Letter 924

To Neophytus the Monk. You must not despise the commandments that seem small, but must perform these together with the great ones. For just as, when the hedge has been torn down, the plot of land is exposed to plotting, but while it remains the vineyard and the garden will be safe from any designs against it, so too, if you keep even the small commandments, the spiritual serpent [that is, the devil] cannot bite you; but if you pull down the hedge, which exists to guard the fruits within, the wicked serpent will easily plot against you.

Οὐ δεῖ καταφρονεῖν τῶν βραχέων δοκουσῶν ἐντολῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ταύτας ποιεῖν σὺν ταῖς μεγάλαις. Ὥσπερ γὰρ καθαιρεθέντος φραγμοῦ ἐπιβουλεύεται τὸ χωρίον, μένοντος δὲ τούτου δεσπιδοβούλευτος ἔσται ὁ ἀμπελὼν, καὶ ὁ παράδεισος · οὕτως ἐὰν φυλάττῃς καὶ τὰς μικρὰς ἐντολάς, ὁ νοητὸς ὄφις οὐ δύναταί σε δακεῖν · ἐὰν δὲ κατασπάσῃς τὸν φραγμὸν φυλακτικὸν ὑπάρχοντα τῶν ἔνδον καρπῶν, ὁ πονηρὸς ὄφις ῥᾳδίως ἐπιβουλεύσει σοι.