Letter 122: You seem not to realize that the same word, the same phrase, and the same statement, when spoken with a different...

To Alypius. On why the leper and the man with a flux were excluded from the sacred precincts. Since you found fault, I do not know how, with those who bring forward the spiritual senses and transpose the letter into the spirit, even though they often say things profitable to their hearers, and since you earnestly urged that the matters themselves be interpreted for you, and you put forward the question for what cause the leper and the man with a flux, and those sick with the other involuntary diseases, were shut out from the sacred precincts, I for my part wished to keep silent; for it is neither easy, nor, even if it were easy, would it be fitting to parade publicly the mysteries of nature. But since you have pressed me even with a second letter, I will state it, so far as I am able, in a compressed way. For since it had been ordained, both because of the dignity of men and because of the honor of women, and on account of the matter itself (for such a thing breathes of holiness), and [it was commanded], "You shall not go in to a woman in the uncleanness of her impurity" [Leviticus 18:19]; yet many, when their women are in their menstrual flow and being purified, or even happen to be pregnant, consort with them through frenzy and licentiousness, or rather madness, and those women too, I know not how, endure it (whereas the irrational animals, after conception, do not come together for intercourse; and for this reason some say the woman was called "more female" [thelytera], by comparison with the female animals, since these admit intercourse for the succession of the race, but women perhaps through frenzy and licentiousness, even though at that time the female desire is extinguished; for nature, which is occupied with the forming of the living creature, is the same as that occupied with the purgation); and it often came about that the man's seed, mixed with the impure blood of the female, would mold a body neither pure nor well-tempered, but susceptible to manifold afflictions; the lawgiver, wishing to forestall these evils, banished from this place those born of such unions, and separated them from the sacred assemblies, so that they might no longer dare to do such things. That this is the cause is plain from what is written in Ezekiel. For there God, proclaiming the righteous man and disowning the sinner, said of the one that he had not approached a woman in her menstruation, and of the other that he had approached her [Ezekiel 18:6]. And if you should say that the punishment ought to have been appointed for those who do these things, I would say: And what punishment is harsher than this? For whenever they should see those born from them, whom they may chance to see far more approved than themselves, sharing neither in prayers, nor in festivals, nor in cities, nor in sacred assemblies, consider how great a torment they will undergo. For on account of this, that other thing too, as I think, has been laid down by law: "And every soul that is not circumcised on the eighth day shall be utterly destroyed from his people" [Genesis 17:14]. Which some have set aside as irrational, transferring the saying to the circumcision of the soul. For it ought to have been said, they claimed, that the one who does not circumcise his child shall be utterly destroyed, not indeed the infant who is the gift. But I, even if the saying looks properly to the soul, do not on that account set aside the letter. For here too the same sense will be preserved. For to the fathers the punishment is more grievous, when the children are utterly destroyed. For those children, perhaps, even if they should die before the age that discerns good and not-good things, will not know, even if they have come to be under punishment. But if they should come to the discerning age, they would not bear the matter very hard, since habit makes the punishment easier, and especially when the charge is not even voluntary. The parents, however, will endure an insupportable punishment. If, then, what has been said about the involuntary afflictions has been understood by you (for about the voluntary ones I do not think you would inquire; for you know that Uzziah, having leapt upon the priesthood unfittingly, even though he was a king, was struck with leprosy [2 Chronicles 26:16-21]), give thanks to God. But if not, I would deserve to find acceptance from those who understand, that I here preferred what is seemly and reverent to clarity, by not parading publicly the mysteries of nature.

Ἐπειδὴ τοὺς τὰς θεωρίας ὑποφαίνοντας (66), καὶ τὸ γράμμα εἰς τὸ πνεῦμα μεταρυθμίζοντας, οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅπως αἰτιασάμενος, καίτοι πολλάκις ὠφέλιμά τινα τοῖς ἀκρωμένοις λέγοντας, αὐτὰ τὰ πράγματα ἑρμηνευθῆναι σοι λιπαρῶς παρεκάλεσας, καὶ προεβάλ[λ]ου δι’ ἣν αἰτίαν ὁ λεπρὸς καὶ ὁ γονοῤῥυής, οἵ τε τὰ ἄλλα νοσοῦντες ἀκούσια νοσήματα, ἀπελήφθησαν τῶν ἱερῶν περιβόλων· ἐβουλόμην μὲν σιγῆσαι· οὔτε γὰρ ῥᾴδιον, οὔτε εἰ ῥᾴδιον ἦν, ἔπρεπε τὰ τῆς φύσεως ἐκπομπεύειν μυστήρια. Ἀλλ’ ἐπειδὴ καὶ δευτέροις ἐξεδίάσω με γράμμασιν, ὡς ἂν οἷός τε ὦ, συνεσταλμένως φράσω. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τεθέσπιστο, καὶ διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀνδρῶν σεμνότητα, καὶ διὰ τὴν τῶν γυναικῶν τιμήν, καὶ δι’ αὐτὸ τὸ πρᾶγμα (ὁσιότητος γὰρ τὸ τοιοῦτ’ πνεῖ), καὶ Πρὸς γυναῖκα ἐν καθαρισμῷ ἀκαθαρσίας αὐτῆς οὐκ εἰσελεύσῃ· πολλοὶ δὲ ἐν ἀφ- ἐδρῶ οὔσαις καὶ καθαιρομέναις ταῖς γυναιξίν, ἢ καὶ ἐγκύους τυγχανούσαις, δι’ οἶστρον καὶ ἀκολασίαν, μᾶλλον δὲ μανίαν, ὁμιλοῦσε, κἀκεῖναι οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅπως ἀνέχονται (67) (καίτοι τῶν ἀλόγων ζώων μετὰ τὴν σύλληψιν εἰς κοινωνίαν μὴ ἀπαντώντων. Διὸ καὶ θηλυτέραν φασί τινες κεκλῆσθαι τὴν γυναῖκα, κατὰ σύγκρισιν τῶν θηλέων ζώων, ὡς τούτων μὲν διὰ τὴν διαδοχὴν τοῦ γένους καταδεχομένων τὴν κοινωνίαν· τῶν δὲ γυναικῶν ἴσως δι’ οἶστρον καὶ ἀκολασίαν, καίτοι τότε σβεννυμένης τῆς γυναικείας ἐπιθυμίας. Ἡ γάρ φύσις, ἡ περὶ τὴν διάπλασιν τοῦ ζώου ἀσχολεῖται, ἡ περὶ τὴν κάθαρσιν)· συνέβαινε δὲ πολλάκις τὸ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς σπέρμα, τῷ ἀκαθάρτῳ τῆς θηλείας αἵματι μιγνύμενον, σῶμα ἀναπλάττειν οὐ καθαρόν, οὐδὲ εὔκρατον, ἀλλὰ ποικίλοις πάθεσιν εὐάλωτον· ταῦτα βουλόμενος ὁ νομοθέτης προαναστεῖλαι τὰ κακά, τοὺς ἐκ τ[ο]ιούτων συνουσιῶν τεχθέντας, ἀπεκήρυξεν ἐνταῦθα, καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν συνόδων ἀφώρισεν, ἵνα μηκέτι τολμήσειαν τοιαῦτα δρᾶν. Ὅτι δὲ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ αἰτία, δῆλον ἐκ τῶν ἐν τῷ Ἰεζεκιὴλ ἀναγεγραμμένων. Ἐκεῖσε γὰρ τὸν μὲν δίκαιον ἀνακηρύττων ὁ Θεός, τὸν δὲ ἁμαρτωλὸν ἀποκηρύττων, τὸν μὲν ἔφησε γυναικὶ ἐν ἀφέδρῳ οὐ προσεληλυθέναι, τὸν δὲ προσεληλυθέναι. Εἰ δὲ φαίης, τοῖς δρῶσι τὴν τιμωρίαν ὁρῖσαι ἐχρῆν, φαίην· Καὶ ποῖα ταύτης τιμωρία χαλεπωτέρα; Ὅταν γὰρ ἴδοιεν τοὺς ἐξ αὐτῶν τεχθέντας, οὓς τύχοιτο πολλῷ ἑαυτῶν δοκιμωτέρους (68) ἰδεῖν, μήτε εὐχῶν, μήτε πανηγύρεων, μήτε πόλεων, μήτε ἱερῶν συνόδων μετέχοντας· σκόπει πόσην ὑποστήσονται βάσανον. Διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο, κἀκεῖνο, ὥς οἶμαι, νεμοθετῆται, Καὶ ἔσται πᾶσα ψυχή, ἥτις ἂν μὴ περιτμηθῇ τῇ ὀγδόῃ ἡμέρᾳ, ἐξολοθρευθήσεται ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτῆς. Ὅπερ τινὲς ὡς ἄλογον παρεγράψαντο (69), τῶν εἰς τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς περιτομὴν τὸ ῥητὸν μετακομισάντων. Ἐχρῆν γὰρ, ἔφασαν, ῥηθῆναι, τὸν μὴ περιτέμνοντα τὸ παιδίον αὐτοῦ ἐξολοθρευθήσεται, μὴ μὴν τὸ δῶρον νήπιον. Ἐγὼ δέ, εἰ καὶ πρὸς τὴν ψυχὴν βλέπει κυρίως ὁ λόγος, οὐδὲ τὸ γράμμα παραγράφομαι. Κἀνταῦθα γὰρ ἡ αὐτὴ ἔννοια σωθήσεται. Τοῖς γὰρ πατράσιν ἀργαλεωτέρα ἐστὶν ἡ τιμωρία, ὅταν τὰ παιδία ἐξολοθρευθεῖεν. Ἐκεῖνα μὲν γὰρ τυχὸν, εἰ καὶ πρὸς τῆς διαγνωστικῆς τῶν καλῶν καὶ τῶν οὐ τοιούτων ἡλικίας τελευτήσειεν, οὐδ’ εἰ ἐν τιμωρίᾳ γεγόνασιν, εἴσονται. Εἰ δὲ ἐλθοῖεν εἰς τὴν διαγνωστικὴν ἡλικίαν, οὐ πάνυ χαλεπῶς ἐνέγκοιεν τὸ πρᾶγμα, τῆς συνηθείας τὴν τιμωρίαν ἐξυμαριζούσης, καὶ μάλιστα, ὅτε (70) οὐδὲ ἑκουσίον ἐστὶ τὸ ἔγκλημα. Οἱ δὲ γονεῖς ἀνυπόστατον ὑπομενοῦσι τὴν τιμωρίαν. Εἰ τοίνυν νενόηταί σοι τὸ εἰρημένον περὶ τῶν ἀκουσίων παθῶν (περὶ γὰρ τῶν ἑκουσίων οὐκ ἂν οἶμαί σε ζητήσειν· οἶσθα γὰρ ὡς Ὀζίας τῇ ἱερωσύνῃ οὐ δεόντως ἐπιπηδήσας, καίτοι βασιλεὺς ὢν, ἐπεπρώθη), τῷ Θεῷ χάριν ἴσθι. Εἰ δὲ μὴ, ἀποδοχῆς ἂν εἴην δίκαιος παρὰ τῶν νοούντων τυχεῖν, ὅτι τὸ πρέπον καὶ τὸ σεμνὸν τῆς σαφηνείας ἐνταῦθα προετίμησα, τὰ τῆς φύσεως μὴ ἐκπομπεύσας μυστήρια.