The Possession of Wisdom and the Exodus of the Soul
A proverb is a word which, through sensible things, signifies intelligible matters.
The kingdom of Israel is spiritual knowledge containing discourses about God, the incorporeal and the corporeal, judgment, and providence, or revealing a theory concerning the ethical, the physical, and the theological.
For the purpose of knowing wisdom and instruction, he says, 'reigned in Israel to know instruction and wisdom' (Prov 1:2). And wisdom is the knowledge of bodies and incorporeal things and the judgment and providence observed in these; but instruction is the moderation of passions, observing the passionate or irrational part of the soul.
To direct judgment: The judgment to be direct and incorruptible signifies the criterion. And there are three criteria in us: sensation, word, and mind; sensation indeed of the sensible, word of names and utterances and things said, but mind of the intelligible.
And piety toward God is the beginning of sensation: Just as through sensations the mind imposes itself upon the sensible, so also through virtues it presides over the intelligible.
But the impious will despise wisdom and instruction: Those who cultivate wickedness will despise wisdom and instruction; but by word, as I think, no one despises wisdom and instruction.
For a crown of grace will be on your head and a golden ring around your neck: Just as the head and the neck signify the mind there, so also the crown and the ring signify knowledge there. For this is the custom of the Holy Spirit to name God and his angels, and the mind, and virtue, and knowledge, and wickedness, and ignorance, and the devil himself and his angels, with many names. But he does not set down the names simply, as some think; for they are identifiers of different activities, of God through his angels working in us and of us in him, and of demons.
The possession of the righteous is wisdom, understanding, and prudence. The impious seize this possession, persuading the righteous to do something of those things forbidden by God, so that the mind, having been blinded by sin, may fall from these holy estates. These are plundered by those whom the demons conquer, taking from them the panoply of God: the helmet, the breastplate, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph 6:16-17).
Those who are co-heirs with the adversaries are they who partake of the same wickedness as them. For that which is not of the One God is common. Nets are not spread unjustly; it is a net, an eternal punishment from the righteous Judge, drawn toward the impure souls to their destruction as they flee badly with their wings.
Wisdom is praised in exoduses; in the marketplaces it leads to boldness; on the tops of walls it is proclaimed; and at the gates of the powerful it sits. Exodus now names the soul emerging from wickedness and ignorance. Such is also the exodus of the sons of Israel, which has come to pass after the generation of the judgment and teaching of God. Regarding the same soul, he says: 'Enlarge the place of your tent' (Isa 54:2) and 'Enlarge your heart' (2 Cor 6:13) in the address of Paul to the Corinthians. And wisdom is praised by the soul emerging in this way; and in the soul being enlarged through virtues, it leads to boldness. Its high wall he calls the highest apathy, if 'those who love the law surround themselves with a wall' (Ps 50:14), for which wall David also prays, saying: 'Let the walls be built.'
Greek
Scholia in Proverbia (fragmenta e catenis) ΣΧΟΛΙΑ ΕΙΣ ΤΑΣ ΠΑΡΟΙΜΙΑΣ Παροιμία ἐστὶν λόγος δι' αἰσθητῶν πραγμάτων σημαίνων πράγματα νοητά. 2 Βασιλεία Ἰσραήλ ἐστιν γνῶσις πνευματικὴ τοὺς περὶ θεοῦ καὶ ἀσωμάτων καὶ σωμάτων καὶ κρίσεως καὶ προνοίας περιέχουσα λόγους ἢ τὴν περὶ ἠθικῆς καὶ φυσικῆς καὶ θεολογικῆς ἀποκαλύπτουσα θεωρίαν. 3 1, 2.1 γνῶναι σοφίαν καὶ παιδείαν Τούτου χάριν, φησίν, «ἐβασίλευσεν ἐν Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ γνῶναι παιδείαν καὶ σοφίαν». Καὶ σοφία μέν ἐστιν γνῶσις σωμάτων καὶ ἀσωμάτων καὶ τῆς ἐν τούτοις θεωρουμένης κρίσεως καὶ προνοίας· παιδεία δέ ἐστιν μετριοπάθεια παθῶν περὶ τὸ παθητικὸν ἢ ἄλογον τῆς ψυχῆς μέρος θεωρουμένη. 4 1, 3.3 καὶ κρίμα κατευθύνειν Τὸ κρίμα κατευθύνειν ὀρθὸν καὶ ἀδιάστροφον εἶναι τὸ κριτήριον δηλοῖ. Τρία δὲ κριτήρια ἐν ἡμῖν, αἴσθησις, λόγος, νοῦς· καὶ αἴσθησις μὲν τῶν αἰσθητῶν, λόγος δὲ ὀνομάτων καὶ ῥημάτων καὶ τῶν λεγομένων, νοῦς δὲ τῶν νοητῶν. 5 1, 7.3 εὐσέβεια δὲ εἰς θεὸν ἀρχὴ αἰσθήσεως Ὥσπερ διὰ τῶν αἰσθήσεων ὁ νοῦς ἐπιβάλλει τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς, οὕτω καὶ διὰ τῶν ἀρετῶν ἐποπτεύει τὰ νοητά· 6 1, 7.4 σοφίαν δὲ καὶ παιδείαν ἀσεβεῖς ἐξουθενήσουσιν Οἱ κτώμενοι κακίαν ἐξουθενήσουσι σοφίαν καὶ παιδείαν· λόγῳ δέ, ὡς οἶμαι, οὐδεὶς ἐξουθενεῖ σοφίαν καὶ παιδείαν. 7 1, 9 στέφανον γὰρ χαρίτων ἕξῃ σῇ κορυφῇ καὶ κλοιὸν χρύσεον περὶ σῷ τραχήλῳ Ὥσπερ ἡ κορυφὴ καὶ ὁ τράχηλος δηλοῖ ἐνταῦθα τὸν νοῦν, οὕτω καὶ ὁ στέφανος καὶ ὁ κλοιὸς ἐνταῦθα σημαίνει τὴν γνῶσιν. Αὕτη γὰρ ἡ συνήθεια τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου πολλοῖς ὀνόμασιν ὀνομάζειν τὸν θεόν τε καὶ τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν νοῦν καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ τὴν γνῶσιν καὶ τὴν κακίαν καὶ τὴν ἀγνωσίαν καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν διάβολον καὶ τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ. Οὐχ ἁπλῶς δὲ τίθησι τὰ ὀνόματα, ὥς τινες οἴονται· διαφόρων γὰρ ἐνεργειῶν εἰσι γνωσρίσματα, θεοῦ τε διὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων ἐν ἡμῖν ἐνεργοῦντος καὶ ἡμῶν ἐν αὐτῷ, δαιμόνων τε πρὸς ἡμᾶς καὶ ἡμῶν πρὸς αὐτούς. 8 1, 13 τὴν κτῆσιν αὐτοῦ τὴν πολυτελῆ καταλαβώμεθα· πλήσωμεν δὲ οἴκους ἡμετέρους σκύλων Ἡ κτῆσις τοῦ δικαίου ἐστὶν σοφία καὶ σύνεσις καὶ φρόνησις· «κτῆσαι γάρ, φησί, σοφίαν καὶ κτῆσαι σύνεσιν» καὶ «ὁ κτώμενος φρόνησιν ἀγαπᾷ ἑαυτόν». Καταλαμβάνονται δὲ τὴν κτῆσιν ταύτην οἱ ἀσεβεῖς, πείθοντες τὸν δίκαιον ποιῆσαί τι τῶν ἀπηγορευμένων παρὰ θεῷ, ἵνα τυφλωθεὶς ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ νοῦς ἐκπέσῃ τῶν ἁγίων τούτων κτημάτων. 9 Τούτους σκυλεύουσιν οὓς νικῶσιν οἱ δαίμονες, λαμβάνοντες ἀπ' αὐτῶν τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ πανοπλίαν, τὴν περικεφαλαίαν καὶ τὸν θώρακα καὶ τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ πνεύματος, ὅ ἐστι ῥῆμα θεοῦ. 10 1, 14.1–2 τὸν δὲ σὸν κλῆρον βάλε ἐν ἡμῖν· κοινὸν δὲ βαλλάντιον κτησώμεθα πάντες Οὗτοι συγκληρονόμοι τῶν ἀντικειμένων εἰσὶν οἱ τῆς αὐτῆς αὐτοῖς κακίας μεταλαμβάνοντες. Κοινὸν δέ ἐστιν ὃ μὴ τοῦ ἑνός ἐστι θεοῦ. 11 1, 17 οὐ γὰρ ἀδίκως ἐκτείνεται δίκτυα πτερωτοῖς ∆ίκτυόν ἐστιν κόλασις αἰώνιος παρὰ τοῦ δικαίου κριτοῦ ταῖς ἀκαθάρτοις προσαγομένη ψυχαῖς ἐπ' ἀπωλείᾳ τῶν κακῶς ἀπ' αὐτῶν ἐκφύντων πτερῶν. 12 1, 20 σοφία ἐν ἐξόδοις ὑμνεῖται· ἐν δὲ πλατείαις παρρησίαν ἄγει· 1, 21 ἐπ' ἄκρων δὲ τειχέων κηρύσσεται· ἐπὶ δὲ πύλαις δυναστῶν παρεδρεύει Ἔξοδον νῦν ὀνομάζει τὴν ἐξελθοῦσαν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ κακίας καὶ ἀγνωσίας. Τοιαύτη δὲ καὶ ἡ ἔξοδος τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ ἡ μετὰ τὴν ἐκ τῆς κρίσεως τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ διδασκαλίας γένεσιν γεγονυῖα. Τὴν αὐτὴν δὲ ψυχὴν καὶ πλατεῖαν λέγει· «πλάτυνον γάρ, φησίν, τὸ στόμα σου καὶ πληρώσω αὐτὸ» καὶ «πλατύνθητε δὴ καὶ ὑμεῖς» ἐν τῇ πρὸς Κορινθίους ὁ Παῦλος. Καὶ ὑπὸ μὲν τῆς οὕτως ἐξερχομένης ψυχῆς ὑμνεῖται ἡ σοφία· 1 ἐν δὲ τῇ πλατυνομένῃ διὰ τῶν ἀρετῶν παρρησίαν ἄγει. Ἄκρον δὲ τεῖχος αὐτῆς τὴν ἄκραν ἀπάθειαν λέγει, εἴπερ «οἱ ἀγαπῶντες τὸν νόμον περιβάλλουσιν ἑαυτοῖς τεῖχος», ὑπὲρ οὗ τείχους εὔχεται καὶ ὁ ∆αυὶδ λέγων· «οἰκοδομηθήτω τὰ τείχη
About this text
Evagrius's short notes on Proverbs, turning each proverb toward the fight against temptation.
Original English Translation of Evagrius Ponticus’s Scholia in Proverbia — new OET from PG 40 Greek.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 40 (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.