Catena Fidei

Proverbs 30:15 (WEB)
“The leech has two daughters: ‘Give, give.’ “There are three things that are never satisfied; four that don’t say, ‘Enough!’:

Fathers and councils · 6

Gregory of Nyssa, Against Eunomius IV.8Book IV
“…exerts upon the things mingled a consuming force, as the wisdom of the Proverbs saith of such a doctrine, that water and fire never say “It is enough,” expressing enigmatically the nature of contraries of equal force and equal balance, and their mutual destruction?” — editor's note: Cf. Prov. xxx. 15 (LXX.).
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Jerome, Against Jovinianus Book 1
“But who can hide from himself what is thus enigmatically expressed?“The horseleech had three daughters, dearly loved, but they satisfied her not, and a fourth is not satisfied when you say Enough; the grave, and woman’s love, and the earth that is not satisfied with water, and the fire that saith not, Enough.”” — editor's note: Prov. xxx. 15, 16.
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Hippolytus of Rome, Exegetical Fragments §13On Proverbs
“As to the horse-leech.” — editor's note: Ch. xxx. 15.
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Augustine of Hippo, On the Holy Trinity XV.9Book XV
“For here the meaning is patent to all but the very dull; but an enigma is, to explain it briefly, an obscure allegory, as, e.g., “The horseleech had three daughters,” and other like instances.” — editor's note: Prov. xxx. 15
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Gregory of Nazianzus, Orations Oration 16
“…multitude of slaves and animals, and spread themselves over plains and mountains, with their possessions and gains and schemes, like Solomon’s horseleach which cannot be satisfied, any more than the grave, and the earth, and fire, and water; who seek for another world for their possession, and find fault with…” — editor's note: Prov. xxx. 15.
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Gregory of Nazianzus, Orations Oration 18
“In the contrary sense she has rivalled the horse-leech of Solomon, by her insatiable longing for progress, overcoming the tendency to backsliding, and unable to satisfy her zeal for benevolence.” — editor's note: Prov. xxx. 15.
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