Advice On Fighting

Ἀναλάβετε ὅπλα καὶ ἀσπίδα, προσπεφώνηκέ τισιν ὁ προφήτυς Ἡσαῗας. Παυλός γε μὴν ὁ σοφώτατος· Ἐνδύσασε, φησὶν, τὴν πανοπλίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Οἱ γὰρ Θεῷ γνώριμοι, καὶ ἀρετῆς ἐρασταὶ, καὶ ταῖς παγκάλαις ἐπιεικείαις σύντροφοι, καταστρατεύονται μὲν ὅτι μάλιστα γενικῶς ἀπὰπσης βεβήλου καὶ σαρκικῆς ἡδονῆς, ἀντεξάγουσι δὲ ὥσπερ ταῖς τοῦ διαβόλου δυστροπίαις, τὸ ἐρηρεισμένον ἐν πίστει, τὸ ἀκατασειστον εἰς ὑπομονὴν, τὸ εἰς πόνους τληπαθὲς, καὶ τὸ πρόόθυμον εἰς φιλεργίαν, τὴν ἐφ' ἄπασι δηλονότι τοῖς τεθαυμασμένοις. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἂν, οἶμαι, τὶς εἰς τοῦτο ποτε πνευματικῆς εὐῥῥωστίας ἀφίκοιτο μέτρον, ὡς καὶ τὴν οὕτω περιφανῆ καὶ παντὸς ὑπέκεινα θαύματος δόξαν ἐλεῖν, εἰ μὴ Χριστὸν ἔχοι τὸν προασπίζοντα. Συναθλήσει δὲ πάντως , καὶ συνέσται προθύμως τοῖς τὰ αὐτοῦ φρονεῖν ᾑρημένοις καὶ τὴν δι' αὐτοῦ κάθαρσιν ἐκπεπλουτηκόσιν, αὔχημά τε ποιεῖσθαι μεμελητηκόσι τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν αὐτοῦ. Καὶ γοῦν ὁ θεσπέσιος Ψαλμῳδός· Ὁ καταοικειν ἐν βοηθείᾳ τοῦ Ὑψίστου, ἐν σκέπῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐρανοῦ αὐλισθήσεται. Ἐρεῖ τῷ Κυρίῳ· Ἀντιλήπτωρ μου εἶ καὶ καταφυγή μου, ὁ Θεος μου, βοηθός μου, καὶ ἐλπιῶ επ' αὐτόν. Ὅτι αὐτὸς ῥύσεταί με ἐκ παγίδος θηρευτῶν, καὶ ἀπὸ λόγου ταραχώδους. Ἀμείνους γὰρ ὅτι τῶν πολεμίων ἐσόμεθα, διασώζοντος τοῦ Θεοῦ, πιστὸς ἔσται λέγων αὐτός· Ὅτι ἐπ' ἐμε ἦλθε, καὶ ῥύσομαι αὐτὸν. Κέκραξε τε πρὸς με, καὶ ἐπακούσομαι αὐτοῦ· μετ' αὐτοῦ εἰμι ἐν θλίψει· ἐξελοῦμαι, καὶ δοξάσω αὐτόν. Ἀλλ' ὅρα τὸ χρῆμα καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ γραφόμενον τοῦ πανσόφου Μωσέως. Ἔφη γὰρ· Ἐὰν δὲ ἐξέλθῃς παραβαλεῖν εἰς τὸν πόλεμον ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου, καὶ φυλάξῃ ἀπὸ παντὸς πονηροῦ ῥήματος· ἐὰν ᾗ ἐν σοὶ ἄνθρωπος ὃς οὐκ ἔστι καθαρὸς ἐκ ῥύσεως αὐτοῦ νυκτὸς, καὶ ἐξελεύσεται ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς, καὶ οὐκ εἰσελεύσει εἰς τὴν παρεμβολὴν. Καὶ ἔσται τὸ πρὸς ἐσπέραν λούσεται τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ ἐν ὕδατι, καὶ δεδυκότος ἡλίου, εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν παρεμβολήν. Καὶ τόπος ἔσται σοι ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς· καὶ ἐξελεύσῃ ἐκεῖ ἐξω· καὶ πάσσαλος ἔσται σοι ἐπὶ ζώνῃς σου. Καὶ ἔσται ὅταν διακαθιζάνῃς ἔξω, καὶ ὀρυξεις ἐν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἀπαγαγὼν καλύψεις τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην σου ἐν αὐτῷ. Ὅτι Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς σου ἐμπεριπατεῖ ἐν τῇ παρεμβολῇ σου, ἐξελέσθαι σε, καὶ παραδοῦναι τόν ἐχθρόν σου εἰς τὰς χεῖρας σου. Καὶ ἔσται ἡ παρεμβολὴ σου ἁγία, καὶ οὐκ ὀφθήσεται ἔν σοι ἀσξημοσύνη πράγματος, καὶ ἀποστρέψει ἀπὸ σοῦ. Ἀκούεις ὅτι τοὺς κατανεανιεύεσθαι τῶν ἐχθρῶν καὶ εὐδοκιμεῖν ἐθέλοντας, ἀπαλλάττεσθαι χρὴ παντὸς μολυσμοῦ; Ἡ πάλη γὰρ ἡμῶν, οὐ πρὸς αἷμαι καὶ σάρκα, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰς ἀρχὰς, πρὸς τὰς ἐξουσίας, πρὸς τοὺς κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ σκότους, πρὸς τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας, ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις, αἵ τὸν ἀνθρώπινον ἀκριβῶς κατασκέπτονατι βίον, καὶ τῆς εκάστου ζωῆς πολυπραγμονοῦσι τὸν τρόπον. Δεῖ δὴ οὖν ἀμώμητόν τε καὶ ἀνεπίληπτον ἡμᾶη ποιεῖσθαι τὴν πολιτείαν, ἵνα μὴ τοὶς παρ' ἐκείνων ἐγκλήμασιν ὑποφέρηται. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἐχθρός ἐστι καὶ ἐκδικητὴς ὁ τῆς ἁμαρτίας πατήρ. Οἱ μὲν οὖν ἐν τῷδε τῷ κόσμῷ νόμῳ πολέμου καὶ μάχης ἀνεγειρόμενοι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς, τὰς εἰς σῶμα πληγὰς ἤτοι δέχονται τυχὸν, ἢγουν ἑτέροις ἐπάγουσιν. Ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐχ οὕτω· Τὰ γὰρ ὅπλα ἡμων οὐ σαρκικὰ, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. Οὐκοῦν οὐδὲ εἰς σάρκα πληττόμεθα, ἀλλ' εἰς νοῦν καὶ καρδίαν εἰσδεχόμενοι τὰς ἐπιθυμίας, καὶ εἰς τὰ τῆς φιλοσαρκίας διαπιποντες πάθη. Χρὴ τοίνυν ἡμᾶς παντευχίαις ἐνηρμόσθαι ταῖς πνευματικαῖς, καὶ τῇ ἄνωθων χάριτι περιφράττεσθαι, καὶ εἰς ὅσον οἶον τε τὸν νοῦν ἔξω βέλους νοητοῦ ποιεῖσθαι παντός. Περιεσόμεθα γὰρ ὡδὶ τῶν ἁνθεστηκότων, καὶ πέρα παντὸς ἰέντες πάθους, ἀδιαλώβητον τῷ Θεῷ τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς τηρήσομεν κάλλος. Ταύτῃ τοι φησὶν ὁ νόμος· Ἐὰν δὲ ἐξέλθῃς παρεμβαλεῖν εἰς πόλεμον ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου, καὶ φυλάξῃ ἀπὸ παντὸς ῥήματος πονηροῦ, τουτέστιν, αἰτίας ἀπάσης ἀποτάτω ποίει σαυτὸν, μηδεὶς ἔσται κατὰ σου λόγος ἀληθὴς ἐπ' αἰσχίῳ τε καὶ διαβεβλημένῳ πράγματι, παραιτοῦ τὴν κατάῥῥησιν τὴν ἐφοτῳουν καὶ ἀργείτω κατὰ σου πᾶν ῥημα πονηρόν. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας,Γλαφυρών Ἐις Τὸ Δευτερονόμιον Source: Migne PG 69.657d-661b

'Take up your arms and shields,' it was said somewhere by the prophet Isaiah. 1 The most wise Paul also said: 'Put on the armour of God.' 2 For those who are the friends of God and lovers of virtue and who have been nutured on everything which is fitting, they certainly powerfully repel every defiling and carnal pleasure, and firm in faith, and unshakeably strong in patience and the toleration of trials, and swift for the glorious work of the soul in everything, they mightly oppose the perversity of the devil. Even so, I do not think that anyone rises to that measure of spiritual fortitude, from which such wonderful and admirable glory is acquired, unless he has Christ for a fellow fighter. He who shall certainly join and eagerly stand beside those who think upon the things that He loves, and who through Him have been washed to purity, having carefully given thought to glory and shame. Whence the Psalm says: 'He who dwells in the help of the most High, remaining under the protection of the God of heaven.' 3 And there he says to the Lord: 'You take me up and are my refuge, my God, my helper, and I hope in Him. Because He shall free me from the snare of the hunters and from the bitter word.' For He Himself promises that we shall be superior to our enemies by God's saving will: 'Because he comes to me, I shall deliver him. He called out to me, and I heard him, I am with him in tribulation, I shall draw him out and glorify him.' 4 And see that same thing was described by the wise Moses. For it says: 'If you shall go out of the camp to fight with enemies, keep yourself from every evil word. If there is a man among you unclean from discharge during the night, so he shall leave the camp and may not come back into it. And in the evening he shall wash his body with water and after sunset he shall return to the camp. And there shall  also be a place for you outside the camp. You shall go out there and there shall be a scoop in your belt. And when you sit outside, because of this foulness that is yours ,you shall use the earth to cover your uncleanliness. For the Lord your God walks in your camps, that he might seize you and give the enemy into your hands. Let the camps be holy, let there not appear among you anything unseemly, lest God turn Himself from you.' 5 Hear how those who wish to conquer the enemy and to be approved by God must be cleansed of every defilement. For our fight is not 'against blood and flesh,' as it is written, 'but against principalities and powers and the rulers of this world of darkness, against spiritual wickedness in the heavens,' 6 because of which human life must be carefully scrutinised, and enquiry made into each way of living. It is neccessary, therefore, that we be seen to have a blameless and correct life, lest our sins bring us into subjection. For the enemy and our persecutor is the father of sin. Now those who in this world strive to fight and battle well with an enemy will either receive wounds or inflict them on others, but it is not so for us when 'our arms are not carnal,' as it is written. 7 Whence we do receive wounds in the flesh but in the soul, and the heart lets in lusts, and we are pierced with alluring pleasures. Therefore it is necessary to be instructed in spiritual arms and to be walled about with heavenly grace, and, while it is possible, to keep the mind away from every exterior spiritual shaft. Thus we shall be superior to our adversaries, and having overcome every passion of our souls, we shall keep our beauty inviolate for God. Hence the law says: 'If you shall go out to fight against your enemies, keep yourself from every evil word.' 8 That is, draw yourself far apart from everything incriminating, and do not let any word against you be true in things depraved and vile, and avoid anything worthy of reproof, nor allow space for any word against you. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyra On Deuteronomy 1 Isaiah 21.5 2 Ephes 6.11 3 Ps 90.1-3 4 Ps 90 14-14 5 Deut 23.9-14 6 Ephes 6.12 7 2 Cor 10.4 8 Deut 23.9

Entering Fields

Si intraveris segetem proximi tui franges spicas et manu conteres; falce autem non metes.... Hoc est evelles sententias manu intelligentiae, conteres granum ab arista, spiritum secernens a littera. Falce autem non metes, quod est facile et subito librum transcurrre. Sufficit paucos manipulos per dies colligere. Sunt qui falce metunt, qui totum subito librum legentes nihil intelligunt. Ingressus vineam proximi tui, id est Scriptuam Dei tui, comedas uvas, id est sententias quantum tibi placuerit; foras autem non efferas tecum, quia non est dandum sanctum canibus neque ponendae margaritae ante porcos. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber III, Tit LVI Source: Migne PL 177.672b-c

And if you enter your neighbours corn field, you may pluck the ears and rub them in the hand, but you shall not reap with the sickle...1 That is, you shall pluck the meaning with the hand of understanding, rubbing the seed from the ear, discerning the spirit from the letter. But you shall not reap with the sickle which easily and quickly passes through the book. It is enough to collect a few handfuls through the day. For they reap with the sickle, who swiftly reading a whole book understand nothing. 'Passing into the vineyard of your neighbour,' that is the Scripture of your God, 'you may eat the grapes,' that is, the meaning as much as it is pleasing to you, 'but you may not cut with the sickle,' 2 because holy things must not be given to dogs, nor should pearls be cast down before pigs. 3 Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 3, Chap 56 1 Deut 23.25 2 Deut 23.24 3 Mt 7.6

A Father's Teaching

Ὡσεὶ τροφοφορήσαι ἄνθρωπος... Ἀκύλας. Ὡσεὶ ἄραι τροφὸς τὸν υἱον ἐβάστασεν, ἡρμήνευσεν. Ὠριγένης δὲ ἐν ταῖς εἰς τὸν Ἰερεμίαν ὁμιλίαις φησί· Συμπεριηνέχθη καὶ συγκατέβη ὑμῖν, τὴν ἡμετέραν ἀσθένειαν οἰκειούμενος· ὡς διδάσκλαος συμψελλίζων παιδίοις, ὡς πατὴρ ἰδίους τιθηνούμενος παῖδας, καὶ τοὺς τρόπους αὐτῶν ὑποδυόμενος, καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν ἄγων αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὰ τελειότερα καὶ ὑψηλότερα. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Δευτερονόμιον, Κεφ Α', Ἐκλογή Source: Migne PG 17.24a

As a man carries a child... 1 Aquila's translation has: 'As a father bears the son he carries.' And Origen in his homilies on Jeremiah says: 'He adapts and condescends to us, accommodating Himself to our weakness, as a teacher will speak slowly to little boys, and as a father deals gently with his children, and adopting their conduct, little by little He leads them to things which are more perfect and higher. ' Origen, On Deuteronomy, Fragment 1 Deut 1.31

Striking And Protecting

Καὶ πατάξεις πᾶν ἀρσενικὸν αὐτῆς ἐν φόνῳ μαχαίρας. Μάχαιρα δὲ τοῦ πνεύματος εἴη ἂν ὁ Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ. Καὶ τὴν μάχαιραν δὲ τοῦ πνεύματος, ὃ ἐστι ῥῆμα Θεοῦ, ᾦτινι οἱ θεσπέσιοι μαθηταὶ ἀτέκτεινον ἂπαν ἀρσενικον τῆς ἀντικειμένης δυνάμεως, ὡς Σίμωνα καὶ Ἐλύμαν τοὺς μάγους, καὶ τὰ ἰσχυρὰ δὲ αὐτῶν κατέλεον δόγματα· περιεποιοῦντο δὲ τὰς γυναῖκας, καὶ δυναμένας εἰπεῖν ψυχάς· Διὰ τὸν φόβον σου, Κύριε, ἐν γαστρὶ ἐλαβομεν ἕως ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· καὶ τὰ νήπια δὲ ὡσαύτως, οἴς καὶ Παῦλος γράφει· Τεκνία, μὴ ταῖς φρεσὶν νήπιοι γίνεσθε, ἀλλὰ τῂ κακίᾳ νηπιαζετε. Καὶ κτήνη δὲ, φησί, περιποιήσατε. Δίκαιος γὰρ οἰκτείρει ψυχὰς κτηνῶν αὐτοῦ· τοὺς ἀλογωτέρους διὰ τῶν κτηνῶν αἰνιττόμενος. Κτῆνος ἦν καὶ ὁ Κορνήλιος, κατὰ τὴν ὁπρασίαν τὴν περὶ τῶν τετραπόδων φανεῖσαν τῷ Πέτρῳ. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Δευτερονόμιον, Κεφ Κ', Ἐκλογή Source: Migne PG 17.29b-c

And you shall strike all the males in it to death with the sword. 1 The spiritual sword is the word of God, and with the spiritual sword, that is, the speech of God, we are able to discern, by which divine discipline we slay every opposing masculine power, like the magicians Simon and Elymas, 2 and with strength we dissolve their teachings. However, we spare the superstitious females, the souls who were yet able to say, 'On account of the fear of you, Lord, we have conceived in our wombs, even unto the earth,' 3 which infants Paul writes about, saying, 'Children, do not be little ones in your minds, but be childish in evil.' 4 And again it says: You shall protect the cattle.' 5 And even: 'The righteous man has mercy on the souls of his beasts.' 6 That is, they who have little reason are alluded to as beasts. And Cornelius was a beast in the vision of the quadrupeds which appeared to Peter. 7 Origen, On Deuteronomy, Fragment 1 Deut 20.13 2 Acts 13, Acts 8 3 Isaiah 26.18 4 1 Cor 14.20 5 Joshua 8.2 6 Prov 12.10 7 Acts 10.12

Adding And Taking Away

Οὐ προσθήσεις ἐπ' αὐτὸ. οὐδὲ ἀφελεῖς ἀπ' αὐτοῦ Οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἁμαρτάνοντες γενικῷ λόγῳ διχῶς ἁμαρτάνουσιν, ἢ ὑπερβαίνοντες τὰς ἐντολὰς ἢ ὑποκενοῦντες. Ὅταν γὰρ μὴ ἀπὸ ἐπιστήμης πολιτευόμεθα, μηδὲ γινώσκοντες τὰ μέτρα τῆς δικαιοσύνης σφαλλόμεθα, καὶ ἔσθ' ὅτε ὑπερβαίνοντες τὸν κανόνα, φαντασίᾳ τοῦ ποιεῖν τι κρεῖττον, ἐκπίπτομεν τοῦ προκειμένου. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Δευτερονόμιον, Κεφ Κ', Ἐκλογή Source: Migne PG 12.812a

You shall not add to it, nor take anything away. 1 Men who sin generally do so for two causes, either going beyond the commandments, or by being rid of them. For when we live apart from knowlege, not knowing the standards of righteousness, we are deceived, and when we go beyond the commandments, we act in the delusion that we do better, falling away from what has been set before us. Origen, On Deuteronomy, Fragment 1 Deut 12.32

Weights And Measures

Non habebis in sacculo diversa pondera, majus et minus; nec erit in domo tua modius major et minor. Pondus habebus justum, et verum, et modius aequlis erit tibi, et verus, ut multo vivas tempore super terram. Hoc et idem legislator etiam in Levitico interdicit, Salomone quoque parem super hac sententiam proferente: Pondus magnum, et pusillum, et mensurae duplices, immunda sunt utraque ante Dominum, et qui facit ea, in adinventionibus suis compedietur. Proinde non solum illo corporali, sed etiam spirituali modo studendum est nobis, ut nec diversa pondera in cordibus nostris, nec in domo conscientiae nostrae mensuras duplices habeamus, id est, ne ipsi ea quae districtionis regulam molliunt remissiore indulgentia praesumentes, eos quibus verbum Dei praedicamus, districtioribus praeceptis et gravioribus quam ipsi perferre possumus obruamus ponderibus. Quod eum facimus, quid nisi diverso pondere atque mensura praeceptorum Domini mercedem frugemque vel appendimus, vel metimur? Si enim aliter ea nobis, aliter fratribus nostris dispensemus, recte increpamur a Domino, eo quod stateras diversas aut mensuras duplices habeamus, secundum illam sententiam Salominis qua dicitur: Abominatio est Domino pondus duplex, et statera dolosa non est bonum in conspectu ejus. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Deuteronomium Caput XII Source: Migne PL 83.364a-c

You shall not have in your bag two weights, greater and lesser, nor shall there be in your house a measure greater and less. You shall have a fair weight, and true, and your measure shall be equitable and true, that you shall live long on the earth. 1 This also the legislator in Leviticus prohibits. 2 Solomon also offers a sentence of fairness: 'The great weight and the little one, deceitful measures, are both unclean before the Lord, and also the one who uses them,' 3 for he will be caught in his own contrivances. And this should not only be grasped by us in a corporeal manner but also spiritually, so that we do not have diverse weights in our hearts, nor in our consciences duplicitous measures, that is, lest taking up for ourselves those things that with gentle indulgence soften a hard rule, those to whom we preach the word of God we overwhelm with the weight of hard and heavy precepts, which we are not able to bear. And why do we do this, unless with a different weight and measure we add to or estimate the rewards and the fruit of the commandments of the Lord? If we deal with ourselves one way and our brothers in another way, we are justly denounced by the Lord, having different weights and deceitful measures, according to which Solomon says, 'A deceitful weight is an abomination to the Lord and the unfair balance is not good in His sight.' 2 Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Deuteronomy, Chap 12 1 Deut 25.13-15 2 Levit 19.35-36 3 Prov 20.10 4 Prov 20. 23

Cursed Teachers

Ἐπικατάρατος ὁ πλανῶν τυφλὸν ἐν ὁδῷ Τοιοῦτοι εἰσι καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ εἰδωλολατρείας καὶ τοὺς ἐκ περιτομῆς ἐπὶ μυσαρὰς αἱρέσεις ἐφελκόμενοι. Τυφλοὺς γὰρ ὄντας αὐτοὺς καὶ μήπω τὸ φῶς τῆς ἀληθείας ἐσχηκότας καὶ θεογνωσίας, ἀπατῶσι δὲ καὶ πλανῶσιν, ἑτέραν ἀντὶ τῆς ἀποστολικῆς παραδεικνύντες ὁδόν. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Δευτερονόμιον Ἐκλογή Source: Migne PG 17.33c

Cursed is he who deceives a blind man on the way. 1 Such are those who lead men from idolatry and the circumcision to abominable heresies. For when they are blind and do not yet have the light of truth and the knowledge of God, they deceive them and make them wander, teaching them another way apart from the Apostolic. Origen, On Deuteronomy, Fragment 1 Deut 27.18

Righteousness And Prudence

Καὶ ἐξαίρει λόγους δικαίων. Δικαίως τὸ δίκαιον διώξῃ. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῆς πρὸς Φώτιον καὶ Ἀνδρέαν πρεσβυτέρους ἐπιστολῆς. Τουτέστιν, μετὰ τὸ γινώσκειν καὶ πεπαιδεῦσθαι τοὺς τῆς δικαιοσύνης λόγους, διώξεις καὶ ἐπιζητήσεις τὸ δίκαιον, καθαρεύων πάσης προσπαθείας· καὶ ταύτῃ τὸ δίκαιον δίκαιος ὢν ζητήσεις, καὶ πανταχόθεν περιπεφραγμένος, καὶ ἔσω τῶν ὅρων τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἱστάμενος. Πολλοὶ γὰρ αὐτὸ τὸ ἐθέλειν δίκαιοι εἶναι, μεθυσθέντες τὸν νοῦν διὰ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἀκριβοῦς αὐτῶν, δικαιοσύνης τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἠδίκησαν. Ὅθεν καὶ ὁ συνετὸς Ἐκκλησιαστὴς, μᾶλλον δὲ ὁ τῆς συνέσεως παιδευτὴς, Χριστὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ ἀληθὴς Ἐκκλησιαστὴς, τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἡ κεφαλὴ, καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς ἡμῶν ἡ ἀνωτάτω καὶ ἐνυπόστατος σοφία καὶ λόγος, ἄγχων τὸ πέρα μέτρου, κἂν ἐπὶ τὰ δεξιὰ φέρηται, παραινεῖ· Μὴ γίνου δίκαιος πολὺ, καὶ μὴ σοφίζων περισσά. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Δευτερονόμιον Ἐκλογή Source: Migne PG 17.27 b-c

And a gift steals away the words of the righteous. 1 Rightly seek righteousness. 2 (From his letter to the priests Photius and Andrew.) That is, after you have known and been educated in the words of righteousness, you seek after and pursue what is right, cleansed of any passion, for by seeking the right in this way a man is righteous, and he is surrounded by a wall and stands within in the limits of the right. For many wishing to be righteous inebriate the mind by the strictness of their righteousness, and the right of their righteousness makes unrighteousness. Whence the prudent preacher Ecclesiastes, or rather he who is educated in prudence, for Christ is the true preacher, being the head of the Church, and the wisdom and word of God the Father, castigates those who are immoderate, although they tend to the right side, and so admonishes, 'Be not overly righteous and do not overreach your prudence.' 3 Origen, On Deuteronomy, Fragment 1 Deut 16. 19 2 Deut 16. 20 3 Eccl 7.17

The Captive Woman

Si, inquit, exieris ad bellum contra inimicos tuos et videris mulierem decora specie, et concupieris eam, rades omnes pilos capitis ejus, et ungulas ejus, et indues eam vestimentis lugubribus, et sedebit in domo, lugens patrem suum et matrem suam et domum paternam, et post triginta dies erit tibi uxor. Docant ergo Judaei quomodo apud eos ista serventur, quid causae, quid rationis est decalvare mulierem, et ungulas ejus abscindi? Verbi causa, ponamus quod ita invenerit eam is qui dicitur invenisse, ut neque capillos, neque ungulas habeat, quid habuit, quod secundum legem demere videretur? Nos vero, quibus militia spiritualis est, et arma non carnalia, sed potentia Deo, si decoram mulierem, id est, animam, quae a Deo pulchra creata est, in gentili conversatione invenerimus, et sociare voluerimus eam corpori Christi, deposito idololatriae cultu, induitur lugubribus poenitentiae indumentis, et deplorat patrem, et matrem, hoc est, omnem memoriam mundi, ejusque illecebras. Deinde verbi Dei novacula et doctrina omne peccatum infideliatis ejus, quod mortuum est et inane, abraditur; hoc enim sunt capilli capitis et ungulae mulieris. Atque ita demum salutaris lavacri unda purificata conjungitur sanctis Dei, scilicet, cum jam nihil in capite mortuum, nihil in manibus ex illis quae per infidelitatem mortua dicuntur habuerit, ut neque sensibus, neque actibus immundum aliquid aut mortuum gerat. Quod vero post triginta dies jubet eam duci uxorem, feminae quippe sanguinus purgationem post mensem habere solent. Post purgationem ergo peccatorum, anima jam effecta munda et purgata ab immunditia sua sociatur viro Israelitae, corpori scilicet Christi. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Deuteronomium, Caput XVIII Migne PL 83.362-363

If you go out to war against your enemies and you see a beautiful woman and you desire her, cut off all the hair of her head, and her nails, and clothe her in vestments of mourning and sit her in your house, grieving for her father and mother and her paternal home, and after thirty days she shall be your wife. 1 So the Hebrews teach how this woman should be treated by them, but for what cause, what reason is a woman shaved and her nails cut off? What means this passage that we may understand how it may be found that it is said that neither hair nor nails she should have, which she did have, and that seem pleasing to the law? We truly to whom warfare is spiritual, and arms not carnal but the virtue of God, if a woman is fair, have the soul, which by God is created beautiful, and if we should find it among the Gentiles and we should wish to associate it with the body of Christ, stripping away the worship of idols, we should clothe it with the grieving garments of penitence and so let it lament its father and mother, that is, all its memory of the world and its allures. Then with the razor of the word of God and His teaching every sin of of its unfaithfulness, which is dead and useless, is shaved off, that which is the hair and nails of the woman. And so at last washed, with the laver of salvation it is purified to be joined with the holy ones of God, that is, when now nothing on the head is dead, nor in the hands, which through unfaithfulness are said to be dead, that neither thoughts nor deeds bear uncleanliness, nor death. And that truly after thirty days he is commanded to make her his wife is because women are accustomed after a month to have their purgation of blood, and therefore after the purgation of sin, the soul now clean from its uncleanliness, may be joined to a man of Israel, which means to the body of Christ. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Deuteronomy, Chap 18 1 Deut 21. 10-13

Kids And Discipline

Non coques haedem in lacte martis suae. Haedus hic sub peccatoris figura introducitur. Proinde peccans graviter non est coquendus in lacte matris suae, id est, non est purgandus mediocribus tenerrimisque Ecclesiae disciplinis, sed austerioribus praeceptis ejus sunt excoquenda peccata, cujus magna sunt crimina, ut qui per lasciviae blandimentum se perdidit, fortiori disciplina se redimat. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Deuteronomium, Caput VIII Migne PL 83.362

Do not cook a kid in his mother's milk. 1 The kid is given here as a figure of the sinner. Whence he who sins gravely should not be cooked in the milk of his mother, because he will not be cleansed with some moderate and tender ecclesiastical discipline, but rather with severe instruction the sins must be boiled out of him, that he who has destroyed himself by lascivious blandishments, by firmer discipline be saved. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Deuteronomy, Chap 8 1 Deut 14.21

The Contemplative And The Warrior

Homo formidoloso et corde pavido non egredietur ad bellum. Vadat et revertatur ad domum suam, ne pavere faciat corda fratrum suorum, sicut et ipse timore perterritus est. Quibus verbis edocet non posse eos professionem contemplatinois vel spiritualis militiae arripere exercitium, qui adhuc nudari terrenis operibus pertimescunt. Ne rursus infirmitate mentis revertantur, suoque exemplo alios a perfectione evangelica revocent, et infideli terrore infirment; jubentur itaque tales, ut, discedentes a pugna, revertantur in domum suam, quia non possunt duplici corde bella Domini praeliari. Vir enim duplex animo, inconstants in omnibus viis suis. Tales quippe oportet ut ne initium quidem renuntiationis arripiant. Quibus melius est ut un activa vita consistant, quam trepidi contemplationem exsequentes, majori discrimine semetipsos involvant. Melius est enim non vovere, quam vovere et non reddere. Similiter et ille a tali militia prohibetur, qui uxorem duxerit, qui plantaverit vineam, velt propaginem filiorum, non enim potest servire divinae militiae servus uxoris, secundum Apostoli: Qui cum uxore est, sollicitus est quomodo placeat uxori, et divisus est.  Nec potest inesse quis studio contemplationis, qui adhuc in delectatione defigitur carnis. Nemo, inquit Apostolus, militans Deo, implicat se negotiis saecularibus, ut ei placeat cui se probavit. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Deutronomium, Caput XV Migne PL 83.365-366

A man fearful and timid in heart should not go out to war. Let him begone and return to his house lest he causes fear in the hearts of his brothers, with his own fear unnerving them. 1 By which words is taught that they are not able to take up the exercise of contemplation or spiritual warfare who yet fear to strip themselves of worldly works, lest again they fall back into weakness of soul and their example calls others away from the perfection of the Gospel, and by faithless fear others are made infirm. Such men are thus ordered to withdraw from combat and return to their own houses because they who have divided hearts are not able to fight the wars of the Lord; a man with a divided soul is inconstant in all his ways. And certainly they should not even start on the beginning of renunciation; it is better for them is to be established in the active life, those who with fear would follow the contemplative, with greater discrimination occupying themselves. Better it is not to take a vow than to take a vow and not fulfill it. And likewise he is prohibited from such warfare who takes a wife, who plants vines and who propagates children, 2 for he is not able to serve in the Divine army who is the servant of a wife, as the Apostle says, 'He who has a wife has his care in how to please her, and he is divided in himself.' 3 And the contemplative zeal is not able to inhere in him who is yet fixed in the pleasures of the flesh. 'No one,' says the Apostle, 'is a soldier of God who is involved in worldly business, but he who is would please him who has approved him.' 4 Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Exodus, Chap 27 1 Deut 20.8 2 Deut 20. 5-7  3 1 Cor 7.33 4 2 Tim 2.4

Years Of Trial

Quid autem significaverunt illi quadraginta anni, quibus laboriose peractis, filii Israel ad repromissionis terram transierunt? Per hos quadraginta annos totum saeculi tempus significatur, in quo vivit Ecclesia sub laboribus et periculosis tentationibus, sperando quod non vidit per patientiam, quousque ad promissam aeternae felicitatis perveniat patriam. Ideo Dominicus quadraginta diebus jejunavit et quadraginta noctibus, et tentatus est in eremo. Corpus enim ejus, quod est Ecclesia, necesse est tentationes laboresque patiatur in hoc saeculo, quoad usque veniat illud tempus ubi post tentationes accipiat consolationes. Porro quod vestis Israel per tot annos in eremo nulla vestutate corrupta est, et morticina pellis calceamentorum tandiu sine labe duravit, potest figurare futuram incorruptibilitatem corporum, ubi ea quae corruptibilia sunt sine corruptione ulla permanebunt. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Deuteronomium, Caput II

What do those forty years signify in which amid laborious trials the sons of Israel crossed to the promised land? These forty years signify all the time of the age in which the Church lives under burdens and is beset by perilous trials, hoping through endurance for what it does not see until it come to the promised fatherland of eternal bliss. Therefore the Lord fasted forty days and nights and was tested in the desert. For it is necessary that his body, which is the Church, suffer trials and toils in this age, until it come to the time when after trials it receive consolation. And that the garments of Israel through all these years in the desert knew no wearing of age, and the dead skins of the shoes endured without fault, 1 can be a figure for the future incorruptibility of the body, when things which are corruptible without corruption persist. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Deutronomy, Chap 2 1 Deut 29.5