The distinction of flesh and the meaning of bones
Having taken the distinction from the soul, it is troubled by the opposite of death. 'All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man is as the flower of grass' (Ps 103:15). Again he says, 'All flesh shall come unto thee' (Ps 22:27), that is, every man. 'All flesh shall see the salvation of our God' (Ps 22:29). All things that are homonymous are divided from those having the same name by the addition of certain elements. If Scripture says, 'He who gives food to all flesh,' we hear of every living creature by nature. But if I say, 'I will pour out from my spirit upon all flesh,' I speak of receiving the bestowed gift of spirit.
4 There is no peace to my bones from the face of my sins (Ps 32:3), because I see my sins present. But not everyone takes understanding of the face of them, but he who repents and wishes to flee them. The one sinning and being ignorant of this very thing that he sins, does not see the face of his sins, nor does he see their shame. But the one perceiving those things which he does, and seeing that he performs them according to the transgression of divine commands, has the face of the sins appearing to him.
He does not say 'bones' of the body in every way, except according to the lowestly understanding, just as it was also said concerning flesh. And it has been said in those preceding: 'All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee?' (Ps 73:26). If the bones say, 'Lord, who is like unto thee?', they have received the understanding of the Lord and of His form, so as to know that no one is like Him. For the likeness toward God and the unlikeness which brings knowledge of God and theology makes it manifest; so that he does not speak concerning the bones of the body, but concerning the solid beliefs of the soul and its powers; for then the sensible bodies are held together by the bones; for it was not possible to have nerves and veins and the rest, if he did not have bones. Where is it said: 'There is no peace to my bones?'—when the powers of the soul follow one another, they are at peace. When the soul does not divide...
the calculating faculty, the desiring faculty
Greek
διαιρεῖσθαι ἀπὸ τῆς ψυχῆς λαβών, ἐναντία θανάτου ταράττεται. "πᾶσα σὰρξ χόρτος, καὶ πᾶσα δόξα ἀνθρώπου ὡς ἄνθος χόρτου". πάλιν λέγει ὅτι· "πρὸς σὲ πᾶσα σὰρξ ἥξει", τουτέστιν πᾶς ἄνθρωπος. "ὄψεται πᾶσα σὰρξ τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν". πάντα τὰ ὁμωνυμοῦντα ἐκ προσθηκῶν τινων διαιροῦνται ἀπὸ τῶν τὸ αὐτὸ ὄνομα ἐχόντων. ἐὰν λέγηται ἐν τῇ γραφ̣ῇ· "ὁ διδοὺς τροφὴν πάσῃ σαρκί", πᾶν ζῷον ἀκούομεν πεφυκός. ἐὰν δὲ λέγω· "ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματός μου ἐπὶ πᾶσαν σάρκα", τὴν πεφυκυῖαν δόσιν πνεύματος δέχεσθαι λέγω. 4 οὐκ ἔστιν εἰρήνη τοῖς ὀστέοις μου ἀπὸ προσώπου τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν μου. ἐπεὶ ὁρῶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας μου παρούσας. οὐ πᾶς δὲ τοῦ προσώπου αὐτῶν ἔννοιαν λαμβάνει ἢ ὁ μ̣ετανοῶν καὶ φυγεῖν 262 αὐτὰς βουλόμ̣ενο̣ς. ὁ ἁμαρτάνων καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἀγνοῶν ὅτι ἁμαρτάνει, οὐχ ὁρᾷ τὸ πρόσωπον τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἑαυτοῦ, οὐχ ὁρᾷ αὐτῶν τὸ αἶσχος. ὁ δὲ ἐπιστάνων οἷς πράττει καὶ ὁρῶν ὅτι κατὰ παράβασιν θείων ἐντολῶν ἐπιτελεῖ αὐτά, ἐπιφαινό μενον ἔχει τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τὸ πρόσωπον. ὀστέα δὲ οὐ τὰ τοῦ σώματος πάντως λέγει, εἰ μὴ κατὰ τὴν χαμαιζηλοτέραν διάνοιαν, ὡς καὶ περὶ σαρκὸς ἐλέχθη. καὶ εἴρηται ἐν τοῖς προλαβοῦσιν τό· "πάντα τὰ ὀστᾶ μου ἐροῦσιν· κύριε, τίς ὅμοιός σοι"; ε̣ι᾿̣ τὰ ὀστᾶ λέγουσιν· "κύριε, τίς ὅμοιός σοι", καὶ κυρίου ἔννοιαν ἐδέξαντο καὶ τῆς, ἵν' οὕτως εἴπω, μορφῆς αὐτοῦ, ὥστε εἰδέναι ὅτι οὐδεὶς ὅμοιος αὐτῷ ἐστιν. ἡ ὁμοιότης δὲ ἡ πρὸς θεὸν καὶ ἀνομοιότης ἐπίγνωσιν θεοῦ καὶ θεολογίαν φανεροῖ· ὥστε οὐ περὶ τῶν ὀστέων τοῦ σώματος λέγει, ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν ἰσχυρῶν καὶ καὶ εὐτόνων δογμάτων τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ δυνάμεων αὐτῆς· τότε γὰρ τὰ αἰσθητὰ σώματα διακρατεῖται ὑπὸ τῶν ὀστέων· οὐκ ἠδύνατο γὰρ νεῦρα καὶ φλέβας ἔχειν καὶ τὰ ἄλλα, εἰ μὴ ὀστέα εἶχεν. ἐπερ · "οὐκ ἔστιν εἰρήνη τοῖς ὀστέοις μου"; –ὅταν αἱ δυνάμεις τῆς ψυχῆς ἀντακολουθοῦσιν, εἰρηνεύουσιν. ὅταν μὴ διαστασιάζῃ τὸ θυμικὸν πρὸς τὸ λογιστικόν, τὸ ἐπιθυμητικὸν πρὸς τὸν νοῦν, τότε εἰρήνη ἐστίν. πάλιν ἐὰν δόγματά τις ἔχῃ διάφωνα–οἱ πολλοὶ δὲ τοιαῦτα ἔχουσιν· τίθενταί τι καὶ ἐπιφέρουσιν ἄλλο, ὃ ἀνατρέπει τὃ πρῶτον τεθήκασιν. καὶ σχεδὸν ὅλοι οἱ συνκεχυμένην διάνοιαν ἔχοντες τοῦτο πάσχουσιν. δεῖ δὲ τὸν σοφὸν καὶ μάλιστα θεόσοφον συνφωνία̣ς̣ ἔχειν ἐν ταῖς δυνάμεσιν τοῦ ἔσω ἀνθρώπου καὶ ἐν τοῖς φρονητέοις· οὕτω γὰρ εἰρήνη ἔστιν ἐν τοῖς ὀστέοις αὐτοῦ. 5 ὅτι αἱ ἀνομίαι μου ὑπερῆραν τὴν κεφαλήν μου. τοῦτο λέγει· αἱ ἀνομίαι μου, αἳ ὀφείλουσιν ὑπὸ πόδας εἶναι καὶ πατεῖσθαι, ὑπὲρ ἐμὲ γέγοναν, τοῦ νοῦ μου κρατοῦσιν. ἐν πολλοῖς δὲ ἡ κεφαλὴ τὸν νοῦν σημαίνει· ὡς καὶ ἐν τῷ· "τοῦ σοφοῦ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἐν κεφαλῇ αὐτοῦ", τουτέστιν ἐν τῷ νῷ. αὐτὸ γοῦν τοῦτο ὁ εἰρηκώς· "τοῦ σοφοῦ οἱ ὀφθαλμοί", εἰς ἕτερα λέγων σαφηνίζει· "σοφία ἀνθρώπου 173 φωτιεῖ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ", πρόσωπον πάντως λέγων τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον, τὸν νοῦν. φορτίον βαρὺ γεγένηνται, καθέλκουσίν με κάτω, δέον ἐκεῖνο ὃ Ἰησοῦς ἐπιτίθησιν φορτίον καὶ τὸ ζυγὸν ὃ ἐπιβάλλει, φέρειν· ἐστὶν γὰρ φορτίον φαῦλον, ὡς αὐτὸ τοῦτο τὸ ῥητὸν λέγει· "φορτίον βαρὺ αἱ ἀνομίαι ἐβαρύνθησαν ἐπ' ἐμέ". "δεῦτε" οὖν, φησίν, "πρὸς ἐμέ, ἀναπαύσω γὰρ ὑμᾶς", αἴρω τὰ φορτία ἀφ' ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ ἐπικείμενα ἄχθη· "ὁ γὰρ ζυγός μου χρηστός ἐστιν καὶ τὸ φορτίον μου ἐλαφρόν". τὸ φορτίον τοῦτο μετεωρίζει τὸν βαστάζοντα, ἄνω αὐτὸν φέρει, ὑπόπτερόν ἐστιν τὸ φορτίον τοῦτο. τὸ δὲ τῆς κακίας κάτω βρίθει, κάτω καταβάλλει. περὶ φαύλων γοῦν λέγει· "δύσεσθε ὡσεὶ μόλιβος ἐν ὕδατι σφοδρῷ". 5 ὡσεὶ φορτίον βαρὺ ἐβαρύνθησαν ἐπ' ἐμέ. καὶ τοῦτο δὲ οὐ παντός ἐστιν εἰδέναι ὅτι βαρὺ φορτίον ἐστὶν ἡ κακία̣ ἢ τοῦ αἴσθησιν λαβόντος τοῦ ἐπαχθοῦς αὐτῆς. τότε γοῦν κ̣οπιᾷ τις τῶν φερόντων τὸ φορτίον τοῦτο, ὅταν αἴσθη̣σιν λάβῃ τοῦ βάρους τῆς κακίας. καὶ τότε ἔρ χεται πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν. ὁ δὲ
About this text
Didymus the Blind on the Psalms.
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Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
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