Letter 60

Nilus of AncyraKalandion|c. 415 AD|nilus ancyra|From Ancyra|AI-assisted

To Kalandion.

"The words of cunning knaves are soft, yet they strike into the inner chambers of the belly" [Proverbs 18:8 LXX]. By "cunning knaves" [kerkopes, a byword for trickster-rogues] Solomon names those who act foxily and deal deceitfully. Therefore David says: "Do not destroy me, O God, together with those who speak peace to their neighbor, but evil is in their hearts" [Psalm 27:3 LXX]. "For their words were made softer than oil, yet they themselves are darts that wound" [Psalm 54:22 LXX].

AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.

Latin / Greek Original

«Λόγοι κερκώπων μαλακοί, πίπτουσι δὲ εἰς τὰ ταμεῖα κοιλίας.» Κέρκωπας ὀνομάζει ὁ Σολομὼν τοὺς ἀλωπεκίζοντας καὶ δολιευομένους. Διό φησιν ὁ Δαυΐδ· «Μή με συναπολέσῃς, ὁ Θεός, μετὰ τῶν λαλούντων εἰρήνην πρὸς τὸν πλησίον, κακὰ δὲ ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν.» — «Ἠπαλύνθησαν γὰρ λόγοι ὑπὲρ ἔλαιον, καὶ αὐτοὶ βολίδες ὑπάρχουσι τιτρώσκαι.»

Revision history

  1. 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import

    Initial corpus import from modern nilus ancyra workflow v1.

    Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: project source import

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