὐτῷ κατασκευάσῃ τὴν θάλασσαν, είς ἢν καθηγεῖται 6 ὁδηγος η νεφέλη (τοῦτο γὰρ ὄνομα τῷ όδηγοῦντι, ὅπερ καλῶς τοῖς προ ἡμῶν είς τὴν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος μετελήφθη χάριν)· παρʼ οὗ γίνεται τοῖς ἀξίοις ή πρὸς τδ ἀγαθὸν ὁδηγία· ᾧ τις ἑπόμενος, τὸ ὕδωρ διέξεισιν, ὁδοποιοῦντος τὴν διʼ αὐτοῦ πορείαν τοῦ ἡγουμένου ι διʼ οὗ γίνεται τὸ ἀσφαλὲς τῇ ἐλευθερία, τοῦ ἐπὶ δουλεία καταδιώκοντος, ὲναφανιζομένου τῷ ὕδατι. Τίς γὰρ οὐκ οἶδεν, ὅτι στρατὸς Αίγύπτιός ἑστι τὰ ποικίλα τῆς ψυχῆς πάθη, οἷς καταδουλοῦται 6 ἀνθρωπος; Ἐκεῖνοι οἱ ῖπποι, ἐκεῖνα τά ἅρματα, καὶ οί ἐπʼ αὐτῶν ἀναβάται, τοξόται, καέι σφενδονῆται,καὶ όπλομάχοι, καὶ 6 λοιπὸς ὅμιλος τῆς τῶν ἐχθρῶν παρατάξεως. Τί γὰρ ἄν τις διαφέρειν εἴποι τοὺς θυ-Δ μὼδεις τῶν λογισμῶν, ἢ τὰς πρὸς ἡδονήν τε καὶ λύπην καὶ πλεονεξίαν ὁρμὰς, τῆς μνη μονευθείσης στρατιᾶς, Λίθος ἄντικρυς ἀπὸ σφενδόνης ἐστὶν ἡ λοιδοε pla, καὶ λόγχη τὴν αἰχμὴν ἐπισείουσα ἡ θυμώδης ὁρμή ’τὸ δὲ περὶ τὰς ἡδονὰς πάθος, οἱ ἵπποι νοείσθωσαν, ἀσχέτῳ τινὶ ὁρμῇ τὸ ἅρμα διʼ ἑαυτῶν ἐφελκόμενοι, ὲν ᾧ οί τρεῖς ἐπιβάται, οὓς τριστάτας ὀνομάζει ἡ ἱστορία. Νοήσεις δὲ τοὺς τρεῖς τούτους πάντως, τοὺς φερομένους ὑπὸ τοῦ ἅρματος, προδιδαχθεὶς ἐν τῷ κατὰ τοὺς σταθμοὺς καὶ τὴν φλιὰν μυστηρίῳ, τὴν τριμερῆ τῆς ψυχῆς διαίρεσιν, είς τὸ λογικὸν, καὶ ἐπιθυμητικὸν, καὶ θυμοειδὲς ἀναπέμπων τὸ νόημα. Ταῦτα οὖν πάντα, καὶ ὅσα τούτοις ὁμόφυλα, τῷ καθηγουμένῳ τῆς πονηρᾶς ἐφόδου συνεισπίπτει τῷ Ἰσραηλίτῃ ἐπὶ τὸ ὕδωρ· ἐφʼ ὧν ἡ τοῦ ’ύδατος φύσις, ἡγουμένης τῆς κατὰ τὴν βακτηρίαν πίστεως, καὶ τῆς φωτιζούσης νεφέλης, ζωοποιὸς μὲν γίνεται τῶν είς αὐτὴν καταφευγόντων, ἀναιρετικὴ δὲ τῶν διωκόντων. Πρὸς ἀ παιδεύει διὰ τούτων ἡ ἱστορία, οἵους
monǭ tǭ Theǭ kathoratai, oligos ginetai logos. Epi de tou Mōyseōs ouch houtōs ēn y allʼ en hǭ tharsein tois Israēlitais diakeleuetai, mēdemian kata to phainomenon phōnēn pros ton Theon poiēsamenos, boąn parʼ hautou tou Theou martyreitai; didaskontos, hoimai, tou logou, hoti euēchos estin ekeinē ē phōnē, kai mechri tēs theias anaoainousa akoēs, ouch hē meta ti; nos diataseōs ginomenē kraugē, allʼē apo katharas syneidēseōs anapempomenē enthymēsis. Tǭ de houtōs echonti mikros ēdē pros symmachian tōn nomizomenōn agōnōn 6 adelphos kataphainetai, ekeinos 6 adelphos, 6 kationti pros Aigyptious, kata theion boulēma, tǭ Mōysei synantēsas, hon eis angelou taxin 6 logos enoēsen. Alla tote ginetai tēs hyperkeime; nēs physeōs hē emphaneia, houtōs emphainomenē, kathōs han chōrę̄ to dechomenon; ho dē kai tote gegenēsthai para tēs istorias akouomen, kai eisaei ginesthai, para tēs tou logou theōrias manthanomen. Hotan gar pheugę̄ tis ton Aigyption, kai exō tōn horōn genome- ,nosn pros tas prosbolas tōn peirasmōn deiliasę̄ʼ anōthen tēn ek paralogou sōtērian 6 odēgos hypodeiknysin. etan peristaichisamenos 6 echthros tę̄ heautou ' dynamei ton diōkomenon, batēn hypʼ anankēs autǭ kataskeuasę̄ tēn thalassan, eis ēn kathēgeitai 6 hodēgos ē nephelē (touto gar onoma tǭ odēgounti, hoper kalōs tois pro hēmōn eis tēn tou hagiou Pneumatos metelēphthē charin); parʼ hou ginetai tois axiois ē pros td agathon hodēgia; hǭ tis hepomenos, to hydōr diexeisin, hodopoiountos tēn diʼ autou poreian tou hēgoumenou i diʼ hou ginetai to asphales tę̄ eleutheria, tou epi douleia katadiōkontos, enaphanizomenou tǭ hydati. Tis gar ouk oiden, hoti stratos Aigyptios hesti ta poikila tēs psychēs pathē, hois katadouloutai 6 anthrōpos? Ekeinoi hoi ippoi, ekeina ta harmata, kai oi epʼ autōn anabatai, toxotai, kaei sphendonētai,kai oplomachoi, kai 6 loipos homilos tēs tōn echthrōn parataxeōs. Ti gar an tis diapherein eipoi tous thy-D mōdeis tōn logismōn, ē tas pros hēdonēn te kai lypēn kai pleonexian hormas, tēs mnē moneutheisēs stratias, Lithos antikrys apo sphendonēs estin hē loidoe pla, kai lonchē tēn aichmēn episeiousa hē thymōdēs hormē ’to de peri tas hēdonas pathos, hoi hippoi noeisthōsan, aschetǭ tini hormę̄ to harma diʼ heautōn ephelkomenoi, en hǭ oi treis epibatai, hous tristatas onomazei hē historia. Noēseis de tous treis toutous pantōs, tous pheromenous hypo tou harmatos, prodidachtheis en tǭ kata tous stathmous kai tēn phlian mystēriǭ, tēn trimerē tēs psychēs diairesin, eis to logikon, kai epithymētikon, kai thymoeides anapempōn to noēma. Tauta oun panta, kai hosa toutois homophyla, tǭ kathēgoumenǭ tēs ponēras ephodou syneispiptei tǭ Israēlitę̄ epi to hydōr; ephʼ hōn hē tou ’ydatos physis, hēgoumenēs tēs kata tēn baktērian pisteōs, kai tēs phōtizousēs nephelēs, zōopoios men ginetai tōn eis autēn katapheugontōn, anairetikē de tōn diōkontōn. Pros a paideuei dia toutōn hē historia, hoious
things, which are seen by God alone, little account is taken. With Moses it was not so. At the very moment when he bids the Israelites take courage, though he made no audible sound toward God, he is attested by God himself to be crying out. The Word teaches, I think, that the voice that is clearly heard and reaches up to the divine hearing is not a shout made with straining, but the thought sent up from a pure conscience. To one so disposed, his brother now appears as only a small help in the contests ahead — that brother who by divine will met Moses as he went down to the Egyptians, and whom our discourse understood in the rank of an angel. But then comes the manifestation of the transcendent nature, appearing in the measure that the receiver can contain. This we hear from the history happened then, and we learn from the contemplation of the passage that it always happens. For when someone flees the Egyptian and, once outside the borders, is frightened at the assaults of temptations, the guide shows him from above an unexpected salvation. When the enemy has surrounded the pursued with his forces, he of necessity makes the sea passable for him; and into it the guide leads, the cloud (this is the name of the guide, which those before us rightly applied to the grace of the Holy Spirit), from whom comes guidance toward the good for the worthy. Following him, one passes through the water, the leader making a road for the journey through it; and through it freedom becomes secure, as the one who pursues to enslave is destroyed in the water. For who does not know that the Egyptian army is the various passions of the soul by which a human being is enslaved? Those horses, those chariots and the men riding them, archers, slingers, heavy-armed soldiers, and the rest of the throng of the enemy’s array. How would anyone say that angry thoughts, or impulses toward pleasure, grief, and greed, differ from the army just mentioned? Abuse is plainly a stone from a sling, and the angry impulse a spear brandishing its point; let the passion for pleasures be understood as the horses, which with unrestrained impulse drag the chariot behind them, in which are three riders, whom the history calls “tristatai.” You will surely understand these three carried by the chariot, having been taught beforehand in the mystery of the doorposts and lintel, if you refer the meaning to the threefold division of the soul into the rational, the desiring, and the spirited. All these, then, and whatever is akin to them, rush into the water with the Israelite, together with the leader of the evil assault. Upon them the nature of the water, with the faith of the staff and the enlightening cloud leading the way, becomes life-giving for those who flee into it and destructive for the pursuers. By this the history teaches what sort of people
Exod 14:13–15 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 14:19–28 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 14:7 (allusion, medium confidence) · Exod 15:4 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 10:1–2 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God hears Moses’ silent prayer; the cloud that guides Israel is the grace of the Holy Spirit; the Egyptian army drowned in the sea is the array of the passions, its three-man chariot the three parts of the soul.
- Exod 14:13–15 (Moses says nothing aloud, yet God says, “Why do you cry to me?”); Exod 14:19–28; 15:4.
- “Tristatai” (τριστάται, LXX Exod 14:7; 15:4): a word for chariot officers, which Gregory takes to mean “men standing three to a chariot.”
- The cloud as the Holy Spirit: compare 1 Cor 10:1–2.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 361 (PG 44:361a–361d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/355/#p-361). (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 363
363PG 44:364a–364d
τοι προσήκει εἶναι τοὺς διϊόντας τὸ ὕδωρ, μηδὲν τῆς ἐναντίας στρατιᾶς μετὰ τὸ,ἀναδῦναι τοῦ ὓδατος ἐφελκομένους. Είγάρ συναναθῇ αὑτῷ ό πολέμιος, μένει καὶ μετὰ τὸ ὕδωρ ἐν τῇ δουλείᾳ, συνεκβαλὼν ἐαυτῷ ζῶντα τὸν τύραννον, δν ἐν τῷ βυθῷ οὐ κατέδυσε. Τοῦτο δέ τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν. ὡς ἀν τις πρὸςώ γυμνότερον τὸ αἴνιγμα μεταβαλὼν σαφηνίσειε, sb δεῖν πάντας τοὺς διερχομένους τὸ μυστικὸν ὕδωρ ἐν τῷ βαπτίσματι, πᾶσαν τὴν τῆς κακίας παρεμβολὴν νεκρὰν ποιεῖν ἐν τῷ ὕδατι ο οἷον τὴν πλεονεξίαν, τὴν ἀκόλαστον ἐπιθυμίαν, τὴν ἀρπακτικὴν διάνοιαν, τδ κατά τὸν τύφον καὶ ὑπερηφανίαν πάθος, τὴν θυμώδη ὁρμὴν, τὴν ὀργὴν, τὴν μῆνιν, τὴν βασκανίαν, τὸν φθόνον, ταῦτα πάντα, καὶ τά τοιαῦτα, ἐπειδή πως πέφυκεν ἐπεσθαι τῇ φύσει τά πάθη, νεκράεοιεῖν ἐν τῷ ὕδατι ’ αὐτά τε τά πονηρά τῆς διανοίας κινήὲ ματα, καὶ τά ἐκ τούτων ἀποτελέσματα, καθάπερ ἐν τῷ μυστηρίῳ τοῦ πάσχα · τοῦτο γάρ ὄνομα τῷ ἱερείῳ, οὗ τὸ αἷμα κωλυτικὸν θανάτου τῷ χρησαμένῳ γίνεται. ’Ὥσπερ τοίνυν ἐκεῖ τὸν ἄρτον ἄζυμον κελεύει ἐπεσθίειν τὸ πάσχα (ἀζυμος δʼ ἀν εἴη ό τῆς ἐωλοτέ· ρας ἀνεπίμικτος ζύμης), νοεῖν τε δίδωσι διὰ τούτων ὁ νόμος, τὸ μηδὲν τῆς κακίας λείψανον τῷ ἐφεξῆς καταμιγνύειν βίῳ, ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ ίδίας ἀρχῆς τῆς μετά ταῦτα ζωῆς ἄρξασθαι, τὸν τὸ συνεχὲς τῆς τῶν καιρῶν ἀκολουθίας τῇ πρὸς τδ κρεῖττον μεταβολῇ διακόψαντα· οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα βούλεται πᾶν Αίγύπτιον πρόσωπον, τουτέστι, πᾶν ἁμαρτίας εἶδος, ὥσπερ τινι βυθῷ τῷ σωτηρίῳ βαπτίσματι καταπνίξαντας, μόνους ἀναδῦναι, μηδὲν κατὰ τὸν βίον ἐπισυρομένους ἀλλόφυλον. Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ό διά τῆς ἱστορίας ἀκούομεν, ἦ φησιν, ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ ὕδατι, θανάτῳ καὶ ζωῇ διακρίνεσθαι τὺ ἐχθρὸν καὶτὸ φίλον· τοῦ μὲν ἐχθροῦ φθειρομένου, τοῦ δὲ φίλου ζωογονουμένου, ὡς οἶ γε πολλοι τῶν τὸ μυστικδν βάπτισμα προσδεξαμένων, ἀγνοίᾳ τῶν τοῦ νόμου παραγγελμάτων, τὴν παρελθοῶ σαν τῆς κακίας ζύμην, τῇ ζωῇ τοῦ μετά ταῦτα βίου καταμιγνύουσι, κα) τὸν στρατὸν τὸν Αίγύπτιον, καὶ μετά τὸ περάσαι τὸ ὕδωρ, ζῶντα μεθʼ ἑαυτῶν διὸ τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων ἐπάγονται. '0 γὰρ διʼ ἁρπαγῆς ἢ ἀδικίας πλουτήσας, ἡ τινα χῶρον ἐξ ἐπιορκίας κτησάμενος, ἢ διὰ μοιχείας γυναικὶ συνοικήσας, ἦ ἀλλο τι τῶν ἀπειρημένων πρὸ τῆς τοῦ βαπτίσματος δωρεᾶς παρά τὸν βίον τολμήσας, οίεται τῇ ἀπολαύσει τῶν κακῶς αὐτῷ προσγενομένων καὶ μετά τὸ λουτρὸν παραμείνας, ἠλευθερῶσθαι τῆς τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων δουλείας, ὥσπερ οὐχ ὁρῶν ἐαυτὸν τοῖς πονηροῖς ὑποκεκυφότα δεσπόταις. Δεσπότης γάρ τίς ἐστιν ἄγριος καὶ λυσσώδης, τὸ ἀκόλαστον πάθος, τῷ ἀνδραποδώδει λογισμῷ, οἶόν τισι μάστιξι ταῖς ἡδοναῖς αἰκιζόμενος. Ἀλλος τοιοῦτος δεσπότης ἠ πλεονεξία, μηδεμίαν άνεοιν τῷ δουλεύοντι παρεχόμενος, ἀλλά κᾶν
toi prosēkei einai tous diïontas to hydōr, mēden tēs enantias stratias meta to,anadynai tou hydatos ephelkomenous. Eigar synanathę̄ hautǭ o polemios, menei kai meta to hydōr en tę̄ douleią, synekbalōn eautǭ zōnta ton tyrannon, dn en tǭ bythǭ ou katedyse. Touto de toiouton estin. hōs an tis prosō gymnoteron to ainigma metabalōn saphēniseie, sb dein pantas tous dierchomenous to mystikon hydōr en tǭ baptismati, pasan tēn tēs kakias parembolēn nekran poiein en tǭ hydati o hoion tēn pleonexian, tēn akolaston epithymian, tēn arpaktikēn dianoian, td kata ton typhon kai hyperēphanian pathos, tēn thymōdē hormēn, tēn orgēn, tēn mēnin, tēn baskanian, ton phthonon, tauta panta, kai ta toiauta, epeidē pōs pephyken epesthai tę̄ physei ta pathē, nekraeoiein en tǭ hydati ’ auta te ta ponēra tēs dianoias kinēe mata, kai ta ek toutōn apotelesmata, kathaper en tǭ mystēriǭ tou pascha ; touto gar onoma tǭ hiereiǭ, hou to haima kōlytikon thanatou tǭ chrēsamenǭ ginetai. ’Hōsper toinyn ekei ton arton azymon keleuei epesthiein to pascha (azymos dʼ an eiē o tēs eōlote; ras anepimiktos zymēs), noein te didōsi dia toutōn ho nomos, to mēden tēs kakias leipsanon tǭ ephexēs katamignyein biǭ, allʼ apo idias archēs tēs meta tauta zōēs arxasthai, ton to syneches tēs tōn kairōn akolouthias tę̄ pros td kreitton metabolę̄ diakopsanta; houtō kai entautha bouletai pan Aigyption prosōpon, toutesti, pan hamartias eidos, hōsper tini bythǭ tǭ sōtēriǭ baptismati katapnixantas, monous anadynai, mēden kata ton bion episyromenous allophylon. Touto gar estin o dia tēs historias akouomen, ē phēsin, en tǭ autǭ hydati, thanatǭ kai zōę̄ diakrinesthai ty echthron kaito philon; tou men echthrou phtheiromenou, tou de philou zōogonoumenou, hōs oi ge polloi tōn to mystikdn baptisma prosdexamenōn, agnoią tōn tou nomou parangelmatōn, tēn parelthoō san tēs kakias zymēn, tę̄ zōę̄ tou meta tauta biou katamignyousi, ka) ton straton ton Aigyption, kai meta to perasai to hydōr, zōnta methʼ heautōn dio tōn epitēdeumatōn epagontai. '0 gar diʼ harpagēs ē adikias ploutēsas, hē tina chōron ex epiorkias ktēsamenos, ē dia moicheias gynaiki synoikēsas, ē allo ti tōn apeirēmenōn pro tēs tou baptismatos dōreas para ton bion tolmēsas, oietai tę̄ apolausei tōn kakōs autǭ prosgenomenōn kai meta to loutron parameinas, ēleutherōsthai tēs tōn hamartēmatōn douleias, hōsper ouch horōn eauton tois ponērois hypokekyphota despotais. Despotēs gar tis estin agrios kai lyssōdēs, to akolaston pathos, tǭ andrapodōdei logismǭ, oion tisi mastixi tais hēdonais aikizomenos. Allos toioutos despotēs ē pleonexia, mēdemian aneoin tǭ douleuonti parechomenos, alla kan
those who pass through the water should be: they must draw nothing of the opposing army after them when they come up out of the water. For if the enemy comes up with him, he remains in slavery even after the water, having brought out alive with himself the tyrant he did not drown in the deep. To put the riddle in plainer terms and make it clear: all who pass through the mystical water in baptism must make the whole camp of vice dead in the water — greed, licentious desire, rapacious thinking, the passion of conceit and arrogance, the angry impulse, wrath, rancour, malice, envy. All these and the like, since the passions somehow naturally follow our nature, must be made dead in the water: both the evil movements of the mind themselves and what they produce. So it is in the mystery of the Passover — this is the name of the victim whose blood keeps death away from the one who uses it. There he commands that unleavened bread be eaten with the Passover (unleavened would be what is unmixed with stale leaven), and by this the law gives us to understand that no remnant of vice should be mixed into the life that follows, but that we should begin our later life from a fresh beginning, breaking the continuity of the sequence of time by the change for the better. So here too he wishes that, having drowned every Egyptian person — that is, every form of sin — in saving baptism as in a deep, we should come up alone, dragging nothing foreign along with us into our life. This is what we hear through the history, which says that in the same water enemy and friend were distinguished by death and life: the enemy destroyed, the friend kept alive. Yet many of those who have received the mystical baptism, in ignorance of the commands of the law, mix the past leaven of vice into the life that follows, and even after crossing the water bring the Egyptian army along with them alive in their pursuits. For one who has grown rich by robbery or injustice, or acquired land by perjury, or lives with a woman through adultery, or dared any other forbidden thing in his life before the gift of baptism, thinks that, if he continues even after the washing to enjoy what came to him wickedly, he has been freed from the slavery of sins — as though he did not see himself bowed beneath evil masters. For licentious passion is a savage and raging master, tormenting the slavish reason with pleasures as with whips. Another such master is greed, which gives its slave no rest, but even if
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Exod 14:28–30 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 12:8 (allusion, medium confidence) · Exod 12:15 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 5:7–8 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 10:1–2 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Crossing the sea figures baptism: every passion must be drowned in the water, as no leaven was to be mixed with the Passover; those who after baptism keep the fruits of robbery, perjury, or adultery still bring the Egyptian army with them.
- Exod 14:28–30; Exod 12:8, 15 (unleavened bread); 1 Cor 5:7–8; 1 Cor 10:1–2 (passing through the sea as baptism).
- “Lives with a woman through adultery”: a marriage or union obtained by adultery before baptism; Gregory requires that what was gained by sin not be kept after baptism. Translated as written.
- The page breaks off; the next page begins after a gap in the scan.
Topics: Baptism
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 363 (PG 44:364a–364d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/355/#p-363). (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 365
365PG 44:365a–365c
Ἀλλά πρὸς τὰ ἐφεξῆς τοῦ λόγου προέλθωμεν πάλιν. 'O γὰρ διελθὼν τὸ νοηθὲν ἡμῖν πέλαγος, καὶ ίδὼν ὲν αὐτῷ νεκρὸν τὸν θεωρηθέντα τοῦτον Αἰγύο πτιον, οὐκέτι πρὸς Μωῦσέα μόνον ὁρᾷ τὸν τῆς ἀρετῆς ῥαβδοῦχον, ἀλλά πιστεύει μὲν, κατά τὸ προηγούμενον, τῷ Θεῷ, καθὼς 6 τῆς ἱστορίας λόγος φησι, πείθεται δὲ τῷ θεράποντι αὑτοῦ Μωῦσεῖο ὃ καὶ νῦν βλέπομεν παρά τῶν ἀληθῶς rb ὕδωρ περαιουμένων γινόμενον, οἳ τῷ Θεῷ ἑαυτοὺς ἀναθέντες, καὶ τοῖς θεραπεύουσι διὰ τῆς ἱερωσύνης rb Θεῖον, πείθονται καὶ ὑπείκουσι, καθώς φησιν 6 Ἀπόστολος. Ὁδὸς μετά τοῦτο τὴν θάλασσαν τριῶν ἡμερῶν διαδέχεται, ἐν κατά τινα τόπον στρατοπεδεύσασον, ἄποτον παρά την πρώτην rb εὑρεθὲν ὕδωρ ὑπὸ πικρίας ἐφάνη · -ἀλλά rb ξύλον ἐντεθὲν, προσηνὲς τοῖς διψῶσι rb ποι τὸν ἀπειργάσατο. Συμδαίνει τοῖς γινομένοις ή ἱστορία· τῷ γὰρ καταλελοιπότι τὰς Αἰγυπτίας ἡδονὰς, αἷς ἐδούλευε πρὶν διαβῆναι τὴν θάλασσαν, δύσληπτος καὶ ἀηδὴς ὁ βίος 6 τῶν ἡδονῶν κεχωρισμένος παρά τὴν πρώτην δοκεῖ. Ἀλλʼ εἱ rb ξύλον ἐμβληθείη τῷ ὕδατι, τουτέστιν, είτδ τῆςάναστάσεώς τις παραλά- 6οι μυστήριον, ὃ διά τοῦ ξύλου τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔσχε ( ξύλον δὲ ἀκούσας, τὸν σταυρὸν πάντως ἐνόησας), τότε παντὸς γλυκύσματος, τοῦ τὴν αἴσθησιν διʼ ἡδονῆς γαργαλίζοντος, γλυκύτερός τε καὶ ποτιμώτερος 6 κατʼ ἀρετὴν γίνεται βίος, τῇ ἐλπίδι τῶν μελλόντων ἐφηδυνόμενος. Ἡ δὲ ἐφεξῆς τῆς ὁδοιπορίας καταγωγὴ, φοίνιξι καὶ πηγαῖς ἅβρυνομένη, διαναπαύει τῶν ὁδοιπορούντων τὸν κόπον. Εἰσὶ δέ δυοκαίδεκα μὲν τῶν ὑδάτων αἱ πηγαὶ, καθαροῦ τε καὶ ἡδίστου νάματος · ἐβδομήκοντα δὲ οἱ φοίνικες, εὐμεγέθεις καὶ ὑψίκομοι, τοῦ χρόνου τὰ δένδρα πρὸς ὕψος ἄραντος, Τί οὖν ἐν τούτοις εὑρίσκομεν, διʼ ἀκολούθου προῖούσης τῆςθὶστορίας; ὅτι τὸ τοῦ ξύλου μυστήριον, διʼ οὗ πότιμον τῆς ἀρετῆς rb ὕδωρ τοῖς διψῶσι γίνεται, προσάγει ἡμᾶς ταῖς δυοκαίδεκα πηγαῖς, καὶ τοῖς ἐβδομήκοντα φοίνιξι, τουτέστι, τῇ τοῦ Εὑαγγελίου διδασκαλίᾳ, ἐν ᾖπηγαὶ μέν είσι δυοκαίδεκα οἱ ἀπόστολοι, τοσούτους τοῦ Κυρίου πρὸς τὴν χρείαν ταύτην ἐκλεξαμένου, καὶ πηγάζειν διʼ αὐτῶν τὸν λόγον ποιήσαντος · ὡς καί τινα τῶν προφητῶν προαναφωνῆσαι τὴν ἐκ τῶν ἀποστόλων βρύουσαν χάριν, ἐν οἷς φησιν, ι Ἐν ἐκκλησίαις εὐλογεῖτε τὸν Θεὸν Κύριον ἐκ πηγῶν Ίσραήλ.›Εόδομήκοντα δʼἂνεὶεν φοίνικες, οί κατά πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην ἔξω τῶν δώδεκα μαθητῶν ἐπιχειροτονηθέντες ἀπόστολοι, τοσοῦτοι τὸν ἀριθμὸν ὁντες, ὅσους εἷναί φησιν ἡ ἱστορία τοὺς φοίνικας. Ἀλλʼ ἐπισπεύδειν οἶμαι προσήκειν τὴν ὁδοιπορίαν διὰ τοῦ λόγου, διʼ ὀλίγων, ῶν παρεθέμεθα, ῥᾳδίαν τοὶς φιλοπονωτέροις τὴν θεωρίαν ποιήσαντες τῶν λοιπῶν παρεμβολῶν. Ἀρεταὶ δʼ ἂν εῐεν αἱ παρεμβολαίο αἷς 6 τῷ στύλῳ τῆς νεφέλης ἑπόμενος, καθεξῆς προῖὼν ἐνστρατοπεδεύει καὶ ἀναπαύεται. Τάς οὖν ἐν τῷ μέσῳ καταγωγὰς ὑπερβὰς τῷ λόγῳ, τῆς κατά τὴν πέτραν θαυματοποιῒας ἐπιμνησθήσομαι, ἦς ἡ φύσις ἠ ἀντιτυπὴς καὶ στερέμνιος, ποτὸν τοῖς διψῶσιν ἐγένετο, εἰς ὓδατος, μαλακότητα τῆς ἀντιτυπίας ἀναλυ-
Alla pros ta ephexēs tou logou proelthōmen palin. 'O gar dielthōn to noēthen hēmin pelagos, kai idōn en autǭ nekron ton theōrēthenta touton Aigyo ption, ouketi pros Mōysea monon horą ton tēs aretēs rhabdouchon, alla pisteuei men, kata to proēgoumenon, tǭ Theǭ, kathōs 6 tēs historias logos phēsi, peithetai de tǭ theraponti hautou Mōyseio ho kai nyn blepomen para tōn alēthōs rb hydōr peraioumenōn ginomenon, hoi tǭ Theǭ heautous anathentes, kai tois therapeuousi dia tēs hierōsynēs rb Theion, peithontai kai hypeikousi, kathōs phēsin 6 Apostolos. Hodos meta touto tēn thalassan triōn hēmerōn diadechetai, en kata tina topon stratopedeusason, apoton para tēn prōtēn rb heurethen hydōr hypo pikrias ephanē ; -alla rb xylon entethen, prosēnes tois dipsōsi rb poi ton apeirgasato. Symdainei tois ginomenois ē historia; tǭ gar kataleloipoti tas Aigyptias hēdonas, hais edouleue prin diabēnai tēn thalassan, dyslēptos kai aēdēs ho bios 6 tōn hēdonōn kechōrismenos para tēn prōtēn dokei. Allʼ hei rb xylon emblētheiē tǭ hydati, toutestin, eitd tēsanastaseōs tis parala- 6oi mystērion, ho dia tou xylou tēn archēn esche ( xylon de akousas, ton stauron pantōs enoēsas), tote pantos glykysmatos, tou tēn aisthēsin diʼ hēdonēs gargalizontos, glykyteros te kai potimōteros 6 katʼ aretēn ginetai bios, tę̄ elpidi tōn mellontōn ephēdynomenos. Hē de ephexēs tēs hodoiporias katagōgē, phoinixi kai pēgais habrynomenē, dianapauei tōn hodoiporountōn ton kopon. Eisi de dyokaideka men tōn hydatōn hai pēgai, katharou te kai hēdistou namatos ; ebdomēkonta de hoi phoinikes, eumegetheis kai hypsikomoi, tou chronou ta dendra pros hypsos arantos, Ti oun en toutois heuriskomen, diʼ akolouthou proiousēs tēsthistorias? hoti to tou xylou mystērion, diʼ hou potimon tēs aretēs rb hydōr tois dipsōsi ginetai, prosagei hēmas tais dyokaideka pēgais, kai tois ebdomēkonta phoinixi, toutesti, tę̄ tou Heuangeliou didaskalią, en ę̄pēgai men eisi dyokaideka hoi apostoloi, tosoutous tou Kyriou pros tēn chreian tautēn eklexamenou, kai pēgazein diʼ autōn ton logon poiēsantos ; hōs kai tina tōn prophētōn proanaphōnēsai tēn ek tōn apostolōn bryousan charin, en hois phēsin, i En ekklēsiais eulogeite ton Theon Kyrion ek pēgōn Israēl.›Eodomēkonta dʼaneien phoinikes, oi kata pasan tēn oikoumenēn exō tōn dōdeka mathētōn epicheirotonēthentes apostoloi, tosoutoi ton arithmon hontes, hosous heinai phēsin hē historia tous phoinikas. Allʼ epispeudein oimai prosēkein tēn hodoiporian dia tou logou, diʼ oligōn, ōn parethemetha, rhądian tois philoponōterois tēn theōrian poiēsantes tōn loipōn parembolōn. Aretai dʼ an eien hai parembolaio hais 6 tǭ stylǭ tēs nephelēs hepomenos, kathexēs proiōn enstratopedeuei kai anapauetai. Tas oun en tǭ mesǭ katagōgas hyperbas tǭ logǭ, tēs kata tēn petran thaumatopoiïas epimnēsthēsomai, ēs hē physis ē antitypēs kai steremnios, poton tois dipsōsin egeneto, eis hydatos, malakotēta tēs antitypias analy-
… But let us go on again to the next part of our discourse. The one who has crossed the sea as we understood it, and has seen in it this Egyptian of our contemplation lying dead, no longer looks only to Moses, the staff-bearer of virtue; following what went before, he believes in God, as the account of the history says, and obeys his servant Moses. This we see happening now too among those who truly cross the water: having dedicated themselves to God, they also obey and submit to those who serve the Divine through the priesthood, as the Apostle says. After the sea comes a road of three days, and when they camped at a certain place, the water they found appeared at first undrinkable because of its bitterness; but the wood put into it made it pleasant for the thirsty to drink. The history agrees with what happens. For one who has left the Egyptian pleasures he served before crossing the sea, the life separated from pleasures seems at first hard to take and unpleasant. But if the wood is cast into the water — that is, if one receives the mystery of the resurrection, which had its beginning through the wood (hearing “wood,” you will certainly have understood the cross) — then the life of virtue becomes sweeter and more drinkable than every sweetness that tickles the senses with pleasure, sweetened by the hope of things to come. The next stopping place on the journey, rich with palms and springs, refreshes the travellers from their toil. There are twelve springs of water, of a pure and most pleasant stream, and seventy palms, large and with lofty crowns, since time had raised the trees to their height. What, then, do we find in these as the history proceeds in sequence? That the mystery of the wood, through which the water of virtue becomes drinkable for the thirsty, leads us to the twelve springs and the seventy palms, that is, to the teaching of the Gospel. In it the twelve springs are the apostles, since the Lord chose that many for this service and made the word gush out through them; so that one of the prophets foretold the grace welling up from the apostles when he said, “In the assemblies bless God the Lord from the springs of Israel.” The seventy palms would be the apostles appointed throughout the world besides the twelve disciples, as many in number as the history says the palms were. But I think it right to hasten the journey in our discourse, since by the few things we have set out we have made the contemplation of the remaining camps easy for the more diligent. The camps would be virtues, in which whoever follows the pillar of cloud, advancing in order, encamps and rests. Passing over in our discourse the stopping places in between, I will recall the wonder of the rock, whose resistant and solid nature became drink for the thirsty, its resistance being dissolved into the softness of water.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Exod 14:31 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 13:17 (allusion, medium confidence) · Exod 15:22–25 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 15:27 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 68:26 (67:27 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 10:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 17:1–6 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: After the sea, the believer trusts God and obeys his priests; the bitter water of Marah sweetened by wood is the hard life of virtue sweetened by the cross; Elim’s twelve springs and seventy palms are the twelve apostles and the seventy.
- The opening of this page continues after a gap in the scan (marked …): the end of the discussion of the passions that enslave the baptized is lost.
- “Believes in God … obeys his servant Moses”: Exod 14:31. Obedience to those who serve God: compare Heb 13:17. Marah: Exod 15:22–25. Elim: Exod 15:27. “In the assemblies bless God …”: Ps 68:26 (LXX 67:27). The seventy: Luke 10:1 (Gregory calls them apostles).
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 365 (PG 44:365a–365c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/355/#p-365). (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 367
367PG 44:368a–368d
Ι ΝΥ εδεΝι 368 θείσης. Ἀλλʼ οὐδεὶς πόνος προσαρμόσαι τῇ κατᾶ ἀναγωγὴν θεωρίᾳ τὴν τῆς ἱστορίας ἀκολουθίαν. '0 γὰρ ὲν τῷ ὕδατι καταλιπὼν νεκρὸν τὸν Αίγύπτιον, καὶ τῷ ξύλῳ γλυκανθεὶς, καὶ ταῖς ἀποστολικαίς ὲντρυφήσας πηγαῖς, ὑπό τε τῇ σκιᾷ τῶν φοινίκων ἀναπαυσάμενος, οὗτος, ἤδη καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ δεκτικὸς γίνεται. Ἥ γὰρ πέτρα. καθώς φησιν ό ’Δπόστολος, ὁ Χριστός ἐστιν, ἄνικμός τις καὶ ἀντιτυπὴς τοῖς ἀπίστοιςʼ εί δέ τις προσάγοι τὴν ῥάβδοντῆς πίστεως, ποτδς τοῖς διψῶσι γινόμενος, καὶ ἐντος τῶν εἰσδεχομένων αὑτὸν είσρέων.ι Ἐγὼ γὰρ, φησι, καὶ ό Πατήρ μου ἐλευσόμεθα, καὶ μονὴν παρʼ αὖτῷ ποιησόμεθα. ιʼΛξιον δὲ μηδὲ τοῦτο παραδραμεῖν ἀθεώρητον, ὅτι μετὰ τδ διαβῆναι τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ γλυκανθῆναι τοῖς τῆς ἀρετῆς ὁδοιπόροις τὸ ὓδωρ, καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἁδρὰν ὲκείνην διαγωγὴν, τὴν κατὰ τὰς πηγὰς καὶ τοὺς φοίνικας, καὶ μετὰ τὺ πιεῖν ἐκ τῆς πέτρας τότε παντελῶς ἡ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἐφοδίων ἐπίλειψις γίνεται. Καὶ οὕτω μηδεμιᾶς αὐτοῖς ὑπολειφθείσης ἀλλοφύλου τροφῆς, ἣν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἐπεσιτίσαντο, ἄνωθεν ἐπιρρεῖ ή τροτ φὴ, ποικίλη τις ἅμα καὶ μονοειδὴς οὖσα. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ φαινόμενον μονοειδὲς ἦν, ἠ δὲ ποιότης τὸ ποικίλον εἶχεν, ἑκάστῳ προσφόρως κατὰ τὸ εἶδος τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἐγγινομένη. Τί οὖν ὲστιν ὃ μανθάνομεν; διʼ ὅσων προσήκει καθαρσίων ἑαυτὸν ἐκκαθᾶραι τινα τῆς Λίγυπτίας τε καὶ ἀλλοφύλου ζωῆς ο ὥστε κενῶσαι τὸν τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ θύλακον πάσης τῆς κατὰ κακίαν τροφῆς, ἢν σιτοποιοῦσιν οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι· καὶ οὕτως τὴν ἄνωθεν κατιοῦσαν τροφὴν ἐν ἑαυτῷ καθαρᾷ τῇ ψυχῇ δέξασθαι · ἣν οὐ σπορᾶ ἡμῖν τοῖς ἐκ γεωπονίας ἀνέφυσεν, ἀλλʼ ἕτοιμος ἄρτος ἄσπορός τε καὶ ἀνήροτος, ἄνωθεν μὲν κατιὼν, ἐπὶ δὲ γῆς εὑρισκόμενος. Νοεῖς δὲ πάντως τὴν ἀληθῆ ταύτην βρῶσιν διὰ τοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν αἰνίγματος, ὅτι ό ἄρτσς ό ὲκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κατασέις, οὐκ ἀσώματόν τι χρῆμά ἐστι. Πῶς γὰρ ἂν σώματι τροφὴ γένοιτο τὸ ἁσώματον; Τὸ δὲ μὴ ἀσώματον, σῶμα παντως ὲστί. Τὸ δὲ σῶμα τούτου τοῦ ἄρτου οὔτε ἄροσις οὔτε σπορὰ ἐγεώργησεν · ἀλλʼ ἡ γῆ οἶα ἐστὶ μείνασα, πλήρης εὑρίσκεται τῆς θείας ταύτης τροφῆς, ἦς oi πεινῶντες μετέχουσι, τὸ κατὰ τὴν Παρθένον μυστήριον διὰ τῆς θαυματοποιῖας Οἷδε γὰρ οὺ μόνον ἄρτος εἶναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ γάλα γίνεσθαι, καὶ κρέας. καὶ λάχανον, καὶ ὅτιπερ ἆνῇ τῶν προσφερομένων κατάλληλόν τε καὶ καταθύμιον· ὡς διδάσκει ό τὴν τοιαύτην τοῖς αὑτοῦ παρατιθεὶς ἡμῖν τράπεζαν, Παῦλος ό θεῖος ἀπόστολος, ό τοῖς τελειοτέροις στερροτέραν τε καὶ κρεώδη βρῶσιν τὸν λόγον ποιῶν, καὶ λάχανον τοῖς ἀσθενεστέροις, καὶ γάλα τοῖς νηπιὰζουσι. Τὰ δʼ ὅσα περὶ τὴν τροφὴν ἐκείνην ἡ ἱστορία διέξεισι θαύματα, δόγματα πρὸς τὸν κατʼ ἀρετὴν βίον ἐστι. Φησὶ γὰρ, ἴσην πᾶσι προκεῖσθαι τὴν τῆς τροφῆς μετουσίαν, οὐδὲν κατὰ διαφορὰν τῆς τῶν συλλεγόντων δυνάμεως, οὔτε πλεῦνα·ζουσαν κατὰ χρείαν, οὔτε ἐλλείπουσαν. Τοῦτο δέ ἐστι, κατά γε τὸν ὲ μὸν λόγον, συ μβουλή,τις τῷ κοινῷ προκειμένη,
I NY edeNi 368 theisēs. Allʼ oudeis ponos prosarmosai tę̄ kata anagōgēn theōrią tēn tēs historias akolouthian. '0 gar en tǭ hydati katalipōn nekron ton Aigyption, kai tǭ xylǭ glykantheis, kai tais apostolikais entryphēsas pēgais, hypo te tę̄ skią tōn phoinikōn anapausamenos, houtos, ēdē kai tou Theou dektikos ginetai. Hē gar petra. kathōs phēsin o ’Dpostolos, ho Christos estin, anikmos tis kai antitypēs tois apistoisʼ ei de tis prosagoi tēn rhabdontēs pisteōs, potds tois dipsōsi ginomenos, kai entos tōn eisdechomenōn hauton eisreōn.i Egō gar, phēsi, kai o Patēr mou eleusometha, kai monēn parʼ autǭ poiēsometha. iʼLxion de mēde touto paradramein atheōrēton, hoti meta td diabēnai tēn thalassan, kai glykanthēnai tois tēs aretēs hodoiporois to hydōr, kai meta tēn hadran ekeinēn diagōgēn, tēn kata tas pēgas kai tous phoinikas, kai meta ty piein ek tēs petras tote pantelōs hē tōn Aigyptiōn ephodiōn epileipsis ginetai. Kai houtō mēdemias autois hypoleiphtheisēs allophylou trophēs, hēn ex Aigyptou epesitisanto, anōthen epirrei ē trot phē, poikilē tis hama kai monoeidēs ousa. To men gar phainomenon monoeides ēn, ē de poiotēs to poikilon eichen, hekastǭ prosphorōs kata to eidos tēs epithymias enginomenē. Ti oun estin ho manthanomen? diʼ hosōn prosēkei katharsiōn heauton ekkatharai tina tēs Ligyptias te kai allophylou zōēs o hōste kenōsai ton tēs psychēs autou thylakon pasēs tēs kata kakian trophēs, ēn sitopoiousin hoi Aigyptioi; kai houtōs tēn anōthen katiousan trophēn en heautǭ katharą tę̄ psychę̄ dexasthai ; hēn ou spora hēmin tois ek geōponias anephysen, allʼ hetoimos artos asporos te kai anērotos, anōthen men katiōn, epi de gēs heuriskomenos. Noeis de pantōs tēn alēthē tautēn brōsin dia tou kata tēn historian ainigmatos, hoti o artss o ek tou ouranou kataseis, ouk asōmaton ti chrēma esti. Pōs gar an sōmati trophē genoito to hasōmaton? To de mē asōmaton, sōma pantōs esti. To de sōma toutou tou artou oute arosis oute spora egeōrgēsen ; allʼ hē gē oia esti meinasa, plērēs heurisketai tēs theias tautēs trophēs, ēs oi peinōntes metechousi, to kata tēn Parthenon mystērion dia tēs thaumatopoiias Hoide gar ou monon artos einai, alla kai gala ginesthai, kai kreas. kai lachanon, kai hotiper anę̄ tōn prospheromenōn katallēlon te kai katathymion; hōs didaskei o tēn toiautēn tois hautou paratitheis hēmin trapezan, Paulos o theios apostolos, o tois teleioterois sterroteran te kai kreōdē brōsin ton logon poiōn, kai lachanon tois asthenesterois, kai gala tois nēpiazousi. Ta dʼ hosa peri tēn trophēn ekeinēn hē historia diexeisi thaumata, dogmata pros ton katʼ aretēn bion esti. Phēsi gar, isēn pasi prokeisthai tēn tēs trophēs metousian, ouden kata diaphoran tēs tōn syllegontōn dynameōs, oute pleuna;zousan kata chreian, oute elleipousan. Touto de esti, kata ge ton e mon logon, sy mboulē,tis tǭ koinǭ prokeimenē,
But it is no labour to fit the sequence of the history to the anagogical contemplation. For whoever has left the Egyptian dead in the water, been sweetened by the wood, delighted in the apostolic springs, and rested under the shade of the palms, now becomes able to receive God himself. For the rock, as the Apostle says, is Christ: dry and resistant to the unbelieving, but if one brings the staff of faith, he becomes drink for the thirsty and flows into those who receive him. “For I,” he says, “and my Father will come and make our dwelling with him.” This too deserves not to be passed over without contemplation: after they crossed the sea, after the water was sweetened for the travellers of virtue, after that pleasant stay by the springs and palms, and after they drank from the rock, then the provisions from Egypt failed completely. And so, with none of the foreign food left that they had brought from Egypt, the food flows down from above, at once varied and uniform. Its appearance was uniform, but its quality had variety, adapting itself to each according to the kind of his desire. What, then, do we learn? By how many purifications one must cleanse oneself of the Egyptian and foreign life, so as to empty the sack of one’s soul of all the food of vice that the Egyptians bake, and so receive within oneself, with a pure soul, the food that comes down from above. No sowing brought it forth for us through farming; it is ready bread, unsown and unploughed, coming down from above and found upon the earth. You will surely understand the true food through the riddle of the history: the bread that came down from heaven is not something bodiless. How could what is bodiless become food for a body? And what is not bodiless is certainly a body. The body of this bread neither ploughing nor sowing produced; but the earth, remaining as it was, is found full of this divine food, in which the hungry share — the mystery of the Virgin … through the wonder. For it knows how not only to be bread but also to become milk, and meat, and vegetables, and whatever is suitable and pleasing to those who take it. So teaches the one who sets such a table before us, Paul the divine Apostle, who makes the word solid, meaty food for the more perfect, vegetables for the weaker, and milk for infants. The wonders the history relates about that food are teachings for the life of virtue. It says that the share of food was set equally before all, with no difference according to the strength of the gatherers, neither exceeding need nor falling short. This is, in my view at least, a counsel set before everyone:
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
1 Cor 10:4 (allusion, high confidence) · John 14:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 16:4–18 (allusion, high confidence) · John 6:31–51 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 3:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 5:12–14 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 14:2 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The rock that gives water is Christ, who dwells in those who believe; when the Egyptian provisions are gone, the manna, varied in taste though uniform in look, is the heavenly bread, the body born of the Virgin, which adapts itself to each like Paul’s milk, vegetables, and meat.
- “The rock … is Christ”: 1 Cor 10:4. “I and my Father will come …”: John 14:23. The manna: Exod 16:4, 14–15, 31; the bread from heaven: John 6:31–51. Milk and solid food: 1 Cor 3:2; Heb 5:12–14; vegetables for the weak: Rom 14:2. Equal shares: Exod 16:16–18.
- The page heading is partly preserved in the scan as debris. After “the mystery of the Virgin” some words are lost in the scan (marked …); Gregory apparently sees in the bread found on untilled earth a figure of the virginal birth of the body of Christ.
- Translated as written; Gregory’s reading of the manna as the body of Christ is figurative.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (Latin letters) for Νοεῖς): Nor-:3; → Νοεῖς.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 367 (PG 44:368a–368d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/355/#p-367). (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 369
369PG 44:369a–369d
μὴ παριέναι τοὺς ὅρους τῆς χρείας, τοὺς τὰς ἀφορμὰς τοῦ ζῇν ἐκ τῶν ὑλικῶν τούτων ποριζομένους, ἀλλ εὖ εἰδέναι, ὄτι ἓν μέτρον τῇ φύσει τῆς ἐδωδῆς ἐπὶ πάντων ἐστὶν ἡ πρὸς ἡμέραν ἀπόλαυσις · ὲνῇ κᾶν πολλαπλάσια παρασκευασθῇ τῆς χρείας,ή γαστὴρ τὰ ἴδια μέτρα διαβῆναι φύσιν οὐκ ἔχει, οὐδὲ τῇ ἀπληστία τῆς παρασκευῆς συνεκτέίνεται. Ἀλλὰ, καθώς φησιν ἡ ἱστορία. οὔτε 6 τὸ πολὺ λαβὼν, ἐπλεόνασε · ποῦ γὰρ ἀπόθηται 1:6 πλέον, οὐκ ἔχειʼ οὔτε 6 τὸ ὀλίγον, ἠλαττόνησε · πρὸς γάρ τὸ εὑρεθὲν συσταλεῖσα ἡ χρεία συνεμετρήθη. T6 δὲ τοῖς τὸ περιττὸν ταμιεύουσιν, είς σκωλήκιον γένεσιν μεταποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἀπληστίαν, βοᾷ τρόπον τινά τοῖς πλεονέκταις διὰ τούτων 6 λόγος, ὅτι πᾶν τὸ ἔξω τῆς χρείας, ὑπὸ τῆς πλεονεκτικῆς ταύτης ἐπιθυμίας περιεχόμενον, ὲν τῇ ἑξῆς ἡμέρα, τουτέστιν, έν τῷ προτδοκωμένῳ βίῳ, ό σκώληξτῷ ταμιεύσαντι γίνεται. Νοεῖ δὲ πάντως 6 ἀκούων διὰ τοῦ σκώληκος τούτου τὸν ἀτελεύτητον σκώληκα, τὸν διὰ τῆς πλεονεξίας ζίοιογονούμενον. T6 δὲ ἐν μόνῳ τῷ σαββάτῳ διαρκεῖν τὶ ἀπόθετον, μηδεμίαν διαφθοράν ὑπομένον,τοιαύτην τινὰ συμβουλὴν περιέχει ὅτι τοι τότε χρηστέον ἐστὶ τῇ πλεοεκτικῇ προαιρέσει, ὲν οἷς τδ συναγόμενον διαφθορὰν οὐ προσίεται · τότε χρήσιμον ἡμῖν γενόμενον, ὅταν παρελθόντες τὴν τοῦ βίου τούτου παρασκευὴν, ὲν τῇ μετὰ θάνατον ἀπραξία γενώμεθα. Ἦ γὰρ πρὸ τοῦ σαββάτου ἡμέρα, παρασκευὴ πρὸς τδ σάββατον καὶ ἔστι καὶ ὀνομάζεται. Αὕτη δʼ εἴη 6 βίος οὗτος, ὲν ᾧ τά τῆς ἐρχομένης ζωῆς ἑαυτοῖς εὐτρεπίζομεν ο ἐ,νῇ ἔργον οὐδὲν τῶν νῦν ἡμῖν συγκεχωρημένων ἐπιτελεῖται. οὐ γεωργία, οὐκ ἐμπορία, οὐ στρατεία, οὐκ ἄλλο τι τῶν ὦδε σπουδαζομένων οὐδέ τι· ἀλλʼ ὲν ἀπραξίᾳ πάσῃ τῶν τοιούτων ἔργων διάγοντες, τῶν νῦν ἡμῖν παρά τὸν βίον καταβεβλημένων σπερμάτων τοὺς καρποὺς νομιζόμεθα ο ἀφθάρτους μὲν, εἴπερ ἀγαθά εἴη τοῦ βίου τά σπέρματα · φθαρτικους δὲ καὶ ὀλεθρίους, εἰ τοιαῦτα ἡμῖν τὰ γεώργια τῆς ζωῆς ταύτης ἐκφύσειεν. Ὀ γὰρ σπείρων είς τὸ πνεῦμα, φησὶν, ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος θερίσει ζωὴν αἰώνιον ὁ δὲ σπείρων εἰς τὴν σάρκα, ὲκ τῆς σαρκὸς Θερίσει φθοράν. Ἀλλʼ ἠʼπρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον έτοιμασία μόνη κυρίως παρασκευὴ ὀνομάζεται ο καὶ κυροῦται δή ποθεν τῷ νόμῳ, ἦς τὸ ἀπόθετον, ἀφθαρσία ἐστί. T6 δὲ ἐκ τοῦ ἐναντίου νοούμενον, οὐ παρασκευὴν, ἀλλʼ ἔκπτωσιν παρασκευῆς ὀνομάσειε. Διὸ ο μόνην τὴν πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον κατορθουμένην παρασκευὴν νομοθετεῖ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἡ ἱστορία, τὸ ὲναντίον διὰ τῆς παραλείψεως νοεῖν τοῖς συνετοῖς καταλείπουσα. Καθάπερ δὲ ὲν τοῖς στρατιωτικοῖς καταλόγοις, πρότερον πορίζει τὸ σιτηρέσιον ὁ τῆς στρατείας ἡγούμενος, εἷθʼ οὕτω δίδωσι τοῦ πολέμου τὸ σύνθημα ο τὸν αὑτὸν τρόπονʼ καὶ oi τῆς ἀρετῆς στρατιῶται τὸ μυστικὸν δεξάμενοι σιτηρέσιον, οὕτω κατά τῶν ἀλλοφύλων κινοῦσι τὸν πόλεμον, ’ῐησοῦ“ τοῦ Μωῢσέως διαδόχου καθηγουμένου τῆς μάχης. Ὁρᾷς διʼ οἵας πρόεισιν ἀκολουθίας 6 λόγοςς Ἕως ἀσθενέστερός ἐστιν 5 ἄνθρωπος τῇ πονηρᾷ τυραννίδι κεκακωμένος, διʼ ἑαυτοῦ, τὸν ἐχθρὸν οὐκ ἀμύνεταιʼ οὐδὲ γὰρ δύναται. Ἀλλʼ ἕτερός ἐστιν ό τῶν ἀσθενούντων ὑπερμαχῶν, 6
mē parienai tous horous tēs chreias, tous tas aphormas tou zę̄n ek tōn hylikōn toutōn porizomenous, all eu eidenai, oti hen metron tę̄ physei tēs edōdēs epi pantōn estin hē pros hēmeran apolausis ; enę̄ kan pollaplasia paraskeuasthę̄ tēs chreias,ē gastēr ta idia metra diabēnai physin ouk echei, oude tę̄ aplēstia tēs paraskeuēs synekteinetai. Alla, kathōs phēsin hē historia. oute 6 to poly labōn, epleonase ; pou gar apothētai 1:6 pleon, ouk echeiʼ oute 6 to oligon, ēlattonēse ; pros gar to heurethen systaleisa hē chreia synemetrēthē. T6 de tois to peritton tamieuousin, eis skōlēkion genesin metapoieisthai tēn aplēstian, boą tropon tina tois pleonektais dia toutōn 6 logos, hoti pan to exō tēs chreias, hypo tēs pleonektikēs tautēs epithymias periechomenon, en tę̄ hexēs hēmera, toutestin, en tǭ protdokōmenǭ biǭ, o skōlēxtǭ tamieusanti ginetai. Noei de pantōs 6 akouōn dia tou skōlēkos toutou ton ateleutēton skōlēka, ton dia tēs pleonexias zioiogonoumenon. T6 de en monǭ tǭ sabbatǭ diarkein ti apotheton, mēdemian diaphthoran hypomenon,toiautēn tina symboulēn periechei hoti toi tote chrēsteon esti tę̄ pleoektikę̄ proairesei, en hois td synagomenon diaphthoran ou prosietai ; tote chrēsimon hēmin genomenon, hotan parelthontes tēn tou biou toutou paraskeuēn, en tę̄ meta thanaton apraxia genōmetha. Ē gar pro tou sabbatou hēmera, paraskeuē pros td sabbaton kai esti kai onomazetai. Hautē dʼ eiē 6 bios houtos, en hǭ ta tēs erchomenēs zōēs heautois eutrepizomen o e,nę̄ ergon ouden tōn nyn hēmin synkechōrēmenōn epiteleitai. ou geōrgia, ouk emporia, ou strateia, ouk allo ti tōn ōde spoudazomenōn oude ti; allʼ en apraxią pasę̄ tōn toioutōn ergōn diagontes, tōn nyn hēmin para ton bion katabeblēmenōn spermatōn tous karpous nomizometha o aphthartous men, eiper agatha eiē tou biou ta spermata ; phthartikous de kai olethrious, ei toiauta hēmin ta geōrgia tēs zōēs tautēs ekphyseien. O gar speirōn eis to pneuma, phēsin, ek tou pneumatos therisei zōēn aiōnion ho de speirōn eis tēn sarka, ek tēs sarkos Therisei phthoran. Allʼ ēʼpros to kreitton etoimasia monē kyriōs paraskeuē onomazetai o kai kyroutai dē pothen tǭ nomǭ, ēs to apotheton, aphtharsia esti. T6 de ek tou enantiou nooumenon, ou paraskeuēn, allʼ ekptōsin paraskeuēs onomaseie. Dio o monēn tēn pros to kreitton katorthoumenēn paraskeuēn nomothetei tois anthrōpois hē historia, to enantion dia tēs paraleipseōs noein tois synetois kataleipousa. Kathaper de en tois stratiōtikois katalogois, proteron porizei to sitēresion ho tēs strateias hēgoumenos, heithʼ houtō didōsi tou polemou to synthēma o ton hauton troponʼ kai oi tēs aretēs stratiōtai to mystikon dexamenoi sitēresion, houtō kata tōn allophylōn kinousi ton polemon, ’iēsou“ tou Mōÿseōs diadochou kathēgoumenou tēs machēs. Horąs diʼ hoias proeisin akolouthias 6 logoss Heōs asthenesteros estin 5 anthrōpos tę̄ ponērą tyrannidi kekakōmenos, diʼ heautou, ton echthron ouk amynetaiʼ oude gar dynatai. Allʼ heteros estin o tōn asthenountōn hypermachōn, 6
those who procure the means of life from these material things should not go beyond the limits of need, but should know well that one measure of eating holds by nature for all: enjoyment for the day. Even if many times what is needed is prepared, the belly has no nature to go beyond its own measures, nor is it stretched along with the greed of the provision. But, as the history says, the one who took much did not have more — for he has nowhere to store the surplus — and the one who took little did not have less, for need, contracted to what was found, was measured to it. That for those who stored the surplus their greed was changed into a brood of worms is the Word crying out in a way to the greedy through these things: everything beyond need that is held fast by this greedy desire becomes a worm for the one who stored it on the next day, that is, in the life that is expected. The hearer will surely understand by this worm the undying worm that is brought to life by greed. That on the Sabbath alone what was stored lasted, suffering no corruption, contains a counsel of this kind: we should use our acquisitive choice at the time, and on the things, in which what is gathered admits no corruption; it becomes useful to us when, having passed through the preparation of this life, we come into the rest after death. For the day before the Sabbath both is, and is called, the preparation for the Sabbath. This would be the present life, in which we make ready for ourselves the things of the life to come. In that life none of the works now allowed us is carried on — no farming, no trading, no military service, nor any other of the pursuits of this world; spending our time in complete rest from such works, we receive the fruits of the seeds now sown in our life: incorruptible, if the seeds of our life were good, but corrupting and destructive, if the farming of this life brought forth such things. For “whoever sows to the Spirit,” he says, “will from the Spirit reap eternal life; but whoever sows to the flesh will from the flesh reap corruption.” Only preparation for what is better is properly called preparation, and it is somehow confirmed by the law, since what it stores up is incorruption; what is understood as its opposite one would call not preparation but failure of preparation. Therefore the history lays down for human beings only the preparation that is accomplished toward the better, leaving the opposite to be understood by the intelligent from the omission. As in military enlistment the commander first provides rations and then gives the signal for war, in the same way the soldiers of virtue, having received the mystical ration, then make war on the foreigners, with Joshua, Moses’ successor, leading the battle. Do you see in what order the account advances? While a person is still weaker, oppressed by the evil tyranny, he does not ward off the enemy by himself, for he cannot. Another fights for the weak,
Exod 16:18–30 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 8:15 (allusion, medium confidence) · Mark 9:48 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 6:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 17:8–9 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The equal portions of manna teach contentment with daily need; hoarded manna breeding worms is the undying worm of greed; the double portion kept for the Sabbath is the treasure laid up in this life, the “preparation,” for the rest of the life to come.
- Exod 16:18–30; 2 Cor 8:15. “The undying worm”: Mark 9:48; Isa 66:24. “Whoever sows to the Spirit …”: Gal 6:8 (Gregory gives the clauses in reverse order). The battle with Amalek under Joshua: Exod 17:8–13.
- “We receive the fruits”: the scan reads νομιζόμεθα, probably a slip for κομιζόμεθα (“we receive”); translated by sense.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 369 (PG 44:369a–369d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/355/#p-369). (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 371
371PG 44:372a–372d
ταῖς ἐπαλλήλοις πληγαῖς τὸν πολέμιον τύπτων. Ἐπάν δὲ τῆς τῶν κρατούντων δουλείας ἐλευθερωθῇ, καὶ καταγλυκανθῇ τῷ ξύλῳ, καὶ ὲν τῇ φοινίκων καταγωγῇ τὸν κόπον ἀναπαύσῃ, καὶ τὸ τῆς πέτρας γνῷ μυστήριον, καὶ τῆς οὐρανίου μετάσχῃ τροφῆς ο τότε οὐκέτι διʼ ἐτέρας χειρὸς ἀμύνεται τὸν πολέμιον · ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐκβὰς ήδη τὴν τοῦ παιδὸς ἠλικίαν, καὶ καταλαβὼν τὴν ἀκμὴν τῆς νεότητος, αὐτὸς διʼ ἐαυτοῦ τοῖς ἐνανο τίοις συμπλέκεται, στρατηγῷ χρώμενος, ούκέτι Μωῦσεϊ τῷ θεράποντι τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλʼ αύτῷ τῷ Θεῷ, οὗ Μωῦσῆς θεράπων ἐγένετο. Ὀ γάρ ἐξ ἀρχῆς δοθεὶς ἐν τύπῳ καὶ σκιᾷ τῶν μελλόντων νόμος, ἐν τοῖς ἀληθινοῖς ἀγῶσιν ἀπόμαχος μένει, στρατηγεῖ δὲ ό πληρωτὴς τοί νόμου, καὶ Μωῦσέως διάδοχος, 6 διά τῆς ὁμωνυμίας τού τότε στρατηγοῦντος προκηρυσσόμενος. '0 δὲ λαὸς, εί μὲν ἐπηρμένας βλέποι τοῦ νομοθέτου τὰς χεῖρας, ύπέρτερος τοῦ ἐχθροῦ κατά τὴν παράταξιν γίνεται. Ei δὲ καθειμένας, ἐνδίδωσι. Σηιαίνειδὲ τὸ μὲν ἐν ὕψει τάς χεῖρας ὲπαίρειντὸν Μωδτέα, τὴν διὰ τῶν ὑψηλοτάτων νοημάτων θεωρίαν τοῦ νόμου τὸ δὲ εἰς τὴν γῆν ὲπικλίνειν, τὴν ταπεινήν τε καὶ χαμαίζηλον κατὰ τὸ γράμμα τοῦ νόμου ἐξήγησίν τε καὶ παρατήρησιν. ’Υπερείδει δὲ βαρυνθείσας τοῦ Μωῦσέως τάς χεῖρας ό ἱερεὺς συνεργῷ χρώμενος τῷ ᾠκειωμένῳ κατά τὸ γένος. οὐδὲ τοῦτο τῆς τῶν θεωρηθέντων ἀκολουθίας ἐστὶν ἐκτός. Ἦ γάρ ἀληθὴς ίερωσύνη διὰ τοῦ συνημμένου αὑτῇ λόγου θείου τὰς ἐν βαρύτητι τῆς Ἰουδαϊκῆς διανοίας είς γῆν ἐρριμμένας ἐνεργείας τοῦ νόμου πάλιν ἀνάγει εἱςτὸ ὕψος, καὶ πίπτοντα τὸν νόμον είς ἔδαφος ὑπερείδει τῷ λίθῳ, ὥστε αὑτὸν ἀνεστῶτα τῷ σχήματι τῆς τῶν χειρῶν ἐκτάσεως, τὸν ἐαυτοῦ σκοπὸν ὑποδεικνύειν τοῖς βλέπουσιν. Ἀληθῶς γὰρ τοῖς καθορᾷν δυναμένοις ἐν τῷ νόμῳ μάλιστα τὸ κατά τὸν σταυρὸν θεωρεῖται μυστήριον. Διό φησί που τὸ Εύαγγέλιον, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ νόμου τὸ ίῶτα καὶ κεραία ού παρέρχεταιο σημαῖνον διά τῶν εἰρημένων τήν τε ἐκ πλαγίου γραμμὴν καὶ τὴν κάθετον, διʼ ὧν τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ σταυροῦ καταγράφεται. ς Ὅπερ καὶ ἐν τῷ Μωῦσεῖ τότε βλεπόμενον, ὃς ἀντὶ τοῦ νόμου νοεῖται, τροπαίου καὶ νίκης αίτιον τοῖς ὁρῶσι καθ ίσταται. Πάλιν ἡμῖν, διʼ ἀκολούθου τινὸς ἀναβάσεως, πρὸς τὰ ὑψηλότερα τῆς ἀρετῆς ό λόγος γειραγωγεί διάῗ νοιαν. '0 γάρ καί διὰ τῆς τροφῆς δυναμωθεὶς, καὶ τῇ πρὸς τοὺς ἐναντίους συμπλοκῇ τὴν δύναμιν δείξας, καὶ κινητὴς τῶν ἀντιτεταγμένων γενόμενος, τότε προσάγεται τῇ ἀπορρήτῳ ἐκείνῃ θεογνωσία· διδάσκοντος ἡμᾶς διά τούτων τοῦ λόγου, οἷα καὶ ὅσα προσήκει προκατορθῶσαι κατά τὸν βίον,ἴνα τολμήσῃ ι ποτὲ τῇ διανοίᾳ προσβῆναι τῷ τῆς θεογνωσίας ὄρει, καὶ ὑποδέξασθαι τὴν τῶν σαλπίγγων φωνὴν, καὶ εἰσεβείν εἰς τὸν γνόφον, οὖ ἔστιν ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ ἐγγράψαι ταῖς πλαξὶ τὰ θεῖα χαράγματα, κᾶν συν,τριβὦσιν αὗται διὰ πλημμελείας τινὸς, πάλιν τὰς χειροτμήτους ὑποθεῖναι τῷ Θεῷ πλάκας, καὶ ἀναχαράξαι τῷ θείῳ δακτύλῳ τὰ ἐν ταῖς πρώταις ἀρχειωθέντα γράμματα. Βέλτιον δʼ ἂν εἴη διʼ ἀκολούθου, κατά τὴν τῆς ioco-
tais epallēlois plēgais ton polemion typtōn. Epan de tēs tōn kratountōn douleias eleutherōthę̄, kai kataglykanthę̄ tǭ xylǭ, kai en tę̄ phoinikōn katagōgę̄ ton kopon anapausę̄, kai to tēs petras gnǭ mystērion, kai tēs ouraniou metaschę̄ trophēs o tote ouketi diʼ eteras cheiros amynetai ton polemion ; allʼ hōs ekbas ēdē tēn tou paidos ēlikian, kai katalabōn tēn akmēn tēs neotētos, autos diʼ eautou tois enano tiois sympleketai, stratēgǭ chrōmenos, ouketi Mōyseï tǭ theraponti tou Theou, allʼ autǭ tǭ Theǭ, hou Mōysēs therapōn egeneto. O gar ex archēs dotheis en typǭ kai skią tōn mellontōn nomos, en tois alēthinois agōsin apomachos menei, stratēgei de o plērōtēs toi nomou, kai Mōyseōs diadochos, 6 dia tēs homōnymias tou tote stratēgountos prokēryssomenos. '0 de laos, ei men epērmenas blepoi tou nomothetou tas cheiras, yperteros tou echthrou kata tēn parataxin ginetai. Ei de katheimenas, endidōsi. Sēiaineide to men en hypsei tas cheiras epaireinton Mōdtea, tēn dia tōn hypsēlotatōn noēmatōn theōrian tou nomou to de eis tēn gēn epiklinein, tēn tapeinēn te kai chamaizēlon kata to gramma tou nomou exēgēsin te kai paratērēsin. ’Ypereidei de baryntheisas tou Mōyseōs tas cheiras o hiereus synergǭ chrōmenos tǭ ǭkeiōmenǭ kata to genos. oude touto tēs tōn theōrēthentōn akolouthias estin ektos. Ē gar alēthēs ierōsynē dia tou synēmmenou hautę̄ logou theiou tas en barytēti tēs Ioudaïkēs dianoias eis gēn errimmenas energeias tou nomou palin anagei heisto hypsos, kai piptonta ton nomon eis edaphos hypereidei tǭ lithǭ, hōste hauton anestōta tǭ schēmati tēs tōn cheirōn ektaseōs, ton eautou skopon hypodeiknyein tois blepousin. Alēthōs gar tois kathorąn dynamenois en tǭ nomǭ malista to kata ton stauron theōreitai mystērion. Dio phēsi pou to Euangelion, hoti ek tou nomou to iōta kai keraia ou parerchetaio sēmainon dia tōn eirēmenōn tēn te ek plagiou grammēn kai tēn katheton, diʼ hōn to schēma tou staurou katagraphetai. s Hoper kai en tǭ Mōysei tote blepomenon, hos anti tou nomou noeitai, tropaiou kai nikēs aition tois horōsi kath istatai. Palin hēmin, diʼ akolouthou tinos anabaseōs, pros ta hypsēlotera tēs aretēs o logos geiragōgei diaï noian. '0 gar kai dia tēs trophēs dynamōtheis, kai tę̄ pros tous enantious symplokę̄ tēn dynamin deixas, kai kinētēs tōn antitetagmenōn genomenos, tote prosagetai tę̄ aporrētǭ ekeinę̄ theognōsia; didaskontos hēmas dia toutōn tou logou, hoia kai hosa prosēkei prokatorthōsai kata ton bion,ina tolmēsę̄ i pote tę̄ dianoią prosbēnai tǭ tēs theognōsias orei, kai hypodexasthai tēn tōn salpingōn phōnēn, kai eisebein eis ton gnophon, ou estin ho Theos, kai engrapsai tais plaxi ta theia charagmata, kan syn,tribōsin hautai dia plēmmeleias tinos, palin tas cheirotmētous hypotheinai tǭ Theǭ plakas, kai anacharaxai tǭ theiǭ daktylǭ ta en tais prōtais archeiōthenta grammata. Beltion dʼ an eiē diʼ akolouthou, kata tēn tēs ioco-
striking the enemy with blow after blow. But when he has been freed from slavery to his masters, sweetened by the wood, rested from his toil at the camp of palms, come to know the mystery of the rock, and shared in the heavenly food, then he no longer wards off the enemy by another’s hand. As one who has passed the age of a child and reached the prime of youth, he grapples with his opponents himself, using as his general no longer Moses the servant of God, but God himself, whose servant Moses was. For the law given in the beginning as a type and shadow of things to come stays out of the fighting in the true contests; the general is the one who fulfils the law and succeeds Moses, proclaimed beforehand by bearing the same name as the man who led the army then. The people, if they see the lawgiver’s hands raised, become superior to the enemy in the battle; if they see them lowered, they give way. Moses raising his hands on high signifies the contemplation of the law through the loftiest meanings; bending them to the earth signifies the low and earthbound interpretation and observance of the law according to the letter. The priest props up Moses’ heavy hands, with the one who is his kin by family as his fellow-worker. This too is not outside the sequence of what we have contemplated. For the true priesthood, by the divine word joined with it, raises again on high the workings of the law that had been flung to the ground by the heaviness of Jewish understanding, and props up with the stone the law that is falling to the ground, so that, standing upright in the shape of outstretched hands, it shows its own aim to those who look on. For truly, to those who are able to see, the mystery of the cross is seen in the law above all. Therefore the Gospel says somewhere that the iota and the stroke of the law do not pass away, signifying by these the horizontal and the vertical line by which the shape of the cross is drawn. This, seen then in Moses, who stands for the law, becomes the cause of trophy and victory for those who see it. Again, by an orderly ascent, the Word leads our mind by the hand to the loftier things of virtue. For whoever has been strengthened by the food, has shown his strength in grappling with opponents, and has become the victor over his adversaries, is then brought to that ineffable knowledge of God. By this the Word teaches us what kind of things, and how many, must first be achieved in life, so that one may at some time dare in thought to approach the mountain of the knowledge of God, receive the sound of the trumpets, enter into the darkness where God is, inscribe the divine characters on the tablets, and, if these are broken through some fault, again offer God tablets hewn by hand and have the letters stored in the first ones engraved again by the divine finger. But it would be better to fit the meaning to the anagogical sense in sequence, following the order of the history.
Exod 17:8–13 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 10:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 5:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 20:21 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 32:19 (allusion, medium confidence) · Exod 34:1 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The victory over Amalek is won by God himself through Joshua, a type of Jesus, the true successor of Moses; Moses’ raised hands are the spiritual understanding of the law, held up by the priesthood, and form the sign of the cross; so strengthened, the soul is led to the mountain of the knowledge of God.
- Exod 17:8–13. “Type and shadow of things to come”: Heb 10:1; Col 2:17. Joshua and Jesus bear the same name (Ἰησοῦς). “The iota and the stroke”: Matt 5:18. Darkness where God is: Exod 20:21. The broken and renewed tablets: Exod 32:19; 34:1, 28.
- “The heaviness of Jewish understanding”: Gregory’s polemical contrast between literal and spiritual readings of the law; translated as written.
- “The victor”: the scan reads κινητής (“mover”), probably a slip for νικητής; translated by sense.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Mos. 371 (PG 44:372a–372d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-vita-moysis/355/#p-371). (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.