Deuteronomy’s war exemptions: house, vineyard, betrothal, fear
more earthy things. And indeed in Deuteronomy it has been written again: ‘If you go out unto war upon your enemies, and see horse and rider, and a people more than you, you will not fear from them, because the Lord your God is with you, who led you up from Egypt’s land, and it will be when you draw near to the war, and the priest having drawn near will speak to the people, and will say toward them: Hear, Israel, you go forward today unto the war upon your enemies; let not your heart be loosened; do not fear, nor be shattered, nor turn aside from their face; because the Lord your God, who goes forward with you, will war together with you your enemies to save you. And the scribes will speak toward the people, saying: Who is the human who has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? Let him go and turn back into his house, lest he die in the war, and another human dedicate it. And who is the human who has planted a vineyard, and has not been gladdened from it? Let him go and turn back into his house, lest he die in the war, and another human be gladdened from it. And who is the human who has betrothed a woman, and has not taken her? Let him go and turn back into his house, lest he die in the war, and another human take her. And the scribes will add to speak toward the people, and will say: Who is the human who fears and is cowardly in heart? Let him go and turn back into his house, so that he may not make cowardly his brother’s heart, just as his own.’
Palladius: But that those who have taken courage upon God must be conspicuous in virtues and play the man toward every good thing whatever, I myself also would say. Yet some are sent away from the war as unsuited—how or in what manner I am not able to learn.
Cyril: Or do you not know that one would not become of good reputation beside God, nor would anyone choose to endure the toils for the piety unto him, unless he was considering the life in this world a sojourning? Which was being written for us most excellently and evidently, as in image and types, in the saints’ ways of life. For divine Abraham was sojourning in tents, and was making the running-across from places unto places; and all Israel according to the wilderness was making frequent departures, and has dwelt in tents. And the prophet David also very much boasts in this, saying thus toward God: ‘Spare me, because I am a sojourner in the earth and a passer-by, just as all my fathers.’ And he was very much accepting the dwellings above, saying thus: ‘How beloved are your tents, Lord of the powers! My soul longs and fails unto the Lord’s courts.’ Such ones therefore mind the things above, and thirst for the dwellings in the heavens, which the Savior himself also promises to those who love him, saying: ‘I go, and will prepare a place for you, and will come again, and will take you along with myself, so that where I am, you also
Greek
γεωδέστερα. Καὶ γοῦν ἐν τῷ Δευτερονομίῳ γέγραπται πάλιν· «Ἐὰν ἐξέλθῃς εἰς πόλεμον ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου, καὶ ἴδῃς ἵππον καὶ ἀναβάτην, καὶ λαὸν πλείονά σου, οὐ φοβηθήσῃ ἀπ' αὐτῶν, ὅτι Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου μετὰ σοῦ, ὁ ἀναβιβάσας σε ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, καὶ ἔσται ὅταν ἐγγίσῃς τῷ πολέμῳ, καὶ προσεγγίσας ὁ ἱερεὺς λαλήσει τῷ λαῷ, καὶ ἐρεῖ πρὸς αὐτούς· Ἄκουε, Ἰσραὴλ, ὑμεῖς προπορεύεσθε σήμερον εἰς τὸν πόλεμον ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν, μὴ ἐκλυέσθω ἡ καρδία ὑμῶν, μὴ φοβεῖσθε, μηδὲ θραύεσθε, μηδὲ ἐκκλίνητε ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτῶν· ὅτι Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ὑμῶν, ὁ προπορευόμενος μεθ' ὑμῶν, συμπολεμήσει ὑμῖν τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν διασῶσαι ὑμᾶς. Καὶ λαλήσουσιν οἱ γραμματεῖς πρὸς τὸν λαὸν, λέγοντες· Τίς ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ οἰκοδομήσας οἰκίαν καινὴν, καὶ οὐκ ἐνεκαίνισεν αὐτήν; Πορευέσθω καὶ ἀποστραφήτω εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ, μὴ ἀποθάνῃ ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ, καὶ ἄνθρωπος ἕτερος ἐγκαινιεῖ αὐτήν. Καὶ τίς ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὅστις ἐφύτευσεν ἀμπελῶνα, καὶ οὐκ εὐφράνθη ἀπ' αὐτοῦ; Πορευέσθω καὶ ἀποστραφήτω εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ, μὴ ἀποθάνῃ ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ, καὶ ἄνθρωπος ἕτερος εὐφρανθήσεται ἐξ αὐτοῦ. Καὶ τίς ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὅστις μεμνήστευται γυναῖκα, καὶ οὐκ ἔλαβεν αὐτήν; Πορευέσθω καὶ ἀποστραφήτω εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ, μὴ ἀποθάνῃ ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ, καὶ ἄνθρωπος ἕτερος λήψεται αὐτήν. Καὶ προσθήσουσιν οἱ γραμματεῖς λαλῆσαι πρὸς τὸν λαὸν, καὶ ἐροῦσι· Τίς ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ φοβούμενος καὶ δειλὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ; Πορευέσθω καὶ ἀποστραφήτω εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ, ἵνα μὴ δειλιάνῃ τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ, ὥσπερ ἡ αὐτοῦ.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἀλλ' ὅτι χρὴ μὲν τεθαῤῥηκότας ἐπὶ Θεῷ διαπρέπειν ἀρεταῖς καὶ πρὸς πᾶν ὁτιοῦν ἀνδρίζεσθαι τῶν ἀγαθῶν, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐγὼ φαίην ἄν. Ἀποπέμπονται δὲ τοῦ πολέμου τινὲς, ὡς ἀνεπιτήδειοι, πῶς ἢ τίνα τρόπον οὐκ ἔχω μαθεῖν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἢ οὐκ οἶσθα ὅτι οὐκ ἂν εὐδόκιμος γένοιτο παρὰ Θεῷ, ἀλλ' οὐδ' ἂν ἕλοιτό τις τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν εὐσεβείας ἀνατλῆναι πόνους, εἰ μὴ παροικίαν ἡγεῖτο τὴν ἐν τῷδε τῷ κόσμῳ ζωήν; Ὅπερ ἡμῖν ἄριστά τε καὶ ἐναργῶς, ὡς ἐν εἰκόνι καὶ τύποις, ἐν ταῖς τῶν ἁγίων ἐγράφετο πολιτείαις. Παρῴκει μὲν γὰρ ἐν σκηναῖς ὁ θεσπέσιος Ἀβραὰμ, καὶ τὴν ἐκ τόπων εἰς τόπους ἐποιεῖτο παραδρομήν· καὶ ἅπας δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον ὁ Ἰσραὴλ συχνὰς ἐποιεῖτο τὰς ἀπάρσεις, καὶ κατῴκηκεν ἐν σκηναῖς. Ἐπισεμνύνεται δὲ τούτῳ λίαν καὶ ὁ προφήτης Δαβὶδ, οὕτω λέγων πρὸς τὸν Θεόν· «Ἄνες μοι, ὅτι πάροικός εἰμι ἐν τῇ γῇ καὶ παρεπίδημος, καθὼς πάντες οἱ πατέρες μου.» Ἀπεδέχετο δὲ σφόδρα τὰς ἄνω μονὰς, οὕτω λέγων· «Ὡς ἀγαπητὰ τὰ σκηνώματά σου, Κύριε τῶν δυνάμεων! Ἐπιποθεῖ καὶ ἐκλείπει ἡ ψυχή μου εἰς τὰς αὐλὰς τοῦ Κυρίου.» Φρονοῦσι δὴ οὖν οἱ τοιοῦτοι τὰ ἄνω, καὶ τὰς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς διψῶσι μονὰς, ἃς καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Σωτὴρ τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτὸν ὑπισχνεῖται, λέγων· «Πορεύομαι, καὶ ἑτοιμάσω τόπον ὑμῖν, καὶ πάλιν ἥξω, καὶ παραλήψομαι ὑμᾶς μετ' ἐμαυτοῦ, ἵνα ὅπου εἰμὶ ἐγὼ, καὶ ὑμεῖς
About this text
Cyril continues the dialogue with Palladius. Book 5 of a seventeen-book dialogue — not the whole work.
English follows Migne PG 68 (Aubert reprint). The PDF and a cleaned text of the same print were checked against each other. This page is Book 5 of seventeen. This is a reading translation for study, not a new critical edition of the Greek.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Migne PG 68 De adoratione Book 5 (Aubert reprint) (Greek · Book 5)
- Checked print PDF of PG 68 De adoratione (Greek · Book 5)
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.