Glaphyra in Pentateuchum

Concerning the Bronze Serpent. 1. God did not create death, nor does he take pleasure in the destruction of living beings, according to what is written. For he created all things for existence, and the generations of the world are salvific. But since the first of the race, that is, Adam, fell ill with disobedience, and, disregarding the divine command, offended God the creator, he slipped into corruption; and the nature of man became accursed, and the race subject to punishment. And we, the wretched ones, although born in incorruption, are now like shadows and like the grasses in the field, having returned briefly and with difficulty, we fall unexpectedly as if upon mother earth. Hence the saints have cried out in various ways, lamenting our condition. So one can hear the blessed David openly crying out: "Man is likened to vanity"; and Isaiah again: "All flesh is as grass, and all human glory as the flower of grass." For we have reached, as I said, this point of misery and wretchedness, so that even if one were to fittingly compare our condition, one could not speak of it, even though the Spirit-bearers are very wise. But having come to this state, the Creator did not overlook us; rather, he deemed us worthy of both mercy and reason, and declared us free from death and corruption in Christ. How, or in what manner? It is evident to all, even if one does not happen to speak of it; but one could also see the power of the mystery in the more ancient Scriptures themselves. And it is thus in the book of Numbers: "And having set out from Mount Hor on the way to the Red Sea, they went around the land of Edom; and the people became faint-hearted on the way.

And the people spoke against God and against Moses, saying, "Why have you led us out of Egypt to kill us in the wilderness? For there is no bread, nor water. And our soul has been vexed with this empty bread." And the Lord sent among the people the deadly serpents, and they bit the people. And many of the sons of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, because we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray, therefore, to the Lord, that he may take away the serpent from us." And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, "Make for yourself a serpent, and place it upon a standard. And it shall be that if a serpent bites a man, everyone who has been bitten, upon seeing it, shall live." And Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it upon a standard. And it came about that when a serpent bit a man, and he looked upon the bronze serpent, he lived. For they had been in servitude in Egypt, and weighed down by unbearable slavery, they had been ransomed by God, many and marvelous signs having occurred there. For water was transformed into blood, and frogs and gnats, and also dog-flies, and hailstorms almost made war upon the land of the Egyptians; and they were punished also by darkness, and the death of the firstborn unbearably afflicted those who had chosen to be overbearing, while God miraculously preserved the Israelites. Then, passing through the midst of the sea as on dry land, they beheld the Egyptians miserably perishing. They received bread from heaven; for God sent down manna to them. And Christ, understood as in the rock, followed; and he pitied the thirsty with unexpected streams.

The divine is all-powerful and bestows the necessities of life ungrudgingly upon those who are devoted to it. But those who have enjoyed such exceptional goods are convicted by their few hardships. For they are both unmindful of what comes from God, and least steadfast in trusting him, but bold, easily shaken, and ready for faint-heartedness, and have irrationally ignored the honors they have received. For they call the bread from heaven "empty," and they complained about the scarcity of water, even though they had learned that nothing is impossible for the divine and ineffable nature, which had placed the sheer rock as a mother of riverine streams for them. Making an unjustified accusation against God, they were punished by the bites of serpents. Then, coming to a recollection of their own fault, they weep and confess their transgressions, and they entreat the mediator—I mean Moses—to render God compassionate and gentle toward them. And he, falling down, beseeched, and yielding to the decrees from above, fashioned a bronze serpent, set it up high, and commanded those who were stricken to gaze intently at it; and doing this, they were saved.

But what is the account, and what is the great and wise mystery, it is fitting to investigate. For the letter will not suffice for the more prudent, but the mysteries are embedded, as it were, in the types. Therefore, let us speak, again from the type to the universal and more general, and, reshaping the narrative into what is true. For, being displeased with the goods from God and from above, and going heedlessly toward the pleasant rather than the beneficial, and thrusting aside the exercises of virtue, while clinging to the most shameful things, we have grieved the benefactor, we have offended the Creator in more than one way. By this we have fallen under the bites of serpents; and by serpents I mean the spiritual ones, which, striking us through every sin, subject us to the bonds of death. And the leader of the multitude of venomous beasts is, as it were, the apostate serpent, that is, Satan, by whose bites in the beginning and first of all man perished, that is, Adam. And the evil creeps, as from a root, also into us, who have come from her. But we have been saved in a certain way. For we have beheld the serpent, that is, Christ. How then is the good God, who is good by nature, or rather goodness itself, a serpent? Because he has become like us, who are evil by choice. He has become in the likeness of the flesh of sin; and, He was counted among the unjust. And that we are evil, having not been made so by God, but having flowed into this baseness because of the sin that has tyrannized over us, Christ himself makes clear, saying: If then you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children.

How much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him? The serpent, then, is Christ, who is in the likeness of evil, because he became man. But if one should behold him with the mind, he will be superior to corruption, and will surmount death, and will disregard bites, and will not be troubled by the multitude of venomous creatures. We shall see Christ when we rightly understand the mystery concerning him, and believe unshakably that, being God by nature, he became man. But even if he was in the likeness of evil, he nonetheless remained good. For he became like us, not that he might be seen as evil among us, but that he might make us good, transforming us by the Holy Spirit to every form of virtue. The serpent was on a sign. For Christ was raised up on the precious cross, and this he himself proclaimed to the Jews, saying: "When you raise up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he." And that the type looks to his mystery, you may learn from his own clear statement: "For just as Moses raised up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be raised up." The serpent was of bronze, because of the clear-sounding and most harmonious nature of the divine and evangelical proclamation. For no one is unheard of the oracles through Christ, but the mystery concerning him is proclaimed throughout the whole world under heaven, and every knee will bow to him, and every tongue will confess that Lord Jesus Christ is to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Of our Father among the Saints, Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria, Glaphyra on the Book of Deuteronomy. Concerning the heifer whose sinews were cut in the ravine. a. In many ways and in many forms, God spoke long ago to the fathers through the prophets, and in these last days he has spoken to us through the Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also made the ages. But those who rightly understand that he, being God by nature, descended into kenosis, because he became flesh and dwelt among us, according to the Scriptures, have reaped the divine and worthy grace. For as many as received him, he gave them authority to become children of God, it says. But those who rejected the divine and truly salvific word have slipped from hope and perished miserably, impiously insulting the Savior and Redeemer of all. These would be the wretched Jews, for whom the prophet Jeremiah himself laments, saying: Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes, and I will weep for the people day and night? For those who could have been illustrious and enviable, but are deprived of the prosperity that was present, how would they not be worthy of being counted henceforth equally with the dead? For them, a tear of love and brotherly affection would fittingly be shed in lamentation. So then, they have become bereft of every good, and Israel, once guided by the reins, has been shaken from its very foundations. For Christ has migrated to the nations; and the slow-learning Jew is now saved only with difficulty, as if in a very small portion. And this, I think, is what is prophetically sung through the voice of Isaiah:

And if the Lord Sabaoth had not left us seed, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been likened to Gomorrah. Come then, if you please, and let us also examine the power of the mystery from the Mosaic words themselves. For it is written thus in Deuteronomy: "If a slain person is found in the land which the Lord your God gives you to inherit, having fallen in the field, and they do not know the one who struck him, your elders and your judges shall go out, and they shall measure to the cities around the slain person. And the city nearest to the slain person shall be, and the elders of that city shall take a heifer from the cattle which has not been worked, and which has not drawn a yoke; and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down into a rough ravine, which has not been worked nor sown. And they shall cut the sinews of the heifer in the ravine, and the priests and the Levites shall come forward, because the Lord your God has chosen them to stand before him, and to bless in his name, and in their mouth shall be every dispute and every touch. And all the elders of that city, those nearest to the slain person, shall wash their hands over the head of the heifer whose sinews have been cut, in the ravine, and answering they shall say: 'Our hands did not shed this blood; and our eyes have not seen it. Be gracious to your people Israel, Lord, whom you redeemed from the land of Egypt, so that there may be no innocent blood among your people Israel.' And the blood shall be expiated for them. And you shall remove the innocent blood from among us.

But if he does what is good and pleasing before the Lord your God. Now Emmanuel has been wounded four times for our sake; for he has been softened by our sins, according to the Scriptures. And it is found that he suffered this in the land of the Jews, and outside the gate of Jerusalem. Yet they did not know who struck him, nor how or in what manner. What then does the law say? Yet we say that the outrages against Christ are the work of Jewish impiety. For they themselves brought him to Pilate; they themselves, having shouted, would be caught: "Away, away, crucify him." And again: "If you do not kill this man, you are not a friend of Caesar." And the divine disciples also clearly accused their perversity, addressing the Father God in heaven, speaking thus: "For truly, in this city, Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the nations and the peoples of Israel, gathered against your holy servant Jesus Christ, whom you anointed." And most clearly and openly the blessed Peter rebukes the Jewish peoples, saying at one time, "You killed the author of life," and at another, "But you denied the holy and righteous one, and you asked that a murderer be granted to you." What then does the law mean by saying that they do not know who struck him? The word is mystical, and not simply accessible to all; but it is perhaps known only to those who rightly understand the mystery of Christ.

For the teachers of the Jews and those who share in their unholy schemes thought that they had prevailed, and, attributing the matter not to Christ's willing consent but to their own perversity, they rejoiced as though victorious, not knowing that he suffered willingly and, following the Father's nods, gave himself for our sake. Indeed, he says plainly to Pilate: "You would have had no authority over me at all, had it not been given to you from above." Therefore the Father gave the Son, and, so to speak, is said himself to have struck Emmanuel. And indeed in the book of Psalms the person of Christ is introduced, speaking concerning the wickedness of the Jews to the Father and God in the heavens, that "He whom you struck, they pursued, and added to the pain of my wounds." Let the Lord-slayer therefore no longer think highly; for they have not at once prevailed, as though Christ were weak, but let them learn the truth through Moses. For they do not know the one who struck. Behold then the one who has been wounded four times in the land of the Jews, Emmanuel. But the mystery concerning him is by no means fulfilled among them; rather it is mystically enacted in the land and country of the nations. For if, it says, the wounded man is found, they shall take a heifer unacquainted with the yoke and with labors; and, having brought it down into a rough and unplowed ravine, let them hamstring it through those appointed for the ritual. And having washed their hands over it, they shall say, "Our hands did not pour out this blood." Now the heifer is as a type of Christ, as we have already said.

A heifer, because it is unaccustomed to the yoke and under the yoke as a man, and yet outside the yoke, because it is by nature God. For the Divine is free, and yoked to none of the things that exist, but rather rules over all things and has the whole creation under its hand. But the Son, being free by nature as God, has become with us as a man and under the yoke. Therefore he acknowledged God the Father with us. We, however, are yoked to the authority of the divinity. So the heifer is under the yoke as far as its nature is concerned, but outside the yoke because of the glory of the divinity and its complete freedom. But see the heifer being carried off into a rough and unplowed ravine. For after the precious cross, when Christ was found wounded, he departed from the land of the Jews and moved instead to the country of the Gentiles, which is not worked nor sown. For before Christ shone upon the Gentiles themselves, they continued in the world like a dry and unplowed land, bereft of fruitfulness according to God. And indeed the prophet Isaiah says about it, "Rejoice, O desert, and its villages. Let the desert exult and bloom like a lily." So the country of the Gentiles, or the multitude, is to be compared very well to a rough, unworked, and completely barren land. There, I said, the heifer must be hamstrung through the divine ministers. For, as I said, the mystery of Christ is accomplished by us among the Gentiles, and confessing his passion and resurrection from the dead, we admit them to the mystical blessings. This, I think, is what it means for the heifer to be hamstrung.

For proclaiming, as I said, his death, and indeed also his resurrection, we celebrate the venerable mystery. But those who depart far from the impiety of the Jews, having left behind the city where he was wounded and found to have suffered, coming to the rough and unplowed ravine, will wash their hands there over Christ himself. For they will be cleansed by being baptized into his death; for this, I think, is what it means: "They will wash their hands over him." And confessing that they have become participants in the impiety of the Jews, they will obtain forgiveness. For the Jews, having outrageously abused Christ, inscribe the impiety upon their own heads, saying: "His blood is upon us and upon our children." But those who yearn for the grace from him and seek purification through the Holy Spirit, by the means they have known to honor, have all but cried out, saying: "Our hands did not pour out this blood." In Christ, then, is the purification. And if anyone from the Jews should choose to think rightly—which indeed the divine disciples have done, and even before others, and those who believed through them, to whom one might fittingly also ascribe the person of the council of elders—for they are honorable and chosen, renouncing the impiety of Israel through faith in Christ, through whom and with whom glory is to God the Father together with the Holy Spirit unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Concerning the captive woman, shaved and with her nails torn out. 1. The God of all delivered those of the blood of Israel from the house of slavery, as from an iron furnace, having all but waged war against the Egyptians with a mighty hand and a high arm, as it is written, and opposing the follies of the oppressors with wonders. For signs and portents were wrought, and he commanded them to go through the midst of the sea as on dry land. And as the divine David said, He nourished them in the desert, and gave them bread from heaven. Man ate the bread of angels. He caused springs of water to gush forth. And what indeed of the most astonishing things was not paradoxically accomplished? Therefore, as the divine Moses writes, Like an eagle sheltering its nest, he received them and took them upon his back. But they fell into such evil counsel and perversity of thought and savage undertakings that, even when the Redeemer was present in the flesh, they disobeyed. And why do I mention this, leaving aside the worse things? For they killed with hot and savage boldness, being led henceforth to the utmost impiety. Thus Jerusalem, the slayer of the Lord, is justly sent away, and having been shown bereft of intimacy with God, has turned to every kind of evil, as if holding a self-invoked punishment upon its own head. And Emmanuel himself has spoken to her, saying thus: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to you, how many times have I wished to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not.

Behold, your house is left desolate. For that the Synagogue of the Jews, abhorred by Christ, was about to undergo such a terrible and unbearable punishment, the law itself would have indicated to us enigmatically. For it reads as follows: "If you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands, and you take their spoils, and you see among the spoils a woman fair in form, and you desire her, and take her as your wife, and bring her into your house within, and shave her head, and pare her nails, and remove from her the garments of her captivity, and she sits in your house, and weeps for her father and mother a month of days, and after this you go in to her, and cohabit with her, and she becomes your wife; and if you do not want her, you shall send her away free, and she shall not be sold for silver, nor shall you reject her, because you have humbled her." Now to examine the historical account in detail and to make a craft of testing things in shadows is, I think, vain; for nothing is hard to attain; but the meaning of the divinely spoken words is very obscure and to be grasped with effort. So we must proceed to the investigation of the spiritual matters.

For who at all, or to whom, could the war be understood to have occurred? And who is the woman beautiful in form and most comely? And what then is this, that her head is stripped of hair, and she is also deprived of nails and the garments of captivity? Therefore, as I have already said, the Synagogue of the Jews served the Egyptians like some captive. For the fathers went down into Egypt, driven by famine, in the beginning. But when a long time had passed, and they were now producing men who were robust, most courageous, and beyond number, the Egyptians became fearful, lest, emboldened by their multitude, they might make war against them and bring under their own hand those who had formerly held power. Hence Israel was not moderately afflicted by the toils of brick-making. Yet God had mercy. For He waged war, as I said, against the unendurably oppressive bonds of the Egyptians, delivered them, and prevailed. He saw in the spoil spear-won Jerusalem, that is, the multitude of the Jews, shining with the beauty of ancestral nobility; for she is beautiful and admirable because of the fathers. And since He beheld and desired her, that is, made her worthy of love, and all but wished to cohabit with her and make her the mother of good endeavors, He brought her into His own house. And what is this? He pitched the holy tent in the wilderness, so that, being educated by the sacrifices according to the law and the services in type, she might learn little by little the mystery of Christ. For the law is a tutor to Christ, as the blessed Paul said.

He took her in and shaved her, and removed her nails, and stripped her of the garments of captivity. Now, the head, the sacred text is somehow accustomed to signify the mind; and the hairs in it it likens to the thoughts in the mind. Therefore, the shaving of the hair quite clearly indicates the laying aside of notions; which indeed the ancient Israel, when redeemed, was commanded to fulfill, God speaking plainly through the all-wise Moses: "You shall have no other gods besides me." And again: "You shall not do thus to the Lord your God." For the abominations which the Lord hated, they did to their gods. For while they were sojourning in Egypt, they had other notions, thinking that there were countless gods, and attaching reverence to creation alongside the Creator, and ascribing glory to wood and stone. But since they were called through Moses to the knowledge of the God who is by nature true and alone, how can it be doubted that the time brought them a complete and total novelty of other thoughts? The blessed Paul has also commanded us to hasten to accomplish this, saying: "Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God." Now, the stripping of the head would certainly indicate these things. And the removal of the long nails hints at the casting off of filth and impurity. For those who have nails longer than necessary for use are very filthy, having somehow loved this.

Israel, having been deemed worthy of intimacy with God, had to depart—no one would doubt this—with the law clearly proclaiming: You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, and all that is joined to these. As for the garments of captivity, I would say they inscribe the patterns of the form of slavery and of life in baseness. For, subjugated to the devil's wills and bowing the neck to his rapacities, she received, as if a torn and filthy garment, the love of the flesh. But since she had been ransomed by the law and was being taught to think and act in better ways, she stripped off the charges of her former baseness and, as if putting on a bright tunic, she continued thereafter to wear the discipline of the law around herself. And this, I think, is what the divine Paul also persuades us to do, speaking thus: Having put off the old man with his deeds, and having put on the new man who is renewed according to the image of his creator. And we also strip ourselves in holy baptism, virtually casting off to Satan the garments of captivity. Thus, having put on Emmanuel himself, we offer thanks to God the Father, saying: Let my soul rejoice in the Lord, for he has clothed me with a garment of salvation and a tunic of gladness. And Paul, being a lawgiver, said again: Put on our Lord Jesus Christ, and take no thought for the flesh toward desire. Do you see how, stripping off the garments of the flesh as those of captivity, we use Christ as a bright and divine covering?

For it is the tunic of gladness and the garment of salvation. Having stripped the hair, he says, and removed the nails that are dirty and long, and the garments of captivity, then, yes then, it will inhabit your chamber and will be installed as in the order of a married woman. Yet it will mourn its father and mother for a month of days, that is, it will remember those at home. And after this you will go in to her, and she will be your wife. For I think it necessary that those called to intimacy with God, freeing the mind from inappropriate notions and vain thoughts—I mean those that pertain to transgression and all filth—and, as the divine Paul writes, the old man that is corrupted by the desires of deceit, should attend undistractedly to the one who has preserved and received them into paternal intimacy. For attending undistractedly would, I think, somehow signify sitting in your house. And indeed the blessed David, knowing the matter to be excellent and truly beneficial, says: I asked one thing of the Lord, this I will seek out, that I dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the delight of the Lord and to gaze upon his holy temple. And it would be a very clear sign that the mind is fixed and filled with love for God, to think it necessary to constantly linger in the divine courts. Yet the Creator was not ignorant of the measure of the human mind. For how or whence could he be, if the one who says that He himself knew our formation is true?

For when we depart from life in the world and withdraw the mind from the passions of love of the flesh, we are not accustomed to do this entirely without reproach. We are somehow weak in the beginnings, and the mind is carried away by pleasures toward what is base. It will easily slip into recollection of the distractions in the world; it almost even greatly embraces intimacy with it, even if the law should happen to constrain us and God, as if pulling us back, should transport us to a more excellent and incomparably better life. For since virtue is uphill, while the path that leads us to what is base is very smooth, we, shunning the effort, readily go the other way. What then does the law say? He will mourn for his father and his mother for a month of days; that is, he will not immediately make it welcome to dwell in your hearth; he remembers those at home for a short time. This happens to those who fall into captivity; even if they should happen to be held in honor by their captors, even if luxury should somehow lie abundantly before them, nevertheless they long again for home and their native city, and are no less mindful of their own, and sometimes shed tears, filling their own mind with pain and distress because they are deprived of the land that bore them. This is what happened to the flocks of the Jews. They were ransomed from Egypt and delivered from bitter slavery; they were called by God to the freedom that was theirs from above and from their fathers, but even so they were mindful of things in Egypt, and they wept, saying, "Would that we had died, struck by the Lord in the land of Egypt.

They also rebuked Moses, saying, "Why did you lead us out into this desert?" Therefore, since it is necessary that those who are departing from the accursed love of the flesh and from life in the world are with difficulty torn away in the beginnings, and sometimes seek after the things in it, the lawgiver obliquely indicates this to us when he says, "She shall weep for her father and mother for a month of days." And we do not say that he has commanded them to weep; rather, he permits it, and tolerates those who are weak. And he said that the charges ought to be remitted to those who have suffered this, because they have not yet acquired endurance. And indeed, he has permitted this passion in the desert to the Synagogue of the Jews, and he did not utterly destroy those who had sinned, even though he was usefully indignant. For that he has not always permitted us to be sickly and to admit memories of our former familiarity, that is, of life in the world, he has clearly demonstrated by assigning not long times for weeping: for a month of days, that is, some short and compressed period of time. Such a meaning the divine Psalmist has also brought in for us, saying to the Church from among the Gentiles, "Listen, daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and the house of your father; for the king will desire your beauty." — "Having wept for your father," he says, "and your mother for a month of days, then she will be your wife." For when we depart from life in the world, as I said, then indeed, then we are joined to God, that is, in spiritual union. For he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. "But," he says, "if you do not wish her, you will send her away free, and she will not be sold for silver.

For when the Synagogue of the Jews had committed impiety and laid hands upon Christ Himself, because it had outraged its own Master, then it was hated and became unwelcome; and it was all but expelled from the divine and sacred hearth. Yet it was not handed over to slavery, nor was it, as it were, sold to Satan, nor was it entirely subjected to his will; for Israel did not serve idols, even though it slipped away from its intimacy with Christ. But it remained confessing and worshipping the one and by nature true God, and it preserved its love for Moses and the law; for the God of all did not reject it, because it was once deemed worthy of intimacy with Him. For this is what He teaches us, saying, "You shall not reject her because you have humbled her." For here he calls "humiliation" the deflowering, that is, the manner of spiritual union, clearly that in Christ; through whom and with whom glory is to God the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Take up arms and shield, the prophet Isaiah has said to some. And the most wise Paul says: Put on the full armor of God. For those who are known to God, lovers of virtue, and reared in the noble graces of gentleness, do indeed wage war in the most general way against all profane and fleshly pleasure, and they array against the perversities of the devil, as it were, the firmness rooted in faith, the unshakable endurance in patience, the perseverance in toils, and the zeal for industry, in all the things that are admired, of course. But no one, I think, would ever reach such a measure of spiritual vigor as to seize that so conspicuous glory, beyond every wonder, unless he had Christ as his protector. He will certainly join in the struggle and be eagerly present with those who have chosen to think his thoughts, who have obtained purification through him, and who have made it their boast to reproach him. And indeed the divine Psalmist says: He who dwells in the help of the Most High will lodge in the shelter of the God of heaven. He will say to the Lord: You are my supporter and my refuge, my God, my helper, and I will hope in him. For he will rescue me from the snare of hunters and from a word of confusion. For that we will be better than the enemies, with God preserving us, he himself will be faithful in saying: Because he came to me, and I will rescue him. And he has cried out to me, and I will hear him; I am with him in distress; I will deliver him and glorify him. But see the matter, also written by the all-wise Moses himself. For he said:

If you go out to engage in battle against your enemies, you shall guard yourself from every evil word. If there is among you a man who is not clean from his nocturnal emission, he shall go outside the camp and shall not enter the camp. And when evening comes, he shall wash his body in water, and after sunset he shall enter the camp. And there shall be a place for you outside the camp; and you shall go out there; and there shall be a peg on your belt. And when you squat outside, you shall dig with it, and after relieving yourself you shall cover your shame with it. For the Lord your God walks about in your camp, to deliver you and to hand over your enemy into your hands. And your camp shall be holy, and no shameful thing shall be seen among you, and he will turn away from you. Do you hear that those who wish to act boldly against enemies and to be esteemed must be free from every defilement? For our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places, which closely examine human life and scrutinize the manner of each person's life. Therefore we must make our conduct blameless and irreproachable, so that we may not be subject to accusations from them. For the father of sin is both enemy and avenger. Now those in this world, roused by the law of war and battle against their enemies, either receive bodily wounds, as it happens, or inflict them on others. But we are not so.

For our weapons are not fleshly, as it is written. Therefore we are not struck in the flesh, but we receive desires into our mind and heart, and fall into the passions of love of the flesh. So we must be equipped with spiritual armor, and be fortified by grace from above, and as far as possible keep our mind outside every mental dart. For in this way we will overcome those who oppose us, and, sending every passion far away, we will preserve the beauty of the soul unimpaired for God. With this in mind, the law says: "If you go out to engage in battle against your enemies, and you guard yourself from every evil word," that is, keep yourself far from every cause, so that there will be no true word against you concerning a shameful and reproachful matter; avoid the slander that brings shame, and let every evil word be idle against you. And that we must also divest ourselves of the charges of fleshly uncleanness, he indicated enigmatically, ordering the one polluted by his own emission to go outside the camp and to wash with water toward evening, and then to return home and, if he wishes, even into the camp itself. Then I will try to explain what this matter is and what the meaning of such things might be. For if any human pollution occurs when the mind has slightly yielded to necessity and allowed entry to desires for evil, the Master has decreed that for this reason one must be separated from the multitude of the saints, and he does not allow the pure to associate with the impure.

It does not at all leave the corrupting sin unrebuked in us. But we shall find purification in Christ, being cleansed with water, according to the saying, "Wash yourselves, become clean." Doing this toward evening, that is, in the last times of the age—which one might also see as bounded in the flocks of the saints. For those defiled by unnatural fleshly loves, those who once remained outside the multitude and camp of the saints, those far off from the sacred flock, having obtained purification through holy baptism, have become near who were far, shown to be sharers of the saints, and henceforth fellow citizens and partakers of hope, evidently at the time of the advent which occurred, as it were, in the evening and at the very setting of the present age. He said, then, that those who traffic in purification in Christ must repel the charges arising from fleshly love. But there will be for you, he says, a place outside the camp, and you shall go out there, and there shall be a peg on your belt. And it shall be when you squat outside, and you shall dig in it; and having brought it, you shall cover your shame in it. For the Lord your God walks about in your camp, to deliver you and hand over your enemy into your hands. And your camp shall be holy, and no shame of a thing shall be seen in you. For it would be fitting, as I said, for those desiring to contend against the intelligible enemies to renounce every form of impurity as much as possible.

Since we all often stumble, and human nature is prone to slipping into error, yet no one is aware of their transgressions, according to the words of the Psalmist: "If it should happen," he says, that we are almost shattered by one of the innate impurities within us, and are caught having fallen ill from something outside the law and a holy life—for the law of sin dwells in the members of the flesh—first, let not the faults arising from weakness be placed openly and unconcealed, nor in the sight of many; but rather, as if outside and secretly, and as far as possible from the camp, let them be covered by corrections, he says. For the wise will hide their own shames, according to what is written. And when we cease from our transgressions, and by turning toward the better, in a way reconstitute the mind to choose what is beneficial, we remove from the midst the ugliness of what has already been transgressed, and having overcome the foul-smelling sin with the fragrances of what follows, we will enter again into the camp of the saints, that is, into the Church of the Firstborn. And this is accomplished in Christ. And in what manner? If we take up our own cross, according to his word, employing a swift and well-girded spirit. For having a peg on our belt, that is, the wood, this perhaps is hinted at obliquely to us. So the law is spiritual, and it loves to make a typification of intelligible things through bodily things. For we are not in impurities, with God having done this before our eyes, going to latrines and relieving ourselves of the excrements from the belly.

But as I said just now, the things that lie in the realm of perception could be types and images of the intelligible. Therefore, we must bury the impurities, because the Lord God walks in the camp. For Christ dwells in us and walks about in us; and if he sees an unseemly and unseemly thing in us, he immediately rises up, for the Holy Spirit of wisdom will flee from deceit, according to what is written, and will depart from foolish thoughts. But if he finds us pure and cleansed, superior to passions and defilements, he will dwell in us willingly and deliver us from the hand of enemies. Therefore he says: "You shall be holy, because I am holy." And again: "Go out from there, and do not touch anything unclean, and I will receive you," says the Lord. For the Lord our Jesus Christ will gladly receive those who are thus purified; through whom and with whom glory is to God the Father together with the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen. Concerning the Plastered Stones. a. The divine Paul was very wise when he said that the ancients were educated through the writings of Moses toward the mystery of Christ. For the matter stands thus, and the account is true. For if we turn what was ordained through Moses toward the truth, we will find the contemplation in them to be very beautiful. And if we cling tightly to the letter and no longer depart from the types, we will hear the prophet saying: "You have gone too deep into the sitting." For we will find nothing elevated and truly beneficial in the shadows; but we will declare the commandment entirely blameless.

For this reason also the inspired Moses placed a veil over his face, indicating, I think, to the more intelligent that the law is twofold: the truth lies innermost, while the shadow, like a face, is brought over it, and the outward things are a superfluous covering for what is hidden. So Moses teaches us in Deuteronomy that the initiators of the new covenant in Christ will at times speak the word through him, but will lead toward the truth and make the narrative more manifest than the letter, interpreting it more spiritually. It is written thus: "And Moses and the elders of Israel commanded, saying, 'Keep all these commandments which I give you today; and on the day you cross the Jordan into the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall set up for yourself large stones, and plaster them with lime, and write on the stones all the words of this law, when you cross the Jordan, when you enter the land which the Lord God of your fathers gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, in the manner that the Lord God of your fathers said to you. And when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, which I command today, on Mount Gerizim; and you shall plaster them with lime; and you shall build there an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones; you shall not put iron on them. You shall build the altar to the Lord your God with whole stones.'

And you shall offer up whole burnt offerings to the Lord your God, and you shall sacrifice a sacrifice of deliverance, and you shall eat, and you shall be filled, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God. And you shall inscribe upon these stones this entire law. Observe with me again that he has commanded that the words concerning the things that shall come from him be not treated as a secondary matter, but that they be deemed worthy of the greatest possible care. These were the words from the holy apostles. And I will attempt to clarify each part as clearly as possible. 2. For if it should happen, he says, that we cross the Jordan, and also enter into the much-desired land of promise, then indeed, then, having placed great stones on a high place, you shall plaster them, and you shall inscribe this entire law very clearly. The great stones placed on high signify for us the chorus of the holy apostles, who are truly great and high and conspicuous. For as far as virtue and the boasts of a life in Christ are concerned, there is nothing equal to them. For we find that those among us have risen to preeminence and are far superior. For who, tell me, having any sense, will contend on equal terms with those sacred and renowned men, whom Christ even called his own friends? For he says, No longer do I call you servants; you are my friends. And he named them the light of the world and the salt of the earth, and commanded that they be seen adorned with honors befitting themselves and him; he set them as benefactors and appointed them universal physicians, saying:

Heal the sick, cast out demons, cleanse lepers, raise the dead; you received freely, give freely. Great indeed are the stones, and as if lying on a mountain. For the conspicuousness of glory and the eminence in renown cause them to appear very high and as if placed on a mountain. But who would be the ones setting up the stones? Those who cross the Jordan. Those who have believed in holy Christ and who are enriched with the grace through holy baptism. These certainly raise up for themselves teachers and mystagogues, the disciples of our Savior, the truly holy and chosen stones, concerning which a prophetic oracle said to us: "For holy stones roll upon the earth." For the divine disciples, so to speak, rolled down to those under heaven, traveling throughout the inhabited world, displaying everywhere the beauty of the piety inherent in them, and proclaiming the true pearl, the one and precious stone, that is, Christ. And the stones, plastered, have an inscription, clearly the law. For in the holy apostles we will find the contemplations in the law white and manifest, no longer overshadowed by the letter, nor having a dim covering of shadow, but bright and pure. For the instruction of the saints is spiritual. Therefore they speak the law clearly. And this, I think, is to inscribe it very clearly on the plastered stones, according to what is written.

When the stones on which the law was inscribed were set up, he said that an altar must be built from other whole stones, that is, unhewn and not damaged by blows of iron. And what might be the meaning of this? The cornerstone, precious, is Christ; he is also placed in the foundations of Zion. For we are supported upon him, having him as a secure and unshakable base. And we, as living stones, are built up, a spiritual house, a holy temple, a dwelling place of God in spirit. But we are no less also a kind of altar, gathered together in spiritual unity, and offering the fragrance of faith in Christ, presenting through him to God the Father, as if in the order of the most fragrant incense, the boasts of virtues. And indeed the divine Paul instructs us: Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, your rational worship. So we ourselves are stones, but whole and unblemished. For those who, as I said, offer the fragrance of Christ make a complete consecration of their own mind, not divided toward worldly things, nor still bearing the wounds from profane and abominable sin; but just as Christ is undivided, so they are single-minded and true, attached only to God, refusing to appear divided into things of flesh and world. Thus the holy Paul writes, dedicating himself: For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

It is necessary to remember that he gave us the same law in other words, speaking thus: "If you make me an altar of stones, you shall not build them hewn, for you have laid your knife upon it, and they are defiled." The stones, then, are whole and unhewn, according to the ways we have just spoken of. But, he says, you shall eat and be filled there, and rejoice before the Lord your God. For those who have arrived at this glory, being able to give off the fragrance of Christ, it would be fitting and very reasonable both to partake of the sacred and divine food and to rejoice spiritually in the eyes of God. And this is accomplished by those who have believed in our Lord Jesus Christ partaking of the mystical blessings in the churches; through whom and with whom glory is given to God the Father together with the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Concerning the Election of Jesus. 1. John the wise, understanding very correctly both the mystery of Christ and the measure of the ministry of Moses, addressed him, saying that the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. But the law was ready for anger, and immediately and without delay it imposed harsh penalties on those who transgressed; it simply accused baseness and made a denunciation of sin. For sin, it says, is not counted in the absence of law. And again: I did not know sin except through the law. But Christ releases us from offenses.

He justifies by grace, and sanctifies those who have believed, and brings to fulfillment what was formerly promised to the fathers. And that this is true in both respects, Paul will again make clear, having written thus: "The letter kills, but the spirit gives life." For by "letter" he means the shadow in the law; and by "spirit," the worship in spirit and truth—I mean the evangelical worship, which Christ has instituted anew for those throughout the whole world. Since the first was not blameless, the place of the second was necessarily sought thereafter. And God was causing the old to grow old, while promising a new one. And when Moses, so to speak, was diminished and had withdrawn from the midst, Christ in a certain way sprang up and was revealed as our guide, through whom and in whom we, having been brought into the kingdom of the heavens, will receive the prosperity that runs concurrent with the endless ages, living a pure and holy life, free from every cause. He has also educated us in this way, so that we might be disposed and think accordingly, by the very things that were once decreed through Moses. For it is written thus: "And Moses called Joshua, and said to him before all Israel: 'Be strong and courageous. For you will enter before the face of this people into the land which the Lord swore to our fathers to give them, and you will allot it to them. And the Lord will be the one who goes with you. He will not forsake you, nor will he abandon you. Do not fear, nor be cowardly.'

As the most excellent Moses was about to depart from affairs and be transferred to the upper abodes, the divine Jesus in a certain way rises up in opposition and succeeds to the leadership. For as the old and ancient letter and the worship according to the law were coming to an end, as I have already said, being almost contracted, the Only-Begotten came down to us from the heavens and took on a form like ours. And God, who has authority over all things, as one holding the most ancient and splendid office, usefully pretends, for the sake of likeness to us, to be called to the beginnings of a kingdom. Therefore he also said: "I was appointed king by him"—clearly by God the Father—"over his holy mountain Zion, proclaiming the command of the Lord." So then, yielding to the glory of Christ, let no one bring Moses forward again; let the types not prevail, nor let the shadow be stirred up by anyone. The ancient things have passed; behold, all things have become new. But if someone should choose to do this, let him know that he dishonors the divine economy, and does violence to what is pleasing to God, and dissolves the sacred and great mystery. For he who still clings to the types after the revelation of Jesus will lie as far as possible from the sacred orders; he will be shown to be utterly disinherited and without a share in the gifts through Christ. It is this that the divine Paul clearly rebukes some in Galatia for suffering, writing: "O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Before your eyes Jesus Christ was depicted crucified. I wish to learn only this from you: Did you receive the Spirit from works of the law, or from hearing of faith?

Thus you are senseless: having begun with the spirit, do you now conclude with the flesh? Then to these he adds again: You have been alienated from Christ, you who are justified in the law. You have fallen from grace. For we, through faith, await the hope of righteousness. For the great Moses was indeed faithful, and among the most illustrious. But he was a servant, and that was his measure, a mediator and minister of the condemning law. But his Master has come and has brought us the grace that justifies. Therefore let the law be at rest, the accuser of sin, the ministry of condemnation, through which God confined everything to sin, in order that he might have mercy on all, as it is written. 2. But what did the great Moses say to Jesus? "Be strong and prevail. For you will enter before the face of this people into the land which the Lord swore to our fathers to give them, and you will inherit it for them." Observe then the prophecy of the law. Moses was not ignorant of the glory of the Savior, his incomparable superiority, the preeminence over every saint, indeed over all rational creation. He knew the invincible hand, the all-powerful and unconquerable authority, and he was almost amazed, seeing enemies falling, death weakening, Satan fleeing, and the formerly invincible and hard-to-conquer beast fearful and defeated, the mouth of sin being stopped, lepers cleansed, demons trembling, and a raging sea calmed by a single word. He was not ignorant that the law through him had justified no one; for it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to remove sin.

Our Lord Jesus Christ will free the inhabited world from the ancient accusations, and since he is himself the truth and holy by nature, he sanctifies those who have believed in his own blood, and declares them superior to death and corruption, and will also bring them into the kingdom of the heavens itself, the truly desirable and holy land of the heavenly abode, the beautiful city in heaven, the Church of the firstborn, whose craftsman and creator is God. That God the Father will contend and cooperate with the Son, who has become like us, for every purpose, Moses makes clear by adding: And the Lord who goes with you will not abandon you, nor will he forsake you. The Son is all-powerful and has invincible authority, since he is by nature God. But he is said to be assisted by the Father because of the human element, this language and the matter itself being fitting to the form of servitude and to the very manner of the economy with flesh. Indeed, the Son, in order to be believed to have become like us, assumes a weakness appropriate to man, saying to the Father and God in the heavens: That you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow your holy one to see corruption.

That the education through the law was perhaps not known to anyone before the advent as understood spiritually, but was thereafter admired when Christ shone forth, and has been placed almost before the eyes of small and great, the Holy Spirit having come down upon us, through whom we understand even the depths of God, is clear also from the following. For it says thus: "And Moses wrote all the words of this law in a book, and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to the elders of the sons of Israel. And Moses commanded them on that day, saying: 'After seven years, at the time of the year of release, at the feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel assembles to appear before the Lord your God, in the place which the Lord shall choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their ears. Gather the people, the men and the women, and the children, and your proselyte in your cities, that they may hear, and that they may learn to fear the Lord their God, and that they may hear to do all the words of this law.'" You hear that he wrote the law, and he also charges the chosen priests, I mean, and indeed the elders, that when the seventh year has passed, at the time of the release, at the feast of Tabernacles, they are to gather all, young and old, women and children, and then read it to those assembled.

For that many and not easily numbered years were to pass by, until Christ should shine forth and the time of the incarnation be revealed, one might learn from the fact that the reading was to be done through seven years. For the number seven is indicative of multitude in holy Scripture, according to that, I think somewhere, "The barren one bore seven." And again: "Do not trust your enemy forever; for there are seven wickednesses in his heart." The Proverbist also said somewhere: "The righteous man will fall seven times and rise again." Observe that in the seven years before the release, that is, in the times before the advent, the law was not read. For not reading it at all is similar to being unable to understand anything, even if one should happen to read it. But it became known, as I said, to small and great alike, when the time of the release arrived. For the law commanded the ancients, saying: "After seven years you shall make a release, and thus you shall make it. Release every private debt which your neighbor owes you." And again: "If you acquire a Hebrew slave, he shall serve you six years; but in the seventh year you shall release him free from you." And our Lord Jesus Christ, at the end of the ages, and almost after seven years, released the debts, and forgave those who had sinned and were debtors, and granted grace, according to the Gospel parable, to those who were slaves of sin and yoked to Satan, making them bright and glorious with the spirit of freedom.

The time of release was revealed at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, which signifies the mystery of the resurrection, when the tabernacle, that is, the body, of each of those lying in the earth is set up. For since Christ rose from the dead, trampling death, despoiling Hades, and saying to those in bonds, "Come out," and to those in darkness, "Be uncovered," then, adorning human nature anew with the Holy Spirit, as a firstfruit of the race and of those being renewed for sanctification, he breathed into the holy apostles, saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit." Then the eyes of our understanding were opened. Then we were enlightened, and we understood the law that was long hidden and known to scarcely any of the ancients. Then we were also raised together from the ends of the earth to the place he chose, that is, the Church, where, having come, the chosen and sacred mystagogues and teachers interpret the law that is in shadows and types. And indeed, the divine Paul, well transforming the types into spiritual contemplation, writes and says, "For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling those defiled, sanctifies them for purity of the flesh, how much more the blood of Christ?" And when those from Israel slaughtered the lamb and attended to the shadows, referring the type of the mystery to Christ, he said again that "Our Passover, Christ, was sacrificed." And he writes to others, "Tell me, you who wish to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one from the slave woman and one from the free woman.

But the one from the handmaid was born according to the flesh, while the one from the free woman was born through a promise; these things are allegorized. For these are the two Covenants: one from Mount Sinai, giving birth to servitude, which is Hagar. For Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and it corresponds to the present Jerusalem. For she serves along with her children. But the upper Jerusalem is free, and she is our mother. Therefore, being mystically initiated, we receive the divine law with fear within ourselves. And that the power of the worship in types and shadows was about to be diminished in due time, Moses again indicated enigmatically. For it is written that when Moses finished writing all the words of this law into a book, to the very end, he commanded the Levites who carry the ark of the Covenant of the Lord, saying: "Take this book and place it at the side of the ark of the Covenant of the Lord our God." Understand, then, how he ordered the law to be deposited in one part of the ark, and not in the middle itself, as if the new ordinances through Christ were soon to come, to which the older commandment must give way—indeed, almost make room, or even step aside, so that the new may be introduced. For the law through Moses is not cast out of the holy ark; it is accepted in the Churches, but it is not placed in the foremost position.

It was drawn back, as it were, and remained to the side, yielding place, as I said, to the incomparably superior things—that is, to the divine and evangelical ordinances, through which Christ has educated us into knowledge of God and into every understanding of virtue; through whom and with whom glory is to God and Father together with the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.