6

Malchus’ new master insists that he marry a fellow captive, a Christian woman already married. Malchus considers suicide to avoid giving up his life of chastity, but the woman convinces him to join her in a non-sexual marriage instead.

invidia = invidia diabolī

6.2

Dominus: Malchus’ earthly master, not God.

vidēns ... dēprehendēns: “having seen” and “having understood”; this “perfective” sense of the present participle is LL (Gray). nihilque ... fraudulentiae: partitive genitive (AG 346).

Apostolum praecēpisse: indirect statement, depending of sciēbam. The Apostle is Paul, and the reference is to Ephesians 6:5: “Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ”; see also Colossians 3:22–23; Titus 2:9–10.

dominīs sīc quasi Deō fidēliter serviendum = serviendum (esse) dominīs (fidēliter) sīc quasi (serviendum esse) Deō fidēliter. Indirect statement depending of praecēpisse, with a gerundive in neuter singular used impersonally in the Second (or passive) Periphrastic Conjugation to express obligation (AG 196 and 500.2). In direct statement this would have been dominīs sīc quasi Deō fidēliter serviendum est. sīc quasi: “just as” (Gray).

quō fīdum sibi magis faceret = quō (dominus) facere (mē) magis fīdum sibi. quō = ut; faceret is imperf. subj. in a purpose clause.

trādidit mihi: “handed over to me (as a wife)”

mēcum aliquandō captīvam: “my fellow-slave, once captive with me,” captivam = captam (Gray).

cum ... refūtārem, diceremque < refūtō (1), “to refuse” a command (a LL meaning, DMLBS refutare 4); imperf. subjs. in a circumstantial cum clause (AG 546).

mē Chrīstiānum = mē Chrīstiānum (esse), indirect statement.

nec mihi licēre: indirect statement; the direct statement would be nec mihi licet.

uxōrem vīventis: “the wife of a (man still) living.”

sīquidem: “seeing that, inasmuch as” (LS II).

erus: erus -ī m., “master” (of slaves, etc.)

ēvāgīnātō ... gladiō < ēvāgīnō (1), “to unsheath, draw (a sword) from a scabbard” (LL); ablative of means.

nisi festīnus tenēre brācchiō mulierem praeoccupassem = nisi praeoccupassem festīnus tenēre mulierem bracchiō, “if I had not quickly anticipated him by taking the woman by the arm” (Gray). festīnus: festīnus -a -um, “swift, quick”; translate as an adverb. tenēre is from teneō, not tener. praeoccupassem is pluperf. subj. in a past contrary to fact condition. Apparently Malchus grabbed the woman to demonstrate his willingness to marry her (rather than as a shield).

6.3

tenebrōsior solitō: ablative of comparison; an alternative would be (nox) tenebrōsior quam solitā.

nimium matūra nox: “the all-too premature night”; nox is probably metaphorical, like the darkening sun in 9.1.

Dūcō in spēluncam etc. < spēlunca -ae f., “cave.” On the whole passage compare Vergil, Aeneid 4.165–167, describing the “encounter” of Dido and Aeneas in the cave: Spēluncam Dīdō dux et Trōiānus eandem / dēveniunt. Prīma et Tellūs et prōnuba Iūnō / dant signum.

sēmirutam < sēmirutus -a -um, “half-demolished, half in ruins,” with speluncam.

prōnubante < prōnubans -antis, “acting as bridal escort” (LL); the prōnuba in a pagan Roman wedding was a married woman who assisted the bride at her wedding and helped with wedding arrangements.

dētestāmur < dētestor (1), “to feel loathing for” (Gray)

nec fatēmur: i.e., they didn’t admit that they hated each other.

6.4

monachum: the fact of his being a monk. See 5.5.

Hūcine: “For this purpose?” “Is this why?”

ut, incānēscente iam capite, virgō marītus fierem: substantive clause of result (consecutive clause) in apposition with hoc (AG 570). incanescente ... capite is an ablative absolute. virgō can be treated as masculine in Christian authors (LS II.B).

quid prōdest parentēs, patriam, rem familiārem contempsisse prō Dominō: present indicative in the apodosis of a present general condition (AG 515); “a rhetorical question with high emotional colouring, brought out by the alliteration of ‘p’ in three successive words and a tricolon whose last part is the longest” (Gray).

sī hoc faciō, quod, ut nē facerem, illa contempsī: literally, “if I do that for the sake of avoiding which I despised those things” (Gray). quod = propter quod; the antecedent is hoc. facerem is imperf. subj. in a negative purpose clause; ut nē = nē (AG 531). illa = parentēs, patria, rem familiārem.

Nisi quod: “except that” (LS nisi C.5)

quia patriam dēsīderāvī: see 3.5; he had wanted to go home.

6.5

agimus, etc.: The indicative is sometimes used in deliberative questions, especially in comedy (AG 444 note and Gray).

anima: vocative.

Perīmus < pereō -īre, “to perish, die”; pereō conjugates like eō.

propriō mucrōne < mucrō -ōnis m., “sword.” A shepherd, even a slave shepherd, would need to be armed.

Verte in tē gladium, etc.: Gray notes the “chaotic diversity of numbers and tenses in the verbs used, which can be read as reflecting Malchus’ inner turmoil.”

tua magis mors timenda quam corporis = tua mors timenda (est) magis quam (mors) corporis (timenda est); gerundive with in the Second (or passive) Periphrastic Conjugation to express obligation (AG 196 and 500.2). Remember that he is talking to his anima; his soul’s death (damnation) would be worse than his bodily death.

Habet et pudīcitia servāta martyrium suum = et pudīcitia servāta habet martyrium suum. martyrium: elswhere Jerome writes of bodily temptation (food as well as sex) as a kind of persectution (Letters 14.4).

Iaceat īnsepultus Chrīstī testis in erēmō: jussive subjunctive (AG 439). Chrīstī testis Malchus imagines himself in death acting as a testis or witness, “one who openly acknowledges or professes, one who testifies for Christ even by death, a martyr” (DMLBS testis 3). As Gray puts it, Malchus’ body, lying unburied with his wounds for all to see, will be visible proof of his status as Christī testis.

ipse mihi erō et persecūtor et martyr. A striking paradox. Some Christians writers believed that suicide was a reasonable alternative to loss of virginity.

6.6

micantem gladium < micō (1), “to gleam, flash” (LS II.B).

acūmine contra mē versō < acūmen -inis n., “sharp point, tip”; ablative absolute.

Infēlix mulier: “this vocative expresses scorn rather than compassion” (Gray).

habētō: future imperative, 2nd person singular (AG 185 and 449).

martyrem potius quam marītum: note the wordplay.

6.7

provōlūta pedibus meīs: see 3.6; this gesture is clearly one of supplication, not veneration (Gray).

Per ego tē ... Iēsum ... rogō = Per Iēsum, ego ... rogō tē.

nē effundās: rogō can take ut or nē with subjunctive (OLD 6.b), in a construction similar to a prohibition (AG 450).

sī morī placet ... verte mucrōnem: present general condition, with a present imperative in the apodosis instead of present indicative (AG 515a).

coniungāmur: hortatory subjunctive (AG 439).

sī vir meus ad me redīret, servārem castitātem: imperf. subjs. in a present contrary fact condition (AG 517); whatever her marriage was like before she got captured, she now would remain chaste even if her husband were to return.

quam mē captīvitās docuit: as Gray notes, it is surprising that the woman learned about abstinence from her captivity, rather than from separation from her husband; Gray finds the explanation in the Greek translation of the Life of Malchus: “affliction teaches us to flee towards the Lord.” But captivity implies separation from her husband, so perhaps Jerome, Malchus, or the woman, was simply being imprecise.

vel interīrem, antequam perderem = vel interīrem, antequam (castitātem) perderem; potential subjunctives (AG 447.3).

cūr moreris < morior morī mortuus sum, 2nd person singular present actve indicative, “why are you dying?”

nē mihi iungāris: pres. subj. in a negative purpose clause (AG 531).

Ego morerer, sī ... vellēs: imperf. subjs. in a present contrary fact condition (AG 517).

Habētō: future imperative, 2nd person singular (AG 185 and 449); the future imperative is often (as here) simply a more intense kind of imperative. coniugem pudīcitae: “a partner (wife) in your abstinence.” As Gray notes, this unparalleled collocation underlines the boldness of the woman’s suggestion. pudicītiae: genitive of quality (or description, AG 345).

amātō: future imperative, 2nd person singular.

Spērent dominī marītum = spērent dominī (tē esse) marītum (meum). hortatory subjunctive (AG 439); spērō in LL can mean “expect” or “believe” (Gray); dominī: the plural probably refers to the Saracen family of dominus, domina, and the liberi (see 5.1) (Gray).

Chrīstus nōverit fratrem = Christus nōverit (tē esse) fratrem (meum) (Gray); nōverit is jussive subjunctive (AG 439), rare with a perfect subjunctive, but noscō is a special case (see LS nosco III).

cum ... vīderint: perf. subj. in a circumstantial cum clause (AG 546).

Facile persuādēbimus nūptiās: “We will easily be persuasive about the marriage”; persuadeō can take a simple accusative (OLD 1.a).

cum nōs vīderint sīc amāre: the woman relies on the Saracens to appreciate the signs of unanimity and affection which the spiritual relationship that she proposes will produce between her and Malchus and to interpret them as sexual attraction (Gray).

6.8

coniuge plūs amāvī: “I loved her more than a spouse” (Gray).

quod in proeliō servāveram = (illud) quod servāveram in proeliō. Presumably he means the “battle” of his single life, vs. the “peace” of his life as a married but chaste man.

6.9

in tālī mātrimōniō: answers Jerome’s intial question at 2.3 quaenam esset eorum copula, matrimonii, sanguinis, an spiritus, which prompts Malchus’ narrative (Gray).

Amābiliōrēs: predicate adjective.

mēnse tōtō: the ablative of duration of time is rare but CL (AG 424.b).

per sōlitūdinem: “(traveling) through uninhabited country” (DMLBS solitudo 4)