Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 42 of 879
Book I Chapter 1 · I.1.34a–I.1.34b
Ancient Greek
p. 8034 ⟨Τοῦ αὐτοῦ⟩· ὅτι πάντα ἐφορᾷ τὸ θεῖον (αʹ)
Πυθομένου δέ τινος, πῶς ἄν τις πεισθείη, ὅτι ἕκαστον τῶν ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ πραττομένων ἐφορᾶται ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ; Οὐ δοκεῖ σοι, ἔφη, ἡνῶσθαι τὰ πάντα; — Δοκεῖ, ἔφη. — Τί δέ; συμπαθεῖν τὰ ἐπίγεια τοῖς οὐρανίοις οὐ δοκεῖ σοι; — Δοκεῖ μοι, ἔφη. — Πόθεν γὰρ οὕτως τεταγμένως, καθάπερ ἐκ προστάγματος τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅταν ἐκεῖνος εἴπῃ τοῖς φυτοῖς ἀνθεῖν, ἀνθεῖ, ὅταν εἴπῃ βλαστάνειν, βλαστάνει, ὅταν ἐκφέρειν τὸν καρπόν, ἐκφέρει, ὅταν πεπαίνειν, πεπαίνει, ὅταν ἀποβάλλειν, ⟨ἀποβάλλει⟩, καὶ φυλλορροεῖν, ⟨φυλλορροεῖ⟩, καὶ αὐτὰ εἰς αὑτὰ συνειλούμενα ἐφ’ ἡσυχίας μένειν καὶ ἀναπαύεσθαι, μένει καὶ ἀναπαύεται;
34 ⟨Τοῦ αὐτοῦ⟩ (βʹ)
Πόθεν δὲ πρὸς τὴν αὔξησιν καὶ μείωσιν τῆς σελήνης καὶ τὴν τοῦ ἡλίου πρόσοδον καὶ ἄφοδον τοσαύτη παραλλαγὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ ἐναντία μεταβολὴ τῶν ἐπιγείων θεωρεῖται; Ἀλλὰ τὰ φυτὰ μὲν καὶ τὰ ἡμέτερα σώματα οὕτως ἐνδέδεται τοῖς ὅλοις καὶ συμπέπονθεν, αἱ ψυχαὶ δὲ αἱ ἡμέτεραι οὐ πολὺ πλέον; Ἀλλ’ αἱ ψυχαὶ μὲν οὕτως εἰσὶν ἐνδεδεμέναι καὶ συναφεῖς τῷ θεῷ, ἅτε αὐτοῦ μόρια οὖσαι καὶ ἀποσπάσματα, οὐ παντὸς δὲ αὐτῶν κινήματος, ἅτε οἰκείου καὶ συμφυοῦς, ὁ θεὸς αἰσθάνεται;
Ἀλλὰ σὺ μὲν περὶ τῆς θείας διοικήσεως καὶ περὶ ἑκάστου τῶν θείων, ὁμοῦ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων ἐνθυμεῖσθαι δύνασαι καὶ ἅμα μὲν αἰσθητικῶς ἀπὸ μυρίων πραγμάτων κινεῖσθαι, ἅμα δὲ διανοητικῶς, ἅμα δὲ τοῖς μὲν συγκαταθετικῶς, τοῖς δὲ ἀνανευστικῶς ἢ ἐφεκτικῶς·
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 1
p. 8134 ⟨The same author⟩: Divine oversight (1)
Someone asked how a person could be persuaded that God observes every action he performs. “Do you not think,” he replied, “that all things form a unity?” “I do,” the man said. “And do you not think that earthly things respond in sympathy to heavenly things?” “I do.”
“How else do these things happen in such order, as though by God’s command? When he tells plants to flower, they flower; to sprout, they sprout; to bear fruit, they bear it; to ripen it, they ripen it; to shed it, ⟨they shed it⟩; to lose their leaves, ⟨they lose them⟩; to draw into themselves and remain quietly at rest, they remain and rest.82
34 ⟨The same author⟩ (2)
“How else do we see such variation and changes to opposite conditions in earthly things corresponding to the moon’s waxing and waning and the sun’s approach and withdrawal? If plants and our bodies are bound so closely to the whole and affected along with it, are not our souls much more so? If our souls are thus bound and joined to God, being parts and portions of him, does God fail to perceive every movement of theirs, as something belonging to him and sharing his nature?83
“You yourself can reflect on divine government and on each divine thing, and also on human affairs. You can at the same time be moved by countless things in perception and in thought, assenting to some, rejecting others, or withholding judgment.
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 1 · I.1.34a–I.1.34b
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Stobaeus gathered Greek philosophy and poetry for his son Septimius. Volume I presents the dedication testimony, On Arithmetic, Book I through chapter 60, and the ancient contents of all four books. This complete bilingual edition includes an introduction and 2,117 explanatory notes.
Historical Text and Translation
The Greek follows Curt Wachsmuth’s 1884 Volume I, checked against the supplied scan. Gaps, lost-chapter headings, and uncertain attributions remain visible. Chapter 2 includes a labeled proposed reconstruction. The appendix outlines Books I–IV; the full texts of Books II–IV are outside this volume. Reader pages preserve the companion PDF’s numbering.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared this independent English translation directly from the Greek. Prose and verse retain their distinct forms, with mixed passages preserving their quoted verse. Every passage is paired with its Greek and identified by the edition’s reference number. All 2,117 notes remain linked to their passages, with continuous numbering across the introduction and text.
Rights
Stobaeus’s ancient Greek work and Wachsmuth’s 1884 printing are in the public domain. The independent English translation, introduction, and explanatory notes are © 2026 Diotimos Editions. The complete supplied edition is available as PDF, EPUB, Word, and Markdown. The PDF retains the fixed page locations used by the companion lexicon.