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On Fasting

Tertullian

Chapter 5

About this work

Author: Tertullian

Chapter V.—Proceeding to the History of Israel, Tertullian Shows that Appetite Was as Conspicuous Among Their Sins as in Adam’s Case. Therefore the Restraints of the Levitical Law Were Imposed.

At length, when a familiar people began to be chosen by

‹ Chapter 4 Chapter 6 ›

God

to

Himself

,

and

the

restoration

of

man

was

able

to

be

essayed

,

then

all

the

laws

and

disciplines

were

imposed

,

even

such

as

curtailed

food

;

certain

things

being

prohibited

as

unclean

,

in

order

that

man

,

by

observing

a

perpetual

abstinence

in

certain

particulars

,

might

at

last

the

more

easily

tolerate

absolute

fasts

.

For

the

first

People

had

withal

reproduced

the

first

man’s

crime

,

being

found

more

prone

to

their

belly

than

to

God

,

when

,

plucked

out

from

the

harshness

of

Egyptian

servitude

“

by

the

mighty

hand

and

sublime

arm

”

of

God

,

they

were

seen

to

be

its

lord

,

destined

to

the

“

land

flowing

with

milk

and

honey

;

”

but

forthwith

,

stumbled

at

the

surrounding

spectacle

of

an

incopious

desert

sighing

after

the

lost

enjoyments

of

Egyptian

satiety

,

they

murmured

against

Moses

and

Aaron

:

“

Would

that

we

had

been

smitten

to

the

heart

by

the

Lord

,

and

perished

in

the

land

of

Egypt

,

when

we

were

wont

to

sit

over

our

jars

of

flesh

and

eat

bread

unto

the

full

!

How

leddest

thou

us

out

into

these

deserts

,

to

kill

this

assembly

by

famine

?

”

From

the

self

-

same

belly

preference

were

they

destined

(

at

last

)

to

deplore

(

the

fate

of

)

the

self

-

same

leaden

of

their

own

and

eye

-

witnesses

of

(

the

power

of

)

God

,

whom

,

by

their

regretful

hankering

after

flesh

,

and

their

recollection

of

their

Egyptian

plenties

,

they

were

ever

exacerbating

:

“

Who

shall

feed

us

with

flesh

?

here

have

come

into

our

mind

the

fish

which

in

Egypt

we

were

wont

to

eat

freely

,

and

the

cucumbers

,

and

the

melons

,

and

the

leeks

,

and

the

onions

,

and

the

garlic

.

But

now

our

soul

is

arid

:

nought

save

manna

do

our

eyes

see

!

”

Thus

used

they

,

too

,

(

like

the

Psychics

)

,

to

find

the

angelic

bread

of

xerophagy

displeasing

:

they

preferred

the

fragrance

of

garlic

and

onion

to

that

of

heaven

.

And

therefore

from

men

so

ungrateful

all

that

was

more

pleasing

and

appetizing

was

withdrawn

,

for

the

sake

at

once

of

punishing

gluttony

and

exercising

continence

,

that

the

former

might

be

condemned

,

the

latter

practically

learned

.

Notes

1
Comp. Ps. cxxxvi. 12 (in LXX. cxxxv. 12).
2
See Ex. iii. 8.
3
See Ex. xvi. 1–3.
4
Comp. Num. xx. 1–12 with Ps. cvi. 31–33 (in LXX. cv. 31–33).
5
See Num. xi. 1–6.
6
See Ps. lxxviii. 25 (in LXX. lxxvii. 25).