The Varied Names of the Soul's States
impassive
To stand in judgment is not good. Just as cold water is unpleasing to a soul that thirsts, so is a good message from far off the earth, and so is the knowledge of God from the earth pleasant.
Just as if someone were to break open a spring and enjoy the outlet of water, so a just man falls disorderly before the thought of the thoughts of the ungodly; his falls are called such and such, his risings, his seat, his standing; and others his walking and some of his obstacles are named; and others hard and soft and fragrant and sweet and bitter and smooth and straight and crooked; and again some of his are called thorns and briars, others light and darkness and life and death, others diseases and healths; and others again are named falsehood and truth; and many other names the Scripture sets down according to the soul and the thoughts of it.
But what it sets down against it, as it is possible to say a few of many, these are they: mind, soul, heart, man, man, woman, slave, servant, father, son, spirit, eye, mouth, lip, tongue, larynx, belly, bosom, arm, finger, wood, nose, sheep, ram, shepherd; and there are more names of the soul, which it is not possible now to set down because the nature of the scholia does not permit prolixity. There, therefore, a just mind falls before the devil, receiving an unclean thought or a false dogma. And David says: 'Before him shall all those descending into the earth fall' (Ps 102:7); but this fall contains true knowledge and pure thoughts.
Just as a city with its walls cast down and without walls, so a man who does nothing by intention. 'Will' is spoken here for the inclination of the heart toward the better.
Just as a whip to a horse and a goad to a donkey, so a rod chastises the lawless. The rod is now a symbol of punishment.
He who sends a word through a foolish angel makes a dream of his own ways. It is not necessary to give the holy things to dogs, nor to cast pearls before swine (Mt 7:6). Having removed the journey of the legs and the lawlessness from the mouth of the foolish, remove the bad way and make a long distance of false knowledge from it. He who releases a stone from a sling is like one giving glory to a foolish person. Knowledge will not fit a fool and...
Greek
οἱ τοῦ αὐτοῦ φίλοι καὶ ἀλλήλων εἰσὶ φίλοι. 305 25, 10α.3 ἀλλὰ φύλαξον τὰς ὁδούς σου εὐσυναλλάκτωσ Ὁ διδαχθεὶς περὶ τῶν ἀρετῶν καὶ κατ' αὐτὰς ἐνεργῶν τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτοῦ φυλάσσει εὐσυναλλάκτως. 306 25, 11 μῆλον χρύσεον ἐν ὁρμίσκῳ σαρδίου, οὕτως εἰπεῖν λόγον ἐπὶ ἁρμόζουσιν αὐτῷ Ὥσπερ μῆλον χρύσεον ἁρμόζει σαρδίῳ, οὕτω γνῶσις θεοῦ ψυχῇ καθαρᾷ. 307 25, 12 εἰς ἐνώτιον χρυσοῦν σάρδιον πολυτελὲς δέδεται· λόγος σοφὸς εἰς εὐήκοον οὖσ Ἔμβαλε σάρδιον πολυτελὲς εἰς ἐνώτιον χρυσοῦν καὶ σοφίαν κυρίου εἰς νοῦν ἀπαθῆ. 308 25, 13.1–2 ὥσπερ ἔξοδος χιόνος ἐν ἀμήτῳ κατὰ καῦμα ὠφελεῖ, οὕτως ἄγγελος πιστὸς τοὺς ἀποστείλαντας αὐτόν Ὥσπερ χιὼν ψύχει καύσωνα, οὕτως γνῶσις ἁγίων διαλύει κόπον ψυχῆς. 309 25, 15 ἐν μακροθυμίᾳ εὐοδία βασιλεῦσιν· γλῶσσα δὲ μαλακὴ συντρίβει ὀστᾶ Νῦν τὴν θυμώδη ψυχὴν ὠνόμασεν μαλακήν, ἥτις συντρίβει τὰ ὀστᾶ τὰ πεφυκότα λέγειν· «κύριε, τίς ὅμοιός σοι;» 310 25, 17 σπάνιον εἴσαγε σὸν πόδα πρὸς τὸν σεαυτοῦ φίλον, μήποτε πλησθείς σου μισήσῃ σε Σπανίως δεῖ ἅπτεσθαι θεολογικῶν προβλημάτων καὶ μὴ πυκνῶς τοῦτο ποιεῖν, μήποτε εἴπωμέν τι τῶν οὐ λεγομένων ἐπὶ θεοῦ καὶ ὡς ἀσεβοῦντες τῆς πνευματικῆς ἐκπέσωμεν γνώσεως, τοῦ νοῦ δι' οἰκείαν ἀσθένειαν 25 συνεχῶς ἐνατενίζειν τῇ τοιαύτῃ θεωρίᾳ μὴ δυναμένου. 311 25, 19 ὀδοὺς κακοῦ καὶ ποὺς παρανόμου ὀλεῖται ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κακῇ Τουτέστιν ἡ κακία καὶ ἡ παρανομία ἀπολεῖται ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως. 312 25, 20 ὥσπερ ὄξος ἕλκει ἀσύμφορον, οὕτω προσπεσὸν πάθος σώματι καρδίαν λυπεῖ Τὰ προσπίπτοντα τῇ καρδίᾳ πάθη αἱ κακίαι εἰσίν, ὧν κατὰ στέρησιν ὁ ἀπαθὴς ὀνομάζεται. 313 25, 20α ὥσπερ σὴς ἱματίῳ καὶ σκώληξ ξύλῳ, οὕτως λύπη ἀνδρὸς βλάπτει καρδίαν Λύπη ἐστὶ ψεκτὴ στέρησις φθαρτῆς ἡδονῆς· λύπη δέ ἐστιν ἐπαινετὴ στέρησις ἀρετῶν καὶ γνώσεως θεοῦ. 314 25, 21 ἐὰν πεινᾷ ὁ ἐχθρός σου, τρέφε αὐτόν, ἐὰν διψᾷ, πότιζε αὐτόν· 25, 22.1 τοῦτο γὰρ ποιῶν ἄνθρακας σωρεύσεις ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴναὐτοῦ ∆ιὰ τῆς χρηστότητος καὶ εὐποιΐας καθαρίζων αὐτοῦ τὸ ἡγεμονικόν. 315 25, 23 ἄνεμος βορέας ἐξεγείρει νέφη· πρόσωπον δὲ ἀναιδὲς γλῶσσαν ἐρεθίζει Τὸν διάβολον εἶπεν πρόσωπον ἀναιδὲς ἐρεθίζοντα τὴν ψυχήν. Πανταχοῦ δὲ ὁ Σολομὼν γλῶσσαν τὸν νοῦν λέγει. Τοῦτο οὖν τὸ πρόσωπον αἰδεῖσθαι ἐν κρίσει οὐ καλόν. 316 25, 25 ὥσπερ ὕδωρ ψυχρὸν ψυχῇ διψώσῃ προσηνές, οὕτως ἀγγελία ἀγαθὴ ἐκ γῆς μακρόθεν Οὕτως γνῶσις θεοῦ ἐκ γῆς πραέων. 317 25, 26 ὥσπερ εἴ τις πηγὴν φράσσοι καὶ ὕδατος ἔξοδον λυμαίνοιτο, οὕτως ἄκοσμον δίκαιον πεπτωκέναι ἐνώπιον ἀσεβοῦσ Τῶν νοημάτων τοῦ νοῦ, τὰ μὲν πτώματα αὐτοῦ λέγεται, τὰ δὲ ἐγέρσεις, τὰ δὲ καθέδρα, τὰ δὲ στάσις· καὶ ἄλλα περίπατος καί τινα αὐτοῦ προσκόμματα ὀνομάζεται· καὶ ἄλλα σκληρὰ καὶ μαλακὰ καὶ εὐώδη καὶ γλυκέα καὶ πικρὰ καὶ λεῖα καὶ ὀρθὰ καὶ σκολιά· καὶ πάλιν τὰ μὲν αὐτοῦ καλεῖται ἄκανθαι καὶ τρίβολοι, τὰ δὲ φῶς καὶ σκότος καὶ ζωὴ καὶ θάνατος, τὰ δὲ νόσοι καὶ ὑγεῖαι· καὶ ἄλλα πάλιν ὀνομάζεται ψεῦδος καὶ ἀλήθεια· καὶ πολλὰ ἕτερα ὀνόματα τίθησιν ἡ γραφὴ κατά τε τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τῶν νοημάτων αὐτῆς. Ἃ δὲ τίθησι κατ' αὐτῆς, ὡς ἔστιν ὀλίγα ἐκ πολλῶν εἰπεῖν, ἔστι ταῦτα· νοῦν, ψυχήν, καρδίαν, ἄνθρωπον, ἄνδρα, γυναῖκα, δοῦλον, οἰκέτην, πατέρα, υἱόν, πνεῦμα, ὀφθαλμόν, στόμα, χείλη, γλῶσσαν, λάρυγγα, κοιλίαν, κόλπον, βραχίονα, δάκτυλον, ξύλον, μυκτῆρα, πρόβατον, ἔριφον, ποιμένα· καὶ ἄλλα πλείονά ἐστιν ὀνόματα τῆς ψυχῆς, ἃ οὐ δυνατὸν νῦν παραθέσθαι διὰ τὸ εἶδος τῶν σχολίων πολυλογίαν μὴ ἐπιδεχόμενον. Ἐνταῦθα οὖν πίπτει δίκαιος νοῦς ἐνώπιον τοῦ σατανᾶ, λογισμὸν ἀκάθαρτον ἢ ψευδὲς δόγμα ὑποδεξάμενος. Καὶ ὁ ∆αυὶδ δέ φησιν· «ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ προπεσοῦνται πάντες οἱ καταβαίνοντες εἰς γῆν»· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο τὸ πτῶμα περιέχει γνῶσιν ἀληθῆ καὶ λογισμοὺς καθαρούς. 318 25, 28 ὥσπερ πόλις τὰ τείχη καταβεβλημένη καὶ ἀτείχιστος, οὕτως ἀνὴρ ὃς οὐ μετὰ βουλῆς τι πράσσει Βουλὴν εἶπεν ἐνταῦθα τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον ῥοπὴν τῆς καρδίας. 319 26, 3 ὥσπερ μάστιξ ἵππῳ καὶ κέντρον ὄνῳ, οὕτως ῥάβδος ἔθνει παρανόμῳ Ἡ ῥάβδος νῦν σύμβολόν ἐστι κολάσεως. 320 26, 6 ἐκ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ ὁδῶν ὄνειδος ποιεῖται ὁ ἀποστείλας δι' ἀγγέλου ἄφρονος λόγον Οὐ δεῖ τοῖς κυσὶ διδόναι τὰ ἅγια οὐδὲ βάλλειν τοὺς μαργαρίτας ἔμπροσθεν τῶν χοίρων. 321 26, 7 ἀφελοῦ πορείαν σκελῶν καὶ παρανομίαν ἐκ στόματος ἀφρόνων Περίελε ἄφρονος ὁδὸν κακὴν καὶ γνῶσιν ψευδῆ μακρὰν ποίησον ἀπ' αὐτοῦ. 322 26, 8 ὃς ἀποδεσμεύει λίθον ἐν σφενδόνῃ, ὅμοιός ἐστι τῷ διδόντι ἄφρονι δόξαν Οὐχ ἁρμόσει ἄφρονι γνῶσις καὶ
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.