Ad Uxorem 1

1 [Written circa a.d. 207. Tertullian survived his wife; and we cannot date these books earlier than about the time of his writing the De Pallio, in the opinion of some.]

1 Jam hinc.

2 Saeculo.

3 Fidei.

4 Saecularibus.

5 Posteritati; or, with Mr. Dodgson, "our future."s1.v4.a1.w4.b1.f7 Deputantur.

6 Doldium; alluding to certain laws respecting a widow's power of receiving "in its entirety" her deceased husband's property.

7 Fidei commissum.

8 Saeculo.

9 Luke xx. 36.

10 Nulla ... neminem - two negatives.

11 See Matt. xxii. 23-33; Mark xii. 18-27; Luke xx. 27-40.

12 Jam hinc. See beginning of chapter.

13 Orbi. Gen. i. 28.

14 Saeculo.

15 Gen. ii. 21, 22.

16 Sane.

17 "Fas," strictly divine law, opp. to "jus," human law; thus "lawful," as opp. to "legal."

18 Plurifariam matrimoniis uti. The neut. pl. "matrimonia" is sometimes used for "wives." Comp. c. v. ad fin. and de Paen., c. xii. ad fin.

19 Sermo, i.e., probably the personal Word. Comp. de Or., c. i. ad init.

20 Rom. ii. 28, 29; Phil. iii. 3; Col. ii. 11.

21 Saeculi. The meaning here seems clearly to be, as in the text, "the Jewish age" or dispensation; as in the passages referred to - 1 Cor. x. 11, where it is ta telh twn aiwnwn; and Heb. ix. 26, where again it is twn aiwnwn, the Jewish and all preceding ages being intended.

22 "Jam hinc," i.e., apparently from the time of Christ's advent.

23 Matt. xix. 5, 6.

24 1 Cor. vii.

25 Matt. x. 23; perhaps confused with xxiii. 34.

26 Comp. de Idol., c. xxiii., and the note there on "se negant."

27 i.e., in martyrdom, on the ground of that open confession.

28 Non obest.

29 Phil. iii. 13, 14.

30 Laqueum = broxon (1 Cor. vii. 35), "a noose," "lasso" ("snare," Eng. ver.). "Laqueo trahuntur inviti" (Bengel).

31 See note 13.

32 Matt. xxvi. 41.

33 Adulamur: "we fawn upon," or "caress," or "flatter." Comp. de Paen., c. vi. sub init.: "flatter their own sweetness."

34 "Firmum," opp. to "infirmam" above. In the passage there referred to (Matt. xxvi. 41) the word is proqumon.

35 Tuemur. Mr. Dodgson renders, "guard not."

36 Species.

37 i.e., apparently second marriages: "disjunctis a matrimonio" can scarcely include such as were never "juncti;" and comp. the "praemissis maritis" below.

38 Comp. Phil. iv. 3; 2 Tim. ii. 19; Mal. iii. 16; and similar passages.

39 1 John i. 1; Luke xxiv. 39; John xx. 17.

40 Dignationem.

41 Or, "temporary."

42 Incubare.

43 Caedere sumptum.

44 Matt. vi. 28-30.

45 Matt. vi. 26.

46 Matt. vi. 31, 34.

47 Comp. Phil. iv. 19; 1 Tim. vi. 8.

48 Comp. 1 Cor. vii. 35, exp. in Eng. ver.

49 Recogita.

50 Comp. c. iv. above "praemissis maritis;" "when their husbands have preceded them (to glory)."

51 Saeculo.

52 Phil. i. 23; comp. de Pa., c. ix. ad fin.

53 i.e., to get children.

54 Expugnantur.

55 "Parricidiis." So Oehler seems to understand it.

56 Luke xxi. 23; Matt. xxiv. 19.

57 Saeculi.

58 "Expiasse" - a rare but Ciceronian use of the word.

59 Luke xvii. 28, 29.

60 Denotat.

61 Saeculi.

62 Saeculi. Comp. 1 Cor. x. 11; but the Greek there is, ta telh twn aiwnwn. By the "blindness," Tertullian may refer to Gen. xix. 11.

63 Or, "short" (Eng. ver.); 1 Cor. vii. 29. o kairo <\dq_ounestalmeno<\|dq_, "in collecto."

64 ""Matrimonia", " neut. pl. again for the fem., the abstract for the concrete. See c. ii., "to multiply wives," and the note there. In the Greek (1 Cor. vii. 29) it is <\dq_gunaika<\|dq_: but the ensuing chapter shows that Tertullian refers the passage to women as well.

65 Comp. de Pa., xiii., and Matt. xix. 12. Comp. too, de Ex. Cast., c. i.

66 i.e., Gentile women.

67 Oehler marks this as a question.

68 Matt. iii. 12.

69 Comp. Rev. xii. 9, and de Bapt., 1.

70 Pietatis.

71 Gehennae; comp. de Paen., c. xii. ad init.


This document (last modified February 03, 1998) from the Christian Classics Electronic Library server, at Wheaton College