Letter 705

To the Same Person. The passion-laden thoughts of the demons prove to be prolific, after the manner of hares. For the wicked notion once admitted into the soul gives birth to many other reasonings, one being altered and transformed out of another. And such may well be what is said in the psalm, namely that "the sheep of the strangers" -- that is to say, of the sons of the demons -- "are prolific, multiplying in their goings forth." [an allusion to Psalm 143:13 in the Septuagint, 144:13 in the Hebrew numbering]

Τὰ τῶν δαιμόνων ἐμπαθῆ νοήματα, δίκην λαγωῶν πολύγονα τυγχάνει. Τὸ γὰρ ὑποληφθὲν τῇ ψυχῇ πονη- ρὸν ἐνθύμημα, πολλοὺς ἄλλους ἀποτίκτει λογισμούς, ἕτερον ἐξ ἑτέρου μεταλλαττόμενον τε καὶ μεταμορ- φούμενον. Καὶ τοιοῦτον ἄν ᾖ τὸ λεχθὲν ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ, ὅτι « Τὰ πρόβατα τῶν ἀλλοτρίων, υἱῶν δη- λαδὴ τῶν δαιμόνων, πολυτόκα, πληθύνοντα ἐν ταῖς ἐξόδοις αὐτῶν. »