The removal of evil and the hardness of heart
An exhortation, not a prayer offered to God. The most impious ones have embraced this doctrine, having understood very well the new and the old testament. For in the Gospels, he says that regarding men, as having free and autonomous choice: 'If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and let him take up his cross, and let him follow me' (Matt 16:24). And again: 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest; and unyoke yourselves and learn from me that I am gentle' (Matt 11:28). For the 'come' and the 'unyoke' and 'learn' are addressed to autonomous persons. Immediately, indeed, he makes the beginning of his teaching thus, saying to those who are knowledgeable: 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near' (Matt 4:17). For repentance is a change of mind regarding things done previously, having free choice, not a nature unparticipating in virtue or vice. For neither will the foolish be diligent, nor the good be evil, according to the impious logic of those asserting fixed natures.
Having set forth the testimonies from the new testament concerning man being autonomous, he will also bring forward those from the old. And first the Mosaic ones, then those of the prophets. First is of the ten sayings spoken by God through Moses: 'You shall have no other gods besides me' (Exod 20:3); and next: 'You shall not make for yourself an idol, nor any likeness of anything, whatever is in the heaven above, and whatever is in the waters below the earth' (Exod 20:4). And after a little: 'Honor your father and your mother, so that it may go well with you' (Exod 20:12). And next: 'You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal' (Exod 20:13-15). From which the Apostle Paul, being a learner of the law even if he were anyone else, was benefited, and writes: 'Let him who steals steal no longer, but rather let him toil, working what is good' (Eph 4:28). And he writes this also toward autonomous persons: 'Having laid aside falsehood, let each one speak truth to his neighbor' (Eph 4:25).
It follows to say that which is proclaimed also from the prophets toward autonomous persons. He says of Isaiah toward those held by sins and because of this ignorant of the energy of those who praise: 'Cease from your evils, learn to do good' (Isa 1:16). For having free and unrestrained choice, the ceasing from those things they have done...
Thus one also learns to do what is good. Toward such people through Isaiah the Lord says: 'Take away the evils from your souls in front of my eyes,' for he sees your hidden things. Therefore, let the removal of evils from the hidden part of the souls be striven for, not by word or by seeming, but according to truth.
Also Jeremiah, regarding the soul running in haste toward evil and longing for the most indulgent banquets, protects her, saying: 'Turn your foot from a rough road, and your throat from thirst. And she said: I will be brave, because he loved strangers and followed after them' (Jeremiah 2:23).
A rough road is that which is forbidden or filled with thorns; and shameful desires and unrestrained pleasures and 'the cares of this life' are the thorns, which grow most in the paths of those not working for virtue, according to the proverbial saying having thus: 'The paths of the idle are paved with thorns, but the paths of the brave are worn down.' For continuously and without interruption, those walking having patience and bravery wear down the places through which they pass, so that because of the continuous wearing, they do not grow as thorns, but as worn paths.
Even though there are many among all the prophets who do not lift up the mythical impiety of those having reshaped the natures, and who confirm the free will of rational substances, it is sufficient to have set forth these things, so that the word, being a reminder, may not go beyond what is necessary.
These things having been mentioned beforehand, the one speaking regarding 'those having given their backs, acting foolishly and weighing down the ears of those not listening' must be supervised. For they, he says, having arranged their heart to be disobedient to the not-listening to the law, have fallen by the sins that cast them down. For the forbidden things are not established haphazardly and as they happen to be to those unwilling, but from a prior disposition of the most indulgent having existed, according to which they arrange their own hearts to be disobedient; for they did this by their own choice, not by fate or by any other necessity driving this, as the prophetic saying clearly declares: 'They arranged their heart to be disobedient to not obey my law.'
Similarly, the invisible tyrant of the intelligible Egypt also weighed down and hardened his heart, as it is said many times in Exodus regarding...
Greek
προτροπήν, μηδὲ προσευχὴν πρὸς Θεὸν ἀναπεμπομένην. 2.176 Προσήκαντο δὲ τὸ δόγμα τοῦτο οἱ δυσσεβέστατοι, ἥκιστα ἐπιστήσαντες τῇ καινῇ καὶ παλαιᾷ διαθήκῃ. Ἐν μὲν γὰρ τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις, ὡς πρὸς ἐλευθέραν καὶ αὐτόνομον ἔχοντας προαίρεσιν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους φησίν· «Εἴ τις θέλει ὀπίσω μου ἐλθεῖν, ἀπαρνησάσθω ἑαυτόν, καὶ ἀράτω τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀκολουθείτω μοι.» Καὶ πάλιν· «∆εῦτε πρός με, πάντες οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι, καὶ ἐγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς· καὶ ἄρατε τὸν ζυγὸν καὶ μάθετε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ ὅτι πραΰς εἰμι.» 2.177 Πρὸς αὐτεξουσίους γὰρ τὸ «δεῦτε» καὶ τὸ «ἄρατε» καὶ «μάθετε». Αὐτίκα γοῦν τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς διδασκαλίας ἑαυτοῦ οὕτω ποιεῖται, φάσκων τοῖς γνωρίμοις· «Μετανοεῖτε, ἤγγισεν γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν.» Μετάγνωσις γὰρ γίνεται τῶν προπεπραγμένων οὐ προσηκόντως περὶ προαίρεσιν ἐλευθέραν ἔχοντας, ἀλλ' οὐ φύσιν ἀμέτοχον ἀρετῆς ἢ κακίας. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ φαῦλος σπουδαῖος ἔσται, οὐδὲ ὁ ἀγαθὸς κακὸς, κατὰ τὸν ἀσεβῆ λόγον τῶν τὰς φύσεις εἰσηγουμένων. 2.178 Ἐκθεμένους ἐκ τῆς καινῆς διαθήκης τὰς περὶ τοῦ αὐτεξούσιον εἶναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον μαρτυρίας, ὥρα καὶ τὰς ἀπὸ τῆς παλαιᾶς παραγαγεῖν. 2.179 Καὶ πρῶτόν γε τὰς μωϋσαϊκὰς ῥητέον, εἶτα τὰς τῶν προφητῶν. 2.180 Πρῶτον τῶν δέκα λογίων ὑπὸ Θεοῦ λεχθέντων διὰ Μωϋσέως ἐστίν· «Οὐκ ἔσονταί σοι θεοὶ ἕτεροι πλὴν ἐμοῦ»· καὶ ἑξῆς· «Οὐ ποιήσεις σεαυτῷ εἴδωλον, οὐδὲ παντὸς ὁμοίωμα, ὅσα ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω, καὶ ὅσα ἐν τοῖς ὕδασιν ὑποκάτω τῆς γῆς.» Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· «Τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα, ἵνα εὖ σοι γένηται.» Καὶ ἑξῆς· «Οὐ φονεύσεις, οὐ μοιχεύσε̣ις, οὐ κλέψεις.» Ἀφ' ὧν ὠφεληθεὶς Παῦλος ὁ ἀπόστολος, 59 νομομαθὴς ὢν εἰ καί τις ἄλλος, γράφει· «Ὁ κλέπτων μηκέτι κλεπτέτω, μᾶλλον δὲ κοπιάτω, ἐργαζόμενος τὸ ἀγαθόν.» Ὡς πρὸς αὐτεξουσίους δὲ καὶ τόδε γράφει· «Ἀποθέμενοι τὸ ψεῦδος, λαλεῖτε ἀλήθειαν ἕκαστος πρὸς τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ.» 2.181 Ἀκόλουθον εἰπεῖν καὶ ἐκ τῶν προφητῶν κηρυττόμενα̣ πρὸς αὐτεξουσίους. 2.182 Ἠσαΐας φησὶν πρὸς τοὺς ἐνεχομένους ἁμαρτίαις καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀγνοοῦντας τὴν τῶν ἐπαινετῶν ἐνέργειαν· «Παύσασθε ἀπὸ τῶν πονηριῶν ὑμῶν, μάθετε καλὸν ποιεῖν.» Ἐλευθέραν γὰρ καὶ ἀδέσποτον προαίρεσιν ἐχόντων τὸ παύσασθαι ἀφ' ὧν ἔδρασαν κακῶς καὶ μαθεῖν ποιεῖν τὸ καλόν. Πρὸς τοὺς τοιούτους διὰ τοῦ Ἠσαΐου ὁ Κύριος λέγει· «Ἀφέλετε τὰς πονηρίας ἀπὸ τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν μου», –ὁρῶ γὰρ τὸ κρυπτὸν ὑμῶν. ∆ιὸ μὴ λόγῳ ἢ τῷ δοκεῖν ἀλλὰ κατὰ ἀλήθειαν ἡ τῶν πονηριῶν ἀφαίρεσις ἀπὸ τοῦ κρυπτοῦ τῶν ψυχῶν σπουδαζέσθω. 2.183 Σύμφωνα καὶ ὁ Ἰερεμίας πρὸς τὴν σπεύδουσαν ψυχὴν ἐπὶ πονηρίαν τρέχειν, καὶ ὀρεγομένην τῶν χειρίστων πομάτων, προστάττει λέγων· «Ἀπόστρεψον τὸν πόδα σου ἀπὸ ὁδοῦ τραχείας, καὶ τὸν φάρυγγά σου ἀπὸ δίψους. Ἡ δὲ εἶπεν· Ἀνδριοῦμαι, ὅτι ἠγάπησεν ἀλλοτρίους καὶ ὀπίσω αὐτῶν ἐπορεύετο.» 2.184 Τραχεῖα δὲ ὁδός ἐστιν ἡ ἀπαγορευομένη ἢ ἀκανθῶν πεπληρωμένη· αἰσχραὶ δ' ἐπιθυμίαι καὶ ἀκόλαστοι ἡδοναὶ καὶ «αἱ βιωτικαὶ μέριμναί» εἰσιν αἱ ἀκάνθαι, αἵτινες φύονται μάλιστα ἐν ταῖς ἀτραποῖς τῶν μὴ ἐργαζομένων τὴν ἀρετήν, κατὰ τὸ παροιμιῶδες λόγιον ἔχον οὕτως· «Ὁδοὶ ἀεργῶν ἐστρωμέναι ἀκάνθαις, αἱ δὲ ὁδοὶ τῶν ἀνδρείων τετριμμέναι.» Συνεχῶς γὰρ καὶ ἀδιαστάτως βαδίζοντες, οἱ καρτερίαν καὶ ἀνδρείαν ἔχοντες τρίβουσιν οὓς διοδεύουσι τόπους, ὡς διὰ τὴν συνεχῆ τριβὴν μὴ ἀκάνθας, μὴ τριβόλους φύεσθαι. 2.185 Μυρίων ὄντων ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς προφήταις τῶν ἀναιρούντων τὴν μυθικὴν ἀσέβειαν τῶν τὰς φύσεις ἀναπλασαμένων, καὶ βεβαιούντων τὸ αὐτεξούσιον τῶν λογικῶν οὐσιῶν, ἀρκεστέον τοῖς ἐκτεθεῖσιν, ἵνα μὴ πέρᾳ τοῦ δέοντος μηκυνθῇ ὁ λόγος ὢν ὑπομνηματικός. 2.186 Τούτων προανυσθέντων, ἐπιστατέον τῷ προκειμένῳ λέγοντι περὶ «τῶν νῶτον δεδωκότων παραφρονοῦντα καὶ βαρυνάντων τὰ ὦτα τοῦ μὴ εἰσακούειν». Τάξαντες γάρ, φησίν, τὴν καρδίαν αὐτῶν ἀπειθῆ τῷ μὴ ἐπακούειν τοῦ νόμου, ὑπέπεσαν τοῖς καθειλιγμένοις ἁμαρτήμασιν. Οὐ γὰρ ἄφνω καὶ ὡς ἔτυχεν μὴ βουλομένοις συνίσταται τὰ ἀπηγορευμένα, ἀλλὰ πρὸ αὐτῶν διαθέσεως χειρίστης ὑπαρξάσης, καθ' ἣν τάττουσιν τὴν καρδίαν ἑαυτῶν ἀπειθῆ· προαιρέσει γὰρ τῇ ἑαυτῶν τοῦτ' ἔπραξαν, οὐχ εἱμαρμένης οὐδ' ἄλλης τινὸς ἀνάγκης τοῦτ' ἐπαγαγούσης, ὡς αὐτό που δηλοῖ τὸ προφητικὸν φάσκον· «Ἔταξαν τὴν καρδίαν αὐτῶν ἀπειθῆ τοῦ μὴ ὑπακούειν τοῦ νόμου μου.» 2.187 Παραπλησίως καὶ ὁ τῆς νοητῆς Αἰγύπτου ἀόρατος τύραννος ἐβάρυνεν καὶ ἐσκλήρυνεν τὴν καρδίαν αὐτοῦ, ὡς ἐν Ἐξόδῳ πολλάκις εἴρηται περὶ
About this text
Didymus the Blind on Zechariah.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
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.