§7.5(5) Στιχ. ε΄.
(5) Verse 5.
Μὴ δῶτε τὸ ἄγιον τοῖς κυσὶ, μηδὲ βάλητε τοὺς μαργαρίτας ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν χοίρων. . . §7.6Στιχ. ς΄.
"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine..." Verse 6.
Αἰτεῖτε, καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν· ζητεῖτε, καὶ εὑρήσετε· κρούετε, καὶ ἀνοιγήσεται ὑμῖν. Ἵνα μὴ ἀγνοῶσιν οἱ μαθηταὶ, τίνες εἰσὶν κύνες, ἢ χοῖροι ἐν τοῖς ἀκροαταῖς, ἐπιμόνως ζητήσατε, φησὶν, ἐκ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἀποκαλύπτεται ὑμῖν πάντα. Ἀρχὴ μὲν γὰρ ἀρετῆς τὸ διʼ εὐχῆς γνῶναι τὸ ἀγαθόν· εἶτα τὸ εἰδέναι πῶς δεῖ ὁδεῦσαι τὴν ἀρετήν τρίτον τὸ διὰ τῶν ἔργων κρούειν ἀνοιγῆναι αὐτῷ τὴν θύραν.
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Lest the disciples should be ignorant of who among the hearers are dogs or swine, "Seek insistently," he says, "from God, and all things are revealed to you." For the beginning of virtue is to know the good through prayer; then to know how one ought to walk in virtue; thirdly, to knock through deeds so that the door may be opened to him.
Τοῦτο γὰρ σημαίνει ἡ διὰ τῶν χειρῶν κροῦσις.
For this is what the knocking with the hands signifies.
Τρισσᾶς γὰρ ἡ τῶν σωτηρίων δογμάτων ἀλήθεια λαμβάνεται, ἐπιμελεῖ εὐχῇ, καὶ τοῦ ἡγεμονικοῦ ἐν τῷ ζητεῖν τὰ θεῖα καταστάσει, καὶ περὶ τοῦ εὑρεῖν συναισθήτως τῆς τῶν κεκρυμμένων Γραφῶν ἀσφαλείας τὸ βάθος, ἀκριβεῖ πολυπραγμοσύνῃ· οὕτω γὰρ ἀνοίγεσθαί φησι τὰς Γραφάς.
For the truth of the saving doctrines is received in three ways: by diligent prayer, and by the establishment of the ruling principle in seeking divine things, and by precise inquiry concerning the finding of the depth of the hidden Scriptures while sensing their certainty; for in this way, he says, the Scriptures are opened.
§7.9Στιχ. θ΄.
Verse 9.
Τᾶς ἐξ ὑμῶν ἄνθρωπος, ὂν ἐὸν αἰτήσῃ δ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἄρτον, μὴ λίθον ἐπιδώσει αὐτῷ; Στιχ. ι΄.
"What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?" Verse 10.
Καὶ ἐὰν ἰχθὺν αἰτήσῃ, μὴ ὄφιν ἐπιδώσει αὐτῷ; Ὅρα δὲ εἰ γνῶσις τροφὴ, ἧς ἄνω οὐκ ἔστι σώζεσθαι· οἷον ὁ περὶ τοῦ πῶς βρωτέον ἀκριβὴς λόγος.
"Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?" Observe whether knowledge is food, without which it is not possible to be saved; such as the precise discourse concerning how one ought to eat.
Ἰχθὺς δὲ καὶ οἷον ὄψον φιλομαθεῖ τὸ εἰδέναι σύστασιν κόσμου, ἐνέργειαν στοιχείων, ἀρχὴν καὶ τέλος καὶ μεσότητα, καὶ ὅσα ἐξῆς ἡ σοφία λέγει.
And fish, and as it were a side-dish, is for the lover of learning to know the constitution of the world, the operation of the elements, the beginning and ending and midst, and all the things that wisdom says next.
Οὕτε ἀντὶ τοῦ ἄρτου λίθον δίδωσιν ὁ Θεὸς, ὂν ὁ διάβολος ἐσθίεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐβούλετο· οὕτε ἀντὶ ἰχθύος ὄφιν, ὂν ἐσθίουσιν οἱ ἀνάξιοι τοῦ ἰχθὺν ἐσθίειν Αἰθίοπες.
Neither does God give a stone instead of bread, which the devil wished to be eaten by Jesus; nor instead of a fish a serpent, which the Ethiopians eat, who are unworthy to eat fish.
Πῶς δὲ τοὺς μαθητὰς πονηροὺς ἐκάλεσεν;
And why did he call the disciples evil?
Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἠκολούθουν ἐκ προαιρέσεως, ἀλλʼ εἶχον τὸ τρεπτὸν τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου.
For even if they followed by choice, yet they had the mutability of human nature.
Μόνον δὲ ἄτρεπτος ἦν καὶ θεότητι καὶ ἀνθρωπότητι ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Υἱός.
But only the Son of God was immutable both in divinity and in humanity.
Δόματα δὲ ἀγαθὰ καλεῖ τὰς πνευματικὰς δωρεάς.
And by "good gifts" he means spiritual gifts.
Ὁ δὲ Λουκᾶς Πνεῦμα ἅγιον εἶπεν, ἀντὶ τοῦ εἰπεῖν ἀγαθά. Καὶ οὐδὲν τὸ διάφορον.
But Luke said "Holy Spirit" instead of saying "good things." And there is no difference.
Τὸ γὰρ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα αὐτό ἐστι τὸ φῶς ἀγαθόν· διὸ καὶ τοῖς μετόχοις αὐτοῦ δίδωσιν ἀγαθά.
For the Holy Spirit itself is the good light; wherefore He also gives good things to those who partake of Him.
Τοῖς δὲ ἄγαν πονηροῖς, διὰ τὸ ἀνενδότως ἁμαρτάνειν τρόπον τινὰ φύσις αὐτοῖς ἡ κακία γίνεται· οἷός ἐστιν ὁ Σατανᾶς καὶ οἱ δαίμονες.
But for the exceedingly evil, through sinning unyieldingly, in a certain way evil becomes their nature; such as Satan and the demons.
Δύναται γάρ τις καὶ τούτους φύσει κακοὺς εἰπεῖν, καίπερ μὴ φύσει κακοὺς δημιουργηθέντας, ἀλλʼ ἐξ αὐτοπροαιρέτου κακίας ἀπεσκληκότας.
For one can call even these evil by nature, although they were not created evil by nature, but became hardened from self-chosen evil.