Chapter VII.
For though a man should be by no means greatly
advantaged by knowing all in this life that is destined to befall him
according to his mind (let us suppose such a case), nevertheless with
the officious activity of men he devises means for prying into and
gaining an apparent acquaintance with the things that are to happen
after a person’s death. Moreover, a good name is more
pleasant to the mind81
than
oil to the
body; and the end of
life is better than the
birth, and to
mourn is
more desirable than to
revel, and to be with the sorrowing is better
than to be with the
drunken. For this is the fact, that he who
comes to the end of
life has no further care about aught around
him. And discreet
anger is to be preferred to laughter; for by
the severe disposition of
countenance the
soul is kept
upright.
82
The
souls of
the
wise, indeed, are
sad and downcast, but those of
fools are elated,
and given loose to merriment. And yet it is
far more desirable to
receive
blame from one
wise man, than to become a hearer of a whole
chorus of worthless and
miserable men in their
songs. For the
laughter of
fools is like the crackling of many
thorns burning in a
fierce fire. This, too, is misery, yea the greatest of evils,
namely oppression;
83
for it
intrigues against the
souls of the
wise, and attempts to
ruin the
noble
way of
life84
which the good
pursue. Moreover, it is right to commend not the man who begins,
but the man who
finishes a
speech;
85
| 85 λόγων δέ,
etc. But Cod. Medic. reads, λόγον δέ, etc., = it
is right to commend a speech not in its beginning, but in its end. |
and what is moderate ought to approve itself to the
mind, and not what
is swollen and inflated. Again, one ought certainly to keep
wrath
in check, and not
suffer himself to be carried rashly into
anger, the
slaves of which are
fools. Moreover, they are in error who assert
that a better manner
of
life was given to those before us, and they
fail to see that
wisdom
is widely different from mere
abundance of possessions, and that it is
as much more lustrous
86
| 86
φανερωτέρα,
for which φανοτέρα is
proposed. |
than these, as
silver shines more brightly than its
shadow. For the
life of man
hath its excellence
87
not in the
acquisition of perishable
riches, but in
wisdom. And who shall be
able, tell me, to declare the providence of
God, which is so great and
so beneficent? or who shall be able to recall the things which seem to
have been passed by of
God? And in the former days of my
vanity I
considered all things,
and saw a
righteous man continuing in his
righteousness, and ceasing not from it until
death, but even suffering
injury by reason thereof, and a
wicked man perishing with his
wickedness. Moreover, it is proper that the
righteous man should
not seem to be so overmuch, nor exceedingly and above measure
wise,
that he may not, as in making some slip,
seem to sin many times
over. And be not thou audacious and precipitate, lest an untimely
death surprise thee. It is the greatest of all good to take hold
of
God, and by
abiding in Him to
sin in nothing. For to touch
things
undefiled with an impure
hand is
abomination. But he who
in the
fear of
God submits himself,
88
escapes all that is contrary.
Wisdom availeth more in the way of help than a
band of the most
powerful men in a city, and it often also pardons righteously those who
fail in
duty. For there is not one that stumbleth not.
89
| 89
1 Kings viii. 46; 2 Chron. vi.
36; Prov. xx. 9; 1 John i. 8. |
Also it becomes thee in no way to
attend upon the words of the impious, that thou mayest not become an
ear-witness
90
of words spoken against
thyself, such as the foolish talk of a
wicked servant, and being thus
stung in
heart, have recourse afterwards thyself to cursing in turn in
many actions. And all these things have I known, having received
wisdom from
God, which afterwards I lost, and was no longer able to be
the same.
91
For
wisdom fled
from me to an infinite distance, and into a measureless
deep, so that I
could no longer get hold of it. Wherefore afterwards I
abstained
altogether from seeking it; and I no longer thought of considering the
follies and the
vain counsels of the impious, and their weary,
distracted
life. And being thus disposed, I was borne on to the
things themselves; and being
seized with a fatal passion, I knew
woman—that she is like a
snare or some such other
object.
92
| 92 The text is
evidently corrupt: for τὴν γυναῖκα,
γῆν τινά, etc., Cotelerius
proposes, τὴν
γυναῖκα,
σαγήνην
τινά, etc.; and Bengel, πάγην
τινά,
etc. |
For her
heart
ensnares those who pass her; and if she but join
hand to
hand, she
holds one as securely as though she dragged him on bound with
chains.
93
| 93 κατέχει ἢ
εἰ. This use of ἢ εἰ
is characteristic of Gregory Thaumaturgus. We find it again
in his Panegyr. ad Orig., ch. 6, ἢ εἰ
καὶ παρὰ
πάντας, etc. It may be
added, therefore, to the proofs in support of a common authorship for
these two writings. |
And from her
you can
secure your deliverance only by finding a propitious and
watchful superintendent in
God;
94
for he
who is
enslaved by
sin cannot (otherwise)
escape its grasp.
Moreover, among all
women I sought for the chastity
95
proper to them, and I found it in none.
And verily a person may find one man
chaste among a
thousand, but a
woman never.
96
| 96 [Our English
version gives no such idea, nor does that of the LXX. The
σωφροσύνη
of our author is discretion, or perhaps entire balance
of mind. Wordsworth gives us the thought better in his
verse: “A perfect woman, nobly planned.” It was
not in Judaism to give woman her place: the Magnificat of
the Virgin celebrated the restoration of her sex.] |
And this above
all things I observed, that men being made by
God simple
97
in
mind, contract
98
for themselves manifold reasonings and
infinite questionings, and while professing to seek wisdom, waste their
life in vain words.
E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
