Scholia on Proverbs
The wickedness of the ungodly. But the righteous will consume it, clearly through good teaching, whether now or in the future age, over fifteen cities.
And Paul says: 'But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God' (Rom 2:5).
All things are contrary to a foolish man; but the lips of the wise are weapons of perception. For 'it does not oppose' wisdom 'anything evil,' because it is an invincible weapon; for the demons are only powerless against it.
The houses of the foolish must undergo cleansing; but the houses of the righteous are receptive, so that having become pure, they may see God; for this is the blessed end which is preserved for all rational nature.
The reckless man will be filled with his own ways; but a good man is known from his thoughts. Regarding thoughts, he has now spoken of the states of virtues, just as he set them in opposition to the ways of the reckless.
The foolish are divided by wickedness; but the cunning will prevail through perception. He set wickedness in opposition to perception. If wickedness opposes virtue, then perception now signifies virtue.
In increasing righteousness there is much strength; but the ungodly are uprooted from the earth. 'Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven' (Matt 5:20).
The education of the inattentive is known by those passing by; but let those who hate reproof perish shamefully. Regarding reproof, he has now spoken of the commandments; for these reprove us when we are sinning.
All the time the eyes of the evil receive evil; but the good are at rest always. Silence is a refuge from wickedness.
Ways of life are the thoughts of the prudent, so that having turned away from Hades, he may be saved. Regarding ways of life, he speaks of the practical virtues which lead toward knowledge.
The ways of righteous men are acceptable to the Lord; and through them, even enemies become friends. This is from Paul preaching: 'Those who were once enemies were reconciled to God through the death of His Son'; however, one must take care whether all enemies become friends through the righteous, so that Christ might also say to all: 'I no longer call you slaves, but friends' (John 15:15).
Divination is upon the lips of a king; but in judgment, one will not wander...
Christ is the Searcher of Hearts who will judge the inhabited world with justice by his mouth (Prov 14:5). The wrath of a king is a messenger of death (Prov 14:27), but a wise man will escape him. The angel who stands regarding matters of punishment is called the wrath of God.
Diseases of wisdom are better than gold (Prov 14:34), but diseases of prudence are better than silver. Knowledge of wisdom is better than gold, but knowledge of prudence is better than silver.
He who receives instruction will be in good things (Prov 15:33), but he who guards reproofs will be a sophist. Reproofs refers to the commandments of God; for these reprove us when we are sinning.
A fountain of life is a concept to those who possess it, but instruction is bad for the foolish. The uncontrollable instruction, the foolish have now named it instruction. If the instruction of the foolish is evil, the uncontrollable instruction is foolishness.
The heart of a wise man will understand things from his own mouth (Prov 14:10); but he will carry epistemic-knowledge upon his lips. Knowledge said epistemic-knowledge to mean knowing all things.
A crooked man sends out evils and flashes the spark of deceit (Prov 14:13), separating friends. The Word attempts to teach the demons, learning from the devil, to attempt to act against the saints and to test them, separating them from the knowledge which is natural for uniting them to the heavenly powers. Solomon, as I think, revealed this very thing through this proverb, calling Satan a crooked man, flashing the sparks of deceit the evil demons, instead of being taught, and the saints, the friends joining one another through knowledge.
He who supports his eyes is reckoned straying, but he defines all evils with his lips; this is a furnace of evils. The spirit of a driving wind scatters the flame of this furnace.
Everything comes into the laps of the unrighteous (Prov 14:32), but all things just are from the Lord (Prov 14:32). It should be noted that he spoke of the hearts of the unrighteous as laps here. I think also that everywhere 'lap' signifies either the mind or knowledge. If it is also a deceptive lap, it will signify ignorance.
A prudent servant will rule over foolish masters (Prov 11:29); but among brothers, parts are divided. If 'everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin' (1 John 3:8), everyone who...
Greek
ἀσεβῶν κακία. Οἱ δὲ δίκαιοι ἐξαναλώσουσιν αὐτὸν δηλονότι διὰ τῆς ἀγαθῆς διδασκαλίας ἤτοι νῦν ἢ καὶ ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τῷ μέλλοντι γενόμενοι ἐπάνω πέντε καὶ δέκα πόλεων. Καὶ ὁ Παῦλός φησιν· «κατὰ δὲ τὴν σκληρότητά σου καὶ ἀμετανόητον καρδίαν θησαυρίζεις σεαυτῷ ὀργὴν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς καὶ ἀποκαλύψεως δικαιοκρισίας τοῦ θεοῦ.» 135 14, 7 πάντα ἐναντία ἀνδρὶ ἄφρονι· ὅπλα δὲ αἰσθήσεως χείλη σοφά «Οὐκ ἀντιτάσσεται» γὰρ τῇ σοφίᾳ «οὐδὲν πονηρόν», διότι ὅπλον ἐστὶν ἀκαταμάχητον· μόνον γὰρ πρὸς αὐτὴν ἀδυνατοῦσιν οἱ δαίμονες. 136 14, 9 οἰκίαι ἀφρόνων ὀφειλήσουσι καθαρισμόν· οἰκίαι δὲ δικαίων δεκταί Ἵνα καθαροὶ γενόμενοι ἴδωσι τὸν θεόν· τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ μακάριον τέλος ὅπερ πάσῃ λογικῇ φύσα τετήρηται. 137 14, 14 τῶν ἑαυτοῦ ὁδῶν πλησθήσεται θρασυκάρδιος· ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν διανοημάτων αὐτοῦ ἀνὴρ ἀγαθός ∆ιανοήματα νῦν εἶπεν τὰς ἕξεις τῶν ἀρετῶν, ἅσπερ ταῖς ὁδοῖς τοῦ θρασυκαρδίου ἀντέθηκεν. 138 14, 18 μεριοῦνται ἄφρονες κακίαν· οἱ δὲ πανοῦργοι κρατήσουσιν αἰσθήσεως Ἀντέθηκε τὴν κακίαν τῇ αἰσθήσει. Εἰ δὲ ἡ κακία τῇ ἀρετῇ ἀντίκειται, ἡ αἴσθησις νῦν σημαίνει τὴν ἀρετήν. 139 15, 16 ἐν πλεοναζούσῃ δικαιοσύνῃ ἰσχὺς πολλή· οἱ δὲ ἀσεβεῖς ὁλόρριζοι ἐκ γῆς ὀλοῦνται «Ἐὰν μὴ περισσεύσῃ ὑμῶν ἡ δικαιοσύνη πλέον τῶν γραμματέων καὶ φαρισαίων, οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθητε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν.» 140 15, 10 παιδεία ἀκάκου γνωρίζεται ὑπὸ τῶν παριόντων· οἱ δὲ μισοῦντες ἐλέγχους τελευτῶσιν αἰσχρῶς Ἐλέγχους νῦν τὰς ἐντολὰς εἶπεν· αὗται γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἐλέγχουσιν ἁμαρτάνοντας. 141 15, 15 πάντα τὸν χρόνον οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ τῶν κακῶν προσδέχονται κακά· οἱ δὲ ἀγαθοὶ ἡσυχάζουσιν διὰ παντός Ἡσυχία ἐστὶν ἀποχὴ κακίας. 142 15, 24 ὁδοὶ ζωῆς διανοήματα συνετοῦ, ἵνα ἐκκλίνας ἐκ τοῦ ᾅδου σωθῇ Ὁδοὺς ζωῆς λέγει τὰς πρακτικὰς ἀρετὰς τὰς φερούσας ἐπὶ τὴν γνῶσιν. 143 15, 28α δεκταὶ παρὰ κυρίῳ ὁδοὶ ἀνθρώπων δικαίων· διὰ δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ οἱ ἐχθροὶ φίλοι γίνονται Παύλου κηρύξαντος· «οἵ ποτε ὄντες ἐχθροὶ κατηλλάγησαν τῷ θεῷ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ»· πλὴν προσεκτέον εἰ πάντες οἱ ἐχθροὶ διὰ τῶν δικαίων φίλοι γίνονται, ἵνα καὶ πᾶσιν εἴπῃ ὁ Χριστός· «οὐκέτι ὑμᾶς καλῶ δούλους, ἀλλὰ φίλους.» 144 16, 10 μαντεῖον ἐπὶ χείλεσι βασιλέως· ἐν δὲ κρίσει οὐ μὴ πλανηθῇ τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ Καρδιογνώστης ἐστὶν ὁ Χριστὸς καὶ κρινεῖ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ. 145 16, 14 θυμὸς βασιλέως ἄγγελος θανάτου· ἀνὴρ δὲ σοφὸς ἐξιλάσεται αὐτόν Ὁ ἄγγελος ὁ τοὺς περὶ κολάσεως ἐπιστάμενος λόγους θυμὸς τοῦ θεοῦ καλεῖται. 146 16, 16 νοσσιαὶ σοφίας αἱρετώτεραι χρυσίου· νοσσιαὶ δὲ φρονήσεως αἱρετώτεραι ὑπὲρ ἀργύριον Γνῶσις σοφίας ὑπὲρ χρυσίον· γνῶσις δὲ φρονήσεως ὑπὲρ ἀργύριον. 147 16, 17.3–4 ὁ δεχόμενος παιδείαν ἐν ἀγαθοῖς ἔσται· ὁ δὲ φυλάσσων ἐλέγχους σοφισθήσεται Ἐλέγχους λέγει τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ θεοῦ· αὗται γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἐλέγχουσιν ἁμαρτάνοντας. 148 πηγὴ ζωῆς ἔννοια τοῖς κεκτημένοις· παιδεία δὲ ἀφρόνων κακή Τὴν παιδείαν τὴν ἀνεξέλεγκτον νῦν παιδείαν ἀφρόνων ὠνόμασεν. Εἰ δὲ παιδεία ἀφρόνων ἡ κακία ἐστίν, ἡ ἀνεξέλεγκτος παιδεία ἡ ἀφροσύνη ἐστίν. 12 149 16, 23 καρδία σοφοῦ νοήσει τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἰδίου στόματος· ἐπὶ δὲ χείλεσιν φορέσει ἐπιγνωμοσύνην Τὴν γνῶσιν ἐπιγνωμοσύνην εἶπεν παρὰ τὸ πάντα αὐτὴν ἐπιγινώσκειν τὰ πράγματα. 150 16, 28 ἀνὴρ σκολιὸς διαπέμπεται κακὰ καὶ λαμπτῆρα δόλου πυρσεύει κακοῖς καὶ διαχωρίζει φίλους Λόγος τοὺς δαίμονας παρὰ τοῦ διαβόλου μανθάνοντας ἐπιχειρεῖν τοῖς ἁγίοις καὶ πειρᾶσθαι χωρίζειν αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς γνώσεως, ἥτις πέφυκε συνάπτειν αὐτοὺς πρὸς φιλίαν ταῖς ἐπουρανίοις δυνάμεσι. Τὸ δ' αὐτὸ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Σολομών, ὡς οἶμαι, διὰ ταύτης τῆς παροιμίας δεδήλωκε, σκολιὸν μὲν ἄνδρα λέγων τὸν σατανᾶν, πυρσευομένους δὲ δόλους τοὺς κακοὺς δαίμονας ἀντὶ τοῦ διδασκομένους καὶ φίλους τοὺς ἁγίους τοὺς διὰ τῆς γνώσεως συναπτομένους ἀλλήλοις. 151 16, 30 στηρίζων ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ λογίζεται διεστραμμένα, ὁρίζει δὲ τοῖς χείλεσιν αὐτοῦ πάντα τὰ κακά· οὗτος κάμινός ἐστιν κακῶν Ταύτης τῆς καμίνου ἐκτινάσσει τὴν φλόγα πνεῦμα δρόσου διασυρίζον. 152 16, 33 εἰς κόλπους ἐπέρχεται πάντα τοῖς ἀδίκοις· παρὰ δὲ κυρίου πάντα τὰ δίκαια Σημειωτέον ὅτι κόλπους ἐνταῦθα τὰς καρδίας εἴρηκε τῶν ἀδίκων. Οἶμαι δὲ ὅτι καὶ πανταχοῦ ὁ κόλπος ἤτοι τὸν νοῦν ἢ τὴν γνῶσιν σημαίνει. Εἰ δ' ἐστὶ καὶ κόλπος ψεκτός, τὴν ἀγνωσίαν δηλονότι δηλώσει. 153 17, 2 οἰκέτης νοήμων κρατήσει δεσποτῶν ἀφρόνων· ἐν δὲ ἀδελφοῖς διελεῖται μέρη Εἰ «πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν δοῦλός ἐστι τῆς ἁμαρτίας», πᾶς ὁ
About this text
Evagrius's short notes on Proverbs, turning each proverb toward the fight against temptation.
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.