# To Sistelius, On Leprosy - Author: [Methodius of Olympus](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/methodius-of-olympus/) - Latin title: *De lepra* - Date: late 3rd cent. (disputed) (approximate) - Source: G. Nathanael Bonwetsch, ed., Methodius, GCS 27 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1917) (Greek text and German translation of the Old Slavonic: G. N. Bonwetsch, Methodius (GCS 27, 1917); OCR made for this site) - Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator - Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-lepra/ - Passages: 15 ## Lepr. 1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-lepra/1/#p-1 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:451 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: The dialogue opens: Sistelius invites Eubulius to explain the Law's rules on leprosy allegorically. ### English translation (Claude) Where are you coming from, Eubulius? Plainly from the hunt for the right way of understanding divine Scripture? Early in the morning one of Sistelius's people knocked at the door, and when a boy opened to him, he announced that Sistelius was calling us to him. I got up and went at once. When we were near the house, Sistelius came to meet me, embraced me, and said: By leaving us for a while you have robbed us of the understanding of Scripture. For as a cloud that covers the sun does not let one see the sun clearly, so too, where good instruction withdraws, the soul becomes dark and the mind is darkened. I answered him: You have spoken well. When we had gone into the house, we sat down. And Sistelius said: Come now, let us look into it from the Scripture of truth itself! With a healing herb let us put away this evil leprosy, soothing the harm with words as with medicines, saying: "Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light." Come, now is the time, he said, to let your voice be heard and give an explanation of the leprosy in the Law, since the Lord bids us interpret much in the Law allegorically, so as to share an ungrudging gift with one who thirsts for the gift of God. ### Scripture references - Eph 5:14: quotation, high confidence - John 4:10: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - The Greek of most of this dialogue is lost; it survives in Old Slavonic, and this passage is translated from Bonwetsch's German rendering of it. Eubulius is the name Methodius gives himself in his dialogues. "Awake, you who sleep": Eph 5:14. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Lepr. 1 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:451; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-de-lepra/1). ## Lepr. 2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-lepra/1/#p-2 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:452 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: The good seed of faith is planted by the Father; the saying about plants not planted by him does not support Gnostic classes of souls or Marcion's two gods. ### English translation (Claude) (Eubulius:) Do not think, however, that I will turn away one who wishes to receive this gift of grace, even though I am weak in deed and word. He who plants words (or "thoughts") in the soul of each of us will pull up the evil roots from our hearts and plant every virtue in our souls. For when the nettle-like weed withers, the flower of virtue blooms. This is what Christ, speaking allegorically, likens to "a grain of mustard seed," saying that it gives the birds of heaven a large place to settle. For the divine seed of faith first becomes small, coming down to our weaknesses; once it falls into the furrows of the soul, it grows great and advances to the height of godliness through the meditation of the Spirit. And rightly the Lord names his Father as the planter of such a planting, for "every plant," he says, "that my Father has not planted will be rooted up." Understand that he does not say this because there are several kinds of souls, as some have thought, but of right teaching and godly thoughts (or "words"), which the diligent Planter has invisibly planted in our hearts, rooting out of our hearts the improper planting, that is, evil thoughts and deeds. If we do not believe so, we shall become followers of the utterly lawless Marcion, who says that there is another, good god besides the real God, and that therefore the souls belonging to the Creator of the world cannot receive the life promised by the Good one, since they lack the Good one's planting. But let us leave this aside now, for this is not the time for it in this discussion. ### Scripture references - Matt 13:31: allusion, high confidence - Matt 13:32: allusion, high confidence - Matt 15:13: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German rendering of the Old Slavonic. "Several kinds of souls" refers to the Valentinian teaching of different classes of souls; the account of Marcion's teaching is Methodius's own and is translated as written. The parables: Matt 13:31–32; 15:13. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Lepr. 2 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:452; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-de-lepra/2). ## Lepr. 3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-lepra/1/#p-3 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:453 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Eubulius sets out the texts of Leviticus 13 on leprosy in the skin and in garments. ### English translation (Claude) You rightly say that one should not delay, and that, since the spiritual possession is being prepared by God, one should bear vigorous fruits of wisdom, according to the word of the apostle, who says: "We are God's field." For we ought, so that the sickness may not increase and become manifest to all, "to heal" by the songs of the gospel, and to see "whether anyone lacks the grace of God, whether a root springing up does harm and many are defiled," as the apostle says, writing to the Hebrews. And the Law teaches us thus: "And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: If on a man's skin there is a mark of leprosy, he shall come to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons. And the priest shall see the leprosy on his skin; it is a mark of leprosy; and if it is plain that the leprosy is on the skin of his flesh." And shortly after: "And the priest shall see the leprosy on the seventh day; and see, the leprosy remains before him, the leprosy has not changed in the skin, and the priest shall separate him seven days a second time. (And the priest shall see him on the seventh day a second time,) and see, the leprosy is the same, it has not changed; and the priest shall cleanse him, for it is a mark; and he shall wash his clothes." And shortly after: "And if leprosy takes hold in a garment, in a woolen garment or a linen one or in any worked skin, and the leprosy is scarlet or green"; and further in what follows … ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 3:9: quotation, high confidence - Heb 12:15: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:1: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:2: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:3: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:5: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:6: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:47: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:48: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:49: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German rendering of the Old Slavonic. The German says "writing to the Jews"; the letter quoted is Hebrews (12:15). The Leviticus quotations are free (Lev 13:1–3, 5–6, 47–49); words in round brackets are Bonwetsch's supplements. The passage breaks off at the end. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Lepr. 3 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:453; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-de-lepra/3). ## Lepr. 4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-lepra/1/#p-4 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:453 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: The Law's words on leprosy are coverings and shadows; those who understand Scripture only outwardly see bare walls, while spiritual understanding enters the holy of holies. ### English translation (Claude) … having said little, you find fault. But now, Sistelius, to declare the very truth of the Law, let us set about showing these meanings spiritually, so that we understand the writing of the Law not simply but spiritually. Going on again in the discussion, he adds: "But if, after being shut up, the leprosy shown to the priest spreads in the garment or in the skin or in the warp or in the woof, the leprosy is a persistent leprosy; it is unclean, and he shall burn the garment or the warp or the woof," and so on. This is the explanation of the leprosy in the Law. For my part I think the prophet used these words as certain coverings and shadows, God wishing in this way to lead us to the light of truth. That is why, I think, the blessed Paul said: "Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing, in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of the invisible, may not shine in them." He says plainly that the gospel is unveiled to those who believe and "are being saved," but "veiled" to "those who are perishing," as though fastened from outside with bronze clamps. For one who understands Scripture outwardly goes away bare of spiritual understanding, like someone who has seen empty walls built of stones. But one who has knocked hard and torn the spiritual curtain flies up like a bird on the wings of God's Spirit and reaches the inner understanding of Scripture, which is the holy of holies; and having reached great light, he is nourished by the flashes of true beauty. As trees in winter are stripped of the adornment of their fruits, but in spring put forth leaves again and regain their adornment, so I think the words of the prophets, understood simply, seem dry and without meaning, but understood with wisdom are seen with good fruits and leaves, bearing the blossoms of manifold understanding. So let us too give up understanding simply, and understand the Scriptures spiritually and carefully, Sistelius! ### Scripture references - Lev 13:51: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:52: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:3: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:4: quotation, high confidence - Col 1:15: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:18: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 7:7: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German rendering of the Old Slavonic. The opening is lost ("…"). The Leviticus quotation is free (Lev 13:51–52). "Even if our gospel is veiled": 2 Cor 4:3–4, with "image of the invisible" from Col 1:15. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Lepr. 4 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:453; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-de-lepra/4). ## Lepr. 5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-lepra/1/#p-5 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:455 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: The leprosy of the Law signifies sinful passions, which Christ commands us to root out at the seed, as with lustful looking and anger, and which must be shown to the priests. ### English translation (Claude) We say, then, as Christ teaches us: … Scripture (says) that Moses' sister had leprosy because she spoke evil of her brother. And the blessed prophet Jeremiah too says: "Do not sow among thorns, but circumcise yourselves to your Lord and cast off the foreskin of your hearts," meaning: circumcise the evil passions, so that we may bring what is undefiled to God. These commandments, I think, the Lord also gave his disciples, to go "without staff and without two garments (and without shoes)." For the evangelists must, having a joy that is not quenched, and useless … … and he calls the man "new," but again, because of evil deeds, "old." Therefore, so that we may not unite with those again and have fellowship with what is unseemly, the Lord commands us to use only the one garment of self-control; forbidding the disciples to take on the desires of lusts, (he bids them) pray only to be clothed with the one heavenly and simple garment. The shoes made of dead skins, which pinch, he likens to grief that harms the soul, forbidding us henceforth to put on the cares of this life, and bidding us simply say: Washed once for all by the Lord, we shall not go into the corruption of death. … Therefore we can allow no evil desire at all to nest in our mind; but as the ancients showed themselves to the priest, so let us show ourselves to the priests. For greater watchfulness is now required of us according to Christ's word. For the Lord said: "You have heard that it was said to those of old: You shall not commit adultery; but I say to you: everyone who looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." He called the passionate man an adulterer, not only the one who has carried it out, for adultery is the work and fruit of the passion. So he does not call the one who crucifies (or "chastens") desire wholly godly, but the one who refuses to pay it any attention at all; for he commands us to root out not the fruit of adultery but the seed, which is like a fig tree withered before its fruit. So too unreasoning anger against a brother is the seed of murder; and therefore John judges it worthy of the "axe" that cuts off "the root" of evil. For the ancients cut off the fruit of adultery, but the Redeemer the seeds, wishing to destroy evil completely, like a leprosy … "in the mark have turned white, and the appearance of the flesh is lower than the skin of the body, it is the mark of leprosy," and so on. For as the beauty of our flesh is a fruit, so the beauty of the soul is self-control. But if it is "changed" into weakness and desire (for that is what the "white" leprosy means), it begins to become "low." Consider that Paul does not bid the "inner man" grow "old," but "be renewed." As he also says in Hosea of Ephraim, who had grown weak: "Ephraim became a cake not turned. Strangers devoured his strength, and he did not know it; and grey hairs came out on him, and he did not know it." … the sinner …, for one who remains in sins is not worthy to be counted worthy of these mysteries of salvation. ### Scripture references - Num 12:10: allusion, high confidence - Jer 4:3: quotation, high confidence - Jer 4:4: quotation, high confidence - Matt 10:10: quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:22: allusion, medium confidence - Eph 4:24: allusion, medium confidence - Lev 13:2: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 5:27: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:28: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:22: allusion, high confidence - Matt 3:10: allusion, high confidence - Lev 13:3: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:16: allusion, high confidence - Hos 7:8: quotation, high confidence - Hos 7:9: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German rendering of the Old Slavonic. Where the Greek survives, Bonwetsch prints it instead of the German; those parts are staged separately (passages 6 and 9), so this passage has gaps, marked "…", and its parts interleave with the Greek of passage 6 (the automatic division placed chapters 5–8 here; check against the printed edition). "As the ancients showed themselves to the priest, so let us show ourselves to the priests" refers to the disclosure of sins (Lev 13:2); translated as written. Moses' sister: Num 12:10. Jeremiah: Jer 4:3–4. "Without staff": Matt 10:10. New and old man: Eph 4:22–24. Matt 5:27–28 on adultery and Matt 5:21–22 on anger (the seed of murder); John the Baptist's "axe": Matt 3:10. The quoted law is Lev 13:3. "Inner man … renewed": 2 Cor 4:16. Hosea: Hos 7:8–9. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Lepr. 5 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:455; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-de-lepra/5). ## Lepr. 6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-lepra/1/#p-6 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:457 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Each kind of leprosy is a vice; the sinner must show his sore to Christ in prayer and, if it persists, confess to the bishop, who may separate him from communion, examine him, and cast out the impenitent. ### Greek text Διὸ φύγωμεν τὰς ἐνθυμήσεις τὰς φιληδόνους καὶ τὰς ἐμπαθεῖς (τοῦ σώματος) ἡδονάς, λευκανθίζουσα λέπρα ἐστίν’ φύγωμεν τὸ ὀργίζεσθαι καὶ τὸν τύφον, φύγωμεν τὸ καταλαλεῖν, πυρρίζουσα (γὰρ) λέπρα ἐστίν: ἀπελαύνωμεν τὴν ὑπόκρισιν καὶ τὴν δειλίαν ἐν καιρῷ διωγμοῦ, γλαυκίζουσα (γὰρ) λέπρα ἐστίν. ἀπελαύνωμεν (τὴν ὑπὴν χκαὶΣ τὸν φθονον, χλωρίζουσα (AO) λέπρα ἐστίν. ὁτι τούτων 3 κἂν τὸ βραχύτατον αἰφνιδίως ἐὰν ἔλθῃ καὶ γενηθῇ περὶ τὴν διάς- α \ > "»- x - μ" νοιαν ἡμῶν καὶ μὴ εὐθέως ἐκ ῥιζῶν κοπὲν ἐκβληθῇ, μακρὰν χεῖται ἣν 'ὦν ὀίχην πυρὸς ἡ τόσας πολυκεφράλου καὶ ἐπι όσχεται τὴν ψυχήν, ἔστ᾽ ἃν εἰς τὸ σῶμι διαδυθὲν λωβμήσηται καὶ κατασήπῃ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὅλον. ἕκαστος οὖν τῶν ἐχόντων σημασίαν % σπίλον ἢ ἁφήν, τουτέστιν ὁ ἐλαυνόμενος ὑπὸ θυμοῦ ἢ ἔρωτος γυναικὸς ἢ) φιλαργυρίας ” φθόνου εὐθέως προσίτω τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ, λέγω διὰ προσευχῆς, οὐ δὴ ἀπεικασία καὶ τύπος ἐτύγχανεν Ἀαρών, καὶ δεικνύτω αὐτῷ »τὰ κρύφια τῆς καρδίας«, κρατήσας ἑαυτὸν τῆς προσφορᾶς, πρὸ τοῦ τὸ πάθος τῆς ἁμαρτίας σχιρρῶσαι. καὶ εἰ μὲν παύοιτο καὶ λωφᾷ τὸ κακόν, ὥστε ὀφθέντα εἰς τὸ θυσιαστήριον τῷ ἀρχαγγέλῳ dvoovperdnoias εἶναι μακράν. κεχάθαρται" νοὐς γὰρ »μετέπεσεν ἡ ἁφὴ ἐν τῷ δέρματις, τουτέστιν οὐ μετεδόθη τῷ σώματι εἰς τὸ τελεσιουργηθῆναι ἡ ἐπιθυμία, ἀλλὰ μόνον σημασία οἱονεὶ ἐνθύμησίς τις γέγονεν Kal ἡμαυρώθη. εἰ δὲ μὴ παύσοιτο καὶ λωφῷ, προσίτω πρὸς τοὺς σωφρονιστίς, δείξων ἑαυτοῦ τὴν ἀφὴν τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ τῷ ἱερεῖ τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ ἀρχιερέως τοῦ λέγοντος ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ »τεκρίας τοὺς μαθητός. ἐ ἐξαγορεῦσαι μὴ αἰδεσθήτω τὸ ἀληθὲς πειθόμενος τῇ γραφῇ τῇ λεγούσῃ" »ἀνθρώπο τινὶ ἐὰν γένηται ἐν δέρματι τοῦ χρωτὸς αὐτοῦ ἁφὴ λέπρας, καὶ ἐλεύσεται πρὸς Ἀαρὼν τὸν ἱερέα" καὶ ὀψφεται ὁ ἱερεὺς τὴν ἀφὴν ἐν δέρματι τοῦ χρωτὸς αὐτοῦς, τύπος γὰρ ὡς ἔφην ἐστὶν ὁ μὲν ᾿Ἰαρὼν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὃ δὲ υἱὸς ᾿Ιαρὼν τοῦ ἐπισχόπου" πρὸς οὖς προσιέναι δεῖ θεραπευθησόμενον τὸν ἔχοντα ὕπουλον ἢ λέπραν περὶ τὸ ἡγεμονικόν, ὅπος αὐτὰ τὰ προκαταρτικὰ τῆς ἁμαυτίας ἐκοιϊωθῶσιν εὐθέως τῇ προῦἐὐχῇ καὶ τοῖς σωφοονισμοῖς ποὸ τοῦ κρατυνθῆναι. καὶ οὐξ ἐπιστήπων ἰατρὸς ὁ ἐπίσκοπος ἀπὸ τῆς ὑχιαινούσης διαίτης τὸν πυρεταίὌντα ἐπέχων, ὅπως ἀνασφῆλαι δυνηθῇ, ἀφωορισάτωω αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν ἐξομολόγησιν, μιανάτῳ αὐτὸν τῆς κοινωνίας ἐπισχών, χλανσάτεν. παραχαλεσάτω ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ κατὼ τὸ γεγραμμένον" »τίς ἀσθενεῖ, καὶ οὐκ ἀσθενῶ; τίς σχανδαλίζεται, καὶ οὐκ ἐγὼ πυροῦμαι;« καὶ εἰ μὲν παύοιτο, μίαν καὶ δευτέραν ἑθδομάδα τοῦ σεναγελάζεσθαι κοατηθ εἰς. ἐπισκεφθήσεται πάλιν, εἰ ἐπένθησεν ἢ ἐλυπήθη ν»λύπηνε τὴν νκατὰ θεόνς, ἥτις μετάμελον »εἰς σωτηρίαν κατεργάξεταις, εὐελπίς ἐστιν. καθαρός ἐστιν" οὐ γὰρ διεδόθη τὸ κακόν. εἰ δὲ ἐπιμένοι ῥαθυμῶν καὶ ἀφροντιστῶν, λέπραν παλαιουμένη» ἔχει, ἀπὸ πολλῶν τε καὶ ἀχαθάρτων ἠθροισμένην κακῶν νυλεπρός ἐστιν, ἀκάθαρτός ἐστινς, ἐχβαλλέσθω τῆς ἐχκλησίας. πᾶς γὰρ ὁ ν»λεπρόςς, φησὶν ἡ γραφή, »ἐν ᾧ ἐστὶν ἡ ἁφή, ἐχέτω τὰ ἱμάτια παραλελυμένα. καὶ ἡ κεφαλὴ αὐτοῦ ἔστω ἀκατακάλυπτος καὶ περὶ τὸ στόμα περε Ἰαλλέσθω καὶ ἀκάθαρτος- κα ηθήσεται πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας, ὅσας ἂν ἢ ἡ ἁφὴ ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ᾽ ἀκάθαρτος ὧν ἀκάθαρτος ἔσται" κεχωρισμέμος καθήσεται. ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς ἔσται αὐτοῦ ἡ διατριβῆς. τὸ ἀγενὲς καὶ τεθηλυμμένον ὡς οἶμαι τῶν ἀκολάστων ἱμάτιον παραλελυμένον καλῶν, τὴν δὲ χεφαλὴν ἀκατακάλυπτον οἷον τὸν ἔσω ἀνθρῶπον αὐτὸ τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν τῆς σχέπης ἐξωπλισμένον τοῦ θεοῦ. ### English translation (Claude) Therefore let us flee pleasure-loving thoughts and the passionate pleasures (of the body), for that is a whitening leprosy; let us flee anger and conceit, let us flee slander, (for) that is a reddening leprosy; let us drive away hypocrisy and cowardice in time of persecution, (for) that is a bluish leprosy. Let us drive away … and envy, (for) that is a greenish leprosy. For if even the smallest of these comes suddenly and arises in our mind and is not at once cut off at the roots and cast out, it spreads far like fire or a many-headed hydra and takes hold of the soul, until it has made its way into the body and maimed and rotted the whole man. Let each of those, then, who have a mark or a spot or a sore, that is, one driven by anger or by love of a woman or by love of money or by envy, at once approach the high priest (I mean through prayer), of whom Aaron was a likeness and type, and show him "the secrets of the heart," holding himself back from the offering before the passion of sin hardens. And if the evil stops and abates, so that when he is seen at the altar … is far off, he has been cleansed; for "the sore has changed in the skin," that is, the desire was not passed on to the body to be carried out, but there was only a mark, as it were a passing thought, and it faded. But if it does not stop and abate, let him approach those who correct, showing his sore to the bishop, the priest, the son of the true High Priest, who says in the Gospel … the disciples. Let him not be ashamed to confess the truth, obeying the Scripture that says: "If a sore of leprosy appears in the skin of a man's body, he shall come to Aaron the priest; and the priest shall see the sore in the skin of his body" [7] [and the hair …]. For, as I said, Aaron is a type of Christ, and the son of Aaron a type of the bishop; to them must come, to be healed, the one who has a festering sore or leprosy in the ruling part of the soul, so that the very first beginnings of sin may be stopped at once by prayer and by correction before they grow strong. And let the bishop, like a skilled physician who keeps a fevered patient from a healthy diet so that he can recover, separate him for confession; let him … him, keeping him from communion; let him weep, let him plead for him, as it is written: "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn?" And if it stops after he has been kept from joining the flock for one week and a second, he will be examined again; if he has mourned or grieved with "the grief that is according to God," which brings about repentance "for salvation," he is of good hope. He is clean, for the evil did not spread. But if he persists in negligence and indifference, he has an old leprosy, gathered from many unclean evils: "he is a leper, he is unclean"; let him be cast out of the church. For every "leper," says the Scripture, "in whom the sore is, let his garments be loosened, and let his head be uncovered, and let him be covered about the mouth, and he shall be called unclean all the days that the sore is on him; being unclean, he shall be unclean; he shall sit apart; his dwelling shall be outside the camp." By the loosened garment I think it means the ignoble and effeminate (life) of the licentious, and by the uncovered head the inner man, the ruling part itself, stripped of God's protection. [For of this help must be deprived …] ### Scripture references - Lev 13:49: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 14:25: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:6: quotation, medium confidence - Lev 13:2: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:3: allusion, high confidence - Lev 13:5: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Cor 11:29: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 7:10: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:11: allusion, medium confidence - Lev 13:44: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:45: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:46: quotation, high confidence - Heb 4:14: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - This part survives in Greek (Bonwetsch, GCS 27, from the excerpts in the manuscripts he used), here from uncorrected OCR; clear OCR slips are corrected (logged), and garbled words are translated by sense or shown as "…". Bonwetsch fills small gaps in the Greek with German from the Slavonic; those words are removed from the Greek and translated in square brackets. "[7]" marks where chapter 7 begins (its numeral survives only in the German insertion). The ending of the garbled word before ἕκαστος is restored from the visible line end "πον ὅλον" ("the whole man"). The penitential procedure (confession to the bishop, separation from communion, re-examination after one and two weeks, expulsion of the impenitent) is translated as written. Scripture: Lev 13:2, 6, 44–46 (LXX); "the secrets of the heart": 1 Cor 14:25; "Who is weak": 2 Cor 11:29; "grief according to God": 2 Cor 7:10. Of the colours, γλαυκίζουσα ("bluish, grey") is the author's own addition to the Levitical colours. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Lepr. 6 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:457; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-de-lepra/6). ## Lepr. 9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-lepra/1/#p-9 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:462 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: In the law of leprous garments the warp is the mind, the woof the soul, and the skin the body; a sin that persists after repentance and confession to the bishop is a lasting leprosy that leads to Gehenna. ### Greek text Διὸ δὴ φυλάξωμεν καθαροὺς ἑαυτοὺς τῷ θεῷ --- ταῦτα γὰρ ᾿ 4 - - 2. κανόνες εἰσὶν καὶ θεσμοὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας --- τῷ ὀξυδορκεῖν κατὰ τὰς γραφὰς δυναμένῳ" ἐπεὶ παρελθὼν ἀποχρινάσθώ μοί τις — ἵνα καὶ τῶν ἑξῆς ἐπιμνησθῶ᾽" τίς ἢ τοσαϊτὴ φροντὶς »τῷ θεῷς καὶ σπουδὴ περὶ ἐρεῶν ἱματίων διαλέγεσθαι καὶ λινῶν καὶ κρόκης καὶ στήμονος καὶ δερμάτων; ἢ »πάντοῶςς προεφητεύσατο ταῦτα POL ἡμᾶςς«; φέρε γὰρ ἀκριβῶς διακρίναντες τὰς ἑρμηνείας ἑκάστῳ γένει πρόσφορον παραλάβωμεν εἰκόνα, καὶ τῷ μὲν στήμονι τὸν ἰσχυρότερον καὶ πρῶτον νοῦν ἁρμοστέον, κρόκῃ δὲ τὴν ψυχήν, καὶ δέρματι τὸ σῶμα, ἱματίῳ) δὲ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὕλον᾽ ἐρεῷ μὲν τὸν ἄνδρα, τὴν δὲ γυναῖκα λενῷ. »καὶ ἐν ἱματίῳ ἐὰν γένηται ἐν αὐτῷ ἀφὴ λέπρας. ἐν ἱματίῳ ἐρεῷ 7 ἐν ἱματίῳ στιππυΐνο) 7) ἐν στήμονι, ἢ") ἐν κρόκῃ, ἢ) ἐν τοῖς λινοῖς ἢ ἐν τοῖς ἐρεοῖς (ἢ ἐν δέρματὸ ἢ) ἐν παντὶ ἐργασίμῳ δέρματι; καὶ γένηται ἡ ἁφὴ πυρρίζουσα 7) χλωρίξουσα [ἡ] ἐν τῷ δέρματι, ἢ ἐν τῷ ἱματίου, ) ἐν τῷ στήμονι. ἢ ἐν τῇ κρόχῃ«. στήμονα γὰρ τροπικῶς τοὺς τόνους τῆς ψυχῆς, τὸν νοῦν ἡμῶν, ὁ νόμος ἐκάλεσεν σύνθετον γὰρ ζῷον οἷα πλέγμα καὶ ὕφος ἐχ πολλῶν συ μπαγὲν ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἶναι πα ρεδόθη. εἰ γὰρ ἐκ ψυχῆς σαρχός τε καὶ πνεύματος ὡς ἐν κεφαλαίῳ φάναι τὴν σύστασιν ἀπεδείχθη λαχών, τεθεωρημένως ὁ νομοθέτη: τὴν πρώτην σύλληψιν τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἀπὸ τῆς ἔξωθεν φαντασίας δ ὀφθαλμῶν ἢ δι᾽ ὤτων δέουσαν εἰς τὸν νοῦν λέπραν ὥσπερ ἐν στήμονι φύεσθαι χρησμωδεῖ. »᾽ Βὰν δὲ διαχέηταις μετὰ τὸ ἀφορισθῆναι ὀφθεῖσα IN ἀφὴς τῷ ζι ἄρχεις ρεῖ ED τῷ ἱματίῳ ἢ ἐν τῷ δέυματι ἡ ἐν τῷ στήμονε ἢ ἐν τῇ κρόκῃ. λέ σρα ἔμμονός ἐστιν ἡ ἀφ ή, ἀκάθαρτόώς ἐστιν" κεὰ κατακαύσει τὸ ἱμάτιον ,) τὸν στήμονα ᾽ τὴν κρύκην ἐν τοῖς ἐρε οἷς ἡ ἐν GE λινοῖς ἢ ἐν παντὶ σκεύει δερματινῷ, ἐν m ἂν ἡ ἐν αὐτῷ ἡ ἁφή, ὅτι λέπρα ἔμμονος ἐστίν, ἐν πυροὶ κατακαυθήσεταιε, ὕπερ ἐστίν αἰνίττεται γὰρ περιφανῶς τὸν ἐπὶ τῷ ἁμαρτήματι κατολοίρες ρόμενον καὶ οἰκτισθῆναι παρακαλοῦντα. ἐὰν οὖν μὴ διαχέηται ἡ CN. τοντίστι μὴ ἀμβλύνηται τὸ ἁμάρτημα μετὰ τὸ προσελθεῖν καὶ συγγνώμην αἰτήσασθαιε παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ, μετὰ τὸ μετανοῆσαι καὶ ὀφθῆναι τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ" ἐὰν μὴ διαχέηται σκορπισθὲν αὐτῷ καὶ λωφῖ; “τὸ, πάθος "δὴ «τῷ» εἰς τὸ θερεσεύεσθθαι, τουτέστιν εἰς τὴν ἐξομολόγησ σεν ἄάφορισθέντι, πειράζει τὸν θεὸν ὁ τοιοῦτος ἄνθυώπος ἢ ἡ ἡ τοιαύτη γενή. ἐπιμορφάζεται τὴν πίστιν »ἔμμονός ἐστιν λέπρας, ἀνεξάλειπτος ἡ ἁμαρτία, τῷ διαιωνίξοντι τῆς γεέννης ἀθροόως καταφλεχθήσεται πυρί: ὕτε χρὴ τοὺς εἰς τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς οὐρανοπόλεως ἀναληφθησομένους τῷ ἁρμοσαμένῳ Χριστῷ καὶ ἐπενδίσαντι τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν καθαροὺς προσιέναι καὶ ὑγιεῖς .., »Ἱερουσαλὴμ [γὰρ] πόλις ἁγία, οὐχέτε προστεθήσεται διελθεῖν διὰ σοῦ ἀπερίτμητος καὶ ἀχάθαρτοςς, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ περιτετμημένος (καὶ καθαρός), δηλονότι τὴν ἀρκαίαν πλάνην, τὸν διὰ τῶν μελῶν ἐνεργοῦντα τῆς σαρκός, ἄνομον »ννόμονε. ὅθεν ὁ νομοθέτης τοὺς ἐν δόγμασι πλανωμένους καὶ λόγοις βεβλάφθαι τὸν στήμονα λέγει. ### English translation (Claude) Let us therefore keep ourselves pure for God (for these are the canons and ordinances of the church), for him who can see keenly according to the Scriptures. Since, then, passing on, let someone answer me, so that I may also mention what follows: what is this great concern "of God" and zeal to discourse about woolen and linen garments, woof and warp and skins? Or did he not prophesy these things "altogether for our sake"? Come then, distinguishing the interpretations exactly, let us take an image suited to each kind: to the warp we must fit the stronger and first part, the mind; to the woof, the soul; to the skin, the body; to the garment, the whole man; to the woolen, the man, and to the linen, the woman. "And if a sore of leprosy appears in a garment, in a woolen garment or in a garment of tow, or in the warp or in the woof, or in the linen or in the woolen, or in a skin or in any worked skin; and the sore is reddish or greenish in the skin, or in the garment, or in the warp or in the woof." For the Law figuratively called the warp the strings of the soul, our mind. For man has been taught to be a composite living being, like a plaiting and a web compacted of many strands. For if he has been shown to have received his constitution, to speak summarily, from soul, flesh, and spirit, then the lawgiver, with insight, declares in an oracle that the first conception of sins, flowing into the mind from outward imagination through the eyes or through the ears, grows like leprosy in the warp. [For this the Lord spoke:] "But if, after being shut up, the sore seen by the priest spreads in the garment or in the skin or in the warp or in the woof, the sore is a persistent leprosy; it is unclean; and he shall burn the garment or the warp or the woof, in the woolen or in the linen, or in any vessel of skin in which the sore is, because it is a persistent leprosy; it shall be burned in fire." That is … for it plainly hints at one who laments over his sin and begs to be pitied. If, then, the sore is not dispersed, that is, if the sin is not dulled after he has come and asked pardon from God, after he has repented and been seen by the bishop; if the passion is not dispersed and scattered from him and does not abate, though he has been separated for treatment, that is, for confession, such a man or such a woman is tempting God and only putting on the form of faith: "it is a persistent leprosy"; the sin cannot be wiped out; it will be burned up all at once by the everlasting fire of Gehenna. For those who are to be taken up into the fullness of the heavenly city must come pure and healthy to Christ, who has joined them to himself and clothed them with incorruption … "Jerusalem, holy city, no longer shall the uncircumcised and unclean pass through you," but the one who is circumcised (and clean), clearly, of the ancient error, of the "law" of lawlessness that works through the members of the flesh. [For with regard to this] the lawgiver says that those who err in doctrines and words have their warp damaged. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 9:9: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 9:10: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:47: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:48: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:49: quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 5:23: echo, medium confidence - Lev 13:51: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:52: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:53: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 15:53: echo, medium confidence - Isa 52:1: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:23: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - This part survives in Greek (Bonwetsch, GCS 27), here from uncorrected OCR; clear OCR slips are corrected (logged), and garbled words are translated by sense or shown as "…". Bonwetsch fills small gaps in the Greek with German from the Slavonic; those words are removed from the Greek and translated in square brackets. The Leviticus quotations are Lev 13:47–49 and 51–52 (LXX); "altogether for our sake": 1 Cor 9:10; "Jerusalem, holy city": Isa 52:1; the "law" in the members: Rom 7:23. The sentence after the second quotation is partly garbled in the OCR; the reading of διαχέηται as "dispersed" (i.e. healed) follows the context. The words on the bishop and on confession are translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Lepr. 9 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:462; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-de-lepra/9). ## Lepr. 10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-lepra/1/#p-10 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:463 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Christ's law for his servants is to do the Father's will and keep watch with lamps burning, to enter the eternal bridal chamber. ### English translation (Claude) What did the Scripture say further? For … of the blemished: … at that very word the Lord too does not cease to circumcise our reason. What then, O Lord, have you given your servants as a law? Tell it to us too! "If you do the will of my Father," you will be like lamps, full of eternal life. "Watch," then, so that you may be able to enter with me into the sea (?) of incorruption. Therefore "keep your lamps unquenched," so that you may enter the eternal bridal chamber! ### Scripture references - Matt 12:50: quotation, high confidence - Matt 25:13: quotation, high confidence - Luke 12:35: allusion, high confidence - Matt 25:10: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German rendering of the Old Slavonic. The opening is damaged; where the Greek survives Bonwetsch prints it instead, and that part is not in this passage ("…"). "Sea of incorruption" is the German's reading and is doubtful. Matt 12:50; 25:1–13; Luke 12:35. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Lepr. 10 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:463; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-de-lepra/10). ## Lepr. 11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-lepra/1/#p-11 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:466 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Man is spirit, soul, and flesh: heretics are leprous in spirit through false belief about Father, Word, or Spirit, while others are unclean in the flesh through pleasure. ### English translation (Claude) When I had said this, Euthymius said: Rightly, my friends, (you think) as I do. When I hear of the highest things (and by the highest I mean the words of Christ), I rejoice greatly, as though given life by them; I am filled with awe, as though stretching my eye there through the heavenly things, and as though I had forgotten the world and seemed to have left it. And I said: Let us return, then, to the point from which it is fitting to weave the rest of the discussion, and connect it with what follows. We have made a good start in the discussion, but we have not brought it sufficiently to an end. Let us remember that we said that man is composed of (spirit), soul, and flesh; and so, in laying down the laws (about warp and) woof and skin, he commands us to sin neither according to the spirit nor according to the flesh nor according to desire. Either not all … as many are leprous in spirit, but healthy in soul and body; or again healthy in spirit but sick in flesh and soul. For we say of the words of the heretics that they sin according to the spirit. For they too confess Christ and make profession with regard to truth and righteousness, keeping the woof and the skin clean, as it were, but having the spirit leprous through heterodoxy, blaspheming either against that very being (substance), the Father, or against his pre-eternal Word, or against the Holy Spirit. So much on this. But many who are healthy in spirit and soul, as there in warp and woof, are unclean in the skin, that is, through the pleasures of the flesh, led astray by these visible things (phantasiai). So we must beware lest we sink in that great storm. This, then, Sistelius, is our healing. ### Scripture references - 1 Thess 5:23: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German rendering of the Old Slavonic. Words in round brackets are Bonwetsch's supplements; a word he deletes ("not") is left out. A corrupt place is shown by "…". "Euthymius" reads the German OCR "Kuthymius". ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Lepr. 11 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:466; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-de-lepra/11). ## Lepr. 12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-lepra/1/#p-12 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:467 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Sistelius recalls a learned woman in Lycia who taught that the seeker of Scripture's meaning must persevere, rising like Elijah through wind, earthquake, and fire to the still voice of the Spirit. ### English translation (Claude) When I had said this, I stood up and was leaving. And he stood up and caught me from behind by my garment. Come, he said, so that I too may tell you something I once heard in Lycia: (about) the virtue of a woman who was learned in Scripture and self-controlled, and who also taught the things of the Lord as a philosopher. What I heard from her I now set before you. That woman, eager for learning and self-controlled, discerning the (spiritual) sense in everything, said: Above all, one who seeks the truth must not be afraid or rebel against the heights of reason. If anyone judges otherwise, he falls into the depths and into paltry thoughts; for in despair, as if turning back in the middle of the road, he who has not received the (spiritual) sense grows slacker, and, in the words of the Gospel, leaves the building of the tower half done. So one must have patience and not take offense. For one who seeks the excellences of Scripture with patience will see more clearly. For the prophet Elijah too, after that "wind" that tore "mountains and rocks," after the "earthquake" and after the "fire," then beheld the "voice" of that gentle, that is, quiet "breeze" (or "Spirit"), passing by all these until he came to the truth. For having put off the darkness and been sanctified (or "enlightened") in soul, we advance as from step to step, from knowledge to knowledge: that is, as from the mountain wind, which is like unbelief, we enter into the searching of Scripture as into the earthquake, and from that into the fire, that is, the unquenchable fire of love; kindled by it, we advance to zeal for what is better, until we reach the summit, that is, the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. And I marveled and said: See now, wisest of women, I admired you for your self-control and serenity (or "calm") and modesty, and now also for your wisdom. And she, smiling quietly, like certain wise interpreters of Scripture, said: By this it has been clearly shown that one who enters into the words of Scripture must not take offense. ### Scripture references - Luke 14:28: allusion, high confidence - Luke 14:30: allusion, high confidence - 1 Kgs 19:11: quotation, high confidence - 1 Kgs 19:12: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:18: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German rendering of the Old Slavonic. From here Sistelius reports his conversation with the woman, so "I" in it is Sistelius. The tower: Luke 14:28–30. Elijah: 1 Kgs 19:11–12. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Lepr. 12 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:467; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-de-lepra/12). ## Lepr. 14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-lepra/1/#p-14 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:468 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: The woolen garment is the renewed inner man clothed from Christ the Lamb, the linen the man of dust; some heretics are clean in life but leprous in faith. ### English translation (Claude) And I said to her: I long to hear about this fully, since we have been speaking of it. Come, let us look carefully at what lies before us too: "If the mark of leprosy is on a garment, a garment of cloth or of linen, or on the woof or on the warp, or on the linen, or on any skin," and so on. The leprosy of the woolen he calls that of the renewed inner man. For "like a sheep he was led to the slaughter"; a garment woven, as it were, from that one's fleece he calls woolen. By the linen he means the man made from dust, for linen comes forth from the earth. Understand how Paul too spoke like this in the second letter to the Corinthians: "For I fear lest, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning," and so on. And again: "Having these" sure "promises, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit." For there are some heresies which do not have the outer man leprous, but have the inner man corrupt in mind and understanding. In their way of life we see many who are clean, but corrupt through their faith. ### Scripture references - Lev 13:47: quotation, high confidence - Lev 13:48: quotation, high confidence - Isa 53:7: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 11:3: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 7:1: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German rendering of the Old Slavonic. Lev 13:47–48; Isa 53:7; 2 Cor 11:3; 7:1. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Lepr. 14 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:468; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-de-lepra/14). ## Lepr. 15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-lepra/15/#p-15 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:469 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: The Lord's garment is the church: the warp is bishops and teachers, the woof the people, the skin the catechumens; purified souls become virgins united to Christ. ### English translation (Claude) Come now, so that we may not pass it by, let us behold the glory of God, having uncovered "the veil" of our eyes. For Scripture contains nothing useless. In giving us commandments about the sin of the understanding and of the flesh, he speaks in turn of the skin and of the warp (and of the woof). For whoever keeps his garment of cloth and linen clean, that is, faith and deed … For the Lord's garment is the church; he has gathered us from many regions and woven us together, so that we the weaker may be held by the greater, like the woof. So the prophet too says: "He clothes himself as with the adornment of a bride," speaking to show the union of Christ and the uniting of love. By the warp he means the stronger order of the church, that is, the bishops and teachers; by the woof, those under them and the people who are shepherded; by the skin, the catechumens, as those who have not yet put off the garments of skin through baptism. So Paul too said: "I have betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ." As he also says in Leviticus: "He shall take as wife a virgin of his own tribe; a widow and a harlot he shall not take, but a virgin of his own race," and so on. For when each of us is "renewed day by day" (having put off the leprosy, that is, the sexual immorality that was to blame for our expulsion), he becomes a virgin again and attains the first beauty through the wisdom of God, adorned as with golden chains, that is, with love, faith, purity, and patience; and so, purified, he is united to Christ. "Therefore the virgins love (you)," and he loves the virgins, as he writes in the Song of Songs: the young souls, pure through the Spirit. Or is this not so, Sistelius? And I said: It is altogether wise. ### Scripture references - 2 Cor 3:16: allusion, high confidence - Isa 61:10: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:21: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Cor 11:2: quotation, high confidence - Lev 21:13: quotation, high confidence - Lev 21:14: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:16: quotation, high confidence - Song 1:3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German rendering of the Old Slavonic. A sentence breaks off ("…"). "The veil": 2 Cor 3:14–16; "adornment of a bride": Isa 61:10; "garments of skin": Gen 3:21; 2 Cor 11:2; Lev 21:13–14; 2 Cor 4:16; Song 1:3. "Sexual immorality … to blame for our expulsion" (from paradise) is the author's view; translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Lepr. 15 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:469; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-de-lepra/15). ## Lepr. 16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-lepra/15/#p-16 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:471 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Christ purifies humanity as Joshua the high priest was given clean garments; the rich man in purple and the proud Pharisee show that outward finery displeases God, while the poor are to be honored. ### English translation (Claude) And she said: So, as we said at first, if we purify all our members, we become the garment of Christ. As he says in the prophet Isaiah: "Let my soul rejoice in the Lord, for he has clothed me in a garment of salvation," and so on. But who will purify these better? Zechariah the prophet, who says: "And God showed me Jesus the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. And the devil stood at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to the devil: The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you, devil. Is not (see) this one like a brand plucked from the fire? (And) Jesus was clothed in filthy garments." And shortly after: "And he said to the angels who stood before his face: Take the filthy garments off him." And shortly after: "And they clothed him in a clean garment." Understand that the filthy garments are humanity before faith; and stripping humanity of the old man, he made it shine like the sun with his flesh. Search out how in this way God also rebuked Tyre, saying: Why is your bed unclean? For it was made of "fine linen" and Egyptian "purple," not of the "manifold wisdom of God" but of "Egyptian" wisdom; as that rich man who "clothed himself in purple" was displeasing to God. He is displeasing to God because he adorns himself with these temporal things, not with spiritual and shining deeds. So too that "Lazarus" cared nothing for outward things but rather took pains for those of the soul; so he went to rest "in Abraham's bosom." And we shall find Job too renowned through suffering and torment. For this reason "that Pharisee went away" from prayer without being made perfect (or "justified"), for he had exalted himself over such a man. For one ought to have a manner of life according to the teaching of Christ, who was neither angry nor proud. For we often find such people living in luxury and clothing themselves in fine garments. So Christ too, speaking of the rich, said: "It is easier for a rope to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." One must rather honor strangers and the poor, by whose name Christ called himself. But passing over to those with much gold, they honor this much more, some for the sake of rank, others for other reasons. So we have not been merciful, shutting up our compassion toward our brotherhood; so we are ashamed of poverty, the companion of the prophets, the maker of self-control. Alas! In what do we surpass other men, when we are commanded to have "a righteousness greater than that of the scribes and Pharisees," according to the command to learn from these things to disregard the temporal? Even if the ocean flowed with silver and the whole earth were gold, we would not be satisfied. ### Scripture references - Isa 61:10: quotation, high confidence - Zech 3:1: quotation, high confidence - Zech 3:2: quotation, high confidence - Zech 3:3: quotation, high confidence - Zech 3:4: quotation, high confidence - Zech 3:5: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 27:7: allusion, high confidence - Prov 7:16: allusion, medium confidence - Eph 3:10: quotation, high confidence - Luke 16:19: allusion, high confidence - Luke 16:20: allusion, high confidence - Luke 16:22: allusion, high confidence - Luke 18:14: allusion, high confidence - Matt 19:24: quotation, high confidence - Matt 25:40: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 5:20: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German rendering of the Old Slavonic. "Jesus the high priest" is Joshua (the same name in Greek). Isa 61:10; Zech 3:1–5; Tyre's "fine linen and purple": Ezek 27:7 (with Prov 7:16 for the bed); "manifold wisdom of God": Eph 3:10; Luke 16:19–22; 18:9–14. "A rope" through the eye of a needle is the reading of the text (Matt 19:24 has "camel"; the two Greek words were confused in some copies). Matt 25:35–40; 5:20. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Lepr. 16 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:471; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-de-lepra/16). ## Lepr. 17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-lepra/15/#p-17 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:472 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Usurious bishops and greedy laity are the leprous warp and woof of the church; Christ's teaching on wealth, enemies, and trust in the Father condemns them. ### English translation (Claude) Who among us, then, loves his brother in truth? Who does not think evil against his neighbor? Who does not envy another? For where the bishops live on usury, there our warp too is leprous; where the laity do, there the woof. These the Holy Spirit also rebukes: "Should the shepherds feed themselves, and not the sheep? For see, you eat the milk and clothe yourselves with the wool." And shortly after: "And you have scattered my sheep, and they became food for all the beasts." Again, the Lord likened wealth to "thorns"; the Lord commanded the one who asked which "commandment is the greater" to distribute his property; the apostle calls wealth a "snare" of death. The Lord said: "Love your enemies," but we quarrel with our friends. For it is the part of a good man not only to love those who love us, but to love those who hate us as well. The Lord said: "Give to everyone who asks," but we, seeing our brothers naked, do not even think of it. All of us ought to despise temporal things, but the bishops much more. For what use is gold or silver or pearls? If only they could stop hunger or hold back the death of a child! This is nothing but deception, for in itself it is useless. For since no one can "add a single hair" to himself, he boasts of those things in vain. And if "the birds, which neither sow nor reap," are fed, and "the flowers," though no one weaves them a garment, still come forth so because God wills it, "how much more we; for the heavenly Father knows that we need all these things." For Solomon too, who was wiser (and) richer than all kings, sinned through great luxury. ### Scripture references - Ezek 34:2: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 34:3: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 34:5: quotation, high confidence - Matt 13:22: allusion, high confidence - Matt 19:21: allusion, high confidence - Matt 22:36: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Tim 6:9: allusion, high confidence - Matt 5:44: quotation, high confidence - Luke 6:32: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 6:30: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:36: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 6:27: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 6:26: quotation, high confidence - Matt 6:28: allusion, high confidence - Matt 6:30: quotation, medium confidence - Matt 6:32: quotation, high confidence - 1 Kgs 11:4: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German rendering of the Old Slavonic. The charge against bishops who live on usury is translated as written. Ezek 34:2–3, 5; thorns: Matt 13:22; the questioner is the rich man of Matt 19:16–21 (conflated with Matt 22:36); "snare": 1 Tim 6:9; Matt 5:44; Luke 6:32; Luke 6:30; "add a single hair": compare Matt 5:36; 6:27; Matt 6:26, 28, 32; Solomon: 1 Kgs 11:1–4. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Lepr. 17 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:472; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-de-lepra/17). ## Lepr. 18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/methodius-de-lepra/15/#p-18 - Source: Bonwetsch GCS 27:473 - Translation: Translated by Claude from N. Bonwetsch's German translation (1917) of the Old Church Slavonic; neither is shown Summary: Christians have become gluttonous and quarrelsome; the true shepherd must first correct himself before reproving others. ### English translation (Claude) "So let us watch, lest our hearts be weighed down with gluttony and drunkenness." For now we are drunk with the cares of the world and all wickedness, and very fond of sleep. So we live in luxury, we are jealous, we slander, more than the unbaptized. We have all these vices. For now the Holy Spirit speaks of us through Micah the prophet, who said: "Woe, O soul, for the one who abstains has vanished from the earth, and there is no one among men who sets things right; all quarrel to the point of blood, each afflicts his brother; all make ready their hands for evil," and so on. Now this is fulfilled: our "belly" has become our "God," for we take pains for it alone; bent down to the earth like cattle, we cannot look up to the Father and Creator of all. Truly it is now hard to find one formed by the Son of God in patience and humility and love and the other (virtues), thirsting for the departure from (or "end of") this world, teaching and reproving with gentleness, seen on earth in the body but with the spirit in heaven and feeding on holy knowledge. For such must the true shepherd and teacher be. For "why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not notice the beam in your own eye?" The first thing must be to govern (or "correct") oneself, and after that one's neighbor. For what use is the word if no deeds follow? For he says: "Physician, heal yourself." And since he wishes us to reprove, he said elsewhere: "If your brother sins, rebuke him." He commands us to receive those who repent and hold them as brothers. But the one who reproves must be blameless in everything. So, O man, when you have first examined yourself and come to know your own state, go on to reproving others … ### Scripture references - Luke 21:34: quotation, high confidence - Mic 7:1: quotation, high confidence - Mic 7:2: quotation, high confidence - Phil 3:19: allusion, high confidence - Matt 7:3: quotation, high confidence - Luke 4:23: quotation, high confidence - Luke 17:3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Translated from Bonwetsch's German rendering of the Old Slavonic. The text breaks off at the end ("…"). Luke 21:34; Mic 7:1–2; "belly … God": Phil 3:19; Matt 7:3; Luke 4:23; 17:3. ### Citation (SBL) Methodius, Lepr. 18 (Bonwetsch GCS 27:473; trans. Sophia Scriptura from the German of N. Bonwetsch, 1917, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/methodius-de-lepra/18).