Letters 3.75
Greek text: PG 78.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 3
3.75PG 78 78:781
ΤΩ ΑΥΤΩ. Εἰς τὸ, « Παραστήσατε τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν θυσίαν ζῶσαν, εὐάρεστον τῷ Θεῷ. Ἐκείνους, ὦ θαυμάσιε, ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλος ὁρίζεται ἱερέας, τοὺς μὴ θύμασι τὴν εὐσέβειαν, ἀλλὰ γυμνῇ πληροῦντας τῇ φύσει, καὶ μόνους καθαρῶς ἐκ τῶν σωμάτων οἴκοθεν σπένδοντας. Θῦμα γάρ κάλλιστον, τὸ τὴν γνώμην ἔχειν εὐαγῆ, καὶ τὴν σάρκα ἁγνήν. Διὸ καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἔφη, ὅπερ μαθεῖν ἠθέλησας· « Παραστήσατε τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν θυσίαν ζῶσαν, εὐάρεστον τῷ Θεῷ, τὴν λογικὴν λατρείαν ὑμῶν. Οὐ γὰρ ἱερεῦσι μόνοις γράφων, ὡς ἡγῇ, ἐπέστειλε ταῦτα, ἀλλ᾽ ὁλοκλήρῳ Ἐκκλησίᾳ. Ἕκαστον γὰρ ἑαυτοῦ ἐν τούτῳ τῷ μέρει ἱερέα εἶναι προσέταξεν. Εἰ δὲ τοὺς ὑπηκόους ἡ ἁγνεία ἱερέας χειροτονεῖ, ἡ λαγνεία δηλονότι τοὺς ἱερέας ἀποχειροτονεῖ. Καὶ τοῦτο μὲν οἱ θεσμοὶ διαγορεύουσι · γίνεται δὲ τοῦτο οὐ πάνυ · δι᾽ ἂς δ' αἰτίας οὐκ ἐμὸν λέγειν. Οἱ δὲ τὴν θείαν ἱερωσύνην ἐστεμμένοι, καὶ τῆς προεδρίας ἀξίως τετυχηκότες, εἰ καὶ τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἁγνείαν φυλάξοιεν, ὄντως ἱερῶν εἰσιν ἱερώτεροι. "Ωσπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς Παλαιᾶς Διαθήκης ἱερᾶσθαι οὐκ ἐξῆν, εἰ μὴ τοῖς ἱερεῦσι μόνοις· ἐν δὲ τῷ καιρῷ τοῦ Πάσχα, πάντες τρόπον τινὰ ἱερωσύνῃ ἐτιμῶντο (ἔκαστος γὰρ τὸ πρόβατον ἔθυεν) · οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς Καινῆς καὶ ἀδιαδόχου, ἔχουσι μὲν κατ' ἐξαίρετον τὴν ἱερουργίαν τῆς ἀναιμάκτου θυσίας, οἷς ἔξεστι ταύτην προσενεγκεῖν· ἕκαστος δὲ οἰκείου σώματος ἱερεὺς κεχειροτόνηται, οὐχ ἵνα ἀχειροτόνητος ἐπιπηδοίη τῇ τῶν ὑπηκόων ἀρχῇ, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα τῆς κακίας ἄρξας, τὸ σῶμα τέμενος ἡ ἱερὸν τῆς ἁγνείας κατασκευάσῃ.
TŌ AUTŌ. Eis to, « Parastēsate ta sōmata hymōn thysian zōsan, euareston tǭ Theǭ. Ekeinous, ō thaumasie, ho thespesios Paulos horizetai hiereas, tous mē thymasi tēn eusebeian, alla gymnę̄ plērountas tę̄ physei, kai monous katharōs ek tōn sōmatōn oikothen spendontas. Thyma gar kalliston, to tēn gnōmēn echein euagē, kai tēn sarka hagnēn. Dio kai tout᾽ ephē, hoper mathein ēthelēsas; « Parastēsate ta sōmata hymōn thysian zōsan, euareston tǭ Theǭ, tēn logikēn latreian hymōn. Ou gar hiereusi monois graphōn, hōs hēgę̄, epesteile tauta, all᾽ holoklērǭ Ekklēsią. Hekaston gar heautou en toutǭ tǭ merei hierea einai prosetaxen. Ei de tous hypēkoous hē hagneia hiereas cheirotonei, hē lagneia dēlonoti tous hiereas apocheirotonei. Kai touto men hoi thesmoi diagoreuousi ; ginetai de touto ou pany ; di᾽ as d' aitias ouk emon legein. Hoi de tēn theian hierōsynēn estemmenoi, kai tēs proedrias axiōs tetychēkotes, ei kai tēn tou sōmatos hagneian phylaxoien, ontōs hierōn eisin hierōteroi. "Ōsper gar epi tēs Palaias Diathēkēs hierasthai ouk exēn, ei mē tois hiereusi monois; en de tǭ kairǭ tou Pascha, pantes tropon tina hierōsynę̄ etimōnto (ekastos gar to probaton ethyen) ; houtō kai epi tēs Kainēs kai adiadochou, echousi men kat' exaireton tēn hierourgian tēs anaimaktou thysias, hois exesti tautēn prosenenkein; hekastos de oikeiou sōmatos hiereus kecheirotonētai, ouch hina acheirotonētos epipēdoiē tę̄ tōn hypēkoōn archę̄, all᾽ hina tēs kakias arxas, to sōma temenos hē hieron tēs hagneias kataskeuasę̄.
To the same. [On "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, pleasing to God."] The divine Paul, admirable friend, defines as priests those who fulfil piety not with victims but with bare nature, and who alone pour out a pure libation from their own bodies, from their own store. For the finest victim is to have a holy mind and pure flesh. That is why he also said what you wished to learn: "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, pleasing to God, your reasonable worship." For he did not write this only to priests, as you suppose, but to the whole church. For he commanded each one to be in this respect his own priest. And if purity ordains subjects as priests, plainly lust unordains priests. The ordinances declare this; but it is not quite what happens; for what reasons, it is not for me to say. But those crowned with the divine priesthood, who have worthily obtained the chief seat, if they also guard the purity of the body, are truly more priestly than priests. For just as under the Old Covenant it was permitted to none but the priests to exercise the priesthood, yet at the time of the Passover all were in a way honoured with priesthood (for each sacrificed the lamb), so too under the New Covenant, which has no successor, those to whom it is permitted to offer the bloodless sacrifice have its ministry as a special privilege; but each one has been ordained priest of his own body, not so that he may leap, unordained, upon rule over those under authority, but so that, ruling over vice, he may make his body a precinct and temple of purity.
Rom 12:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 12:3 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Rom 12:1 makes every believer priest of his own body, offering purity, while the ordained alone offer the bloodless sacrifice.
- Rom 12:1. The Passover lamb: Exod 12:3–6. "Bloodless sacrifice" is the Eucharist.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split by OCR): ἠθέ λησας → ἠθέλησας.
Topics: Church office, Eucharist, Sexual morality, Interpreting Scripture
Cite (SBL): Isidore of Pelusium, Ep. 3.75 (PG 78 78:781; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/3-75). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/isidore-pelusium-epistulae/3-75
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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.