The Duty of Rebuking and the Silence of the Soul
Regarding 'rebuke'—it is said in a double sense; often one is unable to rebuke. One lacks such boldness or such power of speech as to rebuke, and so pretends not to hear. For example, a heretic is present, speaking atheistic doctrines and heretical opinions. If we are unable to rebuke the things said by him, we are called 'men who do not hear,' for rather than benefiting, hearing such conversations causes agitation.
For it has been said: 'Bad conversations corrupt good morals.' If anyone possessing a good character knows this—that he cannot stand against bad conversations—he is not obliged to provide his hearing, but rather to become as if deaf. Another, possessing the ability to rebuke the most shameful conversations, does not do this when he knows that it is not at all effective to rebuke him in that way; for it was said that just as foods are administered medically at the right time, so also are the aids to the soul.
Such things are aids to the soul, for instance: 'rebuke, reprove, encourage.' When you have made manifest through rebuking the one sinning, reprove. When you have reproved again, having performed the reproof sufficiently, encourage. Let the aids to the soul follow one another. It is not for anyone by chance to know these, but for the one who understands the medicine of the soul. 'For in you, Lord, I have hoped; You will hear me, Lord my God' (Ps 31:2). Since I hoped in You, You will hear me.
I am confident that all things that are possible for him to be present with me, shall be present. Therefore, being confident in You, the Greater One, and the One who knows how to rebuke and whom it is necessary to rebuke, I kept silent, as if I had become deaf, not having rebukes in my mouth. And thus it must be said: 'Since I hoped in You, You will hear me'; for having become deaf and mute toward him and not having rebukes in my mouth, I cried out toward You in my mind.
So it seems to have happened also in the Exodus of Moses, when Pharaoh violently pursued them with all his power and his army, and the Hebrews were in a certain way hemmed in so as to be even less able to cross over. The army of Pharaoh and the tyrant himself pursued; the Hebrews, 'the sons of Israel,' were being pursued. Some were armed, bringing all manner of equipment and military, cavalry, and infantry power, while the others were naked in their hands.
They were hemmed in
Greek
ἐλεγμούς"; –διττῶς λέγεται τὸ ἐλέγξαι· πολλάκις τις ἐλέγξαι οὐ δύναται. οὐκ ἔχει τοσαύτην παρρησίαν οὐδὲ δύναμιν τοσαύτην λόγου ὥστε ἐλέγχειν, καὶ προσποιεῖται μὴ ἀκούειν. οἷον αἱρεθικός τις πάρεστιν. λέγει ἄθεα δόγματα, αἱρεθικὰς γνώμας. ἐὰν μὴ δυνώμεθα ἐλέγξαι τὰ παρ' ἐκείνου λεγόμενα, "ὡς ἄνθρωποι οὐκ ἀκούοντες" λεγόμεθα· ταράττει γὰρ μᾶλλον τὸ ἀκοῦσαι τοιούτων ὁμιλιῶν ἢ ὠφελεῖ. εἴρηται γοῦν· "φθείρουσιν ἤθη χρηστὰ ὁμιλίαι κακαί". εἴ τις χρηστὸν ἦθος ἔχων οἶδεν αὐτὸ τοῦτο ὅτι πρὸς κακὰς ὁμιλίας προστῆναι οὐ δύναται, οὐκ ὀφείλει παρέχειν τὴν ἀκοήν, ἀλλ' ὡς κωφὸς γενέσθαι. ἄλλος δὲ ἔχων τὸ ἐλέγξαι τὰς αἰσχίστας ὁμιλίας οὐ ποιεῖ τοῦτο, ὅταν εἰδῇ ὅτι οὐ λυσιτελεῖ τέως ἐκείνῳ ἐλεγχθῆναι· ἔλεγον γὰρ ὅτι ὡς αἱ τροφαὶ ἰατρικῶς καιρίως προσάγονται, οὕτω καὶ τὰ βοηθήματα τῇ ψυχῇ. 179 βοηθήματα δέ πώς εἰσιν τῆς ψυχῆς τὰ τοιαῦτα, οἷον· "ἔλεγξον, ἐπιτίμησον, παρακάλεσον". ὅταν φανερώσῃς διὰ τοῦ ἐλέγξαι τὸν ἁμαρτάνοντα, ἐπιτίμησον. ὅταν ἐπιτιμήσῃς πάλιν αὐτάρκως τὴν ἐπιτιμίαν ποιησάμενος, παρακάλεσον. βοηθήματα ψυχῆς βοηθήματα διαδεχέσθω. οὐ τοῦ τυχόντος δέ ἐστιν ταῦτα εἰδέναι, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἐπισταμένου ψυχῆς ἰατρείαν. 16 ὅτι ἐπὶ σοί, κύριε, ἤλπισα· σὺ εἰσακούσῃ, κύριε ὁ θεός μου. ἐπεὶ ἤλπισα ἐπὶ σέ, σὺ εἰσάκουσόν μου. θαρρῶ ὅτι πάντα τὰ παρ' ἐμοῦ ὑπαρχ̣θ̣η῀̣ν̣αι ἐκείνῳ δυνάμενα, ὑπαρχθήσεται. διὰ τοῦτο θαρρῶν σ̣οὶ τῷ μείζονι καὶ τῷ εἰδότι πῶς ἐλέγχειν καὶ τίνα δ̣εῖ, ἐσιω´̣πησα, ὡσεὶ κωφὸς γέγονα οὐκ ἔχων ἐν τῷ στόματί μο̣υ ἐλέγχους. καὶ οὕτω δὲ στικτέον· ἐπεὶ ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισα, σὺ εἰσάκουσόν μου· κωφὸς γὰρ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον καὶ ἄλαλος γεγονὼς καὶ οὐκ ἔχων ἐν τῷ στόματι ἐλέγχους, κατὰ διάνοιαν πρὸς σὲ ἐβόων. οὕτω φαίνεται γενόμενον καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐξόδῳ ἐπὶ τοῦ Μ̣ωυσέως, ὁπηνίκα κατεδίωξεν Φαραὼθ μετὰ πάσης αὐτοῦ τῆς δυνάμεως καὶ τῆς στρατιᾶς, καὶ τρόπον τινὰ συνεκλείσθησαν οἱ Ἑβραῖοι ὥστε περαιτέρω μὴ δύνασθαι διαβῆναι. ἐδίωκεν ἡ στρατιὰ τοῦ Φαραὼθ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ τύραννος, ἐδιώκοντο οἱ Ἑβραῖοι, "οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραήλ". καὶ οἱ μὲν ἦσαν ὡπλισμένοι καὶ παντευχίαν πᾶσαν ἐπιφερόμενοι καὶ δύναμιν στρατιωτικὴν καὶ ἱππικὴν καὶ πεζικήν. οἱ δὲ αὐτ̣ο`̣ τοῦτο γυμνοὶ ταῖς χερσὶν ἦσαν βακτηρίας κατέχοντες. συνεκλείσθησαν καὶ οὐκέτι ἠδύναντο περαιτέρω χωρη῀̣σαι· οὐδὲ γὰρ πόρρω ἠδύναντο δραμεῖν κωλυούσης τῆς θαλάσσης οὐδὲ ἐπὶ δεξιὰ ἢ ἐπὶ θάτερα ὑποστρέψαι. πάλιν ὑποπεσεῖν ἦν τοῖς ἐχθροῖς. ὥσπερ οὖν 269 ἔν τινι γαλεάγρᾳ καὶ ἐντὸς ἀρκύων ληφθέντες οἱ Ἑβραῖοι ἐσφάδαζον καὶ ηγωντο Μωσέα ὅτι· "οὐ τοῦτο ἦν τὸ ῥῆμα ὃ εἴπομέν σοι ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ· πάρες ἡμᾶς, ὅπως δουλεύσωμεν τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις"; καὶ ἰδοὺ φθαρῶμεν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ταύτῃ. ὁ στρατηγὸς ἐλάλει παρακλητικοὺς λόγους αὐτὸς Μωυσῆς· "θαρσεῖτε καὶ στῆτε καὶ ὁρᾶτε τὴν σωτηρίαν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἣν ποιήσει ὑμῖν σήμερον· ὃν τρόπον γὰρ ἑωράκατε τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους, ἔτι οὐ προσθήσεσθε ἔτι ἰδεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα χρόνον". τοιαῦτα ἔδει τὸν στρατηγὸν μὴ λιποθυμίας τῷ λαῷ λέγειν· οὐδὲ γὰρ τὴν εὐχὴν ἀναπέμπειν ἐκ τοῦ φανεροῦ. ἐνόμιζον ἐκεῖνοι ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπέγνω̣ τὴν σωτηρίαν. ἀλλ' ἔλεγεν μὲν τὰ παραθαρσύνοντα, πρὸς τὸν θεὸν δὲ τὰ πρὸς διάνοιαν ἐβόα. καὶ ἵνα δείξῃ ὁ θεὸς ὅτι οὐ συντυχικῶς, ἐὰν γένηται βοήθεια, λέγει· "τί βοᾷς πρός με"; πρὸς μὲν θεὸν κατὰ τὸ σιωπώμενον ἐβόα, ἔλεγε δὲ παραθαρσύνοντας λόγους. μέγα δὲ κακόν ἐστιν δεινοῦ τινος ἐφεστηκότος καὶ τὸν στρατηγὸν ὥσπερ σφαδάσαι. εἰς ἀπόγνωσιν ἄγει. 17 ὅτι εἶπα· μήποτε ἐπιχαρῶσίν μοι οἱ ἐχθροί μου". εἶπον τοῦτο· διὰ τοῦτο ἐσιώπησα καὶ ὡσεὶ κωφὸς γέγονα καὶ ὡς οὐκ ἔχων ἐλεγμούς, μήποτε τολμήσαντός μου ταῦτα ἐπικρατέστεροι γενόμενοι ἐπιχαρῶσίν μοι, ἐπικερτομήσουσιν κατ' ἐμοῦ. διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος λέγει ὅτι· μὴ τόδε ποιεῖτε, "ἵνα μὴ ἐπιχαρῇ ὑμᾶς ὁ σατανᾶς διὰ τὴν ἀκακίαν ὑμῶν". οὐκοῦν ἐπὶ τοῦ βλαπτομένου χαίρει ἐκεῖνος. "ὑψώσω σε, κύριε, ὅτι ὑπέλαβές με καὶ οὐκ ηὔφρανας τοὺς ἐχθρούς μου ἐπ' ἐμοί". εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἦς ὑπολαβών με μὴ ὀρθῶς μηδὲ ὃν δεῖ τρόπον ὑψώσαντά σε, ἐπέχαιρον ἐκεῖνοι. καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις λέγει· "μὴ ἐπίχαιρέ μοι, ἡ ἐχθρά μου, ὅτι πέπτωκα· καὶ ἀναστήσομαι". ἐπὶ τῷ πτώματί μου ἐπιχαίρεις, ἀλλ' ἴσθι ὅτι ἀναστήσομαι. ὅταν οὖν στήσω, ἡ χαρά σου εἰς πένθος μεταβάλλει καὶ αἱ ἐπικερτομοῦσαι ᾠδαὶ εἰς θρήνους τρέπονται. 17 καὶ ἐν τῷ σαλευθῆναι πόδας μου ἐπ' ἐμὲ ἐμεγαλορημόνησαν. ἐὰν κἂν κλόνος γένηται τῶν ποδῶν μου, ἐπ' ἐμὲ
About this text
Didymus the Blind on the Psalms.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
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