On the Beatitudes 1235–1253
Greek text: PG 44.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 1235
1235PG 44:1236a–1236b
Ξρχων, καὶ ἐθνῶν βασιλεὺς, εἰ καταλλήλως ἡγοῖτο τῶν ὑποτεταγμένων ἕκαστος τούτων, μὴ ὁρμαῖς am γοις ὑπʼ ἐξουσίας κινούμενος, ἀλλʼ εὑθύτητι τὸ ὑπήκοον κρίνων, καὶ πρὸς τὰς προαιρέσεις τῶν ὑποχειρίων τῇ γνώμῃ συναρμοζόμενος· πάντα τά τοιαῦτα τῷ λόγῳ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἀνατιθέασιν, οἱ τῇ τοιαύτῃ ἔξει τὸ δίκαιον ὁριζόμενοι. Ἐγὼ δὲ πρὸς οιζὸ ὕψος βλέπων τῆς Θείας νομοθεσίας, πλέον τιτῶν εἰρημένων ὲν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ ταύτῃ νοεῖσθαι στοχάζομαι. Εί γὰρ κοινὸς μὲν πρὸς πᾶσαν τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν 6 σωτήριος λόγος, οὐ παντὸς δέ ἐστιν ἀνθρώπου τὸ ὲν τοῖς εἰρημένοις εἷναι (ὀλίγων γὰρ τὸ βασιλεύειν, τὸ ἄρχειν, τὸ δικάζειν, τὸ ὲν ἐξουσίᾳ χρημάτων, ἡ τινος ἄλλης οἰκονομίας γενέσθαι· τὸ δὲ πλῆθος ὲν τοῖς ὑποχειρίοις τε καὶ οίκονομουμένοις ὲστίν)’ πῶς ἄν τις δέξαιτο τὴν ἀληθῆ δικαιοσύνην ἐκείνην εἶναι, ἢ μὴ πᾶσι πρόκειται ὁμοτίμως τῇ φύσεις El γάρ 6 σκοπὸς τῷ δικαίῳ κατά τοὺς ἔξωθεν λόγους τὺ ἴσον ἐστίνʼ ἡ δὲ ὑπεροχὴ τὸ ἄνισον ἔχει· οὑκ ἔστι τὸν ἀποδεδομένον τῆς δικαιοσύνης λόγον ἀληθῆ νομίσαι, εὐθὺς τῷ κατά τὸν βίον ἀνίσῳ διελεγχόμενον. Τίς οὖν ἡ δικαιοσύνη ἠ είς πάντας φθάνουσα; Ἷ-Ῑς ἡ ἐπιθυμία κοινὴ πρόκειται παντὶ τῷ κατά τὴν εὑαγγελικὴν τράπεζαν βλέποντιʼ κᾶν πλούσιός τις ᾖ, κᾶν πένης, κᾶν δουλεύῃ, κᾶν κυριεύῃ, κᾶν εὐπατρίδης, κᾶν ἀργυρώνητος, οὐδεμιᾶς περιστάσεως, οὔτε πλεοναζούσης, οὔτε ὑποστελλούσης τοῦ δικαίου τὸν λόγον. Et γὰρ ἐν μόνῳ τῷ προήκοντι κατʼ ἐξουσίαν τινὰ καὶ ὑπεροχὴν τὸ τοιοῦτον εὑρίσκοιτο· πῶς δίκαιος 6 τῷ πυλῶνι τοῦ πλουσίου παρερριμμένος Λάζαρος, 6 μηδεμίαν ὓλην πρὸς τὴν τοιαύτην δικαιοσύνην ἔχων, οὑκ ἀρχὴν, οὑκ ἐξουσίαν, οὑκ οἷκον, οὑ τράπεζαν, οὑκ ἀλλην τινὰ πρὸς τὸν βίον παρασκευὴν, διʼ ἧς ἐστι τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἐκείνην ἐργάζεσθαι; Et γὰρ ὲν τῷ ἄρχειν, ἢ διανέμειν, ἧ τι ὅλως οἰκονομεῖν τὸ δίκαιόν ἐστιν εἶναι, 6 μὴ ὢν ὲν ἐκείνοις, ἔξω τοῦ δικαίου πάντως ἐστίν. Πῶς οὖν ἀξιοῦται τῆς ἀναπαύσεως 6 μηδὲν ἐσχηκὼς τούτων, διʼ ὧνὴ δικαιοσύνη κατὰ τὸν τῶν πολλῶν λόγον χαρακτηρίζεται. οὐκοῦν ζητητέα ἡμῖν ή δικαιοσύνη εκείνη, ἧς 6 ἐπιθυμήσας ὲν ἐπαγγελία τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν ἔχει. Μακάριοι γὰρ, φησιν, οἱ πεινῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύνην ὅτι αὐτοὶ χορτασθήσονται. Πολλῶν καὶ παντοδαπῶν προκειμένων εἰς μετουσίαν, ἐφʼ ἃ. ὴ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις τὴν ὀρεκτικὴν ὁρμὴν ἕχει, πολλῆς ἡμῖν χρεία τῆς ἐπιστήμης, ὥστε ἡμῖν διακρίνειν ὲν τοῖς τοιούτοις ὲδωδίμοις τὸ τρόφιμον τε καὶ δηλητήριον, ὼς ἂν μὴ τὸ δοκοῦν ὑπὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ὲν τροφῆς μέρει παραλαμβάνεσθαι, θάνατον ἡμῖν καὶ διαφθορὰν ἀντὶ τῆς ζωῆς ὲνεργήσειεν. υὺκ ἀκαιρον δὲ ἴσως, διά τινος ἐτέρου τῶν κατά τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον ζητουμένων, τὴν περὶ τούτου διαρθρῶσαι διάνοιαν. Ὀ κατὰ πάντα κοινωνήσας ἡμῖν χωρὶς ἁμαρτίεις,
Xrchōn, kai ethnōn basileus, ei katallēlōs hēgoito tōn hypotetagmenōn hekastos toutōn, mē hormais am gois hypʼ exousias kinoumenos, allʼ heuthytēti to hypēkoon krinōn, kai pros tas proaireseis tōn hypocheiriōn tę̄ gnōmę̄ synarmozomenos; panta ta toiauta tǭ logǭ tēs dikaiosynēs anatitheasin, hoi tę̄ toiautę̄ exei to dikaion horizomenoi. Egō de pros oizo hypsos blepōn tēs Theias nomothesias, pleon titōn eirēmenōn en tę̄ dikaiosynę̄ tautę̄ noeisthai stochazomai. Ei gar koinos men pros pasan tēn anthrōpinēn physin 6 sōtērios logos, ou pantos de estin anthrōpou to en tois eirēmenois heinai (oligōn gar to basileuein, to archein, to dikazein, to en exousią chrēmatōn, hē tinos allēs oikonomias genesthai; to de plēthos en tois hypocheiriois te kai oikonomoumenois estin)’ pōs an tis dexaito tēn alēthē dikaiosynēn ekeinēn einai, ē mē pasi prokeitai homotimōs tę̄ physeis El gar 6 skopos tǭ dikaiǭ kata tous exōthen logous ty ison estinʼ hē de hyperochē to anison echei; houk esti ton apodedomenon tēs dikaiosynēs logon alēthē nomisai, euthys tǭ kata ton bion anisǭ dielenchomenon. Tis oun hē dikaiosynē ē eis pantas phthanousa? Hi-Is hē epithymia koinē prokeitai panti tǭ kata tēn heuangelikēn trapezan blepontiʼ kan plousios tis ę̄, kan penēs, kan douleuę̄, kan kyrieuę̄, kan eupatridēs, kan argyrōnētos, oudemias peristaseōs, oute pleonazousēs, oute hypostellousēs tou dikaiou ton logon. Et gar en monǭ tǭ proēkonti katʼ exousian tina kai hyperochēn to toiouton heuriskoito; pōs dikaios 6 tǭ pylōni tou plousiou parerrimmenos Lazaros, 6 mēdemian hylēn pros tēn toiautēn dikaiosynēn echōn, houk archēn, houk exousian, houk hoikon, hou trapezan, houk allēn tina pros ton bion paraskeuēn, diʼ hēs esti tēn dikaiosynēn ekeinēn ergazesthai? Et gar en tǭ archein, ē dianemein, hē ti holōs oikonomein to dikaion estin einai, 6 mē ōn en ekeinois, exō tou dikaiou pantōs estin. Pōs oun axioutai tēs anapauseōs 6 mēden eschēkōs toutōn, diʼ hōnē dikaiosynē kata ton tōn pollōn logon charaktērizetai. oukoun zētētea hēmin ē dikaiosynē ekeinē, hēs 6 epithymēsas en epangelia tēn apolausin echei. Makarioi gar, phēsin, hoi peinōntes tēn dikaiosynēn hoti autoi chortasthēsontai. Pollōn kai pantodapōn prokeimenōn eis metousian, ephʼ ha. ē anthrōpinē physis tēn orektikēn hormēn hechei, pollēs hēmin chreia tēs epistēmēs, hōste hēmin diakrinein en tois toioutois edōdimois to trophimon te kai dēlētērion, ōs an mē to dokoun hypo tēs psychēs en trophēs merei paralambanesthai, thanaton hēmin kai diaphthoran anti tēs zōēs energēseien. yyk akairon de isōs, dia tinos eterou tōn kata to Euangelion zētoumenōn, tēn peri toutou diarthrōsai dianoian. O kata panta koinōnēsas hēmin chōris hamartieis,
… ruler, and king of nations: if each of these leads his subjects fittingly, not moved by unreasoning impulses because of his power, but judging his subjects with uprightness and adapting his judgment to the choices of those under him — all such things are attributed to the account of justice by those who define justice as such a habit. But I, looking to the height of the divine legislation, conjecture that something more than what has been said is to be understood in this righteousness. For if the saving word is common to all human nature, while not every person is in the positions mentioned — for ruling as king, governing, judging, being in charge of money or some other administration belongs to few, and the multitude is among those who are ruled and administered — how could anyone accept as true righteousness something that is not set before all equally by nature? For if the aim of the just, according to the outside teachers, is equality, and preeminence involves inequality, the account they give of justice cannot be thought true, since it is at once refuted by the inequality in life. What, then, is the righteousness that reaches all? It is the one whose desire is set before all in common who look to the table of the Gospel — whether one is rich or poor, slave or master, nobly born or bought with money — no circumstance either enlarging or lessening the account of what is right. For if such a thing were found only in one who has advanced to some authority and preeminence, how was Lazarus righteous, lying at the rich man’s gate? He had no material for such justice: no office, no authority, no house, no table, nor any other means in life by which that justice can be practised. If justice consists in ruling, or distributing, or administering anything at all, one who is in none of these is certainly outside justice. How, then, is he deemed worthy of rest, who had none of the things by which justice is characterized in the account of the many? So we must seek that righteousness whose enjoyment the one who desires it holds in promise. For “blessed,” he says, “are those who hunger for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Since many and various things are set before us to share in, toward which human nature has its impulse of appetite, we need much knowledge to distinguish among such foods what nourishes and what poisons, lest what the soul seems to take as food should work death and corruption in us instead of life. Perhaps it is not untimely to articulate the meaning of this through another of the questions in the Gospel. He who shared all things with us apart from sin,
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Matt 5:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 16:20–22 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 4:15 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Justice in the ordinary sense, the virtue of rulers and judges giving each his due, cannot be what is meant, since most people hold no office and Lazarus had nothing; the righteousness Christ blesses must be open to all, and the soul must learn to tell nourishing food from poison.
- The opening continues after a gap in the scan (marked …). “The outside teachers”: pagan philosophers, for whom justice aims at equality (compare Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 5). Lazarus: Luke 16:20–22. “In all things like us, apart from sin”: Heb 4:15.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (Latin letters) for διανέμειν): staνέμειν → διανέμειν.
Extrabiblical texts: Aristotle, Eth. nic. 5 (Aristotle (works); echo)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Beat. 1235 (PG 44:1236a–1236b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-beatitudines/1235/#p-1235). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 1237
1237PG 44:1237a–1237b
καὶ συμμετασχὼν ἡμῖν τῶν αὐτῶν παθημάτων, τὴν πεῖναν ούκ ἔκρινεν ἁμαρτίαν, οὐδὲ ἀπώσατο τῆς ἑαυτοῦ πείρας τὸ κατʼ αὐτὴν πάθος, ἀλλʼ ἐδέξατο τὴν ὀρεκτικὴν ὁρμὴν τῆς φύσεως τὴν ἐπὶ τῇ τροφῇ γινομένην. Ἀπόσιτος γάρ τεσσαράκοντα ἡμερῶν διαμείνας, ὕστερον ἐπείνασεν · ἔδωκε γὰρ ὅτε ἐβούλετο τῇ φύσει καιρὸν τά έαυτῆς ἐνεργῆσαι. Ἀλλʼ ὁ τῶν πειρασμῶν εὑρετὴς, ὅτε ἔγνω τὸ κατά πεῖναν πάθος καὶ ἓν ἐκείνῳ γενόμενον, συνεβούλευσε λίθοις τὴν ὄρεξιν δεξιώσασθαι· τοῦτο δέ ἐστι, τὸ παρατρέψαι τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἐκ τῆς κατὰ φύσιν τροφῆς ἐπὶ τά ἔξω τῆς φύσεως. Εἰπὲ γάρ, φησὶν, ἵνα οὶ λίθοι οὗτοι ἄρτοι γένωνται. Τί γὰρ ἠδίκησεν-1] γεωργία; Τίνος δὲ χάριν ἐβδελύχθη τὰ σπέρματα, ὡς τὴν ἀπὸ τούτων ἀτιμασθῆναι τροφήν; Τί δὲ καταγινώσκεται ἡ τοῦ Δημιουργοῦ σοφία, ὡς οὐ δεόντως διά τῶν σπερλ μάτων τὸ ἀνθρώπινον τρέφουσα; Εἰ γάρ ό λίθος είς τροφὴν οἰκειότερος νῦν ἀναφαίνεται ο ἄρα τῆς δεούσης περὶ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ζωὴν προμηθείας ἠ τοῦ εʼροῦ σοφία διήμαρτεν. Εἰπὲ ἵνα οἱ λίθοι οὗτοι ἄρτοι γένωνται. Ταῦτα λέγει μέχρι τοῦ νῦν τοῖς ὑπὸ τῆς ἰδίας πειραζομένοις ὀρέξεως, καὶ λέγων, ὡς ἐπιτοπολῦ πείθει ἐπί λίθων-σιτοποιεῖσθαι τοὺς πρὸς αὐτὸν βλέποντας. Ὅταν γὰρ ἐκβαίνῃ τοὺς ἀναγκαίους ὄρους τῆς χρείας ἡ ὄρεξις, τί ἄλλο καὶ οὐχὶ διαβόλου ἐστὶ συμβουλὴ, 106 τότε τὴν ἐκ σπερμάτων παραγραφομένου τροφὴν, καὶ ἐπὶ τά ἔξω τῆς φύσεως προκαλουμένου τὴν ὄρεξιν ; Ἐκ λίθων ἐσθίουσιν, οί τὸν τῆς πλεονεξίας ἄρτον παρατιθέμενοι · οἱ τάς πολυταλάντους καὶ φλεγμαινούσας τραπέζας ἑαυτοῖς ἐξ ἀδικιῶν ἐτοιμάζοντες · ὧν ὴ παρασκευὴ τῶν δείπνων, πομπή τίς ἐστι μεμηχανημένη πρὸς ἔκπληξιν, ἔξω τῶν ἀναγκαίων τῇ ζωῇ παραπίπτουσα. Τί γὰρ κοινὸν ἔχει πρὸ-ς τὴν τῆς φύσεως χρείανή ἄβρωτος ὕλη τοῦ ἀργύρου, ἐν βαρεῖ τε καὶ δυσβαστάκτῳ προτιθεμένη τῷ σταθμῷ; Τί ἐστι τὸ τῆς πείνης πάθος ; Οὐχὶ τοῦ ἐνδέοντος ἔφεσις; Διαπνευσθείσης γάρ τῆς δυνάμεως, πάλιν ἀναπληροῦται τὸ λεῖπον τῇ καταλλήλῳ προσθήκῃ. "Apro; γάρ ἐστιν, ἢ ἄλλο τι τῶν ἐδωδίμων, οὕ ἡ φύσις ἐφίεται. Εἰ οὖν τις προσαγάγοι χρυσίον ἀντὶ ἄρτου τῷ στόματι, ἆρα θεραπεύει τὴν ἔνδειαν ; Ὅταν οὖν τὰς ἀβρώτους τις ὕλας πρὸ τῶν ἐδωδίμων ἐπιζητῇ, ἐν λίθοις ἄντικρυς ἔχει τὴν ἀσχολίαν, ἀλλο ζητούσης τῆς φύσεως, ἐν ἄλλῳ καταγινόμενος. Λέγει ἡ φύσις, διά τοῦ κατά τὴν ’πεῖναν πάθους μονονουχὶ φωνὴν ἀφιεῖσα, τὸ ἐννχρεία νῦν εἶναι βρώσεωςʼδιά τὸ δεῖν ἀντεισαγαγεῖν πάλιν τῷ σώματι τὸ διαπνευσθὲν τῆς δυνάμεως· σὺ δέ οὐκ ἀκούεις τῆς φύσεως ’ οὐ γὰρ ὃ ζητεῖ δίδως· ἀλλʼ ὅπως ἂν πολύ σοι γένοιτο 106 ἀργύρου τὸ ἄχθος ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης φροντίζεις, καὶ τοὺς χαλκευτὰς τῆς ὕλης ἀναζητεῖςο καὶ τὴν ἱστορίαν τῶν ἐγγλυφομὲνων ταῖς ὕλαις εἰδώλων περιεργάζῃ, ὅπως ἂν διʼ ἀκριβείας τοῖς γλύμμασι τά πάθη τε καὶ τά ἤθη διὰ τῆς τέχνης είσενεχθείη ο ὡς ἐπιγνῶναι τε τὸν θυμὸν τοῦ ὁπλίτου, ὅταν τὸ ξίφος πρὸς τὴν σφαγὴν ἀνατείνηται, καὶ τὴν ἀλγηδόνα τοῦ τραυματίου, ὅταν πρὸς τὴν καιρίαν συνεσταλμένος οίμώζειν δόξῃ διά τοῦ σχήματος · καὶ τὴν ὁρμὴν 106 θηρεύοντος, καὶ 106 θηρίου τὴν ἀγριότητα ’ καὶ ὅσα
kai symmetaschōn hēmin tōn autōn pathēmatōn, tēn peinan ouk ekrinen hamartian, oude apōsato tēs heautou peiras to katʼ autēn pathos, allʼ edexato tēn orektikēn hormēn tēs physeōs tēn epi tę̄ trophę̄ ginomenēn. Apositos gar tessarakonta hēmerōn diameinas, hysteron epeinasen ; edōke gar hote ebouleto tę̄ physei kairon ta eautēs energēsai. Allʼ ho tōn peirasmōn heuretēs, hote egnō to kata peinan pathos kai hen ekeinǭ genomenon, synebouleuse lithois tēn orexin dexiōsasthai; touto de esti, to paratrepsai tēn epithymian ek tēs kata physin trophēs epi ta exō tēs physeōs. Eipe gar, phēsin, hina oi lithoi houtoi artoi genōntai. Ti gar ēdikēsen-1] geōrgia? Tinos de charin ebdelychthē ta spermata, hōs tēn apo toutōn atimasthēnai trophēn? Ti de kataginōsketai hē tou Dēmiourgou sophia, hōs ou deontōs dia tōn sperl matōn to anthrōpinon trephousa? Ei gar o lithos eis trophēn oikeioteros nyn anaphainetai o ara tēs deousēs peri tēn anthrōpinēn zōēn promētheias ē tou eʼrou sophia diēmarten. Eipe hina hoi lithoi houtoi artoi genōntai. Tauta legei mechri tou nyn tois hypo tēs idias peirazomenois orexeōs, kai legōn, hōs epitopoly peithei epi lithōn-sitopoieisthai tous pros auton blepontas. Hotan gar ekbainę̄ tous anankaious orous tēs chreias hē orexis, ti allo kai ouchi diabolou esti symboulē, 106 tote tēn ek spermatōn paragraphomenou trophēn, kai epi ta exō tēs physeōs prokaloumenou tēn orexin ? Ek lithōn esthiousin, oi ton tēs pleonexias arton paratithemenoi ; hoi tas polytalantous kai phlegmainousas trapezas heautois ex adikiōn etoimazontes ; hōn ē paraskeuē tōn deipnōn, pompē tis esti memēchanēmenē pros ekplēxin, exō tōn anankaiōn tę̄ zōę̄ parapiptousa. Ti gar koinon echei pro-s tēn tēs physeōs chreianē abrōtos hylē tou argyrou, en barei te kai dysbastaktǭ protithemenē tǭ stathmǭ? Ti esti to tēs peinēs pathos ? Ouchi tou endeontos ephesis? Diapneustheisēs gar tēs dynameōs, palin anaplēroutai to leipon tę̄ katallēlǭ prosthēkę̄. "Apro? gar estin, ē allo ti tōn edōdimōn, hou hē physis ephietai. Ei oun tis prosagagoi chrysion anti artou tǭ stomati, ara therapeuei tēn endeian ? Hotan oun tas abrōtous tis hylas pro tōn edōdimōn epizētę̄, en lithois antikrys echei tēn ascholian, allo zētousēs tēs physeōs, en allǭ kataginomenos. Legei hē physis, dia tou kata tēn ’peinan pathous mononouchi phōnēn aphieisa, to ennchreia nyn einai brōseōsʼdia to dein anteisagagein palin tǭ sōmati to diapneusthen tēs dynameōs; sy de ouk akoueis tēs physeōs ’ ou gar ho zētei didōs; allʼ hopōs an poly soi genoito 106 argyrou to achthos epi tēs trapezēs phrontizeis, kai tous chalkeutas tēs hylēs anazēteiso kai tēn historian tōn englyphomenōn tais hylais eidōlōn periergazę̄, hopōs an diʼ akribeias tois glymmasi ta pathē te kai ta ēthē dia tēs technēs eisenechtheiē o hōs epignōnai te ton thymon tou hoplitou, hotan to xiphos pros tēn sphagēn anateinētai, kai tēn algēdona tou traumatiou, hotan pros tēn kairian synestalmenos oimōzein doxę̄ dia tou schēmatos ; kai tēn hormēn 106 thēreuontos, kai 106 thēriou tēn agriotēta ’ kai hosa
and shared with us the same sufferings, did not judge hunger a sin, nor did he refuse to experience the suffering that goes with it; he accepted nature’s impulse of appetite toward food. For after remaining without food for forty days, he afterward was hungry; for he gave nature the opportunity, when he wished, to do what belongs to it. But the inventor of temptations, when he knew that he too was in the state of hunger, counselled him to satisfy his appetite with stones — that is, to turn desire away from natural food toward things outside nature. “Tell these stones,” he says, “to become bread.” What wrong had farming done? Why were seeds abhorred, that the food from them should be dishonoured? Why is the Creator’s wisdom condemned, as though it nourished humanity improperly through seeds? For if stone now appears more suitable for food, then God’s wisdom failed in the providence that human life requires. “Tell these stones to become bread.” This he says to this day to those tempted by their own appetite, and by saying it he usually persuades those who look to him to make bread from stones. For when appetite goes beyond the necessary limits of need, what else is it but the counsel of the devil, who then sets aside the food that comes from seeds and calls appetite out toward things outside nature? Those eat from stones who set out for themselves the bread of greed, who prepare for themselves out of injustice tables worth many talents and swollen with luxury, whose preparation of dinners is a pageant contrived to astonish, going beyond what is necessary for life. What has the inedible matter of silver, set out in heavy weight hard to carry, in common with nature’s need? What is the passion of hunger? Is it not the desire for what is lacking? When strength has been spent, what is lacking is filled up again by a fitting addition; bread, or some other food, is what nature desires. If, then, someone puts gold to his mouth instead of bread, does it cure his want? So when one seeks inedible materials before foods, he is plainly busy with stones, occupied with one thing while nature seeks another. Nature says, all but uttering a voice through the passion of hunger, that food is now needed, because the strength that has been spent must be put back into the body. But you do not listen to nature, for you do not give what it asks. You take care that a great weight of silver be on your table; you seek out the smiths of the metal; you busy yourself with the stories of the figures engraved on it, so that the passions and characters may be rendered exactly in the carving by art — so that one may recognize the fury of the soldier as he raises his sword to kill, and the pain of the wounded man as he seems to groan, doubled up by the mortal blow in his posture, and the eagerness of the hunter and the ferocity of the beast, and whatever
Heb 4:15 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 4:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 4:3 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ accepted hunger but refused the devil’s suggestion to turn stones into bread, that is, to turn appetite toward what is unnatural; those who load their tables with silver plate and luxury beyond need are “eating stones.”
- Forty days without food, then hunger: Matt 4:2. “Tell these stones to become bread”: Matt 4:3. Gregory’s description of engraved silver tableware is translated as written.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Beat. 1237 (PG 44:1237a–1237b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-beatitudines/1235/#p-1237). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 1239
1239PG 44:1240a–1240d
ἄλλα διὰ τῆς τοιαύτης περιεργίας ἐν ταῖς ἐπιτραπεζίοις ὕλαις φιλοτεχνοῦσιν οἰ μάταιοι. Πιεῖν ἡ φύσις ἐζήτησεν, σὺ δὲ τοὺς πολυταλάντους τρίποδας εὐτρεπίζεις, πλυνούς τε καὶ κρατῆρας, καὶ ἀμφορέας, καὶ ἀλλα μυρία, μηδὲν ἔχοντα πρὸς τὴν ἐπιζητουμένην χρείαν κοινόν. Ἀρα οὐχὶ φανερῶς ἀκούεις διʼ ὧν ποιεῖς τοῦ πρὸς-τὸν λίθον σοι συμβουλεύοντος βλέπειν ; Τί δʼ ἄν τις τά λοιπά τῆς λιθώδους ταύτης διεξίοι τροφῆς, τὰ αἰσχρά θεάματας τά ἐμπαθῆ ἀκροάματα. διʼ ὧν ὀδοποιοῦσιν ἑαυτοῖς τὴν τῶν κακῶν ἀκολουθίαν τοῖς ὑπεκκαύμασι τῆς ἀκολασίας τὴν τροφὴν ἐπαρτυοντες ; ἓπῌῦτηντοῦ ἀντικειμένου περὶ τῆς τροφῆς ἐστι συμβουλὴ, ταῦτα διά τοῦ πρὸς τοὺς λίθους βλέπειν, ἀντὶ τῆς νενομισμένης τοῦ ἄρτου χρήσεως ὑποτίθεται. Ἀλλʼ ὁ τῶν πειρασμῶν καθαιρέτης, οὐχὶ τὴν πεῖναν ἐξορίζει τῆς φύσεως, ὡς κακῶν αἰτίαν, ἀλλά τὴν περιεργίαν τὴν ἐκ συμβουλῆς τοῦ ἀντικειμένου συν· εισιοῦσαν τῇ χρείᾳ, μόνην ἀποπεμψάμενος, ἀφῆκεν τοῖς ἰδίοις ὅροις οἰκονομεῖσθαι τὴν φύσιν.Ὠσπερ γὰρ οι διηθοῦντες τὸν οἶνον οὐκ ἀτιμάζουσιν αὐτοῦ τὸ χρήσιμον, διὰ τὴν καταμιχθεῖσαν ἄχνην αὐτῷ · ἀλλὰ τῷ ἰθμῷ τὰ περιττά διακρίναντες, τοῦ καθαροῦ τὴν χρῆσιν οὐκ ἀποβάλλουσιν· οὔτως-ὁ θεωρητικός τε καὶ διακριτικὸς τῶν ἀλλοτρίωντῆς φύσεως, Λόγος, τῇ λεπτότητι τῆς ἀκριβοῦς θεωρίας, ’τὴν μὲν πεῖναν, ὡς συντη ρητικὴν οὖσαν τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐξώρισεν· τάς δὲ συμπλεκομένας τῇ χρείᾳ περιεργίας, διήθησέν τε καὶ ἀπέρριψεν, εἰπών · ἐκεῖνον εἰδέναι τρόφιμον ἄρτον, ὃς τῷ ῥήματι τοῦ Θεοῦ πρὸς τὴν φύσιν ᾠκείωται. Εἰ οὖν ἐπείνασεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, μακαριστὸν ἀν εἴη τὸ πεινᾷν, ὅταν κατά μίμησιν ἐκείνου ἐνεργῆται καὶ ἐν ἡμῖν. Εἰ τοίνυν ἔγνωμεν τί ἐστιν οὗ πεινᾷ Κύριος, γνωσόμεθα πάντως τοῦ μακαρισμοῦ τοῦ νῦν ἡμῖν προκειμένου τὴν δύναμιν. Ποία οὖν ἐστιν ἡ βρῶσις, ἦς ό Ἰησοῦς τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν οὐκ ἐπαισχύνεταις Φησὶ πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς μετά τὸν πρὸς τὴν Σαμαρεῖτιν διάλογον · ὅτι Ἐμὸν βρῶμά ἐστιν, ἵνα ποιῶ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Πατρός μου· φανερὸν δὲ τοῦ Πατρός ἐστι τὸ θέλημα, ὃς πάντας,ἀνθρώπους θέλει σωθῆναι, καὶ εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν. Οὐκοῦν εί ἐκεῖνος ὀρέγεται τοῦ ἡμᾶς σωθῆναι, καὶ τροφὴ αὑτοῦ γίνεται ή ἡμετέρα ζωὴ, μεʼμαθήκαμεν εἰς δ τι χρηστέον ἂν εἴη τῇ τοιαύτῃ τῆς ψυχῆς διαθέσει. Τί οῦν τοῦτό ἐστι; Πεινάσωμεν τὴν ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίαν, διψήσωμεν τοῦ θείου θελήματος, ὅπερ ἐστὶ τὸ ἡμᾶς σωθῆναι. Πῶς οῦν ἐστι τὴν τοιαύτην ἡμῖν κατορθωθῆναι πεῖναν, νῦν παρὰ τοῦ μακαρισμοῦ μεμαθήκαμεν. '0 γὰρ τὴν δικαιοσύνην τοῦ Θεοῦ ποθήσας, εὗρεν τὸ ἀληθῶς ὀρεκτόν · οὗ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν οὐχ ἐνὶ τρόπῳ τῶν κατά τὴν ὄρεξιν ἐνεργουμένων ἐπλήρωσεν ο οὐ γὰρ μόνον ὡς βρῶσιν τὴν τοῦ δικαίου μετουσίαν ἐπόθησεν. Ἦμιτελὴς γὰρ ἂν ἦν ἐπὶ ταύτης μόνης τῆς διαθέσεως
alla dia tēs toiautēs periergias en tais epitrapeziois hylais philotechnousin oi mataioi. Piein hē physis ezētēsen, sy de tous polytalantous tripodas eutrepizeis, plynous te kai kratēras, kai amphoreas, kai alla myria, mēden echonta pros tēn epizētoumenēn chreian koinon. Ara ouchi phanerōs akoueis diʼ hōn poieis tou pros-ton lithon soi symbouleuontos blepein ? Ti dʼ an tis ta loipa tēs lithōdous tautēs diexioi trophēs, ta aischra theamatas ta empathē akroamata. diʼ hōn odopoiousin heautois tēn tōn kakōn akolouthian tois hypekkaumasi tēs akolasias tēn trophēn epartyontes ? hepĘ̄utēntou antikeimenou peri tēs trophēs esti symboulē, tauta dia tou pros tous lithous blepein, anti tēs nenomismenēs tou artou chrēseōs hypotithetai. Allʼ ho tōn peirasmōn kathairetēs, ouchi tēn peinan exorizei tēs physeōs, hōs kakōn aitian, alla tēn periergian tēn ek symboulēs tou antikeimenou syn; eisiousan tę̄ chreią, monēn apopempsamenos, aphēken tois idiois horois oikonomeisthai tēn physin.Ōsper gar oi diēthountes ton oinon ouk atimazousin autou to chrēsimon, dia tēn katamichtheisan achnēn autǭ ; alla tǭ ithmǭ ta peritta diakrinantes, tou katharou tēn chrēsin ouk apoballousin; outōs-ho theōrētikos te kai diakritikos tōn allotriōntēs physeōs, Logos, tę̄ leptotēti tēs akribous theōrias, ’tēn men peinan, hōs syntē rētikēn ousan tēs zōēs hēmōn ouk exōrisen; tas de symplekomenas tę̄ chreią periergias, diēthēsen te kai aperripsen, eipōn ; ekeinon eidenai trophimon arton, hos tǭ rhēmati tou Theou pros tēn physin ǭkeiōtai. Ei oun epeinasen ho Iēsous, makariston an eiē to peinąn, hotan kata mimēsin ekeinou energētai kai en hēmin. Ei toinyn egnōmen ti estin hou peiną Kyrios, gnōsometha pantōs tou makarismou tou nyn hēmin prokeimenou tēn dynamin. Poia oun estin hē brōsis, ēs o Iēsous tēn epithymian ouk epaischynetais Phēsi pros tous mathētas meta ton pros tēn Samareitin dialogon ; hoti Emon brōma estin, hina poiō to thelēma tou Patros mou; phaneron de tou Patros esti to thelēma, hos pantas,anthrōpous thelei sōthēnai, kai eis epignōsin alētheias elthein. Oukoun ei ekeinos oregetai tou hēmas sōthēnai, kai trophē hautou ginetai ē hēmetera zōē, meʼmathēkamen eis d ti chrēsteon an eiē tę̄ toiautę̄ tēs psychēs diathesei. Ti oun touto esti? Peinasōmen tēn heautōn sōtērian, dipsēsōmen tou theiou thelēmatos, hoper esti to hēmas sōthēnai. Pōs oun esti tēn toiautēn hēmin katorthōthēnai peinan, nyn para tou makarismou memathēkamen. '0 gar tēn dikaiosynēn tou Theou pothēsas, heuren to alēthōs orekton ; hou tēn epithymian ouch eni tropǭ tōn kata tēn orexin energoumenōn eplērōsen o ou gar monon hōs brōsin tēn tou dikaiou metousian epothēsen. Ēmitelēs gar an ēn epi tautēs monēs tēs diatheseōs
else the vain lavish their art on with such curiosity in their table plate. Nature asked for drink, but you prepare tripods worth many talents, basins, mixing bowls, jars, and countless other things that have nothing in common with the need that was felt. Do you not plainly hear, by what you do, the one who counsels you to look to the stone? Why should one go through the rest of this stony food — the shameful spectacles, the passionate performances, by which people pave the way for themselves to the sequence of evils, seasoning their food with the kindlings of licentiousness? Whatever is the adversary’s counsel about food, he suggests it through looking to the stones instead of the customary use of bread. But the destroyer of temptations does not banish hunger from nature as a cause of evils; he dismisses only the curiosity that comes in with need at the adversary’s counsel, and leaves nature to be governed within its own limits. Those who strain wine do not dishonour its usefulness because of the dregs mixed into it; separating what is superfluous with a strainer, they do not reject the use of what is pure. So the Word, who contemplates and discerns what is foreign to nature, by the fineness of his exact contemplation did not banish hunger, since it preserves our life, but strained out and threw away the curiosities interwoven with need, saying that he knows as nourishing bread the bread that is made fit for nature by the word of God. If, then, Jesus hungered, hunger would be blessed when it works in us too in imitation of him. If we come to know what the Lord hungers for, we shall surely know the force of the beatitude now before us. What, then, is the food Jesus is not ashamed to desire? He says to his disciples after the conversation with the Samaritan woman, “My food is to do the will of my Father.” And the Father’s will is plain: he wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. If, then, he longs for us to be saved, and our life becomes his food, we have learned to what use such a disposition of soul should be put. What is it? Let us hunger for our own salvation; let us thirst for the divine will, which is that we be saved. How we can achieve such hunger we have now learned from the beatitude. For one who has longed for the righteousness of God has found what is truly desirable; and he fulfilled the desire for it not in only one of the ways in which appetite works, for he did not long to share in what is just only as food. Appetite would have been half complete had it stopped at this disposition alone;
Matt 4:3–4 (allusion, high confidence) · Deut 8:3 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 4:34 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Tim 2:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:6 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ did not condemn hunger but the luxury that the devil adds to it; he himself hungered for the Father’s will, which is our salvation, so we should hunger for our own salvation; and righteousness is desired as both food and drink.
- “Bread … by the word of God”: Matt 4:4 (Deut 8:3). “My food is to do the will …”: John 4:34. “Wants all people to be saved …”: 1 Tim 2:4.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Beat. 1239 (PG 44:1240a–1240d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-beatitudines/1235/#p-1239). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 1241
1241PG 44:1241a–1241d
στᾶσα ἡ δρεξις, νυνὶ δέ καὶ πότιμον τὸ ἀγαθὸν τοῦτο ἐποίησεν, ἵνα τὸ ἔνθερμόν τε καὶ διακαὲς τῆς ἐπιθυμίας τῷ· πάθειτῆς δίψης ἐνδείξηται. Ξηροὶ γὰρ τρόπον τινά κεί). φλογώδεις ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τοῦ δίψους γινόμενοι, ὡς θεραπευτικὸν τῆς τοιαύτης διαθέσεως τὸ --μίαν Α..-... - __ ξ _ ποτὸν ἡῷνῆς προσφερόμεθα. Ἐπεὶ οὖν μία μὲν τῷ γένει ἡ ιὸρεξις ἐπὶ βρώσεὼς τε καὶ πόσεως · διάφορον δὲ ἡ προς ἑκάτερον τούτων διάθεσις, ὡς ἂν τὸ ἀκράτατον τῆς πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐπιθυμίας 6 λόγος ἡμῖν νομοθετήσειεν ’ μακαρίζει τοὺς τὰ δύο ταῦτα πρὸς τὴν δικαιοσύνην πάσχοντας, τὴν πεῖνάν τε καὶ τὴν δίψαν, ὡς ἱκανοῦ ὄντος τοῦ ποθουμένου πρὸς ἐκατέραν ἁρμοσθῆναι καταλλήλως τὴν ὄρεξιν, καὶ στερρὰν μὲν τῷηπεινῶντι γίνεσθαι τροφὴν, πότιμον δὲ τῷ διψητικῶς ἐφελκυσαμένῳ τὴν χάριν. ί
stasa hē drexis, nyni de kai potimon to agathon touto epoiēsen, hina to enthermon te kai diakaes tēs epithymias tǭ; patheitēs dipsēs endeixētai. Xēroi gar tropon tina kei). phlogōdeis en tǭ kairǭ tou dipsous ginomenoi, hōs therapeutikon tēs toiautēs diatheseōs to --mian A..-... - __ x _ poton hēǭnēs prospherometha. Epei oun mia men tǭ genei hē iorexis epi brōseōs te kai poseōs ; diaphoron de hē pros hekateron toutōn diathesis, hōs an to akrataton tēs pros to agathon epithymias 6 logos hēmin nomothetēseien ’ makarizei tous ta dyo tauta pros tēn dikaiosynēn paschontas, tēn peinan te kai tēn dipsan, hōs hikanou ontos tou pothoumenou pros ekateran harmosthēnai katallēlōs tēn orexin, kai sterran men tǭēpeinōnti ginesthai trophēn, potimon de tǭ dipsētikōs ephelkysamenǭ tēn charin. i
but now he has made this good drinkable as well, so as to show the warmth and burning of desire through the experience of thirst. For in a time of thirst we become in a way dry and fiery, and we take drink as the remedy for that condition. Since, then, the appetite for food and for drink is one in kind, while the disposition toward each is different, the Word, to lay down for us the most intense desire for the good, blesses those who feel both these toward righteousness, hunger and thirst, since what is longed for is able to adapt itself fittingly to either appetite, becoming solid food to the one who hungers and drink to the one who draws in grace with thirst.
Matt 5:6 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ blesses both hunger and thirst for righteousness, to express the most intense desire for the good, which becomes food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty.
- Only part of this page survives in the scan; the rest of it is lost, and the next page begins mid-sentence.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Beat. 1241 (PG 44:1241a–1241d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-beatitudines/1235/#p-1241). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 1243
1243PG 44:1244a–1244d
ΕΗ _ λο τι τῶν ἐν κακίᾳ θεωρουμένων. Et δὲ παντὸς τοῦ χείρονος ἀμιγὴς ό τῆς δικαιοσύνης λόγος ἐστὶν, ἅπαν ἐν ἑαυτῷ πάντως τὸ ἀγαθὸν περιείληφεν ἀγαθὸν δὲ πᾶν τὸ κατʼ ἀρετὴν θεωρούμενον. Οὐκοῦν πᾶσα ἀρετὴ τῷ ὀνόματι τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἐνταῦθα διασημαίνεταε, ἦς τοὺς πεινῶντάς τε καὶ διψῶντας μακαρίζει ὁ Δόγος, τὴν πλησμονὴν αὐτοῖς τῶν ἐπιθυμουμένων ἐπαγγελλὸμενος. ,Μακάριοι γάρ, φησὶν, οἱ πεινῶντες και διψῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύνην, ὅτι αὐτοὶ χορτασθήσονται. Τὺ δὲ λεγόμενον τοιοῦτόν μοί τινα νοῦν ἔχειν δοκεῖʼ Οὐδὲν τῶν καθʼ ἡδονὴν ιν τῷ βίῳ σπουδαζομένων πλήσμιον γίνεται τοῖς σπουδάζουσιν, ἀλλὰ, φησί που διʼ αἰνίγματος ἡ Σοφία· Πίθος τετρημένος ἐστὶν ὴ περὶ τὰς ἡδονὰς ἀσχολίαι ᾧ πάντοτε κατὰ σπουδὴν ἐπαντλοῦντες, ἀπλήρωτόν τινα καὶ ἀνήνυτον ἐπίδεικνυνται κόπον oi περὶ ταῦτα σπουδάζοντες, ἐγχέοντες μὲν ἀεί τι τῷ βυθῷ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας, καὶ τὺ πρὸς ἡδονὴν ἐπεμβάλλοντες, εἰς κόρον δὲ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν οὐκ ἄγοντες. Τίς ἔγνω τῆς φιλαργυρίας ὅρον, διὰ τοῦ προσγενέσθαι τοῖς φιλαργυροῦσι τὸ σπουδαζόμενον;Τίς δοξομανῶν ἔληξεν, ἐν τῷ τυχεῖν ὧν ἐσπούδαζεν ;ό δέ τὴν ἡδονὴν ἐκπλήσας ὲν ἀκροάμασιν ἦ θεάμασιν, τῇ περὶΪΔ γαστέρα καὶ μετάγαστὲρα μανίᾳ καὶ λύσσῃ · τί εὗρεν ἐκ τῆς ἀπολαύσεως αὐτῷ ταύτης περιγενόμενον ; Ού πάσης ἡδονῆς εἶδος τῆς διά σώματος ἐκπληρουμένης ὁμοῦ προσπελάσαι παρίπταται,ούδέ πρὸς τὸ βραχύτατον τοῖς ἁψαμένοις αὐ τῆς παραμενούσης; Τοῦτο τοίνυν τὸ ὑψηλὸν δόγμα παρά τοῦ Κυρίου μανθάνομεν, ὅτι μόνη ὴ κατʼ ἀρε· τὴν ἡμῖν ἐγγινομένη σπουδὴ πάγιόν τί ἐστι καὶ ὲνυπόστατον. Ὀ γάρ τι τῶν ὑψηλῶν κατορθώσας, οἷον σωφροσύνην, ἢ μετριότητα, ἢ τὴν πρὸς τὸ Θείον εύσέὅειαν, ἢ ἄλλο τι τῶν ὑψηλῶν τε καὶ εύαγγελικῶν διδαγμάτων, ού παροδικὴν ἐφʼ ἑκάστῳ τῶν κατορθωμάτων καὶ ἄστατον τὴν εὐφροσύνην εχει, ἀλλʼ ἐνιδρυμένην καὶ διαμένουσαν, καὶ παντὶ συ μπαρατεινομένην τῷ τῆς ζωῆς διαστήματι. Διά τί; Ὅτι ταῦτα μὲν ἔξεστι διαπαντὸς ἐνεργεῖν, καὶ ούδείς ἐστι καιρὸς ἐν παντὶ τῷ τῆς ζωῆς διαστήματι, τῆς ἀγαθῆς κόρον ἐμποιῶν ἐνεργείας. ’Ἢ τε γὰρ σωφροσύνη καὶ ἡ καθαρότης, καὶ τὸ ἐν παντὶ ἀγαθῷ ἀμετάπτωτον, καὶ τὸ πρὸς τὸ κακὸν ἀκοινώνητον ἀεὶ ἐνεργεῖται, ἕως ἀν τις πρὸς ἀρετὴν βλέπῃ, καὶ συμπαρατεινομένην ἔχει τῇ ἐνεργείᾳ τὴν εὐφροσύνην. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ταῖς άτόο ποις ἐπιθυμίαις ἐκκεχυμένων, κάν διαπαντὸς αὐτοῖς ἡ ψυχὴ βλέπῃ πρὸς τὸ ἀκόλαστον, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἀεὶ τὺ ἥδεσθαι πάρεστιν. Τήν τε γάρ περὶ τὴν βρῶσιν λιχνείαν ὁ κόρος ἔστησεν, καὶ ή τοῦ πίνοντος ἡδονὴ συγκατεσβέσθη τῇ δίψῃ, καὶ τά ἄλλα κατά τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ χρόνου τινὸς χρῄζει, καὶ διαλείμματος, ὥστε μαρανθείσης ἀπὸ τῆς ἡδονῆς καὶ τῆς πλησμονῆς, πάλιν ἀνακληθῆναι τὴν τοῦ ἡδύνοντος ὄρεξιν. Ἡ δὲ τῆς ἀρετῆς κτῆσις, οἷς ἂν ἅπαξ βεβαίως ἐνιδρυθῇ. οὐ χρόνῳ μετρεῖται, οὔτε κόρῳ περιορίζεται· ἀλλά
EĒ _ lo ti tōn en kakią theōroumenōn. Et de pantos tou cheironos amigēs o tēs dikaiosynēs logos estin, hapan en heautǭ pantōs to agathon perieilēphen agathon de pan to katʼ aretēn theōroumenon. Oukoun pasa aretē tǭ onomati tēs dikaiosynēs entautha diasēmainetae, ēs tous peinōntas te kai dipsōntas makarizei ho Dogos, tēn plēsmonēn autois tōn epithymoumenōn epangellomenos. ,Makarioi gar, phēsin, hoi peinōntes kai dipsōntes tēn dikaiosynēn, hoti autoi chortasthēsontai. Ty de legomenon toiouton moi tina noun echein dokeiʼ Ouden tōn kathʼ hēdonēn in tǭ biǭ spoudazomenōn plēsmion ginetai tois spoudazousin, alla, phēsi pou diʼ ainigmatos hē Sophia; Pithos tetrēmenos estin ē peri tas hēdonas ascholiai hǭ pantote kata spoudēn epantlountes, aplērōton tina kai anēnyton epideiknyntai kopon oi peri tauta spoudazontes, encheontes men aei ti tǭ bythǭ tēs epithymias, kai ty pros hēdonēn epemballontes, eis koron de tēn epithymian ouk agontes. Tis egnō tēs philargyrias horon, dia tou prosgenesthai tois philargyrousi to spoudazomenon?Tis doxomanōn elēxen, en tǭ tychein hōn espoudazen ?o de tēn hēdonēn ekplēsas en akroamasin ē theamasin, tę̄ periÏD gastera kai metagastera manią kai lyssę̄ ; ti heuren ek tēs apolauseōs autǭ tautēs perigenomenon ? Ou pasēs hēdonēs eidos tēs dia sōmatos ekplēroumenēs homou prospelasai pariptatai,oude pros to brachytaton tois hapsamenois au tēs paramenousēs? Touto toinyn to hypsēlon dogma para tou Kyriou manthanomen, hoti monē ē katʼ are; tēn hēmin enginomenē spoudē pagion ti esti kai enypostaton. O gar ti tōn hypsēlōn katorthōsas, hoion sōphrosynēn, ē metriotēta, ē tēn pros to Theion euseoeian, ē allo ti tōn hypsēlōn te kai euangelikōn didagmatōn, ou parodikēn ephʼ hekastǭ tōn katorthōmatōn kai astaton tēn euphrosynēn echei, allʼ enidrymenēn kai diamenousan, kai panti sy mparateinomenēn tǭ tēs zōēs diastēmati. Dia ti? Hoti tauta men exesti diapantos energein, kai oudeis esti kairos en panti tǭ tēs zōēs diastēmati, tēs agathēs koron empoiōn energeias. ’Ē te gar sōphrosynē kai hē katharotēs, kai to en panti agathǭ ametaptōton, kai to pros to kakon akoinōnēton aei energeitai, heōs an tis pros aretēn blepę̄, kai symparateinomenēn echei tę̄ energeią tēn euphrosynēn. Epi de tōn tais atoo pois epithymiais ekkechymenōn, kan diapantos autois hē psychē blepę̄ pros to akolaston, allʼ ouk aei ty hēdesthai parestin. Tēn te gar peri tēn brōsin lichneian ho koros estēsen, kai ē tou pinontos hēdonē synkatesbesthē tę̄ dipsę̄, kai ta alla kata ton auton tropon kai chronou tinos chrę̄zei, kai dialeimmatos, hōste marantheisēs apo tēs hēdonēs kai tēs plēsmonēs, palin anaklēthēnai tēn tou hēdynontos orexin. Hē de tēs aretēs ktēsis, hois an hapax bebaiōs enidrythę̄. ou chronǭ metreitai, oute korǭ periorizetai; alla
… or anything else seen in vice. If the account of righteousness is unmixed with everything worse, it certainly embraces every good in itself; and everything seen in virtue is good. So here every virtue is signified by the name of righteousness, and the Word blesses those who hunger and thirst for it, promising them the fullness of what they desire. For “blessed,” he says, “are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” The saying seems to me to have some such meaning as this. None of the things pursued for pleasure in this life becomes filling for those who pursue them; but, as Wisdom says somewhere in a riddle, preoccupation with pleasures is a leaking jar. Those who busy themselves with such things always pour eagerly into it, and display a labour that never fills and never ends: they are always pouring something into the depths of desire and throwing in what leads to pleasure, but they never bring desire to satiety. Who has known a limit to the love of money because what he pursued came into his possession? What man mad for glory has stopped on obtaining what he was pursuing? And one who has had his fill of pleasure in performances or spectacles, in the madness and frenzy of the belly and what lies below the belly — what has he found left over for him from this enjoyment? Does not every form of pleasure that is satisfied through the body fly past as soon as it arrives, not staying even for the shortest time with those who lay hold of it? This lofty teaching, then, we learn from the Lord: that only the zeal for virtue that arises in us is something firm and substantial. For one who has achieved any of the lofty things — self-control, or modesty, or piety toward the Divine, or any other of the lofty teachings of the Gospel — has in each achievement a joy that is not passing and unstable, but settled and lasting, stretching out with the whole span of life. Why? Because these things can be practised continually, and there is no time in the whole span of life that produces satiety of good activity. Self-control and purity, steadfastness in every good, having no share in evil — these are always at work as long as one looks to virtue, and they have joy stretching out with the activity. But with those who are poured out in unseemly desires, even if their soul always looks to licentiousness, pleasure is not always present. Satiety stops gluttony for food; the drinker’s pleasure is quenched together with his thirst; and the other things in the same way need some time and interval, so that when appetite has withered from pleasure and fullness, the desire for what pleases may be called back again. But the possession of virtue, in those in whom it has once been firmly established, is not measured by time nor bounded by satiety; it
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Matt 5:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 23:27 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Righteousness here stands for every virtue; pleasures never fill, like a leaking jar, and they fade at once, but virtue gives a lasting joy that can be enjoyed without satiety throughout life.
- The opening continues after a gap in the scan (marked …). “A leaking jar”: Prov 23:27 (LXX, “a strange house is a leaking jar”); the image is also Plato’s (Gorgias 493b).
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Gorg. 493b (Plato (works); echo)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Beat. 1243 (PG 44:1244a–1244d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-beatitudines/1235/#p-1243). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 1245
1245PG 44:1245a–1245b
ιειε πὰντοτε τοῖς κατʼ αὐτὴν ζῶσιν ἀκραιφνῆ τε καὶ νεαράν, καὶ ἀκμάζουσαν τῶν ίδίων ἀγαθῶν παρέχει τὴν αἴσθησιν. Διὸ τοῖς ταῦτα πεινῶσιν, 6 Θεὸς Λόγος τὴν πλησμονὴν ἐπαγγέλλεται ο πλησμονὴν ἐξάπτουσαν κόρῳ τὴν ὄρεξιν, οὐκ ἀμβλύνουσαν. Τοῦτο οὖν ἐστιν, ὃ διδάσκει ὲκ τοῦ ὑψηλοῦ τῶν νοημάτων ὅρους διαλεγόμενος, τῷ μηδενὶ τοιούτῳ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἡμῶν προσασχολεῖν, οῦ μηδὲν πρόκειται τοῖς σπουδάζουσι πέρας, ὲν οἷς ματαία τε καὶ ἀνόητός ἐστιν ἡ σπουδήο καθάπερ τοῖς τῇ κορυφῇ τῆς ἑαυτῶν σκιᾶς ἐπιτρέχουσιν, οἷς 6 δρόμος ἐπὶ τὸ ἀνήνυτον φέρεται, εἰς ἐκεῖνο ἀεὶ ταχέως τοῦ διωκομένου ὑπεξιόντος τῷ ἐπιτρέχοντι · ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖ τρέψαι τὴν ὄρεξιν, ὲν οἷς ἡ σπουδὴ κτῆμα τοῦ σπουδάζοντος γίνεται. Ὁ γάρ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐπιθυμήσας, κτῆμα ἴδιον ποιεῖταιτὸ ἀγαθὸν, ὲν ἐαυτῷ βλέπων ὃ ἐπεθύμησεν. Μακαριος οῦν 6 πει· νάσας τὴν σωφροσύνην* ἐμπλησθήσεται γὰρ τῆς καθαρότητος. 'H δὲ πλησμονὴ, καθὼς εἴρηται, οὐκ ἀποστροφὴν, ἀλλʼ ἐπίτασιν ποιεῖ τῆς ὀρέξεως, καὶ συναύξεται ἀλλήλοις κατὰ τὸ ἶσον ἀμφότερα. Τῇ τε γάρ ἐπιθυμία τῆς ἀρετῆς ή τοῦ ὲπιθυμηθέντος κτῆσις ἐπηκολούθησεν ° καὶ τὸ ἐγγενόμενον ἀγαθὸν ἄπαυστοι τὴν εὐφροσύνην τῇ ψυχῇ συνεισήνεγκεν. Τοιαύτη γὰρ ἠ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ τούτου φύσις ἐστὶν, ὡς μὴ ὲν τῷ παρόντι μόνον καταγλυκαίνειν τὸν ἀπολαύοντα, ἀλλʼ ὲν πᾶσι τοῖς τοῦ χρόνου μέρεσιν ἐνεργὸν παρέχειν τὴν εὐφροσύνην. Καὶ γάρὴ μνήμη τῶν ὀρθῶς βεβιωμένων εὐφραίνει τὸν κατορθώσαντα ’ καὶὴ ὲν τῷ παρόντι ζωὴ, ὅταν διʼ ἀρετῆς διεξάγηται, καὶ ἡ τῆς ἀντιδόσεως προσδοκία, ἥν οὐκ ἄλλην εἷναί τινα ὑπολαμβάνω, ἢ αὐτὴν πάλιν τὴν ἀρετὴν, ἢ καὶ ἔργον ἐστὶ τῶν κατορθούντων, καὶ γέρας ἐπὶ τοῖς κατορθώο
ieie pantote tois katʼ autēn zōsin akraiphnē te kai nearan, kai akmazousan tōn idiōn agathōn parechei tēn aisthēsin. Dio tois tauta peinōsin, 6 Theos Logos tēn plēsmonēn epangelletai o plēsmonēn exaptousan korǭ tēn orexin, ouk amblynousan. Touto oun estin, ho didaskei ek tou hypsēlou tōn noēmatōn horous dialegomenos, tǭ mēdeni toioutǭ tēn epithymian hēmōn prosascholein, ou mēden prokeitai tois spoudazousi peras, en hois mataia te kai anoētos estin hē spoudēo kathaper tois tę̄ koryphę̄ tēs heautōn skias epitrechousin, hois 6 dromos epi to anēnyton pheretai, eis ekeino aei tacheōs tou diōkomenou hypexiontos tǭ epitrechonti ; allʼ ekei trepsai tēn orexin, en hois hē spoudē ktēma tou spoudazontos ginetai. Ho gar tēs aretēs epithymēsas, ktēma idion poieitaito agathon, en eautǭ blepōn ho epethymēsen. Makarios oun 6 pei; nasas tēn sōphrosynēn* emplēsthēsetai gar tēs katharotētos. 'H de plēsmonē, kathōs eirētai, ouk apostrophēn, allʼ epitasin poiei tēs orexeōs, kai synauxetai allēlois kata to ison amphotera. Tę̄ te gar epithymia tēs aretēs ē tou epithymēthentos ktēsis epēkolouthēsen ° kai to engenomenon agathon apaustoi tēn euphrosynēn tę̄ psychę̄ syneisēnenken. Toiautē gar ē tou agathou toutou physis estin, hōs mē en tǭ paronti monon kataglykainein ton apolauonta, allʼ en pasi tois tou chronou meresin energon parechein tēn euphrosynēn. Kai garē mnēmē tōn orthōs bebiōmenōn euphrainei ton katorthōsanta ’ kaiē en tǭ paronti zōē, hotan diʼ aretēs diexagētai, kai hē tēs antidoseōs prosdokia, hēn ouk allēn heinai tina hypolambanō, ē autēn palin tēn aretēn, ē kai ergon esti tōn katorthountōn, kai geras epi tois katorthōo
always gives those who live by it a pure, fresh, and flourishing sense of its own goods. That is why God the Word promises fullness to those who hunger for these things — a fullness that kindles appetite by satiety instead of blunting it. This, then, is what he teaches as he discourses from the lofty mountain of thoughts: not to occupy our desire with anything of the kind that sets no end before those who pursue it, where the pursuit is vain and senseless, like that of people running after the head of their own shadow, whose race goes on without end, since what they chase always slips away from the pursuer just as fast; but to turn our appetite there where the pursuit becomes the possession of the pursuer. For whoever has desired virtue makes the good his own possession, seeing in himself what he desired. Blessed, then, is the one who has hungered for self-control, for he will be filled with purity. And this fullness, as has been said, produces not aversion but an intensifying of appetite, and the two grow together equally. For the possession of what was desired followed the desire for virtue, and the good that arose brought with it unceasing joy for the soul. Such is the nature of this good that it not only sweetens the present for the one who enjoys it, but gives active joy in every part of time. For the memory of a life lived rightly gladdens the one who lived it; so does the present life, when it is conducted in virtue; and so does the expectation of the reward, which I take to be nothing other than virtue itself again, which is both the work of those who succeed and the prize for what they achieve
Matt 5:6 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The fullness Christ promises increases the desire for virtue rather than ending it; pleasure is like chasing one’s shadow, but virtue becomes the possession of the one who seeks it, and gladdens past, present, and future.
- Fullness that kindles desire: Gregory’s doctrine of perpetual progress (compare the Life of Moses, PG 44:401–405).
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Beat. 1245 (PG 44:1245a–1245b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-beatitudines/1235/#p-1245). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 1247
1247PG 44:1248a
τῶν πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον νοουμένων καταλαμβάνεται ο αὑτὸς 6 Θεὸς Λόγος. ἡ τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καλύψασα ἀρετὴ. καθὼςό Ἀμὸακοὺμ διεξέρχεται, καὶ καλῶς oi ταύτην τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν δικαιοσύνην πεινῶντες, ἐμακαρεσθησαν. Τῷ ὄντι γὰρ ό γευσάμενος τοῦ Κιιρίου. καθὼς ἠ ψαλμῳδία λέγει, τουτέστιν, 6 ἐν ἐαυτῷ δεξάμενος τὸν Θεὸν, πλήρης γίνεται οὗ ἐδίψησέν τε καὶ ἐπείνασεν, κατὰ τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν τοῦ εἰπόντος · ὅτι Ἐγὼ καὶ ό Πατὴρ ἐλευσόμεθα, καὶ μονὴν παρʼ αὐτῷ ποιήσομεν,τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος δηλονότι προενοικήσαντος. Οὕτω μοι δοκεῖ καὶ Παῦλος 6 μέγας 6 τῶν ἀπορρήτων ἐκείνων καρπῶν τῶν ὲκ τοῦ παραδείσου ἀπογευσάμενος, καί πλήρης ὧν ἐγεύσατο εἶναι, καὶ ἀεὶ πεινῶν. Καί γὰρ πεπληρῶσθαι τοῦ ποθουμένου ὁμολογεί λέγων ’ Ζῇ δὲ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός · καὶ ὡς πεινῶν ἀεὶ τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἐπεκτείνεται λέγων ’ Οὐχ ὅτι ἤδη ἔλαβον ἢ ἤδη τετελείωμαι, τρέχω δὲ ἵνα καταλάβω. Δεδόσθω γὰρ ἡμῖν κατʼ ἐξουσίαν ὑποθετικῶς εἶναι τι λέγειν, 6 ἡ φύσις οὐκ ἔχει. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς αἰσθητῆς βρώσεως, εἰ μηδὲν περιττωματικῶς τῶν είς τροφὴν λαμβανομένων ἐξεποιεῖτο, ἀλλὰ τὸ ὅλον εἰς προσθήκην τοῦ σωματικοῦ ὕψους ἀνελαμβάνετο, εἰς πολὺ ἂν ὕψος ἐπήρθη τὰ σώματα, τῆς καθʼ ἡμέραν τροφῆς διʼ ἑαυτῆς ὲπαυξούσης τὸ μέγεθος οὕτως ἡ δικαιοσύνη ἐκείνη, καὶ πᾶσα ἡ μετʼ αὐτῆς ἀρετὴ, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἐκποιεῖται ἐσθιομένη κατὰ τὸν νοητὸν τῆς βρώσεως τρόπον, ὑψηλοτέρους ἀεὶ ποιεῖ διʼ ἑαυτῆς τοὺς μετέχοντας, πάντοτε τῇ παρʼ ἑαυτῆς προσθήκῃ τὸ μέγεθος αὔξουσα. Οὐκοῦν εἰ νενόηται ἡμῖν ἡ μακαριστὴ πεῖνα, πᾶσαν τὴν ἀπὺ κακίας πληθώραν ἐμέσαντες, πεινάσωμεν τὴν δικαιοσύνην τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἵνα καὶ εἰς πλησμονὴν αὐτῆς ἔλθωο μεν, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα είς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Αμήν. ΛΟΓΟΣ Εʼ. Μακάριοι οἱ ἐλεήμονες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθήσονται. Τάχα τι τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν, ὅ διά τινος ὀπτασίαςδ Ἰακὼὸ διʼ αἰνίγματος ἐπαιδεύθη, κλίμακα ἰδὼν ἀπὸ γῆς ἐπὶ τὸ οὐράνιον ὕψος διήκουσαν, καὶτὸν Θεὸν ἐπʼ αὐτῆς ἐστηριγμένον, οἷον δὴ νῦν καὶ ἡμῖνή διὰ τῶν μακαρισμῶν διδασκαλία ποιεῖ, ἀεὶ πρὸς τὰ ὑψηλότερα τῶν νοημάτων τοὺς διʼ αὐτῆς ἀνιόντας ἐπαίρουσα. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖ τῷ πατριάρχῃ τὸν κατʼ ἀρετὴν οἴμαι βίον τῷ εἴδει τῆς κλίμακος διατυποῦσθαι, ὡς ἂν αὑτός τε μάθοι καὶ τοῖς μετʼ αὐτὸν ὑφηγήσαιτο, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλως πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ὑψωθῆναι, μὴ ἀεὶ πρὸς τὰ άνω βλέποντα, καὶ τὴν τῶν ὑψηλῶν ἐπιθυμίαν ἄληκτον ἔχοντα, ώς μὴ ἀγαπᾷν ἐπὶτῶν ἤδη κατορθωθέντων μένειν, ἀλλὰ ζημίαν ποιεῖσθαι, εἱ τοῦ ὑπερκειμένου μὴ ἅψαιτο. Καὶ ἐνταῦθα οὖν ὕψος τῶν ἐπʼ ἀλλήλων μακαρισμῶν αὐτῷ προσεγγίζειν τῷ Θεῷ παρασκευάζει, τῷ άληθῶς μακαρίῳ, καὶ πάσης ἐπεστηριγμένῳ μακαριότητος. Πάντως δὲ, ὡς τῷ
tōn pros to kreitton nooumenōn katalambanetai o hautos 6 Theos Logos. hē tous ouranous kalypsasa aretē. kathōso Amoakoum diexerchetai, kai kalōs oi tautēn tou Theou tēn dikaiosynēn peinōntes, emakaresthēsan. Tǭ onti gar o geusamenos tou Kiiriou. kathōs ē psalmǭdia legei, toutestin, 6 en eautǭ dexamenos ton Theon, plērēs ginetai hou edipsēsen te kai epeinasen, kata tēn hyposchesin tou eipontos ; hoti Egō kai o Patēr eleusometha, kai monēn parʼ autǭ poiēsomen,tou hagiou Pneumatos dēlonoti proenoikēsantos. Houtō moi dokei kai Paulos 6 megas 6 tōn aporrētōn ekeinōn karpōn tōn ek tou paradeisou apogeusamenos, kai plērēs hōn egeusato einai, kai aei peinōn. Kai gar peplērōsthai tou pothoumenou homologei legōn ’ Zę̄ de en emoi Christos ; kai hōs peinōn aei tois emprosthen epekteinetai legōn ’ Ouch hoti ēdē elabon ē ēdē teteleiōmai, trechō de hina katalabō. Dedosthō gar hēmin katʼ exousian hypothetikōs einai ti legein, 6 hē physis ouk echei. Kathaper gar epi tēs aisthētēs brōseōs, ei mēden perittōmatikōs tōn eis trophēn lambanomenōn exepoieito, alla to holon eis prosthēkēn tou sōmatikou hypsous anelambaneto, eis poly an hypsos epērthē ta sōmata, tēs kathʼ hēmeran trophēs diʼ heautēs epauxousēs to megethos houtōs hē dikaiosynē ekeinē, kai pasa hē metʼ autēs aretē, epeidē ouk ekpoieitai esthiomenē kata ton noēton tēs brōseōs tropon, hypsēloterous aei poiei diʼ heautēs tous metechontas, pantote tę̄ parʼ heautēs prosthēkę̄ to megethos auxousa. Oukoun ei nenoētai hēmin hē makaristē peina, pasan tēn apy kakias plēthōran emesantes, peinasōmen tēn dikaiosynēn tou Theou, hina kai eis plēsmonēn autēs elthōo men, en Christǭ Iēsou tǭ Kyriǭ hēmōn, hǭ hē doxa eis tous aiōnas tōn aiōnōn. Amēn. LOGOS Eʼ. Makarioi hoi eleēmones, hoti autoi eleēthēsontai. Tacha ti toiouton estin, ho dia tinos optasiasd Iakōo diʼ ainigmatos epaideuthē, klimaka idōn apo gēs epi to ouranion hypsos diēkousan, kaiton Theon epʼ autēs estērigmenon, hoion dē nyn kai hēminē dia tōn makarismōn didaskalia poiei, aei pros ta hypsēlotera tōn noēmatōn tous diʼ autēs aniontas epairousa. Kai gar ekei tǭ patriarchę̄ ton katʼ aretēn oimai bion tǭ eidei tēs klimakos diatypousthai, hōs an hautos te mathoi kai tois metʼ auton hyphēgēsaito, hoti ouk estin allōs pros ton Theon hypsōthēnai, mē aei pros ta anō bleponta, kai tēn tōn hypsēlōn epithymian alēkton echonta, ōs mē agapąn epitōn ēdē katorthōthentōn menein, alla zēmian poieisthai, hei tou hyperkeimenou mē hapsaito. Kai entautha oun hypsos tōn epʼ allēlōn makarismōn autǭ prosengizein tǭ Theǭ paraskeuazei, tǭ alēthōs makariǭ, kai pasēs epestērigmenǭ makariotētos. Pantōs de, hōs tǭ
… of the things understood to be better, is grasped: God the Word himself, the virtue that covered the heavens, as Habakkuk relates; and rightly were those who hunger for this righteousness of God called blessed. For truly whoever has tasted the Lord, as the Psalm says — that is, has received God into himself — becomes full of what he thirsted and hungered for, according to the promise of the one who said, “I and the Father will come and make our dwelling with him,” the Holy Spirit evidently having made his dwelling there first. So it seems to me that the great Paul too, who tasted those ineffable fruits of paradise, was both full of what he tasted and always hungry. For he confesses that he has been filled with what he longed for, saying, “Christ lives in me”; and as one always hungering he strains forward to what lies ahead, saying, “Not that I have already received it or am already perfect, but I run so as to lay hold of it.” Let us be allowed, by way of hypothesis, to say something that nature does not allow. With perceptible food, if nothing of what is taken as nourishment were excreted as residue, but the whole were taken up into an increase of bodily stature, bodies would be raised to a great height, the daily food by itself increasing their size. So that righteousness, and all virtue with it, since it is not excreted when eaten in the intellectual manner of eating, always makes those who share in it taller by itself, always increasing their size by its own addition. If, then, we have understood the blessed hunger, let us vomit up all the surfeit that comes from vice and hunger for the righteousness of God, so that we may also come to be filled with it, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Homily 5. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Perhaps it is something of this kind that Jacob was taught in a riddle through a vision, when he saw a ladder reaching from earth to the height of heaven and God standing upon it; such as the teaching of the Beatitudes now does for us, always raising those who climb by it to higher thoughts. There, I think, the life of virtue was portrayed to the patriarch in the form of the ladder, so that he might learn himself and teach those after him that one cannot be raised to God in any other way than by always looking upward and having an unceasing desire for lofty things — not being content to remain in what has already been achieved, but counting it a loss not to lay hold of what lies beyond. Here too, then, the height of the Beatitudes, one above another, prepares the climber to draw near to God himself, who is truly blessed and on whom all blessedness rests. Surely, as we draw near
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Hab 3:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 34:8 (33:9 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · John 14:23 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 12:4 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gal 2:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 3:12–13 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 5:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 28:12–13 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The righteousness desired is God the Word himself; whoever tastes him is filled and yet always hungry, like Paul, and virtue makes the soul ever greater. Homily 5 opens with Jacob’s ladder as an image of the Beatitudes leading up to God.
- The opening continues after a gap in the scan (marked …). “The virtue that covered the heavens”: Hab 3:3 (LXX, ἀρετή). “Taste and see that the Lord is good”: Ps 34:8 (LXX 33:9). “I and the Father will come …”: John 14:23. Paul in paradise: 2 Cor 12:4. “Christ lives in me”: Gal 2:20. “Not that I have already received it …”: Phil 3:12–13 (the “straining forward,” ἐπέκτασις).
- Homily 5 on the Beatitudes begins here: Matt 5:7. Jacob’s ladder: Gen 28:12–13.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris for ὅτι; OCR debris for ὑψηλότερα): 62in;λότερα → ὑψηλότερα; fit οὐκ → ὅτι οὐκ.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Beat. 1247 (PG 44:1248a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-beatitudines/1235/#p-1247). (abbreviation not yet checked)
BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-gregory-nyssa-beatitudines-1247) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 1249
1249PG 44:1249a–1249d
σοφῷ διὰ σοφίας, καὶ διά καθαρότητος τῷ καθαρῷ προσεγγίζομεν, οὑτω καὶ τῷ μακαρίῳ διὰ τῆς ὁδοῦ τῶν μακαρισμῶν οἰκειούμεθα. Θεοῦ γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς ἴδιον ἡ μακαριότης ἐστίν· διὸ καὶ ὲπεστηρίχθαι τῇ τοιαύτῃ κλίμακι 6 Ἰακὼβ τὸν Θεὸν διηγήσατο. Ἢ οὖν τῶν μακαρισμῶν μετουσία οὐδὲν ἄλλο, εί μὴ θεό τητος κοινωνία. ἐστὶ, πρὸς ἦν ἡμᾶς ἀνάγει διὰ τῶν λεγομένων ὁ Κύριος. Δοκεῖ οῦν μοι θεοποιεῖν τρόπον τινὰ διὰ τῆς είς τὸ ἀκόλουθον προκειμένης τοῦ μακαρισμοῦ ὑφηγήσεως, τὸν ἀκούοντά τε καὶ συνιέντα τοῦ λόγου.Μακάριοι γὰρ, φησὶν, οἱ ἐλεήμονες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθήσονται. Οἶδα πολλαχοῦ τῆς θείας Γραφῆς, τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ ὲλεὴμονος τοὺς ἁγίους ἄνδρας τὴν Θείαν δύναμιν προσκαλουμένους ° οὑτως 6 Δαβὶδ ὲν ταῖς ὑμνῳδίαις· οὕτως Ἰωνᾶς ἐν τῇ καθʼ ἑαυτὸν προφητείᾳ οὑτως 6 μέγας Μωῦσῆς ἐν πολλοῖς τῆς νομοθεσίας κατανομάζειτὺθεῖον. Εἰ οὑν πρέπουσα τῷ Θεῷ ή προσηγορία τοῦ ὲλεήμονος ο τί ἄλλο καὶ οὑχὶ θεόν σε προσκαλεῖται γενέσθαι 6 λόγος, οἱονεὶ μορφωθέντα τῷ τῆς θεότητος …; Εἰ γὰρ ἐλεήμων 6 Θεὸς παρά τῆς θεοπνεύστου Γραφῆς ὀνομάζεται ° τὸ δὲ ἀληθῶς μακαριστὸν, ἡ θεότης ὲστί · φανερὸν ἂν εἴη τὸ ὲκ τοῦ ἀκολούθου νοούμενον,ὅτι κᾶν ἄνθρωπός τις ὢν ἐλεήμων γένηται, τῆς θείας ἀξιοῦται μακαριότητος, ὲν ἐκείνῳ γενόμενος, τὸ Θεῖον κατονομάζεται. Ἐλεήμων ό Κύριος καὶ δίκαιος, καὶ ό Θεὸς ἡμῶν ἐλεεῖ. Πῶς οὖν οὑ μακάριον ἐκεῖνο κληθῆναι καὶ γενέσθαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ᾧπερ 6 Θεὸς ὲκ τοῦ ποιεῖν ὀνομάζεται ; ἀλλά τὸ μὲν ζηλοῦν τὰ μείζονα τῶν χαρισμάτων, συμβουλεύει διὰ τῶν ίδίων λόγων καὶ 6 θεῖος ’Λπόστολος ἡμῖν δὲ σκοπός ἐστιν, οὐχ ὅπως ἀναπεισθείημεν τῶν καλῶν ὀρέγεσθαι (τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτομάτως ἔγκειται τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει, τὸ πρὸς τὸ καλὸν ὲπιρῤεπῶς ἔχειν) ο ἀλλʼ ὅπως ἂν μὴ ἁμάρτοιμεν τῆς τοῦ καλοῦ κρίσεως. Ἐν τούτῳ γὰρ μάλιστα τῷ μέρει πλημμελεῖται ἡμῶν ὴ ζωὴ, ὲν τῷ μὴδύνασθαι ἀκριβῶς συνιέναι τί τὸ φύσει καλὸν, καὶ τί τὸ διʼ ἀπάτης τοιοῦτον ὑπονοούμενον. Εἰ γὰρ γυμνὴ προέκειτο ἡ κακία τῷ βίῳ, καὶ μή τινι καλοῦ φαντασίφπροσκεχρωσμένη, οὑκ ἂν ηὐτομόλησε πρὸς αὐτὴν τὸ ἀνθρώπινον. Οὑκοῦν συνέσεως ήμῖι χρεία, πρός τὴν τοῦ προκειμένου ῥητοῦ κατανόησιν, ὡς ἂν διδαχθέντες τὸ ἀληθινὸν τοῦ ἐγκειμένου νοήματος κάλλος, κατʼ αὑτὸ μορφωθείημεν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἡ περὶ τὸ Θεῖον ὑπόληψις, ἔγκειται μὲν πᾶσι φυσικῶς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις · ὲν δὲ τῇ ἀγνοίᾳ τοῦ ἀληθῶς ὄντος Θεοῦ,ή περὶ τὸ σπουδαζόμενον γίνεται δι·αμαρτία (οἷς μὲν γὰρὴ ἀληθὴς θεότης ἐστὶ σεβάσμιος, ὴ ὲν Πατρὶ, καὶ Υἱῷ,κοιὶ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι θεωρουμένη· οἱ δὲ πρὸς ἀτόπους ὑπονοίας ἐπλανήθησαν, ὲν τῇ κτίσει τοιοῦτον ὑπονοοῦντες ’καὶ διὰ τοῦτοή ἐν ὀλίγῳ τῆς ἀληθείας παρατροπὴ, τῇ ἀσεβείᾳ τὴν πάροδον δέδωκεν) · οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ προκειμένου νοήματος, εί μὴ καταλάβοιμεν τὴν ἀληθῆ διάνοιαν, οὑκ ἐν ὀλίγῳ ’
sophǭ dia sophias, kai dia katharotētos tǭ katharǭ prosengizomen, houtō kai tǭ makariǭ dia tēs hodou tōn makarismōn oikeioumetha. Theou gar hōs alēthōs idion hē makariotēs estin; dio kai epestērichthai tę̄ toiautę̄ klimaki 6 Iakōb ton Theon diēgēsato. Ē oun tōn makarismōn metousia ouden allo, ei mē theo tētos koinōnia. esti, pros ēn hēmas anagei dia tōn legomenōn ho Kyrios. Dokei oun moi theopoiein tropon tina dia tēs eis to akolouthon prokeimenēs tou makarismou hyphēgēseōs, ton akouonta te kai synienta tou logou.Makarioi gar, phēsin, hoi eleēmones, hoti autoi eleēthēsontai. Oida pollachou tēs theias Graphēs, tǭ onomati tou eleēmonos tous hagious andras tēn Theian dynamin proskaloumenous ° houtōs 6 Dabid en tais hymnǭdiais; houtōs Iōnas en tę̄ kathʼ heauton prophēteią houtōs 6 megas Mōysēs en pollois tēs nomothesias katanomazeitytheion. Ei houn prepousa tǭ Theǭ ē prosēgoria tou eleēmonos o ti allo kai houchi theon se proskaleitai genesthai 6 logos, hoionei morphōthenta tǭ tēs theotētos …? Ei gar eleēmōn 6 Theos para tēs theopneustou Graphēs onomazetai ° to de alēthōs makariston, hē theotēs esti ; phaneron an eiē to ek tou akolouthou nooumenon,hoti kan anthrōpos tis ōn eleēmōn genētai, tēs theias axioutai makariotētos, en ekeinǭ genomenos, to Theion katonomazetai. Eleēmōn o Kyrios kai dikaios, kai o Theos hēmōn eleei. Pōs oun hou makarion ekeino klēthēnai kai genesthai ton anthrōpon, hǭper 6 Theos ek tou poiein onomazetai ? alla to men zēloun ta meizona tōn charismatōn, symbouleuei dia tōn idiōn logōn kai 6 theios ’Lpostolos hēmin de skopos estin, ouch hopōs anapeistheiēmen tōn kalōn oregesthai (touto gar automatōs enkeitai tę̄ anthrōpinę̄ physei, to pros to kalon epirrepōs echein) o allʼ hopōs an mē hamartoimen tēs tou kalou kriseōs. En toutǭ gar malista tǭ merei plēmmeleitai hēmōn ē zōē, en tǭ mēdynasthai akribōs synienai ti to physei kalon, kai ti to diʼ apatēs toiouton hyponooumenon. Ei gar gymnē proekeito hē kakia tǭ biǭ, kai mē tini kalou phantasiphproskechrōsmenē, houk an ēutomolēse pros autēn to anthrōpinon. Houkoun syneseōs ēmii chreia, pros tēn tou prokeimenou rhētou katanoēsin, hōs an didachthentes to alēthinon tou enkeimenou noēmatos kallos, katʼ hauto morphōtheiēmen. Hōsper gar hē peri to Theion hypolēpsis, enkeitai men pasi physikōs tois anthrōpois ; en de tę̄ agnoią tou alēthōs ontos Theou,ē peri to spoudazomenon ginetai di;amartia (hois men garē alēthēs theotēs esti sebasmios, ē en Patri, kai Huiǭ,koii hagiǭ Pneumati theōroumenē; hoi de pros atopous hyponoias eplanēthēsan, en tę̄ ktisei toiouton hyponoountes ’kai dia toutoē en oligǭ tēs alētheias paratropē, tę̄ asebeią tēn parodon dedōken) ; houtō kai epi tou prokeimenou noēmatos, ei mē katalaboimen tēn alēthē dianoian, houk en oligǭ ’
the wise through wisdom and the pure through purity, so too we are made akin to the Blessed One through the road of the Beatitudes. For blessedness is truly proper to God; that is why Jacob related that God was standing on such a ladder. So sharing in the Beatitudes is nothing other than communion with the Godhead, to which the Lord leads us up by what he says. It seems to me, then, that by the guidance of the beatitude that comes next he in a way deifies the one who hears and understands the saying. For “blessed,” he says, “are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” I know that in many places of divine Scripture the holy men call upon the divine power by the name “merciful”: so David in his hymns, so Jonah in his prophecy, so the great Moses in many parts of the law names the Divine. If, then, the title “merciful” befits God, what else does the Word call you to become but God, as though formed in the likeness of the Godhead? For if God is named merciful by the divinely inspired Scripture, and what is truly blessed is the Godhead, the consequence would be plain: if someone, though a human being, becomes merciful, he is deemed worthy of divine blessedness, having come to be that by which the Divine is named. “The Lord is merciful and just, and our God has mercy.” How, then, is it not blessed for a human being to be called, and to become, that by which God is named from what he does? But the divine Apostle too counsels us in his own words to be zealous for the greater gifts. Our aim is not that we be persuaded to desire good things — for this lies naturally in human nature, to incline toward the good — but that we do not go wrong in judging the good. For our life goes wrong above all in this: in being unable to understand exactly what is good by nature and what is thought to be so through deception. If vice were set before life naked and not coloured with some appearance of good, humanity would not have deserted to it. So we need understanding to grasp the saying before us, so that, taught the true beauty of the meaning that lies in it, we may be formed in accordance with it. For just as the notion of the Divine lies naturally in all human beings, but through ignorance of the truly existing God error arises about what is pursued — for some the true Godhead, contemplated in Father and Son and Holy Spirit, is to be revered, while others have strayed into absurd suppositions, supposing such a thing in the creation, and so a small departure from the truth has opened the way to impiety — so too in the meaning before us, unless we grasp the true sense, the loss of truth would come to us through no small
Matt 5:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 4:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 34:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 116:5 (114:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 12:31 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Since blessedness belongs to God and Scripture calls God merciful, Christ’s call to be merciful in a way deifies us; but we must judge rightly what mercy is, as people err about God himself, some worshipping the Trinity and others the creation.
- God merciful: e.g. Ps 103:8; 145:8; Jonah 4:2; Exod 34:6. “The Lord is merciful and just …”: Ps 116:5 (LXX 114:5). “Be zealous for the greater gifts”: 1 Cor 12:31.
- “Deifies” (θεοποιεῖν): Gregory’s language of participation in God by imitation of his attributes; translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (Latin letters); word unreadable): tamam; → …;.
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Beat. 1249 (PG 44:1249a–1249d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-beatitudines/1235/#p-1249). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 1251
1251PG 44:1252a–1252d
1(ὶέιῖ γένοιτο ἂν ἡμῖν ὴ ζημία τῆς ἀληθείας napaka σιν.. Τί τοίνυν ἐστὶν 6 ἕλεος. καὶ περὶ τί ὲνεργούμενοςς Καὶ πῶς μακάριος 6 ἀντιλαμβάνων, ὃ δίδωσιν ςῌαπάριθι γάρ, φησιν, οἱ ἐλεήμονες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθήσονται. Ἡ μὲν οὖν πρόχειρος τοῦ ῥητοῦ διάνοια, πρὸς τὸ φιλάλληλον τε καὶ συμπαθὲς προσκαλεῖται τὸν ἄνθρωπον, διὰ τὸ ἀνισόν τε διαὶ ἀνώμαλον τῶν τοῦ βίου πραγμάτων ού πάντων ἐν τοῖς ὁμοίοις βιοτευόντων, οὔτε κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν, οὔτε κατὰ τὴν τοῦ σιῖξματος κατασκευὴν, οὔτε κατά τὴν λοιπὴν περιουο at“... Μεμέρισται γέρ ὡς τὰ solum τῶᾴ ἐναντίων 6 βίος, δουλείᾳ καὶ κυριότητι, πλούτῳ καὶ πενίᾳ, δόξῃ καὶ ἀτιμίᾳ, σαθρότητι σώματος καὶ εὐεξίᾳ, καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς τοιούτοις διασχιζόμενος. Ὦς ἂν οὖν είς ἴσον ἕλθοι τῷ πλεονεκτοῦντι τὸ ὑστερούμενον, καὶ ἀναπληρωθείη τὸ λειπόμενον τῷ περισσεύοντι, νομοθετεῖ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐπὶ τῶν καταδεεστέρων τὸ ἔλεον. Ού γάρ ἐστιν ἄλλως πρὸς θεραπείαν τῆς συμφορᾶς τοῦ πέλας ὁρμῆσαι, μὴ ἐλέου τὴν ψυχὴν πρὸς τὴν τοιαύτην ὀρμὴν ἐκμαλάξαντος ἐκ γάρ τοῦ ἐναντίου τῇ ἀπηνέα νοεῖται 6 ἕλεος. Ὠς οὖν 6 ἀπηνής τε καὶ ἄγρα, ἀπροσο πέλαστός ἐστι τοῖς ἐγγίζουσιν ° οὕτως 6 συμπαθής τε καὶ ἐλεήμων, κατακιρνᾶταί πως τῇ διαθέσει πρὸς τὸ δεόμενον, ἐκείνῳ τῷ λυπουμένῳ γενόμενος, ὃ ἐπιζητεῖ ἠ ἀνιωμένη διάνοια. Καὶ ἔστιν 6 ἕλεος, ὡς ἀν τις ὅρῳ περιλαόὼν ἐρμηνεύσειεν, ἑκούσιος λύπη ἐπʼ ἀλλοτρίοις κακοῖς συνισταμένη. Et δὲ ούκ ἀκριβῶς τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτοῦ παρεστήσαμεν · τάχα ἂν ἄλλῳ λόγῳ διερμηνευθείη σαφέστερον. Ἔλεός ἐστιν ἐπὶ τῶν δυσφορούντων ἐπί τισιν ἀνιαροῖς ἀγαπητικὴ πνδιάθεσις. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὺ ἀπηνές τε καὶ θηριῶδες, ἀπὸ τοῦ μίσους τὰς ἀφορμάς ἔχειν οὕτως ἐκφύεταί πως τῆς ἀγάπης 6 ἔλεος, οὐκ ἂν γενόμενος, εί μὴ ἐκ ταύτης. Καὶ εῖ τις ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάσειε τὸ τοῦ ἐλέου ἰδίωμα, ἐπίτασιν εὑρήσει τῆς ἀγαπητικῆς διαθέσεως, τῷ κατὰ τὴν λύπην πάθει συμμεμιγμένην. Ἦ μὲν γάρ τῶν καλῶν κοινωνία πᾶσιν ὁμοίιος, καὶ ἐχθροῖς, καὶ φίλοις 6:01:35:ζεταιτ τὸ esse»; ἀνιαρῶν κοινωνεῖν ἐθέλειν, μόνον ῐδιον τῶν τῇ ἀγάπῃ κεκρατημένων ἐστίν. Ἀλλὰ μὴν πάντων ὡμολόγηται τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον τοῦτον ἐπιτηδευομένων ή ἀγάπη τὸ κράτιστον εἶναι. Ἐπίτασις δὲ ἀγάπης ὁ ἔλεος. Κυρίως ἄρα μακαριστὸς, 6 ἐν τῇ τοιαύτῃ διαθέσει τὴν ψυχὴν ἔχων, ὡς τοῦ ἀκροτάτου κατὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐφαπτόμενος· καὶ μηδεὶς ἐν μόναις ταῖς ὕλαις τὴν ἀρετὴν θεωρείτω· οὕτω γὰρ ἄν ού πάντως εἴη κατόρθωμα τὸ τοιοῦτον, πλὴν τοῦ δύναμίν τινα πρὸς εὐποιΐαν ἔχοντοςο ἀλλά μοι δοκεῖ δικαιόο τερον ἐν προαιρέσει τὸ τοιοῦτον «βλέπειν. ’0 γὰρ θελήσας τὸ ἀγαθὸν μόνον, κωλυθεὶς δὲ πρὸς τὸ καλὸν, τῷ μὴ δύνασθαι, κατʼ οὐδὲν ἐλαττοῦται τῆς ψυχῆς διαθέσει, τοῦ διὰ τῶν ἔργων τὴν γνώμην δείξαντος.
1(ieii genoito an hēmin ē zēmia tēs alētheias napaka sin.. Ti toinyn estin 6 heleos. kai peri ti energoumenoss Kai pōs makarios 6 antilambanōn, ho didōsin sĘ̄aparithi gar, phēsin, hoi eleēmones, hoti autoi eleēthēsontai. Hē men oun procheiros tou rhētou dianoia, pros to philallēlon te kai sympathes proskaleitai ton anthrōpon, dia to anison te diai anōmalon tōn tou biou pragmatōn ou pantōn en tois homoiois bioteuontōn, oute kata tēn axian, oute kata tēn tou siixmatos kataskeuēn, oute kata tēn loipēn periouo at“... Memeristai ger hōs ta solum tōą enantiōn 6 bios, douleią kai kyriotēti, ploutǭ kai penią, doxę̄ kai atimią, sathrotēti sōmatos kai euexią, kai pasi tois toioutois diaschizomenos. Ōs an oun eis ison helthoi tǭ pleonektounti to hysteroumenon, kai anaplērōtheiē to leipomenon tǭ perisseuonti, nomothetei tois anthrōpois epi tōn katadeesterōn to eleon. Ou gar estin allōs pros therapeian tēs symphoras tou pelas hormēsai, mē eleou tēn psychēn pros tēn toiautēn ormēn ekmalaxantos ek gar tou enantiou tę̄ apēnea noeitai 6 heleos. Ōs oun 6 apēnēs te kai agra, aproso pelastos esti tois engizousin ° houtōs 6 sympathēs te kai eleēmōn, katakirnatai pōs tę̄ diathesei pros to deomenon, ekeinǭ tǭ lypoumenǭ genomenos, ho epizētei ē aniōmenē dianoia. Kai estin 6 heleos, hōs an tis horǭ perilaoōn ermēneuseien, hekousios lypē epʼ allotriois kakois synistamenē. Et de ouk akribōs tēn dianoian autou parestēsamen ; tacha an allǭ logǭ diermēneutheiē saphesteron. Eleos estin epi tōn dysphorountōn epi tisin aniarois agapētikē pndiathesis. Hōsper gar ty apēnes te kai thēriōdes, apo tou misous tas aphormas echein houtōs ekphyetai pōs tēs agapēs 6 eleos, ouk an genomenos, ei mē ek tautēs. Kai ei tis akribōs exetaseie to tou eleou idiōma, epitasin heurēsei tēs agapētikēs diatheseōs, tǭ kata tēn lypēn pathei symmemigmenēn. Ē men gar tōn kalōn koinōnia pasin homoiios, kai echthrois, kai philois 6:01:35:zetait to esse»? aniarōn koinōnein ethelein, monon idion tōn tę̄ agapę̄ kekratēmenōn estin. Alla mēn pantōn hōmologētai tōn kata ton bion touton epitēdeuomenōn ē agapē to kratiston einai. Epitasis de agapēs ho eleos. Kyriōs ara makaristos, 6 en tę̄ toiautę̄ diathesei tēn psychēn echōn, hōs tou akrotatou kata tēn aretēn ephaptomenos; kai mēdeis en monais tais hylais tēn aretēn theōreitō; houtō gar an ou pantōs eiē katorthōma to toiouton, plēn tou dynamin tina pros eupoiïan echontoso alla moi dokei dikaioo teron en proairesei to toiouton «blepein. ’0 gar thelēsas to agathon monon, kōlytheis de pros to kalon, tǭ mē dynasthai, katʼ ouden elattoutai tēs psychēs diathesei, tou dia tōn ergōn tēn gnōmēn deixantos.
departure. What, then, is mercy, and about what is it exercised? And how is one blessed who receives back what he gives? For “blessed,” he says, “are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” The obvious sense of the saying calls the human being to mutual love and sympathy, because of the inequality and unevenness of the affairs of life, since not all live in like conditions, whether in rank, or in bodily constitution, or in other kinds of abundance. Life is divided, as it were, into opposites: slavery and mastery, wealth and poverty, glory and dishonour, weakness of body and good health, and is split apart by all such things. So that what falls short may come to equality with what has more, and what is lacking may be filled up from what abounds, he lays down mercy toward the needier as a law for human beings. For one cannot set out to cure a neighbour’s misfortune unless mercy has softened the soul toward such an impulse; mercy is understood as the opposite of harshness. As the harsh and savage man cannot be approached by those who come near, so the sympathetic and merciful man is in a way blended by his disposition with the one in need, becoming for the grieving person what his troubled mind seeks. Mercy, if one were to sum it up in a definition, is a voluntary grief that arises over the evils of others. If we have not presented its meaning exactly, perhaps it might be expressed more clearly in another way: mercy is a loving fellow-feeling toward those who are distressed by painful things. For as harshness and savagery have their starting point in hatred, so mercy somehow grows out of love, and could not arise except from it. And if one examines exactly what is proper to mercy, he will find it to be an intensifying of the loving disposition, mixed with the feeling of grief. Sharing in good things is sought alike by all, enemies and friends; but to wish to share in painful things is proper only to those who are ruled by love. Now it is agreed that of all the things practised in this life love is the best; and mercy is an intensifying of love. Properly blessed, then, is one who has his soul in such a disposition, since he touches the highest point of virtue. And let no one think that this virtue is seen only in material goods; for then such an achievement would belong only to one who has some means for doing good. It seems to me more just to see it in the will. For one who has only willed the good, but was prevented from doing the good because he was unable, is in no way inferior in the disposition of his soul to one who has shown his intention through works.
Matt 5:7 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 13:13 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Mercy, which corrects the inequalities of life, is defined as voluntary grief at another’s evils, or a loving fellow-feeling with the distressed; it is the intensification of love, the highest virtue, and lies in the will, not in material means.
- Gregory’s definition of mercy: “a voluntary grief that arises over the evils of others.” Love the greatest: 1 Cor 13:13.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris for πενίᾳ, δόξῃ): πενίαβῗξῃ → πενίᾳ, δόξῃ.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Beat. 1251 (PG 44:1252a–1252d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-beatitudines/1235/#p-1251). (abbreviation not yet checked)
BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-gregory-nyssa-beatitudines-1251) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 1253
1253PG 44:1253a–1253d
Ὅσον μὲν οὗν κέρδος έστί τῷ βίῳ, εἰ πρὸς τοῦτό τις ἐκλαμβάνει τοῦ μακαρισμοῦ τὴν διάνοιαν, περιττὸν ἂν εἰη διεξιέναι, φανερῶν ὄντων καὶ τοῖς κομιδῆ νηπίοις, τῶν ὲκ τῆς συμβουλῆς ταύτης τῷ βίῳ κατορθουμένων. Εἰ γὰρ πᾶσι καθʼ ὑπόθεσιν ἡ τοιαύτη τῆς ψυχῆς ἐγγένοιτο πρὸς τὸ ἐλαττούμενον σχέσις, οὐκέτʼ ἂν εἰη τὸ ὑπερέχον, καὶ ἐλαττούμενον* οὐκέτι πρὸς ητά ἐναντία τῶν ὀνομάτων 6 βίος διενεχθήσεται· οὐκ ἀνιάσει πενία τὸν ἄνθρωπον· οὐ ταπεινώσει δουλεία· οὑ λυπήσει ἀτιμία · πάντα γάρ ἔσται πᾶσι κοινά· καὶ ἰσονομία καὶ ἰσηγορία τῷ βίῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐμπολιτεύεται· ἑκουσίως τοῦ πολιτεύοντος πρὸς τὸ λεϊπον ὲξισουμένου. Εἰ δὲ τοῦτο γένοιτο, οὐκέτʼ ἂν ὑπολειφθείη τις ἀπεχθείας ὑπόθεσιςυ ἀργὸς 6 φθόνος· νεκρὸν τὸ μῖσος · ὑπερόριος ἠ μνησικακία, τὸ ψεῦδος, ἡ ἀπάτη, 6 πόλεμος· (ἆπερ ἔγγονα πάντα τῇ τοῦ πλείονος ἐπιθυμίᾳ ἐστίν.) Ἐκείνης δὲ τῆς ἀσυμπαθοῦς διαθέσεως ἐξορισθείσης, συνεκβάλλεται πάντως. οἷόν τινι πονηρᾷ ῥίζῃ, τά τῆς κακίας βλαστήματα. Τῇ.δὲ τῶν πονηρῶν ὑπεξαιρέσει 6 τῶν ἀγαθῶν κατά- λογος ἀντεισέρχεται, εἰρήνη καὶ δικαιοσύνη, καὶ πᾶσα τῶν πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον νοουμένων ἀκολουθία. Τί τοίνυν ἂν εἴη μακαριστότερον, τὸ οὕτω τὸν βίον ἔχειν, οὐκέτι μοχλοῖς καὶ λίθοις τὴν ἀσφάλειαν τῆς σμένων; Ὠσπερ γὰρ 6 ἀπηνής τε καὶ θηριώδης, δυσμενεῖς ἐαυτῷ τοὺς τῆς ἀγριότητος πεπειραμένους ποιεῖʼ οὕτως ὲκ τοῦ ἐναντίου, εὖνοι ἅπαντες τῷ ὲλεοῦντι γινόμεθα, φυσικῶς τοῖς μετέχουσι τοῦ ὲλέου τὴν ἀγάπην ἐντίκτοντος. Οὐκοῦν ἐστιν 6 ἕλεος, ῶς γε 6 λόγος ὑπέδειξεν, εὐνοίας πατὴρ, ἀγάπης ἐνέχυρον, σύνδεσμος πάσης φιλικῆς διαθέσεωςʼ τῆς δὲ ἀσφαλείας ταύτης, τί ἂν ἐπινοηθείη κατά τὴν ζωὴν ὀχυρώτερον; Ὥστε εἰκότως 6 Λόγος μακαρίζει τὸν ἐλεήμονα, τοσούτων ἀγαθῶν τῷ ὀνόματι τούτῳ ἐμφαινομένων. ’Δλλάτὺ μὲν βιωφελῆ τὴν τοιαύτην συμὸουλὴν εἶναι, παντός ἐστι μὴ ἀγνοῆσαι ἐμοὶ δὲ δοκεί πλέον τι τῶν ὲκ τοῦ προχείρου νοουμένων, τῇ τοῦ μέλλοντος ὲκλήψει διʼ ἀπορρήτων παραδηλῶν ἡ διάνοια. Μακάριοι γάρ, φησὶν, οἱ ἐλεήμονες· ὅτι αὑο τοὶ ἐλεηθήσονται ὡς ὕστερον ἀποκειμένης τοῖς ἐλεοῦσι τῆς κατὰ τὸν ἔλεον ἀντιδόσεως.
Hoson men houn kerdos esti tǭ biǭ, ei pros touto tis eklambanei tou makarismou tēn dianoian, peritton an eiē diexienai, phanerōn ontōn kai tois komidē nēpiois, tōn ek tēs symboulēs tautēs tǭ biǭ katorthoumenōn. Ei gar pasi kathʼ hypothesin hē toiautē tēs psychēs engenoito pros to elattoumenon schesis, ouketʼ an eiē to hyperechon, kai elattoumenon* ouketi pros ēta enantia tōn onomatōn 6 bios dienechthēsetai; ouk aniasei penia ton anthrōpon; ou tapeinōsei douleia; hou lypēsei atimia ; panta gar estai pasi koina; kai isonomia kai isēgoria tǭ biǭ tōn anthrōpōn empoliteuetai; hekousiōs tou politeuontos pros to leïpon exisoumenou. Ei de touto genoito, ouketʼ an hypoleiphtheiē tis apechtheias hypothesisy argos 6 phthonos; nekron to misos ; hyperorios ē mnēsikakia, to pseudos, hē apatē, 6 polemos; (aper engona panta tę̄ tou pleionos epithymią estin.) Ekeinēs de tēs asympathous diatheseōs exoristheisēs, synekballetai pantōs. hoion tini ponērą rhizę̄, ta tēs kakias blastēmata. Tę̄.de tōn ponērōn hypexairesei 6 tōn agathōn kata- logos anteiserchetai, eirēnē kai dikaiosynē, kai pasa tōn pros to kreitton nooumenōn akolouthia. Ti toinyn an eiē makaristoteron, to houtō ton bion echein, ouketi mochlois kai lithois tēn asphaleian tēs smenōn? Ōsper gar 6 apēnēs te kai thēriōdēs, dysmeneis eautǭ tous tēs agriotētos pepeiramenous poieiʼ houtōs ek tou enantiou, eunoi hapantes tǭ eleounti ginometha, physikōs tois metechousi tou eleou tēn agapēn entiktontos. Oukoun estin 6 heleos, ōs ge 6 logos hypedeixen, eunoias patēr, agapēs enechyron, syndesmos pasēs philikēs diatheseōsʼ tēs de asphaleias tautēs, ti an epinoētheiē kata tēn zōēn ochyrōteron? Hōste eikotōs 6 Logos makarizei ton eleēmona, tosoutōn agathōn tǭ onomati toutǭ emphainomenōn. ’Dllaty men biōphelē tēn toiautēn symooulēn einai, pantos esti mē agnoēsai emoi de dokei pleon ti tōn ek tou procheirou nooumenōn, tę̄ tou mellontos eklēpsei diʼ aporrētōn paradēlōn hē dianoia. Makarioi gar, phēsin, hoi eleēmones; hoti hauo toi eleēthēsontai hōs hysteron apokeimenēs tois eleousi tēs kata ton eleon antidoseōs.
How great a gain there is for life if one takes the meaning of the beatitude in this way it would be superfluous to describe, since what this counsel achieves in life is plain even to small children. For if, supposing it were so, such an attitude of soul toward those who are lacking arose in all, there would no longer be superior and inferior; life would no longer be torn between opposite names; poverty would not distress anyone, slavery would not humble him, dishonour would not grieve him; for all things would be common to all, and equality of law and equal freedom of speech would govern human life, as the one who has more freely made himself equal to what is lacking. If this happened, no occasion for enmity would be left: envy would be idle, hatred dead, rancour banished, and with it falsehood, deceit, and war — all of which are offspring of the desire for more. When that unsympathetic disposition is banished, the shoots of vice are thrown out along with it, as with an evil root; and with the removal of evils, the list of goods comes in instead: peace and justice and the whole series of things understood as better. What, then, would be more blessed than for life to be so, no longer … security with bars and stones … For as the harsh and savage man makes enemies of those who have experienced his savagery, so, on the contrary, we all become well-disposed toward the merciful man, since mercy naturally begets love in those who receive it. So mercy is, as our discourse has shown, the father of goodwill, the pledge of love, the bond of every friendly disposition; and what firmer security than this could be devised in life? So the Word rightly blesses the merciful, since so many goods are disclosed in this name. That such counsel is beneficial for life, no one can fail to know. But it seems to me that the meaning secretly hints at something more than what is understood at first sight, by referring to what is to come. For “blessed,” he says, “are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” — as though the reward for mercy were laid up for the merciful later.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Matt 5:7 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: If all were merciful, inequality, envy, hatred, and war would vanish and peace and justice would reign; mercy is the father of goodwill and the bond of friendship; but the promise “they shall obtain mercy” also points to a future reward.
- A few words after “no longer” are lost in the scan (marked …); the sense is that people would no longer need bars and walls for safety.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Beat. 1253 (PG 44:1253a–1253d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-beatitudines/1235/#p-1253). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.