Apostolic Constitutions : Be careful, therefore, O bishop, to study the Word, that you may be able to explain everything exactly and that you may copiously nourish your people with much doctrine and enlighten them with the light of the law. For God says, "Enlighten yourselves with the light of knowledge, while we have yet opportunity." — CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 2:2.5 Basil of Caesarea : So that we may know clearly what is meant by not having a share in the works which do not bear fruit, let us first inquire as to what sort of actions merit the attribute unfruitful—whether those only that are forbidden or such also are commendable but are not performed in good dispositions. In the Old Testament, the prophet, comparing the saints with the tree, says, "which shall bring forth its fruit in due season." Solomon declares, "The work of the just is unto life, but the fruit of the wicked is sin"; and Hosea, "Sow for yourselves in justice, reap the fruit of life." — ON BAPTISM 2:9 Jerome : "Sow for yourselves according to righteousness, reap according to the merciful act. Cultivate for yourselves a new crop, but require the time of seeking the Lord when He comes to teach you righteousness. Sow for yourselves according to righteousness, reap the fruit of life. Illuminate yourselves with the light of knowledge, for it is time to seek the Lord until the fruits of righteousness come to you." The translation once begun by the farmers is preserved. Ephraim said that he loved the trained heifer for threshing and had gone up to the mountains to plow Judah and break up Jacob's clods or furrows. Now he advises that they plant for themselves through repentance, and sow in justice, that is, in the Law, and they reap in mercy, that is, in the grace of the Gospel. For there we read, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" (Exod. XXI); but here we read, "But I say to you not to resist evil: but if one strike you on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other" (Matt. V, 39). And when you have sown in justice, and reaped in mercy, then renew for yourself joyful gardens. And give reasons for why they sow, why they reap, and why they renew the joyful gardens. "Time," said Christ, our savior, "to seek the Lord, when he comes, who will teach you righteousness," which you now hope for in the law: "For the end of the law is Christ, to righteousness to everyone who does good" (Rom. X). For what we have said, "measure in the mouth of mercy," the Seventy translated, "reap the fruit of life:" and the Messiah is more fitting for the seed, than the vintage: but the fruit of life itself is the tree of life. And because we have put forth "innovate vobis novale," they have turned it into "illuminate vobis lumen scientiae," so that we may deserve to have knowledge of the Law from its works and commands, according to what we read in a certain book: "You have desired wisdom: keep the commandments, and the Lord will give it to you" (Ecclus. 1:33). For he who turns commandments into works, sows in justice, and will reap from it the fruits of life. Hence, we read elsewhere: "The commandment of the Lord is a shining light, enlightening the eyes" (Ps. 18:9). And Isaiah said to the Lord: "Your command is a lamp upon my feet." And in another place: "From your precepts I gained understanding" (Psal. 119). Those also, who have separated themselves from the Church, and have falsely taken on the name of Christians, are commanded to repent and receive both the Old and New Testaments: in the Old they sow justice, in the New they reap mercy: and let them illuminate themselves with the light of knowledge, or renew themselves by seeking the Lord, who can teach them true justice, and destroy false teachers from whom they do not learn justice, but iniquity. — Commentary on Hosea 10:12 John Cassian : Therefore, if you are concerned to attain to the light of spiritual knowledge not by the vice of empty boastfulness but by the grace of correction, you are first inflamed with desire for that blessedness about which it is said, "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God." [Thus] you may also attain to that about which the angel said to Daniel: "Those who are learned shall shine like the splendor of the firmament, and those who instruct many in righteousness like the stars forever." And in another prophet: "Enlighten yourselves with the light of knowledge while there is time." — CONFERENCE 14:9.1 Origen of Alexandria : Observe how holy and how marvelous is the sequence of things. Do not imagine that wisdom will come before its enactment in deeds. The deeds ought to come first, and wisdom sought afterwards.… We ought not teach others before we ourselves are instructed and rational. After these things, however, "truth" is added because "truth" is the highest wisdom. The prophet also preserves this same order when he says, "Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of life; illuminate yourselves with the light of knowledge." See how he does not first say, "Illuminate yourselves with the light of knowledge," but first, "Sow for yourselves righteousness." It is not sufficient just to sow, but he says, "reap the fruit of life" so that after these you can fulfill what follows, "illuminate yourselves with the light of knowledge." — HOMILIES ON Leviticus 6:4.4