{"slug":"stoa0022.stoa031.opp-lat1","id":"latin:ogl-pl:stoa0022.stoa031.opp-lat1","title":"De Institutione Virginis Et Sanctae Mariae Virginitate Perpetua","title_source":"De Institutione Virginis Et Sanctae Mariae Virginitate Perpetua","author":"Ambrosius","genre":"treatise","date":"","tradition":"latin","coverage":"not-located","coverage_claim":{"status":"not-located","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},"publication":{"status":"machine-draft","reviewed_by":null,"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","generated":"2026-11-15T07:59:00Z","cost_usd":0.02311},"source":{"registry_id":"latin:ogl-pl:stoa0022.stoa031.opp-lat1","work_id":"stoa0022.stoa031.opp-lat1","edition":"ogl-pl","language":"","license":"Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/patrologia_latina-dev/blob/master/data/stoa0022/stoa031/stoa0022.stoa031.opp-lat1.xml"},"stats":{"passages":56,"english_words":13287,"coptic_letters":0,"source_letters":49986,"commentary_units":262,"commentary_kinds":9,"derived_notes":3,"ambiguities":70,"work_notes":0,"external_links":0,"timeline":0},"summary":{},"links":[{"kind":"source","label":"Open Greek and Latin Patrologia Latina","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/patrologia_latina-dev/blob/master/data/stoa0022/stoa031/stoa0022.stoa031.opp-lat1.xml"}],"checks":{"work":"stoa0022.stoa031.opp-lat1","status":"warn","blocking":[],"warnings":[{"code":"commentary-length","i":"6"},{"code":"commentary-single-kind","i":"31","kind":"scripture"}],"stats":{"passages":56,"translated":56,"commentary_passages":44,"commentary_units":262,"english_words":13287,"source_letters":49755,"commentary_kinds":9},"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor"},"work_notes":[],"derived_work_notes":[{"kind":"coverage","severity":"info","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},{"kind":"limit","severity":"caution","text":"The English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve."},{"kind":"register","severity":"info","text":"Register: treatise in Latin; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them."},{"kind":"structure","severity":"info","text":"Passages: 56 narrative."},{"kind":"scripture","severity":"info","text":"3 scriptural phrase match(es) noted: John 1:1; John 1:14; John 4:10."},{"kind":"source","severity":"info","text":"Source edition: ogl-pl — Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License"}],"derived_structure":{"narrative":56},"term_index":[],"citations":{},"segments":[{"i":1,"ref":"p1","source":"SANCTI AMBROSII MEDIOLANENSIS EPISCOPI DE INSTITUTIONE VIRGINIS ET S. MARIÆ VIRGINITATE PERPETUA AD EUSEBIUM.\n\nLIBER UNUS a.\n\nCAPUT PRIMUM.\n\nParentibus merito curam esse majorem virginit sacrœ quam reliquæ sobolis. Quam prœstans illa consei cratio: ubi prœcipue de silentio, quod virginitatis verecundiam commendai non secus atque Ecclesiam, cujus omnis gloria ob intus, et quam noa imitari convenit in orando.\n\nCommendas milii pignus tuum, quod æque est meum, Ambrosiam Domini sacram: etpio affectu ejus libi asseris præstantiorem reliqua sobole sollicitudinem. Et vere ita est apud mentem fidelem; caeteros enim instituis, ut emittas domo, atque alienis copules, istam semper tecum habebis: in capteris quoque paternae uteris pietatis necessitudine; in hac ultra patrem procedis, votoque et stu dio progrederis, ut placeat Deo. Quæ cum sit præstantior causa votorum; sola tamen solvat quidquid pro se et pro omnibus filiis debes.","english":"Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, On the Training of a Virgin and the Perpetual Virginity of St. Mary, to Eusebius.\n\nA Single Book.\n\nChapter One.\n\nParents rightly have greater concern for a consecrated virgin than for the rest of their offspring. How excellent is that consecration: especially concerning silence, which commends the modesty of virginity no less than the Church, whose whole glory is within, and which it is fitting to imitate in prayer.\n\nYou commend to me your pledge, which is equally mine, Ambrosia, consecrated to the Lord; and with pious affection you claim for yourself a greater solicitude for her than for the rest of your children. And indeed it is so in a faithful mind; for you train the others so that you may send them from home and join them to strangers, but this one you will always have with you: in the others you enjoy the bond of paternal affection; in this one you go beyond a father, and advance in vow and zeal that she may please God. Since this is the more excellent cause of vows, yet she alone may discharge whatever you owe for herself and for all your children.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"CAPUT PRIMUM","severity":"info","text":"The chapter heading marks the beginning of the treatise proper, following the title and book designation. The work is divided into chapters, each with a thematic summary.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Ambrosiam Domini sacram","severity":"info","text":"The name 'Ambrosia' likely refers to a consecrated virgin under Ambrose's care, possibly a relative or spiritual daughter. The phrase 'Domini sacram' indicates her dedication to God.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"parentibus merito curam esse majorem virginit sacrœ","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose reflects the early Christian emphasis on the spiritual superiority of virginity, a common theme in patristic literature. Parents' greater concern for a consecrated virgin aligns with the high esteem for asceticism in the 4th century.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"silentio, quod virginitatis verecundiam commendai non secus atque Ecclesiam","severity":"info","text":"The comparison of virginity's silence to the Church's inward glory echoes Ambrose's ecclesiology, where the Church's modesty is internal. This parallel appears in other works, such as 'De Virginibus'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"De Institutione Virginis","severity":"info","text":"This treatise was influential in medieval discussions of Marian virginity and ascetic practice. It was often cited in later monastic and theological works, though its authenticity was occasionally questioned.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The identity of 'Ambrosia' is uncertain; she may be a symbolic figure or a real person. The phrase 'pignus tuum' (your pledge) could refer to a vow or a child entrusted to Ambrose."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":2,"ref":"p2","source":"i. Hoc est sacrificium quod Abel obtulit ex primitivis ovium suarum fetibus (Gen. IV, 4). Quod et Apostolus proc cxteris laudat, ad Corinthios dicens: Quoniam qui statuit in corde suo firmus, et judicavit in corde suo servare virginem suam, bene facit. Igitur et qui matrimonio jungit virginem suam, bene facit: et qui non jungit, melius facit ( I Cor. VII, 57, 38). Uude pulchre David cum descripsisset Ecclesiæ gratiam, cujus omnis intus est gloria, non foris ( in honis enim cogitationibus, atque immaculato castitatis affectu, et sincerae proposito conscientiae summa est laus), subtexuit dicens: Afferentur Regi virgines post eam (Psalm. XLIV, 15,16). Et conversus ad dominum Patrem: Proxime, inquit, ejus afferentur tibi: afferentur in lætitia et exsultatione, adducentur in templum regis.\n\nQuae est proxima, nisi quæ Christo propinquat, cui dicit Verbum: Exsurge, veni, proxima mea, formosa meat columba mea; quia ecce hyems præteriit (Canl. II, 10, 11)? Antequam Verbum Dei reciperet, hycms erat inhonora, sine fructu: ubi Verbum Dei recepit, et mundus ei est crucifixus, aestas est facta. Denique fervore sancti Spiritus vaporata, flos esse coepit, et spirare odorem fidei, fragranUam castitatis, suavitatem gratiae.","english":"This is the sacrifice which Abel offered from the first offspring of his sheep (Gen. 4:4). This also the Apostle praises above others, saying to the Corinthians: \"For he who has set in his heart firmly, and has judged in his heart to keep his virgin, does well. Therefore, both he who joins his virgin in marriage does well, and he who does not join her does better\" (1 Cor. 7:37-38). Hence, beautifully, David, after he had described the grace of the Church, whose entire glory is within, not without (for in good thoughts, and in the immaculate affection of chastity, and in the sincere purpose of conscience lies the highest praise), subjoined, saying: \"Virgins shall be brought to the king after her\" (Ps. 44:15-16). And turning to the Lord Father: \"Her neighbor,\" he says, \"shall be brought to you: they shall be brought in joy and exultation, they shall be led into the temple of the king.\"\n\nWho is the neighbor, if not she who draws near to Christ, to whom the Word says: \"Arise, come, my neighbor, my beautiful one, my dove; for behold, winter has passed\" (Song 2:10-11)? Before she received the Word of God, it was winter, dishonorable, without fruit: when she received the Word of God, and the world was crucified for her, it became summer. Finally, breathed upon by the fervor of the Holy Spirit, she began to be a flower, and to breathe forth the odor of faith, the fragrance of chastity, the sweetness of grace.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Hoc est sacrificium quod Abel obtulit ex primitivis ovium suarum fetibus","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Gen 4:4, but the Vulgate reads 'de primitiis gregis' not 'ex primitivis ovium suarum fetibus'; the paraphrase emphasizes Abel's offering as a type of virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Quoniam qui statuit in corde suo firmus, et judicavit in corde suo servare virginem suam, bene facit","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose adapts 1 Cor 7:37-38, but the Vulgate reads 'virginem suam' as 'filiam virginem'; the paraphrase supports the argument for consecrated virginity over marriage.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Afferentur Regi virgines post eam","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Ps 44:15-16 (LXX) but the Vulgate reads 'afferetur regi virgo post eam'; the plural 'virgines' may reflect a variant or interpretive expansion.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Exsurge, veni, proxima mea, formosa mea columba mea; quia ecce hyems praeteriit","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Song 2:10-11, but the Vulgate reads 'surge, amica mea, et veni, columba mea, in foraminibus petrae'; the paraphrase adapts the text to a dialogue with Christ.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"cujus omnis intus est gloria, non foris","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose contrasts inner glory with outward display, reflecting a common patristic topos on virginity as an interior virtue, echoing Cyprian and Tertullian.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Quae est proxima, nisi quae Christo propinquat","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose interprets 'proxima' from Ps 44 as the virgin who approaches Christ, linking the psalm to the Song of Songs and creating a typological chain from Abel to the Church.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'proxima' in Ps 44:15-16 is ambiguous: it could mean 'neighbor' or 'close one'; Ambrose takes it as the virgin approaching Christ.","The citation of 1 Cor 7:37-38 is paraphrased; the original Greek and Vulgate differ on whether 'virginem' refers to a daughter or a consecrated virgin."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":3,"ref":"p3","source":"Unde et alibi addit: Oculi tui columbæ extra taciturnitatem tuam ( Cant. IV, ): eo quod tota spirit ilis et simplex sicut columba, in cujus specie visus est a Joanne descendere Spiritus sanctus, spiritalia videat, et noverit ea quae viderit tacere mysteria. Non enim mediocris virtus tacere; est enim et tempus tacendi, sicut tempus loquendi, sicut et scriptum est: Dominus dat mihi linguam eruditionis, ut sciam quando oporteat dicere sermonem ( Esai. L, i).\n\nVirginitatis itaque dos quaedam est verecundia, quæ commendatur silemio. Ideo et Ecclesiae gloria intus est, non utique in multiloquio, sed in sensibus vel in penetralibus sacramentorum, sicut ipsa dicit ad Sponsum: Quis dabit te fratretn mihi lactantem ubera matris mea!? Invenient te foris osculubor te, et quidem non spernent me. Assumam te, et ducam te in domum matris meæ, et in secretum ejus quæ concepit me ( Cant. VIII, i. 2). Et supra ait: Introduxit me rex in cubiculum suum ( Cant. 1, 3).","english":"Hence elsewhere he adds: \"Your eyes are doves beyond your silence\" (Song of Songs 4:1), because she is entirely spiritual and simple as a dove, in whose form the Holy Spirit was seen by John to descend, so that she sees spiritual things and knows how to keep silent the mysteries she has seen. For it is no small virtue to be silent; for there is a time for silence, just as there is a time for speaking, as it is written: \"The Lord gives me a tongue of learning, that I may know when it is fitting to speak a word\" (Isaiah 50:4).\n\nTherefore, modesty is a certain dowry of virginity, which is commended by silence. Hence the glory of the Church is within, not indeed in much speaking, but in the senses or in the inner chambers of the sacraments, as she herself says to the Bridegroom: \"Who will give you to me as a brother nursing at my mother's breasts? I will find you outside, I will kiss you, and indeed you will not spurn me. I will take you and lead you into my mother's house, and into the secret place of her who conceived me\" (Song of Songs 8:1-2). And above she says: \"The king brought me into his chamber\" (Song of Songs 1:4).","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Oculi tui columbae extra taciturnitatem tuam","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose adapts Song of Songs 4:1, but the Vulgate reads 'Oculi tui columbarum' (your eyes are doves'); the phrase 'extra taciturnitatem tuam' is not in the canonical text and may be a loose citation or conflation with a patristic gloss.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Dominus dat mihi linguam eruditionis, ut sciam quando oporteat dicere sermonem","severity":"info","text":"This citation of Isaiah 50:4 is not verbatim from the Vulgate (which reads 'Dominus dedit mihi linguam eruditam'); Ambrose may be quoting from memory or a variant Old Latin version.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Quis dabit te fratrem mihi lactantem ubera matris meae?","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Song of Songs 8:1-2, but the Vulgate reads 'Quis dabit te fratrem mihi lactantem ubera matris meae?' (Who will give you to me as a brother nursing at my mother's breasts?). The passage is used allegorically for the Church's interior glory.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"columba","severity":"info","text":"The dove as a symbol of the Holy Spirit recalls John the Baptist's vision of the Spirit descending as a dove at Jesus' baptism (cf. Luke 3:22, though not explicit in Scripture; common in patristic tradition).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"verecundia","severity":"info","text":"Verecundia (modesty) is presented as a 'dowry' (dos) of virginity, a legal metaphor common in Ambrose's writings on virginity, linking moral virtue to a bride's marriage portion.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Unde et alibi addit","severity":"info","text":"This phrase marks a transition from the previous passage's discussion of virginity as sacrifice to a new scriptural argument about silence and interiority, using Song of Songs as a continuous allegory.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The exact source of the Song of Songs 4:1 citation is unclear; 'extra taciturnitatem tuam' may be a paraphrase or a variant reading. The Isaiah 50:4 citation also deviates from the Vulgate, possibly reflecting an Old Latin version or memory."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":4,"ref":"p4","source":"Foris e osculatur Ecclesia Christum, et ab eo in cubiculum introducitur. Osculatus est cam foris, quando Tamquam sponsus procedent de thalamo suo, exsultavit tamquam gigas ad currendam viam ( Psalm. XVIII, 6). Tamquam gigas foris est; quia non rapinam arbitratus esse se aequalem Deo, formam servi accepit ( Phil. n, 6, 7). Foris ergo factus est, qui erat intus.Vide illum intus, quando legis quod in sinu est patris: cognosce illum foris, quando nos quærit, ut redimat. Foris sibi factus esi, ut mihi ini tus esset, a et fieret medius nostrum.\n\nIbi ergo simus, ubi Cbristus medius est, radicatus et fixus in cordibus nostris. Ei ideo sicut ipse praecepit: Cum oras, intra in cubiculum tuum (Mallh. VI, 6), et effunde super te animam luam; cabieulum tuum interiorum secretum est, cubiculum tuum conscicnii a tua est. Denique Ecelesiastes tihi dicit: Et quident in conscientiA tua regi ne maledixeris, et in penetralibus cubiculorum ne maledicto devoveris divitem (Eccles. x, 20). Ibi ergo ora ei Ara in occulto, ut audiat te qui in occulto audit: et ora sine ira et disceptatione, abdicato occulto dedecoris (I Tim. a, 8): Justus enim non proditionem criminis metuit, sed contagionem.","english":"Outside, the Church kisses Christ, and is led by him into the bridal chamber. He kissed her outside, when, as a bridegroom coming forth from his chamber, he rejoiced like a giant to run the course (Psalm 18:6). As a giant he is outside, because, not deeming it a robbery to be equal to God, he took the form of a servant (Philippians 2:6-7). Therefore, he who was within became outside. See him within when you read that he is in the bosom of the Father: recognize him outside when he seeks us, to redeem us. He became outside for himself, that he might be within for me, and become the mediator between us.\n\nLet us therefore be where Christ is the mediator, rooted and fixed in our hearts. And so, as he himself commands: \"When you pray, go into your room\" (Matthew 6:6), and pour out your soul over yourself; your room is your inner secret, your room is your conscience. Finally, Ecclesiastes says to you: \"And do not curse the king in your conscience, and in the inner chambers of your rooms do not curse the rich man with a curse\" (Ecclesiastes 10:20). Therefore pray there and pray in secret, so that he who hears in secret may hear you: and pray without anger and dispute, having renounced the hidden shame (1 Timothy 2:8): for the just man fears not the betrayal of a crime, but the contagion.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Psalm. XVIII, 6","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Psalm. XVIII, 6' refers to Psalm 18:6 (Vulgate numbering), which in the Hebrew Bible is Psalm 19:6. The verse describes the Lord as a giant rejoicing to run the course, a typological image of Christ.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Philipp. n, 6, 7","severity":"info","text":"The reference 'Philipp. n, 6, 7' corresponds to Philippians 2:6-7, where Paul speaks of Christ not deeming it robbery to be equal to God and taking the form of a servant. Ambrose uses this to explain Christ's dual nature.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Matth. VI, 6","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Matth. VI, 6' is Matthew 6:6, where Jesus instructs to pray in one's room. Ambrose allegorizes this as the inner chamber of conscience.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Eccles. x, 20","severity":"info","text":"The reference 'Eccles. x, 20' is Ecclesiastes 10:20, which warns against cursing the king in conscience or in inner chambers. Ambrose uses it to reinforce the idea of secret prayer.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"I Tim. a, 8","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'I Tim. a, 8' is 1 Timothy 2:8, which speaks of renouncing hidden shame. Ambrose applies it to the discipline of prayer without anger or dispute.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"gigas","severity":"info","text":"The term 'gigas' (giant) is used for Christ, drawing on Psalm 18:6. In patristic exegesis, the giant often symbolizes Christ's strength or his role as a warrior against sin, not a literal giant.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'Psalm. XVIII, 6' could be ambiguous in modern numbering; it is taken as Vulgate Psalm 18 (Hebrew 19).","The phrase 'foris e osculatur' may be a scribal variant; the reading 'foris osculatur' is adopted."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":5,"ref":"p5","source":"CAPUT II.\n\nOrationem inchoari debere a Dei laudibus, et post exposita postulata nostra in gratiarum actiones desinere. Eamdem pace ac tranquillitate commendan. dam; qua occasione Evangelicus locus quam luculentissime explicatur, quem jubentur observare virgines.\n\nQuam bona oratio cum misericordia! Bona oratib quæ ordinem servat, ut primo a divinis inchoemus laudibus. Si ehim cum apud hominem agimus, benevolum volumus judicem facere, quanto magis cum Dominum noStrum precamur! Primo ergo immolemus Deo sacrificium laudis; unde ct Apostolus ait: Obsecro ergo primo omnium fieri orationes, obsecrationes, postulationes, gratiarum actiones (I Tim. II, 1).\n\nDoceat td Davidicus psalmus octavus, qui caepit a Dei laudibus: Domine Dominus noster, quam admirabile eit nomen tuum in universa terra! Quoniam elevata est magnificentia tua super coelos. Ex ore in. fantium et lactentium perfecisti laudem (Psal. VIII. et seq.). Hactenus oratio: inde sequitur obsecratio, ut destruatur inimieus: postulatio, ut lunam et stellas vldeat; lunam Ecclesiam, stellas filios Ecclesiae, coelestis gratiæ luce fulgentes: et quod petit, prophetico spiritu visurum se esse promittit: gratiarum actiO, quod tuetur Dominus hominem, et hunclimum corporis nostri divina visitatione confirmat; vel quod homini animantium genera universa subjecit.","english":"CHAPTER II.\n\nThat prayer ought to begin with the praises of God, and after setting forth our petitions, to conclude with acts of thanksgiving. It is commended by the same peace and tranquility; on which occasion the Gospel passage is explained as clearly as possible, which virgins are commanded to observe.\n\nHow good is prayer with mercy! Good prayer is that which keeps order, so that we begin first with divine praises. For if, when we deal with a man, we wish to make the judge well-disposed, how much more when we entreat our Lord! First, therefore, let us offer to God the sacrifice of praise; whence also the Apostle says: \"I beseech, therefore, first of all, that prayers, supplications, petitions, and thanksgivings be made\" (1 Timothy 2:1).\n\nLet the eighth Davidic psalm teach this, which began with the praises of God: \"Lord, our Lord, how admirable is your name in the whole earth! For your magnificence is raised above the heavens. From the mouths of infants and sucklings you have perfected praise\" (Psalm 8 and following). Thus far is prayer: then follows supplication, that the enemy be destroyed: petition, that he may see the moon and stars; the moon being the Church, the stars the children of the Church, shining with the light of heavenly grace: and what he asks, he promises with prophetic spirit that he will see: thanksgiving, that the Lord protects man, and confirms this lowliest of our bodies by divine visitation; or that he has subjected all kinds of living things to man.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"CAPUT II","severity":"info","text":"This chapter heading introduces a new structural division, marking the transition from the preceding narrative to a didactic exposition on prayer.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"I Tim. II, 1","severity":"info","text":"The citation of 1 Timothy 2:1 is used to support the sequence of prayer elements; the verse is adapted to Ambrose's fourfold scheme of prayers, supplications, petitions, and thanksgivings.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Psal. VIII","severity":"info","text":"Psalm 8 is cited as a model for beginning prayer with praise; Ambrose interprets the moon as the Church and stars as the children of the Church, reflecting allegorical exegesis.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"orationem inchoari debere a Dei laudibus","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose's prescription for prayer structure—beginning with praise, then petition, ending with thanksgiving—reflects early Christian liturgical practice and echoes Jewish prayer forms.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"obsecratio","severity":"info","text":"The term 'obsecratio' (supplication) is distinguished from 'oratio' (prayer) and 'postulatio' (petition) in Ambrose's fourfold scheme, reflecting a technical vocabulary for prayer components.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"lunam et stellas","severity":"caution","text":"The allegorical interpretation of moon as Church and stars as children of the Church is not explicit in Psalm 8; Ambrose's reading is typological and may not be universally accepted.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin text does not specify whether the 'enemy' in the supplication is a personal or cosmic adversary; the interpretation as Satan or sin is left open."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":6,"ref":"p6","source":"Similiter et Dominica oratio omnia comprehendit, quam vulgare non opus est. Tu autem qui legis,quemadinodum distingueredebeas recognosce; praecipue tamen, ut dixi, commendanda est oratio, sicut præmisi, placidilate animi et tranquillitate; ut unusquisque sibi constel et congruat, et fiat illud quod scriptum est: Si duobus ex vobis convenerit super terram, de omni re quamcumque petierint, fiet a Putre niteo, qui in cælis est. Ubi enim sunt duo vel tres congregati in nonzine meo, ibi ego sum in medio eorum (Matth. XVIII, 19, 20).\n\nQui sunt isti duo, nisi anima et corpus? Unde et Paulus castigabat carnem suam, et servituti redigcbat (I Cor. ix, 27); ut esset animae tamquam imperatrici siue caro subdita, et mentis imperiis obtemperaret; ne esset in uno homine dissidium, ac bellum intra se gereret, et legi mentis repugnaret lex corporis. Duo igitnr ista diversa ratione quadam et pace jungebat, secundum quod ipse asseruit dicens: Quia Christus eat pax nostra, qui fecit utraque unum, et medium parietem sepis solvit, inimicitias in carne sua (Ephes. n, 14); ne id ageret, quod nollet: atque id faceret, quod odisset. Isti ergo sunt duo, anima et caro. Unde et David ait: Non timebo quid faciat mihi caro (Psal. LV, 5), quam adversariam animae suæ nosset.","english":"Similarly, the Lord’s Prayer contains everything, which it is not necessary to set forth in common speech. But you who read, recognize how you ought to distinguish; especially, however, as I have said, prayer is to be commended, as I have premised, with placidity of mind and tranquility; so that each person may be consistent and harmonious with himself, and that which is written may come to pass: If two of you agree upon the earth, concerning any matter whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done by the shining Father, who is in the heavens. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst (Matt. 18:19, 20).\n\nWho are these two, if not the soul and the body? Whence also Paul chastised his flesh and reduced it to servitude (1 Cor. 9:27); so that the flesh might be subject to the soul as to an empress, and obey the commands of the mind; lest there be in one man dissension, and he wage war within himself, and the law of the body resist the law of the mind. Therefore, he joined these two diverse things by a certain reason and peace, according to what he himself asserted, saying: Because Christ is our peace, who made both one, and dissolved the middle wall of the hedge, the enmities in his flesh (Eph. 2:14); so that it would not do what it did not wish, and would not do what it hated. These, then, are the two, the soul and the flesh. Whence also David says: I will not fear what the flesh may do to me (Ps. 55:5), knowing it to be the adversary of his soul.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Matth. XVIII, 19, 20","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Matthew 18:19-20, but the Vulgate text differs: the phrase 'a Putre niteo' is a corruption of 'a Patre nitido' (from the shining Father), not found in standard manuscripts.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"I Cor. ix, 27","severity":"info","text":"The reference to 1 Corinthians 9:27 is erroneous; the correct passage is 1 Corinthians 9:27 (castigabat carnem suam) but the verse numbering in the source edition is likely a scribal error for 1 Corinthians 9:27, which does not exist; the allusion is to 1 Corinthians 9:27 (castigat carnem) but the actual text is 1 Corinthians 9:27 (castigat carnem) is not present; the intended reference may be 1 Corinthians 9:27 (castigat carnem) but the verse is misidentified.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ephes. n, 14","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Ephes. n, 14' is a corruption of Ephesians 2:14; the Vulgate reads 'quia Christus est pax nostra' but the phrase 'medium parietem sepis solvit' is not a direct quotation but an interpretive paraphrase.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Psal. LV, 5","severity":"info","text":"Psalm 55:5 in the Vulgate (Psalm 55:5) reads 'Non timebo quid faciat mihi caro' but the verse is actually Psalm 55:5 (Non timebo quid faciat mihi caro) and is correctly cited.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Dominica oratio","severity":"info","text":"The 'Lord's Prayer' (Dominica oratio) is a standard catechetical element; Ambrose here emphasizes its comprehensiveness and the need for inner tranquility in recitation, reflecting his ascetic and contemplative emphasis.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"This passage continues the argument from Chapter II on the order of prayer, moving from general commendation of tranquility to an allegorical interpretation of 'two' as soul and body, supported by Pauline and Davidic prooftexts.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin text contains several corruptions: 'a Putre niteo' for 'a Patre nitido', 'Ephes. n, 14' for Ephesians 2:14, and 'I Cor. ix, 27' for a non-existent verse. The English draft follows the Latin closely but does not correct these errors."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":7,"ref":"p7","source":"Quoe tamen duo, ut evidentius exprimamus, non solum duo sunt, sed etiam duo homines, unus interior, alter exterior. e Isti duo si sibi propositi æqualitate concurrant, ut cogitationes factis, et cogitationibus facia conveniant; vitae nostræ rota sine ulla offensione volvetur, ut quemadmodum scriptum est: Fiat vox tonitrui tui in rota (Psal. LXXVI, 19). Isti igitur duo unum sunt; nec solun unum, sed unus homo. Unde et Apostolus ait: Ut duos conderet in uno homine, faciens pacem, et reconciliarel utrosque in uno corpore, Deo, per trucem interficiens inimicitias in semet ipso.... ut in utrisque accessum habeamus iti uno Spiritu ad Patrem (Ephes. n, et seq.).\n\nSunt etiam duo homines, vetus et novus. * Vetus ille peccato obnoxius et obsoletus, ac vestimenti veteris similitudine attritus et scissus, quem. in baptismate affigimus cruci. Unde Apostolus ait: Quia vetus homo notler simul affixus est cruci, ut dettruatur corpus peccati, ut ullra non serviamus peccato (Rom. VI, 6). Vetus ergo affigitur, ut moriatur peccato; ut novus resurgat, qui renovatur per graliam. Diximus de duobus.","english":"These two, however, to express more clearly, are not only two, but also two men, one interior, the other exterior. If these two concur with equality of purpose, so that thoughts agree with deeds and deeds with thoughts, the wheel of our life will turn without any offense, as it is written: \"Let the voice of your thunder be in the wheel\" (Ps. 76:19). Therefore these two are one; and not only one, but one man. Whence also the Apostle says: That he might unite the two in one man, making peace and reconciling both in one body, to God, by the cross slaying the enmities within himself... so that in both we may have access in one Spirit to the Father (Eph. 2 and following).\n\nThere are also two men, the old and the new. The old one, liable to sin and worn out, and like an old garment rubbed and torn, whom we nail to the cross in baptism. Whence the Apostle says: \"That our old man was nailed to the cross at the same time, so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so that we no longer serve sin\" (Rom. 6:6). Therefore the old is nailed, so that it may die to sin; so that the new may rise, who is renewed by grace. We have spoken of the two.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Quoe tamen duo","severity":"info","text":"The passage continues the earlier contrast of two aspects of the soul (or person) by explicitly naming them as the interior and exterior man, then adds a second pair: the old and new man.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Fiat vox tonitrui tui in rota","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Psalm 76:19 (LXX) as a prooftext for the harmonious turning of the wheel of life. The verse is used allegorically to describe the smooth operation of the unified person.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ut duos conderet in uno homine","severity":"info","text":"The reference to Ephesians 2 (and following) is a paraphrase of the reconciliation of the two aspects of humanity in Christ, though the exact wording is not a direct quotation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Quia vetus homo noster simul affixus est cruci","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose quotes Romans 6:6, adapting Paul’s language about the old man being nailed to the cross in baptism, a key text for the theology of baptismal regeneration.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"vetus ille peccato obnoxius et obsoletus","severity":"info","text":"The image of the old man as a worn-out garment reflects a common patristic metaphor for the sinful state before baptism, drawing on Pauline language (Col. 3:9-10) and baptismal catechesis.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Isti igitur duo unum sunt","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose’s insistence that the interior and exterior man are one anticipates later medieval discussions of personal unity and the integration of the virtues, notably in Augustine and Thomas Aquinas.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'Quoe tamen duo' is ambiguous in the Latin: it may refer back to the two aspects of prayer or to the two men introduced in the previous passage. The reading taken follows the English draft's interpretation of the interior and exterior man."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":8,"ref":"p8","source":"Fortasse dicat aliquis: Quid de tribus dicis, quoniam sic hahet Scriptura: Ubi enim sunt duo vel tres congregati in nomine meo, ibi ego sum in medio eorum (Matth. XVIII, 20)? Hinc quoqne ratio manifesta est; quia idem Apostolus dicit: Ipse autem Deut paci' sanctificet vos per omnia, ut integer spiritus vester, et anima, et corpus sine querela in die adventus Domini nostri Jesu Christi serventur (IThest. v, 23). Ubi ergo a tres isti integri, ibi Christus est! in medio eorum: qui hos tres intus gubernat et regit, ac fideli pace componit.\n\nHac igitur tria integra pr:e caeteris in se virgo custodiat; ut nullam det sacræ virginitatis querelam, et sit inoffensa, sine ruga, sine macula. De qua licet frequentibus libris dixerimus, tamenbmemorati pignoris causa, hunc ad te librum cundendum arbitrati sumus.\n\nCAPUT III.\n\nCulpandum non esse femineum texum cui a Deo tanta dona collata fuerint: Deum enim idcirco non atatim atque homo creatus est, illum approbasse, tum quia ejus dignitas non in corpore, sed in anima et in diuina imagine conaistat, tum quia tantum in ope- ^ ria totius fine laudandus homo, ac demum quia nondum creata erat mulier, quæ et ex ipso formata est, ei cum ipso magni sacramenti figuram erat expretsura; ex quo et nomen accepisse ipsa declaratur.","english":"Perhaps someone may say: What do you say about three, since Scripture has it thus: \"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst\" (Matt. 18:20)? Here too the reason is manifest; because the same Apostle says: \"But may the God of peace sanctify you through and through, so that your whole spirit and soul and body may be kept blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ\" (1 Thess. 5:23). Therefore, where these three are whole, there Christ is in their midst: He who governs and rules these three within, and composes them in faithful peace.\n\nTherefore, the virgin should above all keep these three things whole within herself, so that she gives no complaint against sacred virginity, and is unoffending, without wrinkle, without stain. Concerning which, although we have spoken in more frequent books, nevertheless, because of the pledge we remember, we have judged that this book should be written to you.\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nThat the female body is not to be blamed, since so many gifts were conferred upon it by God: For God did not approve man immediately at the moment he was created, both because his dignity consists not in the body but in the soul and in the divine image, and because man is to be praised only in the whole work at its end, and finally because woman, who was formed from him, had not yet been created, who together with him was to express the figure of a great mystery; from which she herself is declared to have received her name.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Matth. XVIII, 20","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Matthew 18:20, but the Vulgate reads 'in medio eorum' only in 18:2; the phrase 'ubi enim sunt duo vel tres congregati in nomine meo' echoes 18:20 loosely.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"IThess. v, 23","severity":"info","text":"The citation of 1 Thessalonians 5:23 is a misattribution; the verse is actually 1 Thessalonians 5:23 in the Vulgate, but the phrase 'integer spiritus vester, et anima, et corpus' is not found in modern critical editions.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"tres isti integri","severity":"info","text":"The 'three' refer to spirit, soul, and body, a tripartite anthropology Ambrose uses to interpret the Gospel saying about two or three gathered.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"CAPUT III","severity":"info","text":"Chapter III begins a new argument defending the female body, signaled by a chapter heading that summarizes the content.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Deum enim idcirco non atatim atque homo creatus est, illum approbasse","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose argues that God did not approve man immediately at creation, a point possibly responding to contemporary critiques of the female body based on Genesis.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"ex quo et nomen accepisse ipsa declaratur","severity":"info","text":"The reference to woman receiving her name from man (Eve from Adam) reflects a common patristic etymology, later influential in medieval theology.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The citation of 1 Thessalonians 5:23 is textually uncertain; the verse numbering may differ from modern Bibles.","The phrase 'atatim' in the Latin is likely a scribal error for 'statim'."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":9,"ref":"p9","source":"Bona virginilas, quæ sexum utrumque non solum absolvit a crimine, verum etiam provocavit ad gratiam. Accusamus autem plerumque femineum sexum, quod erroris causam invexerit: et non consideramus quanto justius in noS objurgatio retorqueatur. Nam ut repetamus a principio, et rerum exordia interrogemus, quantum ei delatum sit, investigabimns: et quam in miscra conditionis humanae fragilitate femina tamen iuvenerit gratiam.\n\nNam cum omnia opera sua landaverit Deus,, cœlum, terram, maria, noctem et diem, quod iste profeccrit ad usnm laboris, illa ad fructum quietis, laudaverit feras hestias; ubi ad hominem ventum est, solus nun videlur esse laudatus, propter quem omnia generata sunt (Gen. u, et aeq.). Quæ igitur causa est, nisi forte ea, quia alia in specie sunt, homo in occulto? Niliil in bestiis plus reperias, quam quod videtur: in homine nihil est inferius, quam quod videtur; qui cum ex animo constet et corpore, hoc utique in eo servit, quod videtur: illud quoque in eo regit, quod non videtur.","english":"Good is virginity, which not only absolves both sexes from sin but also provokes them to grace. Yet we often accuse the female sex of having introduced the cause of error, and we do not consider how much more justly the reproach is turned back upon us. For if we go back to the beginning and question the origins of things, we shall investigate how much was granted to her, and how, in the miserable fragility of the human condition, the woman nevertheless found grace.\n\nFor when God had praised all his works—heaven, earth, seas, night and day—that one had advanced for the use of labor, the other for the fruit of rest, and he had praised the wild beasts; when it came to man, he alone seems not to have been praised, for whose sake all things were generated (Gen. 1 and following). What then is the cause, unless perhaps it is this: that other things are in their species, but man is in the hidden? In beasts you find nothing more than what is seen; in man there is nothing lower than what is seen; for since he consists of soul and body, that which is seen serves in him, while that which is not seen rules in him.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Bona virginilas","severity":"info","text":"The opening phrase 'Bona virginilas' (correctly 'Bona virginitas') declares virginity as a positive good, not merely an absence of sin, setting the treatise's laudatory tone.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Gen. u, et aeq.","severity":"info","text":"The reference 'Gen. u, et aeq.' (Gen. 1 and following) alludes to the creation account where God surveys his works; Ambrose notes that man alone is not explicitly praised, a point he develops to argue for man's hidden dignity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"sexum utrumque","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose's claim that virginity absolves 'both sexes' (sexum utrumque) is notable in a patristic context where virginity was often associated primarily with women; he extends its benefit to men, reflecting a broader ascetic ideal.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Nam cum omnia opera sua landaverit Deus","severity":"info","text":"This passage forms a rhetorical unit that contrasts God's praise of creation with the apparent neglect of man, leading to a philosophical distinction between visible and invisible aspects of human nature.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"in homine nihil est inferius, quam quod videtur","severity":"info","text":"The idea that the visible body is inferior to the invisible soul echoes Platonic and Neoplatonic anthropology, common in Ambrose's sources (e.g., Philo, Origen), and aligns with his ascetic emphasis on interior purity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Bona virginilas","severity":"caution","text":"The Latin text has 'virginilas' for expected 'virginitas'; this may be a scribal error or orthographic variant, but the sense is clear.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'Gen. u, et aeq.' is an abbreviated reference; 'u' likely stands for 'primo' (first chapter), but the exact chapter and verse are not specified.","The clause 'quod iste profeccrit ad usnm laboris, illa ad fructum quietis' is ambiguous: 'iste' and 'illa' likely refer to day and night, but the antecedent is not explicit."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":10,"ref":"p10","source":"Merito ergo alia in exordio laudantur, istius laudatio non promitur, sed reservatur; quia aliorum gratia foris, hujus intus est: aliorum in nativitate, hujus in corde. Quid enim tam altum et lam profundum, quam mens hominis, quæ quasi involucro quodam corporis tegitur et occultatur; ut eam haud facile quisquam introspicere et speculari queat? Ideo ergo homo non ante laudatur, quia non in forensi pelle, sed in interiore homine ante probandus, sic prædicandus est: quem præclare delinivit apostolus Petrus dicens absconditum esse cordis hominem in incorruptione quieti et modesti spiritus, qui est ante Deum locuples (I Petr. III, 4).\n\nMerito ergo differtur, ut sequatur fenerata ejus laudatio: cujus dilatio non dispendium, sed incrementum est. Nemo ergo se despiciat quasi vilem, nec contuitu corporis sese æstimet. Nam etsi dixerit sanctus Job: Nudut exivi de ventre matris meæ, nudus et hinc abibo (Job. i, 21); habuit tamen quo nou solum inter homines, sed etiam apud Deum divus inveniretur.","english":"Rightly, therefore, are other things praised at the outset, but praise of this one is not brought forth but reserved; because the grace of others is external, but of this one it is internal: of others in birth, of this one in the heart. For what is so high and so deep as the mind of a man, which is covered and hidden as if by some covering of the body, so that one can hardly look into and examine it? Therefore, a man is not praised beforehand, because he is not to be judged by his outward skin, but by the inner man, and thus is to be proclaimed: whom the apostle Peter beautifully delineated, saying that the man of the heart is hidden in the incorruption of a quiet and modest spirit, who is rich before God (1 Pet. 3:4).\n\nRightly, therefore, is it deferred, so that its praise may follow with interest: whose delay is not a loss, but an increase. Therefore, let no one despise himself as if base, nor judge himself by the sight of the body. For even if holy Job said: \"Naked I came out of my mother's womb, naked I shall go hence\" (Job 1:21), he nevertheless had something by which he was found rich not only among men, but also before God.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Merito ergo alia in exordio laudantur, istius laudatio non promitur, sed reservatur","severity":"info","text":"This sentence marks a structural pivot: Ambrose contrasts the deferred praise of virginity with the immediate praise of other virtues, aligning with the treatise's rhetorical strategy of building anticipation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"in forensi pelle","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'in forensi pelle' (by outward skin) is a metaphor for external appearance, contrasting with the 'interior homo' (inner man), a key Pauline concept (cf. 2 Cor. 4:16).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"I Petr. III, 4","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites 1 Peter 3:4, though the Vulgate reads 'absconditus est cordis homo in incorruptione quieti et modesti spiritus'—a paraphrase emphasizing inner virtue over external display.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Job i, 21","severity":"info","text":"The quotation of Job 1:21 ('Naked I came out...') is used to argue that even in material poverty, inner richness (here, virginity) endures, a common patristic trope.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"fenerata ejus laudatio","severity":"info","text":"The term 'fenerata' (with interest) uses financial imagery to suggest that deferred praise yields greater reward, reflecting Ambrose's rhetorical training in Roman law and finance.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"apostolus Petrus","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose attributes the inner-man concept to Peter, but the idea is more directly Pauline (e.g., Rom. 7:22); this reflects a harmonizing tradition in early Latin exegesis.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'in incorruptione quieti et modesti spiritus' is a loose paraphrase of 1 Pet. 3:4; the exact Vulgate reading is uncertain in Ambrose's time.","The identity of 'istius' (this one) is ambiguous: it refers to virginity, but the antecedent is not explicit in the immediate Latin."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":11,"ref":"p11","source":"Quid autem locupletius, quam quod ad imaginem Dei est ac similitudinem? Ad imaginem autem interior cst homo, non iste exterior: ille qni sensu æstimatur, non oculis comprehenditur. Ille ergo nobis spectandus est, qui serius investigatur. Ideo Deus non putavit hominis fabricam esse laudandam; quia major ejus in virtute est portio. Præclara quidem species, et præstantior ca;teris animantibus: sed irrationabilia corporis specie xstimentur; ea autem quæ rationis plena sunt, communem laudcm sequestrent.\n\nHomo igitur mihi non tam vultu quam affectu admirandus emineat atque excellat; ut in his laudetur, in quibus etiam Deus e prophetico judicio laudatur, de quo scriptum est: Terribilis in consiliis super filios hominum (Psal. LXV, 5): cuJus opera cdram Deo luceant, qui bona jugibus operibus facta contexat; et ideo laudatio ejus non in exordio, sed in fine est: nemo enim nisi legitime certaverit, coronatur. Ideoque Sapiens tibi dicit: Ante mortem non laudes hominem quemquam (Eccles. XI, 30). Qua ratione hoc dixerit, superioribus dtcuit dicens: Quia in fine hominis nudantur opera ejus (lbid., 29). i2. Spectemus tertium, in quo manifestavit Deus sententiam suam; cum enim fecisset hominem et posuisset in paradiso operari et custodire, dixit non esse bonum solum esse hominem. Faciamus, inquir, ei adjutorium secundum se (Gen. II, 18).","english":"What, moreover, is richer than that which is in the image and likeness of God? But it is the inner man that is in the image, not this outer one: that man who is estimated by sense, not comprehended by the eyes. That man, therefore, is to be regarded by us, who is investigated more seriously. For this reason God did not think the construction of man was to be praised, because the greater portion of him lies in virtue. The appearance is indeed splendid, and more excellent than that of other living beings; but irrational things are judged by bodily appearance; those, however, which are full of reason should set aside common praise.\n\nTherefore, let man be admired and excel for me not so much by his face as by his disposition, so that he is praised in those things in which even God is praised by prophetic judgment, concerning whom it is written: \"Terrible in his counsels over the sons of men\" (Ps. 65:5): whose works shine before God, who weaves together good deeds with constant works; and therefore his praise is not at the beginning, but at the end: for no one is crowned unless he has legitimately contended. Therefore the Wise Man says to you: \"Do not praise any man before his death\" (Ecclus. 11:30). For what reason he said this, he explained in the preceding verses, saying: \"Because at the end of a man his works are laid bare\" (ibid., 29). 12. Let us consider the third point, in which God manifested his judgment; for when he had made man and placed him in paradise to work and to guard, he said that it was not good for man to be alone. \"Let us make,\" he says, \"a helper for him, like himself\" (Gen. 2:18).","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"interior cst homo","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'interior cst homo' (the inner man) is a key anthropological term in Ambrose, distinguishing the rational soul from the physical body, echoing Platonic and Pauline traditions (cf. 2 Cor 4:16).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ps. 65:5","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Terribilis in consiliis super filios hominum' (Ps. 65:5) is from the Vulgate; the modern numbering is Ps. 68:5. Ambrose uses it to align human praise with divine judgment.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ecclus. 11:30","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Ante mortem non laudes hominem quemquam' (Ecclus. 11:30) is from the Vulgate Sirach; the modern numbering is Sir. 11:30. Ambrose applies it to defer praise until final works are known.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Gen. 2:18","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Faciamus ... ei adjutorium secundum se' (Gen. 2:18) is from the Vulgate. Ambrose uses it to introduce the creation of Eve as a helper, supporting his argument about human companionship.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose's distinction between inner and outer man reflects Neoplatonic influence, common in patristic anthropology, and serves to elevate spiritual virtue over physical appearance.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The passage concludes with 'Spectemus tertium' (Let us consider the third point), marking a structural division in Ambrose's argument, likely following earlier points on creation and fall.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'interior cst homo' may be a scribal error for 'interior est homo'; the sense is clear. The phrase 'cst' is likely a typographical variant for 'est'."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":12,"ref":"p12","source":"Sine muliere igitur homo non habet laudem, in muliere prædicatur. Nam cum dicit non esse bonum solum esse hominem, confirmat utique bonum esse hominum genus, si virili sexui femineus sexus accedat. i3. Simul illud considerandum, quia ille de terra factus et limo est, ista de viro. Et caro quidem limus; sed ille adhuc informis, iste formatus.\n\nJam illud præclarum Apostolicum arcessamus exemplum, quod habemus scriptum: Quia relinquet homo patrem et matrem, et adhærebil uxori suæ, et crunt duo in carne una. Sacramentum hoc magnum eat: ego autem dico in Christo et in Ecclesia (Ephel. v, 31, 52). a Advertimus itaque per mulierem ere. leste illud impletum esse mysterium Ecclesiae, in ea gratiam figuratam, propter quam Christus descendit, et aeternum illud opus humanæ redemptionis absolvit. Unde et Adam vocavit nomen mulieris suae vitam (Gen. II, 23); nam et in populis per mulierem successionis humanæ series et propago diffunditur, et per Ecclesiam vita confertur aeterna.","english":"Without woman, therefore, man has no praise; in woman he is praised. For when it says that it is not good for man to be alone, it certainly confirms that the human race is good, if the female sex joins the male sex. 13. At the same time, consider this: that he was made from earth and mud, she from man. And flesh is indeed mud; but he is still unformed, she is formed.\n\nLet us now summon that illustrious Apostolic example, which we have written: that a man will leave his father and mother, and will cleave to his wife, and they will be two in one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I say in Christ and in the Church (Ephesians 5:31-32). We therefore note that through woman that ecclesial mystery was fulfilled, that grace was figured in her, on account of which Christ descended, and that eternal work of human redemption was accomplished. Whence also Adam called the name of his woman Life (Genesis 2:23); for among peoples, through woman the series and propagation of human succession is spread, and through the Church eternal life is conferred.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Sine muliere igitur homo non habet laudem","severity":"info","text":"This passage continues the argument from the previous passage, now explicitly linking the praise of man to the presence of woman, and then pivoting to typological interpretation of Eve and the Church.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Quia relinquet homo patrem et matrem, et adhærebil uxori suæ, et crunt duo in carne una","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose loosely paraphrases Ephesians 5:31-32, which in the Vulgate reads: 'virum relinquere patrem et matrem et adhaerere uxori suae, et erunt duo in carne una.' The citation is marked in the edition as Ephesians 5:31-32.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Adam vocavit nomen mulieris suae vitam","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose refers to Genesis 2:23, where Adam names his wife 'Eve' (Hebrew Ḥawwâ, interpreted as 'life' by Philo and the Church Fathers). The Vulgate reads: 'Adam vocavit nomen mulieris suae Evam.'","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"per mulierem ... mysterium Ecclesiae","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose reads the creation of Eve from Adam's side as a prefiguration of the Church (Ecclesia) born from Christ. This typology is common in patristic exegesis, especially in Ambrose's own works and in Augustine.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"informis","severity":"info","text":"'Informis' (unformed) contrasts Adam's raw material (mud) with Eve's formed state, drawn from Adam. The term carries philosophical weight, echoing the Platonic distinction between unformed matter and formed substance.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Sine muliere igitur homo non habet laudem","severity":"caution","text":"This passage has been cited in debates on gender complementarity. However, Ambrose's argument is typological and soteriological, not a general statement on the value of women; the 'praise' is tied to the ecclesial mystery.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'adhærebil' is a scribal variant for 'adhærebit' (will cleave). The English draft follows the Vulgate reading."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":13,"ref":"p13","source":"CAPUT IV.\n\nMulieris quam viri levius fuisse peccatum evinci disparitate sexus, tentationis ratione, divina sententia et responsionibus amborum. Post quae adversus mulierum tentationes viris remedia prcecipiuntur: in his maxime earumdem jejunantium imitatio.\n\nSane negare non possumus quod erraverit muHer. Quid miraris tamen si erraverit ct infirmior lapsus est sexus, cum sit lapsus etiam fortior? Mulier a excusationem habet in peccato, vir non habet. Illa ut Scriptura asserit, a sapientissimo omnium serpente decepta est, tu a muliere: id est, illam superior creatura decepit, te inferior; te enim mulier decepit, illam malus licet, tamen angelus. Si lu inferiori non potuisti resistere, quomodo illa potuit superiori? Culpa tua illam absolvit.\n\nSi de merito culpae dubitas, interrogemus sententiam. Illi dictum est: In tristitia paries filios, et ad virum conversio tua, et ipse tibi dominabitur (Ibid., i6). Viro autem dicitur: Terra es, et in terram ibis (Ibid., 19). Et vere e justa sentenlia; quandoquidem si Adam quod a Domino Deo audierat, servare non potuit, quomodo poluit servare mulier quod audivit a viro? Si illum Dei vox non confirmavit, quomodo istam vox confirmaret humana? 27.","english":"CHAPTER IV\n\nThat the sin of the woman was lighter than that of the man is proved by the disparity of sex, the nature of the temptation, the divine sentence, and the responses of both. After this, remedies against the temptations of women are prescribed for men, especially the imitation of their fasting.\n\nWe certainly cannot deny that the woman erred. Yet why be surprised if the weaker sex erred and fell, when even the stronger fell? The woman has an excuse in her sin; the man does not. She, as Scripture asserts, was deceived by the most wise of all serpents; you, by a woman. That is, a superior creature deceived her; an inferior one deceived you. For a woman deceived you; an evil angel, though still an angel, deceived her. If you could not resist an inferior, how could she resist a superior? Your fault absolves her.\n\nIf you doubt the merit of the fault, let us ask the sentence. To her it was said: \"In sadness you will bear children, and your conversion is to your husband, and he himself will rule over you\" (Gen. 3:16). To the man, however, it is said: \"You are earth, and to earth you will go\" (Gen. 3:19). And truly it is a just sentence, since if Adam could not keep what he had heard from the Lord God, how could the woman keep what she heard from her husband? If the voice of God did not confirm him, how could a human voice confirm her?","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"CAPUT IV","severity":"info","text":"The chapter heading summarizes the argument: woman's sin is lighter than man's, proven by sex disparity, temptation, divine sentence, and responses. It then prescribes remedies for men against women's temptations, especially imitating their fasting.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"In tristitia paries filios, et ad virum conversio tua, et ipse tibi dominabitur","severity":"info","text":"This is a paraphrase of God's sentence to Eve in Genesis 3:16 (Vulgate), though the Vulgate reads: 'In sudore vultus tui operaberis panem' for Adam, and the curse on Eve is not verbatim. Ambrose adapts the text to emphasize subordination.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Terra es, et in terram ibis","severity":"info","text":"This echoes God's words to Adam in Genesis 3:19 (Vulgate: 'donec revertaris in terram ex qua sumptus es'). Ambrose condenses the phrase to highlight mortality as the man's punishment.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"a sapientissimo omnium serpente","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose calls the serpent 'most wise of all,' a non-biblical epithet. This reflects a tradition (e.g., in some Jewish exegesis) that the serpent was a cunning, intelligent creature, not merely a beast.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Mulier a excusationem habet in peccato, vir non habet","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose's argument that woman has an excuse in sin because she was deceived by a superior creature (the serpent) while man was deceived by an inferior (woman) became a topos in medieval misogynistic literature, though here it paradoxically absolves Eve.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Mulier a excusationem habet","severity":"caution","text":"The Latin text has 'a excusationem' which is ungrammatical (should be 'excusationem' without 'a' or 'aliquam excusationem'). This may be a scribal error or a colloquialism; the sense is clear: 'the woman has an excuse.'","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'a excusationem' is grammatically irregular; the intended meaning is 'an excuse.' The paraphrase of Genesis 3:16-19 is not verbatim from the Vulgate, suggesting Ambrose is quoting from memory or adapting freely."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":14,"ref":"p14","source":"Denique Adam conventus, quod contra divina quæ coram audierat praecepta, gustasset, nihil habuii quod diceret, nisi quod sibi mulier dedisset, et manducasset: mulier autem ait; Serpens traduxit me, et manducavi (Ibid. 13). Quanto major mulieris absolutio! Ille arguitur, haec interrogatur. Adde illud, quod et prior culpam fatetur; etenim quæ se dicit esse seductam, testatur errorem. Erroris igitur medicina confessio est.\n\nis. In judicio ipso quanto clementor mulier viro! Ille mulierem suam accusavit; ista serpentem, hoc est, nec accusata crimen retorsit: sed ipsum accusatorem suum maluit, si posset, absolvere quam ligare.\n\nHabes igitur et culpæ absolutionem in confessione, et sententiæ in exsecutione. In tristitia, inqult, paries filios. R Condemnationis suæ pondus agnoscit, munus poenalis conditionis exsequitur. Pro tc mulier doloribus suis militat, ct remunerationem ex paena invenit; ut per filios per quos affligitur, liberetur. Facta est itaque gratia ex injuria, salus ex infirmitate; scriptum est enim: Quia salva erit per filiorum generationem ( I Tim. II, 15). Cum salute itaque parit, quos in tristitia parturivit: et ad laudem educat, quos peperit cum dolore.","english":"Finally, when Adam was confronted, because he had tasted contrary to the divine precepts which he had heard in his presence, he had nothing to say except that the woman had given to him and he had eaten; but the woman said, \"The serpent led me astray, and I ate\" (Gen. 3:13). How much greater is the woman's exoneration! He is accused, she is questioned. Add to this that she also confesses her fault first; for she who says she was led astray testifies to error. Therefore, confession is the remedy for error.\n\nIn the judgment itself, how much more merciful the woman is than the man! He accused his wife; she accused the serpent, that is, though not accused, she did not hurl back the crime: but she preferred, if possible, to absolve her own accuser rather than to bind him.\n\nThus you have both the absolution of guilt in confession, and of the sentence in its execution. \"In sadness,\" it says, \"you will bear children.\" She acknowledges the weight of her condemnation, she carries out the duty of her penal condition. For you, woman, she fights with her pains, and finds reward from punishment; so that through the children by whom she is afflicted, she is freed. Grace has thus been made from injury, salvation from infirmity; for it is written: \"Because she will be saved through the generation of children\" (1 Tim. 2:15). Therefore, she gives birth with salvation to those whom she brought forth in sadness: and she raises to praise those whom she bore with pain.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Gen. 3:13","severity":"info","text":"The Latin text cites Genesis 3:13, but the Vulgate verse numbering differs; the reference is to the woman's confession to the serpent's deception.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"1 Tim. 2:15","severity":"info","text":"The citation of 1 Timothy 2:15 is used to support the idea that women are saved through childbirth, a reading that reflects Ambrose's typological interpretation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"absolutio","severity":"info","text":"The term 'absolutio' here means 'exoneration' or 'acquittal,' not absolution in the sacramental sense, as Ambrose contrasts Adam's accusation with Eve's confession.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"In tristitia, inquit, paries filios","severity":"info","text":"This phrase echoes the Vulgate of Genesis 3:16, where God tells Eve she will bear children in sorrow, a common patristic topos linking childbirth to the Fall.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Habes igitur et culpæ absolutionem in confessione, et sententiæ in exsecutione","severity":"info","text":"This sentence serves as a thematic pivot, summarizing the dual benefit of confession (absolution of guilt) and execution of sentence (childbirth as redemption).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"salva erit per filiorum generationem","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose's interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:15 as referring to physical childbirth as a means of salvation for women was influential in medieval theology, though later exegesis often read it spiritually.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'in tristitia' may refer to physical pain or emotional sorrow; the translation opts for 'sadness' but the context of childbirth suggests both."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":15,"ref":"p15","source":"Sed dicis, o vir, quia mulier tentatio fuerit viri. Verum est. Jam si est decora, ecce alia tentatio. Tamen Abrahae descendenti in Ægyptum uxoris pulchritudo non nocuit, immo magis profuit; honoratus est enim per uxorem, non ludibrio habitus in uxore ( Gen. XII, 16, ). Cur autem tu vultus decorem in conjuge magis quam morum requiris? Placeat uxor honestate magis quam pulchritudine. Illa eligatur quae Saram moribus referat. Non est vitium mulieris esse quod nascitur: sed vitium viri est quaerere in uxore quo saepe tentatur; in quo si infirmior fuerit, mulier ipsa labatur: si fortior, vir periclitetur. Non possumus reprehendere divini artificis opus; sed quem delectat corporis pulchritudo, multo magis illa delectet vcnustas, quae ad imaginem Dei est intus, nun foris comptior.\n\nSi ergo uxor tentatio est, esto cautior, quaere remedium adversus tentationis pcriculum: Vigilate, inquit, et orate, ne intretis tentationem (Matth. xvi, 13). Dominus hoc dixit, vir audivit, mulier implevit. Quotidie mulieres jejunant, et non indicta præstant jejunia: peccatum agnoscunt, accersunt remedium. Semel de interdicto mulier manducavit, et quotidie a jejunio solvit. Qui secutus es erran-, tem, sequere corrigentem. Ambo manducastis, cur sola jejunat; hoc est, nmbo deliquistis, cur sola remedium quærit errori?","english":"But you say, O man, that woman was a temptation for man. That is true. Yet if she is beautiful, behold another temptation. Nevertheless, for Abraham descending into Egypt, his wife’s beauty did not harm him; rather, it benefited him, for he was honored through his wife, not held in mockery on account of her (Gen. 12:16). Why, then, do you seek beauty of face in a wife more than character? Let a wife please by honesty more than by beauty. Let her be chosen who resembles Sarah in character. It is not the woman’s fault to be what she is born; but it is the man’s fault to seek in a wife that by which he is often tempted; in which, if he is weaker, the woman herself may slip; if stronger, the man is endangered. We cannot reproach the work of the divine craftsman; but if bodily beauty delights one, let that beauty delight him much more which is within, in the image of God, not more adorned outwardly.\n\nIf, therefore, a wife is a temptation, be more cautious; seek a remedy against the danger of temptation: “Watch,” he says, “and pray, that you do not enter into temptation” (Matt. 16:13). The Lord said this; the man heard; the woman fulfilled it. Daily women fast, and they offer fasts not commanded; they acknowledge sin, they summon a remedy. Once the woman ate from the forbidden fruit, and daily she is released from fasting. You who followed the one who erred, follow the one who corrects. Both of you ate; why does she alone fast? That is, both of you sinned; why does she alone seek a remedy for the error?","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Gen. XII, 16","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Gen. XII, 16' refers to Genesis 12:16, but the Vulgate chapter 12 has only 20 verses; the reference likely intends Genesis 12:14-16, where Abraham's wife Sarah is taken by Pharaoh but returned unharmed.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Matth. xvi, 13","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Matth. xvi, 13' is a non-standard reference; Matthew 16:13 does not contain the phrase 'Vigilate et orate'. The closest parallel is Matthew 26:41 ('vigilate et orate') or a conflation with Mark 13:33.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"venustas","severity":"info","text":"The Latin 'venustas' (beauty, charm) is a variant reading; the English draft translates 'venustas' as 'beauty', but the text may originally have read 'venustas' or 'honestas' (virtue). The sense contrasts outward beauty with inner virtue.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"jejunant","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose refers to the practice of fasting as penance for sin, particularly Eve's eating of the forbidden fruit. This reflects early Christian asceticism, where women were often associated with fasting as a remedy for original sin.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Sed dicis... Verum est","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose uses a rhetorical dialogue structure, anticipating an objection ('But you say...') and conceding its truth ('That is true') before reframing the argument. This is a common patristic exegetical technique.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Saram moribus referat","severity":"info","text":"Sarah, Abraham's wife, is presented as a model of virtue. This idealization of Sarah as a paragon of wifely chastity and obedience was influential in medieval and early modern Christian marriage theology.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The scripture references 'Gen. XII, 16' and 'Matth. xvi, 13' are imprecise; the intended verses are uncertain.","The Latin 'venustas' may be a scribal error for 'honestas', altering the meaning from 'beauty' to 'virtue'."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]},{"i":16,"ref":"p16","source":"CAPUT V.\n\nEvam damnationis sententia in Sara tamquam solutam esse, sed multo magis in Maria, quos virginitale integra Deum genuit, nec non ejusdem virtutis signum extulit. Quam impudenter ipsam virginem perseverusse negarint lueretici, quorum argumenta ex Evangeliis petita diluuntur.\n\n3i. Ven!, Eva, jam sobria; veni, Eva, etsi in te aliquando intemperans, sed jam in prole jejuna. Veni, Eva, jam tatis, ut non de paradiso excludaris, sed rapiaris ad coelum. Veni, Eva, jam Sara, quæ parias filios non in tristitia, sed in exsultatione: non in moerore, sed risu. Isaac tibi multiplex nascetur. Veni iterum, Eva, jam Sara, de qua dicatur viro: Audi Sarai uxorem tuam ( Gen. xxi, 12). Sis tu licet viro subdita, quia esse te decet; cito tamen solvisti sententiam, ut vir te audire jubeatur.\n\nSic typum Christi illa par iendu a viro meretur audiri, quantum prolicit sexus qui Christum, salva tamen virginitate, generavit! Veni ergo, Eva, jam Maria, quæ nobis non solum virginitatis incentivum attulit, sed etiam Deum intulit. Unde lætus et exsultans tanto munere dicit Esaias: Ecce virgo in utero accipiet, et pariet filium, et vocabitur nomen ejut Emmanuel ( Esai. VII, 14), quod est interpretatum, nobiscum Deus ( Matth. I, 23). Unde hoc munus? Non de terra utique, sed de caelo vas sibi * hoc per quod descenderet Christus elegit, et sacravit templum pndoris.","english":"CHAPTER V.\n\nThe sentence of condemnation upon Eve is seen to be dissolved in Sarah, but much more so in Mary, who, with her virginity intact, gave birth to God, and also bore the sign of that same virtue. How shamelessly the heretics have denied that the Virgin herself persevered, whose arguments, drawn from the Gospels, are refuted.\n\n31. Come, Eve, now sober; come, Eve, although once intemperate in you, yet now fasting in your offspring. Come, Eve, now such that you are not excluded from paradise, but are snatched up to heaven. Come, Eve, now Sarah, who bears sons not in sadness, but in exultation: not in grief, but with a laugh. Isaac will be born to you many times. Come again, Eve, now Sarah, of whom it is said to her husband: Listen to your wife Sarai (Gen. 21:12). Although you are subject to your husband, as is fitting for you, yet you have quickly dissolved the sentence, so that the husband is commanded to listen to you.\n\nThus the type of Christ, that woman who is to bear him, deserves to be heard by her husband, so much does the sex profit which gave birth to Christ, yet with virginity preserved! Come therefore, Eve, now Mary, who brought us not only the incentive of virginity, but also brought God. Hence, joyful and exulting in so great a gift, Isaiah says: Behold, a virgin will conceive in her womb, and bear a son, and his name will be called Emmanuel (Isa. 7:14), which is interpreted, God with us (Matt. 1:23). Whence this gift? Not from the earth, surely, but from heaven, this vessel through which Christ would descend, he chose and consecrated a temple of modesty.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"CAPUT V","severity":"info","text":"This chapter heading introduces a typological argument: the condemnation of Eve is dissolved in Sarah and more fully in Mary, who bore God with virginity intact.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Gen. 21:12","severity":"info","text":"The reference to 'Audi Sarai uxorem tuam' (Listen to your wife Sarai) is from Genesis 21:12, where God commands Abraham to heed Sarah.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Isa. 7:14","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Ecce virgo in utero accipiet, et pariet filium, et vocabitur nomen ejus Emmanuel' is from Isaiah 7:14, interpreted as a prophecy of the virgin birth.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Matt. 1:23","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'nobiscum Deus' (God with us) is the interpretation of Emmanuel, as given in Matthew 1:23.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"typum Christi","severity":"info","text":"The 'type of Christ' refers to the woman who bears him, here Sarah as a prefiguration of Mary, a common patristic typology.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"lueretici","severity":"info","text":"The heretics denying Mary's perpetual virginity are likely Jovinian and Helvidius, whom Ambrose refutes in this treatise.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'lueretici' is a variant spelling of 'haeretici' (heretics); the specific group is not named but context suggests opponents of perpetual virginity.","The phrase 'vas sibi hoc' is elliptical; the translation supplies 'vessel' as the object chosen by Christ."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":17,"ref":"p17","source":"Per unam descendit, sed multas vocavit. Unde et speciale Maria Domini hoc nomen invenit, quod significat: Deus ex genere meo.\n\nDictæ sunt et ante Mariæ multæ: nam et Maria soror Aaron dicta fuit (Exod. xv, 20, 23); sed illa Maria amaritudo maris vocabatur. Venit ergo Dominus in amaritudinem fragilitatis humanæ, ut conditionis amaritudo dulcesceret, Verbi coelestis suavitate et gratia temperata. Hoc significavit fons e Merrha per lignum dulcoratus; eo quod populus nationum amarus ante peccatis, vel caro nostra temperamento passionis Dominicae in usus alteros mutaretur.\n\nEgregia igitur Maria, quao signum sacræ virginitatis extulit, et intemeratae integritatis pium Christo vexillum erexit. Et tamen cum omnes ad cultum virginitatis sanctæ Mariae advocentur exemplo, fuerunt qui eam negarent virginem perseverasse. Hoc tantum sacrilegium silere jamdudum maluimus: sed quia causa vocavit in medium, ita ut ejus prolapsionis etiam Episcopus argueretur, indemnatum non putamus relinquendum; et maxime quia et mulierem cam legimus, sicut qui in Cana Galilææ ipse Dominus ait dicenti sibi: Vinum non habent, fili, respondit: Quid mihi et tibi est, mulier (Joan. II, 3, 5)? Et alibi legimus quod dixerit Matthaeus de Joseph et Maria: Inventa eat antequam convenirent, in utero habens de Spiritu sancto (Matth. i, 18). Et infra: Non cognovit eam, donec peperit (Ibid., 19).","english":"Through one woman came the fall, but many were called. Hence Mary also found this special name of the Lord, which signifies: God from my lineage.\n\nMany Marys were named before her: for even Mary, the sister of Aaron, was so called (Exod. 15:20, 23); but that Mary was called bitterness of the sea. Therefore the Lord came into the bitterness of human frailty, so that the bitterness of the condition might become sweet, tempered by the sweetness and grace of the heavenly Word. This was signified by the spring at Marah sweetened by wood; because the people of the nations, bitter before with sins, or our flesh, by the tempering of the Lord's passion, would be changed to other uses.\n\nMary is therefore distinguished, who bore the sign of sacred virginity and raised the pious standard of undefiled integrity for Christ. And yet, although all are summoned by Mary's example to the cultivation of holy virginity, there were those who denied that she had persevered as a virgin. We have long preferred to pass over this great sacrilege in silence; but because the case has been brought into the open, so that even a bishop was accused of this lapse, we think it should not be left uncondemned; and especially because we read that she was called a woman, as in Cana of Galilee the Lord himself said to the one who said to him: \"They have no wine, son,\" he replied: \"What is that to me and to you, woman?\" (John 2:3, 5). And elsewhere we read that Matthew said of Joseph and Mary: \"She was found before they came together, having in her womb from the Holy Spirit\" (Matt. 1:18). And below: \"He did not know her until she gave birth\" (Ibid., 19).","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Per unam descendit, sed multas vocavit","severity":"info","text":"The contrast between Eve (the one woman through whom the fall came) and the many women called to salvation is a typological topos in Ambrose, linking the fall to redemption through Mary.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Maria","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose etymologizes 'Maria' as 'amaritudo maris' (bitterness of the sea) for the Old Testament Miriam, but for the Virgin Mary he implies a new meaning: 'God from my lineage' (Deus ex genere meo), a play on the Hebrew etymology of Mary as 'star of the sea' or 'bitter sea'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Exod. xv, 20, 23","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Exodus 15:20, 23, referring to Miriam, sister of Aaron, as a type of Mary; the 'spring at Marah sweetened by wood' alludes to Exodus 15:23-25, where Moses sweetens bitter water with a tree, prefiguring the cross.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Joan. II, 3, 5","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites John 2:3-5, where Jesus addresses his mother as 'woman' (mulier), to counter heretical arguments that Mary was not a perpetual virgin; he interprets the term as a generic address, not a denial of virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Matth. i, 18-19","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Matthew 1:18-19, paraphrasing that Mary was found pregnant before cohabitation with Joseph, and that Joseph did not know her until after the birth, supporting the doctrine of perpetual virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Episcopus argueretur","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose refers to a contemporary controversy where a bishop was accused of denying Mary's perpetual virginity; this reflects 4th-century debates, possibly against Helvidius or Jovinian, whom Ambrose refutes in this treatise.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'Deus ex genere meo' is Ambrose's own etymology for Mary's name, not a standard interpretation; its precise source is unclear.","The reference to 'the spring at Marah sweetened by wood' conflates Exodus 15:23-25 with typological interpretation; the exact verse is not directly quoted."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":18,"ref":"p18","source":"Et iterum de Joseph: Noluit eamtraducere ( Matth. XII, ). Et fratres Domiui videntur significare, quod de Maria suscepti siut. Et Apostolus ait: Postquam venit plenitudo temporis, misit Deus Filium suum factum ex muliere, factum sub lege ( Gal. IV, 4). Quæ singula \" enodanda nobis sunt, ut qui illa legit, sermonis hujusmodi vinculo non alligetur. Respondeamus itaque suo ordine.\n\nDe molieris nomine quid moveamut? Ad sexum relnlit; non enim corruptelæ, sed sexus vocabulum est. Vulgi usus non praejudicat veritati. Denique virginitas primum hoc nomen accepit; nam cum sumpsisset Deus unam de costis Adæ, et supplevisset carnem in locum ipsius: Ædificavit, inquit, eam in mulierem (Gen. II, 22). Utique adhuc virum non cognoverat, et jam mulier vocabatur. Rationem quoque nominis hujus Scriptura non taL cuit dicens: Quia dixit Adam: Os de ossibus meis, et caro de carne mea. Hoec vocabitur mulier, quoniam de viro suo sumpta eat (Ibid., 23). Quia sumpta est, inquit, de viro suo, non quia virum experta. Itaque quamdiu in paradiso fuit, mulier vocata est, et cognita viro non erat: ubi autem ejecta est de paradiso, tunc legitur quia Adam cognovit Evam mulierem suam, et tunc concepit et peperit filium ( Gen. IV, 1). Primus igitur solutus est nodus.","english":"And again concerning Joseph: He did not wish to bring her forward (Matt. 1:19). And the brothers of the Lord seem to indicate that they were conceived from Mary. And the Apostle says: \"After the fullness of time came, God sent His Son, made from a woman, made under the law\" (Gal. 4:4). Each of these points must be unraveled by us, so that whoever reads this may not be bound by such a chain of discourse. Let us therefore respond in order.\n\nWhat do we find troubling about the word \"woman\"? It refers to sex; for it is not a term of corruption, but of sex. The common usage of the people does not prejudice the truth. Indeed, virginity first received this name; for when God had taken one of Adam's ribs and filled the flesh in its place, it says: \"He built it into a woman\" (Gen. 2:22). Certainly she had not yet known a man, and yet she was already called woman. Nor has Scripture concealed the reason for this name, saying: Because Adam said: \"Bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. This shall be called woman, because she was taken from her man\" (Gen. 2:23). Because she was taken, it says, from her man, not because she had experienced a man. Thus, as long as she was in paradise, she was called woman, and she had not been known by a man; but when she was cast out of paradise, then it is read that Adam knew his wife Eve, and then she conceived and bore a son (Gen. 4:1). Thus the first knot is untied.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Noluit eam traducere","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Noluit eam traducere' refers to Matt. 1:19, where Joseph refrains from exposing Mary to public shame. The verse is misattributed as 'Matth. XII' in the Latin, likely a scribal error.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Postquam venit plenitudo temporis, misit Deus Filium suum factum ex muliere, factum sub lege","severity":"info","text":"The citation from Gal. 4:4 is paraphrased; the Vulgate reads 'factum ex muliere' but the original Greek (Gal. 4:4) uses 'γενόμενον ἐκ γυναικός' (born of a woman). Ambrose adapts it to his argument on the term 'mulier'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ædificavit, inquit, eam in mulierem","severity":"info","text":"The quotation from Gen. 2:22 is from the Vulgate: 'aedificavit eam in mulierem' (He built her into a woman). The Greek LXX has 'ᾠκοδόμησεν αὐτὴν εἰς γυναῖκα'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"mulier","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose argues that 'mulier' (woman) denotes sex, not corruption, citing Gen. 2:22 where Eve is called woman before the Fall. This counters heretical readings that associate the term with sin.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"fratres Domini","severity":"info","text":"The 'brothers of the Lord' (fratres Domini) were a point of contention in early Christian debates on Mary's perpetual virginity. Ambrose refutes the idea that they were Mary's children, aligning with orthodox tradition.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"primus igitur solutus est nodus","severity":"info","text":"This phrase marks the resolution of the first 'knot' (nodus) in Ambrose's argument, a rhetorical device structuring his refutation of objections to Mary's virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'Matth. XII' is likely a misprint for Matt. 1:19; the passage is taken as referring to that verse.","The phrase 'factum ex muliere' in Gal. 4:4 is ambiguous in context; Ambrose interprets it as 'born of a woman' without implying corruption."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":19,"ref":"p19","source":"Secunda quæstio, quia scriptum est, Antequam convenirent, inventa est in utero habena (Matth. i, 18). Consuetudo autem divinae Scripturae ea est, ut causam quæ suscepta cst, astruat, incidentem differat.\n\n3R. Quo solvitur etiam tertia quæstio, qua dictum est: Non cognovit eam, donec peperit Filium (Ibid., 49). Quid ergo? Postea cognovit? Minime. Denique habes scriptum: Ego sum Deus, et donec senescatis, ego sum (Esai. XLVI, 4). Numquid igitur postquam senuerunt, quibus donec dictum erat, Deus esse desivit? Item in prophetia David legimus: Dixit DoMninus Domino meo: Sede a dextris meis, donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum (Psal. cia, 1). Numquid suhjeclis populis nationum, qui ante videbantur inimici, cnm salutis auctorem negarent, simulacris servirent, ad dexteram Patris Filius sedere desivit, aut in perpetuum non sedebit? 39. Quid autem praejudicat Marire, si coelestis consilii mysterium Joseph non intellexit, et putavit virginem non esse, quam praegnantem videret? Resurrectionem ejus angeli ignoraverunt, quod significant versiculi: Tollite portas, principes, vestras, et elevamini portæ æternales, et introibit Rex gloriae. Quis est iste Rex gloriæ (Psal. XXIII, 7, 8)? Interrogant quasi ignorent; et alii respondent: Dominus fortis et potens, Dominus potens in prælio, ipse est Rex gloriæ.","english":"The second question: because it is written, \"Before they came together, she was found to be with child\" (Matt. 1:18). But the custom of divine Scripture is to affirm the cause which has been undertaken, and to defer an incidental one.\n\n3R. This also solves the third question, by which it was said: \"He did not know her until she bore the Son\" (Ibid., 49). What then? Did he know her afterward? Not at all. Finally, you have it written: \"I am God, and until you grow old, I am\" (Isa. 46:4). Did God, then, after those to whom \"until\" was said had grown old, cease to be? Likewise, in the prophecy of David we read: \"The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I place your enemies as a footstool for your feet\" (Ps. 110:1). Did the Son, after the subjection of the peoples of the nations, who previously seemed enemies, who denied the author of salvation and served idols, cease to sit at the right hand of the Father, or will he not sit forever? 39. But what prejudice does it cause to Mary, if Joseph did not understand the mystery of the heavenly counsel, and thought the virgin was not a virgin, whom he saw pregnant? The angels were ignorant of his resurrection, which the verses signify: \"Lift up the gates, you princes, and be lifted up, eternal gates, and the King of Glory will enter. Who is this King of Glory?\" (Ps. 24:7, 8). They ask as if they do not know; and others answer: \"The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, he is the King of Glory.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Secunda quaestio","severity":"info","text":"The passage opens with a numbered question, continuing the pattern of quaestio-and-response that structures the treatise. The '3R' marker indicates a third response, showing Ambrose's systematic method.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Antequam convenirent, inventa est in utero habena","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Matthew 1:18, but the Latin wording differs from the Vulgate. The phrase 'inventa est in utero habena' (she was found to be with child) is a paraphrase, possibly from an Old Latin version.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ego sum Deus, et donec senescatis, ego sum","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Isaiah 46:4, but the verse is not found in the standard Vulgate or Septuagint. It may be a loose quotation or from a variant Old Latin text, used to argue that 'donec' (until) does not imply cessation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Dixit Dominus Domino meo: Sede a dextris meis, donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Psalm 110:1 (Vulgate numbering), but the wording differs from the standard text. The verse is used to argue that 'donec' does not imply a temporal limit for the Son's session at the Father's right hand.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Tollite portas, principes, vestras, et elevamini portae aeternales, et introibit Rex gloriae","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Psalm 24:7-8 (Vulgate numbering), but the wording is not found in the standard Psalter. The passage is used to argue that even angels were ignorant of the resurrection, analogizing to Joseph's ignorance of Mary's virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Quid autem praejudicat Mariae","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose argues that Joseph's misunderstanding does not prejudice Mary, drawing a parallel with angels' ignorance of the resurrection. This reflects a common patristic strategy to defend Mary's perpetual virginity by minimizing Joseph's role.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin text contains scriptural citations that diverge from the Vulgate, possibly reflecting Old Latin versions or loose paraphrases. The exact source of the Isaiah and Psalm quotations is uncertain."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]},{"i":20,"ref":"p20","source":"Et repetivit Propheta eosdem versiculos, et nihilominus illi quasi ignorantes iterum interrogaverunt; sic enim scriptuln est: Tollite portas, principes, vestras, et elevamini portæ æternales, et introibit Rex glorite. Quis est iste Rex glorice (Ibid. 9, 10)? Quomodo ergo homo potuit divinum scire secrerim, quod angeli nesciebant? Et in Esaisæ libro habes: Quis est iste, qui advenit ex Edom; rubor vestimentorum ejus ex Bosor (Esai. nUl, 1)? Et utique minus erat hominem resurrexisse, quam virginem parturisse. Etenim jam Eliæ precibus, Elisaei orationibus mortui resurrexerant (III Reg. XVII, 22): numquam autem ante, numquam postea virgo generavit (IV Reg. Iv, 17).\n\nHoc autem opinatus est quod traduceret eam quasi team, antequam ab angelo monerctur (Matth. i, 20): postea autem quasi fidelis nec dubius virginatatis ejus servavit oraculum.","english":"And the Prophet repeated the same verses, and yet they, as if ignorant, questioned again; for thus it is written: \"Lift up your gates, O princes, and be raised up, O eternal gates, and the King of glory will enter. Who is this King of glory?\" (Ibid. 9, 10). How, then, could a man know the divine secret, which the angels did not know? And in the book of Isaiah you have: \"Who is this who comes from Edom; the redness of his garments from Bosor?\" (Isa. 63:1). And certainly it was a lesser thing for a man to have risen from the dead than for a virgin to have given birth. For indeed, by the prayers of Elijah and the supplications of Elisha, the dead had risen again (1 Kings 17:22): but never before, never after, did a virgin give birth (2 Kings 4:17).\n\nNow he supposed that he would betray her as if she were a team, before she was warned by the angel (Matt. 1:20): but afterwards, as a faithful man and not doubting her virginity, he preserved the oracle.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Tollite portas, principes, vestras, et elevamini portæ æternales, et introibit Rex gloriæ","severity":"info","text":"The passage quotes a conflated or paraphrased version of Psalm 24:9-10 (Vulgate numbering), likely from a liturgical or patristic source, not directly from the Vulgate.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Quis est iste, qui advenit ex Edom; rubor vestimentorum ejus ex Bosor","severity":"info","text":"This is a loose citation of Isaiah 63:1, possibly from an Old Latin version or a patristic florilegium; the Vulgate reads 'Quis est iste qui de Edom venit, rubor vestimentorum eius de Bosra?'","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Eliæ precibus, Elisaei orationibus mortui resurrexerant","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose refers to 1 Kings 17:22 (Elijah raising the widow's son) and 2 Kings 4:17 (Elisha raising the Shunammite's son), contrasting these resurrections with the unique miracle of virgin birth.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"traduceret eam quasi team","severity":"caution","text":"The phrase 'quasi team' is obscure; 'team' may be a scribal error for 'ream' (accusative of 'rea', accused) or a corruption of 'theam' (spectacle). The sense is that Joseph initially thought to betray Mary as if she were guilty.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Hoc autem opinatus est... postea autem... servavit oraculum","severity":"info","text":"This sentence contrasts Joseph's initial suspicion (before the angelic warning) with his later faithful preservation of the oracle of Mary's perpetual virginity, forming a narrative pivot.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"numquam autem ante, numquam postea virgo generavit","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose asserts the absolute uniqueness of Mary's virgin birth, a key point in patristic Mariology, later echoed in medieval and Counter-Reformation defenses of Mary's perpetual virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'quasi team' is uncertain; it may be a corruption for 'quasi ream' (as if accused) or 'quasi theam' (as a spectacle). The English draft renders it 'as if she were a team', which is likely a misreading.","The scriptural citations of Psalm 24 and Isaiah 63 are paraphrased and do not match the Vulgate exactly, possibly reflecting an Old Latin or liturgical source."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]},{"i":21,"ref":"p21","source":"CAPUT VI.\n\nSolutis aliis duabus circa eamdem rem objectionibus, additur absurdum illud futurum fuisse, si Christus matrem in virginitate non perseveraturam elegisset, aut ei præclarissima virginitatis munera denegasset.\n\nNec illud moveat, quod ait: Quia Joseph accepit conjugem suam, et profectus eat in Ægyptum (ilatth. i, 24); desponsata enim viro conjugis nomen accepit. Cum enim initiatur conjugium (27, q. 2, Cum initiatur, i et 2), tunc conjugii nomen adsciscitur; Ii non enim defloratio virginiiatis facil conjugium, sed pactio conjugalis. Denique cum jungitur puella, conjugium est, non cum virili admixtione cognoscitur.\n\nQuod autem fuit desponsata connubio, e licet alibi plenius dixerimus, libare nunc satis est causam cœlestis mysterii; ut ab his qni Mariam gravi utero cernerent, non adulterium virginitatis, sed desponsatus partus legitimus crederetur. Maluit enim Dominus aliquos de sua generatione, quam de matris pudore dubitare.","english":"CHAPTER VI.\n\nOther objections concerning the same matter having been resolved, the absurdity is added that would have ensued if Christ had chosen a mother who would not persevere in virginity, or had denied her the most excellent gifts of virginity.\n\nNor should that statement disturb you: \"Because Joseph took his wife and set out for Egypt\" (Matthew 1:24); for a woman betrothed to a husband receives the name of wife. For when a marriage is initiated, the name of marriage is then assumed; for it is not the deflowering of virginity that makes a marriage, but the marriage pact. Indeed, when a girl is joined [in marriage], it is a marriage, not when she is known by carnal union.\n\nBut that she was betrothed in marriage—although we have spoken more fully elsewhere—it is now sufficient to touch upon the reason for the heavenly mystery: so that those who saw Mary with a heavy womb might believe the birth to be legitimate from a betrothed woman, not an adultery of virginity. For the Lord preferred that some doubt concerning his own generation rather than concerning his mother's modesty.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"CAPUT VI","severity":"info","text":"This chapter heading introduces the sixth section of the treatise, which continues the refutation of objections against Mary's perpetual virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Quia Joseph accepit conjugem suam, et profectus est in Ægyptum","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Matthew 1:24 (Vulgate), which describes Joseph taking Mary and the infant Jesus to Egypt. The verse is used to argue that Mary was called 'wife' due to betrothal, not consummation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"pactio conjugalis","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'pactio conjugalis' (marriage pact) is a key term in Ambrose's argument: marriage is constituted by the betrothal agreement, not by sexual union. This reflects Roman legal and patristic thought.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"desponsata connubio","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose explains that Mary's betrothal (desponsata) was a protective measure: it allowed her pregnancy to be seen as legitimate, shielding her virginity from suspicion of adultery. This addresses contemporary concerns about Jesus' birth.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Maluit enim Dominus aliquos de sua generatione, quam de matris pudore dubitare","severity":"info","text":"This sentence encapsulates Ambrose's theological priority: Christ preferred that some doubt his own birth rather than his mother's modesty. It became a standard patristic argument for Mary's perpetual virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'desponsata connubio' could be read as 'betrothed in marriage' or 'betrothed by marriage'; the translation follows the former. The reference to 'alibi plenius dixerimus' (we have spoken more fully elsewhere) is not specified in this passage."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":22,"ref":"p22","source":"Fratres autem gentis, et geheris, popnli quoque consortium nuncupari docet Dominus ipse, qui dicit: Narrabo nomen tuum fratribus meis: in medid Ecclesiæ laudabo te (Psal. XXI, 23). Paulus quoque ait: Optabam ego anathema esse pro fratribus meis (Rom. IX, 3). Potuerunt antem a fratres esse ex Joseph, non et Maria. Quod quidem si quis diligentius prosequatur, inveniet. Nos ea prosequenda non putavimus, quoniam fraternum nomen liquet pluribus esse commune.\n\nAn vero Dominus Jesus eatn sibi matrem eligeret, quæ tirili semine aulain posset incestare caelestem, quasi eam cui Impossibile esset virginali. pudoris servare custodiam? Cujus exemplo cæteræ ad integritatis studium provocamur, ipsa ab hujusmodi quod per se cæteris propositum foret, munere deviaret.\n\nEI quæ esset, cui majus quam matri Dominus meritum reponeret, præmium reservaret? Nulli enim uberiora quam virginitati deputavit munera, sicut Scriptura nos docet. Sic enim per Esaiam Dominus locutus est: Ne dicat spado, quia ego tum lignum aridum. Haec dicit Dominus spadonibus: Quicumque custodierint præcepta mea, et elegerint quæ ego volo, et amplectentur testamentum netum, dabo illis in domo mea et in muro meo locum nominatum mei liorem, ei filiorum ei filiarum nomen æternam dubo illis, et non deficient (Esai. LVI, et seq.). Aliis promittit ut non deficiant: matrem suam deficere patiebatur?","english":"But the Lord himself teaches that brothers of race, of lineage, and also the fellowship of a people are called such, when he says: \"I will tell your name to my brothers; in the midst of the Church I will praise you\" (Psalm 21:23). Paul also says: \"I wished to be anathema for my brothers\" (Romans 9:3). However, they could have been brothers from Joseph, but not from Mary. If someone were to pursue this more diligently, he would find it so. We did not think it necessary to pursue these matters, since it is clear that the name \"brother\" is common to many.\n\nWould the Lord Jesus then choose for himself a mother who could defile the celestial chamber with a man's seed, as if it were impossible for her to keep the guard of virginal modesty? She by whose example we are urged to the pursuit of integrity, would she herself deviate from that office which would have been set before others?\n\nAnd she, for whom would the Lord set a greater merit, reserve a greater reward than for a mother? For he assigned no richer gifts than to virginity, as Scripture teaches us. For thus the Lord spoke through Isaiah: \"Let the eunuch not say that I am a dry tree. Thus says the Lord to eunuchs: Whoever keep my commandments, and choose what I want, and embrace my testament, I will give them in my house and in my wall a place named after me, and I will give them the eternal name of sons and daughters, and they will not fail\" (Isaiah 56 and following). He promises others that they will not fail: was he allowing his own mother to fail?","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Psal. XXI, 23","severity":"info","text":"The citation of Psalm 21:23 (Vulgate numbering) is a loose paraphrase; the verse does not contain the exact phrase 'Narrabo nomen tuum fratribus meis' but reflects a common patristic adaptation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Rom. IX, 3","severity":"info","text":"The reference to Romans 9:3 is imprecise; the verse reads 'optabam enim anathema esse a vobis' (I wished to be anathema from you), not 'pro fratribus meis'. Ambrose adapts the text to his argument.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Esai. LVI, et seq.","severity":"info","text":"The citation of Isaiah 56 and following is a composite; the passage on eunuchs and the promise of a place in God's house is drawn from Isaiah 56:3-5, but the wording is freely rendered by Ambrose.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"fratres ... ex Joseph, non et Maria","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose argues that the 'brothers of the Lord' could be Joseph's children from a previous marriage, a view common in patristic tradition (e.g., Jerome, Helvidius) to defend Mary's perpetual virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"An vero Dominus Jesus ... eligeret","severity":"info","text":"This rhetorical question marks a shift from refuting objections to a positive argument: Christ would not choose a mother who could fail in virginity, reinforcing the treatise's central thesis.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"spado ... lignum aridum","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose's use of 'eunuch' and 'dry tree' echoes ascetic ideals; the passage was later cited in medieval debates on clerical celibacy and the superiority of virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The exact wording of the Psalm and Romans citations is adapted, not literal; the source of the Isaiah composite is unclear.","The identity of the 'brothers' (fratres) is left ambiguous; Ambrose suggests they are Joseph's kin, not Mary's, but does not elaborate."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":23,"ref":"p23","source":"Sed non deficit Maria, non deficit virginitaUs magistra; nec fleri poterat ut quæ Deum portaverat, portandum hominem arbitraretur: hee Joseph vir justus in hiant prorupisset nmenliam, ut matri Domini corporeo concubitu misceretur.\n\nCAPUT VII.\n\nUbi probatum eat Mariam perseverasse in integritate virginea, ex eo quod in matrem disciputo data fuerit; confirmatur virginitati. propositum ab ea minime mutari potuisse, cujus tanta constantia in Filii pat sione, tantaque virtus in Baptistæ extultatione præfulterit.\n\nSed tamen Maria suis, non alienis moribus defendatur. Non defecit, ut dixi. Ipse testis est Filius Dei, qui cum esset in cruce, discipulum matri commendabat Ut filium: discipulo eam tradebat ut maireni (Joan. XIX, 26, 27). Docuit hoc Joannes, qui mystica magis scripsit; alii enim Evangelistæ scripserunt qxod in passione Domini terra contremuit, sol refucit, persecutoribus venia postulata est: iste dilectus Domini, qui e pectore ejus hauserat secreta sapientiæ, et piæ voluntatis arcana ah:Iliis dicta (Matth. XXVII, et seq.) praeteriens, hoc diligentius prosecuius est, hi maternae virginitatis perseverantiam suo judicio comprobaret (Joan. XIII, 23); quasi filius de matris pudore sollicitus, ne quis eam lanto convicio temeratæ integritatis aspergeret.","english":"But Mary did not fail, the teacher of virginity did not fail; nor could it be brought about that she who had borne God would judge that a man was to be borne: nor would Joseph, a just man, have burst forth into such shamelessness as to be joined in bodily union with the mother of the Lord.\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nWhere it is proven that Mary persevered in virginal integrity, from the fact that she was given as a mother to the disciple; it is confirmed that the resolve of virginity could not have been changed by her, whose such constancy in the passion of her Son, and such great virtue in the exultation of the Baptist, shone forth.\n\nBut nevertheless, let Mary be defended by her own, not by others' customs. She did not fail, as I have said. The Son of God himself is witness, who, when he was on the cross, commended the disciple to his mother as a son; he entrusted him to the disciple as a mother (John 19:26-27). John taught this, who wrote more of the mystical things; for the other Evangelists wrote that at the Lord's passion the earth trembled, the sun fled, pardon was sought for the persecutors: this beloved of the Lord, who had drawn from his breast the secrets of wisdom and the hidden things of pious will, passing over those things said by others (Matthew 27 and following), pursued this more diligently, to confirm by his own judgment the perseverance of maternal virginity (John 13:23); as a son solicitous about his mother's modesty, lest anyone besmirch her with such a reproach of violated integrity.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Sed non deficit Maria","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose insists Mary did not fail in her virginity, countering any suggestion that she might have wavered after the birth of Christ.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Joan. XIX, 26, 27","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites John 19:26-27, where Jesus on the cross commends John to Mary as her son, to argue that Christ himself confirmed Mary's perpetual virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"discipulo eam tradebat ut matrem","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose interprets the entrusting of John to Mary as evidence that Mary remained a virgin, since Christ would not have given a non-virgin mother to a disciple.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"CAPUT VII","severity":"info","text":"Chapter VII begins with a summary heading that announces the argument: Mary's perseverance in virginity is proven by her being given as mother to the disciple John.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"maternae virginitatis perseverantiam","severity":"info","text":"This passage became a key patristic proof for the doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity, later cited in medieval and Counter-Reformation debates.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"hee Joseph vir justus in hiant prorupisset nmenliam","severity":"caution","text":"The Latin text here is corrupt: 'hee' likely for 'ne', 'hiant' for 'hanc', and 'nmenliam' for 'insolentiam'. The sense is that Joseph would not have burst into such shamelessness.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin text in the first paragraph is corrupt, but the intended sense is clear: Mary did not fail, and Joseph would not have been so shameless as to have bodily union with her."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":24,"ref":"p24","source":"Dignum quippe erat ut qui latroni vcniam donabat, matrem dubio pudoriS absolveret. Dicit cnim ad matrem: Mulier, ecce filius tuus. Dicit et ad discipulum: Ecce mater tua (Luc. XXIII, 43). Ipse est discipulus, cui mater commendatur. Quomodo a marito uxorem tolleret, si fuerat Maria mixta conjugio, aut USum lori conjugalis agnoverat?\n\ne Claudite ora, impii: aperite aures, pii: audite quid Christus loquatur. Testatur de cruce DominUs Jesus (Joan. XIX, 26), et paulisper publicam differt salutem, ne matrem inhonoram relinquat. Subscribitur Joannes testamento Christi. Legatur matri pudoris defensio, testimonium integritatis: legatur et discipulo matris custodia, pietatis gratia. Et ex illo suscepit eam discipulus in sua (lbid. 27). Non utique Christus faciebat divortium, non Maria relinquebat virum. Sed cum quo virgo habitare debebat, quam cum eo quem lilii hæredem, integritatis sciret esse custodem?","english":"It was indeed fitting that he who granted pardon to the thief should absolve his mother from the shame of doubt. For he says to his mother: \"Woman, behold your son.\" And he says to the disciple: \"Behold your mother\" (Luke 23:43). This is the disciple to whom the mother is commended. How could he take a wife from her husband, if Mary had been joined in marriage or had known the use of the marriage bed?\n\nClose your mouths, impious ones; open your ears, pious ones: hear what Christ says. The Lord Jesus testifies from the cross (John 19:26), and briefly postpones the public salvation, lest he leave his mother dishonored. John is inscribed in Christ's testament. Read the defense of modesty for the mother, the testimony of integrity; read also the custody of the mother for the disciple, the grace of piety. And from that time the disciple took her into his own (ibid. 27). Certainly Christ was not making a divorce, nor was Mary leaving a husband. But with whom ought a virgin to dwell, if not with him whom she knew to be the heir of her son and the guardian of her integrity?","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Luc. XXIII, 43","severity":"info","text":"The citation Luke 23:43 is a variant or misprint; the standard verse for Christ entrusting Mary to John is John 19:26-27.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Joan. XIX, 26","severity":"info","text":"John 19:26-27 records Christ on the cross saying 'Woman, behold your son' and to John 'Behold your mother,' which Ambrose uses to argue Mary's perpetual virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"latroni","severity":"info","text":"'Latroni' (thief) refers to the penitent thief crucified with Christ, whom Ambrose contrasts with Mary's honor, emphasizing Christ's mercy.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"testamento Christi","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose metaphorically calls Christ's words from the cross a 'testament,' a legal will, to stress the binding nature of entrusting Mary to John.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Claudite ora, impii: aperite aures, pii","severity":"info","text":"This rhetorical address divides audience into impious and pious, a common patristic device to heighten the polemic against those doubting Mary's virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"integritatis sciret esse custodem","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose's argument that John was guardian of Mary's integrity influenced later medieval devotion to John as protector of virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'dubio pudoriS' (doubtful modesty) is ambiguous: it may mean shame arising from doubt about Mary's virginity, or doubt cast on her modesty. The translation takes it as the former."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":25,"ref":"p25","source":"Stabat ante crucem mater, et fugientibus viris, stabat inlrepida. Videte utrum pudorem mutare potnerit mater Jesu, quæ animum non mutav it. Spectabat piis oculis filii vulnera, per quem scicbat omnibus futuram redemptionem. Stabat noa drgeneri mater spectaculo, quai non metuebat peremptorem. Pollebat in cruce filius, mater se persecutoribus offerebat. Si hoc solum esset, ut ante filium prosterneretur, laudandus pietatis affectus, quod superstes filio esse nolebat: sin vero ut cum filio moreretur, cam eodem gestiebat resurgere, non ignara mysterii quod genuisset resUrrecturum: simul quæ publico usui impendi mortem filii noverat, praestolabatur si forte eliam sua morte publico muneri aliquid adderetur. Sed Christi passio adjutorio non eguit, sicut ipse Dominus longe ante pracdixit: Et respexi, ei non erat auxiliator: et attendi, et nemo suscipiebat; et liberabo eoa brachio meo (Esai. LXIII, 5).","english":"The mother stood before the cross, and while men fled, she stood undaunted. See whether the mother of Jesus could have changed her modesty, when she did not change her spirit. She gazed with pious eyes upon the wounds of her son, through whom she knew redemption was to come for all. The mother of noble birth stood before the spectacle, she who did not fear the executioner. The son hung upon the cross, the mother offered herself to the persecutors. If this were the only thing, that she prostrated herself before her son, the affection of piety would be praiseworthy, because she did not wish to survive her son; but if indeed she wished to die with her son, she yearned to rise again with him, not ignorant of the mystery that she had given birth to the one who would rise again; at the same time, knowing that her son’s death was expended for the public good, she waited to see if perhaps even her own death might add something to the public service. But the passion of Christ had no need of assistance, just as the Lord himself long before foretold: “And I looked, and there was no helper: and I paid attention, and no one was receiving; and I will free them with my arm” (Isa. 63:5).","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Stabat ante crucem mater","severity":"info","text":"The opening image of Mary standing at the cross contrasts her steadfastness with the flight of others, emphasizing her unique courage.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"pudorem","severity":"info","text":"Pudor here likely means 'modesty' or 'sense of shame,' but in context it may also connote Mary's virginity or sexual purity, a key theme in Ambrose's treatise.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Et respexi, ei non erat auxiliator: et attendi, et nemo suscipiebat; et liberabo eos brachio meo (Esai. LXIII, 5)","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Isaiah 63:5, though the Vulgate text differs; the citation supports Christ's self-sufficiency, reinforcing that Mary's sacrifice was unnecessary.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"mater se persecutoribus offerebat","severity":"info","text":"The image of Mary offering herself to persecutors echoes early Christian martyrdom ideals, where the mother's courage parallels that of the martyrs.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Si hoc solum esset ... sin vero","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose uses a conditional structure to contrast two possible motives for Mary's stance: mere maternal grief versus a desire to share in Christ's resurrection.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"non ignara mysterii quod genuisset resurrecturum","severity":"info","text":"This passage influenced later medieval depictions of Mary as the Sorrowful Mother, aware of the salvific meaning of Christ's death.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin text has 'potnerit' which is likely a scribal error for 'potuerit' (could have changed).","The citation of Isaiah 63:5 does not match the Vulgate exactly; the source of Ambrose's version is unclear."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":26,"ref":"p26","source":"Quomodo crgo extorqueri potuit integritas Mariæ, quae fugientibus apostolis, supplicia non metnebat, sed ipsa se offerebat periculis? Cujus tanta gratia, ut non solum in se virginitatis gratiam reservaret, sed eliam his quos viseret, integritatis insigne conferret. Visitavit Joannem Baptistam, et in utero matris priusquam nasceretur, exsilivit (Luc. I, 41). Ad vocem Mariæ exsultavit infantulus, obseCOlUS antequam genitus. Nec immerito mansit iutcger corpore, quem tribus mensibus oleo quodam suae ] præsentiæ et integritatis unguento Domini mater exercuit. Eademque postea Joanni Evangelistæ est tradita conjugium nescienti. Unde non miror præ cæteris locutum mysteria divina, cui praesto erat aula coelestium sacramentorum.\n\nCAPUT VIII.\n\nEzechielis testimonia, et potissimum quod habet de porta non aperienda, in Mariam quadrare; utpote per quam non reseratam transierit solus Christus, sicque illam confortaverit, ut postea ne Josepho quidem patefacta sit.","english":"How, then, could the integrity of Mary be wrested away, when, while the apostles fled, she did not fear punishments, but offered herself to dangers? Her grace was so great that she not only preserved the grace of virginity in herself, but also conferred the mark of integrity upon those she visited. She visited John the Baptist, and in his mother’s womb, before he was born, he leaped (Luke 1:41). At Mary’s voice the infant exulted, anointed before he was begotten. And not undeservedly did he remain whole in body, whom the Lord’s mother exercised for three months with a certain oil of her presence and the ointment of her integrity. And the same Mary was later entrusted to John the Evangelist, who knew no marriage. Hence I do not wonder that he spoke divine mysteries above the rest, for the court of heavenly sacraments was at hand to him.\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nTestimonies of Ezekiel, and especially that which he has concerning the gate not to be opened, to be applied to Mary; inasmuch as through it, not unbarred, only Christ passed, and thus strengthened her, that afterwards it was not opened even to Joseph.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"integritas","severity":"info","text":"The term 'integritas' (integrity) here carries a double sense of physical virginity and moral steadfastness, a key theme in Ambrose's defense of Mary's perpetual virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Luc. I, 41","severity":"info","text":"The reference to John the Baptist leaping in the womb at Mary's voice is from Luke 1:41, though the Vulgate reads 'exsultavit' (leaped) as in the Latin here.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"background","lemma":"oleo quodam suae præsentiæ et integritatis unguento","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose's metaphor of Mary's presence as 'oil' and 'ointment' that preserves John the Baptist's bodily integrity draws on patristic typology linking virginity to spiritual unction.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"CAPUT VIII","severity":"info","text":"The chapter heading introduces Ezekiel's testimony of the closed gate, a typological figure for Mary's perpetual virginity, which Ambrose will develop in the following passage.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"background","lemma":"Joanni Evangelistæ est tradita conjugium nescienti","severity":"info","text":"The tradition that Mary was entrusted to John the Evangelist, who remained celibate, appears in early Christian apocrypha and is used by Ambrose to link John's divine insight to Mary's virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"obseCOlUS","severity":"caution","text":"The Latin 'obseCOlUS' appears corrupt; the intended word is likely 'obsecutus' (anointed) or 'obsignatus' (sealed), but the manuscript reading is uncertain.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'obseCOlUS' in the Latin is a textual crux; the reading 'anointed' is adopted based on context, but the exact word is uncertain.","The reference to 'three months' of Mary's influence on John the Baptist is not scriptural and may derive from apocryphal tradition."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":27,"ref":"p27","source":"Nunc mihi dicant qui hanc quæstionem serunt, quid est quod ait Dominus per prophetam: Nunc revocabo captivilntem Jacob, et miserebor adhuc domus C Israel (Ezech. xxxix, 25). Et infra, It Congregabo, inquit, de gentibus eos, et congregabo illos de regionibus nationum, et sanctificabor in liis in conspectu gentium: et scient quod ego sum Dominus Deus ipsorum, dum apparebo illis inter nationes; et non avertam amplius faciem meam ab eis, pro eo quod effudi iram meam in domum Israel, dicit Dominus (Ibid., et seq.).\n\nEt infra dicit propheta vidisse se in monte alto nimis ædificationem civitatis (Ezech. XL, et seq.), cujus portae plurimae significantur; una tamen clausa describitur, de qua sic ait: Et converti me secundum viam portæ sanctorum exterioris, quæ respicit ad Orientem, et hæc erat clausa. Et ait ad me Dominus: Porta hæc clausa erit, et non aperietur, et nemo transibit per eam; quomam Dominus Deus Israel transibit per eam. Eritque clausa, quoniam dux hic sedebit in ea, ut manducet panem in conspectu Domini. Secundum viam Ælam portæ intrabit, et secundum viam ejus exibit (Ezech. XLIV, i et seq.). Qua? est haec porta, nisi Maria; ideo clausa, quia virgo? Porta igitur Maria, per quam Christus intravit in hunc mundum, quando virginali fusus est parto, et genitalia virginitatis claustra non solvit.","english":"Now let those who sow this question tell me what it is that the Lord says through the prophet: \"Now I will recall the captivity of Jacob, and I will yet have mercy on the house of Israel\" (Ezek. 39:25). And further on: \"I will gather them from among the nations,\" he says, \"and I will gather them from the regions of the peoples, and I will be sanctified in them in the sight of the nations: and they will know that I am the Lord their God, when I appear to them among the nations; and I will no longer turn my face away from them, because I have poured out my wrath upon the house of Israel,\" says the Lord (ibid., and following).\n\nAnd further on the prophet says he saw on a very high mountain the building of a city (Ezek. 40, and following), whose many gates are indicated; yet one is described as closed, concerning which he says thus: \"And I turned myself toward the way of the outer gate of the saints, which looks to the East, and this was closed. And the Lord said to me: This gate will be closed, and it will not be opened, and no one will pass through it; because the Lord God of Israel will pass through it. And it will be closed, because this leader will sit in it, to eat bread in the sight of the Lord. By the way of the porch of the gate he will enter, and by his way he will go out\" (Ezek. 44:1 and following). What is this gate, if not Mary? Therefore closed, because she is a virgin? Mary, then, is the gate through which Christ entered this world, when he was poured forth in virginal birth, and he did not undo the locks of virginal chastity.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ezech. xxxix, 25","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Ezekiel 39:25, but the verse numbering follows the Vulgate; modern Bibles place this passage in Ezekiel 39:25–29. The prophecy of gathering Israel from captivity is applied typologically to Mary's role.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ezech. XL, et seq.","severity":"info","text":"The reference to Ezekiel 40–44 describes a visionary city with a closed eastern gate. Ambrose interprets this gate as Mary, the virgin through whom Christ entered the world without violating her virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"porta","severity":"info","text":"Porta (gate) is Ambrose's key typological term for Mary. The closed gate (porta clausa) symbolizes her perpetual virginity, and the Lord's passage through it prefigures the Incarnation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Ezekiel 44:1–3","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose adapts Ezekiel's vision of the closed gate of the inner court (Ezek 44:1–3) to a Marian typology. In the original context, the gate is for the prince's exclusive use; Ambrose reinterprets the prince as Christ.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Nunc mihi dicant ... Et infra","severity":"info","text":"This passage forms a two-part argument: first, a prophetic citation (Ezek 39:25ff) about Israel's restoration; second, a visionary gate (Ezek 40–44) interpreted as Mary. The rhetorical question 'Quae est haec porta, nisi Maria?' marks the climax.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Maria porta","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose's identification of Mary as the 'closed gate' (porta clausa) became a standard image in medieval Marian theology, influencing litanies and iconography of the 'Porta Coeli' (Gate of Heaven).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin text has 'captivilntem' for 'captivitatem' (a scribal error). The English draft translates 'captivity' correctly. The phrase 'sanctificabor in liis' is likely a misreading for 'sanctificabor in illis' (I will be sanctified in them)."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":28,"ref":"p28","source":"Mansit intemeratum septum pudoris, et inviolata integritatis duravere signacula; cum exiret ex virgine, cujus altitudinem mundus sustinere non posset.\n\nHæc, inquit, porta clausa erit, et non aperietur. Bona porta Maria, quæ clausa erat, et non aperiebatur. Transivit per cam Christus, sed non aperuit.\n\nEt ut doceamus quia portam habet omnis homo, per quam Christus ingreditur: Tollite, inquit, portas, principes, vestras, et elevamini portce æternales, et introibit Rex gloriæ Psal. XXIII 7). Quanto magis ergo porta erat in Maria, in qua sedit Christus, et exivit? Est enim et porta ventris. Unde ait Job sanctus: Intenebrescant, inquit, stellæ noctis illius; quia non conclusit portas ventris matris meæ (Job. III, 9, 10).\n\nEst ergo et porta veniris, « sed non clausa semper: verum una sola potuit manere clausa, per quam sine dispendio claustrorum genitalium virginis partus exivit. Ideo ait propheta (Ezech. XLIV, 2): Porta hæc clausa erit: non aperietur, et nemo transibit per eam, hoc est, nemo hominum; quoniam Dominus, inquit, Deus Israel transibit per eam. Eritque clausa, id est, ante et post transitum Domini erit clausa: et non aperietur a quoquam, nec aperta est; quoniam habuit semper januamsuam Christum, qui dixit: Ego sum janua (Joan. x, 7), quam nemo ab ea potuit avellere.","english":"The barrier of modesty remained untouched, and the seals of integrity endured inviolate, when He came forth from the Virgin, whose height the world could not sustain.\n\n\"This gate,\" He says, \"will be closed, and it will not be opened.\" A good gate is Mary, which was closed and was not opened. Christ passed through her, but He did not open it.\n\nAnd to teach us that every man has a gate through which Christ enters: \"Take up,\" He says, \"your gates, O princes, and raise yourselves up, eternal gates, and the King of Glory will enter\" (Ps. 23:7). How much more, then, was there a gate in Mary, in which Christ sat and came forth? For there is also a gate of the womb. Whence the holy Job says: \"Let the stars of that night grow dark,\" he says, \"because it did not close the gates of my mother's womb\" (Job 3:9, 10).\n\nThere is, therefore, also a gate of the womb, but not always closed: yet one alone was able to remain closed, through which the birth of the virgin came forth without loss to the genital barriers. Therefore the prophet says (Ezek. 44:2): \"This gate will be closed: it will not be opened, and no one will pass through it,\" that is, no man; \"because,\" he says, \"the Lord God of Israel will pass through it.\" And it will be closed, that is, before and after the Lord's passage it will be closed: and it will not be opened by anyone, nor was it opened; because it always had its own door, Christ, who said: \"I am the door\" (John 10:7), whom no one could tear away from it.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Mansit intemeratum septum pudoris","severity":"info","text":"The passage shifts from a narrative of Christ's birth to an extended typological meditation on Mary as a closed gate, drawing on Ezekiel, Psalms, and Job.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ezech. XLIV, 2","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Ezekiel 44:2, but the Vulgate reads 'porta haec clausa erit' (this gate will be closed) in a context about the inner gate of the temple, applied here to Mary's virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ps. XXIII 7","severity":"info","text":"The citation of Psalm 23:7 (Vulgate numbering) is a free adaptation; the verse speaks of gates and the King of Glory, which Ambrose interprets as Christ entering through every person's gate.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Job. III, 9, 10","severity":"info","text":"Job 3:9-10 is loosely quoted; the original laments the night of birth, but Ambrose uses it to argue for a 'gate of the womb' that can remain closed, supporting Mary's perpetual virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"porta ventris","severity":"info","text":"'Gate of the womb' is a non-biblical phrase Ambrose coins to denote the vaginal opening, contrasting it with the 'gate of Mary' that remains closed despite Christ's passage.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Ego sum janua","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose identifies Christ as the 'door' (John 10:7), a common patristic image, but uniquely applies it to Mary's gate, asserting Christ himself is the unremovable door of her virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'porta' may be ambiguous between 'gate' and 'door'; the translation uses 'gate' consistently, but the metaphor shifts between temple gate, womb, and Christ as door.","The citation of Psalm 23:7 is not exact; the Vulgate text differs slightly, and Ambrose may be quoting from memory or a variant Old Latin version."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":29,"ref":"p29","source":"Haec porta ad orientem aspiciebat; quoniam verum lumen effudit, quae generavit Orientem, peperitque Solem justitiae. Audiant ergo imprudentes: Clausa, inquit, crit haec porta, qunc solum recipit Deum Israel. Is igitur de quo dictum est ad Ecclesiam: Quoniam confortavit seras portarum tuarum (Ps. XCLVII, 13), suam portam confortare non potuit? Sed confirmavit profecto, et servavit intactam. Denique non est aperta.\n\nAudiant igitur prophetam dicentem: Non aperietur, eritque clausa, hoc est, non aperietur ab eo cui desponsabitur; non licebilenim ut aperiatur, per quam Dominus transibit. Et post eum, innuit. erit clausa, hoc est, non aperiet eam Joseph; quoniam dicetur ei: Noli timere accipere Mariam conjugem tuam; quod enim ex ea nascetur, de Spiritu sancto est (Matth. I, 20).\n\nCAPUT IX.\n\nQuomodo variis symbolis virginitas significetur, quidve ex corum singulis discere debeant sacræ virgines?","english":"This gate faced east, because she who gave birth to the East and bore the Sun of Justice poured forth the true light. Let the imprudent therefore hear: \"This gate,\" He says, \"will be closed, which alone receives the God of Israel.\" Could He, of whom it was said to the Church, \"For you have strengthened the bolts of your gates\" (Ps. 147:13), not strengthen His own gate? But indeed He strengthened it and kept it intact. Finally, it was not opened.\n\nLet them therefore hear the prophet saying: \"It will not be opened, and it will be closed,\" that is, it will not be opened by the one to whom she will be betrothed; for it will not be permitted that the gate through which the Lord will pass be opened. And after Him, it implies, it will be closed, that is, Joseph will not open it; for it will be said to him: \"Do not fear to take Mary as your wife; for what will be born from her is from the Holy Spirit\" (Matt. 1:20).\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nHow virginity is signified by various symbols, and what sacred virgins ought to learn from each of them?","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Orientem","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'generavit Orientem' alludes to the messianic title 'Oriens' (the East) as a symbol of Christ, the light of the world, drawing on Old Testament imagery (e.g., Zech. 6:12).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Solem justitiae","severity":"info","text":"'Sun of Justice' is a Christological title derived from Malachi 4:2 (LXX) and used by early Christian writers to denote Christ as the source of righteousness.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ps. XCLVII, 13","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Ps. 147:13' is a Vulgate numbering; in modern Bibles it corresponds to Psalm 147:13 (LXX) or Psalm 148:13 (Hebrew), but the text is not found in standard psalters, suggesting a textual corruption or misattribution.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Matth. I, 20","severity":"info","text":"The reference to Matthew 1:20 is to the angel's message to Joseph in a dream, confirming the virginal conception by the Holy Spirit.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"porta ad orientem","severity":"info","text":"The east-facing gate is a symbol of the Virgin's womb as the portal through which Christ, the 'true light,' entered the world, echoing the orientation of churches and the Temple's eastern gate.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"CAPUT IX","severity":"info","text":"The chapter heading introduces a new section on symbolic interpretations of virginity, shifting from the gate metaphor to a broader catechetical exposition for consecrated virgins.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The citation 'Ps. XCLVII, 13' is likely a scribal error or variant numbering; the intended verse is uncertain.","The phrase 'qunc solum recipit Deum Israel' in the Latin is garbled; the English draft reads 'which alone receives the God of Israel,' but the original text may be corrupt."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]},{"i":30,"ref":"p30","source":"Porta ergo clausa virginitas est: ei hortus clausus virginitas: et fons signalus virginitas. Audi, virga, diligentius apertis auribus, et clauso pudore, aperi manus, ut te paupcr agnoscat: claude ostium, ne temerator irrepat.: aperi mentem, serva signaculum.\n\nVirga quoque a radicc virginitas est, sic enim scriptum est: Exiel virga a radice Jesse, et flos a radice ejus ascendet (Esai. XI, 4). Non cavata est hæc virga, sed solida. Nemu ergo adurat virgam tuam, ut florem tuum custodias. Virgacs, o virgo, non curvcris, non inflectaris in terram, ut in te flos paternae radicis ascendat.\n\nGo. Hortus clausus es, virgo, serva fructus tuos: non ascendant in te spinæ, sed uva: tuæ florcant. llortus clausus es, filia, ncmo auferat sepem tui pudoris: quia scriptum est: Et destruentem sepem mordebit serpens (Eccles. x, 8). Sed illam solam auferat, de qua dictum est: Quid incisa est sepis (Gen. XXXVIII, 29)? Nemo parietem luum destruat, IIC sis in conculcationem. Paradisus es, virgo, Evam cave.","english":"Therefore, the closed gate is virginity: the enclosed garden is virginity: and the sealed spring is virginity. Listen, maiden, with ears more open, and with modesty closed, open your hands so that the poor may recognize you: close the door, lest a violator creep in: open your mind, keep the seal.\n\nAlso, the rod from the root is virginity, for it is written: \"A rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall ascend from its root\" (Isaiah 11:4). This rod is not hollow, but solid. Let no one, therefore, scorch your rod, so that you may guard your flower. Maiden, O virgin, do not bend, do not bow down to the ground, so that the flower of the paternal root may ascend in you.\n\nGo. You are an enclosed garden, virgin; guard your fruits: let not thorns rise in you, but the vine: let your flowers flourish. You are an enclosed garden, daughter; let no one remove the hedge of your modesty: because it is written: \"And the serpent will bite the one who destroys the hedge\" (Ecclesiastes 10:8). But let only that one remove it of whom it is said: \"Why is the hedge cut down?\" (Genesis 38:29). Let no one destroy your wall, lest you be trampled upon. You are a paradise, virgin; beware of Eve.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Porta ergo clausa virginitas est","severity":"info","text":"The threefold metaphor (closed gate, enclosed garden, sealed spring) equates virginity with enclosure and protection, a recurring theme in Ambrose's treatise.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Exiel virga a radice Jesse","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Isaiah 11:4 (LXX) to interpret the 'rod from the root of Jesse' as a symbol of virginity, linking it to the lineage of Christ.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Et destruentem sepem mordebit serpens","severity":"info","text":"The citation of Ecclesiastes 10:8 warns against destroying the hedge of modesty, with the serpent as a symbol of temptation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Quid incisa est sepis","severity":"info","text":"The reference to Genesis 38:29 (the birth of Pharez) is ambiguous; Ambrose may interpret the 'hedge' as a metaphor for the hymen or for protective boundaries.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"hortus clausus","severity":"info","text":"The image of the enclosed garden (hortus clausus) draws on Song of Songs and patristic exegesis, symbolizing the virgin's body and soul as a sacred, inviolable space.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Virga quoque a radicc virginitas est","severity":"info","text":"The Latin text has 'paupcr' (likely a typo for 'pauper') and 'Virgacs' (perhaps a miswriting of 'Virgo'), but the sense is clear from context.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'Quid incisa est sepis' (Genesis 38:29) is obscure; it may refer to the cutting of the umbilical cord or to a protective hedge, but Ambrose's application to virginity is allegorical.","The word 'Virgacs' in the Latin is likely a scribal error for 'Virgo' or 'Virga', but the intended reading is 'virgin'."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":31,"ref":"p31","source":"Fons signatus es, virgo, nemo aquam tuam polluat, nemo conturbet; ut imaginem tuam in fonte tuo semper attendas.\n\nPorta clausa es, virgo, nemo aperiat januam luam, quam semel clausit Sanctus et Verus, qui babel clavim David, qui aperit, et nemo claudit: claudit ctnemo aperit (Apoc. m, 7). Aperuit libi Scripturas, nemo eas claudat: clausit pudorem tuum, nemo apcriat eum.\n\nCAPUT X.\n\nInnuitur virginitatem coronam esse in manu Domini, quem unum non secundum perinde ac Patrem et Spiritum produnt Scripturæ. In hoc objiciunt Evaugelii textum hæretici, at illo per alia testimonia soluto, fides catholica de Trinitate confirmatur.\n\nG3. Venio, inquit, cito, tene quod habes: nemo accipiat coronam tuam (Apoc. III, 11). Qua: est corona tua, nisi illa de qua dictum est: Et eris corona decoria in manu Domini (Esai. LXXII, 3)?\n\nGi. Quis hoc dicit, nisi ille de quo dixit Ecclesiastes: Est unus et non est secundus (Eccles. IV, 8)? Quis est iste, nisi ille de quo dictum est: Magister vester unus est Christus (Matth. xxm, 10)? Unus est, quia unigenitus Pci filius: quia solus, ut scriptum est: Quia expandit cœlum solus, et ambulat sicut in terra super mare ( Job. IX, 8). Hic ergo non secundus, quia primus est: non est secundus, quia unus est: Unus Deus pater, ex quo omnia, et nos in illo: et unus Dominus Jesus Christus, per quem omnia, et nos per ipsum (I Cor. VIII, 6).","english":"You are a sealed spring, virgin; let no one pollute your water, let no one disturb it, so that you may always gaze upon your own image in your spring.\n\nYou are a closed gate, virgin; let no one open your door, which the Holy and True One once closed, who holds the key of David, who opens, and no one closes; who closes, and no one opens (Rev. 3:7). He opened the Scriptures for you; let no one close them: he closed your modesty; let no one open it.\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nIt is intimated that virginity is a crown in the hand of the Lord, whom the Scriptures reveal as one, not a second, just as the Father and the Spirit. Heretics object to this the text of the Gospel, but when that is resolved by other testimonies, the Catholic faith concerning the Trinity is confirmed.\n\n3. \"I come quickly,\" he says, \"hold what you have: let no one take your crown\" (Rev. 3:11). What is your crown, if not that of which it was said: \"And you will be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord\" (Isa. 72:3)?\n\n4. Who says this, if not he of whom Ecclesiastes said: \"There is one and there is no second\" (Eccles. 4:8)? Who is this, if not he of whom it was said: \"Your master is one, Christ\" (Matt. 23:10)? He is one, because he is the only-begotten Son of the Father; because he is alone, as it is written: \"Because he alone spreads out the sky, and walks as on land upon the sea\" (Job 9:8). Therefore he is not a second, because he is first: he is not a second, because he is one: One God the Father, from whom are all things, and we in him: and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him (1 Cor. 8:6).","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Apoc. III, 7","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Apoc. III, 7' refers to Revelation 3:7, but the Vulgate text there reads 'et claudit et nemo aperit' (and he closes and no one opens). The Latin here reverses the order, possibly a scribal variant or memory slip.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Apoc. III, 11","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Apoc. III, 11' corresponds to Revelation 3:11, but the Vulgate reads 'et venio cito' (and I come quickly). The Latin 'Venio, inquit, cito' adapts the verse as a direct speech.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Esai. LXXII, 3","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Esai. LXXII, 3' refers to Isaiah 72:3, but the canonical Book of Isaiah has only 66 chapters. This likely indicates a different numbering system (e.g., LXX or Vetus Latina) or a scribal error.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Eccles. IV, 8","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Eccles. IV, 8' corresponds to Ecclesiastes 4:8, but the Vulgate reads 'unus est et non habet secundum' (there is one and he has no second). The Latin adapts the phrasing.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Matth. xxm, 10","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Matth. xxm, 10' is a misprint for Matthew 23:10, which in the Vulgate reads 'Magister vester unus est Christus' (Your master is one, Christ). The chapter numeral 'xxm' is likely a typographical error for 'xxiii'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"I Cor. VIII, 6","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'I Cor. VIII, 6' refers to 1 Corinthians 8:6, but the canonical 1 Corinthians has only 16 chapters. This is likely a misprint for 1 Corinthians 8:6 or a different numbering; the Vulgate text does not match exactly.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]}],"ambiguities":["The chapter heading 'CAPUT X' is editorial; the Latin text transitions abruptly from the virginity metaphors to Trinitarian polemic, possibly indicating a lacuna or a new section.","The citation 'Esai. LXXII, 3' is problematic: Isaiah has 66 chapters, so the reference may be to a non-canonical text or a Vetus Latina numbering.","The citation 'I Cor. VIII, 6' is corrupt: 1 Corinthians has only 16 chapters, so the verse reference is erroneous or from a different source."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]},{"i":32,"ref":"p32","source":"Unus Deus Pater, a et unus Deus Filius, et unus Spiritus sanctus, sicut scriptum est: Hæc autem omnia operatur unus atque idem Spiritus, dividens singulis prout vult ( I Cor. XII, 11). Unus, inquit, qnia unus Deus. Nullus secundus; quia quod vult facit, non quod imperatur. Unus ergo Pater Deus, et unus Dei Filius. Unus ct unus, quia non sunt duo dii. Unus Filius; quia cum Patre unum est, sicut ipse dixit: Ego et Pater unum sumus (Joan. x, 29). Et unus Spiritus, quia unitas Triuitatis est, non ordine distincta, nec tempore.\n\nSed dicunt lectum: lte, baptizate genles in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancii (Matth. XXVIII, 19); et objiciunt, quia primo Patrem nominavit, secundo Filium, tertio Spiritum sanctum. Numquid ergo,quia dicit Evangelium: In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum (Joan. I, 1), inferiorem significavit Patrem; quia primo Verbum Dei in principio semper esse ac fuisse memoravit? Aut cum dixit Apostolus: In regnoChristi et Dei (Ephes. v, 5), ordincin fccit? Aut cum dicit ipse Dominus Jesus: Spiritus Domini super me, propter quod unxit me, evangelizare pauperibus misit me, praedicarecaptivis remissionem (Luc. IV, 18), eminentiorem Filio Dei Spiritum esse testatus est?","english":"One God the Father, and one God the Son, and one Holy Spirit, as it is written: But all these things are worked by one and the same Spirit, distributing to each as he wills (1 Cor. 12:11). \"One,\" he says, because there is one God. There is no second; for he does what he wills, not what is commanded. Therefore, one God the Father, and one Son of God. One and one, because they are not two gods. One Son, because he is one with the Father, as he himself said: I and the Father are one (John 10:29). And one Spirit, because the unity of the Trinity is not distinguished by order, nor by time.\n\nBut they say it is read: Go, baptize the nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19); and they object that he named the Father first, the Son second, the Holy Spirit third. Does it therefore, because the Gospel says: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God (John 1:1), signify that the Father is inferior, because he first mentioned the Word of God as always being and having been in the beginning? Or when the Apostle said: In the kingdom of Christ and of God (Eph. 5:5), did he make an order? Or when the Lord Jesus himself says: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me, sent me to preach to the poor, to proclaim remission to captives (Luke 4:18), did he testify that the Spirit is more eminent than the Son of God?","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"This passage shifts from the preceding metaphorical exhortation to a theological argument on Trinitarian unity, using scriptural citations to counter objections based on order of names.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"1 Cor. 12:11","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Hæc autem omnia operatur unus atque idem Spiritus' is a loose paraphrase of 1 Cor. 12:11, which in the Vulgate reads 'unus atque idem Spiritus' but the verse number is given as XII, 11 in the source.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Matt. 28:19","severity":"info","text":"The objection cites the baptismal formula from Matt. 28:19, where the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are named in sequence, to argue for subordination; Ambrose refutes this by denying that order implies hierarchy.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"John 10:30","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'Ego et Pater unum sumus' (John 10:30) is cited to support the unity of Son and Father, though the verse number in the source is given as Joan. x, 29.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The argument counters Arian or subordinationist interpretations that used the order of names in Matt. 28:19 to claim the Son and Spirit are inferior; Ambrose insists the Trinity is undivided by order or time.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"The citation of Luke 4:18 is not verbatim from the Vulgate; the phrase 'Spiritus Domini super me' echoes the text but the wording is adapted to Ambrose's argument, and the verse number is given as Luc. IV, 18.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin text has minor textual variants in scriptural citations (e.g., 1 Cor. 12:11, John 10:30) that may reflect early manuscript traditions or Ambrose's paraphrasing."],"confidence":"high","notes":[{"kind":"scripture","severity":"info","ref":"John 1:1","text":"The English carries the scriptural phrase “in the beginning was the word”, which matches John 1:1. The match is on the English draft; check the Coptic before quoting the verse."}]},{"i":33,"ref":"p33","source":"Advertis, yirgo, quemadmodum ista solvantur. Aperi ad hæc aures tuas, os tuum claude, Aperi aures, ut fidem audias: claude os, ut teneas verecundiam,\n\nDeindc illud legunt, quia dixit: In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancli; et non intelligunt quod ante præmiserit: In nomine, inquit. Tres personas quidem significavit, sed unum Trinitatis nomen asseruit.\n\nUnus itaque Deus, unum nomen, una divinitas, una majestas. Nullus ergo secundus: quia principium omnium Trinitas est, et Trinitatis primatus super omnia est. Ergo unus et non est sccundus. Unus est, qui secundum non habet; quia unicus solus sinc peccato, solus sine adjutorio, qui ait: Respexi, et non erat adjutor (Esai. LXIII, 5).\n\nCAPUT XI.\n\nCum tantopere pro nobis laboraverit Christus, ei uni laborare nos oportere. Ipsum non legi secundum esse; nisi tantum quatenus homo est, quo sensu etiam novissimus appellatur. Et huc locus Ecclesiastis atque Elisæi exemplum adaptantur.","english":"Observe, virgin, how these things are resolved. Open your ears to these matters, close your mouth. Open your ears, that you may hear the faith; close your mouth, that you may preserve modesty.\n\nThen they read that he said: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; and they do not understand that he prefaced it with: In the name, he says. He signified three persons indeed, but he asserted one name of the Trinity.\n\nTherefore, one God, one name, one divinity, one majesty. Hence there is no second: because the beginning of all things is the Trinity, and the primacy of the Trinity is over all things. Therefore, one, and there is no second. He is one who has no second; because he alone is without sin, alone without help, who said: I looked, and there was no helper (Isaiah 63:5).\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nSince Christ has labored so greatly for us, it is fitting that we labor for him alone. He himself is not according to a second being; except only insofar as he is a man, in which sense he is also called the last. And here the passage from Ecclesiastes and the example of Elisha are adapted.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"CAPUT XI","severity":"info","text":"The chapter heading marks a new section, shifting from Trinitarian argument to exhortation on laboring for Christ alone. The heading summarizes the following content.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Esai. LXIII, 5","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Respexi, et non erat adjutor' (I looked, and there was no helper) is from Isaiah 63:5, though the Vulgate reads 'et non erat qui adiuvaret'. Ambrose adapts the verse to emphasize Christ's uniqueness.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"secundus","severity":"info","text":"The term 'secundus' (second) is central to Ambrose's anti-subordinationist argument: God has no second, meaning no second divine being, only the one Trinity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit' echoes the baptismal formula (Matthew 28:19) and early creeds. Ambrose argues it signifies one name for three persons, countering Arian interpretations.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Aperi aures, ut fidem audias: claude os, ut teneas verecundiam","severity":"info","text":"The exhortation to open ears and close the mouth became a patristic topos for silent learning, later echoed in monastic rules and catechetical instructions.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Deindc illud legunt","severity":"caution","text":"The Latin 'Deindc' is likely a scribal error for 'Deinde' (then). The text is otherwise sound, but this minor corruption may confuse readers unfamiliar with manuscript variants.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'secundum esse' in the chapter heading is ambiguous: it could mean 'according to a second being' (as translated) or 'as a secondary existence'. The context supports the anti-Arian reading."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":34,"ref":"p34","source":"Non est finis labori ejus (Eccles. IV, 8); quia pro omnibus advocatus noster est apud Patrem, ei infirimtates nostras suscepit, et pro nobU dolet, pro nobis infirmaLur, sicut ait: Æger eram, et nou visitastis me (Matth. xxv, 43).\n\nCujus oculus non saliatur divitiis (Ibid.); quia ipse est allitudo divitiarum sapientiæ et scientiae Dei, in quo sunt thesauri mysteriorum caelestium. Cur ergo saeculo potius laboramus, et fraudamus animam nostram tantae bonitatis dispendio, qui nulli alii nisi huic servire Domino debemus?\n\n7t. Hicergo non est secundus. Ego certe hoc testimonium defero: lego quia primus est, lego quia non est secundus. Illi qui secundum aiunt, doceant lectione.\n\n7i. Sed dicit aliquis qnia scriptum est: Primus homo de terra terrenus, secundus homo de coelo cælestis (I Cor. xv, 47). a Verum attende quid dicat. Secundus, inquit, homo; quasi hominem secundum dixit. Et ego dico qnia primus est secundum divinitalem, ante quem nullus: secundus autem secundum carnem, quia post Adam.","english":"There is no end to his labor (Eccles. 4:8); because he is our advocate before the Father for all, he has taken up our infirmities, and for us he grieves, for us he grows weak, as it says: I was sick, and you did not visit me (Matt. 25:43).\n\nWhose eye is not sated with riches (Ibid.); because he himself is the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, in whom are the treasuries of the celestial mysteries. Why, then, do we labor rather for the world, and defraud our soul of the loss of such great goodness, we who ought to serve no other Lord but this one?\n\n7t. Therefore this one is not second. I certainly bear this testimony: I read that he is first, I read that he is not second. Let those who say he is second teach by the reading.\n\n7i. But someone says that it is written: The first man from earth is earthly, the second man from heaven is heavenly (1 Cor. 15:47). But attend to what he says. Second, he says, man; as if he said man according to the second. And I say that he is first according to divinity, before whom there is none; but second according to the flesh, because after Adam.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Non est finis labori ejus (Eccles. IV, 8)","severity":"info","text":"The citation Eccles. 4:8 is from the Vulgate; the verse is Ecclesiastes 4:8, which in modern Bibles is often Ecclesiastes 4:12. Ambrose uses it to illustrate Christ's unending labor as advocate.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Æger eram, et non visitastis me (Matth. xxv, 43)","severity":"info","text":"The citation Matt. 25:43 is from the Vulgate; the verse is Matthew 25:43, part of the parable of the sheep and goats. Ambrose applies it to Christ's suffering for humanity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Primus homo de terra terrenus, secundus homo de coelo cælestis (I Cor. xv, 47)","severity":"info","text":"The citation 1 Cor. 15:47 is from the Vulgate; the verse is 1 Corinthians 15:47, contrasting the earthly and heavenly man. Ambrose uses it to argue for a distinction between Christ's divinity and humanity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"secundus","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose distinguishes between 'secundus' (second) in divinity and 'secundus' in flesh, arguing that Christ is first in divinity (ante quem nullus) but second in humanity (post Adam). This resolves an apparent contradiction in 1 Cor. 15:47.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"7t. Hic ergo non est secundus.","severity":"info","text":"The passage is divided into two sections (7t and 7i) by the editor. Section 7t asserts Christ's primacy; 7i addresses an objection based on 1 Cor. 15:47, providing a theological resolution.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"advocatus noster est apud Patrem","severity":"info","text":"The description of Christ as 'advocatus' (advocate) before the Father reflects early Christian legal imagery, common in Latin theology (e.g., Tertullian, Cyprian), emphasizing Christ's intercessory role.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin text has 'infirimtates' (likely a typo for 'infirmitates') and 'pro nobU' (likely 'pro nobis'). The English draft corrects these. The division into 7t and 7i is editorial, not original."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":35,"ref":"p35","source":"Ego plus dico, non solum ego secundum hominem, sed etiam novissimum. Denique sic habes scri- ' plum: Factus eat primus homo Adam in animam viventem, novissimus Adam in spiritum virificantem (Ibid., 45). Vide clementiam Christi: ipse est primus et novissimus. Qui primus erat, propter nos se novissimum fecit. Pi imus, quia per ipsum omnia: novissimus, quia per ipsum resurrectio. Descendit enim et projecit se, ut caderet, infra omnes se faciens ut omnes jacentes levaret.\n\n74.Unde et ait Ecclesiastes: Quia si ceciderit unus, alter eriget socium suum: et væ illi uni cum ceciderit, et non est secundus, ut eum erigat. Et quidem si dormiantduo, est calor illis: et unus, quomodo calefiet (Ecctes. IX, 4, 10, 11)? Hoc est, qui Christum habel secum, etsi ceciderit, resurget: etsi mortuus fuerit, rgviviscet; quia adest illi qui venit ignem in terram mittere (Luc. an, 49). Denique et Elisæus cum puerum resuscitaret, insufflavit illi (IV Reg. IV, 34), ut infunderet vitae calorem. Habeto ergo tecum hunc ignem in pectore tuo, qui te resuscitet; ne frigus tibi perpetuæ mortis irrepat.","english":"I say more: not only am I according to man, but also the last. For thus you have it written: \"The first man Adam was made into a living soul, the last Adam into a life-giving spirit\" (ibid., 45). See the mercy of Christ: he is the first and the last. He who was first made himself last for our sake. First, because through him are all things; last, because through him is the resurrection. For he descended and cast himself down, making himself below all so that he might raise up all who lay prostrate.\n\n74. Hence Ecclesiastes says: \"For if one falls, another will lift up his companion; and woe to that one when he falls and there is no second to lift him up. And indeed if two sleep, they have warmth; but one, how will he be warmed?\" (Eccles. 9:4, 10, 11). That is, he who has Christ with him, even if he falls, will rise again; even if he dies, he will come back to life; because he is present who came to send fire upon the earth (Luke 12:49). Finally, Elisha, when he revived the boy, breathed into him (2 Kings 4:34), so as to infuse the warmth of life. Therefore, keep this fire in your breast, which will revive you, lest the cold of perpetual death creep in.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Factus eat primus homo Adam in animam viventem, novissimus Adam in spiritum virificantem","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose adapts 1 Cor 15:45, where Paul contrasts the first Adam (a living soul) with the last Adam (a life-giving spirit). The citation key 'Ibid., 45' refers to the same Pauline passage cited earlier.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Quia si ceciderit unus, alter eriget socium suum","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose conflates Ecclesiastes 9:4, 10, and 11, which in the Vulgate speak of mutual support and warmth. The composite citation underscores Christ as the companion who lifts and warms.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"qui venit ignem in terram mittere","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'send fire upon the earth' echoes Luke 12:49, though the Vulgate reads 'ignem in terram mittere' only in some manuscripts. Ambrose likely alludes to the Holy Spirit as fire.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Elisæus cum puerum resuscitaret, insufflavit illi","severity":"info","text":"The resuscitation of the Shunammite’s son by Elisha (2 Kings 4:34) involves insufflation, a gesture Ambrose uses to symbolize the infusion of life-giving warmth, paralleling Christ’s resurrection.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"74.","severity":"info","text":"The number 74 marks a new section in the treatise, likely a chapter or paragraph division in the manuscript tradition. It introduces a scriptural argument from Ecclesiastes.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Habeto ergo tecum hunc ignem in pectore tuo","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose’s exhortation to keep the 'fire' in one’s breast became a motif in medieval spirituality, linking the inner warmth of faith to the resurrection of the body.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'Factus eat' is a scribal error for 'Factus est' (he was made). The English draft corrects it. The composite citation from Ecclesiastes is not verbatim from the Vulgate; Ambrose may be quoting from memory or a variant text."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":36,"ref":"p36","source":"Hic ergo juvenis se projecit, qui venit per Nariam, et infundebat vitæ calorem pectoribus audientium. Unde dicunt illi in Evangelio: Nonne cor nosirum ardens erat in nobit, cum aperiret nobis Scripturat (Luc. XXIV, 32)?\n\nCAPUT XII.\n\nChristum juvenis secundi nomine ab Ecclesiaste designatum cum aliis locis, tum hujus ipsius continuatione intelligi: cum igitur esse qui et transisse portam, et in ea sedens manducasse describitur.\n\nHic est juvenis secundus, ut dicit Ecclesiastes: Vidi universo, qui vivunt, qui ambulant sub sole cum juvene secundo, quis resurget pro eo (Eccles. IV, 15)? Quis enim pro Christo resurget, cum ille pro omnibus resurrexerit, et in illo omnes resurrexerint, cum spem resurrectionis acceperint?\n\nDe Christo autem dictum liquet, quando advertis congruere istum locum cum benedictione vel prophetia Jacob, qui ait de Juda: Quis suscitabit eum (Gcn. XLIX, 9)? Non utique alter; quia ipse se luscitavit, sicut ipse ait: Solvite templum hoc, et in triduo resuscitabo illud (Joan. II, 19). Hoe autem diccbat de templo corporis sui.","english":"Here then is the young man who cast himself down, who came through Mary, and was pouring the warmth of life into the breasts of those who heard. Whence they say in the Gospel: \"Was not our heart burning within us, when he opened the Scriptures to us?\" (Luke 24:32).\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nThat Christ is designated by the name of the second young man in Ecclesiastes, understood both from other places and from the continuation of this very passage: since it is described that he is the one who both passed through the gate and, sitting in it, ate.\n\nThis is the second young man, as Ecclesiastes says: \"I saw all who live, who walk under the sun with the second young man; who will rise up for him?\" (Eccles. 4:15). For who will rise up for Christ, since he has risen for all, and in him all have risen, when they have received the hope of resurrection?\n\nBut that it is said concerning Christ is clear, when you notice that this passage agrees with the blessing or prophecy of Jacob, who says of Judah: \"Who will rouse him?\" (Gen. 49:9). Not, of course, another; because he roused himself, just as he himself says: \"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will revive it\" (John 2:19). Now he was saying this about the temple of his body.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Luc. XXIV, 32","severity":"info","text":"The citation Luke 24:32 refers to the disciples' recognition of Christ's exposition of Scripture, a verse Ambrose uses to link the 'young man' to Christ's teaching.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Eccles. IV, 15","severity":"info","text":"Ecclesiastes 4:15 is quoted as 'I saw all who live, who walk under the sun with the second young man; who will rise up for him?' Ambrose interprets this as a prophecy of Christ.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Gen. XLIX, 9","severity":"info","text":"Genesis 49:9, from Jacob's blessing of Judah, is cited as 'Who will rouse him?' Ambrose sees this as parallel to Christ's self-resurrection.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Joan. II, 19","severity":"info","text":"John 2:19 is quoted as 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will revive it,' which Ambrose applies to Christ's body as a temple.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"juvenis secundus","severity":"info","text":"The 'second young man' in Ecclesiastes is a typological figure Ambrose identifies with Christ, drawing on a tradition of interpreting the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes as Christological allegories.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"CAPUT XII","severity":"info","text":"Chapter XII begins here, marking a new argument that Christ is the 'second young man' of Ecclesiastes, supported by scriptural cross-references.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'Nariam' in the first sentence is likely a scribal error for 'Mariam' (Mary), as the context and English draft indicate."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":37,"ref":"p37","source":"Hlud quoque vere Christo convenit soli, quod addidit: Non est finit omni populo ejus (Eccles. IV, 16); quia populus Christi innumerabilis flnem non habet, cui fides resurrectionis æternæ e perpetuæ vitae acquirit ætatem. Secundum carnem itaque et juvenem dictum, et cadere vel resurgere dubium non est. Denique et illud annexuit; quia optimus puer pauper et sapiens (Ibid. 13): pauper enim factus est, cm dives esset.\n\nIpse ergo rex Israel transivit bane portam, ipse dux sedit in ea; quando Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis (Joan. i, 14), quasi Rex sedens in aula regali uteri virginalis, vel in olla ferventi, sicut scriptum est i Moub aula spei, vel otta spei meæ (Psal. LIX, 10). Utrumque enim diversis in codicibus invenitur. Aula regalis est virgo, quæ non est viro subdita, sed Deo soli. Est et olla uterus Mariæ, quae Spiritu ferventi qui supervenit in eam, replevit orbem terrerum, eum peperit Salvatorem.","english":"This also truly befits Christ alone, that he added: \"It is not finished for all his people\" (Eccles. 4:16); because Christ's innumerable people have no end, for whom the faith of eternal resurrection and everlasting life acquires eternity. According to the flesh, therefore, it is not doubtful that he is called both a young man and to fall or to rise again. Finally, he also appended this: because the best boy is poor and wise (Ibid. 13): for he became poor, though he was rich.\n\nTherefore the king of Israel himself passed through this gate, the leader himself sat in it; when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14), as a king sitting in the royal hall of the virginal womb, or in a boiling pot, as it is written: \"the hall of my hope, or the pot of my hope\" (Ps. 59:10). For both are found in different manuscripts. The royal hall is the virgin, who is subject not to a man, but to God alone. And the pot is the womb of Mary, which, with the boiling Spirit that came upon her, filled the whole world when she gave birth to the Savior.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Non est finit omni populo ejus","severity":"info","text":"The Latin adapts Ecclesiastes 4:16 loosely; the Vulgate reads 'non est finis omni populo eius' (there is no end to all his people). Ambrose applies it to Christ's eternal people.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites John 1:14 (Vulgate numbering; modern Bibles: John 1:14) but conflates it with 'et habitavit in nobis' (and dwelt among us), which echoes John 1:14's 'et mansit in nobis' in some Old Latin versions.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Aula regalis est virgo","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'aula regalis' (royal hall) and 'olla' (pot) are drawn from Psalm 59:10 (LXX 59:10; Vulgate 58:10), where the Hebrew 'bêt' (house) is rendered variously in Latin manuscripts.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"transmission","kind":"transmission","basis":"text","lemma":"Aula regalis est virgo","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose notes a textual variant in Psalm 59:10: 'aula spei' (hall of hope) vs. 'olla spei' (pot of hope), reflecting divergent Old Latin manuscript traditions before Jerome's Vulgate.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"olla ferventi","severity":"info","text":"The image of Mary's womb as a 'boiling pot' (olla ferventi) filled by the Holy Spirit draws on patristic typology of the Spirit as fire or heat, and may echo Jewish or early Christian exegesis of the Song of Songs.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Ipse ergo rex Israel transivit bane portam","severity":"info","text":"This sentence begins a new exegetical move: the 'gate' (portam) likely refers to the virgin's womb as a passage for Christ, continuing the allegory of the king of Israel from Ecclesiastes.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'banem portam' (bane portam) is unclear; it may be a corruption of 'hanc portam' (this gate) or a reference to a specific gate in Jerusalem. The translation adopts 'this gate' as the most plausible reading.","The phrase 'optimus puer pauper et sapiens' (best boy is poor and wise) from Ecclesiastes 4:13 is applied to Christ's incarnation, but the exact referent of 'puer' (boy) in the original context is ambiguous."],"confidence":"high","notes":[{"kind":"scripture","severity":"info","ref":"John 1:14","text":"The English carries the scriptural phrase “the word became flesh”, which matches John 1:14. The match is on the English draft; check the Coptic before quoting the verse."}]},{"i":38,"ref":"p38","source":"Qui manducavitin porta sedens (Esech. XLIV, 5), utique cibum illum de quo dicit: Meus cibus eat ut faciam voluntatem Patris mei qui in caelo eat (Joan. IV, 34).\n\nCAPUT XIII.\n\nMariæ virginitatem pulchre designari per ollam ac nubem levem: hujus nubi, pluviam pluribus typis in veneri foedere praesignatam a virginibus colligi, non secus ac efficacissimum illius ollæ unguentum excipi oportere; nec paupertatem ab ullo praetendam, sed adhibendam præparationem.\n\nSi. divitias Marianae virginitatis! Quasi olla ferbuit, et quasi nubes pluit in terras gratiam Christi; scriptum est enim de ea: Ecce Dominus venit sedens super nubem levem (Esai. XIX, i). Vere levem quae conjugii onera nescivit: vere levem, quæ levavit hunc modum de gravi foenore peccatorum. Levis erat, qure remissionem peccatorum utero gestabat. Denique levavit Joannem in utero constitutum, qui ad vocem ejus exsilivit, et infans exsultavit in gaudio, prius sensu devotionis quam spiritus infusione vitalis animatus (Luc. i, 41).","english":"He who ate sitting at the gate (Ezek. 44:5), indeed that food of which he says: \"My food is to do the will of my Father who is in heaven\" (John 4:34).\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nThat Mary's virginity is beautifully signified by a pot and a light cloud: that the rain of this cloud, prefigured in many types in a venerable covenant, is to be gathered by virgins, no less than the most efficacious ointment of that pot is to be received; and that poverty is to be pleaded by no one, but preparation is to be applied.\n\nO the riches of Marian virginity! Like a pot it boiled, and like a cloud it rained down upon the lands the grace of Christ; for it is written of her: \"Behold the Lord comes sitting upon a light cloud\" (Isa. 19:1). Truly light, which knew not the burdens of marriage: truly light, which lifted this burden from the heavy debt of sins. She was light, who bore the remission of sins in her womb. Finally, she lifted up John while he was in the womb, who at her voice leaped, and as an infant rejoiced in gladness, animated by the sense of devotion before the infusion of the vital spirit (Luke 1:41).","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Qui manducavit in porta sedens (Esech. XLIV, 5)","severity":"info","text":"The citation of Ezekiel 44:5 is from the Vulgate; the verse refers to a gatekeeper eating at the temple gate, here allegorized as Christ.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Meus cibus est ut faciam voluntatem Patris mei qui in caelo est (Joan. IV, 34)","severity":"info","text":"The citation of John 4:34 is a paraphrase; the Vulgate reads 'Meus cibus est facere voluntatem Patris mei' (my food is to do my Father's will).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"olla","severity":"info","text":"The Latin 'olla' (pot) is a typological symbol for Mary's womb, boiling with grace; Ambrose draws on Old Testament imagery of a boiling pot as a sign of divine presence.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"nubem levem","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'light cloud' (nubem levem) from Isaiah 19:1 is interpreted by Ambrose as a symbol of Mary's virginity, free from the 'burdens of marriage' and sin.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ecce Dominus venit sedens super nubem levem (Esai. XIX, 1)","severity":"info","text":"The citation of Isaiah 19:1 is from the Vulgate; the verse is used by Ambrose to typologically prefigure the Annunciation and Mary's role as Theotokos.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Luc. i, 41","severity":"info","text":"The reference to Luke 1:41 describes John the Baptist leaping in Elizabeth's womb at Mary's greeting; Ambrose uses this to illustrate Mary's grace affecting even the unborn.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'in porta sedens' (Ezek. 44:5) is ambiguous: it could refer to a gatekeeper or to Christ as the gatekeeper; Ambrose takes it as Christ.","The phrase 'veneri foedere' in the chapter heading is obscure; it may be a scribal error for 'venerabili foedere' (venerable covenant) or a reference to Venus, but the context suggests a typological covenant."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":39,"ref":"p39","source":"Excipite igitur, excipite, sacrae virgines, nubis^ hujus pluviam spiritalem, temperamentum Qagrantix corporalis; ut corporis omnes restinguatis ardores, atque interna mentis vestrae homescant. Hujus imbrem nubis sacratae patres nostri annuntiaverunt nobis salutem mundi futuram (Ps. LXXI, 6). Hunc imbrem significabant esse venturum stillicidia stillantia super terram, qua: Hierobaal poposcit et meruit. Bonam nubem sequimini, quæ fontem intra se genuit, quo rigavit orbem terrarum (Judic. VI, Z6 et seq.). Excipite ergo voluntariam pluviam, pluviam benedictionis, quam hæreditati suæ Dominus effudit. Excipite aquam, et non effluat vobis quia nubes est, diluat vos, et sacro hutnore perfundat; quia olla est, spiritu vaporet æterno.\n\nExcipite itaque ex hac Moabitide olla gratiae coelestis ungueutum, nec vercamini ne deficiat: quod exinanitum est, et plus redundat; quia in omnem terram odor ejus exivit (Ps. LIS, 10), sicut scriptum est: Unguentum exinanitum eat nomen tuum; ideo adolescentulce dilexerunt te (Cant. I, 2). Descendat istud unguentum A in ima præcordia, viscerumque secreta, quo non deliciarum odores sancta Maria, sed divinæ gratiæ spiramenta redolebat.","english":"Receive, therefore, receive, sacred virgins, the spiritual rain of this cloud, the tempering of the body, so that you may extinguish all the ardors of the body and the inner recesses of your mind may grow moist. The fathers of ours announced to us the future salvation of the world by the rain of this consecrated cloud (Ps. 71:6). They signified that this rain was to come by the drops falling upon the earth, which Hierobaal asked for and obtained. Follow the good cloud, which gave birth within itself to the spring by which it watered the orb of the earth (Judg. 6:36ff.). Receive, therefore, the voluntary rain, the rain of blessing, which the Lord poured out upon his inheritance. Receive the water, and let it not flow away from you, because it is a cloud; let it wash you, and bathe you with sacred moisture; because it is a pot, let it steam with eternal spirit.\n\nReceive, therefore, from this Moabitess pot the ointment of heavenly grace, and do not fear that it will fail: what is emptied out overflows the more, because its fragrance has gone out into every land (Ps. 119:10), as it is written: \"Your name is like emptied ointment; therefore the young women loved you\" (Song 1:2). Let that ointment descend into the depths of the heart and the secrets of the inward parts, by which holy Mary did not smell of the perfumes of delights, but of the breaths of divine grace.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"nubis","severity":"info","text":"The term 'nubis' (cloud) is a key metaphor for the Virgin Mary, drawing on Old Testament typology (e.g., the cloud that guided Israel) and patristic exegesis. Ambrose uses it to signify divine grace and the spiritual rain that nourishes virgins.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ps. 71:6","severity":"info","text":"The reference to Psalm 71:6 (LXX) is cited as a prophecy of the coming rain of salvation. The verse likely speaks of a cloud or rain as a type of divine blessing, though the exact wording in the Latin may vary from the Hebrew.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Judg. 6:36ff.","severity":"info","text":"The allusion to Judges 6:36ff. refers to Gideon (Hierobaal) who asked for and received a sign of dew on the fleece, interpreted by Ambrose as a type of the Virgin Mary's conception of Christ. The 'good cloud' is Mary, who bore the spring (Christ) that waters the world.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ps. 119:10","severity":"info","text":"Psalm 119:10 (LXX) is cited: 'Your name is like emptied ointment; therefore the young women loved you.' Ambrose applies this to the ointment of grace from the Moabitess pot, symbolizing Mary's perpetual virginity and the spread of divine fragrance.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Song 1:2","severity":"info","text":"Song of Songs 1:2 is quoted: 'Your name is like emptied ointment; therefore the young women loved you.' Ambrose uses this to connect the ointment metaphor with Mary, who is loved for her divine grace, not earthly perfumes.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Moabitide olla","severity":"info","text":"The 'Moabitess pot' (Moabitide olla) likely refers to the pot of manna preserved in the Ark (Exod. 16:33) or a typological reference to Ruth the Moabitess, who is a type of the Church. Ambrose uses it to symbolize the vessel of divine grace that never runs dry.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'temperamentum Qagrantix corporalis' is corrupt in the Latin; 'Qagrantix' may be a scribal error for 'temperamentum' or a gloss. The reading 'temperamentum corporalis' is assumed, meaning 'the tempering of the body'.","The reference to 'Hierobaal' (Gideon) in Judges 6:36ff. is not a direct verse but a summary of the narrative; the exact verse number is uncertain."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":40,"ref":"p40","source":"Hæc pluvia Evx restinxit appetentiam: hoc unguentum foetorem haereditarii erroris abstersit, huc unguentum Maria soror Lazari in pedes Domini effudit, et tota domus pio repleta odore fragravit (Joan. XII, 3).\n\nNec ulla se pauperem putet, nulla se arbitretur inopem, nulla metuat ne pretiosum hoc uagueulum emcre non possit, aut fontem istum putet esse venalem. Qui sititis, inquit, ite ad aquam: et quicumque non habetis argenium, ile et emite, et bibite sine argento (Esai. LV, 4). Et supra ait: Gratia venumdati estis, et sine argento redimemini (Esai. LII, 5). Ideo pauper factus est Dominus, cum dives esset; ut eum omnes emant, et egenos præcipue sua paupertate locupletet.\n\nParate igitur vasa Domini, ut excipiatis hunc fontem aquæ vivae, fontem virginilatis, integritatis unguentum, odorem fidei, et suavis misericordiæ gratia Qorulentum. Induamini agni ejus innocentiam, qui eum malediceretur, non remaledixit: cum percuteretur, non repercussit (1 Petr, II, 23).","english":"This rain extinguished the appetite of Eve; this ointment wiped away the stench of hereditary error; this ointment Mary, the sister of Lazarus, poured upon the feet of the Lord, and the whole house was fragrant, filled with a pious odor (John 12:3).\n\nLet no one think herself poor, let no one consider herself needy, let no one fear that she cannot buy this precious ointment, or suppose that this fountain is for sale. \"He who thirsts,\" it says, \"go to the water: and whoever has no silver, go and buy, and drink without silver\" (Isaiah 55:1). And above it says: \"You have been sold for grace, and you will be redeemed without silver\" (Isaiah 52:3). Therefore the Lord became poor, though he was rich, so that all might buy him, and he especially enriches the needy with his poverty.\n\nPrepare, therefore, the vessels of the Lord, so that you may receive this fountain of living water, this fountain of virginity, this ointment of integrity, this odor of faith, and the grace of sweet mercy, rich with fragrance. Put on the innocence of his lamb, who, when he was cursed, did not curse back; when he was struck, did not strike back (1 Peter 2:23).","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Joan. XII, 3","severity":"info","text":"The reference to Mary of Bethany anointing Jesus' feet (John 12:3) is a conflation: the biblical account has Mary anointing his feet with nard, not 'ointment' as a metaphor for grace.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Esai. LV, 4","severity":"info","text":"Isaiah 55:1 is paraphrased freely: the Vulgate reads 'Si sititis, ite ad aquam' but the clause 'et quicumque non habetis argentum, ite et emite, et bibite sine argento' is an expansion by Ambrose.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Esai. LII, 5","severity":"info","text":"Isaiah 52:3 is cited loosely: the Vulgate has 'gratia venundati estis' but the phrase 'sine argento redimemini' is not a direct quotation; Ambrose adapts the verse to his theme of spiritual redemption.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"pauper factus est Dominus","severity":"info","text":"The paradox of Christ's voluntary poverty to enrich the poor echoes a common patristic topos, found in Ambrose's own works and in earlier Latin writers like Cyprian.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Parate igitur vasa Domini","severity":"info","text":"This imperative marks a rhetorical shift from scriptural exposition to direct exhortation, preparing the virgins for the concluding call to imitate Christ's meekness.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"1 Petr, II, 23","severity":"info","text":"1 Peter 2:23 is cited as a model of non-retaliation; the verse in the Vulgate reads 'cum malediceretur, non remaledixit' and 'cum percuteretur, non repercussit', closely matching Ambrose's text.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The identity of 'Maria soror Lazari' is unambiguous in the Latin, but the conflation with the anointing at Bethany (John 12:3) is a traditional reading; the passage does not specify whether the ointment is literal or allegorical."],"confidence":"high","notes":[{"kind":"scripture","severity":"info","ref":"John 4:10","text":"The English carries the scriptural phrase “living water”, which matches John 4:10. The match is on the English draft; check the Coptic before quoting the verse."}]},{"i":41,"ref":"p41","source":"CAPUT XIV.\n\nQuo virgines acrius impellantur ad Mariae imitationem, ostenditur multa quæ mystice dicta sunt de Ecclesia, eidem quoque Deiparæ virgini competere.\n\nUane imitamini, filiæ, cui pulchre convenit illud quod de Ecclesia prophetatum est: Speciosi facti sunt gressus tui in calceamentis, filia Aminadab (Cant. VII, 4); eo quod speciose Ecclesia Evangelii prædicatione processit. Speciose procedit anima, quæ corpore velut calcamento utitur; e ut quo velit, suum possit sine impedimento ullo circumferre vestigium.\n\nIn hoc calceamento speciose processit Maria, quæ sine ulla commixtione corporeae consuetudinis auctorem salutis Virgo generavit. Unde egregie Joannes ait: Non sum dignus soluere corrigium calceamentorum ejus (Joan. I, 27), id est, non sum dignus Incarnationis mysterium comprehendere angustiis menlis humanae, atque inopis vilitate sermonis absolvere. Unde et Esaias dicit: Generationem ejus quis ennarrabit (Esai. LIII, 8)? Speciosi crgo gressus vet Maria; vel Ecclesiæ; quoniam speciosi pedes evangelizantium.","english":"CHAPTER XIV\n\nWherein virgins are more sharply urged to imitate Mary, it is shown that many things spoken mystically of the Church also rightly belong to the same Virgin Mother of God.\n\nYou imitate in vain, daughters, she to whom that which was prophesied of the Church fittingly applies: \"Your steps have become beautiful in your sandals, daughter of Aminadab\" (Song of Songs 7:4), because the Church advanced beautifully through the preaching of the Gospel. The soul advances beautifully which uses the body as a sandal, so that it may carry its own footstep wherever it wishes without any hindrance.\n\nIn this sandal Mary advanced beautifully, who without any mixture of bodily custom gave birth as a Virgin to the Author of salvation. Whence John says excellently: \"I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals\" (John 1:27), that is, I am not worthy to comprehend the mystery of the Incarnation within the narrow confines of the human mind, nor to set it forth in the poverty of speech. Whence also Isaiah says: \"Who will recount his generation?\" (Isaiah 53:8). Therefore the steps of Mary, or of the Church, are beautiful; because the feet of those who evangelize are beautiful.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[],"ambiguities":[],"confidence":"","notes":[]},{"i":42,"ref":"p42","source":"Quam pulchra etiam illa quac in figura Ecclesiæ de Maria prophetata sunt; si tamen uon membra corporis, sed mysteria generationis ejus intendas I Dicitur enim ad eam: Moduli femorum tuorum similes torquibus, operi manuum artificia. Umbilicus tuus crater tornatilis non deficiens mixto. Venter tuus sicut acervus tritici muniti inter tilia (Cant. VII, i et seq.); eo quod « continens sibi in omnibus Christi ortus ex Virgine, sicut victores solent sæcularium, præliorum, strenuorum virorum donatis lorquibus honorare cervices; ila jugum nostrum levavit, ut fidelium colla virtutis insignibus coronaret.\n\nVere autem alvus ille Mariae crater tornatilis, in quo erat Sapientia, quae miscuit in cratere vinum suum, indeficientem cognitionis pix gratiam divinitatis suæ plenitudine subministrans (Prov. IX, 2).\n\nIn quo virginis utero simul acervus tritici, et lilii floris gratia germinabat; quoniam et granum tritici generabat, et lilium. Granum tritici secundum quod scriptum est: Amen, amen dico vobit, nisi granum Irilici cadens in terram, mortuum fuerit, ipsum solum manet (Joan. XII, 24). Sed quia de uno grano tritici acervus est factus, completum est illud propheticum: Et convalles abundabunt frumento (Ps. LXIV, 14), quia granum illud mortuum, plurimum fructum attulit.","english":"How beautiful also are those things which were prophesied of Mary in the figure of the Church, if you consider not the members of the body, but the mysteries of her generation. For it is said to her: The curves of your thighs are like necklaces, the work of skilled hands. Your navel is a turned bowl, never lacking a mixture. Your belly is like a heap of wheat fortified among linden trees (Song of Songs 7:1ff.); because the birth of Christ from the Virgin, containing everything in itself, like victors in secular battles honor the necks of brave men with bestowed necklaces, so it lifted our yoke, that it might crown the necks of the faithful with the insignia of virtue.\n\nTruly, that womb of Mary is a turned bowl, in which was Wisdom, who mixed her wine in the bowl, supplying the inexhaustible grace of knowledge from the fullness of her divinity (Proverbs 9:2).\n\nIn that virgin’s womb, at the same time, a heap of wheat and the grace of a lily flower were sprouting; for she was generating both a grain of wheat and a lily. A grain of wheat according to what is written: Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falling into the ground has died, it remains alone (John 12:24). But because from one grain of wheat a heap was made, that prophetic saying is fulfilled: And the valleys will abound with grain (Psalm 64:14), because that dead grain brought forth much fruit.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[],"ambiguities":[],"confidence":"","notes":[]},{"i":43,"ref":"p43","source":"Hoc itaque granum omnes homines perpetua coelestium munerum esca saturavit: consummatumque est illud prophetici oris eloquium, dicente eodem David: Cibavit eoa ex adipe frumenti, et de petra melle saturavit eoa (Ps.LXXX, 17).\n\nIn hoc grano esse etiam lilium divina testantur oracula; quia scriptum est: Ego sum flos campi, et lilium convallium: sicut tilium in medio spinarum (Cant. II, 1). Christus erat lilium in medio spinarum, quando erat in medio Judaeorum.\n\nCAPUT XV.\n\nVirgines quodam singulari modo dici posse lilia Christi; Christum vero ipsum recte per acervum tritici liliis circumdatum adumbrari; quippe qui et Eccle siam fecundaverit, et diversorum relulerit coronas certaminum.\n\nAudi, virgo, quid dicat: Lilium, inquit, coavallium Christus, id est, humilium animarum et mitium. Esto ergo mitis, humilis, atque mansueta, ut in te sicut lilium germinet Christus. De quo et alibi habes: Labia ejus lilia a stillantia myrrham primam (Cant. v, 13); id est, qui Christi passionem loquuntur et suo ore concelebrant, ac mortificationem ejus in suo circumferunt corpore, Christi lilia sunt; specialiter sacræ virgines, quarum est splendida et immaculata virginitas. Unde plerique accipiunt quod Ecclesia videatur dicere: Ego sum flos campi, et Iilium convallium: quae in hac convalle istius mundi gratiam boni odoris exhalat, sedulse confessione pietatis.","english":"This grain, therefore, has sated all men with the perpetual nourishment of heavenly gifts; and that utterance of the prophetic mouth has been fulfilled, the same David saying: He fed them from the fat of the grain, and from the rock he sated them with honey (Ps. 80:17).\n\nIn this grain divine oracles also attest that the lily exists; because it is written: I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys: as the lily among thorns (Song 2:1). Christ was the lily among thorns, when he was among the Jews.\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nThat virgins can in a certain singular way be called lilies of Christ; that Christ himself is rightly adumbrated by a heap of wheat surrounded by lilies; inasmuch as he has both fertilized the Church and brought back the crowns of diverse contests.\n\nHear, virgin, what he says: Christ, he says, is the lily of the valleys, that is, of humble and gentle souls. Be therefore meek, humble, and gentle, so that Christ may sprout in you like a lily. Concerning whom you also have elsewhere: His lips are lilies dripping with prime myrrh (Song 5:13); that is, those who speak of Christ's passion and celebrate it with their mouth, and bear his mortification in their own body, are the lilies of Christ; especially sacred virgins, whose virginity is splendid and immaculate. Whence many understand that the Church seems to say: I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys: which in this valley of the world exhales the grace of good odor, by diligent confession of piety.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[],"ambiguities":[],"confidence":"","notes":[]},{"i":44,"ref":"p44","source":"Denique et alibi dicit: Frater meus descendit in hortum suum, in phialas aromatis, pascere in hortis, et colligere lilia. Ego fratri meo, et frater meus mihi, qui pascit inter lilia (Cant. VI, i, 2).\n\nEx illo ergo utero Mariæ diffusus est in hunc mundum acervus tritici muniti inter lilia; quando natus est ex ea Christus, cui dicit propheta David: Benedices coronam anni benignitatis tuæ, et campi tui replebunlur ubertate. Pinguescent fines deserti, et exsultatione colles accingentur. Induti sunt arietes ovium, et convalles abundant frumento; etenim clamabunt, et hymnum dicent (Ps. LXIV, et seq.).\n\nQuis est annus Dominicæ bonitatis, nisi ille de quo dictum est: Tempore accepto exaudivi te, et in die salutis adjuvi te (Esai. XLIX, 8); quando populorum fide Ecclesia abundavit, justitiam induit sacerdotes? Unde et Apostolus dicit: Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile, ecce nunc dies salutis (II Cor. VI, 2); quando venit Dominus prædicare annum Domini acceptum, et diem retributionis, sicut in Evangelio suo ipse memoravit dicens: Spiritus Domini super me, propter quod unxit me, etc. (Luc. IV, 18).","english":"Elsewhere he also says: My brother went down into his garden, into the vials of spice, to pasture in the gardens and to gather lilies. I to my brother, and my brother to me, who pastures among the lilies (Song of Songs 6:1-2).\n\nFrom that womb of Mary, therefore, a heap of grain fortified among lilies spread forth into this world, when Christ was born from her, to whom the prophet David says: You will bless the crown of the year of your kindness, and your fields will be filled with abundance. The ends of the desert will grow fat, and the hills will be girded with exultation. The rams of the sheep are clothed, and the valleys abound with grain; for they will cry out and sing a hymn (Psalm 64 and following).\n\nWhat is the year of the Lord’s goodness, if not that of which it is said: At the acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you (Isaiah 49:8), when the Church abounded with the faith of the peoples, and clothed the priests with righteousness? Whence also the Apostle says: Behold now the acceptable time, behold now the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2); when the Lord came to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of retribution, as he himself recalled in his Gospel, saying: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me, etc. (Luke 4:18).","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Frater meus descendit in hortum suum, in phialas aromatis, pascere in hortis, et colligere lilia","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Song of Songs 6:1-2, but the Latin wording differs from the Vulgate, suggesting a variant Old Latin version or a loose paraphrase.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Benedices coronam anni benignitatis tuæ, et campi tui replebunlur ubertate","severity":"info","text":"The citation of Psalm 64 (LXX) is not a direct Vulgate verse; it appears to be a composite or free rendering, possibly from a liturgical or Old Latin psalter.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Tempore accepto exaudivi te, et in die salutis adjuvi te","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose attributes this to Isaiah 49:8, but the wording does not match the Vulgate; it may be a paraphrase or a citation from a lost Old Latin version.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile, ecce nunc dies salutis","severity":"info","text":"The citation of 2 Corinthians 6:2 is not verbatim from the Vulgate; Ambrose adapts the Pauline phrase to his typological argument about the year of the Lord's goodness.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Spiritus Domini super me, propter quod unxit me","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose refers to Luke 4:18, but the quoted words are not in the canonical Gospel; they may be from a lost apocryphon or a liturgical adaptation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"acervus tritici muniti inter lilia","severity":"info","text":"The image of a heap of grain fortified among lilies combines agricultural and floral imagery to symbolize Christ's birth from Mary, blending the 'grain' of the Eucharist with the 'lily' of virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The exact source of the Song of Songs citation is unclear; it may be from a variant Old Latin text.","The Psalm 64 citation is not identifiable as a single verse; it may be a composite or free composition.","The Isaiah 49:8 citation does not match the Vulgate; the original text is uncertain."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]},{"i":45,"ref":"p45","source":"Tunc ergo Dominus opcribus suis et gloria et honore sui tempus coronavit adventus; lotus enim ille annus conversationis ejus in hoc mundo divertarum habuit certamina passionum. Vicit Herodem parvulus (Matth. II, 16), de quo ill passione infantium triumphavit. Esurivit, sitivit, pro nobis vapulavit, pro nobis contumcliarum indigna toleravit, crucem ascendit, mortuus est pro nobis.\n\nCAPUT XVI.\n\nVirginibus exeundum obviam Christo, et qua ratione. Hunc guidem a matre coronatum esse; sed tamen de ipsius divinitate non ambigendum. Sumendam itaque perfectam fidem in esca illa quam paravit Jacob, et in stola quam prudens mulier contexuit, præfiguratam; ut virgo benedictiones a Christo consecuta, in homine Deum videat, immo vero Christum induas, simulque omnium ornamenta virtutum.\n\nVides quanta certamina! Sed tamen non avarus exactor præmii, cui abundavit una cœlestis corona virtutis. Unde egredimiui, filix Hierusalem, sicut vos hortatur Scriptura divina in Canticis canticorum: Egredimini et videte regem Salomonem in corona, qua coronavit eum mater ejus in die sponsalium ejus, et in die jucunditatis cordis ejus (Cant.","english":"Then, therefore, the Lord crowned the time of His advent with His works, glory, and honor; for that entire year of His sojourn in this world contained various struggles of passions. As a child He conquered Herod (Matthew 2:16), from whose persecution of the infants He triumphed. He hungered, He thirsted, He was beaten for us, He endured unworthy insults for us, He ascended the cross, He died for us.\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nThat virgins must go forth to meet Christ, and in what manner. That He was indeed crowned by His mother; but nevertheless there is no doubt about His divinity. Therefore, perfect faith is to be taken, as prefigured in that meal which Jacob prepared, and in the robe which the prudent woman wove; so that the virgin, having obtained blessings from Christ, may see God in man, or rather put on Christ, and at the same time all the ornaments of the virtues.\n\nYou see how many struggles! But yet He is not a greedy exactor of reward, for whom one celestial crown of virtue sufficed. Hence, go forth, daughters of Jerusalem, as the divine Scripture exhorts you in the Song of Songs: Go forth and see King Solomon in the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his betrothal, and on the day of the joy of his heart (Song of Songs).","structure":"narrative","commentary":[],"ambiguities":[],"confidence":"","notes":[]},{"i":46,"ref":"p46","source":"III, 11); quia fecit sibi, inquit, charitatem a filiabus Hierusalem, hoc est: Egredimini ex his angustiis ct sollicitudinibus corpolibus, egredimini ex hæc delectatione carnali, et peregrinamini de corpore, ut adesse Domino possitis; quoniam qui in carnc sunt, Domino suo placere non possunt. Dicitur ergo vobis quia non estis in carne, sed in spiritu (Rom. VIII, 8, 9), si potueritis comprehendere Salomonis veri illius pacilici charitatem, quam fecit sibi ipse; et ideo coronam accepit a matre.\n\nBeata maler Hierusalem, beatus et Mariæ uterus, qui tantum Dominum coronavit. Coronavit eum quando formavit: coronavit cum, quando generavit; quia etsi a eum sine aliqua sui operatione formaverit (quia Spiritus sanctus supervenit in virgincm; unde et ipse ait: Inoperatum meum viderunt oculi tui), tamen hoc ipso quod ad omnium salutem eum concepit et peperit, coronam capiti ejus alternae pietaiis imposuit; ut per fidem credentium fieret onmis viri caput Christus. Inoperata est ergo et caro Cbrisli, quem ut Maria virgo conciperet, inusitato quodam novoque Incarnationis mysterio, sine ulla virilis seminis admixtione, divinæ gratia disposilionis, quod erat carnis, assumpsit ex Virgine, atque in illa novissimi Adam immaculati hominis membra formavit.","english":"III, 11); because, it says, He made for Himself a love from the daughters of Jerusalem, that is: Come forth from these narrow confines and bodily anxieties, come forth from this carnal delight, and journey out of the body, so that you may be present to the Lord; for those who are in the flesh cannot please their Lord. Therefore it is said to you that you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit (Rom. VIII, 8, 9), if you can comprehend the love of that true peaceful Solomon, which He made for Himself; and therefore He received a crown from His mother.\n\nBlessed mother Jerusalem, blessed also the womb of Mary, which crowned so great a Lord. She crowned Him when she formed Him: she crowned Him when she gave birth to Him; for although she formed Him without any operation of her own (because the Holy Spirit came upon the virgin; whence He Himself says: Your eyes have seen my unworked form), nevertheless by this very fact that she conceived and bore Him for the salvation of all, she placed a crown of eternal piety upon His head; so that through the faith of believers Christ might become the head of every man. Therefore the flesh of Christ is also unworked, which the virgin Mary conceived in a certain unusual and new mystery of the Incarnation, without any admixture of male seed, by the divine grace of the dispensation, she assumed from the Virgin what was of flesh, and in her formed the limbs of the immaculate man of the new Adam.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[],"ambiguities":[],"confidence":"","notes":[]},{"i":47,"ref":"p47","source":"Hominem audis, sed supra hominem intellige; quia scriptum est: Non coques agnum in lacte matris suæ ( Exod. xxxiv, 26). Et alibi legis: Et homo est, et quis agnoscet eum (Jerem. XVII, )? Ergo non debes agnum illum, in quo plenitudo divinitatis corporaliter inhabitat (Coloss. II, 9), conditionis humanæ viribu; æstimare, et majestatem incomprehensibilis potestatis Ii degeneris cognitionis infirmitate concludere. Non enim illum perfectae fidei cibum Jacob coxit in lacte, quo Isaac pater ita est delectatus, ut ei prærogativam omnem benedictionis propbelica sobrietate conferret (Gen. XXVII, 25). Et ideo Apostolus scripsit succum lactis tenuis cibum esse doetrinæ dicens: Qnia omnis qui alitur lacte, expers est verborum justitiæ (Hebr. v, 13); parvulus euim est, perfectorum autem est solida esca.\n\nitO. Et tu ergo, filia, sume stolam illam mulieris pia operatione contestam, quæ manus suns aperit pauperi, et lucerna ejus non exstinguitur in tota nocte ( Pron. xxxi, i9 et seq. ): atque indue te, et hujusmodi epulas affer ad patrem, ut dicat: Quid eat quod tam cito invenisti, filia (Gen. XlVII, et seq.)? laudans in tenera adhuc ætate prudentiam, piæ quoque devotionis aftectum.","english":"You hear \"man,\" but understand something above man; for it is written: \"You shall not cook a lamb in its mother's milk\" (Exod. 34:26). And elsewhere you read: \"And he is a man, and who will know him?\" (Jer. 17:9). Therefore you must not estimate that Lamb, in whom the fullness of divinity dwells corporeally (Col. 2:9), by the strength of human condition, nor confine the majesty of incomprehensible power by the weakness of degenerate understanding. For Jacob did not cook that food of perfect faith in the milk with which his father Isaac was so delighted that he conferred upon him the entire prerogative of prophetic blessing with soberness (Gen. 27:25). And therefore the Apostle wrote that the juice of milk is the slender food of doctrine, saying: \"For everyone who is nourished by milk is without experience of the words of righteousness\" (Heb. 5:13); for he is a little one, but solid food is for the perfect.\n\nAnd so you, daughter, take up that garment of a woman woven with pious labor, who opens her hands to the poor, and whose lamp is not extinguished throughout the whole night (Prov. 31:19 ff.): and clothe yourself, and bring such feasts to your father, so that he may say: \"What is it that you have found so quickly, daughter?\" (Gen. 47:3 ff.), praising prudence in one still tender in age, and the affection of pious devotion.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Non coques agnum in lacte matris suæ","severity":"info","text":"Ambrose cites Exod. 34:26, a prohibition against cooking a kid in its mother's milk, here applied typologically to the Lamb (Christ).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Et homo est, et quis agnoscet eum","severity":"info","text":"Jer. 17:9 is quoted to emphasize the paradox of Christ's humanity and divinity, a key theme in Ambrose's Christology.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"plenitudo divinitatis corporaliter inhabitat","severity":"info","text":"Col. 2:9 is referenced to assert the full divinity dwelling corporeally in Christ, a Pauline basis for Ambrose's anti-Arian stance.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"succum lactis tenuis cibum esse doctrinæ","severity":"info","text":"Heb. 5:13 is cited to contrast milk (elementary doctrine) with solid food (perfect faith), supporting the allegory of Jacob and Isaac.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"stolam illam mulieris pia operatione contestam","severity":"info","text":"The virtuous woman of Prov. 31:19 ff. is invoked as a model for the consecrated virgin, weaving a garment through pious works.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Et tu ergo, filia","severity":"info","text":"This phrase marks a shift from exegesis to direct exhortation, addressing the virgin as 'daughter' and applying the preceding typology to her spiritual life.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin text has a typographical error: 'viribu;' for 'viribus' (strength). The English draft corrects this silently.","The reference to Jer. 17:9 is incomplete in the Latin (only 'Jerem. XVII, )'), but the English draft supplies the verse number 9, which is standard."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":48,"ref":"p48","source":"Et dicat tibi: Accede ad me, filia; odoratusque odorem vestimentorum tuorum benedicat te dicens: Ecce odor filiæ mere, sicut odor agri pleni quem benedixit Dominus; et, det tibi Deus a rore coeli desuper, et ab ubertate terræ abundantiam. Atque hiS adjungat: Qui maledixerit tibi, maledictus erit: et qui benedixerit te, benedictus erit.\n\niOt. Hac stola indutus Jacob hominem vidit, et ab cnquasi a Domino Deo benedictionem poposcit, et appellavit locum, Visio Dei (Gen. XXXII, et seq.). Uac stola indutiis vidit illam stolam Christi, de qua ait: Lavabit in vino stiolam suam (Gen. XLIX, 11). EI benedixit etiam Joseph dicens: Filius. meus ampliatus Joseph, filius meus ampliatus, zelatus filius meus adolescentior, ad me revertere ( Ibid., 22), significans Dominicæ resurrectionis insigne. Et addidit: Benedictio patris tui et matris tuæ prævaluit super benedi. ctiones montium manentium, et desideria collium a'ternorum ( Ibid., 26), id est, super regem gratiae.","english":"And she says to you: \"Come to me, daughter\"; and having smelled the scent of your garments, she blesses you, saying: \"Behold, the scent of my daughter, like the scent of a full field which the Lord has blessed; and may God give you dew from heaven above, and abundance from the fertility of the earth.\" And to this she adds: \"Whoever curses you will be cursed; and whoever blesses you will be blessed.\"\n\nClothed in this stole, Jacob saw a man, and from him as from the Lord God he sought a blessing, and he called the place \"Vision of God\" (Gen. 32:30ff.). Clothed in this stole, he saw that stole of Christ, concerning which it is said: \"He will wash his stole in wine\" (Gen. 49:11). And he also blessed Joseph, saying: \"My son Joseph is increased, my son is increased, my younger son is envied, return to me\" (ibid., 22), signifying the emblem of the Lord's resurrection. And he added: \"The blessing of your father and your mother has prevailed over the blessings of the enduring mountains and the desires of the eternal hills\" (ibid., 26), that is, over the king of grace.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[],"ambiguities":[],"confidence":"","notes":[]},{"i":49,"ref":"p49","source":"Hanc sume slolarn, ut induas Christum, atque in ejus agnitione renoveris. Induc ergo sicut electa Dei viscera misericordix, benignitatem, humilitatem, patientiam, modestiam, charitatem, quae est unitatis vinculum (Coloss. III, et seq. ); ut nemini quidquam debeas, nisi ut invicem sororem tuam diligas: nec gratiæ ejus invideas, sed quo probatiorem videris, imiteris; ut sit in te pas Christi et gratia, et verbum Dei habitet in corde mo, atque hujns mundi e gias cogitationes.\n\nSemel mundo mortua, ne, quæso, tetigeris, ne attamluaveris quæ sunt istius sæculi: sed semper in psalmis et hymnis et canticis spiritalibus abducas te ab hujus sæculi conversatione, non homini, sed Deo cantans (Coloss, II, et seq.). Et sicut sancia faciebat Maria (Luc. II, 19), conferas in corde tuo. Quasi bona quoque agnicula rumines in ore tuo pratcepta divina. ut dicas et tu: Exercebor in mirabilibus tuis ( Psal. CXVIII, ). Nec dormitet aut stillet anima tua prae tædio. Stillicidia euim ejiciunt hominem in tempore hyemali de domo sua: anima autem perrecta non stiilat, in qua nulla gravioris est rima peccati; sed manet in domo fila, et inoffenssæ habitationis novitate lactatur et fruitur. Al si aliquid forte nutaverit, dicas: Confirma me in verbis tuis ( Paul. CXVIII, 28).","english":"Take this garment, so that you may put on Christ, and be renewed in the knowledge of him. Therefore put on, as a chosen one of God, the bowels of mercy, kindness, humility, patience, modesty, charity, which is the bond of unity (Coloss. 3 and following); so that you owe nothing to anyone, except that you love your sister in turn: nor envy her grace, but the more approved you see her, the more you imitate her; so that the peace of Christ and grace may be in you, and the word of God may dwell in your heart, and drive out the thoughts of this world.\n\nOnce dead to the world, do not, I beg you, touch or handle those things which are of this age: but always in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, withdraw yourself from the conversation of this world, singing not to man, but to God (Coloss. 2 and following). And as holy Mary did (Luke 2:19), ponder in your heart. Like a good little ewe, ruminate in your mouth the divine precepts, so that you too may say: \"I will exercise myself in your wonders\" (Psalm 118). And let your soul neither slumber nor drip with weariness. For drippings drive a man from his house in wintertime: but a soul that is upright does not drip, in which there is no crack of graver sin; but it remains in its house, and rejoices and delights in the novelty of an unoffending habitation. But if something has perhaps wavered, say: \"Confirm me in your words\" (Psalm 118:28).","structure":"narrative","commentary":[],"ambiguities":[],"confidence":"","notes":[]},{"i":50,"ref":"p50","source":"CAPUT XVII.\n\nAguntur Deo gratiæ quod angelorum vita in paradiso quondam perdita jam fulgeat in virginibus; quod. que mundo Christum edere, atque Hebræos per mare educere aigna fuerit virginitas. Post hæc Ambrosia ipsa Deo commendatur ac offertur, ut suum in ea tueatur munus, et ad spiritales partus cælesti connubio illam conjungal, virtutes dotis atque ornamentorum loco tribuat, quarum bl neficio Sponsum suum tenere mereatur. Deliique Christus obsecratur, ut famulam suam lætus excipiat.\n\nNunc ad te, decursis omnibus, B Pater gratiæ, vota converto, cujus pietali innumerabiles gratias, agimus, quod in virginibus sacris angelorum vitam videmus in terris, quam in paradiso quondam amiseramus. Quid enim vel a ad imitanda virginum studia, confirmandamque virtulem, vel ad concelebrandam virginitatis gloriam plus conferre potuisti, qnam ut Deus ei virgine nasceretur? Amplius nobis profuit culpa, quam nocuit: in quo redemptio quidem nostra divinum munus invenit.","english":"CHAPTER XVII.\n\nThanks are given to God because the life of angels, once lost in paradise, now shines forth in virgins; and because virginity was a sign for the world to bring forth Christ, and for the Hebrews to be led through the sea. After this, Ambrose himself commends and offers the virgin to God, so that he may protect his gift in her, and join her in spiritual births through a celestial marriage, bestowing virtues in place of dowry and ornaments, by whose benefit she may deserve to hold her Spouse. Finally, Christ is entreated to receive his handmaid gladly.\n\nNow, having run through everything, I turn my prayers to you, O Father of grace, to whose piety we offer countless thanks, because in sacred virgins we see the life of angels on earth, which we once lost in paradise. For what could you have contributed more to the imitation of virgins' pursuits, the strengthening of virtue, or the celebration of the glory of virginity, than that God should be born of a virgin? Our fault has profited us more than it harmed us; in this, our redemption found a divine gift.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[],"ambiguities":[],"confidence":"","notes":[]},{"i":51,"ref":"p51","source":"Sed ipse quoque unigenitus Filius tuus venturus in terras suscipere quod amissum esi, puriorem carnis suæ generationem reperire non potuit, quam ut babitationi propriæ cœlestis aulam virginis dedicaret; in qua esset et immaculatae castitatis sacrarium, et Dei templum.\n\nQuid autem illud attexam, quod divino tuo! munere cum sanctis Moyse et Aaron (Exod. xv, 20) virgo Maria pedes per fluctus duxit Hebraeorum exercitum? Relinquo vetera, privata non quaero: satis eat ista nobilitas familiæ virginali.\n\nTe quæso ut tuearis hanc famnlam tuam, quae tibi servire, tibi animam suam, tibi integritatis suae studium dicare præsumpsit. Quam sacerdotali munere offero, affectu patrio commendo; ut propitius et præsul conferas ei gratiam, quo coelestium thalamorum immorantem adytis Sponsum excutiat, mereatur videre, introducatur in cubiculum Dei sui regis: mereatur audire dicentem sibi: Ades huc a Libano, Sponsa, odes huc a Libano; transibis et pertransibis a principio fidei (Cant.IV, 8); ut transeat saeculum, ad ilia æterna pertranseat.","english":"But your only-begotten Son Himself, about to come to earth to take up what had been lost, could find no purer generation for His own flesh than to dedicate the celestial hall of a virgin to His own dwelling; in which there would be both a sanctuary of immaculate chastity and a temple of God.\n\nWhy should I add that, by your divine gift, with the holy Moses and Aaron (Exod. 15:20), the virgin Mary led the army of the Hebrews on foot through the waves? I leave aside ancient things, I do not seek private matters: this nobility of the virgin family is enough.\n\nI beseech you to protect this handmaid of yours, who has presumed to serve you, to dedicate her soul to you, and to devote the pursuit of her integrity to you. I offer her with a priestly office, I commend her with a fatherly affection; so that, as a propitious protector, you may confer upon her the grace by which, while lingering in the inner sanctuaries of the celestial bridal chambers, she may shake off the Bridegroom, be worthy to see him, and be led into the chamber of her God and king: may she be worthy to hear him saying to her: \"Come here from Lebanon, Bride, come here from Lebanon; you will cross and pass through from the beginning of faith\" (Song 4:8); so that she may pass through the world, and pass through to those eternal things.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[],"ambiguities":[],"confidence":"","notes":[]},{"i":52,"ref":"p52","source":"tOS. Intende igitur, Pater, in tuum munus, cui sanctificando nullius consilium quæsisti: sed illi sine ullo petitore atque arbitro tantam contulistigratinm, quantam ante oracula divina credere nemo potuisset, ut in suo utero Deum virgo portaret. Cujus praerogativa muneris provocata crebrescunt studia virginitatis, et sacrae integritatis exempla. Quibus haec quoque famula tua ad hujusmodi virtutis gratiam lacessita, tuis assistat altaribus, non rutilanti caesarie flavum deferens crinem flammeo nuptiali dicatum: sed ilium crinem quo evangelica illa mulier sancta Maria pedes Christi sedula pietate detersit, et domum totam etI'uso implevit unguento, sacro offerens velamine consecrandum ( Joan. III, 3).\n\nAdosl puella, quam non nuptiarnm festa, non praemia, non onerati pondus uteri, votivo nuplUris dolore sollicitent: sed quæ immaculalos sibi fidei partus et pietatis exposcat; ut in utcro accipiat de Spiritu sancto, et spiritum salutis Deo feta parturiat. Sed ut isti procedere possit meritorum gratia, lu, Deus Pater omnipotens, suffragia commendationis adjunge; non enim solitaria dos pMoris est.","english":"Attend, therefore, O Father, to your gift, for whose sanctification you sought no one's counsel; but to her, without any suitor or arbiter, you bestowed so great a grace, such as no one could have believed before the divine oracles, that a virgin might bear God in her womb. By the prerogative of this gift, the zeal for virginity and examples of sacred integrity are stirred to increase. By these, this handmaid of yours, challenged to the grace of such virtue, stands at your altars, not bearing a golden lock of reddened hair dedicated by a nuptial veil, but that lock with which that holy woman Mary of the Gospel wiped the feet of Christ with devoted piety, and filled the whole house with ointment, offering it in a sacred veil to be consecrated.\n\nThe maiden advances, whom the festivities of marriage, the rewards, the burden of the pregnant womb, the votive pain of childbirth do not entice; but she demands for herself the immaculate births of faith and piety, so that she may receive in the womb from the Holy Spirit, and, pregnant with the spirit of salvation, give birth to God. But so that the grace of merits may proceed for her, you, God the Father Almighty, add the support of commendation; for the dowry of the chaste is not solitary.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[],"ambiguities":[],"confidence":"","notes":[]},{"i":53,"ref":"p53","source":"Suecingat sacrae virginilatis crincm modestia, sobrietat, continentia; ut virtutum accincta comitatu; purpureo Dominici cruoris redimita velamine, mortificationem Domini Jesu in sna tamne circumferat; hæc sunt enim meliora velamina, qnae sunt indumenta virtutum, quibas culpa obtexitor, innocentfa revelatur.\n\niiO. His igitur famulam tuam indue vestimentis, quae in omni tempore munda sint; mundum enim manet, quidquid nulla interveniens culpa fuscaverit, ut ei jure dicatur: Quoniam placuerunt Deu facta tua ( Eccl. ix, 7,8). In omni tempore sint vestimenta tua candida, et oleum in capite non desit, quo faces suas mysticas possit accendere; ilL cum venerit Sponsus, inter illas sapientes virgines ( Matth. xxv, 10) coelesti thalamo digna numeretnr, quae devotionis ac fidei suae, gravitatisque lumine munus sacrae professionis illuminet.","english":"Let sacred virginity gird her brow with modesty, sobriety, and continence; so that, girt with the retinue of virtues, veiled with the purple veil of the Lord’s blood, she may bear within her the mortification of the Lord Jesus Christ; for these are the better veils, which are the garments of the virtues, by which fault is covered and innocence is revealed.\n\nTherefore clothe your handmaid in these garments, which are clean at all times; for whatever no intervening fault has stained remains clean, so that it may rightly be said to her: “Because your deeds have pleased God” (Eccl. 9:7–8). Let your garments be white at all times, and let oil not be lacking on your head, with which she may kindle her mystic torches; so that, when the Bridegroom comes, she may be counted worthy among those wise virgins (Matt. 25:10) for the celestial bridal chamber, and may illuminate the gift of her sacred profession with the light of her devotion, faith, and gravity.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Suecingat","severity":"info","text":"The verb 'suecingat' (subcingat) means 'gird' or 'bind up', a military or ascetic metaphor for preparing for spiritual combat.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"purpureo Dominici cruoris redimita velamine","severity":"info","text":"The 'purple veil of the Lord's blood' evokes Christ's passion and the imperial purple, symbolizing martyrdom and royal dignity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Eccl. ix, 7,8","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Quoniam placuerunt Deo facta tua' is from Ecclesiastes 9:7-8 (Vulgate), though the exact wording differs; it underscores divine approval of the virgin's deeds.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Matth. xxv, 10","severity":"info","text":"The reference to 'wise virgins' (Matt. 25:10) alludes to the parable of the ten virgins, where the wise are admitted to the bridegroom's chamber, a type of the Church or the soul.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"oleum in capite non desit","severity":"info","text":"Oil on the head was a practical and symbolic element in ancient lamps; here it signifies the fuel of faith for the mystic torches of virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"His igitur famulam tuam indue vestimentis","severity":"info","text":"This sentence shifts from a general exhortation to a direct address to God, framing the virgin as a handmaid clothed in virtues, a common nuptial metaphor.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin text has several scribal errors (e.g., 'Suecingat' for 'subcingat', 'sna tamne' for 'sua tamne', 'qnae' for 'quae', 'obtexitor' for 'obtegitur'), which obscure the exact reading but do not change the sense."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":54,"ref":"p54","source":"i. Tuere igitur ancillam tuam, Pater charitatis et gloriae, ut quasi in horto clauso et fonte signato teneat claustra pudicitiae, signacula veritatis. Agrum suum colere noverit quem colebat sanctus Jacob; et sexagesimos ex eo centesimosque fructos capesset. In hujus virtutibus et fortitudinibus agri suscites in ea gratiam, et resuscites charitatem. Inveniat quem dilexit, teneat eum, nec dimittat eum; donec bona illa vulnera charitatis excipiat, quae osculis praeferuntur. Semper parata noctibus et diebus toto spiritu mentis invigilet (Cant, v, 7), ne umquam Verbum eam inveniat dormientem. Et quoniam vult se dilectus ejus saepius quæri, ut exploret affectum; recurrentem sequatur, exeat fides et anima ejus in verbum tuam peregrinetur a corpore, ut adsit Deo: vigilet cor ejus, caro dormiat, ne male inciprat vigilare peccatis.\n\nHi. Tu, Domine, adjunge alios sacrae virginitatis ornatus, adjunge sedulos pios cultus; tit noverit possidere vas suum, noverit humiliari: dilectionem teneat, veritatis numm, pudoris septUm. Non pineae velamen ejus, non vincant cupressi, pudicitiam ejus non turtures, simplicitatem ejus non vincant columbæ.","english":"Protect therefore your handmaid, Father of love and glory, so that, as if in an enclosed garden and a sealed spring, she may keep the barriers of modesty, the seals of truth. Let her know how to cultivate her field, which holy Jacob cultivated; and from it let her reap sixtyfold and hundredfold fruits. In the virtues and strengths of this field, awaken in her grace, and revive love. Let her find whom she has loved, hold him, and not let him go, until she receives those good wounds of love which are preferred to kisses. Always prepared, let her keep watch night and day with the whole spirit of her mind (Song of Songs 5:7), lest the Word ever find her sleeping. And since her beloved wishes to be sought often, to test her affection, let her follow him as he withdraws; let her faith and soul go forth into your word, let her journey from the body, so as to be present to God; let her heart watch, let her flesh sleep, lest it begin to watch wickedly for sins.\n\nAnd you, Lord, add other ornaments of sacred virginity, add diligent pious devotions; let her know how to possess her vessel, let her know how to humble herself; let her hold love, the coin of truth, the hedge of modesty. Let not pines overcome her veil, let not cypresses overcome her modesty, let not turtledoves overcome her simplicity, let not doves overcome her.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[],"ambiguities":[],"confidence":"","notes":[]},{"i":55,"ref":"p55","source":"Sit in corde simplicitas, in verbis modus, erga omnes pudor, pietas erga propinquos, circa egenos et pauperes misericordia: quod bonum est teneat, ab omni specie abstineat mala: veniat super eam benedictio morituri, et os viduae benedicat eam (Job xxix, 15).\n\nPone ut signaculum verbum tuum in corde ejus, ut signaculum in brachio ejus (Cant. VIII, 6); ut in omnibus sensibus et opcribus ejus Christus eluceat, Christum intendat, Christum loquatur. Aqua multa ejns non possit a exstinguere charitatem, nec persecutionis gladius, nec periculum: sed confirmata in omni opere bono atque verbo, gloriam tuam induat, et in tua gratia conversetur in hoc mundo. Sanctifices eam in veritate, in virtute confirmes, in charitate contrectas, atque ad illaiu pudicitiæ et integritatis coelestem gloriam, coronam illibatam, immaculatamque divino tuo favere perducas; ut illic Agni sequatur vestigia, et in meridiano pascat, in meridiano maneat, nec in grege sodalium incedat: sed agnis tui admixta, sine offensione versetur comes virginuM, pedissequa Mariarum (Apoc. xiv, ł; Cant. i, ).","english":"Let simplicity be in her heart, moderation in her words, modesty toward all, piety toward her kin, mercy toward the needy and the poor. Let her hold fast to what is good, abstain from every evil appearance. May the blessing of the dying come upon her, and the mouth of the widow bless her (Job 29:15).\n\nPlace your word as a seal upon her heart, as a seal upon her arm (Song 8:6), so that in all her senses and works Christ may shine forth, that she may gaze upon Christ, speak of Christ. Let not much water extinguish her charity, nor the sword of persecution, nor danger; but, confirmed in every good work and word, let her put on your glory and dwell in your grace in this world. Sanctify her in truth, strengthen her in virtue, touch her in charity, and lead her to the celestial glory of modesty and integrity, to the unblemished and immaculate crown by your divine favor, so that there she may follow the footsteps of the Lamb, and feed at midday, remain at midday, and not walk in the company of companions; but, mingled with your lambs, she may dwell without offense as a companion of virgins, a follower of Marys (Rev. 14:1; Song 1:1).","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Job xxix, 15","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Job xxix, 15' does not correspond to any known verse in the Vulgate; Job 29 has only 40 verses. This may be a scribal error or a reference to a non-canonical source.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Cant. VIII, 6","severity":"info","text":"The citation 'Cant. VIII, 6' is not a standard verse in the Song of Songs (Canticum Canticorum), which has only 8 chapters. This may be a misprint for Song 8:6, but the Vulgate Song of Songs ends at chapter 8, verse 14.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Apoc. xiv, ł; Cant. i,","severity":"info","text":"The citations 'Apoc. xiv, ł' (Revelation 14:1) and 'Cant. i,' (Song 1:1) are incomplete or corrupt. Revelation has no chapter 14; the reference may be to Revelation 14:1 in a non-standard enumeration, or a scribal error.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"misericordia","severity":"info","text":"The term 'misericordia' (mercy) is a key virtue in Ambrose's ascetic program, often linked to almsgiving and care for the poor, as seen in his other works like De Officiis.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"pedissequa Mariarum","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'pedissequa Mariarum' (follower of Marys) likely refers to the Virgin Mary and other holy women named Mary (e.g., Mary of Cleophas), a common trope in patristic literature on virginity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"morituri","severity":"caution","text":"The word 'morituri' (dying) is ambiguous: it may refer to a dying person's blessing or to a specific biblical figure (e.g., Jacob blessing his sons). The text does not clarify.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The scripture citations (Job xxix, 15; Cant. VIII, 6; Apoc. xiv, ł; Cant. i,) are corrupt or non-standard, making identification uncertain.","The phrase 'benedictio morituri' could refer to a dying person's blessing or a specific biblical event.","The phrase 'pedissequa Mariarum' may refer to multiple Marys or be a generic term for holy women."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]},{"i":56,"ref":"p56","source":"Egredere itaque tu, Domine Jesu, in die sponsalium tuorum, suscipe jamdudum devotam tibi spiritu, nunc etiam professione; imple agnitione voluntatis tuæ; assume ab initio in salutem, in sanctificatione spiritus et fide veritatis, ut dicat famula tua: Tenuisti manum dexteram meam, et in voluntate tua deduxisti me, et in gloria assumpsisti me ( Psat. LXXII, 24). Aperi manum tuam, et imple animam ejus benedictione (Psal.CXLIV, 16); ut salvum facias sperantem in te (Psal. LXXXV, 2), et fiat vas in honorem sanctificatum, utile Domino, ad omne opus bonum probatum: per illam æternabilem crucem, per illam venerabilem gloriam Trinitatis, cui est honor, gloria, perpetuitas, Patri Deo, et Filio, et Spiritui sancto, a saeculi?, et nunc, et semper, et in omnia saecula saeculorum, Amen.","english":"Go forth, therefore, O Lord Jesus, on the day of your betrothal; receive her who has long been devoted to you in spirit, and now also by profession; fill her with knowledge of your will; take her up from the beginning for salvation, in the sanctification of the Spirit and the truth of faith, so that your handmaid may say: You held my right hand, and led me by your will, and took me up into glory (Ps. 72:24). Open your hand, and fill her soul with blessing (Ps. 144:16); that you may save her who hopes in you (Ps. 85:2), and that she may become a vessel sanctified for honor, useful to the Lord, approved for every good work: through that eternal cross, through that venerable glory of the Trinity, to which is honor, glory, perpetuity, to God the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, from eternity, and now, and always, and unto all ages of ages, Amen.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[],"ambiguities":[],"confidence":"","notes":[]}]}