Letters 1.339–1.393
Greek text: PG 78.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 1
1.339PG 78 78:377
ΤΟ ΑΥΤΩ. Περὶ αὐτοῦ. Εἰ μὲν ἔχεις οὕτως προγνώσεως, ὡς εἰδέναι τὰ τῇ κρίσει τηρούμενα, εἰκότως κατακρίνεις πρὸ κρίσεως, καρδιογνώστης τις γεγονὼς ἐξ οἰήσεως. Εἰ δὲ καὶ σὺ τῆς φιλαμαρτήμονος φύσεως, ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ὑπάρχεις τις μοῖρα, καὶ πρὸς ἐξέτασιν ἥξειν πάντως περιμένεις, λόγον εἰσπραχθησόμενος· μὴ προάρπαζε τὴν κρίσιν τοῦ Θεοῦ, πρὸς μετάγνωσιν μᾶλλον καλῶν, ἀλλὰ μὴ πρὸς ἀπόγνωσιν ὠθῶν τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας.
TO AUTŌ. Peri autou. Ei men echeis houtōs prognōseōs, hōs eidenai ta tę̄ krisei tēroumena, eikotōs katakrineis pro kriseōs, kardiognōstēs tis gegonōs ex oiēseōs. Ei de kai sy tēs philamartēmonos physeōs, hōs anthrōpos, hyparcheis tis moira, kai pros exetasin hēxein pantōs perimeneis, logon eisprachthēsomenos; mē proarpaze tēn krisin tou Theou, pros metagnōsin mallon kalōn, alla mē pros apognōsin ōthōn tous hamartanontas.
To the same. [On the same.] If you have such foreknowledge as to know what is reserved for the judgment, you naturally condemn before the judgment, having become a knower of hearts out of conceit. But if you too, as a man, are some portion of sin-loving nature, and expect that you will surely come to examination to give account, do not snatch God's judgment beforehand; rather call sinners to repentance, and do not drive them to despair.
1 Cor 4:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 14:10 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A Novatian should not anticipate God's judgment by refusing repentance to sinners, but call them to it.
- 1 Cor 4:5; Rom 14:10.
Topics: Novatianism, Repentance, The last judgment
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.339 (PG 78 78:377; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-339). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-339
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.340PG 78 78:377
ΑΚΥΛΑ. Αἱ ἀμετάδοτοι γνῶμαι, καὶ αἱ τούτων τιμωρίαι, πρὸς σωφρονισμὸν ἡμῶν ἀνεγράφησαν, ἵνα τὴν ἐκείνων μίμησιν φύγωμεν, καὶ τούτων πεῖραν λάβωμεν. Εἰ τοίνυν τὸν πλοῦτον ἀγαπῶμεν, καὶ τὸ εὖ ποιεῖν παρορῶμεν, ἔγνωμεν ἐκ τῆς θείας πτυκτῆς τὸν τοιοῦτον μακρῷ πυρὶ τηγανιζόμενον.
AKYLA. Hai ametadotoi gnōmai, kai hai toutōn timōriai, pros sōphronismon hēmōn anegraphēsan, hina tēn ekeinōn mimēsin phygōmen, kai toutōn peiran labōmen. Ei toinyn ton plouton agapōmen, kai to eu poiein parorōmen, egnōmen ek tēs theias ptyktēs ton toiouton makrǭ pyri tēganizomenon.
To Aquila. Ungenerous minds and their punishments were written down for our correction, so that we may flee imitation of the one and not experience the other. If, then, we love wealth and overlook doing good, we know from the divine tablet that such a man is fried in a long fire.
Luke 16:24 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:11 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The rich man's punishment in Scripture warns against loving wealth and neglecting charity.
- Luke 16:19–24; 1 Cor 10:11.
Topics: Wealth and poverty, Almsgiving and care for the poor, Hell and eternal punishment
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.340 (PG 78 78:377; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-340). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-340
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.341PG 78 78:377
ΕΥΣΕΒΙΟ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΩ. Εἰς τὸ, · Ἔστωσαν ὑμῶν αἱ ὀσφύες περιεζωσμέναι.» ᾿Ασφαλῶς τὰ εὐαγγελικὰ παράδεξαι δόγματα, ῎Εστωσαν ὑμῶν αἱ ὀσφύες περιεζωσμέναι, κελεύοντα, καὶ οἱ λύχνοι καιόμενοι (ἅπερ τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν τὰς ὀρέξεις δεδέσθαι, καὶ τοὺς νόας ἐξῆφθαι πρὸς ἐγρήγορσιν βούλονται), ἐπιθυμῶν, καὶ μηνιῶν, καὶ ζηλῶν, καὶ ἀτόπως ἐρῶν, καὶ πάντα μᾶλλον ποιῶν, ὅπως τὴν σαυτοῦ ἀναστροφὴν ἀντίστροφον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀποτελέσειας νόμου. Καὶ πρόσεχε, πάντολμε, μὴ τῆς ὑψηλῆς χειρὸς πειραθῇς πρὸ τῆς ἐκεῖθεν κολάσεως, κἀνταῦθα κἀκεῖ δι᾽ ὑπερβολὴν – κακίας τιμωρούμενος,
EUSEBIO EPISKOPŌ. Eis to, ; Estōsan hymōn hai osphyes periezōsmenai.» ᾿Asphalōs ta euangelika paradexai dogmata, ᾿Estōsan hymōn hai osphyes periezōsmenai, keleuonta, kai hoi lychnoi kaiomenoi (haper tōn epithymiōn tas orexeis dedesthai, kai tous noas exēphthai pros egrēgorsin boulontai), epithymōn, kai mēniōn, kai zēlōn, kai atopōs erōn, kai panta mallon poiōn, hopōs tēn sautou anastrophēn antistrophon tou Theou apoteleseias nomou. Kai proseche, pantolme, mē tēs hypsēlēs cheiros peirathę̄s pro tēs ekeithen kolaseōs, kantautha kakei di᾽ hyperbolēn – kakias timōroumenos,
To Eusebius the bishop. [On "Let your loins be girded."] Receive securely the gospel doctrines that command, "Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning" (which mean that the cravings of the desires should be bound and the minds kindled for watchfulness), you who desire, and rage, and envy, and love improperly, and do everything rather so as to make your way of life the reverse of God's law. And beware, you who dare everything, lest you experience the high hand before the punishment there, punished both here and there for your excess of wickedness.
Luke 12:35 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 6:6 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The bishop Eusebius, who indulges every passion, is reminded of the command to gird the loins and keep the lamps burning.
- Luke 12:35; Exod 6:1, 6 ("high arm").
Topics: Church office, Self-control in food and drink
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.341 (PG 78 78:377; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-341). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-341
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.342PG 78 78:377
ΣΕΛΕΥΚΩ. Περὶ ταπεινοφροσύνης. Ταπεινοφρόνει μᾶλλον, καὶ μὴ ταπεινολόγει, ἵνα μὴ ἐγγύθεν ἔχῃς τῶν ῥημάτων κατηγορίαν τὰ πράγματα, μᾶλλον δὲ τὰ πράγματα διὰ τῶν ῥημάτων δεικνύῃς, ἔργα τοὺς λόγους ἔχων, ἀλλὰ μὴ τοῖς ἔργοις ἀνατρέπων τοὺς λόγους.
SELEUKŌ. Peri tapeinophrosynēs. Tapeinophronei mallon, kai mē tapeinologei, hina mē engythen echę̄s tōn rhēmatōn katēgorian ta pragmata, mallon de ta pragmata dia tōn rhēmatōn deiknyę̄s, erga tous logous echōn, alla mē tois ergois anatrepōn tous logous.
To Seleucus. [On humility.] Be humble-minded rather than humble-spoken, so that your deeds may not be close at hand to accuse your words, but rather that you may show your deeds through your words, having words as works, and not overturning your words by your works.
Notes and citation
Summary: True humility is of mind and deed, not merely of speech.
Topics: Humility and pride
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.342 (PG 78 78:377; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-342). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-342
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.343PG 78 78:379
ΣΙΛΟΥΑΝΩ. Περὶ τῆς θείας ἀγαθότητος. Λανθάνει σε μᾶλλον ἐθέλοντα (οὐ γὰρ τἀληθὲς ἀγνοοῦντα), ἡ τοῦ θείου δόγματος δύναμις. Ὅτι γὰρ καὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων δημιουργὸς ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ Προφήτης φησὶν ἐν θεολογίᾳ λέγων περὶ Θεοῦ, «Αἱ χεῖρες ἔκτισαν πᾶσαν τὴν στρατιὰν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. » "Ὅτι δὲ καὶ ὑδάτων καὶ νεφῶν, Δαβὶδ ἐν ὕμνοις βοᾷ· Καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ὑπεράνω τῶν οὐρανῶν, αἰνείτω τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου. Ὅτι αὐτὸς εἶπε, καὶ ἐγένετο. Αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Θεὸς διὰ λαίλαπος τῷ Ἰὼβ, « Ἐγὼ ἐθέμην νέφος τῇ θαλάσσῃ ἀμφίασιν. » "Ὅτι δὲ καὶ ἀγαθὸς ὁ Ποιητής, ὁ Κύριός φησιν· « ᾿Ανατέλλει τὸν ἥλιον ἐπὶ πονηρούς καὶ ἀγαθοὺς, καὶ βρέχει ἐπὶ δικαίους καὶ ἀδίκους. • "Ὅπερ μεγίστης ἐστὶν ἔνδειξις ἀγαθότητος.
SILOUANŌ. Peri tēs theias agathotētos. Lanthanei se mallon ethelonta (ou gar talēthes agnoounta), hē tou theiou dogmatos dynamis. Hoti gar kai tōn angelōn dēmiourgos ho Theos, ho Prophētēs phēsin en theologią legōn peri Theou, «Hai cheires ektisan pasan tēn stratian tou ouranou. » "Hoti de kai hydatōn kai nephōn, Dabid en hymnois boą; Kai to hydōr to hyperanō tōn ouranōn, aineitō to onoma Kyriou. Hoti autos eipe, kai egeneto. Autos de ho Theos dia lailapos tǭ Iōb, « Egō ethemēn nephos tę̄ thalassę̄ amphiasin. » "Hoti de kai agathos ho Poiētēs, ho Kyrios phēsin; « ᾿Anatellei ton hēlion epi ponērous kai agathous, kai brechei epi dikaious kai adikous. • "Hoper megistēs estin endeixis agathotētos.
To Silvanus. [On the divine goodness.] The force of the divine doctrine escapes you because you wish it to (for you are not ignorant of the truth). That God is creator of the angels too the Prophet says when speaking of God: "My hands created all the host of heaven." That he is creator of the waters and clouds too, David cries in his hymns: "And let the water above the heavens praise the name of the Lord; for he spoke, and they came to be." And God himself said to Job through the whirlwind: "I set a cloud as the sea's garment." That the Maker is also good, the Lord says: "He makes the sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust"; which is the greatest proof of goodness.
Isa 45:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 148:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 148:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Job 38:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:45 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Scripture shows that God made the angels, waters and clouds, and his goodness appears in his care for both good and evil.
- Isa 45:12; Ps 148:4–5; Job 38:9; Matt 5:45.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; words joined by OCR): θεολογίᾳλέγων → θεολογίᾳ λέγων; «Οἷαἱ χεῖρες → «Αἱ χεῖρες.
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.343 (PG 78 78:379; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-343). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-343
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.344PG 78 78:379
ΤΩ ΑΥΤΩ. Τὴν τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων διόρθωσιν, ἣν ποιεῖται ὁ Θεὸς εἰς ἡμετέραν βελτίωσιν, οὐδ᾽ ὀργὴν κλητέον, οὐδ᾽ ἀγανάκτησιν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον νουθέτησιν. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ὀργὴν τινες αὐτὴν οἴονται, καὶ ταύτῃ τὸ φιλάνθρωπον [αὐτοῦ] διαγγέλλουσιν, εἰς πάθη Θεὸν καταβαίνειν δι᾿ ἀνθρώπους νομίζοντες, δι' οὓς καὶ γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος.
TŌ AUTŌ. Tēn tōn hamartēmatōn diorthōsin, hēn poieitai ho Theos eis hēmeteran beltiōsin, oud᾽ orgēn klēteon, oud᾽ aganaktēsin, alla mallon nouthetēsin. Ei de kai orgēn tines autēn oiontai, kai tautę̄ to philanthrōpon [autou] diangellousin, eis pathē Theon katabainein di᾿ anthrōpous nomizontes, di' hous kai gegonen anthrōpos.
To the same. The correction of sins that God makes for our improvement should be called neither anger nor indignation, but rather admonition. And if some think it anger, they proclaim [his] love for mankind by this too, thinking that God comes down into passions for the sake of men, for whose sake he also became man.
Notes and citation
Summary: God's chastisement is admonition rather than anger; speaking of his anger expresses his condescension to us.
Topics: God, Providence
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.344 (PG 78 78:379; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-344). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-344
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.345PG 78 78:379
ΕΥΣΤΑΘΙΩ. Περὶ γαστριμαργίας. Πολλὴ κἀμοί ἐστι, βέλτιστε, κολακείας εὐχέρεια δυναμένῳ μακαρίζειν ἀπατηλῶς, καὶ τὴν τρίβον τῶν ποδῶν σου ταράσσειν εὐμαρῶς, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ὑπτιοῦν σε καὶ ἀνακλίνειν πρὸς ῥαθυμίαν, ἑστάναι ὀφείλοντα συντόνως, καὶ τὸν Θεὸν περὶ ἐλέους καὶ οἰκτιρμῶν ἱκετεύειν. ᾿Αλλ' οὐκ ἐᾷ με ὁ ἐν Δαβίδ λαλήσας Θεὸς, τὸν τιθέντα μετὰ μοιχῶν τὴν μερίδα ἐλέγχειν ὡς ἁμαρτόντα ἐπαγγειλάμενος. Εἰ τοίνυν τὰς ψευδεῖς κολακείας ἀγαπᾶς, ἀνέχου τῶν ἀπατώντων σε. Εἰ δὲ πρὸς Θεὸν ἀπελθεῖν προσδοκᾷς. ἐμοὶ πείσθητι παραινοῦντί σοι, καὶ σβέσον τὴν γαστρίμαργον λύτταν, μαραίνων τῶν ἡδονῶν τὰς ἐκκαύσεις, ὧν αἱ ὑπερβολαὶ πρὸς τὰς ἐκεῖθεν παραπέμπουσι φλόγας.
EUSTAThIŌ. Peri gastrimargias. Pollē kamoi esti, beltiste, kolakeias euchereia dynamenǭ makarizein apatēlōs, kai tēn tribon tōn podōn sou tarassein eumarōs, hoper estin hyptioun se kai anaklinein pros rhathymian, hestanai opheilonta syntonōs, kai ton Theon peri eleous kai oiktirmōn hiketeuein. ᾿All' ouk eą me ho en Dabid lalēsas Theos, ton tithenta meta moichōn tēn merida elenchein hōs hamartonta epangeilamenos. Ei toinyn tas pseudeis kolakeias agapas, anechou tōn apatōntōn se. Ei de pros Theon apelthein prosdokąs. emoi peisthēti parainounti soi, kai sbeson tēn gastrimargon lyttan, marainōn tōn hēdonōn tas ekkauseis, hōn hai hyperbolai pros tas ekeithen parapempousi phlogas.
To Eustathius. [On gluttony.] I too, my good man, have plenty of facility in flattery, able to call you blessed deceitfully and easily confuse the path of your feet; that is, to lay you on your back and recline you toward slackness, when you ought to stand firm and beseech God for mercy and compassion. But God, who spoke in David, does not allow me, since he promised to convict as a sinner the one who sets his portion with adulterers. If, then, you love false flatteries, bear with those who deceive you. But if you expect to go to God, obey me when I advise you, and quench your gluttonous frenzy, withering the burnings of pleasures, whose excesses send one on to the flames there.
Isa 3:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 50:18 (49:18 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 50:21 (49:21 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Isidore refuses to flatter a glutton and urges him to quench his appetite before it leads to the fire.
- Isa 3:12; Ps 50:18, 21 (49:18, 21 LXX).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip (missing breathing)): καμοί → κἀμοί.
Topics: Self-control in food and drink
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.345 (PG 78 78:379; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-345). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-345
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-isidore-pelusium-epistulae-1-345) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.346PG 78 78:379
ΚΕΛΣΩ. Περὶ τῆς τοῦ Παύλου πηρώσεως· καὶ διὰ τί αὐτῷ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ὁ Θεὸς διαλέγεται. Ὥσπερ τὰ ἔρια πρὸς παραδοχὴν βαφῆς ἁλουργοῦ, [αὐστηρῶς] μάλα προστύφεται διὰ τὴν τοῦ ἐσθήματος τιμιότητα · οὕτως ὁ μεγαλόφρων Παῦλος τῆς Ἰουδαϊκῆς ἀποτμηθεὶς ἀλογίας, τριημέρῳ προεστύφθη πηρώσει, ἀλουργὶς Θεοῦ [καὶ] γενόμενος, καὶ πάντας ἀνθρώπους γενέσθαι προτρεπόμενος. ΜΑΡΤΙΝΙΑΝΩ ΚΑΙ ΖΩΣΙΜΟ. Περὶ ἀναλγησίας. Εἰ μήτε τῆς θείας παιδείας εἰς νουθέτησιν ὑμῖν γινομένης αἰσθάνεσθε, μήτε τὰς ἡμετέρας ὑπομνήσεις εἰς μετάγνωσιν δέχεσθε, Χάρυβδίς τίς ἐστε, ἄδῃ καὶ ἀπωλείᾳ ἐοικυῖα, πάντα τὰ διδόμενα εἰς ἀφανισμὸν καταπίνουσα, ἧς ὁ πάντων δυνάστης Χριστὸς ἐμφράξει τὸ στόμα, ἵνα φυλάξητε τὰς θείας ἐντολὰς, καὶ κἂν ὀψέ ποτε παλινῳδίαν ἄσητε.
KELSŌ. Peri tēs tou Paulou pērōseōs; kai dia ti autǭ ex ouranou ho Theos dialegetai. Hōsper ta eria pros paradochēn baphēs halourgou, [austērōs] mala prostyphetai dia tēn tou esthēmatos timiotēta ; houtōs ho megalophrōn Paulos tēs Ioudaïkēs apotmētheis alogias, triēmerǭ proestyphthē pērōsei, alourgis Theou [kai] genomenos, kai pantas anthrōpous genesthai protrepomenos. MARTINIANŌ KAI ZŌSIMO. Peri analgēsias. Ei mēte tēs theias paideias eis nouthetēsin hymin ginomenēs aisthanesthe, mēte tas hēmeteras hypomnēseis eis metagnōsin dechesthe, Charybdis tis este, adę̄ kai apōleią eoikuia, panta ta didomena eis aphanismon katapinousa, hēs ho pantōn dynastēs Christos emphraxei to stoma, hina phylaxēte tas theias entolas, kai kan opse pote palinǭdian asēte.
To Celsus. [On Paul's blinding, and why God speaks to him from heaven.] As wool is first treated [harshly] with a mordant to receive the purple dye, because of the value of the garment, so the great-minded Paul, cut away from Jewish unreason, was first treated with a three-day blindness, becoming God's purple [and] urging all men to become so. [Letter 1.347] To Martinianus and Zosimus. [On insensibility.] If you neither feel the divine discipline that comes to you for admonition, nor accept our reminders for repentance, you are a kind of Charybdis, like Hades and destruction, swallowing everything given into oblivion; whose mouth Christ, the ruler of all, will stop, so that you may keep the divine commandments and, even late, sing a recantation.
Acts 9:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Prov 27:20 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul's three days of blindness prepared him like a mordant for the purple; a second letter warns two clerics unmoved by correction.
- Acts 9:9.
- Letter 1.347 begins at "To Martinianus and Zosimus"; its heading is printed in Latin look-alike letters in the scan, corrected.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Latin look-alike letters in the heading): - MAPTINIAΝΩ → ΜΑΡΤΙΝΙΑΝΩ.
Topics: Interpreting Scripture, Repentance
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.346 (PG 78 78:379; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-346). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-346
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.348PG 78 78:381
ΣΙΛΟΥΑΝΩ. ῞Οτι τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἑαυτῶν περιέβαλε κακόν [περιέβαλον κακοῖς]. Τοῦτο καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι πάλαι πεποιήκεισαν περὶ θυσίας δαψιλῶς διακείμενοι, καὶ τοὺς τοῦ νόμου διδασκάλους καὶ ποιητὰς καταλεύοντες· ὅπερ καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐκείνους ζηλοῦντες πεπράχατε, ἀναθήμασι μὲν κοσμοῦντες τὸν θεῖον νεὼν, τὸν δὲ ποιμένα τούτου περιβάλλοντες κακοῖς. Οὐκ ἐξ ἀγάπης ἄρα πρὸς Θεὸν γέγονεν ὑμῶν ἡ τῶν δώρων προσφορά, ἀλλὰ ἐκ δόξης κενῆς, ἐντεῦθεν ἐχούσης ἀποχὴν τοῦ μισθοῦ αὐτῆς.
SILOUANŌ. ῾Oti ton episkopon heautōn periebale kakon [periebalon kakois]. Touto kai Ioudaioi palai pepoiēkeisan peri thysias dapsilōs diakeimenoi, kai tous tou nomou didaskalous kai poiētas kataleuontes; hoper kai hymeis ekeinous zēlountes peprachate, anathēmasi men kosmountes ton theion neōn, ton de poimena toutou periballontes kakois. Ouk ex agapēs ara pros Theon gegonen hymōn hē tōn dōrōn prosphora, alla ek doxēs kenēs, enteuthen echousēs apochēn tou misthou autēs.
To Silvanus. [That they surrounded their own bishop with evils.] The Jews too did this long ago, being generous about sacrifice while stoning the teachers and doers of the law; which you too have done in emulation of them, adorning the divine temple with offerings while surrounding its shepherd with evils. So your offering of gifts came not from love toward God but from empty glory, which has its wage paid from this.
Matt 23:37 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 6:2 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who adorn the church with gifts while persecuting its bishop act from vainglory, like those who honored the temple and stoned the prophets.
- Matt 23:29–37; Matt 6:2.
Topics: Church office, Almsgiving and care for the poor
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.348 (PG 78 78:381; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-348). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-348
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.349PG 78 78:381
ΤΩ ΑΥΤΩ. Περὶ τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου. Εἰ ἀληθῶς βούλει Θεῷ δωροφορεῖν, τὸν μεσίτην τῶν δώρων μὴ ἀτίμαζε, οὗ ταῖς χερσὶ διακόνοις χρῆσθαι Θεὸς φιλανθρώπως ἠξίωσεν. Ἱερεὺς γὰρ, εἰ καὶ βίῳ τινὶ ῥᾳθύμῳ, ὡς φατε, κεκηλίδωται, αὐτὸς μὲν ὑφέξει εὐθύνας, ἄγγελος δὲ Κυρίου παντοκράτορός ἐστι, τῇ τε θείας τελετῆς μυσταγωγίᾳ, τῇ πρὸς σωτηρίαν πολλῶν διακονία.
TŌ AUTŌ. Peri tou presbyterou. Ei alēthōs boulei Theǭ dōrophorein, ton mesitēn tōn dōrōn mē atimaze, hou tais chersi diakonois chrēsthai Theos philanthrōpōs ēxiōsen. Hiereus gar, ei kai biǭ tini rhąthymǭ, hōs phate, kekēlidōtai, autos men hyphexei euthynas, angelos de Kyriou pantokratoros esti, tę̄ te theias teletēs mystagōgią, tę̄ pros sōtērian pollōn diakonia.
To the same. [On the presbyter.] If you truly wish to bring gifts to God, do not dishonor the intermediary of the gifts, whose hands God in his love for mankind has deigned to use as ministers. For the priest, even if he is stained by a careless life, as you say, will himself give account; but he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty, in the initiation of the divine rite, in the ministry for the salvation of many.
Mal 2:7 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Even a negligent priest is God's minister in the sacraments; givers should not dishonor him, for he will answer for himself.
- Mal 2:7.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray letter from the OCR; stray letters from the OCR): μεσίτην α τῶν → μεσίτην τῶν; διακόνοις κει χρῆσθαι → διακόνοις χρῆσθαι.
Topics: Church office, Sacraments
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.349 (PG 78 78:381; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-349). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-349
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.350PG 78 78:381
ΛΑΜΠΕΤΙΩ. Εἰ μὴ ἀνέγνως τῶν ἀχυρμιῶν τὸν σἴτον διακρινόμενον, καὶ τὰ μὲν πυρὶ, τὰ δὲ ἀποθήκῃ τηρούμενα, οὐδ᾽ οὕτως εἶχες ἀπολογίαν τὴν ἄγνοιαν, πάντων τῶν καλλίστων ἐχούσης γνῶσιν τῆς φύσεως. "Α γὰρ παθεῖν οὐ βουλόμεθα, ταῦτα καὶ μὴ ποιεῖν διδασκόμεθα Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἔνδον ἑαυτῶν τῶν χρηστῶν τὴν εἴδησιν ἔχομεν, καὶ τῷ θείῳ νόμῳ ταύτην σαφῶς παιδευόμεθα, τί ταῖς ἡδυπαθέσι ῥιπίζῃ πνοαῖς, ἀχύρων δίκην πρὸς αὐτὰς ἐκριπτούμενος; Ὅρα τοίνυν ὅτι πῦρ ἔχει τελευτὴν τὸ ἀβέβαιον, ἢ καθαῖρον, ἢ εἰς τέλος ἐκκαῖον. Περὶ Καππαδοκῶν. Τι σοὶ καὶ τῷ γένει τῷ θηροτρόπῳ; Τί σοὶ καὶ τῷ ἔθνει τῷ, ἀλλοφύλῳ; Τί τοῖς δυσμενέσι συμφύρῃ; Τί τοῖς Καππαδόκαις συγκόπτη; Τί τοὺς Γιγαντείους συγγίγαντας καθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ ἐξοπλίζεις; Τι τοὺς οἰνοδυνάστας ἐρεθίζεις; Τί τοὺς λελυττηκότας κύνας ἀγριαίνεις, ὧν τὰ δήγματα θάνατος; Τί τὰς λοιδόρους γλώττας παραθήγεις; Τί τὰς ἑαυτοῦ χραίνεις ὑπολήψεις ἐκείνοις συγκρινόμενος, οἷς καὶ ἀνδραπόδοις τις χρήσασθαι νουνεχὴς οὐκ ἂν ἕληται; ᾿Ανάξια μὲν, ὡς ἔφης, τῶν πάλαι ἁγίων Πατέρων τὰ ἤθη τῶν νῦν ἀδομένων πανταχοῦ Καππαδοκῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἐκ τούτων ἐκείνους γεγενῆσθαι νομίζεις. ᾿Αλλ' ἐγὼ Καππαδόκας τοὺς ἁγίους ἐκείνους σύμφημι γεγενῆσθαι. Καὶ τοῦτο μάλιστα γνώρισμα τῆς τούτων τυγχάνει κακοφροσύνης. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ [ἐκ τούτων] ἐκεῖνοι ἐξέλαμψαν, εἶχεν ἀπολογίαν τὸ κακόσχολον ἔθνος τὴν γενικὴν πονηρίαν, ὡς ἔμφυτον, καὶ αἴτιον ἄν τις κακίας τὸν Δημιουργὸν ἐποιήσατο. ᾿Αλλ' [ἐν] ἐκείνοις τοῖς θεοφόροις ἀνδράσι λαμψάσης τῆς φύσεως, ἐν τούτοις τρανῶς τὰ τῆς γνώμης γνωρίζεται.
LAMPETIŌ. Ei mē anegnōs tōn achyrmiōn ton siton diakrinomenon, kai ta men pyri, ta de apothēkę̄ tēroumena, oud᾽ houtōs eiches apologian tēn agnoian, pantōn tōn kallistōn echousēs gnōsin tēs physeōs. "A gar pathein ou boulometha, tauta kai mē poiein didaskometha Ei de kai endon heautōn tōn chrēstōn tēn eidēsin echomen, kai tǭ theiǭ nomǭ tautēn saphōs paideuometha, ti tais hēdypathesi rhipizę̄ pnoais, achyrōn dikēn pros autas ekriptoumenos? Hora toinyn hoti pyr echei teleutēn to abebaion, ē kathairon, ē eis telos ekkaion. Peri Kappadokōn. Ti soi kai tǭ genei tǭ thērotropǭ? Ti soi kai tǭ ethnei tǭ, allophylǭ? Ti tois dysmenesi symphyrę̄? Ti tois Kappadokais synkoptē? Ti tous Giganteious syngigantas kath᾽ heautou exoplizeis? Ti tous oinodynastas erethizeis? Ti tous lelyttēkotas kynas agriaineis, hōn ta dēgmata thanatos? Ti tas loidorous glōttas parathēgeis? Ti tas heautou chraineis hypolēpseis ekeinois synkrinomenos, hois kai andrapodois tis chrēsasthai nounechēs ouk an helētai? ᾿Anaxia men, hōs ephēs, tōn palai hagiōn Paterōn ta ēthē tōn nyn adomenōn pantachou Kappadokōn, kai ouk ek toutōn ekeinous gegenēsthai nomizeis. ᾿All' egō Kappadokas tous hagious ekeinous symphēmi gegenēsthai. Kai touto malista gnōrisma tēs toutōn tynchanei kakophrosynēs. Ei gar mē [ek toutōn] ekeinoi exelampsan, eichen apologian to kakoscholon ethnos tēn genikēn ponērian, hōs emphyton, kai aition an tis kakias ton Dēmiourgon epoiēsato. ᾿All' [en] ekeinois tois theophorois andrasi lampsasēs tēs physeōs, en toutois tranōs ta tēs gnōmēs gnōrizetai.
To Lampetius. Even if you had not read of the wheat being separated from the chaff, the one kept for the fire and the other for the granary, you would not even so have had ignorance as an excuse, since nature has knowledge of all the best things. For what we do not wish to suffer, we are taught also not to do. If, then, we have the knowledge of good things within ourselves and are clearly instructed in it by the divine law, why are you blown about by the breezes of luxury, tossed toward them like chaff? See, then, that the unstable has fire as its end, either purifying or burning to the end. [Letter 1.351] [On the Cappadocians.] What have you to do with the race of beastly manners? What have you to do with that foreign nation? Why do you mix with the hostile? Why do you knock about with the Cappadocians? Why do you arm the giants of Gigantius against yourself? Why do you provoke the lords of wine? Why do you enrage the mad dogs, whose bites are death? Why do you whet abusive tongues? Why do you stain your own reputation by being compared with those whom no sensible man would choose to use even as slaves? [Letter 1.352] The characters of the Cappadocians who are now sung of everywhere are unworthy, as you said, of the holy fathers of old, and you think those men did not come from these. But I affirm that those saints were Cappadocians. And this is above all the mark of these men's malice. For if those had not shone out [from them], the ill-natured nation would have had racial wickedness as an excuse, as innate, and one might have made the Creator the cause of wickedness. But since nature shone in those God-bearing men, in these the work of the will is plainly recognized.
Matt 3:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 1:4 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Natural knowledge of good leaves no excuse for luxury; two further letters, in a polemic against certain Cappadocians, argue that the great Cappadocian fathers prove the vices of the others are chosen, not natural.
- Matt 3:12; Tob 4:15 ("what you hate, do not do to anyone").
- The staging places Letters 1.351 and 1.352 within this passage, since their headings were not recovered; the breaks marked here are judged from the content. The ethnic invective (cf. 1.158, 1.281) is the letters' own; translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split by OCR): διακρινό μενον → διακρινόμενον; συμ φύρη → συμφύρῃ.
Extrabiblical texts: Tob 4:15 (Tobit [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Topics: Ethics, Free will, Self-control in food and drink
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.350 (PG 78 78:381; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-350). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-350
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.353PG 78 78:383
ΣΥΜΦΟΡΩ. Εἰς τὸ γεγραμμένον, « Οὐ δύναται ὁ Υἱὸς ποιεῖν ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ οὐδέν. › Τὸ, « Οὐ δύναται ὁ Υἱὸς ποιεῖν ἀφ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ οὐδὲν, ἐὰν μὴ τι βλέπῃ τὸν Πατέρα ποιοῦντα, · οὐκ ἀσθενείας σημεῖον, ἀλλὰ τοῦ μὴ ἐνδέχεσθαι, ἄλλην Πατρὸς καὶ ἑτέραν Υἱοῦ εἶναι τὴν βούλησιν. Εἰ δὲ ἃ ποιεῖ ὁ Πατήρ ὁρᾷ ὁ Υἱὸς, ποιεῖ δὲ ὁ Πατὴρ βουλευόμενος· βλέπει ἄρα ὁ Υἱὸς καὶ αὐτὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς [τὰ] βουλεύματα· ἐπειδὴ ποίησις Θεοῦ, αὐτή ἐστιν ἡ βούλησις. Εἰ δὲ βλέπει βουλευόμενον, καὶ κοινωνεῖ τῆς βουλήσεως, δηλονότι καὶ φύσεως· μία ἄρα οὐσία Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ, ὥσπερ θέλησις.
SYMPhORŌ. Eis to gegrammenon, « Ou dynatai ho Huios poiein aph' heautou ouden. › To, « Ou dynatai ho Huios poiein aph᾿ heautou ouden, ean mē ti blepę̄ ton Patera poiounta, ; ouk astheneias sēmeion, alla tou mē endechesthai, allēn Patros kai heteran Huiou einai tēn boulēsin. Ei de ha poiei ho Patēr horą ho Huios, poiei de ho Patēr bouleuomenos; blepei ara ho Huios kai auta tou Patros [ta] bouleumata; epeidē poiēsis Theou, autē estin hē boulēsis. Ei de blepei bouleuomenon, kai koinōnei tēs boulēseōs, dēlonoti kai physeōs; mia ara ousia Patros kai Huiou, hōsper thelēsis.
To Symphorus. [On what is written, "The Son can do nothing of himself."] "The Son can do nothing of himself, unless he sees the Father doing it" is not a sign of weakness, but of the impossibility that the will of the Father should be one thing and that of the Son another. If the Son sees what the Father does, and the Father acts by willing, then the Son sees the very counsels of the Father; since God's doing is his will itself. And if he sees him willing and shares his will, he clearly shares his nature too. So the essence of Father and Son is one, as is their will.
John 5:19 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: "The Son can do nothing of himself" shows not weakness but the identity of will, and so of essence, between Father and Son.
- John 5:19.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (heading repeated by OCR; stray bracket from the OCR): ΣΥΜΦΟΡΩ. Εἰς → Εἰς; ἀσθενείας ( σημεῖον → ἀσθενείας σημεῖον.
Topics: Trinity, Christology
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.353 (PG 78 78:383; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-353). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-353
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-isidore-pelusium-epistulae-1-353) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.354PG 78 78:383
ΣΕΡΗΝΩ. Περὶ τοῦ μάγου ὃν ὁ Παῦλος τῇ οἰκείᾳ ἀποφάσει ἐτύφλωσε. Οὐκ ἔστιν ἐναντίον τῷ θείῳ νόμῳ, ἐμφρονέστατε, τῷ ἀγαπᾶν τοὺς ἐχθροὺς παραγγέλλοντι, τὸ παρὰ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου εἰς τὸν μάγον γενόμενον. ᾿Αλλ' ἐπειδὴ τὰς ὁδοὺς διέστρεφε τοῦ κηρύγματος, καὶ τὸν ἀνθύπατον ἀφίστα τῆς πίστεως, δι' οὗ ἅπαν τὸ ἔθνος χειρωθῆναι ἦν πρὸς σωτηρίαν ῥάδιον· ἐκ τῆς καθ᾿ ἑαυτὸν οἰκονομίας σωφρονίζει ὁ Παῦλος τὸν βλάσφημον, τύφλωσιν ἐπαγαγὼν πρὸς νουθεσίαν, τὴν καὶ αὐτὸν χειραγωγήσασαν πρὸς μαθητείαν. Ἐδιδάχθη γὰρ ἐκείνῳ θεραπεύειν τῷ φαρμάκῳ τὴν ἀπιστίαν, ᾧπερ αὐτὸς ἰάθη, τὴν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου ἀντιλογίαν. Τὸ δὲ, ἄχρι καιροῦ, ὅριον τῇ γνώμῃ διδοὺς ἐν ἑαυτῇ ἔχειν τοῦ φωτὸς τὴν ἀπόληψιν, τὸν τρόπον μεταβάλλουσαν πρὸς τὸ βέλτιον. Τί αἰνίττεται τὸ, « "Αγνισον αὐτοὺς σήμερον καὶ αὔριον, καὶ πλυνάτωσαν τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτῶν, καὶ ἔστωσαν ἕτοιμοι εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν. • Πλυνάτωσαν τὰ ἱμάτια σήμερον καὶ αὔριον, καὶ ἔστωσαν ἕτοιμοι εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν τρίτην, » λέγει ἡ Γραφή, τοῦτο δηλοῦσα· Οἱ ἐν ταῖς δύο Διαθήκαις καὶ ταῖς αὐτῶν διανοίαις τὴν καθαρότητα τῆς πολιτείας κτησάμενοι, καὶ τῆς πίστεως τὴν ἁγνείαν εὑράμενοι, εἰς τὴν τριήμερον τοῦ Κυρίου χειραγωγοῦνται ἀνάστασιν· ἢ καὶ βασιλεία οὐρανῶν ὀνομάζεται. Σήμερον γὰρ, τὴν τοῦ νόμου λέγει κατάστασιν· αὔριον δὲ, τὴν εὐαγγελικὴν σημαίνει ἀλήθειαν, ὡς ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου μηνυθεῖσαν, καὶ μετ' ἐκεῖνον φανεῖσαν. ΣΕΛΕΥΚΩ. Περὶ τῆς ἀρνήσεως Πέτρου. Τρὶς τὸν Κύριον ἀρνησάμενος τῶν ἀποστόλων ὁ ἔξαρχος, τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων πάντων ἁμαρτίαν ὑπἐδειξε, τρὶς ἀθετησάντων τὸν Κτίσαντα, ἐν τῇ δόσει τῆς πρώτης ἐντολῆς, ἐν τῇ θέσει τοῦ νόμου τοῦ γραπτοῦ, ἐν τῇ σαρκώσει τοῦ Λόγου καὶ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν· ἣν τριπλῇ πάλιν μεταγνώσει ἰάσατο, ἀνάλογον τῷ τραύματι πορισάμενος καὶ τὸ φάρμακον, καὶ δείξας ὡς πάντων τῶν κακῶν θεραπεία, ἡ τοῦ Κυρίου γέγονε παρουσία.
SERĒNŌ. Peri tou magou hon ho Paulos tę̄ oikeią apophasei etyphlōse. Ouk estin enantion tǭ theiǭ nomǭ, emphronestate, tǭ agapan tous echthrous parangellonti, to para tou Apostolou eis ton magon genomenon. ᾿All' epeidē tas hodous diestrephe tou kērygmatos, kai ton anthypaton aphista tēs pisteōs, di' hou hapan to ethnos cheirōthēnai ēn pros sōtērian rhadion; ek tēs kath᾿ heauton oikonomias sōphronizei ho Paulos ton blasphēmon, typhlōsin epagagōn pros nouthesian, tēn kai auton cheiragōgēsasan pros mathēteian. Edidachthē gar ekeinǭ therapeuein tǭ pharmakǭ tēn apistian, hǭper autos iathē, tēn ek tou nomou antilogian. To de, achri kairou, horion tę̄ gnōmę̄ didous en heautę̄ echein tou phōtos tēn apolēpsin, ton tropon metaballousan pros to beltion. Ti ainittetai to, « "Agnison autous sēmeron kai aurion, kai plynatōsan ta himatia autōn, kai estōsan hetoimoi eis tēn hēmeran. • Plynatōsan ta himatia sēmeron kai aurion, kai estōsan hetoimoi eis tēn hēmeran tēn tritēn, » legei hē Graphē, touto dēlousa; Hoi en tais dyo Diathēkais kai tais autōn dianoiais tēn katharotēta tēs politeias ktēsamenoi, kai tēs pisteōs tēn hagneian heuramenoi, eis tēn triēmeron tou Kyriou cheiragōgountai anastasin; ē kai basileia ouranōn onomazetai. Sēmeron gar, tēn tou nomou legei katastasin; aurion de, tēn euangelikēn sēmainei alētheian, hōs hypo tou nomou mēnytheisan, kai met' ekeinon phaneisan. SELEUKŌ. Peri tēs arnēseōs Petrou. Tris ton Kyrion arnēsamenos tōn apostolōn ho exarchos, tēn tōn anthrōpōn pantōn hamartian hypedeixe, tris athetēsantōn ton Ktisanta, en tę̄ dosei tēs prōtēs entolēs, en tę̄ thesei tou nomou tou graptou, en tę̄ sarkōsei tou Logou kai Theou hēmōn; hēn triplę̄ palin metagnōsei iasato, analogon tǭ traumati porisamenos kai to pharmakon, kai deixas hōs pantōn tōn kakōn therapeia, hē tou Kyriou gegone parousia.
To Serenus. [On the magician whom Paul blinded by his sentence.] What the Apostle did to the magician is not contrary to the divine law that commands us to love our enemies, most sensible man. Rather, since he was perverting the ways of the preaching and turning the proconsul away from the faith, through whom the whole province could easily have been won over to salvation, Paul chastened the blasphemer by the dispensation he had himself experienced, bringing blindness on him for admonition, the blindness which had led him too by the hand to discipleship. For he had been taught by that one to heal unbelief with the medicine by which he himself was healed of his contradiction from the law. And "for a time" sets a limit to his mind, so that he might recover the light within himself if he changed his ways for the better. [Letter 1.355] [What is hinted at by "Purify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, and let them be ready for the day"?] "Let them wash their clothes today and tomorrow, and let them be ready for the third day," says Scripture, showing this: those who in the two Testaments and their meanings have gained purity of life and found purity of faith are led by the hand to the Lord's third-day resurrection, which is also called the kingdom of heaven. For "today" means the order of the law; "tomorrow" signifies the gospel truth, as announced by the law and appearing after it. [Letter 1.356] To Seleucus. [On Peter's denial.] The chief of the apostles, by denying the Lord three times, pointed to the sin of all men, who rejected the Creator three times: at the giving of the first commandment, at the laying down of the written law, and at the incarnation of the Word and our God; which he healed again by a threefold repentance, providing the remedy in proportion to the wound, and showing that the Lord's coming has become the cure of all evils.
Acts 13:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 5:44 (allusion, medium confidence) · Acts 9:8 (allusion, medium confidence) · Exod 19:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 19:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 26:75 (allusion, high confidence) · John 21:17 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul's blinding of Elymas was a healing discipline modeled on his own conversion; a second letter reads the two days of washing at Sinai as the two Testaments leading to the resurrection; a third makes Peter's three denials a figure of humanity's three rejections of God.
- Acts 13:6–12.
- The staging places Letters 1.355 and 1.356 within this passage; the scan prints the numeral of 1.356 in Latin look-alike letters (ΤΝϚʹ), removed; the heading of 1.355 was not recovered. Exod 19:10–11; Matt 26:69–75; John 21:15–17.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter numeral from the heading (Latin look-alike letters); stray character from the OCR; word split by OCR): ἀνθ ὑπατον → ἀνθύπατον; & ᾧπερ → ᾧπερ; TNG΄. – → .
Topics: Church discipline and penance, Interpreting Scripture, Resurrection and ascension of Christ, Repentance
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.354 (PG 78 78:383; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-354). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-354
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.357PG 78 78:385
ΤΩ ΑΥΤΩ. Περὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ.. Τὸ πρὶν ἀλέκτορα φωνῆσαι, πρὶν τὴν ἡμέραν ἐπιφᾶναι τῆς ἀναστάσεως. Αἱ γὰρ τούτων τῶν ὀρνίθων ᾠδαὶ, ἐγγιζούσης μὲν ἕω, ἔτι δὲ σκιᾶς ὑπαρχούσης, γίνονται. Πλησιαζούσης τοίνυν τῆς ζωοφόρου ἀνατολῆς, ἡ τοῦ ὀρνέου φωνὴ κατήγορος τῆς ἀρνήσεως γέγονε, δηλοῦσα, καὶ τῆς νυκτὸς τῆς ἀρᾶς τὴν κατάλυσιν, καὶ τοῦ φωτὸς τῆς ζωῆς τὴν ἐπίφαυσιν.
TŌ AUTŌ. Peri tou autou.. To prin alektora phōnēsai, prin tēn hēmeran epiphanai tēs anastaseōs. Hai gar toutōn tōn ornithōn ǭdai, engizousēs men heō, eti de skias hyparchousēs, ginontai. Plēsiazousēs toinyn tēs zōophorou anatolēs, hē tou orneou phōnē katēgoros tēs arnēseōs gegone, dēlousa, kai tēs nyktos tēs aras tēn katalysin, kai tou phōtos tēs zōēs tēn epiphausin.
To the same. [On the same.] "Before the cock crows" means before the day of the resurrection appears. For the songs of these birds come when dawn is near but shadow still remains. So as the life-bearing sunrise drew near, the bird's voice became the accuser of the denial, showing both the end of the night of the curse and the dawning of the light of life.
Matt 26:34 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 26:74 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The cockcrow before dawn signified the approaching day of the resurrection and the end of the night of the curse.
- Matt 26:34, 74–75.
Topics: Resurrection and ascension of Christ, Interpreting Scripture
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.357 (PG 78 78:385; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-357). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-357
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.358PG 78 78:385
ΤΩ ΑΥΤΟ. Περὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ. Ὅτι τριπλῆ γέγονε τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ ἀθέτησις, καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος ἐδήλου, τρὶς λέγων πρὸς τὴν συκῆν ἐληλυθέναι, καὶ καρπὸν ἐν αὐτῇ μὴ εὐρηκέναι· ἧς πᾶσαν τὴν κάκωσιν ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἐθεράπευσε, μηκέτι καρπὸν οἴσειν ἀποφηνάμενος τὴν παράβασιν.
TŌ AUTO. Peri tou autou. Hoti triplē gegone tōn anthrōpōn hē athetēsis, kai autos ho Kyrios edēlou, tris legōn pros tēn sykēn elēlythenai, kai karpon en autę̄ mē eurēkenai; hēs pasan tēn kakōsin en heautǭ etherapeuse, mēketi karpon oisein apophēnamenos tēn parabasin.
To the same. [On the same.] That men's rejection was threefold the Lord himself also showed, saying that he had come three times to the fig tree and found no fruit on it; all its disorder he healed in himself, declaring that transgression would bear fruit no more.
Luke 13:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 21:19 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The three years of fruitlessness in the fig-tree parable also point to humanity's threefold rejection, healed by Christ.
- Luke 13:7; Matt 21:19.
Topics: Interpreting Scripture, Salvation
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.358 (PG 78 78:385; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-358). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-358
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.359PG 78 78:385
ΤΩ ΑΥΤΩ. Περὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ. Ἡ πρώτη ἀθέτησις, τῆς ἐντολῆς ἐστιν ἡ παράβασις, ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου τοῦ ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ παραδείσου προσταττούσης μὴ γεύσασθαι. Ἡ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ δευτέρα δυσσέβεια, ἡ πρὸς τὸν μόσχον Ἑβραίων διάθεσις. Ἡ δὲ τρίτη ἀσέβεια, ἡ ἐν τῇ χάριτι τυγχάνει παραίτησις· « Οὐκ ἔχομεν βασιλέα, εἰπόντων, εἰ μὴ Καίσαρα, καὶ τὸν Κύριον τῆς δόξης ἀπαρνουμένων.
TŌ AUTŌ. Peri tou autou. Hē prōtē athetēsis, tēs entolēs estin hē parabasis, apo tou xylou tou en mesǭ tou paradeisou prostattousēs mē geusasthai. Hē en tǭ nomǭ deutera dyssebeia, hē pros ton moschon Hebraiōn diathesis. Hē de tritē asebeia, hē en tę̄ chariti tynchanei paraitēsis; « Ouk echomen basilea, eipontōn, ei mē Kaisara, kai ton Kyrion tēs doxēs aparnoumenōn.
To the same. [On the same.] The first rejection is the transgression of the commandment, which ordered them not to taste of the tree in the middle of paradise. The second impiety, under the law, is the Hebrews' devotion to the calf. The third impiety, under grace, is the refusal, when they said "We have no king but Caesar" and denied the Lord of glory.
Gen 3:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 32:4 (allusion, high confidence) · John 19:15 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 2:8 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The three rejections of God: Adam's disobedience, the golden calf, and the refusal of Christ.
- Gen 3:3; Exod 32; John 19:15; 1 Cor 2:8.
Topics: Sin, The fall, Interpreting Scripture
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.359 (PG 78 78:385; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-359). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-359
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.360PG 78 78:387
ΘΕΩΝΙ. Εἰς τὸ γεγραμμένον, « Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς. Ἄρτος ὁ Κύριος κέκληται, αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν τούτῳ καλῶν τῷ ὀνόματι. Κατὰ μὲν τὴν πρόχειρον ἔκληψιν, ὡς πᾶσι τροφὴ σωτηρίας γενόμενος· κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἀπόῤῥητον ἔννοιαν, τὴν ζύμην τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου φυράματος ἑνώσας καὶ καθάρας, καὶ ὥσπερ ἐξοπτήσας τῷ οἰκείῳ πυρὶ τῆς θεότητος, καὶ εἰς ἓν σὺν αὐτῇ γεγονὼς πρόσωπον καὶ μίαν προσκυνουμένην ὑπόστασιν.
ThEŌNI. Eis to gegrammenon, « Egō eimi ho artos tēs zōēs. Artos ho Kyrios keklētai, autos heauton toutǭ kalōn tǭ onomati. Kata men tēn procheiron eklēpsin, hōs pasi trophē sōtērias genomenos; kata de tēn aporrhēton ennoian, tēn zymēn tou anthrōpeiou phyramatos henōsas kai katharas, kai hōsper exoptēsas tǭ oikeiǭ pyri tēs theotētos, kai eis hen syn autę̄ gegonōs prosōpon kai mian proskynoumenēn hypostasin.
To Theon. [On what is written, "I am the bread of life."] The Lord is called bread, calling himself by this name: in the plain sense, as having become the food of salvation for all; in the hidden meaning, as having united and cleansed the leaven of the human lump, and as it were baked it in his own fire of the Godhead, and become one with it in one person and one adored hypostasis.
John 6:35 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ is the bread of life both as food of salvation and as having united human nature to his Godhead, like dough baked in fire.
- John 6:35, 48.
Topics: Incarnation, Christology, Eucharist
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.360 (PG 78 78:387; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-360). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-360
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-isidore-pelusium-epistulae-1-360) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.361PG 78 78:387
ΕΥΣΤΑΘΙΩ. Περὶ γαστριμαργίας. Καταφρόνει τῶν ὄψων, ὡς μετ᾿ ὀλίγον οὐκ ὄντων, ἀλλὰ σύγχρονον ἐχόντων τῇ καταπόσει τὴν πολυτέλειαν Αἱ γὰρ ὑπέρχρειοι μεταλήψεις, νῦν μὲν νόσων εἰσὶ μητέρες, ἐν δὲ τῷ μέλλοντι, κριμάτων ἐπάγουσιν εὐθύνας.
EUSTAThIŌ. Peri gastrimargias. Kataphronei tōn opsōn, hōs met᾿ oligon ouk ontōn, alla synchronon echontōn tę̄ kataposei tēn polyteleian Hai gar hyperchreioi metalēpseis, nyn men nosōn eisi mēteres, en de tǭ mellonti, krimatōn epagousin euthynas.
To Eustathius. [On gluttony.] Despise delicacies, as things that in a little while are no more, and whose costliness lasts only as long as the swallowing. For excessive eating is now the mother of diseases, and in the future brings judgments and accounts.
Notes and citation
Summary: Delicacies pass with the swallowing; excess breeds disease now and judgment later.
Topics: Self-control in food and drink
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.361 (PG 78 78:387; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-361). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-361
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.362PG 78 78:387
ΛΕΩΝΙΔΗ. Περὶ τῆς εἰς τοὺς παῖδας εὐλογίας τοῦ πατριάρχου Ἰακώβ. Ἡ εὐλογία τοῦ πατριάρχου, ἣν τοῖς υἱέσι τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ ἐπευξάμενος ἔδωκεν, οὐκ εἰς ἐκείνους μόνους πεπλήρωτο, ἀλλὰ καὶ τύπος μειζόνων πραγμάτων γεγένηται Ἡ γὰρ ἐναλλαγὴ τῶν χειρῶν, τὸν προσαγωγή, τὸν νέον ὑπεδείκνυ λαὸν, μονονουχί βοῶσα διὰ τοῦ σχήματος· Ὅτε σταυρὸς εἰς εὐλογίαν φανῇ, ὁ ἥττων λαὸς μεγαλυνθήσεται, [καὶ ὁ ταπεινῶν ἑαυτὸν ὑψωθήσεται.] σωτήριον προεδήλου σταυρόν· καὶ ἡ τοῦ ἥττονος
LEŌNIDĒ. Peri tēs eis tous paidas eulogias tou patriarchou Iakōb. Hē eulogia tou patriarchou, hēn tois huiesi tou Iōsēph epeuxamenos edōken, ouk eis ekeinous monous peplērōto, alla kai typos meizonōn pragmatōn gegenētai Hē gar enallagē tōn cheirōn, ton prosagōgē, ton neon hypedeikny laon, mononouchi boōsa dia tou schēmatos; Hote stauros eis eulogian phanę̄, ho hēttōn laos megalynthēsetai, [kai ho tapeinōn heauton hypsōthēsetai.] sōtērion proedēlou stauron; kai hē tou hēttonos
To Leonides. [On the blessing of the patriarch Jacob upon the children.] The patriarch's blessing, which he gave in prayer to the sons of Joseph, was not fulfilled in them alone, but became a type of greater things. For the crossing of the hands foreshowed the saving cross; and the bringing forward of the younger showed the new people, all but crying out by the gesture: when the cross appears for blessing, the lesser people will be magnified [and the one who humbles himself will be exalted].
Gen 48:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 48:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 14:11 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Jacob's crossed hands in blessing Ephraim and Manasseh prefigured the cross and the preference of the new people.
- Gen 48:13–20. The scan has displaced part of the text ("σωτήριον προεδήλου σταυρόν· καὶ ἡ τοῦ ἥττονος" printed at the end); translated in its evident order.
Topics: Interpreting Scripture, The church and Israel
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.362 (PG 78 78:387; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-362). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-362
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.363PG 78 78:387
ΣΕΡΗΝΩ. Εἰς τὸ εἰρημένον ὑπὸ τῆς Ἐλισάβετ, « Καὶ πόθεν μοι τοῦτο ἵνα. Μηδέν σε ταραττέτω τῆς Ἐλισάβετ ἡ προφητεία, «Πόθεν μοι τοῦτο, λεγούσης, ἵνα ἡ Μήτηρ τοῦ Κυρίου ἔλθῃ πρός με;» Ὁ γὰρ θέμενος ἐν αὐτῇ τοῦ Βαπτιστοῦ τὴν διάπλασιν, καὶ πρὸ τοῦ ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ μήτρας εἰς προφήτην ἁγιάσας τὸν πρόδρομον, ἔνδον αὐτῷ παρέσχετο τοῦ μυστηρίου τὴν δήλωσιν. Ἐπεὶ [δὲ] οὐκ ἔδωκε λαλεῖν τοῖς ἐμβρύοις τὸ ἄωρον, σπεύδοντι τῷ Βαπτιστῇ κηρύξαι τὸν Λυτρωτὴν, ἔχρησεν ἡ μήτηρ τὸ τοῦ στόματος ὄργανον.
SERĒNŌ. Eis to eirēmenon hypo tēs Elisabet, « Kai pothen moi touto hina. Mēden se tarattetō tēs Elisabet hē prophēteia, «Pothen moi touto, legousēs, hina hē Mētēr tou Kyriou elthę̄ pros me?» Ho gar themenos en autę̄ tou Baptistou tēn diaplasin, kai pro tou exelthein ek mētras eis prophētēn hagiasas ton prodromon, endon autǭ parescheto tou mystēriou tēn dēlōsin. Epei [de] ouk edōke lalein tois embryois to aōron, speudonti tǭ Baptistę̄ kēryxai ton Lytrōtēn, echrēsen hē mētēr to tou stomatos organon.
To Serenus. [On what Elizabeth said, "And why is this granted to me, that …"] Let nothing trouble you in Elizabeth's prophecy, when she says, "Why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" For he who placed in her the formation of the Baptist, and sanctified the forerunner as prophet before he came out of the womb, gave him within a revelation of the mystery. And since he did not give unborn babes untimely speech, the mother lent the organ of her mouth to the Baptist, who was eager to proclaim the Redeemer.
Luke 1:43 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 1:41 (allusion, high confidence) · Jer 1:5 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Elizabeth spoke the unborn John's recognition of Christ, lending him her voice.
- Luke 1:41–44; Jer 1:5.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split by OCR): ἡ μή τηρ → ἡ μήτηρ.
Topics: Mary, mother of Jesus, Prophecy and fulfilment, Interpreting Scripture
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.363 (PG 78 78:387; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-363). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-363
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.364PG 78 78:387
ΠΩΜΑΣΙΩ. Πῶς νοητέον, « Αἰνεῖτε αὐτὸν ἐν ἤχῳ σάλπιγγος» Περὶ τῆς μουσικῆς, ἧς ἡ Γραφὴ μέμνηται. «Αἰνεῖτε αὐτὸν ἐν τυμπάνῳ καὶ χορῷ, καὶ ὀργάνῳ καὶ χορδαῖς, φησὶν ὁ Ψαλμῳδὸς, οὐ χαλκῷ ἡχοῦντι καὶ ὀργάνοις θελκτικοῖς τὰς θείας ἐπιτρέπων ᾠδὰς, ἀλλὰ τύμπανον ἡμᾶς τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀποτελεῖν σάρκα παρεγγυῶν, οὐδὲν ἔχουσαν πάθους κίνημα, ἀλλὰ νεκρὰν τοῖς γηΐνοις ὑπάρχουσαν μέλεσι. Χορὸν δὲ τὴν σύμφωνον τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἁρμονίαν ζητεῖ· καὶ χορδὰς, τὰς ἐν ἡμῖν αἰσθήσεις δηλοῖ, ὑφ᾽ ὧν τὸ τῆς γλώττης ἀνακρούεται πλῆκτρον· καὶ ὄργανον, ὁ πᾶς εὑρίσκεται ἄνθρωπος, Θεῷ εὐάρεστος, καὶ ἀνθρώποις εὐάρμοστος.
PŌMASIŌ. Pōs noēteon, « Aineite auton en ēchǭ salpingos» Peri tēs mousikēs, hēs hē Graphē memnētai. «Aineite auton en tympanǭ kai chorǭ, kai organǭ kai chordais, phēsin ho Psalmǭdos, ou chalkǭ hēchounti kai organois thelktikois tas theias epitrepōn ǭdas, alla tympanon hēmas tēn heautōn apotelein sarka parengyōn, ouden echousan pathous kinēma, alla nekran tois gēïnois hyparchousan melesi. Choron de tēn symphōnon tēs Ekklēsias harmonian zētei; kai chordas, tas en hēmin aisthēseis dēloi, hyph᾽ hōn to tēs glōttēs anakrouetai plēktron; kai organon, ho pas heurisketai anthrōpos, Theǭ euarestos, kai anthrōpois euarmostos.
To Pomasius. [How "Praise him with the sound of the trumpet" should be understood. On the music which Scripture mentions.] "Praise him with timbrel and dance, with instrument and strings," says the Psalmist, not entrusting the divine songs to sounding bronze and bewitching instruments, but exhorting us to make our own flesh a timbrel, having no movement of passion but being dead in its earthly members. By "dance" he seeks the concordant harmony of the church; by "strings" he means the senses within us, by which the plectrum of the tongue is struck; and the instrument is the whole man, pleasing to God and well tuned to men.
Ps 150:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 150:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 3:5 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The instruments of Psalm 150 signify the mortified flesh, the harmony of the church, the senses and the whole person tuned to God.
- Ps 150:3–4; Col 3:5.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR repetition): ἤχῳ ῳ σο σάλπιγγος → ἤχῳ σάλπιγγος.
Topics: Hymns and singing, Worship, Interpreting Scripture
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.364 (PG 78 78:387; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-364). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-364
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.365PG 78 78:389
ΛΕΩΝΙΔΗ. Διὰ τὶ τελευτῶν ὁ Ἰακὼβ καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς εὐλογῶν, τὰ μέλλοντα αὐτῶν λέγει. Τὰ μέλλοντα λέγειν ὁ Ἰακὼβ ὑποσχόμενος, καὶ τὰ φθάσαντα τοῖς υἱοῖς ἐξηγούμενος, οὐ κατόπιν ἐπαγγελίας ἐβάδισεν, ἀλλὰ Θεοῦ δακτύλῳ ἐψηλαφήθη τὴν αἴσθησιν, καὶ σιγὴν ἐπετάγη συμφέρουσαν. Προθέμενος γὰρ εἰπεῖν αὐτοῖς τὴν ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐσομένην τῆς θείας οἰκονομίας σάρκωσιν, λήθην τῶν βουλευθέντων ὑπέμεινεν, ἀμείψας τοῖς παρελθοῦσι τὰ μήπω γενόμενα. Σὺ μὲν γὰρ, φησὶν, ἀξίαν γνώμην τοῦ τοσούτου μυστηρίου κτησάμενος, εἰκότως ἐπιστεύθης αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν εἴδησιν· οἱ δὲ οὐ κατάλληλον ἕξουσι τῷ πατρὶ τὴν εὐσέβειαν.
LEŌNIDĒ. Dia ti teleutōn ho Iakōb kai tous huious eulogōn, ta mellonta autōn legei. Ta mellonta legein ho Iakōb hyposchomenos, kai ta phthasanta tois huiois exēgoumenos, ou katopin epangelias ebadisen, alla Theou daktylǭ epsēlaphēthē tēn aisthēsin, kai sigēn epetagē sympherousan. Prothemenos gar eipein autois tēn ex autōn esomenēn tēs theias oikonomias sarkōsin, lēthēn tōn bouleuthentōn hypemeinen, ameipsas tois parelthousi ta mēpō genomena. Sy men gar, phēsin, axian gnōmēn tou tosoutou mystēriou ktēsamenos, eikotōs episteuthēs autou kai tēn eidēsin; hoi de ou katallēlon hexousi tǭ patri tēn eusebeian.
To Leonides. [Why Jacob, dying and blessing his sons, tells their future.] Jacob, having promised to tell the future, and recounting to his sons what had already happened, did not go back on his promise; rather his perception was touched by the finger of God, and a profitable silence was enjoined on him. For having intended to tell them of the incarnation of the divine dispensation that would come from them, he suffered forgetfulness of what he had planned, exchanging things not yet done for things past. For you, God says, having acquired a mind worthy of so great a mystery, were rightly entrusted with knowledge of it; but they will not have godliness to match their father's.
Gen 49:1 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Jacob, meaning to foretell the incarnation to his sons, was made by God to forget, since they were unworthy of the mystery.
- Gen 49:1. The view that Jacob intended to reveal the end but was prevented is also found in Jewish tradition.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split by OCR): Προθέ μενος → Προθέμενος.
Topics: Interpreting Scripture, Prophecy and fulfilment
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.365 (PG 78 78:389; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-365). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-365
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.366PG 78 78:389
ΤΩ ΑΥΤΩ. Εἰ καὶ Γραφικὴν μαρτυρίαν ζητεῖς τῶν γραφέντων Ἡσαΐας τῶν προφητῶν ὁ σαφέστατος, τὴν ἀπορίαν τοῦ Ἰακώβ ἐξηγούμενος, καὶ ἣν ἔπαθεν ἐγκοπὴν τῆς προθέσεως, ἄλλα μὲν βουληθεὶς, ἄλλα δὲ κελευσθεὶς, οὕτω φησί · Μὴ εἴπῃς Ἰακώβ, καὶ τί ἐλάλησας Ἰσραὴλ, ἀπεκρύβη ἡ ὁδός μου ἀπὸ Κυρίου, καὶ ὁ Θεός μου ἀφεῖλε τὴν κρίσιν, καὶ ἀπέστη ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ. Οὐδὲν γὰρ τὸν Ἰακὼβ ἀφείλετο ὁ ἀγαπήσας Θεὸς, ἢ τὴν πρὸς τοὺς υἱέας, ὡς εἶπον, ὑπόσχεσιν, διὰ τὴν προορωμένην αὐτῶν τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀθέτησιν.
TŌ AUTŌ. Ei kai Graphikēn martyrian zēteis tōn graphentōn Hēsaïas tōn prophētōn ho saphestatos, tēn aporian tou Iakōb exēgoumenos, kai hēn epathen enkopēn tēs protheseōs, alla men boulētheis, alla de keleustheis, houtō phēsi ; Mē eipę̄s Iakōb, kai ti elalēsas Israēl, apekrybē hē hodos mou apo Kyriou, kai ho Theos mou apheile tēn krisin, kai apestē ap᾿ emou. Ouden gar ton Iakōb apheileto ho agapēsas Theos, ē tēn pros tous huieas, hōs eipon, hyposchesin, dia tēn proorōmenēn autōn tēs eusebeias athetēsin.
To the same. If you also seek a scriptural testimony for what was written, Isaiah, the clearest of the prophets, explains Jacob's perplexity and the interruption of his purpose that he suffered, wishing some things and being commanded others, speaking thus: "Do not say, Jacob, and why have you spoken, Israel, My way is hidden from the Lord, and my God has taken away my judgment and has departed from me." For God who loved Jacob took nothing away from him except the promise to his sons, as I said, because of their foreseen rejection of godliness.
Isa 40:27 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Isaiah's words to Jacob about his "hidden way" are applied to Jacob's withheld prophecy.
- Isa 40:27 (LXX).
Topics: Interpreting Scripture
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.366 (PG 78 78:389; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-366). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-366
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.367PG 78 78:389
Μοναστρίαις εἰς πόλιν φοιτώσαις συχνά. Εἰ μήτε τῆς αἰδοῦς τῆς φύσεως καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς ἀσκήσεως φροντίζετε, μήτε τὴν χαύνωσιν πεφόβησθε, ἣν αἱ πόλεις ποιοῦσι καὶ ὄψει καὶ ἀκοῇ· μήτε τὴν μέλλουσαν δεδοίκατε ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀπειλήν· καλῶς θαμινὰ πρὸς τὴν πόλιν βαδίζετε. Εἰ δὲ τῆς μὲν ἀντέχεσθε, τῶν δὲ πειραθῆναι οὐ βούλεσθε, φεύγετε τῶν θορύβων τὸν πόλεμον ὃς δεινοῖς βέλεσι τοξεύει τὴν ἄσκησιν. ·
Monastriais eis polin phoitōsais sychna. Ei mēte tēs aidous tēs physeōs kai autēs tēs askēseōs phrontizete, mēte tēn chaunōsin pephobēsthe, hēn hai poleis poiousi kai opsei kai akoę̄; mēte tēn mellousan dedoikate epi toutois apeilēn; kalōs thamina pros tēn polin badizete. Ei de tēs men antechesthe, tōn de peirathēnai ou boulesthe, pheugete tōn thorybōn ton polemon hos deinois belesi toxeuei tēn askēsin. ;
To nuns who often visit the city. If you neither care for the modesty of nature and of discipline itself, nor fear the slackening that cities cause by sight and hearing, nor dread the threat to come for these things, you do well to go often to the city. But if you hold to the one and do not wish to experience the others, flee the war of commotions, which shoots ascetic discipline with terrible arrows.
Notes and citation
Summary: Nuns are warned against frequent visits to the city, which weaken ascetic life.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split by OCR): πεφό βησθε → πεφόβησθε.
Topics: Widows and consecrated virgins, Monastic life, Women
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.367 (PG 78 78:389; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-367). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-367
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-isidore-pelusium-epistulae-1-367) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.368PG 78 78:391
ΣΕΥΉΡΩ. Περὶ οἰήσεως. Ωσπερ λεαίνῃ συννέμεσθαι πρόβατον ἡ φύσις οὐκ ἔδωκεν· οὕτως οὐδὲ τῦφον μοναχικῇ συνοικεῖν ὅλως ἐνδέχεται. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ θηριώδης ἐστὶ· καὶ ἀκάθεκτος ἡ δὲ πάντα εὐπειθῶς τὰ χρηστὰ καταδέχεται, καὶ τὰ λυπηρὰ καρτερῶς μάλα προσίεται. Εἰ τοίνυν πρὸς ταύτην ἀπεδύσω γυμνάσασθαι, ἐκείνου ἀπόστηθι· μή τί σε δεινὸν διὰ τούτου ἐργάσηται, ὁ ἔναντι Κυρίου τραχηλιάσας, καὶ πάντας ἔχειν ζηλωτὰς τῆς οἰκείας ἐπάρσεως [καὶ πτώσεως] προθυμούμενος.
SEUĒRŌ. Peri oiēseōs. Ōsper leainę̄ synnemesthai probaton hē physis ouk edōken; houtōs oude typhon monachikę̄ synoikein holōs endechetai. Ho men gar thēriōdēs esti; kai akathektos hē de panta eupeithōs ta chrēsta katadechetai, kai ta lypēra karterōs mala prosietai. Ei toinyn pros tautēn apedysō gymnasasthai, ekeinou apostēthi; mē ti se deinon dia toutou ergasētai, ho enanti Kyriou trachēliasas, kai pantas echein zēlōtas tēs oikeias eparseōs [kai ptōseōs] prothymoumenos.
To Severus. [On conceit.] As nature does not allow a sheep to graze with a lioness, so pride cannot in any way live with the monastic life. For the one is beastly and unrestrained, while the other accepts all good things obediently and endures painful things very patiently. If, then, you have stripped to train for this, stand away from that, lest something terrible befall you through it, from the one who stiffened his neck before the Lord and is eager to have everyone emulate his exaltation [and fall].
Job 15:26 (allusion, medium confidence) · Isa 14:12 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Pride cannot coexist with the monastic life; it belongs to the devil, who rebelled against God.
- Job 15:25–26 (LXX); Isa 14:12–15.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split by OCR): ἀκάθ εκτος → ἀκάθεκτος; προθυ μούμενος → προθυμούμενος.
Topics: Humility and pride, Monastic life, The devil and demons
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.368 (PG 78 78:391; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-368). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-368
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.369PG 78 78:391
ΚΥΡΩ. "Οτι οὐδὲν τῶν ἐνδιαθέτων καὶ κεκανονισμένων βιβλίων δεῖ προτιμᾶν εἰς ἀνάγνωσιν. Πᾶσα μὲν Γραφὴ πρὸς εὐσέβειαν βλέπουσα, καλλίστη καὶ ἐπαινετὴ, καὶ ἐγκωμίων ἀξία. Αἱ δὲ ἱεραὶ πτυκταὶ τῶν μαρτυρουμένων θείων Γραφῶν, τῆς πρὸς Θεόν εἰσιν ἀναβάσεως κλίμακες. Πάντα τοίνυν τὰ ἐν Ἐκκλησίᾳ Θεοῦ προφερόμενα ὡς δόκιμον δέχου χρυσίον, πεπυρωμένα τῷ θείῳ τῆς ἀληθείας Πνεύματι. Τὰ δὲ ἔξω ταύτης περιφερόμενα, εἰ καί τι ἔχει πιθανὸν πρὸς σεμνότητα, τοῖς ἔξω τῶν σῶν ἀγώνων, ζητεῖν καὶ τηρεῖν καταλίμπανε· οἷς κόμπος λέξεως μᾶλλον ἐσπούδασται, ἢ καὶ μύθους τινὰς ἀναπλάττει[ν] αἱρέσεων.
KYRŌ. "Oti ouden tōn endiathetōn kai kekanonismenōn bibliōn dei protiman eis anagnōsin. Pasa men Graphē pros eusebeian blepousa, kallistē kai epainetē, kai enkōmiōn axia. Hai de hierai ptyktai tōn martyroumenōn theiōn Graphōn, tēs pros Theon eisin anabaseōs klimakes. Panta toinyn ta en Ekklēsią Theou propheromena hōs dokimon dechou chrysion, pepyrōmena tǭ theiǭ tēs alētheias Pneumati. Ta de exō tautēs peripheromena, ei kai ti echei pithanon pros semnotēta, tois exō tōn sōn agōnōn, zētein kai tērein katalimpane; hois kompos lexeōs mallon espoudastai, ē kai mythous tinas anaplattei[n] haireseōn.
To Cyrus. [That one must prefer nothing to the books that are canonical and in the canon for reading.] All writing that looks to godliness is very good, praiseworthy and worthy of praises. But the sacred tablets of the attested divine Scriptures are ladders of ascent to God. So receive everything read publicly in God's church as approved gold, refined by the divine Spirit of truth. But what circulates outside it, even if it has something plausible toward dignity, leave to those outside your contests to seek and keep, who care more for pompous diction, or else fabricate certain myths of heresies.
Gen 28:12 (echo, low confidence) · Ps 12:6 (11:7 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Isidore commends the canonical Scriptures read in church above all other writings, leaving apocryphal books to others.
- Isidore's title speaks of books "in the canon" (κεκανονισμένα). Gen 28:12; Ps 12:6.
Topics: Canon of Scripture, Scripture and canon, Heresy
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.369 (PG 78 78:391; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-369). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-369
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-isidore-pelusium-epistulae-1-369) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.370PG 78 78:391
ΚΥΡΙΛΛΩ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΕΙΑΣ. Περὶ ἔριδος. Φοβεῖ με τὰ τῆς θείας Γραφῆς ὑποδείγματα, καὶ γράφειν τὰ χρεὼν ἀναγκάζομαι. Εἴτε γὰρ πατήρ εἰμι, ὡς ἔφης αὐτὸς, δέδια τοῦ Ἡλεὶ τὴν κατάκρισιν, ὅτι τοὺς υἱοὺς ἁμαρτόντας οὐκ ἐσωφρόνισεν · εἴτε υἱός σου τυγχάνω, ὡς μᾶλλον ἐπίσταμαι, τὸν μέγαν ἐκεῖνον σχηματίζοντος Μάρκον ἀγωνιῶ τοῦ Ἰωνάθαν τὸ ἐπιτίμιον, ὅτι τὸν πατέρα ζητήσαντα ἐγγαστρίμυθον οὐκ ἐκώλυσε. Καὶ πρότερος τοῦ ἁμαρτήσαντος, ὁ κωλῦσαι δυνάμενος τέθνηκεν εἰς τὸν πόλεμον Ἵνα τοίνυν κἀγὼ μὴ κατακριθῶ, καὶ αὐτὸς παρὰ Θεοῦ μὴ κριθῇς, παῦσον τὰς ἔριδας· μὴ οἰκείας ὕβρεως ἄμυναν, ἣν παρὰ θνητῶν κεχρεώστησαι ζῶσαν Ἐκκλησίαν μεθόδευε, καὶ αἰώνιον αὐτῇ διχόνοιαν ἐν προσχήματι εὐσεβείας κατασκεύαζε.
KYRILLŌ ALEXANDREIAS. Peri eridos. Phobei me ta tēs theias Graphēs hypodeigmata, kai graphein ta chreōn anankazomai. Eite gar patēr eimi, hōs ephēs autos, dedia tou Hēlei tēn katakrisin, hoti tous huious hamartontas ouk esōphronisen ; eite huios sou tynchanō, hōs mallon epistamai, ton megan ekeinon schēmatizontos Markon agōniō tou Iōnathan to epitimion, hoti ton patera zētēsanta engastrimython ouk ekōlyse. Kai proteros tou hamartēsantos, ho kōlysai dynamenos tethnēken eis ton polemon Hina toinyn kagō mē katakrithō, kai autos para Theou mē krithę̄s, pauson tas eridas; mē oikeias hybreōs amynan, hēn para thnētōn kechreōstēsai zōsan Ekklēsian methodeue, kai aiōnion autę̄ dichonoian en proschēmati eusebeias kataskeuaze.
To Cyril of Alexandria. [On strife.] The examples of divine Scripture frighten me, and I am compelled to write what I must. For if I am your father, as you yourself said, I fear the condemnation of Eli, because he did not correct his sons when they sinned; if I am your son, as I rather know, since you bear the figure of the great Mark, I am anxious about the penalty of Jonathan, because he did not stop his father when he sought a ventriloquist medium; and he, who could have stopped him, died in the war before the one who sinned. So that I may not be condemned, and you may not be judged by God, stop the quarrels; do not pursue vengeance for a personal insult, owed you by mortals, against the living church, nor prepare for it an eternal division under a pretext of godliness.
1 Sam 3:13 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 28:7 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 31:2 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Isidore warns Cyril of Alexandria, as Eli's and Jonathan's examples oblige him to, to end the quarrels and not split the church to avenge personal wrongs.
- 1 Sam 3:13; 28:7; 31:2. Cyril, as successor of Mark the evangelist (traditional founder of the church of Alexandria), is called "father". The letter probably belongs to the period of the Council of Ephesus (431) and the schism with the Antiochenes.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray letter from the OCR; word split by OCR): εἰ μι → εἰμι; ἁμαρι τήσαντος → ἁμαρτήσαντος; πό· λεμον → πόλεμον; κεχρεώ στησαι → κεχρεώστησαι; καὶ Η αἰώνιον → καὶ αἰώνιον; και τασκεύαζε → κατασκεύαζε.
Topics: Schism and unity, Christological controversies, Church office
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.370 (PG 78 78:391; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-370). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-370
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.371PG 78 78:393
ΠΑΝΣΟΦΙΩ. Εἰ προῖσχεται ὁ τῆς Μαρκίωνος συνήγορος βλασφημίας, τὸ παρ' ἐκείνοις ὀνομαζόμενον Εὐαγγέλιον, λαβὼν ἀνάγνωθι, καὶ εὐρήσεις εὐθὺς ἐν προοιμίοις τὴν ἀτοπίαν. Αὐτὴν γὰρ τὴν κατάγουσαν ἐπὶ Χριστὸν ἀπὸ Δαβὶδ καὶ Ἀβραὰμ γενεαλογίαν ἀπέτεμον· καὶ μικρὸν ὕστερον προϊὼν ἄλλην ὄψει κακόνοιαν. Αμείψαντες γὰρ τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου φωνὴν, « Οὐκ ἦλθον, λέγοντος, καταλῦσαι τὸν νόμον ἢ τοὺς προφήτας,· ἐποίησαν· Δοκεῖτε, ὅτι ἦλθον πληρῶσαι τὸν νόμον ἢ τοὺς προφήτας; Ἦλθον καταλῦσαι, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ πληρῶσαι. Ἐκ τούτων δὲ εἴσῃ, ὅπως ἔχθραν ταῖς δυσὶ Διαθήκαις κατασκευάζουσι, ξένον εἶναι τοῦ νόμου τὸν Χριστὸν σχεδιάσαντες
PANSOPhIŌ. Ei proischetai ho tēs Markiōnos synēgoros blasphēmias, to par' ekeinois onomazomenon Euangelion, labōn anagnōthi, kai eurēseis euthys en prooimiois tēn atopian. Autēn gar tēn katagousan epi Christon apo Dabid kai Abraam genealogian apetemon; kai mikron hysteron proïōn allēn opsei kakonoian. Ameipsantes gar tēn tou Kyriou phōnēn, « Ouk ēlthon, legontos, katalysai ton nomon ē tous prophētas,; epoiēsan; Dokeite, hoti ēlthon plērōsai ton nomon ē tous prophētas? Ēlthon katalysai, all᾽ ou plērōsai. Ek toutōn de eisę̄, hopōs echthran tais dysi Diathēkais kataskeuazousi, xenon einai tou nomou ton Christon schediasantes
To Pansophius. If the advocate of Marcion's blasphemy holds out what is named the Gospel among them, take it and read it, and you will find the absurdity right at the beginning. For they cut out the very genealogy that leads down to Christ from David and Abraham; and going on a little further you will see another piece of malice. For changing the Lord's saying, "I did not come to destroy the law or the prophets," they made it: "Do you think that I came to fulfil the law or the prophets? I came to destroy, not to fulfil." From these things you will know how they create enmity between the two Testaments, inventing a Christ who is a stranger to the law.
Matt 1:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 5:17 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Marcion's gospel cuts out Christ's genealogy and reverses "I came not to destroy the law", setting the Testaments at enmity.
- Matt 1:1–17; 5:17. Isidore's report of the altered saying agrees with other early reports of Marcionite readings.
Topics: Marcionism, Heresy, Scripture and canon, The law of Moses
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.371 (PG 78 78:393; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-371). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-371
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.372PG 78 78:393
ΙΩΣΗΦ. Καλῶς μὲν ἤρξω [το] ἀνδρίζεσθαι, ἀλλ᾿ οὐχὶ καὶ νῦν, ὡς μανθάνομεν. ᾿Αλλ' ὅμοιος εἶ τοῖς σπαρεῖσιν ἐπὶ τῆς πέτρας, εὐθὺς μὲν ἐξανατείλασιν, ἐν δὲ καιρῷ καρπῶν ἀτονήσασι. Χρὴ δὲ τὸν τοῦ ἀγῶνος τῶν μοναχῶν ἐφιέμενον, ὡς πύργου οἰκοδομῇ τῇ τούτου προσελθεῖν ὑποταγῇ, μήποτε φιλοτίμως άρξάμενος, καὶ πρὸς ὁμοίαν εὐοδίαν μὴ ἐκτεινόμενος, δαίμοσι μὲν καταγέλαστος, ἀγγέλοις δὲ λύπης αἴτιος, ἀνθρώποις δὲ δακρύων πρόφασις γένηται.
IŌSĒPh. Kalōs men ērxō [to] andrizesthai, all᾿ ouchi kai nyn, hōs manthanomen. ᾿All' homoios ei tois spareisin epi tēs petras, euthys men exanateilasin, en de kairǭ karpōn atonēsasi. Chrē de ton tou agōnos tōn monachōn ephiemenon, hōs pyrgou oikodomę̄ tę̄ toutou proselthein hypotagę̄, mēpote philotimōs arxamenos, kai pros homoian euodian mē ekteinomenos, daimosi men katagelastos, angelois de lypēs aitios, anthrōpois de dakryōn prophasis genētai.
To Joseph. You began to play the man well, but not so now, as we learn. You are like the seed sown on the rock, which sprang up at once but failed at the time of fruit. One who aspires to the contest of the monks must approach submission to it as the building of a tower, lest, having begun ambitiously and not stretching on to a like success, he become a laughingstock to demons, a cause of grief to angels, and an occasion of tears to men.
Matt 13:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 14:28 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A monk who began well and grew slack is like seed on rocky ground or an unfinished tower.
- Matt 13:5–6, 20–21; Luke 14:28–30; Luke 15:10.
Topics: Monastic life, Perseverance
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.372 (PG 78 78:393; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-372). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-372
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.373PG 78 78:393
ΠΑΛΛΑΔΙΟ ΥΠΟΔΙΑΚΟΝΩ. Περὶ τοῦ πάντα πειρασμὸν φέρειν γενναίως. Εἰ πύλαι ᾄδου τῆς ἀμωμήτου καὶ ὀρθῆς οὐ κατισχύουσι πίστεως, αἴπερ εἰσὶ τὰ πεπυρωμένα τοῦ Πoνηροῦ ἅπαντα βέλη, καὶ κίνδυνος, καὶ γυμνότης, καὶ θάνατος, Χριστοῦ ἡμᾶς χωρίζειν οὐ δύναται · τοῦ χάριν μικρὰς προσβολὰς διὰ Χριστόν σοι γινομένας, δυσανασχετεῖς ὑπομένειν, θαυμάσιε; Ἴστασο τοίνυν ἑδραῖος, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐπελθόντα σβεσθήσεται πειρατήρια, τὰ δὲ μελετώμενα πρὸ πείρας οἰχήσεται. Τὸ γὰρ τῆς γνώμης ἀκλινὲς, ἀπράκτους δείξει τὰς μηχανάς.
PALLADIO YPODIAKONŌ. Peri tou panta peirasmon pherein gennaiōs. Ei pylai ądou tēs amōmētou kai orthēs ou katischyousi pisteōs, aiper eisi ta pepyrōmena tou Ponērou hapanta belē, kai kindynos, kai gymnotēs, kai thanatos, Christou hēmas chōrizein ou dynatai ; tou charin mikras prosbolas dia Christon soi ginomenas, dysanascheteis hypomenein, thaumasie? Istaso toinyn hedraios, kai ta men epelthonta sbesthēsetai peiratēria, ta de meletōmena pro peiras oichēsetai. To gar tēs gnōmēs aklines, apraktous deixei tas mēchanas.
To Palladius the subdeacon. [On bearing every temptation nobly.] If the gates of Hades do not prevail against the blameless and right faith, which are all the fiery arrows of the Evil One, and if danger, nakedness and death cannot separate us from Christ, why, admirable man, do you find it hard to endure small attacks made on you for Christ's sake? Stand firm, then, and the trials that have come will be quenched, and those being planned will vanish before they are tried. For the unswerving mind will show the devices to be ineffective.
Matt 16:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 6:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 8:35 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Since nothing can separate us from Christ, small trials for his sake must be borne with firmness.
- Matt 16:18; Eph 6:16; Rom 8:35–39.
Topics: Temptation, Perseverance, Suffering and affliction
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.373 (PG 78 78:393; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-373). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-373
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.374PG 78 78:393
ΩΡΙΩΝΙ. Περὶ καινοδοξίας Ἡ κόλαξ κομπαγωγία, ἡ ξηρὰ καὶ ἄψυχος ἔπαρσις, ἡ κενὴ καὶ ἐπίγειος δόξα, ἀρθήτω ἀφ᾿ ἡμῶν. Ὁ γὰρ τῶν ἀρετῶν καὶ δοτὴρ καὶ ταμίας ὑπογραμμὸν ἡμῖν καταλιμπάνων, φησί · « Δόξαν παρ᾿ ἀνθρώπων οὐ ζητῶ.» Θεοῦ γάρ ἐστι δόσις ἡ δόξα · εἰ καὶ οἱ ποιηταὶ τῶν ὀνομάτων τῇ ἐνταῦθα σκιᾷ τὴν κλῆσιν ἐκείνην ἐπέθηκαν.
ŌRIŌNI. Peri kainodoxias Hē kolax kompagōgia, hē xēra kai apsychos eparsis, hē kenē kai epigeios doxa, arthētō aph᾿ hēmōn. Ho gar tōn aretōn kai dotēr kai tamias hypogrammon hēmin katalimpanōn, phēsi ; « Doxan par᾿ anthrōpōn ou zētō.» Theou gar esti dosis hē doxa ; ei kai hoi poiētai tōn onomatōn tę̄ entautha skią tēn klēsin ekeinēn epethēkan.
To Orion. [On vainglory.] Flattering pomp, dry and soulless pride, empty and earthly glory, let it be taken away from us. For the giver and steward of virtues, leaving us a pattern, says: "I do not seek glory from men." For glory is God's gift, even if the makers of names put that name upon the shadow here.
John 5:41 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Pet 2:21 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Following Christ, who sought no glory from men, we should reject vainglory; true glory is God's gift.
- John 5:41; 1 Pet 2:21.
Topics: Humility and pride
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.374 (PG 78 78:393; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-374). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-374
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.375PG 78 78:395
ΚΥΡΩ. Περὶ πενίας. Εἱ λυπεῖ ἡ πενία, ἐξουδένωται ἡ θεία νομοθεσία, • Μακάριοι, φάσκουσα, οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν.» Εἰ τοίνυν ταύτης οὐκ ἀντεχόμεθα, εὔδηλον, ὡς κἀκείνης οὐκ ἐφιέμεθα· εἰ δὲ ἐκείνην εὐχαρίστως δεχόμεθα, καὶ ταύτης εἴκωμεν τοῖς προστάγμασι.
KYRŌ. Peri penias. Hei lypei hē penia, exoudenōtai hē theia nomothesia, • Makarioi, phaskousa, hoi ptōchoi tǭ pneumati, hoti autōn estin hē basileia tōn ouranōn.» Ei toinyn tautēs ouk antechometha, eudēlon, hōs kakeinēs ouk ephiemetha; ei de ekeinēn eucharistōs dechometha, kai tautēs eikōmen tois prostagmasi.
To Cyrus. [On poverty.] If poverty grieves us, the divine legislation is set at naught, which says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." If, then, we do not hold to this, it is clear that we do not desire that either; but if we welcome that gratefully, let us yield to this one's commands too.
Matt 5:3 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Whoever wants the kingdom promised to the poor should accept poverty gladly.
- Matt 5:3.
Topics: Wealth and poverty
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.375 (PG 78 78:395; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-375). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-375
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.376PG 78 78:395
ΤΩ ΑΥΤΩ Περὶ πενίας. Ἡ τοῦ ἄρτου ἔνδεια οὐκ ἔστι λιμὸς, καὶ ἐσθημάτων ἀπορία, οὐ γυμνότης. Ὁ γὰρ τριχοφόρος Βαπτιστὴς, καὶ ὁ τοῦ πλουσίου θυρωρός, ὁ πείνῃ καὶ γυμνώσει τακεὶς, εἰς τὴν ἄληκτον καὶ ἀπέραντον ἀναστρέφονται καὶ θάλπονται βασιλείαν. Ὁ δὲ πλουτῶν ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ βρωμάτων, καὶ ἐνδύματι βύσσου, γέενναν ἔχει, καὶ τὸ ταύτης πῦρ περιβόλαιον.
TŌ AUTŌ Peri penias. Hē tou artou endeia ouk esti limos, kai esthēmatōn aporia, ou gymnotēs. Ho gar trichophoros Baptistēs, kai ho tou plousiou thyrōros, ho peinę̄ kai gymnōsei takeis, eis tēn alēkton kai aperanton anastrephontai kai thalpontai basileian. Ho de ploutōn en euphrosynę̄ brōmatōn, kai endymati byssou, geennan echei, kai to tautēs pyr peribolaion.
To the same. [On poverty.] Lack of bread is not famine, and lack of clothing is not nakedness. For the hair-clad Baptist and the rich man's doorkeeper, wasted by hunger and nakedness, dwell and are warmed in the unceasing and boundless kingdom; while the one who was rich in the gladness of foods and in clothing of fine linen has Gehenna, and its fire as his garment.
Matt 3:4 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 16:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 16:20 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Poverty is not true want: John the Baptist and Lazarus are blessed, while the rich man burns.
- Matt 3:4; Luke 16:19–24.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split by OCR): ἐσθημά των → ἐσθημάτων.
Topics: Wealth and poverty, Hell and eternal punishment
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.376 (PG 78 78:395; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-376). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-376
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.377PG 78 78:395
ΟΛΥΜΠΙΩ ΚΟΜΗΤΙ. Εἰς τὴν γέννησιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Τῷ ὑπερφυεῖ καὶ ἀνεκλαλήτῳ τόκῳ πάντα ὑπερφυῆ ἡκολούθησαν, ἡ τοῦ ἀγγέλου διακονία, ἡ Ἰωάννου πρὸ τῆς γεννήσεως λειτουργία, τὸ ἄσπορον τῆς συλλήψεως, τὸ ἄφθορον τῆς κυήσεως. Τούτων ὁμοίαν καὶ τὴν τοῦ ἀστέρος ἔσχηκεν ὑπουργίαν πρὸς τὴν τῶν μάγων ὁδηγίαν, οὐ τῇ συνήθει χρησαμένου πορείᾳ, ἀλλὰ παράδοξον καινοτομήσαντος δρόμον, δι' οὗ καὶ τοὺς σοφοὺς τῶν τοιούτων ἐπιστήμονας ἐξέπληξε μάγους, πρὸς μακρὰν πείσας στείλασθαι
OLYMPIŌ KOMĒTI. Eis tēn gennēsin tou Christou. Tǭ hyperphyei kai aneklalētǭ tokǭ panta hyperphyē hēkolouthēsan, hē tou angelou diakonia, hē Iōannou pro tēs gennēseōs leitourgia, to asporon tēs syllēpseōs, to aphthoron tēs kyēseōs. Toutōn homoian kai tēn tou asteros eschēken hypourgian pros tēn tōn magōn hodēgian, ou tę̄ synēthei chrēsamenou poreią, alla paradoxon kainotomēsantos dromon, di' hou kai tous sophous tōn toioutōn epistēmonas exeplēxe magous, pros makran peisas steilasthai
To Olympius the count. [On the birth of Christ.] On the supernatural and unspeakable birth all things followed supernaturally: the angel's ministry, John's service before his birth, the seedless conception, the incorrupt childbearing. Like these was the star's service in guiding the Magi, not keeping its usual course but innovating a strange path, by which it astonished even the magi, wise in such things, and persuaded them to set out on a long journey.
Luke 1:31 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 1:41 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 2:2 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Every circumstance of Christ's birth was extraordinary, including the star whose unusual course led the Magi.
- Luke 1:26–44; Matt 2:1–2.
Topics: Incarnation, Mary, mother of Jesus, Miracles
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.377 (PG 78 78:395; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-377). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-377
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.378PG 78 78:395
ΤΩ ΑΥΤΩ. Περὶ τοῦ ὁδηγήσαντος ἀστέρος τοὺς μάγους. Τὸ ἐν τῇ θείᾳ πτυκτῇ περὶ τοῦ ἀστέρος φερόμενον, « Ἐλθὼν ἔστη ἐπάνω οὗ ἦν τὸ παιδίον, » ἐμφανέστερον ὑποδείξει σοι, οὐ τὴν συνήθη τῶν ἄστρων πορείαν ποιησάμενον τὸν εὐαγγελιστὴν τοῦ θείου τόκου ἀστέρα (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἡ τοῦ ὕψους διάστασις, εὐχερῆ ἐποίει τοῦ ζητουμένου τὴν εὔρεσιν), ἀλλ᾽ ἑτέραν τινὰ καινοτέραν ἐκείνης, ὡς δακτύλῳ τῷ ἐξηλλαγμένῳ δρόμῳ μηνύουσαν, τὸ τε ἅγιον ἄντρον, καὶ τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ Κυριοφόρον καὶ σεβάσμιον φάτνην.
TŌ AUTŌ. Peri tou hodēgēsantos asteros tous magous. To en tę̄ theią ptyktę̄ peri tou asteros pheromenon, « Elthōn estē epanō hou ēn to paidion, » emphanesteron hypodeixei soi, ou tēn synēthē tōn astrōn poreian poiēsamenon ton euangelistēn tou theiou tokou astera (oude gar hē tou hypsous diastasis, eucherē epoiei tou zētoumenou tēn euresin), all᾽ heteran tina kainoteran ekeinēs, hōs daktylǭ tǭ exēllagmenǭ dromǭ mēnyousan, to te hagion antron, kai tēn en autǭ Kyriophoron kai sebasmion phatnēn.
To the same. [On the star that guided the Magi.] What is recorded in the divine tablet about the star, "It came and stood over where the child was," will show you more clearly that the star which announced the divine birth did not keep the usual course of the stars (for the distance of the height would not have made finding what was sought easy), but another, newer course, pointing out as with a finger, by its changed path, both the holy cave and the venerable manger in it that bore the Lord.
Matt 2:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 2:7 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The star stood over the child, so it must have moved unlike other stars, pointing to the cave and manger.
- Matt 2:9; Luke 2:7. The cave of the nativity is the tradition attested since the second century.
Topics: Incarnation, Miracles, Interpreting Scripture
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.378 (PG 78 78:395; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-378). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-378
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.379PG 78 78:395
ΜΑΡΩΝΙ. Εἰ μὲν τῆς θείας τυγχάνεις ἀγέλης, ἡ θεία Γραφὴ παιδευέτω σε, μὴ ἄκριτα εἶναι τὰ ἐνταῦθα πραττόμενα, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς ἡμέραν φρικτὴν ἐξετάσεως φυλαττόμενα. Εἰ δὲ τῆς Ἰουδαίων μερίδος, Ησαΐας ὁ μεγαλοφρονέστατος διδαξάτω σε, ὅτι ἥξει Κύριος ὡς πῦρ, καὶ ὡς καταιγὶς τὰ ἅρματα αὐτοῦ, ἀποδοῦναι ἐκδίκησιν ἐν θυμῷ, καὶ ἀποσκορακισμὸν ἐν φλογὶ πυρός. Εἰ δὲ Ἑλληνικῆς [τινος] συμμορίας ἢ θρησκείας ὑπάρχεις ἐραστὴς, καὶ τῇ προσπαθείᾳ τὴν ἀληθῆ περιφρονεῖς ἐπαγγελίαν, Πλάτων σε καὶ οἱ ἐκείνου Κωκυτοὶ καὶ Πυριφλεγέθοντες καὶ τὰ ῥόθια τῶν πυριπνόων ποταμῶν σωφρονιζέτωσαν κύματα.
MARŌNI. Ei men tēs theias tynchaneis agelēs, hē theia Graphē paideuetō se, mē akrita einai ta entautha prattomena, all᾽ eis hēmeran phriktēn exetaseōs phylattomena. Ei de tēs Ioudaiōn meridos, Ēsaïas ho megalophronestatos didaxatō se, hoti hēxei Kyrios hōs pyr, kai hōs kataigis ta harmata autou, apodounai ekdikēsin en thymǭ, kai aposkorakismon en phlogi pyros. Ei de Hellēnikēs [tinos] symmorias ē thrēskeias hyparcheis erastēs, kai tę̄ prospatheią tēn alēthē periphroneis epangelian, Platōn se kai hoi ekeinou Kōkytoi kai Pyriphlegethontes kai ta rhothia tōn pyripnoōn potamōn sōphronizetōsan kymata.
To Maron. If you belong to the divine flock, let divine Scripture teach you that what is done here does not go unjudged but is kept for the dreadful day of examination. If you belong to the party of the Jews, let Isaiah, the most great-minded, teach you that "the Lord will come as fire, and his chariots as a whirlwind, to render vengeance in wrath and rebuke in flame of fire." If you are a lover of some Greek company or religion, and in your partiality despise the true promise, let Plato and his Cocytuses and Pyriphlegethons and the roaring waves of fire-breathing rivers chasten you.
Isa 66:15 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Whether Christian, Jew or pagan, Maron's own authorities teach that deeds will be judged.
- Isa 66:15. Plato's rivers of punishment: Phaedo 113–114 (cf. 1.96).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Latin look-alike letters in the OCR): κzł → καὶ.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Phaed. 113 (Plato (works); allusion)
Topics: The last judgment, Hell and eternal punishment
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.379 (PG 78 78:395; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-379). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-379
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.380PG 78 78:397
ΚΛΕΟΒΟΥΛΟ ΚΟΜΗΤΙ. Εἰς τὸ, ε Ἰδοὺ ἀφίεται ὁ οἶκος ὑμῶν ἔρημος. Ἡ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἐπίτασις ἀναγκάζει ὥσπερ τὴν θείαν καὶ ἀπαθῆ φύσιν ἐκ τῆς κατὰ φύσιν ἀγαθότητος, εἰς τὴν παρὰ φύσιν χωρεῖν ὀργὴν, εὐφρονέστατε, αὐτῇ μὲν ἀβούλητον, ἡμῖν δὲ κἂν οὕτως συμφέρουσαν. Τοῦτο καὶ Ἰουδαίοις λέγει ὁ Κύριος· • Ποσάκις ἠθέλησα ἐπισυναγαγεῖν ὑμᾶς, καὶ οὐκ ἠθελήσατε! Ἰδοὺ, ἀφίεται ὑμῖν ὁ οἶκος ὑμῶν ἔρημος. · Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ, φησὶν, οὐ δέχεσθε τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν, ἐπιγνώσεσθε τὴν ἐξουσίαν διὰ τῆς τιμωρίας.
KLEOBOULO KOMĒTI. Eis to, e Idou aphietai ho oikos hymōn erēmos. Hē tōn hamartēmatōn epitasis anankazei hōsper tēn theian kai apathē physin ek tēs kata physin agathotētos, eis tēn para physin chōrein orgēn, euphronestate, autę̄ men aboulēton, hēmin de kan houtōs sympherousan. Touto kai Ioudaiois legei ho Kyrios; • Posakis ēthelēsa episynagagein hymas, kai ouk ēthelēsate! Idou, aphietai hymin ho oikos hymōn erēmos. ; Epeidē gar, phēsin, ou dechesthe tēn philanthrōpian, epignōsesthe tēn exousian dia tēs timōrias.
To Cleobulus the count. [On "Behold, your house is left to you desolate."] The intensity of sins forces, as it were, the divine and passionless nature from its natural goodness into an unnatural anger, most sensible man, which is unwilled by it, but even so profitable to us. This the Lord also says to the Jews: "How often I wished to gather you, and you would not! Behold, your house is left to you desolate." For since, he says, you do not accept my love for mankind, you will recognize my authority through punishment.
Matt 23:37 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 23:38 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Persistent sin compels God's goodness to turn to punishment, as Christ's lament over Jerusalem shows.
- Matt 23:37–38.
Topics: The last judgment, God
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.380 (PG 78 78:397; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-380). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-380
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.381PG 78 78:397
ΜΑΡΤΙΝΙΑΝΩ. Κάλλιστον μὲν τὸ μὴ ἁμαρτεῖν, καὶ πρὸς Θεὸν ἔχον ἐγγύτητα · καλὸν δὲ καὶ τὸν ἁμαρτόντα γνωσιμαχῆσαι, καὶ ταχέως ἐξαναστῆναι τοῦ πτώματος. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν τοῦ προτέρου, ὡς ἀδυνάτου πάντως διήμαρτες, τοῦ δευτέρου, ὡς δυνατοῦ καὶ ῥᾳδίου ἐπιμελήθητι, μήποτέ σε ἡ τύραννος αἰχμαλωτεύσῃ ἀπόγνωσις
MARTINIANŌ. Kalliston men to mē hamartein, kai pros Theon echon engytēta ; kalon de kai ton hamartonta gnōsimachēsai, kai tacheōs exanastēnai tou ptōmatos. Epeidē toinyn tou proterou, hōs adynatou pantōs diēmartes, tou deuterou, hōs dynatou kai rhądiou epimelēthēti, mēpote se hē tyrannos aichmalōteusę̄ apognōsis
To Martinianus. It is best not to sin, and that has nearness to God; but it is also good for one who has sinned to admit it and rise quickly from the fall. Since, then, you have missed the first as altogether impossible, take care of the second as possible and easy, lest tyrannical despair take you captive.
Notes and citation
Summary: Not sinning is best, but repenting quickly is good; do not despair.
Topics: Repentance
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.381 (PG 78 78:397; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-381). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-381
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.382PG 78 78:397
ΤΩ ΑΥΤΩ ΚΑΙ ΖΩΣΙΜΟ. Εἰ μὲν ἐνεποίουν ὑμῖν ἁμαρτήματα ὁ κωλύων τὰ πολλὰ ἁμαρτήματα, [ὦ] ἀτίθασσοι καὶ ἀνάλγητοι, εἰκότως τὰς πρὸς ὑμᾶς μου διαλέξεις ἀπεστρέφεσθε, συγγενῆ μᾶλλον τὴν τῶν χρηστῶν ἐπιθυμίαν ἔχοντες, ἐξ οὗπερ ἴδιόν τι Θεὸς ἡμῖν ἐνεφύσησεν. Εἰ δὲ ἔλεγχός εἰσι τῶν οὐ καλῶν ὑμῶν πράξεων, ὡς ἔσοπτρον αἰσχρῷ καὶ ἰατρὸς ἀσθενοῦντι εὑρίσκομαι. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ, ὅτι τῆς κακίστης αὐτὸν ὑπομιμνήσκει μορφῆς, φεύγει τὸ ἔσοπτρον· ὁ δὲ, ὅτι τέμνει ἢ καίει τὸ πάθος, τὸν ἰατρὸν οὐκ ἀσμενίζει. Ἢ τοίνυν ἀλλάξατε τὴν δυσμορφίαν, καὶ ἀνακαλέσασθε τὴν ὑγίειαν, ἡ μέχρι παντὸς ὑμῖν ἔσοπτρον καὶ ἰατρὸς ἔσομαι.
TŌ AUTŌ KAI ZŌSIMO. Ei men enepoioun hymin hamartēmata ho kōlyōn ta polla hamartēmata, [ō] atithassoi kai analgētoi, eikotōs tas pros hymas mou dialexeis apestrephesthe, syngenē mallon tēn tōn chrēstōn epithymian echontes, ex houper idion ti Theos hēmin enephysēsen. Ei de elenchos eisi tōn ou kalōn hymōn praxeōn, hōs esoptron aischrǭ kai iatros asthenounti heuriskomai. Ho men gar, hoti tēs kakistēs auton hypomimnēskei morphēs, pheugei to esoptron; ho de, hoti temnei ē kaiei to pathos, ton iatron ouk asmenizei. Ē toinyn allaxate tēn dysmorphian, kai anakalesasthe tēn hygieian, hē mechri pantos hymin esoptron kai iatros esomai.
To the same and Zosimus. If he who hinders your many sins produced sins in you, you untamed and unfeeling men, you would rightly turn away from my words to you, having a desire for good things that is rather akin to you, from the breath of something of his own which God breathed into us. But if they are a reproof of your bad deeds, I am found like a mirror to an ugly man and a physician to a sick one. For the one flees the mirror because it reminds him of his ugliest form; the other does not welcome the physician because he cuts or burns the disease. Either change, then, your ugliness and recover your health, or I will be a mirror and a physician to you forever.
Gen 2:7 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Isidore's rebukes are a mirror and a physician to two clerics, who should reform rather than resent him.
- Gen 2:7. The second sentence is compressed; translated by sense.
Topics: Church discipline and penance, Repentance
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.382 (PG 78 78:397; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-382). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-382
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.383PG 78 78:399
ΦΙΛΑΓΡΙΩ. Περὶ γαστριμαργίας. Ἡ περιττὴ μετάληψις, οὐ βρῶσις, ἀλλὰ κόρος καὶ ἔστι καὶ καλεῖται. Κόρος δὲ, ὕβρεως πατήρ· ὕβρις δὲ, παθῶν, ὡς ἐν ἐρήμῳ πάλαι γεγενῆσθαι ἱστόρηται. Ἐχορτάσθησαν γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ ἀνέστησαν παίζειν. Ἵνα τοίνυν μὴ παίξωμεν ἀκρασίαν, δι' ἧς καὶ Θεοῦ κινδυνεύεται λήθη, τὸν αἴτιον τούτων χαλινώσωμεν κόρον, βρώσει ἀναγκαίᾳ καὶ ἐμμέτρῳ προσέχοντες, δι᾿ ἧς καὶ ἡ δύναμις προσέσται τῷ ὀνόματι, καὶ ἰσχὺν οὐχ ἕξει τῆς γαστριμάργου μέθης ὁ πόλεμος.
PhILAGRIŌ. Peri gastrimargias. Hē perittē metalēpsis, ou brōsis, alla koros kai esti kai kaleitai. Koros de, hybreōs patēr; hybris de, pathōn, hōs en erēmǭ palai gegenēsthai historētai. Echortasthēsan gar, phēsi, kai anestēsan paizein. Hina toinyn mē paixōmen akrasian, di' hēs kai Theou kindyneuetai lēthē, ton aition toutōn chalinōsōmen koron, brōsei anankaią kai emmetrǭ prosechontes, di᾿ hēs kai hē dynamis prosestai tǭ onomati, kai ischyn ouch hexei tēs gastrimargou methēs ho polemos.
To Philagrius. [On gluttony.] Excessive eating is not food but surfeit, both in fact and in name. Surfeit is the father of insolence, and insolence of passions, as is recorded to have happened long ago in the desert: "They were filled," it says, "and rose up to play." So that we may not play at intemperance, through which even forgetfulness of God is risked, let us bridle surfeit, the cause of these things, attending to necessary and measured food, through which strength too will be added to the name, and the war of gluttonous drunkenness will have no force.
Exod 32:6 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:7 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Surfeit breeds insolence and passion, as at the golden calf; eating should be necessary and measured.
- Exod 32:6; 1 Cor 10:7. A stray word ("Μάργος") at the end of the scan text is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray word from the next letter's heading): Μάργος → .
Topics: Self-control in food and drink
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.383 (PG 78 78:399; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-383). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-383
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.384PG 78 78:399
ΤΩ ΑΥΤΩ. Γαστριμαργία κέκληται, ὦ φιλότης, ἡ περιττότης. Γαστριμαργία δὲ ἐστιν, ἡ περὶ γαστέρα μανία. Ἐπεὶ μάργος ὁ μεμηνώς. Τοῦ χάριν [οὖν] τὴν ἔμμετρον καὶ εὐχάριστον τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ δωρεῶν ἀφιέντες μετάληψιν, τὸ μεμηνέναι περὶ τὰ πέμματα καὶ τὰς ὀψαρτυτικάς ματαιοτεχνίας σπουδάζομεν, οὐκ εἰς τροφὴν συντελούσας, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς πάθη ἐκβακχευούσας;
TŌ AUTŌ. Gastrimargia keklētai, ō philotēs, hē perittotēs. Gastrimargia de estin, hē peri gastera mania. Epei margos ho memēnōs. Tou charin [oun] tēn emmetron kai euchariston tōn tou Theou dōreōn aphientes metalēpsin, to memēnenai peri ta pemmata kai tas opsartytikas mataiotechnias spoudazomen, ouk eis trophēn syntelousas, all᾽ eis pathē ekbakcheuousas?
To the same. Excess, my friend, is called gastrimargia; and gastrimargia is madness about the belly, since margos means mad. Why, then, do we abandon the measured and thankful partaking of God's gifts and strive to be mad about cakes and the vain arts of cookery, which contribute nothing to nourishment but rave into passions?
Notes and citation
Summary: Gluttony is literally "belly-madness"; we should eat God's gifts with measure and thanks.
- The etymology plays on γαστήρ ("belly") and μάργος ("mad").
Topics: Self-control in food and drink
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.384 (PG 78 78:399; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-384). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-384
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.385PG 78 78:399
ΛΥΣΙΜΑΧΩ. ( λῶς ἔχειν, ἐγχεῖν οἶνον, τῶν ὑγρῶν τὸ θερμότατον, Ασθενοῦντι στομάχῳ ὀλίγον ἐπιδίδοσθαι οἶνον, ὁ σοφὸς ἐδίδαξε Παῦλος, μὴ δι᾽ ὑπερβολὴν ἑτέρας δεηθείη ἡ ἀμετρία ὑδροποσίας· τῷ δὲ ὑγιαίνοντι καὶ ζέοντι ἡλικίᾳ, καὶ ταῦτα μοναχῷ, οὗ μοι δοκεῖ και οἷον πυρὶ ἐπικαίοντας πῦρ. Ἐξ οὗ ὁρμαί τε ἄγριαι καὶ ἐπιθυμίαι φλεγμαίνουσαι ἀνακαίονται · καὶ προπέτεια ἀναζέουσα, δυσηνίους ἀποτελεῖ τοὺς ἀθλητὰς τῆς πραότητος.
LYSIMAChŌ. ( lōs echein, enchein oinon, tōn hygrōn to thermotaton, Asthenounti stomachǭ oligon epididosthai oinon, ho sophos edidaxe Paulos, mē di᾽ hyperbolēn heteras deētheiē hē ametria hydroposias; tǭ de hygiainonti kai zeonti hēlikią, kai tauta monachǭ, hou moi dokei kai hoion pyri epikaiontas pyr. Ex hou hormai te agriai kai epithymiai phlegmainousai anakaiontai ; kai propeteia anazeousa, dysēnious apotelei tous athlētas tēs praotētos.
To Lysimachus. The wise Paul taught that a little wine should be given to a weak stomach, lest through excess the immoderate drinking of water need another remedy. But for one who is healthy and boiling with youth, and a monk besides, it does not seem to me good to pour in wine, the hottest of liquids, like adding fire to fire. From it wild impulses and inflamed desires are kindled, and boiling rashness makes the athletes of gentleness hard to rein.
1 Tim 5:23 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul allowed a little wine for a weak stomach; a young healthy monk should not drink it, as it inflames the passions.
- 1 Tim 5:23. The scan has displaced a line ("…λῶς ἔχειν, ἐγχεῖν οἶνον, τῶν ὑγρῶν τὸ θερμότατον" printed at the beginning); translated in its evident order.
Topics: Self-control in food and drink, Monastic life
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.385 (PG 78 78:399; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-385). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-385
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.386PG 78 78:399
ΣΧΟΛΑΣΤΙΚΟ. Περὶ προσευχῆς· Προσευχὴ οὐ ῥήμασι ψιλοῖς, ἀλλὰ πράγμασι μᾶλλον χρηστοῖς κατευθύνεται. "Ὅρα γὰρ τὸν θειότατον Δαβὶδ κατὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀκακίαν ζητοῦντα κριθῆναι, καὶ τὸν εὐσεβέστατον Ἐζεκίαν, τὴν οἰκείαν εὐλάβειαν προσάγοντα ἱκέτιν, καὶ τὰς χήρας τὰς ἐν Ἰόππῃ τοῖς τῆς τεθνεώσης κατορθώμασι πρεσβευταῖς κεχρημένας. Εἰ οὕτως τὴν δέησίν σου πληρώσειας, εὐθυπορήσει πρὸς Θεὸν, καὶ ἐξοίσει ὡς φῶς τὴν δικαιοσύνην σου, καὶ τὸ κρῖμά σου ὡς μεσημβρίαν. ΤΩ ΑΥΤΩ. Εἰ καὶ τρανοτέρας ἔφης δεῖσθαι σαφηνείας, λευκότερον αὖθις λελέξεται. Ζητεῖς γενέσθαι σοι τὸν Θεὸν βοηθόν; δρα εἰ χρήζοντι δυνηθεὶς ἐβοήθησας. Αἰτεῖς πλοῦτον προστεθῆναί σοι παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ; βλέπε εἰ τὸν ὄντα χρηστῶς ᾠκονόμησας. Θέλεις φαίνεσθαί σοι τὸν κριτὴν εὐμενῆ; ἀμνησίκακος ἔσο ἐχθροῖς. Βούλει φιλανθρωπίας τυχεῖν; συγχώρει τοῖς ὑπευθύνοις αὐτός. Καλὸν γὰρ ἀμοιβῇ σώζεσθαι καὶ ὀφλήματι, ἀλλὰ μὴ ἑκάστοτε χάριτι · ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀγνώμονος.
SChOLASTIKO. Peri proseuchēs; Proseuchē ou rhēmasi psilois, alla pragmasi mallon chrēstois kateuthynetai. "Hora gar ton theiotaton Dabid kata tēn heautou akakian zētounta krithēnai, kai ton eusebestaton Ezekian, tēn oikeian eulabeian prosagonta hiketin, kai tas chēras tas en Ioppę̄ tois tēs tethneōsēs katorthōmasi presbeutais kechrēmenas. Ei houtōs tēn deēsin sou plērōseias, euthyporēsei pros Theon, kai exoisei hōs phōs tēn dikaiosynēn sou, kai to krima sou hōs mesēmbrian. TŌ AUTŌ. Ei kai tranoteras ephēs deisthai saphēneias, leukoteron authis lelexetai. Zēteis genesthai soi ton Theon boēthon? dra ei chrēzonti dynētheis eboēthēsas. Aiteis plouton prostethēnai soi par᾿ autou? blepe ei ton onta chrēstōs ǭkonomēsas. Theleis phainesthai soi ton kritēn eumenē? amnēsikakos eso echthrois. Boulei philanthrōpias tychein? synchōrei tois hypeuthynois autos. Kalon gar amoibę̄ sōzesthai kai ophlēmati, alla mē hekastote chariti ; hoper estin agnōmonos.
To a scholasticus. [On prayer.] Prayer is directed aright not by bare words but rather by good deeds. See the most divine David asking to be judged according to his innocence, and the most pious Hezekiah bringing his own reverence as a suppliant, and the widows in Joppa using the dead woman's good works as intercessors. If you fulfil your petition so, it will go straight to God, and he will bring forth your righteousness as light and your judgment as the noonday. [Letter 1.387] To the same. Since you said you needed a clearer explanation, it will be said more plainly again. Do you seek to have God as your helper? See whether you helped one in need when you could. Do you ask for wealth to be added to you by him? Look whether you managed well what you have. Do you wish the judge to appear gracious to you? Bear no grudge against your enemies. Do you wish to obtain love for mankind? Forgive those liable to you yourself. For it is good to be saved by return and as a debt, and not every time by favor alone; which is the mark of an ungrateful man.
Ps 26:1 (25:1 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 38:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 9:39 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 37:6 (36:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 6:14 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 6:38 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Prayer is made effective by good deeds, as David, Hezekiah and the widows of Joppa show; a second letter spells out that we receive from God as we act toward others.
- Ps 26:1; Isa 38:3; Acts 9:39; Ps 37:6 (36:6 LXX).
- Letter 1.387 begins at "To the same"; the scan prints its numeral (ΤΠΖʹ, 387), removed. Matt 6:14; Luke 6:38.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter numeral from the heading; stray letter from the OCR): κατορθώμασι Ο πρεσβευταῖς → κατορθώμασι πρεσβευταῖς; ΤΠΖ'. – → .
Topics: Prayer, Good works and merit, Forgiveness of sins
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.386 (PG 78 78:399; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-386). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-386
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.388PG 78 78:401
ΚΑΠΙΤΩΛΙΝΩ. Εἰ καὶ νέον Δωὴκ ὁ παμφόρος χρόνος ἐξέβρασσεν · ἀλλὰ σὲ Σαούλ γενέσθαι ἱεροκτόνον οὐκ εὔχομαι. Ἱερεὺς γὰρ ἀκατηγόρητον τὴν πρὸς πάντας ἰσότητα ὀφείλει κεκτῆσθαι, οἷα Θεοῦ λειτουργὸς, τοῦ πᾶσιν ὄντος ἀγαθοῦ. Παῦσαι τοίνυν φλεγμαίνων κατὰ τοῦ γέροντος δύο λαμπρὰ κατορθώσαντος, καὶ σὲ ἀνομῆσαι κωλύσαντος, καὶ ἄνθρωπον κινδυνεύοντα σώσαντος.
KAPITŌLINŌ. Ei kai neon Dōēk ho pamphoros chronos exebrassen ; alla se Saoul genesthai hieroktonon ouk euchomai. Hiereus gar akatēgorēton tēn pros pantas isotēta opheilei kektēsthai, hoia Theou leitourgos, tou pasin ontos agathou. Pausai toinyn phlegmainōn kata tou gerontos dyo lampra katorthōsantos, kai se anomēsai kōlysantos, kai anthrōpon kindyneuonta sōsantos.
To Capitolinus. Even if all-bearing time has cast up a new Doeg, I do not pray that you become a Saul, a killer of priests. For a priest ought to have an irreproachable equality toward all, as minister of God, who is good to all. Stop, then, raging against the old man who did two brilliant things: kept you from transgressing and saved a man in danger.
1 Sam 22:18 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 22:9 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A man incited by an informer against an old priest is warned not to become another Saul, killer of the priests.
- 1 Sam 22:9–19.
Topics: Church office, Anger and envy
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.388 (PG 78 78:401; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-388). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-388
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.389PG 78 78:401
ΘΗΡΑΣΙΩ. Περὶ ἱερέων. Ἡδέως ἄν σε ἠρόμην τὸν φιλοσκώμμονα, καὶ πικρὸν ἡμῶν δικαστὴν, εἴ σε βασιλεὺς πρὸς ἔπαλξιν ἔθετο, καὶ πύργου πόλεως φύλακα, ὑπωρύσσετο δὲ οὗτος καὶ ἐτινάσσετο, ὥστε βάσιμον ποιῆσαι τὴν πόλιν ἐχθροῖς αὐτοῦ, οὐκ ἂν πᾶσιν ἐχρήσω άμυντηρίοις οἷς τε εἶχες ἀποκειμένοις, οἷς τε ἐφευρίσκειν ἠπόρεις, εἴργων καὶ βάλλων, καὶ τὴν ἐγχείρησιν τρέπων, τῇ τε πόλει καὶ σαυτῷ ποιῶν τὸ ἀκίνδυνον, καὶ βασιλεῖ τηρῶν τὸ εὐάρεστον; Ἡμῖν δὲ νεμεσᾷς, οὓς Θεὸς τῆς αὐτῆς Ἐκκλησίας προύστήσατο διδασκάλους, ὅτι ᾿Αρείῳ μαχόμεθα, μὴ μόνον πολεμοῦντι τῇ ποίμνῃ τῆς εὐσεβείας, ἀλλ᾽ ἤδη καὶ πολλοὺς ἀνῃρηκότι. Ἐμοὶ μὲν οὖν ἅπας καταπεφρόνηται κίνδυνος ὑπὲρ τούτου, καὶ πάντα μᾶλλον πράττων παυσαίμην, ἢ ἐκεῖνον, ὅση δύναμις, παίων. Ἀκοαί με σκληραὶ ἐξετάραξαν, ἀπευκτά τινα ἀπαγγείλασαι. Φασί σε τινες οὕτω μεμηνέναι, καὶ τῆς φρενὸς ἐκτετράφθαι, ὥστε βούλεσθαι, τὸ παιδίον ἐκεῖνο τὸ πάσης παιδείας γενόμενον παρὰ Θεοῦ δεκτικὸν, εἰς ὅπλα ἀγαγεῖν, καὶ στρατείαν εἴωνον καὶ κατάπτυστον, καὶ θανάτου τυγχάνουσαν παίγνιον. Εἰ τοίνυν μὴ πάντὴ τῶν λογισμῶν ζημίαν ὑπέμεινας, ἀπόστηθι τῆς ἀκρίτου βουλῆς· · μὴ σβέσῃς λύχνον, καλῶς ἀναφθῆναι σπουδάζοντα· ἀλλὰ τοῖς λόγοις [τῷ λογικῷ] προσκαρτερεῖν παραχώρησον. Ἐκείνην δὲ τὴν ἀξίαν, ἢ μᾶλλον τιμωρίαν, ἄλλοις τισὶν ἀγύρταις προξένει, οἷς ἡ κοινὴ συνήρμοσται ἀλογία. ΔΟΜΕΣΤΙΩ ΙΑΤΡΟ. Τέχνην ἐπαγέλλῃ φιλόσοφον, γνώμην δὲ μετέρχῃ κακόσχολον, μικρὰ θεραπεύων τραυμάτια, μεγάλα δὲ νοσῶν ἐξελκώματα. Εἰ τοίνυν ἰατρὸς βούλει φανῆναι τῷ πράγματι, σαυτοῦ τὸν τρόπον θεράπευσον. Ψυχρὸν γὰρ καὶ γελοῖον καὶ ἄχαρι, ἄλλους πειρᾶσθαι ἰᾶσθαι, ἑαυτὸν δὲ παρορᾶν ἀσθενοῦντα.
ThĒRASIŌ. Peri hiereōn. Hēdeōs an se ēromēn ton philoskōmmona, kai pikron hēmōn dikastēn, ei se basileus pros epalxin etheto, kai pyrgou poleōs phylaka, hypōrysseto de houtos kai etinasseto, hōste basimon poiēsai tēn polin echthrois autou, ouk an pasin echrēsō amyntēriois hois te eiches apokeimenois, hois te epheuriskein ēporeis, eirgōn kai ballōn, kai tēn encheirēsin trepōn, tę̄ te polei kai sautǭ poiōn to akindynon, kai basilei tērōn to euareston? Hēmin de nemesąs, hous Theos tēs autēs Ekklēsias proustēsato didaskalous, hoti ᾿Areiǭ machometha, mē monon polemounti tę̄ poimnę̄ tēs eusebeias, all᾽ ēdē kai pollous anę̄rēkoti. Emoi men oun hapas katapephronētai kindynos hyper toutou, kai panta mallon prattōn pausaimēn, ē ekeinon, hosē dynamis, paiōn. Akoai me sklērai exetaraxan, apeukta tina apangeilasai. Phasi se tines houtō memēnenai, kai tēs phrenos ektetraphthai, hōste boulesthai, to paidion ekeino to pasēs paideias genomenon para Theou dektikon, eis hopla agagein, kai strateian eiōnon kai kataptyston, kai thanatou tynchanousan paignion. Ei toinyn mē pantē tōn logismōn zēmian hypemeinas, apostēthi tēs akritou boulēs; ; mē sbesę̄s lychnon, kalōs anaphthēnai spoudazonta; alla tois logois [tǭ logikǭ] proskarterein parachōrēson. Ekeinēn de tēn axian, ē mallon timōrian, allois tisin agyrtais proxenei, hois hē koinē synērmostai alogia. DOMESTIŌ IATRO. Technēn epagellę̄ philosophon, gnōmēn de meterchę̄ kakoscholon, mikra therapeuōn traumatia, megala de nosōn exelkōmata. Ei toinyn iatros boulei phanēnai tǭ pragmati, sautou ton tropon therapeuson. Psychron gar kai geloion kai achari, allous peirasthai iasthai, heauton de paroran asthenounta.
To Therasius. [On priests.] I would gladly ask you, who love to mock and are our bitter judge: if the emperor had set you on the battlements and as guard of a city tower, and this tower were being undermined and shaken so as to make the city passable for his enemies, would you not use every defense, both those you had in store and those you were at a loss to devise, holding off and striking and turning back the attempt, securing the city and yourself from danger and keeping the emperor's favor? Yet you are indignant with us, whom God set over the same church as teachers, because we fight Arius, who is not only warring on the flock of godliness but has already killed many. For my part I have despised every danger for this, and would sooner stop doing anything else than stop striking him with all my strength. [Another letter] Harsh reports have troubled me, announcing dreadful things. Some say that you are so mad and out of your mind as to wish to lead into arms that boy, who has become receptive from God of every instruction, and into a cheap and contemptible soldiering, which is death's plaything. If, then, you have not entirely lost your reason, give up this thoughtless plan; do not quench a lamp eager to be well lit, but allow him to persevere in learning. That rank, or rather punishment, procure for some other vagabonds, to whom common unreason is suited. [Another letter] To Domestius the physician. You profess a philosophical art, but pursue a perverse mind, healing small wounds while sick with great ulcers. If, then, you wish to appear a physician in fact, heal your own character. For it is cold, laughable and graceless to try to heal others while overlooking oneself when sick.
Luke 4:23 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 5:15 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Three letters: Isidore defends his fight against Arianism as a guard's duty; he urges a father not to send a gifted boy into the army; and he tells a physician to heal his own character.
- Two further letters begin inside this passage, at "Harsh reports" and at "To Domestius"; their numbers were not recovered (the scan prints a garbled numeral, "THA΄", before the second, removed). Luke 4:23.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (garbled letter numeral from the heading; word split by OCR): THA΄. – → ; και ταπεφρόνηται → καταπεφρόνηται; συνήρ μοσται → συνήρμοσται.
Topics: Arianism, Heresy, Church office, War and military service, Classical learning and education
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.389 (PG 78 78:401; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-389). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-389
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.390PG 78 78:403
ΔΟΣΙΘΕΩ ΑΡΧΙΜΑΝΔΡΙΤΗ. Περὶ μοναχῶν διακόνων. Αἱ τῶν βρωμάτων διακονίαι πολλοῖς ὑπῆρξαν αἴτιαι γαστριμαργίας. Οὐ πάντες γὰρ νηφόντως προσέρχονται τῷ ἀγῶνι. Τὸν ἀδελφὸν οὖν ᾿Αμβρόσιον ἀπόστησον τῆς τῶν ξένων ὑπηρεσίας, μὴ ξενώσῃς αὐτὸν σαυτοῦ δι' ἐκείνης
DOSIThEŌ ARChIMANDRITĒ. Peri monachōn diakonōn. Hai tōn brōmatōn diakoniai pollois hypērxan aitiai gastrimargias. Ou pantes gar nēphontōs proserchontai tǭ agōni. Ton adelphon oun ᾿Ambrosion apostēson tēs tōn xenōn hypēresias, mē xenōsę̄s auton sautou di' ekeinēs
To Dositheus the archimandrite. [On monks who serve.] Serving food has been a cause of gluttony for many; for not all come to the contest soberly. So remove brother Ambrose from serving the guests, lest you make him a stranger to himself through it …
Notes and citation
Summary: An archimandrite is advised to remove a monk from serving guests, since handling food tempts to gluttony.
- The wordplay is on ξένοι ("guests") and ξενόω ("estrange"). The letter breaks off in the scan.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split by OCR): ᾿Αμβρό σιον → ᾿Αμβρόσιον; ξενώ σῃς → ξενώσῃς.
Topics: Monastic life, Self-control in food and drink, Hospitality
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.390 (PG 78 78:403; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-390). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-390
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.391PG 78 78:403
ΚΥΡΙΛΛΩ. Ἡ τοῦ πρώτου θαύματος ποίησις, ἁπλῆ τῷ Κυρίῳ οὐ γέγονεν. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τῷ γάμῳ τὴν χρείαν παρέσχετο, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ νόμῳ τὸ λεῖπον ἐπλήρωσεν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ἐν ὕδασι μόνον ἐβάπτιζεν, αὐτὸς τῷ οἰκείῳ αἵματι ἐτελείωσε, κιρνῶν ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὰ ἀμφότερα, καὶ ἑνῶν τὸν νόμον τῇ χάριτι.
KYRILLŌ. Hē tou prōtou thaumatos poiēsis, haplē tǭ Kyriǭ ou gegonen. Ei gar kai tǭ gamǭ tēn chreian parescheto, alla kai tǭ nomǭ to leipon eplērōsen. Epeidē gar ekeinos en hydasi monon ebaptizen, autos tǭ oikeiǭ haimati eteleiōse, kirnōn en heautǭ ta amphotera, kai henōn ton nomon tę̄ chariti.
To Cyril. The working of the first miracle was not a simple thing for the Lord. For though he supplied the need of the wedding, he also filled up what was lacking to the law. For since the law baptized only in waters, he perfected it by his own blood, mixing both in himself and uniting the law with grace.
John 2:9 (allusion, high confidence) · John 19:34 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Water turned into wine at Cana signifies Christ perfecting the law's washings with his blood, uniting law and grace.
- John 2:1–11; John 19:34.
Topics: Miracles, The law of Moses, Grace, Marriage
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.391 (PG 78 78:403; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-391). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-391
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.392PG 78 78:403
ΕΚΔΙΚΙΩ. Οἱ βόες μὴ κημούμενοι, προθυμότερον τὸν ἅμητον κατεργάζονται· τῶν δὲ πόνων μετέχειν κωλυόμενοι, ἀργοῦσε καὶ ἀποτρέπονται. Καὶ διδάσκαλοι ἀπειθείᾳ μὴ ὑβριζόμενοι, περιχαρῶς τῶν κόπων ἀνέχονται, καρπὸν δὲ τῶν πονηθέντων μὴ βλέποντες, ὀκνοῦσι διδάσκειν ἀνόνητα. Εἰ τοίνυν βούλει μαθεῖν ἃ νῦν πάλιν ἠρώτησας, δεῖξον ἔργῳ ἃ πρότερον ἔμαθες. Εἰ δὲ φαίνῃ ἐκεῖνα μὴ ἐπιστάμενος, εἰς τί κέρδος καὶ ταῦτά σοι σαφηνίσομεν;
EKDIKIŌ. Hoi boes mē kēmoumenoi, prothymoteron ton hamēton katergazontai; tōn de ponōn metechein kōlyomenoi, argouse kai apotrepontai. Kai didaskaloi apeitheią mē hybrizomenoi, pericharōs tōn kopōn anechontai, karpon de tōn ponēthentōn mē blepontes, oknousi didaskein anonēta. Ei toinyn boulei mathein ha nyn palin ērōtēsas, deixon ergǭ ha proteron emathes. Ei de phainę̄ ekeina mē epistamenos, eis ti kerdos kai tauta soi saphēnisomen?
To Ecdicius. Oxen not muzzled work the harvest more eagerly; but when prevented from sharing in the toils, they are idle and turn away. Teachers too, when not insulted by disobedience, bear their labors joyfully; but when they see no fruit of their toil, they hesitate to teach to no profit. If, then, you wish to learn what you have asked again, show in deed what you learned before. But if you appear not to know that, for what gain should we explain this to you?
Deut 25:4 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 9:9 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A teacher who sees no fruit loses heart; the questioner must first practice what he has learned.
- Deut 25:4; 1 Cor 9:9.
Topics: Classical learning and education, The Christian life
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.392 (PG 78 78:403; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-392). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-392
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-isidore-pelusium-epistulae-1-392) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.
1.393PG 78 78:403
ΑΥΣΟΝΙΟ ΚΟΡΡΙΚΤΩΡΙ. Χαλκῇ μὲν εἰκόνι βασιλεύς σε ἡμείψατο, χρυσῷ στιλβώσας τὸ γέρας πρὸς ἔκλαμψιν. Οὐδὲν γὰρ τούτου λαμπρότερον εἶδε τῶν ἀγαθῶν σοι πόνων φιλοτιμήσασθαι ἔπαθλον. Ὅσα δὲ τὴν ἐνταῦθα φθοράν ὑπερβέβηκε, Χριστὸς ἐκεῖθεν φυλάττει σοι, ἀκήρατον ζωὴν, ἀπέραντον τρυφὴν, καὶ δόξαν ἀΐδιον, οἷς οὐκ ἔστιν ἀλλοίωσις.
AUSONIO KORRIKTŌRI. Chalkę̄ men eikoni basileus se hēmeipsato, chrysǭ stilbōsas to geras pros eklampsin. Ouden gar toutou lamproteron eide tōn agathōn soi ponōn philotimēsasthai epathlon. Hosa de tēn entautha phthoran hyperbebēke, Christos ekeithen phylattei soi, akēraton zōēn, aperanton tryphēn, kai doxan aïdion, hois ouk estin alloiōsis.
To Ausonius the corrector. The emperor has rewarded you with a bronze statue, polishing the honor with gold for brilliance; for he saw no prize more splendid than this to bestow on your good labors. But all that surpasses the corruption here Christ keeps for you there: pure life, boundless delight and everlasting glory, in which there is no change.
Notes and citation
Summary: Congratulations on an honorary statue, with a reminder of the incorruptible rewards Christ keeps.
Topics: Rulers and the state, Heaven and eternal reward
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 1.393 (PG 78 78:403; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-393). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/1-393
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne (PG 78; PG 72), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek OCR; no public-domain English exists, so the translation was re-read against the Greek.