‘Επεὶ δὲ πᾶσαν εὐσεβείας ὁδὸν καταλύσαντες πρὸς
 ἓν τοῦτο βλέπουσι μόνον, ὅ τι δήσουσιν ἢ λύσουσι τῶν
 6 γοῦν] οὑν d || 7 κυβισται] ’in nonnullis κυβενται.᾿ 2. 10 δησωσιν η
λύσωσι bd 
 1. περιττὸν κ. περίεργον] perhaps
’excessive in volume, and over-subtle
in character. ’ But the two words are
practically synonymous ; cf. I Tim.
v 13 φλύαροι κ. περίεργοι. 
 ib. τοῦ συντετμ. λόγου] Rom. ix
28 ; cf. Is. xxviii 22 (LXX.). 
 2. ὁ τῶν ἅλ’. μαθητὴς κ. διδάσκαλοσ]
as distinguished from the professional
fessional training of the Eunomian
disputants. It is a bold thing, in
the face of Gal. i 12, to call St Ρ.
‘ the ’s disciple ’ : probably
it is for that reason that Gr. adds
‘ and ’ He appears to have
in view such incidents as Gal. ii 14
perhaps also the Pauline influence
discernible in St Peter's Epistles. 
 4. δεινὴν ἔπιθ’. κτλ.] ’clever at
the employment of noble and choice
’ This way of using the com-
parative is familiar; it almost = nobilissimis
quibusque uerbis. 
 5. οὕτω τι καί] biting irony. Even
a little attention to conduct would
make a great difference. ‘Aσχολεῖσθαι
σθαι = ‘ to occupy oneself. ’ 
 6. καὶ ἴσως] The phrase means
(continuing the irony) that in that
case the chances would not be very
remote. 
 7. κυβισταὶ λόγων] ‘ word-tum-blers.'
Κυβιστὴς (more usually κυβιστητήρ)
is one who stands on his
head, or turns head over heels, or
(according to Elias) a diver. The
reading κυβευταὶ ’dicers,’ or ‘sharper's
(cf. Eph. iv 14), would not suggest
the ‘ ridiculous ’ image which Gr.
half apologizes for using. 
 ib. ἄτοποι κ. παράδοξοι] ‘ strange
and ’ Ἅτοπος does not
seem to be used here, as it often is,
either in the sense of ’absurd,’ i.e.
unreasonable, or in that of ‘monstrous,’
’ i.e. wicked. Gr. only emphasizes
phasizes the surprising nature of the
feats which the Eunomians perform. 
 2. No part of society is free
from their importunate wrangling;
Christianity is in danger of becoming
a matter of pettifogging logic. The
opponents must give a fatherly heart
leave to express its concern. If they
are not moved by what he says, they
will at least have the satisfaction of
rejecting and deriding it. He does
not intend to adopt their style. 
 9. καταλύσαντες] ’having ’
stroyed ’ or ‘ broken up ’ ; both for
themselves and for their disciples.
Εὐσέβεια is here practical piety. 
 10. ὅ τι δήσ. ἢ λῦσ’. τ. προβ.]
’They care for nothing but the opportunity
of tying or untying some
knotty proposition.‘ 

 
προβαλλομένων, — καθάπερ ἐν τοῖς θεάτροις οἱ τὰ παλαίσματα
δημοσιεύοντες, καὶ τῶν παλαισμάτων οὐχ ὅσα πρὸς
νίκην φέρει κατὰ νόμους ἀθλήσεως, ἀλλ’ ὅσα τὴν ὄψιν
κλέπτει τῶν ἀμαθῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ συναρπάζει τὸν
ἐπαινέτην,—καὶ καὶ πᾶσαν μὲν ἀγορὰν περιβομβεῖσθαι τοῖς 
τούτων λόγοις, πᾶν δὲ συμπόσιον ἀποκναίεσθαι φλυαρίᾳ
καὶ ἀηδίᾳ, πᾶσαν δὲ ἑορτὴν καὶ πένθος ἅπαν, τὴν μὲν
ἀνέορτον εἶναι καὶ μεστὴν κατηφείας, τὸ δὲ παραμυθεῖσθαι
συμφορᾷ μείζονι τοῖς ζητήμασι, πᾶσαν δὲ διοχλεῖσθαι
γυναικωνῖτιν, ἁπλότητι σύντροφον, καὶ τὸ τῆς αἰδοῦς ἄνθος 
ἀποσυλᾶσθαι τῇ περὶ λόγον ταχύτητι· ἐπειδὴ ταῦτα οὕτω,
καὶ τὸ κακὸν ἄσχετον καὶ ἀφόρητον, καὶ κινδυνεύει τεχνύδροιν
εἶναι τὸ μέγα ἡμῶν μυστήριον· φέρε, τοσοῦτον γοῦν
ἡμῶν ἀνασχέσθωσαν οἱ κατάσκοποι σπλάγχνοις πατρικοῖς
κινουμένων καί, ὅ φησιν ὁ θεῖος ‘Ιερεμίας, σπαρασσομένων 
τὰ αἰσθητήρια, ὅσον μὴ τραχέως τὸν περὶ τούτων δέξασθαι
 2. καὶ τῶν πάλ’.] ‘ And that too,
not stick wrestling matches ’ etc. 
 4. κλέπτει] ‘ takes unfair possession
of the ’ as opposed to the
legitimate skill in wrestling. 
 ib. τοιαῦτα] ace. after ἀμαθῶν,
‘ not versed in things οf the ’
ib. συναρπ. τ. ἐπαιν. ] an extension
of the metaphor of κλέπτει. ‘ Extorts
applause? lit. ’ the applauder.’ 
 5. περιβομβεῖσθαι] όμβος, orig.
the humming of bees, comes to be
used of any insistent and continuous
noise. 
 6. ἀποκναίεσθαι] ’to be ’
or ‘made wade tedious. ’ Demosthenes (564.
12) has the expression ἀποκναίει ἀηδιᾳ
καἰ ἀναισθήσιᾳ καθ’ ἑκάστην ἐκκλησίαν
ταῦτα λέγων, which (Jr. perhaps has
in mind. 
 8. παραμυθεῖσθαι συμΦ. μ. τοῖς ζητήμασι]
De Billy and others understand
παραμ.= βαρύνεσθαι, comparing
Job xvi. 2 παρακλήτορας κακῶν,
which they take to mean ‘ abettors
of my afflictions.’ But this seems an
unnatural sense to put upon the verb,
and it would be hard to find a parallel
example. Gr. prob. means that the
worse calamity of their disputations
relieves the lesser calamity of sorrow.
The ’comfort’ in Ezek. xiv 22, 23 is
by some interpreted in this fashion. 
 10. ἁπλ. σύντροφον] ’associated
with simplicity,’ ‘ used to ’ it ; a frequent
use of the word. 
 11. ἀποσυλ. τ. π. λόγον ταχύτητι]
cf. James i 19. To rush into argument
is, in Gr.’s view, a desecration
of the flower of womanly modesty.
It is best to take ἄνθος as the object
of ἀποσυλ., γυναῖκ’. being the subject. 
 12. τεχνύδριον] a diminutive of
τέχυη, like λογύδριον, χερύδριον, βιβλύδριον,
‘α little finicking profession.’ 
 13. τὸ μέγα ἡ. μυστήριον] 1 Tim.
iii 16. 
 14. κατάσκοποι] usually thought
to be used instead of ἐπίσκοποι. But
there is no indication that Gr. was
chiefly thinking of heretical bishops. 
 15. σπαρ. τὰ αὶσο.] Jer. iv 19
(LXX.). 

 
λόγον, καὶ τὴν γλῶσσαν μικρὸν ἐπισχόντες, ἃν ἄρα καὶ
δύνωνται, τὴν ἀκοὴν ἡμῖν ὑποθέτωσαν. πάντως δὲ οὐδὲν
ζημιωθήσεσθε. ἢ γὰρ εἰς ὦτα ἐλαλήσαμεν ἀκουόντων, καί
τινα καρπὸν ἔσχεν ὁ λόγος, τὴν ὠφέλειαν τὴν ὑμετέραν,—
 ἐπειδὴ σπείρει μὲν ὁ σπείρων τὸν λόγον ἐπὶ πᾶσαν διάνοιαν,
καρποφορεῖ δὲ ἡ καλή τε καὶ γόνιμος, — ἢ ἀπήλθετε καὶ
τοῦτο ἡμῶν διαπτύσαντες, καὶ πλείονα λαβόντες ὕλην
ἀντιλογίας τε καὶ τῆς καθ’ ἡμῶν λοιδορίας, ἵνα καὶ μᾶλλον
ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς ἑστιάσητε. μὴ θαυμάσητε δέ, εἰ παράδοξον
 ἐρῶ λόγον, καὶ παρὰ τὸν ὑμέτερον νόμον, οἳ πάντα εἰδέναι
τε καὶ διδάσκειν ὑπισχνεῖσθε λίαν νεανικῶς καὶ γενναίως,
ἵνα μὴ λυπῶ λέγων ἀμαθῶς καὶ θρασέως.