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Translation by Luke Dysinger, O.S.B. (translation in public domain)
Evagrius was the first writer to act on a suggestion found in the second book of Origen’s De Principiis. Origen first notes that God, the physician of our souls, sometimes uses painful and even agonizing remedies, like those of an earthly physician, in order to wash away the vices engendered by our sins.[1] He then notes in passing that it would be valuable for someone ‘with the leisure to do so’ to make a list of the illnesses with which malefactors are threatened in the Bible, in order to show that these refer allegorically either to the soul’s vices or to the suffering it is forced to endure.[2] Origen specifically mentions afflictions threatened in the book of Deuteronomy, and in the following chapter he alludes to similar passages in Leviticus:
| (2.10.6) […] and thus in Deuteronomy the divine word threatens that sinners are to be punished with ‘fevers, and chills and pallor’, and afflicted with ‘untrustworthy eyes, insanity, paralysis, blindness and weakness of the kidneys’ (cf. Deut 28: 22,28,29) […] (2.11.5) [One should understand] the [allegorical] meaning of the cleansing from leprosy, of the different kinds of leprosy (Lev. 13-14), and of the purification of those who suffer a seminal emission (Lev. 15:13). | (2.10.6) […] Denique in Deuteronomio sermo diuinus peccatoribus comminatur quod febribus et frigoribus et aurugine puniantur, et occulorum uacillationibus et mentis alienatione et paraplexia et caecitate ac debilitate renium cruciandi sint […] (2.11.5) quae sit quoque ratio leprae purgationis et leprae diuersae, quae etiam purificatio sit eorum, qui seminis profluuium patiuntur, aduertet; [3] |
In his Definitiones passionum animae rationalis, also known as the Thirty-Three Chapters, Evagrius lists sixteen biblical afflictions which he allegorically interprets as referring to spiritual vices. Fourteen are taken from Deuteronomy and Leviticus, one is from Isaiah, and the last comes from Luke. The illnesses are: jaundice (ἴκτερος - Lev. 26:16); convulsive back-spasm (ὀπισθότονος, Deut. 32.24); gangrene (σφακελλισμὸς, Lev. 26:16; Deut. 28:32); blindness (τυφλότης, Lev. 21.18; 26.16); paralysis (παράλυσις, Lev. 21:18); urethral discharge (γονόῤῥοια, Lev. 15:4-33); menstruation[4] (ἀποκάθισις, Lev. 15.33; 20.18); leprosy (λέπρα, Lev. 13.8-37; 14.3-57); dementia (ἔκστασις, Deut. 28:28); crushed testicles (θλάσις, Lev. 22.24; Deut. 23.1-2); nasal deformity (κολόβωσις, Lev. 21:18); mutilation of the ears (ὠτότμησις, Lev. 21.18); blotches ( ἐφηλὶς [of the eyes], Lev. 21:20); dumbness (μογιλαλία, Is. 35:6); lameness (χωλότης, Lev. 21.18); and dropsy (edema or congestive heart failure, ὕδρωψ, Luke 14:2).
Such a catalog of diseases drawn from different parts of the scriptures and including rather obscure maladies is characteristic of Evagrius, but uncommon among other Christian spiritual authors. In patristic sources biblical illnesses are generally discussed in the course of commentaries on texts in which the diseases happen to be mentioned.[5] Evagrius, however, lists in his Definitiones illnesses which are hardly ever discussed by his Alexandrian or Cappadocian precursors, despite their frequent use of medical imagery and metaphor. By following Origen’s suggestion and assembling a list of afflictions from different parts of the Scriptures Evagrius demonstrates both an interest in obscure illnesses and a conviction that they can be perceived as symbols of deeper and more dangerous spiritual illnesses.
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EVAGRIUS
the
MONK:
33 KEPHALAIA |
ΕΥΑΓΡΙΟΥ ΜΟΝΑΧΟΥ ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΑ ΛΓ´
ΚΑΤ ΑΚΟΛΟΥΘΙΑΝ |
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(from CPG: Codd., var. readings: J. Muyldermans, À Travers, p. 70, ff. (see below). Note ch. 17-33 “sumpta videntur e quodam” Evagrius, Schol. on Proverbs; c.f. A. & C. Guillaumont in Dsp IV (1960) col 1735. ff. |
CPG 2442 PG 40.1264D-1268B) [Capitula xxxiii: Clavis PG 2442; Patrologia Graeca 40:1264D-1268B = Suarèz (1673).]. |
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1. Jaundice (Lev 26:16) is the worst habit of the reasoning soul, in which it sees God or contemplates creatures erroneously. |
Αʹ. Ἴκτερος, ἔστιν ἕξις χειρίστη ψυχῆς λογικῆς, καθ' ἣν ἐσφαλμένως Θεόν τε καὶ τὴν τῶν γεγονότων θεωρίαν ὁρᾷ. |
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2. Convulsive back-spasm (Deut 32.24) is the vice of the reasoning nature, in which it becomes rigid in regard to virtue and the knowledge of God. |
Βʹ. Ὀπισθότονος, ἔστι κακία φύσεως λογικῆς, καθ' ἣν δυσκαμπὴς γίνεται πρὸς ἀρετὴν καὶ γνῶσιν τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ. |
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3. Gangrene (Lev 26:16; Deut 28:32) is a boiling up and a movement of irascibility, troubling the reasoning part of the soul. |
Γʹ. Σφακελλισμὸς, ἔστι ζέσις καὶ κίνησις θυμοῦ τὸ λογιστικὸν μέρος τῆς ψυχῆς ἐκταράττουσα. |
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4. Blindness (Lev 21:18; 26:16) is ignorance in the nous that fails to devote itself to the virtues of the praktikē and the contemplation of creatures. |
∆ʹ. Τυφλότης, ἔστιν ἄγνοια τοῦ νοῦ, ταῖς πρακτικαῖς ἀρεταῖς καὶ τῇ τῶν γεγονότων θεωρίᾳ μὴ ἐπιβάλλουσα. |
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5. Paralysis (Lev 21:18) is immobility of the reasoning soul towards the virtues of the praktikē . |
Ε´. Παράλυσις, ἔστι δυσκινησία λογιστικῆς ψυχῆς πρὸς τὰς πρακτικὰς ἀρετάς. |
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6. Urethral discharge (Lev 15:4-33) is apathy of the reasoning soul, in which it becomes accustomed to casting away the words of spiritual teaching. |
Ϛ´. Γονόῤῥοια, ἔστι ῥᾳθυμία λογικῆς ψυχῆς, καθ' ἣν ἀποβάλλειν τοὺς τῆς πνευματικῆς διδασκαλίας εἴωθε λόγους. |
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7. Menstruation (Lev. 15.33; 20.18) is powerlessness of the reasoning soul, in which it becomes accustomed to casting away the virtues perfecting it in the form of Christ. (cf. Gal 4.19) |
Ζʹ. Ἀποκάθισις, ἔστιν ἀδυναμία λογικῆς ψυχῆς, καθ' ἣν τὰς συντελούσας ἀρετὰς πρὸς τὴν μόρφωσιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἴωθεν ἀποβάλλειν. |
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Possibly ‘vaginal discharge’ or, more generally, ‘flux’. The use of ἀποκάθισις in the Septuagint is obscure, as noted in Liddell and Scott, Greek-English Lexicon, pp. 200-201 and Lampe, Patristic Greek Lexicon, p. 193. It is specifically associated with the pollution incurred through intimacy with a menstruating woman in Leviticus 15:33 and 20:18, hence the translation here. |
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8. Leprosy (Lev 13.8-37; 14.3-57; 22.4) is disbelief in the reasoning soul, by which it remains unsatisfied even while touching the logoi. |
Ηʹ. Λέπρα ἀπιστία ἐστὶν λογικῆς ψυχῆς, καθ' ἣν οὐ πληροφορεῖται ψηλαφῶσα τοὺς λόγους. |
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Possibly an allusion to the anesthesia caused by nerve-damage in advanced lepromatous leprosy. |
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9. Dementia [ekstasis] (Deut 28:28) is a plunge back into vice of the reasoning soul after [finding] virtue and the knowledge of God. |
Θʹ. Ἔκστασις, ἔστι νεῦσις πάλιν πρὸς κακίαν λογικῆς ψυχῆς μετὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ γνῶσιν τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ. |
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10. Crushed [testes] (Lev 22.24; Deut 23.1-2) is the worst habit of the reasoning soul in which it pursues the virtues, but without [seeking] the good itself. |
Ιʹ. Θλάσις, ἔστιν ἕξις χειρίστη λογικῆς ψυχῆς, καθ' ἢν μετέρχεται τὰς ἀρετὰς οὐ δι' αὐτὸ τὸ καλόν. |
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θλάσις is found in Galen, Pseudo-Galen, Oribasius and other medical writers; however among Christian spiritual authors prior to Evagrius it is used only by Didymus the Blind in his Commentary on Psalm 34.4, not in the medical, but rather in the military sense of crushing or smashing. Similarly, ἐφηλὶς, common in Galen, Pseudo-Galen, Hippocrates, Dioscorides Pedianus, and others, is found among early Christian authors only in a work of uncertain date, spuriously attributed to Gregory of Nyssa: De creatione hominis sermo primus 24.9. |
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11. Disfigurement of the nose (Lev 21:18; v.s. 4,5,12,) is deprival of the virtue of perceiving the sweet perfume of Christ. |
ΙΑʹ. Κολόβωσις ῥινὸς, ἔστι στέρησις ἀρετῆς ἀντιλαμβανομένης εὐωδίας τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ. |
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12. Mutilation of the ears (Lev 21.18) is hardness of the reasoning soul, resisting the spiritual teaching. |
ΙΒʹ. Ὠτότμησις. ἔστι σκληρία λογικῆς ψυχῆς πρὸς τὴν πνευματικὴν διδασκαλίαν ἀνθέλκουσα. |
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θλάσις is found in Galen, Pseudo-Galen, Oribasius and other medical writers; however among Christian spiritual authors prior to Evagrius it is used only by Didymus the Blind in his Commentary on Psalm 34.4, not in the medical, but rather in the military sense of crushing or smashing. |
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13. Blotches ( [of the eyes in] Lev. 21:20) are a falling away from spiritual contemplation, or failure to truly apprehend the contemplation of creatures. |
ΙΓʹ. Ἐφηλὶς, ἔστι πνευματικῆς θεωρίας ἔκπτωσις, ἢ τῆς τῶν γεγονότων θεωρίας οὐκ ἀληθὴς κατανόησις. |
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ἐφηλὶς, common in Galen, Pseudo-Galen, Hippocrates, Dioscorides Pedianus, and others, is found among early Christian authors only in a work of uncertain date, spuriously attributed to Gregory of Nyssa: De creatione hominis sermo primus 24.9. |
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14. Dumbness (Is 35:6) is a passion of the reasoning portion of the soul in which it takes offense at things that have come to be, and is unable to give thanks to God in everything. |
Ι∆ʹ. Μογιλαλία, ἔστι πάθος τοῦ λογιστικοῦ μέρους τῆς ψυχῆς, καθ' ὃ σκανδαλιζόμενος ἐπὶ τοῖς γινομένοις ἐν παντὶ εὐχαριστεῖν ἀδυνατεῖ τῷ Θεῷ. |
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15. Lameness (Lev. 21.18) is incapacity of the reasoning nature towards accomplishing the virtues |
ΙΕʹ. Χωλότης, ἔστιν ἀδυναμία φύσεως λογικῆς πρὸς τὴν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐργασίαν. |
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16. Dropsy (Luk 14:2) is the irrational deviation of the soul according to which the virtues are extinguished and evil and ignorance achieve mastery. |
ΙϚ´. Ὕδρωψ, ἔστιν ἔκκλισις ἄλογος ψυχῆς, καθ' ἣν σβεσθεισῶν τῶν ἀρετῶν ἐπικρατεῖ κακία καὶ ἀγνωσία |
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Ὕδρωψ , from ὕδωρ, referring to the “watery” edema (swelling) of abdomen and legs in advanced congestive heart failure. |
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[1] Origen, De Principiis 2.10.6, SC 252, p. 386, li. 195-197: ‘medicum nostrum deum uolentem diluere uitia animarum nostrarum, quae ex peccatorum et scelerum diuersitate collegerant, uti huiuscemodi poenalibus curis.’
[2] Origen, De Principiis 2.10.6, SC 252, p. 388, li. 205-210: ‘Si qui ergo ex otio de omni scriptura congreget omnes languorum commemorationes, quae in comminatione peccatoribus uelut corporearum aegritudinum appellationibus memorantur, inueniet quod animarum uel uitia uel supplicia per haec figuraliter indicentur.’
[3] Origen, De Principiis 2.10.6, SC 252, p. 388, li 200-205; 2.11.5, p. 404, li. 160-164.
[5] Origen in Homily 4.6 on Exodus interprets the sixth plague of boils as an allegory of insidious and inflamed malice, while ‘fever’ represents madness and ‘the insanity of hatred’.
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