Commentary on Leviticus 2.8

Verses 1–3. "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Take Aaron with his sons, their garments and the oil of anointing, a calf for sin, two rams, a basket with unleavened bread; and you shall assemble the whole congregation at the door of the tabernacle of witness."

What the force of the things just mentioned is will be shown plainly and fittingly in what follows, when the lawgiver adds what is done with them. But what these things now said signify, the discourse that went before will hand on to you: that the anointing is both common and not common to Christ and to those who are his. It is common, because they too are partakers of the same anointing, which is why we too are called Christians by sharing in Christ; and not common, because … and the grace in which we share with him. David signified this when he said to the Lord: "Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the sceptre of your kingdom is a right sceptre. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows." But who are his partakers? We, certainly, of whom it has been said: "For we have been made partakers of Christ, if indeed we hold the beginning of his substance firm to the end." Yet you see how he is anointed in a special way with the oil of exultation, that is, the Spirit, above his partakers, namely us, as the Psalmist says: he himself substantially, but we by his working and grace. For this reason his sons are anointed together with Aaron, but not with such things as are done in Aaron's anointing, as what follows shows.

But the mind must be fixed at present also on this, that not in vain do we take these things of Christ. For the lawgiver, knowing that these mysteries befit the church, commanded the whole congregation, or synagogue, to be called together (which the Greeks express by ἐκκλησιάζω) to the door of the tabernacle of witness. And the synagogue can have communion with this law in no other way than by coming together to the church, with which the truth of these figures is preserved.

Verses 4–9. "Moses did as the Lord had commanded; and when the whole multitude was gathered before the doors, he said: This is the word which the Lord has commanded to be done. And at once he brought Aaron and his sons, and when he had washed them, he clothed the high priest with a linen undergarment, girding him with a belt, and putting on him a tunic of hyacinth, and over it he put the ephod, which he bound with a girdle and fitted to the breastplate, in which were teaching and truth. He also covered his head with the mitre, and on it, over the forehead, he put the golden plate, consecrated for sanctification, as the Lord had commanded him."

That these things of which we speak are a shadow and figure of what is done in the church, the things now set before us also testify most plainly. "Moses did as the Lord had commanded; and when the whole multitude was gathered before the doors, he said." This is translated more expressly in the Greek tongue in the Seventy, that is, ἐξεκκλησίασεν τὴν συναγωγήν. And why does he not say "he gathered the congregation, or synagogue," but "having called together," that is, ἐκκλησιάσας, "the whole multitude," that is, the synagogue or congregation? Because without doubt he hints at something by this: calling it a synagogue, because this name was from of old proper to the assembly of the people; but he commanded it to be called together, that is, ἐκκλησιάζειν, so that we might know the church that was to come a little later, which is found to be the force of this ordinance. And it becomes plainer from the fact that the law of God, who brought out Israel, who called Abraham, who did all the things that are written through the prophet Moses, the Spirit of God commanded many generations beforehand the things that are done mystically in the church.

And though there are doors of the tabernacle of witness, here he says, "he called together the congregation," not to the doors but to the door of the tabernacle of witness; plainly admonishing our ears that the teachings of the apostles, which the earlier discourse explained to be the doors of the tabernacle of witness, and the teaching of Christ, were poured into their tongues, and from those things in which he himself taught. Just as, then, between many doors and one door there is only this difference, that those are many and this is one, so the words and teachings of the apostles differ in nothing else from the teaching of Christ, except that the Lord's word is one, of which Paul says, "For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword"; and Peter with the other apostles says, "It is not right that we should leave the word of God and serve tables." For it has been divided into many and different tongues; and these, though they are doors because of their number, lead the hearer to the one entrance of life, that is, the door of Christ.

"And when the whole multitude was gathered before the doors, he said: This is the word which the Lord has commanded to be done." What word is that? That of which David said: "The Lord will give the word to those who preach the gospel with great power." And Peter says more plainly: "This is the word that has been announced to you." For the present word is of the gospel, because the mysteries announced by him are also of the gospel, and in them is the grace of baptism. For the lawgiver is accustomed to use such words whenever he describes the riddles of the church's mysteries. For when he was writing of the manna, which bears the figure of the bread that came down from heaven, he also puts a word about it like the present one: saying, "This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat," he at once added, "This is the word which the Lord has spoken."

But what is it that he now sets out God commanding? "And at once he brought Aaron and his sons, and when he had washed them." When he who is truly priest, Christ, is offered to the Father (for Daniel too mentions his offering, when he says, "And behold, one like a son of man with the clouds of heaven, and he came to the Ancient of Days, and was offered in his sight"), he is offered certainly for our sake, and with us, and on our account. For this reason he now says that he was offered with his sons, namely with those who are minded for loftier things and imitate him as far as is lawful for men, as Paul says: "Be imitators of me, as I also am of Christ." And the offering itself is celebrated through baptism, which he means by "and when he had washed them." And you are sure that Christ was baptized in the river Jordan to sanctify the waters of our baptism. But these things are common to Aaron with his sons, namely to Christ with us; what follows is not at all. For it surpasses us and is loftier than we are, and befits only the first and true priest.

"He clothed the high priest with a linen undergarment, girding him with a belt," [which the Seventy rendered]: "And he put on him the tunic, and girded him with the belt, and clothed him with the robe." Here he plainly sets out the incarnation of the Only-begotten, who, because he became incarnate as our whole man, is said to put on the tunic and the robe. For our make is twofold: one in us is from the dust, the other heavenly; yet both are one. For Moses says: "God formed man from the mud of the earth"; this one, then, is earthly. "And he breathed into his face the breath of life"; most plainly this one is heavenly. "And man became a living soul"; for both are one living being. If he turns himself to bodily things and carnal pleasures, the whole man will be called earthly, the heavenly being as it were quenched and shut up; but if we busy ourselves only with what profits the soul and allow it to hold the leading place and to rule the body, he is rightly called heavenly, the earthly being neglected. When Adam fell through disobedience, he without doubt became earthly, and for this reason he heard, "Earth you are, and to earth you shall go"; that is, you have loved the corruption of the body; you have a punishment like your sin. But Christ put on the earthly, that is, that old man who is from the earth, whom he also fastened together with himself to the cross; for Paul says, "Our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed." And he put on also the heavenly, which he himself had breathed in. But because he did nothing earthly here, nor near to corruption, he is without doubt called heavenly. Paul, setting this out, says: "The first man is from the earth, earthly; the second from heaven, heavenly." This must be taken in two ways. For our first man, that is, the body, was formed from the earth, which is why it is called earthly; but the soul is from heaven, for it is the breath of God. Again, the first man, the disobedient Adam, is from the earth, earthly, because he assigned himself to the works of dust; the second man, the new one, is Christ, who is from heaven, not only because he came down from heaven, but because he also kept the dignity of the heavenly, since he did nothing earthly nor near to corruption.

Here, then, he calls the tunic the earthly man; for the tunic was made of linen, which is from the earth, for he says, "And he made them linen tunics." And the robe [he calls] the heavenly, because the robe is … and at the same time it is of hyacinth. And this is the colour of heaven; and what is the colour of heaven is heavenly action and subsistence, for which reason it is also called heavenly. The robe has many other things too that signify the heavenly man, which the lawgiver set out in the construction of the tabernacle when he explained the high priest's robe. Of these we shall speak, if God permits, when we come to the arrangement that is there. But now whatever things seem necessary for the matter in hand have been included, to prove that Christ took up both parts of our man, and to make plain that … whole; for, as creator of both, he saved both.

Attend also to this, how other interpreters rendered the robe, which we said is the heavenly man, ἐπενδύτης ("over-garment"), because it is that with which we desire, as Paul says, to be clothed over; he speaks thus: "For while we are in this tabernacle we groan, being burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed over, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life." And that this over-garment belonged to our make of old, and that we are now going to receive it again as something we once had, he explained in what follows: "And he who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the pledge of the Spirit." The Seventy call it ὑποδύτης, as being inside, or hidden. Yet because it was brought in second in the order of creation, since the tunic, which is from the earth, is first, they name it second. And yet the ὑποδύτης is an inner garment; but by not putting it first he kept the order of creation. And by calling it ὑποδύτης he shows that it is our inner man.

To these things the lawgiver added: "And over it he put the ephod, which he bound with a girdle and fitted to the breastplate." The Seventy rendered: "And he put on him the ephod, and girded him according to the making of the ephod, and bound him to it." The ephod is the sweet yoke of Christ, that is, the gospel life, which, as one who himself showed it, he rightly carried on his shoulders; of which he says: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls; for my yoke is light and my burden is sweet." Hence the law in Exodus too speaks thus of the ephod: "And you shall make the ephod of gold and hyacinth and scarlet twice dyed and twisted fine linen, of embroidered work," or, as the Seventy have it, "a variegated work, two shoulder-pieces joined one to the other," calling it sometimes one ephod and sometimes two, because the Lord too mentioned a yoke and a burden, dividing one into two, as though dividing the ephod. This is not in vain, but because the man of the gospel must by no means pass over the commandment of the law which said, "You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery," and whatever else there is, but must show a double working in it: that is, abstaining not only from murder but at the same time from the anger which brings about murder; not only from adultery but from the desire from which adultery is born. So the one ephod and the two cohere, one found with the other, because restraining anger also makes one careful not to commit murder. And he necessarily joined the ephod to the robe, for it belongs to the heavenly man alone to take up the yoke of which Christ spoke.

And what is the girdle with which he girded the tunic and the robe? Learn its very work … the mitre is the covering of the head, and the work of the girdle, or belt, is in a way to strengthen and bind fast the one who is girded; the lawgiver proposed to show this, that

Christ, at once summing up, or restoring, all creation, at the same time also strengthens our lump, whose first fruits he took in order to dispense the mystery of the incarnation. Of this Paul says: "Who has made known to us the mystery of his will, for the dispensation of the fullness of times, to restore all things in Christ, those in heaven and those on earth." Of him David too: "The Lord has reigned; he has put on beauty; the Lord has put on strength and girded himself." He himself also shows how Christ strengthened our lump, girding round the first fruits by the word of the dispensation, which he also called strength, because through it we too have been made strong. And what the manner of the dispensation is, John says: "The Word was made flesh." And therefore Moses says that the mitre and the belt are of fine linen, a variegated work: for fine linen, since it is from the earth, shows the flesh, which is from our earth; the embroiderer's work is the Lord, the Word, who alone is the craftsman and diversifier of creation. He himself worked for himself the flesh taken from us, [working] in it in a way various mysteries and the miracles of creation.

After this he added, according to the Seventy: "And he put the breastplate on them." And how? Some copies have "on him," but both look to the same thing. "Which he bound with a girdle and fitted to the breastplate, in which were teaching and truth." The Seventy rendered: "And he put on the breastplate the showing and the truth." Elsewhere, when he sets out the priestly robe, he called this "the breastplate of judgment": for the preaching of the judgment to come is governed according to the breastplate of Christ, that is, his teaching. It has, then, the showing, that is, the manifestation, and with it the truth, as manifesting to men the unknown truth of the mysteries. And he commanded the breastplate to be made of four rows, that is, of the four general virtues, and of twelve stones, partial in a way and special. And what are these? Those, certainly, of which Paul wrote: "For a bishop must be blameless, as God's steward." And how he is blameless, that is, clean of accusation and free of every complaint, he shows by what follows: "not proud, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for shameful gain; but hospitable, kind, chaste, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is according to the teaching." These things it befits each one to attain, but above all the priest, since he bears the figure of Christ, who carried the said twelve stones on his own breast.

"He also covered his head with the mitre," or according to [the Seventy] …. But since we are not ignorant of the working of the mitre, or tiara, and have learned that the head of Christ is the Father, let us hear what follows: "And on it, over the forehead, he put the golden plate, consecrated for sanctification, as the Lord had commanded him." Not in vain does he make mention of what the Lord commanded Moses, but wishing us to recall what was said about the plate in the construction of the tabernacle; for there its use and force are plainly set out, when he says: "You shall make also a plate of purest gold, on which you shall engrave with an engraver's work, Holy to the Lord," or as the Seventy have it, "And you shall make a plate of pure gold, and you shall form on it the forming of a seal, Holiness of the Lord." But what forming, or what seal, he does not yet say. He says it also in another place: "They made also the plate of sacred veneration of purest gold, and they wrote on it with a jeweller's work, Holy of the Lord." According to the Seventy: "And he made the golden plate, a drawing out of pure gold, the redemption of the holy, and he engraved on it letters formed as seals, Holiness to the Lord." Yet he does not say what the letters themselves were; we can neither see nor hear them. The forming, then, signifies that mark of which Paul says: "Who, being the radiance of his glory and the figure of his substance."

For since many things have been said about the incarnation of the Only-begotten in this ordinance, so that not all things about him may be thought lowly, the lawgiver, wishing to raise us up to the substance of the incarnate Word in the beginning, of which John said, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," mentioned the mitre, or tiara, upon the head, because of the Father. By the plate and the engraving, or forming, of sanctification, he plainly set out the dignity in the beginning of God the Word incarnate, who has also become our priest, which he has together with the Father. That is why he puts it both upon the tiara, or mitre, and over the face of the mitre, or tiara; and he says: "And you shall bind it with a hyacinth band," or according to the Seventy, "And you shall put it on twisted hyacinth," understanding by the twisted hyacinth the humanity of Christ, because it is inseparably joined to the divinity. "And it shall be on the tiara, hanging over the forehead of the high priest," or as the Seventy have it, "And it shall be on the mitre, over the face of the mitre." It shall be on the mitre, because the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father. And over the face of the mitre: for one who sees the Son is said to see the Father also, as Christ answers Philip in John when he asks about the Father. So the whole present ordinance has been plainly explained in the mystery of the Only-begotten.

Verses 10–11. "He also took the oil of anointing, with which he anointed the tabernacle with all its furniture. And he anointed it and all its vessels. The laver also with its base he sanctified with oil."

"I have multiplied visions, and in the hands of the prophets I have been likened"; this he said, having spoken beforehand in the prophets, so that one who wished to know his mysteries might know that it was not by one image, nor by one sign, but by many (because he also works many things, above all through the flesh he dispensed) that we were to comprehend the salvation of men. And just as he is called not only shepherd but also sheep, and priest, and door (shepherd, as one who turned back, or led back, man who had strayed; sheep, as one who was made a sacrifice for us; priest, as one who offered himself; door, as one who showed us the way of knowledge), so many prophets bore his likeness, and to each certain things were entrusted, to signify the working of the dispensation for us.

Hence, because he was himself the one who anointed them and himself the one who was anointed (anointing by the word of the divinity, according to which all things are common to him with the Father and the Spirit, by whom he is said to be anointed; for David said that the Father anoints, when he says, "Therefore God, your God, has anointed you"; and Isaiah referred the anointing of the Son to the Spirit, saying, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me"; but whatever the Father and the Spirit do, these same things the Son also does), by reason of the divinity, then, he himself is the one who anoints himself, and he himself is the one who is anointed by the dispensation of the humanity. Likewise he offers and is offered; hence Daniel too sees him offered, but did not see who offered him, because it was he himself who was offering himself. So, that the truth of the figures may be preserved, Moses anoints and offers, he too bearing the image of Christ, of whom he said to the Jews: "The Lord will raise up for you a prophet from your brothers like me." The Lord, referring this to himself, said: "If you believed Moses, you would believe me also, for he wrote of me." And Aaron again is anointed as the figure of the true priest, and the image of that mystery is open.

Moses, then, sprinkles the altar, namely the Lord's body, seven times: because the anointing of the Lord is the whole fullness of the Spirit, who is designated in seven operations, as Isaiah said. And he anoints also all its vessels, both the apostles and those who live so like them that they are rightly named the house and vessels of Christ. So too the Lord, choosing Paul, said to Ananias: "Go, for this man is a vessel of election to me, to carry my name before the gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel." He sanctifies also the laver, or basin, namely baptism, with its base, by which we understand repentance. It is set under baptism here because we correct and prop up by repentance its grace, which we often make to totter by our falsehood.

"And he sanctified the tabernacle with all its furniture." For by our sanctification the creation above too … has obtained a greater sanctification through the Lord's flesh which he took from us. And let it not seem ridiculous to say that the creation above has shared in the sanctification that was made in us, after it shared in the knowledge granted to us in Christ; Paul shows this, saying: "That the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places through the church, according to the arrangement of the ages which he made in Christ Jesus our Lord." So through the church the higher creation has been chosen to share in greater knowledge, since its sanctification has been called just.

Verse 12. "And pouring it on Aaron's head, he anointed him and consecrated, or sanctified, him."

Even if, according to Paul's word, the head of Christ is understood as the divinity, the lawgiver has not written now in vain, nor out of order, that in this mystery the head of the priest is anointed: so that we may know that, just as the head cannot be divided from the feet, so the divinity of Christ is not divided from the humanity after the union. But whether he is said to be anointed, or born, or to suffer, or to rise, or to be taken up, we say this of the incarnate Word without dividing him, and without saying that the man was anointed and God not anointed, but [we say it of] the same one, God and man together. For David too establishes this without any doubt when he says: "Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the sceptre of your kingdom is a right sceptre. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you." You see that the one anointed is called God, because it is plain that he who became incarnate claims for himself all the things of his flesh. For what else was his anointing but altogether the incarnation itself? In this way the head of the priest perceived by the mind was anointed, and he himself was sanctified.

Verse 13. "His sons also, when they had been brought, he clothed with linen tunics, and girded with a belt, and put mitres on them, as the Lord had commanded."

On the sons of Aaron are put a tunic like Aaron's, and a girdle, or belt, like his, and tiaras, or mitres. For they put him on, they are girded with him, they carry him on their heads; hence Paul too says: "Stand, having girded your loins with truth" (and Christ is the truth) "and having put on the breastplate of righteousness," namely him who was made for us from God wisdom and righteousness. Paul also commanded us to put on the helmet of salvation; for Christ is salvation, as Simeon testified: "Now you dismiss your servant, O Lord, according to your word, in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation." For whoever put on Christ put on through him the Father also.

Verses 14–17. "He offered also the calf for sin; and when Aaron and his sons had laid their hands on its head, he slaughtered it, drawing off the blood, … round about. When it had been atoned for and sanctified, he poured out the rest of the blood at its foundations. The fat also that was over the vital parts, and the net of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, he burned on the altar, burning the calf with its skin and flesh and dung outside the camp, as the Lord had commanded."

What the force of the said ordinance is, and how each of its chapters is taken of the sacrifice of the Only-begotten, the earlier discourse contains. The calf is offered for the sin of the priest and also for the congregation of the people. Understanding those things, we shall also fully understand the things now said. And we now speak only of what has been changed in the ordinance: for there Aaron laid his hands on the calf, but here his sons also; not in vain did he keep this, but he wrote it also of the anointed. For when we too are anointed and offered to baptism, we are made partners of the Lord's passion, whose image baptism bears; these words of Paul also teach this: "For whoever of us have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into his death; we were therefore buried with him through baptism into death." Necessarily the sons of Aaron lay their hands on the sacrifice, since they share in it.

Verses 18–21. "He offered also the ram for a burnt offering; and when Aaron and his sons had laid their hands on its head,

he slaughtered it and poured out its blood round about the altar; and cutting the ram itself into pieces, he burned its head and limbs and fat with fire, having first washed the entrails and the feet; and he burned the whole ram together on the altar, because it was a burnt offering of most sweet odour to the Lord, as the Lord had commanded."

Not one thing only, but many, have been given us from the sacrifice of the Only-begotten: the forgiveness of sin, that is, of the whole human race; life in perfect philosophy; and the singular introduction of the mysteries of the new testament, after whose patterns and figures were offered the sacrifices that are assigned to the person of the high priest, showing above all the shadow of heavenly things through the things done on earth. Paul shows this, speaking thus of the Lord: "For if he were on earth, he would not be a priest, since there are those who offer gifts according to the law, who serve a pattern and shadow of heavenly things." He means those who were then sacrificing in the temple of Jerusalem. And since he depicted one and the same man sitting, running and again standing, wishing also to set out his different operations, he is rightly compelled to assign various figures to each of his works. For this reason the law commanded the priest, who in many things bears the image of the Lord, now to sacrifice the calf for sins and burn it outside the tabernacle (for so the Lord's sacrifice too was made for the washing away of the sins of our nature); and now again it commanded another sacrifice to be made for him in the burnt offering of the ram. For the way of life that is crucified to the world and renounces the world, which is the burnt offering, has Christ as its first fruits, its teacher and its example; for this reason he said, "He who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me," that is, he who does not renounce the world as it has been handed down to him by me (for this is to follow him) is not worthy of me.

But for what reason is the burnt offering divided? "And its feet and entrails," or according to the Seventy, "belly," "are washed." The interpretation of the burnt offering given at the beginning of the book has sufficiently covered this; and what he changes in the sacrifice is necessarily said. For there he said that the offerings were made in pieces, signifying by this that body and soul must be offered; and in us these are called divisions, as being contrary to each other, as Paul says. But in Christ there are no divisions, for he became incarnate as a man clean of sin, who is not divided in the works of the flesh, against which the spirit is turned; that is why the law made no mention of divisions in his sacrifice. And in that the priest offers the calf for sin and the ram for a burnt offering, the law signifies absolutely that, since the perfect way of life is known by the offering of the burnt offering, the ram is necessarily offered in the sacrifice: for it is accustomed to lead the sheep as they go to pasture, and in going out of and coming into the folds; just as Christ too is the leader of the perfect way of life, from whom, namely, it took its beginning; and therefore he taught the sheep to go in and out through him.

Verses 22–29. "He offered also the second ram, for the consecration of the priests; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. And when Moses had slaughtered it, taking of the blood, he touched the tip of Aaron's right ear and the thumb of his right hand, and likewise of his right foot. He brought also Aaron's sons; and when he had touched with the blood of the slaughtered ram the tip of the right ear of each, and the thumbs of the right hand and foot, he poured out the rest on the altar round about. But the fat and the tail, and all the fat that covers the entrails, and the net of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, he separated with the right shoulder. And taking from the basket of unleavened bread which was before the Lord a loaf without leaven, and a cake sprinkled with oil, and a wafer, he put them on the fat and the right shoulder, handing all together to Aaron and his sons. And after they had lifted them up before the Lord, he took them again from their hands and burned them on the altar of burnt offering, because it was the offering of consecration, for an odour of sweetness of the Lord's sacrifice. He took also the breast, lifting it up before the Lord, from the ram of consecration as his portion, as the Lord had commanded him."

This ordinance plainly sets out the tradition of the mysteries that are performed among us, and signifies the mystical Passover which Christ ate with his disciples; this is taught by the things which are commanded to be done part by part in the sacrifice. "He offered also the second ram, for the consecration of the priests." The Seventy render: "Moses offered the second ram, of completion." Rightly is the mystery that has been celebrated for us called the sacrifice of completion; for it perfected us when we had formerly been weak, and brought us out from the imperfect nurture of milk, that is, from that which is in the law, of which Paul says: "For everyone who partakes of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a child." And again: "For the law brought nothing to perfection, but there is the bringing in of a greater hope that has been given," … "by which we draw near to God." Yet this sacrifice hints at what is called the greater hope, through which we always draw near to serve God.

And why is the ram here now named the second ram? Because, namely, after the Lord, dining with the apostles, had first [eaten] the sheep that figured him, he afterwards offered his own sacrifice, and secondly he slew himself as a sheep, as what follows shows. "And Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. And when Moses had slaughtered it." Necessarily the sons lay their hands on the head of the ram together with Aaron, because Christ celebrated the common supper of the Paschal feast with his disciples. For when he sent some of the disciples to prepare the house in which he was going to celebrate the Passover, he said thus: "Say to the master of the house that the Teacher says: Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?" But Moses celebrates this sacrifice, because he above the others bears the figure of Christ. And then above all Christ celebrated his sacrifice; hence also he begins it. For see what follows.

"And when Moses had slaughtered it, taking of the blood, he touched the tip of Aaron's right ear and the thumb of his right hand, and likewise of his right foot. He brought also Aaron's sons; and when he had touched with the blood of the slaughtered ram the tip of the right ear of each, and the thumbs of the right hand and foot, he poured out the rest on the altar round about." What the sacrifice … chose, the anointing of the ears and hands and feet shows: for in return for our obedience good action and a good way of life are celebrated. Hence our ears too are anointed, so that, being free of the disobedience of Adam, they may attain the obedience of the Only-begotten. After this the extremities of the hands and feet are anointed, because not only the hands but also the feet are taken for action; this is proved by what David says, "My foot stood in the right way," and again, "He set my feet upon a rock." And since we have some good actions and some bad, and the left bears the figure of the bad, the right is rightly anointed. For the things that are anointed are strengthened, and the things that are not anointed are destroyed and brought to ruin; this is plainly shown by the angel who destroyed Egypt, because where he found the anointing of the slain lamb he did not strike.

But the priest was anointed first with the blood, and after him his sons, according to the law: because the Lord himself too, at the mystical supper, first received the blood perceived by the mind, and then gave the cup to the apostles. But see, the lawgiver here, after the anointing of Aaron and his sons, added: "He poured out the rest of the blood on the altar round about." This too we find that Christ did: for drinking himself and giving the apostles to drink, he then poured out the blood perceived by the mind upon the altar, namely his body. And the body of Christ is the church and all his people; we find Mark saying this specially: "And taking [the cup], giving thanks, he gave it to them; and they all drank of it; and he said to them: This is my blood of the new testament, which is poured out for many."

What follows agrees with these things: "But the fat and the tail, and all the fat that covers the entrails, and the net of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, he separated with the right shoulder." For "tail" the Seventy rendered "loin," for "entrails" "belly," and for "the net of the liver" "the lobe of the liver." What these bear the figure of has been discussed one by one in the sacrifice of salvation, or of peace offerings. Not in vain does he now mention them in the ram of completion, but because the mystical Passover of Christ and the receiving of it come about for the salvation of men, … the power of our mystery prepares to build up what follows.

"And taking from the basket of unleavened bread which was before the Lord a loaf without leaven, and a cake sprinkled with oil, and a wafer." For "basket of unleavened bread" the Seventy rendered "basket of completion." By the basket of completion we understand the tongue of the Lord; for it alone brought in the special and perfect teaching. That is why he said, "I did not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it," as himself fulfilling what was lacking in the law. And well did he call it a basket, both because of the weaving together of his sayings (since he said many things in parables, so that the Jews did not understand everything), and because it was in a way the dish and table of all teaching. Since, then, the mystery was rational, and the things that are brought about subsist from reason, he rightly sets forth the mystical bread from the basket of completion, that is, from his tongue.

And how does he set forth the bread? "Without leaven, and a cake sprinkled with oil," that is, the apostolic teaching, and that of the law and the prophets. For the law and the prophets and the apostles make mention of him: the law, saying, "This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat"; the prophets, "Bread shall be given him, and his water shall be sure; they shall see the king in his beauty"; and the apostles set out the mystery of Christ more richly; hence they are called neither wafer nor cake, but loaves of teaching, as nourishing more. For those which the Seventy here called "loaves of oil," the lawgiver, according to the same Seventy, called "cakes" when setting out, at the feast of Tabernacles, the basket of completion which was received at the anointing of the priests, signifying by the cake the word of the law. And there is no doubt how much inferior cakes are to loaves. Hence the words of the apostles are put before the words of the prophets and of the law, because they received greater grace, so that Paul said: "God has set in the church first apostles, then prophets." Then they themselves, after the tradition of the gospel, bring in the mysteries of Christ; and they bring them in using the testimonies of the law and the prophets. That is why the cake and the wafers are placed beneath them together and joined to them.

But let us attend to what he adds to these: "He put them on the fat and the right shoulder, handing all together to Aaron and his sons." The law declares this, that every desire and every good action must be offered to the mystery, if you wish to receive it according to the intention of God and of the law. And following the said order, he says: "handing all together to Aaron and his sons." For first Christ began his mysteries, and then handed them to us, who have been made his sons through the washing of regeneration. "And they lifted them up before the Lord": for the very mystery which he handed to us, this he lifted up into heaven with his flesh. And saying, "He lifted it up before the Lord," he set out the manner in which he offered them for those who were to come after. "And he took them again from their hands and burned them on the altar of burnt offering, because it was the offering of consecration, for an odour of sweetness of the Lord's sacrifice." The altar of burnt offering is called the body of Christ, and also the most sweet odour; for in the Song of Songs it is plainly said of Christ: "Your name is ointment poured out; therefore the maidens have loved you." "Of the Lord's sacrifice," that is, of the sacrifice and of the burnt offering. "As the Lord commanded": for he himself commanded, "As often as you drink this, proclaim the death of the Lord in yourselves."

"He took also the breast, lifting it up before the Lord, from the ram of consecration," or according to the Seventy, "of completion," "as his portion, as the Lord had commanded him." As in the sacrifice of peace offerings, or of salvation, the breast is offered, so here too; the breast of the ram of consecration, or of completion, is set apart, namely for Moses perceived by the mind, that is, for Christ, because faith and confidence are figured by the breast, as we said before. And since the sacrifice is his, the faith which is in it must also be assigned to him.

"Taking, then, the ointment and the blood that was on the altar,

he sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and their garments. And when he had sanctified them in their clothing." That the blood of the Only-begotten and the anointing of the Spirit are of one working and power, and that the lawgiver very rightly anointed with the oil of anointing and the blood of the altar, that is, of the Lord's body, hear John saying: "There are three that bear witness, and the three are one: the Spirit, the blood and the water." For they have one effect of sanctification. And very rightly the law separated Aaron's garment from the robes of Aaron's sons. For though we who have been adopted by him have a garment in imitation of the Lord, yet how much the high priest's garment differs we have learned from what went before, or what it is, and how manifold. For he said that that tunic has the ephod and the breastplate, hence it is rightly named now too in the plural. And that which belongs to the sons of Aaron, though it is a tunic of one form, is yet also …. But since one tunic, or robe, has many virtues (for the tunic, or robe, of Christ, which those who have been anointed by him put on, is known to have adoption, to have incorruption, and rest in the heavens, and other such things), it is therefore called a tunic, or robe, though it is one for all: "For whoever of us were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Yet because of the abundance of the [gifts] that come from it, it is named in the plural, and very rightly, because of the truth that is figured in it. The one who figures it in outline is compelled to pass over, without sharp precision, the way that is in it. For see, though the tunic, or robe, of the sons of Aaron is of one form, he named many tunics and not one.

And if we have come to know that Aaron perceived by the mind is sanctified by the sprinkling of blood and oil, let us not wonder at what is said; for Christ himself, for our sanctification, offered his passion for us, namely by the sprinkling of his own blood. Hence he said that the sons of Aaron and their tunics, or robes, were sanctified with Aaron, because whatever happens in us is necessarily referred to him, as the head of the whole body. For proof of what has been said, let us take the Lord's words; for when he was about to be crucified for us, he said these things in the form of prayer, to instruct the apostles in obedience: "As the Father sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world; and for them I sanctify myself, that they too may be sanctified in truth." So he plainly called "sanctification" the sacrifice which he offered for us, from which sanctification profits us also.

Verses 31–36. "And when he had sanctified them in their clothing, he commanded them, saying: Boil the flesh before the doors of the tabernacle, and eat it there. Eat also the loaves of consecration which are placed in the basket, as the Lord commanded me, saying: Aaron and his sons shall eat them. But whatever remains of the flesh and of the loaves, fire shall consume. Also you shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle for seven days, until the day on which the time of your consecration is completed. For in seven days the consecration is ended, as has been done at present, so that the rite of the sacrifice might be completed. Day and night you shall remain in the tabernacle, keeping the watches of the Lord, so that you do not die; for so it has been commanded me. And Aaron and his sons did all things which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses."

The lawgiver has now provided specially for the mysteries and set them apart, and has handed down in figure, through the things he has now contemplated, that they are to be performed within the church, and by no means published to the uses and ears of the profane, nor is anyone who wishes to be given the opportunity of profaning them. Hence, since the tabernacle of witness of God is heaven, and the court of this tabernacle is the church (because it is placed before the entrance of heaven, for it holds the image of the heavenly Jerusalem, as we said before), he commanded the flesh of the sacrifice to be boiled within. For he says: "He commanded them, saying: Boil the flesh before the doors of the tabernacle, and eat it there," and, as the Seventy add, "in a holy place." And the holy place is the altar, for there the Holy of Holies rests.

But what did he add? "And eat it there. Eat also the loaves of consecration," or as the Seventy render, "and the loaves that are in the basket of completion," "as the Lord commanded me: Aaron and his sons shall eat them." How then is the wisdom of the Spirit not to be admired in these things? For it has left no doubt about such an understanding: for this reason it commands the flesh to be eaten with the loaves, so that we might understand that by it is meant that mystery which is at once bread and flesh, as the body of Christ is the bread of life which came down from heaven. That is why, according to the edition of the Seventy, the ravens brought to Elijah from above flesh in the morning and loaves in the evening, the Lord wishing to prefigure this mystery: which must be boiled and eaten within, in the church, in the holy place, that is, at the altar, and by no means elsewhere. That is why Paul commanded the Corinthians: "When you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's supper; for each one takes his own supper first to eat, and one is hungry and another is drunk. Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God?" And this was so that the mystical supper should be celebrated there absolutely. Aaron and his sons rightly eat it; for unless Christ, entreated by the mouth of the priests, himself comes and sanctifies the supper, the things that are done in no way become the Lord's sacrifice.

But what is left of the flesh and the loaves he commanded to be burned with fire. This we now see done also visibly in the church: whatever happens to remain unconsumed is given over to fire, not at all the things that have been kept for one day, or two, or many; for, as is evident, the lawgiver did not command this, but commands that what is left be burned. He did not mention days, so that, for whatever reason things may remain unconsumed, whether time is the cause or something else, they may be the work of the fire and be consumed. So from what is done visibly there comes, to those who attend, the signification of something perceived by the mind: that when we fall short in eating the sacrifice and cannot eat it whole, our mind perhaps growing weary or failing (since by the things that are seen we must understand the body of the Lord, into which not even the angels can look with their eyes), we should not leave them, but should give them over to the fire of the Spirit, so that it may eat the things that are uneatable for us through weakness. And how it eats them [we understand], when we have considered that what seems impossible to us is possible to the power of the Spirit.

Hence the lawgiver seems to discuss this next. For he says thus: "Also you shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle for seven days." Why seven? Because the fiftieth day is completed by the number seven multiplied by itself, with one added to it. Hence that feast is called the feast of weeks in Moses, as what follows shows; for he says, according to the Seventy, "until the day of the completion of the fifty days," meaning Pentecost; for it completes the number seven multiplied by itself. And for what reason they are called the days of completion, what follows shows: "For in seven days the consecration," or completion, "is ended, as has been done at present." For he did not consecrate them once only with the blood and the loaves; for so we have learned in what went before that the consecration, or completion, was accomplished. Luke hands down things like these; for he says of the Lord and the disciples: "To whom he also presented himself alive after his death by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking of the kingdom of God; and eating with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father." You see how he consecrated, or perfected, them, appearing to them and teaching about the kingdom of God and eating with them. And in saying they should not depart from Jerusalem, he commanded them not to go forward or out of the door of the tabernacle, that is, he did not permit them to preach until they received the promise of the Spirit, which came about on the fiftieth day. And not to go out of the door of the tabernacle of witness is to rest from the word of teaching and not to preach openly, because Christ hinted that he himself is the door, as the beginning of every divine word and of knowledge. And he himself handed down to us going in and going out by his door, so that we may understand that we are to venture in him, when, rebuking certain people who before his coming taught foreign things and led into error, he said: "All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them." And after this he added: "I am the door; if anyone enters through me, he will go in and go out and find pasture," calling the going in through himself, and the going out, progress in the divine Scriptures.

And that that is above all called the completion of the days, the Spirit hands down plainly through Luke: "And when the days of Pentecost were completed, they were all together; and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting; and there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit." Not in vain, then, is Pentecost called the day of the completion of days and of the consummation, but as having the completion of the sevens of days, and bearing the fullness of the Spirit, filling with perfection those into whom it poured the Spirit. And if it be said that Christ was with the apostles forty days, perfecting them, while the seven days of perfection according to the law describe, as we said, the whole Pentecost, it must be known that he was not separated from the apostles even in the days between the Ascension and Pentecost; for how else did he say to them, "Behold, I am with you all days"? And again: "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."

For this reason the lawgiver added: "As has been done at present, so that the rite of the sacrifice might be completed," or as the Seventy have it, "On this day the Lord commanded so to do, that you might make atonement for yourselves." For on the day on which he handed down the mystery of the supper, on the same day he hinted at the propitiation, or atonement, that is, the forgiveness of sins, saying: "This is my blood of the new testament, which shall be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." In the very words he foretells what is written in the Gospel, as you can learn from what follows: "Day and night you shall remain in the tabernacle," or as the Seventy have it, "At the door of the tabernacle of witness you shall sit seven days, day and night." And the Lord said to the apostles: "But you shall sit in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." So plainly "you shall sit," he says. And he himself commanded the disciples to remain a week of days doing nothing and not to preach. Hence we find that the apostles did not teach at all before the said days were completed; but when the days were completed, Peter at once began the preaching, when about three thousand souls were added. So they themselves kept this commandment in every point, and in them above all are fulfilled the things said in what follows: "Keeping the watches of the Lord, so that you do not die; for so the Lord commanded me. And Aaron and his sons did all things which the Lord spoke by the hand of Moses."

If it is asked why he joins Aaron to his sons, a cause will be found altogether necessary and suited to considering the matter. For he commanded those just mentioned not to go out of the door of the tabernacle of witness, that is, not to handle the gospel preaching meanwhile. When Christ appeared to the apostles, then, he did not go out of his own door, since he himself was the one who was to be preached and who spoke in the apostles. For this reason Aaron himself too was said to be consecrated, or completed, with his sons. But who the one consecrating, or completing, is, the lawgiver does not add at all; for he says: "In seven days the consecration is ended," or according to the Seventy, "he completed your hands," as he also did. And it is plain that he himself was the one who consecrated, or perfected, the sons, who was also said to be perfected, or consecrated, in them, as in his own members.