Know Yourself
Saint Gregory of Nyssa: Second Homily on the Song of Songs[1]
(332-398)
Therefore, the bridegroom’s friends gave this advice: "If you do not know yourself, beautiful
one among women, go in the footsteps of the flocks and feed your kids by the shepherds' tents." [ SoS 1:8]
What does this mean? The person ignorant of himself leaves the flocks of sheep and feeds with the goats
whom Christ has rejected at his left hand [ Matt. 25.33]. Thus the good shepherd places the sheep at his
right: He separates the goats from the better herd and places them on the left. We thus learn from the
bridegroom’s friends that we must be attentive to the very nature of things and not miss the truth by erring
steps.
[1]Saint Gregory of Nyssa: Commentary on the
Song of Songs (Brookline, MA: Hellenic College Press, 1987), p. 69.
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