On Providence (ten orations) 8.1–8.8
Greek text: PG 83.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 8
8.1PG 83
Μεγάλης μὲν, εὖ οἶδα σαφῶς, δεῖ καὶ γλώττης καὶ διανοίας, τῷ μεγάλην οὕτω λόγων ὑπόθεσιν ἀναδέχεσθαι πειρωμένῳ᾽ πέφυκε γάρ πως κινδυνεύειν ἐν τοῖς λόγοις τῶν πραγμάτων ἡ δόξα" τῇ γὰρ τούτῶν ἀσθενείᾳ καὶ ῥώμῃ φιλοῦσι κρίνειν τὰ πράγματα, οἱ μὴ τῇ φύσει τούτων, ἀλλὰ τῇ δεινότητι τῶν λόγων προσέχειν ἐθέλοντες. Ἐγὼ δὲ τῇ τῆς ὑποθέσεως δυνάμει θαῤῥήσας, οὐκ ἐμέτρησα ταύτῃ τὰ᾽ τῆς ἐννοίας κυήματα, οὐδ' ἐλογισάμην τὰς μικρὰϑ αὑτῆς καὶ ἐξιτήλους ὠδῖνας, ἀλλ᾽ ἐσχόπησα μόνον, ὡς δῆλόν ἐστι τοῖς εἰδέναι θέλουσι τῆς ἀληθείας τὸ φῶς, καθάπερ ἥλιος τοῖς ἐῤῥωμένοις τὰς ὄψεις. Καὶ μηδενὸς γὰρ συνηγοροῦντο:, βοᾷ τοῦ Ποιητοῦ καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἣ πρόνοια. Οὐδὲν οὖν ἀπεικὸς δρᾷν φήθην, οὐδὲ μέμψεως ἄξιον, παρασχὼν εἰς ὑπουργίαν τὴν γλῶτταν, τῇ πάντοθεν φερομένῃ φωνῇ, καὶ ταύτην ἐνηχῶν τοῖς βεδυσμένοις τῶν ἀχαρίστων ὠσίν. Ὅτι μὲν οὖν καὶ πενία καὶ πλοῦτος ἀναγχαῖΐα τῷ βίῳ καὶ χρήσιμα, καὶ δουλείαν δέ τινα καὶ δεσποτείαν, καθάπερ τινὰ φάρμακα, τοῖς ἕλκεσι τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ τῶν ψυχῶν προσήνεγκεν ἰατρὸς, τὴν θείαν χάριν συνεργὸν ἐσχηχότεφς, ἱκανῶς ἀπεδείξαςμεν. Ὅτι δὲ οὐ λωθᾶται δουλεία τοῖς χρωμένοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ λίαν τοὺς βουλομένους εὐεργετεῖ, αὐτίκα, σὺν Θεῷ φάναι, δειχθήσεται" τοῦτο γὰρ χθὲς ἐρεῖν ὑπεσχόμεθα. Δυνατὸν μὲν γὰρ τῷ βουλομένῳ, καὶ δίχα τῶν παλαιῶν παραδειγμάτων τοὺς συνδουλεύονε τας ἐξετάσαι, καὶ θεωρῆσαι πολλοὺς ἀρετῇς φροντιστὰς, καὶ τὴν δουλείαν εὐνοίᾳ χοσμοῦντας, καὶ τῆς μὲν ἀνάγκης οὐ δεομένους, γνώμῃ δὲ τὸ δέον ἐργαζομένους, καὶ τῶν δεσποτῶν τὴν θεραπείαν προαιρουμένους, καὶ τούτου χάριν καὶ. ἐλευθερίας ἀξιουμένους, καὶ χρημάτων πολλῶν κυρίους γινομένους, καὶ τῆς καλῆς δουλείας τὰ ἐπίχειρα δρεπομένους. Οὐ παρέλχον δὲ ἴσως καὶ ἐῶν πάλαι δεδουλευχότων ὀλίγους εἰς μέσον παραγαγεῖν, καὶ γυμνῶσαι τῆς εὐσεθδείας τὸν θησαυρὸν, ὃν ἐκεῖνοι συνήγαγον, εἰς ἔλεγχον τῶν τὴν δουλείαν διαδάλλειν ἐπιχειρούντων, καὶ τῆς μείξονος βλασφημίας ταύτην ἀφορμὴν ποιουμένων, καὶ κατὰ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ πραγοίας ἐντεῦθεν ἀφιέναι τὰ βέλη τολμώντων. Παρίτω τοιγαροῦν πρῶτος ἁπάντων, ὁ πρῶτος ᾿Αὐραὰμ τοῦ πατριάρχου θεράπων. Οὗτος τοίνυν, ἡνίκα γεγηραχὼς ὁ πατριάρχης ὥφθη, τῆς φύσεως τὸν ὅρον εἰδὼς, καὶ τοῦ βίον τὸ τέλος ὁρῶν, γῆρας γὰρ θανάτου προοίμιον, περὶ τοῦ νἱέος ἐνετέλλετο, καὶ φέρειν αὑτῷ γυναῖκα προσέταττεν ἐκ τῆς οἰκείας φυλῆς, καὶ φεύγειν τὴν τῶν Χαναναίων συγγένειαν παρηγγύα, ταῖς παλαιαῖς ἀραΐ; καὶ εὑλογίαις πιστεύων" τηνικαῦτα ὁ θαυμαστὸς οὗτος οἷπρῶτον μὲν ἀχριδῶς ἅπαντα βασανίζει τοῦ προ
Megalēs men, eu oida saphōs, dei kai glōttēs kai dianoias, tǭ megalēn houtō logōn hypothesin anadechesthai peirōmenǭ᾽ pephyke gar pōs kindyneuein en tois logois tōn pragmatōn hē doxa" tę̄ gar toutōn astheneią kai rhōmę̄ philousi krinein ta pragmata, hoi mē tę̄ physei toutōn, alla tę̄ deinotēti tōn logōn prosechein ethelontes. Egō de tę̄ tēs hypotheseōs dynamei tharrhēsas, ouk emetrēsa tautę̄ ta᾽ tēs ennoias kyēmata, oud' elogisamēn tas mikraϑ hautēs kai exitēlous ōdinas, all᾽ eschopēsa monon, hōs dēlon esti tois eidenai thelousi tēs alētheias to phōs, kathaper hēlios tois errhōmenois tas opseis. Kai mēdenos gar synēgorounto:, boą tou Poiētou kai Sōtēros hēmōn hē pronoia. Ouden oun apeikos drąn phēthēn, oude mempseōs axion, paraschōn eis hypourgian tēn glōttan, tę̄ pantothen pheromenę̄ phōnę̄, kai tautēn enēchōn tois bedysmenois tōn acharistōn ōsin. Hoti men oun kai penia kai ploutos ananchaiïa tǭ biǭ kai chrēsima, kai douleian de tina kai despoteian, kathaper tina pharmaka, tois helkesi tēs hamartias ho tōn psychōn prosēnenken iatros, tēn theian charin synergon eschēchotephs, hikanōs apedeixasmen. Hoti de ou lōthatai douleia tois chrōmenois, alla kai lian tous boulomenous euergetei, autika, syn Theǭ phanai, deichthēsetai" touto gar chthes erein hypeschometha. Dynaton men gar tǭ boulomenǭ, kai dicha tōn palaiōn paradeigmatōn tous syndouleuone tas exetasai, kai theōrēsai pollous aretę̄s phrontistas, kai tēn douleian eunoią chosmountas, kai tēs men anankēs ou deomenous, gnōmę̄ de to deon ergazomenous, kai tōn despotōn tēn therapeian proairoumenous, kai toutou charin kai. eleutherias axioumenous, kai chrēmatōn pollōn kyrious ginomenous, kai tēs kalēs douleias ta epicheira drepomenous. Ou parelchon de isōs kai eōn palai dedouleuchotōn oligous eis meson paragagein, kai gymnōsai tēs eusethdeias ton thēsauron, hon ekeinoi synēgagon, eis elenchon tōn tēn douleian diadallein epicheirountōn, kai tēs meixonos blasphēmias tautēn aphormēn poioumenōn, kai kata tēs tou Theou pragoias enteuthen aphienai ta belē tolmōntōn. Paritō toigaroun prōtos hapantōn, ho prōtos ᾿Auraam tou patriarchou therapōn. Houtos toinyn, hēnika gegērachōs ho patriarchēs hōphthē, tēs physeōs ton horon eidōs, kai tou bion to telos horōn, gēras gar thanatou prooimion, peri tou nieos enetelleto, kai pherein hautǭ gynaika prosetatten ek tēs oikeias phylēs, kai pheugein tēn tōn Chananaiōn syngeneian parēngya, tais palaiais araï? kai heulogiais pisteuōn" tēnikauta ho thaumastos houtos hoiprōton men achridōs hapanta basanizei tou pro
Great tongue and great mind are needed, I know well, for one who tries to take on so great a subject of discourse; for the reputation of things is somehow apt to be endangered in discourses, since those who are willing to attend not to the nature of things but to the cleverness of words like to judge things by the weakness or strength of the words. But trusting in the strength of the subject, I did not measure by it the offspring of my thought, nor reckon its small and fading labor pains; I considered only that the light of truth is plain to those who wish to know it, as the sun is to those with healthy eyes. For even with no one pleading for it, the providence of our Maker and Saviour cries out. So I thought I was doing nothing unreasonable or blameworthy in lending my tongue to serve the voice that comes from every side, and sounding it into the stopped ears of the ungrateful. That poverty and wealth are necessary and useful to life, and that the physician of souls has applied a certain slavery and mastery like medicines to the wounds of sin, we have shown sufficiently, with divine grace as our helper. That slavery does not harm those who experience it, but greatly benefits those who are willing, will now, God willing, be shown; for we promised yesterday to speak of this. For one who wishes can, even without the ancient examples, examine his fellow slaves and see many who care for virtue and adorn their slavery with goodwill, who do not need compulsion but do what is right by choice, who prefer the service of their masters, and for this reason are counted worthy of freedom, become owners of much money, and pluck the rewards of good slavery. But perhaps it is not superfluous to bring forward also a few of those who were slaves long ago, and to lay bare the treasure of piety they gathered, to refute those who try to slander slavery, make it an occasion for greater blasphemy, and dare from it to shoot their darts against God's providence. Let the first of all come forward, then: the first servant of the patriarch Abraham. When the patriarch had grown old, knowing the bound of nature and seeing the end of life (for old age is death's prelude), he gave instructions about his son and commanded him to bring him a wife from his own tribe, and charged him to avoid kinship with the Canaanites, trusting the ancient curses and blessings. Then this wonderful … first examines precisely everything of the …
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Gen 24:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 24:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 24:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 9:25 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Opening his eighth discourse, Theodoret recalls that wealth, poverty, and slavery serve as remedies for sin and promises to show that slavery does not harm the willing, beginning with Abraham's servant sent to find a wife for Isaac.
- Abraham's servant: Gen 24:1-9; the curses and blessings: Gen 9:25-27 (the curse of Canaan) and the promises to Abraham.
- Theodoret's praise of the willing slave is translated as written. Debris from Migne's Latin column and leaked footnotes (including a variant reading for the opening) are removed; words are lost at the end.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (debris from Migne's Latin column inside the word συνήγαγον; debris from Migne's Latin column read as Greek; debris inside the word ἐπιχειρούντων; leaked footnote and debris at the end of the part; leaked footnote and debris from Migne's Latin column): κν, 9... ἰῃδἰ ἤδεὶ ἰῃ πιο] 5 αυὶ 4υἱ ἰΐα Βυρρ]Ἰολη τ θὰ5 δα χ Π απὶ " δα απ ἐς 60 δυ: ἰϊὰ πιϑη 8 οὐῃ ὁ δεῖ καὶ γλ. Ἐαϊ!. ῬΑγῖ8. χα' γλώττης χρεία, ὐ ]αΐ, πος ἰὰ- Α → ; ἱρ- Εἰ 3886 δὶ οἱ οἱ {116 πὶ 6886, οἱ ἰἃἴθ 80 → ; ὀογυτῃ αὶ οὐϊπι βεγυϊογυηΐ ἰπ πηθαΐυπι ργοάμοεγο, α γον, → γον, ; ἐπιοἱ υἱἢ} πὶ οἱ χειρούντων → ἐπιχειρούντων; όη5, βυ πη 46 ἐἢ πὸ Αργὰαυϊ "Ὁ ἅδῃ. χχῖν, 1 864. ἐδ "4, ὃ. → .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Prov. 8.1 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/8-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/8-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-de-providentia-8-1) · Report an error
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.
8.2PG 83
Ια δεσπότον τὰ ῥήματα, καὶ τὸν προσφερόμενον δεδιὼς ὄρκον, καὶ τὸν τῶν ἁπάντων ἐπόπτην ὀῤῥωδῶν ὀφθαλμὸν, πυνθάνεται πρῶτον, εἰ δεῖ τὸν υἱὸν εἰς πἣν πατρῴαν ἀπαγαγεῖν οἰκίαν, τῆς γυναικὸς τὴν ρεύσαντος, καὶ φήσαντος μὴ δεῖν ἀπάγειν, ἀλλὰ τῷ Θεῷ τῷ χεχληχότι θαῤῥεῖν, καὶ τοῖς ἐχείνου πηδαλίοις πιστεύειν, ἀπαίρει μὲν ὁ παῖς ἐκ τῆς δεσποτιγῆς οἰκίας, πολλοὺς δὲ σταθμοὺς ὁδεύσας, εἰς τὴν Χαῤῥαν ὀψὲ τῆς ἡμέρας παρεγένετο " καὶ τὰς μὲν καμήλους καθίζει, φάρμακον τῶν πόνων τὴν ἀνάπανλαν προσφέρων, αὐτὸς δὲ μακρὰ καίρειν εἰπὼν οἷς ἐκόμιζε δώροις, καὶ πάσῃ τῇ τοῦ πλούτου περιφανείᾳ, εἰς οὐρανὸν τὰς χεῖρας ἐκτείνας, τὸν Θεὸν ἱκετεύει, προμνήστορα τοῦ τροφίμου γενέσθαι, καὶ νουσαν ἤθεσιν. "Αξιον δὲ καὶ αὐτῶν ἐχείνων τῶν εὐσεδῶν ἀκοῦσαι ῥημάτων. ε Κύριε, γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ κυρίου μου ᾿Αδραὰμ, ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἔστηχα ἐπὶ τῆς πηγῆς τοῦ ὕδατος, αἱ δὲ θυγατέρες τῶν οἰκούντων τὴν πόλιν ἐκπορεύονται ἀντλῇσαι ὕδωρ, καὶ ἔσται, ἡ παρθένος ἧ ἂν ἐγὼ εἴπω, Ἐπίχλινον τὴν ὑδρίαν σου, ἵνα πίω, καὶ εἴπῃ μοὶ, Πίς καὶ ταῖς καμήλοις σου ὑδρεύσομαι ἕως ἂν καύσωνται πίνουσαι, ταύτην ἡτοίμασας τῷ παιδί σου Ἰσαάκ' καὶ ἐν τούτῳ γνώσομαι, ὅτι ἐποίησας ἕλεος τῷ κυρίῳ μου ᾿Αδραάμ. » Τίς οὐκ ἂν ἀγασθείη «ἧς εὐσεδείας τὸν ἄνδρα; μᾶλλον δὲ τίς ἂν ἀξίως τῶν εἰρημένων ἕκαστον εὐφημήσειεν; "Ἔστι γὰρ ἰδεῖν κατὰ ταὐτὸν πίστει καὶ σοφίᾳ καὶ εὐσεδείᾳ τὴν εὐχὴν χοσμουμένην. Τὸ γὰρ πᾶσιν ἑῤῥῶσθαι φράδαντα καὶ τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ προμηθείᾳ τὴν τῆς ἐχκαὶ σοφίας τῆς ἀνωτάτω; Τὸ δὲ τῇ τοῦ δεσπότου θαῤῥῆσαι δικαιοσύνῃ, καὶ τούτου καλέσαι Θεὸν τὸν κοινὸν ἁπάντων Θεὸν, καὶ δι᾽ ἐκεῖνον ἐλπίσαι τέλος πάντως λήψεσθαι τὴν εὐχὴν, καὶ τὴν αἴτησιν εἰς πέρὰς ἀχθήσεσθαι, ποίαν πίστεως ὑπερδολὴν κει; Τετυχηχὼς δὲ ὧν ἤτησε, θεοφιλὴς ἀποδέδεικται. Οὐ γὰρ ἂν οὕτω ῥᾳξίως ἔτυχεν, εἰ μὴ λίαν ἦν εὔνους τῷ δεδωκότι" τὴν εὔνοιαν δὲ ἡ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐδημιούργησεν ἀρετή «Ὅτι τετύχηκε, καὶ παραυτίκα τετύχηκεν, ἡ ἱστορία διδάσκει. Εἰς γὰρ τῆς εὐχῆς τὸ τέλος ἔφθασεν ἡ Ῥεδέκχα, χὰαὶ τὸ τῆς φιλοξενίας ἐπιδείκνυσι σημεῖον" καὶ σμικρὸν ὕδωρ αἰτηθεῖσα, καὶ τὰς καμήλους ἀπάσας ποτίζειν ἐπείγεται" καὶ μετὰ Δόνου τὸ ὕδωρ ἀνιμωμένη, λογικῶν καὶ ἀλόγων θεραπεύει τὸ δίψος, ἀνδρίαν ὁμοῦ καὶ φιλανθρωπίαν ἐπιδεικνυμένη, καὶ τῆς ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς εὐχῆς ζωγραφηθείσης κόρης ἀρχέτυπον φαινομένη, καὶ τῆς Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ὁ πιστὸς ἐκεῖνος οἰκέτης ἦτηδεν τεύων, οὐκ εἶδος, οὐ μέγεθος, οὐ παρειῶν ἄνθος, Ὁ οὐκ ὀφθαλμῶν κάλλος, οὐκ ὀφρύων εὐθέτους γραμμὰς, οὐ γένους περιφάνειαν, οὗ πλούτου περιουσίαν, ἀλλὰ φιλόξενον γνώμην, ἥπιον τρόπον, φθέγμα πρᾶον καὶ μέτριον, ἦθος ἐπιεικὲς καὶ φιλάνθρωπον, ἄξιον τῆς δεσποτιχῆς οἰκίας, τῆς πᾶσι ξένοις ἠνεῳγμένης, τῆς εἴδη ποικίλα δεχομένης, καὶ πᾶσι προσφερούσης τὰ πρόσφορα. Ταῦτα ἤτησε, ταῦτα ἔλαδε. Καὶ οὐδὲ
Ia despoton ta rhēmata, kai ton prospheromenon dediōs orkon, kai ton tōn hapantōn epoptēn orrhōdōn ophthalmon, pynthanetai prōton, ei dei ton huion eis pēn patrǭan apagagein oikian, tēs gynaikos tēn reusantos, kai phēsantos mē dein apagein, alla tǭ Theǭ tǭ chechlēchoti tharrhein, kai tois echeinou pēdaliois pisteuein, apairei men ho pais ek tēs despotigēs oikias, pollous de stathmous hodeusas, eis tēn Charrhan opse tēs hēmeras paregeneto " kai tas men kamēlous kathizei, pharmakon tōn ponōn tēn anapanlan prospherōn, autos de makra kairein eipōn hois ekomize dōrois, kai pasę̄ tę̄ tou ploutou periphaneią, eis ouranon tas cheiras ekteinas, ton Theon hiketeuei, promnēstora tou trophimou genesthai, kai nousan ēthesin. "Axion de kai autōn echeinōn tōn eusedōn akousai rhēmatōn. e Kyrie, gar, phēsin, ho Theos tou kyriou mou ᾿Adraam, idou egō estēcha epi tēs pēgēs tou hydatos, hai de thygateres tōn oikountōn tēn polin ekporeuontai antlę̄sai hydōr, kai estai, hē parthenos hē an egō eipō, Epichlinon tēn hydrian sou, hina piō, kai eipę̄ moi, Pis kai tais kamēlois sou hydreusomai heōs an kausōntai pinousai, tautēn hētoimasas tǭ paidi sou Isaak' kai en toutǭ gnōsomai, hoti epoiēsas heleos tǭ kyriǭ mou ᾿Adraam. » Tis ouk an agastheiē «hēs eusedeias ton andra? mallon de tis an axiōs tōn eirēmenōn hekaston euphēmēseien? "Esti gar idein kata tauton pistei kai sophią kai eusedeią tēn euchēn chosmoumenēn. To gar pasin herrhōsthai phradanta kai tę̄ tou Theou promētheią tēn tēs echkai sophias tēs anōtatō? To de tę̄ tou despotou tharrhēsai dikaiosynę̄, kai toutou kalesai Theon ton koinon hapantōn Theon, kai di᾽ ekeinon elpisai telos pantōs lēpsesthai tēn euchēn, kai tēn aitēsin eis peras achthēsesthai, poian pisteōs hyperdolēn kei? Tetychēchōs de hōn ētēse, theophilēs apodedeiktai. Ou gar an houtō rhąxiōs etychen, ei mē lian ēn eunous tǭ dedōkoti" tēn eunoian de hē tēs psychēs edēmiourgēsen aretē «Hoti tetychēke, kai parautika tetychēken, hē historia didaskei. Eis gar tēs euchēs to telos ephthasen hē Rhedekcha, chaai to tēs philoxenias epideiknysi sēmeion" kai smikron hydōr aitētheisa, kai tas kamēlous apasas potizein epeigetai" kai meta Donou to hydōr animōmenē, logikōn kai alogōn therapeuei to dipsos, andrian homou kai philanthrōpian epideiknymenē, kai tēs en tǭ logǭ tēs euchēs zōgraphētheisēs korēs archetypon phainomenē, kai tēs Touto gar kai ho pistos ekeinos oiketēs ētēden teuōn, ouk eidos, ou megethos, ou pareiōn anthos, Ho ouk ophthalmōn kallos, ouk ophryōn euthetous grammas, ou genous periphaneian, hou ploutou periousian, alla philoxenon gnōmēn, hēpion tropon, phthegma praon kai metrion, ēthos epieikes kai philanthrōpon, axion tēs despotichēs oikias, tēs pasi xenois ēneǭgmenēs, tēs eidē poikila dechomenēs, kai pasi prospherousēs ta prosphora. Tauta ētēse, tauta elade. Kai oude
… his master's words, fearing the oath put to him and dreading the eye of the overseer of all, he first asks whether he should take the son back to the ancestral house if the woman … ; and when Abraham forbade it, saying that he must not take him back but trust in God who had called him and rely on his rudders, the servant sets out from his master's house, travels many stages, and arrives at Harran late in the day. He makes the camels kneel, offering them rest as a remedy for their labors, while he himself, bidding a long farewell to the gifts he carried and all the splendor of wealth, stretches out his hands to heaven and entreats God to become the matchmaker for his master's son and … in character. It is worth hearing those pious words themselves. "O Lord," he says, "God of my master Abraham, behold, I stand by the spring of water, and the daughters of those who live in the city are coming out to draw water; and the maiden to whom I say, 'Tilt your jar so that I may drink,' and who says to me, 'Drink, and I will draw water for your camels until they have finished drinking,' let her be the one you have prepared for your servant Isaac; and by this I shall know that you have shown mercy to my master Abraham." Who would not admire the man's piety? Or rather, who could worthily praise each of his words? For one can see the prayer adorned at once with faith, wisdom, and piety. For to bid farewell to all and to entrust … to God's forethought, … of the highest wisdom? And to trust in his master's righteousness, to call the common God of all his God, and to hope through him that the prayer would surely receive its fulfilment and the request be brought to its end, what excess of faith does that leave out? And having obtained what he asked, he was shown to be dear to God. For he would not have obtained it so easily if he had not been very well disposed toward the giver; and virtue of soul produced the goodwill. That he obtained it, and obtained it at once, the history teaches. For Rebekah arrived at the very end of his prayer and showed the sign of hospitality: asked for a little water, she hastens to water all the camels; and drawing the water with labor, she cares for the thirst of rational and irrational alike, showing both courage and kindness, and appearing as the original of the maiden painted in the words of the prayer, and … For this is what that faithful servant asked for in his entreaty: not appearance, not stature, not the bloom of the cheeks, not the beauty of the eyes, not the well-drawn lines of the eyebrows, not distinction of family, not abundance of wealth, but a hospitable mind, a gentle manner, a soft and modest voice, a reasonable and kind character, worthy of his master's house, which was open to all strangers, received all kinds, and offered to all what suited them. This he asked for; this he received. And not even
Gen 24:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 24:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 24:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 24:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 24:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 24:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 24:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 24:20 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Abraham's servant, sent to find a wife for Isaac, prays at the spring for a hospitable woman rather than for beauty or wealth, and Rebekah at once appears and waters his camels.
- Gen 24:5-8 (the servant's question and Abraham's answer), 24:10-11, and the prayer quoted from 24:12-14.
- Words are lost in the OCR at the beginning, in the servant's question ("if the woman …", that is, if she refused to come), in "and … in character", in the sentence praising the prayer ("to entrust … to God's forethought, … of the highest wisdom"), and after "appearing as the original of the maiden painted in the words of the prayer, and …"; marked … and not supplied.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris; debris from Migne's Latin column read as Greek; debris from Migne's Latin column read as Greek; some Greek letters are lost with it): Α ἰλπάθδηι 80 86 → ; (θη 818 Δ] δ δυίΐίοπι Πα] οἱ σα} 18 ἀϊστ“ οὶ δ πὶ τ, 836 → ; οὐδὲ ᾿ ἰρ͵ά. → οὐδὲ.
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Prov. 8.2 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/8-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/8-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-de-providentia-8-2) · Report an error
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.
8.3PG 83
εὐθὺς ἀδασανίστως ἔλαδεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξετάζων τῶν γινομένων ἕχαστον, ἰδεῖν, φησὶν, ἐδούλετο, εἰ εὐώδωχε Κύριος τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ, ἣ οὔ. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἅπαντα εἶδεν ἃ ἤτησε σημεῖα, οὐδὲ οὕτως ἔδωκε πρὸ τῆς ὑμνῳδίαφ τῆς μνηστείας τὰ σύμθδολα, οὐδὲ ὑφ᾽ ἣδονῆς ἡττηθεὶς, ἐπελήσθη τοῦ δεδωκότος. ᾿Αλλὰ τὸ δῶρον βλέπων, βλέπειν ἐπίστευς καὶ τὸν τοῦ δώρου δοτῆρα, καὶ πρότερον ἐκεῖνον εἰς δύναμιν ὕμνησεν, εἶθ᾽ οὕτως τὸ δῶρον ἐδέξατο. Πυθόμενος γὰρ τίς τὰ εἴη, καὶ ἐκ τίνος ἔφυ, καὶ μαθὼν ὅτι Βαθουὴλ μὲν ἔστι θυγάτηρ, ἔχει δὲ καὶ χαταγωγὴν καὶ χιλὸν ταῖς καμήλοις ἀρκοῦντα, « Σπεύσας, φησὶν, ὁ παὶς προσεκύνησε, καὶ εἵἴπεν᾽ Εὐλογητὸς Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ κυρίου μου ᾿Αὐραὰμ, ὃς οὐκ ἐγκατέλιπε τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὑτοῦ, καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου μον, ἐμέ τε εὐώδωχεν εἰς οἶκον τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ τοῦ χυρίον μον. » Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὧν ἤτησεν ἔλαδε πλείονα, οὐ γὰρ μόνον ὕδωρ ἔδωκεν ἡ κόρη, ἀλλὰ καὶ καταγώγιον δώσειν αὐτομάτως ἐπηγγείλατο, καὶ τροφὴν καὶ αὐτῷ καὶ ταῖς καμήλοις παρέξειν ὑπέσχετο, καὶ τὴν συγγένειαν, ἣν οὐκ ἥτησε, μεθ᾽ ὧν ἤτησεν εἶδε παραχθεῖσαν, ὕμνοις οἷς ἠδύνατο, τὸν τῆς, χάριτος ἡμείόετο χορηγὸν, καὶ ταῖς θείαις ἐπαγγελίαις τὸ ἀψευδὲς ἐμαρτύρει. «Εὐλογητὸς γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ Κύριος, ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ κυρίου μου ᾿Αδραὰμ, ὃς οὐκ ἐγκατέλιπε τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὑτοῦ, καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου μου ᾿Αὐραάμ. » Δίκαιος μὲν γὰρ, φησὶν, ὑπάρχεις, πλείονα τῶν εὐσεθῶν ποιούμενος ἐπιμέλειαν, καὶ τὸν σὸν μεν εὔνουν οἰκέτην, ἐμὸν δὲ χρηστὸν δεσπότην, πάσης ἀξιῶν θεραπείας. Τὴν δὲ ἀλήθειάν σου τῶν λόγων κηρύττει τὰ πράγματα" ἐν παισὶ γὰρ τὰς ὑποσχέ. σεις βεδαιοῖς, ἃς τῷ κυρίῳ μου δέδωκας. Οὕτως ὑμνήσας τὸν μεγαλόδωρον, προσφέρει τῇ κόρῃ τῆς μνηστείας τὰ σύμθολα. Καὶ κοσμεῖ μὲν χρυσῷ τὰ ὦτα, ὡς εὐπετῶς καὶ μάλα ταχέως τῶν ξένων τὰς αἰτήσεις δεχόμενα " κοσμεῖ δὲ τὰς χεῖρας ὡσαύτως, ὡς καλῶς ὑπουργούσας τῇ μεγαλοψυχίᾳ τῆς γνώμης. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν εἰσελήλυθε, καὶ τοὺς ἔκείνης γεννήτορας ἐθεάσατο, καὶ τοῦ δεσπότου τὰς ἐντολὰς ἀπεκάλυψε, καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ἐπικουρίαν ἐγνώρισε, καὶ θεραπείας, ἅτε δὴ γνώριμος, πλείστης ὅσης ἀπήλαυσεν, ἄρα ἐπελάθετο τοῦ δεσπότου, καὶ κεντούμενος ὑπὸ φροντίδων τὸν δε σπότην παρεῖδε, καὶ τὴν οἰκείαν ἀνάπαυλαν τῆς ἐχείνου προτετίμηχε θεραπείας; Οὐδαμῶς. ᾿Αλλὰ καὶ τοῦ τὴν κόρην φύσαντος, καὶ τῆς γεννησαμένης, καὶ τοῦ τῶν ὠδίνων χοινωνήσαντος μένειν ἀντιδολούν-των, ἵν᾽ ὡς ἐχδημούσης τῆς κόρης πρὸς ὀλίγας γοῦν αὐτῆς ἀπολαύσωσιν ἡμέρας, οὗτος ἔλεγε" « Μὴ κατέχετέ με, ὅτι Κύριος εὐώδωχε τὴν ὁδόν μου " ἐχπέμψατέ με, ἵνα ἀπέλθω πρὸς τὸν χύριόν μου. » Καὶ πανταχοῦ τοὺς λόγους τῇ θείᾳ προσηγορίᾳ κοσμεῖ, καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐκεῖθεν ἕλκει τὴν χορηγίαν, καὶ τὰ καθ᾽ αὑτὸν ἐκείνης ἀνάπτει τῆς προμηθείας.
euthys adasanistōs eladen, all᾽ exetazōn tōn ginomenōn hechaston, idein, phēsin, edouleto, ei euōdōche Kyrios tēn hodon autou, hē ou. Epeidē de hapanta eiden ha ētēse sēmeia, oude houtōs edōke pro tēs hymnǭdiaph tēs mnēsteias ta symthdola, oude hyph᾽ hēdonēs hēttētheis, epelēsthē tou dedōkotos. ᾿Alla to dōron blepōn, blepein episteus kai ton tou dōrou dotēra, kai proteron ekeinon eis dynamin hymnēsen, eith᾽ houtōs to dōron edexato. Pythomenos gar tis ta eiē, kai ek tinos ephy, kai mathōn hoti Bathouēl men esti thygatēr, echei de kai chatagōgēn kai chilon tais kamēlois arkounta, « Speusas, phēsin, ho pais prosekynēse, kai heiipen᾽ Eulogētos Kyrios ho Theos tou kyriou mou ᾿Auraam, hos ouk enkatelipe tēn dikaiosynēn hautou, kai tēn alētheian apo tou kyriou mon, eme te euōdōchen eis oikon tou adelphou tou chyrion mon. » Epeidē gar hōn ētēsen elade pleiona, ou gar monon hydōr edōken hē korē, alla kai katagōgion dōsein automatōs epēngeilato, kai trophēn kai autǭ kai tais kamēlois parexein hypescheto, kai tēn syngeneian, hēn ouk hētēse, meth᾽ hōn ētēsen eide parachtheisan, hymnois hois ēdynato, ton tēs, charitos hēmeioeto chorēgon, kai tais theiais epangeliais to apseudes emartyrei. «Eulogētos gar, phēsin, ho Kyrios, ho Theos tou kyriou mou ᾿Adraam, hos ouk enkatelipe tēn dikaiosynēn hautou, kai tēn alētheian apo tou kyriou mou ᾿Auraam. » Dikaios men gar, phēsin, hyparcheis, pleiona tōn eusethōn poioumenos epimeleian, kai ton son men eunoun oiketēn, emon de chrēston despotēn, pasēs axiōn therapeias. Tēn de alētheian sou tōn logōn kēryttei ta pragmata" en paisi gar tas hyposche. seis bedaiois, has tǭ kyriǭ mou dedōkas. Houtōs hymnēsas ton megalodōron, prospherei tę̄ korę̄ tēs mnēsteias ta symthola. Kai kosmei men chrysǭ ta ōta, hōs eupetōs kai mala tacheōs tōn xenōn tas aitēseis dechomena " kosmei de tas cheiras hōsautōs, hōs kalōs hypourgousas tę̄ megalopsychią tēs gnōmēs. Epeidē de eis tēn oikian eiselēlythe, kai tous ekeinēs gennētoras etheasato, kai tou despotou tas entolas apekalypse, kai tou Theou tēn epikourian egnōrise, kai therapeias, hate dē gnōrimos, pleistēs hosēs apēlausen, ara epelatheto tou despotou, kai kentoumenos hypo phrontidōn ton de spotēn pareide, kai tēn oikeian anapaulan tēs echeinou protetimēche therapeias? Oudamōs. ᾿Alla kai tou tēn korēn physantos, kai tēs gennēsamenēs, kai tou tōn ōdinōn choinōnēsantos menein antidoloun-tōn, hin᾽ hōs echdēmousēs tēs korēs pros oligas goun autēs apolausōsin hēmeras, houtos elege" « Mē katechete me, hoti Kyrios euōdōche tēn hodon mou " echpempsate me, hina apelthō pros ton chyrion mou. » Kai pantachou tous logous tę̄ theią prosēgorią kosmei, kai tōn agathōn ekeithen helkei tēn chorēgian, kai ta kath᾽ hauton ekeinēs anaptei tēs promētheias.
did he accept it at once without testing, but examining each thing that happened, he wished, it says, to see whether the Lord had prospered his way or not. And when he had seen all the signs he had asked for, not even then did he give the tokens of betrothal before the hymn of praise, nor, overcome by pleasure, did he forget the giver. But seeing the gift, he believed he saw the giver of the gift too, and first praised him as far as he could, and only then received the gift. For having asked who she was and whose daughter, and learned that she was the daughter of Bethuel and that they had lodging and fodder enough for the camels, "the servant," it says, "hastened and bowed down and said: Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his righteousness and his truth toward my master, and has prospered me to the house of my master's brother." For since he received more than he asked (for the girl not only gave water but of her own accord promised to give lodging and undertook to provide food for him and the camels), and saw kinship, which he had not asked for, brought along with what he had asked, he repaid the giver of the favor with such hymns as he could, and bore witness to the truthfulness of the divine promises. "For blessed is the Lord," he says, "the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his righteousness and his truth toward my master Abraham." For you are righteous, he says, taking greater care of the pious, and counting your loyal servant and my kind master worthy of all care. And the facts proclaim the truth of your words; for in his children you confirm the promises you gave my master. Having thus praised the generous giver, he brings the girl the tokens of betrothal. He adorns her ears with gold, as ears that readily and very quickly receive the requests of strangers; and he adorns her hands likewise, as hands that serve well the generosity of her mind. And when he had come into the house, seen her parents, disclosed his master's commands, made known God's help, and, as an acquaintance, enjoyed a great deal of care, did he then forget his master, overlook him while goaded by his own cares, and prefer his own rest to his master's service? Not at all. But when the girl's father and mother, and the one who shared in the labor pains, begged him to stay, so that they might enjoy her for at least a few days before she went abroad, he said: "Do not detain me, since the Lord has prospered my way; send me away, that I may go to my master." And everywhere he adorns his words with the divine name, draws from there the supply of good things, and fastens his own affairs to that forethought.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Gen 24:21 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 24:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 24:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 24:27 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 24:47 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 24:56 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Abraham's servant tests the signs, praises God before giving the betrothal gifts to Rebekah, and refuses to delay his return to his master, always referring his success to God's providence.
- Gen 24:21, 23-27, 47, 55-56. Theodoret's reading of the earrings and bracelets is his own allegory.
- A leaked footnote with variant readings at the opening and debris from Migne's Latin column are removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (debris from Migne's Latin column; debris from Migne's Latin column read as Greek; leaked footnote and debris from Migne's Latin column): ἕο καὶ τὰς καμήλους σου ποτιῶ, δὰ ᾿ δι τῇ. ἰν]4. τῆς. οἱ ἀεὶπάθ προμηθείας, φρο ροῖ, ἢο 30- Α → ; ἀ τ 05. δάοἱ νογ Δίο πη ἃ ἢοοἱ 60αὐ τ Ποὺ 5 πιο] αι οἱ πὶ πὶ απ 16 πιὸ, αἱ ἀθοᾶπὶ δὰ → ; Α ΒΟΓΙΏΟΠ68. 8008 ΟὔΪ406 ἀϊνίηὶ ποι → .
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Prov. 8.3 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/8-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/8-3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-de-providentia-8-3) · Report an error
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.
8.4PG 83
Τί τοῦτον, εἰπέ μοι, παρέδλαψεν ἡἣ δουλεία; Τίς δὲ τῶν ἐν ἐλευθερίᾳ τεθραμμένων, καὶ ἐπ’ ἐλευθέροις γαυριώντων προγόνοις, τοσαύτης ἀρετῆς ἐπίδειξιν ἐποιήσατο; Ποίαν ὃὲ τῆς ἄκρας εὐσεθείας ὑπερθολὴν καταλίποι; ᾿Αλλ’ ἴσως ἄν τις εἴποι τῶν συκοφαντίας ῥάπτειν ἐπισταμένων, καὶ τὰ χαλὰ διαδάλλειν δεδιδαγμένων, ὡς ἡ τοῦ δεσ πότον φιλοσοφία τοῦτον οὕτως ἐπαιδοτρίδησε, καὶ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ὁρῶν οἷόν τι κάτοπτρον, εἴλκυσεν ἐκεῖθεν τοὺς τῆς ἀρετῆς χαρακτῆρας " οἱ δὲ πονηροὺς ἐσχηκότες δεσπότας, ἐχμάττονται πάλιν ἐκ τοῦ ἀρχετύπου τὸ μίμημα,, καὶ τὰς τῆς πονηρίας ἀπαρχὰς ἐκεῖθεν λαμδάνοντες, ἐργάται γίνονται κακίας, ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τοὺς διδασκάλους δεικνύντες. Φέρε τοίνυν, τὸ ψεῦδος αὐτῶν διελέγξωμεν, καὶ δείξωμεν ὡς αὐθαίρετος καὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς καὶ τῆς κακίας ἡ κτῇσις, καὶ τὸν οὐ βουλόμενον οἰκέτην κακίᾳ συζῇ», οὐδεὶς ἂν πονηρὸς ᾿Αγέσθω δὲ εἰς μέσον ὁ θειότατος Ἰωσὴφ, ὁ τῆς μὲν γυναικὸς ἐκείνης ἔκγονος, τοῦ δὲ πατριάρχου ᾿Αδραὰμ. ἀπόγονος, ἐν ἦρι, ἐν ἀκμῇ, ἐν ὥρᾳ (τῶν γὰρ ὡρῶν ἡ ἀκμαιοτέρα τὸ ἕαρ τυγχάνει), ἐν ἦρι μὲν ἦν τῆς ἡλικίας, εἶχε δὲ τὸ ἄνθος τοῦ χρόνον, ὥρᾷ δὲ λάμπων κατὰ τὸ σῶμα, λαμπροτέραν εἶχε τοῦ σώμᾶτος τὴν ψυχήν. Ἐπέραστος δὲ ἦν τῷ πατρὶ, καὶ λίαν ἐράσμιος, οὐκ ὡς ὀψίγονος μόνον, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς καὶ τοῖς τρόποις συμθαίνων, καὶ τῆς πατρῴας ἀρετῆς ἐκμαγεῖον ὑπάρχων. Οὗτος ἐπειδὴ τοὺς ὀνείρους εἶδεν ἐκείνους, καὶ τῷ πατρὶ διηγήσατο τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἀκουόντων, πολεμεῖται μὲν εὐθὺς ὑπὸ τοῦ φθόνου, καὶ δέχεται λοιδορίας, ἃς ὁ φθόνος ἐγέννησε. Χρόνου δὲ ὀλίγου διελθόντος, οἱ τῶν ὀνείρων τὴν εὐκληρίαν οὐκ ἐνεγχόντες, ἀφιχνούμενον πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὸ μειράκιον θεασάμενοι, ἐπιτρέχουσι μὲν ὡς θῆρες ἀρνίῳ ποίμνης κεχωρισμένῳ, καὶ τῆς τοῦ ποιμένος κηδεμονίας γεγυμνωμένῳ " καὶ μήτε τοῦ πατρὸς τὴν πολιὰν αἰδεσθέντες, μήτε τὸ γήρας οἰχτείρᾶντες, καθάπερ τινὶ βακτηρίᾳ τῷ νέῳ σχηριπτόμένον, μὴ τὴν τῆς φύσεως οἰκονομίαν, μὴ τῆς συγγενείας τὸ δίκαιον, μὴ τὴν τῆς ῥίζης ταυτότητα, μὴ τῆς ἡλικίας τὸ ἄωρον, καὶ κακίας ἀπείρατον, μὴ τὴν ἀκούσιον ὡς ἐν ὀνείροις ἡγεμονίαν, καὶ τῆς σκιᾶς ἀπάσης ἀδρανεστέραν τέως ἀρχὴν, ἐπεχείρησαν μὲν αὑτὸν εὐθὺς παραδοῦναι σφαγῇ, καὶ μιᾶναι τὰς χεῖρας αἵματι συγγενεῖ. Εἶτα τοῦ Ῥουδὴν ἀπαγορεύσαντος τὴν σφαγὴν, καὶ φυγεῖν τὴν κηλῖδα ταύτην παραχελεύσαντος, ἐν λάκκῳ τινὶ βραχὺν αὖτὸν κατακρύψαντες χρόνον, ἀπεμπολοῦσι μικρὸν ὕστερον Ἰσμαηλίταις ἐμπόροις, καὶ θεραπεύουσι τῇ πράσει τὸν φόνον, οὐδὲ βλέπειν ἀνασχόμενοι τὸν ἐδέξατο.
Ti touton, eipe moi, paredlapsen hēē douleia? Tis de tōn en eleutherią tethrammenōn, kai ep’ eleutherois gauriōntōn progonois, tosautēs aretēs epideixin epoiēsato? Poian hoe tēs akras eusetheias hypertholēn katalipoi? ᾿All’ isōs an tis eipoi tōn sykophantias rhaptein epistamenōn, kai ta chala diadallein dedidagmenōn, hōs hē tou des poton philosophia touton houtōs epaidotridēse, kai pros ekeinon horōn hoion ti katoptron, eilkysen ekeithen tous tēs aretēs charaktēras " hoi de ponērous eschēkotes despotas, echmattontai palin ek tou archetypou to mimēma,, kai tas tēs ponērias aparchas ekeithen lamdanontes, ergatai ginontai kakias, en heautois tous didaskalous deiknyntes. Phere toinyn, to pseudos autōn dielenxōmen, kai deixōmen hōs authairetos kai tēs aretēs kai tēs kakias hē ktę̄sis, kai ton ou boulomenon oiketēn kakią syzę̄», oudeis an ponēros ᾿Agesthō de eis meson ho theiotatos Iōsēph, ho tēs men gynaikos ekeinēs ekgonos, tou de patriarchou ᾿Adraam. apogonos, en ēri, en akmę̄, en hōrą (tōn gar hōrōn hē akmaiotera to hear tynchanei), en ēri men ēn tēs hēlikias, eiche de to anthos tou chronon, hōrą de lampōn kata to sōma, lamproteran eiche tou sōmatos tēn psychēn. Eperastos de ēn tǭ patri, kai lian erasmios, ouk hōs opsigonos monon, all᾽ hōs kai tois tropois symthainōn, kai tēs patrǭas aretēs ekmageion hyparchōn. Houtos epeidē tous oneirous eiden ekeinous, kai tǭ patri diēgēsato tōn adelphōn akouontōn, polemeitai men euthys hypo tou phthonou, kai dechetai loidorias, has ho phthonos egennēse. Chronou de oligou dielthontos, hoi tōn oneirōn tēn euklērian ouk enenchontes, aphichnoumenon pros autous to meirakion theasamenoi, epitrechousi men hōs thēres arniǭ poimnēs kechōrismenǭ, kai tēs tou poimenos kēdemonias gegymnōmenǭ " kai mēte tou patros tēn polian aidesthentes, mēte to gēras oichteirantes, kathaper tini baktērią tǭ neǭ schēriptomenon, mē tēn tēs physeōs oikonomian, mē tēs syngeneias to dikaion, mē tēn tēs rhizēs tautotēta, mē tēs hēlikias to aōron, kai kakias apeiraton, mē tēn akousion hōs en oneirois hēgemonian, kai tēs skias apasēs adranesteran teōs archēn, epecheirēsan men hauton euthys paradounai sphagę̄, kai mianai tas cheiras haimati syngenei. Eita tou Rhoudēn apagoreusantos tēn sphagēn, kai phygein tēn kēlida tautēn paracheleusantos, en lakkǭ tini brachyn auton katakrypsantes chronon, apempolousi mikron hysteron Ismaēlitais emporois, kai therapeuousi tę̄ prasei ton phonon, oude blepein anaschomenoi ton edexato.
Tell me, what harm did slavery do this man? Who among those raised in freedom and proud of free ancestors has made such a display of virtue? What excess of the highest piety did he leave out? But perhaps one of those who know how to stitch together slanders and have been taught to discredit what is good might say that his master's philosophy trained him so, and that looking at him as at a mirror he drew from there the features of virtue; while those who have wicked masters take the impress of the copy from the original, and receiving from there the first fruits of wickedness, become workers of vice, showing their teachers in themselves. Come, then, let us refute their falsehood and show that the acquisition of virtue and of vice is a matter of free choice, and that no one … the servant who does not wish to live with vice wicked. Let the most divine Joseph be brought forward, the descendant of that woman and of the patriarch Abraham, in his spring, in his prime, in his bloom (for spring is the most vigorous of the seasons). He was in the spring of his age and had the flower of his years, and shining with beauty in body, he had a soul more radiant than his body. He was beloved by his father and very dear to him, not only as the son of his old age but as one who agreed with him in character and was an impression of his father's virtue. When he saw those dreams and told them to his father in his brothers' hearing, he was at once attacked by envy and received the insults envy bred. A little time later, those who could not bear the good fortune of the dreams saw the youth coming to them and rushed on him like wild beasts on a lamb separated from the flock and stripped of the shepherd's care; and neither respecting their father's grey hair nor pitying his old age, which leaned on the young man as on a staff, nor regarding the order of nature, the just claim of kinship, the sameness of the root, the untimely youth of his age, his inexperience of vice, … the involuntary rule, as in dreams, a rule as yet feebler than any shadow, they tried at once to hand him over to slaughter and stain their hands with kindred blood. Then, when Reuben forbade the slaughter and urged them to avoid this stain, they hid him for a short time in a pit and a little later sold him to Ishmaelite merchants, treating the murder by the sale, not bearing even to see the …
Gen 37:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 37:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 37:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 37:21 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 37:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 37:28 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Slavery did no harm to Abraham's servant; virtue and vice are freely chosen, as Joseph shows, whom his envious brothers, after his dreams, nearly killed and then sold to Ishmaelite merchants.
- Joseph: Gen 37:3-28. "The descendant of that woman": Rebekah, his grandmother.
- Words are lost in the OCR in "no one … the servant … wicked" (probably "could make"), in "… the involuntary rule", and at the end; long debris from Migne's Latin column is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (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; stray mark): ὡς ( καὶ → ὡς καὶ; οἷ ὁρϑυπὶ ἀο- Ργϊυπῖ, οἱ, τη} } 155 ρει ποτα 15 ἴῃ δἰ Ιη οἱ δυἰην ϊα υἱ δ 58 γου Γ, πος πος → ; Ὦ ἰπνίτυπ), υἱροίθ ἴῃ → ; απ τὰ οἱ τέως. ἵ δ Αὶ → ; ἴῃ ὁἃ {που ἢ οὐδ 410 ργοδιαἱ. Αἀ δος δ δὰ 605, 40] ὑ δ ἐμάς «ἴα δ 6 η 5, τοί Διὰ θέ, 266 δι] νοι απὶ οἱ νου ροἱ ἴηἴα οδΐ, 564 δοΐ ἶ χυς ρτφβοηΐοηι Οου πὶ σοηέοι ρα αΐογ, οἱ πος → .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Prov. 8.4 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/8-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/8-4
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-de-providentia-8-4) · Report an error
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.
8.5PG 83
κατ᾿ ὄναρ ἡγεμονεύσαντα. Τοιαύτας τοιγαροῦν δίκας ὑπὲρ ἐνυπνίων τίσας ὁ Ἰωσὴφ, ἄγεται μὲν εἰς τὴν Αἴγυπτον, ἀποδίδοται δὲ πάλιν τῷ Πενζεφῥῇ " ἀρχιμάγειρος δὲ ἣν οὗτος τοῦ βασιλέως. ᾿Αλλὰ κἀνταῦθα γενόμενος, τὴν πατρῴαν ἐλευθερίαν ἐφύλαξε, καὶ τὴν τῶν προγόνων εὐγένειαν ἀκήρανον διετήρησε, καὶ οὐ συμμετέδαλε τῷ χαιρῷ τὴν γνώμην, οὐδὲ ταῖς συμφοβαῖς ἠκολούθει ἡ τῶν τρόπων ἐναλλαγὴ, οὐδὲ καθάπερ χρόαν ἐνήλλαξε τὴν προαίρεσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν βίον ἀμείψας, καὶ ἐξ ἐλευθερίας εἰς δουλείαν μεταπεδὼν, ἐπὶ τῆς προτέρας δρήρειστο γνώμης., καὶ λέγων ὁτιοῦν καὶ πράττων, προλάμπουσαν εἶχε τὴν αἰδῶ τῷ μετώπῳ. Τούτου χάριν καὶ παρ- ᾿ἀυτίκα τιμῆς ἁξκάσης ἀξιοῦται, καὶ τῆς δεσποτικῆς οἰκίας τοὺς οἴακας ἐγχειρίξεται. Καὶ τοῖς μὲν δεσπόκαις τὴν εὔνοιαν, τοῖς δὲ ὁμοδούλοις τὴν ἐπιείκειαν διετέλες προσφέρων. Καὶ περὶ τοὺς τετιμηχότας εὐγνώμων γινόμενος, τῶν ἐθυνομένων ἐποιεῖτο τὴν προσήκουσαν ἐπιμέλειαν. Καὶ ἣν τούτοις κἀκείνοις ἐπέραστος. Σύμμετρον γὰρ τῇ ἀρετῇ τὴν χάριν θεόθεν ἐδέχετο, μᾶλλον δὲ πολλαπλασίους τῶν πόνων ἐδρέπετο τοὺς καρπούς. Διὰ τοῦτο ὅσα αὐτὸς ἐποίει, Κύριος εὐώδου ἂν ταῖς χεροὶν αὐτοῦ. ᾿Αλλὰ πάλιν αὑτὸν ἐντεῦθεν ἕτερὸς διεδέξατο κλύδων, καὶ τὴν τῆς δουλείας τριχυμίαν χαλεπωτέρα πάλιν ἐξεδέξατο ζάλη " καὶ τὸ μὲν ἔλιπεν αὑτὸν χῦμα., τὸ ὃὲ χατέλαδε. Καὶ διὰ τοσούτων κυμάτων καὶ πνευμάτων ὁδεύων, ἀδάπτιστον τὸ σκάφος διέσωσεν. ο Ἧιν, ὡς εἴρηται; νέος τῇ ἀκμῇ τῆς ἡλικίας κοσμούμενος, οἷόν τι ἄνθος ἄρτι τὼν καλύχων ποντας, καὶ στεφάνου δίκην παρειὰν ταινιοῦντας " αἴγλην ὥρας ἀφιεὶς, κοσμιότητι μεμιγμένην, ἐλευθερίᾳ κεκραμένην " αἰδῶ τοῖς μετώποις ἔχων Ταῦθ᾽ ἡ δέσποινα διηνεκῶς ὁρῶσα, δέον ὠφέλειαν ἐντεῦθεν ἀρύσασθαι, εἰς τὸ τῆς ἀκολασίας βάραθρον ἐνέπεσεν. Ὥς δὲ τῇ ὕλῃ τἧς θεωρίας ἔνδοθεν τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἡ φλὸξ εἰς ὕψος ἠγείρετο, καὶ ὁ λογισμὸς παραυτίκα τὸν σπινθῆρα μὴ χατασδέσας, μεγίστην ὕστεῤον τὴν πυῤὰν γενομένην οὐκέτι ἴσχυε σδέσαι, κηνιχαῦτα σύμμαχον τὴν ἀναίδειαν ἐκείνη λαθοῦσα, σαγηνεύειν λόγοις ἐπειράθη τὸν νέον. Ὡς ὃὲ Ὁ χρεῖττον ἐφάνη τῶν δικτύων τὸ θήραμα, καὶ ῥᾳδίως καὶ οὗς ποτνιωμένη προσήνεγκε λόγους ἑταιριχοὺς καὶ ἡδονῇ χεχρωσμένους, ἀπῆλθον ἄπρακτοι καὶ ἀνόνητοι, τηνικαῦτα λοιπὸν τοῖς λόγοις ἐῤῥῶσθαι φράσασα, ἔργῳ προσφέρει τὴν πεῖραν, καὶ σύμμαχον λαδοῦσα τῶν θαλάμων τὴν ἐρημίαν, κατέχει τὸν νέον, δοῦλον αὐτὸν τῶν παθῶν, ἀλλὰ οὐ δεσπότην νομίσασα. Ὁ δὲ τῇ μὲν τῶν ἀνθρώπων οὐκ ἐθάῤῥησεν ἐρημίᾳ, τὸν δὲ πανταχοῦ παρόντα ὀφθαλμὸν ἐθεάσατο καὶ οὔτε τὴν δουλείαν ἐπὶ νοῦν ἔλαδεν, οὔτε τὴν ἐκείνης ἔδεισε δεσποτείαν, οὔτε τῆς συμφορᾶς τὸ μέγεθος, ἧς ὑπέμεινε, λογισάμενος, ἐφεῖναι τὰς τῶν καθῶν ἠθέλησεν ἡνέας, ὡς οὐδενὸς ἐφορῶντος τὰ ἀνθρώπινα, καὶ ποινὴν ἀπαιτοῦντος τοὺς ἀδικεῖν προαιρουμένους. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἀντέταξε τὸν λογισμὸν καὶ δουλείᾳ, καὶ δεσποτείᾳ, καὶ βίου μεταδολῇ, καὶ ἐπιθνμίας ὁρμῇ, καὶ ἡλικίᾳ πυρπολουμένῃ, καὶ λόγοῖς πιθανοῖς καὶ κωτίλοις δούλῳ παρὰ δεσποίνης προσφερομένοις, καὶ κατηγόρων ἐρημίᾳ, καὶ προσδοκωμένῃ συκοφαντίᾳ, καὶ μυρίαις ἐντεῦθεν συμφοραῖς φυομέναις. Καὶ πρῶτον τοῖς τῆς δουλείας νόμοις καίρειν εἰπὼν, καὶ τὴν τοῦ συμόούλου καὶ διδασκάλου τάξιν ἀναλαδὼν, γίνεται σωφροσύνης συνήγορος, καὶ ἀκολασίας κατήγοῤος. Καὶ τῇ πρεσβυτέρᾳ ὁ νέος, καὶ τῇ δεσποίνῃ δοῦλος, καὶ τῇ ἀνδρὶ σφνεζευγμένῃ, καὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἐννόμως ἀναπιμπλάναι δυναμένῃ, ὁ γάμου ζυγὸν οὐδέπω δεξάμενος, ἀλλὰ σφοδρὰς δεχόμενος τῆς ἐπιθυμίας τὰς προσδολὰς, περὶ σωφροσύγῆς προσφέρει παραίνεσιν. ὕΛξιον δὲ καὶ αὐτῶν ἐχείψων τῶν ἱερῶν τοῦ σώφρονος ἀκοῦσαι ῥημάτων.
kat᾿ onar hēgemoneusanta. Toiautas toigaroun dikas hyper enypniōn tisas ho Iōsēph, agetai men eis tēn Aigypton, apodidotai de palin tǭ Penzephrhę̄ " archimageiros de hēn houtos tou basileōs. ᾿Alla kantautha genomenos, tēn patrǭan eleutherian ephylaxe, kai tēn tōn progonōn eugeneian akēranon dietērēse, kai ou symmetedale tǭ chairǭ tēn gnōmēn, oude tais symphobais ēkolouthei hē tōn tropōn enallagē, oude kathaper chroan enēllaxe tēn proairesin, alla kai ton bion ameipsas, kai ex eleutherias eis douleian metapedōn, epi tēs proteras drēreisto gnōmēs., kai legōn hotioun kai prattōn, prolampousan eiche tēn aidō tǭ metōpǭ. Toutou charin kai par- ᾿autika timēs haxkasēs axioutai, kai tēs despotikēs oikias tous oiakas encheirixetai. Kai tois men despokais tēn eunoian, tois de homodoulois tēn epieikeian dieteles prospherōn. Kai peri tous tetimēchotas eugnōmōn ginomenos, tōn ethynomenōn epoieito tēn prosēkousan epimeleian. Kai hēn toutois kakeinois eperastos. Symmetron gar tę̄ aretę̄ tēn charin theothen edecheto, mallon de pollaplasious tōn ponōn edrepeto tous karpous. Dia touto hosa autos epoiei, Kyrios euōdou an tais cheroin autou. ᾿Alla palin hauton enteuthen heteros diedexato klydōn, kai tēn tēs douleias trichymian chalepōtera palin exedexato zalē " kai to men elipen hauton chyma., to hoe chatelade. Kai dia tosoutōn kymatōn kai pneumatōn hodeuōn, adaptiston to skaphos diesōsen. o Hēin, hōs eirētai? neos tę̄ akmę̄ tēs hēlikias kosmoumenos, hoion ti anthos arti tōn kalychōn pontas, kai stephanou dikēn pareian tainiountas " aiglēn hōras aphieis, kosmiotēti memigmenēn, eleutherią kekramenēn " aidō tois metōpois echōn Tauth᾽ hē despoina diēnekōs horōsa, deon ōpheleian enteuthen arysasthai, eis to tēs akolasias barathron enepesen. Hōs de tę̄ hylę̄ tēs theōrias endothen tēs epithymias hē phlox eis hypsos ēgeireto, kai ho logismos parautika ton spinthēra mē chatasdesas, megistēn hysteron tēn pyran genomenēn ouketi ischye sdesai, kēnichauta symmachon tēn anaideian ekeinē lathousa, sagēneuein logois epeirathē ton neon. Hōs hoe Ho chreitton ephanē tōn diktyōn to thērama, kai rhądiōs kai hous potniōmenē prosēnenke logous hetairichous kai hēdonę̄ chechrōsmenous, apēlthon apraktoi kai anonētoi, tēnikauta loipon tois logois errhōsthai phrasasa, ergǭ prospherei tēn peiran, kai symmachon ladousa tōn thalamōn tēn erēmian, katechei ton neon, doulon auton tōn pathōn, alla ou despotēn nomisasa. Ho de tę̄ men tōn anthrōpōn ouk etharrhēsen erēmią, ton de pantachou paronta ophthalmon etheasato kai oute tēn douleian epi noun eladen, oute tēn ekeinēs edeise despoteian, oute tēs symphoras to megethos, hēs hypemeine, logisamenos, epheinai tas tōn kathōn ēthelēsen hēneas, hōs oudenos ephorōntos ta anthrōpina, kai poinēn apaitountos tous adikein proairoumenous. ᾿All᾽ antetaxe ton logismon kai douleią, kai despoteią, kai biou metadolę̄, kai epithnmias hormę̄, kai hēlikią pyrpoloumenę̄, kai logois pithanois kai kōtilois doulǭ para despoinēs prospheromenois, kai katēgorōn erēmią, kai prosdokōmenę̄ sykophantią, kai myriais enteuthen symphorais phyomenais. Kai prōton tois tēs douleias nomois kairein eipōn, kai tēn tou symooulou kai didaskalou taxin analadōn, ginetai sōphrosynēs synēgoros, kai akolasias katēgoros. Kai tę̄ presbyterą ho neos, kai tę̄ despoinę̄ doulos, kai tę̄ andri sphnezeugmenę̄, kai tēn epithymian ennomōs anapimplanai dynamenę̄, ho gamou zygon oudepō dexamenos, alla sphodras dechomenos tēs epithymias tas prosdolas, peri sōphrosygēs prospherei parainesin. hyLxion de kai autōn echeipsōn tōn hierōn tou sōphronos akousai rhēmatōn.
… who had ruled in a dream. Having paid such penalties for his dreams, Joseph was taken to Egypt and sold again to Potiphar, who was the king's chief cook. But even there he kept his ancestral freedom and preserved the nobility of his forefathers untouched; he did not change his mind with his circumstances, nor did a change of character follow his misfortunes, nor did he change his choice as one changes color; but though he had exchanged his way of life and fallen from freedom into slavery, he stood firm in his former mind, and whatever he said or did, he had modesty shining on his forehead. For this reason he was at once counted worthy of all honor and entrusted with the tillers of his master's house. He continued to show goodwill to his masters and kindness to his fellow slaves; grateful to those who honored him, he took fitting care of those he directed, and was beloved by both. For he received from God grace proportionate to his virtue, or rather reaped fruits many times greater than his labors. That is why whatever he did, the Lord prospered in his hands. But from there another surge took him up again, and a harsher storm received him after the tempest of slavery; one wave left him and another overtook him. Yet travelling through so many waves and winds, he kept his ship from sinking. He was, as has been said, young, adorned with the prime of his age, like a flower just bursting from its buds, … and like a wreath binding his cheeks; giving off the radiance of beauty mixed with decency and blended with freedom; having modesty on his brow … His mistress, seeing these things continually, when she should have drawn benefit from them, fell into the pit of licentiousness. And when, with the sight as fuel, the flame of desire rose high within her, and her reason, not quenching the spark at once, was no longer able later to quench the pyre that had grown so great, she then took shamelessness as her ally and tried to net the young man with words. But when the quarry proved stronger than the nets, and the words she offered, … entreating him, courtesan-like and colored with pleasure, went away ineffective and useless, she then bade farewell to words and made the attempt by deed, and taking the solitude of the chambers as her ally, she seized the young man, thinking him a slave of the passions and not their master. But he did not trust the absence of people, but beheld the eye that is present everywhere; and he gave no thought to his slavery, nor feared her mastery, nor, reckoning the greatness of the misfortune he had endured, was he willing to let go the reins of the passions, as though no one watched over human affairs and demanded punishment from those who choose to do wrong. He set his reason against slavery, against mastery, against the change of his life, against the rush of desire, against an age on fire, against the persuasive and wheedling words offered by a mistress to a slave, against the absence of accusers, against the slander he could expect, and against the countless misfortunes that would grow from it. And first, bidding farewell to the laws of slavery and taking up the rank of counsellor and teacher, he became the advocate of chastity and the accuser of licentiousness. The young man to the older woman, the slave to his mistress, the one who had not yet received the yoke of marriage, though he felt the strong attacks of desire, to the woman yoked to a husband and able to satisfy her desire lawfully, offered an exhortation to chastity. It is worth hearing the very holy words of the chaste man.
Gen 37:36 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 39:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 39:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 39:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 39:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 39:12 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Sold into Egypt, Joseph kept his freedom of soul and was entrusted with Potiphar's house; when his master's wife tried to seduce him, he set his reason against every pressure and became the teacher of chastity.
- Gen 37:36; 39:1-12. In the LXX Potiphar is the king's ἀρχιμάγειρος ("chief cook", often rendered "captain of the guard").
- Words are lost in the OCR at the beginning, in the description of Joseph's youth, and in "the words she offered, … entreating him"; marked … and not supplied. The passage on Potiphar's wife is translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (column letter and debris; debris from Migne's Latin column; debris from Migne's Latin column inside the word πρεσβυτέρᾳ; footnote marker; leaked footnote and debris): ι19) κυ, κ᾿ πν, 4. καὶ πνευμάτων καὶ χυβίων; → ; ἐθεάσατο (δῦ) καὶ → ἐθεάσατο καὶ; Α ἰπηρογίαπι {ἰπηα 1, → ; πρε- Διο, θυ ο αὶ ἀοδ 1] Ὁἰ} οἱ ἀοοἱ ἰῃδό → πρεσβ; Β 1608 καὶ → καὶ.
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Prov. 8.5 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/8-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/8-5
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-de-providentia-8-5) · Report an error
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.
8.6PG 83
ε Εἰ ὁ κύριός μου, φησὶν, οὐ γινώσκει οὐδὲν δι᾽ ἐμὲ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ αὑτοῦ, καὶ πάντα ὅσα ἐότὶν αὐτοῦ δέδω-. κεν εἰς τὰς χεῖράς μου, καὶ οὐκ ὑπάρχει ἐν τῇ οἱ» κί ταύτῃ, οὐδὲ ὑφεξαιρεῖται οὐδὲν ἐμοῦ πλὴν 6ο., διὰ τὸ σὲ γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ εἶναι, καὶ πῶς ποιήσω τὸ ῥῆμα τὸ πονηρὸν τοῦτο; Ἡμαρτηκὼς ἔσομαι ἐναντίον τοῦ Θεοῦ. » Θὺ βλέπειφ, φησὶν, ὃν βλέπω" αὺ μὲν γὰρ μεθύεις τῷ πάθει, ἐγὼ δὲ ταύτην οὐκ ἐδεξάμην τὴν μέθην, ἀλλ᾽ ὁρῶ τὸν τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς ΙΚυδερνήτην, ὁρῶντα τῶν γινομένων ἕχαστον. Οὗ γὰρ ἐπέχουσιν ἐκεῖνον τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν ἃ βούλεται θεω» Ρεῖν ὄροφος καὶ τοῖχος, καὶ θύραι κεκλεισμέναι " οὐδὲ τῆς νυκτὸς τὸ ζοφῶδες ἐμπόδιον γίνεται τῇ θεωρίᾳ. Οἶδεν οὗτος σαφῶς καὶ τὰ τῆς διανοίας χυήμαᾶτα, καὶ πρὸ τῶν ὠδίνων τοὺς λόγους ἔτι χυομένους ἀχριδῶς θεωρεῖ. Τοῦτον ὁρῶν δειμαίνω καὶ δέδοικα, καὶ ὑδρίσαι τὸν γάμον οὐκ ἀνέχομαι, τῆς φύσεως τὴν πηγὴν, τῆς εἰς τὸν βίον εἰσόδον τὴν θύραν, δι᾽ ὅν οὐκ ἐπέλιπε τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸ γένος, ὃς οὐκ ἐᾷ δδεσθῆναι τῷ θανάτῳ τὴν φύσιν, ἀλλὰ νικᾷ φυτουργίᾳ τὰς τοῦ τέμνοντος χεῖρας, καὶ περιγίνεται μιμεῖται μετὰ τὴν τοῦ χειμῶνος λῃστείαν ἀναφαινόμενον, καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ ἐχείνου γυμνούμενα πάλιν ἀμφιεννύντα, Ἐδέξω ζυγὸν, ὦ γύναι στέργε τὸν ζυγόν. μὴ διαῤῥήξῃς τὴν ζεύγλην, μηδὲ τὰ ἐκτὸς πῆς γεωργίας ἕλκειν ἐτάχθης τὸ ἄροτρον. Μὴ ἀτιμάσῃς γαμηλίους νόμους, καὶ φύσεως ὄρους, μηδὲ ἀξσπόζειν ἐτάχθης, μὴ γένῃ δούλη τῶν ἡδονῶν, μὴ χαθυδρίσῃς τῇ πονηρᾷ ταύτῃ δουλείᾳ τὴν δεσποτείαν" μὴ τὰς ἀνδραποδώδεις ἐπιθυμίας κυρίας τῆς ψυχῆς ἀποφήνῃς, μηδὲ ἐναλλάξῃς τὴν τάξιν, μηδὲ ἀφέλῃ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν τῶν λογισμῶν, μηδὲ τὰς ἡνίας ἐγχειρίσῃς τοῖς πάθεσιν. Ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν καὶ σὲ βούλομαι τοῦ πάθους ἐλευθέραν γενέσθαι. Εἰ δὲ οὐ πείθῃ, οὐδὲ θέλεις ἀπαλλαγῆναι τῆς μέθης, ἀλλ᾽ ἐγὼ πα ρανομεῖν οὐκ ἀνέξομαι " τὸ σῶμα γὰρ δοῦλος, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τὴν Ψυχὴν ἐγενόμην. Μυσάττομαι δὲ καὶ ἄλλως τὸ τοῦ πράγματος ἄδικον. Πολλὰς ὑμῖν εὐεργεσίας ὀφείλων, ὦ κεκτημένη, οὐκ ἀνέξομαι τοῖς ἐναντίοις τὸν δεσπότην ἀμείψασθαι ἀργυρώνητος γὰρ ὧν, τῶν οἰχογενῶν προτετίμημαι" καὶ χθὲς καὶ πρώην εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὴν ὑμετέραν οἰκίαν, ἀπάντων τὰς ἡνίας ἐδεξάμην" ἁπάντων με τῶν κατὰ τὴν οἰκίαν κηδεμόνα χεχειροτόνηχεν ὁ δεσπότης, καὶ τὸν νεώνητον ἄνδρα ἡγεμονεύειν ἀπάντων ἐχέλευσςε " σὲ μόνην εἴσω τῶν ὄρων τῆς δεσποτείας πεποίηκε, τοῦ γάμον τοὺς νόμους αἰδούμενος. Ποίοις τοίνυν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἴδω τὸν οὕτω τετιμηχότα, τοιούτοις αὐτὸν ἀμευ» ψάμενος; Βδελυρὸν, ὦ κεκτημένη, καὶ λίαν βδελυρὸν, λήθη χαρίτων καὶ εὐεργεσιῶν ἀμνημοσύνη χαλεπώτερον δὲ τούτων καὶ λίαν παγχάλεπον ἀδικία, καὶ ἀδικία τοιαύτη κατ᾽ εὐεργέτου γινομένη. Φυλάττειν, οὐ κλέπτειν ἐτάχθην τοῦ δεσπότου τὰ κτήματα. Οὐ γίνομαι λῃστὴς ἀντὶ φύλαχος ἀσφαλοῦς - οὐκ ἄπτομαι τῶν ἔξω τῆς ἐμῆς δεσποτείας μεμενηχότων, οὐδὲ μιμοῦμαι ᾿Αδὰμ τὸν προπάτορα, ὅς τῶν φυτῶν λαδὼν ἁπάντων τὴν ἐξουσίαν, εἰς ἐκεῖνο τὴν χεῖρα ἐξέτεινεν, ὅπερ ἐκτὸς τῆς αὐτοῦ δεσποτείας ἐτύγχανε, καὶ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἐπιθυμήσας τῶν ἁπάντων ἐξέπεσε.
e Ei ho kyrios mou, phēsin, ou ginōskei ouden di᾽ eme en tǭ oikǭ hautou, kai panta hosa eotin autou dedō-. ken eis tas cheiras mou, kai ouk hyparchei en tę̄ hoi» ki tautę̄, oude hyphexaireitai ouden emou plēn 6o., dia to se gynaika autou einai, kai pōs poiēsō to rhēma to ponēron touto? Hēmartēkōs esomai enantion tou Theou. » Thy blepeiph, phēsin, hon blepō" au men gar methyeis tǭ pathei, egō de tautēn ouk edexamēn tēn methēn, all᾽ horō ton toude tou pantos IKydernētēn, horōnta tōn ginomenōn hechaston. Hou gar epechousin ekeinon ton ophthalmon ha bouletai theō» Rein orophos kai toichos, kai thyrai kekleismenai " oude tēs nyktos to zophōdes empodion ginetai tę̄ theōrią. Oiden houtos saphōs kai ta tēs dianoias chyēmaata, kai pro tōn ōdinōn tous logous eti chyomenous achridōs theōrei. Touton horōn deimainō kai dedoika, kai hydrisai ton gamon ouk anechomai, tēs physeōs tēn pēgēn, tēs eis ton bion eisodon tēn thyran, di᾽ hon ouk epelipe tōn anthrōpōn to genos, hos ouk eą ddesthēnai tǭ thanatǭ tēn physin, alla niką phytourgią tas tou temnontos cheiras, kai periginetai mimeitai meta tēn tou cheimōnos lę̄steian anaphainomenon, kai ta hypo echeinou gymnoumena palin amphiennynta, Edexō zygon, ō gynai sterge ton zygon. mē diarrhēxę̄s tēn zeuglēn, mēde ta ektos pēs geōrgias helkein etachthēs to arotron. Mē atimasę̄s gamēlious nomous, kai physeōs orous, mēde axspozein etachthēs, mē genę̄ doulē tōn hēdonōn, mē chathydrisę̄s tę̄ ponērą tautę̄ douleią tēn despoteian" mē tas andrapodōdeis epithymias kyrias tēs psychēs apophēnę̄s, mēde enallaxę̄s tēn taxin, mēde aphelę̄ tēn hēgemonian tōn logismōn, mēde tas hēnias encheirisę̄s tois pathesin. Egō men oun kai se boulomai tou pathous eleutheran genesthai. Ei de ou peithę̄, oude theleis apallagēnai tēs methēs, all᾽ egō pa ranomein ouk anexomai " to sōma gar doulos, all᾽ ou tēn Psychēn egenomēn. Mysattomai de kai allōs to tou pragmatos adikon. Pollas hymin euergesias opheilōn, ō kektēmenē, ouk anexomai tois enantiois ton despotēn ameipsasthai argyrōnētos gar hōn, tōn oichogenōn protetimēmai" kai chthes kai prōēn eiselthōn eis tēn hymeteran oikian, apantōn tas hēnias edexamēn" hapantōn me tōn kata tēn oikian kēdemona checheirotonēchen ho despotēs, kai ton neōnēton andra hēgemoneuein apantōn echeleusse " se monēn eisō tōn orōn tēs despoteias pepoiēke, tou gamon tous nomous aidoumenos. Poiois toinyn ophthalmois idō ton houtō tetimēchota, toioutois auton ameu» psamenos? Bdelyron, ō kektēmenē, kai lian bdelyron, lēthē charitōn kai euergesiōn amnēmosynē chalepōteron de toutōn kai lian panchalepon adikia, kai adikia toiautē kat᾽ euergetou ginomenē. Phylattein, ou kleptein etachthēn tou despotou ta ktēmata. Ou ginomai lę̄stēs anti phylachos asphalous - ouk aptomai tōn exō tēs emēs despoteias memenēchotōn, oude mimoumai ᾿Adam ton propatora, hos tōn phytōn ladōn hapantōn tēn exousian, eis ekeino tēn cheira exeteinen, hoper ektos tēs autou despoteias etynchane, kai tou henos epithymēsas tōn hapantōn exepese.
"If my master," he says, "because of me knows nothing in his house, and has given everything he has into my hands, and there is nothing in this house, nor is anything kept back from me except you, because you are his wife, how then shall I do this wicked thing? I shall have sinned before God." You do not see, he says, the one I see. For you are drunk with passion, but I have not taken this drunkenness; I see the Pilot of this universe, who sees each thing that happens. Roof and wall and closed doors do not hold back that eye from what it wishes to behold, nor does the darkness of night hinder its sight. He knows clearly even the offspring of the mind, and sees precisely words still being conceived before they are born. Seeing him, I am afraid and fear, and I will not insult marriage, the spring of nature, the door of entrance into life, through which the human race has not failed, which does not let nature be quenched by death, but overcomes by planting the hands of the one who cuts down, and prevails, imitating … appearing after the robbery of winter and clothing again what it stripped. You have received a yoke, woman: love the yoke. Do not break the yoke-strap, nor … you were appointed to draw the plough … of husbandry. Do not dishonor the laws of marriage and the bounds of nature; you were not appointed to … ; do not become a slave of pleasures; do not insult your mastery by this wicked slavery; do not make slavish desires masters of the soul, nor reverse the order, nor take away the rule of the reasonings, nor hand over the reins to the passions. I wish you too to become free of the passion. But if you are not persuaded and will not be rid of the drunkenness, I will not consent to break the law; for I became a slave in body, not in soul. And besides, I abhor the injustice of the thing. Owing you many benefits, my lady, I will not repay my master with the opposite; for though bought with silver, I have been preferred to those born in the house; and having come into your house only yesterday and the day before, I received the reins of everything; the master has appointed me guardian of all that is in the house and has bidden the newly bought man to rule over all; you alone he has kept within the bounds of his own mastery, out of respect for the laws of marriage. With what eyes, then, shall I look at the one who honored me so, if I repay him like this? Loathsome, my lady, very loathsome is forgetfulness of favors and failure to remember benefits; but more grievous than these and very grievous indeed is injustice, and such injustice done to a benefactor. I was appointed to guard my master's possessions, not to steal them. I will not become a robber instead of a safe guard; I do not touch what has remained outside my authority, nor imitate Adam our forefather, who, having received authority over all the plants, stretched out his hand to the one thing that was outside his authority, and by desiring the one fell from all.
Gen 39:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 39:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 3:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 2:17 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Joseph refuses Potiphar's wife: God sees everything, marriage is the God-given spring of human life, and he will not betray the master who entrusted him with all but his wife, nor imitate Adam's grasping at the one forbidden thing.
- Gen 39:8-9; Adam and the forbidden tree, Gen 2:16-17; 3:6. Joseph's reply is Theodoret's expansion of the biblical speech.
- Words are lost in the OCR in the praise of marriage ("imitating …", evidently a tree or spring that revives after winter) and in the charges to the woman ("nor … you were appointed to draw the plough … of husbandry"; "you were not appointed to …", probably "rule"); marked … and not supplied.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (column letter and debris inside the word ἀναφαινόμενον; debris from Migne's Latin column and a leaked footnote; 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; footnote marker): ὑφεξαιρεῖται (θ1) οὐδὲν → ὑφεξαιρεῖται οὐδὲν; ΓΔ ἰηδιἰ πὶ Δἀ ἢ! οῖ. απ) 08. « δῖ Ὧ5 ἰγδάϊϊς, οἱ πἰ}}} δϑὲ ἰη Νδ ἰὰ ἴθ ἢ ]α πὶ νἱἀδιβ (πο γ οἱ πηοὲὰ ἰδοῦ, δἰ πιδι τ 01 86οϑὲ ἃ» → ; [ιΐαπιθ ἴΔοίΔ 658[, → ; ἀναφαινό- Ὁ ὁ ΒΟΓΔ : ἰπρυηλ ἜΥ8Ὸ δία μενον → ἀναφαινόμενον; δάπὶ Γὰὑφαιρεῖται. Α χ → χ; ρᾶἢ εἰ ταὶ ἰη] ὅθ : οἱ ἴδ, ὁ ἴδ, ὁϑὶ οἱ πιο.Πὶ ἰῃ ὁ ἰδ 6 οηἀο] οἰ απ 00] ἢ πτ,, οἱ Υἷἱγὸ ρογβυδάσὶ, οἱ οδβιϊίαιὶβ ἰδὲ ἀϊδίου θη πη → .
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Prov. 8.6 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/8-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/8-6
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-de-providentia-8-6) · Report an error
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.
8.7PG 83
Τοιαῦτα ὁ δοῦλος ἐκεῖνος πρὸς τὴν πονηρὰν δέσποιναν ἐχείνην διέξεισι καὶ οὔτε ἡ δουλεία αὐτὸν ἐλωδήσατο, οὔτς τῆς δεσποίνης ἡ πονηρία " μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἔδειξεν ἑαυτὸν, ὥσπερ χρυσὸν ἣ λίθον λαμπρότερον Ἐπειδὴ δὲ λέγων οὐκ ἔπεισε, καὶ βιασθεὶς ἀπέφυγε, καὶ τὸ ἱμάτιον ῥίψας γυμνὸς ἀπεπήδησε, μόνην ἔχων τῆς σωφροσύνης τὴν ἀμπεχόνην. Οὐ γὰρ ἧσχύνετο, καθάπερ ᾿Αδὰμ μετὰ τὴν παράδασιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἣν εἶχεν ἐκεῖνος πρὸ τῆς παραθδάσεως διάθεσιν περὶ τὴν γύμνωσιν τοῦ σώματος, ταύτην ἔχων οὗτος ἐξελήλνθε. Τηνικαῦτα συκοφαντεῖ μὲν ἐκείνη, καὶ πείθει τὸν ἄνδρα, καὶ σωφροσύνης ἐπίδουλον καλεῖ τὸν τῆς σωφροσύνης πρόμαχον" ὁ δὲ σιγῶν δέχεται τοῦ δεσπότον τὴν ψῆφον, καὶ οὐκ ἀνέχεται τῆς δεσποίνης γυμνῶσαι τὴν πονηρίαν " ἀλλ᾽ εἴλετο βεδαιῶσαι τῇ σιγῇ τὴν συκοφαντίαν, ἣ τὴν τῆς ἐπιδουλῇῆς ἐξηγήσασθαι τραγῳδίαν, καὶ δεσποτικὴν προφανῶς ἀκολασίαν ἐλέγξαι. Συμθουλὴν μὲν γὰρ, ἣν ἔδει, προσήνεγκε" γραφὴν δὲ τὴν οὖσαν οὐκ εἰσήνεγκεν" ἀλλ᾽ ὥσπερ ἐρήμην ἁλοὺς, καὶ τῷ δικάζοντι μὴ συμπαρὼν, μηδὲ τῆς κατηγορίας ἀκούων, τὴν ἐξενεχθεῖσαν τιμωρίαν ἐδέξατο, καὶ τὸ δεσμωτήριον ᾧκει, καὶ τοῖς κακούργοις συνεδεσμεῖτο, καὶ πάντα γενναίως ἔφερε τὰ δεινά. Καὶ τὸ πυκνὸν τῶν συμφορῶν καὶ ἐπάλληλον, τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς οὐκ ἐλήστευσε ῥώμην, οὐδὲ τὴν ἀνδρείαν αὐτῆς εἰς δειλίαν μετέδαλε. Τοσαύτην δὲ εἶχε κὰν τοῖς δεινοῖς εὖφροσύνην καὶ θυμηδίαν, ὡς καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους δεσμώτας μᾶνος διετέλει. Τεχμηριοῖ γὰρ πολλάκις τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς διάθεσιν τῶν προσώκων ἡ θέσις, καὶ συνδιατίθεται τοῖς τῆς ἐννοίας κινήμασιν, οὐ χρόα μόνον προσώπου, ἀλλὰ καὶ κίνησις ὀφθαλμῶν, καὶ ὀφρύων συναγωγή τε καὶ ἄνεσις. Καὶ τὴν μὲν τοῦ θυμοειδοῦς ἐπανάστασιν, τὸ βλοσυρὸν τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἐπισημαίνει, τὸ δὲ χαλαρὸν τῆς ἀθυμίας, αἱ τῶν βλεφάρων τὸ μειδίαμα " τὰς δεϊφροντίδας, ἢ τῶν ὀφρύων κατὰ τὸ μέσον αἰνἔττεται σύνοδος " τὸν δὲ τῦφον, ἧ τούτων αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὸ ἄνω χαμπυλοειδὴς ἀναχώρησις. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς κινημάτων ἐν τοῖς προσώποις παραδηλοῦται, ὁ θαυμάσιος ἐκχεῖνος ἀθλητὴς, οἷόν τισιν ἀγγέλοις τῆς ψυχῆς χρώμενος τοῖς προσώποις, τοὺς ἀθυμοῦντας διετέλει ψυχαγωγῶν. Καί ποτε θεασάμενος δύο τοῦ βασιλέως οἰκέτας ἀθύμως διαχειἁμαρτημάτων γάρ τινων ἕνεκεν ἐκεῖσε χαθείρχθησαν" ἀμφοῖν πρόσεισι, καὶ πυνθάνεται, καὶ τῆς ἀθυμίας τὴν αἰτίαν ἀνερευνᾷ. ΓΆνθρωπος τοσαύταις περιχλυζόμενος συμφοραῖς, ἀπόγονος μὲν τοῦ ᾿Αὔραἀμ, ἔκγονος δὲ τοῦ Ἰσαὰκ, υἱὸς δὲ τοῦ Ἰαχὼθ, πάντῶν αὐτῶν προσφιλέστατος, φωτὸς δίκην ὁρώμενος, ἀφορμὴ θυμηδίας ὑπάρχων, εἰς δουλείαν μεταπεσὼν, καὶ ταύτην ὑπομείνας τὴν συμφορὰν, οὗ βαρδάρων τινῶν ἀγρίων δορνάλωτον εἰληχότων, ἀλλὰ ἀδελφῶν φθόνῳ δεδουλευχότων, καὶ οὐδὲ ἀδικίαν τινὰ δεικνύντων, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ὀνείρους ἐφόδιον εἰς δυσμέγειαν εἰληφότων, οὐδὲν τούτων εἰς διάνοιαν λαμ-ὀάνων, οὐδὲ τὰ μετὰ τὴν δουλείαν συμδεδηχότα, καὶ τοὺς ὑπὲρ σωφροσύνης ἀγῶνας, καὶ τὴν μετὰ νίκην καταδίκην, καὶ τὴν ἀντὶ στεφάνων τιμωρίαν, καὶ ἀντὶ ἀναῤῥήσεων δεσμωτήριον, προσἧει τοὺς ἄλλους ἀθυμοῦντας παρηγορῶν, καὶ τῶν συνδεσμωτῶν ἐπυνθάνετο, λέγων " « Τί ὅτι τὰ πρόσωπα ὑμῶν σκυθρωπὰ σήμερον; » Τῶν δὲ φησάντων ὀνείρους ἑωρακέναι, καὶ τῇ τῆς ἑρμηνείας ἀγνοίᾳ χυχᾶσθαι τὸν λογισμὸν, οὐκ ἐθρήνησεν ὁ θεῖος ἀκεῖνος ἀνὴρ τῶν ὀνείρων ἀκούσας, οὐδὲ ὠλοφύρατο τῶν οἰκείων ἀναμνησθεὶς συμφορῶν, οὐδὲ ἀφῆκε δάκρυον ῳδίαν εἰς μέσον παρήγαγε " μᾶλλον δὲ οὐκ ἐγέλασε μέγα, ὀνείρων ἀκούσας, ὧν τὸ ψεῦδος τέως προφανὲς ἐθεώρει, οὐδὲ ἔφησε πρὸς τοὺς δεσμώτας ἐκεί)ους ᾿Αγνοεῖτε τῶν ὀνείρων, ὡς ἔοικεν, ὦ φίλοι, τὸ ψεῦδος, ἀπεέρατοι τῆς τούτων ἀπάτης, ὡς εἰκὸς, ὑπάρχοντες, τὴν τούτων ἑρμηνείαν
Toiauta ho doulos ekeinos pros tēn ponēran despoinan echeinēn diexeisi kai oute hē douleia auton elōdēsato, outs tēs despoinēs hē ponēria " mallon de kai edeixen heauton, hōsper chryson hē lithon lamproteron Epeidē de legōn ouk epeise, kai biastheis apephyge, kai to himation rhipsas gymnos apepēdēse, monēn echōn tēs sōphrosynēs tēn ampechonēn. Ou gar hēschyneto, kathaper ᾿Adam meta tēn paradasin, all᾽ hēn eichen ekeinos pro tēs parathdaseōs diathesin peri tēn gymnōsin tou sōmatos, tautēn echōn houtos exelēlnthe. Tēnikauta sykophantei men ekeinē, kai peithei ton andra, kai sōphrosynēs epidoulon kalei ton tēs sōphrosynēs promachon" ho de sigōn dechetai tou despoton tēn psēphon, kai ouk anechetai tēs despoinēs gymnōsai tēn ponērian " all᾽ eileto bedaiōsai tę̄ sigę̄ tēn sykophantian, hē tēn tēs epidoulę̄ēs exēgēsasthai tragǭdian, kai despotikēn prophanōs akolasian elenxai. Symthoulēn men gar, hēn edei, prosēnenke" graphēn de tēn ousan ouk eisēnenken" all᾽ hōsper erēmēn halous, kai tǭ dikazonti mē symparōn, mēde tēs katēgorias akouōn, tēn exenechtheisan timōrian edexato, kai to desmōtērion hǭkei, kai tois kakourgois synedesmeito, kai panta gennaiōs ephere ta deina. Kai to pyknon tōn symphorōn kai epallēlon, tēn tēs psychēs ouk elēsteuse rhōmēn, oude tēn andreian autēs eis deilian metedale. Tosautēn de eiche kan tois deinois euphrosynēn kai thymēdian, hōs kai tous allous desmōtas manos dietelei. Techmērioi gar pollakis tēn tēs psychēs diathesin tōn prosōkōn hē thesis, kai syndiatithetai tois tēs ennoias kinēmasin, ou chroa monon prosōpou, alla kai kinēsis ophthalmōn, kai ophryōn synagōgē te kai anesis. Kai tēn men tou thymoeidous epanastasin, to blosyron tōn ophthalmōn episēmainei, to de chalaron tēs athymias, hai tōn blepharōn to meidiama " tas deïphrontidas, ē tōn ophryōn kata to meson ainettetai synodos " ton de typhon, hē toutōn autōn epi to anō champyloeidēs anachōrēsis. Epeidē toinyn ta pleista tōn tēs psychēs kinēmatōn en tois prosōpois paradēloutai, ho thaumasios ekcheinos athlētēs, hoion tisin angelois tēs psychēs chrōmenos tois prosōpois, tous athymountas dietelei psychagōgōn. Kai pote theasamenos dyo tou basileōs oiketas athymōs diacheiamartēmatōn gar tinōn heneken ekeise chatheirchthēsan" amphoin proseisi, kai pynthanetai, kai tēs athymias tēn aitian anereuną. GAnthrōpos tosautais perichlyzomenos symphorais, apogonos men tou ᾿Auraam, ekgonos de tou Isaak, huios de tou Iachōth, pantōn autōn prosphilestatos, phōtos dikēn horōmenos, aphormē thymēdias hyparchōn, eis douleian metapesōn, kai tautēn hypomeinas tēn symphoran, hou bardarōn tinōn agriōn dornalōton eilēchotōn, alla adelphōn phthonǭ dedouleuchotōn, kai oude adikian tina deiknyntōn, alla tous oneirous ephodion eis dysmegeian eilēphotōn, ouden toutōn eis dianoian lam-oanōn, oude ta meta tēn douleian symdedēchota, kai tous hyper sōphrosynēs agōnas, kai tēn meta nikēn katadikēn, kai tēn anti stephanōn timōrian, kai anti anarrhēseōn desmōtērion, prosēei tous allous athymountas parēgorōn, kai tōn syndesmōtōn epynthaneto, legōn " « Ti hoti ta prosōpa hymōn skythrōpa sēmeron? » Tōn de phēsantōn oneirous heōrakenai, kai tę̄ tēs hermēneias agnoią chychasthai ton logismon, ouk ethrēnēsen ho theios akeinos anēr tōn oneirōn akousas, oude ōlophyrato tōn oikeiōn anamnēstheis symphorōn, oude aphēke dakryon ǭdian eis meson parēgage " mallon de ouk egelase mega, oneirōn akousas, hōn to pseudos teōs prophanes etheōrei, oude ephēse pros tous desmōtas ekei)ous ᾿Agnoeite tōn oneirōn, hōs eoiken, ō philoi, to pseudos, apeeratoi tēs toutōn apatēs, hōs eikos, hyparchontes, tēn toutōn hermēneian
Such things that slave said to that wicked mistress; and neither slavery harmed him nor his mistress's wickedness; rather he showed himself brighter than gold or a precious stone. And when speaking did not persuade her and he was forced, he fled, and throwing off his garment leaped away naked, having only chastity as his clothing. For he was not ashamed, like Adam after the transgression, but went out with the disposition toward the nakedness of the body that Adam had before the transgression. Then she slanders him, persuades her husband, and calls the champion of chastity a plotter against chastity; and he receives his master's sentence in silence and will not expose his mistress's wickedness, but chose rather to confirm the slander by silence than to recount the tragedy of the plot and openly convict his mistress's licentiousness. For he gave her the counsel he should have given, but did not bring the indictment that was true; but as though condemned by default, not present before the judge nor hearing the accusation, he received the punishment pronounced, lived in the prison, was bound with criminals, and bore all the hardships nobly. The thick succession of misfortunes did not rob his soul of its strength nor change its courage into cowardice. He had such cheerfulness and gladness even in hardships that he kept on cheering the other prisoners. For often the set of the face shows the disposition of the soul, and not only the color of the face but also the movement of the eyes and the drawing together and relaxing of the eyebrows follow the movements of the mind. The grim look of the eyes signals the rising of the spirited part; … the slackness of despondency …; the meeting of the brows at the middle hints at cares; and their curved withdrawal upward, at pride. Since, then, most movements of the soul are shown in faces, that wonderful athlete, using faces as messengers of the soul, kept consoling the despondent. And once, seeing two of the king's servants in low spirits (for they had been shut up there for certain offences), he went to both, asked them, and searched out the cause of their despondency. A man flooded by so many misfortunes, a descendant of Abraham, grandson of Isaac, son of Jacob, the dearest of them all, looked upon like light, a source of cheer, who had fallen into slavery and endured this misfortune, not at the hands of savage barbarians who had taken him captive, but enslaved by the envy of his brothers, who could not show any wrong in him but took his dreams as a pretext for ill will: taking none of this into his mind, nor what happened after his slavery, the contests for chastity, the condemnation after victory, punishment instead of crowns and prison instead of proclamations, he went to console the other despondent men and asked his fellow prisoners: "Why are your faces sad today?" And when they said they had seen dreams and their minds were troubled by not knowing the interpretation, that divine man did not lament on hearing of dreams, nor wail remembering his own misfortunes, nor shed a tear, nor bring forward the tragedy of his own life; nor rather did he laugh loudly on hearing of dreams whose falsehood he saw plainly so far, nor say to those prisoners: "You do not know, it seems, my friends, the falsehood of dreams, being, as is likely, without experience of their deceit; their interpretation …
Gen 39:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 39:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 39:20 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 2:25 (echo, low confidence) · Gen 40:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 40:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 40:8 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Joseph flees naked from Potiphar's wife, silently accepts imprisonment rather than expose her, and in prison cheerfully consoles the despondent, asking the king's two servants about their dreams without lamenting his own dreams' bitter results.
- Gen 39:12-20; 40:1-8 ("Why are your faces sad today?", 40:7).
- Words are lost in the OCR in the account of facial expressions ("… the slackness of despondency …") and in "nor … the tragedy"; marked … and not supplied. The part ends in mid-sentence; a leaked footnote is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (column letter and debris inside the word δειλίαν; 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; leaked footnote): “θη πος Ϊὰοἱ 4]τη (Δ. 1} αὐ 6 πὶ ἰη → ; δει- Α λάνοτγε!5 ΄φυοφυς 1114 οἱ σοηϑο δ λίαν → δειλίαν; δηΐπιὸ ἀο] 65 ν᾽ ἀραὶ, ΘΟ ϑο Δι] ἰῃ γα} }8 116 δι] οἴ πᾶ Εἰ οὐτὰ αἰ οἵ ἰἰ- Δῃ]τηΐ Ουν νυ] 08 ποῦ → ; 40 (οῃ. χι,, 7. → .
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Prov. 8.7 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/8-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/8-7
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-de-providentia-8-7) · Report an error
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.
8.8PG 83
ποθεῖτε " ἐγὼ δὲ τὴν πεῖραν ἔχων διδάσκαλον, χαταγε ὑμᾶς τούτων παρεγγνῶ " οὐδὲν γὰρ οὗτοι μη- ΄ νύουσιν ἀληθὲς, ἀλλὰ τἀναντία πάντα τῇ ἀληθείᾳ προλέγουσιν. Ἥλπισα τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἡγεμονεύσειν, καὶ τῆς πατρῴας ἄρξειν οἰκίας, ὀνείροις ποτὲ πιστεύσας ἐγώ" καὶ οὐ μόνον τῆς ἡγεμονίας οὐκ ἔτυχον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἐλευθερίας ἐκπεσὼν, δοῦλος ὁ ταλαίπωρος ἐγενόμην. Καὶ οὐδὲ δουλεύων ἐξ οὐρίων ἠνέχθην, ἀλλὰ κἀνταῦθα μυρίαις περιπεσὼν τριχυμίαιφ, δεσμωτήριον οἰκεῖν ἀναγκάζομαι. Μὴ τοίνυν ὑμᾶς ταραττέτωσαν αἱ νυχτεριναὶ φαντασίαι" ἀληθείας πόῤῥω τυγχάνει τῶν ὀνείρων τὸ γένος. Οὐδὲν "οὐτων οὐκ εἶπεν, οὐκ ἐνενόησεν ὁ γενναῖος ἐκεῖνος ἀνὴρ, ἀλλά φησι πρὸς αὐτούς " « Οὐκὶ διὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ διασάφησις αὐτῶν ἐστιν; ᾿Απαγγείλατε οὖν μοι. » Καὶ πανταχοῦ τὸ θεῖον ὄνομα περιφέρει, καὶ τούτῳ τήν τε Ψυχὴν ὁμοῦ καὶ τοὺς λόγους χατᾶχοσμεῖ. Καὶ Θεοῦ λέγων εἶναι τὴν ἑρμηνείαν, χαταθαῤῥεῖ ταύτης, ἅτε δὴ θεῖον ἑαυτὸν κατασκευάσας νεών. ᾿Απήγγελλον οὖν, ὁ δὲ ἡρμήνενε, καὶ τὰ αἰνιγματώδη καὶ συνεσχιασμένα ἐγύμνου. Καὶ μετὰ τὸ τέλος τῆς ἑρμηνείας, τῷ ἀρχιοινοχόῳ φησίν" ε ᾿Αλλὰ μνῆσθητί μου, ὅταν εὖ σο! γένηται, ὅτι κλοπῇ ἐχλάπην ἐκ γῆς Ἑδραίων, καὶ ὧδε οὐκ ἐποίησα οὐδὲν κακὸν, καὶ ἐνέδαλόν με εἰς τὸν λάκκον τοῦ οἴχου τούτου. » Καὶ οὐδὲ τῆς ἀνάγκης καλεσάσης, τὴν τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐγύμνωσε πονηρίαν, ἀλλὰ πρόσωπον ὑποδειχνύει τὸ τῆς κλοπῆς δρᾶμα, καὶ τοὺς ἔργῳ δοῦλον πεποιὴ» χότας, λόγῳ παροινεῖν οὐκ ἀνέχεται, ἀλλ᾽ αἰδοῖ τῆς φύσεως δυγχαλύπτει τὴν ἀδικίαν " οὐ μόνον δὲ τὴν τῶν ἀδελφῶν γραφὴν εἰσενεγκεῖν οὐκ ἠθέλησεν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ τῆς δεσποίνης τὴν πονηρίαν τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσι δήλην πεποίηκε" καὶ τοσαύτην αὐτῇ συνειδὼς λαγνείαν, ἀκολασίαν, ψεῦδος, συκοφαντίαν, ἐπιδουλὴν, τούτων μὲν οὐδὲν εἰς μέσον παρήγαγεν, ἁπλῆν δὲ μόνην ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ τὴν ἀπολογίαν εἰσήνεγκεν " « Ὅτι κλοπῇ, φησὶν, ἐχλάπην ἐκ γῆς ᾿Εδραίων, καὶ ὧδε οὐδὲν κακὸν ἐποίησα, καὶ ἐνέθαλόν με εἰς τὸν λάκκον τοῦ ὀχυρώματος τούτον.» Βλέπε ῥημάτων φιλοσοφίαν, βλέπε διανοίας μεγαλοψυχίαν, βλέπε φρόνημα ἀδούλωτον καὶ ἀκατάπληκτον, βλέπε ψυχὴν τὴν αὐτὴν ἀεὶ, καὶ μήτε ἐν εὐημερίαις ἐπαιρομένην, μῆτε ἐν δυσχλήρίαις ταπεινουμένην, ἀλλὰ πάντα γελῶσαν καὶ τὰ λυπηρὰ τοῦ βίου, καὶ τὰ τερπνὰ, μόνην δὲ ἀρετὴν Τί τοῦτον ἡ τῆς δεσποίνης ἐλυμήνατο βδελυρία: Τί δὲ αὐτὸν ἡ ἐκείνης ξόλαψε πονηρία; Μὴ τοίνυν ὁρίζον βλάδην εἶναι δούλων τῶν δεσποτῶν τὴν μὸχθηρίαν" δυνατὸν γὰρ καὶ πονηροῖς δεσπόταις δουλεύοντα, φυγεῖν παντὶ σθένει τῆς πονηρίας τὴν μίμῆσιν. Ὅτι δὲ οὐ δεσποτεία πονηρίας διδάσκαλος, οὔτε πλοῦτος κακίας δημιουργὸς, βλέπε τοῦτον αὐὖτὸν, τῆς μὲν δουλείας ἀπαλλαττόμενον, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας τὰ δεύτερα λαμθάνοντα, καὶ τοῖς θρόνοις οὐκ Α ἐπαιρόμενον, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἠπιότητι καὶ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν κηδεμονίαν δεικνύντα, καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ὁρῶντα μὲν φόνον ἀρτύοντας, οὐ φονῶντα δέ" καὶ τῶν μὲν ὀνείρων ἀναμιμνησχόμενον, τοῦ δὲ φθόνοῦ «ὧν ὀνείρων ἐπιλανθανόμενον. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ λιμὸς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς εἰς τὴν Αἴγυπτον εἴλκυσεν, ἡ δὲ χρεία προσοἱ δὲ πολεμηθέντες ὄνειροι, διὰ τῶν ἐκιθουλευσάντων τὸ πέρας ἐλάμδανον. Καὶ οἱ τῶν ὀνείρων χάριν τὸν πον οἱ ὄνειροι, τῇ πράσει τὴν προσκύνησιν κατεσκεύασαν. Πραθεὶς γὰρ, ἐδούλευσε "δουλεύσας, τὴν τῆς δεσποίνης ἀκολᾳσίαν ἐμίσησε " μισήσας, συκοφαντίαν ὑπέμεινε" συχοφαντηθεῖς, δεσμωτήριον ᾧκησε" καθειρχθεὶς, τοῖς τοῦ βασιλέως οἰκέταις τοὺς ἐνεῖίρους ἡρμήνευσεν. Ἐκεῖθεν γίνεται γνώριμος τῷ βασιλεῖ, ἀπαλλάττει θορυδούμενον ὑπ᾽ ὀνείρων " καὶ σαφῶς ἑρμηνεύσας, καὶ τὸ πρακτέον δυμθουλεύσας, χειροτονεῖται λοιπὸν ὧν συνεξούλευσεν οἶκονόμος. Κεράννυσι τῇ φορᾷ τῶν καρπῶν τὴν προσδοκωμένην τῆς γῆς ἀχαρπίαν, καὶ τὴν φὐετηρίαν φυλάττει φάρμακον τῷ λιμῷ " καὶ γίνεται: τροφεὺς, οὐκ Αἰγυπτίων μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν, οἵ τροφὴν αὐτὸν
potheite " egō de tēn peiran echōn didaskalon, chatage hymas toutōn parengnō " ouden gar houtoi mē- ΄ nyousin alēthes, alla tanantia panta tę̄ alētheią prolegousin. Hēlpisa tōn adelphōn hēgemoneusein, kai tēs patrǭas arxein oikias, oneirois pote pisteusas egō" kai ou monon tēs hēgemonias ouk etychon, alla kai tēs eleutherias ekpesōn, doulos ho talaipōros egenomēn. Kai oude douleuōn ex ouriōn ēnechthēn, alla kantautha myriais peripesōn trichymiaiph, desmōtērion oikein anankazomai. Mē toinyn hymas tarattetōsan hai nychterinai phantasiai" alētheias porrhō tynchanei tōn oneirōn to genos. Ouden "outōn ouk eipen, ouk enenoēsen ho gennaios ekeinos anēr, alla phēsi pros autous " « Ouki dia tou Theou hē diasaphēsis autōn estin? ᾿Apangeilate oun moi. » Kai pantachou to theion onoma peripherei, kai toutǭ tēn te Psychēn homou kai tous logous chatachosmei. Kai Theou legōn einai tēn hermēneian, chatatharrhei tautēs, hate dē theion heauton kataskeuasas neōn. ᾿Apēngellon oun, ho de hērmēnene, kai ta ainigmatōdē kai syneschiasmena egymnou. Kai meta to telos tēs hermēneias, tǭ archioinochoǭ phēsin" e ᾿Alla mnēsthēti mou, hotan eu so! genētai, hoti klopę̄ echlapēn ek gēs Hedraiōn, kai hōde ouk epoiēsa ouden kakon, kai enedalon me eis ton lakkon tou oichou toutou. » Kai oude tēs anankēs kalesasēs, tēn tōn adelphōn egymnōse ponērian, alla prosōpon hypodeichnyei to tēs klopēs drama, kai tous ergǭ doulon pepoiē» chotas, logǭ paroinein ouk anechetai, all᾽ aidoi tēs physeōs dynchalyptei tēn adikian " ou monon de tēn tōn adelphōn graphēn eisenenkein ouk ēthelēsen, all᾽ oude tēs despoinēs tēn ponērian tois agnoousi dēlēn pepoiēke" kai tosautēn autę̄ syneidōs lagneian, akolasian, pseudos, sykophantian, epidoulēn, toutōn men ouden eis meson parēgagen, haplēn de monēn hyper heautou tēn apologian eisēnenken " « Hoti klopę̄, phēsin, echlapēn ek gēs ᾿Edraiōn, kai hōde ouden kakon epoiēsa, kai enethalon me eis ton lakkon tou ochyrōmatos touton.» Blepe rhēmatōn philosophian, blepe dianoias megalopsychian, blepe phronēma adoulōton kai akataplēkton, blepe psychēn tēn autēn aei, kai mēte en euēmeriais epairomenēn, mēte en dyschlēriais tapeinoumenēn, alla panta gelōsan kai ta lypēra tou biou, kai ta terpna, monēn de aretēn Ti touton hē tēs despoinēs elymēnato bdelyria: Ti de auton hē ekeinēs xolapse ponēria? Mē toinyn horizon bladēn einai doulōn tōn despotōn tēn mochthērian" dynaton gar kai ponērois despotais douleuonta, phygein panti sthenei tēs ponērias tēn mimēsin. Hoti de ou despoteia ponērias didaskalos, oute ploutos kakias dēmiourgos, blepe touton auyton, tēs men douleias apallattomenon, kai tēs basileias ta deutera lamthanonta, kai tois thronois ouk A epairomenon, alla tēn archēn ēpiotēti kai tēn hēgemonian kēdemonian deiknynta, kai tous adelphous horōnta men phonon artyontas, ou phonōnta de" kai tōn men oneirōn anamimnēschomenon, tou de phthonou «hōn oneirōn epilanthanomenon. Ho men gar limos tous adelphous eis tēn Aigypton eilkysen, hē de chreia prosoi de polemēthentes oneiroi, dia tōn ekithouleusantōn to peras elamdanon. Kai hoi tōn oneirōn charin ton pon hoi oneiroi, tę̄ prasei tēn proskynēsin kateskeuasan. Pratheis gar, edouleuse "douleusas, tēn tēs despoinēs akoląsian emisēse " misēsas, sykophantian hypemeine" sychophantētheis, desmōtērion hǭkēse" katheirchtheis, tois tou basileōs oiketais tous eneiirous hērmēneusen. Ekeithen ginetai gnōrimos tǭ basilei, apallattei thorydoumenon hyp᾽ oneirōn " kai saphōs hermēneusas, kai to prakteon dymthouleusas, cheirotoneitai loipon hōn synexouleusen oikonomos. Kerannysi tę̄ phorą tōn karpōn tēn prosdokōmenēn tēs gēs acharpian, kai tēn phyetērian phylattei pharmakon tǭ limǭ " kai ginetai: tropheus, ouk Aigyptiōn monon, alla kai tōn adelphōn, hoi trophēn auton
… you long for; but I, having experience as my teacher, … I urge you …; for these declare nothing true, but foretell everything contrary to the truth. I once trusted dreams and hoped to rule over my brothers and govern my father's house; and not only did I not obtain the rule, but I fell from freedom too and became a wretched slave. And not even in slavery was I carried by favorable winds, but here too I fell into countless storms and am compelled to live in prison. So do not let the visions of the night trouble you; the kind of dreams is far from the truth." That noble man said and thought nothing of the sort, but said to them: "Does not their interpretation come through God? Tell them to me, then." And everywhere he carries the divine name about, and with it adorns both his soul and his words. And saying that the interpretation is God's, he is confident of it, since he had made himself a divine temple. So they told him, and he interpreted and laid bare what was riddling and shadowed. And after finishing the interpretation he said to the chief cupbearer: "But remember me when it goes well with you; for I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews, and here I have done nothing wrong, and they threw me into the pit of this house." And not even when necessity called did he expose his brothers' wickedness, but he shows the drama of theft without naming persons, and does not consent to abuse in word those who made him a slave in deed, but out of respect for nature covers over their injustice. And not only did he not wish to bring an indictment against his brothers, but he did not make his mistress's wickedness known to those who did not know it either; and though he knew in her so much lust, licentiousness, falsehood, slander, and treachery, he brought none of these forward, but offered only a simple defense on his own behalf: "For I was stolen," he says, "from the land of the Hebrews, and here I have done nothing wrong, and they threw me into the pit of this stronghold." See the philosophy of his words, see the greatness of his mind, see a spirit unenslaved and undaunted, see a soul always the same, neither lifted up in prosperity nor humbled in misfortune, but laughing at all things, the painful and the pleasant in life alike, and … virtue alone. How did his mistress's loathsomeness harm him? How did her wickedness hurt him? So do not define the depravity of masters as harm to slaves; for it is possible, even when serving wicked masters, to flee the imitation of wickedness with all one's strength. And that mastery is not the teacher of wickedness, nor wealth the maker of vice, see this same man freed from slavery and receiving the second place in the kingdom, not lifted up by thrones, but showing his rule as gentleness and his leadership as care; seeing his brothers, who had prepared murder, without seeking to murder them; remembering the dreams but forgetting their envy over the dreams. For famine drew the brothers to Egypt, and need …; and the dreams that had been fought against reached their fulfilment through those who plotted against them. And those who for the dreams' sake … the dreams, by the sale prepared the obeisance. For sold, he became a slave; a slave, he hated his mistress's licentiousness; hating it, he endured slander; slandered, he lived in prison; imprisoned, he interpreted the king's servants' dreams. From there he became known to the king, freed him from his trouble over his dreams, and having interpreted them clearly and advised what to do, was appointed steward of what he had advised. He tempers the expected barrenness of the land with the abundance of the harvests, keeps the good harvest as a remedy for the famine, and becomes the feeder not only of the Egyptians but also of his brothers, who had made him
Gen 40:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 40:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 40:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 41:40 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 41:48 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 42:6 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: In prison Joseph credits God with interpreting dreams, does not accuse his brothers or his mistress, and is later raised to rule Egypt without pride, so that the dreams his brothers fought against were fulfilled through their own plot.
- Gen 40:8, 14-15; 41:14-46; 42:6. Theodoret first imagines what Joseph might have said against dreams, then gives what he actually said.
- Words are lost in the OCR at the beginning and in several later places ("and need …", "those who for the dreams' sake …"); marked … and not supplied. Long debris from Migne's Latin column is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (debris from Migne's Latin column read as Greek; a word is lost with it; debris from Migne's Latin column read as Greek; some Greek words are lost with it; footnote marker; leaked footnote and debris; leaked footnote inside the word βασιλείας; stray marks; stray marks and OCR misreading): θὴ ἀν. ἰδ]ά. λόγους. δυἴθ, βοὰ ἡ τό. 1014. καί. Ἰοὲ Α → ; τ 16 ἰτ- (Δι 4] 16 188]- ὨΘΓΡΟΒΌΒ 1116 νἱν, αἱ δὶς δἰ! 1}119: «Νοῦς ροῦ θουτὴ ἷἱἱ δ ".» Γ ΄υ] 56 ἀϊνίηαπι φαοάάδηι ἰδ ρ] υπ οἴἴδοογαί. ἰογτῷ Ἠδθυδβοναηι, οἱ ἰδ πἰ ἢ] τη4}} οοπημἰβὶ, οἱ ἴῃ Τα σι ἰορ᾽ 1: 66 ροῖὰ δἰ πιρ}}οἱ νσ οἱ {γἰλᾷν → ; ἡγεμονεύσειν(!, → ἡγεμονεύσειν,; ([ εἶν μοι → οὖν μοι; οὖν ([, ὁ δὲ → οὖν, ὁ δὲ; χαλεσάσης (1, → καλεσάσης,; δα υυ, τη) ΐ ἰπηϊίαιϊοἢὸπος αἰν 88 φαὶ → ; βα- Ἢ ἃπ. οὖν. 65. ἴῃ αὐϊί, σιλείας → βασιλείας.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Prov. 8.8 (PG 83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/8-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-de-providentia/8-8
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-de-providentia-8-8) · Report an error
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.