Glaphyra in Pentateuchum

For according to the Savior's voice, "Many are called, but few are chosen." And we go up, not without Christ. For Aaron was then present with those who worship, and he was counted among those still far off. So too Christ, far off with us because of us, so that we too, with him and through him, may be near the Father. For all things were clearly dispensed for our sake and on our behalf. For just as he became with us among the dead, so that we might be in life with him and through him—for he rose again, having trampled the power of death—so he became with us farther off, though he is near, so that we again, with him and through him, might draw near to the Father; and this has indeed been accomplished. For having become partakers of him through the Spirit, we are united to God the Father through him, if indeed we are truly sharers of the divine nature, according to the Scriptures. But the God of all things has commanded Moses and Aaron, the holy and chosen ones, to go up on high and to ascend together to the mountain. But that those who have come to this glory, and who are resolved truly to ascend on high, so that they may also become near to God, must first be purified by the blood of Christ, who made his own soul an exchange for the life of all, and who has also offered up the flesh he assumed as a sweet-smelling savor. For he has brought himself forward as a blameless sacrifice for us to God, and as a spiritual burnt offering, as the divinely inspired Moses again prefigured for us, led by the illumination of the Spirit to the foreknowledge of things to come. For understanding this, I think, before his own going up on high and that of those who were called, he wrote all the words of the Lord.

What has been accomplished by this in turn, we shall say at once. For it is necessary, I think, that those who aspire to the journey on high and above should have the law of God engraved in mind and heart, and should thenceforth cry out to him as from a lyre, "In my heart I have hidden your words, that I might not sin against you." For just as it is not without benefit for life, and is a saving thing, to remember the words of God at all times, in the same way, I think, forgetting them is apt to be the cause of destruction. Therefore the blessed Moses writes all the words of the Lord, about which he himself also cried out to those being trained through him—or rather even to us ourselves: "And you shall speak in them, sitting in the house, and walking in the road, and lying down, and rising up." And having risen early in the morning, he built up an altar. And he set around it twelve stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent the young men of the sons of Israel, who also, he says, offered up whole burnt offerings, and sacrificed a sacrifice of salvation to God, young calves. The altar, then, would be a type, and very clearly so, of the Church of Christ, which lies, as it were, upon the mountain. For we say that the other one is on high, as on a mountain—the mother city of the firstborn, whose craftsman and creator is God. The altar, therefore, images the Church for us; and Moses very fittingly in the way of economy sets around it the twelve stones, for the twelve tribes of Israel—almost by this very thing giving a prior pledge to those of the blood of Israel, that the place most fitting for them is the Church of Christ; and perhaps it will be necessary to cry out aloud:

I will encircle your altar, O Lord, to hear the voice of praise. For it was to them most of all, and before others, that the Father sent the Son as Savior and Redeemer, as he himself makes clear, saying: I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But since they had slipped into strange folly and raged madly against him, Christ necessarily passed over to the Gentiles. That therefore the place most fitting for them was, as I said just now, the altar of Christ, Moses prefigured beforehand, setting around it the twelve stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. And that those admired for courage—clearly spiritual and according to God, those having a strong and vigorous mind—would at the proper times minister the mystery of Christ, one may learn from what happened. For the young men were sent, and they brought the burnt offerings. We find the holy apostles doing this, who, so to speak, went about the whole earth, ministering to him and bringing burnt offerings, that is, those distinguished in blameless faith, and indeed those thoroughly equipped for virtue by their zeal. For it is not, it is not the work of a sluggish mind to be able to guide clearly into the mysteries, nor of a sick mind to bear the feeble and one accustomed to slip down into worldly desires; but of one equipped and youthful, so as to be able now to say: For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. For such a man is young, and among the most vigorous.

It was fitting for him to touch the consecration to God of whole burnt offerings and spiritual sacrifices and the priestly rites that are intelligible, and to fulfill the sacrifice of salvation; or else he was very well prefigured beforehand through the calves that were offered. For sometimes, because of its great strength, and because the calf is the highest of the undefiled animals, Christ is likened to a perfect calf; but sometimes to a small calf, and for what reason? Again you see that the Only-begotten became man, and was under the yoke of slavery, if indeed it is true that he appeared in the form of a slave. But even if, so far as it came to be said, in regard to the mystery in the flesh, he became with us under the yoke of slavery, yet he was unacquainted with slavery, because he was of a nature from above and free. For this reason he is likened to a calf, because he is both under the yoke and outside the yoke. For the calf is unacquainted with the yoke, even if such a kind is by nature under the yoke. In another way, also, even if he came under the law, as under a yoke, yet he was free; for he was above the law, as being lawgiver and God. And in a third way, if it seems good, he bore the flesh from the earth, which was sick in itself through sin against the law, according to the voice of Paul. For as far as it came to the nature of the flesh, he seems to have been placed also under the yoke of sin, but he was unacquainted with it; for he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Christ, then, is called a calf in this way by economy, and because he became a new creation; for he himself is the firstfruits of those called to this.

But that it was necessary for those who would grasp it to be sanctified by blood, and for those who longed to draw near to God to do so, Moses has shown by sprinkling all the people with blood, and the book itself as well. And we shall know this again for this reason also, that he alone is imperfect with respect to sanctification. For observe how even he is sanctified by the sprinkling of blood; for the law washes away sins least of all, but the grace of the mysteries through Christ accomplishes this. And it is very well too that the hierophant Moses rose early in the morning, and that he set upright the divine mystery itself, and placed beside it, as I have already said, twelve stones, and sacrificed calves. For when morning and dawn had already come, and the Morning Star was as it were shining forth, and the intelligible day was rising upon us, and the night had already passed, and the demonic darkness had ceased, the bright beauty of the Church was displayed, having the venerable altar on which the mystery of Christ is accomplished. And the tribes of the earth stood beside it, as in the examples of the stones. And indeed the inspired Paul, forging the image of the example into truth, writes to those sanctified in Christ: In whom you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house into a holy priesthood. Then also the young men had brought the whole burnt offerings, and had become spiritual priests. Then, then indeed we also came into the presence of the Father, and stood beside him with the firmness of mind, and ready for anything good whatsoever, making our standing in order.

This too the divine David clearly foretold to us, speaking on behalf of those who have believed, thus to the God of all: "In the morning you will hear my voice. In the morning I will present myself to you, and you will look upon me, for you are not a God who wills lawlessness, nor will the evildoer dwell with you." Therefore, having been sanctified and, as it were, still purified in types by blood, Moses and Aaron, and Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up to the mountain, and they saw what was under his feet, like a work of sapphire brick, and like the work of the firmament of heaven in purity. And none of the chosen of Israel disagreed. And they appeared in the place of God, and they ate and drank. You hear how they beheld the place called of God, as in the form of the firmament of heaven. For heaven is radiant, and its highest and ethereal color resembles sapphire. And heaven is a place most fitting, and that on which he rests, dwelling among angels. For the Holy One dwells in holy places, and as it were reclines upon those who tread the city above, because of their great natural aptitude and their being thoroughly polished to the smoothness of life. For we believe the multitude of the spirits above to be holy. So then, what was under his feet appeared to those who had gone up to the mountain, as in

in the form of the firmament of heaven, he says, in its purity. For it was necessary, it was necessary, that those who had once been sick with the polytheistic deception and had served the creation, and then were called to the knowledge of God, should usefully and necessarily see that he has even heaven itself beneath his feet, and that he is the Master of all things, since he brought all things into existence, the one who redeems them from their ancient deceit. And that to those who at times enter the city above, there is again likened both the richly partaking of the divine gifts and the need to delight in the spiritual goods from Christ, the statement will demonstrate: that those who have gone up, having come to the place of God, ate and drank. But in what I recently said, Moses alone was commanded to draw near to God; the others, however, to worship from afar, with whom Aaron also was present. And we said that the Son, who is near to God and the Father, has become far off with us by nature, our guileless and undefiled high priest; so that through him, and again with him, we too might be found near. Therefore he is also called Emmanuel, which when translated means, God with us. But although he has become with us as a man, yet it is to be seen that the Father has not become approachable even to the blessed Moses himself, apart from his mediation. For he himself is the way, he himself the door, just as we have already said before. And we shall know this too again from what follows: For he said, he says, the Lord to Moses: Come up to me into the mountain, and be there, and I will give you the tablets of stone, the law, and the tablets which I wrote to legislate for them.

And Moses rose up, and Joshua who stood by him, and they went up into the mountain of God. Do you see that Moses is called, who received the law that was still in shadows and letters, and Joshua runs up together with him, not having been called, as a type of Christ; who is not called by the Father, as others are, perhaps; for he is always present. And he makes the way easy for those who are called, mediating and being with them. For it is impossible, as I said, for us to come within God and the Father in any other way, except through his mediation alone. To him therefore be the glory and the might, together with the all-holy Father and the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen. Concerning the making of the calf by Israel. Those who do not have the law for their aid are carried away to anything at all by blind and inconsiderate turnings of their wills, and very easily, toward things hated and held in great blame before God and men, even if they appear to be much diseased in regard to being blameless; or rather, even if there be something among the most absurd things, this you deem worthy of wonder and praise, and you do not know how to discern what is truly worthy of acceptance or the opposite, shameful and suspect. For just as ships that traverse this great and spacious sea, if they have a skilled and most excellent helmsman standing at the rudders, they run their course straight ahead. But if there be one of those not very skilled, they are tossed about in every direction, almost nodding toward the wave that pushes them, wherever it may be able to drive them around.

Thus also the human soul, having no law standing over it, easily inclines to whatever seems good to it, and is intoxicated by the waves of its own pleasures. We shall find that Israel suffered this. For having its mind not yet established in piety, nor indeed its heart firmly fixed with God, it was detected going backward, as it were, again, and had loved the accusations of accursed and abominable idolatry. Therefore the Savior himself also said concerning them: When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and finds none, and, I will return, he says, to my own house. And having come, it finds it empty, swept, and adorned; then it goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than itself. And having entered, they dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Then adding to these things, Amen, he says, I say to you, so shall it be to this evil generation. For in the beginning the spirit had been driven out

the evil, when they had sacrificed the lamb as a type of Christ; they were anointed with the blood, and they escaped the destroyer. But behold, it has crept in again, and far worse than before, if indeed the saying is true concerning those who have chosen to be sick with such things: For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true Proverbs says has happened to them: A dog returning to its own vomit; and, A sow that has washed herself to wallowing in the mire. And from the very things they dared to do, one might observe that they were touching their own vomit again, and by their turning back they were practicing rolling in the mire as before. For it is written, that when the people saw that Moses had delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aaron, and they say to him: Rise up, and make us gods, who shall go before us. This Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him. And Aaron says to them: Take off the golden earrings that are in the ears of your women and your daughters, and bring them to me. And all the people took off the golden earrings that were in the ears of their women, and brought them to Aaron. And he received them from their hands, and fashioned them with a graving tool, and made for them a molten calf. And they said: These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it, and Aaron proclaimed, saying: Tomorrow is a feast of the Lord.

And having risen early on the next day, he brought up whole burnt offerings and brought a sacrifice of salvation, and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. The wondrous Moses, being initiated into the laws most excellently, was making his stay on Mount Sinai. But they, having senselessly made light of his delay, slipped down into this through mental derangement, so that perhaps they no longer even knew at all that they were under God who is mighty in all things; although they had seen him in the form of fire on Mount Sinai, and had been hearers of his voice, and had earnestly begged Moses to mediate for them. But, O you who are full of senselessness to the end, one might say to them, Moses has also tarried long. Then what is this against God, who is always present with those on the earth, even if perhaps he is not seen? Let the wondrous David therefore cry out: A crooked and embittering generation. And to this let Moses also say: You forgot God who nourishes you. But what kind of gods did he need, who had been so wondrously redeemed, for whom hail and the three days' darkness were poured over the land of the Egyptians, for whom all the firstborn of all perished in one night; to whom the wild and uninstructable sea gave leave to escape the cruelty of those who pursued? But if one were to choose to speak of the particulars, he will expend a long account on all of them. So then, when the all-wise Moses was about to return, they were growing attached to Aaron. But he, having seen the assault as now somehow unbearable (for they had cried out: Make us gods who will go before us), ordered them to bring the earrings of the women and the daughters. And they brought them at once.

Because they had fallen into the deception in Egypt and had slipped into their ancient follies, Aaron demonstrated this by the very fact, having fashioned for them, in the form of a calf, the object of worship they adored. For the calf was an object of reverence in Egypt both for the Egyptians themselves and for those who had sickened with their deceit. You see, then, how they are carried back to what belonged to the beginning. The unclean spirit crept in again, and, according to the Savior's words, their last state became worse than the first. I think that the inspired Aaron very deliberately asked for the earrings, all but signifying by this that they had stripped their own hearing of its proper adornment—no longer possessing obedience, but rather having been diverted into a disobedience hateful to God and profane. For when God said, You shall have no other gods besides me, and then they had clapped in assent to these words and honored them with the most excellent vote, having said, All that God has spoken we will do and we will hear—they were seeking gods carved of stone. Do you see how they had cast off their readiness to hear? And this, I think, was the adornment of their ears. But observe how Aaron smiles at their undertakings. For having shown them the image made in the form of a calf, he then addressed them: These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. But it was not by a calf that he had been redeemed (for how, or from where?), but by a mighty hand and an uplifted arm and by signs and wonders. Therefore, as if to remind them of the things that had come from God, he mocks them, saying: These are your gods, O Israel. And he brought sacrifices too; and they ate and drank as at a festival, and they rose up to play.

For being bound to fleshly things follows upon apostasy from God, and to regard uncleanness as luxury, and to think fine and pleasant delight those things for which they ought rightly to be pitied. For this reason also the blessed Paul numbered unclean idolatry among the charges of the flesh: For the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry. For deception is the prompter even of worse things; and being carried outside of God compels one to be sick with the most shameful of all evils. For they were dancing, indulging, I suppose, in songs after the feast, doing and saying what are the charges of drunkards. But to Moses, who did not know what had been dared, God makes it clear, saying thus: Go, descend from here quickly; for the people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt has acted lawlessly. They have quickly transgressed from the way which you commanded them. They have made for themselves a calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and have said: These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And now let me alone, and being provoked to anger against them, I will destroy them, and I will make you into a great nation. And Moses pleaded before the Lord his God. Do you hear how Israel is light and easily swayed, and very readily inclined to apostasy? He does not even deem it worthy to call them his own people; but although he himself had appointed the law, he assigns the matter to Moses. For they have quickly transgressed, he says, from the way which you commanded them.

For this reason also Christ said that the Judge will say to those who have thought the same things and who counterfeit the appearance of impiety, but have not practiced doing good in truth, at the divine tribunal: Depart from me, workers of lawlessness, I do not know you. Therefore they would be known to God, and truly his people, who hold fast to love for him without division, and preserve what is genuine in faith, and are established for good works, and push aside the accusations that come from levity. Moreover, Moses kept entreating and deemed it right that the wrath against all be checked. For it was necessary, it was necessary that the one who mediates imitate Christ, who drove away the wrath that came upon us from above because of much sin, as the Son granting to those who have sinned the justification that is in faith. This, then, is again a type of the mediation through Christ. And the inspired Moses by his supplications withdraws the severity of the wrath; then he comes down from the mountain. And when he learned that they were dancing, and received into his ears the voices of the drunken, he breaks the tablets on which the laws had been engraved, no longer deeming them worthy of instruction as disobedient and senseless, or foolish, and having a mind altogether easily swept aside toward what is not fitting, and having made so swift an apostasy. And when he came to the assembly, he crushed the calf. Then, having cast it into water, he says, he made the sons of Israel drink it, almost signifying by this that the impiety would touch their very hearts and inward parts.

I think that in this too he was perhaps hinting to them that they had their heart filled with the profane and abominable worship of idols. And having summoned those who had been chosen out, he ordered them to kill those who were most of all the others responsible, and who had not spared brother, or neighbor, or acquaintances. And indeed there fell three thousand and twenty. And when he sought fitting penalties for those who had so shamelessly acted impiously, he goes back down to God and makes entreaties on behalf of the others. Then at last God barely nods assent to him, saying that he himself would certainly not go with them, but would rather send along with them an angel to preside over them and lead the way. And in addition to this the people lamented; and God was commanding them to take off their garments and all their adornment, and to go thus in dejection. And when this had been carried out, Moses, it says, took his tent and pitched it outside the camp. Such, in brief, is the account of the history. But we shall find that those of Israel dared the same things when the Only-Begotten became man in our times. For he was calling them into the kingdom of heaven, just as long ago through Moses into the land of promise, and he was promising to set free those who believed in him. For he was setting free even those of the blood of Israel who in faith accepted the salvation through blood from the greed of Egypt. For they sacrificed the lamb, as in types, while Christ was still fulfilling the mystery.

But those who have the Law that leads them well, through shadow and types, to Christ—or rather those who put forward the words of Moses, above and below, and have cast off Moses himself (for they turned to the teaching and commandments of men)—shook off the yoke of the worship owed to God. For they in no way received the one through whom he holds all things, that is, Christ. And what was the pretext? For they have turned aside to worldly deceit, and they make the pleasures of this life a more pressing pursuit; they have stumbled, as was fitting. For when invited to the wedding, they did not wish to come, putting forward their possessions of wives and fields. And the time had already come, when they had slipped down to such impiety, for Israel to undergo wrath to the uttermost. But the prayers of the saints saved the remnant; yet the judgment fell upon many. For they have fallen, consumed by swords and bitter war, and have scarcely come to know that the charges of their drunken outrage against Christ have come to pass upon them. And having cast off, as it were, the garment of that ancient glory, and every spiritual adornment, they are greatly sick with gracelessness, and remain stripped of all glory. And that Christ himself has departed from them, Moses showed, when he moved his own tabernacle far from the camp and left it abandoned. For how did Christ, having in a manner run away from the flocks of the Jews, that is, their camps, and from their multitude, and dwelling far off, display the tabernacle from the nations, unshaken—the Church; which he also shows to be his own, saying somewhere through the voice of the Psalmist: Here will I dwell, for I have chosen her.

It was necessary, then, that those who no longer have Emmanuel, the Lord of glory—who clothes with the adornment of faith and virtues those who love him—be seen from that point on stripped of the world and of glory; so that, greatly rejoicing in this very thing, one might say: My soul shall exult in the Lord. For he has clothed me with a garment of salvation, and a tunic of gladness. He has set a mitre on me as on a bridegroom, and adorned me with ornaments as a bride. For the beauty is exceedingly distinguished—clearly the intelligible beauty that is in Christ—through whom and with whom be glory to God and the Father, with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Concerning the veil on the face of Moses. Do you truly know what you are reading? One might fittingly address this to the assemblies of the Jews, who would be understood to have come to such a derangement that they are from then on called heartless in the sacred words. For behold, it says, the people is foolish and heartless. They have eyes, and they do not see; they have ears, and they are not heard. And that the Law given through Moses has become completely unprofitable for them, because of the greatness of the foolishness present in them, Christ himself also showed us, saying: Search the Scriptures, [and] because you think that in them you have eternal life. And those are the ones that testify concerning me. And you do not wish to come to me, that you may have life. For a hardening in part has come upon Israel, and, not having illumination through the Spirit, they were sluggish concerning the faith, and altogether hard to move toward the need to choose

and to think the things useful for salvation. But they would not be outside of justice, because, after choosing what was beneficial, they turned rather to uninstructed disobedience; and having the light from heaven and from above, they loved rather to walk as in night and darkness. The prophet also indicated this, saying about them: While they waited for light, darkness became to them; while they remained for brightness, they walked in the dark. For they have remained rough and unbridled, and counting the advantageous things of altogether little worth, and by which it was likely even very easily to escape the wrong. For Christ cried out: I am the light of the world. And, While you have the light, walk in the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. But they were equal to those who have no mind or understanding. Therefore they were also overtaken by the darkness, and they continue as in night, altogether without a share of the divine brightness, and not having the divine light; for they do not understand the God-inspired Scripture at all. And for what reason, the wondrous Paul will clarify for us, saying: For until this day the same veil remains upon the reading of the Old Testament, not being unveiled, because in Christ it is done away. But until today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies upon their heart. But whenever one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Consider then the mystery shining forth in the sacred and more ancient writings. It is as follows: And the Lord said to Moses: Write for yourself these words:

For on account of these words I will establish a covenant with you and with Israel. And Moses was there before the Lord forty days and forty nights. He did not eat bread, and he did not drink water. And he wrote these words on the tablets of the covenant, the ten words. And when Moses came down from the mountain, and the two tablets were in the hands of Moses. And as he was coming down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the appearance of the skin of his face was glorified when he spoke with him. And Aaron and all the elders of Israel saw Moses. And the appearance of the skin of his face was glorified, and they were afraid to come near to him. And Moses called them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation turned toward him. And Moses spoke to them, and after these things all the sons of Israel came near to him. And he commanded them, saying all that the Lord spoke to him on Mount Sinai. And when he had ceased speaking to them, he placed a veil over his face. But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And having come out, he spoke to all the sons of Israel all that the Lord commanded him. And the sons of Israel saw the face of Moses, that it was glorified. And Moses placed a veil over his face until he should go in to speak with him. For God, the Lord of all, writes the law on tablets of stone.

But since Moses' face had by now been made radiant by the approach of the divine light, while he sat before the Lord for forty days and had disregarded human needs, the chosen men of Israel did not understand what they saw, and Aaron before the others. And when they were already withdrawing and turning to flight, Moses turned back and spoke thus to the sons of Israel, placing the veil over his face and making the ray of the divine light that came upon them barely bearable to the crowds by means of the coverings. But whenever, he says, he went in before God, the veil was removed. Understand, then, how the light even of the Law itself is in some way uncontainable by the minds of the Jews. But if what is written in it is understood spiritually, it will turn aside to nothing other than the mystery of Christ, and it instills the divine and most translucent light into the hearts of those who hear. But the men of Israel would not listen to words so venerable, nor would they understand the depth of the mystery without toil. And indeed Nicodemus, when the

He was listening to the regeneration of the Spirit, while Christ was saying, and he coldly and sluggishly cried out, saying: "How can a man be born again when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" He added to these things, while Christ was persuading him that one must honor by faith the things that are beyond mind and reason: "How can these things be?" And yet the law had beforehand written the mystery through countless forms. Therefore even the light of the law itself is unacceptable to the Jews, and not only to the sluggish and common sort, but even to the chosen and sacred ones themselves. For you have heard that they feared the glory of Moses, together with Aaron's elders. So then Moses very usefully put on the veil. For the law has a shadowing, the thick part of the letter, and the not very bright part of the history. But, it says, when Moses entered before the face of God, he removed the veil. This we shall find to be true also in our own case. For having been brought, as it were, into the presence of God the Father, with Christ presenting us, we shall see the glory of Moses without the shadowings, understanding the law spiritually. For we are transformed from glory to glory, according to what is written. For how can one doubt that the mystery of Christ is in glory, when the blessed Paul here clearly proclaims it concerning both the First and the Second Covenant: "For if the ministry of condemnation is glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory"? For the shadow of the law has been abolished, though it was honored with the glory that came through Moses, that is, the glory in the face of Moses.

But the things accomplished through Christ remain unshaken, and they are altogether enriched with the better glory and grace than the older. Therefore, with the shadows of the law having been taken away, we reflect the glory of God, as it is written. If we hear of the lamb being slain in a type, let us immediately recognize the mystery, knowing the lamb who for our sake and on our behalf offered himself to God and the Father as a sweet-smelling odor. And even if the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify them for the purity of the flesh, let us again nonetheless understand the purification through Christ, which through water and spirit, not releasing us from fleshly filth, but washing away the stain of the defilements in spirit and soul. For we have been sanctified in Christ. And we shall add this also usefully. For we have known to measure the narrative up to this point of the chapters in Exodus, not having grown slack toward the interpretation of what follows, but because, composing the discourses On the Worship in Spirit and Truth, we have subjected to the fitting examinations both the construction of the holy tabernacle itself and each of the things laid in it—the sanctuary, I mean, and the ark, the table, and the lampstand—so that nothing seems to be lacking in the narrative of what is necessary. For we have spent up to this ninth and tenth discourse. But to our God be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS CYRIL, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, GLAPHYRA ON THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS.

That the passion of Christ is saving. 1. The God of all did not make death, nor does he delight in the destruction of the living; but he created all things to be, and the generations of the world are saving. And there is no kingdom of Hades upon the earth, as it is written; but by the envy of the devil death entered into the world. And the statement would very reasonably hold the truth in itself. For the Creator would not have implanted in things naturally prone to easy corruption something so glorious and worthy of wonder, but death crept in from wrath, because our forefather Adam, having disregarded the divine command, turned aside to disobedience and stubbornness. But now it has been abolished, and the charges have been removed from the midst in Christ through the obedience of the one man. For we have been justified in him; and the inspired Paul will testify, writing: For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. For we were condemned in that man to death; but we have been shown mercy through Christ, and we have been renewed to life; for he became obedient to the Father unto death, and he laid down his soul for us; and by his wound we were healed, according to the Scriptures. And one might say that we, having been made sick with the sin of the world in Adam, have become in Christ a spiritual and sweet-smelling sacrifice to God and the Father, good and well-pleasing, and far, very far better than the shadow according to the law. And our firstfruits is Christ, and he himself has renewed for us the way;

For thus David says in the Book of Psalms, to the Father and God in the heavens: Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me. Burnt offerings and offerings for sin you did not approve. Then I said: Behold, I have come to do your will, O God; I desired it. And these things again one may observe also from what is written in Leviticus. It reads as follows: And if you offer a sacrifice of firstfruits to the Lord, new parched crushed grains to the Lord, you shall bring the sacrifice of firstfruits, and you shall pour oil upon it, and you shall place frankincense upon it. It is a sacrifice. And the priest shall offer up its memorial from the grains with the oil, and all its frankincense; it is an offering to the Lord. 2. The meaning of the letter is therefore very clear, and, as I think, it would need no effort at all in order to be able, I mean, to understand it subtly. Nevertheless I will say this: chidra is the name for meal made from pulses. But in the types it receives the mystery of Christ. And he himself is the sacrifice on our behalf, the spiritual firstfruit, that is, the firstfruits of humanity, the firstborn from the dead, the first into incorruption, so to speak the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. As a grain of wheat he fell upon the earth and died, but like an ear of grain he sprang up manifold. For he himself told us this, saying: Unless the grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Yet he died, not for his own sake, but for us. But the legal text has hinted this to us elegantly.

For if someone chooses, it says, to bring as a gift a sacrifice of first-fruits to the Lord—new parched crushed groats to God. Consider, then, how Moses urges us to offer fruit from new things, that is, the letter of the Law. For the first-fruit, as I said, of the nature renewed into newness of life is Christ, and in him all things have become new. Moreover, the things for sacrifice are offered not from wheat alone, but also from crushed pulses. For just as he prefigured fine flour from wheat, and not the whole grain itself, for burnt offering, so here too he commanded that the things from pulses be made crushed—that is, ground—so that what is, as it were, edible might appear to be present in the sacrifice. For we are accustomed to make food not from the whole grain, but rather from what has been broken down. Therefore Christ is the first-fruit, and a sacrifice to God that is beautiful and most fragrant, and exceedingly nourishing also to us ourselves. For he is the bread that came down from heaven and gives life to the world; and, as it were, he has set himself before us as food, like fine flour or groats. He said that oil must be poured over the sacrifice, and he commanded that it be smeared also with frankincense—the oil symbolically indicating what is in richness and cheerfulness, and the frankincense neatly signifying to us what is sacred and fragrant. For, as I said, he became a sacrifice on our behalf—the

Christ, and as the first-fruits of spiritual first-born things of the fields. But that death was not for him a matter of tears and lamentation, but rather for the removal of tears and lamentations and for a hope most exceedingly cheerful—how or from where would anyone doubt? For he did not become subject to the gates of Hades, nor did he remain among the dead. But even if death, having prevailed, swallowed him down, according to the voice of the prophet, yet again God removed every tear from every face; he removed the reproach of the people from all the earth. How or in what manner? For Christ came back to life, having trampled death, so that he might also deliver us from corruption, and having thoroughly wrapped up the lamentation over this, so that he might persuade us, now somehow rejoicing, to cry out: You turned my wailing into joy for me, you tore apart my sackcloth, and you girded me with gladness. Therefore the manner of the sacrifice would reasonably have the cheerfulness, in hope. But it could also be understood in another way, if one should choose. For we have been shown mercy in Christ. And this, I think, is the meaning of, You anointed my head with oil. But that the death of Christ was not on account of certain reasonable causes, that is, transgressions, but is a most clearly marked and altogether blameless sacrifice on our behalf (for it has been offered, in order that he might abolish sin, and the death that comes from it and on account of it), you will understand through the frankincense; for the first father Adam received the curse as most fittingly suited to the transgressions in the beginning. But since he had truly fallen sick with the ill-smelling sin, for this very reason he was also justly condemned.

But the Savior and Lord of all, condemned for no improper thing (for he committed no sin), has become a good and fragrant sacrifice for us, and as it were the first-fruits of new fruits, and as in every kind—I mean both grain and pulse. For he died for all, small and great, Gentiles and Jews. For through him and in him we have become a memorial to God and the Father. Therefore the legal Scripture says: And the priest shall offer up its memorial from the cakes with the oil, and all its frankincense. For it is an offering to the Lord. For having stumbled through many sins, we had well-nigh become even from the eyes of the Father. But since Christ has become a sacrifice for us, he remembered us and blessed us: He blessed those who fear him, the small with the great. Therefore we have also been taught to sing and say: We are blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth. And in another way too the law makes clear to us the sacrifice of Christ, saying: But if his gift be a sacrifice of salvation to the Lord, if he brings it from the oxen, whether male or female, he shall bring it without blemish before the Lord, and he shall lay his hands on the head of the gift, and shall slay it beside the doors of the tent of witness. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall pour the blood upon the altar of burnt offerings round about.

And they shall bring from the sacrifice of salvation, as an offering to the Lord, the fat that covers the belly, and all the fat that is upon the belly, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, that which is upon the thighs, and the lobe that is upon the liver with the kidneys he shall remove. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall bring them up upon the altar, upon the burnt offerings, upon the wood that is upon the fire, an offering of a sweet-smelling savor to the Lord. And indeed not only from oxen, but, if one should choose, also from sheep to make a burnt offering, or again from goats to make the sacrifice of salvation, it was done in the same ways, and there was one manner of sacrifice for all. Whether, then, the victim happened to be male or female, he said it must be entirely free from every blemish. And the meaning of the sacrifice would apply to Emmanuel himself. For he is the fatted calf, the unblemished victim, the one who takes away the sin of the world, and who as in the form of a kid is slain for us; for a kid was slain according to the law for sin. But observe again the manner of the sacrifice precisely. For the legal Scripture does not speak very exactly concerning male and female. But Christ may be understood again as in both. In the male, as

being the leader or guide. For the male is more ruling than the other, but among females, as having come under the law, she is also a leader. For the female is always subordinate and in second place to the male, if indeed she is truly in lesser and in a lower measure. Nevertheless, what is offered in sacrifice is without blemish. Such is Christ. Therefore he said: The ruler of this world comes, and he will find nothing in me. And indeed, to the Jews he made his divine nature a proof of being altogether without blemish, saying: Which of you convicts me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe me? So in this way the sacred victim is without blemish. It was slaughtered before the Lord at the doors of the tabernacle, the hands of the one who brought it having been laid upon it. Then, when the blood was poured out at the base of the altar, he said that the entrails must be wholly burned. For the death of the Son was accomplished as it were in the eyes of God and the Father, when he laid down his own soul for the life of the world. For if the one who says is true: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints, how would God and the Father not deem the death of the Son worthy of his own oversight? For he honors and deems worthy of oversight; but again he turns away from what is abominable and hated. Therefore, that the death is not without glory, he would show at once, in that the Father himself also obtained to be an eyewitness. And he was slaughtered at the very sacred doors. For Emmanuel died, widening as it were for us the entrance into the Holy of Holies, and opening the doors of the Church above and in the heavens to those who believe in him.

We gain, then, in the death of Christ, that we should drive on at last even to the very tabernacle of the saints, which the Lord pitched, and not man—the heavenly Jerusalem, the fair city above, the mother of the saints and nurse of angels. And that the death of Christ will be holy and sacred, the saying that the blood must be poured out at the altar itself would suggest. And he would indicate it also in another way, that he laid down his own soul for the Church. For the altar is a type of the Church, and the blood of the soul. And the setting apart of the inner parts, that is, the consecration, of the fat, I mean, of the liver and the kidneys, signifies again that all things in Christ are holy, sacred, and sweet-smelling. For in the liver, those who are wise in these matters say that the desires or appetites for anything whatever arise. And the kidney again is a part in the body having a discerning activity. For it separates the superfluous from the useful. And something of this sort the mind also works in us. For it debases, if indeed it is wise, what is naturally inclined to injustice; and it receives very gladly what contributes to benefit. And the blessed David sings somewhere, as in the person of Christ: All my desire is before you. And again: For you possessed my kidneys, O Lord. And that Emmanuel is filled full of God-befitting virtue, the fat would show again as in a type. For just as fat arises in the best-nourished of animals, in the same way, I think, virtue comes into the mind that has its food from heaven.

Holy, therefore, and blameless is Christ, and full of virtue, sacred and fragrant, a spiritual burnt offering, and offered in every form—in a calf, I say, and a ram, and a goat. For he has become a saving sacrifice for us, and he gave himself for all, one, who is worthy of all. Through him and with him be glory to God and the Father, with the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen. Because we have come to share in the mystical blessing, we shall be holy and sacred altogether and in every way. The divine disciples have become stewards of the mysteries of our Savior, not snatching the honor for themselves, nor coming to this of their own accord; but rather appointed beforehand to apostleship, and commanded to minister the saving proclamation—that is, the Gospel of Christ—to those throughout all the earth under heaven. For he made the initiators radiant, saying thus: Go, make disciples of all the nations. Yielding, then, and very eagerly, to the Master's ordinances, they enlighten the inhabited world; having received as their own teacher the one in

in the heavens as Father and God, and making others partakers of the grace. For they had remembered, as was likely, that Christ was leading their mind to this, saying clearly: "Freely you received, freely give." Therefore the inspired Paul writes, and makes thoroughly clear the deep mystery of the dispensation with the flesh, saying somewhere as follows: "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, having sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemned sin in the flesh on account of sin; so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit." For Christ became sin for us, as it is written, and surely he is not at all guilty of sin. For we are not accustomed to babble here, since he did not know transgression at all, being God by nature and having appeared from God the Father, but because he became a sacrifice for sin. For Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. It is in this way that we say he also became sin. For he has been sacrificed, as I said, so that by his own blood he might purchase those under heaven. For we were bought with a price, according to the Scriptures, and we are not our own, but belong to him who became sin for us, so that he might set us free from our former transgressions and make us holy through participation in his holy flesh, and clearly also in his blood. This indeed the inspired law also proclaimed beforehand to us; for it is written thus in Leviticus: "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying: This is the law of the sin offering. In the place where they slaughter the burnt offerings, they shall also slaughter the sin offering before the Lord. It is most holy.

The priest who offers it shall eat it; it shall be eaten in a holy place, in the court of the tabernacle of witness. Everyone who touches its flesh shall be sanctified. Whatever is sprinkled from its blood upon a garment—whatever it is sprinkled upon—shall be washed in a holy place. And an earthen vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken; but if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, it shall be scoured and washed with water. Every male among the priests shall eat these things. They are most holy to the Lord. Understand, then, that he commands sin—that is, the sin-offering—to be sacrificed. Now this was a goat as a type of Christ, who for our sake, as I said, became sin. For he was reckoned among the lawless, and was crucified with robbers, and was called a curse. For it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. But he also humbled himself in these things for our sake by dispensation; yet he was and is holy, not by participation as from another, as we are, but rather by nature himself as God. For through him we believe creation is sanctified—whether you name angels, or whatever is still more excellent in glory, or what is higher and above, I mean Thrones and Principalities, or if you speak to me of the Seraphim themselves; but these things would not be sanctified otherwise, except from the Father through the Son in the Spirit. Therefore, even if he became sin, he remained what he was—that is, holy by nature as God—and he does not give the Spirit by measure, according to John's voice.

That the death of his flesh, having come about for the destruction of the flesh, was both holy and undefiled, and that it was acceptable to God and the Father as in the order of incense, the law has clearly indicated, saying: In the place where they slaughter the whole burnt offerings, they shall slaughter also the sin offering before the Lord. Christ is a whole burnt offering, that is, whole from whole, and not partially, offered up to God and the Father as a sweet-smelling savour. For this reason he is truly the Holy of Holies. For we have been sanctified in him, and he is our whole justification, or rather even the sanctification of the heavenly spirits themselves, just as I said a moment ago. Moreover, the priest, it says, who offers it up shall eat it. Consider now again that the Church is governed by sacred and divine ordinances with respect to every single thing to be done. For the things that come from the sacrifice belong to the one who brings it. Anyone who has been nurtured in the laws of the Church knows what I mean. And that the place most fitting for the divine sacred rites is the Church of God, and that in it the mystery of Christ is necessarily accomplished, he would indicate not indistinctly,

adding to what I said: "It shall be eaten in a holy place, in the court of the tabernacle of witness." But at that time there was one tabernacle in the wilderness, and one temple after it, which Solomon built in Jerusalem. And there was death for those who sacrificed outside the tabernacle. For thus the sacred Scripture said: "A man of the sons of Israel, whoever slaughters a calf or a sheep or a goat in the camp, or whoever slaughters it outside the camp, and does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of witness, so as to offer it as a gift to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord—blood shall be reckoned to that man; he who has shed that blood, that soul shall be utterly destroyed from the people." Therefore it is a transgression and a profanation, and liable to the penalty of blood, to love to dwell together with the impious heretics and to hold fast to communion with them. For they sacrifice outside the holy tabernacle, performing the sacred sacrifice for sin not in holy places. For the Church is one, just as the temple of old was one, and the tabernacle is one, prefiguring still in types the beauty of the Church. We therefore shall sacrifice the sin-offering, as it were in a holy court, and we shall eat of the holy meats—that is, having become partakers of the mystical blessing, we shall be sanctified. And the law will testify, saying: "Everyone who touches its meats shall be sanctified." But the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifice is of equal power for the mystical blessing. For it said again: "And whatever is sprinkled from its blood—upon the garment on which it is sprinkled, it shall be washed in a holy place.

And what is so strange if the rational living being—I mean man—is sanctified, when even the vessels themselves that were taken for the sacred ministry were sanctified in the manner that altogether befitted them? For this reason they are not taken for common use. For this reason some of the vessels are washed, and others are broken in pieces. For how could those that have ministered to divine things be called to human uses? And that the partaking of the flesh of the sacrifice is holy and fitting for the saints, and would not suit others, except only those who are accustomed to trample down sin and to act manfully toward virtue, he indicated beforehand, saying: "Every male among the priests shall eat them. They are most holy to the Lord." Tell me, then, has the law commanded the female sex to be driven away from the blessing? We do not say this; for it is sanctified together with us. But those things were in types and shadows. And through the male and sacred kind, he indicated in a fitting manner those who are spiritually manly and sacred in Christ. We have therefore been called to the partaking of the most fragrant sacrifice, as a sacred and acceptable kind, as a holy nation, as a royal priesthood, young men and virgins, old men with younger. For in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female, but we are all of one, as partaking of the one bread, according to what is written. And come now, for the rest, with mouths never closed and voices never ceasing, let us honor the King and Redeemer of all with doxologies—I mean Christ—through whom and with whom be glory to God and the Father with the Holy Spirit unto the ages of ages. Amen. On the cleansing of leprosy.

Sin has reigned over us and prevailed over those on the earth, because the mind of man is diligently set upon evil things from youth, and has chosen without restraint to suffer the inclination toward worse things, and has made the glory of gentleness of no account. But God, rich in mercy and compassion, as it is written, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, and raised us up, and seated us in the heavenly places. For we have been enriched in Christ with the gentleness from above, and we have washed away the inglorious and utterly wretched sin, having been called through faith to sanctification. And in addition to these things, having become partakers of eternal life, we shall be acceptable, and we shall be presented to God and the Father as a sweet-smelling odor. For the blessed Paul is truthful when he writes, that we are the fragrance of Christ to God. For even if sin has tyrannized over us at times, yet we have thrust away the stain,

We have washed away the filth; we have come to an end in Christ of the ancient infirmities, as the sacred word will persuade us. For it is written thus in Leviticus: And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: This is the law of the leper, in whatever day he shall be cleansed; and he shall be brought to the priest, and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall see, and behold, the plague of the leprosy is healed from the leper. And the priest shall bring, and they shall take for the one who has been cleansed two living birds and clean, and cedar wood, and spun scarlet, and hyssop. And the priest shall bring, and they shall slay one of the birds in a vessel of clay, over living water. And the living bird he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them, and the living bird, in the blood of the bird that was slain over living water, and shall sprinkle upon the one cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and he shall be clean. And he shall send forth the living bird into the field, and the one cleansed shall wash his garments. And he shall shave off all his hair, and shall bathe in water, and shall be cleansed. And after these things he shall enter into the camp, and shall remain outside his house seven days. And it shall be on the seventh day, and he shall shave all his hair, his head, and his beard, and his eyebrows, and all his hair he shall shave, and he shall wash his garments, and shall bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean.

The plain sense of the historical account would be evident, even if one did not choose to elucidate it, but it contributes nothing to benefit unless it is understood spiritually. Come then, let us speak, skillfully reshaping the inertness of the letter into the mystery of Christ. A few of the necessary points will be usefully stated beforehand for clarification. For leprosy is an involuntary affliction that befalls the bodies of certain people. It is especially voracious, and it will somehow always creep toward the inner part more than before, into whatever part it may come to be. The disease is altogether hard to escape, not tolerating the skill of physicians—that is, the assistance of those wise in these matters—and departing only with difficulty, as if nature were rising up against it and repelling the harm with God's aid. Nevertheless, the law said that the leper must be sent away from the camp as unclean. For it is said somewhere to Moses the hierophant by God's command to the sons of Israel: And let them send out of the camp every leper, every one with a discharge, and every one unclean in soul. And surely we do not say that the law reproaches bodily infirmities. For it would be utterly foolish for those who have fallen ill involuntarily—who ought rather to be pitied—to be subjected to penalties. But these things were in types, through the all-wise Moses, laboring to bring forth the truth. For leprosy puts the flesh to death, and sin, coming upon souls and entering the human mind through dead works, immediately renders it useless and cold.

We say that the dead works of the flesh are clearly the foul and profane passions, and the choice to set the mind on things on the earth. This is why we also said at the beginning that we, who were dead in trespasses, God and the Father made alive together with Christ. Therefore, through a manifest fact, the word shapes us into subtle thoughts. For it sends the lepers out of the camp, darkly hinting that those who have been put to death by sin, and who have a mind almost wholly stained with various passions and are greatly diseased, so that in their own eyes they are devoid of beauty, must depart from the multitude of the saints and be carried somewhere outside the sacred ranks. For the wicked will never herd together with the righteous, nor the filthy with the profane, nor will he who has the stain of sin not easily washed away be with the sanctified. For what fellowship, it says, has light with darkness, or what portion has a believer with an unbeliever? And that for those who wish to live rightly, it is necessary for their benefit to hasten to depart from the wicked—this again is what the

the God-inspired Scripture will persuade. For God said somewhere to those who know him: "Come out, come out from among them, and be separate, you who carry the vessels of the Lord." The vessels of the Lord would be understood as the manifold virtues. This is why the inspired Paul also says: "Put on the whole armor of God." Therefore, as in the case of the lepers, God drives away from the multitude of the saints the one who is sick with sin and defiled. But surely it was quite reasonable that some of those who had fallen sick should be repelled by the passion. For we conclude that sometimes, by removing the mind from sins, they choose to do and think the better and more fitting things. What then does the law do? Does it not show the way to those who wish to repent? Does it not open the gate of salvation? Do not suppose this. For the Master is good and loves humanity. Hear him saying clearly: "Turn back, you who turn back, and I will heal your brokenness." And indeed also through the voice of Ezekiel: "Turn back and turn away from all your lawless deeds, house of Israel, and they shall not be for you a punishment of injustice." What, then, is the way of salvation? Who is it that releases those who have sinned from the necessity of being punished? Who is it that redeems and easily saves? Our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all, and sanctifies us by his own blood. 2. Observe for me again, as still in shadows in what is written in the law, the mystery. For the leper was brought outside the gate to the one who served as priest according to the law.

But since he had nodded, as it were, toward the better course in the matter of the suffering, and was hinting that it would now cease and come to an end, the things pertaining to purification were fulfilled, at least according to what seemed good to the lawgiver. For a pair of clean birds was taken, and cedar wood and scarlet spun like a cord, and indeed hyssop as well, which is also a kind of plant. Then one of the birds was slaughtered over water, while the other, together with the things just mentioned to us, having been dipped in the water and also in the blood of the dead bird, having suffered nothing, was thereafter released. Then the priest, sprinkling the leper seven times with the water, made him free from the accusations of the law. And he was shaved of his hair, and thereafter entered the camp without reproach, and into his own house, having been outside for seven days as one deranged. For those of old who bore about the deadness of sin, and were stained by the manifold wildness of the passions, and were sick, as it were, with the leprosy of the mind—for we went astray, having served the creation—have been brought to God, the great and holy and guileless priest, according to the voice of the blessed Paul. And we have been brought by God and the Father. For Christ said somewhere, addressing the Jews: "Do not murmur against one another. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." For God the Father brings the sick to the Son, as by his own power. For he has come to heal the brokenhearted, to open the eyes of the blind.

If, then, we renounce what is cowardly and weak with regard to the need to fulfill what is pleasing to God, and keep our heart most devoted to good works, clinging fast to the works of gentleness, let us pursue a life of good repute and worthy of admiration, recognizing the Master who is so by nature and in truth, and let us speak thus, according to the voice of the Psalmist: Bless the Lord, O my soul, who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from corruption, who crowns you with mercy and compassion. And observe how the priest, when he has gone outside the gate and far from the camp, brings in the one who has suffered leprosy. For to us, cast out as it were and left somewhere outside the holy and sacred city—I mean the Church of God—Christ came, bearing our likeness. And having visited us, he made us clean through holy baptism and through his body. For he has been sacrificed for us, and has been shown to be a saving remedy for us, in that he himself endured to suffer for us, he who is

the death of the wood. For this was foreshadowed for us in the sacred Scriptures. For two clean birds are taken. And this too was a type of Christ, who is from above and from heaven. For the bird is one that flies in the air. And Emmanuel has come down to us from above and from the heavens. For thus he says somewhere: No one has ascended into heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of God. And the wise John also writes: The one who comes from above is above all. And the birds are clean. For truly the Lord is clean and undefiled, not knowing sin. And we do not say anywhere that we understand two Christs, even if two birds are mentioned. But the word brings us a wise and necessary contemplation. For the Only-Begotten, being God by nature, bore the flesh of the holy Virgin, and he is composed as it were of two, I mean of the highest nature and of humanity, ineffably and beyond understanding. Yet one Lord Jesus Christ. The word therefore contemplates the convergence of the two into one. So, signifying by these two birds in many ways the mystery of Christ, the law said that cedar wood must also be taken; and this too would be a type of his holy flesh, which does not endure to suffer corruption. For the wood is incorruptible. And hyssop would be a type of the Holy Spirit, boiling in its energy, through which, being boiling in spirit, we are made clean from the uncleanness in our inward parts, as it were melted out. For hyssop is a plant hot by nature, and it is able to wash away the phlegmatic and cold uncleanness that has gathered in the inward parts.

Christ frees us, as I said, by the working of the Spirit from the passions hidden deep within the mind. And very rightly too is the form of the herb taken along with living water. For we have been baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire, according to what is written. And the herb, as I said, is warm and receptive of the working of the Spirit. And the spun scarlet again in itself hints at the manner of the incarnation of the Only-Begotten. For God the Word has been woven, as it were, with flesh and blood. And the seed will represent blood and flesh. For it is seen to be of such a color, and so it will be. The little bird, then, is slaughtered over living water, in which what remains is baptized together with the others, and thereafter is let go, having suffered nothing, just as I have already said. For Christ has been sacrificed for us; but he was the same both in death and beyond death. For he was put to death in the flesh, according to what is written, but made alive in the spirit, in which he also went and preached to the spirits once disobedient in prison. For insofar as he is understood and has become man, he underwent death; but insofar as he is truly life and from life, he appeared stronger than death. Therefore the living bird was baptized into the death of the dead one, the law signifying in riddles that the Word, though by nature life and from life, appropriates to himself the death of his own flesh. For the flesh he took up was not alien to him, but his own. And the leper who was sprinkled seven times with water was released from the charges that come from leprosy. And Christ, as I said, makes us clean also, sanctifying us through holy baptism.

For I think this is what the seven times means. And so the blessed Paul, having understood it, said: "Where sin abounded, grace superabounded." Therefore the abundant fullness of grace, and its being, as it were, perfectly complete for purification, is signified by the seven times. And the leper, having been shaved, had his hair shaved off. For having been purified through holy baptism, we lay aside, as it were, the growths of the flesh—that is, the pleasures within us and implanted by nature, understood as it were in the form of hair—together with the other offenses, and Christ works this in us. For he is the living and effective word, and most sharp, shearing away sins and delivering the mind from the uncleanness that comes from the passions. So then, the leper, having been shaved, enters thereafter into the camp—yet not as far as his own house. For having been purified, as I said, we are joined to the saints, and thereafter we live together with the holy and sacred race; and thus we enter also into the house of God, except not yet into the mansions above. For the gift has been reserved for the saints for the age to come. For this reason also the purified man will enter into the camp, having spent seven days, and will thereafter enter into his own house. For after the present age, having the purification through Christ, we shall also dwell in the mansions above; and each of those who have been sanctified will dwell, as it were, in his own house—the lot that will be apportioned to him. For the rewards will not immediately be given to those who have believed; but the calling is in good hopes, and the earnest of the Spirit.

But grace will shine forth in due season, and the fulfillment of hope in Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to God and the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen. Concerning the Synagogue of the Jews, that it fell through disobedience. 1. The exceedingly hardened character of the Synagogue of the Jews, and indeed its disobedient and intractable disposition, God made plain long ago through the voice of Ezekiel, saying thus: "All the house of Israel are contentious and hard-hearted." Therefore the Savior himself also, as she refused to be saved, blamed the perversity that was in her, saying: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to her; how often I wished to gather your children, as a bird gathers her nestlings under her wings, and you were not willing. Behold, your house is left to you." For the God of all wished to save her by countless means. But the many, having turned aside exceedingly toward willfulness, and having disregarded the mercy from above, were carried away by terrible and unforeseeable reversals into destruction and ruin. And having legislated this through Moses—the things by which they could be well trained toward knowledge of virtue, and profit greatly the knowledge of the truth—he also in due season usefully brought about the appointments of the holy prophets, so that they might have other instructors in the noblest things, who know how to order them into a glorious way of life, into a most lawful life, and toward every single one of the things that have been admired.

But it was necessary to kindle thanksgiving to the God of all, and gladly to welcome the instructors, and to deem them worthy of every honor, and to be transformed, eagerly indeed, toward the better, and to choose the more fitting voice; but they were caught being hard and inflexible and sick with even worse things. Therefore they also perished utterly, and the prophet Jeremiah speaks concerning them thus: The house of Israel has fallen, and there is none to raise it up. But observe the matter again for me, spoken in riddles also through the writings of Moses. For it stands thus in Leviticus: And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: When you enter into the land of the Canaanites, which I give to you as an inheritance, and I will put a plague of leprosy in the houses of the land that is your possession. And the house of someone will come, and he will announce to the priest, saying: It is as though a plague has been seen by me in the house. And the priest will command that the house be emptied before the priest enters to see the plague, and all that is in the house shall not become unclean. And after these things the priest will enter to examine the house, and the priest will see the plague. And behold, the plague is in the walls of the house, hollows greenish or reddish, and its appearance lower than the walls. And the priest, having gone out from the house to the door of the house, shall separate the house for seven days. And again the priest will come on the seventh day, and will see the house; and behold, the plague has spread in the walls of the house, and the priest will command, and they shall remove the stones in which the plague is; and they shall cast them outside the city, to an unclean place.

And they shall scrape the house inside all around, and they shall pour out the scraped dust outside the city into an unclean place. And they shall take other scraped stones and place them in place of the stones, and they shall take other dust and plaster the house. But if the plague comes again and breaks out in the house, after the stones have been removed, and after the house has been scraped, and after the house has been plastered, then the priest shall enter and see whether the plague has spread in the house; it is a persistent leprosy in the house, it is unclean. And they shall pull down the house, and its wood, and its stones, and all the dust of the house they shall carry outside the city into an unclean place. Then, having previously declared unclean the one who sleeps in it and eats in it and in general enters it, he brings in the priest again to inspect. For he says: But if the priest, having come, enters and sees, and behold, the plague has not spread in the house after the house has been plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague has been healed. And he shall take to purify the house two clean living birds, and cedar wood, and spun scarlet, and hyssop. And he shall slaughter the one bird in an earthen vessel in living water. And he shall take the cedar wood, and the spun scarlet, and the hyssop, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird with living water, and shall sprinkle with them upon the house seven times.

And he shall purify the house with the blood of the slaughtered bird, and with the living water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the spun scarlet, and he shall send out the living bird outside the city into the field, and he shall make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean. In these things the whole mystery concerning the Synagogue of the Jews is clearly revealed to us, both the things that have already happened to it from the beginning to the end, and the things that will be done by Christ. And come now, let us again, as far as possible, go through each point carefully and unroll the coarseness of the letter, and let us strive to lay bare the beauty of the contemplation stored up within it. 2. Leprosy, then, that comes upon the human body is a suffering that cannot be driven off by the arts of physicians, but yields only, along with the others, to the great and all-powerful right hand, and is conquered by the all-working power of God. And in those who have once suffered it, the flesh appears in a different aspect than it was in the beginning. For a certain change of color coming upon it falsifies nature, since it is changed into what is contrary to nature, insofar as such a thing ought to be understood with respect to the appearance of the body, and the change of the will in us, and the transition from better things to worse. For many, often passing from some good disposition to a more shameful one, and departing from what is fitting to nature, adorn their own soul with manifold wickedness, as it were preserving for themselves the appearance of each: for neither do they fall entirely into complete loss of the good, nor indeed do they turn aside into wholly wickedness and perversity.

When such a condition, then, has arisen in us, and when all the things that commonly befall human disposition and choice have come about, divine Scripture often makes the leper an image; and sometimes, setting before us the character of each individual as if on a tablet, it takes the person of one man and places him in the midst. But sometimes, when it wishes to hint at some such condition either of a nation, or of a city, or of a region, then, introducing the figure of a house, because it is inclusive of those who dwell in it, it makes the indication plural. You will understand, then, when you hear of a leprous house, the whole synagogue of the Jews once for all, corrupted, clearly, by its own passions, and not greatly caring for the things divinely proclaimed to it, but inclining somewhat even to the point of being able to do what was more to their pleasure than what they were going to show to be good. And when he says that something is to be reported to the priest, as if the touch of leprosy is seen in the house, we do not say anywhere that someone, having accused his own house, goes to the priest—the lawgiver said this—but rather as one asking from a physician a remedy for what has happened. Since, then, we have granted that the synagogue of the Jews has become leprous, come, let us consider as well as possible who is the one who reports the affliction, and who again is the priest. Let, then, the person of the one who reports be assigned to the saints

the chorus of the prophets, who also declared to the high priest of all and the overseer of our souls, that is, to Christ, even before the incarnation, the sufferings of the madness of the Jews, and the unholiness and corruption of their ways—not out of hatred and abhorrence toward them from some motive, but overcome by reverence for the Benefactor, and confessing their transgressions not without tears, yet nonetheless beseeching that they be shown mercy. And again, understand in this sense the leprosy of the Jews lamenting, and the blessed prophet Jeremiah greatly stung by it, through the words in which he prays thus: Our sins have stood against us, O Lord. Do for us for the sake of your name, for our sins are many before you. We have sinned against you. Patience of Israel, O Lord, and you will save in the time of evils. Why have you become like a stranger upon the earth, and like a native turning aside to a lodging? Will you be like a man sleeping, or like a man unable to save? And you are among us, O Lord, and your name has been called upon us; do not forget. And again: Woe, my soul, for the devout one has perished from the earth, and one who sets things right among men does not exist. All judge for bloodshed; each thrusts his neighbor with a thrust. They prepare their hands for evil. For in such lamentations of the prophets, we shall receive the announcement concerning Israel being made leprous. The priest, indeed, commands that the house be set in order. For the visitation of God upon our transgressions is most terrible.

It is necessary that those who are guilty be punished, to whom, being already in these evils, because of this, being benevolent, he commands to love purifications and to put away the disease that has befallen them, and thus to forestall the judgment that comes from the visitation, as in the passage: Wash your heart from wickedness, Jerusalem, that you may be saved. How long will thoughts of your labors exist within you? And thoughts of labors would reasonably be understood as either those certainly through which we entered into labors and the just punishments for our transgressions. See, then, in these things the priest commanding that the causes be removed beforehand, on account of which one might reasonably be understood to fall under the punishments. 3. Then he says: And the priest shall enter to examine the house, and he shall see the plague, and behold, the plague is in the walls. And again: The priest shall go out from the house to the door of the house, and the priest shall shut up the house seven days. For after the further distinction from goodness, and the need to be purified beforehand for seven days, the wickedness appearing again in the form of leprosy has reasonably called the priest to fitting indignation, who in these things bears the divine person. Therefore again, having inspected the plague, that is, the signs and symbols of the passion, he shut up the house for seven whole days. For having been grieved, and very reasonably so, at the outrages against the law of those from Israel, even though God is benevolent, he sent them all into captivity, delivering them into the hand of the Babylonians for seventy whole years in number; having set one day for ten.

He says that the days of the house's separation are seven, counting the day as ten years, according to what was said to the prophet Ezekiel: "I have appointed a day to you as a year." The angel who prays concerning the Synagogue in Zechariah also seals the word, saying: "Lord Almighty, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, which you have overlooked? This is the seventieth year." Then again he says that the priest will return on the seventh day. You will understand the priest's return in these words as nothing other than God's love for humanity turning back to the nation; as it says, "For this reason the Lord says these things: I will return to Jerusalem in compassion, and my house will be rebuilt in her, says the Lord Almighty, and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem." Or again, as in that passage: "How shall I deal with you, Ephraim? I will shield you, Israel. I will make you like Adam, and like Boeim. My heart has turned within me; my repentance is stirred up; I will not do to you according to the anger of the

of my wrath. I will surely not abandon Ephraim to be wiped out. For I am God, and not man, a holy one among you. When, then, he says: the priest shall return on the seventh day to look at the house, and behold, the infection has spread on the walls of the house; and the priest shall give orders, and they shall remove the stones in which the infection is, and cast them outside the city. And after other things: And they shall take other stones, scraped smooth, and put them in place of those stones. For after the guilt for past things has been released, God, who examines all things in us, having again inspected the synagogue of the Jews, and finding it, as is likely, no longer leprous in every respect, yet not altogether freed from its ancient depravity, did not vent his anger against all, but only against those who were the cause of its suffering and had become the occasion of the disease; whom he also calls stones, indicating certain parts of the whole house, that is, of the nation. These were, on the one hand, some of the kings of various times who led the people astray into other forms of worship; and on the other, some of the false prophets, speaking from their own hearts, as it is written, and undermining the piety of their hearers, whom he also commands to be removed from the house, signifying their separation, that is, their casting out to destruction. Such is what was said by God concerning Jeconiah: Earth, hear the words of the Lord. Write this man down as a cast-out man. And concerning the false diviners: Therefore I mowed down your prophets. I killed them by the word of my mouth. And again that saying:

Therefore the leaders of the people shall be cast out of their house of luxury; because of their evil practices they were driven out. And again: Because of uncleanness, it was utterly corrupted. But the fact that other stones, clean and polished, are brought in again in place of the stones that were removed, signifies that in due season certain men are appointed through the counsel of God, who prop up the house of Israel and hold it together into an incorruptible place—namely, kings, or prophets, or saints. As in what was said by God to the blessed Isaiah: Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Go into the treasury chamber, to Omnas the treasurer, and say to him: What are you doing here, and what have you to do here, that you have hewn out for yourself here a tomb, and made for yourself a tomb on high, and carved out for yourself a tent in the rock? Behold, the Lord of Hosts will cast out and crush the man, and will take away your robe and your glorious crown, and will throw you into a great and measureless land, and there you shall die. And he will make your beautiful chariot a dishonor, and the house of your ruler a trampling-ground. And you shall be removed from your stewardship and from your station. And it shall be in that day, I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Helkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe, and I will give him your crown, and the power, and I will give your stewardship into his hands, and he shall be as a father to those who dwell in Jerusalem. But, he says, they shall also take other dust and smear the house; having used "they shall smear" in place of "they shall plaster around.

This also signifies the consolation that came to Israel through the holy prophets, who, anointing sinners with fair and good words, persuaded them to go eagerly toward what seems good to God, and to wipe away the defilement that comes from the passions, and rather to emulate and strive after those things in which the lawgiver would know that those who serve him are useful. Of such a kind is what was said to them through one of the saints: Seek the good, and not the evil, that you may live, and the Lord God, the Almighty, shall be thus with you. And after this he says: But if the touch of leprosy come upon it again, and rise up in the house, after the stones have been taken out, and after the house has been scraped, and after it has been plastered over. And the priest shall enter, and shall see whether the touch has spread in the house. It is a persistent leprosy in the house; it is unclean. And they shall pull down the house, and its wood, and its stones, and all the dust of the house they shall carry out outside the city to an unclean place. For when every manner of healing had been devised for those of Israel, and the leprous stones, having been removed, profited nothing, and the anointing through the prophets, that is, the consolation, was shown to be henceforth unprofitable, the priest enters again to inspect the leprous house. For the Only-begotten has entered into this world with a body. When he became man, how great or what sort of change from the ancient depravity into a greatly good way of life does the Synagogue show, examining it carefully?

But since it still lay subject to the passions that were from the beginning, and was sick with an abiding uncleanness, he now commands it to be pulled down and sent out to an unclean place. For the whole constitution of the Jews through the law has been dissolved, and the nation has been scattered into every unclean place, according to what was said in the prophets: And I will scatter them to every wind. Or, I will winnow them into all the nations. You will rightly apply to this also what was said by the Savior concerning their temple: Do you see all these things? Truly I say to you, there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. And he adds to these things, that Everyone who enters the house, all the days for which it is set apart, shall be unclean until evening. And the one who sleeps in the house shall wash his garments, and shall be unclean until evening. And the one who eats in the house, again likewise; clearly indicating this, that everyone who clings to the Jews in any way whatever, through sharing the same mind, will certainly be a partaker also of their uncleanness. Then again, when the priest comes to inspect the leprous house, he brings the priest in again: For if the priest, he says, comes and enters and sees. And behold, the infection does not spread—it does not spread in the house—after the house has been scraped, because the infection is healed. For the Synagogue of the Jews was pulled down as unclean because of its outrage against Christ, and it has slipped away from the friendship of God. Nevertheless, having endured a long time in this, until the fullness of the nations comes in, according to the voice of Paul, it will be shown mercy by Christ.

When God visits her again secretly, and again leads her back to righteousness in the last times—righteousness, surely, that which is through faith and love toward him. Therefore the high priest of all will come to visit her, and once more, finding her improved, he will immediately cleanse her and receive her, according to what was spoken through the holy prophets: In that day, says the Lord, I will gather the outcast, and I will receive the broken, and those whom I drove away. And I will make the broken a remnant. And again in another place: For many days the sons of Israel shall sit without a king, and without a ruler, without a sacrifice, and without an altar, nor priesthood, nor manifestations. And after these things the sons of Israel shall return, and shall seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and they shall be amazed at the Lord and at his good things in the last of the days. When therefore the priest visits the leprous house, he says, and cleanses it, they shall take to purify the house two living clean birds, and cedar wood, and spun scarlet, and hyssop. And again: He shall dip the living bird in the blood of the bird that was slain in living water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the spun scarlet, and he shall send out the living bird outside the city into a clean field, and he shall make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.

In these things, then, contemplate again the whole mystery of our Savior clearly, and the purification through holy baptism. For he commands two living and clean birds to be taken, so that through the birds you may understand the heavenly man and God at once, divided into two natures, as far as pertains to the account fitting each one. For he was the Word who shone forth from God the Father, in flesh from a woman, yet not divided. For Christ is one from both. And for this reason the two birds are taken, and again understood as one, both together, yet living and clean. For the Word himself is by himself the giver of life and of all purity, and the temple from the Virgin having the living Word in himself. For his body was his own, and not a foreign burden. Therefore there is one Lord Jesus Christ. And besides the birds, he commands a cedar wood to be taken, so that through this you may understand the body of Christ to be incorruptible. For it does not know corruption; for the cedar refuses to be corrupted. And through the fact that the holy body of Christ was not corrupted, the account concerning his resurrection is introduced as very persuasive. And the spun scarlet signifies the confession at the death of our Savior. And indeed it has been said somewhere concerning the Church in the Song of Songs: Your lips are like a scarlet thread, my sister bride. For since the lips of the Church always proclaim the salvation through the blood of Christ, and he commands the one who comes forward to make the confession of faith in him, her lips are well likened to a scarlet thread.

And the participation in the mystical blessing itself contains the proclamation of the death and resurrection of Christ himself. Persuading believers to confess these things beforehand, we bring them to holy baptism and perfect them in the blood of an eternal covenant, as it is written. For the confession of faith in the blood of Christ is signified by the scarlet, and by the hyssop, the boiling heat of the Holy Spirit. For the herb is hot and cleansing of the passions that come from coldness. Such also is the working and power of the Holy Spirit in us. Therefore, he says, the one who cleanses the leper shall take the living bird, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird, with living water, and shall sprinkle with them upon the house seven times. And he shall make the house clean in the blood of the bird, and in the living water, and in the cedar wood, and in the hyssop, and in the spun scarlet. For the law again indicates to us that the Synagogue of the Jews cannot otherwise wash away the defilement from disobedience and put off the stain from various transgressions, except through the blessing alone that comes from Christ, and the confession and faith in him, being perfected and sanctified, clearly, through holy baptism. For observe how through the things said Christ is portrayed for us whole, and the faith and confession in him is signified.

For through the living bird you may understand the ever-living, life-giving, and heavenly Word; and through the slain bird, the precious blood of the temple that suffered. For we say that he suffered in the flesh, yet as in his own body. And through the wood that does not rot, the incorruptible flesh; and through the hyssop, the Spirit; and through the scarlet, the confession of the covenant made by blood; and through the living water, the life-giving grace of baptism, which the holy side of our Savior also rightly prefigured in his very passion, sending forth water together with blood, with which he says the house must also be sprinkled, so that it may be cleansed, according to what was spoken to the prophet Ezekiel: And I will take you from the nations, and I will gather you from the countries, and I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be cleansed. And he commands that it be sprinkled not once for all, but seven times. For where sin abounded, grace superabounded. Then the lawgiver adds to these things again, that he will also send out the living bird outside the city into the field, and it shall make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean. We have taken the house just now named by us as a type of the Synagogue of the Jews, that is, of the whole nation. And we will grant that a city is that which contains many houses. You will understand the inhabited world among us to be something of this sort, containing many races of men, and girded about as if by a wall, by the firmament in a circle; after which there is already understood the broad and pure field of the upper worlds. He teaches

Therefore the lawgiver, by sending the little bird out into the plain outside the city, signifies both the departure from the world and the ascent into the heavens of Christ. For he, having gone to the Father and God, will make atonement for us all and for the Synagogue of the Jews, and we shall be cleansed. For just as the most wise disciple John says: We have a Paraclete with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. Well then did he say to the Jews: If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. Through whom also, with the Holy Spirit, to the ages of ages. Amen. Concerning the fact that Aaron does not enter at all times into the Holy of Holies. 1. Being God by nature and from God the Father, the Only-begotten lowered himself into our condition, and appeared on earth, as it is written, and conversed with men, and for no other reason than that, as the divine Paul says, he might become merciful and a faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For the law, which was ordained of old through Moses with angels intervening, appoints men as priests, who suffer the common weakness of nature and because of it are obliged, just as for the people, so also for their own ignorances, to offer sacrifice. But the word of the oath which is after the law, a Son perfected for ever; wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, always living to intercede for them.

But Christ will make atonement, by no means for himself. And the statement is true: For he did not commit sin; rather, it is for us. And the divine Paul will make this very clear to us, having written concerning him: Whom God set forth as a propitiation through faith in his blood. For this reason he also says that he entered once into the Holy of Holies, and obtained eternal redemption, and by one offering perfected forever those who are being sanctified. And we have been saved; but he takes away our sins, and grieves for us. For he laid down his own soul willingly for us; yet he rose again. For he was God by nature, and is in the heavens at the right hand of the Father, always living to intercede for the saints, just as I recently said. And these things have been said by me again as from the legal shadow, which I will clearly explain, both what it is and how it stands. It is written, then, in Leviticus: And the Lord spoke to Moses: Speak to Aaron your brother, let him not enter at every hour into the inner part of the holy place within the veil, before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark of the testimony, and he shall not die. For I will appear in a cloud upon the mercy seat. For it was necessary, it was necessary that Aaron, fulfilling the appointed image and type of the priesthood of Christ, not at every hour, that is, at every time, make his entrance into the Holy of Holies, as it were signifying the beauty of the mystery. For Christ entered once, having obtained eternal redemption, as I said.

A transgression, therefore, against the truth itself through the things in types: that Aaron does not enter the Holy of Holies once a year, but at every hour, and as it were at every season. For this reason he commanded that it be observed, so that he might not die. But if death was the penalty for the one who violated the shadow, and for the one who raged against the type of the truth, what then will be the rebuke for those who transgress against the truth itself, that is, Christ? This indeed the Jews have done, not accepting faith in him, and dishonoring him in countless ways, although he says clearly: I am the truth, that is, the fulfillment of the types in the law. For Christ is the end of the law and the prophets. For thus the law-learned and most holy Paul writes to us. Aaron, then, is restrained from making the entrance into the Holy of Holies at all times, so that the beauty of the mystery, undefiled and pure, might shine forth even in the shadows themselves. Therefore the entrance is once a year and at one season. And in what manner it would be, and he would not miss what is fitting, he legislated, saying: Thus shall Aaron enter into the holy place. With a calf from the herd for sin, and a ram for a whole burnt offering, and he shall put on a holy linen tunic, and linen breeches shall be upon his skin, and he shall gird himself with a linen belt, and he shall put a linen turban around him. They are holy garments; and he shall wash his whole body with water, and put them on. And from the congregation of the sons of Israel he shall take two young goats from the goats for sin, and one ram for a burnt offering.

And Aaron shall bring near the calf for his own sin, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. And he shall take the two goats, and shall set them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of witness, and Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord, and one lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring near the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and shall offer it for sin; and the goat on which the lot of the scapegoat fell, he shall set it alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, so as to send it away for the scapegoat, and he shall release it into the wilderness. In these things, then, he explains to us the manner of the sacrifice. Then Aaron has brought near the calf for his own sin and for his own house. And when the calf has been sacrificed, and indeed when the ram has become a whole burnt offering, according to the law that befits it: And he shall take, he says, the censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord. And he shall fill his hands with incense of fine composition, and shall bring it within the veil, and shall place the incense upon the fire before the Lord, and the vapor of the incense shall cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimonies, and he shall not die. And he shall take from the blood of the calf, and shall sprinkle the altar with his finger; he shall sprinkle seven times from the blood with his finger. And he adds to these things: And he shall slaughter the goat for the sin of the people before the Lord, and shall bring in from its blood within the veil.

And he shall do with its blood as he did with the blood of the calf. And these very things he commanded to be done, I say, for the atonement for the uncleannesses of the sons of Israel, and for all their sins. And there was smeared with the blood both of the calf and indeed of the goat, not only the mercy seat and the inner tabernacle, that is, the Holy of Holies, but also the altar of the offerings itself, in the first tabernacle. For he said again: And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord, and shall make atonement upon it; and he shall take from the blood of the calf, and from the blood of the goat, and shall put it upon the horns of the altar round about. And he shall sprinkle upon it from the blood with his finger seven times, and shall cleanse it, and shall sanctify it from the uncleannesses of the sons of Israel. And he adds again: And he shall bring near the living goat, and Aaron shall put his two hands upon the head of the living goat. And he shall confess over it all the lawless deeds of the sons of Israel, and all their injustices, and all their sins. And he shall put them upon the head of the living goat, and shall send it out by the hand of a ready man into the wilderness. And the goat shall take upon itself their lawless deeds into the impassable place, and he shall send the goat out into the wilderness. 2. These things, then, having been divinely ordained in types at the proper time, are thus, and indeed were also being performed.

But since the shadow has passed away, and the time of correction has come, come then, come, using fine and most refined thoughts, let us transform the aim of the law into the mystery of Christ. For our Lord Jesus Christ entered once for all into the Holy of Holies, having obtained eternal redemption. Yet it was in the blood of an eternal covenant, and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, wiping away the sin of the world. For he has been sacrificed not for his own sake from any source, but for our salvation. Let us therefore follow even the very shadows of the law closely. It was indeed very fitting, or rather even necessary, that the inspired Aaron should offer sacrifice for his own ignorances. For a man could not be thought to have come to be among those free from transgression. But such a thing will no longer suit Christ; far from it. For in his own nature he has richly possessed freedom from transgression as God. Yet in him and through him is the cleansing of those who are sanctified, I mean both priests and indeed also peoples. For see how Aaron prefigures in his sacrifices for himself the sacrifice understood in Christ and the noetic fragrance. For there was a calf and a ram for a whole burnt offering. And again Christ is understood as one in the calf. For the offerings brought to God for the saints are very abundant, and the ways of such things are very rich. And the calf is a sacred animal, and the substance of the calf surpasses all the other things fit for sacrifice. Therefore the calf would signify to us the perfection of the sacrifice.

And again, a ram for a whole burnt offering, for our Lord Jesus Christ has become a sweet-smelling odor to God the Father, dissolving in himself, as it were, the abominable and foul-smelling thing of the world's sin. Observe also how Aaron, when he has been commanded to make his entrance into the Holy of Holies at appointed times and to complete very well the sacrifices for his own ignorances, is not seen at that time in the garb of the high priesthood, but, it says, he shall put on a holy linen tunic, and linen breeches shall be upon his flesh, and he shall gird himself with a linen belt, and he shall put on a linen turban; these are holy garments, and he shall wash his whole body in water. But this was customary for all priests, and the garb was according to the law. What account, then, of these things would be persuasive for us—or rather, as I think, true? For it was not fitting that Aaron, when sacrificing for his own transgressions, should appear in the form of Christ, who did not know sin. For the adornment most befitting him, and the very garb of the high priesthood, prefigured the beauty of our Savior's kingship and priesthood together. And that it is impossible for anyone to be able to enter into the Holy of Holies, and into the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, unless first purified by the water of regeneration, the law clearly showed, commanding Aaron to wash with water if he intended to make his rush into the Holy of Holies. And it commanded that he must take coals from the altar itself and carry them within, that is, inside the veil.

He commands them thus to make a full handful of fine incense. And when this had been carried out, he says, the vapor of the incense will cover the propitiatory that is upon the testimonies. The type of this was Christ, who has been sacrificed indeed as a calf, yet is wholly burnt as a ram, and fills the whole holy tabernacle, that is, the Church, with the spiritual fragrance, as will also be said by us: Your name is ointment poured out. Therefore the maidens have loved you, and have drawn you. We will run after you at the fragrance of your ointments. But come, let us raise the account back to its beginnings. For thus the exposition of our thoughts will proceed directly to what is fitting. A calf, then, and a ram were brought for sacrifice on behalf of Aaron; and two goats from the people, and indeed also a ram for a whole burnt offering. For it is written as follows: And lots for the goats: one for the Lord, and the other for the scapegoat. And what the mystery concerning them might be, it is necessary to say. Some, then, think that one of the goats is given and sent away to some scapegoat and unclean demon in the desert, but we say that this opinion is full of absurd superstition and will not be free from the charges that come upon the error of the Greeks. Rather—for I would add, without any hesitation, the still greater point—we will find the law introducing inequality of reasonings, an instigator of sin against God, although the error of polytheism in many ways

drawing them out, and showing forth the one who is both by nature Lord of all, and accustomed to lead them as a pedagogue to the knowledge of the truth. For one of those accustomed to think rightly might say at once: Has God commanded that a goat be bought and distributed as though some sacrifice offered to a wicked and opposing power—I mean the goat? And what shall we find Aaron doing that was necessary for benefit, when, laying his hands on the goat, he confessed the sins of the children of Israel? Is not this matter, then, to be understood as full of the utmost folly, and of Greek impiety, and not free from the crookedness of reasoning? And for whom, or how, is that which is so utterly diseased still ambiguous, when its refutation is so clear? 3. What, then, was the thing being done? Two goats were brought, good and equal in size to one another, both of the same age, of the same color, and in no way having suffered blemish; and then two lots were written, the names of the goats, signifying very clearly according to the lawgiver's intent. For one was named "Lord"; the other "Apopompaeus" (the Scapegoat). So then, when the goats had been named—one "Lord," the other "Apopompaeus," because it was sent away (for from this it has its name)—we shall understand that not the demon Apopompaeus, but the living creature itself was meant. And the one called "Lord"—for this was the name of one of the goats, as I said—was sacrificed in equal honor. And he sanctified with its blood the innermost tabernacle, and indeed also the outer altar of burnt offerings, on which they also performed the sacrifices according to the law.

The other, that is, the scapegoat, was sent out into the inaccessible place, Aaron having confessed over it the sins of the sons of Israel. By both is Christ signified: having died, as a man, and having been sacrificed for us, as in the form of a goat. For the kid was slain for the remission of sins, and sanctifying the Church, understood as in a type of the innermost tabernacle; and indeed also those themselves under the law. For it was sanctified, as I said, by the blood of the kid, and even the altar according to the law. But without any contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the greater. Therefore the perfect is not in the law, nor could the worship according to the law have the power to sanctify anyone. For it needs necessarily Christ, as the one able to perfect, and sanctifying by his own blood those who practice the legal worship. Wherefore also the divine Paul, concerning himself and those called from the circumcision, says somewhere thus: Knowing that a man is not justified by works of the law, except through faith in Jesus Christ. And we believed in Jesus Christ, in order that we might have, clearly, the justification from him. Therefore he has been sacrificed for our sins, according to the Scriptures; and he rose again, and departed to a land inaccessible to men, that is, heaven, carrying up, as it were, our sins. For he, it says somewhere, bears our sins, and is in pain for us. This, I think, is the scapegoat. For he was sent away, as it were, from among us to the city above, now to appear before the face of God for you. And the blessed John confirms us in this, writing:

Little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. It is pleasing, then, that we have been marked in Christ, and by his wound we have been healed. He himself is our advocate, and he has gone up into a place inaccessible to men, of which the desert would be a type. For as a forerunner on our behalf he entered into the world, and he himself inaugurated for us the way, new and living, and entering into the inner part of the veil. Christ, then, is the scapegoat, bearing our sins in the form of a goat. For the kid, as I said, was slaughtered for sins. But the equality and likeness of the kids, whatever it may be, showed in riddling fashion that he is the same. For since it was not possible for the kid that was slaughtered to come back to life—for that would have seemed to be some working of wonders, and nothing else—and since the Divine is always free from ostentation, although it is able to accomplish all things paradoxically, for this reason also, by economy, two were taken, having a likeness to one another that was evenly balanced and blameless. Just as, indeed, in the cleansing of the leper, the lawgiver again declared by oracle that two birds must be brought; of which the one was slaughtered, and the other was sent away into the desert. For through countless most vivid examples the law has trained us in the mystery of Christ; through whom and with whom be glory and power to God and the Father, with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS CYRIL, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, GLAPHYRA ON THE BOOK OF NUMBERS.

Concerning Christ and the Synagogue of the Jews. The wretched Jews, who have loosed a harsh and boorish tongue against Christ, would be convicted in many ways. That this matter was not without penalty for them, one may know even from the events themselves. For Israel, the firstborn, who had a glory conspicuous in this regard, the beloved and chosen, has been put behind the nations, and has become last, or rather in every evil. And the Lord foretold this to them, saying through Hosea: Woe to them, for they have departed from me. They are miserable, for they have acted lawlessly against me. But I redeemed them; yet they spoke false things against me. For nothing of theirs is unspoken in words that they have not dared to say. For they have blasphemed, not understanding what is written: Death and life are in the hand of the tongue; and those who hold it will eat its fruits. And since they have raged drunkenly against him, loosing an unbridled tongue to slander, as I said just now, for this reason they have also slipped away from the hope in him, and indeed, since they do not hear him saying: This is your lot, and your portion, that you disobey me, says the Lord. Therefore, since they have become liable to charges of idle babbling, and were about to pay bitter penalties for their drunken insolence against Christ, we shall also establish this very well from what is written in Numbers. It reads as follows: And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, because of the Ethiopian woman whom Moses had taken, because he had taken an Ethiopian woman. And they said:

Did the Lord speak to Moses alone? Did he not also speak to us? And the Lord heard. And the man Moses was very meek, beyond all the men who were on the earth. And the Lord spoke at once to Moses, and Aaron, and Mariam: You three, come out to the tent of testimony. And the three came out to the tent of testimony. And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the doors of the tent of testimony; and Aaron and Mariam were called, and both came out. And the Lord said to them: Hear my word. If there arises among you a prophet to the Lord, I will be made known to him in a vision, and I will speak to him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses, who is faithful in all my house. Mouth to mouth I will speak to him in appearance, and not through riddles, and he has seen my glory. And why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? And the anger of the Lord's wrath was upon them, and they departed; and the cloud withdrew from the tent; and behold, Mariam was leprous like snow. And Aaron looked toward Mariam, and behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said to Moses: I beg you, Lord, do not lay sin upon us, because we were ignorant of that against which we sinned. Let it not be to us as equal to death, like a miscarriage

going out from his mother's womb, and it devours half of her flesh. And Moses cried out to the Lord, saying: O God, I beseech you, heal her. And the Lord said to Moses: If her father, spitting, had spat in her face, would she not be ashamed? Seven days she shall be set apart outside the camp. And after these things she shall come in. And Mariam was set apart outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out until Mariam was cleansed. These things, then, are akin to those already spoken of. For the contemplation in them is not very far removed, and it has a meaning as it were sister and kindred. For these things too speak the mystery, and they bring in the dishonor of the Synagogue of the Jews for the things in which it raged against him. But the manner of the offenses differs somewhat, in part, a little. For in those things the Synagogue was leprous, and was unclean, corrupting itself with many and various trespasses. But in these, the account molds for us the charges of the drunkenness against Christ alone, and it describes the swelling of the Jews' arrogance, and it demonstrates the meekness of the one who says: Learn from me that I am meek and lowly in heart. And in addition to these things, it also brings in the philanthropy of the one who judges just things, not bringing anger upon those who trespass to the very end, nor something endless, but measuring it out after the blow, saving and healing. So then, to speak in summary in few words, in these things the aim of the things set before us has altogether inclined.

Having taken up each of the things said in turn, let us unfold the meaning hidden in them, with God opening the door to the word for those who hope in him, who says: And I will give you dark treasures, hidden things, unseen I will open to you. 2. Aaron and Miriam therefore spoke against the all-wise Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had taken, and they said: Did the Lord speak to Moses alone? Did he not also speak to us? These are the two charges of their foolish talk against Moses: first, that he took, I say, the Ethiopian woman; and second to this, that they said: Did the Lord speak to Moses alone, did he not also speak to us? For in the first he submits to a charge of transgression; in the second, he is said not to have been placed among the very great, nor to have received grace as something exceptional compared with others, if indeed God is seen to have spoken to others as well. We will speak in order, assigning the first account to the first accusation; and so again from here we will transfer the things from the types to Christ himself. Moses therefore also long ago took a wife, and made the Midianite woman his companion, I mean the daughter of Jethro; and when no small time had passed, he married the Ethiopian woman, both foreign and black. And yet the lawgiver clearly proclaims that the sons of Israel ought not to intermingle at all with foreigners. For thus it is written: You shall not give your daughter to his son, and you shall not take his daughter for your son.

For these things great Moses is judged as a transgressor, by Aaron and Miriam, who had not understood, as is likely, even through him again as in a type the well-ordered mystery, which we shall now make clear as far as possible, establishing the nature of the matter very well in Christ himself, to whom we shall now also assign the person of Moses. For Christ is the lawgiver, and mediator between God and men, just as indeed that man also was. Since he too signified to us, saying: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from your brothers, like me. And for the figure of the Jewish priesthood Aaron will be taken, and Miriam will fill the person of the Synagogue. Therefore the elders of the Jews also accused our Savior Christ, and the Synagogue herself with them, charging him with transgression of the divine commandments, by saying: If this man were from God, he would not have broken the Sabbath. And they were also torn apart in another way, because he was betrothing the black one, that is, the Church from the Gentiles,

And he was, in a manner, marrying the first, that is, the Israelite woman, who was again the Synagogue. That they were pierced through with grief when the customs arising from their casual observance were abolished, and also the things spoken in types through Moses, it is not hard to perceive for one who has once associated with the evangelical writings. That he was again betrothing the Church from the Gentiles, still blackened by reason of what was dark in knowledge and manners—for the true light was not yet in her, which knows how to illumine and make white—one might gather the proof from the prophets very easily. But it seems to me more fitting to demonstrate it through the economy of the Savior. Accordingly, he preached to the Samaritans, who were of alien race, and as it were laid down beforehand in them a beginning and foundation of the Church of the Gentiles. That they were of alien race and estranged from the flock of Israel, one might see from this without effort. For when he sent out his own disciples proclaiming the kingdom of heaven, he says: Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Do you see how he has placed them outside the sheep of the house of Israel? Therefore, not yet having departed from the marriages of the Israelite woman, that is, the Synagogue, but still seeming in some way to dwell with her, he was in a manner betrothing and marrying the black one, the alien, that is, the Church from the Gentiles. For this reason also, when speaking to the Jews, he said: And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold, and them also I must bring.

And there shall be one flock, one shepherd. But more sharply, and convicting them as disobedient, when they plainly inquired, saying: If you are the Christ, tell us openly. Jesus answered them: I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in the name of my Father, these testify concerning me. But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep. For he was already calling those from the Gentiles his own sheep. On which account also the Pharisees, being greatly cut to the heart and enraged, as though he loved the foreigners and held the divine law of no account, charging him with the law, said: Do we not rightly say that you are a Samaritan, and have a demon? For unless, they say, you were minded toward the things of the Samaritans—unless you were a lover of Greeks and a lover of foreigners—you would not have mingled at all with those from the Gentiles. And unless the demon among the Greeks were in you—for they called the idolaters demon-possessed, because of the devil that is in them—you would not, they say, have made the transgression of the legal commandments a matter of no account. And that the things done through Christ are rather a fulfillment of the law, and not a transgression, according to what was said by him: I did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. For it was a transformation of the letter alone toward the truth. The manner, then, of the accusation against the black one is in these things, and the image of the perversity that is in Christ, as will be taken up in the things according to Moses; and the reviling that is both near to this and its sister we shall introduce, again transforming the sense of the things said from the type to the truth. For not to Moses alone, he says, has the Lord spoken; but to us also he has spoken.

The statement comes from boastfulness, the voice from empty puffing up. For those who think rightly ought surely not to strive to rise to an equal measure with the one who has been justly heard: I know you above all, and you found favor with me; rather, they should render back the thank-offerings for the honors they have received, not overstepping the order appointed from above, nor snatching for themselves the honor thus given. Whatever would be rightly understood as this is not devoid of the utmost boastfulness. But consider again our Lord Jesus Christ, making plain to the Jews the purpose of God and the Father, known naturally to him alone, and saying: I do not speak from myself, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment what to say and what to speak. And again: The words that I speak are not mine, but his who sent me. Then, emboldened against this, the lawless scribes and Pharisees, who also, in that God spoke to their fathers, are not moderately insolent, and for this reason have chosen to be disobedient. For they say: We know that God has spoken to Moses; but this man, we do not know where he is from. You see, then, how by saying that they know full well that God spoke to Moses—for they all but say that ancient word, and in harsher terms: Has God and the Father spoken to Christ alone, and not to our fathers?—and in this, they say, at Sinai. And the Lord heard. And Moses was a man very meek beyond all men who are on the earth. Mary and Aaron, as it seems, were making Moses' meekness an occasion of boastfulness.

But on this account God is also angered when that man pleads, and of his own accord he comes to feel righteous indignation against those who have dared to act arrogantly, taking as his own the contempt shown to the genuine servant. Thus you will understand it also in the case of Christ. For because of the gentleness and love of humanity that were in him, the Pharisees were somewhat more readily inclined to contempt. But it was, it seems, possible to see beyond doubt that they would not escape the movement from above. For as one insulted in the Son, God and the Father was going to be displeased. For he had knowledge without being taught, and through knowledge befitting God, of the words spat out from the arrogance of the Pharisees. 3. Then next to these: And the Lord said immediately, it says, to Moses and Aaron and Miriam: Come out, you three, to the tent of witness. And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the tent of witness. The word again hints that God will be the judge of those who speak against our Savior Jesus Christ, and will certainly come down from judgment to wrath against those who have dared to rail and to strive for equal honor with him. But the judgment is certainly through the Son, since obviously the one who begot him is present with him inseparably, according to the text: I am in the Father, and the Father is in me. And since Miriam and Aaron appeared to stand by the one who judges justly: Hear, it says, my words. If there arises, it says, a prophet among you for the Lord, I will be made known to him in a vision and I will speak to him in a dream—not so as my servant Moses, who is faithful in all my house; I will speak to him mouth to mouth, in form, and not through riddles.

And he saw the glory of the Lord. Moses, by this means, has been preserved as exceptional among others in divine visions, and he was well attested as being able in an extraordinary way to hear the divine words. But one would see this more truly in Christ. For God the Father did not speak as among the prophets, nor in the same way in the Son. Rather, the prophets were supplied with the knowledge of what they needed to learn through the Spirit. But he knows the counsels in the Spirit not by being taught, as being the wisdom and counsel of the one who begot him. And the blessed prophets received the vision of his glory through riddles. For no one has ever seen God. But he is seen by the only-begotten Son according to nature. And so it would be understood in a manner befitting God. And the Savior himself will be our witness of this, saying: Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Therefore it is not reasonably—or rather, it is already impiously—that the Jews, putting forward that God spoke to their fathers, made nothing of Christ saying that he speaks what he heard from the Father. For the things on Mount Sinai are shadows and types and riddles, laboring to bring forth some hidden and not very clear knowledge of the one who was distinguishing. But Christ was a direct hearer of the Father's words—if it is fitting to speak somewhat more bodily because of the indispensable necessity of the meaning. Indeed, the word also introduces a great difference in Christ as compared to all others: For he is faithful in all my house. Or does he not thereby show a partial and measured dispensation, the one through the law and the prophets?

...the general and universal salvation through Christ? For the law saved one house from Israel; but Christ did not [save] in this way, but was purchasing the whole world through faith in him and through his own blood for God and the Father, according to what is written. Therefore, then, he says: Were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? For such is the meaning of what was spoken through the prophet to the impious Pharisees long ago, on account of their babblings and loose-tongued slanders against Christ: But you, draw near here, sons of the lawless, offspring of adulterers and a harlot. In what did you take delight? And against whom did you open your mouth? And against whom did you loosen your tongue? For altogether, as if giving free rein to their God-fighting tongue, the Pharisees made their blasphemy against Christ, so to speak, run very smoothly, and puffed up with excessive arrogance, they belched out words of recklessness. The Melodist, deeply pained at these things, says: I said to the lawless: Do not be lawless, and to those who sin: Do not lift up your horn, do not exalt your horn on high, and do not speak injustice against God. For they were truly acting lawlessly, wickedly condemning the one they least ought to, and lifting up their horn on high, they would be caught, not granting to Christ alone the knowledge of the Father's will, but rather themselves claiming to know this, by saying, as has already been said before: We know that God has spoken to Moses, so as even to strive to be disobedient for this reason. And at that time the cloud departed from the tent of testimony. And Miriam appeared immediately leprous, and not simply so, but like snow.

For, grieving over the outrages against Christ and the unholy daring of the Jews, and bitterly disposed, the divine and pure nature flew up, so to speak, and departed from the Synagogue, according to what was said by Christ: I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my inheritance. For the Lord, having come down in a pillar of cloud, departs again like a cloud, according to the type in the letter. But since it was reasonably withdrawing from the Synagogue of the Jews, it was shown forthwith to be unclean—and unclean not merely so, but having run to the extremity of the affliction. For the leper's being said to become utterly white indicates the intensification of the disease. And what could be whiter than snow? For it was indeed fitting, or rather necessary, and unquestionably the case, that the Synagogue of the Jews, having fallen away from the care of the Savior, should come into every evil. The unruly and mockery-loving swarm of the herd, then, is punished with uncleanness and dishonor, according to what was rightly said by the saints to God: Fill their faces with dishonor, and they shall know that your name is, Lord. But Aaron, having joined in accusing Mariam, is not usefully made a leper along with her, although he incurred the same penalty as the one who judged. For since the matter of the priesthood is precious and great before God, for this reason he escaped appearing in leprosy, and was punished rather by grief for the one who suffered this, according to what was said by God: Gird yourselves and beat your breasts, you priests; lament, you who minister at the altar; enter in sackcloth, you who minister to God, because sacrifice and drink-offering have departed from the house of our God.

He comes forward, saying to the all-wise Moses: I beseech you, Lord, do not lay sin upon us, because we have ignorantly sinned against the one against whom we sinned. For those who were by race from Israel, and by fleshly kinship were not strangers to the Synagogue of the Jews, but had been appointed stewards of the mysteries of our Savior, were going to offer prayers on behalf of those who had sinned in ignorance—although they too had fallen at the beginning. And they beseech Christ not to join in the Father's wrath, which is what Paul was doing when he said: Brothers, the good pleasure of my heart and my supplication to God is for them, unto salvation. But in saying this he was also a steward of the mysteries of God and a priest of the divine proclamation—which Aaron also was at that time. But when Moses cried out on behalf of the leprous woman and besought that she be healed, God deferred the pardon, saying: Let her be set apart seven days outside the camp, and after these things she shall come in again. By this the word shows us, as in an image, that the divine nature is swift to show mercy and in a certain way most ready to entreat itself, but by the multitude or the magnitude of our transgressions it is often made harsh and shrinks back from its love for humanity toward the guilty. And it signifies this also, according to our understanding, that the great intercession of the saints has ascended to God on behalf of Israel; but since it was not admissible that he should not be punished—since they had been condemned not for trivial things—he set mercy as second to justice.

That God is often provoked by our transgressions, so that sometimes he even holds back the bestowal of his own most beloved tranquility, it is no difficult thing to see from these examples as well. And it was revealed through the Holy Spirit to the prophet Jeremiah: the slaughter that would come upon the land of the Jews at various times, when the Babylonians overran it by the law of war. But when many had already fallen and were seen as corpses, he says to the holy prophet: Woe is me, that my soul faints because of those who have been slain. Run about in the streets of Jerusalem, and see, and know, and seek in its broad places: if you find a man, if there is one who does judgment and seeks faith, then I will be merciful to them, says the Lord. Do you see in these words that he is in travail, as it were, over those who have been slain, and is ready and willing to have mercy on Jerusalem, yet is held back, so to speak, by himself, and reins in his God-befitting tranquility because of the enormity of sin, and nevertheless seeks occasions for showing compassion, and is willing to set aside the effects of his wrath for the sake of one man? For he was forming in his mind the one man who would show himself faithful in her. Therefore Miriam is sent out seized with leprosy. But the people did not set out, it says, until Miriam was cleansed. For we too who believe in Christ will wait for the cleansing of the Jews—clearly the cleansing that comes through faith. And so thereafter, having left behind the tents of this life, we shall journey up to the city above, and we shall run back to the land of the promise. The Savior therefore speaks truly when he says to the Jews:

If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me. Through him and with him be the glory to God and the Father, with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Concerning those who spied out the land of promise. 1. Excellent is the lot for those who have chosen to love God, the King of all. And the possession of goods beyond understanding has been prepared for them. And the blessed prophet Isaiah will confirm this, saying: There is an inheritance for those who serve the Lord. And again: And you shall be confident in the Lord, and he will bring you up to the good things of the land; and he will feed you the inheritance of Jacob your father. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things. Therefore the promise would be true and firmly established in every way and altogether; for the mouth of God would not err from the truth, nor would it ever lie; but it will certainly accomplish what has been promised. And knowing this, the inspired Psalmist says somewhere thus: The Lord is the portion of my inheritance; you are the one who restores my inheritance to me. Who, then, are those who serve the Lord, or to what sort of people will such a bright and enviable lot come? Those who have earnestly desired to accomplish what is pleasing to God, and who know how to leap without care toward any of the things that are admired, and who have set before themselves most readily to trample down every enemy, and who have not taken courage in their own powers, that is, in their own clever devices, but who hold out the grace from above as a kind of shield, having God, who stands before them and shields them together, as the God of all. For being disposed thus, they say: I will not hope in my bow, and my sword will not save me.

For you saved us from those who oppressed us, and you put to shame those who hated us. Those who are good and most courageous, and more ready to come to the need of believing, he makes most distinguished, distributing good things with a lavish hand; but those who have chosen to be sick with the most shameful things of all, unto disobedience, he will drive away altogether from the flock of the chosen, and will beat off from every

matter that knows how to gladden. And he will cry out, as it is most just in each case: This is your portion, a portion of your disobedience to me. We shall find the peoples of the Jews fallen under such accusations. Therefore they have slipped away from hope, and have remained deprived of their lot, although the inheritance was theirs—if indeed it is true, as the voice of the blessed Paul says, that the promises are theirs. But since they disobeyed the one calling them to them, they have remained without share, and according to the voice of the Savior: The last have become first, and the first last. And this again was proclaimed beforehand to us from the more ancient Scriptures themselves. And it is thus: And after these things the people set out from Asoreth, and encamped in the wilderness of Pharan; and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Send for yourself men, and let them spy out the land of the Canaanites, which I give to the sons of Israel for a possession, one man according to tribe and the peoples of their fathers you shall send them; every leader of them. And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Pharan by the voice of the Lord, all men leaders of the sons of Israel. These men, then, the chosen of the tribes, twelve in number, were set apart from the rest of the multitude.

And indeed they went up to inspect thoroughly whether the land was rich or thin-soiled, good for pasture and good, and most fertile, or rather dry and barren; or whether it was a nurturer of cultivated trees, or had been allotted the production of ripe fruits, unless it kept its field untended and unable to luxuriate; and in addition to these things, who the inhabitants might be, whether they were terrible in battle and conquerors in war, and not easily met by just anyone, or rather easily captured by those trained to be courageous; and how many and of what sort the cities were, whether bare and unwalled, or rather excellently fortified with towers. And Moses added that they would need to pluck some of the fruits themselves, as it were for a demonstration, and return. So then, having gone up, they hastened to declare what had been commanded. And since the time was suitable, they inspected the land, and indeed, having placed upon themselves a cluster of grapes, a strange and unusual thing, a true marvel, they were present unharmed, and returned to Moses. However, they were still divided in their opinions. For they thought it right to praise, and all reported, that the land was good and rich, and they brought as witness of this the fruit taken from it; but some called the nation upon it bold and strong and most warlike, and yielding little to the contemptuous treatment of all. For, they said, we saw there sons of giants, so tall and large in stature that, I suppose, those of the blood of Israel would differ from them as much as locusts, if they were compared to their heights. But Caleb and Joshua said plainly that the land was good and rich. And if the Lord chooses us, he will bring us into it.

And they were being carried away because they kept assuring themselves of what was fitting, with God shielding them. But when the Israelites heard such words—the great and herd-like multitude—immediately, carried off into forgetfulness of God and having forgotten the signs in Egypt, they are sick with great fear, they shrink from battle, they show themselves for resistance, and they no longer desire the things promised; they did not consider the all-powerful and invincible hand of the Helper, but they wail childishly, and very soon they expect to be consumed together with their women and dearest ones by the swords of the enemies. And indeed they even dared to say that their servitude in Egypt was better, and the burden of slavery more easily borne. And they said that they would have to return to the Egyptians with tears. But Joshua and Caleb, sharpening them toward courage and sprinkling dust on themselves, they attempted to stone. And when matters had now come to such wretchedness, the glory of the Lord appeared, it says, in a cloud upon the tabernacle of witness, before all the sons of Israel, and he was considering to destroy them all without hesitation. But when Moses fell down and entreated earnestly, he nodded assent

Barely. For he said, the Lord spoke to Moses: "I am gracious to them according to your word. But as I live, and my name lives. And the glory of the Lord will fill all the earth. Because all the men who saw my glory, and the signs which I did in Egypt, and in this wilderness, and they tested me this tenth time, and did not listen to my voice. Surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, but their children, who are with me here; as many as do not know good or evil. Every younger one inexperienced, to these I will give the land. But all who provoked me shall not see it; but my servant Caleb, because a different spirit was in him, and he followed me; I will bring him into the land into which he entered there, and his seed shall inherit it." Consider, then, that the charges of disobedience are most grievous before God. And those who have come under it must endure the loss hard to bear. This is what we shall find Israel suffered, comparing the new with the older Scriptures, and showing the truth to be in agreement with the shadows. For Moses urges those chosen from all the tribes to go and spy out the land of the promise very carefully. But when they came, and were already present, those who were ten in number brought accusation, and became the cause of both terrors and God-hating disbelief for the whole congregation. But the two who remained, Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and indeed also Joshua, urged them to go and destroy it utterly, and thought it right to praise the land itself, crying out clearly that it is rich and fruitful, and moreover most excellent for the nurture of crops.

But while some fell away from the promise, others were established by a heavenly vote as heirs of the things above, and were honored by God. 2. What, then, is the manner of true and spiritual contemplation that remains? It is necessary to state it. Through the books of Moses—that is, through the good things prefigured in them as in types for the saints, or through the holy land promised to the fathers—the mind of the Jews was, in a manner of speaking, sent forth. For it is possible, yes, it is possible to see in the legal writings the mystery of Christ overshadowed by types, and the sanctification through him in the Holy Spirit, and the hope promised to the saints. For the lamb was sacrificed in Egypt by the Israelites, and they smeared themselves with its blood, and the destroyer was restrained. But that death would be weakened by the death of Christ, and that corruption would no longer seize those who have been anointed in the Holy Spirit—the shadow foretold this. And that we shall lay hold of the prosperity given in the beginning, and that man will be restored again to the paradise of delight—the law would no less have hinted this to us. For it commanded them to celebrate a feast in the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, taking palm branches in their hands, and the fruit of a beautiful tree, and thick branches of trees, and willows, and chaste-tree. And it commanded them to receive them not simply, but on the first day and the seventh; and it calls the first day a holy convocation, and indeed also the seventh. And the matter hinted obliquely that paradise was given in the first season, at the beginning of the race—I mean to Adam.

And it will be given also at the last, that is, at the consummation of the present age; of which there would be a very clear type, the last day of the seventh. And the first is holy, and the seventh. For holy is our time, during which the first-formed father Adam was still keeping the commandment given to him; and holy again is the time in the last things. For we have been sanctified in Christ, having been released from the charges of sin, and having become partakers of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, almost as it were through type and shadow, Moses—or rather the power of the legal writings—sends ahead the more teachable, and those who have their mind, so to speak, in some way chosen out, to a precise examination of the things promised by God. But since for those who wish to obtain such revered and most glorious goods, the struggle is not against blood and flesh, but rather against principalities and powers, and the world-rulers of this age, according to what is written: those who mind the things of the flesh shrink back from the battle—those who have preferred the temporary and perishable things to the delight that is forever. For observe that even those from Israel, concerning wives and children, say up and down with the voices of the reprobate, having been brought down to such a degree of cowardice and wretchedness. And consider also those in the time of the visitation of our Savior Christ, who are robbed of faith by the voices of the Jews. For our Lord Jesus Christ was granting the kingdom of the heavens to those who believe. Moreover, he was calling them to boldness—clearly, that is, spiritual boldness. And he commanded that those who have trusted in him should very well trample down the greed of the devil, saying:

Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy. But they were unwilling to believe, placing bodily things before love toward God. For when they were invited to the wedding, he says, they all began with one accord to make excuses. And one said, I have bought a field; and another, I have married a wife, and I cannot come. Do you see the kinship of the passions? Do you see the affinity of the diseases? Therefore the Scribes and Pharisees, in a manner of speaking, denounce the promise of God by not wishing to walk into it, nor even to allow others. And so they also heard: Woe to you, lawyers, because you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering you hindered. For the peoples under their hand have perished at the voices of their leaders. Thus somewhere through the voice of the prophet God says, that The shepherds have become foolish, and have not sought the Lord; therefore all the pasture has not understood, and they were scattered. Therefore also the great multitude of the Jews has perished from the promise, and has become a stranger to the grace through Christ. Nevertheless the remnant has been saved through Christ. And a clear type of this would be Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and indeed also Joshua; who addressed countless things to the children of Israel, sharpening them to courage, calling the land good and worthy to be taken, and crying out that they would prevail over the nations; but they nearly perished. For, he says, the whole congregation said to stone them. Nevertheless they were also appointed heirs by God. Who then is Caleb? The name will make it clear. For it is interpreted, all heart.

Jephunneh again means "the turning." Therefore those who have a perfect heart with God are sons of the turning, together with those of Jesus. These would again be the believers, and understood as a firstfruits in relation to the holy apostles, who called Israel; and in them the remnant would be understood. And in calling they have risked danger. Nevertheless they have been set as heirs of the holy land. For that all the sons of the turning—that is, those who have turned from the legal commandments to the worship and grace that come through faith—have obtained a perfect heart with God, one may learn clearly from Paul writing: he considered the things in the law as refuse, and counted them loss because of the surpassing knowledge of God, and in order that he might gain him and have his justification. That, therefore, Israel will slip away from the promise, yet will not be destroyed entirely, but will be saved as in a small portion—for this, I think, is the remnant—you will understand very well, just as I have already said: seeing Caleb brought in by the promise of God, joined in a certain way, and running alongside, with the one who saves; for here "Jesus" is interpreted. And indeed the divine angel Gabriel himself was there when he announced to the holy Virgin the manner of the incarnation of the Only-Begotten: "Do not fear," he says, "Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in the womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High." Only the remnant, then, of the synagogue of the Jews has inherited the promises and entered the sacred land. The one, therefore, far from it.

The new people, who are also in faith, was driven together, as it were, for him. For the God of all things promised to bring in together with Caleb every new child. The divine David also indicated this to us when he said concerning the inheritance of the saints: Let it be written for another generation, and the people who are being created will praise the Lord. For the lot has not been preserved for those who are brought up under the law, but for another generation. And what is the other generation? The new people, as I said, who are also in faith. For we were created in Christ for newness of life, having put off the old man, together with its passions and desires. For Christ is said to create the two peoples into one new man, making peace, and reconciling both in one Spirit to the Father. Therefore the infants brought in together with Caleb himself would be a type of the new people. To these the inspired disciple also wrote, saying: As newborn infants, desire the rational and guileless milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. And that the inspired Paul also, having understood the things in the law in this way, transforms the type in the letters toward the truth, you will learn clearly, since he wrote to the Hebrews: As the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the provocation, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers tested me, they tried me, and saw my works. For forty years I was angry with that generation, and I said: They are always led astray in their heart.

But they did not know my ways, to whom I swore, and they shall not enter into my rest. And so that we too, thrusting away accursed unbelief and casting it as far as possible from our own soul, may be found heirs of the promise, he addressed us again: Take heed, brothers, lest at any time there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God, but encourage one another each day, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if indeed we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm to the end, while it is said: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the provocation. For some who heard provoked, but not all those who came out of Egypt through Moses. And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose limbs fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter into his rest, if not to those who disobeyed? And we see that they were not able to enter because of disobedience. For the fact that their self-willed nature and their refusal to submit to the divine decrees led the way for them, when they wished to pursue it, to the selling away of their hope; but the opposite would benefit them not a little, and he will persuade us no less, saying: Let us therefore fear, lest, while a promise of entering into his rest is left, any one of you should seem to have fallen short. For indeed we have been evangelized, just as they also were. But the word of hearing did not profit those, because it was not mixed with faith in those who heard.

For we who have believed in the Savior and Redeemer of us all—I mean Christ—enter into his rest; through whom and with whom be glory to God and the Father with the Holy Spirit forever. Amen. That Christ has become for us the bread of life. 1. The divine prophet Jeremiah, rebuking the eagerness for learning of the Jews, and quite reasonably so, said: How can you say, "We are very wise, and the law of the Lord is with us"? In vain has the pen of the scribes become a false reed. The wise were put to shame, they were terrified, and they were caught, because they rejected the word of the Lord. What wisdom is in them? For although the scribes and Pharisees were exceedingly puffed up over their knowledge of the laws, and lifted high their brow, and looked down upon the herd-like multitude, being greatly sick with foolishness, they were proven by the facts themselves to be unwise and of little understanding. For they rejected the wisdom from above and from heaven, the Word from God the Father, who became for us wisdom from God, both righteousness and sanctification and redemption. For this reason they have become reprobate and without heart, foolish and blind, according to the voice of the Savior himself. But since the divine

Being thrust away from the word, and keeping as far as possible from the life-giving grace, and by their excessive disobedience abandoning God, they were caught in countless ways and perished by famine. And this was what was spoken by God through the voice of the prophets: Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will bring a famine upon the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord. And the waters shall be shaken, even to the sea, and from the north to the east they shall run about seeking the word of the Lord, and they shall not find it. For those who, though it was possible for them to have it and that most richly, thrust it away without hearing, are thereafter punished by divine decree, being deprived of the best of all things, and of those things through which it was fitting that they should be enriched, so to speak, with the good things from above; but for those who chose to disobey, and who impiously outrage the divine and admirable grace, the famine of divine teachings has been brought upon them, and very reasonably so. But for us who believe in him, Emmanuel has become the bread of life, the bread that came down from heaven and gives life to the world; in him and through him, as we escape the god-hating power of corruption, and are clothed with the grace from above and from heaven, that is, with incorruption, we have been presented to God and the Father, radiant and holy. And what of such things have we not continued to possess in abundance in the world? The letter of the law sets before us such thoughts. And it is as follows: And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: