Saturday, October 12, 2013

Gone to meddlin'

"An elder said:  'The prophets made [(ἐποίησαν)] the books; our fathers came and practised [(ἠργάσαντο)] them.  Those who [came] after those learned them by heart [(ἐξέλαβον ... ἐκ στήθους)].  Then there came this generation; they wrote them out then set them in the niches, unused [(ἔγραψεν ... καὶ ἔθηκεν εἰς τὰς θυρίδας ἀργά)].'"

Εἶπεν γέρων·  Οἱ προφῆται τὰ βιβλία ἐποίησαν, καὶ ἦλον οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν καὶ ἠργάσαντο αὐτά·  οἱ δὲ μετ᾿ αὐτοὺς ἐξέλαβον αὐτὰ ἐκ στήθους, ἦλθε δὲ ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη καὶ ἔγραψεν αὐτὰ καὶ ἔθηκεν εἰς τὰς θυρίδας ἀργά.

     Anonymous saying of the Desert Fathers no. 228/10.191.  The anonymous sayings of the Desert Fathers:  a select edition and complete English translation, ed. & trans. John Wortley (Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press, 2013), 163.  ἀργά means "shining, glistening"

"An elder said:  'The prophets made the books; our fathers came and practised them.  Those who [came] after those learned them by heart.  Then there came this generation; they wrote them out then set them in the niches, unused.'"

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