Letter 220

To Eustathius the Deacon. "Iron," says the psalm, "his soul passed through" [Psalm 104:18 LXX] -- the soul, that is, of Joseph. It seems to me that by "iron" he is speaking enigmatically of sin, the sin to which Potiphar's wife urged the chaste young man. For sin, since it cuts the soul and slays it, might fittingly be called iron.

« Σίδηρον, φησὶν ὁ ψαλμὸς, διῆλθεν ἡ ψυχὴ » τοῦ Ἰωσήφ. Σίδηρον ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν αἰνιγμα- τωδῶς λέγων, ἐφ’ ᾗ παρεκάλει τὸν ἁγνὸν νεανίαν τὸ τοῦ Πετεφροῦ γύναιον. Σίδηρος γὰρ τέμνων ψυχήν, καὶ φονεύων, ἡ ἁμαρτία εἰκότως ἂν ῥηθείη.