Sophia Scriptura

Orations 1.1–1.10

Proclus of Constantinople · Orations · ca. 430-446 · Constantinople · 10 passages

Authorship disputed: The 19 Greek orations of PG 65:679-842 are printed under Proclus's name; some are certainly his, others are doubtful or by other preachers (Oration 4 is Theodotus of Ancyra's Nativity homily and is therefore omitted). Authorship of each is not settled here.

Greek text: PG 65 (Greek text: Migne, PG 65, from the Bavarian State Library OCR (uncorrected)).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).

Chapter 1

1.1PG 65:679

Παρθενικὴ πανήγυρις σήμερον τὴν γλῶτταν ἡμῶν, ἀδελφοὶ, πρὸς εὐφημίαν καλεῖ· καὶ ἡ παροῦσα ἑορτὴ τοῖς συνελθοῦσιν ὠφελείας γίνεται πρόξενος, καὶ μάλιστα εἰκότως. ῾Αγνείας γὰρ ἔχει ὑπόθεσιν, καὶ τοῦ κοινοῦ τῶν γυναικῶν καύχημα τὸ τελούμενον καὶ δόξα τοῦ θήλεως, διὰ τὴν ἐν καιρῷ μητέρα καὶ παρθένον. Ἐπέραστος αὕτη καὶ ἐξαίσιος ἡ σύνοδος. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ γῆ καὶ θάλαττα δωροφορεῖ τῇ παρθένῳ· ἡ μὲν τὰ νῶτα αὐτῆς, ταῖς ὁλκάσι γαληνῶς ὑφαπλώσασα - ἡ δὲ τὰ ἴχνη τῶν βαδιζόντων ἀκωλύτως παραπέμπουσα. Σκιρτάτω ἡ φύσις, καὶ ἀγαλλιάσθω τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅτι καὶ γυναῖκες τιμῶνται· χορευέτω ἡ ἀνθρωπότης, ὅτι καὶ παρθένοι δοξάζονται. "Οπου γὰρ ἐπλεόνασεν ἡ ἁμαρτία, ὑπερεπερίσσευσεν ἡ χάρις. Συνεκάλεσε γὰρ ἡμᾶς νῦν ἐνταῦθα ἡ ἁγία Θεοτόκος Παρθένος Μαρία· τὸ ἀμόλυντον τῆς παρθενίας κειμήλιον, ὁ λογικὸς τοῦ δευτέρου Ἀδὰμ παράδεισος· τὸ ἐργαστήριον τῆς ἑνώσεως τῶν φύσεων· ἡ πανήγυρις τοῦ σωτηρίου συναλλάγματος, ἡ παστὰς, ἐν ᾗ ὁ Λόγος ἐνυμφεύσατο τὴν σάρκα· ἡ ἔμψυχος τῆς φύσεως βάτος, ἣν τὸ τῆς θείας ὠδῖνος πῦρ οὐ κατέκαυσεν· ἡ ὄντως κούφη νεφέλη, ἡ τὸν ἐπὶ τῶν χερουβίμ μετὰ σώματος βαστάσασα· ὁ τοῦ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ὑετοῦ καθαρώτατος πόκος, ἐξ οὗ ὁ ποιμὴν τὸ πρόβατον ἐνεδύσατο. Μαρία ἡ δούλη καὶ μήτηρ, ἡ παρθένος, καὶ οὐρανὸς, ἡ μόνη Θεοῦ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους γέφυρα· ὁ φρικτὸς τῆς οἰκονομίας ἱστὸς, ἐνᾧ ἀῤῥήτως ὑφάνθη ὁ τῆς ἑνώσεως χιτών· οὗπερ ἱστουργὸς μὲν, τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον · ἔριθος δὲ, ἡ ἐξ ὕψους ἐπισκιάσασα δύναμις· ἔριον δὲ, τὸ ἀρχαῖον τοῦ ᾿Αδάμ κώδιον· κρόκη δὲ, ἡ τῆς Παρθένου ἀμόλυντος σάρξ· κερκὶς δὲ, ἡ ἀμέτρητος τοῦ φορέσαντος χάρις· τεχνίτης δὲ, ὁ δι᾽ ἀκοῆς εἰσπηδήσας Λόγος. Τίς εἶδε, τίς ἤκουσεν, ὅτι μήτραν ὁ Θεὸς ἀπεριγράπτως ᾤκησε, καὶ ὃν οὐρανὸς οὐκ ἐχώρησεν, ἡ γαστὴρ οὐκ ἐστενοχώρησεν.

Parthenikē panēgyris sēmeron tēn glōttan hēmōn, adelphoi, pros euphēmian kalei; kai hē parousa heortē tois synelthousin ōpheleias ginetai proxenos, kai malista eikotōs. ῾Agneias gar echei hypothesin, kai tou koinou tōn gynaikōn kauchēma to teloumenon kai doxa tou thēleōs, dia tēn en kairǭ mētera kai parthenon. Eperastos hautē kai exaisios hē synodos. Idou gar gē kai thalatta dōrophorei tę̄ parthenǭ; hē men ta nōta autēs, tais holkasi galēnōs hyphaplōsasa - hē de ta ichnē tōn badizontōn akōlytōs parapempousa. Skirtatō hē physis, kai agalliasthō to genos tōn anthrōpōn, hoti kai gynaikes timōntai; choreuetō hē anthrōpotēs, hoti kai parthenoi doxazontai. "Opou gar epleonasen hē hamartia, hypereperisseusen hē charis. Synekalese gar hēmas nyn entautha hē hagia Theotokos Parthenos Maria; to amolynton tēs parthenias keimēlion, ho logikos tou deuterou Adam paradeisos; to ergastērion tēs henōseōs tōn physeōn; hē panēgyris tou sōtēriou synallagmatos, hē pastas, en hę̄ ho Logos enympheusato tēn sarka; hē empsychos tēs physeōs batos, hēn to tēs theias ōdinos pyr ou katekausen; hē ontōs kouphē nephelē, hē ton epi tōn cheroubim meta sōmatos bastasasa; ho tou ex ouranou hyetou katharōtatos pokos, ex hou ho poimēn to probaton enedysato. Maria hē doulē kai mētēr, hē parthenos, kai ouranos, hē monē Theou pros anthrōpous gephyra; ho phriktos tēs oikonomias histos, enǭ arrhētōs hyphanthē ho tēs henōseōs chitōn; houper histourgos men, to Pneuma to hagion ; erithos de, hē ex hypsous episkiasasa dynamis; erion de, to archaion tou ᾿Adam kōdion; krokē de, hē tēs Parthenou amolyntos sarx; kerkis de, hē ametrētos tou phoresantos charis; technitēs de, ho di᾽ akoēs eispēdēsas Logos. Tis eide, tis ēkousen, hoti mētran ho Theos aperigraptōs ǭkēse, kai hon ouranos ouk echōrēsen, hē gastēr ouk estenochōrēsen.

A virginal festival today calls our tongue, brothers, to praise; and the present feast becomes a source of benefit to those who have gathered, and most fittingly. For it has purity as its subject; and what is celebrated is the boast of womankind and the glory of the female sex, because of her who in due time was mother and virgin. Lovely and wonderful is this assembly. For see, land and sea bring gifts to the Virgin: the one calmly spreading out its back for the ships, the other sending on unhindered the footsteps of those who walk. Let nature leap for joy, and let the race of men exult, because women too are honoured; let humanity dance, because virgins too are glorified. For “where sin abounded, grace overflowed all the more.” For the holy Theotokos, the Virgin Mary, has called us together here now: the spotless treasure of virginity; the spiritual paradise of the second Adam; the workshop of the union of the natures; the festival of the saving exchange; the bridal chamber in which the Word wedded the flesh; the living bush of our nature, which the fire of the divine birth-pangs did not burn up; the truly light cloud, which carried him who sits upon the cherubim, together with a body; the purest fleece of the rain from heaven, from which the shepherd clothed himself with the sheep. Mary, the handmaid and mother, the virgin and heaven, the only bridge of God to men; the awesome loom of the economy, on which the tunic of the union was woven in an unspeakable way: its weaver the Holy Spirit; its spinner the power that overshadowed from on high; its wool the ancient fleece of Adam; its weft the spotless flesh of the Virgin; its shuttle the immeasurable grace of him who wore it; its craftsman the Word, who leapt in through hearing. Who has seen, who has heard, that God dwelt without limit in a womb, and that him whom heaven did not contain a belly did not find too narrow?

Rom 5:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 3:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 19:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 80:1 (79:2 LXX) (allusion, low confidence) · Judg 6:37–38 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 72:6 (71:6 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 1:35 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 66:8 (echo, medium confidence) · 1 Kgs 8:27 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Proclus opens a feast of the Virgin by hailing Mary, the Theotokos, as the bush, the cloud, the fleece, and the loom on which the Word wove the tunic of his union with our flesh.

  • This is the sermon on the Theotokos that Proclus preached at Constantinople in the presence of Nestorius (ca. 428–430). A string of Migne's notes that had leaked into the text is removed.
  • “With the sheep”: the shepherd put on the sheep (human nature) from the fleece (Mary). The fleece recalls Judg 6:37–38 and Ps 72:6 (LXX 71:6), the cloud Isa 19:1, the bush Exod 3:2.
  • Quotation: Rom 5:20. Allusions: Luke 1:35; 1 Kgs 8:27; Isa 66:8.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne's notes leaked into the text; OCR: misread letter; OCR: split and misread word): ἡ σύνοδος. ὑπεραγίαν. μάλα. Ἰδοὺ → ἡ σύνοδος. Ἰδοὺ; εἰσι πηδήσας → εἰσπηδήσας; ἐχώμησεν → ἐχώρησεν.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Proclus, Or. 1.1 (PG 65:679; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-1

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (Bavarian State Library scan OCR; Migne's Latin and notes removed, displaced lines restored, by logged corrections); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

1.2PG 65:681

᾿Αλλ' ἐγεννήθη ἐκ γυναικὸς Θεὸς οὐ γυμνός καὶ ἄνθρωπος οὐ ψιλός· καὶ πύλην σωτηρίας ὁ τεχθεὶς, τὴν πάλαι τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἔδειξε θύραν. Ὅπου γὰρ ὁ ὄφις διὰ τῆς παρακοῆς τὸν ἰὸν ἐξέχεεν, ἐκεῖθεν ὁ Λόγος διὰ τῆς ὑπακοῆς εἰσελθὼν, τὸν ναὸν ἐζωοπλάστησεν. Ὅθεν ὁ πρῶτος τῆς ἁμαρτίας Κάϊν προέκυψεν, ἐκεῖθεν ὁ τοῦ γένους λυτρωτής Χριστὸς ἀσπόρως ἐβλάστησεν. Οὐκ ἐπῃσχύνθη ὁ φιλάνθρωπος τὴν ἐκ γυναικὸς ὠδῖνα · ζωή, γὰρ ἦν τὸ πραγματευόμενον· οὐκ ἐμολύνθη οἰκήσας μήτραν, ἥνπερ αὐτὸς ἀνυβρίστως ἐδημιούργησεν. Εἰ μὴ γὰρ παρθένος ἔμεινεν ἡ μήτηρ, ψιλὸς ἄνθρωπος ὁ τεχθεὶς, καὶ οὐ παράδοξος ὁ τόκος· εἰ δὲ καὶ μετὰ τόκον ἔμεινε παρθένος, πῶς οὐχὶ καὶ Θεὸς, καὶ τὸ μυστήριον ἄφραστον ; Ἐκεῖνος ἀφράστως ἐγεννήθη, ὁ καὶ τῶν θυρῶν κεκλεισμένων εἰσελθὼν ἀκωλύτως· οὗ τὴν συζυγίαν τῶν φύσεων ἰδὼν ὁ Θωμᾶς, ἀνεκεκράγει λέγων· Ὁ Κύριός μου, καὶ ὁ Θεός μου.

᾿All' egennēthē ek gynaikos Theos ou gymnos kai anthrōpos ou psilos; kai pylēn sōtērias ho techtheis, tēn palai tēs hamartias edeixe thyran. Hopou gar ho ophis dia tēs parakoēs ton ion execheen, ekeithen ho Logos dia tēs hypakoēs eiselthōn, ton naon ezōoplastēsen. Hothen ho prōtos tēs hamartias Kaïn proekypsen, ekeithen ho tou genous lytrōtēs Christos asporōs eblastēsen. Ouk epę̄schynthē ho philanthrōpos tēn ek gynaikos ōdina ; zōē, gar ēn to pragmateuomenon; ouk emolynthē oikēsas mētran, hēnper autos anybristōs edēmiourgēsen. Ei mē gar parthenos emeinen hē mētēr, psilos anthrōpos ho techtheis, kai ou paradoxos ho tokos; ei de kai meta tokon emeine parthenos, pōs ouchi kai Theos, kai to mystērion aphraston ? Ekeinos aphrastōs egennēthē, ho kai tōn thyrōn kekleismenōn eiselthōn akōlytōs; hou tēn syzygian tōn physeōn idōn ho Thōmas, anekekragei legōn; Ho Kyrios mou, kai ho Theos mou.

But God was born of a woman, not bare God, and man, not mere man; and he who was born showed the old door of sin to be a gate of salvation. For where the serpent poured out its venom through disobedience, there the Word entered through obedience and formed a living temple. Whence Cain, the first of sin, came forth, thence Christ, the Redeemer of the race, sprang up without seed. The lover of mankind was not ashamed of birth from a woman, for it was life that he was transacting; he was not defiled by dwelling in a womb which he himself had created without outrage. For if the mother had not remained a virgin, the one born would be a mere man, and the birth no wonder; but if she remained a virgin even after the birth, how is he not also God, and the mystery inexpressible? He was born inexpressibly who also entered unhindered when the doors were shut; seeing the conjunction of his natures, Thomas cried out, saying: “My Lord and my God!”

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Gal 4:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:1–6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 4:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 20:26 (allusion, high confidence) · John 20:28 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Word, born of a woman as God and man, turned the door of sin into the gate of salvation; the Virgin's lasting virginity shows that the child is God.

  • A long string of Migne's notes (variant readings) that had leaked into this section is removed by a logged correction.
  • The argument from Mary's virginity “even after the birth” is Proclus's own; translated as written.
  • Allusions: Gal 4:4; Gen 3:1–6; Gen 4:1; John 20:26–28 (quotation).

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne's notes (variant readings) leaked into the text; OCR: split word): ἥνπερ δοροφορεῖ. ΑΙ. ἐφαπλώσασα. ΑΙ. ἡ ἐκ τῆς παρθένου. ΑΙ. ἐνέχεεν, ἐκεῖ ὁ λόγος. προέκοψεν. Μετὰ σώματος βαστάσασα. ἱστός ἐργαστήριον ἱστόν· ἀπεριγράπτως· ἀπερίγραπτος· τὸ ἀφθάρτως· Οδηγ. 10 ἄφθαρτος ἀφράστως, τὸ ἄφραστον. αὐτὸς ἀνυβρίστως → ἥνπερ αὐτὸς ἀνυβρίστως; ἄφρα στον → ἄφραστον.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Proclus, Or. 1.2 (PG 65:681; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-2

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-proclus-orationes-1-2) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (Bavarian State Library scan OCR; Migne's Latin and notes removed, displaced lines restored, by logged corrections); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

1.3PG 65:683

Μὴ ἀπαισχυνθῇς τὴν ὠδῖνα, ὦ ἄνθρωπε· αὕτη γὰρ ἡμῖν γέγονε σωτηρίας ἀφορμή. Εἰ μὴ γὰρ ἐκ γυναικὸς ἐγεννήθη, οὐκ ἂν ἀπέθανεν· εἰ μὴ ἀπέθανεν, οὐκ ἂν διὰ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ κατήργησε τὸν τὸ κράτος ἔχοντα τοῦ θανάτου, τουτέστι τὸν διάβολον. Οὐχ ὕβρις ἀρχιτέκτονι μεῖναι, ἐν οἷς αὐτὸς ᾠκοδόμησεν· οὐ μιαίνει πηλὸς τὸν κεραμέα, ἀνακαινίζοντα ὅπερ ἔπλασε σκεῦος· οὕτως οὐδὲ μιαίνει τὸν ἄχραντον Θεὸν, τὸ ἐκ παρθενικῆς γαστρὸς προελθεῖν. ὧν γὰρ πλάττων οὐκ ἐμολύνθη, διὰ ταύτης προελθὼν, οὐκ ἐμιάνθη. Ὦ γαστὴρ, ἐν ᾗ τὸ τῆς ἐλευθερίας ἡμῶν γραμματεῖον συνετάγη! ὦ κοιλία, ἐν ᾗ τὸ κατὰ τοῦ διαβόλου ὅπλον ἐχαλκεύθη! ὦ ἄρουρα, ἐν ᾗ ὁ τῆς φύσεως γεωργὸς τὸν ἄσταχυν ἀσπόρως ἐβλάστησεν! ὦ ναὸς, ἐν ᾧ Θεὸς γέγονεν ἱερεύς · οὐ τὴν φύσιν μεταβαλὼν, ἀλλὰ τὸν κατὰ τὴν τάξιν τοῦ Μελχισεδέκ δι᾿ οἶκτον ἐνδυσάμενος! Ο Λόγος σάρξ ἐγένετο, κἂν Ἰουδαῖοι ἀπιστῶσιν. Ὁ Θεὸς μορφὴν ἀνθρώπου ἐφόρεσεν ἀληθῶς, κἂν Ἕλληνες κωμῳδῶσι τὸ θαῦμα. Διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο· Ἰουδαίοις μὲν σκάνδαλον, Ἕλλησι δὲ μωρίαν, ὁ Παῦλος ἐβόα. Τοῦ γὰρ μυστηρίου τὴν δύναμιν οὐκ ἔγνωσαν, ἐπειδὴ ὑπὲρ λόγον τὸ θαῦμα Εἰ γὰρ ἔγνωσαν, οὐκ ἂν τὸν Κύριον τῆς δόξης ἐσταύρωσαν. Εἰ μὴ γὰρ ὁ Λόγος ᾤκησε γαστέρα, οὐκ ἂν ἐκαθέσθη ἡ σὰρξ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἁγίου θρόνου. Εἰ τῷ Θεῷ ὕβρις εἰς μήτραν ἣν ἔπλασεν ἐλθεῖν, ἄρα καὶ τὸ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις διακονεῖν. Καὶ εἰ τῷ Θεῷ ὕβρις τοῖς ἀνθρώποις διακονεῖν, οὐκ ἂν δι᾽ ἡμᾶς ἐπτώχευσε πλούσιος ὤν.

Mē apaischynthę̄s tēn ōdina, ō anthrōpe; hautē gar hēmin gegone sōtērias aphormē. Ei mē gar ek gynaikos egennēthē, ouk an apethanen; ei mē apethanen, ouk an dia tou thanatou autou katērgēse ton to kratos echonta tou thanatou, toutesti ton diabolon. Ouch hybris architektoni meinai, en hois autos ǭkodomēsen; ou miainei pēlos ton keramea, anakainizonta hoper eplase skeuos; houtōs oude miainei ton achranton Theon, to ek parthenikēs gastros proelthein. hōn gar plattōn ouk emolynthē, dia tautēs proelthōn, ouk emianthē. Ō gastēr, en hę̄ to tēs eleutherias hēmōn grammateion synetagē! ō koilia, en hę̄ to kata tou diabolou hoplon echalkeuthē! ō aroura, en hę̄ ho tēs physeōs geōrgos ton astachyn asporōs eblastēsen! ō naos, en hǭ Theos gegonen hiereus ; ou tēn physin metabalōn, alla ton kata tēn taxin tou Melchisedek di᾿ oikton endysamenos! O Logos sarx egeneto, kan Ioudaioi apistōsin. Ho Theos morphēn anthrōpou ephoresen alēthōs, kan Hellēnes kōmǭdōsi to thauma. Dia gar touto; Ioudaiois men skandalon, Hellēsi de mōrian, ho Paulos eboa. Tou gar mystēriou tēn dynamin ouk egnōsan, epeidē hyper logon to thauma Ei gar egnōsan, ouk an ton Kyrion tēs doxēs estaurōsan. Ei mē gar ho Logos ǭkēse gastera, ouk an ekathesthē hē sarx epi tou hagiou thronou. Ei tǭ Theǭ hybris eis mētran hēn eplasen elthein, ara kai to tois anthrōpois diakonein. Kai ei tǭ Theǭ hybris tois anthrōpois diakonein, ouk an di᾽ hēmas eptōcheuse plousios ōn.

Do not be ashamed of the birth-pangs, man; for they became for us the occasion of salvation. For if he had not been born of a woman, he would not have died; and if he had not died, he would not “through his death have destroyed the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” It is no outrage for an architect to stay in what he himself has built; the clay does not defile the potter when he renews the vessel he formed; so neither does coming forth from a virginal womb defile the undefiled God. For he who was not polluted in forming her was not defiled in coming forth through her. O womb, in which the bond of our freedom was drawn up! O belly, in which the weapon against the devil was forged! O field, in which the farmer of nature made the ear of grain spring up without seed! O temple, in which God became a priest, not by changing his nature, but by putting on, out of compassion, him who is “according to the order of Melchizedek”! “The Word became flesh,” even if the Jews disbelieve. God truly wore the form of man, even if the Greeks mock the wonder. For this reason Paul cried out: “to Jews a stumbling block, and to Greeks foolishness.” For they did not know the power of the mystery, since the wonder is beyond reason; “for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” For if the Word had not dwelt in a womb, the flesh would not have sat on the holy throne. If it is an outrage for God to come into a womb which he formed, then so is serving men; and if it is an outrage for God to serve men, then he would not, “though rich, have become poor” for our sake.

Heb 2:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 18:4–6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Col 2:14 (echo, medium confidence) · Heb 5:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 110:4 (109:4 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · John 1:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:7 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 1:23 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 2:8 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 8:9 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Birth from a woman was no defilement to God but the occasion of salvation: the Virgin's womb was the workshop where the bond of our freedom was drawn up and the weapon against the devil forged.

  • “He who was not polluted in forming her”: the printed ὧν (“whom”, plural) is translated as if it referred to the womb or the Virgin (ἥν), as the sense requires.
  • “The bond of our freedom” reverses Col 2:14, the “bond” of debt.
  • Quotations: Heb 2:14; Ps 110:4 / Heb 5:6; John 1:14; 1 Cor 1:23; 1 Cor 2:8; 2 Cor 8:9. Allusions: Jer 18:4–6; Phil 2:7. The references to Jews and Greeks are Proclus's own.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR: split word; OCR: stray stop): ἔχοντα.τοῦ → ἔχοντα τοῦ; ᾠκοδό μησεν → ᾠκοδόμησεν.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Proclus, Or. 1.3 (PG 65:683; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-3

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-proclus-orationes-1-3) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (Bavarian State Library scan OCR; Migne's Latin and notes removed, displaced lines restored, by logged corrections); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

1.4PG 65:683

Ὢν κατὰ φύσιν ἀπαθὴς, γέγονε δι' οἶκτον πολυπαθής. Οὐκ ἐκ προκοπῆς γέγονε Θεὸς ὁ Χριστός· Μὴ γένοιτο ! ἀλλὰ Θεὸς ὢν, δι' οἶκτον γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος, ὡς πιστεύομεν. Οὐκ ἄνθρωπον ἀποθεωθέντα κηρύττομεν, ἀλλὰ Θεὸν σαρκωθέντα ὁμολογοῦμεν. Τὴν οἰκείαν δούλην ἐπεγράψατο μητέρα, ὁ κατ' οὐσίαν ἀμήτωρ, καὶ κατ' οἰκονομίαν ἐπὶ γῆς ἀπάτωρ· ἐπεὶ πῶς ὁ αὐτὸς κατὰ Παῦλον, ἀμήτωρ καὶ ἀπάτωρ ; Εἰ ψιλὸς ἄνθρωπος, οὐκ ἀμήτωρ· ἔχει γὰρ μητέρα · εἰ γυμνὸς Θεὸς, οὐκ ἀπάτωρ· ἔχει γὰρ πατέρα · νῦν δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς, ἀμήτωρ μὲν, ὡς πλάστης, ἀπάτωρ δὲ, ὡς ἄνθρωπος.

Ōn kata physin apathēs, gegone di' oikton polypathēs. Ouk ek prokopēs gegone Theos ho Christos; Mē genoito ! alla Theos ōn, di' oikton gegonen anthrōpos, hōs pisteuomen. Ouk anthrōpon apotheōthenta kēryttomen, alla Theon sarkōthenta homologoumen. Tēn oikeian doulēn epegrapsato mētera, ho kat' ousian amētōr, kai kat' oikonomian epi gēs apatōr; epei pōs ho autos kata Paulon, amētōr kai apatōr ? Ei psilos anthrōpos, ouk amētōr; echei gar mētera ; ei gymnos Theos, ouk apatōr; echei gar patera ; nyn de ho autos, amētōr men, hōs plastēs, apatōr de, hōs anthrōpos.

Being impassible by nature, he became subject to many sufferings out of compassion. Christ did not become God by progress; God forbid! But being God, he became man out of compassion, as we believe. We do not preach a man deified, but confess God made flesh. He enrolled his own handmaid as his mother, he who is without mother by his being and on earth without father by the economy; for otherwise how is the same one, according to Paul, without mother and without father? If he is a mere man, he is not without mother, for he has a mother; if he is bare God, he is not without father, for he has a Father. But as it is, the same one is without mother as Creator, and without father as man.

Heb 7:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 1:38 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ is not a man deified but God made man: as Creator he has no mother, as man no father, so that Hebrews' “without father, without mother” fits him alone.

  • A fragment of Migne's notes that had leaked into a split word is removed.
  • “Without father, without mother” is Heb 7:3, said of Melchizedek; Proclus applies it to Christ. “Christ did not become God by progress” rejects the view, attributed to Nestorius's party, that a man advanced to divine honour.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne's notes leaked into a split word): ἄνθρωτὸν ἄσταχυν ἐβλάστησε. ἄρα καὶ τὸ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις διακονεῖν· ἄρα καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις ὕβρις ἀνθρώποις διακονεῖν. ἀφθάρτως ἀφθάρτως• ἀφράστως, ἀφράστως πος → ἄνθρωπος.

Topics: Christology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Proclus, Or. 1.4 (PG 65:683; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-4

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-proclus-orationes-1-4) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (Bavarian State Library scan OCR; Migne's Latin and notes removed, displaced lines restored, by logged corrections); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

1.5PG 65:685

Αἰδέσθητι, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, κἂν τὴν τοῦ ἀρχαγγέλου προσηγορίαν· ὁ γὰρ τὴν Μαρίαν εὐαγγελισάμενος, Γαβριὴλ ἐλέγετο· τί δὲ ἑρμηνεύεται Γαβριήλ; Μάθε ἀκούσας, ὅτι Θεὸς καὶ ἄνθρωπος. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ ὁ παρ' αὐτοῦ εὐαγγελιζόμενος Θεός ἐστι καὶ ἄνθρωπος, προέλαβεν ἡ προσηγορία τὸ θαῦμα, ἵνα πιστώσηται τὴν οἰκονομίαν. Μάθε πρῶτον τὴν οἰκονομίαν καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς παρουσίας, καὶ τότε δόξασον τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ σαρκωθέντος, ἐπειδὴ πολλὰ ὤφειλεν ἐξ ἁμαρτιῶν ἡ τῶν ἀνθρώπων φύσις, καὶ ἠπόρει πρὸς τὸ χρέος. Διὰ γὰρ τοῦ ᾿Ἀδὰμ πάντες τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἐχειρογραφήσαμεν· δούλους ἡμᾶς κατεῖχεν ὁ διάβολος· τὰς ὠνὰς ἡμῶν περιέφερε, χάρτῃ κεχρημένος τῷ πολυπαθεῖ ἡμῶν σώματι· εἰστήκει ὁ κακὸς τῶν παθῶν πλαστογράφος, ἐπισείων ἡμῶν τὸ χρέος, καὶ ἀπαιτῶν ἡμᾶς τὴν δίκην. Ἔδει τοίνυν δυοῖν θάτερον· ἢ πᾶσιν ἐπαχθῆναι τὸν ἐκ τῆς καταδίκης θάνατον, ἐπειδὴ καὶ πάντες ἥμαρτον· ἢ τοιοῦτον δοθῆναι πρὸς ἀντίδοσιν τίμημα, ὃ πᾶν τῷ χρέει ὑπῆρχε δικαίωμα πρὸς παραίτησιν. "Ανθρωπος μὲν οὖν σῶσαι οὐκ ἠδύνατο· ὑπέκειτο γὰρ χρέει τῆς ἁμαρτίας · ἄγγελος δὲ ἐξαγοράσασθαι τὴν ἀνθρωπότητα οὐκ ἴσχυεν· ἠπόρει γὰρ τοῦ τοιούτου λύτρου · λοιπὸν οὖν ὁ ἀναμάρτητος Θεὸς ὑπὲρ τῶν ἡμαρτηκότων ἀποθανεῖν ὤφειλεν. Αὕτη γὰρ ἐλείπετο τοῦ κακοῦ λύσις

Aidesthēti, ō anthrōpe, kan tēn tou archangelou prosēgorian; ho gar tēn Marian euangelisamenos, Gabriēl elegeto; ti de hermēneuetai Gabriēl? Mathe akousas, hoti Theos kai anthrōpos. Epei gar ho par' autou euangelizomenos Theos esti kai anthrōpos, proelaben hē prosēgoria to thauma, hina pistōsētai tēn oikonomian. Mathe prōton tēn oikonomian kai tēn aitian tēs parousias, kai tote doxason tēn dynamin tou sarkōthentos, epeidē polla ōpheilen ex hamartiōn hē tōn anthrōpōn physis, kai ēporei pros to chreos. Dia gar tou ᾿Adam pantes tę̄ hamartią echeirographēsamen; doulous hēmas kateichen ho diabolos; tas ōnas hēmōn periephere, chartę̄ kechrēmenos tǭ polypathei hēmōn sōmati; eistēkei ho kakos tōn pathōn plastographos, episeiōn hēmōn to chreos, kai apaitōn hēmas tēn dikēn. Edei toinyn dyoin thateron; ē pasin epachthēnai ton ek tēs katadikēs thanaton, epeidē kai pantes hēmarton; ē toiouton dothēnai pros antidosin timēma, ho pan tǭ chreei hypērche dikaiōma pros paraitēsin. "Anthrōpos men oun sōsai ouk ēdynato; hypekeito gar chreei tēs hamartias ; angelos de exagorasasthai tēn anthrōpotēta ouk ischyen; ēporei gar tou toioutou lytrou ; loipon oun ho anamartētos Theos hyper tōn hēmartēkotōn apothanein ōpheilen. Hautē gar eleipeto tou kakou lysis

Respect, man, at least the name of the archangel; for the one who brought Mary the good news was called Gabriel. And what does Gabriel mean? Learn by hearing: God and man. For since the one whom he announced is God and man, the name anticipated the wonder, to vouch for the economy. Learn first the economy and the cause of his coming, and then glorify the power of him who was made flesh, since human nature owed much because of sins and was at a loss to pay the debt. For through Adam we all signed a bond to sin; the devil held us as slaves; he carried around our bills of sale, using our much-suffering body as his paper; the wicked forger of the passions stood there, brandishing our debt and demanding the penalty from us. One of two things, then, had to happen: either death, the penalty of the condemnation, had to be brought upon all, since all had sinned; or a price had to be given in exchange which would be every right to plead for release from the debt. Now a man could not save, for he was subject to the debt of sin; an angel was not strong enough to buy back humanity, for he lacked such a ransom; so it remained that the sinless God should die for those who had sinned. For this was the only release from the evil left.

Luke 1:26–27 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 2:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 5:12 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 3:23 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Gabriel's name points to God and man; humanity, bound to the devil by the bond of sin, could be redeemed neither by a man nor by an angel, but only by the sinless God dying for sinners.

  • Proclus interprets “Gabriel” as “God and man”; the Hebrew name is usually explained as “God is my strength” or “man of God”.
  • “Every right to plead for release” (πᾶν … δικαίωμα πρὸς παραίτησιν) is translated literally; the sense is a price fully sufficient to cancel the debt.
  • Allusions: Luke 1:26; Col 2:14; Rom 5:12; Rom 3:23.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR: stray accent): δούλοὺς → δούλους.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Proclus, Or. 1.5 (PG 65:685; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-5

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-proclus-orationes-1-5) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (Bavarian State Library scan OCR; Migne's Latin and notes removed, displaced lines restored, by logged corrections); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

1.6PG 65:685

Τί οὖν; αὐτὸς ὁ πᾶσαν φύσιν ἐκ μὴ ὄντων εἰς τὸ εἶναι παραγαγών, ὁ μηδὲν πρὸς παροχὴν ἀπορῶν, ἐξεῦρε τοῖς κατακρίτοις ζωὴν ἀσφαλεστάτην, καὶ τῷ θανάτῳ λύσιν εὐπρεπεστάτην. Καὶ γίνεται ἄνθρωπος ἐκ Παρθένου, ὡς οἶδεν αὐτός· λόγος γὰρ ἑρμηνεῦσαι τὸ θαῦμα οὐ δύναται· καὶ ἀποθνήσκει ὃ ἐγένετο· καὶ λυτροῦται ὁ ὑπῆρχε, κατὰ τὸν λέγοντα Παῦλον· Ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν διὰ τοῦ αἴματος αὐτοῦ, τὴν ἄφεσιν τῶν παραπτωμάτων. Ὢ τῶν μεγάλων πραγμάτων! ἄλλοις ἐπραγματεύσατο τὸ ἀθάνατον· αὐτὸς γὰρ ὑπῆρχε ἀθάνατος Τοιοῦτος γὰρ ἄλλος κατ' οἰκονομίαν οὔτε γέγονεν, οὔτε ἦν, οὔτε ἔσται ποτὲ, ἢ μόνος ὁ ἐκ Παρθένου τεχθεὶς Θεὸς καὶ ἄνθρωπος· οὐκ ἀντιταλαντεύουσαν μόνον ἔχων τὴν ἀξίαν τῷ πλήθει τῶν ὑποδίκων, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσαις ψήφοις ὑπερέχουσαν. Ἐν μὲν τῷ Υἱὸς εἶναι, τὸ ἀπαράλλακτον σώζων πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα· ἐν δὲ τῷ δημιουργὸς, τὸ τῆς δυνάμεως ἀπροσδεὲς ἔχων· ἐν δὲ τῷ φιλοικτίρμων, τὸ εἰς συμπάθειαν ἀνυπέρβλητον ἐδημοσίευσεν· ἐν δὲ τῷ ἀρχιερεὺς, τὸ εἰς παράστασιν ἀξιόπιστον φέρων, οἷς οὐδὲν εὕροι τις ἂν ἐπ᾿ οὐδενὶ ἴσον ἢ παραπλήσιον πώποτε. Ὅρα γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν. Ἑκὼν κατακριθεὶς, τὸν κατὰ τῶν σταυρωσάντων αὐτὸν ἔλυσε θάνατον, καὶ ἀπέστρεψε τὴν τῶν ἀποκτεινάντων ἀνομίαν, εἰς τὴν τῶν ἀνομησάντων σωτηρίαν. Ἀνθρώπου τοίνυν ψιλοῦ σῶσαι οὐκ ἦν· καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἐδεῖτο τοῦ σώζοντος, κατὰ Παῦλον τὸν λέγοντα, ὅτι Πάντες ἥμαρτον, καὶ ὑστεροῦνται τῆς δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Ἐπειδὴ οὖν ἡ ἁμαρτία τῷ διαβόλῳ, προσῆγε τὸν αὐτῆς ὑπεύθυνον, ὁ διάβολος τῷ θανάτῳ τοῦτον προσέπεμπε· τοιγάρτοι ἐν μεγίστῳ κινδύνῳ τὰ καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς προῆγε, καὶ ἐν ἀπόροις ἦν λύσις τοῦ θανάτου· οἱ πεμφθέντες ἰατροὶ κατηγόρουν. Τί οὖν; Ὡς εἶδον οἱ προφῆται μεῖζον τέχνης ἀνθρωπίνης τὸ τραῦμα, τὸν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐπεβόων Ιατρόν. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ἔλεγε · Κλῖνον οὐρανούς καὶ κατάβηθι. ῎Ἄλλος· Ἴασαί με, Κύριε, καὶ ἰαθήσομαι. Ἕτερος, Ἐξέγειρον τὴν δυναστείαν σου, καὶ ἐλθὲ εἰς τὸ σῶσαι ἡμᾶς. "Αλλος· Εἱ ὄντως οἰκήσει Θεὸς μετὰ ἀνθρώπων; ῎Αλλος, Ταχὺ προκαταλαβέτωσαν ἡμᾶς οἱ οἰκτιρμοί σου, Κύριε, ὅτι ἐπτωχεύσαμεν σφόδρα.

Ti oun? autos ho pasan physin ek mē ontōn eis to einai paragagōn, ho mēden pros parochēn aporōn, exeure tois katakritois zōēn asphalestatēn, kai tǭ thanatǭ lysin euprepestatēn. Kai ginetai anthrōpos ek Parthenou, hōs oiden autos; logos gar hermēneusai to thauma ou dynatai; kai apothnēskei ho egeneto; kai lytroutai ho hypērche, kata ton legonta Paulon; En hǭ echomen tēn apolytrōsin dia tou aimatos autou, tēn aphesin tōn paraptōmatōn. Ō tōn megalōn pragmatōn! allois epragmateusato to athanaton; autos gar hypērche athanatos Toioutos gar allos kat' oikonomian oute gegonen, oute ēn, oute estai pote, ē monos ho ek Parthenou techtheis Theos kai anthrōpos; ouk antitalanteuousan monon echōn tēn axian tǭ plēthei tōn hypodikōn, alla kai pasais psēphois hyperechousan. En men tǭ Huios einai, to aparallakton sōzōn pros ton Patera; en de tǭ dēmiourgos, to tēs dynameōs aprosdees echōn; en de tǭ philoiktirmōn, to eis sympatheian anyperblēton edēmosieusen; en de tǭ archiereus, to eis parastasin axiopiston pherōn, hois ouden heuroi tis an ep᾿ oudeni ison ē paraplēsion pōpote. Hora gar autou tēn philanthrōpian. Hekōn katakritheis, ton kata tōn staurōsantōn auton elyse thanaton, kai apestrepse tēn tōn apokteinantōn anomian, eis tēn tōn anomēsantōn sōtērian. Anthrōpou toinyn psilou sōsai ouk ēn; kai gar autos edeito tou sōzontos, kata Paulon ton legonta, hoti Pantes hēmarton, kai hysterountai tēs doxēs tou Theou, kai ta hexēs. Epeidē oun hē hamartia tǭ diabolǭ, prosēge ton autēs hypeuthynon, ho diabolos tǭ thanatǭ touton prosepempe; toigartoi en megistǭ kindynǭ ta kath᾽ hēmas proēge, kai en aporois ēn lysis tou thanatou; hoi pemphthentes iatroi katēgoroun. Ti oun? Hōs eidon hoi prophētai meizon technēs anthrōpinēs to trauma, ton ex ouranou epeboōn Iatron. Kai ho men elege ; Klinon ouranous kai katabēthi. ᾿Allos; Iasai me, Kyrie, kai iathēsomai. Heteros, Exegeiron tēn dynasteian sou, kai elthe eis to sōsai hēmas. "Allos; Hei ontōs oikēsei Theos meta anthrōpōn? ᾿Allos, Tachy prokatalabetōsan hēmas hoi oiktirmoi sou, Kyrie, hoti eptōcheusamen sphodra.

What then? He who brought every nature from non-being into being, and lacks nothing to provide, found the surest life for the condemned and the most fitting release from death. And he becomes man from a Virgin, as he himself knows, for no word can explain the wonder; and he dies by what he became, and he redeems by what he was, as Paul says: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of trespasses.” O the greatness of the deeds! He obtained immortality for others, for he himself was immortal. For no other such has been, or was, or ever will be in the economy, except only the God and man born of the Virgin, having a worth not only equal in the balance to the multitude of the condemned, but outweighing every sentence. In being Son, he keeps his exact likeness to the Father; in being Creator, he has power that needs nothing; in being merciful, he has displayed a compassion that cannot be surpassed; in being High Priest, he brings what is trustworthy for intercession; and in these no one could ever find anyone equal or similar in anything. See his love for mankind. Condemned willingly, he undid the death that was due to those who crucified him, and turned the lawlessness of his killers into the salvation of the lawless. It was not for a mere man, then, to save; for he himself needed the one who saves, according to Paul, who says: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and so on. Since, then, sin brought the one liable to it to the devil, and the devil sent him on to death, our affairs advanced in the greatest danger, and there was no way to release us from death; the physicians who were sent made accusation. What then? When the prophets saw that the wound was greater than human skill, they cried out for the Physician from heaven. One said: “Bow the heavens and come down.” Another: “Heal me, Lord, and I shall be healed.” Another: “Stir up your power and come to save us.” Another: “Will God really dwell with men?” Another: “Let your mercies quickly come to meet us, Lord, for we have become very poor.”

Eph 1:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 7:25–26 (allusion, low confidence) · Rom 3:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 144:5 (143:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 17:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 80:2 (79:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Chr 6:18 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 8:27 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 79:8 (78:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Only the God-man, whose worth outweighs all the condemned, could redeem humanity; the prophets, seeing the wound beyond human skill, cried out for the Physician from heaven.

  • A string of Migne's notes is removed, and two lines displaced into section 1.7 in the scan (“It was not for a mere man, then, to save; for …” and the end of the quotation from Ps 79:8) are restored here by logged corrections.
  • “The physicians who were sent made accusation”: the prophets, sent as physicians, could only expose the disease.
  • Quotations: Eph 1:7; Rom 3:23; Ps 144:5 (LXX 143:5); Jer 17:14; Ps 80:2 (LXX 79:3); 2 Chr 6:18 (cf. 1 Kgs 8:27); Ps 79:8 (LXX 78:8).

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne's notes (variant readings) leaked into the text; OCR: lost breathing and accent; OCR: stray mark; end of the quotation, displaced into section 1.7 in the scan, restored here; line displaced to the start of section 1.7 in the scan restored here): δ ἐγένετο → ὃ ἐγένετο; οὐκ ἀντιταλαντεύουσαν ΑΙ. προέφερε. Αl. λ λύτρωσις. ΑΙ. ᾧ μ. ἄπορον. αὐτὸς μόνος ὑπάρχων. μόνον ἔχων → οὐκ ἀντιταλαντεύουσαν μόνον ἔχων; σωτηρίαν. καὶ αὐτὸς ἐδεῖτο → σωτηρίαν. Ἀνθρώπου τοίνυν ψιλοῦ σῶσαι οὐκ ἦν· καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἐδεῖτο; Κλῖνον οὐρανοὺς; → Κλῖνον οὐρανούς; Ταχὺ προκατα → Ταχὺ προκαταλαβέτωσαν ἡμᾶς οἱ οἰκτιρμοί σου, Κύριε, ὅτι ἐπτωχεύσαμεν σφόδρα..

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Proclus, Or. 1.6 (PG 65:685; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-6

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-proclus-orationes-1-6) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (Bavarian State Library scan OCR; Migne's Latin and notes removed, displaced lines restored, by logged corrections); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

1.7PG 65:687

Ἕτερος· Οἴμοι ὅτι ἀπόλωλεν εὐλαβὴς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ὁ κατορθῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις οὐχ ὑπάρχει. "Αλλος Ὁ Θεὸς εἰς τὴν βοήθειάν μου πρόσχες, καὶ εἰς βοηθῆσαί μοι σπεῦσον. "Αλλος· "Όσον, ὅσον ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἤξει, καὶ οὐ χρονιεῖ. "Αλλος· Ἐπλανήθην ὡς πρόβατον ἀπολωλὸς, ζήτησον τὸν δοῦλόν σου τὸν ἐλπίζοντα ἐπὶ σέ· ῎Ἄλλος· ῾Ὁ Θεὸς ἐμφανῶς ἤξει, ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ οὐ παρασιωπήσεται. Οὐ παρεῖδε τοίνυν τὴν φύσιν τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἐπὶ πολὺ τυραννουμένην, ὁ φύσει βασιλεὺς ὑπάρχων· οὐκ ἀφῆκεν εἰς τέλος εἶναι τῷ διαβόλῳ ὑπεύθυνον, ὁ φιλοικτίρμων Θεός ἀλλ᾽ ἦλθεν ὁ ἀεὶ παρὼν, καὶ κατέβαλε λύτρον ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τὸ ἴδιον αἷμα· καὶ ἔδωκεν ὑπὲρ τοῦ γένους ἀντάλλαγμα τῷ θανάτῳ, ἣν ἐκ Παρθένου ἐφόρεσε σάρκα· καὶ ἐξηγοράσατο τὸν κόσμον ἐκ τῆς τοῦ νόμου κατάρας, θανάτῳ τὸν θάνατον καταργήσας · καὶ βοᾷ Παῦλος · Χριστὸς ἡμᾶς ἐξηγόρασεν ἐκ τῆς κατάρας τοῦ νόμου.

Heteros; Oimoi hoti apolōlen eulabēs apo tēs gēs, kai ho katorthōn en anthrōpois ouch hyparchei. "Allos Ho Theos eis tēn boētheian mou prosches, kai eis boēthēsai moi speuson. "Allos; "Oson, hoson ho erchomenos ēxei, kai ou chroniei. "Allos; Eplanēthēn hōs probaton apolōlos, zētēson ton doulon sou ton elpizonta epi se; ᾿Allos; ῾Ho Theos emphanōs ēxei, ho Theos hēmōn, kai ou parasiōpēsetai. Ou pareide toinyn tēn physin tēn anthrōpinēn epi poly tyrannoumenēn, ho physei basileus hyparchōn; ouk aphēken eis telos einai tǭ diabolǭ hypeuthynon, ho philoiktirmōn Theos all᾽ ēlthen ho aei parōn, kai katebale lytron hyper hēmōn to idion haima; kai edōken hyper tou genous antallagma tǭ thanatǭ, hēn ek Parthenou ephorese sarka; kai exēgorasato ton kosmon ek tēs tou nomou kataras, thanatǭ ton thanaton katargēsas ; kai boą Paulos ; Christos hēmas exēgorasen ek tēs kataras tou nomou.

Another: “Woe is me, for the godly man has perished from the earth, and there is none upright among men.” Another: “O God, attend to my help; make haste to help me.” Another: “Yet a very little while, and he who is coming will come and will not delay.” Another: “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, who hopes in you.” Another: “God will come openly, our God, and will not keep silence.” So he who is King by nature did not overlook human nature tyrannized for long; the merciful God did not leave it liable to the devil to the end; but he who is always present came, and paid his own blood as a ransom for us, and gave to death in exchange for the race the flesh he wore from the Virgin, and bought the world back from the curse of the law, destroying death by death. And Paul cries: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.”

Mic 7:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 70:1 (69:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 10:37 (quotation, high confidence) · Hab 2:3 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 119:176 (118:176 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 50:3 (49:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Mark 10:45 (allusion, medium confidence) · Heb 2:14 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gal 3:13 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The prophets' cries for help were answered when God came and paid his own blood and the flesh taken from the Virgin as a ransom, redeeming the world from the curse of the law.

  • The lines that stand at the beginning of this section in the scan belong to section 1.6 and are restored there.
  • Quotations: Mic 7:2; Ps 70:1 (LXX 69:2); Heb 10:37 (Hab 2:3); Ps 119:176 (LXX 118:176); Ps 50:3 (LXX 49:3); Gal 3:13. Allusions: Mark 10:45; Heb 2:14.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR: split word; lines displaced from section 1.6 in the scan (restored there)): Ανθρώπου τοίνυν ψιλοῦ, σῶσαιοὐκ ἦν· καὶ γὰρ λαβέτωσαν ἡμᾶς οἱ οἰκτιρμοί σου, Κύριε, ὅτι ἐπτωχεύσαμεν σφόδρα. Ετερος· → Ἕτερος·; Οἱ μοι → Οἴμοι; ἀνθρώ ποις → ἀνθρώποις.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Proclus, Or. 1.7 (PG 65:687; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-7

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-proclus-orationes-1-7) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (Bavarian State Library scan OCR; Migne's Latin and notes removed, displaced lines restored, by logged corrections); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

1.8PG 65:687

Ὁ τοίνυν ἀγοράσας ἡμᾶς, οὐ ψιλὸς ἄνθρωπος, ὦ Ἰουδαῖε· ἡ γὰρ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἅπασα φύσις τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ δεδούλωτο· ἀλλ᾽ οὔτε μὴν γυμνὸς ἀνθρωπότητος Θεός· σῶμα γὰρ εἶχεν, ὦ Μανιχαῖε. Εἰ μὴ γὰρ ἐνεδύσατο ἐμὲ, οὐκ ἂν ἔσωσεν ἐμέ· ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ τῆς Παρθένου ὁ ἀποφηνάμενος, τὸν κατάδικον ἐνεδύσατο. Καὶ ἐκεῖ τὸ φρικτὸν γέγονε συνάλλαγμα· δοὺς γὰρ πνεῦμα, ἔλαβε σάρκα. Ὁ αὐτὸς μετὰ τῆς Παρθένου, καὶ ἐκ τῆς Παρθένου. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐπεσκίασεν αὐτήν· ὁ δὲ ἐσαρκώθη ἐξ αὐτῆς. Εἰ ἄλλος ὁ Χριστὸς καὶ ἄλλος ὁ Θεὸς Λόγος, οὐκ ἔστι τριὰς ἡ ἁγία Τριάς· ἀλλὰ κατὰ σὲ, αἱρετικὲ, τετράς. Μὴ σχίσῃς τὸν τῆς οἰκονομίας χιτῶνα τὸν ἄνωθεν ὑφαντόν μὴ μαθητεύσῃς Αρείῳ. Ἐκεῖνος γὰρ ἀσεβῶν τὴν οὐσίαν τέμνει· σὺ τὴν συνάφειαν μὴ μέριζε, ἵνα μὴ μερισθῇς ἀπὸ Θεοῦ. Τίς ἐπέφανεν, εἰπέ μοι, τοῖς ἐν σκότει καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου καθημένοις; ῎Ανθρωπος; Καὶ πῶς ἡδύνατο ἐν σκότει διάγων κατὰ Παῦλον τὸν λέγοντα· "Ος ἐῤῥύσατο ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ σκότους; Ἦμεν γάρ ποτε σκότος, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον· νῦν δὲ φῶς ἐν Κυρίῳ. Τίς οὖν ἐπέφανεν ἡμῖν; Δαβίδ σε διδάσκει, λέγων· Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου. Τίς οὗτος ; εἰπὲ φανερῶς, ὦ Δαβίδ· ᾿Αναβόησον τῇ ἰσχύϊ, καὶ μὴ φείσῃ· Ὡς σάλπιγγα ὕψωσον τὴν φωνήν σου· εἰπὲ τίς οὗτος · Κύριος, φησὶν, ὁ Θεὸς τῶν δυνάμεων· Θεὸς Κύριος, καὶ ἐπέφανεν ἡμῖν. Ὁ γὰρ Λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο. Συνῆλθον αἱ φύσεις, καὶ ἀσύγχυτος ἔμεινεν ἡ ἕνωσις.

Ho toinyn agorasas hēmas, ou psilos anthrōpos, ō Ioudaie; hē gar tōn anthrōpōn hapasa physis tę̄ hamartią dedoulōto; all᾽ oute mēn gymnos anthrōpotētos Theos; sōma gar eichen, ō Manichaie. Ei mē gar enedysato eme, ouk an esōsen eme; all᾽ en tę̄ gastri tēs Parthenou ho apophēnamenos, ton katadikon enedysato. Kai ekei to phrikton gegone synallagma; dous gar pneuma, elabe sarka. Ho autos meta tēs Parthenou, kai ek tēs Parthenou. Ho men gar epeskiasen autēn; ho de esarkōthē ex autēs. Ei allos ho Christos kai allos ho Theos Logos, ouk esti trias hē hagia Trias; alla kata se, hairetike, tetras. Mē schisę̄s ton tēs oikonomias chitōna ton anōthen hyphanton mē mathēteusę̄s Areiǭ. Ekeinos gar asebōn tēn ousian temnei; sy tēn synapheian mē merize, hina mē meristhę̄s apo Theou. Tis epephanen, eipe moi, tois en skotei kai skią thanatou kathēmenois? ᾿Anthrōpos? Kai pōs hēdynato en skotei diagōn kata Paulon ton legonta; "Os errhysato hēmas ek tēs exousias tou skotous? Ēmen gar pote skotos, kata to gegrammenon; nyn de phōs en Kyriǭ. Tis oun epephanen hēmin? Dabid se didaskei, legōn; Eulogēmenos ho erchomenos en onomati Kyriou. Tis houtos ? eipe phanerōs, ō Dabid; ᾿Anaboēson tę̄ ischyï, kai mē pheisę̄; Hōs salpinga hypsōson tēn phōnēn sou; eipe tis houtos ; Kyrios, phēsin, ho Theos tōn dynameōn; Theos Kyrios, kai epephanen hēmin. Ho gar Logos sarx egeneto. Synēlthon hai physeis, kai asynchytos emeinen hē henōsis.

He who bought us, then, is not a mere man, O Jew, for the whole nature of men had been enslaved to sin; nor yet God bare of humanity, for he had a body, O Manichee. For if he had not put on me, he would not have saved me; but in the womb of the Virgin he who had pronounced the sentence put on the condemned. And there the awesome exchange took place: for giving spirit, he received flesh. The same one is with the Virgin and from the Virgin: overshadowing her as God, and made flesh from her as man. If Christ is one and God the Word another, the holy Trinity is no longer a Trinity but, by your account, heretic, a quaternity. Do not tear the tunic of the economy, woven from above; do not become a disciple of Arius. For he impiously cuts the being; do not you divide the conjunction, lest you be divided from God. Who appeared, tell me, to those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death? A man? And how could he, himself living in darkness, as Paul says: “who delivered us from the dominion of darkness”? For we were once darkness, as it is written, “but now light in the Lord.” Who, then, appeared to us? David teaches you, saying: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Who is this? Say it plainly, David. “Cry aloud with strength, and do not spare; lift up your voice like a trumpet”; say who this is. “The Lord,” he says, “the God of powers”; “God is Lord, and has appeared to us.” “For the Word became flesh.” The natures came together, and the union remained without confusion.

Luke 1:35 (allusion, high confidence) · John 19:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 1:79 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 1:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 5:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 118:26 (117:26 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 58:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 24:10 (23:10 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 118:27 (117:27 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:14 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Redeemer is neither a mere man, against the Jews, nor God without a body, against the Manichees; to divide Christ into two would make the Trinity a quaternity, and the Psalms name the one who appeared as God and Lord.

  • “Giving spirit, he received flesh”: the sentence is compressed; it contrasts the Spirit's overshadowing with the flesh received from Mary. The Greek of the next sentence has only “For he overshadowed her, and he was made flesh from her”; the words “as God” and “as man” are added for clarity.
  • The “heretic” who would divide Christ is not named; the argument is aimed at the position Proclus attributes to Nestorius. Translated as written.
  • Quotations and allusions: Luke 1:35; John 19:23; Luke 1:79; Col 1:13; Eph 5:8; Ps 118:26–27 (LXX 117:26–27); Isa 58:1; Ps 24:10 (LXX 23:10); John 1:14.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR: stray letter): ἔμεινεν ἡ ἕνωσις. ο → ἔμεινεν ἡ ἕνωσις..

Topics: Christology, Trinity, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Proclus, Or. 1.8 (PG 65:687; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-8

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-proclus-orationes-1-8) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (Bavarian State Library scan OCR; Migne's Latin and notes removed, displaced lines restored, by logged corrections); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

1.9PG 65:689

Ἦλθε σῶσαι, ἀλλ᾽ ἐχρῆν καὶ παθεῖν· πῶς οὖν ἦν δυνατὸν ἑκάτερα γενέσθαι ; ῎Ανθρωπος ψιλὸς σῶσαι οὐκ ἴσχυε· Θεὸς γυμνὸς παθεῖν οὐκ ἠδύνατο. Τί οὖν; Αὐτὸς ὢν Θεὸς ὁ Ἐμμανουὴλ, γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος · καὶ ὃ μὲν ἦν, ἔσωσεν· ὁ δὲ γέγονεν, ἔπαθεν. Διὰ τοῦτο ὡς εἶδεν ἡ Ἐκκλησία στεφανώσασαν αὐτὸν τὴν συναγωγὴν ταῖς ἀκάνθαις, θρηνῳδοῦσα τὴν τόλμαν, ἔλεγε· Θυγατέρες Ἱερουσαλήμ, ἐξέλθετε, καὶ ἴδετε τὸν στέφανον, ᾧ ἐστεφάνωσεν αὐτὸν ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ. Αὐτὸς γὰρ καὶ τὸν ἀκάνθινον ἐφόρεσε στέφανον, καὶ τὴν τῶν ἀκανθῶν ἔλυσεν ἀπόφασιν ὁ αὐτὸς ὢν ἐν τοῖς κόλποις τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ ἐν γαστρὶ Παρθένου · ὁ αὐτὸς ἐν ἀγκάλαις μητρὸς, καὶ ἐπὶ πτερύγων ἀνέμων· ὁ αὐτὸς ἄνω ὑπὸ ἀγγέλων προσεκυνεῖτο, καὶ κάτω τελώναις συνανεκλίνετο· τὰ σεραφὶμ οὐ προσέβλεπε, καὶ Πιλάτος ἠρώτα · ὁ δοῦλος ἐῤῥάπιζε, καὶ ἡ κτίσις ἔφρισσεν· ἐπὶ σταυροῦ ὁ αὐτὸς ἐπήγνυτο, καὶ ὁ θρόνος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἐγεγύμνωτο ἐν τάφῳ κατεκλείετο, καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐξέτεινεν ὡσεὶ δέῤῥιν· ἐν νεκροῖς ἐλογίζετο, καὶ τὸν ᾅδην ἐσκύλευσεν· ὧδε πλάνος ἐσυκοφαντεῖτο, καὶ ἐκεῖ ἅγιος ἐδοξολογεῖτο.

Ēlthe sōsai, all᾽ echrēn kai pathein; pōs oun ēn dynaton hekatera genesthai ? ᾿Anthrōpos psilos sōsai ouk ischye; Theos gymnos pathein ouk ēdynato. Ti oun? Autos ōn Theos ho Emmanouēl, gegonen anthrōpos ; kai ho men ēn, esōsen; ho de gegonen, epathen. Dia touto hōs eiden hē Ekklēsia stephanōsasan auton tēn synagōgēn tais akanthais, thrēnǭdousa tēn tolman, elege; Thygateres Hierousalēm, exelthete, kai idete ton stephanon, hǭ estephanōsen auton hē mētēr autou. Autos gar kai ton akanthinon ephorese stephanon, kai tēn tōn akanthōn elysen apophasin ho autos ōn en tois kolpois tou Patros, kai en gastri Parthenou ; ho autos en ankalais mētros, kai epi pterygōn anemōn; ho autos anō hypo angelōn prosekyneito, kai katō telōnais synaneklineto; ta seraphim ou proseblepe, kai Pilatos ērōta ; ho doulos errhapize, kai hē ktisis ephrissen; epi staurou ho autos epēgnyto, kai ho thronos tēs doxēs autou ouk egegymnōto en taphǭ katekleieto, kai ton ouranon exeteinen hōsei derrhin; en nekrois elogizeto, kai ton hądēn eskyleusen; hōde planos esykophanteito, kai ekei hagios edoxologeito.

He came to save, but he also had to suffer; how, then, could both happen? A mere man was not strong enough to save; bare God could not suffer. What then? Being God, Emmanuel himself became man; and by what he was he saved, and by what he became he suffered. Therefore, when the church saw that the synagogue had crowned him with thorns, lamenting its daring, she said: “Daughters of Jerusalem, go forth and see the crown with which his mother crowned him.” For he himself both wore the crown of thorns and undid the sentence of thorns, the same one being in the bosom of the Father and in the womb of the Virgin; the same in the arms of his mother and on the wings of the winds; the same was worshipped above by angels and reclined below with tax collectors; the seraphim did not look upon him, and Pilate questioned him; the slave struck him, and creation shuddered; the same was fastened to the cross, and the throne of his glory was not left empty; he was shut in a tomb, and he stretched out the heaven like a skin; he was counted among the dead, and he despoiled Hades; here he was slandered as a deceiver, and there he was glorified as holy.

Isa 7:14 (allusion, medium confidence) · Song 3:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 27:29 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:18 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 1:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 104:3 (103:3 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 9:10 (allusion, medium confidence) · Isa 6:2 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 18:33 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 18:22 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 27:51 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 104:2 (103:2 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 27:63 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: As God Christ saved and as man he suffered: the same one, crowned with thorns by the synagogue, was in the Father's bosom and the Virgin's womb, judged by Pilate and adored by seraphim.

  • Proclus reads Song 3:11 of the synagogue (Christ's “mother” by race) crowning him with thorns. Translated as written.
  • A fragment of Migne's notes repeating earlier sentences is removed.
  • Allusions: Isa 7:14; Matt 27:29; Gen 3:18; John 1:18; Ps 104:2–3 (LXX 103:2–3); Matt 9:10; Isa 6:2; John 18:22, 33; Matt 27:51; Matt 27:63.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne's notes (repeating earlier sentences) leaked into the text): ἐδοξολογεῖτο. "Ο μὲν γὰρ ἐπεσκίασεν αὐτήν· ὁ δὲ ἐσαρκώθη ἐξ αὐτῆς. ἀποθνήσκει ὁ ἐγένετο, καὶ λυτροῦται ὁ ὑπῆρχε. ὁ μὲν ἦν, ἔσωσεν· ὁ δὲ → ἐδοξολογεῖτο..

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Proclus, Or. 1.9 (PG 65:689; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-9

BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-proclus-orationes-1-9) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (Bavarian State Library scan OCR; Migne's Latin and notes removed, displaced lines restored, by logged corrections); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.

1.10PG 65:691

Ὢ τοῦ μυστηρίου! βλέπω τὰ θαύματα, καὶ ἀνακηρύττω τὴν Θεότητα· ὁρῶ τὰ πάθη, καὶ οὐκ ἀπαρνοῦμαι τὴν ἀνθρωπότητα. ᾿Αλλ' ὁ Ἐμμανουήλ, φύσεως μὲν πύλας ἀνέωξεν ὡς ἄνθρωπος· παρθενίας δὲ κλεῖθρα οὐ διέρρηξεν ὡς Θεός· ἀλλ᾽ οὕτως ἐκ μήτρας προῆλθεν, ὡς δι᾽ ἀκοῆς εἰσῆλθεν · οὕτως ἐτέχθη, ὡς συνελήφθη. Ἀπαθῶς εἰσῆλθεν, ἀφράστως ἐξῆλθε, κατὰ τὸν προφήτην Ἰεζεκιὴλ τὸν λέγοντα· Ἑπέστρεψέ με, φησὶ, Κύριος κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν τῆς πύλης τῶν ἁγίων τῆς ἐξωτέρας, τῆς βλεπούσης κατὰ ἀνατολὰς, καὶ αὕτη ἦν κεκλεισμένη. Καὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρός με· Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, ἡ πύλη αΰτη κεκλεισμένη ἔσται· οὐκ ἀνοιχθήσεται· οὐδεὶς οὐ μὴ διέλθῃ δι' αὐτῆς, ἀλλ' ἢ Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς Ἰσραὴλ, μόνος· αὐτὸς εἰσελεύσεται καὶ ἐξελεύσεται, καὶ ἔσται ἡ πύλη κεκλεισμένη. Ἰδοὺ ἀπόδειξις ἐναργὴς τῆς ἁγίας θεοτόκου Μαρίας. Λυέσθω τοίνυν ἀντιλογία πᾶσα, καὶ τῇ τῶν Γραφῶν καταφωτιζώμεθα γνώσει, ἵνα καὶ βασιλείας οὐρανῶν τύχωμεν ἐν Χριστῷ, ᾧ ή δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Αμήν.

Ō tou mystēriou! blepō ta thaumata, kai anakēryttō tēn Theotēta; horō ta pathē, kai ouk aparnoumai tēn anthrōpotēta. ᾿All' ho Emmanouēl, physeōs men pylas aneōxen hōs anthrōpos; parthenias de kleithra ou dierrēxen hōs Theos; all᾽ houtōs ek mētras proēlthen, hōs di᾽ akoēs eisēlthen ; houtōs etechthē, hōs synelēphthē. Apathōs eisēlthen, aphrastōs exēlthe, kata ton prophētēn Iezekiēl ton legonta; Hepestrepse me, phēsi, Kyrios kata tēn hodon tēs pylēs tōn hagiōn tēs exōteras, tēs blepousēs kata anatolas, kai hautē ēn kekleismenē. Kai eipe Kyrios pros me; Huie anthrōpou, hē pylē aÿtē kekleismenē estai; ouk anoichthēsetai; oudeis ou mē dielthę̄ di' autēs, all' ē Kyrios ho Theos Israēl, monos; autos eiseleusetai kai exeleusetai, kai estai hē pylē kekleismenē. Idou apodeixis enargēs tēs hagias theotokou Marias. Lyesthō toinyn antilogia pasa, kai tę̄ tōn Graphōn kataphōtizōmetha gnōsei, hina kai basileias ouranōn tychōmen en Christǭ, hǭ ē doxa eis tous aiōnas tōn aiōnōn. Amēn.

O the mystery! I see the miracles, and I proclaim the Godhead; I see the sufferings, and I do not deny the humanity. But Emmanuel opened the gates of nature as man, yet did not break the bars of virginity as God; he came forth from the womb as he entered through hearing; he was born as he was conceived. He entered without passion; he went out inexpressibly, according to the prophet Ezekiel, who says: “The Lord brought me back,” he says, “by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; and it was shut. And the Lord said to me: Son of man, this gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall pass through it, but only the Lord, the God of Israel; he shall enter and go out, and the gate shall be shut.” See a clear proof of the holy Theotokos Mary. Let every contradiction, then, be dissolved, and let us be enlightened by the knowledge of the Scriptures, so that we may also attain the kingdom of heaven in Christ, to whom be glory to the ages of ages. Amen.

Ezek 44:1–2 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ was born as he was conceived, leaving the Virgin's virginity intact, as Ezekiel's shut gate foretold; the sermon ends with a doxology.

  • The reading of Ezekiel's shut gate as Mary's lasting virginity is Proclus's; translated as written.
  • Quotation: Ezek 44:1–2 (LXX, with “the Lord, the God of Israel”).

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Proclus, Or. 1.10 (PG 65:691; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/proclus-orationes/1-10

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (Bavarian State Library scan OCR; Migne's Latin and notes removed, displaced lines restored, by logged corrections); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.