On the Excellence of Monks 1–19
Greek text: PG 79.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 1
1PG 79
Τέχνης μὲν ἀπάσης τὰ τεχνητὰ κρίνοντες ἄπειρα, σφόδρα σφάλλονται περὶ τὴν χρίσιν εἰκότως λόγοις δὲ διχάξοντες, οἱτούτων ἀμύητοι, πλημμελῆ κατ᾽ αὐτῶν τὴν χρίσιν ἐκφέρουσιν, οὐχ εἰδότες ἐκάστου τὴν ἀχριδῇ παρατήρησιν ὅτι μὴ ταῖς κατὰ μέρος αὐτοῖς γυμνασίαις εἰς ἕξιν ἡ ἐπιστήμη προΟὐ τοίνυν θαυμάζειν ἄξιον, εἰ τῶν ἐν ὄρεσι καὶ σπτλαίοις ἡσυχαζόντων μοναχῶν χαταγινώσχουσῖν οἱ πῶς ἀρετῇ κατορθοῦται μὴ μαθόντες τῇ πείρᾳ, τοὺς ἐν μέσῳ στρεφομένους ἀνθρώπων, καὶ διάγοντας ἐν πόλεσι λέγοντες, τῶν ἀναχεχωρημένων μᾶλλον εἶναι δοκιμωτέρους, καὶ τοσούτῳ πλέον, ὅσῳ καὶ τῶν ἀθλητῶν, οἱ κατὰ χεῖρα τοῖς ἀντιπάλοις συμπλεκόμενοι εἰσὶ γενναιότεροι οὐχ ἐπιτάμενοι γὰρ τὰς εἰς πτῶμα λαβὰς, ὅσα τῶν ἁμμάτων ἧτταν ποιεῖ, τὰς χατ᾽ ἐνέργειαν ἁμαρτίας μόνας, πτώματα κρίνουσι τὰς κατ᾿ ἔννοιαν ἧττας καὶ νίκας οὗ λογιζόμενοι. Ἐπεὶ ὄψις αὐτὰς πέὁρᾶν, ἀποῤῥήτους. οὔσας, καὶ μόνῳ τῷ ἀγωγοθέτῃ Θεῷ καὶ τῇ συνειδήσει τοῦ ἀγωνιζομένου γινωσκομένας οἷς Καὶ χρησίμη μάλιστα ἡ γνῶσίς ἐστι, τῷ μὲν ὡς βραβείων καὶ στεφάνων ἔνεκεν τῷ δὲ ὡς ἀθλοθέτῃ καὶ διανέμειν μέλλοντι τὰς ἀμοιβὰς τῶν πόνων ἀξίας. Ἐμοὶ δοκοῦσιν οἱ τοιοῦτοι κριταὶ ψυχὴν μὲν τοῖς λανθάνουσι ζομένην καλοῖς ἐπαινεῖν ἥκιστα σῶμα δὲ θαυμάζειν λάμπον τῇ ὥρᾳ τῆς ὄψεως καὶ ποικίλην εὐφημεῖν ἐσθῆτα, πρὸ τῆς εὐξίας τοῦ ταύτην περιχειμένου ὅτι τοῖς ὁρωμένοις ἀπατῶνται τὴν αἴσθησιν, τῇ φύσε τῶν πραγμάτων ἐπιστῆσαι τὸν νοῦν οὐ βουλόμξεὴοι. ᾿
Technēs men apasēs ta technēta krinontes apeira, sphodra sphallontai peri tēn chrisin eikotōs logois de dichaxontes, hoitoutōn amyētoi, plēmmelē kat᾽ autōn tēn chrisin ekpherousin, ouch eidotes ekastou tēn achridę̄ paratērēsin hoti mē tais kata meros autois gymnasiais eis hexin hē epistēmē proOu toinyn thaumazein axion, ei tōn en oresi kai sptlaiois hēsychazontōn monachōn chataginōschousin hoi pōs aretę̄ katorthoutai mē mathontes tę̄ peirą, tous en mesǭ strephomenous anthrōpōn, kai diagontas en polesi legontes, tōn anachechōrēmenōn mallon einai dokimōterous, kai tosoutǭ pleon, hosǭ kai tōn athlētōn, hoi kata cheira tois antipalois symplekomenoi eisi gennaioteroi ouch epitamenoi gar tas eis ptōma labas, hosa tōn hammatōn hēttan poiei, tas chat᾽ energeian hamartias monas, ptōmata krinousi tas kat᾿ ennoian hēttas kai nikas hou logizomenoi. Epei opsis autas peoran, aporrhētous. ousas, kai monǭ tǭ agōgothetę̄ Theǭ kai tę̄ syneidēsei tou agōnizomenou ginōskomenas hois Kai chrēsimē malista hē gnōsis esti, tǭ men hōs brabeiōn kai stephanōn eneken tǭ de hōs athlothetę̄ kai dianemein mellonti tas amoibas tōn ponōn axias. Emoi dokousin hoi toioutoi kritai psychēn men tois lanthanousi zomenēn kalois epainein hēkista sōma de thaumazein lampon tę̄ hōrą tēs opseōs kai poikilēn euphēmein esthēta, pro tēs euxias tou tautēn pericheimenou hoti tois horōmenois apatōntai tēn aisthēsin, tę̄ physe tōn pragmatōn epistēsai ton noun ou boulomxeēoi. ᾿
Those inexperienced in any art judge its works with great error, as one would expect; and those uninitiated in letters, when they judge speeches, pass a faulty judgment on them, not knowing the exact observation each requires, since knowledge does not advance to a settled habit except by detailed exercises. It is no wonder, then, if those who have not learned by experience how virtue is achieved condemn the monks who live in quiet in mountains and caves, saying that those who move among people and live in cities are more approved than those who have withdrawn, and by as much as, among athletes, those who grapple hand to hand with their opponents are the nobler. For not knowing the holds that lead to a fall, how many of the grips bring defeat, they judge only sins in act to be falls, and take no account of defeats and victories in thought. For the eye cannot see these, since they are secret and known only to God, who presides over the contest, and to the conscience of the contestant; to these two the knowledge of them is most useful, to the contestant for the sake of prizes and crowns, to God as the judge of the games who is to distribute rewards worthy of the labors. Such judges seem to me hardly to praise a soul adorned with hidden goods, but to admire a body shining with the bloom of its looks, and to praise fine clothing before the good health of the one who wears it, because their senses are deceived by what is seen and they will not fix their mind on the nature of things.
Notes and citation
Summary: People who judge city ascetics superior to desert monks are like the unskilled judging an art: they count only sins of act and ignore the hidden victories and defeats of thought.
- This treatise argues that monks living in quiet in the desert surpass ascetics living in cities.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 1 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/1
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 2
2PG 79
Ὡς: τὰρ τὸ ἔσω τοῦ ποτηρίου πρὸς τέρψιν τοῦ πίνοντος δεῖ πάντως χαθαῤὸν εἶναι, οὕτω τὴν καρδίαν … πρὸ τοῦ σώματος ἔχειν ἀμόλυντον χρὴ πρὸς τὸ ἀρέσκειν τῷ τοιαύτην ὁρᾷν αὐτὴν βουλομένῳ Θεῷ. Ὅ-: ι τῇ ταύτης ἀκολουθεῖ καθαρότητι καὶ ἡ τοῦ σώματος καθαρότης, οὐκέτι δὲ καὶ τῇ σκηνῇ τοῦ σώματος ἀναγ. καίως συνδιάχειται τῆς ψυχῆς ἡ διάθεσις. Ἔστι γὰρ, ὥς φησιν ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς, καὶ τάφον τινα κεχονιαμένον μεστὸν ὀστέων νεχρῶν καὶ πάπης σίας, τῷ φαινομένῳ συνάδουσαν οὐχ ἔχοντα τὴν ἕνδον ἀλέθεταυ, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τοῦτον εἰς σύγκρισιν ὁ λόγος τῶν εἰρηλένων καλεῖ τὸν δὲ κατὰ τὴν πρακτικὴν ἴτον καὶ τὰς ᾿θιχὰς ἀρετὰς ἤσχτη μένον ὁμοίως αὐτοῖς καὶ τοῦτον γὰρ εὑρήσομεν ἀπολιμπανόαὐτῷ πολλῷ διαστήματι, καὶ τῦς μον:χὴς ἀφεστῶτα ἀγωγῆς τοσοῦτον, ὅσον τῆς εὐμεθίδιν ἰατοιχῆς ἢ κατὰ χεῖρα μόνον ἐνεργουμένη οὔτε νοσυμάτων αἰτίας ἐπισταμένη, οὔτε παθῶν, ὅπως ἢ ὅθεν τίχτονται, διαφορὰς περ μόνον ὃὲ πρὸς τὸ χάμνον ἱσταμένη, καὶ τοῦτο θερ:πεύουσα, ὃ πάλιν ὑποστρέφειν οἷδεν ὀξέως, τῆςς ὅθεν Ἦρξατο αἰτίας οὐχ ἀνῃρημένης ὡς διατάτε: καὶ φλεγμοναὶ σπλάγχνων, καὶ δυσχρασίαι χυμῶν, τοὺς μυρίους, καὶ τοῖς καὶ ταῖς; διαθέσεσι: πυρετοὺ;, ἐφημερινοὺς, ξξδοματιχοὺς καὶ δισεθδόμους, ἣ χρονίου;, ἐκτιχοὺς, καὶ ἐφημέρους, τοὺς μὲν ἐπὶ ξανθῇ, τοὺς δὲ ἐπὶ μελαίνῃ χολῇ, ἄλλους ἐπὶ καὶ ᾶλλους ἐφ᾽ αἴματος πλεονασμῷ συνισταμένους, τοὺς μὲν ἡσυχῇ καὶ προσιόντας, ποὺς δὲ πρὸ πολλοῦ κεκραγότας τὴν παρουσίαν μαλαχιτμῶ, καὶ … ἢ καὶ ὕπνῳ συνεχῶς διαχοπτομένῳ τὴν νότον ἰδεῖς, οἵ σημαίνοντας.
Hōs: tar to esō tou potēriou pros terpsin tou pinontos dei pantōs chatharon einai, houtō tēn kardian … pro tou sōmatos echein amolynton chrē pros to areskein tǭ toiautēn horąn autēn boulomenǭ Theǭ. Ho-: i tę̄ tautēs akolouthei katharotēti kai hē tou sōmatos katharotēs, ouketi de kai tę̄ skēnę̄ tou sōmatos anag. kaiōs syndiacheitai tēs psychēs hē diathesis. Esti gar, hōs phēsin ho Kyrios Iēsous, kai taphon tina kechoniamenon meston osteōn nechrōn kai papēs sias, tǭ phainomenǭ synadousan ouch echonta tēn hendon alethetau, all᾽ ou touton eis synkrisin ho logos tōn eirēlenōn kalei ton de kata tēn praktikēn iton kai tas ᾿thichas aretas ēschtē menon homoiōs autois kai touton gar heurēsomen apolimpanoautǭ pollǭ diastēmati, kai tys mon:chēs aphestōta agōgēs tosouton, hoson tēs eumethidin iatoichēs ē kata cheira monon energoumenē oute nosymatōn aitias epistamenē, oute pathōn, hopōs ē hothen tichtontai, diaphoras per monon hoe pros to chamnon histamenē, kai touto ther:peuousa, ho palin hypostrephein hoiden oxeōs, tēss hothen Ērxato aitias ouch anę̄rēmenēs hōs diatate: kai phlegmonai splanchnōn, kai dyschrasiai chymōn, tous myrious, kai tois kai tais? diathesesi: pyretou?, ephēmerinous, xxdomatichous kai disethdomous, hē chroniou?, ektichous, kai ephēmerous, tous men epi xanthę̄, tous de epi melainę̄ cholę̄, allous epi kai allous eph᾽ aimatos pleonasmǭ synistamenous, tous men hēsychę̄ kai prosiontas, pous de pro pollou kekragotas tēn parousian malachitmō, kai … ē kai hypnǭ synechōs diachoptomenǭ tēn noton ideis, hoi sēmainontas.
For just as the inside of the cup must surely be clean for the drinker's pleasure, so one must keep the heart … undefiled before the body, to please God, who wants to see it so. For the purity of the body follows on the purity of the heart, but the disposition of the soul does not necessarily match the tent of the body. For there is, as the Lord Jesus says, also a whitewashed tomb full of dead men's bones and all impurity, which has within no truth agreeing with its appearance. But our discourse does not call such a one into the comparison. Rather, the one who has practised the active life and the ethical virtues equally with the desert monks, this one too we shall find left far behind them, and as far removed from the monastic way of life as handwork alone is from methodical medicine. Handwork knows neither the causes of diseases nor of afflictions, how or whence they arise, nor their differences; it simply stands by the suffering part and treats it, and the disease knows how to return quickly, since the cause from which it began has not been removed: distensions and inflammations of the viscera, imbalances of the humors, the countless fevers in their various conditions, daily, seven-day and fourteen-day, or chronic, hectic and short-lived, some arising from yellow bile, others from black bile, others from phlegm, and others from an excess of blood; some coming on quietly, others announcing their arrival long in advance by languor, restlessness, or sleep constantly broken, signs of the disease.
Matt 23:25–26 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 23:27 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Inner purity matters more than outward; even a virtuous city ascetic is as far behind the desert monk as a mere hand-healer is behind a physician who knows the causes of disease.
- Allusions: Matt 23:25–27 (the inside of the cup; whitewashed tombs). The medical comparison distinguishes healing by hand alone (perhaps surgery or empirical treatment) from “methodical” medicine that knows causes; the list of fevers and humors follows ancient medical theory (“phlegm” and “restlessness” supply damaged words). Two long passages of OCR from Migne's facing Latin column, with some Greek lost (marked …), and the end of the chapter have been removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris from Migne's Latin column; a word is lost; OCR debris from Migne's facing Latin column (and stray letters); removed): αὐ δυ: ιι ἰοῖα, τοῦτο Ἰ αμτὰν να γδιὶοΠΡ ἰδοορίδιη αυἱ ΠΟ ἢ ἢ Ό οι ἢ οἴ ἢ τοὶ αυρὰ δε Πη Θχθυοῖ δὶ η η Παυὰ οι πιοηδοῖο Υἱίδιη ἀοφοιίος ἐμ οἱ αἱ ἀχρὸτἰθηιἶα ἤθη φυυπηοίίο σοι δι ι, ἴῃ τ οἱ ῃ ἀμ Δ ἷ, ὶ ἸΩ δα Β α΄ Γἃδὰ φυοὶ οἰδάθιῃ, δοίυ ἃ ἰἃρ χ δο οἶρδᾶ ἀἰβρίοδγα ον σου α, οἱ Π ο, δίᾳι σοΓίλῃι φυθὺ τηαχὶπιο α: οοφηλἶο, υπ τι οἱ Δ Π Ὑ γΓὸ ἰδηρΓ δι ἃς πδγοθίο ΜΙ υἱ θην πυ ἰλίὴ θη, δύ οἵΟ ἰοτηᾶ, οἱ ΕἸ ῦγᾶγα ργὰ θομᾶ αἰ ἰμθὰ ἢ Υἱοὶ θ υ ΓΟ Δ γα πὸἰηίγα μού δὲ γο ὰυ Οροτίοι Ομ η ἃ μ πατῇ Α → … ; ἀρὲδ θ ο, να νί όσα, αὐ παρὸ ἰἰᾶπο Δί ΠῚ δἱ θη Γ Γποι Ὑ πλοῦ ἐοπιροηίίαν οη γίυαμη. δ Β η θα Π Ὀ Θ Πα Π Ο οἱ οὶ πηι απ, πο θη οἱ, π κ ὰΤΟΙ; δι, σου τ θ ἤθη ἔπη τὰ ἀἰοσία δυίσιν ὁ, νη ο ἴῃ μον ο νι υ ἰηοτίογοην, οι ἂὖὺ ἰπδίυ δε ο ΕΠ ἃ τὸοἱ αυ ο πὶ οροαι θ οα΄. συομηοίο, ὑπ Δ π ἴῃ ο, οἱ Πα ουγαῖ, η ἰὺἢ, οὐ ΠΟ. ἐδυ ᾶ, ἃ κυ ρ ᾽ ο ἢ δι η οἱ εἶθ οἱ αἰναγδῶς ὑπὸ αἰ οἱ δδρίοιη,, υοὶ Δ οἱ ἀπ θη Πανὰ, ρὺσχὴν → ἀρέσκειν; καὶ οἱ ἰ Δα πάλη σου ἢ καὶ ὕπνῳ → καὶ … ἢ καὶ ὕπνῳ; ΠηῸ πο δάνεια ᾿Δησύογα ἃς βοπιθοὸ πο ται βίη Πολ η Πρ σύπαΟΠ οὐηοχίαι., υ ὴ, μ αὐ ῸΝ ο μασελίιμῃ, ἀυοί, ΠῸ οἷρίο Πα, ΝΟ αυδάδλῃ ἐοπππογοηίοῖ α. ον ᾽ δάσγα δῖα Ρ Δ ἢ πὶ οἱ, ποσὶ λ οἱ πὸη Π ΠῸἢ δι πος διᾶμεῖ, αἱ ποΝ ι ἰπποη νει οου ι πιογοιγίοἶτις, δἱ Γαιῖο ἢ δὸ οἵ ποῖ ἃ ἐπ ποη αὐδίῖυ ΠῚ πιβ υ Π υἱὴ ΓΙ ἰπίο γι δι θδυθεγηδίογο, γαχαὶ ἰη τίου αι η πη ὁ ἢ. χχ → .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 2 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/2
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 3
3PG 79
Ούὐτως αἱσθήσεω: ὁρμὴ ποιεῖν εἴωθε γισμὸν ἐμπαθῇ, ἐπιθυμίαν αἰσχρὰν, αὕτη τέρψυ, καὶ πάλιν συναίνεσιν, ἧς ὁπαδὸς ἡ χατ᾽ ἁμαρτία ἐστὶν, ἣν προοιμιαζομένην πρώτης δεῖ παύειν αἰτίας, τὴν ὄψιν ἀποστρεφομένους, τῆν χ νοῦσαν εἱρμῷ τὰ εἰρημένα, πρὶν αὐτὴν πα ραγενέσδα:, καὶ τριῆσαι δυσχερὴ τὴν ἀνάδυσιν, τὸ γὰρ μὴ τυπωθὲν διὰ τῆς ὁράσεως, ἴσως οὐ δίδωσιν ἕρτον, καὶ μελέτην τῇ διανοίᾳ κακὴν, τὸ ὃὲ μὴ εἰ; ἔργον οὐ πρόεισιν, οὐδὲ ἔχει χώραν ἐξωθῇῆνναι ρίῳ τιν οὐ προφέρεταιλοιδορίας γλῶσσα, ἔνδον πεῖ ευνασθέντος θυμοῦ οὐχ δρᾷ πορνικὸς ὀφθοξέ,. λογισμοῦ τοῦτον ἡνιοχοῦντος, καὶ τῆς μὴ σης εἴργοντος θέας οὐ δέχεται λόγον αν σχρὸν ἀξ: κοῦ νοῦ ταύτην φρουροῦντος τὴν αἴσθησιν, οὐδὲν τὸν μελῶν πλημμελῶς ἐνεργεῖ, νήφοντος ἔσω τῷ τ΄ δερνῶντος τὰ ἐνθύμια, καὶ τὴν βαλδέδα χατέχοντο, αὐτὴν τοῦ ὁρμητηρίου τῶν παθῶν ἰσχυρῶς δὲ καὶ καὶ ἐγρήγορεν οὗτος ἀποταξάλενος τοῖς ἐπ πὺς, καὶ ὡς ἐν αἰθρία, οὐζενὸς θοῦντος, τὰ βουλεύματα.
Ouytōs haisthēseō: hormē poiein eiōthe gismon empathę̄, epithymian aischran, hautē terpsy, kai palin synainesin, hēs hopados hē chat᾽ hamartia estin, hēn prooimiazomenēn prōtēs dei pauein aitias, tēn opsin apostrephomenous, tēn ch nousan heirmǭ ta eirēmena, prin autēn pa ragenesda:, kai triēsai dyscherē tēn anadysin, to gar mē typōthen dia tēs horaseōs, isōs ou didōsin herton, kai meletēn tę̄ dianoią kakēn, to hoe mē ei? ergon ou proeisin, oude echei chōran exōthę̄ēnnai riǭ tin ou propheretailoidorias glōssa, endon pei eunasthentos thymou ouch drą pornikos ophthoxe,. logismou touton hēniochountos, kai tēs mē sēs eirgontos theas ou dechetai logon an schron ax: kou nou tautēn phrourountos tēn aisthēsin, ouden ton melōn plēmmelōs energei, nēphontos esō tǭ t΄ dernōntos ta enthymia, kai tēn baldeda chatechonto, autēn tou hormētēriou tōn pathōn ischyrōs de kai kai egrēgoren houtos apotaxalenos tois ep pys, kai hōs en aithria, ouzenos thountos, ta bouleumata.
In the same way, the impulse of sense usually produces a passionate thought; the thought, shameful desire; desire, pleasure; and pleasure again, consent, whose follower is sin in act. This must be stopped as it begins, at its first cause, by turning away the sight, which moves the things mentioned in sequence, before it comes in and makes escape difficult. For what has not been imprinted through seeing perhaps gives the mind no occupation or evil study; and what does not come into act has no room to be driven out … The tongue does not bring forth abuse when anger is lulled to sleep within; the eye does not look like a fornicator when reason holds the reins and keeps it from the unfitting sight; [the ear] does not take in a shameful word when the [chaste] mind guards that sense; none of the members acts amiss while the mind within is sober, steering the thoughts and holding the rod firmly against the starting point of the passions. And this mind is awake, having renounced [the things outside], and, as in a clear sky, with nothing troubling it, [orders] its counsels.
Notes and citation
Summary: Sin grows from sight to thought, desire, pleasure, consent and act, and must be stopped at the start by guarding the senses under a sober mind.
- The chain of sin (impulse of sense, passionate thought, desire, pleasure, consent, act) is a standard analysis in the ascetic writers. Some words are damaged and translated by sense. The end of the chapter is OCR of Migne's facing Latin column, removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris from Migne's facing Latin column (and stray letters); removed): οδῦ αὐ ἰπίεγοη πὶ μα πὶ ἂς. ἴῃ δόγα βιι ποι ΐ είοηιο → .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 3 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/3
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 4
4PG 79
Πῶς οὖν ὁ κατὰ πρᾶξιν μὴ ἥταιων τοῦ κατ᾽ ἔννόιαν μὴ σφαλλομένου ἐστὶ προτιμότερος Ἐπειδὴ, φησὶν, αὐτὸς ἐρεθιζόμενος οὐ χάμπτεται τοῖς πράγμασι, καὶ δοχιμώτερός ἔστι τοῦ μὴ τοῖς ὁρωμένοις τὸ ἐπιθυμητικὸν χνιξομένου πρὸς ἔφεσιν εἰ μὲν μηδὲν οὗτος ἔγνω τῶν τοῦ κόσμου πραγμάτων, οὖχ ἔχει πρὸς αὑτὰ εἰ δὲ τῇ τούτων ἐν γνώσε: γεγένηται, ἔχει τὴν μνήμην κινοῦσαν τὰς ὕλας, ὡς κινεῖ τὰ ὁρώμενα, καὶ ἡ πάλη συνέστηκεν αὐτῷ ἀδιάστατος, τῶν παθῶν ἄδειαν ἐχόντων ἐν τῇ ἡσυχίᾳ πλέον ὄψεως ὀχλεῖν τῷ περὶ μηδὲν τῶν ἔξω περισπωμένῳ τὴν ἔννοιαν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐν συντυχίαις ὧν καὶ καὶ τὴν ὄψιν ἀργοτέραν ἔχει πρὸς τὰ σχανδαλίζοντα, πολλοῖς ἐπιμεριζομένην προσώποις, καὶ τὸν λογισμὸν μόλις φθάνοντα νύκτωρ τὰς ημερινὰς διεξέρχεςθαι συντυχίας ὁ δὲ μιᾷ μάχεται διόλου μορφῇ εἴτε ὄψεως ἀρεσάσης ποτὲ, εἴτε λυπήσαντος εἰδώλου, τῆς μὲν ἔτ: γαργαλιζούσης τὴν ἔπιθυμίαν, τοῦ δὲ τὸν θυμὸν ἀναφλέγοντος καὶ πᾶσαν ἔχει σπουδὴν τοῦ διενοχλοῦντος ἐξῶσαι τὴν ἔννοιαν, καὶ τὴν ὑπόμνησιν ἀφανίσαι τῶν κινούντων τὰ πάθη. Περιέσται δὲ πάντως τῷ χρόνῳ οὗτος καθ᾽ ἐκάστην ἐλαττῶν τοῦ μαχομένου τὴν δύναμιν, καὶ τὴν οἰκείαν αὔξων τῇ γυμνασίᾳ προχόπτουσαν ἐπὶ τὸ ἀχμαιότεφὸν ὁσημέραι, καὶ ἐθιζομένην τῶν ἀντιπάλων κραεἶν οὕτω καὶ ἣ συνήθεια, εἰς ἕξιν μετέρχεται, καὶ ἡ ἕξις εἰς φύσιν, καὶ τὸ χτῆμα τῷ κτησαμένῳ τηρεῖ ἀμετάππωτον. ᾿Αλλὰ τοῖς ἀπείροις γὰρ οὐχ ἔστι ῥείθρου τρέχοντος τὴν κάτω κειμένην ψάμμον ἰδεῖν, ἀναστέλλοντος δὲ τοῦ ἀνάγχη γυμνὴν ταύτην θεάσασθαι οὕτω τῆς ὄψεως ἐπιχλυξζούσης ἄλλαις μορφαῖς τὴν διάνοιαν, οὔτε μάχὴν ἐστὶ πρὸς ὡρισμένον ἀναδέξασθαι πρότωπον, ἢ πάθος, οὔτΞς τὸν λογισμὸν καθαρθῆναί ποτε, τῶν ἐπεισερχομένων ἀφανιζόντων τοὺ; προλαόντας χαραχτήρας, καὶ τοὺς οἰκείους πρὸς ὀλέγον ἐνσημαινομένων τύπους. Καὶ τούτονς γὰρ ἐπιλεαίουσιν ὑπεισιόντες ἕτεροι, καὶ τῇ ἐφεδρείᾳ ταύτῃ θόξἐυῦος ἀΐδιος κατέχει τὰ ἕνδον, οὔτε γνωσθῆναι τὰ ὀχλοῦντα συγχωρῶν τῇ ἐπαλληλίᾳ τῶν ἀμειδομένων φαντασιῶν. Ἄρτι γὰρ τὰ πρὸ μικροῦ ἐμπεσόντα, κατέχει τὸν λογισμὸν, καὶ μετ᾽ ὀλίγον τὰ νῦν καὶ τοῖς αὖθις παραχωρεῖ τὰ φθάπαντα τοῦτον σχολάζοντα, ἐχανὴν μὲν, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ματαίων ἐνθυμίων ὑπομένοντα βλάβην ἵνα καὶ δοκῇ μηδὲν πάσχειν αὐτὸν, ὧν διατίθησιν ἐκεῖνα, ἐμπαθεῖς τὰς φαντασίας τῶν πραγμάτων ποιούμενα, καὶ τῶν ἀναγκαιοτέρων, καὶ ὠφελίμων ἀποκλείοντα, λογικῶν.
Pōs oun ho kata praxin mē hētaiōn tou kat᾽ ennoian mē sphallomenou esti protimoteros Epeidē, phēsin, autos erethizomenos ou champtetai tois pragmasi, kai dochimōteros esti tou mē tois horōmenois to epithymētikon chnixomenou pros ephesin ei men mēden houtos egnō tōn tou kosmou pragmatōn, ouch echei pros hauta ei de tę̄ toutōn en gnōse: gegenētai, echei tēn mnēmēn kinousan tas hylas, hōs kinei ta horōmena, kai hē palē synestēken autǭ adiastatos, tōn pathōn adeian echontōn en tę̄ hēsychią pleon opseōs ochlein tǭ peri mēden tōn exō perispōmenǭ tēn ennoian. Ho men gar en syntychiais hōn kai kai tēn opsin argoteran echei pros ta schandalizonta, pollois epimerizomenēn prosōpois, kai ton logismon molis phthanonta nyktōr tas ēmerinas diexerchesthai syntychias ho de mią machetai diolou morphę̄ eite opseōs aresasēs pote, eite lypēsantos eidōlou, tēs men et: gargalizousēs tēn epithymian, tou de ton thymon anaphlegontos kai pasan echei spoudēn tou dienochlountos exōsai tēn ennoian, kai tēn hypomnēsin aphanisai tōn kinountōn ta pathē. Periestai de pantōs tǭ chronǭ houtos kath᾽ ekastēn elattōn tou machomenou tēn dynamin, kai tēn oikeian auxōn tę̄ gymnasią prochoptousan epi to achmaiotephon hosēmerai, kai ethizomenēn tōn antipalōn kraein houtō kai hē synētheia, eis hexin meterchetai, kai hē hexis eis physin, kai to chtēma tǭ ktēsamenǭ tērei ametappōton. ᾿Alla tois apeirois gar ouch esti rheithrou trechontos tēn katō keimenēn psammon idein, anastellontos de tou ananchē gymnēn tautēn theasasthai houtō tēs opseōs epichlyxzousēs allais morphais tēn dianoian, oute machēn esti pros hōrismenon anadexasthai protōpon, ē pathos, outXs ton logismon katharthēnai pote, tōn epeiserchomenōn aphanizontōn tou? prolaontas charachtēras, kai tous oikeious pros olegon ensēmainomenōn typous. Kai toutons gar epileaiousin hypeisiontes heteroi, kai tę̄ ephedreią tautę̄ thoxeuyos aïdios katechei ta hendon, oute gnōsthēnai ta ochlounta synchōrōn tę̄ epallēlią tōn ameidomenōn phantasiōn. Arti gar ta pro mikrou empesonta, katechei ton logismon, kai met᾽ oligon ta nyn kai tois authis parachōrei ta phthapanta touton scholazonta, echanēn men, kai ek tōn mataiōn enthymiōn hypomenonta blabēn hina kai dokę̄ mēden paschein auton, hōn diatithēsin ekeina, empatheis tas phantasias tōn pragmatōn poioumena, kai tōn anankaioterōn, kai ōphelimōn apokleionta, logikōn.
How, then, is the one who is not defeated in action to be preferred to the one who does not stumble in thought? “Because,” he says, “when the city ascetic is provoked he is not bent by circumstances, and so he is more approved than the one whose desiring part is not stirred to longing by what he sees.” But if the desert monk knew nothing of the affairs of the world, he has no struggle with them; and if he did come to know them, he has memory stirring the material of the passions, as things seen stir it, and his wrestling goes on without a break, since in quiet the passions have more license than sight to trouble the one whose thought is distracted by nothing outside. For the one who lives among encounters has his sight duller toward what causes stumbling, since it is divided among many faces, and his reasoning scarcely manages at night to go through the day's encounters; but the other fights continually with a single form, whether of a sight that once pleased or of an image that grieved, the one still tickling desire, the other inflaming anger; and he devotes all his zeal to driving out the thought of what troubles him and blotting out the memory of what stirs the passions. And he will surely prevail in time, lessening every day the strength of his opponent and increasing his own by exercise, as it advances daily to greater vigor and grows used to mastering its adversaries. So custom passes into habit, and habit into nature, and it keeps the acquisition unchangeable for the one who acquired it. For those without experience, it is not possible to see the sand lying at the bottom of a running stream, but when the stream stops one necessarily sees it bare. In the same way, when sight floods the mind with other forms, it is not possible to take up a battle against a definite face or passion, nor for the reasoning ever to be cleansed, since those that come in blot out the impressions that came before and stamp their own types for a little while. These in turn are smoothed away by others coming in, and by this succession an everlasting tumult holds the interior, not allowing what troubles it to be recognized, because of the succession of changing images. For just now what has recently fallen in holds the reasoning, and after a little the present images too give way to the next, keeping it occupied, while it suffers harm enough even from vain thoughts, so that it even seems to suffer nothing from what they do to it, as they make the images of things passionate and shut out the more necessary and useful thoughts of reason.
Notes and citation
Summary: The desert monk fights the memory of passions directly and so can conquer them, while the city ascetic's mind is flooded with ever-changing images and never cleansed.
- The words in quotation marks give the opponents' argument. The end of the chapter is OCR of Migne's facing Latin column, removed; it includes a stray Greek phrase (“by art very impossible things appear possible”) that belongs elsewhere.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris from Migne's facing Latin column (and stray letters); removed): ῃ. ἸΥ Θυομλόιίυ Γ ἢ ας αι Οὐαὶ, ἰγγιίδίυ ἰθὺ διῖον ᾳφαὶ ἴῃ οοπουρίβοθιιὶα πο δι αι δ θη δὲ Π ποδοῖ θη μᾶθαι ριηζῆδιη Δι νου δἱ μ ῦ πὶ η δι πῸτηοῃτοῦίαπη Π ἃἰογῖα οἰ Ποῖα ἰμεῖδις ᾳυῶ ποῖ ροι ί, ραφδ᾽οἾ θ. ορρογίυ ἴση ἴῃ φιοία το ν ΤΏ Π αὐ ἴῃ σοι οἱ πανοῖ μἰφτγίογοιν ὰ ᾳυδ ἴῃ οἱ ποσίῃ Ομ Ποῖ ἰ Γ ΕἸ Γ αἰτοῦ ἃ ἀδοσγιαῖ, ᾳὐυσά δῇᾳυαμάο Υἱβὰ νοὶ ἰδ ρει πιὰ ε Π ΠᾺ πι ἴοι, ἰ ΙΔ Π ΟἸ αὖυς ἰπ τεῖ δι ἃς πη γον η ἰ νι ἢ δὲ δύδισοι ὁχογοίο, ργοσγού θεῖ π Υἱ τῆς τέχνης δυνατὰ φαίνεται τὰ λίαν ἀδύνατα ὡς δι τ νογοῖ, ἴ οἱ ὁ τΡ η οἱ ἰὰ εἰ πο δου διε ἐπε τυ, Πη να θ πὶ ἤπδηἴστἢ δυο Ἀτοηδδὴ Υἱοῦ δοσαίπιιν. βυτὰ γνὸγοὸ δὲ δα πίο σα αἱ δὲ βυῦθπιογροιία, πος ἐδίογηηάπ δι ἢδς Ομ Π πὶ ῆ σα οὗ, ὁ φοβερό, οἱ Ὁ ἴδε οἱ δὲ οὗ Δἤει τ δοσηραὶ ἐπ ποι φδιΏ ΦΆ οὐ αἱ πολ δἰίογη οἱ βασοθιοιβίατη ἱπιὰΔἐῖᾶὸ δηῖα πὶ οὐγίο εἰ υς: οἰίδιίειη, αὐ οἰ ᾿ἀδίηηδην διἰ πη ποῖ ἃ Δ ον ἡμ Π δα γοιἀοηιία τοῦτ οἱ → .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 4 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/4
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 5
5PG 79
ΕἸ δέ τις ἴδοι, καὶ τὰς ἔξωθεν … ὀφθαλμῶν, ἃ μὴ θέμις ὁρώντων, ἀκοῆς αἰσχραῖς πάντοῦς περιχτυπουμένης φωναῖς, θυμοῦ πρὸς τούτοις τερασσομένου, ἐπιθυμίας δελεαζομένης, ἧδδονῆς ἐρεθιζομένης, δόξης ῥιπιζομένῃης, λύπης σης, εὕροι πάντως αὑτὸν ὡς ἐκ πυγμῆς δυλισμένον, καὶ τραυμάτων καταγέμοντα καὶ τό: μακαρίζοντα τοὺς μηδὲν τούτων ἐν τῷ ἡσυχάζειν ὁρῶντας, ἣ πάσχοντας. Τί γὰρ ὄφελος αὐτῇ τῇ τῶν πραγμάτων κινεῖν πρὸς μάχην τὰ πάθη, τὶ γυμνασίᾳ παρέχειν ἄδειαν αὑτοῖς ἐπιτρέδεσθαι ἐπὶ τὸ χαλεπώτερον, ἐξ ὧν ἡσυχία πρὸς κατάστασιν ἀτάραχον ἄγειν αὐτὰ ἐπειδήπως πέφυκεν, καὶ. ἐκάστου τὴν δύναμιν κατὰ μικρὸν ἢ ἀργία, ὡ; ἡ γυμνασία ταύτην ἐγείρει ἐπὶ τὸ Καὶ θυμὸς γὰρ ἑρεμῶν ἐπιειχέστερος γένεται, καὶ ἐπιθυμία ἡσυχάζουσα πραότερον δρμᾷν κατ᾽ ὀλέγοι ἐθίζξεται, καὶ πᾶν πάθος ἁπλῶς ἐπὶ τὸ μετριώτερον ὁσημέραι μὴ κινούμενον πρόεισι, καὶ παύεται πεντελῶς ὕστερον τῆς οἰκείας ἐνεργείας τῷ χρόνῳ λέποιούμενον, καὶ μένουσιν αἱ μνῆμαι λοι πὸν τῶν πραγμάτων φιλαὶ τῆς ἐμπαθοῦς ὑποχεορηδάσης διὰ θέσεως.
EI de tis idoi, kai tas exōthen … ophthalmōn, ha mē themis horōntōn, akoēs aischrais pantous perichtypoumenēs phōnais, thymou pros toutois terassomenou, epithymias deleazomenēs, hēddonēs erethizomenēs, doxēs rhipizomenę̄ēs, lypēs sēs, heuroi pantōs hauton hōs ek pygmēs dylismenon, kai traumatōn katagemonta kai to: makarizonta tous mēden toutōn en tǭ hēsychazein horōntas, hē paschontas. Ti gar ophelos autę̄ tę̄ tōn pragmatōn kinein pros machēn ta pathē, ti gymnasią parechein adeian hautois epitredesthai epi to chalepōteron, ex hōn hēsychia pros katastasin atarachon agein auta epeidēpōs pephyken, kai. ekastou tēn dynamin kata mikron ē argia, hō? hē gymnasia tautēn egeirei epi to Kai thymos gar heremōn epieichesteros genetai, kai epithymia hēsychazousa praoteron drmąn kat᾽ olegoi ethizxetai, kai pan pathos haplōs epi to metriōteron hosēmerai mē kinoumenon proeisi, kai pauetai pentelōs hysteron tēs oikeias energeias tǭ chronǭ lepoioumenon, kai menousin hai mnēmai loi pon tōn pragmatōn philai tēs empathous hypocheorēdasēs dia theseōs.
If someone were to look at the senses that face outward, … the eyes seeing what is not lawful, the hearing beaten on every side by shameful words, anger meanwhile stirred up, desire enticed, pleasure provoked, glory fanned, grief …, he would surely find himself bruised as from a boxing match and covered with wounds, and would call blessed those who in quiet see or suffer none of these things. For what use is it to stir up the passions to battle by the very presence of things, and by exercising them to give them license to turn for the worse, when quiet naturally leads them to an untroubled state, and idleness [quenches] the strength of each little by little, as exercise rouses it to greater force? For anger, when at rest, becomes gentler, and desire, kept quiet, grows used little by little to stirring more mildly, and every passion simply, when it is not moved, advances day by day to greater moderation and later ceases altogether from its own activity, weakened by time; and only bare memories of things remain, once the passionate disposition has withdrawn.
Notes and citation
Summary: The city ascetic's senses are battered all day by sights and sounds; in quiet the passions, left unstirred, grow weaker until only bare memories remain.
- OCR of Migne's facing Latin column has been removed at three places; words lost with it are marked ….
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris from Migne's facing Latin column (and stray letters); removed): α:, ὀφθαλὁπ. ὅ υ Π π Υ. δὲ νότο, οἱ δαινὰ ἔμ Π φύγοι, αι ἃ Χνά απὸ Ων ἰηδρὶοἰδια Α μῶν, → … ὀφθαλμῶν, ; ὦ ᾳυᾷ δῖ, υῃἴτα ρΡογίυγυλίο, βασι ΠΟ δ σίου δ Π δν η υπ δα η αῖίυ οοηίυδύ ἃ ῥα ἷ ἰ η ϊοληἰθ π ρει ἰ π Θχρογίδη Ἔκ οἴ ρη δὶ ρὲοἱ πᾶς θοῦα Πἰδομιἴλιῃ, αἴ γὰ Οἰ δι γα οι ἀσύυξεγα δἰ ἀν οΟἰἶα, δχδγοίίδιίο Θχοί πη τοῦ σομουρίΞςεοι εἶα αυ ὸρά π οἱ Πρ Διο σὴ ριος σοι ποῖα, ἃς. αὐυἱεῖα ροηίίυ ργὰ Β ριορτγίαι Οἱ ἢ → ; ολρίᾶ ἃς μονα αὔε ςἶο σοΟμπιοίἃ. ΥἹ. Εἰ ταὶ πὶ οἱ Π πος δι τηονοὶ ἀρροί αὶ υ πι ἃ ἀπο ἰ η → .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 5 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/5
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia-5) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 6
6PG 79
Καὶ ὥσπερ καὶ τῶν ἄγαν ἡδέων ὄψων, καὶ ποτῶν, οὔτε ἡ ὕψις οὔτε ἡ μνήμη κινεῖ τοῦ μὴ ἐφιεμένου τὴν ὄρεξιν. Οὕτως οὐδὲν τῶν αἰσθητῶν, οὔτε ὁρωμένων, οὔτε ἀκουόμενον, οὔτε τὴν ἐνθύμγτρσιν … ἐρχόμενον τῷ ἡρεμεῖν τὸ δεπρὸς πάθος τῆς ἕξεως οὐχ ἔτι κινεῖσθαι συγχωρούσης τὸν ἀπομαθόντα τῇ πολλῇ ἡσυχίᾳ τὴν χίνησιν πῶς οὖν τὸν ἀπείρως, καὶ ἐπικινδύνως τὴν ἄσκησιν μετερχόμενον, τοῦ ἐμμεθόδως, καὶ ἄσφαλῶς τὴν ἄσκησιν μετιόντος δοχιμώτερόν ἐστιν εἰπεῖν. Τίς μᾶλλον πόλεμον ἑ, καὶ πολεμίους εὐχόλως χειροῦται, ὁ μανιχῶς κατὰ τῶν ἀντι τε ταγμένων χωρῶν, καὶ ἀντιπρόσωπος τῇ τῶν ἐχθρὼν προσπίπτων, ἣ στρατηγιχώτερον ὁ τούτοις ἐ κιτιθέμενος, καὶ λόχοις, καὶ ἐνέδραις αὐτοὺς δὐχερῶς κατεβάλλων, καὶ φρονήσει τρόπαιον ἐγείρων, ἣ ὁ μετὰ πολλοῦ πόνου καὶ φόνου τοῖς συστάδην μαχομένοις ἀνθιστάμενος Τίς σωφροσύνην καὶ Ὁ κατὰ τὸν νοῦν ἀληθῶς, ὁ θηρίων θυμοῖς, καὶ μένη καμίνῳ καὶ μαινομένη θαλάσσῃ, μενος, ἣ ὁ τὴν βλάβην αὐτῶν φυλασσόμενος, καὶ τῶν κινδύνων ἑστώς
Kai hōsper kai tōn agan hēdeōn opsōn, kai potōn, oute hē hypsis oute hē mnēmē kinei tou mē ephiemenou tēn orexin. Houtōs ouden tōn aisthētōn, oute horōmenōn, oute akouomenon, oute tēn enthymgtrsin … erchomenon tǭ hēremein to depros pathos tēs hexeōs ouch eti kineisthai synchōrousēs ton apomathonta tę̄ pollę̄ hēsychią tēn chinēsin pōs oun ton apeirōs, kai epikindynōs tēn askēsin meterchomenon, tou emmethodōs, kai asphalōs tēn askēsin metiontos dochimōteron estin eipein. Tis mallon polemon he, kai polemious eucholōs cheiroutai, ho manichōs kata tōn anti te tagmenōn chōrōn, kai antiprosōpos tę̄ tōn echthrōn prospiptōn, hē stratēgichōteron ho toutois e kitithemenos, kai lochois, kai enedrais autous dycherōs kateballōn, kai phronēsei tropaion egeirōn, hē ho meta pollou ponou kai phonou tois systadēn machomenois anthistamenos Tis sōphrosynēn kai Ho kata ton noun alēthōs, ho thēriōn thymois, kai menē kaminǭ kai mainomenē thalassę̄, menos, hē ho tēn blabēn autōn phylassomenos, kai tōn kindynōn hestōs
And just as neither the sight nor the memory of very sweet dishes and drinks moves the appetite of one who has no desire for them, so none of the objects of sense, whether seen or heard, [stirs] the thought … coming to rest, since the settled habit no longer allows the one who has unlearned movement through long quiet to be moved toward passion. How, then, can one call the one who pursues ascetic practice without experience and at risk more approved than the one who pursues it methodically and safely? Who [wages] war better and subdues the enemy more easily: the one who rushes madly against those drawn up opposite him and throws himself face to face on the enemy's ranks, or the one who attacks them with more generalship, overthrows them easily by ambushes and snares, and raises a trophy by prudence, rather than the one who, with great toil and slaughter, withstands those who fight at close quarters? Who [shows] self-control and [courage] truly according to reason: the one who [exposes himself] to the rage of wild beasts, a fiery furnace and a raging sea, or the one who guards against their harm and stands clear of the dangers?
Notes and citation
Summary: In quiet the passions are unlearned as a sated man loses appetite; the methodical desert ascetic is like a general who wins by strategy rather than by reckless frontal attack.
- A long passage of OCR from Migne's facing Latin column has been removed in the first sentence, with Greek lost (marked …); some words in the last sentence are damaged and supplied in brackets.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris from Migne's Latin column inside a word; OCR debris from Migne's facing Latin column (and stray letters); removed): ὁρωΝΠ μι, φυρά ποὸὸ πος ο μένων → ὁρωμένων; ἔπειαἴῃ ἀρ δι, πη π ἃυἱ αὐ Δη οι ι Π μοῦ δὴ ΘοΟπηηγοί Π ἰχίίυΣ μαοῖο ρ για ἃς ρογίουἰο Ἔχογο δι η π οἰ οὐδ ἰἰοοὶ γι οὶ ο νἱᾷ, οἱ ἢ ι πὰ το σου, οἱ αυἱ ἰωγίοθο οἱ δείθαι γε υ πη οἱ οἱ οὐ ι. ρ ννευάδεοηιίφυο αἱ τυ δ. ᾿ διδιατία Ῥυρπὰ ἢ υ πὶ ς ι ἃς ἰῇ γογὸ ἰοπιρογαῖυ ἰπ δὲ ἐπ πλη ἢ οἱ τοῦτο τὶ νοὶ ποχᾶτῃ οδυοῖ, ας σίγα ποοοδβαγὶο δό υἱ λί, Δ. ΓΟ υἱ ι, Φ Λ, πο πλιὴ τῷ Ναίυνα δαὶ ἃ δι πη ρηχπᾶ ΙΓ ργοργίαπιν → … .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 6 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/6
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 7
7PG 79
Ὡς γὰρ σῶμα γενόμενον ἐν τούτοις πάσχει τὰ τῷ σώματος ἀναγκαίως, οὕτως αἴσθησις τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς ὕλας κατὰ τῆς ψυχῆς τοῖς πάθεσι ὅδωσι πρὸς τὸ βλάψαι ταύτην τῶν εἰρημένων οὖ ἔλαττον. ᾿Αρχεῖ πρὸς μάχην ἡ φύσις, μηδὲν ἕξω θεν αὐτῇ πρὸς τὴν καθ᾽ ἡμῶν αὑτῶν συμμαχίαν ἔχει γὰρ ἴδιον ἡ ἐπιθυμία πῦρ, μὴ ἐχέτω φρύγανα, καὶ οὐχ αὔξει τὴν φλόγα. Τοῦτο δι αἰνίγματος τὸ νομικὸν ὑπαινίττεται λόγιον Ἐὰν ἐξελθὸν, φησὶ, εὑρὴ ἀκάνθας καὶ προσἐμπρήσῃ ἅλωνα ἀποτίσε ὁ τὸ πῦρ ἐχχαύσας, ἅλωνα λέγων τὰ πάθη, πῦρ τὰς τῆς φύσξως ὁρμὰς, ἀκάνθας τὰ αἰσθητὰ, μὴ μεσιτευέτωσαν αὗται, καὶ τῆς ἅλωνος ἅψασθαι πῦρ χώραν οὐχ ἔχει μὴ εὑρίσκον ὕλην, δι᾽ ἧς αὐτὴν φλεγόμενον πάνξως γὰρ ἣ σβεσθήσεται παντελῶς ἀπορίᾳ Ἐροφῆς, Χκαὶ τελευτήσει εἰς τέφραν τὴν δημαίνουσαν τῆς ποτὲ τυραννίδος, καὶ πάθου; ἐσχάτην ἀσθένειαν, ἢ σμυχόμενον ἐν διαμενεῖ, μηδὲν βλάπτον, τῇ δὲ ὄψει διδάσκον, ὡς δύναται βλάψαι ποτὲ λάμψαν εἰς φλόγα, ἐὰν ὕλης εὐπορήσῃ πρὸς τὴν παροῦσαν δύναμιν ἐπιτηδείας οὐ γὰρ εὐθὺς ξύλων περιδράττεκαι οὐδὲ σχίδαχας παρατεθείσα: ἀχύρων δὲ καὶ καλάμης, αὶ χόρτου πρὸς τὸ καὶ τῆς ἀδροτέρας ὕλης περιγενέσθαι. Ἵνα ἡμεῖς μάθωμεν ἀχριδῶς, ὅτι τὰ μικρὰ, καὶ εὐτελῆ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἡμᾶς τοῖς; μείζοσι, καὶ ἡ ἐν ἐἔχείνοις ἀδιαφορία ὁδὸς ἐπὶ τὰ χαλεπώτερα γίνεται.
Hōs gar sōma genomenon en toutois paschei ta tǭ sōmatos anankaiōs, houtōs aisthēsis tois aisthētois hylas kata tēs psychēs tois pathesi hodōsi pros to blapsai tautēn tōn eirēmenōn ou elatton. ᾿Archei pros machēn hē physis, mēden hexō then autę̄ pros tēn kath᾽ hēmōn hautōn symmachian echei gar idion hē epithymia pyr, mē echetō phrygana, kai ouch auxei tēn phloga. Touto di ainigmatos to nomikon hypainittetai logion Ean exelthon, phēsi, heurē akanthas kai prosemprēsę̄ halōna apotise ho to pyr echchausas, halōna legōn ta pathē, pyr tas tēs physxōs hormas, akanthas ta aisthēta, mē mesiteuetōsan hautai, kai tēs halōnos hapsasthai pyr chōran ouch echei mē heuriskon hylēn, di᾽ hēs autēn phlegomenon panxōs gar hē sbesthēsetai pantelōs aporią Erophēs, Chkai teleutēsei eis tephran tēn dēmainousan tēs pote tyrannidos, kai pathou? eschatēn astheneian, ē smychomenon en diamenei, mēden blapton, tę̄ de opsei didaskon, hōs dynatai blapsai pote lampsan eis phloga, ean hylēs euporēsę̄ pros tēn parousan dynamin epitēdeias ou gar euthys xylōn peridrattekai oude schidachas paratetheisa: achyrōn de kai kalamēs, ai chortou pros to kai tēs adroteras hylēs perigenesthai. Hina hēmeis mathōmen achridōs, hoti ta mikra, kai eutelē tōn hamartēmatōn hēmas tois? meizosi, kai hē en eecheinois adiaphoria hodos epi ta chalepōtera ginetai.
For as a body that finds itself among these things necessarily suffers what belongs to a body, so the senses, through the objects of sense, supply the passions with material against the soul, to harm it no less than the things mentioned. Nature is enough for the battle; it needs nothing from outside as an ally against ourselves. For desire has its own fire: let it not have brushwood, and it does not increase the flame. This is what the saying of the law hints at in a riddle: “If a fire goes out and finds thorns and sets a threshing floor alight, the one who kindled the fire shall make it good.” By the threshing floor it means the passions, by the fire the impulses of nature, by the thorns the objects of sense. Let these not come between, and the fire has no room to reach the threshing floor, finding no material through which to burn its way to it. For it will surely either be quenched altogether for lack of fuel and end in ashes, showing the utter weakness of what was once a tyranny and a passion, or it will remain smouldering in the ash, harming nothing, but teaching by its appearance that it could do harm if it ever flared into flame, should it obtain material suited to its present strength. For it does not at once seize on logs or split wood laid beside it; it needs chaff, straw and grass in order to master the coarser material as well. So we may learn exactly that small and trivial sins lead us on to greater ones, and that indifference toward them becomes a road to graver sins.
Exod 22:6 (22:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Our nature already has the fire of desire; the senses supply the kindling, as in the law about fire spreading through thorns, so small sins must be avoided because they lead to great ones.
- Quotation: Exod 22:6 (LXX 22:5), read allegorically. Small pieces of OCR debris and the end of the chapter (OCR of Migne's facing Latin column) have been removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris; OCR debris from Migne's Latin column inside the Greek; OCR debris from Migne's facing Latin column (and stray letters); removed): ΠΕ τοῦτο δι αἰνίγματος → Τοῦτο δι αἰνίγματος; Α Οὐδ, αὐ, οἱ σὴ → ; σα βου απΐφιη ε οἱ μυὺδ; ν δἶνο Δοογυίπῃ Υ Π τ πιοιίουος, δι᾽ ρ οἱ ΠΟ Δ ΕΠ ποη πδίογίδιη, Ρ Γ Πη εἱ ἰ Οἴ θ οἱ ἰη ἀοσδίπαῖ, Δι Π υ οχίγοιδην ἀ αὐ ἴ Π ὰ α ᾿ ἰ ποι ροἀπο ἤθοογα ἰπ πιλιογία δὶ δα βιδιία βεἷήΠῚ, οἱ βιίρυ α, οἱ ἔδπο, υἱ πιλιόγίῃη αἱ Π ραγνὰ οἱ πῸ δὲ π ὰἰοτὰ οἱ ΠΠγοηἃ, φυτὰ ἢ δι → .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 7 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/7
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia-7) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 8
8PG 79
Καὶ δεῖ μὴ ἔθους αὐτοῖς παρέχειν ἀγωγὴν, μηδὲ ἐπιτρέπειν παραχύπτειν ἀναιδῶς, ἐπιτιμᾷν δὲ προοιΔιαζομένοις μέλλουσαν παῤῥησίαν μὲν τὴν κεφαδὴν ἔτι πρὶν τῆς πτέρνης ἐπιλάδητα θλίβειν τοῦ ὄφεως, καὶ σπέρμα Ὁλοθρεύειν ἐκ Βαβυλῶνος, καὶ τὰ νήπια ταύτης ἐδαφίζειν πρὸς τὴν κέτρᾶν, ἣν ἡ τοῦ ἄρθρου προσθήκη, μίαν οὖσαν σγμαίνει καὶ γὰρ τῇ κεφαλῇ παραδυείσῃ ἅπας ὁ ὁλχὸς συνεισέρχεται, καὶ τὸ σπέρμα τῶν ζιζανίων ῥιζωθὲν ἐμποδίζειν τῇ βλάστῃ τῶν ἡμέρων πέφυχε φυτῶν, καὶ ἀδρυνθέντα τὰ νήπια οὐχ ἀνεκτὴν, ἀμφἥριστον δὲ, καὶ ἐναγώνιον εἴωθε τὴν μάχην ποιεῖν καὶ σημαίνεται διὰ τούτων τὰ πάθη ὡς ἐν ἀρχῇ μέν ἔστιν εὐάλωτα, ἔθεε δὲ χρατυνθέντα εἰς ἀκμὴν πρόεἰσι, καὶ δυσχαταγώνιστα γίνεται, μετὰ τὸ κάματον παρέχειν ἐν τῇ πάλῃ πολύν. Ἔτι δὲ καὶ εὐχέρειαν ἡ μῶν καὶ ἄνοιαν κατηγοροῦντα δεινὴν, καθ᾽ ἑαυτῶν πολεμίους οὗς καθελεῖν ἀσθενεῖς ὄντας ἣν ἐν ἡμῖν εὐπετῶς, Οὕτως γὰρ καιρὸν εἶχεν ἂν ἡ μετὰ τὴν. τῶν ἀντιπάλων φθορὰν εἰρήνην … ἄγουσα πρὸς θεωρίαν τραπῆναι, καὶ τὰς οἰκείας Ὁ γεωργῇσαι δυνάμεις. Τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ μέν τις τῶν πρὸφητῶν φησι ε Συγκόψουσι τὰς μαχαίρας αὐτῶν εἰς ἄροτρα, καὶ τὰς ζιβύνας εἰς δρέπανα, παρελθοῦσαν τὰ πολεμικὰ, καὶ τοῖς τῆς εἰρήνης εὐχαιροῦσαν ἔρ. γοῖς σημαίνων κατάστασιν.
Kai dei mē ethous autois parechein agōgēn, mēde epitrepein parachyptein anaidōs, epitimąn de prooiDiazomenois mellousan parrhēsian men tēn kephadēn eti prin tēs pternēs epiladēta thlibein tou opheōs, kai sperma Holothreuein ek Babylōnos, kai ta nēpia tautēs edaphizein pros tēn ketran, hēn hē tou arthrou prosthēkē, mian ousan sgmainei kai gar tę̄ kephalę̄ paradyeisę̄ hapas ho holchos syneiserchetai, kai to sperma tōn zizaniōn rhizōthen empodizein tę̄ blastę̄ tōn hēmerōn pephyche phytōn, kai adrynthenta ta nēpia ouch anektēn, amphēriston de, kai enagōnion eiōthe tēn machēn poiein kai sēmainetai dia toutōn ta pathē hōs en archę̄ men estin eualōta, ethee de chratynthenta eis akmēn proeisi, kai dyschatagōnista ginetai, meta to kamaton parechein en tę̄ palę̄ polyn. Eti de kai euchereian hē mōn kai anoian katēgorounta deinēn, kath᾽ heautōn polemious hous kathelein astheneis ontas hēn en hēmin eupetōs, Houtōs gar kairon eichen an hē meta tēn. tōn antipalōn phthoran eirēnēn … agousa pros theōrian trapēnai, kai tas oikeias Ho geōrgę̄sai dynameis. Touto gar ho men tis tōn prophētōn phēsi e Synkopsousi tas machairas autōn eis arotra, kai tas zibynas eis drepana, parelthousan ta polemika, kai tois tēs eirēnēs euchairousan er. gois sēmainōn katastasin.
And we must not give these things the guidance of habit, nor let them peep in shamelessly, but rebuke them as they begin, [cutting off] their future boldness: crushing the serpent's head before it seizes the heel, destroying the seed from Babylon, and dashing its infants against the rock, which, as the article added to it shows, is one rock. For when the head slips in, the whole length of the body comes in with it; the seed of tares, once rooted, naturally hinders the growth of cultivated plants; and infants, once grown, usually make the battle not bearable but hard-fought and strenuous. By these the passions are signified: in the beginning they are easily caught, but strengthened by habit they advance to their prime and become hard to defeat, after giving much toil in the wrestling. Moreover, they accuse our carelessness and terrible folly, since we raised up enemies against ourselves whom it was in our power to destroy easily while they were weak. For in this way the peace after the destruction of our adversaries would have had time … leading us to turn to contemplation and cultivate our own powers. For this is what one of the prophets says: “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into sickles,” signifying the state that has passed beyond the things of war and has leisure for the works of peace.
Gen 3:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 137:9 (136:9 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:4 (echo, low confidence) · Matt 13:25 (allusion, medium confidence) · Isa 2:4 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Passions must be crushed at their first appearance, like the serpent's head or Babylon's infants dashed against the rock; once grown they are hard to defeat, and only then comes the peace of contemplation.
- Allusions and quotations: Gen 3:15; Ps 137:8–9 (LXX 136:8–9), where “the rock” with the article is commonly read as Christ (1 Cor 10:4); Matt 13:25 (the tares); Isa 2:4 (Mic 4:3). A long passage of OCR from Migne's facing Latin column has been removed, with Greek lost (marked …), and the end of the chapter is debris, removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris from Migne's facing Latin column (and stray letters); removed): βΘυδργορῖίοῦ ἤθῃ Ορογίοὶ Γ υἱ οημδιὴ ἱπιρἀόπῖον, το ἀπ πὶ ο οἵ πη δὸ πιούεῖιῦ, σα δου ᾽, Δι Ὲ ἃ ΒΑ ιδ ᾿ πἰὸ Ἀ δὲ ᾿ απ ἀπο αὐ δι η βίο ᾧ γυῖα ἰοίυ δου ιν; οἱ ἰοἰογιήῃ, δοι γι ου δα ϊνᾶΓΙ προ σου ἡ οἱ ὦ εἰν ἐδ, οἱ δἰ σα πι ᾳ αἰογὸ ὅ ᾿νδδοὸ πἰπιίγυ ἴῃ ργίηεὶρίο οοῃδυσίυ νόγῸ μεὺυδ νίφοτοιη, ἢυηίᾳυς αἰ οἰ ργωθιοεῖη ἰ οἷ Κ εν Ποβίγαιη, δὲ → … ; ουἱιδίε ἔος ἢ, ν βἰδίυη δ πὶ ἀομίοιη. → .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 8 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/8
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia-8) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 9
9PG 79
Ὃ δὲ, ε Οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου ὄψονται τοὺς πλανῶντάς σε, καὶ τὰ ὦτά σου ἀκούσονται τῶν ὀπίσω σε πλάνησάντων. Μετὰ τὸ παύσασθαι τὴν τῆς μάχης σύγχυσιν ὀρᾶτθαι λέγων, καὶ γινώσκεσθαι σαφῶς τοὺς τῶν ἐχθρῶν δόλου;, καὶ τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα, οὶ Μωυῦσῆς δὲ ὁ μέγας τὰ συμβάντα κατὰ τὴν ἀπ᾽ Αἰγύπτου ἔξοδον τοῖς Ἰσραηλίταις; ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἐν δευτέρε βίβλῳ σπουδαίως ὑπομιμνήσκει, τὰς παρελθούσας μάχας, καὶ συμπλοκὰς, γυμνάζειν τῷ μνήμῃ παραινῶν καὶ τὰς παραδόξους νέχας ποιεῖσθαε στης εὐχαριστίας ὑπόθεσιν. Οὐκ οἷδε ταῦτα οὐξὲ σχολὴν ἔχει ποτὲ καὶ γνῶναι ὁ ἐν πολέμοις διατρίβων, καὶ ὁ προστασίαν ἄλλοις νέμειν δοκῶν καλὸν μὲν γὰρ, καὶ πολλοῖς χρήσιμον μέτεισιν ἔργον, τοῦ δὲ τῆς οἰκεία: ἐπιμελουμένου, καὶ διορθουμένου τὰ ἔνδον, μόλις τὰ δευτερεῖα φέρει, σωματικὴν παρέχων τοῖς δεομένοις βοήθειαν, καὶ ψυχὴν ἐῶν τὴν ἑχυτοῦ διὰ παντὸς ἀτημέλητον. Οἷδα καὶ γεωργοὺς ἐγὼ παντὶ καιρῷ τῷ ἰδίῳ σχολάζοντας, καὶ πλωτῆρας ἀεὶ τὴν οἰκείαν ἐπισχευάζοντας ναῦν, καὶ ἐδίτας, καὶ ἐμπόρους, καὶ τεχνίτας, καὶ μισθωτοὺ; τοῦτο σπουδάζοντας, ὃ συντελεῖν αὖ τοῖς, εἰς ὠφέλειαν νομίζουσι, καὶ οὐδεὶς τὰ ἑτέρου προτιμότερα, ἣ καὶ ἰσότιμα τῶν ἑαυτοῦ κρίνειν ἀνέχεται. ᾿Αλλὰ καὶ ὁ ναυτιχὸς θαλαττεύων, πρὸς τὸν ἴδιον πλοῦν ἰθύνει τὸ σκάφος, καὶ ὁ γηπόνο; τὴν κατάλληλον ταῖς ὥρα: ἐπιμέλειαν τῷ οἰκείῳ γεωργίῳ προσάγει, καὶ ὁ μετερχόμενος, τοῦ ἰδίου γένεται χέρδου;, καὶ ἕχαστο: ἁπλῶς καὶ μάταιον μεριμνᾷν τὰ τῶν ὁμοτέχνων ἡγούμενος, φροντίδα πολλὴν ἔχει χοὶ μέριμναν, ὅπως εὖ τὰ οἰκεῖα
Ho de, e Hoi ophthalmoi sou opsontai tous planōntas se, kai ta ōta sou akousontai tōn opisō se planēsantōn. Meta to pausasthai tēn tēs machēs synchysin oratthai legōn, kai ginōskesthai saphōs tous tōn echthrōn dolou?, kai ta epitēdeumata, oi Mōyysēs de ho megas ta symbanta kata tēn ap᾽ Aigyptou exodon tois Israēlitais? en tę̄ erēmǭ en deutere biblǭ spoudaiōs hypomimnēskei, tas parelthousas machas, kai symplokas, gymnazein tǭ mnēmę̄ parainōn kai tas paradoxous nechas poieisthae stēs eucharistias hypothesin. Ouk hoide tauta ouxe scholēn echei pote kai gnōnai ho en polemois diatribōn, kai ho prostasian allois nemein dokōn kalon men gar, kai pollois chrēsimon meteisin ergon, tou de tēs oikeia: epimeloumenou, kai diorthoumenou ta endon, molis ta deutereia pherei, sōmatikēn parechōn tois deomenois boētheian, kai psychēn eōn tēn hechytou dia pantos atēmelēton. Hoida kai geōrgous egō panti kairǭ tǭ idiǭ scholazontas, kai plōtēras aei tēn oikeian epischeuazontas naun, kai editas, kai emporous, kai technitas, kai misthōtou? touto spoudazontas, ho syntelein au tois, eis ōpheleian nomizousi, kai oudeis ta heterou protimotera, hē kai isotima tōn heautou krinein anechetai. ᾿Alla kai ho nautichos thalatteuōn, pros ton idion ploun ithynei to skaphos, kai ho gēpono? tēn katallēlon tais hōra: epimeleian tǭ oikeiǭ geōrgiǭ prosagei, kai ho meterchomenos, tou idiou genetai cherdou?, kai hechasto: haplōs kai mataion merimnąn ta tōn homotechnōn hēgoumenos, phrontida pollēn echei choi merimnan, hopōs eu ta oikeia
And another says, “Your eyes will see those who lead you astray, and your ears will hear the words of those who led you astray behind you,” meaning that, after the confusion of battle has stopped, the enemies are seen and their deceits and practices clearly recognized. And the great Moses, in the second book of the law, earnestly reminds the Israelites of what happened in the desert during the exodus from Egypt, exhorting them to go over the past battles and engagements in memory and to make their unexpected victories an occasion for thanksgiving. The one who spends his time in wars, and who thinks he is giving protection to others, does not know these things, nor ever has leisure to learn them. He pursues a work that is good and useful to many, but compared with the one who takes care of his own soul and sets right what is within, he scarcely carries off the second prize, giving bodily help to the needy while leaving his own soul always uncared for. I know of farmers who spend every season on their own land, sailors who are always repairing their own ship, and travellers, merchants, craftsmen and hired laborers who are eager for what they think contributes to their own benefit; and none of them will consent to judge another's affairs more valuable than his own, or even equal to them. The sailor at sea steers his boat toward his own voyage; the farmer gives his own farm the care suited to the seasons; the trader gives himself to his own gain; and each, in short, thinking it vain to worry about the affairs of his fellow craftsmen, takes great thought and care that his own affairs go well.
Isa 30:20–21 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 8:2 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Only after the battle is over can the enemy's tricks be seen and the victories remembered; the city ascetic busy helping others neglects his own soul, though every tradesman minds his own affairs first.
- Quotation: Isa 30:20–21 (LXX wording). “The second book” is Deuteronomy, where Moses recalls the desert journey (e.g. Deut 8:2). Two long passages of OCR from Migne's facing Latin column, and the end of the chapter, have been removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris from Migne's facing Latin column (and stray letters); removed): οῦ. χχιι, ὃ. ὅδη. τ΄... Β΄ νογίπηυ ιι ἀ διδὲ ἴῃ ροίαδιαῖα ἰμίογίπογα ρογίδο δίς δίγὰδθ δ διὶ Πα Δί Δδυο αἰ ἐτι Ρε εὐ ἴῃ ὁροσῖθυ πὶ δι ΙΧ. νογοὸ βε ὑγορίνοίδγυ ἢ μα ΘαιΙἰ αυἱ οἱ δυγὸ τυ υἱ τεῖγο ἀδεσρογιοὶ ἢ; ἀ τιν, ὅ. ἃ. ΝΙ ρ ἃς Α → υσιν ; οἱ τ οἱ ἐν ουὐοιογαιὲ ΊΙη χα ΞΈ εγρίο ἰἶδγὸ, Δι υἱ Π πιοιηογία, γα πὶ πη Νόοη ἰδία που, παυοὶ ἴῃ πο οἱ οἱ πὴ μόγυ σὰ δὶ οὐδ ἰδποῖ θη εὑτἃ δἰδίυιη, ἂς ἰδίου γα Γαιθ, ἀπ ἔσο ὑπ ἀργίοο ἰσιῆρογὸ ῥγοργὶο ἃῖνο, ἴσ δἰ πού δι οἱ δύ ΠῚ οἱ ἡ ἰὰ δου σοί αἱ δἴοτα δι ΓΗ Ε, Β υ τὸ δάσο δίῃ οἱ ηδιιἴς παν ζ η αἰ δὶ δυ πὶ πᾶν σαι λυ οἱ οον ρ ο ηὅγνο ργοργίο, οἱ σο Γ φυ ἴοι ἃ ριοργίυην οἱ αἴψμις νἃ → ; πὰ δι ἐ βά αι οὐ ιδά πι μαι: ἂς ΦιῸ δα Γ Χ. φυοιηούο οὐ, ἦη ὶ δι ον πΊ, ὺ π δ ᾿ π ἄλγε, οἱ ἀοπηοὸ ι. οἱ δυὺᾳυὸ ἰδαπιηιαία, ονδηεἰδι. υἱ δ δηιίοογαι μοι Δ τὶ πὶ οι πιδηίθη δ Γ ἀγάθη αἱ ἱρεἰοοῖ αυῷ Πλιπᾶ τ ἢια ο ο οοὲ π οὶ, ἃς. νὸοἴδοίαι τοὶ ζπὸ, αυ οἱ δεῖ απ θεῖ οί: ργοοῖαἀ ΔΊ ΝΟὴ Υἱ αὐ οἰν εἶθ ι οἱ οχίγα ἢ οἰ οἱ εἰ ἱμβόγυιη υἱ ἀὨ πὶ. ὅ. → .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 9 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/9). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/9
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 10
10PG 79
Και. τὸν ἑαυτοῖς ἐν τῇ ἀρετῇ χρησιμεύοντα ἀποδοχῆς οὗτοι μᾶλλόν τινες χρένουσιν ἄξιον ἐπαινεῖν πάντως, καὶ τὸν αὐτῷ τῆς οἰκίας, καὶ τῆς ἔνδον ὑπάρξεως φλετγομένης ἁπάσης, φίλοις ἐπὶ μνηστείαν, ἢ πρεσβείαν συνελθεῖν προτρεπομένοις πειθόμενον, ὅτι τοῦ παῦ: τοῦ οἴκου τὸν ἐμπρησμὸν, τὴν τῶν φίλων χρείαν τριτιμοτέραν ἡγήσατο τούτῳ σεμνύνοντες αὐκὸν,, ὃν χρίνηντὲς ὀρθῶς ὡς φρενοδλαδῇ, καὶ παραπλῆτγα διθάλλειν ὥφειλον ἐμπρηπμοῦ δὲ χεῖρον τὰ τῆς βάνοίας, ἑχάστῳ διάκειται τῶν αἰσθήσεων, εἰ το τὲ; προόδους παραιτοῖτο. τροφίμοὺυς ὕλας εἰσγρεμούσες τῷ χαιομένῳ πυρὶ, καὶ ταύτας ἐπισωρευούσας ὦ; Ὁ φρύγανα τῇ τῆς φύσεως ἀναπτομένας ὁ; μνήμης ὥσπερ φωστῆρι τῇ μελέτῃ ῥιπεζούσης καὶ ποιούσης λαδροτέραν τοῦ πυρπολουμέναο πὲ δύσδεστον. Καὶ τοῦτο ἔοικε περί τένων ὁ Θεὸς ἃ προφήτῃ δυσχεραίνων προσφωνεῖν, ἐν ἀγαναχῶ φησιν Οὐχ ὁρᾷς ἃ αὑτοὶ ποιοῦσιν ἐν ταῖς Ἰούδα, καὶ ἔξωθεν Οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτῶν ευλέγουσι ξύλα, καὶ οἱ πατέρες αὑτῶν καίουσι καὶ αἱ γυναῖκες αὐτῶν τοῦ ποτἢσαι χαυνῶν τῇ στρατιᾷ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ν τὴν μὲν ὄρασιν δέχῃ φρυγάνων τὰς ἐρεθιστικὰς λέγων συνάγειν μορφάς. τὴν δὲ ἐπιθυμίαν ἐν ταύταις σφοδρὸν ἀνάπτειν καὶ τὴν μνήμην τρίθειν, καὶ μαλάττειν ταῦτα διηνεκῶς οὕτω γὰρ ἡ ὄψις διὰ τῶν μέσων ὁδεύσασα πρόειτιν εἷς τὴν χατ᾽ ἐνέργειαν ἁμαρτίαν τῶν εἰρημένων τελειουμένη μορίων καὶ τὸ συνἀτειν δὲ καλάμην εἰ; ἄχυρα, τῆς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ πλινθεία; τῶν ῥεμβομένων, καὶ οὐ τῶν ἡσυχαζόντων ἐσί,
Kai. ton heautois en tę̄ aretę̄ chrēsimeuonta apodochēs houtoi mallon tines chrenousin axion epainein pantōs, kai ton autǭ tēs oikias, kai tēs endon hyparxeōs phletgomenēs hapasēs, philois epi mnēsteian, ē presbeian synelthein protrepomenois peithomenon, hoti tou pau: tou oikou ton emprēsmon, tēn tōn philōn chreian tritimoteran hēgēsato toutǭ semnynontes aukon,, hon chrinēntes orthōs hōs phrenodladę̄, kai paraplētga dithallein hōpheilon emprēpmou de cheiron ta tēs banoias, hechastǭ diakeitai tōn aisthēseōn, ei to te? proodous paraitoito. trophimouys hylas eisgremouses tǭ chaiomenǭ pyri, kai tautas episōreuousas ō? Ho phrygana tę̄ tēs physeōs anaptomenas ho? mnēmēs hōsper phōstēri tę̄ meletę̄ rhipezousēs kai poiousēs ladroteran tou pyrpoloumenao pe dysdeston. Kai touto eoike peri tenōn ho Theos ha prophētę̄ dyscherainōn prosphōnein, en aganachō phēsin Ouch horąs ha hautoi poiousin en tais Iouda, kai exōthen Hoi huioi autōn eulegousi xyla, kai hoi pateres hautōn kaiousi kai hai gynaikes autōn tou potēsai chaunōn tę̄ stratią tou ouranou n tēn men orasin dechę̄ phryganōn tas erethistikas legōn synagein morphas. tēn de epithymian en tautais sphodron anaptein kai tēn mnēmēn trithein, kai malattein tauta diēnekōs houtō gar hē opsis dia tōn mesōn hodeusasa proeitin heis tēn chat᾽ energeian hamartian tōn eirēmenōn teleioumenē moriōn kai to synatein de kalamēn ei? achyra, tēs en Aigyptǭ plintheia? tōn rhembomenōn, kai ou tōn hēsychazontōn esi,
And some of these people judge the one who is useful to himself in virtue less worthy of approval; they would surely praise a man who, while his house and all the property inside it were burning, obeyed friends urging him to come along to a betrothal or on an embassy, because he thought his friends' need more valuable than [putting out] the fire in his house. They honor him for this, whom, if they judged rightly, they ought to censure as deranged and out of his mind. Worse than a fire is the state of the mind to which each of the senses brings its material, if one does not refuse to go out: the senses carry nourishing fuel into the burning fire and heap it up like brushwood kindled by nature, while memory fans it with meditation as with a bellows and makes the blaze fiercer and harder to put out. And this, it seems, is what God, displeased with some people, says to the prophet; in his indignation he says, “Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and outside? Their sons gather wood, and their fathers kindle the fire, and their wives [knead dough] to make cakes for the host of heaven.” He means that sight gathers the provoking forms like brushwood, desire kindles a fierce fire in them, and memory kneads and softens them continually. For so sight, passing through the intermediate stages, advances into sin in act, completed by the parts named. And gathering straw for chaff, as in the brick-making in Egypt, belongs to those who wander about, not to those who live in quiet.
Jer 7:17–18 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 5:12 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Praising the city ascetic who helps others is like praising a man who leaves his house burning to help friends; the senses feed the fire of passion, as Jeremiah's image of gathering wood shows.
- Quotations and allusions: Jer 7:17–18; Exod 5:7–12 (gathering straw in Egypt). Small pieces of OCR debris inside words have been removed; “bellows” translates a damaged word (the OCR has φωστῆρι, “luminary”; probably φυσητῆρι).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris from Migne's Latin column; OCR debris inside a word): σφοδρὸν ἀνάπτειν ξόγοιη → σφοδρὸν ἀνάπτειν; διΑ ιίειν οοπατόψαί ηνεχῶς → διηνεκῶς.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 10 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/10). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/10
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 11
11PG 79
Συνάγει γὰρ καὶ ἄκων ὁ πλήθεσι συλφυρόμενος ἀδιαφόρως, τὰς πκοιητιχὰς ὅλας τῆς ἁμαρτίας, καὶ τὧν ἀργὸν τοῦ πάθους εἰς χύδον σχηματίζει πηλὸν, ἄμορφον ὄντα καθ᾽ ἑπυτὸν, καὶ τρανὸν τύπον τῇ μελέτῃ τῶν δι᾽ αἰσθήσεως μένων δεχόεγον. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ πάθος τὴν φυσικὴν ὁρμὴν κινεῖν υἱὸς μόνον, καὶ ταύτην ἀσθενέστερον μὴ συνεργουμένὴν ταῖς ἕξωθεν ὕλαις ὅταν δὲ μορφάς λίχνους, καὶ ἁπατηλὰς προσλάβῃ ὡρισμένοις τῶν αἰσθητῶν χαρακτῆραι κατέχει τὸν λογισμὸν πεπεδημένον, οἷον θυμὸς, καὶ ἐπιθυμία, ἡδονῆ τε καὶ λύπη. δυνάμεις εἰσὶν ἢρξεμοῦσαι, καὶ εἶδος οὐχ ἔχουσαι πρὶν εὐπορὲὕλης διεγειρούσης πρὸς τὴν ἐπιβάλλουσαν ἐνέργειαν ἐὰν δὲ λυπήσαντος μὲν τῷ θυμῷ, τέρψαντος δὲ τῇ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἑκάστη ἡ αἴσθηαις τὴν κατάλληλον εἰσενέγχῃ μορφὴν ἔργον δίδωσιν αὐταῖς, καὶ μελέτην ἀΐδιον, ὁρώσαις τύπους τῶν ἐρεθιζόντων καὶ τὴν ὑπόμνητιν ἐμπαθῆ ποιούντων, καὶ λίαν ἀργαλέον. Διὰ τοῦτο καλὸν ἡ ἡσυχία, ὅτι τὸ βλάπτον οὐχ ὁρᾶται, τὸ δὲ οὐχ οὐ δέχεται αὶ διάνοια τὸ δὲ μὴ γενόμενον ἐν ταύτῃ, οὐ κινεῖ τῇ φαντασίᾳ τὴν μνήμην, τὸ δὲ μὴ κινοῦν τὴν μνήμην οὐχ τὸ πάθος πάθους οὐ κινουμένου, γαλήνην ἔχει βαθεῖαν, καὶ εἰρήνην τὰ ἔνδον. Διὰ τοῦτο Μωῦσῆς ὁ πάνσοφος, χαΐτοι φροντίδα τοῦ λαοῦ τῶν Ἰουδαίων, καὶ ἐπιμέλειαν, ἔχων, ἔξωθεν τῆς παρεμβολῆς, καὶ ἄποθεν τὰ πολλὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ σκηνὴν ἐπήγνυτο, φεύγων ὡς οἷόν τε ἦν τὴν οὐ καθήκουσαν καὶ διδοὺς ἢρεμίαν τῷ λογισμῷ πρὸς τὸ σκέψασθαι, καὶ γνῶναι τῶν τῇ Ψυχῇ χρησίμων.
Synagei gar kai akōn ho plēthesi sylphyromenos adiaphorōs, tas pkoiētichas holas tēs hamartias, kai tōn argon tou pathous eis chydon schēmatizei pēlon, amorphon onta kath᾽ hepyton, kai tranon typon tę̄ meletę̄ tōn di᾽ aisthēseōs menōn dechoegon. To men gar pathos tēn physikēn hormēn kinein huios monon, kai tautēn asthenesteron mē synergoumenēn tais hexōthen hylais hotan de morphas lichnous, kai hapatēlas proslabę̄ hōrismenois tōn aisthētōn charaktērai katechei ton logismon pepedēmenon, hoion thymos, kai epithymia, hēdonē te kai lypē. dynameis eisin ērxemousai, kai eidos ouch echousai prin euporeulēs diegeirousēs pros tēn epiballousan energeian ean de lypēsantos men tǭ thymǭ, terpsantos de tę̄ kai tōn allōn hekastē hē aisthēais tēn katallēlon eisenenchę̄ morphēn ergon didōsin autais, kai meletēn aïdion, horōsais typous tōn erethizontōn kai tēn hypomnētin empathē poiountōn, kai lian argaleon. Dia touto kalon hē hēsychia, hoti to blapton ouch horatai, to de ouch ou dechetai ai dianoia to de mē genomenon en tautę̄, ou kinei tę̄ phantasią tēn mnēmēn, to de mē kinoun tēn mnēmēn ouch to pathos pathous ou kinoumenou, galēnēn echei batheian, kai eirēnēn ta endon. Dia touto Mōysēs ho pansophos, chaïtoi phrontida tou laou tōn Ioudaiōn, kai epimeleian, echōn, exōthen tēs parembolēs, kai apothen ta polla tēn heautou skēnēn epēgnyto, pheugōn hōs hoion te ēn tēn ou kathēkousan kai didous ēremian tǭ logismǭ pros to skepsasthai, kai gnōnai tōn tę̄ Psychę̄ chrēsimōn.
For one who mixes indiscriminately with crowds gathers, even against his will, the materials that produce sin, and shapes the idle clay of passion into a pot; the clay is shapeless in itself and takes a distinct form through meditation on things [received] through the senses. For passion only moves the natural impulse, and does so more weakly when it is not helped by materials from outside; but when it takes on alluring and deceptive forms, it holds the reasoning fettered by the definite features of objects of sense. Anger and desire, for example, and pleasure and grief, are powers at rest and without form until they obtain material that rouses them to their proper activity. But if sense brings in the suitable form, of someone who has caused grief for anger, of someone who has given delight for desire, and so for each of the others, it gives them work and endless occupation, as they look at the images of what provokes them and makes the memory passionate and very troublesome. That is why quiet is good: what harms is not seen; what is not seen the mind does not receive; what has not entered the mind does not stir the memory by imagination; what does not stir the memory does not [stir] the passion; and when passion is not stirred, the interior has deep calm and peace. For this reason Moses, the all-wise, though he had the care and charge of the people of the Jews, pitched his own tent outside the camp and mostly at a distance, fleeing as far as possible the unfitting [noise] and giving his reasoning quiet to consider and know what is useful for the soul.
Exod 33:7 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The senses give shape and fuel to formless passions; quiet keeps them from being seen, remembered and stirred, which is why Moses pitched his tent outside the camp.
- Allusion: Exod 33:7. The end of the chapter is OCR of Migne's facing Latin column, removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris from Migne's facing Latin column (and stray letters); removed): ΟΝ θη πὶ δῖ ςοὐ οἱ πιδηιονῖα ας ἰ Π ἰδ ὦ βά α ἀ ρογάυοσίυ αυἱὰ εἰ διὶ ρας βροιίαί Ἰαίογυιη ἰη οἱ ποι ἰη Π ΄ ΧΙ. σοηργεραὶ ἰηνίυ τυ νας ον γί οἱ ς θη αἴ π οὐ πὶ οἷς απο ρ ἱπίογπιο, Θη μα αυ ἰν ρ Γ Ραξδῖο γα ἐπὶ πὶ οἱ ἀφο απὸ ὶ ὄχον το οἱ δι δυ ἀοεπὸὲ ἀσνίποίδη η ἰγῶ, οἱ ουρίἀ ἃς τη συ δι οἱ ποι ἢ η. ι: π οορίὰ δχοὶτ δ δ πὶ πη Π ὲ δ Π ου υἱ ἀο βῖνα δ διιὶ βού διίᾳ ἀο ἱ Ὁ πὸ ὶ οἱ βου πηρά υ Ἶ π άς τηοἰοβίαπη οὔ γον υ͵ύ ἃς θη π αυ͵ἱὰ οη ἱπαρίεἰιυς ᾿ ποι Υ ὶ θοῖυ Βοη αυίοιῃ θη ποθὴ νοὶ οἱ ιε ἢΟη οοπιπιονοῖ Π ἢ ἰδὲ ραεβίοποη δ γα Ώ ἃς Ρ ἀ κἀρίοη οἱ οχίγα οἱ πη Δ σοδὰ ἐμ λα Διο Π εἰ βά οἱ ι → .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 11 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/11). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/11
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia-11) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 12
12PG 79
Διὰ τοῦτο Ἰησοῦς ὁ τοῦ Ναυὴ οὐχ ἐξεπορεύετο ἕξω τῆς σκηνῆς, τὰς ἀχαίρους τῆς ὄψεως ἐχτρεπόμενος ἐπηρείας. Διὰ τοῦτο Ἠλίας μὲν, καὶ καταλιπόντες τὴν Ἰουδαίαν, τὸν Κάρμηλον. Ἰωάννης δὲ τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα φυγὼν ἐνδιῃτᾶτο τῇ ἐρήμῳ Ἰορδάνον. Ἱερεμίας δὲ κατεχόμενος ἀνάγκῃ τῆς προφητείας, καὶ τὴν μετὰ τοῦ παρανόμου πλήθοὺς οὐ φέρων διαγωγὴν ἔλεγεν ὀδυρόμενος ε Τίς διῦσιε μὴ: σταθμὸν ἔσχατον ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, καὶ καταλξίψιο τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον, καὶ ἀπελεύσομαι ἀπ αὐτῶν: θ΄ ρίοις συνηιχεῖν τοῖς οὐχ ἀδικοῦσι Ψυχὴν αἱρούμενος μᾶλλον, ἣ τὴν ἐκ τῶν ὁμογενῶν ἕρπουσαν … βλάβην. Καὶ τὸ δὴ μεῖζον ἁπάντων, διὰ τοῦτο ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς, ὁ βλάβης πάσης ἀνώτερος, τοῦ πλήθους ὑποχιυρῶν, εἴποτε καιροῦ ἀδείας ἐπιλάδοιτο, ταῖς ἐρήμοις ἐνδιέτριβε, τὸ χρήσιμον τῆς ἡσυχίας τοῖς ὁρᾷν δυναμένοις ἔργῳ παραδηλῶν, ὅπως δῆλον. καὶ γένηται πάντοθεν, ὅτι τῶν τὸν ἀγελαῖον καὶ μιγάδα ἐπανῃρημένων βίον, κᾶν σεδιαφέροντες, οἱ τὸν μοναστιχὸν καὶ μένον ἐπανῃρημένοι βίον εἰσὶ προτιμότερο χατεὺνάζοντες ἡσυχίᾳ τὰ πάθη, ἅπερ τῇ θέᾳ ἐπιτρίόουσιν ἐκεῖνοι πρὸς τὸ χαλεπώτερον, οὖχ ἔτι τῇς βλάβης αἱαθανόμενοι, ἐπειδὴ χρόνος αὑτὴν ἔθεμον αὐτοῖς χατ᾽ ὀλίγον ἐποίησε, χαθάπερ πυρετὸ οὐχ ἁνιόντα λοιπὸν, χκαὶ τὴν δύναμιν δε εθότως ὑπαναλίσχοντα. Οὕτω τις ἁξκαλὸς πρῶτον γυμνὸς ἐπιβαίνων τῆς γῆς οὐδὲ τὴν τυχοῦσαν ἀλύπως φέρει τραχύτητα τυλωθεὶς δὲ οὐχ οἶδεν ὀδύνην, γᾶν ἄχανθαι, καὶ σκόλοπες. καὶ ἦλοι ἐμπαρῶσιν ὀξεῖς, οὐδενὸ; ἕω; τῆς ζώσης φθάνοντος σαρχὸς, ὅτ: τῆς: γεχρᾶς οὐχ ἔλαττον, ἣ σχληρυνθεῖσα τὴν ἀπέθετο.
Dia touto Iēsous ho tou Nauē ouch exeporeueto hexō tēs skēnēs, tas achairous tēs opseōs echtrepomenos epēreias. Dia touto Ēlias men, kai katalipontes tēn Ioudaian, ton Karmēlon. Iōannēs de ta Hierosolyma phygōn endię̄tato tę̄ erēmǭ Iordanon. Hieremias de katechomenos anankę̄ tēs prophēteias, kai tēn meta tou paranomou plēthous ou pherōn diagōgēn elegen odyromenos e Tis diysie mē: stathmon eschaton en tę̄ erēmǭ, kai katalxipsio ton laon touton, kai apeleusomai ap autōn: th΄ riois synēichein tois ouch adikousi Psychēn hairoumenos mallon, hē tēn ek tōn homogenōn herpousan … blabēn. Kai to dē meizon hapantōn, dia touto ho kyrios Iēsous, ho blabēs pasēs anōteros, tou plēthous hypochiyrōn, eipote kairou adeias epiladoito, tais erēmois endietribe, to chrēsimon tēs hēsychias tois horąn dynamenois ergǭ paradēlōn, hopōs dēlon. kai genētai pantothen, hoti tōn ton agelaion kai migada epanę̄rēmenōn bion, kan sediapherontes, hoi ton monastichon kai menon epanę̄rēmenoi bion eisi protimotero chateunazontes hēsychią ta pathē, haper tę̄ theą epitrioousin ekeinoi pros to chalepōteron, ouch eti tę̄s blabēs haiathanomenoi, epeidē chronos hautēn ethemon autois chat᾽ oligon epoiēse, chathaper pyreto ouch hanionta loipon, chkai tēn dynamin de ethotōs hypanalischonta. Houtō tis haxkalos prōton gymnos epibainōn tēs gēs oude tēn tychousan alypōs pherei trachytēta tylōtheis de ouch oiden odynēn, gan achanthai, kai skolopes. kai ēloi emparōsin oxeis, oudeno? heō? tēs zōsēs phthanontos sarchos, hot: tēs: gechras ouch elatton, hē schlēryntheisa tēn apetheto.
For this reason Joshua the son of Nun did not go out of the tent, avoiding the untimely injuries of sight. For this reason Elijah [and Elisha] left Judaea for Carmel, and John fled Jerusalem and lived in the desert of the Jordan. And Jeremiah, held by the necessity of prophecy and unable to bear life with the lawless multitude, said in lament, “Who will give me a lodging, the farthest one, in the desert, and I will leave this people and go away from them?”, choosing rather to live with beasts that do no wrong to the soul than the harm that creeps in from one's own kind … And, greatest of all, for this reason the Lord Jesus, who was above all harm, withdrew from the crowd whenever he found free time and spent it in desert places, showing by his deed the usefulness of quiet to those able to see it, so that it might be plain on every side that, compared with those who have chosen the gregarious and mixed life, even if they excel, those who have chosen the monastic and solitary life are to be preferred. They lull to sleep in quiet the passions which the others, by what they see, sharpen to greater severity, no longer perceiving the harm, because time has gradually made it habitual to them, like a fever that no longer abates and secretly consumes the strength. So someone who at first goes barefoot cannot bear even ordinary roughness without pain when he treads on the ground; but once his feet are calloused he feels no pain, even if thorns, stakes and sharp nails stick into them, since none reaches the living flesh, for the hardened skin has lost its feeling no less than a dead one.
Exod 33:11 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 18:19 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 3:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Jer 9:2 (9:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 5:16 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Joshua, Elijah, John, Jeremiah and Christ himself sought solitude; city ascetics grow callous to the harm they suffer, like bare feet that no longer feel thorns.
- Allusions and quotations: Exod 33:11 (Joshua not leaving the tent); 1 Kgs 18:19–42 and 2 Kgs 2:25 (Carmel); Matt 3:1 (John); Jer 9:2 (LXX 9:1); Luke 5:16. A sentence on Elijah is damaged in the scan (“and Elisha” supplied); several passages of OCR from Migne's facing Latin column have been removed, with some Greek lost (marked …).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris from Migne's Latin column inside the Greek; OCR debris from Migne's facing Latin column (and stray letters); removed): ὑεῖνγοο Νᾷγα οοφηποπιίπδίυ ἤθη → ; δότοιῃ, ὀχίγα ἰδ ἀ Π ἔσπος ἃς ΕἸ βῶυ δη Δυ θ Π Υ Γ οἤπρίεη δογίλη Το παροβοίίδία ς π ο ΠΠπὰ ἰπ ῥα ε ἡ ἐἰνογβογίυη νἱδίογυ ἰπ οἱ πὶ ἰδία πι, οἱ οἷς οἰἴφοπο σοΠδυλίαγα τ, σαι πα ἰη Π ᾿ Γ Π ΓΟ μ οὐ ἶθυ ΟἸ ο κὰ δυρογίοῦ η ἃ πη η ε ο οὁρρογίυη σαρίαγοι, ἀἶνογἴῃ π ι αὶ ἀπ να αὸπὶ δ; υἱ οἱ οχῖγα σοηγονογβίδιν ἃ ἰατροὶ, οἱ σαν ἢ, τ οἱ θ Γοπηοίιη, η αι αἵτε δὶ οἱ μ πὸουμ οὐ ὦ ὶ ἰοῦ, νοι ρθγοῖη οι, υ λάβη → … βλάβην. ; ἰν υἱ μ πὶ, ι. ἀοβίη βορά Β → ; Δ ηυάυ γί ἤθη ρου θη ΔΌ σα σα βοη πο, Ἀ δὲ οἷν μα Ὁ βά ἰπἀυγαία Π πὶ ΠΟ πη ΧΙ. θυᾶτγα ἐγροὸ ηοὴ ἰ λ οημΆ ας ἀδιξίιμαι α ι. Πα θεῖ ἰη οι υἱβίοηο ΟἰΔ ἢ Γ νἱΠ οραοὶ εὐρρυίλεΜο ο ὉΓπλὰ οἱ δὶ δι: Δ Γ ἃς ἀδίποορα αυλδάιια οἱ ΟἸοἰαία, οὐ ἀυςοὶ οἱ νοὶ ἱροῖυ ἀδίοι σοσὸ δι θιι πὸ η αυυὰ δὶ, οἱ ἴῃ Οηἢ ιι Οὐ ν δεῖ πηγαὶ, οἱ ἰρῳγοίαί, οἱ ἀοἷον δ, δι δι ποεσίυ οῖυ ΔΙ Ῥυυργίδη Ὶ ἵ ἱηλέγαι ΟΕ φυ οἱ ἤθη μογιγυαθαὶ, οἱ οὐ δἰ οἱ ἃ ΠΟ Βα δάρμία, δἷς Π ν᾽ δον δι ἃ ργόργῖο δα ἃΠέδην γα ἘΠ η μη Διο ἃ ᾽ ᾳιΠοδοῦηἴθ γα νίσοι α πη ι:τυ ἐκ ν Δι ἢ θ η ποχὰ, απ πο δυρροίογοι οἱ ΤῸ η ἀδφυσὰ Π ἃ νοὶ συδηοθοῦγο, οἱ ἀπ γονίογς γα. → .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 12 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/12). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/12
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 13
13PG 79
Τί οὖν οὐχ ἀδικεῖσθαι νομίζουσι τοὺς τῇ πολλῇ τοῦ ἀδικεῖσθαι συνηθείᾳ οὐκέτι τῆς τῶν ἀδικούντων βλάθης αἰσθανομένους Ποῦ γὰρ καιρὸν ἔχε: ἢ διάνοια οἧς ὄψεως διόλου περισπώτης αὐτὴν περὶ τὰ ὁρώμενα, γνῶνα: τὸ ἀδείας χρήζουσα πολλῇς πρὸς τὸ λογίσασθαι τοῦτο Ἄρτι ταύτας δέχεται τὰς μορφὰς, καὶ μετ ὀλέγον ἄλλας, καὶ αὖθις ἑτέρας καὶ ἑξῆς τὰς παρατυχούσας, καὶ πάσαις ἣ ταὶς πλείοσι τερπομένη ποίας τὴν τέρψιν βλάβην ἡγήσεται, καὶ σχολάσε ταύτης ἀποτρίψασθαι τὸν μολυσμὸν, ὅτ μεμόλυται ἰδεῖν δυναμένη ποτέ; οὐχὶ καὶ τῆς ὁ λυπούμενος, καὶ ὁ νοσῶν τῆς ἀνίακαὶ ἧς ὀδύνης ὁ σπώμενος ὃν ταῖς συντυχίαις δι᾽ ἡμέρας ἐπιλανθάνεται, μονωθεὶς δὲ νύκτωρ ἕκαστος ἐν σει τοῦ οἰκείου γίνεται πάθους τῆς ἢσυχίας σχολὴν παρεχούσης αὐτοῖς κινεῖσθαι, καὶ τὸ τότε μὴ παρασχευαζούσης ἐχλεῖν, καὶ ὡς τῷ ἀδδηφάγῳ διῶου ἐσθίοντι οὐχ ἔχει κόρον ἡ ὄρεξις ἀεὶ κινεῖσθαι πρὸς ἔφεσιν διαχορὴς οὖσα, καὶ πλήδμιος, οὕτως ἀργά πως τὰ πάθη τῇ τῶν αἰσθήσεων πρὸς τὰ αἱσθητὰ ἀσχολίᾳ, τῆς οἰκείας ὁρμῆς χωλυόμενα. Ἔκ: τω ὃς τῆς ἔξωθεν ὀχλήσεως; ἄδειαν, καὶ ὡς πεῖναν, ἔνδεια μετὰ κόρον ποιεῖ οὕτω τὰ πάθη ἀνεθεισῶν τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἑἐπανίστανταε τῷ ἣρεμήσαντι λίαν ἀκμάζοντα, καὶ πολὺν αὐτῷ κινοῦντα τῶν ἐν ἔθει γενομένων τὸν θόρυθον, ἐκείνας εἷς μάχην αὐτῷ τὰς μορφὰς ἐφοπλίζοντα, τῇ θέᾳ παρατρέχειν ἐνόμιζεν ἀβλαβῶς οὐχ ἔχων καιρὸν ὑπομνησθῆναι τῆς βλάβης αὑτῶν καὶ τότε ταύτης αἰσθανόμενος ὅτε σχολὴν ἄγει γνῶναι, καὶ ἰδεῖν τὴν δυναστείαν αὐτῆς αἰχμαλῳτιξζόμενος πρὸς ἐυθυμήσεις ἀτόπους, λοΥίζεσθαι βιαζόμενος λογισμοὺς αἰσχύνης πε πληρωμένους καὶ τότε πλάνην ὁμολογῶν ἀναφανδὸν, τὴν παρεἰηηύταν καὶ μαχαρίζων τοὺς μὴ γνόντας τῇ ὄψει, ὥσπερ ἔγνω αὐτὸς, καὶ οἰχτιζόμενος εἰχότως ἑαυτὸν ὅτι καθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ τοῖς ἐχθραῖς αὐτὸς δέδωκεν ὅπλα, καὶ πολεμεῖται δικαίως, ἀνοίᾳ πολλῇ παρασχὼν ἰσχὺν τοῖς πολεμίοις.
Ti oun ouch adikeisthai nomizousi tous tę̄ pollę̄ tou adikeisthai synētheią ouketi tēs tōn adikountōn blathēs aisthanomenous Pou gar kairon eche: ē dianoia hoēs opseōs diolou perispōtēs autēn peri ta horōmena, gnōna: to adeias chrēzousa pollę̄s pros to logisasthai touto Arti tautas dechetai tas morphas, kai met olegon allas, kai authis heteras kai hexēs tas paratychousas, kai pasais hē tais pleiosi terpomenē poias tēn terpsin blabēn hēgēsetai, kai scholase tautēs apotripsasthai ton molysmon, hot memolytai idein dynamenē pote? ouchi kai tēs ho lypoumenos, kai ho nosōn tēs aniakai hēs odynēs ho spōmenos hon tais syntychiais di᾽ hēmeras epilanthanetai, monōtheis de nyktōr hekastos en sei tou oikeiou ginetai pathous tēs ēsychias scholēn parechousēs autois kineisthai, kai to tote mē parascheuazousēs echlein, kai hōs tǭ addēphagǭ diōou esthionti ouch echei koron hē orexis aei kineisthai pros ephesin diachorēs ousa, kai plēdmios, houtōs arga pōs ta pathē tę̄ tōn aisthēseōn pros ta haisthēta ascholią, tēs oikeias hormēs chōlyomena. Ek: tō hos tēs exōthen ochlēseōs? adeian, kai hōs peinan, endeia meta koron poiei houtō ta pathē anetheisōn tōn aisthēseōn heepanistantae tǭ hēremēsanti lian akmazonta, kai polyn autǭ kinounta tōn en ethei genomenōn ton thorython, ekeinas heis machēn autǭ tas morphas ephoplizonta, tę̄ theą paratrechein enomizen ablabōs ouch echōn kairon hypomnēsthēnai tēs blabēs hautōn kai tote tautēs aisthanomenos hote scholēn agei gnōnai, kai idein tēn dynasteian autēs aichmalǭtixzomenos pros euthymēseis atopous, loUizesthai biazomenos logismous aischynēs pe plērōmenous kai tote planēn homologōn anaphandon, tēn pareiēēutan kai macharizōn tous mē gnontas tę̄ opsei, hōsper egnō autos, kai oichtizomenos eichotōs heauton hoti kath᾽ heautou tois echthrais autos dedōken hopla, kai polemeitai dikaiōs, anoią pollę̄ paraschōn ischyn tois polemiois.
Why, then, do they think that those are not wronged who, through long habit of being wronged, no longer perceive the harm done by those who wrong them? For where does the mind find time to know [this harm], when sight constantly distracts it with what it sees, since it needs much leisure to reckon it up? Just now it receives these forms, after a little others, and then others again, and after them whatever happens to come along; and since it delights in all or most of them, which delight will it consider harm, and when will it have leisure to wipe off the defilement, never able to see that it has been defiled? Does not the grieving man forget his grief, the sick man his distress, and the one in pain his pain, while he is distracted by encounters during the day, and yet each, left alone at night, becomes aware of his own suffering, since quiet gives it leisure to stir and does not then let him forget it? And just as the appetite of a glutton who eats continually has no satiety, but is always moved to longing, unsated and insatiable, so the passions are somehow idle while the senses are occupied with their objects, hindered from their own impulse. But when the senses gain release from outside disturbance, then, as want after satiety produces hunger, the passions rise up very vigorously against the one at rest, stirring up a great tumult of what has become habitual and arming against him for battle the very forms he thought he passed by harmlessly when he saw them, since he had no time to recall their harm. He perceives this harm only when he has leisure to know it and sees its power, when he is taken captive to absurd thoughts and forced to think thoughts full of shame. Then he openly admits the deception that crept in, calls blessed those who did not come to know these things by sight as he did, and rightly pities himself, because he himself gave his enemies weapons against himself and is justly warred upon, having in great folly given strength to his foes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who live among distractions do not notice the harm they suffer until night or solitude, when the images they took in rise up against them.
- The end of the chapter is OCR of Migne's facing Latin column, removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris from Migne's facing Latin column (and stray letters); removed; OCR debris inside a word): κα υἱροία τῸἑαυτὸ → ἑαυτὸν; σον Δ ι γι δοδοίιβα δ συ δι γῈΓηΔ πη πῆς ὑ μεφιογίίδιη οἱ ᾿ ΠΟη νἷβυ, οἱ ᾿ Γ δι ἰρβὶυ ἐπ ἰ ἦρθα ὅγη οἱ ορρυφηδία, ὰ υ πι → .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 13 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/13). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/13
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia-13) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 14
14PG 79
Τότε γὰρ τὰ διὰ τῆς ὁράσεως, τὰ διὰ τῆς ἀκοῆς, τὰ διὰ τῶν ἄλλων αἰσθήσεων ἐμπεσόντα σπερματικῶς, ἀκανθῶν δίκην ὑποδλαστάνειν ἄρχεται καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν ἀδρυνόμενα ἐπιπόνως τοῖς μασι, μᾶλλον δὲ τῆς μυθευομένης παρὰ τοῖς ῥαψῳδοῖς ὕδρας ἕν ἴσῳ ἄλλας ἐπ᾽ ἄλλαις κεφαἢ λᾶς, μυρίοις ὀδυνῶντα τὸν ἄθλιον. Καὶ γὰρ ἡ ὄψις ἡ ὀραθεῖσα φαιδρὰ παρίσταται, καὶ κόσμος πολυτελῇ;, καὶ γέλως κεχυμένος, καὶ σχῆμα πεπλασμένον, καὶ βλαχεία, καὶ θρύψις ἐπιτετηδευμέναι πρὸς ἅλωσιν, καὶ νεῦμα πλαζόμενον, καὶ βλέμμα χαχόηθες, καὶ κίνημα δεσοδημένον, καὶ φωνῆς ἐμμέλεια, καὶ φθέγμα θηλύτερον, οὐ μόνον δὲ, ἀλλὰ καὶ Ὧθος ἄπλαστον, καὶ σεμνότης ἀπλῶ;, καὶ ἀτέλεια, καὶ ῥῆμα καὶ οἰμωγὴ συμπαθὴς, καὶ βάὀδυνωμένης Ψψυχῖς, τελευταῖον χ ινοῦσιν ἀγῶνα πολὺν, καὶ αὐτῆς ἴσως τῆς οἰχτειρηδείσης, καὶ ἀπολαυσάσης κηδεμονίας, ἣ μνήμη νεῖ κίνδυνον, ἐν ἀνάγκῃ γενομένης, καὶ πολεμούσης ὕστερον οἶκτον χινησάτης ἐν τῇ χρείᾳ, καὶ ἔλεον, καὶ ποιούσὴς οἴστρηγυς ἐρωτιχούς, Τί οὖν βέλτιον, ἐλεεῖν, καὶ περιίστασθα τὰ σκάνδαλα,, ἢ τὸ ἄλλους ἐλεεῖν, βρόχοις δυσεχλύτοις ἐμπλέχεσθαι τῷ βοηθεῖν ἐθέλειν ἑτέροις, τῷ ζομένῳ χεῖρα διδόναι, εἰ ἔστι μὴ συναπολέσθαι αὑτῷ Εἰ δὲ τῷ δοκεῖν συμπάσχειν, τὸ πάσχειν τὸ οἰκεῖον σνμφέραν σπουδασπτέον, ὅτι μὴ οὕτως ἄλλας ἄλλῳ πλησίον ὡς ἔχαατος ἑαυτῷ.
Tote gar ta dia tēs horaseōs, ta dia tēs akoēs, ta dia tōn allōn aisthēseōn empesonta spermatikōs, akanthōn dikēn hypodlastanein archetai kai kata mikron adrynomena epiponōs tois masi, mallon de tēs mytheuomenēs para tois rhapsǭdois hydras hen isǭ allas ep᾽ allais kephaē las, myriois odynōnta ton athlion. Kai gar hē opsis hē oratheisa phaidra paristatai, kai kosmos polytelę̄?, kai gelōs kechymenos, kai schēma peplasmenon, kai blacheia, kai thrypsis epitetēdeumenai pros halōsin, kai neuma plazomenon, kai blemma chachoēthes, kai kinēma desodēmenon, kai phōnēs emmeleia, kai phthegma thēlyteron, ou monon de, alla kai Hōthos aplaston, kai semnotēs aplō?, kai ateleia, kai rhēma kai oimōgē sympathēs, kai baodynōmenēs Pspsychis, teleutaion ch inousin agōna polyn, kai autēs isōs tēs oichteirēdeisēs, kai apolausasēs kēdemonias, hē mnēmē nei kindynon, en anankę̄ genomenēs, kai polemousēs hysteron oikton chinēsatēs en tę̄ chreią, kai eleon, kai poiousēs oistrēgys erōtichous, Ti oun beltion, eleein, kai periistastha ta skandala,, ē to allous eleein, brochois dysechlytois emplechesthai tǭ boēthein ethelein heterois, tǭ zomenǭ cheira didonai, ei esti mē synapolesthai hautǭ Ei de tǭ dokein sympaschein, to paschein to oikeion snmpheran spoudaspteon, hoti mē houtōs allas allǭ plēsion hōs echaatos heautǭ.
For then the things that fell in like seeds through sight, through hearing and through the other senses begin to sprout like thorns, and as they grow little by little they cause great labor; or rather, like the hydra of the poets' myths, they raise head after head, tormenting the wretch with countless pains. For the face that was seen appears radiant before him, and costly adornment, loose laughter, an affected posture, softness and luxury contrived to capture, a wandering nod, a mischievous glance, a studied movement, a melodious voice and a more feminine way of speaking; and not only these, but also an artless character, simple dignity, need, a word, a sympathetic lament and the cry of a grieving soul: in the end these stir up a great struggle. Even the woman who was pitied and enjoyed his care, her memory [brings] danger: she was in need, and later she wars on him, having moved his pity and mercy in her need, and produces the stings of erotic desire. Which, then, is better: to show mercy and avoid the stumbling blocks, or, while showing mercy to others, to become entangled in nooses hard to escape through wanting to help them? [It is good] to give a hand to one who is [drowning], if one can do it without perishing with him; but if, by seeming to suffer with him, one will suffer oneself, one must be zealous for one's own good, since no one is as near to another as each is to himself.
Notes and citation
Summary: Impressions taken in through the senses grow like thorns or the hydra's heads; even charity toward a needy woman can kindle desire, so one must not help others at the cost of one's own soul.
- The hydra is the many-headed monster of Greek myth. Nilus's warning about the memory of women one has helped is translated as written. The end of the chapter is OCR of Migne's facing Latin column, removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris from Migne's facing Latin column (and stray letters); removed): α ὦ αὐὦῷ Ρ Γ Ρ Γ η υ πιοὺο πεῖ δυ ροτανίηαγα οἱ οιοείη δου ἰ Φῆαυ ᾿ιγάγα δὲ ολρίία, τ πιογδὶθυ ἰη δδίαι Υἱ γ μ οἶο οἱ εἰ οἱ Δ ἤειῖα οἱ ἀο οἶα, δα τη αἵοἰῶ δἱ ναγαυυπάυ εἰ οἱ πιοῖυ οἱ γὸοἷ οἱ η ΠΟ οἱ ποη ι λί οἱ δἰ ρ οἶτον ἱπίορτίῖα οἱ βά η οἱ δ σοι θη Οἱ ἃ οογίαπιοη, οἱ συγ τη γ πιὸπιογία αι μαγίου πὶ, υἱροία, συ ἴῃ ἑαυτὸν ροΒβίῖα, δἱ βοφίγρηῖιο τη δὸ πη ἰπ ο η οἱ δσοίίοι Θεὰ ογρὸ π οἱ οὐυφάδγε ΔΙ γα πὶ Π Π οἱ πιἰδαυθηίο, ἱπὶἰδφυοὶς ἴῃ ἱποίογα πον Ὁ υ δὶ ἤθη βίπιὰ μοῦ πη μ δίῃ ΄υοὶ νἱἀδῖαν δι: ρει, ε ιἔιοὸὺ, ᾿ ὲ Γ Δ γὶ, ἢ φμίδαιυα → .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 14 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/14). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/14
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 15
15PG 79
Διὰ τοῦτο, τῷ χεραυνείῳ πυρὶ τῆς Πενταπόλεως φλεγομένης, ὁ ἄγγελος ἔλεγε τῷ δικαίῳ, καὶ φιλοξενίας ἐπιμελουμένῳ Λώτ ε Σώζων σῶζε τὴν σεαυτοῦ Ψυχὴν, εἰς τὸ ὄρος σώζου μήποτε συμπαραληφθῇς, πρὸ τῶν ἀπολλυμένων τῆς ἑαυτοῦ φρόντιζε σωτηρίας. Τὸ γὰρ, Μὴ περιβλέψῃ εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω, μηδένα λόγον τῶν ἀπολλυμένων ἐδίδασκεν ἔχειν, ἐπεὶ μὴ πάντως ὅσιον ἦν συναπολέσθαι θελῆσαι τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις, μηδὲ ἐν ἴσῳ θέσθαι θελῆσαι τῶν ἄλλων καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ κηδεμονίαν, ἐν οἷς τὸ συμπαθὲς, οὐδὲν ὠφελοῦν τοὺς τιμωρουμένους, ἀδικεῖ τοὺς συ μπάσχοντας τὰ μέγιστα εἰς αὐτὴν βλάπτον τὴν πᾶτιν ἀνθρώποις ὁμοῦ ποθουμένην σωτηρίαν τὸ μὲν γὰρ φιλάνθρωπον, καὶ Θεῷ φίλον, καὶ πρέπον ἡμῖν, καὶ δεῖ τὰ χρηστὰ, καὶ συμδουλεύτιν, καὶ σπουδάξειν, καὶ ἐπεύχεσθαι ἔκαστον ἐκάστῳ ἐπαιδε … γὰρ ὄντως ἡ τοιαύτη διάθεσις ἔλαττον δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἐν τοῖς ἀναγχιίοις σπουδάζειν ἔαυτῷ, οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἀπόδεχταν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πλείστης καταγνώσεως ἄξιον. Πῶς οὖν ὁ πολλὴν ἐπιμέλειαν ποιούμενος τῆς ἑαυτοῦ καταστάσεως, καὶ τὸ ἦθος ἐν ἡντυχίᾳ παιδαγωγῶν πρὺς τὸ εὔτακτον, καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἀδείας τὰ πολλὰ προσομιλῶν τῷ Θεῷ, τοῦ μηδέποτε χαιρὶν ἔχοντος, τοῖς ἰδίοις ἐπισημήνασθαι λογισμοῖς, ἢ τὸς καὶ διὰ τὴν ἔξωθεν ἀσχολέαν οὗ γινωσχομένοις πάθεσιν, οὐκ ἔστι μᾶλλον ὡς νηφαλιώτερον διάγων πρὸς τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ εὑᾳρέστησιν ἐπιτηδειότερος
Dia touto, tǭ cherauneiǭ pyri tēs Pentapoleōs phlegomenēs, ho angelos elege tǭ dikaiǭ, kai philoxenias epimeloumenǭ Lōt e Sōzōn sōze tēn seautou Psychēn, eis to oros sōzou mēpote symparalēphthę̄s, pro tōn apollymenōn tēs heautou phrontize sōtērias. To gar, Mē periblepsę̄ eis ta opisō, mēdena logon tōn apollymenōn edidasken echein, epei mē pantōs hosion ēn synapolesthai thelēsai tois apollymenois, mēde en isǭ thesthai thelēsai tōn allōn kai tēn heautou kēdemonian, en hois to sympathes, ouden ōpheloun tous timōroumenous, adikei tous sy mpaschontas ta megista eis autēn blapton tēn patin anthrōpois homou pothoumenēn sōtērian to men gar philanthrōpon, kai Theǭ philon, kai prepon hēmin, kai dei ta chrēsta, kai symdouleutin, kai spoudaxein, kai epeuchesthai ekaston ekastǭ epaide … gar ontōs hē toiautē diathesis elatton de tōn allōn en tois ananchiiois spoudazein eautǭ, ou monon ouk apodechtan, alla kai pleistēs katagnōseōs axion. Pōs oun ho pollēn epimeleian poioumenos tēs heautou katastaseōs, kai to ēthos en hēntychią paidagōgōn prys to eutakton, kai ep᾽ adeias ta polla prosomilōn tǭ Theǭ, tou mēdepote chairin echontos, tois idiois episēmēnasthai logismois, ē tos kai dia tēn exōthen ascholean hou ginōschomenois pathesin, ouk esti mallon hōs nēphaliōteron diagōn pros tēn tou Theou heuąrestēsin epitēdeioteros
For this reason, when the Pentapolis was being burned by fire from heaven, the angel said to righteous Lot, who was devoted to hospitality, “Save your own life; escape to the mountain, lest you be swept away with them”; that is, care for your own salvation before those who are perishing. For “Do not look behind you” taught him to take no account of those perishing, since it was surely not holy to wish to perish together with the perishing, nor to wish to put care for oneself on the same footing as care for others in cases where sympathy, which profits those being punished nothing, does the greatest wrong to those who share their suffering, harming the very salvation that all people alike desire. For it is humane, dear to God and fitting for us, and indeed necessary, that each should counsel, strive for and pray for good things for each … For such a disposition is truly [unreasonable], and to strive for oneself less than for others in necessary things is not only unacceptable but deserves the greatest condemnation. How, then, is the one who takes great care of his own state, trains his character to good order in quiet, and for the most part converses with God at leisure, not better fitted for pleasing God, as one who lives more soberly, than the one who never has time to take note of his own thoughts, or of passions he does not even recognize because of his occupation outside?
Gen 19:17 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The angel told Lot to save his own life and not look back; caring for others at the cost of one's own salvation is wrong, and the monk who tends his soul in quiet pleases God more.
- Quotation: Gen 19:17. The “Pentapolis” is the five cities of the plain (Gen 14:2; Wis 10:6). OCR of Migne's facing Latin column has been removed at four places, with some Greek lost (marked …).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris from Migne's Latin column inside the Greek; OCR debris from Migne's facing Latin column (and stray letters); removed; OCR debris inside a word): ΚΥ. οἷ γθῆν, μ ἔσπο Ῥθηίαρο ἰῃ → ; φιλοξεὉ ἀἰχία ὑμβίο οἱ νίας → φιλοξενίας; σι. οἱ δ Ιν Γι Π ἴῃ θη ὉΓ οι υ πὶ ροΓουγὰ δ; πη υἱ πο ἢ ἰνᾶπὶ σοτία Βοη ρ ροῦῖγα πος ἰρβὶυ ᾿ᾶθαγα πὶ σοπιραίίοηνι. π αἰ ἢ δα υἱ, δ΄ πι αὖ ον ΘΗ οΥρὰ Υν ἢ ργδῖα, ἃ σοι ἶ Π οἱ οροτίοί, φυίγογα, ἰμπἢ ὀχορίαῶγε νὰγα ᾿ἰφυάδυ ς οὶ δἱ πῃ πἷΠ δίυάδεγα ποὴ π ι,εἰ ποθὴ μ υτγίπια δὲ εοηάριμπαι δι βιδίυ π Ουγᾶιη., οἱ ἃς τοδὶ δὶ ποι ι π ἄλη, ἰπ πη οι οὐ Ὧ βοη π υἱ εἰ. δήλιυ θ υἱροία ἐσοἷς Υἱ εἰ οὐ, ἰόν πα υοῖ β νοῦ ροῖ, τυ ἰ πῈ δια Α → … ; θα ν ΒΑ Θιίογἢ Δ ποι: Ὡνδὶς ξένε Δου απ ΚΥ Ι. ι ἈΠ αυδιὴ ΟἿ δἰ κἷῃα υἱείδιη, ἢ Π πε οἱ αἰουἱλίυ αυἱ ι, ποη ἱροί, βοᾷ οἱ, δι υἱὰ ἀοίδγο, οἱ ἰἀοῖγοο πε ᾿ σοι δίῃ, ἃς ε λ γε οἱ οὐμὰ Ρογγὰ υθυτὴ τ: Μαγὶα μ ιποι Ὁ ᾽ ἰυἸη μΙ οἱ δοηνίηο, ΠΟη ἰδιάλία υ ὁ ἐλ δι βὲ διίοιη φασί, εἴπῃ λ πὶ Μανία οἱ ἰπίθπίἃ ρᾶοιο μ διὶ πη νυ ἀρρᾶγὰπὲ. οἱ φυοπιούο Β ἃς ἰ Π ἰ προ. ργορομογδιυῦ ποι ποι πὶ ἐγ τηἰπἶπιῈ οἱ ο α, οδρυίηυ οι αὶ βείο αὶ, ἃ νου ΠΗ, ογοὶ δι ρἰοιδίοπη ἢ φυ ι πο οἱ μονίας ουὐποῖο ΓἋὐγὰ ρόρμα ο, υἱΡοΙ Ὁ οοςοιραιίοια νι δ οἱ μυγὰ π παι ΠΟ πιὰ θην, αυΐα Ππιᾶση Π ἰόσοι ὑπ ἢ ἃς μιινίίαια ἢοῸ οχρίαγοῖ; δἱ νοι η ἰ ἤθη ἴῃ τ α βά πὶ ρον πο απο ργοσίηργοι πὶ ι θη θη ὑπ Π ργίπιο οἱ Ὀίμα φ μ ει αν οί δ ὰ ἣν σα Ὸ ἄ ἐμ ἐμὰ ἃ νοι ἐογγμμία, εὐ χ, Π.. Κ α, Ὁ ἀνα. κν, ὁ. ἴς → .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 15 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/15). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/15
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 16
16PG 79
Ἥ κχαὶ τὴν Μαρίαν οὖκ ἐροῦμεν τῆς ἀμείνονα ἣν προτιμῶν διὰ τὸ ἀπερίσπαστον τἴς περὶ τὴν σωματικὴν λειτουγίαν περισπωμένης, καὶ φροντιζούτης διαχονίᾳς, σαρχὸς ἐχούσης φητὶν ὁ Κύριος, οὐχ αὐτῇ, ἀλλὰ τῇ νομιζούσῃ μέγε ποιεῖν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο χρῃζούσῃ παρλινέσεως, διορθούμενος τὴν ἐσφαλιμένην ὑπόνοιαν λέγων ε Μάρθα, Μάρθα, μεριμνᾷς καὶ τυρβάζη περὶ πολλὰ, ἑνὺς δέ ἐστι χρείαΜαρία δὲ τὴν ἀγαθὴν μερίδα ἐξελέξατο, ἧτις οὐκ ἀφαιρεθήσεται ἀπ᾽ αὺτῆς. Καίτοι ὁ θόρυβος αὐτῆς εἶχε σπουξῖν, τς θεραπείας αὑτοῦ, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐπῃνέθη τῆς προῦυμίας ἐκείνης ἐμέμφθη δὲ, ὅτε, καταλιποῦσα τὸ προ:εδρεύειν, καθάπερ ἡ Μαρία, τῷ λόγῳ καὶ τῇ τῇ ψυχῆς ὠφελείᾳ μεριμνᾷ, πῶς μηδὲν μὲν τῆς χρείας λείψῃ πρὸς τὸ τῆς ἐστιάσξως φιλότιμον, λαμπρὰ ἃ τῆς συνήθους. καὶ πολυτελοῦς παραπτεθῇ τῆςς φιλοῖενίας ἣ τράπε τὸ γὰρ διπλασιάσαι τὴν τοῦ ὀνόμ:τὸς κλῆσιν μέλλοντα τὴν σπουδὴν διαβάλλειν ὡς ὦ καθήκουσαν, καὶ εἰπεῖν, Μάρθα, Μάρθα, σχετὰΣ ζοντος ἦν τάχα, καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐπισείοντος ἡ πεπλανημένῳ ὡς ἀναγκαίῳ θορύδῳ εἰδὼς εἰς κατόρθωσιν εὐσεβείας τοῦ σπουδαζομένα τὸ ἀμελούμενον.
Hē kchai tēn Marian ouk eroumen tēs ameinona hēn protimōn dia to aperispaston tis peri tēn sōmatikēn leitougian perispōmenēs, kai phrontizoutēs diachoniąs, sarchos echousēs phētin ho Kyrios, ouch autę̄, alla tę̄ nomizousę̄ mege poiein, kai dia touto chrę̄zousę̄ parlineseōs, diorthoumenos tēn esphalimenēn hyponoian legōn e Martha, Martha, merimnąs kai tyrbazē peri polla, henys de esti chreiaMaria de tēn agathēn merida exelexato, hētis ouk aphairethēsetai ap᾽ autēs. Kaitoi ho thorybos autēs eiche spouxin, ts therapeias hautou, all᾽ ouk epę̄nethē tēs prouymias ekeinēs ememphthē de, hote, katalipousa to pro:edreuein, kathaper hē Maria, tǭ logǭ kai tę̄ tę̄ psychēs ōpheleią merimną, pōs mēden men tēs chreias leipsę̄ pros to tēs estiasxōs philotimon, lampra ha tēs synēthous. kai polytelous paraptethę̄ tēss philoienias hē trape to gar diplasiasai tēn tou onom:tos klēsin mellonta tēn spoudēn diaballein hōs ō kathēkousan, kai eipein, Martha, Martha, schetaS zontos ēn tacha, kai tēn kephalēn episeiontos hē peplanēmenǭ hōs anankaiǭ thorydǭ eidōs eis katorthōsin eusebeias tou spoudazomena to ameloumenon.
Or shall we not say that Mary, whom the Lord preferred because she was free of distraction, was better than the one who was distracted by bodily service and anxious about serving the flesh? The Lord speaks, not to Mary but to the one who thought she was doing something great and therefore needed exhortation, correcting her mistaken notion: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful; Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken from her.” And yet her bustle came from zeal for serving him; but she was not praised for that eagerness. She was blamed because she left off sitting, like Mary, beside the word and the benefit of the soul, and was anxious that nothing needed should be lacking for the munificence of the meal and that the table of hospitality should be set out splendidly, beyond the usual and costly. For in doubling the name when about to censure her zeal as unfitting, and saying, “Martha, Martha,” he was perhaps showing displeasure and shaking his head at the bustle she mistakenly thought necessary, knowing that what she neglected mattered more for the achievement of godliness than what she was busy with.
Luke 10:41–42 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 10:38–40 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ preferred Mary, who sat undistracted at his word, to Martha busy with serving, gently rebuking Martha's zeal for hospitality.
- Quotation: Luke 10:41–42; allusion to Luke 10:38–40. The Mary–Martha story is a standard text for the superiority of contemplation.
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 16 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/16). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/16
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 17
17PG 79
Οὕτω καὶ Λευῖται παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ προεχρᾶν σαν, ἐλεύθεροι πάσης ὄντες βιωτικῇς ἀσχολία, ξ καθαρῷ τῷ λογισμῷ τὸ θεῖον διὰ τὸ θεραπεύοντες, καὶ οἱ τὴν μεγάλην εὐχὴν κατὰ ἡ εὐξάμενοι ὥστε ἀφαγνίσαι προσοχῇ, καὶ ἑαυτοὺς τῷ Θεῷ τὰς ἕξωθεν ὀχλήσεις σάμενοι, περιθδόλων ἐντὸς τοῦ τότε ἁγίου ναοῦ, τὸ τῆς σπουδαζομένης ἁγνείας ἐσχοῦντο τὴν ἡσυχίαν, πεπεισμένοι ποιεῖν αὑτοῖς τὴν ἁγνείαν Καὶ μάρτυρες τῆς ἔξω βλάβης, Αβελ ὁ τῶ τὸν τοπλάστου υἱὸς, καὶ Δίνα ἡ τοῦ πατριάρχου ὁ μὲν εἰς τὸ πεδίον θεὶς παρὰ τ: Καῖν, ἡ δὲ φθαρεῖσα παρὰ τοῦ Ἐμὼρ ἀκχαίρως ἐξ θεωρίαν τῶν ἐγχωρίων γυναικῶν, οὐχ τοῦτο παθόντες εἰ χατέμενον ἠρεμοῦντες οἴκοι … τὴν πᾶσιν ἀκίνδυνον, καὶ τελείοις, δὲ μάλιστα ἡσυχίαν ἑλόμενοι, ὅτι τοῖς μὲν φυλάττει τὴν ἡσχημένην ἕξιν ἀσάλευτον, τοὺς δὲ τῇ ἀσκήσει ταύτῃ προσάγει προκόπτοντας. Καὶ ὁ Ἱερεμίας δὲ παρεγγνῶν μὴ ἐκπορεύεσθαι εἰς ἀγρὸν ὅτι ῥομφαία τῶν ἐχθρῶν κυκλόθεν, καὶ ὁ Πέτρος Ὁ ἐχθρὸς ἡμῶν διάβολος περιέρχεται καὶ ἐμπεριπατεῖ, τὴν σύμπασαν τὴν ἔξω βλάβην μαρτύρονται ὁ ὃὲ τὸν ὀλοθρευμτὴν ἀποχρύπτεσθαι παραινῶν, καὶ ὁ λέγων ᾿Απόχλεισον τὴν θύραν σον, μικρὸν ὅσον ἕως ἂν παρέλθῃ ἡ ὀργὴ Κυρίου, καὶ ὁ οἰκῶν οἰκίαν καὶ ὁ προστάσσων τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ φονευτοῦ παραγινόμδενην ἀποθλίδειν εἰς τὴν θύραν, τὴν ἔνδον κηρύττουσιν ἀσφάλειαν, δεικνύντες διαῤῥήδην, ὅτι τοῖς; μὲν εὐεπηρέαστος ὁμολογουμέἢ νως, τοῖς δὲ ἀναμφιβόλως ἀχίνδυνός ἔστιν ἡ διαγωγή.
Houtō kai Leuitai pantos tou laou proechran san, eleutheroi pasēs ontes biōtikę̄s ascholia, x katharǭ tǭ logismǭ to theion dia to therapeuontes, kai hoi tēn megalēn euchēn kata hē euxamenoi hōste aphagnisai prosochę̄, kai heautous tǭ Theǭ tas hexōthen ochlēseis samenoi, perithdolōn entos tou tote hagiou naou, to tēs spoudazomenēs hagneias eschounto tēn hēsychian, pepeismenoi poiein hautois tēn hagneian Kai martyres tēs exō blabēs, Abel ho tō ton toplastou huios, kai Dina hē tou patriarchou ho men eis to pedion theis para t: Kain, hē de phthareisa para tou Emōr akchairōs ex theōrian tōn enchōriōn gynaikōn, ouch touto pathontes ei chatemenon ēremountes oikoi … tēn pasin akindynon, kai teleiois, de malista hēsychian helomenoi, hoti tois men phylattei tēn hēschēmenēn hexin asaleuton, tous de tę̄ askēsei tautę̄ prosagei prokoptontas. Kai ho Hieremias de parengnōn mē ekporeuesthai eis agron hoti rhomphaia tōn echthrōn kyklothen, kai ho Petros Ho echthros hēmōn diabolos perierchetai kai emperipatei, tēn sympasan tēn exō blabēn martyrontai ho hoe ton olothreumtēn apochryptesthai parainōn, kai ho legōn ᾿Apochleison tēn thyran son, mikron hoson heōs an parelthę̄ hē orgē Kyriou, kai ho oikōn oikian kai ho prostassōn ton huion tou phoneutou paraginomdenēn apothlidein eis tēn thyran, tēn endon kēryttousin asphaleian, deiknyntes diarrhēdēn, hoti tois? men euepēreastos homologoumeē nōs, tois de anamphibolōs achindynos estin hē diagōgē.
So too the Levites were set above all the people, being free from every worldly occupation and serving God continually with pure reasoning; and those who vowed the great vow, to consecrate themselves to God with attention, renouncing outside disturbances, kept within the precincts of the then holy temple the quiet that belongs to the purity they sought, persuaded that this was what made them pure. Witnesses to the harm that lies outside are Abel, the son of the first-formed man, and Dinah, the patriarch's daughter: the one went out into the plain and was killed by Cain; the other was defiled by [the son of] Hamor, having gone out untimely to see the women of the land. They would not have suffered this had they stayed quietly at home. … choosing quiet, which is safe for all and especially for the perfect, because for the perfect it keeps the settled habit unshaken, and it brings forward those who are advancing in this discipline. And Jeremiah, warning not to go out into the field because the enemies' sword is all around, and Peter, saying, “Our enemy the devil goes about and prowls,” testify to all the harm outside. And the one who exhorts us to hide from the destroyer, and the one who says, “Shut your door for a little while, until the wrath of the Lord passes,” and the one who stays in the house, and the one who commands to hold the door against the son of the murderer when he comes: all proclaim the safety within, showing expressly that the one way of life is admittedly easily harmed and the other is without doubt safe.
Num 6:2 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 4:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 34:1–2 (allusion, high confidence) · Jer 6:25 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Pet 5:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 12:22–23 (allusion, medium confidence) · Isa 26:20 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Kgs 6:32 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Levites and Nazirites served God apart; Abel and Dinah came to harm by going out; and Scripture repeatedly praises staying within, which keeps the soul safe.
- Allusions and quotations: Num 3 and 8 (the Levites); Num 6:2 (the Nazirite's “great vow,” LXX); Gen 4:8; Gen 34:1–2; Jer 6:25; 1 Pet 5:8; Exod 12:22–23 (staying inside on Passover night); Isa 26:20; 2 Kgs 6:32 (Elisha bids the elders hold the door against the murderer's son). “The one who stays in the house” is unidentified (perhaps Josh 2:19). OCR debris has been removed at three places; the words lost with it are marked ….
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris; OCR debris from Migne's facing Latin column (and stray letters); removed; OCR debris; words lost): οὐχ ΒΕ τοῦτο → οὐχ τοῦτο; Α τυ δγὸ → … ; αἰ θαι Π Υἱῖας χ οοηίο ἰΔ ὀχίγα οἴῃ ρου ου → .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 17 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/17). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/17
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 18
18PG 79
Καὶ οὕτω, καὶ οὐχ ἄλλως ἔχειν φιλεῖ ἡ ἀλήθεια οἱ μὲν γὰρ τὸν μένον βιοῦντες βίον, καὶ καὶ ἀνόπλῳ συμπλέχονται τῷ πολεμίῳ ὅπλα γὰρ παθῶν ἐστι τὰ πράγματα, οἱ δὲ πλήθεσιν ἐν πόλει συναναμιγνύμενοι, καὶ πολλοὺς ἔχουσι πολλαχόθεν τοὺς ἐπιτιθεμένους διόλον, καὶ πάντας πεφραγμένους παντευχίᾳ πολεμικῇ, καὶ χαιρίας, ὅταν φ ρῶσαι δυνηθῶσιν, ἐπιφέροντας τὰς πληγάς. Καὶ ἔστιν ἀνόητον κομιδῇ περιδεῆ, καὶ ἐναγώνιον κατασκευάζειν ἑαυτῷ τὴν ζωὴν, ἐξουσίας παρούσης, ἀδεῇ ταύτην ἔχειν, καὶ ἄφοβον, καὶ πριεῖν τὴν ἐνδεχομέγὴν ἀσφάλειαν τὴν ἀναγκαίαν. Τίς γὰρ ἀποστὰς ἐπιδούλων καὶ χωρίσα:; ἑαυτὸν μακρὰν τῆς τούτων ἐπιμιξίας οὐ λρφιπὸν, καὶ ἔστιν ἀμέριμνος, οὐδὲ οὐδαμόθεν ὑφορώμενος βλάβην ἔτι; Τίς δὲ τούτοις συνδιαιτώμενος οὐχ ἔστιν ἐν φόβῳ πάντοτε προσδοκῶν πάντοθεν ἐπιόουλὴν τῷ πάντας ταύτην διὰ σπουδῆς ἔχειν ἀεὶ, ὡς κατὰ δυσμενοῦς δυυμενεῖς; Πῶς οὖν τῆς εἰρηνιχῆῇῆς καὶ ἀταράχου διαγωγῆς ἡ μετὰ τῶν ἀδικούντων ἐστὶν ἀμείνων Καὶ πῶς ἡ λῃστὰς ἔχουσα καὶ βαρβάρους ὁδὸς τῆς ἀδεῶς ὀδευομένης ἔδοξεν, ἣ δοχεῖ τισιν αἱρετώτερος; Ἢ μὲν καὶ μιαιφόνους ἔχε:, καὶ λωποδύτας, καὶ πάντως ἔστιν ἣ φονευθῆναι, ἣ χἂν τὸ ἐμάτιον ἡ δὲ πάσης ὑπονοίας ἀπηλλαγμένη τοιαύτης ἀζήμιον τοῖς ὁδίταις, καὶ ἄλυπον τὴν ὁδοιπορίαν ποιεῖ, καὶ τὴν κτῆσιν διασώζουσιν ἀσύλητον, καὶ φαιδρῶς τὴν ὁδὸν καὶ γεγηθότως διανύουσιν.
Kai houtō, kai ouch allōs echein philei hē alētheia hoi men gar ton menon biountes bion, kai kai anoplǭ symplechontai tǭ polemiǭ hopla gar pathōn esti ta pragmata, hoi de plēthesin en polei synanamignymenoi, kai pollous echousi pollachothen tous epitithemenous diolon, kai pantas pephragmenous panteuchią polemikę̄, kai chairias, hotan ph rōsai dynēthōsin, epipherontas tas plēgas. Kai estin anoēton komidę̄ perideē, kai enagōnion kataskeuazein heautǭ tēn zōēn, exousias parousēs, adeę̄ tautēn echein, kai aphobon, kai priein tēn endechomegēn asphaleian tēn anankaian. Tis gar apostas epidoulōn kai chōrisa:? heauton makran tēs toutōn epimixias ou lrphipon, kai estin amerimnos, oude oudamothen hyphorōmenos blabēn eti? Tis de toutois syndiaitōmenos ouch estin en phobǭ pantote prosdokōn pantothen epiooulēn tǭ pantas tautēn dia spoudēs echein aei, hōs kata dysmenous dyymeneis? Pōs oun tēs eirēnichēę̄ēs kai atarachou diagōgēs hē meta tōn adikountōn estin ameinōn Kai pōs hē lę̄stas echousa kai barbarous hodos tēs adeōs odeuomenēs edoxen, hē dochei tisin hairetōteros? Ē men kai miaiphonous eche:, kai lōpodytas, kai pantōs estin hē phoneuthēnai, hē chan to emation hē de pasēs hyponoias apēllagmenē toiautēs azēmion tois hoditais, kai alypon tēn hodoiporian poiei, kai tēn ktēsin diasōzousin asylēton, kai phaidrōs tēn hodon kai gegēthotōs dianyousin.
And so it is, and not otherwise, that the truth usually stands. Those who live the solitary life grapple with an enemy who is also unarmed, for things are the weapons of the passions; but those who mix with crowds in the city have many attackers on every side all the time, all fenced with full armor, who inflict mortal blows whenever they can wound. And it is utter folly to make one's life fearful and full of struggle when it is in one's power to have it free of dread and fear, and to neglect the safety that is possible and necessary. For who that has withdrawn from those who plot against him and set himself far from mixing with them is not afterwards free of care, no longer suspecting harm from any quarter? And who that lives among them is not always in fear, expecting plots from all sides, since all of them are always busy plotting, like enemies against an enemy? How, then, is life with wrongdoers better than a peaceful and untroubled way of life? And how has the road that has robbers and barbarians on it seemed, or how does it seem to some, more desirable than one travelled without fear? The one has murderers and clothes-stealers, and a traveller must surely either be killed or lose his cloak; the other, free from all such suspicion, makes the journey free of loss and pain for those who travel it, and they keep their goods unplundered and finish the road cheerfully and gladly.
Notes and citation
Summary: The solitary fights an unarmed enemy, the city ascetic an army; it is folly to choose a road full of robbers over a safe one.
- The end of the chapter is OCR of Migne's facing Latin column, removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris from Migne's facing Latin column (and stray letters); removed): οἱ ἴῃ ορογιοί υἱδίογίυυ ποὸὴ ἰὰ δἱ οἰ πα ρμαγίου όΘ ΐ Οὐ βι εἰ οἱ ἐμ πι οηἶα πὶ ηὑθγὸ δάπιουοὶ ργοῦτεθη οἱ ποη ργοςδάεγα ἢ ιἃμίιαι οἱ ἤοδίοῦ αι αὶ Π Πὶ αἰοδίδῆη δχίθγηδῃ δάπιοποῖ, υἱ ἐς Θεοὶ, οἱ αὐ αἰεὶ οἱ ἢ; οἱ ἰη ὅδςοον, οἱ υἱ οἰ δ η δι ἀδπηηἷα οὐὔὐποχίυς δῖ, ὑ ΚΥ ΤΙ. δίο Γ ᾿ιαῦθγα νοῦ ἃ σου τὸοειΔηπίηα, ᾿μόρη δι νογβατὶο ρδεβῖο πὶ ποφοιία; ν Γο υ-ἴθ δοδυῖαν, Ὠν Σ θέ πὶ ἰπ τη τ ἢ δο ἰοἷα, οἱ ηυδηάο ροιυδγῖης νυ πογάγο, ρθῆ ἰ δ; δι ραν εἰ δὲ γί, δευ σα π ἢ οἱ ἰγαιβίρογο, ἰη ποοοβαγία, βθουτγίίαῖια. πὶ ἂὖὺ δ εἰ θυ οἱ Ργόου ἃ δι η Πρ ΠῸἢ ὶ ὃς οἰ πιὰ ρᾶιῖα τοίο γι Ἀπὸ λυ ἴθ πο ἰη πηείυ σοι ΐπο, δσθρθοίδη λα, δβδίάυς, τπηδίονοῦ ρβοῖο ἰπδιίυἱο ἰά, ἰπόγεμἶθυ Εἰ γα, αὐ: δὲ βίω, δ ιδίη υ υ πτοία ρεγνία ΠῚ οἱ μα οὶ σταθιίο οἱ ἰδία ὑθγὸ ᾿υδου δἰ ἀοίοτε, αυἱ η ον οἱ ἢ ᾿: → .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 18 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/18). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/18
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia-18) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 19
19PG 79
τὰς τραχείας, καὶ δυσξάτους ἐκκλίνοντες ἀτραποὺς, κᾶν ὥσιν ἐπίτομοι, τὰς ὁμαλὰς καὶ λεωφόρους πλεῖον ἐχούσας τὸ λὔχος: … δεομένας πρὸς τὸ ἀνυσθῆναι πλείονος χρόνου. Καὶ … πῶς ἡ προσάντης, καὶ δυσπόρευτος, ἣ μακρὰ καὶ ἐπιχίνδυνο:, ἡ θηροδόλουμένη, καὶ λῃστοτρόφος, καὶ βρόχους ἔχουσα, καὶ σκάνδαλα, καὶ ἐνέδρας, καὶ ἐπτρείας πολλὰς τῆς ἀνεκτῆς, καὶ συντόμου καὶ πεδινῆς, κρίνεται προτιμοτέρα Ὄφις γυναικὸς πλοῦτος, καὶ δυναστεία, καὶ δόξα κινεῖ τὸ ζηλόευ πον, ἄλλα τὸν θυμὸν ἄλλα τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἀν. καὶ ἕτερα διάχυσιν, καὶ ἕτερα ποιεῖ ταπεινότητα, ἄλλα χατήφειαν, καὶ σύγχυσιν, ἄλλα χαρὰν καὶ εὐπάθειαν ἐργάζεται τέρψιν, καὶ ἕτερα δυ:ἀρέστησιν, καὶ καθ᾽ ἐκάστην ἐν τοῖς δρωμένοις καὶ ἀχουομένοις οὕτω τυφόμενα, κχαὶ ῥιπιζόμενα τὰ πάθη, πῶς εἰς λαμπρὰν οὐχ ἀναστήσεται δτεδήποτε φλόγα, καὶ τῇ συνεχεῖ γυμνασίᾳ πρὸς … χατάλυτον ἕξιν, καὶ τὴν μεταδολὴῆν, ἢ ἐπίπονον, ἣ τάχα ποιήσει καὶ ἀδύνατον Δεσμοῦ γὰρ οὖχ ἔλα:τὸν χατέχουπα ἣ συνήθεια, τὴν ἀναχώρησιν οὐχ ἑἐφίγσιν, ὀλίγον ἐνδιδοῦσα τῇ ὁρμῇ, καὶ αὖθις πρὸς ἑαυτὴν τὸν ἀποφοιτῇσαι πειρώμενον, Ὃ δὲ τῶν βιωτικῶν κεχωρισμένος πραγμάτων, καὶ τὰς αἰσθήσεις ἀποστήσας τῶν αἰσθητῶν, καὶ καθ τὸν ἡρεμῶν, ἂν μὲν ἔχῃ μνήμας ταχέως ταύτας, τοῦ πάντα καλαιοῦντο; χρόνου, λήθην καὶ τούτων κατὰ μικρὸν ἐργαζομένου ἐὰν δὲ μηδὲν ἐδέξατο τῶν ποιούντων μάχην εἰδώλων, πρὸς τὰς φυσικὰς ὑπομνήσεις Ψιλὰς ἔχει τὴν πάλην εὑχαταγωνίστους οὔσας εὐπαραγώγους, τῆς διανοίας εὐκόλως μετατιθεμένης αὐτὰς, καὶ ἀποστρεφομένης εὐχερῶς, ὅταν μηδενὶ τῶν ἔξωθεν λέχνων δελεάζειν δύνηται ὁ ἐχθρός
tas tracheias, kai dysxatous ekklinontes atrapous, kan hōsin epitomoi, tas homalas kai leōphorous pleion echousas to lychos: … deomenas pros to anysthēnai pleionos chronou. Kai … pōs hē prosantēs, kai dysporeutos, hē makra kai epichindyno:, hē thērodoloumenē, kai lę̄stotrophos, kai brochous echousa, kai skandala, kai enedras, kai eptreias pollas tēs anektēs, kai syntomou kai pedinēs, krinetai protimotera Ophis gynaikos ploutos, kai dynasteia, kai doxa kinei to zēloeu pon, alla ton thymon alla tēn epithymian an. kai hetera diachysin, kai hetera poiei tapeinotēta, alla chatēpheian, kai synchysin, alla charan kai eupatheian ergazetai terpsin, kai hetera dy:arestēsin, kai kath᾽ ekastēn en tois drōmenois kai achouomenois houtō typhomena, kchai rhipizomena ta pathē, pōs eis lampran ouch anastēsetai dtedēpote phloga, kai tę̄ synechei gymnasią pros … chatalyton hexin, kai tēn metadolēēn, ē epiponon, hē tacha poiēsei kai adynaton Desmou gar ouch ela:ton chatechoupa hē synētheia, tēn anachōrēsin ouch heephigsin, oligon endidousa tę̄ hormę̄, kai authis pros heautēn ton apophoitę̄sai peirōmenon, Ho de tōn biōtikōn kechōrismenos pragmatōn, kai tas aisthēseis apostēsas tōn aisthētōn, kai kath ton hēremōn, an men echę̄ mnēmas tacheōs tautas, tou panta kalaiounto? chronou, lēthēn kai toutōn kata mikron ergazomenou ean de mēden edexato tōn poiountōn machēn eidōlōn, pros tas physikas hypomnēseis Psilas echei tēn palēn heuchatagōnistous ousas euparagōgous, tēs dianoias eukolōs metatithemenēs autas, kai apostrephomenēs eucherōs, hotan mēdeni tōn exōthen lechnōn deleazein dynētai ho echthros
… avoiding the rough and hard paths, even if they are short cuts, [and choosing] the level highways, which are longer … and need more time to complete. And … how is the steep and hard road, long and dangerous, haunted by beasts and home to robbers, full of nooses, stumbling blocks, ambushes and many injuries, judged preferable to the bearable, short and level one? The sight of a woman, wealth, power and glory stir the emulous part; some things rouse anger, others desire; some produce dissipation, others humiliation; some produce dejection and confusion, others joy, good feeling and delight, and others displeasure. When the passions are smouldering and fanned like this every day by what is seen and heard, how will they not one day rise up into a bright flame, and by continual exercise [come] to a habit that cannot be broken, and make change either laborious or perhaps even impossible? For custom, which holds no less than a fetter, does not permit withdrawal: it yields a little to the impulse and then draws back to itself the one who tries to get away. But the one who is separated from worldly affairs, who has withdrawn his senses from their objects and lives quietly by himself, if he has memories, is soon [rid of] them, since time, which makes all things old, gradually works forgetfulness of these too; and if he has received none of the images that make war, he has to wrestle only with the bare natural reminders, which are easy to defeat and easily led away, since the mind readily moves them and turns them aside, when the enemy cannot entice it with any allurement from outside.
Notes and citation
Summary: No one sensible prefers a dangerous road; the city ascetic's passions are fanned daily into habit, while the solitary has only bare natural reminders to fight, which fade with time.
- The chapter begins in mid-sentence. Several passages of OCR from Migne's facing Latin column have been removed; Greek words lost with them are marked ….
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris from Migne's Latin column inside the Greek; OCR debris from Migne's Latin column; part of a word lost; OCR debris from Migne's facing Latin column (and stray letters); removed): καὶ εἰ εἰ Π ἀ φυδίν β ἃς ηρίλᾶς αυ νι, Ῥεῖ, ν, κἃ. τι, ΝΕ Δ υἱ Α → … ; ΕΠ αιὰ νἷὰ, δὶ οἱ οἱ ρογίοι οβᾶ, η θυ δου θοῖα, δὸ οἱ μᾶοῖ, οἱ βοδπάδλία, δὲ ἰδ ι δι ἱ ἢ αι κἰδηιίοῦ ΓΑ δι, δί οοποῖβα οἱ φίδπα ὲ οἱ οἱ σἰογία σοι πιονυοὶ Π βασι πὶ αἰ δι θη Ὀγῷ πἰᾶ, δη Πὶ αἰ πὶ οἱ υ ἷ Π π ἢ οἱ ἰεἱς → … ; δυαἷ ᾳυᾶ νἱάδηιν οἱ ἱἐπῇδπημαια οἱ Βὶ → … ; ἰ η ῃδῖη Ποὴ οἱ ἤθη αἰ Πο πὶ, δὲ δ δ π Ὁ πὶ ἤθη ἢ ηδιουάο πο αυ πὶ πὴ Ποη υ δὲ βά αυ δοβοδάδγε. αυἱ αν ἢυἾυδο Υἱίδο. οἱ β ῃ ἃ θ ἀρι βοίροι πιοιηοῦ Δθδαὶ Ὠ η οἴη ροῦΟὈ πὶ ἰητάχα → τάχα ; βίῃ ὑθγὸ πυ δη εἰ είδα οΟ → ; αὐυὸὦ Ἰυοίδπη Πα εὶ ᾽ Πρ δχυρυφηδίυ, οἱ ποροῖῖο πηοπία α ὲ βίης ἰδθοΙῸ, φιδηάο η αι οὐ Γι πὶ γα. Ἰ ᾿ οἴοογα οἱ ἰοῦ ἀδεογίδης θυ π ἰδηῖυ πὶ πα νδίδγία, γα οῖ, οἱ ι ργοροδίία ς ἀη οὔτ ποι οοηοίιοι Ρῖ νογὸ ἴυπο συληίο ᾽ ργογίίαι ὅδ... πὶ ἢ Π ἰ ἃ. ποθὴ Π-α πὴ Ὑοὶας Οχοὶ δῖ, οί, οἱ πὴ ἰπ νἱφίίο δ νἱδιηίσυ πο ἢ μοὶ ἱμοοηηίγοηίθη απ σον εἰ πυ οἰγουπιάσογο η ς ι δὲ δία αἰυὰ νυ ἴ π Ὑ χορὸ οςἃἰοη ἢ Ἀνθ δὶς τη σι οἱ, ἃ θαίαν, σα οἷς να ὰ ργοιηρῖα ηγίχγαιίο δι Θχογοῖ πὶ οἱ ἰπίειδα οι → .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Nilus, Mon. praest. 19 (PG 79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/19). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/nilus-de-monachorum-praestantia/19
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 79 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.