# veritatis regulam tenent, et alii per dilectionem, alii per odium meriuntur



## KsSp

Hello. 
Here is a sentence the general meaning of which I understand (or at least it seems to be so!), but I am not sure if I got the meaning right. 
"Sed neque hi qui plus diligent, neque illi qui oderunt, veritatis regulam tenent, et alii per dilectionem, alii per odium meriuntur."
Here is how I see it:
"But neither the one whose love is excessive nor the ones who hate attain/understand the measure of truth, which some determine by means of love and others by means of hatred."
What confuses me is the part after "veritatis". 
Could you please tell me what the actual meaning of the sentence is? 
The context: Origen (the author) is explaining why excessive love is a bad thing. 
Thank you.


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## Scholiast

Привет KsSp et saluete omnes alii

The purported verb here, _meriuntur_, does not look right to me. Could you either (a) check that this is accurate; or (b) supply a precise textual or bibliographical reference? Or both?

As we have discussed before, this Latin is a translation, probably by Jerome ('Hieronymus'), from Origen's original Greek, and it may be helpful to examine the original Greek version, which I can probably do.

Σ


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## KsSp

Scholiast said:


> Привет KsSp et saluete omnes alii
> 
> The purported verb here, _meriuntur_, does not look right to me. Could you either (a) check that this is accurate; or (b) supply a precise textual or bibliographical reference? Or both?
> 
> As we have discussed before, this Latin is a translation, probably by Jerome ('Hieronymus'), from Origen's original Greek, and it may be helpful to be able to examine the original Greek version, which I can probably do.
> 
> Σ


Hello, Scholiast! Thank you for your help. The problem is that in this edition (on the Google Play page where this link takes you there is tomus primus, and the text in question is from tomus tertius, but also Parisiis, not the Venetian one), it says "me*t*iuntur", whereas in Patrologia Graeca, it is "me*nt*iuntur". The sentence is from Homilies on Luke, 25. I am sorry for the slip: there is no "me*r*iuntur" in either the edition mentioned first or PG.


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## Scholiast

Ahah!

Subject to further consideration when I am next in my Uni. Library, this now looks like making sense: _mentior_, _mentiri_ means 'to lie', 'to tell an untruth' (or possibly 'to deceive oneself').

Provisionally, therefore: 'But neither those who love too much, nor those who hate [too much], are holding to the canon of truth, and some through [excessive] love, others through hatred, are being deceitful'.

But I would like to check Origen's Greek text nevertheless, and I shall look at this next time I have an opportunity, and come back with confirmation—with luck tomorrow, at any rate on Monday.

Σ


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## KsSp

Thank you! I really appreciate your help.


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## Scholiast

Greetings once again

In my naive ignorance of patristic literature, I had assumed (in my replies ## 2, 4) that an original Greek text would be available. This turns out not to be the case: the Greek text is not extant, and the work is therefore known only from Jerome's Latin translation. So we can get nowehere further forward, unfortunately, than my suggestion in # 4, and I hope that this makes enough sense for the context.

Σ


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## KsSp

Scholiast said:


> Greetings once again
> 
> In my naive ignorance of patristic literature, I had assumed (in my replies ## 2, 4) that an original Greek text would be available. This turns out not to be the case: the Greek text is not extant, and the work is therefore known only from Jerome's Latin translation. So we can get nowehere further forward, unfortunately, than my suggestion in # 4, and I hope that this makes enough sense for the context.
> 
> Σ


Thank you, Scholiast! It's a pity we don't have the original Greek text - perhaps, there might have been different connotations, and translations always (well, at least in most cases) introduce something new as far as meaning is concerned. 
Thank you!


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