Commentary on Genesis through Ruth

Commentarii in Octateuchum

Didymus the Blind · c. 313–c. 398 AD · PG

Contents4 passages

1Commentary on the Octateuch and Kings
2The Gathering of Elements
3The Thorns and the Flaming Sword
4Creation, Providence, and Moses' Ascent

Author

Didymus the Blind (c. 313–c. 398 AD) — Blind from early childhood, he taught at Alexandria for decades; Jerome and Rufinus studied with him. He followed Origen in reading Scripture and was condemned with him in 553, so many of his works survive only in fragments.

All works by Didymus the Blind

About this text

Didymus the Blind on the Octateuch.

Catalogue & scope

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Witnesses

Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)

This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.

Commentary on the Octateuch and Kings§1

1Commentaries on the Octateuch and on the Kings, a series of fifty-one memoirs on the Octateuch and the books of Kings, having already been first published in print, deserves indeed the most pious and most serene ruler of all Wallachia, Lord Gregory Alexander Gica; and produced by the care of Nikephoros, hieromonk of the Theotokos. In Leipzig of Saxony, in the typography of Breitkopf. Year 1858.

Chapter 1, verse 14. And God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heaven for the purpose of the earth, to divide between the day and between the night' (Genesis 1:14). Didymus. Therefore also the lights, having come into being on the fourth day, because of the word concerning them, are said to have come into being since they are greater. For the four, being in power ten, is honorable; for ones, twos, threes, and fours joined together, they make the ten; for through all Scripture, the ten...

Greek · §1

Commentarii in Octateuchum et Reges 39.1112 Σειρὰ ἑνὸς καὶ πεντήκοντα ὑπομνηματισμῶν εἰς τὴν Ὀκτάτευχον καὶ τὰ τῶν Βασιλειῶν, ἤδη πρῶτον τύποις ἐκδοθεῖσα ἀξιώσει μὲν τοῦ εὐσεβεστάτου καὶ γαληνοτάτου ἡγεμόνος πάσης Οὐγκροβλαχίας Κυρίου Κυρίου Γρηγορίου Ἀλεξάνδρου Γκίκα· ἐπιμελείᾳ δὲ Νικηφόρου ἱερομονάχου τοῦ Θεοτόκη. Ἐν Λειψίᾳ τῆς Σαξονίας, ἐν τῇ τυπογραφίᾳ τοῦ Βρειτκόπφ. Ἔτει αψοβʹ. ΚΕΦ. Αʹ, στ. ιδʹ. Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεὸς, Γενηθήτωσαν φωστῆρες ἐν τῷ στερεώματι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ εἰς φαῦσιν τῆς γῆς, τοῦ διαχωρίζειν ἀνὰ μέσον τῆς ἡμέρας καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τῆς νυκτός. ∆ιδύμου. Ὅθεν καὶ οἱ φωστῆρες τῇ τετάρτῃ ἡμέρᾳ γενόμενοι, διὰ τὸν περὶ αὐτοὺς λόγον, ἅτε μείζους ὄντες ἐν ταύτῃ λέγονται γεγενῆσθαι. Ἡ γὰρ τετρὰς, δυνάμει οὖσα δεκὰς, τιμία ὑπάρχει· μονὰς γὰρ, καὶ δυὰς, καὶ τριὰς, καὶ τετρὰς, ἀλλήλοις συντεθεῖσαι τὴν δεκάδα ποιοῦσι· διὰ πάσης γὰρ τῆς Γραφῆς ἡ δεκὰς

The Gathering of Elements§2

2It is praised; for indeed Moses gave ten words, and ten are provided. Just as the water, previously poured out over the face of all the earth, later, having gathered it into one assembly on the third day, God made the seas, and the rivers, and the springs; so also the light, which was created in the beginning, previously being poured out, later, having gathered it all at once on the fourth day, God made from it the sun, and the moon, and the rest of the stars. The sun is not something other than the day. He makes thorns and thistles to rise up for you, and let you eat the herb of the field (Psalm 71:18).

Didymus. For what is it that is not painful from the sequences of the body, from which pleasures and anxieties grow? For these are the...

Greek · §2

ὑμνεῖται· καὶ γὰρ δέκα λόγους Μωσῆς δέδωκε, καὶ δεκάται παρέχονται. Ὥσπερ δὲ τὸ ὕδωρ, πρότερον διακεχυμένον κατὰ πρόσωπον πάσης τῆς γῆς, ὕστερον τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ συναγαγὼν ὁ Θεὸς εἰς συναγωγὴν μίαν, ἐποίησε τὰς θαλάσσας, καὶ τοὺς ποταμοὺς, καὶ τὰ φρέατα· οὕτω καὶ τὸ φῶς, τὸ ἐν ἀρχῇ κτισθὲν, πρότερον διακεχυμένον, ἀθρόως ὕστερον τῇ τετάρτῃ ἡμέρᾳ συναγαγὼν ὁ Θεὸς, ἐποίησεν ἐξ αὐτοῦ τὸν ἥλιον, καὶ τὴν σελήνην, καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἀστέρας. Οὐχ ὅτι ἄλλο τι παρὰ τὴν ἡμέραν ὁ ἥλιος. ΚΕΦ. Γʹ, στ. ιθʹ. Ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους ἀνατελεῖ σοι, καὶ φαγῇ τὸν χόρτον τοῦ ἀγροῦ. ∆ιδύμου. Τί γὰρ ἐκ τῆς τοῦ σώματος ἀκολουθίας οὐκ ἐπώδυνόν ἐστιν, ἡδονῶν τε καὶ μεριμνῶν ἐξ αὐτοῦ φυομένων; Ταύτας γὰρ εἶναι τὰς

The Thorns and the Flaming Sword§3

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3The Savior signaled the thorns, which grow together with the seed called by him, if the receiver does not receive this into depth. Verse 40. And he commanded the cherubim, and the flaming sword, the turning one, to guard the way of the tree of life (Gen 3:24). Didymus says: The sword is said to be turning, so that having turned from evil to the virtue of the man, it itself may turn, providing the entrance. If therefore to someone there becomes a longing for the entrance, through these he is led by the hand; through the former, the cherubim, who signify the knowledge of our glory, then you will follow, like a servant to a master. Verse 43. And I will withdraw my hand, and then you will see behind me; but my face shall not be seen by you (Ex 33:20). Didymus says: Both the worldly existence and the divinity are shown through the...

Greek · §3

ἀκάνθας ὁ Σωτὴρ ἐμήνυσεν, αἵτινες συμπνίγουσι τὸν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ καλούμενον σπόρον, ἐὰν ὁ δεξάμενος μὴ εἰς βάθος τοῦτον ὑποδέξηται. Στ. κεʹ. Καὶ ἔταξε τὰ χερουβὶμ, καὶ τὴν φλογίνην ῥομφαίαν τὴν στρεφομένην φυλάσσειν τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς. ∆ιδύμου. Ῥομφαία εἴρηται στρεφομένη, ἵνα στραφέντος ἀπὸ κακίας εἰς ἀρετὴν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, καὶ αὐτὴ στραφῇ τὴν εἴσοδον παρέχουσα. Εἰ τοίνυν τῆς εἰσόδου τινὶ γένοιτο πόθος, διὰ τούτων χειραγωγεῖται· τῶν μὲν χερουβὶμ, αἰνιττομένων τὴν γνῶσιν 39.1116 τὴν ἡμετέραν δόξαν, τότε σὺ ἐπακολουθήσεις, οἷα θεράπων δεσπότῃ. Στ. κγʹ. Καὶ ἀφελῶ τὴν χεῖρα, καὶ τότε ὄψει τὰ ὀπίσω μου· τὸ δὲ πρόσωπόν μου οὐκ ὀφθήσεταί σοι. ∆ιδύμου. Ἡ μὲν προκόσμιος ὕπαρξίς τε καὶ θειότης δηλοῦται διὰ τοῦ

Creation, Providence, and Moses' Ascent§4

4face; and the creation and providence, through those behind (1). Exodus 19:2 And become ready for the morning, and ascend in the morning to the mountain Sinai, and stand for me there at the edge of the mountain. Didymus. For it does not stand for anyone else, but for God, by whom he will complete the revealed progress. What is it then to stand for God, or to become ready to hear the teaching of God? Exodus 19:12 And let no one ascend with you, and let no one be seen on any part of the mountain; and let the sheep and the oxen not graze near the mountain. Didymus. To those remaining below the perfection of Moses, he commanded to stay below the mountain.

Greek · §4

προσώπου· ἡ δὲ δημιουργία καὶ πρόνοια, διὰ τῶν ὀπίσω (1). ΚΕΦ. Λ∆ʹ, στ. βʹ. Καὶ γίνου ἕτοιμος εἰς τὸ πρωῒ, καὶ ἀναβήσῃ τὸ πρωῒ εἰς τὸ ὄρος τὸ Σινᾶ, καὶ στήσῃ μοι ἐκεῖ ἐπ' ἄκρου τοῦ ὄρους. ∆ιδύμου. Οὐ γὰρ ἑτέρῳ τινὶ ἵσταται, ἀλλ' ἢ Θεῷ, ᾧ τὴν δηλωθεῖσαν προκοπὴν διανύσει. Τί δέ ἐστι τὸ ἑστάναι Θεῷ, ἢ τὸ ἕτοιμον γενέσθαι πρὸς τὸ ἀκροᾶσθαι Θεοῦ διδασκαλίαν; Στ. γʹ. Καὶ μηδεὶς ἀναβήτω μετὰ σοῦ, καὶ μηδεὶς ὀφθήτω ἐν παντὶ τῷ ὄρει· καὶ τὰ πρόβατα καὶ οἱ βόες μὴ νεμέσθωσαν πλησίον τοῦ ὄρους. ∆ιδύμου. Τοῖς ἀπολειπομένοις τῆς τοῦ Μωϋσέως τελειότητος μένειν κάτω τοῦ ὄρους προσέταξε. 1

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