Hidden Things

Ἡ δὲ ὑπὲρ τῶν κρυφίων ἐπιγραφὴ τὸ περὶ τὴν θεογνωσίαν ἀκριβὲς κατορθοῦν ὑποτίθεται. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὸ ἔσχατον πτῶμά ἐστι ψυχῆς ἡ διημαρτημένη περὶ τὸ θεῖον ὑπόληψις (τί γὰρ ἄν τις ἀπόναιτο τῶν ἀγαθῶν αὐτὸ τὸ ἀγαθὸν οὐκ ἔχων;), τούτου ἕνεκεν οἷόν τινα λύχνον σοι προτείνει ἡ ἐπι γραφὴ τὸν ἐρευνητικὸν τῶν κρυφίων τῆς θεογνωσίας λόγον, ἧς κεφάλαιόν ἐστιν ἡ εἰς τὸν υἱὸν πίστις. οὕτω γάρ φησιν καὶ ἡ ἐπιγραφή, ὑπὲρ τῶν κρυφίων τοῦ υἱοῦ. κρύφιον γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐκεῖνό ἐστιν τὸ ἀκατανόητόν τε καὶ ἀόρατον καὶ πάσης ὑπερκείμενον καταληπτικῆς ἐπινοίας, ᾧπερ ὁ προσεγγίσας διὰ τῆς πίστεως εἰς τὸ τῆς νίκης ἔφθασε τέλος. ὁ δὲ Ὑπὲρ τῆς κληρονομούσης λόγος δῆλός ἐστιν. ὑπὲρ γὰρ τῆς ψυχῆς τῆς τοῦ ἰδίου κλήρου ἀποπεσούσης, ὅτε ἐπέδυ τῷ τὴν ἐντολὴν παραβεβηκότι ὁ ἥλιος, τὴν ἔντευξιν ταύτην προσάγει τῷ θεῷ ὁ προφήτης, ἵνα ἐν πρωΐᾳ γένηται πάλιν ἀποθεμένη τὸ σκότος καὶ τῆς γλυκείας ἐκείνης φωνῆς ἀξία γένηται, ἥ φησι πρὸς τοὺς ἐκ δεξιῶν Δεῦτε, οἱ εὐλογη μένοι τοῦ πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου. Τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς ἑωθινῆς ἀντιλήψεώς τις νοήσας οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοι τοῦ δέοντος. ὄρθρον γὰρ τὴν ἑωθινὴν ἡ τῆς γραφῆς ὀνομάζει συνήθεια. ὁ δὲ ὄρθρος χρόνος ἐστὶν νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας μεθόριος, καθ' ὃν ἡ μὲν ἀφανίζεται, ἡ δὲ ἄρχεται. τῆς δὲ κακίας πολλαχοῦ τῆς γραφῆς διὰ τοῦ σκότους ἐν αἰνίγματι νοουμένης, ὅταν γένηται ἡμῖν ἐκ θείας ἀντιλήψεως ἡ τοῦ κατ' ἀρετὴν βίου ἀνατολή, τότε πρὸς τὴν νίκην φθάσομεν ἀποθέμενοι τὰ ἔργα τοῦ σκότους καὶ ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ εὐσχημόνως περιπατοῦντες, καθώς φησιν ὁ ἀπόστολος. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Εἰς τας Επιγραφάς των Ψαλμών, Το Δεύτερον Βιβλίον, Κεφ' Ε' Source: Migne PG 44 504

The superscription 'For the hidden things,' 1 sets before us the certain and correct knowledge of God. Why, it is the worst calamity of the soul to go astray concerning the things of God, for what utility from any good will he acquire who has not that same good? Therefore as a light which is set before you, so this inscription is the rational unveiler of the secrets of Divine knowledge, and the head and the height of it is faith in the Son, for the superscription goes on to say, 'For hidden things, of the son.' And truly that is hidden which the mind cannot conceive and is invisible and is beyond the grasp of every thought, to which faith alone allows approach to the coming of the triumph of perfection. And the reason of the superscription, 'For her that obtains the inheritance' 2 is clear, for the Prophet for the soul which is cut off from its inheritance on account of its transgressions of the command of God, by which the sun sets on it, gives this prayer to God that again by the morning the darkness be dispelled and there be merit to hear the sweet voice saying, 'Come, blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you since the beginning of the world.' 3 Nor does one wander from the truth if one says that the same sense is found in the superscription 'For the morning protection,' 4 for in Scripture it is a common custom to call the dawn 'morning,' because the dawn is the dividing point of night and day, by which the latter is designated by its beginning, and often Scripture represents evil by the obscurity of darkness. And so let it be that when we receive from the Divine the rising of life according to virtue, that then to victory we come, 'casting off the works of darkness and walking unashamed in the day,' as the Apostle says. 5 Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On the Superscriptions of the Psalms, Second Tractate, from Chapter 5 1 Ps 9.1 2 Ps 5.1 3 Mt 15.31 4 Ps 21.1 5 Rom 13.12-13