§19οὕτως καὶ τοὺς συνέδρους τοῦ θεοφιλοῦς τὸν δέκα ἑβδομάδων ἀριθμὸν εἰληχότας πρεσβυτέρους ὀνομάζειν ἔθος· λέγεται γάρ· „συνάγαγέ μοι ἑβδομήκοντα ἄνδρας ἀπὸ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων Ἰσραήλ, οὓς αὐτὸς σὺ οἶδας ὅτι οὗτοί εἰσι πρεσβύτεροι„ (Num. 11, 16).
In this way also it is customary to call the colleagues of the one beloved of God, who have received the number of ten sevens (seventy), "elders"; for it is said, "Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you yourself know to be elders" (Num. 11:16).
§20οὐκοῦν οὐ τοὺς ὑπὸ τῶν τυχόντων γέροντας νομιζομένους ὡς ἱεροφάντας, ἀλλ’ οὓς ὁ σοφὸς οἶδε μόνος, τῆς τῶν πρεσβυτέρων ἠξίωσε προσρήσεως·
Therefore, he deemed worthy of the title of "elders" not those who are considered old men by ordinary people as if they were hierophants, but those whom the wise man alone knows.
οὓς μὲν γὰρ ἂν οὗτος ἀποδοκιμάσῃ καθάπερ ἀργυραμοιβὸς ἀγαθὸς ἐκ τοῦ τῆς ἀρετῆς νομίσματος, κεκιβδηλευμένοι νεωτεροποιοὶ τὰς ψυχὰς ἅπαντες· οὓς δ’ ἂν γνωρίμους ἐθελήσῃ ποιήσασθαι, δόκιμοί τε καὶ τὸ φρόνημα πρεσβύτεροι κατὰ τὸ ἀναγκαῖόν εἰσιν.
For those whom he rejects, like a good money-changer testing the coinage of virtue, are all counterfeit and revolutionary in their souls; but those whom he wishes to acknowledge are approved and of necessity older in their judgment.
§21ἑνὶ μέντοι νόμου διατάγματι τοῖς ἀκούειν ἐπισταμένοις ἑκάτερον ὧν εἶπον ἐναργέστερον φανεῖται δεδηλωκώς·
However, in a single commandment of the law, he has shown more clearly to those who know how to listen each of the things I have said.
„ἐὰν γὰρ γένωνται„ φησίν „ἀνθρώπῳ δύο γυναῖκες, ἠγαπημένη καὶ μισουμένη, καὶ τέκωσιν αὐτῷ ἡ ἠγαπημένη καὶ ἡ μισουμένη, καὶ γένηται υἱὸς πρωτότοκος τῆς μισουμένης, ᾗ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ κληροδοτῇ τοῖς | υἱοῖς τὰ ὑπάρχοντα, οὐ δυνήσεται πρωτοτοκεῦσαι τῷ υἱῷ τῆς ἠγαπημένης ὑπεριδὼν τὸν υἱὸν τῆς μισουμένης τὸν πρωτότοκον· ἀλλὰ τὸν πρωτότοκον υἱὸν τῆς μισουμένης ἐπιγνώσεται, δοῦναι αὐτῷ διπλᾶ ἀπὸ πάντων ὧν ἐὰν εὑρεθῇ αὐτῷ, ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ἀρχὴ τέκνων αὐτοῦ καὶ τούτῳ καθήκει τὰ πρωτοτόκια“(Deut. 21,15 — 17).
For he says, "If a man has two wives, one loved and one hated, and both the loved and the hated have borne him children, and the son of the hated is the firstborn, on the day when he wills his possessions to his sons, he will not be able to make the son of the loved the firstborn, overlooking the firstborn son of the hated; but he shall acknowledge the firstborn son of the hated, to give him a double portion of all that he has, for this one is the beginning of his children, and to this one belongs the right of the firstborn" (Deut. 21:15-17).
§22παρατετήρηκας ἤδη, ὅτι τὸν μὲν τῆς στεργομένης υἱὸν οὐδέποτε πρωτότοκον ἢ πρεσβύτερον καλεῖ, τὸν δὲ τῆς μισουμένης πολλάκις· καίτοι τοῦ μὲν τὴν γένεσιν προτέρου, τοῦ δὲ ἐκ τῆς στυγουμένης ὑστέρου δεδήλωκεν εὐθὺς ἀρχόμενος τῆς προστάξεως· „ἐὰν γὰρ τέκωσι„ φησίν „ἡ ἠγαπημένη καὶ ἡ μισουμένη. “ἀλλ’ ὅμως τὸ μὲν τῆς προτέρας γέννημα, κἂν πολυχρονιώτερον ᾖ, νεώτερον παρ’ ὀρθῷ λόγῳ δικάζοντι νενόμισται, τὸ δὲ τῆς ὑστέρας, κἂν ἐν τοῖς κατὰ τὴν γένεσιν χρόνοις ὑστερίζῃ, τῆς μείζονος καὶ πρεσβυτέρας μοίρας ἠξίωται.
You have already observed that he never calls the son of the beloved wife "firstborn" or "elder," but often calls the son of the hated wife so; and yet, right at the beginning of the commandment, he made it clear that the birth of the former was earlier, and that of the son from the hated wife was later, for he says, "If both the loved and the hated have borne him children." Yet nevertheless, the offspring of the former wife, even if it is older in time, is regarded as younger by right reason when it judges, while the offspring of the latter wife, even if it lags behind in the times of birth, is deemed worthy of the greater and older portion.
διὰ τί;
Why?
§23ὅτι τῶν γυναικῶν τὴν μὲν στεργομένην ἡδονῆς, τὴν δὲ στυγουμένην φρονήσεως εἶναί φαμεν σύμβολον·
Because we say that of the wives, the loved one is the symbol of pleasure, and the hated one is the symbol of wisdom.
τῆς μὲν γὰρ ὁ πολὺς ὅμιλος ἀνθρώπων τὴν συνουσίαν ὑπερφυῶς ἀγαπᾷ δελέατα καὶ φίλτρα ἐξ ἑαυτῆς ἐπαγωγότατα ἐνδιδούσης ἀπὸ γενέσεως ἀρχῆς ἄχρι πανυστάτου γήρως, τῆς δὲ ἐκτόπως τὸ αὐστηρὸν καὶ περίσεμνον διαμεμίσηκε καθάπερ οἱ ἄφρονες παῖδες τὰς τῶν γονέων καὶ τρεφόντων ὠφελιμωτάτας μὲν ἀτερπεστάτας δὲ ὑφηγήσεις.
For indeed, the vast crowd of men exceedingly loves the company of the former, since she offers from herself extremely alluring baits and love-charms from the beginning of birth until the very end of old age; but they utterly detest the sternness and high solemnity of the latter, just as foolish children hate the most beneficial but most unpleasant instructions of their parents and educators.
§24τίκτουσι δ’ ἀμφότεραι, ἡ μὲν τὸν φιλήδονον, ἡ δ’ αὖ τὸν φιλάρετον ἐν ψυχῇ τρόπον.
And both of them bear children, the one the pleasure-loving disposition in the soul, and the other the virtue-loving one.
ἀλλ’ ὁ μὲν φιλήδονος ἀτελὴς καὶ ὄντως ἀεὶ παῖς ἐστι, κἂν εἰς πολυετίας αἰῶνα μήκιστον ἀφίκηται, ὁ δ’ αὖ φιλάρετος ἐν γερουσίᾳ τῆς φρονήσεως ἐξ ἔτι σπαργάνων, τὸ τοῦ λόγου δὴ τοῦτο, ἀγήρως ὢν τάττεται·
But the pleasure-loving one is incomplete and truly always a child, even if he should reach a very long lifespan of many years; while the virtue-loving one, as the saying goes, is ranked from his very swaddling clothes in the senate of wisdom, being ageless.
§25παρὸ καὶ λίαν ἐμφαντικῶς εἴρηκεν ἐπὶ τοῦ τῆς μισουμένης ὑπὸ τῶν πολλῶν ἀρετῆς γεγονότος, ὅτι „οὗτός ἐστιν ἀρχὴ τέκνων“, καὶ τάξει καὶ ἡγεμονίᾳ δήπου πρῶτος ὤν, “καὶ τούτῳ καθήκει τὰ πρωτοτόκια“νόμῳ φύσεως, οὐκ §26ἀνομίᾳ τῇ παρ’ ἀνθρώποις.
Therefore, also very emphatically, he said of the one born of virtue, which is hated by the many, "this one is the beginning of his children," as he is indeed first both in rank and in leadership; "and to this one belongs the right of the firstborn" by the law of nature, not by the lawlessness found among men.
ἑπόμενος οὖν αὐτῷ καὶ ὥσπερ ἐπὶ προτεθέντα σκοπὸν ἀφιεὶς εὐστόχως τὰ βέλη κατὰ ἀκολουθίαν εἰσάγει τὸν Ἰακὼβ γενέσει μὲν τοῦ Ἠσαῦ νεώτερον — ὅτι ἀφροσύνη μὲν ἐκ πρώτης ἡλικίας ἐστὶν ἡμῖν σύντροφος, ὀψίγονος δ’ ὁ τοῦ καλοῦ ζῆλος —, δυνάμει δὲ πρεσβύτερον· παρὸ καὶ τῶν πρωτοτοκίων ὁ μὲν Ἠσαῦ ἐξίσταται, μεταποιεῖται δ’ οὗτος εἰκότως.
Following him, then, and shooting his arrows successfully as if at a set target, he introduces in due order Jacob, who was younger than Esau in birth—since folly is our companion from our earliest age, but zeal for the beautiful is late-born—yet older in power; wherefore Esau surrenders the birthright, and Jacob reasonably claims it as his own.
§27τούτοις συνᾴδει καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῶν υἱῶν Ἰωσὴφ ἐκ πολλῆς περισκέψεως ἀνεζητημένα, ἡνίκα ἐνθουσιῶν ὁ σοφὸς ἀντικρὺς παρεστηκότων οὐκ ἐπιτίθησι ταῖς κεφαλαῖς ἐξ ἐναντίας καὶ κατ’ εὐθὺ τὰς χεῖρας ἐπενεγκών, ἀλλ’ ἐναλλάξας, ὅπως τῇ μὲν εὐωνύμῳ τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου δοκοῦντος εἶναι, τοῦ δὲ νεωτέρου τῇ δεξιᾷ ψαύσῃ (Gen. 48, 13. 14).
With these things agree also the details concerning the sons of Joseph, which were investigated with much circumspection, when the inspired wise man, as they stood directly in front of him, did not place his hands upon their heads by stretching them straight forward, but by crossing them, so that he might touch with his left hand the one who seemed to be the elder, and with his right hand the younger (Gen. 48:13-14).