Homilies on the Song of Songs 13
Greek text: PG 44 (OCR by the Internet Archive; lines extracted for this site).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 13
13PG 44
Ὥρχισα ὑμᾶς, θυγατέρες ʼ᾿Ιερουσαμζὴμ, ἐν ταῖς δυνάμεσι, καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἰσχύσεσι τοῦ ἀγροῦ, ἐὰνʼ εὕρητε τὸν ἀδειλφιδόν μου, τί ἀπαγγείλητε αὐτῷ; ὅτι τετρωμένη ἀγάπης ἐγώ εἰμι. Τί ἀδειφιδός σου ἀπὸ ἀδειφιδοῦ, ὦ καλὴ ἐν γυναιξίν; ὅτι οὕτως ὥρκισας ἡμᾶς ; ἀδεῖφιδός μου λευκὸς καὶ πυῤῥὸς, ἐκλελοχισμένος ἀπὸ μυριάδων. Κεραλὴ αὐτοῦ χρυσίον Κεφρὰς, βόστρυχοι αὐτοῦ ἐκλαταὶ, μέλανες ὡς κόραξ· ὀφθαλμοὶ αὑτοῦ ὡς περιστεραὶ ἐπὶ πληρώματα ὑδάτων, .ελουμέναι ἐπὶ πληρώματα ὑδάτων. Ὃ διὰ Μωῦσέως μὲν νομοθετήσας τὰ τοῦ νόμου μυστήρια· πληρώσας δὲ δι᾽ ἑαυτοῦ ὅλον τὸν νόμον καὶ τοὺς προφήτας, καθὼς ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ φησίν ὅτι Οὐκ ἥλθον καταλῦσαι τὸν νόμον, ἀλ.1ὰ π,ληΑ ρῶσαι· ὁ τῇ μὲν ἀναιρέσει τῆς ὀργῆς συνεξαλείψας τὸν φόνον, τῷ δὲ ἀφανισμῷ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας συνεξελαύνων τῆς μοιχείας τὸ ἄγος οὗτος ἐχδάλλει τοῦ βίου καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῆς ἐπιορκίας κατάραν, τῇ ἀπαγορεύσει τοῦ ὄρκου πεδήσας ἐν ἀπραξίαᾳ τὸ δρέπανον. Οὐ γάρ ἐστι δυνατὸν ὄρκου γενέσθαι πάράδασιν, μὴ ὄντος ὄρκου. Διό φησιν· Ἡκούσατε ὅτι ἐῤῥέθη ἀρχαίοις· Οὐκ ἐπιορκήσεις, ἀποδώσεις δὲ τῷ Κυρίῳ τοὺς ὅρκους σοῦ. Ἐγὼ λέγω σοι, φησὶ, μὴ ὁμόσαε ὅλως· μήτε ἐν τῷ οὐραγῷ, ὅτι θρόνος ἐστὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ· μήτε ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ὅτι πόλις ἐστὶ τοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως· μήτε ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ σου ὁμόσείς· ὅτι οὐ δύνασαι ποιῆσαι τρίχα λευκὴν ἣ μέλαιναν, Ἔστω δὲ ὑμῶν ὁ 1όγος τὸ, Ναὶ, ναί· καὶ τὸ, Οὐ, οὐ τὸ δὲ περισσότερον τούτων, ἐκ τοῦ διαδόλου ἐστίν. Ἢ δὲ διὰ τοῦ Ἄσματος τῶν ἀσμάτων ἐπὶ τελειότητι μεμαρτυρημένη ψυχὴ, καὶ περιελομένη μὲν τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ κάλυμμα ἐν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει τοῦ παλαιοῦ χιτῶνος, τοξ θέριστρον ἀποθαλοῦσα, ὅπερ νοοῦμεν πᾶσαν διστάζουσάν τε καὶ χραδαινομένην διάνοιαν, ὥστε καθαρῶς τε καὶ ἀναμφιθόλως πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν βλέπειν, ὁρχίξει τὰς θυγατέρας ᾿ἱερουσαλὴμ,, οὔτε κατὰ τοῦ θείου θρόνου, ὃν οὐρανὸν ὀνομάζει ὁ λόγος· οὔτε κατὰ τῶν Θεοῦ βασιλείων οἷς ὄνομά ἐστιν Ἱερουσαλήμ· οὐ μὴν οὔτε κατὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς τῆς τιμίας, ἧς αἱ τρίχες οὔτε λευκαὶ, οὔτε μέλαιναι γενέσθαι δύνανται· ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τὸν ἀγρὸν μεταφέρει τὸν ὄῤκον, κατὰ τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ δυνάμεων τὸν ὀρκισμὸν ἐπάγουσα ταῖς νεάνισι λέγουσα: Ὥρχισα ὑμᾶς, θυγατέρες Ἵερουσαλὴμ, ἐν ταῖς δυνάμεσι καὶ ἰσχύσεσι τοῦ δρυμοῦ. Ὅτι μὲν οὖν ἡ διʼ ὅλου μαρτυρηθεῖσα εἶναι καλὴ καὶ παντὸς χαθαρεύουσα μώμου, οὐδὲν φθέ γγεται τῶν περιττῶν, ὃ τῆς τοῦ διαθόλου μερίδος ἐστίν· ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ποιεῖται τὸν λόγον, παρ᾽ οὗ, κατὰ τὸν Μιχαίαν, εἴ τι ἀγαθόν ἔστι, καὶ εἴ τι καλὸν, καὶ παρὰ ταῦτα οὐδέν παντὶ δῆλόν ἔστι, τῷ παρὰ τῆς δεσποτικῆς μαρτυρίας διδαχθέντι, τὰ προσόντα τῇ νύμφῃ πλεονεκτήματα. Ἧ γὰρ ἀφεῖσα πάντα τὰ ἀπηγορευμένα εἴδη τοῦ ὄρκου, καὶ μήτε τὴν βασιλεύουσαν πόλιν, μῆτε τὸν θρόνον τοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως ὄρκιον ταῖς νεάνισι ποιησαμένη· διὰ τούτου γὰρ παιδευόμεθα πόσον ἀπέχειν ἡμᾶς χρὴ τοῦ κατατολμᾷν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν τοῖς ὄρκοις, ὅτι οὔτε τὸν θρόνον, οὔτε τὴν πόλιν ἐν τῷ ὄρκῳ παραλαμθάνειν ἐπιτρεπόμεθα· φεισαμένη τε πρὸς τούτοις τῆς κεφαλῇς τῆς τιμίας, ἣν ἐν τοῖς ἐφεξῆς χρυσῆν εἶναι διαγράφει τῷ λόγῳ· ἧς αἱ τρίχες οὔτε λευκαί εἰσιν, οὔτε μέλαιναι· πῶς γὰρ ἂν ἢ μελανθείη χρυσὸς, ἢ πρὸς τὸ λευκὸν εἶδος μεταχρωσθείη ; πάντως ὅτι τοιοῦτόν τινα προτείνει τὸν ὁρκισμὸν ταῖς παρθένοις, ὃς οὐχὶ τῷ εὐαγγελικῷ μάχεται νόμῳ, καὶ ἐπαίνου γίνεται τοῖς ὁμωμοχόσιν ὑπόθεσις, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Προφήτου φωνὴν, ἦ φησιν· ὅτι ᾿Επαινηθήσεται πᾶς ὁ ὀμνύων· ἐν αὐτῷ. Ὥστε τὴν τῶν λεγομένων διάνοιαν μὴ ἔξω εἶναι τοῦ διπλοῦ, ᾧ πιστοῦσθαι βούλεται τὴν ἁλή θειαν ὁ εὐαγγελιχκὸς νόμος, λέγων· Ἔστω δὲ ὑμῶν ὁ λόγος τὸ, Ναὶ, ναί· καὶ τὸ, Οὐ, οὐ. Εἰ τοίνυν ἐν τοῖς ὁρχίοις νοήμασι κωλύεται μὲν ὁ θρόνος τοῦ βασιλέως παραλαμδάνεσθαι· κωλύεται δὲ καὶ ἡ πόλις, ἐν ἧ τὰ βασίλεια· κωλύεται δὲ ὡσαύτως καὶ ἡ ἀληθινὴ κεφαλὴ περὶ τὴν τοῦ ὄρκου παράληψιν· μόνον δὲ τὸ Ναὶ, καὶ τὸ Οὐ, συγκεχώρηται, δι᾿ ἀμφοτέρων κατὰ τὸ ἴσον τῆς ἀληθείας ἐν τῷ Ναὶ θεωρουμένης· δῆλον ἂν εἴη, ὅτι καὶ νῦν ὁ ταῖς νεάνισιν ἐπαγόμενος ὄρκος παρὰ τῆς νύμφης, περὶ τὴν τοῦ Ναὶ διάνοιαν ἀναγράφεται, ὅπου χρὴ ἐρηρεισμένην ἡμῶν εἶναι Ὥρκισω ὑμᾶς, θυγατέρες Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἐν ταῖς τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς συγχατάθεσιν.·Ἔχει δὲ ἡ λέξις οὕτως· δυνάμεσι καὶ ἰσχύσεσι τοῦ ἀγροῦ· ἐὰν εὕρητε τὸν ἀδελφριδόν μου, τί ἀπαγγε.λεῖτα αὐτῷ; ὅτι τετρωμένη ἀγάπης ἐγώ. Ταῦτα δὲ τεθεώρηται μὲν ἤδη καὶ ἐν τοῖς φθάσασιν, ὡς ἡ ἀκολουθία τῶν νοημάτων ἐνέδαλεν. Εἰρῆσεται δὲ καὶ νῦν διὰ βραχέων τὰ εὑρισκόμενα. ᾿Αμετάθετάν τι πρᾶγμα τὸν ὄρκον εἶναί φησιν ὁ ᾿Απόστολος, βεθαιοῦντα δι᾿ αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀλήθειαν, καὶ πάσης αὐτὸν ἀντιλογίας πέρας ὁρίζεται εἶναι, εἰς τὴν τῶν ἐγνωσμένων βεθαίωσιν. Ἐπάγει τοίνυν τὸν ὀρκισμὸν ταῖς παρθένοις ἣ νύμφη, ὥστε ἀπαράδωτον φυλαχθῆναι αὐταῖς τὸ λεγόμενον. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ πᾶς ὄρκος κατὰ τοῦ μείζονος γίνεται, καθώς φησιν ὁ ᾿Απόστολος· οὗ γὰρ ἄν τις ὄρκον ποιήσαιτο ἑαυτοῦ ἀτιμότερὸν· σκοπῆσαι προσήκει τί ταῖς νεάνισιν ἐν τῷ ὄρκῳ παρὰ τῆς νύμφης μεῖζον προτείνεται. Ὥρκισα ὑμᾶς, φησὶν, ὦ θυγατέρες Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἐν ταῖς δυνάμεσι καὶ ἰσχύσεσι τοῦ ἀγροῦ. Τί οὖν τὸ ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς ἐν τούτοις ἐστίν; ᾿Αγρὸν γὰρ τὸν κόσμον διὰ τῆς τροπιχῆς σημασίας νοεῖσθαι, οὐκ ἀμφιδάλλομεν, οὕτω τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ ὀνομάσαντος τὸν κόσμον καὶ ἑρμηνεύσαντος. Αἱ τοίνυν πολλαὶ δυνάμεις καὶ ἰσχύες τοῦ κόσμου τίνες εἰσὶν αἱ τῷ ὅρκῳ προκείμεναι, ἃς χρὴ μείζονας ἡμῶν νομισθῆναι, ἵνα ἰσχὺν λάδῃ πρὸς βεδαίωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας ὁ ὄρκος κατὰ τῶν μειζόνων γενόμενος ; Οὐκοῦν ἀναγκαΐον ἂν εἴη παραθέσθαι πρὸς τὴν σαφήνειαν τῶν προκειμένων ἑτέραν ἔκδοσιν ἑρμηνευτιχὴν τῶν ῥητῶν, ἔχουσαν οὕτως· Ὥρχισα ʼΙερουσαὴμ, κατὰ τῶν καὶ κατὰτῶν ἐλάφων τοῦ ἀγροῦ. Διδασκόμεθα τοίνυν διὰ τῶν ὀνομάτων τούτων ἐν τίνι ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ κόσμου πούτου ἰσχὺς, καὶ ἐν τίνι ἡ δύναμις, ἃ πρὸς βεδαίωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας διὰ τοῦ ὄρκου παραλαμδάνεται. Δύο ἐστὶ τὰ τῷ Θεῷ οἰκειοῦντα τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Ἕν μὲν, πὸ ἀπλανὲς τῆς περὶ τὸ ὄντως ὃν ὑπολήψεως, ὥστε μὴ ταῖς ἠπατημέναις ὑπονοίαις εἰς ἐθνιχάς τε καὶ αἱρετιχὰς περὶ τοῦ Θείου δόξας ἐκφέρεσθαι, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ὡς ἀληθῶς τὸ Ναέ. Τὸ δ᾽ ἕτερον, ὁ καθαρὸς λογισμὸς, ὁ πᾶσαν ἐμπαθῇ διάθεσιν τῆς ψυχῆς ἐξορίζων· ὅπερ οὐδ᾽ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ναὶ ἠλλοτρίωται. Τῆς τοίνυν διπλῆς ταύτης τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἕξεως, ὧν ἡ μὲν πρὸς τὸ ὄντως ὃν ἀναδλέπειν ποιεῖ· ἡ δὲ φυγαδεύει τὰ πάθη τὰ τὴν ψυχὴν λυμαινόμενα· ἡ τῶν δορχάδων καὶ τῶν ἐλάφων μνήμη, διὰ συμθόλων γνωρίζει τὴν δύναμιν. Τούτων γὰρ ἡ μὲν ἀπλανῶς ὁρᾷ, ἡ δὲ βρωτικὴν τινα καὶ ἀναλωτιχὴν τῶν θηρίων δύναμιν ἔχει. Τοῦτο τοίνυν προτείνει ταῖς παρθένοις ἡ νύμφη τὸ Ναὶ, τό εὐσεδῶς δεῖν πρὸς τὸ Θεῖον βλέπειν, καὶ καθαρῶς ἐν ἀπαθείᾳ παρατρέχειν τὸν βίον· ὧν κατορθουμένων, τὸ ἀμετάθετον πρᾶγμα ἐν ἡμῖν βεδαιοῦται τὸ Ναί. Οὗτος γάρ ἔστιν ὁ τὴν ἀλήθειαν πιστούμενος ὄρκος, ὃν πᾶς ὀμνύων ἐν αὐτῷ ἐπαινεῖται, καθώς φησιν ὁ Προφήτης. ᾿Αληθῶς γὰρ ὁ ἐν τοῖς δύο τούτοις τὸ ἀσφαλὲς ἐν ἑαυτῷ κατορθώσας, ἕν τε τῷ λόγῳ τῆς πίστεως, ὅταν ἀπλανῶς πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν βλέπῃ, καὶ ἐν τῷ τρόπῳ τῆς ζωῆς, ὅταν παντὸς χαθαρεύῃ τοῦ ἐκ πονηρίας μολύσματος οὗτος ὀμνύει τῷ Κυρίῳ, μὴ ἀναδῆναι ἐπὶ κλίνης στρωμνῆς, μὴ δοῦναι ὕπνον τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῦ, μηδὲ νυσταγμὸν τοῖς βλεφάροις, ἕως οὗ εὕρῃ ἐν ἑαυτῷ τόπον τῷ Κυρίῳ, σκήνωμα τῷ ἐν αὐτῷ οἰκοῦντι γενόμενος. Εἰ τοίνυν ἐσμὲν καὶ ἡμεῖς τῆς ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ τέκνα, ἀκούσωμεν τῆς διδασκάλου νύμφης, πῶς ἔστιν ἰδεῖν τὸν Τί οὖν φησιν ; Ἐὰν ὄρκιον ἑαυτοῖς τοῦτο ποιήσωμεν, τὸ ἐν ταῖς δυνάμεσιν εἶναι τῶν διορατικῶν δορχάδων, καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἰσχύσεσι τῶν ἀφανιστιχῶν τῆς κακίας ἐλάφων ἔστι διὰ τούτων ἰδεῖν τὸν καθαρὸν γυμφίον, τὸν τῆς ἀγάπης τοξότην, καὶ εἰπεῖν πρὸς αὐτὸν τὴν ἑκάστου ψυχὴν, ὅτι Τετρωμέγη ἀγάπης εἰμί. Καλὰ δὲ εἶναι τῆς ἀγάπης τὰ τραύματα καὶ παρὰ τῆς Παροιμίας ἐμάθομεν, ἧ φησιν· Αἱρετὰ μὲν τοῦ φίλου τὰ τραύματα, κακὰ δὲ τῆς ἔχθρας καὶ τὰ φιλήματα. Τίς δὲ φίλος, οὗ τὰ τραύματα τῶν φιλημάτων τοῦ ἐχθροῦ προτιμότερα : Παντὶ δῆλόν ἐστι, τῷ μὴ ἀγνοοῦντι τὰ τῆς σωτηρίας μυστήρια. Φίλος μὲν γάρ ἔστιν ἀληθινός τε καὶ βέδαιος, ὁ καὶ ἐχθροὺς γενόμένους ἡμᾶς τοῦ ἀγαπᾷν μὴ παυσάμενος ἐχθρὸς δὲ ἄπιστός τε καὶ ἀνήμερος, ὁ μηδὲν ἠδικηκότας ὑπαγαγὼν τῷ θανάτῳ. Τραῦμα τοῖς πρωτοπλάστοις ἐδόκει ἡ διὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς γενομένη τοῦ κακοῦ ἀπαγόρευσις. Τραῦμα γὰρ ἐνομίσθη ἡ τοῦ ἡδέος ἀλλοτρίωσις· φίλημα δὲ ἡ πρὸς τὸ ἠδὺ καὶ ἐμφανὲς προτροπή. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἔδειξεν ἡ πεῖρα, ὅτι τὰ νομιζόμενα τοῦ φίλου τραύματα τῶν φιλημάτων ἦν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ λυσιτελέστερα καὶ αἱρετώτερα. Ἐπεὶ οὖν συνέστησεν ἑαυτοῦ τὴν ἀγάπην ὁ καλὸς ἐραστὴς τῶν ἡμετέρων ψυχῶν, δι᾽ ὧν καὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν ἡμῶν Χριστὸς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀπέθανε· διὰ τοῦτο ἀντερασθεῖσα γύμφη τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντος δείκνυσιν ἐν ἑαυτῇ ἐγχείμεγον διὰ βάθους τῆς ἀγάπης τὸ βέλος· τουτέστι τὴν ἧς θεότητος αὐτοῦ κοινωνίαν. Ἧ γὰρ ἀγάπη ἐστὶν ὁ Θεὸς, καθὼς εἴρηται, ἡ διὰ τῆς κατὰ τὴν πίστιν ἀκίδος τῇ καρδίᾳ ἐγγενομένη. Εἰ δὲ χρὴ καὶ ὄνομα τοῦ βέλους τούτου εἰπεῖν, εὕρομεν ὃ παρὰ τοῦ Παύλου ἐμάθομεν,, ὅτι τὸ βέλος τοῦτό ἐστι πίστις δι᾿ ἀγάπης ᾿Αλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἐχέτω ὡς αὐτῷ δοκεῖ· ἴδωμεν δὲ καὶ τὴν παρὰ τῶν παρθένων προσαχθεῖσαν ἐρώτησιν τῇ διδασκάλῳ. Τί ἀδελφιδός σου ἀπὸ ἀδειφιδοῦ, καλὴ ἐν γυναιξίν; τί ἀδειριδός σου ἀπὸ ἀδειῖφεδρῦ, ὅτι οὕτως ὥρλισας ἡμᾶς; Τοιαύτην δέ τινα δοκεῖ μοι΄ περιέχειν ἡ ῥῆσις διάνοιαν, καθὼς ἡ ἀχολονθία τῶν προεξητασμένων εἰκάζειν δίδωσιν· Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ αἱ παρθένοι εἶδον τὴν καλὴν ἔξοδον τῆς ψυχῆς νύμφης, ὅτε προσεφύη τῷ Λόγῳ ἡ εἰποῦσα, ὅτι ᾿Ἐξῆκλθεν ἡ ψυχή μου ἐν ᾿όγῳ αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ἔγνωσαν, ὅτι ἐζήτει ἐξελθοῦσα τὸν διὰ σημείων οὐκ εὑρισκόμενον, καὶ ἐκάλει βοῶσα τὸν οὐκ ὑπακούσαντα τοῖς ὀνόμασι· διὰ τοῦτό φασι, Πῶς ἐπιγνῶμεν αὐτὸν ἡμεῖς, τὸν μηδενὶ σημείῳ γνωριστιχῷ εὑρισκόμενον, ὃς οὔζε ὑπακούει καλούμενος, οὔτε κρατεῖται ζητούμενος; Περίελε τοίνυν καὶ σὺ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τῶν ἡμετέρων τὰ θέριστρα, ὅπερ ἐποίησαν ἐπὶ σοὶ οἱ τῆς πόλεως φύλακες,, ἵνα τις γένηται ἡμῖν ὁδηγία πρὸς τὸ ζητούμενον. Εἰπὲ, τίς ἔστιν ἀδελφιδός σου, καθ᾽ ὅ ἐστιν ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς φύσεως. Δὸς ἡμῖν ἔφοδον τῆς ἐπιγνώσεως αὐτοῦ,, διὰ γνωριστιχῶν τινων τεκμηρίων, σὺ τοῦ καλοῦ πληρωθεῖσα, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο γενομένη καλὴ ἐν γυναιξί, Γνώρισον ἡμῖν τὸ ζητούμενον, καὶ δίδαξον ἡμᾶς, δι᾽ ὧν εὑρίσκεται σημείων ὁ ἀόρατος, ὡς μηνύσαι αὐτῷ περὶ τοῦ βέλους τῆς ἀγάπης, ᾧ μέσῳ τέτρωσαι τὴν καρδίαν, διὰ τῆς γλυκείας ὀδύνης τὸν πόθον ἐπαύξουσα. Κρεῖττον δὲ ἂν εἴη, πάλιν τὴν αὐτὴν ῥῆσιν ἐπαναλαθεῖν ἐπὶ λέξεως, ὡς ἂν ἐφαρμόσοι ἣ τοῖς ῥητοῖς ἐκτεθεῖσα διάνοια. Τί ἀδελφιδός σου ἀπὸ ἀδελφιδοῦ, ἡ καλὴ ἐν γυναιξί ; τί ἀδελφιδός σου ἀπὸ ἀδειφιδοῦ, ὅτι οὕτως ὥρκισας ἡμᾶς ; ᾿Ακούσωμεν τοίνυν τῆς λυμμένης, τῷ τῆς ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμῷ βλεπούσης πρὸς αὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν· πῶς ὑπογράφει αὐταῖς τὸ ζητούμενον; πῶς ζωγραφεῖ τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ ποθουμένου τὸν χαρακτῆρα; πῶς ὑπ᾽ ὄψιν ἄγει ταῖς παρθένοις τὸν ἀγνοούμενον ; Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τὸ μὲν ἄκτιστόν ἐστι, τὸ δὲ κτιστόν· λέγομεν δὲ ἄκτιστον εἶναι αὐτοῦ, τὸ ἀϊΐδιόν τε καὶ προαιώνιον, καὶ ποιητικὸν πάντων τῶν ὄντων, κτιστὸν δὲ τὸ κατὰ τὴν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν οἰκονομίαν συσχηματισθὲν τῷ σώματι τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἡμῶν μᾶλλον δὲ δι᾽ αὐτῶν τῶν θείων ῥημάτων τὴν περὶ τούτου διάνοιαν βέλτιον ἂν εἴη παραθέσθαι τῷ λόγῳ. !Ακτιστον λέγομεν τὸν ἐν ἀρχῇ ἂντα Λόγον, τὸν δι᾽ οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο, καὶ οὗ χωρὶς τῶν γεγονότων ἐστὶν οὐδέν· κτιστὸν δὲ, τὸν σάρκα γενόμενον, καὶ ἐν ἡμῖν σχηνώσαντα, οὗ καὶ σαρκωθέντος ἡ ἐμφαινομένη δόξα δηλοῖ, ὅτι Θεὸς Ὁ ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκὶ, θεὸς πάντως ὁ μονογενὴς, ὁ ἐν τοῖς κόλποις ὧν τοῦ Πατρὸς, οὕτως εἰπόντος τοῦ Ἰωάννου, ὅτι Ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ· καί τοι τὸ φαινόμενον ἄνθρωπος ἦν, ἀλλὰ τὸ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ γνωριζόμενον, Δόξαν φησὶν ὡς μογογεγοῦς παρὰ Πατρὸς, πλήρη χάριτος καὶ ἀηθείας. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν τὸ μὲν ἄκτιστον αὐτοῦ, καὶ προαιώνιον, καὶ ἀΐδιον, ἄληπτον μὲν καθ᾽ ὅλου πάσῃ φύσει καὶ ἀνεκφώνητον· διὰ σαρκὸς ἣμῖν φανερωθὲν, δύναται ποσῶς καὶ ἐς γνῶσιν ἐλθεῖν· τούτου χάριν πρὸς ταῦτα ἀεὶ ἡ διδάσκαλος βλέπει, καὶ περὶ τούτων ποιεῖται τὸν λόγον, ὅσα δύναται γενέσθαι χωρητὰ τοῖς ἀκούουσι, Λέγω δὲ τὸ μέγα τῆς εὐσεθείας μυστήριον, διʼ οὗ ὁ Θεὸς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκὶ, ὁ ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων, καὶ διὰ σαρκὸς συναναστραφεὶς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ὃς ἐπειδὴ ἅπαξ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἐπεσπάσατο διὰ τῆς ἀπαρχῆς τὴν ἐπίκηρον τῆς σαρκὸς φύσιν, ἣν διὰ τῆς ἀφθόρου παρθενίας ἀνέλαδεν, ἀεὶ τῇ ἀφθαρσίᾳ συναγιάζει τὸ κοινὸν τῆς φύσεως, διὰ τῶν ἐνουμένων αὑτῷ κατὰ τὴν κοινωνίαν τοῦ μυστηρίου, τρέφων τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σῶμα τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ καταλλήλως τὰ ἐχφυόμενα. διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ μέλη τῷ κοινῷ σώματι ἐναρμόζων· εὐπρεπὲς τὸ πᾶν ἀπεργάζεται ἐς ὀφθαλμοὺς, καὶ στόμα καὶ χεῖρας καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ μέρη, πρεπόντως καὶ ἁρμοδίως διατιθεὶς τοὺς πιστεύοντας, Οὕτω γάρ φησιν ὁ Παῦλος· ὅτι Εν μὲν ἐστι σῶμα, πολλὰ δὲ μέλη. Τὰ δὲ μέλη πάντα οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχει τάξιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἔστι τις καὶ ὀφθαλμὸς ἐν τῷ σώματι μὴ καταφρονῶν τῆς χειρὺς, καὶ κεφαλή τις ὧν, οὐκ ἀπωθεῖται τοὺς πόδας, ἀλλὰ συγχέχραται πρὸς ἑαυτὸ τῇ ποικιλίᾳ τῶν ἐνεργειῶν ἅπαν διὰ τῶν μελῶν τὸ σῶμα, ἵνα μὴ στασιάξῃ, πρὸς τὸ ὅλον τὰ μέλη. Ταῦτα δὲ δι αἰνιγμάτων προσθεὶς τὰ νοήματα, ἐπὶ τὸ σαφέστερον. προάγει τὸν λόγον, εἰπών ὅτι Ἕθετο ὁ Θεὸς ἐκ τῇ ᾿Εκκλησίᾳ ἀποστόλους, καὶ προφήτας, καὶ διδασκάλους, καὶ ποιμένας, πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν τῶν ἁγίων, εἰς ἔργον διακονίας, εἰς οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ· μέχρι καταντήσωμεν οἱ πάντες εἰς τὴν ἑνότητα τῆς πίστεως καὶ τῆς ἐπιγνώσθως τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς ἄνδρα τέλειον, εἰς μέτρον ἡλικίας τοῦ ρώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Καὶ πάλιν - Αὐξήσωμεν, φησὶν, εἰς αὐτὰν διὰ πάντα, ὅς ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλὴ ὁ Χριστὸς,ἐξ οὗ πᾶν σῶμα συναρμοογούμενον καὶ συμδιδωζόμενον, διὰ πάσης ἁφῆς τῆς ἐπιχορηγίας κατ᾽ ἐνέργειαν ἐν μέτρῳ ἑνὸς ἐκάστου μέρους τὴν αὔξησιν ποιεῖται τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ, εἰς οἰκοδυμὴν ἀγάπῃ. Οὐκοῦν ὁ πρὸς τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν βλέπων, πρὸς τὸν Χριστὸν ἄντικρυς βλέπει, τὸν ἑαυτὸν διὰ τῆς προσθήκης τῶν σωζομένων οἰκοδομοῦντα καὶ μεγαλύνοντα. Ἡ τοίνυν ἀποθεμένη τῶν ὀμμάτων τὸ θέριστρον, καθαρῷ τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τὸ ἄφραστον ὁρᾷ τοῦ νυμφίου κάλλος· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τρωθεῖσα τῷ ἀσωμάτῳ καὶ διαπύρῳ βέλει τοῦ ἔρωτος. Ἐπιτεταμένη γὰρ ἀγάπη ἔρως λέγεται· ᾧ οὐδεὶς ἐπαισχύνεται, ὅταν μὴ κατὰ σαρκὸς γένηται παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἡ τοξεία· ἀλλ᾽ ἐπιχκαυχᾶται μᾶλλον τῷ τραύματι, ὅταν διὰ τοῦ βάθους τῆς καρδίας δέξηται τὴν τοῦ ἀύλου πόθου ἀχίδα. Ὅπερ δὴ καὶ αὕτη πεποίηκε ταῖς νεάνισι λέγουσα - ὅτι ΤεἩ τοίνυν ἐς τοσοῦτον τελειότητος προελθοῦσα, ἐπειδὴ ἔδει καὶ ταῖς παρθένοις ἐπιδεῖξαι τοῦ νυμφίον τὸ κάλλος, οὐκ ἐκεῖνο λέγει ὃ ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ ᾿ οὐδὲ γὰρ οἷόν τε ἣν δυνάμει λόγου φανερωθῆναι τὸ ἄῤῥητον· ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴν διὰ σαρκὸς γενομένην ἑυϊν θτος γειᾶν χειραγωγεῖ τὰς παρθένους. Ὕθπερ δὴ καὶ ὁ α μέγας Ἰωάννης πεποίηκεν, ὃ μὲν ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς ἦν, σιωπήσας· ὃ δὲ ἑωράκαμεν καὶ ἀκηκόαμεν, καὶ αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν ἐψηλάφησαν περὶ τοῦ λόγου τῆς ἁληθείας, τοῦτο δι᾽ ἐπιμελείας διηγησάμενος, Φησὶν οὖν πρὸς αὑτὰς ἡ νύμφη· Ἀδελριδός μου λευκὲς καὶ πυῤῥὸς, ἐχλελοχισμέγος ἀπὸ μυριάδων. αὐτοῦ χρυσίον Κεφράς· βόστρυχοι αὐτοῦ ἐλάται, μέλανες ὡς κόραξ· οἱ ὀρθωλμοὶ αὐτοῦ ὡς περιἐπὶ πληρώματα ὑδάτων, γάλωκει, καθήμεναι ἐπὶ πληρώματα ὑδάτων. Σιαγόνες αὐτοῦ ὡς φιάλαι τοῦ ἀρώματος φύουσαι μυρεψιχά. Χείλη αὐτοῦ κρίνα στάζοντα σμύρναν πλήρη· χεῖρες αὐτοῦ τορευταὶ, χρυσαῖ, σπεπληρωμέναι Θαρσεῖς· κοιλία αὑτοῦ πυξίον ἐλεφράντιγον ἐπὶ λίθου σαπφείρου· χγῆμαι αὐτοῦ, στύλοι ἐπὶ βάσεις χρυσᾶς εἶδος αὐτοῦ ὡς Λίδανος ἐκλεκτὸς, ὡς κέδροι. Φάρυγξ αὐτοῦ γλυκασμοὶ, καὶ ὅλος ἐπιθυμία· οὗτος ἀδελφιδός μου, καὶ οὗτος πιϊησίον μου, θυγατέρες ʼΙερουσαλήμ. Ταῦτα πάντα δι’ ὧν ἡ τοῦ κάλλους γέγονεν ὑπογραφὴ,, οὐ, τῶν ἀοράτων τε καὶ ἀκαταλήπτων τῆς θεότητός ἐστιν ἐνδειχτιχά· ἀλλὰ τῶν κατ᾽ οἰκονομίαν φανερωθέντων, ὅτε ἐπὶ τἧς γῆς ὥφθη, καὶ·τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συνανεστράφη, τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἐνδυσάμενος φύσιν, δι’ ὧν κατὰ τὸν ἀποστολικὸν λόγον, καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα αὐτοῦ τοῖς ποιήμασι νοούμενα καθορᾶται, διὰ τῆς τοῦ ἐκκλησιαστικοῦ κόσμου κατασκευῆς φανερούμενα. Κόσμου γὰρ κτίσις ἐστὶν ἡ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας κατασκευή· ἐν ἧ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ προφήτου φωνὴν καὶ ὁ οὐρανὸς κτίζεται καινός· ὅπερ ἐστὶ τὸ στερέωμα τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν πίστεως, καθὼς ὁ Παῦλός φησι, καὶ γῆ καινὴ κατασχενάζεται, ἡ πίνουσα τὸν ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν ἐρχόμενον ὑετὸν, καὶ ἄνθρωπος πλάσσεται ἄλλος, ὁ διὰ τῆς ἄνωθεν γεννήσεως ἀναχαινιζόμενος κατ᾽ εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐὖτόν· καὶ φωστήρων φύσις ἑτέρα γίνεται, περὶ ὧν φῆσιν, ὅτι Ὑμεῖς ἐστε τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου· καὶ, Ἕν οἷς φαίνεσθε ὡς φωστῆρες ὃν κόσμῳ καὶ ἀστέρες πολλοὶ, οἱ ἐν τῷ στερεώματι τῆς πίστεως ἀνατέλλοντες. Καὶ οὔπω τοῦτο θαυμαστὸν, εἰ πλήθη ἄστρων ἐστὶν, ἐν τῷ καινῷ τούτῳ κόσμῳ ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀριθμούμενα καὶ ὀνομαζόμενα, ὧν τὰ ὀνόματα ὁ ποιητὴς τῶν τοιούτων ἄστρων ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ἀπογεγράφθαι λέγει. θὕτω γὰρ ἤκουσα τοῦ δημιουργοῦ τῆς καινῆς κτίσεως πρὸς τοὺς ἰδίους αὐτοῦ φωστῆρας λέγοντος· ὅτι Τὰ ὀνόματα ὑμῶν ἐγγέγραπται ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. Οὐ τοῦτο τοίνυν μόνον τῆς καινῆς κτίσεώς ἐστι τὸ παράδοξον, ὅτι ἄστρων πλῆθος ἐν αὐτῇ δημιουργεῖται παρὰ τοῦ Λόγου· ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι καὶ πολλοὶ ἥλιοι χτίζονται, ταῖς τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων ἀκτῖσι τὴν οἰκουμένην φωτίζοντες· οὕτως εἰπόντος τοῦ ποιητοῦ τῶν τοιούτων ἡλίων· Λαμιάτω τὸ φῶς ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων· καὶ, Τότε οἱ δίκαιοι ἡλάμγψουσιν ὡς ὁ ἥλιος. Ὥσπερ τοίνυν ὁ πρὸς τὸν αἰσθητὸν ἀπιδὼν κόσμον, καὶ τὴν ἐμφαινομένην τῷ κάλλει τῶν ἄντων σοφίαν κατανοήσας, ἀναλογίζεται διὰ τῶν ὁρωμένων τὸ ἀόρατον κάλλος, καὶ τὴν πηγὴν τῆς σοφίας, ἧς ἡ ἀπόῤῥοια τὴν τῶν ὄντων συνἐστήσατο φύσιν· οὕτω καὶ ὁ πρὸς τὸν καινὸν τοῦτον κόσμον τῆς κατὰ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν κτίσεως βλέπων, ὁρᾷ ἐν αὑτῷ τὸν πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν ὄντὰ καὶ γινόμενον, διὰ τῶν χωρητῶν τε καὶ χαταλαμδανομένων ὑπὸ τῆς πίστεως ἡμῶν χειραγωγούμενος τὴν γνῶσιν πρὸς τὸ ἀχώρητον. Οὗ χάριν ἐπειδὴ ταύτην προσάγουσι τῇ πρὸς τὸ τέλειον ἀναδραμούσῃ ψυχῇ τὴν αἴτησιν αἱ παρθένοι ψυχαὶ τοῦ γνωρισθῆναι αὐταῖς τὸν ποθούμένον· διὰ τῶν ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ φανερωθέντων ἡμῖν ὑπογράφει ταῖς παρθένοις τὰ τοῦ ζητουμένου γνωρίσματα. Καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ἕν σῶμα τοῦ γυμφίου ποιήσασα, ἴδιόν τι νόημα δι᾽ ἑκάστου τῶν μελῶν ἐν τῇ ὑπογραφῇ τοῦ κάλλους ἐνδείκνυται, δι᾽ ὧν ὅλων ἐκ τῶν κατὰ μέρος θεωρουμένων, τὸ τοῦ ᾿Αρχὴν οὖν ποιεῖται τῆς διδασκαλίας τὴν προσεχῆ καὶ οἰκείαν ἡμῖν. Ἐκ γὰρ τοῦ σώματος τῆς κατηχήσεως ἄρχεται· ὥσπερ δὴ καὶ ὁ Ματθαῖος πεποίηκεν, ἐκ τοῦ ᾿Αδραάμ. τε καὶ Δαβὶδ γενεαλογήσας τὸ κατ᾿ σάρκα μυστήριον, τῷ μεγάλῳ Ἰωάννῃ ἐταμιεύσατο τοῖς ἤδη διὰ τούτων στοιχειωθεῖσι τὴν ἐξ ἀϊδίου νοου μένην ἀρχὴν, καὶ τὸν τῇ ἀρχῇ συγχατανοούμενον Λόγον εὐαγγεδίσασθαι. Διὰ τούτων τοίνυν τῶν νοημάτων ἡ νύμφη μυσταγωγεῖ τὰς νεάνιδας, ὅτι οὐ πρότερον ἐπὶ τὸ ἄληπτόν τε καὶ ἀόριστον εὐαχθήσεται Ἡμῶν ἡ διάνοια, πρὶν τῷ ὀφθέντι διὰ τῆς πίστεως περιδράξασθαι· τὸ δὲ ὀφθὲν ἡ τῆς σαρκός ἔστι φύσις. Εἰποῦσα γάρ· ὅτι ᾿Αδειφςιδός μου λευκὸς καὶ πυῤῥός· διὰ τῆς τῶν δύο χρωμάτων τούτων μίξεως τὸ τῆς σαρκὸς ἰδίωμα ὑπογράφει τῷ λόγῳ. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἔποίησε, μῆλον αὐτὸν ὀνομάσασα οὗ πρὸς ἑκάτερον τῶν χρωμάτων σύγκρατον καθορᾶται τὸ εἶδος. Λευκόν τε γάρ ἐστι τὸ μῆλον καὶ ἐρυθραίνεται· τὴν τοῦ αἵματος, οἶμαι, φύσιν συμδολιχῶς ἐνδεικνύμενος διὰ τοῦ ἐρυθήματος. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ πᾶσα σὰρξ ἑνὶ τρόπῳ συνίσταται, γάμου πάντως ὁδοποιοῦντος τὸν τόκον τοῖς εἰς τὴν ζωὴν ταύτην περιοὔτι διὰ γενέσεως, ὡς ἂν μῆ τις σαρκὸς γένεσιν περὶ τὸ μυστήριον τῆς εὐσεδείας παραδεξάμενος, πρὸς τὰ ἧς φύσεως ἔργα καὶ πάθη τὴν διάνοιαν κατολισθήσειεν, ὁμοιογενῆ πᾶσι κἀκείνης τῆς σαρκὸς τὴν γένεσιν ἐννοήσας· τούτου χάριν τὸν κοινωνήσαντα σαρκὸς καὶ αἵματος λευκὸν μὲν εἶναι καὶ πυῤῥὸν ὡμολόγησε, διὰ τῶν δύο χρωμάτων τὴν τοῦ σώμᾶτος φύσιν αἰνισοὐ μὴν ὁμοιότροπον αὐτοῦ τὴν κοινῷ τόκῳ γεγενῆσθαι λέγει. ᾿Αλλ’ ἐκ πασῶν τῶν μυριάδων τῶν ἀφ᾽ οὗ γεγόνασιν ἄνθρωποι, καὶ εἰς ὃ προσελεύσεται ῥέουσα διὰ τοῦ τόκου τῶν ἐπιγινομέ νων ἡ φύσις, μόνος οὗτός ἐστι τῷ καινῷ τῆς λοχείας εἴδει τῆς ζωῆς ταύτης ἁψάμενος· ᾧ οὐχὶ συνήργησε πρὸς τὸ γενέσθαι ἣ φύσις, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπηρέτησε. Διὰ τοῦτο, φησὶν, ὅτι λευκὸς καὶ ὁ πυῤῥὸς οὗτος, ὁ διὰ σαρκὸς καὶ αἵματος ἐπιδημήσας τῷ βίῳ, μόνος ἐστὶν ἐκ πασῶν τῶν μυριάδων ἐκ τῆς παρθενικῆς καθαρότητος ἀμόλυντος δὲ ἡ λοχεία, ἀνώδυνος δὲ ἡ ὠδίς· οὗ θάλαμος ἡ τοῦ Ὑψίστου δύναμις, οἷόν τις νεφέλη τὴν παρθενίαν ἐπισχιάζουσα· πυρσὸς δὲ γαμήλιος ἡ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἔλλαμψις· κλίνη δὲ ἡ ἀπάθεια, καὶ γάμος ἡ ἀφθαρσία. Ὁ τοίνυν ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων γενόμενος, καλῶς ἐκλελοχισμένος ἐκ πασῶν τῶν μυριάδων χατὠνομάσθη ʼ ὅπερ τὸ μὴ ἐκ λέχους αὐτὸν εἶναι σημαίνει. Τούτου γὰρʼ μόνου χωρὶς λοχείας ἡ γέννησις, ὥσπερ καὶ χωρὶς γάμου ἡ σύστασις. Οὐ γὰρ ξατιν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀφθόρου τε καὶ ἀπειρογάμου κυρίως τὸ ὄνομα τῆς λοχείας εἰπεῖν· διότι παρθενίας τε καὶ λοχείας ἀσύμδατά ἐστι περὶ τὴν αὐτὴν τὰ ὀνόματα. ᾿Αλλ’ ὥσπερ Υἱὸς ἐδόθη ἡμῖν ἄνευ Πατρός· οὕτω καὶ τὸ παιδίον ἄνευ λοχείας γεγέννηται. Ὡς γὰρ οὐχἔγνω ἡ Παρθένος ὅπως ἐν τῷ σώματι αὐτῆς τὸ θεοδόχον συνέστη σῶμα οὕτως οὐδὲ τοῦ τόκου ἤσθετο, μαρτυρούσης τῆς προφη βίας αὐτῇ τὸ ἀνώδυνον τῆς ὠδῖνος. Φησὶ γὰρ Ἠσαΐῖας, Πρὶν ἐλθεῖν τοὺς πόγους τῶν ὠδίνων, ἐξέφυγε καὶ ἔτεκεν ἄρσεν. Διὰ τοῦτο ἐκλελοχισμένος καὶ ξενίζων καθ᾽ ἑκάτερον τὴν ἀκολουθίαν τῆς φύσεως, οὔτε ἀρξάμενος ἐξ ἡδονῆς, οὔτε προελθὼν διὰ πόνου. Καὶ τοῦτο κατὰ τὸ ἀκόλουθον γίνεται, καὶ οὐκ ἕξω τοῦ εἰκότος ἐστίν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἡ τὸν θάνατον διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐπεισάγουσα τῇ φύσει, ἐν λύπαις καὶ πόνοις τέχτειν κατεδικάσθη, ἔδει πάντως τὴν τῆς ζωῆς μητέρα ἀπὸ χαρᾶς τε τῆς χυοφορίας ἄρξασθαι, καὶ διὰ χαρᾶς τελειῶσαι τὸν τόκον. Χαῖρε γὰρ, φησὶ, καπρὸς αὐτὴν ὁ ἀρχάγγελος, τῇ φωνῇ τὴν λύπην τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀπογληρωθεῖσαν τῷ τόκῳ. Οὗτος μὲν οὖν ἐστιν ὁ τῷ καινῷ τε καὶ ἰδιάζοντι τῆς γεννήσεως ἐκ πασῶν τῶν μυριάδων μόνος τοιοῦτος γενόμενος, ὁ λευκός τε καὶ πυῤῥὸς διὰ τὴν σάρκα καὶ τὸ αἶμα καλῶς ὠνομασμένος, καὶ ἐκχλελοχισμένος ἀπὸ μυριάδων, διὰ τὴν ἄφθαρτόν τε καὶ ἀπαθῇ τοῦ τόκου παρὰ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἰδιότητα. Ἢ τάχα καὶ διὰ τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς γεννήσεως εἴδη τὰ διὰ τῆς λοχείας γινόμενα, ταύτην ἑφήρμοσεν αὐτῷ τὴν φωνὴν ἡ νύμφη. Οὐκ ἀγνοεῖς δὲ πάντως ὁσάκις ἐγεννήθη ὁ πάσης τῆς κτίσεως πρωτότοκος ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς, πρωτότοκος ἐκ νεκρῶν ᾿ ὁ πρῶτος λύσας τὰς ὠδῖνας τοῦ θανάτου, καὶ πᾶσι τὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν τόκον ὁδοποιῆσας διὰ τῆς ἀναστάσεως. Ἐν πᾶσι μὲν γὰρ τούτοις ἐγεννήθη, οὐ μὴν διὰ λοχείας παρῆλθεν εἰς γέννησιν. Ἢ τεγὰρὲχ τοῦ ὕδατος γένεσις τὸ τῆς λοχείας πάθος οὐ παρεδέξατο, καὶ ἡ ἐκ νεκρῶν παλιγγεννεσία, καὶ ἡ τῆς θείας ταύτης κτίσεως πρωτοτοκία, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις καθαρεύει τῆς λοχείας ὁ τόκος, Διὰ τοῦτό φησιν, ᾿Εχ.1ε.1οχισμένος ἀπὸ μυριάδων. Οἷον δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸ κάλλος ἐν τοῖς καθ᾽ ἕκαστον μέλεσι διηγεῖται, καιρὸς δὲ ἂν εἴη κατανοῇσαι διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων. Κεφρα.ὴ αὐτοῦ, χρυσίον εἰ πρὸς τὴν ἡμετέραν φωνὴν, τὸ καθαρόν τε καὶ ἀνόθευτον, καὶ πάσης ἐπ:μιξίας ἀλλότερον χρυσίον διὰ τῆς φωνῆς ταύτης δείκνυται. ᾿Ανερμήνευτον δέ μοι δοκεῖν καταλελοιπέναι τὴν τοῦ Κεφὰξ λέξιν, οἱ τὰς φωνὰς τῶν Ἑδραίων ἐξελληνίσαντες, διὰ τὸ μὴ εὑρεῖν ἐν τοῖς ʼΕλληνικοῖς ῥήμασι μηδευίαν φωνὴν ἐξαγγελτιχὴν τῆς ἐμφάσεως τῆς ἐνθεωρουμένης τῇ Ἑόδραΐῖδι φωνῇ. Ἡμεῖς δὲ τοῦτο μαθόντες, ὅτι τὸ εἰλικρινῶς καθαρὸν, καὶ πάσης ὕλης ῥυπαρᾶς ἀμιγές τε καὶ ἀπαράδεκτον ἡ τοιαύτη λέξις ἐνδεέχνυται - ταῦτα περὶ τοῦ προκειμένου ῥητοῦ γοεῖν ἐναγόμεθα, ὅτι κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐστὶν ὁ Χριστός. Χριστὸν δὲ νῦν λέγομεν οὐ πρὸς τὸ ἀΐδιον τῆς θεότητος ἀναπέμποντες τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸν θεοδόχον ἄνθρωπον, τὸν ἐπὶ γῆς ὀφθέντα, καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συναναστραφέντα, τὸν τῆς παρθενίας βλαστὸν, ἐν ᾧ κατῴκησε πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς θεότητος σωματικῶς, τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τοῦ κοινοῦ φυράματος, δι᾽ οὗ ὁ Λόγος τὴν φύσιν ἡμῶν περιεθδάλετο, ποιήσας αὐτὴν ἀκήρατον, πάντων τῶν γάρ φησι περὶ αὐτοῦ ὁ προφήτης, ὅτι ᾿Α μαρτίαν οὐκ τοῦ πεπειραμέγνου κατὰ πάντα καθ᾽ ὁμοιότητα τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν, χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας. Ἢ μὲν οὖν κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς Ἐκχχλησίας, ἡ πάσης τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν ἀπαρχὴ, τὸ καθαρόν τε καὶ πάσης κακίας ἀμιγές τε καὶ ἀπαράδεκτον χρυσίον ἐστίν· οἱ βόστρυχοι δὲ οἵ ποτε ζοφώδεις καὶ μέλανες, καὶ τοῖς χόραξιν ( ὁμοιούμενοι τῷ εἴδει, ἐκείνοις λέγω τοῖς κόραξιν, οἷς ἔργον ἐστὶ, τὸ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐκκόπτειν, κατὰ τὸν παροιμιώδη, λόγον, καὶ τοῖς νεοσσοῖς τῶν ἀετῶν βρῶμα τοὺς πηρωθέντας τῶν ὁρατιχῶν αἰσθητηρίων παρασκευάζειν, οὗτοι ἐλάται τὰ ὑψηλά τε καὶ οὐρανομήκη δένδρα γινόμενοι, διὰ τὸ ἀναδραμεῖν ἐκ γῆς ἐπὶ τὸ οὐράνιον ὕψος, προσθήκη τοῦ κάλλους γίνονται ποῦ νυμφίου, τῆς θείας κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ ἐξαρτήσαντες. Οὐκ ἀγνοεῖ δὲ πάντως τις τί τῶν βοστρύχων τούτων ἔργόν ἐστὶν, ἐν τοῖς ἄνω μαθὼν παρ᾽ αὐτῆς τῆς τοῦ γυμφίου φωνῇς· ὅτι, ΟἹ βόστρυχοί μου ἐπλήσθησαν ψεκάδων ὕδατος. Ἐκείνου οὖν εἰσιν οἱ ψεχάζοντες βόστρυχοι, παρὰ τῶν προφητῶν νεφέλαι ὁνομαζόμενοι, ἀφ᾽ ὧν γίνεται τῆς διδασκαλίας ὁ ὅμδρος, ὁ τὰς ἀψύχους ἀρούρας ποτίζων πρὸς τὴν εὐχαρπέαν Ὁ τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ γεωργίων. ᾿Αποστόλους δὲ οἶμαι τροπικῶς τοὺς βοστρύχους ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγου σημαίνεσθαι ὧν τινες ἦσαν πρότερον ζοφώδεις τοῖς τοῦ βίου ἐπιτηδεύμασιν, ὁ λῃστὴς, ὁ τελώνης, ὁ διώκτης, καὶ εἴ τις ἄλλος τοιοῦτος κατὰ τὸν μέλανά τε καὶ σαρχοθόρον τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἀφανιστιχὸν κόρακα. Λέγω δὲ τὸν ἄρχοντα τοῦ σκότους τῆς ἐξουσίας, καθώς φησιν ὁ ἀπὸ κόρακος ἐλάτη γενόμενος, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο βόστρυχος τῆς θείας κεφαλῆς χρηματίσας. Ὅτι πρότερον ὧν βλάσφημος καὶ διώκτης καὶ ὑδριστὴς, ἕως ἣν κόραξ, πρὸς τὴν χάριν ταύτην μετεσκευάσθη, βόστρυχος γενόμενος τῇ οὐρανίᾳ δρόσῳ διάθροχος, ὁ παντὶ τῷ σώματι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τὸν τῶν ἀποκρύφων τε καὶ σκοτεινῶν μυστηρίων λόγον ἐπιψεχάζων. Τούτους μὲν λέγεσθαι παρὰ τῆς νύμφης βοστρύχους ὑπενοήσαμεν, οἵ τῆς χρυσῆς κεφαλῇς ἀπηρτημένοι οὐ μικρὰν δι᾽ ἑαυτῶν ποιοῦσι προσθήκην τῆς ὥρας, τῇ τοῦ πνεύματος αὔρᾳ περ: σοδούμενοι. Οὗτοι στέφανοι γίνονται κάλλους τῇ ἀκηράτῳ κεφαλῇ, κοσμοῦντες αὐτὴν τῷ ἰδίῳ κυχλώματι. Περὶ τούτων γάρ μοι δοκεῖ λέγειν ἡ προφητεία, ὅτι Ἔθηκας ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ στέφανον ἐκ λίθου τιμίου. Ὥστε αὐτοὺς δι’ ἑκατέρων νοεῖσθαι τῶν νοημάτων, εὐπρεπεῖς τε βοστρύχους, καὶ λίθους τιμίους, δι᾽ αὐτῶν τὴν χεφα᾿Αχόλουθον δ᾽ ἂν εἴη καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν εἰρημένα θεωρῆσαι τῷ λόγῳ.·Ἔστι δὲ ἡ λέξις αὕτη· ᾿οφθαϊμοὶ αὐτοῦ περιστεραὶ ἐπὶ πιηρώματα ὑδάτων, λελουμέναι ἐν γάλακτι, καθήμεναι ἐπὶ πληρώματα ὑδάτων. Ἢ δὲ τῶν εἰρημένων διάνοια τῆς μὲν καταλήψεως ἡμῶν ἐστιν ὑψηλοτέρα. Ὃ γὰρ ἂν ἐννοήσωμεν περὶ τούτων ἔλαττον εἶναι τῆς ἀληθείας οἰόμεθα· σχοπουμένοις δὲ δι᾽ ἐπιμελείας ἡμῖν, τοιαύτη τις ἔδοξεν εἶναι Φησί που τῶν ἑαυτοῦ λόγων ὁ θεῖος ᾿Ἀπόστολος, μὴ δύνασθαι λέγειν τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν τῇ χειρὶ, Χρείαν σου οὐκ ἔχω· δόγμα διὰ τούτων ποιούμενος, ὅτι δι᾽ ἀμφοτέρων προσήκει τῷ σώματι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας πράττειν καλῶς, τοῦ διορατικοῦ τῆς ἀληθείας συγχεχραμένου πρὸς τὸ δραστήριον· οὔτε πῆς θεωρίας καθ’ ἑαυτὴν τὴν ψυχὴν τελειούσης. μὴ καὶ τὰ ἔργα παρῇ. τὰ τὸν ἠθικὸν κατορθόῦντα βίον οὔτε τῆς πρακτικῆς φιλοσοφίας αὐτάρκῃ παρἐχομένης τὴν ὠφέλειαν, μὴ τῆς ἀληθινῆς εὑσεδείας τῶν γινομένων χαθηγουμένης. Εἰ τοίνυν ἀναγκαία τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν πρὸς τὰς χεῖράς ἔστιν ἡ συζυγία, τάχα προσαγόμεθα διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων. πρῶτον μὲν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς, οἵτινές εἰσι, κατανοῆσαι· ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ τὸν περὶ αὐτῶν ἔπαινον ἐν θεωρίᾳ λαθεῖν· τὸν δὲ περὶ πῶν χειρῶν λόγον τῷ ἰδίῳ ταμιευσόμεθα τόπῳ ὀφθαλμῶν γὰρ ἴδιον ἐκ φύσεως ἔργον ἐστὶ τὸ ὁρᾷν· διὸ κατὰ τὴν τοπικὴν θέσιν πάντων ὑπέρχεινται τῶν αἰσθητηρίων, εἰς ὁδηγίαν τοῦ παντὸς σώματος προτεταγμένοι παρὰ τῆς φύσεως. Ὅταν οὖν τοὺς τῆς ἀληθείας χαθηγουμένους παρὰ τῆς θείας Γραφῆς οὔτως ὀνομαζομένους ἀκούσωμεν, ὧν ὁ μέν τις ἐλέγετο Βλέπων, ἕτερος δὲ ὁ Ὁρῶν· ἄλλος δὲ Σκοπὸς παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ οὕτω διὰ τῆς προφητείας ὠνομασμένος· ἐναγόμεθα διὰ τούτων, τοὺς ἐφορᾷν καὶ ἐπιθλέπειν καὶ ἐπισκοπεῖν τεταγμένους, ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐνταῦθα νοΤὸ δὲ περὶ αὐτοὺς θαῦμα καθ᾽ ὁμοιότητά τινα συγχριτικὴν γίνεσθαι διδασκόμεθα, τῆς πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον παραθέσεως τὸ κάλλος αὐτῶν ὑπογραφούσης. Φησὶ γάρ᾽ʼ ὅτι Ὀς:θαμμοὶ περιστεραί. Καλὸς γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς τῶν·τοιούτων ὁμμάτων ἔπαινος ἡ ἀκακία, ἣν χατορθοῦσιν οἱ μηκέτι σαρχώδει βίῳ μολυνόμενοι, ἀλλὰ ζῶντές τε καὶ στοιχοῦντες τῷ πνεύματι. Ὁ γὰρ πνευματικὸς καὶ ἄῦλος βίος τῷ τῆς περιστερᾶς εἴδει χαρακτηρίζεται, ἐπειδῇ καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον οὕτως ὥφθη παρὰ ποῦ Ἰωάννου ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐπὶ τὸ ὕδωρ ἱπτάμενον. Οὐκοῦν τὸν ἀντὶ ὀφθαλμῶν τῷ σώματι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ τεταγμένον, εἰ μέλει καθαρῶς ἐπισκοπεῖν τε καὶ ἐπιδλέπειν, πᾶσαν τὴν ἐκ κακίας λήμην ἀποχλύσασθαι προσήκει τῷ ὕδατι. Ἔστι δὲ οὐκ ἕν ὕδωρ νιπτιχὸν τῶν ὀμμάτων, ἀλλὰ πολλὰ τῶν τοιούτων ὑδάτων εἶναί φησι τὰ πληρώματα, Ὅσαι γάρ εἰσιν ἀρεταὶ, τοσαύτας χρὴ τὰς τῶν καθαρσίων ὑδάτων ἐννοῆσαι πηγὰς, δι᾽ ὧν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ γίνονται ἀεὶ ἑαυτῶν χαθαρώτεροι· οἷον πηγὴ τοῦ καθαρσίου ὕδατός ἔστιν ἡ σωφροσύνῃ· ἄλλη πηγὴ τοιαύτη ἡ ταπεινοφροσύνη, ἡ ἀλήθεια, καὶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη, καὶ ἡ ἀνδρεία, καὶ ἡ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἐπιθυμία, καὶ ἡ τοῦ· κακοῦ ἀλλορίωσις. Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ὕδατά ἐστιν ἐκ μιᾶς μὲν πηγῆς, διαφόρων δὲ ῥείθρων εἰς ἕν ἀθροιζόμενα πλήρωμα, δι᾽ ὧν πάσης ἐκ πάθους λήμης γίνεται τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τὰ καθάρσια. ᾿Αλλʼ εἰσὶ μὲν ἐπὶ τὰ πληρώματα τῶν ὑδάτων οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ, οἱ διὰ τῆς ἀχεραιότητος καὶ ἀκακίας ταῖς περιστεραῖς ὡμοιωμένοι· λουτρὸν δὲ αὐτοῖς τὸ γάλα φησὶν, οὕτως εἰπόντος τοῦ λόγου· ὅτι Λελουμέναι ἐν γάλακτι. Πρέπων δὲ τοῖς τοιούτοις ὄμμασιν ἔπαινος τὸ τῷ γάλακτι τὴν τοιαύτην περιστερὰν λουομένην ἐνωραΐζεσθαι. ᾿Αληθὴς γάρ ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ γάλακτος παρατήρησις, ὅτι μόνον τοῦτο τοιαύτην ἔχει τὴν ἰδιότητα, τὸ μὴ ἐμφαίνεσθαι αὐτῷ εἴδωλόν τινος καὶ ὁμοίωμα. Πάντα γὰρ ὅσα τἧς ὑγρᾶς ἐστι φύσεως, καθ᾽ ὁμοιότητα τῶν κατόπτρων διὰ τοῦ λείου τῆς ἐπιφανείας τῶν ἐς αὐτὰ βλεπόντων ἀντιφαίνεσθαι παρασκευάζει τὰ ὁμοιώματα. Ἐν μόνῳ δὲ τῷ γάλακτι ἡ τοιαύτη εἰδωλοποιῖα χώραν οὐκ ἔχει, Οὗ χάριν, τοιοῦτος τῶν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ὀφθαλμῶν ἐστιν ὁ τελεώτατος ἔπαινος, τὸ μηδὲν ἀνυπόστατόν τε καὶ πεπλανημένον καὶ μάταιον παρὰ τὴν τῶν ὄντων ἀλήθειαν σχιογράφειν ἑαυτοῖς δι ἀπάτης, ἀλλὰ τὸν ὄντως ὄντα βλέπειν, τὰς δὲ ἠλητευμένας τοῦ τῇδε βίου ὄψεις τε καὶ φαντασίας μὴ παραδέχεσθαι. Διὰ τοῦτο πρὸς τὴν καθαρότητα τῶν ὀμμάτων ὑπὸ τῆς τελείας ψυχῆς τὸ τοῦ γάλακτος λουτρὸν ἀσφαλὲς Ὁ δ᾽ ἐφεξῆς λόγος, νόμος ἐστὶ τοῖς ἐπαΐουσι, περὶ ἃ χρὴ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τὴν σπουδὴν ἔχειν. Καθήμε- γαι γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐπὶ πληρώματα ὑδάτων. Τὴν γὰρ διηνεκῇ προσεδρείαν τῆς περὶ τὰ θεῖα μαθήματα προσοχῆς ὁ τοιοῦτος ὑποτίθεται λόγος, δι᾽ ὧν ἐπαινεῖ τοὺς καθαροὺς ὀφθαλμούς· καὶ ἡμᾶς διδάσκων, ὅπως ἂν τὸ ἴδιον κάλλος τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἀναλάθδοιμεν, ἀεὶ τοῖς τῶν ὑδάτων πολλοὶ τῶν εἰς ὀφθαλμοὺς τεταγμένων καταλιπόντες τὸ τοῖς τοιούτοις πληρώμασι προσεδρεύειν, τοῖς Βαδυποταμοῖς παραχάθηνται, πληροῦντες τὴν ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ γεγενημένην ἐπὶ τῶν τοιούτων κατηγορίαν. Ἐμὲ ἐγκατέλιπον πηγὴν ὕδατος ζῶντος, καὶ ὥρυξαν ἑαυτοῖς Ἰάκκους συντετριμμένους οἷοὺ δύνανται συνέχειν ὕδωρ. Μάθημα οὖν ἐστιν, ὅπως γένοιτο ἂν καλὸς ὀφθαλμὸς ἐμπρέπων τε καὶ ἐναρμόζων τῇ χρυσῇ κεφαλῇ, τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἀκέραιον μὲν κατὰ τὴν περιστερὰν, ἀπλανῆ τε καὶ ἀνεξαπάστῦτον κατὰ τὴν τοῦ γάλακτος φύσιν, μηδεμιᾷ πλάνῃ διὰ παραμονῆς καὶ προσεδρείας τοῖς πληρώμασι τῶν θείων ὑδάτων, καθ᾽ ὁμοιότητα τοῦ ξύλου τοῦ παρὰ τὰς διεξόδους τῶν ὑδάτων πεφυτευμένου καὶ οὐ μεθισταμένου. Οὕτω γὰρ ὅτε καρπὸς ἐπὶ τοῦ ἰδίου καιροῦ προδληθήσεται, καὶ ὁ κλάδος ἀειθαλὴς φυλαχθήσεται τῇ εὐχροίᾳ τῶν φύλλων περισοδούμενος. Νυνὶ δὲ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τῶν πνευματικῶν τούτων ὑξάτων χκαταμελοῦντες, καὶ τῆς τοῦ λόγου προσεδρείας μικρὰ φροντίζοντες, ἦτοι τὸν τῆς φιλοχρηματίας ἑαυτοῖς λάκκον ὁρύσσουσιν, ἢ τὴν κενοδοξίαν τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν φρεωρυχοῦσιν, ἣ ἄλλους τινὰς λάχχοὺυς ἀπάτης μετ᾽ ἐπιμελείας ὀρύσσουσιν, οἵ συνέχειν εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς τὸ σπουδαζόμενον αὐτοῖς ὕδωρ, φύσιν οὖκ ἔχουσιν, ἀεὶ τῆς ὧδε τιμῆς τε, καὶ δυναστείας, καὶ δόξης, περὶ ἦν ἐστιν ἡ σπουδὴ τοῖς πολλοῖς, ὁμοῦ τῷ συστῆναι διαῤῥεούσης, καὶ οὐδὲν ἴχνος τῆς μασπουδῆς ἐν τοῖς ἡ πατημένοις καταλιπούσης. Τοιούτους εἶναι βούλεται τοὺς ὁρῶντάς τε καὶ ἐπιοκοποῦντας ὁ Λόγος, ὧν χρὴ προδεδλῆσθαι μὲν, οἷόν τινα ὀφρύων περιδολὴν, τὴν τῶν θείων διδαγμάτων ἀσφάλειαν· ἐπιχαλύπτεσθαι δὲ τῇ σωφροσύνῃ καθάπερ τινὶ βλεφάρων περιδολῇ τὸ καθαρόν τε καὶ στίλδον τῆς πολιτείας, μήποτε ἡ τῆς οἰήσεως δοκὸς ἐμπεσοῦσα τῷ καθαρῷ τῆς κόρης, ἐμποδὼν γένηται πρὸς τὴν ὅρασιν. Τίς δὲ κατὰ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῶν μελῶν τοῦ γυμφίου ἐστὶν ὁ ἔπαινος, ἐν τοῖς ἐφεξῆς Θεοῦ διδόντος . χάριτι τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ᾿Αμήν.
Hōrchisa hymas, thygateres ʼ᾿Ierousamzēm, en tais dynamesi, kai en tais ischysesi tou agrou, eanʼ heurēte ton adeilphidon mou, ti apangeilēte autǭ? hoti tetrōmenē agapēs egō eimi. Ti adeiphidos sou apo adeiphidou, ō kalē en gynaixin? hoti houtōs hōrkisas hēmas ? adeiphidos mou leukos kai pyrrhos, eklelochismenos apo myriadōn. Keralē autou chrysion Kephras, bostrychoi autou eklatai, melanes hōs korax; ophthalmoi hautou hōs peristerai epi plērōmata hydatōn, .eloumenai epi plērōmata hydatōn. Ho dia Mōyseōs men nomothetēsas ta tou nomou mystēria; plērōsas de di᾽ heautou holon ton nomon kai tous prophētas, kathōs en tǭ Euangeliǭ phēsin hoti Ouk hēlthon katalysai ton nomon, al.1a p,lēA rōsai; ho tę̄ men anairesei tēs orgēs synexaleipsas ton phonon, tǭ de aphanismǭ tēs epithymias synexelaunōn tēs moicheias to agos houtos echdallei tou biou kai tēn ek tēs epiorkias kataran, tę̄ apagoreusei tou orkou pedēsas en apraxiaą to drepanon. Ou gar esti dynaton orkou genesthai paradasin, mē ontos orkou. Dio phēsin; Hēkousate hoti errhethē archaiois; Ouk epiorkēseis, apodōseis de tǭ Kyriǭ tous horkous sou. Egō legō soi, phēsi, mē homosae holōs; mēte en tǭ ouragǭ, hoti thronos esti tou Theou; mēte en Hierousalēm, hoti polis esti tou megalou basileōs; mēte en tę̄ kephalę̄ sou homoseis; hoti ou dynasai poiēsai tricha leukēn hē melainan, Estō de hymōn ho 1ogos to, Nai, nai; kai to, Ou, ou to de perissoteron toutōn, ek tou diadolou estin. Ē de dia tou Asmatos tōn asmatōn epi teleiotēti memartyrēmenē psychē, kai perielomenē men tēs psychēs to kalymma en tę̄ apekdysei tou palaiou chitōnos, tox theristron apothalousa, hoper nooumen pasan distazousan te kai chradainomenēn dianoian, hōste katharōs te kai anamphitholōs pros tēn alētheian blepein, horchixei tas thygateras ᾿hierousalēm,, oute kata tou theiou thronou, hon ouranon onomazei ho logos; oute kata tōn Theou basileiōn hois onoma estin Hierousalēm; ou mēn oute kata tēs kephalēs tēs timias, hēs hai triches oute leukai, oute melainai genesthai dynantai; all᾽ epi ton agron metapherei ton orkon, kata tōn en autǭ dynameōn ton orkismon epagousa tais neanisi legousa: Hōrchisa hymas, thygateres Hierousalēm, en tais dynamesi kai ischysesi tou drymou. Hoti men oun hē diʼ holou martyrētheisa einai kalē kai pantos chathareuousa mōmou, ouden phthe ngetai tōn perittōn, ho tēs tou diatholou meridos estin; all᾽ ek tou Theou poieitai ton logon, par᾽ hou, kata ton Michaian, ei ti agathon esti, kai ei ti kalon, kai para tauta ouden panti dēlon esti, tǭ para tēs despotikēs martyrias didachthenti, ta prosonta tę̄ nymphę̄ pleonektēmata. Hē gar apheisa panta ta apēgoreumena eidē tou orkou, kai mēte tēn basileuousan polin, mēte ton thronon tou megalou basileōs orkion tais neanisi poiēsamenē; dia toutou gar paideuometha poson apechein hēmas chrē tou katatolmąn tou Theou en tois orkois, hoti oute ton thronon, oute tēn polin en tǭ orkǭ paralamthanein epitrepometha; pheisamenē te pros toutois tēs kephalę̄s tēs timias, hēn en tois ephexēs chrysēn einai diagraphei tǭ logǭ; hēs hai triches oute leukai eisin, oute melainai; pōs gar an ē melantheiē chrysos, ē pros to leukon eidos metachrōstheiē ? pantōs hoti toiouton tina proteinei ton horkismon tais parthenois, hos ouchi tǭ euangelikǭ machetai nomǭ, kai epainou ginetai tois homōmochosin hypothesis, kata tēn tou Prophētou phōnēn, ē phēsin; hoti ᾿Epainēthēsetai pas ho omnyōn; en autǭ. Hōste tēn tōn legomenōn dianoian mē exō einai tou diplou, hǭ pistousthai bouletai tēn halē theian ho euangelichkos nomos, legōn; Estō de hymōn ho logos to, Nai, nai; kai to, Ou, ou. Ei toinyn en tois horchiois noēmasi kōlyetai men ho thronos tou basileōs paralamdanesthai; kōlyetai de kai hē polis, en hē ta basileia; kōlyetai de hōsautōs kai hē alēthinē kephalē peri tēn tou orkou paralēpsin; monon de to Nai, kai to Ou, synkechōrētai, di᾿ amphoterōn kata to ison tēs alētheias en tǭ Nai theōroumenēs; dēlon an eiē, hoti kai nyn ho tais neanisin epagomenos orkos para tēs nymphēs, peri tēn tou Nai dianoian anagraphetai, hopou chrē erēreismenēn hēmōn einai Hōrkisō hymas, thygateres Hierousalēm, en tais tēn tēs psychēs synchatathesin.;Echei de hē lexis houtōs; dynamesi kai ischysesi tou agrou; ean heurēte ton adelphridon mou, ti apange.leita autǭ? hoti tetrōmenē agapēs egō. Tauta de tetheōrētai men ēdē kai en tois phthasasin, hōs hē akolouthia tōn noēmatōn enedalen. Eirēsetai de kai nyn dia bracheōn ta heuriskomena. ᾿Ametathetan ti pragma ton orkon einai phēsin ho ᾿Apostolos, bethaiounta di᾿ autou tēn alētheian, kai pasēs auton antilogias peras horizetai einai, eis tēn tōn egnōsmenōn bethaiōsin. Epagei toinyn ton orkismon tais parthenois hē nymphē, hōste aparadōton phylachthēnai autais to legomenon. ᾿All᾽ epeidē pas orkos kata tou meizonos ginetai, kathōs phēsin ho ᾿Apostolos; hou gar an tis orkon poiēsaito heautou atimoteron; skopēsai prosēkei ti tais neanisin en tǭ orkǭ para tēs nymphēs meizon proteinetai. Hōrkisa hymas, phēsin, ō thygateres Hierousalēm, en tais dynamesi kai ischysesi tou agrou. Ti oun to hyper hēmas en toutois estin? ᾿Agron gar ton kosmon dia tēs tropichēs sēmasias noeisthai, ouk amphidallomen, houtō tou Kyriou kai onomasantos ton kosmon kai hermēneusantos. Hai toinyn pollai dynameis kai ischyes tou kosmou tines eisin hai tǭ horkǭ prokeimenai, has chrē meizonas hēmōn nomisthēnai, hina ischyn ladę̄ pros bedaiōsin tēs alētheias ho orkos kata tōn meizonōn genomenos ? Oukoun anankaïon an eiē parathesthai pros tēn saphēneian tōn prokeimenōn heteran ekdosin hermēneutichēn tōn rhētōn, echousan houtōs; Hōrchisa ʼIerousaēm, kata tōn kai katatōn elaphōn tou agrou. Didaskometha toinyn dia tōn onomatōn toutōn en tini estin hē tou kosmou poutou ischys, kai en tini hē dynamis, ha pros bedaiōsin tēs alētheias dia tou orkou paralamdanetai. Dyo esti ta tǭ Theǭ oikeiounta ton anthrōpon. Hen men, po aplanes tēs peri to ontōs hon hypolēpseōs, hōste mē tais ēpatēmenais hyponoiais eis ethnichas te kai hairetichas peri tou Theiou doxas ekpheresthai, hoper estin hōs alēthōs to Nae. To d᾽ heteron, ho katharos logismos, ho pasan empathę̄ diathesin tēs psychēs exorizōn; hoper oud᾽ apo tou Nai ēllotriōtai. Tēs toinyn diplēs tautēs tōn agathōn hexeōs, hōn hē men pros to ontōs hon anadlepein poiei; hē de phygadeuei ta pathē ta tēn psychēn lymainomena; hē tōn dorchadōn kai tōn elaphōn mnēmē, dia symtholōn gnōrizei tēn dynamin. Toutōn gar hē men aplanōs horą, hē de brōtikēn tina kai analōtichēn tōn thēriōn dynamin echei. Touto toinyn proteinei tais parthenois hē nymphē to Nai, to eusedōs dein pros to Theion blepein, kai katharōs en apatheią paratrechein ton bion; hōn katorthoumenōn, to ametatheton pragma en hēmin bedaioutai to Nai. Houtos gar estin ho tēn alētheian pistoumenos orkos, hon pas omnyōn en autǭ epaineitai, kathōs phēsin ho Prophētēs. ᾿Alēthōs gar ho en tois dyo toutois to asphales en heautǭ katorthōsas, hen te tǭ logǭ tēs pisteōs, hotan aplanōs pros tēn alētheian blepę̄, kai en tǭ tropǭ tēs zōēs, hotan pantos chathareuę̄ tou ek ponērias molysmatos houtos omnyei tǭ Kyriǭ, mē anadēnai epi klinēs strōmnēs, mē dounai hypnon tois ophthalmois autou, mēde nystagmon tois blepharois, heōs hou heurę̄ en heautǭ topon tǭ Kyriǭ, skēnōma tǭ en autǭ oikounti genomenos. Ei toinyn esmen kai hēmeis tēs anō Hierousalēm tekna, akousōmen tēs didaskalou nymphēs, pōs estin idein ton Ti oun phēsin ? Ean orkion heautois touto poiēsōmen, to en tais dynamesin einai tōn dioratikōn dorchadōn, kai en tais ischysesi tōn aphanistichōn tēs kakias elaphōn esti dia toutōn idein ton katharon gymphion, ton tēs agapēs toxotēn, kai eipein pros auton tēn hekastou psychēn, hoti Tetrōmegē agapēs eimi. Kala de einai tēs agapēs ta traumata kai para tēs Paroimias emathomen, hē phēsin; Haireta men tou philou ta traumata, kaka de tēs echthras kai ta philēmata. Tis de philos, hou ta traumata tōn philēmatōn tou echthrou protimotera : Panti dēlon esti, tǭ mē agnoounti ta tēs sōtērias mystēria. Philos men gar estin alēthinos te kai bedaios, ho kai echthrous genomenous hēmas tou agapąn mē pausamenos echthros de apistos te kai anēmeros, ho mēden ēdikēkotas hypagagōn tǭ thanatǭ. Trauma tois prōtoplastois edokei hē dia tēs entolēs genomenē tou kakou apagoreusis. Trauma gar enomisthē hē tou hēdeos allotriōsis; philēma de hē pros to ēdy kai emphanes protropē. ᾿All᾽ edeixen hē peira, hoti ta nomizomena tou philou traumata tōn philēmatōn ēn tou echthrou lysitelestera kai hairetōtera. Epei oun synestēsen heautou tēn agapēn ho kalos erastēs tōn hēmeterōn psychōn, di᾽ hōn kai hamartōlōn hēmōn Christos hyper hēmōn apethane; dia touto anterastheisa gymphē tou agapēsantos deiknysin en heautę̄ encheimegon dia bathous tēs agapēs to belos; toutesti tēn hēs theotētos autou koinōnian. Hē gar agapē estin ho Theos, kathōs eirētai, hē dia tēs kata tēn pistin akidos tę̄ kardią engenomenē. Ei de chrē kai onoma tou belous toutou eipein, heuromen ho para tou Paulou emathomen,, hoti to belos touto esti pistis di᾿ agapēs ᾿Alla tauta men echetō hōs autǭ dokei; idōmen de kai tēn para tōn parthenōn prosachtheisan erōtēsin tę̄ didaskalǭ. Ti adelphidos sou apo adeiphidou, kalē en gynaixin? ti adeiridos sou apo adeiiphedry, hoti houtōs hōrlisas hēmas? Toiautēn de tina dokei moi΄ periechein hē rhēsis dianoian, kathōs hē acholonthia tōn proexētasmenōn eikazein didōsin; Epeidē gar hai parthenoi eidon tēn kalēn exodon tēs psychēs nymphēs, hote prosephyē tǭ Logǭ hē eipousa, hoti ᾿Exēklthen hē psychē mou en ᾿ogǭ autou. Kai egnōsan, hoti ezētei exelthousa ton dia sēmeiōn ouk heuriskomenon, kai ekalei boōsa ton ouk hypakousanta tois onomasi; dia touto phasi, Pōs epignōmen auton hēmeis, ton mēdeni sēmeiǭ gnōristichǭ heuriskomenon, hos ouze hypakouei kaloumenos, oute krateitai zētoumenos? Periele toinyn kai sy tōn ophthalmōn tōn hēmeterōn ta theristra, hoper epoiēsan epi soi hoi tēs poleōs phylakes,, hina tis genētai hēmin hodēgia pros to zētoumenon. Eipe, tis estin adelphidos sou, kath᾽ ho estin en tǭ logǭ tēs physeōs. Dos hēmin ephodon tēs epignōseōs autou,, dia gnōristichōn tinōn tekmēriōn, sy tou kalou plērōtheisa, kai dia touto genomenē kalē en gynaixi, Gnōrison hēmin to zētoumenon, kai didaxon hēmas, di᾽ hōn heurisketai sēmeiōn ho aoratos, hōs mēnysai autǭ peri tou belous tēs agapēs, hǭ mesǭ tetrōsai tēn kardian, dia tēs glykeias odynēs ton pothon epauxousa. Kreitton de an eiē, palin tēn autēn rhēsin epanalathein epi lexeōs, hōs an epharmosoi hē tois rhētois ektetheisa dianoia. Ti adelphidos sou apo adelphidou, hē kalē en gynaixi ? ti adelphidos sou apo adeiphidou, hoti houtōs hōrkisas hēmas ? ᾿Akousōmen toinyn tēs lymmenēs, tǭ tēs psychēs ophthalmǭ blepousēs pros ai tēn alētheian; pōs hypographei autais to zētoumenon? pōs zōgraphei tǭ logǭ tou pothoumenou ton charaktēra? pōs hyp᾽ opsin agei tais parthenois ton agnooumenon ? Epeidē gar tou Christou, to men aktiston esti, to de ktiston; legomen de aktiston einai autou, to aïïdion te kai proaiōnion, kai poiētikon pantōn tōn ontōn, ktiston de to kata tēn hyper hēmōn oikonomian syschēmatisthen tǭ sōmati tēs tapeinōseōs hēmōn mallon de di᾽ autōn tōn theiōn rhēmatōn tēn peri toutou dianoian beltion an eiē parathesthai tǭ logǭ. !Aktiston legomen ton en archę̄ anta Logon, ton di᾽ hou ta panta egeneto, kai hou chōris tōn gegonotōn estin ouden; ktiston de, ton sarka genomenon, kai en hēmin schēnōsanta, hou kai sarkōthentos hē emphainomenē doxa dēloi, hoti Theos Ho ephanerōthē en sarki, theos pantōs ho monogenēs, ho en tois kolpois hōn tou Patros, houtōs eipontos tou Iōannou, hoti Etheasametha tēn doxan autou; kai toi to phainomenon anthrōpos ēn, alla to di᾽ autou gnōrizomenon, Doxan phēsin hōs mogogegous para Patros, plērē charitos kai aētheias. Epeidē toinyn to men aktiston autou, kai proaiōnion, kai aïdion, alēpton men kath᾽ holou pasę̄ physei kai anekphōnēton; dia sarkos hēmin phanerōthen, dynatai posōs kai es gnōsin elthein; toutou charin pros tauta aei hē didaskalos blepei, kai peri toutōn poieitai ton logon, hosa dynatai genesthai chōrēta tois akouousi, Legō de to mega tēs eusetheias mystērion, diʼ hou ho Theos ephanerōthē en sarki, ho en morphę̄ Theou hyparchōn, kai dia sarkos synanastrapheis tois anthrōpois, hos epeidē hapax pros heauton epespasato dia tēs aparchēs tēn epikēron tēs sarkos physin, hēn dia tēs aphthorou parthenias aneladen, aei tę̄ aphtharsią synagiazei to koinon tēs physeōs, dia tōn enoumenōn hautǭ kata tēn koinōnian tou mystēriou, trephōn to heautou sōma tēn Ekklēsian, kai katallēlōs ta echphyomena. dia tēs pisteōs autou melē tǭ koinǭ sōmati enarmozōn; euprepes to pan apergazetai es ophthalmous, kai stoma kai cheiras kai ta loipa merē, prepontōs kai harmodiōs diatitheis tous pisteuontas, Houtō gar phēsin ho Paulos; hoti En men esti sōma, polla de melē. Ta de melē panta ou tēn autēn echei taxin, all᾽ esti tis kai ophthalmos en tǭ sōmati mē kataphronōn tēs cheirys, kai kephalē tis hōn, ouk apōtheitai tous podas, alla synchechratai pros heauto tę̄ poikilią tōn energeiōn hapan dia tōn melōn to sōma, hina mē stasiaxę̄, pros to holon ta melē. Tauta de di ainigmatōn prostheis ta noēmata, epi to saphesteron. proagei ton logon, eipōn hoti Hetheto ho Theos ek tę̄ ᾿Ekklēsią apostolous, kai prophētas, kai didaskalous, kai poimenas, pros ton katartismon tōn hagiōn, eis ergon diakonias, eis oikodomēn tou sōmatos tou Christou; mechri katantēsōmen hoi pantes eis tēn henotēta tēs pisteōs kai tēs epignōsthōs tou Theou eis andra teleion, eis metron hēlikias tou rōmatos tou Christou. Kai palin - Auxēsōmen, phēsin, eis autan dia panta, hos estin hē kephalē ho Christos,ex hou pan sōma synarmoogoumenon kai symdidōzomenon, dia pasēs haphēs tēs epichorēgias kat᾽ energeian en metrǭ henos ekastou merous tēn auxēsin poieitai tou sōmatos autou, eis oikodymēn agapę̄. Oukoun ho pros tēn Ekklēsian blepōn, pros ton Christon antikrys blepei, ton heauton dia tēs prosthēkēs tōn sōzomenōn oikodomounta kai megalynonta. Hē toinyn apothemenē tōn ommatōn to theristron, katharǭ tǭ ophthalmǭ to aphraston horą tou nymphiou kallos; kai dia touto trōtheisa tǭ asōmatǭ kai diapyrǭ belei tou erōtos. Epitetamenē gar agapē erōs legetai; hǭ oudeis epaischynetai, hotan mē kata sarkos genētai par᾽ autou hē toxeia; all᾽ epichkauchatai mallon tǭ traumati, hotan dia tou bathous tēs kardias dexētai tēn tou aulou pothou achida. Hoper dē kai hautē pepoiēke tais neanisi legousa - hoti TeĒ toinyn es tosouton teleiotētos proelthousa, epeidē edei kai tais parthenois epideixai tou nymphion to kallos, ouk ekeino legei ho ēn en archę̄ ᾿ oude gar hoion te hēn dynamei logou phanerōthēnai to arrhēton; alla pros tēn dia sarkos genomenēn heuïn thtos geian cheiragōgei tas parthenous. Hythper dē kai ho a megas Iōannēs pepoiēken, ho men ap᾽ archēs ēn, siōpēsas; ho de heōrakamen kai akēkoamen, kai hai cheires hēmōn epsēlaphēsan peri tou logou tēs halētheias, touto di᾽ epimeleias diēgēsamenos, Phēsin oun pros hautas hē nymphē; Adelridos mou leukes kai pyrrhos, echlelochismegos apo myriadōn. autou chrysion Kephras; bostrychoi autou elatai, melanes hōs korax; hoi orthōlmoi autou hōs periepi plērōmata hydatōn, galōkei, kathēmenai epi plērōmata hydatōn. Siagones autou hōs phialai tou arōmatos phyousai myrepsicha. Cheilē autou krina stazonta smyrnan plērē; cheires autou toreutai, chrysai, speplērōmenai Tharseis; koilia hautou pyxion elephrantigon epi lithou sappheirou; chgēmai autou, styloi epi baseis chrysas eidos autou hōs Lidanos eklektos, hōs kedroi. Pharynx autou glykasmoi, kai holos epithymia; houtos adelphidos mou, kai houtos piïēsion mou, thygateres ʼIerousalēm. Tauta panta di’ hōn hē tou kallous gegonen hypographē,, ou, tōn aoratōn te kai akatalēptōn tēs theotētos estin endeichticha; alla tōn kat᾽ oikonomian phanerōthentōn, hote epi tēs gēs hōphthē, kai;tois anthrōpois synanestraphē, tēn anthrōpinēn endysamenos physin, di’ hōn kata ton apostolikon logon, kai ta aorata autou tois poiēmasi nooumena kathoratai, dia tēs tou ekklēsiastikou kosmou kataskeuēs phaneroumena. Kosmou gar ktisis estin hē tēs Ekklēsias kataskeuē; en hē kata tēn tou prophētou phōnēn kai ho ouranos ktizetai kainos; hoper esti to stereōma tēs eis Christon pisteōs, kathōs ho Paulos phēsi, kai gē kainē kataschenazetai, hē pinousa ton ep᾽ autēn erchomenon hyeton, kai anthrōpos plassetai allos, ho dia tēs anōthen gennēseōs anachainizomenos kat᾽ eikona tou ktisantos auyton; kai phōstērōn physis hetera ginetai, peri hōn phēsin, hoti Hymeis este to phōs tou kosmou; kai, Hen hois phainesthe hōs phōstēres hon kosmǭ kai asteres polloi, hoi en tǭ stereōmati tēs pisteōs anatellontes. Kai oupō touto thaumaston, ei plēthē astrōn estin, en tǭ kainǭ toutǭ kosmǭ hypo tou Theou arithmoumena kai onomazomena, hōn ta onomata ho poiētēs tōn toioutōn astrōn en tois ouranois apogegraphthai legei. thytō gar ēkousa tou dēmiourgou tēs kainēs ktiseōs pros tous idious autou phōstēras legontos; hoti Ta onomata hymōn engegraptai en tois ouranois. Ou touto toinyn monon tēs kainēs ktiseōs esti to paradoxon, hoti astrōn plēthos en autę̄ dēmiourgeitai para tou Logou; all᾽ hoti kai polloi hēlioi chtizontai, tais tōn agathōn ergōn aktisi tēn oikoumenēn phōtizontes; houtōs eipontos tou poiētou tōn toioutōn hēliōn; Lamiatō to phōs hymōn emprosthen tōn anthrōpōn; kai, Tote hoi dikaioi hēlamgpsousin hōs ho hēlios. Hōsper toinyn ho pros ton aisthēton apidōn kosmon, kai tēn emphainomenēn tǭ kallei tōn antōn sophian katanoēsas, analogizetai dia tōn horōmenōn to aoraton kallos, kai tēn pēgēn tēs sophias, hēs hē aporrhoia tēn tōn ontōn synestēsato physin; houtō kai ho pros ton kainon touton kosmon tēs kata tēn Ekklēsian ktiseōs blepōn, horą en hautǭ ton panta en pasin onta kai ginomenon, dia tōn chōrētōn te kai chatalamdanomenōn hypo tēs pisteōs hēmōn cheiragōgoumenos tēn gnōsin pros to achōrēton. Hou charin epeidē tautēn prosagousi tę̄ pros to teleion anadramousę̄ psychę̄ tēn aitēsin hai parthenoi psychai tou gnōristhēnai autais ton pothoumenon; dia tōn epi sōtērią phanerōthentōn hēmin hypographei tais parthenois ta tou zētoumenou gnōrismata. Kai pasan tēn Ekklēsian hen sōma tou gymphiou poiēsasa, idion ti noēma di᾽ hekastou tōn melōn en tę̄ hypographę̄ tou kallous endeiknytai, di᾽ hōn holōn ek tōn kata meros theōroumenōn, to tou ᾿Archēn oun poieitai tēs didaskalias tēn prosechē kai oikeian hēmin. Ek gar tou sōmatos tēs katēchēseōs archetai; hōsper dē kai ho Matthaios pepoiēken, ek tou ᾿Adraam. te kai Dabid genealogēsas to kat᾿ sarka mystērion, tǭ megalǭ Iōannę̄ etamieusato tois ēdē dia toutōn stoicheiōtheisi tēn ex aïdiou noou menēn archēn, kai ton tę̄ archę̄ synchatanooumenon Logon euangedisasthai. Dia toutōn toinyn tōn noēmatōn hē nymphē mystagōgei tas neanidas, hoti ou proteron epi to alēpton te kai aoriston euachthēsetai Hēmōn hē dianoia, prin tǭ ophthenti dia tēs pisteōs peridraxasthai; to de ophthen hē tēs sarkos esti physis. Eipousa gar; hoti ᾿Adeiphsidos mou leukos kai pyrrhos; dia tēs tōn dyo chrōmatōn toutōn mixeōs to tēs sarkos idiōma hypographei tǭ logǭ. Touto de kai en tois emprosthen epoiēse, mēlon auton onomasasa hou pros hekateron tōn chrōmatōn synkraton kathoratai to eidos. Leukon te gar esti to mēlon kai erythrainetai; tēn tou haimatos, oimai, physin symdolichōs endeiknymenos dia tou erythēmatos. ᾿All᾽ epeidē pasa sarx heni tropǭ synistatai, gamou pantōs hodopoiountos ton tokon tois eis tēn zōēn tautēn periouti dia geneseōs, hōs an mē tis sarkos genesin peri to mystērion tēs eusedeias paradexamenos, pros ta hēs physeōs erga kai pathē tēn dianoian katolisthēseien, homoiogenē pasi kakeinēs tēs sarkos tēn genesin ennoēsas; toutou charin ton koinōnēsanta sarkos kai haimatos leukon men einai kai pyrrhon hōmologēse, dia tōn dyo chrōmatōn tēn tou sōmatos physin ainisou mēn homoiotropon autou tēn koinǭ tokǭ gegenēsthai legei. ᾿All’ ek pasōn tōn myriadōn tōn aph᾽ hou gegonasin anthrōpoi, kai eis ho proseleusetai rheousa dia tou tokou tōn epiginome nōn hē physis, monos houtos esti tǭ kainǭ tēs locheias eidei tēs zōēs tautēs hapsamenos; hǭ ouchi synērgēse pros to genesthai hē physis, all᾽ hypēretēse. Dia touto, phēsin, hoti leukos kai ho pyrrhos houtos, ho dia sarkos kai haimatos epidēmēsas tǭ biǭ, monos estin ek pasōn tōn myriadōn ek tēs parthenikēs katharotētos amolyntos de hē locheia, anōdynos de hē ōdis; hou thalamos hē tou Hypsistou dynamis, hoion tis nephelē tēn parthenian epischiazousa; pyrsos de gamēlios hē tou hagiou Pneumatos ellampsis; klinē de hē apatheia, kai gamos hē aphtharsia. Ho toinyn ek tōn toioutōn genomenos, kalōs eklelochismenos ek pasōn tōn myriadōn chatōnomasthē ʼ hoper to mē ek lechous auton einai sēmainei. Toutou garʼ monou chōris locheias hē gennēsis, hōsper kai chōris gamou hē systasis. Ou gar xatin epi tēs aphthorou te kai apeirogamou kyriōs to onoma tēs locheias eipein; dioti parthenias te kai locheias asymdata esti peri tēn autēn ta onomata. ᾿All’ hōsper Huios edothē hēmin aneu Patros; houtō kai to paidion aneu locheias gegennētai. Hōs gar ouchegnō hē Parthenos hopōs en tǭ sōmati autēs to theodochon synestē sōma houtōs oude tou tokou ēstheto, martyrousēs tēs prophē bias autę̄ to anōdynon tēs ōdinos. Phēsi gar Ēsaïias, Prin elthein tous pogous tōn ōdinōn, exephyge kai eteken arsen. Dia touto eklelochismenos kai xenizōn kath᾽ hekateron tēn akolouthian tēs physeōs, oute arxamenos ex hēdonēs, oute proelthōn dia ponou. Kai touto kata to akolouthon ginetai, kai ouk hexō tou eikotos estin. Epeidē gar hē ton thanaton dia tēs hamartias epeisagousa tę̄ physei, en lypais kai ponois techtein katedikasthē, edei pantōs tēn tēs zōēs mētera apo charas te tēs chyophorias arxasthai, kai dia charas teleiōsai ton tokon. Chaire gar, phēsi, kapros autēn ho archangelos, tę̄ phōnę̄ tēn lypēn tēn ex archēs hypo tēs hamartias apoglērōtheisan tǭ tokǭ. Houtos men oun estin ho tǭ kainǭ te kai idiazonti tēs gennēseōs ek pasōn tōn myriadōn monos toioutos genomenos, ho leukos te kai pyrrhos dia tēn sarka kai to aima kalōs ōnomasmenos, kai ekchlelochismenos apo myriadōn, dia tēn aphtharton te kai apathę̄ tou tokou para tous loipous idiotēta. Ē tacha kai dia ta loipa tēs gennēseōs eidē ta dia tēs locheias ginomena, tautēn hephērmosen autǭ tēn phōnēn hē nymphē. Ouk agnoeis de pantōs hosakis egennēthē ho pasēs tēs ktiseōs prōtotokos en pollois adelphois, prōtotokos ek nekrōn ᾿ ho prōtos lysas tas ōdinas tou thanatou, kai pasi ton ek nekrōn tokon hodopoiēsas dia tēs anastaseōs. En pasi men gar toutois egennēthē, ou mēn dia locheias parēlthen eis gennēsin. Ē tegarech tou hydatos genesis to tēs locheias pathos ou paredexato, kai hē ek nekrōn palingennesia, kai hē tēs theias tautēs ktiseōs prōtotokia, all᾽ en pasi toutois kathareuei tēs locheias ho tokos, Dia touto phēsin, ᾿Ech.1e.1ochismenos apo myriadōn. Hoion de autou to kallos en tois kath᾽ hekaston melesi diēgeitai, kairos de an eiē katanoę̄sai dia tōn eirēmenōn. Kephra.ē autou, chrysion ei pros tēn hēmeteran phōnēn, to katharon te kai anotheuton, kai pasēs ep:mixias alloteron chrysion dia tēs phōnēs tautēs deiknytai. ᾿Anermēneuton de moi dokein kataleloipenai tēn tou Kephax lexin, hoi tas phōnas tōn Hedraiōn exellēnisantes, dia to mē heurein en tois ʼEllēnikois rhēmasi mēdeuian phōnēn exangeltichēn tēs emphaseōs tēs entheōroumenēs tę̄ Heodraïidi phōnę̄. Hēmeis de touto mathontes, hoti to eilikrinōs katharon, kai pasēs hylēs rhyparas amiges te kai aparadekton hē toiautē lexis endeechnytai - tauta peri tou prokeimenou rhētou goein enagometha, hoti kephalē tou sōmatos tēs Ekklēsias estin ho Christos. Christon de nyn legomen ou pros to aïdion tēs theotētos anapempontes touto to onoma, alla pros ton theodochon anthrōpon, ton epi gēs ophthenta, kai tois anthrōpois synanastraphenta, ton tēs parthenias blaston, en hǭ katǭkēse pan to plērōma tēs theotētos sōmatikōs, tēn aparchēn tou koinou phyramatos, di᾽ hou ho Logos tēn physin hēmōn periethdaleto, poiēsas autēn akēraton, pantōn tōn gar phēsi peri autou ho prophētēs, hoti ᾿A martian ouk tou pepeiramegnou kata panta kath᾽ homoiotēta tēs physeōs hēmōn, chōris hamartias. Ē men oun kephalē tou sōmatos tēs Ekchchlēsias, hē pasēs tēs physeōs hēmōn aparchē, to katharon te kai pasēs kakias amiges te kai aparadekton chrysion estin; hoi bostrychoi de hoi pote zophōdeis kai melanes, kai tois choraxin ( homoioumenoi tǭ eidei, ekeinois legō tois koraxin, hois ergon esti, to tous ophthalmous ekkoptein, kata ton paroimiōdē, logon, kai tois neossois tōn aetōn brōma tous pērōthentas tōn horatichōn aisthētēriōn paraskeuazein, houtoi elatai ta hypsēla te kai ouranomēkē dendra ginomenoi, dia to anadramein ek gēs epi to ouranion hypsos, prosthēkē tou kallous ginontai pou nymphiou, tēs theias kephalēs autou exartēsantes. Ouk agnoei de pantōs tis ti tōn bostrychōn toutōn ergon estin, en tois anō mathōn par᾽ autēs tēs tou gymphiou phōnę̄s; hoti, HoI bostrychoi mou eplēsthēsan psekadōn hydatos. Ekeinou oun eisin hoi psechazontes bostrychoi, para tōn prophētōn nephelai honomazomenoi, aph᾽ hōn ginetai tēs didaskalias ho homdros, ho tas apsychous arouras potizōn pros tēn eucharpean Ho tōn tou Theou geōrgiōn. ᾿Apostolous de oimai tropikōs tous bostrychous hypo tou Theou logou sēmainesthai hōn tines ēsan proteron zophōdeis tois tou biou epitēdeumasin, ho lę̄stēs, ho telōnēs, ho diōktēs, kai ei tis allos toioutos kata ton melana te kai sarchothoron tōn ophthalmōn aphanistichon koraka. Legō de ton archonta tou skotous tēs exousias, kathōs phēsin ho apo korakos elatē genomenos, kai dia touto bostrychos tēs theias kephalēs chrēmatisas. Hoti proteron hōn blasphēmos kai diōktēs kai hydristēs, heōs hēn korax, pros tēn charin tautēn meteskeuasthē, bostrychos genomenos tę̄ ouranią drosǭ diathrochos, ho panti tǭ sōmati tēs Ekklēsias ton tōn apokryphōn te kai skoteinōn mystēriōn logon epipsechazōn. Toutous men legesthai para tēs nymphēs bostrychous hypenoēsamen, hoi tēs chrysēs kephalę̄s apērtēmenoi ou mikran di᾽ heautōn poiousi prosthēkēn tēs hōras, tę̄ tou pneumatos aurą per: sodoumenoi. Houtoi stephanoi ginontai kallous tę̄ akēratǭ kephalę̄, kosmountes autēn tǭ idiǭ kychlōmati. Peri toutōn gar moi dokei legein hē prophēteia, hoti Ethēkas epi tēn kephalēn autou stephanon ek lithou timiou. Hōste autous di’ hekaterōn noeisthai tōn noēmatōn, euprepeis te bostrychous, kai lithous timious, di᾽ autōn tēn chepha᾿Acholouthon d᾽ an eiē kai ta peri tōn ophthalmōn eirēmena theōrēsai tǭ logǭ.;Esti de hē lexis hautē; ᾿ophthaïmoi autou peristerai epi piērōmata hydatōn, leloumenai en galakti, kathēmenai epi plērōmata hydatōn. Ē de tōn eirēmenōn dianoia tēs men katalēpseōs hēmōn estin hypsēlotera. Ho gar an ennoēsōmen peri toutōn elatton einai tēs alētheias oiometha; schopoumenois de di᾽ epimeleias hēmin, toiautē tis edoxen einai Phēsi pou tōn heautou logōn ho theios ᾿Apostolos, mē dynasthai legein ton ophthalmon tę̄ cheiri, Chreian sou ouk echō; dogma dia toutōn poioumenos, hoti di᾽ amphoterōn prosēkei tǭ sōmati tēs Ekklēsias prattein kalōs, tou dioratikou tēs alētheias synchechramenou pros to drastērion; oute pēs theōrias kath’ heautēn tēn psychēn teleiousēs. mē kai ta erga parę̄. ta ton ēthikon katorthounta bion oute tēs praktikēs philosophias autarkę̄ parechomenēs tēn ōpheleian, mē tēs alēthinēs heusedeias tōn ginomenōn chathēgoumenēs. Ei toinyn anankaia tōn ophthalmōn pros tas cheiras estin hē syzygia, tacha prosagometha dia tōn eirēmenōn. prōton men tous ophthalmous, hoitines eisi, katanoēsai; epeita de kai ton peri autōn epainon en theōrią lathein; ton de peri pōn cheirōn logon tǭ idiǭ tamieusometha topǭ ophthalmōn gar idion ek physeōs ergon esti to horąn; dio kata tēn topikēn thesin pantōn hypercheintai tōn aisthētēriōn, eis hodēgian tou pantos sōmatos protetagmenoi para tēs physeōs. Hotan oun tous tēs alētheias chathēgoumenous para tēs theias Graphēs outōs onomazomenous akousōmen, hōn ho men tis elegeto Blepōn, heteros de ho Horōn; allos de Skopos para tǭ Theǭ houtō dia tēs prophēteias ōnomasmenos; enagometha dia toutōn, tous ephorąn kai epithlepein kai episkopein tetagmenous, ophthalmous entautha noTo de peri autous thauma kath᾽ homoiotēta tina synchritikēn ginesthai didaskometha, tēs pros to kreitton paratheseōs to kallos autōn hypographousēs. Phēsi gar᾽ʼ hoti Os:thammoi peristerai. Kalos gar hōs alēthōs tōn;toioutōn hommatōn epainos hē akakia, hēn chatorthousin hoi mēketi sarchōdei biǭ molynomenoi, alla zōntes te kai stoichountes tǭ pneumati. Ho gar pneumatikos kai aulos bios tǭ tēs peristeras eidei charaktērizetai, epeidę̄ kai auto to Pneuma to hagion houtōs hōphthē para pou Iōannou ek tōn ouranōn epi to hydōr hiptamenon. Oukoun ton anti ophthalmōn tǭ sōmati tēs Ekklēsias hypo tou Theou tetagmenon, ei melei katharōs episkopein te kai epidlepein, pasan tēn ek kakias lēmēn apochlysasthai prosēkei tǭ hydati. Esti de ouk hen hydōr niptichon tōn ommatōn, alla polla tōn toioutōn hydatōn einai phēsi ta plērōmata, Hosai gar eisin aretai, tosautas chrē tas tōn katharsiōn hydatōn ennoēsai pēgas, di᾽ hōn hoi ophthalmoi ginontai aei heautōn chatharōteroi; hoion pēgē tou katharsiou hydatos estin hē sōphrosynę̄; allē pēgē toiautē hē tapeinophrosynē, hē alētheia, kai hē dikaiosynē, kai hē andreia, kai hē tou agathou epithymia, kai hē tou; kakou alloriōsis. Tauta kai ta toiauta hydata estin ek mias men pēgēs, diaphorōn de rheithrōn eis hen athroizomena plērōma, di᾽ hōn pasēs ek pathous lēmēs ginetai tois ophthalmois ta katharsia. ᾿Allʼ eisi men epi ta plērōmata tōn hydatōn hoi ophthalmoi, hoi dia tēs acheraiotētos kai akakias tais peristerais hōmoiōmenoi; loutron de autois to gala phēsin, houtōs eipontos tou logou; hoti Leloumenai en galakti. Prepōn de tois toioutois ommasin epainos to tǭ galakti tēn toiautēn peristeran louomenēn enōraïzesthai. ᾿Alēthēs gar estin hē tou galaktos paratērēsis, hoti monon touto toiautēn echei tēn idiotēta, to mē emphainesthai autǭ eidōlon tinos kai homoiōma. Panta gar hosa tēs hygras esti physeōs, kath᾽ homoiotēta tōn katoptrōn dia tou leiou tēs epiphaneias tōn es auta blepontōn antiphainesthai paraskeuazei ta homoiōmata. En monǭ de tǭ galakti hē toiautē eidōlopoiia chōran ouk echei, Hou charin, toioutos tōn tēs Ekklēsias ophthalmōn estin ho teleōtatos epainos, to mēden anypostaton te kai peplanēmenon kai mataion para tēn tōn ontōn alētheian schiographein heautois di apatēs, alla ton ontōs onta blepein, tas de ēlēteumenas tou tę̄de biou opseis te kai phantasias mē paradechesthai. Dia touto pros tēn katharotēta tōn ommatōn hypo tēs teleias psychēs to tou galaktos loutron asphales Ho d᾽ ephexēs logos, nomos esti tois epaïousi, peri ha chrē tous ophthalmous tēn spoudēn echein. Kathēme- gai gar, phēsin, epi plērōmata hydatōn. Tēn gar diēnekę̄ prosedreian tēs peri ta theia mathēmata prosochēs ho toioutos hypotithetai logos, di᾽ hōn epainei tous katharous ophthalmous; kai hēmas didaskōn, hopōs an to idion kallos tōn ophthalmōn analathdoimen, aei tois tōn hydatōn polloi tōn eis ophthalmous tetagmenōn katalipontes to tois toioutois plērōmasi prosedreuein, tois Badypotamois parachathēntai, plērountes tēn ek prosōpou tou theou gegenēmenēn epi tōn toioutōn katēgorian. Eme enkatelipon pēgēn hydatos zōntos, kai hōryxan heautois Iakkous syntetrimmenous hoiou dynantai synechein hydōr. Mathēma oun estin, hopōs genoito an kalos ophthalmos emprepōn te kai enarmozōn tę̄ chrysę̄ kephalę̄, to einai auton akeraion men kata tēn peristeran, aplanē te kai anexapastyton kata tēn tou galaktos physin, mēdemią planę̄ dia paramonēs kai prosedreias tois plērōmasi tōn theiōn hydatōn, kath᾽ homoiotēta tou xylou tou para tas diexodous tōn hydatōn pephyteumenou kai ou methistamenou. Houtō gar hote karpos epi tou idiou kairou prodlēthēsetai, kai ho klados aeithalēs phylachthēsetai tę̄ euchroią tōn phyllōn perisodoumenos. Nyni de tōn ophthalmōn tōn pneumatikōn toutōn hyxatōn chkatamelountes, kai tēs tou logou prosedreias mikra phrontizontes, ētoi ton tēs philochrēmatias heautois lakkon horyssousin, ē tēn kenodoxian tēn hyperēphanian phreōrychousin, hē allous tinas lachchouys apatēs met᾽ epimeleias oryssousin, hoi synechein eis to diēnekes to spoudazomenon autois hydōr, physin ouk echousin, aei tēs hōde timēs te, kai dynasteias, kai doxēs, peri ēn estin hē spoudē tois pollois, homou tǭ systēnai diarrheousēs, kai ouden ichnos tēs maspoudēs en tois hē patēmenois katalipousēs. Toioutous einai bouletai tous horōntas te kai epiokopountas ho Logos, hōn chrē prodedlēsthai men, hoion tina ophryōn peridolēn, tēn tōn theiōn didagmatōn asphaleian; epichalyptesthai de tę̄ sōphrosynę̄ kathaper tini blepharōn peridolę̄ to katharon te kai stildon tēs politeias, mēpote hē tēs oiēseōs dokos empesousa tǭ katharǭ tēs korēs, empodōn genētai pros tēn horasin. Tis de kata tous ophthalmous tōn melōn tou gymphiou estin ho epainos, en tois ephexēs Theou didontos . chariti tou Kyriou hēmōn Iēsou Christou, hǭ hē doxa eis tous aiōnas tōn aiōnōn. ᾿Amēn.
Homily 13 (Song 5:8–12)
"I have adjured you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers and by the strengths of the field: if you find my beloved, what will you tell him? That I am wounded by love. What is your beloved more than a beloved, O fair among women? What is your beloved more than a beloved, that you have so adjured us? My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of ten thousands. His head is gold of Kephaz; his locks are lofty, black as a raven. His eyes are like doves by the fullness of waters, bathed [in milk], by the fullness of waters."
He who gave the mysteries of the law through Moses, and fulfilled the whole law and the prophets through himself, as he says in the gospel, "I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfil it"; who by doing away with anger wiped out murder along with it, and by removing desire drove out with it the pollution of adultery: he also banishes from life the curse of perjury, binding the sickle in idleness by forbidding the oath. For there cannot be a breach of an oath where there is no oath. So he says: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' But I say to you," he says, "do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King; nor shall you swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your word be 'Yes, yes' and 'No, no'; anything more than these is from the devil."
The soul attested to be perfect through the Song of Songs, having taken away the veil of the soul in putting off the old tunic and cast off the veil, which we understand to be every doubting and wavering thought, so as to look at the truth purely and without doubt, adjures the daughters of Jerusalem neither by the divine throne, which the word names heaven, nor by God's royal city, whose name is Jerusalem, nor yet by the precious head, whose hairs can become neither white nor black; but she transfers the oath to the field, putting the adjuration on the young women by the powers in it, saying: "I have adjured you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers and strengths of the [field]." That she who was attested to be wholly fair and pure of every blemish utters nothing superfluous, which belongs to the devil's portion, but makes her speech from God, from whom, according to Micah, comes whatever is good and whatever is fair, and nothing besides these, is plain to anyone who has learned from the Master's testimony the advantages that belong to the bride. For she has let go all the forbidden kinds of oath, and has made neither the royal city nor the throne of the great King an object of oath for the young women (by this we are taught how far we must keep from venturing on God in oaths, since we are not permitted to take even the throne or the city into an oath); and she has spared besides the precious head, which in what follows she describes in words as golden, whose hairs are neither white nor black (for how could gold be blackened or changed in colour to white?). Surely, then, she puts to the virgins an adjuration of such a kind as does not fight against the law of the gospel, and becomes a ground of praise for those who have sworn, according to the prophet's word that says, "Everyone who swears by him shall be praised." So the sense of what is said is not outside the double word by which the law of the gospel wishes the truth to be confirmed, saying: "Let your word be 'Yes, yes' and 'No, no.'"
If, then, among the thoughts of the oath the King's throne is forbidden to be taken, and the city in which the palace is is forbidden, and in the same way the true head is forbidden from being taken into an oath, and only "Yes" and "No" are allowed, the truth being seen equally through both in the "Yes," it would be plain that now too the oath which the bride puts on the young women is drawn up within the sense of "Yes," where the assent of our soul must be firmly set. The wording runs thus: "I have adjured you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers and strengths of the field: if you find my beloved, what will you tell him? That I am wounded by love." These things have already been contemplated in what went before, as the sequence of thoughts required; but what we find will be said briefly now too.
The apostle says that the oath is an unchangeable thing, confirming the truth by itself, and he defines it as the end of every dispute, for the confirmation of what is known. So the bride puts the adjuration on the virgins, so that what is said may be kept by them without being betrayed. But since every oath is made by what is greater, as the apostle says (for no one would make an oath by what is less honourable than himself), we should examine what greater thing is put to the young women by the bride in the oath. "I have adjured you," she says, "O daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers and strengths of the field." What, then, in these is above us? We do not doubt that the field is to be understood by figurative meaning as the world, since the Lord both named and interpreted the world so. What, then, are the many powers and strengths of the world set before us in the oath, which must be thought greater than us, so that the oath, made by what is greater, may have strength for the confirmation of the truth? It would therefore be necessary, for clarity about the words before us, to set beside them another edition interpreting the texts, which runs thus: "I have adjured [you, daughters of] Jerusalem, by the [gazelles] and by the deer of the field." We are taught, then, by these names in what the strength of this world consists and in what its power, which are taken up through the oath for the confirmation of the truth.
There are two things that make man God's own. One is the unerring character of the conception of what truly is, so as not to be carried away by deceived suppositions into pagan and heretical opinions about the Divine; this is truly the "Yes." The other is pure reasoning, which banishes every passionate disposition of the soul; nor is this estranged from the "Yes." The mention of the gazelles and the deer makes known through symbols the power of this double possession of goods, one of which makes us look up to what truly is, while the other puts to flight the passions that harm the soul. For of these, the one sees unerringly, and the other has a power of devouring and destroying wild creatures. This, then, is the "Yes" that the bride puts to the virgins: that one must look to the Divine with piety and pass through life purely in freedom from passion. When these are achieved, the unchangeable thing, the "Yes," is confirmed in us. For this is the oath that guarantees the truth, by which everyone who swears is praised, as the prophet says. For truly the one who has achieved security in himself in these two things, in the word of faith, when he looks unerringly to the truth, and in the manner of life, when he is pure of every defilement from wickedness, swears to the Lord not to go up to the couch of his bed, not to give sleep to his eyes nor slumber to his eyelids, until he finds in himself a place for the Lord, having become a tabernacle for the one who dwells in him.
If, then, we too are children of the Jerusalem above, let us hear the bride, our teacher, how it is possible to see the [beloved]. What, then, does she say? If we make this the object of our oath, to be in the powers of the clear-sighted gazelles and in the strengths of the deer that destroy vice, it is possible through these to see the pure bridegroom, the archer of love, and for each one's soul to say to him, "I am wounded by love." We have learned from Proverbs too that the wounds of love are good, where it says, "The wounds of a friend are to be chosen, but even the kisses of enmity are evil." Who is the friend whose wounds are preferable to the enemy's kisses? It is plain to all who are not ignorant of the mysteries of salvation. For the true and steadfast friend is the one who did not stop loving us even when we had become enemies; and the faithless and savage enemy is the one who brought us to death though we had done him no wrong. To the first-formed humans the prohibition of evil given through the commandment seemed a wound; for estrangement from what was pleasant was thought a wound, and the urging toward what was pleasant and appeared fine a kiss. But experience showed that what were thought the friend's wounds were more profitable and more to be chosen than the enemy's kisses. Since, then, the fair lover of our souls showed his love by this, that while we were still sinners Christ died for us, the bride, loving in return the one who loved her, shows the arrow of love lodged deep within her, that is, fellowship in his Godhead. For love is God, as has been said, who came into the heart through the point of faith. And if we must also say the name of this arrow, we have found what we learned from Paul: that this arrow is faith working through love. But let these things stand as seems good to each.
Let us see also the question put to the teacher by the virgins: "What is your beloved more than a beloved, O fair among women? What is your beloved more than a beloved, that you have so adjured us?" The saying seems to me to contain some such sense as the sequence of what has been examined lets us conjecture. For the virgins saw the fair going out of the bride's soul, when she who said, "My soul went out at his word," clung to the Word. And they knew that, having gone out, she was seeking the one who is not found through signs, and was calling aloud the one who did not answer to names. For this reason they say: "How shall we come to know him, who is found by no recognizable sign, who neither answers when called nor is held when sought? You too, then, take the veils from our eyes, as the watchmen of the city did for you, so that we may have some guidance toward what is sought. Tell us who your beloved is, as he is in the account of his nature. Give us an approach to knowing him by some recognizable proofs, you who have been filled with the beautiful and for this reason have become fair among women. Make known to us what is sought, and teach us by what signs the invisible one is found, so that we may tell him about the arrow of love by which you have been wounded in the middle of the heart, increasing your longing through the sweet pain." It would be better to take up the same saying again word for word, so that the sense set out may fit the texts: "What is your beloved more than a beloved, O fair among women? What is your beloved more than a beloved, that you have so adjured us?"
Let us hear, then, the one who has been [freed of the veil], who looks at the truth with the eye of the soul: how she describes what is sought for them, how she paints in words the character of the one she longs for, how she brings before the virgins' eyes the one who is unknown.
For of Christ, one aspect is uncreated and the other created. We call uncreated in him what is eternal and before the ages and the maker of all beings; and created what, in the economy on our behalf, was conformed to the body of our humiliation. Or rather, it would be better to set out the sense of this in words through the divine sayings themselves. We call uncreated the Word who was in the beginning, through whom all things came into being, and without whom nothing of what has come into being exists; and created, the one who became flesh and dwelt among us. Even when he was made flesh, the glory that showed forth reveals that God was manifested in flesh: God, surely, the only-begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father, as John says: "We beheld his glory." And though what appeared was a man, what was made known through him, he says, was "glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."
Since, then, what is uncreated in him, before the ages and eternal, is wholly ungraspable and unutterable for every nature, but what was manifested to us through flesh can to some extent come into knowledge, the teacher therefore always looks to these things and makes her discourse about whatever can be taken in by her hearers. I mean the great mystery of piety, through which God was manifested in flesh, he who was in the form of God and lived among men through flesh. Since he once drew to himself through the first fruits the perishable nature of the flesh, which he took up through incorrupt virginity, he always sanctifies the common nature with incorruption through those who are united to him by fellowship in the mystery, nourishing his own body, the church, and fitting to the common body the members that grow through faith in him, each in its place. He makes the whole comely, disposing believers suitably and fittingly as eyes and mouth and hands and the other parts. For so Paul says: "The body is one, but the members are many." And the members do not all have the same rank; but there is an eye in the body that does not despise the hand, and one who is a head does not push away the feet; rather, the whole body is blended with itself through its members in the variety of their activities, so that the members may not rebel against the whole. Having set out these thoughts through riddles, he brings the discourse to greater clarity, saying: "God has set in the church apostles, prophets, teachers, and shepherds, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of God, to the perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." And again: "Let us grow up into him in all things, who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is supplied, according to the working in the measure of each part, makes the growth of his body, for building up in love." So the one who looks at the church looks straight at Christ, who builds up and enlarges himself through the addition of those who are saved.
She, then, who has put off the veil from her eyes sees with pure eye the unspeakable beauty of the bridegroom, and for this reason has been wounded by the bodiless and fiery arrow of passionate love. For love intensified is called passionate love (ἔρως); of which no one is ashamed, when the shot from it is not against the flesh; rather, one boasts of the wound when one receives in the depth of the heart the point of immaterial longing. This is what the bride too has done, saying to the young women, "[I am wounded by love]."
She, then, who has advanced to such perfection, since she had also to show the virgins the beauty of the bridegroom, does not speak of what was in the beginning (for it was not possible for the unspeakable to be revealed by power of speech), but leads the virgins by the hand to the [manifestation] that came about through flesh. The great John too did this, keeping silence on what was from the beginning, and describing carefully what we have seen and heard and our hands have handled concerning the word of truth. So the bride says to them: "My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of ten thousands. His head is gold of Kephaz; his locks are lofty, black as a raven. His eyes are like doves by the fullness of waters, bathed in milk, sitting by the fullness of waters. His cheeks are like bowls of spice, putting forth perfumes. His lips are lilies, dripping full myrrh. His hands are turned, golden, filled with Tharsis. His belly is an ivory tablet on a sapphire stone. His legs are pillars [of marble] on bases of gold. His appearance is like chosen Lebanon, like cedars. His throat is sweetness, and he is altogether desire. This is my beloved, and this is my close one, daughters of Jerusalem."
All these things, through which the description of his beauty has been made, are not indications of the invisible and incomprehensible things of the Godhead, but of what was manifested in the economy, when he was seen on earth and lived among men, having put on human nature. Through these, according to the apostle's word, his invisible things too are clearly seen, understood through the things made, manifested through the construction of the church's world. For the construction of the church is the creation of a world, in which, according to the prophet's word, a new heaven is created, which is the firmament of faith in Christ, as Paul says; and a new earth is prepared, which drinks the rain that comes upon it; and another man is formed, renewed through the birth from above after the image of the one who created him; and another nature of luminaries comes to be, of whom he says, "You are the light of the world," and "among whom you shine as luminaries in the world"; and many stars, rising in the firmament of faith. And it is not yet this that is wonderful, that there are multitudes of stars in this new world, numbered and named by God, whose names the maker of such stars says are written in the heavens. For so I have heard the creator of the new creation say to his own luminaries: "Your names are written in the heavens." Nor is this the only paradox of the new creation, that a multitude of stars is made in it by the Word, but also that many suns are created, lighting the inhabited world with the rays of good works. For so the maker of such suns says: "Let your light shine before men," and "Then the righteous will shine like the sun."
As, then, the one who looks at the perceptible world, and understands the wisdom that shows in the beauty of beings, reasons by analogy, through what is seen, to the invisible beauty and the fountain of wisdom whose outflow constituted the nature of beings, so the one who looks at this new world of the creation in the church sees in it the one who is and becomes all in all, his knowledge being led by the hand through what can be taken in and grasped by our faith toward what cannot be contained. For this reason, since the virgin souls make this request of the soul that has run up to perfection, that the one she longs for be made known to them, she describes to the virgins the marks of the one sought through what has been manifested to us for salvation. And having made the whole church one body of the bridegroom, she shows some particular thought through each of the members in the description of the beauty, so that from all the parts contemplated singly [the beauty of the whole body may be made known].
She makes the beginning of her teaching, then, with what is near and familiar to us. For she begins from the body of instruction, just as Matthew did: having traced the genealogy of the mystery according to the flesh from Abraham and David, he left it to the great John to proclaim, to those already instructed in the elements by these things, the beginning understood from eternity and the Word understood together with the beginning. Through these thoughts, then, the bride initiates the young women: that our mind will not be led to the ungraspable and boundless before it has laid hold by faith of what was seen; and what was seen is the nature of the flesh. For when she says, "My beloved is white and ruddy," she describes in words the property of the flesh through the mixing of these two colours. She did this also earlier, naming him an apple tree, whose appearance is seen to be mixed of both colours. For the apple is white and grows red, showing symbolically, I think, the nature of blood by its redness. But since all flesh is constituted in one way, marriage always opening the road to birth for those who [come] into this life through generation, so that no one, accepting a generation of flesh in the mystery of piety, might let his mind slip down to the works and passions of nature, thinking the generation of that flesh to be of the same kind as all: for this reason she confessed that the one who shared in flesh and blood is white and ruddy, hinting at the nature of the body through the two colours; yet she does not say that he was born in the same way, by the common birth. But out of all the ten thousands from whom human beings have come, and to which nature will advance as it flows through the birth of those who come after, he alone is the one who touched this life by a new kind of childbirth, for whose coming into being nature did not cooperate but served.
For this reason, she says, this white and ruddy one, who came to dwell in life through flesh and blood, is alone out of all the ten thousands [born] from virginal purity: the childbirth undefiled, the travail painless. His bridal chamber is the power of the Most High, overshadowing the virginity like a cloud; the wedding torch is the shining of the Holy Spirit; the bed is freedom from passion; and the marriage is incorruption. He, then, who came into being from such things was fittingly named "chosen" (ἐκλελοχισμένος) out of all the ten thousands, which signifies that he is not from a childbed (λέχος). For his birth alone was without childbirth, as his conception was without marriage. For in the case of one incorrupt and without experience of marriage it is not possible properly to speak the name of childbirth, since the names of virginity and childbirth are incompatible in the same person. But as a Son was given to us without a father, so the child was born without childbirth. For as the Virgin did not know how the body that received God was formed in her body, so neither did she perceive the birth, the prophecy testifying to the painlessness of her travail. For Isaiah says: "Before the pains of travail came, she escaped and bore a male." For this reason he is "chosen out of childbirth," departing in both respects from the sequence of nature, neither beginning from pleasure nor coming forth through pain. And this happens consistently and is not beyond reason. For since she who brought death into nature through sin was condemned to bear in griefs and pains, it was altogether fitting that the mother of life should begin her pregnancy from joy and complete the birth through joy. For "Rejoice," the archangel says to her, by that word [taking away] the grief that from the beginning was allotted to childbirth because of sin.
This, then, is the one who, by the new and singular manner of birth, out of all the ten thousands alone became such, fittingly named white and ruddy because of the flesh and the blood, and chosen out of ten thousands because of the incorrupt and passionless character of his birth compared with the others. Or perhaps the bride fitted this word to him also because of the other kinds of birth that came about through childbirth. You surely know how many times the firstborn of all creation was born: among many brothers, the firstborn from the dead, the first who loosed the pangs of death and opened for all the way of birth from the dead through the resurrection. In all these he was born, yet he did not pass into birth through childbirth. For the birth from water did not admit the experience of childbirth, nor the rebirth from the dead, nor his being firstborn of this divine creation; but in all these the birth is pure of childbirth. For this reason she says: "Chosen out of ten thousands."
What his beauty is like as she describes it in each of his members, it would be time to understand through what has been said. "His head is gold of Kephaz." If [translated] into our language, gold pure and unadulterated and free of every admixture is shown by this word. Those who put the words of the Hebrews into Greek seem to me to have left the word "Kephaz" untranslated because they found no word in Greek speech that expresses the meaning seen in the Hebrew word. But we, having learned that such a word indicates what is purely clean, unmixed with all filthy matter and not admitting it, are led to understand this about the text before us: that the head of the body of the church is Christ. And by Christ we now mean, not referring this name to the eternity of the Godhead, but to the man who received God, who was seen on earth and lived among men, the shoot of virginity, in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily, the first fruits of the common lump, through whom the Word clothed himself with our nature, making it undefiled, [pure of] all [evil]. For the prophet says of him, "He committed no sin," [and the apostle speaks] of the one who was tempted in all things according to the likeness of our nature, without sin. The head, then, of the body of the church, the first fruits of our whole nature, is the gold pure and unmixed with all vice and not admitting it.
And the locks, which were once gloomy and black, like ravens in appearance (I mean those ravens whose work is to peck out eyes, according to the proverbial word, and to prepare those robbed of their organs of sight as food for the eagles' young), these, becoming "lofty," the high trees that reach to heaven, because they have run up from earth to the heavenly height, become an addition to the bridegroom's beauty, hanging from his divine head. Surely no one is ignorant of what the work of these locks is, having learned it above from the bridegroom's own voice: "My locks are filled with drops of water." His, then, are the dripping locks, named clouds by the prophets, from which comes the rain of teaching that waters the lifeless fields for the fruitfulness of God's husbandry. I think that by the locks the apostles are figuratively signified by God the Word, some of whom were formerly gloomy in the practices of their life: the robber, the tax collector, the persecutor, and anyone else of the sort, like the black and flesh-eating raven that destroys eyes. I mean the ruler of the power of darkness, as the one says who became a lofty tree from a raven and for this reason was named a lock of the divine head: that, being formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and insolent, while he was a raven, he was changed to this grace, becoming a lock soaked with heavenly dew, sprinkling the whole body of the church with the word of hidden and dark mysteries. We have understood, then, that these are called locks by the bride; hanging from the golden head, they make no small addition to its loveliness, stirred by the breeze of the Spirit. These become crowns of beauty for the undefiled head, adorning it with their circle. For of these the prophecy seems to me to say, "You set on his head a crown of precious stone." So they are understood by both thoughts, as comely locks and as precious stones, by which the head [is adorned].
It would follow to contemplate in words also what is said about the eyes. The wording is this: "His eyes are doves by the fullness of waters, bathed in milk, sitting by the fullness of waters." The sense of what is said is higher than our grasp. For whatever we understand about these we think less than the truth; but as we examine it carefully, it seemed to us something like this. The divine apostle says somewhere in his writings that the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," making it a teaching by this that the body of the church must act well through both, the clear sight of the truth being blended with what is active; since neither does contemplation by itself perfect the soul unless the works that achieve the moral life are present, nor does practical philosophy provide sufficient benefit unless true piety leads what is done. If, then, the pairing of the eyes with the hands is necessary, perhaps we are led by what has been said first to understand who the eyes are, then to take in contemplation the praise of them; the account of the hands we shall keep for its own place. For seeing is the proper work of eyes by nature; for this reason in their position they lie above all the senses, set in front by nature for the guidance of the whole body. When, then, we hear that those who lead in the truth are so named by divine Scripture, one of whom was called the Seer, another the One Who Sees, and another named by the prophecy the Watchman before God, we are led by these to understand here as eyes those appointed to oversee and look upon and watch over.
And we are taught that the wonder about them comes by a certain comparative likeness, the comparison with something better describing their beauty. For it says: "His eyes are doves." For innocence is truly a fine praise of such eyes, which those achieve who are no longer defiled by a fleshly life, but live and walk by the Spirit. For the spiritual and immaterial life is characterized by the form of the dove, since the Holy Spirit himself was seen so by John, flying from heaven upon the water. So the one appointed by God as eyes for the body of the church, if he is to oversee and look upon purely, must wash off in the water all the rheum of vice. And it is not one water that washes the eyes, but it says the fullnesses of such waters are many. For as many as the virtues are, so many must we understand the fountains of cleansing waters to be, through which the eyes become always purer than themselves: for example, self-control is a fountain of cleansing water; another such fountain is humility; truth, righteousness, courage, desire for the good, and estrangement from evil. These and such are waters from one fountain, but gathered from different streams into one fullness, through which the eyes are cleansed of all the rheum of passion.
The eyes, then, are by the fullnesses of the waters, made like doves through their purity and innocence; and it says that their bath is milk, since the word says, "bathed in milk." It is a fitting praise for such eyes that such a dove is made lovely by bathing in milk. For the observation about milk is true, that it alone has this property: no image or likeness appears in it. For all things of liquid nature, like mirrors, make the likenesses of those who look into them appear back through the smoothness of their surface; in milk alone such image-making has no place. For this reason the most perfect praise of the church's eyes is this: to sketch for themselves by deceit nothing unsubstantial, erring, and vain, beside the truth of beings, but to see the one who truly is, and not to admit the [deceptive] sights and imaginings of this life. For this reason the perfect soul [counts] the bath of milk a safe thing for the purity of the eyes.
The next word is a law for those who understand, telling on what the eyes must spend their zeal. "Sitting," it says, "by the fullness of waters." For such a word suggests the constant attendance of attention on the divine teachings, by which it praises pure eyes, and teaches us how we may take up again the proper beauty of the eyes: [by sitting] always by the [fullnesses] of the waters. [But now] many of those appointed to be eyes, having left off attending such fullnesses, sit beside deep rivers [of another kind], fulfilling the accusation made in the person of God against such men: "They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug for themselves broken cisterns that cannot hold water." The lesson, then, of how an eye may become fair, suiting and fitting the golden head, is this: that it be innocent like the dove, unerring and undeceived like the nature of milk, [wandering] in no error, through remaining and attending by the fullnesses of the divine waters, like the tree planted by the channels of the waters and not moved. For so its fruit will be put forth in its own season, and the branch will be kept ever green, stirring with the bright colour of its leaves. But now those of the eyes who neglect these spiritual waters and care little about attending to the word either dig for themselves the cistern of love of money, or dig the well of vainglory and pride, or carefully dig some other cisterns of deceit, which by nature cannot hold for ever the water they are eager for; for honour and power and glory here, on which the zeal of the many is spent, always flow away as soon as they are formed, and leave no trace of the zeal in those deceived. The Word wishes those who see and oversee to be such that the security of the divine teachings is set before them like a covering of eyebrows, and the purity and brightness of their way of life is covered by self-control as by a covering of eyelids, so that the beam of conceit may never fall into the pure pupil and become a hindrance to sight.
What the praise is in the members of the bridegroom [after] the eyes [we shall consider] in what follows, God granting, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Song 5:8–12 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:21–28 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 5:33–37 (quotation, high confidence) · Jas 5:12 (allusion, medium confidence) · Mic 6:8 (allusion, low confidence) · Ps 63:11 (62:12 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 6:16–18 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:7 (quotation, medium confidence) · Matt 13:38 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 132:3–5 (131:3-Ps LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 4:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Prov 27:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 5:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 5:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 2:17 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 John 4:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 5:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 5:6 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:1–3 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:14 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:18 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Tim 3:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:6–7 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 3:21 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 12:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 4:11–13 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 4:15–16 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 5:13–16 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 1:20 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 65:17 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 2:5 (allusion, medium confidence) · Heb 6:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 3:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 5:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 10:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:43 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:28 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 1:1 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 John 1:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 1:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 8:29 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 1:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 2:24 (allusion, high confidence) · John 3:5 (allusion, medium confidence) · Isa 9:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 66:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 3:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 1:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 1:35 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 2:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 11:16 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Pet 2:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 4:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Prov 30:17 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 5:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 1:13 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Tim 1:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 21:3 (20:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 12:21 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Sam 9:9 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 24:11 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ezek 3:17 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 5:25 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:32 (allusion, high confidence) · Jer 2:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 1:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 7:3–5 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On Song 5:8–12 Gregory explains the bride's oath "by the powers of the field" as the gospel's "Yes" (sound faith and a pure life), the wound of love as Christ's love for sinners, and begins the description of the bridegroom as Christ in his incarnate economy and his body the church: white and ruddy for his flesh, "chosen" for his virgin birth without labour, his golden head the sinless first fruits of our nature, his locks the apostles, his eyes the church's overseers.
- The Song is translated as Gregory quotes it (LXX): "gold of Kephaz" (κεφάζ, which Gregory says the translators left untranslated); ἐκλελοχισμένος "chosen", on which he puns with λοχεία "childbirth" ("chosen" / "out of childbirth"); ἐλάται "lofty" (also "fir trees"). The "other edition" he cites for 5:8 ("by the gazelles and by the deer of the field", as in Song 2:7; 3:5) is one of the later Greek versions; its words are damaged in the scan and supplied from Song 2:7.
- Christological language translated exactly: "of Christ, one aspect is uncreated and the other created" (τὸ μὲν ἄκτιστον, τὸ δὲ κτιστόν), the uncreated being the eternal Word and the created what was assumed in the economy; "Christ" in the exposition refers to "the man who received God" (τὸν θεοδόχον ἄνθρωπον), in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily. Gregory also teaches Mary's painless childbirth (Isa 66:7 LXX) as the reversal of Gen 3:16.
- "Those appointed to oversee and look upon and watch over" (ἐφορᾶν, ἐπιβλέπειν, ἐπισκοπεῖν) are the church's leaders (the verbs echo ἐπίσκοπος); Gregory names the Seer (1 Sam 9:9), the One Who Sees (2 Sam 24:11), and the Watchman (Ezek 3:17), and rebukes leaders who dig cisterns of avarice and vainglory.
- Quotations and allusions: Matt 5:17; Matt 5:21–37 (5:33–37 quoted); Jas 5:12; Mic 6:8 (uncertain); Ps 63:11 (LXX 62:12); Heb 6:16–18; Matt 13:38; Ps 132:3–5 (LXX 131); Gal 4:26; Prov 27:6; Rom 5:8, 10; 1 John 4:8; Gal 5:6; John 1:1–3, 14, 18; 1 Tim 3:16; Phil 2:6–7; Phil 3:21; 1 Cor 12:12, 21; Eph 4:11–16; Song 2:3; Matt 1:1; 1 John 1:1; Isa 65:17; Heb 6:7; Col 3:10; Matt 5:14, 16; Phil 2:15; Luke 10:20; Matt 13:43; 1 Cor 15:28; Col 1:15, 18; Rom 8:29; Acts 2:24; John 3:5; Isa 9:6; Isa 66:7; Gen 3:16; Luke 1:28, 35; Col 2:9; Rom 11:16; Isa 53:9 / 1 Pet 2:22; Heb 4:15; Prov 30:17; Song 5:2; Col 1:13; 1 Tim 1:13; Ps 21:3 (LXX 20:4); Gal 5:25; John 1:32; Jer 2:13; Ps 1:3; Matt 7:3–5.
- Lines are lost in the scan where Migne's Latin breaks in, and in one place lines are out of order (the sentence on the assent of the soul and the lemma of 5:8 are interleaved); translated by sense. Words supplied by sense are in brackets (e.g. at the end of the passage on the head, on the locks as crowns, on the eyes sitting by the waters, and in the closing sentence). The larger Latin leaks are removed by logged corrections.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Latin column leaked into the line; Latin column leaked into the word ἀμετάθετον; Migne's Latin column leaked into the line; OCR slip): συνεξαλείψας πἰς ἰφί ταν οἷς τὸν φόνον → συνεξαλείψας τὸν φόνον; ὅτι οὔτε τὸν θρόνον, πᾶς πὶ- ἢ οὔτε → ὅτι οὔτε τὸν θρόνον, οὔτε; Εἰ τοίνυν ἐν υπὶ γεγῸ σοηοοά δῦ υδυγραπάυπι Εἰίαι, οἱ Νοη, τοῖς → Εἰ τοίνυν ἐν τοῖς; ᾿Αμε- ΝΙΝ Ομΐπι8 οἰΐδτα πηοάο, φιοὰ ᾿ηναπίπιν8,, ἐπα τάθετάν → ᾿Αμετάθετάν; καθαρῶς ΘΥΤΌγα οογηϊΐ, ἃ]- ἐν ἀπαθείᾳ → καθαρῶς ἐν ἀπαθείᾳ; Τοιαύτην δέ τινα, πιοιίίετεε δοκεῖ → Τοιαύτην δέ τινα δοκεῖ; Λέγω κὶς ΕΠῚ δεῖ, ἐπ υἱκιίιι Ῥεγ[εοσίμμι, ἦι πιδη ϑαταπι δὲ τὸ μέγα → Λέγω δὲ τὸ μέγα; ἀναλογίζεται ἀΐποι ἐπὶ ᾿ὨΔΒρθοι }}}6πὶ, οἱ (οηίοπη βαρίδπιΐδ, διὰ τῶν → ἀναλογίζεται διὰ τῶν; σῶμα ρτὶε μαγιυγί οὕτως → σῶμα οὕτως; Τυρία οἱ σοι )υφίνπι ποθὴ Οἷον → Οἷον; Τούτους ΓΟΡΓΆ μὲν → Τούτους μὲν; φυσι λπι υἱάδιιγ: ΑἸξ οὐ δὲ ἐναγόμεθα → ἐναγόμεθα; ἐπαινεῖ ἀϊοίαπι Βος τοαιήτίς, ἀντη ραγου οου ἰδυάαι : ἀο0- ἢ τοὺς → ἐπαινεῖ τοὺς; Β.ϊἰέπων → Βλέπων.
Topics: Christology, Church office, Ethics, Oaths, The church
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Cant. hom. 13 (PG 44; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-canticum/13). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/gregory-nyssa-canticum/13
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Migne PG 44/46 (archive.org OCR; Latin-column leaks and OCR slips removed by logged corrections); no public-domain English is on disk, so the translation was re-read against the Greek (Life of Macrina checked privately against a modern English translation).