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31 Oct 2025

At The Devil's Table

Ἐὰν καθίσῃς δειπνεῖν ἐπὶ τραπέζης δυναστῶν νοητῶς νόει τὰ παρατιθέμενά σοι, καὶ ἐπίβαλλε τὴν χεῖρά σου εἰδὼς ὅτι τοιαῦτά σε δεῖ παρασκευάσαι

Δυνάστην ἐνταῦθα τὸν διάβολόν φησιν· τράπεζαι δὲ αὐτοῦ εἰσι ψευδομαρτυρίαι, λοιδορίαι, καταλαλιαὶ, συμβουλίαι κακαὶ, ἐπιθυμίαι αἰσχραὶ, καὶ πᾶν ὅτι οῦν σατανικὸν ἐπιτήδευμα· ταῦτα δὲ παρατιθέμενά σοι ὐπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ, νοητῶς νόει, καὶ ἐπίβαλε τὴν διάνοιάν σου, ὃ ἐστιν ἡ χειρ· εἰδὼς ὅτι τοιαῦτά σε δεῖ παρασκευάσαι, οἷα καὶ συμπαρεστάναι σοι ὀφείλουσιν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ Κυρίου, ὅτε ἀπονέμει ἐκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ· εἰ δὲ ἀπληστότερος εἴ, καὶ ὀρέγῃ τῶν ὑψηλῶν καὶ πλειόνων καὶ μειζόνων, ἂτινά εἰσι θεῖα καὶ Θεοῦ, μὴ ἐπιθύμει τῶν τοῦ πονηροῦ ἐδεσμάτων· ταῦτα γὰρ ἔχεται ζωῆς προσκαίρυ, ὅ ἐστι ψευδοῦς· δεῖ δὲ τὴν θείαν Φραφὴν νοητῶς νοεῖσθαι καὶ πνευματικῶς· ἠ γὰρ κατὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν αἰσθητὴ γνῶσις, οὐκ ἔστιν ἀληθής.

Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαὶ Εἰς Παροιμίας, Κεφαλή ΚΓ’

Source: Migne PG 17.221c
If you sit to dine at the table of a powerful man consider well the things which are set before you, and stretch out your hand knowing what things are appropriate for you to take. 1

The powerful man here is the devil and his table is false speech and abuse and detraction and wicked plots and shameful desires and everything that is a Satanic work. All these things are set before you by the wicked one, and you must reach out with your mind, which here he calls the hand, knowing what is appropriate to you, which on the day of the Lord will be reckoned to you when He rewards everyone according to their works. 2 Because if you are not satisfied here, and you desire high things, and many of them, and great things, those things which are heavenly and Divine, yet even so beware lest you are snared in his wicked bonds, for to enjoy the things of this brief life is a lie. It is necessary to understand Scripture according to the intellect and the spirit, for what is told under a material account is not true.

Origen, On Proverbs, Chapter 23

1 Prov 23.1
2 Rom 2.6

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