On Providence (ten orations) 1.1–1.8
Greek text: PG 83.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 1
1.1PG 83
Νόμος ἐστὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὑπὸ τῆς φύσεως κείμενος, καὶ παῖδας πατέρων ἀδικουμένων ὑπερμαχεῖν, καὶ δεσποτῶν οἰκέτας, καὶ πόλεων πολεμουμέγων πολίτας προχινδυνεύειν, καὶ ἁἀπαξαπλῶς τοὺς εὖ πεπονθότας εἰς δύναμιν τοὺς εὐεργέτας ἀμείθεσθαι. Ἴδοι δ᾽ ἄν τις καὶ βασιλέως ὀρθῶς καὶ δικαίως τοὺς τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ἀσπιδιφόρους καὶ δορυφόρους ἐν πολέμοις προθύμως ὑπερασπίζοντας. Καὶ μή μοί τις εὐθὺς ἀντιλεγέτω, καὶ ψεῦδος τοῦ λόγου κατηγορείτω, τοὺς πατραλοίας, καὶ μαστιγίας, καὶ προδότας, καὶ τυράννους εἰς μέσον παράγων. Περὶ γὰρ τῶν τοῦ νόμου φυλάκων ὁ λόγος, ἐκείνους δὲ ἀχαρίστους καὶ παραβάτας προσαγορεύειν εἰώθαμεν " τίνουσι δὲ καὶ δίκας τῶν τολμημάτων ἀξίας. Εἰ δὲ καὶ παῖδας πατέρων, καὶ δεσποτῶν οἰκέτας, καὶ πόλεων πολίτας, καὶ βασιλέων δορυφόρους προχινδυνεύειν ἡ φύσις διαγορεύει, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὁσιώτερόν τε καὶ δικαιότερον τοῦ Θεοῦ, τοὺς ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ γεγενημένους καὶ σεσωσμένους μὴ λόγῳ μόνον ὑπερμαχεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ θάνατον αἱρεῖσθαι τὸν ἔσχατον. Καὶ γὰρ πατέρων ἡμῖν πλησιώτερος " δι᾽ αὐτοῦ γὰρ κἀκεῖνοι πατέρες καλοῦνται᾽ καὶ δεσποτῶν κυριώτερος " ἐνταῦθα γὰρ κατὰ φύσιν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ κατὰ συμφορὰν, οἰκετῶν ἣ δεσποτεία" καὶ τείχους παντὸς ἀσφαλέστερος" τὸ μὲν γὰρ, κἂν ἀδαμάντινον ἧ, χειροποίητον ὅμως ἐστὶ, κἂν τῶν μηχανημάτων τὴν ἰσχὺν διαφύγῃ, τοῦ χρόνου τὰς χεῖρας οὐ διαφεύξεται" ὁ δὲ ἀϊδιός τέ ἐστι καὶ αἰώνιος, καὶ πρὸς πᾶσαν ἀρχῶν φυλακὴν καὶ ἀσφάλειαν, καὶ βασιλέων τοσούτῳ βασιλιχώτερος, ὅσῳ τὸ ἀεὶ ὃν τῷ γενητῷ καὶ φθαρτῷ παραδαλ- Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἀεί τε ἔστι, καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ εἶναι συμπεφυχὸς ἔχει τὸ κράτος " ὁ δὲ παρ᾽ ἐχείνου καὶ τὸ εἶναι λαδὼν ἔχει, καὶ τὸ κρατεῖν" καὶ τοῦτο πρὸς ὀλίγον καὶ ὀλίγων, οὐδὲ παρὰ πάντων τῶν τὴν αὐτὴν φύσιν εἰληχότων. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν καὶ πατέρων ἡμῖν οἰκειότερος, καὶ δεσποτῶν κυριώτερος, καὶ πάντων εὑερρος, δίκαιον ἡμᾶς, τοὺς καὶ τὸ εἶναι παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ λαθόντας, καὶ τὸ εὖ εἶναι προσειληφότας, ταῖς βλαστάξαι, καὶ λόγοι; εὐσεδέσι ποὺς δυσσεῦεῖ; λόγους χαταχοντίσαι " οὐκ ἵνα δεομένῳ τὴν παρ᾽ ἡμῶν ἐπικουρίαν προσάξωμεν" ἀπροσδεὴς γὰρ ὁ τῶν ἁπάντων ποιητὴς, καὶ πηλίνης γλώττης εἰς ἐπικουρίαν οὗ δεῖται, ὑμνοῦσαν δὲ ἀποδέχεται, καὶ ὑπερμαφανοῖ " ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα καὶ τὴν περὶ αὐτὸν εὔνοιαν δείξωμεν, καὶ τῶν ὁμοδούλων τὸ θράσος, εἰ μὲν δυνατὸν, καταλύσωμεν " εἰ δὲ μὴ, διελέγξωμεν γοῦν, καὶ δῆλον τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσι ποιήσωμεν. Πολλὰ μὲν οὖν καὶ παντοδαπὰ τῶν δυσσεθεῖν ἢ αἱρουμένων τὰ στίφη, καὶ διάφορα τῆς βλασφημίας τὰ βέλη πολυσχιδὲς γὰρ καὶ ποικίλον τὸ ψεῦδος, ἁπλῇ δὲ τῆς ἀληθείας ἡ χάρις. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ποιητικὴ φάλαγξ, εἰς πολλὰ τὸ Θεῖον τῷ λόγῳ χαταμερίσασα. καὶ τὸ ψεῦδος τῷ τερπνῷ τοῦ μυθώδους χεπολυθέου πλάνης τὴν μέθην τοῖς ἀνθρώποις προσήνεγκεν. Ἧ δὲ ἐν τρίζωνι λευκῷ, καὶ πώγωνι μακρῷ, καὶ κόμῃ κεφαλῆς τὴν φιλοσοφίαν ὁριζομένη, τῆς ποιητικῆς θεολογίας τὸ καταγέλαστον ὁρῶσα, ἐτέρας: πλάνης ἐπενόησεν ἀτραποὺς, εἰς αὐτὸ τὸ ποιητικὸν ἐκεῖνο βάραθρον ἀπαγούσας. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ, τῇ κομψείᾳ.
Nomos esti tois anthrōpois hypo tēs physeōs keimenos, kai paidas paterōn adikoumenōn hypermachein, kai despotōn oiketas, kai poleōn polemoumegōn politas prochindyneuein, kai haapaxaplōs tous eu peponthotas eis dynamin tous euergetas ameithesthai. Idoi d᾽ an tis kai basileōs orthōs kai dikaiōs tous tēn exousian, aspidiphorous kai doryphorous en polemois prothymōs hyperaspizontas. Kai mē moi tis euthys antilegetō, kai pseudos tou logou katēgoreitō, tous patraloias, kai mastigias, kai prodotas, kai tyrannous eis meson paragōn. Peri gar tōn tou nomou phylakōn ho logos, ekeinous de acharistous kai parabatas prosagoreuein eiōthamen " tinousi de kai dikas tōn tolmēmatōn axias. Ei de kai paidas paterōn, kai despotōn oiketas, kai poleōn politas, kai basileōn doryphorous prochindyneuein hē physis diagoreuei, pollǭ mallon hosiōteron te kai dikaioteron tou Theou, tous hypo tou Theou kai gegenēmenous kai sesōsmenous mē logǭ monon hypermachein, alla kai thanaton haireisthai ton eschaton. Kai gar paterōn hēmin plēsiōteros " di᾽ autou gar kakeinoi pateres kalountai᾽ kai despotōn kyriōteros " entautha gar kata physin, all᾽ ou kata symphoran, oiketōn hē despoteia" kai teichous pantos asphalesteros" to men gar, kan adamantinon hē, cheiropoiēton homōs esti, kan tōn mēchanēmatōn tēn ischyn diaphygę̄, tou chronou tas cheiras ou diapheuxetai" ho de aïdios te esti kai aiōnios, kai pros pasan archōn phylakēn kai asphaleian, kai basileōn tosoutǭ basilichōteros, hosǭ to aei hon tǭ genētǭ kai phthartǭ paradal- Ho men gar aei te esti, kai autǭ tǭ einai sympephychos echei to kratos " ho de par᾽ echeinou kai to einai ladōn echei, kai to kratein" kai touto pros oligon kai oligōn, oude para pantōn tōn tēn autēn physin eilēchotōn. Epeidē toinyn kai paterōn hēmin oikeioteros, kai despotōn kyriōteros, kai pantōn heuerros, dikaion hēmas, tous kai to einai par᾽ autou lathontas, kai to eu einai proseilēphotas, tais blastaxai, kai logoi? eusedesi pous dysseuei? logous chatachontisai " ouk hina deomenǭ tēn par᾽ hēmōn epikourian prosaxōmen" aprosdeēs gar ho tōn hapantōn poiētēs, kai pēlinēs glōttēs eis epikourian hou deitai, hymnousan de apodechetai, kai hypermaphanoi " all᾽ hina kai tēn peri auton eunoian deixōmen, kai tōn homodoulōn to thrasos, ei men dynaton, katalysōmen " ei de mē, dielenxōmen goun, kai dēlon tois agnoousi poiēsōmen. Polla men oun kai pantodapa tōn dyssethein ē hairoumenōn ta stiphē, kai diaphora tēs blasphēmias ta belē polyschides gar kai poikilon to pseudos, haplę̄ de tēs alētheias hē charis. Hē men gar poiētikē phalanx, eis polla to Theion tǭ logǭ chatamerisasa. kai to pseudos tǭ terpnǭ tou mythōdous chepolytheou planēs tēn methēn tois anthrōpois prosēnenken. Hē de en trizōni leukǭ, kai pōgōni makrǭ, kai komę̄ kephalēs tēn philosophian horizomenē, tēs poiētikēs theologias to katagelaston horōsa, eteras: planēs epenoēsen atrapous, eis auto to poiētikon ekeino barathron apagousas. Hoi men gar, tę̄ kompseią.
There is a law laid down for human beings by nature: that children fight for their fathers when they are wronged, slaves for their masters, and citizens run risks for their cities when they are attacked; and, in a word, that those who have been well treated repay their benefactors as far as they can. One may also see shield-bearers and spear-bearers in war eagerly defending kings who hold their authority rightly and justly. And let no one at once contradict me and accuse the argument of falsehood by bringing forward parricides, rogues, traitors, and tyrants. For the argument concerns those who keep the law; those others we are accustomed to call ungrateful and transgressors, and they pay penalties worthy of their crimes. If nature commands children to run risks for their fathers, slaves for their masters, citizens for their cities, and bodyguards for their kings, it is far holier and more just that those who have been made and saved by God should fight for God, not by word only, but should even choose the extreme of death. For he is nearer to us than our fathers, since it is through him that they too are called fathers; and he is more truly master than our masters, since here the mastery over servants is by nature, and not by misfortune; and he is safer than any wall. For a wall, even if it is of adamant, is still made by hands, and even if it escapes the force of siege engines, it will not escape the hands of time; but he is everlasting and eternal, and suffices for every guarding and safety of rulers; and he is as much more kingly than kings as that which always is surpasses that which has come into being and is perishable when they are compared. For he always is, and has power as something grown together with his very being; but a king has received both his being and his rule from him, and that for a short time and over few, and not even from all who share the same nature. Since, then, he is closer to us than our fathers, more truly master than our masters, and a greater benefactor than all, it is just that we, who have received our being from him and have gained our well-being besides, should … and hurl pious words against impious words. Not that we may bring help from ourselves to one who needs it, for the maker of all things needs nothing and does not need a tongue of clay to help him, though he welcomes one that sings his praise and … ; but that we may show our goodwill toward him, and may put an end, if possible, to the boldness of our fellow servants, or, if not, at least refute it and make it plain to those who do not know. Many and of every kind are the troops of those who have chosen impiety, and various are the darts of their blasphemy; for falsehood is many-branched and manifold, but the grace of truth is simple. The poets' phalanx divided the Divine into many by its account, and, by the charm of myth, … offered human beings the drunkenness of the error of many gods. The other, which defines philosophy by the threadbare white cloak, the long beard, and the hair of the head, seeing how ridiculous the poets' theology was, devised other paths of error leading down into that same poetic pit. For some, by the elegance
Notes and citation
Summary: Theodoret opens by arguing that, as nature binds children, slaves, and citizens to defend those who have done them good, those made and saved by God must defend him with words against the many kinds of impiety, beginning with poets and philosophers.
- The OCR has lost some words after "it is just that we … should" (the printed text reads ταῖς βλαστάξαι, apparently the remains of a phrase about taking up arms) and after "welcomes one that sings his praise and" (ὑπερμαφανοῖ, unclear); these are marked … and not supplied. A few words are also lost in the sentence on the poets ("by the charm of myth, …").
- "The threadbare white cloak": τρίβων, the philosopher's coarse cloak.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris and misread letters; debris from Migne's Latin column read as Greek): καὶ υἱ ῖ. παραθδάτας → καὶ παραβάτας; καὶ Α οἱ Ἰερυπὶ δίκας → καὶ δίκας; οἱ μοῦ ([ιἰς ἰυυ πὶ οἱ οἱ (δ, οἱ μὲ 8 Γαϊ οὶ γἃὁδί, οἱ → ; Αἰαυὶΐ να] 46 πηι} οἱ ναγὶΐ δογαπιὶ 4 ἱπιρίοιαν → ; Θἢ ἢ τη} 0] ὸχ οἱ αυὶ οἱ Ὀεὶ (πὶ η οἱ ρου δὰ εοἀ βοῃϑ δ απὶ παπι πα]οἱ γι τρία ἢ Α → .
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Prov. 1.1 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/1-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 83 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
1.2PG 83
τοῦ λόγου, καὶ τῇ τῶν ἐνθυμημάτων δεινότητι, τὴν ποιητικὴν περὶ τῶν θεῶν αἰσχρολογίαν ἐχάλυψαν. Οἱ δὲ, τοῖς πάθεσι τὴν θείαν προσηγορίαν ἀνἐθεσαν, καὶ τὴν μὲν ἡδονὴν, ᾿Αφροδίτην ὠνόμασαν " ΓΑἌρεα δὲ, τὸν θυμόν" τὴν δὲ μέθην, Διόνυσον " Ἕρ- ᾿μῆν δὲ, τὴν κλοπήν΄. τὴν δὲ φρόνησιν, ᾿Αθηνᾶν καὶ ποιαῦτά. τινα μετὰ ἀλαζονιχῆς ὀφρύος, καὶ τῇς: Ἀττικῆς στωμυλίας τερατευόμενοι, τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἰς ἑτέραν εἴδους ἀπάτην μετήγαγον, Καὶ οἱ τὸ φιλοσοφεῖν ὑπισχνούμενοι, καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ σχήματος τιμὴν παρὰ πάντων δρεπόμενοι; καὶ τῶν παθῶν κρατεῖν ἐπαγγελλόμενοι, προσκυνεῖν τὰ πάθη τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐποίησαν, καὶ τὸν αὐτοκράτορὰ νοῦν τῶν παθῶν ἡνίοχον, θύειν ἐπιθυμίᾳ, καὶ θυμῷ, καὶ κλοπῇ, καὶ μέθῃ, καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις πάθεσιν ἀνοήτως πεπείχασιν. Αλλοι δὲ πάλιν, οὐδὲν ὑπὲρ τὰ ὁούμενα νοῆσαι δυνηθέντες, ἀλλὰ τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς τὸν νοῦν ἐγχαθείρξαντες, τὰ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς εἰς θεω" οίαν προκείμενα, θεοὺς προσηγόρευσαν. Καὶ τὸ σαπτὸν ὄνομα, φρίκην ἐμποιοῦν τοῖς ἀκούουσιν, οὗ μὲν τοῖς στοιχείοις, οἱ δὲ μέρεσι τούτων ἐπέθεσαν. Καὶ οἱ μὲν, ἀπὸ ταυτομάτου γεγενῆσθαι τὸν κόσμον" οἱ δὲ, πολλοὺς ἀνθ᾽ ἑνὸς ἐφαντάσθησαν. Καὶ οἱ μὲν, μηξδὰ εἶναι παντελῶς τὸ θεῖον οἱ δὲ, εἶναι μὲν, οὐδενὸς ὃὲ τῶν ὄντων ἐπιμελεῖσθαι" οἱ δὲ, ἐπιμελεῖσθαι μὲν ἔφασαν, σμιχρολόγως δὲ τοῦτο ποιεῖν, καὶ τῇ σελήνῃ περιορίξειν τὴν πρόνοιαν, τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν τοῦ κόσμου μέρος ὡς ἔτυχξ φέρεσθαι, τῇ τῆς εἱμαρμένης ἀνάγκῃ δουλεύειν ναγχαομένον. Εἰσὶ δέ τινες, οἵ καὶ Χριστιανῶν μὲν προσηγορίαν ἔχουσιν, ἄντικρυς ὃ τοῖς τῆς ἀληθείας δόγμασι πολεμοῦσιν. Οὲ μὲν γὰρ τὸ ἀγένητον εἰς τρία τέμνουσι" καὶ τὸ μὲν καλοῦσιν ἀγαθόν " τὸ δὲ, κακόν " τὸ δὲ, δίκαιον. Οἱ δὲ δύο ἀρχὰς ἀγεννήτους ζωγραφοῦσι τῷ λόγῳ, ἀλλήλαις ἐναντίας ἐκ διαμέτρου. ΓΑλλοι δὲ, τοῖς μὲν ἀσεδέσι τούτοις πολεμεῖν ἐπαγγέλλονται δόγμασιν, ἑτέραν δὲ δυσσεδείας ἐπινοοῦσιν ὁδόν. Τὸν γὰρ μονογενῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγον ὁμολογοῦντες Υἱὸν, ὡς ποίημα τῇ κτίσει συναριθμοῦσι, καὶ τὸν Κτίστην ἑστῶσι μετὰ τῆς κτίσεως. Καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τῷ δυσσεῦεϊ λόγῳ τῆς θείας ἐξορίζουσι φύσεως. ἤΑλλοι δὲ ἄλλως τὴν εὐθεΐζαν ὁδὸν ἀπολέσαντες, καὶ τοῖς τῶν προωδευχότων ἔχνεσιν ἀκολουθῆσαι μὴ βουληθέντες, πόῤῥω πον τῆς ἀληθείας ἐγένοντο. Καὶ οἱ μὲν τὴν ὑπὲρ ἡ μῶν γεγενημένην οἰκονομίαν παντελῶς ἀπηρνήσαντο " οἱ δὲ ὁμολογοῦσι μὲν ἐνανθρωπῆσαι τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον, σῶμα δὲ μόνον ἀνειληφέναι. Οἱ δὲ, ἔμψυχον μὲν καλοῦσι τὴν ληφθεῖσαν σάρκα, οὗ τὴν λογικὴν δὲ καὶ νοερὰν ἐν ταύτῃ γεγενῆσθαι ψυχήν " ἴσως τὴν οἱκείαν ἄνοιαν τούτου τεκμήριον ἔχοντες. Ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀνθρώπου ψυχὴν οὐδεμίαν ἴσμεν ἑτέραν, ἣ τὴν λογικὴν καὶ ἀθάνατον. ᾿Αλλὰ τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους ἅπαντας ἐπὶ τοῦ παρὄντος καταλίπωμεν ᾿ οὐ γὰρ δύναται κατὰ πάντων) ὁ λόγος κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἀφιέναι τῶν ἐλέγχων τὰ βέλη ὡς ἐν παρατάξει. Τοιγαροῦν τὰ μὲν ἄλλα πάντα στίφη τῶν δυσσεδῶν ἡσυχίαν ἀγέτω, τῶν δὲ τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ προνοίᾳ πολεμούντων εἰς μέσον ἀγαγόντες τὴν φάλαγγα, ῥήξωμέν τε αὐτὴν τοῖς ἐλέγχοις, καὶ διασπάσωμεν, καὶ τὴν πυχνότητα διαλύσωμεν, καὶ δορυαλώτους ἀγάγωμεν, καὶ ἐλχύσωμεν πᾶν νόημα εἰς τὴν ὑπακοὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, Ὁ δὲ λοιπὸς τῶν δυσσεδούντῶν ὄμιλης, θεωρῶν τάξιν ἐχέτω, καὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα θεασάσθω. Εἰκὸς γὰρ κἀκείνων ἕχαστον τῶν ταγμάτῶν συμπλοκῆς ἰδίας μὴ δεηθῆναι, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτομολῆσαι πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν, τὴν τούτων ἧτταν θεασαμένους, καὶ λογισαμένους τῆς ἀληθείας τὴν δύναμιν. ᾿Αλλὰ γὰρ ἴσως μέλλων ὁ λόγος, καὶ σχολαιότερον ὁδεύων, ἀποχναίσει καὶ τοὺς νῦν ἀκροωμένους, καὶ τοὺς ὕστεπανοπλίαν τοῦ πνεύματης, τὸν θώρακα τῆς σύνης, τὸν θυρεὸν τῆς πίστεως, τὴν περικεφαλαίαν τοῦ σωτηρίηον, καὶ πκεριζωσάμενοι τὴν ὀσφὺν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, καὶ ὑποδυσάμενοι τοὺς πόδας ἐν ἑτοιμασίᾳ τόυ εὐαγγελίου τῆς εἰρήνης, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἀναλαθόντες τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ Πνεύματος, ὃ ἐστι ῥημα Θεοῦ, τῶν ἀγώνων ἐφαψώμεθα, καὶ ὑπηχείτω μὲν ἡ θεία σάλπιγξ, τὴν ἡμετέραν ἀσθένειαν ὑπερείδουσα.
tou logou, kai tę̄ tōn enthymēmatōn deinotēti, tēn poiētikēn peri tōn theōn aischrologian echalypsan. Hoi de, tois pathesi tēn theian prosēgorian anethesan, kai tēn men hēdonēn, ᾿Aphroditēn ōnomasan " GAArea de, ton thymon" tēn de methēn, Dionyson " Her- ᾿mēn de, tēn klopēn΄. tēn de phronēsin, ᾿Athēnan kai poiauta. tina meta alazonichēs ophryos, kai tę̄s: Attikēs stōmylias terateuomenoi, tous pollous tōn anthrōpōn eis heteran eidous apatēn metēgagon, Kai hoi to philosophein hypischnoumenoi, kai tēn apo tou schēmatos timēn para pantōn drepomenoi? kai tōn pathōn kratein epangellomenoi, proskynein ta pathē tous anthrōpous epoiēsan, kai ton autokratora noun tōn pathōn hēniochon, thyein epithymią, kai thymǭ, kai klopę̄, kai methę̄, kai tois allois pathesin anoētōs pepeichasin. Alloi de palin, ouden hyper ta hooumena noēsai dynēthentes, alla tois aisthētois ton noun enchatheirxantes, ta tois ophthalmois eis theō" oian prokeimena, theous prosēgoreusan. Kai to sapton onoma, phrikēn empoioun tois akouousin, hou men tois stoicheiois, hoi de meresi toutōn epethesan. Kai hoi men, apo tautomatou gegenēsthai ton kosmon" hoi de, pollous anth᾽ henos ephantasthēsan. Kai hoi men, mēxda einai pantelōs to theion hoi de, einai men, oudenos hoe tōn ontōn epimeleisthai" hoi de, epimeleisthai men ephasan, smichrologōs de touto poiein, kai tę̄ selēnę̄ periorixein tēn pronoian, to de loipon tou kosmou meros hōs etychx pheresthai, tę̄ tēs heimarmenēs anankę̄ douleuein nanchaomenon. Eisi de tines, hoi kai Christianōn men prosēgorian echousin, antikrys ho tois tēs alētheias dogmasi polemousin. Oe men gar to agenēton eis tria temnousi" kai to men kalousin agathon " to de, kakon " to de, dikaion. Hoi de dyo archas agennētous zōgraphousi tǭ logǭ, allēlais enantias ek diametrou. GAlloi de, tois men asedesi toutois polemein epangellontai dogmasin, heteran de dyssedeias epinoousin hodon. Ton gar monogenę̄ tou Theou Logon homologountes Huion, hōs poiēma tę̄ ktisei synarithmousi, kai ton Ktistēn hestōsi meta tēs ktiseōs. Kai to Pneuma to hagion tǭ dysseueï logǭ tēs theias exorizousi physeōs. ēAlloi de allōs tēn eutheïzan hodon apolesantes, kai tois tōn proōdeuchotōn echnesin akolouthēsai mē boulēthentes, porrhō pon tēs alētheias egenonto. Kai hoi men tēn hyper hē mōn gegenēmenēn oikonomian pantelōs apērnēsanto " hoi de homologousi men enanthrōpēsai ton Theon Logon, sōma de monon aneilēphenai. Hoi de, empsychon men kalousi tēn lēphtheisan sarka, hou tēn logikēn de kai noeran en tautę̄ gegenēsthai psychēn " isōs tēn hoikeian anoian toutou tekmērion echontes. Hēmeis de anthrōpou psychēn oudemian ismen heteran, hē tēn logikēn kai athanaton. ᾿Alla tous men allous hapantas epi tou parontos katalipōmen ᾿ ou gar dynatai kata pantōn) ho logos kata tauton aphienai tōn elenchōn ta belē hōs en parataxei. Toigaroun ta men alla panta stiphē tōn dyssedōn hēsychian agetō, tōn de tę̄ tou Theou pronoią polemountōn eis meson agagontes tēn phalanga, rhēxōmen te autēn tois elenchois, kai diaspasōmen, kai tēn pychnotēta dialysōmen, kai doryalōtous agagōmen, kai elchysōmen pan noēma eis tēn hypakoēn tou Christou, Ho de loipos tōn dyssedountōn omilēs, theōrōn taxin echetō, kai ton agōna theasasthō. Eikos gar kakeinōn hechaston tōn tagmatōn symplokēs idias mē deēthēnai, all᾽ automolēsai pros tēn alētheian, tēn toutōn hēttan theasamenous, kai logisamenous tēs alētheias tēn dynamin. ᾿Alla gar isōs mellōn ho logos, kai scholaioteron hodeuōn, apochnaisei kai tous nyn akroōmenous, kai tous hystepanoplian tou pneumatēs, ton thōraka tēs synēs, ton thyreon tēs pisteōs, tēn perikephalaian tou sōtēriēon, kai pkerizōsamenoi tēn osphyn en alētheią, kai hypodysamenoi tous podas en hetoimasią tou euangeliou tēs eirēnēs, kai epi pasin analathontes tēn machairan tou Pneumatos, ho esti rhēma Theou, tōn agōnōn ephapsōmetha, kai hypēcheitō men hē theia salpinx, tēn hēmeteran astheneian hypereidousa.
of their language and the cleverness of their arguments, covered over the poets' shameful talk about the gods. Others gave the divine name to the passions: pleasure they named Aphrodite, anger Ares, drunkenness Dionysus, theft Hermes, prudence Athena; and with such marvel-mongering, with arrogant brows and Attic glibness, they led most people away into another kind of deceit. And those who professed to be philosophers, who reaped honor from everyone for their dress, and who promised to master the passions, made people worship the passions, and foolishly persuaded the mind, the sovereign charioteer of the passions, to sacrifice to desire, anger, theft, drunkenness, and the other passions. Others again, unable to think of anything beyond what is seen, but shutting their mind up in the objects of sense, called the things set before the eyes to be looked at gods. And the august name, which makes those who hear it shudder, some gave to the elements, others to parts of them. Some said that the world came into being by chance; others imagined many gods instead of one. Some said the Divine does not exist at all; others that it exists but cares for none of the things that are; others that it does care, but pettily, limiting its providence to the moon, while the rest of the world is carried along at random, compelled to serve the necessity of fate. And there are some who bear the name of Christians but fight openly against the doctrines of the truth. Some cut the unbegotten into three, and call one good, one evil, and one just. Others paint in their account two unbegotten principles, diametrically opposed to each other. Others profess to fight against these impious doctrines, but devise another road of impiety. For while they confess the only-begotten Word of God as Son, they count him with the creation as a thing made, and set the Creator alongside the creation; and by their impious argument they banish the Holy Spirit from the divine nature. Others, having lost the straight road in other ways and unwilling to follow in the footsteps of those who walked before them, have gone somewhere far from the truth. Some have utterly denied the dispensation that took place for our sake; others confess that God the Word became man, but say he took only a body. Others call the flesh that was assumed ensouled, but say that no rational and intelligent soul came to be in it, perhaps taking their own folly as proof of this. But we know no other human soul than the rational and immortal one. But let us leave all the others for now, for an argument cannot discharge the darts of its refutations against all at once, as in a battle line. So let all the other troops of the impious keep quiet, and let us bring into the open the phalanx of those who make war on the providence of God, break it with our refutations, tear it apart, dissolve its close order, lead them away as captives of the spear, and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Let the rest of the crowd of the impious keep the rank of spectators and watch the contest. For it is likely that each of those regiments too will need no engagement of its own, but will desert to the truth when they see these defeated and reckon up the power of the truth. But perhaps, if the argument delays and walks too slowly, it will weary both those who now listen and those who later … the whole armor of the Spirit: the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation; and having girded our waist with truth, and shod our feet with the readiness of the gospel of peace, and, above all, taken up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, let us take hold of the contests; and let the divine trumpet sound, upholding our weakness.
2 Cor 10:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 6:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 6:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 6:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 6:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 6:11 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Theodoret surveys the errors of philosophers and of heretics who bear the Christian name, sets the others aside, and arms himself to fight those who deny God's providence.
- The heretics are described without names: the three principles (good, evil, just) and the two opposed principles fit the Marcionites and Manichees; those who make the Son a thing made and banish the Spirit are the Arians and Pneumatomachi; those who deny the incarnation, who say the Word took only a body, or a body with a non-rational soul, fit the Docetists, Arius, and Apollinarius. The identifications are Theodoret's readers', not his words.
- Some words are lost in the OCR at "those who later …" (the printed text runs τοὺς ὕστε- straight into πανοπλίαν); a clause such as "read it. So, taking up" is missing and is not supplied.
- "Pettily, limiting its providence to the moon": the view attributed to Aristotle and the Peripatetics, that providence reaches only to the sphere of the moon.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (debris from Migne's Latin column inside the word οἰκονομίαν; debris from Migne's Latin column inside the word φάλαγγα; debris from Migne's Latin column read as Greek; footnote marker): πὰ πη ρίβίδι 5. Ὦ ἐγένοντο → ἐγένοντο; οἷἰδῆ ἢ τοῖι γοὶ εἰ ἀπὶ [Δοῖ.) “αν: --- τ Π ππππαπ“ κονομίαν → οἰκονομίαν; τὴν φά- Α 6856 σοηίδηάυηί. Ἀυγδι5 111 στη πὶ, 488 ἀβϑυπιρίᾶ λαγγα → τὴν φάλαγγα; (1|) → .
Topics: Heresy, Christology, Trinity
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Prov. 1.2 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/1-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/1-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 83 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
1.3PG 83
Ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς βαλόίδος τῶν ἀντιπάλων πκυθώμεθα, τί δήποτε τῷ τῆς προνοίας ἀντιλέγουσι λόγῳ, καὶ ταῦτα ποιητὴν αὐτῶν εἶναι φάτχοντες. Πρὸς γὰρ τούτους ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος γι- Τί τῶν ὁρωμένων ὑμῖν ἄκοσμον διαφαίνεται; Τί τῶν γενομένων ἅτακτον καθορᾶται; ΠΙοῖον τῆς χτίτεως μέρος ἐνδεὲς ἁρμονίας; Ποῖον κάλλους, ἣ μεγέθους προσδεῖται; Ποῖον οὐκ εὐαρμόστως κινούμενον ταύσθς νῦν γοῦν, εἰ καὶ μὴ πρότερον, τῶν ὁρωμένων τὴν φύσιν, τὴν θέσιν, τὴν τάξιν, τὴν στάσιν, τὴν κίνησιν, τὸν ῥυθμὸν, τὴν ἁρμονίαν, τὴν ὥραν, τὸ κάλλος, τὸ μέγεθος, τὴν χρξίαν, τὴν τέρψιν, τὴν ποικιλίαν, τὴν ἀλλοίωσιν, τὴν εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ πάλιν ἐπάνοδον, τὴν ἐν φθαρτοῖς διαμονήν. Βλέπετε αὐτὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν πρόνοιαν, δι᾽ ἑκάστου μορίου τῆς κτίσεως διαχύπτουσᾶν, καὶ φαινομένην, καὶ φθεγγομένην, καὶ δι᾿ αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων μονονουχὶ βοῶσαν, καὶ τὰ ἀθύρωτα ὑμῶν ἐπιστομίζουσαν στόματα, καὶ τὰς ἀχαλινώτους ὑμῶν χαλινοῦσαν γλώττας. Βλέπετε αὐτὴν ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ τοῖς κατ᾽ οὐρανὸν φωστῆρσιν, ἡλίῳ, φημὶ, καὶ σελήνῃ, καὶ ἄστρασιν " ἐν ἀέρι, καὶ ἐν νέφεσιν, ἐν γῇ, καὶ ἐν θαλάσσῃ, καὶ τοῖς περὶ τὴν γῆν ἄπασιν " ἐν φυτοῖς καὶ βοτάναις, καὶ ὁπέρμασιν " ἐν ζώοις λογικοῖς καὶ ἀλόγοις, πεζοῖς καὶ πτηνοῖς, καὶ νηχτοῖς, αὶ ἑρπετοῖς, καὶ ἀμφιθίοις, ἡμέροις τε καὶ ἀγρίοις, ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς, τίς ὁ συνέχων τὰς οὐρανίους ἁψίδας " πῶς ἐν τοσαύταις ἐτῶν χιλιάσιν ἀγήρως ἔμεινεν ὁ οὐρσνὸς, οὐδεμίαν μεταθολὴν ἐκ τοῦ χρόνου δεξάμενος, καὶ ταῦτα παθητὴν ἔχων τὴν φύσιν, ὡς ὁ μακάριος διδάσκει Δαδίδ" ε Αὐτοὶ (οὐρανοὶ) φησὶν, ἀπολοῦνται, σὺ δὲ διαμένεις, καὶ πάντες ὡς ἱμάτιον παλαιωθήσονται, καὶ ὡσεὶ περιδόλαιον ἑλίξεις αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἀλλαγήσονται, σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ, καὶ τὰ ἔτη σου οὐκ ἐκλείψουσιν. ν» ᾿Αλλ ὅμως καὶ παθητὴν ἔχων καὶ φθαρτὴν τὴν οὐσίαν, ἔμεινεν οἷός περ ἦν, τῷ τοῦ πεποιηκότος κατεχόμενος λόγῳ. Ὁ γὰρ δημιουργήσας αὑτὸν λόγος, συνέγει καὶ κατέχει, καὶ τὸ σταθερὸν αὐτῷ καὶ ἑδραῖον μέχοις ἂν ἐθέλῃ χαρίζεται. Τούτου χάριν, τοσούτου περὶ αὐτὸν πυρὸς ὀχουμένου, ἡλίου φημὶ, καὶ σελήνης, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων φωστήρων, ἐν τὸσοὗτοι: ἐνιαυτῶν κύκλοις οὐ τήχετα!, οὐ ξηραίνεται, οὐκ ἐμπίπραται" ταύτας γὰρ τοῦ πυρὸς ἡ φύσις τὰ;
Hēmeis de ex autēs tēs baloidos tōn antipalōn pkythōmetha, ti dēpote tǭ tēs pronoias antilegousi logǭ, kai tauta poiētēn autōn einai phatchontes. Pros gar toutous hēmin ho logos epi tou parontos gi- Ti tōn horōmenōn hymin akosmon diaphainetai? Ti tōn genomenōn hatakton kathoratai? PIoion tēs chtiteōs meros endees harmonias? Poion kallous, hē megethous prosdeitai? Poion ouk euarmostōs kinoumenon tausths nyn goun, ei kai mē proteron, tōn horōmenōn tēn physin, tēn thesin, tēn taxin, tēn stasin, tēn kinēsin, ton rhythmon, tēn harmonian, tēn hōran, to kallos, to megethos, tēn chrxian, tēn terpsin, tēn poikilian, tēn alloiōsin, tēn eis to auto palin epanodon, tēn en phthartois diamonēn. Blepete autēn tou Theou tēn pronoian, di᾽ hekastou moriou tēs ktiseōs diachyptousan, kai phainomenēn, kai phthengomenēn, kai di᾿ autōn tōn pragmatōn mononouchi boōsan, kai ta athyrōta hymōn epistomizousan stomata, kai tas achalinōtous hymōn chalinousan glōttas. Blepete autēn en ouranǭ, kai tois kat᾽ ouranon phōstērsin, hēliǭ, phēmi, kai selēnę̄, kai astrasin " en aeri, kai en nephesin, en gę̄, kai en thalassę̄, kai tois peri tēn gēn apasin " en phytois kai botanais, kai hopermasin " en zōois logikois kai alogois, pezois kai ptēnois, kai nēchtois, ai herpetois, kai amphithiois, hēmerois te kai agriois, hymin autois, tis ho synechōn tas ouranious hapsidas " pōs en tosautais etōn chiliasin agērōs emeinen ho oursnos, oudemian metatholēn ek tou chronou dexamenos, kai tauta pathētēn echōn tēn physin, hōs ho makarios didaskei Dadid" e Autoi (ouranoi) phēsin, apolountai, sy de diameneis, kai pantes hōs himation palaiōthēsontai, kai hōsei peridolaion helixeis autous, kai allagēsontai, sy de ho autos ei, kai ta etē sou ouk ekleipsousin. n» ᾿All homōs kai pathētēn echōn kai phthartēn tēn ousian, emeinen hoios per ēn, tǭ tou pepoiēkotos katechomenos logǭ. Ho gar dēmiourgēsas hauton logos, synegei kai katechei, kai to statheron autǭ kai hedraion mechois an ethelę̄ charizetai. Toutou charin, tosoutou peri auton pyros ochoumenou, hēliou phēmi, kai selēnēs, kai tōn allōn phōstērōn, en tosoutoi: eniautōn kyklois ou tēcheta!, ou xērainetai, ouk empipratai" tautas gar tou pyros hē physis ta?
But let us ask from the very starting line of our opponents why they speak against the doctrine of providence, and that while saying that he is their maker. For it is against these that our argument is now directed. What among the things you see appears disordered to you? What among the things that have come to be is seen to be out of order? What part of creation lacks harmony? Which needs more beauty or greatness? Which does not move in fitting order? … now at least, if not before, the nature of the things you see, their position, their order, their stability, their movement, their rhythm, their harmony, their season, their beauty, their greatness, their use, their delight, their variety, their alteration, their return again to the same state, their permanence in perishable things. See God's providence itself peeping out through each part of creation, appearing, speaking, all but crying aloud through the things themselves, stopping your unguarded mouths and bridling your unbridled tongues. See it in heaven and in the lights of heaven, I mean the sun, the moon, and the stars; in the air and in the clouds; in the earth, the sea, and everything around the earth; in plants, herbs, and seeds; in living beings rational and irrational, walking, flying, swimming, creeping, and amphibious, tame and wild … to yourselves: who holds together the vaults of heaven? How has heaven remained unaging through so many thousands of years, receiving no change from time, even though it has a nature subject to change, as the blessed David teaches: "They" (the heavens), he says, "will perish, but you remain; and they will all grow old like a garment, and like a cloak you will roll them up, and they will be changed; but you are the same, and your years will not fail." Yet though it has a changeable and perishable substance, it has remained as it was, held fast by the word of the one who made it. For the Word that fashioned it holds it together and holds it fast, and grants it steadiness and firmness for as long as he wills. For this reason, though so great a fire rides around it, I mean the sun, the moon, and the other lights, through so many cycles of years it does not melt, does not dry up, is not set on fire; for these are what the nature of fire
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Ps 102:26 (101:27 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 102:27 (101:28 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Theodoret challenges the deniers of providence to name anything disordered in creation and points to heaven, unchanged through the ages, as held fast by the Word who made it.
- Lines are lost in the OCR after "Which does not move in fitting order?" (a verb such as "consider" is missing before "now at least") and after "tame and wild" (the end of the list and the start of a sentence like "Ask yourselves"); marked … and not supplied.
- Ps 102:26-27 (LXX 101:27-28), quoted with the LXX "roll them up".
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (column number and debris from Migne's Latin column; debris from Migne's Latin column read as Greek; debris from Migne's Latin column read as Greek; some Greek words are lost with it): 115 ὁδί, Υἱ υἱ συ) → ; ἣν ἢ θυ- ΠΔΠῚ γα] [τη γα] 888 ᾳυὰ σπο (5]αυΐάοπι μαρία πη πο] ρα] τὰ ἀπ 6}, ἰῃ ἰάθη {{ἰ τὸδροὐ, οἱ οἵἴῃ οοἷο οἱ ἐμ απ 5, 4: ἴῃ οἷο βαπῖ, 50]6 ηἷ- (ορία.ο Δ]υδι 105, τΘρ. θὰ 5. οἱ Δρ ΒΓ 15, πδηϑυθι5 οἱ Α → ; τῖ!, Οἱ ρᾶ]- Ἰϊυ μην οὐηἢ], απ, οἱ το] χυαογαπὶ ϑἰάσγυπι, ἰοὲ (Δ 6 } ἢυθαι ἐν → ἐν.
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Prov. 1.3 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/1-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/1-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 83 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
1.4PG 83
ἐνεργείας ὑπὸ τοῦ πεποιηκότος ἐδέξατο. Χρυσὸν μὲν γὰρ, καὶ ἄργυρον, καὶ σίδηρον, καὶ χαλκὸν, καὶ μόλιῥδον, καὶ χασσίΐτερον, καὶ κηρὸν, καὶ πίσσαν, καὶ τα τοιαῦτα, τήκει καὶ διαλύει, καὶ εἰς τὴν ῥοώδη μεταφέρει φύσιν " πηλὸν δὲ, καὶ τὰ τελματώδη τῶν ὑδάτων, ξηραίνει, τὸ ὑγρὸν δαπανῶσα. Λίθους δὲ ἔψει, καὶ τὸ στερέμνιον αὐτῶν ἀφαιρεῖται, καὶ τὴν στεῤῥοτάτην φύσιν ἀποδείκνυσι κόνιν " ξύλα δὲ, καὶ χόρτον, καὶ καλάμην μάλα ῥᾳδίως ἐμπίπρησιν. ᾿Αλλ᾽ οὐδὲν τούτων ὁ οὐρανὸς ὑπομένει. Οὐ τήκει γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὸ χρυσταλλῶδες τοσαύτη οὖσα τοῦ πυρὸς ἡ οὐσία, οὐδὲ λυμαίνεται τῇ λειότητι, οὐδὲ χαλαρὸν ποιεῖ τὸ σφαιροειδὲς αὑτοῦ σχῆμα " ἀλλ᾽ ἣν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἔλαχε στάσιν, ταύτην εἰς τέλος διαφυλάττει. Ὁ γὰρ στήσας αὐτὸν ὡσεὶ καμάραν, καὶ διατείνας αὐτὸν ὡς σκηνὴν κατοικεῖσθαι, τὰς ἐναντίας φύσεις εἰς φιλίαν συνήγαγε. Καὶ οὔτε τοῦ πυρὸς ἡ φύσις ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους σδέννυται τῶν ὑδάτων, οὔτε τὸ χρυσταλλῶδες, ἣ ἀερῶδες, ἢ νεφελῶδες οὐράνιον σῶμα, τῇ τοῦ πυρὸς οὐσίᾳ πλείστῃ οὔσῃ τήκεται καὶ φθείρετα! " ἀλλ' ἐκ γειτόνων ᾿ ἀλλήλοιν οἰκοῦντες, τὰς πολεμίας κρύπτουσιν ἐνεργείας, καὶ τῷ τοῦ πεποιηχότο: λόγῳ πεισθέντες, τὴν δι᾽ αἰῶνος φιλίαν ἐσπείσαντο, καὶ ταῦτα ἄψυγα ὄντα, καὶ νοῦν χυδερνήτην οὐκ ἔχοντα, ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως μένει τὸν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὄρον φυλάττοντα. Κυθερνᾷ γὰρ τὴν κτίσιν ὁ Ποιητὴς, καὶ οὐ κατέλιπεν ἀχυδέρνητον ὃ πεποίηκε σκάφος, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸς ὧν καὶ ναυπηγὸς, καὶ Ὁ τῆς ὕλης φυτουργὸς, καὶ κατὰ ταὐτὸν τήν τε ὕλην δημιουργήσας, καὶ τὸ σκάφος ὑφάνας, κατέχων δια τελεῖ τὰ πηδάλια. Καὶ μαρτυρεῖ τῶν τοσούτων ἐνιαυτῶν ὁ κύκλος, καὶ ὁ μαχρότατος χρόνος, μὴ δια--. φθείρας τὸ σκάφος, σῶον δὲ αὐτὸ, καὶ ἀκραιφνὲς, οὐ μόνον τοῖς πρώτοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ὀψιγόνοις ἐπιδεικνύς. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν εἶδες, ὦ φίλος, ἐν οὐρανῷ τὴν τοῦ. Θεοῦ πρόνοιαν φαινομένην, φέρε σε ξεναγήσωμεν ἐπὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς κτίσεως μέρη " καὶ καθάπερ τὰ βρέφη τὸ πρῶτον τοῦ βαδίζειν ἀρξάμενα, τῆς δεξιᾶς σγυ λαδόμενοι, κατὰ βραχὺ τὴν κτίσιν περ!:τοίνυν ἀπὸ τῶν οὐρανῶν, οἷον εἴς τινα βαθμὸν πρῶτον τὸν ἥλιον, καὶ μὴ δείσῃης τὸν ἐμπρησμὸν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπίδηθι καὶ περ:τχόπησον " οὗ γὰρ ἐμπρήσει σε εὐγνωμόνως περὶ τὸν Ποιητὴν διακείμενον, ἀλλ᾽ ὑποδείξει σοι τὸν Δηγείᾳ κελεύοντα.. Φιλεῖ μὲν γὰρ τὸ πὺρ κατὰ φύσι" τὴν ἐπὶ τὰ ἄνω φορὰν, ὥτπερ τὸ ὕδωρ τὸν ἐπὶ τὸ πρανὲς δρόμον. Καὶ οὔτε τοῦτο ἐξ ὑπωρείας εἰς ἀχριύυρειαν ἀνάγειν δυνατὸν, οὔτε ἐκεῖνο πεῖται κάτω πέμψαι τὴν φλόγα " ἀλλὰ κἂν μυριάκις τὶς φιλονειχήσει, λαμπάδα κατέχων, ἣ δᾷδα, κάτω ταύτην μετενεγκεῖν τῇ χειρὶ, ἡ φλὸξ ἐπὶ τὰ ἄνω πάλιν χωρεῖ, καὶ κατὰ τῆς κατεχούσης ἅττει χειρὸς, καὶ ἣν ἔλαχεν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὁρμὴν οὐκ ἐᾷ, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τῶν ὅρων τῆς φύσεως ἕστηκε. Τῷ δὲ Ποιητῇ πάντα ῥάδια. Τὸ γὰρ τῇ σῇ μὴ πειθόμενον δεξιᾷ, τοῖς τοῦ Δημιουργοῦ νεύμασιν εἴχει. Καὶ ἔστιν ἰδεῖν ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην, καὶ τὸν τῶν ἀστέρων χορὸν, τῷ μὲν οὐρανῷ τὰ νῶτα διδόντας, κάτω δὲ τὰς ἀκτῖνας ἀφιέντας " δοῦλα γάρ ἔστι τοῦ χεχτιχότος, καὶ φύσις αὐτοῖς ὁ τοῦ ποιήσαντος ὄρος. Σοὶ μὲν γὰρ οὐ πείθεται τοῦ πυρὸς ἣ φύσις, οὐδὲ τῆς οἰκείας ἐνεργείας ἐξίσταται - ὁμόδουλος γὰρ ὑπάρχει " τοῖς δὲ τοῦ Ποιητοῦ νεύμασι πειἀνωφερὴς γίγνεται φύσις. Οὕτω τῶν ὑδάτων τὴν φύσιν, ῥοώδη τε καὶ χαύνην οὗσαν, ἄγει καὶ φέρει μετέωρον, καὶ κάτωθεν ἀνέλχωγ, μέσην οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς ἴστησιν, ἐπ᾽ οὐδενὸς ἐρηρξισμένην, ἀλλὰ λόγῳ μόνῳ ἠωρημένην καὶ κρεμαμένην. ᾿Αλλὰ τέως περὶ τῶν νεφῶν μηδὲν ἀκοῦσαι ποθήσῃ:, μηδς δραμεῖν ἐθελήσῃς, οὐδέπω βαδίζειν μεμαθηκὼς, ἀλλὰ κατὰ βραχὺ τὴν κτίσιν ὁδεύων, μάθε τῆς εὑσεθείας τὸν δρόμον. ᾿δλέπε τοιγαροῦν κἀνταῦθα τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν πρόνοιαν, ἑφεστῶσαν ἡλίῳ καὶ σελήνῃ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις φωστῆρσι, καὶ οἷόν τινι φωνῇ παραχελευομένὴν δᾳδουχεῖν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, καὶ οὐκ ἁπλῶς δᾳδουχεῖν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ χρόνου διανομὴν. ᾿Ανίσχων μὲν
energeias hypo tou pepoiēkotos edexato. Chryson men gar, kai argyron, kai sidēron, kai chalkon, kai molirhdon, kai chassiïteron, kai kēron, kai pissan, kai ta toiauta, tēkei kai dialyei, kai eis tēn rhoōdē metapherei physin " pēlon de, kai ta telmatōdē tōn hydatōn, xērainei, to hygron dapanōsa. Lithous de epsei, kai to steremnion autōn aphaireitai, kai tēn sterrhotatēn physin apodeiknysi konin " xyla de, kai chorton, kai kalamēn mala rhądiōs empiprēsin. ᾿All᾽ ouden toutōn ho ouranos hypomenei. Ou tēkei gar autou to chrystallōdes tosautē ousa tou pyros hē ousia, oude lymainetai tę̄ leiotēti, oude chalaron poiei to sphairoeides hautou schēma " all᾽ hēn ex archēs elache stasin, tautēn eis telos diaphylattei. Ho gar stēsas auton hōsei kamaran, kai diateinas auton hōs skēnēn katoikeisthai, tas enantias physeis eis philian synēgage. Kai oute tou pyros hē physis hypo tou plēthous sdennytai tōn hydatōn, oute to chrystallōdes, hē aerōdes, ē nephelōdes ouranion sōma, tę̄ tou pyros ousią pleistę̄ ousę̄ tēketai kai phtheireta! " all' ek geitonōn ᾿ allēloin oikountes, tas polemias kryptousin energeias, kai tǭ tou pepoiēchoto: logǭ peisthentes, tēn di᾽ aiōnos philian espeisanto, kai tauta apsyga onta, kai noun chydernētēn ouk echonta, all᾽ homōs menei ton ex archēs oron phylattonta. Kytherną gar tēn ktisin ho Poiētēs, kai ou katelipen achydernēton ho pepoiēke skaphos, all᾽ autos hōn kai naupēgos, kai Ho tēs hylēs phytourgos, kai kata tauton tēn te hylēn dēmiourgēsas, kai to skaphos hyphanas, katechōn dia telei ta pēdalia. Kai martyrei tōn tosoutōn eniautōn ho kyklos, kai ho machrotatos chronos, mē dia--. phtheiras to skaphos, sōon de auto, kai akraiphnes, ou monon tois prōtois, alla kai tois opsigonois epideiknys. Epeidē toinyn eides, ō philos, en ouranǭ tēn tou. Theou pronoian phainomenēn, phere se xenagēsōmen epi ta loipa tēs ktiseōs merē " kai kathaper ta brephē to prōton tou badizein arxamena, tēs dexias sgy ladomenoi, kata brachy tēn ktisin per!:toinyn apo tōn ouranōn, hoion eis tina bathmon prōton ton hēlion, kai mē deisę̄ēs ton emprēsmon, all᾽ epidēthi kai per:tchopēson " hou gar emprēsei se eugnōmonōs peri ton Poiētēn diakeimenon, all᾽ hypodeixei soi ton Dēgeią keleuonta.. Philei men gar to pyr kata physi" tēn epi ta anō phoran, hōtper to hydōr ton epi to pranes dromon. Kai oute touto ex hypōreias eis achriyyreian anagein dynaton, oute ekeino peitai katō pempsai tēn phloga " alla kan myriakis tis philoneichēsei, lampada katechōn, hē dąda, katō tautēn metenenkein tę̄ cheiri, hē phlox epi ta anō palin chōrei, kai kata tēs katechousēs hattei cheiros, kai hēn elachen ex archēs hormēn ouk eą, all᾽ epi tōn horōn tēs physeōs hestēke. Tǭ de Poiētę̄ panta rhadia. To gar tę̄ sę̄ mē peithomenon dexią, tois tou Dēmiourgou neumasin eichei. Kai estin idein hēlion kai selēnēn, kai ton tōn asterōn choron, tǭ men ouranǭ ta nōta didontas, katō de tas aktinas aphientas " doula gar esti tou chechtichotos, kai physis autois ho tou poiēsantos oros. Soi men gar ou peithetai tou pyros hē physis, oude tēs oikeias energeias existatai - homodoulos gar hyparchei " tois de tou Poiētou neumasi peianōpherēs gignetai physis. Houtō tōn hydatōn tēn physin, rhoōdē te kai chaunēn housan, agei kai pherei meteōron, kai katōthen anelchōg, mesēn ouranou kai gēs istēsin, ep᾽ oudenos erērxismenēn, alla logǭ monǭ ēōrēmenēn kai kremamenēn. ᾿Alla teōs peri tōn nephōn mēden akousai pothēsę̄:, mēds dramein ethelēsę̄s, oudepō badizein memathēkōs, alla kata brachy tēn ktisin hodeuōn, mathe tēs heusetheias ton dromon. ᾿dlepe toigaroun kantautha tou Theou tēn pronoian, hephestōsan hēliǭ kai selēnę̄ kai tois allois phōstērsi, kai hoion tini phōnę̄ paracheleuomenēn dądouchein tois anthrōpois, kai ouk haplōs dądouchein, alla kata chronou dianomēn. ᾿Anischōn men
received as its activity from the one who made it. For gold, silver, iron, bronze, lead, tin, wax, pitch, and the like it melts and dissolves and turns into a flowing nature; mud and marshy waters it dries up, consuming their moisture; stones it bakes, takes away their hardness, and turns the hardest nature into dust; wood, grass, and straw it sets on fire very easily. But heaven suffers none of these things. For the substance of fire, great as it is, does not melt its crystal-like body, nor mar its smoothness, nor loosen its spherical shape; but the position it was given from the beginning it keeps to the end. For he who set it up like a vault and stretched it out like a tent to dwell in has brought opposite natures together into friendship. The nature of fire is not quenched by the abundance of the waters, nor is the heavenly body, whether crystal-like, airy, or cloud-like, melted and destroyed by the substance of fire, plentiful as it is; but dwelling as neighbors to each other, they hide their hostile activities and, obeying the word of their maker, have made a treaty of friendship for all time; and that though they are lifeless and have no mind to steer them, yet they remain keeping the boundary set from the beginning. For the Maker steers creation, and has not left the ship he made without a pilot; but he, who is himself both shipwright and the grower of the timber, who at once fashioned the material and wove the ship together, continues to hold the rudder. The circle of so many years bears witness, and the very long time that has not destroyed the ship but shows it safe and unimpaired, not only to the first generations but also to those born late. Since, then, my friend, you have seen God's providence appearing in heaven, come, let us guide you like a stranger over the other parts of creation; and as with infants who are first beginning to walk, we will take you by the right hand and lead you around creation little by little. … from the heavens, as onto a first step, onto the sun, and do not fear being burned, but step up and look around; for it will not burn you if you are gratefully disposed toward the Maker, but will show you the one who commands it … Fire by nature loves to move upward, as water loves to run downhill. Neither can water be brought up from the foothills to the summit, nor can fire be persuaded to send its flame downward; but even if someone strives ten thousand times, holding a torch or a brand, to turn it downward with his hand, the flame goes upward again and leaps against the hand that holds it, and does not abandon the impulse it was given from the beginning, but stands within the bounds of its nature. But to the Maker all things are easy. For what does not obey your right hand yields to the nods of the Creator. And one can see the sun and the moon and the chorus of the stars turning their backs to heaven and sending their rays downward; for they are slaves of the one who made them, and the boundary set by the one who made them is their nature. Fire's nature does not obey you, nor does it depart from its own activity, for it is your fellow slave; but obeying the Maker's nods, its upward-tending nature … So too he leads and carries aloft the nature of the waters, flowing and loose as it is, and drawing it up from below he sets it between heaven and earth, resting on nothing but suspended and hanging by his word alone. But for now do not long to hear anything about the clouds, nor wish to run when you have not yet learned to walk; but travel through creation little by little and learn the course of piety. See, then, God's providence here too, presiding over the sun, the moon, and the other lights, and as it were commanding them aloud to carry torches for human beings, and not simply to carry torches, but according to a distribution of time. For when it rises
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Isa 40:22 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Heaven survives the fire of the sun and stars because its Maker steers creation like a ship; fire, which by nature rises, sends its light downward at his command, and the lights serve humanity by a set distribution of time.
- Lines are lost in the OCR: after "lead you around creation little by little" (the printed text runs περι- into τοίνυν, so the start of the next sentence, perhaps "Step, then, …", is missing); after "the one who commands it" (the printed τὸν Δηγείᾳ κελεύοντα is damaged); and after "its upward-tending nature" (the printed πειἀνωφερὴς joins two broken words, so the end of the thought, that it becomes downward-moving, is not in the text). All marked … and not supplied.
- "Set it up like a vault and stretched it out like a tent to dwell in": Isa 40:22 LXX.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (debris from Migne's Latin column inside the word σφαιροειδὲς; debris from Migne's Latin column read as Greek): σφα!δηυπι ΥὙ6ΓῸ οἱ (θρυπ Οἱ δίἐρι]Δπ) Οοἷα 5 οἱ (Δ0]}]]πη6 (ς ροειδὲς → σφαιροειδὲς; ραί αν. τη [υπα αν, οὐ ἰΔηία δά ϑι1 111} ἰφῃ 8 οορία, πο θἃἰῃ 60 ()υϊ ευταύτην → ταύτην; δι. φυσι ια βροοίδη ἀπ) δκ- 06 ι, → ; αὶ νἱϊΞι!, ο → .
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Prov. 1.4 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/1-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/1-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 83 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
1.5PG 83
γὰρ ὁ ἥλιος τὴν ἡμέραν ποιεῖ, δυόμενος δὲ καὶ οἱονεὶ κρυπτόμενος, παραχωρεῖ τῇ νυκτὶ, ἧς τὸ ζοφῶδες διὰ σελήνης καὶ ἀστέρων ὁ Δημιουργὸς χεράννυσι. Καὶ ἔστιν ἰδεῖν οἷόν τινας ἀδελφὰς, τὴν ἡμέραν φημὶ καὶ τὴν νύκτα, παρ᾽ ἀλλήλων δανειζομένας εἰς χρείαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸν χρόνον, καὶ πάλιν εὐγνωμόνως ἀποδιδούσας. Τοῦ μὲν γὰρ χειμῶνος λήγοντος, καὶ τοῦ ἕαρος ὑπολάμποντος, ἡνίχα πλείους τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἱ περὶ τὴν ἐργασίαν πόνοι, ὁδοιπορίαι τε καὶ ἐχδημίαι, καὶ ἀπὸ λιμένων ἀναγωγαὶ, καὶ μένη τραχύτητος, καὶ ἡ γῆ τοῖς ληῖοις χομῶσα τὸν γηπόνον εἰς ἐπιμέλειαν χαλεξ, καὶ τὰ φυτὰ τὸν φ.τουργὸν εἰς τομὴν καὶ χάθαρτιν καὶ ἀοδείαν, καὶ τὴν διὰ σχαπάνης ἐπιμέλειαν, τηνικαῦτα δανείζεται παρὰ τῆς νυκτὸς ἡ ἡμέρα, αὔξουσα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὸν τῆς ἐργασίας καιρόν" κατὰ βραχύ δὲ κομίζεται, ἵνα μὴ τῷ ἀθρόῳ τοῖς χρωμένοις λυμήνηται. Πλείων γὰρ ἐξαίφνης ὁ πόνος γιγνόμενος, λωδᾶται λίαν τοῖς ἀργοῖς ἐπὶ πλεῖστον διαμείνασι σώμασι. Τούτου χάριν κατὰ βραχὺ προσλαμθάνει τὴν αὔξησιν. Τοῦ δὲ θέρους ἤδη μεσοῦντος, παύεται μὲν δανειξομένη, παραυτίκα δὲ τῆς ἐχτίσεως ἅπτεται, οὐδὲ μίαν ἡμέρᾶν ἀναδαλλομένη τὴν ἔκτισιν. Κατὰ βραχὺ δὲ ὅμως, καθάπερ ἔλαθεν, ἀποδίδωσιν ὅπερ ἔλαθεν. Εἶτα κατὰ τὸ μετόπωρον ἰσόμετρος γιγνομένη, οὐκ αἰσχύνεται μειουμένη, οὐδὲ πλεονεκτεῖν ἀνέχεται τὴν ὁμόξζυγα, ἀλλ᾽ ἕως ἂν ἅπαν ἐχτίσῃ τὸ ὄφλημα, οὐ παύεται λήγουσα, καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις μακρὰν πραγματευομένη τὴν θεραπείαν. Οἴκοι γὰρ μένειν χρυμοῦ χάριν, καὶ ὑετοῦ, καὶ πηλοῦ, καὶ τελμάτων ἀναγκαζόμενοι, θυμηρεστέραν ἔχομεν τῆς ἡμέρας τὴν νύκτα. Εἰσὶ δὰ οἵ καὶ μακρᾶς οὕτω τῆς νυκτὸς γιγνομόνης, τῆς ἀναπαύλης οὐ λαμδάνουσι χόρον, ἀλλὰ τὸν ὄρθρον λιν ἡ νὺξ ἀπολαδοῦσα τὸ χρέος, οὐ παραιτεῖται τὸ δάνεισμα. Οὕτως ἅπας ἡμῶν ὁ βίος διὰ τούτων ὁδεύει, καὶ χρείαν οὐκ ἐλάττω τῆς ἡμέρας ἡ νὺξ κοῖς ἀνθρώποις παρέχει. Πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ τοῦ σκότους καὶ τοῦ φωτὸς τὸ διάφορον τερπνότερον ἡμῖν ἡμῖν τῆς μεσημθρίας ὁ ὄρθρος. Κόρον γὰρ τοῦ φωτὸς μεθημέραν λαμθάνοντες, τῆς νυκτερινῆς ἀναπαύλης δεόμεθα" εἶτα ταύτης τυχόντες, τὸν μὲν χόρον ἀποτιθέμεθα, ἐπέραστον δὲ ἡμῖν αὖθις γίνεται τὸ φῶς. Οὕτω καὶ τῶν πόνων χορεννύμενοι μεθἡμέραν, καὶ χοπούμενον τὸ σῶμα νύκτωρ διαναπαύομεν ᾿ καὶ κλίνῃ, καὶ ὕπνῳ, καὶ ἡσυχίᾳ τοῦτο καλῶς θεραπεύσαντες, αὖθις αὐτὸ νέον τοῖς ἔργοις ὑπὸ τὴν ἕω προσφέρομεν. Τοσαύτην ἡμῖν καὶ τοιαύτην ἡ νὺξ παρέχει τὴν χρείαν. Διὰ ταύτην μισθωτὸς ἀναπαύεται, καὶ οἰκέτης παῦλαν λαμὄάνει τῶν πόνων. Παύει γὰρ καὶ τοὺς λίαν φιλοπονωτάτους τῆς ἐργασίας τῆς νυκτὸς τὸ ζοφῶδες. Ταύτην ἐδέσθησαν πολλάκις καὶ πολεμοῦντες ἄνθρωποι, καὶ νικῶντες, καὶ τοὺς ἀντιπάλους διώκοντες " καὶ θεασάμενοι παραγενομένην, τοῦ μὲν διώκειν ἐπαύσαντο, σχολαιότερον δὲ φεύγειν τοὺς δραπετεύοντας εἴασαν.
gar ho hēlios tēn hēmeran poiei, dyomenos de kai hoionei kryptomenos, parachōrei tę̄ nykti, hēs to zophōdes dia selēnēs kai asterōn ho Dēmiourgos cherannysi. Kai estin idein hoion tinas adelphas, tēn hēmeran phēmi kai tēn nykta, par᾽ allēlōn daneizomenas eis chreian tōn anthrōpōn ton chronon, kai palin eugnōmonōs apodidousas. Tou men gar cheimōnos lēgontos, kai tou hearos hypolampontos, hēnicha pleious tōn anthrōpōn hoi peri tēn ergasian ponoi, hodoiporiai te kai echdēmiai, kai apo limenōn anagōgai, kai menē trachytētos, kai hē gē tois lēiois chomōsa ton gēponon eis epimeleian chalex, kai ta phyta ton ph.tourgon eis tomēn kai chathartin kai aodeian, kai tēn dia schapanēs epimeleian, tēnikauta daneizetai para tēs nyktos hē hēmera, auxousa tois anthrōpois ton tēs ergasias kairon" kata brachy de komizetai, hina mē tǭ athroǭ tois chrōmenois lymēnētai. Pleiōn gar exaiphnēs ho ponos gignomenos, lōdatai lian tois argois epi pleiston diameinasi sōmasi. Toutou charin kata brachy proslamthanei tēn auxēsin. Tou de therous ēdē mesountos, pauetai men daneixomenē, parautika de tēs echtiseōs haptetai, oude mian hēmeran anadallomenē tēn ektisin. Kata brachy de homōs, kathaper elathen, apodidōsin hoper elathen. Eita kata to metopōron isometros gignomenē, ouk aischynetai meioumenē, oude pleonektein anechetai tēn homoxzyga, all᾽ heōs an hapan echtisę̄ to ophlēma, ou pauetai lēgousa, kai tois anthrōpois makran pragmateuomenē tēn therapeian. Oikoi gar menein chrymou charin, kai hyetou, kai pēlou, kai telmatōn anankazomenoi, thymēresteran echomen tēs hēmeras tēn nykta. Eisi da hoi kai makras houtō tēs nyktos gignomonēs, tēs anapaulēs ou lamdanousi choron, alla ton orthron lin hē nyx apoladousa to chreos, ou paraiteitai to daneisma. Houtōs hapas hēmōn ho bios dia toutōn hodeuei, kai chreian ouk elattō tēs hēmeras hē nyx kois anthrōpois parechei. Prōton men gar tou skotous kai tou phōtos to diaphoron terpnoteron hēmin hēmin tēs mesēmthrias ho orthros. Koron gar tou phōtos methēmeran lamthanontes, tēs nykterinēs anapaulēs deometha" eita tautēs tychontes, ton men choron apotithemetha, eperaston de hēmin authis ginetai to phōs. Houtō kai tōn ponōn chorennymenoi methēmeran, kai chopoumenon to sōma nyktōr dianapauomen ᾿ kai klinę̄, kai hypnǭ, kai hēsychią touto kalōs therapeusantes, authis auto neon tois ergois hypo tēn heō prospheromen. Tosautēn hēmin kai toiautēn hē nyx parechei tēn chreian. Dia tautēn misthōtos anapauetai, kai oiketēs paulan lamoanei tōn ponōn. Pauei gar kai tous lian philoponōtatous tēs ergasias tēs nyktos to zophōdes. Tautēn edesthēsan pollakis kai polemountes anthrōpoi, kai nikōntes, kai tous antipalous diōkontes " kai theasamenoi paragenomenēn, tou men diōkein epausanto, scholaioteron de pheugein tous drapeteuontas eiasan.
the sun makes the day, and when it sets and as it were hides itself it gives way to the night, whose darkness the Creator tempers with the moon and the stars. And one can see day and night like sisters lending each other time for the use of human beings, and then gratefully paying it back. For when winter ends and spring begins to shine, when people have more labor in their work, journeys and travels abroad, and ships put out from harbor, the sea having lost its roughness, and the earth, rich with crops, calls the farmer to tend it, and the plants call the gardener to prune, clean, and water them, and to tend them with the spade, then the day borrows from the night, increasing for people the time for work; but it takes it little by little, so as not to harm those who use it by taking it all at once. For labor that suddenly grows greater does great damage to bodies that have long remained idle. For this reason the day gains its increase little by little. When summer is already at its middle, it stops borrowing and immediately begins to repay, not putting off repayment by a single day. Yet little by little, just as it took, it gives back what it took. Then, in autumn, having become equal in measure, it is not ashamed to shrink, nor does it allow itself to take more than its yoke-fellow, but it does not stop decreasing until it has repaid the whole debt, and so serves people over a long time. For when we are forced to stay at home because of frost, rain, mud, and marshes, we find the night more welcome than the day. There are some who, even when the night is so long, do not have their fill of rest, but … the dawn … the night, having recovered its debt, does not refuse the loan. So all our life travels on through these, and the night gives people no less use than the day. For first, the difference between darkness and light … is more pleasant to us … the dawn than midday. For when we have had our fill of light by day, we need the rest of the night; then, having had it, we lay aside our satiety, and the light becomes desirable to us again. So too, when we have had our fill of labor by day, we rest our tired body at night; and having tended it well with bed, sleep, and quiet, we bring it back fresh to work toward dawn. So great and so valuable is the use the night gives us. Through it the hired worker rests, and the slave has a pause from his labors. For the darkness of the night stops from their work even those who love labor most. Often men at war, too, when winning and pursuing their enemies, have longed for it, and when they saw it come, have stopped the pursuit and let the fugitives flee at a more leisurely pace.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Day and night, like sisters, lend and repay time to each other through the seasons, and the night gives rest to workers, slaves, and armies.
- Lines are lost in the OCR in several places: in the account of spring ("the sea having lost its roughness" renders the surviving μένη τραχύτητος, whose first word is broken); in the sentence on those who are not satisfied with long nights ("but … the dawn … the night": the printed text runs τὸν ὄρθρον λιν ἡ νὺξ); and in the sentence on light and darkness ("is more pleasant to us … the dawn than midday": the printed text repeats ἡμῖν and has lost the words between). These are marked … and not supplied.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (debris from Migne's Latin column read as Greek): ρΡαγίος (6 ἀδἀιολπηιδ, οἱ υἱ 'π ρα δἰῖ : φιΐπ ροιυ5 ορ ἤσοηι {Π πὶ 110] πιο Βί ΓΑ 1}, δον, αἱ δὴν Νὰ ἡ ἴδοι! οοάϊι. Εἰ φυϊάδῃμ 5016 πὶ οἱ ᾿υΠπ8π|. υπὰ οὐδὲ οἱ Γὰν» δ} τὐἰ ἢ οτ οἱ νοοἴη βία! οἱ ϑιιϑροηϑδην: [πἰόγοὰ 1} ἀκ Ὸ 1005 ἰἢδ ὸδιὰ → διὰ; Ὦ νεῖ : πος → ; ([ τό. δὨΪΠΊ 501 ἀϊοὶ δαοῖον οδί : οσοϊ θη γογο, οἱ 56 να] πὶ πιὴ ἐπ 18 ἀο- Α → ; Ποτοἱ οϑηπυ}μη δῷτον, δάθο αἱ δῆς οἱ τὶ (1618. οἱ ἀου πὶ ὁπ οἱοἱ Ὁ] 06 → .
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Prov. 1.5 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/1-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/1-5
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 83 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
1.6PG 83
Αὕτη τοὺς μὲν ἀνθρώπους οἴκαδε συνάγει, καὶ γλυκὺν αὐτοῖς ἐπιφέρει τὸν ὕπνον, ἐξάγει δὲ πρὸς νομὴν τὰ θηρία, καὶ παῤῥησίαν αὐτοῖς τοῦ νέμεσθαι δίδωσιν. Ἐπὶ τούτοις ὑμνῶν τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεὸν, ὁ μέγας ἐδόα Δαδίδ' ε« Ἐποίησε σελήνην εἰς καιροὺς, ὁ ἥλιος ἔγνω τὴν δύσιν αὑτοῦ. Ἔθου σκότος, καὶ ἐγένετε νύξ ἐν αὐτῇ διελεύσονται πάντα τὰ θηρία τοῦ δρυμοῦ, σχύμνοι ὠρυόμενοι τοῦ ἁρπάσαι, καὶ ζητῆσα παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ βρῶσιν αὐτοῖς. ᾿Ανέτειλεν ὁ ἥλιος καὶ συνήχθησαν, καὶ εἰς τὰς μάνδρας αὑτῶν χοι τασθήσονται. Ἐξελεύσεται ἄνθρωπος ἐπὶ τὸ ἔργο αὑτοῦ, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν ἐργασίαν αὑτοῦ ἕως ἑσπέρας. Ὥστε καὶ ταύτην παρέχει τὴν χρείαν ἡ νὺξ, χὰ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους διαναπαύουσα, ἀδεῶς τὴν τρο- Α « φὴν παρέχει τοῖς θηρίοις πορίζεσθαι. Καὶ ἴσως ἄν τις εἴποι τῶν τὴν πρόνοιαν ἀρνουμένων Τί δήποτε γὰρ ἐδημιουργήθη τὰ θηρία; [ποίαν δὲ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις χρείαν πληροῖ; ᾿Αλλὰ τὴν περὶ τούτων ἀπολογίαν ἐν τῷ περὶ τῶν θηρίων ἀναμενέτω λόγῳ " τέως ὃ: ὁ λόγος ὁδῷ βαδιξέτω. Ὅτι τοίνυν ἀναγκαία, καὶ λίαν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὠφέλιμος τῆς νυχτὸ: ἣ χρεία, ἀπόχρη μὲν, ὡς οἶμαι, καὶ τὰ εἰρημένα διδάξαι. ἸΙροσθήσει δὲ ὅμω; ὁ λόγος ἕτερα, τοῖς ποοτέροις συμμαρτυροῦντα. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ θνητὴν εἴχομεν τὴν φύσιν, καὶ περιωρισμένην ζῶμεν ζωὴν, ἐχρῆν ἡμᾶς μαθεῖν καὶ τοῦ χρόνου τὰ μέτρα. Ἧ νὺξ τοιγαροῦν, μέση τῶν ἡμερῶν γινομένη, μετρεῖσθαι τὸν χρόνον ποιεῖ, Εἰ γὰρ ἀδιάδοχον ἐμεμενήχει τὸ φῶς, οὐκ ἂν ἐνιαυτῶν ἐμεμαθήχειμεν κύκλους, Β οὐκ ἂν μηνῶν ἐδιδάχθημεν ἀριθμὸν, μία δ᾽ ἂν ἔδοξεν ἡμέρα παντὸς εἶναι τοῦ παρόντος αἰῶνος τὸ μέτρον, ὅπερ ἕξειν τὸν προσδοκώμενον αἰῶνα πιστεύομεν " ἀνέσπερον γὰρ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐχείνην καὶ παντελῶς ἀδιάδοχον ἔσεσθαι δεδιδάγμεθα. Τοιοῦτος γὰρ τοῖς ἀθανάτοις ἐσομένοις καὶ ὁ αἰὼν ἁρμόττει. Ἐπὶ ὃς τοῦ παρόντος πολλῶν ἐνδεεῖς ὄντας διὰ τὸ τῇς φύσεως θνητὸν καὶ ἐπίκηρον, ἔδει τοῦ χρόνου τὰ μέτρα γινώσχειν, ἵνα παραῤῥέοντα τοῦτον ἡμᾶς ὁρῶντες, ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιμελώμεθα, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἀποδημίαν ἑτοίμους παρέχωμεν. Διαδεχομένη τοιγαροὖν ἡ νὺξ τὴν ἡμέραν, μέτρον γίνεται τοῦ χρόνου, καὶ τοῦτο ἑπτάκις γιγνόμενον τὴν ἑδδομάδα ποιεῖ, Τοῦ δὲ μηνὸς ἐκ τῆς σελήνης τὸ μέτρον λαμδάνομεν" ἐντεῦθεν γὰρ καὶ τῆς προσηγορίας μετέλαχε " μήνην 6 γὰρ ὀνομάζουσι τὴν σελήνην. Αὕτη γὰρ αὐξουμένη καὶ φθίνουσα, καὶ μηνοειδὴς γιγνομένη, καὶ διχότομὺς, ἀμφίκυρτός τε καὶ πλησιφαῆς, καὶ πάλιν εἰς τὸ ἀμφίχυρτον μεταθαίνουσα σχῆμα, εἶτα ἐκεῖθεν εἰς τὸ διχότομον, καὶ εἰς τὸ μηνοειδὲς, αὖθις τὸν τῶν τριάκοντα ἡμερῶν ὀλίγων ὡρῶν δεόμενον ἀριθμὸν πληροῖ. Τὸν ἐνιαύσιον δὲ κύκλον, οὐκ ἐκ τῶν μηνῶν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἡμερῶν διδασκόμεθα.
Hautē tous men anthrōpous oikade synagei, kai glykyn autois epipherei ton hypnon, exagei de pros nomēn ta thēria, kai parrhēsian autois tou nemesthai didōsin. Epi toutois hymnōn ton tōn holōn Theon, ho megas edoa Dadid' e« Epoiēse selēnēn eis kairous, ho hēlios egnō tēn dysin hautou. Ethou skotos, kai egenete nyx en autę̄ dieleusontai panta ta thēria tou drymou, schymnoi ōryomenoi tou harpasai, kai zētēsa para tǭ Theǭ brōsin autois. ᾿Aneteilen ho hēlios kai synēchthēsan, kai eis tas mandras hautōn choi tasthēsontai. Exeleusetai anthrōpos epi to ergo hautou, kai epi tēn ergasian hautou heōs hesperas. Hōste kai tautēn parechei tēn chreian hē nyx, cha tous anthrōpous dianapauousa, adeōs tēn tro- A « phēn parechei tois thēriois porizesthai. Kai isōs an tis eipoi tōn tēn pronoian arnoumenōn Ti dēpote gar edēmiourgēthē ta thēria? [poian de tois anthrōpois chreian plēroi? ᾿Alla tēn peri toutōn apologian en tǭ peri tōn thēriōn anamenetō logǭ " teōs ho: ho logos hodǭ badixetō. Hoti toinyn anankaia, kai lian tois anthrōpois ōphelimos tēs nychto: hē chreia, apochrē men, hōs oimai, kai ta eirēmena didaxai. IIrosthēsei de homō? ho logos hetera, tois pooterois symmartyrounta. Epeidē gar thnētēn eichomen tēn physin, kai periōrismenēn zōmen zōēn, echrēn hēmas mathein kai tou chronou ta metra. Hē nyx toigaroun, mesē tōn hēmerōn ginomenē, metreisthai ton chronon poiei, Ei gar adiadochon ememenēchei to phōs, ouk an eniautōn ememathēcheimen kyklous, B ouk an mēnōn edidachthēmen arithmon, mia d᾽ an edoxen hēmera pantos einai tou parontos aiōnos to metron, hoper hexein ton prosdokōmenon aiōna pisteuomen " anesperon gar tēn hēmeran echeinēn kai pantelōs adiadochon esesthai dedidagmetha. Toioutos gar tois athanatois esomenois kai ho aiōn harmottei. Epi hos tou parontos pollōn endeeis ontas dia to tę̄s physeōs thnēton kai epikēron, edei tou chronou ta metra ginōschein, hina pararrheonta touton hēmas horōntes, hēmōn autōn epimelōmetha, kai pros tēn apodēmian hetoimous parechōmen. Diadechomenē toigaroun hē nyx tēn hēmeran, metron ginetai tou chronou, kai touto heptakis gignomenon tēn heddomada poiei, Tou de mēnos ek tēs selēnēs to metron lamdanomen" enteuthen gar kai tēs prosēgorias metelache " mēnēn 6 gar onomazousi tēn selēnēn. Hautē gar auxoumenē kai phthinousa, kai mēnoeidēs gignomenē, kai dichotomys, amphikyrtos te kai plēsiphaēs, kai palin eis to amphichyrton metathainousa schēma, eita ekeithen eis to dichotomon, kai eis to mēnoeides, authis ton tōn triakonta hēmerōn oligōn hōrōn deomenon arithmon plēroi. Ton eniausion de kyklon, ouk ek tōn mēnōn monon, alla kai ek tōn hēmerōn didaskometha.
It gathers people home and brings sweet sleep upon them, but it leads the wild beasts out to feed and gives them freedom to graze. Praising the God of all things for this, the great David cried: "He made the moon for seasons; the sun knew its setting. You set darkness, and it became night; in it all the beasts of the forest will go about, young lions roaring to seize prey and to seek their food from God. The sun rose and they were gathered, and they will lie down in their dens. A man will go out to his work and to his labor until evening." So the night provides this use too: while it rests human beings, it lets the wild beasts find their food without fear. And perhaps one of those who deny providence might say: "Why then were the wild beasts made? What use do they serve for human beings?" But let the defense on this point wait for the discourse on the wild beasts; for now let the argument keep to its road. That the use of the night is necessary and very beneficial to human beings, what has been said is enough, I think, to show. Yet the argument will add other points that bear witness along with the earlier ones. Since we have a mortal nature and live a limited life, we had to learn the measures of time as well. So the night, coming between the days, makes it possible to measure time. For if the light had remained without succession, we would not have learned the cycles of years, we would not have been taught the number of months, and the whole present age would have seemed to be measured as one day, which is what we believe the age to come will have; for we have been taught that that day will have no evening and no succession at all. Such an age suits those who will be immortal. But in the present, since we lack many things because our nature is mortal and perishable, we needed to know the measures of time, so that, seeing it slip by, we might take care of ourselves and make ourselves ready for our departure. So the night, succeeding the day, becomes a measure of time, and this happening seven times makes the week. The measure of the month we take from the moon, from which it also took its name; for they call the moon mēnē. Waxing and waning, becoming crescent, half, gibbous, and full, and passing again into the gibbous shape, then from there into the half and the crescent, it completes again the number of thirty days less a few hours. The cycle of the year we learn not from the months only but also from the days.
Ps 104:19 (103:19 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 104:20 (103:20 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 104:21 (103:21 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 104:22 (103:22 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 104:23 (103:23 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 22:5 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Night lets wild beasts feed while people rest, as Psalm 104 says, and the succession of night and day, with the phases of the moon, gives mortal human beings the measures of time.
- Ps 104:19-23 (LXX 103:19-23), quoted with LXX wording; Theodoret's text shifts between "he made" and "you set".
- "Mēnē": a poetic Greek word for the moon, from which Theodoret derives μήν, "month".
- "That day will have no evening": the age to come as an unending day; compare Zech 14:7 and Rev 21:25, 22:5 (not quoted).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (debris from Migne's Latin column inside the word γλυκὺν; debris from Migne's Latin column read as Greek): οἱ ἢ Αὕτη → Αὕτη; γλυἦτ εἴ αἱ στοαί, οἱ ἀυ]! σα η βοιηηση 1118 Θοη οἰ ἰαὶ : ζ,9 ζ, ἴθ ρᾶᾧῃ καί. 65. 10}... χὺν → γλυκὺν.
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Prov. 1.6 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/1-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/1-6
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 83 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
1.7PG 83
“Ἕαρος γὰρ ὑπολάμπουτος, μέσον τὸν οὐρανὸν ὁδεύων ὁ ἥλιος, ἡμέρᾳ καὶ νυκτὶ τὴν ἰσότητα πραγματεύεται. Ἐκεῖθεν τὰ βορξιότερα τῷν ἑῴων χαταλαμθάνων, κἀκεῖθεν ἀνίσχων, σμιχρύνει μὲν τὰς νύκτας, αὔξει δὲ τὰς ἡμέρας " θερμότερος ὃὲ τῇ Υὗ, προσθάλλων, τοὺς ταύτης πεπαίνει καρπούς. Μέχρι δὲ τῶν εἰωθότων ὄρων ὁδεύσας, ἐπάνεισιν ἀπὸ τῶν ἄρκτῴων ἐπὶ τὰ νότια, καὶ πάλιν ἐν τῷ μετοπώρῳ νυκτὶ καὶ καὶ ταῖς μὲν νυξὶν ἀποδίδωσιν, ἅπερ αὐτῶν λαδὼν δέδιωυχε ταῖς ἡμέραις " παραχωρεῖ δὲ τῷ ἀέρι πυχνοῦσθαι, καὶ νεφῶν πληροῦσθαι, καὶ πᾶσαν ἄρδειν τὴν ἤπειρον. Ἐκεῖθεν ἐπὶ τὴν ἰσημερινὴν ἐπανιὼν τρηπὴν, πληροῖ τὸν ἐνιαύσιον κύκλον. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν εἶδες ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης τὴν χρείαν, καὶ νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας τὰς ἱπτομέτρους διαδοχὰς, καὶ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις προσφερομένην ὠφέλειαν, βλέπε μοι καὶ τῶν ὡρῶν τοῦ ἕτους τὴν τερπνοτάτην καὶ χρειωδεστάτην χορείαν. Οὔτε γὰρ διχῇ τὸν ἐνιαύσιον κύκλου ἐμέρισεν ὁ Ποιητὴς, οὔτε θέρος ἡμῖν ἁπλῶς δέδωκε καὶ χειμῶνα, οὐδὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ἄκρων ἀμέσως ἐπὶ τὰ ἄκρα μεταδαίνομεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἕαρ καὶ τὸ μετόπωρον μέσην λαχόντα τὴν κρᾶσιν, τοῦ χρυμοὺ καὶ τοῦ φλογμοῦ μέσα γίγνεται. Καὶ τὸν ἄκρως ὑγρὸν καὶ ψυχρὸν χειμῶνα, οὐ τὸ ἄκρω: ξηρὸν καὶ θερμὸν διαδέχεται θέρος, ἀλλὰ τὸ ξαρ, ὃ καὶ τῆς τούτου μετέχον θερμότητος, καὶ τῆς ἐχείνου ψυχρότητος, αἱξιν ἀρίστην τῶν ἀφεστηχότων ἐργάζεται, καὶ οἷόν τισι χερσὶ τῶν ἐναντίων ἐπειλημμένον, τῇ μὲὺ ψυχρότητι τοῦ χειμῶνος, τῇ δὲ θερμότητι τοῦ θέργυ-, εἰς σύμδασιν ἄγει καὶ φιλίαν τὰ κομιδῇ πολέμια. Διὰ τοῦτο ἀπὸ τοῦ χειμῶνος ἐπὶ τὸ θέρος ὁδεύοντες, ἀλύπως ὁδεύομεν. Κατὰ βραχὺ γὰρ τῆς τούτου ψυχρότητος ἀφιστάμενοι, καὶ τῇ ἐχείνου θερμότητι πλησιάζοντες, οὐδεμίαν βλάδην ἔχ τῆς ἀθρόας μεταῥολῆς ὑφιστάμεθα. Οὕτως ἀπὸ τοῦ θέρους ἐπὶ τὸν χειμῶνα μεταθδαίνομεν, μέσου πάλιν τοῦ μετοπώρου γιγνομένον, καὶ οὐκ ἐῶντος ἡμᾶς εὐθὺς τοῖς ἄκρως πάλιν ἐναντίοις προσψαῦσαι, ἀλλὰ χεραννύντος τὴν ἄκραν θερμότητα τῇ ἄκρᾳ ψυχρότητι, καὶ κρᾶσιν ἑτέραν ἐργαζομένου, καὶ κατὰ σμικρὸν ἡμᾶς ἐπ' ἐκεῖνο ξεναγωγοῦντος τὸ ἄκρον. Τοσαύτη περὶ ἡμᾶς ἡ τοῦ πεποιηκότος κηδεμονία. Οὕτω καὶ ἐν τὸ ἄλυπον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὃ τερπνὸν πραγματεύεται.
“Hearos gar hypolampoutos, meson ton ouranon hodeuōn ho hēlios, hēmerą kai nykti tēn isotēta pragmateuetai. Ekeithen ta borxiotera tǭn heǭōn chatalamthanōn, kakeithen anischōn, smichrynei men tas nyktas, auxei de tas hēmeras " thermoteros hoe tę̄ Hyy, prosthallōn, tous tautēs pepainei karpous. Mechri de tōn eiōthotōn orōn hodeusas, epaneisin apo tōn arktǭōn epi ta notia, kai palin en tǭ metopōrǭ nykti kai kai tais men nyxin apodidōsin, haper autōn ladōn dediōyche tais hēmerais " parachōrei de tǭ aeri pychnousthai, kai nephōn plērousthai, kai pasan ardein tēn ēpeiron. Ekeithen epi tēn isēmerinēn epaniōn trēpēn, plēroi ton eniausion kyklon. Epeidē toinyn eides hēliou kai selēnēs tēn chreian, kai nyktos kai hēmeras tas hiptometrous diadochas, kai tēn enteuthen tois anthrōpois prospheromenēn ōpheleian, blepe moi kai tōn hōrōn tou hetous tēn terpnotatēn kai chreiōdestatēn choreian. Oute gar dichę̄ ton eniausion kyklou emerisen ho Poiētēs, oute theros hēmin haplōs dedōke kai cheimōna, oude apo tōn akrōn amesōs epi ta akra metadainomen, alla to hear kai to metopōron mesēn lachonta tēn krasin, tou chrymou kai tou phlogmou mesa gignetai. Kai ton akrōs hygron kai psychron cheimōna, ou to akrō: xēron kai thermon diadechetai theros, alla to xar, ho kai tēs toutou metechon thermotētos, kai tēs echeinou psychrotētos, haixin aristēn tōn aphestēchotōn ergazetai, kai hoion tisi chersi tōn enantiōn epeilēmmenon, tę̄ meu psychrotēti tou cheimōnos, tę̄ de thermotēti tou thergy-, eis symdasin agei kai philian ta komidę̄ polemia. Dia touto apo tou cheimōnos epi to theros hodeuontes, alypōs hodeuomen. Kata brachy gar tēs toutou psychrotētos aphistamenoi, kai tę̄ echeinou thermotēti plēsiazontes, oudemian bladēn ech tēs athroas metarholēs hyphistametha. Houtōs apo tou therous epi ton cheimōna metathdainomen, mesou palin tou metopōrou gignomenon, kai ouk eōntos hēmas euthys tois akrōs palin enantiois prospsausai, alla cherannyntos tēn akran thermotēta tę̄ akrą psychrotēti, kai krasin heteran ergazomenou, kai kata smikron hēmas ep' ekeino xenagōgountos to akron. Tosautē peri hēmas hē tou pepoiēkotos kēdemonia. Houtō kai en to alypon, alla kai ho terpnon pragmateuetai.
For when spring begins to shine, the sun, travelling through the middle of the sky, brings about equality for day and night. From there it reaches the more northerly parts of the east and rises from there, shortening the nights and lengthening the days; and falling more warmly on the earth, it ripens its fruits. Having travelled as far as its customary bounds, it goes back from the north to the south, and again in autumn … to night and … and it pays back to the nights what it took from them and gave to the days; and it lets the air thicken, fill with clouds, and water the whole mainland. Returning from there to the equinoctial turning point, it completes the yearly cycle. Since, then, you have seen the use of the sun and the moon, the equal successions of night and day, and the benefit brought to human beings from them, look with me also at the most delightful and most useful dance of the seasons of the year. For the Maker did not divide the yearly cycle in two, nor give us simply summer and winter, nor do we pass directly from one extreme to the other; but spring and autumn, which have received a middle blend, come between frost and burning heat. Winter, extremely wet and cold, is not followed by summer, extremely dry and hot, but by spring, which shares in the warmth of the one and the coldness of the other, and so produces an excellent bond between things far apart; and as though taking hold of the opposites with hands, the cold of winter with one and the heat of summer with the other, it brings things utterly hostile into agreement and friendship. For this reason, when we travel from winter to summer, we travel without pain. For leaving the cold of the one little by little and drawing near to the heat of the other, we suffer no harm from a sudden change. So too we pass from summer to winter, autumn again coming between, not letting us touch at once the opposite extremes, but blending extreme heat with extreme cold, producing another blend, and guiding us little by little to that extreme. So great is the Maker's care for us. So too … not only freedom from pain but also delight.
Notes and citation
Summary: The sun's yearly course and the middle seasons of spring and autumn lead human beings gently between the extremes of winter and summer, showing the Maker's care.
- Words are lost in the OCR after "again in autumn" (the printed text reads νυκτὶ καὶ καὶ, evidently "night and day" and a lost verb of equalizing) and in the last sentence (printed Οὕτω καὶ ἐν τὸ ἄλυπον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὃ τερπνὸν, evidently "so too in … he provides not only freedom from pain but also delight"). Marked … and not supplied.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (column letter inside a hyphenated word; debris from Migne's Latin column read as Greek): ὁλϑ00η) ϑυυ:. Ῥοϑι πε} ΘΟ γᾶς, οἱ [Δοϊὰ οϑὶ ηοχ: ἰπ οἱ ἴῃ οὐδ }οἱ δὰ αἱ οἱ ᾿ιο Βυ] 8 δἱ [υδἀ- Τὴ τη 8556 (., ἴῃ Ρἰαι. ποίηση ἰδ 1}}} ἰμα πὶ 651. Νά (ατγῷοὶ) οἰ} οἱ ἀοιοἰδηθ, υδὲὶ [Ἰοαία οἱ αἰν θα, ἀαοϊηάθ → ; εἰωθό- Ὁ τῶν → εἰωθότων; ἐγ σία οὐ ἢ" ὅτ Α → ; δε ταί : δὰ οὐ πὶ. Ῥοβίφυδπι ἰσί τ 50118 οἱ 1 46 πος οἱ οἱ Τὴ οἱ δ] άδ οχοὶρὶῖ, σα ἀ νϑῦοἱ 11ἃ 8 οἱ ἀγα ἢ, ὅτι Ὁ ἰΐοπια δά → .
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Prov. 1.7 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/1-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/1-7
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 83 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.
1.8PG 83
Καὶ ἴσιυς ἄν τις τῶν ἀχαρίστων τοῖς εὖ καὶ καλῶς γεγενημένοις, καὶ σοφῶς καὶ συμφερόντως οἶχονομουμένοις ἐπιμεμφόμενος εἴποι' Τί δήποτε αἱ τροπαὶ γίγνονται; Ποίαν δὲ χρείαν ἡμῖν αἱ τῶν ὡρῶν μεταθδάσεις ποιοῦσι; ποίων δὲ ἀγαθῶν, ὦ σοφώτατε καὶ δεινότατε τῆς Προνοίας χατήγορε, οὐ διὰ τούτων τυγχάνομεν; ᾿Αρχομένου μὲν γὰρ χειμῶνος, σπέρματα χαταδάλλομεν, ὁ δὲ ταύτην ἡμᾶς διδάξας τὴν τέχνην, τρέφει ταῦτα, ὕων ἐκ νεφῶν, καὶ τὸ θαλάττιον ὕδωρ ἀνέλκων τῷ λόγῳ, καὶ μετέωρον ἄγων, καὶ τὴν ἁλμυρὰν ἐχείνην εἰς γλυκεῖαν μεταδάλλων ποιότητα, καὶ τὰς ψεχάδας διακρίνων, καὶ νῦν μὲν σμικρὰς ἀφιεὶς, νῦν δὲ μεγάλας καὶ χρουνηδὸν νᾶς, καὶ οἷόν τινι χοσχίνῳ διαιρῶν τῶν νεφῶν τὰς ὠδῖνας. Διὰ τοῦτο ἡ χειἱέριος ὥρα, ἵνα σε τὸν ἀχάριστον διαθρέψῃ, ἵνα σοι τῷ ἀγνώμονι παράσχῃ τῶν ἀναγκαίων τὴν χρείαν. Ἵἕαρος δὲ πάλιν ἀρχομένου, οἱ μὲν τῶν γηπόνων τέμνουσι τὰς ἀμπέλους, οἱ δὲ ἑτέρας φυτεύουσι, χαυνούμενα δὲ τῇ τοῦ ἀέρος θερμότητι τὰ κλήματα, πρὸς ὠδῖνας ἐπείγεται. Τοῦ δὲ Α θέρους ἀχμάζοντος, καὶ τοῦ ἡλίου σφόδρα τὸν ἀέρα θερμαίνοντος, ὁ μὲν σῖτος εἰς ἀμητὸν τὸν γηπόνον καλεῖ, περχῶσι δὲ σταφυλαὶ, βρίθουσι δὲ ἐλαῖαι τοῦ καρποῦ τρεφομένου, πεπαίνεται δὲ τῶν ὁπωρῶν τὰ γένη. Εἶτα τὸ μετόπωρον ἐπιγενόμενον, ταῦτα τελείως πέπονα τοῖς φυτουργοῖς παραδίδωσιν" οἱ δὲ τὴν συλλογὴν ποιησάμενοι, πάλιν ἅπτονται τῶν σπερμάτων. Παῦσαι τοίνυν ἀχαριστῶν, καὶ τοῖς τῆς δώροις τὴν Πρόνοιαν διαθάλλειν ἐπιχειρῶν, καὶ τοῖς δοθεῖσιν ἀγαθοῖς τὸν τούτων δοτῆρα τοξεύων. Ἐν ἅπασι τοῖς εἰρημένοις τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ χατάμαθΞ πρόνοιαν, ἰθύνουσάν σς καὶ χυδερνῶσαν, καὶ πάντων σοι τῶν ἀγαθῶν πραγματενομένην τὴν ἀτρθονίαν. Βλέπε καὶ τῶν ἀστέρων τὴν φύσιν, τὴν θέσιν, κἣν τάξιν, τῶν σχημάτων τὴν ποιχελίαν, τὸν τέρψιν, τὴν χρείαν, τὴν χορείαν, τὰς ἐπιτολὰς, τὰς δύσεις τούτους ὁ τῶν ὅλων Δημιουργὸς πεποίηκεν, οὐκ ἵνα μόνον τὸ ζοφῶδες τῆς νυκτὸς φωτίξωσι, κκαὶ ἐν ἀσελήνῳ νυκτὶ τοῦ φωτὸς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὴν χρείαν παρέχωσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα καὶ ὁδίτην σι, καὶ τοὺς πλέοντας ξεναγῶσιν. Εἷς γὰρ τούτους ὁδεύουσι, καὶ τῇ τούτων θέσει προσέχοντες, τὸ σχάφὺς ἰθύνουσι, καὶ πρὸς οὖς ἂν ἐθέλωσιν ἀπευθύνουσι λιμένας. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐ δέχεται τῶν ὑδάτων ἡ φύσις ἵππων, καὶ ὄνων, καὶ ἡμιόνων, καὶ ὁδοιπόρων ἔχνη, καὶ ἁμαξῶν καὶ ὀχημάτων γραμμὰς, οἷς οἱ ἐδῖται προσέχοντες, ἀναμφιδόλω: τὴν πορείαν ποιοῦνται, δέδωκε τῶν ὅλων ὁ Δεσπότης τοῖς τὰ μακρὰ πελάγη διαπερῶσιν, οἷον ἴχνη τινὰ τῶν θαλαττίων τρίδων, τῶν ἀστέρων τὴν θέσιν. Ὦ τῆς ἀῤόήτοῦ φιλανθρωπίας Ὦ τῆς ἀφράστου σοφίας ! Τίς ἂν ἀξίως θαυμάσειε τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ προνοίας τὸ ἀγαθὸν, τὸ δυνατὸν, τὸ ἐν ἀπόροις εὔπορον, τὸ ἐν ἀμηχάνοις εὐμήχανον, τὴν μεγαλουργίαν, τὴν εὐπορίαν; ᾿Αληθῶς ε ἐθαυμαστώθη ἡ γνῶσές σου ἐξ ἐμοῦ, ἐκραταιώθη, οὐ μὴ δύνωμαι πρὸς αὐτὴν, » βοῶ χἀγώ. Εἰ δὲ ἐμοὶ πείθοιο, ταύτην σὺν ἐμοὶ καὶ σὺ τὴν φιυνὴν ἀφήσεις, καὶ τὸν εὐεργέτην εἰς δύναμιν ὑμνέσεις Ἶ μόνας αποξσεις, ἵνα δέ σε νῦν τοῦ βαδίζειν ἀρξάμένον, μὴ μακρὰν ὁδὸν ὀδεῦπαι πόνον σοι προξενήσωμεν, ἐνταῦθά σε τέως διαναπαύαρμεν, καὶ τὴν ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ τοῖς κατ᾽ οὐρανὸν φωστῇρσι, πρόνοιαν τοῦ Θεοῦ φαινομένην θεωρεῖν καταλείψομεν. Εἰκὸς γάρ σε ποδηγηθέντα, καὶ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν τὴν θεωρίαν αὐξῆσαι, καὶ τὰ συντομίας χάριν ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου καταλειφθέντα, ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων εὑρεῖν, καὶ μετὰ τοῦ Προφήτου βοῆσαι" ε« Ὡς ἐμεγαλύνθη τὰ ἔργα σου, Κύριε! πάντα ἐν σορίᾳ ἐποίησας, »Σοὶ δόξα, καὶ τιμὴ, καὶ προτχύνησις, εἷς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἃ μὴν.
Kai isiys an tis tōn acharistōn tois eu kai kalōs gegenēmenois, kai sophōs kai sympherontōs oichonomoumenois epimemphomenos eipoi' Ti dēpote hai tropai gignontai? Poian de chreian hēmin hai tōn hōrōn metathdaseis poiousi? poiōn de agathōn, ō sophōtate kai deinotate tēs Pronoias chatēgore, ou dia toutōn tynchanomen? ᾿Archomenou men gar cheimōnos, spermata chatadallomen, ho de tautēn hēmas didaxas tēn technēn, trephei tauta, hyōn ek nephōn, kai to thalattion hydōr anelkōn tǭ logǭ, kai meteōron agōn, kai tēn halmyran echeinēn eis glykeian metadallōn poiotēta, kai tas psechadas diakrinōn, kai nyn men smikras aphieis, nyn de megalas kai chrounēdon nas, kai hoion tini choschinǭ diairōn tōn nephōn tas ōdinas. Dia touto hē cheiierios hōra, hina se ton achariston diathrepsę̄, hina soi tǭ agnōmoni paraschę̄ tōn anankaiōn tēn chreian. Hiearos de palin archomenou, hoi men tōn gēponōn temnousi tas ampelous, hoi de heteras phyteuousi, chaunoumena de tę̄ tou aeros thermotēti ta klēmata, pros ōdinas epeigetai. Tou de A therous achmazontos, kai tou hēliou sphodra ton aera thermainontos, ho men sitos eis amēton ton gēponon kalei, perchōsi de staphylai, brithousi de elaiai tou karpou trephomenou, pepainetai de tōn hopōrōn ta genē. Eita to metopōron epigenomenon, tauta teleiōs pepona tois phytourgois paradidōsin" hoi de tēn syllogēn poiēsamenoi, palin haptontai tōn spermatōn. Pausai toinyn acharistōn, kai tois tēs dōrois tēn Pronoian diathallein epicheirōn, kai tois dotheisin agathois ton toutōn dotēra toxeuōn. En hapasi tois eirēmenois tēn tou Theou chatamathX pronoian, ithynousan ss kai chydernōsan, kai pantōn soi tōn agathōn pragmatenomenēn tēn atrthonian. Blepe kai tōn asterōn tēn physin, tēn thesin, kēn taxin, tōn schēmatōn tēn poichelian, ton terpsin, tēn chreian, tēn choreian, tas epitolas, tas dyseis toutous ho tōn holōn Dēmiourgos pepoiēken, ouk hina monon to zophōdes tēs nyktos phōtixōsi, kkai en aselēnǭ nykti tou phōtos tois anthrōpois tēn chreian parechōsin, all᾽ hina kai hoditēn si, kai tous pleontas xenagōsin. Heis gar toutous hodeuousi, kai tę̄ toutōn thesei prosechontes, to schaphys ithynousi, kai pros ous an ethelōsin apeuthynousi limenas. Epeidē gar ou dechetai tōn hydatōn hē physis hippōn, kai onōn, kai hēmionōn, kai hodoiporōn echnē, kai hamaxōn kai ochēmatōn grammas, hois hoi editai prosechontes, anamphidolō: tēn poreian poiountai, dedōke tōn holōn ho Despotēs tois ta makra pelagē diaperōsin, hoion ichnē tina tōn thalattiōn tridōn, tōn asterōn tēn thesin. Ō tēs aroētou philanthrōpias Ō tēs aphrastou sophias ! Tis an axiōs thaumaseie tēs tou Theou pronoias to agathon, to dynaton, to en aporois euporon, to en amēchanois eumēchanon, tēn megalourgian, tēn euporian? ᾿Alēthōs e ethaumastōthē hē gnōses sou ex emou, ekrataiōthē, ou mē dynōmai pros autēn, » boō chagō. Ei de emoi peithoio, tautēn syn emoi kai sy tēn phiynēn aphēseis, kai ton euergetēn eis dynamin hymneseis I monas apoxseis, hina de se nyn tou badizein arxamenon, mē makran hodon odeupai ponon soi proxenēsōmen, entautha se teōs dianapauarmen, kai tēn en ouranǭ, kai tois kat᾽ ouranon phōstę̄rsi, pronoian tou Theou phainomenēn theōrein kataleipsomen. Eikos gar se podēgēthenta, kai kath᾽ heauton tēn theōrian auxēsai, kai ta syntomias charin hypo tou logou kataleiphthenta, ek tōn eirēmenōn heurein, kai meta tou Prophētou boēsai" e« Hōs emegalynthē ta erga sou, Kyrie! panta en sorią epoiēsas, »Soi doxa, kai timē, kai protchynēsis, heis tous aiōnas. Ha mēn.
And perhaps one of those who are ungrateful might find fault with what has come about well and rightly and is ordered wisely and beneficially, and say: "Why do the solstices happen? What use do the changes of the seasons do us?" And what good things, most wise and most clever accuser of Providence, do we not obtain through them? When winter begins, we sow seeds, and the one who taught us this art nourishes them, raining from the clouds, drawing up the sea water by his word, carrying it aloft, changing its saltiness into sweetness, and separating the drops, now letting them fall small, now great and in streams, dividing the clouds' birth pangs as through a sieve. This is why there is a winter season: to nourish you, ungrateful as you are, and to provide you, unthankful as you are, with what you need. When spring begins again, some farmers prune the vines, others plant new ones, and the vine branches, loosened by the warmth of the air, hasten to bud. When summer is at its height, and the sun heats the air strongly, the grain calls the farmer to the harvest, the grapes darken, the olives are heavy as their fruit is nourished, and the kinds of fruit ripen. Then autumn comes and hands these over fully ripe to the growers; and they, having gathered them, take up sowing again. Stop, then, being ungrateful, trying to slander Providence with its own gifts, and shooting at the giver with the good things he has given. In all that has been said, learn the providence of God that directs and steers you and provides you with an abundance of all good things. Look also at the stars: their nature, their position, their order, the variety of their figures, their delight, their use, their dance, their risings and settings. The Creator of all things made them not only to light up the darkness of the night and give people the use of light on a moonless night, but also to guide wayfarers and lead sailors. For they travel by them, and attending to their position, they steer the ship and direct it to whatever harbors they wish. Since the nature of water does not receive the tracks of horses, donkeys, mules, and walkers, or the ruts of wagons and carriages, which travellers on land follow and so make their way without doubt, the Master of all has given to those who cross the great seas the position of the stars, like tracks of the sea's paths. O ineffable love for humankind! O inexpressible wisdom! Who could worthily wonder at the goodness of God's providence, its power, its resourcefulness in difficulties, its ingenuity where there is no way, its magnificence, its abundance? Truly "your knowledge has become too wonderful for me; it is mighty, I cannot attain to it," I too cry out. If you will be persuaded by me, you too will utter this cry with me and will praise the benefactor as far as you can … But so that we may not cause you labor by walking a long road when you have only begun to walk, we will let you rest here for now, and leave you to contemplate God's providence appearing in heaven and in the lights of heaven. For it is likely that, once guided, you will increase the contemplation by yourself, find from what has been said what the argument left out for brevity, and cry out with the prophet: "How great are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you have made them all." To you be glory, honor, and worship to the ages. Amen.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Ps 139:6 (138:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 104:24 (103:24 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Against those who fault the changing seasons, Theodoret shows how each season serves sowing, growth, and harvest, and how the stars guide travellers and sailors, and ends his first discourse in praise.
- "Your knowledge … cannot attain to it": Ps 139:6 (LXX 138:6). "How great are your works …": Ps 104:24 (LXX 103:24).
- A few words are lost after "will praise the benefactor as far as you can" (printed Ἶ μόνας αποξσεις); marked … and not supplied.
- At the end of the oration the OCR has a block of debris from Migne's Latin column and his footnotes, including the variant reading "the variety of the figures" from the Paris edition; it is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (debris from Migne's Latin column and footnotes at the end of the oration; debris from Migne's Latin column read as Greek; footnote marker): νὸ. ἃ Καὶ → Καὶ; αιόφυθ αὐ "6 πα οἱ ρυ οί γα ἰλοῖδ δυπΐ, δ] Ὁ] ὁ 55] ἢ 05 δ 05 1} }ΠΠ{45 γοα ! ἢ Βοά οἷϊα 1 βαρίοη- [π {πὶ Θηἶ" δ πηδηῖα ἰδ Δα 0 1005 (ἀ61}}15815 114 παϊγὶς δ ονοῖ, οἱ τη γ] η 88 ἴῃ δἰΐατη συ νη 8, Δα 50} 165 [6 ιἰϊ, μοῦίηάς δὸ δὶ οτῖ το ἰμ]αἰῶ. → ; (5.) → ; γδηΐ ἢ 5 Δυ απ) η15 ἢ ρογιδίαγα Οὐ] ΧΙ Ποῖ : αυἱ δὶ (γαῖα. Ομ Π 65 ΘΟἸΙἜρθγαπί δα 86ϑοὰ εἰ ᾿πᾶ ποῖ δἰ Ποὺ γα πὶ ἀ]ἴῃ [οτίαια οϑῖ, ποῦ ροίΐθγο δὰ δᾶπὶ (ρϑυ προ γο) ".» βου ὧἱ Ὠοὶ ργονϊἀδπιίδῃν, αι ἴῃ οἷο οἵ οο δὰ τῶν σχημάτων. Α ἡμέρας τὰς ἱπομέτρους διαδοχὰς, καὶ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν αὐ πα θυ δὰ ἢ} αἱΠΠ|55ἰ πα δ δ χ, οἱ οἱ δ] δ ὄχοὶρὶῖ, 56 νϑῦοἱ 1]οἱ οἱ ἰρὶθὰ (6} Θρὰ 506] αἱ ποῖ αἱ τοὺ γὲ- {πο ῦυ πὶ ἱπο ἴῃ ρ πιουἱ ηιἀΐο ἴῃ ἢ τ. σχη. τ. ποῖχ, αι. Ῥαγῖβ. τὴν ποικιλίαν τῶν σχημάτων. → .
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Prov. 1.8 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/1-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/1-8
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Greek as printed in Migne PG 83 (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the Greek.