Glaphyra in Pentateuchum

Of Our Holy Father Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria, Glaphyra on Genesis First Discourse That throughout the whole of Moses' writing, the mystery of Christ is signified enigmatically. "Search the Scriptures," Christ addressed to the Jewish multities; he said, most clearly, that no one could otherwise attain eternal life unless, as if digging up a treasure, they examine the legal letter, the pearl hidden within it, that is, Christ, in whom are all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge, according to the voice of the blessed Paul. Concerning this so venerable and admirable wisdom or knowledge, Solomon also said somewhere: "If you seek it like silver, and search it out like treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and you will find knowledge of God." Nothing would be equal to this for those who praise the blameless life and have chosen to achieve the best and most excellent things, and who fill their own mind with divine light; therefore, it is necessary to delight in the words about God without ceasing, and to make the sacred Letter a kind of lamp, as the holy Psalmist cried out and said: "A lamp for my feet is your law, and a light for my paths." Therefore, since clearly and manifestly it is the provider of eternal life and the path to all good cheer for us to love to examine the mystery of Christ.

Let us again apply ourselves with profitable toil, and before all else for our own sake, let us endeavor to gather together and explain how each thing is to be understood, so that the mystery of Christ may be well signified to us through them. Thus what we say, having subtle conceptions, may at times serve as a good occasion for the more discerning, and as steps, as it were, leading up to the better and highest knowledge. We shall usefully set forth first the things that happened historically; and after explaining such matters in due measure, reshaping the narrative as from type and shadow, we shall make the exposition clear, our discourse turning toward the mystery of Christ and having its end in him, if it is true that Christ is the end of the law and the prophets. And if anywhere we should fall short of what is most fitting, due to the thinness and great obscurity of our thoughts, it is proper for those who read to be indulgent. Let it be known that, having composed seventeen books on worship and service in spirit and truth, and having gathered in them a great abundance of thoughts, we have left aside for the present work, by design, the more intense chapters, and have kept them unexamined—except if somewhere we happened to mention something out of necessity. We shall therefore begin the more polished comments on Genesis; and thus in order we shall run through the five books of Moses, and in addition we shall examine whatever from other scripture is useful for the present purpose.

Concerning Adam. The truly learned and most sacred Paul, having understood the mystery of salvation through Christ, says that a recapitulation took place in him of both the things in heaven and those on earth, and that by the good pleasure and will of God the Father, the correction of all things and the restoration of what had been corrupted to their original state were accomplished, clarifying this by the term "recapitulation." For he recalled, as is likely, God speaking through the voice of the prophets: "Do not remember the former things, and do not consider the ancient things. Behold, I make new things, which will now arise, and you will know them." Therefore, he himself, having been nurtured in divine words, presented to us the prophecy contained in these words as already somehow fulfilled in Christ, saying: "So that if anyone is a new creation in Christ, the ancient things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. For we have been re-formed in Christ and have become a new creation. And in him alone we have acquired a new name; for we have been called 'of Christ.'" And indeed, again, the divine Paul says somewhere about us: "But those of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh along with its passions and desires." For the life of those in Christ is holy and beyond fleshly passions and earthly impurity. And that the new name, which was to be invoked upon us in Christ, was to come to us would become clear from God crying out through the voice of the saints: "To those who serve me, a new name will be given, which will be blessed on the earth. For they will bless the true God.

Therefore, since no one who has chosen to think rightly and reasonably would doubt that new things have come to be in Christ, come, let us examine what the aging is, and of what it might be said that a correction for the better has occurred, as from something not being entirely sound and unharmed—that is, from what has been corrupted and unexpectedly brought down to a state in which it was not in the beginning. For one would know here, and quite rightly, that wherever the aim of the proposed discourse may run, that which is blameless would never be lost. 2. Therefore, God, the supreme artisan of all things, using his own power and all-creative power—that is, the Son—for every one of the things to be done. For through him all things came to be, and without him nothing came to be. He fashioned heaven and earth, and before the rest, in the beginning, and called them into generation, even though they never existed. But how, then, if someone should ask, and from where, he will hear from us this wise and truly excellent saying: "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" For if someone should choose to learn such things, that he will certainly need both mind and understanding, as conceived in God, is not disputed. But that the things in us are small or nothing at all in comparison to God, he himself will clarify by saying: "For my plans are not as your plans, nor are my ways as your ways. But as the heaven is distant from the earth, so my way is distant from your ways, and your thoughts from my thought." Let the examination of these matters, then, be dismissed as superfluous and in no way conclusive.

For He creates as He knows, and in whatever way God is able. So then, when heaven and earth had been fashioned in the beginning, and then the multitude of waters had been gathered into one place—for it was necessary to yield to the one saying, "Let the water be gathered into one gathering"—the earth was uncovered, and it blossomed everywhere with grasses of such manifold kinds, and it was, unaccustomedly, most richly endowed with the generation of fruit-bearing trees. And the circles of the sun and moon were visible, and there was a law from God adjudicating to each the measure of its rule. For they were arranged, the one toward the dawn and its rays, the other toward night and darkness; and the whole heaven itself was besprinkled for us with stars. And indeed, He ordained by law for what purpose they had come to be, saying: "And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years, and let them be for shining in the firmament of the heaven, so as to shine upon the earth." And since the Creator of all things is life by nature, He also made the very nature of the waters a mother of swimming creatures and of those that fly into the air. And again, He commanded the earth to bring forth the multiform nature of cattle and the untamed kinds of wild beasts. And without effort, He accomplished what He willed, beyond thought. For each of the things made, the Word was the Creator, and mere nod was the generation. And when the good order in the things that had come to be was pleasing even to the Artificer of all things, another consideration then entered, bringing in last the one for whose sake those things had been brought into existence—I mean, man. For it was necessary, it was necessary that the Creator of all things, being good by nature—or rather, being that very Good which He is—should also be known by us.

It was necessary for the earth to be filled with those who know how to praise, and from the beauty of the creations, as it is written, to contemplate the glory of the Creator. For as the prophet Isaiah says, "You did not make it in vain," clearly meaning the earth, "but for it to be inhabited." It was therefore necessary that a rational living being be formed upon it, after all those things that contribute to delight and to its seeming well-made had been previously displayed. Having first set forth in the proper order heaven and earth and the things in them, He then proceeded to the construction of man; He made the consideration of his generation prior, although He had sketched out all the rest of creation with a word and established it by His own reason as God. But since man is a truly well-formed and most godlike living being, so that the imitation of the highest glory might not seem to have received the same treatment in its making as things that are not so, He honored the work with forethought and personal craftsmanship. Having molded a statue from earth, He completes it as a rational living being, and so that it might ascend to the principles of its own nature, He immediately engraved an incorruptible, life-giving breath; for it is written: "And He breathed into his face a breath of life, and man became a living soul." Then He deemed him worthy of a paradise and luxury, and assigned to him dominion over all things on earth; He set him as ruler over swimming and flying creatures, and yoked for him herds of wild beasts, and even the races of venomous creatures along with the others He laid beneath him. And that it is fitting for man to be afraid, He commanded natural laws to persuade him.

Thus the human being was the imprint of the highest glory and an image of divine authority upon the earth. Since the one who had come to this state of renown and delight necessarily had to recognize that he had God as his overseer, king, and lord—lest in his excessive prosperity he very readily slip into thinking that he had somehow been freed from authority and the supremacy of the ruler—he immediately gave a law, and made punishment by threat neighbor to transgressions. For there was not yet any manner of sin upon the earth, since there was only one man. But in order that he might come under law, a certain means of restraint was devised for him: "From every tree in the paradise," it says, "you may eat for food. But from the tree of knowing good and evil, you shall not eat from it. On the day you eat from it, you will die the death." Then, when one of Adam's ribs was removed, the woman was formed, to serve him for the procreation of children and to live with him as a kindred being, and indeed to dwell together with him in simplicity. But when she was led by the slanders of the devil to transgression and made the forbidden fruit of the trees edible, and the forefather Adam himself also slipped, nature was immediately condemned to death. And to the woman God said, "You will bear children in pains," and to Adam, "Cursed is the ground in your works." And in addition to these things, they were sent out from the much-desired abodes of the beginning and the delight of paradise. And being naked and without clothing, and henceforth in need of garments, they then only with difficulty learned.

and they had leather tunics for this, God having taken pity; and they called the earth mother, and they were carried on linen cloths of corruption, and nothing, I think, was entirely lacking of what would bring them to extreme misery. 3. But what then? Someone might say, I think: if the human being, once created, was destined to depart into such misery, why would it not be far better for him, reasonably, to be considered not to exist at all? Yet it makes the one who will soon be pitiable and wretched, and under curse and penalty, so brilliant and admirable. Now the Creator, being God by nature, was least of all ignorant of the future. But since he worked knowing this, how will he not be convicted of having harmed rather than benefited, if it is truly better for those who will be wretched never to have come into being at all, according to the very word of the Savior which he spoke concerning the traitor disciple: "Was it good for that man if he had not been born?" To such things I would say that it is exceedingly dangerous and close to the stupidity that leads to ruin, or rather far within and beyond it, to reproach divine plans as if they were not rightly made, and to think that the highest nature either disregarded what is fitting or at least failed in what is useful and better, as among human affairs. It would be more fitting, rather, to attribute to it the blameless character in its counsels and actions, to refrain from thinking beyond what one ought, and not to leave unchecked the meddlesomeness in these matters. And besides this, I think one must also take into account the following:

whether it is better for those who have obtained being together with well-being not to come into generation, that is, to exist, and to partake of the Creator's gentleness; but no one would doubt this, I think. For just as for those who will exist miserably, if they were brought into generation, not attaining this would reasonably be considered better and more desirable; in the same way, I think, for those who will be disposed as little as possible, it is a fine and worthy thing to come into existence and live. What then, tell me? For I say that this argument must be raised by us to things far beyond our own; I mean again the blessed angels. They have been made by God, and have their passage from non-being into being: Angels and Archangels, Thrones and Authorities, Powers and Principalities, and even the highest Seraphim themselves. And the apostate dragon himself was among the things that have come to be, and the evil powers with him, and they were together with the other holy and rational creatures, filling the upper abodes, excelling in glory, and far superior to us, having an incomparable preeminence. And indeed it is said somewhere by God: I have placed you among the Cherubim. But the holy Cherubim have their glory firmly established, and securely preserve their own rank. And thousands upon thousands serve God, and myriads upon myriads stand by him. But Satan has slipped away with others, and has been deprived of his own glory.

Since he was about to abandon his own beginning, willingly veering off to offend God, the Creator of all needed to admit hesitation—I mean regarding the creation of the holy angels—and to reject such a splendid and admirable creation. Then how would it not seem unjust if the multitude that has been present until now and serves, preserving its loyalty to God who fashioned it, and not allowing itself to suffer forgetfulness of its own origin, had not been brought into generation? For what, tell me, is so grievous if some, through contempt, have failed to obtain well-being? But those who are better than these stand with God, richly filled with his gentleness, and honor him with long and unceasing praises. And concerning them, I think, the blessed David says somewhere: "Blessed are all who dwell in your house; they will praise you for ever and ever." Since our discussion about these matters stands thus, come, let us lower the inquiry and examine it also in our own case.

For man was at the beginning entrusted with the reins of his own will, and had an unconstrained inclination toward whatever he might choose. For the Divine, after which he was also formed, is free. And it was, I think, in this way and no other that he possessed the admirable quality, if he were seen as a willing worker of virtue, and as having as the fruit of his own judgment the sincerity in his deeds, not as a result of natural necessity, which does not at all permit one to be carried outside the good, even if one should choose to do what is not so. Therefore, at the beginning, man had the unconstrained and free inclination of his mind toward all that was to be done; but by the deceptions of the serpent, he was foolishly carried away to what was not fitting, and he made light of the transgression. For this he was condemned to death and corruption, God, I think, having beforehand considered what was more beneficial in the circumstance. For once man had deviated into sin, and his nature had become infirm in its inclination toward evil, he was, perhaps, on a par with the unclean spirits, being detected in an unceasing evil upon the earth. Therefore, the death of the flesh was usefully devised, not to send the living being into utter destruction, but rather for renewal, and, so to speak, for a refashioning, like a vessel that has been shattered, preserved for a time to be remade. For that the living being would suffer corruption in the meantime was not unknown to the Creator, but he knew, along with this, the resolution of the absurdities, the removal of corruption, the restoration to a better state, and the recovery of the original goods.

For he knew that in due time he would send his own Son in human form to die for us and to break the power of death, so that he might rule over both the dead and the living. What then? Even if not all have believed, yet the multitude of those who are saved, being greater in number, will, as it were, dance in triumph over the destruction of those others; and the grief over them will prove stale, as if saying outright: So then, they will eat the fruits of their own way. For it was possible for them to be saved, if they had wished, and to escape the harms that had crept in among them, but they do not accept the Redeemer, that is, Christ. For consider: if someone, tell me, a skilled gardener, filled his own garden with the more vigorous trees, and then not all of them escaped the harm that befell them from various causes, would anyone think that the one who chose to garden had not chosen rightly to labor? But no one, I think, would find fault. Far from it; for he gave due care to what was planted, but the plants were sickly and suffered. Shall we then say that it would have been better that no one at all should have gone to gardening, nor that the garden should have been planted with the most noble plants, but rather to have abolished entirely the methods of planting, so that none of the plants might be harmed? And how then is it not utterly absurd to think that this is correct?

Therefore we will not justly accuse the Creator for bringing us into existence, but rather we will blame ourselves for suffering voluntary harm, if we are of sound mind and reason. For that he, immediately upon bringing man into being, considered that he would fall into corruption, and was not ignorant of the means of healing, the divine Paul clearly teaches, attesting to the antiquity, as it were in foreknowledge of the Spirit, of salvation through Christ. For he writes thus to his own disciple Timothy: "Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner; but suffer together with the Gospel according to the power of God who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and the grace given to us in Christ Jesus before eternal ages, but manifested at the end of the ages through the appearance of our Savior Jesus Christ." And to others again: "We know that for those who love God, everything cooperates for good, for those who are called according to purpose. For those whom he foreknew and predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, these he also called; and those whom he called, these he also justified. And those whom he justified, these he also glorified." Do you hear how he says that the grace in Christ was given before eternal ages, and that those who would be conformed to the image of his Son were clearly foreknown and predestined by God the Father? For, as I said, the manner of the incarnation was foreknown.

The remedy for the infirmities was being stored up for the appropriate time, and Paul will again bear witness, writing thus: "To the one able to strengthen us according to my Gospel, and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of a mystery kept silent for eternal times, now made manifest through prophetic Scriptures by the command of the eternal God, for the obedience of faith, made known to all nations, to the only wise God through Jesus Christ, to whom is glory forever. Amen." For the mystery had been kept silent, but was now made manifest, through both law and prophets, according to the will of God and Father. For we have been re-formed in Christ toward the beginning, with the intervening things that had been inserted by diabolical deceit overturned. For Paul said again here concerning our Savior Christ: "In whom we have the redemption through his blood, the remission of sins according to the wealth of his goodness, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he set forth in himself for the economy of the fullness of the times, to recapitulate all things in Christ, those in the heavens and those on the earth, in him. In whom we also were allotted, having been predestined according to the purpose of the one who effects all things according to the counsel of his will, for us to be for the praise of his glory, those who had hoped beforehand in Christ." Behold then again we have been predestined, according to the purpose of the Father.

We have also, as it were, grown older in the hope of being, God having foreknown the matter and in his own counsels recording what follows for us. For since the inventor of sin deceived Adam and rendered him guilty of the charges of ease in the beginning, and thus it happened that he was brought down to death, and the penalty has passed to all men, as the disease goes from the root to its offshoots; for it reigned from Adam until Moses, and upon those who sinned in the likeness of Adam's transgression, the Creator necessarily made provision for his own creatures, and devised for us, as it were, a second root of the race, raising us up to the former incorruption, so that just as the image of the first man, who was from the earth, marked us out as destined to die and to be caught in the snares of corruption, so again the second beginning after him, that is, Christ, and our likeness to him through the Spirit, might imprint indestructibility upon us; and just as in that first man our disobedience subjected us to punishments, so in this one our docility and complete obedience might show us partakers of blessing from above and from the Father. For, he says, the first man Adam became a living soul, the last Adam a life-giving spirit. And again he explained this to us in another way, saying: The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man, the Lord, is from heaven. As is the earthy one, so are the earthy; and as is the heavenly one, so are the heavenly. And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. And again:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf. For he humbled himself, as it is written; and the only-begotten Son of God, the Word, willingly descended and submitted to our condition, not so that he might be ruled by death along with us, as if Adam transmitted death to him as well—since he himself is the one who gives life to all things—but so that, having abolished the form subject to corruption, he might transform it into life. For this reason he became flesh. Thus also the wise Paul writes: For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man; and just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. For it is foolish to think that Adam, being earthborn and a man, naturally transmitted the power of the curse that befell him, like some inheritance, to the entire race; while Emmanuel, who is from above and from heaven, and God by nature, who has taken on likeness to us and become a second Adam for us, would not cause those who choose to partake of kinship with him through faith to share abundantly in his own life. For we have become of the same body with him through the mystical blessing. And we are united also in another way, because we have become partakers of his divine nature through the Spirit. For he dwells in the souls of the saints, and as the blessed John says: In this we know that he is in us, from the Spirit which he gave us. Therefore he himself is our life, he himself is our justification. And it is written again:

Therefore, just as through one transgression all people were brought under condemnation, so through one act of righteousness all people are brought to justification of life. And again: just as through the disobedience of one man the many were rendered sinful, so through the obedience of one man the many will be rendered righteous. It is therefore not unclear that the mystery concerning Christ was prefigured in Adam the first man, not indeed as an exact and identical copy, but as something having a different character and in an inverted form. For the one was the beginning for the race, toward death, toward curse, toward condemnation; the other toward everything opposite: toward life, toward blessing, toward justification. And the one took the woman into one flesh and perished through her; Christ, uniting the Church to himself through the Spirit, rescues and saves her, and makes her superior to diabolical deception. Therefore he also persuades her to cry out; for we are not ignorant of his thoughts. And the forefather Adam received corruption as the wages of sin and the penalty for transgression; but righteousness was a charge against Christ, according to the stupidity of the Jews. Therefore, through the suffering of death, he is crowned with honor and glory, according to the voice of the blessed Paul. And to Adam alone and with difficulty were the things on earth subjected; to Christ, all things. For every knee of the heavenly, earthly, and subterranean beings will bow to him, and every tongue will confess that Lord Jesus Christ is to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Concerning Cain and Abel. 1. Human nature was subjected, as at the beginning of the race in Adam, as I have just said, to death and sin; but it has been redeemed in no other way than through Christ alone. For as his disciple wrote, "There is no other name under heaven given among men in which we must be saved." For it was necessary, it was necessary that the one through whom all things were brought into existence should become the renewer of that which had been corrupted, and that the blindness from sin should be driven out; that he should abolish what causes grief, and again bestow well-being abundantly upon those who came into being through him. For I would consider it a splendid achievement, worthy of divine power and indeed authority, both to be able to bring from non-being into being, and to recall, as it were, to well-being those things that have erred from being in a good and sound state, making them recoverable. Now the type concerning this has been shown in Adam. But one may see it no less inscribed in those who came from him. For in Christ, God and Father recapitulates both the things in the heavens and those on the earth. And that which slipped where it should not is brought back to its original state, through him and him alone, the intervening intrusions having already vanished into nothingness, and the things on earth being reorganized into a new creation. For there is a new creation in him, and the word is true. Behold then, behold also in Abel and Cain the mystery of Christ, through which we have been saved. So it is written in Genesis: "And Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said:

I acquired a man through God, and he proceeded to bear his brother Abel. And Abel became a shepherd of sheep. Cain, however, was working the earth. And it came to pass after some days, Cain brought an offering from the fruits of the earth to the Lord, and Abel also brought an offering from the firstborn of his sheep and from their fat. And God looked upon Abel and upon his gifts, but upon Cain and his sacrifices He did not regard. And this grieved Cain greatly, and his face fell. And the Lord God said to Cain: Why have you become so sorrowful, and why has your face fallen? If you do not offer correctly, but do not divide correctly, have you not sinned? Be at peace; his return is to you, and you will rule over him. And a little later: And Cain said to his brother Abel: Let us go out into the plain. And it came to pass while they were in the plain, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. And the Lord God said to Cain: Where is your brother Abel? And he said: I do not know; am I the guardian of my brother? And God said: What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. And now you are accursed upon the earth, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. Because you work the earth, it will no longer give you its strength; you will be groaning and trembling upon the earth. And Cain said to the Lord: My guilt is greater than that I should be forgiven.

And if you cast me out today from the face of the earth, I will be hidden from your face, and I will be groaning and trembling upon the earth, and it will be that everyone who finds me will kill me. And the Lord God said to him: Not so; everyone who kills Cain will release seven avengers. And the Lord God placed a sign upon Cain, so that no one who found him would slay him. And Cain went out from the face of God. 2. Cain, then, and also Abel, both were born from Adam, and they were like tender and flourishing shoots, springing from the root in the beginnings and first of all, and in them human nature was practicing its fruit-bearing, and growth and increase were just beginning to appear, and then in strength. But Cain preceded in time of birth. And Abel followed and was after him; and as long as they were soft and young, like some nestlings they were nurtured by their parents. But when the youths came to adolescence, and thereafter appeared to be among men, they turned to different kinds of labor. And Cain, I think, being pleased with the earth that was verdant, and seeing it very well-wooded and most productive, and adorned with ripe fruits, thought it necessary to make the appearance of what was seen more cultivated by his efforts; and he considered that the things which were from home and naturally admirable and spontaneously tending to this beauty would, as is likely, if they received agricultural labor, easily come to a far superior appearance. So he prepared himself in a rustic manner, and using all his strength, he wished to accomplish his purpose.

Nature perhaps gave him the knowledge of these things as well, and a divine and ineffable law inscribed somewhere the understanding of what he might choose. But Cain was deemed worthy of these pursuits and labors, while wise Abel, sweating over the trees and wielding the hoe, and moreover not enduring the sickle, was entrusted with flocks of sheep. Perhaps lambs still bleating faintly to their mothers, barely crying out, and skipping lightly on tender, newly-formed feet over blooming grass, and also the bleating goats leaping effortlessly over the highest rocks, inclined him to this purpose. And, I think, he deemed it most excellent to crown the pastoral life, being exceedingly wise, considering the matter as a kind of prelude to rule over men, and holding that it is so. It is customary to call those who preside over nations, cities, or peoples shepherds of the people, both in inspired Scripture itself and among the Greek sages. So, as the two young men diverged, one toward farming, the other toward the better pursuit, the pastoral life, as time advanced, for Cain it made the gardens thick and lush, laden with ripe fruits, while for Abel it brought the gathered flocks to as great a multitude as possible. Then the law within us of innate knowledge of God called the men to the duty of kindling thank-offerings to the Creator of all and to God, the giver of every good to us.

If indeed the purpose of discerning who the maker of all things is appears corrupted and not true, perhaps, among the worshippers of idols, yet an innate and necessary law pricks, and a self-impelled knowledge rouses, at least to the need of conceiving that which is superior and incomparably better than us, that is, God. So then the sacred and all-wise Abel brings the choice and select offerings of the flock: for he brought, it says, from the firstborn of the lambs and from their fat, that is, the foremost and exceptional. And not being ignorant of the manner of sacrifice, he presented the fat. But Cain not so, but very carelessly: for the most excellent of the ripe fruits he bestowed on his own pleasures, and with the inferior he vexed the God over all. Therefore, over Abel's gifts, sending down fire from heaven, he caused the offerings to be consumed; but over Cain and his sacrifices, it says, he did not attend. For he did not send the customary fire upon what was offered. Hence Cain is greatly distressed and terribly agitated. And learning the cause of the rejection, and that Abel had carried the better vote, he did not rather turn to correction of his errors; but, bursting into untimely rages, he first among men gave birth to untamed envy; and, as if avenging the rejection upon the God of all, he craftily attacks the admired one. And he trampled on the law of affection, having his mind filled with devilish baseness and unholy designs, while feigning kindness in words.

Let us go into the plain, he says. Do you hear how he called them to the fields, as though he would be an observer of his own gentleness and would enjoy the manifold sight of the flowers? But he commits an unholy act and gives his own brother as a kind of first-fruit and first-offering to death, and was a teacher to human nature of the path to bloodshed. When God inquired and said, "Where is Abel your brother?" the wretch lies and harshly retorts, saying, "I do not know." But when he was proved a murderer and was subjected to the curses, he thought again that he himself would die, even if God did not wish it, and that the matter would be a release for him from the wrath of God. For he said, "If you cast me out today from the face of the earth, I will hide from your face, and I will be groaning and trembling on the earth, and it will be that everyone who finds me will kill me." But that he would be wholly and completely subject to the curses and would pay the penalties for his own unholy deeds, living a most wretched life on earth, he was clearly informed when God said, "Not so, for everyone who kills Cain will release seven avenging penalties." And he sets "seven" in place of "many"; it is therefore as if he says, "He who releases the fratricide Cain from embodied life will grant him the penalty for many and unholy transgressions." But if someone should choose to say that the avenging penalties are seven in number, it is not difficult to say, measuring them out, that the first sin for Cain was not to divide rightly, nor to dedicate to God the choicest of all things.

Second, learning of the sin, he does not turn to repentance and correct his errors by running back to what is better, but is whetted to anger and incited by the successes of his neighbor, whom he ought by all means to have chosen to emulate, not to regard as an enemy and look upon with unjust eyes. Third, and as it were a preliminary assault of the savagery that drives him to murder, is savage envy. Fourth is the act itself, "Let us go into the plain," which bears the stamp of guile and deceit. Fifth are the charges of unholy bloodshed. A sixth fault might be counted against him, that he falsely spoke of God. Seventh, that he thought he could escape punishment without God's will, though he was not unwillingly released from life in the body. But, he says, God gave a sign to Cain that he would not kill anyone who found him. And Cain went out from the face of God. He was immediately subject to the curses, and the manner of his turning away followed. For how would the all-pure and most holy nature oversee one who had already driven himself to the limit of all evil?

Third, let these things be said by us for now in a summary and historical manner. But, as if repainting the image of the picture and recasting the shadow in the letter into truth, come now, come, and examining each point very precisely, let us say this: that the mystery of Christ can be seen prefigured in the beginning as in a shadow by the event. For it was necessary, it was necessary, when human nature had fallen into sin and been unexpectedly caught in the snares of death, that the mystery of restoration to something better be proclaimed beforehand, and that Christ, who would die for us and on our behalf, not be unknown in due time. Therefore, the forefather Adam was made, according to the faith of the Holy Scriptures, in the image and likeness of God. And from him were born and came forth, first Cain, and second after him Abel. But we will place the person of Israel on Cain. For Christ himself deemed it fitting that the multitudes of the Jews, being similar in character to Cain, should prefigure him. For he himself said: "If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." But they, not understanding the beauty of the freedom of the Father, attempted to take pride in fleshly boasts, saying: "We are the seed of Abraham, and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, 'You will be free'?" What then did Christ say to this? "If you were children of Abraham," he says, "you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you, which I heard from the Father.

Abraham did not do this. But he assigns to them Satan as their father, saying: "You do the works of your father." That one was a murderer from the beginning, and he did not stand in the truth, because he is a liar, just as his father is. And we will not suppose, understanding rightly, that Christ was speaking of the wicked and utterly evil demon; but to the Jews, who were raging and laboring over the unholy bloodshed against him, he gives as father the first murderer and practitioner of falsehood, I mean Cain, and that one's father Satan, the inventor of sin. When some teach what father we shall assign to the devil, or what we say is the archetype of his perversity, he assigns to Cain as to an archetype, as if to an image, those who are said to suffer likeness in any respect to the impiety present in him. For that it is the custom of Christ the Savior to call Satan one who resembles his ways, we shall observe also very easily when he says to the holy disciples: "Did I not choose you twelve, and behold one of you is a devil?" So then Israel is to be compared to Cain, about whom it is written: "My firstborn son Israel." But after the firstborn Israel, Christ appeared as second in time, as it were, and youngest, himself also a son of Adam. Therefore he wisely and economically called himself Son of Man everywhere; but Israel seemed to honor God by offering the temporary and perishable things, and those of which there is not very great account, and he set his whole mind, as it were, on earthly pursuits.

He turned to farming, Cain, but Abel was a shepherd of sheep. For Emmanuel was the leader of the rational flock, and He is the Good Shepherd, in a rich place and in good pasture, as it is written, shepherding the flocks above and on the earth. To Him the prophetic word also cried out: "Shepherd your people with the staff of your watch, the sheep of your inheritance." Therefore, Israel deemed it worthy to honor God with more earthly things, offering the fruits of the law and dedicating to Him the unwilling sacrifices. So too, they heard through the voice of the saints: "The whole burnt offering of your rams, and the fat of lambs, and the blood of goats and bulls, I do not want, nor shall you come to appear before me. For who sought these from your hands? You will not add to tread my court. If you bring fine flour, it is vain; incense is an abomination to me." And again: "Why do you bring me frankincense from Sheba, and cinnamon from a distant land? Your whole burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices have not pleased me." This is clearly that God did not attend to the sacrifices of Cain. But Abel the righteous, that is, Christ, offered to God the firstborn of the rational flocks, that is, those tender in heart, childish in wickedness, and choice in virtues, bearing the glory of the firstborn in their likeness to Him. For the Church of firstborn enrolled in the heavens is the multitude of those called through faith to sanctification, as the divine Paul names it; therefore, of this holy multitude and of the flock of firstborn, Christ has become the priest.

For through Him we have gained access in spirit to God the Father. And we have become a good and acceptable sacrifice, beyond a young calf bearing horns and hooves. For the approach through blood is lowly and more earthly, and lacks fragrance before God. But worship in spirit and through Christ is exceedingly pleasing to the Father. Indeed, to those from Israel who offered things from the earth, God declared: "I will not accept from your house calves, nor from your flocks goats; for all the beasts of the field, the cattle in the mountains and the oxen, are mine. I know all the birds of the sky, and the beauty of the field is with me. If I hunger, I will not tell you; for the inhabited world and its fullness are mine." But to us, justified in Christ and sanctified in spirit, He addressed these words: "Sacrifice to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in your day of distress, and I will deliver you, and you will glorify me." Therefore, spiritual things are superior to those from the earth, and the sacrifice through Christ is far more excellent than that according to the law. So God inclined not to the sacrifices of Cain, but to those of Abel. And for what reason? For Israel offered correctly—it was necessary to sacrifice to God—but they did not distinguish correctly, always dwelling on the types and thinking that God delighted in shadows. Consequently, they erred and were commanded to be still, that is, to cease from the ancient and legal customs, and to make Christ their leader. For it was said to Cain: "You have erred; be still." And to Abel:

Your return is to you, and you will rule over him. But if Israel had wished, rejecting the approach through more earthly means and the uselessness of worship according to the law, to make Christ leader and guide of the path to the better, it would have been free with us and in the book of the living, according to the Scriptures. But since, like Cain, it made the approval of our Savior a pretext for envy and a beginning of bloodshed, it has fallen under a curse and become liable to seven avengers. For the wretches have become liable to many penalties and have been subjected to savage punishments, continuing to groan and tremble; for they are everywhere strangers, aliens, and fearful, and do not have the freedom that is most becoming to the free. Yet Cain received a sign that he would not be utterly destroyed; for Israel has not perished entirely, but a remnant has been saved, according to the voice of the prophet, and knowing this he foretold, saying: And if the Lord of Hosts had not left us seed, we would have become like Sodom and been likened to Gomorrah. And indeed also the divine Psalmist entreated the God of all that Israel not be utterly obliterated: Do not kill them, lest they ever forget your law. But Cain departed from the face of God. For it is written thus: And Cain went out from the face of God. And those from Israel have suffered something similar, to whom it is said through the voice of the prophet: When you stretch out your hands to me, I will turn my eyes away from you, and if you multiply your prayer, I will not listen to you.

For your hands are full of blood. For they killed the Lord of all, and have dared, from an excess of impiety, to say, "His blood is upon us and upon our children." But the blood of Abel perhaps only cried out against the murderer; the precious blood of Christ, however, has cried out both against the cruelty and ingratitude of the Jews and has raised the world from sin, since it was shed for it. Therefore the divine Paul says: We who are justified by faith are to approach by a sprinkling of blood that speaks more powerfully than Abel. And it would be fitting, I think, to add this as well to what has been said. For after Abel died, it says, Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore a son, and she named him Seth, saying, "God has raised up for me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain killed." Then later: And Adam lived two hundred and thirty years, and he begot a son according to his own form and according to his own image, and he named him Seth. Observe then that after the death of Abel, a son Seth is born again, most resembling the one made in the image and likeness of God, that is, Adam. For after the death in the flesh of Emmanuel, another seed immediately sprang up for Adam, possessing in itself the supreme beauty of the divine image; for we who believe are being re-formed into Christ through the Spirit. And that the death of Christ was a kind of root and occasion for these things, he himself will confirm, saying, "Amen, amen, I say to you.

If the grain of wheat does not fall into the earth and die, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. When, therefore, he fell like a grain into the earth, like an ear of corn, he grew up manifold, the human nature being refashioned in him toward the original image, according to which the first man was made. 4. It is also worthwhile for us to investigate the race from both, I mean that of Cain and that of Seth; for from this too something will accrue to us that tends to benefit. It is written thus: "And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enosh, and he was building a city, and he named the city after the name of his son Enosh. And to Enosh was born Gaidad, and Gaidad begot Maouias. And Maouias begot Mathousala, and Mathousala begot Lamech, and Lamech took for himself two wives; the name of one was Ada, and the name of the second was Sella. And Lamech said to his wives Ada and Sella: 'Hear my voice, wives of Lamech; give ear to my words, that I have killed a man for a wound to me, and a youth for a bruise to me; for it has been avenged seven times from Cain, and from Lamech seventy-seven times.'" In these things you have a clear account of the genealogy from Cain. Let us also see what that from Seth was. It is written again thus: "And Seth lived two hundred and five years, and begot Enosh; concerning whom the sacred Scripture says: 'This one hoped to call upon the name of the Lord God.' And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died. And Enosh lived one hundred and ninety years, and begot Kainan.

And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years, and he died. And Cainan lived one hundred and seventy years, and begat Maleleel. And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died. And Maleleel lived one hundred and sixty-five years, and begat Jared. And all the days of Maleleel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died. And Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begat Enoch. Then it says: And Enoch was well-pleasing to God, and he was not found, because God translated him. Observe then, even before the rest, how those from Cain are named, and the account of the succession of the generations proceeds. Yet it is not the case that the number of years to which the time of each life extends is clearly set forth, as indeed it is in the case of those born from Seth. For the time of each is accurately recorded—how long and how much each lived, and before the begetting of children, and after that—so that one might learn in a detailed and precise manner from the holy Scriptures. This, therefore, is also a not obscure indication to those who have chosen to examine such matters at all, that God would not deign to know the life of those who love sin. For they will hear Christ saying at the divine tribunal: Truly I say to you, I never knew you. For nothing that pertains to knowledge escapes the God of all. But knowing, He does not know those who love sin, through His turning away from them, because of their excessive perversity. Therefore, the length of life has been passed over in silence for those from Cain. For they have done nothing worthy of record.

But it was likely that it would be to the detriment of those who would encounter the writing about them. They have indeed been blessed, and quite justly, with remembrance before God. Yet he makes it a matter of concern to know precisely the life of the saints, and nothing, I think, of their affairs would escape the divine and pure mind. And our Lord Jesus Christ will confirm this by saying, "Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion? And not one of them will fall to the ground without our Father in the heavens; and all the hairs of your head are numbered." If the number of hairs is a matter of concern to God, because he clearly knows everything about them, and he makes it a matter of care, in what way then would the time of life itself be unknown? For, it is said, the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous. And the second one immediately after Cain, Enos, had a city named after him on earth, although the saints, as a matter of pride, consider it necessary to think and say, "We have no abiding city here, but we seek the future one, whose craftsman and creator is God." They call and name life in this world a sojourn. And the inspired David sings somewhere, "Let me go, for I am a sojourner on the earth and a stranger, as all my fathers were." And concerning those who think of earthly things, he says in the hundredth psalm, "They called their names upon their generations." And from Seth sprang the inspired Enos, about whom it is written, "He hoped to call upon the name of the Lord his God." For the race in Christ is holy and sacred, and in hope of glory beyond human.

If indeed, being from the earth, we have been called to the adoption of the Master of all, and to the brotherhood of Christ, who became like us for our sake, so that we too through him might become gods, in a better and more than human state, evidently by grace and philanthropy, gaining glory. For he says, "I said, 'You are gods, and all sons of the Most High.'" Enosh therefore hoped to be called by others by the name of his Lord God, that is, God. For since he was not unadmirable, distinguished as he was with the adornments of holiness, some of the more moderate perhaps, having chosen to crown him with the highest honor, called him God. Let our discourse then come to its proper aim. For the Jews, who are indeed images of those from Cain—that they exist is known to the God of all; but that they do not have their enrollment in the book of life would become clear from the fact that the life of those from Cain is passed over in silence. For that the race in Christ is enrolled and in memory before God would, I think, be demonstrated by the fact that the life of the righteous, I mean of those from Seth, is clearly recorded. And Enosh, immediately the second from Cain, had a city named after him. For the wretched Jews value only earthly things, not knowing the church of the firstborn, nor hastening to the city above. But the one from Seth, that is, Enosh, is highly esteemed. For he is already called God. And we, who have run to Christ and cling firmly to hope in him, have through faith acquired the glory in this matter. I would add yet another necessary observation to what I have said.

If someone should choose to trace the genealogies of those from Cain and Seth, having first set Adam as a kind of root for each, he will find Lamech coming seventh through Cain, and Enoch himself seventh through Seth. The enumeration of the generations on both sides runs thus: Adam, Cain, Enos, Gaidad, Maouias, Mathousala, Lamech. And again: Adam, Seth, Enos, Kaian, Maleleel, Iared, Enoch. Let us then see in what each differs. For Lamech communicated with his wives, saying: "Hear my voice, wives of Lamech, give ear to my words: that I have killed a man for a wound to me, and a youth for a bruise to me, because it has been avenged seven times from Cain; and from Lamech seventy times seven." But the righteous Enoch was translated by faith so as not to see death, according to the word of the blessed Paul: "And he was not found, because God translated him." For in the last times, during which the sabbatism in Christ has appeared, Israel is fearful and has fallen into the fear of being punished, as having killed a man, and being henceforth judged for holy blood, and much more so than Cain himself. For Cain, having transgressed against one of our kind, became liable to be avenged seven times; but he who has impiously sinned against Emmanuel himself is much more severely held to account. For it has been avenged seven times from Cain, but from Israel seventy times seven. For punishment will follow in proportion to the impieties. But those who have distinguished themselves through faith in Christ at the time of his advent would not be found even if Satan were to seek them.

They will be transferred by God to an incomparably better and more glorious life, from death and corruption to a long-lived existence, from thinking the things of the flesh to desiring to do the things that please God, from dishonor to glory, from weakness to power, in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom and with whom glory is to the Father together with the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen. GLAPHYRA ON GENESIS, SECOND BOOK. On Noah and the Ark. 1. Noah was a good man, a genuine lover of the highest love of God, and he set nothing before the good repute that comes from this. Since he was illustrious, conspicuous, very famous, and renowned, well crowned with distinctions, he was naturally admired. The account now proceeds to him, and having assigned, as it were, the economy that took place in his time as an image and type of salvation through Christ, it would benefit, I think, and not moderately, those who will encounter it. Come then, let us relate each of the things concerning him as far as possible, stripping away the thickness of the history and skillfully transforming the evident events into spiritual contemplation.

So then, Seth was born from Adam after the slaying of Abel. And from Seth came Enosh, who hoped to call upon the name of the Lord his God. For among the people of that time, Enosh was called God. Because they were amazed at the magnitude of the righteousness present in him, they immediately named him God, considering that the title was especially fitting for the man's virtue. And from Enosh, that is, the one surnamed God, others were born, after whom came Lamech, the father of Noah, who at the birth of his son was immediately revealed as a prophet, just as, of course, Zacharias was at the birth of the blessed Baptist. For Lamech named his son Noah, which means rest, if the word is interpreted in our language. And giving the reason for this naming, Lamech says, "This one will give us rest from our works, and from the earth which the Lord God cursed." Thus, with such bright and most splendid hopes, the birth of Noah was foretold to the people of old. And he was the tenth from Adam, traced through Seth, up to whom it was necessary that those born from Enosh, the one surnamed God, were called Gods by all. But Noah, it says, was five hundred years old, and he begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Shem would be translated from Hebrew into the Greek language as perfection or plant; Ham as heat; and Japheth as breadth. Then the sacred Scripture says: "And it came to pass when men began to be many on the earth, and daughters were born to them.

When the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, they took wives for themselves from among all those whom they selected. And the Lord God said, "My spirit will not remain among these men forever, because they are flesh. Their days will be one hundred and twenty years." And the giants were upon the earth in those days. And after that: As the sons of God went in to the daughters of men, and begot children for themselves, those were the giants, the men of renown from of old. For since the race of men had already extended into a great multitude, the sons of God, having fallen into an utterly outlandish desire for women, they say, took wives for themselves from among all those whom they selected. We know, therefore, that some of the copies clearly contain: "When the angels of God saw the daughters of men." Then some turn aside the accusations of love of the flesh, and ascribe the causes of such abominable desire to angels who have slipped, who have not kept their own beginning, according to what is written. But I would say and agree that every infirmity of mind would befit those; but to allow the faith in the matter based on plausible reasoning to be carried as far away as possible would, as it seems to me, be among the most absurd things. For it is our purpose to love to examine the truth in each of the written things, and not at all to consider the infirmities of the company of demons. For we see that desires always follow the movements that are in us and innate.

For either we love the passions of the flesh, or we are accustomed to make much of those things through which the passions of the flesh might arise. And apart from the natural laws, pleasures do not carry us away, at least as it seems to me to be both well and truly the case. For example, to speak plainly, eating and drinking, and, say, natural intercourse with women, would be works and passions of the flesh. But desires for wealth and glory serve the pleasures of the flesh, and nearly all the passions in the world come through these, according to what was said by the wise disciple, that everything in the world is the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life. The bitter and terrible desires of such things easily ensnare us into choosing to think and do the things of the flesh; but no argument will persuade anyone to love things outside the body and contrary to nature. Then how could it not be close to folly to say that spirits above and beyond the flesh love fleshly things, what natural motion they have toward this, or what law incites them, just as, of course, it incites us ourselves to need to thirst for such passions, especially? For let us not, by chance, absolve the host of demons of the cause in these matters. For it is unholy and profane, and prone to anything whatsoever that is out of the ordinary. And let it suffer, if you will, along with other things, also unnatural pleasures. But when the divine Scripture says that they consorted with women, and that they begot those called giants—that is, extraordinary monsters, but rational humans—what then must we reason about this?

For it is not from the farthest spirits that the seed of a man could be deposited into a woman. Some people speak idly and fabricate an account of the matter, stealthily substituting the impossible with plausible arguments, as they suppose; for they say that the evil demons, having come into being among men, effected the depositions of seeds through them. But we will find their argument exceedingly ugly and full of ignorance. For how shall we accept and count among things that truly are what the divine Scripture has not said? Therefore, let us rather read: "And the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful, and they took wives for themselves from among all those whom they chose." And the rendering by the other translators confirms for us that this reading is correct. For Aquila says, "And the sons of the gods saw the daughters of men." And Symmachus, in turn, instead of "sons of the gods," has rendered "the sons of the rulers." They called "sons of the gods" and indeed "of the rulers" those from Seth and Enos, on account of the piety and love of God present in them, and their ability to overcome all who opposed them, with God, as is reasonable, somewhere coming to their aid and making manifest the most sacred and holy race, which was unmixed with the other, that is, with those from Cain and indeed from Lamech, who, following in the footsteps of his father, became a murderer; for he confessed, "That I killed a man for a wound to me, and a young man for a bruise to me.

As long, then, as the sacred race itself continued by itself and unmixed with the worse, the beauty of piety toward God, still pure and unadulterated, shone forth in them and rendered them admirable. But when they slipped into love of the flesh and, driven wild by the charms of women, were inclined toward apostasy—"For they took," it says, "from all whom they selected from among the daughters of men," that is, from those of Cain—although called gods and sons of gods and rulers, they were then carried away to the customs of those people and into a shameful and profane manner of life and conduct. And the women gave birth to monsters, God henceforth corrupting even the beauties of human bodies themselves because of the incontinence in licentious desires of the people of that time. And those born were giants, that is, wild and strong, and very much afflicted with ugliness, and surpassing others in the size of their bodies. It should be known that the language of the inspired Scripture is accustomed to call the exceedingly robust "giants." Indeed, it said concerning the Persians and Medes through the voice of the prophets: "Giants come to fulfill my wrath, rejoicing and also insolent." But we will by no means adhere to the false tales of the Greeks. For their literary men, especially the poets, are accustomed, according to what seems good to them, to narrate and fabricate the natures of things, to exalt the small and insignificant, and to think it necessary to dignify things with extremely false myths, even if the narrative departs far from what is fitting.

One says that the whole of Sicily was hurled into the sky by one of the giants, while another tells an even greater and more monstrous lie about a different figure. For they were, as I said, terrible to behold, immense in strength, harsh and unapproachable, and by the superiority of their bodies they surpassed others only a little, as is likely, but not, as those accustomed to fabricate myths about them claim, did they actually touch the clouds. γ. So, when the races were mingled with one another, and all had declined into unbridled sin, the Lord God saw, it says, that the wickednesses of men had multiplied upon the earth, and that each one diligently pondered evil in his heart all the days, and God considered, or repented; and according to another version, that of Aquila I mean, that he had made man upon the earth, and he considered, and said: I will wipe out the man whom I made from the face of the earth; from man to beast, and from the reptiles to the birds of the sky; because I considered that I made them. But Noah found favor before the Lord God. You understand that he intends the wiping out of every man. But since Noah was adorned with the ways of piety, he alone is spared; and he does not destroy him along with the others, but saves him with his whole household. And indeed he says to him: The time of every man has come before me, because the earth has been filled with injustice from them, and behold I will destroy them and the earth. Therefore, make for yourself an ark of squared timbers; you will make nests in the ark, and you will seal it with pitch both inside and outside.

And thus you shall make the ark: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, and its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall construct the ark by joining together, and finish it at a cubit from the top. And again after other things: And you shall enter into the ark, you and your sons, and your wife, he says, and the wives of your sons with you, and from all the wild beasts and from all the domestic animals, and from every living creature, two by two. You shall bring from all into the ark, so that you may feed them with yourself; male and female they shall be from all the birds according to kind, and from the domestic animals according to kind, and from all the reptiles that creep upon the earth, according to their kind, two by two. From all they shall come to you to be fed with you, male and female. And from the clean ones, you shall collect seven by seven, he says; and two again from the unclean ones. Now when all these things had been accomplished, just as the God of all commanded, every living thing was being drowned, as rains and hail and a most violent downpour of waters from above and from the sky flooded the whole region under heaven; and the ark floated, bearing a cargo of righteous souls. But when the waters had subsided a little, The ark settled, it says, upon the mountains of Ararat; and Noah, opening the door of the ark, sends out the raven to see if the water had ceased from the face of the earth; but it did not return. Then after that he released a dove, and the dove, not finding rest for its feet, it says, returned to him into the ark, because water was upon the whole face of the earth.

And Noah stretched out his hand, took her, and brought her into the ark with him. And a second was sent out after seven days, and it returned toward evening, having an olive branch in its mouth; and a third he sent out again after seven days, but it did not, it says, return to him anymore. He then understood that all the water had been swallowed up from the earth. And the dry land and what was on it appeared again. Since, together with his own children and all those gathered with him, he now saw the earth freed from the waters, he immediately built an altar; and he hastened to offer whole burnt offerings of the clean and undefiled cattle and birds, dedicating, I think, thank-offerings to God who had saved them. When this happened, it says, the Lord God smelled a fragrance of good odor, and the Lord God said, having reflected: I will no longer add to cursing the earth because of the works of men; for the mind of man is intently set on evil from his youth. I will therefore no longer add to striking every living flesh, as I did, for all the days of the earth; seed and harvest, cold and heat, summer and spring, day and night will not cease. And in addition, it says, the Lord God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and rule over it.

And your fear and your trembling shall be upon all the beasts of the earth, and upon all the cattle, and upon all the birds of the sky, and upon all the creeping things on the earth, and upon all the fish of the sea; I have given them under your hands. Our discourse having now arrived at this point, as if in a narrative that is literal and historical, there is, I think, nothing at all lacking. Come then, following the track of what has been said, let us convey the inner hidden theory, let us fashion the mystery of Christ, and let us show the image of salvation through him: Noah himself, and the wise and secret economy concerning the ark. Noah was born, then, through Lamech, not the one who had previously killed a man and a young man, but from the namesake through Seth. And our Lord Jesus Christ also sprang from Israel, holy on account of the fathers, but from a people like Lamech in character and of the same mind as the murderer, and indeed a namesake in that he was a murderer. It has been said somewhere to the Jews: "Which of the prophets did your fathers not kill?" And from Christ: "And you shall fill up the measure of your fathers." And indeed through the voice of Isaiah he says: "When you stretch out your hands to me, I will turn my eyes away from you; and if you multiply your entreaty, I will not listen to you; for your hands are full of blood." And Noah is the eleventh from Adam; Christ again, as it were, was born in the last and eleventh time according to the flesh, and begins his economy for us.

You would learn that this is so and true, and, convinced by the sacred Scriptures, you would say it in every way and entirely. For the one hiring workers for the vineyard at the eleventh hour has addressed some—these would be those from the nations—"Why have you stood here idle the whole day?" And when they said openly, "No one hired us," for no one before the coming of our Savior called the nations to knowledge of God, he said kindly and compassionately, "Go you also into the vineyard, and whatever is just, I will give you." And the law through Moses has commanded that the slaughter of the sheep be performed between the evening hours, toward evening and by lamplight. For as if the time were already coming to its very setting, and almost as this present age were now drawing to a close, the Only-begotten Son of God, the Word, became man and endured slaughter on behalf of all, freeing from penalty and punishment and placing far away from every such terror those who have believed. For he is truly Noah, that is, righteousness and rest—for the name is interpreted thus. For we have been justified, according to the Scriptures, not from works of righteousness which we have performed, but by his great mercy. Therefore Christ has become righteousness for us who have believed, and indeed rest, if it is true. As it is said, "He himself was weakened because of our lawlessness, and he was delivered up because of our sins, and by his wound we were healed." And, "The Lord delivered him up to our sins," according to the voice of the prophet.

Christ having suffered in the flesh for us, we are blessed and enviable. And what then? Have we not been summoned to such things, and do we not enjoy the heavenly gifts, and do we not abound in participation, and, having cast off the grievous burden of sin, are we not now released into spiritual well-being? For he himself called us to this, saying: Come to me, all who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon yourselves, and learn from me that I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For that Christ was about to give us rest, the archangel Gabriel also proclaimed beforehand to the holy Virgin, saying: Do not fear, Mary; for you have found grace with God; and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son; and you will call his name Jesus; for he will save his people from their sins. And indeed the inspired prophets were eager to proclaim beforehand the rest that was to come through him. For one said: Take courage, Zion; let not your hands be slack; your Lord God is mighty in you; he will save you and renew you in his love. And Isaiah, as it were, made it visible, saying: Strengthen yourselves, relaxed hands and paralyzed knees; take heart, you who are faint-hearted in mind; be strong, do not fear. Behold our God. Behold the Lord comes with strength, and the arm with authority. As a shepherd he will tend his flock, and with his arm he will gather the lambs, and he will comfort those with young. Therefore Christ has become for us both righteousness and rest.

He has saved us also from the land which the Lord God cursed. For Lamech, prophesying to us concerning Noah, said these things. And it is not disputed that the charges of the transgression in Adam have been dissolved again in Christ. For he became a curse for us, according to what is written, freeing the land from the ancient curse. For through him we say that the Father and God recapitulates everything to the beginning. And the ancient things have passed away, and all things have become new, and there is a new creation in Christ, if indeed he is a second Adam, overturning through obedience the accusation of the first-formed—I mean the disobedience that occurred in the beginning as a defection. The blessed Paul also seems to think this way. For he writes thus: For just as through the disobedience of one man many were constituted sinners, so also through the obedience of one man many will be constituted righteous. And Christ became obedient to the Father unto death, and death by the cross. Therefore, just as the land was accursed because of the transgression in Adam in the beginning, so it has become blessed because of the obedience of Christ. And he has ransomed us in another way from the land that had become accursed. For we expect new heavens and a new earth, according to his promises, as the wise disciple of the Savior also said. And he has inaugurated for us the ascent upward and into the heavens, and as a forerunner he has entered into the holy land on our behalf, which he said the meek would inherit—that is, those who are trained in meekness by the teachings of the Gospel.

If the law commanded that an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a wound for a wound must be inflicted in return upon wrongdoers, Christ says to us, "To the one who strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him also the other." Noah, then, was the eleventh from Adam, through Seth and Enosh, who hoped to call upon the name of the Lord his God, on account of his great piety and God-beloved conduct. And our Lord Jesus Christ is also genealogized by the holy evangelists from Adam, and all the way down to Joseph himself, through every holy person, so to speak, as the line of genealogy proceeds. But come, let us speak of the mixture, as it were, and the intermingling of the generations—of the holy, I mean, and of the one not such, that is, the profane and most abominable. For just as those born from Enosh, surnamed God, raved after the daughters of men, and, this having happened, they were immediately of a different character, having chosen to live by the customs and laws of those men, and they wasted away in corruption toward every kind of outrageous thing, so also those from the blood of Israel, as long as they were workers of a holy manner of life and excellent imitators of ancestral piety, they rejected every way of baseness, and preserved entirely unadulterated, as among themselves, the boasts of their glorious polity. But when they became entangled with the neighboring nations, even though the law had forbidden the practice, they were immediately filled with the abomination inherent in them, and were found to be very easily led astray and fickle, and sick with every kind of the worst evils.

And what is even more paradoxical: the nations, though they had worshipped the creation instead of the creator and had fallen into polytheistic error, honored the hordes of demons with genuine devotion to this. But holy Israel, from above and from their fathers, made their defection a matter of utterly little account. Therefore God says to them through a holy voice: "Go to the islands of Chethieim and see, and send to Kedar and observe closely, and see if such things have happened, if nations will change their gods, and these are not gods. But my people have exchanged their glory, from which they will not benefit. Heaven was astounded at this, and the earth shuddered exceedingly, says the Lord, because my people did two evil things: they abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug for themselves broken cisterns which cannot hold water." And again: "That according to the number of your cities, Judah, were your gods, and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem, they sacrificed to Baal. Why do you speak to me? All of you have transgressed, and all of you have committed impiety against me, says the Lord." For they had gone to such a depth of perversity in their thoughts, and indeed in their deeds, that they even consorted with women who were still wandering in error. And when they gave birth, although it was necessary to mark the infants immediately with the signs of Jewish worship—circumcision on the eighth day and the sacrifices for these—they carried the offerings from the sanctified peoples as a votive to the unclean demons. And this, I think, is what was said about them through the voice of the prophet: "That alien children were born to them.

Therefore, since the holy race had been corrupted by association with what is worse, and as far as quality and difference of opinion and manner, and indeed of customs, had been brought together into one, the destruction of both Israel and all the nations on earth was justly decreed by the Creator of all. But overcome by his innate gentleness, he did not make his anger equal to their sins. However, lest the race on earth be utterly destroyed, he prefigured justification as in faith and the remission through water by means of Noah. For by this means the Only-begotten became man and lived among men, as it is written: the truer Noah. And indeed, as a type of that ancient and famous ark, he all but constructed the Church; into which those who have entered escape the destruction hanging over the world. Thus also the divine Paul interprets the mystery of the ark, saying: Noah, instructed by faith, built an ark for the salvation of his household. Into which, as Peter also says, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. And this antitype now saves us: baptism, not a removal of bodily filth, but a petition of a good conscience to God. How then was the ark constructed? You shall make the length of the ark three hundred cubits, it says, and the width fifty; and the height thirty. You shall build the ark by joining together, and finish it at a cubit from above.

That the mystery of Christ is indicated, albeit very dimly, by this construction would be clear to anyone quite easily, since the inspired Paul writes to those justified in faith that he makes unceasing prayer for them, that they might be able to comprehend, together with all the saints, what is the breadth, length, height, and depth, and to know the surpassing love of Christ that exceeds knowledge. What then is the meaning of the measurements of the ark? It is a correct and precise manifestation of the holy and consubstantial Trinity, and the perfect state and complete perfection in every respect of the one Godhead. For one might observe this indicated to us in the numbers at hand, considering this: that it is customary in the inspired Scripture for numbers that have a backward recapitulation to be a symbol of perfection. What I mean is this: beginning from the first, the hebdomad is completed in the Sabbath on the seventh. Then again we count the next, beginning from the first until again the seventh. Similarly, entering into the number ten, we again begin from the first of the subsequent decade. In this same manner and reasoning, the perfect number composed of perfect numbers will also be constituted, that is, the hundred from ten decades, having recapitulation and recurrence back to the unit again. What I said, then, is that every number that goes backward, as it were, after reaching its proper and determined end, is a symbol of perfection in divine Scripture. Observe, therefore, the complete perfection of the holy Trinity as in three hundreds of cubits. For this is the length of the ark.

That there is, so to speak, a perfection of perfections, the Godhead as in a monad, the breadth would indicate, going as it does to fifty cubits; that is, as if brought to them in seven sevens and a unit, because the nature of the Godhead is one. And the height itself gives birth to no other thought for us than this. For it terminates in a third decade of cubits, but again ends in one that is above and highest. For it says, its height is thirty cubits, and you shall finish it into one cubit. For just as the holy Trinity, widening as it were into three differences of hypostases and indeed of individual persons, contracts as it were into one nature of Godhead. For the Greeks honor the path of polytheistic error. But we, reckoning and truly positing Father, and indeed Son and Holy Spirit in individual hypostases, are accustomed to crown them with a unity of nature. And by the identity of essence, we all but raise up and complete the long, broad, and indeed high ark into one cubit. Therefore Christ saves us in faith, and as it were houses us in the Church as in an ark, in which, having entered, we shall swim above the terror of death and escape being condemned with the world. For the righteous Noah, that is Christ, will be with us.

It is worthwhile, I think, to investigate precisely who might be understood as those who run with Noah into the ark and gain salvation through faith and water. It is written, then, that Noah entered the ark, and his sons, and his wife, and the wives of his sons with him. He brought in with them also from every animal and from the birds, seven of the clean, and two each of the unclean. For God seemed here to be laying down a law. The names of his sons are Shem, Ham, Japheth; Shem is interpreted as "planting" and "perfect," Ham as "heat," and Japheth as "broadening." For we have been saved in Christ through faith, we who are from an imperfect polity, as it were, according to the law, into the perfection of evangelical instruction, like tender shoots planted. Therefore also the inspired David reproached those of the Jewish peoples who did not accept justification in Christ, saying: "You loved wickedness more than goodness, injustice more than speaking justice; you loved all words of destruction, a deceitful tongue." For they have unrestrainedly blasphemed the Son. Because of this, he says, God will destroy you utterly; he will pluck you out and transplant you from your tent, and your root from the land of the living. But concerning those who have loved justification and life in Christ: "Planted in the house of the Lord, they will blossom in the courts of our God." And that not without divine and intelligible fire, and as it were the heat through the Spirit, has Emmanuel worked his grace upon us, the inspired Paul will also confirm.

Wishing to see those called to sanctification as boiling in spirit. And no less does the wise John confirm us, saying: I baptize you in water for repentance; but the one coming after me is stronger than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you in Holy Spirit and fire. For the love of the Jews has grown cold because lawlessness has multiplied among them, as it is written. But we are very hot, and indeed for this. Therefore we say: What will separate us from the love of Christ? Affliction, or narrowness? Or famine, or persecution, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword? So then, a type of those boiling in spirit would be, and quite clearly, Cham, who is understood as heat. And that we have been expanded in heart, emerging from the affliction of life under the law, the third, Japheth, interpreted as expansion, would suggest to us. For to the Jews God spoke through the voice of Isaiah: Hear the word of the Lord, men who are afflicted, and rulers of the people in Jerusalem. And again: Learn to listen while being straitened. But Paul, having emerged from the narrowness of the law, addressed some of those already believing: Our mouth has opened to you, Corinthians. Our heart has been expanded; you are not straitened among us. But you are straitened in your own bowels. And I say to you as children: receive the same recompense, be expanded. Do not become yoked differently with unbelievers. For they still followed the commandments of the Jews and their useless vain counsels.

And somewhere David sings to the universal Savior Christ, as from the perspective of the new people in Christ: "I ran the path of your commandments when you broadened my heart." For our mind has been broadened into wisdom, with Emmanuel dwelling and residing in the souls of all through the Spirit. Such, then, are those who are in Christ through faith. 8. That the multitude of those justified in faith is very great and most pure, while that from the Jews is smaller, one may learn from this without difficulty. For seven of the clean animals were brought into the ark, but two each of the unclean—that is, of the Lord-killing Jews. For the remnant has been saved, according to the voice of the prophet. Yet, that at certain times some of the blood of Israel were going to revolt and depart from the faith, he again typified. For he sent out, it says, the raven from the ark to see if the water had subsided; but it did not return. It was drowned, I think, in the waters, finding no support or stability. Therefore, to slip away from the faith of Christ and to separate oneself is certainly a cause of destruction. Thus also the blessed Paul says to those perfected in the law after faith—that is, those who thought they would be perfect: "You have been abolished from Christ, you who are justified in the law; you have fallen from grace; for we, by the Spirit, await the hope of righteousness from faith." And observe how the raven, among the unclean birds, is a deserter. For they were from the Jews who, after justification in Christ, went backward to the shadows of the law. And concerning them, I think, the wise John also writes somewhere.

They came out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. And when the Spirit clearly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits, see that a clear type of this also has been made through Noah. For he sent out a first and a second dove to reconnoiter, as if the flood had subsided. And they returned as to a nest into the ark, one of them having a twig in its mouth, as it is written, and this was a shoot of an olive. For the saints are sent out by Christ to reconnoiter the world and those in it. And they return as if proclaiming peace. For this, I think, is indirectly indicated by the olive shoot being in the mouth of the dove. For the plant is always somehow a symbol of peace. Now those purified by faith are lovers of God, and as in the gentleness of evangelical life, they are chosen by God. However, that some of them will also depart in the last times, as I just said, the type would indicate. For a third and last dove is sent out, and it did not contemplate returning. For it remained. And when the flood had subsided, the ark settled on the mountains of Ararat, which is interpreted as "testimony of descent." For those who are in Christ through faith are lofty and as if on mountains because of the elevated character of the evangelical life, proclaiming everywhere the God Word who came down from above and from heaven, to whom God Himself called out through the voice of the prophet: "Be my witnesses, and I am a witness, says the Lord God.

and the boy whom I chose. Above, then, of the lowliness in the world, the boastings in Christ. 9. It has come to pass that Emmanuel is also High Priest over us, through whom we have obtained access to the Father and God, and we have been renewed to the beginning, the curse upon the first-formed, I mean, being dissolved. Now then, consider the things written thereafter. For when the earth dried up, it says, Noah came out of the ark, and all those with him. And he built, it says, an altar to God, and took from all the clean beasts, and from all the clean birds, and offered whole burnt offerings on the altar. And God smelled a sweet-smelling odor. And the Lord God said, having considered: I will no longer add to curse the earth because of the works of men. And again after other things: And the Lord God blessed Noah, and his sons, and said to them: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and rule over it, and your fear and your trembling shall be upon all the wild beasts, and upon all the cattle of the earth, and upon all the birds of the sky, and upon all the moving things on the earth, and upon all the fish of the sea; I have given them under your hands. Therefore, when Christ became our High Priest, and we were offered through him in a spiritual sense as a sweet-smelling odor to God and Father, then we were also deemed worthy of his abundant goodwill, and we obtained a firm foundation that death would no longer prevail against us. The things from wrath are dissolved, and the things from that ancient curse are gone.

We are blessed in Christ, through whom and with whom glory is given to God the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen. Concerning the Nakedness of Noah and Ham. 1. Now that all matters concerning the ark have been concluded, the flood has passed, and Noah is already tilling the soil, our discourse will again investigate for us what indeed was done by Ham in that context. For it will persuade those who choose to live lawfully that nothing at all is equivalent to reverence toward parents, and that they should clearly decline, as something most dangerous, even to smile at them at all, even if they should be carried a little outside what is fitting, having been overcome by the weaknesses of nature. For that the matter of parents is always something venerable, the divine law itself teaches us; for having first commanded that we must love the one and natural God with whole soul and heart, it says, "Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well with you, and you shall be long-lived upon the earth." For those who have given birth would be reckoned as in an image and imitation of God. "For remember," it says, "that you were born through them." And again it says, "Let crows peck out from the ravines the eye that laughs at a father and dishonors a mother's old age." Therefore, that it is both under curse and penalty to think it unnecessary to honor fathers, and indeed to deem them worthy of all reverence, one might learn also from Ham, and very easily. For it says, "The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. These three are the sons of Noah. From these they were scattered over the whole earth.

And Noah, a man who tilled the earth, began to plant a vineyard, and he drank of the wine, and became drunk, and was naked in his house. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and going out, he reported it to his brothers outside. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, placed it upon their two backs, and walked backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father, with their faces turned backward, and they did not see the nakedness of their father. And Noah sobered up from the wine, and knew all that his younger son had done to him, and said: Cursed be Canaan; he shall be a servant boy to his brothers. And he said: Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant. For Noah, having planted a vineyard, partook of his own labors, and was unaccustomedly drunk with wine. And an unexpected charge of drunkenness, he underwent an involuntary nakedness, being at home and out of sight of most. But the one not sound in mind, I mean Ham, made the impropriety of the sight a pretext for unholy laughter; although he should have covered, and indeed aided his begetter, overcome by drunkenness and overtaken by the faults from wine. But neglecting such things, and caring little for the honor due to his begetter, he hastens to procure the sight for the others, and presenting the old man as if on a stage, he persuades his brothers to laugh. But they were better than the evil counsel in him.

They, cunningly covering up what had happened and concealing the unseemliness of the sight with garments, walked backwards. For it seemed to them an act of piety to be ashamed of their father’s thighs, through which they themselves had been born. But when the father, having awakened, became aware of the matter, he immediately cursed the one who had recklessly disregarded what was fitting and the respect due to him, and justly placed upon him the yoke of servitude, naming him Canaan because of the Canaanites who would come from him, who were also to share in his punishment. For he was punished in his whole lineage. But he blessed those who had honored him. 2. This again would enigmatically signify the mystery concerning the Jews. For there have been three peoples in all: the one in the first age, like Shem; and also the one in the middle, like the accursed Ham; and the third, the last, which would be understood as Japheth, who is interpreted as “broadening.” But since God the Father has revealed to us his own Son, who is signified by the thighs, and, as far as it is possible to speak of the intelligible beauty of the divinity, it is unseemly and unpleasing because of the human element—for, according to the voice of the prophet, it had neither form nor beauty—then indeed, as the outcome of events itself would bear witness, the first and the last people, that is, those who believed at the beginning and first, and also the one called in the last times, have been put to shame before Emmanuel. They have been blessed through him by God the Father.

But the one born between the two, having sneered as it were at Christ because of the unseemliness of his humanity, and having dishonored the Son who appeared from God in many ways, has remained in the state of slavery and has slipped away from the freedom of the fathers. And that those from among the Jews who believed in the last times were to be sharers and almost housemates of the first—since indeed they were gathered into one city, that is, a court or hearth, namely the Church—he indicated by saying, "May God enlarge Japheth," that is, the third and last; for Japheth is third, "and let him dwell in the tents of Shem," that is, the first, "and let Canaan be their servant." This, I think, is what Christ said to the Jewish multitudes: "Truly, truly I say to you, that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. But the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. Therefore, if the son sets you free, you will be free." For the wretched Jews, having sneered at the economy of our Savior and not having honored his revelation from God the Father to us, have remained in the spirit of slavery.

Concerning the tower and its construction. Nothing was lacking to human nature for its well-being and prosperity. For the Maker of all things had rendered it complete and filled with every good. But it has been brought down to a lesser state, being gradually damaged in its former greatness, losing the things through which it was fittingly seen as venerable and perfectly suited to the utmost seemliness. For example, to speak plainly, it has sold off the incorruptible in Adam. For it was said to him, "You are earth, and to earth you shall return." And after this, it was deprived of the spirit. For since God saw that those on earth wished to think only of the unholy and most abominable passions of the flesh, he says, "My spirit will not remain among these men, because they are flesh." But behold, yet another thing it endures again. For some, condemned for unholy designs and senseless vain plans, bring it forth into a different and discordant tongue. For it was, they say, that the whole earth was one lip and one voice for all. And it happened that when they moved from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they settled there, and a man said to his neighbor, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them with fire." And the brick became for them as stone; and asphalt was their mortar. And they said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city and a tower, whose top will reach to heaven, and let us make a name for ourselves before we are scattered over the whole earth." Then God descends—for so the sacred text says—and confuses their tongues, and scatters them over the whole earth.

He was rebuking the undertakings of the God of all, but he did not fear the conclusion; and as if they had planned something arrogant, using his innate gentleness, he restrains them from their enterprises by means of the confusion of tongues, indicating that he does not leave unchecked thoughts that are beyond human capacity, even if they are somehow carried through impossibilities. He confuses the tongues themselves, for things that require only the skill of the Creator, and indeed also his authority, would be fitting for no other source, but for him alone. And one would reasonably attribute the transformation of a tongue and the expansion of speech into different sounds to the one who is truly alone and by nature the Creator. The event would not lack being very reasonably subject to ridicule. For they supposed, I know not how, that they would prevail entirely and completely and would build a tower of brick and earth as far as the heavens themselves. And they would be, I think, a type again of the folly of the Jews, who supposed they would find intimacy with God, and almost the very journey upward, not by choosing to do what pleases him, nor by faith in Christ, but as if erecting some tower, ignorantly thinking of high things based on the bare and sole glory of the fathers. For up and down they name Abraham, and building their own glory with earthly boasts, they were always somehow condemned. But God was rebuking those who were constructing the tower, and he divided them into many tongues. And we say that what happened then was a kind of prefiguration of what befell the Jews.

For they were thinking too highly, and seeking a way upward by means that were least appropriate, and he scattered them into a multitude of tongues, that is, into all the nations. For they were dispersed, driven away from their own country and city and homes, and became wanderers among the nations, according to the word of the Prophet. But in Christ, the multitude of tongues was a good sign. For when the disciples were gathered together on the day of Pentecost in one house, there came, it is said, suddenly from heaven a sound, like a violent wind being borne, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And tongues as of fire were seen dividing among them, and it settled upon each one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And what indeed did they speak? The Spirit providing the way upward, the ascent into the heavens in Christ through faith, the convergence of all the tongues of the inhabited world, that is, of peoples or nations, into unity in the Spirit. For every tongue of mortals confessed Christ and spoke his mysteries. Therefore, in the case of the tower, scattering and flight into all the nations was a sign of the multitude of tongues; but in the case of Christ, it was a sign of the convergence into unity through the Spirit and of the way upward. For Christ has become for us a tower of strength, according to the word of the Psalmist, conveying us to the city above and joining those on earth with the choirs of the holy angels.

Concerning Abraham and Melchizedek. 1. The God of all gave the Law as an aid; for it is written thus. However, while the Law educates, the mystery of Christ perfects thereafter, and it is not difficult for us to observe from the sacred Scriptures themselves, gathering the faith concerning this matter well and collecting the truths. The divine Paul, I think, suffices, speaking concerning the two covenants: "For there is an abrogation of a preceding commandment because of its weakness and uselessness. For the Law perfected nothing; but there is an introduction of a better hope, through which we draw near to God." Therefore, one may very easily enter into intimacy with God, not indeed through the first and Mosaic commandment, but through the so-called introduced hope, which the mystagogue, looking to the truth, seemed to crown with votes for the better. And he clearly says that the things in the Law are abrogated, and defining that the preceding commandment can perfect nothing, he writes to the Hebrews: "For if that first one were blameless, there would be no place for a second." For finding fault with it, he says: "Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will conclude a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not abide by my covenant, and I neglected them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: giving my laws into their understanding, and I will inscribe them upon their hearts.

and I will be a God to them, and they will be a people to me. And they shall not teach each his neighbor, and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all will know me from their small to their great, because I will be merciful to their sins, and I will no longer remember their lawless deeds. And he immediately adds to these: But in saying new, he has made the first old; and that which is aged and growing old is near to destruction. Therefore the Law is weak, and it is seen to have much feebleness, at least with respect to being able, I say, to perfect for sanctification. And that the justification and worship in Christ is better, you will clearly hear God crying out through the voice of the prophets, to those who have honored the worship according to the Law and are, as it were, tenaciously clinging to the aged commandment, at one time, Wash yourselves, become clean; at another time, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than whole burnt offerings. For we have been shown mercy in Christ, and in him we have beheld the Father intellectually, and we have known the one who is God by nature.

Since the matter is quite easy to grasp, there are countless things one could still heap upon what has been said, and also bring forward the words of the holy prophets, through which one might see very clearly that worship according to the law is unacceptable to God. But lest we draw the discourse away from the present purpose and the narrative go far astray, as if taking a path toward another subject, we shall now proceed directly to the inspired Abraham himself. When he learned that his nephew Lot had unexpectedly fallen into danger—for he was living in Sodom and was already among the captives, having been taken by the spear—he armed his household servants and certain others of his allies, Eshcol, Aner, and Mamre, and marched out against the victors, not ignobly, and freed the man from their greed. And with him he rescued a very great multitude, who had been wronged and were in danger. As he was returning home, bearing the revered tokens of his valor against the enemies, those who had been benefited by his efforts necessarily came out to meet him. For it is written thus: "And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after he returned from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings with him, to the valley of Shaveh. This was the king's plain. And it adds: 'And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine to him; and he was priest of God Most High. And he blessed Abraham, and said: "Blessed is Abraham to God Most High, who created heaven and earth. And blessed is God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hands." And he gave him a tenth of everything.'

Observe then the types of perfection in Christ shining forth clearly in Melchizedek, and the measure of worship according to the law in lesser things. If it is not doubtful that the lesser is altogether and in every way blessed by the greater, according to what is written, then just as the root of those from Israel is the divine Abraham, and what is preeminent and exceptional in him is Levi, crowned with the glories of the divine priesthood. But he was still lying in the loins. For the blessed Abraham was in potentiality the father of those who would come from him in due time. And this, I think, is what is wisely said concerning Levi. For he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. Therefore, the righteousness according to the law is blessed by the worship in Christ, of which Melchizedek is the type. And that the blessing is more excellent and incomparably so, as is fitting for that which is not of this kind, how could one doubt? But concerning such matters, we will consider them precisely and in detail before long.

Perhaps, even before all else, the one who has chosen to fight against Christ will be curious to ask who Melchizedek actually was. For some are intoxicated with various opinions about him, having slipped uncomprehendingly into vain nonsense and not paying close attention to the customs of the divinely inspired Scripture. For some say that the Holy Spirit appeared to the victorious Abraham only in a phantom and in our form, and was merely seen. Others, however, do not say this—for they fear, I think, the extreme descent into ugliness—but they insist that he is a conspicuous and distinguished power from the multitude of angels. A weak and unrefined mind, it seems, led them to this opinion. For since, they say, Salem is interpreted as peace, and Melchizedek is named king of Salem, let him not be understood as a man, they say, but let him be the Spirit that is indicated. For peace is proper to God, and he alone rules over peace. And to these they add: If he has neither a beginning of days nor an end of life, how would it not be an indictment of folly to attribute the beginningless and endless to a man? Therefore, let the Spirit be understood again. For if, he says, he is likened to the Son of the Most High, and he remains a priest perpetually, how would we not suppose in every way that Melchizedek is not a man? Then, weaving together other arguments with these, they think to confirm as truth the account that has been procured for them from somewhere or other. But we must say what has come to mind, having chosen to bring forward what seems best and most correct against their suspicions.

First, if they have decided to think reasonably, they themselves will agree that Salem is a city, of which Melchizedek was not the first and only king, but there were certainly very many, both those before him and others who came after him. But if someone thinks we are lying, let him come and show Melchizedek reigning over Salem even now—though it is one of the cities in Judea, perhaps renamed Jerusalem. "Vision of peace" is also how this is interpreted. But no one could demonstrate this. Therefore, it is foolish to dare to overturn clear and agreed-upon facts by attending to interpretations of names. That this matter is foolish and full of ignorance, we will see effortlessly by also taking this into mind. For Jerusalem is interpreted, as I just said, as "Vision of peace," or "Lofty of death." Israel, in turn, is "Mind seeing God." Ainos and hymnēsis is "Judas." But all the impious and profane kings of Jerusalem over time, against Israel and Judas, the sacred Scripture has clearly proclaimed. Therefore, since no earthly king could arise from "Vision of peace," "praise and hymnody," and "mind seeing God," nor would the matter befit a human, let us say, by attending to the interpretations of names, that those who reigned over time were shadows and phantoms, and not even human at all—but rather the Spirit, as also in the case of Melchizedek. That the power of names, or of interpretations, in no way compels the nature of things into itself, you may learn from this as well.

For will anyone not suppose, or rather will they not declare it to be true in every way and absolutely, that if Jerusalem is a vision of peace, then it must certainly not have been ignorant of Christ? For He Himself is our peace, according to the Scriptures. But it has not beheld with the eyes of its mind the one through whom we have obtained our introduction and have been united in spirit to the Father, the one who made both into one and created two peoples into one new man. How then is it a vision of peace if it has not beheld Christ? And if it is above death, that is, superior to and higher than death, how has the wretched city perished because of disbelief in Christ? For He Himself said to the Jews, "Truly I say to you, unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins." And if Israel is interpreted as "a mind seeing God," why has it not beheld the glory of Christ, through whom and in whom we have known the Father Himself? How were they overtaken by darkness? Or how was it said concerning them and those who happened to lead them, "Leave them alone; they are blind guides of the blind"? For what blindness could be conceived in a mind seeing God? Therefore, it is full of ignorance to assign authority to the qualities of names in every way and absolutely, as if to the things themselves. But nothing, I think, will henceforth entirely prevent us from supposing rightly and fittingly that Melchizedek was a man, and that he reigned at times over Salem, even if it happens to be interpreted as "peace.

We must also add this to what has been said: for we now see the divine mysteries only through a mirror and a riddle; having nothing that fully likens any of the events to the divine and ineffable nature, we gather from countless examples a moderate ability either to think or to say something about it, as far as is possible. Yet the mystery concerning Christ is by no means obscure, and the doctrine of the incarnation is not accessible to just anyone. Indeed, the account of the economy is very deep. For being God and from God by nature, the Only-begotten became man and dwelt among us. He has also served as our Apostle and High Priest, and has freed us from the slow-tongued law, and has transferred us to the euphony of evangelical teachings. And not only this, but also, when we were captives, he set us free, having overthrown the ruler of this age, and rescued the dead from the depths of Hades, and has established the Church, and has been appointed ruler over us, and has led us across the Jordan in faith, and has given circumcision in spirit, and has brought us into the kingdom of the heavens. That he became like us, I think it will suffice to quote the divine evangelist: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." That he was anointed both as priest and apostle, the appointment of Aaron would clearly indicate. For he was anointed with consecrated oil, and was set as ruler and leader of priests and people, and moreover received on the tips of his forehead the golden band, that is, the petalon, bearing the name of the Lord.

This was a clear symbol of our Savior the King, and like a bright and conspicuous diadem. And that the worship through Christ is superior to the legal worship, one might see as in Aaron, just as indeed also in Melchizedek. For the Levites received tithes from the sons of Israel according to the laws. But God commanded that a tithe be apportioned from the tithe of the Levites to Aaron as to the leader, according to the manner of his priestly office, adorned with the highest honors. Understand, then, how in the person of Aaron, the one receiving tithes has been tithed by Levi. For Aaron is set as a type of Christ. And all the other Levites and priests performed the sacrifices according to the law, having their station at the first tabernacle. But the divine Aaron alone, once a year, according to what is written, entered into the Holy of Holies, and not without blood, according to the law. And this too would be a type of Christ, who died once for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and who also enters into the highest and most holy tabernacle. For he inaugurated this path for us, sanctifying the Church with his own blood. And the divine Moses, appointed for the mission, besought God, saying: "I beseech you, Lord, I am not eloquent from yesterday, nor from the day before, nor from the time you began to speak to your servant; I am weak-voiced and slow-tongued." And he added to these: "Appoint another who is able, whom you will send." Then the God of all said to him: "No.

Behold Aaron your brother the Levite; I know that he will speak when he speaks to you, and behold, he will come out to meet you. And when he sees you, he will rejoice in himself, and you shall speak to him, and you shall put my words in his mouth, and I will instruct you both what you shall do, and he will speak to you to the people, and he will be your mouth. For the ancient law, admittedly slow of speech and not knowing how to speak well, through a long circuit—that is, through the letter—barely and almost lisping to us what is pleasing to God; but the mouth of Moses, most eloquent, is Christ, who transfers the types into truth and sets forth ready knowledge of necessary things to all everywhere. For thus it is said in the forty-eighth Psalm: "Hear these things, all nations; give ear, all who inhabit the world." So then Christ was typified as in Aaron. And what is even more remarkable: do not be surprised if, among those who knew him and had knowledge of the laws, he sketched the greatness of his own superiority; since he also appeared as in a man of another race, who freed Israel from captivity and founded the holy and sacred city, possessing invincible strength against all. I will make the account clear, having spoken briefly as far as possible.

Judaea was once led away captive, and the people of Israel spent long years in Babylon, weighed down by a harsh and barbarous slavery. But when Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, who held sway over the Medes and also the Persians, took up war against the Assyrians, who were neighbors and bordering, then indeed, having taken Babylon itself by force, he released the Jews, who were lamenting the greed of the Assyrians and running to him not without tears. They affirmed that it had been foretold by God through the voice of the holy ones, that he would come in due time, would prevail over those who opposed him, would himself release the wronged from their bonds, and would himself again raise up the house in Jerusalem which the Assyrians, by burning it, had impiously treated God. And we will not find the people of Israel to be false in these things, when we examine the writings of the holy prophets. For God spoke thus through the voice of Isaiah: Thus says the Lord who ransoms you and who formed you from the womb: I am the Lord who accomplishes these things; I alone stretched out the heaven and made the earth firm. Who else will scatter the signs of ventriloquists and divinations from the heart, turning back the wise and making their counsel foolish, and confirming the words of his servant, and making true the counsel of his angels? He who says to Jerusalem, You will be inhabited; and to the cities of Judaea, You will be rebuilt, and her desolate places will flourish. He who says to the abyss, You will be laid waste, and I will dry up your rivers; he who says to Cyrus to be wise and to do all my will. He who says to Jerusalem, You will be rebuilt, and I will lay the foundation of my holy house.

Thus says the Lord God to my anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, that nations may hearken before him, and I will break the strength of kings. I will open doors before him, and cities shall not be shut; I will go before you, and I will level mountains, I will shatter bronze doors, and I will crush iron bars, and I will give you hidden treasures, secret, invisible I will open for you; that you may know that I am the Lord God who speaks your name, the God of Israel; for the sake of Jacob my servant, and Israel my chosen one, I will call you by your name, and I will receive you; but you did not know that I am the Lord God; and there is no other God besides me, and you did not know me. You hear how clearly the words, "You did not know me," he says; not deigning to rank among those who know God the one so manifest, whom he himself set up as greater than kings and master of countless nations. For the things concerning him were types of the achievements through Christ. For he foretold that he himself would disperse the false divinations of the Babylonians and the signs of the ventriloquists. But the counsels or predictions of his own prophets, whom he also named angels, he would declare not false. He has also preannounced that he would build up the cities of Judaea, and lay waste the abyss, and dry up all its rivers; the abyss, I think, meaning Babylon, because of the multitude dwelling in it; and its rivers, the nations flowing in from everywhere for assistance. But come, let us speak clearly of the things concerning Cyrus, elegantly transforming the achievements through him into the mystery of Christ.

Cyrus, then, was born of a mother, Mandane, daughter of Astyages, the ruler of the Medes, and a father, Cambyses, a Persian by race, and very gentle in his ways. Hence some of the older writers called Cyrus a mule and of mixed nature, because, I think, of the difference in the lineage of his father and mother; for Persians are a different nation from Medes. One might see something similar also in the case of Christ. For on the one hand, he was born according to the flesh of the holy Virgin, who is like us and human in nature; on the other hand, he had no human father, but, so to speak, was of a wholly different nature, separated in essence, and transcending everything that exists among created beings. Therefore he also said to the Jews, who thought that he was like us and had been born like us, "You are from below, I am from above." And Cyrus prevailed over countless nations, and every city received him. He also took dark, hidden, invisible treasures, and released Israel from long servitude. And Emmanuel has reigned over the whole world under heaven, and as the Savior and Deliverer of all, every city receives him; and every race that had been forced out and compelled to act under him has already been released from servitude and diabolical greed. And having descended even into Hades, he emptied dark, hidden, invisible treasures. He shattered bronze doors and broke iron bars. For he said to those in bonds, "Come out," and to those in darkness, "Be uncovered." Therefore also long ago he said to Job, the most patient and unconquerable athlete:

You came to the source of the sea, and you walked in the tracks of the abyss. The gates of death open for you in fear, and the gatekeepers of Hades, seeing you, cowered. For we shall read this as if in a question, the discourse demonstrating the achievements wrought through Christ, and the deeds accomplished even in the recesses of Hades. For this Christ died and lived, that he might rule over both the dead and the living. And Cyrus long ago, by giving money, ordered the temple in Jerusalem to be rebuilt. But Emmanuel has founded the holy and renowned city, the Church, having utterly shaken down a kind of Babylon, the arrogant and insolent idolatry. And concerning Cyrus, God says, "He will do all my will." And somewhere our Savior addresses the Jewish peoples who despise him: "You judge according to the flesh." And elsewhere, "And if I judge, my judgment is true; for I do not seek my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me." And to Cyrus God said, "I called you by my name." But Emmanuel is truly Lord, even though he appeared as man. That the things concerning Cyrus are set forth as a type of Christ in glory, the following words spoken through the prophet's voice will clearly confirm: "I made the earth and man upon it. I with my hand fixed the heaven, and I caused all the stars to rise. I raised him up in righteousness, and all his ways are straight. This one will build my city, and will bring back the captivity of my people, not with ransoms, nor with gifts," said the Lord Sabaoth. Thus says the Lord.

Egypt labored, and the merchandise of the Ethiopians, and the tall men of Saba shall step over you, and they shall be your slaves, and they shall follow behind you bound in handcuffs, and they shall worship you, and they shall pray in you, because in you is God, and there is no God but you. For you are God, and we did not know, the God of Israel the Savior. All those who oppose him shall be shamed and put to confusion, and shall go in shame. For the one who made the earth and man upon it, who adorned the heaven with stars, raised up for us righteousness, Jesus, redeeming freely; for we have been justified in faith, releasing from bonds and captivity, building spiritually the intelligible Jerusalem, and founding the Church, so that it is unshakable even to the gates of Hades and unconquerable by enemies. Recognizing this one as God by nature, those who were formerly in error say: For you are our God, and we did not know. And there is no God but you. They shall worship this one, every knee shall bend to this one, and every tongue shall confess that Lord Jesus Christ is to the glory of God the Father. Some from Israel have dared to oppose this one. But they have been shamed and have fallen, and have gone in rout according to the voice of the prophet. Now Cyrus, son of Cambyses, laid the foundation of the house of God in Jerusalem, as a type of Christ. And that the Emmanuel himself was to complete the matter spiritually and intelligibly, one might learn immediately from another image. For when Cyrus released Israel from the slavery in Babylon—

Immediately they were shown to be leaders and, as it were, rulers of the people: Zerubbabel the son of Salathiel from the tribe of Judah, and Jesus the son of Josedec the high priest. And when they arrived in Jerusalem, God, through the voice of the prophet Haggai, enjoins them to apply themselves to the work of the house. For it is written thus: In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, a word of the Lord came by the hand of the prophet Haggai, saying, Say to Zerubbabel the son of Salathiel from the tribe of Judah, and to Jesus the son of Josedec the high priest, saying, Thus says the Lord Almighty: This people say, The time has not come to build the house of the Lord. And a word came by the hand of the prophet Haggai, saying, Is it a time for you to dwell in houses with hollow roofs, while the house of the Lord lies desolate? And again after other things, And the Lord roused the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Salathiel from the tribe of Judah, and the spirit of Jesus the son of Josedec the high priest, and the spirit of the rest of all the people. And they entered and performed the works in the house of the Lord Almighty, their God. Observe then how in a double type and image is Emmanuel: a king, as in Zerubbabel, who was from the tribe of Judah, which at that time had obtained rule in Israel; and a high priest, as in the namesake Jesus the high priest; and indeed a leader of the way to the holy city from a foreign land—I mean again from that of the Babylonians. Observe also that he is a craftsman and overseer of the holy temple.

For following through faith with Christ as their guide, as king and high priest, from diabolical greed, and as if from a foreign land, from worldly deception we enter into the holy city, the Church of the Firstborn, which Christ himself will raise up as if with spiritual stones. And Paul bears witness, writing to those who have been redeemed through faith and have chosen to follow in the footsteps of Christ: "In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of Christ in spirit." And that the glory of the Church is superior to the first and original one—I mean that of the temple built of stones—he has indicated again by saying through the voice of Haggai: "Who among you saw this house in its former glory, and how do you now see it as not existing before you?" And again after other things: "Mine is the silver, and mine is the gold, says the Lord Almighty, because the latter glory of this house will be great beyond the former, says the Lord Almighty; and in this place I will give peace. And peace of soul for the preservation of everyone who builds to raise up this temple." And one might without effort collect the things through which Christ was depicted for us in the ancient times. But lest our discourse seem to be carried away from what is fitting by the multitude of examples, for the time being passing over going through others as well, we say this: It will certainly be necessary for us to choose one of two.

For either we will completely abolish the means by which those things came to be, determining that the types are not entirely improper if they are understood to have come about through men like us, even though they have a very great element of the divine; or, saying that the Spirit always shapes itself into a form like ours, we will necessarily confess that it was once molded into Cyrus, who did not know God. For it was said to him, "But you did not know me." And if the types are abolished, then Aaron would perhaps be a shadow; and Zorobabel, son of Salathiel, and indeed Jesus, son of Josedec, the high priest, would be mere names and nothing more. 7. But I think that those who are persuaded by reasonable argument will rightly agree that Melchizedek was a man, king of the city of Salem, and that Paul, being subtle in spiritual contemplations, made him a type of Christ for us. Yet some, after this, insist and say no less that Melchizedek was not a man, but rather the Holy Spirit, or at least some other power from above and from heaven, holding a liturgical rank. For it seems that others think this way. We say necessarily that they will err in two ways: dragging the divine and ineffable nature of the Spirit into a manner unbefitting it, and foolishly elevating the created and made creature to an excessive glory. I will explain how. It is written about Melchizedek that he was a priest of the Most High God. If, then, Melchizedek is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit has been reduced to the rank of a priest and holds a liturgical ministry.

Therefore, it will also sing hymns together with the holy angels to the highest God. For it is written, "Bless the Lord, all his angels, his ministers, who do his will." For it would not be unclear from any source that whoever performs a sacred rite for another certainly does not do so for himself, but performs it for God, who is superior. Therefore, if we say that the Spirit serves as priest, it is certainly subordinate to the divine nature; rather, it performs rites among created beings and will worship with us. It will certainly not sanctify itself, since what is sanctified is sanctified by something superior to its own nature. It will be sanctified along with us. How, then, is what is sanctified still God by nature? For is not every priest sanctified, and does he not enter in this way to perform the sacred rites? For one does not receive the honor for oneself, as it is written, but the one called by God, just as Aaron. And Paul added that Christ himself did not glorify himself to be born as high priest, but the one who spoke to him said, "You are my son; today I have begotten you." Just as he says elsewhere, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." For it is necessary to know that not even the Son himself, the Word from God the Father, would be said to serve as priest and to be placed in the ministerial order, unless he were understood to have become like us and, just as he is called prophet and also apostle on account of his humanity, so also priest. For the forms of servitude are fitting for him in the guise of servitude, and this is the kenosis.

For he who exists in the form and equality of the Father, before whom even the Seraphim above stand, whom thousands upon thousands of angels serve, because he emptied himself, then indeed is said to have been revealed as a minister of the saints and of the true tabernacle. Then he who is above all creation was sanctified together with us. For the one who sanctifies, it says, and those who are sanctified are all from one. For which reason he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, "I will announce your name to my brothers." Therefore, the one who sanctifies as God, when he became man and dwelt among us, and was called brother according to his humanity, then he is said to be sanctified together with us. So both the duty to serve as priest and to be sanctified with us belong to the economy of the incarnation. And to the measures of the kenosis, we who have chosen to think rightly and blamelessly will ascribe such things. But if we say that the Spirit, which has nowhere undergone the kenosis, serves as priest, we will deprive it of its God-befitting glory and will reckon it somewhere among things under God, giving it a measure of being begotten. Or let them show us that the Spirit became man and underwent an economic descent, just as indeed the Son did. For it is not because the holy and worshiped Trinity is consubstantial that one will define the account of the incarnation according to whichever person one might choose. For the Father himself did not become man, nor did the Holy Spirit, but only the Son. Thus the divine Scriptures have initiated us.

Why then do they violently distort the truth, and bring down the Holy Spirit—who has no pretext for being emptied—into the measures of emptying, if indeed he is truly numbered among those appointed to minister? For Melchizedek was a priest. But, it is said, for the honor of the Son, as a type of the priesthood that would come in his time, the Spirit itself formed itself through itself. Therefore, I will ask, did the Holy Spirit then neglect honor and love for the Son, and deem it worthy to care little about the matter? And yet, how is this not already nonsense to think or say? For the Paraclete, that is, the Spirit, glorifies the Son. And concerning him, it says, "That one will glorify me." So, what is chosen to honor and does so unceasingly, why did it not rather become Aaron? Or Cyrus, who ruled over the Persians and Medes? Or indeed Joshua son of Josedek, or Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, from the tribe of Judah, or even Moses, to whom it was said somewhere, showing the mediation of Christ in himself: "I will raise up a prophet for them from among their brothers, like you, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he will speak to them as I command him"? Why did it not become Joshua son of Nun, the general after Moses, who led the sons of Israel across the Jordan, circumcised them with stone knives, and brought them into the promised land? Or have we not been baptized in Christ and circumcised with a circumcision not made by hands through the Spirit, and become heirs of the kingdom of heaven? And yet, how is this not evident?

Therefore, we will either say that the Spirit is always being formed, and as in each of those named, in order to honor the Son, or else the statement will be true that he is found to have little regard for what is fitting; for he allowed some of the more ancient ones to be molded into a type and likeness of the Son—away with such absurdity of reasoning! Therefore, Melchizedek is a man, not the Holy Spirit. 8. But that he would not even be understood to be a holy and ministering power, as some have thought, come, let us speak, gathering arguments from probable reasoning for the demonstration of the truth. For those men, some wise person, as they themselves suppose, has composed a discourse. For since, it is said, it is written about Melchizedek that he was fatherless, motherless, and without genealogy, and yet he blessed Abraham, who was so great; and the lesser is blessed by the greater and superior, without any contradiction; let him not be understood, according to us, but let him be an angel by nature, that is, one of the venerable and glorious upper and ministering powers. But I, beloved, have greatly wondered if a manner of piety toward the divine Abraham has carried them away from the pursuit of what is useful and fitting, and has driven them away from the necessary reasoning for finding the truth. For in presenting Melchizedek to us as a likeness and type of Emmanuel, they do not look to the quality of the matters or examine the manner of the priesthood, but rather they scrutinize the natures of those brought forward for this purpose.

For what could be the cause of distress, one might reasonably say to them, if Abraham is blessed, as by a man perhaps Melchizedek, even if he is not understood to be greater than him? For it is not the natures in these matters, but the meaning of the actions is examined, and the accounts of truth, superior to the riddles in shadows, are revealed beforehand. For that it is among the most absurd things not to contrast the things signified with those in shadows, but rather to go to the natures themselves of the things brought forward, you will know also from this. Aaron was chosen, set over and leader of the holy tabernacle, crowned with the highest honors in the priesthood. How then was he sanctified? A ram was slaughtered, and the tip of the right ear, and also of the hand and foot, was smeared with its blood; and was he thus perfected for the priestly service? But, O best of men, I would say to them, if it is good to cling to the natures of those sanctifying and those being sanctified, and not rather to go from type and shadow to the beauty of truth itself, how is the lesser still blessed by the greater? What is the better in these matters, let them explain. Then shall we place Aaron after a ram? The rational is perfected by an irrational animal. Shall we say that the one chosen for the priesthood was sanctified by the blood of sheep, and that the ashes of a heifer sprinkling sanctify those who are defiled, for the purity of the flesh? What then is the matter? What is the depth of the meanings? The actions are types and images, and, so to speak, a prefiguration of sanctification according to Christ. The type is detected in the things, not in the nature of those sanctifying or those being sanctified.

Since, as I said just now, the superior is blessed by the inferior, if indeed the nature of a human being is superior to that of a heifer and a ram. Therefore, let them not blush, even if Abraham, being far superior to Melchizedek, is said to be blessed by him. For it was the type that prevailed, and not rather the nature of the one blessing. I am amazed that, in forming him into a likeness and type of the Son, they also say that he is motherless and fatherless, like an angel, although Christ is in a certain sense of both parents. For He had a mother on earth, the holy Virgin, and He had and has a Father in heaven, God. I think that images ought to be painted according to their archetypes. But since the divine Paul said that Melchizedek has neither a beginning of days nor an end of life, they therefore insist and say that he is a rational and priestly power, not understanding that something necessary escapes them. For nothing among created things will be without a beginning in time. But if anything at all has been brought into existence, it has both a beginning of life and of days. What then was the aim of the blessed Paul in his discourse? Or how did he present Melchizedek as a type and likeness of Christ? Therefore, having turned our mind away from random notions, come, let us examine, and let us speak as far as possible.

You are a very learned student of the law, and you do not make your argument against the Jews from simple notions, but from the Mosaic writings, which it was likely that even those determined to war against the truth would not willingly concede. So you accept Melchizedek as a likeness and type of Christ at that time, because he is called king of righteousness, and also of peace. For these titles would, I think, be fitting only for Emmanuel in a mystical sense. For he was revealed as the dispenser of righteousness and peace to those on earth. And we have been justified in him, having cast off the burden of sin. And we have also obtained peace with the Father and God, having washed away the impurity of character that intervened and separated us, and being united, as it were, with him through the Spirit; for he who cleaves to the Lord, it says, is one spirit. So then, in the Greek language, Melchi means king, and Sedek means righteousness. And one could see that Melchizedek, in his very name, possessed the meaning of king of righteousness. And in being called king of Salem, he is king of peace. So the divine Paul fittingly applied such things to Christ, as from a clear and evident likeness of Melchizedek. And he accepts as a symbol of the priesthood beyond the law the fact that he blessed Abraham and provided him with wine and bread. For we are blessed in no other way by Christ, the great and true priest. And we are blessed, like the divine Abraham, having most vigorously overcome the rulers of this age, and having shown ourselves superior to the hand of the enemy, and needing nothing of worldly things.

They considered rather the intelligible wealth that comes from God, and the glorious and unfading distribution of gifts from above. For consider that Abraham, after his victory and return from the slaughter of the kings, as it is written, and deigning to take nothing from the ruler of Sodom for his own possession, blessed Melchizedek. For the leader of the Sodomites said to the victorious Abraham, "Give me the men, and take the horses for yourself." But Abraham, having decided to take nothing of his, said, "I will stretch out my hand to the most high God, who made heaven and earth, if I take from a sandal-thong to a shoe-lace from all your possessions, lest you say, 'I enriched Abraham.'" For it is customary for saints to rejoice not in worldly wealth. Therefore, having overcome both visible and invisible enemies, and accepting nothing from the world, but rather honoring the wealth from above, we are blessed through Christ, the king of peace. And we are blessed, receiving the mysteries as a kind of heavenly gift and provision for life. For let it be passed over in silence for now, if you will; we are blessed by Christ also through his intercessions on our behalf to the Father. For Melchizedek blessed Abraham, saying thus: "Blessed is the most high God, who has given your enemies into your hands." But our Lord Jesus Christ, the expiation of us all, says, "Holy Father, keep them in your truth." Therefore, even from the interpretation of the names, he seizes the useful point, as a type of Christ. And the very manner of the priesthood itself he made a clear demonstration of the matter.

For Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine. But that Melchizedek was fatherless or motherless, that is, without genealogy, or without beginning of days or end of life, the sacred Scripture has nowhere revealed. Therefore, someone might perhaps say, the divine Paul has deceived us. We do not say this—far from it; for he speaks the truth. Rather, the mystical craftsman accepts the account, elevating even the economical narrative concerning these very things into a type of the glory of Emmanuel. For the inspired Scripture revealed to us only that Melchizedek was a priest, not naming his lineage, or from what father or mother he sprang; but we do not find it adding either to what number of years he ended, or what successions of the priesthood he is found to have. Thus the narrative of so many things is fashioned for us, as it were, to suggest the perpetual and beginningless nature of Christ, insofar as he is understood as God. And I say "beginningless" in terms of quantity, namely that which pertains to time; for he himself is the maker of the ages. It also intimates, in addition to this, the unending character of the priesthood. For this reason the blessed Paul says concerning Melchizedek that, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but being likened to the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually. And he seems to have devised yet another wise thing; and what this is, I will try to explain, insofar as I am able.

The Jews opposed the proclamations concerning Christ, and all but dared to mock the apostolic endeavors, putting forward these two points: first, that it was impossible to disregard the command defined for the fathers through the voice of the all-wise Moses and to set aside the law, with another polity, one not recognized by anyone of old, being unexpectedly introduced; and second, they insisted that the glory of the priesthood ought not to be carried outside the chosen tribe, that is, the tribe of Levi. For God, both above and below, repels from the service of the sanctuary those who are not of it, and immediately prescribes the ultimate penalty for such a daring act. Therefore Paul, being learned in the law, contends and attempts to provide assurance, both from probability and indeed from the inspired Scripture itself, that both a renewal of the law and a transfer of the priesthood itself were foretold, and that the indication of each shone forth beforehand in types. So then, he accepts Melchizedek, who is not from the Levitical tribe, and then shows him to be a priest of the Most High God, and also bringing forth bread and wine, and he spoke thus about him: "You see how great this man is, to whom even Abraham gave a tithe from the spoils, the patriarch." And those who receive the priesthood from the sons of Levi have a command to tithe the people according to the law, that is, their brothers, even though they have come forth from the loins of Abraham. But he, who is not genealogically descended from them, has tithed Abraham and blessed the one who holds the promises; and without any contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the greater.

But we say that the preeminence belongs to Melchizedek not in nature, but in the manner of his priesthood, with the forefather Abraham not refusing but rather granting him precedence, as it were, through the honors he knew to bestow, and even through the offerings of tithes. For the Levites by blood tithe the people, though they are brothers; but he who is not genealogically descended from them, that is, Melchizedek (for he was not of the tribe of Levi), tithed Abraham and blessed him. And the type lies in these things. And Christ himself, who is depicted in shadows, being without genealogy, has tithed the sons of Levi—that is, the priesthood according to the law—to those appointed to serve as priests according to the law (for he arose from the tribe of Judah, about which Moses said nothing concerning priests). He tithed them long ago in Melchizedek, and later also in Aaron. For Aaron himself tithed the sons of Levi, holding the type of the priesthood of Christ, as we have already said. 11. It has thus been demonstrated in Melchizedek that the matter of the priesthood will at some time be transferred from the tribe serving as priests according to the law, and indeed that another manner and law of sacred ministry will shine forth. For it was somehow necessary that the law itself be transferred and depart along with the sacred ministrations. Therefore the divine Paul philosophizes on such matters and says: If then perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for the people have been legislated under it), what further need is there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not to be called according to the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is transferred, a transfer of the law necessarily occurs. And again:

And it is even more evident if another priest arises according to the order of Melchizedek, who came not by a law of fleshly commandment, but by the power of indissoluble life. For it is testified, "That you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." You see how the inability of the priesthood according to the law to perfect anything is condemned, demonstrating the most beneficial introduction of the better commandment. For if the necessary were in that one, why, it says, is another priest not appointed according to the order of Aaron, but according to the order of Melchizedek, who was a likeness and type of Christ, who least of all still priests in a fleshly manner, but rather by the power of indissoluble life? For he nourishes us for unfading life by the mystical liturgies, even though Aaron priests in a fleshly manner. For through him there were sacrifices of oxen and slaughters of sheep, and the ash of heifers sprinkling those defiled, for the purity of the flesh; and other such things besides, not perfecting the worshippers according to conscience. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls to remove sins. When, therefore, another mode of liturgy has been introduced to us, departing from the first and more ancient customs, there is certainly also another priest. And if God has announced a new covenant, the first having grown old, the priest according to the order of Melchizedek, upon whom it would be fitting also for the "forever" to be understood, would be none other than our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom glory is to God the Father together with the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Glaphyra on Genesis, Book 3. On Abraham, and the promise concerning Isaac, and how through them the mystery of faith was prefigured. a. The divine Paul writes that Christ became high priest and apostle of our confession; and indeed, that he brought us the incomparably better and more excellent covenant, I mean the evangelical one, than the ancient one through the commandment of Moses, and became the guarantor of a better testament, he clearly affirmed. And the word is true, since the law produces wrath and is indicative of sin, but the grace ministered through the gentleness of our Savior justifies us. For as he himself says somewhere, he did not come to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. That therefore, even if he did not happen to be from the tribe of Levi by flesh, he has been and is high priest forever according to the order of the priesthood of Melchizedek, the argument has already sufficiently shown us. And that the mystery of righteousness in faith has a prior proclamation older than the circumcision in the law, and that the type was prefigured for those from Israel that they could never be saved otherwise except through Christ alone, who justifies the impious and releases from charges. And in addition to these things, that the heirs of God, and those who will be enrolled among the most genuine children, are those from the promise made to the blessed Abraham concerning Isaac, come, let us speak, taking from the sacred Scriptures themselves, and making the proofs on each point precisely and carefully.

b. The most holy Paul therefore writes to the Romans: "What then shall we say we have found Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, to be? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has a boast, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. But to the one who works, the reward is not counted as a matter of grace, but as a debt. To the one who does not work, but believes in the one who justifies the impious, his faith is counted for righteousness. Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the man to whom God counts righteousness without works: 'Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man for whom the Lord will not count a sin.' This blessing, then—does it apply to circumcision, or also to uncircumcision? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it counted? While he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, he says, but in uncircumcision. And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness of the faith that was in uncircumcision, so that he might be the father of all who believe through uncircumcision, for faith to be counted to them for righteousness, and the father of circumcision not only to those from circumcision, but also to those who follow the footsteps of the faith in uncircumcision of our father Abraham. And in addition to these things, he makes the examination of the mystery even more precise. Thus he says: 'For it was not through law that the promise was made to Abraham, or to his seed, that he would be the heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith.'

For if those who are heirs by the law, he says, faith is emptied and the promise is rendered void. For the law produces wrath. For where there is no law, there is no transgression. Therefore it is by faith, so that the promise might be confirmed by grace to every seed—not only to that from the law, but also to that from the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, "I have made you father of many nations"), before the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls non-existent things as if they exist. You hear him affirming repeatedly and saying, not hesitantly, that the grace which justifies Abraham through faith was given to him when he did not yet have circumcision but was still in a state of uncircumcision, and that those who wish to imitate the faith of the forefather Abraham in uncircumcision are appointed heirs of the gifts from God, and not at all those who are accustomed to take pride in the shadow ministered through Moses and boast of a fleshly father, Abraham, who is called father of many nations, even though Israel is one nation, even if it should extend to an unmeasured multitude, because he became father of those in faith, who, gathered from every city and country, so to speak, have become united in body in Christ and have been called to a spiritual brotherhood. For Jews have been born from Abraham. But not all those from Israel are Israel, nor are all who are seed of Abraham children. Rather, faith appropriates to him those who have believed in uncircumcision.

The promise was made, and the grace that justifies was given, to Abraham when he did not yet have circumcision, but was rather in a state of uncircumcision, according to the faith of the sacred. That the gift of righteousness through faith would not come to Abraham alone, even if the promise was made in him, but has gone forth as it were to all the rest who have believed, the most wise Paul again confirms, adding to what I recently said: "And it was not written for his sake alone, that it was counted to him for righteousness, but also for our sake, to whom it will be counted for those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our transgressions and was raised for our righteousness." Therefore, the grace that justifies us through faith is a heavenly gift and a boon of gentleness from above; and those would be counted among the children of Abraham, not necessarily those born from him according to the flesh, but all who have acquired conformity to him and, thinking as brothers, believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. These will also be heirs of the gifts from God, while the Israel according to the flesh is thrust aside because of unbelief. And this too was clearly fashioned for us in the mystery concerning Isaac. But come, let us speak again as is possible, setting forth the very words of Moses for knowledge. It goes thus: "After these words," it says, "a word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision, saying, 'Do not fear, Abraham, I will shield you. Your reward will be very great.' And Abraham says, 'Master, what will you give me? For I am departing childless.'

The son of Massek, my household servant, this one is Damascus Eliezer. And Abraham said, "Since you have not given me seed, my household servant will inherit from me." And immediately a voice of the Lord came to him, saying, "This one will not inherit from you, but he who will come forth from you, this one will inherit from you." And he led him outside and said to him, "Look up now at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to number them." And he said, "Thus will your seed be." And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. For the blessed Sarah (who, interpreted, is called "ruling") was joined to him and shared his hearth, a woman most excellent in beauty and very fair of face; for thus the sacred Scripture has testified. And the household servant attended as if to secondary and spurious marriages, serving, that is, Hagar (and she, interpreted, is "sojourn"). But Sarah, having not yet conceived the birth of legitimate children, lamented her childlessness. And Hagar bore Ishmael. While the matters of the history stood thus, God spoke to Abraham, saying, "I will shield you; your reward will be very great." And he, what does he say to this? "Master, what will you give me? For I am dismissed childless; the son of Massek, my household servant, this one is Damascus Eliezer." Observe the precision of the statement. For he says, "What will you give me, O Master?" You understand how he says that he no longer needs any earthly possessions at all, but even if he were to become master of even more, he would not consider the matter a source of delight unless he had a legitimate heir sprung from free marriage, a true son.