For seeing that man by the commission of the Divine blessing had been elevated to a lofty pre-eminence (for he was appointed king over the earth and all things on it; he was beautiful in his form, being created an image of the archetypal beauty; he was without passion in his nature, for he was an imitation of the unimpassioned; he was full of frankness, delighting in a face-to-face manifestation of the personal Deity),-all this was to the adversary the fuel to his passion of envy. Yet could he not by any exercise of strength or dint of force accomplish his purpose, for the strength of God's blessing over-mastered his own force. His plan, therefore, is to withdraw man from this enabling strength, that thus he may be easily captured by him and open to his treachery.

ἐπειδὴ γὰρ διὰ τῆς θείας εὐλογίας δυναμωθεὶς ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὑψηλὸς μὲν ἦν τῷ ἀξιώματι· βασιλεύειν γὰρ ἐτάχθη τῆς γῆς τε καὶ τῶν ἐπ΄ αὐτῆς πάντων· καλὸς δὲ τὸ εἶδος· ἀπεικόνισμα γὰρ τοῦ ἀρχετύπου ἐγεγόνει κάλλους· ἀπαθὴς δὲ τὴν φύσιν· τοῦ γὰρ ἀπαθοῦς μίμημα ἦν· ἀνάπλεως δὲ παρρησίας͵ αὐτῆς κατὰ πρόσωπον τῆς θείας ἐμφανείας κατατρυφῶν· ταῦτα δὲ τῷ ἀντικειμένῳ τοῦ κατὰ τὸν φθόνον πάθους ὑπεκκαύματα ἦν· ἰσχύι δέ τινι καὶ βίᾳ δυνάμεως κατεργάσασθαι τὸ κατὰ γνώμην οὐχ οἷός τε ἦν· ὑπερίσχυε γὰρ ἡ τῆς εὐλογίας τοῦ θεοῦ δύναμις τῆς τούτου βίας· διὰ τοῦτο ἀποστῆσαι τῆς ἐνισχυούσης αὐτὸν δυνάμεως μηχανᾶται͵ ὡς ἂν εὐάλωτος αὐτῷ πρὸς τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν κατασταίη.