On the Workmanship of God 7.1–12.17
Latin text: CSEL 27.1 (Latin text: S. Brandt and G. Laubmann (CSEL 27.1, 1893), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7 (1886).
Chapter 7
7.1CSEL 27.1:24
Deus igitur solidamenta corporis quae ossa dicuntur nodata et adiuncta inuicem neruis adligauit atque constrinxit, quibus mens, si aut excurrere aut resistere uellet, tamquam retinaculis uteretur et quidem nullo labore nulloque conatu, sed uel minimo motu totius corporis molem temperaret ac flecteret.
God, then, bound and tied together with sinews the solid frame of the body, which is called the bones, knotted and joined to one another, so that the mind might use them like reins whether it wished to run forward or to hold back, and indeed might govern and turn the mass of the whole body with no labor and no effort, but by the slightest movement.
Notes and citation
Summary: God joined the bones with sinews so that the mind could steer the whole body with the slightest effort.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 7.1 (CSEL 27.1:24; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-7-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
7.2CSEL 27.1:24–25
haec autem uisceribus operuit ut quemque locum decebat, ut quae solida essent, conclusa tegerentur. item uisceribus ipsis uenas admiscuit quasi riuos per corpus omne diuisos, per quas discurrens umor et sanguis uniuersa membra sucis uitalibus inrigaret, et ea uiscera formata in eum modum qui uni cuique generi ac loco aptus fuit, superiecta pelle contexit: quam uel sola pulchritudine decorauit uel setis adoperuit uel squamis muniuit uel plumis insignibus adornauit.
These he covered with flesh as suited each place, so that the solid parts might be enclosed and protected. Likewise he mingled veins with the flesh itself, like streams distributed through the whole body, so that moisture and blood running through them might water all the limbs with life-giving juices. And having shaped this flesh in the manner fitting for each kind and each place, he covered it with a skin laid over it, which he either adorned with beauty alone, or covered with bristles, or armed with scales, or decked with splendid feathers.
Notes and citation
Summary: God covered the bones with flesh, watered it with veins and blood, and clothed it with skin, hair, scales, or feathers.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 7.2 (CSEL 27.1:24–25; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-7-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
7.3CSEL 27.1:25
illud uero commentum dei mirabile, quod una dispositio et unus habitus innumerabiles imaginum praeferat uarietates. nam in omnibus fere quae spirant eadem series et ordo membrorum est:
But this is a wonderful contrivance of God: that one arrangement and one form display countless varieties of appearance. For in almost all things that breathe there is the same sequence and order of the limbs:
Notes and citation
Summary: One basic body plan yields countless different appearances among living creatures.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 7.3 (CSEL 27.1:25; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-7-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
7.4CSEL 27.1:25
primum enim caput et huic adnexa ceruix, item collo pectus adiunctum et ex eo prominentes armi, adhaerens pectori uenter, item uentri subnexa genitalia, ultimo loco femina pedesque.
first the head, and joined to it the neck; then the breast attached to the neck, and the shoulders projecting from it; the belly clinging to the breast; then the genitals set beneath the belly; and in the last place the thighs and feet.
Notes and citation
Summary: Almost every animal has the same order of parts, from head down to feet.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter misread in the digital text (armi, shoulders)): prominentes anni → prominentes armi.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 7.4 (CSEL 27.1:25; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-7-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
7.5CSEL 27.1:25
nec solum membra suum tenorem ac situm in omnibus seruant, sed etiam partes membrorum. nam in uno capite ipso certam sedem possident aures, certam oculi, nares item, os quoque et in eo dentes et lingua. quae omnia cum sint eadem in cunctis animantibus, tamen infinita et multiplex diuersitas figurarum est, quod ea quae dixi aut productiora aut contractiora liniamentis uarie differentibus conprehensa sunt. quid?
And not only do the limbs keep their course and position in all, but so do the parts of the limbs. For in the head alone the ears hold a fixed seat, the eyes a fixed seat, and likewise the nostrils, the mouth too, and in it the teeth and tongue. Though all these are the same in every living creature, yet there is an infinite and manifold diversity of shapes, because the things I have mentioned are drawn out longer or shorter and bounded by variously differing lines. What then?
Notes and citation
Summary: Even the parts of the head sit in the same places in every animal, yet their shapes vary without end.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 7.5 (CSEL 27.1:25; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-7-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
7.6CSEL 27.1:25–26
illud nonne diuinum, quod in tanta uiuentium multitudine unum quodque animal in sui generis specie pulcherrimum est, ut si quid uicissim de altero in alterum transferatur, nihil inpeditius ad utilitatem, nihil deformius ad aspectum uideri necesse sit? ut si elephanto ceruicem prolixam tribuas aut camelo breuem uel si serpentibus pedes aut pilos addas, in quibus porrecti aequaliter corporis longitudo nihil aliud exigebat nisi ut maculis terga distincti et squamarum leuitate suffulti in lubricos tractus sinuosis flexibus laberentur.
Is it not divine that, in so great a multitude of living things, each animal is most beautiful in the form of its own kind, so that if anything were transferred in turn from one to another, nothing would necessarily seem more hindering for use, nothing uglier to look at? As if you were to give the elephant a long neck or the camel a short one, or add feet or hair to serpents, in whom the length of a body stretched out evenly required nothing else than that, their backs marked with spots and borne up on smooth scales, they should glide in slippery tracks with winding coils.
Notes and citation
Summary: Each creature is most beautiful in its own form; swapping features between kinds would only make them ugly and awkward.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 7.6 (CSEL 27.1:25–26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-7-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
7.7CSEL 27.1:26
in quadrupedibus autem idem opifex contextum spinae a summo capite deductum longius extra corpus eduxit et acuminauit in caudam, aut ut obscenae corporis partes uel propter foeditatem tegerentur uel propter teneritudinem munirentur aut ut animalia quaedam minuta et nocentia motu eius arcerentur a corpore: quod membrum si detrahas, inperfectum fit animal ac debile.
In four-footed animals, moreover, the same maker drew the column of the spine, led down from the top of the head, further out beyond the body and tapered it into a tail, either so that the shameful parts of the body might be covered because of their foulness or protected because of their tenderness, or so that certain small and harmful creatures might be driven off from the body by its motion. If you take this limb away, the animal becomes imperfect and weak.
Notes and citation
Summary: The tail of four-footed animals covers and protects their bodies and drives off pests.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 7.7 (CSEL 27.1:26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-7-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
7.8CSEL 27.1:26
ubi autem ratio et manus est, tam non est id necessarium quam indumentum pilorum: adeo in suo quaeque genere aptissime congruunt, ut neque nudo quadrupede neque homine tecto excogitari quicquam turpius possit.
But where there is reason and a hand, it is no more necessary than a covering of hair: so fittingly does each thing suit its own kind that nothing uglier could be devised than a naked four-footed beast or a hair-covered man.
Notes and citation
Summary: Man, having reason and hands, needs neither tail nor fur; each kind is fitted to its own nature.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 7.8 (CSEL 27.1:26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-7-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
7.9CSEL 27.1:26–27
sed tamen cum ipsa nuditas hominis mire ad pulchritudinem ualeat, non tamen etiam capiti congruebat. texit ergo illud pilo et quia in summo futurum erat, quasi summum aedificii culmen ornauit. qui ornatus non est in orbem coactus aut in figuram pillei teres factus, ne quibusdam partibus nudis esset informis, sed alicubi effusus alicubi retractus pro cuiusque loci decentia.
Yet although man's very nakedness is wonderfully conducive to beauty, it did not suit the head as well. So he covered it with hair, and since it was to be at the top, he adorned it like the crowning summit of a building. This ornament is not gathered into a circle or made round in the shape of a cap, lest it be unsightly with some parts bare, but is spread out in some places and drawn back in others, as befits each place.
Notes and citation
Summary: God covered man's head with hair as the fitting crown of his body, arranged to suit each part.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 7.9 (CSEL 27.1:26–27; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-7-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
7.10CSEL 27.1:27
frons ergo uallata per circuitum et a temporibus effusi ante aures capilli et earum summa pars in coronae modum cincta et occipitium omne contectum speciem miri decoris ostentat.
So the brow fenced round about, the hair spreading from the temples in front of the ears, the upper part of the ears encircled like a crown, and the whole back of the head covered, display an appearance of wonderful comeliness.
Notes and citation
Summary: The arrangement of hair around brow, temples, ears, and the back of the head is wonderfully comely.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 7.10 (CSEL 27.1:27; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-7-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
7.11CSEL 27.1:27
iam barbae ratio incredibile est quantum conferat uel ad dinoscendam corporum maturitatem uel ad differentiam sexus uel ad decorem uirilitatis ac roboris, ut uideatur omnino non constatura fuisse totius operis ratio, si quicquam aliter esset effectum.
And it is beyond belief how much the design of the beard contributes, whether to distinguishing the maturity of bodies, or to the difference of the sexes, or to the comeliness of manliness and strength, so that it seems the design of the whole work could not have held together at all if anything had been made otherwise.
Notes and citation
Summary: The beard marks maturity and sex and adorns manly strength; nothing in the design could be otherwise.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 7.11 (CSEL 27.1:27; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-7-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 8
8.1CSEL 27.1:27
Nunc rationem totius hominis ostendam singulorumque membrorum quae in corpore aperta aut operta sunt, utilitates et habitus explicabo.
Now I will show the design of the whole man, and explain the uses and forms of the individual members of the body, both those that are exposed and those that are hidden.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lactantius turns to the design of the human body, member by member.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 8.1 (CSEL 27.1:27; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-8-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
8.2CSEL 27.1:27
cum igitur statuisset deus ex omnibus animalibus solum hominem facere caelestem, cetera uniuersa terrena, hunc ad caeli contemplationem rigidum erexit bipedemque constituit, scilicet ut eodem spectaret unde illi origo est, illa uero depressit ad terram, ut quia nulla his inmortalitatis expectatio est, toto corpore in humum proiecta uentri pabuloque seruirent.
When, then, God had determined to make man alone of all the animals heavenly, and all the rest earthly, he raised him upright for the contemplation of heaven and made him two-footed, so that he might look toward the place from which his origin is; but those others he bent down to the ground, so that, since they have no expectation of immortality, they might be cast with their whole body toward the earth and serve their belly and their fodder.
Eccl 3:21 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God made man alone upright to look toward heaven, his origin, while the beasts, with no hope of immortality, face the ground.
- A commonplace of classical thought (compare Ovid, Metam. 1.84–86, and Cicero, Nat. d. 2.140); no single source is quoted.
Extrabiblical texts: Ovid, Metam. 1.84–86 (Ovid; echo)
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 8.2 (CSEL 27.1:27; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-8-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
8.3CSEL 27.1:27–28
hominis itaque solius recta ratio et sublimis status et uultus deo patri communis ac proximus originem suam fictoremque testatur. eius prope diuina mens quia non tantum animantium quae sunt in terra, sed etiam sui corporis est sortita dominatum, in summo capite conlocata tamquam in arce sublimi speculatur omnia et contuetur.
And so man's upright bearing, his lofty stance, and a countenance shared with God the Father and near to him bear witness to his origin and his maker. His almost divine mind, because it has been allotted dominion not only over the living creatures on earth but also over its own body, is placed at the top of the head as in a lofty citadel, and watches over and surveys all things.
Gen 1:26 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Man's upright form and godlike face witness to his Maker; the mind rules the body from the head as from a citadel.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 8.3 (CSEL 27.1:27–28; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-8-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
8.4CSEL 27.1:28
hanc eius aulam deus non obductam porrectamque formauit ut in mutis animalibus, sed orbi et globo similem, quod orbis rotunditas perfectae rationis est ac figurae.
This hall of the mind God did not form drawn out and extended, as in the dumb animals, but like an orb and a globe, because the roundness of a sphere belongs to perfect proportion and shape.
Notes and citation
Summary: God made man's head round, since the sphere is the perfect shape.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 8.4 (CSEL 27.1:28; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-8-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
8.5CSEL 27.1:28
eo igitur mens et ignis ille diuinus tamquam caelo tegitur. cuius cum summum fastigium naturali ueste texisset, primorem partem quae dicitur facies necessariis membrorum ministeriis et instruxit pariter et ornauit.
There, then, the mind and that divine fire are covered as by a heaven. And when he had covered its highest summit with a natural garment, he furnished and at the same time adorned the front part, which is called the face, with the services of the necessary members.
Notes and citation
Summary: The head covers the mind like a heaven; the face is furnished with the organs it needs.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 8.5 (CSEL 27.1:28; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-8-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
8.6CSEL 27.1:28
ac primum quod oculorum orbes concauis foraminibus conclusit, a quo foratu frontem nominatam Varro existimat, eos neque minus neque amplius quam duos esse uoluit, quod ad speciem nullus est perfectior numerus quam duorum, sicut et aures duas: quarum duplicitas incredibile est quantam pulchritudinem praeferat, quod cum pars utraque similitudine ornata est, tum ut uenientes altrinsecus uoces facilius colligantur.
And first, he enclosed the balls of the eyes in hollow openings (from this boring, Varro thinks, the forehead, frons, was named), and he willed that there be neither fewer nor more than two, because for beauty no number is more perfect than two; just as he made two ears also. It is beyond belief how much beauty their doubleness displays, both because each side is adorned by its likeness to the other, and so that voices coming from either side may be gathered more easily.
Notes and citation
Summary: God gave two eyes and two ears, both for beauty and so that sounds from either side are more easily heard.
- Varro's etymology of frons from foratus ("boring") is not found in his extant works; source uncertain.
Extrabiblical texts: Varro (Varro; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 8.6 (CSEL 27.1:28; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-8-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
8.7CSEL 27.1:28–29
nam et forma ipsa mirandum in modum ficta, quod earum foramina noluit esse nuda et inobsaepta: quod et minus decorum et minus utile fuisset, quoniam simplicium cauernarum angustias praeteruolare uox posset nisi exceptam per cauos sinus et repercussu retentam foramina ipsa cohiberent illis similia uasculis quibus inpositis solent angusti oris uasa conpleri.
For their very shape too was fashioned in a wonderful manner, because he did not wish their openings to be bare and unfenced. That would have been both less comely and less useful, since the voice could fly past the narrow openings of simple holes, unless the openings themselves held it in, caught by the hollow curves and kept by the echo, like those little funnels which are put in place to fill vessels with narrow mouths.
Notes and citation
Summary: The outer ear's hollow shape catches sound like a funnel, so that it does not fly past.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 8.7 (CSEL 27.1:28–29; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-8-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
8.8CSEL 27.1:29
eas igitur aures — quibus est inditum nomen a uocibus hauriendis, unde Vergilius uocemque his auribus hausi; aut quia uocem ipsam Graeci αὐδὴν uocant ab auditu, per inmutationem litterae aures uelut audes sunt nominatae — noluit deus artifex mollibus pelliculis informare, quae pulchritudinem demerent pendulae atque flaccentes, neque duris ac solidis ossibus, ne ad usum inhabiles essent inmobiles ac rigentes, sed quod esset horum medium excogitauit, ut eas cartilago mollior adligaret et haberent aptam simul ac flexibilem firmitatem.
These ears, then, which received their name from drinking in (hauriendis) voices (whence Virgil: “and with these ears I drank in the voice”), or because the Greeks call the voice itself audē from hearing, and so by a change of letter aures are named as if audes, God the craftsman did not wish to form of soft skin, which, hanging and flabby, would take away their beauty, nor of hard and solid bones, lest, being immovable and rigid, they be unfit for use; but he devised something between the two, so that a rather soft cartilage should bind them and they should have a firmness at once suitable and flexible.
Notes and citation
Summary: God made the ears of cartilage, between soft skin and rigid bone, so that they are both firm and flexible.
- The quotation is Virgil, Aen. 4.359. The Greek word, garbled in the digital text, is restored as αὐδήν ("voice").
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Greek word mis-encoded in the digital text): d>sir)v → αὐδὴν.
Extrabiblical texts: Virgil, Aen. 4.359 (Virgil; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 8.8 (CSEL 27.1:29; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-8-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
8.9CSEL 27.1:29
in his audiendi tantum officium constitutum est sicut in oculis uidendi. quorum praecipue inexplicabilis est ac mira subtilitas, quia eorum orbes gemmarum similitudinem praeferentes ab ea parte qua uidendum fuit membranis perlucentibus texit, ut imagines rerum contra positarum tamquam in speculo refulgentes ad sensum intimum penetrarent.
In these the office of hearing alone is placed, just as the office of seeing is in the eyes. Of these the subtlety is especially inexplicable and wonderful, because he covered their orbs, which resemble gems, with translucent membranes on the side where seeing was to happen, so that the images of things placed opposite, shining back as in a mirror, might pass through to the inmost sense.
Notes and citation
Summary: God covered the gem-like eyes with transparent membranes so that images pass through to the inner sense.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 8.9 (CSEL 27.1:29; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-8-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
8.10CSEL 27.1:29–30
per eas igitur membranas sensus ille qui dicitur mens, ea quae sunt foris transpicit, ne forte existimes aut imaginum incursione nos cernere, ut philosophi disserunt, quoniam uidendi officium in eo debet esse quod uidet, non in eo quod uidetur, aut intentione aeris cum acie aut effusione radiorum, quoniam si ita esset, tardius quam oculos aduertimus uideremus, donec intentus aer cum acie aut effusi radii ad id quod uidendum esset peruenirent.
Through these membranes, then, that sense which is called the mind looks through at the things that are outside, so that you may not suppose that we see either by the impact of images, as the philosophers argue, since the office of seeing must be in that which sees, not in that which is seen, or by a tension of the air together with the eye's line of sight, or by an outpouring of rays; for if that were so, we would see more slowly than we turn our eyes, until the stretched air with the line of sight, or the rays poured out, reached what was to be seen.
Notes and citation
Summary: It is the mind that sees through the eyes, not images flowing in or rays flowing out, as philosophers claim.
- The rejected theories are the Epicurean (images, simulacra), the Stoic (tension of the air), and the extramission theory (rays from the eye).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period in the digital text): incursione. nos → incursione nos.
Extrabiblical texts: Epicurus (Epicurus (sayings and fragments); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 8.10 (CSEL 27.1:29–30; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-8-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
8.11CSEL 27.1:30
cum autem uideamus eodem momento temporis, plerumque uero aliud agentes nihilominus tamen uniuersa quae contra sunt posita tueamur, uerius et manifestius est mentem esse quae per oculos ea quae sunt opposita transpiciat quasi per fenestras perlucente uitro aut speculari lapide obductas.
But since we see in the same moment of time, and often, even while doing something else, we nevertheless behold everything placed before us, it is truer and plainer that it is the mind which looks through the eyes at the things set opposite, as through windows covered with translucent glass or mica.
Notes and citation
Summary: Because sight is instantaneous, it is clearly the mind that looks out through the eyes as through windows.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 8.11 (CSEL 27.1:30; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-8-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
8.12CSEL 27.1:30
et idcirco mens ac uoluntas ex oculis saepe dinoscitur. quod quidem ut refelleret Lucretius, ineptissimo usus est argumento. si enim mens inquit per oculos uidet, erutis et effossis oculis magis uideret, quoniam euulsae cum postibus fores plus inferunt luminis quam si fuerint obductae.
And for this reason a person's mind and will are often discerned from the eyes. Lucretius, to refute this, used a most foolish argument. “For if,” he says, “the mind sees through the eyes, it would see better with the eyes torn out and dug away, since doors torn out together with their posts let in more light than if they were closed.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Lucretius foolishly argued that if the mind saw through the eyes, it would see better with the eyes torn out.
- Paraphrase of Lucretius, De rerum natura 3.359–369.
Extrabiblical texts: Lucretius, 3.359–369 (Lucretius, On the Nature of Things; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 8.12 (CSEL 27.1:30; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-8-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
8.13CSEL 27.1:30–31
nimirum ipsi uel potius Epicuro qui eum docuit effossi oculi erant, ne uideret effossos orbes et ruptas oculorum fibras et fluentem per uenas sanguinem et crescentes ex uulneribus carnes et obductas ad ultimum cicatrices nihil posse lucis admittere, nisi forte oculos auribus similes nasci uolebat, ut non tam oculis quam foraminibus cerneremus: quo nihil ad speciem foedius, ad usum inutilius fieri potest.
No doubt it was his own eyes, or rather those of Epicurus who taught him, that were dug out, so that he did not see that eye sockets dug out, torn fibers of the eyes, blood flowing through the veins, flesh growing out of the wounds, and finally scars drawn over them can let in no light at all; unless perhaps he wished eyes to be born like ears, so that we should see not so much with eyes as with holes: than which nothing could be made uglier to look at or more useless in use.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lucretius and Epicurus were blind to the fact that a wounded, scarred eye socket admits no light at all.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (doubled letter in the digital text): crescenttes → crescentes.
Extrabiblical texts: Epicurus (Epicurus (sayings and fragments); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 8.13 (CSEL 27.1:30–31; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-8-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
8.14CSEL 27.1:31
quantulum enim uidere possemus, si mens ab intimis penetralibus capitis per exiguas cauernarum rimulas attenderet! ut si quis uelit transpicere per cicutam, non plus profecto cernat quam cicutae ipsius capacitas conprehendat.
For how little we could see if the mind looked out from the inmost recesses of the head through the tiny chinks of holes! As, if someone wished to look through a hemlock stalk, he would certainly see no more than the bore of the stalk itself takes in.
Notes and citation
Summary: Seeing through mere holes would be like looking through a narrow reed.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 8.14 (CSEL 27.1:31; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-8-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
8.15CSEL 27.1:31
itaque ad uidendum membris potius in orbem conglobatis opus fuit, ut uisus in latum spargeretur, et quae in primori facie adhaererent, ut libere possent omnia contueri.
And so for seeing there was need rather of members rounded into orbs, so that the sight might spread out widely, and of members set in the front of the face, so that they might freely behold all things.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eyes had to be round and set at the front of the face to see widely and freely.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 8.15 (CSEL 27.1:31; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-8-15).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
8.16CSEL 27.1:31
ergo ineffabilis diuinae prouidentiae uirtus fecit duos simillimos orbes eosque ita deuinxit, ut non in totum conuerti, sed moueri tamen ac flecti cum modo possent. orbes autem ipsos umoris puri ac liquidi plenos esse uoluit, in quorum media parte scintillae luminum conclusae tenerentur, quas pupillas nuncupamus, in quibus puris atque subtilibus cernendi sensus ac ratio continetur.
Therefore the inexpressible power of divine providence made two orbs most alike and bound them in such a way that they could not turn right round, yet could move and bend within measure. And he willed that the orbs themselves be full of pure and clear fluid, in the middle of which sparks of light should be kept enclosed, which we call pupils, in which, pure and fine, the sense and faculty of seeing is contained.
Notes and citation
Summary: Providence made two matching eyes, moving within limits, filled with clear fluid, with the pupils at their center.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 8.16 (CSEL 27.1:31; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-8-16).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
8.17CSEL 27.1:31
per eos igitur orbes se ipsam mens intendit ut uideat miraque ratione in unum miscetur et coniungitur amborum luminum uisus.
Through these orbs, then, the mind directs itself in order to see, and by a wonderful arrangement the sight of both eyes is mingled and joined into one.
Notes and citation
Summary: The mind looks through both eyes, and their two sights are wonderfully joined into one.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 8.17 (CSEL 27.1:31; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-8-17).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 9
9.1CSEL 27.1:31
Libet hoc loco illorum reprehendere uanitatem qui dum uolunt ostendere sensus falsos esse, multa colligunt in quibus oculi fallantur, inter quae illud etiam, quod furiosis et ebriis omnia duplicia uideantur: quasi uero eius erroris obscura sit causa. ideo enim fit, quia duo sunt oculi.
At this point I would like to rebuke the emptiness of those who, wishing to show that the senses are false, collect many cases in which the eyes are deceived, among them this too: that to madmen and drunkards everything appears double; as if the cause of that error were obscure. For it happens precisely because there are two eyes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who call the senses false point to drunkards seeing double, but the cause is simply that we have two eyes.
- The target is the Academic sceptics' argument against the reliability of the senses.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 9.1 (CSEL 27.1:31; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-9-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
9.2CSEL 27.1:31–32
sed quomodo id fiat accipe. uisus oculorum intentione animi constat. itaque quoniam mens, ut supra dictum est, oculis tamquam fenestris utitur, non tantum hoc ebriis aut insanis accidit, sed et sanis et sobriis. nam si aliquid nimis propius admoueas, duplex uidebitur: certum est enim interuallum ac spatium quo acies oculorum coit.
But hear how this happens. The sight of the eyes depends on the attention of the mind. And so, since the mind, as was said above, uses the eyes as windows, this happens not only to the drunk or the insane but also to the sane and sober. For if you bring something too close, it will seem double; for there is a fixed interval and distance at which the lines of sight of the eyes meet.
Notes and citation
Summary: Anyone, sober or not, sees double when an object is too close, because the two lines of sight meet only at a certain distance.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 9.2 (CSEL 27.1:31–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-9-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
9.3CSEL 27.1:32
item si retrorsum auoces animum quasi ad cogitandum et intentionem mentis relaxes, tum acies oculi utriusque diducitur et singuli uidere incipiunt separatim. si animum rursus intenderis aciemque direxeris, coit in unum quidquid duplex uidebatur.
Likewise, if you call the mind back as if to think, and relax the attention of the mind, then the sight of the two eyes is drawn apart and each begins to see separately. If you direct the mind again and aim the sight, whatever seemed double comes together into one.
Notes and citation
Summary: When the mind relaxes its attention the eyes see separately; when it focuses again, the double image becomes one.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 9.3 (CSEL 27.1:32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-9-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
9.4CSEL 27.1:32
quid ergo mirum si mens ueneno ac potentia uini dissoluta dirigere se non potest ad uidendum, sicut ne pedes quidem ad ambulandum neruis stupescentibus debiles aut si uis furoris in cerebrum saeuiens concordiam disiungit oculorum? quod adeo uerum est, ut luscis hominibus, si aut insani aut ebrii fiant, nullo modo possit accidere ut aliquid duplex uideant.
What wonder is it, then, if the mind, dissolved by the poison and power of wine, cannot direct itself to see, just as it cannot direct the feet to walk when the sinews are numb and weak; or if the force of madness raging in the brain breaks apart the harmony of the eyes? This is so true that one-eyed men, if they become insane or drunk, can in no way come to see anything double.
Notes and citation
Summary: Wine or madness keeps the mind from focusing the two eyes; one-eyed people never see double.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter misread in the digital text): dirigere ae non → dirigere se non.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 9.4 (CSEL 27.1:32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-9-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
9.5CSEL 27.1:32
quare si ratio apparet cur oculi fallantur, manifestum est non esse falsos sensus: qui aut non falluntur, si sunt puri et integri, aut si falluntur, mens tamen non fallitur, quae illorum nouit errorem.
Therefore, if the reason is plain why the eyes are deceived, it is manifest that the senses are not false: either they are not deceived, if they are pure and sound, or, if they are deceived, the mind is still not deceived, since it knows their error.
Notes and citation
Summary: The senses are not false: when healthy they are not deceived, and when they are, the mind recognizes the error.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 9.5 (CSEL 27.1:32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-9-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 10
10.1CSEL 27.1:32
Sed nos ad dei opera reuertamur. ut igitur oculi munitiores essent ab iniuria, eos ciliorum tegminibus occuluit, unde oculos esse dictos Varroni placet.
But let us return to the works of God. So that the eyes might be better protected from injury, he hid them under the covering of the eyelids (cilia), from which Varro holds that eyes (oculi) were named.
Notes and citation
Summary: God protected the eyes with eyelids.
- Varro's etymology of oculus from occulere ("to hide") is in Ling. 6.80 (uncertain).
Extrabiblical texts: Varro (Varro; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.1 (CSEL 27.1:32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.2CSEL 27.1:32–33
nam ipsae palpebrae, quibus mobilitas id est palpitatio uocabulum tribuit, pilis in ordinem stantibus uallatae saeptum oculis decentissimum praebent: quarum motus adsiduus inconprehensibili celeritate concurrens et uidendi tenorem non inpedit et reficit obtutum.
For the lids themselves (palpebrae), to which their mobility, that is, their fluttering (palpitatio), gave the name, are fenced with hairs standing in a row and provide a most seemly enclosure for the eyes. Their constant movement, closing with incomprehensible speed, both does not hinder the continuity of seeing and refreshes the gaze.
Notes and citation
Summary: The eyelids, fringed with lashes, blink so fast that they refresh the eyes without interrupting sight.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.2 (CSEL 27.1:32–33; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.3CSEL 27.1:33
acies enim id est membrana illa perlucens, quam siccari et obarescere non oportet, nisi umore adsiduo tersa praeniteat. obsolescit. quid?
For the eye's surface, that is, that translucent membrane, which must not be dried out and parched, grows dull unless, wiped with constant moisture, it keeps its gleam. What then?
Notes and citation
Summary: Blinking keeps the eye's surface moist and clear.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.3 (CSEL 27.1:33; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.4CSEL 27.1:33
ipsa superciliorum fastigia pilis breuibus adornata nonne quasi aggeribus et munimentum oculis. ne quid superne incidat, et speciem simul praestant? ex quorum confinio nasus exoriens et ueluti aequali porrectus iugo utramque aciem simul et discernit et munit.
Do not the ridges of the eyebrows, adorned with short hairs, provide both a sort of rampart and bulwark for the eyes, lest anything fall on them from above, and beauty at the same time? From their meeting point the nose rises and, stretched out as if along an even ridge, both separates and protects the two eyes at once.
Notes and citation
Summary: The eyebrows shield the eyes from above and the nose separates and guards them.
- Punctuation in the digital text ("munimentum oculis. ne") is followed as the sense requires.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.4 (CSEL 27.1:33; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.5CSEL 27.1:33
inferius quoque genarum non indecens tumor in similitudinem collium leuiter exsurgens ab omni parte oculos efficit tutiores prouisumque est ab artifice summo, ut si qui forte uehementior ictus extiterit. eminentibus repellatur.
Below also, the not unseemly swelling of the cheeks, rising gently like hills, makes the eyes safer on every side; and the supreme craftsman provided that, if any rather violent blow should come, it would be repelled by these prominences.
Notes and citation
Summary: The cheekbones protect the eyes from below against blows.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.5 (CSEL 27.1:33; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.6CSEL 27.1:33
nasi uero pars superior usque ad medium solida formata est. inferior autem cartilagine adhaerente mollita, ut ad usum digitorum possit esse tractabilis.
The upper part of the nose, as far as the middle, is formed solid; but the lower part is softened by attached cartilage, so that it can be handled for the use of the fingers.
Notes and citation
Summary: The nose is bone above and soft cartilage below.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray digit in the digital text): 1 nasi → nasi.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.6 (CSEL 27.1:33; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.7CSEL 27.1:33–34
in hoc autem quamuis simplici membro tria sunt officia constituta, unum ducendi spiritus, alterum capiendi odoris, tertium ut per eius cauernas purgamenta cerebri defluant. quas ipsas deus quam mirabili, quam diuina. ratione molitus est, ut tamen hiatus ipse nasi oris speciem non deformaret!
In this member, simple though it is, three offices are set: one of drawing breath, another of catching smells, the third that the waste of the brain may flow down through its passages. With how wonderful, how divine a design God built these very passages, so that the opening of the nose should not disfigure the appearance of the face!
Notes and citation
Summary: The nose serves for breathing, smelling, and draining the head, and God made its openings without spoiling the face.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.7 (CSEL 27.1:33–34; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.8CSEL 27.1:34
quod erat plane futurum, si unum ac simplex foramen pateret: at id uelut pariete per medium ducto intersaepsit atque diuisit fecitque ipsa duplicitate pulcherrimum.
This would plainly have happened if one single opening lay open; but he fenced it off and divided it, as though a wall were drawn down the middle, and made it most beautiful by its very doubleness.
Notes and citation
Summary: Dividing the nostrils in two keeps the face beautiful.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.8 (CSEL 27.1:34; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.9CSEL 27.1:34
ex quo intellegimus quantum dualis numerus una et simplici conpage solidatus ad rerum ualeat perfectionem. nam cum sit corpus unum, tamen totum ex simplicibus membris constare non poterat, nisi ut essent partes uel dexterae uel sinistrae.
From this we understand how much the number two, made firm into a single, simple joining, avails for the perfection of things. For although the body is one, still it could not consist wholly of single members, unless there were parts on the right and on the left.
Notes and citation
Summary: The number two, joined into one, is essential to the perfection of the body, which has right and left sides.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.9 (CSEL 27.1:34; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.10CSEL 27.1:34
itaque ut pedes duo et item manus non tantum ad utilitatem aliquam usumque uel gradiendi uel faciendi ualent, sed et habitum decoremque admirabilem conferunt, sic in capite. quod totius diuini operis quasi culmen est, et auditus in duas aures et uisus in duas acies et odoratio in duas nares a summo artifice diuisa est, quia cerebrum, in quo sentiendi ratio est. quamuis sit unum, tamen in duas partes membrana interueniente discretum est.
So, just as the two feet and likewise the hands not only serve some use and purpose, of walking or of working, but also give an admirable form and grace, so in the head, which is as it were the summit of the whole divine work, hearing has been divided by the supreme craftsman into two ears, sight into two eyes, and smell into two nostrils; because the brain, in which the faculty of sensation lies, though it is one, is nevertheless separated into two parts by a membrane coming between.
Notes and citation
Summary: Like paired hands and feet, the head's senses come in pairs, because even the one brain is divided into two halves.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.10 (CSEL 27.1:34; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.11CSEL 27.1:34–35
sed et cor, quod sapientiae domicilium uidetur, licet sit unum, duos tamen intrinsecus sinus habet, quibus fontes uiui sanguinis continentur saepto intercedente diuisi, ut sicut in ipso mundo summa rerum uel de simplici duplex uel de duplici simplex et gubernat et continet totum, ita in corpore de duobus uniuersa conpacta indissociabilem praetenderent unitatem.
And the heart too, which seems to be the dwelling of wisdom, though it is one, has two chambers within, in which the springs of living blood are held, divided by a partition between them; so that, just as in the world itself the sum of things, whether double out of simple or simple out of double, both governs and holds together the whole, so in the body all things framed of two parts might present an inseparable unity.
Notes and citation
Summary: The heart too has two chambers, so that the body, like the universe, is a unity made from pairs.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.11 (CSEL 27.1:34–35; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.12CSEL 27.1:35
oris quoque species et rictus ei transuerso patefactus quam utilis, quam decens sit, enarrari non potest: cuius usus in duobus constat officiis, sumendi uictus et eloquendi.
How useful and how seemly the form of the mouth is, and its opening laid open crosswise, cannot be told: its use consists in two offices, taking food and speaking.
Notes and citation
Summary: The mouth is shaped for two tasks, eating and speaking.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.12 (CSEL 27.1:35; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.13CSEL 27.1:35
lingua intus inclusa, quae uocem motibus suis in uerba discernit, et est interpres animi nec tamen sola per se potest loquendi munus inplere, nisi acumen suum palato inliserit, nisi adiuta uel offensione dentium uel conpressione labrorum. dentes tamen plus conferunt ad loquendum:
The tongue, enclosed within, which by its motions divides the voice into words, is the interpreter of the mind; yet it cannot by itself alone fulfill the task of speaking unless it strikes its tip against the palate, unless it is helped either by striking the teeth or by pressing the lips. The teeth, however, contribute more to speaking:
Notes and citation
Summary: The tongue shapes speech, helped by palate, lips, and above all the teeth.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.13 (CSEL 27.1:35; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.14CSEL 27.1:35
nam et infantes non ante incipiunt fari quam dentes habuerint et senes amissis dentibus ita balbuttiunt, ut ad infantiam denuo reuoluti esse uideantur.
for infants do not begin to speak before they have teeth, and old men, having lost their teeth, so stammer that they seem to have rolled back again into infancy.
Notes and citation
Summary: Infants cannot speak before they have teeth, and toothless old men stammer like children.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.14 (CSEL 27.1:35; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.15CSEL 27.1:35
sed haec ad hominem solum pertinent aut aues, in quibus acuminata et uibrata certis motibus lingua innumerabiles cantuum flexiones et uarios sonorum modos exprimit.
But these things belong only to man, or to birds, in which the tongue, pointed and vibrating with fixed motions, expresses countless modulations of song and various measures of sound.
Notes and citation
Summary: Only humans, and birds with their songs, use the tongue for sounds like this.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.15 (CSEL 27.1:35; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-15).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.16CSEL 27.1:35
habet praeterea et aliud officium, quo in omnibus, non tamen solo in mutis utitur, quod contritos et permolitos dentibus cibos colligit et conglobatos ui sua deprimit et transmittit ad uentrem. itaque Varro a ligando cibo putat linguae nomen inpositum. bestias etiam <in> potu adiuuat:
It has, moreover, another office too, which it uses in all animals, not only in the dumb ones: it gathers the food crushed and ground by the teeth, and, having rolled it into a ball, presses it down by its own force and passes it on to the stomach. So Varro thinks the name lingua was given from binding (ligando) the food. It also helps beasts in drinking:
Notes and citation
Summary: The tongue also gathers and swallows food; it helps animals drink as well.
- Varro, Ling. 5.123 (uncertain). The angle brackets mark a word supplied by the editor.
Extrabiblical texts: Varro (Varro; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.16 (CSEL 27.1:35; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-16).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.17CSEL 27.1:35–36
protenta enim cauataque hauriunt aquam eamque conprehensam linguae sinu, ne tarditate ac mora refluat. ad palatum celeri mobilitate conplodunt. haec itaque palati concauo tamquam testudine tegitur eamque dentium saeptis deus quasi muro circumuallauit.
for, stretched out and hollowed, they draw up water, and, having caught it in the curve of the tongue, lest it flow back through slowness and delay, they slap it against the palate with swift movement. This tongue, then, is covered by the hollow of the palate as by a vault, and God has walled it round with the fence of the teeth as with a wall.
Notes and citation
Summary: Animals lap water with the tongue, which God protected under the palate and behind the wall of the teeth.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.17 (CSEL 27.1:35–36; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-17).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.18CSEL 27.1:36
dentes autem ipsos, ne nudi ac restricti magis horrori quam ornamento essent, gingiuis mollibus, quae a gignendis dentibus nominantur, ac deinde labrorum tegminibus honestauit: quorum durities sicut in molari lapide maior est et asperior quam in ceteris ossibus, ut ad conterendos cibos pabulumque sufficerent.
The teeth themselves, lest, bare and exposed, they be a horror rather than an ornament, he graced with soft gums, which are named from begetting (gignendis) the teeth, and then with the covering of the lips. Their hardness, as in a millstone, is greater and rougher than in the other bones, so that they might be sufficient to grind food and fodder.
Notes and citation
Summary: God covered the hard, grinding teeth with gums and lips so that they are not ugly.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.18 (CSEL 27.1:36; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-18).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.19CSEL 27.1:36
labra ipsa quae quasi antea cohaerebant. quam decenter interscidit! quorum superius sub ipsa medietate narium lacuna quadam leui quasi ualle signauit. inferius honestatis gratia foras molliter explicauit.
How seemly he cut apart the lips themselves, which before were as it were joined together! The upper one he marked, just below the middle of the nostrils, with a slight hollow like a valley; the lower one he gently turned outward for comeliness.
Notes and citation
Summary: The lips are gracefully shaped, the upper with a small groove, the lower turned outward.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.19 (CSEL 27.1:36; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-19).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.20CSEL 27.1:36
nam quod attinet ad saporem capiendum, fallitur quisquis hunc sensum palato inesse arbitratur, lingua est enim qua sapores sentiuntur, nec tamen tota: nam partes eius quae sunt ab utroque latere teneriores. saporem subtilissimis sensibus trahunt. et cum neque ex cibo quicquam neque ex potione minuatur. tamen inenarrabili modo penetrat ad sensum sapor eadem ratione qua nihil de quaque materia odoris capio decerpit.
As for perceiving taste, whoever thinks that this sense lies in the palate is mistaken. For it is the tongue by which tastes are perceived, and not the whole of it: the parts of it on either side, which are more tender, draw in taste with the finest senses. And although nothing is taken away from the food or from the drink, still the taste penetrates to the sense in an indescribable way, by the same means by which the perception of smell takes nothing from any substance.
Notes and citation
Summary: Taste is sensed by the sides of the tongue, not the palate, and, like smell, it takes nothing away from what is tasted.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.20 (CSEL 27.1:36; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-20).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.21CSEL 27.1:36–37
cetera quam decora sint uix exprimi potest: deductum clementer a genis mentum et ita inferius conclusum, ut acumen eius extremum signare uideatur leuiter inpressa diuisio, rigidum ac teres collum, scapulae uelut mollibus iugis a ceruice demissae, ualida et substricta neruis ad fortitudinem brachia, insignibus toris extantium lacertorum uigens robur, utilis ac decens flexura cubitorum.
How comely the rest is can hardly be expressed: the chin drawn down gently from the cheeks and so closed off below that a lightly impressed division seems to mark its outermost point; the neck straight and smooth; the shoulders let down from the neck like gentle ridges; the arms strong and braced with sinews for strength; the vigorous might of the prominent muscles with their notable swellings; the useful and seemly bend of the elbows.
Notes and citation
Summary: Chin, neck, shoulders, arms, and elbows are all beautifully and usefully shaped.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.21 (CSEL 27.1:36–37; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-21).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.22CSEL 27.1:37
quid dicam de manibus rationis ac sapientiae ministris? quas sollertissimus artifex plano ac modice concauo sinu fictas, ut si quid tenendum sit, apte possit insidere, in digitos terminauit: in quibus difficile est expedire utrumne species an utilitas maior sit.
What shall I say of the hands, the servants of reason and wisdom? The most skillful craftsman fashioned them with a flat and moderately hollowed palm, so that whatever must be held can rest in it fittingly, and he ended them in fingers, in which it is hard to decide whether beauty or usefulness is the greater.
Notes and citation
Summary: The hands, servants of reason, are shaped to hold things and end in fingers both beautiful and useful.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.22 (CSEL 27.1:37; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-22).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.23CSEL 27.1:37
nam et numerus perfectus ac plenus et ordo ac gradus decentissimus et articulorum parium curuatura flexibilis et forma unguium rotunda concauis tegminibus digitorum fastigia conprehendens atque firmans. ne mollitudo carnis in tenendo cederet, magnum praebet ornatum.
For the number, perfect and complete, the most seemly order and gradation, the flexible bending of the matching joints, and the round shape of the nails, which with their hollow coverings enclose and strengthen the tips of the fingers lest the softness of the flesh give way in holding, provide great adornment.
Notes and citation
Summary: The number, order, joints, and nails of the fingers are all well designed.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.23 (CSEL 27.1:37; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-23).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.24CSEL 27.1:37
illud uero ad usum miris modis habile, quod unus a ceteris separatus cum ipsa manu oritur et in diuersum maturius funditur, qui se uelut obuium ceteris praebens omnem tenendi faciendique rationem uel solus uel praecipue possidet tamquam rector omnium atque moderator; unde etiam pollicis nomen accepit, quod ui et potestate inter ceteros polleat. duos quidem articulos extantes habet.
But this is wonderfully fit for use: that one finger, separated from the others, arises together with the hand itself and spreads out earlier in the opposite direction, and, presenting itself as if to meet the others, possesses all the power of holding and doing, either alone or chiefly, as ruler and governor of all; whence it also received the name pollex, because it excels (polleat) the rest in force and power. It has two joints standing out,
Notes and citation
Summary: The thumb, set apart and opposed to the fingers, governs all grasping and is named for its strength.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.24 (CSEL 27.1:37; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-24).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.25CSEL 27.1:37
non ut alii ternos, sed unus ad manum carne conectitur pulchritudinis gratia: si enim fuisset tribus articulis et ipse discretus, foeda et indecora species ademisset manibus honestatem.
not three like the others, but one is joined to the hand by flesh for the sake of beauty; for if it too had been separated by three joints, an ugly and unseemly appearance would have taken the comeliness from the hands.
Notes and citation
Summary: The thumb has only two free joints, the third being joined into the hand for beauty.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.25 (CSEL 27.1:37; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-25).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.26CSEL 27.1:37–38
iam pectoris latitudo sublimis et exposita oculis mirabilem prae se fert habitus sui dignitatem. cuius haec causa est, quod uidetur hominem solum deus ueluti supinum formasse — nam fere nullum aliud animal iacere in tergum potest —, mutas autem animantes quasi alterno latere iacentes finxisse atque ad terram conpressisse. idcirco illis angustum pectus et ab aspectu remotum et ad terram uersus abiectum, hominis autem patens et erectum, quia plenum rationis a caelo datae humile aut indecens esse non debuit.
Now the breadth of the chest, lofty and exposed to the eyes, displays a wonderful dignity of bearing. The reason for this is that God seems to have formed man alone as though lying on his back (for hardly any other animal can lie on its back), but to have fashioned the dumb animals as though lying on their sides and pressed them down toward the earth. Therefore their chest is narrow, withdrawn from view, and turned down toward the earth, but man's is open and upright, because, being full of reason given from heaven, it ought not to be lowly or unseemly.
Notes and citation
Summary: Man alone has a broad, open chest, fitting for a being filled with reason from heaven, while the beasts' chests face the ground.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.26 (CSEL 27.1:37–38; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-26).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
10.27CSEL 27.1:38
papillae quoque leuiter eminentes et fuscioribus ac paruis orbibus coronatae non nihil addunt uenustatis, feminis ad alendos fetus datae, maribus ad solum decus, ne informe pectus et quasi mutilum uideretur. huic subdita est planities uentris, quam mediam fere umbilicus non indecenti nota signat ad hoc factus, ut per eum fetus dum est in utero nutriatur.
The nipples too, slightly prominent and ringed with small, darker circles, add some grace: given to women for nourishing their young, to men only for adornment, lest the chest seem shapeless and as it were mutilated. Below this lies the flat of the belly, which the navel marks almost in the middle with a not unseemly sign, made for this purpose, that through it the fetus may be nourished while it is in the womb.
Notes and citation
Summary: Nipples nourish infants in women and adorn men; the navel is the mark of the unborn child's nourishment.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 10.27 (CSEL 27.1:38; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-10-27).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 11
11.1CSEL 27.1:38
Sequitur necessario ut de internis quoque uisceribus dicere incipiam: quibus non pulchritudo, quia sunt abdita, sed utilitas incredibilis attributa est, quoniam opus fuerat ut terrenum hoc corpus suco aliquo de cibis ac potibus aleretur sicut et terra ipsa imbribus ac pruinis.
It follows necessarily that I should begin to speak of the internal organs too. To these not beauty, since they are hidden, but an incredible usefulness has been assigned, since it was needful that this earthly body be nourished by some juice from food and drink, just as the earth itself is by rain and dew.
Notes and citation
Summary: The inner organs are made not for beauty but for use, to nourish the body as rain nourishes the earth.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.1 (CSEL 27.1:38; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.2CSEL 27.1:38
prouidentissimus artifex in medio eius receptaculum cibis fecit. quibus concoctis et liquefactis uitales sucos membris omnibus dispertiret.
The most provident craftsman made a receptacle for food in the middle of the body, so that, once the food was digested and liquefied, it might distribute the life-giving juices to all the members.
Notes and citation
Summary: God placed the stomach in the middle of the body to digest food and spread its nourishment.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.2 (CSEL 27.1:38; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.3CSEL 27.1:38–39
sed cum homo constet ex corpore atque anima, illud quod supra dixi receptaculum soli corpori praestat alimentum, animae uero aliam sedem dedit. fecit enim genus quoddam uisceris molle atque rarum, quod pulmonem uocamus, eumque non in utris modum finxit, ne effunderetur semel spiritus aut inflaret semel.
But since man consists of body and soul, the receptacle I spoke of above supplies nourishment to the body alone; to the soul he gave another seat. For he made a kind of organ, soft and porous, which we call the lung, and he did not form it in the manner of a bag, lest the breath be poured out all at once or blow it up all at once.
Notes and citation
Summary: Since man is body and soul, the soul has its own organ, the lung, which is porous rather than a bag.
- Lactantius identifies the soul (anima) with the breath here, as the next sections show.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.3 (CSEL 27.1:38–39; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.4CSEL 27.1:39
ideoque plenum quidem uiscus effecit, sed inflabile atque aeris capax, ut paulatim spiritum reciperet, dum uitalis uentus per illam spargitur raritatem, et eundem rursus paulatim redderet, dum se ex illo explicat: ipsa enim uicissitudo et spirandi respirandique tractus uitam sustentat in corpore.
And so he made the organ solid indeed, but inflatable and able to hold air, so that it might take in the breath little by little as the life-giving wind spreads through its porous substance, and give it back again little by little as it releases itself from it. For this very alternation, the drawing of breath in and out, sustains life in the body.
Notes and citation
Summary: The lung takes in and gives back breath gradually, and this alternation sustains life.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.4 (CSEL 27.1:39; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.5CSEL 27.1:39
quoniam ergo duo sunt in homine receptacula, unum aeris quod alit animam, alterum ciborum quod alit corpus, duas esse per collum fistulas necesse est, cibalem ac spiritalem. quarum superior ab ore ad uentrem ferat, inferior a naribus ad pulmonem.
Since, then, there are two receptacles in man, one of air, which nourishes the soul, the other of food, which nourishes the body, there must be two pipes through the neck, one for food and one for breath; the upper of these carries from the mouth to the stomach, the lower from the nostrils to the lung.
Notes and citation
Summary: Two pipes run through the neck: the gullet for food and the windpipe for breath.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.5 (CSEL 27.1:39; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.6CSEL 27.1:39
quarum natura et ratio diuersa est. ille enim qui est ab ore transitus, mollis effectus est et qui semper clausus cohaereat sibi sicut os ipsum, quoniam potus et cibus dimota et pate facta gula, quia corporales sunt, spatium sibi transmeandi faciunt.
Their nature and design are different. For the passage from the mouth is made soft and always closed upon itself, like the mouth itself, since drink and food, because they are bodily, make room for their own passage by moving and opening the gullet.
Notes and citation
Summary: The gullet stays closed and opens only as solid food and drink pass through.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.6 (CSEL 27.1:39; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.7CSEL 27.1:39–40
spiritus contra qui est incorporalis ac tenuis, quia spatium sibi facere non poterat, accepit uiam patentem, quae uocatur gurgulio. is constat ex ossibus flexuosis ac mollibus quasi ex anulis in cicutae modum inuicem conpactis et cohaerentibus
The breath, on the other hand, which is incorporeal and fine, because it could not make room for itself, received an open passage, which is called the windpipe. It consists of bending and soft bones, like rings fitted to one another in the manner of a hemlock stalk and joined together,
Notes and citation
Summary: The breath, unable to force its own way, has an open windpipe made of soft rings.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split across sections 11.7 and 11.8 in the digital text): cohaerenti. → cohaerentibus.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.7 (CSEL 27.1:39–40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.8CSEL 27.1:40
patetque semper hic transitus. nullam enim requiem meandi habere spiritus potest: qui quia semper commeat, demissa utiliter de cerebro membri portione, cui uua nomen est, uelut occursu quodam refrenatur, ne aut teneritudinem domicilii cum impetu ueniens attracta pestilenti aura corrumpat aut totam nocendi uiolentiam internis receptaculis perferat. ideoque etiam nares breuiter sunt apertae: quae idcirco sic nominantur. quia per eas uel odor uel spiritus nare non desinit.
and this passage always stands open. For the breath can have no rest from moving: and because it is always coming and going, it is checked, as by something set in its path, by a part of a member usefully let down from the brain, whose name is the uvula, lest, rushing in with force, it should either harm the tenderness of its dwelling by drawing in some pestilent air, or carry the whole violence of harm to the inner receptacles. For this reason also the nostrils are open only a little; and they are called nares because through them either smell or breath never ceases to swim (nare).
Notes and citation
Summary: The windpipe is always open; the uvula checks the rush of air, and the nostrils admit breath and smell.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split across sections 11.7 and 11.8 in the digital text): bus patetque → patetque.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.8 (CSEL 27.1:40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.9CSEL 27.1:40
tamen haec fistula spiritalis non tantum ad nares, uerum ad os quoque interpatet in extremis palati regionibus, ubi se tolles faucium spectantes uuam tollere incipiunt in tumorem.
Yet this breathing pipe opens not only to the nostrils but also into the mouth, at the far regions of the palate, where the tonsils of the throat, facing the uvula, begin to rise into a swelling.
Notes and citation
Summary: The windpipe opens into the mouth as well as the nose, near the tonsils.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.9 (CSEL 27.1:40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.10CSEL 27.1:40
cuius rei causa et ratio non obscura est. loquendi enim facultatem non haberemus, si ut gulae iter ad os tantum, ita gurgulio ad nares tantum pateret.
The cause and reason of this is not obscure. For we would not have the faculty of speech if, just as the passage of the gullet opens only to the mouth, so the windpipe opened only to the nostrils.
Notes and citation
Summary: Without that opening into the mouth we could not speak.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.10 (CSEL 27.1:40; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.11CSEL 27.1:40–41
aperuit igitur uiam uoci diuina sollertia ex illa fistula spiritali, ut posset lingua ministerio suo fungi et uocis ipsius inoffensum tenorem pulsibus suis in uerba concidere. qui meatus si aliquo modo intersaeptus sit, mutum faciat necesse est: errat enim profecto quisquis aliam causam putat cur homines muti sint.
So divine skill opened a path for the voice out of that breathing pipe, so that the tongue might perform its service and, by its strokes, cut up the unhindered flow of the voice into words. If this passage is in any way blocked, it must make a person mute; for whoever thinks there is another cause why men are mute is certainly mistaken.
Notes and citation
Summary: God opened a path for the voice so the tongue could form words; if it is blocked, a person is mute.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.11 (CSEL 27.1:40–41; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.12CSEL 27.1:41
non enim, ut uulgo creditur, uinctam gerunt linguam, sed hi uocalem illum spiritum per nares quasi mugientes profundunt, quod uoci transitus ad os aut nullus omnino est aut non sic patens, ut plenam uocem possit emittere.
For they do not, as is commonly believed, have a tied tongue; but they pour out that vocal breath through the nostrils as if lowing, because the voice has either no passage at all to the mouth, or one not so open that it can send out a full voice.
Notes and citation
Summary: Mute people do not have a bound tongue; their voice cannot reach the mouth and escapes through the nose.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.12 (CSEL 27.1:41; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.13CSEL 27.1:41
quod plerumque natura fit, aliquando etiam casu accidit ut morbo aliquo hic aditus obsaeptus uocem non transmittat ad linguam faciatque de loquentibus mutos. quod cum acciderit, auditum quoque obstrui necesse est, ut quia uocem emittere non potest. ne admittere quidem possit. loquendi ergo causa patefactus est hic meatus.
This usually happens by nature, but sometimes it also happens by accident that, through some disease, this entrance is blocked and does not pass the voice on to the tongue, and makes the speaking mute. When this happens, the hearing too must be blocked, so that, since it cannot send out the voice, it cannot even let it in. This passage, then, was laid open for the sake of speaking.
Notes and citation
Summary: Disease can block this passage, causing both muteness and deafness; the passage exists for speech.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.13 (CSEL 27.1:41; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.14CSEL 27.1:41
illud quoque praestat, ut in lauacris celebrandis, quia nares calorem ferre non possunt. aer feruens ore ducatur, item si forte spiramenta narium frigore pituita praecluserit, per os auram trahere possimus, ne obstructa meandi facultate spiritus stranguletur.
It also provides this: that when we take the baths, since the nostrils cannot bear the heat, the hot air may be drawn in by the mouth; likewise, if phlegm from a chill should happen to close the breathing passages of the nostrils, we may draw air through the mouth, lest the breath be strangled when its power of passage is blocked.
Notes and citation
Summary: The opening also lets us breathe hot air or breathe when the nose is blocked by a cold.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.14 (CSEL 27.1:41; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.15CSEL 27.1:41–42
cibi uero in aluum recepti et cum potus umore permixti cum iam calore percocti fuerint, eorum sucus inenarrabili modo per membra diffusus inrigat uniuersum corpus et uegetat.
But when the food taken into the belly and mixed with the moisture of drink has been thoroughly cooked by heat, its juice, spread through the members in an indescribable way, waters and quickens the whole body.
Notes and citation
Summary: Digested food and drink spread their nourishment through the whole body.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.15 (CSEL 27.1:41–42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-15).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.16CSEL 27.1:42
intestinorum quoque multiplices spirae ac longitudo in se conuoluta et uno tamen substricta uinculo quam mirificum dei opus est! nam ubi maceratos ex se cibos aluus emiserit, paulatim per illos internorum anfractus extruduntur, ut quidquid in ipsis inest suci quo corpus alitur.
How wonderful a work of God, too, are the manifold coils of the intestines and their length rolled back upon itself and yet held fast by a single band! For when the belly has sent out of itself the softened food, it is pushed little by little through those windings of the inner parts, so that whatever juice is in it, by which the body is nourished,
Notes and citation
Summary: The long, coiled intestines, held by one band, slowly move the food along to extract its nourishment.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.16 (CSEL 27.1:42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-16).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.17CSEL 27.1:42
membris omnibus diuidatur. et tamen necubi forte obhaereant ac resistant, quod et fieri poterat propter ipsorum uoluminum flexiones in se saepe redeuntes et fieri sine pernicie non poterat, obleuit ea intrinsecus crassiore suco, ut purgamenta illa uentris ad exitus suos facilius per lubricum niterentur.
may be distributed to all the members. And yet, lest they should stick and stop anywhere (which could have happened because of the windings of the coils themselves, often turning back on themselves, and could not have happened without ruin), he smeared them on the inside with a thicker juice, so that the waste of the belly might more easily slide toward its exits along a slippery path.
Notes and citation
Summary: God lined the intestines with a slippery fluid so that waste would not lodge in their coils.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.17 (CSEL 27.1:42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-17).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.18CSEL 27.1:42
illa quoque ratio subtilissima est. quod uesica, cuius usum uolucres non habent, cum sit ab intestinis separata nec ullam habeat fistulam qua ex illis urinam trahat, conpletur tamen et umore distenditur.
This design too is most subtle: that the bladder, which birds do not have the use of, although it is separate from the intestines and has no pipe by which to draw urine from them, is nevertheless filled and swollen with moisture.
Notes and citation
Summary: The bladder fills with urine though no pipe connects it to the intestines.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.18 (CSEL 27.1:42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-18).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.19CSEL 27.1:42
id quomodo fiat non est difficile peruidere. intestinorum partes quae ab aluo cibum potumque suscipiunt, patentiores sunt quam ceterae spirae et multo tenuiores.
How this happens is not difficult to see. The parts of the intestines that receive food and drink from the belly are more open than the other coils and much thinner.
Notes and citation
Summary: The upper intestines are wider and thinner-walled than the rest.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.19 (CSEL 27.1:42; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-19).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
11.20CSEL 27.1:42–43
hae uesicam circumplectuntur et continent: ad quas partes cum potus et cibus mixta peruenerint, fimum quidem crassius fit et transmeat, umor autem omnis per illam teneritudinem percolatur eumque uesica, cuius aeque tenuis subtilisque membrana est, absorbet et colligit, ut foras qua natura exitum patefecit emittat.
These embrace and surround the bladder; and when the food and drink, mixed together, reach these parts, the dung becomes thicker and passes on, but all the moisture is strained through that thin tissue, and the bladder, whose membrane is equally thin and fine, absorbs and collects it, so as to send it out where nature has opened an exit.
Notes and citation
Summary: Liquid seeps from these intestines through the thin bladder wall and is collected for discharge.
- Lactantius's physiology here reflects ancient medical opinion.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 11.20 (CSEL 27.1:42–43; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-11-20).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
Chapter 12
12.1CSEL 27.1:43
De utero quoque et conceptione, quoniam de internis loquimur, dici necesse est, ne quid praeterisse uideamur: quae quamquam in operto latent, sensum tamen atque intellegentiam latere non possunt.
Since we are speaking of the internal parts, something must also be said about the womb and conception, lest we seem to have passed anything over: things which, although they lie hidden in secret, cannot be hidden from perception and understanding.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lactantius turns to the womb and conception.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 12.1 (CSEL 27.1:43; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-12-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
12.2CSEL 27.1:43
uena in maribus quae seminium continet, duplex est, paulo interior quam illud umoris obsceni receptaculum. sicut enim rienes duo sunt itemque testes, ita et uenae seminales duae, in una tamen conpage cohaerentes: quod uidemus in corporibus animalium, cum intersecta patefiunt.
In males the vessel that holds the seed is double, a little further in than the receptacle of the shameful fluid. For just as there are two kidneys and likewise two testicles, so there are two seminal vessels, yet joined in one structure: this we see in the bodies of animals when they are cut open.
Notes and citation
Summary: In males the seminal vessels are paired, as dissection of animals shows.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 12.2 (CSEL 27.1:43; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-12-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
12.3CSEL 27.1:43
sed illa dexterior masculinum continet semen, sinisterior femininum, et omnino in toto corpore pars dextera masculina est, sinistra uero feminina.
But the one on the right holds the male seed, the one on the left the female; and in general, in the whole body, the right side is male and the left female.
Notes and citation
Summary: Lactantius holds, with ancient opinion, that the right side is male and the left female.
- An ancient physiological theory (compare Parmenides and Aristotle, Gen. an. 4.1).
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 12.3 (CSEL 27.1:43; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-12-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
12.4CSEL 27.1:43–44
ipsum semen quidam putant ex medullis tantum, quidam ex omni corpore ad uenam genitalem confluere ibique concrescere, sed hoc quomodo fiat humana mens non potest conprehendere.
Some think that the seed itself flows together into the genital vessel and thickens there from the marrow only, others from the whole body; but how this happens the human mind cannot comprehend.
Notes and citation
Summary: Whether seed comes from the marrow or the whole body, the mind cannot tell.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 12.4 (CSEL 27.1:43–44; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-12-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
12.5CSEL 27.1:44
item in feminis uterus in duas se diuidit partes, quae in diuersum diffusae ac reflexae circumplicantur sicut arietis cornua. quae pars in dexteram retorquetur, masculina est, quae in sinistram, feminina.
Likewise in women the womb divides into two parts, which spread out in opposite directions and curl back like a ram's horns. The part that turns back to the right is male, the part that turns to the left, female.
Notes and citation
Summary: The womb, in this view, has two horns, right for males and left for females.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 12.5 (CSEL 27.1:44; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-12-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
12.6CSEL 27.1:44
conceptum igitur Varro et Aristoteles sic fieri arbitrantur. aiunt non tantum maribus inesse semen, uerum etiam feminis et inde plerumque matribus similes procreari, sed earum semen sanguinem esse purgatum: quod si recte cum uirili mixtum sit, utraque concreta et simul coagulata informari: et primum quidem cor hominis effingi, quod in eo sit et uita omnis et sapientia, denique totum opus quadragesimo die consummari. ex abortionibus haec fortasse collecta sint.
Varro and Aristotle, then, think conception happens in this way. They say that seed is present not only in males but also in females, and that for this reason children are often born like their mothers; but that the women's seed is purified blood. If this is rightly mixed with the man's, both, thickened and curdled together, take shape; and first of all the heart of the human being is formed, because in it is all life and wisdom; and finally the whole work is completed on the fortieth day. These things were perhaps gathered from miscarriages.
Notes and citation
Summary: Varro and Aristotle teach that male and female seed combine, the heart forms first, and the body is complete in forty days.
- Compare Aristotle, Gen. an. 1.19–20 and 2.4; Varro's work is lost. Aristotle did not in fact attribute seed to women; the report is Lactantius's.
Extrabiblical texts: Aristotle, Gen. an. (Aristotle (works); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 12.6 (CSEL 27.1:44; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-12-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
12.7CSEL 27.1:44
in auium tamen fetibus primos oculos fingi dubium non est, quod in ouis saepe deprehenditur. unde fieri non posse arbitror quin fictio a capite sumat exordium.
In the young of birds, however, there is no doubt that the eyes are formed first, as is often discovered in eggs. Hence I judge that it cannot be but that the forming begins from the head.
Notes and citation
Summary: Since in eggs the eyes form first, Lactantius thinks formation begins with the head.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 12.7 (CSEL 27.1:44; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-12-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
12.8CSEL 27.1:44–45
similitudines autem in corporibus filiorum sic fieri putant: cum semina inter se permixta coalescunt, si uirile superauerit. patri similem prouenire seu marem seu feminam. muliebre praeualuerit, progeniem cuiusque sexus ad imaginem respondere maternam.
They think that likenesses in the bodies of children arise in this way: when the seeds, mixed together, grow into one, if the man's has prevailed, the child turns out like the father, whether male or female; if the woman's has prevailed, the offspring of either sex corresponds to the mother's likeness.
Notes and citation
Summary: Children resemble whichever parent's seed prevailed.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 12.8 (CSEL 27.1:44–45; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-12-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
12.9CSEL 27.1:45
id autem praeualet e duobus, quod fuerit uberius; alterum enim quodammodo amplectitur et includit: hinc plerumque fieri ut unius tantum liniamenta praetendat.
And of the two, that one prevails which has been more abundant; for it in some way embraces and encloses the other. Hence it often happens that the child displays the features of one parent only.
Notes and citation
Summary: The more abundant seed prevails, so a child often resembles one parent only.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 12.9 (CSEL 27.1:45; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-12-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
12.10CSEL 27.1:45
si uero aequa fuerit ex pari semente permixtio. figuras quoque misceri. ut suboles illa communis aut neutrum referre uideatur, quia totum ex altero non habet. aut utrumque, quia partem de singulis mutuata est.
But if the mixture was even, from equal seed, the features too are mixed, so that the shared offspring seems either to resemble neither, because it does not have all from one, or both, because it has borrowed a part from each.
Notes and citation
Summary: An even mixture yields a child resembling both parents or neither.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 12.10 (CSEL 27.1:45; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-12-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
12.11CSEL 27.1:45
nam in corporibus animalium uidemus aut confundi parentum colores ac fieri tertium neutri generantium simile aut utriusque sic exprimi, ut discoloribus membris per omne corpus concors mixtura uarietur.
For in the bodies of animals we see either the colors of the parents blended and a third produced, like neither of those who begot it, or those of both so expressed that a harmonious mixture varies through the whole body with members of different colors.
Notes and citation
Summary: Animal offspring likewise blend or combine their parents' colors.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 12.11 (CSEL 27.1:45; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-12-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
12.12CSEL 27.1:45
dispares quoque naturae hocmodo fieri putantur: cum forte in laeuam uteri partem masculinae stirpis semen inciderit, marem quidem gigni opinatio est, sed quia sit in feminina parte conceptus. aliquid in se habere femineum supra quam decus uirile patiatur, uel formam insignem uel nimium candorem uel corporis leuitatem uel artus delicatos uel staturam breuem uel uocem gracilem uel animum inbecillum uel ex his plura.
Different natures also are thought to arise in this way: when the seed of male stock happens to fall into the left part of the womb, the opinion is that a male is indeed born, but because he was conceived in the female part, he has something feminine in him beyond what manly dignity allows: either striking beauty, or excessive fairness, or smoothness of body, or delicate limbs, or short stature, or a thin voice, or a weak spirit, or several of these.
Notes and citation
Summary: In this ancient theory, male seed in the left side yields a boy with feminine traits.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 12.12 (CSEL 27.1:45; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-12-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
12.13CSEL 27.1:45–46
item si partem in dexteram semen feminini generis influxerit! feminam quidem procreari, sed quoniam in masculina parte concepta sit, habere in se aliquid uirilitatis ultra quam sexus ratio permittat. aut ualida membra aut inmoderatam longitudinem aut fuscum colorem aut hispidam faciem aut uultum indecorum aut uocem robustam aut animum audacem aut ex his plura.
Likewise, if seed of the female kind has flowed into the right part, a female is indeed born, but since she was conceived in the male part, she has in her something of manliness beyond what the nature of her sex permits: either strong limbs, or excessive height, or dark color, or a hairy face, or an unlovely countenance, or a strong voice, or a bold spirit, or several of these.
Notes and citation
Summary: Female seed in the right side yields a girl with masculine traits.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 12.13 (CSEL 27.1:45–46; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-12-13).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
12.14CSEL 27.1:46
si uero masculinum in dexteram, femininum in sinistram peruenerit, utrosque fetus recte prouenire, ut et feminis per omnia naturae suae decus constet et maribus tam mente quam corpore robur uirile seruetur.
But if the male seed reaches the right side and the female the left, both offspring turn out rightly, so that the women retain in all respects the comeliness of their nature, and the men keep manly strength in mind as well as body.
Notes and citation
Summary: When each seed falls on its proper side, sons and daughters are born true to their nature.
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 12.14 (CSEL 27.1:46; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-12-14).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
12.15CSEL 27.1:46
illud uero ipsum quam mirabile institutum dei, quod ad conseruationem generum singulorum duos sexus maris ac feminae machinatus est, quibus inter se per uoluptatis inlecebram copulatis subsiciua suboles pararetur, ne genus omne uiuentium condicio mortalitatis extingueret.
But how wonderful is this very ordinance of God, that for the preservation of each kind he devised two sexes, male and female, so that, joined to one another through the allurement of pleasure, they might provide successive offspring, lest the condition of mortality extinguish every kind of living thing.
Gen 1:27 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 1:28 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God made two sexes, joined by pleasure, so that each kind might continue in spite of death.
Topics: Marriage
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 12.15 (CSEL 27.1:46; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-12-15).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
12.16CSEL 27.1:46
sed plus roboris maribus attributum est, quo facilius ad patientiam iugi maritalis feminae cogerentur. uir itaque nuncupatus est, quod maior in eo uis est quam in femina, et hinc uirtus nomen accepit:
But more strength has been given to males, so that women might more easily be brought to bear the marital yoke. So the man is called vir because there is greater force (vis) in him than in the woman, and from this virtue (virtus) received its name.
Notes and citation
Summary: Men were given more strength so that women would accept the marriage yoke; vir and virtus come from vis, strength.
Topics: Marriage
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 12.16 (CSEL 27.1:46; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-12-16).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.
12.17CSEL 27.1:46–47
item mulier, ut Varro interpretatur, a mollitie, inmutata et detracta littera, uelut mollier. cui suscepto fetu cum partus adpropinquare iam coepit, turgescentes mammae dulcibus sucis distenduntur et ad nutrimenta nascentis fontibus lacteis fecundum pectus exuberat. nec enim decebat aliud quam ut sapiens animal a corde alimoniam duceret. idque ipsum sollertissime conparatum est, ut candens ac pinguis umor teneritudinem noui corporis inrigaret. donec ad capiendos fortiores cibos et dentibus instruatur et uiribus roboretur. sed redeamus ad propositum, ut cetera quae supersunt breuiter explicemus.
Likewise woman (mulier), as Varro explains, is from softness (mollitia), a letter being changed and removed, as if mollier. When she has conceived and the birth is already beginning to approach, her swelling breasts are filled with sweet juices, and for the nourishment of the newborn her fruitful bosom overflows with springs of milk. For it was not fitting that a wise creature draw its nourishment from anywhere but the heart. And this itself was most skillfully arranged, that a white and rich fluid should water the tenderness of the new body until it is both furnished with teeth and strengthened in its powers to take stronger food. But let us return to our subject, so as to explain briefly the rest that remains.
Notes and citation
Summary: Mulier is from mollitia, softness; a mother's breasts fill with milk to feed the infant until it can take solid food.
- The source of Varro's etymology is uncertain.
Extrabiblical texts: Varro (Varro; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Lactantius, Opif. 12.17 (CSEL 27.1:46–47; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/lactantius-opificio/7-1/#p-12-17).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 27.1; made independently of existing English translations.