‘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.