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PARALLEL HISTORY BIBLE - Proverbs 4:2


CHAPTERS: Proverbs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31     

VERSES: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27

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LXX- Greek Septuagint - Proverbs 4:2

δωρον 1435 γαρ 1063 αγαθον 18 δωρουμαι υμιν 5213 τον 3588 εμον 1699 νομον 3551 μη 3361 εγκαταλιπητε

Douay Rheims Bible

I will give you a good gift, forsake not my law.

King James Bible - Proverbs 4:2

For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.

World English Bible

for I give you sound learning. Don't forsake my law.

Early Church Father Links

Anf-05 iii.iv.i.vi.i Pg 12

World Wide Bible Resources


Proverbs 4:2

Early Christian Commentary - (A.D. 100 - A.D. 325)

Anf-02 vi.ii.viii Pg 21.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.i.xi Pg 26.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.i.xi Pg 26.1


Anf-02 vi.iii.i.x Pg 3.1


Anf-03 v.v.xviii Pg 15
See Prov. viii.

Let Hermogenes then confess that the very Wisdom of God is declared to be born and created, for the especial reason that we should not suppose that there is any other being than God alone who is unbegotten and uncreated. For if that, which from its being inherent in the Lord6304

6304 Intra Dominum.

was of Him and in Him, was yet not without a beginning,—I mean6305

6305 Scilicet.

His wisdom, which was then born and created, when in the thought of God It began to assume motion6306

6306 Cœpti agitari.

for the arrangement of His creative works,—how much more impossible6307

6307 Multo magis non capit.

is it that anything should have been without a beginning which was extrinsic to the Lord!6308

6308 Extra Dominum.

But if this same Wisdom is the Word of God, in the capacity6309

6309 Sensu.

of Wisdom, and (as being He) without whom nothing was made, just as also (nothing) was set in order without Wisdom, how can it be that anything, except the Father, should be older, and on this account indeed nobler, than the Son of God, the only-begotten and first-begotten Word?  Not to say that6310

6310 Nedum.

what is unbegotten is stronger than that which is born, and what is not made more powerful than that which is made.  Because that which did not require a Maker to give it existence, will be much more elevated in rank than that which had an author to bring it into being. On this principle, then,6311

6311 Proinde.

if evil is indeed unbegotten, whilst the Son of God is begotten (“for,” says God, “my heart hath emitted my most excellent Word”6312

6312


Anf-01 v.iii.ix Pg 14
Ps. vi., Ps. xii. (inscrip.). [N.B.—The reference is to the title of these two psalms, as rendered by the LXX. Εἰς τὸ τέλος ὑπὲρ τῆς ὀγδόης.]

on which our life both sprang up again, and the victory over death was obtained in Christ, whom the children of perdition, the enemies of the Saviour, deny, “whose god is their belly, who mind earthly things,”692

692


Anf-02 vi.iv.vi.vii Pg 15.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.vi.x Pg 7.1


Anf-01 viii.iv.xxx Pg 3
Ps. xix.

And that we, who have been made wise by them, confess that the statutes of the Lord are sweeter than honey and the honey-comb, is manifest from the fact that, though threatened with death, we do not deny His name. Moreover, it is also manifest to all, that we who believe in Him pray to be kept by Him from strange, i.e., from wicked and deceitful, spirits; as the word of prophecy, personating one of those who believe in Him, figuratively declares. For we do continually beseech God by Jesus Christ to preserve us from the demons which are hostile to the worship of God, and whom we of old time served, in order that, after our conversion by Him to God, we may be blameless. For we call Him Helper and Redeemer, the power of whose name even the demons do fear; and at this day, when they are exorcised in the name of Jesus Christ, crucified under Pontius Pilate, governor of Judæa, they are overcome. And thus it is manifest to all, that His Father has given Him so great power, by virtue of which demons are subdued to His name, and to the dispensation of His suffering.
rest. And I beheld that horn waging war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of days came; and He gave judgment for the saints of the Most High. And the time came, and the saints of the Most High possessed the kingdom. And it was told me concerning the fourth beast: There shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall prevail over all these kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall destroy and make it thoroughly waste. And the ten horns are ten kings that shall arise; and one shall arise after them;2027

2027 Literally, “And the ten horns, ten kings shall arise after them.”

and he shall surpass the first in evil deeds, and he shall subdue three kings, and he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall overthrow the rest of the saints of the Most High, and shall expect to change the seasons and the times. And it shall be delivered into his hands for a time, and times, and half a time. And the judgment sat, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom, and the power, and the great places of the kingdoms under the heavens, were given to the holy people of the Most High, to reign in an everlasting kingdom: and all powers shall be subject to Him, and shall obey Him. Hitherto is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was possessed with a very great astonishment, and my speech was changed in me; yet I kept the matter in my heart.’ ”2028

2028


Anf-03 v.iv.v.i Pg 21
Ps. xix. 7.

from idols unto God. This likewise will be the word concerning which the same Isaiah says, “For the Lord will make a decisive word in the land.”3496

3496


Anf-03 v.iv.v.xvii Pg 25
Ps. xix. 11.

He then has taunted4116

4116 Suggillavit.

men as ungrateful who deserved to have their gratitude—even He, whose sunshine and rain even you, O Marcion, have enjoyed, but without gratitude! Your god, however, had no right to complain of man’s ingratitude, because he had used no means to make them grateful. Compassion also does He teach: “Be ye merciful,” says He, “as your Father also that had mercy upon you.”4117

4117


Anf-02 vi.iii.ii.iv Pg 18.1


Anf-01 ix.iv.xxiv Pg 15
Prov. i. 7, Prov. ix. 10.

the sense of sin leads to repentance, and God bestows His compassion upon those who are penitent. For [Adam] showed his repentance by his conduct, through means of the girdle [which he used], covering himself with fig-leaves, while there were many other leaves, which would have irritated his body in a less degree. He, however, adopted a dress conformable to his disobedience, being awed by the fear of God; and resisting the erring, the lustful propensity of his flesh (since he had lost his natural disposition and child-like mind, and had come to the knowledge of evil things), he girded a bridle of continence upon himself and his wife, fearing God, and waiting for His coming, and indicating, as it were, some such thing [as follows]: Inasmuch as, he says, I have by disobedience lost that robe of sanctity which I had from the Spirit, I do now also acknowledge that I am deserving of a covering of this nature, which affords no gratification, but which gnaws and frets the body. And he would no doubt have retained this clothing for ever, thus humbling himself, if God, who is merciful, had not clothed them with tunics of skins instead of fig-leaves. For this purpose, too, He interrogates them, that the blame might light upon the woman; and again, He interrogates her, that she might convey the blame to the serpent. For she related what had occurred. “The serpent,” says she, “beguiled me, and I did eat.”3766

3766


Anf-02 vi.iii.i.ix Pg 12.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.ii.vii Pg 7.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.ii.vii Pg 18.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.vii.xii Pg 8.1


Anf-03 v.iii.xliii Pg 4
Ps. cxi. 10; Prov. i. 7.

Where the fear of God is, there is seriousness, an honourable and yet thoughtful2295

2295 Attonita, as if in fear that it might go wrong (Rigalt.).

diligence, as well as an anxious carefulness and a well-considered admission (to the sacred ministry)2296

2296 In contrast to the opposite fault of the heresies exposed above.

and a safely-guarded2297

2297 Deliberata, where the character was well weighed previous to admission to the eucharist.

communion, and promotion after good service, and a scrupulous submission (to authority), and a devout attendance,2298

2298 Apparitio, the duty and office of an apparitor, or attendant on men of higher rank, whether in church or state.

and a modest gait, and a united church, and God in all things.


Anf-01 vi.ii.x Pg 11
Ps. i. 1.

even as the fishes [referred to] go in darkness to the depths [of the sea]; “and hath not stood in the way of sinners,” even as those who profess to fear the Lord, but go astray like swine; “and hath not sat in the seat of scorners,”1585

1585 Literally, “of the pestilent.”

even as those birds that lie in wait for prey. Take a full and firm grasp of this spiritual1586


Anf-01 viii.ii.xl Pg 3
Ps. i., Ps. ii.


Anf-02 vi.iii.i.x Pg 17.1


Anf-02 vi.iii.iii.xi Pg 95.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.ii.xv Pg 19.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.v.v Pg 21.1


Anf-02 vi.iii.i.x Pg 4.1


Anf-03 iv.v.iii Pg 4
Ps. i. 1. [Kaye’s censure of this use of the text, (p. 366) seems to me gratuitous.]

Though he seems to have predicted beforehand of that just man, that he took no part in the meetings and deliberations of the Jews, taking counsel about the slaying of our Lord, yet divine Scripture has ever far-reaching applications: after the immediate sense has been exhausted, in all directions it fortifies the practice of the religious life, so that here also you have an utterance which is not far from a plain interdicting of the shows. If he called those few Jews an assembly of the wicked, how much more will he so designate so vast a gathering of heathens! Are the heathens less impious, less sinners, less enemies of Christ, than the Jews were then? And see, too, how other things agree. For at the shows they also stand in the way. For they call the spaces between the seats going round the amphitheatre, and the passages which separate the people running down, ways. The place in the curve where the matrons sit is called a chair. Therefore, on the contrary, it holds, unblessed is he who has entered any council of wicked men, and has stood in any way of sinners, and has sat in any chair of scorners. We may understand a thing as spoken generally, even when it requires a certain special interpretation to be given to it. For some things spoken with a special reference contain in them general truth. When God admonishes the Israelites of their duty, or sharply reproves them, He has surely a reference to all men; when He threatens destruction to Egypt and Ethiopia, He surely pre-condemns every sinning nation, whatever. If, reasoning from species to genus, every nation that sins against them is an Egypt and Ethiopia; so also, reasoning from genus to species, with reference to the origin of shows, every show is an assembly of the wicked.


Anf-03 v.iv.iii.xix Pg 14
Ps. i. 1.

Where then?  “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity;”2934

2934


Anf-03 v.iv.v.xlii Pg 46
Ps. i. 1.



Anf-03 iv.iv.xv Pg 14
Ps. i. 1–3; xcii. 12–; 15.

If you have renounced temples, make not your own gate a temple. I have said too little. If you have renounced stews, clothe not your own house with the appearance of a new brothel.


Anf-01 ix.vii.ix Pg 13
Ps. i. 2.

that they may be adorned with good works: for this is the meaning of the ruminants. The unclean, however, are those which do neither divide the hoof nor ruminate; that is, those persons who have neither faith in God, nor do meditate on His words: and such is the abomination of the Gentiles. But as to those animals which do indeed chew the cud, but have not the double hoof, and are themselves unclean, we have in them a figurative description of the Jews, who certainly have the words of God in their mouth, but who do not fix their rooted stedfastness in the Father and in the Son; wherefore they are an unstable generation. For those animals which have the hoof all in one piece easily slip; but those which have it divided are more sure-footed, their cleft hoofs succeeding each other as they advance, and the one hoof supporting the other. In like manner, too, those are unclean which have the double hoof but do not ruminate: this is plainly an indication of all heretics, and of those who do not meditate on the words of God, neither are adorned with works of righteousness; to whom also the Lord says, “Why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say to you?”4504

4504


Anf-01 viii.ii.xl Pg 3
Ps. i., Ps. ii.


Anf-02 vi.iii.i.x Pg 4.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.ii.xv Pg 20.1


Anf-03 v.iv.iii.xix Pg 3
Ps. i. 2.

It was not in severity that its Author promulgated this law, but in the interest of the highest benevolence, which rather aimed at subduing2923

2923 Edomantis, cf. chap. xv. sub fin. and xxix.

the nation’s hardness of heart, and by laborious services hewing out a fealty which was (as yet) untried in obedience:  for I purposely abstain from touching on the mysterious senses of the law, considered in its spiritual and prophetic relation, and as abounding in types of almost every variety and sort.  It is enough at present, that it simply bound a man to God, so that no one ought to find fault with it, except him who does not choose to serve God. To help forward this beneficent, not onerous, purpose of the law, the prophets were also ordained by the self-same goodness of God, teaching precepts worthy of God, how that men should “cease to do evil, learn to do well, seek judgment, judge the fatherless,2924

2924 Pupillo.

and plead for the widow:”2925

2925


Anf-01 v.ii.vi Pg 7
Prov. xxii. 29, after LXX.

And indeed Onesimus himself greatly commends your good order in God, that ye all live according to the truth, and that no sect has any dwelling-place among you. Nor indeed do ye hearken to any one rather than to Jesus Christ, the true Shepherd and Teacher. And ye are, as Paul wrote to you, “one body and one spirit, because ye have also been called in one hope of the faith.532

532


Anf-01 ii.ii.xvii Pg 3
Gen. xviii. 27.

Moreover, it is thus written of Job, “Job was a righteous man, and blameless, truthful, God-fearing, and one that kept himself from all evil.”74

74


Anf-01 v.iii.xii Pg 12
Gen. xviii. 27; Job xxx. 19.

before God. And David says, “Who am I before Thee, O Lord, that Thou hast glorified me hitherto?”721

721


Anf-02 vi.iv.iv.xvi Pg 6.1


Anf-03 v.iv.v.x Pg 15
Resignati jejunii. See 1 Sam. xiv. 43–45.

Why should I recount the frequent restoration of the nation itself after the forgiveness of their sins?—by that God, indeed, who will have mercy rather than sacrifice, and a sinner’s repentance rather than his death.3774

3774


Anf-03 v.iv.iii.xvii Pg 9
1 Sam. xiv. 45.

and gave free forgiveness to David on his confessing his sins against the house of Uriah;2905

2905


Anf-01 vi.ii.xvi Pg 7
Comp. Isa. v., Jer. xxv.; but the words do not occur in Scripture.

And it so happened as the Lord had spoken. Let us inquire, then, if there still is a temple of God. There is—where He himself declared He would make and finish it. For it is written, “And it shall come to pass, when the week is completed, the temple of God shall be built in glory in the name of the Lord.”1678

1678


Anf-01 ii.ii.iv Pg 3
Gen. xxvii. 41, etc.

Envy made Joseph be persecuted unto death, and to come into bondage.20

20


Anf-01 viii.iv.cvi Pg 2
Num. xxiv. 17.

and another Scripture says, ‘Behold a man; the East is His name.’2358

2358


Anf-01 ix.iv.x Pg 12
Num. xxiv. 17.

But Matthew says that the Magi, coming from the east, exclaimed “For we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him;”3383

3383


Npnf-201 iii.ix.vi Pg 5


Anf-02 vi.iv.ii.xviii Pg 30.1


Anf-03 v.iv.vi.xix Pg 31
Isa. xxix. 14, quoted 1 Cor. i. 19; comp. Jer. viii. 9 and Job v. 12, 13.

Thanks to this simplicity of truth, so opposed to the subtlety and vain deceit of philosophy, we cannot possibly have any relish for such perverse opinions.  Then, if God “quickens us together with Christ, forgiving us our trespasses,”6086

6086


Anf-02 vi.iv.vi.xv Pg 48.1


Anf-02 vi.ii.viii Pg 24.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.i.xxix Pg 6.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.vi.vi Pg 30.1


Anf-02 ii.iv.v Pg 22.2


Anf-03 v.iv.vi.iii Pg 42
Deut. xi. 26.

You cannot establish a diversity of authors because there happens to be one of things; for the diversity is itself proposed by one and the same author. Why, however, “Christ was made a curse for us,”5307

5307


Anf-01 viii.ii.xliv Pg 2
Deut. xxx. 15; 19.

And again, by the other prophet Isaiah, that the following utterance was made as if from God the Father and Lord of all: “Wash you, make you clean; put away evils from your souls; learn to do well; judge the orphan, and plead for the widow: and come and let us reason together, saith the Lord: And if your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool; and if they be red like as crimson, I will make them white as snow. And if ye be willing and obey Me, ye shall eat the good of the land; but if ye do not obey Me, the sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”1857

1857


Anf-02 vi.ii.x Pg 13.1
mss.; but, according to Dressel, we should read, “have a perfect knowledge concerning the food.” Hilgenfeld follows the Greek.

knowledge. But Moses says still further, “Ye shall eat every animal that is cloven-footed and ruminant.” What does he mean? [The ruminant animal denotes him] who, on receiving food, recognizes Him that nourishes him, and being satisfied by Him,1587

1587 Or, “resting upon Him.”

is visibly made glad. Well spake [Moses], having respect to the commandment. What, then, does he mean? That we ought to join ourselves to those that fear the Lord, those who meditate in their heart on the commandment which they have received, those who both utter the judgments of the Lord and observe them, those who know that meditation is a work of gladness, and who ruminate1588


Anf-02 vi.iv.v.xiv Pg 23.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.vi.vi Pg 27.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.v.xi Pg 16.1


Anf-01 viii.ii.xliv Pg 2
Deut. xxx. 15; 19.

And again, by the other prophet Isaiah, that the following utterance was made as if from God the Father and Lord of all: “Wash you, make you clean; put away evils from your souls; learn to do well; judge the orphan, and plead for the widow: and come and let us reason together, saith the Lord: And if your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool; and if they be red like as crimson, I will make them white as snow. And if ye be willing and obey Me, ye shall eat the good of the land; but if ye do not obey Me, the sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”1857

1857


Anf-01 ix.vi.xvii Pg 22
Deut. xxx. 19, 20.

Preparing man for this life, the Lord Himself did speak in His own person to all alike the words of the Decalogue; and therefore, in like manner, do they remain permanently with us,4001

4001 [Most noteworthy among primitive testimonies to the catholic reception of the Decalogue.]

receiving by means of His advent in the flesh, extension and increase, but not abrogation.


Anf-02 vi.iv.v.xiv Pg 23.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.vi.vi Pg 27.1


Anf-03 v.iv.v.xv Pg 17
Deut. xxx. 19.

Which statement was really a presage of3997

3997 Portendebat in.

this temper of the gospel. Besides, what sort of being is that who, to insinuate a belief in his own goodness, invidiously contrasted3998

3998 Opposuit.

with it the Creator’s severity? Of little worth is the recommendation which has for its prop the defamation of another. And yet by thus setting forth the severity of the Creator, he, in fact, affirmed Him to be an object of fear.3999

3999 Timendum.

Now if He be an object of fear, He is of course more worthy of being obeyed than slighted; and thus Marcion’s Christ begins to teach favourably to the Creator’s interests.4000

4000 Creatori docere.

Then, on the admission above mentioned, since the woe which has regard to the rich is the Creator’s, it follows that it is not Christ, but the Creator, who is angry with the rich; while Christ approves of4001

4001 Ratas habet.

the incentives of the rich4002

4002 Divitum causas.

—I mean, their pride, their pomp,4003

4003 Gloriam.

their love of the world, and their contempt of God, owing to which they deserve the woe of the Creator. But how happens it that the reprobation of the rich does not proceed from the same God who had just before expressed approbation of the poor? There is nobody but reprobates the opposite of that which he has approved. If, therefore, there be imputed to the Creator the woe pronounced against the rich, there must be claimed for Him also the promise of the blessing upon the poor; and thus the entire work of the Creator devolves on Christ.—If to Marcion’s god there be ascribed the blessing of the poor, he must also have imputed to him the malediction of the rich; and thus will he become the Creator’s equal,4004

4004 Erit par creatoris.

both good and judicial; nor will there be left any room for that distinction whereby two gods are made; and when this distinction is removed, there will remain the verity which pronounces the Creator to be the one only God. Since, therefore, “woe” is a word indicative of malediction, or of some unusually austere4005

4005 Austerioris.

exclamation; and since it is by Christ uttered against the rich, I shall have to show that the Creator is also a despiser4006

4006 Aspernatorem.

of the rich, as I have shown Him to be the defender4007

4007 Advocatorem.

of the poor, in order that I may prove Christ to be on the Creator’s side in this matter, even when He enriched Solomon.4008

4008


Anf-01 ix.vi.xxxvii Pg 6
Jer. vii. 3; Zech. vii. 9, 10, Zech. viii. 17; Isa. i. 17–19.

And again: “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips that they speak no guile; depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.”4359

4359


Anf-01 v.xvi.i Pg 5
Isa. i. 19.

And again, “Ye shall eat flesh even as herbs.”1270

1270


Anf-02 vi.ii.x Pg 14.1
1588 Cod. Sin. here has the singular, “one who ruminates.”

upon the word of the Lord. But what means the cloven-footed? That the righteous man also walks in this world, yet looks forward to the holy state1589

1589 Literally, “holy age.”

[to come]. Behold how well Moses legislated. But how was it possible for them to understand or comprehend these things? We then, rightly understanding his commandments,1590

1590 Cod. Sin. inserts again, “rightly.”

explain them as the Lord intended. For this purpose He circumcised our ears and our hearts, that we might understand these things.


Anf-02 vi.iv.i.xviii Pg 8.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.vi.vi Pg 28.1


Anf-03 v.viii.xxvi Pg 8
Isa. i. 19.

the expression means the blessings which await the flesh when in the kingdom of God it shall be renewed, and made like the angels, and waiting to obtain the things “which neither eye hath seen, nor ear heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man.”7467

7467


Anf-01 ii.ii.viii Pg 6
Isa. i. 16–20.

Desiring, therefore, that all His beloved should be partakers of repentance, He has, by His almighty will, established [these declarations].


Anf-01 viii.ii.lxi Pg 4
Isa. i. 16–20.


Anf-02 vi.iv.vi.vi Pg 28.1


Anf-02 vi.ii.x Pg 15.1


Anf-03 iv.ix.xiii Pg 66
Isa. i. 20.

Whence we prove that the sword was Christ, by not hearing whom they perished; who, again, in the Psalm, demands of the Father their dispersion, saying, “Disperse them in Thy power;”1443

1443


Anf-03 v.iv.iv.xxiii Pg 10
Isa. i. 20.

has proved that it was Christ, for rebellion against whom they have perished. In the fifty-eighth Psalm He demands of the Father their dispersion:  “Scatter them in Thy power.”3424

3424


Anf-02 vi.iv.i.x Pg 9.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.i.xi Pg 25.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.ii.xix Pg 15.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.ii.xix Pg 15.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.i.i Pg 3.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.i.xi Pg 26.1


Anf-02 vi.ii.viii Pg 21.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.i.xi Pg 26.1


Anf-01 ix.iv.xxiv Pg 15
Prov. i. 7, Prov. ix. 10.

the sense of sin leads to repentance, and God bestows His compassion upon those who are penitent. For [Adam] showed his repentance by his conduct, through means of the girdle [which he used], covering himself with fig-leaves, while there were many other leaves, which would have irritated his body in a less degree. He, however, adopted a dress conformable to his disobedience, being awed by the fear of God; and resisting the erring, the lustful propensity of his flesh (since he had lost his natural disposition and child-like mind, and had come to the knowledge of evil things), he girded a bridle of continence upon himself and his wife, fearing God, and waiting for His coming, and indicating, as it were, some such thing [as follows]: Inasmuch as, he says, I have by disobedience lost that robe of sanctity which I had from the Spirit, I do now also acknowledge that I am deserving of a covering of this nature, which affords no gratification, but which gnaws and frets the body. And he would no doubt have retained this clothing for ever, thus humbling himself, if God, who is merciful, had not clothed them with tunics of skins instead of fig-leaves. For this purpose, too, He interrogates them, that the blame might light upon the woman; and again, He interrogates her, that she might convey the blame to the serpent. For she related what had occurred. “The serpent,” says she, “beguiled me, and I did eat.”3766

3766


Anf-02 vi.iii.i.ix Pg 12.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.ii.vii Pg 7.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.ii.vii Pg 18.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.vii.xii Pg 8.1


Anf-03 v.iii.xliii Pg 4
Ps. cxi. 10; Prov. i. 7.

Where the fear of God is, there is seriousness, an honourable and yet thoughtful2295

2295 Attonita, as if in fear that it might go wrong (Rigalt.).

diligence, as well as an anxious carefulness and a well-considered admission (to the sacred ministry)2296

2296 In contrast to the opposite fault of the heresies exposed above.

and a safely-guarded2297

2297 Deliberata, where the character was well weighed previous to admission to the eucharist.

communion, and promotion after good service, and a scrupulous submission (to authority), and a devout attendance,2298

2298 Apparitio, the duty and office of an apparitor, or attendant on men of higher rank, whether in church or state.

and a modest gait, and a united church, and God in all things.


Anf-01 vi.ii.x Pg 11
Ps. i. 1.

even as the fishes [referred to] go in darkness to the depths [of the sea]; “and hath not stood in the way of sinners,” even as those who profess to fear the Lord, but go astray like swine; “and hath not sat in the seat of scorners,”1585

1585 Literally, “of the pestilent.”

even as those birds that lie in wait for prey. Take a full and firm grasp of this spiritual1586


Anf-01 viii.ii.xl Pg 3
Ps. i., Ps. ii.


Anf-02 vi.iii.i.x Pg 17.1


Anf-02 vi.iii.iii.xi Pg 95.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.ii.xv Pg 19.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.v.v Pg 21.1


Anf-02 vi.iii.i.x Pg 4.1


Anf-03 iv.v.iii Pg 4
Ps. i. 1. [Kaye’s censure of this use of the text, (p. 366) seems to me gratuitous.]

Though he seems to have predicted beforehand of that just man, that he took no part in the meetings and deliberations of the Jews, taking counsel about the slaying of our Lord, yet divine Scripture has ever far-reaching applications: after the immediate sense has been exhausted, in all directions it fortifies the practice of the religious life, so that here also you have an utterance which is not far from a plain interdicting of the shows. If he called those few Jews an assembly of the wicked, how much more will he so designate so vast a gathering of heathens! Are the heathens less impious, less sinners, less enemies of Christ, than the Jews were then? And see, too, how other things agree. For at the shows they also stand in the way. For they call the spaces between the seats going round the amphitheatre, and the passages which separate the people running down, ways. The place in the curve where the matrons sit is called a chair. Therefore, on the contrary, it holds, unblessed is he who has entered any council of wicked men, and has stood in any way of sinners, and has sat in any chair of scorners. We may understand a thing as spoken generally, even when it requires a certain special interpretation to be given to it. For some things spoken with a special reference contain in them general truth. When God admonishes the Israelites of their duty, or sharply reproves them, He has surely a reference to all men; when He threatens destruction to Egypt and Ethiopia, He surely pre-condemns every sinning nation, whatever. If, reasoning from species to genus, every nation that sins against them is an Egypt and Ethiopia; so also, reasoning from genus to species, with reference to the origin of shows, every show is an assembly of the wicked.


Anf-03 v.iv.iii.xix Pg 14
Ps. i. 1.

Where then?  “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity;”2934

2934


Anf-03 v.iv.v.xlii Pg 46
Ps. i. 1.



Anf-03 iv.iv.xv Pg 14
Ps. i. 1–3; xcii. 12–; 15.

If you have renounced temples, make not your own gate a temple. I have said too little. If you have renounced stews, clothe not your own house with the appearance of a new brothel.


Anf-01 ix.vii.ix Pg 13
Ps. i. 2.

that they may be adorned with good works: for this is the meaning of the ruminants. The unclean, however, are those which do neither divide the hoof nor ruminate; that is, those persons who have neither faith in God, nor do meditate on His words: and such is the abomination of the Gentiles. But as to those animals which do indeed chew the cud, but have not the double hoof, and are themselves unclean, we have in them a figurative description of the Jews, who certainly have the words of God in their mouth, but who do not fix their rooted stedfastness in the Father and in the Son; wherefore they are an unstable generation. For those animals which have the hoof all in one piece easily slip; but those which have it divided are more sure-footed, their cleft hoofs succeeding each other as they advance, and the one hoof supporting the other. In like manner, too, those are unclean which have the double hoof but do not ruminate: this is plainly an indication of all heretics, and of those who do not meditate on the words of God, neither are adorned with works of righteousness; to whom also the Lord says, “Why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say to you?”4504

4504


Anf-01 viii.ii.xl Pg 3
Ps. i., Ps. ii.


Anf-02 vi.iii.i.x Pg 4.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.ii.xv Pg 20.1


Anf-03 v.iv.iii.xix Pg 3
Ps. i. 2.

It was not in severity that its Author promulgated this law, but in the interest of the highest benevolence, which rather aimed at subduing2923

2923 Edomantis, cf. chap. xv. sub fin. and xxix.

the nation’s hardness of heart, and by laborious services hewing out a fealty which was (as yet) untried in obedience:  for I purposely abstain from touching on the mysterious senses of the law, considered in its spiritual and prophetic relation, and as abounding in types of almost every variety and sort.  It is enough at present, that it simply bound a man to God, so that no one ought to find fault with it, except him who does not choose to serve God. To help forward this beneficent, not onerous, purpose of the law, the prophets were also ordained by the self-same goodness of God, teaching precepts worthy of God, how that men should “cease to do evil, learn to do well, seek judgment, judge the fatherless,2924

2924 Pupillo.

and plead for the widow:”2925

2925


Anf-02 vi.iv.vi.xv Pg 48.1


Anf-02 vi.iii.ii.vii Pg 13.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.v.iii Pg 21.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.i.xi Pg 25.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.i.i Pg 3.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.i.xi Pg 26.1


Anf-02 vi.iii.i.x Pg 12.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.i.xi Pg 26.1


Anf-01 viii.iv.xxx Pg 3
Ps. xix.

And that we, who have been made wise by them, confess that the statutes of the Lord are sweeter than honey and the honey-comb, is manifest from the fact that, though threatened with death, we do not deny His name. Moreover, it is also manifest to all, that we who believe in Him pray to be kept by Him from strange, i.e., from wicked and deceitful, spirits; as the word of prophecy, personating one of those who believe in Him, figuratively declares. For we do continually beseech God by Jesus Christ to preserve us from the demons which are hostile to the worship of God, and whom we of old time served, in order that, after our conversion by Him to God, we may be blameless. For we call Him Helper and Redeemer, the power of whose name even the demons do fear; and at this day, when they are exorcised in the name of Jesus Christ, crucified under Pontius Pilate, governor of Judæa, they are overcome. And thus it is manifest to all, that His Father has given Him so great power, by virtue of which demons are subdued to His name, and to the dispensation of His suffering.
rest. And I beheld that horn waging war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of days came; and He gave judgment for the saints of the Most High. And the time came, and the saints of the Most High possessed the kingdom. And it was told me concerning the fourth beast: There shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall prevail over all these kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall destroy and make it thoroughly waste. And the ten horns are ten kings that shall arise; and one shall arise after them;2027

2027 Literally, “And the ten horns, ten kings shall arise after them.”

and he shall surpass the first in evil deeds, and he shall subdue three kings, and he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall overthrow the rest of the saints of the Most High, and shall expect to change the seasons and the times. And it shall be delivered into his hands for a time, and times, and half a time. And the judgment sat, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom, and the power, and the great places of the kingdoms under the heavens, were given to the holy people of the Most High, to reign in an everlasting kingdom: and all powers shall be subject to Him, and shall obey Him. Hitherto is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was possessed with a very great astonishment, and my speech was changed in me; yet I kept the matter in my heart.’ ”2028

2028


Anf-03 v.iv.v.i Pg 21
Ps. xix. 7.

from idols unto God. This likewise will be the word concerning which the same Isaiah says, “For the Lord will make a decisive word in the land.”3496

3496


Anf-01 viii.iv.xxx Pg 3
Ps. xix.

And that we, who have been made wise by them, confess that the statutes of the Lord are sweeter than honey and the honey-comb, is manifest from the fact that, though threatened with death, we do not deny His name. Moreover, it is also manifest to all, that we who believe in Him pray to be kept by Him from strange, i.e., from wicked and deceitful, spirits; as the word of prophecy, personating one of those who believe in Him, figuratively declares. For we do continually beseech God by Jesus Christ to preserve us from the demons which are hostile to the worship of God, and whom we of old time served, in order that, after our conversion by Him to God, we may be blameless. For we call Him Helper and Redeemer, the power of whose name even the demons do fear; and at this day, when they are exorcised in the name of Jesus Christ, crucified under Pontius Pilate, governor of Judæa, they are overcome. And thus it is manifest to all, that His Father has given Him so great power, by virtue of which demons are subdued to His name, and to the dispensation of His suffering.
rest. And I beheld that horn waging war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of days came; and He gave judgment for the saints of the Most High. And the time came, and the saints of the Most High possessed the kingdom. And it was told me concerning the fourth beast: There shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall prevail over all these kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall destroy and make it thoroughly waste. And the ten horns are ten kings that shall arise; and one shall arise after them;2027

2027 Literally, “And the ten horns, ten kings shall arise after them.”

and he shall surpass the first in evil deeds, and he shall subdue three kings, and he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall overthrow the rest of the saints of the Most High, and shall expect to change the seasons and the times. And it shall be delivered into his hands for a time, and times, and half a time. And the judgment sat, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom, and the power, and the great places of the kingdoms under the heavens, were given to the holy people of the Most High, to reign in an everlasting kingdom: and all powers shall be subject to Him, and shall obey Him. Hitherto is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was possessed with a very great astonishment, and my speech was changed in me; yet I kept the matter in my heart.’ ”2028

2028


Anf-01 ix.vi.xxxiv Pg 2
1 Cor. ii. 15. [The argument of this chapter hinges on Ps. xxv. 14, and expounds a difficult text of St. Paul. A man who has the mind of God’s Spirit is the only judge of spiritual things. Worldly men are incompetent critics of Scripture and of Christian exposition.

For he judges the Gentiles, “who serve the creature more than the Creator,”4254

4254


Anf-02 vi.iii.i.x Pg 3.1


Anf-03 v.v.xviii Pg 15
See Prov. viii.

Let Hermogenes then confess that the very Wisdom of God is declared to be born and created, for the especial reason that we should not suppose that there is any other being than God alone who is unbegotten and uncreated. For if that, which from its being inherent in the Lord6304

6304 Intra Dominum.

was of Him and in Him, was yet not without a beginning,—I mean6305

6305 Scilicet.

His wisdom, which was then born and created, when in the thought of God It began to assume motion6306

6306 Cœpti agitari.

for the arrangement of His creative works,—how much more impossible6307

6307 Multo magis non capit.

is it that anything should have been without a beginning which was extrinsic to the Lord!6308

6308 Extra Dominum.

But if this same Wisdom is the Word of God, in the capacity6309

6309 Sensu.

of Wisdom, and (as being He) without whom nothing was made, just as also (nothing) was set in order without Wisdom, how can it be that anything, except the Father, should be older, and on this account indeed nobler, than the Son of God, the only-begotten and first-begotten Word?  Not to say that6310

6310 Nedum.

what is unbegotten is stronger than that which is born, and what is not made more powerful than that which is made.  Because that which did not require a Maker to give it existence, will be much more elevated in rank than that which had an author to bring it into being. On this principle, then,6311

6311 Proinde.

if evil is indeed unbegotten, whilst the Son of God is begotten (“for,” says God, “my heart hath emitted my most excellent Word”6312

6312


Anf-01 v.iii.ix Pg 14
Ps. vi., Ps. xii. (inscrip.). [N.B.—The reference is to the title of these two psalms, as rendered by the LXX. Εἰς τὸ τέλος ὑπὲρ τῆς ὀγδόης.]

on which our life both sprang up again, and the victory over death was obtained in Christ, whom the children of perdition, the enemies of the Saviour, deny, “whose god is their belly, who mind earthly things,”692

692


Anf-02 vi.iv.vi.vii Pg 15.1


Anf-02 vi.iv.vi.x Pg 7.1


Anf-03 vi.ii.vi Pg 3
Isa. l. 9.

And again the prophet says, “Since1495

1495 The Latin omits “since,” but it is found in all the Greek mss.

as a mighty stone He is laid for crushing, behold I cast down for the foundations of Zion a stone, precious, elect, a corner-stone, honourable.” Next, what says He? “And he who shall trust1496

1496


Anf-02 vi.iii.ii.iv Pg 19.1


Anf-02 vi.iii.ii.iv Pg 18.1


Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge, Chapter 4

VERSE 	(2) - 

Pr 8:6-9; 22:20,21 De 32:2 Job 33:3 Ps 49:1-3 Joh 7:16,17


PARALLEL VERSE BIBLE

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